Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara - The Battle of the Decades: Best of the 2000s

Episode Date: July 9, 2026

What could be better than the 90s? Maybe the 2000s! Matt and Jerry take another trip down memory lane looking at all the best the 2000s had to offer. From Jersey Shore to T-Pain, Jessica Alba and Denzel Washington, and of course including Entourage and the two-time National Champion USC Trojans. Matt and Jerry pick their favorite songs, movies and crushes of the decade, plus they take a look back at all of your reactions to their picks from the Best of the 90s episode as well.   A big thank you to our sponsors:    BetMGM: Make It Legendary. Please gamble responsibly. Download the BetMGM App to get started.    NHTSA: This Moment. Speeding Catches up With You. Paid for by NHTSA.    Uncrustables: Uncrustables sandwiches are ready from your fridge!    KaChava: Go to https://kachava.com and use code THROWBACKS for 15% off your first order.    00:00 Show open  05:08 Responding to the 90s reactions  12:18 Favorite Athlete of the 2000s  15:20 Favorite Team of the 2000s  20:13 Favorite Musician of the Decade  25:43 Best Song of the 2000s  29:00 TV Show of the 2000s   36:58 Favorite Movie of the 2000s  41:15 Actor of the Decade  44:10 Crush of the 2000s  49:00 Favorite Fashion Trend of the 2000s  51:37 What were you drinking in the 2000s?   58:05 Favorite Tech Advancement of the 2000s  01:01:40 Video Game of the 2000s  01:04:45 MVP of the 2000s  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Air Force ones always run in the cycle. They're in, in, in. And for a minute, they were out. You know what someone once told me, though? Turtle goes on to wear Air Force ones in the show. I mean, I used to wear jorts on the show. Gene shorts are horrible. Horrible.

Someone, I'm not going to say who it is. It was like, oh, yeah, Air Force One, that's the fat guy shoe. I was like, what? I blew my mind. I'm like, what? But when this person said this to me, I said, I wear Air Force ones in my regular life, too. He's like, exactly. He pointed at me.

Exactly. All right, welcome in, everybody. another episode of throwbacks. Take a second. Go over to all the social platforms, YouTube at Throwback Show, TikTok, Instagram, where Matt Liner,

I won't call it viral, but I'll say semi-viral in our 90s episodes in our Battle of the Decades when you made a plea. You made a honest-to-god pitch for Tiffany Ambertheson. You'll never make a shot

you don't take, buddy. You know, you can never make a shot you don't take. That's true. And you aren't afraid of missing. And how would you rate your plea to this point? How is that gone for you in the aftermath? Well, first I would rate my plea as A-plus because I did get a handful of text messages from friends and from people that are in Tiffany Amber Thiessen's circle. Oh, you made the inner

circle. So when the clip came out, and again, at the end of the day, I mean, it's Tiffany in Berth Eastern. She's a legend. She's, she's our 90s. We grew up with her. Everybody had a crush on her. She's fantastic. We'd love to get her on the pod. I mean, it's just simple. Want to get her on the pod and talk nostalgia. You know, she doesn't do a lot of that stuff.

She's got her family. It's all good. But I did get a couple text messages basically saying, oh, she's amazing. Let me, let me see if I can reach out. I'm like, at this point, I really don't care anymore. If they want to reach out, great. Like, you know, it is what it is. If we do get her on, it would be, I've actually

thought about this. I've thought about this. If she does ever come on, which I'm not crossing my fingers, but I don't, I'm not sure how I would react once I saw her on the screen. I just for a second there, I was like, man, if we actually had her and then I just brought her on right

now and was like, well, Matt, guess what? And we... I had a feeling at some point that could potentially happen and you guys play just a joke on me and I won't be prepared. If you had, if you had, this is a little off the cuff here, but what would you lead with if she's like in

and I know you'd have time to prep but like where what direction do you think you would would you go right for the the main course of like you know 90 saved by the bell would you kind of start now and work your way back? I would just say I would just say I just want to thank you I want to thank you

for all the great memories of my childhood I want to thank you for being who you are for years and years and years and years. And then I want to thank you again because when I was in the NFL, I used to rewatch the show again in Houston at 6 a.m. every day.

So, you know, I think it's one of those things that brings you back in this world of just craziness now and kids and chaos and electronics and just everything, right? It's such a different world than we grow up on than we grew up in. That show and I'm not overstated. That show is just my

favorite show. It was just a huge part of my life growing up. So, yeah, I have fun. And obviously, we had a crush Everyone had a crush on her, but I would just like to thank her for, you know, what did Snoop say? I want to thank me. I want to thank me for being me. I want to thank her for being her. And then from there, I have no idea where I would go.

I would probably start going the actor route and be like, hey, you know, like, when you're in the moment, and she was so young, right? Like, when you're in the moment, any parts of you ever think, like, this is going to last a lifetime, like, the character, right? you know, that you'd be sitting here 30 years later, more, 35 years later talking to two dudes who would still think, you know, it's just like the most legendary thing. That's what, but she's not doing it. I'm not, yeah, I don't think so. I'm not holding my breath.

It's all right, though. Listen, at the end of the day, it is what it is. We shoot your shots. Well, the battle of the decades is off to a good start. Our 90s episode has done really well. We got a lot of good feedback. Today, we are going to do the 2000s. same categories, which are basically going to be, let's see, right here,

you know, like act, favorite, you know, actor, movie, TV, thus far. We added one thing because in the 2000s, man, I turned 21 in 2001, you were probably what, like 2004, 5? 2004, yeah. We started drinking. So we added a category of what we were drinking, you know, it doesn't always have to be out of whatever. What you were drinking.

It could be a powering, who knows. what you were drinking. That's the only change of the categories. So we have gotten a lot of feedback on the 90s episodes. Eddie, our producer, has pulled some of the comments that stuck out to him. I'm going to read some and recap briefly. And remember, our answers, these are our favorites. We're not trying to guess what the best thing you all think.

It's what was person like, Matt, you chose Vince Coleman, to me was the best answer of the show. You chose Vince Coleman for your athlete, right? I know. It's so strange. No, it's not. I remember Vince Coleman well, and he was like a dope player back then. He wasn't like some Hall of Fame player, but he was a cool player. Wait, can I just dive in really quick?

Because I'm just looking at it. So this is, again, you mentioned the categories. One of them was video games, which is a huge part of our childhood. Yes, I can't wait for today's 2000s. So Steve Conkel, NBA Jam, I think is what I put in Madden 94. And then he goes, you've got to give love to Doom. I was never a doom guy, but Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter. Twisted metal.

Twisted metal is a great game. Oh my God, dude. I used to come home every day in summer. I used to skip like six period at modern day. I had like, actually you'd appreciate this. I had theater arts. This might have been my senior year. I lived two minutes from my high school.

And the teacher was the wife of one of the football coaches. So I used to skip six period all the time. I would go home and play twisted metal. metal, dude. Such a great game. Three days a week and then come back to school before school. Oh, what a great game. Well, this one stood out to me.

Like I said, off the Vince Coleman thing. Bobby Jr. 454 put some of his favorite 90s athletes and listen to these names. Rashan Salam. I mean, rest of peace. Yeah. Cordell Stewart. Terrell Davis.

This is my favorite one. Vinnie Castilla. Colorado Rockies. Vinnie Castilla? Vinny Castia and Michael Johnson. And then Carl Jensen put Thanks Ladd, great episodes, so many throwbacks. His games, like he put NBA Jam as well. Ken Griffey Jr. baseball.

God, I know. That was one of my favorite games. There's so many games. And, like, God, there's so many video games. Ken Griffey Jr. baseball, NBA Jam. Well, wait for the 2000s because this episode, the video games, it actually defined like three other categories for me as well which we'll talk about. I have a few just all time that I played religiously when I was in college.

Like it's just the only game I played. Yeah, a few other highlights. Tiger King put Steve Nash would definitely be two in the draft that we did. We did 97 draft or 96 draft. I don't know. I don't know if you're putting them over like you got Kobe one. We put Alan Iverson too. I love Nash.

We had Nash, I think, at three or four. I don't know if Nash would have been two. but that's everybody's debate. And then our buddy, Alex Gleitman, you know, who helps us out here on the show for video. This is like the show thing. He called me out with Martin. He went Martin.

Come on, Jerry. By the way, it was a terrible for you, but it's fine. He went saved by the bell, fresh prince, friends, Seinfeld, full house, family matters, boy meets world. Look, Alex, I love you, buddy. You're a friend. You can tell you grew up. You grew up in the suburbs.

Well, also, you love you. you could tell you're younger than me i was like you know 16 years old martin was an edgy sitcom it wasn't boy meets world which i enjoyed but martin had a little edge i don't know please you guys out there please someone else stand up for martin as a sitcom to me was phenomenal let's see how did we miss tombstone the movie i don't know about you that's definitely one of the i mean it's it's great but i was okay with our movie our movie choices and then last one before we dive in uh mute 24 the star Artek Motorola Flip. If you were a boss, if you had that.

Yeah, bro. I didn't really, the only people I knew who had a Motorola flip were drug dealers. I didn't know anyone, any 16 or 17 year old that casually had a motorold. Like, do you remember that having a cell phone in the 90s? It was like $400. Dude, the first cell phone I ever had was the Nokia. That was it. But I just remember how expensive time was.

I didn't have a cell phone until I was 17. Yeah, I was about 21. So that was like in the 2000s. But yeah, if you had the Star Trek Motorola Flip phone, you were either a doctor or a drug dealer. So shoutouts to the Motorola Flip. That was a great device. And that's it, Matt.

We're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, Great era. Battle of the decades, 2000s. And let's just say, I mean, I can't wait to get to the TV category. And sports, because we actually could factor into some of these conversations

if we were dicks and selfish. We would factor in. It might be in my notes. We'll be right back. This spring, denim gets a softer, lighter update. Introducing Old Navy's drapey denim wide leg, a new fit that moves with you. It's everything you want denim to feel like for summer.

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And this athlete goes really well with the NHTSA speed segment. And this moment is presented by Nizza, speeding catches up with you. Paid for by Nitsa. Okay, Maddie. A lot of great athletes in the 2000s. Two obvious ones that stood out, but I'm picking my one,

Michael Phelps. When you talk about speed, is there anyone that you were just loading up waiting to see what their time was going to be? How many swimming events have you watched in your lifetime, Matt, that didn't involve my own. I was going to say,

when the Olympics come on, I watch two things. I typically watch gymnastics, and I watched swimming. It's the only time I ever watched those once every four years and I watched swimming because of Michael Phelps. Yeah. He's, I mean, the greatest Olympian of all time.

I think that's a fact. I mean, you could throw Simone Biles in there, but like the greatest Olympian fast in the water and just had some legendary moments in the Olympics. Six gold medals in 04, eight gold medals in 08. And when he finished up with the eight gold medals in 08, I think I might have told the story on here before.

He flies back to the states, and obviously every media outlet wants to talk to him. We, Entourage, we were doing our only New York episode we ever did. We're shooting in New York City, where we're all from, or most of us on the show, we're from. And we were shooting outside, I think like the NBC building in Manhattan, and Michael Phelps was up there doing an interview. And one of our A.Ds, Gary Goldman, I believe, went up to Michael Phelps as he was leaving the building and said, hey, do you watch Entourage? And Michael Phelps is like, hell yeah. He's like, do you want to do a quick cameo? And it's like, yeah, sure.

So it's the quickest cameo ever. It's a blink if you missed it. Connolly's walking in the city on the phone and bumps into some dude. And the dude just goes, hey, watch where you're going. And Connolly's like, whatever guy. And it was Michael Phelps. That's rad. That is my athlete of the 2000s.

I'm curious to hear yours. I mean, mine's pretty easy. I have to, my favorite athlete, one of the greatest is Kobe. Yes. Won five NBA championships in that decade. obviously with Shaq and with Shaq and then

with Powisal later on again I mean I've talked about Kobe he's just my favorite he's my personal favorite athlete of all time and he dominated that was just

the Lakers run and then after that little Lakers run with Shaq I'm gonna just throw my boy Reggie Bush out there I'm gonna throw my boy my boy Reggie

I think I got to play with arguably the greatest college football player of all time it's a great call the the must watch TV and to be a part of those teams with him.

And just to always say, like, I had a front row, it was box office every weekend, right? I had a front row seat to a video game. So give honorable mention to my boy, Reggie, but to me it was Kobe Bryant. Well, also, let's get, let's take the elephant out of the room. We kind of tease it, you know,

you could easily factor into this conversation, Matt, because that team is an iconic team. And we'll wait until we get to the best team. team part of the category. We might as well just go right now. Because I can say, that's really those two are my two favorite teams, too. If we wanted to do favorite teams in 2000s,

for me, Lakers, because it was just an epic run, early on especially. And then USC, man. Like last week I did my favorite team was my all-star team that I was a part of because I'm living that right now with Kaysen.

I'll do the same thing for college. It was so much fun to be a part of those teams to win two national championships and to be close to winning a third. I know we lost to Texas, but again, man, just like NFL's great. It is what it is, but the college, those teams were just epic to be a part of. Could we stay here for a minute? Because, you know, we've talked about your USC days a lot on the show, obviously,

such a big part of your life, just like we talk about the entourage days. But for one minute, just paint the picture for the audience of what it was like to be the Heisman winning quarterback of you because part of the picture is in the early 2000s there was no pro football in Los Angeles USC was the team so what that was like being in L.A.

as the football team not only in the country for football but then in L.A. who you know you got the Lakers the Dodgers, the Dodgers right up there with them. It's crazy, dude, because when hindsight is when I look back I'm like, holy

shit. That was like, we were treated like rock stars. If I go back and I put myself back in the moment, that's all we knew. I didn't know any different, right? So like, that's what people always ask me. It was like, I'm like, dude, I'm like, like, all I knew was celebrities coming to practice and like Snoop's singing and Will Ferrell. All I knew was like getting into the club with my boy and going out there in the offseason and like literally like tables, that was, that was the, you know, the pre phone. That was when the club was just peak. You and I lived at the same time. And it was A-List celebrity after A-List celebrity.

No phones, no cameras. Everyone just having a blast. And like us, like people coming up to us and hobnobbing with us, like, oh, what's up, liner, what's up, whoever was out there. It was normal. It was, and to your point, the Lakers had just finished their three-peat and they had those four or five really poor years after Shaq left. So they weren't really a factor.

the Dodgers weren't on their Dodger run yet. The Kings weren't on their Kings run yet. We were the team of L.A. We were the team of L.A. We were treated like a professional football team. And looking back, it's like, dude, I did what? I met who? Like, I told the story.

Like, that night I won the Heisman trophy, I'm next to Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, and the whole cast from Longish Yard, and they're like stoked to meet me. And we're all partying like, congrats, Matt, let's go. I'm like, I'm like, I think in the moment I'm like What is my life?

But like I'm 22 I'm 21 dude You don't know any different So that's what I always say man But when I look back now I'm like Holy shit like what a run dude What a run And one of the coolest things I'll always say is You know because I was there in L.A. for those years

It just when you see that a sports team Or even an athlete like we were just discussing Become also part of just culture Not even just sports culture culture like everyone knew like my mom knew who you were were you aware of were you I've never asked you this like we because we never crossed past were you aware of USC football and like how great we were in that era like were you like oh this USC football team's knowing you now you're New Yorker but like like did you watch us I'm the perfect case study for USC because I move

out to California in 2000 I don't have a college football team right because in New York there is none. I didn't go to a big time college. I hardly went to any college. So I come out to LA loving like the Giants and football and all that and there's no football. So I did go to like a UCLA game at the Rose Bowl, which was cool in like 2000. And I was like, eh, this team's not really my thing. I went to one USC game. I think it was, I think it was, I think it was 01 or 02. But there was like a tailgating thing before. We were down by the beach before. I was with Hawk from American gladiators. It was like this crazy Hollywoodish story and I was a nobody.

And yes, I knew I knew how big it was. And then once I did start going out a little bit and I started working on Entourage, it was always known where you guys were. Oh, our shout out to our boy Josh Richmond, man. We were just... It was just wild, dude. It was just wild, dude. So like, we'd walk into a club and you look

at a table or wherever you guys were. I'd be like, yeah, that's definitely the USC football team. It was a bunch of monsters over there, you know? Man, it was a time, dude. God, it was a time. Well, so I took a different approach with the team, Matt, because the 2000s were a little tough for me, even though I got like, look, the Giants,

if that second Super Bowl would have been in the 2000s, I would have picked the Giants. I went a different route. I went with a team that I hated. And the reason why I say the team of the decade is because they tortured me during this decade. And I have to give respect where respect is due. What the Boston Red Sox did in the 2000s was insane.

That comeback from down 30 in 2004 to then against the Yankees, to then go on and win the World Series, and win another one after 118 million years and reversed the curse. And then they even go on to grab one in the 2010s. That, like, destroyed me. So when I say team of the 2000s, that was like the bane of my existence. Yeah.

Also started the run of Boston because the Patriots already had a ring. and then they caught another two. Then we start getting like the town and Ben Affleck and Matt David. Celtics, Celtics won too? It started like this whole, they started the Boston Renaissance of culture and sports.

So fuck the Boston Red Sox, but for me, that's the team in the 2000s. I hate them and they really put a damper on things for me. Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one. All right. And also, oh, wait, I got,

I forgot, like, favorite athlete, of course, like Tom, Tiger Woods, like we get it. He won 56 events, 12 major. I didn't watch golf in the 2000s. I watched, our story was watching golf in like 2009. So obviously, his record is maybe the best for the 2000s, but I just didn't watch. Brady Woods.

Yeah, I just didn't watch Tom Brady. I didn't watch Tiger Woods in the 2000s. I just didn't. So, all right. We're going on to musician or band. Now, this is where it gets tough when you start getting into the musical categories because there's genres, right? dude um

go ahead Matt okay so so he's still rock and I actually want to go see him in concert so my favorite one of my favorites this is hard dude there was a lot I could have gone in a lot of different directions um

T-pane T-Pain so I was going back and forth man and I'm thinking like okay Eminem is is my favorite rapper of all time you probably didn't know that I love Eminem um and I love Snoop I love I love everybody, but like Eminem is just like I still rock with him when I work out now.

Like this was the decade. I don't know who's yours is. Like the decade of Usher was like awesome. Like Nelly. Like there's just a there's an incredible run of like pop, R&B hip hop. T. Payne just like I go, I think of T. Payne. I think of my brother's wedding. I think of T. Payne. I think of like early NFL, late college. I was just always rocking by you a drink. dude it was just you know like for those watching he crossed every genre of pop hip hop rmb

I mean Bayou drank bartender he was on low with flow rider he was on good life with Kanye like he just he had an incredible run and I don't know if you've seen it like he's still torn he's still oh yeah like and he was the whole the whole auto tune thing kind of like was the first we ever saw that

but then like the dude can absolutely fucking sing his lights out too people didn't know that about him. So musician, for me, this was tough, but I go with T-Pain. Yeah. You like that one. You like that one. I do.

No, that's a great call. And I really looked at this one hard. But I have to go with the obvious and you mentioned Eminem. Did I mention? No, no. I'm just saying, when you go those three albums, Marshall Mathers LP in 2000, Eminem show in 2002, Encore in 2004. Like he came on the scene in 2000, like where he exploded.

And it was just the most dominant thing. And, you know, I always think of it too of like, whose album would I have lined up to buy? Whose was I bought? Like, I got to get this the minute it comes out. It was Eminem for me at that time. He just was. You know, like the Stan song was a movie to me.

That video dropped. Like the Stan song, you know, I don't think we've seen anything like that in music really where he basically... I put him on my Mount Rushmore of rappers. Yeah, I believe me, I tried to like find some bands and stuff

to like get like radio head who was unbelievable and I had a few, to me that I'd be lying if I picked someone else I'd be trying to go with a trendy pick. I mean, there's so many, dude. Like Usher had, I mean,

if you like the R&B, Usher had his just era of all those songs. Yeah, but it wasn't like... Nellie was still going. It just didn't dominate the 2000s. For me, 50, 50 kind of blew up in that decade. 50 was up there. That 50 would have probably been my number two or three.

I mean, but 50, if we talk about just club music, like what music did you want the most in the club? Timberlake at his peak. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm looking up, yeah. We forgot actually last week to do song, but this week I think we should do a song of the 2000s. And this is a total crapshoot because of all the genres of music. What's your, go with your song.

Okay. So I almost picked this artist from my favorite musician band in the 2000s, not currently. I picked a Kanye West song. I picked Good Life. Yeah. And first of all, you, you know, talk about albums, college dropout late registration. But Good Life was special for me because Kanye famously did a cameo on Entourage. And it was one of the first times he had Good Life ready to drop.

and we premiered a song as Entourage got famous for like their needle drops at the end of episodes. We debuted Good Life on Entourage. That was the premiere. As the first time, the mainstream audience heard Good Life. Welcome to Good Life. That's a good song. We're flying off on a jet

that Kanye is flying essentially. Like he's flying us to the Cannes Film Festival. I just dare you to find a more music pop culture moment in the 2000s than that one. And whatever you want to say about Kanye now, go right. I wish we can get the old Kanye back. No, I don't think that Kanye is coming back.

He's so far. So that's my song. Welcome to the Good Life. I want this is, I want you to try and guess. This is, this is. Because you can go country. You can go hip-hop. I'm in the same genre-ish, pretty much.

Is it like a Rihanna song? Mm-hmm. I don't know which one, but I would have guessed the artist. Umbrella. Umbrella. It's a great, it's one of my, it's, it's one of my, It's one of the top songs, one of the greatest songs of all time. So when you and Lendale White are sitting at a table in some club,

and oh, whatever, an umbrella comes on. You guys are just, plus I knew Rihanna a little bit, you know? So, like, it was just... Once again, go see our Josh Richmond episode. If you haven't watched that one on YouTube, search throwbacks, Josh Richmond. And Maddie talks a little bit about... Yeah, we had a... An encounter with Rihanna.

Yeah, we had a pretty good couple stories with Rihanna. That was a really personal pick. Good for you. here's some incredible honorable mentions. Obviously, Lose Yourself, Eminem. Yeah, from Usher, Lowe, obviously. Like, those are like your mainstream,

but like back then. In the club? You say in the club? No, I said in the club, for sure. Low by Flowrider. Yeah, yeah. Usher. But Umbrella, man.

And then Eminem. I mean, lose yourself is just an iconic song. But like you just mentioned all the albums. I mean, there's so many good ones. Jay Z had a bunch of bangers, obviously. I had two in my non-hip-hop profile. I did enjoy The Strokes. Last night was a good was a banger.

And shout-outs to Mikhail Bridges, who was bumping cold play on his live stream. Cold play, scientist, yellow, cold play several bangers. Just honorable mention outside of the hip-hop genre. But in 2000s, I wasn't listening to much cold play or the strokes. So that was a good one. That was a tough one. The greatest era of hip-hop albums ever, the blueprint. College dropout and the Carter too.

Well, this little competition is about to get harder. We're going to hold off on what we were drinking. That's our special 2000s topic. That's going to be coming up in a second. I say we segue now into just three heavyweight fights. We're going to start with, let's go television show of the 2000s. So stupid, dude. And do you want to eat out here?

You can tell just how different where we grew up and what I liked. I don't even have your thing. So I thought you would have maybe gone like Drey or a little more West Coast hip-hop on yours. No. I just thought you maybe went like West Coast. Yeah, I love those guys. Two blocks. So, okay, look, Entrage is a great show.

I'm not going to say it's my favorite show. Still an iconic show, but just for, because we always talk about it, I'm not going to say Entourage. I'll leave that up to you if you want to. Fantastic. This is where you're going to start making fun of me, and I think I've said this before, but probably one of my favorite shows. I know what you're going to say. It's one tree hill.

One tree hill is fucking guy. It's so terrible. I guess I got to watch it. You've referenced one tree hill like five times. It's so good, but it's so bad. But I will say this. This is actually, to me, this was the start of peak reality TV, this era. So, and honestly, I used to, you know, obviously pre-kids, I used to watch.

So, like, for me, this decade was American Idol. I used to watch American Idol religiously. Every season I'd be glued to that television. I used to watch The Bachelor and Bachelorette. That's where I got into it with my mom. I never forget with my mom when Cole was a baby. So it was like 2006, 2007. So like I think Jersey Shore came out in that era.

Like there was just like... Dominant show. There was dominant reality TV before now. There's a million reality TV shows. Like it was peak reality TV. So one, one. Country Hill for me was like one of those ones. I think it was CW that I just, you know,

it kind of felt, it kind of filled the saved by the bell void of that decade. But the reality TV just movement was incredible in that era. So you mentioned Jersey Shore and it's funny. We keep talking about nightclubs. Again, ghosty to Josh Richmond episode. We talk a lot about L.A. nightclubs. Obviously, we said like, look, when USC was in the club, we knew.

I'd like to think when entourage was in the club, we knew. You know who you knew also was in the club when you rolled up was the cast of the fucking Jersey Shore? When I love or hated. Are you going Jersey Shore? No, no. I'm just off of what you said with Jersey Shore. I remember what club, what club? The one on Las Sienega had like 50 different names over the years.

At one point it was shelter. And then it was prey. Dude, they were the biggest thing on the planet of reality TV. We were in the club and that cast walked in. And you would have thought the fucking Beatles walked in. And I believe Connolly has a photo of him with the situation, the situation holding up his abs and Connolly like pointing to his abs. That's like, I'm sorry, but that is a huge part of 2000.

That's not my pick though. They had, I mean, look, they had an iconic run, man. They had an absolute iconic run. Jim Tan Laundry. GTL. This is a simple one for me. Again, I cannot mix up and try to be obscure. It's the soprano.

it's obviously the best show ever. It started before 2000, but then as the show got more complicated to make it, they started taking a longer period of time in between. So it's run in the 2000s was just, like the Sopranos finale. I never got into the Sopranos, but I know, yeah. You got to watch it, Matt. I know it's great.

I know, I already know. And like fire that up on the iPad. I can't watch movies that have shows that happened 30 years ago. I have no interest. I just would ask you as a friend. and an Italian-American from East Coast. I'd rather re-watch Entourage because I just, it's been

so long since I've watched Entourage. Well, I, you know, I can't selfishly pick Entourage. And I don't think, look, I don't think Entourage was the best show of the 2000s. But it was a great show. As far as a run, you know, we started an 0-4.

You know what I think? Entourage did the best, though. I think it captured the 2000s better than any show. And that's why I think a lot of younger people. I just get hundreds and sometimes thousands of messages on TikTok and Instagram of like 22 year old people who are commenting on how good entourage is or how much they

loved it. I think it's because it's a time capsule now of what that era, particularly pre-social media. And man, I wish I was a part of that era. And yeah. So I can't say entourage for that. But sopranos for sure. You just got it. Just dominant. You know what? One trio, I might I might just I'll watch one tree hill if you watch a soprano. Just for shits and giggles. I just might throw fucking Jersey Shores my favorite show that decade. Why not? Why not? Fuck it. What a great

What a GTL man. And Polly D. Polly D's my boy. He's DJing in Vegas. Oh, he's a great career, Pauly D. And by the way, good dude. I've hung with him a little bit here or there. By all accounts, we're not like good friends or anything, but by all accounts. I mean, we could she get Polly D on this. He's a throwback. I think he would come on for sure.

Yeah, bro. By the way, that's a great call. That's a great call. Yeah. You know, one thing I've been getting pretty serious about lately is starting my morning with a walk. Before the calls, before the schedule gets crazy, I like getting outside, getting some sunlight, and clearing my head for a few minutes. It's become a part of my daily routine. And honestly, I feel different when I stick with it.

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That's Kachava, K-A-V-A-com, code throwbacks. All right, movies, which I talked a lot last episode with the 90s of, I just don't think that the 2000s, I was doing like a preview. I don't think the 2000s can beat the 90s in terms of movies, and I'm not quite sure they do, but doing the research, it's crazy to pick one. There's some pretty good movies out there, dude. Your favorite movie of the 2000s. Oh, fuck, this one was hard, too, dude.

It's really hard. It's not the best movie of the 2000s. It's your favorite. And I have my answer. So, again, well, one, I'm going to throw this out there. It's a little cliche because I feel like a lot of people do it, but I still think Gladiator is one of the greatest movies of all time. Is that yours?

It's a great movie. No. I didn't put it in because it came out in 2000, which means it was shot in like 99. It's eligible because it was released in 2000. So it's not, it's not my favorite. But it's always, when people ask me favorite movies, it's always on my list of my mind because it's like, Even it came on right now, I'm like, damn, let's go watch it because Russell Crow's a Beast.

As a lot of people know who listen to this show, I am a comedy fan. I think this era, because last week was Dumb and Dumber, 90s, this one probably surpasses it. You have old school and you have wedding crashers. You love wedding crash. I love it. Honestly, it might be my favorite movie of all time. It's a great movie. It's a great movie. Old School is a fantastic fucking movie.

Anchorman. Anchorman was in this era. I never was, I didn't like Anchorman as much as a lot of people. I thought it's classic and Wolf Ferald is great. It's classic. It's a classic. But Super Bad. Solid. Really good movie. But for me, of those three, I'm going to go with Wedding Crashers. I just, I have to, dude. It's just, it's a perfect comedy. It's a perfect comedy. I think it's my favorite movie because it was like it was so well done. Great choice, great movie. So this is really hard because, you know, of the, again, of the genres of films just like music. So before I give my answer, you got to give a nod to Dark Night, which is a movie.

If it's on, I kind of have to watch it. And what he allegedly did was unbelievable. And then another sneaky one that I almost picked, but I just haven't, I mean, I've watched the bunch. It didn't dominate the 2000s for me. but Iron Man, because what Iron Man did was that started Marvel, the relaunch of Marvel.

Now the relaunch of Marvel. I know, right. And we could say it was 20 years later, but then like Marvel was nowhere with the movie business. Zero. Nowhere, no presence. Like Spider-Man was a thing,

but Sony owned Spider-Man. Marvel didn't even really control Spider-Man. Iron Man with Downey and John Farrow directing. Once that hit, it was game. on and Marvel was just go read. There's like books on it. It's awesome story, but that was it.

But again, I can't allow myself to do that because that's not my personal favorite. My personal favorite involves Bradley Cooper. And I was at the premiere of this movie. And it's a comedy. And I think rarely, rarely with comedies, especially some that have romance in it, but rarely with comedies, can you surprise anybody and shock anyone. The hangover did that. The hangover in the premiere mat at the theater.

That last, that end credit when they find the camera and they show the stills from the weekend and fill in all the gaps of what you heard the entire time but didn't get to see. And then you see it with the photo gallery basically. Mike Tyson cameo, Vegas, like pure old school Vegas, the way we all remember Vegas, which is not the Vegas that exists anymore.

It just had it all. I'm sorry. So Wedding Crashers was, so Wedding Crashers was like our first look at Bradley Cooper. He kind of played the, he kind of, that's what I was thinking of Bradley Cooper. That's probably what got him the hangover.

Yeah, and that's what got in the hangover, which he was legendary in hangover. Yeah. I mean, Zach Gallifanakis, like just to me, the 2000s, I think Anchorman for me best sums up. Not Anchorman. The hangover best sums up. 2000s for me.

And I was at that premiere. You can go, look, I was drag. I ripped my suit jacket. So I had to go with a white shirt, tucked in my pants, and I was chubby as hell. And me and Jamie Lynn were at that premiere. And that premiere was unbelievable. Oh, dude. What a fucking movie.

No easy task here, Maddie. Actor. I can go first on this one. Look, I tried to make the case. Like, I went down the Merrill Street, rabbit hole. And it's impressive to have five Oscar nominations in the 2000s, which is nuts. That's nuts. I can't say I loved the movie.

Adaptation, great. Devilware is proud of great. Doubt was hard to watch. Didn't see Julie and Julie and didn't see the Iron Lady. Sorry, Merrill Streep, you are brilliant. Here's where it gets tough. Now, we got a lot of Russell Crow in the 2000s, but I couldn't pick them. I had to go with my men.

Denzel? No. I went Denzel Washington. He goes, remember the Titans, training day. American gangster inside, man. And I think that's where we really went. We really got into... Denzel as like a, you know, an icon.

Yeah, Denzel of the 2000s for me is the answer. So I'm going Leo. Great run. Leo's run. Gangs in New York. Yep. Catch me if you can. The Aviator. The departed.

Blood Diamond. Revolutionary Road Shutter Island which is fucking crazy he didn't have an Oscar I mean obviously he eventually wins an Oscar didn't whatever but I think Leo

was snubbed forever you just you just gotta respect Leo's been doing it for a long time dude and like one of the greatest actors in all of our lifetimes and he will go down as one of the greatest actors

he kind of chills he you know he dates the younger that's what he's known for but he's just he's always He's never really in the news. He just fucking goes out and just does bangers, dude. He just does bangers. And I think one of the last actors that we will see ever

who didn't do the talk shows. Because he had a strategy, I believe. I don't know if he did. I mean, I just, I don't know if he ever did this consciously. I'm sure he did. You know, how could you believe me in this role and this role and this role if you know all this about me personally? You know, and I'm sure he enjoyed his privacy anyway.

It wasn't that hard for him. But these days, and he actually did, he did the Kelsey's podcast. I was going to say, he just did that. I was like, finally they were like, Leo's the only way we could sell a movie these days. Please get out in the streets, man. And it's great to, it's great because it's like when he does those things, you tune in because he never, he never speaks about it. He just does his thing. That's why, I just got a lot of respect for him, dude.

And I, and I know people who know him, like, he's just seems like a great dude and just done his fucking, he's just living his fucking life. You may see him pop up. once we get to the 2010s, potentially for me, because, uh, but anyway, yeah, I mean, legend, absolute legend. I don't think we'll see another one like him because you just can't be like that these days. You have to have Instagram and TikTok, man.

He's just a, yeah. All right. The category that got us, uh, that got Maddie almost viral last week. We did our 90s crush. We talked about earlier. 2000s crush now. Now we are grown men though, Matt.

This is like a little time. You know, you might have even dated one of your crushes. Who knows at this point? Oh. So, well... Before we go, real quick, I appreciate a lot of you who would probably pick Emmanuel Shrieky from

Entourage. I obviously am not. Hey, babe. She's like my sister. Hey, babe. Hey, babe. So shout out to Manuel. You are very much someone who should be on this list. I just can't pick you because you're like my sister. So...

All right. So... Crush, I went with Tiffany Ambrithees in last decade. Yes. I could have went with... with this one. And this one, I'm going to go with Britney Spears. I could have easily, because she kind of came on in the late 90s. So I could have easily done the late 90s with her. This was a crazy decade for her, dude. This is a lot of peaks and valleys, man. A lot of peaks and valleys.

But Britney Spears in her prime was one of the most iconic superstars that we've ever witnessed. in pop, in pop culture, and all of these things. Like, she was must watch, must see, you know, when she was dating Timberlake, all those things. And then obviously, she had a lot of her things that happened to her. And she went sideways pretty quickly. But for me, man, like, that was probably the number one, like, legit poster on my wall, Britney Spears when I was, like, in high school.

I, do you want to, this is actually a great story. I've never told the story. I'm in the Elite 11 quarterbacks, my senior year. I had, I believe, I think this story is accurate and whoever, someone from Lee 11 might comment on this.

I had asked for my birthday that year. My birthday's in May. This was like right in the summer. Britney Spears tickets. I love you, Matt. For my birthday. You're my dude, bro. And my mom got them for me

and I'm pretty sure I skipped a night. at Elite 11 because you're there for like four or five days and I went to the Britney Spears concert. Now maybe I didn't go but I tried to go and they wouldn't let me. I can't remember because I can't remember if I win or not, but I'm pretty sure I did. But yeah, I had on that weekend.

I'm like, dude, I'm not. I don't care. Like, I have to go. Like, it was one of those things where like my mom, they save money for us to go. Right. Right. But yeah, man, Spears.

Shout out to Spears. Things I did not have on the bingo card is Matt Linerd's skipping a 11 to go to a Britney Spears concert, but that could be the plot of like draft day too. Like why did he fall? He fell because he went to the Britain Spears concert instead of going to the elite 11. Oh, she was an, dude, just, I mean, some of the greatest iconic moments. Like, dude, this snake around her like singing like her talk about music videos, dude. Go back, go, go go do a little refresher when you're solo and just go watch some MTV Britney Spears music videos. Holy shit.

All right. We can move on. Who's your crush? I mean, look, for the early 2000s, it still was Jennifer Love You and who I said in the 90s. Like, that's how you know it was a true crush.

It lasted well into the 2000s, but in the spirit of the exercise, I'm not going to pick the same pick. I'm going to go with Jessica Alba because I was first introduced to her in a movie called Idol Hands, which is like this really ridiculous stoner movie with Seth Green

and Devin Sawa. really, like, if you enjoy weed and you've never seen idle hands, go smoke a joint and watch idle hands. It's a, it's a bizarre movie. But then I kind of got interested in, like, you know, I would say I think she qualified in that time period to 2000s crush. She was in an episode of Antar, the second episode ever. Which was strange, because I was like, oh, my God, that.

That's how I know I could say. I didn't even maybe realize it was a crush until I met her. And I was like, whoa, that's like, presence and just walked onto this set and like dominated for one day and got out. So shout out to Jessica Alba. I was always grateful for the cameos. But it's definitely a sneaky crush. Yeah, she's still, I mean, she looks the same.

I had a, I have Scarlett Johansson there as an honorable mention as well. Another entourage cameo. Look at this. It was tough, though. My honorable mention had Alicia Cuthbert was on there for that girl next door of you was wild. I love they're on 24 as well. Underrated movie. This one I'm curious for you. Fashion trend of the 2000s. Mine's pretty simple. I'm not going to spend too much time on this for me. This is just me personally. This was my, and I'm actually kind of getting back into it. This was my

white or black tea baggy jeans and Chuck Taylor's with a backwards hat. That's literally, I wore a black tea in jeans and Chuck's to the club probably every time I went to the club. and like a loose collared shirt every once in a while. But I was a white tea, black tea, jeans, chucks, and a backwards hat. That's it, man. That was my decade. I want to shout out the ladies because I very well remember the juicy couture velour suit. Just young women walking around like 80s mobsters with velour suits, except they were pink.

It was really interesting times for them. as for the dudes the trucker hats like the I never got I'm not a trucker hat guy I can't pull it off Ashton Coucher did so well

with them early on those Von Dutch hats or whatever I wore them on entourage but to me it was like throwback jerseys like the the light blue Kobe Laker jersey like that said Los Angeles

in the script you know the McDonald's All-American jerseys throwback jerseys in the 2000 I think were really a thing. And also, like, and Air Force ones always run in the cycle.

Always. Like, they're in, in, and for a minute they were out. You know what someone once told me, though? Because Turtle then goes on, as I have the Air Force ones right here, Turtle goes on to wear Air Force ones in the show. I mean, I used to wear jorts on the show. Gene shorts are horrible, horrible. But someone, I'm not going to say who it is.

It was like, oh, yeah, Air Force One, that's the fat guy shoe. I was like, what? I blew my mind. I'm like, what? I wear these every day. And the person was like... Air Force One and then it went to... Then dunks are still big.

Then it went to kind of dunks and Air Force... Nike SBs and dunks. But when this person said this to me, I said, I wear Air Force Ones in my regular life too. He's like, exactly. He pointed at me. Exactly. And I looked at my belly and I'm like, okay, terrible thing to say. Those are the things that stand out for me.

Yeah, the AF ones, but they still always come back. All right. We're going to... Before we get into my... favorite categories, which will be tech advancements and video games, and then we'll do MVP. I think now we insert what we were drinking in the 2000. I think it's a perfect place to pop a beverage right now. So Matt, you became legal and whatever, 2004, I was 2001.

What were you drinking when you were legally, legally allowed to drink? So I'm going to break this down because there's so many things because it's like you have your phases, right? You have my college phase, which was blank, kind of getting the NFL, so you get a little more sophisticated. Got some dough, you could buy a nice bottle of something. So college, I'm going to list four or five things that we drank, 21, yeah, religiously, okay? And what I was introduced to. Old English. Forty oldie, right? Hell yeah. Fast way to get you going. I was a big, Jack and Coke guy in college. Now Jack, you know, wants to make, I want to vomit.

But that's a story for another day. But some of the ones, man, the O.Gs, Boone's Farm. You got to remember, dude, we're on college. Broke. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like Boone's Farm, Boone's Farm. And then what was the last one? Oh, God.

Mad Dog 2020. You're a maniac. So that's my college, right? So obviously college bleeds into a little bit of, Hollywood when I was 21 and 22. But that was like on campus, what are we going to get? Whatever. I was a big, big, big in my mid-20s in that kind of 2000s,

Red Bull vodka guy, dude. I know, bro. Not good. Not good. I actually drank it. Like, every time I went out, I was... Red Bull vodka. It was a cranberry vodka.

Then it was like Red Bull vodka. Because I'm like, dude, if I'm going, I'm going. I was drinking. that up until I met my wife. And then that was still my drink. And this is like... And Josie was like, Matt, you got... No, she's like... You're gonna explode. She's like, you're gonna kill yourself? No, like, I don't drink that much. But like,

if we went out, that, like, you know, you'd have like eight of them, right? Like, I'd get all hyped up. Yeah, and then I'd go to bed and I wake up at 5.30 just fucking shaking, like, oh, what the fuck is that? What's going on? So I finally stopped for her. I was like, she was like, you can't drink those anymore. Like, you can't. So that was, that... There's all the like, you know, the shots, like the shots were great. Red-headed sluts. Lemon drops.

Yeah. Kamikaze. Kamikaze was a big one. Irish car bombs. A lot of throw, like just a lot of throwbacks like that. So for me, it was multiple. But yeah, man, what a great run of drink. So I remember, this is how old I am. First of all going to tie this all up in a bow because it's crazy, the stuff you said.

But I remember where I was. the first time someone said, have you ever tried this? And I'm like, what is it? And they go, it's Red Bull and vodka. I went, okay. It was in Vegas. It was at the Rio Hotel.

And I had like six of them. And then by 3 a.m., I was like, what is? I thought someone spiked my drink with something. I felt like I was on drugs. I was so, I thought I could play basketball, football. I was out of my mind, like, with the energy and the caffeine. So I remember where I was.

what that happened. I'm a tie a bow on your Boone's Farm thing, along with Jessica Alba. When she did her cameo, it's all about we're going to a party at Jessica Alba's house, and we're at Gil Turner's. Shoutouts to Gil Turner's liquor store on Sunset Boulevard, and

we're trying to pick out a bottle of wine to bring to Jessica Alba's house. And Adrian's character, Vince, has this line. It's Jessica Alba's house, we can't bring her Boones Farm. That's the exact line he says on the show. Shout out to Boones Farm. Do they even make that anymore?

Probably not. We might be on our way to a sponsorship. Matt, that was great, bro. You brought me back at the time. I had to, man. I just, there was so many, like, by the way, every, every now and again, every now and again, every now and again, I'll throw a little, I don't really drink vodka anymore. I've switched to tequila, but I will, I will throw around, maybe I order a little Red Bull vodka.

Typically, when I'm in Vegas, and it might be a three o'clock in the afternoon. And I need a little boost to go get. I might just throw one back for nostalgic stakes. And if I'm with Josie, I'm like, babe, I'm going to order one red bull vodka. Don't get mad of me. Just one. All right. So I'm on par with you here.

Again, I'm not, admittedly, not the biggest drinker in the world. Even when I would go out, I'd have like one or two. I was never a guy who liked to get, like, fully out of control. I needed to have a little bit of control. But I lived through the 2000s, and I went out a decent amount. And for me, it's specifically. Vaca, but it's specifically Grey Goose.

Yeah, Grey Goose was the bottle. And can you think of a brand of vodka that has made more club promoters and club owners more money than Grey Goose? Because if you went and you didn't get comp, like they were charging and they probably still charge... Oh, like 500 bucks a bottle for a 30...

Yeah. 800 for a $50 bottle of vodka. They were getting a, you know, a 10 to 12x markup. So what Grey Goose did for a lot of... lot of people is crazy. But yeah, I just remember like whenever you go out, like that was the vodka. Oh, Greg Goose was... To me, the 2000s were vodka. Yeah. You know, I'm with you now in the tequila. I can't even smell vodka at this point. Honestly, me neither. It's like rubbing alcohol. Yeah. To me. And no one really was drinking tequila in the 2000. I'm not saying no one,

but very, very few that I saw. And it wasn't really until we did... We just did tequila shots. If we were going to do anything, it was like, quick way. Let's get a... You know, Don Hooley, go get a little whatever. And then just, yeah, that was a quick way. But it would be Grey Goose one. And if they didn't have Grey Goose, then you could settle for Belvedere. And Jay-Z made Belvedere famous. So those were the two to me.

Those two Vakas were just that summer. Shout out to the original Seltzers. Mike's hard lemonade. A twisted tea. One of was up there, not Seltzer, but Twisted Tea dropped in the 2000s. Oh, hypnotic. Hypnotic was fire. We used to have hypnotic too.

Hennessy of Hypnotic. Yeager bombs, let's go. Mickey's malt liquor. I'm officially nauseous now. Let's move on. All right. Okay. To me, these final two categories

are so cultural, and I think for me, it also decides my MVP in a decade. But first, we're going to go with tech advancement of the 2000s. And this is tough. There's two or three

really top dogs for me in 2000s. Well, I mean, the number one of all time came out. Okay. The iPhone is the number one tech advancement of all times. Did the iPhone come out in the 2007? But you could almost predate the iPhone with the iPod, which is the reason why the iPhone became a thing. So my mine of the 2000s is the iPod.

iPod. See, that's not mine for the 2000s. Okay, so mine, so I'm a big music fan. I always have been no music ability whatsoever, but I just love music as a lot of people do. And I just remember the shift from like the CD, the disc player, because I used to have a disc player at USC in my early, the first couple years. Yeah, it helped, the iPad help athlete. And then when you, then we got the iPod. I'm like, wait, what? I can download 200 songs on here. Like, and then you scroll and like, whatever it was. Um, so for me, the iPod is just like, it was, it was, that was a massive shift. It was just a massive shift. It was just a massive shift.

and then you know you go to the obviously the AirPods and now the wireless and all that stuff but the iPod paved the way for all the iPod paved the way for and changed the music the way we listen to music forever um so yeah I think the iPod in that era and there's obviously the cell phone continued like like YouTube there's all sorts of things that came out the iPod for me was number one yeah and that's a great pick um I'm gonna stick true to myself with the 2000s I had an iPod of course I was maybe one of the last people to go with an iPhone. I was a, and this is my choice, I was a Blackberry. Oh, BlackBerry. BlackBerry. Everyone started switching to iPhones like 2010. I would not get rid of the BlackBerry.

I even watched the movie. There's a cool indie about like the behind-the-scenes story of Blackberry. I don't know how accurate it is. It's what like Jay Barichel. Really fun, interesting movie, Matt. You should watch it if you want to go back in time. the Blackberry and the way it connected us with BBM and pins and it just BBM was so good. I don't know if it was like all over the country.

I know it was like a New York L.A. thing on entourage too with the BlackBerry's. It just was a very, just Blackberry to me sums up the 2000s. The Blackberry is the is the greatest cell phone of all time, arguably. I had a buddy that had a Blackberry up until it felt like five years ago. He was holding on. I almost was there, bro. I wouldn't let go. It was, yeah.

was like one of those things. God, yeah, that, that, the, that era, it was the chirp phone, the Nextel chirp phone, because I remember that was huge at USC. Our whole team had that. The sidekick came out. Yeah, they're just, the Blackberry just won the decade. Oh, no, no, no, I'm with you. The Blackberry was fantastic. I had all the other ones. I'm like, ah, the sidekick was kind of cool, though, because it would like, you know, like the thing. And pre-Blackberry, I do have to say, and someone in the 90s talked about Motorola flip a Motorola flip-o, but the Motorola raises. was. Obviously, the 2000s, big part, Facebook was started, YouTube was started.

Linewire, Napster. Myspace, I think, was the same. Like, it was a big, big era, the shift of tech online and all that kind of stuff is where it all went south. Yeah. Well, we are down to our final two. This, to me, is the best. It's always maybe my favorite category. Video game of the 2000s.

Your personal. It's always the hardest, dude. Sure. It is, but I have a defined winner. And I can go first if you'd like that. I mean, I have two, but go for it. Okay. I'm not going to give my second because I don't want to step on yours.

But the number one for me, and it's not close, really, is Call of Duty for Modern Warfare. Yep. That is the game I play the most. I got to a Golden Cross very, very quickly. I was ranked pretty decently in North America. back in, you know, when the game first came. There was times where, because, you know, what was your kill ratio?

I'd have to look. I might if you could actually go back in the files. I mean, I was elite. I was elite. You put me on, you put me on shit. What was your tag name? Mine was sure. Mine was surefire 11.

I'll never forget. Sure fire. I think I didn't have a great, I think I was like Frato, Fredo 13 from like the godfather. have a great elite name. I play with all my boys back in Brooklyn and some in L.A. Yeah, that just was, it just was outstanding. Like, to load in in the morning, like, I used to try to think what I used to do in the mornings. That's what I would do in Saturday mornings. Wake up, probably be some weed involved, and I would just load up.

Bro, God. Do me that 50-Cal? Or give me that, I like the, the M-16-3 burst on shipment. Come on now. Oh, shit, man. Cod's, yeah. I mean, look, it Cod to me was 1B. And the story mode was excellent. The story mode, if you actually played the story mode of the game with the ending with the last shot, was iconic. God, sorry.

God, I want to get back into Cod online. Same, like, first shooter game, like, shooter game, Halo. Halo to me was the original. We used to play Halo, my senior year in college. I didn't really have class. I had the dancing class, right? like because I'd already pretty much graduate. I would play Halo every night.

And it was like when you first got on your headphones and you're online. And then we'd also go to my buddy's apartment and we'd do the wire where the wire would be. System link. System link would be all across all the apartments. So we'd actually have a one. We'd had 16 different people playing on little boxes. It's the best. Halo was a huge, huge part in like a three or four year run for me.

And College Duty was right there too, right? Like those were my two. I would just switch off between that. but Halo man fuck dude well similar to the iPod Halo 2 with online gaming is what kind of paved the way

for the Call of Duty it just was unbelievable so very very similar Halo 2 paved the way and when they dropped that energy sword man and Halo 2 that was

crazy what a time that was like that was peak that was peak gaming I'm sorry I know people might point to Twitch and Fortnite and all that stuff for an old head like me, that was peak gaming.

All right, we're wrapping up here. All that being said, this was a lot of fun, Matt. Give me your MVP of the decade from all the things we said or something that you haven't said yet. I think the MVP for me is just in general. We've kind of talked about it a little bit, but just a big picture thought, you know, the 90s was great because it was pre, pre, pre, pre, anything social. So it was like you met with your buddies. You were outside playing.

I think I was playing street football. And like it just had this aura about it. 2000s to me, the MVP is still similar in that vein. It's really the last era before technology changed everything, right? It's the last era between before the cell phone. Now, we all had it, but it just felt like when you had a cell phone in the mid-2000s, like it was still magic about it. It was still fucking six.

I got a cell phone call. You didn't use it the way we used it to now where we... No, you had that three-tap text. Yeah, we're on social media 24-7. We're getting our news now from our cell phones for better or for worse. Back then, we didn't get news. Like, you only saw what you saw in local paper or maybe local television. So just the MVP is, for me, is still the...

It was the last era where we could go to the club and be fucking idiots. It was the era where we could still... For the most part now, like this is like, you got to get in the mid-2000s that started changed with all the gossip sites and all that. But my MVP is just in general. It's the last era where we could be kids. We could kind of do what we wanted without the consequence, without people watching. And you and I were obviously in the same world of kind of still living in a fishbowl with our jobs.

So yeah, it's going back to that. It was the last era. I'd like to kind of say the magic era before everything changed it. And technology has been great for a lot of reasons, but it's also been a curse for a lot of reasons. So it's just being able to go out and be like not relying so much on this. And I'm guilty not being on that you were present almost always wherever you were and you were wrong with your dudes or your girlfriend or whatever at the time. And it was the last couple of years before like when life was just a lot easier.

You know what I mean? Very, very well said. It's just the MVP. It's just that mindset. That was the MVP for me. We are at that rare age. And again, I got you by a few years there, but because you, you know, did so many great things in your career at such a young age, too. We are old enough and young enough to remember the times before.

And we were both kind of doing our thing. We both had a lot of success at a very young age. So we got to experience the before. But while we were still having success, then we got to see the slow development to the other. side of things. And I think that's what makes guys our age or within that five-year radius interesting people in a way because like they remember the before and they lived through in like a lot of heights of their careers, whatever their fields are. We live through the other side of it. So very, very well said. My MVP at a decade, and that's why I saved

it all for last, but because I was such a gamer and I used to dream about this day when I was a little kid. I used to dream when I had to go home when I was like nine years old, but I was playing like Mike Tyson's punchout or RC Pro Am at my boy's house. And I used to be like, man, I just wish I could play Joey from up the street, but he was at his house and I was at my house so he could play longer. How cool would that be? Online gaming for me in the 2000s. That was the best. Game changer. It could have been my tech advancement, but I didn't want to spoil it. That is my MVP of the 2000s is online. That changed everything, dude. every and how it became so it started becoming really mainstream and uh the games got so good

rc proam shout out to rc proam by the that was one of my favorite games ever i had a hack for rc proam so used to have to hold down whatever it was a or b while you drove so after a while your thumb would get tired i took a close hanger and opened it up and just clipped it on the b button so i didn't have to hold down the acceleration button i just just play with loose hand because my thumb would get sore from holding down the button so tight. Dude, great online gaming. I think, like we said, the 90s and 2000s is where it was peak gaming. It was peak video games.

It was the, you know, the beginning of online gaming. It was the original systems in the 90s that you were waiting to get to the PlayStation's and the Super Nintendo's and all that, man. And the tech advancements of the 2000s have changed the way we live, for sure. It's the last real era before our life. is consumed by our, by social media and all that. Um, I think the movies were great. The act, like all of it.

I mean, you know, we became men in the 2000s, Jerry. We did. We did. We had a great. Hey, we had, you know what? I want to thank me and you for having a great two thousand. That's our era, Matt. Yeah, that's our time, baby.

That's our era. Now we're living, hey, we're living the better era now as dads and husbands and all that. But man, and that was, that was the last era of us being single. And that's what I'll say to... I mean, I had a kid. Shout out to Cole. I became a father in the 2000s, which was just obviously a massive gift. You accomplished a lot, Matt. By the time you were like 25, you had already...

A lot was going on, dude. Accomplished and have been through a lot. So yeah, shoutouts to the 2000s. We love you. And to all, like, if there's any young people listening to this today, if you're in your 20s, during the 2020s, I would say, find your version of the 2000s as best. best you can. I know you got to do social. I know you got to keep a presence and you got to keep up,

but try to find your way of tuning it all out when you can and just making sure you have those relationships. But yeah, man, we can't complain about the 2000s, Matt. We had it good. No. We had it real good. Nope. All right. Well, that's the show for today. You know what I want to do after, after this comes out, because these are so fun, we got to do some type of bracket challenge between the decades. We still got another decade to do. We still do two. We still do two. We still do 2010s. It's really interesting. We still got 2010s. And please, again, out there on social, we love the feedback.

Yes. What do we miss? We want to hear yours. We're going to read them out before we do the 2010s. We'll recap like we just did earlier in this episode. And yeah, don't forget to go like and subscribe on YouTube. Share the episode. And we will be back with the 2010s. And that's where shit starts to get muddy. Shout out to the wives.

Thank you.