The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Do the Suns Have a Weakness? Plus, All-Time Point Guards With Wosny Lambre, and Joel McHale.

Episode Date: July 9, 2021

Russillo shares his thoughts on Suns-Bucks Game 2, as well as the dwindling NBA Finals ratings (0:45) before talking to The Ringer’s Wosny Lambre about the Suns seeming to have no holes their game, what to watch for in Game 3 in Milwaukee, where Chris Paul ranks all time among NBA point guards, and more (15:30). Then Ryen talks with actor, comedian, and TV host Joel McHale about his career, playing college football, and more (47:10). Finally, Ryen answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (1:17:15). Host: Ryen Russillo Guests: Wosny Lambre and Joel McHale Producers: Kyle Crichton and Steve Ceruti  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

what was it about bank manager that it was like yep i don't know i have i must have a look uh yeah i play not anymore though you look too you don't look like a bank manager anymore which is a compliment i look yeah i look like i've robbed a bank uh but i i think i play dicks and bank managers and so uh somehow that they yeah those crossed and I call it on-screen goals. That is the great Joel McHale. Playing guys that nobody likes in movies. We're going to have Wass on talking some NBA finals and where Chris Paul could rank with the other great point guards

and a big, big life advice at the end. A little different this time. You'll enjoy it. Today's open to the pod. Obviously, I'm going to talk about game two, but I also want to talk about the ratings a little bit and bring in a bunch of different things here. And specifically, not the ratings part of it, but specifically what we're seeing here basketball-wise with Phoenix that I think is important. Okay, so game two, we see it, right? We see the effort. We see Drew Holiday picking up Chris Paul a little bit more. Simmons and I on Sunday, or I call it the Sunday pod,

but the Game 1 pod recap. Like, this is something we actually talked about. We were like, okay, what are the adjustments? Will they go small? We saw that again. I think it's clear Bud thinks his best chance is going small, but I don't really know how they're going to do that. Lopez, 28 minutes last night, and him having to figure out,

okay, my rotation's really small because they abandoned Forbes. So I don't know. We'll figure out some more of this stuff because we'll talk about it a little bit later. But you see the effort from Drew Holiday. You see the force from Giannis, right? It kind of felt like if there was a fight and then the loser got the rematch, right? So let's say it's a boxing match, big boxing match, right? Whatever. The guy that loses in the rematch right so let's say it's boxing match big boxing match right whatever the guy that loses in the rematch comes out in that first round and is like really moving a bunch of floor connected a couple shots crowd starting to go crazy and you're like look at his energy look at all of this effort this is awesome van gundy even mentioned it because all of us on the

outside are adjustment obsessed i I would warn that whenever I'm like, okay, adjustments, what adjustment specifically, if you're going to talk about a coach sucking, tell me the adjustments that he needs to make, you know, like, because a lot of us will say it and very few of us will ever offer up, hey, you should go ahead and try this. You know, because I just think it's a little bit more complicated than just adjustment, adjustment, adjustment. I can talk lineups. I can talk substitutions.

I can talk, hey, they're doing this and now they're doing this and they're trying all these different things. It doesn't mean, by the way, that just because there's an adjustment, like sometimes there are no adjustments. I actually do believe that. Nobody seems to want to ever buy into that a little bit. But Van Gundy, who we all know how much I love on a broadcast, makes the broadcast makes the great point he goes you know you can talk about going under or over a screen he goes sometimes adjustments your effort and your attitude and that's exactly what we saw in

the first quarter effort attitude it wasn't hey we're gonna drop coverage from the free throw line to the rim okay now we're not gonna drop we're gonna blitz on every pick and roll or now we're gonna do this or this is the thing that we're hunting on our offense that we're going to blitz on every pick and roll or now we're going to do this or this is the thing that we're hunting on our offense that we're going to look try to do let's see what happens here because some teams if they think there's a really weak defender they're like we're just going to beat you up in three switches even if we don't make it to kind of like oh hey this is what we're going to do and now you're going to have to figure something else out right so all of these things are happening moving around but van gundy's overall point is and this is why coaches always are crazy people this is why they always are crazy people. This is

why they're perfectionists because they will see on tape and they want this maximum effort version of all the athletes, which is basically we've learned impossible. So that disconnect is, is lived for decades in sports, but that's why the coaches are always demanding it, hoping to push you as close to that version of perfection that you can get to that perfection level of effort of, you know, these things that are things that are like hey look you don't even have to be the biggest the best guy like just keep fighting fight over the screens get box out position make sure when you there's a ball up in the air and you are about to rebound just make sure you actually are aware of where your box out assignment is instead of losing that because if you lose it once you can lose a

game right because we've seen all that stuff happen. So we're all excited about it now. Aren't we, Milwaukee fans? You're seeing it all. And then the first quarter's over. It's 29-26. And you're like, okay, that sucks. The Suns made 23s last night. Three-point shot is worth too much.

And the Suns are a good shooting, but not a crazy volume three-point shooting team because they have so many other options. So it is a little bit like the rematch in boxing where that first round was awesome. It was all sorts of excitement. And I wouldn't say you go back to the cards and be like, you actually lost the first round. But you'd be maybe five or six rounds into the rematch going, who's up on points? You're like, you're actually down. Because Phoenix can do a bunch of different things. Before I get to that, I want to spend just a few minutes

praising Giannis, not just for his game, 42-12-4, three blocks, 15-22 shooting, one of five on threes. We're not going to worry about that right now. But his third quarter, 20-3, the most points in a quarter of an NBA Finals game We're not going to worry about that right now. But his third quarter, 20 in the third, the most points in a quarter of an NBA Finals game since Michael Jordan in 1993 against the Suns with 22 points. And Giannis even went 9 of 14 from the free throw line.

And that was, Middleton's giving me nothing. Drew still can't make a shot. We can't really seem to stop them. They're on fire from three. I'm going to go all effort all the time. Giannis is not perfect. I don't know if there ever is a perfect player.

When we've spent years being like, does LeBron really look comfortable in those big moments? I think he had some stuff there early on that was pretty obvious that it was wearing on him. Going through the experience, I don't even think about it anymore with him.

Steph, who I love, he's had a few possessions that I'd like him to have back over his playoff career. But, you know, when you think about his impact in the game, and you're like, oh, was he a little off tonight? Like, no, he had 33. You know, shot 50%, 40 from three again. Like, oh, okay. Yeah, but he missed the three with like two minutes left. Like, yeah, he had 33. Shot 50%, 40 from 3 again. Like, oh, okay. Yeah, but he missed the 3 with like 2 minutes left.

Yeah, he did. Okay. Chris Paul had that Oklahoma City series where he had those... It's called two playoffs or two turnovers in that one game historically. I think the first turnover is egregious. The second one was a little... It wasn't great, but it wasn't the worst thing ever.

But those stick to him. So even the best players, even the best players, Durant used to have it. They're like, oh, is he really going to put the effort in to fight? This is going back to the Thunder years. We've spent a lot of time talking about the stars and going, is he really going to be one of those guys? Is he always comfortable? I think we've done it with everybody.

Whatever Giannis' limitations are, because I still think we all understand what they are, where I'm going to never put him ahead of Durant as a player, I don't know that I'm ever going to question Giannis' effort. And it's something that I've always loved about him, and I've mentioned it before so many times, where he's a guy when Embiid is the only thing between Giannis and the rim, Giannis is going to go right at him.

He doesn't care. His fight, his want to, all that shit that matters, the stuff I like about Chris Paul, Giannis has those things. I'm not saying he's the perfect offensive player. There are limitations at times, but he took over that third quarter with effort and the understanding

the responsibility he has as an MVP and leader of a team in the NBA Finals. So back to the Suns. I've joked that I think those last four or six minutes of a playoff game is when we really should be judging every player. Like, okay, all right, cool, you guys made a bunch of threes.

All right, you've got 25. All right, you had a ton of assists. Hey, this guy's got some rebounds. All right, you've made a few all-star teams. Hey, you were fourth in MVP voting. Maybe this is a a really big deal you got a max contract not a big deal but the last four or six minutes were you just can't hide anymore or if you are hiding then you're hit and now we know but phoenix doesn't have like hey let's spread them out maybe a three will go down right they don't have some big who is like, this guy's awesome,

except when we can't play him, even though he's a max guide, he has all these awards. Or, hey, it's a point guard who is going to dribble and dribble and dribble, kind of looking for himself the entire time, and then he's only going to pass when his whole thing isn't going to work out, and then the possession's so screwed up that it's up to you to figure something out with the basketball now with five seconds left in the shot clock.

Phoenix is the opposite of all those things. Chris Paul, high pick and roll. All right, what are you going to do? You're going to double it? You're done, because I'm going to throw it to somebody else because I'm Chris Paul. You're going to switch it?

All right, I'm probably going to dribble past this guy. All right, you're not going to switch it, but now I have a weird angle where you're running me off the three-point line, which I don't even care about, even though I can hit him. And then I'm going to run you into the mid-range, which most people are not equipped to defend. All right. Oh, you want to really force the issue and try to get the ball out of Chris Paul's hands? All right. Well, Booker's going to bring the ball up and he's going to initiate the offense because all the years the Suns didn't have

a point guard and Booker had to do these things. Okay, you think Bridges just sits in the corner and is a corner three guy like P.J. Tucker with Houston where it's like, don't move from this spot ever? No, because Bridges will up fake you, drive and finish with size and force. Cam Johnson, who doesn't just hit every shot, it seems like, can dribble a little. I'm not saying he's going to ISO anybody, but also has really just, Cam Johnson just makes really good decisions and he's good with the basketball and he's not a, you know, some of these three and D guys we become obsessed with. We almost like the idea of they can't do anything else where bridges aren't

three and D guys. Those are well rounded basketball players. Can you marry me? Do points a game bridges would get in a crap team. If he were the number one scoring option, I think I'd be getting 25 a game. I mean, Cal Bridges is your number one option. Your team probably isn't that good.

And then Aiton, who had a bad night last night. He was out of it from the jump. He had a lot of those possessions that reminded me of midseason Aiton where you're like, what the hell's going on? Why can't you catch the basketball? I just had a bad night. We'll see what happens. But even with him, he's not a big that has to be completely supported offensively

because he has touch, he has some real skills, and when he starts hitting turnaround jumpers, it's over, and he makes his free throws. So whenever you think of some of the players or teams and their approach in those closing four to six minutes of a big playoff game where I think all of the praise is heaped on the victors, but at the same time, it exposes the problems. Phoenix, by design right now, they can't really be exposed because they're not reliant on just one or two things.

Last thought here, the ratings for the NBA Finals. We've got the Game 1 results. We'll have Game 2 probably as this pod posts. So forgive me for not having them. These numbers are terrible. There's no other way to put it.

We all know how much I like the NBA, but I'm not going to sit here and be like, well, actually, you know, because look, people there's nothing more creative. And again, this is a little inside baseball for you, but is inside baseball a term that's going to phase out at some point? Because I don't even like as I just said it out loud, but I don't think most people care about ratings. But when I share this with you, the ratings for game one, Suns Bucks, 8.5 million. Last year was 7.4 million, Lakers Heat game one. So you're like, oh, okay, that's up, which is what ratings people are going to tell you. Like, hey, we're up. No, you're not. Let's go back four years. The 2017 game one viewership number was 18.74 million.

So that means 10 million less viewers for game one of the NBA finals in just four years. I don't have an answer for you. If I did, I'd be making more money. Yes, it was Warriors Cavs part three. Yes, it's LeBron. Yes, it's Durant. Yes, it's LeBron. Yes, it's Durant. Yes, it's Steph. And a little clay for Cerruti.

2018, that number went from $18.7 million to $17.6 million. So, you're in the ballpark. Who knows what day it was. You could probably factor that kind of stuff in. And then once Toronto was in the mix and there was no LeBron, it went from $17.5 million to $12.3 million, which makes sense. I mean, it's Toronto and there's no LeBron. That's it. I know there's

a lot of other points that are brought up. A lot of stuff that's debated. Hey, is it part of the social stuff? Whatever it is. I mean, people that are turned off from the NBA because of social justice messages throughout a game, the number's not 10 million people. It's not zero, but it's not 10 million people. And there's no way that that's the overwhelming factor here. It's no LeBron. And then it's also something that should be a lesson to all of us that pretend to be experts when it comes to programming because we were on TV. So we think, oh, well, we get it.

Because I remember I even asked the NBA about it. And this wasn't my idea other people have talked about it but i just say hey you know this is an opportunity this is going back to last year do you think this could maybe forever impact the nba calendar where you run your finals through august you own that dead period where we had all these basketball tournaments and everybody is trying to figure out a way to capitalize on this empty sports period of the last two weeks of july because we were seeing it with all this different programming. And then that way you punt on the fall and then you start the NBA season Christmas and you're away from

college football. And by the time the Super Bowl is over, you're a month into it and then you own the rest of that calendar. All right. I've brought it up. Others have brought it up. I'm not, I don't know who was the first person to ever bring it up. So when all of the stuff happened with the work, well, I'm not going to call it a work stop, but just that being accurate when basketball stopped, let's say that because it wasn't like some sort of CBA deal. I asked the league office, I go, is this a chance to test this out and maybe see what happens? And the guy was emphatic about it. He goes, you guys that keep bringing this up, you're wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong. We do studies on this, guys. And the number of TVs that are on in the United States during that stretch of July and

into August, it's just a lower number because people are gone. And then you add in that the country basically opened up mid-June. So you have NBA finals games in July where people, for the most part, haven't been able to go anywhere for a year. So the travel part of this, whether it's getting on a plane, which I don't even think it's as much as, it depends on what kind of booking numbers you look at or stocks, you know, everything, all that kind of stuff. Just people getting in their car and going somewhere instead of deciding to stay home and watch more basketball at night. That's the biggest impact. So that part, finals games in July, no LeBron, clearly part of it, but it's still a really scary number from four years

ago. But it's also evidence of why the NBA was like, actually, we don't want to do that. We don't want to have our finals and playoffs go through July and then have the finals in August just because we're avoiding football. The number of TVs on in homes based on our studies is a significantly lower number because people have lives and people go places during those two months. And that's not what we want to have our best basketball on. And I think this number is a pretty good indicator that the NBA kind of knew what they were talking about when that was their stance. Our guest here, Wazzy Lambert,

he's been real cool to me for a long time, going back to ESPN days. So what's up, Waz? Long time, man. I know, it's been a minute. Last time I saw you was at, was 2019 the draft camp in Chicago? Combine, yeah.

The Combine. And I remember our conversation because the Bucs had just gone up 2-0. And I was like, God damn it. I picked the Raptors to go to the finals. I can't believe this is happening. And you said to me, I'll never forget it. He's like, I don't think this thing is over. And, of course, the Raptors come back and win the series. But I'll never forget it. He's like, I don't think this thing is over. And of course, the Raptors come back and win the series,

but I'll never forget that. You're like, I don't think the series is over. It was one of those funny things. I'll never forget that because I was bummed because people were killing me on the internet. Like, yeah, you thought the Raptors were going to do it. And then Rosillo restored my confidence in my pick and I ultimately ended up being right.

I took a victory lap on that too, but I didn't tell people about the humility I felt after going down 0-2. Hey, look, it's a tough business. I mean, it's not that hard. We get to talk sports and it's not that bad, but like when you get stuff wrong, that Raptors thing, and Saruti remembers this, but I had picked the Raptors to come out of the East before the season started. And honestly, I didn't even give myself a ton of credit for it because I was just trying to do something a little different. I was just trying to do something a little different and sometimes it works

and sometimes you look like a fool. So I was still sticking to it there. But I remember I actually even went on, I went on first take and it's when they had had, remember how the Philly series was weird and there were blowouts and then whoever won in the blowout, they're like, all right, this thing's over.

And it was just one of those weird spots on first take. I was like, look, I just think you guys are wrong. I think Toronto's still the best team in the East, but we'll see what happens. And then it was just like, wait, did I get that one right? And it was, you know, look, for all the shit you take when you get something wrong, it feels good when you get something right. But yeah, I just like that Raptors team.

I just felt like they had so many scores. They had so many scores. I think it's a kind of a nice little preview into the the suns in a way if you're a gm not that it's easy to do but if you can find a way to always have five guys that can kind of beat you with a shot or a little bit more and get you something off the dribble even a couple dribbles it really changes how you're defended five guys that can score and that that's what Toronto had. Yeah, and the thing about the Suns and the Raptors is that I don't know that Toronto did have one thing they were excellent at, and that was defense. But I don't know that the Suns are excellent at anything, but they are not horrible at

a single thing. There's not one thing you can just go, I'm going to pick on you with that one thing, and I know I'm going to be able to bear fruit from that. They don't have that. They don't have a glaring weakness on the team, and I think that's carried them through in this weird-ass playoffs that we've had. Did you pick

the Suns, or did you not pick the Suns? I picked the Bucs. I picked the Bucs. It was kind of a... I couched it, and if Giannis plays, I think the Bucs are going to win, becauses. It was kind of a, it was, you know, I couched it. And if Giannis plays, I think the Bucs are going to win. Because I know if he's on the court, he's going to be impactful. He might not be three-time or two-time MVP.

And in the third year, I'm right there with every single other MVP candidate level guy. Although he was that last night, which I know we're going to talk about. But I think he's going to be impactful once he's on the floor so i was like if yannis plays which i knew that he would i felt like the bucks should win the series have you been anti-phoenix then or is it just because of yannis i haven't been anti-phoenix but i don't think this phoenix team is better than a healthy lakers team better than a healthy clippers uh you know or if Jamal Murray is playing I don't think they were better than a healthy Nuggets team either you know uh I just don't I just thought they were the fourth best team in the west all season and I don't not think that now that they're kicking ass in the finals all right I'll push back on that Nuggets thing I don't know why you would

I mean I just I loved what they were doing before the Murray thing happened. Like right after the trade, I just thought something special was happening with Denver. Like they were coalescing in a way and their offense was just dominant in a way that like

no team in the NBA could stop them. Maybe you could make them be less than excellent, but you were not going to stop the Denver Nuggets at being really freaking good at offense. And I like whenever a team in the playoffs has a unit that has a baseline level of competence, right?

I don't know that the Bucs have a single unit where you can say no matter what, every single game they're going to be competent. I don't think you can say that about their offense or about their defense. I thought Denver would be the type of team going into the playoffs where every single night, regardless of opponent, their offense was going to be competent. And I love that in the playoffs, something that you can rely upon. I feel like the Suns have been

the only team in the playoffs. And I think injuries have played a role in that where like their offense has been reliable every single series, every single night. Like they don't have any glaring weaknesses. They can beat you at all three levels, whether it be eight and beating small guys on the switches, CP and Booker being excellent in mid range. And of course they have shooters at three. Like I love competence regardless of opponent. Cause you know, it's matchup dependent in the playoffs. And sometimes you run into a matchup that did just like, all right, they're taking my shit away. The Suns don't have that.

The Bucs clearly, clearly don't have a reliable unit. Yeah, the Middleton Drew Holiday deal. The Drew thing to me is far more disappointing because you know when bill and i did well we did the game one pod right and he said okay now through the playoffs is middleton change your mind at all and i go not not really because i mean even those games against the hawks that fourth quarter that he had they're like i know he's capable of this i think this is why we like him i think this is why we defend middleton against the people that are like oh he sucks but there's a ceiling for me with Middleton.

And he had 11 points in game two. And the Drew Holiday stuff, now it's getting so bad. People are comparing his playoff stats to Bledsoe's stats. And they're kind of the same. And you're going, all right, well, first of all, the defense alone still gives Drew Holiday the advantage here because Bledsoe's just been disinterested at times, even though I think physically Bledsoe's had moments where you felt like you could hold up defensively, but it hasn't been any time recently. But once you start seeing, do you regret Eric Bledsoe not being here? Did I say Drew Bledsoe, by the way, just now? I do it all the time. I do it all the time.

I do it at least once every two weeks. So don't feel bad about it. But yeah, I agree with you. I think Drew, but the thing about Drew Holiday and Eric Bledsoe is that Bledsoe has absolutely never shown himself to be a reliable offensive player in any playoff setting ever in his life. Drew Holiday's shown it in the playoffs before,

in the past, and that's why I think this is more disappointing from Holiday, where it's just like, come on, dude. And it's not even just he's missing layups at the cup. He's like, also his shot selection is horrible. Like, you're making bad choices. Like, if you're just missing open spot up threes, we can be like, you know what?

Sometimes people miss shots. But he's making poor decisions. He's missing bunnies. He just looks bad. There's no way to sort of couch what he's doing on offense. He looks like a terrible offensive player. The layup part of it is really frustrating. And I've seen, I think, maybe three possessions from him

in just a couple games where he decides, okay, we're not running any screen. I'm just going to try to back Chris Paul down. down he's just actually as strong as chris paul is drew's too strong for him so we saw him move it actually now thinking back to the drew bledsoe thing i'm surprised there isn't some sort of mean where it's drew meaning j-r-u-e right bledsoe i'm surprised you would ever say the quarterback knowing where you're from and your age unless you're one of those mysteriously older guys that we well no i'm i'm a jets fan one and so bledsoe was in my division basically his whole life until he went to the cowboys right it went patriots then it went bills so

the guy was part of what i was watching for a long time so you know and i'll oh god i don't want to get into my anti-patriots thing but like we he got taken out of the game against us it was us that took him out that ushered in the freaking whole brady thing that's still haunting my life so yeah i think about drew bledsoe a lot okay all right i'm glad we got to the origin of that was uh okay so back back to you know the middleton part because i i want to touch on some yana stuff because i spent a few minutes on it in the open is you're right like there's not one thing that you necessarily have to cut the head off with the phoenix suns offensively um there are guys that do multiple things and bridges can have a five-point game and you may not notice and then you can see him last with the Phoenix Suns offensively. There are guys that do multiple things,

and Bridges can have a five-point game, and you may not notice, and then you can see him last night and be like, this guy's not only just a stick-in-the-corner three-point shooter, he's a guy that can put it on the floor and really hurt you. And I think he's so awkward to the rim

that it kind of screws people up because his body control is like elite, elite. So there's these other factors, there's these other things. And then Aiton, who wasn't great in game game two we've seen him throughout the playoffs have other nights where he's a guy that you really have to worry about um because he's set up so well too but when middleton's and ofer drew misses all these layups and then janice has to do what he did in the third quarter with that 20 point performance i know that we've spent and i

tweeted this last night like we spend so much time going hey remember like early lebron stuff like does he look comfortable we did it with kd when he was in oklahoma city like how come russ is the guy that's more into this and kd can't get free off the screen and all this different shit at least with janice whatever his limitations are offensively because there still are some his want to his fight the mental part of it what we saw from him last night like i walk away maybe i do this too often after losses but i walk away feeling even better about who giannis is as a player 100 uh and it's funny because i'm watching the game and i'm taking notes last night because

i'm like all right i'm going on rassilo tomorrow i want to have something interesting to say right and i'm just like and i'm like at halftime, I'm like, yo, he's going to have to do a LeBron. He's going to have to pull a LeBron. And the thought that came to my mind was last year's championship was the worst LeBron has played in a championship win before. Like anyone, the MVP is what I'm saying. Like LeBron has never played like, all right, I'm pretty good. And my team still wins the championship. Right. It's basically been, I've been insanely good and we won the championship. And I'm like, that's kind of what Giannis has to do at halftime. I'm thinking this. And then he comes out and he does that third quarter. And I'm like,

Eureka, he, this is what he has to do. And it's still not enough, right? Like, it's still not enough because the guys around him, one, aren't stepping up to the challenge, but two, Ryan, what I think, and, you know, we're going to get into the bud component of this. I just think Milwaukee as a team isn't getting everything out of what they have in the way that the Suns are. The Suns have Milwaukee, and that might be just by virtue of Milwaukee being easily scoutable. The Suns have everything Milwaukee wants to do scouted, whether it be like on the switches, that

quick lob to Aiton, you know, when they do the, there were times where they were doing the hard double on Chris Paul, and Chris Paul was getting it out super quick to the right person immediately like they just know exactly what Milwaukee wants to do they know when they want to overhelp and just hit a guy for a wide open corner three which they were 10 or 17 on last night like

I don't know what you're doing in defense that like all right what we want is open corner threes for the Phoenix Suns but fine y'all decided that rim attacks were part of it. But yeah, Giannis can be as great as he wants. Just as a team, they're just not getting it done. I feel like the Suns optimized every single possession for what the best possible outcome could be. When Drew Holiday is taking a step back 19 19 foot or long twos with 19 seconds left on the clock. That's a team that's not optimizing every single possession. And so when you add into the fact that like Phoenix is super keyed into what they want to do,

most of their players are playing up to their capabilities. And then you have the Bucks who God knows what they want to do possession to possession. And then you have the bucks who god knows what they want to do possession to possession and then the two key guys who aren't yannis are playing horribly you know it's tough and they still i feel like should have had a nice little chance to win the game last night well they got it to five i think on the lopez alley-oop and then you had conantin miss a three that would have cut it from six to three points. And I mean, even the first quarter, as you were going through it,

you're thinking, okay, actually I thought the first quarter was a bad sign, even though Milwaukee played hard and was up 29-6 at the end of it, as I touched on in the open there a little bit. So that's where as bad as this is felt, and it's not like they're getting blown out, blown out here, okay?

The Suns in four guy, I think has led to the Suns and Four chant in a way. Now everybody wants it to happen again because everybody likes Suns and Four guy, which is one of the rare times you ever see an arena fight where everybody seems to be okay with one of the guys. But I'm not going to be surprised if Milwaukee wins game three at home. Right. Same, same, same. I think the Suns definitely are being carried by their crowd. You can just tell they're really in tune with what's happening with the crowd. And I think the Bucs have every series gotten better,

which is kind of as the series has progressed, which is damning with faint praise. But that's been every single series in the playoffs not counting Miami where as it progressed like remember the Bruce Brown game where it's like I feel like people don't understand the analytics part of it right where it's like you want a guy taking floaters or you want a team shooting mid-rangers unless it's KD or Devin Booker and Chris Paul and there's no resistance and it's wide open like sure you want Bruce Brown taking a floater if he's driving to the basket there's a guy on his hip he's off balance and he's shooting a floater not if he's

catching the ball cleanly Brooke Lopez is basically standing out of bounds. He's so low in his drop coverage, and he just gets to take a balanced one-handed six-footer. No, that's not the floater that you want guys taking. But as the series progresses, you'll see the Bucs, Lopez in particular, be like, all right, I can come out a little bit more on this guy. I can force CP3 maybe every now and again to try to finish a layup on me instead of

taking a very comfortable mid-range, which is what he ultimately wants, right? And the Bucks can just be more dynamic in what they're doing. This whole cookie cutter, one size fits all defense, where it's like, we're doing the drop no matter what. We're switching no matter what. We're switching, no matter what. How about if Crowder's guy is the one setting the screen? Yeah. Hard double CP. Get it to Crowder. Yeah, beat me on the short roll, bro. Create with the ball in space.

I want to see you actually do that one day, Crowder. Instead of like, all right, even when it's Devin Booker's guy, we do the hard double because that's what we said we were going to do out of the timeout. Like in the playoffs against somebody as smart as CP where he's like, if I know exactly what you want to do every time, I can beat it. You need to diversify what you're trying to do based on the action the other team runs. That's like, this is the finals. This is not regular season against the magic. You can't just go out and run your base stuff

and think it's going to get it done. But I think as the series progresses, we'll see them do more and more of that stuff. Yeah, I think the Bucs have made a bunch of adjustments, but when you're talking about the original screen defenders then priority

after the fact, that's something different. When they went small, I think we're going to see more small. Lopez played 28 minutes last night. I'll double check it here. But they closed and they probably felt like they made their run there when they went small again. I wonder if they're going to just try something smaller. But then they've even limited their rotation

to only seven guys. So it's not like they can play six guys now. Because I thought Milwaukee was exhausted there at the end and so forbes may be on the shelf here because they feel like he's the guy that everybody's seeking out um in some switches a little bit later on but the bigger point you know i remember they had that booker wide open three in the second half that was chris paul getting a screen and then there was another screen where then Booker got away from everybody. And then it's like when you run that second screen action, that's when you really screw teams up. Because it's like, OK, everything's in front of his high screen and roll.

If he uses the screen, we can dictate the coverage direction. And then now we're good. OK, now we're playing defense again. But when you do it a second time with somebody like Chris Paul, that's why Booker got that that one that was wide open from three so i don't know yeah 28 minutes for lopez i don't know if they'll you know to sit here and say okay they're just going to have to abandon lopez because it's clear that both games bud feels like their best chance is going small um i don't i don't know i mean they're running out of guys guys. You're not going to play six guys in a finals game. And, you know, playing Giannis on a bum knee at the five for extended minutes or expecting him, you know, because I think I personally stop me if you've heard this before, Ryan.

I think the Bucs best chance is Giannis at the five. Right. Buck's best chance is Giannis at the five, right? And particularly switching everything with Giannis at the five because, yeah, I do think he can bother people while being up on them, even with his limited lateral mobility, right? But at the same time, can you ask him to do that for 42 minutes? I just don't think. I don't think you can because i think he runs

himself into exhaustion when he's healthy you know we saw i think it was the net series and jared greenberg who was on the call with tnt doing the sideline stuff he goes hey you know i remember him tweeting it out he goes yannis is absolutely spent and i'm thinking like okay i'm sure he's tired and then we saw the video footage of it he wasn't exaggerating like he was like hyperventilating like trying to get and you're going this is this is how into it yannis is and then after that third quarter and now with the knee part of it and the whole deal um hey let me ask you about because i saw this last night and i don't know who had it i don't know if you would tweet it out because i was looking through some stuff just to not that i needed much prep um to have you on but there were some people saying

like i hope ben simmons is watching yeah that was that was me. Was it? That was me. That was you. Okay. I hope he's watching this third quarter. Okay. This is what you freaking do. Can I just push back on that a little bit? Like there's no in bead in the way for Yannis.

So it's, there's a little different. Like, I know it's not cool to be fair to Ben Simmons right now, but that's a little different. So I guess it was your tweet. It was my prep, but that's not,

it's not really about that per se. It's like you're driving to the hoop, you're six feet away, and then your back is to the basket so you can pass it while you have the ball in your hand because you are deathly afraid of going up there. To me, what it's about is like

there are going to be two or three times where you look awful at the free throw line. Right. Where you are personally embarrassed by what you did at the free throw line. But in the aggregate, you going there all the time and just sucking it up and accepting the fact that you're going to look bad. And in the aggregate, your team is going to be helped by it. That's the message that you should be getting from Giannis. It's like, no matter how terrible I look up here, I got a whole stadium of people doing a damn countdown clock on me, all of that. In the aggregate, whether it be putting eight in them

in foul trouble, whether it be I'm getting my rhythm, whether it be just the pure math of it all, if I just basically get to 51% of these, that's a – like Doc Rivers said, basically a 110 offensive rating out of these possessions is a pretty good outcome from my team. In the aggregate, that helps and it matters. And Giannis is so obviously in tune with that, whereas our other guy isn't. Not even naming him now. Ben Simmons, our other guy. That's the point that I was trying to illustrate. It's just a mentality of like, this is good for my team.

Me at the free throw line is good for my team. And Giannis made his free throws in the third quarter for the most part, too. Okay, let me finish up the last few minutes because I think this is a bigger picture thing here. Were you a Chris Paul guy or as a New York city guy? I don't know about you guys sometimes. You don't really appreciate it unless it's yours. No.

So it's, it's two things going with Chris Paul. One is by the way, just to interrupt Boston is just as guilty as the same thing Boston loves a bunch of guys that aren't from Boston so go ahead of course I think that it's twofold with Chris Paul one the obvious part to get out the way he's so obviously been excellent like this isn't a question right like okay I'm worried empirically It's empirically true. But no, the second part is like, I tend to gravitate towards the guys that barbershop Twitter is against.

And I'm just like, all right, this is a guy that I fuck with, right? Like, I'll give you examples of this. Like Blake Griffin. When people were like, he's just this unskilled guy. He's a brute. He's just athletics. He doesn't do, I'm like, wait a minute.

Blake Griffin got handled. Blake Griffin's an. He doesn't do. I'm like, wait a minute. Blake Griffin got handled. Blake Griffin's an excellent passer. Blake Griffin every single year is extending his range to 15 to 17 to 19 to three point. This is a guy who obviously works hard in his game and is very skilled. I tried it with Dwight Howard. It worked for about a week. I couldn't handle it. But it's just something that i do like i take up the cause of people like barry bonds even alex rodriguez where whoa it got kind of touch and go with some of the craziness that went on with what was your pro a rod stance which which years are we talking i'm a match fan i lived in new york and all these damn jeter people and i'm like a

rod is so fucking clearly better than that fucking dude. Are you shitting me? It's not even close, right? But in New York on the ground, they hated. They all just were like anti-A-Rod as if he wasn't one of the best players ever. Right. So that was the thing with A-Rod. And obviously we know the Barry Bonds thing, right?

Like where everybody pretty much decided he wasn't an asshole and hated him. So Chris Paul was one of those people where people pretended like he wasn't obviously excellent. Like he wasn't obviously like it's like Magic Johnson, Steph Curry. Who else you got? Well, Isaiah, because I think Isaiah always is slotted in behind Magic. I don't know why. I mean, I know why. I think Isaiah is actually historically pretty underrated.

But if Chris Paul gets this one, like if I say this out loud, I'm going to be like, is it a certainty that Chris Paul's career is behind Isaiah Thomas's? It isn't. I mean, Isaiah's got the – he's going to have the extra ring unless Chris Paul gets another one, but statistically in longevity wise, because Isaiah was done at such an early age, but I still think I defend Isaiah more historically. And then Stockton never gets taken seriously. I take Stockton very seriously. He's never like, if you see a top five with him, you're, I'm more surprised and I'm not like knocking stockton or anything i'm probably a

little dismissive of it if i've already talked about chris paul before i've talked about stockton i mean that feels kind of historically wrong but i guess sometimes i'm just going to say hey look i've watched all the guys i'd like this guy better i thought he was better that's it i'm sorry like there's not much else i'm gonna do and then when we take it out to the point guard thing like what are you supposed to do with steph because if you're really saying it then steph's probably too behind magic and ahead of all the guys we just named if we're actually saying point guard even though it feels like point guard is just different now and then you'd go like okay well now what would i do with harden you know so that's that's the point guard part of it is going to be really weird historically when we move it

out a few more years from whatever we're watching right now. I think my peers who are, you know, my main man inside stuff era type of guys, right? Where GP and Jason Kidd just looked cooler than Stockton. But the reality is when you talk about no holes in your game, it's John Stockton. Like he could score when he wanted to, was guarding the best perimeter guys all the freaking time. We don't need to talk about the floor game. Like, that big shot that sent him to the 97 finals was Stockton that took it, right?

Like, this guy, just go look up John Stockton's number. It's not even, this is something we don't even need to talk about. He's there. No, we didn't even mention Nash either. So, you know, when you talk about impact on, you know, how the game was evolving there a little bit, I mean, between Magic and Curry, it's tough to top impact part of it, but it still feels like it's not cheating.

It's just categorizing it has become more difficult because of the expansion of what the point guard job is. But when, if Chris Paul, wins, I shouldn't say win because I still think Milwaukee's going to get game three here and then we're going to have a series. But Chris Paul gets this ring and then he's hacking a few more years. I don't know. I don't know how many guys I'm going to be putting ahead of him

just because there's going to be a default thing where I'll say I know what Stockton's stats are and it's not just about the rings thing. I'll just say that I would rather have Chris Paul for 10 years than i would stockton even though i respect the hell out of stockton yeah that's this to me this is not like on the internet it's a debate in real life it's not a debate uh chris paul is going to end up being behind magic and steph and that's basically it we're going to be able to talk about john stockton but the rest of of these and I guess Isaiah and the Isaiah thing I do want to say, one, he was the best offensive player on a team that won because of their historic defense. Right. And so that's just a categorical fact. OK, so that's just what it is. Y'all could do with that what you guys want to do with that. And two, I'll say this. It's not like he wasn't capable of doing what guys today do. He did what he was asked to do. So I think that's how we have to contextualize his career.

It's obvious watching him that could shoot the three, could shoot the mid range, was taking guys to the rack. Nobody could stay in front of him. Like it's obvious that that's the type of player, dynamic player that he was. But we got to talk about what you actually put on the floor, you know, and weirdly, this reminds me of Westbrook's MVP season in 2017. It's like, and Isaiah is sort of the other side of that coin. like Westbrook like you can say what you want about the stats but he did the work right like he's that co-worker who who got who racked up trillions of hours of OT so he deserves to get paid for it right like he he did the work out on the floor like it happened so we got to give it to him for the work that he did you could could say like, all right, he was kind of doing the try hard thing. He was trying to impress the bosses in a weird way. You could say whatever you want to say, but the work got done, you know? And I think Isaiah, the work didn't get done, but you could say he wasn't asked to do it. He didn't put the actual stats, the actual things that we could tangibly hold on to on the floor.

You know, so you can do your eye testing. You can do your leadership thing. You can do your, he bridged the gap between, he invented the modern point guard as far as how he handled it and all of that kind of stuff. But, you know, at the same time, like guys like Stockton guys like Chris Paul they put the they put the work in on the floor like we can people that aren't going to be able to say that they watch this stuff in real time we're going to be able to pick up a piece of paper and say well hold on now did did he actually do all of this stuff yeah the Isaiah numbers historically aren't going to hold up especially when you're talking about generational type stuff but it was a defensive first team that was big guys trying to protect a smaller guy that ended up getting beat

up so much his career was cut short. But if you watch his playoff runs there for about five years, Isaiah was doing stuff in a league that no one was doing for a guy like him. And that's why I'll always defend him. But yeah, when it's all said and done, if Chris Paul gets a championship here, it's going to be interesting to see how big that jump is and like i always remind us all the time historically we're really bad in the moment because in the moment all of a sudden it's going to be chris paul's the second best point guard he's the third best point guard depending on what people do with steph and all that kind of stuff um i mean hell i saw a list with westbrook ahead of chris paul from an analyst no seriously it's a couple weeks ago i'm not gonna name names i'll name names when when it is when it is relevant because i know the same

guy is gonna put chris paul like ahead of him and or like and i'll be like dude you had westbrook ahead of him all time a couple weeks ago wait what are you doing all right hey so you're doing full court fits yes bringer video series we're happy to have you. Hey, so you're doing full court fits. Yes, sir. Ringer video series. Of course. We're happy to have you, man. And I know you're on a bunch of different pods. So let everybody know what's going on and where we can follow you. Yeah.

Full court fits comes out. Oh, man. It just dropped 30 minutes ago. So 9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time every single Friday on the Ringer YouTube. I talk about NBA fashion, sneaker culture. We get into a bunch of things that are, quote, unquote, outside the lines. Don't sue me, ESPN. And then, of course, I'm on group chat every single week

with Justin Verrier and Rob Mahoney on the Ringer NBA show. So check out that podcast. Check me out on group chat. Check out Full Court Fist. There's a couple of other things in the work, in the tuck. But, you know, just stay on the lookout, man. Just stay locked in and dedicated to the ringer all right man hey look i appreciate it was and i always appreciate

kind of you know a couple times we hooked up and and chatted off the air you always been cool so i appreciate it listen ryan i just want to say a couple of things one one i listen to your show all the time religiously because i know i going to hear something that I didn't think of, period. That's why I love what you do. You're constantly trying to think of, wait a minute, maybe we could think about it through that lens. So I'm a big fan of what you do. It's an honor to be on. You know, people have always said that I'm the Black Rosillo.

No, they haven't. But I'm just saying. I just love that I'm on here. I got to tell you, Black Rosillo. No, they haven't. But I'm just saying. I just love that I'm on here. I got to tell you, Black Rosillo has been taken. Apparently, there was a guy that moved into a town that I lived in and then moved into my apartment. And then all of my buddies were like, dude, you're going to lack. They're like, he's just like you are.

They're like, same deal. Did he instantly become a meathead? Did he instantly just start? No, I want to protect his identity. I want to protect his identity i want to protect his identity a little bit but they were it was because i had been gone for years and they're like dude you never you never believe it guess what black barcelo did last night and i'll just be like they're like you guys gonna meet and i would be like afraid i'd be like i think it might be like

a back to the future thing if we actually see each other in person so i don't know what spider man meme yeah there you go all right hey thanks wasp of course joel mckale joins us on the podcast i just there's a bunch of stuff that i want to do here uh i think we had you on once at espn and it was i'm not sure though because i remember it being really good oh well then i definitely was not on all right this is i'm going to admit this because i was like oh that's great let's get him on and we have you today because i was like i have this great story about a roommate of mine from college when you were hosting uh the soup which was what talk soup and then it was the soup right and he he went on blind date when he first moved to

california right oh yeah so he's you know he, yeah. So he's going to be an actor, maybe a musician. He'll have to decide further down the road. Moves to the Northeast, moves out to LA, Lookout World, drum set, Here's My Headshots, the whole deal. And he's like, what's the best way to break into feature film than be on blind date? Yeah, that's how Humphrey Bogart did it. That's exactly yeah

yeah elizabeth taylor also yep so he goes on blind date and it's a disaster but he was this guy who again is one of my best friends he had a list of all the attributes he wanted in a partner and he brought that yeah right so he told the date was going awful. And she was like, you have a list? And he's like, yeah. She's like, do you carry it around? He was like, I do. And he took the list out. And I was like, Joel McHale made fun of him.

It was so funny. And then I called my buddy to confirm it all today. And he was like, yeah, actually, it was Roger Lodge. So I was like, great. So that's a good start to the interview. But I thought I always thought it was you. Oh, so the host of Blind Date, Roger Lodge, made fun fun of him and it was not me yeah but then it ended up on the talk or talk soup and then but you got there in 2004 so it never it the clip ended up

going viral before we even knew what viral was because it was awful like it wrote on the list it had d cups and then it was crossed out and it said c cups dear god who is this guy he's not a famous actor uh are you now what's what's happened since because this was in the early 2000s it was free the soup right yeah it's again it's it's your it's you were part of the franchise it's hard to keep up the soup talk it was talk 2004 then what yeah i don't think it was you um he's divorced shocker yeah so uh is he a is he still your best friend he's a good friend he's a good friend he regrets the list i well that pretty i could have told you that one but see i don't know yeah this is the bet this

is a bad start to the interview so i i think it's great it's way better than like hey just catching up what are you up to buddy uh that's way better i i like hey i thought this clip was on your show but it wasn't yeah because for years we were like remember when mikhail crushed you we're like yeah and then everybody just repeated it for so many years and then finally somebody called them today me and i was like hey what happened because lodge made fun of me he's like and then it ended up on the soup because it's before joe mikhail he's like joe mikhail and i are cool so i guess i'll just end the segment that way by saying you guys are fine so don't worry about it uh i used to tyler probably did it because she she uh she did it in the late 90s to 2002 that's probably when it was yeah and

she's great um all right let me ask you this you've done a million different things and yes i said i agree to everything like frogger all the time in my career but when you got started i can imagine like each step of the way people kept telling you what you were and what you weren't. What's that process like for a younger person who's trying to break into a brutal industry? Uh, yeah, well, yes, it is a brutal industry, especially to break into. It is a great industry and believe me, I love it. And I'm very, can't believe my good fortune that I get to work in the entertainment business because it can be glorious and wonderful. And everyone's like, it's all cutthroat.

I'm like, it seems like a lot of businesses. But you get rejected. I mean, at least me, I was rejected a lot. And you either kind of fold and go, I am tired of that rejection, which I know that happened to a lot of very talented people that I know early on. And then there are other people and I'm in this category where the more people tell me no, the more I try to swim upstream to varying degrees, whether that's a smart thing or not. I'm not sure, because sometimes it was for ill begotten jobs. But, yeah, you you learn a lot about yourself with people telling, you know, over and over again.

So like when I did this, when I got the soup, which at that point was called the what the awards, which didn't make any sense at all because it was what the. And then there was a blank and then it said awards and people would literally go, wait, what is it called? And it's not great when you name a television show, uh, something that people don't really understand. So it was going to be like the, what the hell awards, the, what the fuck awards, the, what the heck awards. And so, uh, at that point, then I started asking a few of my actor friends. I was like, would you guys do this? It's kind of the talk soup. And everyone was like, no way, dude. Nope, wouldn't do it.

And I was like, OK, I'm doing it. And that's how it's though. And it wasn't like the soup was a hit at all for like a year and a half. And then it still wasn't a, you know, it wasn't the Kardashians. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't that because the Kardashians, we started around the same time, but obviously, and that's why I'm a billionaire. But, but yeah, so anyway, that is what it's like. And when you get the job, you're like, yes, of course I should. In my mind, I was like, I'm very qualified for

these jobs. And they're so lucky that they get to have me because I was trying so hard. I was like, yeah, I can do this. When someone gives me a shot, I'm going to do it. That does sound overly confident. But there was this time when, you know, I wasn't working a lot. But when I got a chance, it was so kind of thirst quenching and spirit lifting. I'm like, I got a job. And then it flipped where I was working so much I could barely sleep. So I was like, oh, that dream came true. And now I'm going to crash my car because I'm falling asleep. Yeah. Anyway, that was a very long answer I gave Ryan. Yeah, but it was was thorough and we like uh we like guests yeah i guess it's better than when you have a person who goes yeah yeah it was it was tough yeah we had one

of those recently it was it was a quicker interview than we thought um like interviewing uh what like highest i always equated to like major league baseball players when the person like hey you came out here you threw this and that and sadly how'd you feel about the game good we played well yeah that college athletes and look they're younger and as you get older you know you don't realize it and then you start thinking about yourself in college and you go like what would you have done you know would you have sat down there and you know given these amazing in-depth answers like scorsese being asked, you know what I mean? So we'd have guys on after a big win and they're so scared. That's the thing that I hate about interviews with sports is that athletes in general are so scared to say the wrong thing because we're such assholes on

the other side of it. It's like, wait a minute, you said this, but does that mean you were actually dismissing this, this, and this? And you're like, okay, I can't really win. So I'll be short. But I think the PR part of it and the coaching of it has eliminated so much of the personality with younger athletes. Did that happen to you a lot as a walk-on? Oh, no one wanted to interview me as a walk-on. There wasn't like, let's go to the bottom of the depth chart and see what this hacky walk-on who's going to probably quit tomorrow thinks the team is doing this

week how are they going to do against stanford that never came up but so you were a walk-on though for those that don't know two years at washington so like basically that means you're a tackling dummy yes and most people want to talk about quitting acting most people would quit that job but were you like the cool walk-on that guys loved having around? None of the walk-ons got a lot of respect, which made us try harder, which was good. And we didn't get respect for good reason because, I mean, we had respect as human beings. But on the field, the scholarship players, a lot of them were clearly better than the walk-ons. But then there was a number of walk-ons, John Fiala being one of them, who became the captain of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who immediately, you know, get that guy a scholarship.

He's tremendous. And he was always really cool. But, yeah, we – no one – I got a lot of respect on skit night. When I did skit – like, that was when the varsity players actually were like, hey, man, how's it going? And I was like, look at that. All you got to do is make fun of the team doctor, and all of a sudden the scholarship players are talking to you.

So, yeah, that's why when you, as far as personality as professional athletes on camera, obviously, obviously people like Shaq and Charles Barkley, you know, when you see those guys and even in old interviews, because Barkley would say anything that came to his mind and he could back it up. And it's you just realize they're they're very it's very rare when the the intersection of insane athletic ability and on-air gold is rare. And I remember when Barkley called out a win against, I think it was against my Sonics, and he was like, oh, no, no, we're going to win the next game.

And people were like, I can't believe it. And then he did, and then he won. That's a great series. That was, I mean, not if you're a Sonics fan, but we actually, Bill and I, I think, did that, did one of those games during the the shutdown we were going through old games then that was a good game yeah and obviously barkley nobody could block a shot like him where he would just scoop the ball out of the air and he wasn't swatting it away he would just grab it which is i mean no one no one was doing that so even as an athlete though and i kind of like i don't know that i i

went as deep on it because i think it's a huge compliment to what you've been able to do the sketch part comedy's part so obviously you know whenever you're have that comedy background it usually means your writing is great everybody loves you in community you know you got some big roles in movies and then you're still dabbling with the talk show stuff so i'd have to imagine at first like people like to typecast all of us, whether it's somebody in front of a camera or just in everyday life. Like, wait a minute, I'm comfortable knowing what you can or can't do. I almost want to put these limitations on you.

I'd imagine that even though that versatility is incredible because it's real and you've proven to be successful in so many different things that probably earlier in your career, people had a hard time figuring out. Like it was more of a challenge because they couldn't quite figure out exactly what you were, which is almost a negative in the beginning. Yeah. Well, yeah. Again, I'm I had like 17 jobs when I was a teenager and I never stopped having that same attitude. And I always and people always like, well,

do you like being a comedian actor or a host better? And I was like, do I have to choose? And why? And I never, I always, now I see example, you know, it's people like Jamie Foxx are posting stuff, but early on Alec Baldwin did the same. And, and I was just, and I remember Jimmy Smith's, we did Sons of anarchy and he was like

yeah man always keep them guessing and that's the kind of i just never wanted to i never went into it going like i'm gonna be i just was like no i love doing that and i like doing that and yeah i'm gonna say yes to that because it's fun and uh i never thought i would be a host. So, uh, it, I kind of fell and then I fell in love with, with standup. So, um, what I, for me, it just, uh, I just get exhausted and do it until I can't. Uh, so yeah, it's not a, my answer is not great, but I think when, uh, going back to what you're saying about typecasting, uh, people, seen young actors that are starting out when I was young going, I don't want to be typecast. And I was like, you pray to God, you get typecast. That you're so good at something, you get noticed for it.

And then you become solvent and people actually pay you to do that thing. You pray to God and pray to God you have the problem of breaking the typecasting right so like woody harrelson probably typecast as a sitcom actor when he was on cheers obviously that that changed and so uh yeah people i think you know they so i wanted to get auditions for the leads in things like community and i could not get those before the soup. As soon as I got on television, instead of auditioning for Neighbor No. 3 or Wacky Cousin, all of a sudden I was being considered for the lead roles, which I was like, oh, it worked because that's what Greg Kinnear did in the 90s. He hosted TalkSoup. And then obviously he went on to be Oscar nominated,

which is exactly what happened in my career, all my nominations. So, oh, that's right. None. So, yeah. So that's my, again, very long answer on typecasting. But you are right. People definitely try to keep you in a certain lane and that lane was true for game shows for a long time where they're like oh you're a game show host you can't do anything else you are that and obviously ellen jamie foxx the rock all these

guys alec magic johnson yeah elizabeth banks And so that all flipped. And, uh, it's great because I, I love doing that too. And then I went back and read the first SNL book that oral history and like all like him becoming a star overnight on this new show and then him bouncing immediately and like all this. And then I'd go back and watch all these talk show spots with Chevy and you'd go, man, when he was like at his peak powers, he was so good because he was hilarious. He's quicker than everybody. And then he was also like oddly dismissive in a way that made you feel like am i should i be talking to you or whatever what what's your favorite moment because the casting and community i think is one of the coolest parts not just the writing you know how great all you guys were on it but the casting was definitely it felt like it was trying to do some different things what's your favorite chevy moment from from getting to work with somebody like that who i imagine is somebody you probably loved when you were watching movies as a kid from getting to work with somebody like that, who I imagine is somebody you probably loved when you were watching movies as a kid. Oh, yeah.

I mean, I grew up watching Caddyshack and Fletch and Vacation and obviously SNL. Yeah, no. So when I got to work with him, the stories about him precede him. And he can be... People are like, is he difficult? And I was like, yep. And, uh, but when

we got, and he would, I don't know, he might, he may or may not agree with that. Uh, but when, you know, when he was on, when he was there and ready to do his stuff, he was so good. And I think the best, I think the best example of his work on community would have been the advanced dungeons and dragons episode, uh, where we are trying to help this guy who's suicidal play his favorite game. And, uh, and Chevy's character is the villain in it.

And it's such a good, I mean, I think that's probably one of the, I mean, easily one of the best things I've been in and, uh, and got to be a part of. So his work in that is so great.

He's so great. And it was great to see him kind of just knock it out of the park in that episode. What was different about Community than maybe, you know, I mean, I have my own opinion on it, but I mean, you were in it, whether it's the writing, you know, so many different, incredibly funny, talented people, like it felt more like a showcase than it would be built around just kind of one storyline all the time. and his vision and then the russo brothers who uh helped bring it to life uh and then it's so it's like baking a cake and uh speaking of crime scene kitchen um but it is like baking a cake in that there's a zillion ingredients they all need to come together and they all need to come together right at the right time or it's kind of ruined and for whatever reason god smiled upon us and we we put that cast that they put together is just one of the most talented group of people i've ever been around and i even when i we were taping the pilot i was like

oh this is the level that you have to operate at to kind of to swim here and so i i can't say how why it all but i would i would say it started dan's you know like he he want he pushed it every episode in the best way and that's probably why because it was so creative and he his premise of that everybody is screwed up and everyone loves each other is really, you know, everyone's broken, but everyone wants to love each other. So that I think that that really that was the jumping off point. Crime Sea Kitchen, which is on Fox. I'm wondering how much your CSI roles helped you. Oh, a lot. Yeah, definitely.

Oh, a lot. Yeah, definitely. Caruso and I definitely talk a lot about baked goods and the mystery of what you're going to bake and the teams. Yeah. So thank you, David. Big shout out to David Caruso there. And for, I mean, obviously CSI Miami, as you're referring to, which I had a pretty incredible guest star as a bank manager, second bank manager i'll let you know uh yeah so he's he's doing great and he's we've made a cake out of his all his sunglasses ted your biggest dickhead role uh boy well i played it yeah probably that's probably most well known i mean the most kind of the one that got out there the most. Yeah, that was really fun. But yeah, I played a dick. So yeah, I think I played such a dick. They cut my at one point I shot all these other scenes and they're like, yeah, you're a dick. We're just going to end on a huge fart. end on a huge fart what was this dessert is there a story from that that was something was cut out where oh that has to go like hey that was too much i think well like most movies and tv shows i've been in usually there's more you know there's more there and then in the edit they they put it together going like you know this thing has to be two hours or under two hours and you don't necessarily need the rest of this story. And it makes usually makes the movie better.

And so, yeah, I shot other scenes with Mila Kunis and it actually made my character a little more likable, a little more, I mean, more human than not that he was a robot, but there was a whole other, you know, the storyline kind of kept going. But I liked the way I was like, more human than, not that he was a robot, but there was a whole other, you know, the storyline kind of kept going. But I liked the way it ended. I was like, oh, yeah, that's how it should be. Yeah, good job, you guys. You guys knew what you were doing. I didn't do it.

No, that's Seth MacFarlane's genius. No, no, I get it. You know what I kind of miss, which I always thought? The DVD commentary. I don't think there's going to be a pivot back towards DVDs anytime soon just because of the director's commentary. And even though it was an option, I'm not sure how many people went back and listened to it. But when that Ben Affleck Armageddon one came out, you remember that one? I remember that movie, but I did not listen to the commentary.

but I did not listen to the commentary. Affleck was like, I went to Bay and said, why would it be easier to train minors to be astronauts than just train astronauts to be minors? And he'd be like, shut the fuck up. So Ben was doing this.

He's doing his commentary on the DVD. I mean, whatever the clip is out there. If you ever look at it, that's outstanding. I thought it'd be funny for somebody like you who's really good at it just maybe you could bring back dvd director commentary and you start doing commentary that never happened you just start doing it on dvd like yeah i think it's a good idea uh i'll just be like i'll be ashton kutcher in i guess he already did that i he did a lot of them but no we did it all for community and it was uh we had a great time.

I loved doing them. Is that your favorite moment then in your career? Like just, I know this sounds... The DVD commentary part? No, community. Look, that was six really wonderful, crazy years that I will go, hey, I did a thing that worked and uh i'm very proud of it um i've done other things that i'm very proud of as well it's very weird because i didn't talk

about community i mean community ended in 2015 and it didn't nothing really happened with it and then i mean it was on it was always. It was streamed on Hulu. And then between the pandemic and Netflix, all of a sudden it just came back. Or it was a rediscovery of the show, which was, it's a complete surprise. So I've been, I've talked more about Community in the last year than I, than the last six easily.

Yeah, that's weird how that happened happened because it happened with a few shows and i would say community was the show where you felt like on social media when everything was really shut down it was this whole new audience which is you know yeah i get like teenagers coming up to me now which is i was like you weren't barrett you were barely uh sentient sentient at that point so and i think also you know dan's rick and morty really you know has obviously become a worldwide phenomenon uh donald glover his career is really tanked uh but you know what happened to him i don't know i think he i think he does infomercials that's probably what he does I think he does infomercials. That's probably what he does.

I did a podcast once and I was in the studios up in Burbank when Rick and Morty were upstairs, not the actual cartoon characters. And I, I kind of wanted, like, I didn't get it. My brother is younger, had the t-shirt and he was like, looked at me. He's like, you don't watch it. And I'm thinking like, why would I watch that stuff? Like, I get it. Like, Ooh, I'm cool. I'm watching a cartoon and I have a shirt and all this stuff.

And then one episode in, I was like, this is scary. How brilliant this is. Yeah. Uh, yeah, it really shows you Dan's Dan's brain unleashed is pretty great. And you did one episode of that, right? Yeah. I played a guy named hemorrhage, great and you did one episode of that right yeah i played a guy named hemorrhage uh which got a funko pop doll so i was like yay it was great hopefully i don't know what i don't know if i remember that storyline so hopefully i don't know i don't want to hear you i don't because so i feel like um i feel like the dick here because as we mentioned for a minute or two before and before i let you go, I want to ask you more about crime scene kitchen and less about car

sharks. Ask me about both. I'm into it. I love car sharks as a kid. Yeah. I love that game. I mean, it's such a wonderfully,

this simplicity is great. The high low game and just more and more, more and more money is that's that kind of, I always like that Vegas itch of, wait, you're just a bunch of people sitting at a table turning over pieces of paper, but the stakes are through the roof. That's a good point, though, about the game shows when we were kids. Like when you think back on it, Sale of the Century was a cheap show. Yeah.

I think it was five bucks for a right answer. Like what was wrong with us back then? Yeah. I mean, if you look at the match game and to this day, I mean, the prizes are not, I mean, they're like where you're competing for $5,000 on card sharks, you can get 700,000. So, uh, so, but that it does, you know, it's one of those things is it's like a game of pickup basketball or something where the stakes seem just as high as a championship. Sometimes I can't, like, I know, like you're hired to be the host because you're funny and you, you know, two decades plus now doing this.

Do you still have moments where you're trying to figure out the balance between, all right, I still kind of have to host this show, but I also know why I'm here. And there's some guys that are like, I'm going to give you all, I'm going to give you me on 11. And you're a little more subtle with it. I just wonder when you go into a taping, how much you think about, maybe you're just such a pro now, you don't even think about it, but is there any part of this like, okay, new setting, new show, new beats. All right, but make sure I give them a little Joel McHale still too. Oh, well the, the number of there's for every joke you see on card sharks and crime scene kitchen, I've probably thrown out 200 jokes easily. There's, there's a six hour version of every one of those shows where, so I don't, yeah, my goal is to, my only goal is to get

real reactions from the contestants and from whoever I'm with and not just go, well, are you excited? Yeah, I don't, I hate all that. I like to get to know the people a little bit and ask them specific questions about them. And that gets a real reaction instead of just, And that gets a real reaction instead of just, well, you have a little story ready for us. So tell us the little story. And it so. So, yeah, I definitely do that. And I have when producers are like, please move on. I'm like, all right, I've done my job.

Is there is it frowned upon now in the industry to just start making fun of guests and contestants? Well, if it is that I'm in big trouble. Because, yeah, I don't... Light ribbing of everything is kind of how my mantra through every part of my life. And so I don't know. I make fun of everything because it's, I don't know, it's the way I can sleep at night.

I can't i i uh yeah you can i there's a lot of the how would this money how would you feel if you won this money a lot of that stuff which is good because you really hear real reactions uh but at the same time you know when they make some sort of off color or like if the topic is something like, how many times does an average couple make whoopee? And then they're like, mom is in the audience. Then you have to point that out and make fun of it. By the way, Crime Scene Kitchen, Wednesdays, Fox, nine o'clock after nine, eight central. That's how we'd like to say it. That's right. Yes, that's right.

Business. Okay, last thought here. Is there a lot of resentment? I know this is delicate, but Marvel Universe, I feel like they kind of came back around on some guys and gave them a second shot. And it's been 16, 17 years. I know the spider-man ownership thing wasn't always

a clear thing but you know you were in spider-man 2 and yeah i just feel like you know why why is paul rudd why is he automatically ant-man you know i'm saying like if i were you i'd just be on the phone a little bit more going like i think it's time the Marvel universe expands a little bit more. And I'm ready. That's hilarious. Yeah. No, I was pissed that they didn't bring back Mr. Jack's bank manager in Spider-Man 2. Well, Paul Rudd is Ant-Man because Paul Rudd is an incredibly talented, funny movie star.

And he's really good. My lord, he's good. Understood, but like you guys weren't going to get Thor. No offense, even though you were walking on. Well, it was Pac-10. I mean, maybe you could fill out one of those weird diets where a guy gets twice the size in three weeks in Hollywood.

But yeah, go ahead. Back to you. Well, I am in the DC universe in a show called Star Girl, where I play Star Man with Luke Wilson and Amy Smart and Breck Basinger. So, you know, I am in the DC universe wearing one of those crazy super suits. All right. Well, that's good. I'm on. We had Luke Wilson on just a couple weeks ago.

We talked about Bottle Rocket for most of it. So I don't know if they were thrilled. He's a tremendous man and a tremendous actor and a tremendous human being. See what I did there? He's the nicest man on the planet. I really like that guy. Yeah, he was cool. He was really cool. But you gave us more time, Joel,

so I really appreciate it. Oh, not at all. I gave you five extra minutes. Wow. Sorry. Sorry to the public. Why was he like, you got 16 minutes. That's it. It wasn't even his fault. Like it was one of those deals where it just kind of,

you know how it is. Like when you're doing a big promotional day, it always runs late. Yeah. And then I was like, Hey, I need 30 minutes or I'm going to promote all the new movie stuff. But I really want to talk about bottle rocket because it's one of my

all time favorite movies. And they were like, no problem, no problem, no problem. I was six minutes in and i get a message being like two more questions and i was like all right you know we're long form now right and ironically your podcast is relatively short i don't know i feel like people go three or four hours sometimes

oh yeah i'm not doing that like i'm not yeah well i'm three a week though so if i go more than two hours oh that's a lot yeah that's a lot yeah but hey thanks man i i do appreciate it i hope you had fun so i did and thanks for all the thoughtful questions 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. It's time for Life Advice brought to you by V8. V8 believes that making choices you feel good about helps you live well, like choosing V8 to up your daily veggie intake. V8 is plant-powered and provides minerals and antioxidant vitamins with no added sugar. A choice you can feel good about. Life advice is lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. Okay, I got one, and then I'm going to do sort of a different thing here. I found, because I've moved so many times in a couple

years here. I found a notebook from 2008 that had a to-do list on it. I'm going to share that with everybody. Anyway, we'll get to it after we read this one. Bartending Golden Rules.

Ryan, Kyle Cerutti, what's up? First time,10 170 sounds awesome I'll keep this short just moved to Seattle for my second year grad school at the University of Washington the first year was online because of COVID so I stayed in my hometown of Denver shout out Cherry Cricket yeah all right Cherry Creek get the jalapeno cream cheeseburger next time instead of the wraps, Ryan. I'll do what I want. I just got a job as a bartender. I do love Cherry Creek though. I got a job as a bartender for the summer at a fairly upscale bar. Although I've worked in restaurants throughout my life, this is a role I've never worked before. So I'm curious if you,

any of you guys have any golden rules for bartenders, maybe even golden rules for bar patrons as well. Love the show. Would love to hear from you guys. Oh, he wants to hear from the guy that was on the epic Tinder run. Did we do the life advice Tinder run guy? That was on the ESPN pod, right, Cerruti? Rings a bell. Yeah. Didn't we have him on?

He was from Arkansas. He was like some mover and shaker. He did pretty well. And he just was like, I'm addicted to sleeping with women. Yeah. He actually didn't really need advice. He to be doing like very well if i remember correctly and that was the whole point it's like do you actually need advice on anything or you just want to come out of here and brag yeah that's what we felt like he was actually okay you followed up with him a few times though right because honestly if you would just sit the profile of that doesn't even sound like something i would agree to do and then we just did it because

we're like let's see how it goes and then yeah by the end of it it was like it felt like you just want to tell everybody how awesome you're doing with women. Exactly. Yeah. I think we were on some text. I think we were on some text threads. I don't know that I remember that. Yeah, he was a nice guy. Yeah, you ended up liking him. Yeah. So we're not going to beat up on him too much, but it felt like that was the purpose of the whole thing. I'm surprised I

actually did that. People are way more worried about West Texas Jake. He has an email, I don't think. Kyle, you haven't seen anything from West Texasxas jake have you i have not yeah and trust me if you you saw it you would know okay um bartending golden rules i mean i've got a few i only worked in one place that was considered nice and even then it was always late so it was just kind of a late crowd so it's like i was sitting there making cosmos for uh people doing some tartar apps right so if this is an upscale place

i would just do your best to actually like if you've never bartended before like some of that stuff's actually a little complicated like i used to be loser about it when i got my first job and i'd memorize every single thing and i'd memorize all these drinks. And I was the guy like, hey, Rasul, how do you make a Harvey Wald? And I would know, even though I think I made one drink with Galliano ever in my entire life. But everywhere has Galliano or they used to have it. I don't think I noticed it. I haven't actually been checking the Galliano inventory in local establishments the last couple of years. I've definitely slacked in their area so i'll get back that's something i have to do for everybody that's listening so i'm on that as far as a bartender golden rules just in general that apply to maybe everything is

understand that the you know you're a young guy if you're in an upscale place there's probably gonna be women hitting on you because you're a safe harbor all right you are the bartender you're not a patron so like that's the great thing about being a bartender if you're a single guy is that you are not only providing the entertainment for the night and making sure everybody gets their drinks and all that kind of stuff. Everybody has to talk to you. So there's no awkward like you don't need to be an opener in this case. We're already in the fourth inning because you're behind the bar. But what you have to understand

is that those people are the customer and that you are simply an employee and that you can't take advantage of them. I'm just kidding. All right. Be fast, but not in a hurry. A lot like basketball. Be fast, but not in a hurry. And since like basketball. Be fast but not in a hurry.

And since you're new and it's upscale, there's probably some guy that wears vests that's been doing this a really long time that knows everything and he's got his whole routine down and this has been his career and his life. Have a lot of respect for that guy, all right? Because there's been a hundred of yous

that have come in and out of there. And it would be terrible if he's a jerk, but just defer to him. Younger people seem to have a harder and harder time deferring, but if there's a lifer there at some nice place that's been behind the bar for a

long time, just not saying he's always going to be perfect or she's going to be perfect, but just defer to that person for the first few months or so until you can kind of get your feet wet and figure things out because you're going to be screwing stuff up. You're not going to know where everything is. You're not going to make a ton of stuff. You're going to screw up the register a million times. So just when people are kind of annoyed with you not knowing what you're doing back there because bartending is very territorial.

There's a weird ego thing behind it and if there's like two or three guys that are pretty good at it back there and you suck because you're brand new i still can't like if this place is that nice and you've got this gig as a sophomore going to college i don't even know how you got this is pretty incredible with no bartending experience just understand that their expectations of you are probably pretty low. Try not to confirm those on the first few shifts. As far as patrons go, don't yell, hey, buddy. Don't say what's on special.

Don't order a round of shots and then say, oh no, you pick it. Don't ask to change the music. Don't double check your tab like we've ripped you off. I mean, you can, but we didn't. And if there's a 26 year old guy behind the bar, that's a really surly dude. Cause he's feeling like a loser. Just give him a break, give him a break and don't put a cigarette out on his arm. All right. Okay. Speaking of anything to add to that, sir, do you ever, uh, you ever do any service industry

stuff? I can't see you doing that at all. No, I was always super intimidated by restaurants and bars in general uh like working there uh but i have a question for you because you didn't really bring this up but what about am i an asshole if i ask a bartender hey like you know what do you like or what like you know like ask him what his special because you haven't done you don't ask for the specials blah blah if i ask them like hey what do you like what's what's good here is am i being a dick there might be an asshole is he gonna roll his eyes and be like this guy sucks and make me the worst drink no there's some places like if I being a dick there? Am I being an asshole? Is he going to roll his eyes and be like, this guy sucks and make me the worst drink?

No, there's some places. If you're a senior frog, you should ask what the specials are. Or a dick's last resort? Yeah, ask what the specials are. Noted. Okay. I was out to eat, what was it?

Probably last week or so, and there were three things that I wanted on the menu. And I asked the waitress. I was like, hey, I'm what was it? Probably last week or so. And there were three things that I wanted on the menu. And I asked the waitress. And I was like, hey, like, I'm torn between these three. And I'm not like this. I'm really not like one of those annoying people at restaurants. So don't paint me that way. But I was really genuinely torn. And I asked her, like, hey, what's your favorite?

She's like, I don't know. They're all good. And that was it. And I was like, oh, she really doesn't care. You know, I need to correct something here. Food, absolutely ask. Drinks, don't. And I know people are going to listen to this right now be

like what are you talking about i always ask for the drink specialist like yeah and all of us in the bartending fraternity are annoyed with you okay fair now look there are some places that are super upscale like hey we're doing this different thing today we get a little ginger with a cinnamon floater on the top and whatever now you're going to taste the booze it's going to be 17 and you just be like it's so there's so many fucking ingredients in this thing that you know it's kind of pointless it is food but it takes it takes forever and there's this huge ice cube ball which i'll admit i thought the first time i saw it yeah we're gonna do a little we're gonna do some cedar smoke we're gonna turn it upside down we're gonna dump the whiskey there we're gonna tear the basil in the right direction it's the same fucking thing

you're like can i just have a belvedere um okay that reminds me though because i had some friends i had some friends that bartended overseas it was part of my jamaica connection when i when i worked there and then they were trying to get me back to work overseas and i was like i shouldn't say overseas jamaica jamaica have you guys ever um fantasized that? Have you guys ever thought to myself, like, I'd like to work somewhere foreign in a foreign country? Big time. Jamaica. Absolutely. Wait, Kyle, Jamaica, Jamaica, no doubt. One hundred percent. And I just I kind of have this vision of me like I've seen a couple movies where it's like, you know, Mel Gibson and like a South American town or something, or just like, even like, you know, DiCaprio's actually done pretty, I think maybe it was blood diamond where he just got that, like, he was an American,

obviously, but he's got that grizzled American look. And there's like a sort of a button down short sleeve open. Maybe he's a little dirty. I just, I see myself kind of walking around a town, drinking a dollar red stripes in a,pes in a bar with no air conditioning. Did you see Blood Diamond or just the cover of the DVD? Totally saw Blood Diamond. I'm just saying I dug his outfits. Maybe I would have a little more color in my shirts, but the same sort of button down t-shirt deal. Okay, guys, I just don't know if the plot of Blood Diamond would make me think of south american town how about get the gringo jamaica i mean it's in it's in africa yeah

all right so you're just you think that you would do well in jamaica what's the career part of it though because right now this just sounds like a long vacation i'd like my days freeze because i'd like to be uh in a bar as the sun's up, actually, and actually as the sun goes down. So maybe I drive Uber for my own schedule or something. I don't know. I'd like a cooler job than that, but I would like to have my days free and my nights free. All right, so you'd like a lot of time off, flexible schedule,

and you'd like to be able to drink while you're working. Maybe a bartender. No, I don't think so. Then I wouldn't want to spend so much time in bars. I'll get back to you. All right. Yeah. Keep keep workshopping that.

What about you, Saruti? I don't know that I could see you as overseas guy. Really? No, I mean, I was like Euro Saruti for a while there. I've looked in years ago, looked into the one euro houses in Italy.

You ever seen those before where you basically it's kind of like a pop up. Yeah, it's like a rundown sort of old villa in the countryside, maybe next to a vineyard. And, you know, you can buy of like a run down. I've seen the pop up. Yeah, it's like a run down old villa in the countryside, maybe next to a vineyard. And you can buy it for a euro. I was like, what the heck?

This is amazing. Why are more people doing this? Well, I looked into it. And you have to drop at least like 100 grand within the first year to improve said site. And I don't have that kind of cash. So immediately, my dreams were kind of squashed. But I don't know. It seems kind of interesting. I looked at this place just outside of Naples. And'm like, yeah, what if I, you know,

it's next to a vineyard. I'm like, maybe I could take the vineyard over, become a wine guy where only linen and that would be my life. And I would speak Italian and it'd be great. And, uh, but I just don't have the cash right now. So maybe it's a future surety thing, but not right now. Is it a hard deadline? Like you have a year to spend a hundred thousand dollars or do you just have to like, you know, the house has to look better? Basically, yeah, there are like, I guess checkpoints you have to hit along the way because they want you to come in

and fix up their country. Basically, they want Americans to come in and fix up their country. So they flag the, hey, one euro, I come over here and I'm like an idiot like me look at and go, this is amazing. But yeah, there are like these specific things that you have to hit. And all these houses are so old that it's incredibly expensive to fix them in the first place. Some of them don't even have plumbing.

So yeah, they're in sick places. But you'd spend so much money actually renovating this place that it wouldn't even be worth it. So those pop-ups that say live in an Italian farm or villa for a dollar for a year, There's more to it is what you're telling me. Correct. You can't just show up and be like, all right, here's my euro. Where do I live? What do I got?

What are we doing? Hanging out in Piscara for the day. This is so much cheaper than Positano. There's places in Salemi in Sicily saying it's a buck. There's another one called Lorenzana in the Potenza province are offering shockingly low prices in order to draw new residents to their locations. I love what I've just found in Google. Can I buy? Can I still?

I like this one. Can I still buy a house in Italy for one euro as if the deadline, like the moment it passed and it's like, oh, you guys remember in 18 when you could move to Italy and buy a house for a dollar? Like, yeah, they filled it up. It's done. I also love that Kyle immediately is like, what's the deadline? He's already thinking of the angles of what if I just like rake the front yard and put a coat of paint on the front door and then I'm there like seven eight months and they're like hey you haven't hit your deadlines and you were like I actually didn't have a ton of COVID just my mental health I'm just I'm not I figured a guy who could get it done for 40 less than a hundred thousand I don't know yeah well that's

like I could do a lot of work myself, which is definitely not true as well. And I'd probably create a more, a bigger disaster than I even wanted to get into. But yes, now there's, there's too many rules. That's just the way it is. No, but this, the beauty of this segment,

what just happened here is amazing. Cause the first thing Kyle thought of was how can I do it? And then just be like, Hey, you didn't expect me to unpack my bags and get right to work here. Like, let me settle in a little bit. Let me settle in a little. let me settle in a little here's your dollar and just and then the town's having a meeting about kyle they're like he hasn't done anything yet and he's like i in the paperwork it

didn't say we had to you know repour a foundation here by september relax full relax full circle i end up on my favorite show judge jud Judy, and we hash it out. You would be guilty walking into the room. Yeah, I prefer Judge Mathis. He sees things my way a little better. I always thought a good Desus Merrow skit would be they should run footage of Judge Judy and Judge Mathis shows and not

have the audio up and then those two guys will just yell who's innocent or guilty as they walk in and then talk over it so you don't have any audio you only have video.

And those guys, because I certainly wouldn't be able to get away with that at this stage of how everything's gone. But I think those guys would be funnier and perfect for it. And I thought that was always a good segment idea. By the way, I already do that when I watch the show. And when they're walking down the aisle, I'm just like, oh, yeah, he did it. No doubt. Look at that lip ring. Right. You just couldn't have a white he did it. No doubt. Look at that lip ring. Right.

You just couldn't have a white guy do that on a show. It would not be approved. Let's not. I think those guys are perfect for it. So, I don't know. There you go. If that segment works, credit here. We know where it started. Okay, so this segues in perfectly to the end of the podcast, which is another long one.

I found this to-do list from 2008. This is, this is dated October 8th, 2008. And I bought this fancy journal, um, you know, with a leather cover and I definitely bought it in airport cause I was bored. So I was like, I'll buy something, I guess. And I think I remember what this trip was, but I'm not 100% sure, so I'm not going to. All right, so are you guys ready for this? This is actually, the only reason I'm doing this is this is hysterical. So this is

13 years ago. And I'll admit at this point, I'm still broke. I've been at ESPN a couple years, but I was a part-time time sheet guy making 100 bucks an hour. I was doing some Celtic stuff. My apartment in Boston sucked. And I just turned 33. Yeah, I just turned 33. So I wasn't quite sure. I wasn't quite sure if any of this shit was going to work out. All right. Are you guys ready for this? I can't believe you're sharing this. So yes.

Yeah. Here we go. Pay bills by the 15th, condo fees, and taxes. It all started somewhere, didn't it? One year to West Coast. I had a plan, a timeline that by October 2009, I would be moving to the West Coast. It actually took 10 years. Have option to go by October of 2009. And I wrote the date down twice. It was a very important date, apparently. I actually moved to Hartford later in 2009.

So almost the same. That's a little west, right? Hartford was west of where I was. So not wrong there, Kyle. Okay, take one step each day to fix this whatever this was i think it was a general this there was there was nothing specific i guess i was simply saying fix this all right this is where it gets even better. Get back to 220. I guess I was below 220 pounds then, and I didn't like it. So it was like, get back to 220.

The funny thing is I was 230 right in my late 20s, early 30s, but it wasn't very good. I had a full face. I was strong, but it wasn't like, Hey, that guy's awesome. Two 30. And then when I was working at ESPN and living in the hotel all the time, my schedule was so screwed up. I wasn't eating, but I wasn't eating all that great back then. Anyway, I wasn't an asshole about it. I wasn't like, you know, five days a week, Wendy's or something. Shout out to Wendy's, but I guess I didn't like, I got below two 20.

I didn't like it. Start Saturday morning fighting. All, I remember this. I went to because I had done some Muay Thai stuff when I was younger. Again, not in that world. Not even pretending. Do have a jacket though. Saturday morning. So I went to a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class on a Saturday morning in Boston and I sat down and the guys were like, you want to roll around?

I was like, nah, I'm just going to kind of check it out and see if I want to sign up. And then I watched how awesome everybody was. I did not sign up. Finish script. I did not finish the script. That script, whatever one I was trying to finish, I think took seven years until I did it. Get, oh, wow. How about this?

Get your sister a computer soon. And there's a checkmark next to it. So I did buy my sister a computer soon and there's a check mark next to it so i did buy my sister a computer kick ass dude couldn't afford it yeah go to the dentist by the end of the year uh i think i went to it the year after i don't know why this is on here again it says sort out taxes you're scarred man buy couch It says sort out taxes. Uh-oh. You're scarred, man. Buy couch.

I don't think I bought a couch. Even when you were at ESPN, you didn't have a couch in your place? No, I had a leather couch I still had from Vermont that made it to Vermont, New Jersey. That couch was the nicest thing I own probably at the time. But I guess I wanted another couch.

I think it was because one of those pleather deals. And I thought it was sick when I was 25. And then I realized it probably wasn't all that sick. But it was a perfect sectional. Okay, what else we got? Oh, research possible move to Connecticut. So I was moving either to Connecticut or the West Coast. Because I had been at ESPN 06, 07, 08. So this is almost three full years in. I got the gig with Van Pelt. It was announced

in May of 09. Our first show was July of 09. So I, none of that stuff felt like it was on the horizon and it wasn't even a year away. How about that? Was I was less than a year away from being technically the afternoon show co-host of ESPN's drive time radio slot. I was, yeah, I was, let's see here. I was seven months away from that announcement. And here I was saying, fix your taxes and write a script and West coast. Yeah. Okay. Oh, oh, here's the, okay. This is, this is the other thing. Cause I wasn't gonna, I didn't think it was working out at espn only three years in i was just massive fill-in guy and it didn't seem like they liked me to come fill in but nothing else so i said put together the package the package is in quotes so have all draft profiles done have your tv tape have your radio tapes

update resume so i was making moves, whatever it was. But whatever the Rosillo package, the entire, this is who I am. This is my work, the last. So if it's 08, it's 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. So on my seventh year of being in the career, it wasn't really working out. Even though I'm feeling it ESPN,

maybe from the outside, I felt like that. I didn't feel that way. Wait, is there a Zillow demo tape out there somewhere that is in existence that someone could watch? I don't know. I only have the beta copy of my demo for... We were supposed to do it one night.

Van Pelt and I were going to do a sports center together. Well, that was the other thing. We were going to do a sports center together where they wanted us to anchor it. And only one person wanted it and there was no way. ESPN was like, way are we doing that now they do all sorts of weird stuff but to promote the radio show i mean look my name wasn't on the radio show they weren't gonna let me anchor sports center and honestly back then anchoring sports center was like a really big deal you know then that that's kind of like somebody described to me as like sacred ground you go

yeah like i didn't deserve it i don't even have my name on it. I wasn't even a full-time employee. So they weren't going to do that. But there was a demo tape, a beta thing that I put together of me doing three different stand-ups that are hilarious. Like one's these Olympic kayakers. Another one's this enduro racing dirt bike stuff. And then another thing I think is a ski deal.

And I'm just sort of talking. And that was my tape. That never got me a job. And then I had another one that I sent to ESPN, which was supposedly like three of my best segments from radio in Boston. And what I did was I just did three segments in a studio that was never even on the air because I was like, I'm just going to hammer this in this audition tape. I'm not going to use clips from the air. I'm just going to do this and say these are on air. And then I sent it.

And the only the most surprising thing of it all was that ESPN ever listened to it, but they only listened to it because, uh, McShay and I were friends and McShay had gotten hired because I sold this company to ESPN. And I was like, is there any way you can have somebody listen to a tape? And he goes, the only thing I can do for you is I can get you a job. I can make sure somebody actually listens to it. I'll find a guy and be like, Hey, this is my friend. We just listen. And then he goes, but goes but no one's ever going to call you like you're not going to get a job there and i was like i understood but i've just been laid off um so that was end of 05 06 and the thing was is that somebody did listen to tape so that was that was the start of the espn stuff we can do that another

time okay so it was put together the huge ryan rossillo package the package fixed car there's a check mark next to that. I don't know that thing was ever all that fixed. We had old Dodge Durango entry level. Thought it was sweet when I bought it used. I was pretty fired up when I got that car. Could not afford it. Get ready to move.

I just kept wanting to move here. There's one that just says research. I'm not sure if I did that or not. That was number 16 on the to-do list research uh as you do sure a couple you do a lot of research that's good yeah yeah 17 was have fifty thousand dollars in the bank by by when By when? This is amazing. Oh, okay. I think it says by then.

$50,000 in the bank by then. So I think I was telling myself I had to save $50,000 over the next year. I saved $38,000 and I... Wow, dude. Congrats. I wrote out a tax check for $33,000. Okay. And then the other was work as much as possible. Yes to everything.

Yes was underlined. So that's the to-do list. I think you've, this is like a perseverance exercise because you've done every single one of those things. Like, what haven't you done on that list? I mean, yeah, maybe you didn't do it in a timely fashion in the way that you wanted to,

but every single thing, I mean, you fixed the Durango, you got a couch now, you moved to the West, you lived in Hartford for a bit. That what, it just seems like you checked everything off on the list. Good for you, dude.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the only thing I didn't do. Yeah, that's all right. There's still time. There's a lot of places out there. I'm trying to find the right one. My one question is, did you write this whole list at the same time? And do you think if so, did you put a couple things

on there that you already did so you could get some checks in? No, I'll tell you. I know exactly what happened. I was at a huge, huge, big weekend with all the UVM guys out in the west coast and i had the i had to fly back weirds after like three nights out because back then you know i mean you're going out every night you were there visiting somebody and so i had a moment in the airport where i was like all right enough of this and i was like it's time to write it all down and let's figure some stuff out let's let's have some

manageable ones because when i was younger i used to write down stuff that was absurd like that's the old joke about the conversation i have my father where i was like if i could just put 10 million together with some guys and get a minority stake in the celtics and he was like you need to maybe come up with some more obtainable goals. Try getting a couch drive. And that's, by the way, when I was saying that shit, it was like six years before I ever put that list together. By the way, the Celtics thing, if I put together 10 million for a minority stake, that would have been a great investment. Wasn't wrong. Just couldn't put the 10 million together back then. And honestly, if I knew people,

they weren't going to give me the money anyway. And it doesn't make any sense. It was a stupid thing. I was young. And even though you're older, you can still be just as dumb. Trust me. And honestly, if I knew people, they weren't going to give me the money anyway. And it doesn't make any sense. It was a stupid thing. I was young. And even though you're older, you can still be just as dumb. Trust me. But yeah, everything on the list there, it didn't happen within a year, but everything happened except for the jujitsu, which I do regret, but that's all right. I probably better. It might've been better for me at some stages in Boston where I didn't think I was good at fighting. So I was like, you know, you're probably going to get your ass kicked here. If I actually thought I were tougher than I, you know, who knows what would have happened. Maybe Juno's more your speed.

No, not doing that. Okay. People are surprised that you're not into like, you know, the MMA scene though, or not the scene, but that you don't spar yourself. Like you kind of look like a guy that would spar. But when, when I did do, I'm like, actually he doesn't really, he doesn't like fight professionally or anything, or even amateur. He doesn't do that. Yeah, I don't know why anybody would think I was a professional fighter. Well, you gotta look. Let's be honest.

You're a tough-looking dude. You're bald. You got a beard. You look kind of like a fighter. Yeah. I don't claim any of that stuff. Now, did I work out and keep doing it on my own? Sure. But I wasn't... Oh, there was one other one in Connecticut that I joined, but any of that stuff. Now, did I work out and keep doing it on my own? Sure. But I wasn't... Oh, there was one other one in Connecticut that I joined, but that was a disaster.

It was like for kids. And then I tried to be nice about it for a while. But I told that story already. And it's honestly so embarrassing. Let's end on a positive note. So everybody, there you go. I'm not going to do a Kevin Garnett. Nothing is possible.

But if I could feel that way at an airport in San Francisco, I think, in 2008, then you can get your shit done too. All right. Life advice was brought to you by VA. Sometimes life advice involves hard choices, but VA believes in making easy choices to help you live well, like choosing VA to up your daily veggie intake while getting vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

I got a side with VA on this one. They must see all this juicing and all this stuff that's blown up over the last few years being like, minerals, and antioxidants. I got to side with V8 on this one. They must see all this juicing and all the stuff that's blown up over the last few years being like, guys, are you guys drinking juice now? Drinking cold juice in the morning? Get your day going? Where you been? We're V8. We've been here.

Okay, Bill and I will be back next week, but the Rosillo Pod will be Tuesday, Friday for next week. So please subscribe. Tell everybody to subscribe and that way you won't miss any episodes. I also jumped on this podcast called Pardon My Take. I don't know if you guys have heard of it. It's pretty good. So check

that one out as well. Thank you.