The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Divisional-Round Story Lines and Picks. Plus Jim Nantz on Buffalo’s Resilience, the “Storybook” Call, and His Career.

Episode Date: January 20, 2023

Russillo shares his view of the four NFL divisional-round playoff games before making his picks (0:47). Then Ryen talks with broadcasting legend Jim Nantz to discuss his experience at the Week 18 Bills-Patriots matchup, when Nyheim Hines returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, Jim's favorite QBs to have pre-production meetings with, Tony Romo's emergence in football broadcasting, Jim's long relationship with CBS, the magic of the Masters Tournament, and more (13:43). Finally Ryen and Kyle give out their favorite picks for the divisional round (55:10), before answering some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (56:24). Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Jim Nantz Producer: Kyle Crichton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

today's podcast we are ready to go we're going to preview all four nfl playoff games we're going to make every single pick we're going to keep the pick contest going give you some nerdy little numbers in there and give you the quarterback pressure rankings one through eight we're going to talk the playoffs, but more importantly, Buffalo and who they are as a team in the aftermath of the DeBarn Hamlin story, which is heading in a great direction. And we're going to do it with Jim Nance, who had the call of the regular season finale with that kickoff return.

Nance's career, a little master stuff, all sorts of fun stuff with a guy that has been around and doing it at a high level for a long time. We've got our picks and life advice. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Winter is here, so be prepared and get almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost anything? Well, you can't get a ski slope, but dish soap, definitely doable. Sunshine, that's no. A bottle of wine, yeah. And a snow day, again, no. But blueberry muffins with the delicious crumb topping, Total yes. Get almost,

almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. We are on to the next round. Let's talk NFL playoffs. We'll break down all four games. Just kind of one maybe nerdy fact that I've sifted through all of the stuff and also the picks coming off of five in one week last week. People know this about me. They've said it since I was a kid. I probably shouldn't say it now and choose myself,

but they're like, come playoff time. That was so look good. Steps up. Okay. Dallas three and a half point favorites last year against San Francisco. They lost to the Niners going into that Tampa matchup, there was one consistent thing I kept coming back to. And again, you can find some statistical matchup,

something you think that actually is super important and then it ends up not being a factor whatsoever. But I thought that Tampa's O-line issues, even with Ryan Jetson back, and the fact that Dallas has the pass rush that they have, that that was a very clear advantage. And Tampa was probably the most one-dimensional football team

of any teams that were entering the playoffs. Like seriously, when you think about like, hey, when I think about Tampa, now granted they're getting some of their guys back healthy. It didn't matter. It wasn't a close football game. Having said all of those things, it's weird how the wildcard round kind of leads

to the maybe outsized momentum for a bunch of different teams and usually quarterbacks as well. It's happening with Daniel Jones. We'll get to that. But it'll be a team where you go, wait, you doubted and hated on the Cowboys for weeks. And they beat a Tampa team that, as we said, is very limited and super predictable. And now it's like, look out, Cowboys all of a sudden. I know it's Brock Purdy, but I just can't see it right now. So you're already going to be able to tell where my lean is. Against Tampa, Dallas ran 64 snaps of two deep safety. Why?

Because they knew Tampa wasn't going to run. They couldn't run. They hadn't been running for months. They were just going to drop back and pass the entire time. I can't imagine how easy the prep was for Dallas' defense going into this. And by the way, shout out to the athletics, Ted Nguyen, who's joined us before on the podcast, providing us with that number.

So I'm not smart enough to tell you, hey, this is what they're going to do. They're going to do more of a cover three, and they're going to do all these different things against San Francisco. It's just that San Francisco is a completely different challenge because of their balance, because of their blocking, and some of the stuff that they're doing now with Christian McCaffrey, who I, when he was traded, I got to admit, I don't value running backs, especially expensive ones, especially ones with injury histories, but it's going to

feel a bit like the Anthony Davis trade here, which isn't the best comparison because I can understand all the arguments against it. I don't know what McCaffrey means long-term, but right now in the short term, he's a matchup nightmare again. He's a serious problem. He's 11 touchdowns since he's been with San Francisco. And you can see that there's a concern factor with him that doesn't necessarily translate just to his raw stats, how many carries, how many receptions. Some weeks he's an attack in the passing game. Some weeks it's the other way around. The top leadingers in the seattle game were mccaffrey that it was depot and brock birdie so production at the running back position after mccaffrey at that position is somewhat of a concern but it isn't here because i just like san francisco minus

three and a half in this one uh because it's just a completely different challenge of what dallas has all right the second game here philadelphia and the new y. Philly, if we were going to take temperatures of momentum that I was touching on in the beginning there, kind of the Daniel Jones may have the hottest temperature right now. Philadelphia is far too low. Maybe we're assuming too much. I know maybe it was the Hertz injury. Maybe it was just them not feeling like they were a factor

because everything was sewn up early on with them. I don't know what it is, but I feel like we're not talking about Philly. And I kind of hate that phrase, so I'm calling myself out on it. But Philly should feel really good. Philly fans should feel really good. Going into this matchup against New York, they beat them two times, week 14 and week 18. Week 18, I don't really know what that means.

Wrestling players, 22-16. But let's go back to the 48-22 matchup. Hertz did, you know, I guess they're arguing less designed runs for him. 16, but let's go back to the 48-22 matchup. Hurts did I guess they're arguing less designed runs for him. He did carry it nine times to 13 yards, but there's a difference between full carries and designed runs on that one, so he wasn't super productive.

Does that mean there's something there with the Giants? I don't know. Let's keep digging it through this. I do think he ran more in the first half of the season. When you look at what the Giants have now in the defensive line, Dexter Lawrence, we touched on him with Willie Colon, and all you had to do was watch that Vikings game being like, this guy's serious.

If you look at nose tackles lining up, all right, quarterback hits four nose tackles. Dexter Lawrence is getting a QB hit on 5.3% of his snaps at nose tackle. That is double the national average. I guess we would call it the National Football League average at 2.6. But the Eagles O-line is arguably the best in football.

Week 14, the Giants blitzed 53% of the Eagles' design dropbacks. So now you're thinking, wait, does this mean that that's something to look at week 14 and they're going to go ahead and blitz Hurts on some of this stuff? Hurts I thought was good, but you could look at some of the limitations

on the actual yardage per some of those plays against the blitzes where it would maybe work in the Giants' favor. I think the biggest thing with the Giants is, at least on the defensive side of things, is Ogilari didn't practice on Wednesday. By the time this posts, that could change. You could argue the Giants feel better about their four-man rush

so they're not going to have to blitz as many times. My guess would be the Giants, depending on what kind of personnel they have and afford down linemen allotment, or I should say alignment, are they going to just hope, hey, can we get pressure with this group? Because if we aren't, then we're going to have to start blitzing

again. Now, when you start looking at some of this blitz stuff and feeling like okay this will be what they do in the playoff game because it's what they did in the regular season there's plenty of times where that's completely misleading I will never forget my favorite example of all time when the Patriots won their first Super Bowl they played the Rams at home they blitz Kurt Warner literally every single time after the game there was a quote, I got blitzed as soon as I got off the bus. They match up in the Super Bowl. The game plan was very, very different. So that also is how it worked in the Giants against the Vikings.

They lose to the Vikings in the last second field goal in the regular season. They blitz Minnesota a ton in that game, but they only blitzed them on 15% of Kirk Cousins' dropbacks during the playoff game. Maybe because after playing them, they realized his team really can't run the football all that much. Those are just some of the numbers to look at. I think the most important thing is, despite the

Eagles giving up 9.2 yards per rush on QB designed rushes, which is third worst in the NFL, Jones only had 8 yards and 2 scrambles in Week 14. I think the real thing here is that Jones just played the Vikings who were 26th against the pass the Eagles are 6th against the pass, the pick here is still the Giants plus 7.5

Week 10, Kansas City beat Jacksonville in KC Kansas City now an 8.5 point favorite in this one in that game, it was 27-10. Mahomes threw a pick with eight minutes left. So going back and thinking about how I felt when I was watching that game, I didn't really feel like Jacksonville had much of a chance. There is this Jacksonville part of the momentum rush here

with the comeback against the Chargers where it's either the Chargers, or excuse me, the Jacksonville Jaguars found out something about themselves, right? If they were to be competitive with Kansas City, maybe even win and pull off the upset, you'd think Jacksonville found out. They learned about themselves, right? If they were to be competitive with Kansas City, maybe even win and pull off the upset, you'd think Jacksonville found out. They learned about themselves that day

in those final 30 minutes. Or if Kansas City wins this game, as I expect that they would, and I'm going to get to one specific pass number here, then we'll go, you know what? Maybe we learned that the Chargers and Jags just aren't on that level. And I'm going with that.

That's kind of what I'm going with here. Jacksonville's eighth in pass rush win rate. I can't wait to watch Walker again up close in this one after talking a little bit about his disappearing act against the Chargers. Maybe the film tells you something different. Maybe he graded out a lot better. You never know. It's just dudes on the couch. But the number one pass block win rate team, that is your Kansas City Chiefs. So we'll find out. I'm going to lay the 8.5,

even though in their last nine games, Kansas City has won 7-1 against the spread. The headliner, Cincinnati at Buffalo. This opened at Buffalo minus 3.5 on FanDuel right now. Bills minus 5.5. This is an O-line, D-line thing. We know that Jamal Williams' tackle didn't practice on Wednesday,

and Alex Capo is also out on Wednesday. Apparently they both needed assistance still walking around on Sunday. I don't know about this one with the O-line. Major, major concerns. I almost feel like the Baltimore game was kind of a fluky game, and I guess I'm saying the same thing about Miami.

I would expect, because both were scary against far inferior opponents and with second and third string quarterbacks that we could get a really clean game here where it's like, man, look at this group at the top of the AFC. But this number is alarming. With Vaughn Miller, the Bills ranked fourth in NFL pressure rate with four or less pass rushers. Remember that opening week game against the Rams, which is totally fool's gold because it's not the way the sport works. People get hurt. You become two or three different teams over the course of the season,

maybe even more. Chris Long has told us about how there were certain times, I think it was the Patriots. Well, I know it was the Patriots, but I don't know the exact date, but it was almost kind of like after Halloween, you start to figure out who you are, and that's kind of one of their mantras that was inside of the building. I think somebody else said after Thanksgiving.

I don't know. That would feel a little late to be like, hey, you guys want to start playing some football after 10 weeks. So watching what Buffalo was capable of with Vaughn Miller and how dominant they were just with four guys, which I think is the goal for any defensive team, for any general manager, putting together rosters. Is there any way we can build a D-line where we can get pressure with four? Because if we can do that, we can do a lot of other things. If we can't ever get pressure with four, then we're fighting with an added deficit every single week. And that's the problem now with the Bills because without Von Miller, still four or less rushers, they are 27th in pressure rate. So the thing that they were really good at, we already knew this because Von Miller hasn't been there for a while, but the thing that they were really good at,

they're not as good at anymore, but the thing that Cincinnati has always had problems with, they're probably going to even have more problems considering their own offensive line combination issues. I think they were up to 15 at one point. I think that was the graphic that I saw at one point. Hurst is better at tight end, but so is the Bills secondary. I think that group has started to come together

the last couple weeks. Tredavious White has been better. There's another part of this Bills equation here where I feel like I'm being a little dismissive of their turnover issues. Maybe it's just as simple as me sitting here saying they may be due to be clean, but I went through the eight

game winning stretch. This Bills team has won eight in a row, and when you look at their losses, they could have won every one of these games. I guess that's why deep down I still have so much faith in this Bills team. Their turnover run during this eight-game win streak, they're even. They're even.

Their plus-minus, their turnover differential is zero. I went through them all. They've won the turnover battle three times. They've lost it four times. There was one push. Three and four in the turnover battle while you have an eight-game winning streak. So maybe it's just because I like Josh Allen so much now that I'm like, yeah, they probably turn it over a couple of times and still win this game. And that's what we saw against Miami because I think one pick was on him. One definitely wasn't. It was a Beasley tip ball and

the fumble was completely on him to give up the lead, and now you're like, what the hell is going on with this team? So the Bills are the pick, minus 5.5. So to review, I'll lay the points with San Francisco. I will take the points with the Giants. I'll lay the points with Kansas City, despite their dreadful against the spread number,

and I'll lay the points with Buffalo. One quick last addition to this. QB pressure rankings. In order. Allen, the most pressured. Dak, because of Dallas. Mahomes, third. Burrow, fourth.

Hertz, fifth. Lawrence, Jones, and Purdy. Best win would be New York at Philadelphia. It doesn't always work out this way, but the worst loss, I think, would be Philly against New York. Enjoy the playoffs. For the latest odds,

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super easy to use. FanDuel is also now live in Ohio. So make sure you get in on all the action. Also with great offers just for you now and throughout January. So make sure you get in on all the action. Also with great offers just for you now and throughout January. So football fans, don't miss out. Place your first $5 bet to get $150 in free bets. Win or lose with the

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humble to uh to admit it uh jim dance cbs who's tall and you know i gotta tell you jim when i was going through the bio i hope you take this as a compliment. You've just been doing it so long. I was like, man, this guy's still a young buck. I appreciate someone actually saying that. Usually I get the flip side of that. Man, you've been around a long time. You're really old. I feel young. I have young kids and I'm energized every single day that I tackle this profession. I love every second of it. The whole process of getting ready for a weekend, going on the road, calling these games and golf tournaments, I consider myself very fortunate. When you do the job that you have, you are greeting the country at these major events. You have something that's special at the season finale

with Buffalo and New England coming off of the DeMar Hamlin story. And I can only imagine, because I have some kind of follow-ups, but I think the first question is, of all that goes into it, and thinking, okay, I want to do a little of this, I want to do a little of that, and then to have this moment where Naheem Himes takes back the opening kickoff, what's that moment like, knowing that there's so much more to this than just a game? Well, it happens in a flicker of a second, and you can't even prepare for it.

Did I have any idea that the opening kick would be returned for a touchdown? Or to have that in my head is even a possibility, not even remotely so. But that was an interesting week. It was a week with a lot of heartfelt emotion around the whole country. The story was just so rich because it affected football fans and non-football fans.

It galvanized the country. People that really aren't into football knew the story about a young man who was fighting for his life. It looked like he was going to die on a football field and to see the outpouring and the love and the open prayers, you know, I suddenly became okay to talk about praying on the air. And it was an amazing time

in this country. And, you know, we have these little moments sometimes that unite us. Unfortunately, it always seemed to be tied around some sort of tragic event. And they don't always have happy endings and this one is on its way to having a happy ending so you have this this this moment that just gripped us on a monday night we all think he's not going to survive it and then each day it starts to trickle in with some positive news and we had the game and we knew there were going to be a lot of parts to it before we even kicked the football inserts into the NFL today, etc, etc. I mean, I felt super prepared to try to talk about what this moment meant to the Bills players and organization and what they had done. And once we kind of went through

all of that, you turn around and the game is getting underway and Naheem is on his way. And, you know, I'm eyeballing it and I see him cross midfield. I still didn't think he was going to break it. I thought there was a Patriot player who had an angle on him. But then I realized this is going all the way.

In only one word, one phrase entered my mind. Storybook. You know, you think, how long did it take him really to run? 14 seconds, maybe 10 of it before they crossed the goal line. In 10 seconds, he's covering 96 yards. Your mind is kind of in slow motion, weirdly, Ryan. And I'm glad that word just kind of dropped in my head. I mean, again, I couldn't have planned for it. And it was storybook. And I think it'll be a moment that one day might even lead to a movie. It sounds like a movie script.

We use that terminology, don't we, a lot in sports? Oh, Hollywood wouldn't even, they'd send this script back if you wrote it. But I can see this being, and some other people suggested, our version of Brian's song for this generation. I think there's, particularly if the Bills go on and win the Super Bowl, I think there's a movie here in its storybook. The prep leading up to it, though, when you're going, okay, and this is one of those spots as a play-by-play person where you're like, okay, and I'm always thinking about the person on the couch because I'm the person on the couch, right? And you're going, okay, well, if I don't do enough on this, then it feels like we're not sympathetic enough, right? We're not getting the moment. But then if we do too much and the guy on the couch is like, all right, I got it.

hitting the moment but then if we do too much and the guy on the couch is like all right i got it you're you're doing a lot on this story and i felt like that naheem return it kind of kind of just made the rest of it like the rest of it was going to be okay and so that so well because i did i did fret over that very thought i see see what you're talking about here leading up to it. How much do we deal with it during the game? We do have a game to cover. How solemn are we with our voice? How fevered pitch do we take it to when there's a big play? Do we dial it down? All these are thoughts that you're dealing with. And I hate this phrase. I've heard it my whole career. Let the game come to you.

You've heard it. What does that mean? I think this might have been the first time I actually knew what that meant. And that meant you just have to feel the scene. And because of that opening kickoff return, it did it did change things but ultimately you go into it really unsure you have to feel it what does that mean i mean you just have to really play with it trust your experience and your instincts and say that's enough or that's not enough or that's the right pitch or that's not the right delivery how has

that not only the you know the end of the season finale, we've had a couple of playoff games, and now we have the rematch. How has that impacted the preparation for this weekend? Well, I'm juggling that again. So I've already talked to Jimmy Rickoff, who is our leader, our producer. He's just an amazing professional. And I said to him at the beginning of the week, how are we going to handle this story?

There's the pregame side of it, the opening sequence that you can game plan how you're going to do it. And then there's this big football game over here. Given the fact that he's now showing up at the compound or the facility basically every single day the story's in a very nice sweet spot we're not going to ignore it i don't think we're going to belabor it but we'll definitely mention the significance of these two getting a chance to play a football game and it's just the how fitting is it though, though, that it's these two teams that on January the 2nd didn't get to finish the game because of what happened. And now here they are playing in a high-stakes football game. It's a balancing act. Again, I'm going to have to feel it, but

I think there's a happy component to it. And we're sitting here a few days before the game, and we don't know. I, you know, I half expect he might be at the stadium on Sunday and that would be an amazing scene because people really haven't seen him in public and maybe he's not on the field. I wouldn't expect that, but maybe he's up at Terry Pagula's suite and they open up the glass window and he leans out and he, and he gives a wave and it would be stirring and all i know is over a moment like that the best thing you can do layout that that is a that is a director's moment and you have to be sensitive to that

the same thing about feeling a moment this is a very visual time that the hamlin story and i felt that way going into that game there had to be sequences where you just let people feel like they're inside the arena back when they ran onto the field that day said folks i'm gonna lay out now i want you to feel like you're inside the stadium on this emotional day i've mentioned this before you know i had a long discussion with chris fowler who i got to travel with got to know a little bit and bit and the amount of prep in the pre-production meetings. And I was in some of those because I was traveling for college football and doing college game day radio, not my very limited play by play career. We didn't do that in minor league baseball. We had pre-production meetings with the opposing. Redding, Pennsylvania didn't sit down with me before a three game series.

I love this part of it because you can be tricked. You can learn something. You can feel a certain way. I'll never forget. I remember I was there for Florida State, Florida. It was Gainesville. I drove down to Bobby Bowden's hotel. I sat down with Bobby.

You would have thought he'd known me 30 years, where just in two minutes, I'm like, no wonder this guy gets all these recruits. And it was at the end of his run. And I'm like, what's going to happen? He's like, Ryan, you know, the whole plan all along. And he just went along and along. So I was so excited.

I thought I got to sit down exclusive. His whole thing was I'm coming back next year. That was always the plan. Nobody needs to worry about it. He was fired on Monday. I spent all weekend going like, hey, no, don't worry about it. I'm on the air. I was like, I just spoke with him because I felt like I had this amazing access.

So you've been doing this long enough where you can kind of feel it out. But how often do you leave the pre-production process going up to a game feeling really certain? And maybe that was coming off of some of the stuff that you and Phil would share and now with Tony, where you go, this feels different. This feels specific. And the game actually played out that way, because I'm sure there's plenty of times you've been tricked as well. Well, I'm going to take that Saturday before the New England game. This is five days after cardiac arrest. And we talked to Sean McDermott in a meeting room at the facility in Orchard Park

from 10 to 11 that morning. And they were having a walkthrough from 11 to 12. They invited us to go attend the walk-in. There was no other media. They'll go attend the walkthrough. The walkthrough, I saw a very loose and light bunch of guys running around being playful. loose and light bunch of guys running around being playful. They threw a pass. Josh threw a pass 30 yards up into the air where it came down like, like a rainfall into, into McDermott's hands. And the players went wild.

He dropped the first one and they booed him. And then they did it again and he caught it and they went crazy. They were light and loose. Just knowing that the day before they had seen DeMar on a Zoom, that eased their minds. The day before that, his father Mario had come on a Zoom and told the team, go play. This is what DeMar would want you to do. So we had a window into what was going on with the Bills. And on the backside of the walkthrough, they invited all their families

to come run out onto that indoor practice facility. You saw the wives and the children run around. The dads were playing catch with their kids. This was not a team that you would have seen on Tuesday. They had come a long way. I mean, they had been through it all. But each day, they were feeling more and more confident. And I really felt coming out of that, and then we met with Mitch Moores and we met with Josh, that the team would be ready to play.

They were in a good place. And they were. I mean, they saw New saw new england rebound after that that start and make it a competitive game this is team that has the number of things that have been presented to them and and that region and i hate to compare i'm not saying one's more important or more adversity or more tragic than another, but you start with almost four dozen people dying in the second superstorm in that area. You take the first superstorm, which forced them to play a home game in Detroit.

Then they had the inability to get home from a game because of one of the storms. They had to spend an extra night on the road in Chicago. And, of course, the mass shootings earlier in the year. I mean, there's been so much hovering. And then you have the DeMar Amlin story. It's been a lot. It's been a whole lot. So I did watch them, and I'll watch them again this Saturday in a walkthrough.

But I saw a team that is pretty tough. They're resilient. But at that point, I think they were feeling good about the fact that their teammate was going to survive this. We didn't know that for a while. Let's go back. I don't know if you'll answer this for me. I hope you will. Maybe you'll give me a couple names.

Who's your favorite quarterback to work with before calling a game? To sit down to meet with the pre-production part of it. Who's your favorite guy? So many of them are good. I know, but. I could rattle off a lot of names here. I have a lot of experience with TB12, as you might expect, because we're the AFC network.

And I felt like I lived at Foxborough for about 15 years. You know, I did 106 Tom Brady games. I think 99 of them might have been in New England. So, I mean, I've had more experience with him in a production meeting. And he really trusts our group. And I've enjoyed those meetings a ton. He's never in a hurry. He's never rushed.

You get him more, actually, weirdly, on the road than you do at home. At home, the Patriots used to kind of jam him in before their Friday practice. And sometimes you're wanting a few more minutes. But on the road, he's not going anywhere. And he enjoys to sit and talk football with people that he has relationships with, with Phil, with Tony, with me, our crew. And, you know, Peyton in these meetings in his time, your head would be just completely spinning from how much he could talk about the technical side of football. He was so prepared. He's the most organized guy you'll ever meet and just wonderful meets. Tony was the biggest show, Romo in his day. That's what first

kind of tipped me off that this was something that was going to be his calling. I mean, it was a, it was a show. He would get up out of his seat. He would talk about his throwing motion, like running plays with imaginary receivers throwing motion he'd be like running plays with imaginary receivers and they'd be pointing here pointing there and he walked through everything and you couldn't help but think man if that guy could bring that to television he'd be extraordinary and he is so i hate to i hate to shortchange anybody. I've dealt with some of the relics here in Romo, Manning, and Brady. And this modern generation is fantastic. I mean, Patrick Mahomes, he's not guarded.

He's terrific. Josh Allen, and full disclosure, I've gotten to know these guys away from football. I play golf with both of them, Josh and Patrick, several times. And I think I've got a lot of production meetings to go with both of them, but I really enjoy the chance to sit down and talk to them both. That position is the best position in sports, number one by far. A quarterback of an NFL team,

if you're a star quarterback, it's awesome to see the way they conduct business, the way they handle themselves. I think they carry a bigger burden than anybody else in any sport to represent a franchise and to lead a team. There's so much that goes into it. I know it's kind of hard for us mere mortals to get our minds around the $50 million position player,

but a quarterback position. But you see, there's so much more than just playing a 17-game schedule in the playoffs. There's so much. And I know the money is out of sight, sight but these guys it's not a free pass they work hard they do i want to talk about romo because when i look at his timeline when he first starts doing games it's almost like people like whoa like what is what is this this is this is another level he's calling out plays he's like hey they're gonna look for the

slot and all the and and then you, because it plays out very public, and then there's a bidding war, and there's all this money. Then I feel like it's kind of, and I don't know how much you care, or the crew, or how much anybody pays attention. It's almost like he's being held to what felt at first was this impossible standard. And it feels unfair to Tony that now people are like, wait, are you as good as you were in the beginning?

It's like, no, I think we were so enamored with the beginning because it was so different and he was such a natural instantly. I'm just kind of curious. Again, I don't doubt you even care about any of that stuff, like who likes who more than the other,

but how that's played out in a very short amount of time for somebody that's, you know, has one of the biggest platforms in the sport. Well, it's year six for the two of us, and it's now well over 100 games, and it's a high exposure. We had 30-some-odd million people watching our game last week, Buffalo and Miami. So when you're in someone's living room that often, people can start to nitpick a little bit. I think the guy's a genius.

He's one of my best friends and I love hanging out with him and I love the entire experience. We have so much fun. When he started out, no one had ever done that before where they foreshadowed plays. The closest anyone had ever come had been someone I was paired with long ago, Hank Stram.

People used to talk about how Hank would say, are they going to run it to the right here, Jack? He would work with Jack Buck on Monday Night Radio. And Hank had an incredible knack of telling me where the play was going to go. Tony took that and even got into more of the nuance. I think initially there was so much feedback about his projecting plays, forecasting plays, that Tony wanted to show people he was more than a one-trick pony. Now, I've never talked to him about it.

No one's told him to predict fewer plays. I think he just wanted to be more than just that. He wanted to show off his research. He wanted to show off what else he saw. And when we have a quarterback, it's interesting. It's a very experienced and successful quarterback. And when Tony does go down that road of predicting plays, he's always going to be better when there's a veteran who has watched just thousands of hours of film.

Because that guy, I'll insert Tom Brady here, has watched film and been in that film room as long as Tony was and beyond. And he sees what Tony sees. And a lot of times when Tony would miss the mark, which is rare, but would have a chance to try to foreshadow a play that didn't work out that way, it wasn't that Tony was wrong. It was the quarterback that was wrong. Tony had it right all along,

which way the play should have been directed. But he's looked his best when he's been calling games with veteran players who can read it as quickly as he can. I mean, he's, it's amazing how fast he sees it. So I love it. We're going to be doing this together for a long, long time. And, and I'm getting to the point now where we're late in season. We got two games to go and I'm going to go on to my other life. I'll be out on the West Coast covering some golf

before I hit March Madness. And I love those partners as well. I mean, I've got great teammates, but just the fact that we'll close it down on January 29th, then we won't do another game until next September. I miss that time. I miss Saturday night. I miss Sunday afternoon.

We have fun every step of the way. He's the best. To be a franchise, and you may not like that word for a person, but to be somebody who's been with CBS this long and know that, and I think at times we'd be at ESPN and we would kind of talk about things and somebody would go to another company and we'd compare notes and all these different things. It's just very human nature. To be fair to ESPN, there were hundreds and hundreds of us.

We're all trying to figure out how we fit in, neurotic, every three years, two years, you're up, and what's going on. To be somebody who comes into a network that has less moving parts but decides, okay, you are part of this family. We're all driven. We're all competitive in our own ways. And I don't know the ins and outs because it's not like we're close as if I know all the contract stuff. But to know that, hey, I can call a place home and be the face of a place. There's only a handful of people that really get to say that. Do you allow yourself to acknowledge or have moments where you think, yeah, my life is really special, but this is another level in this industry that very few ever get to reach? Well, first off, do I stop and pause and think I'm very fortunate every single day? In fact, I truly do not put my feet on the floor until I have my morning ritual of prayer.

And I give thanks every day for a lot of things I've been blessed with. But always one of them is the chance to live out the childhood dream. Now, am I aware of the fact that all of these properties have been entrusted with me for a long, long time? Yes, I am aware. It doesn't mean something to me. It means a ton. It really does. I never wanted to work anywhere else. I'm a horrible negotiator because I've said publicly probably far too many times that I'm never going anywhere, that my goal is to work my entire career with CBS. My last show, I would like to be the 2036 Masters.

So CBS already knows we don't have to worry about playing hardball with this guy. He doesn't want to go anywhere. And the truth is, I never did want to go anywhere. Being at one place was important to me. youth who from afar guided me and showed me the the path to what it took to be a storyteller just as a viewer as a fan little did I know Ryan I'd get to know all of these legends of my youth they all became most all of them became very important parts of my life, part of my life. But I look back and, you know, I want to make those legends of my youth proud.

I try to be a composite of all of them, whether it's Enberg or Summerall or Gowdy or Shankle or Jack Whittaker or Jim McKay. I mean, these were my sports legends. These broadcasters were my legends. You know, I wrote them letters as a kid. You said it right. I mean, we didn't have the SPN when I was a kid. We did not have the plethora of sports television that's out there today. You waited until the weekends to get your games.

I felt like I had a relationship with all of them. As a fan, I didn't know any of them. So I started to write fan mail. I heard back from one in particular, Jim McKay used to write me back. It was meant a ton to me, you can imagine. So when I get mail today, they're going to hear back from me unless that piece of mail is lost. Everybody's going to hear back from me. From 11 years old

on, I wanted to be just like them. And Jim McKay would be someone that would become a very dear friend of mine, a mentor. I was at Paul Bearer at his funeral and delivered a eulogy. Jack Whitaker was at our wedding. I delivered his eulogy. Tremendous honor. Pat Summerall was my colleague and mentor at CBS for 10 years. I would have been at his services, but it was on a weekend when we had a golf event we basically did a 15

minute on-air eulogy um ken venturi was my partner in the booth for 17 years i was asked to deliver his eulogy and these are these are heroes to me that i could as a young boy i could dream about one day maybe getting a chance to meet them, but to work with them, to be able to stand up and speak on their behalf at the end, it's been one of the great honors of my life. I don't take any of it for granted. I'm the most grateful guy in the world for CBS and CBS to give me the chance to do this as long as I have. and CBS to give me the chance to do this as long as I have.

And I know that Derek Carr said this recently, but I would rather say that I worked my whole career at one place and never work again anywhere else. That's the Roger Staubach model, the one-team guy. That's just who I am. I know I had this follow-up about the human nature side of us where we see this broadcasted carousel of the last two plus years. You're like, what? And I felt like you were one of the five people that maybe could speak to like,

hmm, this is some interesting stuff. These are some developments, but there isn't really a follow up now because I know what the answer is. Well, I'm so happy to have what I have and CBS has been good to me and they've been very good to me as far as trusting me, believing in me, guests has been good to me and they've been very good to me. Um, as far as trusting me, believing in me,

giving me opportunity and rewarding me. And all that stuff has been a little right over it. And people speculate, talk about the carousel you're talking about and, and the money and all that comes with it. Um, I, you know, I've lived a life that

far beyond anything I could have ever dreamt, even as an 11-year-old boy. I could not have imagined it would be this good. I'm happy for people. They want to jump around and find something that makes them happy. I know this. I can never walk away from wanting to work with Tony.

I can never walk away from the Masters work with Tony. I can never walk away from the Masters tournament above all. The Masters was the tug for me. Not that golf is more important to me than the NFL. It's just that was the ultimate premium storytelling event. And I would listen to the voices and their erudition about everything from the subjects they were covering to the landscape and it was just poetry in their voices it was lyrical broadcasting and i wanted to be able to have the ability to have have the warehouse of phraseology and vocabulary to be able to try to be one of those voices that

i used to listen to that stirred me that captured my attention i was enraptured and by by listening and trying to mimic all of them and anyway it's uh it's no it's no big secret that i've said that I wanted to broadcast 50 Masters. I would like to be broadcasting the NFL up into that year as well. So that's the plan. We'll see, God willing, this health stays up and everybody still wants me to do it. But I would like to be able to say when it's all said and done that I worked at one place and I got to close out my career in Butler Cabin with no fuss, no fanfare, and call it a career. Actually, I adjusted the number to 51, by the way, Ryan.

I was given a speech in L.A. and all weird kind of, how does this happen this way? Jack Whitaker introduced me, presented me with this award. And at that engagement, I happened to mention that I wanted to work 50 masters. That was my goal. And I announced my retirement was April the 8th, 2035, because I'd already looked up the second Sunday and 35 is, that's the April the 8th. And that night we were at the Hotel Bel Air having a nightcap. And he said, I heard what you said about 50 Masters. I said, well, what did you think, Mr. Whitaker? He said,

I think you got to go 51. I said, why? He said, well, you do the math on it, the 51st Masters for you would be the 100th playing of the Masters. He said, I think it's important for you to be there to bring it to the next century and I think it's important for Augusta be there to bring it to next century. And I think it's important for Augusta also.

So it's a very nice thing for him to say. So I adjusted the goal to 2036. Okay. So I have two things here before we finish, if you don't mind. I not being, you know, I've golfed. I'm not into it to the level of like working with somebody like Scott, like Scott, who would teach me about it. And then the cad, I'll never forget, we had that tournament in Connecticut. And he's like, yeah, one of the caddies is staying with me. And I'd be like, what are you talking

about? Why would a caddy be staying? He'd be like, man, you don't understand. When you might be on the wrong guy's bag, you're trying to figure out a way to save money, any city. It's this traveling circus. And then I started to become so enamored with the idea of this kind of like 100-piece rock band that just kind of travels the country. And there's so many parts of it that people don't understand, which is why I'm really excited for this new Netflix thing for the public to learn more about the golfers. I think it's just great branding for any product that just lets us in a little bit more. And once we know a little bit more, then we care about the outcomes.

And for me, it's a perfect business model. Just some are reluctant to do so. Maybe they feel they don't need it. But I got to go to Augusta years ago. And as high as my expectations were, as somebody who was not living and breathing golf every single day, I was blown away. It was this like magical fantasy land of once you get through those gates and I would tell anyone you have to do. And for you to be the host, you know, for us on television, I guess I'm, I'm searching for the story or I'm searching for the moment of when it felt real, the steward of this event in a sense. But what do you think it is about the people that put on the tournament in partnership with CBS and in your relationship that make this thing? It seems to make it like the goal would be impossible if you set out to say this is what we wanted to do.

But when you walk the grounds, you feel it in a way that is unlike any other sporting event I've ever been to. You mean like unlike a tradition, unlike any other type thing? That would be a good line. Heard that somewhere before. You expressed it beautifully. And it really has integrity i think that's what you felt it was at a level that nothing is compromised and history and tradition means something but moving it forward does too and i listen i'm going to be stepping on the grounds there for the 38th time here in 70 days.

And I'm going to be as excited walking onto the sacred sod, so to speak, of Augusta as I was that first time back in 1986. I still can't believe I get a chance to go there. And for you to say I'm a steward, that's all really nice. I appreciate the praise. But it's about the tournament. It's not about the guy that happens to bring us on and off the air. And I just, Nick Faldo said something to me one time, I was doing a special about my partner. And he said, when you do the math on it, partner and he said, when you do the math on it and the masters, he said, and I can look it up, you know, one year I hit 276 shots. It was good enough to win. One year I hit 291 golf shots.

He said, I used to tell myself when I went to that one tournament that every single shot I hit is a matter of record. It's happening at Augusta. I put that extra pressure to try to be perfect. This shot, wherever it is, whatever day it is, Thursday, the second shot into the fifth hole, he felt that was a moment of his personal history. When he said that, I knew exactly what he meant. Not that you get tongue-tied or slow to try to cobble together the right sentences, but everything I do at Augusta, I feel like people can go back and they will be able to look at it for years down the line. They're all on YouTube now anyway, all the broadcasts. Everything that leaves my lips is a matter of my personal record of how I approach calling the masters. And that's important to me to try to be that exact and to frame it the right way,

to have context and texture and have been able to pull out the right words at the right time. I think about it a lot. I mean, that event is on my mind every single day of my life. So it's been, it's been the ultimate experience for me. I don't like to say I favor one event over another.

I've loved being able to call the NCAA tournament for over 30 years and the NFL. And the next year is a Superbowl year for us and be my ninth Superbowl as a play-by-play guy or host. Those are massively important events, but for some reason, a master's is where you kind of feel like you want to live up to that level of perfection that you witnessed that day you were there, Ryan. I want to close with this.

As you mentioned, the tournament, this will be your last one. Certainly, heartfelt congratulations on the 2023 Gerald R. Ford Award, which basically, essentially is awarded to somebody who represents collegiate athletics. Uh, the combination of all these things in your final call, what will that be like for you? Well, I haven't thought about that.

Um, I get really maudlin thinking about it's the last one, but I am excited about it. I need some time back. I've been a road warrior for a long, long time, um, for more,

way more than half my life. And believe me, I, more than half my life. And believe me, it's been a blessing. It's just I have two young children at home. I need to be home a little bit more often. And I got to do it for a long, long time. We have an incredible stable of play-by-play guys at CBS. And it was time someone else get a chance.

And that's going to be Ian, Ian Eagle. And he'll crush it he'll be great i mean before i took over ryan the most anyone had ever called it play by play was six and bird did it six times rent did it six times when i first got the job to move from the host to to to the seat by on the floor by billy backer I thought it'd be nice to be able to do seven. That'd be really cool if I could do seven. Well, this will be my 32nd. So I far exceeded the goal. That's just a personal goal that probably I'm the only one that cares about it.

The Gerald Ford thing last week was, it meant a lot. President Ford, you would know this, but he was the captain of the Michigan football team way back in the 30s and took his football lessons and applied those to his life experience and became eventually the president of the United States. And I think it surprised a few people when I opened up my remarks to the fact that I'd had dinner before with President Ford. I was playing in the Jerry Ford Invitational in Vail, Colorado, a golf event, a fundraiser. And I was playing with Gary McCord and John Denver. And much to my astonishment, President Ford drove out in a cart.

We were on the 11th fairway. And he said, hey, I would like your group to sit at my table tonight. Would you guys join me? And of course, I was in shock and I was thrilled to accept that invitation. And then that night, I go to the table at the appointed hour and there are place guards. And I had Betty Ford sitting to my right, who was next to her. And on my left was Bob Hope. And President Ford was across from me.

So my hearing's never been great. His hearing wasn't all that strong at that point. So I didn't really get a chance to converse with President Ford. But I did get a chance to wrap up quite a bit with Bob Hope, which was a huge thrill. This was one of the great Americans and great givers of himself of all time to people. If you don't know who he is, kids, go and look at what this guy did for the troops back 40 and 50 years ago, what he did for this country. But anyway,

my memory of the night was Dolores Hope, who's sitting about three people around the table, said, excuse me, young man. Mr. Hope was really up there in years. He said, would you mind helping my husband? He can't cut his meat. So I was more than eager. I took his fork and my knife, So I was more than eager. I took his fork and my knife and I cut up a steak. And he was so up there in years, he barely spoke. And I thought I'd done a really good job, you know, slicing up a filet mignon. And she looked over and said, could you make them smaller?

So I took the pieces I'd cut and I just, I mean, I had it down to just like little strands of meat. Like when you have a baby and you first introduce them to chicken or steak and you cut it up into the tiniest little pieces. And that's what I did for Bob Hope. And that's my story about President Ford. So I would have liked him said that I looked across the table and I said, Mr. President, you don't know this, but in about 30 years from now, I'm going to receive an award that has your name on it. I'm looking forward to tell about this night, but that never happened. Real quick. How did Denver hit him? How did he do? Yeah. How did John Denver play? Oh, he was a, he was like a 12 handicap. And I played, I played golf with him quite a few times. I think about him, you'd be surprised. He died tragically in an experimental airplane that he was piloting.

The fuel gauge was off, and his plane, after taking off from Monterey Airport in California, plunged into the Pacific. That was on October the 12th, 1997. And I lived in Pebble Beach for a little over 10 years, and I still have a home there. But on October the 12th, 1997, there's a little monument there. And there's something scratched out in a piece of driftwood that says John Devereux has his birth date and his date of death. And I would go out there and remember him, say a prayer for him every year on that date, October 12th. That was the day he died in 1997. But it was a life that hosted the, you know, he hosted the Oscars, He hosted the Grammys. He was in movies with George Burns, Oh God.

Country Roads take me home. He was a good person. Really good person who didn't get to live life for nearly as long as it should have been. Well, Jim, this has been a thrill for me.

I was kidding at the beginning about when I was looking up stuff, I went, Jim, this has been a thrill for me. You know, I kind of was kidding at the beginning about, you know, when I was looking up stuff, I went, man, you know, it's just because, but that's a me thing. I've been watching you since I was, you know, 10. So getting to run India a couple of years ago for the first time and you saying so many kind things about the radio show going back to the years. It's true. I've been waiting for the invitation for two years. Okay. I'm like, we're going to be doing this the next week. so I've been checking my voice messages every day. Where's Ryan? Where is this? Seriously, great admiration. I hope it's not two more years

before we talk again. Sounds great. Enjoy the game this weekend. Thank you for allowing me to spin off some of my fond memories from my broadcasters of my youth to Mr. Hope. It's been fun. Absolutely. This was a thrill. And I'm sure everyone's going to love it. Thanks.

Before we jump to life advice, again, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com is the email address. A couple of heaters for you here on Friday. Our picks contest continues. My picks will be the picks that I did in the open. I'm laying the points to San Francisco. I'm taking the points to the Giants. I'm laying the number with Kansas City, which I don't necessarily love. And I just, I don't know, I got this Bills thing, even though it's moved a couple points.

The Cincinnati O-line thing is concerning for me. So those are my picks. The same as in the open. Kyle? Okay. Yeah. Before I say, I'll just say where we are now. You went three and one last week. line thing is concerning for me so those are my picks the same as in the open kyle uh okay yeah before i say i'll just say where we are now um you went three and one last week so you're up to 42 percent uh and i took two nosedives so i'm down to 34 percent uh because it's a contest with my picks i'm not necessarily picking exactly what i want but i'm just kind of i kind of feel like i

have to pick against you at this point or or you pretty much got this sewn up. So I will be taking the Bengals plus 5.5, and I will be taking Philadelphia minus 7.5. And then just to try to make up some ground here, I'm going to take the Bengals over, which is 48.5. So Bengals' bill is over 48.5. And one of us has to be wrong here. So unless it's a push. So hopefully this will swing the thing back in my favor. Not offended.

We'll fade Russillo. It's competition. No issue with it whatsoever. You want details? Bye. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.

I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Okay, let's get to life advice. Life advice, rr at gmail.com. We've already checked in with Kyle. All right, fellas, love the pod.

6'1", 180, not a big weights guy, but can rip a 630-mile half marathon. All right, cool. My fiance and I are taking a trip to visit her older sister in Berlin. Connecticut? I don't think so. The sister and I are pretty close.

I've known her 10 years. The three of us went to college together. I've lived in New York City since graduating. And given my fiance is not a planner, and she is, I sent her a WhatsApp to discuss dinner res, clubbing plans. So a way to text people that are overseas or that want to cheat on each other.

Yeah. Or people like, Hey, do you have WhatsApp? Like, what do you fucking live in Delaware? Like what? Um,

things went off the rails pretty much immediately. She says she really wants to go to a particular club with us. I Google a place and it's for sure a sex club i responded by sending her a view of the club that lets people know what to expect here is a review kyle you fired up yeah what's it i wonder what kind of uh stance the review takes already right here's what it says for berlin yelp sucks sex club uh quote door policy wear your best underwear and be prepared to leave your clothes in the cloakroom different to other clubs big groups and foreigners are not a problem but they won't let you in if

you're not prepared to show your body and get into the sexual atmosphere of the club imagine just being at the door and the door get a couple cc and sevens in me yeah i will go in the bathroom yes i'm wearing deodorant dick to which she responds so this the brother sends this to the fiance's older sister like just so you know in case you missed this. Just a heads up. The special ends at 7. To which she responds, quote, there are certain days that are more about costumes than others, so it is

a bit like an everyday requirement. That wasn't reassuring. I couldn't tell if this was a joke or not, so I changed the subject and kind of assumed this wasn't going to come up again however it's getting closer to the day of her trip and she's pretty insistent on us going again this is a whatsapp only to me that's fucking weird for context we're fun outgoing but a pretty standard New York City couple nothing that screams sex club pretty

standard yeah about the two of us and for what it's worth the group of people here is good looking i'd say solid eight up so these people are all hot as shit a new york city eight what dude gives himself an eight in new york city you better be fucking a head turner walking around soho like i went I went to Rag and Bone and they thought I was the model. All right. Guess the overall question is, yeah, I got a few. What am I supposed to do with this?

Do I try to diffuse this with the fiance ahead of time? Explain what's going on. Am I being too uptight about this? Should I just go with the flow? Do I let the sister bring it up herself? The whole situation is pretty wild and feels like it could blow up in my face

in some unexpected ways. Yeah, there's a few. You want to go first? Sure. I mean, I don't I think that the easiest thing would be like, you know, you probably should have said this a while ago. But I mean, what's the problem? It's like you're just communicating with her sister. Obviously, it's your fiance.

The family's sort of close, but you could totally just be like, hey, yeah, I told her she's not into it. We can't do it. I don't know. If she's close to her sister, you could have just told your fiance like, hey, just reached out to try to get some planning going. And I think she might be taking this in a different direction. And I just wanted to run this by you. I'm not sure. I figured I'd let you put your two cents in on this, but it just seems like something we should discuss. And then the fiance can just say, no, absolutely not. You'd be like, great. That's what I thought. Like, I don't see what's wrong with doing that. I mean, it's maybe it's weird that this plan has been, you know, being hatched for what is it like three months now or something, uh, without you saying that, but unless, you know, as long as she doesn't think

it's weird that you're talking to her sister, I don't think there's anything wrong with this. Uh, and then I think going with the flow here, you know, you're probably going to be going in there with some American attitudes and a not so American attitude sort of place. So, you know, if like you say, you guys are all, you know, pretty good looking people, like, you know, how many times does the, you know, watch out for those European men topic come up. So, I mean, I don't know, you might think it sounds pretty good. And then all of a sudden you look over and you're, you know, your fiance is nowhere to be seen. And you're like, oh no, your heart starts pounding. Just think about that for going with the flow. I'm not sure if you'd want that, you know, to be the case with you. You don't want a Tom Wamsgams thing

to happen either. I don't know what's going to happen to you. I'm just saying, I think you're probably not prepared for everything that's going to happen if it is just a sex club. So, you know, I don't want you to be having any closed-loop systems you weren't ready for and then wondering what the hell she was doing. So I would say just talk to your fiancée, and if you think you've got to read this, she's not going to be into this. This is a great way to not make your trip have this weird question mark, dark cloud that could possibly happen over it. Unless you guys are all into stuff like that,

then you probably wouldn't be writing the email, though. Business is my fucking. I think deep down my question for the guy is do you kind of want to go do you kind of want to go because i think a lot of dudes out there you ever go anything really weird kyle weird no i really don't think so no i feel like you have to know i feel like you have to know it's a bit like the costanza thing like where it's like if i could just date one of these models. That's what I look at when I see some of these celebrities. I'll be like, what's up with that guy?

It's like, I think he just dates one. And then he gets like there's some sort of membership thing like Costco. And you don't really I don't know. You don't know until you know, like you can't figure it out. So I think the sex club invite, I've never I've been to a couple of things that were sketchy, but nothing even close to this. I would likely stand in the corner and just be like, can I have another vodka soda? So I don't, I don't know that I would, I just don't think I would be down anytime that I've ever heard about any of this kind of stuff. It's like, think about it this way. If there was a place where people knew they could get just weird with other strangers,

would those be people you would actually want to hang out with? You know, like I remember hedonism in the grill, right. When I was down in Jamaica for a while and then guys were like, Oh man, we got to go over to hedonism. And it was like, what is the deal? Like what happens?

Is it some weird sex resort? Like I need to know more about it. Like six guys can't just show up. You're supposed to bring couples. I think the rules, I don't know what the hell. I mean, it was a long time ago,

but then like somebody went and they were like, dude, it's just a bunch of older people naked. It wasn't that fucking great, you know? So like the concept of like, oh, there's this sketchy Jamaican thing and it's not sketchy at all. It's like you can go book a thing on fucking Travelocity right now if you wanted to, I think. I would ask, well, the emailer, I would ask you to ask yourself some real questions. Do you kind of deep down want to go? It doesn't sound like you want to, but I was wondering maybe just a little bit if you want to. I think the WhatsApp thing's a little weird. I think that's the older sister.

It's a little weird. I don't know. There's a lot of stuff I've seen online that I don't think they're really related. But I think this would be really super easy to shut this the, if you're on the other end of this, if you're into the sex club world, how many, you know how many times these people are told actually, no,

I don't want to go to that a lot. You're not going to be the first person because you know, that's not really what we're interested in here. So, uh, yeah, maybe she's waiting for you guys to go. Cause she can't get anyone over there to go.

Yeah. Right. Oh, my sister will be a shoe. There's a lot of flags. Yeah. Cause I'd always hear about like something in new york city and certainly these things exist but you know former lacrosse guys from vermont when i would go visit them those those were not the dudes that were plugged into the late night weirdness of of that world you know and i'm sure it exists and you i think you have to kind of know somebody uh i've

never been to any. I went to one thing that was really fucking weird late once. I think Russians were involved. I'm not sure. But it wasn't anything remotely like this. Like, no, I didn't. I just, again, stood in the corner and no clothes came off. So I was good to go.

And again, it was like a public place. Let's make this weird. I already feel like as I've said it out loud, it feels weird now. And it wasn't. It was like an actual operating bar and working place it was just open super super late and there was like a downstairs part of it yeah that was a little weird and it was getting late quick and you were like all right need to pull the cord here and get the fuck out of here all right i don't know if we helped there i don't know i just think even if you do want to go i don't know if you're going to be happy with whatever's going on with your you're bringing your maybe you'd want to go with your

buddies and then never tell anybody what happened i just think this is this is not the same and i think there's a lot of weird dynamics that come out of this it'd be much easier to shut this down and wonder what if you went to that club that what if it's a setup what if it's a total setup you said it's a fiancee what if it's gone too long and the sisters are talking to each other and they're like he still hasn't said anything to you about it and i'm on the whatsapp like this guy's a this guy's gonna cheat on you don't marry this guy's got extra stuff to be worried about this definitely we did it to him on a friday oh man that sucks okay uh this is a really long one it's about equinox i don't know it's fucking long

okay it's too long actually but i think i might read it all right 32 years old new york city 511 175 uh dealing with an injury not in pristine condition my best days might be behind me i need one more good run dude you're 32 you have another good run. Originally from California. Family lives in LA. I moved to New York City a few years ago. Signed up for the Equinox because it was convenient. They're all over the city. It is. It's really convenient. It's great if you travel a lot. Great week to me people. I've met nobody.

I would... Well... I wouldn't say zero people, but you get the point. But I'm there to work out and prove myself. Although I did see a guy hit on a girl at Equinox the other day. It was a pretty impressive line. He's like, what do guys say when they hit on you at the gym?

I was like, that's fucking good. All right. I was like, that's pretty good. That's pretty good. Okay. Or maybe I just made that up. At first, I loved it. I even went on a date, made out with the sales girl, ex-NFL cheerleader, signed me up.

All right. Sweet. Post-COVID, it's really crowded. Fast forward to last February. I'm trying to paraphrase a bit of this because it's so long. I aggravated a hip injury at a beginner's yoga class. I questioned the instructor. Long story short, I spent the last

11 months in pain searching for answers. And it wasn't until a few months ago that I finally found a good physician who put me on the right physical therapy plan. Part of the physical therapy plan involves using a Pilates machine. So I take my plan with me and head out to visit my folks in LA for the holidays in mid-December. On the first day there, he visits the Equinox. I guess he wants us to say which one it is. It's not one that I've been to in Westwood. As I usually do, I take care of my PT exercise.

I start things off with the warm-ups, then head to the Pilates room, which is completely empty aside from an instructor sitting at a desk. I ask her if I could use the room for a few minutes, but she says no because I need to be supervised in the room

and she has an appointment coming up. I explain I just need the machine for 10 minutes. It's for an exercise I need to do for an injury that occurred at another Equinox. That you guys made me get. Yeah. I put that line down in the notes, Kyle, just in case you did as well.

Oh, okay. All right. Right. So she says, let me talk to the manager and see what I can do. I thank her. She apologizes, blaming bureaucracy. Manager comes up. Manager comes up.

He's a big guy, the type of guy who likes himself to a nightclub bouncer that likes to hit on the hot moms he trains. Wow. Okay. He gives me a flat-out no to the room. No explanation. He doesn't even mention or provide me with a chance to go through the normal sign-up process for the room at any point in the day. Flat no. I'm not happy about it. I go back and forth with him a bit to no avail. Okay. Back and forth.

No avail. Then I asked for the regional manager's phone number who was off that day. This is getting dicey. All right. 30 minutes go by, and I walk by the Pilates room, and it's still empty.

My blood is starting to boil. I go in there and ask the lady, hey, so what happened to your appointment? Okay, noted. She kind of muttered something like it hadn't started yet, and I say to her i can't can i take a picture of this empty room end of your calendar so when i finally speak to someone i can understand why i pay this much money only be told i can't use this room at all i take the

picture she looks at me and says i don't want you taking any pictures of private information i respond and said i just want to get my workout and i obviously don't care about that then i walk out of the room proceed to finish the rest of my workout. That is the entirety of our conversation. Okay. Take notes. 15 minutes

passed by. I'm near the end of my workout and this other guy walks up to me. He says he's also a manager. He's much smaller. He asked me if I went to the Pilates room. I said, yes. I wanted to see if I could use it for my PT. Then it gets weird. He asked me if I insulted the Pilates instructor. I looked at him. I wanted to see if I could use it for my PT. Then it gets weird. He asked me if I insulted the Pilates instructor. I looked at him like he was crazy and said, what? Then he said, don't worry about it.

Is there anything else I can help you with? I said, dude, you came up to me, but I'm still waiting to hear why I can't use the machine if you can help me there. He doesn't understand anything and walks away. Okay. I'm near the end of the workout. Suddenly, both the big and small managers approach me and tell me I need to leave because I insulted the Pilates instructor I'm in complete shock

I asked them to give me an example of something I said but they can't give me any and they can say it doesn't matter because I broke the rules by insulting her that I have to go at this point I go full Lou Piniella and lose it Lou Piniella would lose his mind that's a lot dude tell them if they can't give me an example of something I said

they can go to security to walk me out while I finish up my last few sets. I'm lifting weights in their face as they're talking to me. So they do get security. I'm very polite and respectful. No doubt. Wait. So wait. At this point, I go full Lou Piniella.

I tell them if they can't give me an example of something I said, they can go get security to walk me out while I finish up my last few sets. Okay. So they get security. I'm very polite and respectful to the officer when he gets there. He seems a little confused but follows the instructions of the managers.

I gather my things up in the locker room while these two goons hover over the security guard and I take my time in the locker room undressed, try to jump in the shower, but the little guy won't let me. They make me go out the back and have the security guy lead the. I take my time in the locker room undressed, try to jump in the shower, but the little guy won't let me. They make me go out the back and have the security guy lead the way while they follow behind us, but the guard doesn't

know his way around. He keeps getting lost. I keep looking back at these guys saying, hey, you want to move up front and help them out here as he tries to navigate this maze. They say nothing and keep walking behind us. I lose it again and start cussing them out as we head to the door. They walk me out and say, you're not allowed back here. We've house canceled you from all equinoxes. Happy holidays. I flip to the door. They walk me out and say, you're not allowed back here. We've house canceled you

from all equinoxes. Happy holidays. I flip them the bird, but that's all I can do is they shut the door on me. The security guard apologized to me, tells me it's ridiculous, helps you get out of the parking lot,

but I left fuming. Later that day, I'm finally able to get on the phone with corporate, but the guy doesn't even want to hear my side of the story and starts chewing me out for cussing at the managers.

I try to interject and get my side in, but he keeps saying back to me, you keep cutting me off. I can see why they kicked you out. I finally have it with a guy and ask why I even bother calling me back. He then says that it's his decision and that it's final. That's it. This decision is final. Even worse. Eugenox has been a huge part of my life the first few years in New York City, and I've never had any issues at one of my neighborhood. Here I am kicked out and banned for something so trivial. I spent the next few days angry and wanting redemption. Ryan, what are my options? One, forget about it. Sign up at Crunch Fitness a few blocks down in my neighborhood for half the cost.

Two, sign up under a new account at my New York City Equinox. Three, plant crystal meth on those two managers, cover up the license plates, call in a tip to the cops. Ooh, that one seems aggressive. Some combination of three, one, or two. As a long-time listener, I firmly believe you have a particular set of skills that make you perhaps the most optimal person on the planet to seek advice from this. All right.

Is there any chance you suck? The first thing that tipped me off is when you're blaming the yoga instructor for your first injury. Okay? It is annoying that you needed the Pilates. So say it's the yoga instructor's fault. All right, fine. And then you want to use the Pilates room.

We have one here at my home gym. It's empty all the time. But I can also understand them wanting supervisors in there because if you get some fucking idiot, just not that you are, you clearly knew what you were doing, but just, hey, it's the Pilates room. Help yourself room.

I've never seen a gym where they just let people kind of use that stuff. All right. You probably had a little attitude as soon as the instructor was like, you can't use it because you're clearly explaining to us that you thought it should have been able to be used by anybody because it was empty.

And I don't know that that's the way it works ever with Pilates studios that are in a bigger gym like this. You asked her about the appointment after it was empty. So that wasn't great. Then once you realized it was empty, you that wasn't great. Um, then once you realized it was empty, you took a picture of the empty place cause you were mad. Cause we don't like being told that we can't do something,

whether you're fucking two or 20, 50, my dad, sometimes it's 70, you know, like, be like, Hey dude.

And none of us really like it. Some are worse than others. You seem to really not like it. And all she did was tell you, you can't use the fucking room. And then she probably lied about the appointment or maybe she didn't, or maybe the other person was late. You went in there assuming the worst because you were already sort of pre-pissed off. And then when you asked if you could take a picture of her calendar book, that's totally

crossing a fucking line. That's the same guy. Once you said that that you lost me i appreciate you listen to the pod once you said that you totally fucking lost me okay now you've been very honest to your own detriment in this email so we appreciate that so i don't know that you insulted her but then when you were lifting and it seemed like one of the managers was like okay what happened and you were like that didn't happen and then you told them if you want me out here go get security then they fucking granted your wish and they're totally gonna do that every time by the way and then you started losing your shit on them apparently two separate times Hey, man, I love the gym. I love the gym.

But you fucked up. And I think you took this to a level that it didn't need to be taken to. They may have lied about the insult thing. But the other part of it, especially with a gym this big, with the corporate structure this way, nobody's taking your side. Nobody's going back to a female Pilates instructor from corporate being like we don't believe you that's not happening so i would uh look i'm pretty intense myself but there's a few tidbits in this clues if you will that tell me you're a pretty combative person and I'm not taking your side. Yeah. It seems a little bit like you go to a gas station or a pizza place or something. You're

like, hey, can I use your bathroom really quick? I'm going to buy something. It's like, this is kind of like the contract we kind of entered into. It's like, yeah, I buy something and I could use your bathroom. You're kind of a rest stop or you're a place. Right. And they're like, oh, our bathrooms doesn't work or something, or we don't have a bathroom. And it's like, when that is in that instance, you could be like, I see the bathroom key right there. You could be like, so where do you go to the bathroom? Or you could just be like, okay, all right. What's like, what's going to happen here? What do I, I'm going to accost you until you hand over this bathroom key. And then it's like, no, you're dug in

and I'm just supposed to kind of let it go. Sort of like there's rooms you don't go in in some places where it's like, yeah, that's for staff only. Obviously that's not what you're doing, but like you're a customer, the business has rules and you're pretty much, they can pretty much refuse service to anybody.

That's kind of, there's a sign there usually in any business somewhere. So it's like, you know, once you kind of get the feel for the situation, you kind of, it doesn't really matter if you're right or wrong. Like it could be that there's like an insurance thing and she's like, or it's a stupid policy. And it's like, she could tell you the whole policy or she could just tell you no and hope that no is enough for a person, you know, in a place of business that you'll be like, oh, they said no. All right. That's stupid. But you know, I don't know. It just seems like, I don't know. It seems like perhaps you were an unruly customer multiple

times. And, um, I think it's definitely, I think what, what muddies it up is because you're like, you know, I pay, what is it? Three. If you have the, if you have the, you know, the, any club pass, you're paying $300 a month. You could probably say like, well, I should be able to pretty much, you know, this should be seamless for me wherever I go, the amount of money I pay. But you know, the truth is, like you said, like, you know, Equidox is fine. They're not like, they don't need everybody to be thrilled with them all the time. So, you know, if you, if you're pissing people off and you're pretty much running out of friends and your only friend is a security guy that bounced you out of there, I mean, I don't know,

you're not really going to get your way. I think you should have just probably said, okay. And, you know, maybe let out a sigh or, you know, maybe a little chuckle to let her know you're unhappy with her. But yeah, I just need to take a picture of your calendar for my records. I mean, that's kind of insane behavior and just all the other stuff. I think you made it so you had no friends in this interaction quickly. So yeah, maybe you're a gold gym guy now or something, but I don't know. I try to work on your people skills even though it seems like you know with ecodox things should be catered to you more than in other situations yeah but you always got to remember too like on the other side and that's why everybody should

probably be a bartender or waiter or waitress at some point like everybody should have to work in the service industry for like one year so that i think it would all make us better with other people because you know that manager may be the worst the pilates instructor may be a liar you know there may be some real truth but you you know i mean there's there's plenty of times where i'm like all right i'm going for it and i'm going to tell this person how i feel but uh there's a lot of times when when i don't do it i'm like man i'm really glad i didn't do that you know and this is those are like career things at times so who knows those are far more important than getting a workout in but yeah i'm sorry man i got like eight or seven or eight things here that i wrote

down where you you kind of like tell us that you're ready to fucking go who won the turnover battle here not him right yeah right? Yeah, right. He's a minus eight. I got him at a minus eight here. Oh, man. Yeah, take the hit, man. Take the hit, especially when you're not running things.

All right, well, good luck. That'll do it for us on Friday. Thanks to Kyle, as always. The Ryan Rosillo Podcast. Ringers Podcast. you