The Kevin Sheehan Show - Does Washington Finally Have A QB?

Episode Date: September 6, 2022

Kevin and Thom on several things today including Kevin losing a credit card again and beginning to resemble Cooley. Thom weighed in with his "best-case/worst-case" for the Commanders and his best-case is a surprise. Lots of Carson Wentz conversation off or Ron Rivera's remarks that they finally have their QB. Frances Tiafoe's upset of Nadal had the guys talking about Tiafoe's incredible journey.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it, but you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheyenne Show is Kevin. Tommy is here. I am here. The show today presented by My Booky two days away from the season opener, The Bills and the Rams, as I talked about yesterday, Tommy. The Bills have become the consensus favorite to win the Super Bowl.

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Use the MyBooky prop builder to secure some winnings as well. Your winning season begins today exclusively at MyBooky. Tommy and I were just talking about something. right before the show. And this isn't the first time that this has happened. I definitely recommend, for those of you that are going to wager, I recommend a shop like My Bookie. There are shops that I would not recommend, and I'm not going to get into the reasons why, but my bookie has fair point spreads, fair pricing. Okay, you're not paying minus 140 on a straight bet loss, which some legal sports casinos do, sports books do.

But Tommy and I were just talking before the show started, and I had just read this story in the post titled, Hold on, let me get the title of it. As sports betting goes mainstream, addiction experts are on high alert. It was written by Eric Adelson in the Post, and I read this story. I think Dan Steinberg retweeted it, and I saw him retweet it, and I read the story. And a lot of the stuff that I've suggested in recent years is, you know, a concern with legalized sports betting.

And I will just tell all of you, yeah, I do a lot of sports book reads because sports books, now especially the legal ones, are paying big money to acquire customers. And, you know, content providers like what we do in this podcast, like what I do on the radio show, like what Tommy does in very, things, it generates revenue. But I'm here to tell you that gambling, Tommy, isn't for everybody. You know? One of my favorite things that my friends and I say when we're in Vegas or when we're leaving Vegas down a lot of money, you know Las Vegas? It's not for everybody. And you have to recognize going into this if you haven't done it before. If you have done it before, you know the pitfalls. You know, you know the horror stories. But if you can't, do this in moderation, you know, and you're not a moderation person, and you can't afford to do it,

you shouldn't do it. Because it is addictive. It can be very addictive. It can also add incredible fun and drama and entertainment to your sports viewing life. And if you view it in that context, hey, I've got this amount of money and I don't mind losing it for the purposes of enhancing the overall entertainment value, that's a healthy attitude. Ted Leonesis, you know, telling you two years ago that with all of the data out there and with as many smart people as he knows that you can turn this into, you know, sort of a second, you know, professional career is incredibly naive or

disingenuous. And this story, which, you know, I wasn't going to start with, but because I just read that spot to kick off the show, I just, as I was reading it, I'm like, God damn, you're a hypocrite with what you were just saying to Tommy. But I do, you know, I don't know, I understand the risk here. And I think a lot of people who haven't done it, they don't understand the risk. Look, part of it, I mean, the bigger question here is the idea of legalized sports betting now being something that is easily obtainable for people is, should you deny a pleasure or or vice, depending on your word to use, to a whole population of people who can handle it because of a small population who can't.

Yes, that's fair. And I always say, no, you shouldn't deny that. I mean, you just shouldn't. I mean, this is, you know, this is the whole argument with marijuana legalization and other legalizations of this nature is that, yeah, there is a small group. of people that are affected by this significantly, but the general population can gamble without losing their house. Yes.

I agree with everything you said. I think the problem that I have had over the last couple of years, going back to, you know, when the news broke, that this was going to be, you know, a state-by-state decided, issue, the legalization of sports betting, is the presentation of it by some that this comes with no risk. In fact, it comes with great opportunity. You know, you've been such a smart, analytically driven sports fan. Now you can put those skills to use and turn it into a second income, if not a first income. And for 99.99% of the people that do this, even those that don't become addicted to it, they can't turn it in to a second income or a first income. So the problem, really,

and I know this is, this is a strange path. We're walking down here, you know, okay? The problem, then, is the marketing of it. Not necessarily the product itself. it's the sale of it. I think it's... Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. This is why I always had a problem with the lottery. I was all in favor of lotteries,

but I've always had a real problem with the advertising to entice you to buy the lottery tickets. You know, I always thought that just knowing the lottery exists for people who want to play the lottery would be good enough. Because it used to be good enough when there was. just numbers, you know, and there was no legal lottery. People knew how to play the numbers, and they knew which number would win. There was no advertising. Right. And so I do have a problem with the advertising to entice people to do this, because sometimes, just like you said, the message is misleading and damaging. So that's a whole different issue. So that's a whole different issue. Well, no, I mean.

That's where the money is in the advertising. Yeah, I mean, I understand when you said we're going down this path, because obviously I, in this podcast, in the radio station that I work for, and every sports content provider is accepting money from those in the, you know, gambling space. I would just, I mean, everyone, they're lining up around the block. Yeah, I would be right there with them. I would make this distinction between the lottery. and sports betting. The lottery, you know, advertises to get you to play, whereas the sports

casinos advertised to get you to play with them. It's such a crowded space. There are so many providers out there that right now we're in that stage of something that's, you know, new and, you know, Wild Wild West's description to it is fair, where they are spending gobs of money in a land grab. They are trying to get as many customers as they can because they understand the lifetime value of a customer. At this point, the extraordinary costs in acquiring a customer relationship are almost immaterial to these companies, because if they get enough of them, they understand that the lifetime value of one customer exceeds the cost to acquire that customer. Why? because they know eventually they're going to win.

The house is going to win. And this is the time to dig for those customers, because everyone's dig, there's a limited amount of customers, and everyone's digging for those customers. Everyone's competing for those customers. At some point, there'll be a winnowing of the field, and there won't be as many sports books out there available because the customers would have pretty much lined up

with who they're going to play with. Yeah, although let me just make this case, and I've made this case before, with actually some of the providers that I've talked to over the years, that always want exclusivity to their relationship with the content provider. Most people who do this would benefit if they're going to do this and give themselves the best chance at not losing a lot.

You see the way I put that right? I think I usually put it that way, versus give you the best chance of winning, but really it's more or less the best chance of not getting crushed, is to have multiple casinos, multiple sportsbook options, so you can get the best possible line, the best possible price. And by the way, with all of the promotions that all of them are giving out, keep taking advantage of one promotion after another to sign up. I mean, the My Bookie promotion right now,

there aren't many people doubling your first deposit. I mean, I don't think the big boys are doing that anymore. There are very few places you can go right now where you deposit 250 and they put 500 into your account to play with. They're giving you, you know, $250. But back to what you, when you said, we're walking down a tough path here, what you said was specific more to the advertising and the marketing of. and your disagreement as it relates to the lottery that just having it available was good enough for you,

but promoting it over and over again was kind of like promoting cigarette smoking through all of those years. It wasn't good for your health, but it was legal. What I was really talking about was more or less just the presentation of people who should know better that this is easy money. this is a really cool thing to do. No, it can be a lot of fun. And to your point, most people don't have an issue with it. But there is a risk that you could develop an issue with it. And so when I hear people who are super naive to sports betting talk about the opportunity now that everybody has because sports betting is here and it's legal, that just has, as you know, from the jump, that's rubbed me the wrong way. Because, The opportunity, what opportunity, to increase the entertainment value? Yes. To win money and to create another source of personal income? No.

Here's a quote from this story. This is not what we intended to do. We're going to get to Carson Wentz. We're going to get to a lot of other things today on the show, including Francis Tiafo, who beat Rafael Nadal yesterday, and I wanted to talk about that. One of the themes to this story, is that it's easier to bet than ever, not just that people who didn't bet before have access to it,

but because of the online element, you know, you don't have to, now I've been betting online forever, so it was super easy for me. But, you know, there used to be, you know, a couple of hurdles that you had to clear. You know, you had to show up at a sports book in Jersey or Vegas. You had or you had to find a book. You had to pick up the phone and call the book. you had to place, and the online element and the ease is speeding up the betting, and it's creating more betting and more likelihood they believe of addiction.

This is Brianna Dora Schwall, a responsible gambling expert, and I don't know where she works. Quote, the public crisis is already here in the United States and just bubbling under the surface. We basically have poured kerosene on it by legalizing it, which, without giving it significant attention. It's only going to become more prominent and more severe in its presentation. What experts have found is that sports betting creates problems worse than traditional casino and card gambling. And by the way, I guess you throw a lottery into that as well, but they didn't in the story. People who bet on sports often believe they have an edge because they follow the teams or the sport.

The random bounce of the football or blown referee call doesn't tend to factor into a better's belief system. Psychologically, it's a little different. You're not necessarily betting to make money. You're betting to make yourself look smarter. And that can bring on more problems when a bet goes awry, according to one study, in addictive behaviors journal. Sports betting, quote, relative to non-sports betting, has been more strongly linked to gambling problems and cognitive distortions related to illusion of control, probability control, and interpretive control. The illusion of control may be enhanced even further by the rapid use of technology in the bet-by-5G era. There's no extra step of physically withdrawing cash from an ATM, driving to the casino, or even waiting for a blackjack table dealer. The rapid advance of this technology has allowed gambling operators to figure out a lot about customers when they bet,

how much they bet, whom they bet on, and addiction experts maintain that the companies have a responsibility to use that data to help keep bettors from becoming addicts. Yada, yada, yada, yada. It goes on and on. And a lot of, by the way, sports betting entities like Draft Kings and others are spending a lot of money, a lot of money, because they're making a lot of money. They're spending a lot of money towards making sure that there are addiction and counseling services available.

The NFL has as well. Anyway, whatever. I think we're starting to bore people. That's my sense. I just think... Yeah, go ahead. Here's the thing. It's the technology that's frightening.

That's what's really frightening. I mean, a lot of the free world has been betting on sports for a very long time, and they haven't collapsed. Okay? The United States, in this puritanic background, you know, it's been slow to it. but it's the tech, it's coming at the time that the technology has exploded. They think it's the real frightening part. And I'll be real curious to see how a generation grows up with sports betting and this kind of technology.

But I don't know about your kids and your kids' friends. They all bet. But in the classes, in the classes I teach at Georgetown, it's remarkable how long. many bet on sport. I know. They all do. Remarkable. And, you know, for those of you out there listening, and I would include myself into this, those that have, you know, gone to the school of hard gambling knocks, you know the downside. We all can tell stories. I've told stories on this show. And I told the story, Tommy, right, about my college buddy who, you know, ended up, you know, dropping out of college and went, you know,

I didn't hear from him for eight, like seven years after he basically took off with, you know, a many thousand dollar gambling debt and left me with with the bag, holding the bag. And I've got other stories that are even worse. Fortunately, knock on wood, I have, for whatever reason, I've always been a fairly measured gambler myself. Not necessarily in moderation. Look, I've gotten in trouble before when I was much younger, where I was down money that I really couldn't afford to lose. So I have felt that before, and everybody has. Everybody's felt that, you know, sick feeling of, oh, my God,

I owe more to the book than I actually can come up with, you know, especially when you're younger. And then the idea that Monday night football is going to save you with a two-team parley, a two-team tease, and, you know, a straight bet and everything else that's offered. Because chasing when you're down, there's nothing worse. This story, by the way, opens up with this. If boxing icon Floyd Mayweather ever fights again,

maybe Jeff Umali will place a bet. And maybe when a huge sporting event rolls around, like the Super Bowl, the 39-year-old will wager a few bucks. But that's it. And he says, quote, I've learned my lesson. Closed quote.

Umali's lesson came a few years ago when he started placing a daily bet on an online poker game. It seemed like a relatively harmless pastime for a short while. It was 50, $100, $150. Then one night I sat at home and added it up. I lost 10 grand in three months. Looking back, you, Molly is still alarmed at how fast he was hooked. He says he felt addicted within a week. You see it's legal, you try it, and then boom, you're addicted. I would just say I'm not being an alarmist here. And what Tommy said is true. for most the significant majority of people and the significant majority of you that do this,

you do it with great control and great understanding of this isn't a career. You know, you have your real job. You're not quitting your real job. But I just, you know, from the jump when I, you know, I knew, Tommy, there's a reason a lot of people, remember when you said to me when I said, I'm getting bored of gambling and you said, yeah, because it's not cool anymore. And you kind of nailed it. Like, it's not considered taboo or edgy anymore now that everybody that never had access to it is doing it.

And by the way, they're all insufferable because they've all got all the answers. Just ask them. And it's one of the reasons that I really am not as interested in gambling anymore. I love the games. And I will tell you that last football, you know, college football weekend, number one, I was back on board. Because it's just, you know, it's almost become habit. But I have definitely seen, I definitely have had this sense that those that didn't seek out the access didn't want it enough and didn't understand it enough.

And now that it is available to them and they're doing it, they actually may be more vulnerable. And maybe I'm projecting here something that's not true. I'll tell you where I would project most of the vulnerability is on, you know, the Ted Leonis kind of crowd. those really smart people that think that they can actually, with analytics and data, they can actually create an income out of this. Because, again, 99.999% of those people won't. And that doesn't mean that somebody won't have a good season here or there. I've had some really good seasons over the years,

some seasons in which the book looked at me like, yeah, I'm going to have to, I've told you this. I got limited in college basketball betting by three different books for four years. I couldn't bet the normal size because I was killing them. But you know what? They didn't need to limit me because over another four-year period, I gave it all back and some. So it's really, that's the way it goes. Anyway.

One last thing. This was a post story that you talked about, right? Yes. Okay, a couple of days ago there was a story in the Washington Post about how the state of Maryland has been slow to adapt its legalized sports betting. Right. And one of the reasons for that was because they want to make sure it's inclusive, that they want to make sure that to give licenses to minorities and make sure that, you know, minority businesses have a chance at these sports betting licenses, which is laudable. except for the fact that most studies show that gambling is a bigger problem among minorities. Well, there's another piece to this, and I didn't read the story,

but I had this guy on the show, and I'm forgetting his name right now, but he was on the show a few weeks ago. We had this conversation about the expense to actually acquire a license in Maryland. Like I think the application itself is $100,000 or something really expensive or maybe it's the license that is. And the bottom line is because of the big time players like Draft Kings and Fandul and BetMGM and all the big players, these one-off operators as they wait to be more inclusive and more diverse, they're not going to make money more likely than not. I see what you're saying, you know, is that, you know, minorities,

that that's the concern is that, you know, they're essentially creating the opportunity for, you know, more minority betting. But I'm talking about the operators themselves. I think there are 60 available. Well, I am too. Yeah. I'm talking about how ironic it is that they're bending over backwards to create minority opportunities for operators. When it turns out that I'm looking at a story right here. Studies have consistently reported high rates of problem gambling among rates.

and ethnic minorities compared to whites. So they're bending over backwards to help these minorities, and I don't have a problem with that, to take money at their own people's pockets. Well, and again, to potentially give an opportunity to somebody as a smaller operator to not be able to make it work. Because I think the guy, I've got to remember the conversation in detail. I remember being very interested in this guy.

He covers sports gambling, you know, state by state. And I can't remember his name now. I've got it written down somewhere. He was excellent as a guest. But I think he told me that there were 60 available licenses, you know, because it was the day that Snyder was, you know, in front of the Maryland legislative, you know, thing, getting the sports betting at FedEx Field.

And he said, you know, there are 60 licenses available on the state, but they probably won't all be used because they're very expensive. And then the chances for these one-off operators without big brand recognition of actually, you know, making it are not real high. Not to mention you've got the significant startup expenses. And then are you going to have enough customers to make those startup expenses worthwhile? And then by the way, Tommy, and this is true with anybody that decides that being the house is the best thing to be, which it is. It's better than being a better. And now, by the way, it's legal if you do it the legal way and get a license.

But remember this. You have to be well-funded enough to be able to cover losses if you start off and you open up and somehow get pounded those first three weekends. Because that happens to books. They understand that if they can weather the storm, if there is a storm, they're going to eventually win and make money down the road. But you've got to be funded and have enough that you can pay off the winners. If they win, and it happens.

You know, follow sports betting. Every once in a while, there's a weekend where Vegas gets crushed by the public. Now, overall, they win, and they always will because there's a VIG there. You know, you pay minus 110 on a loss on most losses. and you only make 100 on a win. But you know, you can get crushed in a given weekend. So these, look, I looked into this a little bit before having this guy on the show because I've had a couple of ideas with sports gambling as it relates to here locally.

But I was curious really as to what the business model looked like for these smaller operators. And there's a shitload of risk, not to mention really extraordinarily high startup. expenses. So what you just... Does that mean we're not going to do? We're not going to do Kevin and Tom's sports book? No, remember this is the conversation that it morphed into. Remember a few weeks ago when we had it? No, we're not going to do that because, first of all, you wouldn't be able to participate, nor would I necessarily. We'd have to go out and raise the money for the, you know, $100 to $250,000 application fee. And then the license, whatever that is, I think basically you need a half million to a million to launch this legally.

And by the way, unless you've got mobile betting, which isn't available right now in Maryland, you really are in trouble because you've got to have mobile betting because what are we going to do? Build a little, you know, sports fix bar and tell everybody to hope it out

to Frederick? I don't think so. We would have so much fun. People will know that they will come. OPM, brother, other people's money. That's what we'd have to use for this one. So we can just kick back at our bar, do our show, drink some beers, smoke some cigars, eat some pizza and wings, and just, you know, enjoy the company.

I think this is a go-fund-me account right here in the making. Yeah, I'm not up for that. I got enough risk with this podcast right now. take on another one. Anyway, I did have a quick story to tell you, and I don't even know what to say about it, but my wife is concerned about me.

I went to the store yesterday, and I came home, and I opened up my wallet, and I'm like, where's my credit card that I used? I know where I used it, and I clearly lost it. And so I, this is, by the way, now, I mean, this is going to sound like Chris Cooley, who loses everything all the time. And I used to make fun of him all the time. But he's absent-minded. And I usually have not been absent-minded as a person, but I think I've become, I don't know what's going on, but my wife is concerned.

So I lost the credit card. I called American Express. I reported it as a lost card. And they said, we'll send you a new card. And this is the third time. I asked them, and they said, yeah, this is the third time in the last 18 months that we've issued you new card for a lost or stolen card. I knew this one wasn't stolen. I knew it was lost because I had it at the store that I was at and then I realized when I got home I didn't have it.

And I searched everywhere. I, you know, because usually it'll fall in between like, you know, the seat, the car seat, you know, out of my pocket. Or it's in some stuff in the bags I may have. put it in the bags that the groceries were in that I had bought. But it wasn't anywhere. And I couldn't find it anywhere. And so I called and I reported it as a lost card. And then this morning, when I got up to go to work and I got to work, I have this little,

you probably have one in your car, you know, these little compartments. You know, this one's just on the front dashboard, lower left area. It's a little pull-down compartment that I put my key card into to get into the the building to get into my studio. And when I took that card out this morning to head into the studio very early this morning, there were two cards in that compartment. There was the key card and the credit card. Oh, God.

So I actually, actually, so I told my wife and she said, you're losing it. What in God's name is going on? This, you never, this stuff never. used to happen to you. Why is it happening now? And I told her, I said, when I called American Express, I go, they told me it was the third time in like 18 months that I've been issued a new card. And you can't go back. Once they've reported it as lost or stolen, you can't use it again. That number's been discontinued. So, you know, I don't know what's going on. I think personally, what? Go ahead. No, you go ahead.

I was going to suggest that maybe somebody is gaslighting you. What do you mean? No words, taking the card out of your wallet. No. And hiding it and making you think that you lost it. And then putting it back, you know, to later on. I mean, this sounds like a gaslighting thing, Kevin. I don't think so.

Who would want to do that? Would my wife want to do that to me? I don't know. I don't think so. I don't know. I don't know. I'm just saying. I don't think that's...

You know, if this isn't like you, and this is something that's happening, and you're questioning yourself, that sounds like, you know, sounds like gaslighting. I think that, and I've read a little bit about this, because I think I got, it's not that I got concerned, but I started to wonder the last time I lost the card. And by the way, remember, I misplaced my keys. a few weeks ago. That was an issue with the keys. And I did a lot of reading online. And you know that I don't sleep enough. Lack of sleep really is unhealthy. And I sleep maybe four to four and a half hours a night on a good night five to five and a half. And that's not enough. And combine that

with the fact that, I shouldn't say that. Like last night, I slept six hours. I was a, I was sleep by 10.30 and up at 4.30, which, you know, six hours isn't terrible. I don't think it is. I think most people our age are supposed to get seven or eight, or your age, probably even more. But I think that that's what it is. I think it's, you know, I'm getting older and the lack of sleep. I'm not the one who's losing my cards. I know. Don't be saying your age. But yeah, my wife was like, she said to me, What is wrong with you? You need to go get checked out.

And then, of course, she starts talking about the morning show and, you know, the hours, which, you know, whatever. People get up a lot earlier than I do for much harder jobs. Did she use the words power of attorney? No, she did not use power of attorney. She did not want me to sign something giving her power of attorney at this point. At this point. Okay. I do think that might be in our will, in our living will.

But she's not asked for that to be exercised right now. Okay. We got some sports to get to. I have a question to ask you. Ron Rivera said something about Carson Wrench yesterday that I want to play. Bruce Allen, as we speak, is testifying in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. They're back from vacation. and they're back after this organization right in time for the regular season.

We'll get to a lot of this stuff right after these words from a few of our sponsors. So as we're recording the podcast, Bruce Allen, apparently by Zoom, is testifying in the House Committee on Oversight and Reform their investigation into the allegations of, you know, widespread sexual harassment within the commander's organization. The committee put out a statement, quote, the committee is continuing to investigate the decades-long workplace misconduct at the Washington commanders in the NFL's failure to address it. Mr. Allen served in senior roles under team owner Dan Snyder for many years.

So his testimony is important for the committee to fully understand these serious issues in advance reforms to protect workers in the future, closed. Well, you know, just in time for the regular season, but I'm assuming it's because Congress is back, you know, after Labor Day, which is the timing of it. But, you know, right in time for games, which, by the way, Tommy, is the best thing for the organization is that there's a game this weekend and this isn't happening in July or August. But I am curious as to what Bruce Allen will say because there is no doubt. He knows where the bodies are buried. In fact, it's very possible he's the one that buried many of them in those places.

I mean, this could actually be really interesting. It really could. I mean, it's a real difficult situation, for one thing. Personally, I think we both know that Bruce has nothing but contempt for those people who he's going to be testifying in front of. Certainly the Democrats, the Democrats for sure. Yes. Yeah.

So he could, I mean, so this whole thing is distaste for, but it's also, he's in a blood feud with Dan Snyder. He had to go, he had to fight. for money he was owed. Okay? So there is a blood feud going on. So he has a real chance to hurt Snyder here. But let's remember, the committee is also looking into supposedly the emails between John Gruden and Bruce Allen.

That's what they're also looking into. So he could put himself at risk some way if they ask him questions. about those emails, about stuff that could be damaging to him. Yeah. Yeah. I think, I mean, I don't, here's the thing. I don't know what it took, what took them so long to get Bruce, you know, there and speaking in front of them. He would have been, when Snyder was ducking them on his boat, ducking them on his boat in Europe, I think they should have, you know, had Bruce.

but I think they felt like the big fish was Dan, and Dan obviously, you know, they hooked him in a situation where they had to throw him back because there just wasn't any meat on the bone. And so... And we still don't know what he said. We don't. But I think if there had been any bombshells, we'd know by now.

That's my guess. Okay. But what, do you feel differently? I don't know. I wouldn't come to any conclusion like that. So I don't know what Bruce will say. knows a lot. And the bottom line here is Bruce and Dan hate each other. Hate each other. And whomever leaked those Gruden emails with Bruce Allen on the other end of several of those

emails, you know, it would not surprise me if Bruce believes that Dan had something to do with that. And I don't know if that's, we still don't know. And maybe we will know. You know, unless this case with the NFL settles, if it goes to, you know, if Gruden gets his wish and a lot of this stuff ends up becoming discovery, because it sounds like John Gruden's ready to take down everybody associated with this. Yeah. But Bruce, I'm in many ways, I'm more interested in what Bruce has to say than Dan, because Bruce may go after Dan. Bruce is awfully political, though. Like, he's not going to be, you know, I mean, it's very possible he's going to say the same thing Dan said reportedly or we assumed. And that was, you know, I really don't know.

That wasn't me. But remember, part of what, you know, Dan's testimony may have included was, yeah, that was Bruce. And again, I will repeat for the 100th time. It's just so amazing to me that they haven't figured out that, for most of the allegations from the women in this toxic workplace, they all happened before Bruce even got there. They were all pre-2010. Not all of them.

Most of those allegations in the post stories. Most of those women who alleged to have been sexually mistreated, those were all pre-Bruce in 2010. But the Snyder camp and the team hasn't yet figured out that people can put the math together when he says, well, I wasn't involved that much. You know, that was more Bruce. Well, Bruce wasn't there, pal, champ, for most of it.

That was when you and you apparently were at your most involved. Pre-Bruce. You know, you and Vinny, that era. I have no idea what it'll come out of this, but I think it's more interesting. I think in many ways what could come out of Bruce's testimony is more interesting than what will come out of Dan's, because I'm sure with Dan sitting there with lawyers

that he basically just said, I don't know to most of the questions, a lot of them. So you think having the football game on Sunday is a distraction from all this? Definitely. For the team? Okay.

What do you think? I guess so. I mean, let's let's count them up here for a second. Mm-hmm. One, two, the Virginia Attorney General, the D.C. Attorney General, the Oversight Committee in Congress, the FTC, the NFL, which has two investigations going on into the team, and the NFLPA. All these investigations are going on as we speak.

And the NFL has two, because of them, along with the NFLPA, are looking into whether or not Ryan Vermillion was doing dirty with Washington football. players as well. And then the Mary Joe White said. So they're looking into that. Yes. So that's stunning when you think about that. That's almost a whole side of a football team right there. That's seven different events. And we don't even know if the Maryland Attorney General is actually looking into anything or not. He's never come out and said he is. People have assumed he is, but he's never come out and said it. That would make eight. Three more and you've got one side of a football team. You know, you just reminded me. because I do believe that the timing of this is much better for the team

with the regular season starting on Sunday and the game's starting, and that's what people care about the most. But it wouldn't surprise me if the results of some of those investigations essentially come out sort of on Sunday morning before the games kick off. You know, Adam Schepter's got the results of the Mary Joe White investigation, and somebody else has the results of the Ryan Vermillion thing. And basically it's, you know, here's what it is. And by the way, you know, Washington right now a three and a half point favorite over Jacksonville in the opener and kickoff as an hour away.

I think the time to do that is the Friday news dump time. The Friday news dump. Yeah, whatever. Here's my one suggestion, again, to everybody out there. And I know many people out there listen to this podcast. just don't create this idea that you're the victim in this. Don't tell us about the two years of HR improvements. Don't have Tanya, you know, go on an Adam Schaefter podcast and claim that her family

has just, you know, hurt their lives have just been so difficult, you know, over the last couple of years. Just let everybody else do this. talking. You know, focus on winning games on the field and not embarrassing yourself off of it. Don't ask for people to forget all of this as if it's such a distant past because too much of what's happened hasn't been the distant past. You know, as we know, as we've been sitting here documenting for the last year, you know, the Sean Taylor weekend, the rollout of 220, 222. By the way, for God's sakes, that fight song that is the slow version of the new fight song, I mean, shoot that thing already.

They played it apparently at the Welcome Home Luncheon, and people were looking around going, what is this? Have you heard that yet, Tommy? I have not heard that. That really doesn't interest me. It's so awful. It doesn't interest me that much either, but I can't believe that somebody actually thinks that sounds good. You know, we had the 90 greatest exclusion of Trent Williams and then putting him back on. Like, don't come out and tell us about how great you've been for two years,

about how every other team in the league is calling all of you guys to find out, you know, to get best business practices from all of you. Just focus on winning more games than you lose this year and not having another major embarrassment. off the field. That's what I would suggest to all of them out there. Did we discuss those comments that Jason Wright made a couple weeks ago before the Carolina game to the media? Of course. We did. And when he said we're in a really good spot sales are going incredibly well, we've got other teams calling us to figure out. Did we also take into consideration that conversation could have went, Jason, how the hell are you selling

anything to anybody down there, you know? Yeah, no, we did. We talked about it. We said, like, this is... I mean, because this is, we've got other teams calling us to figure out how we're, what we're doing, which really could have basically meant, you know, somebody called up and say, I can't believe you're selling anything to anyone. Yeah, right.

You sold one suite. Yeah. Well, I said yesterday on the podcast, the guy in town that should, should get much more credit than he's already getting for just being an incredible salesman and recruiter is Mike Loxley. Did you see how many people were at the Maryland game on Saturday against Buffalo? Some of the shots, and look, I said this on the pod yesterday. Look, I didn't go to the game, and I love Maryland football, and I've been talking up Maryland

football. I'm going to go to the SMU game in a couple of weeks, but the shots of the stadium in the second half, I mean, I don't think there were three, four, five thousand people. people in the crowd. And it was hot and the opener was Buffalo. And last year the opener was West Virginia. But my God, if you saw some of the stadiums on Saturday for the opening weekend of college football and you see the excitement, like how can you out recruit some of the schools he's out recruiting when you see packed houses and just, you know, raucous crowds on Labor Day weekend for college football. And then you've got what he had in college.

college park on Saturday. He's one hell of a recruiter. But to your point, they're coming to Jason Wright saying, God, with that owner and with all the shit that's going on, how have you, tell us how you've sold even one club seat package, because we want to learn from that. And I might want to point out, and I might want to point out, they're doing so, they're so good at selling these suites and sponsorships that whenever they get their new stadium, they've turned over that, that duty to Jerry Jones a company business. Legends. Yeah. Legends. They're going to sell their suites

and their sponsorship. There's the other thing that I think got glossed over. I mean, this was like Don King Hyperboe before a fight. I don't really, I just was revisiting all this. What he said after the Carolina game, you know, they never replaced Anheiser Bush as a major

beer sponsor. Right, but they have all these other beers now. They have all these other beers. you know, craft brews. And someone pointed out to me, Michael breweries means micro-doullers. Yeah, that's true. I mean, it's just amazing that they're going into the season without a major beer sponsor.

As an NFL team. Yes. But look, I wouldn't be offering this up, and that's what I said a few weeks ago. But if somebody asked me about a beer sponsor, I would present it the same way he's presenting it. You try to put the best positive spin on it. No, we don't have one.

We've got all of these different options for all of the fans coming out, including some great craft beers. Of course, they'd rather have a replacement for Anheiser-Busch, a massive deal, you know, a seven-figure deal done. But, you know, this is, you know, part of when we talked about the Forbes valuations. Forget the valuations. Look at the revenue. you know, differences between a team like Dallas and Washington and most teams in Washington.

Washington's in like the bottom third, bottom fourth, and overall, you know, revenue generated, which means, you know, after the TV and the media dollars, they're just, they're not holding up their end, especially for a market this size. The only markets that are generating less in revenue are small market teams, you know, Nashville and, and, and some others. But, no, look, I just, when we talked about this, I gave you the Rudy analogy. I said, you know, when Rudy says to Ere Parsejan, I want to dress for one game because the guys back in the mill can't see me. They don't believe that I'm on the team. They can't come to practice every day.

That's what I would just say to them, which is, I don't doubt that your HR department is light years better than it was two years ago. I don't doubt, and I'll give you kudos for having a better workplace environment for your employees. But we can't see that. We can't come to your building and see that you've got great HR. We see 14 and 19 over two years. We see the Sean Taylor thing being butchered seven ways to Sunday. We see Trent Williams on this list being excluded. We see a lack of energy on a row.

rollout of a new name. We see all of these other things. These are the things we see. Improve those things before you ask us for a pat on the back for the other things. Because people can't see those things. And again, I don't want to minimize the fact that I believe, and I do, that Jason Wright and some of the people that have come on board, Ron Rivera included, that they recognized that there was an arrogance in that organization. There was a lack of human resources. There was a treatment of people that had become, that stemmed really from the owner's treatment of people and people, you know, took that direction, other higher ups and, you know, and that was the case there for a long period of time. And I bet it's a much better place to work. And in part because I think

Ron Rivera, deep down, is a good person. And I think Jason Wright is too. And I think they understood what was going on there. Jason Wright's been in a lot of different companies, worked with a lot of different companies. He knows, even though he's never managed until he got this job, he knows what a good work environment looks like in a good company. And he saw the shit show that was the organization that he arrived to two years ago. But you can't be upset with criticism and lack of props over your HR improvements. You got to win on the field and you got to take care of the big public relations things better than you have over the last two years. All right.

I wanted to ask you a question. Yesterday we did a best case, worst case show. What's your best case record for the commanders in the upcoming season? What's your worst case record for the commanders? I, my best case, the highlight of my answer, I think, was that I had a pretty high floor. I don't think that they're going to win less than seven games. In part, Tommy, because Ron Rivera really never has. Well, he went six and ten twice in the 16 game season,

but his teams never quit on him. They never implode. You know, it's one of the strengths of him. He's an outstanding leader. And, you know, I don't play the schedule game that much, but it is a different schedule than the one they had last year. So I think the floor is high, seven and ten, but I didn't go super high on the best case.

I said nine and eight, and my reasoning is, look, Carson Wentz may be an upgrade, but he was on a really good team last year that was well-coached, good organization, and also in a bad division, and they still only won nine games. So what is your best case and worst case? Well, I would say my best case would be 10 wins, 10 and 7. Okay. My worst case, considering it right now, is five wins. Five wins?

Okay. So five and 12 and 10 and seven. Worst case, they open, worst case, they open the season, oh and five. That's your worst case? Yeah. Why do you say that? Do you think there's a chance? Because I could see them.

I think there's the chance they could lose the Jackson. of Owen and Detroit. And then to the Eagles, Cowboys, and Titans. The Eagles. Hold on. We don't have to get to O and 5. Imagine this segment, and I did this segment on the radio this morning, and people seem, you know, pretty optimistic on the high side and fairly optimistic on

the low side. I think there's more optimism. But can you imagine what that call segment would sound like if they lose to Jacksonville on Sunday if we did the same thing on Monday? day morning. You know what? There is, there's not a color in the code chart for a loss of Jacksonville. You know how Jay Gruden came up with code red? Yeah. There's not a color that exists if they lose their home opener to what was the worst team in football last year. The team that turned around and beat Carson Went the last time Carson went was on the field.

Yeah. If they lose to Jacksonville, you know, I don't, I personally wouldn't think that the season is like in deep trouble. Because again, Rivera has a history of the teams that he coaches improving and getting better as the season goes along. And his first two teams here, you know, the team in 2020 that made the playoffs as a seven and nine team that started two and six or whatever. last year's team, which was two and six, and then won four straight games in late November and December. And the truth is they would have probably won another game or two down the stretch had they not had all the injuries and the COVID issues. So I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't,

and by the way, I believe Jacksonville's probably much improved from where they were last year. So if they lose on Sunday, I personally am not going to say the season's over, but I think it would be horrible for them if it happened. because many people will bail. And for them, as I've talked about many times over the last year, the key for them in this first year with the new brand and the new everything is to win and to be a contender because they've got people that are never coming back.

And now they're tapping into a new market as kind of an expansion field team, a startup business. And those things don't work unless your first experience with it is good. You know, new restaurant, you go in, that first meal better be good or you're not coming back. This feels very much like a startup. And so if they don't provide a good product, a winning, contending product, they're in a heap of trouble, you know, moving beyond this year. Now, all that said, I think they're going to beat Jacksonville.

I think they're going to win. I think they'll probably win their first two games. But I could see them losing the first two as well. Do you want to ask me right now how I feel about the first two? Yeah. Coin flips, both of them. Sunday's a total coin flip game. And again, and I said this yesterday, it's the NFL.

20 to 25 teams every year, you have no idea. And Washington's in that group this year. And they're usually in that group. They're not a good team. They're not a terrible team. They're in that group where if everything breaks right, they could have a decent season. and if everything breaks wrong, they could have a bad season.

And I'd put Jacksonville into that conversation. There's a reason Washington's only a three-point favorite. They're probably not that much better than Jacksonville. And so I think personally the first two games are coin flips. I think it would have been better for the league to schedule Houston and Atlanta for their first two games, because those are two teams on their schedule later on in the year that really do on paper look legitimately like two of the three, four, five bad teams in the league.

Right. I don't think Jacksonville and Detroit look like the bottom feeders that they ended up as last year. I don't. But do I think they're good teams? No. But I'm not sure Washington's a good team. So I think both of these games are total coin flips. And a three-point spread would indicate that in most cases.

but Washington actually doesn't get the full-fledged three points at home from the bookmakers. They probably get two. They play a Coast Town Seals. Right. You know, but here's the one thing that's a conflict with, and you're right about Ron Rivera, his teams usually finish strong traditionally. If there's going to be a problem with Carson Wentz, it'll be a slow developing virus. okay, I don't think it's going to happen early.

I think like the Carson Wentz issue, if there is one, will take time to develop over the course of the year. It seems like in other places he's played to know Carson Wentz is not to love Carson Wentz. That's a good segue because that's where we're going next. I want to play when we come back, something Ron Rivera said about Carson Wentz, and then I want us to react to that

and talk about what we think and what we're expecting from Carson Wentz this year. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Our stadium, we've dramatically upgraded. We're encouraging everybody to come to see all the changes we've done to the stadium this year. I think it'll be quite impressive. We're going to have some big-time attendance shortly as our staff, our leadership team, Jason Wright, and Trista and the team have done an amazing job.

So we're very, very optimistic also. on the season. We finally have ourselves a quarterback. But I wanted to say thanks to everyone. I really truly appreciate this. That was Dan Snyder, remember Tommy, back in August when he was addressing the Maryland Gaming Commission for the sportsbook license for FedEx Field. And he said, talking about a better stadium and big time attendant shortly. And then he said, we finally have ourselves a quarterback. Well, Ron Rivera was asked yesterday about Carson Wentz and about feeling different going into this season with Carson Wentz at quarterback. And here's what the head coach said. Well, I think we have a quarterback. I do. I think we have a guy that can help us. I mean,

not to say we didn't have some quality quarterbacks. Again, you know, we did some pretty good things when we had Alex Smith playing for us. You know, I thought that was a great job by him. And, and again, I thought last year Taylor did the things that he needed to do to help us. But I think we have a guy that we can, we can now, you know, establish and rally around and build off of, which is what we tried to do in the, in the offseason as far as making sure we had a, you know, stout offensive line to protect him and the playmakers. And again, I'll always refer to that because I think that's what you have to do. And now in our circumstances, in our situation, And I think we have a guy that we can establish and build around.

So there you go. I mean, everybody's on board. They finally have a quarterback, Tommy. The coach saying, well, I think we've got a quarterback. I think we've got a guy that can help us. He said other things, too, in that answer. But that's what this season is about. This season is about Carson Wentz.

and then, you know, basically the decision that Ron Rivera and the organization made to acquire him. That's what this season's about more than anything else. We can identify storylines. Will the defense be better? Is Jack Del Rio going to make it through, you know, the first half of the season? Is Chase Young going to come back in Jamon Davis play, et cetera, et cetera? This is Carson Wentz and the decision to acquire Carson Wentz, number one, and everything else distant to that in terms of the number one storyline of the year.

And they all seem to be really confident so far without a game being played. You know, his answer was interesting because on one hand, he's basically saying, well, we finally got a quarterback because we haven't had one before. You know? Yeah. And then he turns around and says, well, you know, Alex Smith was good. And Taylor Heinecky did a good job. but now we have a guy that, you know, can establish,

and we can establish and rally around and build off, which is what we tried to do in the off season. You know, I mean, they didn't try to do that in other years. I mean, you know, I mean, it's really a disrespect to the other quarterback, no matter how he puts it. He's cut. I don't remember there's bad blood between Alex Smith and Ron. Rivera. Right. Well, he has kind of, you know, said this before, you know, that we have a quarterback.

And look, their actions, Matt Stafford in 2021 and then the trade for Carson Wentz in 2022 and the big attempt for Russell Wilson in 2022. I mean, as I said all last year, their actions, you know, spoke louder than their words. And for all the Taylor Heineke talk, they wanted Matt Stafford. And I said during the season last year and you'll find when this season ends they're going to want somebody else. And they did. I think that last part that you picked up on is also an interesting part because he has said this many times before too. He said we've got, you know, I think we have a guy that we can now, you know, establish and rally around and build off of, which is what we tried to do in the off season as far as making sure we had a stout offensive line to protect him and the playmakers.

And, you know, he has said that now multiple times during the summer. And I just want to remind everybody, this is important because they went out in the offseason after having a terrible defensive team last year. And almost all of their emphasis in the off season was on the offense. Okay. And why was it on the offense? And I'm not talking about the Carson Wentz move, which obviously is the number one move. They drafted Jehan Dodson.

Okay, they drafted Brian Robinson, Jr. in the third round. They went, they, you know, revamped their offensive line because they certainly weren't going to franchise tag sheriff again. The Eric Flowers thing was a bit of a surprise, but they loved Leno. They re-signed him. They brought in Turner. They brought back Schweitzer, Lucas, et cetera. They tell you that they are much better at quarterback. But then they tell you they're not so good that they can't have, you know, anything but an A-level supporting cast,

which, by the way, is not criticism because most quarterbacks need that. But they're admitting that he's better than Heineke and Alex Smith, which I agree with. But he's not the Carson Wentz that maybe some of you are hoping for the 2016 version, that becomes a top-tenish kind of quarterback, that you can have carry the team. No. They added Dotson. They knew they were getting Samuel back. They added Brian Robinson, Jr. even though we're not going to see him for the first four games. They drafted a tight end, you know, that they really liked. Another tight end. They are putting the supporting cast around him to give him the best chance to succeed because they believe he's not the kind of guy that can carry the team.

And then on top of that, they need him to succeed because this is, about the decision they made to acquire him. So all of their emphasis is about making and giving it work, giving Carson Wentz the best chance to succeed. Because if he does in this sport, then they will be better than worse, more likely than not. And they'll look great for the acquisition. And they're doubling down on a defense that was a year ago

supposed to be the 85 Bears and ended up being one of the worst defenses in the entirety of the NFL. They don't have Chase Young. They don't have a linebacker of note. And they didn't add anything. It was a net loss defensively, losing Settle and Ionitis and gaining basically Phil Mathis in the second round. I mean, they had to bring back John Bostic for crying out light.

I know they love him. I know. But, you know, the last time we saw him as a player, he was a good coach more than he was a player. Now, let me ask you this. to really take the car off the rails again to a subject that I like to do. Would nine wins be a good year? Definitely.

That's my best case. So yes. Okay. So let me ask you this. If Taylor Heineke had Logan Thomas last year and a healthy Curtis Samuel against a tougher schedule, would he have won two more games last year? You're doing this Sabah thing where you're, and you have an ulterior motive, and that is you think Taylor Heineke, you know, was good enough. And you think that there's not much of an upgrade with Wentz over Heineke.

And I'm not going to sit here and debate you on that because you might ultimately be right that Wence is, you know, a shell of his former self and what we saw at the end of the year last year. But his ceiling is much higher than Heinekees. The answer is, yeah, they had a much tougher schedule last year. and they faced all of these great quarterbacks. And then over, and Tommy, they should have been 0 and 8. They were much closer to being 0 and 8 than they were 2 and 6 at the by week. Remember, Dexter Lawrence jumped off sides on Hopkins' missed field goal against the Giants. And Taylor Heineke threw a balloon up into the air, into the end zone at Atlanta that Terry McClearn made an unbelievable play on to catch.

I mean, it was a first down balloon that brought rain into the end zone. And so they beat Atlanta. They were very close to being an 0-8 football team. Very close. Much closer to being 0-8 than 4-and-4. Because all of the other losses were pretty, you know, one-sided beatdowns. Now, the Chargers game... Your Honor, please, Your Honor, please direct the witness to answer the question?

No, they would not have been 9-8. The question is, no? No. That's interesting. Well, let me just, let me tell you why. because you're saying last year with Logan Thomas, and by the way, you should throw in J.D. McKissick because they lost him too, and that was a big miss.

And you can throw in if they didn't have all the COVID cases, right, for the Philadelphia game that they played on a Tuesday night. They had a four-game winning streak, and they had beaten Tampa, and they went on the road and beat a Carolina team that wasn't very good, and then they beat a Seattle team that was really struggling, and almost blew that lead. Raiders team in fortunate fashion when, you know, Trayvon Morrig, their outstanding safety from TCU, dropped a ball on the final drive that Taylor Heineke put right between his numbers,

that he dropped, that allowed the kicker from Gonzaga, what was his name, to come on and kick a game-winning field goal. They played well, don't get me wrong, they played well, and Taylor played well, but really it was Gibson. It was bull. It was. ball control. They took the pressure off Heineke, and they won four games in a row. Then they came back to play Dallas in what was a big game, you know, kind of for this team at six and six. And the final score was not indicative, just like the Chargers game early in the year wasn't indicative. They were getting beat 27 to 8 in the fourth quarter with six minutes to go in the game. 27 to 8, they got destroyed by Dallas, even though they got the ball back with a chance,

because that fluky, you know, Prescott terrible throw that Cole Holcomb returned. Both Philly games were winnable games that could have gotten them to eight wins. They could have gotten them to nine wins. But I don't think they would have won both of them, and they weren't going to beat Dallas on the road. I mean, they lost that game 56 to 14. There were a lot of, you know, extenuating circumstances.

There was the tragedy with Montez Sweets family. there was all the COVID cases, there was the short week, et cetera. But Dallas was just flat out better. So I think they would have won another game or two and ended up, you know, a game or two short of the postseason. Well, another game or two, the two would give them nine wins. Yeah, another two would have given them nine. That's right.

So I'm saying, so I, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me, let me, uh, retract. One win. They would have gotten one more. They would have beaten Philadelphia once. Okay. Because they almost did. I saw a witness, Your Honor.

They almost did. But you're doing the thing Sabah does in protecting Heineke. Like this morning she called in and she said, well, my best case is 13 wins. I mean, you got Carson Wentz. You've been telling us how great Carson Wentz is the team has, and they got a much easier schedule, and they added all these offensive weapons,

and they're getting some of them back. She's got a point. So they better win 13 or, you know, they could have, they should have saved the trade picks and the salary cap space and started Heineke again. That's really not the point of this. The point of this is you're trying to get better and you're trying to find a high ceiling guy. So, and Carson Wentz has a much higher ceiling than Heineke. I don't know if he'll reach it again, but Heineke's ceiling, we pretty much know what it is.

It's as a backup quarterback for a team that might win 7, 8, or in your scenario there, 9 games. They're never going to contend for anything. He's Colt McCoy, sorry to upset your favorite player. But they're not going to contend for anything with Carson Wentz either. I don't think they will, but but there is the possibility that Carson Wentz has physically with his physical abilities, and we've seen it.

It's not like we haven't seen it. We saw it in 2016 and 2017. At the end of 2017, it was like, my God, Philly is set for the next decade. They've got an elite quarterback. And I know that's five years ago. I recognize that, which is why I'm skeptical. I'm wait and see on Wentz. I'm not convinced, but I am a believer.

that you have to have a guy that is, you know, top 10-ish, top half of the leagueish, worst case as a starter, which Heineke is not. That's not Heineke's ceiling. And Wence's ceiling is that. And so you got to keep going for it until you find it. He may not be the right guy. In fact, I wouldn't bet on him being the right guy, the best long-term guy. But I know Heineke isn't.

Anything else, Your Honor? Yeah, one other thing. What? Do they have the right guy on their roster at quarterback? I don't think they do. I just said that. I would bet against Carson Wentz being the long-term answer. No, that's not who I meet.

Oh, Sam Howell? Yeah. No. I don't think so. But I'll tell you one thing. There were a lot of guys on Saturday that looked really, really good. and I mentioned this guy yesterday. If Anthony Richardson from Florida is somehow available in next year's draft

when Washington is on the clock, sign me up. That guy looks like Patrick Mahomes. A lot of you reached out to me to say he was a projected first rounder in some mock drafts, and now he's into the first round of every mock draft. Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if by the end of the year he is a top 10 selection. in next year's draft. There were a lot of quarterbacks that impressed over the weekend.

I wanted to end with this. Francis Tiafo beat Nadal yesterday in the fourth round at the U.S. Open. I've kind of, from afar, followed the Tiafo career because he's from here. Some of you know that. For those of you that don't, he is a product of the JTCCC tennis complex

out in college park. It's a complex that was built, you know, more than a decade ago and has produced some really good players, none better than Tiafo. But Tiafo's story is such an interesting one. His parents emigrated from Sierra Leone. His father was part of the construction project to build that facility in college park and then was hired to be a custodian at that facility. His mother was working two jobs. They lived in Hyattsville, but they also lived. In the facility itself, the father was a custodian.

They gave the father a room, and sometimes Francis and his twin brother slept at the facility. And they started to pick up tennis rackets. And when everybody else had gone, they started hitting balls in the facility because that's where they were. That's where dad worked and that's where they sometimes slept. And somebody took notice and said, this kid, both of them have talent. his twin brother played at Damatha and then ended up playing college tennis at Salisbury. And Francis immediately was recognized as a true prodigy and sent down to Florida to develop into a potential professional player.

Liz Clark wrote a great story about Tiafo eight years ago in 2014. And I remember when she wrote the story and I read it and I called her and I said, wow, we got somebody to follow here because he had gotten like a wild card. entry into the D.C. tournament, you know, down at 16th in Kennedy. Right. And he's been now on the tour for several years. He's been in the top 30-ish, top 20-ish area for a few years. He's gotten to quarterfinals before, but yesterday was the marquee win of his career, beating Nadal at the U.S. Open in the round of 16 to get to the quarterfinals. There's no Djokovic left. There's no Nadal left. There is Curio, so I think it's going to win this thing. But Teafo's got a legitimate

chance to continue to advance. Now, it's kind of wide open now on the men's side, but he wore Nadal down. Both of his parents were in the box. He acknowledged them. He gave a great post-match speech. Bradley Beale was in the box. He is a DMV guy. He's a DC sports fan. He's a commander's fan. He's a big Wizards fan. Bradley Beals is his favorite player, and Beal was in the box yesterday. Something to root for the rest of the way in this U.S. Open. Look, I think it'd be great to have an American man presence at the top of the game of tennis, and particularly one with local connections.

I think it'd be great. I would love it. Great story. That's a column for you if he keeps advancing, right? Okay, boss. I didn't know you were my head. I love when you do this. My favorite part is when I suggest something to you

versus when you take something from the show that I said and turn it into a column. It's much different, though, when I actually suggest it to you. Then you get real defensive. Okay, boss, yeah. Sorry, this is journalism. I've got real editors. I've got real ideas, people.

And yet, many of your columns over the years have come out of the conversations that we've had on this very podcast or the radio show before. So, yeah. Well, sometimes you are, sometimes you are accidentally perceptive. Oh, really? It's accidental. Okay.

Yes. Thank you for that great compliment. All right. I got nothing else, boss, do you? Nothing else, buddy. On Thursday, we'll have all of our predictions. So be prepared for Thursday. You know, we need a prediction for,

the divisions for the playoffs teams, for the Super Bowl, and lots of commanders season predictions as well. We'll do that on Thursday. I am back with you tomorrow. Have a great day.