The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Assessing NBA Contenders and Talking Boxing With Chris Mannix, Plus BYU Coach Kalani Sitake

Episode Date: April 20, 2021

Russillo opens with Steph Curry continuing his ridiculous stretch, Chris Paul and the Suns continuing to impress, and more in the NBA in 10 Minutes or Less (2:30). Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix stops by to talk about the Jake Paul fight and why one of boxing's biggest problems is the fear of fighters losing. Plus he and Russillo assess all the NBA contenders with just a few weeks left in the regular season (15:20). Next, Ryen talks to BYU head coach Kalani Sitake about his former quarterback Zach Wilson projecting to the NFL and the unique nature of the Cougars’ program (40:30). Finally, Ryen closes the show with some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (59:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

boxing used to rival the nba and the nfl in terms of popularity sports illustrated put boxers on the cover regularly that changed not because the talent disappeared but because there became this idea that the best way to have success is to keep a perfect record and avoid any and all challenges. Look, Demetrius Andrade very easily could have been fighting Jamal Charlo, two 30-something American undefeated heavyweight champions. And maybe that wouldn't have resonated in the way that Leonard Hagler did in the 1980s. But if that fight had been signed and there had been a proper buildup, you would have heard about it. You would have noticed that this fight was happening

and probably would have watched this fight happening. But unfortunately, all we talk about in boxing nowadays are fights that don't get made, and that is just squeezing the ever-living life out of the sport. Today's plan. We're going to have some fun here. Kalani Satake, the head coach at BYU. Incredible story on his own, but also asking about his quarterback going into the draft.

Chris Mannix on two different topics, the NBA and what is going on with fighting. And I have an announcement to make that I don't want to make it sound nasty, but we'll see. We'll see how I do. I'm not sure how I'm going to pull this off. Okay, before I get to another topic that isn't exactly breaking news, but I feel like I need to bring it up, we'll bring it up in a little bit. I want to do NBA 10 minutes or less here. I want to run through a few different things.

All right, Denver's won three in a row. I don't have a ton on the game other than Joker goes for 47, 15, and 8. Now, as I've pointed out throughout the entire season, I feel like finally people have come around on this. There's never been an easier season for offensive basketball. There are a bunch of different factors. This is not debatable. And when it always came back to when Brooklyn was on its run, and you would look historically at what their per 100 possessions offensive numbers were, and everybody kept bringing it up, best offense we've ever seen best offense best offense best offense i'd be like okay statistically i get where it's at but it was also dallas last year dallas last year was

considered the best offense in history because we've seen things shift uh this way there is no way ever i would be taking um the brooklyn nets offense over some of the offenses that we've seen from some of the great basketball teams of all time. So I'm sorry. And maybe this team still might win a championship here if they get everybody on the same page and the Durant injury, the Kyrie element and that part of it, although I think a lot of us seem to just be able to say, hey, we'll just pencil Harden in when he comes back.

Having said all of those things about the offense again, because I'll need to check myself a couple times, but Joker, this is exactly what you want from your MVP. JaVale Murray goes down with the ACL. Murray had started to really put some stuff together for a long stretch after a slower start, which is to be understood

because some of the teams have just been a lot more challenging for them. Joker, the shot attempts really is the difference. We can talk about all the different efficiency numbers for him. Joker, the shot attempts really is the difference. We can talk about all the different efficiency numbers for him in particular, but when I look at a guy who, you know, it's kind of my Chris Paul thing where I go, you could shoot more and I wish you did, but it's kind of beautiful that you don't either. And, you know, this was somebody who was last year shooting less than 15 times a game, all right, for Joker. And now he's over 18 shot attempts. And if we look at this month, I mean, he went 20 of 31 against Memphis in this double overtime win. And Memphis actually put together some nice run. The end of the first overtime shot that he took, I think if I didn't want to give Ja the benefit of the doubt about who he is as a player, I'd probably get on his case a little bit more because he kind of drove and hung in the air and then looked like he wanted to throw out to the corner and then was freaked because Joker actually looked like he was going to show to the corner.

So then he just kind of like threw it up at the backboard, and that was what they came up with. But Memphis has played better Denver three in a row. We'll see what kind of offensive burst Jokic has because the shot attempts for this month actually aren't that crazy for him. They've been down this month from the last couple of months. But in general, I mean, he was at kind of like 19 shots per game each of the last months until this one in April. So we'll see where that goes. But they beat Miami, they beat Houston, they beat Memphis, and Denver right now, despite us kind of writing them off because of losing Murray, which I'm not going to say we're wrong for looking at them differently now. I think that makes sense.

But they're sitting there in the fourth seed, and they're two behind the Clippers. They're two and a half ahead of the Lakers. Portland slowed a bit here as well. So, all right, I'm just going to run through all the standings here, but that would be your four or five. But if you're the Lakers and you're getting your guys back, I think you feel pretty good. And also, John Ireland said he thought that –

I was listening to him on 710 with Mason and Ireland. I thought this was good information because he understands it. He's been working for the team for a long time in the broadcast. He was saying that he thought Davis and James would be back for the last nine-game stretch. There you go. I would trust him more than others. Golden State's win.

Steph, another one of those games. Steph now has the most 30-point games and consecutive games 33 years of age or older. He just has the most 30-point games and consecutive games 33 years of age or older. He just broke a tie with Kobe Bryant.

So Steph has 11, Kobe had 10, Jordan did it twice for seven games in a row. All right? So I'm going to annoy myself a little bit talking about Steph again because we just did another Steph Love Fest on the podcast on Sunday night with Bill, so I'm not going to get too carried away.

Although, as I scroll through some of the websites, apparently Stephen A. said he's one of the best shooters ever. Breaking news. 49 points for Steph. 10 of 17 from 3. By the way, 9 of the 10 threes were unassisted. And I'm not even going to give anybody any, any grief over this one. When you're coming that high off the screen, it can be, it's never going to get there. He's not going to get five feet me on the three point

line to show. And Steph has just more aggression in his offensive game than I think we've ever seen from him because that's what they need and it's still efficient that's the point with Steph is that he's doing this and it's all still efficient 49 points on 28 shots 28 shots you know so I'm not going to get on Embiid's case whatsoever about the defensive stuff. The Sixers, if you look at the lineup, this doesn't matter. They started Mike Scott.

Embiid, Curry, and Green were in there. Simmons didn't play. Tobias Harris didn't play. There's not a lot. Theibel played 30 minutes. Milton, 20, although he's playing. George Hill finally got into a game. Missed one of five

from the floor overall, but he hadn't played since he'd been traded, which I think was a surprise to some people. But the one thing I would say critique-wise here filling in this game is that Draymond is fighting like hell. Looney had a nice game. They did some different things with Embiid defensively,

but if you're in a close game, and this was close, and you're trying to figure out where you want to get Embiid going, letting him be so far away from the basket to start some of the actions just is a mistake. You're doing what Golden State wants. If Embiid is continually having to face up, he had three or four possessions late where the possessions didn't do anything and he was set in a screen and he might have been too tired

to roll hard every time or the way it was set up, the ball kind of went away from where he was so the angle wasn't quite there. That's where, and I say this a lot, but having an adult at point guard can be a real game changer for teams

because they'll just be like, hey, whoa, whoa, hey, what are we doing here? Let's not do this anymore. Joel, let's get you down there. Let's get something where you come across the paint and they get set up deep on a catch and have you go to work there. Because once he got position in any kind of seal, Draymond, forget it, it wasn't going to happen. So the other game that I thought was really important was Phoenix's win in overtime against Milwaukee. This doesn't mean a ton the result here. It was at Milwaukee. Giannis had a cramp. He was terrific up until this point. Cramp for him ends up missing like the last four plus minutes of this game. Andre Ayton actually hurt his shoulder, not getting a catch from Chris Paul on a huge possession during regulation. Now, is it funny that Ayton hurt his shoulder? No, but it actually looked really bad at first because like, oh, man, he's really hurt.

I hope this isn't serious. And so then he goes down the court and they play defense and then they bring it back up. And you're thinking, all right, they're going to stop the clock at some point to sub him out. Phoenix didn't want to stop the clock. So Ay's sitting there holding his arm and they're just like, no, we're going to keep running it. Like, sorry. And that's what they did. I mean, Chris Paul is on this tear. He passes Magic Johnson for the assist lead

and he's obviously not ahead of Mark Jackson and Stockton and those guys. Do you need me to look this up right now? Let's get Cerruti and IT on that real quick. This game, with the no Giannis part of it, Middleton answering the bell every single time,

P.J. Tucker with a big three, Bridges with a big three, the eight in play ended up not mattering. He still stayed with them. The refs were a mess in this one, but the last possession where I really didn't love the foul call where Booker got completely bailed out, this was a little reminder of what Drew Holiday is capable of as a perimeter defender. That was so filthy what Holiday did against Booker.

See, if you haven't seen this, I would urge you to just go ahead and find it. Because they were doing a couple different things where it looked like they were trying to get the switch. They got switched to Holiday. And then the announcer's like, wait, is that what they want? Like, that doesn't make any sense. We're like, no, they're trying to get defagenzo but holiday just kept fighting through it and not fighting through it where he was just barreling through screens but he just he just understood like the angle of where the screen was it wasn't the most dynamic screen

so it just basically left booker trying to take drew holiday one-on-one like 30 feet out and he kind of couldn't he just couldn't get by him you know Booker's awesome, too. Booker hit a huge shot in this game. But he couldn't do anything with him. And then they sent it to a review. They called a foul on Tucker because the arms did touch. So I guess it was contact. But I don't like this any time now on a replay where we go, oh, there's contact there.

There are times where you're contacted as the offensive player with the ball as you're trying to score, and it's not necessarily always a foul. And you could argue Booker kind of shoved him off. But two teams that, you know, I feel like were dismissive of Milwaukee, and people are starting to come around on Phoenix. And during this Chris Paul run, I believe in the last six games, he has 59 assists and three turnovers. Last one here, Celtics lost to Chicago.

They didn't have Kemba or Marcus Smart, but no Zach Levine. Maybe it's the first game home after the long West Coast trip and all those deals that we know, but maybe it's just the lineup, but I'm telling you,

them going through, I don't know that they figured something out. I just don't, despite winning all of those games out West. All right. Time.

Ten minutes, dude. Crazy. Literally West. All right. Time. 10 minutes, dude. Crazy. Literally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All-time assist leaders. Got it right here. You got six guys over 10,000.

Magic at six. Chris Paul, five. Mark Jackson, four. Steve Nash, three. Jason Kidd's got 12,000. Jason Kidd, yeah. And then Stockton's stupid. Yeah. It's 15,000, Steve Nash, three. Jason Kidd's got 12,000. Jason Kidd, yeah. And then Stockton's stupid. Yeah.

It's 15,000, right? Almost 16,000. So it's just, I mean, it's absurd. I know. Now, the Stockton Malone stats, sometimes I'm like, hey, we don't give them enough credit. And then sometimes I'll also be like,

imagine if every play for 20 years was you just passing it to another guy. You know? So sometimes I think that works against Malone. But I don't want to do that. I don't feel like turning this into an anti-historic Stockton Malone podcast. Chris Mannix, who we usually want to talk hoops with,

but there's always something going on with the fight game by the way great piece on Hagler because when Simmons and I did some of the stuff on Hagler I cited you and as always it's terrific work you've been covering the fight game for a while so we've got Jake Paul and Ben Askren I did not buy

this one but I'll admit I mean I'm respectful of anybody that wants to step in the ring and back it up. And as much as everybody wants to see Jake get his ass kicked, which I can totally understand, Ben's been a tough guy in MMA for a long time. And Jake's combination pretty much put him to bed. So, you know, you can hate on the kid, but he's stepping up to competition. So where are you at with this story right now?

stepping up to competition. So where are you at with this story right now? Um, I have no problem with Jake Paul and Logan Paul and these YouTubers getting in the ring. I mean, to your point, Jake Paul doesn't embarrass himself out there. Um, I worked one of Jake's fights,

his first pro fight actually against a fellow YouTuber. And like, he can box a little bit like he's, you know, when this fight with Ben Askren was made, you know, I just started looking at some video of Askren and you could see he couldn't punch like he's a wrestler and you put a wrestler in with a guy that can box. And what happened is what's going to happen every single time. So I wasn't surprised at how it all played out. The thing that frustrated me was,

you know, this drew a lot of eyeballs, and that's fine. But you compare it to two other boxing events that took place on Saturday. You had Demetrius Andrade, the middleweight title holder, in a division that used to be the marquee division in all of boxing, Hagler's division. Ray Leonard fought in that division. Golovkin now. Canelo was

in that division. And he fought in the afternoon against Liam Williams in a fight that didn't generate a fraction of the buzz that Jake Paul did that evening on Fox. Tony Harrison, former junior middleweight title holder. He fights a fight that doesn't generate a fraction of the interest. It just what bubbled to the surface with me, Ryan, was how, you know, this sort of circus like atmosphere not only eclipses boxing, but it dwarfs it. And that to me is really frustrating because boxing needs to do better. I feel like the boxing, is it dead? Conversation has come up forever.

And it's probably one of those funny things. Because whenever I'll read any historical book, there's almost always an element of wherever you are in the 19th, or I would say 20th century, 1900s. It's amazing. I mean, going all the way back to Jack Johnson, once Dempsey took over, Joe Lewis, on and on. Every single heavyweight run that you'll look at, there'll always be something coming up. So I'm reading another Muhammad Ali book now and I'm into the stretch where he's lost to Frazier and then he doesn't stop fighting. Muhammad Ali book now, and I'm into the stretch where he's lost to

Frazier, and then he doesn't stop fighting. Muhammad Ali's fighting every other month for almost two years, just fighting and fighting and fighting. But there's always this idea that boxing is dead and boxing is dead. What people don't realize is that when those fights happened back in the day, the world stopped. The world stopped. Everybody had an opinion on it.

The problem is now, as you point out, I didn't even know Andre fought this weekend. I didn't even know Andre fought this weekend. I didn't even know. And I don't know if that's the same conversation, a different conversation, and ultimately I have no idea how it's fixed. I mean, look, it's boxing is not dead. It is very much alive. It's just being suffocated by promoters and fighters that do not look out for its long-term interest. I think the talent in boxing is as strong as it's ever been. It's gone global in the same way that every sport has gone global. You've got fighters from Eastern European countries, fighters from Russia, now fighters coming up from Asia, Pacquiao coming from the Philippines. You've got great talent in boxing. It's just

where once fighters sought out the biggest challenges, whether it was Ali with all the great fights he fought, the four kings of the 1980s with leonard fighting duran haggler and hearns and in events like you said the world just stopped i mean i think leonard fought hearns on like a wednesday he fought like on a wednesday night or something and it was it was the biggest event that was going on boxing used to rival the nba and the the NFL in terms of popularity. Sports Illustrated put boxers on the cover regularly. That changed not because the talent disappeared, but because there became this idea that the best way to have success

is to keep a perfect record and avoid any and all challenges. Look, Demetrius Andrade very easily could have been fighting Jermall Charlo, two 30-something American undefeated heavyweight champions, and maybe that wouldn't have resonated in the way that Leonard Hagler did in the 1980s, but if that fight had been signed and there had been a proper buildup,

you would have heard about it. You would have noticed that this fight was happening and probably would have watched this fight happening but unfortunately all we talk about in boxing nowadays are fights that don't get made and that is just squeezing the ever-living life out of the sport um i remember i i don't know who it was it was a boxing writer i kind of argued with about like how promoters like this is the problem this is why people like the ufc more is eventually dana white's gonna make the two guys fight that everybody wants to see fight and i this is a crazy story but i remember talking to like a venture capitalist firm that was thinking about just trying to buy boxing buy all of it it, and just say, hey, we're going to buy it all, and then we're going to organize it, and then we're going to do what the UFC does.

And it was just, obviously, with every single person you'd have to take care of there, it's probably an impossible transaction. But that's the part that I don't quite understand. But then there's been other people that argue that if it weren't for promoters on and on, I mean, you're like, yeah, I don't know, because you made some really good points. There's never been more of a desire for live sports than right now. Um, you know, whether it's the stuff that you've done with design, I mean, everybody's trying to find a way to pay everybody. I'll look at pay-per-views on fights that like American sports fans are going, what did you just do? And as you point out globally, there's international pay-per-view buys that are off the charts that will act like it's not significant. And you're like,

it's very significant. You just don't care. It's kind of like soccer in the States probably 20 years ago or something like that. So I wish it could be fixed, but it's something to be said when you just, I don't know why anyone would think that this version of the business is sustainable. So yeah, obviously I agree with you, but that seems to be the biggest thing. I mean, who cares about Jake Paul? It's embarrassing that more people want to watch him fight. I have respect for him and what he's doing, but you know, him, him pulling a big number doesn't mean you can no longer get a big number with an American fight. You absolutely can. And, you know, one thing to remember, too, is that, you know, for about 10 years, fighters avoided challenges in the 140 to 154 pound weight class because everybody wanted that Floyd Mayweather golden

ticket like they wanted to be the guy that Floyd chose to fight. So with that hanging out there, they didn't face the toughest test. That's happening now with Canelo Alvarez. Canelo is out there fighting the best. I mean, he fought the best at 154. He fought the best at 160. And now he is two fights away from becoming the first ever undisputed 168 pound champion. But everybody around him knows how much money you make if you fight Canelo. So they're not willing to risk it. We have seen Golovkin for the last year, you know, basically fight ham and eggers, so to speak, you know, whether it's Steve rolls when he came back or his last fight against Camille Zarameta, it's Steve Rolls when he came back or his last fight against Camille Zarometta. Golovkin could have fought Demetrius Andrade. Golovkin is 160 pound title holder. He could have said, you know

what? The Canelo fight's not happening right now. I'll face Demetrius Andrade. But Andrade is tricky and you could lose a fight like that. And Golovkin's team believes if you do, you lose the opportunity to face Canelo in a major fight for the third time. Nobody is willing to take a risk. And that's because they believe a loss is catastrophic. Ryan, the proof is out there that losses are not catastrophic to boxers. Sugar Ray Leonard, how many times did he lose? A handful of times. Muhammad Ali lost five times. Sugar Ray Robinson is considered arguably the best fighter of all time, and he lost 19 times. What are we doing that we're so consumed with losses? MMA's not. UFC's not. I have no idea how many times Conor McGregor has lost or any of these other guys have lost. I know they're entertaining, and I

know no matter when they fight, I'm going to want to watch them fight. Boxing doesn't get that. Promoters don't get that. Fighters don't get that. And until that changes, boxing is going to be stuck in that in-between space, like between American soccer and lacrosse

in the eyes of the American fan base. Let's switch to the NBA while you're here, just because I am... American soccer and lacrosse in the eyes of the American fan base. Let's switch to the NBA while you're here, just because I am, you know, I'm watching Phoenix and Milwaukee last night and I was on with Bill and I'm like, look, I feel like we're way too dismissive of Milwaukee, but then I'll kind of do the thing that I would do to somebody else and be like, all right, pick them to win the East. I'm like, well, I don't know if I want to do that, you know? And then I watch Philadelphia and I'm not going to put anything that loss against the Warriors and missing two of their three guys.

And maybe I want to pick Philly because I don't want the Brooklyn thing to happen. Like I'm admitting a bias there. Cause in a way of like Brooklyn wins the title, does it mean that everybody was right about Kyrie? And you're like, well, geez, I don't know if I want to sign up for that either. And then out West, there's all sorts of things where I'm like, Hey, let's not be dismissive of Utah or Phoenix because it's new, but then I'm going to feel like an idiot. if Davis and LeBron look good next month before the

playoffs start. So I'd like to think that it's a wide field, but I also realize as I say that it might be, hey, can we talk ourselves into seven or eight teams that could win a title where it wouldn't be surprising? Well, that seems stupid, especially like I said, because I also don't want to be dismissive of what the Lakers can be when they try to almost talk all of us out of it when they were in the bubble last year. Yeah, I'd like to think it's a wide field, too. You know, Milwaukee had this conversation with John Horst a few weeks ago where we were talking about Giannis' rise back to MVP level. He's like, look, we're a better team than what we were last year. Our number, our record may not reflect it, but Drew Holiday has

made us a better team, and I buy that. I give Milwaukee a shot, but I'm not one of the people that believe that the Nets need to play 20 games together for them to figure it out. I think they're going to be just fine. I think whenever Durant, Harden,

and Kyrie get back on the floor together, they've still got plenty of time to do it. I don't know how you stop those guys, man. I just, I don't know. Like in the fourth quarter of a game, how do you slow them down? I just don't see it. And in the Western Conference, I love the Utah story, and I've spent a lot of time in the last month reporting something out on Utah.

And the self-confidence they have, you know, in large part because they believe that if they had Bogdanovich in the bubble and if they had a fully healthy, engaged Mike Conley in the bubble, that they may have won the West. Like they really believed in what they were last year. But the Lakers are a better team, in my opinion, anyway, than what they were last year. I think Dennis Schroeder makes them better. I think the Montrezl Harrell, Andre Drummond, Marc Gasol trio in the front court makes them better. I mean, I'd love to sit here and say, like, wow, there's five teams in the East and five teams in the West

that could legitimately win. I just don't see it. If the Lakers have all their guys back, it's the Lakers in the West. If the Nets have all their guys healthy, to's the Lakers in the West. If the Nets have all their guys healthy, to me anyway, it's the Nets in the East. I don't know that I love that big group as much. I get the Drummond acquisition, and this isn't even anti-Drummond.

I just feel like the Souls look pretty spent, and that was part of the Drummond part of it. I think he's washed at this point. Yeah, but last year, I mean, the Rondo part of it was incredible. Were you one of the people that believed Drummond was empty calories for the last few years? Yes. See, I didn't.

I like him for the Lakers, by the way. I like him for what it is, but yeah, go ahead. Your point. I guess we disagree. I understand he hasn't been on winning teams, which is not his fault, by the way. You put him in the Detroit complete disaster, and then you trade him to Cleveland. He's just in these bad situations. I think he would have put up these numbers on winning teams before. I think if you put him

on... Boston's pursued him at various points in the last few years. You put him on the Celtics, he would have done the same things. He would have been 15-15 for that team with that group. I just think he's going to be just such a monster alongside Davis, but you're going to pay so much attention to Davis that he's just going to be hanging out there in the paint, collecting rebounds and getting putbacks.

I think that was one of the more, and we talked about it, but underrated acquisitions that the Lakers, that any team made in the last like month or two. I like it for the Lakers the same way that when Dwight and JaVale, I'm like, okay, whatever. Like you guys are going to grab those guys, whatever. And then you see them with LeBron working off of LeBron.

And now all of a sudden it's just eaten for free the whole game. And so Drummond, I like better than those guys. And I think he's, he's, he's exactly what they wanted. I mean, they wanted to be bigger. They wanted to have another option.

I think they, you know, with Gasol being frustrated, it probably tells you where those minutes are going. And Montrez is, he's really active. I like his energy. I think defensively at times he can be exposed and,

you know, we'll probably see some of the stuff that we saw in the playoffs last year where they just tell Anthony Davis he's not going to be a center forever. And then they're like, hey, do you mind playing a little five here? Because this is clearly our best unit. And, you know, Dennis is going to have to offer up some of the Rondo stuff because the Rondo spot up shooting for them in the playoffs last year, I still think is one of the most unlikely outcomes. I know he's been a slightly better shooter since his days in Boston

where he was just a liability. But back then it didn't matter because you didn't play defense the same way. You know what I mean? You weren't worried about a zero as a shooting threat. Now teams are so scared to put anybody out there. you don't even get a handout on and then Rondo just hits every single shot to the playoffs. It was nuts. I think Schroeder can too because there was a stretch in February where he went out for four games because of the

protocols. They lost all four. They were bad without him. He's become a real glue guy for that team. He hasn't proven it, obviously, in the playoffs, the highest level yet. But he's got such he's got that Rondo like Moxie. Like they're always compared because they kind of like have the same body type. But he's got that Rondo kind of swagger to him that I just think he's going to show up in the playoffs.

So you are working on this Utah piece. And usually, you know how that happens, the familiarity, you being that close to the story. You come out of Salt Lake going, hey, I'm a Utah guy now. That didn't happen is what you're telling me. I mean, it happened to a degree, but I don't know how you were with LeBron in the East, but God, I bet against him so many times. I was like, this is the year Boston takes him down.

It's like that Game of Zones thing where everybody's going to attack LeBron and knock him off and nobody ever does. I'm done betting against him. And especially when he has AD and has Schroeder and now he has Drummond. There's more than enough weapons for him on that team to

not just win the Western Conference, maybe cruise through it. They may start the playoffs as a 6 seed, but who gives a damn? You think Phoenix wants to play them in the Western Conference, maybe cruise through it. They may start the playoffs as a sixth seed, but who gives a damn? You think Phoenix wants to play them in the first round? I think we're going to see tanking at the top to avoid the Lakers wherever they are and see if you can get in the series with Denver

at some point. There's a lot of talent, a lot of depth. They're the number one defense in the NBA before everything kind of went to hell with that team. There's just very little reason to believe that if all those guys are back, they're not going to pick up right where they left off. So where are you on the Clippers then? I mean, until they, it's like, you know, fool me once, shame on me, fool me or shame on you, fool me twice.

Like until they get punched in the mouth and react to it, know react well to it i i still have my doubts i mean paul george is awesome kawaii is awesome uh i think rondo to your point helps them because i'm a believer that playoff rondo does exist no matter what he says of course it exists i mean he may not like it he does a whole yeah he can hate it then play better in the regular season it's simple exactly you know or like when rondo left Boston, he was like, yeah, I didn't really play defense the last two years. I mean, there's never been more evidence for a nickname to fit. I agree.

And then for a guy to dispute it, and you're like, okay, then fix it. You can fix it if you want to. I mean, you're playing like 15 minutes a game for a banged up Hawks team. I mean, of course, there's a playoff Rondo. Like if the playoff Rondo was in Atlanta, he would have played like, he's just going to,

right. He wasn't good there. And they're like, all right, we'll, we'll trade you. And then he's like, I can't believe people keep saying this about me.

It was like a, it was like a celebration in the Hawks front office. Cause everybody killed them for signing him. And they wind up getting draft picks back for it. Like, see, we told you, we told you this was a good signing. We,ed him for for draft compensation i just who's the i

mean who's the leader on that team like who's the guy that stands up in the locker room when they're down to one to a good team and it inspires them like paul george has never been that guy kawhi leonard as great as he is has never been that guy he had duncan in san antonio and he had uh kyle lowry and others in in toronto i just well it's not beverly either because beverly is probably not gonna play like but he's right a glass like he drives people crazy and you know it's a really good point like i don't i don't think kawaii delivers that message the way you'd want it to and paul george is the wrong guy to send the message because they're leadership by type of guys, if they're leaders at all, it's not a knock on them. They're great players.

But every team that wins has that guy like has that one guy that stands up and says, you know, if things are going wrong, you know, inspires the locker room. It's it sounds corny, but it's true. And I don't know who that guy is. Maybe Rondo's that guy. I mean, he's kind of been that guy sometimes in the past, and he's not afraid to get in people's faces. But that's asking a lot for a guy that was acquired for a bag of chips in March,

and you're throwing him into the mix. Yeah, I hear you on that one. Philadelphia, I know what the defensive numbers are all the time. They get George Hill now into the mix. There's a pretty clear, identifiable deal with them. Embiid is probably as dominant as anyone right now, and I wish people would maybe stop getting on his case

about the one game where he doesn't look like he's in shape because I don't think he's ever going to run around like Tyson Chandler all game long you know what I mean it's never going to look like that because of his body type and it all seems to be working out but it probably gets back to your point are there enough wings to slow down that Brooklyn group on Philly and Simmons, Dybul you would think with Green they have a chance but you know I don't know maybe they're just going to Embiid get 40. It depends which Danny Green shows up to in the playoffs. Do we get

Toronto Danny Green? He was great. LA Danny Green from last year was not so much. He wasn't making shots. That to me is the biggest question mark. They've got guys that have made shots this year. Are those guys going to make shots in the playoffs? Are you going to get consistent production from Seth Curry,

from Danny Green, Tybalt? Are those guys going to be able to be the floor spacers that Embiid needs uh there I do think I do think the Sixers are the biggest threat to the Nets because of how great those two guys are if they just get a little bit of help uh they're going to be able to compete um with Brooklyn but I worry about the shooting I'll always worry about the shooting until the Sixers get enough of it to win at a high level in the playoffs. Okay, and then we'll finish with Boston because I, throughout that entire run,

as we'd said at the top here, I was like, yeah, I don't know. I'm like, I know the record's better. I know they're beating these teams. Granted, they didn't have two of their guys. Maybe it's the first game back. Maybe they've turned a corner, but whatever the corner is,

it's not big enough for me to buy into them being a surprise team now in the playoffs. I can't quite figure out what's wrong, other than I keep coming back to feeling they're a tad soft as a team. Sometimes they look really soft. And unless Tatum's going to be all NBA first team certain nights, it doesn't look like they have a chance to be better teams. Yeah, I go back and forth on what Boston can be. They were having a crisis of confidence during that stretch in February and March

where they felt like they lost their identity. And when you talk to people in the organization, they say the stars were not playing up to the highest of levels. And that was kind of filtering down to the rest of the locker room. They just didn't really believe in themselves during that stretch. They've, they've kind of turned it around and, and regain that confidence. But to me,

the biggest question is not Tatum at this point, honestly, it's what exactly can Evan Fournier deliver in the playoffs? The biggest problem with the Celtics this year in total was that all those years of talent going out and not coming back in at the same rate had caught up to them. They lost Kyrie. They did get Kemba, but Kemba being injured has hurt them this year.

And then Al Horford leaves for nothing. And Gordon Hayward leaves for nothing. They replaced these guys with young players like Grant Williams and now Romeo Lankford and Shemi Ojole, guys that were not on that level. Evan Fournier is one of the first examples in the last couple of years of talent coming in and nothing going out. And people can kind of scoff at Evan Fournier,

and I know that he's kind of soft, but he is someone that averages close to 20 points per game. And, you know, I was at the Houston game a month ago where he had six threes in the fourth quarter. Like, he can do that. So if that's a guy that you can count on to give you real offense in the playoffs, I mean, they're a dangerous offensive team, man.

Like, you know, Brown can score, Tatum can score, Kemba can score, and if Fournier is out there, you know, knocking down three or four threes a game, they're going to be potent enough offensively to compete with anybody in that conference. I just don't know if you can count on it. Like, he's never done it in Orlando. He didn't have to do it because they made the playoffs twice

during his time there. If he can do it, that to me is a potential game changer. I think you're right, though, in that it's a muted expectation other than just to have his 30 minutes be taken away from the 30 minutes that are going to other guys. Semi-aujalee minutes, it's over.

It's over. We understand who he is and who he isn't. You know, the Neesmith minutes, I would say, weren't great. We could just say, okay, fine, he's a rookie. You could say, all right, Romeo Lankford hasn't played in two years. Those minutes don't look good either. They don't. And Grant Williams is a nice piece in certain matchups,

but it's just there's so many guys playing significant minutes that group usually five through nine because there's somebody else who wasn't playing. There's just a lot of guys playing that probably wouldn't be playing a ton of minutes on other decent teams. And say what you want about Horford. He was great for them during his time in Boston. Say Hayward's overpaid. Fine. It's not your money.

What the hell do you care? He was giving them productive minutes, and he was a solid offensive player for that team to just lose them over the last two years and get nothing back has killed him it put way too much pressure on tatum first and brown a little bit now in the first like you saw in the first month plus of the season when tatum was playing out of his mind like they were kind kind of able to beat back that those problems. But as those guys slowed down a little bit,

Tatum had to deal with the COVID issues. You saw the flaws of this team exposed. I mean, honestly, nothing, nothing tells you that this team is concerned about offense and the fact

they signed Jabari Parker and the fact that they played Jabari Parker. Like he's playing game right out there playing like Sacramento, which desperately wants wanted to make the playoffs this year had no use for Jabari Parker. Like's playing. He's out there playing. Sacramento, which desperately wanted to make the playoffs this year, had no use for

Jabari Parker. Boston picks him up off the street and throws him right into the rotation. That just tells you all you need to know about how desperate that team was for guys that could score. Yeah, well said. That's Chris Mannix at SI Chris Mannix, Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports,

and of course on the boxing coverage as well. Thanks, man. You got it, man. He just finished up his fifth season as the BYU Cougars head coach of the football team, and his quarterback's going to be going number two in the draft by all reports, and he played at BYU as a fullback. Joining us now on today's podcast, it's Kalani Sataki. Coach, when NFL teams called you about your quarterback, Zach,

how would those conversations go? I understand there's going to be certain staffs you're closer with or whatever, but part of the evaluation, I think the best way to ask the question is how do you talk to NFL teams about your quarterback? I think most of it's just confirming what they already see. And when they have their conversations with Zach I think it's just asking you like you know the little details of how much the time that we spent together what the progress I've seen him make as a quarterback from year to year and then

more anything just confirming the what they see that he has a high football IQ and a great work ethic. And so nothing is really trying to get information. It's more about confirming what they already see. I think a lot of the coaches are really smart and a bunch of the GMs and head coaches, they can figure things out for themselves. They've been through this a lot. And so more than anything, it's just confirming, you know, they're feeling like this guy's pretty special and it's just me confirming it. What about your timeline with him?

Because there are some that argue that it was a big jump from last year to this year. Granted, things have been really complicated running any of these programs the last couple of years. But was there a significant jump or, you know, you've been the head coach now for five years. You've had him the entire time. How has he grown for you? Or have you always thought that he was capable of being this, somebody who's going to go number two in the draft? Yeah, I mean, you see that he was something special. And you look at earlier, he was battling.

I mean, he's a true freshman the first year. And then he battled some injury the second year. And then he was healthy his third year. But what i saw from year one to year three is that he never stopped learning the guy's a learning machine and he gets better mentally as uh as he gets older and so he improves all the time and it's just the guy is all about ball and so i know i i'm going to repeat myself over and over and over again but i think people start to realize that that he's got this work ethic

and he loves ball. I mean, on his downtime, he does ball. And then to give you an example, we were talking during spring ball and he was talking to me about practice. And we're right in the middle of spring ball and he's like, oh, yeah. He's like, I remember I could see the progression from the quarter quarterbacks so basically he's watching our spring practices on his downtime and this is a guy that's preparing for the draft trying to learn as much as he can getting ready and he's working out and on his downtime he's watching byu football and watching spring ball and he's watching every clip

and he's not just watching the offense or defense. He's also watching special teams and this is what he does on his downtime. He's as real as he can get and I just think that he's got this huge ceiling and we'll just see what happens. I really believe he's going to be much better than even

2020. He's watching the spring game and he has no reason to be watching. He watched every practice. He watched all 15 practices. And he's talking to me on the day of that evening. He's talking to me about the actual

practice that he watched. So it was practice 12 and he was talking to me about all the practices and the scrimmages, the 11-on-11 stuff, the 7-on-7 stuff. He 11 stuff, the seven on seven stuff. He's talking about the one-on-ones. So about the special teams drills. This,

this is what we do. This is what he does on, on his downtime. So I don't know how many quarterbacks are out there that are watching their alma mater spring practices, but he watched all 15. Okay. I brought this up because it's been brought up vaguely. And then I brought up the Chris Sims and I felt bad a little bit about the way I described it,

is that some people are like, I don't know, he can be tough to be around or whatever. Sometimes people see confidence with certain young players, and it becomes a turnoff, which I think is weird if it's only about confidence. But what can you give us as far as your perspective on where he's at mentally as far as a player and his teammates? I think people sometimes misunderstand confidence.

But if you're a young man that watches tons of film and you prepare like crazy for a game, and you prepare on the offseason, you've done all the little things right, and then you get to that game and you've watched tons of film, you've been prepping, you feel good about the game plan, you should feel confident getting on the field. But he's not,

there's a difference between confident and arrogant. And he doesn't belittle anyone. You know, he's a great teammate. You ask all his teammates, they love him. And they follow him. He has this high standard

and a great demand of his teammates. And that just happens. I think that's what, that's what leaders do. And it's, it's been an honor for me to have him on our team. The stuff that he did in the last three years is, has made our team a much,

much better team and our program much better. He's kind of set the standard on how you should use your downtime, how you should watch film. And I'm watching our four quarterbacks and spring ball improve because they're following his lead. So, yeah, it makes a lot of sense for us to have a guy like him. And that's what he's learned at home. You know, his family has a high standard. And that's why we signed his little brother as a linebacker

because he brings that same type of attitude. And it's just expected from them and they expect that from their teammates. So, for me, it's a pleasure to have expected from, from them and they expect that from their teammates. So for me, it's a pleasure to have a guy lead the way and be the example for everyone. As I've said to you before, you know, I was lucky enough to spend two weekends on campus to just get a better understanding of what the BYU culture is.

And, you know, going back to Bronco, sitting down and talking with us. And I mean, you know, the first time it's, it's pretty,

even I actually like describing it this way. I don't care where you're at religiously or what inspires you as a person, but when you walk around your facilities and interact with your staff, there's a, there's a sense of purpose. That's a little different. It just is the culture around is different. I remember being around campus, like we were walking to campus on a Friday night and it was midnight local time. And every field was full of different intramural sports going on because that's what Friday night at BYU is. And it was it was like I was kind of like, this is unbelievable. Like I'm talking 10, 20 fields in different sports full of people. So, you know, you played there.

You have a long history with this program in the state. of people. So, you know, you played there, you have a long history with this program and the state. Um, what is, what is the best way to describe kind of what you know, you're signing up for beyond, you know, the missions and the religious part of it, but knowing that I think you guys take yourself more seriously in a great way for competitive sports. Well, I appreciate that, Ryan. And, you know,'s unique, it's different. But I really believe that you can find, unlock a lot of talents and gifts, even within yourself. And it's really man or young woman. And the mission is all about helping others. It's not about yourself. It's helping others and helping them improve their life, make goals, and come closer to God. You know, so you do that for two years and you come back and play football.

You can imagine the type of players that I get in this program, you know, and you surround them with people that are like-minded and that will work hard and based around the mission of the school, which is basically to go forth and learn and do everything you can to get better mentally, physically, and spiritually. And so that's unique here, but I mean, it's definitely not a party school because we have a certain standard that we live by and an honor code that we follow. So it's unique, but I think more than anything, if you're a football player and you're all about ball,

there's not a lot of distractions here. And so you come here, you learn ball, and you don't party. You just work hard. You get better, and you go to school. School is difficult here, so you have to spend some time. I mean, I think the biggest nightclub we have here is the library. So that's kind of the standard that you have at BYU.

It's a unique place, but man, I enjoyed my time playing here and I'm enjoying it as a coach. To follow great coaches like Bronco Mendenhall and Lavelle Edwards and Gary Croton, it's an honor for me to be here. I get to coach guys like Zach and

his teammates, so it's definitely an honor. I mean, it's an honor for me to be here. And I get to coach guys like Zach and his teammates. So it's definitely an honor. I definitely want to get into your story a little bit there too. But when you're recruiting a guy, will you and the staff meet him and know within 30 seconds, like, hey, he's not going to want to come to Provo? You kind of know. But I mean, my job isn't to really sell the recruits on BYU.

It's to find the best fit for that young man. And then sometimes it's a different school. You know, I've said this before, that the worst that can ever happen in recruiting is a young man come to BYU and wish he was somewhere else. Or a young man goes somewhere else and then wishes he was here at BYU. And so with the transfer portal, I think that gives a lot of people opportunities to kind of make that mistake. But I would like to get the recruiting right the first time. And I think my job as a recruiter,

as a coach, is to find a great fit for this young man and not embarrass him or try to find ways to sell him on it. I mean, we're all about ball. And so if you want to play football and you want to have an opportunity to get drafted and, you know, live a disciplined life, this is a good place. I mean, I don't see why anywhere else would be anything but a distraction. So that's what we

try to do. And if this isn't the right place and I try to keep a good relationship with that young man and, you know, we compete against them, I'll go over and give them a hug. And our coaching staff will do that. And I think that's, I really enjoy that part of the game. I don't think it's all about you're either with me or against me. I really believe that I like seeing good young men go and achieve their dreams and, you know, have goals and get there. And when you see them get to the NFL,

or you see them later on in life as husbands and fathers, it's really rewarding to know that you had a small part in them, whether it's at BYU or a different school, just making an impact in their life somehow. Your story, you're born in Tonga, you end up in Hawaii, and then you played, what, high school football in Missouri. So were you surprised? You ended up fullback at BYU.

You were about the same age. Was any of your path a surprise or was this kind of like what the plan was? Well, I wanted to play for BYU when I was young. That was where I wanted to play. I mean, I watched them. I was, I mean, I'm definitely dating myself, but now I remember watching them in the 80s.

You know, they're throwing the ball around. And as a running back, that's not ideal to go to a place to throw the ball at. But that's what I want to do. That's the ball I like. That's the game I love. And watching guys like Tide Datmer, Steve Young, Mark Wilson, all these, Jim McMahon, all these great quarterbacks throw the ball around. I'm like, I want to be a part of that. And, you know,

I got here my freshman year and I thought I was going to be a halfback. And they ended up telling me, you're kind of like a halfback, but you stand in front of this other guy and block for him a lot more. But I, you know, catch the ball and have a role. And I enjoyed every part of it. And I got to learn from great coaches on our staff, and we had Norm Chow and some great legend coaches, Lavelle Edwards, and such a great staff that were all connected to me.

And my position coach, Lance Reynolds, they were all instrumental in me wanting to become a coach. I had a relationship with every one of those coaches, whether they were offensive, defensive coaches, and that's kind of the thing that Lavelle had. I'm trying to give our players that same type of environment that I had and enjoyed when I was a player with a lot of mentors. And so I wouldn't be sitting here if it weren't for those men

that took a lot of time out of their own family life to invest in me. And so I'm hoping to do the same thing. That's very similar to what Lavelle had when I was playing. The message is selfless, but I got to imagine after a freshman and you're playing big time college ball, the last thing you want to leave is leave your teammates and leave. I mean,

I know understand you're, Hey, this is, this is part of the deal. And I'm going to leave campus and go on a mission for a while. But how tough was that at that age? That was hard. I mean,

our freshman, my freshman year, I was two freshmen. We played, beat Notre Dame in South Bend. You know, we had some really good games. We just got done beating Oklahoma

in the Copper Bowl. It was a good game too. And I just, it was such a great opportunity for me to keep building. And I thought that, you know, hey, this is going to be good. I was gaining more playing time.

And I just, I don't know, it just seemed, Lavelle spent some time with me and told me how great of a missionary I would have been. And next thing you know, I'm in the training center and I'm out in the Bay Area serving my mission. And it was a great two years for me to learn and get better. I didn't become a better football player, but mentally I became a much better person. And it was humbling for me to learn and get better. I didn't become a better football player, but mentally I became a much better person.

And it was humbling for me to see people that really could use help in this world, and especially in that Bay Area. So, and I've grown a lot from it. I think about those days that I spent there, the two years I spent there every day of my life now. And it's been really helpful in me and my relationships as an adult.

Was it easier because it was, I'm going to say local, but it wasn't as extensive as some of the other travel? Yeah, I wasn't camping out in the jungle. That was, I mean, I'm not much of a camper. So yeah, I think it was a lot more posh than what some of the other guys had to do. And, you know, I've had family members that were serving out like Guam and other places,

you know, where they had to wear Levi jeans and stuff. So I think I was kind of spoiled in that aspect. I served on the campus of Cal Berkeley for seven months and spent some time there. So it wasn't like it was, it was that hard, but I think whenever you're without, you know, you can't watch movies, you can't do anything like that. You can't date, you know? do anything like that you can't date you know

and so I think for the two years just to be focused on other people was really cool for me that was a lot of fun to serve others and I grew a lot

after the two years I didn't realize how much I've grown but man it was just so helpful in allowing me to mature which I needed when I was

a young man What do you think the biggest lesson then was from that? What's the one moment the the story you help in somebody that has been impactful for this long? Just serving others is such a key part in happiness. I really believe in helping others and whatever that may be.

Sometimes it's just conversating with them or helping them in any way you can or just smiling. I think that whatever we can do to help others, that's kind of the human nature in all of us. And people are drawn to that. And so if I continue to do that and have that mindset, our program spends a lot of time serving others. And it brings so much joy in your life.

So I'm going to try to do that as much as I can. The last thing that I want to touch on, I know how serious the Holy War is, the rivalry with Utah, but it is always so interesting. I mean, you coach there. We all know Kyle Whittingham, you know, legend playing at BYU. Is the profession allowed the staffs to just kind of get over with the idea of like what happens in the profession or how does that work? How does that work when you know, is there always something deep down where you're like, look, I know I'm way more of a BYU guy,

even though I'm taking the job here. I don't think Kyle would ever want to admit that at this point with the run he's had at Utah, but it is unique to this rivalry because there is so much crossover. Yeah, I mean, even in my own family, I mean, I had a brother, our oldest brother played at Utah and me and my little brother

playing here at BYU. I had a sister that was attending Utah. So I spent 10 years there coaching. And so that's what makes the rivalry a lot of fun for our family. But, you know, I have such a great relationship with Kyle and so many people at that university. But when I was a player i had that relationship with with the university as well ron mcbride and lavelle edgers were really good friends so we we always

wanted to want to beat each other right and and win because we're really competitive but there's this huge sense of respect for one another and i'm just really proud that that i spent my time there and got to, I mean, Kyle Whittingham is a great mentor of mine. And so we're always remained friends and, and, you know, we're competitive.

So you want to beat your friends and that's just, that's okay. But I don't think he would, he would want it any other way, you know, and, and that's the same thing. I,

I, we perform at our best. I think we can really, we can live with the results afterwards, but I'm just really honored that I have those friendships and the, that love and respect for so many people. And I'm speaking for some people that are, you know,

in this rivalry. It's a lot of fun. You can get heated at times, but more than anything, the relationships that we have, it will last forever. Well, you've been a great story throughout and getting to come back and coach and

put together these five years and can't wait to see where the story's going so thanks a lot coach appreciate your time appreciate it ryan thank you so much you want details bye i drive a ferrari 355 cabriolet what's up i have a ridiculous house in the south fork i have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. Okay, I've got a situation with a Massachusetts girl and I'm not from the area, so maybe you can break it down for me. I'm 30. I worked with a girl 24, and for a year, she constantly complained to me about how much her boyfriend that she lived with sucks and she wants to find a place to move out. Sounds kind of like a girl from Massachusetts. Actually sounds like, I don't know. I went through this one. I don't know if this is another dude's girl, but I really liked her. Let's just say there were limitations on how far they went. We both quit that job and start working at separate places. I tell her she can move in with me and she basically starts sleeping

over every night and things become very intimate. They're together at this point and they're talking like they're in a relationship. Two months later, her male BFF comes in from Mass. Oh, no. He comes in for a week, and I don't hear from her. And as soon as he leaves, she goes out of town to see her female BFF in Philly for three days. And then she gets back and doesn't want to hang out acting distance. So two weeks go by. So a week, and her best male friend from Mass comes in. You don't hear from her for a week, even though she's been sleeping over over every single night and you're talking as if you were in an intimate relationship um then she tells you she's going to go to philly to visit her female friend and then she gets back

and two more weeks after that he says he's barely heard from her i confront her about the situation she tells me we aren't dating and she isn't ready to commit to anything and she needs time what does this mean realistically and not in girl speak as a guy who doesn't know mass girls should i wait this out or is this dead in the water and not meant to be and then he says all caps i really like this girl well i'm sorry to bum you out here uh this has this isn't about massachusetts this is uh about your situation right now, and it's over. Somebody that could go from living with you to basically saying, we're not in a relationship.

I guess you could wait it out or whatever, and she needs a place to crash. You could start hanging out, but then you're just delaying you being more bummed out. So you need to rip the bandaid off here. Um, because there's nothing here that you've told me that makes me think that she's, she's somebody even like, if she can treat you like this, why would you want to be with her? Now I get you want to be with her cause she's there. Here's, here's a rule that I've always kind of adhered to. If the relationship is dependent on you getting a free place to crash, then it's probably not a good deal for me. It might be a good deal for a little while, but it might not be the kind of long-term deal that you're aspiring to here. So think about it. Would you do that to

somebody? Would you sleep at a girl's place, free rent, sleep with her, talk about being in a relationship, and then disappear with another girl for a week. And then maybe, I'm afraid this girl in Philly might be a beard here and it could be about meeting up with another guy in Philly. Maybe it's not another guy.

Maybe it's the same guy that's the best friend. Like this is her best friend and she's living with you basically and she never introduces you to the best friend at any point so it sounds like you were strictly a housing situation and i know that sucks to hear but there's no evidence of uh this being anything but that so i know it bums you out because you said you really like her. But if you really cared about somebody,

you would not treat them this way, the way she just treated you. You already know that. Oh, all right. Before we get to the final life advice, I wanted to do a follow-up with a guy here that may have gotten a little beat up about the wife who basically wanted to work,

but they'd be operating at a loss if she was going to work because of the daycare. So he said, awesome for taking the question. He's like, I know you understood where I was coming from. So this isn't for you. And I don't feel attacked at all by your response. It's what I needed to hear. Just want to clarify where I'm coming from to the listeners. I was trying to be succinct in my email. So the quote, letting my wife work did come off poorly. Like I'm a massive sexist. I knew, knew you know that's the problem with sometimes with words where we can know what somebody's trying to say but if they use the wrong word um and granted look there's there's some words no one's recovering from but you

understand the point that there there are there are times where we'll phrase things and certainly if somebody talks for a living you're like okay yeah but that's you know i think i need the benefit of the doubt here and i was giving the email the benefit of the doubt on maybe, maybe I was in my head and it didn't come out that well afterwards. All right. So I was more saying I do, um, do I try to talk to her about where I'm coming from on the money side or I just give in without letting her know how I'm truly feeling. Oh, okay. Knowing full well, she would go back to work either way if that's what she wants to do. When I said I do pretty well, that was my way of acknowledging I'm in the top 3% of earners and make a lot of money,

but I also live in an expensive market, have a lot of expenses, and also work with a lot of people that make significantly more than me. So my sense has certainly warped from the non-LA New York City, San Francisco, Boston people. Living in LA, I'm paying 50% taxes, so slight uptick here. My wife grosses 40K. We file jointly. So she takes home 20K. We're losing close to 30 to 35K per year for her to work versus cost of childcare. Not the 15K you mentioned. Okay. Your point still stands. All right. Yeah. Look, I get it. Um, and that's the thing that is really eyeopening when you're first starting to make pretty good money. And then you're like, wait, what do other people make? And you're like, how does, how does that happen? Uh, and you either are horrified by it or you make a pursuit of it.

So there you go. Okay. Um, we get a friend problem here from, uh, from a guy. We'll leave his name out. Okay. Big fan, six feet, one 96, 9% body fat. Congrats. I'm going to cut to the chase of the story. I have a close group of friends in which we have a group text thread that's been going on for about 10 years. I'm going to not use their real names for privacy purposes. Recently, our friend Paul went on a date with a girl named Stacy that has been mentioned on the thread pretty frequently. After his date, he immediately went on the group thread to tell us that he showed stacy what we've been saying about her in the thread this sounds like the worst idea ever big problem uh basically talking about her big nose bitch-like personality and how she's been sleeping around with every dude

she's met well i'm sure she loved hearing about this god uh we asked paul why the fuck he would show her all that paul explained that he told her about the chat and that she pressured him to revealing the details. But then we asked Paul, why did you mention the chat to her? He told us it was for conversation purposes and that he wasn't thinking.

This guy's an idiot. There's like three different things he could have not done and he did all three of them. I'd also like to mention that Paul works in cybersecurity. That's great to know. We might want to check his accounts. Anyway, our group, our friend group deleted Paul from the group chat.

We've not been talking to him since then. It's been about a month. I'd like to give Paul another chance, but the group doesn't want've not been talking to him since then. It's been about a month. I'd like to give Paul another chance, but the group doesn't want to take it easy on him since they lost trust in Paul. Believe he will be a snake in the future. My question is, how can I ease Paul back into our friend group? Thanks. Love the show. Oh, he also followed up with, I forgot to mention that Stacy is threatened to blackmail one of my friends, which can put his job in jeopardy. Sorry for leaving that out.

Okay, we can do say one thing here off the top to be like, all right. It'd be nice if you didn't talk shit about other people, but people talk shit about everybody. All right, this is the way it works. And that's what happens. Now, the thing here is about Paul that's really, really lame because there's

a guy that I know that's like this. He likes this girl. And he thought to make himself look better, he was going to make you guys all look way worse. And he had no problem selling you guys out. And to bring it up as a conversation starter, hey, there's this thread. We talk about you all the time.

Big nose, itchy, sleep around a bit. Yeah, now, what's going on? You want to get apps? You want to get, I'm hungry. Let's do salads and then entrees. So that's so messed up, but he's doing it for his own benefit while screwing all of you guys over. So I side with the other guys that are like, yeah, you know what? You're out. Like, I can't get too into the story but there's something that happened with us when we were a lot younger where a guy just blatantly made the rest of us look like assholes and he only did it to like ingratiate himself with a group of girls like he

didn't care about any one he wanted all of them and he was going to make all of us look awful in the process. He was trying to disqualify us for a semester. And we hadn't even really done anything all that bad. It was just something that was embarrassing. Okay. And so I didn't really like this guy. And that was kind of one of the clinchers. And I still to this day, like, think of that stuff that like you had that gear in you where you were like how can I make everybody else look bad

and make myself look better for my own benefit and I just don't think you're being a guy like I'm a guy's guy and if you do that kind of stuff I I don't really have any time for you so he does that to do make himself look better and then he's like oh I

had to show her because she pressured me. And he works in cybersecurity. So now there's also another guy whose job is in jeopardy. So Stacey, look, again, I'm going based on what you said here in the email. Nobody wants to hear about everybody talking shit about them. It's not a good feeling. Hey, this is what everybody says behind your back but that the point is most people don't eventually end up sharing it with the person who is the target of the criticism all right and i'm sure stacy probably

has problems with some of you guys too and has a text thread where she's going on and on about one of you guys from the group that she doesn't like or isn't attractive or is a dick or doesn't treat people the right way. You know what I mean? So people could get really hypocritical here when you know deep down, you're like, yeah, you probably have a few people you haven't said nice things about as well in what you would expect to be a private conversation. So that trust is betrayed. I think I'm pretty bad at the grudge stuff. So I would feel pretty betrayed by this person. And I just think it's a lame move. I think it's so not being a guy where you would go, oh, I'm going to do this and I'm going to share this and hey, what's going on? And now this other

guy's dealing with repercussions of it. The one thing is Stacey just hated all of you, which would be her right. And she probably does. But then to turn it into like an employment problem, again, unless you're not telling us the full truth about some of the stuff that was said, then, you know, maybe I would side with Stacey on some of that, but I'm definitely not siding with Paul. So I'm, I'm with your other friends. I wouldn't want to give him another chance. Kyle. Yeah, that's no good. He's like a guy who's got a chronic problem. And the problem is he's got nothing to say and so but he's still gonna say stuff i was in a barbershop literally yesterday uh my buddy fern shout out fern studios and some guy walked in and it was like clear from the moment he walked in he had nothing to say but

he couldn't stop the like diarrhea of the mouth and he was talking about this guy chris and the other barber in there was like hey man like i know i know chris like what are you talking about this guy, Chris, and the other barber in there was like, hey, man, like, I know Chris. Like, what are you talking about? And he's just like, oh, no, I know him, too. But, you know, and he's like telling these fucking weird stories and making him look bad. He's like, yo, but Chris isn't like to the point where even he was among guys. There were no girls to impress, but he just had nothing to say. So he was just dumping on Chris, who is his friend.

He said, oh, man, Chris would be fine with it. He's like my friend. And he's like, yeah, but he's not here. What are you what are you talking about so everyone in the barbershop ganged up on this guy who was like just dumping all over Chris I don't even know Chris and I was like dude what are you doing and so like

it's just there's certain guys like that that just won't have anything to say so they can just only think about something that already happened that you might be interested in because it would be outside of the norm so they're just telling you a story they probably shouldn't tell you because they have nothing else to say and i think he he's one of those guys well said and and poor chris yeah poor chris on top of everything else uh that is that is

really well said yeah because it's like hey you were out with her and clearly he likes her so i you know he doesn't he doesn't mention that part of it um which i don't know maybe the emailer doesn't realize or maybe the emailer would say actually no no he doesn't like her whatever okay so then so then what's he doing why why would he be doing this don't do this kind of stuff you know stupid but it happens and it's inevitable. So congrats to your thread. One lighter. Just think of that. You're so much more agile as a thread. So you're good.

Okay, we'll be back on Thursday. Draft Stories Part 2. I hope you enjoyed Part 1. We have three parts on this one and we certainly will have some more draft coverage as well. So that'll be the plan on the pod. And make sure you check out the Sunday pod with Bill and I that came out on Sunday, Sunday night into Monday morning. And please subscribe, rate, and review. Spread the word.

And thanks, as always, for listening. Thank you. you