The Ryen Russillo Podcast - The End of the World, Criticizing NBA Player Criticism, and Top Workout Songs with Van Lathan

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

Russillo is joined by Van Lathan to discuss female relationships, religion, the end of the world, basketball criticism, and more (0:43). Plus, Life Advice with Kyle (49:18)! Do I rat out my neighbor's son for stealing? Check us out on YouTube for exclusive clips, livestreams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Van Lathan Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, Mike Wargon, and Jonathan Frias Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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from No Frills with PC Express. Shop online and get $15 in PC optimum points on your first five orders. Shop now at nofrills.ca. points on your first five orders. Shop now at NoFrills.ca. Today's episode, we're just going to hang out with Van Latham and talk shop, including our playlist for Chestay, which he actually got there. He thought I was kidding when I asked for it. One thing that I've been thinking about too, specific to like sports and growing out of things, I don't know if you necessarily grow out of things past a certain age, but if there's anything that could get you to not like basketball,

there's something going on that I think is at least worth talking about and life advice and a big announcement, uh announcement for somebody on the podcast. It's that time of year, we're like, what are we talking about? We're like, let's just book Van. So we got Van Lathan here. Higher learning with Rachel. What's up, baby? Twice a week, newest episode out this morning. I know you're locked into the superhero thing. Lot of debate, lot of controversy out there.

Don't know what to do with it. Maybe we'll get to that. What's up, good to see you. What's up, man? What's up? We were just talking about the fact that I expected to see you a couple of days ago, but you did not show up.

And it's always a treat when we're able to get Rassillo out of his den His palace by the beach and we were right there partying by the beach and you weren't there And me and Kyle had to drown our sorrows. We were very upset It sounds like you guys got through it. All right so Yeah, he got through it Swimmingly No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Because I realized something when I was down there. Manhattan Hermosa is an oasis. It's a paradise. It's a paradise. Now, this particular time, there were some drawbacks. It was overrun with teenagers going crazy So yeah, who cares I saw you with them Wait over high school fights. Oh my god, bro

Because it was overrun with kids in hermosa on the fourth Kalika and I were walking up and There was a different soap opera happening every 10 or 15 feet. Like one girl was on her phone, she just kept saying over and over and over again, I didn't do shit, I didn't do shit, I didn't do shit. And I was like, Kalika, we have to stop and find out what happens here,

but she didn't wanna stop. But other than that, beautiful. Sure that wasn't me? Could have been. Could have been. Could have been. She was about, yeah, she fit the profile. But no, it was fun, man. We, but whenever there's a Rassilohang,

those are like, those are like finding a Ken Griffey rookie card in the tops, you know what I mean? Like it's like, no, that's it. We thought we were going to get one. We didn't get one. Yeah. I don't know.

I can explain in further detail later on. Are you, do you have any trips coming up this week or this summer? We are trying to decide whether or not we do Arrowhead or Big Bear for a quick little getaway. And I was weighing the differences between Arrowhead and Big Bear. And Big Bear is far superior.

But the last time we went to the lake, we went to Arrowhead, and it was very special because it was during the pandemic. I got it in my mind, I had a dream actually, that it was actually the end of the world, and we were in the woods, so we were safe. And so then I had that dream, I was like, oh my God. So let's go to Arrowhead and see if the world ends.

So I told Kalika, I said, get all your friends together and I'll pay. We'll all go up to Arrowhead. This is bad how bad my anxiety was. And we went up to Arrowhead and civilization was able to, I just saw you look away, Ryan, I'm right here telling you about something that really, really affected me in my life

and you just, you're losing the plot already. You're like, you're not interested at all. No, I'm so locked in, I was looking at a book that I'm just finishing. Yeah! Which speaks to your experience, but I want you to keep going, because I was like, yeah, which one is that again?

Okay, cool. So we went up there, and literally, it was a very important trip, because I was going through it like seriously, and so there's a, hmm, how can I say, there's a, we have a sentimental connection to Arrowhead, but Big Bear is just significantly nicer, so I think we've made the decision to go to Big Bear,

and now we're trying to decide which friends we invite. During that time, it was pretty obvious. But I don't know if you know, sometimes the ladies, their friendships aren't as durable. Let me just put it that way without getting hit on the, over the head with the misogynist, sogy sogy label. Sometimes their friendships aren't as durable.

They have, they have what we would say tight rotations on their friendships. And they, there's a playoff roster that women have with their friendships sometimes. You know how we have pretty loose rotations? Like we'll play like nine, 10 guys,

as far as friendships are concerned. Women, they're JJ ready. First round, Tibbs, they got five. And when we talk about going on a trip, they got three, four really reliable players. Teams on the floor. And those players change. They change.

So they're constantly opting people out, they're waving them and stretching them, all kinds of stuff. So I have to look and see who's on her roster right now in order to kind of go to Big Bear. I've thought about this a lot because I don't know if there's a right answer. It's just different in that how women become friends and how men become friends and the standards that we put ourselves through.

Right? Like I've always felt like women can be best friends in a way that's so fast. So I'll be like, how could you, how could you be this close with this person already? But isn't that actually like the nicer way to go about it? That you start at this absolute peak, you know, as opposed to men. And also I think it depends geographically where you're from, where there's this almost like test that this other person is going through for you to have

like buy in. I mean, the idea of going on a trip with a guy you'd met a couple months ago, I don't know at any stage of my life, if I would have been like, yeah, unless there were all sorts of co-signers on it where you're just like, now this guy's great or whatever, tons of mutual friends. I think that women get to a place of like trust and like in a quicker way that seems almost dangerous to me. But maybe that's just a nicer way to go about life. I've thought about this a lot, too. I have several different. Outlooks here.

I'm trying to figure out which ones are appropriate to share, but we'll go someplace, right? And it'll be like a party. It'll be somebody else's party. Not even our party. We'll go to a party at somebody else's having. We'll go to a party with a friend, right? Somebody else's shit. She'll meet somebody. And I'll be with the fellows, we'll be doing whatever we do, and then an hour, two hours later, I'll see Kalita.

And she'll be like, I was talking to Cynthia. And I'll be like, yo, who the fuck is Cynthia? I never saw her. I don't know who you're talking about. You're saying that like, I should know who this person is. The reason why I don't know who Cynthia is is because they were in some corner talking for an hour and a half, two hours.

And she was like, man, do you know Brian Shaw? And I'll be like, yeah, yeah, I know who that is. I'm just throwing a name out there. It's not the actual guy. He's like, well, that's his ex wife. He has been so terrible to her. Like, let me tell you what happened to them. You just made up that name because I'm running a Brian Shaw.

It's not Brian Shaw. It's not Brian Shaw. I'm just making up that name because I don't want to run into Brian Shaw. It's not Brian Shaw. It's not Brian Shaw. I'm just making up a name. It's like, do you know what happened to them on their ill-fated Cancun trip of 2016? I'm like, no. And then she's like, well, let me tell you. They go down there and they see some girl that he knew from college and blah, blah, blah.

And these are the people that you know then? These are the people that you know? I'm like, whoa. Whoa. Like, what that you know then? These are the people that you know? I'm like, whoa. Whoa. Like, what are you talking about? Okay, like what the hell's going on? How did you and this lady go from, hi, I've never met you before, to, this is what happened during my divorce.

Then, what happens after that is there's a two week best friend relationship. Two week best friend relationship where they are best friends. It's like a seminar. You're there every day putting in the hours. Like we're gonna get you the credit this summer, not this semester.

We're going on walks together. We're going to hang out and work together. We're doing all of this stuff. But this is all leading up to the I can't stand that bitch moment. And I know it's coming. And every single time I try to say, hey, maybe I'll dive in this quickly

because I know the I can't stand that bitch moment is coming and I just want you to have a little insulation from the time that it comes, but that never happens. What ends up happening is we careen down the aisle to the eventual moment where the I can't stand that bitch happens, right? And then I got gotta listen to that. It's all worth it, by the way, because it's very entertaining to me.

But this is why deciding who comes on the Big Bear trip is like physics, it's calculus, it's trigonometry, because we gotta get the right friend at the right time that's in the right situation, or the I can't stand that bitch moment will happen on the trip and that is the worst case scenario. And that could be the end of the world. So I want to get back to that point because I have to tell you the narcissism of we're at the doorstep of Armageddon and it doesn't actually happen.

But if you go through all these different moments in history, we can go way back, right? Reading about the beginning of civilization, it's just always right around the corner, right? It's right around the corner. And it's yet to happen, which is good news. We should be thrilled by that. But how often there's so many societies that feel like they're just moments away from everything being over. Don't you think there should be some lessons in there? You're like, hey, this thing that everybody keeps thinking is gonna happen, doesn't happen.

Say more. Well, maybe it's because I started reading a little bit more about religions and stuff, just, and I'm not a religious person at all, but if you go back to like, anything, the beginning of civilization, the stories that get passed down over and over and over again, they're all just kind of the same versions and then they branch off into other versions. But the core principles, the origin stories seem to be very similar. And yet I's, I don't know if it's the simplicity

of people in the beginning, like how freaked out people must have been like, what the fuck is this? Like, we're the only people, we're the only beings that can create some sort of organized civilization. Well, clearly there's something else going on and a lot of religion was justifying and explaining things

that were not explainable at that time, the lack of understanding of science and all these things. So there is just mass confusion and the confusion leads to like, well, this can't be, I don't know if this can't be real, but if somebody else is in charge of all of this, if there are these higher powers, then we have to be loyal subjects. You could also argue that it was a way to keep power in the hands of the people that had it by making everybody feel like they were less than. But when you keep going through all these moments in history where you feel like this is the day, the days, you know, like the end of all days, and it never fucking happens.

I'm just surprised anybody's able to still sell this message to anyone in the world. Wow. Okay. I want to be a little intense on that one. No, no, no, no, no. This is the type of shit that I love. Okay. So I think a couple of things. I'll take them as they pop into my mind. One, the thing with the religions.

The religions that teach about a higher power, a lot of them, particularly the ones that, the Abrahamic religions that we might be talking about, you know, some of the other ones that look at things a lot of them, particularly the ones that, the Abrahamic religions that we might be talking about, you know, some of the other ones that look at things a little bit differently, they talk about a finite human existence. So there is an end times there. There is a time of great peril and a time of great strife that will then lead to something more. Right? And did you grow up? Did you grow up pretty religious? Yeah, for sure.

Yeah. Like Swagger passed away last week and it was deeply moving to me because- Was he on the TV at the house? Oh, I was there. I was there. I was not just there in terms of like me, Marcus Spears, Michael Clayton, all of those guys. We were playing basketball at Ketchum Fitness. And Ketchum Fitness is the gym that is on the campus of Family Christian Academy, which is Jimmy Swaggart's school. It's right there on Blue Bonnet.

When you're going down Blue Bonnet, Swaggart owned all of that stuff. So you'd be hooping and you'd turn around and look up at the upstairs track and there would be old Jimmy Swaggart looking down there, maybe talking to something a little nice, you know what I mean? Looking down there at you while you're playing basketball.

And like, you know, whatever you guys want to say about Swagger, and I'm sure he has all kinds of red in his ledger, you guys have all seen it, whatever, whatever. He's a nice man. Eye for talent? Eye for talent. Nice man, nice people. We always had a place to play basketball.

Like, we always had a place to play basketball. So that part of it is, that part of those religions is very important, is very formative, like because there is, this all being temporary, this life, this earth, all being temporary in the everlasting hand of God is a gigantic part of why you need to do the things that you need to do while you're here. You're auditioning for something, precisely, right? Right. It's like Santa for adults. Well, I believe in Jesus.

So I'm not saying I'm not even like getting into like, cause if it came off as like fake, and I'm not like sitting here as a complete like atheist, I just, I don't really have much of a problem with anybody being religious other than them telling me that I need to do. What you should do. Right, right, right.

So go ahead. If it came off as disrespectful. I get it. But so what all of that does is it seeps into culture because really our culture, the entire culture that we're in, particularly here on the West and other places, is really oriented around some of those ideas the way they first started. So it seeps into our culture. So that's one part of it. There's just an

understanding of revelation and the second coming of Christ and how things are going to be when things get really bad. Like where I'm from in Louisiana, I'll just speak for that because I can't speak for people everywhere else. It's just that even the thugs and the guys out there on the street that never go to church, they just have a cultural understanding of, man, it's really bad, like we in the end times now. So that becomes something that you sort of orient your life around.

Second, I think it's the nature of human beings to ask how durable and lasting our condition is, whatever condition that is. It doesn't matter what it is. how durable and lasting our condition is, whatever condition that is, it doesn't matter what it is. Where we're sitting around, we're having a good time, there's gonna be somebody in the group that's gonna go, how long will the good times last?

Like, how long will we be able to maintain all of the technology and all of the advancement and just the nature of us as men to destroy the beautiful things that we've been given. People ask those questions and those questions are philosophical ones. Three, and this is the last part of it, is the world has ended.

It has ended for many civilizations, it's ended for many civilizations. It's ended for many people. It's ended for many of the groups and peoples that we have, that we study. We look back, the version of the world that the Roman Empire ruled, that world ended. And then a new world came. The version of the world that existed in the Dark Ages, that world ended. So there have been many different civilizations, many different people, many different cities, many different groups that have actually met their end. They are gone. They no longer exist.

Now the human race has continued to, to, to, uh, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, a greater ending because we rely on this country so much, they rely on us. If we do this, now it happens to them, now it happens to them, now it happens to them, now it happens to us. Even if you look at the pandemic, it was like, well, there were structures that existed or there was the nature of civilization that existed like 100, 200 years ago, wasn't as interconnected. The plane can take the disease everywhere now Because we're connected to a greater degree

Will those small endings become greater endings that? Will really spell the end of the human race? Wow 20 minutes in I didn't expect to be here You got me thinking about going to Lake Arrowhead. I like the choice. Be like, hey, if it's over, let's go by a lake. If it's gonna be over, where am I going?

Because you'd like to think you'd have a little time to plan, right? Like, where am I going? I mean, most people, you'd be like, all right have a little time to plan, right? Like, where am I going? I mean, most people you'd be like, all right, well, I've got to go to your family. But can you imagine, can you imagine going through security at the airport with a week to go, you know, you get on the phone and you're like, Hey, look, it's just. Airport's a mess.

Flights are too expensive. Like just, well, maybe we'll FaceTime. Did I ever tell you the Silverado story? No. Quickly. So me and my dad, rest in peace, we're watching Silverado, lovely movie. Lawrence Caston, Western.

It's like 87 or 88. Reading Lonesome Dove right now. Never read it. Oh, shit. Reading? Interesting. I've only ever seen it on the television. I've never read it before. Fantastic. Yeah, you know, a little fiction for the summer. There you go. So we're watching Silverado. Whatever. It's like late 80s. It's one of the prostitutes who spent time in Baton Rouge, I believe.

In Lonesome Dove? Well, I'm not very far into the book, so it's the first prostitute. She might be the only one. I don't know what it is about Baton Rouge, but whenever the city gets mentioned in anything, I just hoot and holler like, hey, filet, the Battle of Baton Rouge. Not a great time for my people. But I go. Oh shit. That's us Love it. Yeah, I could be messing that I could have been just a stop in Baton Rouge, but She's a woman. That's a nice way of saying prostitute prostitute woman of

sporting woman of pleasure You don't hear that a lot anymore. No. All right. So back to your point. Anyway, here's the thing. We're watching the Silverado. We're watching Silverado. And my dad goes, I'm like seven or eight.

And my dad goes, the world's going to end up being just like this again. I'm like, huh? What are you talking about? He's like talking about horses, carriages, you know, no electricity, six shooters, the whole nine, the world going to be like that again. And I'm like, why? How could that be? What are you talking about?

And he goes, his face lights up. Oh my God. Oh, you don't, something that the kid doesn't know, that my dad with his eyes would sparkle. He goes, oh, because of the bombs. I'm like, what are you talking about? He goes, son, oh my God. The Russians have these bombs.

Yeah, here we go. And if they shoot their bombs, and if Reagan shoots his bombs, it will cause a chain reaction across the entire planet and destroy the entire world. And he told this story with such vigor. Like he could not wait to tell a seven or eight year old kid this, and I don't think he understood how precocious I was.

Because most kids, you tell them that and it's like, all right, cool, I don't think he understood how precocious I was. Because most kids, you tell them that, and it's like, all right, cool, I don't know what he talking about. Like, well, turn on He-Man. I freaked out. Freaked out. Started asking everyone that I could about the end of the world.

Asking it at church, asking like, what could I do to stop this? Like, what could I do to not make nuclear holocaust happen? I'm watching it everywhere. I'm watching the fucking little TV movie they have. I'm going crazy. I'm reading books. I'm doing the whole nine.

I spent like three or four years on this. Like legitimately was obsessed with the end of the world until one thing happened. Titties. Nice. Titties. Nice. Titties saved me. I saw a bra strap in the seventh grade. I never forget it.

I saw a bra strap and I was like, Oh my God, is titties under there. And the thing that happened was inside of my brain, girls and sports just pushed all of those fears right out of my brain. But that story started my obsession with the end of different civilizations, and that's why I've studied it a little bit. Yeah, great point on that, because we're close enough in age that if you grew up at a certain

time, you just figured you were going to get bombed. And we were talking about nuclear fallout shelters and I think it's seven or eight years old. You could probably spend your time on something else. And honestly, nine, I could say Charles Barkley saved the world because then I cared about Charles Barkley and probably the Big East a little bit more before that. Really Dr. J. Moses the first time for me, but this is a good transition because I was thinking about this the other day. I watched the Red Sox no matter what. Didn't care. It didn't

matter what the weather was. Didn't care where I was. There's an incredible stat that I've shared before with the audience that, and no one believes it, but there was a stretch of multiple years where I went 162 for 162. It was just understood. Oh, well, Jesus Christ. Yeah, that's what I was going to do. Loser, like really weird about it. Every fucking game?

Every game, every game. Every game was just understood. But then I was thinking about it and I was like, does that period in your life, because you really had nothing else going on, it's like when you really like a friend who likes a band maybe too much, it's because they need something to identify with.

And this certainly happens a lot more when you're younger than when you're older. And I was still young enough at the time that I was doing this, that I was like, is this replacing some other void? Now, if it's just a simple, healthy escape, then what are you doing? It's your time, what's wrong? But I probably was in a place where I was heading towards being a loser and not super thrilled with my prospects. And I did actually enjoy it. But then I was holding myself

to some sort of standard like I couldn't miss anything as if, you know, I mean, it's just an insane thing to think like I can't miss anything. I'm telling you like we'd have, if guys invited me to do anything like during the day, be out of the lake fishing, I'd have a little AM radio going just to make sure I didn't miss anything. And they were just like, you know, you know, so I was, I'm not proud of it, but I'm shocked now thinking so many years later and going through it that I'm indifferent to it all. This one thing that I cared about so much. And we're talking like into my twentiess, you know, late 20s. This thing that was part of my everyday for whether or not they made the playoffs. And now it's like, I don't even know the score. I can't tell you what the standings are.

Do you think you'll ever get to that point with anything, like in sports? Is there anything in sports now, like are you established with your routine? Do you think five years from now, like are you established with your routine? Do you think five years from now, I can't ever imagine you not caring about LSU, so I'm not even going there. Yeah. Because I do wonder if there's like another stage, whether it's me or for anybody that's listening to this, where did I OD on the Red Sox? There's an argument to be made on that too. I was thinking about this because I feel like there's so much NBA stuff that I can't stand and we're both too online.

But there's almost like a skit in my head for this if there were a sports SNL, which probably wouldn't be funny enough to even work because you'd run out of material. But the propaganda machine that exists against certain players, and I guess it's as simple as getting the clicks because there's going to be somebody that hates LeBron. There's going to be somebody that hates Kobe. There's going to be groups that are like, cool, I want to feel like these guys. It's very political. I saw the video the other day of LeBron James, and he was doing some drill in the video the other day of LeBron James and he was doing some drill in the corner, his handle didn't look super tight

and then it becomes this conversation of like, this is your God, this is your God. Like look at him fumble. Is this your king? LeBron has no bag. He has no bag and you're kind of like, hey, even if you don't like LeBron, because there's certainly criticisms I would hear

allow and agree with, but whatever the lack of bag there is, it's fucking worked, folks. Right, yeah. Okay, it's like 20 years of evidence that whatever the limitations are on his stuff, like, it fucking works. And I wonder if there are conventions, these people that just peddle in propaganda, if they get together,

these conventions are like, who are you with? We're like, oh, we're with the post 16 Durant crew. He's not top 20. We've been pushing it really, really hard. We're like, well, who are you with? We're like, oh, we're the Kobe's number one or number two overall. No one ever said it while he was actually playing, but we've been making great strides, a lot of momentum lately for Kobe actually being better than LeBron all time. And we're going for MJ for number one, maybe a couple of years of work we can get there. But I don't know that any of that stuff

would ever make me dislike basketball enough. Because I mean, that's a very simple thing to ignore. Ignore it, move on, laugh. I don't think I'd of that stuff would ever make me dislike basketball enough. Because I mean, that's a very simple thing to ignore. Ignore it, move on, laugh. I don't think I'd ever let that get in the way of enjoying something I've enjoyed for this much of my life. But the Red Sox example scares me that I'm like, would I ever get to a point? Now, it's also my job too.

So it would make a ton of sense for me to go, hey, now I'm just off this whole thing. So I've thrown a lot at you there, but it has nothing to do with religion. So go ahead. I got it. So I gotta say one thing about the LeBron No Bag thing. The LeBron No Bag thing reminds me of when we would be at TMD and we would get pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio shirtless on his boat. And these pictures would come out from time to time and people would look at Leo shirtless

and they would be like, oh my God. Like Leo has no traps, no buys, no, like, oh my God, Leo throwing a football or something like that. And people would be like, he can't throw the football. Like, and everybody would be like, oh my God. And I would be like, who fucking cares? Do you see what's on the boat with him? It don't matter.

Like the stats are there. He's the all time leading scorer. The bag, his bag is working, whatever it is. A recent example, just to keep it fair here, the new Sydney Sweeney picture going around where she's a little sweaty out at some late night spa. At karaoke, yeah. Right, and people- Why have I seen that nature?

What? Why have I seen that? Why did I know? See what I'm saying? Why have I, I am too online. You like the Sydney Sweeney picture. I know the exact picture. She's sweaty.

She's that carrier. Why have I seen that? I've seen it 50 times without looking for it over the past two days, okay? Yeah. You know why I've seen it? It's because it turns into a bit of a like, this really, everybody's losing their minds over this.

And you're like, do you realize how good she still looks in this thing? What do you, and again, it's kind of back to the LeBron Leo thing. Maybe it's just tearing these people down a little bit. But the NBA one is very specific. Like nobody's sitting there running videos of, I'm trying to think of like somebody that's at that level.

But is nobody's posting videos of like Barry Bond striking out. Yeah, and going, he wasn't that great. Yeah, that's what we're doing with basketball players right now, is that no shit. Like you're gonna find some misses Mrs. From LeBron. You're going to find things that Kevin Durant said that you don't like.

We can go through all of it. Oh, Jokic didn't close out on this guy in the corner. This is your God. And you're just like, yeah, we could do this. But we don't, I don't know that we do it with any other sport the way we do it with basketball. So I have thoughts about that. And then I'll come back to what we were talking

about the last time. I think basketball. So I have thoughts about that, and then I'll come back to what we were talking about the last time. I think basketball is a sport that is, it's so individual, and because it's not as individual, I think the newer generation of basketball fan is waking up to the fact that it's actually not as individual as people thought that it was, right? But the singular player matters so much, and because of that, the game is subject to more context than almost any other sport if

you hit 800 homers whatever you hit those home runs It doesn't matter if you were a bad first ball hitter It doesn't matter if you swung at pitches out of the strike zone like out of the strike zone. Like, Vladdy Guerrero would sometimes swing at balls way out of the zone or whatever, but he was a great bad ball hitter. He hit the fucking ball, you couldn't strike him out.

Right, doesn't matter what his tendencies were. Basketball sometimes, people hone in on players' tendencies to put their accomplishments in context. So, Kevin Durant, all the points, two times MVP, two time champion, two time finals MVP. Aha, but if you look at this and if you look at that, and if you look at this and if you look at that, is he as good as you thought he was?

Ridiculous conversation to have, but people have it. LeBron James, all time leading scorer, like top 10 in this, top 10 is aha, but if you look at this and if you look at that, if you look at how he played, when, where he played, how he won, who was there, all of that. Like the sport, particularly with the way that it can be pulled apart now,

and the way you can analyze all of this different stuff, it almost lends itself to this over litigation of every player's usefulness, efficiency, and greatness. Like you ask yourself, hey, this guy is, because it's one of the only things to where it's like, if you're in the NFL and you rush for 2,000 yards on a bad team, you rush for 1,700 yards on a bad team, yeah, we might look at your yards per carry,

but it's such a grueling, tough sport that people are gonna be like, this is a bad motherfucker. He's actually badder because he ran for all of these yards with no passing game, right? In the NBA, if you average 25 on a bad team and the stats don't matter and they don't equal winning, well, we have to make sure that people know that you're not as good as that number says that you are.

So I think all of that has spawned these little religions and it's funny to me these little religions. But that's what it is. It's a religion. But it's always kind of a religion of tearing down the target. It is 100% a religion of tearing down the target. Like the LeBron people have to tear down the Kobe people. The Kobe people have to tear down on LeBron people. The Steph people have to tear down the Kevin Durant people. The James Harden people are fighting against everyone. Yeah, they got, they're losing numbers.

They're, they're fighting against everybody. But you know what the crazy thing is? Is that's what I actually like about NBA fandom. I don't like, to me, all of that stuff, they're so creative, bruh. Like, they're such fucking scamps and scoundrels and assholes that it's funny to me. It's like sometimes I watch these. So one time I posted on Instagram, this is years ago,

what's the best type of pie, right? Like is it, you know, this blah blah blah blah blah. And Kevin Durant posted under the Instagram in the comments, he goes, Apple pie clears all. The next comment after that was, when a real ring. I was like, what? I was like, what?

I was like, what the fuck? Like, think about that. And people get mad because he claps back at these people, but I would clap back too. I'd be like, yo, get off my dick, homie. We talking about pie, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, because when any decision, like whatever your relationship is

with something that you care about, it's really a personal decision. I would never let any of this stuff make me go, now I don't like sitting at home and watching a basketball game. I can just choose to ignore it. It is hard when you're in it and it's what we do. And so you'll see something. It's like, okay, what do you do? And you're like, well, I'm a 90s guy. And I post like a Jordan

pool turnover talking about how this era actually sucks. Do you think that's a fair representation of like what the game is today? The guys are like, fuck, fuck, fair. This isn't about fair. I have an agenda and I stick to it. And you know, I'm not, I'm not doing this to be light. I'm doing this because this is, this is what I'm gonna do. And I just would hope that most of those people get to an age where it's like, all right,

maybe I don't need to do this all day long. Maybe I don't do it. Because there are players that I don't like that I just will see. And I'm like, this is so incredibly unfair. And then I realized I'm like, I'm the one, I'm the dummy. I'm the one that's pretending there are any rules to this game and there are none the, the Hooper versus basketball player that

like comes up every now and then. It's just like, you know, how stupid this is. So, because Yana doesn't have like just a sick turnaround, baseline turnaround that he's not like a Hooper has nothing to do with the fact that we've never seen somebody with a body like this basically be a two guard. And that with his strength and his agility, I mean, we could get into the carrying thing too,

like that Kyrie clip that's going around and Wemby in the All-Star game. The number of carries that are in that possession and then he misses. So they edit out the miss just cause he gets Wemby turned a couple of times. All right. And you're like, this is, like, who's this for? So it would never, I can say that it bothers me, but it never bothers me enough where I would say,

oh, well, I'm not going to watch basketball on a Saturday night. So to your earlier point, you don't know what you like until you have options. That's the first thing. You don't know what you like until you have options. You know what you're used to, and those are two different things. Like if you were drinking Miller Genuine Draft your entire life, there's nothing wrong with

Miller Genuine Draft, but if you're drinking that your entire life and you haven't had the other beers, you don't know what kind of beer you like. You know what kind of beer you're connected to. So when you were going 162 for 162, someone asked you what you liked, you'd have been like, I like the fucking socks. That's how you would have said it, right?

But you had never been to Mykonos. You hadn't gone to Spain. You hadn't been, you'd never been. You didn't know what you liked yet. You knew what was available to you and what you were into. The older you get and the more experiences you have, now you know, maybe I'm a 30 game guy. And then the other 30, I'm gonna be on vacation,

I'm gonna be doing this, maybe I'm this. Now, I will say there are certain things for me that have endured. I realize that I don't like, I love LSU football. I love LSU football, I love LSU football just because I've compared the college game, college football, to the NFL, the experience of college football, to the experience of NFL football, to the experience of other sports. And I prefer college football, but it's almost as much of an intellectual decision as it is a decision

based upon nostalgia and culture, which is a huge part of it. But now I just like college football more than I like any other sport. It's my favorite sport for many, many reasons, right? But like with these NBA players, that's a part of it too. A part of it is that You compare things The players have there's so many different types of player in the NBA

That you can your personal aesthetic can be a part of your argument Like how somebody does something right? Yeah, they scored 25 points, but how did they get them? Did they get the points by backing somebody in on the duck end, turn around, drop step, hook? Did they do it with Kyrie, where it's this blissful display of almost every basketball skill that one could have? And then you go, well, oh my God, well, if Kyrie Irvin were six foot six,

he'd be the greatest basketball player of all time. Well, if Kyrie Irvin were six foot six, he might not need to do all the things that he does right now at six one to score. So his game might be totally different. But for the power players, you have Shaq or Dwight Howard or whomever. For the finesse players, you have Shaq or Dwight Howard or whomever. For the finesse players, you have Jokic.

Everybody gets to argue. They're not really arguing about the players. They're arguing about the superiority of their aesthetic, the type of basketball that they like to watch. Last thought before we let you go, did you do your playlist? Which playlist? We had a homework assignment.

Now I feel like this is like when Bill will say, hey, did you do your seven fake trades? We can do this another time. We can do this another time. I don't want you to- Oh, I did see this. You probably thought I was kidding, because I usually am.

I did. Yep, so that's fine. I asked heavy chest day eight song playlist. We'll do this. It's easy though. We'll table it for next time. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I can do it off the top.

Starts off, Heavy Chess Day. No? Bill to that? Okay. No. Starts off, What Up Doug? 50 Cent. All right.

Then we're going into Sea Murder, Magic. Sea Murder, Mr. Magic, Snoop Dogg. I don't know if I could. That's on mine. Yeah, yeah. I saw it at Texas Tech. I've never seen 40,000 people yell that word, and it all sort of makes sense.

And nobody was mad. Yeah, into it. The third is Ariel's System of a Down. OK, now we're good. Yeah, yeah. I mean, we got three system of a down that are going to be on here because Jet Pilot is next. All right. Three system of a Down that are gonna be on here because Jet Pilot is next. Right, three System of a Down songs are going on here and then Toxicity, those three songs are gonna get me through the middle of it.

We're coming, so how many songs are we up to now? That's three and a four, two System. Three, two System, and then we're coming back to a little known Hot Boy song, right? It's called I'm a Hot Boy on the Hot Boy's album. That's BG and Juvenile is on the hook. Crazy hard record. Then Mack, Murder Murder Kill Kill,

not the most uplifting song. But I know what you need. It's the end of the pump. It's the end of the pump. I got to kill this set and I'm getting to it. Second to last is interesting because you're not going to be into it, but it's probably corn freak on a leash. My Uber driver the other day said they're doing a lot of,

they're trying to bring the corn sound back. Right. I don't know why he's like, I like that. I just like that guy. I don't know why I fuck with those guys. And then, I mean mean the last one to me is the hardest record that's ever been made. That's is is hit him up. That's the last song hit him up the hardest record the hardest record if you want to have enemies

If you want if the song that makes you wish you had an enemy that you could be that mad is hit him up But I have these songs in my workout playlist There's other songs in the workout playlist, but a lot of times a workout playlist gets a little bit more metal Yeah, so it's yours I went with Walked by Pantera to know that okay this day this day is a real day. Okay. Like, be ready. Like, no fucking around. Put the bands away.

Then into toxicity, which I still don't- Oh, you have it on yours too? Oh yeah. You could start with toxicity, which could set the tone the same way Pantera could, right? I need it in the middle. Now it's- Because I'm starting to, I'm starting to, I need to, you know what I'm saying? toxicity, which could set the tone the same way Pantera could. Right. I needed it in the middle. No, it's starting to, I'm starting to, I'm starting to, I need to, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah. Yeah. I really liked my middle song and then I loved my last song. So the first time I heard toxicity, just the, the first few notes of it, very few songs have ever stood out where I knew exactly where I heard it. And I went, Whoa, what is this? I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie.

I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie.

I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie.

I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. I could have done an entire tool set. We didn't want to overdo it here. Didn't want to get greedy. Then we're going to go way back the middle, right? When you need something a little different, maybe a little bit more melodic

and owed to the orchestra feel. Woodpecker from Mars, Faith No More. Oh shit. Faith No More. What was the song that used to play nonstop on MTV by Faith No More? What was that one? Epic.

How did it go? I don't know. Faith No More, the guy had like one braid or something? I don't know, whatever. Yeah, that guy's considered, I guess by some, some scholars have argued, perhaps the greatest heavy metal singer, hard rock singer of all time.

All right, then I'm going something a little newer. Idol's mother. Then Crystal Skull, Mastodon. Intervision system of a down. And then to close it out, we're going Mastodon again, hearts alive. Now it's a long song. It's a long song, but what I'd like about this is just when you think the pump is over, it's not, maybe it's cables. Maybe it's, you know, you're changing the angle.

Maybe you're doing 10 reps on them every 15 seconds, you know, 15 seconds on fit. And you're just fighting it. You're fighting the pump at the end. I'm getting excited. Just thinking about it. I was going to do leg swing enough now, but you're just fighting it. You're fighting the pump at the end. I'm getting excited just thinking about it. I was gonna do leg swing and all, but we'll share those playlists later today on Spotify.

How's that? For sure. I like, you gotta bring the corporation into a great job by you, Ryan. All right, enjoy Superman. I will, tonight, Tuesday, I'll come back and tell everybody about the movie. I hope that I'm invited back and I hope that I still have a significant other after I've

talked about her friendship choices like that on the podcast. Yeah. Maybe we'll release this after you guys go on the trip. Yeah, maybe so. Maybe it works. Van Lathan. Thanks, man. All right, brother.

Peace. Get to Toronto's main venues like Budweiser Stage and the new Rogers Stadium with Go Transit. Thanks to Go Transit's special online e-ticket fairs, a $10 one-day weekend pass offers unlimited travel on any weekend day or holiday, anywhere along the Go network. And the weekday group passes offer the same weekday travel flexibility across the network, starting at $30 for two people and up to $60 for a group of five. Buy your online GoPass ahead of the show at Gotransit.com slash tickets. You want details? Buy.

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. It's life advice, email address, lifeadvice, rr at gmail.com.

All right, Oregon, Kyle, full group, some accounting. Let's just get it over with and do it now, because we could do it Thursday, but Oregon's gonna be off right you're off Thursday I'm here Thursday you are And you're getting married Saturday It's gonna be awesome I hope Kyle you're going I'm going Shocking as it is for this group seems but yeah, I'm'm going. I'm not. We'll just get it out of the way.

I know. Keep the streak alive, dude. That's great. Stand for something or you're fall for anything, right? Yeah, I just, because I know I'm going to get a ton of shit for it. That's fine. Wargon doesn't seem to care So there you go All right silence let's transition out of that I'm hoping it wasn't an empty gesture and he's like damn Kyle actually is going to this thing No, we're happy. All right, you could just get that out of the way now if that's the case. All right

Yeah, my my college is actually SVP's producer. So I got you seated right next to them, you guys can just talk about Ryan and Scott the whole time. Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna do that. I wouldn't, yeah. That's a boring, boring wedding topic. Did you debate whether or not to even bother inviting me? No.

It was always like, I have to invite you. It was like once we were gonna invite the work people. Yeah It's Rudy going now. He's got a family vacation He also just said kid there I don't I did not just have a kid But MLB is going like it's it's a crazy time. It really is home Home run Derby around the corner. Right. Yeah. I think, right. All right. Let's cheer up Oregon.

Oregon's Arthur library card reference. 31, six foot, 185 once listed as six, three in college for hoops. Player comp is a 2003 Brandon Knight, good player. No gym stats or question, but wanted to shout out an ignored Wargon reference from a previous pod. I was catching up on the pods after being overseas, listening to the Rossello Tuesday, July 1st pod. You're not that far behind.

So during life advice, library card discussion, Wargon dropped, having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card and it rhymes. So it's kind of a bar. The reference went rightfully unnoticed by Kyle and Ryan, but I want to make sure he got his flowers. As an avid PBS and Arthur fan growing up, I had the Arthur and Friends cassette pictured below for my Walkman track number two is Library Card,

YouTube link also involved here, listening to it for the first time in 20 plus years because of the big Oregon thanks. So that is a song. Those are lyrics from a song. I just assumed that was like the National Library Department slogan. Like they just bought that.

Shouldn't be. I thought it's trademarked. I guess I heard it before It should be. I thought it's trademarked. Yeah, like I heard it from Arthur. Did you guys watch Arthur, Kyle, you? Yeah. Yeah. That was a great intro song. I'm probably up there with top five.

Yeah. I was a little old for Arthur at the time. That makes sense, yeah. Yeah. I did not catch that reference. So I guess a lot of people knew that. And did you have the cassette tape as well, or you just locked it in the show?

I don't think I had the cassette tape. Yeah, just on TV. This guy has the cassette tape still. Still is impressive. I think, unless he sent us a picture. And the picture that he sent, it said he threw in a Walkman, right? Yeah, he probably still got it.

You don't just throw away your Walkman. You don't? I don't think so, do you? I think you might. I don't know. You probably still got it. You don't just throw away your Walkman. You don't? I don't think so. Do you? I think you might. I don't know. You still have your Walkman? Yeah. Do you still have one? I had a Discman.

I didn't really. I had like a... Well, that's not a portable thing. Like, you know, I get throwing out a VCR player, but, you know, if you find your iPod Nano, you're like, wow, garbage now. I don't think so. Also, I couldn't have iPods my dad was a Microsoft guy so we always had mp3 players there's a good chance you pawned the disc man so you didn't throw it away no no I think the disc man is

at impikipsi in my house and I wouldn't have thrown that away like to see you start rocking that again just never never quite fit in the pockets, you know? Unless I had like a big overcoat, winter time, I had no problems, but like trying to wedge that into a jean back pocket, just, you know. Anyway. Yeah, I just remember the skip technology. It was like, you couldn't have come out with that.

The bullshit technology you mean? Come on. Yeah, but just from like the beginning, what's this 10 times thing? Where was that a year ago? All right. This one is a, maybe it's not a tough one. Maybe it's not a moral dilemma.

30, six foot four, 240 pounds. Let's just say a six minute mile is unachievable for me. Well, you know, six four, 240. Wife and I recently moved to a new city and home. Our neighborhood is a good part of town. Secluded, completely fence gated around the perimeter. It becomes relevant part of town secluded a completely fence gated around the perimeter becomes Relevant later. All right, so completely fence gated around the perimeter spots because what's that responsible? No, all right

We closed on a home a couple months before our official move date and just recently moved in I put up some cameras around the Home before we moved in for security one weeknight in May our camera on our side yard patio went off around 2 a.m. It shows a video of a young adult male walking along our patio wearing a hoodie, gym shorts, and slides. He's casually strolling through our yard patio with his hood down. Then is caught by surprise when the camera spots him and throws his hood up and keeps walking through

our yard patio towards the front yard street. The video captures a decent image of the guy's face and it's a strong resemblance of our next door neighbor's son. Size, build, skin color, hairstyle, face shape, all match up, but I wouldn't say it's conclusive. Our house is second from the end of a cul-de-sac, on a hill, et cetera, so nobody would ever unintentionally

walk through our backyard. Also, the person who's wearing slides in the neighborhood is gated fence, so I doubt anyone from outside the neighborhood or is coming from a long distance. After debating what to do, my wife and I decided to just let it go, probably the neighbor's son sneaking out of the back of their house and cutting through our yard to go smoke.

Yeah, Kyle checks out. We didn't want to cause trouble or jump to conclusions before we really even live in the neighborhood. Now we've fully moved into the home, been out of the neighborhood Facebook group and met some of our neighbors. And as it turns out, that same night our camera went off, someone wearing a hoodie had attempted to break into a different neighbor's home while they were on vacation. It tripped their security system and the cops were called.

There are a few videos on the neighborhood Facebook of someone walking around and snooping through yards that same night, and it's pretty clearly the same person wearing a hoodie, but with their hood up, so the videos can't identify them. Adding to it, apparently there's been a string of theft within the neighborhood over the last few years, breaking into cars, porch pirating packages,

attempting entering of homes. At one point, someone got into an open window and stole thousands of dollars of cash. Looking at these videos on the Facebook app, it's almost certainly the same person. They're wearing the same hoodies, same slides, have the same build. Ultimately, we only have the video of the

individual's face. So they have the only individual video of the guy's face that broke into our neighbor's home and possibly committed other thefts. I think the reason the guy's hood wasn't up in our videos because he was just initially leaving his parents' home, didn't expect us to have newly installed cameras right there in our side yard. Also, all the trouble is occurring for neighbors on the other end of the neighborhood and away from his parents and our house. It's good evidence, but not conclusive. Given the broader context of the situation,

I'd say there's a majority chance it's the next door neighbor's son. What would you do in our situation? I want to do the right thing for myself and others since there have been several incidents, but I also don't want to cause a conflict with the neighborhood or with my next door neighbor. We could be wrong.

Plus we own this home and have to live here long-term. Kyle. Okay. Uh, at first I was like, don't jam this kid up, you know, maybe he's just going to get a, get in a dime bag or something and he's got to go the long way But now I'm thinking you what you have is like a bit a piece of a puzzle that I'm not saying There's a task force for this neighborhood But if people are breaking into homes usually like the local cops are like got some sort of report

They haven't caught this guy. They'd love to do that So you could just give your in give your like like we have a face in this video, I've talked to some of the neighbors, you know, we think maybe this is a piece of the puzzle. And that's all you have to say. You don't have to say, I think it's Johnny from, you know, across the street. You can just say, this is what I have here. And then your conscience is clear and you've certainly helped whatever their long run investigation is. And, you know, and you like, cause you don't want to be a part of a mix-up told you that I was a part of the mix-up with That whole gym locker room thing that sucked

And the guy was sure it was me that guy who had his you know locker ran into and that caused me a huge problem But so I would I would just do the the good citizen thing without becoming a fucking detective I think you could totally balance that and feel good about everything. I think that's right. You post a picture on like a Facebook group and you let everyone else make those decisions. You're doing the right thing with basically no accountability to yourself.

And it's like, if someone is breaking into like houses in the neighborhood, like you don't want to live in that neighborhood. Like you just became new homeowners. Like you don't want that for yourselves. So I think you have to get this picture out there, but you also don't want to be like Going to the neighbor and being like is this your kid type of thing? Yeah, I mean ultimately I think I land on fuck the kid because he's the one breaking into people's houses

So what which is the question, right? They probably have this grainy picture Right, you know the email said it's probably there some which means that they can't even make that determination Discussion is the question, right? They probably have this grainy picture. Right. You know, the email said it's probably there some, which means that they can't even make that determination. But you're not the cops think it's him. They could just be like, let's go take a look in your closet. Oh shit, look at these three hoodies we've seen before.

But if it's not that, then it's like, all right, have a nice day. Sorry for the trouble. And you're remain nameless. But I mean, is there any benefit of going to the family first and saying, Hey, I don't know, man. What? I don't know. I think the danger is you don't know the.

They don't know him at all. They don't know him at all. Right. Yeah. Also, if it's a kid like that, maybe his parents are like, you know, they're an automatic fuck you mode. Maybe they're just like, here we go. We got to stand up for Johnny again. Not my son. Yeah. Who knows? Who knows? Yeah. If you knew the parents and had the advanced scattering report on them,

but there's, there's millions of kids that turn out like this. Um, some of it is just cause the kid's going to be a shit head and has nothing to do with the parents. And I think it's safe to say there's plenty of parents out there that are just so bad at it and they defend everything. So whenever the kids got into trouble when he was seven or was eight, it was never his fault, it was never his fault. Now the next thing you know, the guy's like, he's taking classes online, but he's living here right now, but everything's been great and

He's robbing Fucking houses. He's doing really well for himself And if he's also figuring out who in the neighborhood is like on vacation like this is what this guy wants to do my car got broken into when I first moved to the house I'm in now and They didn't get broken into so this is where somebody's gonna tell me it's my fault because it was a random thing I didn't get broken into. So this is where somebody is going to tell me it's my fault because it was a random thing. I didn't lock the car because the garage wasn't empty yet. And it just happened to be like, I had. Comic books from my brother, which is one of the weirdest things for me to have in my car, cause I'm not an adult comic book guy.

I did like them when I was kids, no offense to Wargon's collection behind him right now. Um, and I had a pair of Pegasus, Nike Pegasus that I didn't like that I wanted to return. We're just going to keep moving. And so I could tell, I went to check because I was like, oh, the sneakers are in there, I can return those today. And then I was like, they're not in there. I was like, maybe I moved them in. And then when I opened the door or when I went to lock it, unlock it, it was like, oh wait, it was already unlocked. I was like, what are the chances the one night, the one night that I didn't do this. So I looked at the camera and like, I didn't know

what to do with it. It was clearly kids because they left golf balls and took comic books and then hoped maybe the Nikes could be returned. Cause I don't think they were going to fit in the size that I had on. And then it was pretty clear too, like there was kids the next couple of nights doing stupid shit around this little stretch of the neighborhood. And then another guy came running out yelling at the kids. And then I was outside trying to figure out, and then he was like, you guys were last night. So I don't know what happened. There might have been like a kid in town with his cousins and he's the bad seed. It was just getting these guys to do all sorts of reckless shit.

So personally, I was like, I don't, I don't really know that I have enough to go on. You know, when you see somebody just go, all right, I'm going to take it right to X and post this, be like, Hey, do you know this kid? And then you don't even know if you're like, if you don't know that you're right, you can't do that to a, to a kid on this one. So you're saying anonymously go to the police and say, hey, we have this video, explain the whole situation. Because if this is your neighbor and it's a kid,

he's not like breaking something and being stupid. Like this is really thought out, malicious shit here. Looking for vacationing families. He's gonna be doing the same thing to you. He doesn't care, doesn't have any respect for anybody. So maybe the wake up call without you being the messenger is the right thing. Because I can't imagine any scenario you're seeing your neighbors like freak out about this thing and you having maybe the best evidence of figuring out what's going on,

maybe recovering some of the stuff where you just let it go because you don't wanna be disruptive, which I don't think you're even really saying. So I doubt too many people would agree with that method. Yeah, I'm still like shocker. I wanna give the neighbor kid the benefit of the doubt, benefited from a few of those in my day. But I think like, I think I'd even be 50-50 on telling my hunch.

I don't really think it's an issue if you're just like, you know, to me, you know, I haven't even been there that long, but this kid does, this figure looks like the guy that I've seen that lives across the street. I'd be 50-50 on like pointing him that way, but I think if they've got ring cameras from other people and no one has been able to get the face, this could just do, you're more than doing your part,

I think, but. Yeah, I mean, they said he stole thousands of dollars, right, like over a thousand dollars, like that's significant. That sucks. I think you sort of lose the benefit of the doubt at that point. All right. Let's see here.

Did Bill and Ryan ruin my career prospects? Hi guys, 6-2, 195, game like white Isaiah Hartstein. That was a revelation. Yeah, it was. Longtime listener since the Rossello and Wargon ESPN days. I recently had a business trip with, I know, people are like, he's not going to the wedding, these guys go back to Bristol. I recently had a business trip with three other colleagues.

I am the most junior of this quartet quad squad. Of course, I had the old podcast machine playing, Bill and Ryan on the flight down. I was also the designated driver of the group. After landing, I hooked up my Google Maps to the Android Auto. We were on our way. About an hour into the drive, after the conversation died down, my colleague in the passenger seat, who's also my boss, started searching through the apps on the Android Auto screen. Okay, all right, so not through his phone, but it's all connected, linked up.

So I was driving, I couldn't tell who he was looking for until over the speakers, I heard Bill's voice pondering over Kevin Durant's trade value. I was sweating like Ted Striker in the next 15 seconds, fearing what snarky remark Ryan was cooking up. Luckily, my boss pressed pause before I had explained who Jeff Green is and why the Deep Voice guy seemed so convinced he could have been a rotation guy on any recent championship team. Upon pausing, my boss's commentary was simply, quote, basketball. With a hint of disdain,

the next 45 minutes in the car were silent. Silent? Come on. Like Ewan, I found his performance both histrionic and meretricious. Tell me about it. When he picks him up for Thanksgiving, Greg, no, nobody, succession.

That was a great, great plot point. Like we're driving from Canada. Take me home. It's not so good. Upon pausing my boss's commentary, we got that. It's been a few weeks since, but I fear the damage has been done. The communication since has been icy.

At this point, I don't know if I should address it or continue suffering in shame. What do you guys say? In two previous trips where I was not the driver, we did not listen to anything. So I did not consider preparing a more suitable playlist for the ride. What? What the ride. What?

This is crazy. What the fuck is this, man? He said, imperceptibly icy. This has got to be a thinking too much thing. Maybe you're different, you know? Maybe you're the one who's different. Just watching some Grannos when Pussy's talking to Skip and he's like, Tony knows, you gotta remember,

you're the one who's changed. Maybe you're the one who's thinking all this weird stuff. I mean, how could it be like, oh, this guy enjoys, you know, thought leaders talking about the second biggest sport in the US? What are we talking about here? This is insane. I don't know.

Yeah, I mean, you're overthinking it. Like, it's not like they said anything. He just said basketball, hmm? Like, you're overthinking it. It's not like they said anything. He just said basketball, hmm? Like, you're totally fine, man. You have interests? All right. Right. Wasn't like you were listening to the wrong side of the Israel-Palestine debate.

Right. I mean, what the fuck? I don't understand. Which is? What did your boss think you were putting voice memos on from work? I don't know. I'm just saying, it's all subjective, but I don't think that... This can't be a reason. I don't know. I'm just saying it's all subjective, but I don't think that, this can't be a reason. I don't know.

If it is, find a new job. No one could be this difficult, right? No, no. This wouldn't even be a little thing in a curb your enthusiasm episode. It's like too stupid. It's too stupid. It's, no way.

So not ruined is what we're saying. Not ruined, man. Not ruined. I mean, could you follow up? It might be worth just for your own feelings. It might be worth you just going. I feel like something changed since you pressed play. I don't think you can't do that.

Is this because I walked in on you in the bathroom? Right, there's like some other aspect that he's just not mentioning. The door doesn't lock for the child's safety. Yes. Why don't you just lock the door, man? Yes. Why don't you just lock the door, man?

Pam's over there saying, we're pleasant. You're like, you've gone back and watched any seasons? Pam? What a crusade you're on. What a crusade you've been on. I'm off right now. I think you need to talk to somebody else. Be like, this guy hates sports. Who else was in the car?

He hates sports. I think you need to know, but you need to figure out where this guy's head at. Even if he hates sports, it's not like you hate everyone who likes sports just because you hate sports. I'm not in many social settings where I'm just with academics.

Full stop. I need to keep going. Where I would have to explain what it is I do, where the person would just go, what? What do you do? You make a living doing that? I mean, there's been a couple of times where it's like, oh, Right. You make a living doing that. I mean, there's been a couple of times where it's like, oh, you can actually make a living with that Billy.

Yeah, you can. If it's a good one, if it's considered in the good tier of options that are out there, but I think you need to understand a little bit more about where your boss is head at that head is at when it comes to sport, just so you can kind of put this one to bed. Yeah. See one of those guys that says like go woke, go broke. That could explain some of it. It's just like, you know, I can't think of any other.

You disagree with that. I just can't think of someone who would be upset at the game of basketball unless there's like some irrational thing. I don't I don't know what it could be. This can't this can't be real. All right. Yeah what it could be. This can't be real. All right, yeah. Hit us up. There's a lot of people that also wanna hear back from the guy that went to the wedding, this girlfriend,

Jim Rice over there, 14. Wait, what happened? Remember the guy who was like, I basically slept with every girl who was at this wedding. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And he was like, how do I do this? We had a few emailers talking about like different strategies.

It's a whole thing. He's like, okay, good luck. Good luck with all the strategies. The strategy does not work. If, like, if you don't know who the person is. I mean, that's why this stuff's so complicated at times. It's like, why do you care about this? Because I care about it.

I didn't think you would care. You know, then you meet somebody else. It's like, Hey, I need to tell you something. Why would you tell me that? why do you care about this? Because I care about it. I didn't think you would care. You know, then you meet somebody else, it's like, hey, I need to tell you something. Why would you tell me that? Why would I care about that? You're like, oh, you don't care. Same species, completely different rationale. All right, that'll do it for the show today.

Thanks to Jonathan Frias. Thanks to Wargon. Thanks to Kyle. You can check out our podcast on the Spotify app for video as well. Also subscribe to the YouTube page. Ryan Ristole Podcast, Rager Spotify. They were gonna name me Michael Jordan.

My dad was like, I don't think he can live up to it. So they named me Michael Jared. Must be 21 and older in present and select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus in present DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rgpg.org forward slash chat in Connecticut or visit MD gambling help dot org in Maryland hope is there visit gambling help line ma dot org or call 800-327-5050 for 24 seven support Massachusetts or call 18778 hope NY or text hope NY in New York.