The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Cole Hauser. Plus NBA Story Lines and CFB Rankings.

Episode Date: December 2, 2020

Russillo shares his thoughts on some NBA story lines as the 2021 season approaches, including the Bucks still not finalizing a new contract with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Danny Ainge under fire, media coverage, and more (3:00), before talking with actor Cole Hauser about his new film, ‘The Last Champion,’ releasing December 8, some of his past work, including ‘Dazed and Confused,’ ‘School Ties,’ and ‘Goodwill Hunting,’ his character on the hit TV show ‘Yellowstone,’ working with Kevin Costner, and more (20:00). Then Ryen talks about the latest CFB rankings (49:00) before answering some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (59:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everybody, what's going on? It's Ryan Russillo for today's episode of the Ryan Russillo Podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network, which is brought to you by State Farm. Getting great car and home insurance from State Farm at a surprisingly great rate? That's like drafting a player that becomes an All-Pro. The real deal. State Farm agents provide personalized service so you can customize your insurance to fit your needs.

Like a GM putting together their very own roster, you need a team that supports you. And State Farm's got a great one. In addition to agents, the award-winning mobile app helps manage coverage, pay bills, file claims, and more with a great price and even greater service. State Farm goes from strength to strength. Choose insurance that always brings its A game.

When you want the real deal, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. College football rankings came out last night, and we'll run through those a little bit later in today's podcast. The headliner of this is we got a man, Rip Yellowstone, a.k.a. Cole Hauser. Pretty excited. It was not the Instagram DM that is not what connected us we actually had a booking agent he was promoting a new movie that's coming out

about wrestling and you know me I may not have a wrestling background but I'm a sucker for movies about wrestling so I don't know if you heard my work on the Vision Quest rewatchable but I'm a sucker for movies about wrestling. So I don't know if you heard my work on the vision quest rewatchable, but I'm excited, excited. We're going to talk a lot of Yellowstone.

All right. So it was understood ahead of time. Yep. Promo everything up, but I want to talk about Yellowstone. I want to talk Costner. I want to talk about, you know,

all sorts of stuff. So there you go. Do you watch Yellowstone, Kyle? I still haven't. I don't think I have access to it. Locked in. No, that's fair.

That's fair. I think I found the channel a year or so after I just went ahead and bought all the episodes because I was still at that point flying around. Like iTunes style, bought all the episodes? Yeah, I just did it. I just did it. I wanted to be supportive. I wanted to be supportive of Taylor Share.

Taylor Share, he created it. Things haven't really worked out for him. I'm kidding. He's been on fire now for years. So I just said, Hey, I'm going to do this. Cause everybody that I, people that I trust were like, Hey, this, this show is that good. I was like, okay, I'm in, I'm in. And it is, it is that good. So that's what we're going to do. And before we do any of that though, I kind of want to start with some NBA storylines. I can't believe camps are open. And also the machine gun barrage of bullshit from NBA media day, which is just the way it goes. It's just, it is that all right. New coach comes in. That means the team probably was pretty disappointing or terrible. And that's why there's a new coach there in the first place. So all the

players that haven't actually done as well as we'd hoped they would. If you're young, there's still hope. And it's just kind of funny to listen to some of the coaches be like, hey, we think this guy's awesome. We don't want to limit anything he can do. And you're like, I don't know. He hasn't been really good for like three years. Then the other one is John Wall.

He'll be the headliner of all. Like Scott Brooks going, John Wall. You should see this guy right now work out i'd imagine even post achilles john wall's pretty athletic and amazing to watch but you know none of these injuries every time somebody is hurt like he's actually going to be better and a lot of times they aren't weird weird how that works out and then then we like our draft picks, which is always my favorite. Do you? You picked him. So at some point, I imagine you did like here, and it's part of it. You cover a team, and then you're getting that message out and all this stuff. And what are you supposed to do as a coach or GM? Go, you know what?

Now that we've seen this pick in person, may have screwed this one up. But you know, the mid-20s, that's kind of tough. So while you were off seasoning, that's where we start with some of the NBA storylines. There's just a handful. I could do 10 of these, but I don't want to ramble forever, which is usually the case on the pod at times, depending on the guest lineup. So the first thing is the Giannis Max that supposedly is still getting done with Milwaukee, but I cannot express this enough. We're now two weeks removed from when the Drew Holiday trade started at all, right? That started at all. Then the fake Bogdanovich

acquisition where I got a text from somebody going, hey, you know, they kind of can't do this. Our cap guys like, no, no, the way this restricted thing works, the way they did it and executed this isn't going to work. I'll be honest with you all. It was a great piece of information. And it wouldn't be like I was going to go ahead and tweet it out because there's no way I would have known unless I knew the cap rule specifically. It was a little over my head. And I was like, wait, what? And then he was explaining it to me. I'm like, OK, that makes sense. But how did we get here? And then guess what? We got here by Bogdanovich being on the Hawks.

So the bigger part of this whole thing, though, let's pivot back to Giannis. And that is that as that deal happened, everyone, everyone is exaggeration, but the majority of people that I talked to in the league on the league side of things are like, yeah, you know what people kind of think a couple of agents were like,

yeah, this really is probably going to, you know, seal up Giannis here. And that's why they're going to do this extension. And remember, I had talked a little bit about why can't you be more on the same page? If you actually want to stay at a place,

why can't you be more on the same page so that they're not operating in a position of fear? And I still think unprotected picks in 2027 for one year, Drew Holliday is insane. There had to have been some different middle ground, but apparently not. If there was competition for Drew, we will never

know the full scope of some of these trades. So that's something you always have to remind yourself of. But here's the point, is now we're two plus weeks from that and Giannis still hasn't signed this max that people were saying, hey, he's going to do it by Friday. It's pretty much understood by Friday. Giannis will go ahead and sign that super max. So he hasn't.

That that could mean a few different things. I know Brian Windhorst had a really interesting note on Anthony Davis, you know, lining his deal up with Giannis and try to figure out what that decision would be, which, you know, look, that's kind of what the league is now. It would make a little bit of sense. I still think that Davis is so impressionable that he's probably operating more aligned with clutch than he would be with another player. The other part of this is teams that are waiting on Giannis, specifically the Miami Heat. You know, these rookie max extensions are probably one of the most wasted topics as far as how many wasted hours we spend talking about these topics where it's very clear the rookie is going to go ahead and get the max because they're worthy of it

and the way the extensions work for rookie draft picks like those guys just don't leave so we spoil hey is this guy going to get the max how come Tatum hasn't signed the max so Tatum maybe not want to be oh Tatum signed the max okay what's going on with BAM? How come they haven't done this? Oh, it's because they want Giannis and they've talked to BAM and everybody's on the same page so Miami can have a ton of cap space. Oh, no.

BAM signed the max. And BAM's max, and these numbers are all over the place because we don't really know what the cap is going to be. There's projections for a slight bump versus the original projections. We're at 109 or so million

which is supposed to go up but it really would have gone down so they kept it flat it was supposed to maybe be 125 million for next year that's not going to happen but if we're operating with the idea that there's still a slight bump and the cap is north of 109 say 112 115 million dollars and i'm not going to try to bore you to death with all of this stuff. Now that BAM has signed that extension, that changes Miami's next offseason in a big way, where it would have been great if the agent and the player and the team all could have been on the same page and say, hey, can we use your cap hold instead of the first year of a new extension so we have more cap space? And apparently they couldn't do that.

So the cap cost, the cap space cost on this new deal for the miami heat is going to be like between i don't know 12 and 20 million dollars so basically what we're looking at is if it's butler and it's bam and it's ryan anderson's dead money you may have to get really creative and move off of some of these younger pieces if you're a heat fan that you really like to go after Giannis and even then it is threading a needle to go ahead and do this so that either tells you you know what that probably tells us if we talk about it out loud here is that the Miami Heat have a pretty good indication that they're not going to get him and and maybe this Giannis stuff by the you know who knows maybe in a couple days it's decided that

he was going to be signed up, and it's fine, and there are no problems. But the fact that two weeks ago, over two weeks ago, everybody was like, yeah, bye Friday, five-year extension, Giannis, no problem, done and done. And you're like, okay, what's happening? It hasn't happened. Okay, I want to talk about my favorite.

I think it's my favorite outside of Boston NBA topic, and that is Danny Ainge. He's getting dragged outside for years and inside. Now, look, I know that whenever I have a concern about the mid-level or some sort of traded player exception rule, the first place I stop is Felger and Maz. So I'm not remotely influenced by anybody in Boston Sports Talk Radio when it comes to the NBA stuff

because I just know I run circles around most of the hosts there. So let's examine Ainge here from a position of trying to be fair and not sell four hours on a slow Tuesday. A couple years ago, the big thing with the Celtics is, hey, he drafts well, he does well with the trades. My biggest thing for Ainge is that he's patient.

He's never a GM that's going to do something stupid because just some things haven't worked out for him in a while. So it's like, all right, now I'm going to do something stupid here. Now I'm going to overpay for somebody. He's really good about, I really think about not overpaying somebody. Now, can you come back at me with a couple of contracts here or there that didn't work out? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Now, if the rule is I have to present a clean slate of 17 years of having the job, then I'll just go ahead and concede right now because I can't do that with any GM. I could go around the entire league and probably do a five minute segment on any GM in the league and make them sound like they're terrible at their job.

And I think that's just kind of the unfair thing about our business if you're trying to sell some sort of point. So my point would be that for years when the Celtics couldn't get free agents, they actually got a free agent, Al Horford, and that was a big deal. Then they added Gordon Hayward. Then they ended up with Kemba last year. So it was a group, it was a team that they did a bunch of things right, but they couldn't add anybody in free agency. And in consecutive years, Horford, Gordon, and Kemba, in the middle of that, when they brought in Gordon, they traded for Kyrie Irving as well. Now, I have defended Ainge from the drafting part of this, but I've pulled back on that because even though whenever anybody's stockpiled his entire draft resume, you average it out. The picks are pretty late in the first round. I've done this

exercise before. Maybe it's changed since, but it was averaging between the 19th and 21st selection for all these picks he was getting beat up on for not delivering. The point would be this. You can't keep sitting there and trading for draft picks and then not being able to bundle those draft picks for other things. I'll get to some of that a little bit later because people just weren't that interested. All these teams that think they're going to take all of these future firsts and go, hey, here's 16 and 21 and 28 and top 14 protected next year and give us your best player. It doesn't work that way.

Or the NFL would be awesome to have all these draft picks. But in the NBA, you know, outside of the lottery and stockpiling all this stuff, like, hell, if you want to move 10 and 14 to go to seven, that's not even that doable all the time. Yes, there are exceptions, but it's not automatic that you're able to say, oh, wow, I can get these two first and get rid of this guy.

No, it's just, it really doesn't work out all that often that way. So Ainge needs to be better at that part of it. He just does. He, he's, it'd be nice to have like one or two long-term rotation guys. I'm going to even talk about an all-star the dream on green type in the second round or somebody really late pascal siakam late in the 20s i mean

i'm not even asking for angel to do that i'm asking for him to consistently add contributors and he hasn't been able to and i don't know if he did again this year i mean i love the aaron neespith landscaping story as a guy who works outside for his dad shout out to the outside kids but you know the Peyton Pritchard pick out of Oregon I'll tell you a lot of people around the league were like what and then one team called me they said we'd heard about a promise to Pritchard and then we all looked at each other and started laughing being like there's no way anybody promised Peyton Pritchard in the first round maybe Angel be right about this one but he needs to do a better job

there so I'll accept it but I'd rather have the guy that's smarter than everybody else and taking Tatum and adding an extra pick that ended up not being as good, but he didn't know that at the time, when everyone in the league was going to take Fultz. Now, do I know 30 for 30 teams would have taken Fultz? No, I don't know that it's 30 for 30, but I didn't talk to a team that had Tatum higher than Fultz because I just remember a win for your Rye guy here. I was like, I just think I like Tatum better. And I have the tweet receipts to back it up before you get all pissed off about it i just didn't understand why i was like why is folks just the consensus better than tatum i don't get it then when that happened i was like wow i'm i see the same thing that age seems so i think we should all be on the same page there that that's

not a win for him that's a loss he needs to be better in those parts but here's the biggest message that i think i need to share with you, is that you can't then now change the whole part of it where they didn't get free agents to now you're mad that he's losing free agents. Now, I would say the Celtics would probably do a better job of being more aware about some of their own guys' efforts and wanting to get out. Kyrie just was never staying. But if you want to use the Kyrie thing against Danny Ainge, go ahead. Trying to figure out Kyrie in general is probably a waste of time. But Al Horford, who left and they wanted to keep him, ended up with a massive deal from Philadelphia that went to the point where Ainge goes, look, I'm just not going to do this. Other GMs would have done whatever Horford wanted. Philadelphia was desperate. They had the two

young guys. They had the cap space. They're never going to be able to add big cap numbers again as the extensions kick in for other players. So they're like, look, we're just going to throw all this money at Horford now to try to ease the burden with Embiid. And it actually turned out to be like the worst basketball fit ever for Embiid, as we know he's out of there. But it went from Horford going, oh, this is a nice player who's always tough to kind of defend and was declining, to this is one of the worst five contracts in the NBA. The Gordon Hayward deal. It just didn't work out. Everybody would have signed him to a max deal when he picked Boston over everybody else. And it was the right signing at the time. And then Hayward wanted out. I told you guys that

weeks and weeks ago that he wanted out, didn't guarantee he was going to be able to leave, but he figured out a place, Charlotte offered him120 million, which is the single worst deal of the entire offseason. So if we agree, as most sane people would, that Horford and Hayward are now two terrible contracts where the Sixers had to kick in a lightly protected future first and the 34th pick this year, and Vasilij Micic, who people do kind of sneaky like, in a deal to get off of Horford's money. If we agree that Horford and Gordon Hayward are terrible contracts, which we all do, you can't then have it both ways and complain about Ainge losing them. If you're

admitting the deal is terrible, then you're admitting you wanted him to sign a terrible deal. That doesn't make any sense. And it isn't fair. But what happens is, is once you start going down a road of this is my position and now I'm going to use every piece of ammunition I can, and I'm going to change everything so that it fits my argument, which is really what this whole fucking job is. You're just being unfair to that point. I mean,

look, even the Kyrie trade, they gave up Isaiah Thomas, Jay Crowder, who wasn't even that good when he went there. He's resurged a bit here. Auntie Zizic and the eighth pick and Colin Sexton. That was for two years of Kyrie trade. They gave up Isaiah Thomas, Jay Crowder, who wasn't even that good when he went there. He's resurged a bit here. Ante Zizic in the eighth pick and Colin Sexton. That was for two years of Kyrie Irving, but Kyrie didn't want to be in Boston and wasn't going to figure out.

And even Ainge at the time was hoping to add Anthony Davis to that piece, but Clutch is never going to do Boston any favors whatsoever. So they were like, look, don't trade for Anthony Davis, man, because he's not signing. He's not signing in Boston. We're going to put him with this other guy, LeBron, in Los Angeles. So, yes, Ainge could be better at the drafting part of it. I'm with you. But to just pile it all together and act as if this guy doesn't deserve his job. His

vision, his patience, his long-term approach to this, the way he works people over in trades, which is what he's known for, there's more positive than negative there. And I think that's the most fair way to look at it. Last little tidbit here while you were off seasoning. Some of the media coverage of different signings in the all-timer now is Nick Batum. Nick Batum was so bad, Charlotte didn't even want him out there. When Batum did that deal, this is great piece of information. I had another

front office go, this guy is going to check out like you've never seen now that he got paid. This is his profile. Now, maybe that means because he had to come back and not make any money after the stretch position. He's going to play hard. People got his length, his versatility. Dude, he hasn't been that guy in years, but you can tell what happens. The agent gives the reporter the info on some of these deals like i can't wait for moody a to get signed and whoever reports that's going to be like really athletic combo end to end you know if he ever figures it out you know we're on year seven but look out for moody a if he ever gets a ball in his hands so there's been a lot of that stuff

oh you know what else is like a small little thing? I'm not sure I love the Stephen Adams-Zion Williamson pairing. I actually think I don't like it, but I need to see it a little bit more. And I like Stephen Adams, and obviously I like Zion, but putting a non-shooting big running around with Zion, maybe they're doing it to protect

Zion, and they don't want to have him play as the big in a smaller lineup. I mean, look, I'm open to anything and any kind of discussion with the Steven Adams thing, but there's a chance that's actually not a great pairing. Okay, let's talk to Rip. He's one of my favorite characters on any television show in a long time. Rip Wheeler from Yellowstone. He's played by Cole Hauser.

We're finally going to do this. Cole, Last Champion comes out December 8th. Taking a look at this, you know, obviously don't want to give a ton of this away, but coming back home, great history, and then a bad history where it seems like coming back home. What was it about the script that made you like it? I think it's all the colors, you know, and the character. You know, he's not one-note, the guy.

I mean, he comes into the film, you know, kind of, you know, at the ashes of life you know just broken you know and then throughout the picture you get to see him you know find his confidence again deal with his past some of the demons that he has addiction you know which i believe is a big one in this film um but it also has faith it has family has friendship love then ultimately, you know, redemption and being a great teacher and a great coach. So there was a lot of colors throughout John Wright that I responded to. Now, Glenn Withrow and Haley Todd, who co-wrote this, far more extensive backgrounds as actors. What is it about being an actor where you can read that, that writers are writing,

but have more of an acting background? I imagine that that's something that maybe you can pick up better than others just reading. Yeah. I mean, you know, I've known Glenn, you know, I've seen him in some stuff years and years ago and Hallie, you know, they're just creative people. You know, I, I don't, you know, they took five years to write the script, you know, it took them a very long time. You know, Glenn was a wrestler, uh, in Kentucky growing up. Uh, he knew a lot about that world. I didn't, um, you know, I, I played football as a kid and, and basketball and soccer. So I never knew anybody who really wrestled, um,

except for a friend here and there, but, um, you know, they, they, uh, they're just, I mean, their collaboration is really where I care. You know what I mean? When you meet somebody, whether you're an actor or director or writer, you know, is how collaborative are you? Um, are you, are you listening to what I'm saying and vice versa? You know, the sports background, like we can all read and check out the Wikipedia thing, but I think one of the first things for any of us that are normally on the sports side,

we can tell immediately, we're like, oh, that guy didn't play anything. So for you, I saw some of the clips of the wrestling stuff. This does not seem foreign to you. So how did the athletic background play into this? I mean, it was good. I'll be honest. I rolled around with this kid from Washington state, you know, for about five minutes on the floor. And, you know, this guy is, you know, he's a great wrestler, but he's not like the elite, you know, wrestler that I play in the movie. And these guys are in shape, man. I mean,

you know, I was gassed. I'm not going to bullshit you. Don't fight a wrestler. I mean, that's been a long rule for a lot of us. If you see somebody that's got cauliflower ears, walk the other way. Exactly. I was going to ask if Vision Quest, if you had to watch that to get motivated, but maybe not because we did a podcast about it, and I was making fun of Modine's lat pull-down form, and he got so mad. He was tweeting at me for weeks. So I don't know. I may have a problem with Modine. If I see him, that's going to be,

it's going to be uncomfortable. My buddy, you know, he he's from Spokane, Washington. He used to wrestle and he was like, you should watch it. And I honestly, I was in this house in Garfield that had had like no heat, you know, I had no television, you know, and I was like, I'm just going to sit here. It had a fireplace.

I used to sleep by the fireplace when I was getting prepared for the movie. And, you know, I just, I don't know. I never had the chance to watch it. My favorite, you know, sports film is Everybody's All-American with Dennis Quaid. That's one of my favorites. And there's some similarities to to uh this movie and that yeah vision was i had never seen so they asked me they're like hey we gotta do this thing and then i watched it and you know it's just tough it's tough to go back and see some of these movies

you go they thought this was a good idea where you've been lucky to be in some that i think hold up i you know i i i've got to imagine and this may sound like a really stupid question from the outside of your world, but what are you, 18 days and confused and right around that? I think you and I are the same age. So 17, 18, good will hunting at 22. What's that like when you decide at a very young age, you go, you know, I'm really going to pursue this and it starts working. That has to be, it can be as simple as too much too soon, but I don't even mean it that way. Like, what was it like to feel like, holy shit, this is actually working and I'm on, I'm in like big movies. Yeah, no, it's what started with school ties, you know?

I mean, that was my break with Matt Damon, Ben, Brendan Fraser, Chris O'Donnell, Randall Battencoff. In fact, Randall's in this movie as well. But yeah, at first it's like, holy shit, this is working. Like, I can't believe that I'm actually, I'm doing what I want to do here. You know, and then it really becomes about picking and choosing and making sure that you're doing not only what you love to do, but you're telling stories that you care about. And I think for me, it's always been that way.

Like, there's certain shows that were offered to me or I could have done and made a lot of money. And I just, you know, if it didn't really excite me and didn't get me up one night out of bed, then I was just like, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to find something that I do love. So, you know, my, my career has been a little bit more of a slow burn, but you know what? It's, it's starting to happen now, which is what I wanted. I'm 45 years old and, and there's some great stuff that I'm, I'm feeling like it's coming my way, which is, which is fantastic. Yeah. It really does feel that way. And I don't know if it's just, I didn't know about the sexiest man alive thing. I didn't prep for that. So I, that news was before all my prep. I would have taken the interview entirely

because I had questions. It's like, would you, if you're on the cover of people, do you go, did I, did I take myself off the market too soon? You know, had I known this, do I regret, you know, I mean, look, I'm sure you love your family and everything, but that's the kind of thing. A lot of guys would be like, you know, maybe I could have just held out a little bit longer. Who knows? I've been with the same woman for 25 years, man. I've been with the same woman for 25 years man you know yeah I'm not trying to get you into trouble here so I I'm just but you're I think what you said there is it's kind of like hey I feel like it's happening now did you feel like there were moments where it wasn't up to your standards considering some of the massive hits you were in immediately at a very young age

yeah I mean well you know days a lot of people don't know this, but Gramercy put days out and then pulled it a week later. So, you know, days was not supposed to be what it was, you know, not, not for Gramercy's money, at least, um, he came to go plastic school ties was a middle of the road, I think a very good film, but didn't make a lot of money. Um, and then goodwill,will you know i had a small part in it um but nobody knew that that was going to do what it was going to do i mean that that film is you know it exceeded anything that anybody thought it would do so um and then you know i did like tears of the sun and films you know that i thought would be bigger hearts war um but they weren't so

you know it's just look everything happens for a reason in your career. That's my feeling. I know that when the time is right, you know, and it's all about timing and being in the right place at the right time and being prepared. And so, you know, that, that's kind of how I feel right now. I feel like I got the last champion coming out. I got, you know, Yellowstone, which is off the charts. People love it. And then I'm doing Panama starting next week down here in Puerto Rico. So things are good, man. Things are real good. Yeah. Yellowstone, I love. I'm sure it's probably the thing you're

going to be asked the most about this and in the last champion buildup and all that. But I think there are some similarities with Taylor running the show. And for those that don't know Taylor Sh know Taylor's background, he was on Sons of Anarchy. He was kind of a bit actor. He realized, hey, I got to start writing. And he starts pumping out some of my favorite movies in the last decade. And then the Yellowstone deal. So what was that Taylor connection like? Tell me the backstory of you even being in the mix, understanding like I don't know any of that. So give us the timeline of first learning about the project, connecting with Taylor, and ultimately becoming Rip. Yeah, well, I'll give you the of that. So give us the timeline of first learning about the project, connecting with Taylor and ultimately becoming Rip. Yeah, well, I'll give you the full backstory. So the full backstory is this, you know, John Linson, who's the co-creator of the show, is one of my dear friends.

So I've known him, my mom and his mother have known each other since, I don't know, the 60s. I don't know, the 60s. So, you know, he came to me and said, look, you know, there's your show and we just got Kevin Costner and, you know, take a look at it and see what you think. And I think you'd be great in this. And he didn't say any role or anything. So I looked at the script and I think initially my my team wanted me to to to, you know, position myself to play one of his sons. And I just didn't see it. I didn't think that there was a role that was right for me when it came to Jamie or Lee or Casey. So the one that jumped off the page was Rip. And they were like, what are you doing?

It's two scenes and a pilot. I said, no, this character is going to you know something really good i can just feel it i know that taylor loves the real cowboy way i know that he believes that those kind of guys should you know talked about and then i think the chemistry with kelly and i in in the very first, you know, episode was there. And he saw that. So that's kind of where it blossomed from. What's the best way to describe working with Taylor? I mean, we've become really close friends, you know, he's, he's a, he's a really intense guy. I mean, he's very focused.

He's not unlike me. I think we kind of complement each other because we're both, we both give a shit, you know what I mean? We care greatly about not only what we put out into the marketplace, but, you know, to make sure that we're portraying, especially my character, you know, is as realistic as possible. So, you know, and, you know, he's one of those guys that works his ass off. And when it's over, he likes to have a nice drink and enjoy himself. So, you know, and, you know, he's one of those guys that works his ass off. And when it's over, he likes to have a nice drink and enjoy himself.

So, you know. That's why you have the bunkhouse. So you guys could just transfer right in there for real. You brought up a great point, though, about Rip, because it's always like they're the main characters. But I think sometimes the audience is like, oh, I like the tough guy. I mean, Rip is a cool character. You have made him a cool character. But there's also this great backstory that we learn more and more about.

As an actor, how tough is it to, I don't know if it's reminding yourself. So take this wherever you want where, okay, yes, I can play a tough guy and grunt and pull my jean jacket up and say cool lines and punch guys. But to give it more than just the cliche tough guy, how much of a challenge or reminder is it to you that you want to make sure that the character is more well-rounded? Yeah. I mean, that's always been my thing. You know, I, I, I never play anybody one note. That's just not the way, you know? And so for me, I think a lot of actors or, you know,

I shouldn't say a lot of actors. I think some people would look at Rip and go, he's a one-trick pony. You know what I mean? That's who he is. He's the heavy, he's the tough guy. If there's a problem, John calls on him. But Taylor did this wonderful thing,

which I saw very early on, is that he created a relationship with Beth, which helps open his soul up and his heart and who he is as a person. And then he did wonderful things with backstory and, you know, allowed the audience to understand the hardship this kid came from, you know, the uneducatedness that he, that he has, you know, but also the life, you know, smarts that he has and also nature and being able to run a ranch.

I mean, he, he might not be able to read a book as well as most, but you come on a ranch and he he'll school you. You know what I mean, he might not be able to read a book as well as most, but you come on a ranch and he'll school you. You know what I mean? So it's like this different world, you know, for different people. And he's one of those guys that, you know, you want to be stuck in nature with him. Speaking of nature, I mean, this thing is shot. I mean, even if you didn't like it, it's like, I love it.

But even if somebody didn't like the story, the shots are unbelievable. All the different work that you must have to put into it. Cause I know a lot of it is in Utah. And I remember being in park city and running into people and be like, yeah, those guys are around here, but then you still have to do some of the stuff for Bozeman and Montana. What's it like for you?

Just the physical part of it, but being outside this much on this kind of show. I mean, it's the greatest office in the world, man. I have no complaints. In fact, I tell Taylor all the time, don't you ever bring me inside. You know what I mean? To set me up, you know, let me be out riding fences, you know, fixing shit, you know, up in nature. And he will never. I mean, that's Rip's office.

It's an absolute, you know, my dad's family, they're all from Helena. And to do something in that state, I've always wanted to work there. I mean, that state has a piece of my heart. So it's just the perfect gig. Yeah, anybody that's ever spent any time up in Montana, they get it. They get it. And I think it's kind of interesting to see people like, I think real estate prices are up in Montana since the show, which is kind of funny because that's a big part of what the show's about. Yeah, it's like Beverly Hills prices right now. It's absurd. All right. I'm going to ask another kind of outsider thing, whereas

athletes would help each other and go, hey, you know, think about this move and offensive lineman talking about how to protect. You guys can't do that as actors like you don't go up to cost or saying, I don't know if you're seeing that right, Kevin, like, let me, let me pull you over here, especially if it's cost or, but do you have that cut?

Is there any element of that with actors when you're in scenes and trying to get stuff done? Absolutely. Listen, okay. Four years with somebody, you know, like Kelly Riley or Luke Grimes.

I don't work a lot with Wes. Um, but even Kevin, you know, we're all there. We trust each other. You know, we're, you know, we're a family, you know, it's, it's, you know, if there's something, and Kevin does this not a lot, but, but, you know, he's a director and he's a, he's an Academy award-winning director. So. You can swear. We're good. We're good. You know,

just that you don't have to pick yourself up. I got myself there i know i saw you kind of like half give us a half fuck so i was like no we're good we're good um but he's a tremendous director so you know you'd be an idiot not to listen to him every once in a while and be like hey you know if he's like you know the sun is perfect like move over just a little bit they're cold there you go stay right there and i look behind me and the sun's just like cresting you know the vista and i'm like oh shit okay you know so he's just somebody that i've always looked up to from afar i've had the great honor to work with him now for four seasons i mean he's a great dude he's just a great guy and you know it's amazing when you work with somebody that you've watched for so long and you're like, ah, the guy still gives a shit too.

You know, he really does. And it's just great to watch. But Kelly and I, we talk all the time. You know, she'll say to me, hey, what do you think? You know, and I'll be like, that was great. You know, but take a moment in here and, you know, and really let that digest. Yeah, you're right.

You know, and so we communicate all the time. And, you know, a lot of the times, you know, not that there aren't great directors, you know, on the show, but they won't say anything to you sometimes because they either think it's fine or, you know, or they're moving you know quickly or whatever so we depend on each other as actors you know to to you know to talk amongst ourselves make sure that we're doing the best we can and that it's coming off you know organic and real i don't want it to sound the wrong way but it's almost the show early on for me at least it

was a reminder of how good costner is because you almost like needed another showcase of him. And he just is understated. His character's terrific. So that's also the writing in that as well. But how he interacts with each and every other person, it's very different. So it shows all these different sides of him. I just think it's a kind of reminder like, hey, there's a reason why this guy was the biggest movie star in the world for a little while. Yeah, he's a great actor. But more importantly, he's a better person. And that's

something that I always look at when I'm working with guys like him at his level is how do you treat people? Who are you really? And he is impressive that way. He treats everybody the same. He's got a great, kind soul, man. And he wants to see people successful. I mean, that's the thing. I mean, when you talk about, you know, does he care, you know, about making sure that Rip comes off the best in the scene or Kelly or Wes or Luke? And the answer is yes, he does.

Whenever you're doing a show like this, I think there's always this thought that, hey, make sure you give the audience what they want every now and then. Like we're building these big season arcs and multi-season arcs and these things. But then when the bikers decided just do their thing and party on the property, it was like, this isn't going to,

like, this is just good. Like ripping the guys are just going to go beat the shit out of a bunch of bikers. They're going to have cool lines to say, do you guys get excited when you sit at a table read you go through be like all right maybe this doesn't mean anything we're just going to beat up some bikers so the audience is fired up you know there's always been biker cowboy brawls you know what i mean and so you know i was i was thinking to myself when i read it first i thought oh shit here we go

i'm gonna be in some bar in utah montana wyoming or, here we go. I'm going to be in some bar in Utah or Montana or Wyoming or whatever, and some biker gang is going to be like, there's that son of a bitch. You know what I mean? You're going to rip. You know what I mean? It hasn't happened. And, you know, oddly enough, I've run into some bikers, and they're like, we love that scene, skirt scene.

So, you know, people love the show, and there's very little negativity when it comes to it so that's it's kind of uh surprising at times i know that's almost impossible you know what's funny i find myself rewinding the taylor scenes when he's in it because he's kind of this funny character for those that don't understand like when they start doing when um there's there's, I think he's got to dip in. He's kind of jacked. He's up on the horse. He's got his hat on.

And he's kind of the horse salesman to Kevin Costner's character. And everybody's kind of sitting around. I love that Taylor kind of forces in a lot of this horse trading stuff that I don't think anybody, if you ever pitch that, you're like, oh, and then we're going to have some elements where we show the business side of moving horses around. People would be like, no, you're not not just more fights and don't do it i love those scenes because it's so real and taylor does a good job of kind of he kind of comes off as a bit as a shithead as this horse dealer and he nails it it's hilarious yeah yeah listen i mean his favorite thing to do in the world is buy and sell horses that's that's who he is that that character travis is you know he's rick's only friend

that i have a friend who's just a fucking horse trader you know what i mean there's just a kind of a comeback you know what i mean yeah he's trying to rip everybody off the whole time and he and taylor like nails it i mean granted if that's who he is maybe it's not a huge departure but the poor guy was acting like i'm not that great of an actor he's not ripping people off in real life but he's definitely that guy where he's like it's a little bit of a like you know a worm you know what i mean you're like you're a little slippery you know yeah right exactly exactly um when you said a little bit earlier like you feel like it's happening now. I mean, I don't know. I can read about you. I watch a bunch of different interviews. There's this gear that you have to have in your business to be driven all of the time, to be just relentless about it. Um, do you, do you feel like that's, that's led to this or do you think you've been more content at times not having to be as, as driven as other people for 25? I mean, really, this is going on 20, 27, almost 30 years for you.

Yeah, no, I'm as driven as I was when I was 15 years old as I am now, maybe more, you know, I can see the finish line a little bit better. I did when I was 15. So, and, you know, again, you know, I said this earlier, a lot of this has come down to timing, you know, and being in the right place at the right time. It sounds kind of hokey and like, you know, a little cliche, but when it comes to this business,

you can be laying down the greatest work in the world, but people aren't seeing it, you know, a little cliche, but when it comes to this business, you can be laying down the greatest work in the world, but people aren't seeing it. You know, for example, you know, I did Rogue for almost four years. It's a great show written by Matthew Parkin on DirecTV. I mean, people saw it, don't get me wrong, but being on Yellowstone is just a whole nother level of the audience. You know, 10 million, 12 million people are watching a week. And that starts to change things. So I'm not unaware of that. And, you know, this is a great time for me to be able to go on and take some risks and doing stuff like The Last Champion, Panama.

And then, you know,'ll see from from there where where we'll be but i mean if if the last champion comes out and does great numbers i mean i'm gonna work with glenn again and hallie and we're gonna we'll write something else that's you know a wonderful story so that you know it's um it's a good time man i'm excited about it i'm really excited i didn't think it was gonna end up this this way. I started the year going, this is a fucked up year. There's no way that we're even going to shoot Yellowstone, you know, let alone do anything else. Now, here we are. Last Champ's coming out in December, which is a great time. We've got holidays right there. It's PG-13. You know, the family can watch it. I think it deals with a lot of stuff that's going on in this country right now and

about people coming together versus dividing. So again, it comes down to timing and I think this is a great time. So yeah, December 8th, Last Champion. So when you think about the traditional way of being able to judge how you're successful, have you understood enough about it? I mean, look, I'm sure the money people and everybody, all those parts of it have an idea, but how is it scary? I mean, what's the best way to describe going, you know, normally we could just kind of figure out, all right, first weekend was great. Here are our projections. And now it's a whole new world trying to figure out like what actually is working and what isn't. I mean, streaming is a whole different operation. I mean, I, you know, I've obviously been in the film business for a long time. It's pretty easy to go to, you know, Office Mojo and look at what the actual movie is doing and how

successful or unsuccessful. Educated just like everybody else on it. But I think right now, I know right now, that's the only way that we can get content into the living rooms of Americans in all over the world. So this is what it's's become i don't think it's going to change for a while unfortunately i love going to the theaters you know i grew up doing that uh with my family so it's a bummer but uh you know let's get this shit under control and then uh let's get the theaters moving again you know and then have that for our kids to to grow up and have like we did. When I told my friends, because we're all from Massachusetts, that I was going to be talking with you this week. They were like, are you going to ask him about Goodwill hunting?

And I said, well, I don't think it's a rule that I have to keep asking people about Goodwill hunting just because I'm from Massachusetts. They're like, dude, you got to ask him about something. And I was like, I don't really know. And they're like, ask him about the good car like billy billy's line it's a good car it's a good car and i was like yeah but there's no question there you fucking idiots like there's there's no question like like so i i guess i'm just asking you to appease everyone that has these expectations i was supposed to ask you some great question about did you know how big of a deal that was when you're around ben and you're around matt and

you're like these guys wrote this thing like you said you didn't think it'd be a huge hit but the writing in it is incredible but it just for you guys to be hanging out trying to get through those accents i'm just asking you to tell me a goodwill hunting story here cole so i'm sorry yes i mean and this is the this is the truth is that you know those guys grew up making fun of southeast you know exactly they're from cambridge you know what i mean they're not from south boston so they used to grow up they were they grew up you know taking the shit out of you know the fucking south boston you know and like that whole thing and like you know and fucking around doing that and when i came from california

they had already like been there together for like two weeks. They had the accent, flawless. I was like, oh shit. I'm going to have to learn this accent really quick. So the bar scene in the very beginning of the movie, I gave my lines to Casey because I was like, there's always a drunk dude who's just passed out at the fucking bar. I'm going to give Casey my lines. And he had that accent down pat, so I was like, let him do it, and I can ease into my performance. Because he doesn't talk a lot, Billy. He's just not that guy.

And I actually enjoyed, you know, like fucking motor mouse, you know. But, yeah, it took a minute to get the accent down and get comfortable with it and then you know it always helps when you drink a few beers well the rave reviews from the guys in the 617 at least on that line where it wasn't you weren't you didn't even think it was a good car that's what's great about that character the car's a piece of shit but you're just one of his boys and you're just like, hey, you know, it's going to get you from point A to point B. It's what you sold. And you didn't say that, which is exactly

what you were saying. It's perfect. Alright, the last champion, December 8th, Cole Hauser. I'm really happy for you, man. We all enjoy as Yellow Soap fans and then to see all the other stuff. And I was researching Panama as well. As you said, you were down there filming it. That looks like it's going to be awesome.

So enjoy, stay healthy with that, and hopefully we can connect again. All right? All right, man. Thanks a lot for that. Take care. I want to get to some of the college football ranking reaction. I guess it's just my reaction, so we'll get to that in just a moment. But add a little excitement to your sports watching experience

by betting on all the action at FanDuel Sportsbook this football season. There's a reason why FanDuel is America's number one sportsbook. Their app is simple to use. They've got great odds on all different betting markets, unique fun bet types like same game parlay and exclusive always on promotions to let you get more action out of every game day.

And if you win, they're even going to get you your winning safely in as little as 24 hours. That's the big win in all this. Right now, FanDuel is letting you place your first bet risk-free up to $1,000. Just place a bet on any game, and FanDuel will refund you up to $1,000 back if you don't win your first bet. Seriously, there's no strings attached. Just place any bet you want.

If you win, you keep the cash. If you lose, you'll get your entire bet up to $1,000 back in-site credit. Okay, so it feels a little sucker bettish, but I'm going with the Ohio State malaise of all the stuff that they're going through. They're playing a Michigan State team that has been at times absolutely awful this year. The fact that they beat Northwestern last week is incredible. Shout out Mel Tucker, who I've just been super impressed with now for years. But I'm going to go with Ohio State.

It opened at minus 24. It's still hovering around 23.5, 24. If Ohio State is the team that I know that branding has kind of brainwashed us into believing, and I'm including myself in that group, by the way, because we're going to get to these rankings, as I said, here in a moment. I'd say go ahead and just throw some on Ohio State. It's a huge number to lay there. But I cannot express this enough.

When Michigan State has been bad this year, they've been awful. Okay, that's the pick. All right, moving on. If you've never tried FanDuel Sportsbook, what are you waiting for? Download the FanDuel Sportsbook app to get started. Be sure to sign up with promo code Ryan, R-Y-E-N, so they know I sent you. That's FanDuel Sportsbook. Promo code Ryan, R-Y-E-N.

Must be 21 or older. President of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, West Virginia, Indiana, Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee. First online real money wager only. Site credit is non-withdrawable and expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See sportsbook.fanduel.com for details. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-522-4700.

In Colorado, 1-800-BETS. Off Iowa, 1-800-9. With Indiana, 1-800-GAMBLER. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois. Tennessee red line, 1-800-889-9789. Tennessee or visit www.1800gambler.net. West Virginia. Okay, let's talk rankings.

I do love talking about these, but I also think that never getting too freaked out about it unless there's just alarming, alarming stuff happening. Most of the angst is always the anti-SEC thing because right now you have three of the top six teams from the SEC, Bama, A&M, and Florida. I'd ask, what else do you want? What else do you want this to be?

Let's start with Ohio State. Okay, Ohio State has a problem. They played four games, and it's Kirk Herbstreet brought up in the ranking show, which turned into a thing, where Kirk Herbstreet is basically like, look, there's talk about how some of these teams, maybe even in Ohio State's case, you know, the hinting at the idea that Michigan to mess with their rival would say, hey, we have a COVID breakout. So therefore, Ohio State, if they play the Michigan State game this weekend, would only have five games, which with the Big Ten rules,

you had to have six games played to play in the Big Ten championship, right? To represent the Big Ten. A couple of things here. One, lay off of Kirk Herbstreit, okay? I've known the guy a really long time, and what he's doing is because he is so plugged in, he's sharing conversations that are out there with us, the audience, as a topic. He wasn't reporting. He's not a reporter. It's a show, and he is as plugged in as anybody, and he is bringing that up as a scenario later on. Now, I know the first thing is, oh, wait, he's at a Buckeye. He's calling out Michigan. That's why he's doing it.

I would rarely say this about any former player, but when it comes to the bias, I mean, Kirk, I think, actually goes out of his way to be so neutral towards Ohio State that that it makes him seem like he's anti-ohio state okay he just is um i i can only tell you like i've spent so much time on the road with him if he ever talked the way he he could talk about programs and coaches and all this stuff like it would be unbelievable but he's a multi-decade long guy who's going to be attached to college football forever. He's only going to go so far with it, but him sharing that was like, hey man, this is some of the stuff. This is some

of the stuff that's happening. Then he has to go on Twitter and apologize to it because other reporters were like, what's he doing? Give me a fucking break. I remember being, I've told the story before I was wedding Chicago, a bunch of Ohio state guys there. And they cornered me and they're just like, Herb street sucks, man. He's not a real Buckeye. I was like, all right, Terrell prior. I got it. But like his job is to go up there and start screaming. Oh, H I O while somebody else on the set is breaking down a mississippi state game okay that's not the job so he was just sharing information kind of like how we do on this podcast sometimes even though we're not really reporters and sometimes it's like a great insight sharing it with you

and then other times it gets turned into something that isn't and that's what happened here with herb street so that's the ohio state problem is if they don't get to the six here's what i would do if i'm the big 10 and i don't care. I would just say, yeah, whatever. We had that rule before and now we're not going to have it. So if Ohio State's 5-0 and they're going to play in the Big Ten championship game against Northwestern, that's what we're going to go ahead and do. Because we don't want to eliminate our own conference potentially from playing in the playoff because Ohio State is sitting there at number four in the committee rankings. And yeah, whatever. We had a rule and now we're going to change it because it's a weird rule anyway

that we came up with a couple months ago in an unprecedented time. So that's what we're going to go ahead and do. And if you want to say it's because we're doing it about money, yes, yes is the answer. We're doing it to make sure we can still get a slice of that playoff money. I would have no problem with them doing that.

And I'm saying that about a fan base that I would put in probably the five worst fan bases in North America, which of course we've now had to expand the worst fan base rankings to North America after Toronto's amazing showing this summer where they will forever be my number one seed. So if that's the Ohio State slash Big Ten problem and looking at a potential elimination of the conference, let's do the two others. And that's the Pac-12 where the rankings stance now. I mean, they're out. They're just out. I don't see any way this changes.

I try not to rule out anything. But Iowa, or excuse me, Iowa, it's 19. They're ahead of every Pac-12 school. So that's why I'm bringing that up. USC, 20. Washington, 22. Shout out to the Huskies and their 21-0 comeback against Utah last Saturday. Nobody saw it.

And then Oregon sitting there with their loss now dropping eight spots to 23. Washington's going to play at Oregon December 12th to decide the north, and then I guess they're going to get USC on the other side of it. I mean, maybe USC's figured some things out in Utah. I've had a week off. We'll see how the rest of it goes. Nobody's excited about it out here, so the Pac-12's out. The Big 12 has Iowa State at nine, their highest team in the rankings,

but it's a two-loss team. Remember, they started the season losing to Louisiana, the Raging Cajuns, which we didn't realize is their 8-1 now in the Sun Belt, so it's not a bad loss, although they beat them. And then Iowa State did win against Oklahoma in the beginning of the season, a couple weeks in. When they play in the rematch, if that's what it is in the Big 12 championship game with the way the standings work, those are two-loss teams. So the Big 12 is going to have a two-loss champion. I mean, Iowa State, if they beat Oklahoma a second time, and I would pick the Sooners this time around again because of Rattler's improvement

and some of the other people being back from some of the problems they had at the beginning of the season. You know, look, Iowa State's not getting in. Oklahoma's not getting in. They're not getting in as two-loss champs here with all these other teams in front of them. So that's three conferences potentially eliminated already. Notre Dame screws up the whole thing for everybody.

If Clemson wins a close rematch, Notre Dame and Clemson are in, and then it's Alabama, who despite the concerns about who Alabama is, that's the number one scoring defense in the SEC right now. So for all the defensive concerns for some of these schools, and then you go, oh wait, somebody still has to be ranked number one defensively for some of these schools. And then you go, oh, wait, somebody still has to be ranked number one defensively in some of these schools. And if you go yards allowed per play, Bama is in the 20s. Clemson's in the teens.

Notre Dame's pretty good in that too. I think I remember looking at it this morning. UConn is actually number one in yards allowed per play by the opponent. I mean, that's zero because they didn't play. But I thought that was kind of funny to see UConn at the top of the sorting rankings there.

So there you go. I mean, I guess the biggest angst is Georgia at eight. It doesn't really matter. I mean, you can sit there and say that means the committee's stupid and the whole thing is suspect. What are you supposed to do right now

with these top four? Now, do you want to put A&M or Florida ahead of Ohio State? Here's where I'll admit to some of the same problems that we all have with some of these teams. If you went, hey, this team beat Nebraska 52-17, and Nebraska's not good. They beat Penn State 38-25, and Penn State's 1-5.

Nebraska's 1-4. Penn State's 1-5. They beat Rutgers, who's 2-4, and that's like a nice little Rutgers story. Maryland game canceled. They beat Indiana 42-35. Nice win against a ranked team in Indiana, who was 9th at the time,

but I think that Ohio State was very much in control of that game until they kind of just let Indiana make it look good again, and there's toward the end. Illinois game's canceled. If I explain that resume to anybody and be like, hey, they're going to be in the playoff, until they kind of just let Indiana make it look good again, and there's toward the end. Illinois games canceled. If I explain that resume to anybody and be like, hey, they're going to be in the playoff, you'd go, absolutely not. And if that were Northwestern, I don't even know if it were Wisconsin.

Wisconsin had a lot of preseason hype. I'm just trying to think of the non-brand school. If that was Ole Miss, would you sit there and go, hey, they're fourth? No, because it's the carryover it's human you cannot escape it the carryover of that we think ohio state is that good and i still kind of do but when i say that part of it out loud i go wait i'm arguing for this team to be a lock to be in the playoff what the hell's wrong with me okay fine we'll move them out are you excited about a&M and Florida? Because if Florida were to win a close SEC title game

and Ohio State's out and say Clemson lost a second time to Notre Dame, I mean, it could be Bama, Notre Dame, Florida, and A&M. Or it would be Bama, Notre Dame, A&M, Florida. Like, it could happen. And I know that just pissed off everybody outside of that bottom right section of the country. Now it's time for the State Farm Surprisingly Great segment of the week, getting great car and home insurance from State Farm

at a surprisingly great rate. That's like Terry McLaurin lighting up the NFL his first two years in the league. And this is an important, important segment. So you need to listen to this part of it. Terry McLaurin, just a quick reminder, third round wide receiver out of Ohio State playing for the Washington football team. And we don't really talk about the Washington football team much because they've had a bunch of different quarterbacks, but McLaurin has been a star for this team, despite really not a lot of help. Let's examine it all. Last year, 58 catches, 919 yards, seven touchdowns. This year, in only 11 games, 63 catches, 963 yards, three touchdowns.

But think about some of the quarterbacks that he's been getting balls from. Alex Smith, okay. Haskins, what happened to that guy? Kyle Allen, Case Keenum, Colt McCoy, although obviously McCoy is the best of the group. The more surprising thing is, what do you say about the people around him? Again, it's not to knock the other players, but it's not like McLaurin is running down the field and having an all-pro receiver at the other side of him. This isn't like they have the best tight ends in the game.

It's not like they have all these other elements. He's putting up these numbers. It actually kind of reminds me of Josh Gordon in some of those weird Browns years where he would have massive numbers and you couldn't believe he was playing quarterback. This year, the number one receivers, McLaurin, the number two and three guys in receiving yards are running back in tight end. The next highest receiver has 245 yards. Last year, he led the team again in receiving yards. The number two in receiving yards was a different running back, Chris Thompson.

And then the next receiver, like we're talking about 100, 200 yards, he is the only receiver that consistently is producing and again, doing it with these quarterbacks. So this is remarkable that he's this automatic every single week without the greatest supporting cast. Terry McLaurin providing service to your fantasy team, perhaps. State farm agents provide personal service so you can customize your insurance to fit your needs. Like a GM putting together their very own roster, you need a team that supports you, and State Farm's got a great one. In addition to agency, award-winning mobile app helps manage coverage, pay bills, file claims, and more. With a great price and even greater service, State Farm goes from strength to strength. Choose insurance that always brings its A-game. When you want the real real deal like a good neighbor's state farm is there.

Our surprisingly great player from last week was Terry McLaurin. You want details? Fine. 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 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. LifeAdvice, rr at gmail.com. Thank you. And by the way, thank you. Keep screen grabbing away and letting us know how much you've enjoyed the podcast. And again, it's going to close the year as the number three podcast in sports. So who knows what 2021 is going to be all about.

I'm pretty excited for if things continue into 2021. They're probably going to overlap a little for the Twitter jokes where it's like, oh my gosh, can we just... This is so 2021. Let me go. Okay, we're going to do this for another year. But no, it does mean a lot. It means lot that uh you guys have enjoyed it so much and i definitely think this segment it surprised me how much you guys have liked this so we're just gonna keep doing it until i i run out of or maybe i you

know i'll probably just get to a point where i go okay i'm sick of this and i don't want to do it anymore okay uh this one is um this is an interesting one because it's actually i don't know if i would have read it normally, but Kyle, you picked up on something here. Hey, Ryan, I'm the guy who ran into you in Big Cat. He actually misspelled Big Cat, which is hard to do at the boardwalk and had Big Cat take a picture of us.

Let me just put it this way. I like Big Cat a lot. He's become just a good friend. I think he's a really talented guy. He loves nothing more. Nothing makes him more erect than when somebody recognizes him and doesn't recognize me. He thinks it's the coolest thing in the world.

So I do remember this because I just was like, all right, cool. Yeah, like have take a picture. And then I had to be like, because then anytime somebody would be around us and would say, hey, big cat, big cat. And then he'd go, do you guys know Ryan Russillo? Do you know, do you know who Ryan Russillo is? Have you ever heard of him up and comer up and comer? And he gets, he gets a little excited about it. Cause I think

it's like kind of a guy who listened to another guy for 10 years. And now he's thinking like, all right, I'm beating this guy. So now I get to kind of make fun of him, but you know, he's, he's a little young for me to be made fun of by. But I'll just put it this way. I loved when this happened because it was like, am I supposed to be super annoying about this right now? So I think I remember this. It happens so often, it's hard for me to really remember. Okay, all right, here we go.

Our guy, the stats, 30 years old, bench over 400 pounds, deep six-figure salary. Usually the higher the bench lower the salary you know so congrats to you objectively attractive the situation i've been hanging out with a girl for over a year now but even more frequently during the pandemic no kidding i truly believe she's the best person i've ever met as far as being compassionate caring open-minded and veryate. She would cry about injustices that happen to others. We have amazing chemistry. However, while I'm attracted to her as a person, she's not all that physically attractive.

Sometimes I feel like I don't work this hard to be with an unattractive girlfriend. I didn't, okay, sometimes I feel like I didn't work this hard to be with an unattractive girlfriend. Ugly girlfriend means no confidence. Remember Moneyball? Remember that part from Moneyball, the lesson there? If the prospect had a good-looking girlfriend. Remember Kevin Sumlin got himself into trouble where he said,

I want my recruiters to have attractive wives because then that means they have confidence and they can close the deal and all that kind of stuff. And then it turned into a whole discussion about gender, which was awesome to talk about for a couple of days. All right. So our man says, I know that's immature in some ways, but I also don't want to explain to friends and family. You just don't get it. She's a great person. What should I do? Cut ties with the best person I know and wait for someone more attractive or acknowledge it 20 years from now physical attractiveness will not matter thanks uh right well look um some people will listen to this and be like oh my gosh what a jerk i'm not going to do that because you're just being very honest about the way there's a lot of guys that feel this way and there's a lot of women that feel

this way too this is you know maybe women I do think women are more mature and better at, at finding reasons to connect. Like I've mentioned this before, but I don't know what's, what's worse us spending time with somebody we have zero connection with only because they look good standing next to us. And it makes you feel better about yourself, you know, whether it's the card. I mean, I know that's where the trophy wife thing comes from and I'm not trying to make this, um, desensitize it all and talk about possession, all that kind of stuff. But let's face it, like anybody that's been lucky enough to date a head turner of a girl,

it, you can be obsessed with it, validating your self-worth, or you could just acknowledge like, yeah, man, like I'm, I'm with the girl that everybody in this place is looking at right now. And I have some weird sense of pride for that. I don't think that that's a horrible thing at the at the extremes where I think the other extreme is that, yeah, like if that's all that you're basing yourself worth on is that hopefully you have a girl that other guys are checking out like you probably would want to have a little bit more depth of this person um than just that so i get that but then as i have said before like is that worse than a woman who is gorgeous who is young who dates like an old gross dude a guy you take like a couple sinks and stand away from at the gym. And just because he's loaded, she's hanging out with him, you know? So I don't know. I'm not, it's not even judgment. It's just, I've, I'll never come up with an answer. Like what's actually worse than that?

Because men would probably say, oh, that's way worse. What women do. And women are going to say, oh, it's way worse what you guys do because there's zero connection there and be like, okay, cool. What are you guys talking about? He's 78. The chances are you probably are going to, if this is how you feel already, and you've mentioned that the pandemic has ramped up the amount of time that you spent with this person, you're probably going to just move on. It's really up to you. It's up to you. Now, you're probably also going to regret it later on.

If you have all of these amazing connections with her, that's great. And maybe the most mature of us can sit there and say, Hey, I'm really going to focus on the things that are going to matter. And this connection is the most important thing. And it is a great feeling to have like a connection where it's like, I can't wait to hang out with this person. And not just because I'm so physically attracted to them. Like, I can't wait. I can't wait. I wonder what they think about this. Hey, I'm going to shoot a tech. Like that moment where you're sitting there and there's nothing going on

and the dumbest thing happens on a TV screen or something dumb happens across your phone. And you're like, I can't wait to text this person about this. It's an awesome feeling. And if that's what you have right now, that's not the easiest thing to replace. But I'm just going to guess that at 30 years old,

I already know what you're going to do here. You're going to break up with her, I'd imagine. And, you know, just be prepared for having those moments with the people that you are pursuing that are to you more attractive and the physical part of it

that's, you know, important to younger guys. It just is. You know, I'm not going to sit here and pretend it isn't. I'm not going to deny it. We always try to be honest here on this part of it. But I don't think you're evil. I don't think you're evil for feeling these things. I think it's actually cool that you're admitting it.

And because you're admitting it, because you're aware of it, you're probably going to move on at some point. But just be ready. There'll be a moment where it doesn't work out with some of these other girls and you're going to go, damn it. I missed that connection. Because anybody that is in a relationship that I'm friends with or something, most of them are married by now, but when they would start to say like, hey, this is somebody who I think could be a great mother to my children, or this is somebody who could be a great father, all these different things. You're like, whoa, whoa, who brought my dad? But that's the real sign of maturity when you can start looking at your life and what kind of life you want to have Kyle did that blow your mind there a little bit how did you feel

I think that was good I think like 95% of people that you would try to spend a ton of time with would drive you crazy somehow so if if she doesn't actually if she really doesn't drive you crazy in any ways then I think might be worth sticking around. I don't know. I know what you're saying. It's a tough one. It is. I just don't love people. And I don't know.

It's just if you're like, yeah, this girl definitely is awesome and is a good person and I trust her and she doesn't drive me crazy. That's fucking tough. It's not really cool of the girl either because I can already tell like, all right, so you work out a lot. And so that means you're like looking at girls back when the gym was open, but you're looking at girls at the gym all the time. You're wondering, Hey, would she go out with me? And so like this person that's in love with you and cares about you, all you're doing is walking around, think about upgrading, like do her a favor and end it. You know, like, well, how would you feel if the girl that you were with was like, Hey, he's friendly and we laugh all the time, but he's, he's getting a little soft around the midsection and he's losing his hair and every time i go to the gym i fantasize about all these other trainers and if one of them pays any attention to me whatsoever i'm gonna dump

this guy you wouldn't like that would you so i mean that's what you're doing or okay this one this email kyle good pick uh this is gonna bum some people out this one, this email, Kyle, good pick. This is going to bum some people out. This one's almost borderline serious, and I don't like this guy, so I'm sorry you listen to the podcast, but I'm just telling you right now I don't like you. 26, always been quite difficult for me to stay consistent with my life, college work, commitment to getting in shape, friends, romantic partners, can't complain too much. Truth is, despite terrible mistakes that I regret profoundly, I somehow always find my way back and get my life together. Part of the problem is that I'm intelligent, smart, I'm not afraid of taking risks. So a lot of the time I just go for things without giving them too much thought. But I am now at a time in my life in which I need consistency.

The lifestyle of ups and downs, constantly worrying about things and fixing up my mistakes has reached a point where I'm starting to feel the mental toll of it with huge amounts of anxiety. Okay. Well, that part is good because none of the change happens until you finally get to that point where you're like, you know what, whatever I'm doing now, like, I think it's very common for all of us to go, I don't like this. I need to be in better shape. And then there's an entire stretch of building up to mentally going, okay, I've had it. Like I'm going to do something about this. And I think a lot of times people go, all right, I'm sick of this, but now I've just sort of accepted it. It can happen professionally. It can happen to your partners. I mean, all of these things you could say, okay, I've absolutely had it. Now I actually need that change. And so that

part of it, I completely understand nothing unique about that. All right. Also want to mention I'm quite introverted. I have a group of friends. I don't see them very often, mostly interacting group chats. I never really craved a strong social life, always been more of a stay at home guy, but recently maybe because of the pandemic, I've been having cravings for more social interaction. So you weren't super social to begin with, sort of a home body, but now that you have none of it, you kind of want more. All right. Welcome. Join the club. Now here's where the real deal starts, my dating life. I somehow went from an introverted high school kid with zero appeal to girls and zero confidence to approach them to somebody who worked himself in a more confident posture with women. I also worked on myself in years,

really turned into a reasonably good looking guy, but this is to say I have trouble focusing on just one girl at a time. I can be quite controlling and dating is like a game to me. I enjoy playing it, flirting, seducing, having sex. It's addicting. I've dated two girls at the same time and it makes me sick to my stomach to admit it, but I simply liked the two of them and it didn't turn out great. I don't think there's anything wrong with admitting that, yes, I actually care about two girls at the same time. I mean, 12, what's your deal? Where are you from? Are you hanging out in Dubai? You, what's your deal? Where are you from? We hanging out in Dubai. You know what I'm saying? All right. So you like two girls at the same time. Um,

there's trust me, there's, there's probably a girl that liked you and another guy at the same time. Another peculiar thing that happens frequently is as soon as I feel like I have a girl in my hand and she trusts me, I lose interest. The more challenging it is for me, the best. Um, that's what gets me going. Of course, I don't do this consciously and it's a great source of anxiety for me. All caps are, excuse me, bold here. The last meaningful girl I've dated has been particularly hard for me. I met last year. I genuinely like her despite knowing our differences, how difficult it is for us to be good long-term. When I met her, I thought I had found the love of my life and she was, what are you saying, the best sex of his life, almost like a spiritual

connection. Never felt anything like that since we've been very often on, always very intense life and she was um well he's saying the best sex of his life almost like a spiritual connection never felt anything like that since we've been very often on always very intense and emotional we've broken up several times and i managed to get her back two times a lot of this was me going through my anxiety and focusing more on my career which compelled me to pull away from her okay but here's the problem was the back and forth because of your anxiety of focusing on your career which you pulled or what you just admitted in the previous fucking paragraph where you said, this is all a game and that's fine. I have friends like that.

I can understand the part of, Hey, the new part in the new text comes and it's the new person. And this is exciting. And it's because it's new. It's just, we love new. We love new in every single part of our lives. All right. That's why marketing and advertising works.

We can't help. We want new things, but we also do it with people. Okay. So you're saying that it didn't work out because you had anxiety about your career when you just admitted previously this whole thing is a big game. The chase, the chase, the chase. And I'm not, this is not specific to you. There's a lot of guys like this. Okay.

I'll admit when i was younger i had a little of this in me too it was the chase it was the chase it was the chase it was a chase and then i remember dude when i was bartending i would almost feel bad when somebody did like me i was like oh man you don't even know yeah he's like why don't you like her be like she is she's into me oh my god what's wrong with her like wait do you know fucked up that was like yeah i actually am like less attracted to you once you like me um that was a long long time ago so all right so i don't really buy what you're selling here sentences later when you're saying that you're you're on again off again thing maybe that was part of it but i think the fundamental part of

this is that you keep breaking up with her despite this spiritual connection that you've talked about that you've never had with anybody else, but you're cool going on again, off again. I don't know what's in your background. That could be that. I'll share this part. Having parents that are on again, off again for my entire life definitely made me, when I was younger, if I would break up with somebody, I'd be like, well, aren't we just going to get back together now?

It was insanely dumb. And they'd be like, no, it's over. Like it's over, over. Like we're never getting back together. I'd be like, wait a minute, what? And that was something that I had to figure out a little bit later on. Like as soon as I would break up with somebody, I'd be like, well, whatever, we'll just get back together. It's not that big of a deal. I was like, no, actually most people, when they make that decision, yes, I mean, dating or whatever, but it isn't normal to be on again, off again. And it actually, it's super stressful and it's annoying. And I don't know your friends. I'm getting sick of you the whole time. Okay. So you've talked about the fact that you like this person, this connection,

you're controlling, but the back and forth on again, off again. All right, fine. So last week we had a tough conversation and she rightfully told me she couldn't trust me and wanted to move on for good. It doesn't sound like you can be trusted. Okay. And that she does finally go, you know, despite the connection, she probably feels just as much with you. She's like, this is a waste of my time, but you've accepted the on again, off again thing is normalcy. And she's deciding this isn't normal and I don't want to do it. So now I bet you're super freaked out about it. All right. She said she wants to give it a try with other guys, try to find someone to date long-term. I was understanding of my words my words but all caps i am absolutely burning inside she mentioned a boy she started talking to of course

i told her i was hurt but wished her luck and hoped that the guy didn't hurt her emotionally the way i did which you didn't mean any of that you just were like who is this fucking guy all right he's like the fucked up part stouts oh the stouts now. Okay. I don't know if you watched you. Oh, shit. The Netflix show, but I'm just like Joe, the main character. Oh, awesome comparison. I have no urges to hurt anybody. All right.

Well, I'm glad we got that part out of the way. But now I have an uncontrollable thing inside me that wants to get my girl back, almost like a game, an unhealthy one. The new guy is just another obstacle I have to go through, but I feel like I will. Last week, I bought a GPS tracker and plan to install it on her vehicle. I want to make sure I know the guy is and cross paths with her while she's on dates and stuff like that. I've also adjusted my social media behavior so she thinks I'm seeing other girls, which I am, but I'm typically discreet. So you're being less discreet on purpose, hoping that that she sees it which is the oldest game in the book immediately getting tagged and stuff so that people can see that the new girl is tagging

a guy so that the old guy sees that there's a tag and you're just like all right whatever cool got it um i wish i didn't have these urges hey none of us wish you had these urges uh and let any names the girl here we We're not going to use the name. I wish I could let poor fill in the blank, go on with her life. I think she deserves it. She doesn't deserve more drama with me. Another important thing about is I feel professionally.

I finally found something I like to do money wise. I'm going better and better. I'm getting better and better by the day. And part of me thinks and wants to build off of this new consistency in my life and translate it into a better romantic relationship. So I really feel like I can be someone different, more present and dedicate, dedicate fully to her. I really miss her and being with her. I want her back exclamation. Thank you for going through the email. Okay. Um, okay. I could get really mad and yell, but you need to see somebody and you need

to see somebody who's far more qualified than I am. But there's a bunch of alarming things in here where you say like a girl in hand. I think a lot of this isn't real for you. The emotional connection, spiritual thing, the sex part. Yep. Okay. You liked it. So that's why you have this thing, but it wasn't enough for you to just grow up. And that part, I can understand not grow up and just be like, Hey, this is the person you care about. You have this feeling. Don't let anybody else get in the way of it. But now you're more, you want her back. Here's always a problem with younger people. You want her back, not because of her. You want her back because you can't stand her to be with somebody else. And the GPS thing is so fucking lame, man. Don't be one of those guys. Don't be one of those guys that's doing this.

You want to look at her Instagram videos? Fine. You want to have a burner account that gets to look at her Instagram videos so she doesn't know you're obsessing and watching her videos? Go ahead and do that. But to do the GPS thing, the first thing you need to do is go talk to somebody who, again, understands this. And you need to admit to yourself that you have some really fucked up views on relationships if you think that any of this is a good idea. This is a complete waste of your time. It's a complete invasion of her privacy. You don't care about her. If you really cared about her, you wouldn't put a GPS tracker on her car.

But you have some tendencies here, which I don't want to to get in label and get super mad like I could and be predictable about it. But I, I kind of think you're a bad guy. So I'd like the, thank you for listening to the podcast, but you need to talk to somebody and work through some of this stuff because you,

you have some language here and the caps and the bold and the, just some of the words that you use. I don't know that you're being, like you were honest in the email to a point, but I don't think you're identifying, like you are not normal the way you see relationships. A lot of people have relationship problems and all that kind of different stuff. You are absolutely about being in control, about possessing the girl more so than you are about sharing a life with somebody. So focus on the career stuff and start finding some people online that can help you because this is alarming.

Okay, we have a great week next week. We already have it almost booked out. So a lot of good football stuff. But then Friday, we're still trying to work out here a little bit. So we can't tease ahead. I hope you guys like Cole Hauser. And we'll hopefully see you guys. Keep subscribing, rating, reviewing.

It's just been great to see everybody, again, talk about how much they've enjoyed the podcast. So I just want to make sure you guys understand how much I appreciate it because I'm seeing it a lot with the Spotify stuff at the end of the year. What did you listen to and all that? So it's just kind of cool to see all that kind of stuff. So again, thanks. year what did you listen to and all that so it's just kind of cool to see all that kind of stuff so again thanks Thank you.