Episode 45 - Two Friends Try To Talk Sports Without Starting A Government Shutdown

A ticket scramble, a barbershop beer, and a fourth‑down heartbreak walk into a podcast. We kick off with the electric tension of a possible Duke–Tennessee meetup and the shifting vibe of Cameron, where the chants used to sting and the walls felt alive. That opens the door to a larger truth: how fandom changes as we do. The wins still matter, but so do the rituals—who you sit with, what you toast after, and the stories that survive the final whistle.

Local love gets its due as we rave about Tune Up’s hot towels, easy conversation, and the “they know your name” hospitality that makes a week feel lighter. Somewhere between a haircut and a halftime show comes a wildly practical tip: a CPAP machine can neuter a hangover, especially with a humidifier. From there we’re off—Tennessee’s momentum swings, the sickening certainty after a missed kick, ACC parity, and the delicate art of wearing rival colors without becoming a villain. We swap favorite football movies, from Remember the Titans to The Replacements, because sometimes a scene says what a season can’t.

Travel and serendipity add oxygen. A trip to Cooperstown includes an unexpected morning ballgame with players spanning decades, heckling with joy under their breath in the cold. Northern Italy’s calm invites slower days, two bottles of wine, and mornings that don’t punish you for savoring the night before. We talk concerts and cost—when to splurge for a 50th‑anniversary tour, why intimacy beats spectacle, and how the best memories care more about who stood beside you than where your seats were. Discipline threads through it all: push‑ups and sit‑ups, service habits that turn into resilience, and the quiet pride of showing up.

We end where we live: with neighborly advice in a noisy world. Leave a review. Subscribe. Support indie voices so the conversations you love can keep showing up in your feed. Most of all, keep the rituals that make your season—sports, music, friends, and a place that remembers your order. If you smiled, argued, or added a movie to your queue, share the episode with a friend and tell us your best sports life hack.

Transcript

Cold Open: Tickets And Cameron Lore

SPEAKER_03 0:01

I got Muttley here over here.

SPEAKER_04 0:03

It's only gonna get worse.

SPEAKER_03 0:05

Two Drinks In Again was not taped before a live studio audience.

SPEAKER_04 0:09

Are you trying to tell me Duke and Tennessee are playing each other in basketball at the end of the month and we don't have tickets? I don't know yet if I have tickets.

SPEAKER_05 0:17

Oh no!

SPEAKER_03 0:36

Hello, friends, it's Jeff.

SPEAKER_04 0:38

I'm laughing, but now I'm really fucking pissed. You got tickets lined up?

SPEAKER_03 0:43

No, I don't. Well, I mean, I put in a request for like the Duke side? Yeah. Oh, well, cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

Hey, listen. We'll be coming back from Boston that day, but like there's a possibility that you can't make it. No, Virginia's not gonna want to go.

SPEAKER_04 1:02

You mean Virginia doesn't want to go see sports balls?

SPEAKER_03 1:07

She has been a sport and she has gone to see some games with me. Okay. She did see a Duke game. I'm ready though. This was um I think it was like during the holidays. It was Duke versus Queen's University, which is from Charlotte. And uh, but it was the first time I'd seen a Duke game in Cameron Indoor Stadium in like 30 years, you know, in London. Now the Cameron Crazies are the Cameron Crazies are pussies now. They really are. They don't know how to do it right. They're all the politically correct Cameron Crazies. What you go woke, you know, exactly. That's almost how it is, you know. Totally kidding. I mean, there was one time that I remember that it was like some uh for it was a woman's basketball game, no less, where like some girl got busted for shoplifting sneakers and like the camera crazies threw sneakers on the floor and everything like that.

SPEAKER_04 2:00

I I even love the fact that they call Rasheed Wallace Rap Sheet Wallace.

SPEAKER_05 2:04

I mean, that was my favorite chant of all time.

SPEAKER_04 2:07

Rap Sheet Wall.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

There's another one we had we had JR Can't Read, you know. Which was true. Which was true. You can't get mad at it if it's no, it's uh no, you you're not allowed to no you have to sit there and go, fair point. It's

Catching Up After A Hiatus

SPEAKER_03 2:24

true. It's true. So yeah, so this is part two of our hey, let's catch up because we haven't dropped anything for two months now. That's my fault. It is, it is all my fault, too. It's also my it's also my fault. Are you saying you're busy? I'm saying I was busy.

SPEAKER_04 2:39

I had a play to do and and I had um David, we could do the podcast from two Tuesday from two to two thirty. Right. That's basically, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:49

Those are the kind of parameters that I've left for him, you know.

SPEAKER_04 2:52

Not for me. I mean, it's just anything that you throw at me, like open wise, is like, no, I've got this, this, and this. And then you're like, oh well, I'm open here. You know, it just it kept going back and forth.

SPEAKER_03 3:03

So, but yesterday when it was like, hey, the flight's delayed, I should have been like, you really should just say, dude, we can't record today. Like that's where you should have been. That should have been your cold open.

SPEAKER_04 3:12

Yeah. I think I'm done being nice about it. Right. Yeah. No.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

I've always just been like, man, I really I always have it on the schedule, but I leave the window open that like it could go stop in about two seconds.

SPEAKER_04 3:26

So something's always gonna be happy.

SPEAKER_03 3:28

You notice I don't have Pro Tools open until you're actually here. So man.

SPEAKER_04 3:34

I fucking love it. I hate that we've gone. Oh, yeah, but cheers to part two.

SPEAKER_03 3:39

Cheers to part two. I was again, we we only touched on it for two seconds. I really, I really did appreciate Jimmy coming in and kind of laying his soul bare for um better man than me. I tell you what, that takes strength and resilience and everything. Yeah, you know, I and um Cheers to Jimmy on that. Cheers to Jimmy on that. Jimmy Schuster, we appreciate you. Uh probably will not be the last time we have a guest on here. We need to find people to have on that.

SPEAKER_04 4:05

We need to figure out how like we can get like people to like like teams almost, but not teams.

SPEAKER_03 4:12

Oh, so I wonder I wanted to bring this up because they had been a listener and not quite a sponsor,

Shoutout: Jimmy Opens Up

SPEAKER_03 4:18

but I we kind of felt they could be a sponsor. I actually went and used their services this past week, the the tune-up. Oh, you did. I did, yeah. My guy was out of is out of the country, and I got which which branch? Uh Harden Valley.

SPEAKER_04 4:32

Yes. Yes. That was my maiden voyage. I now go to Alcoa. Oh, really? Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

I have to where's the one in Alcoa? That new like kickback jacks is and all that. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Shout out to Elena who did a great job on my hair and everything. A hot towel. Did you get the hot towel? I did get the hot towel. That's something. I I wasn't sure I because it was at lunch and it was a work day. You felt bad to get the I didn't even get the beer.

SPEAKER_04 4:59

I

Local Spotlight: Tune Up Barbershop

SPEAKER_04 5:00

know you shouldn't. I didn't. You're a professional, but I always get the beers. I'm not surprised. Everyone listening is not surprised.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

And no change in our meter with that revelation. Um, no, it was good. I didn't know quite like all the benefits of what I was supposed to utilize or any other. Oh, yeah. No, I think if you uh you get two drinks or something. No, yeah, perfect. I'm like, oh, so is this like two drinks in again, the hairstyling edition, you know?

SPEAKER_04 5:32

Yeah, exactly. Uh no, that place is freaking fantastic, man. He's got one in Alcoa, he's got one in Harden Valley. I think he's I know he's got one in Carnes. But I mean, uh the guys he just seems to be super great.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

And everyone was really nice. They were really polite and and very accommodating and very welcoming.

SPEAKER_04 5:53

I have not had an inch of a bad anything bad for me.

SPEAKER_03 6:01

No, I really enjoyed talking to the to the girl doing my hair. I mean, Elena, she was just lovely conversationalists, and even I mean, we even commented on it. She's like, you know, you've been a real joy to talk to today. And I'm like, well, you know what? You're no slouch yourself. You know what?

SPEAKER_04 6:15

Yeah. Mine's Carly. Carly out in in uh Alcoa, shout out to you. She's she's fucking badass. Nice. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

I I she's just glad to know they're in Alcoa because I could always do that on a lunch down in when I'm down in Marival. So I love it when a place has multiple locations and all of them are near my an office.

SPEAKER_04 6:34

And all of them give you free beer. Well, I mean, I mean, it's not really free, but I mean you walk in and they're like, here, here's a beer. Thank you for being here. Like, how many places do that for you?

SPEAKER_03 6:47

I would hope that place that says norm, you know.

SPEAKER_04 6:51

Exactly. So tune up is my cheers. Well, there you go. Tune up is your cheers. Dave. Dave. I mean, Carly does that. He's like, oh, hey, Dave. And then all of a sudden I have a beer in my hand. I'm like, wow, okay, thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Where everybody knows your name. Exactly. And your hair is styled the same.

SPEAKER_04 7:12

There's only one way of styling this fucking bushel.

SPEAKER_03 7:15

Yeah, no, uh, she kind of brought back a little bit of the military thing that I used to do.

SPEAKER_04 7:20

Well, that's there, there are um uh a high and tight kind of situation.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Yeah, a high and tight kind of situation and everything. No, they were good. Um and uh so yeah, so tune-up. We uh we wholly endorse tune-up. Oh, yeah. Um, that's not to say I don't show the love to the guy that I use, and that is um uh Jason Herrera at Studio H salons uh over in uh on Kingston Pike, right there where um uh uh Angela Lloyd's School of Dance is that whole there's a little I want to say it's like David Abbey's carpet also is over there as well. David's Abbey carpet or whatever the fuck it's called. That was just funny, man. Right, I know. But it's been there since I've lived there.

SPEAKER_04 8:01

Look, I'm I'm close to Muttley stage. I'm just gonna say uh really?

SPEAKER_03 8:04

Yeah. Is that where we're at? Yeah. What did Jen?

SPEAKER_04 8:07

Well, currently I think it's this uh

CPAP As Hangover Hack

SPEAKER_04 8:11

gentleman.

SPEAKER_03 8:13

That shit'll creep up on you.

SPEAKER_04 8:14

Yeah. Well, I had a I had a glass of wine or two before it came.

SPEAKER_03 8:17

Oh, no, so now the secret's out. Hey guys, let me give you guys a little life hack here too, while I'm while I'm thinking of it. I was gonna put this on Facebook, but I I'll just share it here. Um to all of you CPAP users. No, no. That is the ultimate hangover cure. Gentleman Jack? No. Oh CPAP for any night out, hard night out. Really? I've not had a hangover when I've used particularly the one I have here at home, because that has a kind of a humidifier component to it and everything. Well, I drink a lot I drink water and everything, but like there have been times I've forgotten to take you know drugs or anything like that before going to bed, other than the you know, quarter edible that I use on the weekends to sleep. Um and uh and this is no way a tacit omission to uh controlled substance use. Nope. Um and uh, you know, I'm talking about my wife's edible underwear.

SPEAKER_04 9:15

Oh my god. All right.

SPEAKER_03 9:31

I just had to pause while I let him kind of regroup here. And scene. Fade to black. So anyway, no, CPAP machine, seriously, great life hack. I went I I've not had hangovers since

College Football Swings And Coaching Heat

SPEAKER_03 9:45

I've when I've used that. All right. And so go full Vader if you tie one over. It really is. Alright. Like I think Anakin Skywalker was onto something. It's a shame he had to be set on fire on the planet of Mustafar, but you know it. It you know, things are what they are. Yep. And um, you know, it's at least he didn't have a hangover. How's you know it's what happens when you give yourself over to the dark side every time. Yep. So uh sports. Sports! Here we are. We're into Dude, we are in week seven of college football. So how's it's going great for you guys? You guys had a good game this past weekend. Oh god. Well, yeah, except you let them claw their way back.

SPEAKER_04 10:26

Tennessee makes it so much.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

I was I watched the second half, and I don't normally watch UT football, you know, but I was kind of like because I really it was enough of a lead where there was still a potential shit the bed moment. And boy, they tried.

SPEAKER_04 10:42

Oh, they did everything they yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:44

It was like watching a Duke game. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 10:46

Well uh so a lot has happened, I guess, with college football for me. One Tennessee should have beaten Georgia, perfect scene again, game day, checkered kneeling. You have a great lead, but Georgia made all the right plays. I mean, it wasn't there was nothing that I said, Tennessee, look, you fucking like I I can't discredit Tennessee. Like Georgia just fucking had unbelievable that pass on fourth down for that touchdown to tie it. Right. Holy shit. Like you can't have a bigger moment than that on a fourth down touchdown in the corner on the road. Right. And it but as soon as the damn you gotta win the game. Yeah, but as soon as the damn kicker missed our missed the field goal, yeah, I was like, Well, we've lost. That was it. My soul left my body.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

It's amazing how you can call that.

SPEAKER_04 11:39

Oh yeah, you know it immediately. NFL, not so much. Right. But the moment the game it goes to shit the bed mode. Yeah, when the momentum switches, it's like, well, okay, you're done. Yep. But um, you know, I'm shocked that Penn State, James Franklin's already out, right? Got fired today or yesterday. Can you imagine getting fired and making 49 million? I dream about it.

SPEAKER_03 12:06

I do too. I pray for it. It's like here, hey man, you suck. Pay me 49 million to leave.

unknown 12:12

Yeah, we will.

SPEAKER_03 12:13

East Tennessee. I am telling you now, you paid me 49 million, I will happily move.

SPEAKER_04 12:19

Get the GoFundMe going now. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

Get this damn Democratic starter right here, man. You know. But I can't even he coached at Vanderbilt, right? Yeah, that's why he got the Penn State job.

SPEAKER_04 12:35

I mean, he he hit Vanderbilt at the right time. Do you think the pressure was more than he could bail? No, I just think I mean he he did well. Yeah. I mean he But not Penn State well. Well, I mean, Penn State, well, you were damn messing with kids in the shower. I was gonna say, yeah, without the molestation shit going on. But I mean, they they won national they won what two national titles? I don't yeah, yeah. So not much, but I'm not gonna.

SPEAKER_03 13:03

How much I had to listen to Penn State shit when I was growing up in Allentown. Like, I so don't care about Penn State. Like, and again, all respect to my friends who are Penn State alums and everything like that. I care about them as much as you probably care about Duke basketball. You know?

SPEAKER_04 13:18

But I mean he he's he's won,

ACC Chaos And Duke’s Moment

SPEAKER_04 13:20

just not the biggest of the biggest. Yeah. And well, but you can't you can't lose three in a row. Yeah. Especially with two of them being uh winless UCLA team and Northwestern at home. That was the that was the kicker.

SPEAKER_03 13:40

Well, if Juliana followed football, she'd be happy about that first bit of information, I think. I don't know, UCLA.

SPEAKER_04 13:46

Yeah. You know, yeah. So Nico, the guy that transferred from UT when that went out there and was having a just a awful start, and all the UT fans were like, yeah, fuck Nico, he sucks. They fire the offensive coordinator promoting this new Heisel, who his dad used to coach out there, and they've gone ape shit. They've beaten Penn State and Michigan State past two weeks by like a hundred million.

SPEAKER_03 14:13

Wow. Yeah. So like they're a real team almost.

SPEAKER_04 14:16

Yeah, now yeah, it was like that one.

SPEAKER_03 14:18

Like they're in a conversation maybe for a bowl.

SPEAKER_04 14:20

Well, they're eight and they're they're I'll only have one loss. Oh shit, really? Oh my god. They're in tr they're on track of actually playing in the Big Ten championship game.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

Well that's kind of like where Duke is right now. Okay, so that's Duke's in perfect form.

SPEAKER_04 14:32

They they're talk about a fucking coach that's about to go. Dabbo. Fuck. I hate that little son bitch, man.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

Duke is nothing but just the shitting ground for people to move on to greener pastures.

SPEAKER_04 14:50

Nah, but your man was Diaz.

SPEAKER_03 14:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:53

I think he's what are they?

SPEAKER_03 14:55

I lost one or two. They lost two. They lost Illinois, which was expected. Yeah, team, and then and then they lost to Tulane. Yeah. But like they're four and two.

SPEAKER_04 15:03

They're all their wins are ACC.

SPEAKER_03 15:06

They're all got all ACC wins. And I'm just like, okay, that is impressive. Like they've had, I'm kind of excited. Well, so this this weekend, Jaclyn's got her white coat ceremony at in med school. And so we're going down to Spartanburg, and it's Saturday morning, is the ceremony. And I'm sitting here, and the whole time I'm thinking if Virginia were not doing this business travel this week, and we didn't have the bonfire on Sunday at Strax house. You better be there. I will be there, whether my wife is there or not.

Basketball Exhibition And Fan Etiquette

SPEAKER_03 15:45

It's she actually said now she would probably go. She goes, Oh, she goes, that's Saturday night. And then I go, No, it's Sunday. And she goes, Uh oh. And I'm like, oh, yeah, like fucking pay attention. Okay. And um, so anyway, uh, but I was thinking, I was like.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

We could have, in theory, after the white coat ceremony, driven up to Durham to watch Duke play Georgia Tech.

SPEAKER_03 16:11

That's gonna be a great game. That's gonna be a great game. That's gonna be a great game. That's gonna be the nutbuster. Like if Duke can win this game, exactly. Like it'll be okay, like everyone except maybe Florida State is is up for grabs.

SPEAKER_04 16:24

Florida State sucks. Okay. I I don't feel like the only team to beat in the ACC is Miami.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 16:32

That's it. That's fair. I mean, Pitt just beat Florida State Saturday at Florida State. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

I've never recovered from that final play of the Miami Duke game where it was like eight back passes with the with someone's knee hitting the ground and about 18 different clips. Yeah. Yeah. I've never actually I was at a party at Strax House the night of that day. And like I was following it on my phone. I love it. And like I'm like, oh yeah, I'm just gonna wait. And then of a sudden I'm like, okay, what the fuck happened? You know? What the shit is then I'm watching the after, I'm watching it on ESPN afterwards I'm like, oh it's like it's like that fucking video clip from uh was it the uh on the bright on the was it on the the what's the the Sander Bullock football movie, the Blindside Blindside, yeah. Yeah, like that video the kid puts together of his adopted brother, you know. Fucking A.

SPEAKER_04 17:36

What's your favorite football movie?

SPEAKER_03 17:39

Oh gosh, there are a few, actually.

SPEAKER_04 17:41

I think we probably talked about it. There are many that I like.

SPEAKER_03 17:44

We probably talked about it. I'm always a fan of Remember the Titans. Yeah, yeah. I like Friday Night Lights. Yeah, yeah. Um both of those are great. I I hate that I like varsity blue. Why do you hate that? It's got the one of the dumbest lines in all cinema. Which is James Vanderbeek saying, I don't want your life. It's the pause. It's the

UT Hoops Memories And Pat’s Prank

SPEAKER_03 18:05

fantastic. It's the pause that kills me. Like if he had not paused. I don't want dialogue.

SPEAKER_04 18:16

He nailed it.

SPEAKER_03 18:17

Tim McGraw was a bad motherfucker, though, in that. That was Friday Night Lights. Oh, that's right. Okay, yeah. You're crossing the streams, don't cross the streams. Um I like the program. Great movie. Yeah. Um a lot of that filmed at Duke. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 18:33

Um and South Carolina. Really? I know. Yeah, the the stadium scenes was Williams Price, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:39

Yeah, okay. And then the campus scenes were all Duke. Yeah, because there's nothing pretty.

SPEAKER_04 18:44

There's nothing pretty about the Columbia campus in South Carolina.

SPEAKER_03 18:47

No, there's not. Yeah, no. Sadly, no. I've toured that. Yeah. Um it's concrete. Concrete and hot as hell. It makes an attempt at some kind of Georgian style architecture, but it kind of leaves the world crying, yes, but what of it? The good ones went to Clemson.

SPEAKER_04 19:06

My niece is gonna fucking slip my throat over that one.

SPEAKER_03 19:10

Um, well shit. What about the longest yard? The r the first one. The Burt Reynolds one.

SPEAKER_04 19:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 19:17

Hell, I'll even say Waterboy.

SPEAKER_04 19:19

That's a top one. You still have a name on the one I'm gonna throw out.

SPEAKER_03 19:23

Um, okay, what's the one with Scott Bacchula? Necessary Roughness.

SPEAKER_04 19:27

Unreal movie. That's a good movie. That was great.

SPEAKER_03 19:30

And how about um the repla uh the the is it the replacements? That's it. There you go. Yeah. Flacco. That's a fucking good movie. Keanu Reeves. Yeah. Kick the piss out of it, Flacco.

SPEAKER_04 19:43

What is that guy's name?

SPEAKER_03 19:45

Oh, I don't know, but he's played um He's played the Lizard. He was yeah, he was the lizard in in Spider-Man, but he was also a Spike, which is who Grant's roommate in Notting Hill.

SPEAKER_04 19:55

Yeah, and then he was little Nikki.

SPEAKER_03 19:57

He was the Okay, I didn't see that. Um he is also uh plays Luna Lovego Loving Good's Luna Lovegood's father in Harry Potter. Yeah, Harry Potter series. Yes. And I

Football Movies We Love

SPEAKER_03 20:10

think it's um Nich or Night? Seventh uh in this in like the sixth or seventh movie. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:18

So you have you have Favreau in it? Yeah. Oh man. Like God.

SPEAKER_03 20:23

Back when Favreau was still kind of stinny. Mother fucking Hackman.

SPEAKER_04 20:27

Yes. I'd watch it right now. Like you like you put it on, I'd be just Oh, what about any given Sunday? That's a good one, man. Yeah. There's the parts of it that just go full Oliver Stone acid trip, but who cares? Yeah. But yes, those are those uh it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_03 20:43

Like I mean, most of them are pretty damn good.

SPEAKER_04 20:46

Right. I mean it's a football movie. Like, yes.

SPEAKER_03 20:48

But I feel the same way about basketball. All the right moves with Tom Cruise? I've not seen that. You're kidding.

SPEAKER_04 20:53

I have not seen it. Whoa. Okay. That's a little little bit of cinema history right there. The uh Tom Cruise, Leah Thompson, and the older Penn brother that died. Yes. And uh Craig T. Nelson. Craig T. Nelson's the man. Craig T. Nelson is Tom Cruise's coach in this movie. So there you go. How about Wildcats? Wildcats was awesome. Goldie Hong God smoked.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

It's the Sporta Kings. Wesley's.

SPEAKER_03 21:23

Better than Diamond Rings. Yeah. Yeah. Football. Uh fucking Woody Harrelson. Yes, Woody Harrelson was in it.

SPEAKER_04 21:31

Holy shit. Yeah, that's a fucking fancy movie.

SPEAKER_03 21:34

I will even go so far as to say the football sequence in the original MASH movie. Yes. I mean, with uh Spear Checker Jones. Talk about a name that can't be used in any movie these days. I was thinking that maybe we should have some plays. Well, sir, I've already kind of written up a few. Oh, that's good. That's good.

SPEAKER_04 22:00

Spirit Chucker Jones is a big thing. I'm gonna have to watch MASH. Well, I was about to say it's right out of a Mel Brooks movie. It really is, right? Yeah, it's like Blazing Saddles. It's like Mel Brooks writes a football movie.

SPEAKER_03 22:17

Have we touched all the movies at this? Well, I guess if you want to weep or there's Brian's song.

SPEAKER_04 22:21

Oh yeah, no, there's plenty of football movies where you just yeah, Brian's song was rough.

SPEAKER_03 22:27

Well, even in the program, like at the end when that one guy gets his token. Yeah, but like at the end of the program, when that the one big guy who's like in class, and then he gets his leg broken there at the end.

SPEAKER_04 22:40

Shows his mom his door knock that he was gonna buy for the or he bought for the house he was gonna build her.

SPEAKER_03 22:45

Yeah, and then he's like the final scene is they're sitting there in their shack and he's you know just like crying, listening to it on the radio.

SPEAKER_04 22:54

Yeah. Oh god.

SPEAKER_03 22:55

Like that's just but that's how it is for some of these players. Like they are banking all of their hopes they're gonna sign a contract and get out of that situation. Nothing else. That that scene, I think, was really that's that was the take-home scene for me for all of college football.

SPEAKER_04 23:12

Yeah. And and granted, now with the IL, you you kind of get away from it. But yeah, definitely back. I mean, that was it.

SPEAKER_03 23:20

That was it. It was it. Basketball. So we have a little exhibition game coming up later this month.

SPEAKER_04 23:27

Well, evidently you're fucking going and I'm not.

SPEAKER_03 23:29

So well, I

Peak Sports Season Across The Board

SPEAKER_03 23:30

don't know if I'm going yet.

SPEAKER_04 23:31

Well, you say all this I don't know shit, but I don't have tickets.

SPEAKER_03 23:35

I put in excuse me, the request. Put in the request for the uh tickets, but I don't know if I'm going yet. It's not a game I'm thrilled about going to either. Like, because I'm exhibition. So help me God if we lose.

SPEAKER_04 23:54

Who cares?

SPEAKER_03 23:55

I'll never hear the end of it from the people here.

SPEAKER_04 23:58

Because that would be two in a row, by the way.

SPEAKER_03 24:04

Really? Would it would it be two in a row? Really? Yeah, the last time they played each other. Yeah, yeah. They don't play each other.

SPEAKER_04 24:10

They've only played each other like three times in like the history of college basketball.

SPEAKER_03 24:13

Well, yeah, the one was when Kwanzo was coaching. And that was down in the Bahamas. Yeah. We beat you guys by ten points on that one. Yeah. Yeah. You guys, I will say the last one, the the last meetup, no, you guys were the physically dominant team.

SPEAKER_04 24:27

Like it was just like Barnes just said just punch them right in the face to see how they respond. And they did not.

SPEAKER_03 24:33

And apparently the sports critics heaped a lot of shit on Tennessee for that too. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. They're like, yeah, what is this thug ball shit you guys are playing? Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_04 24:42

I'm sorry, last time I checked, it was a physical sport. You know, well, yeah, okay. All right. Okay. All right. No, I get it. I would have been.

SPEAKER_03 24:49

The question will be should I like wear Duke paraphernalia to Thompson Bowling Arena? And like, you know, I mean, am I just gonna get fucking there one?

SPEAKER_04 24:59

It's an exhibition game.

Cooperstown Trip And a Surprise Game

SPEAKER_04 25:00

Right, yeah. Like, if it was to go to the final four, I'd have been like it's no bragging rights. No, but I'm just saying, like showing up in Duke Year, like, yeah. Like every time I've been to basketball games and I had season tickets there for a while, like I I can't ever really imagine times where it was just like, okay, we're being really fucking awful to the fucking opposing fan base. Now, football, I guarantee you, there's scenario after scenario just due to the amount of alcohol that is consumed on a college football Saturday.

SPEAKER_03 25:33

I think there are only two UT basketball games I've been to.

SPEAKER_04 25:37

Oh, yeah?

SPEAKER_03 25:37

So one was this would have been 2009 uh oral surgeon Otto Slater had tickets. He invited me to come along. It was UT versus UNC Asheville. Okay. So the classic line from the evening, which I still laugh at clearly, I laugh at to this day. It was like Tennessee was up like 80 to UNCA's 16. Yeah. And Slater goes, Well, these boys are just having a tough time scoring.

SPEAKER_04 26:14

Just was like he was being nice to be like I'm like, you have the gift of understatement, sir.

SPEAKER_03 26:19

I swear to God. It's like I think the final score was like was like 103 to 26 or something like that. You know, I'm like, like it was an embarrassing. I mean, kudos to UNCA for just showing up, right? You know, yeah. Like it's like, how do you how do I don't know how teams feel like you know you're marching in to get your ass kicked, you know?

SPEAKER_04 26:39

You know, uh granted basketball is a little you have a little bit more of a glimmer of hope than football, but you know, because football is just brute force. Oh, right, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:48

Brute force, one force trauma.

SPEAKER_04 26:49

Yeah, just boom. But basketball, you know, sometimes the shot, you know, with upsets, you know, sometimes it just doesn't go through the rim. But yes, more often than not, it's like motherfuck.

SPEAKER_03 27:01

Yeah, yeah. The second one I was at was a um UT Kentucky game. Oh, yeah. And that was the one where Pat repaid Bruce Pearl coming out dressed as a cheerleader singing Rocky Top and everything. Yeah. So I was at that game. That was something that was something to see.

SPEAKER_04 27:17

Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 27:18

Yeah, yeah, that was a good moment. Yeah, that was I mean. What do you think about Bruce Pearl retiring? To run for Senate? Is that what he's doing? Is that the plan? Yeah. That's because I I've heard that rumor.

SPEAKER_04 27:31

There's a that's the only reason why he would. Huh. Because he could give a shit about the NIL environment. He lives for that shit. Like he's perfect for it. No, yeah, exactly. You know what I mean? Like, that's not bothering him.

SPEAKER_03 27:44

Like Tennessee would love him now.

SPEAKER_04 27:45

We have been loving him. We've been the past even before Barnes, we were just like, please bring him home.

SPEAKER_03 27:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:55

I mean, they were ever since he left, we're like, why did he leave? No, no, come back. It was the girlfriend that

Knoxville Eats And New Spots

SPEAKER_04 28:00

got away. Yeah. He always will be. Yeah. Especially he's gone to two Final Fours and Tennessee hasn't. Yeah, it's proved himself, you know.

SPEAKER_03 28:08

I mean I mean, damn. I I remember the first time I ever saw him, he was doing the opening announcements for like it was the Susan Koman 5K that they did over there. And I just remember thinking the guy had charisma.

SPEAKER_04 28:22

Oh, he's got it.

SPEAKER_03 28:22

He he he's just the man.

SPEAKER_04 28:24

Yeah, you know, yeah. We've talked about it before on here. Yeah. But he he's the type of person that remembers every name and can go in a room full of 400 people and you had a personal experience with Bruce Pearl. Right. And that's the it factor right there. Yeah. And that dude's.

SPEAKER_03 28:47

It's about people will remember how you made them feel.

SPEAKER_04 28:50

Every time.

SPEAKER_03 28:50

Every time.

SPEAKER_04 28:51

And when you have Bruce Pearl coming up and remembering your name, yeah, where you don't, and it's like, uh, you turn into public.

SPEAKER_03 28:58

Now you don't want it to be a public thing where he comes up to you and says, Yeah, remember we went to that strip bar and we got really fucking. You don't want the stories, but we were snorting that coke off that stripper's tits and everything.

SPEAKER_04 29:09

Yeah, but to come up and being like, Dave, buddy, good to see you again. And while, you know, like hell yeah, Bruce. I remember. Yeah. I remember the time at the cheetah.

SPEAKER_03 29:23

Oh my goodness. So yeah, so there, here we are. We're in the midst of football season, and we've got basketball season about to amp up. Yeah, hockey's favorite fucking time of the year.

SPEAKER_04 29:36

Hockey's about to start, playoff baseball's going. Like it is here. We go.

SPEAKER_03 29:40

I told Virginia said, get ready, you're about to lose me as a husband again for the next four months. Yeah. I mean, it's actually five now because they keep starting the season earlier.

SPEAKER_04 29:48

You know, uh, one of the best things I I used to hate the NFL a little bit on it because uh about them going to play in London and Ireland, all this stuff. No, it's the greatest thing ever. Yeah. Because I wake up. A little slightly hungover for my college football Saturday, and I turn it on, and I've got NFL football

Italy Recap And Travel Rhythm

SPEAKER_04 30:05

starting at 9 30 in the morning. It's the greatest. It's beautiful. Yeah. Absolutely beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 30:11

It is the hardest thing for me to decide to give up my cable service that I have because I just T-Vo the sport. That's the only thing I use it for is to TVO sports games. I also T Vo'd when Jon Stewart did the Daily Show while Kimmel was on suspension or whatever that's right. I got you. But anyway. Must see TV. Right. And and um, but like, yeah, or award shows or the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Those are the only things I You're a big parade guy? My wife is. Every woman that I've been involved with has been has been a big parade.

SPEAKER_04 30:46

Cause he hates them. Really? I I I said the same shit. Like the first time that like I turned on the Thanksgiving Day Parade and like started getting into the whole Thanksgiving prep work. She's like, what the fuck is this? Like what?

SPEAKER_03 31:02

I think it's the ultimate kickoff to the holiday season.

SPEAKER_04 31:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:06

Yeah. She she's like, you know, I don't I don't know. Like that, give me the tree at Rockefeller Center. I don't like the I don't like a parade. Oh man. I know. We're going up to New York the weekend.

SPEAKER_04 31:17

CJ, you're un-American if you're listening to this.

SPEAKER_03 31:19

Oh my god, CJ, get your shit together. Um no, we're going up to New York the weekend before Thanksgiving. Nice. Uh we're meeting up with Virginia's sister and husband, and we're gonna go see two plays.

SPEAKER_04 31:33

I had a new experience with New York this past weekend. Talk to me. Well, we went to I took my dad, me and my brothers took my dad to Cooperstown. It was to celebrate his 80th birthday. But going up to Cooperstown, the only time I've ever been to New York has been went into Connecticut, took the train into the city, and there I am, Grand Central Station. That's all I know of New York is New York City.

SPEAKER_02 32:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:01

But not this trip. This trip we flew into Syracuse and it was about a 30-minute drive out to our little Airbnb. Man, it's beautiful out there. Yeah, it is. I mean, I I felt I felt like I was almost in Johnson City, that type of vibe to it, man. I mean, just because it's more fallish up there now than we are. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, and oh man, I I was I was blown away. And the where Cooperstown is, it's like hometown USA. You know, I I didn't feel like I was in New York at all. Right. It was, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

No, there's some beautiful areas, especially as you kind of go up from the Hudson Bay and you stay along the Hudson River and all that. There was there was a moment where I was like looking at houses there, just possible retirement places, you know, and living uh there's an actual town called Hudson, New York, and there is there was a house I was looking at there, and it's just I mean it's all lovely up that way, and just to see the leaves change during that time of year. But then you got the

Concert Economics And Exceptions

SPEAKER_03 33:10

winter. That depends on if you grew up with the winter. I see. I grew up with the winter. So like I said, you know, like I said in the last episode, we're going up to we're going up to Boston, not we're go in in the next weekend. Um and uh so that'll be exciting to kind of cause I haven't been up to Boston in about oh god, it's been about uh it's been almost fifteen years. Oh 14, 15 years. Yeah. And um uh so yeah, I I kind of look forward to checking out the whole area and getting the vibe up there. It's we're visiting um with Virginia's college friend. I think you've met them. They used to live in Greenville, South Carolina. The Rodolfos. Okay. Anyway, the name, the name sounds familiar. Yeah, so um anyway, they live up there just outside Boston in a town called Beverly, Massachusetts.

SPEAKER_04 34:03

And uh so we're going up to check I love it, but I mean, like our our first our first morning there, I mean it was it was 33 degrees, oh yeah, and then shot to like six. I mean, it was a full ass.

SPEAKER_03 34:16

No, right. No, you get a day, it was oh you get all the seasons in a day.

SPEAKER_04 34:21

Yeah. I tell you what, what was cool to talk about sports. We showed up at the little parking lot to go walk up to the hall of fame, but I get out of the car and there's a a stadium, baseball stadium that's built there. And I think it was it's double something. It's not double play, but it's double something. And I noticed that like the gate was open. I just I just shot over there. It's like cool, this is like field of dreams. They build the stadium for the Coopers to come. Yeah, yeah, yeah. As soon as I get halfway up the stairs, I hear crack from the bat. And I'm like, what in the world? And I hit the top, and they were playing fucking baseball at this stadium, two teams, full nine inning game at 10 o'clock in the morning in Cooperstown in New York. How about that? I am seeing my breath, having my hands in the pocket, now starting to like, come on, blue, call a strike. They're playing a full-on game, but it was like an old man's league. Like it was, it was it was guys like you and me, anywhere from like late 30s to like 70, that were out there just playing baseball at fucking in Cooperstown, New York. That's amazing. It was amazing, it was unreal. It was the most unexpected thing, and that set my damn like all my damn senses off. You know, like here we are bringing dad to a damn to the hall of fame, and we walk up on a baseball game. It was so filled a dream shit. It was weird. That's crazy. It was crazy. Yeah. I mean, they were and they were heckling each other. I mean, they were in it. Like they were, I mean, it was awesome. Oh, that's incredible. Yeah, it

Springsteen Stories And Setlists

SPEAKER_04 36:00

was so bizarre. But anyway, yeah, I don't know how I ended up there, but yeah. New York, man.

SPEAKER_02 36:05

New York. New York.

SPEAKER_03 36:07

Start spreading the news anyway. Um, yeah, so all sports are great. All sports are great.

SPEAKER_04 36:16

I think Tennessee and Duke will play each other in a bowl game this year. In the playoff. Write it down. I'm just kidding. No, it's not gonna happen. I'm just joking. I felt I felt good there. I appreciate your consideration. Felt good for 45 seconds.

SPEAKER_05 36:33

I feel more like Duke and Tennessee Bama is going to do ungodly things to Tennessee.

SPEAKER_04 36:41

Greater likelihood of that. Alabama's gonna do some ungodly things to Tennessee Saturday. Do you think so? Yeah. It's not gonna be pretty.

SPEAKER_03 36:53

I keep telling myself that Tennessee's gonna make a game of it and all this shit, but nope. Is it gonna be one of those, yeah, okay, you guys have had your fun, now we're gonna show you who's boss. Is that pretty much gonna be that kind of game? Yeah. I think so. Yeah, I'm kind of waiting for the there's always a game in Duke's season where it's kind of like, okay, you've had your fun, you've got four or five wins under your belt, now we're gonna beat you up a little bit and make you question yourself for the rest of the season.

SPEAKER_04 37:16

I mean, yeah. I mean, we beat him last year. It's a night game. It's it's just not I just don't think it's gonna be good.

SPEAKER_02 37:27

It's gonna get ugly. I apologize in advance for that. What time is the game that day? 7 30, it's the ABC's Saturday night. Oh my god, wow.

SPEAKER_03 37:40

So shit the bit on the name on on nationwide. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's usually how it happens. Thoughts and prayers.

SPEAKER_04 37:55

That's all you got.

SPEAKER_03 37:56

I that's all I got, man. Yeah. That's all I can say.

SPEAKER_04 37:58

That's all you got. I get it.

SPEAKER_03 38:00

It's not gonna be good. Well, so I yeah, I don't hold on, let me see if I can figure out who it is we're playing this week. I thought you said Georgia Tech. Oh, yeah, it is Georgia Tech. That's right. You're yeah, you're right. Like I've got the the memory and attention span of a gnat these days. Yeah, Georgia Tech. 12 p 12 noon.

SPEAKER_04 38:26

High noon. I had uh I had a Costanza moment yesterday. It was kind of funny. I I'd gotten finally gotten home, and CJ, of course, is outside. And I come out and I I pour myself a drink and I get outside and I'm complaining about my travels just because airports and people, and I'm just I'm having just a bitchy moment, she's letting me get it out. And about halfway through, if I'd have said it's the summer of George, it would have happened. Like the the biggest

The Topic List We Didn’t Cover

SPEAKER_04 39:00

gnat in gnat history, King Kong of gnats, just decided to fly right in my eye.

unknown 39:06

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_04 39:09

So here I am trying to be like I'm just bitching and moaning and bitching and moaning, and all of a sudden I get I go down like JFK, man. I'm like, ah it was just an eye. I I just started laughing because I remember Summer of George in Seinfeld. Yeah. To where he comes out and he goes, It's the summer of George, and all of a sudden that B just starts like, no, it's not, bastard. Anyway, I don't know why that brought that up, but anyway, it took me like 20 minutes to get the damn gnat out of my eye yesterday. That's funny. I know, it's just the way that is, it's just the way things are. The way the universe sometimes pushes an agenda. What do we got going on around Knoxville? The the only thing I've got that I have no opinion on yet, but where um Diamond Jacks was in Maribel is now Raven's Steakhouse. Oh. It is open and functionable, and I have not been there to give it.

Fitness, Service, And Discipline

SPEAKER_04 40:12

Anything if you go sociably and look, it's pretty awesome. But I haven't I haven't done it. But they they're the owners, the same owners of Bella, I think, open up a steakhouse. Oh, okay. The Clonaris's. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 40:26

This is just a flat out steakhouse. So this is what I smell. I smell a Wednesday when I don't have therapy, and Virginia comes down to Marival at the end of the day, and we have a drink in the morningside room at RT Lodge, and then we go check this place out for dinner.

SPEAKER_04 40:53

I think you're on. Okay. Okay. There we go.

SPEAKER_03 40:56

There we go. I've just figured it out. See how good I can be. I can sometimes plan this shit better than my wife. What a you get that back pretty quickly. I know. It was one of the it's one of those now. I'm sitting here going, Oh, can I get those words back? No, let me tell you what. Let me give mad props to my wife. Because I we I didn't talk a lot about the the Italy trip that we went on um a few weeks ago. First of all, my wife is like near fluent in Italian. Like, you want to have her along for the Italy. Like, I can follow and I can read Italian, but I I'm scared to speak it. Yeah. And um so that and there's a complete different vibe between Northern Italy and Southern Italy. Northern Italy, what I've always my theory was I wanted to go there because I needed a little German in my Italian. Because everything in southern Italy is like, it's all just a fucking free-for-all, and nobody gives a shit and what have you. And I'm like, eh, I need a little more guardrails and and I need a little more order in what goes on. And so it's um like it's this all wine country that we went to, and but Virginia planned all this out, like it and again for those, you know, I'm what I'm about to say is, oh, well, boo fucking who. It wasn't my intention originally to go to Europe this year, like it was supposed to be we were gonna go to New England and kind of scope the area out a little bit as a possible retirement locale. Um, and then my daughter um, you know, has her white coat ceremony that dropped right in the middle of that. And I'm like, of course, this feels like Webb School of Knoxville all over again. The joke I always used to make was I think Webb has hacked into my phone and they look at anything that I have planned, and like, we're gonna put like a band altering event, a band ensemble thing that's not that important, but we really need to have him. But all parents are gonna be at Yeah, if you're not there, you're shun. Yeah, you're kind of a dick if you're not there. Your child will need adulthood, you know. And um, and so that's like when this happened, I was like, of course. Yeah. So Virginia and I started, we we were kind of trying to move it into November, and it's like, uh, you're past

Shutdowns, Healthcare, And Stalemates

SPEAKER_03 43:20

leaf changing season, probably at that point. And so we started backing it up, and then we were at the end of September, and I'm like, well, fuck, if we're at the end of September, we may as well just go to fucking Europe. Well, she had a spreadsheet ready in about 0.8 seconds, and um so yes, and I said, Well, if we're gonna do that, and I kind of called the shots on this. I said, I'd like to go to northern Italy and Milan and Lake Como, and because Jacqueline had been there with her boyfriend, and I was like, Well, I'd like to check that all out. And it's just beautiful up there. It's but it's a completely different vibe than southern Italy, than Rome, than Naples, than any of the Sicily. It's what's nice.

SPEAKER_04 43:53

It definitely looked like my kind of vibe.

SPEAKER_03 43:55

It it was, it was very calm. Um, you know, but I mean, like our day is such where we go through two bottles of wine without even thinking about it. Yep. And no hangover because no preservatives or anything like that. You're just like, you're just a god the next day. Okay, let's do it again. Yeah, you know. But anyway, um, so yeah, that's the mad props I will give to my wife for her planning abilities. Except when it came to this very dinner that I just now planned. All right. So there you go. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 44:25

So we will find a Wednesday where we'll find a Wednesday where we're gonna go ahead and we're gonna try out this new Clinaris owned venue down steakhouse down. The Raven. The Raven down in Maryland. Co talked about it. I was gonna say never more.

SPEAKER_03 44:52

Oh, it's oh geez, I just see you thought you were gonna stun me with a literary reference. I was I got you right back on that. It was still fun, though. It was good, it's a good time, always it was so um but uh yeah, so like I'm trying to think what else is going on in in the Knoxville area.

SPEAKER_04 45:11

I seriously, I've been so enthralled with everything fucking else.

SPEAKER_03 45:16

Like, I what about that rooftop bar thing they're building in Maribel?

SPEAKER_04 45:21

Like it it hasn't opened yet, yeah. But it's right behind Foothills Mill and Company, and it looks fantastic. Yeah, that's I finally went to the Kearns Food Hall. Have you done that? No, I have not. Do it okay. Had brunch there at whatever I can't remember the its explanation, I think, is the actual like one of the main restaurants there, but then they have like a like a food court, but it's leads into like a brewery to where you can like outside drink.

SPEAKER_03 45:50

Where where is that located?

SPEAKER_04 45:52

Um right at the the front of Chapman Highway from the campus. So it's it's it's there for the

Sign‑Off, Promises, And Reviews

SPEAKER_04 46:00

students to utilize where Baptist Hospital used to be. Like that so they built everything off of the Kerns uh bread.

SPEAKER_03 46:10

So the Kerns just had some oh, they're a bread company. Yeah, they that's why Peter Kern had his own.

SPEAKER_04 46:15

Yeah, you remember that Kern's kids? I'm a Kern's kid t-shirt.

SPEAKER_02 46:18

I don't live you never I didn't grow up here. All right, I grew up in the north.

SPEAKER_04 46:22

All right. So one of the shirts growing up here is like I'm a Kern's kid, and you have a you know their emblem.

SPEAKER_03 46:28

You eat because I like Kaz Walker's Nobody Can Beat My Meat. No. Are you amazed that this Yankee carpet bagger even knew that reference? Carpetbagger.

SPEAKER_04 46:44

I haven't heard that in so long. Um no, I just yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:49

It's it's like it's even talk about Kaz Walker with some kind of reference. This guy, the fucking godfather of Knoxville.

SPEAKER_04 46:58

I think he was a guy. I kind of had a feeling that he was, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:02

I heard about the Life magazine photo where he's punting the shit out of some councilman or something like that.

SPEAKER_04 47:07

He's definitely a duh. Yeah. There was a Knoxville mafia, and he was definitely the Don. Had to have been.

SPEAKER_03 47:14

If he wasn't, then he gave Dolly her career, man. You know?

SPEAKER_04 47:18

Again, who's gonna tell him he's wrong? Yeah, who's gonna tell him he's wrong?

SPEAKER_03 47:22

Nobody can beat my meat. Um trying to think what else. Um oh, I am finally on the concert. Uh you know, I kind of said I was gonna take a break from concerts. Yeah. And I have a concert for next year. My my fraternity brother JD and I are going to go see Rush. All right then. The Getty Lee, Alex Lifeson, with their I've never been a fan. Oh, you told me that.

SPEAKER_04 47:55

I know, I know. I broke your heart a little bit. That's okay. I mean, look. I think they're very divisive. They're they're they're like fucking basil.

SPEAKER_03 48:02

Fuck it was it was a um, it was not until the 2000s that Rolling Stone actually did an article about them. Oh, wow. And yeah, like Rolling Stone hated them forever. And Jan Wenner just had this whole heart on against them. Wow. And and um I everyone thought they were kind of the poor man's led Zeppelin or the Canadian led Zeppelin and whatnot and everything, but um they morphed into this Zeppelin tribute act into being, I felt, a really good songwriting band more than anything. Like songs just got better. And um songs like After the Moving Pictures album, which is just a kick-ass album in its own right, Tom Sawyer and Limelight. That's all I know, yeah. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04 48:51

Yeah, um, but you get into the things that 103.5 play, that's basically it. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 48:56

Yeah, yeah. They don't play Roll the Bones, which is a kick-ass tune or or Ghost of a Chance, or but like my fraternity brother JD, who was a groomsman in my first wedding and whatnot, we eaten up with him. Huh? Oh, totally. And I so by default I kind of became a fan. And yeah, and uh and actually the drummer who passed away a couple years ago, Neil Purt, who's considered one of the best drummers in all rock, uh, he put out this book called Ghost Rider. Uh, and it was about in the space of 18 months, he had lost his um daughter in a car accident, his teenage daughter in a car accident, and then his wife died of cancer. And so it was about this motorcycle ride that he went on all across the Pacific Northwest and Canada and everything, and down into Mexico and Central America, and uh to kind of find himself again. And and I was just in the starting components of my divorce when I read that book. And so it was a very important book that I read. So if anyone's never read it, Ghost Rider by Neil Purt, um, fantastic read. Um, but so yeah, anyway, so this is one of those bands where because I'd said I know I've I'm on record somewhere in other episodes where I've said I'm not traveling anymore. Oh yeah, you know, and I'm not spending a million dollars to go to a concert. Yeah, yeah. This is one of those is one of those where it's an exception to the rule. Yeah, I love that. So, because they're it's a 50th, they're calling it a 50th anniversary tour.

SPEAKER_04 50:32

Yeah, um, it'll probably be a completely You never remember how much you spent, you just remember the moment.

SPEAKER_03 50:36

Yeah. And the moment there, JD and I get to go do something together. We don't we don't get that opportunity very often. So we're looking forward to it. Go to Cleveland, which is where we're gonna see it. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, finally get to see that. Been wanting to see that forever. Awesome. And uh so that's September 19th of 2026. Circle it. It's on it. We're on it. So so that's the concert, the only concert that I have on the books for now. For now.

SPEAKER_05 51:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:04

Um it'll add up. I don't think it will. There's not a lot. No, there's not a lot out there.

SPEAKER_04 51:12

You're not going to the Luke Combs Neon Stadium concert.

SPEAKER_03 51:15

Now, what about these whispers that Taylor Swift's gonna do a Neon Stadium concert?

SPEAKER_04 51:19

If she's smart, she is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:21

Like I okay, I will I will.

SPEAKER_04 51:23

I mean you're able to get well over a hundred thousand people in there.

SPEAKER_03 51:26

110. Yeah. I mean, that's I think the most I've ever been at for a football game.

SPEAKER_04 51:32

But you can add more because the field. Right, the field, yeah. I mean, I I don't know when uh uh God, one that one country singer came here not too long ago. Oh shit, he's super popular now. I can't even remember his name. Oh well. But yes, I mean it it'll it'll sell out, and if she's smart, then I mean obviously she is, she's a multi-billionaire now, or going to be. No, she is. You come to Neeland, like yeah, it's gonna fill up. You have the venue, it's there, right? The only thing is the whole outside thing.

SPEAKER_03 52:09

I would hate it being Yeah, I'm I'm I'm not the biggest fan of like so like I saw ACDC back in May at Nissan, and that's that was fine, you know, but like you know, there's just I mean, I don't unless it's an artist I really love, I really don't want to do floor if I can help it. You know, I'm not gonna pay the money for that.

SPEAKER_04 52:34

I'm still I've always from from the get-go, the more intimate.

SPEAKER_03 52:40

Yeah, get like a bijou theater show or something like that.

SPEAKER_04 52:43

Nothing beats that more.

SPEAKER_03 52:44

Rush isn't gonna play the Bijou theater.

SPEAKER_04 52:46

Rush is not a good one. Rush would not even get out of bed. No. To even think.

SPEAKER_03 52:51

They won't even tour the Bijou theater. They wouldn't even yeah, again, get out of bed. They won't even look at the Bijou theater as they drive by it. Yeah. Because they wouldn't even be in Knoxville in the first place. No, this is one of those bullshit retirement tours, also, where it's like LA, Dallas, Alaska, Chicago, Chiron. And it's like, and so we have a seat in the club level. Uh-oh. So I've gone a higher one level up from the 100s, because the 100s were going for like 600 bucks a pop. And I'm like I'm like, very good, Rush. Going for that retirement push, you know, like you guys don't have more money than guys. Like, that pisses me off, though. Like, when you hear that Paul McCartney's like nosebleed seats are like 250 bucks, and you're just like, Motherfucker, like, aren't you worth like $2 billion at this point? We haven't made it by now. Right. Seriously.

SPEAKER_05 53:47

Like, Paul fucking.

SPEAKER_03 53:48

Are you that bad with your money? Like, I would be giving away tickets at this point if I were you. Like, that's the charitable thing to do. And so it's just and so that's also kind of the my feeling on this is very well timed as I sort of phased out um the whole concert. Like today, like it came up on my Facebook memories. Today is the one year anniversary of me seeing the final ELO concert. Yeah. So right? Right? Wasn't that like yesterday that I went to that? I thought it was this summer. No. No.

SPEAKER_04 54:19

I is I mean, really, I was like, oh yeah, I enjoy it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:26

And uh anyway, so um, yeah. It's uh uh, you know, and so it just everything it's is it's expensive and it's a pain in the ass. And so, like, you know, I mean, I've said for an artist like Billy Joel, you know, like, hey, look, I've seen you like seven, eight times. Um of course, I don't anticipate he's gonna be performing anytime soon, given this whole medical issue. Right. But if you come to Knoxville, yeah, I'm I'm happy to see you, but I'm not gonna go down to Atlanta or Nashville to see you. Like if I'm visiting another city, I will actually look to see if there's a concert going on. Like if I go visit my daughter in Los Angeles, okay, who's playing? Sure. Who's playing that? Yeah, you know, maybe we can go see that. You know, I don't blame you for that. And um uh but otherwise, yeah, no, there's just, I mean, you know, there's some that I'm kind of holding out for. Like, I have a feeling that David Gilmore might do a retrospective final farewell tour. Okay, you can talk me into that. Like, if you truly play shit from your first two solo albums, I'm in. Right. You know. Uh there's too much of the I don't I don't know hardly any of the music part of it. Well, just you know, will he play what Pink Floyd songs are is he gonna play or not? Right, you know. I mean, uh Roger Waters, I've seen enough that I, you know, unless there's anything Earth Shattering he's gonna do, I don't need to see him again.

SPEAKER_04 55:48

Yeah, the only person that like for me that I would like to see currently, I would like to see Chris Stapleton. Okay. I would like to see Luke Combs, just because he has quite the variety. And I would still love to see Hall of Notes, but that's not gonna happen. No, you're not gonna that you missed that boat. Yeah, I missed that boat.

SPEAKER_03 56:11

But you know they were at the Tennessee Theater in 2012.

SPEAKER_04 56:15

I would go see the Foo Fighters any given moment.

SPEAKER_03 56:18

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 56:19

I would see Garth Brooks again just because of how fucking funny it is. It's a great show. I s I would like to see Kenny Chesney, maybe. The only two but the ultimate, like like for me, like new age, and I'm I guess I'm showing my redneck side of me saying all these country singers and stuff, but Bruno Mars.

SPEAKER_03 56:39

Like I would be like yeah, you could talk me into that. You could definitely talk me into that show.

SPEAKER_04 56:46

Because I haven't heard of Bruno Mars song, but I was like, well, not lately. That sucked.

SPEAKER_03 56:50

No, no, seriously, like that first album of his, yeah, the kids and me wore that. That's like one of the albums from the divorce years. Like it just was on constant play for us. Right, you know, and uh yeah, sign me up and him, uh Green Day, oh yeah, I could do Green Day, yeah. Donald Fagan slash Steely Dan. Oh, sure. You know, give those are really it. But like, you know, if Boston were to dust off the cobwebs and tour, I'd be like, okay, where are you gonna go play? Like the last time I saw them was there's this tennis stadium in on Daniel Island outside of Charleston. Okay, and um I we had like fourth row seats. I think that would yeah, I think that would be perfect. Yeah, and so and so and it just kicked ass. And I'm like, yeah, so like, you know, I mean, Virginia and I haven't been to Charleston in forever, and you know, I mean, we'd love to go down there, so yeah. I mean, you do that, we're in, you know. She'll even be in for this, you know. Um, she'll at least know more than a feeling. So more than a feeling. It's a great, I mean it's iconic. It's iconic. Everyone knows that song, everyone knows that song.

SPEAKER_04 58:00

Whether you either listen to it on the radio or watch fucking Madagascar. Yeah, you know that fucking song. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 58:07

Um, I mean, there are other artists I hold out that I'd like to see. Like if Peter Gabriel were to tour again, I'd be totally in for that.

SPEAKER_04 58:17

I I feel terrible saying this.

SPEAKER_03 58:19

That dude's still alive?

SPEAKER_04 58:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:22

Yeah, because apparently I thought he died like years ago. Apparently, they put they just did the 50th anniversary of the Genesis Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album, which is this apparently seminal double album they did when Peter Gabriel was still the lead singer, and it was like this concept album and everything, but it was also the last album he did with Genesis. Wow. So, but like, yeah, apparently all the Genesis guys are still like he's still friends with all the other members of Genesis, he just went and did his own thing. Wow. But I saw him on the Sew tour back in 1987, uh Sledge Hammer and Big L Big Time, and and I'm like, Yeah, I I I wouldn't be too butthurt about seeing that, seeing him in Game again. That'd be a great show.

SPEAKER_04 59:07

I honest as God, I yeah, I hate saying that.

SPEAKER_03 59:09

I really showed it. I'm just shocked that he hasn't done anything He did a tour a couple years ago, but like his dates, yeah, he's he hasn't put out like any big albums since like the last thing that he did that like even is on my radars, he did the closing song to the movie Wally. Okay, which to me is the best of all the Pixar films, it's pretty son's favorite and something solid, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:34

It's yeah, pretty damn good movie.

SPEAKER_03 59:36

And um and my kids know that song, so so but yeah, no, I think you'd be great to see in hell yeah, you know. Can't argue with that. And I have a feeling that once the Springsteen biopic comes out, that there probably will be another Springsteen tool.

SPEAKER_04 59:54

I'm not used to that motherfucker wearing brown contacts.

SPEAKER_03 59:58

Oh yeah, right, yeah, Jeremy.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:00

Yeah, the the bear. Yeah, the bear with the piercing blue eyes is now brown eyed, and I'm like, I can't I can't do this. And the fact that he's actually shorter than Springsteen in real life is like, man, you're a small guy. Yeah. And that's saying a lot for me. I know.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:17

I would be happy to see him again in concert. I saw him once over at Bridgestone in Nashville. That he was actually the one that kicked off my concert binge that started in divorce years. Really? Yeah. It it uh that show. And it was, you know, I mean, like, I mean, of course, you know, I mean, I was in fucking ninth, tenth grade when Born in the USA was the album, you know. But and so I kind of been had a lot of pull. Well, I mean, but I also but he only did like two songs from that album. Um, and then you know, I kind of backed into sort of Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town and and and those albums. Um and then I just never felt that anything he did after that other than The River was all that compelling. But there the album he was actually touring for was called Magic, and there was a song on there which he didn't play live, it was called uh it's called uh Living in the Future. But it sounds like 10th Avenue Freeze Out. That's what's so great about it. I gotcha. Uh, but I mean he just puts on one fuck of a show. Oh, I'm sure. You know, I mean, just uh he would take these posters from people in the audience, it was like these song suggestions, and they were always just at the ready. And so, like the n that night, the one song they chose was Um I Fought the Law and the Law One by Bobby Fuller 4. Awesome. And yeah, so and then my friend, well, Todd Howard of Bethesda Softworks Fallout fame, yeah. He he had messaged me and he'd said, Yeah, like we he goes, me and my he goes, me and my buddy from high school, John Kerry, he's like, we were he goes, we kind of went through when was the last time he played that song? And it was like 1988, you know, or something like that. And I'm like, That's cool. I'm like, he's like, so cool you got to hear that. And I'm like, oh, there you go. But Spring Scene's a good show. Like you, you we we had wanted to see him when he was doing his thing on Broadway.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:09

Um, but that just never panned out. And again, even then, the tickets were expensive. Oh god, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:15

You know, can't even imagine.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:17

Yeah. I hate it all. Anyway, yeah. So here we are.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:21

We gotta wrap it up.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:22

We gotta wrap it up. Uh Monday. Have we covered it all? Yeah, it this this is rare for us. We're doing this on a Monday. Um, my wife is out of town on a business trip, and uh we said, well, why the fuck not? Because what better way for me to see patience the next day, but hung over. Um here's here's what I had on our podcast podcast topics list, which again I will say sounds like an uh you know a couple verses from We Didn't Start the Fire. I had troops deployed in U.S. cities.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:57

We didn't get too much into that.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:58

Yeah, we didn't get into that. Negative. The Trump Putin summit, didn't get into that. Didn't touch that at all. Tariffs.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:04

Yep, didn't get into that.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:06

Briefly touched on Stephen Colbert because I use that in the context of the play.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:10

But it's not the Armageddon that everyone thought. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:14

Charlie Kirk, Jimmy Kimmel, Philadelphia Karen, Taiwan on Autism, yep. Patel talks to the flag officers. Okay, I do want to say something about that for a hot minute before we wrap. There are some things that he said that I don't entirely disagree with. Okay. So when he talked about the mass of well, he basically said fat officers and fat fat enlisted people and everything like that. That is something I've always struggled with because the the Navy at least had workarounds for that. And I keep thinking, but we're supposed to have an operationally ready force of people who are fit to serve. And I know what I'm saying is not politically correct or anything like that, but I you know, I mean, we there's a twice-yearly physical readiness test that you have to do. And so when he was starting to talk about all that, I'm like, I don't exactly disagree with what you're saying here.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:26

My my part on that is just from a strictly standpoint of just working out. Yeah. And uh and a a standpoint of you develop discipline, and I I am believing from what I've heard from veterans is that you're established that discipline. You have to abide by it or you're not here anymore. Right. And usually once that like the PT and the those other things go away, they keep that in their lives. Yeah. And I've always wondered about the ones that don't.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:11

So when I was a kid I don't know if I said that the right way.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:14

No, no, I get it. When I was a kid, one of the things that I worked on always, like I mean, from like seventh grade on, is I'd always do sit-ups and push-ups. Mm-hmm. We were yeah, like that. Because I knew that there would come a day that that would mean that my ability to do that easily would mean something. And so in gym, we would have this the Marine Corps physical readiness test, and yeah, for me it was the presidential whatever that was. Yeah, yeah. And so, and and then dovetail that into what the Navy's physical readiness test is. So, like if you could bang out a hundred sit-ups in two minutes, bang out sixty-seven push-ups, and well, if you could do just that, all you had to do was show up for the run, and you would still get a 100% physical readiness rating. And I just kind of knew, well, just stay in shape for that. I mean, and I'm not a small guy, I mean I'm 250 pounds. Um but I've been also working out a lot over the last year and a half, so you know, like a lot of it is kind of muscle now. You know, it's all penis, and and uh so it's I wish. Um, and uh anyway, so it um um so I I just always found it interesting when shipmates were not able to do the test very well. I'm like, that you do you you know it's coming, you know it's twice a year. Like, why don't you just discipline yourself to make this a part of your regiment? Like one of the things that I know I could tighten up a little bit with, like if just every morning I did my sit-ups and push-ups. Right. If I did nothing else, just do those. And I did them when I was living in my apartment during the divorce years, um, and it just was a habit for me. Right. And I don't know about anyone else, but I know like I just started up again two days. It feels like you wear a girdle a little bit, like you're you could all of a sudden feel your stomach, like you're holding your stomach in and everything like that. And it's it does so much. You carry your and like for me now, it's more to have strong abs means strong lower back.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:25

Like, and just because I have so much back and hip pain and everything, and it's the benefits of it all, and and I'm not the poster child by any means, but the benefits of it.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:33

Yeah, you're fitter than I am.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:35

Well, but it it's it's incredible, right? I know immediately when I don't.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:41

And I'll tell you what, I mean, you know, if you want to guarantee the past three months, you want to guarantee that you live a long life, you gotta exercise at least three times a week. You just gotta make the time to do it. Yep. And and uh so that's where I don't disagree with what Pete Hagseth had to say. Um other than that, no, I'm kind of not really what he had to say. And then so the other things we didn't get, we didn't talk about James Comey being indicted, and Letitia James for that matter. We you hit it for two seconds, but hit it for two seconds, but we don't need to talk about that. And then the government shutdown. I think everyone knows my stance on it. And then the government shutdown. Yeah, here we are. Government shutdown. Blame whoever you want. This is not my first. My first shutdown was when I had just started up in the Navy in 1995, and that was something to witness um with at the time what they ended up doing was because we had not just you know the Navy dental officers working there and the enlisted people who were dental assistants, but we also had um civilian contract dentists while they were sent home because they're declared non-essential personnel. Yeah. And and I can only imagine what that was like for them.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:55

No one, no one really cares about anything unless it affects them personally. Yeah. You're right. And this government shutdown affects people personally, and more often than not, no one gives a shit. Yep. Yep. And that's what it is.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:10

But this is you know, the thing on the health care, and we talked about this in the last episode. The thing on the health care, like I'm sorry. You're gonna have to give on this one a little bit. Because like people are gonna lose their shit over this. You know, I mean, if the GOP wants to say face, they gotta, they're gonna have to blink on this one a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:28

Um, again, if Obamacare was so bad, why haven't we established a plan to make it better? Right. Where is that? Right. Instead of saying I'll tell you, it ain't great. No, but I know that. But I mean what are the options? Yeah, yeah. But yeah, but again, this is you know, from the right and the left. Yeah. When's the last thing that we saw that was signed or talked about between both sides and like, hey, American people, we finally hooked you up. Sure. Fucking happened. Yeah, it has not happened. Yeah. And we're still for the next 400 million podcasts that we get blessed to do, I'll be saying the same shit. Yeah. There you go.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:13

Guys, you know the drill.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:14

Always look on the bright side of life.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:21

Guys, you know the drill. You know what you gotta do. Please do it. Please be decent to each other and keep drinking. And we promise that we will not go eight to ten weeks between uh these podcasts and everything. You need us just as much as we need to do. And listen, if you guys go over to the if you guys are on whatever so whatever platform to which you're listening us, uh listening to us, um, please leave us a review or um subscribe to us that you know helps the algorithms on the Apple Podcasts, Buzz Sprout, uh, Spotify that that say, hey, these guys are really worth it.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:59

Let's kind of support my side hustle. Let's yeah, support our side hustle. We don't get paid for this shit.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:04

We just do this for fun. It's a reason for David and I to get together and drink. Um, you know, especially my wife's out of town and everything like that, you know. It's not like we're firing up porn. We could be watching porn, but we're not. We're not. We're not. We're doing this to provide a public service to you where you guys can listen to us go on about sports and shit going on in town and our thoughts about the political system and the state of the United States. And aren't you privileged for that? Yes. Guys, go out and be decent to each other. Cheers. Love you.