The T-Wolves’ Huge LaMelo Gamble With Jon Krawczynski, Plus Keegan Bradley Is Back!

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We'll see which the next one is. And LaMelo has always been one of these players for me. And I'm going to tell you right now, of all the stuff you get wrong when you're in the opinion business, when you have to do this every single day, I am the best when it comes to, Oh yeah, that guy you guys all love? Yeah, I don't. I don't like him. I don't think he's the guy. And then the local fan base gets in my case for a couple years. They tell me I'm fucking stupid. I'm fat. I'm bald. No one will ever love me. And then that player gets traded. Like every fucking time. Just a reminder, when I'm dead, they'll be like, you know, it's good, some bad, but he was really good on like these NBA guys that he was just like, I don't see it. I wouldn't want that guy on my team. That guy always gets traded. And LaMelo is now on the list. So, you know, you could argue Minnesota has not really gone all in because it could be just the one first. So like, is he so talented that it's kind of stupid to think like, you know, this isn't really that big of a deal. This isn't even close to the Rudy price. So what's the problem? His passing is incredible. It really is. His vision on the court. He does some shit that a lot of other people can't do. And if he's at like 37% from three, then what's the issue? I always liked it. You know, when he was at 20, 20 plus shots a game, you're like, this is not going to work. He went down to like 17 shots a game. I don't always like him to be kind of under 15 shots a game for Minnesota. He might actually have to shoot it 17, 18 times because there was actually a lot of nice scoring options there for Charlotte this year. And I still think he took a few too many shots. But when I was making draft calls just around the stuff, I'm not a reporter. Don't want to be one. But when I'd heard Lamella was available a couple of weeks ago, I was like, Oh, that's interesting. I, at least for me, I was like, well, I think that's probably smart. Uh, and I was like, you know, why, why would he be available? It's like, this is a serious group. This is a real ownership. This is an awesome front office, coaches, staff, the whole thing. Like they want a serious franchise. And then it was just left for me to figure out, like interpret what the wind again, that's not coming from Charlotte. It was coming from just somebody else about Lamella's availability. So then the draft happens. Trade doesn't happen. Obviously we still had a lot of time. Before free agency even starts here in another week. So I'm not, I'm not shocked by this, but I'm just warning anybody that thinks this is an absolute home run for Minnesota. It's like, why was this guy available with this young group? He's under contract. And by the way, can we stop when guys have three fucking years left on their contract? Talk about how they're eligible for an extension. July 6th. Who gives a shit? He's owed a hundred plus million for the next three years. Guaranteed. Can we give it a year? before we start extending guys with three years left. It's the same as the Jalen Brown thing. Like, if you're not locked in to what the yearly numbers are, you're going like, oh, he's doing extension already? You're like, well, technically he's eligible for one, but we keep presenting it as if it's some certainty and something a team has to do each and every summer when these guys have this much time left. That's a little bit of a rant on the side for you. They just had their best win total in 10 years, which is their best. It's the most momentum they've had. They've had all these young guys together. The Knipple thing's a home run. Miller looked even better. Clearly, they need to figure out another version of the big, which is what I think they were trying to do in the draft here. They keep Kobe White. If the argument is internally, which I don't know that Minnesota can ever share, if they're saying, hey, we needed to get in front of this. Like, we just saw how bad the Giannis thing went for Milwaukee. You know, we were at the 25 combine. Every single person was talking about Giannis being available. And it was totally like the messaging back in May of 25 was, Giannis is going to control this. The agent is going to control this. Milwaukee's not going to control this. Well, they still had a chance of some control that summer of 25 or the trade deadline before February 26. And then, you know, the reason they did so badly, it's like, this is the only place I'm going to go. This is the only place I'm going to sign the extension, which may not even have been true. But it completely depresses the market. So when you start getting into one of those things, which again, this may all be completely overblown, it may be way too early, but I'd rather wait for my star to get mad than feel like my solution is Lomelo ball coming off the one like, hey, I kind of feel better about this guy than say his rookie year and the other four seasons where you're like, you can't keep him there. And Charlotte still moved on from him. That should be concerning. We'll be right back after a quick word from our sponsors. Stell Blue Coffee's new can lattes are here. Crafted with 100% Colombian coffee, each can is a good source of protein and comes in two smooth flavors, espresso cafe mocha and espresso sweet cream. And whether you're braving your morning commute or chasing your pup, Stell Blue cans are for those always on the go and for those who care. Stell Blue is more than just great coffee. It's about giving back. I named the brand after my rescue. 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That his size and that his ability to stretch the floor is going to be exactly what Anthony Edwards needs to get off of the ball to avoid some of the double teams that were coming at him. The big question, obviously, Ryan, is does he have the mentality to win at a high level in the playoffs in this league? Ant has been deep into the playoffs. Lomelo hasn't even touched them yet. And so they're going to lean on their institutional kind of competitiveness to try and bring more of that out of Lomelo. But in the end, this is someone who I was a little surprised by, Ryan. But like Chris Finch, Tim Connolly have really coveted him for a long time. And so for them to be able to get him, they're really, really excited about it. They've tried to get him for two years. I guess I can understand wanting to get him after this season. Yeah, I know. I know. Why was it two years ago? They're like, we got to get in the Lomelo business. And this is, look, it's not the three-point shooting. It's not the playmaking because like that stuff is real. But there's a reason, like when I interviewed Charles Lee, I was talking about a substitution pattern with Lomelo where he was basically making a point and benching him in this Brooklyn game where there was just a few minutes left. It was a tight game and he made nine substitutions and he didn't bring Lomelo back in. And that was one of those regular season nights where I'm going like, okay, well, Charles Lee's trying to send a message. I think Borrego, again, this is years ago when he was a younger player, but Borrego was very clever in the way he would kind of like sort of bench him in the fourth quarter, but not make it look like he was being benched in the fourth quarter. And he would bring him back like so late in the fourth quarter that it was like a really convenient way of being like, yeah, you're closing with all the five guys. But it was like, we actually just played like a bunch of real minutes without you because we're so scared of like the highs and lows. Even the first play-in game this year, you know, Van Gundy's on the call. And he's hitting threes and he's injecting a three into the vein. And you're like, okay, but you're not getting back on defense in basically a fucking playoff game. So when I know you have more reporting to do on this, is it arrogance or is it real that it's like, hey, you get in here with Finch, you get in here with Ant, you get in here with Jaden and Rudy and all this stuff that like you were kind of in charge of Charlotte. So there wasn't going to be like, Conn Knipple probably wasn't going to pull you aside. Brandon Miller. Probably wasn't going to pull you aside. Diabate's worried about his NBA life. Kalkbrenner's a rookie. Stion's a rookie. You know, maybe Bridges is that guy to talk to him. But is there a, is it a real thing or is it a bit of an arrogance? It's like, hey, after six years, we're going to kind of change the way this guy sees the game and fixes those in-between moments. Yeah. I mean, whether it's arrogance or not, I'm not sure, but it's, it's real that the Timberwolves believe that they have a culture in place and they have leaders in place that, you know, they're going to be able to will help a player like LaMelo, who has not always been strong with decision-making and, and doesn't give the best effort on defense that he will, that he will, they will bring more out of him. I don't know if that's going to happen, but it definitely is what the Timberwolves believe. They think that he will be coming now to a franchise where everyone knows that Anthony Edwards is the one who leads this thing. This is his show. LaMelo will be here to play with him, but the spotlight won't be quite as big as it was in the past. It won't be quite as hot on him because Ant will absorb a lot of that. Jada McDaniels is going into his seventh year too, and that he is, he's already set a standard for what is expected. Rudy Gobert, for whatever faults he has offensively, he is a stabilizer and a just consistent day in and day out defensive minded guy who is going to tell LaMelo what is required of him. And so there is a lot of pressure on the Wolves to be able to, you know, be able to, you know, be able to kind of tap into something in LaMelo that he has not shown yet. And I guess we will find out if that is there and that is available or if he just doesn't have it at all. But I will say, Ryan, it's been striking. I mean, talking to people at the highest levels of this organization, like they could not be more excited about the player that they think that they are getting, what they believe that LaMelo Ball is going to do for this team. For this group and how much pressure he is going to take off of Ant and how much he is going to help Jaden take another step offensively and all of these things. And to hear them talk about LaMelo, it is entirely different than to hear kind of a lot of what national folks think of him and even, you know, what people up close who have played with him have thought of him. Was there anything to this deal about trying, like, was there anything about worrying about Ant and how he was going to feel about the roster around him? Yeah, I mean, I think that a lot of what was going forward and Tim Connolly said it on Tuesday night. He said everything we do and is going to be part and parcel of going forward. And so even though he does have three years left on his contract and even though Ant has always said, I want to be here, I love my guys like he I think he really likes that he can move around in Minnesota without being bothered and has an easy way of life and he's won a lot here. For a young player, there's still a recognition of after taking a step back this year after losing in the second round of the playoffs that they had to make significant changes to go forward for this team competitively, but also next summer, Ant will be likely eligible for a Supermax extension and you want to make sure that you are showing him that you're doing everything you can to surround him with a team that can win in the West. And so. You know, sending Julius Randle to Brooklyn, bringing in a real point guard that can take some of the ball handling duties away from Ant. All of that is designed to show Anthony Edwards that they are always going to be aggressive, that they're always going to be going for winning and that they did talk to Ant about this move and Ant likes Lomelo. He likes his game and and so they would not have done the deal if Ant was was not for it. Okay, that's one way. And maybe I'm trying to like get. further into, was there any concern of Ant getting pissed at the organization? It doesn't feel like we were even close to that yet. No. There was not a point yet where he had any meetings or conversations with ownership or with the front office and said, hey, you better do this or I'm out of here. It was never there. Ant has typically tried to avoid that because he really likes Jaden McDaniels, Nasri, Rudy. He likes all these guys and he doesn't want anyone to be thinking he's working behind their back to get them out of here to manipulate the puppet strings. There was no overt messaging from Ant, do something now or you're going to have to trade me at all. He was expressing confidence that Tim Connolly could do something and he was waiting to see what was going to happen. But, I mean, I think kind of to your point, Ryan, when you have a star caliber, a player the caliber of Anthony Edwards, your organization is always on the clock. You cannot take it for granted. You cannot say, oh, he's always going to be here. The Steph Currys and the Dirk Nabiskis are very few and far between. And so I do think that they felt motivation to make some moves to say we are showing you, Ant, that you can be here for a long time and we will do what it takes to make sure that you're happy, but also to make sure we have a team that is really competitive. It's a really hard job. I say it all the time and, you know, you wanted to come off of this season and do exactly what you're talking about. Like, hey, we're showing you that we're going to be proactive, that we're not going to sit around and then it's like, okay. I mean, you can even argue, hey, we didn't get, it's not like we gave up four first like a Desmond Bain deal. This isn't the Rudy deal. It's not even close to the same pricing because you factor in Kessler on top of everything else. It's like, you know, um, although what was it this year? Swap didn't happen, right? So that was, that was part of it where it was like, okay, because, you know, I always am keeping track of all these things and going like, what's it going to look like? And a lot of these deals it feels like it's going to look like, yeah, three players you don't care that was drafted. Maybe one player you'd like to have and it's really not that big of a deal, especially if you want to get back on the first late. It's not that big of a deal. Well, the other thing Ryan, sorry, quickly on that. Um, no, go ahead, please. They were, the Wolves were also in on Jalen Brown and they were having conversations with Boston about it. Now, um, talking to people about it, the price take for Jalen was going to be way, way higher. It was going to be, you know, Rudy Nas, young players picks like a lot of a lot of stuff going out and, um, I think they looked at, you know, what Jalen does um, and, you know, even though he's a much better player than Lomelo, um, they needed a point guard more and they could pay a lot less for Lomelo. So they, even if it wasn't going to be Lomelo, they were going to make some sort of a move uh, to really kind of reconfigure this roster. And you know, Jalen was one that they were heavily in on. They tried on Kyrie Irving earlier and were told no. Um, but uh, ultimately it came down to only having to give up Nas Reed, who's beloved here. Like people are in mourning that he's leaving right now. But, uh, Nas Reed, one first round pick and then some swaps and some seconds they felt was reasonable for the impact that they think Lomelo's going to make. Uh, yeah, look on the pricing thing. You're right. We like, we agree on that. And I'm glad you brought up Jalen Brown because I'm glad you brought up Kyrie because these are some of the lesser known things because they're a lot newer, but there was also the Giannis pursuit, but it didn't seem like he wanted to go to Minnesota. Um, that because he wanted Miami and maybe to a lesser extent, he was willing to concede to Boston than Minnesota just wasn't going to be you. That ownership group, that front office was going to be scared off. I'm like, all right, fine. You can go ahead and do it. But like, I don't want to come here to try to dictate terms. Durant going back to before the Houston deal, there was a deal in place. It sounds like you from your reporting and everything I'd heard that it was kind of done. It was up to Durant and he was like, no thank you. So this is really important context to kind of understand how we arrived here is that they've been super proactive about finding that person and then it hasn't happened. And then they look at the price here and they look at his height, his playmaking and the shot making of the last year and all the times Ant has just had to stare at this wall of defense in these playoff games. And you're like, okay, because it wasn't part of the Randall discussion. And I brought it up in the open, but part of the hope was like to go from cat to Randall was to have another initiator with the ball because of Randall's handle and his passing ability. And that would alleviate some of the stuff that happened with Ant. And that was basically I would even say a coin toss in the playoffs. That was maybe like a once every three games thing that you would hope would happen. Is that fair? Yeah, 100%. Like, I mean, you know, Julius was terrific in last year's playoffs against the Warriors and Lakers in the first two rounds and played really, really well. But then against Oklahoma City and against San Antonio two really big, strong, nasty defenses, he really struggled. And as the San Antonio series went on, you could see that the Spurs were like, we do not have to worry about Julius Randall behind the three-point line. And so we are just going to load up on Anthony Edwards and we are going to make his life a living hell. And that's exactly what happened. And so at the end of, you know, the season, they looked at it and said, we have to figure out a way to find more shot creation, to find more ball handling, to find other players that have to, that the defense has to respect. And so you know, getting a lamello ball, they believe fits more of that bill of a guy who can have the ball in his hands that you are going to have a harder time doubling Ant that is going to create more shots for Ant. And that stretches the floor in a way that Julius doesn't do. And so and then you look at man, you look at some of his advanced stuff, you know, I'm cleaning the glass and plus 11.1 offensively and plus 9.9 net and it's pretty stark. And the Wolves look at that and say, if he can do that for Charlotte in the regular season, we can figure out a way to make him do that for a more talented team and go into the playoffs. And that's what they believe right now. How much of this is impacted? I mean, look, they've been big game hunting here for a while, right? So in the sense of like a star, depending on where you have lamello ranked, I mean, he's an incredibly popular player. He's got a couple all-star. Is it two? I think it's two, right? One or two. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think it's two. I think I said two earlier today. I'll look it up while we're doing this, but is there anything to like the timing of the cat deal where to be fair, Minnesota here, that has been a cycle of hey, who's winning the cat trade? There are multiple times this year where it's like the Knicks had lost it. I think there's a lot of rounding up historically on like cat was, what he was and what he wasn't in the NBA finals, and what he wasn't is going to be forgotten to time because of game two and all the other times he was in foul trouble and he wasn't out there. Is there anything to be like, hey, the Rudy trade impacts the cat financing, which means we've got to move on from cat, even though if they loved cat, maybe they found a different move. So clearly they were kind of like, okay, moving on with cat. I agree with him at the time. And then it's like, all right, we're dumping Randall now at the other end of this defense. It was her like and in the Dillingham pick really burns them because like I understood what they saw just somebody off the ball could create super fast, whether it's off of ant best case scenario or just run the second unit and all these possessions are yours and it wasn't even close. They salvage it somewhat in the IO deal. But you can make an argument. There's like a timeline of things being like, hey, the town's getting kind of collectively worse and like, are you going to do anything about this? Do you think that was a motivating factor to make something happen here in June? 1000% right. There's definitely some results based evaluation of everything that's happened and I won't get too far into the weeds, but they make the Rudy deal and then the collective bargaining agreement landscape changes completely after that deal. And so they're kind of up against it in a way that they would not have been had they known the rules. I don't know that they would have made the Rudy Gobert deal initially, but they did. And so that put them up against the second apron or over the second apron and all those things. And then they have to move off of cat who had a bad series in the Dallas Mavericks Western Conference finals. And so they move off of cat everyone around here in Timberwolves land is at least understanding of it. If not happy that they got off of cat and then he goes and wins a championship and plays very, very well in those playoffs. And I can tell you that Anthony Edwards did see that part of it and said, you know, goddamn cat is winning a championship now and this is what we gave up and and that sort of thing and that that how could he not right? Exactly. Exactly. And and you know, he looked at cat as a floor spacing big who rebounds and and played really, really good defense for most of the playoffs and said, that's what we need. And we had this and we gave it up. And and so yeah, I do think that there was even more motivation for the Timberwolves to make another deal to reshuffle the roster. And unfortunately to some of that cat trade gets evaluated unfairly because Dante got hurt. Dante was a great, great player for this team for most of the season. And because he wasn't out there on the floor against San Antonio, then you say, "Well, all you did was get Julius Randall." No, they got Dante, they got Juwan Baron, Jay, who they really, really like. But none of that matters. Kat was on the stage in New York City with the Larry O'Brien trophy singing Jay-Z's public service announcement. And that's a huge thing. And you look at this organization and Andrew Wiggins left and won a title. Kevin Love left and won a title. Kevin Garnett left and won a title. Kat left and won a title. You're fighting against all of that history. And it all piles up. And maybe it's not all fair, but that's where they were. And so there was absolute motivation increasing, I guess, because the guy that they let go climbed the mountaintop like they were not able to. And now they've got to do something drastic to see if they can get closer to that going forward here. That's really good, John. I'm serious. There's times where I think the local perspective is so skewed and it's so myopic that it doesn't factor in. All of these other things are happening in other cities. I don't blame fan bases for not knowing everything else that happened. And I remember working in the local radio and I used to still like to watch other games and we'd take calls all day long and they'd be like, when's the last time? It was like it happened two nights ago in a different game that you didn't watch. So this isn't just happening to you. People get like really possessive of pain and suffering. But the way you just outlined that thing specific to the Timberwolves, that's something where the national guy loses that. And doesn't understand that, like, sure, there's other franchises that we can maybe run through a timeline where it feels similar. But that's something we think about. And it's something that it's easy for the rest of us that aren't in it every day to not even realize. Because when you laid it out that way, like, I wouldn't want to run a team and go, yeah, well, because Garnett won one in 2008. I'm fighting this history of guys leaving. And now I have to do things differently in July of 2026. Well, and Ryan, but it's real, but it's real. So I'm glad you said it. And locally, too, people have to understand it is not just the Timberwolves who have failed. It's the Vikings. It's the twins. It's the wild. They have not had a men's championship since 1991. And so there is this collateral damage that this heartbreak, this frustration. Throw Darnold in there. I don't know that they made the LaMelo trade. Because Darnold just won one with the Seahawks. They did not. I mean, this is this is kind of rough as we keep talking about it more and more. It's an absolute psychosis that is in the Timberwolves fan base. And it really does frustrate the Tim Connolly's and Chris Finch's of the world, the Kevin O'Connell's of the world. Like, I had nothing to do with those past failures. Why do I have to operate that way? But that's in the fan psyche. And it is embedded and ingrained here at such a deep level. And it can't help but affect things in some ways that way. So one all-star team for LaMelo in a second. Okay. What is Finch going to do when it's January and LaMelo, like, lets one fly from the corner? Probably not the read. He said after the Orlando play and he's like, I wish we had run less plays. And I just did my thing. Okay. Let's say he's in the corner and he turns around to look at one. And it's a brick. And he doesn't get off. He doesn't get back on defense. And maybe it's just a fourth. It's a big fourth quarter possession. How is Finch going to handle that? I'll tell you how he's going to handle it. He's going to look at Jalen Clark at the end of the bench and yell at him for some reason. Like, that's sometimes the way that it goes with star players. Because, like, there were a lot of times in this season that people were pulling their hair out about Julius Randle. Something that happened. Not rotating. Not rotating on defense. Not getting back. Not putting out the effort. And Finch stuck by Julius Randle because he believed in aggregate that what he would get in return for standing by him was going to be more positive than what he would have done for, like, lighting him up, you know, publicly or pulling him out. And by the way, it kind of happens to everybody. It does. I just think it happens with LaMelo way too much. Way too much. For sure. So, there will be a challenge for Chris Finch, though, and this entire coaching staff. And this entire organization to hold LaMelo accountable some. And I think that there's a hope that when LaMelo does that, that Finch will do some of that talking. But the person that's going to do it is Ant. And say, like, come on, man. What are you doing? Like, let's go. Hold him. It's going to be the players on the floor that can hold him accountable in a way that maybe the players in Charlotte could not. Great visiting with you. I can't wait to read more on your reporting of this. I know you had to kind of just get the formal one out there this morning. So, John Krasinski, The Athletic, make sure you check it out. I'm sure we'll talk to you again, man. Thank you. What if you can add an AI assistant to your work without leaving your workflow? Built in a Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook, Co-Pilot works where you work, helping you do more in the apps you already use. In Excel, it generates insights from your data. Working on a budget, trying to figure out what you're writing off for taxes this year. Can you actually afford? Can you afford to go to Cuba? For nine days? I don't know. Doesn't look good. Maybe Excel will surprise you. Maybe there's stuff you're not even thinking about it because that's the thing. They think about the things we aren't thinking about. They are the program. Listen to them. The apps, you know, go further with Co-Pilot. Learn more at m365copilot.com/work. I'm not surprised this guy said yes to doing it a year later. Uh, Keegan Bradley joins us as we get ready for the travelers, uh, out in Connecticut. Place I know pretty well, and we were lucky enough to have you and you won it last year. So thanks for doing this. Yeah. Anytime. Let's keep it going. Yeah. Let's keep it going. Uh, what is it about going into like this tournament after a major, you know, kind of like feeling like you're probably at least a little bit more tuned up. Yeah, it is definitely a different vibe here too. It's nice after a major to come to a tournament like this, where we've treated so well that the pressure's taken a little bit out of the. You know, the, the air a little bit, and you're able to sort of take a deep breath for me, at least, you know, coming back home to new England, playing here. And of course that I played well at, um, it's something that I look forward to every year. And it's, it's a nice break after the U S open of just, you know, basically hanging on for dear life for, for a week. Does it feel like a home game for you? It does. It does because this is as far north as we go. So, you know, like, uh, this is, this is, we don't, we used to play TBC, Boston. We used to play. Yeah. You know, so the U S opens at the country club, but this is it, this is the only event in the Northeast. So, um, you know, and this is the first event I ever came to as a kid. So for me, yes, it is. It's, it's a ways from where I grew up, but you know, us, new Englanders, you're from new England. You're you're a new England. Yeah. I mean, it's not, it's not that kind of, that's right. I just, I guess I never really realized. So technically it's further north than any place. Well, wait a minute, unless there's a major in Boston or something. Right. With Brooklyn. Which is right. Once every 50 years, basically you've got me there. Yeah. Uh, how did you feel about the U S open this past week? Uh, I played, I played, that's as good as I played a U S open tee to green. Um, it's a disappointing finish in that I played. That's I really played nice golf the whole week. Oh, every day. Um, and I played in a lot of really tough conditions when really put it did pop my best. And that's what's up. The tough about this game was like, you could do everything right at a U S open that I felt like I had done and, you know, you don't have much to show for it and that's just part of the game. And, um, you know, if I had putted halfway decent, I would have been, you know, way, way higher up on the board. Yeah, that was, um, it was just tough. I mean, you, when you're playing a course like that and you go, I have to be so perfect with the approach shots. I mean, do you decide at any point to be like, Hey, as long as I can just kind of, you know, just kind of keep it on and, and be fighting for pars here instead of those huge mistakes, that's a better strategy. Or do you feel like, all right, screw it. If everybody's rolling off the green here, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna play the same way as they are. Yeah. I mean, I just felt like even if I hit a shot in there close and missed it made par, I start you're gaining shots on the field just by making pars and in toll. Um, but you know, you like, I was talking to my caddy today. It's the toughest shipping course I've ever been to because you're hitting your second shots. Yeah. They run off. You know, where they run off as well, instead of there and two, you're there in three. So like, you know, there's, there was never a moment of relaxation at Shinnecock, even like these two, two and a half, three footers down these Hills, the screens were really bumpy. They, they, they're just brutal. And, um, you know, so it's a taxing, it's a taxing week. Is Shinnecock like that when you guys aren't playing there? Yeah. I mean the greens, they're POA, so, you know, they're in, in, they did a good, the USJ, it's the best job I've ever seen the USJ do at a, as a course setup. Because if they were any firmer or any faster, the first two days, I don't think we would have played just because of how windy it was. But in turn that, you know, the greens aren't going to be rolled as tight, you know, so they were a little bumpy, like we get a pebble that POA stuff, it can be tough. And, um, you know, I think they did an unbelievable job of setting the golf course up. It was difficult, but also very fair. There seemed to be, I don't know, it was just cause it's in New York and there's like a Ryder cup hang over there. And I think that's, that's a good thing. I think that's a good thing. because it was questions you were being asked. Is that fair that it seemed to be kind of like a year-later follow-up type of thing where they'd want to talk to you about Bethpage just because they're somewhat of a convenience of location? Well, yeah. I mean, I still, everywhere I go, I'll get a Ryder Cup question. That's part of the gig. You know, I was very prepared for some carnage for me at Chinook with the crowd. And I was ready for it and sort of felt like maybe I deserved it. Like, I wasn't going to be upset about it. And the fans were, I didn't get one comment towards me from the fans of being negative, you know, giving me some crap about Bethpage. And I'm really grateful for that. But, you know, part of the deal of becoming Ryder Cup captain is you're going to either have the glory or not the glory. And you know that going in, that you're going to have to deal with both sides of this. And so that's part of it. Good job. Yeah. I guess maybe I'm thinking you might not give yourself enough credit for how likable you've been on the tour. And that's why, like, going into it, like, it sounded like you were going, I wonder if I'm going to start getting shit from people. And then it was like, I don't know. I think after it was all said and done, the most complaints that I'd heard about you, they were just mad that you weren't playing. So it was like, it's a little different. I appreciate that. As a person, like, that's not how I think. I think that, like, everyone hates me. You know, you read one comment that, you know, that the negative sticks out. But I really appreciate that. And I, I really have felt that from the fans. I, I know some captains that have gone through some pretty difficult times after the Ryder Cup in terms of the fans. And, you know, just knowing what I went through personally after the Ryder Cup and still going through, I couldn't imagine having to deal with that. That would, that would be really, really tough. And so, you know, I'm, I'm really grateful. I'm really grateful for how the people have treated me. And, you know, it's still a, it's such a weird experience because it's just such an amazing thing for me to have. But it's also got this such negative ending. So it's a, it's a bizarre, bizarre feeling. Yeah, you, I mean, the stuff that I've read and, you know, I listened to you on something else where it was like, all right, I, I feel like 27, we know that it's going to be Furyk as the captain. Um, but how badly do you, how do you want to get back onto that squad? Yeah. So I've got, I had a little chat with myself recently, actually, because like I, after Rome, I put so much into it and didn't get on the team. And it took, it just killed, it crushed me. It crushed my family and my wife. It was weird. Like it really took a lot out of us. And I, I told myself I wasn't going to put myself in that position again. I was going to try to make every team and I wanted to be, but like, I was going to try to take a step back and focus on, you know, my job as a tour player. And then, and that'll take care of everything. But, you know, recently I've been like, I really got to, I really got to make that team. I really want to get on that team. I really want to play. What a story would be for me to, to play on a team after I've captained. Um, you know, so I'm trying to give myself a little kick there because my Ryder cup life has been horrible. Like, you know, you have this like amazing event that I love dearly. And every time I've played, I've played or been in it, it's been like a nightmare. So like, I would love, I'd love to finish this off a little better than, than, uh, than that. So, you know, hopefully that can happen. Yeah. Maybe I'm losing sight. You know what I mean? Cause it's you having to think about it all the time. And I'm like, man, he's had an awesome career. He's put together some wins. You know, he just came off what? 30 seconds, the U S open. And I feel like people are very understanding of what happened with the past Ryder cup. And then you're starting to convince me that you're haunted by it. And now I'm starting to feel bad and I would like want to move on, but no, I feel so interesting. Well, it's just so interesting how much it matters to you, which I guess makes sense. It does. And I, and I've had to really be careful because I've gotten, I don't know if in trouble is the right word, but like I, people are, I'm a little too honest sometimes with my answers. And then I also, my biggest fear is that my, the players on the team are going to feel bad and I don't want them to feel bad. I think I've been a little bit more honest, uh, as a captain, a losing captain than others have been because, you know, I've talked to, I've spoken to losing captains, captains in private and they talk to me just like I talk now that it's taken years to get over a loss. And I think maybe I've just been a little bit more forthcoming in interviews than other people have, but this is a, this is it as being a captain that you, you, you think, you know, as a player, you think that, you know, what goes into it. You think, you know, what the toll it takes. You think, you know, all this stuff and you just don't, you have no idea. And, you know, it's a, you know, it's a life altering experience, and only a few Americans have gotten to feel what it's like to win one of these and have a chapter closed. And when you lose, you don't, you don't get that. And you, you're haunted by decisions or no things that you could have done differently. And, you know, I think I've just been a little bit more honest about those feelings than other guys have been. Yeah. You have been, and that's something that I think we appreciate. I think that's why the response was better than maybe you anticipated. That's what I was hoping to get out of the US Open. All right. Help us understand being an older golfer. What are the things that you can do now that you can do before? What are the things that show you, you have to make up for in your game? I think now, especially as I have a family and like, I miss them terribly all the time. So like, you know, I used to be able to go play three, four or five events in a row and like get on a roll. Or if I, you know, this has been sort of a down, down year for me where, you know, I would just add events and keep playing. But now I got to, I have to see my family and see my kids. So that's a, that's a difficult portion of it, which is the true for everybody that works. Like I get that. Um, but I also have to be a lot more smart with my time. Um, and on off weeks I dropped the kids off at school. I practice while they're at school. I pick them up. That's basically my day. Um, and you know, when I'm at the golf course now, if this is by, you know, second or third week in a row, I gotta be, I gotta save my energy a little bit more. Um, cause these little frigging guys that are coming out are so good now that I gotta, I gotta be at my best to beat these guys. So, um, but I still can. All right. What, what can you no longer do that you did really well then? Hmm. I've never been asked that question. I used to be able to dunk. Yeah. I used to be able to dunk easy. Now I can't dunk. I even tell my eight year old that I could dunk. He doesn't believe he doesn't believe you. No, no. Yeah. You might be able to get that back. You think? I think so. I mean, I've stood near you. You're not a small guy. I remember I, I, when I was at St. John's, I used to play pickup games and I used to like go and go to like proper, proper games with real players. And I was this one day I was in there like easily dunking, like almost flat footed dunking. And I rolled my ankle so bad. This is in the winter we weren't playing. And ever since then, I haven't been able to dunk. Like I used to be able to, so, um, that's not a very good golf answer, but, uh, no, but I'm okay staying on this. Cause I just love the idea of you going back to your private trainer, just saying like, Hey, just, even though we're gearing up here for a heavier season, I'd like to dunk again. So can we mix? The sad part is, is it's sneaky. True. Okay. I would love to show my eight year old, like watch this. Cause he doesn't think I can. Um, but, um, as a golfer, um, I'll tell you, this is a sort of a terrible answer to your question, but, um, the opposite of, I really feel like I can handle big moments really well. So this is an, uh, the opposite of what you asked, but this is good. This is better. I liked this. I feel like very comfortable in high pressure times where, as, as when I was younger, I didn't, um, uh, and I think that's natural, but like now, like I, I actually, in a weird way, sometimes feel more comfortable, more at ease. Um, when I'm, in contention of a tournament or I got a big pairing, I'm playing with, you know, back when Tiger was playing or playing with Sheffler, Rory, it's, it's almost like I'm feel like this is where I'm supposed to be almost. And I, I, I actually feel a little bit better than I normally do. That's a great answer. Um, cause another thing, uh, this is probably what's frustrating for anyone who's actually good. Um, which again, I don't feel like you're in the category of good. You're above whatever good is. Cause you actually do this for a living, but when you guys are so good, I imagine it takes a long time for you to understand, like, just because I can likely fix it with some amazing shot, maybe I'm better off playing it safe. It must take like great young golfers forever to learn how to just play it safe. Or unless there's just an older person around that convinces them to go that way. Definitely. Especially when you're like these young, younger guys that come out, they're so much more polished than, more polished than we were when we came out to the tour. I was just talking with Julian Edelman was here. I did a thing with him today and I was talking about just how good these young players are and just how much better the players are. Even us, my 16th year on tour and how much better everyone is now than they were then. And so like, it's easy for these guys to hit those shots, knowing I can hit this 50 yard hook over this tree, 260 yards to cover the water. Um, but that's when a good caddie comes into play. I, I feel like the one thing that I feel like the younger players miss out on is a lot of them bring out a friend to caddy for them initially, or somebody that they know. And back in the day, back, back in my day, you used to, you used to get a, uh, like a veteran guy would come out. You need the veteran caddy to, to hold your hand a little bit. And I think you find with the younger players, the guys that do that, they, they do a little better. Is this version of Sheffler, like the scariest thing that you've seen, or is it still early 2000 Tiger? I mean, so I didn't play in early 2000 Tiger, but I played with Tiger when he was number one in the world. I played with him in the final group at Akron. He won by 10 and like, he, this was in like probably 12 or 13. So he was, he wasn't 2000s Tiger, but he was Tiger that they had the red and black on. And it was like serious. I think when Scotty is at his peak, he does some things better. I think he, he drives it as good or better. I think Tiger was such a great putter that like that, that, that's what might separate them. When Scotty, we, we have these talks all the time and Scotty's at his best. How could, how could anybody be, you know, higher, but a Tiger would, would have been in 2000 is that say, um, you know, I don't, I don't even know how you would compare the two, but, um, it's, I never, I never thought we would see a guy like Scotty come along the way as fast as he did. What is it about like that you see that you guys see that are on tour that we may not see when you watch him? Just swing a club. Well, I think one of the things people don't realize about Scotty is he's might be the best chipper of the ball out here. It's like one of the best in the world. And I think that gets really lost with really, really great players because they always talk about how great he hits it, how great he drives it. The guy is a magician around the greens. Like he's as good as anybody that I've ever seen. And what I've found in my years out here of the best players, they're all incredible, chippers of the ball. And, you know, so when they do have an off day, you know, they chip it great. They still shoot the same score. Um, but also Scotty is the thing that people don't know about Scotty is he's a vicious competitor. Like he kind of comes across as this like easy going, great guy, which he totally is. But inside the ropes, he's an animal. Like he's a, you know, he wants to beat you. He's really polite, really nice. I don't, I'm not meaning it like that, but like inside the ropes, he's a, he's a, he's a competitor. He's like wanting to beat everybody. And I think people, they, they think that's the difference between him and Tiger, but I think they actually have a very similar mentality. What's it feel like to be the defending champ coming back, playing again at home again, we've talked about that means so much to the people that are close to you. It's really cool because, you know, this place does mean a lot to me. Travelers means a lot to me. I came here as a 13 year old kid. Um, you know, I watched Dave Duvall play here. I watched him all day. I watched him warm up. And I still like, like today when I was playing, I watched him warm up. I was playing a practice round. I remember watching him on the 14th hole, the shot that he hit, like I vividly remember being in the crowd watching him and, you know, I would have just killed to play in this tournament one time of my life, you know, and growing up in Vermont, it wasn't like really a realistic goal, but like, that's what I wanted to do. And then to be able to win it here and then win it again. And in dramatic fashion with my family around, like not a lot of people get to experience that in their life. I'm in the, in the golf world and I'm grateful for that. I'm pumped for you. Um, I think the cool thing about travelers as well is that it's, I think there's other cities that have events and there's so many different events, but like, especially a place like Connecticut loses the whalers. Like, I think they take such great pride in this because there's just not as many like major sporting events on the schedule for them. Um, that's not an argument for the whale to come back, which I would like to have happen, but there's just something, I mean, look, I lived there a long time. I went to that tournament when I was a junior high, uh, it, it means a lot to these people that don't have so many other options, I think is pretty obvious. Yeah. I think growing up in new England, like we, we really appreciate stuff like this, like coming to seeing golfers up here. It's it's, I think it's a shame that we all play, we should play four or five events up here. I think, uh, you know, we'd go to Boston, New York, you know, anywhere I think that the people really appreciate. Yeah. I think, you know, I'm, I'm biased, but I think it's the best sports area in the world. And they're in the country and, you know, they love seeing this sort of, I mean, you, you look at, you know, the crowds here, they're as good as anywhere we go. Um, they're very proud of their tournament and they should be. You can see Keegan in the entire field this weekend for the travelers championship starting up this week. Uh, obviously the rainy champ, as you mentioned, and it's the last signature event on the PJ tour schedule. You can watch on NBC. Uh, thanks so much again for the time and let's hope we go back to back here. Right. Thank you, brother. What if you can add an AI assistant to your work without leaving your workflow built in a Microsoft word, Excel and outlook co-pilot works where you work helping you do more of the apps you already use and outlook it cuts through the noise to get you up to speed faster. Co-pilot has helped every single day. We have life advice emails where sometimes I'm like, I shouldn't even read what co-pilot says. 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You definitely didn't need, but obviously deserve. With shell fuel rewards. You're already getting fuel rewards. You just get rewarded for that. And not in a fake point. You'll never use way. It's actual savings on gas and the savings stack. So it's not like one sad little discount. It's you fill up, you eat, you shop, and it all piles up into real savings at the pump joining takes less than three minutes in the shell app. And you'll save on every fill after that. Literally every single one join the shell fuel rewards program and save life advice. Our email address. R R at gmail.com guys can come in hot summer, you know, travel coming up. Um, Nick's Kyle today. Oh yeah. You like this? Not official merge, but I got a buddy who was a high, I didn't realize it was an I heart New York. Yeah. I got a buddy who makes t-shirts and, uh, got ordered an extra one for my wife. It showed up, totally forgot about him. I was like, oh my God, scored a million points in the husband department yesterday. So, uh, really nice. Hers is white, but it's sort of matchy. So, you know, maybe one day I'll get the stones to wear it out next door. I don't, I don't usually like that, but these are, these are nice, good material. It is pretty crazy. You're back in this, the empire state and you weren't even there 12 months and you got a title. Yeah. Feel great. Three Johnny's drafted. I feel great. Who knows what's next? I know. That's true. We didn't even talk about the first round. I got tune day coming up. So, uh, you know, I picked him out of the lineup at, uh, at McDonald's all American. Like that's my guy. And then a year later, look, we're both in New York, probably should link up. I don't want to derail his awesome career, so I'm going to stay away. There is something to be said about this though, because remember when we've done my timeline of where I lived and all the championships of every place that I've stepped foot in. And then as soon as I moved to LA, just championships like crazy, I go back to Boston for two months. They went an NBA title. I lived there for two months. They want a title. I came back to LA, more titles. I was in Chicago for one day. They were fourth in the lottery drawing who know if I'd been there for a week, they probably win the lottery. You still haven't seen a warriors win, huh? Every game you go, isn't that the streak? What's your streak? Some it's like something you go every, every game you show up to, they lose. It's so bad that I didn't want to really want to say it because I didn't want anyone with the warriors to know how bad it is. But I think at one point I was over four in finals games. So I got a four. I don't know where, or were they all in, uh, two, three were in San Francisco. Well, Oakland. Yeah, I guess originally. And then, and then one was in Boston. And then they lost that Sixers game too, that we went to. Right. Well, that doesn't count. I'm like, it doesn't count. Okay. Think of the warriors run and you're going to go to kind of get four finals games. Right. Okay. Think of the warriors run and you're going to get four finals games. No Embiid? Although there's no, yeah, no Steph Embiid. Anyway. Yeah. But I've seen Steph win in LA a couple of times. Okay. Okay. Okay. Like I usually make a point when Steph's here. Cause like when it's over, it's, we're going to miss this. We're going to miss it. And I kind of, I know we're still a couple of years away from that, but I don't, I try to never take Steph for granted and if he's 20, 30 minutes away from me, I'll be like, go see Steph tonight. Dude. Do you imagine if the warriors traded for Melo? My God. Would you still be going? They should have taken him. In hindsight. All I'm hearing, by the way, well, there's rumors that you're going to be at the U.S. game tonight as well. Yes, against Turkey. Now, that game doesn't mean anything, but it'll be a good test of this. And then, Kyle, the final is at MetLife, so it's right in your backyard-ish kind of, too. I just feel like I've been in New York City a lot. I feel like I just need to recharge. I'm just saying, if you're feeling patriotic and you want to keep the winning streak going, maybe we have to get you there. Yeah, maybe. I'm not worried about what tonight means, because I watch regular season basketball. I'd be like, well, there's nothing really on the line. I'd be like, it's like 12% of my life. Yeah, well, the good thing for you tonight, though, is that there's going to be a lot of U.S. players who haven't played who are looking to prove a point. And then Turkey has been just straight up embarrassed in this tournament, so they're probably going to try hard, which, you know, who knows. Turkey's actually a pretty talented team, so it still could be a good game, which doesn't mean anything. Okay. Do we have two seconds on the Turkey thing? I like to. Yeah, we do. I just like that Saruti thinks I'm going to enjoy it a little bit more, because I'm going to understand our depth better once we get to the knockout round. So, full report on Monday. He's not bringing the notepad tonight, Steve. Should we take tomorrow? Should we do a fifth episode tomorrow after this? Hey, we're going. It's just soccer's going live tonight after the game, midnight Eastern. Yeah, I don't want to step on that, dude. If you want to hop on, go right ahead. I can do that. Sarah Walsh bought me a jersey, and then I was like, just give it to Matt. And you have a son who plays soccer. And then she's still. I left it here. So, I don't know if that means she wants to sleep with me, but I don't think it does. Probably not. No, I do want to do the Turkey thing. Can we do the Turkey thing? I'll go. I don't know why. I mean, aren't you still spelling it Turkey? Is it just. Is it the. Is that how they say it over there? No, that's not what I'm saying. Is it a different country? It's spelled T-U-R-K-I-Y-E. Is that what it is? Yeah. Right, but why? Why the rebrand? Well, I think it's because that's what they want to be called. And do we have a Prombie lately? It's actually kind of bullshit because they call us A-B-D. They don't call us USA. So, like, if they don't even call us what we want to be called, why do we have to call them what they want to be called? Yeah, it's Italy to me. It's not Italia, right? Right, yeah. Spagna. Maybe this is just the international community just throwing them a bone. But, okay. I was just wondering. What do they call us? A-B-D. That doesn't sound. That doesn't sound very good. America Berlisk Deverlelevi. Sure. It translates to the United States of America. But, again, okay. All right. Hey, listen. I'll call you what you want to be called. I just was wondering if there was a reason. I feel like it needs to be reciprocated, though. If we're going to call you what you want to be called, then you call us what we want to be called. That's how it works. All right. It's a bit of a mess, though. It's kind of all over the place. Like, some people on TV are going Turkey, and some people are giving it the little flair at the end. So, all right. I never know what to do in that situation. I remember early, early ESPN days, there was the Olympics, and there was another guy that I was with. And, of course, when I was that young, I couldn't let anything go. And he was like. He was like, and in the 100, I don't know if this is actually our event. She's like, making. Well, he. It was a man who was doing it. Because if I say it was a woman host, then everybody can figure out who we're talking about, even 20 years later. But he would be like, and Dora Torres, no. And I just. I just. I just. I just. I just went, what are we doing? What are you. Like, yeah, what are you doing? And he goes, wouldn't you want to be called by your right. I'm like, I'm called by my wrong name every single day. Like, I don't even think about it. And he goes, well, that's the correct pronunciation. And he was being a little, like. Precious about it? Precious about it. Yeah. And I just went, well, yeah, but, like, I don't know that we can do that with every single person. Because if we started doing that with, like, we've got 20 baseball highlights, because we're still talking baseball. Oh, yeah. We're still actually reading, like, yeah, hey, June. I guess the Cardinals are able to pull it out 4-3. I've got 10 minutes for you. If we did that, if we did every, like, Latin pronunciation of all these names, like, that's kind of what we would want to do. I think you're just doing it because it's swimming and you feel like an elitist right now. Right. And that's what you're going for. And I was like, do you call Germany Deutschland? Like, what are you supposed to do with this? So, obviously, that guy thought I was a dick. And he wasn't entirely wrong. But I never. I just think. When you talk for a living, when you make that commitment to some of it, and you're not Latin, because he wasn't, it's just, like, if that's the standard you want, then you have to now do it for all the other stuff, which you're not going to do. You're just doing it for this one, because he's. It takes a little while, right? You put up enough points, and then, you know, you're not Luka Doncic anymore. You're Luka Doncic. So, like, I don't know. I think you score enough goals, and people will say it right. But I guess this is Turkey, and they're definitely not scoring goals. Dirk was 20 years. People still don't know how to say his name. That kind of. I would say that the person you described, though, Ryan, that's, like, that's big. Like, you know, you go to the Mexican restaurant, start rolling your R's and stuff, and it's like, okay. That's what it was. That's what I was calling out. Yeah. Should we have some Filipino food tonight? Yeah. Went to Costa Rica for a hike for nine fucking days. Oh, you brought your water jug back with you, right? Yeah. Oh, you came back to the States saying gracias? Great, great. Awesome. Yeah. Oh, man. All right. Cool. I think we covered a lot of stuff there. Anybody need advice? From these three geniuses? How about a Friday feedback for soccer? Okay. Oh, no. A lot of these. Yeah. Ooh. It's just. Everybody loves It's Just Soccer. Let's see if it keeps happening. Morning, Ryan, Steve, and Kyle. Constantly getting back to the weight room, and I've been the flake at my pickup games for the last year and a half. The guys miss my picks and bricks. All right. So, you know, whatever. You're aware of what you're not doing. That's the first stage of it all. I'm 100% team soccer. So, Rudy, so this isn't shade. Oh, no. I listen to every single minute of It's Just Soccer pod. Frustratingly, I can't seem to find it on Amazon. Am I really reading this email right now? And it doesn't seem like user error. The absence of production value on the pod surprises me. Sneak attack, ad breaks, abrupt endings. Hey, you learned it by watching me. No theme music. I don't need bells and whistles, but it feels like it's produced in a basement instead of barstool. Is this a World Cup-only temporary pod, or are you guys hoping to talk soccer past July? I am a committed IJSOG listener, so I'm giving my unvarnished feedback. What is going on over there? Do you guys need help? I didn't know you needed help. Some of these are live streams that are just put up as a pod for the record. So, they're just kind of like put up, I think, automatically. But, I mean, listen, we'll get IT on that. Our guy, Manoli, our producer, I'll have to listen. I'm just going to send this to him and be like, what's going on, dude? Also, Amazon. I mean, shout out. It's everywhere else. I mean. That's one thing I would say. I do know some of these, being a Toyota guy myself, I know that there is an Amazon Music section built in. So, if you don't feel like messing around in your actual phone, but it's literally everywhere else, I think. So, to that, I would say just type in the search bar. I'm going to leave that alone, but I agree with you. That's all I'll say. Yeah. I mean, who listens to anything or watches anything and has one way of getting the. And then, if they don't, it'd be like, I'm out. Yeah. You're not coming to me. I'm a Zoom player. I'm out. Yeah. You, Drake, dropped. Wow. I'll wait for him. Is that on Tubi Audio? Wait, is it? Well. Damn. I guess I'll miss this one. Yeah. Didn't somebody do that, though? Didn't Jay-Z do that? Didn't he have like a. What was it? Title? It was title, yeah. Title. Title, yeah. Yeah. We found a way around that. I did not. That's all right. So, yeah. I was. All the way in. I was like, oh, the compression's so much less. We're saying shit like that. We're. Yeah. Dudes were like, oh, my God. You're listening on Apple Music. Do you know how much you're losing? What do you do on title now? Audiobooks? Or like, what are they. I haven't logged in in a while. I'll be honest with you. You still pay for it? I'm not sure that happened. Yeah. Probably. It's like my Garmin thing. I just gave up. I gladly give them the 15 bucks every month. I'm like, all right, Garmin. You win. All right. An email here. Kicked out of an Airbnb. Hello, 32 years old. No impressive gym stats after having two hip surgeries in college. God damn, man. Some casual lifting and StairMaster hips hurt too much to run long distance anymore. I'm sure there's been a million people telling you there are ways to fix your hips through exercise, but maybe if you've had two hip surgeries, it's not going to happen for you. So, I don't want to insult you and act like I'm the first person that's ever suggested some of these stuff. Some of the stuff. Some of the things that I see that has helped me quite a bit. Get in the water, maybe, right? I didn't have two hip surgeries. All right. College friends and I ran out of an Airbnb. 32 years old. Just want to repeat that. I think it's important. As they came in at 24, I was just going to say, all of you are wrong. Move on. Ran out of an Airbnb a weekend each year. We decided to rent the same house as last year. All right. So, you know, prior relationship. You get re-upped the next year. Great big yard, above ground pool, hot tub, plenty of beds to sleep in. Last year, the house worked out great. The hosts were nice. No complaints from either party. However, this year, on the second day, a few extra people showed up. Nothing excessive. This was not Project X. There were a few people not planning on staying the night. Girlfriends, wives, children. At the time, we did not think anything of it. Went out of nowhere. My friend who booked the house got a text stating the hosts had canceled the rest of our stay. At first, we believed this would be potential spam. But after some investigating, found out this was real. And had a little over an hour to vacate the premises when the police were showing up. Am I justified in wanting to go Karen on the host of this house and make a comment? at them for canceling our state. Yeah, I mean, so far, this seems a little-- They did not reach out to us prior to ask what is going on and why are there more people. Also, the house has allowed 20 people. We probably had 25 at the absolute most. Should I sign their house up or phone numbers to be contacted by Scientologists, Jehovah Witness people, open any ideas? My buddy who rented the place is hesitant on leaving a review since he gets a review from the host. He does not want to jeopardize future bookings on Airbnb. Now, the review game. Dueling reviews. I got to say, I'm in my 30s now and I'm still super uncomfortable in Airbnbs. The rules are all in, you know, I think it's probably, it's a shot in the dark who you get. But, I mean, if we're talking percentages, I'd say 70% of the Airbnbs I have have this really scary laminated sheet, you know. And there's like, there's six beds here. There better not be more than eight people ever at one time. And, I don't know, it just seems like, you know, you pay the cleaning fee and then they're like, make sure you take everything off and throw it in this one room. It's like, I don't know. I understand it's not a hotel, but it just seems way different. I'm supposed to feel more comfortable, but I'm like, is this costing me money? Why am I changing your cat litter? Did I move that chair? Like, how dare you move the chair and didn't put it back? Yeah, moving the chairs. I mean, and then I've now seen like the Instagram, it's in my algorithm, just people like, here's a life as an Airbnb host and let's see what these people did. And they come in there and there's like a water bottle on the kitchen table and they're like, oh my God, this is disgusting. So, maybe that's why. Maybe that's just for, you know, maybe that's for engagement purposes or whatever. But I just, as a guest in Airbnb, I'm way less comfortable than I've ever been at a hotel. And there's always that big caps, no parties on every one of those little laminated sheets. So, if you technically broke the rules by capacity, like, you just don't have much recourse here, I don't think. It's unfortunate. Yeah, it sounds like by the letter of the law, like, you're obviously in the wrong. But by just like common sense, it's probably fine. In your contract that you signed, that totally favors them in every way that they can kick you out at any moment. If you do something wrong, too much cellophane usage, you're out. Yeah, recent Airbnb usage, we had one where, like, I'm walking around just like in my socks and I'm like, why are my socks filthy? Like, is this floor just not clean? I paid a $200 cleaning fee. What the hell? Yeah, like, I was like, what the heck is going on? It's like, you literally couldn't walk barefoot in this house because your feet would just be brown with dirt everywhere. And it's like, okay, because you just used a dirty mop to mop this floor. You didn't clean anything. But it's like, do we trash them? Because, yeah, it's kind of real. I didn't. I don't use. This would be like probably my wife that would write the review. I think she did end up writing the review because it is kind of insane. But I think the fear here is if you do kind of call them out on it, they have a leg up on you. Be like these people threw a huge party in our house. And then you're probably going to get red flagged and not be able to use Airbnb again. There are other places. I was going to say there are other places you could use. And hey, maybe you could just go back and just go with Kyle and be a hotel guy because I'm kind of there, too. It just seems like kind of cleaner now. Like Airbnb, like that renting a house thing. I think it's great for certain situations. And it got like really popular. And now I feel like. It's swinging back towards like hotels are just probably cheaper and easier again. So I don't know. I guess it's just like what's your risk tolerance of basically being like blackballed from this platform. But just just so you know, you are probably in the right here. I don't. It doesn't seem like you did much wrong. These are just hard. I was who wanted to kick you out. But technically, yeah, you are. So that's tough. That would suck. Imagine. Especially like everyone's maybe it's midday and everyone's like a little too buzzed to drive. Like you got an hour. Like, wait, what? So the cops will be here for me to get into this car and sit outside until I'm good to go. Or I wonder if this house has just like, you know, maybe the history, the Airbnb owners like, no, like people just throw rages at this house. They're just tired of it. So they have a zero tolerance policy. Sounds like that doesn't really concern you because it doesn't seem like it was that bad. But they're just like, hey, we're not taking any bullshit. First sign of anybody throwing a party. We're done. We're calling the cops, which means they're basically checking the backyard cameras and counting heads. And it's like, God, that's that's shitty, too. That feels like it should be illegal. Yeah. Yeah, I get cameras in an active house that you're renting feels quite uncomfortable. But I feel like half of my experience has been terrible. Like I rented. I really went for it on this one rental once. It was like overlooking ski chalet penthouse deal and the whole thing. And I was like, OK, this isn't cheap, but this is exactly what I want. I want something sick for four days. And then I book it and it's like, oh, so every room is a penthouse on this floor. Like that's not a penthouse. This is where it can't be 20. It's all penthouses. Yeah, that's what they called called the penthouse because they had a deck. Oh, my God. Like, I'm talking like that's creative. Yeah, that's creative copy overlooking. It was like penthouse loft. And then I'm like, why is mine on the same floor? I'm like, that's a room. That's a room. That's a room. That's a room. And then I went to the realtor office. They were like, we don't manage that property. But they're like, this is 100 percent. They should not have said penthouse. I was like, yeah, I'm not losing my mind. Right. They're like, no, this this has me a little nervous because I just sent the money for our Scottsdale 18 dudes. They finally found a house that could accommodate. And they were like, they're asking, like, does anybody want to get Airbnb Airbnb points? I was like, no fucking way. Am I putting this thing? 18 dudes in Scottsdale. They're probably they've probably got like motion detectors and they're probably recording us. Yeah, you're going to be in a situation. One code word that's going to send the SWAT team here to kick us out. So I'm already nervous. Yeah, you'll be the guy who's like trying. Ask his friends for sheetrock money like our last emailer. You could be in Scottsdale painting a wall. Is it OK with 18 dudes in Scottsdale? That thing has seen some shit. I think so. I would think so. They know they know what they're running out. They're doing the weekends. The getting kicked out thing reminds me of a story in Montreal. This is a million years ago, but we used to have an annual staff party for the bar in Montreal. And again, this is the owners were in their 20s. Never mind the rest of us. So roll up. Probably. 20 deep. Yeah. 20 deep. We had this like reciprocating. It was almost like a sister bar where their staff would come to ours and then we would go up to theirs. And it was like all pretty dialed in. They do some sort of fancy dinner and then see what happens. And then, of course, you get back to the rooms and nobody goes to bed because you're all so young and it's Montreal and you're excited. And it wasn't exactly the four seasons we were staying at either. But all the rooms are paid for by the guys. It was really nice what these these owners would do. They would spend this amount of money to take care of the staff and have like this big thing every year. And I remember, of course, there were like however many rooms there were. If there were if there were 10 rooms like nobody was getting singles. Right. But if there were 10 rooms and 20 people or something like that, I think eight of the rooms were all together on one floor and then two or like two floors amongst the families. Right. So I was in the two up and then we were with another guy that was like an owner of another place that used to come with us. And we're like on the balcony having beers. And then we watch all of the co-workers just being escorted out by security with police waiting for him outside because they were just loud and they were Americans and they were loud Americans in the hotels like we're not doing this again. And you guys are like eight rooms deep. So it's it was it sucked because like one guy I remember in particular going, I'm hammered. I've been drinking all night. Like I can't find the Montreal right now. Where do I go? I can't. No, he's like, get in your car and get out of here. Like, go back to the border. He's like, that's insane. Like, this is an hour 45. This is wrong. I should not be driving. He's like, get out of here. That's like the old Ron White. I don't want to be drunk outside. I want to be drunk in there in the bar. They threw him out. Yeah. Ron White's the best. Yeah, that's a good call. And then we were on the balcony watching like one of the guys we're with is just the worst when it comes. These things like, oh, dudes, you guys are leaving, you know, going like, oh, you guys are headed out early. All right. Well, we were going to get breakfast. Should we? And then they're screaming up like, fuck you. Yeah, because he just he was older and he could get away with anything and just was going like, why are you guys leaving? Like, what's what's the. And it was just for a caravan. Right. Like a caravan of like the four cars. And we're sitting there looking at each other. Be like, oh, my God. Like, we don't have to leave. Like, Casano. All right. Another email. Shout out to the abs this year, though. Huh? What a season. St. Louis exceeding all expectations. Is Montreal really that cool? I've never been. Yeah, it's even cooler. If that's your is it really that cool? It will be even cooler. You should go with your wife for a long weekend. I think it's one of the coolest places I've ever visited. Like cool is like just to get hammered. Cool. Or like, no, like everyone gets hammered. Like, you, you can do that, obviously. But then when you start to explore out old Montreal, you know, get some water activities in. I think it's I think it's an awesome city. I actually want to go back. I'd like to go back this summer. All right. Let's get this one out of the way. This one's all over the place. But sometimes this happens in the last episode of the week. 6'2", 185, 35 years old, player comp, CJ McCollum, same age, great comp, same height, build, maybe two. Is this is this CJ McCollum? I don't think so. All right. I'm reaching out about something that happened at the driving range last week. It's been stuck in my head. OK, I'm down with this. A story ruling. I started playing golf about a year ago. I walked nine holes at sunrise once a week. OK, he he is head over heels in love with golf. Then there you go. Trying to hit the range once a week. If I was an early riser, though, that's a great like a sunrise golf. Maybe by yourself. It's like a cheat code for life. Yeah. I just can't wake up that early. I know I'm kind of starting to think about it right now. do i do it tomorrow a little sunrise golf i don't know i gotta i gotta scout turkey eight tonight all right um play with friends every couple weeks i used to be a huge basketball guy but had a herniated disc ended that four years ago golf has made me feel alive again this guy's gonna be an awesome golfer oh yeah so i'm at my usual range about 30 minutes into one of those sessions where i'm topping irons and sending my driver every zip code except the fairway then i noticed this guy walking his way toward me he's probably in his 50s absolutely jackdressed head to toe what is definitely expensive golf gear carrying a large bucket of balls in one hand and a small bucket in the other he sets up next to me quickly dumps both buckets together and starts warming up he's clearly a regular because he's saying hi to everyone joking around acting like he owns the place five minutes later this older australian guy walks over and already sounding annoyed asks do i do an australian accent or do i hell yeah you're you're qualified i don't think i can do it excuse me did you happen to take a small bucket of balls the jack guy says nope the aussie starts to walk away and then the guy adds quote i mean i didn't take a bucket of balls the australian stops turns around and asks well what did you take the guy goes there were just some balls on the floor next to a mat nobody was there so i took them the aussie responds well somebody told me a guy in a blue shirt took my balls i look over sure enough the jack guy's wearing a blue shirt that wasn't you small head shake no the australian just throws his hands up and goes unbelievable who does that loud enough for half the range of here walks away the guy in blue looks around shrugs he goes back to hitting balls about 10 minutes later one of the range ambassadors drives behind a car the guy clearly knows him and says can you believe that guy thought i stole his balls so he definitely stole his balls right question from the emailer isn't that an insane interaction also should i've said something told the ambassador or is this just one of those mind your business golf etiquette situations it's been bothering me ever since i need a ruling that is kind of wild he did just basically admit that yeah i i don't like the way you ask the question but you're right but fuck off is that what just happened yes yeah if you didn't see him take the balls i think inserting yourself being like he didn't come over here with a small bucket even though every you know you two and two does equal four that's a that's a mind your business moment for me um if i watched him do it maybe that's different but like for all the information i've gotten this no i'm just working on that seven iron that's what i'm doing yeah that's a head down situation unfortunately like it's too because it's like okay cool like you're gonna you know the ugly american the australian comes over here it's like guys still guys are stealing my golf balls like fuck this place but uh yeah there's no unless i like actually saw it and this guy wasn't jacked he seems like a huge tool so you'd like to kind of like get him in trouble a little bit but i don't know man i'm not i'm not stepping in that i think you just gotta unfortunately also he has to take the l super disappointing when someone's like giving you another given that you know not you but giving that guy another chance you're like somebody actually said they saw a guy just like you these balls and you're like nope like it was like that was your last out man you would have you had to look stupid and say yeah i did and i lied because you're not supposed to do that like you like cool you just see a bucket of balls that are an empty station no no the question is how long i think the limit doesn't exist like unless you know some guys get frustrated out there and just fucking bounce it's true it is true usually they find another guy and be like hey do you want these balls but i mean it's not it's not insane i don't know that there are like balls out of the station somewhere but it's like six bucks for a small bucket yeah okay well it's just a nasty move though because like i've left balls where i go all right get out of here like sometimes i'll buy like two buckets especially if i'm gonna do like feel really no no do the real warm-up stuff like don't just grab your driver after three balls and be like all right let's see what we can do today we'll go do yeah drop the hands skim the rock nice you know everybody talks about that it's really the right arm all right where are your feet again how come you're doing that why are you pretending that the four irons are dry so all the dumb little shit that you should do if you're trying to get better um i'm actually probably going today now i'm thinking about this guy's got me excited about yeah dude i'm going today i'm sending um there's some been some max homa interaction oh we're working our way back to each other oh no i mean he just was on pmt again so i probably shouldn't even share that i probably shouldn't have said anything because you were way cooler think of all the dudes we tell you just slow your roll man let me just i just i'm gonna be back the stand is gonna be 12 games out again tomorrow we got keegan now anyway well that's yeah until he wins a major and goes home a part of my tag although i don't know the vermont connection the st john's connection with keegan you'd like to think we're in a good spot there um yeah so i don't know i i shouldn't even talk about homa anymore just other than there's been some correspondence the last couple days okay i haven't sent him the new swing video which i know is probably i'm gonna send anyone that video well i sent it to saruti thanks he yeah and the pga the usga guy saw it too so yeah the usga guy said what about the swing they were surprisingly impressed i think blown away this is what i blown away yeah i mean yeah not quite but not good it was good i even said that to you hmm jeff bridges blown away that's what i heard but i don't i don't know uh maybe we're talking to different people here's the thing sometimes i go get out of here it's falling apart you're too tired you've hit too many balls this whole thing it's stupid or whatever the idea that somebody else would like immediately go over and claim them before they know like what my deal is like this guy's a bully he's a range bully yeah and i'm surprised the aussie didn't give him the what for on this or a little bit more verbal like he basically admitted to it but i yeah i think the ruling maybe if you were better if you were three years into golf just stinging four irons left and right all over the place do you think like then you'd go hey now it's my time to say but if you didn't i think look we spent too much time on it kyle was right immediately if you didn't actually see him do it even though all evidence points that this is exactly what this guy did um you're always better off just being like all right not i gotta i gotta work on other things i gotta get my chest to the target chest to the target yeah especially if the staff's riding around and he's like making the aussie the asshole you know the purpose the purpose talking to the the guy driving around picking up balls like can you believe that asshole and if they're like they've got this you know so like you see this with bars a lot like they got problem customers for new guys but you know he comes in every day and he spends and he tips well and like if there is some sort of weird interaction they're gonna have that assholes back uh so you know not saying that's exactly what happened but the signs point to that also that the ambassador can you believe this aussie you stole his balls and he had an issue with it yeah because it is true it's like how long could that guy have been gone that had to be a fairly small window forgot his glove i've got my brand new bucket oh look 12 free ones this tells me that this this is not the first time this guy's done this either this is he's a he's an opportunistic bucket rapper counting yeah i'm up 12 i'm up 12 free range balls today see if we get a taco out of this by four that's the end of the show that is really quick by the way we gotta shout out we gotta shout out we got michael kim too he finished he did he had a good another another golfer friend of the show had a good us open showing so shout out michael kim yeah we got a roster we got the max yeah we got the golf buddy you know we don't even need max anymore i don't like that that was said out loud no i don't i'm not gonna text him today though because he texted me late last night yeah i know i'm not gonna wait he texted you and you didn't text him back it initially started with a very specific text for me to homa that was worth it was good content okay and then it was like all right let's see how this goes and then we had some commentary discussion if you will between two consenting adults and then then it was like a late night one i got back from the show and i was like oh my god i'm not gonna do this again i'm not gonna do this and then i was like oh my god i'm not gonna do this again i'm not gonna do this again i'm not gonna do this again i'm not gonna do this again i'm not gonna do this again i'm not gonna do this again that where you go we're good yeah we'll just we'll talk about it thursday food for thought second open uh he's a no emergency pod trade player i think it's is it does denny odd be at the line maybe i don't know i gotta think about it that's how we should be doing the tears yeah where are you right now you have to tape in five minutes to all right let's get everybody booted up here we're gonna do it this afternoon too we can do one on tomorrow's show too uh you're good with your day that's how we should be doing tears okay that is the end of the show thanks to everybody goodbye ryan rossillo you you