The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Pau Gasol and Deontay Wilder Plus Worst Take and Life Advice

Episode Date: October 13, 2022

Russillo is joined by two-time NBA champion Pau Gasol to discuss playing in the 2008 Olympics vs. Team USA, being traded to the Lakers, Kobe Bryant as a teammate, and more (0:35). Then Ryen talks with boxer and former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder about his time off from the sport, boxing critics and media, what he learned from his fights with Tyson Fury, his upcoming fight against Robert Helenius, and more (21:41). Next, Ryen, Ceruti, and Kyle offer up another edition of Worst Take (38:55), before answering some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (48:17) Host: Ryen Russillo Guests: Pau Gasol and Deontay Wilder Producers: Kyle Crichton and Steve Ceruti Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

today two guests paul gasol against the redeemed team the new doc is out we're going to talk about the trade of the lakers the kobe story so a lot of fun with paul gasol and dionte wilder a heavyweight fight this weekend where Where his career is at. The Fury stuff. So a lot of fun talking with him. And we're also going to give you our worst takes. And life advice. Netflix documentary,

The Redeemed Team on the 2008 Men's USA team. They played Spain in the final. And Pau Gasol joins us, who was the best player on that team, was the 2006 MVP for the international play prior to

the Olympics. Pau, you have this resume. You know the league. You've been at it a bunch of years at this point. You know the American side is pissed off about what's happened in the past. What was the lead up like for you and your teammates asking you about what to expect? I mean, every championship is different, right?

And we understood that the USA team was on its own mission, but we are ours as well. So we were focusing on us for the most part, understanding what it took to give ourselves a chance. And we were in a good moment coming off that, as you said, that winning the world championship in 06. And we fell short in 07 at home in the finals in the European championship against Russia. short in 07 at home in the finals in the European Championship against Russia. And now here we were at Olympic Games. You know, we got hit pretty good by them in the group, which put us, you know, in our place,

but at the same time gave us a chance to say, okay, this is where they are and this is where we are. So once we had a chance to meet them again in the finals, I think we were better prepared physically and mentally to face that moment and give ourselves, like I said, give ourselves a chance. It was a great battle. We were able to, I think think play one of the most um attractive and fun games to watch in the history of the game especially internationally and um and uh

yeah and then the whole obviously this this documentary kind of doesn't just doesn't just talk about that game obviously there's a process and i think that's it's great to see uh that they kind of covered all that uh from from 04 but even before i think you know they don't talk much about the 02 also team that lost the world cup as well at home in indianapolis um but obviously this is kind of like also the process of the young core of LeBron, Carmelo, D-Wade, how they kind of start their process and how they kind of get thrown into the mix in L4, into that Olympic team at the last minute because some of the players didn't, I guess, didn't want to participate in that tournament. And then all of a sudden their journey starts, right?

And then 06, how they fall short. Maybe Greece plays a great game in the semis and knocks them out. And now, hey, 08 comes along. Well, I think 07 is very important because how this whole approach of coming together as a team, spending those 30 days in Vegas as a team together, developing the chemistry, developing the relationships within the team, obviously Kobe's commitment to the team at that point,

not in 08, but in 07. There's just a lot of important factors and details for that team to turn it around and become Olympic champions in 08 and then in 2012 as well later on. The clip that's

made the rounds is the audio and video from Kobe in an interview where he wants to set the tone in the first game where Team USA smokes you guys by almost like 40 points and he says quote I'm running right through pow's fucking chest what's that been like both you know in the moment reliving that moment now as everybody has heard and seen the quote I wasn't I wasn't surprised by it you know knew he was going to set the tone.

I didn't mind him getting an offensive foul. Hopefully getting into foul trouble, as he did in the finals. I think he picked up two quick ones, as LeBron did. Unfortunately, they loaded. So, anyway, he kind of picked up the slack and played a great game for him. But, yeah, it's kind of interesting, I guess, visually. I've had multiple friends that texted me. It was like, holy shit.

It was like, yeah, holy shit. But it wasn't like, you know, he was just setting the tone and he was sending a message to his teammates uh it's like this is this is how serious is this this is how i approach it this is how we all need to approach it um and i'll do whatever it takes to win this game and he knew i was a head of the snake uh in my team and also taking into account that we were teammates at that point with the lakers and we just were just coming off losing that finals those finals against the celtics in 08 um but we were very close and we were getting closer and our our really friendship

started to you know to really develop uh at that point we felt like we were already very close so for him to do that it was just how he approached the game I think it's interesting in the message that he sent to his teammates and that's what LeBron also says in the message oh shit we're beating

the shit out of Spain today and they did you know they ruled us out in that first game. Luckily, it was a group game. But it also prepared us. It's like, oh, okay, this is what it's going to be about. And now we have to be ready.

You're traded to LA from Memphis in 2008. And at that point, we realized, okay, this guy is a terrific player. And I still think when you came out of the draft, people not knowing who you were, biased against any of the international players. But at this point is a terrific player. And I still think when you came out of the draft, people not knowing who you were, biased against any of the international players. But at this point, it's established. And I had been covering the league now for a few years,

gone to camps, had a few contacts. And what I remember from that deal is that you ending up in LA for the package that came back, which we'll get to a little bit later, people were pissed. They weren't just mad that they felt like the Lakers ripped you off. It was more so that they felt like Memphis didn't let everybody else know that you were available. What do you remember about the lead up to that trade to LA? Interesting.

I mean, surprising because a year before, I talked to ownership and management, to Jerry West and Michael Hysley at the time, he was the owner of the Grizzlies saying that, you know, I wasn't happy with how the direction of the team was going. It was weird timing because Michael, Mr. Hysley was in the process of selling the team and he wanted to sell the team and he wanted to get out. So he didn't really want to invest in the team where the next owner would have to have certain, I guess, baggage, let's say, or a situation that was compromised, let's say, financially. So he wanted to make it the most possibly attractive from a financial standpoint. But at the same

time, we traded Shane Battier, we traded we you know we traded shane baddier we traded mike miller we traded a bunch of players and we we just got young again you know five years six years into my my my timing career in memphis so i was like well this is the direction we're going you know i'm at a point where i want to be in a much more competitive environment and have a chance at potentially fighting or contending for a title. So that year before, I've already expressed that and it was out. I was getting booed in Memphis. It was pretty open. They leaked it. those private conversations that were out. And so, you know, I wasn't happy where we were at. That year, I didn't get traded. And the next year, it's

when it happened. So I'm shocked that all teams would know and should know. And if they didn't, they were just paying attention. What I do remember is that a lot of teams were upset that the trade didn't seem fair, that it made the Lakers so much better. There you go, the Lakers getting a favorable deal. There you go, the Lakers benefiting. All that Laker hate and envy and jealousy kind of arise at that point, right?

But obviously they didn't see how how memphis really benefited from that trade and i think it showed off a couple years down the line and how they were able to have an incredible team uh with my brother obviously that not many people knew about at the time and uh and the ability to pick up zach r Randolph and build a really good team that got to the conference finals a year against the Spurs. So again, that's what I remember. To me, I was shocked. I was surprised. I didn't expect it at that time.

I was like, oh, I guess I'm going to be here for now and for a long time. But my life and my career changed at that moment, yes. When your brother was in the deal for a lot of people was like wait he's his brother like oh this this big guy that's just around what did you know about your brother and ultimately like who he would become as a player yeah so i i knew i knew because i kept telling uh the g GM of the Grizzlies that year, well, even before the draft or at the draft, I was like, you have to get my brother Mark. You have to get because I was expecting he was expecting to go late round. He didn't. And it was a long night because we watched the draft live together. to draft live together.

We were in Spain. And he got picked, I think, 47. I think if I'm not, if I remember correctly. So it was like, oh man, we got to get his rights. So I told him then he wouldn't do it. Then the season started in Spain. He started playing really well. He took a huge step forward that year. And he ended up being the MVP of the season that year.

So I'm like, every day I was telling UC, or every weekend that they would play, I told the GM, I was like, do you see the game? Do you see my brother play this weekend? I kept telling him, can you still try to trade for him? this weekend i was i kept telling him like you can you still get try to trade for him and uh and he kept you know believing that he wasn't just a brother's being biased saying oh you know i want my brother here uh and actually look at this great player and how he's evolving and the potential that he has uh and then um so so the funny thing when he told me that I was traded in his office, uh, is that like, Oh, we traded you to LA, but I was still, I didn't register.

Nothing was really registering at that moment after I heard the world that I was traded. Uh, and he tells me all these names and, and you know, the funny part and your brother, Mark is also on the trade. I'm like, Oh, but that's's i don't see how that's funny uh so uh um you know you know it wasn't that was a laughing i'm like no there's no you know it's like the irony the irony of it like uh it's not really ironic you know you should have done this way before. But some things, timing, it's funny how it works. And things happen when they need to happen. And it happened at the time that it needed to happen.

And now I think we're the only two brothers that have ever been traded for each other or in a trade. So that's another kind of fun fact. The other thing I always thought was weird about that trade is if you look at the Lakers prior to you getting there, they missed the playoffs, lost in the first round, lost in the first round. And then you make it to the NBA Finals, win a title, win a title.

So granted, some other pieces were fit into the process here. But in 2008, all of a sudden it's a completely different team from what it had been the previous three years. So I feel like you don't get enough credit for it. It's kind of looked back at as well. It was Kobe and there was all these other guys. How do you think back to the years of what you meant to turning the Lakers

around? Well, thank you. Thank you for that. I did feel like, to me, it was such an incredible opportunity. And that was, you know, a great fit for that team. I was kind of, you could say, the missing piece on that system with Phil and his staff, the triangle, putting me in the post where

I could maneuver and facilitate. And then I was so hungry at that time. And obviously Kobe also helped get me on that mindset of like, okay, we're here, you're here. Let's go, let's go do this. Let's go win a championship. From the very first day that I landed in Washington, D.C. and I got to the hotel and I saw him at 1.30 a.m. in my room that he came to my room to make sure that I knew right away that we were going to win a championship.

So wait, when you got traded, you had to meet up with him on the road and Kobe was in your room? Yeah. Well, he's not waiting for me in the room. I land around midnight because I had to go to LA to do my physical. The team is on the road and they happen to be in Washington. So I fly from LA, I don't know, let's say 3 or 2 PM to Washington. to Washington, D.C. You know, it's a five-hour flight with three-hour time change. So I land around midnight, then around that.

And then I have to do interviews with the media, all the media that follow the team as soon as I arrive. And Kobe was texting me, like, let me know when you get to the hotel. I'm like, you sure you want to, you know, you can get some rest. You have a game tomorrow at noon. You know, you sure you want to, know you can get some rest you have a game tomorrow at noon you know you sure you want to you know we'll see each other at breakfast like no no no i'm coming to your room just let me know when you get to your room i'm like okay all right well i gotta do this media i was like oh all right it might be late it's like don't worry about that just let me know

when you get to your room it's like okay so i. So I'm in my room. Two minutes later, he's in my room. Around 1, 1, 1, 1.30 in the morning. And just to tell me, it's like, hey, I'm so excited that you're here, but now let's go win a championship. And he would look at you like in a way that

he was very serious, very direct, very sincere. There's no room for like, is he joking? Is he like, no, no, he's that serious and that's what you see also in the redeemed team how competitive how seriously he took it and what made him what

made him so great one of my favorite stories about kobe's from phil jackson one of his books which helps you really understand kobe and it's a pretty good lesson in there and that phil is basically telling kobe you're wasting your time trying to get your teammates to this level that you're at. Whatever your 10 is, it's make-believe to your teammates. Your seven is their 10. There is no 11 for them. The sooner you accept that, the happier you're going to be with this. I don't know that it ever really got through to Kobe. I saw plenty of games where both you and he were going at each other what was that like to be around something that was such a driving force and hoping everybody else was at the same level of him for all the years you were teammates um i think you know he

was very demanding uh as you know but he understood whatever that best was from his teammates he needed to reach it he needed to try to get out of get get that out of us you know uh if we were used to let's say you know sometimes you you feel like you're doing your best and feel like you're working hard but you're not really working hard you know because you could work a lot harder. You can put a lot more into it. And he put a lot into it that most players, you know, again, you see it also in the Redeem team when the team goes out and everybody's coming back from hanging out. He's with his gear ready to go and hit the weight room at five in the morning. Right. Gear, ready to go and hit the weight room at five in the morning. So his commitment, his ability to do that, because not everyone, I need my rest. I need to sleep in order to function.

I can't function if I don't sleep. But he trained himself, I feel like, to be able to push his body to a limit that most people didn't or couldn't or weren't willing to do, you know, because you feel like you can, but can you, you know? Have you really tried it, you know? I mean, I didn't try waking up every day right uh at five in the morning to see if i could actually get that into make that a routine um but you know and i think that the year i don't know if you remember the year that russell and uh and james harden played at a you know they were fighting they're both got like mvps those years it's because they hung out with kobe and all of a sudden they started working out at five in the morning too

and they started pushing them. You know, it takes that type of commitment to be that great. Are you willing to do it? That's what it comes down to, right? Are you willing to make that a priority

and put everything else aside? Because even as I was reading this book this morning from my friend Ryan Holiday, it's like even the great players could have been much greater. You know, if they actually put a little more effort and put a little more into it. So again, I think he did a good job pushing us. He set the example.

Now it was up to you to follow him uh and and earn his respect and i think if he saw that from you because he needed all of us to be the best version of ourselves uh and he did it in his own way and how you see michael doing it his own way at the last dance with the bulls you know he you know he did it his own way and uh and i think he was successful and that was, I think, one of the things that, you know, he was, when we won those championships and we had those three straight finals, you know, it was great

to see and it was great because he set the tone and we all kind of followed. Pau Gasol, going to be in the Hall of Fame one day and the man behind that successful 2006 Spanish team and in the finals against Team USA, Redeem Team, out on Netflix.

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Start the NFL week off right with a no-sweat same-game parlay every Thursday from FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. It doesn't matter if you're new to FanDuel or already have an account. Every Thursday night, you get free bets back if your NFL same-game parlay doesn't hit. Same-game parlays are the perfect way to combine your bets for a chance at a bigger payday.

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we will see him coming up very shortly. October 15th, Barclays Center in Brooklyn, WBC heavyweight semifinal eliminator against Robert Hellenius, somebody he's very familiar with. So, man, 14 plus years of doing this. Where are you at right now as a fighter? Mentally, I'm in a great place. I've been telling people that I've been soaking in my happiness and my peace.

And, you know, it feels and doing different activity with the kids. You know, the business of boxing, it can take a big gap of your life. I think due to the, due to that it is a worldwide business and it's a year round. It's a year round as well. So, you know, it's a jealous business and it allows you, it don't want you to do anything else but to train and prepare for the next task at hand.

But, you know, all is good here. I've overcome so many things. I've accomplished so much. And it's just been good. You know, like I said, I'm happy, and I'm at peace. What's it like going up against somebody you have so much experience with, like Robert, who you've sparred with for so many times? It's going to be challenging.

I'm definitely not looking past him. I always say I look through my opponents but never past them. I think it's going to be an amazing fight while it lasts. You know, to have another guy that you've been sparring with for years, you know, and to be able to have to challenge him. And it's kind of exciting to me because sparring is one thing. But, you know, being able to compete with each other is another thing where it counts, you know, where the lights and camera and action, you know, I'm used to that part where it's big arenas, where there's a lot of people and stuff like that. Uh, I don't think Robert is familiar

with that space. So it's going to be different for him in that point of view. But as far as challenging him, it's going to be, it's going to be a be a fun fun fun task to try to figure each other out because we know each other so well and um i tell people if they think because we know each other and we we're friends and and we've been sparring each other and they think that the fight is not going to be you know uh entertaining i i tell them uh to grab your tickets because i'm gonna put you on the edge of your seat. You don't know what's going to happen, but when it happens, boom, baby, good night.

I can turn it off and on. I'm the type of fighter that I know how to turn it off and on just because I know you or whether you're a relative to me or whatever. When it's time to compete and do a job, I get the job done. You're one of the most exciting heavyweights that we've seen. And what you just said there, I guess it job done. You're one of the most exciting heavyweights that we've seen. And you know what you just said there, I guess it's always surprising to me when people would think like,

oh, there's this relationship, like of all the fights that I've ever watched, whether boxing or combat or anything, it's like, man, as soon as the bell rings, a lot of times it's over and guys are giving each other props. And I don't think people understand that mindset that have never had to do it. And I know you've talked about being frustrated with the boxing media and I've talked to plenty of athletes who are just frustrated by the media in general, but what do you think makes it worse or the disconnect and how much greater it is between the media that covers your sport versus maybe other professional sports and team sports? What, what is the most frustrating part that you and other boxers share about boxing media? Well, with boxing media, I know, for me in general, I know boxing media,

they like to be first instead of being correct. You know, they want to, they put things out there and for clicks and likes and instead of being correct about a certain thing,

you know, that was one of the most things about it. And then with dealing with the business of boxing, you know, a lot of people would never ever get in the ring and experience what it really feels like to get in there or to do what we do. And sometimes it's a big problem when they express their opinion because it's all opinion, of course. But some of them act like they really know what they're talking about you know when they're dealing with the business of boxing

and and most of the time they're wrong but what they're talking about you know um that's why you know it's a certain respect level for those that have done it and been in there for those that that they haven't done and just haven't done it and just assuming what it would be like or how it would be or what you should and shouldn't do you know and uh but for the most part i'll stay to myself man i don't really get involved with too much you know about what people say i know we're we're uh as human being we're freely to express our opinions and how i how we feel you know and uh and i take it for that for what it is and uh i just for me um the truth sets you free on all things so you know i don't worry about what people saying about me and what they think of me or whatever as long as i'm happy and my family's

happy that's i'm good that's golden for me what did you learn after the fury fights what i learned after the fury fires is that I'm limitless. There's a lot of things that was out of my control that I had to endure and take on, which I love a challenge. I love being able to take a challenge just to see where I am as a human being, how I am as a king, as a warrior. That's what I learned, you know, um, I'm, I'm limitless to the things that I can do, you know, especially with my, when I put my mind to a lot of things. Okay. But just to like, to ask about like, what was it that was out of your control? It's a lot, a lot of things that I really not discuss.

A lot of people won't understand what I say about that, and I know that. I just leave that statement as that. Those that know, they know what I'm talking about. Understood. How close were you to never fighting again? How close was I? Yeah. I was like maybe

85% out. I would contemplating because I don't need the business no more. When you don't need it anymore, it gives you those thoughts like, what are you doing it for? You're a company so much, your finances is amazing. The only people that had a problem with me coming back, they questioned me, is my financial people. They're like, what are you doing? Why are you coming back? We built

you to a certain status, so you won't ever, ever have to return in the ring again. And it made me feel so good, you know, to get a call from my financial people to display, because they care so much of me. And they know what I expect as far as my finances, where I'm trying to reach and trying to go. And we've done an amazing job with being able to invest and save and invest. And I've been

disciplined all the way through from starting professional until now. So, you know, it's a great feeling to sit on the other end of the other side and say, you know, I don't need the business. Mostly 98% of fighters don't have it to show for after, after, after the business is over with. The only thing they have to show for is, is a medical problems, Parkinson's speech impairments most of them look like bombs and stuff and the only thing that people say oh that was such and say he was amazing

fighter oh back in his time he did this and did that while the promoters and managers are still promoting and managing and still making millions of dollars living in mansions where they can support their kids and their grandkids but But the fighter that produced all the money and the people that will come and put their ass in the seats don't have nothing to show for. So with that being said, although I overcame that and I will be one of few fighters that say, I've done a great job in this business

and I won't have to ever look back again. Plus, I have a statue as well, you know, so that, that, that made me feel, uh, very, very, uh, good inside because, uh, you know, I'm still young. Most of the time you don't get your flowers until you're dead or almost dead. You know what I'm saying? And, uh, they gave me my flowers while I was 36 years young, you know, so all my accomplishments has been set in stone within the statue and they gave me my flowers while I was 36 years young you know so all my accomplishments has been set in stone within the statue and they feel amazing yeah I remember you know I travel a lot for college football and obviously I've gone to Tuscaloosa quite a bit over the years just because that would be one of the places you would go a lot when you cover college football and I

first started hearing about you and it's like man you get to check out this dude and I'm like okay all right you know that the big right hand, all the knockouts and all this stuff leading up to it. And here you are 36, like you said, and you've got a statue there. So to know that, I mean, it just sounds like you're so at peace when maybe so many people are expecting you to be full of rage. And I think that might be the win, the win that you have. Like I've listened to other interviews you've done, Deont and i man dude i don't think this guy's full of shit man i think he really is at peace in a lot of ways that it's hard for us to understand we don't know you don't hear from you yeah you you hit the uh you hit the nail right on the head with the hammer you know um a lot of

you know some people may think i'm bullshitting or certain things i say uh being at peace but i'm a straight up guy. Anyone that knows me and been around me will tell you Deontay is one of the best. You know what I mean? To love him, to know him is to love him. And I speak my peace. I speak it how it is, especially in the business. When I look at this cruel business, you know, what we signed up to do that we so love to do.

But in the end, it's still it's a cruel business. It's strictly a business. You know, when I signed up for it, I knew what I what was all entailed in it. And, you know, I had to I had to deal with whatever came my way with it. You know, but on the other end, you got to know how to balance things out, you know, with your occupation and with your lifestyle. And my lifestyle is not reckless at all. You know, it's never have been and never will be because of how disciplined I am with myself, with my lifestyle, with my finances, with my, uh, with different businesses. I wear many hats. I'm a Renaissance man. And, um, and when I say I'm at peace and happy,

I'm at peace and happy, you know, uh, and that ain't, that don't have nothing to do with finances and all that because, uh, you know, I can't, I come from nothing, you know, I've been poor. So I know what it feels like to be poor. I can survive being poor. When you're happy in that peace and when you're poor, you ain't really poor. Your situation may be a status of that, but when you're happy in that peace, it's like living. You can just survive it. You're living. You're happy.

You go along with your life. You don't let things wear you down you don't let never uh emotional garbage pile up especially when people throw emotional garbage at you you know and uh you just i mean life is always good you know and uh that's how it is for me whether people believe it or not you know that's that's up to them but um they say the truth has set you free. I know you've talked about the plan moving forward where, you know, I think that fighters, like, you know how much it sucks,

but then you kind of miss it. You miss how much it sucks. You're still only 36. I know with this fight against Hellenius that you have other things. I know that Usyk's going to be in attendance. Everybody talks about the Joshua part of it. It seems like there's kind of a three-year plan here for the next stage of your career. So is there anything that's off the table, a Fury rematch?

Where are you right now in your next version of your career, what you expect your goals to be? Yeah, just like you said, there's a lot of big opportunities. There's a lot of big fights in the future ahead. And we're seeing that already. You know, time I come back, you know, I mean, we're seeing certain things develop and unfold with different fighters. And as you spoke on Usyk, he will be there. And from my understanding, Robert is, if he's successful in this fight, he's become the mandatory for Usyk belts.

And Usyk would be there. He said he want the winner of this fight. So, you know, so great, great things is ahead. You know, the fury for that, you know, fury for that's never out of the discussion or equation. I mean, you got to understand that this is the heavyweight division. It's a small division. So it won't be out of the norm that we fight 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 times of each other because it's so small.

And we can all do that. We can all fight each other over and over and over again because of, um, um, the shortage of fighters that we have in the heavyweight division. But, um, at this moment in time, you know, as I've always have, um, um, seeked out, I want to fight nothing but the best, you know, um, I say I only have three years left. That's another thing the media always, you know, put out. Like I said, false allegations about me. Instead of being correct, they want to be first. You know, a lot of them thought I was miserable or thought I was depressed and all that. I'm like, what are

you getting this from? Why are you saying all this stuff? You know, how could I be depressed? All the accomplishments and achievements and gain that I have gained over these years. And I applied them into the right places in my life financially and, and, and all the way around. You know, I got great people around me. I got all my loved ones around me. How can I, you know I be any of those things? It's just a blessing to just be back

in the mix of things. The excitement. Without Deontay Wilder, there ain't no excitement in the heavyweight division. That's just clear. It's plain and clear. That's one of the reasons why I'm back as well. Just getting all the love from different people, different fighters,

you know, saying, Jeff, you gotta come back, you gotta come back, you know, and it feels good. It feels good. So here I am giving the world three more years of me and I'm looking for the best of the best and giving the fans what they want to see and

that's my whole plan for the next three years. The former WVC champ, Deontay Wilder, good luck in Brooklyn this weekend. We can't wait to watch. Oh, man, thank you so much. And I hope you have a wonderful day.

This episode of the Ryan Rosillo Podcast is brought to you by State Farm. All right, football fans, the good neighbors over at State Farm wanted me to let you know that you really don't have to get that personal to get the personal price plan. Seriously, there's no need to tell anyone that you make custom DJ mixes of your team's fight song or that you memorize the choreography to every dance routine of your team's cheerleading squad.

This reminds me about how personal high school football can get. I'm from a small town and a couple of teammates, receiver, quarterback. Quarterback was like cool. Receiver wasn't. Playing in this huge, huge game, rival football. You know how it is. Small town high school football. And the QB throws his ball to the receiver and he drops it. Right? Happens. Not the end of the world. But for this guy, it was.

He was obsessed with it. Went on for like a decade. His father-in-law, like I think he was in banking or something. His father-in-law was like a fan of the team that they'd lost to. So he reminds the kid to drop the pass. Like, you know,

can't believe you dropped that pass. Worst drop ever. Just haunting, haunting this guy we went to high school with. So he's got a little money. He's in banking. And then the quarterback

whose life like went in a completely different direction. He was in debt. I think he was like had a van company or something. I don't remember. And he convinces him to replay the entire game

in front of the entire town. That's how obsessed he was. That's how personal he took dropping that pass was. I don't remember what happened when they replayed it. Everybody was like, what are you guys like 40s? It's kind of weird. So anyway, that's right. The State Farm Personal Price Plan

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This week's installment of Worst Take. Okay, the podium remains. This is going to be tough. And we got basketball around the corner too, so look out. And then the college football playoff stuff. So we're due for heat zone here. The podium again is?

Gilbert Arenas, one. Bart Scott, two, with his Chiefs take. And the new guy is Charles James. The Daniel Jones is Josh Allen with a bad offensive line. Yeah. And Kyle did not like that. He did not like to replace the Pat Bev Russell Westbrook best defensive backcourt in the NBA okay uh the nominees for this week are

who wants to go first I'll go first uh Greeny said that Cooper Rush is the MVP just doing his job man he's just doing his job i wish they need to they seriously need a camera that runs for like 30 minutes in the get up pre-show meeting i would watch that i would dvr it every day people are just throwing fastballs left and right green is like yes stop no more we'll do it on the air yes no stop we'll do it on the air. Yes, no, stop. We'll do it on the air. Bart Scott, would you say the Chiefs are the fourth best team? And the answer, okay, we'll do that.

You're just in there. You're fucking hypnotized. You're like, I think Peyton Pritchard could be an all-star. Okay, great. That'll be the B block. I like the picture of Green bullying people in the takes, too. In the background, you kind of have a lukewarm take. He's like, you know, I'm not really feeling the Chiefs this year. And he's like, Bart, would you say they're going to finish like in the background, like you kind of have like a, like he has like a lukewarm take. He's like,

you know, I'm not really feeling the chiefs this year. And he's like, Bart, would you say they're going to finish last in the division? Say it on the air, Bart. We'll say it on the air.

Like he's just like pressuring people into saying these things. I kind of love it. Is Greeny the most unlikely bully in sports media? It's worse. Okay. So I don't know. That one's so dumb. I don't even know if we're going to,

it's like already busted for PEDs. Like it just can't be on the podium. Okay. So I don't know. That one's so dumb. I don't even know if we're going to, it's like already busted for PEDs. Like it just can't be on the podium. Yeah. Somebody's like, you're just like, I don't even know what to make. It's so weird. I don't even know what to make of it.

You know, like, okay. Like the MVP is about to be benched in like a week or two. Yeah. I mean, I, I assume greenie was kind of screwing around a little bit,

but then on top of that, he's also not better than the other guys that have been better than him this season. So like that, if you we could do the other part of it where he's not going to be it because he's going to lose his job. But the other part that's more important to how absurd it is, is there's

other guys that are ahead of him. So there you go. Okay. I don't think it's even eligible, but we had to throw it in there. It is a good one. Yep. All right. Kyle, you want to go?

I'll go. I mean, cause I don't want to be the last thing people hear. I, again, you guys are sending me a lot of basketball ones and I will start to entertain those, uh,

once I have to, but, um, but right now it's, it's, I'm trying to stick to football. I'm just, I'm losing a grip on the football season.

You know, this is my favorite time of year. Basketball season seems so long. Just want to try to keep it, um, keep it as close to football as I can. But this one, it's more of like, I think it's just the way it was said. I think it's just a bad look. I don't know if it's a bad, it probably is a bad take too. But Joe Klaas said this, I think yesterday.

Maybe it was two days ago. Uh-oh. Football is a physical sport. And there's a risk of injury! Exclamation point. Now it's a whole space on Twitter, which actually you have to work to get that space between the lines. So making rules to avoid lawsuits

while trying to appease soccer moms in order to increase the number of kids playing football is ruining the sport, period. I don't think that's exactly what's going on, but even if that is, I just think that you should have had that one looked over before you fired it off. Yeah, people are upset. There's actually a couple people agreeing with him. I don't think that's exactly what's going on. But even if that is, I just think that you should have had that one looked over before you fired it off. Yeah, people are upset. There's actually a couple people agreeing with him.

I don't know if those people have kids or don't have kids or what's going on. But it just didn't seem like a great way to kick off conversation about one of these topics. I don't think soccer moms are running the ref rooms when they're making new rules and stuff like that. I don't think it's soccer moms. If you had blind me read that tweet and said who tweeted this, I would have 100% said it was Danny Cano. 100%. He would have said liberal soccer mom.

Soccer moms are a bad rep. These AOC soccer moms. I got to be honest with you. i didn't have a huge problem the soccer mom thing they didn't need to be in the crosshairs in that one but i am honestly like every time an nfl guy gets hurt everybody does their fucking lap of like how dangerous the sport is and it's the story that everybody tells with no ending but then that goes away now what and now what now what though like is anything gonna be like it's a dangerous sport man it's a dangerous sport and some shit's gonna happen that's not

gonna be cool and you know the nfl has no credibility with the way they were so negligent about it for so many years so some people kind of land on that as the justification to continuously question the nfl about it and then the two of thing just look fucking bad. And yet the investigation into that is that nothing was done wrong, except the independent guys fired because of missteps. So I understand the lack of trust and all those different things, but I just, I don't find, holy shit.

The NFL is dangerous content. Super interesting. Fucking soccer moms. Get it together. Gals won't have it on her couch. Watch mine is. So my stuff is, has kind of like evolved into from worst take to just like stuff that irrationally pisses me off um this is about

the magic this one no we had a segment that was called this tweet pissed me off that didn't last too long bring it back because i mean i i'll have a lot of content um this one i like the guy too, actually. I'm a big Ninja Warrior fan. I don't know if you guys are. I like to watch it when I'm eating dinner and stuff. So our guy, Akbar Gabadjabi Amila, who was on, he played for the Packers, I think, right?

Yeah. He had a good run there. Works out of my gym, so be careful. No, he seems like a super nice guy. I like the show. I like the show. But he went on some show called The Talk that I have not heard of. I think it's The Chew, isn't it?

No, it's The Talk. Then there's The View. I think it's like a View spinoff, maybe. Not sure. Not a big daytime TV guy. Anyway, he posted a video where he was basically complaining on the show about the Devante Adams situation where if you didn't see it he shoved like a camera guy after they lost like right after they lost in the tunnel just shoved him it was a dick move I'm not like super pissed off about it like it's not a good look do I think

he should be suspended no but you know obviously it's like who's in the wrong here Devante Adams is in the wrong Akbar basically made the argument that he didn't want to take blame away from Devontae Adams. But then he did with the next sentence by saying that they should consider changing the stadium tunnel clearance protocol and that it actually messes up the players when they're all they're all high off their emotions coming off the tunnel. And there are people in the tunnel standing around trying to do their job. And this is like a greater it's a greater trend, I feel like, in sports. And it goes back to the Draymond thing last week that we were talking about Ryan where whenever somebody does something wrong like Draymond punches Jordan Poole in the face okay he's wrong but then everybody

looks for an excuse to not blame guys like Draymond Green and it's the same case here it's like Devontae Adams shoves up like an innocent camera guy he's wrong but then it's like how do we make this not Devontae Adams fault and that's what we do here and like again I mean again maybe it's not the worst take in the world but it just annoys the shit out of me because we have to find all these excuses for all these people to explain why the thing that they did wrong wasn't actually their fault.

So I'm going on a little bit of a rant here, but it's definitely another example. And it just pisses me off. Like, if you punch somebody in the face, it's your fault. Like, you should punch somebody in the face it's your fault like you should punch somebody in the face if you shove a camera guy in the tunnel i mean i don't want to hear all these excuses about like why we need to have better tunnel protocol like it's just dumb to me well look you're playing one of my greatest hits on guy does something wrong who else can we blame um and i like adams i think his track record is right pretty i've never heard

anything yeah he seems like a great guy yeah it's okay yeah it's okay he pushed a guy the guy's gonna sue him hoping to get a check and some settlement because that's what people fucking do and it sucks and you know i don't know i don't i'd love to figure out this this car storage idea where that the 50 yard line all the players just get to go into these like flaps that open up and they just go down through there i mean look it sucks people throw shit at them going out the tunnels it was happening to the raiders at halftime you know so maybe they were already heated about that or whatever like a bunch of dumb shit happens at football games um i guess i'm willing to accept a certain level of it and even with adams like

it's not the end of the world guys shouldn't't get suspended for it. It's not. Yeah. And he's the lawsuits filed. So this guy can try to get a check from him, which is, you know, if he's not hurt, what the fuck? You're supposed to write a check for that, but that's the way it works.

The one guy's rich. One guy isn't. So, you know, I don't blame the guy trying to get a check either, but at the end of the day, could we just, I think we know who's at fault here and that's,

can we just move on? By the way, this is exactly what soccer moms are talking about. This is exactly the type of violence that happens during football games that we're trying to get out of the game. Is that an 0 for 3 podium week? I think so. I like where the podium is.

I like where it is. We need more stuff to happen. I think the greeny one made me laugh the most, but again, I just don't know what to make of that. I don't even feel like I was bringing it because it needs to be acknowledged, but I knew some will be so absurd that you're just like, I don't even know if this is eligible, if this guy actually believes it.

So there you go. That's Worst Takes this week. You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine.

And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Life advice. Lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. Okay, boys, let's get to it. This first one definitely struck a chord with me. I have get to it. This first one definitely struck a chord with me. I have experience

with this. Girl living with my parents. What's up, guys? 59160. Just recently got back to being able to bench my body weight after a year of working out, feeling good about it. You should. But need y'all's help with the situation I've got myself into. There's this girl.

Let's call her Josie. He really went to the extreme to come up with a... Big Blink-182 fan? Yeah. She sounds great. All right. He says he's known most of his life. Our parents grew up together, and thus our families have been good friends.

Though it's in different nearby cities about an hour away, so we're not hanging out all the time or anything, which I think is good context. Okay, so everybody's friends. They've known each other a while, but they're not down the street. Okay, so recently I moved back to the area that she's from. Okay, and this is a larger southern city. I'm not going to share it, but shout out.

I've come to find she's got a job in my parents' town. All right, so this guy's living in this Southern city. I'm not going to share it, but shout out, uh, and come to find she's got a job in my parents' town. All right. So this guy's living in the Southern city and she is now getting a job, even though from the town that she's from is where he's working. But the more important thing is that she's working in the town. That's an hour away from the city. Everybody does that make sense to everybody? I'm here. Monday to Friday, she is staying with my parents for free and commuting back to the southern city on the weekends. Glad for her.

Thought it was not a big deal. But as I start seeing my parents more and they start asking me about her a lot. All caps. Small piece of context. Josie and I did make out drunk one time at a football game prior to this some years ago, but that was it.

But she hangs out with my parents all the time. And me being single and 31 years old in the deep south, they were dropping serious pressure asking me to make this happen. She's five years younger than me and definitely very cute. But in our years knowing each other, never felt like it was a good match. Well, granted, if you have known each other most

of your life and the family, friends and all that kind of stuff, you know, when the girl is five years younger than you, then I would say two thirds of your life, you've never thought about her that way. Whereas I would imagine if you were 31 and just met a cute 26-year-old, I don't think that'd be much of a hang-up for a lot of dudes. Right? Fair. I think we're all on the same page on that one. The making out a few years ago I don't think is a big deal. Well, lo and behold, we go to another football game.

Now that I'm back in my town, my parents' friends all have season tickets and alcohol flows, and she is clearly super into me. We go for a drink for a bit after. I decided at that time she also was worth going for, so yada, yada, yada. We sleep together. Not my best decision, but here we are.

A week removed and I'm still not feeling the spark, but now the awkwardness with my parents and her is getting worse. No shit, you think? I feel like I need to talk to her, but need some advice on how to handle the situation. Should I avoid my parents entirely? Yeah, just sit, dude. Never talk to them again.

Problem solved. I'm seriously considering it. Please help. Also, P.S. Ripping a dart with Kyle is on my bucket list. Dream to make it happen one. Wow. Flattered. Sounds like if you go visit this guy, he's got with Kyle is on my bucket list. Dream to make it happen one. Wow. Flattered.

Sounds like if you go visit this guy, he's got somebody to introduce you to Kyle, except Kyle is off the market. Okay. You know what? Actually, this isn't exactly the same thing as what happened to me. I had dated somebody before, I don't know, like early 20s, and then I was back in Vermont. And then the girl that i dated that was back home my mother let her move in so that was the reverse i'd already dated her yeah and then my mother became like friends with her and then my oldest sister became friends with her and then i would

come home and this girl i used to date was living at my fucking house while i was dating somebody else and it sucked gross and i was kind of like hey you think you're you know jamming me up a bit here mom you never come home yeah right no it was like whatever the thing is my mom just wasn't didn't give a shit yeah she's like whatever she's cool she didn't she didn't she was trying to get you back together she was just happy that she always wanted to live no she always wanted us to get back together. She wanted me to date this person. I went to my dad and we were like on the couch probably watching a red sex game. I was like, hey, this kind of kind of sucks for me a little bit. And he just looked at me like the most defeated look ever and just was basically, do you think I'm wasting a bullet on this argument?

You know, that's a better move. Yeah. Yeah. No, he just looked at me me like are you are you fucking kidding like you think i'm going to bat for you on this one uh but what really sucked is i was dating somebody you know for whatever term uh in my for me is is pretty serious it was one of the more serious ones i was dating and she was like i'd love to go to martha's vineyard i was like i would love to bring you but it's a little not a great time right now right and then she's like what are you fucking kidding me your ex-girlfriend lives with your parents i was like yeah pretty much and she was kind of like well wait doesn't like are you for it i was like i'm not for it i mean i'm anti

it she's like well why would they do that to you i'm like most of the voters in the house don't seem to care so i'm out i don't know what to tell you uh so she kind of was like it always it was always uh you know anyway the girl i was dating was really you know she was cool for the most part she didn't like to argue but that was always something that was kind of like the summer was rolling around and people were making you know, she was cool for the most part. She didn't like to argue, but that was always something that was kind of like the summer was rolling around and people were making, you know, Memorial day plans and 4th of July and shit. And I'd be like, we're going to have to go somewhere else. We can't, she's like, you know, I think she even said something like, you know, you date a guy from Martha's vintage and you figure, all right, we're going to have a couple of cool trips lined up every 12 months. And she had been there before, had spent time there herself when she was

younger. So she was like, this is had spent time there herself when she was younger. So she was like, this is going to be awesome. I was like, yeah, maybe we'll go to Maine or something. Maybe we'll go to Montreal. I feel like this is like the plot of a Sandra Bullock movie where like she comes back,

like you come back home and Sandra Bullock is living with your parents and then you bring a new girl in and then like everyone hates the new girl and then you get back together with the other girl. I'm pretty sure there was one about them

in Alaska with Ryan Reynoldsynolds sounds about pretty familiar but yeah pretty much a that's a rom-com waiting to happen yeah i think there's some different variations of it i don't know what was sweet home alabama about didn't that guy just rent out the entire jewelry store and just say pick whatever you want is that was that his move uh i did i don't remember the movie detail like most of the. I do remember that was what, Reese Witherspoon? She was like a big city girl who moves back to the small town on hard times.

No, I think she was a small time girl or small town girl that moved to the big city. That's what I'm saying. She came back home. Meets a guy from Lehman Brothers. Yeah, but then, you know, the construction guy, the ex-construction boyfriend who just got his shit together and it's really nice guy they end up you know falling in love so good for them yeah pretty sure there's a county fair involved or something like that so yeah that's

uh that was my deal this is a little different because it's it's like the reverse i actually think this is easier to deal with now look uh you already know you shouldn't have slept with her because you just poured gasoline all over the situation too late to go into the old time machine for that it's happened uh people do it and it's it's kind of funny that you were so determined to like not have like you you weren't bothered she was living there you were fine with it you're 31 you're single and you're in the south your parents parents, and this speaks to all of us, you know, any of us that are single past a certain age. I mean, I think my parents gave up finally, but even if my dad is visiting me, they're gonna be like, I mean, again, this, this speaks to like absolute parent detachment of reality. So I think anyone listening to this of a certain age can appreciate it. And the parents are usually always coming from a good place, but they're not doing the kind of calculus any of us are doing about potentially asking somebody out or dating

somebody or whatever. So if a 50-year-old woman could walk by an advisor in the front of my house with a dog and say hello, and my dad will be be like what's wrong with her what what the fuck are you talking about man you know and it doesn't it doesn't mean anything we go grab a couple cups of coffee and it's like a a usc junior behind the counter my dad will choose cute and it's just like hey relax man like it doesn't doesn't really work that way and and whatever so your parents because there's this family attachment, they're not thinking of like, hey, maybe our son thinks he can do better. Maybe our son doesn't really like her. Maybe you're hung up on somebody else. girl both prior to you sleeping with her and after which isn't the best time to be like hey you know what i'm not super into this uh but your parents are just going to look at it completely different than you are but you just made it way worse so i would give it a little time man i would kind of do the soft not interested as opposed to the abrupt let's get in front of this

because she's living with your parents she's probably going to tell her tell your mom it in front of this because she's living with your parents she's probably going to tell her tell your mom you know uh anything so that they hooked up some would some would i don't know i hope you don't think any would uh some would but that's for sure no some would i man that's that's worse that's really worst case scenario yeah because then if you get your mom taking her side being like you get drunk you sleep with her and, you sleep with her, and then you're just like, Jesus Christ. I didn't raise you this way. Yeah, right. This is even worse than just not being interested in somebody.

So not seeing your parents ever again. I would just go into a cool down period here. I would go into a cool down period. Like a soft ghost. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's no full ghost version of this. Nope. It can't happen. Holidays are coming.

Here's the thing. You can't do it again, dude. It sounds like you have it in you where you might do it again. Unless she's totally on the same page as you, but your parents, you can't be like, hey, mom, we're just banging after football games when they get wasted. You get it. on mom yeah yeah dad knows dad and even though our parents are far more educated and all this shit they were us at some point which is one of

the weird you know realizations when you like go from a kid it was like you know your dad was like super into your mom at some point like oh that oh, that's right. That's how this whole thing started. Those are just difficult conversations to have. I don't know that anybody's ever really nailed the, and yes, I'm sure there are examples where kids are super close and open with their parents about all their relationship adventures and the ups and downs of all these things. But it's going to be hard for you to tell your parents, hey, I'm not super into her, especially if she already told them what happened.

If she doesn't tell them what happened, then clearly they like this woman enough to keep pressing the issue for a bunch of different reasons. So go ahead, guys. You go ahead, Rudy. I just want to hear what you say before I utter anything. No, I just said I think the soft ghost is the way to go you know don't be a

dick if she reaches out to you maybe answer one out of every three to four texts be kind of vague make it pretty clear that you know it was a mistake don't be a dick but answer one out of four texts well yeah but I mean like I think I think what you said about like just going in guns blazing be like sorry this is

a mistake it shouldn't have happened I'm not into you. Like, don't do that. Because then you know, then you're right, the whole family's gonna be mad at you and whatever. I mean, you know, you screwed up. And I think that's the only real way to do this. And the only problem is like, you know, because I think moms, they're, you know, my mom's like this, like, she just thinks that anyone that's alone, or that doesn't, that isn't dating someone is like gonna die alone, and get like paranoid and they get like anxious about that so like my mom would always try to hook me or my friends up with like random people at work it's just the way that that's not gonna change she's gonna keep doing that um but i think you have to make it pretty clear hopefully hopefully the girl you hooked up with did not tell the mom because if she did then you're definitely fucked but if she didn't i think there's a way you can play this and just kind of slowly wean off of her and not really give her a day but no you don't have to give her the time of day like just don't make make it very clear without being an asshole you know one or two word texts you know if she wants to call and if only smoke when you drink 100 and if and if she

like calls you on it be like hey like we hooked up i'm sorry like i'm just i'm just not i don't want to date i'm not i'm not in that i'm on that mode right now or like you're not for me i think it's a little bit weird the dynamic like you can make some excuse about it but i think you have to slow play it because if you hard play it then you're gonna then you have a problem with your mom and your dad and your family and you don't want to do that either yeah i think the most important thing to remember is these are your parents so push comes to shove like they're stuck with you so you can pretty much do whatever, however you want to tackle this. You're going to be okay.

Like, especially, it's all better than just, like, ghosting your parents in addition to ghosting this girl. Like, that's like the worst, the package deal ghost where just your parents are gone. I mean, I think just the faster you can make it normal and the less

you can care. Sometimes shit is so uncomfortable, it's actually comfortable. Sometimes you can just kind of throw away all that stuff in your head. And it's actually pretty liberating when you're just like, listen, it is going to be what it's going to be. And once you can remember this is your family and push comes to shove, you do win. I think you'd be surprised at how little little you'll care about it and and just i'm not going to get too much into it but i just i want you to remember sometimes shit is so uncomfortable that it's actually kind of comfortable so um just just try that i wouldn't not go to your

parents house i would just at the end of the day you have all the cards uh they're your parents you know you could drop in whenever you want and um she won't be there forever yeah you're the victor. Yeah, the last thing on this, I think some people will be like, you don't have to be that harsh about it, but here's what I've learned through all of my life's experiences. When you're the person that's not interested in the other person, no matter what you do, it's all going to be fucking wrong.

So if you slow play that you're not interested, she'll be like, this whole time, you couldn't just fucking tell me. And then if you tell her immediately, she'll go, a week after we sleep together after a game and I'm living with your parents, you fucking just tell me immediately you're not interested in me. And so there's no one, people could say like, oh, just be straight up, let everybody know how you feel. Actually, people don't want you to be straight up. Trust me. you to be straight up trust me all right trust me on me being so direct over the years that a lot of times people don't want you to be as direct as everybody pretends that they're going to be you know like oh well you know season tickets and then we go out after and you're the one that wanted to get a drink and it just goes on and on and on and you're just like all right you know so

there's not i'm not i'm just telling you it's not a great way to land this plane yeah be nice to her and don't do anything you don't want to do don't be an asshole you seem like you're gonna like her she's around the family and all that stuff it's like it's not that she you're the one that fucked up sort of that's why the soft ghost just act like you're really busy don't have time i'd say you could probably even sleep with her again if you wanted to all right there you go kyle just as long as as long as she sees your attitude about it and you're just not like, you know. All right. Let's read one that's not going well for the guys.

Big fan of the pod 24-5-9. Squats, benches, and deadlifts. Great. I've always enjoyed lifting, but recently became afraid of injuries and I'm trying to mix other activities. Let me know your favorite form of cardio. We'll let you know.

Huge sports fan. It doesn't really matter which sport we're talking about. I'll be watching and loving it. Met a girl earlier this year. She's also a huge sports fan and is pursuing a career in sports. We became good friends and would often watch sports and hang out. We'd often go to my apartment or the local establishment of note. Typical night might be to go grab a drink, come back to my place and watch a game and

then walk her home. I'm typically holed up watching sports in my apartment. So this has been a change of pace. I enjoyed having someone to watch with and we text pretty regularly about sports news and whatever else we had going on. As you might guess, I am definitely into this girl. Who would have thought? Probably all of us reading this email.

I never really pried into it, but we both seem to not be seeing anyone over the course of this year okay all right so you're watching games there she's coming to your house you're going to her house you're walking her home it's been going on for a year you grab a drink you text about a ton of shit and you didn't know if she was or wasn't seeing somebody, red flag. Yeah. Does she not have an Instagram? Like, I'm confused. Well, she's a female trying to get into sports,

so do they have Instagrams usually? I thought about asking her out, but I tried to be cognizant that as an attractive woman in sports, this happens all the time and it's probably super annoying. Right. And then you'll have the ones where no one ever asks me out. Like, time and it's probably super annoying right and then you'll

have the ones but no one ever asks me how like yeah that's probably true so i held my tongue and went on as normal uh but i also felt like the regularity with which we hung out with each other without others around was unusual in all honesty there's no other person guy or girl who i'd want to see or attempt to see this often in a one-on-one setting. Oh, that's great. I eventually built up my nerve and figured at some point, I'd have to see what's going on here. So I asked her out. I, of course, tried to do so in a way that was very respectful of our existing friendship and was minimizing the potential fallout. As you might guess from the fact that I'm sitting here writing this email, I'm not on a date with her. I was met with an unambiguous stone cold rejection. So Ryan, Cerruti, and Kyle, am I an idiot? On the one hand, this is probably super annoying

and uncomfortable for her coming from someone she values as a friend and wants to hang out. On the other, sometimes you need to shoot your shot. And this was a fairly unusual situation where I did feel like there was a chance. Should I have just accepted this for what it was and not said anything further have i just fed the classic dynamic that makes working in sports as a woman so difficult now a guy that was in the friend zone for a year that she was texting with inviting over and going over to his house that finally after a year said would you like to grab a drink sometime you're not that's not a problematic problem yeah yeah yeah maybe you should have given it another year exactly yeah you're not gonna end up on e60 dude i have yet to see how this plays out in terms of the friendship uh but can't say it's looking great yeah all right my question

would be is it not even close in the looks department? Like be honest with yourself. I have to be honest with myself sometimes. I don't always like the answers, but is it not even close? And if it's not close, you know, and you have to ask like, what's your history been? Would this be like a hundred point game for you?

You know, like dudes are talking about us 70 years later if it would then maybe that's why you threw her off all right we're just exploring all angles on this one so please don't be bummed out by any of this stuff but the fact that you never knew or never knew she was dating or she apparently never cared if you were dating anybody that's a bad sign because how are you talking about all the other things how could it have never come up in all of this time so yes she gives you that response because she never saw it coming never saw it coming i tried to do this once a lot younger a lot younger it wasn't with somebody

in tv because everybody would be like oh when you try to date carissa that's not happen um because i figured if i was if i was too vague people would just say that no no it was somebody knew that i liked him but it was friend zone and then it was hey i'll go for it and it fucked it up for a little while and then it was back on and it was fine. And then she like slept with everybody I knew. So that was cool. But this, this dynamic, like all you have to do is come clean with, hey, look, I'm sorry if I misread it. You know, I'm in this town, you know, maybe I don't know a ton of people. I thought we got along.

And if you care about the friendship, that's the other thing you got to do. What do you care the most about? Were you in this the whole time hoping that the romantic part of it would work out? And I do feel like all of us, it feels like it's more male related. We're like men are more likely to be friends with the thought down the road that it's all going to work out for them. But that's not exclusive to men. I think the ratio feels more like that's a male thing. Maybe that's just me talking from the perspective of a male. I could be wrong. I don't know what that ratio is perfectly. And I think that the needle will tilt towards men going, I'm not just going to hang out with women the whole time without any opportunity whatsoever,

where some, I think more women are more mature about it they'd be like yeah i can just be friends with scott doesn't mean i don't fucking sleep with them so i uh i don't know i i think you have to be honest about what your chances were and then i think it's a pretty quick fix if you want it to be a quick fix but if you really cared about the romantic part and it's going to be awkward for you to be hanging out and that could be her concern like you may have fucked it up the only thing when you ask like am i an idiot i don't think you're wrong to ask her out eventually no i think you should have gotten more information i think you should have had a better perspective and yeah yeah maybe a little naive on the whole thing um if she's really attractive and she's on television and she's working in sports,

like, you know, like you gotta, you gotta know that like, if you're fishing in those waters, there's athletes firing and all these different things like that. It's a competitive world out there. My, my fellow males, but I don't think you're necessarily wrong. I think the only thing when you ask the question, like, am I an idiot? I think I just can't think you're necessarily wrong i think the only thing when you ask the question like am i an idiot i think i just can't believe you wouldn't have more information and know kind of where her head was at and what was going on with all of her stuff but i'd ask you do you want to repair it to just get your friend back or do you want to repair it knowing that deep down you're still going to care about her all the time and if it's the second one she's probably gonna pick up

on that and it'll never be the same sorry yeah i Yeah. I mean, if she will watch a game with you, that's a great sign. Like if you guys can get just back in a room together like normally, I think that's a great sign. I think you can see how that goes. And, you know, the cold rejection. I mean, I wish I had a little bit more information if she was like, no, and maybe like a little laugh or something like like was it seems pretty cool you guys clearly smart well what is cold written email yeah yeah what if it was just like like cold could be like you must be joking sort of deal too which i mean i'm not saying it's over it sounds like it's over but i'm not saying like it's completely like i just wish i had a

little bit more because i think there's a difference between like being like i mean are you sure then like the other like those stories and movies that you see like with some guy's parents and the mom's like you know your father back in 1972 asked me out and i told him no i told him to get lost and every day he would follow me home from work and ask me out until one day i said yes and now we're married like i i don't okay but was she a hot on-air sports reporter? I mean, but what's on-air? I mean, are we working for our college station here? He's 24, right?

I mean, or maybe that was the last guy. I just mean, is this lady so successful that it's actually out of the realm of possibility? I think, A, it'd be great to just get back in the room as friends. Gauge how that is. I don't even know if that's happened yet. And then if you guys are laughing and joking around like i don't know maybe there's a way to bring it up in a way that you're not saying like hey will you go out with me again like maybe there's a different way to just gauge where you are there i just think i think as if you can get back in the room with her under any circumstances that's probably good because it sounds like that's

what you want and then you got to really be honest with how how the vibe is especially if somehow that could get like some weird path into getting brought up but not in a way of you asking her to go out with you again like just be like hey so that was weird last week huh i don't know there's got to be some sort of way where you like you could say hey you guys look good remember last week when i asked you out it was that was fucking wait till there's like a block punt and be like, oh, Scott, reminds me of last week. I don't know. I don't know. I just think it'd be good for you to get in the room with her and just gauge them.

I think because all the time that you're spending not hanging out with her in the way that you'd like to for that year. Who's calling these boys? Yeah, whatever. Anything to add sorry no i think i mean i it sounds like he could really beat himself up about this of making the wrong decision but at the end of the day like it's always going to be in the back of your mind that like do i have a chance with this with this girl right you could hang out with her and it's oh it's great to be friends or whatever but if that's in the back of your mind that's going to eat at you for one year two years three years you guys

could like it could be 10 years from now you guys could be like watching games together still or whatever and if you didn't she's married on the cover of people magazine with like cooper rush and he's going are they friends yeah but you're but you're all like you're always gonna be like oh man if i just had spoken up at some point well at least you know now you spoke up and it didn't work out like it's okay and as you said earlier like you didn't it doesn't sound like you did anything like wrong she just rejected you so i kind of feel like as shitty as it feels right now for you and even if you do lose the friendship it probably was worth just seeing what was up you know because you were it was going to eat it to you for a while and now it's actually the best

point of the whole thing like whatever whatever you don't like about how you feel right now it's way better to get this over with and feel this now than this unknown and just hanging around no regrets dude yeah there you go yeah and if you all right that's life advice oh never mind kyle still got i was just gonna say and if you can get back to hanging out and it does like she'll at least know that and then who knows maybe uh maybe your beard comes in one day like i'm hoping mine will and it'll just she'll be like he's looking pretty good now and i know he likes me and i know it's an option i don't know i'm just saying if you could get back into the friend no friend okay i don't know i don't like any of that we should we're leaving it in but i don't think we should give any people the false hope

like i i i know i personally never understand the he like i was saying before like he asked me out a hundred times and i said no and i'm like who the fuck asks anyone out that i don't think that's allowed anymore yeah yeah that's a different standard yeah well he said he was a lifter right too he was like doing you know he was trying to figure out was this the cardio guy he was like i'm trying to figure out what, what. No, no, really good numbers. No, really good numbers from this guy. I was going to say, you can just get in like fucking ridiculous shape and like be the hottest

version of that you've ever been and still kind of like hang around the basket and see what's up. And maybe like, you never know. Maybe she'd be like, oh, I actually fucked up. That guy's kind of in shape and he's, he's fun to hang out with. He watches games with each other. Like he never knows. He's five nine though, right?

Yeah. We need to be nicer about that on the pod. I'm kidding. Hey, it's above average, man. Well, this above average, really strong guy that doesn't pick up any clues. Go get him, man. That's life advice. Thanks to Saruti.

Thanks to Kyle. The Ryan Bersola Podcast. Please subscribe, download, ring our Spotify. Outro Music