The Bill Simmons Podcast - NBA Scuttlebutt, Trump's Rockiest Month, Yanks-Sox, and Teen Culture Watch | The Bill Simmons Podcast (Ep. 382)

Episode Date: June 25, 2018

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Kevin O'Connor to talk NBA draft aftermath, Kawhi and LeBron speculation, possible opt-outs, Jaylen Brown's true value, and more (2:20). Then Bill calls ...up his buddy JackO to revisit the Yankees and Red Sox before their upcoming three-game series, talk rule changes, and discuss Donald Trump's interesting month (37:23). Finally, Bill's daughter Zoe talks about teenage pop culture, including Millie Bobby Brown, movies, teenagers on Instagram, and more (1:13:38). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Today's episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast on The Ringer Podcast Network is brought to you by ZipRecruiter, where having a high sports IQ is important in real life. If you look at free agency coming up this week, people are going to make some dumb signings. That's what happens. Sometimes you have a GM that doesn't have a high sports IQ, but when it comes to hiring, you don't need a high hiring IQ. You just need ZipRecruiter. They're powerful technology. It scans thousands of resumes to find people with the right experience for your job.
Starting point is 00:00:33 80% of employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality K&A through the site in just one day. My listeners can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com. Slash BSZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. Meanwhile, SeatGeek, the best app for buying and selling tickets to sporting events, concerts, and more. For $20 off your first SeatGeek purchase on any game or sporting event for NBA, NHL, baseball, whatever. You know what to do.
Starting point is 00:00:54 Use promo code BS. I used SeatGeek on Saturday because I went to the LAFC game, which was just an incredible amount of fun. What a great stadium. I really had a good time. Very entertaining game, fun crowd. They figured out how to manufacture like fun crowd enthusiasm.
Starting point is 00:01:12 I had a blast. Download the SeatGeek app or go right to SeatGeek.com. Don't forget about Binge Mode Harry Potter, which is roaring into its third week of podcasts. Don't forget about the Ringer NBA Show podcast, which is going to be covering draft fallout for AFC, LeBron, all that stuff. I have a couple of podcast announcements.
Starting point is 00:01:35 We have a rewatchables coming on Thursday, Devil Wears Prada with Amanda and Juliet. And then tomorrow, Cousin Sal is away. He's in New York. I am hosting Against All Odds for him tomorrow. The Degenerate Trifecta. And I think we're posting it overnight for Wednesday. So Against All Odds, me as the guest host for the Cous, Cousin Sal.
Starting point is 00:02:00 Coming up, a whole bunch of stuff. First, Pearl Jam alright coming up a little bit my buddy Jacko to talk Yankees and a little politics. And then my daughter is going to give us the teen pop culture update for June. Kevin O'Connor is here from The Ringer. Fresh off a 90-hour work week last week. It was good. It was a good time.
Starting point is 00:02:38 It was fun. It was controversial. Some picks, some controversial trades i value the miami pick that phoenix got um or that phoenix gave up way more than you did oh way more i mean look i mean it's like we discussed the 2021 draft could be the year high schoolers are allowed in but there's also a chance it's not like they said 2021 at the earliest maybe the nba makes it 2022 2023 not to mention miami could be good uh but it's a lottery ticket. That's a good part of it. So just to, to, to follow up on that, the word I've been hearing is, or the phrase is double draft. So at some point next decade,
Starting point is 00:03:16 there's going to be a double draft and it might be 21 at the earliest could be 22. It's going to be 21, 22 or 23. They need to give the teams at least a two year heads up, maybe even three. And the reason we call it a double draft is one of those drafts, high schoolers are going to become eligible. So you're going to have all the players that you thought were going to be in the draft anyway. And then the entire McDonald's all American high school class. And I was saying to you, I think from what i've heard teams are really scared to give up 21 22 23 now it's one of the many reasons why the celtics value that grizzlies pick so much i think they value that grizzlies pick even more than the kings pick i mean that pick becomes
Starting point is 00:03:57 unprotected in 2021 top eight top six which could be the double draft. So, um, I, weird times are ahead for the NBA. Yeah. I do feel like they're going to revamp the draft system a little. I think expansion is a real possibility. Seattle. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:15 I think, I think they could go add two more teams. Um, I think it's ready. The league's loaded with a lot of talent and they need, uh, they need to figure out some of the cap stuff. Silver alluded to the idea of a hard cap, right?
Starting point is 00:04:29 It's almost like a preventative measure. So KD to a 73-win team that almost won the finals never happens again in the future. Well, I think the biggest mistake they made this decade was not staggering that 2016 cap, which they knew.
Starting point is 00:04:44 They knew that was going to be a problem. They talked about it. They tried to get the Players Union to buy in. The Players Union, as always, making the wrong decision. The Players Union over and over again screws up. And in that case was just indefensible because you're going to look at the market this year and really nobody has cap space.
Starting point is 00:05:04 You have these free agents. I heard Anus Kanter was going to potentially opt out of his next contract. Where's he getting $18 million next year? That's weird. I would think for some of these guys, you want to lock in this year, like a one-year deal, maybe a one-on-one, and then hit free agency next year when it's a mini bump to around $108. This year is going to be around $101, $102. Get a little bump next year.
Starting point is 00:05:25 Maybe you get paid more long-term. So Atlanta has like 20 million in cap space. Dallas has like 25. Philly's going to have around 26. Indiana might have potentially a lot of Thad Young ops out of his contract, which he actually, that might not be the worst idea if he did. He's at 13.7, I think. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:05:44 Even for him, it could end up being a mistake i guess it depends on what your priorities are if you want like a four-year deal eight per to get that long-term security four for 32 something like that but it feels like for someone like thad young you can get that next summer too and then there's some interesting opt-out guys like i didn't realize milos might leave the clippers and maybe that was we were at the draft i I couldn't figure out why they took two guards, but I think one of the reasons was Milos is on for six. They can buy them out for two and they're very close to luxury tax. There's some, there's some
Starting point is 00:06:16 really fun free agents. They're not, they're not marquee free agents, but there's a lot of free agents in that kind of Milos, Marcuscus smart these guys that are like the fourth fifth starter guys like even a trevor ariza type yeah something like that derrick favors there's a handful of interesting fun one yeah i mean i would like him for a team like a pacers something like that you know add a big to their rotation erin baines erin baines a lot of those guys there's a lot of guys who could play in a playoff series for you on the right team and then like you know JJ and Ilya Sova and Bellinelli but you're going down the line
Starting point is 00:06:49 and there's just a lot I think but then there's not a lot of money too which I had heard that Indiana is going to make a run at Marcus Schroeder on Atlanta very available has been for months so one of the trades that i think it's starting to
Starting point is 00:07:08 trickle out was available was schroeder for um basically like bledsoe and trying to feed the pick or whatever bledsoe expires next year atlanta is trying to cut bait yep get to that schroeder thing i still like him for orlando though by the way i we've argued about Schroeder thing. I still like him for Orlando, though. By the way, we've argued about Schroeder, and I think I've changed my mind on him 20 times. But I don't know. Schroeder, he's like 23 years old. I thought he was better last year. He's young.
Starting point is 00:07:33 I had a conversation this week with somebody in the league, and he's like, I heard you on the podcast or whatever it was, saying Schroeder, you wouldn't want him on your team. It's like, yeah, I wouldn't. But then he made the counterpoint. He's like, but look how young he is. Think about a situation. He's still a young guy.
Starting point is 00:07:47 Put him in a new environment. He's not a bad dude necessarily. Maybe he matures the new situation. Maybe having continuity on the roster helps him. Maybe having a proven head coach helps him. And it's true. Like he's had 19 and six this year and he's had some impressive games
Starting point is 00:08:02 over his career in the NBA. So if you're a team like Orlando, right? needs a point guard maybe he's someone you gamble on for the next three years there was i was messing around the trade machine with it this weekend where they could take back basically bionbo and uh either shelvin mack or terrence ross is expiring and put in schroeder but then put in the bad Plumlee, make Orlando take that contract, basically it would all work out, maybe get like a conditional first or like a high second or something like that.
Starting point is 00:08:36 I think if I'm Orlando, I really want to get a decent point guard because I don't want to throw away Mo Bamba's rookie season with DJ Augustine and Shelvin Mack. And for them, it's like you have a stabilizer on the roster. I just wonder if he's the guy, because he's someone who you'd almost want him to hone back some of the scoring sometimes and develop more facilitating skills. I think when he came into the draft,
Starting point is 00:08:58 that's almost what I expected him more to be. People compared him to Rondo, and watching him overseas, that's the guy he did remind you of, not his body but sometimes his game with a pass first you know mentality with hints of scoring yeah it's kind of flipped and and who knows maybe having an aaron gordon and and mo bama around him does turn him more into a passer in orlando i still like him because he's competitive and i liked how he played against better teams. He had some good games against the Celtics last year. I don't remember if it was this year or the year before. He had one game where he went at Cleveland really.
Starting point is 00:09:34 He had a monster game against Cleveland. He had some big games. There's that upside. I'd like to see him on a good team. So not Orlando then. Maybe not Orlando, but Milwaukee would be fun if they could get Bledsoe and I don't know,
Starting point is 00:09:49 whatever else. Maybe Thon Maker, they could have one more tall guy who doesn't really totally know what he's doing. Hey. What else are you looking forward to? So we have July 1st is Friday?
Starting point is 00:10:00 No, Saturday. Or is it Sunday? Sunday. But the opt-out date is June 29th for some of these guys. So that is Friday. And then July 1st is Sunday. Yes, it is Sunday. Yep, yep.
Starting point is 00:10:15 And we're going to find out if LeBron is opting out, I would guess, the day before. His date is June 29th. So if he opts in, that means either A, he's staying with Cleveland, or he's going to do the Chris Paul thing. I feel like if he opts in, that means he's getting traded. I mean, it's always possible he could stay, but I'm doubtful. Are you still hearing Cleveland and Lakers and that's it?
Starting point is 00:10:37 Yeah, I mean, I think there's a little hint of Philly. Just because of the quarterback possibilities. Yeah, and the Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid the fact that they are like if they add LeBron James they are East favorites I think that that's still there I still think it's mostly between the Lakers and Cleveland though
Starting point is 00:10:55 so is there a chance nobody he can't get anyone else to come in with him because I didn't think there was a chance but now you read over the weekend Sam Amick reported that the Spurs are just not going to trade Kawhi to the West I didn't think there was a chance. But now you read over the weekend Sam Amick reported that the Spurs are just not going to trade Kawhi to the West. I don't 100% know if I believe that. I think it's an interesting
Starting point is 00:11:11 bargaining stance. It's leverage really. Right. I think ultimately you have to make the best trade you can make. You can't just rule out 15 teams. I agree. But I think Brandon Ingram, let's say the Lakers put him on the table. If you're the San Antonio Spurs, are you really really gonna let the fact that the lakers are in the west change the fact that you're gonna get a 20 year old prospect who is rising and flashes
Starting point is 00:11:32 not just his scoring potential at the end of last season but it's passing yeah and lots of balls are you really gonna say no to that and he's like still he turns 21 this year 20 yeah 20 years old this next season he's 21 i I prefer him over Jalen Brown as a prospect. So it's like, are you gonna... Really? You think he has higher trade value than Jalen? I don't know about trade value because Jalen's more proven in playoff situations, but I think as a prospect long term, Ingram
Starting point is 00:11:55 is so much more fluid as a ball handler. Jalen is still rigid-y and herky-jerky a little bit, but Brandon Ingram, with his passing skills, feel, his length, I think long-term he could be the better player. The problem is they would have to put Dang's contract in the trade, which I would want no part of with the Spurs.
Starting point is 00:12:14 There's another way, though, because they do have cap space. So potentially they could offer just Ingram and Kuzma for Kawhi and that's it. Exactly. And the Spurs would save $13 million. And if you're the Spurs, you say, find someone else to dump Dang on. That's really what you can do. I still think Philly is the best Kawhi possibilities. Philly has some interesting stuff because Covington's contract,
Starting point is 00:12:44 which I think is like 17 million right now, but next week drops to 10. So it makes it easier for them to trade him now, but they don't, you know, Bayless isn't expiring. It's not, it's half as much money as Dang and it's one less season. They have more assets to kind of go in. I have no idea what Fultz's trade value is. I know if I was a GM, I would actually value him really high and try to trade for him. Me too. You and I are in the camp of Markel Fultz can still be
Starting point is 00:13:11 an NBA guy someday. I think the shots are a concern still, but he showed everything else last year. He showed the passing vision. He showed the feel. He showed the athleticism. He showed the ability to get to the rim whenever he really wants to he played pretty good defense the most best you can expect for a rookie point
Starting point is 00:13:29 guard right he did everything that made him a top prospect except for the jumper and that's a serious concern however if that gets fixed and you know if you know we look back at this and Fultz's rookie year and think oh my god like how far he's come yeah he's gonna be one of the game's best point guards so if you're a team like San Antonio you have Chip England maybe you feel good about him working with Drew Hanlon this summer hey I mean I think it's a good situation for him if you're the Spurs and obviously for the flip side of Philadelphia your doctor Glasshow is the guy who I went to when he was new york yeah you probably have more confidence than any other team can have and his his level of um injury proneness moving forward not to mention you have the right assets to plug him in um into a trade easily and you mentioned covington at 17 million bill i do wonder if i mean you can do it this year like right now before the the year turns
Starting point is 00:14:21 at july 1st but there's also some incentive to waiting too because then you have to put Bayless in a trade. You have no other choice depending on how the salary is. Yeah, it's better for Philly to dump the Bayless country. Sure. And if you're the Spurs, maybe you're okay with waiting as well because then you have more time to get more offers too
Starting point is 00:14:41 instead of rushing through things. And the other place Fultz could go is Cleveland. If, if there ends up being LeBron thing too, I would love to see him on the Spurs because. Does Cleveland have enough leverage for that though? No. I mean,
Starting point is 00:14:53 if, if, if it's their version of the Chris Paul trade a year ago, you know, where LeBron ops in and then they trade and try to get something for him. Fultz and Sexton together would be bizarre. Oh, that'd be fun.
Starting point is 00:15:03 But yeah, I mean. The thing with Fultz and Sexton together would be bizarre. Oh, that'd be fun. But I mean. The thing with Fultz, the speed that he had that he showed even in that last month, the speed, control, athleticism. Power and size. Yeah. This is not like an Anthony Bennett thing where when he was playing, you just watch and go, wow, I don't even know what position that guy is. And he was out of shape, and it was a disaster from the get-go. Fultz's speed was really in the high end.
Starting point is 00:15:33 I thought he was one of the eight or nine fastest guys in the league. And I don't know, I was really impressed. He's good. He went number one for good reason. Seriously. I really think they made a mistake not kind of floating him out in some of those playoff games. I would have done it in the home games because the crowd would have rooted for him.
Starting point is 00:15:51 I'm a little surprised, too. Brett Brown said this. I think it was maybe right before the playoffs. He's like, if you aren't risk or be safe, I want to lean towards the risk side, like the high-up side of having someone like Fultz out there. But then again, they put T.J. McConnell out there instead, and he also provided that upside in certain games as well. Remember, McConnell played over Ben Simmons.
Starting point is 00:16:10 The game after the confetti game, yeah. So if the Spurs could end up with Fultz and Sarich in that Miami pick and something else. Zaire Smith too. And do Kawhi and then also dump the Patty Mills contract. I think that's a home run for them. For the Spurs. Yeah, for a guy who's going to leave in a year
Starting point is 00:16:31 who they clearly have to trade. I don't see who's topping that. I mean, is there a scenario where they can get an established player for him in a trade? Maybe. I don't know who that player is. But if you have the Sp spurs would you rather that established player or would you rather like a mixture of young guys and the rise with a established
Starting point is 00:16:52 player like covington i would too never mind the fact that you're you might be getting a zaire smith and that 2020 2021 miami pick it's a blend of both and i think that would allow san antonio to remain competitive they won 47 games last year with Kawhi only playing nine, right? And adding a young core to that, that's really, really appealing for the Spurs. What if it was, what if Washington called and just said, we'll give you Beal in our 2021 first, and that's it? See, I'd rather have a Philly package. I think I would too. And that's like, there's a theoretical Philly package, but if that were on the table, I'd rather that. Because the thing. I think I would too. That's a theoretical Philly package, but if that were on the table,
Starting point is 00:17:26 I'd rather that. Because the thing is, if they trade Kawhi, now you have to figure out what your team is and why LaMarcus Aldridge is on it too. It's almost like that might be a two-part deal. If you trade Kawhi, then maybe it makes sense to also then trade Aldridge. Would you take that route if you're the Spurs? Or would it depend on what you're getting back?
Starting point is 00:17:46 Because I've thought about this as well. Like if Kawhi gets dealt before July 1st or an early free agency, I do wonder if they go full, quote unquote, blow it up mode and get rid of all the veterans. Or they're like, you know what? We can win 50 games and have this, you know, hall of draft picks and young players come in
Starting point is 00:18:02 and develop in and be an assets for us to build back up. I wonder if that's maybe the path to go. But Aldridge is older too. So there's some logic to trade in him when he just had an all-NBA season. The X factor is how long Pop wants to coach and that 2020 Olympic team that he's going to do. And it seems like there's a feeling within the league that he does two more years and his swan song is the 2020 Olympic team that he's going to do. And it seems like there's a feeling within the league that he does two more
Starting point is 00:18:25 years and his swan song is the 2020 Olympic team. And this is why I just don't see him going out, just handing Kawhi over to the Lakers. Even if that's the best possible trade, I still feel like he's won five titles. He's a stubborn guy. And obviously they feel really betrayed by how this kawaii thing played out and you saw it last year with uh with kevin pritchard and paul george
Starting point is 00:18:51 where he passed up trades that people at the time thought were just better trades nobody realized the whole depot was going to turn into what he turned into but uh and then people were like wow that was like a spiteful trade i don't think they even realized he'd be that great. Yeah. He wanted to get him out of the conference. The whole mentality of wanting to get the guy out of the conference is bizarre to me. It's like, oh, we'd only have to see him twice a year. So instead of three, who cares?
Starting point is 00:19:16 I understand it if you're a team that has contending aspirations, right? You don't want to deal with them in the conference. But I also think my philosophy has always been like, just take the best deal. I mean, just take the best deal. It doesn't matter where the player is going. You need to worry about where you're taking in more so than what you're giving up and where he's going.
Starting point is 00:19:34 If you're taking a lesser deal when you know it's a lesser deal on paper, I think you're just fooling yourself if you do that. Well, there's an underlying piece of this, which is if the Spurs feel like the Lakers have been tampering here the last year, which I think the tampering buzz around the Lakers right now is the highest I've ever heard about a team. Like teams are just convinced that they're operating like there are no rules.
Starting point is 00:20:00 And even if they get caught, so what? All right, well, here's your, here's our million dollar fine. Great. It's like Rob Palenka had that comment last week where he's like,
Starting point is 00:20:07 I, people, you know, might not deal with this. It's totally paraphrasing because of the banners, right? Cause of the history and all the winning. It's like,
Starting point is 00:20:12 well, maybe it's because of the tampering. Yeah, seriously. I think, I think they have a really bad reputation now for, you know, they've been pretty blatant about who they've been going to lunch with and
Starting point is 00:20:23 taking out people and people's inner circles and just kind of throwing stuff out, leaking stuff to reporters. And even like that weird genie bus tweet last week. Do not underestimate whatever it was. Yeah. What is that? What does that mean? So I don't know. Isn't it great? Like all these players and owners even and executives can tweet things. I'm like, what does it mean so i don't know i think isn't it great like all these players and owners even and executives can tweet things i'm like what does it mean right well really tampering has been thrown out the window the last few years i think we talked about this on last year's podcast right around now it's just like the nba looks the other way pretty much on everything now i don't think they care you have the july 1st comes around and 10 guys sign contracts within
Starting point is 00:21:05 five minutes. So these guys are all talking now. We talked about this, I think, when the Chris Paul trade to Houston happened. How does Houston know that Chris Paul's going to opt in? And how does... All the mechanics of that were crazy.
Starting point is 00:21:22 Obviously, everybody's talking to everybody. Don't you know Daryl Moore is psychic? Of course he knows. That's how. Yeah, he's still pathetic. But when I had Kyrie on my podcast, he said something that I thought when he said it was going to be a story and nobody even noticed it. He was saying how the tampering starts at All-Star Weekend with the players when they're
Starting point is 00:21:43 all together. And that's when he's like from that point on it's on i was like oh that's interesting that makes sense to memorize isaiah thomas talking without horford uh yeah 2016 all-star weekend people made big story about that and guess what it turned out horford signed with the celtics yeah tamper central uh would you be stunned if chris paul didn't go back to the rocketsets? Because there's been a little buzz, and I can't tell how real it is. You know, I wouldn't be floored by it. Right, you wouldn't be flabbergasted.
Starting point is 00:22:10 Yeah, but I would be mildly surprised. I think it's a great situation for him in that D'Antoni offense playing alongside James Harden, but I wouldn't be absolutely blown away. But I would be a little surprised. Would you be floored if the Celtics did a Jalen Brown and a Kings package for Kawhi in the next three days? No. I think they should go for it.
Starting point is 00:22:35 I think Jalen Brown has become a tad overrated. Oh! Yeah, I do. No! It's funny because... He's now the overrated? He used to be underrated? He used to be way underrated right
Starting point is 00:22:47 like entering the draft all southwark fans are like want chris dunn you know what want jamal murray and it's like no jalen brown is like an elite athlete you know length and scoring upside of his shot um really really comes along and it has but i do wonder like i said earlier he still doesn't he's still not a great ball handler. Maybe I'm underrating him now, but I still haven't seen that progress as much as I would hope to in terms of fluid athleticism, in terms of quick twitch movements driving the ball. He's going to be a good player for a long time,
Starting point is 00:23:18 for a very, very long time, but I'm not sure I see that path to a Kawhi level. I can see a paul george level potentially wrote about this last week yes still a really good player like i could see paul george i think he can be a better paul george i really do i think he can be a 2.0 version of paul george but even george is still like so much more fluid with the ball i mean it wasn't after two years brown brown's better now than george was then And it's certainly the argument. My fear with Brown is he sucked in game seven against the Cavs, right? That was his worst game of the playoffs.
Starting point is 00:23:50 And I do worry about like the James Harden 2012, where James Harden, who was just a flat out assassin in some of those playoff series, and then in the finals just had a shitty finals and then got traded. And that was like the last memory of people like, oh, well, he did suck in the finals just had a shitty finals and then got traded. And that was like the last memory of people like, oh, well, he did suck in the finals. And then he goes and he becomes James Harden. I don't think Jalen Brown is as good as James Harden,
Starting point is 00:24:13 but I don't like trading people after. I wouldn't do anything. I've already got the record. I just think I like the team they have. I want to watch these guys together. I want to keep the Kings pick. I want to root for them. I just like team they have. I want to watch these guys together. I want to keep the Kings pick. I want to root for... I just like all the assets.
Starting point is 00:24:28 I think the reason why you wouldn't trade, put him in a trade for Kawhi is because you don't know the health of Kawhi. You don't know if he's going to leave. No, the health? I don't know his state of mind. But if he theoretically... I now have Uncle Dennis in my life.
Starting point is 00:24:38 Yeah, of course. But if he theoretically were to agree to a long-term deal and if you were to get assurances that he would be healthy, like let's say this is a theoretical possibility would you then put jalen brown in a trade or would you still rather hang on to the young guy and all the rights moving forward with him and see him develop i would i would keep it and i think they have a chance to win the title with this team anyway and i think davis is the ultimate prize not kawaii i would keep my eggs in the Davis basket.
Starting point is 00:25:05 That's fair. Because then New Orleans in a couple of years could rather trade him to the East than the West. Could be four months from now. Yeah, who knows? We'll see what happens. Everyone in the West got better. New Orleans.
Starting point is 00:25:15 I guess they didn't get better in New Orleans. I don't think the summer, though. It's way too soon. After the season they had, there's no way they'd trade him this summer. Oh, I don't think they will either. But I'm saying in February, he's hurt. Oh, sure. All of a sudden, they trade him this summer. Oh, I don't think they will either, but I'm saying in February, he's hurt.
Starting point is 00:25:27 All of a sudden, they're 15 and 27. They lose Boogie this summer, and Boogie's thriving with the Mavericks or something like that. Sure. There's some West teams. If Dallas signs Capella or DeAndre, they might actually be pretty good next year. I'm not saying a 50-win team, but they might be a 37-win team.
Starting point is 00:25:48 Competitive. The Lakers are going to be better next year. I think the Kings, the bag man's going to come in and win rookie of the year and put up the 23 and 13. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Big, big time. But they might be like a 37-win team. They have no incentive to tank because they don't have their pick next year.
Starting point is 00:26:02 And then the Suns is another one. Bridges comes in. Bridges, bridges i think will be competent right away ayton at least gives them you know some athleticism and booker has gotten better each year booker's gotten better their their whole supporting cast they have money to spend on a free agent it feels so good to have friends in the sun strand in there son's bandwagon well they finally that's our league pass team for next year. Yeah. Telling you,
Starting point is 00:26:27 they're going to be good in a couple of years. I love their young core. Someone put up a poll on Twitter this morning.
Starting point is 00:26:32 Would you rather have the Suns young core or the Lakers young core? I'd rather have the Suns. Yeah,
Starting point is 00:26:37 exactly. It's a really good core. I mean, the reality is they got Booker at 13. And in retrospect,
Starting point is 00:26:44 he'd be like the third or fourth guy in that draft. They got Josh Jackson at four, which I think was the right spot. Maybe even higher for Booker. Maybe, arguably. I forget who was in that draft. Was that the Towns draft? Yeah, Towns draft. Porzingis.
Starting point is 00:26:57 I mean, would you take Booker ahead of Porzingis? Well, now that I know Porzingis has a blown out day. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, even before then, I think the argument could have been made just because 6'6 25 points per game as a 21 year old pretty insane
Starting point is 00:27:12 I want to read the Josh Jackson puff piece feature about how awesome he's doing this summer and then I'll be really in on the Suns cut his hair shot's going to improve now yeah just Josh Jackson. All he did was lock himself in a gym and shoot threes.
Starting point is 00:27:28 And he's obsessed with becoming awesome at threes. And he's ready to be the best player from that draft. I want to read that piece. I'm not positive he has that in him. I think he might. But I want to read it. I know last year, the year after Jalen's rookie year, he was in the gym the next day.
Starting point is 00:27:46 He demanded to go to summer league. And he worked on his game and was really passionate about it. And so the Josh Jackson thing. They also have, I think, some expirings that they could potentially make some moves in February, right? Yeah, Chandler, I believe, is expiring. Right. Dudley might be expiring as well. I think he is. Yeah, Dudley and Chand believe is expiring right um dudley might be expiring as well yes yeah dudley and
Starting point is 00:28:06 chandler are expiring uh and then a couple smaller contracts like a troy daniels type um but that's only 3.2 million but yeah they have some even brennan knight only two years left how we've forgotten about him right um maybe he comes back and is solid who knows maybe maybe not but if not he's only got two years left. That's not an albatross of a contract. We should do an oral history of that trade. One of the worst trades of all time. That trade was fascinating. That day was wild. Hey, one other thing I heard was that
Starting point is 00:28:33 one of the reasons Cleveland took Sexton was because they knew Charlotte liked him. And if LeBron does decide to stay, they know they have the Sexton and Clarkson for Kemba trade. That's right. Sitting there.
Starting point is 00:28:46 Makes sense. Which, by the way, is a great trade. I actually really like that trade for both teams. It's a little too much for Cleveland, but at least they dumped Clarkson. It's interesting how Charlotte, they liked both Shea Gilchrist-Alexander, the guy that drafted them, traded to Clippers, and Colin Sexton didn't end up with either of them. I thought there was a chance like a month ago,
Starting point is 00:29:04 both those guys would be on the board at 11th pick. And only Gilgis Alexander was granted, weren't able to keep him. Good deal for them. I went to go visit the second spectrum guys on Friday and you can basically tell them, put this in and see what comes up. And one of the things was,
Starting point is 00:29:21 people at the top of the key, who's the most successful? Because I was like, why? I couldn't understand why the Celtics didn't One of the things was people at the top of the key, who's the most successful? Because I was like, why? I couldn't understand why the Celtics didn't put Tatum in the Cleveland series at 35 feet from the basket at the top, clear out. The old Paul Pierce isolation, just dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble. Why don't we do that? So I was like, what are Tatum's stats in that?
Starting point is 00:29:39 And they were awful during the season. He was like 0.75 points per possession. So I was like, oh, that makes sense because he's apparently not good at it. But with that 0.75, what's the context, right? So that's a bad number in the grand scheme compared to cuts, which is 1.1. He had like 60 chances, though. Oh, yeah. But I mean, with like seven seconds left in the shot clock, that might be one of your
Starting point is 00:30:01 top options. Maybe. I still wish they'd done it. The reason I bring it up is they had like the top 12 and it was all the people you would think for like points per possession. James Harden, Chris Paul. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:30:12 Yeah. Jordan Clarkson was like fourth. And I was like, maybe Jordan Clarkson is good. Maybe LeBron was holding him back. That Jordan Clarkson, the top of the key last two months, the last month or so
Starting point is 00:30:25 of the season into the playoffs I like the Sexton Clarkson for Kemba trade it's fun and I do think like look if Paul George
Starting point is 00:30:34 decides to stay in OKC for one year for 30 the one-on-one and wait till next year if Kawhi gets traded to the Sixers and now LeBron's
Starting point is 00:30:44 LeBron's basically going to the Lakers to play the young team, maybe you opt into Cleveland for one more year. Your family moves to LA and you just kind of run it back in 2019. And then Carmelo's a free agent at that point. You can bring him with you. You can maybe get Paul George a year. Who knows? Right. Now, the counter to that is I think all this stuff has been done for a long time.
Starting point is 00:31:06 I think Paul George has been done for like a year. So we'll see. What's your prediction? Where is LeBron right now? What day is this? June? June 25th. Where is LeBron playing?
Starting point is 00:31:18 Same prediction as last summer. Lakers. Okay. Where's Paul George playing? I think he could do the one-on-one. Okay, so he abides to lean towards Lakers. Yeah. So you'd pick gun to your head Lakers.
Starting point is 00:31:29 George and LeBron to the Lakers. What team is Kawhi in? Sixers. Where's Boogie Cousins? Dallas. Dallas? I think Houston probably matches Clint Capella. I don't see how you let him go.
Starting point is 00:31:43 I don't. I think Capella is such a great center. He's gotten better each year. Like his passing. He did not pass like this overseas. He's gotten so much better at passing. He's not great, but he's like good now. There's still more room for him to improve.
Starting point is 00:31:56 I don't think you can let him go. So the Celtics do nothing. Just maybe minor little things back into the roster. Kevin Love? But where does Love go, though? We think about Phoenix for him. You know, I actually am intrigued, but then you have an Aiton-Love frontcourt,
Starting point is 00:32:24 which is really dynamite offensively but love obviously is just average in combo yeah eight and like there's a lot of pressure on a young big man to anchor a defense right away um and i think that's unfair to expect from any young big man even even for someone that projects as a good defender long term um it's like year one year two that could be a really troubling defensive front court. But you know what? You're not getting the guy for that time, though, right? You're getting him for three, four years from now when you're ready to make a push.
Starting point is 00:32:53 I still like Kevin Love. I want to see him on a different team. We saw the flashes, right? When Cleveland started running more off-screen, off-ball actions for him. I think LeBron's really hard to play with. I think when you're playing with somebody who's that great, who has the ball all the time and is always deciding what everyone
Starting point is 00:33:10 else is doing, I think it's hard for some people to fit in with that. Kevin Love was more enabled. It's like you wish LeBron had pulled a hammy or something for five weeks and we could have just seen like, this is Kevin Love's team for a month. What happens?
Starting point is 00:33:27 Could he be the Minnesota Kevin Love again? It was, it was like a couple of years ago when Russell Westbrook got hurt and then Katie, you know, elevated or vice versa. When Katie was out and Russell Westbrook elevated, right. You would like to see in that.
Starting point is 00:33:36 I think with LeBron, like he used to trade elevated for sure. Yeah. That's always elevated though for Russell. I think for LeBron, like he needs to, wherever he goes, he needs to really commit off ball, you know, as a cutter. Yeah. Even as a screener. I think for LeBron, like he needs to, wherever he goes, he needs to really commit off ball,
Starting point is 00:33:46 you know, as a cutter. Yeah. Even as a screener. I mean, he's throwing away the regular season at this point. I think he really is. We're fine. Anything in the playoffs
Starting point is 00:33:54 that that's when he needs to commit regular season. Who cares for him? My prediction for LeBron is I think his son being this good at basketball is going to is going to really hurt LeBron's
Starting point is 00:34:04 basketball career. You think so? Yeah. You know what's really fun? Watching your kids play sports. Sure. It's my favorite thing. Like LeBron's going to, all he's going to want to do is watch his son play basketball.
Starting point is 00:34:15 He's going to take his eye off the prize. It's going to be bad for him. So you're going to the NBA awards tonight. Yeah. Me and Jason Gallagher. Are you going to find out some scoop? We'll see. What do we do with the red carpet before the show we'll see how it goes try to find out some stuff
Starting point is 00:34:28 try to find out some shit for god's sake i know definitely people will be having some cocktails exactly i don't i like the idea of an nba award show but i don't think it should be uh this late after the i know season it the thing that would make sense to me is if they ever did the entertaining and self-tournament and you had like 10 days off between the regular season and the playoffs and you had a 70 game regular season
Starting point is 00:34:54 instead of 80 and all that stuff, you could do it where the final four is at New York City. You have the two games, the two playing games in New York City and there's an award show that night or something. Then it'll be fun. Then you're handing out the awards right after.
Starting point is 00:35:10 I think the difficulty is as you see with the NFL, with the Pro Bowl, right? To get all the people. Players don't always come. The players in the Super Bowl or whatever. In the NBA, I'm not sure you get as many players to come, whereas now it's like... Put them on Skype. Take a weekend in LA.
Starting point is 00:35:25 You know whose speech is going to stink tonight? James Harden's. These guys, it's not like they give good speeches. Who cares? That'd be interesting. Have Pete players Skype in. FaceTime. Do a little FaceTime? Yeah. Use social media. KOC, you have a calm comment tomorrow on The Ringer
Starting point is 00:35:40 and a whole bunch of more stuff there in free agency. Excellent work on the draft guide. Thank you, draft guide and fun doing the ringer Thursday night show. That was great. Those three and a half hours blew by. It felt like an hour. The Dallas trade was really funny to rewatch on the, on Periscope.
Starting point is 00:35:55 When Gallagher comes in, it's like, he just won the lottery. Exactly. Yes. And Chark's excited. It was awesome. High five.
Starting point is 00:36:01 Awkward high fives. Yeah. All right. Thanks, Ken. Thank you, Bill. All right. We're going to bring in Jacko first.
Starting point is 00:36:07 I have some good news. Burrow has reinvented the luxury couch. From style to shipping, Burrow's put the time and thought into furniture buying. So you don't have to customize your Burrow sofa to fit your personality by selecting the color, size, and armrest height that's perfect for you. Super comfortable, adaptable. So if your space changes, the modular design allows it to move and grow with you. Burrow assembles and dissembles in just minutes. No tools required.
Starting point is 00:36:30 Perfect if you ever have to move. With stain resistant fabric and a built-in USB charger, Burrow has the durability and functionality to keep up with your hectic life. All Burrow furniture shipped fast. Shipping is free. Enjoy 30 days of cozy on your Borough risk-free or try out Borough in one of their showrooms today. They mailed us a couple of these couches.
Starting point is 00:36:51 The ringer staff has been enjoying them to say the least. Plus they get sloppy. They spill sodas on it. It's all good. The Borough just, it can weather the storm. For $75 off your order, visit burrow.com slash BS. That is B-U-R-R-O-W dot com slash BS for $75 off your purchase. And since we're here, don't forget, I am guest hosting against all odds for Cousin Sal this week. So yeah, gambling talk. It's coming. Check that out. All right, let's bring in Jacko. All right, on the line right now for the first time in a while,
Starting point is 00:37:26 the longtime fan of the failing New York Yankees, Jacko. How are you? I'm good, thanks. That was quite an intro, failing. That's good, sure. Swept by Tampa, I mean. I know. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:37:36 Not ideal. This could be the end of the season. Yeah, that's probably all she wrote. Might as well pack it in. We'll see you in 2019. Take care. I actually watched last night. Now that the NBA is over,
Starting point is 00:37:50 I am now in the hate watching the Yankees portion of my summer. Sure. And I really enjoyed the last couple innings and I enjoyed the walk-off homer by Tampa
Starting point is 00:37:59 and the sadness in the Yankees announcer's voice. Right. All of it was really great. Since the last time we talked, the Yankees announcer's voice. Right. All of it was really great. Since the last time we talked, the Yankees had shaped up as a juggernaut, although that was briefly interrupted this weekend. Give us your thoughts on this Yankee team.
Starting point is 00:38:17 Your favorite of the decade? Oh, easily. Oh, my God, yeah, absolutely. No, I love them. I love the kids. It's an odd position to be in as a Yankee fan to hear about these prospects and see them come up and actually perform. You know, Glaber and Duhar, which is how he pronounces it.
Starting point is 00:38:34 So it's great to see. And, you know, they've developed into an offensive juggernaut where they're never out of games. And people throw back a tweet that I had in April, in the dog days of April when things weren't looking so great for the Yanks. They had blown some huge lead against Tampa. I think they've had a lot of problems with Tampa. I forget if it was Tampa or Toronto, but they blew a lead
Starting point is 00:38:55 and I'm like, this team has no heart. People regularly throw it back at my face on Twitter, which is fine because it means the Yankees are coming back from behind. The other day they were losing 5-0 to Seattle and came back to win with John Carlos Stanton's big first Yankee moment, a big home run to win the game. So they have a lot of offense now, and their bullpen has been fantastic with the exception of Chase and Shreve, but the rest of their bullpen has been lights out. Dillon Batances is back to his old form.
Starting point is 00:39:25 He really is. He's been amazing. He's been phenomenal for the past month or so. And this kid, Jonathan Holder, all he does is come in and save leads or keep the game right where it is. He's been great. So between their lineup and their bullpen, I mean, it's really been magical.
Starting point is 00:39:42 I saw a semi-scary stat the other day when they were 50-22 that they've won 50 wins in 72 games seven times previously in all. Seven times they've won the World Series. Ah, well, let's just cancel the playoffs then. Yeah, pretty much. Should we just send the trophy? We'll just start planning the parade, exactly. So, yeah, they've looked good.
Starting point is 00:40:03 Now, their starting pitching is questionable at best they essentially have you know one quality starter in luis severino who's phenomenal um i thought they had a little something with domingo uh herman i would have said that last week but not after yesterday's performance because he's had some crazy stats where he has the highest uh swing and miss percentage he was has the highest swing and miss percentage. He was the third highest swing and miss percentage behind only Scherzer and Chris Sale, which is pretty phenomenal. But then yesterday he got lit up by the Rays, so maybe we'll hold off on the Cy Young presentation for Domingo at this point.
Starting point is 00:40:37 I have him on my AL keeper team. Yeah. He's a rough first inning, and after that it usually gets better, but yesterday he didn't. Yeah, he throws gas. I just like him. He seems like the kind of guy who's going to be two and a half years from now really good. But right now...
Starting point is 00:40:55 The Yankees in recent years have developed this organizational philosophy of getting pitchers that just throw heat ridiculously. They don't want any junk ball. They brought up this kid, Loizaga, and he throws 98, 99. So they're raw
Starting point is 00:41:12 because they're young. Loizaga has some problems with the strike zone, but I like these guys that throw gas, just like throw it by somebody because especially in today's game, everything's either a home run or a strikeout. So if you have a guy that throws hard and hitters can't catch up with it, it's good the way the guy's swing note is.
Starting point is 00:41:30 So that's good. I mean, they could definitely use another starter without question because, as I said, they have Severino and then they have Tanaka, who unfortunately pulled both hamstrings because he had to play in a National League park and run. Wait a second. He pulled both hamstrings? He did, yeah in a National League park and run. Wait a second. He pulled both hamstrings? He did.
Starting point is 00:41:48 I don't know if I knew this. What's that? He pulled both of them at the same time? Yeah, I think so. I think both hamstrings were pulled. He was on third base and he had to tag up and run. I mean, we've had this conversation forever about how ridiculous it is that baseball has two different rules for two different leagues.
Starting point is 00:42:04 Yeah. And it's more so now that we have interleague play and these American League pitchers then have to do something that they probably haven't done since high school and hit and run the bases. You almost get afraid when, I definitely get afraid when they have to get on base because it essentially ruined Ching Ming-Wang's career. He was never the same. And then they had Tanaka,
Starting point is 00:42:25 and guys were murdering me on Twitter saying, well, he's a professional athlete, making millions of dollars, he should be able to run. I'll grant you that, but it's not just running. You have to decide whether to slide into the base or not.
Starting point is 00:42:37 In Tanaka's case, he had a tag up from third, and you got a catcher waiting for a throw from the outfield. He's got to worry about, do I slide or run into the catcher? Those are all things they're not used to doing. It's ridiculous.
Starting point is 00:42:47 And, of course, he got hurt. He pulled both hamstrings, which is ridiculous to think about, a professional athlete that can't run 90 feet, but there's a lot more involved in it than that. So it's just ridiculous. So he's on the shelf. The Red Sox had that when, and it wasn't an interleague game, but the idiot John Farrell, who wasn't an interleague game, but the idiot
Starting point is 00:43:05 John Farrell, who wasn't an idiot when he won the World Series, but turned into one. He had Steven Wright pinch running in that game. Yeah, I remember that, yeah. And he blew out his knee. And he was out for like a year and a half. Right. Yeah, pitchers on the base pass, it's
Starting point is 00:43:21 you never know what you're going to get. I personally enjoy it. If you're a National League guy, if you're a National League know what you're going to get. I personally enjoy it. If you're a national league guy, if you're a national league player, you're used to that. You know, it's probably practiced in spring training.
Starting point is 00:43:31 You know, the American League, they have, you know, they do sliding drills and things, but I don't even know, do pitchers participate in that
Starting point is 00:43:37 or they spend like 10 minutes doing it because they have other, they have to work on pitching and it's only going to come up in interleague, but it's asinine that you have two different rules in two different leagues.
Starting point is 00:43:46 So your least favorite... In 1973, to placate people that didn't want the designated hitter, that they would still have old-timey baseball. It was almost like a temporary provisional thing, and here we are 45 years later and we still have two different rules in two different leagues. Yeah, you know, change is good. You know what's a good rule? The intentional
Starting point is 00:44:02 walk rule. Where they just hold up the four fingers? Yeah, like Stanton last night or yesterday in extra innings. It's like, yeah, we're going to walk him. All right, next batter. And then the game just keeps going. I really want to get rid of the pickoff throw. That's become my new obsession.
Starting point is 00:44:16 Really? Yeah, just put a line at each base and you get to move seven feet off the bag. But you can't go over that line until the pitcher starts throwing the ball and there you go. You're not in with me on that one? No, I'm not. It's a way to get the
Starting point is 00:44:36 base runner to go back to the base. He's leaning one way or the other. You've got to pick off. Don't you love a pick off? No. Andy Pettit was the king of that. I really don't love a pickoff I'd be fine if we never had another pick
Starting point is 00:44:47 if I never had to watch another pickoff throw in my life I'd be good no cause then I think guys would you know if you have like a Ricky Henderson type
Starting point is 00:44:53 and I realize there's no more Ricky Henderson types but somebody who's a base stealing threat the guy's gonna steal all the bases if he doesn't have to worry about going back to first
Starting point is 00:45:00 he can only lead a little if he can only be five feet off the bag doesn't that even it out? I want to try it. They should try it in like double A and C for worse. There you go. Um,
Starting point is 00:45:11 CC Sabathia? Yes. CC, I mean, he's actually pitched okay. And he's, you know, he's developed into the aforementioned Andy Pettit.
Starting point is 00:45:20 He's developed into an Andy Pettit type cause he doesn't have a fastball anymore really. So he fools you with arm angles and different speeds and moving the ball up and down and everything. And, you know, he's a gamer, no question about it. And he's still out there. The other day he had 10 strikeouts. But, you know, he's a little up and down and he's definitely hittable. So it's like if he has a good outing, I'm like, yeah, good for CeCe. But I just don't, I don't like count on't, I don't like count on that. I don't bank on CC going out there and throwing a jam every time. I hope for it,
Starting point is 00:45:50 but I don't bank on it. What do you bank on from Sonny Gray other than sadness and being traumatized? I bank on misery, anger, and the possibility that I'll need a new TV remote from throwing it against the wall. So he's your least favorite Yankee this year? Least favorite. Yeah. He's the new Tyler Clippard for me. Like when he pitches, you know, I look at my phone in the morning and see what the Yankee schedule is and see who's pitching and I see it's him and like my whole body slumps. I sag my shoulders.
Starting point is 00:46:16 I get depressed. It's just so awful. He's just so awful. And he's hard to watch. He is really slow. They had him like speeding up his delivery and when he did that he was actually good because he probably was thinking less yeah and just throwing the ball and and for some reason he just will not do that and and if you know michael k and
Starting point is 00:46:36 l lighter cone whoever's doing the game they treat them like a toddler like they're like is this stuff just too good because the ball just moves too much and it's five feet off the strike zone yeah i'm like i don't think the problem is that this stuff is too good i really don't let's come up with another alternative and it may be that his pitches move so much but he becomes like a nibbler and nothing is in the strike zone and he's almost he's afraid to pitch in the strike zone because it gets hit super frustrating to watch incredibly frustrating and then he gives an interview after the game like, oh, I felt great. I thought things went well.
Starting point is 00:47:09 Except for those five runs I gave up. 100 pitches in four innings. I thought everything was great. Yeah, it was phenomenal. The Red Sox have Pomerantz, who's now hurt, but kind of the same type of guy. You're through four innings and he's at like 128 pitches. Right. And the announcers are talking about how great his stuff is, you're through four innings and he's at like 128 pitches and the
Starting point is 00:47:26 announcers are talking about how great his stuff is but 11 people have gotten on base in four innings and it's just I was so happy he went to the DL I hated when he pitched and the relievers when those guys are starting the relievers must be like alright guys they're using us
Starting point is 00:47:42 tonight don't go out tonight we're pitching them early bedtime exactly well that's the be like, all right, guys, they're using us tonight. Don't go out tonight. We're pitching to Murph. Early bedtime, exactly. Well, that's the problem is that he burns through the bullpen every single time he pitches because he can't get out of the fourth or fifth inning. Yeah. Which has been a problem for Sabathia, too.
Starting point is 00:47:57 He doesn't go long at the games, and then it burns out your bullpen for a couple days. So it's frustrating. I'd much rather have, you know, obviously Severino is great, but even a guy like Herman who's up and down, the kids throw a 98, 99 if they hit it. You know, you tip your cap. He's not afraid to challenge hitters.
Starting point is 00:48:13 So when Stanton's PED shipment came like five weeks ago, he just shared it with Patantis? He didn't share it with anybody else? I think he was starting to share it with Sanchez. But then he hurt himself yesterday, so unfortunately that was wasted. That's too bad. Yeah. Well, you should get the rest back and give it to
Starting point is 00:48:33 Greg Bird. Yeah, Greg Bird could use a lot of it. He's been so disappointing. Breaks my heart because Francesa is always singing his praises and said for years he was the prospect the Yankees had the highest hopes for. I guess I'll chalk some of it up to the fact that he's always injured and has been up and down in terms of injuries.
Starting point is 00:48:53 But I don't know. I haven't really seen a lot of production. There's been flashes of like a month last year in September. But every time they bring him up, he's hitting like under 200 and just not great. I have him on my team, too, and I have Aaron Judge, who I now have to subconsciously kind of sort of root for. Yeah, everybody loves Aaron Judge, though. It's kind of fun to have Aaron Judge on your team.
Starting point is 00:49:17 You know who's not fun to have on your team? Greg Bird. No, he's been bad. He strikes out pretty much every third time. I mean, that's the thing that's heartening as a Yankee fan. The Yankees are, well, I guess they were 50-25 now, whatever, after getting swept by Tampa. Until recently, Stanton hasn't been hitting.
Starting point is 00:49:36 Sanchez hasn't hit at all. He's got 14 runs, but he's hitting like a buck 90. Greg Bird hasn't done anything, so you're getting like no production from first base. And, you know, Ketcher, you're getting some pop, but you're not getting a high average. And Stanton, who was supposed to be a world beater, now he's starting to look like that. But for a good portion of the season, he was not a world beater. So the fact that they've been as dominant as they have been is a good sign,
Starting point is 00:50:00 because you figure maybe not Greg Bird, but Sanchez and Stanton will start to do what they're supposed to do. Well, you play Philly these next three games. Right. And then a day off and then. Yeah. Home. Showdown.
Starting point is 00:50:13 For the Red Sox. All right, let's go through this, Mike. Friday night, Sabathia against Rodriguez. Yep. Who are you liking that one? Well, I always liked the Yankees at home, but Sabathia, you don't know what you're going to get. Against Rodriguez. Yep. Who do you like in that one? Well, I always liked the Yankees at home, but Sabathia, you don't know what you're going to get.
Starting point is 00:50:31 And Red Sox have a crazy record when Rodriguez pitches. Now, he got beat the other day, I think. But I saw some crazy stat where, like, before yesterday, Chris Sale starts, they were, like, 8-8. The Red Sox and his starts, and they were, weren't they like 15 and two or 13 and two or something when Rodriguez starts? A lot of run support. Something like,
Starting point is 00:50:49 yeah, he didn't pitch well in the last game. That feels to me like a Friday night, like 11 to nine type slump fest. I could totally see that.
Starting point is 00:50:57 And maybe somebody gets hit by a pitch and bench is clear but nothing happens. Then, I'm really excited about Saturday's game which is going to be on Fox.
Starting point is 00:51:06 It's a 7.15 affair. Chris Sale going against the man, the myth, Sonny Gray. It should be great. I'm really looking forward to it. I can't wait. I'm clearing out my whole Saturday. I'm going to go out and not
Starting point is 00:51:21 watch TV. The Sonny Gray buffet table will be open. Oh, Lord, will it ever. God help us. That's a terrible matchup. I don't like that at all. So I think you win Friday, we win Saturday, and then the rubber match, unfortunately, is Sunday.
Starting point is 00:51:34 Luis Severino, who's frightening, against David, the Yankees' own midday price. Oh, perfect. Well, let's hope that purple tunnel doesn't act up. Hopefully there's no big Fortnite tournaments going on leading into that week. Your jokes are bouncing right off me. He's been really
Starting point is 00:51:52 good for eh? How many? This is eh? Since May 12th. I think ever since the carpal tunnel outbreak, whenever they last played the Yankees and he had the terrible carpal tunnel that prohibited him from pitching. He's been okay since then, right?
Starting point is 00:52:08 He's been pretty good. Eight-start sample size now. He's been really good. He won six of seven starts, then he lost last week. But I've got to say, he's pitched well. He had one start like two starts ago where his last pitch was, I think, 96, which was— Yeah, I think, 96, which was. Yeah, I saw your tweet about that.
Starting point is 00:52:27 Yeah, but he's pretty consistently mid-90s and looks pretty comfortable. But the Yankees are the hump that he has not been able to get over as a Red Sox player. He's probably shaking right now, wrapped in a blanket, worried about Sunday already. Yeah. Six days away. The Red Sox. I just want to tell you how much I love Julio Daniel Martinez. Why wouldn't you?
Starting point is 00:52:49 Speaking of PED shipments. Oh, totally uncalled for. Well, it's just I had to reciprocate. All right. That's fair. Yeah, he's been amazing. The Hanley Ramirez. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:53:04 Waving him and then immediately people started getting hurt, and just bad guys were up, and my dad was very upset about that. I was going to say, no one's more bummed out than your father on Twitter. Every game, he brings up four Hanley Ramirez. My dad really... But then there was sort of a little wrinkle in that plan
Starting point is 00:53:20 this weekend, but I guess now that's all been cleared up, I'm still confused by that. Yeah, I mean, it really did seem like he got thrown under the bus by some friend for no reason whatsoever. But yeah, there's a 24-hour span where people were like, the Red Sox waved him because he was in a major drug operation. That was like a Boston Globe Bob Holer special where like too many people, you know, Tito Francona where we kick him out.
Starting point is 00:53:44 No, no, no, no, no, no. It started, I forget who first reported it, but the facts were basically right. It's just that the, you know, some quote unquote friend of his got stopped and just for whatever reason decided to FaceTime Manny and pretend Manny was involved. Yeah, Hanley. All right, Hanley. He should have tried Manny. I think Manny and pretend Manny was involved. All right.
Starting point is 00:54:05 All right. Hanley. Uh, he should have tried Manny. I think Manny would have been more believable, but, um, but it really,
Starting point is 00:54:11 they, they keep saying he's a friend. I'm going to, I'm going to go with not a friend, Mike. That's not your friend right there. He's just not, that's not a friend,
Starting point is 00:54:18 not a moving friend. Doug, you cannot be calling your friends FaceTime and during a police stop, not a friend. Not your friend. That's right. You stop. Not a friend. Not your friend. You're just not a friend at that point, Mike. So that was weird. The Sox are...
Starting point is 00:54:33 The weirdest thing going on with the Sox this year, which I just don't understand for the life of me, is how bad Jackie Bradley is. They had three hits yesterday. But going into yesterday's game, he was batting 179. And this is like he's played the whole season. He's terrible. He was, I mean, Chris Davis is having, I think,
Starting point is 00:54:52 the worst season of all time of all time. Right. But Bradley, every time, and then at the end of the lineup, like Vasquez, for some reason, can't hit at all this year. It was just, you'd get to the end of the lineup, and then Betts keeps coming up with like nobody on base yeah that's a murder for them but the Betts, Benintendi
Starting point is 00:55:09 Martinez like those guys you know the Red Sox have scored more runs than the Yankees this year I don't know if you're aware of that what's his name JD has 23 home runs now right? yeah and what does Betts have?
Starting point is 00:55:26 Betts has 19 and missed a week and a half. A couple weeks. I got to say Mitch Moreland, they waived Hanley partly to play Mitch Moreland more, and he's been really good this season. The Red Sox are good. I actually like the team. They need to figure out the Bradley thing, though,
Starting point is 00:55:42 because I don't feel like you can go into the playoffs with two zeros at the bottom of your lineup like just automatic outs whereas the Yankees have the opposite problem the Yankees have an advantage there because their lineup is so deep even with Greg Bird not doing much and Sanchez hitting 190
Starting point is 00:55:59 and Uhar and Torres have been great at the bottom of the lineup just phenomenal and you have guys like at AAA who are dying. I read that article about a couple of them are in AAA and they're all pissed off. They're like, we're major league players. Brandon Drury. And Uhar was supposed to just come up for a little while when Drury had his issues with migraines and things. And he played so well, they can't take him out of the lineup.
Starting point is 00:56:25 So, you know, they went out and signed Drury in the offseason, and everybody loved that signing. It was like, oh, this is good. It'll be like the stopgap that will bridge the gap to Andujar someday, but someday is now. So, unfortunately, they're stuck down at Scranton. But it's a good place to be in that you've got too many guys and not enough positions, which is an odd place to be, but it's good.
Starting point is 00:56:48 Are some of them trade bait for a starter? I don't know. I don't know how many people are salivating over Brandon Drury or Tyler Wade, for that matter, or Tyler Austin. I don't know. Is Tyler Austin the guy who – that's the guy who Joe Kelly kicked his ass, right? Isn't that Tyler Austin? Well, yeah, until Judge almost ended his life.
Starting point is 00:57:07 The Michael Spinks to Joe Kelly's Mike Tyson? Yeah, yeah, okay. Joe Kelly. Local folk hero Joe Kelly. Give me a freaking break. So. Speaking of back to your father's Twitter feed and Hanley Ramirez, last night I saw on Twitter where he was saying that the Red Sox
Starting point is 00:57:27 should trade Blake Swihart for a reliever. I was intrigued by the notion of a trade market for Blake Swihart and his 149 average. Speaking of people, I don't think teams are salivating over. People are like, boy, if we could just get that Swihart away from the Red Sox. Final piece of the puzzle. He's up to a buck 50. Oh, there you go.
Starting point is 00:57:48 The problem with the Swihart thing is every team has, every team slash fan base has that one guy that they irrationally think too much of. I've heard about him for years in the Red Sox prospect chain, right? Even when they waived Hanley, I think pretty much all the Red Sox fans
Starting point is 00:58:06 are like, this is great. Swyheart's finally getting a chance. He's just been, he's been, knock it. The Yankees right now are plus 225 to win the East. The Astros are two to one, plus 200. And the Red Sox are plus 325. I actually feel like, I feel like those are pretty good odds for the Astros.
Starting point is 00:58:30 The Yankees have the most ways, I think, to get better because you have so many prospects you can trade. You just go out and get the two best starters. I would have said this was a good thing before they just got swept by the Rays, but they have one of the easier schedules in baseball. The other night on Yes, they were talking about their schedule. They've basically really played the hard part of their schedule. They're still going to play the Red Sox however many more times,
Starting point is 00:58:51 but they're done with the Astros, and I think they're done with the Angels. And so whatever their schedule is, it's like the sixth easiest or whatever, which on paper would be great, except that part of that was also playing the Rays three times and the plan was not to lose three times. So on paper, everything is good, but that definitely helps them, too, that they're scheduled easier than the Red Sox in the second half. So the Astros are 21-15. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:59:17 And now they're 52-27. Yeah. And they've scored 169 more runs than the other team. I don't understand why they're only two-to-one favorites. I still feel like they're a near insurmountable mountain unless you can get home field, which the Yankees or Red Sox could potentially do just because of the crap teams in the AL East.
Starting point is 00:59:41 But I would still, my money would still be on the Astros. I'd be Their pitching staff is just so good. They're just loaded. But their bullpen is shaky. The closer is shaky. But they have the McHugh. They just made a trade with the Royals. No, that was the Nationals. Never mind.
Starting point is 00:59:59 They had the McHugh and Peacock combo, but they could still go get a closer. Roberto Osuna could be available in mid-September. I'm kidding. The 75 gave suspension. So interesting times. Let's talk about, let's talk about Trump really quick. Okay.
Starting point is 01:00:17 Trump, Trump versus Jimmy Fallon was the feud that I didn't know I needed on a Sunday. I noticed that. I know that came from the clouds there. I don't know where that came from because he went on his show, like, that was a long time ago, right? Yeah. And I don't know why he felt the need to, like,
Starting point is 01:00:31 well, I mean, every late night host now is, like, super political. Yeah. And I guess Fallon is, like, the least political, so he probably feels the need that he has to, like, justify and be political. No, I think he did a podcast where he talked about what a mistake it was
Starting point is 01:00:44 to humanize Trump. Trump just kind of wanders around the wild, wild West. It's like, what? What is that? It's just like red and brawn all the time. It's like a hockey enforcer. I read these tweets from him and I just like, I'm just like mystified about, like he's the president of the United States and today he had some rant, I think it was from today,
Starting point is 01:01:07 about, cause you know, Sarah Sanders went into some restaurant and they killed her off and then he like murdered the restaurant today and said how like their awnings are dirty and the windows are dirty like, you would think like being the president, I mean I never heard of the Red Hen before as this restaurant you know, I don't think it's like a famous restaurant
Starting point is 01:01:22 maybe it is, I don't know, I have never heard of it. He's the President of the United States and he could give up to the date accounts of how clean or dirty the red hen is. Also, how does he know? When was the last time he was in a red hen? He's driving by the limo and he's making notes
Starting point is 01:01:37 like, boy, that red hen looks terrible. Go clean that up. Tell the Secret Service, I want to go to a red hen. I want to check it out. I have a debilitating tweet to do. The other day I saw he was campaigning in Nevada for Dean Heller, who's a Republican senator from Nevada.
Starting point is 01:01:53 His opponent is a woman named Jackie something, and so Trump's like, I got a nickname for her. I'm not going to say it. And then the crowd, of course, of morons is like, yes, say it, say it. And he's like, I call her Wacky Jackie. And the crowd goes nuts. And I'm like, what are you, like six?
Starting point is 01:02:09 Like Wacky Jackie? I mean, that's just, you can't wrap your head around it. And then you have Maxine Waters on the other side. And she's like, any time a Trump cabinet official is out, they should be like harassed out of the building. Like, you know know this is america this is not like you know 1930s germany where like there's these competing mob violence in the streets like i don't know this country it's just like i don't know i think i spend too much time on twitter so maybe it's worse on twitter than it is in real life like in real life i don't see like people actually like screaming at each other maybe i don't go to the right places but on twitter it makes it seem like
Starting point is 01:02:43 this country is like headed for like a civil war. We're just going to break apart or something. It's like, you know, can't we just put politics aside and go to the redhead or go to the movies or whatever? God, can we go to, can we just go to the redhead with Sonny Gray and have a gross meal? Can't we just all get along in the immortal words of Rodney King or, you know, I will say this everybody should watch Sly Stallone's speech at the end of Rocky IV
Starting point is 01:03:07 to the Russians maybe Sly needs to get involved I will say this feels like the worst month we've had the border stuff the border situation stuff really was just dark it's definitely it's hard to remember more of a rock bottom
Starting point is 01:03:24 from just the human behavior standpoint. would have lasted for like a week's worth of news. Like the Trump, you know, North Korea summit, that was like two weeks ago. And it seems like it was about six months ago or a year ago. And like stuff that he said months ago seems like it happened when I was in first grade. It's just crazy how fast everything moves and everybody just loses their mind over the next thing.
Starting point is 01:03:59 So you're like, you know, not incorrectly, you were like, this seems like the craziest month we've had. True, until the next one will be next month. Just keep escalating. It's the craziest month we've had until next month's crazy month. So it's just, it's insanity. Yeah. You would have thought the craziest month was when there was no sign of the first lady
Starting point is 01:04:17 for 24 days and she might've been dead for all we knew, but that wasn't even in the top four. I mean, I feel bad for her because she had no idea she was going to be getting involved in this when she hitched her wagon to Trump. She figured she was just going to be on Fifth Avenue and every so often she'd have to let him have sex with her. She'd get regular checks and access to his credit card
Starting point is 01:04:39 and live in a penthouse. She had no idea she was going to be the first lady and wants no part of that. You can just tell. going to be the first lady and wants no part of that. You can just tell. Wants no part of him and wants no part of being the first lady. Yeah, things are going to be, I'm going to make it very clear for my second wife
Starting point is 01:04:52 how it's going to work. It'll be good. I'll never run for president. Just have sex with everyone around. It'll be great. Yeah. Yeah, I keep thinking Just have sex with everyone around. It'd be great. Yeah. I keep thinking people are now kind of immune to the fact that how weird this is.
Starting point is 01:05:15 Let's say he was the manager of the Yankees. And you just woke up and the manager of the Yankees was just attacking Redhead for no reason. Right. redhead for no reason and attacking Jimmy Fallon and then just doing crazy stuff like trying to trying to ban anyone who who was an undocumented whatever from coming to Yankee Stadium and just all the stuff that he does week to week how how we would just be flabbergasted by all of it but but yet with the presidency it just seems like like now we're all kind of numb. I mean, the best comparison to him ever, and it's so apt, is that he's really like 1980s era George Steinbrenner. Yeah. Or he's just a complete loose cannon, and you don't know what he's going to do.
Starting point is 01:05:58 And he just cascades from whim to whim, and he doesn't tell anybody in his staff of what he's doing. He just does it it's all out of like gut and anger and like not a lot of forethought and it's like if Steinbrenner had twitter basically in the 80s and he could have been tweeting about rumors about Dave Winfield instead of hiring you know gamblers or whatever private eyes to look at his private life like all the crazy things he did he could have just expressed all that on Twitter. And it's just as much of a lunacy. That would be a fun quiz for a blog post. Like, who did this?
Starting point is 01:06:34 Was it Steinbrenner or Trump? Right, which quote? Just you do quotes. They really are. History would have been so much different if the NFL just let Trump buy the Buffalo Bills as he tried to a few years ago much different if the NFL just let Trump buy the Buffalo Bills, or as he tried to a few years ago. Yeah. Like, if they just let him buy the Buffalo Bills and you just had this crazy eccentric,
Starting point is 01:06:51 you know, Donald Sterling-esque owner in the NFL, it would be so different than having a crazy eccentric Donald Sterling-esque president of the United States. Yeah, it all goes back to everything is Roger Goodell's fault. No matter, you can always tie it to him somehow. Whatever happens in life. everything is Roger Goodell's fault. You can always tie it to him somehow. Whatever happens in life. As a lifelong conservative Republican, to see what the Republican Party has become where it's this
Starting point is 01:07:11 complete and total cult of personality is just... If Trump said the sky is yellow, there would be Republican spokesmen like, well, no, it is yellow. If you look at it in a certain light, they would justify whatever assonanity he said that day. It's just, it's crazy. It's just crazy. It's a complete cult and it's his party now. And it's just depressing as hell.
Starting point is 01:07:34 Well, hasn't, why hasn't anybody on the Republican side decided to just kind of go head to head with them? Like, wouldn't that person be a hero? They're scared to death of them. They're scared to death of his voters. I think for a while they were scared to death of him, you know, his tweets. And now they're scared to death of, you know, they see he has these rallies and people are like screaming and chanting for Space Force. His plan to have like a, you know, army in outer space or whatever. Of course, he didn't brief anybody on or plan for. There's no Space Force organization whatsoever. And they're chanting Space Force.
Starting point is 01:08:07 And you look at that and you're like, what do I want to get primary to lose? This guy Mark Sanford in South Carolina, who is a congressman, a conservative congressman, and he got challenged and Trump came out and endorsed the opponent and she beat him. I mean, so it's like they're scared to death. It's Trump's party.
Starting point is 01:08:23 These people are all like, you know, watch Fox News and it's like they're scared to death. It's Trump's party. These people are all like, you know, Fox News, watch Fox News. And it's like, you know, state TV and they do what he says. He literally could say anything. And, you know, his minions are going to follow him. It's crazy. I mean, to sell your soul for George Bush, or some other Republican luminary of the past 50 years. But to do it for Donald J. Trump, I will never, ever understand that and never be able to understand it in any way, shape, or form. Well, in his defense, Space Force is a pretty cool idea. It is good, yeah. If only I was younger, I could sign up for Space Force. It sounds like the Will Smith movie that was in development limbo for 12 years. Space Force, the much maligned Will Smith project,
Starting point is 01:09:12 now has a director. Space Force. Is that his weirdest idea since he's been president? Yeah, and it just came out of left field. And I saw bits and pieces of his rally, and he's like, we're going to doubt we're going back to space. We're going to space. We're going to dominate space.
Starting point is 01:09:27 Okay. You're good. Do you think it's like he was out to dinner with, uh, with Bob craft or something? Bob craft's like, Hey Donald, do you ever think about space force?
Starting point is 01:09:38 And Donald Trump's like, what's that? What do you mean? An army on space? It would be great. Okay. There's like seven bottles of wine in. He probably had like a cocktail napkin or something.
Starting point is 01:09:51 And he's like, we got the army. They're on the land. And the Navy's on the sea. And the Air Force is in the air. But what's even better than the air? Like what's higher? Space. We need a space force.
Starting point is 01:10:04 Write that down. Space force. Space force. Write that down. Space force. Space force. Write that. Get that. See you tomorrow morning. Find out if space force is taken. And that's just like space what now?
Starting point is 01:10:13 Force? What? Huh? That's just crazy. My dream radio segment would be Trump explaining space force to Mike Francesa for the first time, like debuting it. Hey, uh, Mike, I have this great idea. I think you're going to love it. It's wonderful. It's a wonderful idea. And my, what is it Donald? Space force. It was so cranky the other day. I was listening briefly and a guy
Starting point is 01:10:39 called and I missed part of it because I was working. I left work and I was listening to it. Some guy called up and it was almost like a statistical thing about, I don't even know what the hell they were talking about, but he started to get into statistics and Mike hung up on him and goes, go boy, somebody else. I don't need that on my show. So then the next guy called up and he goes, hey Mike, you really
Starting point is 01:10:58 handled that guy great. And Francisca goes, I don't need you to review my show. I was like, my god, were they late with the Diet Coke? He's like a assassin. He was just killing these callers. And the guy was like totally like, you know, typical sycophant to Mike to be like,
Starting point is 01:11:12 oh, that was great the way you handled it. I don't need you to review my show. It's a complete toady and Mike just slapped him away. You think Mike would be out of his mind with the Yanks? Yeah, I've joining his Twitter too. He has these random just drive-by shootings of people on Twitter. And he's just murdering the Mets.
Starting point is 01:11:31 He just drags the Mets through the ground. It's crazy. He's figured out everything on Twitter except for feuding with other people. Well, that's coming. It's coming. I want him when the next rating book comes out and Michael K tries to interpret whatever he wants for Mike to get mad and then go at him on Twitter.
Starting point is 01:11:50 Yeah, no question. That's what we need. Michael K's out there saying he's winning the spring ratings. I don't know what he's looking at. Twitter force. Twitter force attack. Space force. Space force. Space force Space force
Starting point is 01:12:05 Space force Great idea Will Smith Good stuff Lock it down Will Smith Jacko Jacko Pleasure as always
Starting point is 01:12:12 We'll talk to you soon Sounds good Take it easy Bye bye Alright we're going to Bring in my daughter For another Episode of
Starting point is 01:12:21 Four Reelsies Her team culture Update But first When you shop online, do you suddenly turn into a tab hoarder, loading dozens and dozens of new tabs on your browser in search of a promo code? Just one that works. Afraid to close any of them in fear of missing out on a deal? Well, before you crash your browser yet again, try Honey. Honey is the
Starting point is 01:12:42 free browser add-on that over 9 million people are using every day to save money while they shop online. Add Honey to any browser for free and then shop like you normally do. Honey scans and tests millions of coupons in the background, then automatically applies the best coupon at checkout. Time Magazine calls Honey basically free money. I could tell you for a fact this works because I was shopping for laptops recently. I need a new one. Honey ended up getting me some cash off a laptop that I needed. There's no reason not to add Honey to your browser today. It's free.
Starting point is 01:13:17 It takes two clicks to install. It will save you a ton of money. Get Honey for free. Join honey.com slash Simmons. Two words, join honey.com slash Simmons to start saving with honey today. Once again, that is join honey.com slash Simmons. All right. My daughter is here. She gives us the breakdown every month or so on whatever is going on with the 13 year olds. The teen pop culture.
Starting point is 01:13:52 Right now, you said Millie Bobby Brown is the most important topic. Not the most important, but like one of the big ones. One of the most discussed. Yeah. Topics right now. She is from Stranger Things, which I didn't totally know until the last time we did this segment. You got mad at me and you made fun of me because I didn't know who that was. I don't watch Stranger Things.
Starting point is 01:14:08 You should. Well, I know. You and mom were watching it. So Millie Bobby Brown, first of all, she had to deactivate her Twitter. So explain what happened there. Basically what happened was people were making it seem like she didn't support gay people and that she thought that it was horrible that people had different or like the same gender had feelings for each other. That 30 year olds were making fun of her and saying all these horrible things about her 30 year olds who have nothing better to do than make fun of a 13 year old. But she didn't she didn't't say it though, right?
Starting point is 01:14:46 They made the whole thing up. They literally made the whole thing up. So they made the whole thing up as like a character attack on her. Yeah. To try to bully her online. Yeah. It was just a bunch of different things. That wasn't the only thing.
Starting point is 01:14:57 They were just completely attacking her and trying to bring her down to their level, I guess. But why? What did she do that? What about Millie Bobby Brown triggered these random dudes on the internet? Or ladies, whoever was doing this. Well, I guess it's kind of like they think if they try to bring her down, it will bring them up almost or bring her down to their level.
Starting point is 01:15:19 Because she's like one of the really big influencers in the kid world right now, I guess, because of of stranger things and stuff and i guess she's really powerful and people don't like that that like a kid is one of the more powerful people right now instead of adults being more powerful because they're tend to be superior in families and things like that because they kind of run it this is your theory well i'm just saying like parents tend to be superior but they probably don't like that because they kind of run it. Is this your theory? Well, I'm just saying. Parents tend to be superior, but they probably don't like that. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:15:50 Yeah, we don't need to pretend. We're superior. We pay for everything. I'm not excusing you. They don't really like that a kid is kind of one of the big people right now. So they bullied her. They were super mean to her and so mean that she actually got off social media. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:16:07 Did she get off Instagram or just Twitter? Just Twitter because that's where they were attacking her. You don't like Twitter? I don't get Twitter. Is Twitter a youth? That's not really a youth thing, right? No. Unless you're a celebrity? No.
Starting point is 01:16:16 What's the rankings right now? Instagram's one. Snapchat. Snapchat's two? Those are like the two big ones. There aren't really anything else. You're really not on Snapchat that much unless you're hiding it from me. I don't ever use Snapchat.
Starting point is 01:16:30 I don't really get it. I mean. I think you get it when like eighth grade. Yeah. Because you can start sneaking around and not telling us stuff. Yeah, but that's like, you know I can't lie. And you know I can't do anything about it. So that app won't be good for me.
Starting point is 01:16:43 Snapchat? Yeah. Maybe it'll teach you how to lie. But I don't like anything about it. So that app won't be good for me. Snapchat? Yeah. Maybe it'll teach you how to lie. But I don't like lying. Yeah. All the lying in our family went to our son. Ben Simmons. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:16:53 Ben Simmons took your lying and his lying and became a double lie. So what happens with Millie Bobby Brown? Are you worried about her from a sanity standpoint? Because that's pretty rough if you're 13, you have all these people hating on you. I think she's 13 or 14. I don't remember. I'm going to look it up as you're talking.
Starting point is 01:17:12 Okay. I think that that can be really difficult for her to deal with, especially because she's so young that it can kind of, I guess, affect the way that she acts and the way that she thinks about things and she might be more protective or think a bit more about the things that she puts out. She's 14.
Starting point is 01:17:32 14. I think she just turned 14. Well, I can only imagine how you would react if all these people were being mean to you. I know. You would take it personally. Yeah, and there's also not only the entire thing of the adults attacking if the adult's attacking
Starting point is 01:17:45 her it's like her and her boyfriend who cheated on her now they're back together and everyone who's the boyfriend jacob sartorius and he's from nothing he's a musically person he's a musically person explain what that is musically it's like the app where it it basically gives you background music and you like lip saying to it or something that was like the huge thing in fifth grade and yeah that was like very two years ago fifth grade but a bunch of people have gotten famous off of it i don't understand why but he was one of them i'm amazed ben simmons wasn't one of them yeah she's dating ben simmons not one of them musically person so he becomes semi-famous from Musical.ly. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:18:26 And then he started doing YouTube and all this stuff since he already had recognition from Musical.ly and then became famous. And then he dated Millie Bobby Brown, but he cheated on her. How does everybody know that he cheated on her? I don't get that part. Because the things were leaked. Like he was Snapchatting someone. Oh, Snapchatting another girl? Uh-huh.
Starting point is 01:18:44 How old is he 15 oh my god i'm gonna drink gasoline and then they got back together but nobody likes him anymore no not well no one liked them in the beginnings no one really likes jacob detorius he's kind of a jerk in my opinion so how did they do their reconciliation on social media well she had a bunch of posts with him before the breakup and then she deleted all of them when they broke up or they kind of took a
Starting point is 01:19:14 break I guess it's not a complete breakup but then they got back together and started posting pictures together and everyone was really upset everyone meaning all the girls in your friend group or everybody everyone just because you're all looking out for Millie Bobby Brown together and everyone was really upset everyone meaning all the other girls in your no it's not only girls it's like everyone just because you're all looking out for millie bobby brown no we just didn't like jacob sartorius who do you want millie bobby brown to date finn wolfhard
Starting point is 01:19:36 who's that her co-star in stranger things is that in play what that's in play or you're just randomly putting them no that's in play everyone wants them just randomly putting them together? No, that's in play. Everyone wants them to date. How old is Finn? I think he's older than her. Can you look it up? Look it up as we're talking. Finn Wolfhard? Finn Wolfhard.
Starting point is 01:19:59 So in the... 15. Finn, if you're listening, stay away from my daughter. So Stranger Things has more of an impact than 13 Reasons Why. Well, they're two completely different messages. Yeah. 13 Reasons Why is a dumb message. I hate that show.
Starting point is 01:20:19 It bothers me that you like that show. Well, you know, I like everything. I know. That's true. It bothers me that you like that show. Well, you know, I like like everything. I know. I just watched five new movies and I like all of them. The 13 reasons why, though, I watched the last episode with you and we knew that there was a bad scene in the episode. I had to walk away. And we made you leave so we could fast forward it because I like to pretend I'm a good parent. My friends talk about that scene.
Starting point is 01:20:46 Like they talk about what happened. And I was like, what? Why would they know? I don't understand the point of that show or why I had to come back for a second season. It's coming back for a third season. I'm pretty sure they left the last episode on a cliffhanger.
Starting point is 01:21:00 Do you think they push the envelope with some of those themes because it makes kids like you want to watch it because you know you're not supposed to watch it? It's kind of smart. Yeah, I guess. It's like knowing I guess some people, I don't think this I just like enjoy the show because I enjoy the show. And everyone
Starting point is 01:21:17 in your grade watches it. No. Some kids aren't allowed to watch it. Some kids aren't allowed to watch it. We only allowed you to watch it if you watched it with us. Yeah. But some people only decided to watch the last episode of the second season because they knew that something bad happened. Which I don't understand. Like, why?
Starting point is 01:21:34 I don't know. Why? Because they wanted to see something bad happen? Yeah. They, like, literally watched the last episode of both seasons to see the worst things that happen in both seasons happen for no reason. I don't like that show. I know you don't. You've told me multiple
Starting point is 01:21:50 times that you don't like that show. Stranger Things is way more defensible. And it's also like a really good show. Stranger Things. Yeah. So now those two shows are done. So what do you have now? Just movies? Stranger Things is coming back. Not for a while. No. They started filming like two months ago or three months ago.
Starting point is 01:22:08 And it's coming back late 2018. What's the most popular 30-minute show right now? 30-minute show. A lot of people like Grey's Anatomy. Grey's Anatomy is an hour. You have friends that watch Grey's Anatomy? Yeah. Like on Netflix? Like all my friends watch Grey's Anatomy. What? Yeah People, you have friends that watch Grey's Anatomy? Yeah. Like on Netflix?
Starting point is 01:22:25 Like all my friends watch Grey's Anatomy. What? Yeah. The new ones or the old ones? All. They've rewatched it like seven times. Really? Yeah.
Starting point is 01:22:33 They watch Grey's Anatomy, Pretty Little Liars. What else do they watch? What about Younger? I thought that was one of them though. I don't know any. Bachelor? Two of my other friends. We have a group chat and we talk about Bachelor on
Starting point is 01:22:47 the group chat. Bachelor's really boring this year though. I know. I was on Bachelor Party with Juliet and Liz Kelly last week talking about is Becca too boring? And the answer was yes. Yeah, she for sure is too boring. Which isn't a bad thing. Like if you were on the Bachelor I would want you to be boring. Yeah, but
Starting point is 01:23:03 that's not the point of the show. Like you need someone who's going to be exciting. Like I feel like Tia would have been. No. Mom would have been a good Bachelorette 20 years ago. Tia should have been the pick for The Bachelor. Because she's interesting. Like she at least has background.
Starting point is 01:23:21 Like Becca's boring. She doesn't really have anything special about her. I described Tia as a little crazy and the type who in the Netflix movie is the one who breaks out the Ouija board and convinces everybody to talk to their dead relatives. No, she's the one that like the ex breaks up with her and then gets with someone new
Starting point is 01:23:39 and she comes back to the house and starts killing people. I don't want people to think we're a great parent because we did take you to Hereditary two weeks ago. That was good. You love that one. I've seen people, some of my friends go to that. Yeah. I think it was a little overrated
Starting point is 01:23:55 how terrifying it was. Me too. You've seen scarier movies. It was supposed to be really scary and I didn't think it was that scary. Or you're immune to scary movies because we've watched so many of them in our house. Like if we watched that at home, it's not a movie that I would have turned off or had to walk out of.
Starting point is 01:24:10 And there's bad movies like that. That you've turned off? Yeah, like, I won't name it. You can name it. The Unfriended, the first one, we had to turn that off. That was really scary. Yeah, that was too scary.
Starting point is 01:24:22 But maybe we were just like, it was a year ago and we weren't as adapted, I guess. No, that one was scary. I would rewatch it now. You guys were kind of scared by that Amityville horror movie that's on the new Amityville horror movie. I wasn't scared of that. Ben was scared of James. James.
Starting point is 01:24:37 Ben was pretending to be James for the next week or so. He was scared. I kind of came in at the end, so I didn't really get the entire plot. Remember that time we watched that horror movie about there was something wrong with the house? Oh no, that was every horror movie. We should just write a horror movie. Yeah. Where we move into the house and
Starting point is 01:24:58 Ben goes into the attic and finds some sort of necklace or something. Yeah. He finds some sort of box and it has old Polaro or something yeah and then he realizes he finds like he finds some sort of box and it has old polaroids in it and then he keeps going back up there and keeps getting more and putting them up in his room and has like you know that black light pencil and it'll write over his room yeah we we turn on the lights and all of a sudden the room is like filled and maybe he's playing fortnight and screaming motherfucker top of his lungs oh wait that's he does it anyway oh yeah he's doing
Starting point is 01:25:32 that all the time um he his new thing right now is going on facetime with his friends and then as on facetime playing fortnight and having a video showing them how to play fortnight yeah his friend he might not go to college. Might not. Wait, we didn't talk about the other relationship that bothers you. The other celebrity relationship. That does not bother me. That bothers Liz.
Starting point is 01:25:56 The kissing booth people are dating. Yeah. Who are they kissing? That's the number one hunk right now. Yeah. What's his name? Jacob Elordi. So in The Kissing Booth, your favorite movie on Netflix that you've seen 20 times. I mean, I have a new movie on Netflix that I really like too. Oh, what's that one?
Starting point is 01:26:16 It's called Jessica Darling's It List. Yeah. It's about seventh grade. And this girl who's like kind of a weirdo going into seventh grade and has a list of rules that her popular sister gave her that she used in seventh grade and this girl who's like kind of a weirdo going into seventh grade and has a list of rules that her popular sister gave her that she used in seventh grade and she like uses them and tries to change herself but it doesn't really work and her best friend going into the new school like leaves her and she finds a new friend group it's really good i like it it's a movie it's a movie it's like an hour and 30 minutes.
Starting point is 01:26:51 You like movies where there's either people have to follow a list or people make a pact that they can't break. If everyone ever had a list and a pact in the same movie, you like when people aren't supposed to date, but one of them ends up liking each other. Yeah, it's the kissing move. That'd be like you and... I think you better cut that out if you don't cut that out we won't be friends anymore well you have a couple male friends in your in your class yeah and you don't and you don't believe me when i say that's
Starting point is 01:27:18 that's never gonna work out long term somebody's gonna like somebody at some point. Kyle, back me up on this. You're so right. Nobody's ever like, oh, here's my very close platonic friend. How many close platonic female friends have you met in my life in the last 20 years? 10 years? 13 years? How old are you? Are you kidding me? 13.
Starting point is 01:27:41 I'm 13. Wait, let me think. Yeah. I know someone. Aren't you friends someone aren't you because when you get married oh yeah that's true and juliet oh yeah and all of your people at ringer for the most part i'm saying people that when when i was like i've known this girl since she was 10 and we're still friends yeah they don't high school maybe doesn't happen. What other movies? There was one other movie you liked.
Starting point is 01:28:09 Oh, it was called Hashtag Reality High. What was the plot of that one? It kind of had the same plot as the other movie that I just mentioned. It was like about a girl who was kind of uncool and had a friend who was dating the most popular guy at school, but she kind of turned into a jerk, and she was obsessed with her Instagram. She had like 8 million followers for some reason. And she was a bad friend to her.
Starting point is 01:28:38 And then she breaks up with the boyfriend for Fousey, who's another YouTuber who they brought into the movie to make more money. Yeah. Oh, they actually cast YouTubers? Yeah, they cast a YouTuber to make more money. Yeah. And. Oh, they actually cast YouTubers? Yeah, they cast a YouTuber. Smart. To make more money. Smart. And then she, the kind of weird girl,
Starting point is 01:28:52 starts dating her old boyfriend. And then the other friend. This sounds horrible. The other friend befriends her again and like apologizes and brings her on her Instagram live show or whatever. And then embarrasses her and says that she's like stalking her or something. Oh, so it gets becomes like a thriller.
Starting point is 01:29:14 No, she like lies about it and says that she's stalking her. But that kind of changes the girl. So the boyfriend doesn't like that girl as much anymore. And then they all resolve and get back together. You've seen so many of these. Maybe you could just come up with your own movie platform. I could honestly write my own. I know exactly what I want in a movie and I haven't really completely found it yet.
Starting point is 01:29:35 What is it? Tell us. I want like what I've talked about in the first movie. Yeah. Like a mix of The Kissing Booth and Jessica Darling's It List. I need a mix of that and they haven't made that yet. And I'm really upset about it. What's a mix of the kissing booth and jessica darling's it list i need a mix of that and they haven't made that yet and i'm really upset what's a mix of it though explain it's it have to be like kind of betraying the best friend for the brother yeah but going through
Starting point is 01:29:55 middle school instead of high school because i can relate to that more and like dealing with middle school and like having to change themselves with the list. So it'd have to be a list and breaking the brother's rules or the best friend's rules for the brother. So like a mix of it all. So you've kissing with your favorite thing was that she wasn't supposed to like the brother, but she ended up liking him. Yeah. And maybe you can do it with like a neighbor. Maybe it's like a next door neighbor that they made a pact that they would never date. I would write a movie.
Starting point is 01:30:27 I could do it. You like that Drew Barrymore movie, Never Been Kissed. Never Been Kissed. That's a good movie. No, it's not. Well, it got creepy because the teacher was attracted to somebody he thought was in high school. Yeah, I mean, if you think about it, it's really creepy. Like, yeah, I guess.
Starting point is 01:30:42 Because he didn't even know that she was a teacher and he was attracted to her, which is weird. But what about a Netflix movie about a girl who gets talked into being the quarterback on the eighth grade flag football team? Oh my God. I hate you. And falls for the wide receiver.
Starting point is 01:30:58 Um, I'm trying to think. Explain to the audience why you wouldn't be the flag football QB. Everyone's asked you to do it. Why won't you do it? I don't understand. Cause I don't want to. But you wouldn't be the flag football QB. Everyone's asked you to do it. Why won't you do it? I don't understand. Because I don't want to. But you don't want to.
Starting point is 01:31:10 Why? Because I don't. You have a cannon arm. Because I don't. This could be your Netflix movie. We could sell the rights. Back me up on this and attack him on Twitter because he won't leave me alone. We could sell the rights to Netflix.
Starting point is 01:31:24 What do you mean? About the flag football QB. Okay. Who made a pact. That doesn't mean that I have to play flag football. Who made a pact with the wide receiver that they were going to follow a list. I don't know.
Starting point is 01:31:37 Has she seen Little Giants? Maybe that'll, maybe that'll. Yeah, Little Giants. Have I seen that movie? That might convince you. That girl was cool. Yeah, that girl was cool in Little Giants.
Starting point is 01:31:44 She had a cannon. What was, there was one other movie you wanted that you liked what other movie? I thought there was a third movie wait let me think
Starting point is 01:31:52 no there was oh I watched I didn't completely watch the movie so I can't really talk about this one I can't remember
Starting point is 01:32:01 great review well I I remember the beginning of the movie and the plot of the movie is like this girl and her best friend who's gay. It was a guy best friend and they had like a no kiss list. See, it's another list of who they couldn't date basically.
Starting point is 01:32:20 And they kind of both fall for the same person. Oh, a girl and a boy fell for the same guy. Oh, that's a good wrinkle. I didn't finish the movie, but that's all I saw. It was pretty interesting. I wish I finished it. You know how Netflix suggests movies to you?
Starting point is 01:32:36 Yeah. Does Netflix just suggest lists and packs? Yeah, it seriously is. Horror movies where something's wrong with the house. It has suggested for me. And then I found Jessica Darling's It List. I found like five movies that looked really good. And then there were like three horror movies.
Starting point is 01:32:52 You love Netflix. You don't want to talk about Instagram selfie culture today? No, I don't want to talk about that today. You don't want to talk about the Instagram post that made you take down? No. You betrayed me. It was not. Okay, everyone has to understand that it was not a bad picture you made me mad a lot of things make you mad i told you to delete it and i said if you ever
Starting point is 01:33:18 did that again i was taking your phone yeah and i didn't do it again did i we'll see it's a long summer yeah but you make it what is it with the girls heading to eighth grade with these like Yeah, and I didn't do it again, did I? Well, we'll see. It's a long summer. Yeah. But you make it seem like- What is it with the girls heading into eighth grade with these like, here's me in a bathing suit and here's me dressed up? I don't have any bathing suit pictures ever. I'm not saying you, but it's a thing now. It's like this eighth grade like, here, check me out. I don't know.
Starting point is 01:33:39 I don't get it. If you looked at some of my friends' Instagram, you probably would not be happy. You act like I haven't looked at your friends' Instagram. You have? What do you think I do? As soon as you fall asleep, I go on your phone and look at all the people you're following. I know.
Starting point is 01:33:53 I know you do. I think the eighth graders need to calm down on the Instagram, is my advice to the kids out there. I mean, all the kids at my school aren't really that bad. All the kids at other schools are horrible. The boys don't do it. You don't see Gabe just like a shirtless selfie picture.
Starting point is 01:34:12 You'd be surprised. Oh God, kill me. Okay. Thanks for coming on. We need to name this segment. What's it called? Teen Culture Watch? No. No. Boo. Boo. on we need to name this segment what's it called teen teen culture watch no no boo it seems like a fireside chat with zoe simmons i don't know what fire it's like an intro chat teens in it has to end with inside i found out what about for realsies i like that oh yeah for
Starting point is 01:34:42 realsies all right would that be on your podcast well we'll see we'll call it for realsies? I like that. Oh yeah, for realsies. All right. Would that be on your podcast? Well, we'll see. We'll call it for realsies. Whoever did that, good job. Nephew Kyle, I have a really embarrassing picture of him from when he was like nine years old. Oh my gosh, yeah, I saw that. So do I put that on my Twitter or the ringer Twitter? Which one do I do?
Starting point is 01:35:01 Both. Okay. That's the best picture I've ever seen. How did you get this? She's texted me the other day. It's of him with a bowl cut. You had a bowl cut. My parents used to cut my hair. Unbelievable. Your cousin.
Starting point is 01:35:16 Can I post a picture on your Twitter of you when you were a kid? Because I guarantee everyone would be surprised. It's not great. He looks like a girl. I did have a bowl haircut at one point. A bull haircut. It was like a haircut that went to your shoulder. You were in Boston all week.
Starting point is 01:35:30 Oh, yeah. Shout out to Boston. Dunkin' Donuts, shout out to you. Yeah. Zoe, as always, a pleasure. A pleasure. I'll see you at the house. All right, that's it.
Starting point is 01:35:41 Thanks to ZipRecruiter. Don't forget to go to ZipRecruiter.com Slash BS Don't forget about Against All Odds with Cousin Sal I'm going to be on that this week And don't forget about The Rewatchables We did Forrest Gump last week
Starting point is 01:35:52 People love that one Devil Wears Prada Coming up this week And then A week from this week July 4th The one I'm most excited about The most excited I've been since heat
Starting point is 01:36:04 For a Rewatchables podcast, Jaws. Oh, yeah. Me, Sean Fantasy, Chris Ryan. This might be our first three-hour Rewatchables. Wesley Morris, we miss you. We wish you could have been in this one. Anyway, back later in the week with more BS podcasts. Until then.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.