Two Drinks In Again

Episode 52 - From March Madness To War Talk And Tariffs

Dave & Jeff Season 1 Episode 52

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0:00 | 1:06:32

Two drinks in, the guardrails come off fast: we start with March Madness energy, cookout banter, and the familiar ache of rooting for teams that keep finding new ways to break your heart. Sports is the gateway topic, but it turns into something bigger, because the same emotions show up everywhere else right now: rivalry, uncertainty, and the need to believe somebody has a plan.

Then we pivot hard into current events and US politics, including the Iran conflict and what escalation looks like when leaders sell confidence but can’t show the roadmap. We talk about “shock and awe,” why “boots on the ground” still feels like a national trauma trigger, and how the public is left guessing when intelligence claims can’t be verified. From there, tariffs stop being a headline and become a real-life invoice, with personal stories about surprise costs and what trade policy does to consumers and small producers.

We also get practical with voting: voter ID, Real ID, and the SAVE Act, plus the tension between election security and the risk of disenfranchising legitimate voters through paperwork hurdles. To cool things down, we trade TV picks like The Penguin and Ozark, debate what makes a series overstay its welcome, and tease a full upcoming conversation on managing people, leadership, and workplace dynamics.

If you like unfiltered conversation that jumps from sports to geopolitics to culture without pretending any of it is simple, hit play. Subscribe, share with a friend who argues like we do, and leave a review with the one topic you want us to go deeper on next.

Cookout Drinks And March Madness

SPEAKER_05

Two drinks in again was not taped before a live studio audience.

SPEAKER_03

Beware the odds of March.

SPEAKER_05

We're here again. Oh my goodness. The March madness is going to begin to start to shining in the sky. Hey friends, it's me, Jeff. It's me, it's me, David T. How are you, my friend? Fantastic. Number 52. Number 52. We actually the funny thing is as we record this, I just this morning finally mixed and mastered and then uploaded episode 51, which had been kind of sitting in the on-deck circle. So you masturbated it? I pretty much did. I masturbated it. I mastered it. I mastered it to death.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

It's glowing episode. We're already off the rails. It's a glowing episode. Got a shitting grin going from here to Kentucky.

SPEAKER_03

Yep. Already off the rails. There you go. 20 seconds in.

SPEAKER_05

20 seconds in. We didn't waste no time. So we are actually kind of more than two drinks in again because we this afternoon, uh, we actually uh are having like a little cookout. And thank you for that. You bet. No, I'm glad we could do it. And um, so we had um David, CJ, Melissa over, and uh just kind of sat around and had burgers and dogs and talked some shit, and David and I are both more than two drinks in. Meat. It was meat everywhere gearing up for the Duke North game at 6 30 p.m. The revenge. The revenge game in Cameron Indorse Stadium. They're gonna skull fuck them. They're going to beat the ever-loving shit out of them. No, I'm I no, I've just said over and over again to people like I'm I don't I'm not really even concerned about this. Like, if you have seen what this team has done since the Michigan game, oh my gosh. They've just mauled everybody, like destroyed everybody, like 20 point wins or more.

SPEAKER_03

Sounds about right. That is outstanding. Yeah. Yeah, that sounds about right. And Tennessee's probably gonna lose the band here. Like, let's just see. Yeah, just give us a score. What are we looking at here?

SPEAKER_05

How much was left when you last checked?

SPEAKER_03

30 seconds. Oh, okay. There's six seconds and Tennessee's down four. So there you go. It's time. But they've scored a shit ton of. They only had 20. What do you say?

SPEAKER_05

That's like a lot since the last time you had.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, halftime was 32 to 22, and now the final is right now is 86-82. Like, wow. I wonder if Tennessee like what'd they do in the first half? Found Jesus.

SPEAKER_05

I used to have a chant when the when the football team started folding in 2008, I would be like, it's tough to be a Tennessee ball.

SPEAKER_03

That's true, man. Like, I don't I love sports so much you figured I would actually like latch myself to a winner, but I mean Atlanta sports fan and a Tennessee college sports fan. Like, what am I doing with my life? You're always saying you're sorry.

SPEAKER_02

I'm always saying next year. I'm wishing my life away. Yeah. God.

unknown

Fucking.

SPEAKER_05

It's like a Tennessee version of Major League. We're still shitty.

SPEAKER_03

These guys suck. Phenomenal movie. Oh, yeah. Very good movie. Oh man.

SPEAKER_05

And even the sequels weren't too bad.

SPEAKER_03

I didn't mind them one bit, man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

From Joe Boo to damn you're trying to tell me Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball.

War Talk And Iran Uncertainty

SPEAKER_03

That's so good. Oh man. Oh, God. Well, what should we talk about the global shit show, or do we just want to gloss over that?

SPEAKER_05

Oh, let's touch on it. I mean, a lot's gone on since we last recorded. So there's yes, the global shit show. We're at war. Yeah, we're at war. And uh with Iran, finally, I mean, hell, I've been waiting 45 years for this. That's true. You know?

SPEAKER_03

And that's why I'm like partial part of me is just like, I don't, I don't really mind this. Yeah. You know, it's like if if there was anyone that has deserved something like this. A little bit of a beating.

SPEAKER_05

You know, it just gotta answer for the hostage thing.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. They're they've done a lot of shit. Yeah. We've shown a lot of grace. Yes. You know, shown a lot of grace. And and I can always tell, like, well, I guess this is my litmus test of like, should we have not or should we have the amount of Iranian Americans and the Iranians that I've seen celebrate, like, that tells me everything. You know what I mean? Like, it's just like, oh, okay. You know, we should be doing this. Yeah, this is a good thing. And then another thing that popped up too is and I think even this was from Bill Maurer the other day. Is it Maurer or more? Mayor. Mayor. Bill, Bill, Bill Mayer. Bill Mayer. Mayor. Mayor. WMBC. WMBC. Oh shit. But like somebody brought up, like, well, we, you know, we shouldn't have done what we did with Iraq. And and but then he his rebuttal was it's like, well, you know what? Iraq's in a way better fucking place now than they ever were. We don't even talk about Iraq anymore. Exactly. Again, it's like Portugal. Like, we're not talking about it. You're in a good space.

SPEAKER_05

Exactly. So I mean how Albanians feel about that, you know.

SPEAKER_02

That's true. I can't I can't remember.

SPEAKER_05

Montenegro, Serbia, you know.

SPEAKER_03

I'll have to have to go for old Rolodex to see about my Albanian friend to see what he feels about it. Right. We're going to be canceled. Yeah, but oh man, that's too good. But I mean I I hate it, you know, because I I ultimately think this one it's not quick. It's not just this hate to even So do you think it's gonna be Afghanistan 2.0? Yeah, I just don't think it I hate to use this frame uh phrase, but it it this whole shock and awe thing, it won't work. Yeah. You know, uh albeit they I mean their first initial hit evidently was seemed to be like wowza. Well, yeah, yeah, you knocked out their leader, yeah, like all of them. Yeah, like for whatever reason, they all decided to get into one room. Like you know that whole pager thing that Israel did, like you figure like you shouldn't get close to each other. Probably. Yeah. But I mean, with that being said, I you know, I I just if if boots do hit the ground, that that just makes my stomach turn. Like that that that's that's no good. Yeah. That's no good at all.

SPEAKER_05

No, my you know, there they're for me things because you know, I'm on a different different political part of the spectrum than you. And it's for me, it's well, okay, I thought we knocked out their capability, nuclear capability a few months ago. Like you told us, we knocked out like so. Did we or did we not? Right. Like whose bullshitting stop yanking my dick.

SPEAKER_03

Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I hear you. I hear you.

SPEAKER_05

And then the whole idea of oh uh okay, do you guys even have a plan as to how this is gonna go? And there's concerns that there's not. Right. Um that's what I mean by that whole shock and all things. Yeah, it doesn't feel like back during W's time, you know, in our the Iraq war and everything, that there was a real plan because it just seemed like let's go, let's deal, let's occupy. And and then like Vietnam all over again, we left and the Taliban just took over. Yep. And that would uh, you know, like when that happened, when I saw the news blurb on that, it was like I I was thinking Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part one, when they're at the wedding, and all of a sudden there's that voice that appears, the ministry has fallen, you know, right? Like, and and I'm like, that's kind of exactly how I felt when the Taliban took over Afghanistan. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um just I it it's always been volatile.

SPEAKER_05

It's always yes, it has been a volatile area, and you know, part of me has always wondered, you know, is this because of creating the state of Israel? Like we hadn't should did we have any business being involved in that in the first place? Like, you know, we took a a n Palestine and we displaced a bunch of people, and it's been nothing but a source of contention ever since. Yeah. But I don't think you can do about it, anything about it now.

SPEAKER_03

No, of course not. And it'll be going on lifetimes in the future. I mean, unless something just absolutely wild happens. But I mean I I'm just curious to know if there was this certain intel, you know. Obviously, we don't know, you know, but uh like do you think that Trump was just in the room and they got something like that?

SPEAKER_05

I don't think he has any fucking idea what's going on. I really don't like if we don't do this now, he will take what's gonna happen. He's probably happy to take the advice of whether it's Stephen Miller or whomever. Oh, sure. Like, he'll let them make the decision for him. Yes.

SPEAKER_03

But I'm just wondering, like, so that's been the biggest thing is like, well, they were gonna they had made the decision that they were about to strike us. Right. And I'm just curious to know what that type of intel, what it actually was. We'll never know. We'll never find out. But it's just one of those things like, well, what the fuck was about to happen? Yeah, if anything. Yeah. Cause I mean, I I just no matter who you are, no matter if who you like, who you don't like as a as a person or a politician, I just can't imagine just like waking up one day and just being like, hey, you know what? Let's do this on Saturday. You know what I mean? Just for the shit of it. There had to have been something that was said or shown or something, right? You would think. You would think. So I you know, I love it.

Tariffs Personal Costs And Political Picks

SPEAKER_05

But it's like with this administration, it's really just hard to say anything. Yeah. We can talk about Christy Noah's very bad week. Barbie went down. Pam Bon Pam Bondi's about to have one too.

SPEAKER_03

Barbie went bye-bye. Barbie Bondy's done.

SPEAKER_05

She's done. Like this this subpoena is she is set up to go down.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Yes.

SPEAKER_05

She's the fall guy on this. Yes. Yeah. You know, and and but she presents herself so badly that I don't think there's going to be anyone too broken up about seeing her go away.

SPEAKER_03

No. No, not at all. It it it's really weird to me how like some like I know how I am with my job and how I present myself, and and something that you know, I don't want to be a Monday quarterback or anything, but I mean it just blows my mind how some of these people present themselves at the levels that they're at. And and that goes for anybody, like Tim Waltz, or you know, like like all these all the politicians or AOC when she went over there and shit the bed at that little whatever the hell that convention in Germany, like right. Davos, yeah, yeah, whatever it was. But it's just like how are you gonna do like I I don't it just always blows my mind. I don't know. I don't know what I'm trying to say on that one, but it's just I I and I guess the levity of what they're dealing with could make you fucking turn stupid real quick too, because you I mean if you say one word wrong, right it's a really bad situation on a fucking global scale. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, global, global scale.

SPEAKER_05

Well, I think b rolling it back to Christy Gnome, I think this was inevitable. Like she completely shit the bet on what happened up in Minneapolis. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03

You know, I mean, and and there are numerous reasons why she should be fired.

SPEAKER_05

Numerous. Well, I honestly the weird thing is, and it's just mean we're not gonna see her at the airport anymore.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know. You haven't seen her at the airport talking about real IDs? You probably just like look down and then you worry about yeah.

SPEAKER_05

No, I would notice if she were talking to me. I hate myself because of that. But um no, um no. What a great looking logo, right? So I'm dr so our drinks we are we have well no, Dave stayed consistent. He's been on makers all afternoon. I had two drams of um Taliscar uh scotch, um, and I have then now moved to beer uh because I have to stay, I have to pace myself because I got a game to watch at 6 30. Let's go. And um, so I started with drinking a beer called cold ass beer. I love the name. I saw it at Total One.

SPEAKER_03

Honestly, I thought it was like a stone cold beer. Right. That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_05

But now what I'm drinking is called the Rifleman, um, an American lager. It's from abridged, right? I well that's what I think. It's it's best burger in town. It it that no, seriously. They got a good chicken sandwich too.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, but yeah, that uh the abridged burger is the best burger I've ever had in my life.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, it's by abridged. Uh two drinks again, holy supports abridged.

SPEAKER_03

Um that rifleman logo is amazing looking.

SPEAKER_05

It's pretty good. It's very patriotic.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

You know, it's got easy now. You might be far right. We don't know if it was uh I'm sorry, Democrats are gonna reclaim patriotism. Are you sure? I'm pretty certain, yeah. Okay. Um no, it's uh and we have a rifleman here that is either David Crockett or Daniel Boone.

SPEAKER_03

And uh it's David Crockett, right? I don't know. I have no fucking thing. But I mean that that's he's he David David Crockett was Tennessee.

SPEAKER_05

Coonskin cap? Yeah, well he was Tennessee, yes.

SPEAKER_03

That's what it is.

SPEAKER_05

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Where was Daniel Boone? I have no fucking idea.

SPEAKER_04

Am I a historian?

SPEAKER_05

I don't know. I mean, as a history major, you know. Jesus. Oh, my Heathercox Richardson? Jesus, you know? Um what's been going on with you?

SPEAKER_03

We really did gloss. You were talking about fucking gnome.

SPEAKER_05

Oh yeah, Christy Gnome. So anyway, she's done. Goodbye. Pam Bonnie's next. And uh and so it'll be in you know, it'll be interesting. Like, who's gonna be her replacement? Okay, so how do we how do we feel about Christy Gnome's replacement being a guy whose name is Mark Wayne? One day, Mark Wayne, Mark Wayne something, but his it's Mark Wayne all the time.

SPEAKER_03

I don't think it's a position for somebody with such a short fuse. No, I totally agree. Uh it that worries me. Yeah. Like, I mean, the guy's ready to like whoop anybody's ass.

SPEAKER_05

Well, he was an MMA fighter.

SPEAKER_03

Well, but yeah, like, but he'll do it in the middle of a damn Congress whatever. Like, that scares the shit out of me. Well, if that's the case, we can we get the debt down.

SPEAKER_05

Whatever gets us off the tariffs, man, you know. Supreme Court ruled against Trump's tariffs.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Like, was that the biggest nothing burger ever?

SPEAKER_05

Well, I mean, because you knew he was gonna find a workaround.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I know, but I mean, like, every like whatever side was is like, well, we're gonna be getting these checks, which never happened. And then the other side was saying like everything is gonna be a hundred million thousand times.

SPEAKER_05

It's a fucking mess, is what it is. But I mean it's all just a mess. Like, so here's not affecting me whatsoever. Right, but well, it did affect me because I ordered some sweaters from Ireland, and like when they were ready to come into the United States, all of a sudden I get a notification. It's like, hey, your sweaters are here, you have to pay this much in a tariff. It's like we have your children, we're holding them hostage, here's the ransom note. How much was it? Like 71 bucks. Because this like this two sweaters from this company was like, I don't know, I think I spent like$200 or something like that. And$71 more dollars just to let them in the country? From Ireland of all goddamn places. I mean, how innocuous can you get? I mean, we're talking lucky charms here.

SPEAKER_03

So if you're if you drink Jameson's, like that's that's a problem. Like Jameson's bottles went up.

SPEAKER_05

Everything went up. No, we my wife and I talked about when we were in northern Italy last fall, we talked about this with the two ventners who we whose wineries we toured, and we're saying, How have the tariffs affected you guys? And they're like, Oh shit, do you have time? You know, and just yeah, no, it's been a problem. We've had to kind of figure new markets and like you know, and how do we adjust for this? And and and every yeah, no, it's not been uh it's been no bueno for something that only Congress can set and has decided not to. Yeah, you know, I mean, and and and this is blame that can be distributed to so many people. Oh, you've got Trump who's clearly off his fucking rocker right now. I mean, he's just out of his goddamn mind.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, for as much as he wants to talk about Sleepy Joe, Sleepy Joe doesn't know what he's doing, he doesn't know where he's shit his diaper and everything, but Trump shits his diaper too.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he's not gonna make it.

SPEAKER_05

No.

SPEAKER_03

He's not.

SPEAKER_05

So you think we're gonna have President Vance?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. One way or another.

SPEAKER_05

Oh, I don't think he's gonna win in 28. Okay. I don't think he's gonna win in twenty eight. Who's he gonna go up against? I don't know. I I have no no uh so my if you were to if you were to choose my front runners for Democrats Pritzker. That's the guy I would love to see. Who is this? He is the governor of Illinois. Okay. He's the guy that when this SCOTUS ruling came out about tariffs, he's like So we can expect The multi-billionaire guy? I guess so, yeah. Right. I mean, they're all billionaires. If you're No, no, no, no, the guy that just lost the Chicago Bears. I don't know. I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_03

The Chicago Bears are leaving Illinois. I don't know anything about that. Yeah. Like, so yeah. He's the he's the guy. Like, they got mad at him because he evidently was like kept yeah, so the Chicago Bears are about to move to Indiana. The Chicago Bears. I got nothing. So so your front runner who is gonna lose the Chicago Bears in an in America.

SPEAKER_05

I think also after him, I think um Shapiro in Pennsylvania.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's the guy that I've been preaching that should be getting everything that you can possibly put towards to be running, and the Democrats don't seem to do that. Yeah, like that dude disappeared once the Gaza shit started.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. The um they they used to talk about uh Gretchen Whitmer up in Michigan.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, no, she's done.

SPEAKER_05

Nope. Uh well, I hate to say this, but I think for the Democrats, it's time to stop with the identity politics. And if you want to have a prayer of doing anything, you gotta find a guy like James Tallerico down in Texas. That guy's yeah, you gotta find Oh my god, can he be you find any more milk toast than him? That's the scary part about him, is like he's milk toast, but when you sit there and listen to what he's actually saying, it's but he's like but but he's but he is raised by by you know, he's a minister's kid and everything like that. He's I mean he is a Republican, except he's a Democrat. And that's and I'm like, guys, that's what it's gonna take to win right now. Yeah, you need to have people like that.

SPEAKER_03

And that's where uh like it that's the new style of the Democratic Party, too. It's like, hey, I'm conservative, but I'm not really like like with everything that's going on in Virginia. Like, hey, they ran on all this like conservative shit, but then once they got into office, it was like Virginia's a blue state now. Big time, big time.

SPEAKER_05

And it's like like so much so they don't even know what to do with themselves. Like, I mean the people the red people don't know what to happen. I mean, you don't know what's happened.

SPEAKER_03

Well, they they're paying their taxes. That's what they're doing. It's crazy. Uh yeah. I but yeah, that's what seems to be the uh anyway, but yeah, I I think Vance was yeah, that I think Vance will end up taking a So you don't think Trump's gonna live through term number two? No.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03

Just my personal opinion. I mean, I I don't whether he gets fucking assassinated again or not. Oh, he's not gonna have that. He's I think his health is in bad shape. I i it's it's gonna Yeah. I I think it just I mean we've all seen it through every single president, right? I mean, just the amount of stress that happens for like like but being that old.

SPEAKER_05

Take any guy that anybody that's been president, get the photo of them beginning of their term, and if they do a full eight-year deal, like I watched it age Clinton, Barack Obama went gray. I mean, these were all young guys. These were all young guys that like went white. Yeah, he did. I mean, in everything but his skin, you know. Let's say as much as he don't wanna but uh it was it was uh you know, I mean, if fucking I mean, so ha can you blame Biden for having his cheese slide off his cracker? Not really. But also we shouldn't be in this position where these supremely old people are being allowed to hold.

SPEAKER_03

There should be age limits.

SPEAKER_05

There should be age limits, absolutely. Like, fuck what nobody beyond the age of seventy five should be present.

SPEAKER_03

Age limits and term limits. Like, please stop.

SPEAKER_05

Yep.

Voter ID Real ID And SAVE Act

SPEAKER_03

Like I mean, hands down. Right. Just drives me insane. So what is your s this would be like the last kind of thing we'll talk about unless you want to keep talking, but what is your feeling about the having an actual ID to vote? Oh, I've always been for it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Like why I don't know why anyone has a problem with it.

SPEAKER_03

Right. What the fuck? It's so stupid. No, I mean why this is the biggest no-brainer thing on the planet.

SPEAKER_05

But that said, I was all about the motor voter bill back in 1993, which when you applied for a driver's license, you were automatically registered to vote.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, that makes sense too.

SPEAKER_05

Well, but but so but now what we're running into though with this Save Act is that they're saying that you have to either show your passport or your birth certificate. And like, well, the problem is women who get married and their names are changed, that poses a problem. I'm like, I don't know. Did I not go through this whole real ID shit? That's what I'm saying. Everyone's got it. Why is why is that like not valid? Like it can get me on a plane to travel to Europe. Like, right. Why why is this not legitimate enough for me to vote?

SPEAKER_03

And what what bothers me though, too, is like why is there pushback? Like what are you trying to hide when you push back?

SPEAKER_05

Well, I think some people see it as a two-pronged attack. I think both sides represent themselves poorly in this, you know.

SPEAKER_02

Shocker.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, right. You know, but but I no, I've always been for um, yes, exactly. Have some form. I mean, why do we have a problem with ID laws? Like, isn't there like a million things you have to have some kind of ID for everything that we do?

SPEAKER_03

You can't even fucking buy cold medicine without it.

SPEAKER_05

Right.

SPEAKER_03

Like, come on.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, if I gotta buy Pseudafed, real Pseudafed, pseudoephedrin food Sudafed, I've got to go to the pharmacist, have my driver's license scanned. Yeah. Where is the problem in this? Right. So, no, I am with you 100% on that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

However, I do not want this to be used as a method to disenfranchise women or or you know, whomever it is that's trying. I mean, they they say I just don't see this being the big drama that everyone thinks it is. Correct.

SPEAKER_03

You know and the only drama that it comes from is fucking like Schumer.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

We don't even talk about him anymore. Like I'm I'm I'm looking to I'm I'm looking to get past this election and then see term limits, maybe. Right, exactly. You know, no no look, David, nobody likes Schumer. No democrat no Democrat likes Schumer. No one, everyone wants him like Nancy was smart to retire. I think if he if he were smart, he would do the exact same thing after this election cycle.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Him, Sanders, Schumer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Schumer, Sanders. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And and glad that Pelosi did it. But I I mean, like, God, it is.

SPEAKER_05

I mean, if we're gonna talk about age limits for everybody, we need it's gotta be everybody. Yes. You know, absolutely. Because I believe that Schumer and Pelosi have been a part of the problem on the Democrat side. The party is shifting in a different direction. They can't handle that.

SPEAKER_03

So do you think your boy up in New York is doing a good or bad job?

SPEAKER_05

I haven't, I have not researched anything to have an opinion. I got you.

SPEAKER_03

I I'm I'm really and I'm about the same way. I'm just really curious because I feel like that's the way that the Democratic Party is shifting.

What We Are Watching Right Now

SPEAKER_05

I think I'm gonna give it some time before I dive in and do an evaluation. Like it's too soon to evaluate anything. I agree. So um yeah, I yeah, yeah. No, I just I can't even think about that right now. It's too much. It's too much. I can't manage that. Way too much. What else? What are you watching on TV these days?

SPEAKER_03

God, I'm mad at myself that I've just now started it, but it's the penguin on HBO. Colin Farrell is so fucking good. And I'm and I'm a Batman nerd. Like, that's my that's my guy. Like top to bottom, I've seen and watched everything, and I'm so mad that it's been, I guess, two years that this show's been out and I haven't explored it. And my son finally watched like the first episode and just texts me. He's like, Dad, what the fuck have we done the past two years? Start watching it. And oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_05

Is this like this is what DC is doing, like Marvel, like they're doing a TV series to kind of run into their movies?

SPEAKER_03

It's not even a part of James Gunn's like vision, like it it truly starts.

SPEAKER_05

Is Robert Pattison's Batman? Is that part of his part, but is that part of James Gunn universe? No.

SPEAKER_03

Okay. Yeah, I think Matt Reeves is the guy that's done this movie and and and part of the show, but flat out it starts like the day after the the Batman movie ends with Riddler blowing up Gotham and like it is so, so good. It's it's a mobster series. I mean, it's it's almost like um you know, it's it's Batman meets his meets the Sopranos because it goes into the Marconi and Falcone family and how his rise actually happens. Man, it's so good. And the the actress that plays Sophia Falcone, chef's kiss, baby. She's so good. I mean, truly, just it's yeah, I'm so that yeah, that's what I'm watching right now. That's my big one. And then we're also watching Love Story, the um Kennedy Jr.'s little thing that FX has got going on. It's very well done. Right. I didn't think I was gonna enjoy it so much. I was almost humoring CJ with it. Yeah, but now man, it it's it's done very well, and another little weird everyone's kind of pushing this guy that's playing um JFK Jr. to be James Gunn's Batman now. Okay, and I can see it. But I I can see it, but I can't see it. Right, right. I never I'm always hesitant on it.

SPEAKER_05

We're in the final season of Ozark. God is so good.

SPEAKER_03

Who is the who is your least favorite, like the person that you were like, oh my god. Or Darlene.

SPEAKER_05

That's a no-brainer.

SPEAKER_03

It really is like I don't She does such a good job. So so like if I saw the actress on the street, I'd be like, You beat the shit out of her.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03

Spitting at her feet. Yeah, fuck you, Darlene.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. No, and it's funny because before we started season four, the final season, like Virginia's like, Do you want to watch season four is the final season? Yeah, okay. She's like, Do you want to keep watching this? Because like, I mean, are there any characters we care about? And first of all, I'm like, um, we're 75% of the way through the entire series. Like, really? Yeah, you gotta finish. No. She's like, who do you care about? I go, I care about Ruth. Yep. And I want to know how Darlene's story arc wraps itself up.

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_05

That's those are I said, I I no. Well, and and kind of the kids, Charlene and Jonah. Yep. I kind of want to I want to see. So you're not a fan of Marty? It's he's so emotionless. Like he's almost he's almost like a sociopathic variant in a way. And and both of them are though, because it's Well, they just have an end goal. Like it's that, but like they just do they do what they need to do without even thinking twice about it.

SPEAKER_03

Correct. That's what I'm saying. Like they have an end goal, right? And like laser focus. Whatever the fuck happens that's gonna prevent this, fuck you. Right. Right. I mean, like her brother. Right? How good of an actor is he? He was really good. He was really fucking good in that. That his first like introduction in the back of the cab or whatever. Yeah. Like he what is it? It's like a three-minute like monologue on himself, and then all of a sudden you realize that he's just like he's batshit crazy. Yeah. And it's just like, oh my gosh. Thank you for this ticking time bomb. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, so you know, and it's but but like, and with Darlene, it's just I'm you know, she's a she's a villain who you want, you know, you you it it's kind of like at the end of Breaking Bad, the God, you know, the uh the the fucking guys that hold Jesse prisoner, uh, you know, as a has him cook for him, and you just like you want to know that they come to a bad end. Darlene, you want to know you come to now you know, but I don't, and so I'm I'm I'm very curious as to see. We're about four four episodes into season season four, and I know there's fourteen episodes, so we've we've got about two more weeks of watching to go before we're before we're I'm having PTSD just even thinking about Ozark. But you know, it's it's like, and we talked about this earlier off the air, but we you know the comparison of this show to Breaking Bad, yeah. And the pro the th the difference is is that Breaking Bad was more Walter White's journey toward was he was really a normal guy, was he evil the whole time, and this just kind of brought it bubbled it up, or yeah, is this what he evolved into? Whereas Marty Bird started out as a bad guy. Yep. And his wife started out as a bad person.

SPEAKER_03

Yep, you know. Marty wasn't necessarily the bad guy, I don't think, because uh he was just running his business. Right. And then his his his partner was the one that shit the bet on that, but he did also know who they were working for. Right. And that's you know, that's a problem.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, like you know, if we if if we were accountants and like we were working for a guy named Escobar, we'd like to write a bigger one.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, when the cartel walks in, they'd probably ring a few bells. Yeah, when the cartel walks in, you'd probably want to say, like, you know what? I don't feel like I'm your guy.

unknown

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_03

Um so okay, so the brothers involved. So the the tall lawyer, she's still she's gone. Okay. How wild was that?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

When she got um spoiler alert, turn off if you hadn't seen it or want to see it, but like when she got popped, I uh like there's so many times and I was like, My wife was half asleep and she's like, Wait, wait, what the fuck just happened?

SPEAKER_05

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, like it's this yeah, holy fuck. Yeah. Like her brains are all over your face. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05

Like, oh my god, I gotta wash Helen out of my hair.

SPEAKER_03

Right. Yeah. Because they were they were going thinking it was them, and you know, I kind of did too. I was like, okay, how's he gonna weasel himself out of this? And when fucking shit, man, when she got I will say this about there are she's such a great actress, man. She really is. Yeah, she's there's some way better than that chick that was on um uh Glee.

SPEAKER_05

Jane Lynch?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I find them very similar.

SPEAKER_05

That you know, really no, I see the I I know you could have Jane Lynch play that role. Yes. Yeah, totally, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Like Jane Lynch.

SPEAKER_05

Or you could have Helen play in 40 year old virgin.

SPEAKER_03

Well, no, then it would be similar.

SPEAKER_05

Your dreams.

SPEAKER_03

I'm gonna get high and watch Gandhi.

SPEAKER_05

So solo, I'm watching Pluribus, and I'm two-thirds of the way through this season.

SPEAKER_03

I need to watch it.

SPEAKER_05

It is I've heard nothing but great things. It's an easy watch.

SPEAKER_03

And the the main actress is the one that was in Better Call Saul? Rhea Seahorn. Okay. She won a golden globe for it. Okay.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. So it's really good. It's um. You definitely get the Vince Gilligan feel of you know his writing and his directing and everything. Yeah. I find it's got little Kubrick vibes to it as well. Like, you know how Kubrick would just do scenes where nothing is said, but it's like people. But it's saying everything. People like in full metal jacket. Excuse me. You've got too much beer. Right, yeah, exactly. A rifleman. Too much carbonation. There we go. Oh, yeah, that tastes good.

SPEAKER_02

Come on.

SPEAKER_05

Did they lose?

SPEAKER_02

Of course they did. Are you fucking kidding me?

SPEAKER_05

Sorry, we're gonna do a detractor here to check the score here.

SPEAKER_02

Did they lose?

SPEAKER_03

That's hilarious. Yeah. 86, 82. Okay, there you go. Um at home. Um spandy. God almighty dude. Shit pisses me off.

SPEAKER_05

So no, Pluribus is really good. It doesn't require you to focus all that much on it. It's very basic. Is it a slow burn? I would say, in a way, it is. I'm kind of curious as to what is the plot? So the general plot is this. Apparently, at some point, um scientists received this radio transmission from outer space, which was an mRNA sequence, and so they started working on producing this mRNA sequence, and somehow it got released, and then it was aerosolized. And what it does is it took everybody on the planet and turned them in this collective hive mind that all they want to do is please the people that aren't affected. There are only 12 people on the planet who were unaffected. Rhea Seahorn is one. And so, like, she can call she can talk to one of the people affected, she can talk to one of the people who's affected, and like tell this person who's all the way in Pakistan that they need to do this. And so, like, someone in the hive mind, she's speaking to that person, but someone in Pakistan's going to then go find him and like spit send the message, like in its instantaneous.

SPEAKER_03

Interesting.

SPEAKER_05

So she's now curious as to is the hive mind's like the internet in a way, yeah. And it's how to reverse this. And then it's taken on a little bit of um when I've never seen the movie, but I know the general plot of it. It's taking a little bit on of a soil and green um vibe as well. Okay. Um, and um, and so yeah, it's it's I'm curious as to where it's gonna go. Um I think it's compelling enough. I I wouldn't go beyond six seasons with it if I were them. Yeah. You know, I think six seasons is the sweet spot for any series. You start going beyond that and then you just you know I like Sark at four, man. Yeah, no, just no, yeah, I'm with you. Sopranos with six seasons, lost with six seasons.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, there's so much of the Sopranos that you could fucking cut out. I mean, there's so many episodes. Like, once it was done, it was like, well, what okay.

SPEAKER_05

So do you remember the the there was filler episodes? Okay, so one filler episode I kind of thought was filler, but it's had an effect on me. It's when he goes to Sicily, and he's dealing with the female mob boss, yep, and the actress's name is Sophia Milos. I follow her on Instagram. Like, I love my wife dearly. This woman is absolute beauty. Like, really. No, I just there are times like she'll post stuff and she's like, You are so goddamn beautiful. Like, really, you know, you just like let's just do that as a given. You know, you're she is so goddamn beautiful, you know. And I think she's on like one of the CSIs now or something like that. But uh uh anyway, um no, the uh I yes, I agree. I think you get beyond you get beyond six seasons and you're dealing with throwaway shit.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and but I think they like it starts to be overthunk and and then also too it's like we were talking about last episode with Stranger Things, is like they're fucking tired. Yes, they're like, man, you know what? I'm fucking I'm done.

SPEAKER_05

I think they did like other than like polywalnuts, yes, you know, like yeah, yeah, yeah, just like like it was you were you were really getting to a point, like when a series starts wrapping up, you know, because they're starting to kill off the characters, yeah, you know, and so like especially when they killed off um Dre Demateo's character, and like you're kind of like okay, this is the beginning of the end.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you know, and I'm and I'm not knocking Sopranos, it's like top five for me. No, it is absolutely complete, you know. But like with Lost, it was the same thing, like they started killing people off, and and you know, yeah and I I feel like too that they some of these shows get so shocked of the popularity, yeah, like they have no idea where to fucking go. Exactly. And then that's a problem too.

SPEAKER_05

Well, I like to think that now any serialized television that comes out kind of takes a play card from Sopranos, Lost, Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, I thought so, Walking Dead, and they would be like, Okay, we need to have kind of a okay, this is what we're gonna do, and let's assume this continues going. We have to have an endpoint in mind.

SPEAKER_03

I thought so, and but Stranger Things just totally changed that for me, too. Okay. And Game of Thrones. What the fuck?

SPEAKER_05

They had no source material to go from season.

SPEAKER_03

I know, but like at what point did somebody not need to raise their hand and be like, I'm sorry. What are y'all trying to tell me?

SPEAKER_05

But one part of season eight I really loved. Which one? Is when the dragon woke up and he was a zombie dragon. That was badass. I loved that. Like just that end scene and the dragon opens his eye and it's all blue. I'm like, I'm like, okay, you got you have me until the end now. Right. Like I will stick around with that.

SPEAKER_03

But uh again, it was just like, okay, we're we're got this badass ending that's about to happen, and it never unfolded that way.

SPEAKER_05

You know, I also liked always the beginning opening sequence like that showed the whole map. Showing you what's going on. It's yeah, exactly. It's like you're alive and so like when the wall was breached, like that was they had that breach, you know.

SPEAKER_03

I loved that. Yeah, it was good. Yeah, everything about that show was absolutely fantastic until it wasn't. Until it wasn't. Like it just wasn't.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, no, it was kind of like you dealt like you had the the war at the wall, and then it was kind of like the aftermath of all of that. That like if you compare that to something like Return of the King, they spared us of all of that, at least. Um because there was stuff in the books that like the political ramifications and like you know, Aragorn becoming king and all that shit, and then the hobbits going back to the Shire and everything, but you didn't have that as much. Uh you had too much of that with Game of Thrones.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, like just you know Daenerys going crazy and yeah, you had had just this investment over certain characters, and then all of a sudden it it seemed like that last season is it you know what? It was like Luke Skywalker in the last movie of the what was it the last one? Last Jedi? Yeah, yeah. It's like this isn't my character, right? Like this who is this person? Yeah, and that's that's what was the hard pill to swallow for all that stuff.

SPEAKER_05

Did you were you the one who said they're talking about rebooting that whole trilogy? Oh man, they're like, I think they're gonna retcon the shit out of it, huh?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, they are. Yeah. One, it's a moneymaker, yeah. Two, like, it was shit.

SPEAKER_05

We're all fools, we'll always come back for Star Wars. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03

All I'm waiting on, give me a full fucking series of Vader.

SPEAKER_05

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_03

With Aiden Christensen doing it. Yes. Like, he was so awesome in the Obi-Wan. He was that that I rewatched that recently.

SPEAKER_05

So he's good. Fucking good. And even what they bring him in like for Ahsoka, the like he really like he's my guy. He's had a chance to redeem. He's Anakin.

SPEAKER_03

Like I get it.

SPEAKER_05

We forgive you for the prequel truly.

SPEAKER_03

Right. Your acting was absolutely shit when you were 22. You had a shitty director. Yeah. Yeah. You know, like that was George Lucas.

SPEAKER_05

Right. He's not a great director.

SPEAKER_03

But you had your little spiel about sand, you know, but we're we're over it. But he's I mean, that's that's that's who he is now.

SPEAKER_05

We get it. You hate the Tuscan Raiders.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, he definitely does.

SPEAKER_05

Which I forgot how much of a role they played at the beginning of the Book of Boba Fett, because I rewatched that recently too. Yeah. And I'm like, oh yeah, I forgot about the Tusk, the same people.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. But I I hope they redo it. Yeah. Like there's there's so much missed opportunities there.

Managing People Preview From Real Jobs

SPEAKER_05

Uh but So we're 41 minutes in and we never got to our main topic. We haven't even, oh my gosh. We were we were gonna do a very special episode today.

SPEAKER_03

We're gonna have to punt.

SPEAKER_05

Well, I think we're gonna no, I think we can. Do you not think we can do it? Like it'll be an hour and a half long episode.

SPEAKER_03

Well.

SPEAKER_05

If we do it. Yeah. Well, let's you want to kick it to 53?

unknown

Huh?

SPEAKER_03

We'll kick it to 53. I think we should. Because I really want it to be dialed in. I really want it to be Okay. I really do. I think it's gonna be.

SPEAKER_05

And these are at actually Dave's recommendation. Um, so we're going to be for the next episode talking about managing people. And this is something that David and I both experience with our jobs. But it's more than just experiencing employees and co-workers. It's we're gonna talk about family, we're gonna talk about friends, we're gonna talk about people with whom you do business. No matter who you are, where you're at, you're always managing people. You're always managing people. And so interesting sidebar on that is that when I I took a sound production class at Pelissippi uh back, this would have been well, we wrapped it up in 2020. But part of what also went along with that is he had us our teacher had us read these books on um one the first semester was Managing Yourself. Yep, and then the second book was called Managing People, and it was like if you run your own recording studio, like this is the advice to give, and very well done books, actually.

SPEAKER_03

Um, so you know Well, I mean it's a topic that one, there's a fucking full on section of it, and then you're local Barnes and Noble. Oh, right, you know what I mean? Like it's always ever evolving. Yeah, you know, we're on this big ball of dirt together. Yeah, if you're not managing people, you're not doing it well. Right. You know, I don't do it well.

SPEAKER_05

I think you do. Well, I'm glad I'm happy to hear you say I think others would say that also. So I have always said my being an employer has been the biggest struggle of my career.

SPEAKER_03

Well, it's it's it's a tough fucking gig.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, good lord. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

But I And I say this, we have just wrapped up this week was uh National Dental Assistance Appreciation Week.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And so, you know, I'm happy to recommend it. Were you like John Hamm and and Mad Men? Like, the money is the thank you. The check is the thank you.

SPEAKER_05

There's part of me that feels that way.

SPEAKER_03

It's hard not to be that way.

SPEAKER_05

It it no, because it's I just feel the c American culture has become so coddled that This is why I want to punt, because seriously, we're we couldn't.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_05

Okay, so we're we're not gonna go too far into this. But there's a lot that we can talk about with this. So I won't I won't.

SPEAKER_03

We could have like a whole other fucking like podcast series on it.

SPEAKER_05

We no, we could, absolutely. And we don't I don't think we have any sound advice to give anybody who manages people. I mean, it's just we're just giving you what our experience is. You know, we don't not say we do it right, we do it wrong. I mean, I've I'll tell you what, I've had more turnover in the 25 years that I've been practicing than I mean I I have actually on my computer saved, I have a section you know of all employees and valuations that I've done, but I also have a subfile called former staff. Yeah, and like I've kid you not 160 people, 160 names in there, over 25 years.

SPEAKER_03

So when you're fully staffed, how many people is that?

SPEAKER_05

Right now it's 12.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, yeah. Like with everyone, like all your places? Yeah, Gresha on down, yeah. Like all in all your places?

SPEAKER_05

Because people travel.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. But like, so the most I've ever had was when was when Eric was with me as my associate, and he and so we had, I think we had like 22 people on staff. And that was a lot. That's that's a lot of personalities. It's um it's a lot. You have them in two separate teams, so that kind of it manages itself. Yeah, I have peep different people overseeing each team. Yeah. Um I got 140 right now. Oh, fuck me. I can't even shoot me.

SPEAKER_03

I have 140 right now, and I had one person leave me last month. That's it.

SPEAKER_05

Okay. Well, I have had this team in place for three years now. Pretty much three.

SPEAKER_03

Most of the most of the players I've had a when you have that consistency and that culture, it's so fucking good.

SPEAKER_05

And I wish I could go back in time to younger me and say, you know what? When when someone pisses you off, don't be so ready to fire them. Yeah. You know, like just suck it up and deal with it and roll with the punches. Yep. Um, but I I do a lot of rolling with the punches with this team because it is in my interests to keep them together. Yeah. Because they, as a whole, they function wonderfully. Um there are things, there are bitter pills that I have to swallow along the way. Yeah. But I but when you're at my point too, when you're so close to the finish line. Yes. When you're five and a half years away from retirement.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, you've dropped it from six.

SPEAKER_05

Right. I applaud you. Virginia was so happy that I did that. Virginia was very happy. Yes. It's it's it's really five years, nine months, but you know, uh, but still, I'm enough that I can say five and a half years. So she's very happy about that. Um, and no, but w when that happens too, and you see the light at the end of the tunnel, like you find that there's a lot of shit you can put up with.

SPEAKER_03

Well, and then you you truly do understand the battles. Yes. Um, with the experience of managing people to where you're like, you know what, I could spend the next six months fighting this battle. Yeah. And it won't get me anywhere. Right. It won't have any it won't have any fruit to it at all. And then and then but but when you're young, you're like, oh fuck, yeah, I'm gonna fight this battle because just nowadays my litmus test is how well do I sleep at night?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. I sleep like a baby. Yeah, well, there you go. You know, I have a little pharmaceutical assistance, but yes, I sleep like a baby as cool. You know, I mean, so I mean, my stresses aren't them, my stresses are other things outside the, but even like I I don't know, I found this weird zone where like we can talk about managing people, and let's talk about managing patients. I mean, I now am not skittish about having a consultation. Like, I'll call family in and say, hey, look, we got to shift gears on on where, or hey, I got some bad news. What we thought we were doing has caused the root of this tooth to dissolve, and now that tooth's gonna be loose, you're probably gonna lose it down the line. This is a mother nature thing, like we couldn't avoid this, right? You know, but I'm I'm letting you know.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you know, so that we So you were afraid to have that conversation before? Back when I was yes, when I was a lot younger, yes. Because I thought you were thinking, like, oh, this guy doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about.

SPEAKER_05

That I was young, you know. I mean, your first five years in, you you you're really just it's all trial by fire that first five years. You will you will do all your fucking up in the first five years. Sure. So now I don't feel bad at all. And like I, you know, the parents are easy to manage and and everything like that, more so than ever. And so, you know, we get some hotheads come in once in a while, but normally I can cool them down, and if I can't cool them down, we cut them loose. You know, and I mean I not that I want to be a bully about this, but you know, you're not being a bully. No, in case the word hasn't gone out, I'm pretty much it for 10 care. Like if 10 care, if ten if people who are on 10 care want orthodontic treatment, I am the guy. I'm it. This side of the Cumberland Mountains. I'm pretty much it. That was a pretty smart move. Well, it happened that it was a slow progression over time. Like enough people got tired of it, and I'm willing to live with it. Again, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Right. You know.

SPEAKER_03

Um, I think Usually when you're the only one doing something, that's a pretty god dang good thing.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, it's not bad, like it's my monopoly, right in a way. My niche market, not my definition of niche I would have cared for, but still I'll take it. It's you know, market. It is, yeah, exactly. So, you know, I I I I try not to use that as a godfather flex on on the families that come to see me, but I kind of wish they would remember that in the back of their minds.

SPEAKER_03

New family comes in.

SPEAKER_01

Romans, I'm gonna ask Romans countryman. Romans, countryman. What is this sense of despair that I sense in the night air? What is this 12-inch kitchen knife doing in my back? Little boy, this hoit.

Mel Brooks Theater And Busy Travel

SPEAKER_03

You gotta see the Mel Brooks documentary, dude. Oh really. It's yeah. Hey, I mean, the title of it is the 90-year-old man, which kind of like goes into his like 2,000-year-old man shtick with with Reiner, but to see just the amount uh it's it's done by Judd Apatal. He's the one interviewing it.

SPEAKER_05

Apatal's a shit.

SPEAKER_03

Awesome. Yeah. But so awesomeness doing a documentary about one of the funniest men on the planet. Yeah. There you go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

But the the amount of life that do they talk at all about how by today's standards blazing saddles couldn't get made? Yes. Oh wow, okay. I'm gonna have to watch this.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, Chappelle's in it. Oh man. Yeah, like all like anything and everything, like Chappelle was so funny in this because uh his wife's name Rita Gardner. I guess Rita Gardner, yeah, Mrs. Robinson. Right. Like, so he was talking about how awesome she was, and so he was like, Are you flirting with me, Mrs. Robinson? And he said, and that's when I knew, like, damn, she's probably heard that fucking shit a million times. It's so good. All of it's just it's so well done. Uh even I'm a huge Melbook Brooks fan, but even if you aren't, like uh it's especially I think it even hit home for me more watching you do the show. Right, right. Because it goes into that.

SPEAKER_05

Well, no, I think Caleb, who played the Mel Brooks character in the play, he did a fantastic job catching that essence of heavy.

SPEAKER_03

But I mean it goes into like about the bagels, like it goes into it, like he talks about it.

SPEAKER_05

He does. He even affected a little bit of his voice in that as well. But Caleb also said that told me that he he went out of his way to make sure he wasn't aping Mel Brooks. He wasn't totally it wasn't a total imitation, you know.

SPEAKER_03

CJ didn't even have a clue, right? Like like after the shows, like well, you you know, like telling her like what the actual show was, like she didn't shame on me for not doing prefacing that with her, but she's like, Oh, oh, this shit makes so much more sense.

SPEAKER_05

Speaking of, I did another, I did a performance recently with him. Like, I uh so now I'm kind of like so I am I've kind of am I'm a little on a little hiatus from theater this year, unless something really jumps out and says you have to do this. Um just because my mother where she's at, I I'm going down every month now, and so I don't really still have the time to uh focus on doing a show. Plus, I I mean with this jazz piano lessons and you know I got so much going on. And and this year our travel is just chaotic. I mean, everyone's go boo fucking who, but like it's chaotic this year. Like we do not like I'm lucky if I am here in this house, like here for this today, this this Saturday, yeah. It it is a rarity this year that you will find me in this house on a Saturday because like I think two to three weekends almost every month, I will be somewhere else. Yeah, um, and that's just the way it is. So, like, you know, Virginia's got uh well, I'm gonna go visit my daughter at the end of April, and then um in Los Angeles, and then uh Virginia and Max. Max graduates from high school, and then Virginia and Max are gonna be doing a little jaunt around Europe together, and then come home. We're gonna go to Kansas City, Missouri. And why are we going to Kansas City, Missouri? It's not to see a Royals game, it is because that is where the Eberting clan is based. And I have not seen the Eberting family in almost 30 years, and I have reconnected with my cousin who's six years older than me, and he said, you know, we kind of have a reunion every year. Debbie, who is my oldest, who is the oldest living cousin in my generation. I was a ringbearer in her wedding when I was four. Okay and uh here we are so they're like, and she lives in Texas, and she's like, but no, we we go back, she goes back to Kansas City, and she'll she and her younger brother, she had two brothers in between who have since passed on, and so they'll cut show up. My two remaining uncles that are still alive, my dad's brothers are will show up, and and so like they this is their reunion. We get together on a pontoon boat, and they said, Do you want to be a part of this? I said, Oh fuck yes. Yeah, I haven't seen you guys in forever.

SPEAKER_03

That'll be awesome.

SPEAKER_05

So we're doing that beginning of June. Good for you, and then Virginia will go to Polly's Island for a week while I'm in Scotland for Jeffrey's graduation. Oh wow. So yeah. Um, and that's gonna be its own weird dynamic because you know, I'm taking this class right now, the real class in Gallic, the Gallic language, through um Savo Morastag, which is the Gaelic learning center on the Isle of Sky. And so apparently they have like a summer school session that I'm just going to kind of miss, but I'm going to be staying on Sky for two nights. And I'm probably going to go down to the school because at least I want to meet my professor. Yeah. Oh, by the way, I'm that American, I'm that American guy, you know. From Knoxville, Tennessee, Nastad und Gallic for the United States. Um, and uh um and just meet meet her and and and and others, like there's some who live in Edinburgh, yeah. Who and they're like, well, okay, we'll let we're hat let's get together for drinks and something like that, were you then? Why the fuck not? Yeah, certainly. So um, so that's so we'll have that, and then there'll be like a uh we're gonna we're planning a trip also to Allentown. Virginia's getting a whole hit of my first 18 years of my life where I've lived. So we're gonna go to Allentown. But the biggest reason I'm going to Allentown is because I want to buy a Martin guitar from the Martin guitar factory. Let's go. Let's go. So we'll do that. And then we're talking about well, there'll be a week down at mom's house in August, and then uh end of end of October, we're planning a real big trip, but that's uh that's still in the planning stages. We're talking about Venice and Trieste and the Adriatic side of Italy. Cool. And uh but yeah, so we're all over the place this this year, you know, and it's just fucking insane. And like a new dynamic I've at like so when I go down to my mom's house every month, on the way back on that Sunday, I leave early enough that I hit Spartanburg by lunchtime and I have lunch with my daughter. So I get to see my daughter every month in mid school. And so um, you know, catch up with her and see how med school's treating her and all that shit. But you know, it's all good.

SPEAKER_03

Still things good with the the dude. Yeah, absolutely. All right, good.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely good. Yeah, like it. We we wholly encourage that relationship. Fuck yes. It's all good in the hood.

Duke Hopes Hawks Pain Farewell

SPEAKER_05

Um we're gonna wrap this at 57 minutes? I think so.

SPEAKER_04

Okay.

SPEAKER_05

All right, so I hate that we didn't get demanding people, but seriously, right. But we need to.

SPEAKER_03

This is a great episode for us, but I want us like be laser focused.

SPEAKER_05

Laser focused. We will not talk about it. We're gonna be Marty Bird on this motherfucker. We're gonna be Marty Bird on this motherfucker. We will do, we will allocate only five minutes of current events.

SPEAKER_03

No current events.

SPEAKER_05

Okay, so but we're gonna it's gonna be in March Madness, though we record this, so we're gonna have to talk about that a little bit.

SPEAKER_03

We'll have to put that at the end.

SPEAKER_05

Five minutes.

SPEAKER_03

All right, somewhere. You're only saying that because you got the number one team in the nation. Don't hate. I always hate. I'm sorry you guys lost your pander bill today.

SPEAKER_05

We always lose. We always lose. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. That used to be us in the that used to be us in the late 80s. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

unknown

Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_03

You're Danny Ferry ass. You'll get there. No, we won't. No, we won't. Danny Ferry, Quinn Snyder, Billy, Billy King. I gotta give it up to Shire, though. Kevin Sherman. I was talking to my brother the other day. Like, I really thought Shire was not gonna do as well as he's done. Yeah, he's the man. Like, I really thought this was like uh just we're gonna do stopgap. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Completely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

But no, he's the real deal. He's the real deal. Yeah, no, he's done some amazing things. I'm I'm I no, I'm with you. Like, I was really concerned that this was just gonna be uh he was gonna be the Bill Guthrie. Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I just I I thought it was gonna be two to three years of Duke being average, and no. No, no, he was like, you know what? I'm I'm I want I'm gonna recruit my ass off and bring in the boozers who are the best fucking yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, no, I I think I really want a national title for him, particularly this year. It could easily happen this year. And because then this truly becomes his program. Then I think he gets the weight of the Coach K legacy off his shoulders.

SPEAKER_03

Well, he's already had a final four, right? He's had a final four. So uh that weight's gone. Okay, I'll I'll I'll allow that. You know what I mean? Yes, no, yeah, I mean that Rick Barnes is as great of a coach as he is, he's only been to one fucking final four in his whole fucking career. This guy's done it in what year three? Right, yeah. So I mean Right. No, I yeah, no, I hear you. But like, you know, it's kind of like with now granted, he's gotta win the biggin.

SPEAKER_05

But how many how many national championships did Roy Williams get with UNC?

SPEAKER_06

Didn't he get four?

SPEAKER_05

Four, I think, something like that. I think it was four. Like so Dean Smith, who? Who only got two, right? You know, who only has two national titles. Right. And um, so that's kind of what I want for John is is I I Yeah, you'll never get six, right? I think the odds are bad on that.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, you know, I mean just because of how the parody of everything exactly, yeah. Yeah. That's all I mean, it's unheard of. Right. Like if he does it, then wow. Yeah. Like don't don't make that the fucking standard.

SPEAKER_05

No, sure. But I I mean, for him to win a title means he's in the club. Yeah. You know, and he'll have done something that most coaches can only dream of. Correct. And and uh and it will be great. And I think it will I think it will be a nice new energy for the whole Duke fan base. I think it's already there. Yeah, I well no, I do I do two, you know. But you you got you gotta you gotta bring you gotta bring home the you gotta bring home the bacon, baby. How old was C Coach K when he got his first one? Okay, so he was 91. He started in his 50s one. He would no, he wasn't even that. I want to say he was like 45.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_05

45 years old, I think.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

So he's I mean. Shire's what? He's 35. 35, 30. Well, okay, so he graduated in 2010. And so let's just say he's 21 then. Let's say he's 21 then, so it's it's 16 years. So he's 37, 37 or so.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he's not 40.

SPEAKER_05

No, he's not 40. God. No, yeah, fucker, right? Wow. And do you know how many other people clamored for that coaching position? Like Tommy Amiker's brokenhearted that he didn't get the job.

SPEAKER_03

I've said it on this podcast a hundred million fucking times. Johnny Dawkins, I don't even know where he's at anymore. Isn't he at Florida International? I I don't know. Yeah, but I thought that guy was knighted to be something happened. Something happened. Exactly. I don't know what happened. Something happened. He pissed in somebody's fucking cereal bowl and ruined everything. Yeah. Because he was gonna be, and but you know, he's never like taken a program up to like, you know what I mean? Like he's had a chance to do it.

SPEAKER_05

He did well at Stanford.

SPEAKER_03

Um, but he got fired. Right. So something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

So like, you know, but there are a lot of former Duke players that are out there coaching, both in professional level and I mean on the Gwynn Snyder, you know, out there.

SPEAKER_03

Fuck that guy, man. I know. Dude's terrible. Is he still with the jazz? Fuck if I know. Okay. I think he's actually with my Hawks right now. I think he's the head coach of the Hogs. That'd be funny. I'm not pretty sure. Actually, let me try to. I'm just gonna look that up. I got to.

SPEAKER_05

So anyway, while you're doing that, I'll so no, I mean, but like, I mean, there have been because there were a lot of people on that bench that I thought was gonna be the next head coach other than Shire for sure.

SPEAKER_03

I think I mean the guy's never I mean, this is his first head coaching job. Yeah. Ever. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And you get the creme de la creme program.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. You know, it's like Hubert Davis. Yeah, I mean, yeah, Hubert came out of the damn ESPN broadcasting. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Boy, that guy replaced. That guy uh shit. Um who is it that got fired? Not Jordan's buddy. No, it was Roy. Yeah, came right after Roy.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, Roy came right after Matt Dowry.

SPEAKER_03

Fuck Roy. Nobody liked Matt Dowerty. No one liked Matt Dowdy. Yeah. Well, uh Duke fans did. That guy shit the bet all the time. Exactly. We loved him. Duke fans love that guy. Hell, I can't tighten. What are you talking about? He's seeing for you.

SPEAKER_02

He is! He's the Quinn Snyder's the goddamn head coach of the Fox right now.

SPEAKER_03

Oh my god, I'm so sorry. You want to hear a stat? Let me wait, hang on tight. Keep talk amongst yourselves. Okay. A stat of this is my life of an Atlanta sports fan. Oh God. All right. So this is this year, okay? This just this came out um yeah. So the Atlanta Hawks are 31 and 31 in their last 62 basketball games, okay? But they're also 45 and 45 in their last 90. They're 67 and 67 in their last 134 games. They're 174 out of 174 in their last 348 games, 210 wins, 210 losses in their last 420 games, 785 wins, 785 losses in their last 1,570 games, 1,940 wins, 1,940 losses in their last 3,880 games, and 2,895 wins to 2,895 losses in their last 5,790 games. So it's tough to be a Hawks fan. Talk about average.

SPEAKER_05

I gotta go. Friends. Oh, geez. So just get on. If you're still listening, I love you. Get on the edge of your seats, people, episode 53.

SPEAKER_01

It's gonna be the greatest episode. It's gonna be the greatest episode ever. Some save, the greatest podcast of all time. We're gonna have We may bomb 'em! We don't know. We're gonna have the most listeners ever. It's gonna be the best.

SPEAKER_03

Cheers, dude. I love you.

SPEAKER_05

Cheers to you. Love you too.