The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Durant, Nets Have No Better Options; Jon Anik on Maybe the Best UFC Win Ever; and We Introduce Worst Take

Episode Date: August 23, 2022

Russillo opens with the Nets' announcement that they and Kevin Durant will stick together, why it’s probably because neither had any great options, and why he’s not all of sudden buying Brooklyn stock (0:31). Next, he chats with voice of the UFC Jon Anik about the wild card this past weekend and why Leon Edwards's win might be the greatest UFC win ever (14:18). Then, the guys introduce a new segment called Worst Take (43:13) before closing it out with some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (55:37). Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Jon Anik Producers: Kyle Crichton and Steve Ceruti Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

today's gonna be a lot of fun john annick historic night for the usc edwards over uspon i'm gonna start with the latest news kevin durant apparently is now cool the nets and they're all gonna run it back and play basketball this season and a new thing that we have regarding the worst takes for college football, the NFL, and maybe even a little basketball and life advice. Enjoy. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Winter is here, so be prepared and get almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost anything? Well, you can't get a ski slope, but dish soap, definitely doable. Sunshine, that's no. A bottle of wine? Yeah. And a snow day? Again, no. But blueberry muffins with the delicious crumb topping?

Total yes. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. Breaking news right before the show gets ready to tape today. Apparently, Kevin Durant has worked it out with the Nets, and he's going to come back. He's going to

play basketball. All right, so what does this mean? All right, a release statement from the Nets and also General Manager Sean Marks. It says, Steve Nash and I, together with Joe Sy, Claire Wu Sy, met with Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles yesterday. We've agreed to move forward with our partnership.

We are focusing on basketball with one collective goal in mind, build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn. Funny enough, in that statement, there's a Nets logo, and there's also a boardroom logo, which is the Kleiman Durant production. That part, I'm like, wait, you can't throw that logo into the statement as well? I don't know.

I mean, who gives a shit? All right. Top line. Good news for the Nets, right? Good news for Nets fans. Durant's going to come back and play. I guess this is good news for everybody. I don't know if Durant, this is the part of it where I'm like, okay, I know what it is on paper, but I got to see it for a little while before I buy into the Nets.

Because could there be any lingering stuff still going on? We're talking about all this, all these different characters. Yeah. I mean, I don't think that's a, that's a massive assumption that maybe this thing gets derailed again with the people involved in all this. But, you know, I imagine the net said, we don't want to trade you for some of these pieces. So what do you want to do here? I guess Durant decides after demanding a trade at the beginning of the free agency two weeks ago,

demanding that Marks and Nash are fired. What does he say? Like, all right, here's the deal. I'll come back, throw the boardroom logo on the press release and we're good. Because that's where we're at. But Durant was always

in an interesting spot here because he had four years left on the deal, which was new territory. Now, Ben Simmons, as I had four years left on the deal, which was new territory. Now, Ben Simmons, as I mentioned a year before, like, hey, look, Simmons can want out, but usually it's a year and a half left when you start to pull this stuff going. You better get something for me because I'm not resigning here. And then the other fear that teams always have, and they will tell me this repeatedly, is that when you have the player that's demanding the trade

with time left on his contract, you can sit there and say that you have the leverage because you have the contract and there's still multiple years left, like this Nets scenario. But if the player really doesn't want to be there, he can just fake an injury and get that second opinion. You can find something. Hey, the knee's a little banged up. There's an ankle. There's a shoulder problem.

There's something going on with my back. These are pro athletes. You can find something. Hey, the knee's a little banged up. There's an ankle. There's a shoulder problem. There's something going on with my back. These are pro athletes. You can usually find something wrong, and you can usually get that second opinion. And that way, the player's not necessarily even doing anything wrong other than saying, I don't trust your health, people. I'm not going to play.

And then you're stuck there paying somebody max money that doesn't want to go ahead and play. The difference with Ben Simmons is I remember talking to some people about it and was like, nah, Simmons wouldn't do that. He's healthy. He's good to go. But then he went with the mental health approach, which he got a

lot of sympathy for. I had less and less, especially when he didn't even want to play with the Nets. And then he filed the grievance that most all of us knew was coming at some point to recoup some of that money back from the Sixers that they withheld when he didn't want to play. So the difference there is the Nets still want Durant.

Durant is the better basketball player. Durant's issues are more about hurt feelings than I think a completely different mental approach to the game of basketball that makes you worry about him as a player. And I think those concerns are there for Simmons because you're still like, what is this guy actually going to be?

And Philly didn't want him to be there. They just wanted to try to figure out some sort of asset exchange at some point once they knew it was untenable. I always kind of thought with Durant that it's a dangerous game to sit here and start calling a star player's bluff. The history is not great. It doesn't really happen. I have one that I'm going to bring up here, but it doesn't really happen that often. The player usually always gets his way. But with Durant and having the four years left and knowing the trade market was a little bit more complicated because Durant wasn't going to want to just go anywhere, even if he had four years left. If you're another team that he didn't like that says,

well, we get his four-year contract. Well, now you're just inheriting the Nets problem. Maybe he plays for a year and then he decides he wants out of there too. So that limited the market. The Boston deal, I thought at least was strong because there was one piece in Jalen Brown that was better than a lot of the other pieces. It sounds like Scottie Barnes was never officially involved in the Toronto part of this. Maybe if they drag this out longer and longer, Toronto says, that's screwed. It's Kevin Durant. Let's go ahead and do it. But it's August, so I guess we're not going to get to that point.

The Phoenix deal around Mikael Bridges. Bridges isn't Jalen Brown. He's a nice player. I like a lot of thingsael Bridges. Bridges isn't Jalen Brown. He's a nice player. I like a lot of things about Bridges, but to have him be the focal piece, the number one piece coming back is like, could Bridges be a two on a really good basketball team? I'm not sure about that.

I could be wrong, but I don't know that another team's super excited about it. Then the Miami stuff never made any sense to me. I need somebody, I'd say smarter, but I probably don't really believe that when it comes Then the Miami stuff never made any sense to me. I need somebody I'd say smarter, but I probably don't really believe that when it comes to the trade stuff. I need somebody to explain to me, why was Miami ever an option here?

What piece did they have? You need to tell me Tyler Hero? Nice player. But that one never really made a ton of sense. It didn't. And then, of course they had the the same problems that if it were a bam deal if bam actually were going to be included at some point which would change everything now if you're talking bam that's different but then we have that

rookie extension rule that um you can't have the same two players on which is all part of the cba and trying to limit some of this movement all over the place some of the sign and trade things that happen the extra year there were these little mechanisms that they tweaked a bit to try to slow down some of the star player movement. As we know, that's not really happening. So the Nets have Durant. The rare team that pushed back on their star demanding a trade, which is what we have right here with the Nets.

They didn't give in. They didn't just trade him for anybody. They didn't say, I guess we're screwed. They pushed back, and it looks like they've got the win here. Is it a long-term win? I don't know. We'll get to that. The Lakers did it in 2007 with Kobe. Kobe was on the warpath

that summer. I remember because I was in Orlando for the pre-draft camp, the old milk center, when they switched it from Chicago to Orlando and then everybody in the NBA was like, can we go back to Chicago? They did do that. I remember being at a stoplight, window down, another guy in the front office,

hey man, what's up? I was only a couple years at ESPN, and he nods and he's just like, Kobe, man. He's like, here we go. And I'm thinking like, yeah, yeah. I mean, he went, he was so pissed off.

He's like, I want to go to Chicago. He went on with Stephen A. I think it was Stephen A was local radio in New York. And Stephen A was like, is there anything that can be done to prevent this from happening? And Kobe said, quote, no, bro. And then it changed where it was like, maybe he's going to be okay with coming back. Kobe was changing his mind,

and he was doing it with such passion. It was weird. There would be this moment where it was like, he'll never play for the Lakers again. You're like, all right. And then it was, well, wait a minute. The Lakers are working on this thing. Like, nope, he's gone again.

He just went on somewhere else. Like, he was going on all these shows, and it was still new. I mean, it's 15 years ago, so this wasn't happening even close to the frequency that we have today with the top guys. And the Lakers just didn't want to trade him. Apparently, there was maybe one deal to Detroit. Something could have happened with Rip Hamilton and some picks. But back then, they didn't trade 1,000 picks with every star guy,

so it was a different marketplace back then. And then Kobe said that it was true, potentially. So I don't know if that meant the Lakers had something that they liked with Detroit and they would have done it. But Kobe was like, I'm not going to Detroit. Detroit's a no. So there's always some legend about that. And then he wanted to go to Chicago.

But the funny thing that Kobe wanted with Chicago was that he was like, don't trade any good players for me because I don't want the team to suck when I show up. We're like, well, wait, you want out of here, but you also don't want anyone good to be traded for you. So the Bulls are already really good because Kobe didn't want to go to some rebuilding thing. But back then you actually traded good players for the other good player if these trades even happened, and they didn't happen to this. So this was a really, really big deal. Then Greg Anthony, of all people, had an addition to the ESPN story

that I was reading again from 07, where it was basically stated that Greg Anthony talked to Kobe, and Kobe was like, that Greg Anthony talked to Kobe and Kobe was like, I'll come back, but only if the Lakers tell me or get rid of the person who was the leak involved in the leak saying that I'm the reason that Shaq isn't here anymore. And depending on what you believe on all the history that we've read about this stuff, you know, the Kobe Shaq thing was a mess. Shaq wanted another $100 million extension from Dr. Buss. Dr. Buss wasn't sure that it was a great bet because Shaq hadn't really put in the effort to maintain his body.

Kobe was super pissed about the dynamic of, I do all this work and he can't do this work, which Kobe was right about. But that breakup had a million different reasons. And to say it was singularly just about Kobe's relationship with Shaq, I don't think is entirely accurate because Shaq also wanted to get paid. And guess what? When Shaq got traded to the Miami Heat, he ended up getting that big extension. And it worked out for Miami. So then he doesn't get traded.

He just doesn't because the Lakers didn't want to trade Kobe Bryant. It ended up being the greatest thing for the Lakers. It ended up being a great thing for Kobe Bryant. Now, does that mean this is going to happen here with the Nets? I don't know that, because that's what I think happens when we have these big moments. It's like, okay, now what does this mean? Does this mean we're going to have some sort of pivot with NBA power structures where the next star that asks out, the team will say, hey, look what happened with Durant. They just held out, and he came back and played. And it all worked out. I think that's when you make the mistakes. I don't know that it's going to be this massive pivot. I respect the Nets for not giving in to a trade that they didn't want to give in to. The other part of this too was that this has been a disaster for this entire Nets experiment. I've heard plenty of people say, well, teams will have second thoughts

about how they'll want to build out their team, and they'll look at the Nets saying, maybe don't hand the keys over to these guys. No, that's not going to happen. Every single team that would have a chance to bring in Kyrie to get to rent would do it, and they'll do it again. So I don't believe that.

But I'm more open-minded about could we have more teams calling, I shouldn't say call the bluff but just stand strong and deny the player his request that's at least what you have here

and the Sean Marks part of it and Durant wanting him fired I'm sure Marks in a private moment with his buddies is like fuck that guy I don't know that but I think it's probably a private moment with his buddies. It's like, fuck that guy. I don't know that. But I think it's probably a pretty good guess. But you're a GM. It's not like he's passing the ball to you.

And I don't know where Steve Nash's head would be with this whole thing. Sometimes we could sit there and say, oh, he's got the perfect demeanor. He's really easygoing. He's fine. I don't know, man. The guy just wanted him fired. And now you're going to come back and coach him? But that probably won't really matter

because if Kyrie is engaged, Simmons is engaged, and Durant is Durant, and the rest of the pieces are relatively healthy, and the other things they've added, this is a really good basketball team. So it's better for the Nets today than any other version of this. So that's the good news.

But as far as who they are as a team, I'm just going to have to see a little basketball from this group before I'm ready to buy all in. Kick off week one with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Join today and get started with $150 in free bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. Just sign up with the promo code Ryan, R-Y-E-N. That's going to be the promo code.

Please use it. Let FanDuel know that you're listening to get in on the action, and then you can turn game day into payday all season long. All right, so $150 in free bets. Let's see here. Season awards. Coach of the Year, Kevin O'Connell, plus $1,600. Interesting.

They've got Comeback Player of the year here chase young plus 1400 maybe michael thomas plus 1600 i know because he's already put up stats and everything i don't know good luck with that guy let's give out a win total let's throw 150 on one of these win totals eagles are nine and a half giants seven and a half jets five and a half Giants, 7.5. Jets, 5.5. Let's go Arizona Cardinals over 8.5 with my $150. Not giving up. Not giving up. I can't quit you, Cliff.

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only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued is not withdrawal. Free bets expire 14 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 in Arizona, 1-800-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut, 1-800-GAMBLER or visit fanduel.com forward slash RG in Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, New Jersey, PA, Virginia, or 1-877-770.

Stop in Louisiana, 1-800-270-7117. For confidential help, Michigan, 1-877-8-HOPE-NEW-YORK, or text HOPE-NEW-YORK, 467-369-NEW-YORK. Tennessee Red Line, 1-800-889-9789. Tennessee, or visit 1-800-GAMBLER.net. West Virginia. The voice of the UFC, fresh off of one of the most historic finishes to a fight we have seen in the franchise's history. John Anik joins us, fresh off of UFC 278 out of Salt Lake.

And Edwards with the kick to Usman late in the fifth round. And this is big time stuff. You know how I feel about you. We've known each other a really long time. But for you to have, well, Edwards had the moment. He kicked Usman in the head and knocked him out. But for you to capture that call with you also warning us that like Edwards is not somebody who's going to give up even though the rounds two three and four you're like what's going on here so what was that moment like for you take us back to that moment on one of the most shocking finishes in

UFC history well it's great to be with you as always anyone with a voice like yours shouldn't be calling anyone else the voice of anything but it's always good to be with my dear friend a man who I hold in just the highest regard uh This was crazy, man. And I try not to have a recency bias and to sound like the promotion cuts my check when I talk about these fights and these results and superlatives. But you got to understand the UFC was launched in 1993. So when I sit here and say that I think this is the biggest singular win in UFC history, it's not as though I'm talking about a full century's worth of history. But when you account for all factors, Kamar Usman was 56 seconds away from having a 20-fight winning streak in modern-day mixed martial arts, tying Anderson

Silva's record for longest consecutive winning streak in UFC history. And now none of that is going to happen. And he walks back into his new life, having been concussed to this extent. That says nothing of Leon Edwards and how hard it was for him to have this title fight materialize, the nature of the knockout, how listless he was in rounds two, three, and four. As far as the singular moment is concerned, you know, Leon really didn't do much for 15 minutes. And I know he has spoken since about the altitude

and maybe some other factors. I'm excited to see what he can now do fighting in a trilogy fight at sea level, because candidly, he was 56 seconds away from a lifetime of regret, potentially, because Leon isn't necessarily the type of guy who's going to be first in line to get another crack at the belt.

So it's just crazy to me how this swung on a dime. And yeah, I guess when the narrative came that he might be chasing some moral victory, certainly it popped in my head, like this isn't the moral victory chasing type of guy. And I guess I got a little bit lucky with the time, but I'm just happy for a real good dude who, you know, you know, I'm not surprised he's motherfucking people and just being like, you know, pound for pound, what, you know, pound for pound fucking what? Well, you know me, I'm going to root for all the Jamaicans. So, um, right. Of course you are. Right. Uh, so how, how quick was it then? So as you're sitting there and you're thinking about what to say, because you, you've got this conversation now going around about how it is some moral victory for him to go the five rounds in a title fight he's going to lose the decision and like i thought

the first round was very active but usman's cardio is insane it doesn't ever seem to change his wrestling when and i love that you guys bring this up all the time and it's a really good point by dc is like when you're born a wrestler i don't care how much wrestling you do from 25 on you're not going to be the same as the kid who was born wrestling. You're just not going to be. That muscle memory, just the way you've challenged your body, the mentality of wrestlers. We always joke about don't get in a fight with wrestlers because they're just fucking different. And for that to be kind of the mood for you to sense the moment, like this is big time stuff.

I don't know if it's do you believe in miracles, but seriously, man. for that to be kind of the mood for you to sense the moment. Like this is big time stuff. Like, I don't know if it's, do you believe in miracles, but seriously, man, this is, this is career defining stuff for you. So for you to be in that moment and have the awareness, like a younger version of you, a younger version of me not doing play by play, but like, that's, what's great about getting comfortable in the industry where you're like, I know I'm good, I'm fine. And then it kind of like opens up your mind to a different level of awareness because you're not thinking about how you're doing the job anymore. And that sense for you to know the fighter because you're around these guys all the time, because you've watched every single fight in that moment to kind of take that risk that's going against the mood of how that fight's going. That is big time stuff. And

that's why I wanted to have you on. Well, I appreciate that. I really honestly thought we were going to talk about the fight because when I go up to do the post show after this exceedingly long evening, I don't even know that I've said that, you know, I really don't even know until I get to social media that that is even a thing. You know, I do know what the narrative of the fight is. And I guess in some part, it's weird to be universally praised and to receive more praise than I've ever received by a mile in my UFC broadcasting career, juxtaposed against somehow people coming at my broadcast partners. And I do need to say, you know, it's okay somehow for Leon Edwards's corner to be

super critical and be like, dude, you're getting bullied. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. But yet an analyst who is paid to be critical can't say that he's fighting listlessly or he's chasing a moral victory. Now, I take great exception, candidly, to someone saying he would be chasing a moral victory. But Glover Teixeira once said to me, when I was fighting Alexander Gustafson, my corner said to me before round five, like I'm getting tuned up. Like you either go knock him out or get knocked out. And Glover got knocked out. So some guys aren't willing to get knocked out. So I think the underlying theme could be like, bro, go in there and just get torched, but at least try to kick him in the head. And you know what? God damn it,

Leon went and tried to kick him in the head. But you know, his body language gave the analysts a lot of real estate with which to criticize, you know, so it's a little bit weird for me being praised while my guys who I thought nailed what they were saying are being criticized. hits a home run in his fourth at bat it doesn't mean that you were wrong to right you know go what the hell is he doing in these previous at bats but but fight wise if we focus on the part of this he seemed to juggle between i'm the goat and i don't want to talk about the goat and it was like no i think you do i think you do want to talk about the win streak is impossible in this sport okay um when i think about the resume i don't know if you're going to tell me i'm nuts here and i go all right yep the pound for pound i don't know he just never felt like are we are we we really suggested that kamara usman's the greatest pound for pound fighter in the history of the ufc i had a hard

time taking that leap and And I found myself at times being slightly annoyed. And I know his story is incredible. The doubt, the way he fought his way up. I have all the respect for that, but I was like, stop pretending you don't want to be a part of this conversation. Cause it seems like you're bringing it up and making an argument for yourself being that. And maybe that was my resistance more so the way he handled it than it was the resume. So give me your thoughts on like what was valid about what his historical standing was

had he pulled that off. Well, and I think that's all fair. I think everything you say is fair. And, you know, my podcast partner, Kenny Florian would say that he's not the most layered martial artist in the world. He doesn't even have a signature choke

in terms of with his wrestling game and his ability to get to the ground. He doesn't even have a signature choke in terms of with his wrestling game and his ability to get to the ground. Even in a fight like this, if he had an undeniable signature choke and his jujitsu was super offensive, we might not even be talking about a head kick. So certainly you can open that conversation to be sure. Does he live the martial artist lifestyle like George St. Pierre? Not necessarily. I would argue he certainly puts in as many hours of training. But the pound for pound thing, the GOAT thing, it's very tricky while careers are going on. And a pay-per-view ago when Amanda Nunes was fighting Juliana Pena, I sort of opened the pay-per-view saying like, hey, you know,

yeah, you're the GOAT, but like, don't you put that status on the line every time you compete right now? Because when I say Kamar Usman is walking back into his new life and, you know, whatever degree of humility he will accept at this point in time, like I love the guy, he's the guy whose numbers in my phone, I'm close with Leon Edwards, but I did think after rounds two and three, his body language was cocky. You know, he's literally to my immediate left and he just had that aura of invincibility. And then after round four, he was tired. He was tired. He dominated just had that aura of invincibility. And then after round four, he was tired. He was tired. He dominated round four. He was fucking tired. So there are a lot of layers to it. I still think he's one of the greatest I have seen with that broad generalization. It's hard for me on the heels of this loss to quantify his welterweight legacy against George

St. Pierre's. When George St. Pierre lost to Matt Serra, who was very early on in his career, how's he going to respond to this? Is this going to get Ryan Russillo to England for the trilogy, the biggest fight in UFC history? You think the trilogy is going to be the biggest fight? No, I mean, Rogan said it right in the moment. And again, you know, because it's not, I'm sorry. No, no, no. The trilogy fight between these three, between these guys is not the biggest fight in UFC history. But I would argue until I'm red in the face that what Leon just did is the biggest singular win in UFC history right now.

Other than maybe McGregor against Jose Aldo in 13 seconds. But I'm telling you, the third meeting between these two guys, bro, is a monstrosity. It is one of the biggest fights in UFC history. And that speaks to Kamaru's legacy and just how good he is. Certainly top 10 all time without a question, Kamaru's. Yeah. And that's totally different than I think what the lead up was, but you know what? It doesn't sell fights to go, hey, this guy has a chance to maybe be third best pound per pound

ever. That's just not the way we talk about any of this stuff. And I just think for my, third best pound per pound ever. That's just not the way we talk about any of this stuff. And I just think for my, and again, me coming in, this is just a fan, I was like, wait, this is the conversation that we're diving in here. And by the way, credit to Usman too. He wanted to keep fighting.

One of my favorite things about Jones was that he'd be winning on the cards and then he'd be like, maybe I'll just do some crazy standup Muay Thai with you now. And it's maybe dumb, but with Jones in his prime, it didn't matter. He was going to fuck everybody up. With Usman, he wanted to keep fighting, and you guys were bringing that up. It's one of the most technically amazing, faint left jab, move the headline into the kick when you see the way it's set up and you see the way it's finished and i you know i'm just at my on my couch by myself the windows are open on

the balcony i don't know what i'm screaming and i didn't even really care who won i am screaming because i cannot believe the result and that's's why, you know how I feel about it as much as I love college football and basketball. It's the best sport. It's just the best. Yeah, and you know, I wake up and look at baseball box scores every day. And you know, there are a lot of guys

like Evan Longoria and Trevor Story. You know where I'm going here. I mean, those guys love the UFC, right? Like Trevor Story will hit a home run. I'll send him a message out of support. And all he wants to talk about is Sugar Sean O'Malley. You know, these guys are obsessed with the UFC, right? Like Trevor Story will hit a home run. I'll send him a message out of support and all he wants to talk about is sugar Sean O'Malley. You know, these guys are obsessed with the UFC, but I mean, unless I have a bag of Adderall, I can't watch an at-bat. I can't sit down for a singular at-bat, nevermind an inning, you know, right? And maybe this sport is to blame

or the reason why, because mixed martial arts is so compelling. And I used to say when I was a boxing radio guy, that when boxing is at its best, nothing can touch it. And this is boxing, you know, on crap, boxing with so many different disciplines and ways to win. And this sport has actually sort of softened and ruined boxing a little bit for me. So yeah, greatest sport in the world. And to anyone who hasn't been to UFC live event,

you know, I can't like give away pay-per-views like I did last time on your show. It cost me like $1,000. But I strongly encourage people to ingest a live event. Come see us in Vegas, and then you'll be hooked for life. All right, let's talk about my guy Rockhold. It had been three years, and it was three years with some scheduled fights, and then it wasn't happening.

I don't know what it is. Is it athleticism? Maybe it's some of the early fights. I'll never forget the Bisping knockout, though, because I was like, is he not? What's he doing? He thinks so little of Bisping at this stage that he's not fully engaged. The Weidman fight, obviously, was one I enjoyed a lot.

And so I didn't really know. Against a guy like Costa, who just the best version of Costa, which I do want to talk about too, is just haymakers. And I'm like, oh man. I'm like, I don't know about this matchup for Rockhold. So I'm excited

about it want to i still want to see and within what 60 seconds 90 seconds i'm like oh so rockhold spent already what the fuck is going on here what happened so i know what happened later on you know there's a bunch of different things i'm not doing a great job of setting this up at all but what was there also for you that first moment with you and Joe and DC were like, wait, Rockhold's already like tired. Like what the fuck is going on right now? There's so much to unpack when it comes to this fight week. I know. And that's why I'm doing such a bad job with it. Go ahead. Well, so he was so angry during fight week and so intense. And yet in other ways, he was more welcoming and more opening, you know,

perhaps sensing that this could be the end of his career at 37 years of age. You know, he left no stone unturned for seven months preparing for this fight. He's dealt with a lot of different injuries. People have questioned his chin, which in a lot of respects really doesn't grow back. Although there have been some instances in which guys have with time off, maybe shown to be able to take a better shot. But, you know, his nose was busted very early in this fight, which upset his breathing pattern. And then the altitude factor, I think, can't be dismissed, you know. But yeah, I mean, he faced adversity early.

You know, he looked like me playing high school basketball, hands on the knees, right? It's never a good look for the judges, even when you're having moments in the fight. But man, did your guy fight valiantly. I mean, how can you say otherwise? You know, he has always had heart. He has always had championship metal. The weight cut is not easy for him. He mastered it this time around, you know, last time he cut down to 185 pounds, you know, he was staring death in the face and it was four years ago. I mean, there's so many different layers. He's 37 years old. Like age isn't just a number, you know, uh, you should see the guy hit a golf ball, right?

Skill for skill. I feel like he's one of the better martial artists I've ever seen. So his UFC body of work to me is, is underwhelming and rooted in underachievement. Like what do you 11 UFC appearances? What do you think his UFC record is? Luke Rocco retires six and five in the UFC bro. You know? Yeah.

And yet I think it's my favorite loss ever for a guy that I root for. And that's where the fight, because I'm like, all right. Because I thought he was already a little gassed before the broken nose. And I was like, okay. And then I'm like,

how long is he even going to last? And for him to go the distance, to him throw that left after yelling, fuck you. And then I'm like, how long is he even going to last? And for him to go the distance, to him to throw that left after yelling, fuck you, and then somehow get the mount at the very end of the fight. And then, depending on where your head's at with a lot of stuff, rubbing his blood all over Kosta's face at the end, which was just, I felt like that was him going, I'm going to fucking lose. And I'm so frustrated that i don't have like i don't have the juice to me that i want and that's why i also think when he was with rogan afterwards and he just said i'm old and he started almost breaking down yeah it was if you're gonna go out with a loss that's probably the best way you could ever

go out with a loss which is not yeah yeah Other than the hands on the knees visual, I think that's the only thing we really could have done without because the aesthetic of that, what it says to everyone is just not really a good thing. And it opens the can for people to really denigrate the fight, which by the way, earned a bonus for being fight of the night. Oftentimes these crazy back and forth type fights, even though this was 30, 27 and not back and forth, but even though these fights in which oftentimes these fights in which both guys have their moments can be bonus winning, even though they're not the highest level of mixed martial arts. And I guess that's not a terrible segue to Paolo Costa, who also is physically and mentally very tough. And, um, you know, I do think he actually is more handsome than your guy. He has everything you would want in a future UFC superstar. And he has the martial arts. He is a martial artist. He does live the lifestyle. He does have jujitsu. I don't know. I just don't know why for Paolo Costa, for whatever reason, he hasn't been able to really produce these signature wins that are you know championship level but i believe in the other

side uh i believe in costa and and he's a classy dude that deserves the win did you have a problem with the blood thing by the way with rockhold smear in his face i love it like i i love the blood i really couldn't care less about that i think some people took issue with it i'm gonna check to see what the cdc is uh yeah i know you are let, let me look that up. Um, I'll look, I don't know if this is the right, because, you know, in a way I feel guilty, like Costa wins it unanimously. Like no one, no one was wondering what was going to go, you know, when they went to the cards, I wasn't, there was no suspense for me at home.

I knew Luke had lost the fight, but because Luke had been off so long because he's 37, because of the way the fight started. And I was like, is he even going to make it here? I thought there were a lot of moments where I'm like, how come Costa isn't pounding on him more? And I felt like I was holding Costa to a higher standard. So it can sound like we're more celebratory of Rockhold and the loss, which is unfair to Costa. But that's only because, at least for me with Costa, I'm like, where's the dude who just unleashes, goes banshee mode? at least for me with Costa, I'm like, where's the dude who just unleashes, goes banshee mode? So I thought his cardio was also, and again, I don't know if it's all the altitude stuff that

we've brought up multiple times, but I was more underwhelmed by him in the wind because of who I think he can be at his best. And I was surprised there weren't multiple times like, dude, Rockhold's turned his back to you right now. He's bent over, gassed. Like, where are you? And that was weird for me. And I think that's fair, you know? And I do think to question Costa's cardiovascular base at altitude or otherwise is fair. I'm not necessarily an expert, but my fan opinion, honestly, bro, is like, it's still Luke Rockhold on the other side.

You know, don't tell me there's no danger factor. You know, certainly when they're all bloody and sweaty, the submission danger factor becomes exponentially less. But I still think people are dismissive of the fact that Rockhold still presents danger despite some of those really bad visuals like, you know, turning his back on you on the feet. And I think the proof is in the pudding later in the fight when, when Rocco lands a blow that, you know, stunned Costa for a minute. Um, I don't know. And the kicks, by the way, too, like that was the weirdest thing about the fight for

rock. At one point you're like, is he going to ask to stop? Like how, how is he going to go on? And then he would find some reserve where he's, he's landing spinning kicks to his torso. Right. find some reserve where he's he's landing spinning kicks to his torso right so it was it was such a strange fight for a card you know that at one point i'm like what's what's going on with like the card was kind of underwhelming i don't i don't think you would disagree with that or is that okay to say yeah it's fine it's fine yeah okay and i don't have to add to it uh that

that fight was exactly what the card needed i I mean, granted, we could talk about the history of the beginning of the end of everything that happened with Usman and Edwards, but that fight, I imagine, changed everything in the arena. Yeah, no doubt. Well, and just to give you a little lens into the production, you know, Dana White has a phone and he picks it up and can get right to the truck. So he can control how the broadcast goes. If we go right to the next fight, there are certain sponsorship obligations that absolutely have to get in, but we can float those elements and get to them later in the show. So he usually has a pretty

brilliant stroke when it comes to like, you know, keep fucking spinning this thing forward. You know, I know we got to promote Khamzat Shemaev and Nate Diaz, but we got to keep going. But you're absolutely right because the fight before with Jose Aldo and Rob Dwalish-Willie was a little bit underwhelming. The least offense-filled performance of Jose Aldo's career, and hopefully it's not the one he goes out on. But yes, that was leading into the Rockhold Costa fight. So I would agree.

And especially given Usman stylistically too, you know, just given his dominant nature, a lot of power, but a lot of pressure and control as well. Um, yeah, it was just what the card needed. This sport's just crazy though, man, for me, it's like, it's just nuts at any given moment. Like everything just flies off the handle, bro. It's like, you just gotta be so focused for eight hours because otherwise you miss something, you know? All right. Um, so do you think Rockwell did retire then? Cause it sounded like that's what he was saying to Rogan in the ring. You know, it's tough. I mean, he still needed a medical exemption for a sleeve because the skin on his shin is so thin from the staff and everything else. So it's, you know, he's old, man. You know, I mean, I hate to say it, you know, not everyone is going to be able to fight until they're 40, 41 years old.

Not everyone is going to be able to fight until they're 40, 41 years old. I mean, I, you know, he did, there's no, I mean, are you asking me if there are middle weights in the top 10 that he can beat? Very many of them, you know, and to be healthy over seven months. I mean, he spent so much money and time on recovery and physical therapy and, uh, just everything to optimize his body. And, you know, I don't know, man. I don't know how much, if we're overstating the altitude or understating it,

but certainly Luke, in theory, put himself in position to fight a hard 15 minutes after a career full of 25-minute fights, or at least fights that were scheduled for title fights, 25 minutes. And yeah, I don't know. I'd love to see him try to do one more but he didn't seem to be in that mindset all right so after the fight usman goes down

you got edwards celebrating all over the place like i stayed and watched some of the post fight stuff you were back up there with everybody uh what's the energy like for the production i mean i imagine it's not hard to find it after something like that but but what is the energy like for the production? I mean, I imagine it's not hard to find it after something like that, but what is it like? Like, what's it like with all the other guys that you're working with on the broadcast? I mean, it's wild. I was trying to find Leon, honestly,

after the post-show to see if I could just congratulate the fucking guy after a win like that, because you want to do it that night. You know, I once unsuccessfully tried to track down my broadcast partner, Dominic Cruz, and evidently he chose the women that night over me or ghosted me when I got to the hotel. No, he said his phone died. But, dude, I was shaking after this fight.

There have only been three times in 11 years where I've been shaking after a live event. I'm on the post set. I'm not nervous. That's my exhale. Loosen up the tie. Sit on the post show. I was shaking from what had just happened. The only other time was Conor and Khabib after the brawl and then what's immortalized behind me when Max Holloway threw like 800 punches and destroyed Calvin Cater, the Boston guy. Just impossible to sleep.

And I don't know, man. It's a crazy, crazy thing. This traveling road show where we're all together and we're traveling intimately and we're on buses with the athletes. That has sort of waned a little bit. But certainly, I mean, my first six, seven, eight years with this company, oftentimes on the bus, I had an athlete who was competing on the way to the weight cut to my left and right. So it's our own little circus, man.

And thankfully, a lot of the Americans are getting on board, you know? Yeah, kid. All right. You did mention Chimaev and Diaz. Is that the next one? That's the next pay-per-view. Yes. Show in Paris, France, Labor Day weekend.

And then our next pay-per-view. Yes. Khamzat Chimaev prohibitively favored, I would say, against Nathan Diaz. Yeah, but it's Nate Diaz. No, prohibitively means that he is you know, like I don't think he should be, like, caution, like it's prohibitive. Oh, no.

Is that right? I mean, you know. I get it. It's just that Shemya here is pretty fucking nasty. Yeah, I mean it's a fascinating fight to me, you know, because Nate just has this uncanny ability to produce

in these settings in which he is seemingly up against it, you know. Anything else we need to add? Well, not in terms of Leon's win, but I just have to tell you, like, the best news for UFC fans is that Kamaru Usman is the type of champion. And I think he's going to have you come around eventually, but dude, this is not the

type of champion that is going to hold up. This is the type of champion, right? That is smiling now with his daughter already trying to find moments of levity. He's going to turn around an absolute monster for Leon Edwards, you know? So this is the best type of champion for this to have happened to because he's going to try to get back in there as soon as possible, probably before he's medically cleared. And that trilogy is going to be enormous. Wheels up. Let's go. Who's your favorite fighter right now? Oh, gosh. I mean, well, could I at least hat tip Tony Ferguson, who is stepping up into a co-main event at Welterweight in three weeks' time He's fought his entire UFC career at lightweight fighting the leech,

Li Jingliang, the ranked welterweight coming up in three weeks. So Tony comes to mind, Justin Gaethje comes to mind, Michael Chandler comes to mind. I mean, the lightweight division, those are all lightweights, you know, but it's hard for me to pick favorites. You know, it really is, but it's almost like how much time do you have? You know, we could go division by division. The sport is just so ripe right now. It's just crazy.

I can't emphasize enough how much the global pandemic helped us domestically and how Dana White forging through and breaking through a wall when no other league wanted to do so, like tripled our fan base in the States. I know it didn't do that, but it certainly feels that way.

Like we go to these live events, the crowds are arriving earlier than ever. We have 23 consecutive sellouts. We set live gate records everywhere we go. There have been NBA finals games at the Delta Center where we just were. They call it Vivint Arena now. We just set the live gate record. Hope I don't sound like a guy trying to get a new contract, but what Dana White did during the pandemic was amazing. Yeah. Looking back on it, you know, the uncertainty of everything, it's like, well, how could they be doing this?

How could they be doing this? And then you're like, oh, well, yeah, it probably made sense. Like they were able to execute it. They're able to be safe about it. And they kept the product rolling at a time where it was, it was so challenging for so many other ones to try to pull it off. So, uh, yeah, I'm not, I'm not giving you shit about that because I think we agree on that.

Which fighter hates you the most right now? Oh, gosh. I mean, that is a really difficult, that is an exceedingly difficult question. Uh, it's an asshole question. You don't have to, you don't have to answer it. Well, here, I'll say this, you know, I don't get like the warmest vibe from Calvin Cater. Who's a Boston guy. Now I don't think he has any ax to grind with me per se, right? I'm sure he doesn't like what's behind me on my podcast every week, right? So maybe that's the problem, Cal. Just turn that around for you, Cal. No, but like, I feel like as Boston guys, you know, maybe we should be a little bit warmer. So I get a little bit of an icy vibe from him. But no, I try so hard to not have too many enemies. You know, you know, I've had coaches sort of approach me after fights and enemies. You know, um, there, you know, I've had coaches sort

of approach me after fights and say, you know, Hey, sorry, sorry, you're guiding me. And it's like, excuse me, you know, you want to settle this outside? The problem is I can't settle this outside with any of these guys. I'd lose all these fights. So there's no settling it outside. Um, but it is what it is. It comes with the territory. I often say there's not a live event that goes by where there isn't either a fighter, a coach, a fan, a boss, or somebody who's upset with me. And oftentimes more than one of that group. And certainly my skin is thicker than it was, you know, seven, eight years ago. And it is what it is, you know. Well, as you know, you know, I'm home.

You got some food. I hit by and I see you in your suit smiling at me with unmatched enthusiasm. Uh, the work you put into it, the prep, the research and the, the joy you have doing your job. It is one of the things in this industry that makes me smile as hard as you're ever going to see me smile. So every time I see you do it, man, it's a thrill for me. And I know I say it every time you come on, but Saturday was fucking awesome. And it's about the fighters. It's always about the fighters, but it was always nice to see my guy get a little moment in there because that moment is going to live now forever in the history of the UFC.

Well, I appreciate it more than you know. It means a tremendous amount. And I'm going to be in your neck of the woods September 4th. So maybe we can connect depending on- Sounds good. LSU, Florida State, you know where you'll find me. All right, buddy. Hey, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. And I hope to see you at a live event before the year's out. Brother Vegas in December would probably work. Let's go. Done. Please. Let me just say right now, I go and and put two aside for me and ask if dana if you know they'd be a little closer i knew that was coming december 10th you're locked in uh we'll get you on the floor we want to introduce something new that we want to do we've been wanting to do this on the podcast

now for a while i think saruti and i the first time we talked about it and i know we talked about on the pod as we were like is there some version of of takes so you could buy stock in and again the very easy mechanism is just buy or sell but tv shows have done that forever radio shows have done it forever and it's like it makes sense it's a good gimmick to kind of come up with different talking points and what i wanted to do was kind of keep track of just the worst takes that come up over the course of a season. And then I was like, will this take be even more valuable or less valuable? And then it kind of became complicated because it's like, how do you actually price them? And then we're keeping track of it. So then we decided to do something a lot more simple. And it was really more Saruti's idea

where it's essentially a podium of takes. There's three takes, big F1 guys on this podcast, where we start with a clean slate before the football season, college pro. We even throw a little basketball in there, but we're starting basically this up now, where every week we'll come up with, on one of the three podcasts that we're doing every single week, nominations for a podium of one of the three worst that we're doing every single week. Nominations for a podium of one of the three worst takes that we've heard throughout that season. We're calling it worst take, but it's not like we're going to rank them all. There are

going to be times. We wanted to start with a clean slate because there's a couple of historical ones that will never be knocked off of that podium for me. Some of the rules, Saruti. Let's go over this. Skip Bayless ineligible. Out. All of it is made up.

Too easy. It's all for reaction from people. So he's ineligible. Not interested. I am worried about how often it seems Florio kind of can. I still think that the Wildcat strike tweet from a couple years ago with that Ravens practice

suggesting that the football season could potentially be over. That's one of the all-timers. November 30th, 2020. Per source, there are a few new fears of Ravens players refusing to play tomorrow night, which technically would be a Wildcat strike. It could create major issues between NFL

NFL PA if it happens. Potentially, it could jeopardize the balance of the season or we'll be good to go tomorrow. That's a big and now to be fair, he did clarify in the full post of that. He said, however, unlikely, but it's like, yeah, but I, you know, you

know what you try to do. You still floated it out there. Yeah. Yeah. You suggested the NFL season was going to be over in November because of this Ravens practice. So we don't want to have older ones because I don't know that that one would ever be removed from the podium. Like that to me is a top three forever. Other ones, Rick Buecher suggesting that LeBron James was just a glue guy. Glue guy?

And if you heard that interview that he did with me on ESPN Radio, the drop that we had forever was me reacting immediately going, glue guy? As if LeBron's this Kyle Anderson type that just sort of knows how to make the right pass from time to time and it'll it's a jumper for you what year was that that was uh 2012 maybe yeah that would have I mean if we're doing like yearly winners that would have easily won that year that's a that's a runaway favorite it's one of the worst basketball takes I've ever heard in my entire life. But he also was,

he was a Westbrook guy and anti Katie guy. He said that Westbrook was the one that understood like what it took to win. And Katie was passive and all this other shit. He's also an anti LeBron guy. He is. Cause he was so pro Kobe. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, honestly, Buecher deserves more credit for being the OG of like deciding I'm going to ride for this player. Cause like, I don't think Nick writes eligible for any of this stuff. Cause I don't really believe a lot of stuff that he says. I kind of disagree with you on that.

I think Nick Wright should be eligible, but I don't know. Maybe I'll have to get up to a fan vote. Yeah, maybe. Because like when, when I know that the Wiggins acquisition video makes the rounds and he was just saying, this is Wiggins is terrible. By the way, none of us thought like adding Wiggins in that contract to a basketball team was a great thing for any basketball team to be fair to Nick but it was dismissive of the idea that now Wiggins being asked to be like the fourth most important guy and your life is just way easier when it's the

Splash Brothers commanding so much of the attention. And then even to last year in that role, there were still times where Wiggins I thought was incredibly frustrating. And guess what? Andrew Wiggins had a terrific playoffs. He had a terrific season, and he was great. But what Nick was really doing was he was shitting on Steph to be more pro-LeBron. So that stuff where it's the only reason you're saying these things

is because you just want to prop up the thing that you're married to yeah it's calculated like i just don't i don't put a ton of stock into it i don't and i honestly don't think that's even being disrespectful it's like i know exactly what you're doing and this is a shit on steph like it's a macro anti-steph thing more than it is anything about wiggins because the rest of that video is like steph will never win again he'll never do this never do that and to me it was all very protective of lebron all right so moving on and by the way it appears that everybody that's ever worked with nick thinks he's like the greatest so i can think his takes you know whatever um skip i do not hear the same intel yeah that's not i mean yeah that's the other thing too is like there's probably going to be some canal stuff in here it's not always 90 yeah right this

isn't about who i like or don't like i like cannell 90 of his sec takes are so bad like you remember he was bitching about the seating for the baseball like the college world series he was like he was so out of sec takes he started bitching about he's like oh well look who happens when you get see and then i think it ended up being two sec schools in the college World Series final anyway. Kellerman's got the all-timer there with the, I'd rather have Iguodala take the shot than Steph Curry. Beta universe, laser beam pointed at Earth. Who would you rather have taken the last shot? That's right.

Laser beam pointed at Earth. Yep. Yeah, I don't. But the thing is, is Kellerman had that little smirk that makes me think that he knew what was happening and that video makes the rounds like every couple months on social media uh Acho's always good for a couple

every few months man people were just former players were going at it with him on the Kayvon Thibodeau hit on whether or not that was dirty I see what i always something i thought about doing was i thought years ago like all right everybody's taking all these things and we're all and you know i'm wrong about shit too i'm never wrong because i'm looking for attention all right i'm just wrong because i'll get something wrong i do

not as everybody who's ever listened to me or watched me like i never go hey you know i'm just gonna say this fucking stupid thing today because i want to see it make the rounds. I never want to do the job that way. I'm not saying it makes me better. It just means that if I'm wrong, it's because I just got it wrong. Uh, maybe they're better at it because they don't even believe the shit when they say it and they're wrong. Right. But because there's so much like contradictory stuff out there that if somebody just decided to do, and again, the daily show for sports, if I had a dollar for every time I'd heard somebody come up with that kind of idea, it doesn't ever seem to work.

I watch a John Oliver do these monologues and I go, could I ever do something like that? And an element that I would want to do is just be like, all right, here's this week's and it'd have to be weekly, not daily, but here's this week's thing of like, can you believe this guy fucking said this? All right. And then you would just dismantle it the whole way. And I remember sharing that idea with somebody else and they were like, good idea. You could probably do it, but you don't want to do it because everybody's going to hate you for being

the guy that decides that like this was stupid. Here's the thing. We already do it. We just do it on social media in the moment. So when the guy says the thing that everybody can't believe he said, which is going to happen numerous times throughout the football season, nobody's nice about it in the moment. Nobody cares about anybody else's feelings. And here's the thing. Like I said, I will be bringing up like Gottlieb, who's a friend, his anti-pay player stuff and some of the arguments that he's made over the years. I'm just like, what are you talking about, man?

Like, you're still on this argument. You're still on this one. So everybody's eligible for this stuff except for as you mentioned the topic i just don't talk about um and i might you know i could have something in there we're at the beginning of football season but the reason i avoid some of it is because i don't do hey a block can you say something absolutely insane on today's tv show i don't have to deliver that shit every single day yeah so it's a little different for me and for other people as well. Yeah. If you're doing a daily three-hour radio show, you're going to be wrong all the time,

and that's fine. And again, this isn't even necessarily to just clown on people. It's just funny. I think it's just going to be entertaining. And to your point about the show idea, people would hate you in the industry. Do people hate the old takes exposed guy? I think people genuinely like that. I don't know that. I think that people like the accountability and it's kind of lighthearted and fun. And yeah, some people are used more often than not on there. But I don't think people hate that guy for calling out other people in the industry.

No, I don't think so. I don't think so. I mean, a lot of times it's funny. Have you ever been old takes exposed? I was trying to think of what your worst take was. And I couldn't really come up with one. I mean, we're kind of kicking around Chris Paul, but it's not really a take. It's more of like a general vibe that you like. Yeah, Paul, this is different than just, hey, so and so pick the Eagles to win the division. This is you have to say something like monumentally, like, what are you talking about? And maybe we won't even have three, or maybe we'll have three nominees and whatever, however the season plays out

the entire time. My trade and bead thing, because I was worried about his health and a contract extension, totally wrong. You know, I fucked that one up. The one about the Rams and Jared Goff was one that did actually piss me off

because I did seven minutes. The trading him? No, I did seven minutes on Goff off a preseason game where I said it concerns me how delicate they were with him. But at the time, I didn't understand how McVay handles his starters. And I said, I'm worried he could be a bust already. And then they have that great season. But yet you're still like, wait a minute. You know, clearly clearly guess who didn't

think he was all that good the rams and then they get rid of him they win a super bowl he's easily in the bottom third of starting quarterbacks now away from mcveigh uh but what happened was is that it wasn't even all takes exposed it was a rams fan site that took like a minute of the seven minute segment and just said basically golf's a bust and that's whatever it is and it's fucked because they posted it and then i think old takes was like oh we'll just take that i'm like you guys you guys edited this the original people edited it and i got like threats from people in la because of jared goff that's one of the craziest reactions i was like wait you guys have this worked up about an anti Jared Goff segment.

And that one was like top five, one of the nastiest reactions I've ever gotten about anything I've ever said, which was so surprising. But it was like, yeah, a lot of a lot of a lot of tough Rams fans, tough guys coming after me, which I don't think I don't think there's passion. Yeah, I don't think there's passion about Jared Goff now. Well, I thought it was going to be the one because remember, it was the season after Jared Goff's rookie year. And on the show, we were asking, if you put Jared Goff on the market right now, would you get a fourth round pick for him?

And we were like, I don't even know. I don't remember the fourth round thing. I just remember the first preseason game. They like sat him as soon as they could, and they brought him in after a fumble, and then they took him right back out. Because I felt like teams do that when they're worried about the psyche of a quarterback.

They like pretend they play, and then they have a, ooh, we had a good moment. We converted two first downs. Let's get him out of there. The game's evolved now where guys just don't even want anybody to play anymore. So I was kind of wrong and then sort of right later on but i didn't like the way that one was edited because the way it was presented it left out all the other open like i still wasn't saying he will be i was like i'm worried that this is kind of happening so yeah look i get plenty of

shit wrong and maybe i'll have just an epic one that stays in the podium the entire time um so just to recap this will be you, me, and Kyle every week will come up with our one each that we will propose and then we will basically decide whether or not that makes the podium or kicks anything off the podium. Yeah. Perfect.

Feel free to tweet at us. There you go. Let's get to life advice. You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari. 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.

I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required.

Life advice. Lifeadvicerr tell you what's required lifeadvice rr at gmail dot com um we've got a couple follow ups here um two quick ones a guy was working a boat

I believe the pictures here it looks like Reykjavik with that low-hanging cloud line over the city. Yeah, it reminded me of my time in Reykjavik. He said he was a little surprised. Basically, he's working on a boat. So we're going to say shout-out to our guy on the boat. We don't want to say any names just in case. He could be on the run. What do you mean he's working on a boat?

Is he a fisherman? Is he a charter guy? What would he be doing? This guy seems to be the man's man. I don't think he's doing Norwegian cruises and they just stopped in there and he's in charge of the fruit. He just

said these guys like up all night but he was like i can't believe you didn't do anything about the whale penis or i just like to say bjork wrong because i just thought it was funny forever we were gonna do some bjork uh jokes but i felt like for the people of iceland like oh cool you're doing this travel pod and you're just gonna make a bunch of bjork jokes and whatever. And then somebody was trying to tell me that her house is for sale and it's only like a couple hundred grand. And I was like, all right, that'd be funny.

But would it? It would be funny, but that'd be a little sad. Right. Yeah. Then what? Then what? Way to commit to the business. You get five minutes of props for that.

The whale penis thing. As I said in the podcast, i did a really bad job in the museum thing that the sunlight messed me up in that regard where i'd be like what is it like 11 and i'm like no it's five museums are closing like oh because i was doing stuff all the time so i wasn't always like you know like i said there's a lot of driving so it wasn't like i was going all right i'm definitely hitting up this museum. But the one museum one day when I was in the city towards the end of the trip where I was like, you know what, maybe I'll let me take a look here at the museum thing. And I did the cod thing and I went to the other maritime thing. So I was kind of like, whatever. But there's a full blown penis museum. Just all penises. Elf, whale, I guess a couple ex-Vikings.ings well i guess you're always a viking but human so like a man's penis a man's penis i'd be 30 seconds away from a pretty sweet used motorcycle

um i don't uh i just was like i don't think i'm gonna go there i you know what the thing is i took a picture of it the museum and i sent it to the uh big cat chris long thread and as i i don't know if i mentioned this or not you want to talk about two guys that were the least impressed ever with international travel you know so like i sent him a couple things. There was no response. So I think I was like, you know what? I'm actually not going to send him the penis museum picture because they haven't seemed to appreciate any of what I'm doing

here. So they're out. It's educational. Yeah. Yeah. It was all educational. All right. We had one about the feuding radio hosts here and I thought this was such a good idea that I want to share it. What's up? Love the show. Listening since SVP days. They got some solid advice about trying to bring two feuding radio hosts together.

It's kind of along the lines of Kyle's get a tattoo comment, but I think the listener who wrote in should become a mutual enemy of the two hosts. Make comments about how bad the segments are. Suggest changes you know they're going to hate forget to do things for them you normally do eventually maybe their frustration with you will make them talk to each other if there's anything i've learned during kovat people love to hate the same things and bond over it that's a terrific sentence hopefully they don't just decide to fire you uh good luck though yeah right there is a downside

to this your boss needs to know the deal here as well like you can't just be like hey i'm just gonna stop doing my jobs everybody hates me and then everything else be solved i do love the idea though that i'll be so bad that they have a thing to connect on you know like they've been feuding for years and years and years and then you suck at your job so bad for three months that they have this breakthrough moment where one guy turns to the other guy and says this guy sucks you know yeah cliff it's been awful the last couple months and he's like yeah do you want to get a burger tonight you could make you could make like a fake enemy higher up that they wouldn't ever talk shit to too that way it doesn't have to be you you'd be like yeah i don't know they just been telling me all this stuff man i don't know i think it's crazy right you can make you could like galvanize around like a fake enemy

but maybe come contract time they'll be like hey what's going on with this guy john i keep hearing about like there's no john that works here so make up a fake executive who's bothering the producer about like hey they're saying these segments are way too long they're saying that you guys don't already you guys are you talking about espn right now because there's two producers that did this to their hosts oh really no no like i remember yeah now we're gonna retract names here but there were two producers that i know for a fact that like made up controversies to get the host to then feel a better attachment to this person and then you'd found out like later on be like that guy kind of made that whole thing up to be like it's us against them yeah yeah it's fucking crazy stuff like i am

i'm just i don't have time to be manipulative. I don't even think about it. So when I hear about how manipulative other people can be at times, I'm like, wow. I'm like, do people do this shit? I just always feel like that's not a good long-term tactic. You're going to lie to motivate somebody. That's never a good long-term relationship builder. But his line about

people uniting with a common enemy or like things that they hate is 100 true because people always be like i don't know you look at you and me ryan like i don't think i think we get along because we not because we like the same things although we sometimes do but it's because the same things piss us off and we connect on those things you know and i think for a lot of my guy friends that is 100 true we just get annoyed by the same shit. So it's actually a really great idea. Yeah, it's tough. Tough needle to thread on that one to keep your job

while also being terrible at it. But you can tell your bosses and be like, I'm actually still great at my job. I just decided to do it poorly to try to get these guys to like each other again. Controversial. Like the wire. Yeah, right. He was like, we're going to do school a whole new way. We're going to take the kids, we're going to put them in a different classroom.

It's going to be crazy, but it's going to work. Hamsterdam? Okay. Great first impression with a sports media celebrity. Now what? Ryan, Kyle, and Steve. Let me start out saying I love love the pod haven't missed a show

been following since the svp days don't think stats are necessary but to remain dedicated to the bit 66 195 if you're 66 you should tell us man putting on weight can be tough don't repeat this info all right so he's telling us who he is what his job is uh he's on air um i i believe you know maybe he's not on air um he's he's in a smaller market man working his way up like almost everybody that works in television all right right so he ran into a sports media celebrity. He wants to know what to do. All right. So TV sports guy who covers a couple of big time college football schools was in my office a week and a half ago and got a phone call. I answered it. It was Ian Rappaport of the NFL Network.

I didn't believe it for the first second, but then quickly realized it was actually him. Turns out he comes here often because he got his first sports media gig in the town I live in. And I guess he met his wife here first starting out. All right. He asked if there was a room available that he could use for three certain times for live hits. And if I could help set them up for him,

I told him yes and played it cool. When he showed up, I also played it cool again. This is a cool fucking guy. I told him in a very... Dude. I told him in a very normal way

how big of a fan of his work I am and helped him get set up. I almost want to interview this guy and ask him, what is the most normal way you can tell someone that you're a fan of their stuff? Don't want to brag, but I killed it. I set him up in our studio with a great backdrop and good lighting.

This is fucking hilarious. I don't even know what the question is. It was incredibly helpful getting his equipment set up and he kept thanking me and he was incredibly down to earth. Then we fucked. No, I'm just kidding. He'd asked me questions about getting started and all that good stuff. I made a great first impression. Not only did he thank me again via text, but asked if he could use my spot again in the future. I said, of course. I guess the advice I need is what should I do to play it cool while also maximizing this relationship as much as I can. I'm 26, been in the business for

almost five years now and know it takes a while to get very high up. I understand that. It's not like I'm going to text him asking for a job, nor do I expect him to ever be able to get me a gig. Well, those are great instincts because that's those two things are definitely true. I just want to make sure I'm getting the most of this lucky situation. What do you do from here on? Man,

it's actually a great email. All right. It is a great email for a bunch of different reasons because I remember what it was like to, to be our guy emailing in here. Because here's what happens. Whether you want to get started in the business or you're just kind of getting started in the business, you're hoping every single contact, and it is about the contacts, but what's incredibly disappointing is almost none of them can do anything for you. But what's incredibly disappointing is almost none of them can do anything for you. Right.

And that's kind of the big joke about having all these contacts in the industry that I have or that I'm a part of. You know, there's might be a programming guy down the road, you know, lunch here, lunch there, meet up, follow up, text, all this stuff. Like I do a lot of that shit and it didn't really ever do anything for me like it it really didn't the only thing i did was i just tried to do a good job and and hope it would all work itself out uh and then you know obviously some of the stuff i could have done a much better job on the relationships with and decision makers and all that kind of stuff but like my thing's different because at that point i've been on the air now a bunch of times and now i'm kind of getting distracted from what the whole email is asking here. Yeah, there's a way to play this cool. And apparently, you played it cool at all three levels, man. have to limit your expectations for whatever a text relationship would be with with ian rapaport like what do you want to do all right if you if the thing you wanted to do more than anything else was be a reporter at nfl network then maybe you have something here all right and you may because

in the beginning you're like maybe i would do that or maybe i'd say that you know you're gonna have an open mind about all the different things you'd want. Like, it's not great when you have very limited experience being like, here's the 12 things I never want to do in the business, you know? Because then it's like, all right, who's this guy think he is? I remember I had one interview. I was still in my 20s. It was another shitty radio station. And they were like, would you do this? I said, yeah, would you do this? Would you do this? Would you do this? And I was like, I'd do all those things. And then they're like, do do this i said yeah would you do this would you do this would you do this and i was like i'd do all those things and then they're like do you have any questions for us i go would you be looking for me to after every baseball and basketball game to be

getting live audio from inside the locker room and they were like and the thing it was stupid is they probably weren't even thinking about it. But since I brought it up, it made them think about it so that they were like, well, yeah, that might be something we'd ask you to do. Is that a problem? And I'm like, yeah, that'd be a problem because I'm not going to go to every single game and miss other games and then stand in the locker room to get a fucking 30 second sound bite for some guy that doesn't want to talk to me to then run on

the radio show that I'm doing the next day. And it also means that that means I have to be somewhere, you know, however many hours, what, seven, eight hours after I'm actually done with the radio show. It was a bad mistake because then I was giving them doubt about my commitment to it just because I was bringing it up. And if I hadn't brought it up, then I could just say later on, if I'd gotten the job, hey, I don't want to do this, but whatever, it didn't matter. I didn't really get the job and I ended up at ESPN pretty shortly after that.

So none of it mattered. So if you know that that's something that you want to do, and this is a place where Rappaport works, if you play it cool, the check-in every six months, maybe a year, maybe you give it a year.

I'm serious. I know that sounds crazy, but if you're texting this guy all the time, hey, how's it going? Hey, great job on that Ravens hit. And then three months later, it's holy shit, JC Horn extension. Great call. Keep up the good work. And he'll be nice and go, oh, Hey man. Great. Thanks a lot. You know, cause all he's doing is texting all day. Like the other guy knows what you're doing too. But if you were to, after however long you felt comfortable from the text relationship and said, or you could do the preemptive thing, which again, it could turn some guys off and be like, look, I know who I am right now,

but down the road, NFL Network is something that I definitely would want to do. Can I, in a year from now, have somebody there look at a tape? All right? Or you could actually ask that a year from right now, right? The problem is that when you're younger and I'd meet these people and I'd be younger and I'd be naive about it and I think, holy shit, I just met this guy or I just met that guy. And you follow up with them. And it's not even really selfishness, man. A lot of it is. selfishness man a lot of it is i'm worried about my contract and there's a pretty good chance if i don't know you that well like a lot of guys aren't going to take the time to say all right hey let me go to my suits and make sure somebody and no offense but like when you're in local right now

and you're in your mid-20s national networks are not like they not like, where's the next local non-80 market guy that we can desperately put up on Sunday countdown? You know what I mean? Like, it doesn't really work that way. So, I think you already know some of these things. And I don't want to sound discouraging to anybody. I'm just trying to be entirely, like, realistic on how it actually works. Because you could say, like, hey, I met this guy. Okay, but does he have access to something you're even qualified for right now?

Probably not. Could he down the road do you that one favor that gets you the lunch or, hey, I'll be in LA? Is there anyone from NFL Network that I could spend 30 minutes with? He might be able to do that for you, but is it the right person or is it just somebody else who's at NFL Network that has nothing to do and they're like, hey, cool, I'll feel important at lunch with this younger because I've done that too with people

where it took me like a little while to go, oh, the reason this guy always wants to get together and do all these things because he doesn't really do anything. When it comes down to the decision makers, this guy isn't one of the decision makers. That would be, I think, the best case scenario for you. Slow play it. Don't be overly complimentary about a bunch of shit

that he doesn't really care about the compliments for just to keep the text thing going. But if there comes a time and you feel comfortable and you can say, hey, because I would respect that too, like, hey, I get how it works. I know the chances aren't great, but I'll be in LA at some point or whatever down the road, or my goal is this. Would there ever be a chance I could even just get on a Zoom with somebody

behind the scenes there to understand how the hiring process works and what they look for and what could possibly happen down the road years from now? That's how you have to look at it. Because very rarely can the wish be granted in the way that the person who's trying to work their way up thinks it works. And I was the person that made those mistakes and didn't understand it until I was in it. And then later on, I was like, oh, yeah, that's kind of how this works. So again, not to be discouraging, just to be realistic. I don't know if you have more to add to that.

Again, I'm just trying to be honest about how it really works. So Rudy? just trying to be honest about how it really works so so rudy yeah you know i guess i'm kind of in a position where like you know people hit me up and be like hey like you know i love the ringer or whatever like can you can you help out and it's just really hard man like i don't not i think people and obviously ian rapford is a way bigger deal than i am and even for him it's just like what are you gonna do like he he's not to stick his neck out for a guy that did some good lighting a couple of days. Great lighting. You know, I'm pumped.

Like, it's awesome. You did a great job. But it doesn't mean that you're going to be like an awesome on arrow. So it's just it's hard to really ask anything. I always feel uncomfortable about it. I try to help people when they ask, but they're really just limited in what they can do. So I think what you said is just like, you know, try to like don't overdo it because I've had people hit me up. They're like, hey, big fan of Nick, the Rosillo show. And then they'll just text me or DM me for, cause I respond to one DM that he DM me for like ever. And I'm, I don't

even have it bad. I'm not even complaining in that way, but like, you have to kind of know like how to play and how to slow your role. And he did emphasize that he thinks he nailed it at least with Ian. So hopefully he's on the right track, but just check in periodically, ask him maybe a couple of questions about the industry. Don't do it too much, but just check in periodically, ask him maybe a couple of questions about the industry. Don't do it too much, but just like stuff that makes it seem like, you know, you're really motivated and dedicated and ask him maybe if he could have a longer conversation. And then, as you said, go out to LA, see if he can meet people at the NFL network or just kind of keep them up to date on what you're doing too.

And, and also spin it to like, can you ever help Ian with anything in the future? You know, always kind of ask him like, cause it's just going to be, it's going to be helpful and go a long way. Cause one act of kindness or one thing that you do, isn't going to be like, all right, I got to hire this guy. I got to get this guy at my company. It just doesn't work that way. Word. I mean, I would, I would stay out of the business like media side of this. Cause I don't really know that much about, I just mean like regular people. When I meet a new person, friends of friends, I don't know, it's my friend's cousin or something, or even just a person at the bar was like, whatever. I just, the first thing I'm wondering is like, are you going to be annoying? Not even weird. Just like, are you going to be

annoying? So like, if you, you feel like you nailed this, I, all I mean is you could totally ruin it. Even if you nailed it like three out of five times like you could totally ruin us by being like overly caught overly annoying or whatever so um i would just say just keep that in mind man i don't i don't know what else to say about the media or whatever i just mean like you should probably be able to tell if you're what you're about to send could come across as annoying and if it's been you know not long enough time has passed since you've randomly checked in i'll keep my short and sleep i like that you applied that to like just general interactions is this person going to be annoying uh because you know i think they're going to be people listening like hey that's bullshit you guys should pay it forward

and do all these different things and i'm like yeah but you don't it's not like a million people did me favors because there were a million people to provide me with that favor. Knowing somebody in radio didn't mean that's how I get the radio gig. I'm just, again... You also have to be good at your job. Here's the thing, too. The guy's what? I think he's 26.

Yeah. There aren't very many 26s or even in their late 20s, if we're talking a couple years, who are making their jump from a local market to nfl network you know it's i did the nf i said the nfl network thing i said it is like you need to know what it is that you want to do so you know what it is that you want to ask for um but yeah if i had to place money on like ian rapaport being the key for you to make this massive leap forward it's probably not gonna happen yeah you already have to be good at what you're doing you know yeah you have you're already good like ian ian could push you over the top but he's not going to be the reason that you do something you know yeah maybe we have ian rapaport on and i would love to yeah what are we gonna do we don't really care about yeah we

don't have any insider stuff we'd be like how good was this guy those three days he set it up what if rapaport's like you know he was he was all right. Can we check the tape? Is there a video of that? Yeah. I think we've done plenty on this. Okay. Moving across the country with girlfriend having second thoughts. Uh-oh. Girlfriend I met in college in 2019, but dating for about three years now. We both grew up in the Midwest and had spent our entire lives there until the summer. I was lucky enough to receive a job offer from my legitimate dream company in my dream industry back in March. I wonder if this guy knows Rappaport. While I was extremely excited and wanted to accept the offer immediately, it would require a move to the East

Coast to a city where neither of us had had any friends or family. After discussing with my girlfriend, we decided to move to the East Coast together for some additional context. She's a teacher, and since they have schools everywhere, she was confident she'd be able to get a job in our new city. We signed a lease for a one-bedroom apartment together in April, completed the move in May. Since she had already committed to teaching summer school at her previous school district, she didn't join me until

about three weeks ago. For the most part, things have been going well, outside of the usual adjustments, going from living alone to living with a partner. We've had a lot of fun exploring the city, and honestly, things have been going pretty outside of the usual adjustments going from living alone to living with a partner. We've had a lot of fun exploring the city and honestly, things have been going pretty well. Despite this,

lately, I've been having some second thoughts about the relationship. Our relationship is very healthy. We have similar senses of humor. We virtually never fight or argue. We have a ton of fun together and things are good in the bedroom.

Whoa. Nice. All right. Yes. Love to hear that. Always love to hear that. That's on the sex. Outside of the small,

occasional annoyances like my girlfriend being a bit needy and overly jealous, there aren't many issues in our relationship. My hesitancy on the relationship basically stems from having cold feet. Even though things are going great, I'm worried that there are so many experiences that I'm never going to be able to have. Did we get the stats on this guy before you

go into your thing how old is he did i miss um they met in college was 2019 i'm i'm guessing he's he's right out of college yeah early mid-20s yeah um i was in a serious relationship in high school that continues the longest relationship in college which is an absolutely horrible idea that no one should ever do. Agree hard on that one. We were off again, on again, off again for the back half of our relationship. And after we call things off for good during my junior year, I was only single for about three months before I met my current girlfriend and began dating.

So that's the girlfriend. So he went long distance high school deal into his junior year, three month gap then met this girl now they've been together for three years so this guy likes girlfriends stupid son of a bitch all right looking back at it now i really regret the initial relationship and feel that i wasted a lot of time that i can't get back you did and you can't yeah you know what it happens fast forward three years to today and i haven't really been single since i was 16 now as a 24 year old i'm worried i might be settling down too soon for lack of a better way to define it i never had a hoe face sir do you ever have a hoe face uh yeah i kind of similar situation this guy i did a long distance thing in college broke up junior year and then basically didn't really

settle down until I got married. So yeah, there you go. Highly recommend. 10 out of 10. Whoa. Lately, I've been feeling a bit restless, a feeling that has amplified since I live in a city that seems to be overflowing with gorgeous women. Seriously, I can't even walk to the grocery store

without seeing multiple jaw-dropping women. Since you all experienced more and further along in life than myself, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what I should do. I really love my girlfriend. I love her family and all of our mutual friends. And until recently, I was really optimistic about our future life together. I'm just concerned that these feelings would continue to nag at me if nothing changes. If they do continue, not only would I continue to be bothered by them, I feel guilty harboring these feelings while seemingly in a loving relationship where everything is going great from my girlfriend's perspective not fair to anyone what do you think

i should do also if things do progress to the point where i want to break up how do i go about considering our circumstances this fucking guy he's asking about it he's not even sure what he wants to do he's like but if i do break up we move 10 hour for 10 hours from our families any serious friends that live together uh with a lease that expires in May, don't worry about your fucking lease right now. All right? Let's back up. Let's back up, too.

So it sounds like our buddy here, it's the first time wherever you went, you grew up, wherever you went to college, where you're like, whoa, there's a whole new world out there. Yeah. All right? And it's very natural, I think, to feel that way. But like in every relationship, I kind of wonder where you're at. We didn't get any stats.

This is the kind of time I want to know whether or not the guy thought he was hot or not. Right. I actually do want to know this stuff. Are you at least six foot tall? Right. Like how hot is your girl? Yeah. If you're five, eight, call the lease department and say you want to extend. So, uh, because every relationship, one of the, one of the people in the relationship

is like, could I do better? You know, I don't think there's very rarely the relationship where both people are like, I couldn't do better. Or both are like, I could do better. I don't know. I mean, yeah, sure. Sure, fine. But I think we also understand

the original point I was trying to make is there's always a little... Somebody's always got a little bit more leverage in the relationship. And I don't know how to... Are you a good-looking guy who now is getting attention because you're an entirely new market and you've never felt this before and again it's very understandable that you start going like hey but here's what i would tell you as the older guy maybe you did find your person. You've not said one negative thing about your girlfriend the entire fucking email. Everything seems to be working out. The personality, best friend vibes, the family, the friend deal, all that stuff. Although I'm telling you, as you get older in

that friend group, like staying in a relationship because of the friend group, if you're not living even close to the friend group, none of that shit's going to matter because people are going to get older. They're going to have kids. They're not going even close to the friend group none of that's just going to matter because people are going to get older they're going to have kids they're not going to care when we're solo calls on a saturday to be like hey what are you guys up to you remember that time when it's going to be like dude i have three kids or go to practice you know people are going to be making new memories they're not going to care about yours so wow um yeah i don't think that you're making a very strong argument for blowing this up, other than it sounds like you just want to hook up with new girls in a city

because you've never done it before, which could lead to a massive, massive regret a little bit later on. All right? Because then you could think, oh, whatever. I mean, chances are, if you're good looking, you're going to meet somebody else anyway. But I don't know. So I'm wondering, is it that you think you can do better than your

girlfriend, which is maybe shitty to say out loud, but people say it inwardly. I mean, I know exactly what you're going through. I know exactly what you're saying, but you're not making a very good argument about breaking up. So I'm not going to answer like, what do I do about the lease and all this different shit? I mean, come on. Cause that part where you're like, and if I do do this, how would you handle the lease? It makes me think you're definitely going to fuck up. You're definitely going to do something. And yeah, you know, I don't know, but like the most egotistical breakup ever is like, Hey, I'm starting to think about other people and I know I moved you here and I'm sorry so i i don't want you to be depressed but

i'd like you to move out because that's like so egotistical as if like oh you're so amazing that i would be so devastated by this entire thing so i'm just you know it kind of feels like you're going through puberty here in your early 20s is kind of what it sounds like and uh i don't i don't think you're going to be mature enough to like listen to me in an email or listen i don't think it's going to happen for you right now we're like hey ryan made a ton of great points i maybe already have my person i want to grow with this person and go through these experiences and share these experiences make these memories together and it's going to be amazing because the other stuff isn't as rewarding when

you're in your 20s and you're sleeping around you're like i'm the fucking man like who's who's in town this guy's in town i'm gonna buy some more fucking vests it's on you know i'm gonna get a different haircut well you guys want to go there for a weekend oh fucking killer dude killer It was killer. And then you get older and you're like, eh, stranger. Yeah. So I would just say that I don't know that you can – you're probably going to fuck this up, but you haven't made one good point about wanting to break up with your girlfriend other than it sounds like you just –

it's the first time you've ever seen multiple attractive women in a city because you haven't lived in place like whatever place you live in because he left that part out which is good yeah it sounds like the reason this is even happening is because you didn't have the stones to break up with your high school girlfriend i think that's what abs like you wouldn't you wouldn't even be worried about this if that was the case you'd be like all right because i feel like you might be the guy who's afraid be like this is moving we've already moved like cross country now. And we're like, she's got a big girl job. I got a big boy job.

Like this is like we're moving towards like, you know, possibly getting married and then pretty much having to stay together or whatever. So I feel like you might be worried that I'm going to be the guy that has slept with four women in his entire life. And that's totally fine. That's the one thing you need to realize. That is totally fine. his entire life.

And that's totally fine. That's the one thing you need to realize. That is totally fine. I think that you could, what you're doing now is just mimicking going to college and breaking up with your girlfriend. But you didn't do that. And now the stakes are way high

because she moved all the way across the country. So I think you probably thought long and hard about what this was going to mean before you were like, do you want to come with me? Right?

Because that's the moment where everyone who doesn't break up with their college, with their high school girlfriend thinks about it, thinks about doing that. So you definitely had the thought and you decided against it. So, and I know sometimes it can be hard when you're out and there's just like women all around. It's like, yeah, just because you think they're cute doesn't mean that they're like already going to be like, oh man, I was waiting for this guy to come talk to me. Like, that's not how it's going to work out. So Midwest Dave, he's finally came here. He's on

the East, he's on the East coast. Right. So don't think about like, I know it's hard to think about when you're like out public, like, man, wish I could just talk to her right now or whatever. It's like most women are going to find that creepy if you're just, if you go up to them in that sort of situation anyway. So I guess what I'm saying is it's not going to be your fix to everything. And I think you really did think about this with clear heads before you actually asked her to come with you because that was your out to be like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And then I'm never going to see you again. That was your out, but you didn't take that. So I think that you're probably a smart guy who had those thoughts already. So I just mean that I think you probably

made your choice already. And it's okay if you guys end up moving forwards and you've only ever slept with four or five women because it sounds like you didn't have that much time to get into some chicanery anyway between your two girlfriends.

The way Kyle says it, where he's like, no, it's okay. It's okay. I don't know if I truly believe that you think it's okay. If you're like, no, if you're that guy

that's only slept with four girls, it's okay. It's okay. I'm just saying, people that are respectable people do it. I could see why you'd be a little bit worried. Like, oh, my life is over and I've only slept with, I don't even know. Maybe it was two.

Maybe you had a bad stretch between meeting girlfriends and you jumped to the next one. I don't know. One of my best friends got married. He slept with one girl his whole life and he's so happy with it. But I could see why you'd be a little freaked out. But I think that you just thought about this way before you asked her to come with you and now that she's here you're having other thoughts so you know i don't know jerk off or something you'll be all right whoa you'll be surprised how much how much shit you don't do if you just wait until you do that

uh i well honestly i'd advocate that before breaking up with her immediately um I think you guys hit the nail on the head both times though Kyle I'll take your point a little bit further you have to be honest with yourself are you good at going out so you're in a new city and a different coast and you're gonna break up with your girlfriend be like this fucking Casanova like are you good at that do you because because in theory you can go yeah this is gonna be great as Kyle said all these girls are gonna be interested in me I have a good job I'm single newly single but that doesn't mean that you're just gonna be slaying every single weekend like there's gonna be dry spells are you gonna be ready for that

because everybody that that is in this situation thinks that they're just gonna kill it because there's a bunch of hot girls walking around it doesn't work that way doesn't work that way so when it's really when it isn't going well are you gonna like cry yourself to sleep tonight thinking that you made the wrong decision and the answer might be yes because it doesn't sound like the girl that you're currently dating is that bad like she actually sounds like she's pretty great so i would say obviously you have to do whatever makes you happy and if you think what's going to make you happy in the long run is having your you know your your thought out phase or you're just kind of like hoeing out around town but if you're really going

to regret and you think this girl is pretty cool and it seems like she is right by all accounts um you know be prepared to like have that be a pretty big regret in your life going forward if it doesn't work out and let's hope she doesn't have brothers that listen to this podcast they're piecing it all together going wait a minute uh here's the deal every married guy that's listening to this is like no shit guys like no shit but the married guy decided at some point he wanted to have a different life he wanted to have different memories he prioritized a family now granted i think there's some people that just go i don't know i wasn't getting any hotter and i was like getting close to 30 and i had to do the best i could at that time you know so i think yeah people get married right people get married for a

bunch of different reasons but i think there's a there's a general part of it of like guys going yeah no kidding like you don't think the the one time I get attention from some younger girl at the gym, then I'm kind of like, oh man, like, of course, of course. But that also speaks to the maturity of like processing through that, not doing the wrong thing and prioritizing what it is that you have at home. Because ultimately that's going to be more important. Even if this fleeting moment, it was way more pleasurable.

Uh, you don't seem, and I don't mean this as a knock. I don't think you're mature enough in the relationship to think of the relationship that way. Like you want to get out there. You mentioned that you already liked being alone before she got there. You're walking around with your head on a swivel and you're freaking out.

Cerny makes a great point. Just because you're single, it doesn't mean that all of a sudden it's boy band ass time, though, either. But then when you end it with like, how would I handle breaking the, you know, how do I tell her to move out and all that kind of stuff? We all know what you're going to do, dude. But we just tried to give you as much warning as you possibly could. All right. There you go.

That's life advice. Thanks, Rudy and Kyle. As always, we got Julian Edelman for Thursday I guess Big Cat will be next week keep pushing that one back tough kind of book tough kind of book actually it's all on me I didn't remind him for this week so that's the plan

ready to go college football NFL we've got an awesome NFL plan too with our back-to-back Monday guests so something different that we're going to be doing this year. Please subscribe. Ryan Russell, The Podcast Readers Pub. you