The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Charissa Thompson, Plus Mookie Betts and NBA Trade Deadline Moves | The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Episode Date: February 5, 2020

Russillo examines the Red Sox trading Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers (1:55) before talking with Fox Sports’ Charissa Thompson about starting out in media, working at Fox, ESPN, and 'Extra,' stalkers, being hacked, meeting celebrities, and more (16:25). Finally Ryen talks about some NBA trade deadline moves including an intricate four-team trade (1:06:40). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

today's episode of the ryan rosillo show on the ringer podcast network is brought to you by state farm just like basketball the game of life is unpredictable talk to a state farm agent and get a teammate who can help you navigate the unexpected. Something that actually, I don't know, was it unpredictable to see that the Celtics didn't want Capella? No, I don't think so. Was it unpredictable to see a trade go down between four teams where everybody's like, who

is going where? Am I happy that I have this guy on my team now? I would tell you that Golden State's interest in Andrew Wiggins is unpredictable by many, but I believe it's legitimate, but I don't know if a deal will happen. I'm going to talk a little bit about the NBA trade deadline stuff, but Bill and I are going to do a huge NBA trade deadline pod tomorrow, so make sure you check that one out. I'm going to talk Mookie Betts. That was very

predictable this weekend. Everybody kind of knew he was going to the Dodgers, ran into somebody on Sunday. Hey, he's going to the Dodgers. The deal is done. The deal is done. They're waiting to announce it. I'm going to talk about Mookie here in a very short second. And Carissa Thompson is today's guest. So get a teammate who can help you, like Mookie Betts, help you navigate the unexpected,

like the NL playoffs. Talk to a State Farm agent today. I did a basketball-baseball hybrid read right there, Kyle. So you let the people at State Farm know I'm thinking about him. Impressive. Yeah, Carissa Thompson on the East Coast.

Honestly, I probably should have had her on while we were both in the same town. But we're just so excited to talk to her. Super Bowl week. Oscars coming up. You got your Oscars pick there, Kyle? Have you seen Parasite yet? I'm so behind. I haven't seen any of these.

Bill won't get me screeners, man. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. You could just watch it. Fair point. Yeah. I mean, once upon a time in Hollywood, I'm'm too excited right now i'm hype you can hear in my voice oh no i saw that i saw that i didn't need a screener for that one that's right that's right okay today's open was going to be about the warriors pursuit and minnesota's pursuit of

trying to pull off some kind of trade i I am hesitant to go too deep into it, considering how dated all of this could be by the time the podcast even releases. And people are like, oh, that age well. I'm like, well, yes, at 9 a.m. Pacific time, that was what was going on. So I'm going to talk a little bit more about that later on, give myself a little window here.

But I'm going to start with Mookie Betts. I grew up a Red Sox fan. I was at Yazday in 83. I was at game two of the ALCS in 86. I was almost trampled in the 86 World Series outside of Fenway and then went across the street to a bar and drank a million ginger ales while my dad, who doesn't drink, was just sitting there with me. And we were like, hey, you know, it wasn't like he was going to get hammered

in front of me or something, but I was 10 or 11. Yeah, I was 11 at that point. So, you know, it was a good time during the home games. The Red Sox actually won one of those games. So I was there for that one. I've gone to Red Sox games my whole life. I used to drive by myself down from Vermont to go to opening day. And then once I started doing it every day and working in Boston, 03, 04, 05, and some of the TV stuff through 08 and 09, it definitely goes away a little bit. And then my first job ever on the air was the 2002 Trenton Thunder, which were not the Yankees then. It was their last year affiliated with the Boston Red Sox. So I thought it was even cooler. Like, man, I'm, you know, the Red Sox. So it does go away a little bit when you talk about it every

day. I think the guys that were, it doesn't go away from, like, I feel like Bill is still, you know, live and die with it all the time. I used to be that way. I don't know what's better. I definitely feel healthier, not freaking out about stuff all the time, but sometimes I miss it too. I miss the emotion of 7.05 first pitch and hanging on every single at bat and watching all this stuff and figuring a lot of stuff out because that's what happens. You just watch hundreds of games and you start figuring some of the stuff out. And I was able to go to the World Series in 18. I went in 13 to the clinching game. So I've been really lucky. I've been lucky to share this with my dad because that's a lot of what it was about. My love for the Red Sox and learning about it through my dad's love of it

and Ted Williams being his guy. So to see Mookie traded by this ownership group, there's a bunch of things that I want to get to. And I'm going to start with this. Now, if Mookie didn't want to play in Boston, then there's really nothing you can do. And we can talk about a gap of a hundred plus million dollars in what Mookie wanted to sign for and what the Red Sox are offering, but until he's actually a free agent, which would have been a year from now, you don't really have to do this deal. But if he never wanted to play in Boston again after this season, then there's really not much the Red Sox could do. Bloom, the new GM, is brought in by this group after they fired Dombrowski, which is still shocking to win a World Series and be fired that soon after. But maybe it isn't shocking as we'll go

back and look at some of his moves. I don't really blame him because this isn't his call. It's not like he showed up and goes, hey, guys, I'm glad you hired me. But just the first thing we got to get out of the way, let's get this Mookie Betts guy out of Boston. Of course not. This is an ownership thing. And it's an ownership group that I don't know if they really understand the city the way they think they understand the city, even though they've been there 20 years and it's been nothing but success, which sounds ridiculous. And there's going to be times this sounds ridiculous if you're outside of the Boston market. Now, the two players that got back from Mookie, again, a 27-year-old guy, he's going into his 27-year-old season,

he's going to be a Hall of Famer. And he's arguably the the last few years, the second-best position player behind Mike Trout, who may be one of the five best players when it's all said and done that we've ever seen. I mean, think about that, okay? So they trade him. A team like Boston, too. Not a team that's a farm system for everybody else. The Boston Red Sox. And this is a little bit of a reminder for Red Sox fans.

Like, hey, remember the 90s when you were insecure and this inferiority complex thing that you used to have all the time? Hey, doesn't it feel good to kind of feel that again? Because that's what this feels like. Two players that are coming back. Alex Verdugo, who I picked up on my fantasy team, which is the only reason I even know anything about him. His splits are pretty good. The power is to one side.

It's not great for Fenway Park. He missed the last couple months. Yes, he's young. Okay, fine. And then in that deal, Maeda, who's a good pitcher, not great, but pretty good. Had a good whip last year for the Dodgers,, he's young. Okay, fine. And then in that deal, Maeda, who's a good pitcher, not great, but pretty good. Had a good whip last year for the Dodgers, but he's 31. He goes to Minnesota and then Minnesota flips this Graterol prospect, who's a big right-handed pitcher. So those are the two players that you got back from Mookie Betts. Now we can talk about,

oh, he was going to walk or you never know. I think one of the most overrated or maybe overstated things that said all the time on baseball transactions is when writers say, well, you know, trade them now because of the deadline, you're going to get less. If this is what you're getting, then just wait until the deadline. I don't think that's that complicated. I really don't. You got an outfielder who maybe is going to play every day in Verdugo, and I'm not saying he's a bad player. He isn't, but you're not sure yet. And a pitching prospect, and these are his numbers on Graterol.

There's a rumor out there that he threw 104 miles an hour in a minor league game. That sounds a little bit like the gyro ball, but he did throw 100, 100 plus in a couple of the games that I watched when I was watching clips this morning. I was researching the hell out of this guy. He's 53rd in one prospect ranking. That means 53rd overall, like the top 100 stuff that they do. Um, he's 83rd in another prospect ranking. And here's my favorite number is he's listed between 180 and 265 pounds on different websites. Because if we know one thing about really young pitchers that have already had injury history, when you're huge, it always works out.

Here's another incredible scattering report that I read on him is that he's a plus fastball, maybe a plus plus fastball, a plus slider, a marginal changeup. And yet he projects to be a number three starter or even better worst case scenario, late innings guy, or a closer. What the hell is left in that evaluation? That's like looking at a position guy going, he could lead off, get you some bags, might hit 200 bat ninth, could bat third hit three 30, or maybe fourth with 50 to 55 home runs. There's nothing else left on that. Oh, and by the way, he missed all of 16 and half of 17 with the elbow injury, and he missed two months last year with another impingement is how it was considered.

So again, if you're telling me that, oh, the deadline, you're not going to get as much without the year control that the Dodgers would have, I would argue more teams, maybe bigger market teams that have had a playoff drought, that feel like they're close, that there would be more teams bidding for Mookie the last two months of this, that if this is the best you're going to do, those two players, then you needed to do better. Now, David Price was in this deal and David Price was also thrown into this with cash, which makes it even worse. Here are some facts on David Price. When he was signed, he was the third highest paid baseball player in all of baseball. That's a huge mistake. Anytime David Price is the third highest paid player, you screwed up. He's still the ninth highest

paid baseball player this season. He was offered 50 plus million more by the Red Sox than the second highest offer. That's a horrible read by the front office and ownership at that time. Price was miserable the entire time. He got a little bit of the JD Drew treatment because Drew had a couple home runs against the Indians and then everybody forgot how bad his overall contract was with the Red Sox and priced a bit of the same thing. Never liked it. Never wanted to pitch in Boston in the first place, but Dombrowski went ahead and did it. And the price deal actually led to the Red Sox having to try to figure out a way to get below a tax that nobody cares about in Boston. No one cares

that an ownership group who, yes, four rings is buying up every piece of property around Fenway Park. And I'll admit it, like, it's just a different thing where I think some of the real born and bred Boston people look at it and go, all right, you're winning, but it just feels so damn cheesy now. And I'm not just going pink hats. I'm not just talking about the Red Sox nation card that you had to pay for to carry around. I'm not just talking about everybody that Sox Nation card that you had to pay for to carry around. I'm not just talking about everybody that went from the top to anyone who did some plumbing work, having a ring in 2004, or buying up every single piece of property around Fenway where the locals are like, all right, enough with this, you guys.

And then, as you're acquiring all this other stuff, you decide to let Mookie Betts walk. Now, the Evaldi contract was bad, four years, $68 million. No one cared at that point because he was really impressive in the 18-inning game and was great in the playoffs in 18 all along. Sale, who was a better pitcher at five years, $145 and cheaper than Price, and that's looking like a bad deal. But the Price deal set this up. Now, positional contracts historically are always terrible. If you go through the top 19, because we have 19 baseball players that have signed 200 plus million dollar contracts to this point. Now it's too early on Trout. Harper's one of the most overrated players in baseball. He's making 330. Stanton too early to tell. Garrett

Cole, obviously too early to tell. Machado. Alex Rodriguez's extension was terrible. Arenado too early. The first A-Rod contract. Again, this is weird too, because if you're complaining about bigger contracts, this should have been happening probably five or six years ago with the money that baseball is making. You may not talk about baseball. Baseball may not be on social media. There is no this league reaction to a baseball trade anymore or never was, but it's still making so much money because of local TV rights and just going, Hey, look, it may not be as popular nationwide, but I know in St. Louis, I'm going to have the top rated

television product for six straight months. And that's worth a lot of money. And so these owners are still been making all this money, but the contracts I would argue have not really ever caught up. And when I asked Manfred about this, he got mad at me. And when I asked Tony Clark about it, he got mad about this whole thing. And this is years ago at the San Diego all-star game. And guess what? I was right. I was right then. And I'm right now. Let's keep looking. Miguel Cabrera is going to get paid four more years, bad contract. Pujols is still getting paid two more years, bad contract. Robinson Cano is getting paid four more years, bad contract. Joey Votto, he's going to get paid through 2023. Joey Votto's 36 years old now and has hit 27 home runs his last two years combined. Beyond Votto, let's go. David

Price, terrible deal. Prince Fielder, still getting paid this year, hasn't played since 2016. Joe Maurer, $184 million. He retired a couple years ago. They moved his position, and yet it's still, you know, he hit for average. He's a 306 hitter, never had 200 hits in a season. Home run numbers, the last, let's see here. We'll go the last five years he played from 31 to 35. He had 25 and 28, 38 home runs. I know he's never a big home run guy. 28 one year, the only year he ever hit more than 20 home runs. But, you know, you're sensing a theme here. They're all terrible contracts.

So you could argue, well, positional contracts, Ryan, you just told us why they shouldn't have done this deal with Mookie. I think Mookie had a chance to be different. I really do. We don't know what that number was. And again, I cannot hammer this point home enough. If it's Verdugo and Gratterall, you can wait. And if I'm Bloom, and I know I'm probably going to get fired from this job anyway at some point

because that's the way it works, you have to go Jordan Belfort style going, I'm not leaving. I'm not leaving. Because if Friedman was your boss in Tampa, everyone in Boston thinks you got worked on this thing. And if you can't get one Dodgers prospect out of this deal and they end up with Mookie Betts, can you imagine what the Dodgers front office is doing right now and the way they look at each other going,

are you kidding me? We didn't give up Kent Maeda and they paid us some cash to take on Price who's probably going to be good for us? That's the kind of thing where you go, I am going to be defiant about this. I'm not going to do it until the trade deadline. To finish up here, if Mookie didn't want to ever play in Boston again,

then I'm not saying they had that many options. But they still had more options than these two players before the season starts and could have likely gotten something as good and then understood the landscape of everything a lot better before the actual trade deadline. I've read from baseball writers that know far more than I do, who I respect a lot. They've said he owed this to the union. I think that's playing the results and that this gives the Red Sox a ton of financial

flexibility. Financial flexibility for who? No one as close to as talented as Mookie Betts. And the last time the Red Sox got really worried about perception, they went out and paid Carl Crawford $140 million, totally backfired. John Lackey's up and down all over the place. He got kind of that redeemed treatment because of 2013 and what they did. But they overspent on guys to try to go, hey, look, everybody, we're into this. This move makes Red Sox fans feel like it's the 1990s all over again when the ownership then was trying to argue that it was a mid-market team

and there were certain players they couldn't afford. And it was never true, and it's never been less true than it is now. That franchise prints money. They acquire all sorts of things. And unless there's far more that we don't know, and just because Mookie may have asked for 400 plus million, it doesn't mean that's what he's going to get. The old Boris rule. Boris was asking or planning 500, 400 million for Harper he ended up getting 330 because he had to get above the 325 for um for Stanton's deal but this is I just don't know if the Red Sox ownership understands this is the kind of thing that people will actually forget about the ring I know that sounds nuts but they'll go now like you guys are going to be cheap now? That's not going to work.

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this weekend. That's code RUESSILLO and play for a shot at $100,000 in prizes this weekend only at DraftKings. Eligibility restrictions apply. See DraftKings.com for details. She's one of the best people on television, and she's one of my best friends. And I'm thrilled to have her on the podcast.

I think we were just to the point where the friendship was like, no, I'm not going to have you on. That would be weird. And now I felt weird about never having you on. So from Fox Sports, Carissa Thompson, what's up? Hi. I know. I said, why don't you ever invite me on your

podcast? Like, that would be weird if I had you on my podcast. Like, why would that be weird? We're not allowed to also be friends and podcast partners. I'm just upset that I don't host with you every week. In fact, your show would be canceled after that. Thank you for having me. No, I never know. I just, uh, no,? I just, no, I don't think we have. I think it's one of those things where I can't tell if people are going to like it or they're going to, after five minutes, they're like, okay. No husband, no problem. I don't know. It was a huge success.

No husband, no problem. That was some of our first content that we ever pushed out. How did we ever end up living together because i don't know that i would have predicted that when we co-hosted a test run of numbers never lie which my favorite numbers never lie story is that so carissa's brought over to to host this new espn show and it was staffed a certain way and actually numbers never lie sort of morphed into his and hers which then became the six for michael and jamel which is an amazing origin story but there were like 20 of us in the

room and the guy running the show looked at all of us that were sort of like test dummies to try to just mix and match different people on the air and he goes you know just so everybody knows no one's position is safe this is an open tryout including you aaron shot right and i'm thinking to myself that's a ton of bullshit like you hired carissa specifically for this show everybody knows about it and everybody knows who you're going to be co-hosting it with but i just thought it was kind of like a funny fake motivational tv lesson so that's how we sort of first i. I forgot. Well, actually, is it bad that I forgot that you were even with us at the beginning of that? No offense. Did you have like a real job at ESPN? Yeah, I was doing that radio show with that guy, Scott. Yeah, exactly. You may

have heard of it. Why were you even brought into the mix on that? Because you're smart? I'm confused. Why were you even brought into the mix on that? Because you're smart? I'm confused. I don't know. It was such a, like, hey, you should do this. I'm pretty sure it was an agent thing, but like, this could be really good for you. Oh, here we go.

How much time do we have? I know. I know. I think it was like a... Either way. Well, we weren't that close to the ESPN until I was about to leave. And then we got closer because Sarah and then you guys were neighbors. And then I left and went to leave. And then we got closer because Sarah and then you guys were neighbors. And then I left and went to LA and then I begged you to come out to LA because it was boring without you. And here we are now.

But how, how did we end up living together? Is that what the initial question was, by the way, a great graphic lower third, how did they start living together? That would be a good graphic. I don't know what your graphics package is on this podcast. I do think that the funny part that you just said is that we weren't really close until you got to, I considered you a closer friend then, than maybe you did me, which leads all the friend zone jokes, because I thought we were pretty close at that end of that Connecticut run, but I guess not. No, we were, we were close ish, but definitely not as close as we are now.

After living together and after you protected me from Todd Poole, I mean, then it was just the beginning of a lifelong friendship. Does everyone know the Todd Poole story? Do we want to do the stalker story here in Malibu? Yeah, I mean, I don't know. Let's get somebody interested in what we have to say. Nothing gets people more interested than stalkers. You know what I mean? Yeah, let's talk let's get somebody interested in what we have to say nothing gets people more interested than stalkers you know what i mean yeah let's talk stalker um i i moved in with you i was it was a place right up we can say it now right because you don't live there anymore so it

doesn't matter right yeah 20450 pacific coast highway so i you're gone and i just moved in so my house wasn't ready. I just moved in. I was hesitant to live with anybody. And then it was kind of like, Hey, I'm barely there. It's on the water in Malibu. And then after like a week, I was like, this is actually pretty sick. And it was right during NBA playoffs starting up.

So I'd be watching the games the whole time. And then I went down to Mastro's. I grabbed a steak. I drove back up. I come back. And then right as I enter the front part of the house, which is right on the street, the motion lights go on. And there's a guy named Todd pool standing behind garbage cans, waving at me. Which you don't know his name is

Todd. So I'm, I can slap it just now because I'm so far removed from it and not, uh, in a, you know, precarious position. thanks to you. But I am in Buffalo about to do an interview. I'm asleep because at this point, the time difference, I wake up in the morning being like all these text messages from you being like, call me, call me. I call you and you're like, I don't know how to tell you this, but there was a guy here waiting for you last night. I'm like, did I know him? You're like, definitely not. So then you pick up the story from there. How, how do we find out his name is Todd pool? Yeah. So, and I'll, I'll admit some stuff. I don't think I've ever admitted before. And I know I've said it to you. I've

never said it to anybody else, but I get out of the car and the lights go on and I see this guy and he's got like dad jeans, dad sneakers on. He's got, you know, what would kind of remind you of like an old gap 90s hoodie that you have been fired up about owning, you know, in the early to maybe the mid 90s. And then he had kind of like a dad hat on and then he had a red suitcase. And one of the things I did notice, and this is always weird, he had a brand new luggage tag for a check bag. And I thought that was so bizarre that you were able to point that out, but but i just i sized the whole thing up yeah i don't know why i just started looking at everything because i was trying to figure out what was real and what wasn't

so i'm like hey uh hi and he's like hi and he was real calm about it even though he was hiding behind garbage and he kind of like steps out in front. And so we're standing there like in this little, you know, granite patio thing that's that the entrance is to your, your gated door. And he's like, hi. And I'm like, who are you? He's like, I'm friends with Carissa. It's her birthday this week. I'm here to surprise her. And it was your birthday, like the next day. Correct. It was.

Okay. And feel free to jump in. Cause I don i don't i'll i'll make it no but you're but but this is this is your producer where you you discover this man okay so yeah so he says i'm here to see carissa yeah i'm here to see carissa i'm here to surprise her for her birthday and i'm like who are you he's like todd todd pool i'm like, Todd. I'm Ryan. I shake his hand. And the first thing that I'm admitting here is that I selfishly, I'm like, well, I don't know everything about Carissa. Like we're just becoming closer. I don't know her friends from home. I don't know if she's got like a weird cousin. I don't know what's going on, but I go, this guy doesn't have a car. And now he's going to be staying here for a week and she's gone. And I'm going to have to drive this guy

around when I get sandwiches. He's going to be like, Hey, can I go get a sandwich with you? So for like 15 seconds, I was incredibly selfish about, I can't believe Carissa didn't tell me this slob is going to be staying with me. And now when we go for a sandwich run, I got to deal with this guy. That was like the first 15 to 30 seconds. But if we don't get a vitamin gene,

I'm going to have to buy him one. Those aren't cheap. Right. So the next day you would call me and you were like, there's this guy, he's there. He said he knew you. And I said, would call me and you were like there's this guy he's there he said he knew you and i said well how do you know her he's like well we communicate on instagram and i'm like okay well then show me the messages and he's like well i can't actually show you the messages because they're not there so he's making up this whole thing yeah you say that to him yeah

let me see the dm he doesn't have them no he goes he goes, I was like, look, I go, how do you know her? He's like, well, we DM. And I go, oh, okay, so you don't know her from home. He's like, no, I just flew in from Canada. I was like, all right, well, that's weird. And I go, okay, you know, I go, let me see the DMs. He's like, well, I don't have it. So now I'm like, hey, dude, there's a weird part here where now it shifts from selfishness to pity where I'm thinking, oh, this guy got catfished and somebody's messing with Carissa and then they found this guy and now

he's getting catfished and it's a fake Carissa account. I go, let me see the DMs. He's like, I don't have any. I'm like, wait a minute. You don't have any? You don't even have them from a fake Carissa account? I go, how do you know she's talking to you? Because at first he's like, well, I don't have her cell phone number. And then I call you. I'm like, hey, there's this guy. His whole story, every time he said something, it would then quickly fall apart. And then when he was like, well, she kind of talks to me through her messages. She just doesn't know it. I was like, okay, we're done. We're good here.

At what point did you say you were my boyfriend or a cop? Well, there's crazy enough video from your surveillance cameras on this where you can see. There's two and a half hours of this video, which I wish in this moment it wasn't a podcast so we could show it. The part that really you can see it where all of a sudden I'm like, okay, no more chances. I've asked you to explain yourself. And now I know you're awful. You're a crazy stalker who showed up at this woman's house. And you can see me like turn because

i started looking behind me to see if i could if he was going to run at me like i wanted to make sure i wouldn't fall on this ledge and i sort of like changed the way i'm standing and look i'm not trying to act like some tough guy but i think i would have beat this guy up um you definitely would have been gappa right so i said take your hands out yeah yeah and um then I said I was a cop and I was your boyfriend I don't think he really believed either but then he left and walked down the street to moon shadows no and I'm only laughing now because obviously at the time it was traumatic to say the least and I moved immediately following the situation because um I fielded the advice of some people that I trust and they were like,

leave immediately. But thank God you were there. And I always think about that. Like, had I, you were only staying at my house for what, like a couple of weeks until your place was ready. And I was gone for, you know, a day here and there, but not for a long period of time. So the fact that you intercepted him was somebody was looking out for me in that particular case, not you, but somebody else. And I just, I don't know. I was like forever appreciative of that, to say the least. And then we both moved out and the rest is history. And nobody knows where Todd Poole is because we couldn't do anything about it because he willingly left the property.

So there's that. Yeah, that's right. Todd's probably listening as we speak. I called a couple people and they were like, no. They're like, well, he didn't want anything to do with you. I then went back to selfish mode after I said, you know, I should have just beaten him up and then I would have been the hero. And I could have totally, it would have been a massive PR win for me. It would have changed the whole perception.

No, probably not. Probably not. It's already a PR win, but you came to my aid by being there. What a weirdo. So yeah, so that's, you saved my life, obviously. Because who knows what would have happened. And that's not even me being funny. That's what she's seriously saying, like, you saved my life.

So I think what the moral of the story here is you're a hero. Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure about that. If you were bigger, who knows? Who knows what would happen? Who knows? So that's top four.

And then from then on, then I like used to be alone and I needed you around at all times. So I would have you do remedial tasks and help me out with everything in my house

because I didn't have a husband. And that's the beginning of no husband, no problem. And then we, what else happened to us after that? You got engaged. I did not. We've commiserated over a lot of um failed relationships more on my end um than anything else you get really good relationship advice though i have to say i do you're a good person to go to you're very level-headed about it yeah right um and i think i think people that are that are usually bad at their own stuff are really good, uh, helping everybody else out. So that's fine. Maybe, maybe that's why I give good advice to that. Can we talk about your start? Cause I don't think many people, I think people just go, Hey, hot, let's give her a TV job

done and done. Um, it doesn't quite work out that way. Talk about your start. I just said, talk about the question, which I hate that I just did. So, um, look, um, if you've seen an IBM commercial, you know, my job's not that easy kidding. Um, let's see the start. I started in human resources because I just wanted a job in the Fox sports building. That was the only job available. So I lied to get the job. Then I admitted that I lied to get the job. And that's why I got the job, if that makes sense I had a horrible interview with the HR vice president, I said I really want to work with people and I really want to

work in HR and it was an awful interview and I walked out of the interview and then he had given me his business card and he was like, oh we'll be in touch so I called him immediately and he answers the phone and he's like, hello, and I'm like, hi, it's Chris and he's like, who? And I'm like, exactly, we just had an interview it was awful, here's what I really want to do. I don't want to be, I don't want to work in HR. I want to be on TV, but I know it's a long, uh, you know,

path to get there, but I promise I'll be a great assistant, blah, blah, blah. He later tells me, he gives me the job because I was honest and that's what HR is all about being honest. So I then would, I would work in HR during the day. Um, I'd be lying if I said I was a great HR employee, which by the way, I warned him that I wasn't going to be. So in fairness, I was pretty transparent. I only pay attention like half the time. I'd say I was right out of college. So I, what are you 22 when you're right out of college? Well, I don't know. You did the UCSB thing and then you were bartending, right? You know, look, Ryan, if you're jealous of my career path as a bartender at 634, just say it now. Didn't you bartend? You did.

For 10 years. Yeah. Oh, whoa. Sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. No, bartending is a great job, by the way. The best, especially in college. Let's think about this. You want to make money and you want to go out. So just do both. And then you're like the most popular person because you give your friends free drinks. So no brainer to me.

So I think I was maybe 22 when I started at Fox. And so I would, I don't know, because you're so 22. Maybe have a cocktail or seven on my lunch break. And then I'd come back and not really be focusing on my job. But it's fine. It's not important here.

I would go up to highlight the night log tapes, do all that kind of stuff, like learn the production side of things. And then I got an opportunity to go to Denver. We love Denver. Who loves Denver more than you and I? I don't know who they are, but get, get in the line behind us. Exactly. So we, he probably liked Denver, but you know it's different well you know we'll look forward to seeing him never again hopefully somebody called 9-1-1 so i went to denver became a production assistant and then they had a girl on air there for the rockies and they didn't

renew her contract and so i was like just let me do this uh or like a stand-up at the time i didn't even know what a stand-up was and then they just like kept letting me do little things here and there and then I became the Rockies reporter and I would travel with the team it was a great team at the time like but like such a good group of people Troy Tulewitzki, Matt Holliday, Todd Heltman like it was just a really great place to start and then I came back to LA and worked on the best damn sports show. And then I started doing sidelines. So I would work big 10 that's big 10 Carissa. Not everyone knows when I refer to big 10 and Carissa, I was pushing like one 65. Um, I was very, you know, I really enjoyed

carbs at the time. So, um, you know, big, big hit in the Midwest. I worked at the big ten network on saturdays i would do a game there and then i would do a nfl game on sundays and then come back and work at best damn during the week and i was very lucky but uh hey did they didn't did deadspin do a thing on you which is ironic now when you think about deadspin didn't they do like a thing, a side-by-side of talking about you? Yeah. Yeah. Where they, the headline was suicidal path to frumpy bill. I'll never, I was scarred for life because I was like, Oh, I don't want to be the blonde sideline reporter. I want to be taken seriously.

So after, um, like a Friday show on Beth dam, I dyed my hair dark. Like, like when I say dark, it was black. And then I went and did a college football game Saturday. And then I showed up on the NFL sidelines with black hair on Sunday. I forget it. I was in Chicago and I had black hair and I was like, oh, I'm going i had left the best damn set looking like um a fake lisa durgan to uh lisa lobe and that's how that headline came about and i'm like oh shoot fox is so mad at me they were like uh can you let us know next time you want to completely change your look so i dyed my hair right back to blonde which anyone that's ever tried to go from black to blonde knows it ends up in that awesome orange face. So that was a good look. And then the next headline the next week was like something like returns to Bonerville.

Oh, God. AJ. What was that guy's name? AJ something. Yeah. I mean, granted different, different mission statement as, as a website, I would say back then versus now,

but I do think that's kind of ironic that if you were to tweet, yeah, but sort of, you know, Hey, if I, you know what, I don't know the answer to that.

I'm afraid, like, I don't want to get in a fight with anybody about it. So I honestly don't know the answer, but if you were to say on a radio show a year ago, the wnba loses money um they'd be like fire this guy and yet they went carissa thompson one-way ticket to frumpyville right back to bonerville and look of all the carissa thompsons you know how i feel like big 10 carissa is my favorite one it's ranked number one oh yeah oh yeah well you know there was a lot to love and I, you know,

it was a time in my life. Maybe I'll go back to it. I don't know. I've fluctuated a lot in weight. You know, I get, I get different opinions on people who like me big time, or a pack 12 for it. That's very different. You should do maybe more of a health and wellness type thing on your Instagram feed. just focus on that uh we're not a trainer no because either deadlift stuff or whatever i just every time i see somebody's thing be like i'm just you and i should go to no we should you will never you've

never invited first of all i appreciate the invite to the podcast but you've never invited me to the gym either i just don't think we would be able to take it serious. No, you don't. I do. I want to see, I want to see your whole thing. I want to see how you walk in.

Do you, do you use the same locker? Do you have a locker? Do you already have a locker with a lock? Like, no, I do. I get dressed at home and then I go in.

Um, cause I don't, you don't shower at the gym. Like that's not, you don't like change showers, do all the gym. You don't change showers, do all that there. No? No. I mean, we all have our flaws,

but I've always been lucky enough that even if I sweat, I don't smell bad. Some guys just get a weird pH thing going on and I've lost my hair, but I'm not a smelly guy by trade. How long are you willing to stay in the workout clothes after a workout?

That has become an issue. Are you guys like, I'm going to go. Yeah. Tell me. Cause I, especially back in Connecticut, you know, right after I got done with the radio show, I would go right to the gym and then I would come home. I would cook dinner and then seven o'clock the NBA game start. And then the next thing you know, it's 1am and I would still be in the same stuff.

And that's actually not good for your skin. So this is a bit of a health. Why don't know. I just remember the time that I was in Connecticut and I went to cheesecake factory, obviously as a former employee of cheesecake factory, I like to support my company. So I went to cheesecake factory with Brian Bedford, another Ryan, and we see you sitting at the bar, not drinking, drinking water, and you have a stack of papers and highlighters and you're just taking copious notes. And this was like on a random Saturday. I was like, this guy always studying, right? And are you ever not studying? Well, I stopped doing that thing in the gym where I would do these printouts. Like that used to be

my thing is once I got done with the radio show, I'd have about eight or 10 packets printed out. And then I would read in between sets. And I'm not saying this to be a hard-o, it's just what I would do because I felt like it was a time where everybody was leaving me alone and I could get all the reading done that I didn't get done before the show ahead of time. And then I used to love more than anything eating by myself, which has been an option for a while. an option for a while uh and reading and reading by myself i like i like to sit at the bar and read and that day i was actually um i wasn't feeling great and so i was going chicken parm water and then you two show up and it ended up being one of the rougher nights i've probably probably ever had um but it was there was only a couple of those that we had together that we had in medicaid together is grants still open grants is closed now grants is closed oh my god what a travesty i know it sucks i know you're still a real estate speculator back there can i all right can i ask you this your run at espn versus the fox thing. And I'm not doing this to be like, hey, dump on one place and promote the other.

But, you know, you've worked at the two biggest places in sports and your roles were different. So I know you probably enjoy the Fox thing more. You're part of the Sunday broadcast for the Super Bowl. I mean, this is sometimes you have to kind of sit back and be like, oh, my God, I'm actually doing this stuff. But what was the biggest difference for you other than just location because i know how badly you want to get back to the west yeah i mean i i remember growing up and i was always like oh i want to work at espn and it was this thing that if i got to espn and i had made it and i'll never i mean i still i had i definitely felt that way when i got the job there and i didn't know in what capacity

they had said something or alluded to this news so numbers never lie but it was sort of a fluid thing as far as like what I was actually going to be doing and then by our previous conversation I didn't even know you were going to be on so that once I got that job there I was like oh I made it one of the things and I my experience at ESPN was different though because I always say I was at the kids table because once I did numbers, never lie. And then that switched over to his and hers. And then I went and Michelle left and I went and did sports nation. It wasn't like I was an adult at ESPN. I never did a sports center. If you put me on a sports center desk, I would know what to do. Honestly, like when Sarah would do like three hours sports centers and I would like keep going over to her desk and be like, why are you still she's like why are you not working because we didn't have to write

scripts after scripts we were doing cheers and tears and fears or whatever it's called like we were had foam fingers on our hands like we weren't doing anything that warranted sitting there writing for hours and hours so my time there was I don't want to like reduce it to fun, but it was kind of more of a looser role that I had. And then that show got taken back to L.A. So then it became Marcellus and I and it was the same kind of thing where it was very like lighthearted and not a lot of heavy lifting. So although I appreciated ESPN, I never really had that feeling that some people might have where it was like the grind of you have to do this and you have to be on this show and you have to be on this show and you're there for hours and hours. Like mine was pretty set and pretty easy. But the reason why

Fox has always been a place that I continue to call home was just because of how I started there, like working in a administrative position and, knowing people that I work with now from the other side of, like, seeing that, you know, NFL Sunday show from afar, growing up, watching it, then seeing it from inside the building, but processing their, you know, benefits and paperwork, and then now actually being on with them. It just sort of feels like this, you know, the full, like, circle and full maturation of sort of how

I wanted to always like envision my career being was a out of place that feels like home and that's definitely what I have at Fox and not to say that I didn't enjoy my time at ESPN it just never felt the same that it does here you know and I've been through a lot of crap and I know I joke about the whole soccer stuff because I like most things when something bad happens in my life, I have to find some humor in it in order to get through it. But we all know that also has like the whole, you know, picture crap come out and all that stuff. And like, those are like really crappy times. And I'll never forget, like when I, all that stuff came out, Fox was, you know, my boss was like, get on an airplane. You're coming with us to the NFC championship game.

This is when it was in Philly a couple of years ago. And I had no role on the show at the time. It was just like, you just come with us and be with us and be around everybody. And that is where like who they are as people. So, um, although they are my employer, I definitely consider them family. So somebody grab a tissue. Yeah. Um, I don't want to, i don't want to i don't want to make you more upset um but i just always think no but like whenever you're on tv or you're at a certain level you you kind of become a bit of an inanimate object like you you are a real person but for the outside world it's like well no you sort of belong to us and you know I don't pretend to be at some kind of level where it's this massive intrusion into my life. It isn't.

And if I don't want to talk to somebody, I'm just not going to talk to anybody. For a woman, it's different. And for everything that you've had to go through, I just, what would be the best way to explain it maybe to a guy that doesn't understand what it is like? And I'm not doing like the whole, hey, what's it like to be a woman in sports thing, but to be a public figure and to be violated the way that you've been violated. And, you know, I remember being on the phone with you and I hurt so bad for you. Right. Cause I just can't imagine. Cause all of a sudden you think like, I don't even want to go outside because of what's just happened. Well, it's so embarrassing, right? I mean, you think like these don't even want to go outside because of what's just happened well it's so embarrassing right i mean you think like these are like private you know whatever videos or pictures or whatever

that you figure sharing with someone that you're into with for a long time and you think and then it was like oh you're so this is what i love how stupid are you to take those on your phone and this and that i'm like okay then hand me your phone right now hand me your phone right now do you want me to see any of your text messages that you sent? Do you want me to see any emails that you sent? Like, there's a lot of things in our phones that people, that you wouldn't want anyone else to see.

So don't give me the shit of like, oh, you shouldn't have even had that in your phone. It's like, well, you have a lot of stuff in your phone that you don't want anyone else to see. So I'm not, maybe I'm naive in thinking like, oh, somebody is interested enough. That's where I think maybe that I, I'm a, maybe I'm naive in thinking like, oh, somebody is interested enough. That's where I think maybe that I, I'm a little off base. That I would think that someone cares enough to go through public records, find out where I live and show up at my house and fly from Canada.

Or somebody cares enough to hack into an iCloud to get pictures or videos. Because I'm always like, why would someone give shit about my stuff? But then when those two things happened, I had to take a step back and go okay well is this because I also don't know this is the part that's so frustrating from like the police standpoint that it's the wild west and trying to find a digital footprint like you can find forensics and footprints all over the place, but good luck trying to find it in your phone. And trying to locate a hacker, if you will, is really, really difficult because an IP address that they found from an original hacking ended up in Chicago at an old woman's apartment. Like, you don't know. And I, not to get too off base here, but my point is that I was frustrated when people were critical of why I even had those

to begin with and I think that the lesson I learned is that all right well nothing is safe and also you have to I've sort of just tried to operate in my life of accountability and just own my shit like okay so yeah I did that and I'm a great girlfriend next like try to bring some like you know laughter into a situation that's serious, like try to bring some like, you know, laughter into a situation that's serious. Of course, after the fact, I was like, you know, on the floor for a while and had a hard time like feeling confident. And I don't usually, not to say I'm like overconfident,

but I have a hard time. Like usually, like I feel like I'm a pretty confident person, even in my insecurities. But this one was tough for a while to get over. But that's where the employer, you know, like stepped up to the plate. And that's where friends, including you and like, you know, some people that are like, it's okay. I'll never forget, like a glazer calls. And he's like, what are you crying about? It's, you know, this stuff happens all the time. Don't worry about it. But I'm like, just having like people like call you

or Michael or anybody that I work with and like that, like big brother mentality where it but like just having like people like call you or michael or anybody that i work with and like that like big brother mentality where it's like all right well that sucks and you know there's still a lot more of this game left to be played so the turnover and i learned never to do that again and feel like i was safe and so maybe some of like the innocence and like it's gone if you will sounds dramatic but um yeah i just think that for a guy it's always going to be different, but I don't, I've never played that. Oh, it's different for a guy and girl. Like there's a lot more opportunities that I might get as a female than you would get as a white male in this industry. So what are you going to like be upset about that?

Like I don't play the comparison game. I think that a lot more doors are open for us. It's just maybe they shut quicker if you don't do a decent enough job to keep it open. Yeah, I had always said that makes sense. No, it made a lot of sense. And I appreciate for opening up about that. I know we've talked about it, but you know, I didn't know if you'd want to touch on it here, but I know that, you know, I hadn't lived with a girl, I think since since I was 18 when we lived together for a couple months. And it did, maybe I should preface it this way.

There are times I know, and it's not like, look, I have sisters. I'm the oldest of five. You know, I still talk to my mother regularly. I would never pretend as a guy to be like, oh, no, I know what it's like for a woman. I would never pretend as a guy to be like, oh, no, I know what it's like for a woman. But I know I've been guilty of that at times where you'll go, okay, no way. Only women are made fun of on social media. Like I get called stuff every single day, but nobody cares about that. But if you look at some of the things that are said to you guys in this business, you're like, okay, wait a minute.

Like this is worse. And when I did live with you it it didn't change my mind about what it was but it was like a real punch in the face not even reminder but like a bit of a wake up call to go you know as guys there's just stuff we never really have to worry about like if I'm in a parking garage I don't have to really think about it and when that guy showed up and then everything else that happened to you it did I'll just never think about it. And when that guy showed up and then everything else that happened to you, it did. I'll just never think about it the same way. I'll never take certain things for granted for women that I maybe did in the past where

you'd be like, okay, you know what? Like we all get made fun of, you know? And like, it's part of the sports thing is being in a male dominated world, like stuff you wish nothing was ever said, but sometimes stuff is going to be said. But at the same time, when you look at the career paths of some people, I'd argue that it's never been a better time for women in sports right now with the opportunities. I don't even know how it could be debated. But if I say that, then some people will be automatically like, who's this male think he is saying that it's better for women in sports now. And I'm saying, no, the jobs, the opportunities

are better. But as far as the interaction and what you have to put up with, that'll never, you know, it's just different. It's just different. And I don't know that I'm doing the best job of explaining this. But if somebody doesn't like me, they'll be like, hey, you suck. No, and I appreciate it. I mean, the thing is, is I don't envy. I don't put myself in. People would always say, like, oh, how come you don't like debating?

I'm like, I don't. I'm not. I don't. I'm not a big advocate of conflict. And that's the part where I can appreciate that you've taken a side on something, Ryan, and you're steadfast and you're well-researched on your position. So you have no problem debating somebody. if it's a debate on a sports topic or no matter if it's something that like, if you say, Oh, I would argue that, you know, women have more opportunities than they've ever had somewhere, somehow someone's going to take that statement and flip it around. And then you're, you're bitter and you're angry.

It's like, you can't say anything. You can't say anything without somebody twisting it around and having something negative to say about it. And it comes, it gets to a point where, and maybe again, this goes back to my employer has been always like so supportive of like, just be you, whatever that looks like. And even if it's, you know, controversial to somebody else, like as long as they know what the intention behind it was, and as long as I know what the intention was, then like, let's not make a mountain, if you will, out of the molehill.

It's like, I'm so sick of like having to operate under this PC umbrella. And that's why I refuse to talk about politics around people that aren't close friends, because somehow that's going to be something. And we'll talk about religion. Like it's just like too many opportunities for people to make a big deal out of nothing. It's like, just all calm down. The thing I was, I was going to say there, and I don't know what's like, what's the right answer, But like when somebody doesn't like

me, they go, I don't like you because of this specific thing. But when you're a woman, it'll be like, oh, Hey, you're just a woman talking sports. And I, I don't know, like one is clearly more offensive, but sometimes I think like, oh, okay. So you're just one of those idiots. Like you're just one of those guys that think like, I shouldn't be talking up there where I never get to say like, like, Oh, Hey, you're a white male. I'm tired of you. For me, it'll always be, I can't believe you said this about a trade, or I can't believe you're, you're ripping the rockets again. And I don't know which one I'd prefer the more specific one that feels like more targeted or the more general run where I'm like, okay, well, if you're just saying this, then that doesn't make any sense at all. Um, we're going to do more with Carissa here

in a second. Um, some rapid fire celebrity questions. It's a wireless world and everyone needs a great pair of wireless earbuds before you go dropping hundreds of dollars on a pair, check out wireless earbuds from Raycon. Raycon earbuds start at about half the price of other premium wireless earbuds on the market. And they sound start at about half the price of other premium wireless earbuds on the market, and they sound just as amazing as other top audio brands you know. And Raycon's latest model, the E25, is their best one yet with six hours of playtime, seamless Bluetooth pairing, more bass, and a more compact design that gives you a nice noise-isolating fit. Raycon's comfortable wireless earbuds are perfect for

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Or some rock and roll. Look, all these people are obsessed with them. Pick up a pair and see what the hype is about. I just got a pair. And every time I use wireless earbuds in the past, there's just such a drop off on the sound quality. It just is. And that's why I've gone back to plug in. Sometimes I got my Raycons and the drop off is not even close to what it is with some

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And you're kind of doing some stuff with Extra again. How different would you say to the rest of the people that are on the red carpet for the Oscars interviewing the biggest stars in TV and movies. And yet I don't know, you might be the least impressed and that's what makes you so good on TV where other people are like, I can't believe Jon Hamm is talking to me. Um, and look, Jon Hamm's great. But how did that, how did that happen for somebody that I think is, is less interested as anyone I've ever met?

Well, I appreciate it because you're right. I don't, I'm not impressed. And that doesn't mean that I don't respect the individuals that I've interviewed in the entertainment space. It's just not, I'm not awestruck by Brad Pitt or George Clooney or whatever. Like, but I just look at it. Maybe it is from my tenure in sports where you get to a place where like, Oh, that's cool. That's Tom Brady or that's Joe Montana. But I don look and maybe it is from my tenure in sports where you get to a place where like, oh, that's cool. That's Tom Brady or that's Joe Montana.

But I don't know. It just isn't really. Maybe I'm numb inside. I'm not sure. But, yeah, I just I got an opportunity to do entertainment because thankfully, my boss, Lisa Gregorich, I think she was looking for somebody who had live experience because uh she was trying to change things up at um extra when maria left and so i got paired with mario um lopez and tracy edmonds and a lot of it was just sort of react to what happens next like on set um and so they would say like oh what do you think and so-and-so's outfit i'm like yeah that's that's not a good outfit she's like

okay well we can't say that we have to say we like it I'm like well then why do you ask me if I let you there had to be a certain level of advocating for these stars or else we couldn't get an interview with them later and then I'm like well this how's this work because now I gotta lie and I don't want to lie about what's happening or when I'm on the red carpet I don't really care what they're wearing or I don't really want to say they had a great performance because they sucked in that movie. So I learned quickly that I couldn't be honest. And that's not a knock. It's just that's just a game that you have to play. Whereas in sports, you can be critical of a performance, right?

You can say like, oh, dude, he sucked tonight. He only had six points and no rebounds, whatever. There's something tangible that you can judge his performance on where it's more objective in Hollywood. Like, do you think that somebody had a great performance in the movie or not? Um, so I just sort of, after a while, I'm like, I'm just going to play the game and do what they asked me to do. But half the time, I didn't even know who I was interviewing. I didn't know who the stars were. Like, I mean, I knew the big ones, but, um, so I just got really good at asking like generic

questions. And then I would listen to, cause on the red carpet, like we were like usually like third in line and I would listen to the outlet before me and whatever questions they were asking. I'm like, Oh, okay. That's awesome. So,

which is probably why my role was reduced after that. Cause like, you don't even like entertainment. I'm like, that's not true. I like people. And so like, I would rather ask Ben Affleck on a red carpet about what he thinks

about, you know, the, you know, whatever anemic Patriots offense, then I would have got Ben Affleck on a red carpet about what he thinks about, you know, the, you know, whatever anemic Patriots offense, then I would have got his performance in the movie. Um, but I so appreciated my time at extra for a lot of reasons. Cause again, it was talking to Michael Strahan about this one time where it's like becoming multi like faceted, right. Where like, you're not just a sportscaster,

like you can be considered an entertainment host. And I think that's always important because I always feel like my job is, you know, not going to, I'm not, my contract's not going to get renewed or things like that. And I operate from a place, I don't want to say I'm being scared, but I operate from a place of like, not knowing if I'm going to continue to have that security. And I think that that's hopefully what keeps me around for a while while because I never like to feel like oh you made it and you should feel so secure it's like no what other jobs can I take in case this one doesn't work so that's what entertainment afforded me an opportunity to do

is like be looked at hopefully it's more than just a sports broadcaster even if I didn't know who half the people were I still like would rather treat them like people um and doing an interview with Margotbie and being like um how sick of these questions are you and she's like very i'm like great then which ones do you want me to ask you and she's like great i get so i gave her the piece of paper like all the questions i'm supposed to ask her and she like went through them she's like okay i like this one i like this one i like this one and then the interview is like 10 times better whereas i probably shouldn't have done that or most people wouldn't because that's not what you're supposed

to do but the interview ends up being better and her and i were like cool after that so i don't know approaching yeah she was like you can call me whenever you want um i remember i came back from hawaii after i got cheated on there um by my ex-boyfriend and i had to go straight into an interview with kate hudson and i was like crying and she goes oh my god what's wrong i go i just got cheated on this is the interview and she goes, Oh my God, what's wrong? I go, I just got cheated on. This is the interview. And she goes, Oh my God, tell me everything. And you're going to junk it. And it's like super uncomfortable. And there's like all these publicists in there and they like hold up these little cue cards and say like one minute, two minutes left. And so they hold up like one minute, she goes, put that card down. And so we keep doing like,

we keep just talking and she's like, give me your phone. And I give her my phone and she puts her number in there. She's like, you call me anytime. She's like, that's that guy. And we'll go out and we'll get drinks. And you don't, it's like, that was like the interview and she's awesome and whatever. But, um, yeah, I don't know. I mean, I just don't think that happy stars like get asked the same questions over and over again. So if you just approach it a little bit differently, you might get fired and you might get it right. I don't know. Well, they asked you back, so you must have been doing it right. And wait a minute. This is all kind of news to me, though.

Like there at some point could have been a Margot Robbie hangout or a Kate Hudson hangout. Because, I mean, whatever tier of friendship I thought we had, I feel like there's this one that I didn't even know existed. There was something like private. Well, we can still make all these things happen. This is very easy, right? This is not a problem. You know, it is my goal in life to find you the perfect woman. So, which by the way, people were, people said to me like, oh, how come Ryan didn't congratulate you on your engagement? I was like, why is that such a big deal?

Why does Ryan have to publicly congratulate me on my engagement? It was a thing. That's so ridiculous. I FaceTimed. I lived it. So you guys FaceTime me and it was like, hey, Kyle and I engaged and congratulations to you both. Okay, before I let you go here,

can we do rapid fire on celebrities here? Just as soon as I say the name, give me whatever. All right, Mario Lopez, go. It has to be rapid fire. Oh my God, you got me off guard already. Mario Lopez

loves egg whites. Loves egg whites. Okay, good. It has to be rapid fire. Oh my God, you got me off guard already. Mario Lopez. Loves egg whites. Loves egg whites. Okay, good. Beyonce. Untouchable. Have you met her? No.

Like always from a distance. Like never can get too close. Okay. Taylor Swift. Have you met her? Sweet. Very sweet. Did you meet her though yeah she's very sweet would you like she's she will actually give you a great interview if there's not a bunch of people around her like forcing and rushing her off to do the the next thing she's the girl that'll be like

um oh i like your whatever necklace and actually mean it. I don't know what she means. You're not buying that? I think that's a really good trick. What's the trick? Just doing this thing that connects you. It's actually a very good personality trait. So real or unreal, I think that's good. But I've learned in some of these classes, these PR,

I did this one thing once. And it was kind of like you need to find, it's almost like these tokens. You need to find something to make connections with people so they feel like it's always more sincere. So maybe she really likes your accessories or she's good at this. No, I don't disagree with that because I definitely have done that before. But what I'm trying to say is that she, she will say that and it appears that she means it. Yeah.

Okay. All right. Did you, uh, I forget where you are in Kim Kardashian. Cause I'm sure you've had to run into her a million times. Or did she end up having like some different thing where she like would only talk to one of the Hollywood shows?

No, I don't know what that was. Um, I'm all in on Kim Kardashian now. At first I was like, Oh God, I'm over the Kardashians, but now I'm in on them. I'm in on them because here's the deal. If you can be relevant for this long

and continue to reinvent yourself, like from a business standpoint, like I'm all in. Like you can say what you want, but tell me the last relevant, like a restaurant that's been relevant for a decade and a half or a club. Like it is hard to remain relevant and newsworthy for that long. And they're laughing all the way to the bank on everything.

So I'm all in on that. Okay, let's do some dudes there. What? George Clooney. Do some dudes. The best. Literally the best. Clooney do some dudes the best literally the best like he's the guy and I'll never forget my first George Clooney experience is when he was promote it was uh must have been the Emmys and he was

promoting his tequila and it was right when him and them all got together before they got married and she's standing there and George George for same, Mario, and I were doing shots of tequila and she looked at me with utter disgust. Just because she was probably so weirded out that I'm like sitting there throwing back to feel like she's so proper. I'm like, but he's lovely. And so then the next time I had to interview him, he's like, are you drunk again? I'm like, I don't know, George, maybe because I've been at Disneyland waiting to interview you for the last three hours. So, yeah, maybe. Yeah, that's, with Disneyland, that's a possibility.

Okay, Brad Pitt. Yeah, he's got that thing. He's got that thing. Like, I've interviewed him a couple times, and every time, it's like, he walks out, like, all slow and confident, and does the, like, just sexy. Wow.

Okay. What about Leo? Leo can't be bothered, but this is when I was doing a junket. And junkets are way worse than red carpets because junkets, you walk in and it's just a quiet room and there's all these people around. And he was cool, but I feel like he would have been cooler outside the room. It was more of like, Oh,

let's just hurry up and get this over with. Anyone else? Like I'd want to, I'd want to party with you. Yeah. That's what it seems like. Yeah. Like get him,

like he's going to like be on his best behavior. Cause he knows he's got to get through these interviews. But if you get him outside of that, then if he's a good guy obviously who's your favorite celebrity do we know there's my favorite celebrity uh i just keep always hearing amazing things about john ham oh john ham rule he's just we love john ham john ham last year at the Masters was there, and we were singing Sail On with Scott Thompson, my father, obviously, my dad, Jon Hamm, and Lionel Richie. And there was maybe like 75 people.

It was probably one of my favorite nights, not going to lie. And performing was my affinity for Lionel, as it is. Yeah, we went out to dinner one night, lionel lionel was there so we were like whoa this is uh this is we were at sunset tower we were all having dinner there one night and lionel rolled in and then i saw him there a second time so i was like all right this must be a spot i don't think i'm selling them out i think in la no one cares about it as much anymore um favorite celebrity for me yeah i i don't know like simmons goes hey ham's coming by again i go yeah but what am i gonna do hey do you think that it was weird that jones sort of turned on you in

season seven of mad men because i feel like that storyline will rush a little bit and i'll be like all right cool by the way he wouldn't care that's how great johnny is johnny bravo john i can get here margo margo is a harder get in terms like get her out and like hang out. John, I can get we can we can hang out in a social setting. That one. Yeah, but then it feels like it's sort of a setup thing. It's like, hey, this guy really liked your TV show. Like, all right.

So I don't know. I don't know what to do there. He'd have to clean it up a little bit, too. He was he was that beard. He was like he was doing the I'm so hot. I'm going to look ugly thing. does that sometimes yeah yeah so some guys will do that uh i used to kind of do it but i wasn't ever that hot so when did you have a beard like that uh i've had a beard like that before i was early on the beard thing i'm gonna say it right now oh you were early on the beard thing okay I don't know. Okay. Abraham Lincoln.

Yeah. Angel round of beards. But now at Equinox, I look around and go, every single dude here has one. I don't know what to do. So I think that's it. I think that's it for us. Anything else that you wanted to say? No, you're just a wonderful friend and I love you so much.

Thank you for inviting me. I do think it's really important what you said about Fox there, because, you know, going through that as a friend with you and trying to help what Fox did, how they treated you. As you mentioned before, that was really, really special. And it's not the first time I've heard that about Fox once you're in that family. And I always, you know, if they if they ever this gets it's the kind of thing where like i wish there were more people there that i don't know that don't know me that i could thank because of how they helped you through so much of that stuff without them i don't know no i'm serious man they no that's so nice of you to say like i know i like joke about

stuff that's serious because that's the way that I get through things but it was a really really bad time in my life and a couple you know a bad stretch but thankfully I had you and thank you know for Fox and a couple other people that like got me through that so thank you and I love you dearly you know that all right love you too Krista I will talk to you very soon and we may even be doing an Oscars party this summer. Yeah, we are. Somebody grab the sequence down and grow the beard immediately. Done. I may even shave my neck. Love you guys.

Bye. Bye. All right. That was great with Carissa. I really enjoyed that. Just want to do a quick NBA thing Golden State style here. But today's podcast is sponsored by ADT Commercial for Business. ADT Commercial serves businesses ranging from mid-sized organizations to large-scale enterprises. Think of them as a special team who has one focus,

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The Capella thing is always kind of interesting because I feel like Houston looks at Capella and there were some really good numbers, by the way, that just came down about Capella, like how much pick and roll they used to run a couple of years ago versus less of it with having Paul and then Westbrook. So the Capella pick and roll where you're always kind of caught in between, Like Capella really, really benefited from some of that. Some of the rebounding rate numbers aren't necessarily great, but he has some really good roll numbers. So basically I'm telling you this, like I can find all sorts of Capella stuff and the contract isn't even that

bad where I could argue for him, but then also away from Harden. I'm not, I'm not quite sure what he is. Maybe Trey Young can figure that out, but the difference between Harden and so many other drivers away from Harden, I'm not quite sure what he is. Maybe Trae Young can figure that out, but the difference between Harden and so many other drivers is that Harden's got that big torso waist thing where he can survive that. Even though I like Steph better as a player, I don't really think it's much of an argument. Steph can't drive and consistently drive the way Harden can, especially in the playoffs because of the size difference there. Harden's threat on so many of those different things and him being a great passer and the way you just have to kind of defend him differently because of his shot creativity and

some of the shots he hit again last night against the Hornets. And he just got, okay, like, what are you supposed to do with this guy? Capella was always a great benefactor of that because you got caught in between against Harden a lot, but they don't run that stuff as much. And some of the rim protection numbers aren't great, but I get another team liking Capella and someone looking at this as like, Hey, look, let's trade. It's the old age rule. I'd rather trade for the player. I know I'm getting right now than wait with cap space and free agency, realizing the chances are like most people are going to miss out on their targets. Okay. That's the next Malik Beasley thing,

whatever. I know Minnesota is trying to revamp this whole deal here on the fly. I'd heard that in some of the golden state, Minnesota Russell dealings from people around the league, that golden state was never in play for Covington because it felt like Minnesota knew they were going to move Covington somewhere else. And that's exactly what happened. Houston has an issue now at center. I'll wait to see what the deadline buyout market is before I start going, or is it really going to work with

the limited depth that they have up front, but Capella was somebody that becomes in some of these playoff series where there are bigs that they're not constant liabilities, but they become liabilities in some games the way the matchups work out. And that definitely happened with Capella where Golden State was like, good, keep them out there. So maybe that's just projecting in the playoffs

and hoping to go five, but I don't think P.J. Tucker is going to be able to be your center for 40 minutes a night during the playoffs. I would doubt that. But they did get Jordan Bell in that move. So if you just go over to Houston part of it, you get Covington Bell.

You're still going to have to figure out another big body there at some point, I'd imagine, just because of different playoff matchups, and they get a future second-round pick. I feel like Covington's actually become a little overrated throughout this entire thing. I like them. I don't love them. But they're loading up perimeter style here and trying to stretch you out even more.

Hey, do you have a lot of shooting? Cool. Add more shooting. That's what that feels like. And if you were really that good wouldn't minnesota want to keep them i don't know the hawks get capella in this deal makes sense like i said before minnesota gets beasley who's going to want a big contract and that's why it was never going to work out in denver uh hernan gomez who i actually like in spots jared vanderbilt evan turner and they get a protected first round pick from Atlanta that's through Brooklyn, which was something that Golden State won. And I'll get to the Golden State part of this here in a second. That just feels like moving a bunch of pieces around. I really like Covington's better than

any one of those single guys that they got, but do they get enough now to grab Russell in a Wiggins deal? And then finally, Denver and Shabazz Napier probably shouldn't be a starter. Noah Vonlay, who you've probably forgotten about. They did get the Rockets 2020 first round pick and then Bates Diop and Gerald Green. So they ended up getting a first basically here for Beasley is what this is. This is just an unbelievable trade of just, huh, what? What is it? What is it again? Like what really happened here? So I like the Hawks part of it probably the best out of the whole deal. Now, what the Timberwolves are trying to do, and I'd heard, and this is really dangerous because you say it and then you go,

all right, it could be totally wrong by the time it's posting, so let's just make sure. But Golden State was looking for picks, luxury tax avoidance deal, where they could just do loony to get out. The number isn't huge. It's like 4 million or so to get under that luxury tax repeater thing. But I never believed from talking to people around the league that there was a mandate that Golden State absolutely had to trade D'Angelo Russell and absolutely get under that tax to avoid the repeater thing. I mean, the repeater thing's nasty. Between the tax bill where it used to be a dollar for a dollar, when you're past $20 million over the

luxury tax, it turns into like $4.50 per dollar you're over the tax. And then another $0.50 for each $5 million, you're beyond $20 million over the tax. It gets really brutal where you start looking at a team who, by the way, is the worst in the NBA right now because of the injuries and saying 300 million for this, like what owner would be like, yeah, we're cool. We're cool. But again, only what's been shared with me is that there was never a mandate. We have to, we have to, we have to avoid that. So that's why anybody calling on D'Angelo Russell, not to say that he wouldn't be moved. It was, you know, we're not operating from this weakened position that you may think that we are if you're Golden State on the phone.

So any deal for Russell to Minnesota would have had to have been Wiggins, who, and I know this is surprising, but if you were to say on the scale of 1 to 10, like how excited would Golden State be for getting somebody like Wiggins, who we have to check his pulse every now and then in games, I thought maybe it'd be a 2 out of 10. Since I get it, it's kind of like a 5 out of 10, maybe even a six where positionally he fits better because they're worried about what their forward situation is going to be next year, especially small forward. So maybe they look at Wiggins as somebody that'd be a better catch and shoot guy with them.

He has started to pass the basketball more than he did earlier when he was just sort of this guy who wanted to drive on everybody all the time, because I actually thought that he was going to be that, it was going to work and be effective, but it wasn't. And it hasn't been. But Golden State is not as turned off to the three years and a hundred million remaining for somebody that looks like going into this year, maybe had the worst contract in the league. I don't know if he's the worst, but you know, look, if the five most untradeable and then those guys always end up getting traded. So don't write off the Wiggins thing because Golden State have no interest, but they still would have to do a Wiggins deal that then got them under that repeater tax. And they were getting back some kind of picks because the argument would be Wiggins is the lesser player than a Russell. I don't know if the gap is actually as massive as most people would.

I think most people would disagree with me and say, are you kidding me? Daniel Russell is so much better than Andrew Wiggins. Russell had a great redemption thing to his career. He was a different player than he was in college, than he was in a very ISO-heavy last two years in Brooklyn. But the second year with the Nets, it actually worked where I thought it was sort of gross two years ago. So that's kind of where it's at.

And this deal does not prevent any kind of Russell Wiggins thing happening. But if you're saying they have to get Russell done, and I'm not saying Russell won't be traded. I just don't believe that it has to happen. I don't think there's like a steadfast rule that this thing absolutely has to happen. And remember, if Russell does get traded, the way Golden State looks at this is pretty clear it's that um you know Durant was going to be gone no matter what and they were going to get nothing back for it so whatever they did in the Russell sign and trade to keep that asset whatever they were going to get whatever they would get for Russell whether it's before the deadline or say this summer around the draft where they could pair him and a top pick because of their record and maybe there's

somebody that's more enticing. There will be another superstar that will want out probably by this summer that none of us can name right now or predict. I don't think it's Carl Anthony Towns, which is one of the main reasons Minnesota wants to bring Russell to pair with him. But anything that they get back, a couple picks, two firsts, let's say that tax relief, all of that is thought of as a plus because it's more than the zero that they were going to get by just letting Durant walk. So Bill and I were going to probably do a

two plus hour trade deadline spectacular pod. So I'll be headed up to the studios on Thursday to do that one. I hope everybody has a great rest of the day and can't wait until tomorrow. A lot of fun. Please subscribe, rate, and review to the Ryan Russillo podcast on the Ringer Network and rest of the day and can't can't wait until tomorrow a lot of fun please subscribe rate and review to the ryan rossillo podcast on the ringer network and tell all of your fans Thank you.