The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Why Michigan Has the Most Pressure in College Football. Plus Are the Nets Still a Bad Bet? With Nick Friedell

Episode Date: December 30, 2022

Russillo shares his thoughts on why Michigan has the most pressure of any of the four teams in the College Football Playoff (0:30). Then Ryen is joined by ESPN's Nick Friedell to discuss the real reasons behind the Nets' win streak, Kevin Durant's MVP-caliber play, how long the Nets need to see continued success before they can be considered a title contender, the prospect of Kyrie Irving returning to the team on a new deal next season, and more (11:37). Finally Ryen and Kyle give out their favorite bets for NFL Week 17 (45:59), before answering some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (49:58). Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Nick Freidell Producer: Kyle Crichton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

on today's podcast we will talk about the college football playoff and why michigan clearly has the most pressure of any of the programs this weekend we're gonna talk with nick friedel on the nets they're really good right now does that mean we have to take them seriously on coming out of the East? Life advice, FanDuel picks. Happy New Year. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Winter is here, so be prepared and get almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost anything? Well, you can't get a ski slope, but dish soap, definitely doable. Sunshine? That's no. A bottle of wine? Yeah. And a snow day? Again, no. But blueberry muffins with the delicious crumb topping? Total yes. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. Alcohol and select markets. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. College football playoff weekend, one of my favorite sporting events the entire year.

I've been lucky enough to go a few times, been to the national championship a bunch. We'll see what happens this year with being down the street. I love this weekend, how much I love college football. So I started thinking about an open and how I wanted to talk about it. And then you're going through different exercises and you're like, all right, well, who would have the most pressure? And then as I asked that question to myself, I'm like, wait, that's not even a question.

It's not even debatable. It's Michigan. It's Michigan football. And yes, even though I hate it's not close, it's not close. Georgia won it last year. Not saying Kirby Smart's job is without pressure. Okay, because that'd be ridiculous,

but they don't have the same amount of pressure. TCU, house money. Ohio State. Yeah, I get it a little bit. The Ryan Day thing got a little weird, I think, over the course of the end of the season and the way he was being talked about. I'll admit, even I was like, man, this guy carries himself like he's been there 20 years and

has a couple of national championships in his back pocket. But he also carries himself a certain way because the guy's been through a lot. All right. So once you understand that, you kind of understand him a little bit more. And then it just completely shifted the other way, where I even saw an article that was titled, Does Ohio State Have a Ryan Day problem? So now I'm like back to liking Ryan Day going, okay, this stuff got overboard. He's 45 and five since he's been there. He's been in three playoffs, his third one this year, they deserve to be in over Bama. So, you know, we'll see what happens. So certainly there's pressure, but it's not the same as Michigan for a bunch of different reasons. Now, if you go back and look at Michigan historically, I think one of the biggest problems in Michigan, Michigan fans that they've had with the program is that you kind of see yourself

a little differently than history sees you, right? And whenever I've done this, I did this before on radio, and you really start looking at what they've done and what they haven't done, especially if you go back like the last 20 plus years or so, which is kind of the bookends that I'm using for this exercise. Like how many programs are actually ahead of Michigan football in the last 20 plus years? And the answer is a lot. Now it's heading in the right direction with back-to-back playoff spots, but if they get bounced out by TCU or lose in the national championship game, especially if it were Ohio State, if they take care of Georgia, like what does it mean? Well, again, the history of them, it's one national championship in 74

years, not just sheer title in 1997 1997 i talk about how difficult titles are i don't know if people realize that outside of the big 10 like wait what like yeah it's one national championship that's shared in 1997 uh if you dig through their national championships because they have a few few claimed ones as well they've got four from 01 to 04. That's 1901 to 04. They're far from the most egregious when it comes to this. It's kind of a joke. All these programs just did it. Bama's pretty bad for a power five.

Princeton's like all-timer. They claimed 28 national championships, 20 before 1900. I wonder if the guys in the 1873 team even wondered, like, did they even know they won a national championship? My answer would be probably not. So if you go and look at Michigan, forget the national championships, you know, there's different numbers. You're going to be like, hey, the most wins since, you know, historically,

that's where Michigan has always kind of been at the top. You're like, yeah, but what about the other stuff? What about the conference? What about the natties? I don't even like that word, but I said it. What about the Big Ten stuff? about the natties? I don't even like that word, but I said it. What about the Big Ten stuff? They have a shared Big Ten title in 2004. They have their own Big Ten title in

2003. They went a bunch of years. They didn't win a Big Ten title from 2005 to 2020. If you start comparing to other Power Five programs that have been ahead of them in these last 20 plus years, Bama, LSU, Georgia, Florida, Auburn. Auburn's got a title. They've got an appearance, two SEC titles, third SEC championship game that they lost.

ACC's got Clemson, two titles, 10 playoff games. Florida State's got eight ACC titles since 1999 and a national championship and a playoff appearance. USC has eight Pac-12 titles since 2002, two titles, a third appearance in the loss to Texas. Oregon's got seven Pac-12 titles since 2001, two national title appearances. Oklahoma's got 14 Big 12 titles since 2000. Again, sometimes it's a little tricky based on,

did you play a Big 12 championship game? Was it an outright conference championship for the regular season? Then they started playing the game again. Texas has two title appearances and one title, that 2005 game that we mentioned. Notre Dame's got two playoff appearances and a title appearance in the BCS. So doing it just that way,

without some of the gray area teams, like could you argue that Stanford had a run in there right now? Recency bias alone, as I say that out loud, it's like, oh my God, he actually put Stanford ahead of Michigan. I'm not even doing that right now, but I'm just telling you like there's a big gap there for Michigan. And there's easily 10, likely 12 teams that I would put that say emphatically last 20 plus years

have had a better run than Michigan has. And I don't think Michigan even realizes that at times. Now, it's cool that you hold yourself to this kind of standard, but that's why I've always been so pro Harbaugh throughout. Harbaugh wins and he's proving it again. San Diego, seven and four to 11 and one, 11 and one back-to-back season. Stanford, that team was four and eight in his first season. He got them to 12 and one. And when Stanford is down, they're down bad. Goes to the Niners, a six and 10 team to 13 and three, then a Super Bowl appearance, then 12 and four, eight, eight moves on to Michigan. Let's go through the Michigan history because this is the part that kind of annoyed me,

even though there wasn't a Big Ten title, even though they weren't beating Ohio State, which wasn't really happening a ton in Ann Arbor and certainly Columbus, right? even though they weren't beating Ohio State, which wasn't really happening a ton in Ann Arbor, and certainly Columbus, right? That when you're Harbaugh and you ask for all the attention when he first shows up to Michigan, especially Michigan, all the other places he wanted the attention, but now he's coming home.

And we have a really hard time as the public is like, this asshole, oh, look at this. Oh, well, it's not quite working out. But it was actually a little bit closer than i think people were ever giving the program credit for right so they're 12th in the ap in 2015 just going by the highest they reached second in 2016 they were third in the college football ranking at one point going into the ohio state game then they lost 2017 they weren't really in the mix for the playoff 2018 they were fourth in the ap They were fourth in the college football playoff game,

going to the Ohio State game again. Those two, 16 and 18, were important to me. I'm like, okay, even though it isn't happening, the fact that we're even flirting with the possibility of winning one more game and then being in a playoff, that's a real thing. And I don't think we put enough value on that in college football anymore.

We don't care even about conference championships, I guess. We don't even care about teams going to the Rose Bowl, which desensitizes us to any win of any of the traditional bowls, which look, I totally get because the focus is on the playoff and the focus is going to be on the expanded playoff. And the titles are really what we end up thinking about as I've even gone through this own exercise here. But as far as Harbaugh himself, prior to the disastrous 2020 season, I still thought it was a lot better than people thought it was. And then after 2020, they go two and four. It's a messed up year for a bunch of people.

And we're actually asking the question, and I still think it's part of the, I shouldn't say exercise here, but it's part of the job. It's part of the job. Can I say, it's not that great to go on TV and say, hey, you know what? They're actually a little bit closer than people give them credit for. If he's happy and they're happy, what are we asking them to do? Stick it out. I just don't think firing these guys all the time and then paying out the buyouts, does that work? I get if you think you have the wrong guy, make a change. But sometimes people just get so mad. It's like well, we gotta fire somebody. You're like cool Now you're stuck with paying two coaches

So I always thought it was a little bit closer I thought he deserved a little bit more credit or I guess just say this Anybody that was saying that he should have been fired was wrong then and you're even more wrong now Because now it's heading in the right direction But the reason why I talk about the pressure element of this is pretty clear What if they lose the TCU? What if they lose the TCU and Ohio State beats Georgia? What if they beat TCU, Ohio State beats Georgia, and Ohio State beats Michigan? These are all brutal scenarios for Michigan. Because last year when you felt like you finally got over that hump, right? Harbaugh

takes the pay cut, he comes back, he gets it back in bonuses, gave a lot back to the school, credit to him, you know what I mean? Like they figured it out. They figured out a way to make the entire thing more agreeable for everybody involved. Right? But getting

blasted by George is one thing. But that Ohio State thing lingering as you go into this weekend, that's going to be the worst if you're a Michigan fan because it's one thing to beat them in Ann Arbor last year, but to go into Columbus,

look like you're kind of going to get your ass kicked and then stomp them in the second half. I still think it was some weird busted plays in there, which makes me not want to write off Ohio State completely. If it really is this new culture and being physical and not being about personnel, as Bruce Feldman had told us, that there's a spirit and a toughness and all that stuff that actually does exist, but we talk about way too much in places where it doesn't exist. that actually does exist,

but we talk about way too much in places where it doesn't exist. Like if it's real and it's there and Harbaugh has it and this is the new beginning, which was, again, this team was a little bit closer than they're giving credit for the last few years.

All of that is on the line this weekend and could be on the line in a rematch in a national championship game. And if it doesn't go their way, it doesn't mean that this is a team heading in the right direction. It doesn't mean that Harbaugh was wrong, right? It doesn't mean all

the stupid shit people are going to say on the air. It just means it's going to suck. And it's going to suck way worse for them than any other program that's playing this weekend. And that's why TCU plus seven and a half is the play. Looking to get more out of the NFL this season?

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Right now, our contest is Cerruti in the lead, 57%. I'm at 44%. Kyle's 33%. Cerruti, no bets since week seven.

I don't know if we're going to allow this. I don't know if we're going to allow the guy to not play the last game of the season and be 39.6% from three and then say finish the season.

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Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Nick Friedle covers the Nets for ESPN apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Nick Friedle covers the Nets for ESPN. He is awesome at talking basketball. It has been too long. It's good to see you. What's up? Always, buddy. Thanks for having me. Okay, so the

Nets are on fire. I talked about them earlier this week on the pod. It's now 10 straight with a win against Atlanta on Wednesday 14-15 since November 1st. They're 20-7, the best record in the NBA, and that is also when they made a coaching change. I was going to ask you something real straightforward

if you were doing a radio hit, like, hey, what's changed? Then everybody just wants to go with, well, they have Jacques Vaughn. It's like, well, no, I think it's a little bit more complicated than that. The guys are actually fucking playing now. If there sounds like a little tone in my voice, that is an accurate read because I saw some of Kyrie's quotes the other night.

I just can't help myself with it already. He's like, Jacques Vaughn is holding us accountable. It's like, you're actually saying this. And again, sometimes athletes in post games just say stuff and there's words in the sentences and they're just like, this sounds good or whatever. So let's try to dig into this as much as we can. Where are you at now with like, we both know what's changed. A couple things have, but they're a really good team right now.

So let's try to just figure it all out. So go any direction you want to start this. There are three reasons why the Nets are where they are right now. The hottest team in the league. Number one, Kevin Durant's playing like the MVP. Ryan, he's been incredible. And all the people over the summer that were like, can KD still play at this level for this long? He's answered the questions because the guy has been awesome. Number two, since Kyrie came back off that suspension, he's just played.

He hasn't said or done anything off the floor that's going to create a headache for the team or the organization. I cannot stress to you enough, having lived it day after day in the last six weeks or so, how much that was weighing on everybody. I know KD came out after that game in Cleveland and said, oh no, the focus was always good in the locker room. Kevin has his opinion. My opinion is that that was went on a lot of his teammates, a lot of the support staff. Day after day, they were just like, I cannot believe that we are in this situation again with Kyrie dealing with something off the floor. He's been really good when he's played.

He has steered the course as best he can in these press conference afterwards, and he has kept the message on basketball. I think that's been crucial. Number three, people point to Jacques Vaughn and the coaching change. Ryan, it is interesting. Listen, especially to Kevin and Kyrie because you're asking all the time, what's different? And they use these

buzzwords like accountability and Jacques is coaching us and he's doing all these different things. Simplifying things has been a big message this past week. Simplifying. I thought the best answer that Jacques has given really since he's become

coach was after before and after that Cleveland win, he said, we've kept the focus on basketball and what that means, at least since he's taken over, they don't really shoot around at all anymore. They don't really practice much at all anymore. What he has told them is, hey, give me whatever you've got when the time comes and it's time to play, whether it's 30, 35 minutes.

I will keep your time off the floor and get you as much rest as I can before and after that. And I have not seen a team operate in this fashion like this over and over. Guys come in, they get their work, especially the younger guys. Some of the older guys get some jumpers up and they go through some tape. But this team, the only time they're really together for the most part is when they're playing or just before the game when they're having a walkthrough. But when you start talking about the differences between Jacques Vaughn and Steve Nash, it really is pretty simple.

And I'm with you. They're just playing now. I think for as much as people wanted to get on Nash about the stuff he was running or he was trying to accomplish, for all parties involved, it just seems like that divorce needed to happen. And as far as Vaughn is concerned, he was kind of the right guy at the right time. And we'd be remiss if we didn't say part of this is the Nets have just played a lot of bad teams or a lot of teams that have been missing their best guy in the moment.

So I'm still very hesitant as well as they've done to say, oh, well, Jacques Vaughn is doing this and this and this so much different than Steve Nash was doing. I think they've taken advantage of a weak part of the schedule. I think that Kevin has been awesome. And I think the focus for these guys is just going to the gym, playing, and getting out of there. To end the Jacques Vaughn part, like if Jacques is a better coach,

I wouldn't disagree with that. You know what I mean? And part of being a better coach is getting your players to respond to you. And if them deciding, which again, most any established player

in leagues like, hey, we have less shoot-arounds, less practice. I love this guy. Okay? Funny how that works. There's never ever going to be players that are established in the league player in leagues like, hey, we have less shoot-arounds, less practice. I love this guy. Okay? There's never, ever going to be players that are established in the league like, man, we just don't have enough shoot-arounds. This sucks.

So, if the job of a coach is to get guys to buy in a little bit more, because I still think people will constantly say a coach is good or bad, and then I'll be like, why? What do they do that is so good? What do they do that is so good what do they do that is so bad and I feel like the answers are pretty limited and rarely specific and so if Vaughn

has gotten them to buy in because he's not Nash and he's not it's not X's and O's it's just a general day-to-day thing then that's a huge. But I've seen other media members act as if it's this definitive November 1st date and it's like, okay, now, and it's like, it's completely dismissing the reality of what you're talking about is that now everybody, we've had a stretch now for a month and a half or however long post Kyrie coming back. Cause I don't remember the exact date on that one where it's like, okay, we're actually all just playing basketball. So let's, let's pivot're actually all just playing basketball. So let's pivot that into the Durant part, because I'm glad you said MVP, because I think some people will be like, wait a minute, what are you talking about?

Because we've got Luka, we've got Giannis, we've got Jokic, we've got Embiid, we've got Tatum. I mean, Booker was in the conversation before this injury, he's going to have him out for a month. Zion the other night. Again, he's probably missed too many games, but I'm with you. I had a hard time giving that torch to Giannis from Durant. I had a hard time with it, and I finally was like, all right, you got to give up.

You got to give up. Giannis is the best player. I love that Durant, of all the contemporaries, of all the stars, he is as good at dominating and being in control of a game without having to be dominant with the ball and the game against Atlanta it's like okay you need it now I'll get you 16 boards the assist the passing the help defense like he's it's tough to compare it to prime you know pre all the injury stuff but this is really special basketball we're seeing here again. And it's just an example of how much we take them for granted. A hundred percent. And Ryan, I couldn't

agree with you more in how I feel like the basketball world takes Kevin for granted because whenever he wants, he can run down the floor, pull up, shoot a jumper over anybody and knock it down no matter what's going on. The difference in his game, and you pointed it out, and it's important to kind of spell out all the different things he's doing. Defensively, he's been very good. As a playmaker, there's so much focus on him that when two defenders jump on him, he's making the right play. The passes are there. The space he's creating for everybody else has been really something to see. And on top of seeing what he's doing for everybody else has been really something to see. And on top of seeing what he's doing during the games,

you're talking to his teammates in the locker room, and they're like, this guy is on another level. And for Kevin Durant to be on a different level than where he's been at over the last few seasons, that tells me something right there. Jacques Vaughn said a couple weeks ago he thinks that Kevin's still getting better. And that's the difference is everybody focuses with Kevin, I feel like, on, all right, he's going to drop 30 every night. Cool. But if you're not watching these Nets games recently and you're not allowing for the fact that he has improved and has shown

that he's helping in all these different areas. You're not understanding the impact he really is having on this group. So he has been just fantastic. And I think there was a big part of him, having been around him that last year in Oakland with the Warriors. And having seen the transition from last year into the summer into now, he heard all that criticism. from last year into the summer into now, he heard all that criticism. He heard all the people saying, oh man, this guy wants out and he wants to get away from this situation

and he can't be that same number one player on a team that has a legit chance. And I do think he was a little more motivated coming into this year than he's been recently. But every night when you watch him, it's a mistake to just focus on the numbers. Watch what he's been recently but every night when you watch him it's a mistake to just focus on the numbers watch what he's doing and all the other facets of the game i have a thought when i watch because i'm i'm surprised how hard the sellout doubles are like on the catch and stuff where

they're doubling them as if they don't respect anybody else and i wonder if his life's actually going to get a little bit easier here because now it's like, all right, Kyrie's kind of back to like the best version of basketball, Kyrie. Half court, we know that Simmons is still going to cause some clogging stuff, but he's just playing. Like this version of him is 100 times better than the guy that we first saw when he came back with the Nets this year.

You've got Yuta, who I thought was hysterical in his comments, I think a week ago, where he's like, I'm not really even doing anything. I just stand there and I'm wide open. And then you add in Warren showing a little more pop and Claxton, who I think gets better and better. I almost feel like teams are going in with this defensive approach to Durant where I'm not trying to call out advanced scouts because they're doing this at a much higher level than I am. But I feel like, hey, you guys can't really just bail on everybody else the way you have been defensively and the offensive numbers would prove it. They're torching everybody right now. And I think there needs to be some sort of adjustment that actually might make Durant's life easier because I can't

believe they're doubling him like he's the only good player on a high school team at times. There's a recalibration that's got to go on across the league here, right? Especially if the Nets keep on the way they are. I'd throw another name at you, too, and he was terrible to start the season, and he's been really good over the last few weeks prior to some knee soreness that popped up. It's Joe Harris. Joe Harris, when he gets the ball on the wing

and he's shooting threes, he's knocking them all down right now. Seth Curry has been a little up and down, but we know what he can do when he's right and he's in a good rhythm from the outside. So there is no question. You can't just throw everything at Kevin because he's going to pass it to Kyrie

and Kyrie's going to make something happen. The caveat here, and we saw it a little bit at the end of that Hawks game the other night, when the game is tight, the thing that still scares me about the Nets, and we're going to find out the answer to this question as the season goes on, it feels like the ball movement

and everything that's good in those first three quarters or so, it just stops, and it's like, all right, Kevin's turn. Nope, it's Kyrie's turn this time. And if you're Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, yeah, you get the benefit of the doubt. You can make things happen on your own. But at some point, and this is again where there's going to be a measure of Jacques Vaughn that's more than, hey, we're getting these guys to play harder

and holding them accountable and the defense is better. You've got to show them on tape. You can't just go one for one down the floor. It's got to be something more than hero ball at times and making shots. And somebody else is going to have to step up and help. And I think there's enough respect up and down that roster. Maybe it is a guy like TJ Warren. Utah has repeatedly shown that in the corner, he's knocking down that roster. Maybe it is a guy like TJ Warren. Utah has repeatedly shown

that in the corner, he's knocking down that shot when the time comes. But that is the next step for this group because they're going to be in tighter games. They're going to play a lot better teams than they played recently. And they're going to need somebody else to help them step

up aside from the brilliance of Kevin and Kyrie. Yeah, and I think there's another thing too that you hit on somebody else to help them step up aside from the brilliance of Kevin and Kyrie. Yeah. And I think there's another thing too that you hit on because like Joe, when he came back, it looked awful. And, but I mean, that's what I'll do, especially with younger players. Like Jamal Murray looked out of it when he first came back. He looked like a guy that hadn't, it's like, well, I still hold out hope for some version

of clay. That's a little bit beyond what we're seeing now, because I just, whenever I see a guy that looks like he's kind of out of it and slow or back from injury I just shrug and go okay this is accurate now but this is not my projection for this player the rest of the way and I also think that you know Curry being in and out Joe missing some games that I feel like it's messed up prep because you go up against the nets and you're like wait this team's actually kind of deep that's why yeah you know when I when I hear all these criticisms of Sean Marks I was like yeah I don't know like i actually sure it'd be nice if they had a pig but considering everything that's happened with them and then harden bailing on him and then having to kind of trade him for the only

other guy you could trade him for was simmons and not knowing what was happening there i was like i really don't and this is the part of the durant thing so as i as i transition into this it's like i love the guy okay i love the guy i love that i think he's real i think i feel like i know exactly who he is i love his fucking game all of that stuff but i was obviously i couldn't defend it this summer i couldn't defend it because i'm like you actually don't really have it as bad as you think you do and you've got four years left on the deal and you want out you're the one that hits your wagon to kairi that's your fucking fault and so he made kind of a joke about not being on christmas and he said it's probably because of me because they didn't think I was going to be around. I still like way more of them.

Like that part of it is not going to cancel out all the parts I love. But you're around it every single day. Like you wouldn't tell us on a podcast if you hated the guy. But like, how do you kind of interact with him knowing that he was completely wrong this summer, and they called his bluff, and now they're good. He was wrong. I actually really like him. I feel like because I had that year with him in the Bay, Ryan, that we've had these conversations even in the last few months where it's kind of like, all right, well, let's see what happens this year. But I think Kevin understood that when you step out publicly and it gets out that, Hey, I asked for this trade. I want out of here.

I don't want to deal with this. And especially, and this is a huge part of it when you leave the warriors and you leave the comfort that is playing with Steph Curry and Draymond and clay, et cetera, but playing with Steph and you pick Kyrie and Kyrie with the vaccine stuff last year, with the social media posts this year, people are just going to look at you and be like, what the hell did you do that for? But everything that's happened has,

has led Kevin to a point where he's just kind of said screw it i'm gonna play for me i'm gonna play for this team and i'll give him credit for this because there are so many guys who would have asked for the deal and would have asked for whoever to be fired and then come back and be like man i can't stand this place i want out of here i want you with jimmy but Jimmy Butler in Minnesota that next year with Tibbs. That team got derailed early. That team was done way before that deal ever went down. To Kevin's credit, whether or not you think fans will hear what's gone on

and think he made a mistake and it never should have gotten to that point, from time he got to training camp he went in and just said all right the focus is on making this team the best they can be right now and i would have told you a couple weeks ago i still think that there is a good chance that if they don't go where they want to go in the playoffs this year that we could revisit and have the same circus over the summer hey he wants out he's going somewhere else but kevin durant has shown up and and done his work and gotten this team to play at a much higher level recently and for whatever you want to say about the nets the reason the nets are the way they are right now is because he's been awesome and he's allowed that, hey, this is a mess over the summer, but I can get us back on the track that we need

to and I can push this team to a higher place than it's been. Okay, let's talk Kyrie. Don't worry, we're going to get to a big summary on like what do we really know or what do we think of this team at the end of it, but I think a lot of people probably, you know, I don't know how many people know. So we'll just make sure everybody knows that like when Kyrie was going at it with a reporter after his post, which led to a suspension, that was you. And he kind of was turning it back on you where you were like, hey, look, do you realize, though, the responsibility of you having your platform? And then he kind of went back at you with like, well, you have a platform. You're like, yeah, well, I didn't fucking do something as dumb as you did first of all so uh where are you now with kairi because that seemed to be a little more personal for the reporter player

relationship well that all started back last year all the whole part of this year with our back and forth actually started last year because i was always questioning him about, was he going to get the vaccine? Did he feel like he was letting his teammates down because he wasn't doing the things that would allow him to be on the floor? And that set up going into media day. I tried to ask my first question and he's like, you and me, we're going to be best friends by the end of the year. We're going to be, and I said, I thought we already were best friends, Kyrie. And he said, no, no, no, no. By the end of the year. We're going to be... And I said, I thought we already were best friends, Kyrie. And he said, no, no, no, no. By the end of the year, we're going to be hugging at the end of this stuff. And he was asking me if I needed to ride home after a preseason game. We were in a really good place because I think he appreciated that I was just trying to do my job.

So if the only thing people saw was the exchange that we had a couple months ago, they would think, well, what the hell is this about? Well, all of that before had led up to the point that we got it to. And I had talked to him about it just sitting down before a preseason game. I was just doing my job. And he can decide to respond however he wants. But that's how it got as personal as it did, because he was trying to turn it back on me. And I was just trying to ask the questions that I knew a lot of people had on their mind. As far as right now, Ryan, Kyrie answers my questions for the most part. But there are times that I'm just asking a question and he gives like a three-word answer. And the thing that scares me, and I would pull it back just on whatever's going on between he and I, the thing that worries me for the Nets on the whole is history has shown us that Kyrie

is going to say or do something that is going to create such a distraction off the floor that it's going to seep into how they're playing on it. And for as good as things are right now, you can see the trepidation on Nets staffers' faces. Sean Marks, when he's listening to a press conference, everybody's just kind of sitting there going, all right, Kyrie, please don't say anything that's going to screw this up right now because we're rolling. Please don't say anything that's going to screw this up right now because we're rolling. But I do think that that lingers in everybody's head in that organization because they know how talented he is. He's awesome. And you said it. He's playing like the Kyrie from a while ago, especially offensively. Nobody knows what to do. But the question has ever been, is Kyrie Irving a great basketball player? ever been is Kyrie Irving a great basketball player question is is Kyrie going to focus on what's going on on the court and not do anything off the court that's going to screw up the chemistry

that's being built and that's the answer that nobody seems to have and nobody could have given what's occurred the last few seasons yeah I'd say this about Kyrie because I'd ask some of the Boston guys about it and I want to make sure I use the right description here because I don't want to make it sound like I'm not being insensitive to any of the more recent stuff. But the people that like him, there's this little brother thing to him. Like, oh, man, Kyrie. You know, Kyrie. Now, I'm way over it and have been for a while. Cause I just think at some point you're destructive to a team and you're a bad bet.

You're a bad business partner to have on the team. It's been fucking awesome for six weeks, you know, him fighting around screens and it's Cleveland. I don't know if that was because he was back and it was the anniversary of him, you know, being, I was like, this is unbelievable. Right. He was diving on the floor. He was diving on the floor. It was diving on the floor. Right. I, I sometimes think,

and I brought this up this week and it says, as I'm watching, I'm like, this guy's playing his ass on. I go, is he as simple as the rest of us? It's like, I'm a contracts up.

Like I can lock in for a few months. I can lock it, which is great in the short term for the Nets. And it'll be interesting because how quickly the conversation can change around, like, who gives him a four-year deal? Like, who does that? And it's like, I don't know. He plays really well and they have, like, a decent playoff run or there's just no hiccups the rest of the way. Somebody would probably do it just because that's the history of the league. But I wonder if maybe that next thing the Nets front office is waiting for,

any of us that cover this, watch it, we're all waiting for it. Can this really be smooth sailing from now, the beginning of January, all the way until May or however deep they can go? That seems like the worst bet ever. But I wonder maybe if he's a little bit more simple at times than we realized. He's like, I need to lock in here for six months. It feels like somebody behind the scenes in his inner circle has finally gotten through a little bit, Ryan. And having been around Kyrie this last year, I can tell you Kyrie is going to do what he wants when he wants to do it. But to the point about the future and the next contracts and playing by the rules as the NBA puts them together, somebody's voice has gotten through to him. And it's notable in those press conferences because it's not just me with four-word answers.

There have been a lot of times in the last few weeks, you ask Kyrie a question and he gives some answer. But instead of going on for three minutes like he might have in the last year about something, he gives some short answer that doesn't really go anywhere. And then he moves on. And that was not how things were prior to all the hoopla surrounding his social media posts. So you never know quite what to expect. And I'd throw this part of the conversation in his future, not only in the league, but in Brooklyn into it as well. I asked Bobby Marks, who does a bunch of the front office stuff for ESPN, what would happen if somehow over the summer, the Nets kept Kevin, but Kyrie went elsewhere? What else could they do? And his answer was, hey, they'd be out of the luxury tax.

But there's not another real move for them to make. If you lose Kyrie this summer, if you're Sean Marks and Joe Sivey owner, you lose that slot. It's gone. You can't. All right. Well, 36 and a half million came off. Let's just fill it with somebody else. They're already over.

They've already got Simmons and KD on the roster. So I would have told you for certain. I mean, there were times after, during that suspension, I didn't know if Kyrie was coming back to the Nets and he's come back and you were still like, ah, this thing's over at the end of the year. There is a chance if he can just keep it together. And of course that's a huge if,

but if he keeps it together, that the Nets say, hey, we don't want to lose this slot. You're in a very good place. You clearly have a rhythm with Kevin. Let's run this thing back. But then it's going to get into, well, how many years and how much money are we investing into this proposition? So there are a lot of different layers, but there is no question in my mind watching it day to day

that Kyrie came back from that suspension and has done as best he can to just play, do the bare minimum commitments with the media, and get the hell out of it. It is a lesson, though, like in the moment

how things can seem impossible. You know, whether it's like a quarterback change, like we can never bring this guy back. And's like oh they did and it you know he played again you know the westbrook stuff this year like oh you can never do that like you can't and i would say it's sort of working on a bad team where he had to he had to get his ass kicked by a city for a year before he was like all right maybe i do have to come off the bench but all this stuff with Kyrie, like I'm with you. Like if you had said, Hey, do you want odds on him re-signing with the Nets? I'd be like, what's the point? Like the payoff could be great, but I don't,

I don't want to place that bet. Who knows? All right. So that kind of gets to, to where we're at with this is that what I like about them, I like their depth. I like they can do a bunch of different things. We could talk about a deficiency of size, but I don about them, I like their depth. I like they can do a bunch of different things. We could talk about a deficiency of size, but I don't know, today's NBA, it's nice to have the option, but I don't know that it's mandatory. We still have a ways to go before the trade deadline and all that stuff. What I also like is that Durant and Kyrie don't look at Giannis in Milwaukee. They don't look at the guys in Boston. They don't look at Philly and say, wow, those teams are really good. They have superstars. They're thinking those are our

contemporaries and we think we're better than them. So I think that's a huge mental advantage the Nets would have in a playoff series if everything's rolling and it's healthy. But it still just feels as good as they've looked right now. I can't get myself to say like, yeah, they're probably going to win the East. I just can't do it. You know what I mean? Like they could have the best stats the next four or five months. I don't know. Maybe I'm asking myself while I'm asking you is how long would they have to play this well before you felt comfortable saying they're the favorites in the East? Because it's been the worst call in other samples that we've had when they weren't even right and they were blowing teams out it would take until you and i were standing at the parade in brooklyn watching the floats go by right for me to go all right i believe it now it actually happened i can see it

time has shown us that something else is going to happen. Last season, Ryan, it was Kevin got hurt. And that's the one thing that has really not jumped up and bit the nets at this point is he's been healthy. And you never know when injuries hit in the NBA. It just feels like it's a matter of time before something happens. But Kevin has stayed out of it for now, and you just hope that he can stay healthy

and keep playing at the level that he's playing. But I am in this every day, and I don't believe that this team can maintain what it's doing, keep moving forward, and get all the way through just to the finals. I don't think they can get out of the East because as we sit here right now for as well as they're playing, I still don't think they're as good as Milwaukee if they're fully healthy. I still don't think

they're as good as Boston if they're fully healthy. And then after that, there are so many different variables as to what happens with a team like Philly. Is there another team that gets their act together in the East and can play the type of tough defense that it would take to push KD and Kyrie in a series? This group has not shown the mental toughness that it needs to overcome obstacles in their way on a consistent basis.

So if you're asking me if I believe that this is sustainable and that this is the team that will continue to improve and get there, I don't see it. But like many other things with the Nets, I've been proven wrong before, and I'll wait to see what unfolds in the second half of the season. Is there a move for them? I mean, I know everybody, I think in the rumor mills, the Joe Harris-John season is there a move for them i mean i know everybody i think in the rumor mills the joe harris john collins one which i actually don't you know the problem with

john collins is the best version of him is a guy that has the ball a little bit more and so then you're like okay i mean he's a really talented guy i think he does some dumb shit i mean he had a classic one the other night which i posted where he started doing the duke wojo thing where he started like clapping and being like, bring it on, Durant. Durant literally went right fucking by him. He did it to him like three times. I mean, there's nothing like, Wojo used to slap the floor

at Duke and then be like, okay, see ya. So I guess what I'm telling you is I'm not the biggest Collins fan and even though the Harris contract, I don't know. I know they need size. I don't know that he's the kind of size that you would give up shooting for. So I'm open to it. I guess my first thought was I don't like it when I'd heard about it and the kind of the spinning wheels of stuff. When you look at their roster and you look at the

assets that they have, Ryan, it feels like Joe Harris is kind of the guy. What can Joe Harris bring back? The question that I would pose back to you as we're going through this is, John Collins, Miles Turner, fill in the blank big man who would potentially appear in some fantasy deal. Does that person, if they came to appear on this roster, make it so that you think that Boston or excuse me, that Brooklyn is better than Boston or Milwaukee or has elevated themselves into the top tier of the East? That's where I just, I can't wrap my head around that they're going to leapfrog into that top tier throughout the season. Is anything possible if Kevin's playing like the MVP?

Sure. And you have to account for that. And we know, we saw it last couple of seasons. Never know what kind of injuries pop up in a playoff run and what kind of things can happen. I just don't think that there is some magical move to bring some big man in that's going to take them from point A to point B. Yeah, I think if anything, it'd be a marginal thing. I know the math that you're talking about when teams go, okay, if we do this, does this mean we've moved ourselves up a tier?

Which is essentially just a round in the playoffs, right? It's a pretty easy exercise, and it's a good one because if your answer is unclear at this time, then you should be giving up assets for a move that's lateral. But if it's an asset like a Joe Harris without more stuff attached to it, then I could justify a little bit. I've always found Turner to be kind of unique and at times a little frustrating

because maybe I wanted a little bit more. But I actually think with them, it'd be like a taller – although Simmons is kind of the taller Bruce Brown thing where it's kind of funny to watch Brown play guard again in Denver because he was a 6'5 center. In a way, this inverted thing they were trying to do, which worked. It was great. He had open lanes cutting all over the place i just wonder you know if turner because he's there's

so much perimeter to his game but you'd be asking him you'd be asking him to play big which i actually think he could do you know yeah and that would be there might be just a bigger guy that's just a you know a rotational piece we're not talking about a potential all-star five here because that's not going to happen. It might just be a rotational piece that pops up in some way where they throw something minor into it. But yeah, look, I think they're good right now, but I'm like you. There's just so much hesitation.

They're just probably the most impossible team to go all in on of any of the contenders. But Ryan, I never thought you and I would be having this conversation. Right. But here we are. It's great. Exactly. But I never thought after all the distraction that was Kyrie's suspension,

the aftermath, they gave up 153 in Sacramento. Simmons was terrible that first month of the year. I never thought that they could find their way to this point. So what the 2022-23 Brooklyn Nets have taught me is that you can never just completely shut a door on any team, especially when Kevin Durant is at the front of that team. What I would push forward on as we get into the new year, we hit January and February, Ben Simmons is in a good place right now because he's playing with Kevin and Kyrie. This is a guy who's used to having the spotlight on him at all times.

Ryan, you and I have been doing this a long time. Ben Simmons doesn't even talk after some games right now because they don't need him to be up there. Oh, you mean nobody asks him any questions? He doesn't go up to the podium. People don't bother him at his locker stall. He's not putting out some eye-popping numbers

that would force people to be like, hey, Ben, what's going on? It's not that he hasn't been available at times when needed. It's just in Philly, he was very clearly the one a to him b that spotlight was constant with this team with kevin and kairi there there isn't so much pressure the question i would have is okay if kevin rolled an ankle or something had to miss a couple weeks or kairi disappeared again uh for a stretch of games and Simmons had to elevate in the pecking order

and they asked him to do more and we've seen him defend some centers we've seen that part of it but I mean offensively if they needed him to do more would he be able to on a more consistent basis and that's one of the lingering questions

I have as you're trying to figure out whether or not this team is capable of achieving what they thought they could and winning a title. Great to catch up, man. And it's a lot more fun when they're good and we're asking these questions than the same doomsday thing, which I think I did three episodes on last year. So let's catch up whenever we can, Nick. Thanks again. I always appreciate you having me, buddy. It's great to see see you before we get to life advice our fan duel weekly picks contest rolls on which is kind of morphed into a bunch of different things kyle checking in how are you doing how was last week um bad again

i kind of gave up last week but then it's sort of i mean we talked about the another painful pats game but uh i was like you know what maybe it's so crazy it just might work and it almost worked but then so i lost i'm 33 on the year it's pretty bad i think you're 44 and steve at a whopping 57 i believe uh who hasn't made a pick since week eight so or week seven what's he doing um i think he's just taking it easy i just think he's i don't think i don't think new dads are big gamblers i think that's just taking it easy. I don't think new dads are big gamblers. I think that's just the... I don't know.

Maybe. Maybe they are. I don't know. He's got some side action over there, but I don't know. Okay. All right. So what am I?

Two under 500 now after last week? Yeah, I believe so. Okay. All right. That's the goal. To have everything be even at the end of the year. It isn't the goal. So let's get hot again here. All right. I'll go first. Three picks. Public action. The most heavily favored game right now are publicly played game. Percentage of bets. The Niners getting 80% of the money here. Niners getting 80% of the money here. This one opened at the Niners getting a point and a half.

And then Derek Carr got benched, which is... I'm not telling you Derek Carr is a perennial top 10 guy. Derek Carr would be good for a lot of football teams. And McDaniels did this with Cutler in a different way. And it's like, hey, I don't like this guy. Okay, well, what's your plan? Oh, it's Jared Stidham. Okay. I watched it in college. I wasn't a fan of all the hype that I'd hear in new England all the time. It doesn't mean it can't turn around. It doesn't mean it can't be a little bit differently. A different story probably should say that way. So anyway, here's the point is this line's moved all over the place.

I think it's some places, Kyle, can you pull up the latest FanDuel sportsbook for us? Yeah, I got plus 10 because that's my pick. Okay, that's your pick. So there you go. This is, this is, if you look at how some of the betting sites track where the odds are, it's, it's absurd how much variance there is on this. But on FanDuel, we're going to go ahead and take that plus 10. So 80% of the play has been on the Niners.

That means very few people like the Raiders side, so I'm going Raiders plus 10 on this one, even though I think it was plus 6 at one point somewhere. So we'll go ahead and take that. A lot of play on the Steelers. Plus three at Baltimore. Lamar not practicing this week. But you know what?

Let's go ahead and lay the two and a half with the Ravens at home. And what else does everybody like? Okay, people like the Giants minus six at home against the Colts. We'll take the Colts plus six. So there you go. Raiders plus 10.

Ravens minus two and a half at home against the Colts. We'll take the Colts plus six. So there you go. Raiders plus 10, Ravens minus two and a half at home, and the Colts plus six. Yep. And I just needed my guy back. It was hard to find a guy. I wasn't really thinking too much about betting on Tom Brady, especially with this Carolina thing. So Jared Sitton popped up into my purview again. I was like, hey, you know what? Maybe, just maybe. And that's kind of where I am at this point. Maybe it just might work. So I will also be taking the Raiders plus 10. So good luck, Stidham.

I was just looking up the latest stuff here for Lamar. And again, it was out of practice Wednesday. So by the time you hear this, we're taping this part of it a little bit earlier on Thursday. So just to be clear, there could be some update and that one could change. It also has Lamar as 230 pounds on Wikipedia. I don't believe that. That doesn't sound right.

No, that's not true. There's no way. And look, there's few people that have appreciated what Lamar's body can do. More than this guy going all the way back to Louisville. But all right, let's do life advice. You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.

What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you can possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Life advice, rr at gmail.com. God, you want to be efficient today? Because I feel like that New Year's Eve thing. I was like, I just feel like I was a high usage, bad stat.

I can tell you got all in your head, but I think, I think you were wrestling with, you know, it's just, that's how complicated New Year's Eve is. It's even when when you have plans you're wrestling on what to do with it so i think i could tell you got in your head be like wow we spent way too long on this but well i think in my head it's like i've been i've been thinking about it for two days i i i'm gonna push back on that a little bit all right we did start the segment with it but no we didn't start the segment with it but you could be the judge well no i'm saying I want to do more today. I want to do more Friday, New Year's Eve, New Year, raining and bringing it all in.

You have plans. You might have to buy a ticket to Frolic Room. What are you allowed to do? Are there any parameters on what you're allowed to do, the old fiance? Dude, we've got a strange situation going on now. A family friend recently divorced basically was like,, hey, I'm going to have I kind of want to have my first like adult New Year's. She's got two kids. And she was like,

do you think maybe maybe you could just take my kid? And this is this. She said this to my fiance, who then was just like, yeah, sure. And I was like, wait a second. So we're going to have like a teenager for New Year's Eve. And she's like, basically basically so i don't know what's gonna happen you know what that's an episode i mean i don't know what's gonna happen that is an episode though holy so you never stop amazing us so you're gonna babysit a fucking teenager because some woman just got divorced and she wants to do a halloween new year's theme bender it sounds like it it sounds like it well one of us will be doing it i don't know i guess i mean just got divorced and she wants to do a Halloween new year's theme bender. It sounds like it. It sounds like it. Well, one of us will be doing it. I don't know. I guess,

I mean, we've already got the wedding date, so I'm sure, I'm sure I've got, I can probably get away with some things. I don't know. I'm really not sure. So you're not going out because you're babysitting a teenager. I didn't say that. I didn't say, I said, one of us at least is babysitting a teenager, but I'm really sort of just weighing my options of what the fallout will be. Well, it doesn't sound like you plan on babysitting the teenager. I I'm really sort of just weighing my options of what the fallout will be. Well, it doesn't sound like you plan on babysitting the teenager. I didn't plan on it. I sort of just found out about this. I thought I was working until two days ago,

and then I find out, oh my God, it's actually a Saturday New Year's Eve. And they're just like, oh, wait, actually, Curveball, we've got our friend here that mom says they could drink, but I don't think we're going to be doing that. So I don't know. I, you know, like I said, it's always confusing. I'm starting to think we're ruining every episode.

Not starting. Fuck opens monologues, interviews, life advice, worst take my rants. I don't know that we're doing the audience any justice by not just checking in and asking what your week is. There's always stuff happening. So, yeah, whenever it's getting a little slow, feel free to ask me. Okay. All right. I got to ask more.

I can't just, that wasn't, I wasn't going to ask, just assume. But yeah, that actually has a recipe for disaster because now your fiance is going to babysit. You're going to drink. You're not not going out. You're in your 20s still. You do like the suds. So we're this, I don't know, I'm worried about

next week. I kind of can't wait to find out what happens on Monday. Now I'm not going anywhere. I'll have some stories for you. I'll be right here. Okay. All right, here we go. Helping a homeless guy off the 405. Let's keep it local. Big fan of the podcast was at your show in Denver. Thanks for coming out to the Mile High.

Nice. You too. Mile High. Club member, Kyle? I just feel like I want to ask you everything right now. That's something I'm definitely never going to answer, but really the answer's no. I just thought I could be mysterious about it, but now I'm not one of those. I've got shit to lose these days. Yeah, too much. Hey, is that nephew Kyle?

Getting it in. All right, here we go. 6'3", 215, no lifting stats for your former college rower. Just trying to drop some pounds. Those guys are pretty fit. Still hit the rower occasionally, but mostly just running, occasionally swimming, yoga to loosen the hammies. All right, had this happen to me the other day.

Wanted your take for context. Fiance is a fourth-year medical student about to start a residency next summer. We just returned from a Christmas vacation, landed at LAX. We're in an Uber. We're headed towards her parents' house. Getting off the 405, we see a slowdown traffic jam. When we get towards the front, we see a homeless guy completely laid out in the middle of the street.

Everybody in two of the three lanes is blocked, including us. No visible injuries, but the guy looks passed out or dead. Okay. Understood. It's intense's intense fiance's immediate reaction is to try to get out of the car and help him my immediate reaction is to prevent her from getting out of the car afraid she might get hit by a car poked by a needle attacked or exposed to whatever this guy has on him it got pretty heated between us in the moment she couldn't bear driving

by someone in need of medical help and i was totally freaked out she was going to put herself in danger in the end we still couldn't get around. So our driver got out and pulled the guy off the road so traffic was unblocked. Driving away, my fiance eventually got through to 911 where they told her she was the fourth or fifth or fourth or so person to call about the exact incident. They had paramedics on the way and we drove off. Debating later that night, we were both pretty upset. She felt like I was trying to prevent her from performing her duty as a healthcare professional. I felt like she was needlessly prevent her from performing her duty as a healthcare professional. I felt like she was needlessly putting her own life in danger by trying to help him.

I see both sides of it, but we're stuck. Also, I didn't discuss this with her, but I thought I'd ask you. Did the driver make me look like a total pussy by dragging the guy off the street while I try to keep my lady in the car? Should I have reached differently? What would you do? Okay, I want to be fair about this. I'm a little confused as to if you're in the Uber and you're telling us the driver moved the body, I guess you're in the vicinity to do that.

So when you're talking about the traffic, were you seeing the traffic ahead of you and then your car moved up eventually, or you were first on the scene? Because I think a lot of these factors matter, right, Kyle? Because I'm still trying to figure out like, I mean, was it that the driver got sick of them yelling at each other? You know what I'm saying? Like I'm trying to figure that part of it out. So I'm reading it as like, you know, when you see those big construction arrows that say get over and you can't really tell if it's the right lane that's saying get over or if it's the lane over. And then by the time you get up there, nobody wants to let you merge.

And it's just sort of like you're just sitting there until there's no more cars so you can get around this roadblock. It's one of those things where you don't just switch your lanes in time. I think sometimes the cars are like, well, fuck it. You're not getting in front of me. You should have thought about that. And so I was like, maybe that's how they're the first car to this man laying in the road is what I thought. And then as the guy's probably saying like, hey, man, get over.

She could be, you know, the other passenger in the Uber could be yelling, no, we've got to do something. So maybe this guy was just like, all right, we're doing it. I don't know. Because he's just an Uber driver in this situation. I think he probably would have wanted to continue his ride and get him where they're going. But maybe it was one of those situations where we can't go forward unless this man is moved

and the human thing to do would be to move him. So that's how I think we got here. Yeah, because I think there's a bunch of different ways this would be handled if any of us listening, talking right now or in the car, because I think there's a bunch of different ways this would be handled if any of us listening, talking right now, or in the car. Because I think there are versions of this where if you're driving and you saw a body, you'd get out and maybe at the very least make a phone call. There might be like a couple, hey, you know, hey man. You okay? Right. a couple hey you know hey man you know you're okay right i also think there's other versions

of this is there's other people around nobody's getting out of the car right you're just assuming somebody else will do it it's like yeah somebody else will do it well that's where i'm i'm lost as to like which part they were in because i'll admit living in LA now for a few years, driving through different parts of town, like you can become a little desensitized to it. And you're also like, well, I'm not dealing with this. I don't know. Maybe I would get out of the car.

I don't know. I'm trying to think about it now. Like how shocking. Like it's one thing to see something fucked trying to think about it now. Like how, how shocking, like it's one thing to see something fucked up on the sidewalk, Kyle. It's another thing to see something like in the street and you're like, well, this guy doesn't move.

He might get run over and killed. And if he's, yeah. You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. I think that's kind of, I've seen the,

I've also seen the guy who's just kind of wandering in the street and it's like, okay, like do I, I haven't stopped for that either. I've seen it plenty of times when there's like a guy wandering in the street and it's like okay like do i i haven't stopped for that either i've seen it plenty of times when there's like a guy wandering in the street it's like i don't know if it's drugs or if it's mental problems or make a cocktail of the both but he's like kind of in and out of the street and it's sunset and it's nighttime and cars are going it's like what

can you say other than hey man don't do that you know there's people as you know yeah that's stuff like that but that's not gonna be a last like if I don't do anything, what's going to happen? Yeah, that's not a lasting conversation. No. I left... The one time I went to Spotify's offices, I took the wrong turn towards the other way. Oh. Have you been down that street?

Which street? I don't know which street in particular, but the area is... I went down that street, and it was Grand Theft Auto. I couldn't. And there was a guy, shirt off, jacked, by the way, like Hulk pants, no shoes. And he was dragging a street sign that had been ripped from the cement because it still had like the cement attachment to wherever it was dragged out. And he was just walking through the middle of the street, dragging a street sign,

screaming at dudes. Yeah. Like that's a keep it moving situation. All right. Totally. Now, I don't know. I guess I feel like I don't really know how I'd react unless I knew

everything that was going on. But if it's a traffic jam and there's a million cars and there's already stuff going on, I'm wondering, well, we, you had to have been really close for your Uber driver to be the one that actually moved this guy off to the side.

I don't know. You're marrying a doctor. You're marrying somebody that has thought about this, has been inspired to help people, to make them feel better. She's dedicated her life, all the hours, how hard it is to actually become this. Okay. And for her to, I get where you're coming from, but I don't think you can tell her she can't do this. Okay. And for her to like, you know, I get where you're coming from,

but I don't, I don't think you can tell her she can't do this, man. I don't think, because this is who you've married. And honestly, it's pretty admirable. Yeah, I've got,

this is not the same thing before. I mean, save the emails, but I've got a person, my person, my life partner is a big, is way more compassionate than I am. Yep. Yep. It's a girl. She's way more compassionate than I am when it comes to animals, not really people. And I've actually joked. Yeah. Woman careful. You know, I do my walks, do my three and a half

miles in the mornings. And every once in a while she's off, she comes with me and I hate it because a cat, she's like, do you think that cat has a home? I don't know. This is Los Angeles. It's Hollywood. There's a bunch of cats. She's like, should we go give that cat water? I'm like, no, because guess what? We're going to see another cat right over there. Yeah.

And then and then there's, you know, we were at a party one time and people like, where is your girlfriend? I was like, I don't know. I look, she's in the pool scooping a bee out and like trying to get it. So it's like she's just it's something that I think is, you know, a bit is more than a bit overboard, but that's one of those things where like, she wants to do something. I disagree. We drove past a flattened squirrel one time and she was like, do you think that thing is okay? I was like, that squirrel is dead. She was like, Kyle, we need to go back and see if that squirrel is okay. I couldn't believe it was summer vacation.

So it's just, there's times when she's like adamant about doing something, thinking it's the right thing to do. And I'm like, this is fucking nuts. So I know that feeling inside. You're like, are you kidding me right now? Are you kidding me? We're stopping our day to do this. And it's not the same, but it's the similar feeling inside.

And I think it just chalk it up to at this point, I'm just like, hey, you're a good person and I'm not. And that's like that's that's sort of that's sort of how I can deal with it, like with the disagreements and stuff. Like you guys are having this disagreement, like you didn't want to do anything and we had to. And it's sort of the same disagreement when we're walking past a cat that's clearly an outside cat

and she's like, we should save this cat's life. And I'm like, no, I'm not saying it's the same thing, but it's a similar sort of emotional thing that you guys go through. And the way I found that we get through it is just say, hey, you're just a better person than I am. Sorry. So maybe that's something you could be okay with.

If just say, listen, you are a better person. I'm sorry. I'm working on it. That's, that's what you could say. I'm sorry. I'm working on it. That's fine. How's that bee doing?

She saved it, actually. I think, I don't know. It was squirming around but you know also we were at a nice party at somebody's house and it's like well there goes 40 minutes you'll never get back um whatever compassionate people what can you do sometimes opposites attract so i think that's i think that's the way you go about this just be like you know i'm sorry you make me a better person and i'm trying i'm sorry i wasn't all the way there but hey it's a long life. I'll get there.

I'm just trying to figure out how they were the... if they were the first car to it. Because the guy's passed in the right lane, right? Probably the guy was passed out or laying down in the right lane, right? How does he not have more info? Like if your Uber driver dragged him across, then he had to get back in and drive you. I don't know. I'm a little...

I'm a little tuned up on the potential fake ones as of late. There's that one. All right. I think we covered a lot of stuff there. Okay. Flushing food down a toilet. Don't know about this one. This one's different. Okay. What's up, big fan? 612-05-29. Terrible basketball player. No jumper. Built like

a trash version of Kyle Lowry. Oh, excuse me. Kyle Lowry. Former wrestler, so I keep in shape by training at a track and gym. A track and field gym in the city with a sprint coach. All right. That sounds unique.

Yeah. He's got a sprint coach at 29. Kind of fucking admire that. I think that's great. I live alone. No. No. He needs help settling a minor point of contention with his girl. So he lives alone in a 1,000-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment in Nolita.

That's the fourth floor. As with many New York City apartments, the place is on a beautiful block of the city, but it's a walk-up. no trash chute, no laundry, garbage disposal in the unit. Here's the issue. I get takeout sushi sometimes and any leftover raw fish, I flush it down the toilet. Roughly six pieces max. I flushed a four-ounce chicken breast once.

Oh my God. I leave it in the trash. It smells rancid. And since I'm in the tight quarters, the kitchen and the rest of the apartment can smell. Hey man, you leave like the chicken. If you take out a couple of chicken breasts and just since i'm in the tight quarters the kitchen the rest of the apartment can smell hey man you leave like the chicken if you take out a couple chicken breasts and just throw the container in the trash you got 24 hours max before i'll it'll be in a slider garbage thing and i even have those febreze scented garbage bags and i'll walk in second floor and i'll go fuck and it's upstairs yeah so i hear you on go, fuck. And it's upstairs. What the fuck is that?

Yeah. So I hear you on the chicken smell. I think it's actually worse than the sushi deal. All right. So here's the issue. Okay. We already flushed that. Okay.

So six ounce, four ounce chicken breast. Sorry. Super important detail. Okay. Full transparency. I won't take my trash out for a week if it doesn't fill up space. It's a pain in the ass. So that's back to the fourth floor walk-up description.

This guy planted some good seeds here. It's like knives out. Alright. In order to avoid the smell, I flush small amounts of food down the toilet about once every two weeks. My girl thinks this behavior is absolutely bizarre and results in poor stewardship of the apartment she thinks it'll break the pipes should i stop this behavior and take the trash out in the morning after throwing this away and should i have ever told her i do this in the first place thanks in

advance for your help here guys uh p.s we briefly met on the beach in Manhattan Beach last year when I was visiting my buddies. Go Gauchos. Oh, it was from Santa Barbara. Gave you a big fan of the pod as you were walking out of the ocean. You were super gracious, asked my name, said great to meet you, and posted up for the rest of the day reading a book about the Godfather. Appreciate you being cool. By the way, we call that getting out of the water, not coming out of the ocean. But whatever. Same thing.

Why? It just sounds like you've been there before. You're getting out of the water. Coming out of the ocean. It's just terminology. Yeah, because sometimes I remember on the Sunday pilots, you'd be like, where are you? I'd be like, I'm getting in the water for a bit. Where were you?

I'm getting in the water. It always freaks people out. They're like, wait, you're getting in the water for a bit. I'll be like, where were you? I'll be like, ah, I'm getting in the water. It always freaks people out. They're like, wait, you're getting in the water? And I was surfing more back then, or I should say attempting to surf more. You should see the waves the last couple of days, Kyle. Fucking monsters. Oh, I heard.

I've been watching the news. There's people out there. It's always funny when there's a real surfer who's doing an interview with somebody who's like, hey, so you shouldn't be out here, but you guys are out there doing it. The guys that are really good should be out there. It was so rough yesterday. It's just funny when they do the

interviews where they're like, oh yeah, I got pitted a couple times. I didn't see anyone yesterday. Usually you'll always see somebody unless it's just stupidly rough and it's just pointless because the ways aren't, but they were huge yesterday and it was rough and I didn't see anybody out there for like two hours so okay

back to this guy um i think i was reading actually the godfather the book puso horny dude okay this is fucking weird man but i don't know if it's wrong i don't know how educated you are on septics if we're talking biodegradable, we're talking entire apartment building. I think chicken breasts you might want to stay away from because who knows how long it takes for those to break down. We may need a chemist to actually answer this more on just how quickly fish meat and chicken meat would break down on its way to a septic system. I think the right lesson is you don't want to fuck with the septic systems okay you don't want to even if this has no chance of of messing it up right um and you can be a little bit more selfish when you're in an apartment it's wrong but like when it's your home you know you see your kids doing something you're like what the fuck are you doing why are you flushing

stuff down like Like, uh, Q-tips. I've seen people do that. And you're like, you know what? Over time, I don't think that's necessarily something you want to keep doing. So, uh, you gotta be nice on the septic systems. I don't know how food, I've never heard this before. I've never heard anybody do this before. So I think even if, I think even if scientifically you're okay here on this one, and we have a septic guy that says actually you're in the clear i think it's fucking weird and you have a bigger issue now because your girlfriend's like he's 29 he has a sprint coach and he is from the west coast but he flushes his food down the toilet because he doesn't want to take the trash out now my simple solution would be when you do the takeout, leave it in the bag that the takeout came in, and then take that smaller bag out with you when I imagine you leave the apartment at least once a day.

Okay? You're going, if you're talking about max efficiency, if you know you're going out the door every day, probably twice a day because it sounds like you're kind of active um have a smaller thing whether the container from the night before where it's sitting there i know your apartment's small but then take that out if you don't want to actually take out half empty trash bags all right um that i think would be the solution and it'd be some real self-improvement for 2023 your girlfriend would be like look he listened to me he he adjusted like there's a win in this for you totally you were like you know what i like that you kind of called me out on it and i've made an adjustment for it i like our new non-flushing system yeah great job by you we're not putting fish in the toilet anymore thank you even if you

could technically be right with all this. So, yeah, I think, I mean, if New York City, there's no chance there's a septic tank, right? This is city water, right? This is city sewage. We're talking here like, you know, I mean, I grew up, we flushed soup, cigarettes, and my mom would leave her cigarettes in the toilet.

So I remember that was always there and we could flush those. So, I mean, soup and cereal just sort of like seemed like a no brainer to me. But yeah, I don't think I've ever flushed anything like any solid materials. So I don't know. You're right. A big apartment building, it wouldn't be in its own tank. So I guess you'd be talking about fucking up the the highway getting caught in a pipe, which I imagine they've got, you know, a big apartment building. I imagine, I imagine you're okay. Again, I'm sure I actually would be interested in a follow-up email, but I hope I didn't just ruin the inbox with this. But I was always thought, listen, if you have like town water or something or like city water that there's

like a sewage system that everything comes, becomes a part of it's when you're like, I don't know, renting like a guest, if you're renting like a guest house in LA, I think that maybe, like, maybe that would be a septic tank situation. I'm not sure. I just mean, like, I think if it's, if, if you're never going to have to see this stuff again, I don't know. I got into an argument with my girlfriend. She said, you can flush tampons. I said, I don't think you can. And it turns out you shouldn't. Yeah. That's a, that's an absolute no. It turns out you shouldn't. But then it was also absolute no. It turns out you shouldn't. But then it was also like, well, this is going in the sewer, I guess. I don't know.

But yeah, I would try to maybe save your Target bags, you know, maybe use those as little stinky food garbage bags that you can bring when you come out. Unless there's like a weird alley that you have to come. I wonder just how inconvenient it is for him to go to the garbage. Is it like you have to walk out of the front of the building, then you go around and unlock a side gate and then walk to the back and then throw it in the track like if it's if it's super inconvenient i don't know maybe you have a fire escape you can put stuff on until you're ready to go that probably would be bad too i would say

you could flush the the liquids i wouldn't flush too many solids okay so uh looking at apartments in new york city uh there's no way you're right there's no way this is a septic tank in new york city unless it were in its own grid but that doesn't that doesn't yeah i wouldn't put that in your argument to your girlfriend though i would i mean i'm just i wouldn't be like babe it's totally going no she's the one that brought up the pipes she's the one that brought up the pipes so i guess as a homeowner that was kind of the first thing i thought of but uh yeah because i just started googling it and although not impossible the way that he's describing this building it's probably some older building there's no way it's all hooked up to the city sewage yeah i think you probably had some good years of flushing but the

word got out and i think you gotta stop flushing man i wouldn't i wouldn't try to come up with points to combat her you know because she's gonna like she's probably even embarrassed but she might have to tell her friends this be like yeah he's fucking flushing sushi down the toilet yeah that can get weird and you might not even be doing anything that's that bad but it can get really weird be like oh you know so maybe you don't even want that on your resume so you probably shouldn't have told her anything yeah yeah you had some good years of flushing, but I think the flushing stops. But cereal and soup, I'm fine with. Cereal and soup, I think you're good.

And cigarette butts were fine. That was always fun. She would leave them in so I could pee on them and then flush them. I don't know why I told you that. I don't even know why I told you that. Yeah, I don't know why you did either. It must have been a blast, man. It was. It was. Every morning, I'd get in there and she'd be like, try to get him down.

Try to sink him like Battleship. Again, I don't know why I said this. Hey, Todd, you want to come over and play? No, your toys suck. No, my mom dumped some fresh cigs in the toilet. We could piss on them. Yeah. You know what?

We're just going to end it there. I was going to read another one we're good happy new year all right everybody uh have a great weekend we'll talk to you on monday we'll have national title championship game to talk about and all the week of football and you know we got plenty of stuff to do. So excited about it. Thanks to Kyle. Ron Russel, the podcaster on your Spotify. Outro Music