transcript
Speaker 1:
[00:00] This episode is brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable internet means everything for your business. And even this podcast, that's why I trust Spectrum Business. They keep companies of all sizes connected with internet, advanced Wi-Fi, phone, TV, mobile services, plus 24-7 US-based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum Business. So visit spectrum.com/business to learn more. Restrictions apply, services not available in all areas.
Speaker 2:
[00:30] Somewhere out there is a Chevy truck. And the person who drives it, well, that's a Chevy person. You probably know one.
Speaker 3:
[00:37] Your buddy, your sister.
Speaker 4:
[00:39] Ones who always show up.
Speaker 5:
[00:41] They're the first to rise, the last to leave.
Speaker 3:
[00:43] They always have that little extra something. And maybe you've got it too.
Speaker 5:
[00:48] Chevrolet.
Speaker 3:
[00:49] Together let's drive.
Speaker 2:
[00:51] Visit chevy.com/trucks to explore the lineup.
Speaker 3:
[01:02] David?
Speaker 6:
[01:03] Yes?
Speaker 3:
[01:04] You just got back from Las Vegas, where you were covering WrestleMania.
Speaker 6:
[01:11] Thank you for saying it the right way, yeah?
Speaker 3:
[01:13] If we were to shoehorn a wrestling media story into this podcast, should we go with the reporter who was denied credentials or wrestling fans being mad at streaming or something else?
Speaker 6:
[01:29] Yeah. There was a lot of things. There was some streaming issues. Obviously, there was some ESPN, WWE drama with the Andreas Hale situation. Still trying to dig into the details on that one. Although banning journalists is never a good look if that's indeed what happened. The craziest thing to me for all the things that we normally talk about was that for one match at WrestleMania, there was a third person in the announce booth. Now, we talk about you prefer two man teams to three man teams, and your mileage may vary on that. But in this case, the two man team was, and the three man team were pretty indistinguishable because the third man didn't say a word. It was a rich person named Adam Weitzman. I say rich person because I don't really know a lot of the details. I think he's like some sort of modern tech billionaire. I have no freaking idea.
Speaker 3:
[02:31] I think I saw Crypto Guy.
Speaker 6:
[02:33] Crypto, okay, sorry, you're right. Crypto Guy. And this Adam Weitzman apparently bought his way onto the announce team, or at least at the announce desk. And he sat there for the Women's World Championship match, didn't say a word. And for WWE, who there were lots of stories coming into this about their attempts to squeeze every dollar out of everything. Tickets were super high. Every meet and greet with a wrestler at WWE World was incredibly expensive. Just everything. It was just a lot of money spent to be a wrestling fan that weekend. And they put ads on the tables that break, they put sponsors in the ring. There's just sponsorships coming out of the walls. When you're watching on TV, it's just wall to wall commercials. And just the icing on the cake was that someone just greenlit this rich guy paying whatever amount of money to get to sit at the announce table for one match. It wasn't so much like I wasn't mad at it so much as I was just confused by it. It doesn't make a lot of sense. And it's not like WWE is in financial dire straits or something. There's a history of what we call money marks in pro wrestling. It's just like the fans with a lot of cash that you in various companies get, you give different levels of benefit to just for like tossing you money. I don't know. Do you think there's a dollar figure? Like even an imaginary crazy like Elon Musk empties his bank account dollar figure that would get you on the announce table at the Super Bowl?
Speaker 3:
[04:13] I mean, that was always my fantasy as a kid. If you ask, like, do you want to play quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys? Or do you want the ESPN announce team for a Cowboys game to be Joe Troy and Bryan? I would pick the latter.
Speaker 6:
[04:32] Well, you have a comfort level with both those guys, so that makes sense. But yeah, I think so too.
Speaker 3:
[04:37] It's more of a tangible dream. Now, I think I would be like the money mark at the wrestling event where I'd be sitting next to them and I just would not know what to say.
Speaker 6:
[04:47] Oh, for sure.
Speaker 3:
[04:49] I would be, you know, I'd make Terry McCauley look like Stephen A. Smith. I'd be like, you come to me, move on, I'll stop talking now.
Speaker 6:
[04:58] Yeah, I think if it were me, I mean, and I'm thinking of the wrestling version here, I think if I was going to pay whatever incredible sum of money to get that, I think included in the deal would be, you know, they do the little, you know, like when they, for those who don't watch wrestling, you know, like when the announce team at a football game would be like, we had a chance to sit down with the quarterback before this game, and this is what he told us. Wrestling sort of has their own version of that, which is like the announcers and the wrestlers talk, and they're like, are you doing anything I need to know about? Right? It's like, are you pulling...
Speaker 3:
[05:25] This is before the matches start.
Speaker 6:
[05:26] Yeah, they're like, are you going to pull up any, like, Japanese moves out of your, you know, out of nowhere that, like, I need to know the name of, or, you know, whatever. I think I would demand one of those things, you know, so that, like, at some point in the match, the announcers are stymied and all of a sudden the third man jumps in and he's like, that's an omoplata, that's an omoplata, you know? You get one source of insight to earn your way there. I don't know, it does open up a lot of good questions, though, like, if you can pay some ungodly amount of money to get on the WrestleMania announce desk for one match, I mean, yeah, for one match, like, what's the cost for, like, you know, I get to stand awkwardly behind a backstage interview at, like, an episode of Raw. Like, could I put that on my corporate card? Like, I don't know how that works.
Speaker 3:
[06:12] Yeah, be a guy in the hallway when a wrestler is walking.
Speaker 6:
[06:16] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[06:16] How much does that cost?
Speaker 6:
[06:18] I mean, I've been backstage at wrestling matches, and that's happened to me, and I don't ever, you don't get paid, you know, so.
Speaker 3:
[06:27] You didn't pay anything to be in that position.
Speaker 6:
[06:29] It's true.
Speaker 3:
[06:30] I was thinking that you and I could fake our way through an hour or three in a wrestling booth much more easily than we could do it in a football game. And not just because the level of knowledge, wrestling versus football, we just know, wrestling is a performance of announcing as much as it is announcing, and we could perform like that. Oh my goodness, what a maneuver.
Speaker 6:
[06:57] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[06:58] Two, three, he got him, no he didn't. Like, I can do that. I feel much more confident I could do that than I could do Mike Turrico's job.
Speaker 6:
[07:08] Yes, absolutely true. I mean, you could be the color guy. I mean, listen, every play by play guy, every color guy, when they start out, we reference their points of inspiration, right? You know, it's just like everybody wants to be whoever came before them, the biggest stars or whatever, you know, every color guy is judged against John Madden. And one wonders if we were sitting at that desk, it wouldn't just be like 90% Jim Ross impersonations, right?
Speaker 3:
[07:33] There would be that. I'd mix it a little with Hallamonsoon, that's who I'd want to be judged against. He's working on the trapezius muscle, David.
Speaker 6:
[07:40] Yeah, exactly. But you'd just be going back and forth nonstop, you know? And then when the pin comes, you would, no matter what the outcome was, you would do the Vince McMahon, one, two, new champion, oh, you know?
Speaker 3:
[07:51] New champion, oh. God, I love that so much.
Speaker 6:
[07:55] So yeah, I think it would be a lot of different influences. I think it would be a sort of pastiche performance by us at the announce table. Someday, someday when The Press Box reaches those heights, the heights of, you know, club shay-shay, they get the raised stage at Radio Row for WrestleMania.
Speaker 3:
[08:12] What an interesting choice, but go ahead.
Speaker 6:
[08:17] Yeah, maybe that could happen. Maybe that should be our goal, Bryan. You and me sitting at the announce table at some point. Spotify, back of the brakes truck.
Speaker 3:
[08:25] I don't know. Are you in crypto? I think we maybe can pull this off, make a few phone calls. All right, David, coming up on The Press Box, Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini. Page six has some more pictures. Speaking of the NFL is tipping draft picks before they're announced a mere annoyance or the stuff of a populist media rebellion. Plus Kash Patel's FBI gives us a story that's even crazier than his $250 million lawsuit. And we have such a backlog of only in journalism words that we've reached a choke point. All that and much more on The Press Box, a part of the Ringer Podcast Network. Hello, media consumers, Bryan Curtis, David Shoemaker, producers, Isaiah Blakely and Bruce Baldwin. David, Press Box listeners will need to believe me that I had a segment all teed up for you, asking why we learned, after midnight Eastern time last night, that Mike Vrabel, the head coach of the Patriots, was suddenly going to miss one day of the draft so he could seek counseling. That was all teed up and ready for you and I to speculate about. Then today, we get news that Page Six has more pictures of Vrabel and former athletic reporter Dianna Russini. And in fact, Page Six went to Vrabel and Russini with these pictures on Wednesday, before that post-midnight announcement for Mike Vrabel. I'll read you the top of the story here, and then we get to see the scene and exclusive new picks obtained by Page Six, the New England Patriots coach and the NFL reporter were spotted together inside the dimly lit Tribeca Tavern in the early hours of March 11, 2020. They sat close to each other while conversing at the bar, at one point appearing to share a kiss. Love the hedging there. Then, quote, they were kissing and they were all over.
Speaker 6:
[10:36] We didn't hear the smack, so we weren't sure.
Speaker 3:
[10:39] Well, then listen to this quote, they were kissing and they were all over each other. An eyewitness told Page Six he had a ring on. And on from there.
Speaker 6:
[10:49] The ring is the funniest part. Well, there's a lot of funny parts to this. When I love how every such hidden camera video that comes out always refers to the dimly lit bar as if it's some kind of seedy hangout for indiscretion. Like in the old days, it's like, oh yeah, that's the club, that's the bar where you take your mistress or whatever. But no, it's just, it's a bar with low lights. That's every bar in New York.
Speaker 3:
[11:11] A bar is not a target.
Speaker 6:
[11:13] Yeah. But also the ring, I guess whoever took this video knew what they were filming or why would they have been taking the pictures, but the he had a ring on thing seems so incidental to this. Like if he was having an affair, it's like, well, at least he had the decency to take off his ring for the... Because if you didn't know who they were, we would just assume they were married. Like, it's not that complicated.
Speaker 3:
[11:34] Also that date, March 11, 2020, that is the same date that Rudy Gobert got COVID and the entire NBA and sports world shut down. And it just so happened that Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini were at the dimly lit Tribeca Tavern having a drink. And what was the wording here? Appearing to share a kiss. Oh, man.
Speaker 6:
[12:06] Can I ask you a real but sort of like arch question here?
Speaker 3:
[12:10] Please.
Speaker 6:
[12:12] If this ends with Vrabel and Russini, like, leaving their spouses and getting married and living happily ever after, does it become a good, like a positive story?
Speaker 3:
[12:25] I mean, there's a sit down somewhere with the two of them with some kind of interviewer where maybe it's spun like that.
Speaker 6:
[12:36] I mean, this is like half the rom-coms that we watch. It's like, you know, I was in love with my husband, but my true love, it just never, our timing never matched up, you know? And then you get back to your true love and then we're all applauding at the end.
Speaker 3:
[12:49] Can we just step by for a second, because you and I are very much in the media criticism weeds or the love story, love that dare not speak its name weeds here. To acknowledge just how absolutely insane the story is.
Speaker 6:
[13:02] Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 3:
[13:03] If I told you this like a month ago that this was going to happen, you'd be like, I don't believe you.
Speaker 6:
[13:08] No.
Speaker 3:
[13:09] I don't believe that we get here.
Speaker 6:
[13:12] I certainly didn't believe it when the first photos came out. And they're just like, that's too crazy for it to be true.
Speaker 3:
[13:17] Too crazy for it to be true. And now we have more photos. Also, I think, and you see this a little bit burbling up on Twitter here as we talk, but is Mike Vrabel going to be the coach of the Patriots next season?
Speaker 6:
[13:31] What would keep him from being coach of the Patriots?
Speaker 3:
[13:33] So it's funny because that came up in the first wave of stories, especially after Russini resigned. And a lot of people were talking about the double standards and how she's bearing the brunt of whatever allegedly happened.
Speaker 6:
[13:47] You know, I mean, it's real penalty. Okay, I'm sure there will be some in-house penalty. I mean, I'm sure your relationship with your boss does not go great after that. But I mean, I think the Russini thing was fairly cut and dry just because of the question of journalistic integrity, right? It's just like, you can make a case that it's a, I mean, you could, if you were her, make a case that your eyes are lying to you or that it's not what it seems or that this is true love. And it's not like a habit in my reporting style or like whatever. But I thought that, I mean, it's no matter whose side you're on, like that wasn't a hard call for the athletic to make. But I don't know what the, I'm sure there's a morals clause in Vrabel's contract, but like this is football. I mean, come on, we let morality slide all the time to win a game.
Speaker 3:
[14:38] So I hear that. I do think the way you get there is that if you say, or if he says to himself, I'm a leader of men, every rah rah speech I give is about accountability and making the right decisions and not putting yourself in a bad place. And then I have done this. Whatever happened, I've done this. And, you know, page six of the New York Frickin Post is just, you know, out there looking for pictures of me. That's maybe again. And again, does that is that going to happen? I don't know. But that's how I'd get there.
Speaker 6:
[15:17] Yeah, that makes sense. I guess if he has the if he has the. I mean, if he believes the thing that you just said, right? I mean, as like if he's going to be honest with himself and say, like, being a leader of men will be will be slightly more difficult now. He might make the calculation that, like, it'd be easier to walk away, not holding his head high, but, like, making it look like it was his clearly his choice, and start over again somewhere else in a year or two than to get fired halfway through this Patriot season, you know, because everybody stopped listening to him. But it just seems like the stakes are relatively low for bringing him back. The biggest stakes are just like how much what you mentioned. For him personally, it's like, do I have photographers following me all the time? And then more generally, as a team like is this just going to be a season long distraction?
Speaker 3:
[16:09] Yeah. And he's going to have to come out and talk to reporters again.
Speaker 6:
[16:12] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[16:12] And again, and again. And now there are new questions.
Speaker 6:
[16:17] No matter what, is the question like, hey, how come you didn't invite me to that resort? It's just from all the reporters.
Speaker 3:
[16:24] No, but I just think like, you know, look, he gave this long statement to Mike Reese last night. He said, as I said the other day, I promised my family, this organization and this team, that I was going to give them the best version of me, that I can possibly give them in order to do so, I have committed to seeking counseling starting this weekend. This is something I have given a lot of thought to, and it's something I would advise a player to do if I was counseling them.
Speaker 6:
[16:46] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[16:48] I don't know, and I've also got other questions here, because so everybody, weirdly enough, Philadelphia Eagles fans are somehow a party to this whole story, because they are convinced that Dianna Russini was trying to get AJ. Brown traded to the Patriots.
Speaker 6:
[17:04] Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3:
[17:05] And it's kind of conventional wisdom that AJ. Brown was actually going to get traded to the Patriots. That was just going to happen after the draft.
Speaker 6:
[17:11] Yeah. When I was in Vegas, I was just watching ESPN at one point, and it was the most bizarre headline, because they were running with it for a while. It was just like AJ. Lee expected to be traded to the Patriots as previously mentioned or whatever, but it was off in the future. It was like they just have a holding note or whatever, just setting them off to the side, which I guess is that a circumvention of the salary cap or of the collective bargaining agreement if it actually is agreed upon? I don't think so.
Speaker 3:
[17:46] I don't think so. I think you just do it after a certain date for-
Speaker 6:
[17:48] No, I know. So the headline, I just feel like they were missing the vocabulary that should have made what was going on very clear, because it's always clear when they're waiting to cut a quarterback until whatever date in their contract or whatever. It was June 1, we hear it over and over again. That was strange. So yeah, it did seem conventional wisdom that he would go there. I think it was only a question about value, right? How many picks are they going to have to send back?
Speaker 3:
[18:10] Does that trade now get somehow like that trade not happen because-
Speaker 6:
[18:15] Well, listen, if Mike Vrabel's job is insecure, I can imagine the Patriots saying, that's an awful lot of money to put up for a potential distraction who doesn't even have the coach he loves anymore. But if Vrabel is going to stick around, I would be shocked if that trade was scuttled solely because of that.
Speaker 3:
[18:37] I would too. As you point out, football just plows ahead no matter what happens, and everybody shrugs and goes about their jobs. But man, also NFL draft coverage tonight?
Speaker 6:
[18:50] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[18:51] Do you think ESPN and company are going to go out of their way to not say Mike Vrabel's name? There's obviously no way they're going to mention this story, but it just feels like this is one of those, like this causes a meeting at ESPN, a production meeting today.
Speaker 6:
[19:05] Do you think at ESPN or any of the local sports networks in the New England area, do they just have like a coach availability calendar? Do they have to do research to figure out how much is going to be gone, or is it always there on your spreadsheet, like Vrabel's availability will be on whatever, the 27th of June?
Speaker 3:
[19:27] I think this is why you have Mike Reese on the payroll. Because Mike Reese knows when that OTA or whatever it is, is happening, and you have that. But yes, isn't it bewildering when they talk, and when they won't talk, and all this kind. I just imagine as a reporter, you're like, okay, my next chance to ask this man a question that I cover, even if this weren't going on, even if you were just concerned about the Pats defense, and is the quarterback okay, and all that stuff. The next chance is going to be specifically on May 27th. That's when I get to talk to him.
Speaker 6:
[20:01] But do they have limitations on all, are there scrimmages and training camp stuff between them, and you're just not allowed to approach him? Or is it just off season, so nothing's going on?
Speaker 3:
[20:11] Well, if you have the cell phone number, then you can talk to him whenever you want to.
Speaker 6:
[20:14] No, I know, I know. I mean, I guess, listen, but no one's on.
Speaker 3:
[20:17] You're not in the building, I think, is the answer to that, for most of that time.
Speaker 6:
[20:20] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[20:21] So you wouldn't just run into him.
Speaker 6:
[20:22] I mean, it would be weirder if there was somebody on the Mike Vrabel beat, you know? I'm not gonna make any joke here that I could, but if that was your only thing, if this was some like, if it was just some crazy situation where a big city coach was so popular, that's what you did with your time. But most of the people covering that, those Mike Vrabel press conferences have plenty of stuff to do between now and then. It's not like they're just wondering what to do today. But yeah, it is weird. I mean, it is weird that everything is so structured. And yeah, that in a situation like this, you're just like, man, it would be super good to have some media availability right now.
Speaker 3:
[20:59] Last question before we get out of here. What's Dianna Russini gonna do now for work?
Speaker 6:
[21:06] I mean, there's a lot of ways you can go with this. I think you can keep your head down for a while and just try to rebuild in a sort of normal way. There's a million outlets that like, you know.
Speaker 3:
[21:18] Which ones though?
Speaker 6:
[21:20] Okay.
Speaker 3:
[21:21] Feasibly speaking.
Speaker 6:
[21:25] I don't think it's out of the high end. I don't think this will happen. But I think there's like a 1% chance, you know, or less than 1%. There's a vanishingly small chance that she ends up on one of the streaming services that don't have like the Journalistic Integrity Department, you know. And if she has a really good agent and she definitely has the Q rating and maybe that'll work. You know, maybe. But I think more likely what we're all expecting is she's going to start a podcast. What do you want to say? She's going to go to Outkick or something? Like, it's...
Speaker 3:
[21:54] Oh my God.
Speaker 6:
[21:55] I mean, she could... There's definitely a career path for the besieged in this in the modern media era. By the way, I talked to Bobby Burak at WrestleMania, too. Just wanted to throw that in there.
Speaker 3:
[22:07] Outkick Superstar.
Speaker 6:
[22:10] He was a nice guy. You don't have to groan. You don't have to like his tweets. You don't have to like his takes. Though it was an interesting conversation.
Speaker 3:
[22:17] He was in The Press Box?
Speaker 6:
[22:19] He was in... No, he was in like the... There's like the little pre-party, the little appetizer room before the event.
Speaker 3:
[22:29] You were enjoying some canapes.
Speaker 6:
[22:31] Some canapes, some cans of beer. You know how it goes. But yeah, so anyway, I mean, I think there's a lot of... I mean, there's always gonna be an opportunity out there. Who's not gonna listen to the Dianna Russini podcast that launched tomorrow? At least the first episode.
Speaker 3:
[22:49] When you talk about places the besieged go, I think the way that happens is if you address and or lean into whatever happened, you talk about it. I don't think the place of the besieged, if I can use this incredibly awkward construction here, is gonna be like, oh, just come over and never speak ever again about...
Speaker 6:
[23:10] Dude, you say that, but that would 100% happen if she was like the new Sports is Too left opinion person on Fox News. Sports is Too woke, whatever. All right. Every commentator that they bring in with a resume has a blot on their resume. Everybody is just like, wait, that person's employed again? And then they're just there, you know?
Speaker 3:
[23:39] I don't totally see the wokeness. I'm leaving because of wokeness portion of this story.
Speaker 6:
[23:46] No, you just have to be willing to address those angles. I don't think it's so much about her story, you know, is that she was just like, she was chased out of mainstream media. Like that's all that some people need to know. But I don't know. I mean, I think probably she'll lay low for a while. I mean, I don't think we'll have an answer to this for a while. I think if she did start a podcast, it's funny that podcasts are just the currency of this, you know? But if she did start a podcast, I feel like she kind of should be closing the chapter, closing the book on that part of her career, right? Or no, just on getting re-employed by a big company. But maybe, maybe, I mean, maybe if she's still coming with crazy news breaking on social media and on her podcast and can still do her job really well, I mean, you can work your way back.
Speaker 3:
[24:33] So that's another interesting question, right? Is if you're still trying to break NFL stories, how many people inside the league that were sources before? Are they just all still sources? I don't think you and I know the answer to that question, but it's an intriguing question. Are they just like, okay, well, you know, sure. You know, as a person I have a journalistic relationship with and I'll talk to you about our thoughts about the defense and who we're thinking about the first round of the draft.
Speaker 6:
[25:00] Oh, the podcast guest. I was going to say for her reporting, you can still use anonymous sources. Like no one has to pledge allegiance in public to Dianna Russini to, you know, be a source. But you're right, for the to be the podcast co-host or the podcast guest is really making an affirmative decision. So that's interesting. Here's a more here's a more interesting question. It's like, what if she does do something else, like start her own little thing? It is incredibly successful. Like I'm trying to think what like the pinnacle of like if if pre if like if like who's the most successful insider? Like if Wogen at his peak, Schefter, if Schefter got fired for some sort of indiscretion from another place, but then had then became Adam Schefter, the Adam Schefter we know and love on his life.
Speaker 3:
[25:47] What if Ian Rapoport got fired from some other place and then became Adam Schefter? I got this plotted out for you.
Speaker 6:
[25:53] Yeah. But yeah. So what if someone like Schefter became who he was on some pirate radio setup? He does a podcast, he has a newsletter, he is the most plugged in guy in the history of the NFL. ESPN would have to hire him.
Speaker 3:
[26:07] Probably.
Speaker 6:
[26:10] And that could conceivably, I don't think, no one should expect anybody to go on to become the second coming of Wode or whatever. But there is a level of fame that sort of negates all of this or a level of success.
Speaker 3:
[26:24] And the world's weird now. The media world is weird and different than it was.
Speaker 6:
[26:28] But that's why I mentioned the streaming services before. It's like you don't know who's making these decisions. It could be all made by somebody who saw that first tweet was just like, damn, they did her wrong.
Speaker 3:
[26:37] And if you're talking about streamers that have NFL rights, is that what you're talking about?
Speaker 6:
[26:41] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:
[26:42] Well, then there's also this like, what does the NFL feel about this? I don't know that answer either, right? Because you're also kind of making hires with the nod of Roger Goodell and company.
Speaker 6:
[26:53] True.
Speaker 3:
[26:54] Let's talk about the NFL draft. Three ESPN draft telecasts, ESPN original recipe, the ABC storytelling angle telecast, and then the NFL network telecast, which is now because the NFL network is now owned by ESPN. That's kind of funny. Peter Schrager, who will be on one of those, or maybe the Pat McAfee pirate radio streaming telecast, which is actually a fourth ESPN draft cast, made a plea about the NFL draft the other day. Here's what Schrager said.
Speaker 7:
[27:30] There is no greater suspense than the NFL draft. It is a reality show. Would you watch a reality show if three minutes before the end of the show, they tell you who's being eliminated? Would you watch a movie if three minutes before the final scene, they told you actually a tweet coming across them and that they're actually going to be taking this guy? And the only reason I know that is not from either. It's because the NFL requires that name to be sent to them and the entire league gets that name three minutes before the pick is made. Anyone who's got a credential has one source in the league whether it be from a 32 teams or the league office or an agent, they have access to the picks 90 seconds before they're announced. There's no valor in spoiling an NFL draft pick.
Speaker 3:
[28:15] You like Peter's nerdy guy voice? Spoiling the draft picks.
Speaker 6:
[28:21] Yeah, that nerdy voice should have its own show. Yeah, I mean, listen, I think this is something that we all know on the inside. And then as a consumer, you just still don't care, right?
Speaker 3:
[28:34] We all know what?
Speaker 6:
[28:36] That that access is not... Like the people that are tweeting out picks early are not like... Don't have some special level of connection or ESP. They just have a sort of certain sort of business drive to be that person. I don't think there's any particular valor in it, but it's not going to keep anybody from doing it because those tweets and those posts wherever are going to get insane amounts of traffic.
Speaker 3:
[29:00] Two things about that. It did seem like a magic trick when Woj was doing this a decade ago.
Speaker 6:
[29:05] Yes, for sure.
Speaker 3:
[29:06] You know all the draft picks and you are undermining the rights holder. In that case, it was ESPN with the NBA draft. You are undermining their television show because he was working at Yahoo and he could put out the picks early. That was part of it.
Speaker 6:
[29:22] Yeah, that's part of the deal too. You're absolutely right.
Speaker 3:
[29:24] It did seem like the one person in the world or one of three people in the world who could pull something like that off.
Speaker 6:
[29:28] Yes, 100% true. But then after the first time he did it, I feel like it was like, you don't need to see that magic trick again. Right. You like we've established that this is a trick and we know that you can do it. It's not so impressive anymore.
Speaker 3:
[29:42] I agree. And it just felt really and it just felt dumb. Like it just was like the whole thing is dumb, right? Like they're going to pick somebody in two minutes, but you need to know it right now.
Speaker 6:
[29:52] It's great for art departments too because they can start getting the graphics ready before the announcement.
Speaker 3:
[29:56] I didn't think of that angle.
Speaker 6:
[29:57] Yeah. There's some things you got to prep, all that back end stuff.
Speaker 3:
[30:01] And also the whole rights holder thing is part of this. We'll get to this here in just more in just a second. But like if you work for ESPN or you work for the NFL Network, though I guess it's now all the same thing, the league has said, hey, we'd prefer you not do this because you are our television business partner and we don't want your people on Twitter doing what Traeger does, you're taking a reality show and telling everybody how the reality show ends a couple of minutes before somebody does it at the podium. So that's the second part. And by the way, just as a pure idea, I completely agree with Schrager. I'm like, I don't need to know this. I'm going to be sitting down watching the draft tonight. I enjoy that every year. It's one of my favorite non-sports sports things just to sit there on the couch and let it all wash over me. I don't need to know the picks early. I don't care. I don't want to know them early. It always makes social media a pain in the ass because I want to look at Twitter like we all do and like, oh, what does everybody think of this? Like, damn it, you've just ruined the next three picks. And now the suspense of the evening is gone.
Speaker 6:
[31:07] And it sort of institutionalizes watching one of the biggest broadcasts of the year as if you're on tape delay, right? I mean, it's like, have you ever been in the studio or there at a live event and the audio and the video are not matching up, you know, and you're just like, wait, did he just say that they picked Troy Aikman? Like, and you're like trying to figure it out. And it's just like-
Speaker 3:
[31:25] Are you talking about Amazon's NBA coverage?
Speaker 6:
[31:28] Wow, yeah, that one waiting. Yeah, I mean, it's so, it is like, there's something just sort of more wonderful and pure about sitting there and watching it, you know, and engaging it with it, I mean, it's a TV show, engaging the way it's supposed to be engaged. And listen, as you write a piece, if I write a piece, we're writing that night or maybe even the next day, you know, and we're not reactive writers or even tweeters for the most part. Even if you were going to write a great tweet about the number five pick, like you would go over it a few times, make sure you didn't misspell anything, like it would, your interest is not being the first funny tweet out there, you know, it's being the best, not being on the overworked category, you want to be on just the appropriately worked category. I mean, it is much nicer, but it's just a thrill that you can't deny, you know, it's just like, especially when you have rooting interest or, I mean, in this situation, they made the draft, like in the NBA too, but the NFL has made the draft into such an event. It's like, why would you think we wouldn't be interested in that? You know, like what could possibly.
Speaker 3:
[32:40] You mean in getting the picks early? Yeah, so you made this fake thing, this non-sports sporting event, into a huge thing. And then you get mad at people because they are delivering this information.
Speaker 6:
[32:53] Yes, because Schrager is correct. There is no valor in it. But also, you didn't say friend of the show, Pete Schrager, which I thought was a real slap in his face. But anyway, Schrager makes a good point, but at the same time, if they sent out an email that had the result of the winner of Survivor five minutes before the finale ended, you better believe everybody who gets that thing will either tweet it or send it to somebody who they could tweet anonymously.
Speaker 3:
[33:17] Isn't there a guy, Reality Steve, what was that guy's name?
Speaker 6:
[33:20] Yeah, Reality Steve did have some of that stuff. Reality Steve, you know, he's good at his job because that's the job, right? I mean, it's like the same thing with the NFL. You're an information gatherer, right? I mean, that's what you should be doing.
Speaker 3:
[33:32] What was so funny about the Schrager thing, which again, I nodded at, was like, yeah, I agree, sounds great. It caused this populist backlash. Sean Keeley wrote about an awful announcing. And the argument sort of went like this. Hey, look, insiders, you do this all the time. You tell us two minutes before a player is officially going to be traded that they have been traded. This is how you got big and started earning lots of money just because you've decided to holster your guns one night a year because the league asked you to. Why do we all have to holster our guns? What is some person who's not going to be able to make any noise in an Adam Schefter-dominated market? Why can't they make noise one night a year?
Speaker 6:
[34:20] It's true. If ESPN was really smart, they would just marshal all of their resources, get everybody in the same room, and kind of give the breaking news to whatever reporters, the local reporter for that team, right?
Speaker 3:
[34:34] Mike Reese?
Speaker 6:
[34:35] Huh?
Speaker 3:
[34:35] Mike Reese?
Speaker 6:
[34:36] Yeah, exactly. Yeah, just let people get the hits, we get the clicks, you know? Just like someone's going to give it away anyway. There is actually, I know that you're...
Speaker 3:
[34:48] I think they count. They work for ESPN too, though. They work for the Rights Partner. They're just not the guy on TV.
Speaker 6:
[34:53] No, I know, I know. But I'm saying that they could make use of that information.
Speaker 3:
[35:00] Oh, get the piece written. I'm sure they get it, dude. I mean, they know. If you're at the facility, you know this. Because I listen to the Dallas radio broadcast, too. That's my second screen during the draft. Fifth screen during the draft. And I go back and forth to the ESPN in that one. And they always say what the Cowboys pick is like 90 seconds before.
Speaker 6:
[35:22] Who does the Dallas radio show?
Speaker 3:
[35:25] Well, the guy, Bob Sturm is the draft guy, but all the smart guys on the ticket, which is the local station. And see, this is how I watch the draft. I have the ESPN one. And here's the, okay, the Cowboys pick so-and-so at number 12. And then I, because you can rewind radio now, I rewind it like five minutes and watch and listen to the radio guys discover who made the pick because that's fun.
Speaker 6:
[35:46] Because they find out about it three minutes early, too, and they have to keep it in their pocket.
Speaker 3:
[35:50] Well, I just like the radio friends discovering it and then getting mad or getting happy or whatever.
Speaker 6:
[35:54] Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3:
[35:55] That's true. That's my preference.
Speaker 6:
[35:59] Yeah. I mean, and also it says nothing of those awkward instances we seem to have every year now or where someone on stage knows the answer and is just and has to say like, we can't mention the name, but we know that he likes big tight ends, you know, like whatever. And then it's very, it's awful. There is a pro wrestling parallel to this. I know you'll be surprised.
Speaker 3:
[36:17] What?
Speaker 6:
[36:17] One of the most, but the before every show, obviously the script is eyes only, but the outline, the match, kind of the set list is always available. Like they send it out company wide, usually several hours before the show.
Speaker 3:
[36:33] This is the order of the events.
Speaker 6:
[36:34] The order of events. I mean, and it's not just the order of matches. It's like after this match, it'll be like Bryan Curtis backstage interview, you know, like they have everything plotted out. And often those change, right? Card is always subject to change. But literally everybody that works for WWE has access to that thing. I mean, everybody that has any sort of creative role, people who like, you know, write articles for the website that don't have any, I mean, that are 25 years old, they have access to that. And there's a lot of people on the wrestling internet that have at various times trafficked and publishing those things as if they're news, you know? And I think there's a lot of us who are like, A, you're giving this to us five minutes before the show comes on. Maybe I could just watch the show. And B, if there was actual news contained in there, you'd be breaking the news, not leaking a piece of paper. But there's a lot of people that care about it. And if I went out there and did a rant about how there's no valor in publishing that, 30 people in my mentions who were like, you know, go eff yourself.
Speaker 3:
[37:35] That's the thing. I mean, I guess this is where I come down. Like, if insiderdom is largely a valourless exercise, then I don't blame anybody for wanting to do it on draft night. But I also think like, we should just not do, if it's dumb, why are we all doing the dumb thing? Why are we like, well, I reserve the right to also do the dumb thing tonight. Well, okay, I agree you do, but it's still a dumb thing. And it's just, and again, I wouldn't, anybody wants to do it, I won't be looking to social media, have a great time tonight, but like, I'm not, so I don't care, but I'm also just like, but that's not the point. If the critique is that this is silly, it shouldn't be, don't we also get to be silly?
Speaker 6:
[38:15] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[38:16] Okay. I was also thinking about this, I was talking to Jimmy Trina this week, and I watched, I sat down to watch the draft the very first time, I want to say like 92, 93, somewhere in there, at Bobby Valentine Sports Bar in Arlington, Texas.
Speaker 6:
[38:30] Bobby V's?
Speaker 3:
[38:31] Where there were tables set up in a boxing ring, there was a ring, and you could sit in the ring and watch TV. I was thinking, has the television draft gotten any better in the 30 plus intervening years? Have we innovated the draft telecast in the way we've certainly innovated a football game?
Speaker 6:
[38:57] That's a good question. I got a lot more chairs now and shinier lights.
Speaker 3:
[39:03] Shinnier lights, bigger stadiums. It's not the Marriott Marquis anymore, which looks like it had 20 people in it.
Speaker 6:
[39:10] The crowd has obviously gotten bigger and changed.
Speaker 3:
[39:13] There are fewer Jets fans per capita now.
Speaker 6:
[39:17] We have the booing the commissioner gimmick, which is always fun.
Speaker 3:
[39:20] Okay, that might be an innovation that I like.
Speaker 6:
[39:26] But I don't know, has it gotten better? I mean, I don't think we're at that point in the future yet. I mean, you can see by the careers of the quarterbacks that have been drafted over the past decade. I don't think we're at that point where you're getting anything approaching real truth coming out of the analysis. It's just sort of like fun things to think about, you know? So, which is all to say like, really what you're looking for is the moment where the pick is announced, the excitement or sadness comes with that, and then someone's saying, now you probably haven't seen much of this guy, but let me tell you why he's going to be a great fit. And yeah, it's kind of the same show it's always been.
Speaker 3:
[40:04] It really is. You got your host, you got Mel Kuiper or a Kuiper-like figure. And then there's usually a third NFL person. It was Joe Theismann in the old days. Booger McFarland has been that guy in recent years. But I just don't know, like, I mean, to me the innovation would be, and this would be the most sadistic thing you could possibly do. Is when you get to, like, pick 30. Or certainly pick, like, 55. Do put up a really crude percentage on the screen, where you just look at the players drafted in this slot in previous years. What are the chances this player will ever make a Pro Bowl? What are the chances this player will be on his original team in three years? And start putting those up. I've always felt they should do that with the NBA draft, when we get to, like, pick 16. And you just be like, actually, we're spending tons of time talking about something that is essentially a lottery ticket.
Speaker 6:
[40:56] That is cruel. But if you put it, if you balance that out with, like, the track record of the front office and, like, you know, the, like, positional, you know, the realisticness that someone in this position will stick because whatever. But I think if you balance it out with, like, front office success and that kind of stuff, it's fair game, you know?
Speaker 3:
[41:13] It is. And by the way, that undermines draft.
Speaker 6:
[41:16] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[41:16] Tipping the picks, that kind of undermines the TV spectacle. If you want to undermine the draft industrial complex, show how much this stuff actually matters.
Speaker 6:
[41:26] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[41:27] It matters. It certainly matters. In the NFL, you could argue, maybe it matters three plus rounds in. But at a certain point, it becomes lottery tickets. And if you show people that, in fact, there's like infinitesimal chances this player who is drafted here and the next pick and the next pick will actually matter to this team's fortunes, that's when you start to undermine the NFS a little bit.
Speaker 6:
[41:49] I feel like every year or so, there's some stat that comes out that tells you what the perspective career earnings are for draft picks by round, or how long the average second day pick actually lasts in the NFL. You hear these things and you're like, as anecdotes, and you're like, wow, that's crazy. But they don't, they of course would never make a big deal about that during the draft.
Speaker 3:
[42:11] Put it on the screen?
Speaker 6:
[42:12] Yeah. That would be pretty wild.
Speaker 3:
[42:15] You're like, man, I spent so much time hearing about this cornerback from Arizona State. What are the odds this cornerback at Arizona State, when he goes at 78, what are the odds he will be even a useful NFL player? Like, forget Pro Bowler, Paul Saber.
Speaker 6:
[42:32] Here's another idea. What if they just, since he called it a reality show, what if they just made it a reality show where that Booger McFarlane fourth seat is just left open for a random ESPN talking head or newscaster?
Speaker 3:
[42:46] A crypto billionaire? How about that? Can you buy your way onto that?
Speaker 6:
[42:49] They're all kept in a big bullpen and they're selected at random to come in and it's like, all right, you're covering pick 16. And then we got to see what they got and then somebody gets voted off at the end if they're bad.
Speaker 3:
[43:00] Okay, I'm into that. That would be an upgrade to the draft telecast. We're still waiting for that yellow line, that big thing that just changes everything you know about the way players are selected. Do you want to hear Dallas Cowboys' weirdness and move on to Kash Patel?
Speaker 6:
[43:15] Your call, man.
Speaker 3:
[43:16] Let me play one clip of this just to note that it happened. Dallas Cowboys are doing their pre-draft press conference. Press conference where you mostly don't say anything, but Jared's never stopped Jerry Jones before. Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News, who's a reporter down there, is in the middle of a question and Bill Clinton walked into the press conference. That Bill Clinton hears a little of the former president joining the pre-draft festivities.
Speaker 8:
[43:48] Yes, sir. Mr. President. I'm negotiating a draft. All right. There you go. Go ahead. I've always wanted to be a champion.
Speaker 3:
[44:02] That sound at the end was Jerry Jones almost falling off the stage as he rose to shake Bill Clinton's hand.
Speaker 6:
[44:08] Clinton versus Jones one-on-one, who wins?
Speaker 3:
[44:12] In a fight?
Speaker 6:
[44:13] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[44:15] Jerry. God, that's tough, though.
Speaker 6:
[44:19] But if Clinton can just get him close enough to the edge of the stage.
Speaker 3:
[44:22] Oh, if Jerry falls off the stage and disqualifies himself.
Speaker 6:
[44:25] No, Clinton's smart. That's why he knows that's his weakness.
Speaker 3:
[44:27] What about the old cartoon where I try to punch you in a boxing ring and miss and hit myself?
Speaker 6:
[44:31] Yeah, exactly. That is why. What a bizarre piece of audio that is.
Speaker 3:
[44:39] Somebody texted me the 90s just ended as soon as that clip hit Twitter yesterday. One last sound clip. This is Jerry Jones gussying up his fellow Arkansas legend, Bill Clinton.
Speaker 8:
[44:50] I recently named the second most American to have started with very little and have accomplished a lot. Look at it. It's in Forbes. There's a great story about it in Forbes.
Speaker 3:
[45:06] The second most American. Please check out the story in Forbes. Thank you, Jerry Jones. Let's do Kash Patel before you have to run.
Speaker 6:
[45:17] Let's do it.
Speaker 3:
[45:18] Okay. So on Tuesday, Joel and I talked about the fact that Patel is suing the Atlantic and a reporter there for $250 million for defamation.
Speaker 6:
[45:27] Uh-huh.
Speaker 3:
[45:28] For the story about his alleged drinking.
Speaker 6:
[45:30] Did he actually follow the suit? I just didn't follow, I didn't catch that part of the story.
Speaker 3:
[45:34] That is a good question. I believe the answer to that is yes. It's not merely a threat and lawsuit, which is the fakest story in the world. All right, we got another Patel-adjacent media story here. Follow me. Back in February, The New York Times published a story about Kash Patel's girlfriend.
Speaker 6:
[45:53] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[45:53] Her name is Alexis Wilkins. The woman he famously, at least to us, called a country music sensation. Now singing the national anthem, country music sensation.
Speaker 6:
[46:07] Can we make a list at some point of the words like sensation that are often used that don't have any real like legal bearing? I always love it when you just see like world famous hot dogs or whatever. What are the superlatives that you never actually have to back up?
Speaker 3:
[46:22] Yeah. This does feel like there's some honesty because she's not a country music superstar, which is the next tier.
Speaker 6:
[46:28] Oh, right. Sensation is the-
Speaker 3:
[46:30] You're on your way up.
Speaker 6:
[46:32] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[46:33] The Times reporter who wrote that story's name is Elizabeth Williamson. She wrote in that piece back in February about Alexis Wilkins that, at Patel's command, there were SWAT teams made up of FBI personnel protecting Wilkins as she traveled around the country. We also heard in that story that Patel and Alexis Wilkins met at the home of John Rich of the band Big and Rich. Got to admit here that I always get the conservative bona fides of Big and Rich mixed up with the conservative bona fides of Brooks and Dunn.
Speaker 6:
[47:12] Big and Rich or one of Big and Rich is the big MAGA guy. I can't speak to all of them.
Speaker 3:
[47:18] Didn't Brooks and Dunn have a run with that? I can't remember either. No.
Speaker 6:
[47:22] I think after they released my Maria, Trump just wrote them off.
Speaker 3:
[47:26] It's a damn good song, man. I love my Maria. Why hasn't Joel ever asked me for my favorite Brooks and Dunn song? Neon Moon, My Maria. I got answers to that question. So that piece back in February in the Times had the reporting on the SWAT teams. Mostly it was a classic, who is this person newspaper story? I've heard this name. Who is she? Where did she come from? What's her country music sensation career like? That happens in February, as I said. Yesterday we get a new piece from Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times. He reports that Wilkins complained to the FBI, run of course by her boyfriend, about that February story. And then as Schmidt says, the FBI started investigating the Times reporter who wrote it, Elizabeth Williamson. They queried databases, I'm quoting here, for information on the reporter and recommended moving forward to determine whether Ms. Williamson broke federal stalking laws. So to recap, the New York Times writes about the FBI director's girlfriend. She complains to the FBI. The FBI begins investigating the reporter and recommends-
Speaker 6:
[48:36] But when you say complains to the FBI, do you mean like complains to the guard stationed outside her door or like picked up the phone and called her boyfriend's office but asked for the switchboard?
Speaker 3:
[48:46] Well, that's not totally clear from this story. Who directs this investigation? What happened is that the piece comes out in the Times and Wilkins got a threat from somebody. Somebody sent like, does some third party sent a threat to her? The FBI started investigating the threat and then it's like, oh, but there was a story in the New York Times and that's the source of this. Here is Kash Patel talking to Sean Hannity on Fox News about that very subject.
Speaker 9:
[49:14] Reading that they're going after you, that you use the FBI because you didn't like a story about your girlfriend and is there any truth to that? Because I've known you a long time, it just doesn't sound like you.
Speaker 5:
[49:26] Absolutely not. The reality is, and thanks Sean, is that the same reporter delivered a baseless story which caused a direct threat of life to my girlfriend. That's not me saying, this individual has been charged, arrested, and is in court. He said as a direct result of the New York Times reporting, he wanted to take a rifle and canoe my girlfriend's face. We are going to protect not only me and my loved ones, but every American that is threatened.
Speaker 3:
[49:50] So a couple of things about this. Schmidt reports in The Times that the Justice Department stepped in and said, there is no legal basis to investigate the New York Times reporter for stalking. Also, stalking has become one of those words that people use when they don't like something that's reported in the newspaper. You and I have talked about how everyone says hit piece now, that's a hit piece.
Speaker 2:
[50:15] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[50:16] Meaning it's, you know, they're coming after me. Stalking is another one. And I do understand it sometimes when people who aren't used to being in the news, find themselves in the news.
Speaker 2:
[50:26] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[50:27] They're like, wait, somebody calls people that have known you in a previous part of your life. They call your friends, they're calling you and you say, I don't want you to write an article about me. And they say, actually, I'm going to write the article anyway.
Speaker 2:
[50:37] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[50:39] That would be harrowing. Now, public figures know very well how all this works. But if you use the word stalking, then Joe Sixpack at Home says, man, that person was calling all their friends, trying to find information about them. I would hate if that happened to me. And so you get some sympathy from the broader public. Anyway, we need a name for these kinds of stories now. The Trump administration versus the media. So we've just done so many of them in so many various forms. We need a rubric.
Speaker 6:
[51:14] We do. I mean, there's also the weird calculus for like, the Kash Patel thing where it's like, how is this reflecting on his job performance to President Trump, right? It goes back to everything. Is he being a distraction? Or is it just a net positive that he's yelling it, the swamp on a Fox, on Sean Hannity's show? He's got a new reason to be outraged.
Speaker 3:
[51:35] New reason to be outraged, yes.
Speaker 6:
[51:37] Yeah, it's deeply concerning.
Speaker 3:
[51:42] In a related note, the White House Correspondence Center is Saturday night that Donald Trump will be attending.
Speaker 6:
[51:51] Is there going to be a mentalist there? What did you tell me?
Speaker 3:
[51:54] Is Oz the mentalist? Because we never see him on television.
Speaker 10:
[52:00] If you thought HBO's Euphoria was intense in high school, saddle up. Season 3 of Euphoria picks up five years later, and life looks very different.
Speaker 2:
[52:09] Hello, Rue. You owe me money.
Speaker 10:
[52:11] No matter what they're chasing, money, love or redemption, no one can escape their fate.
Speaker 2:
[52:16] The problem is, if you make a deal with the devil, there's no turning back.
Speaker 10:
[52:21] Don't miss the third season of Euphoria, starring two-time Emmy winners in David. Now streaming on HBO and HBO Max, with new episodes every Sunday.
Speaker 4:
[52:30] The playoffs are here, and you can predict the action all the way to the finals with FanDuel Predicts. Follow all the playoff dishes, swishes, wishes and misses. Predict the spread, the total points, and even the game winner. Sign up for FanDuel Predicts, and predict it from the couch. Offered by FanDuel Predictions Markets LLC, a registered futures commission merchant. 18 plus. Trading derivatives involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. We encourage you to manage your activity with our consumer protection tools.
Speaker 11:
[53:00] Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? ZepBound Terzepatide may be able to help. ZepBound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity. Or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. ZepBound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15-milligram injection. ZepBound contains terzepotide and should not be used with other terzepotide-containing products or any GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if ZepBound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pens or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it. Or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer. Or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop ZepBound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking ZepBound with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-5979 or visit zepbounds.lily.com.
Speaker 3:
[54:34] Before you go, Davidson, only in journalism. Yeah. In building up in your absence. Any description of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran is inevitably described as a fragile ceasefire. I also saw the terms brittle truce. Oh, my God. Used the other day. You and I talked about the word laden. Trump's expletive-laden social media post.
Speaker 6:
[55:01] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[55:02] And I asked you, what else are things laden with besides expletives?
Speaker 6:
[55:08] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[55:09] Elizabeth Ann Sclatter writes and says, as a devout reader of women's magazines in the 90s, the word you heard was calorie-laden.
Speaker 6:
[55:18] Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3:
[55:19] Calorie-laden, that's very good. Philip Serebrennik gives us whipsawed, Trump whipsawed in telephone interviews and social media posts between measured optimism that a deal could soon be reached with Iran and warning that, quote, lots of bombs will, quote, start going off. Don't you love how they use the air quotes all the time for Donald Trump stories? Yeah. Where you just, he really said that, but you put it in quotes and it makes it seem funny. Yeah. The leader in the clubhouse was the tweet the other day, RFK Jr. once chopped off a dead raccoon's penis to, quote, study later while on a family road trip. It's like, did we really need the direct quotation there? That just seemed funny. I suspect the latter. This is from Beth Young. Dear Mr. Curtis, can you please tell journalists to stop using the verb to double down? Good heavens, it's a gambling term and not appropriate for describing the actions of the US president or the pope. She also points this, does Beth to this headline. But Eric Swalwell, is Congress having a reckoning over sexual misconduct or just a moment? God, if we could stricken both of those words from the news. Matt Womack says, has The Mighty Press Box covered opening salvo as an only in journalism phrase?
Speaker 6:
[56:45] That's a good one.
Speaker 3:
[56:47] And then Zach Stanton tells us, any story about the Strait of Hormuz must use the word choke point.
Speaker 2:
[56:53] Oh, yes.
Speaker 3:
[56:54] We will never hear that word again after the Strait is reopened. The Cormac McCarthy Auction, you're going to be bidding on Cormac McCarthy's 1995 car with 18,000 miles on it?
Speaker 6:
[57:07] Dude, I mean, it's going to go for an ungodly amount of money. When I sent it to you, it was just happy to be it. They just listed it and it was like $1,600 or something.
Speaker 3:
[57:15] It's up to $27,000 now.
Speaker 6:
[57:17] Yeah. I don't know what the right number is for that, but it certainly it's already passed my like, you know, funny money pool of like, wouldn't that be cool to have?
Speaker 3:
[57:25] People want to look this up. The auction site is Hagerty. The car does not work and was not driven much by the late novelist. The auction site described his quiet stewardship of the car, which just made me happy in lots of different ways.
Speaker 6:
[57:41] I always think in general when I see those things, if my first question is, but how do I get that home? How do I get that from where it is to my home? Then I certainly don't have the money to be thinking about.
Speaker 3:
[57:50] Do I have to tow Corman McCarthy's car?
Speaker 6:
[57:53] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[57:55] What else do I got for you? Over on our Instagram page, we inducted two new books into the Press Box used bookstore Pantheon.
Speaker 6:
[58:05] Oh, great. I didn't even see.
Speaker 3:
[58:07] They are Phoenix books in San Luis Obispo and Capitol Hill books in Washington DC. In both cases, I wrote a little something about the bookstore, and then I took pictures of all the stuff that I bought, and both included the books and the price I paid for the books. Because other Ringer podcasts, they might not be transparent with you, but here at The Press Box, it's all about consumer leveling with you.
Speaker 6:
[58:30] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[58:30] How much are David and I spending on these books?
Speaker 6:
[58:33] Transparent, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[58:35] We're transparent with readers, not necessarily with their own families, about how much we're spending on all these books. That's my thing. Don't leave any clues behind.
Speaker 6:
[58:45] Don't stick the receipt in the title page as you're walking out the store.
Speaker 3:
[58:49] Get your pencil out so you can erase it in case it's written in pencil. All right, it's time for David Shoemaker guesses. The Strain Pun Headline. Yeah. Our last headline, David, about restaurants John Steinbeck would have loved was Eats of Eden.
Speaker 6:
[59:05] That's great.
Speaker 3:
[59:06] Also loved your suggestion, East of Eaton. Alert listener and self-described expatriate Seattleite Daniel Alde has this week's headline. It's from The New Yorker. I love this story. I'll just give you the, it's an Adam Gopnik piece that ran a couple of weeks ago. The subhead is a radical history of the Mets insist that baseball can still be the people's game.
Speaker 6:
[59:35] I saw this piece, but I think I just, dude, I don't know if I saw the actual story.
Speaker 3:
[59:42] So we're thinking of radicalism, okay? We're thinking of communism and baseball. Let's go there. Radicalism slash communism.
Speaker 6:
[59:54] I'm trying to figure out how to connect Eat the Rich to Meet the Mets, but it doesn't work for a headline.
Speaker 3:
[59:59] So who is the father of communism would be? Marx. Okay. And Marx is co-author of the Communist Manifesto. Yeah. Okay. So now let's do baseball. Engels.
Speaker 5:
[60:13] Is it Engels?
Speaker 6:
[60:14] No.
Speaker 3:
[60:15] In a really bad movie.
Speaker 6:
[60:17] Engels in the outfield. That's a great headline.
Speaker 3:
[60:20] Engels in the outfield. And it will please you to know that the New Yorkers more austere print headline was safe at home. I always love when the New Yorker takes his shirt off online.
Speaker 6:
[60:34] I know. The A-B testing. Well, I guess they don't really do so much A-B testing. They just have the, they have, like, the buttoned-up version and the, you know, the after-party version.
Speaker 3:
[60:44] Safe at home. He's David Shoemaker. I'm Bryan Curtis. Producing magic by Isaiah Blakely and Bruce Baldwin. Coming up next week, your favorite Press Box hosts are switching places again. Joel's gonna be here Tuesday. David's gonna be here Thursday. Tuesday, Amanda Dobbins is gonna join me to talk about how Anna Wintour's power and her image has changed between The Devil Wears Prada 1, The Devil Wears Prada 2, which is coming out next Friday.
Speaker 6:
[61:14] That's interesting.
Speaker 3:
[61:15] Amanda's favorite subject, Anna Wintour. Cannot wait to talk to her about that. David, I'll see you next week with more Lukewarm takes about the media.
Speaker 6:
[61:22] See you later, Bryan.