S&P’s Why Not Us?! Episode #12

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You got Ole Miss playing, LSU tonight.

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I, I'm gonna look forward to watching some of that.

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First time these two have met as top 10 seeds since 1962.

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Wow.

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But here's, the Lane Kiffin angle.

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November 30th of last year, Lane Kiffin announces he's leaving Ole Miss for LSU.

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He's built this program for six years.

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He's taken Ole Miss to an 11 and 1 record, and they're headed to the first college football playoff in school history, and he's like, "Guys, I'm headed to Baton Rouge."

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Then he says to Ole Miss, "I'm also happy to see this thing through.

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And Ole Miss administration, is like, "Mm, hard pass.

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But wait, Lane's not done.

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over the summer, and I think you probably followed this story, he tried to sign two former Ole Miss players off of NFL rosters.

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And then the conference scheduled a vote of its presidents on whether to throw LSU out of the league.

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Kiffin finally backs down.

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Yeah.

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And then the final bit of theater, we've talked about, uh, in hockey, the upper body, lower body injury report.

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Well, we had the Lane Kiffin special report this week, where he announces that their starting quarterback on Wednesday, he's doubtful.

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Doubtful means 25% chance of playing.

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Shockingly, he has been upgraded from doubtful to be the official starter for this week, so this was more gamesmanship.

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Two, two last comments on it.

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Number one, I find all of this below the board of, of what we'd like to see in, in college athletics.

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But at the same time, this guy, Mr.

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Kiffin, grim- won Jackson Dart for three years during his tenure at Ole Miss.

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So all is forgiven from, from this podcaster.

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And then my only question for you is, which exit is, seedier to you, the Lane Kiffin, uh, before the playoffs, or Bill Belichick writing his resignation down on a napkin years ago.

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Oh, well, it's o- it's, it's certainly that.

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You know, uh, HC of the NYJ, I think it was on the napkin.

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Mm-hmm.

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So that's just...

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we love that in Jet Nation to always just reflect on that.

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So of course, it's, it's, it's Bill Belichick.

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Okay.

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Yes.

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Okay.

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I'm glad you brought that one up.

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That was Yeah, I brought it home, welcome to Why Not Us?, the podcast that watched our Metsies welcome their all-time home run leader back to Queens with a tribute video, numerous standing Os, and then watched him go yard twice.

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But sure, it was always about the defense.

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I'm Scott Greenhut, and on the other side of the mic, my good friend, Peter Olczyk.

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Hello, hello.

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Uh, yeah, we'll, we'll get back to the Alonso week, Hello, hello.

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Uh, yeah, we'll, we'll get back to the Alonzo week, I think, at the end when we get local.

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Um, not surprised you, you started up with that one.

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I just one follow-up from last Yeah.

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NFL nomenclature.

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So I mentioned a couple of words last week that I'm not gonna say during this season.

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But here's one that I will say, but I'm perfectly good with.

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The coach speak of winning or not winning or needing to win all three phases- is perfectly good.

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It, it is everywhere.

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You could do the press conferences on a loop if you're watching some of the sports shows.

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It's hilarious, and I get it.

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So I am perfectly happy as we break down some of our teams during the year to use that if it's relevant.

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Just like Mike Tomlin's a big all three phases guy, he's a big, he's a big everything.

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He is, he is wonderful.

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and we're so happy he's now doing some broadcasting- Yeah because we will definitely get solid color commentary, from that guy.

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Yes, it must be very freeing for him to now be on the other side on Sunday Night Football the football.

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That's right.

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Okay, and with that, in today's episode, we'll focus on the final and maybe weirdly historic week of baseball's regular season, make our claim for the least enforced rule across the four major sports, and celebrate the anniversary of an old friend.

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But we open again with football in the extremely atypical week one for our favorite NFL teams, and let me just say Do you know the last time the Jets and the Giants both started one and oh? Ooh, ooh, ooh.

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Go, go ahead.

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Cater.

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Ooh.

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2009, ahead.

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Mr.

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Which was the season that we just, covered pretty carefully in the retro.

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The Jets actually made the AFC Championship game Yeah, that one.

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was the last one.

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Now, your team actually started five and oh, how about that? Yeah.

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But then fell to eight and eight.

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Yeah.

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But let's not bury the lead.

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So the New York- the New York football Giants- took, took down America's team, a team that I had spoke, uh, pretty highly of in some of our, uh, early predictions, and I'll, I'll stick with it, That was a while.

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So why don't we start with your team, week one, what were some of your reflections from that? Let's start here.

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It was, the best opening night game I can remember in ages and ages.

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The Giants dominated all three phases of that football game.

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Welcome.

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Thank you.

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I'm gonna focus on, on two elements, that, that I found,, to be interesting.

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One, uh, as predicted by this podcaster, Isaiah Likely Huge component of the game.

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He had two TDs.

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He actually could have had three.

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He, uh, caught the ball towards the goal line early in the game and then stumbled and, and you could see...

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He was so frustrated that he didn't make it over the, the, the goal line, so that, that could have been number three.

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So, as predicted, Harbaugh inc- incorporating Isaiah Likely, into the rotation a lot.

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And then the other piece of this, more controlled football is, is the running game, so as a team, 165 yards on 37 carries, and let's talk about Scatabo.

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81 yards and a touchdown coming off of severe ankle surgery.

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What I liked about Cam Scatabo, I watched some, uh, I actually watched some tape.

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I found it online, and I've, and some guy did a deep dive on, on Scatabo's runs, and what he found was this, and it was really cool.

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He slowed it down, and he showed all the gaps.

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Scatabo, he makes a, a, a s- decision in a split second as to whether he sees a crease, a gap, or an opening, and if he does, even if it requires a crazy jump step to the left or the right, he's gonna go for it and then try to get as many yards as possible.

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If in his estimation, the corners are up, the,, he's just, there is no daylight to be found, he lowers his shoulders and just decides, "You know what? I'm actually gonna be doing the hitting here."

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I love this.

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Let's hope he can stay healthy, but he is a bulldog.

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He seems like such a New York Giant in every single way.

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Um, so yeah, he's a football player.

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Yeah.

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That's what he is.

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Yeah.

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Apparently they caught him in traffic on the way to the game, and he was yelling through his, you know, car door- Uh-huh like a, like a madman.

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All right, what do you got on the green? got on the brain? Yeah.

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So, so my Jets, uh, got the dub at Tennessee.

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Of course, these were two consensus, I would call them bottom five power rank teams to start the year, but still so solid, so enjoyable.

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The offensive line, which we talked about last time, totally led the way, especially the right side.

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Joe Titman and right tackle, Armand Membou, our pick from last year.

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How about this stat? From the right side, zero pressures on 28 pass block snaps for those guys, so that's incredible.

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Yeah.

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Breece Hall looked really good coming off the preseason groin.

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On G- Geno Smith, very solid quarterback play, 19 and 24, no turnovers, exclamation point.

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Great to see our three first round picks all make an instant impact.

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Kenyan Sadiq, a- an early touchdown.

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He didn't even play in the preseason.

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Omar Cooper Jr.,

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a 30 yard, catch and run, broke two tackles.

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Of course, he then he gets an ankle injury, so he only played four snaps, so he's gonna be out for a bit, but that...

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So he certainly wowed early.

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And we talked about David Bailey last time, uh, the rookie edge.

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Strong start, handful of pressures.

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He drew a holding penalty.

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Looking forward to see how he builds on that game.

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And I'll take us into this week because obviously it's gonna be pretty different.

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Our home game, week two to start is at Green Bay.

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Tough test.

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Jordan Love as a quarterback.

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We're hurt a little bit.

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Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was one of our big acquisitions at safety, is out.

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So a guy who I didn't realize is on-- was on your team, the Giants last year, Dane Belton, got a lot of play last week.

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Looked good, so he's gonna be tested Can we keep this game competitive? Ball control, time of possession, which was all about last week.

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Of course you can.

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can we get good pressure on Love? Of course.

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That all gives us a shot.

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And of course, we get a little bit of a break, a big break.

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Yeah.

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No no Micah Parsons.

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N- right, and the Packers are on a five-game losing streak, and they have LaFleur as their head coach.

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so I expect a competitive game would love to see us play pretty well and have some kind of a shot, have it be really watchable and all that good stuff.

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So So let's get back to the Giants Oh, these guys.

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have a question for you.

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Uh-huh.

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We'll get to week two specifically and the Rams in a sec, but coming off the Dallas game, which was, you know, a surprising win, let's say that, do the expectations for this year change now that you won that one? Should I even think about using the P word for you, I will say The Athletic, do you have any idea what The Athletic has in their simulator for the Giants making the playoffs right this second? 33%.

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Okay.

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So there you go.

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There's a number.

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Their simulator for the Giants making the playoffs right this second? I, I don't.

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33%.

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Okay.

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So there you go.

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There's a number.

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There's a number.

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Um, we're not gonna overreact to week one- Yeah even against the Cowboys, who have been a nemesis, and they are supposed to be good this year, and we made them look silly.

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But we also know that teams do not play their starters, for, for any amount of time during the preseason.

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Right.

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And that week one anomalies, c- can be severe, and we, what I did like was the, the, the game plan.

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The scheming on offense in particular was so that part I think, you know, provides additional optimism.

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Defense, they played great, but, like, I'm, I'm still...

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The jury's gonna be out.

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I, I don't think Dak had had one of his better games.

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Uh, we're gonna get Aaron Donald, um, you know, coming at us in this game- So no Miles- And, and we're gonna get an angry Rams team who So no Miles No Miles Garrett.

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But on Aaron Donald, maybe on a pitch count against a very angry Rams team, as you just mentioned, coming from Australia, where I think they said they don't wanna ever be in Australia again, just from the football side of things.

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Right.

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So yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So we're, we'll, we'll hope to, uh...

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Well, listen, we wanna keep it close, but regardless, uh, I will be at week three with at least a one-on-one record in our pockets, and this way we'll take it.

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But, uh, let's see how we do.

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All right.

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So that's the Monday nighter.

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So let's look at the league level for a Yep.

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So yeah.

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So, uh, what do you got for some other storylines, uh, across the NFL? Yep.

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two things, two particular people.

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Patrick Mahomes, nine months after ACL surgery, which is of course pretty personal to me coming off of ACL.

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I am far from a professional athlete, but I know what it's like to do, to rehab.

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No hesitation on tucking it and scrambling it early in that game, 15 yards for the touchdown.

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You wanna talk about odds that have changed dramatically- Oh after one That was a those guys.

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Absolute wow in terms of watching him on the field.,

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Not a surprise in terms of the player and the work ethic and everything, but still very impressive.

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And Lamar Jackson, he pulled it back on a run pass option.

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His speed seemed back.

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He later sprinted turning the corner.

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If last year's hamstring injury was more of a one-off, then this could be him being right back in MVP form.

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It looked so much different than the player last year.

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Yeah.

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And I'm gonna, I'm gonna add on to that.

184
00:12:39,882.03533333 --> 00:12:40,152.03533333
Yeah.

185
00:12:40,392.03733333 --> 00:12:43,152.03833333
'Cause what I'm looking at, the, Derrick Henry.

186
00:12:43,602.03733333 --> 00:12:44,922.03733333
Let's talk about this guy.

187
00:12:44,962.03833333 --> 00:12:47,982.03533333
Qui- quietly climbing the all-time list at age 32.

188
00:12:50,242.03633333 --> 00:12:58,392.03533333
LT, the other LT, he ran a lot back in the day, has been quoted to say and said, "To me, he's the modern-day Jim Brown."

189
00:12:58,882.03633333 --> 00:12:58,892.03633333
Oh.

190
00:12:59,92.03533333 --> 00:13:00,72.04133333
That's pretty good.

191
00:13:00,362.03933333 --> 00:13:01,952.04133333
Let's see how he did last week.

192
00:13:02,12.04133333 --> 00:13:05,112.03433333
Oh, 144 yards, three TDs.

193
00:13:05,402.04033333 --> 00:13:06,392.03833333
That's not bad.

194
00:13:06,652.04133333 --> 00:13:14,902.03833333
He's now at 125 career rushing TDs, passing Marcus Allen, only behind Emmitt Smith and the aforementioned LT.

195
00:13:15,492.02933333 --> 00:13:19,902.02733333
The impressive part about him, we just talked about him at the beginning, he's 32 years old.

196
00:13:19,902.03333333 --> 00:13:22,352.03333333
He hasn't missed a game since turning 30.

197
00:13:22,352.03333333 --> 00:13:22,402.03333333
Oh, yeah.

198
00:13:22,402.03333333 --> 00:13:25,232.02933333
So over that span, 5.6

199
00:13:25,232.03533333 --> 00:13:29,782.03533333
y- six yards a carry, 104 yards a game, 37 TDs.

200
00:13:30,332.02533333 --> 00:13:32,652.02933333
I mean, this is the guy, he's the Energizer Bunny.

201
00:13:32,932.03133333 --> 00:13:36,2.02533333
Uh, let me just say, s- you brought up Emmitt Smith for a second.

202
00:13:36,2.03233333 --> 00:13:42,202.02833333
I saw something this week where Emmitt Smith expects Derrick Henry to break his record.

203
00:13:42,682.03733333 --> 00:13:43,22.03733333
Okay.

204
00:13:43,182.03733333 --> 00:13:50,787.95533333
As We approach two weeks to go, more or less, in the regular season, what are you looking at yeah.

205
00:13:50,787.95533333 --> 00:13:55,257.95533333
So I talked about at the top that this could be a weirdly historic final week of the season.

206
00:13:55,477.95433333 --> 00:14:04,767.95333333
So in the American League, okay, the American League Central right now, Cleveland, uh, is in first, at least as we're talking, 79 and 75.

207
00:14:05,167.95533333 --> 00:14:06,727.95533333
The White Sox are one game back.

208
00:14:06,747.95333333 --> 00:14:10,377.95333333
We've both spoken about how much we're rooting for the White Sox to find their way in this year.

209
00:14:10,377.95333333 --> 00:14:10,737.95433333
Yeah.

210
00:14:10,737.95433333 --> 00:14:12,417.95233333
The White Sox have the tiebreaker.

211
00:14:12,477.95433333 --> 00:14:13,647.95433333
They won it by one game.

212
00:14:13,657.95533333 --> 00:14:15,917.95633333
I think it was 7-6 over Cleveland, so that's big.

213
00:14:16,317.95433333 --> 00:14:22,547.95333333
And by the way, whoever wins that division, they're gonna be the number two seed in the playoffs in the American League.

214
00:14:22,547.95433333 --> 00:14:24,377.95433333
So that's the AL 2026.

215
00:14:24,597.95333333 --> 00:14:27,227.95333333
Now, why is that? The American League West.

216
00:14:27,737.95333333 --> 00:14:30,267.95133333
Houston and Texas are both tied right now.

217
00:14:30,387.95433333 --> 00:14:33,177.95133333
They're both 77 and 77.

218
00:14:33,497.95533333 --> 00:14:38,87.95533333
Houston has the, uh, has the, uh, tiebreaker in that one.

219
00:14:38,837.95133333 --> 00:14:44,787.95133333
There has never been a full season with a playoff team under 500.

220
00:14:45,187.95033333 --> 00:14:53,369.95533333
So the caveats to that are the non-full seasons, 20- 2020 COVID, and then the 1981 strike shortened split season.

221
00:14:53,957.95433333 --> 00:15:01,417.95133333
Uh, I've been talking a lot about Yordan Álvarez, so just on the players side of things, I've been really rooting hard for this Triple Crown.

222
00:15:01,797.95133333 --> 00:15:02,617.95633333
Here's where we're at.

223
00:15:03,207.95433333 --> 00:15:06,297.95533333
He's hitting 312, so he's in first right now.

224
00:15:06,347.95433333 --> 00:15:08,307.95333333
Chandler Simpson of the Rays is at 308.

225
00:15:08,387.95533333 --> 00:15:09,867.95633333
That looks pretty good.

226
00:15:10,397.95733333 --> 00:15:13,137.95733333
He's fallen to second in home runs at 40.

227
00:15:13,187.95033333 --> 00:15:16,917.95233333
Junior Caminero, who's having an unbelievable year, is at 41.

228
00:15:17,217.95233333 --> 00:15:21,657.95033333
And by the way, Ben Rice is 39, and the aforementioned Pete Alonso, 38.

229
00:15:22,337.95233333 --> 00:15:25,807.95333333
Speaking of Alonso, the tough one's gonna be RBIs.

230
00:15:26,287.95633333 --> 00:15:31,957.95333333
Alonso is now leading with 105 in the American League, um, and Yordan's got 99.

231
00:15:31,967.95733333 --> 00:15:34,887.95433333
So that's, that could be the one that really hurts.

232
00:15:35,407.95933333 --> 00:15:39,147.95433333
But I was curious with all this stuff about the intentional walks going on this year.

233
00:15:39,197.95433333 --> 00:15:42,367.95833333
Intentional walks this year, Yordan Álvarez, 32.

234
00:15:42,777.95633333 --> 00:15:47,417.95833333
That's 19 more than the next person, which is Junior Caminero in the AL with 13.

235
00:15:47,797.94533333 --> 00:15:51,467.94733333
That's a lot of RBIs that he didn't get a chance to, uh, to have, uh, this year.

236
00:15:51,467.94733333 --> 00:15:52,677.95233333
So just putting that out there.

237
00:15:52,979.95533333 --> 00:15:57,409.94633333
Yeah, Uh, one other thing, by the way, just on the AL, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.,

238
00:15:57,999.94633333 --> 00:16:02,289.94733333
about five or six days ago, he finally hit his first home run at home.

239
00:16:02,589.94733333 --> 00:16:04,39.94633333
It was such a cool moment.

240
00:16:04,49.94733333 --> 00:16:06,289.94633333
He basically just froze at the plate.

241
00:16:06,489.94733333 --> 00:16:10,79.94633333
The crowd starts to slowly rise, soak it all in.

242
00:16:10,429.94633333 --> 00:16:14,599.94633333
Very tough year in Toronto, specifically, you know, for, for Vladdy.

243
00:16:14,979.94733333 --> 00:16:18,139.94733333
However, right this second, they're not out of it.

244
00:16:18,409.94733333 --> 00:16:21,259.94733333
They're two back in the wildcard, so we'll see.

245
00:16:21,289.94433333 --> 00:16:26,899.94733333
But certainly, there had to be just a ton of relief for the player, for the fan base, for that moment.

246
00:16:26,919.94533333 --> 00:16:29,219.94733333
So that's me for the AL.

247
00:16:29,299.94633333 --> 00:16:36,259.94633333
Why don't you, uh, give us with what's going on in the much more, uh, competitive, at least on the winning side of things, in the NL? Yeah.

248
00:16:36,505.94633333 --> 00:16:40,395.9463333
So Brewers clinched the NL Central four straight.

249
00:16:40,865.9433333 --> 00:16:45,915.9433333
Uh, Dodgers over at West, uh, shocking, I know.

250
00:16:46,155.9443333 --> 00:17:02,215.9423333
Um, and then Braves, as predicted by, uh, this guy, that's me, uh, at the start of the season, uh, gonna take the, uh, take the East, and then wild cards, at least, as of my note-taking, were Cubs, Phillies, and Padres.

251
00:17:02,265.9453333 --> 00:17:03,555.9453333
So, uh, you know.

252
00:17:03,825.9423333 --> 00:17:06,685.9413333
So, so that's kind of the, the state of the overall union.

253
00:17:06,685.9433333 --> 00:17:14,265.9463333
I'd like to spend most of my a- allotted pod time, though, telling a little bit of a story about this guy named Pete Crow-Armstrong.

254
00:17:14,265.9463333 --> 00:17:14,955.9403333
PCA.

255
00:17:14,955.9403333 --> 00:17:15,755.9403333
PCA.

256
00:17:16,425.9413333 --> 00:17:20,995.9473333
My wife's best friend's from Los Angeles, And, uh, she grew up there.

257
00:17:20,995.9483333 --> 00:17:22,155.9433333
She still lives there.

258
00:17:22,255.9443333 --> 00:17:32,345.9473333
Sometime in 2022, right at the end of COVID, she came to visit us in New York, she mentioned to me, she's like, "Wait, you're a Mets fan, right?" I go, "Yeah."

259
00:17:32,575.9523333 --> 00:17:36,825.9493333
She's like, "Yeah, some guy that's really, that I'm friends with.

260
00:17:36,825.9523333 --> 00:17:38,385.9523333
I'm friends with the whole family.

261
00:17:38,395.9523333 --> 00:17:41,305.9453333
Y- you know, he's a, he went to Harvard Westlake.

262
00:17:41,985.9513333 --> 00:17:45,55.9573333
He's, he's a pitcher in, in the Mets minor leagues."

263
00:17:45,55.9583333 --> 00:17:46,895.9453333
And I was, like, looking through my phone.

264
00:17:46,895.9543333 --> 00:17:51,495.9543333
I'm like, "I don't s- what, what pitcher from, from LA am I looking at?" Okay.

265
00:17:51,495.9543333 --> 00:17:54,645.9543333
I'm like, "There's an outfielder, Pete Crow-Arm..."

266
00:17:54,645.9543333 --> 00:17:56,125.9453333
She's like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's him.

267
00:17:56,135.9453333 --> 00:17:56,785.9493333
That's him."

268
00:17:56,845.9513333 --> 00:17:58,275.9563333
And I'm like, "Okay."

269
00:17:58,275.9593333 --> 00:18:00,235.9593333
So I start digging a little deeper.

270
00:18:00,785.9543333 --> 00:18:06,875.9593333
Let's go through his arc, right? Um, the Mets took him 19th overall in 2020.

271
00:18:07,85.9573333 --> 00:18:08,215.9573333
So in...

272
00:18:08,245.9613333 --> 00:18:11,785.9523333
And for that, he turned down Vanderbilt, okay? Great.

273
00:18:11,785.9543333 --> 00:18:13,945.9573333
So now he's in our, our minor leagues.

274
00:18:14,255.9553333 --> 00:18:17,285.9553333
But then the world closed with, with COVID.

275
00:18:17,315.9533333 --> 00:18:20,325.9613333
So there's no minor league season in 2020.

276
00:18:20,925.9573333 --> 00:18:29,459.9553333
The following year in 2021 with the Single A Saint Lucie Mets He puts up six games.

277
00:18:29,459.9553333 --> 00:18:40,809.9553333
He plays a total of six games, game six in Daytona, he slides into third, feels it, feels his shoulder go pop,, season ending, torn labrum, non-throwing shoulder.

278
00:18:41,589.9553333 --> 00:18:44,489.9553333
Come July 30th, it's deadline day.

279
00:18:44,729.9543333 --> 00:18:53,899.9543333
He's in a car on the way to meet his parents for lunch, arm in a sling, and he finds out, "Hey, PCA, you've been traded to the Cubs."

280
00:18:54,269.9553333 --> 00:18:57,679.9553333
Who'd the Mets get? Two months of Javy Báez.

281
00:18:57,679.9553333 --> 00:18:59,699.9543333
His words, "I had a sling on my shoulder.

282
00:18:59,699.9553333 --> 00:19:00,969.9533333
I thought it was a joke."

283
00:19:01,19.9553333 --> 00:19:02,289.9553333
So that's the Mets career.

284
00:19:02,289.9553333 --> 00:19:04,629.9553333
Six games, and a sling.

285
00:19:05,89.9553333 --> 00:19:11,879.9553333
Um, what's hilarious, though, is that he wasn't even a top five prospect at that moment for the Mets.

286
00:19:11,889.9543333 --> 00:19:16,359.9553333
He- no one knew this guy, um, was gonna become the PCA.

287
00:19:16,389.9543333 --> 00:19:23,129.9573333
Now he's the MVP lock in the National League, and the rest, as they say, is history.

288
00:19:23,389.9543333 --> 00:19:34,613.9553333
Question, is this the worst trade the Mets have ever made? You know, we would have to dig into it, but it's gotta be right there at, at the top.

289
00:19:34,753.9553333 --> 00:19:36,703.9553333
Without, without, without spending too much time.

290
00:19:37,43.9553333 --> 00:19:41,623.9543333
And l- Well, let me, let me just say about this player, uh, who I knew was gonna come up today.

291
00:19:41,923.9553333 --> 00:19:50,473.9523333
The fact that he, from the second half of last year where he really was able to be pitched to, the discipline went away.

292
00:19:50,473.9543333 --> 00:20:00,693.9543333
So he had an incredible first half last year, right? So then there was questions like, "Oh, you know, is he really gonna be the, the complete player?" We know that he's, you know, arguably the best defensive player in the game, and still is.

293
00:20:01,213.9553333 --> 00:20:04,193.9593333
First month of this season, same kind of thing.

294
00:20:04,273.9563333 --> 00:20:07,783.9603333
Lots of flailing could be pitched to, extending out of the strike zone.

295
00:20:08,83.9583333 --> 00:20:19,863.9553333
But from the beginning of May, I think his OPS is something like about 1100 or so he f- somehow figured out everything and became extremely hard to pitch to.

296
00:20:20,243.9533333 --> 00:20:20,333.9533333
Yep.

297
00:20:20,373.9583333 --> 00:20:22,743.9543333
So this is the MVP in every way.

298
00:20:22,753.9553333 --> 00:20:24,533.9603333
It's an incredibly historic season.

299
00:20:24,533.9603333 --> 00:20:30,143.9493333
I think his WAR is over 10, which puts him, way up in terms of the best overall seasons.

300
00:20:30,153.9523333 --> 00:20:30,173.9523333
Yeah.

301
00:20:30,203.9483333 --> 00:20:35,693.9493333
I think he's actually got the best WAR if you split it both on the defensive side- and on the hitting side.

302
00:20:35,703.9463333 --> 00:20:35,723.9463333
Yeah.

303
00:20:36,103.9473333 --> 00:20:37,423.9473333
So all of that.

304
00:20:37,513.9433333 --> 00:20:40,793.9443333
Um, and yeah, that's a, that's a great story, and it's kinda Mets.

305
00:20:40,955.9473333 --> 00:20:43,85.9453333
he did pitch, by the way, for Harvard West.

306
00:20:43,95.9443333 --> 00:20:46,375.9473333
But you know, those top athletes did, did a lot of everything back then.

307
00:20:46,503.9493333 --> 00:20:46,933.9493333
yeah, yeah.

308
00:20:47,15.9423333 --> 00:20:48,555.9493333
yeah, so but, uh, yeah.

309
00:20:48,933.9423333 --> 00:20:52,753.9463333
All right, so let's finish up with just a little bit of local stuff o- on the baseball.

310
00:20:52,753.9463333 --> 00:20:52,793.9433333
Sure, sure.

311
00:20:52,813.9463333 --> 00:20:55,233.9453333
Um, let me touch on the Yankees for a second.

312
00:20:55,243.9473333 --> 00:20:55,273.9473333
Okay.

313
00:20:55,283.9483333 --> 00:20:58,173.9413333
So we've been going back and forth with Aaron Judge.

314
00:20:58,173.9473333 --> 00:20:58,193.9473333
Yeah.

315
00:20:58,193.9473333 --> 00:20:59,93.9453333
He came back.

316
00:20:59,103.9473333 --> 00:20:59,123.9473333
Yeah.

317
00:20:59,323.9413333 --> 00:21:01,193.9463333
They tried to sort of work him in.

318
00:21:01,193.9463333 --> 00:21:01,453.9463333
Yeah.

319
00:21:01,453.9463333 --> 00:21:07,833.9483333
The ribs seem okay, but now it's a calf strain and he's out, and he's out for pretty much the rest of the regular season.

320
00:21:08,413.9453333 --> 00:21:20,13.9463333
There's no question that having Aaron Judge be in the lineup and being somewhat of a threat when they kick off the playoffs is critical for the Yankees to do their run.

321
00:21:20,753.9493333 --> 00:21:28,553.9463333
I will say that I'm pretty excited about Yankees-Sox, which is pretty much looking like the Wild Card series, two out of three in the stadium.

322
00:21:28,563.9463333 --> 00:21:28,593.9463333
Right.

323
00:21:28,993.9393333 --> 00:21:34,503.9463333
And it, you know, those two out of threes, you know, you lose the first game and it's all- Yeah, yeah it's all hands on deck.

324
00:21:34,503.9493333 --> 00:21:35,373.9443333
So I love that.

325
00:21:35,383.9383333 --> 00:21:35,403.9383333
Yeah.

326
00:21:35,413.9373333 --> 00:21:36,563.9423333
I love the Wild Card stuff.

327
00:21:36,573.9413333 --> 00:21:36,593.9413333
Yeah.

328
00:21:36,913.9373333 --> 00:21:39,503.9503333
Um- Yeah ...from-

329
00:21:39,503.9503333 --> 00:21:56,85.9453333
New York cause they don't look at it as two teams, right? They, it's just like, oh, the Celtics- they don't look at it as two teams, right? It's just like, oh, this- Listen, the Red- hammered by the Knicks, and so now there's this Red Sox season has been a feel-good story since basically the third or fourth week of April, And then Drake Maye's throwing games away in the, uh, fourth quarter on the football side.

330
00:21:56,351.9473333 --> 00:21:57,1.9473333
that's pretty funny.

331
00:21:57,51.9473333 --> 00:22:02,21.9473333
Um, all right, so just on the Mets thing, such a treat last night, I have to add.

332
00:22:02,111.9473333 --> 00:22:08,431.9473333
Howie Rose, you know, we are down now to his last weekend calling games, uh, 'cause he just does the home games.

333
00:22:08,731.9473333 --> 00:22:13,371.9463333
So the Mets were on Apple yesterday, so I just lied down and listened on the radio.

334
00:22:13,631.9463333 --> 00:22:14,781.9463333
What a pleasure.

335
00:22:15,121.9463333 --> 00:22:23,861.9463333
Uh, he got to call a, a big home run by Juan Soto in the fifth or sixth inning, and his put it in the books last night just had...

336
00:22:23,861.9463333 --> 00:22:27,141.9463333
'Cause we had come off five straight games, very emotional week.

337
00:22:27,201.9443333 --> 00:22:37,391.9413333
But just such a pleasure now that we're down to basically two more broadcasts in his Mets career, and we love him, and that was a treat to just listen on the radio last night.

338
00:22:37,807.9443333 --> 00:22:38,507.9443333
Great call.

339
00:22:38,567.9443333 --> 00:22:38,857.9443333
All right.

340
00:22:38,887.9443333 --> 00:22:41,87.9443333
Well let's, let's get into a little bit of the lightning.

341
00:22:41,737.9443333 --> 00:22:47,7.9443333
So this week, um, they're somewhat related, so a couple of, couple of topics.

342
00:22:47,167.9443333 --> 00:22:58,637.9433333
The first one is a question: What is the least enforced rule across the four major sports that's a pet peeve? So I'll let you kick that one off.

343
00:22:58,657.9433333 --> 00:23:05,909.9413333
What, what do you got? I'm gonna lead with this one: offensive pass interference on pick rub routes.

344
00:23:05,969.9463333 --> 00:23:07,649.9393333
The, so the rule is plain.

345
00:23:07,649.9463333 --> 00:23:14,947.9443333
An offensive player cannot block or obstruct a defender downfield before the ball is touched.

346
00:23:15,619.9393333 --> 00:23:21,779.9413333
What do you think a rub route is? I mean, it does that by design, so it's not even a loophole anymore.

347
00:23:21,779.9423333 --> 00:23:25,409.9373333
Entire, entire concepts exist because this doesn't get called.

348
00:23:25,469.9413333 --> 00:23:32,569.9433333
Offensive pass interference in terms of pushing off, I mean, I saw it multiple times in the Giants-Cowboy games, that doesn't get called.

349
00:23:32,639.9443333 --> 00:23:34,979.9463333
Let's just look at some of these statistics.

350
00:23:35,309.9423333 --> 00:23:42,209.9483333
Last year in 2025, defensive pass interference called 289 times.

351
00:23:42,983.9483333 --> 00:23:46,923.9483333
4,406 yards.

352
00:23:46,973.9483333 --> 00:23:49,263.9483333
So that's those stats.

353
00:23:49,263.9483333 --> 00:23:55,213.9483333
OPI, 72 flags, but only 697 yards.

354
00:23:55,223.9483333 --> 00:24:07,577.9463333
And I'm just gonna leave with this stat Six teams last year drew a total of zero offensive pass interference flags for the entire season.

355
00:24:07,577.9473333 --> 00:24:10,237.9463333
I think that kind of says everything it needs to.

356
00:24:10,587.9453333 --> 00:24:10,647.9463333
needs to.

357
00:24:10,647.9463333 --> 00:24:10,927.9413333
All right.

358
00:24:10,927.9423333 --> 00:24:14,877.9413333
So I'm gonna come back to that topic in a little bit with our second one.

359
00:24:14,877.9413333 --> 00:24:16,727.9483333
So hol- let's hold off for a second.

360
00:24:16,887.9483333 --> 00:24:17,337.9483333
Okay.

361
00:24:17,457.9403333 --> 00:24:19,847.9403333
Let me do my least enforced rule.

362
00:24:19,977.9453333 --> 00:24:20,7.9453333
Okay.

363
00:24:20,27.9483333 --> 00:24:21,357.9373333
I went to the NBA.

364
00:24:21,367.9443333 --> 00:24:21,777.9443333
Yes.

365
00:24:22,277.9443333 --> 00:24:27,317.9483333
I have it, and I left it for you 'cause I'm that kinda Thank you so much.

366
00:24:27,327.9423333 --> 00:24:27,457.9423333
Yep.

367
00:24:27,477.9363333 --> 00:24:34,507.9403333
So I'm not talking about the borderline tough to call post gather steps or the Euro.

368
00:24:34,647.9343333 --> 00:24:34,787.9343333
Yep.

369
00:24:34,837.9363333 --> 00:24:42,487.9433333
I think NBA officials are fantastic, especially considering the combination of physicality and the increased speed of the game.

370
00:24:43,87.9363333 --> 00:24:46,127.9463333
That said, put me in the camp of Steve Kerr.

371
00:24:46,357.9413333 --> 00:24:48,877.9433333
He's been on this crusade for years.

372
00:24:48,967.9413333 --> 00:24:50,747.9473333
It's the egregious ones.

373
00:24:50,917.9383333 --> 00:24:59,137.9403333
It's the two to three times a game in the half court a player- Yep doesn't dribble before taking an illegal step or a hop Yeah.

374
00:24:59,197.9453333 --> 00:25:04,447.9453333
It's also the three plus comical steps on some fast breaks.

375
00:25:04,767.9453333 --> 00:25:04,787.9453333
Yeah.

376
00:25:04,857.9453333 --> 00:25:13,337.9453333
So overall for me- Yeah it's just- Does a dunk exempt you from needing to dribble the ball ever? It, it's, it's, it's not hard to take one dribble.

377
00:25:13,457.9443333 --> 00:25:18,297.9443333
So just calling the obvious ones to me is the low-hanging fruit here.

378
00:25:18,547.9453333 --> 00:25:25,817.9413333
It shouldn't be too hard to, to work this into the game, and it won't take away from the speed of the game or the rhythm or any of that, any of that.

379
00:25:25,817.9413333 --> 00:25:39,897.9453333
Not only that, it's called vigorously at high school levels, you know, college even, and just all of a sudden you get to the NBA and the, and the refs bury the whistle Okay.

380
00:25:40,247.9453333 --> 00:25:42,187.9453333
Uh, well thank you for letting me have the traveling.

381
00:25:42,187.9453333 --> 00:25:43,77.9433333
I You're welcome.

382
00:25:43,77.9433333 --> 00:25:45,947.9433333
I knew it was coming, so I zagged.

383
00:25:46,7.9463333 --> 00:25:46,347.9463333
Good.

384
00:25:46,437.9463333 --> 00:25:47,687.9463333
All right, so position.

385
00:25:47,727.9463333 --> 00:25:49,307.9463333
So here's the second one for lightning.

386
00:25:49,617.9463333 --> 00:25:55,337.9463333
What position has become much harder to play over the last five years or so? Yep.

387
00:25:55,497.9463333 --> 00:26:02,359.9463333
What do you got? got? So I took, uh, I took the catcher position in, in Major League Baseball.

388
00:26:02,719.9453333 --> 00:26:13,529.9453333
They've had a couple rule changes they've needed to, to incorporate into their calculus, right? You had in twenty twenty-three, you have the pitch clock, so you gotta get all that set with your pitcher.

389
00:26:13,849.9453333 --> 00:26:17,529.9453333
Um, in twenty twenty-three, the running game came back.

390
00:26:17,529.9463333 --> 00:26:19,209.9453333
You have bigger bases.

391
00:26:19,239.9453333 --> 00:26:25,49.9443333
They gr- they went from fifteen to eighteen inches, and you also had the two pickoff, uh, rule.

392
00:26:25,229.9463333 --> 00:26:31,509.9443333
So a lot more pressure there on, on, uh, on, on, on the base paths.

393
00:26:31,509.9443333 --> 00:26:36,719.9423333
And then if that wasn't enough, and this year you have the ABS challenges.

394
00:26:36,739.9433333 --> 00:26:36,769.9433333
Right.

395
00:26:36,769.9433333 --> 00:26:46,729.9413333
And we've talked in the past about who should be challenging, um, these calls, and the catcher is in the number one yeah position- Oh, yeah to, to do that.

396
00:26:46,729.9413333 --> 00:26:51,529.9443333
And, uh, that's a lot of pressure because you, you know, two, two and you're out.

397
00:26:51,539.9423333 --> 00:26:59,779.9413333
So, um, on top of all the regular difficulty of that position still applies, yeah.

398
00:26:59,789.9403333 --> 00:27:07,599.9423333
I- And I will say that we have been absolutely blessed this year to watch Luis Torrens as a catcher in that position.

399
00:27:07,979.9423333 --> 00:27:20,209.9383333
I'd have to look at the advanced analytics, but my eye test would say that he's probably the best defensive catcher in the game right now, and it wouldn't surprise me if, if that, if, if the analytics back that up.

400
00:27:20,209.9383333 --> 00:27:20,299.9383333
Yeah.

401
00:27:20,409.9433333 --> 00:27:21,839.9383333
Uh, all right.

402
00:27:21,909.9433333 --> 00:27:22,749.9423333
So my position.

403
00:27:22,749.9423333 --> 00:27:22,769.9393333
Yeah.

404
00:27:22,769.9433333 --> 00:27:25,9.9383333
You sort of, you sort of touched on this earlier.

405
00:27:25,269.9433333 --> 00:27:26,919.9433333
It's cornerback for me.

406
00:27:26,919.9433333 --> 00:27:26,989.9423333
Mm-hmm.

407
00:27:27,9.9413333 --> 00:27:29,279.9383333
Um, you talked about pass interference.

408
00:27:29,299.9423333 --> 00:27:29,319.9443333
Mm-hmm.

409
00:27:29,329.9413333 --> 00:27:30,449.9393333
So let me start with that.

410
00:27:31,199.9443333 --> 00:27:36,29.9383333
It's the unintentional underthrown balls that is so hard to defend.

411
00:27:36,249.9393333 --> 00:27:36,439.9393333
Yes.

412
00:27:36,469.9403333 --> 00:27:42,299.9383333
You know? So that is just, you're, you can't help making incidental contact on something like that.

413
00:27:42,299.9383333 --> 00:27:46,349.9363333
The wide receiver's in such a, such a better shape to kind of get that call.

414
00:27:46,649.9413333 --> 00:27:48,39.9343333
So that's the unintentional.

415
00:27:48,469.9333333 --> 00:27:52,629.9473333
And then you have the designed back shoulder comeback routes on the sidelines.

416
00:27:52,659.9353333 --> 00:27:56,949.9473333
That is incredibly hard to defend and not make an ounce of contact.

417
00:27:56,949.9473333 --> 00:27:59,519.9383333
Again, so skewed towards the receiver.

418
00:27:59,519.9383333 --> 00:28:03,329.9333333
And basically, you know, obviously the league is looking to build up offense wherever possible.

419
00:28:03,329.9333333 --> 00:28:03,889.9423333
We know that.

420
00:28:03,899.9413333 --> 00:28:03,919.9413333
Yeah.

421
00:28:04,299.9343333 --> 00:28:05,569.9473333
And then defensive holding.

422
00:28:05,889.9463333 --> 00:28:09,559.9463333
I'm not talking about the clear jersey tugging or grabbing.

423
00:28:09,559.9463333 --> 00:28:11,519.9393333
That absolutely needs to be called.

424
00:28:12,89.9433333 --> 00:28:24,499.9403333
The beyond five yards incidental contact, especially when a quarterback is buying time out of the pocket, so hard to chase these incredibly talented receivers, tight ends, what you will, running backs all over the field.

425
00:28:24,719.9483333 --> 00:28:24,919.9483333
Right.

426
00:28:24,929.9393333 --> 00:28:31,179.9443333
So for me, cornerback, so hard to play that position well and legally.

427
00:28:31,737.9443333 --> 00:28:36,327.9453333
Listen, I'd just love for 50/50 balls to be called, you know, cleanly.

428
00:28:36,347.9453333 --> 00:28:38,111.9453333
Like, that's what I want, you know? Yeah.

429
00:28:38,111.9463333 --> 00:28:41,817.9463333
Two, two c- two competitive players just trying to make a play on the go get 'em.

430
00:28:41,817.9463333 --> 00:28:46,659.9463333
right, and the whole- Totally do you have to look at the ball, that's, uh, we'll work on that Yep, yep, I agree.

431
00:28:47,179.9463333 --> 00:28:49,539.9463333
All right, so let's get into a little bit of the PS.

432
00:28:49,789.9463333 --> 00:29:01,679.9453333
We'll sort of take it off the field, and I am very excited to celebrate Atari on its 49th anniversary of September uh, 1977.

433
00:29:01,699.9463333 --> 00:29:03,459.9453333
So no, I could not wait for the 50th.

434
00:29:04,49.9453333 --> 00:29:11,339.9453333
Uh- so the VCS, the 2600, we both a big part of s- of our childhood.

435
00:29:11,649.9453333 --> 00:29:12,689.9463333
You get to start.

436
00:29:12,759.9463333 --> 00:29:18,177.9473333
Um, so how about some reflections on, on Atari? Where, where are we gonna I love this topic.

437
00:29:18,177.9473333 --> 00:29:20,457.9443333
I don't even know if we have enough time for it.

438
00:29:20,457.9443333 --> 00:29:20,477.9443333
Yeah.

439
00:29:20,487.9433333 --> 00:29:24,447.9423333
But, first thing I did as soon as you named this topic was look on Amazon.

440
00:29:24,447.9423333 --> 00:29:32,267.9413333
I almo- I came so close to pulling the trigger for the retro console- Oh, yeah which are on sale right now.

441
00:29:32,267.9423333 --> 00:29:34,617.9433333
It's, they play all the old games.

442
00:29:34,627.9423333 --> 00:29:34,647.9423333
Yeah.

443
00:29:34,967.9463333 --> 00:29:41,827.9433333
But they also play some of the newer ones, which I would completely skip because I would be dedicated to the old ones, and I just wasn't sure if it would get here in time.

444
00:29:41,837.9413333 --> 00:29:41,847.9413333
Oh.

445
00:29:42,367.9403333 --> 00:29:45,667.9453333
Uh, because that would've been an amazing way for us to end the pod.

446
00:29:45,683.2783333 --> 00:29:45,869.9443333
episode.

447
00:29:45,869.9443333 --> 00:29:47,129.9463333
I can't e- I can't even.

448
00:29:47,199.9463333 --> 00:29:47,423.2793333
I can't.

449
00:29:47,423.2793333 --> 00:29:50,97.9403333
I, mean, I, you should've s- I was on the site.

450
00:29:50,147.9463333 --> 00:29:52,397.9403333
I, I ju- I think it'll happen.

451
00:29:52,877.9423333 --> 00:29:55,17.9363333
Um, okay, so that's for today.

452
00:29:55,77.9473333 --> 00:29:58,647.9443333
I mean, Atari 2600 you had the classics.

453
00:29:58,707.9433333 --> 00:30:02,347.9363333
Space Invaders, Missile Command, Asteroids.

454
00:30:02,347.9433333 --> 00:30:03,967.9473333
Like, woo, right out of the gate.

455
00:30:04,287.9453333 --> 00:30:05,137.9373333
Great stuff.

456
00:30:05,517.9413333 --> 00:30:13,537.9393333
Then you had, Adventure, which was kind of- Yeah the first type of puzzle game, and then you re- oh, what happens if you go in this room? Oh, you need the key, whatever.

457
00:30:13,777.9453333 --> 00:30:14,577.9503333
Okay, cool.

458
00:30:14,857.9473333 --> 00:30:22,407.9443333
And then, uh, another memory for me is you had, uh, Night Driver, which you needed the little steery thing.

459
00:30:22,417.9443333 --> 00:30:24,47.9533333
Sorry if I stepped on that.

460
00:30:24,49.9493333 --> 00:30:42,247.9543333
We'll get back, we'll get back Yeah, let me just keep- All right blasting past Night Driver then- because I wanna di- I wanna dive into the Activision Sports series, which obviously is seminal to, to, to you you and me, I think in the intensity of our rivalries based on my recollection, I would start with hockey.

461
00:30:42,477.9543333 --> 00:30:44,437.9543333
Solid, it's two on two.

462
00:30:44,517.9543333 --> 00:30:48,547.9533333
You know, you had to figure out the angles of the pass and so on and so forth.

463
00:30:49,97.9543333 --> 00:30:54,87.9543333
Then we could move into skiing, which, you know, you had to be kind of perfect on the downhill.

464
00:30:54,307.9533333 --> 00:31:00,507.9533333
And then finally, sorry, but, uh, yeah, I see you making a face, but it's okay.

465
00:31:00,647.9533333 --> 00:31:02,97.9543333
Let's talk about the tennis.

466
00:31:02,517.9543333 --> 00:31:05,847.9543333
The epic ba- battles in tennis.

467
00:31:05,877.9523333 --> 00:31:07,385.9533333
What do you got? Okay.

468
00:31:07,575.9523333 --> 00:31:12,485.9523333
So you touched on, you touched on all the, uh, on the, the Rushmore of all my stuff.

469
00:31:12,495.9503333 --> 00:31:12,515.9503333
Yeah.

470
00:31:12,525.9493333 --> 00:31:14,365.9513333
So let's get, let's get into a couple of the details.

471
00:31:14,375.9523333 --> 00:31:14,805.9523333
Sure.

472
00:31:15,145.9523333 --> 00:31:16,155.9493333
All right, the tennis.

473
00:31:18,225.9503333 --> 00:31:20,215.9503333
So our classic forever battles...

474
00:31:20,215.9523333 --> 00:31:26,585.9503333
And by the way, I watched a couple, uh, minutes of the, um, of the tennis on All These Sports- Yeah this morning, which is just hilarious.

475
00:31:26,835.9513333 --> 00:31:26,865.9493333
Oh, yeah.

476
00:31:26,885.9503333 --> 00:31:35,835.9533333
Um, so for tennis, considering that I probably beat you on the actual court, you know, I could count on my finger the number of times that actually happened.

477
00:31:36,135.9503333 --> 00:31:41,635.9523333
I would say on, on tennis on Atari, it was probably a coin flip- Yeah and they took forever.

478
00:31:41,717.9503333 --> 00:31:42,647.9533333
They were worse.

479
00:31:42,765.9513333 --> 00:31:46,965.9483333
know, so basically you can go backwards, forward, you can go left, right.

480
00:31:47,115.9533333 --> 00:31:48,875.9523333
You just need to make some contact.

481
00:31:48,875.9523333 --> 00:31:51,475.9513333
It's really hard to put a ball away, and you just...

482
00:31:51,565.9503333 --> 00:31:53,425.9523333
You can't just kind of mess up the joystick.

483
00:31:53,435.9533333 --> 00:31:56,165.9483333
That's where you would probably lose yourself if you kind of somehow slip.

484
00:31:57,137.9493333 --> 00:31:57,977.9513333
Yeah, the angle.

485
00:31:57,977.9523333 --> 00:31:58,817.9523333
I remember just- the angle.

486
00:31:58,817.9523333 --> 00:32:03,157.9493333
you have to go for the extreme angle- Yeah which does risk missing the ball, but that's the only way.

487
00:32:03,175.9513333 --> 00:32:03,505.9513333
Yeah.

488
00:32:03,515.9473333 --> 00:32:06,135.9483333
S- And, and the rudimentary graphics is just too good.

489
00:32:06,225.9463333 --> 00:32:06,285.9463333
Yeah.

490
00:32:06,415.9493333 --> 00:32:06,775.9523333
All right.

491
00:32:06,805.9483333 --> 00:32:08,375.9533333
So, so, so that's tennis.

492
00:32:08,395.9523333 --> 00:32:09,685.9493333
You know, that's, that's number one.

493
00:32:09,695.9473333 --> 00:32:09,715.9473333
Yeah.

494
00:32:09,775.9493333 --> 00:32:11,507.9513333
Skiing you talked Yeah.

495
00:32:11,655.9473333 --> 00:32:15,205.9533333
Taking a look at the skiing again, you had the flag gates.

496
00:32:15,235.9483333 --> 00:32:15,365.9483333
Yeah.

497
00:32:15,375.9483333 --> 00:32:22,635.9463333
You had the little moguls, you had the little trees, and you had the screechy turn sounds if it was a bad turn sound.

498
00:32:22,915.9493333 --> 00:32:22,975.9513333
Oh, yeah.

499
00:32:23,25.9523333 --> 00:32:28,235.9503333
In terms of when we talked about being obsessive about things back in one of these pods, so it was skiing for me.

500
00:32:28,505.9483333 --> 00:32:34,655.9503333
I had to be on that Activision ski team, and basically that was the slo- that was the slalom course.

501
00:32:35,55.9513333 --> 00:32:37,415.9423333
Technically, you just had to be under 28.2

502
00:32:37,425.9463333 --> 00:32:40,285.9493333
seconds, and if you did- Yeah you could take a photo and you could get a patch.

503
00:32:40,285.9493333 --> 00:32:41,605.9513333
I didn't really care about the patch.

504
00:32:41,615.9483333 --> 00:32:41,625.9483333
Oh.

505
00:32:42,25.9523333 --> 00:32:52,915.9543333
But I absolutely had the quest for the perfect run, to the point that if there was a slight turn that was not perfect, it was stop the game and reset and go on to the next one.

506
00:32:53,5.9483333 --> 00:32:53,135.9483333
Yeah.

507
00:32:53,215.9543333 --> 00:32:56,705.9463333
And I did bring today, 'cause it's been on my, bulletin board forever.

508
00:32:56,725.9423333 --> 00:32:58,365.9553333
So there's a little bit of an envelope there.

509
00:32:58,405.9503333 --> 00:32:58,635.9503333
Yeah.

510
00:32:58,635.9503333 --> 00:32:58,685.9493333
Yes.

511
00:32:58,685.9493333 --> 00:32:59,685.9533333
You can open that up.

512
00:32:59,685.9533333 --> 00:32:59,695.9533333
Yeah.

513
00:32:59,695.9533333 --> 00:33:03,17.9453333
What, what, what's going on in there? don't know, but open...

514
00:33:03,17.9493333 --> 00:33:04,177.9463333
Oh, it's a picture.

515
00:33:04,687.9473333 --> 00:33:07,817.9523333
It's Atari skiing Fantastic.

516
00:33:07,817.9523333 --> 00:33:08,207.9523333
I don't know how...

517
00:33:08,307.9503333 --> 00:33:09,627.9503333
So it's a Polaroid.

518
00:33:10,207.9443333 --> 00:33:18,657.9423333
It's a, it's, it's obviously a little grainy, but that's, you know, 'cause it's years old, but it does have the trees and it's got the skier and it's got the moguls.

519
00:33:18,657.9423333 --> 00:33:22,433.9503333
Well, what most importantly what's still blurry, is the time.

520
00:33:22,573.9513333 --> 00:33:25,953.9513333
So that was really the, the best time that I ever had.

521
00:33:25,963.9503333 --> 00:33:32,103.9513333
It's 27 point something, but because it's taking a picture of a Polaroid of a screen, it didn't come out that great.

522
00:33:32,423.9493333 --> 00:33:38,773.9523333
I did say, I did see going down a rabbit hole, uh, this morning, that people say 27.52

523
00:33:38,773.9523333 --> 00:33:41,413.9503333
was, like, the best possible slalom run if it was perfect.

524
00:33:41,423.9493333 --> 00:33:41,453.9493333
Right.

525
00:33:41,713.9503333 --> 00:33:51,947.9513333
I'm not saying it was that, but I'd like to think it was in the neighborhood, because I knew what it was like to have the perfect So you're saying if we could forensically get, get a good I'd love to know.

526
00:33:51,947.9513333 --> 00:33:52,75.9513333
It's fine.

527
00:33:52,75.9513333 --> 00:33:52,267.9513333
I don't know.

528
00:33:52,267.9513333 --> 00:33:52,787.9513333
I'd love to know.

529
00:33:53,291.2836667 --> 00:33:53,447.9473333
I'd love to know.

530
00:33:53,447.9473333 --> 00:33:54,797.9533333
that would be fantastic.

531
00:33:54,807.9513333 --> 00:33:55,217.9513333
All right.

532
00:33:55,227.9513333 --> 00:33:57,447.9513333
So let me just get to Night Driver.

533
00:33:57,467.9513333 --> 00:33:59,307.9513333
You, you, you teed on that and you can come back.

534
00:33:59,337.9513333 --> 00:34:02,127.9513333
But for me, there's two parts...

535
00:34:02,137.9513333 --> 00:34:03,627.9503333
There's a few parts of Night Driver.

536
00:34:03,667.9513333 --> 00:34:13,487.9513333
First of all, it's being outside the lanes is some houses and trees that are just kind of nice to see as you're, as you're driving along inside kind of the orange, you know, dotted lines.

537
00:34:14,57.9503333 --> 00:34:19,347.9513333
Inside the lanes, beeping cars with his- with a hysterical crash sound.

538
00:34:19,357.9513333 --> 00:34:23,177.9503333
I encourage you to spend a couple of minutes and to listen to that crash sound.

539
00:34:23,667.9503333 --> 00:34:33,357.9523333
And I will say that when I'm driving at night on a highway, and I am very much gonna be in the absolute s- tiny, tiny minority on this one.

540
00:34:33,727.9523333 --> 00:34:47,527.9483333
But when I run into a tight detour, let's say there's road work going on or construction, sometimes with, sometimes with cones, I absolutely feel as though I'm playing Night Driver and I have a big smile, and that just continues.

541
00:34:47,527.9513333 --> 00:34:50,87.9513333
That's the gift that keeps on Yeah.

542
00:34:50,157.9513333 --> 00:34:56,937.9503333
And the, and like we, we were saying before, those were the, the, the rare, uh, non-joystick game.

543
00:34:56,957.9503333 --> 00:34:56,977.9503333
Yeah.

544
00:34:56,987.9483333 --> 00:35:01,947.9513333
You had the little spinny things, which would be for like Breakout as well.

545
00:35:01,957.9463333 --> 00:35:02,173.9513333
Oh.

546
00:35:02,907.9503333 --> 00:35:03,877.9483333
Things like that.

547
00:35:03,877.9523333 --> 00:35:15,887.9513333
But, um, yeah, for the most part, of course, you know, we've skipped over why Atari was so great for people like you and me, which is the fricking single joystick with the sing- just the, the, with the button.

548
00:35:15,963.9513333 --> 00:35:18,197.9473333
red button You know, The button.

549
00:35:18,927.9473333 --> 00:35:19,327.9493333
Y- which...

550
00:35:19,537.9483333 --> 00:35:22,307.9503333
So I mentioned I almost ordered the Atari Classic thing.

551
00:35:22,557.9523333 --> 00:35:28,187.9483333
They do have a handheld alternative called, like, the Atari Play something.

552
00:35:28,197.9493333 --> 00:35:30,57.9493333
Like- Ah it's like, it's like a Nintendo thing.

553
00:35:30,287.9463333 --> 00:35:31,167.9503333
And I looked at it.

554
00:35:31,257.9513333 --> 00:35:41,707.9463333
They have, like, the two four-way things just to get started on each arm, and then there's, like, the two buttons on top of those, and then there's the trigger ones."

555
00:35:41,707.9483333 --> 00:35:45,227.9523333
And I'm like- That's a non-starter y- you have to be out of your mind.

556
00:35:45,287.9503333 --> 00:35:47,873.9513333
Like, no, we like the joystick.

557
00:35:48,737.9473333 --> 00:35:55,577.9503333
Um, and that's part of what made it so fabulous, is that they never needed to go past it, and they still made all these great games.

558
00:35:55,577.9513333 --> 00:35:59,467.9503333
I will throw in a bonus, uh, high five for video pinball.

559
00:36:00,617.9523333 --> 00:36:01,667.9473333
Love that game.

560
00:36:02,93.9493333 --> 00:36:02,433.9493333
Is...

561
00:36:02,473.9503333 --> 00:36:05,427.9463333
Did that help you become the pinball wizard that you are? Didn't hurt.

562
00:36:05,893.9483333 --> 00:36:06,703.9493333
Like, I believe it.

563
00:36:07,563.9463333 --> 00:36:07,903.9463333
Okay.

564
00:36:08,113.9493333 --> 00:36:09,383.9533333
All right, that, that was fun.

565
00:36:09,383.9533333 --> 00:36:14,183.9503333
And I do hope that maybe reincarnating Atari is actually something that, that might happen.

566
00:36:15,23.9533333 --> 00:36:16,323.9463333
So that's it for today.

567
00:36:16,673.9473333 --> 00:36:17,713.9473333
Thank you for listening.

568
00:36:18,173.9473333 --> 00:36:20,473.9483333
Until the next time, I'm Peter Olczik.

569
00:36:21,337.9463333 --> 00:36:22,497.9523333
And I'm Scott Greenhut.

570
00:36:22,697.9463333 --> 00:36:32,123.9523333
Make sure to listen and subscribe on your favorite podcast player, and submit comments and feedback, at our website, whynotuspod.com.

571
00:36:32,765.5823333 --> 00:36:37,943.9523333
And until next time, Peter and I are gonna put this episode In the books