Jon Anik Recaps UFC Freedom 250 at the White House, Plus Former UConn Center & NBA Draft Prospect Tarris Reed

Hey, Rosillo listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Fans trust TickPick for all their live events. Check the reviews yourself. So why overpay for the exact same seat? Download the TickPick app and never pay another service fee again. And for new TickPick customers, take $20 off your first order with promo code PMT20 in the TickPick app. Terms apply. That's PMT20 at checkout for $20 off your first order. The Ryan Rosillo Show is presented by DraftKings. Two guests for you today. John Anik, who called UFC Freedom 250 the all-timer. One of the best fights I've ever seen. Justin Gaethje's win against Deporia. So we'll talk about that. And then everything that went into calling a UFC card from the White House. And also some thoughts on a colleague of ours that passed in Boston. Terrace Reed from UConn. Get ready for the draft. I'm telling you, you are going to love this kid. He was awesome in this interview. We usually don't do a ton of these with younger players. He was great. He talks about transferring, thinking he wouldn't be a pro. We talk about his best opponents. A lot of fun. Great personality. You're going to love it. And life advice and maybe a fitness update. This summer, the Cup is taking over the U.S. And only DraftKings has you covered every step of the way. The DraftKings Sports app is now available in all 50 states. It includes all markets. Bringing the game straight to your fingertips wherever you are. From Florida to Texas to California. You're in on the excitement at the speed of sports. Follow every group stage upset. Every knockout round thriller. Every stoppage time moment that flips the whole tournament. Sweat all the matches you love in real time. With a seamless experience built for the world's biggest stage. No matter what you're watching, you're always connected and in the game with one app. New DraftKings customers. Sign up with Code Ryan. 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In this case, 6 hours at almost 50 as opposed to almost 40. Getting up's a little different. You know, I didn't get up. For a long time. And feeling my age. But always good to be with you. Give me the back story here. Maybe the first time the UFC talked to you about it. The first time Dana talked to you about it. The whole idea of pulling off this big event from the White House. You may not be surprised to hear that oftentimes I find out when the masses do. So I think it was August of 2025 was when this thing sort of sprung into reality. And certainly as someone who's worked for Dana White, since 2011, can attest, like, this guy just wants to do what seemingly can't be done. And I feel like Sphere, and I think you might have seen a live event inside Sphere, perhaps not. But I think for anyone who's been inside there, they know that pulling off any concert is an undertaking. Never mind doing a live event inside Sphere. So the fact that our team was able to execute that, I think, was a grand vision. And this was that times a thousand. You know, there were so many inner workings of this show. It was such a massive undertaking. In terms of coordinating all of the band elements and the fireworks and cooperation with weather. So many different arms of the UFC. I'm just so thankful to have been a part of it. But I don't know that you could have executed it as well as the team did if you had a second shot. The buildup that day. What was the day like? Yeah, I mean, I guess I would admit to some nerves that don't usually accompany my pre-fight routine. I don't even know why. You know, I'm doing seven fights instead of. Fourteen, right? I got half as many athletes and no UFC newcomers. I knew all of these athletes backwards and forwards. But yeah, I mean, it was a lot of just moving parts and a lot of American history that I probably should have paid attention to when I was in school. But it was tense, you know, just thinking about the magnitude of this sporting event. It's not even so much eyeballs on it, right? Because oftentimes, even if I'm calling a Conor McGregor fight, I'm looking at a camera. I don't feel much of anything there. But in this instance, I'm surrounded by troops. There are just a lot of different. There are a lot of different deliverables. And yeah, I guess I felt some pressure. But what a night, man. I'm trying not to cuss every other fucking word, you know? It really delivered, man. And a bunch of us were invited. I was invited to go, but it wasn't going to happen. And then we were supposed to have, I think, Zach Brown on. And then, I don't know if he canceled on us. Why did you not go, with all respect? As I'm just learning this now, you don't have to answer it on live radio. It's just, you know, my libertarian values, I think. Yeah, I get it. No, NBA Finals. Oh, yeah. Priorities. No, I understand. I understand. The NBA Finals, I'm like, this isn't happening. There's just, there's no way. And then I think, yeah, I forget what happened with the Zach Brown thing. I don't know if he canceled because he didn't know that the pod is doing well. But I felt like, and it sucks, too, because I had about 20 minutes worth of Allman Brothers questions for him. So we were going to talk some Allmans, but it didn't work out. I admit, like, watching it going, like, part of it feels like a fever dream. Yeah, yeah. Because it was kind of like everything. Yeah. And then you're like, you know what? If we got a bunch of Eagles graphics and a lot of guitars, that's kind of America, too, you know? So watching that part of it was pretty incredible. And then watching the walkouts through the Oval Office, I'm like, some of these guys, if they don't have good cardio, they may get tired out before they even get in there. That walk is taking forever. So, no, it wasn't like anything politically, any reason I wasn't able to go. But I was jealous. I was jealous on Sunday night. Like, I get done taping, and then I'm watching all of it. I'm like, man, they really pulled this off. Justin Gaethje's walk was just an absolute thing of beauty. But you're wise to acknowledge all the elapsed time, right, for him. And then he waits for Ilya Topodia to come to the Octagon. But just the whole magnitude of the event, like when I'm crafting my open to begin the show, like I normally do. I don't do that on my own. This time I did ask for some opinion from Craig Borsari and Zack Candido and everybody on down. And Craig didn't want Ilya Topodia in there. It's sort of like, you know, USA, UFC. And how do you tie that together? And I guess for me, and I would throw this back to you, as a guy who I have so much respect for, like if you are celebrating the United States of America, are pro sports and the athletes not such a part of the fabric of this country that it's not crazy to think you would do a live sporting event if you could actually pull it off? Like, it makes sense. Like USA celebration, I know a lot of people say, you know, I want my government to protect me and not entertain me. But I felt, you know, it was really well executed and well thought. Yeah, look, I think at this point it just depends on which side you root for. And it doesn't matter. You know, it just doesn't matter. It's like, okay, well now this thing that maybe I even like, I'm going to pretend that I'm really mad about it because it's traditionally not something that's supposed to happen. Look, I've seen some arguments that I was like, okay, maybe I wasn't thinking about that. But ultimately, look, I enjoyed it. I thought it was a home run and the card was an all-timer. And let's start with Gaethje. Because here's the thing is that I remember eight years ago, could be seven years ago, but right around that time I had you on the show and I said, just give me the toughest guy. Give me who the toughest guy is that you've ever come across. And you said Justin Gaethje. And it just was like, oh, okay. He's had some losses. He's now on the three fight win streak. And when he's getting just mopped with these, these liver shots and he's an underdog anyway. And I'm thinking like, all right, you know, I'm rooting for him, but this isn't going to happen. And he puts together one of the most bad-ass performances. That's one of the best fights I've ever seen. Yeah, it is in totality. One of the best fights I think a lot of people have ever seen. And you've got a keen eye for this. You've watched it for a long time. I think singularly, it's one of the biggest wins in UFC history. If for me, it isn't on paper, this massive upset, because, you know, he's a lightweight. And I think Ilya Topody is five, six. And there are a lot of different angles into all, but Justin Gaethje is the most exciting fighter in MMA history. If you do peel back the curtain on his entire career, you'd be hard pressed to find a 30 second span of any fight that wasn't really entertaining and high level mixed martial arts at that. And he had accomplished so many things like Ryan, he defended a major world title five times successfully before he even got to the UFC in 2017. And nobody was watching. And then he got here and he won the interim championship in a global pandemic. He fucking threw the belt on the ground because it wasn't the real thing. things. The real thing was Khabib Nurmagomedov. He fought him later that year and lost and then became the interim champion again and then seemingly had this Herculane Challenge on his hands. And whatever you feel about Ilya Toporia, this was a huge ask for Justin Gaethje to fight a prime Ilya Toporia at this stage of Gaethje's career. Not to suggest Gaethje isn't prime. His current form was quite good coming in. But you can't cheat age in the fight game, you know, and Gaethje would be the first to tell you, you know, he has less than two fights left in any equation. So just so much respect for this American badass putting the ultimate capstone on his career this way. Is there anything to be said, like, about Toporia never having, I'm not going to try to say his name as well as you do, but him, like, not having to go the distance other than what was it, one fight that made it the distance? Like, were you wondering, were you sitting there with DC and Rogan going, hey, I mean, granted, his face was fucking hamburger, so there was also that for you to analyze and factor into where this fight was going, but did you start to feel like, hey, this is just a different level for him, despite people thinking pound to pound he might be the best fighter in the UFC? Well, I kind of felt that way going in. I hate to be the I told you so type guy, but I host a podcast with Kenny Florian who fought for UFC title three times, and he said in the lead up to the fight that Ilya Toporia was the greatest MMA fighter that he had ever seen, and I challenged him on that. Toporia had gone 25 minutes, with Josh Emmett at featherweight, right? A main event went the full five rounds. It was one-way traffic. He beat the hell out of him. You know, my son was actually there and left early because he beat him so badly, you know, so that was the championship length experience for Ilya Toporia, but very short on lightweight experience in this weight class. You know, Justin Gaethje acknowledged his jet genetics in the post-fight interview, talking about that his German skin should be studied, his bone density. These are real things, right? Like, weight classes exist for a reason, and not to suggest that Ilya Toporia can't become the undisputed lightweight champion again. I mean, skill for skill, he truly is as good as any fighter there is on the roster, but yes, unproven as a lightweight. He had fought Jai Herbert early in his UFC career. There was a moment of adversity there, and then when he beat Charles Oliveira, the fight was two minutes and 27 seconds, so I thought intangibly there would have advantages for Justin Gaethje going in the goddamn White House behind him and other things, the Americanism. Gaethje's a huge patriot, and yeah, Gaethje's just a great athlete. The naturally bigger man, and only time will tell, but I was surprised that more of my contemporaries didn't give Justin Gaethje more of a chance than they did. The other thing about Gaethje that I loved is even after the Portia loss, it's like, well, why didn't you wrestle more? He's like, yeah, I could have, but it's boring. I don't like to wrestle. I want to fight. I mean, this is a guy with an incredible wrestling resume, and he has just decided throughout his career, like, nobody pays those guys, nobody watches those guys. I'm just not going to be one of those guys, even though it probably would have been a good thing. I mean, I'm not going to say that he would have cost or saved him maybe a loss or two. Yeah, no, it's fair. Certainly a loss or two. I will tell you, though, what he always says as well is that it's tiring, and Ilya Topodia initially as a mixed martial artist was a submission guy first, reeled up a bunch of submissions before he got to the UFC, but wrestling and grappling is tiring. So part of the reason why Gaethje doesn't do it in certain matchups is because you might pay the price later, and you can even argue in this fight, as Topodia tried to finish the fight, he wasn't credited for it. He wasn't credited for it. He wasn't credited with a true submission attempt, but that maybe, you know, some of that led to the fatigue. But just buckets of respect for Gaethje and getting this win. I just think it's sort of interesting, you know, how people quantify it, because, you know, the betting line was wide. Depending on where you shopped, you know, you could have made a life-changing wager this weekend. I just thought there was so much value on Justin Gaethje, just as a totally proven lightweight against a guy who, while skillful and pound-for-pound elite, not proven at 55 at all. Did you get any more clarity on Toporia when the doctor came over and called the fight based on his lack of vision? And then it was, you know, because I know a lot of people are calling Trump the soccer president, and I was thinking, is he the let's-go-the-distance president as well? Yeah, so I think Mark Goddard, yeah, I mean, I think Mark Goddard, the referee, deserves a lot of credit, right? Because the ringside physician, I think, was, I don't know if excitable is the right adjective, but he sort of twice tried to stop the fight. And, you know, I think that's a good thing. I think he sort of seemed like in a rush to stop the fight. So I do think it was wise that we got an extra round there. You know, there was a little bit of an issue with some elapsed time, and Toporia maybe getting an extra minute, even if he didn't have his team there. It was a massive factor, because, I mean, he looked shot at the end of three, and then because he got all that extra time, he came out the freshest he had looked in, you know, probably 10, like, real minutes. Yeah, I mean, the protocol was handled correctly, but any way you slice it, you can't avoid some of that elapsed time. And even if Toporia's corner didn't stop it, you can't avoid it. And by the way, it was his brother who did stop the fight. Something got lost in translation. You know, I thought he was saying, we're going to finish the fight, and he was saying, we're finished, you know. So I think Goddard would have stopped it anyway. We are told not to get medical on the broadcast, right? That's why you don't hear me, at least, as I try to stay in my lane, you know, talk about broken orbitals. But, right, like, you see the dude's bone popping out of his cheek. It's hard in the moment to not be like, his face is broken. The referee was like, I don't know, I don't know. He was going to stop the fight after four. So quit on stool is an interesting reference. And I think the only people who are allowed to say it is Gaethje, okay? Or, you know, some of the fellow fighters. But that is not at all what happened here. Good. I'm glad you said it. Gaethje said he wasn't going to make an announcement on retirement. You said he feels like he has two more fights than him. So, I mean, these guys never. I don't think he should fight again. And I'm never in the business of retiring fighters, but he has financial freedom. After Max Holloway knocked him out at UFC 300, he played golf 300 of the next 305 days. He could go semi-pro, whatever he wants to do. What's the upside, you know? Unless he really wants, you know, 10 or 15 million for one more payday. Why? For what? Against Armand Sarukyan, who'll be a big underdog. I just, I don't see the risk in terms of protecting your brain. Gaethje shouldn't fight again. I'm just telling you that if he does, it'll be less of a risk. I'm just telling : I'm just telling you that if he does, it'll be less of a risk. I'm just telling is an interesting one because I think even DC on the broadcast, like makes a great point of just going like, I know as a casual fan, you're like, Oh, zero grounds fighting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yep. And we know in this matchup with Pereira, you're like, all right, you know, like he's not going to beat him. Even though we're talking about Pereira moving up and weight significantly, even though I still thought he carried it well, I think you guys breaking down his ass was valuable during the broadcast because you were like, look at his ass. And I was like, yeah, look at his ass. I need to pay more attention to it. With the elephant in the room, finally, Joe addressed it, you know? I mean, and honestly, there's like some a real conversation here in terms of like Cito Gompi and a true heavyweight from head to toe and Pineda maybe not being one. Right. So give me, um, give me the feeling on that one afterwards. Cause it, I don't, I don't know if it's like a Cyril gone. I'm trying to like compare Cyril gone to like other, other big fighters. There's like, Oh, that guy's fighting. And like none of us get excited cause it's not one of the headline guys. And then you watch how crisp and fluid and dominant he is against an all time opponent. And you're like, wait, maybe, maybe it is us. Maybe like, I think Alistair is probably like a good comp. So I'm like, yeah, I'll, you know, like Alistair's fighting. All right, whatever. And then it's, and then it's like, man, you know, he's, he's actually pretty fucking good and you never like accepted as like, this is an exciting guy to have in the ring. Yeah. So, uh, I'll say two things. Number one, uh, all the sharps love Cyril gone going in. They made a lot of money on Cyril gone this weekend. I think part of that was just that he was the tried and tested heavyweight. And the other thing I'll say, Cyril got might be the greatest heavyweight in UFC history, right? He's Oh, what? No, listen to this, right? No. All right. I'm having fun. Okay. He's Oh, and two with a no contest in his three, undisputed heavyweight title fights, right? So he's now a two time UFC interim heavyweight champion, interim belt, meaning the undisputed champ can't go. So let's not take too much away from him. Oh, and two with a no contest in his three undisputed heavyweight title fights, but skill for skill, Ryan, right? Stipe Miocic ubiquitously regarded as the greatest MMA heavyweight of all time, right? I mean, see it'll gone, bro. I'm telling you, like he could be favored in a rematch with Aspinall. If he was able to add that prize to everything he's done, his entire UFC career has basically been title fights. I'm just saying, man, like see it'll gone. His, his best days might be ahead of him. And when all is said and done, he is going to be remembered as one of the best to ever do it. And yet he's never been the guy that feels like a reach. Yeah. Saying right. I, I said twice what his record was. So I'm, you know, he was out by Francis and gone. Oh, he got beat quickly by John. Jones in a fight that had it gone a little bit longer. Uh, who knows? Right. But yeah, man. And then the no contest against Tom Aspinall, in which he was sort of tuning the guy up, you know, I'm just saying, this is a huge singular win as I think we're trying to acknowledge, and there's no easy division in week, which to beat Alex potato, even if he's probably better as a light heavyweight. And, uh, you know, there's a lot of pressure in these moments and gone just eats it. You know, he's always sharp on the feet. He's never been bad. At least when the fight has gone long enough, enough for him to show up i would look i don't think it takes um teddy atlas to figure out here i probably shouldn't use teddy atlas but uh cyril's movement and skill like when you think of that against steepay and it's like yeah except steep is just a fucking mutant and he's a lot to deal with so like what actually is more important um aspinall is i feel like every time i'm watching a fight it's like and what's up with aspinall like what what is up with him is he is he a frustrating character in this heavyweight story so i try to not gossip monger and stay in my land and i get myself in trouble anyway you know um but here i am interviewing tyson fury you know and uh the undisputed ufc heavyweight champion tommy aspinall is nowhere to be found so as you probably know he's now managed by eddie hearn and to whatever degree that throws a wedge into the relationship with the ufc i don't know but he is under contract even if you know his management suggests he's not happy with it and uh they need to fight right like cyril gone was wise to say like all right let's unify these belts in september in paris your move paris yeah right uh and tom's got to be like you got to be kidding me but yeah i mean tom is on the road to the world of wrestling and he's got to be like you got to be kidding me but yeah on the mend and as soon as tom gets cleared hopefully that's the fight that they make because um you know we can't have josh hokin getting a championship opportunity just yet no that was that was um he was a little too into the atmosphere there and maybe didn't read the moment i i don't know anybody that thought that was fucking cool terrible absolutely terrible that was the darkest moment of the night that he would take that shot at michelle obama you know um and i would like to apologize to first lady melania trump i called her ivanka on the way out i know it's melania i just screwed up but uh there was a lot of trumps in the house man i mean when they were in the ring after the fact like one of them grabbed i don't think it was a trump but i that was like what's happening right now are they multiplying and then gaethje was in there and then somebody grabbed gaethje's arm as he was walking away an older guy so i don't think it was like one of the trump clan and i'm like can you imagine grabbing gaethje's arm when he doesn't know as he's walking away from you but i think it was to pose for a picture of him and i'm like i don't think it was a picture of him and i'm like i'm sure with melania and so gaethje was like all right you know yeah and at that point like pro fighters usually it's just like i'm probably safe i'm probably but i'm like who's this person grabbing his fucking arm yeah and i'm sure it is somebody of significance but it wasn't it wasn't any of um the evil twins so i don't i don't know yeah i don't know who it was but yeah that was a forgettable moment for uh for josh hoket you know but like we need this heavyweight division to move along after what cito gone did you know what i mean so uh hopefully tom gets healthy and uh and they do that fight but uh yeah i don't know that cito gone he was a underdog for sure in that first meeting there's a good chance he ends up being the betting favorite against tom when they rematch wow was it weird for you as an elizabeth warren guy to just like dude i mean i am so that ignorant idiot when it comes to politics right i wrote a senior thesis how the media undermines american democracy and i couldn't tell you anything that was in those where you had your time pot induced 40 pages right so yeah but yeah no get on it i don't i think c plus we tried to c plus our way through college we cheated on our biology final otherwise we were pretty clean you know 40 pages is a that's an undertaking yeah just trying to put it all together it was uh it was pretty forgettable i just want to say one thing to you about genetics and uh okay when it comes to like ilia toporia and justin gaethje right because it is a real part of this like anderson silva's face was built like teflon you know when chael sonnen was like mangling him in their title fight he wouldn't cut open you know and justin gaethje didn't cut open despite toporia landing a lot of strikes and when you have an athlete after the fact who's the naturally bigger man you're talking 5 11 to 5 6 right is anybody including this in their fucking pre-fight handicap right and then gaethje's saying after the fact that's my mexico american mother my fucking hoss german dad study my skin not just my brain right like genetics weight classes right can't wait to see how ilia toporia spins this thing forward right because kenny florian and a lot of people are on the record right this guy's the greatest of all time skill-wise right can't wait to see how he spins it forward but you know there are a lot of big lightweights who would be more than willing to see how toporia fares against them wow sounds like maybe not as much of a toporia guy as i would like to see i don't know i don't know i don't as others i'm starstruck by him when he walks into a room he is so calm collected poised he's so thoughtful in two languages and yeah as gaethje alluded in around one situation or a 10-minute fight yeah he's probably the best guy on the roster you know but before this fight people are talking about him fighting islam akasha maybe at welterweight and can we slow our roll just google michael morales and you'll see size matters in fighting and i just think that uh toporia great chance to become a two-time lightweight champion but it's going to be a climb i feel like there's a mandatory john jones dot dot dot question um i don't know how much longer that happens but connor was always kind of that mandatory thing but we actually have a fight on the horizon thoughts so cotter mcgregor and max holloway fought for the first time in 2013 and now they will fight with conor mcgregor having this five-year layoff so when conor mcgregor broke his legs five years five years since the poor you yeah so but when he broke his leg in 20 it's not a check so he was getting in an active competition cycle in 2021 when he broke his leg he fought two times that year and given his bankroll the reason to come back is for competitive desire for legacy it's not for money for conor mcgregor so my expectation which does not dovetail with the opinion of most of my contemporaries is that he is going to perform very well and he's going to perform very well and he's going to perform very well and maybe better than the betting line indicated it is particularly wide right now and the layoff plays a huge role in that but i think in a striking matchup against max holloway uh if conor mcgregor has been putting in the right time uh he can realize success like a lot of coaches would say to you like we're not seeing it right like normally on social media you're seeing the work you're seeing the training camp you're seeing it from connor he's putting that on display for the world to see and maybe that would be more in the future but i think it's encouraging to them for his chances but i think he's going to perform well and uh you know we'll see what max holloway has to say about that before i let you go i wanted to spend a few moments talking about somebody we've worked with who's an icon in the business that we do and that's the passing of eddie annelman yesterday uh we worked with eddie at the zone you know there's a lot of people that get credit in certain industries like hey without this guy you know all that kind of stuff and i think it's going to be a lot of fun and i think it's going to be a lot of fun and i you can't really overstate his presence and his influence on um sports radio you know just sports talk radio going back decades and decades in boston so you know we got to know eddie our offices were next to him his show was before the show that we did and obviously it's sad and it's you know thoughts to his family his sons that we got to meet a bunch of different times but look eddie was um eddie was an i icon and i think once you got you got there with him it was it was a cool relationship i know personally for me like it started in a place where i was like oh i guess this isn't going to be much of a thing and then once he kind of came around on you i you couldn't help but just kind of get a kick out of who the guy was and so um just sad news yesterday yeah you put it better than i could you know he really does deserve a lot of credit for just the talking head industry and oftentimes i'll say you know the fact that i've been able to support my kids with mixed martial arts connor mcgregor in some part deserves credit because of what he has done to build the sport and eddie annelman is the godfather of sports talk radio not just in boston but he really deserves that distinction and um certainly it was interesting for me to see you as the prodigy at that radio station and the guy with all this talent and momentum and you know hosting a show alongside him and me watching the dynamic between the two of you and then doing sports flashes on his show and getting the chance to meet the boys um yeah i mean certainly you had to work hard to sort of um you know earn his trust but you know the most valuable on-air thing he ever taught me was a lot of hosts will say all right listen and it's like dude we're fucking listening like and eddie would say like don't ever say listen to your listeners and it's nothing more than a verbal crutch of which i have many but that was the thing i really took away from him never condescend your listeners by saying well listen you know it's like dude they're fucking tuned in they're here they're listening love you eddie i remember he did a rant against theo epstein and i got upset and it was like and i was still so young so i think i was only like 27 and i was in the car like driving back to the studio after one of our interns refused to pick up lunch but i i you know i just was like i completely disagree so like i ran in i ran in to the studio i was like oh god i can't believe what he's saying i can't believe what he's going on right now like i can't believe what he's saying and so they like the producer was like all right and he was in there with billy fairweather and he was like oh god i can't believe what he's saying and so they like the and so i was like just just line by line i'm like i can't believe like you're wrong about this it's different stuff and so then i leave and eddie's like laughing at me because he can't believe how personal i'm taking it yeah and which is like the best way to just defend your points like you you moron like you know like why do you care about theo i've seen this much and so then i go back to my office and there was two parts of it that are funny because billy fairweather like shows up he goes hey huge mistake you're done you might be done in this industry i don't know what yeah he's like i don't know what that was and i was like all right thanks and then eddie saw me like as i was getting in eddie thought it was the funniest thing ever he was like that was funny that was really funny because like again it was early on i had a really hard time understanding that this is all entertainment it's just entertainment and he understood that very early and i you know look i have my style and my style has been my style now for 25 years but there are always these moments of other people that were incredibly successful where i envied how not serious they took it and it may not be everyone for everyone but i think that actually speaks to like a broader audience and it was really funny because it went from me being like oh i can't believe i'm doing this and i'm like oh i can't believe i'm doing this i can't believe you would say this thing and i guess i get to challenge him because my show's right after his show and like this is totally normal talk radio stuff and then it was in the moment scene is like how dare you come into the studio and challenge this guy and yet eddie was just like that was good like you know he just thought it was funny because he couldn't believe that i was taking it so seriously all of his critiques of theo epstein well but even though you have changed in terms of maybe taking it that seriously in a lot of respects you haven't and that's why you sort of barged into the studio just your self-belief and you're not going to sort of be denied right like i never would have had the stones to even ask on the air and you practically walked into the studio without even asking the producer yeah because even if i figure which producer would have been i probably was still walking in there anyway fucking stepping all over him yep sorry rob tuze i'm uh i'm gonna cross we love rob tuze we were big rob tuze guys uh billy all right you're the man great night great night say hi to the gang for us over here 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additional terms at dkng.co slash audio nationwide based sportsbook predictions and or free to play sports contest availability varies by state limited time we'll be right back after a quick word from our sponsors this football season it's game on with ryobi whether you're getting the yard ready for kickoff clearing leaves before guests arrive or powering your tailgate ryobi's 40 volt outdoor lineup has you covered and we'll be right back after a quick word from our sponsors this football season it's time to take the party beyond the yard ryobi's portable power solutions keep your tailgate running strong ryobi the number one cordless outdoor power brand visit ryobitools.com slash tailgate ryobi only available at the home depot we're a week away from the nba draft it's my time to take the party beyond the yard we'll be right back after a quick word from our sponsors this football season it's game on with ryobi we'll be right back after a quick word from our sponsors yeah the biggest thing is being able to like impact the game without scoring and i had to really realize that and utilize that to my uh advantage this year was how can i impact the game if i'm not touching the ball because that's what that's probably what's gonna happen in this level and so it's rebounding it's defense it's setting hard screen it's rolling hard it's doing all the things that i'm pretty good at that i could take to even another level the next level and like i said a lot of players don't want to do so being able to hang my hat on the defensive end and the rebound i feel like i'll take care of a lot of things in hurley's offense with what you're asked to do that's one of the least concerning things that nba teams should have about you because you have to stay engaged the entire possession even when you know the ball isn't yours so tell me more about like how it's not that it's difficult but there's just a lot to it it's complex in where you have to be and how you have to kind of focus on every single cut in this offense yeah i mean speaking from a defensive side first that was the biggest thing i struggled with was like the multiple efforts part i remember in the summer workouts coach kamani used to rip me on just having to go up i gotta call the ball screen defense i gotta play ball screen defense i gotta contain the shooter contain the guard keep the ball in front of me keep the roller in front of me you have to box out rebound block the shot rim run and do it all over again and again and again and it really is a skill it really is it's it was tough for me to at first but like once i really grasped and got got to understand like what i have to do like this is a non-negotiable like if i want to win if i want to be the best player i want to become i have to do these things every possession and then offensively it's me i mean it was hard too like it was it was a lot i had to learn going into that that hurley hurley hurley system so offensively i felt like this past year they used me as a hub a lot during the five out and like i said in post-ups you know and they're going to trap and they're just trusting my passing i feel like that was the biggest thing i i showed a lot of people that i could really pass yeah you had to pass the caravan in the tournament on the cut where you're underneath the basket and it looks like you're i mean they're sending so much help to you as the tournament kept going and caravan cuts to your left and you make this pass and it it is true like i think a lot of people would have said i don't know if he's much of a passer and this year i think that's the biggest improvement that i've seen from you yeah 100 degree and actually a week before i made that same pass the caravan in the georgetown game so it was i don't know me and him just had that that connection it wasn't expected you know it's one of those things where you know when i watch you and this is where i think it might be easier for you in the nba because in the nba they're not going to be sending as much help to you yeah when you're down low have you thought about that at all yeah um and definitely playing with different players like whatever team i go to like they're going to have a superstar you know and my job is to get them open my job is to set hard screens for them my job is to roll hard make their life as easy as possible rebound defend the rim so really being in that selfless selfless act selfless role and embracing it you know like this is what i'm here for this is what i pray for this is what i want to come to nba i mean this we're going to give me playing time keep me on the court tell me what to do and i'll do it did you have to ever realize like how big you were i mean obviously you know how big you are but yeah when i when i saw you start to go like oh i can just put my hips into the sky. I can get clear with, like, a shoulder dip and then now the relief. Like, when did that click for you as an offensive player? I'm not going to lie. It clicked pretty late. I mean, like I said, I was always the biggest kid around, and it was a little bit inconsistent. But I feel like this past year, like, in January, what we played. So, actually, it was a day we lost to somebody. The next day in the weight room, Coach Gavin and all the coaches were like, yo, we're going to play this Marshawn Lynch clip. I don't know if you've seen it. It was like he was in the area. He was like, you got to do it over and over and over and over and over again. Like, he just run through in that face. And I was like, I had to sit on it for a little. I'm like, I'm this big. Like, I can just do whatever I want out there. Like, who's going to stop me posting up? Who's going to box me on the offensive rebound? And then I just started doing it in the game. I was like, yo, just physically imposing my will each and every day. Like, nobody wants to do this every day. Like, if I was them, I would not want to have to guard me and box me out. Like, particularly, you know, from the rim, just every possession and doing that, leaning on people, making it as difficult as possible. And you do a great job doing your work before, too. You're an awesome target as an entry pass. That, I think, is not a common thing with younger bigs. You make yourself a great target. Yeah. And you do your work early. And then it's funny, too, because I can see sometimes, like, in a defensive scramble where the non-center is on you. Yeah. You will just – You're almost offended. They think they're going to hang with you in the post. You'll chuck them out of the way before it even starts. Yeah. There's no question there. So, I'm just – So, I was talking to a front office last night about you. And I said, you know, what do you think? And it was really cool because it was different. It's not all the things that we're covering here. The first one was he can show defensively on a smaller player. Like, he can get out. And clog up your ball handler. Which is one of the main things that you're asking for a five that can stay on the floor. Was that something – You know, you've talked about the practices and drilling. Because, you know, sometimes you guys are asked to do so much. You're asked to get out there, contain the guard, and then also get back and recover. It's really, really hard. How do you figure that out? How do you figure out a way to do the number one thing and then also make sure your, like, original defensive responsibility is something you're going to be able to recover to? Yeah. Uh, truth. Truth. Since my freshman year, I always – I don't know. I love switching. I love guarding guards. Because when you see me, my player build, the way I built, you wouldn't expect me to be able to move my feet really well and be able to hang in front of guards. And I really pride myself on taking care of my body and being able to take care and just guarding on the perimeter. So, I feel like the biggest thing is, like, player personnel for us. You know, scouting is a huge thing. Coaches always say, like, how's the game going? How's the player playing? And really just switch coaches from there. So, the biggest thing we did was a show. And that's me calling out the ball screen. And I'm like – we call it a fist or, like, a blitz, where I'm just – I'm attacking the ball handler and I'm pushing it back to half court and I'm getting back to mine. So, in some scenarios, I might have to switch from the guard and stay in front. So, I feel like that's a big thing that I want to show that I can do at the next level. And, yeah, excited for it. The second thing that the team had said was that he can shoot. And that's – That's what's going to make you money, right? That's going to be the difference between I'm playing 30 minutes a game versus I'm a backup in this league. So, we didn't get to see that at UConn. And I know everybody in the draft is like, oh, he can do more. He can do more in the sell job of your skills. But where are you now with your perimeter shooting? Yeah, that's definitely something I've been working on. You know, I always have that in my back pocket. I mean, I've been shooting and I always – not always was a shooter, but I always had shooting. But that was in my ability of playing basketball in high school. But the biggest thing for me now is like keeping the main thing the main thing. Whatever's going to keep you on the floor and the NBA team, NBA system. And then from there, grow. You know, I feel like eventually down the road, I can start utilizing that and adding that to my game on the court. But the first thing is take care of like the easy, simple, basic things that I do really well. And then from there, I'm going to start to expand. Do you think you'll get to a point where, you know, the finishing with both hands and all the hooks, but it seems like you can extend that out, you know, where it's almost a floater in a way. Like, yeah, I know it's like a hook shot, but did you become more comfortable like getting further away, realizing like with your hands that, hey, this is something that's going to throw off a defense because I don't need to get deep every time. Yeah, Isaiah Harden signed in Jokic. Jokic is really good at it. I mean, it's always in that – we call it – it's a short roll, like that short roll window. And I said, with the defense, if the defense is trying to protect the rim, it's like that little area between the arc and the free throw line where if you're good at it and you can hit that shot consistently, it's a really good shot for the offense. So I feel like I hit it a pretty good amount this year, but I definitely want to make that more consistent because that will keep the defense honest. And if I can hit that consistently in the short roll, that could really change how we play offensively. Did you feel bad for Furman at any point during that game? No, because they were trying to beat us. They came out with so much like – and it was crazy because we're playing them. It really felt like we were guarding ourselves. Like we were watching the scout and we're watching like some injured coach and they watch a lot of UConn sets. But man, it really felt like we was in practice and it felt like we were guarding ourselves. It was the craziest thing ever. Yeah, I mean, look, that was the start of a really nice run. Have you been able to watch the Michigan game? Yeah. Yeah. What stands out when you rewatch the title game? First off, it was me, man. I feel like I could have attacked Maura a lot more, man, and just like go through his chest. I mean, there was a couple good looks I missed early on. And I went away from it because I went like one for three or one for four hooks, but they were good, really good shots. I just didn't go in. And I went away from it a little bit and I tried to come back to it. And by that time, it was a little late. He blocked my shot a couple of times. But I feel like just through his chest, man, I feel like that would have – I feel like that would have changed a lot of the game. But we did what we were supposed to. We made the game really slow. We made it ugly. We made it physical. We really turned it into a biggies game. You know, they wanted to play fast, and we knew our offense is elite. So, if we just slow this game down, possession by possession, we're going to give ourselves a chance to win. And we did just that. What do you think of Maura as a pro? He's good. He's – his size, he can pass, he can shoot a little bit. And he's going to be a good rim protector. I feel like, yeah, his passing and his rim protection makes him really good. It felt like when you went quick, you were better. And if you waited, it was more of a challenge. Yeah. Is that fair? Yeah, using my body and just exploding up, you know, because I could get to any shot I wanted to on him. It's just the fact that if I waited, he's 7'3", with a 9'9", you know, like a crazy standing reach. That's going to be tough to score with if I'm waiting and I'm two, three inches short of him. Who's the best player you think you went up against? Who's the best player you think you went up against all year? Probably Boozer. I like Boozer, the way he competed. He was a competitor I respected about him, especially at that young age. And like, you could tell he wanted to win. I like that answer. I guess I want a little more. Like, what stands out? What is it about him that you're like, damn? I don't know. It's just, you get that feeling when you play against certain guys, like guys that compete, that just go hard. Every possession. And they just want to win. I don't know. You just get the feel for it. I mean, I don't know. It's hard to explain. It's just, when you vote with you, like your matchup, or you with the other person you're going up against, like, y'all both going at each other, it's like, oh shoot, this could be good. You know what? Maybe is a better question, though, is that, like, as people try to debate, like, who's going to go number one here, right? Like, we get why De Bonza, because you just look at him and go, okay, that's what a number one pick is supposed to look like, Peterson. But then you think of Boozer. And all the advanced stuff is off the charts. And yeah, maybe he's not as athletic, and maybe he doesn't feel like he stretches the defense with the perimeter shooting. But what is it like to play against somebody who I felt like when I watch him, it's like, oh, so he just makes the right decision every single time. You know, and that's, that's one thing I respect about it, like, yo, you keep the game simple. People always, you know, with this era, everyone wants the flashy, the pretty, the step back, you know, tween, tween, heads you cross, he getting straight line drops, pump fake, pump fake, finish every rim, and one, and then he wins like all these accolades in college basketball. It's like, yo, like, well, if it's so easy, how come everybody else not doing it, you know? And that's what I respect about it. Like, he just keeps it simple. What was your favorite interview so far? Like, it doesn't have to be the team you most want to go to. I know you got to play the game here, keeping it open with everybody. But is there an experience throughout this pre-draft process that you, you just enjoyed a lot? My favorite interview was probably, I think the first interview. The first one, first two I had, first two I had was, I think I had, my first one was Orlando. My second one was OKC. And they were my first two interviews. You know, I'm, I'm a little bit nervous, but I'm feeling confident, you know, like, I'm sure it's going to be real in the interview, and they were pretty, they were pretty good, pretty fun. And yeah, that really set the tone for the whole week at the Combine. What was it about the OKC one that you liked? Uh, they showed me a video about just like what it means like to be in a program. like to support staff, how everyone's connected. And, I don't know, we were just laughing, cracking jokes in there, just talking about everything. It was just fun. It felt like – it didn't even feel like an interview. It felt like an open conversation. I felt like I knew those guys for a while. So it was pretty fun. This moment, you know, that's a week away, was there ever a time from your high school to college basketball journey, Michigan to UConn, where you didn't think this was going to happen? Heck, yeah, last year. My junior year, man. I'm going to say I shoot it straight now. It's like after my junior year, I wanted to leave UConn, bro. I wanted to head out of there. It was tough for me. I wanted to head out. And then I end up, like, yo, Stan, because I just knew I couldn't live with myself if I left. And just the development I had. And I remember Coach Bird, he pulled me aside. I'll never forget this. He pulled me aside. It's right after I told Coach Staff I wanted to leave. He pulled me aside, and he talked for like 15 minutes. He was like, yo, I don't know about everybody else telling you, but I'm going to shoot you straight. I feel like you can do it. You can be a pro. I feel like you could be a first-round pick next year if you stay in this system. And I really do truly believe in you. And at the time, it's like, yeah, Coach, I got you. Like, I didn't even really believe in it. But just throughout the whole year, seeing how much we built a relationship, how much he poured in me, like, literally after every game, like, good or bad, like, we're calling each other. He's talking to me about the game. Yo, what you think out there? Let's watch them tomorrow. So, yeah, Coach Murray really pulled me aside and, like, spoke this into existence. And now, like, a year later, I'm like, oh, shoot, Coach, we really had a conversation, like, multiple times about this. And now I'm living it right now. It's got to be hard, man. Like, what, were you a four-star at St. Louis? And so, you know, look, you're going to Michigan. You're obviously a big deal. And now with the portal element of the last few years, like, I'm sure recruiting is tough enough with everybody in your ear. But then you're involved in the re-recruitment every single year of other big-time programs. Being like, hey, do you want to leave? Like, how hard is that for you as a young guy? Being like, who can I actually listen to right now? It was difficult. Especially, like, when you're hearing what other teams are offering, it's like, oh, shoot. This is like, with the NIL, that's why, it's like a good cop, bad cop situation. It's like, the people that really do with NIL and take advantage of it and use that for, like, the good, and, you know, they take care of their money. They invest their money. They make their, I feel like that's a good thing. And then you have to, like, you know, of course you're going to have players that's going to transfer each and every year to the highest bidder, you know? Like, there's always going to be good cop, bad cop. But I feel like me being in that position, like, really leaning on my faith and my family. Like, that was the hardest thing. And sometimes, like, I'm older. Like, you got to make the best decision for yourself. And, yeah, that was one of the decisions I had to make. Was Hurley part of the reason? Was it the early, Hurley practices where you're like, maybe I should have just stayed in in-armor? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Coach really, he knows how to get the, he knows how to get the most out of each and every player. And you could question, you could question it sometimes. But looking back, I loved it. It's crazy. I don't know. It's like, he just pulled and poured absolute, the most into you. Like, it's crazy. It's the craziest thing. Like, each and every day, Coach Hurley is the exact same. Like, I cannot, I cannot remember one day where he was low energy, you know? And usually, like, you're going to have at least a day or two where the coach, you know, head coach is a little bit low energy, a little bit tired. He'll come in from, like, recruitment visit on, like, two hours of sleep, yelling the next day, everything. So that's the one thing I do respect about Coach Hurley. He was a straight shooter from the beginning to the end. I know you're out here in L.A. Lakers going to win. You're at the 25th pick. How much do you like in Los Angeles? That's pretty nice out here. It's really my first time out here trying to explore. But, yeah, I'm happy wherever I go. But I'm, yeah, today I'm probably going to walk around. I was in Santa Monica yesterday. Probably going to walk around Manhattan Beach today. And then a couple days ago, I went to, like, a nice little, whatchamacallit, mall. Like, a nice little mall area. So I'm trying to really explore L.A. You know, trying to see what more life has to offer. Well, good for you. I can't imagine what it feels like to be a week away from this, knowing it's going to happen, a dream come true. So I'm sure a bunch of old people tell you to enjoy it. And I know you will, man. So good luck next week, all right? Yes, sir. Appreciate it. We'll be right back after a quick word from our sponsors. Football season's here. And whether you're grinding your way through the week or gearing up for kickoff, there's one ride that's always game ready, the Chevy Silverado. There's a reason Chevy is called the heartbeat of America, and Silverado keeps that heartbeat strong. Whether you're towing, hauling, or tailgating, Silverado lets you show up strong and tackle any task. With best-in-class standard torque, the most functional bed, and the advanced tech that's football guy approved, check out offers on the 2026 Silverado at Chevy.com. You want details? Bye. I drive a Ferrari, 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. 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Got a personal trainer now. hell yeah and uh she just felt like you needed it you need the extra boost yeah i did i did i needed i needed something different it's something i've been thinking about for a little while there's just a lot of like if you're an older guy and you've done all the traditional bro split stuff but you didn't do a lot of the other like complementary muscles you're just going to start breaking down so there's complementary muscles that are just a touch behind you could say 20 years behind what's a complementary muscle i don't know i'm unfamiliar the ones that hurt all the time okay aren't they usually ligaments and joints yeah but yeah yeah pretty much how do you how do you shop for a personal trainer was there a guy like you had in mind if you'd ever like you ever crossed that threshold or do you like i mean you must you must have to respect him enough to be like yeah this is the guy i'm gonna look up to like how do you how do you get in that headspace are you just like driving around a neighborhood like if that ever house goes for sale like i'll poke around or like it's a big decision for you i would imagine it was a big decision but i absolutely love where your head is at i love your head that was weird i love where your head is at that's what she said yeah phrasing yes good job on it are we still saying that i love the the idea of like i am walking around the gym being like sign me up for some of that i don't know there's a smoke show that gave me her number when i tore my calf and she's like if you need to do any rehab stuff and i was like never text this number like hey my cat feels better but do you like sushi uh what what are you go ahead i just often think now that we're on this topic i often think about this with you like you've you've got the mass you're a big dude you know we've seen we've had several shirts off instances we had the the picture of you on the basketball court we had the um the uh the revolve read if you haven't seen that you have to watch that on netflix i think it's in our instagram story too what are your goals like what what are we what are we trying to do at this point i don't know what else there is to do like that's a great question steve i just want i feel like i like to joke around when people are just kind of like oh i mean i'll just go like i don't even think i've hit my peak yet i don't know if you're i like that mindset yeah i like that mindset where somebody'll be like i'm old or i feel like this right like yeah i don't even think i'm i don't even think i've been the best version of myself yet and so whatever that means um i just keep telling myself that all the time and i know like deep down it's sort of not true but maybe it is maybe it's true so there's a power lifting guy there that i've been eyeing for a bit my guy paul he's like a west side barbell guy or something so i was like okay that checks a lot of boxes but i was like you know i'd kind of like to find a way to be I may do a before and after picture. We'll see how it goes. But there may not be as many sessions as maybe I originally thought. So yesterday's Monday, I'm off after the late Sunday taping. I'm thinking I just done legs on Saturday. I saw him on Saturday. I was doing legs on Saturday. And then I show up in shorts, no knee brace for the MCL. And he just text me because it was like, all right, 9am day off. I mean, I had other stuff to do later in the afternoon. But but let's go and then I'm of course running a little behind. huge 15 minute stretch before every single time now, guy, that's what I do. And so I was like, all right, I got to get there and make sure you really, really stretch for this, like be ready to go. And of course I got there at like seven of nine and he sees me standing by the squat rack with a full set of toys out. And I went, what the fuck is this? So I'm like, look, there's like specific things I need to do to like get my back to crack open. I need to stretch it out. I need the spine to like, I have to go through all of these things where it's just, I sound like popcorn for fucking 10 minutes. So I'm like rushing through that. And I was like, all right, what are we doing? And he's like, first thing, there's a 45 pound bumper plate on the ground. And he's like, slide it between your feet back and forth for 30 seconds. Like you're shuffling like side to side, but you have to slide the plate. And I was like, oh yeah. Cause I've had a lot of these like groin nether region things from striking that have hurt. So I was like, I don't, I was like, I might be tapped out in 30 seconds. Like if I do this at the wrong angle, he's like, oh, I'm not going to be able to do it. And I was like, oh, I'm not going to be able to just go that right into a plank with a plate on my back, right into box squats, which I haven't done like traditional squat rec. I've been doing a lot of kettlebell stuff and then not really the fun stuff. Right. And then lunges 12 each with 30 pound dumbbells in my hands elevated. That's one round. I did four rounds of it. I was sweating so bad. He's like, yeah, that's your central nervous system. Like, we're just going to see what happens. And I was like, you know, I did legs two days ago. Like, not really. And I went, I was like, fuck, it was so hard. It was so hard. I almost threw up twice. And there was one thing at the end where I don't really make a lot of noise in the gym, but we were doing this last thing where he was like holding up the weight basically to failure. So he was like, just give me two more reps. And there was no more reps other than he was going to lift it for me. And my legs were going to extend out some leg extension stuff we were doing with this extra brace that I'd never even seen. And I was yelling, I was like, I'm not going to fuck you during the reps, looking at him. I gotta be honest, you sound giddy. Like you say, you sound like it's awesome. I don't. So then yesterday was so tough. I, I luckily I did like compression stuff with the Therabody jet boots and I was in and out of the cold tub twice. I just got in it this morning before we did the show. So I'm giddy about the challenge, but now I know that I've something else that I'm going to dread all of the days. Like if that's, I imagine chest day can't be that unfun, right? I wouldn't know. I need, I want to get back to though, you saying that you haven't peaked. Is that you're, are you talking about like physically? Like, cause I would say like you basketball wise, like you, you would admit that basketball wise, you probably have peaked, right? Like you don't, you, you've been the best version of your basketball self at some point. And only ask that. Cause I've been, I'm my pickup league picked up again. And it's just like, Hey man, I'm just not going to be just not, I don't have it. I just don't have it to kids, whatever I can, I could knock sounds, jump shots, play good defense fit in, but I'm just not going to be like guy with the ball in his hands at the end of the game. So like, I would admit like, Hey, I probably peaked. So you're just saying like, you think lifting wise, you could still, you still got another gear to go. I don't know. I think it's all on the table. You're not putting a cap on anything in life. Why? Why put a salary cap on your life? It's parentheses basketball like, are you kidding? You're right. But it's right. Close. Yeah. Intellectually though. Listen, like there's one, I'm sure there's still money to get there. Yeah. I've changed some things driving to contact as opposed to away from it. You know, this Luca thing that I finally realized after a couple of years, I was like, wait a minute, wait a minute. Maybe I can incorporate some of that. And it's like, Hey, you know, what's not awesome in pickup is when a guy's Luca shouldering you on a 11 a.m. lunch hoops. And then I'm like, yeah, I'm slower now. I drive to contact. I'm sorry, but you were moving like, yeah, nobody likes that. So that wasn't that wasn't a great era. That wasn't, wasn't appreciated. I look, I don't, I don't know what to tell you. I think that it's just a better way to go about things. Even if I, I don't want to admit that I'm lying to myself because then that would be admitting that I don't believe it. It's good to have something to do too. Like my dad's like circling retirement, my dad's circling retirement. And I'm like, what are you going to do? Are you going to golf all the time? And he's like, I don't think so. He's like, I actually kind of kicking around the idea at Home Depot. He doesn't need the money, like solid 401k guy, you know, but he's just like, I might just show up at Home Depot a couple of times a week and see if I love it. It's good to have a thing to do. I think. Yeah. I like that idea. If he does it, I want to talk with him about it. Yeah. You know, one day a week operating from a position of FU, like I actually don't need this job. I like being here. Like that sounds pretty cool. He liked the kind of guy too, that like my dad's like this for like the contractor will come over and he's kind of like actually do it this way behind him. It's like, you know, I was actually messing with that a couple of years ago. I was wondering what you think. We had a tile guy do some tile at the one of our old house. And, uh, my dad did, I was just, he's like, what do you think? I was like, yeah, that looks fine. I didn't know nothing about tile. I don't know. My dad comes over and looks at it. He's like, nah, it's not going to the floor. He's coming back. And I was like, well, do you want to call him? And he did, he did it for me. So people are going to get, I baited out. Maybe I did, but it's like, Hey man. What was wrong? So, you know, like there was a shot, it was the, the shower tile and he didn't do it to the floor. He just did it to like the edge of the tub. And I don't, I didn't know that was like a thing you were supposed to do. And he, my dad's like, absolutely fucking not. This guy's coming back. And so he had to rip out the existing one. He just put in on the sides and put new ones in. So, yeah. Well, your dad must've been a thousand percent right. If you got the, if you got the contract and he was, yeah, he must've been like unequivocally right. Undisputed. The tub obviously wasn't in, right? No, it was. He had to take the tub out. No, no, no. He just, you just, you know, you just do the tile around the tub, but like you have to cut it to, you know, the 90 degree angle and go to the, go to the floor. Sounds like a huge man in the ass though. It definitely was. I don't think he was pumped about it. Especially after the homeowner was like, yeah, we're good. Yeah. I made sure to stay out of the house for those two days he came back. Oh my God. I don't blame you for putting that one in. At all. All right. Let's, uh, let's get to some emails here. Am I cheating on my wife? The email address. Well, not specifically just for these, but in general, life advice, rrgmail.com. Hey guys. Uh, he wants us to say his name and where he's from. This seems like, do him a favor maybe. No, he's international. Okay. So is the pod though. Hey, the inter, dude. Foreigners are huge right now. World cup on our pod. I think we're going to do a power ranking of just like which nations are just the best. I don't know. Part of yours. Have you seen? Yeah. Like did we got like, you know, the Brits going to Cracker Barrel for the first time and having some biscuits and gravy and losing their minds. And the Koreans are drinking with the Mexicans and the Scots are taking over Fenway Park. So there's a lot going on. I'll admit the border time. Wasn't my favorite time. Cause I was like, who is this for again? But then I saw like a super right wing guy when one of the, like online foreigners visiting who was saying like, I never want to leave. And then they were like, well, as long as you do it legally, I was like, all right, Jesus Christ. Like the guy just had chicken and waffles. Like, can we not turn this into anyway? All right. So, uh, you know what? Our man here, we're going to, we're going to be a little vague about it. Cause you never know. You never know. 36 years old, 1.72 meters tall, uh, 76 kilograms, no impressive gym stats, but I am getting better at running. Just ran. My second half marathon in one hour, 44 minutes, happily married 10 plus years. We have a three-year-old daughter, healthy financial life, not rich, but we can enjoy stuff without compromise, compromising our savings. Me and my wife just spent a very romantic weekend, left our daughters with their grandma. It was great. Exclamation point. Sounds good, man. Now my question, I work in a bank and we have a once a week massage service in the office. Once a week. Damn. Now, based on where he said he was from, this is way less surprising. If I told you where he was from, I feel like you can go up that slip now. He's in Rio. Okay. Yeah. So I guess if you work, if you're a bank teller in Rio, Dejanero, it's just like, all right, time for your massage. Honestly, I not surprised based on some Instagram research from certain parts of Brazil. It's one hour long. God. Are you kidding me? And it's a relatively cheap. So a lot of us do it for me. It's really helpful for relaxing during the stressful work hours and to have a recovery session for all my running around or excuse me, all my running training. About two months ago, we had a change for the masseuse that goes to the office because we do get a full body massage. We go in wearing only our underwear. Yes. You probably guessed it. The new masseuse is very good with her hands. And when I'm facing up on the table, things get a little tense. At first, nothing happened. Only me feeling ashamed of the situation. The massages are normal, but two weeks ago, I had the blindfolds on and she was massaging my belly when she asked, oh, I'm going to leave out the rest. I went into this one blind. I think we know where we're going with this. Yeah. This can't be real. Got tuned up on a massage table when he wants to know. Yeah. What now? So am I cheating on my wife or should I stop and just tell the masseuse to stick to the regular massage? Yeah, man. I think that's probably. I'll tell you who thinks it's cheating. defeating every woman ever yeah and it's a workplace thing now this is yeah we're crossing beams here that's not i didn't know we were getting emails like that but god brazil's on fire right now and this guy wanted to use his name what it was unbelievable this isn't real there's no way this one's real if it is you might have a lawsuit on your hands dude i don't know how much do you like your job him or yeah yeah you know what why don't we just go back and edit out his name that would be awesome if people started doing that sending his emails so that then they could sue me right yeah maybe i just gave everybody a great idea and i shouldn't have said that all right uh that's a weird one that one did get a little weird did get a little weird all right what else do we got what else is new there could be a whole other show that the judge kyle show that we were doing where people just keep asking us to settle debates but it's not it's not really it's not really life advice you know no but you know it'd be something we do i don't know once a week mix it up not anti six foot 185 no nba comp soccer conference for rudy hugo loris lorries lorries okay lorries sorry sorry for france yeah well he's yeah he doesn't play for france anymore but he did good shot stop or liability with the ball at my feet okay yeah hey guys seeking advice for not only myself but also hopefully for others who have been or will be in this situation in the future recently an old friend of mine called me to ask me to be a groomsman his upcoming wedding it's incredibly kind but the fact of the matter is we've not and have not been close in the last eight years and i'm not going to be a groomsman in the next eight years i'm going to be a groomsman In fact, I take it a step further. I feel like we haven't even been friends in that time period. I haven't seen him since before COVID. I talked to him maybe once every 18 to 24 months. To put this into perspective, I got engaged recently and was not even planning to invite this guy to my wedding of 150 to 175. He wasn't even a borderline guy, if I'm being honest. We were very good friends. We were younger, but living several states away meant we naturally grew apart, never any flights, just gradual distancing. So this leads to my question for the group. Is there any way to get out of this? Most of my intention is selfish here. I don't want to travel to his bachelor party or to this wedding since I will basically have no friends there, including the groom himself. Maybe this would be good for him too. Like he can prioritize an actual better friend, cousin, or maybe give an up and coming friend a call up to the majors. I know this latter point is me trying to find a reason to get out of this, but that's exactly why I'm here. Can I lie and say I'm already in a wedding that weekend? Do I just burn the bridge and say, no, I don't want to? What a powerful move. I don't want to. Yeah. Respectfully decline. I can't lean on the broke argument. I think you would see through that. Open to any and all ideas to save me two burned weekends and two flights to undesirable locations. Oh, man. This is a tough one. It's like somebody who's like, you guys are just on fundamentally different planes, you know? And I understand that friendship where it's like, dude, we used to sleep over each other's house and we used to like stay up all night and beat the PS2 game together. And then, it's been 10 years. And it doesn't mean I want you giving a fucking speech. Right. Right. But I remember the RC car together. There is a certain type of friendship, like formative years where it's just like inseparable. And then it's like, oh, we actually went to different school districts and everything kind of separated. But I thought everyone kind of was on the same program. But I guess I guess some dudes kind of aren't. That's that's strange. And it's like a very vulnerable ask. Would you be in my wedding? That's a tough one. I'm wondering if maybe his wife has a huge bridal party and he's like, got to fill out the numbers. And it's actually not as serious as you think. It's just like, we could throw Conrad there. Even eight, eight, you know? Yeah, I, I think you could respect. I think you just say, hey, man, like, I got a lot going on. I can't commit to being in a wedding right now. I think you have to probably. You could even maybe get out of the bachelor party, too, with that. You probably have to go to the wedding and you probably have to invite him to the wedding, too, though, unless you just want to really go like freaking towards scorched earth. Like, I don't care. But I think you already had it. Like, hey, we did the wedding thing and now we will not hang out the rest of our lives. Yeah. Mission accomplished. Right. But there's plenty of people that I invited to my wedding that I will not hang out for the rest of my life for my life. And that's that's OK. I just like life works like on a friend level. Yeah. Yeah. Like there's some old co-workers that I really like and I would like to hang out with them more. Just life goes on. You just don't really talk to them anymore. And that's just how it works. You know, I should do that. There should be some sort of. Challenge where all of us, whoever loses the challenge has to text somebody they haven't talked to in like four years and just go, hey, how are things? I thought about it. That would make me really uncomfortable. I thought about doing it for myself and I'm just like, yeah, I don't think so. We were trying to do it. I would say like 10 years out of college where we were kind of come up with challenges like we'd be hanging out. I'd be like, all right, loser has to text this girl from college and be like, hey, you still think of me even though they never dated, right? And then the guys would be like, no. And then I'd like half the guys loved the idea. And the other guys were like, I can't I can't possibly do that. Credit card roulette is fun until it's your your card comes out of that. Like, I think she's on kid number two. Like, hey, do you ever still think about me, man? Like, this is terrible. Yeah. Yeah. Then we would just go off. So anyway, I don't know. I don't know why you're going. I here's my guess is that the guy who emailed is cool. He's like a cool guy. And this guy below him isn't as cool. And he's always kind of you what you think I'm wrong here. I think that's exactly what's happening. I know we always veer into the rankings of like where you are among dudes here. But I think it's simpler than that. But yeah, I hear what you're saying. Yeah, I think he just wants you at his wedding because like, that's kind of cool. So you're stressed about it. I think you could pull the plug on all this. And it's like, what are you supposed to do? You have to prove it? Like, hey, I'm super busy. I can't do it. I can't make it to your wedding. And then he goes, all right, well, that's totally fine. But if I can see a confirmation of some reservation somewhere, so you know, I know that it would be great to come up with like some incredible excuse. And maybe you get there, but you don't want to go. Or maybe you go to the wedding, and you don't go to the bachelor party, because I don't know any of his friends, or would you rather go to the bachelor party and then not go to the wedding? I think I'd probably rather do that. Like, unless you're so cool, that you can't be seen with like, his core guys sounds like he wants none of you think you're not gonna have fun, though. Like, I mean, I think you would have fun at a bachelor party in a scenario that you didn't want to go to, and you're not even friends with the guy anymore. Or just be like, I'm just gonna get hammered. And then obviously, it's a risk. But like, I don't know if they're just like normal dues. Good chance. There's not even one guy there that he can post up with aside from, you know, the group, which at the wedding, you get like five minutes tops, right? And then at the bachelor party, I don't know, isn't it a little bit like a tug of war? If like, for all these different people that are coming from different walks of this guy's life, and like, I could see like being totally not into it. And if you're like a dude with responsibilities, and like, you know, you know, trying to schedule a golf thing once every two weeks, and you got to throw this on the calendar, I could see why he doesn't want to do any of it. You know, if it's like, this is not how I want to spend any of this precious free time that I have. So that's, so I think we all agree, like it's you can you can claim the busy thing, the busy card, and that's actually pretty fair and be vague about it. You guys are saying pick one of the other things. And what do you do? What do you do about your wedding? So you're just saying you just cold don't invite him? Correct? Yeah, he wasn't gonna invite him in the first place. You could just cry, call small wedding numbers. Yeah, yeah. Easy. Treaty, but you're never talking to this guy again after this, too, because you haven't talked to him the previous few years. So it's not like you're gonna be bumping into him all the time being like, Hey, man, sorry about not inviting to the wedding. That's good to me. This would be like a declarative statement where it's like, it is over. Yeah, right. It's not going to any of these things. Maybe I would maybe I'd feel bad and go to the wedding. After I said I can't be in the wedding. That's just seems a little messy, too. I love to wash my hands and say that. Yeah, I'm not comfortable being in the wedding. But I'll be there. Or you can even just say like, I'm actually that month is super crazy. I would I don't think I should commit to being in your party. I think Steve said something like this a little earlier. I don't think I commit to being a part of this thing. But I'd love to go. I'm just not gonna I'm not sure yet. You know, soft. Yes. But like, I don't want to mess anything up for you guys logistically. So I'll you know, I will answer the time RSVPs need to be answered. But don't count me up for a tuxedo standing up there with you. I have turned down a bachelor party and wedding invite. But I wasn't in the wedding. Yeah, that's a different ballgame. It was just like, Hey, I can't pull that. I can't swing it. I've got a family. I did actually have a family thing for one of them. And I just like I don't really want to go to the weddings. I don't I don't know. I don't know anybody. I don't know you. It's fine. It was honestly kind of a fringe friend. Anyway, I don't support this. Union. It's a terrible idea for you. You just text him back that like, I don't approve that I'm gonna say something from there. So I'm gonna I don't feel comfortable with holding my tongue while I'm here. Yeah. Honestly, I think marriage is an outdated form partnership. A lot of it had to do with grain and trade and dowries and all this kind of stuff. And you know, I just think it's completely outdated. 100 years people aren't gonna be doing this anymore. So I'm gonna get in front of it. 18 months later, he sees your wedding photos. And it's like, Wait, what? Like I saw God, man, change your heart on the one. All right, that'll do it for the show today. Thank you to everybody that was on the show. Make sure you subscribe. We're going to have a Wednesday night kind of Thursday release. We're going to do this NBA draft spectacular with our guys, Sam Vecini and KOC's first appearance on the pod. And Twelman's back. That's right. Twelman. We're going to World Cup it up here. So the content doesn't end. Don't worry about it. Brian Rusillo Show. Parsifal Sports. We'll see you next week.