The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Nick Wright Part 2: J.D. Vance, Olympic Boxing Controversy, Internet “Experts”, Conspiracy Theories

Episode Date: August 8, 2024

Colin is joined by Nick Wright, host of “First Things First” on FS1 to NOT stick to sports. They begin by contrasting and comparing the two VP candidates and why J.D. Vance’s actions and language have been incredibly offensive and could hurt the Republican ticket (3:30), and discuss the massive odds swing in the election (14:15). Then they dive into the huge online controversy surrounding women’s Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and why it’s asinine that so many people rush to judgment before having all the facts (23:00). Finally, the end by ridiculing all of the people claiming expertise online over every subject (30:30) and the reasons behind so many people embracing every conspiracy theory under the sun (35:00) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates!  #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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See terms at draftkings.com slash DFS. Welcome into part two of the podcast with Nick Wright. So I'm going to throw this out because you and I, I don't talk a lot of politics. But whatever you do, you go viral, man. The internet had you clocked as a hardcore right winger. It's so weird. I know. You're just old, white, and rich.

That's all. And so because that they just assumed it. So every time you say anything that isn't like MAGA hat wearing Trump or stuff, there are corners of the internet that are just throw parties. Like I think today, that's what I was telling you before the show. Today, you just said like saw Kamala Harris. She wasn't pointing, angry and she was smiling, made me feel good. And there are like important political accounts are like, Colin Goward says why Kamala Harris is going to win the election. They're just so happy about it.

It delights me every time I see it. But go ahead. So I didn't mean to interrupt you, but I'm excited where this is going to go. So it was, first of all, whenever anybody in any situation in life is trying to convince me that something's true too hard. Like, why are you doing that? That's where I'm kind of cynical as a person. Like, if something's, like even when people have pitched me businesses, the couple of businesses, the couple businesses, that I've bought a stake in a business or both times where I really somebody came up and said,

hey, I think you'll like it. I'll send you a deck. I think it's interesting. I've never ever purchased any part of a company when you hard sell me. Same with a car. I'll walk in. I'll tell you what I like. I'm quick.

Cut to the chase. Get me the contract. So, you know, the conservatives are trying to, vice presidents don't decide elections. They can hurt you. They're like baseball managers. They don't win many games. They can lose your games if they lose the locker room.

So Kamala's vice president, Tim Walls, he's not going to, it doesn't really matter because he'll just get out of the way. He's a high school football coach. He was well liked. He's not deciding this thing. They do appear to really like each other. That matters. Yep.

J.D. Vance could hurt you. That's the worst kind of VP pick where he could actually pull a. point or two down or lose you state. So very quickly, he says something about women without kids, and I'm like, you guys are struggling with women. I wouldn't go there. He did something today, and by the time this airs, it will have been discussed ad nauseum by the political pundits. But I thought to myself, oh, oh, I wouldn't do that. So he went to Kamala's plane, Air Force. I saw this too. So they were both planning. And people don't know. They, yeah. His plane and Air Force 2, I guess, is the one she's on, both laying in the same airfield.

And so they both happened to me in the same place. So he walked over. So now you take over and say what happened. And it was so it was almost as if he was trying to kind of intimidate her. And I thought, time out. You already pissed off a lot of women who, by the way, would love children, but they can't have them. Well, I've known. Right.

So that's the go ahead. So that's first. Then you combine it with, I'm going to try to intimidate our potentially first female president. And I really thought, oh, Christ, Trump may have, this could like, this is a baseball, this is Bobby Valentine taking over the red socks, pissing off Dustin Padroia. And he was gone like 30 games later. It was like, holy God, this is a day. And I think to myself, no. because I tend to be moderate, but lean left.

I'm not going to overreact. It's just a vice president. They don't matter. But I saw that and I thought, that's really bad judgment. Am I overreacting? No, listen, I think that, so I'll go macro to micro. I think that anyone, this is the problem with being a phony, is you're never acting on instinct, you're acting, wait, the person I'm trying to pretend I am,

how would they act, and you fuck it up all the time? That's my honest, died in the wall opinion of J.D. Vance is, I had no idea who he is. It's not this guy he's cosplay as. I know that because he's been in the public eye for a long time. And you can come around on things. you can change positions. You can't write a book about the opioid epidemic and then call Donald Trump an opioid as a slur about how this is how bad it is. It ruined my family, ruin my area. Say to people, he reminds you of Hitler and change enough to where you're like,

I want to be his vice president. Nobody changes that much. Like that the and. But so his, he, what he has done super successfully is navigate from, you know, a guy who wrote a book that people liked to up until the day Biden dropped out, the overwhelming likely vice, next vice president of the United States. He navigated that in an incredibly short period of time because his true north was, what do I need to say and do? to achieve the next rung of power. And it has worked. But more often than not, at some point, that bill comes due.

And that bill is coming due right now because the guy can't make, can't do anything on instant. Everything's like, wait, what am I supposed to do in this spot? And so there's, it's so every time he talks, it's like, why did you say that? Like today, some local reporter. said to him. Some friendly local reporter was like, you know, one of the things you're criticized about is that you don't smile in them. What is something that makes you smile? And the answer to that question is literally anything. My kids, a baseball game. The flag of the United States. And his answer was, well, I smile when I laugh at ridiculous questions like that from the fake media.

And I'm like, that's not what you wanted to say, buddy. But you think that's what you're saying. supposed to say. And so, yeah, I mean, I think, I think in general, like, when you're not able to have at least something of a consistent, like, I understand all politicians pander and change positions. I get that. But this is such a dramatic turn of events. He seems like a different person. The other thing, on the first thing you said about the, the reason he's in real trouble is the comment about childless women. And this is, I will admit, I'm about to say something overtly political, okay? So this is one of my biggest problems with the so many of our super conservative politicians.

I actually don't know how much they truly understand about how babies are made and the human reproductive system and all of it. because J.D. Vance would tell you, I was talking about people that don't want to have children, and I think that's bullshit. I think that if you're choosing not to have kids, you're not as important of a citizen as someone that wants to start a family. I think he truly believes that. Fine, whatever. I think that's wrong, but at least I can get these. It's like you have more of an investment. But it's such a fundamental misunderstanding that so many people in families desperately want to have kids. And the biggest tragedies of their life are that they haven't been able to.

Or, I mean, I'll tell something very personal because she shared it publicly. My sister had a child and everything was fine, seemingly, with my nephew, well, everything is fine with my nephew, but everything was fine with the pregnancy. And then over the next four years, had four of the most excrued. appreciating miscarriages, anyone can imagine. And then had basically a miracle baby, who's now my niece. There are so many women out there that the biggest tragedy of their lives is through no fault of their own. Yes. They can't have kids.

That's right. And this guy is, and the reason I said, I don't think they know how babies are made. That's a little tongue and cheek. but my point is, if you have that at all in your consciousness that, oh, wait, there's a lot of people that want to have kids that are struggling having kids, then you'd be more careful with your words. You wouldn't say things like childless women. You would find a way to make your point, which is essentially that people that have decided, I want to be lifelong bachelor or I want to be lifelong single is the point you're

really trying to make, that you don't think they have as much skin in the game as someone who has kids and grandkids. And again, I don't know that I agree with that take, but that's a take that you can at least defend. But when you just flippantly throw this stuff out there, it's like, man, there's people are understanding, people that want to root for you and vote for you are going to say, you're saying I count less. I voted for Trump twice. not me. I'm this theoretical person. And because I can't have a baby, I can't let, like, that's going to cost you. And you said, you know, I think that if this had happened three months ago, he would have changed his mind. But I think Trump's in a weird spot because he can't kick

JD off the ticket after he made fun of Biden for dropping out. Like, man, this is a quick, last 20 days is a pretty quick turnaround as far as the odds. Now, we're a long ways. out a lot can change. But I felt like Trump was some of my friends in the high stakes gambling community, the poker players. That's what I watch for presidential elections. I watched the gaming market. Yes. So, so some of the best poker players in the world, the week before Biden dropped out, were betting Trump at minus 200 to minus 220. And as of this moment, it's Kamala minus 110, a tiny, tiny favorite in three weeks. I mean, it's been three weeks.

That is a wild turn of events on how this thing flipped so quickly in the markets. Again, in the markets. I mean, the audience knows who I'm voting for, but that's fine. Yeah, yeah. Well, and that also includes an assassination attempt, which should have literally, with an iconic photo, guaranteed him the election. I mean, it was like in a weird way. I saw that photo and I was like, oh boy. Well, it's over.

No, to squander that much goodwill and a lead and all of it in record time also then makes you, I'm very interested in how these next couple months go because. Now, listen, you can still when, like, things change. But, man, Trump, Trump, when he thinks he's losing, historically, doesn't act less unhinged. He doesn't like, okay, now's the time to be disciplined. Now's the time to stay on message about taxes. Like, I just don't think that's coming. Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, it's funny.

I've always laughed at this stick to sports thing. And I'm always like, well, then you stick to not lecturing me on how to produce a radio show or a podcast. is my take is everybody gets an opinion on politics because in the summer months in election years, there's nothing going on. I mean, if it wasn't for the Olympics, what in the hell would any of us talk about? Because nobody plays in the preseason. Sean McVeigh neutered it when he didn't play anybody and went eight no to start the season. So the truth is, I like people, even if they're not particularly gifted orders or they're not pundance, I'm, I'm interested in different, I like different political opinions. I've said this before. Fans call sports radio shows, on average, they're dreadful, they're repetitive, they have nothing

creative to say, but, but there is value if you're doing, like I do a simulcast, but if you do strictly a radio broadcast of having the occasional argumentative call, the call that's absurdly wrong, I mean, it was Mike and the Mad Dog, like some of the funniest moments are just idiotic calls. You know, it is part of the theater. So I like, I don't, I like people to have different opinions. I glean all sorts of information. You don't have to be an expert. I mean, I've said this before.

Football coaches have acknowledged, like, you know, a fan, Andy reads, like, a fan sent me a play. Yeah, we kind of. Yeah. Well, somebody, the guy that works, one of the janitorial staff drew something. up for him. Yeah. He was like, it was kind of interesting. And I also, I, if someone decides, I'm simply, someone in our field decides, I'm simply never talking about it. Um, so that's fine. Like I get that sometimes that's an edict. Sometimes it's a, um, it's, uh, it's, you know, the strategy. That's fine. What I don't love.

is if someone does talk about it and clearly is afraid to be honest about how they feel. Like, so I stay out of, one of the reasons I rarely talk about this is because I'm not a moderate. I don't pretend to be. Like I, my politics are, I think some people consider them extreme. That's fine. But I'm not going to, I'm not going to all of a sudden act like, well, you know, up until, you know, a couple months before, I was undecided. I, you know, no, I wasn't.

Like, sorry, my dogs were being annoying. Like, I wasn't undecided. And in my lifetime, since I've been, you know, old enough to vote, I've voted Democrat every election. So if I'm going to talk about it, I'm going to be honest with, you know, with folks about where I stand on it. So it's 2024. And let's talk about something really, really important.

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Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than me. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions.

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This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrat as part of the Mike Coutura podcast network available on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021.

And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs.

I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night bases on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too.

Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers, why he got the ball, like, After you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart Podcast presents Soccer moms.

So I'm Leanne. This is my best friend, Janet. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip, just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast we're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey With all the snacks and drink Sidebar why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer?

They had a bogo Well then you got it Do you want a white collar something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? Oh, I would.

Come on. I would buy it. Cut through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky. I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky I'm not a killer.

I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's interesting because a lot of people, I'll give you an example, think if I don't bring up politics, you're being woke. I'll give you an example. I think one of the things I've done well in my career, and this is really boring, but I think I'm really good at it, is topic selection. Yeah. I talk about really interesting.

I pick the right stuff to talk about. And I think it's about 25 to 30 percent of my success is I don't get into spaces that people don't care about. So when LeBron had an opinion about China, remember that? And people, why won't you talk about that? because it's bureaucracy and nobody cares, and you didn't care about China an hour before this. So, like, people talk about the transgender stuff. And my take is, you don't really care about that.

I don't know much about it, and you don't care about it. And it doesn't move. Yeah, so it doesn't move. I am very much. I am loyal, my whole career, I am loyal to the topic that moves the needle, because you could be an expert on hockey. I could know nothing about college football, but I'll beat you because I choose the better topic. And so when I avoid the transgender topics, first, they're murky.

Ethan Strauss had a fascinating doctor on in regards to it. And it was, I didn't have more clarity or less after 40 minutes of talking, but it was a fascinating listen. And so if I'm not an expert on something, if it's murky or it's bureaucracy, and I don't think it's interesting. And it's not something. So that, so I'm so glad you said that. and I know we're going long. That's okay. Then there's nothing quicker than all of a sudden,

let's talk about, you know, transgenderism and whether, who should be able to play what sport and all of that. I was amazed at how dumb some of my colleagues were last Thursday when the women's boxing match

in the Olympics happened. So I'm going to give you my day, okay? I wake up Thursday morning. I have the podcast, then the TV show. I check Twitter. I see what everybody sees. Some people are like, a man beat up a woman and she cried. Some people are like, what do you see?

This woman loses all the time in boxing and was born a woman. Here's a picture versus a kid. And some people were like, no, she's switched sex at birth. And then people are like, no. They're not at birth. Pardon me. And it'd be like, hmm, okay. Well, I'm certainly not going to get to the bottom of this story in the next half hour.

Luckily, it's women's boxing at the Olympics, which was not going to be in the rundown ever. It was not, you know, somebody beat, I'm sorry, are Simone Biles in, you know, in something we were talking about. It's not something involving the men's basketball team. We were never going to talk about the women's boxing of the Olympics ever. It was not in the zeitgeist. It's not like the audience like, oh, you promised us that tomorrow you're going to break down the match.

Now you're afraid of it. So why don't I give this a few hours and see what the actual information is and then decide if I want to talk about it tomorrow or the next day? And then I did. And I'm like, God damn, man, this thing's complicated. Like definitely not a transgender issue at all, but also, if I'm to believe the Russian Boxing Federation, which by the way, I don't believe. But it seems to be compelling evidence. She might have been born DSD, a little confused, but it also seems like so, so wait, so she definitely woman, been a woman in her all life, by the way, from a conservative Muslim nation where transgender is not a thing because not allowed. But did she have a physical advantage?

Oh, okay, I get that argument. All right. I now have the information. Still a little confused. Luckily, I'm under no obligation to talk about this because, again, it's the quarterfinals of the women's boxing at the Olympics. So we'll just let this one pass. And the amount of people that were like,

prominent people that were like, well, it's fucking showing up on Elon Musk's propaganda machine. So it must be the story to talk about. So I'm going to on the front end be like, I don't know what I'm talking about, but let's talk about it. Like, what are you doing? What are you doing? Like what you? And the reason, like you said, the reason folks I believe talked about that, knowing they didn't know anything was because they didn't want people to tweet to them, you're afraid to talk about it.

That's right. They didn't. They were trying to get out in front of. And I'm going to say one other thing on this, because the justification that certain folks make when they talk about stuff before they have all the information or they're wrong is, listen, I say on the front end, I don't know everything. You know, it's kind of casual. I'm not that bright, whatever it is. Always be leery of folks who every time they make one of those mistakes is slanted in the same direction.

Right. If you're just a dumb guy that's just like, hey, we're just talking, then you'll make mistakes in both directions. Then sometimes you'll say something that is wildly, wrong on the conservative side. And sometimes you'll say things that are wildly wrong on the liberal side. Sometimes you'll say things wildly wrong on, you know, you'll vary your mistakes. In my experience, what tends to happen is folks consistently make this mistake slanted in the same direction of the people yelling at them on the internet.

And then they're like, well, I told you I'm not that. bright. Like, yeah, I don't know. Seem bright enough to never make the mistake in the other direction. So in some certain things, you're okay on. So, yeah, I was, I called DeMonze, my son, who I do the podcast with, that night. I was like, man, I was like, we should be proud of the podcast we did today. He's like, why? I was like, because we didn't make the mistake so many people made.

Which was talk about a serious real life issue that, by the way, that's a real human being, that has to go back to her country, all of it, when we had none of the information just because Twitter was yelling at us to do it. Well, it's, I had texted Bob Costas once. He was on Bill Maher talking about this, and he used the word murky. And I'm very, not suspicious,

but I'm very unimpressed by people who have strident position. on difficult topic. So I actually interviewed with a friend of mine, Joe Donlin, had a podcast. He's debuting in Chicago. He asked me about it. And my take was, and again, I'm not ducking anything. I said, Joe, during COVID, I watched people who worked the checkout at Costco lecturing Dr. Fauci on vaccines. Like, that's embarrassing. Like, I don't know everything. It saved lives. It could have come from a lab. I don't know. And I told him in regards to this, I said, I have to trust the IOC.

They have medical boards. I said, these governing bodies on these incredibly difficult situations, it's not like the same decision you had deciding where to put the restrooms in a stadium. Like it's not. They literally spent hours, days, weeks, knowing this would be difficult. And at some point, success matters. Fauci's history matters. Mark Cuban successful.

He knows more than you and me on business. Like the Olympic Committee didn't just haphazard lease. Hey, what do you think? Let's flip a coin. Well, also, here's the other thing. And this is where I'm super skeptical. If you were to be like Nick, what do you know more than the average person about?

and what are you nearly an expert in? Be like, okay, it's a narrow, that's a narrow thing, but I have things. I certainly am almost an expert in broadcasting, just because I've done it my whole career. I'm, I think I'm, you know, almost an expert, if not an expert, in sports history, and, you know, data and information. And I oddly, I'm not an expert, but I know way more than the average person. about American history, most notably from the beginning of the Civil War to the passage of the Civil Rights Act, because that hundred years I've really studied. Other stuff, you know, I just know what I know.

Folks that somehow on every hot button issue have it clocked, like, oh, you're full of shit. Like, there's no chance you have the, the informed opinion on the origin of COVID, how vaccines are made, chromosonal issues in regards to transgenderism, those three topics have nothing to do with each other. You got them all down? Like, that's a very unique set of skills you're dealing with here. And by the way, you also seem to, you know, dabble when necessary in, you know, the best ways to put down social unrest within a city if there's a riot. You know that one. Who the next vice president of the United States should be picked based on electoral maps.

You know that one. Like, you're all phony experts. You all are just so confident. You know everything. Michael Jordan couldn't hit a baseball. And he's arguably the best athlete in NBA history. I mean, couldn't hit a baseball. Randy Moss tried to play basketball.

So did Roy Jones. guys. Oh, I left one out. Sorry, I left one out. By the way, in the middle of those other things, you became a legit expert on Eastern European wars and the best way to litigate those. Like, I don't, I don't believe you. I just don't, what I believe is you know the way you want the world to be and you will pretend you have. the expertise to give yourself the authority on how it should be. Well, I've told you, I've told you there's an explosion. This will take a few minutes, but there's been an explosion in conspiracy theories over the last 10 years. And it's actually very explainable. I mean, there was always the occasional conspiracy theory. It is now an epidemic. Why? Because conspiracy theorists need an explanation for all the cultural changes. We've had more cultural changes due to the technology that is in front of us than ever before.

And people, studies have shown that our conspiracy theorists tend to need answers. They're not as culturally relevant. They're not as socioeconomically relevant. They're not as popular as they think they deserve. And so they need answers. And so they say, well, this is why this is happening. It's rigged. Not even elections. Just so what you're finding, there's an explosion of conspiracy theories. And they're by people that want simple answers that things changed and they can't explain it. And I mean, they're doing studies on conspiracy theories. Why are they exploding? And it's because tech has, I mean, good God in my business in the last three years.

The whole fucking thing is turned upside down. My whole business. I mean, podcast didn't exist. Now I own a company, you know, that's a podcast company. I mean, the whole world's changed. Radio and cable TV. my favorites, they're regressing fast quickly. So again, it's when I have gotten to a point where the conspiracy theory guy is,

it's like sports fan every time their team loses says, well, it was rigged or it's the officials. I just don't have time. Like I know people like Joe Rogan, but it's like, Joe, not everything's a conspiracy. Come on. Well, but so listen, and again, I'm fine with. healthy skepticism. I'm fine with that.

I'm fine with, you know what I mean with not taking, you know, just what the government tells you as gospel immediately as they tell you. I'm fine with all of that. It's healthy. Right.

What I'm, what I'm, honestly, and this is, and then I'll, you know, this is finished the glass of wine, which means I'm probably being maybe a little more

casual with my thoughts than I otherwise would be. What I'm not fine with is people that I know to be dumb, pretending they have figured out super complicated issues. I'm just not okay with it. And you mention, and I'm not, listen, I'm not trying to shit talk Joe Rogan, but I saw, you know, the clips from his last stand up,

the one that just came out. Yeah. And I'm like, man, this is the guy. This guy is the one that is shaping public opinion on really important things. The guy that thought it was on the board that the state of the union was a taped speech because he hadn't quite figured out the entire Congress, including 250 Republicans, are there standing or booing or clapping, that guy's a thought leader on everything. By the way, Joe Rogan definitively thought leader and deserve it on UFC stuff,

how to build a popular podcast, maybe number one draft pick in the world on those two topics. You don't get to be the thought leader on every topic. I mean, I guess you do, but you're not going to be credible. And that's why, to bring it back to where you started on this, I don't, so many times people are like, you're afraid to talk about it. And the answer is, no, I, who have a pretty big ego, have the humility to know, man, there's people that know a hell of a lot more about this than me. I'm going to let them figure it out at least the beginning parts of it before I form my. opinion. And it's so hard right now for folks to, A, agree on what a trusted source is in order to get the data to form an opinion. And it's so hard for people to say, man, that one's hard.

That one's complicated. Nobody want nothing, for some reason, nothing's allowed to be complicated. Like, I, again, I will, I'm going to wait into really murky ground, but I'm going to go ahead and say it, and I'm not afraid to. I think basically all foreign wars are complicated, and I haven't dedicated my life to figuring that out. I know some people have, and I'm a really smart guy. I don't know much about a lot of the rest of the world. I know nothing about warfare, and the number of people who just confidently say, no, this is black and white and simple, and here's how you fix it. Like, here's how you fix it. Like, man, if it was that easily fixable, I think it'd have been fixed.

Like, I'm not acting like nothing is simple, but the amount of people that just rushed to this super complicated issue that multiple PhDs are trying to figure out, I solved during my lunch break. I just don't buy, I just don't trust those people. I just don't trust those people. I don't think they should be taken seriously. I just watched the documentary on Iran Contra, Oliver North, and it was so good and so fascinating. And it took years and years and years for it to get uncovered. They still don't have all the answers.

What was that on? What service, do you know? I think it was Netflix. I mean, I basically in the football season, I don't watch it. And then once the football season ends, I watch it every day. Like my viewing is. Documentaries. Yeah.

Labor Day until Super Bowl. And then I just go documentaries, Netflix. That's where I go. And so, and I, by the way, I don't have time. I get one or two really good books a year, maybe three. And I do it when I fly. That's why I like to fly. It forces me to sit down and, you know, really dive into a book.

I'm going to do it this week when I fly to Chicago. but my my history books are documentaries and I'll watch two like I'll watch two or three on a Saturday before I go out yep love it by the way that's the the I'll give one I'm going to plug one one podcast that's not mine or yours but is a it's a popular ones but it's also there's a podcast called hardcore history yeah I think the guy releases three a year, they're four to five hours long, and I listen to them when I play poker. And it's, you know, it's like, hey, you ever wondered how Alexander the Great became Alexander the Great? Well, here's four hours on his father. For real. And that's what it is.

and it's this guy basically reading you a book on world history, but it's, you know, his podcast. But I'm the reason I thought of that is I love that podcast, but during football season, I can't even listen to that. During football, because during football season, there's so much watching a football, consuming football information, doing all this stuff. And then those other six months a year,

I can try to become a well-rounded human being. But, you know, I only got a month left because then football. is coming again. Remember when the Hollywood writers went on strike and every that lasted? Remember that? Yeah, of course. I had a theory that Netflix knows when it gains and loses subscribers. The streaming services all do.

And one of the reasons that this, this strike was happening, a big chunk of it during the football season is they wanted to clean up all their books. Because when the streaming services started, remember, you, you were trying, you were trying to buy who could buy the globe first, who could win the global race, because we'd maxed out on domestic subscribers. And so all of them blew through their budgets. Only none of them, even Netflix for a long time, didn't make any money. And eventually they're like, okay, the subs are, we've kind of reached, we've reached

mass consumption. And they looked at their books and said, shit, we've got to clean these up. All of them did. Outside of Netflix, they all had to. So they decided to strike during the football season saying, this is the time that nobody, we lose subs. We're not going to do. We're not going to do heavy production during this time.

We're just going to rerun a lot of our stuff because this is the time of the year that the people that watch us don't like sports. If you do, we just lose men. And then the minute you get close to the end of the football season, they got the strike figured out. They're like, okay, now we have to create. create new stuff because here come the men and women back into our streaming service.

And that was my, you know, that was my theory. Like, I don't know if that's totally right, totally wrong, or somewhere in between, but it's a good theory. I, whether it's right or wrong, I like the theory. I don't, you know, as I say, Joe Rogan has a few two committee conspiracy theories. That's my big one. Yeah, but so that's the thing. And this is where we can leave it.

Because you and I both do traffic in somewhat wacky ideas, theories, hey, this occurred to me. But to go back to where we started, it's all about the fluff of life. Like I don't, I feel entitled, entitles the wrong word, but I'll use it, I feel totally entitled to come on your show and be like, I just got a feeling Dak and Bill Belichick are going to be both with the Giants next year. And if someone's like, what's that based on? I'm like, my gut, it makes sense.

I know enough about Bill and Dak and the salary cap that it's plausible. And I just think it makes sense. But if you were to really push me on it, like, well, have you talked to anyone? No, of course not. Do you know Bill? No.

Do you know Dak? No. Do you know the Mara family? No. I just, it's my gut feeling. So really, I don't know anything, but it makes sense. And I truly think it's going to happen. What I wouldn't do is be like, here's why the vaccine was a fraud.

It's like, oh, was it? Have you studied? This? No. Have you, did you talk to anyone? No. Did you, do you know any? No, I'm just guessing.

It's just my gut. Because that shit matters. Like, I think having wacky, fun, gut-feeling theories, it's one of the best things about being about in sports. It's like, oh, I'm wrong. The day, and then we should go, it's been 90 minutes. The biggest day of my career was July 4th, 2016, filling in for you. because three minutes for the show started,

Kevin Durant picked the Warriors. And ESPN and ESPN2 was in Wimbledon. I was filling in for you because it was 4th of July. And the biggest story in the sports world, I'm the only part, you know, we're the only network doing it. And it's my second time ever filling in for you.

And I still to this day, think that day changed my whole career. The herd popped a huge number. I handled it well and whatever. that day on the air, on the air, biggest day of my career, I floated the idea that what if this is just a double cross Kevin Durant was doing? This has been lost to the history, which was because Durant couldn't sign yet, he could just verbally commit.

But in order to do that, the Warriors had to let Harrison Barnes leave. And I was like, what if Durant is actually planning on staying with Oklahoma? City. But they just blew a 3-1 lead to Golden State, and he wants to make them worse. So he tells them I'm coming. They let Harrison Barnes leave. And then on July 7th, when he can sign, he does the ultimate villain move, which is like, I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying with the thunder. To this day, it's one of my favorite sports theories ever. It was totally ridiculous. It had no chance. He wrote an article for the players tribune. But I really believed, I was like, I know legally he can do this.

It would be an amazing thing. And I talked about it on the air 30 minutes after he signed with the Warriors. I was like, unless it was just wacky, goofy stuff. Fun. But it's sports. So who gives a shit? Like, it's totally fine. That's why our job's the best.

My most important day was this moment, because I live in the moment, and this podcast. What a jerk. All right, buddy, this was great. This is great. I'll talk to you later. See you. See you later. The volume.

Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed the podcast, take a moment, rate and review. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

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