The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Finding Value in the NBA's Second Half With Raheem Palmer, and Talking Oscars With Adnan Virk

Episode Date: February 17, 2023

Russillo is joined by Adnan Virk of the 'Cinephile' podcast to discuss the 2023 Oscars, and a weak year in film (0:34). Then Ryen talks with The Ringer's Raheem Palmer about his approach to sports betting, building his own sports betting model, and gambling on the back half of the NBA season (35:53). Finally Ryen answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (1:03:38). Host: Ryen Russillo Guests: Adnan Virk and Raheem Palmer Producer: Kyle Crichton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A couple guests today. So we'll get to it. Adnan and I talk movies, talk Oscars, a little bit on the Eagles. Also Raheem Palmer, part of the East Coast Bias podcast with House and JJ. He's going to talk about his models for gambling, some NBA futures, what he likes when it comes to MVP odds, and then a little bonus nugget that he throws our way that I did not expect, which is really good. And then we'll do a bigger life advice with Kyle. 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. Big week for this guy. We learned that Canada invented football and basketball. So we really feel like we're late even having Adnan Virk who joins us now.

What's up? Ryan, great to see you, man. I've got so much to get to before whatever it is you have to ask me. So let's get to it. Love the Deliverance rewatchables. I was hoping you were going to be wearing the Burt Reynolds shark vest, which is just an unbelievable look and I can see you pulling it off. Secondly,

love that you mentioned Ned Beatty's teeth in the film, which I don't think has ever gotten nearly enough pub. As you said, he thought he was going to be one of the hillbillies. Instead, he was one of the people who was of course, brutally sodomized. And I'm glad when Bill mentioned potentially Mount Rushmore to go network,

which is, I hope people listening. Oh yeah, of course network. You will atone for the great movies ever. And Ned Beatty is incredible in that movie. I can't imagine a lot of people do prep prior to an appearance in your podcast, but I did that last night. I made sure I listened to Terry Winter interview, which was three months ago in early November. I remember you texted me,

you had him on, but I made sure I listened last night. Can you believe, and for those who are unaware, Terrence Winter wrote The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, did Tulsa King, which I labored through all nine episodes. Credit to Ryan on the podcast saying he watched the pilot. Didn't go further than that. You're honest about it. I don't think we're going to have Terry Winter back to discuss what the rest of the season was like, but not nearly as strong as The Sopranos or Boardwalk Empire. Having said that, he was a sensational guest. How about the fact he turned down David Chase for a job in the Sopranos because he felt it was a demotion. At that point, he was a consulting producer. He's like, sorry, I can't be

a staff writer. Unbelievable cojones on this guy. David Chase is like, all right, 15 minutes later, called him back. You got the job. I couldn't believe that Terry Winter pulled that off. Wow. Okay. Yeah, that was three months ago. I appreciate it. In case you want to go back in the archives, check it out. wow okay yeah that was that was three months ago um i appreciate

in case you want to go back in the archives check it out yeah i look his his whole story was awesome i mean the fact that he basically kind of was was figuring out a way like watches watches some of the it was like i have to be on the show i have to be on this show and he wrote some of the best episodes so uh and boardwalk empire was incredible that one it's weird how you know in the beginning it didn't matter what hbo did i just gave it a chance because we weren't used to prestige television like at first you were like wait stuff is actually this good on tv like we weren't used to we didn't grow up with that like twin peaks was the first television thing at least in my childhood where you, what are they trying to do on TV? We're not allowed to have stuff like this. And then when I think about the competition for eyeballs with the amount of great stuff that's out there, the amount of great stuff that gets lost.

lost. Like boardwalk. I think of certain shows. I go, you know, boardwalk empire had come before the other shows. I actually think it'd be remembered as one of the great ones. And it's just kind of draft behind this push of,

of those early years where it felt like we were just like, I felt like everything that was getting greenlit was awesome. Yeah. I remember the tagline was one of the best ever. It's not TV. It's HBO, right? We're better than TV. We're,

we're, which is now known as prestige television. Obviously, Bill and you guys with your company have literally a podcast around prestige television because it's better than actual television. But HBO was the ones doing that. It's not TV, it's HBO. And I'm with you on Boardwalk. Buscemi, it was very risky to have him as a lead. He was such a great supporting actor,

whether it was Fargo or any of those Coen Brothers movies, to have him as a lead was a risk, but he was terrific. And of course, I love Bobby Cannavale. Won an Emmy for that show. Yeah, it was a really, it's an exceptional time. And just, again, I give you Terry Winch, the guy went to be a lawyer. He was the worst lawyer ever.

And he said he wanted to be a sitcom writer. And I love that you follow up. You're like, wait, were you funny? It's one thing to be like, oh, I'm kind of a funny guy. I love that he referenced Mr. Saturday Night, which I watched on Broadway last year. You know, I love that you follow up. You're like, wait, were you funny? It's one thing to be like, I'm kind of a funny guy. And I love that he referenced Mr. Saturday Night, which I watched on Broadway last year. You know, I love Billy Crystal. So Mr. Saturday Night, great film from 1992. And he referenced it in your interview. He said, you know, you're going to have living room balls. And then like, you know, the co-honest actually go out there and do the actual jokes. So sitcom writer working on Flipper, especially doing the sopranos i mean that is honestly hysterical

the stuff that you got out of him all right speaking of the arts uh we're coming up on on the oscars and uh i've i've made it through maybe half of the the best picture nominees would we say this is a weaker draft class oh i i think it's fair to say this is the worst year in movies we've ever seen. Think about that. I have a podcast called Cinefy, a lover of film, in which I'm promoting cinema, and it's the worst year in cinema that I can ever remember. I mean, you go back every year, Ryan, there's at least one or two you go,

hey, you know what? It wasn't a great year, but man, Parasite was great. It wasn't a great year, but God, I will always remember The Irishman. You know, I know people don't like Shape of Water, but I loved it. I love Three Billboards, Edson, Ebbing, Missouri. Those films from 2017. Of course, The Irishman from a few years ago. This year, and as we were texting the other day, I said, Banshees

was my best film of the year. And you go, wow. Best film, like, exactly. It was a lean year. Like, that's probably a number seven or number eight film in a strong year, but by dearth of good quality of railway, I had to go Banshees at one, which Stan Van Gundy very memorably yesterday in the Levitard show said, I think Banjo's

been shared as one of the worst movies he's ever seen in his life. He thought it totally sucked. He said the critics love it. Everyone's afraid to say it's not good but I will disagree with Stan Van when it comes to that. But I'm glad you made it through half of them. It's weird because this year, and you and I can appreciate blockbusters. We both love Mad Max Fury Road.

You recommended that book to me, which I read last year. It was tremendous. But we also can like independent films, smaller films. This year, you've got your populist films, Top Gun Maverick, which has made a billion dollars, Avatar 2, which is now the third highest grossing movie ever. Now he surpassed James Cameron. He has surpassed Titanic. That's at 2.2 billion.

And then everything, everywhere, all at once, which I had as number four on my best pictures of the year and is right around the front of the win, that made $100 million. That feels like one of those indie movies nobody watches. No, it's $100 million. It was a real word of mouth hit. So this year's movies are definitely movies people have seen, but to your point, making your way halfway through it, there's not enough that you're rushing to tell people to go watch them. Okay,. Let's start with Banshees. I've now said this repeatedly. This has been a newer thing for me. I'm completely in a tank for Colin Farrell. Every time he does something now,

I'm in. His career arc is incredible because in the beginning, it's like, who's this hot foreign guy? We're going to put him in a million movies. That was the timeline for what would happen to that guy. Then usually, he's done. When I saw The Lobster, which remains one of my my favorite movies ever he was so funny without trying to be funny the script is so dark and weird i love that it was this i just i just love the inception of

these ideas where it's like okay what do you have like well it's sort of like uh where does it take place well it's like in an alternate reality okay Okay, wait, what? No, it's actually like, you wouldn't know anything was different other than this absurd idea that when you're heartbroken, you go to find love. And if you don't, you become an animal, right? So now it's like a completely make-believe world. And Colin Farrell chooses a lobster.

And she's like, that's a very good choice. And you're just sitting there and it's all deadpan. And I'm thinking to myself, I'm like, Colin Farrell's incredible. Like this is an incredible actor. And so since then, I mean, In Bruges was an indie cool thing that you kind of got it and be like, oh, did you see that? And you'd recommend it to all your friends.

And so to see his move in the Northwater, that television show where it's, what, late 1800s whaling? Maybe it's earlier than that, forget it. He's unbelievable as the villain in that and so to see him in banshees he's kind of a dope and the dialogue is so direct or calm which i couldn't quite figure out how to pronounce his name for like the first 30 minutes of the movie the part where he's like i just don't like you i look at the scenery is incredible the story certainly gets weird it's kind of depressing but i don't think it's necessarily like you don't you don't get

done with it like it's a downer you know the movie isn't over and it's a downer and as much as i love it i can't believe you have it as the favor for best picture which again speaks to the class yeah i need 30 seconds on the lobster because you did reference it with Josh Duhamel and I was hoping Duhamel was going to piggyback you because you referenced it how much you love Farrell. You're almost kind of saying to Josh like, hey, you could be like him, like young, good looking guy and then transition.

And Duhamel's really funny. Right. So go ahead. But lobster, I mean, that first 10 minutes, I mean, you and I have said this before, first 10 minutes has to grab you. The first 10 minutes where Farrell is asked to nail his sexual orientation, this is bisexual, he said, we don't have that option anymore.

And he gives it like a solid 20 seconds over mulling over what should he go with, heterosexual or homosexual is incredible. How about John C. Reilly later on? He gets his hand put in a toaster because he gets caught masturbating. Like this is just a disturbing, dark movie and either you're're gonna find it really funny or you just think it's demented back to banshees yeah i what i found was so funny about it was as you said it's direct

and it's just so honest like i wish more people talk like that like you said brendan gleason just finds him insufferable like we've been friends well i'm like i'm tired of your stuff like i'm just tired of your nonsense i don't want to hear hear it anymore. And Colin Farrell, the fact he just keeps going at him like a piranha. What is it? Why can't we just hang out? I can change this. No, just fucking leave me alone. I hope that Brendan Gleeson has just had enough. And I'm sure

we've all had friends like that. Like, hey, I don't want to catch you in my life entirely, but I could use a break. We're going to need to go a few months here. I'm tired of your nonsense. And I think the film I've appreciated more, like you said, stunning cinematography and it's beautifully shot and great performances by my quartet of actors. Barry Coggin as well is not in for supporting actor. The actress, I don't remember her name. She's up for supporting actress. She's really good. Also the feckin' donkey. I mean, you walk into that film and you can't feckin',

every feckin' day, you're a feckin' donkey. You and your donkey shite. Like you can't stop doing a bad Irish accent for an hour after the movie. And even greater the point, because someone said to me, I got it. It's dark and it's funny, but what's the point? I said, I think, and I don't know for sure, but I think Bart McDonough, I'll take your opinion on this, is almost making an analogy for Irish Civil War. He's saying

nobody knows what they're fighting for. After a while, it's like, why am I cutting off my own fingers? Why am I throwing bloody fingers at a guy? It's kind of putting the nonsensical nature of conflict. I'm not sure if that's what Martin McDonough's going for, but someone did throw that idea out. Yeah, sometimes I, you know, I don't

love, like, trying to always get in the director writer's head on what they were doing and trying to make it out to be something way more complicated than it was because it sounds cool as a critic or somebody that's doing these like i just it always reminds me of like taglines for movies and it'd be like you know a triumph of the human spirit beethoven too and you're like what it's like a triumph

like my life's going to be different after this like what what are you saying and so with this i just felt like it was really basic like what would two people do in this setting with no other options by the way too right there's nothing else to do in this this part of the country and it's like one guy just doesn't like the other guy and that's that's all it is you know it's it's it's so simple and yeah maybe there's there's deeper meaning to it that that that analogy that correlation may be exactly right with the backdrop of the war going across the sound where you know they're like hey the guys are fighting again and they can see this this rebellion going on which they're completely detached from because of water so maybe that's

totally accurate but i i kind of like looking at stuff as its simplest form, like the elevator pitch, that one line that they'll always tell you to do if you're writing something, explain it to me in a sentence. And in this one, it would be one guy just decides he doesn't like the other guy. If you just

imagine the studio executive then leaning in going, okay, but then what happens? Is there a car crash? Is there like a meteor comes? No, no,'s just he just doesn't like him he's just tired of him why is he tired of him he's annoying he's annoying you know he'll be annoying like yeah doesn't that happen a lot yeah but i'm going to do it better than anybody else okay uh also important how you can incorporate animals right we've talked this before with john wick they're like how can you justify canada being a killing a killing machine? Well, they killed his dog. Well, then you can kill 10,000 people. Same thing. A donkey's involved?

Jenny the donkey? Okay, now all bets are off. Right. We had John Wick's producer on. And he was like, once we tested it and the dog part of it, everybody's like, okay, no problem. Kill as many people as you need to. Kill this fucking dog.

Causeway, is that nominated? It is. Causeway is the only nomination. Brian Tyree Henry, who is terrific. And of course, he's been a really lauded actor for his work on Atlanta. And here he is playing this dark, self-loathing character, him and Jennifer Lawrence.

I mean, I loved your point. Owen Glover, who's a terrific film critic for Variety, he said, you know, this film totally fits indie movie heaven. So you take a big movie star like Jennifer Lawrence, you glam her down, she's got some sort of malady, in this case, PTSD, she's coming back from the war, early scenes of her rehabilitation, quiet, evocative score, fairly static shots,

a little bit of grittiness to it, set in New Orleans, a little grimy, 90, 95 minutes and not much of a resolution. That's your independent film right there. And as you texted me the other day, it's just characters living with each other. Let's just step in their shoes for a while. I'm like, okay. I like the film primarily for the performances,

but that to me is really cribbing from the indie film playbook. Okay, both of them are terrific it was a nice reminder of how amazing jennifer lawrence is where she's this massive superstar and yet she can be in this indie film and you're not distracted by it you know i think some stars are almost too much for a movie like this i liked the new orleans setting you know i love that city its uniqueness i think they did a really great job with that. I would have liked to see, instead of New Orleans auto repair, something a little more specific, you know,

instead of like NOLA auto repair. Her backstory is terrific. There's some awesome scenes with her mother where you can tell they're just not on the same page. They never have been. There's one line in that movie that I love the way that it's delivered, and it's a really well-written line, where it's something your mother would say to you, uh, depending on the relationship you have with your mother, where she's just like,

oh, you look like you, you look like you when she's back home after dealing with this PTSD from the war. And the thing I don't like about it, and I've noticed this, and this is going to transition perfectly into the whale is the way trailers fuck with us. The way trailers try to sell us an idea that isn't really part of the movie at all and the glimpse of this idea that there's a romantic relationship between the two main characters which is not even remotely part of this movie at all except for one kiss in a scene that ultimately leads to nothing other than you know kind of their conflict and they have their

blow up which you know will probably be resolved but you go into it kind of be like oh is this going to be this this edgy relationship like wow what's going on here because the whole build-up is that she's not interested in men and he has this horrible thing that happened to him in the past which i think is really good story building and all that kind of stuff but then when you watch the movie you're like that literally had that glimpse depending on how you first preview the movie and i don't really like watching trailers that much. But with this one, I went, you kind of sold us something that definitely wasn't part of this because it was this moment of like, wow, you know, here's, here's a very, is this, you know what I mean? Like what, what kind of relationship is going to develop out of these two and nothing other than just being friends.

That's it. Right. And I guess the obvious thing is well, if they fall in love, that's what you're going to see. That's predictable. So I'm with you. I'm like, no, I'm glad they didn't. But what is the answer to it? Well, they're just friends. I'm like, okay, that's it. The blow

up scene was great. I wish they actually had a little more of that. When they went at each other, that was a volcanic scene. They both really got to show off their acting chops, had a bunch of anger that was submerged. And at the end, it's kind of like, well, can I just stay at your crib for a while? I'm like, okay. So I'm with you. Endings are hard. Yeah. I appreciate

the fact they didn't go obvious and find them together. But the answer is, I don't know if this ending was all that memorable either. No, I'm not saying I even wanted them together. I just felt like it was kind of capture something. Really, I think what I'm saying is I really should save it more for the whale. Because I like Causeway. Endings are really hard. it's a classic indie resolution to a movie picking up on a dialogue from previously closing with that line you're like okay but i did like

living in that world and because their performance is art to it you feel total sympathy for them they feel completely relatable they don't overdo it at all it It's good reveal. So I thought both of them were really strong. The whale. Okay, let's do this. I went into this expecting like the greatest vacation of my life. All right. I went into this expecting the date that just, oh my God, I'm going to call my friends if I were to do that kind of thing, which I wouldn't. This is going to be the

greatest game I've ever been to. I was so in on this between Aronofsky, knowing the background that it was a play, knowing that Brandon Fraser was kind of having this comeback, and the way they sold this movie in the trailer. And then when I left, I was physically angry.

In the theater. It's not a bad movie. I just wanted it to be great. I wanted to feel something I hadn't felt in the theater in a long time. It's the first movie that I've gone to in the theater since I think 1917, not the year of the movie. That'd be a long time. Sam Endes.

Frasier's terrific. I like that they force us to stay in a shitty apartment the entire time to make you feel a bit claustrophobic. But between a couple things that I'm like, what was that for? And then the ending and why I think it's so different than the trailer. I was disappointed. To your point,

it's one of those films that when you first hear about it, as you said, Aronofsky, Frazier comeback role, Aronofsky did this previously with Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. We know he's a great director, not just because of The Wrestler, but Requiem for a Dream, he takes chances. Even when they don't work, Mother, which I found loathsome, at least he's a director who's willing to

push the envelope. That's the point. The Wrestler is so good. Requiem for a Dream is so different. I mean, The Wrestler is, you feel everything in that movie. Okay. And I unfortunately wanted that same thing. So I was holding it to almost an impossible standard, knowing that as you pointed out, I think you were depressed from week after mother. Like, I remember you telling me, I saw you in person after, and you were just like, you were shook. You weren't even the Adnan full of energy that we're so accustomed to because you're holding Aronofsky to this impossible standard.

And that's what I was doing in this movie, unfortunately, although I think the trailer was just, I know trailers are misleading. I know they're supposed to hook us in. Don't fucking do it with Aronofsky. Like, don't do it with this picture because then when you're in it, you're like, okay, this is what it is. Go ahead. I like your point. You just said this to Simmons and CR on that rewatch

spot. You go, I don't watch a trailer if I already know I want to watch the movie. And I'm with you on that. Killers of the Fire and Moon, Scorsese, DiCaprio, De Niro, I don't even see the trailer. I got it. I don't want to know anything about it. So I'm with you. If you already know you want to see it, don't watch the trailer. If the trailer is supposed to lure you in, then you give it a chance. But to your point, The Whale looks like a no-brainer,

right? With that cast and that pedigree of the director. And instead, what happens? It's only really got nominations in pub for Frasier, Hong Chao, who I thought was terrific for supporting the actress, and for the makeup. And you would have thought that kind of film, that's going to be up for Best Picture. That's getting a Best Director, Best Screenplay for Samuel Hunter, adapting the screenplay. So what happened? If you go on Rotten Tomatoes, and of film that's going to be up for best picture that's getting the best director best screenplay for samuel hunter adapting the screenplay so what happened if you go on rotten tomatoes and again that's just an aggregate it's one measurement that's 66 right now from critics 60 and above is a positive review below that is negative so your reaction is actually more commonplace with what most critics fail now i love the film and again maybe i'm in the bag for aronofsky i really want i was rooting for the film to be great. So I'm already on that side of the ledger. But what I loved about it was,

I'm with you. I love the fact it's claustrophobic. I love Frazier's performance. I like the fact that it's an exercise in empathy and in compassion. And you're like, this guy's life is so miserable. And yet he's still somehow a vessel for positivity and optimism and there's a little bit of callbacks to the wrestler in that you've got this teenage daughter in that instance it was evan rachel wood this time you've got the daughter coming in just just unleashing on him right all the rage and anger for the fact that he left her mom for his lover and you know all these things that have happened she's great then yeah and she's just letting him have it and and i thought those scenes were great and to me it's the classic base in the play, because you can tell it's again, it's one setting. It's just it's an actor

showcase. And either you're going to kind of enjoy that ride and say, I'm just going to enjoy these performances and what they're trying to say and enjoy that experience. Or you look at it as you did and say, I was expecting more. And to be honest, the general reaction has been people were expecting more. The film was made maybe $10 million for A24. It's a small movie. They're not looking for a big budget, but they're expecting more. I mean, it got a Producers Guild nomination, Best Picture, but it missed out on Best Picture, Aronofsky Director nomination. It's not up for screenplay.

So it's pretty much Frasier, hell or high water. And this is interesting, the Best Actor race. You mentioned Farrell earlier. He's never won before, never been nominated before. He's a great actor. We all know that. Frasier, comeback performance. How cool is it? Hey, George of the Jungle is going to win an Oscar.

But he's also done some other stuff, Gods and Monsters, School Ties. Or it could be Austin Butler for Elvis. And he won the Golden Globe. And you know the Oscars, they love their performances on biopics. He proved he could sing, he's dancing, et cetera, young upstart. So it's a really fascinating race, three-horse race right now for best actor but imagine if fraser wins for a film that wasn't beloved but he is the one vehicle for the whale he was deserving because he he's really good uh you know part of it when you first hear about it when you first read about it and you're like okay and then you see some stills from it and i remember constantly being like is it available at home yet and it it kept delaying. And then I go, well, enough is enough. Like, I'm going to go see this in the theater. And I felt like, wait, did I get like gimmicked into this? Because the shots from it of him in the fat suit, you're like, whoa, okay, this is, this is incredible. I, I actually think it's fine if he wins it as much as I like Farrell. I'm like, okay, is that Oscar? Is that... But then the Austin Butler part of it, he's still talking like Elvis, which I think is really

interesting. I had a roommate... Is it though? It's been a year now, Ryan. I'm in favor of method acting. You and I love Daniel Day-Lewis. We love Gangs of New York. I totally get the fact that he's on set and goes, Marty, I'm not going to pal around with DiCaprio. I'm going to stay in character. Amsterdam!

I'm going to do this for the next six months. Like, I get that. But once the movie's over, like, I think it's like, hey, Leo, nice to meet you. I'm Daniel Day-Lewis. Marty, good to see you. Hey, great job. Like, a year later, he's still using the same voice?

That seems a little much. I had a roommate who was from outside of Boston that had no accent. And after Google Hunting blew up, he came back full-fledged. So we were like, wait, what what happened he was like dude when i come home you know like i just pick it up a bit we're like you sound like an entirely different person we've already known you for two years this is weird and so i did think it was funny after the

golden globes that people just kept releasing these videos of austin butler still sounding like elvis and to his credit he was like am I? He was kind of funny about it. He thinks he's damaged his vocal cords now. I'm like, well, just stop talking like that. You'll be fine. Yeah, he didn't. He was, you know, I think somebody else would get really defensive, and they'd have this PR team release all of this stuff, and he was kind of like, am I?

That's weird. My bad. A24, though, that's a good point. It's a good parallel to HBO, because if it's 824 i'm giving it a shot that's basically where i am uh with them and i like that they they swing and i think they connect a lot of times and i don't even care about you know and again this personal taste misses as far as everything is concerned flying the other day uh i only made it an hour in so i still have some work to do to watch the rest of it.

The plane landed and the movie cut off right around the dildo fight scene, which I thought was a good time to take a break. If it wins best, think about that. The best picture of Frontliner does feature a dildo fight scene. I know the Academy's gotten younger. It's more diverse. It's more audacious. But you know there's going to be some crusty old cinematographer going,

I just can't get past the flying dildos. I'm going to have to vote for The Fablemans. I liked Spielberg a lot. I thought it was a good film. Bam. That's my best picture. I haven't seen Fablemans yet. Go.

Well, and everything everywhere all at once. I mean, that is truly a film which is unique. And again, that's why I credit A24. They're going to take chances and try something different. I can't imagine that elevator pitch. If my buddy Ryan Russillo was pitching that to a film saying, okay, Asian family, laundromat, time shifting, she plays 25

different characters, it's going to be awesome. It's kind of like a House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Dragon, Hidden Dragon. Jimmy Lee Curtis is in it. We got hot dog fingers. I don't think this is going to work. But somehow they pull it all together. And I don't think the the entire film works i do think it's a little too long i do think at times it's too ridiculous but for a for chutzpah and originality and trying something different and michelle yo's terrific kiway kwan is going to win the best supporting actor he's excellent

in the film and it's it's vibrant it certainly is and it's the beginning yeah the beginning of that movie is is really well done where it's this it's this scene that's kind of just going you know it doesn't take a breath you just you're just in it as soon as the movie starts you're just in it and i i like that it's almost like you have to kind of catch up to how fast it's going in the beginning so i'm trying to be fair here because i mean it's ridiculous i'm not going to sit here and talk about a movie that i haven't seen the second half of because the plane landed. I will watch the second half.

What do you think of it so far? You don't sound like you're... It's just... I think it stopped at the wrong place for me. I need to watch the rest. Fair enough. Flying Delta is probably not the best scene.

Because that fight scene, I had like a kid sitting next to me on the flight too. So I was like, all right, I probably should turn this off, I think. Because, you know, like she was looking at me. She was like eight. She was watching The Office.

And I was like going, hey, cool. And then this scene happened. And I was like, okay, we're touching down here anyway in Utah. So probably a good time. I like that they give you that option like at the start of the film. It's like, you know, there's some objectionable contact.

Would you like to continue? Like, yeah, fine. Wolf of Wall Street. It's okay. Who's going to object to this stuff? And they edit it sometimes for the movie, for the release on airplanes. But clearly as you saw,

not nearly enough in this case for an eight-year-old girl no i don't think she saw any of it and now i feel weird even talking about it and i would admit you wouldn't even really know what was going on unless you were watching watching the movie because it was such a weird like it's it's kind of this kung fu scene and there's just a couple weapons that aren't traditional weapons yeah i don't think she's able to decipher that they're sex toys. She was not that sure. Yeah.

I'm hoping so. Cause now this is feeling weird. Even talking about it. Uh, life advice. How are you doing post? I'd feel better. Uh,

this is a better word for that. I feel worse for Eagles fans. If you didn't have one in your back pocket from a few years ago, you doing all right. Yeah, that does help though. You're right. There is some salvation. Same. At least we have one. And I've been a fan since ago. You doing all right? Yeah, that does help, though. You're right. There is some salvation.

At least we have one. I've been a fan since the 90s, so we're looking at 33 years. And I always go back. It's funny. If I say a team to you, I always think, do you think offense or defense? If I say 49ers, you think of offense. Montana, Young, Rice. If I say Bears, you think of defense and Monsters of the Midway.

When it comes to the Eagles, even though one might think, okay, it's always going to be offense because of Cunningham and obviously McNabb and Michael Vick. I always think of defense because I love those Buddy Ryan teams, those early 1990s teams. And the biggest thing that is still pissing me off is if you look at the points per play, the Eagles allowed was 0.71. A good NFL defense, as you know, should be 0.3 to 0.4. So do I think the Bradbury call was ticky tack? Yeah, but we didn't lose because of penalty. We lost because we couldn't get a stop. That second half defense was deplorable, and Jonathan Gannon didn't change anything, and we couldn't get any pressure. You can't be a team, Ryan, that has the third most sacks in a single season and get zero sacks

in the Super Bowl. If you don't put pressure on Mahomes, he's going to slice you in dice, and that's what he did. And I knew our special teams. Grant to Sean Payton, who said, hey, one weakness for the Eagles, their special team is kind of lousy that punt coverage horrible that play set up at the five virtually that was a touchdown so i'm with you though it does help having the one like i remember in 05 losing the patriots and getting that one is a little bit of salvation but this is probably the best eagles team i've ever seen and you're never going to get a better schedule than this right we played nobody in the regular season giants were a real playoff team niner's was a fourth string quarterback like it's right there

for the take it 10 point halftime lead you gotta close and they didn't do it yeah there's a few things now you know further removed from it so i don't want to do a full super bowl recap this far out but like sirianni i don't know who's even asking about him punting fourth down on his own side of the field there like he had to address that i can't fathom anybody in that spot down a score is going all right i don't know i i that i didn't even think about it like reading him talking about i'm going wait which play i had to go back and and go okay so that's ridiculous i did think especially if you look at the eagles now against the quarterbacks that were good they gave up a lot of points like if you look at a handful of games against the good quarterbacks uh and it would

have been four touchdowns if they wanted the quarterbacks and it would have been four touchdowns if they wanted the fourth touchdown. So it would have been even worse if the Chiefs weren't trying to drain clock and kick the game winning field goal. So that was always something that was in there,

but they were still right in it. We're still talking about scoring enough points to win a football game. The hurts part of it, I think should make you feel good. And as much as everybody's on Gannon for adjustments

and execution, like I say it all the time. Okay, feel free. Let me know what all the adjustments that you would have made because you're talking about Patrick Mahomes. So were you going to catch him maybe on one series? I don't know. But we're talking about somebody who physically is as good

as we've ever seen at the position. He's probably not going to have Brady. I doubt he's ever going to have Brady's resume. But as far as just his ability to play, you were in a one-score game with that guy with a chance to still win it. So losing to him, losing to him,

there's going to be a lot of fan bases that go, oh, it shouldn't be framed as, I can't believe we lost that game. It's, oh, it's disappointing that we lost the game to what is already, you know. Mahomes' early resume. We were laughing about it the other day. I don't forget which guest it was, but just that

he's hosted five AFC title games and we don't even realize it. We're just like, wait, what? So, yeah, I know you guys are pumped out, and it's a great fan base, despite all the criticism of it. But, you know, whatever. Yeah, and I'm with you.

As soon as you do it, you have to tip your cap. Like, it is Mahomes. It wasn't like some flash in the pan. Like, no, this guy's outstanding. And Andy Reid's a great coach. Bantam's a great offensive coordinator. Like, early on,

I was so mad and yelling at TV. I'm like, how is Kelsey open? Like, that's the one guy that can't be open. And then I'm like, well, obviously, if they build a stock, Kelsey, sometimes it's

what the Chiefs are doing, right? They're disguising certain things. So they're a smart team and they're a good team for a reason. But like I said, Hurts was great. I mean, that part I feel like he's going to get a huge raise. Fine. It's going to work out the cap a little bit.

Fletcher Cox, Brandon Bray, probably move on. I hope Kelsey doesn't retire. But like your nucleus is there, like the A.J. Browns, the Devontae Smiths, the Dallas Goddards. So we'll be back in the mix. Okay. I know we love promoting stuff for you. So tell us about Cinephile.

And I wanted to get to that Michael Waka new contract with the Padres. I love that there's a club option. It's like a choose-your-own-adventure for a contract. I love the club option, and then if that's declined, he has the player option. I love this stuff, but we probably don't have time for that. So what else do you have? Yeah, so Cinephile, obviously your place for all your Oscar predictions leading up to the Oscars March 12th. NHL

Network, bad year for the Flyers, but still trudging out there. John Turrell. Is Drysaddle top five? He's unbelievable. I mean, McDavid, it might score 150 points. He's going to be the sixth person ever to do that. And Drysaddle is his teammate, who's a top five player in hockey as well.

It's ridiculous. They might get Eric Carlson from the Sharks, who's having a sensational season. Feeling pretty good about the Oilers right now in the Western Conference. I like that you threw in a dry slottle rather than a McDavid question. And of course, MLB Network. I told Cerruti, I said, I can't wait to see Ryan. I really want to talk WBC because probably not going to happen, but

March 8th, I'm looking forward to it. You know I love Freddie Freeman, former MVP playing for Canada. Good to see that. Yeah. Go Canada. Go Adnian Virk. Always good to catch up. Thanks, man. Last quick one. Good to see that. Yeah. Go Canada. Go at it, Ed Vert. Always good to catch up. Thanks, man. Last quick one. I know you're saying goodbye to me.

30 seconds or less. My buddy Jason Robbins wants 30 seconds on Jalen McDaniels. He's a huge Sixers fan. He goes, he's an athletic special long wing that could play D. I need Ryan's analysis. Yeah. There's this group of younger big wing three and D. I mean, the oddity is he gets compared to Jada McDaniels from Minnesota,

who's a terrific, terrific defensive player. And you're always like waiting for the shooting. And then there's the shooting of, is it catch and shoot where he's limited as a shooter, where the shooting numbers look good, but he's never really going to be able to do anything on his own. I thought it was a total steal for the Sixers to pick him up. Charlotte, I guess, didn't want to pay him. What's he really going to be ceiling-wise? I don't think he'd have the opportunity,

especially with so many shot takers in front of him on Philadelphia's team. But I think it may solve the carousel of wing options that Rivers has been s of like sifting through. And some of that's because of injury and whatever. And like people want to look at Thibel hitting shots reportedly the other night. All right. But, you know, Thibel, for the most part, has not been able to shoot for most of his

career. So I think Jaden is a really nice next option in the rotation for in comparison to all the different things that doc was doing so like you know i wouldn't get carried away about like oh yeah they got the next superstar here because charlotte had him that whole time and even if you think charlotte's not a great front office or i maybe better said ownership maybe not on a birthday uh you know he's you know he was kind of like if he scored zero points you wouldn't be shocked and if you looked at the box score and he had 18 you'd go oh wow that's. And if you looked at the box score and he had 18, you'd go, oh, wow.

So, yeah, big, athletic. You hope the shooting is consistent enough. You'd like to see more shooting, a bit more on his own, the defensive wing option. It's a nice pickup for Philadelphia. I loved it. I love it. Actually, he said he listened to four hours of Ewan Simmons.

He did not discuss McDaniels. So, we knocked it out. Thanks, man. The Midway Point of the NBA season is here and now is the perfect time to download FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook because new customers get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's bonus bets back if your

first bet doesn't win. Just download the FanDuel sportsbook app. It's safe, secure, and super easy to use. Then you can bet on everything from the money line to point scores and threes drained. Here's what we're going to do. Raheem Palmer is going to join us. He's part of the East Coast Bias betting pod. And we're going to talk NBA futures and the title odds that are out there.

Right now, Boston's plus 90. That's the, I guess, lowest odds. The Clippers are plus 1,200. I know I haven't been super Clippers guy, but Raheem's going to talk to us about why he thinks that's great value, especially what we've seen from Kawhi the last couple of weeks. So there you go. We'll get in more depth of that with Raheem. Plus, FanDuel even lets you combine your bets for a chance at a bigger payout with the same game parlay.

So don't miss the chance to get your no sweat first bet up to $1,000 in bonus bets when you go to FanDuel.com forward slash Ryan. That's FanDuel.com forward slash Ryan to learn more. Make every moment more with Fanduel, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. Must be 21 and older and present in select states. First online real money wager only. $10 deposit required. Refund issued is not withdrawable. Bonus bets expire in 14 days.

Restrictions apply. See full terms at Fanduel.com forward slash sportsbook. Raheem Palmer works for us here at the Ringer East Coast Bias with John and House uh that episode is out on Friday I know he just taped uh we've not spoken before so good to meet you man what's up good to meet you too I mean it's it's an honor you know I mean I've been watching you on TV forever so um it's good to finally meet and speak to you well okay don't get I don't want to

let you down now I know I feel like I have to come through here. Okay. We need some help here. Maybe I do. So Rudy, at one point in the season during our FanDuel Picks contest, which he won, he said he thinks he's solved gambling, which would have been amazing news had somebody solved it. I did laugh. He ended up winning the contest. And then once we started getting through it, like anybody, this is really, really hard. It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun, but it's really, really hard. So give us your, you know, as an expert in this field, give us kind of your methodology, your whole philosophical approach to playing this. So first things first, I'm mad y'all had a contest and y'all didn't invite me. I'm offended. No. Okay. No, next time. Next time. invite me. I'm offended. No. Okay. No, next time. Next time. Nah. So, I mean, my biggest philosophy when it comes to betting is that you have to be able to price a game. You have to be able to come up with your own number somehow, some way. And you also have to be able to find something in which the market isn't necessarily pricing in. So for me, I have my own math model. I taught myself how to code. At one point, I was using Excel. I taught myself how to code in a statistical program called R. So I basically have my model,

and that's a baseline for me. There's some people out there who have models, and it's their whole thing. For me, it's a baseline. So when I say it's a baseline, it's just to let me know where the number should be, but then I'm also handicapping the games. So here in this setup here, I have four TVs here and I'm watching every single game and I'm making an adjustment from my model based on what I see. So if you take a game like the Eagles versus the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, my model actually like the Philadelphia Eagles. So when you saw, you know, they actually that number came down. I think they opened Chiefs as the favorite. The Eagles became the favorite at some point. But for me, when I look on the field, I see Patrick Mahomes and I don't think you can actually quantify that numbers.

So I thought the edge that Mahomes had was just so much greater than my numbers. So I threw the numbers out and I went with the Chiefs. So it's a little mix between what the math says and what my eyes see. So it wasn't just the point and a half that you were getting, because I know you live bet at a plus 400 as well. So is that, you know, the time of possession thing was a big part of the first half, but also them giving away the touchdown to the defense takes away some of that time of possession,

which I still think could have been brought up a little bit more to explain. But, you know, you're holding Mahomes 89 yards in the first half. So are you looking at plus 400 as just eyes or maybe I think the answer is probably a combination of your eyes and the value. I mean, for me, like, and that's the thing.

Sometimes, like, when I'm live betting, I'm going into a game knowing the side that I want to bet live already. So I like the Chiefs pregame. Instead of taking the Chiefs pregame, I said, you know what? I'm not going to take the Chiefs pregame because they're going to go down. The Eagles, when you look historically this season, they've scored touchdowns on 64% of their first drops. So you'd know if they get the ball first, they're likely going to score a touchdown. And then you have an opportunity to get a better price live.

But I'm not going to lie to you. I went downstairs to warm up some food. I had some chicken wings. And by the time the Eagles had scored, the Chiefs had also scored. So I was going to take the Chiefs plus 150 after that first touchdown. And I didn't get an opportunity. So I'm waiting for another opportunity.

And I think the next drive, I think the Chiefs drove down and they missed the field goal. The Eagles scored after that. I was like, let me wait a little bit, see if I can get a better number. And then right when I think the Eagles are about to score again, Jalen Hurts actually fumbled. And I was like, piss. I was actually really mad because I was hoping the Chiefs went down 14 points because it would give me an opportunity. And I know the thing about the Eagles this year is that they struggled in the second half. And I knew that the Chiefs were getting the ball first after halftime.

So they'd score before the half and then double up. So fortunately, it worked out for me. But I have a plan going in a lot of times when I'm live betting. A lot of times I'm looking at an NBA. What's the pace of this game? Are teams shooting over and above expectation? Situations like that. Okay, so the NBA, as we go to the second half here, game or a team shooting over and above expectation, situations like that. Okay. So the NBA, as we go into the second half here, are you looking at just title odds right

now? I have them all in front of me, so we can go over those. The MVP stuff, I mean, the Jokic at minus 240 and then Embiid, the second best option at plus 600 almost feels like, is there anything there with Luka plus 2100? If you said, hey, Dallas has got the easiest schedule going, you know, does that mean that he could push some run and get it high enough of a seed? And, you know, the numbers are going to be there. So I know a lot of times it's not just about, do I want to be right?

It's just, is there enough value in there? The MVP stuff feels like it's a little tough there considering what Jokic is doing and the return of the straw polls that ESPN had, where it's overwhelming that Jokic is doing and the return of the straw polls that ESPN had where it's overwhelming that Jokic is getting most of the first place votes. How are you trying to just,

I don't know, scheme up what you're doing here in the second half? Well, I weigh the straw poll like very heavily. At one point, actually, I had an MVP model and I think it doesn't work

as well as it used to because I think precedent has been broken in the last couple of years. So when you look at the last couple of years with Jokic winning, and he's won as like a sixth seed both times. When you look at historically throughout entire MVP voting since like 1985, no one's won it with less than a second seed besides Michael Jordan in 1988, Russell Westbrook the year he had the triple-doubles, and Jokic. So precedent has been broken

lately, so I think that leaves room for Luka. But I just don't think the Mavericks are going to be good enough. And right now I weigh that straw poll very heavily. I mean, Jokic is just, I mean, he's putting up unreal numbers, but I think you can't really sleep on MB because MB put up 47 points against Jokic. And I think some people, I mean, the head to head matchups

aren't everything, but I think there's going to be some people who aren't going to forget that. And like, I mean, I try to look at individual voters, like what are they value? A guy like Jalen Rose or a guy like Mark Jackson, they're going to remember that. But I think, you know, a guy like Zach Lowe is probably going to vote for Jokic. So I try to look at all the voters and anybody who has a vote. And I try to think who would they vote for? I think right now, Jokic at plus, what is it, minus 240? It's not a ton of value, but I think he's at minus 240 for a reason. Yeah, it's weird because if they were inverse team-wise and he was the same guy, then I think the Embiid odds would be not as much value, but more favorable to Embiid

because you've had Memphis go through their struggles, which is weird that it'd be this long, and it's still Jodd and Jaron Jackson playing, right? Some of these other teams, you're like, oh, they're going through their rough stretch. Phoenix goes through their rough stretch. Well, okay, because that's boogers out. What else do we need to talk about?

Milwaukee getting all three of their guys back, and we see the win streak, even if Middleton doesn't feel all the way back. Boston's probably due for something if they finally have guys that start missing games because Boston usually is the team that you can count on having their best players play all the time. So while all of this is happening, Denver's the one seed. They've been the clear one seed now for a while where I think fatigue in voters is a real thing where it's almost like maybe I'll do something a little bit different. I voted for him the last two times.

I think playoff failures can leak into the way somebody would vote for somebody the next time around. I don't know that that necessarily happened to Harden. I mean, Harden has three number twos and a number three outside of the one year that he won it. So it wasn't like voters completely wrote him off. But the fact that Denver's won and Jokic statistically is still off the charts here

in comparison to the other candidates, you know, if they were the four or five seed, I wouldn't even touch it with the same numbers, just knowing how the voting works here. But the fact that they're going to be the one seed after the six seed last year, it's right,

because statistically or historically, then that was the big Westbrook thing. People were mad about, well, look at the standings. But at that point, I don't know that enough of us were really understanding what we were seeing with the triple-double. It was just a triple-double. It was like, oh, my God, this guy's got a triple-double.

This hasn't happened in forever. And then we start to kind of figure it out a little bit later. All right, well, that's maybe a little bit more about their approach or anything else. But the MVP part of this, the straw poll is so heavily favored Jokic that I don't even know fatigue. Fatigue is not enough of an overriding factor to get you to probably try to risk it on somebody else with better odds. and just absolutely dominated Miami. And a big part of that is Jokic.

So I think if you had to take a flyer, obviously it's Embiid and Giannis. I mean, Giannis right now is playing out of his mind, but I just think, I'm actually, I'm shocked that Giannis is ahead of Embiid. As a Philly guy, I'm kind of offended, honestly. I know Giannis is playing out of his mind, but I mean, Embi MB has just been so good.

And for him to put up 47 on Jokic, it just feels like he's going to come out of this never having won an MVP. Probably be the best player to never have won one. Okay. Tell me more about your model. Like if you're looking at, like what are you applying it to for the stuff that you're trying to figure out

what to bet on in the second half? So for me, it's totals, it's sides. It's just trying to get a baseline. So the market has their number, but then I also have my number. And I'm trying to figure out if my number is right or theirs is right. And for me, I don't blindly bet my model. It's like, so there's times where, you know, my model has things that it's just not being priced

into the, like, to the game. Okay, can we go, can we go, Michael Scott, explain it to us like we're six years old? Okay. Do you want to look up something? Do you want to look up title odds? Do you want to look up something that you're now trying to figure out the price of in comparison to the public price so you can kind of take us through those steps

okay um i mean my model is most mostly game by game for the most part it's not okay it's not like i'm not using my model for like futures bets okay do you have do you have an example of like an nba game you bet recently i know we don't have it unfortunately we're having you on but we have a break in the actual regular season games. And I know I'm putting you on spot here a little bit, so I apologize. But I want to get a better understanding of like something that you were going,

okay, this is a game I bet in the last couple weeks that I thought was my model gave me a completely different number than the actual price. Okay, here's one. Indiana played Miami. They were seven point underdogs my model made it five five and a half this was on february 8th so i mean i looked at the fact that miami's really been struggling um that's what my eyes see but then my model makes the game five and a half. The market

has a seven. I take the plus seven. Okay. All right. I see what you're saying. And that was a winner. And it would have been a winner with your five and a half as well. Because that was kind of ended up being sort of a close game. So you're just, that's enough of a margin for you to be like, okay, this is too much of a gap between the two. I mean, I think some people that aren't in it every day would be like, wait, that's only a point and a half. But to you and your world, that's a massive variance. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's massive. I mean, you're not going to, at this point in the NBA season, you're not going to find like very huge edges. Everything is priced. And I think when it comes to sports betting, you really want to bet at the start of the season. So, um, you know,

a lot of your recreational gamblers are like, I want to wait to see what happens. No, the edges are to be found at the start of the season because the market is unaware of who's good, who's bad. Um, what totals are priced too high, which totals are priced too low. Like at the start of the season, I've, I've realized the Clippers can't score. I'm betting the Clippers unders every single night. So that worked out. Yeah, that worked out really well. I mean, they really could like, you would watch them and they would go through five, six minute scoring droughts. And it just was easy unders every single night. And, you know, I see, I think I might've tweeted about it and I had a professional gambler hit me like, yo, dude, do you know that you're giving away edges? And I didn't explicitly said it. Say it. I just said, yo, this Clippers team can't score. And he's like, yo, dude, what the fuck are you doing? And I was like, oh, shit.

that you couldn't go on a podcast. You can go on East Coast Bias and be like, I'm just going to keep all of this stuff to myself because I'm sitting there going like, all right, back-to-back second half unders, right? Find the team because there would just be a lot of eye test stuff where I'd look at a team going, hey, a couple of these teams, and sometimes it'd be the better teams,

so the number would be higher. I wonder what the second half totals are on their nights, the back-to-back. And then I brought up with somebody like, dude, they've already figured that out. Give me a break. You didn't crack the code on something other than the eye test kept telling me that there was a lot of times the better teams that were more comfortable with themselves that don't always play as hard. That's the funny thing is that I felt like a lot of the the better teams that were more comfortable with themselves that don't always play as hard. That's the funny thing is that I felt like a lot of the bad teams played really hard this season, which was screwing things up in the beginning of the year.

Like the worst collection of teams. I'm like, man, if you're not ready to play against them, like they're going to beat you or they're going to make it close because they're just trying so much harder. And I do think we have a lot of regular season games in the NBA more so than ever before. I think because everything that's gone on with COVID and all the transitional seasons that we've had, you'll get some nights where guys just... I know people say this has always been the way in the NBA. I don't know. I've watched a lot of NBA and I think there's certain nights where you go, okay, one of these teams is completely checked out. And I thought there might've been something there on the second half unders for the team that's

coming on the back-to-back, likely a better basketball team. But again, when you're saying, hey, what's the eye test? And then you look for the number, and you're like, they already priced this in, man. They already priced it in. Yeah, without a doubt. And I think, you know, some of the edges are,

I'm not really a big fade-to-public guy, but I think sometimes the public overprices certain things. You'll look at injuries. And it's just like you look at a few of those games where Luka was out. And it's Kyrie and a bunch of guys. And the Mavericks performed well. So it's just like I'm looking at stuff like that where it's just like, all right, this guy's injured, but the market is overpricing this particular player.

All right, so that's a good point. Fade the public is what Scott Van Pelt would go with every single year when we do the contest. And he actually ended up doing really well with it. He had another really good year this year. He won't take a favor, which I think is a strict rule. But again, it's not like I'm De Niro here Casino. So when you say you don't like that, it felt like it was a bad year because that's what I was doing during the football season. It felt like the public money was right more often than not this season on the worst, on the biggest extremes. And I don't think I should have just picked the one game. I should have gone with three. So when somebody tells you their philosophy is fade the public, why is yours the opposite?

I mean, for me, it's not the opposite. It's more so I don't think that can be the sole basis for your handicap. For me, it's like, yeah, I want to know what the market is doing, but I'm not going to go out there and blindly fade the public. I'm going to look for spots where, okay, did the market overpriced this or push this too far in one direction? Okay. So the NBA title odds, I looked at FanDuel's this morning. Boston's plus 290. This is really interesting because Boston has been the best record team throughout. They're now in a fight with Milwaukee for that one seed.

And I think them at plus 290, Milwaukee, the second best odds at plus 430. Part of the statistical stuff last year loved Boston. And part of it was that they were right. But then the other part of it, I thought it was far too extreme where it was like 83% chance of winning the NBA finals. And I'm thinking like, if you think on paper that that's who they are,

that they're that dominant, I would say that's an aggressive, like overrating of them, despite realizing that they're really good at making it to the NBA finals. And I wonder if there's still some carryover because I know that a lot of the models love Boston still. So Boston's plus 290, Milwaukee's plus 430, Phoenix now with Durant jumped up to plus 480. I think at one point it was even plus 450 right after the trade. Denver's plus 750 and the Clippers are actually plus 1200. Give us a take on what you think about some of the title odds now.

Okay. For me, I think you have to hold on Phoenix. You're not buying or selling. If I had to lean towards a certain direction, it would probably be sell just because I need to see what Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and Devin Booker looks like. I need to see what Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and Devin Booker looks like. I mean, obviously, there's probably a non-zero chance that Chris Paul is going to be healthy for the stretch. I don't know if Kevin Durant is going to be healthy. And then they also gave up all of their wings. And Jay Crowder, I know he wasn't playing this year.

Cam Johnson, Mikael Bridges. I'm just not that high on this Suns team, especially when you look at them, their profile. And I said this last year, and I actually picked the Mavericks in that series against the Suns. The Suns, they're susceptible against teams who can bomb the three because they're a perimeter-oriented team, but they take mostly mid-range jumpers. And now you add somebody else who's going to take even more mid-range jumpers. So I know they got Terrence Ross and everything like that, but I'm just not that high on his son's team. I think the Nuggets are a team who, at plus 750,

I think they're priced way too low for how good they are offensively. And Jokic has just been absolutely dominant. And outside of, like, when you look at the fact that Jamal Murray's been banged up and Michael Porter's been banged up, now he has reinforcements this year. He has them back. And even that year where he lost in the bubble, Anthony Davis was just hitting everything. He made every mid-range jumper. So I like the Nuggets at plus 750. I think that's priced way too high. Another one that I gave out at the start of the

year was the Clippers. I was really, really high on the Clippers and they kind of disappointed me for most of the year, but I think they're poised to make a run right now. I like some of the pieces that they added. I like that they added Bones Highland. I like that they added Eric Gordon. Those guys, I mean, they should just help them fix a lot of their scoring woes. And I mean, obviously the biggest issues with that roster is the fact that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George haven't been healthy. But I think, I mean, we saw over the last couple weeks, they're starting to get rolling.

So those are the two I like. Yeah, look, Kawhi didn't make a shot until late in last night's win against Phoenix. But they were the better basketball team last night. And then Kawhi, once he needed to turn it on down the stretch, was great. George looks really good. The closing group, it'll be interesting to see what they do. They stayed big.

They stayed big with the Plumlee sub for Zubats. And they closed with Eric Gordon. So I would suggest that there's probably a bunch of people that work for the Denver Nuggets that are ripping their hair out hearing about misunderstood Bones Highland. If you're getting second rounders for him, the word is probably out, uh, that he wasn't the easiest employee. So, uh, I do think he's super talented and I like, I liked that there they've upgraded their options. I'm just really interesting to see how that rotation kind of comes together because Terrence man is starting

now and Terrence Mann's had some really really nice stretches but you're right at plus 1200 have you seen enough I think I think you've probably seen enough from Kawhi just the last couple weeks if you really dig into some of the stuff that he's been doing statistically uh it's probably enough there because of the value all right um Lakers oh you had more before we go to the Lakers but one thing I will say and I want to say this because I'm on your podcast. I hate the Memphis Grizzlies. Um,

like that's the team that everybody seems to love that I don't like. Um, and in the playoffs, I'm going to be fading. Um, um, wait, why do you say it?

Why do you say it to me? As if like, I, do you think I hate them? No, I have to say to you because, um, we're talking title odds, and this is a perfect opportunity to let everybody know how I feel about this team.

This is a team which is like 25th in half-court offense. They can't score in a half-court. I mean, this is a regular season team, and they win mostly by playing defense, getting out in transition. When they're at home, they kind of overwhelm the crowd. And then they get a ton of offensive rebounds. So if you're winning based on offensive rebounds and transition, when the game slows up in the playoffs, they're going to struggle. So they're the two seed in the West, but the most fraudulent two seed in the West.

I want to let everybody know that. Okay. Yeah. Actually, when I look at the odds there too, where are they right now? Because I thought I wrote down, did I write down select teams or did I write that down in order? I forget. They're right behind the Dallas Mavericks at 17-1. Yeah, okay, all right.

So I did write this down as the top five. So man, not only do you hate them, Vegas hates them as well. Okay, what do you have on the Lakers? Because they are now in a very short amount of time have turned into the quote team no one wants to play in the playoffs. Look, if I'm getting Anthony Davis, MVP Anthony Davis

from the beginning of the season, I'll allow it. I'll allow that. He hasn't looked like that, by the way. I think in some weird games where other people were out, he looked better. If you're telling me I'm getting healthy Anthony Davis, fine. But based on not even a week of games after the trade deadline and still being unsure about Davis, I think that's a bit of a stretch to say that the teams at the top of the West

aren't going to want to play them. I think I'd be more worried about Steph back with Golden State being at the bottom half of the West Seeding than I would be the Lakers. I tend to agree just because that starting lineup is still one of the best in the league. But I mean, we don't know if Steph is going to come back. I mean, they put no timetable on it. Now, when I look at this Lakers team team i get a real 2018 we got a squad vibes um now obviously lebron james is a little bit older and anthony davis isn't you know what he was but i think there's some value on them at plus um 205 to make the western conference playoffs i mean they're going to be a playing team i think i mean right now they're the 13th seed. I expect the Blazers to fall out

of things. At this point, I mean, like the Thunder is going to fall out of it. The Jazz are going to fall out of it. So I imagine the Lakers are going to get into that top 10, get into the play-in tournament, and they should be able to beat somebody. I just, I think when you add, when you get rid of Westbrook, who's probably the most detrimental NBA player that we've seen in recent memory, and then you add multiple competent NBA players, they actually have spacing now. You got Malik Beasley.

You got D'Angelo Russell, a mature D'Angelo Russell who's not snitching on people. Like, I just like all the pieces that they added. And I just think they're going to make a run over the second half of this season and make the playoffs uh hey I appreciate you doing this for us Raheem Palmer you can follow him at I am Rostradamus

which is you know you call yourself that you're going to back it up and he does every Friday on the East Coast Bias Pod man so that's actually that's actually a double entendre I don't know if people realize it um I'm a big Nas fan um he had the the I am Nostradamus in the same year. I think Nas is one of the most interesting rappers of all time and that his ceiling is like, I wouldn't put much above it. But there's like these weird stretches where you're like, what the fuck was going on in this song? And I can't believe you just brought him up because I've spent the entire week as I've been doing my work, I'm just on this Nas kick where I'm forcing myself to re-listen to all this stuff. I'm trying to find, to see if there was anything I left behind. And there's a couple

things that reached me, but there's also, you can just tell the production from like one album to the next is like kind of the course of where the album goes. The thing with Nas is that he's an artist, like a true artist, and he's going to take chances. So I'm pretty sure you heard Who Killed It off Hip Hop Is Dead, where he's rapping with that 1920s voice. It's the worst song I've ever heard, but it's him trying to take a chance. And I think that's the thing with Nas. And then a lot of times, before he went on this run with Hit-Boy, he wasn't necessarily picking the best production. I think Hit-Boy has him right in pocket with King's Disease 1 and King's Disease 2 and Magic. He has him right in pocket with modern production that sounds like him. But at times, it's about the lyrics with Nas. And he takes so many chances that, you know, sometimes you're going to get I gave you power and sometimes you're going to get like just something that's completely left you kind of got to be able to just buy into that when you have an artist like nas yeah look i love him i love him

and it speaks to my commitment to him that i'm like hey is there anything maybe i just didn't give enough of a chance because uh i i was back on method man on judgment, which after T'Kal, you were like, come on. But the beginning of it is actually really good. And yet it was a bit like I was talking with Adnan Virk about The Whale, the movie earlier. My expectations for the second Method Man were so high because T'Kal is like perfect that when it wasn't perfect, I was like, okay, I'm a little. So I'll let you know if I find anything that I thought I was missing.

No doubt. I appreciate it. Yo, before we go, I thought I should mention this, but I think there's value on Jalen Brunson, most improved player. I know Shai Gilgis, Alexander, and Laurie Markkinen, they have been the guys for most of the year

at plus 135 on FanDuel. But I think both of those guys are in danger of being shut down because Oklahoma City, if they don't make the playoffs, then that kind of loses some of his luster. But you look at what the Knicks are doing right now. They have a real shot at making the playoffs and Jalen Brunson's playing out of his mind. And I think the trade for Josh Hart has kind of unlocked something in that Knicks team. They're the sixth seed right now. I think, obviously, they're going to move up and pass

the Nets. I think Jalen Brunson at plus 350, there's some value there. Okay, I like that. I like that nugget on the way out, man. Appreciate it. We'll do it again, okay? Thanks. No doubt. It was an honor. You want details? Bye. I drive a Ferrari.

355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you 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. Life advice. Email is lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. All right. We got a... So Rudy is en route. Some slight flight situation coming out of Hartford. So we will just do what Kyle and I.

Old school, which wasn't that long ago. All right, here we go. You ready, Kyle? Ready. Six foot, 210, mostly cardio, thick thighs, nice calves, noodle arms. Okay. I got the full picture. Yeah.

Wow. Very descriptive. Don't need that in the future, but we appreciate it. Okay. While looking for a place to live during graduate school in Seattle, an older co-worker told me she had a friend with an extra room that she rented out for cheap. Since I do not have much money, I took her up on the offer and I moved into a home with

a 75-year-old, very Christian Asian lady. Also descriptive. At first, we didn't get along, but then we connected. No, I'm just kidding. This may seem like a strange living situation for a 27-year-old guy, but I could not give up the opportunity to pay $500 a month for a private bedroom and bathroom. This is unheard of in Seattle. I do not plan on living here forever. I would imagine you wouldn't. That's a great sign.

Yeah, I would imagine that. I'm like, okay, I'm never leaving. But because of the cheap rent, I want to stay here for five months or so. Five months. That's it, huh? Okay. We get along well for the most part. My issue comes from the provided decor inside my room. Right above my bed, there's a rather large frame picture of Jesus.

No doubt. I am Jewish. Okay, but no, no. He said, but I do not care about the praying or any of the other religious activities and symbology around the house. But it is a bit much to have Jesus looking over me when I sleep and enter the room. My question is, can I take the picture down? If I took it down, she'd notice eventually, and I would like to avoid losing the room

or having some awkward conversation about what happened in the picture. At the same time, I would like this room to feel more like home and not have to make eye contact with Jesus each time I enter the room. Thanks for the advice. I think that's fair.

Look, my first instinct is that you're renting a bedroom. It's not like it's an apartment, right? I would say you can't touch this. You can't. You know? Oh, you would take it down? I don't know. How often is she in your room? Is it like a close the door and lock

it situation when you're out and when you're in? I mean, is she knocking on your door before you go to bed, see if you want some milk and cookies? Is she really going to be in there seeing what's going on? And it's not like you're putting holes in the wall. It's not like you're going to put up a big fathead bedroom poster or something. You can either put something else on it, unless it's nailed into the wall and it's going to be, unless there's like some tools you need to get it out of there. I think you could just probably take it off. I don't. All right. Well, I think there's going to be a lot of division on this one because someone's, so a lot of people are going to say, Hey, wait, you're, you're spending 500. It's your room.

You should be able to do whatever you want in the room. Uh, that's not usually how the renting room thing works from my experience is that, you know, that's why an apartment costs more. It's not just yours, but like you get to do whatever you want. And then beyond that, you don't have a landlord as a house. There's tiers to this, right? House, do everything you want, fight with the HOA, lease, sort of yours, but we know it isn't. Renting a room, you know, can you start going, hey, I want to move the bed around. I like it over here better. Hey, know it isn't renting a room you know can you start going hey i want to move the bed around i like it over here better hey i'm gonna move a piece of furniture in you're only going to be there five more months you want you told us she really likes jesus obviously so could she be offended could you jam it up you said you want to stay there for five more months

the cheap like the whole reason you're in this situation in the first place is that it's impossibly affordable for your current situation. You can't suck it up for five more months. Now, that's kind of where I lean. I think a lot of people are going to say, hey, whatever. It's a transaction. It's your room. It's $500.

You can take it down, do whatever you want. But it's a 75-year-old woman who's super into Jesus. She's not going to be into that. And as he said, she's eventually going to see it at some point. So that, that is going to happen. So I think the only thing I could think of is you take it down and whatever the hanger situation was,

you ruin the hanger part of it. Like if it's one of those little metal clasps that goes to the wire, it's bent, it's all bent, bent, it's bent, it's broken. So you set it down, you don't't say anything and then when she sees it eventually hopefully you ride this out for a

couple more months maybe that rare chance she never sees it but i think she's gonna see it's her house she's 75 she's probably looking in that room when you're not there because she's thinking of it as still her bedroom because it's her house you're just a tenant all right like every everything every every, everything, every piece of ownership you think you have, not even to just this emailer, but to anyone that's thinking out this situation, whatever ownership you think you have, once you open that door and walk past that threshold into your rented bedroom, she doesn't care about any of that shit because it's her house and she owns it. Okay. So her argument is probably as strong as yours and everybody's going to disagree on this

one. So I think the only way, if you have to take this down because i get it you know this dude's looking at you every day i would i would just totally make up a scenario where after you take it down not like damage damage but you know break a hanger, which you could then replace for two bucks. We all know what we're talking about here. These little things, you just tap them in. I don't know if it's fastened a different way. I don't know if we're talking Jim's parents from the office's

house with the clown picture. Everything's in the wall. It can't be removed, but I think there's a way to get around that awkwardness where you're thinking, hey, yeah, I forgot to tell you. I didn't want to bother you. I didn't want to add any stress. The hanger, it was off center one day and I looked and the thing was broken and I was going to replace it for you. I just haven't had the time. And you hope that you get busted late enough

in the next five months that then you can like go i'll get to that but the only problem is she's super intense like some of the older women that i've been related to will be like hey didn't you say you were going to do that thing they never fucking forget or stop asking you about her maybe she will forget who knows you know i don't want to assume anything here i think that's your only play where you're blaming an act of god really. It's just a hanger. I see what you did. Yeah, it's just you have an out. You have a way to explain away the thing you actually did,

which was take down a piece of artwork that she clearly likes. Yeah, I mean, that aside, I think there's a clear line between like, you know, removing something that can be put back up in a second. But yeah, I agree with you. The other thing, if it was over your head, you could also, if you don't even feel comfortable about breaking, you know, or slightly, uh, sabotaging this, uh, you know, the, the, the holding part of this frame, you could just be like, you know, I've just got a weird thing about, I can't really sleep with anything above my head. I don't know if that's where it is.

I thought that's what he said. It was above the bed. You just be like, uh, you know, I'm just, I weird thing about, I can't really sleep with anything above my head. I don't know if that's where it is. I thought that's what he said. It was above the bed. You just be like, I, you know, I'm just, I'm just not comfortable sleeping with something. You know, my buddy got something, you know, a mirror fell off when he was sleeping one time and I, that never left me. So I just, I'm afraid of sleeping with things above my head or something. You could say that. And, and, and you can say nothing until it comes up. Yeah. Maybe you could say it was you. Yeah. You know, live, lived out in San Berdu for a bit and, you know, things fell on me. I just can't get to sleep.

I can't get to sleep knowing it's up there. I'm sorry. I, you know, I just, I just want to put it in the closet or something. I think, I think there's a way to,

to say nothing until it comes up and then either you've sabotaged it, like Ryan said, or, or you just make up some trauma. And I think that's fine. Yeah. I don't think you can be honest. I don't think you say,

Hey, I don't like this. I'm taking it down. And she's going to say, it's my house who knows maybe she'll say hey i totally understand that's what 500 bucks is for that's your room do whatever you want the chances of that happening are very very little yeah right yeah no no i totally yeah put up some put up some rap posters that's cool okay uh okay we got another high school basketball coach checking in six foot 175 not a gym guy but still play competitive pickup games like prime kevin martin awkward but quick jumper can light it up play solid deal d when i feel like it all right um i'll try to keep this

quick i'm a teacher in the northwest also coach the freshman basketball team. The season's been a fucking disaster. My top two guys practice with JV and only play with me for home games. There is zero continuity in terms of culture, learning sets, and showing respect to myself as a coach after they practice with JV every day. We practice in the tiny back gym while JV and varsity get the main gym.

There's miscellaneous PE equipment all over the place. It takes up space in the court, hangs down low from the ceiling. It's just an awful setup. The old rings get in the way of deep jumpers all over the place. It takes up space in the court, hangs down low from the ceiling. It's just an awful setup. The old rings get in the way of deep jumpers. Know the pain. On top of this, nearly everyone else on my team has little to no experience playing serious basketball.

Many of these guys have had one year of middle school and mostly rec experience. And most at rec experience. The vast majority of practices have to be spent on basic skills, so we're limited in our sets, press breaks, and creative defense. We usually sit in a 2-3 and play man against weaker teams. One of my best players, we'll call him Cooper, who was a great all-caps kid off the court,

but with his super lack of experience playing real basketball, constantly gets tunnel vision when things get tight or feels pressure. He turns into a black hole and just runs into traffic and throws up garbage constantly. We've had dozens of conversations throughout the year on how to better find teammates when pressured and have practiced passing skills and practice daily. He never seems to get it. He constantly runs through whole teams trying to score.

Genuinely looks confused when I get in his case. He has similar tendencies defensively where he's often overambitious, going for steals and leaves the rest of his defense to pay for his mistakes. Given how bad my team is, he still leads the team in scoring often and gets a lot of playing time, but his out-of-control play style, not much has changed. Again, he's very talkative

and a good kid off the floor. Zero complaints character-wise. I'm almost wondering if this is an email about an NBA player. Somebody's trying to be clever, but we'll leave that alone. Fast forward to this season. We're 1-15 heading into our last game. It's freshman basketball, so there's obviously no postseason chance. The season just ends. We have an away game, so my top two guys aren't playing. And we're playing a pathetically

bad team. We get up 13-0. Hopes are high. The team is pumped. Things plateau. We're up 23-28 to half. Second half's a disaster. They're sitting in the tightest of two, three zones, just letting us chuck from deep. And despite me calling timeouts and literally implementing a three-pass rule before shooting, we continue to want to throw up bricks and blow the lead. One minute left in the fourth quarter. We're down by nine. Cooper's already showcased many

ill-advised takes and numerous turnovers. After calling a timeout to try and get one of my shooters an open look, he takes the ball, puts his head down, and dribbles into four guys' turnover. I call a timeout and absolutely shred him. Whoa. Quote. For 15 games, I've been asking you to swing the ball, especially on design plays. For 15

games, you choose to do your own thing and disregard what I say. On top of that, with 12 seconds left, he continues to try to foul the other team, even though I've been screaming nothing, get back numerous times. Guy wanted to get his shot up. It's a foul. Needless to say, I ripped Cooper going to the handshake line as he started to talk back to me. Everyone on the team was defeated. I tried my best to give a good end of the season speech, which was followed by Cooper sitting by his bag

and his head down in his hands. I did end up having a chat with him after, but I'm not sure if I crossed the line. Cooper seemed to really enjoy playing this year and is undoubtedly talented, but he never truly internalized anything in terms of me coaching him and just did his own thing most of the year. Did I go too far? Did me calling him out in front of his team like that, the last game of a worthless season potentially cause any damage? Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

Okay. I didn't mind. I think sometimes if it's high school basketball, I think the qualifier here could be it's freshman, your team stinks, none of these guys. If they were any good, they'd be on JV. Honestly, it's so humiliating to be on the freshman basketball team that in a weird way, you have to be made up a certain way to be like, I just play freshman ball. And yes, I know some people play freshman basketball. You're going to tell me it was great and your kids like it, whatever.

I'm just being honest with you. If you're in high school and all your buddies are on the basketball teams and you're like, yeah, I still play freshman, or like the sophomore that still plays freshman, they're probably not going anywhere basketball-wise. They're probably not contributing to varsity at some point, unless they grow up or whatever. I think one way that you could say, hey, you took it way too seriously.

You were too hard on this kid. The team stinks. You already said that. Your best players were on JV anyway, so there was no continuity. And he clearly just doesn't understand the team concept part of basketball. And so you already knew that. So you saying anything to him, was that really about your frustration and about you? And you did it in the handshake line. You should have done it privately. But that's just really not the way the world works. It just isn't. So I don't have a problem with high school coaches

getting on high school players. I could sit here and say, hey, maybe you should have done it in a private moment. Yeah, okay, that's cool. You shouldn't talk back to your coach when you're a high school player. You shouldn't. I mean, I'd say I still have an issue with it sometimes in college but it also depends like if the college basketball coach is a fucking lunatic sometimes I like it when the player steps up to his coach just being like I don't I don't want to take this shit anymore

from you so I I kind of understand both sides of that I I think a lot of people would say like today and the way we're always worried about everybody and everybody's feelings and all this stuff that like is if coaches can't yell at anybody anymore, you probably could have timed it a little bit better. But I don't know. I mean, was the goal to get through to him or was the goal to yell at him? It feels a little bit more like the goal was to yell at him and you probably knew it wasn't going to be super productive and you're emotional and you're pissed after a game.

So it's not the best look ever, but I wouldn't beat yourself up over it. If it really matters that much, take it a step further. Reach out to him again. Maybe watch some video with him of players that passed the basketball. Show him video of some guys being really good teammates. Show him some Steph Curry stuff. Show him some Darius Garland stuff. Go, hey, do you want to see the difference?

And he still might not get it because he's probably thinking, hey, I got 15 points in this game. I'm fucking awesome. And I just take all the shots. I'm curious what it's like when you play the home games and the other JV guys are with the freshman team. Like, what happens to them?

But, yeah, I mean, that'd be really my only advice. If this is bothering you that much, then reach out to him again and tell him you want to apologize and tell him you want to help. And maybe you'll grow from it as well. But, uh, I think some people will listen to this and say, you can't do it in front of people. You can't do that. And yeah, I think it was a little bit more motivated about your own frustrations because he wasn't going to learn after the season was over. Um, maybe you made a mistake, but it's't think it's that big of a deal. I really don't.

Yeah, I think everything you said was right about what to do now with this guy. I think for the coach, it's really like do whatever you can to move up one notch and be off the freshman team because I think you're going to have this every year.

And it sounds like, you know, you're not always going to have one in 15 seasons, but I do think that sort of comes with with it like that possibility definitely comes with the territory so um you know this is uh there's going to be i think you're going to have one of these kids every year almost i mean i just remember from freshman football it was like like you didn't even know the you didn't even know where you're supposed to be it's like you're thinking like play like plays how are we supposed to remember plays like i'm you know i'm doing times tables and shit here at freshman year like i'm it's just it's oh i wasn't doing time stables i guess we weren't far removed from time stables is my point i was like fucking

14 as a freshman so i'm just saying like uh i would try to do like i don't know it's probably better for you to be the head coach of a lower level than an assistant on like varsity or something but i just think it's gonna be you'll have a better time once the kids have a little bit more collective knowledge and then this shit will work because maybe you just don't have you might just not have the tools to get this into the brains of people who aren't already thinking this way or aren't already ready to think this way so uh i don't know i do my best to get up to the next level far you see if maybe there's no assistant no there's a good point because i think there's another way you could just say hey this team stunk you knew they stunk and you asked but i don't know i didn't watch the team i don't know what the deal is i don't know what the town's

like i don't know what this guy's personality is like like are you super intense are you like if you know basketball that well it appears you know it pretty well did you should you have just gone hey these guys stink and i'm not to be hard on them ever the entire time? Well, then what's the point of coaching? Like, okay, they stink, so I'm never going to care about anything. I'm never going to try to correct any of their mistakes. I'm never going to get on this guy. I mean, look, that kid, he's young.

He's making mistakes. Sounds like he's pretty insufferable to coach. So I don't think it's always fair to go well if the team stinks why do you care why are you going to get on these guys i mean there's something to be said of like if your team is just awful and you're like if you're yelling at him every single game i'd go what's what's but if you're the way this email structured okay if this was like the only blow up if you're being honest like if this is the only blow up, then you don't want to just go into this going, hey, we're awful, so I'm never going to try

to do anything with them. It's really hard. It's really hard. They're not your kids, but you want to be this kind of adult, especially at that age too. I think in high school, you understand the older people that have committed this time. It's a lot of time. It's a lot of time. It's a lot of commitment.

I've always thought about it. I don't know if I'd be good at it or not. It's going, hey, maybe I just do something different. I don't know that I would have the time to do it. But then you think, what would you be like personality-wise? And I think that middle school kind of freshman year, that 12 to 13, 14 age is an age where the kids are still so young that they're just oblivious to the idea that you're making any kind of commitment. You're just an old person, you know?

So I think the high school kids start to get it a little bit more. And you hear these amazing stories about how much players think back to their time at that high school coach and that connection. And that's why the coaches that do love this keep doing it all the time, because there's just nothing like that. You know, it's going to be an incredible feeling than seeing the guys grow older and, you know, become good dudes or whatever. And those lessons that you learn through sports that, you know, the people that don't play sports, I get it. But at the same time, like if you don't play sports and you just dump on it, like you never get forced to be in situations life lesson wise.

Like you get some of those life lessons a lot later because you were never put in the situation. So look, I, I think coaches deserve a ton of credit for, for even making that kind of sacrifice. I think the problem is it's this age group. The kids are just, it's not even their fault.

They're still so young that they don't even get, they're like, what's this guy's fucking deal. You gotta be like more camp counselor than fucking coach sometimes, I think. Right. Exactly. Exactly. Okay. That's life advice. Enjoy the weekend, All-Star Weekend. We will be back with an episode,

both episodes, next week. Outro Music