The Bobby Bones Show - 25W: Walking in on Eric Church Mid-Massage with Joe Vardon + What Matthew McConaughey is Really Like + Is this 9x9x9 Challenge Actually Doable? + Why Kickoff Kevin Misses the Old Tom Brady

Episode Date: May 18, 2026

Joe Vardon from The Athletic joins Bobby to talk about NBA storylines, including LeBron’s future, what could happen with Giannis, and how the Cavs have turned things around. He also shares the hilarious behind-the-scenes story of accidentally walking in on Eric Church mid-massage. Plus, Bobby gets into what Matthew McConaughey is really like after meeting him and whether he feels more like a character or just a regular guy. The guys also break down the 9x9x9 challenge, debate if it is actually doable, and Kickoff Kevin explains why he misses the old Tom Brady before the fashion shows and post-retirement spotlight. Follow the Show: @25WhistlesSports  Follow the Crew: @MrBobbyBones @ProducerEddie @KickoffKevin @MikeDeestro @BrandonRayMusic See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. There was no anything inside those eyes. They turned black. It scared the hell out of me. Evil, wake up. I'm the one that saw the murder take place by Krivac and DePippo. Anthony DePippo showed no signs of remorse,

appearing unfazed after being sentenced to the maximum. I said I'm not guilty. I'll take it to the grave. Listen to the devil's quarry in the Bone Valley Feed on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. It's that time to put on your jersey and wave your flag, whoever you root for. Why do I watch the walk up? That's like asking me, why do I breed? And it's beautiful.

The guys are young and cute and fat. It's not just a game. It's your culture. I like watching it. with my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots.

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Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby is presented by CVS. All right, listen up. The Jonas Brothers here. Our podcast is called Hey Jonas. We're here since everyone has a podcast, we want it to as well. And we've had some incredible guests so far. And now our good friend Nile Horn is joining the show. How's it going, boys?

Hey, Niall. It was the same thing with Slow Hands. Slow Hands is not about anything else, really, is it? You know, or taste so good can't be about food. You do the same, Nick, with some of the stuff that you've done. You too, Joe. Drop what you're doing and listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Everybody, welcome to the show.

Mike, hit that whistle. Who are you are? Episode 1113. We stop counting episodes. For those that don't know, this whole show started because I agreed to do 25 episodes, that's it. That's why it's called 25 whistles. Literally. Sometimes I forget to like reset that because it's so normal to us. But whenever years ago when Draft Kings first started, they said, hey, will you do a three times

a week show? I don't think I have the capacity for that. Well, will you do 50 shows? I don't, I'll do 25. And then obviously now we're at like one million. That's crazy. Yeah. So that's why it's called 25 whistles.

I'm glad everybody's here. Whistles blown. And that's why it's a whistle because we would start the show. Yeah, everybody had a whistle. Yeah. We used to all wear them the whole time. Yes. Yeah.

First season. Speaking of the gold whistle that you got, that you got us. You pawned it. No. No. No, I saw, I heard a whistle in my house yesterday. And I was like, oh, that's cool. They found a whistle.

Somebody had found my gold whistle, which was in my office, in its case, my little seven-year-old found it. And they were like playing with it. He's like, can we use it for our game? Like, no. Put it back. After our first season, I got everybody gold whistles. Yeah.

Those are like 400 bucks each. I know. And I was like, put that back in the box. They're legit. Yeah. A couple things. One, those Netflix fights were awful. So bad, dude.

And I'm not a UFC guy. Or I should say MMA guy. I'm very much a casual MMA guy. But you're like the guy. I love UFC. I love MMA. Bare knuckle fighting. All of it.

Dude, this one, I got suckered into it. I don't even know why I watched it. It was free, though. I get it. But there was also a UFC fight night going on on whatever, Paramount, whatever it's on. And so I watched all of that, and I was like, okay, it's perfect timing. By the time that one ends, it's going to be time for the Nate Diaz fight.

And it was perfect timing to watch Nate Diaz just get his butt kicked. Iceland made half a million dollars because they released how much money everybody made from the fights. I think he was the third highest paid. I think it was Rousie, Carrano. I think Nate Diaz was third. So no matter what happens, he gets paid that money. Yeah, but boxers are like that too. Yeah.

But that's not UFC. I'm not sure how UFC works. again, I'm such a casual. UFC is a win basis. Like, you get paid on how much you get paid is based on if you win or not. Plus, you get bonuses for knockouts. But that's only for like the mid card guys, right? Like, I think the guys or girls that are in the main events are getting a set amount.

Plus, if you can negotiate it, you also get, when it was pay-per-view time, like a percentage of the paper views. Interesting. I don't think those people are fighting for less than a guaranteed X millions of dollars. Okay. But I can understand some of the mid and low-tier guys with that being the case. What's the whole exclusivity to UFC, though? Like, Nate Diaz maybe is done with the UFC, so is his contract free? Now he can do something like this, because I don't know what league this was.

MVP. MVP? Because Jake Paul, right? It was his promotion. So these guys can just fight now, like Nate Diaz isn't part of UFC anymore? He wouldn't be able to fight for MVP if he was UFC. But then some of these refs, they're UFC refs? Maybe they're universal refs?

I don't know. But it's weird to me to see, like, all these days. different, like, PFL is a different MMA league, UFC, different MMA league, now MVP. It's funny to see, like, everybody that's intertwined in all these, some of the same refs. If you're

a fighter, UFC is the organization that if you're contractually obligated to, you can't fight outside of it. Got it. I'm not sure if the union, the referee union, I don't know, the rules. But, yeah, I don't know, dude. I just thought it's kind of sucked. Dude, the Nate Dia is, like, I feel like that was just a paycheck. I don't

I don't think he felt like it was just a paycheck. I don't think he was ready for that fight. I don't think he prepared for that fight. Domination, though. And what sucks about him, though, is that even if he does fight a good fight, he looks like he loses every time because his face bleeds, because of all this scar tissue that he has from fighting for so long, that one good punch just makes his face look like he got his butt kicked. For me, the main event was the Ronda Rousey, Gina Carrano fight, and she hadn't fought in a decade or maybe 17 years.

and Rousey had them fight. And so it was cool because they were both famous. Yeah. And it lasted 17 seconds. This is crazy, an arm bar, done, tap out. The only thing I saw instantly was that it was rigged. Did you see all that? The videos of them doing like sparring before the fight

and saying that they were going over the plot and what was going to happen. If it were rigged, no chance that ends in 17 seconds. If it were rigged, it's like a mid, late first rounder. We got to make this seem legit. The people that were saying that, because I saw it too, I roll emoji because if you're going to rig something

you at least want it to look like it's not rigged Right And what are they talking about? Practicing the move So when there's another fight going on The broadcasts like panned in on Ronda You know warming up in her locker and stuff like that And then it looked like she did exactly how the fight went Which is she was rehearsing what she was going to do

Yeah of course they do it all the time Like they show the room They're practicing their grappling moves So I wouldn't doubt she was actually practicing that move And it worked Well that's also her move Yeah, that's her. That's Ronda Rousey's signature move.

Right. Yeah, if you're going to rig something, you don't have it in in 17 seconds. Yeah, you got to make it last a little bit, right? Did you see all the faces in the crowd just like, what? But also, like, they are not in shape. Like, Gina Carano was not ready to fight. No. Again, I had been, I'm just picking out a number.

I feel like they said it had been like 17 years since she fought. And good for them. They got people to care about it. But it was, from my perspective, a poorly run night. And I'm not sure why, because I don't know enough about it. The fights were all first-round knockouts. The big fight lasted 17 seconds. Maybe it was one of many, and they get better from here.

But I don't want to spend much time on it. But I was very underwhelmed. 2009 was their last fight. Rondas? No, Gina. That'd be 17 years then, right? Yeah. Something else in sports that people, a mass amount of people aren't super dedicated to,

but I thought the headline was so interesting. Obviously, I'm watching a lot of college softball because Arkansas is good, and my brother-in-law is the... assistant head coach. Texas Tech was playing in a game. They were playing Ole Miss. In softball, they have seven innings. So bottom of the seventh, Texas Tech is up.

They're down eight zero. Okay, so they're the home team. Final abat, they're down eight zero. They get out number one done. They get out number two. They're one out away from losing eight zero. They get it hit. They get a hit.

They get a hit. Some runs. Grand Slam. They scored eight runs. With two outs in the bottom of the last inning. No way. And then they end up winning in extra innings. No way.

So the stat was this century, teams were zero and six hundred forty when trailing by eight plus runs in an NCAA softball tournament game. It's now one in six hundred forty. Texas Tech was down eight runs with one out left. They just ding, ding, hit, hit. They were down four in the girl hit a grand slam. I didn't watch the whole inning. I turned it on because I kept seeing the scores go up.

and I said, let me check. I couldn't believe it. That's crazy. Like, regardless, if you're under baseball, softball, to be down eight runs in just the last inning and to come back and win, it's crazy itself. But to have two outs, the girl that's pitching for Ole Miss

had like 150 pitches to that game, and they didn't take her out. She's in there the whole time. They never took a game. Oh, my gosh. That could be part of it. I've never seen anything like that before. I understand why she starts the inning.

She'll shut them down through six. Yeah, I get it. After that Grand Slam? Well, Grand Slam, it's 8-8. It's tight anyway. After like two or three, it's like, all right, let's get out here. Let's close this thing out. Dang.

They need to one out. It's a wildest thing I've ever seen. That's pretty wild. The only thing I think of there is making a bet on that and being like, got this one. Then going back and like, what? I know. Did you guys see the Matthew McConae story? Nope.

Okay, I've met him maybe twice. Odd, dude. Right? Odd guy. I've met him a few times. Yeah. Always odd experience. Odd how, like awkwardly social.

or? What do you mean? Awkwardly social. Like is he just not very like. No, he's like, what do you think he is? What do you expect him to be? His character's like, hey, man, what's up?

That's what he's like. Okay, okay. That's exactly what he's like. Yeah. A point in his favor is he's exactly what he is showing you that he's exactly like, which isn't always the case. But sometimes I roll my eyes at him

because the story came out that he did not adjust well to fame so he moved to Peru and lived for 22 days without electricity and went by Mateo. I love it. That was in his book. His book, yeah. Oh, it was? Mateo!

I love this, dude. From Variety, Matthew McConaughey once fled the country to live amongst people who didn't know who he was and to get his feet back on the ground. And I've told you the story of where he fought the village. Is this the same Mateo time? Yes, the village giant, right? who had beat everyone that's come through that village. And so Matt goes in there. He's like, I want to fight him.

And Matt fights him. You have to read the book to find out what happened. But again, I was told the book wasn't all true. Yeah. There's definitely some fabrications to it. I imagine it's like that. At the end of 22 days, the tears in their eyes and the tears in my eyes and the hugs we had and the sadness and happiness of saying goodbye,

we're all based off the man they met named Mateo, who had nothing to do with the celebrity. It reaffirmed my own identity that I still got it. This is based on me. You know what's funny, too, a little fun fact about that, about that time period is he was feeling like a lot of that, right? Hollywood was kind of taken over his life. So to get grounded again, him and the guy that plays Rip in Yellowstone. Cole Houser.

Cole Houser and one of the other guys from Days Confused went like on a European bike ride. It would just be cool to have that much time and money. Yes. When I hear this, I don't think, that's crazy. I think you didn't have a job. And if you don't have a job, how did you have that money to do that? Because it had been fun to be able to do that in my 20s and 30s. That would have been awesome.

I don't have the time or the money. And if I had the money, I definitely didn't have the time. And if I had the time, that meant I didn't have the money because I was working. So when I hear stories like that, I'm so even jealous because that meant they were free. They made a little money. And they were like, screw it. We don't have a nine to five. Let's go for three weeks and go ride our motorcycles.

Go for three months. Who cares? Acting. Yep. Yeah. So I don't hear crazy. I hear that would be awesome. And then I get jealous because my job was something I had to commit to like anybody else does with the normal job.

Like when do we ever get a month? Yeah. And our whole life. To go do whatever you want. To go do something. Yeah. And then you get to be an adult with kids and we all know what that's like. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah.

What's your. Well, when you met him, what was it? What happened? He didn't smell very good. Yeah, body hour. B-O. But he was nice. I could see him being a guy that doesn't wear deodorant.

I don't even know if that's a current thing, like, not sure. But back then when we met him, yes, it was a known thing that he didn't wear deodorant. He was living in a trailer for some movie he had called Sahara, I think. Do you guys? Mike, you remember that movie? Yeah, so he was doing a promo for that. Again, he was a nice guy. odd, but it was just like you would think he would be whenever you see him on TV going,

I'd like to thank my hero, me in the past. You're like, wait, what? Or whatever he said to him. Yeah, I saw him in a concert and he was like, wow, he's standing right over there and like, let me see if I get a picture with him. And I went up while the concert was going, he's there with a buddy and said, hey, Matt, can I get a picture? He's like, not right now, buddy man.

Not right now. Really? Because he knew it opened the floodgates, right? And I was like, respectfully, dude, got it. Dang. Well, he did call you buddy man. Buddy man. I've never heard buddy man before

It was just like It was such a Matthew McHanay thing He sounded just like him right now I will say that Have you seen that video Where these girls are leaving a Texas game And he's right behind him in his pickup truck He's right next to him in the pickup truck

And then goes like oh my gosh There's Matthew McHanay She zooms in And he's just driving the truck Like they're stuck in traffic And he's looking forward And then he realizes somebody's looking at him He looks over like

Like what? Are you looking at me? And then just waves at him And then just keeps looking forward again So funny, dude. He's a character. And that's just how he is in real life. I would think he's playing a character off-screen,

except for, I think I met him twice, and he was the same type of person. Same guy. Which is cool. Yeah, yeah, I agree. It's cool. I just don't believe his stories when he wrestles the town giant. And then comes back as a new man.

It's crazy because Eddie doesn't read books, and he read that book. That's the crazy story. It's not even McConaughey fighting the town giant. Eddie reading a book, but that's the one he read. You know, what's crazier, too, is my mother-in-law gives me a book every Christmas. I don't read any of them. That's the only one I've read. She gave you that one?

Yeah. Oh, nice. Okay. It is a good one. Like, you think she would learn, like, Eddie's not going to read this book. Do you tell her you don't read them? Nope. Okay, then she might think you like to read it.

Does she ever ask you? She never follows up either. Like, did you read that book? Pride is like love. You feel it in your heart. IR. Radio. Canada's number one streaming app for radio and podcasts, including IHart Pride, Canada. Your favorite.

hits and must have party bangers, plus personalized and curated playlists, like back in the day pride. Come together, celebrate love. Take pride with you anytime, anywhere. Just ask your smart speaker to play IHart Pride Canada. Stream us on your phone or listen now at iHeartRadio.ca. In the moment, it felt like it was going on forever. I didn't think I was going to live. I was terrified.

There was no anything. Inside those eyes, they turned black. It scared the hell out of me. That was your first murder case? Yes, sir. Fear to say this was the biggest case of your career? Yes, sir. Rape a murder for a child.

Just as bad as it gets. I would think so. Evil, wake up. I'm the one that saw the murder take place by Crevent and DePippo. Anthony DePippo showed no signs of remorse, appearing unfazed after being sentenced to the maximum. I said I'm not guilty. I'll take it to the degree.

Listen to the Devil's Quarry on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear The Devil's Quarry ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. Together, we're going to have meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people, like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce, challenges. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I love the sounds, the buzzing from the stadium, the chanting from the fans, the announcers calling the place soccer, football, at home. Why do I watch the World Cup? That's like. asking me, why do I breed? I inherited that fandom from my mom. I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernando Chavari,

and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. We go beyond the game to the people and the stories that make it great. A soccer game is a festival. It's not just a game.

It's your culture. I took an elbow. to my head, which cracked my skull. It is an American game. The Brazilians don't like hearing that, though. Are they the only ones that don't like that? Nobody likes that. As we get ready for the Men's World Cup this summer,

listen to American Football as part of the My Coutura Podcast Network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's going to rain every day this week. I heard. That sucks. I wanted to play golf at some point. I don't even know what I'm doing. We've got to play golf in that big event.

I know. Hey, we got to get better. With a bunch of clients, and I'm just terrible. When is it? I've not played golf since we played our tournament. July last year. Oh, our tournament. Yeah, me versus you.

I still think about that tournament a lot. We played a three-day tournament, just Eddie versus myself, to see who the better golfer was, and I won. I got the trophy in my office still. We can play again this year. It's funny. I would love to, because it's funny when I watched the majors, I think about us. You know, whenever I see like a golfer. When I see a golfer come back, I keep thinking like, that totally could have been me.

Like, I should have come back and won that. You should know, and you didn't. I got close. Water. Water. Eddie started to be rude on the course. So we got to do that. And then I got invited.

Did I tell you to go out and do that pebble? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you talk about it here? I talked about it. Dude, I don't know. I do 11 podcasts. I don't know where I say. Right.

So I'm catting in that one? I don't think so. I think as of right now, as of right now, because if we go, I'm going to have to get a house. Yeah, perfect. And my wife and child are going to go. Oh, that's not good. And she's going to need help. And so her grandparents are probably going to come.

Oh, you can tell me, I can help. I'm catting her the day. So I invited my father-in-law. Oh, great. He's never played pebble, and I was like, you can go play pebble. I'm going to speak to a bunch of kids, too. Okay. And so.

That's a real reason you're going up. That's a real reason. No, no way, dude, playing golf. Yeah. That's a real reason. There's a senior tournament, and they do a big, they bring out celebrities. It's weird. Dude, you're a celebrity.

I hear you. Whatever you think. I literally don't feel that way. So they do that, but they want me to come out like a day before and talk to these kids. So they're like, you come out and you can play. What's that real, there's a course that, it's a real fancy club. At Pebble? No, it's not Pebble.

Because I've already played Pebble, but they were like, when you talk to these kids, if your father-in-law wants to play Pebble, he can go out and play. like no problem the course will be empty and then well you're talking about a course there yeah the spyglass okay that's where monterey peninsula the tournaments at montere peninsula okay freaking great course dude it's amazing amazing there's another one though that's a private club spike glass we say spyglass yeah it's not one of those that is so hard to get on and they're like you should come out and play that but i have to go i'm gonna go but your second round pick that's fine you know what though we need child care to come with this and that's why we the grandparents would want to come. When you said your father-in-law, it's like, I surrender to that. Like, let him do it. He would love that.

Preserve? No, but it's something like that. Tahama? No. Cyprus point? Cyprus. That's it. Yeah. Whenever they play the tournament, you can see CP next to a player. What does it say the dues are? Let's see. Like if you look up, it's not even dues, it's always the entry fee that gets you. Like the entry fee at Cyprus. This is to be a member? Yeah. Yeah. Because apparently it's pretty tough. Out of my lead. I'd say $250,000.

That's entry fee? The initial fee. And then what are the dues? Does it say? It doesn't say the dues. And the dues would be your yearly? It's $350 to $500 per round. Oh, back it up.

Okay. So to be part of a member, because obviously I'm not a member at a club, you have to pay an entry fee, which is usually expensive. Like for this, in this case, $250,000. $1,000, right? Then you pay a monthly fee to be a member on top of the entry fee? I'd just tell you how it works where I go. So I had to pay like, because mine's nothing like this, but I had to pay like 50 grand. And it also floats, right?

When the club, it's like dynamic pricing. When they can't take really any more members, the fee goes up. So if they have like 10 member spots left and that's it, the feed go in. If a bunch of leave or die or they've like made the club bigger or they bat at a second course, who knows. So dynamic pricing, sort of. When I got in, I think it was during COVID. So that was low-press? No, I think everybody was trying to get in.

Yeah, because it was outdoors probably, huh? Something you can do, right? The entry fee at my club was like 50 grand. I don't know what it is now. And then we... That's a one-time entry fee. For the entry fee. Got it.

And then we have to pay like $2,500 a month. just to be a member. Yep. And then we have to spend because you automatically get charged like $250 a month for food. Now you go and you use it, you have spend it anyway. It's credit? No.

So. This is crazy, dude. It's like $250 a month. And if you go, you get $250 to eat because they're going to charge you for $250 anyway. Okay. Okay. So you get your paying $250 a month for food.

Yeah. And if you don't use it, They just charge you anyway. Okay. Got it. So go use it. Yeah. Okay.

And then golf, you pay separately for that? No. If you bring a member, like every time I bring you, I have to pay like $150. Dang, dude, really? Uh-huh. But if I... But you're covered. Yeah, through my monthly fee and my...

Okay, got it. Yeah. But if I bring a guest, that's a fee every time. So when Mike says like $350, whatever it is, that's if you remember and you bring a guest, that's what it costs. Can you go there just to eat? Oh, yeah. Okay. Just making sure.

Not only that, and we don't use all the parts of our club, but there's a pool. but there's a pool. Yeah, that's what it's going to ask. Tennis. Piquel ball? Ours doesn't have tennis. Oh, it doesn't? I just, I don't know.

Like, I can't think of a scenario where like, I mean, I like to play golf by myself. So that sounds fun, I guess. Like if it's, but that's just a lot of money, dude. Yeah, but if you had the money out of you would do it. You love golf. And it's, I'm not fighting for it because there's a lot of money. And I haven't played golf in almost a year with my ankle and then baby. So it's like just pissing away money.

Yeah. But it's also the ability. to kind of get on whenever you want up to a point. And you just book through an app and everybody knows you. I have a locker. I mean, it's just also a community. But I don't do the community stuff, really. Yeah, that doesn't say a lot of those guys are like friends.

And this is like a social thing for them, right? Like I joined that club because it was close. That's really the only reason. But we have a bunch of friends that are like other clubs. And they always go and hang out and stuff. And we're just kind of like, we don't go there. My wife doesn't even go up there at all anyway. She's like, she's nothing.

She doesn't even go out there at all. If she wants to play golf, she's covered, right? She's part of the family. So if she wants to play golf, that's covered? Mm-hmm. Okay. Is there an age range? It's anybody in the family.

Okay. So you have like a six-year-old kid or you can bring them on there? A what? Like your boy? A girl? Yeah. Yeah, it's family. That's cool.

With a family package. So I can't be like an uncle? I don't think uncle's covered. Uh-uh. Immediate family. Okay. There are some courses in town like, what is the name of that course? Trubidor?

Thank you. That it's not really a dues. It's not really an entry fee. You have to have property. Oh, so you get to live on it. You got to buy like a $2, $4 million patch of property, and then you're a member there. There may be a little due issue too, but there's no entry fee. And then don't they have to accept you?

Like, do you got to like... If you have property, I think you're in unless for some reason they demand you not be in. Which I'm sure those are out there. But that's like a whole different level. My neighbor told me the other day, his father-in-law is at Trubidor a member. And he's like, anytime you want to go, let me know. And I'm like... That place is awesome.

It's super fun. You don't have to wear a collared shirt. We don't have to wear a shirt. You don't have worn any shoes. No, that's not true. You can't go there in no shirt. Gene cutoffs. I played it a bunch.

And nor have I, I've not seen anyone shirtless, but you can't wear a gene cutoffs. Really? You can wear a T-shirt. You can do whatever you want. That's awesome. Is it Justin Thomas? He designed it, right? He lives out there.

I don't know if he designed it. But I've played probably 10 times out there. Wow. It's just a long drive. Did you look for all the hidden alcohol? No, that's what he's going to do. Everybody knows what it is. It is.

Their shacks of their food is really great. And those properties, because it's a company, and I've played a few of them around the country, because the one in Austin that we played, the same property. Oh, Driftwood. Yeah. And I've played one in, like, the Bahamas in their own, it's the same ownership. But if you remember one, you remember ball. Oh, that's cool.

That's awesome. Dang. Yeah, that's like the deal my kids have with their golf pass. All the city courses all over the country, they're covered. Exactly the same as Trubador. Same. work. Yeah.

So we can be in Cincinnati and we're like, dude, give me your private, your public course. Perfect. I think you, I think you'd be someone who would like to be a member of a club because of the social part, though. Dude, you kidding me. I don't want to hang out with people. You do like to hang out with people. You're a people person.

But I don't know. You'd find other dads. You go golfing by yourself. Think of the small talk. Yeah, dude, you would love small talk. You would go up for the events. They have events all the time. You'd go up for the events.

But lately, I don't know, dude. Lately, I've been in this small talk thing where like, there's a limit. Two minutes small talk. and then I'm like, I gotta go. Yeah, but you'd find friends that you played golf with and up there.

You're right, because every time when I'm at your club, I see other dads. Eddie, like, sees people he knows every time. Jake, what's up, dude?

Yeah, it's literally how we do every time. I saw my basketball practice last week. That's true, that's true. Hey, speaking of golf, I didn't know the guy who won the PGA. Aaron Raj? I know.

I'm more than a casual. I'm not a super, but I'm a mid, and I didn't know the guy. He's a dude that's just been around, but no, doesn't really win a lot. British dude,

what I learned about him is that he wears two gloves. I didn't know that. I didn't even notice he did that. So he starts winning and they got to tell stories about him because nobody knows who he is. So humble background would wear two gloves. He's from the UK. So whatever country that he's from in the UK,

maybe, well, say England, could be Scotland for the sake of it. He wore two gloves because it was cold when he played. Oh, really? So keep his hands warm. and his dad, he keeps iron covers on all the time. His dad, they didn't grow up with a lot of money. So when they could afford a set and his dad like extended himself hard to buy him a nice set, his dad would clean the clubs after every round.

So he put iron covers on it. Wow. And they also said that he is the nicest guy on tour. Nobody will argue that. Well, there you have it then. It's a lot of pressure. He got my vote. They'll say they hit some digging for that one, didn't they?

You're right. So when someone that nobody knows is winning, And like, where do they get all those stories from? Are they just like, dude, dig, dig, dig? I'm sure they have PAs that, first of all, probably have a little bit on everybody. But day one, it's mostly the big guys because that's all who they're following. Yeah. But once it gets to day two, day three, they're probably doing deeper research on all the folks that could have a chance.

Because I bet you the folks that get cut and you don't know, they never even have bios written about them. Or at least not extensive things that the announcers would have to know. But going into day three, if everybody probably has some. something on them, especially in the top half because they could be in contention. Yeah, and round four, you had a bunch of no-nameers, Smalley and this German guy. Schmid? Yeah, I had never seen before. But would you rather have a no-nameer win kind of cool or one of the bigger guys win?

That's tough because, like, the underdog in me likes to see the underdogs win. Yeah. But it's the big guys who bring the ratings. Like, if I'm a network, I need the shufflers. I want the speeds. the names, the Rory's, the names that people know to win because that's what keep eyeballs. But like, as a dude that's just going to read a headline, it's fun to see those guys win. But it's not good for the game that underdogs win.

I agree, man. And there was, what, 150 players playing? Like, that was maybe more, maybe 170? I didn't realize, but that's got to be the most out of all the majors. 170 players to start a tournament is a lot. It's like the Bucks won in the NBA championship, the finals. Like it's a small market team nobody really cares about. Yeah.

Cool. It's a good story, but it's like, ah, you'd rather see the Lakers or the Celtics or people with real stars. What about the Spurs? Now, yes. Now, yes, because he's top five biggest star in the NBA now. I did see with the MVP vote, the top five were foreign. That's crazy.

There hasn't been an American MVP in, I think, five or six years. Really? Yeah, because when I looked at... So, She's Canadian, right? He is. When I looked at the voting, number one was Shea. He won it again. And then I'm going to probably mess up to order, but Yokic was two.

I believe Wimby was three. Am I right still? Yep. I'm just going from memory here. At four, I think, was Wimbunyama. I think he was three. Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. Hey, Wimby and Wembe Yombe Yombe. He's a big dude, you know. Good point.

Luca was four, I believe. He broke him in half. Luca was four and Yonis was? No, no, no. Was Yonis five? It was a foreigner. Let me think here. What other foreigners are? He's right about four.

It was, Luca? Yes. Okay. Five of the foreigner, right? No. Okay, so it's top four then. Then I'm wrong. Okay.

Well, the top four were foreigners. So who's five? Cade, Cunningham. Oh. Pistons. Okay. Okay. That's what I mean, that's crazy dude.

Are these international guys? I mean, it's not quite fair. You have the United States versus the whole world. Yeah, but we created it. We've had it for much longer. I know. Yeah, Hardin and 18 was the last one, American. Did you say?

see Rory be a total pud, and get the guy kicked out of the PGA? I saw something about it, but I didn't see the clip, a USA Chan or something? So it was after he had hit.

So he swings, and the guy goes, USA, and Rory goes, get him out of here. Really? He's done that before, you know. It wasn't during his swing.

And I see more and more players saying, get him out of here. Like, I don't know that's just my TikTok algorithm or what, but I've seen a Algorithms,

get him out of your situations? I've seen a lot of players. I saw one video where it was just all compilation of a bunch of players being like, get him out of here. Hey, who did that? That guy right there. Get him out. Basketball does that a bunch. Yeah.

But those fans, they think. Basketball fans in particular, I feel like, you can get away from with everything. You're okay to yell anything you want after a swing at a golf event. Well, not anything. Well, nothing like that. I didn't feel like when the guy yelled USA, it was worthy of him getting kicked out. But again, I didn't have the full context of it. I just saw the clip.

Maybe there's some before that? Before that, Roy's kind of a pud. And when he's not playing well, I think he starts to frizzle and find outside factors that he can blame it on. But I still like that. Yeah, I think he's got that reputation, doesn't he? Yeah. A little bit. Yeah, I think more and more you start seeing him, like, not give a crap about what he does.

Well, I got bad news. I was about to join Liv. Oh, you were? Yeah, and then they went down. Yeah, dude, sorry. I was over $40 million for one year. Dude, you remember, like, did the money they were making? was unbelievable.

Like, people were just, I would never take me. Like, that's a lot of money. Somebody out of you half a billion dollars. Get out of here. I look at Cam Smith and I'm just like, dude, that guy's so rich. Oh, yeah. Like, dude is so rich because he went to live. We'll take a break.

Come back, talk to Joe Varden. We'll talk, LeBron, NBA finals, basketball. All that's coming up. Pride month, Toronto. Pride is an opportunity for you to create your own space. To celebrate your existence. I-HartRadio, is proud to be an official sponsor of Pride Toronto Festival, and we won't stop.

Celebrate Pride. Turn up the love and listen to IHeart Pride Canada. Your 24-7 radio stream and the only playlist you need for your Toronto Pride celebrations. Pride is so great because it gives a whole bunch of people this visibility that they've never had before. We have a ton to celebrate Toronto. Happy Pride. Iheart Radio. In the moment, it felt like it was going on forever.

I didn't think I was going to live. I was terrified. There was no anything inside those eyes. They turned black. It scared the hell out of me. That was your first murder case? Yes, sir. Fear to say this was the biggest case of your career?

Yes, sir. Rape a murder for a child. Just as bad as it gets. I would think so. Evil, wake up. I'm the one that saw the murder take place by Crevent and DePippo. Anthony DePippo showed no signs of remorse, appearing unfazed after being sentenced.

to the maximum. I said, I'm not guilty. I'll take it to the grief. Listen to the devil's quarry on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear the Devil's Quarry ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Love for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby.

Together, we're going to have meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people, Like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenges. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer. And that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I love the sounds. The buzzing from the stadium, the chanting from the fans, the announcers calling the place, soccer, football, at home. Why do I watch the World Cup? That's like asking me, why do I breed? I inherited that fandom from my mom. I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force.

From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernanda Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. We go beyond the game to the people and the stories that make it great. A soccer game is a festival. It's not just a game. It's your culture. I took an elbow to my head, which cracked my skull. It is an American game. The Brazilians don't like hearing that, though. Are they the only ones that don't like that? Nobody likes that. As we get ready for the Men's World Cup this summer, listen to American Football as part of the MyCultura podcast network,

available on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, let's welcome in Joe Varden, senior NBA writer for The Athletic, based in Cleveland, someone who's covered the league from a lot of different angles. One of my favorite writers, he's written about a bunch about LeBron, the Cavs, Team USA, the NBA playoffs, and you can check out his work, The Athletic, which I'm a big subscriber. You can follow him on on social media at Joe Varden. Joe, appreciate you coming on with us. I got to ask you the LeBron question first. Like, what's happening with LeBron? I'm just going to leave it vague.

Like, what's happening with LeBron right now? I mean, we're doing a lot of talking these days around Cleveland, wondering if he's going to show up for one of these conference finals games, just for the spectacle of it. He's done that before, you know, and I think it was during maybe a contract year with the Lakers. It was a couple years ago, and he just showed up during the series against the Celtics,

and of course, fans went crazy. But, Bobby, I think to your bigger point about what's going to, on with him. The thing that I keep coming back to is he's done so much not only with his own career, but what he's done for the league. And I think the question that he's asking himself now is, what is another year worth to me? Because he's making like $52 million right now. And when his contract expires, he is not going to get anywhere near that from any team, including the Lakers. So what discount is worth, you know, the back-to-backs and the late night flights and the days long of treatment, you know, and the potential for injury? And then whatever team he's on, what does that team look like?

What are their chances? if it's not L.A., is it worth being away from his wife and from Zuri, his daughter, you know, for months at a time? So I'm not saying that the answers to those questions isn't yes or that there is a number that he can be comfortable with. But it's like we talk all the time, you know, we list Cleveland as one of the places that he could come and finish his career. Well, okay, barring massive moves by the front. office that would reduce the quality of this team, LeBron would have to walk in and make $6 million, which to you and I might be allowed. Maybe to you, it's not a lot. To me, it's a lot. But, you know, is he going to walk in there with the history that he has in this, with this franchise in the

city and with the owner, Dan Gilbert, and look around and not only know how much, you know, Donovan makes and Harden and Evan and Jared Allen, but he'd be making less than Sam Merrill. Is he okay with that? I don't know. And if it's on another team, if he's making $10 million or even $15 or even with the Lakers and he's making 20,

you know, the guys in the room that are making more than him, he'll know it's because of what he's done for the league. Like this $77 billion media contract that just started this. year. Well, how did the league get that? It was because of what LeBron has done for this league over the last 10 years, 12 years out of his 23-year season, or 23-year career. So I just think that those questions have a lot more to do with this than I think we give them credit for. Wouldn't it be the perfect storybook ending though if, let's say the Cavs end up losing to the

Knicks? Or the Cavs even beat the Knicks and fall short to the Thunder. the spurs. And they're just, they're so close. We need one more piece. And LeBron takes one dollar. For one, for one dollar, he comes in and is, and everybody stays intact. You still got hard and you still got Donovan Mitchell. And he comes in and Cleveland wins it again. Wouldn't that be the perfect storybook ending? It, well, I think, yes. I think, um, of course it would be. And then that is, that is an interesting component of this because for, LeBron's 23 seasons. And this is really a separator, a difference between maybe him and like a Kobe, is LeBron did have this, he always has. He's had this thing where he wants to be liked.

And that's why when he left Cleveland the first time, that first year in Miami was so difficult for him because he was such a villain throughout the league. So I do wonder about that. Like everything LeBrona said about his earning potential and what he's meant to the league, he has always said that he would never do something like that. But if he changed his mind and was pursuing that sort of cementable, like, greatest of all time, you know, and the way he would end his career by doing something like that, that could be worth it to him. It's Dan Gilbert loved in Cleveland right now.

Well, so far, I just posted this story about Dan not only renting out 25 buses and sending 1,400 Clevelanders up here to Detroit, which is where I am talking to you, but also that the night before he had dinner with Kenny Atkinson and some of the front office and was giving like calm, sage advice that turned out to work in game seven. And the reaction so far has been pretty cool to the story. So I think I think insofar as any billionaire is loved

these days, I think that Dan is, would be certainly would be a popular character in the city. He doesn't live there. He lives up here in suburban Detroit. But he is the only living owner to win a major

professional sports title in Cleveland, period. You know, they had won one in 64, with the Browns before there was the Super Bowl. Otherwise, it's just been the Cavs in 16. So he's it. And then beyond that, he just, he's never said no to spending money on this team. And now he's investing in a brand new practice facility on the west side of Cleveland,

near where the flats used to be, still are, you know, it's just different times. And, you know, he had bought up all this property in downtown Cleveland. and done some work with casinos and that sort of thing. And so I think, yeah, I think that when you consider what else is going on in the city with how hard it's been for the Browns and, you know, the Guardians are always competitive, but they're always competitive with a greatly reduced payroll, which is upsetting to fans. Yeah, I think that Dan, I think that Dan really has a place in, Cleveland lore. Do you think the fans that he sent up in all the buses, which by the way,

a perfect move if you're trying to get, you know, the people of Cleveland to love you? Do you think the fans made a difference? So Kenny said they did. I don't know. I, you know, Bobby, I'm going to look at this in a different way. So the Cavs have the most expensive roster in the NBA. and because of that, it can make it difficult to maneuver around the edges or change your team. And Donovan Mitchell is due an extension this summer. And like, do you want to pay that? And there's always questions about coaching, especially if a team doesn't live up to the expectations. And this was an organization that has just failed, I guess, for lack of a better,

term to get out of the second round since it got good again. You know, like they did a nice job recovering from LeBron leaving for the Lakers, but then haven't been able to take that next step for years. So there was a lot riding on this. And that's kind of a big gesture, I think. It's kind of like, you know, going all in or, you know, just whatever poker term you can think of. Like, that to me, like, if, if Dan,

does that and then the score is reversed or even if the cabs just lose um you know he like he could have that like thrown in his face in the community where he lives which is up here so to show that kind of belief in support um in his product and in this this team like kind of says says to me like where he is on the direction of this team and i think he's really i think he approves up it. And I think, you know, that regardless of what happens in these conference finals, against a very, very strong Knicks team, you know, I think we should expect that, you know, that he is, he is happy with the direction of this team and for it largely to remain the same. It felt like the Pistons just did not have enough offensive firepower last night. It's like Kate Cunningham and that's it.

You were there. Your thoughts? Yeah. I mean, I thought that that was the question going into the playoffs for this team. And I thought that in a way the Pistons weren't given enough credit for how well and how hard they played every night during the regular season. But I do think that at some level, that's how they got to the number one seed, is that, you know, in this league where schedules are so different,

depending on who you're playing that particular night, if you have a younger, stronger team that's hungrier, you can just go out and out physical teams in a way that you can't do in the NFL or in Major League Baseball during the regular season. And then that doesn't quite work all the time when you get to the postseason because everybody's schedule is the same. And everybody feels the stakes. And so I thought what was exposed or what we saw from a Detroit team is a team that is discipline, that is huge. that is not afraid of the physicality. But when the chips are down,

doesn't have that reliable enough of the second option behind Cade. And the Cavs just threw all kinds of stuff at him last night. And, you know, that he just couldn't get it going and nobody else really could. I mean, I feel like their second most reliable option offensively was Duncan Robinson. And so, you know, I think there's still more work to be done there. And we still, we forget two years ago, they were, they were not just the worst team in the NBA.

They were one of the worst teams in NBA history. And now we're talking about number one seeds and taking that next step. So let's not lose sight of the fact of how far Detroit has traveled in a very short amount of time. But yeah, I mean, they still have some work to do. And they should, right? Like, you know, they, like, that's too much ground to trap, to cover in three years. And then there is something in the east. There's only one team, Bobby, in the last 10 years that has gotten that number one seed and made it to the finals.

And that was the 24 Celtics. And, you know, Detroit's not quite there yet. The Knicks just had a full week off. Cleveland just came out of the seven game series. It kind of feels like what happened with the Knicks where the 76ers just came out of a seven game series and ran into the Knicks. How are we feeling like as far as this series starting? Does Cleveland going to need a buffer game to kind of get their wheels back? Well, man, look, I don't know when this airs. Today. Today. Okay, today. All right. Good. Well, then, you know, I guess I'm putting myself out

there. I've been through this before. As you mentioned, I've been doing this a while. And I am aware of what happen to the Sixers in game one. But the Knicks did not have anywhere near the layoff going into the conference semifinals that they've had now. And it is my experience that these game ones, when one team is coming off a seven game series and the other team has been off for eight days, that they're a mess. And you're not going to really be able to tell from this first game what the series is going to look like. And I certainly felt that. that way going into the Cavs Piston series, and I know both teams had played a game seven. So all that's a long way to say, I actually think while I'm picking the Knicks in the series,

I think the Cavs are going to win tomorrow night. I think the Knicks are going to look really rusty. They're going to be a little out of sync. And the Cavs have played every other day for two weeks. And they really found something that worked the other night. And they'll probably go out there tomorrow with roughly the same game. plan. And so I kind of think, you know, this series is one-one going back to Cleveland. I know we started with LeBron. I'd kind of like to end back on LeBron. I was thinking about people

who had so much hype. And I think he's probably the most live up to the hype athlete I've ever seen. I mean, Bryce Harper, a guy who had a lot of hype and has had a Hall of Fame career. I think it's LeBron. I think the other guy who have seen hyped up a lot and deserving so far, but still so, we're in the infancy of it as Wimby. But is LeBron? the most hyped and lived up to the hype athlete that you've ever seen? Oh, yeah. I mean, I'll be 46 in September. So, yeah, it's not even close.

In the NBA, we've had some, we've had guys who have come into the league with very similar expectations, which is hard to do. But if you think about a Zion Williamson and the fanfare that followed him and then now I think Wemby although it might be a little different because he's not from the United States and I just think that matters I just there hasn't

been anybody anybody that has been has had so much expectation and just this sort of promise around him that he was going to do these special things in his sport maybe Tiger

but I don't think we were saying Tiger until he won the 97 Masters. And if you think about, so then the expectations placed on him and then he wins, whatever, 14 or 15, I forget now. So maybe Tiger, but then even like Jordan Speath, Rory, like these guys in golf, they go crazy as young athletes and we start

talking about them as the next Tiger. And the reason why I say Tiger, and I know I'm focused on golf and I'm wearing this golf hat, but like Tiger Woods took a sport that was on the fringe and made it mainstream like he changed a whole conversation so I do think he counts and there were people that were supposed to follow him and nobody's really kind of gotten there I think you know we're looking at Caitlin Clark as maybe being able to do that for the WNBA but she didn't have a very good second year you know she was hurt so like she's got a lot of work to do so you can just go all just all the sport sports. You know, Mike Trout, like, for as great as he is, like he's been hampered by injuries, like Shohei, again, Japanese. So it's just a little different when we talk about these expectations and what we're watching. Shoah's been really good and he's a multi-time champion. So maybe he's in that conversation, maybe. But I just, there isn't really any other athlete that compares when you talk about what was expected of him and what he ended up doing.

It's been a remarkable ride, and I've been lucky to have been able to cover so much of it. Yeah, I think of LeBron wearing the Irish jersey in high school on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Like, he's a high school teenager, and it's like, this is the next guy. And turns out they were right. They were right. Which is crazy because, yeah, they're never right. Okay, let me give you one final, final question. What happens with Janus?

Yeah. I think it would be better. I think the bucks should, I think the bucks should trade him. I think they should. I just think that he, the way he carried himself this year was a disappointment. It was. And I think that he caused most of the problems that they had there. And even you could trace Doc Rivers back, like Doc didn't work out so well there.

Okay. But you could trace all that back to Janus. too, so much of what they've done over the last however many years, like the trade for Damien Lillard and like sort of the breaking up of their championship team. All that was done in Janus's name. And so then we get to this point this year where it's obvious that he and his representatives were having discussions with the Bucks about maybe moving on. And then for whatever reason, it doesn't quite work out.

And like, so now he's trying to. save face, but then the way the season ended, it's just, I know it's exhausting to me. And if it's clear there in Milwaukee that they can't win anymore with him, you know, see, see what you can get. Now, I do give them credit for holding their ground because I didn't really like any of the offers that they got at the trade deadline this year. And I expect, I expect there to be more options available to them now. But I think, for all parties involved, I think it's time to do that. So where he ends up, I don't know. But I just think, I do think it's time. And I think it'd be good for the league for the Bucks and for

Janus to just turn the page from this whole story. Joe, appreciate the time. Everybody follow Joe, Joe, V-A-R-D-O-N, Joe Varden, and again, I'm a big athletic subscriber. And I see every month when it resubs on my credit card because it pops up on my phone. You've been billed 999 for athletic. I read all your stuff. I'm a big fan. Thanks, Joe, for the time. Oh, my pleasure. Next time I have a, I have an Eric Church NBA story for you. Okay. So I guess next to the next to do that. I got time now. I'd love to hear it. All right. Well, it's not, I mean, it's really cool to me, and then the fact that like you were having me on, I was really excited about it. So if this lands flat, you know, it's my fault. All right. But I was assigned to the nuggets. And I, uh, and I

do believe this was this was this was this was not when they went to the finals this was i think when they ultimately lost in the conference finals and so i i i flew home from my son's um first communion and then i flew back to denver to rejoin the series and it was an off day and um and so i i you know i'm landing in denver don't know what i'm going to do that night and then it just comes across my phone that there's an air church concert. And I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm in for this. And so, like, I land and I go to, I try to catch practice. I think it was the Blazers have practice at the arena.

And I get in there and I'm late and practice was over. And so I'm just kind of walking through the arena looking for stuff. And I went into the media room thinking I could at least, like, pick up a can of diet Pepsi, you know, see if anybody's in there, see if there's anything. I could get, you know, for work. And the media room had been completely turned over. And like, the lights were low and there were some tables and some candles. I'm like, what, what am I walking into? And sure enough, Eric Church was in there, half naked with a towel over his, over his bottom half, getting a rub down in the Denver Nuggets Media Room. And I walked,

right in on it. So there you go. And did you say anything to a half naked Eric Church laying down getting rubbed down. Oh, sorry. All right, that's good. That's good. You saw him in a way I never have. There you go. There you go. Joe, I hope you have a great week. Thank you so much for spending time with us. Big fan. Thanks, Bobby. Me too. Thanks, Joe. Thanks for having me. Bye. Happy Pride Month, Toronto. Pride is an opportunity for you to create your own space, to celebrate your existence. IHartRadio is proud to be an official sponsor of Pride Toronto Festival and we won't stop.

Celebrate pride. Turn up the love and listen to Iheart Pride Canada. Your 24-7 radio stream and the only playlist you need for your Toronto Pride celebrations. Pride is so great because it gives a whole bunch of people this visibility that they've never had before. We have a ton to celebrate Toronto.

Happy Pride! Iheart Radio. In the moment, it felt like it was going on forever. I didn't think I was going to live. I was terrified. There was no anything in. Inside those eyes, they turned black. It scared the hell out of me. That was your first murder case?

Yes, sir. Fear to say this was the biggest case of your career? Yes, sir. Rape and murder for a child. As bad as it gets. I would think so. Evil, wake up. I'm the one that saw the murder take place by Crevent and DePippo.

Anthony DePippo showed no signs of remorse, appearing unfazed after being sentenced to the maximum. I said, I'm not guilty. I'll take it to the degree. Listen to the Devil's Quarry on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear The Devil's Quarry ad free with exclusive content, subscribe to Lobba for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. Hey, I'm Hoda Kotby, host of the podcast, Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby. Together, we're going to have meaningful conversations with the world's most fascinating people,

like when actress Olivia Munn shared how she overcame fierce health challenge. I've gone through breast cancer and then helped my mother through breast cancer, and that was more difficult. There's a lot of people who understand postpartner depression. I was not prepared for postpartum anxiety. Listen to Joy 101 with Hoda Kotby on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I love the sounds, the buzzing from the stadium, the chanting from the fans, the announcers calling the place soccer, football, at home. Why do I watch the World Cup? That's like asking me. What do I breed? I inherited that fandom from my mom.

I like watching it with my dad. It's a connecting force. From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernando Chavari, and this is American Football, a show about soccer culture in the U.S. and its underdog roots. We go beyond the game to the people and the stories that make it great.

A soccer game is a festival. It's not just a game. It's your culture. I took an elbow to my... head which cracked my skull. It is an American game. The Brazilians don't like hearing that, though. Are they the only ones that don't like that?

Nobody likes that. As we get ready for the men's World Cup this summer, listen to American Football as part of the My Coutura Podcast Network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, thanks to Joe Varden. Before we go, I want to talk about this nine. Have you guys seen this challenge? 9 by 9 by 9 challenge?

No. So the 9 by 9 challenge first is something they do in baseball, which involves nine hot dogs, nine beers, nine innings. And there are now teams that build the tray for it. Oh, wow. So you can go to certain ballparks, and they have the 9 by 9 challenge,

nine hot dogs, nine beers, nine innings. A fantasy football loser had to do the 9 by 9 by 9 challenge. He had to run 9 miles. in one day golf nine holes after he runs nine miles eat nine donuts it's not bad

ready drink nine shots of espresso oh my god he's wired finished nine nicotine pouches wait now we're 999 well there's nine of them

it's nine by nine challenges they probably each got to choose one thing that is terrible complete nine ski runs this is in Vermont I don't know anything about skiing, but it's like just the downhill. Eat nine hot dogs, drink nine beers, and sit through nine innings of baseball to Red Sox game. And how much time?

One day. In one day. That's impossible. Impossible. Impossible. There's no way, dude. As someone who tried to eat, I don't know how many hot dogs. You'd have to think about this.

So let's say the game started at 7 p.m. Yeah. Okay. So you wake up in the morning and you run nine miles first. Okay. How long does that take, Mike? You can do it. Hour 20.

Money. Not for you. Somebody random. So let's say you're doing a 15-minute mile. Yes. And just really be conserved about that. It's already noon. Well, let's say you start at 6, though.

Okay, 6 a.m. Let me do the math here. So what are we thinking? Three hours to do that? Let's see. If we do a 15-minute mile times nine miles, yeah, two and a half hours, roughly.

Do you get a different number than me? Yeah, I got two hours and 15 minutes. Okay, okay. Two and a half. Okay. So then, so that's two and a half hour. So now it's, let's, you have to do it at five minutes. You got to start at 4.30.

Four 30? Yeah, so we'll start at 4.30. You're done by 7 a.m. there. Okay. Now you got to golf nine holes, and that's probably going to take you. Nine? Two hours. Let's be conservative, though. It may not be a good golfer.

Okay. Two and a half hours. Okay, so now it's nine 30. Eat nine donuts. You can be done by 10. Drink nine shots of espresso. That's going to hurt. hurt, but let's just go to 11 a.m.

I don't know how long a single ski run takes. Yeah. I feel like driving there alone and just getting set up. I think it's going to be close to where they live or they wouldn't do it, yeah. But I don't, anybody here goes skiing? No. It could be like 15 minutes to complete. Okay. One? Yeah, 10 to

yeah, 10, 15, 20 minutes. Okay, so let's say it's 20 minutes. It's 180. That's the three hours. So now we're at at, let's just say we're at 2.30 p.m. I'm stressing out already. There's nine nicotine pouches, so you can probably do those while you're doing the ski runs. While you're doing anything.

Oh, yes. But you got to eat the donuts and espresso, though. That's true. Sorry, not anything. Anything, yeah. But it's not going to mix well. The donuts you can do while you're playing golf, you can do while you're... Not true.

So it's 2.30 right now. Let's just say it's 3 p.m. after you finish the nicotine pouches. How many times are you got out? But then you go to the game at 7. So there's time to do this. Oh, my gosh. You got to focus up. There's time to do this.

That sounds miserable. Yeah, that's harsh. It's funny. though. It made the news so you know. Man. The other thing before we jump is I saw Tom Brady walk in the catwalk and the Gucci. Dude, and all leather. Did you see it? Yes.

Dude, what's up with your boy? He's not my boy anymore. He's not my boy anymore. He's killing his winning aura. He is your boy. No, no, no, no, no. He's not my boy anymore. I know Tom Brady as the guy that you didn't know anything about other than he went Super Bowls.

That's the Tom Brady I know. Still the same guy. Still the same dude. He's definitely, because we know all about him. his runways and his girls and his Michael Jackson red jacket that he's wearing now. Now kissing his son in the lips after a little massage is not a big deal, right? I don't even remember that. That feels like so many times ago that now all I think about is what he's doing now.

I saw the picture and I thought it was AI because he was in like all black leather and I thought because Tom Brady is a good looking dude. And you know what? Anybody, have fun. Live your best life. All I'm saying is if you're a Brady football fan, this is kind of killing that. Killing it. Absolutely.

I'm not even being a hater for what he was doing. I'm just saying he was known as the champion quiet assassin. Yeah. Now he is the loud, luxurious, dating influencers model all black, letters. It's weird. Giving commencement speeches in the same day. It's weird. Yeah, I don't mind that so much.

I know. Me neither. I'm just saying like it's just everywhere. It's like he just. Georgetown, right? Yeah. And I saw he was also celebrating with the Aces and their WMBA champion. championship, like all in one weekend he's doing all this, which obviously gives a...

Live your life. Live your life. I mean, that would be real. All that sounds fun. I'd like to do all of it. But Tom Brady, the greatest quarterback of all time, it makes what we thought of as like this dude that just focuses on win championships. It just, we see a different version of him now.

I know. You think the divorce is a big reason? 100%. It has to be, right? It's gotten crazy since the divorce. My wife goes out of town for a weekend. You know what I'm doing? Nine donuts and nine donuts and nine of skis and a ski run.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not hating. I'm just saying it's weird. It's a totally different version of the person that we thought we knew. I agree. I totally agree. I missed the old Tom Brady. And it's not fair because you guys pinned him as this football player. No, no, he did that. Well, okay. Protected his image perfectly. Now we know. One championships.

We know what he's really like. All right, that's it. Thank you guys. Thanks to Joe Varden. Thanks to kick off Kevin and Eddie and Mike with the whistle. Well, and thank you, man. Then me. Thanks to Bobby. Last, at least me. All right, that's it. We'll catch you guys soon. Mike, get that whistle.

All right, bye, everybody. Theme song written by Bobby Bones. That's me. And performed by Brandon Ray. Follow Brandon on socials at Brandon Ray Music. You can follow the show on Instagram at Bobby Bones Sports. Thanks to our crew, co-host at Producer Eddie, segment producer at Kickoff Kevin,

and executive producer at Mike DeStro. But most importantly, thank you for listening. Bobby Bones. We'll talk to you next time here on 25 whistles. There was no anything. inside those eyes. They turned black. It scared the hell out of me. Evil, wake up. I'm the one that saw the murder take place by Crevette and DePippo. Anthony DePippo showed no signs of remorse, appearing unfazed after being sentenced to the maximum.

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