Get your game face on! Charleston Payne and Jonathan Maese are shooting from half-court with a fresh episode that's as spicy as Louisiana's cuisine. We're all about those early Thursday vibes, and this time around, we're slicing through the savory topics of professional sports, the Pelicans' in-game tactics and the off-court antics that are as tempting as a plateful of beignets. Stay plugged in for our no-holds-barred commentary and a side of laughs that pair perfectly with your morning brew or classroom doodles.
This week, the court is heating up and we're not just talking about Zion Williamson's on-court prowess. We're examining the full-court press of life in the Big Easy and how it can prove to be a real opponent for our sports heroes. From the front office blues to playoff pressures, we're breaking down what makes or breaks a team. And for those who like to play armchair quarterback, join us as we throw shade at the NFL turf saga and Roger Goodell's less-than-stellar league leadership—because let's face it, the safety of players like Jaden Daniels is no laughing matter.
Finally, we're huddling up for a deep dive into the NFL Draft pool, where surprises lurk below the surface like an alligator in a bayou. We're calling plays and predicting fumbles with all the finesse of a seasoned coach. Don't miss our play-by-play analysis of the draft's twists and turns, from the offensive onslaught to the defensive draught. So whether you're an LSU die-hard or just love the sweet sounds of sports banter, tune in as we lay it all out on the line with the candor you've come to expect from the Green Check Guys.
IG: @greencheckguys
YouTube: Green Check Guys
Get your game face on! Charleston Payne and Jonathan Maese are shooting from half-court with a fresh episode that's as spicy as Louisiana's cuisine. We're all about those early Thursday vibes, and this time around, we're slicing through the savory topics of professional sports, the Pelicans' in-game tactics and the off-court antics that are as tempting as a plateful of beignets. Stay plugged in for our no-holds-barred commentary and a side of laughs that pair perfectly with your morning brew or classroom doodles.
This week, the court is heating up and we're not just talking about Zion Williamson's on-court prowess. We're examining the full-court press of life in the Big Easy and how it can prove to be a real opponent for our sports heroes. From the front office blues to playoff pressures, we're breaking down what makes or breaks a team. And for those who like to play armchair quarterback, join us as we throw shade at the NFL turf saga and Roger Goodell's less-than-stellar league leadership—because let's face it, the safety of players like Jaden Daniels is no laughing matter.
Finally, we're huddling up for a deep dive into the NFL Draft pool, where surprises lurk below the surface like an alligator in a bayou. We're calling plays and predicting fumbles with all the finesse of a seasoned coach. Don't miss our play-by-play analysis of the draft's twists and turns, from the offensive onslaught to the defensive draught. So whether you're an LSU die-hard or just love the sweet sounds of sports banter, tune in as we lay it all out on the line with the candor you've come to expect from the Green Check Guys.
IG: @greencheckguys
YouTube: Green Check Guys
What is going on, everybody, and welcome to the first full-length episode of the Green Check Guys podcast. I'm your host, the one and only, charles Dupain, alongside the one and only co-host of the Green Check Guys podcast Possibly the GOAT, it's in debate, but I'm very honored to have him back by my side. This guy has been a best friend of mine for a very long time. Incredible guy, incredible co-host. Dude can talk for hours on end, so I hope you enjoy listening to both of us talk to you and, with no further ado, I'd like to introduce you.
Speaker 2:Jonathan Maes. Yeah, absolutely, son, I'm excited to be back on the pod. I know it's been a minute since we've been back behind the mics, but I'm excited to get going. I'm excited to get ready, ready to roll. Do some sports talk. I'm excited.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we got a lot of stuff to talk about, since we've been missing out over the last couple weeks on getting an episode out. It's not really anybody at fault here, I wouldn't say. It's just technical difficulties, technical difficulties, you know my MacBook went out, but we're back with the iMac.
Speaker 2:No Jack, no Mac no Cap, you're just rapping at it again.
Speaker 1:I had to. I had to do it again. We had a first take at this episode and it didn't really go as planned, but we're good now. We broke the computer, but all is well.
Speaker 2:We're good. Now we're ready to roll.
Speaker 1:The Green Check guys are back. We're not going to miss a week with an episode, even whenever, say, one of us are in different cities, different towns, whatever may align, we're still going to have an episode out to you guys every single week. Write it down in your calendar. Mark that. What day do you think we should drop Jonah? Give the people a day. It's up to you.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think it's completely up to you, but I like them maybe a couple days before the weekend. I like Thursday, okay, maybe. If you want to do Thursday Okay, kind of in the morning, maybe like 9 o'clock on Thursday, alright perfect you kind of like that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, meet me in the middle right there. Let's go 8.30 am 8.30.
Speaker 2:A lot of people have those 8.30 classes, you know. You got plenty of people commuting to work and whatnot.
Speaker 1:Right, right, so it's kind of the perfect time 8.30 on Thursdays.
Speaker 2:I like that.
Speaker 1:I think that's a good idea and I think that's what we I have a tendency to forget. In both the podcasts I do, I typically never say this. I would like for you guys, if you're listening, to go follow our Instagram at Green Check Guys, or actually at Green Check Guys Pod.
Speaker 2:Right, exactly, is it? Yeah, I think it is the Green Check, guys Pod.
Speaker 1:This is very shitty hosting of me to not really be able to think of the damn Instagram name, right? No, yeah, no.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no. The Green Check Guys podcast on Instagram.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, go follow the Green Check Guys podcast on Instagram.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, our Instagram username is Green Check Guys.
Speaker 1:Okay, perfect. Go follow Green Check Guys at Green Check Guys across all the socials At the moment we don't have a Twitter, or I suppose X. Yeah absolutely Speaking of. I hate my X, but anyway, we'll move on because that's not really a topic for a sports podcast. Nah, all jokes out there, man. You know like we like to keep the sports going with like a little bit of comedic relief, like we spoke about in the trailer.
Speaker 1:I agree, we're going to try to keep things a little funny, so that way we're not just laying it on you like ESPN. We're not really trying to come at you like a Pat McAfee, but that's kind of what we're going for In a sense Dude.
Speaker 2:Pat McAfee's funny though.
Speaker 1:Because he's one of the greatest sports minds.
Speaker 2:Have you ever seen that video of that kid?
Speaker 1:Oh, the, and, by the way, boston Conner.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he said, you can say it. He said fuck Boston Connors.
Speaker 1:It was so funny. It was so funny.
Speaker 2:Everybody on the set went crazy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean McAfee does it better than anybody McAfee's funny. I'll never compare myself to him, even if this thing blows up too. But you know who the GOAT is Paul Feinbaum.
Speaker 2:Feinbaum is pretty good, absolute legend. I love Fine Bomb. We've tried calling in so many times.
Speaker 1:So many times I mean we've tried to get the green check guys out there on the phone.
Speaker 2:We've tried, and it's so hard His phone just keeps disconnecting To this point we haven't had the luck yet, but it'll come.
Speaker 1:I agree we're going to get it.
Speaker 2:We're going to get it Because I was close that one time it was ringing, it was ringing, it's just crazy to say, but it was ringing. I know, man, I'm excited, though. Do you want to shout out our sponsors, charlie?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean we'll take a moment. I'm not going to speak on them yet. We'll talk about them in a little bit, but I will just name drop the sponsors. Yeah, shout out to Bogies. In Baton Rouge, louisiana, it's a little bar on 705 East Boyd Street. I agree, go check it out. East Boyd, great place to be, or drive, I suppose. Right, it's drive or street.
Speaker 2:I think it's East Boyd Drive.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah 705 East Boyd Drive. Go, check out the spot Bogey's Baton Rouge. You can find Jono and I there, typically on the weekends.
Speaker 2:Typically on the weekends Not very many weekdays we were going for a while we had the weekdays in us.
Speaker 1:At one point, I think we kind of grew out of it a little bit.
Speaker 2:We've been working a lot.
Speaker 1:For sure we have we have and, speaking of work, I'm honored to be able to say I work with Jono.
Speaker 2:Now Aside, from the podcast.
Speaker 1:He and I work together on the podcast outside the podcast.
Speaker 2:We're on a roll.
Speaker 1:We got a lot of shit going for us. We're on a roll. I agree Things are going right.
Speaker 2:I'm excited, I'm excited, I really am.
Speaker 1:I mean we got a great podcast. We got a set topic now. Jono and I were, as we spoke about in the trailer episode, the former host of the Tales from Tigerland podcast but due to some unfortunate events, it did get shut down. Right that in the trailer episode for sure. Right, you know we banded.
Speaker 2:We got some great guests lined up for you guys, I'm super excited to get to that point right. I agree we're gonna get to that at one point.
Speaker 1:Um, it's just hard getting everybody's schedules lined up and whatnot, but we're gonna make it happen, especially the finals being right here, because a large majority of our guests that we currently have lined up are like college students or have something to do with like lsu because that's where we're located.
Speaker 2:to they're all busy.
Speaker 1:Clearly, whenever it comes to talking about sports, we're going to have a little bit of biases here. I don't even want to say it, but we'll get to it in a second. The Pelicans man.
Speaker 2:We're going to talk about them in a minute.
Speaker 1:Directly after this, whenever I finish speaking about what I've got to speak about. But we're going to be absolutely biased towards LSU, towards the Saints towards the Pelicans, the Pelicans we're all fans.
Speaker 2:We're all fans. Baseball is one of the the Astros. Baseball is one of the only places that we completely disagree on. I'm a Mariners fan. Right, we got a division rivalry.
Speaker 1:So when we get into the baseball segments of our podcast, it is going to have some very interesting viewpoints Back and forth between the two of us. I agree, I agree al west rivals, two great teams, two legendary teams. There's been a lot of legends come through both.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree, the astros have definitely. I mean they've just dominated, especially in the last couple years. Um, and it's just, I mean they've been a really good all-around team, especially come playoffs time. You know they got that. They got that clutch gene. A lot of them do Jose does, jordan does, kyle does you can name many guys on that team. The pitching staff has been suspect this year, but I'm excited to see what they can do. I'm excited to see what the Mariners can do. I put a little bit on them to win the World Series. I said fuck it. You know what I mean. I was like I'm ready to see it. I feel like today's one of those years that you've got a random World Series winner. So we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 1:We're talking random World Series winners here. The Texas Rangers winning the World Series last year just blew my mind. It was very unexpected, especially considering they went 11-0 on the road. They didn't lose a playoff game on the road.
Speaker 2:Which was wild. They played in some tough environments.
Speaker 1:As it sits it's already very hard in the MLB to win on the road Because there are times where you'll be playing. You know, like you might be the Astros. You've got to play the Angels on a Friday to Sunday series and then catch a plane Monday to go play a Tuesday to Friday series or Tuesday to Thursday series against the New York Yankees. Yeah, you're all over the place that is completely cross country, and then you might have to go to Toronto directly after the Yankees series and play.
Speaker 1:Friday to Sunday, and then fly back to Houston and play in Houston Monday, right there are times in the schedule where these guys legitimately do not stop. No, they do not.
Speaker 2:The MLB is crazy.
Speaker 1:I got mad respect for the guys that are out there.
Speaker 2:I mean not even just like major league. I mean even the guys in AAA and AA. They're getting called up and down left and right, having to go to different. You know what I mean different ball clubs and play. You know like. You know a guy in AA will get called up for five games to AAA, get sent back down. You know a guy in AAA will get sent back up to the majors play you know 10, 15 games tops. Somebody gets healthy, send them right back down. You know what I mean. I mean you're just doing so much, traveling so much nonstop. There's just so much baseball.
Speaker 1:Right, and a lot of these minor league feeder teams and stuff aren't in the same state as the MLB team.
Speaker 2:Not even yet.
Speaker 1:So these AAA guys might get called up to the majors and they're playing a game in Nashville the night. They get called up to the majors and they're like, oh shit, I got to get on a plane and go to Toronto tomorrow and I might not even have a passport at this point.
Speaker 2:Right, exactly, it's just you got to stay in it, man. Baseball, arguably, is one of the most grueling seasons of anything you know what I mean, because you have 162 games over almost five months, something like that. You know what I mean. It's ridiculous. Yeah, because you get out of spring training it starts May or at the end of April, beginning of May. You don't finish until September. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:And you're only taking maximum three months off, maximum Because you're back into spring, not necessarily spring training, but spring practices and all that stuff. That stuff begins into January, first of February, and if you're that crunched. That means literally like if you make it to the World Series, your last game was probably around November 1st and then, just like that, you're back on the baseball diamond on January.
Speaker 2:And during the season, all you get is an all-star break really.
Speaker 1:And if you're an all-star, you don't get a damn break.
Speaker 2:You don't get a damn break.
Speaker 1:You know, it's crazy.
Speaker 2:I mean, you can see it take a toll on a lot of players for sure.
Speaker 1:Oh, it definitely does.
Speaker 2:They go through their slumps during the season because it's just so much it's overcrowding what they've got going on. You know LeBron James, I guess, said it best he was having to sacrifice time and family to keep playing for the Lakers and stuff At 39 years old. He's old, especially to be in a professional sports. I feel like you can see that happen with a lot of baseball guys. It doesn't matter what sport, you know what I mean Whether that be golf or baseball, football, you see a lot of guys sacrificing time for their families. It's really difficult. I'm sure that life on the road has got to be incredibly difficult.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't. You know it's bad Growing up. You know I was a baseball guy. I played baseball. I started T-ball when I was probably three years old, I believe, and from the point I started T-ball, the dream and the goal was always to make it to the highest level.
Speaker 1:Right, that's the dream but then you start, when you get like 16 years old or something and you're a sophomore in high school and you're still out there nuking baseballs and you realize, okay, sure, this is a dream and it's a smaller chance of becoming a reality at that point, because you start to have that realization. But then you also realize how super compact it is and it's like can I even? Am I built for that?
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And that was a question I had to keep asking myself. Not like I mean, it's not like I had the Astros calling me every weekend trying to talk me into it or anything.
Speaker 1:I wasn't that damn good, like I probably batted like 210 throughout high school, right, I mean, I'll be the first to tell you I wasn't great, I wasn't the GOAT, like I was a pretty good fielder, but aside from that, I could never get the bat going. I don't think I ever had a home run that went over the fence in my entire life, but that's besides the point. You know, like it's just hard to do.
Speaker 2:Professional sports just at a higher level at any given time is Professional sports just at a higher level at any given time is just so difficult, whether you're in college or you're in the pros or the minor leagues or Corn Fairy Tour or the you know what I mean. It's just so hard, right? Professional sports.
Speaker 1:So there's a topic that's been itching me.
Speaker 2:I know exactly what you're talking about. I know exactly what you're talking about.
Speaker 1:Our team that I am very biased towards, the New Orleans Pelicans, got swept by one of the youngest teams in the NBA.
Speaker 2:Bless their poor hearts.
Speaker 1:They got killed by the Oklahoma Seahawks, the offense was so bad. The offense wasn't there, the defense wasn't that great.
Speaker 2:Look the defense was sort of there Sort of, I mean because we were holding them to some lower points than what they'd been averaging all season. The defense was sort of there and it's been there throughout the year, but without Zion and without BI, completely healthy. We struggled and it was apparently obvious against Oklahoma I mean like B, mean like bi. At one point he was one for 10 in that final game. You know what I mean, and that's obviously because he's not completely healthy. You know he's trying to play his heart out and he's trying to hustle out there. It's just you know things were not going his way and going one for 10 is just not something you can do, not I mean?
Speaker 2:not in a playoff game, especially in an elimination game when you're down 3-0. If you want to get back in the series, you know you've got to make your shots, you've got to be on point, you've got to be clutch, and BI just didn't have it. Unfortunately, he wasn't healthy and without Zion. Granted, we talk a lot of shit about him, right.
Speaker 2:We talk a lot of shit about Zion Williamson Undeniable Und great basketball player. He's just I don't think he's at peak fitness Is that a nice way of saying it? I don't think he's at peak fitness. I don't think he can play all those games and be okay without losing a little bit of weight and without slimming down a little bit and keeping the raw muscle that he has, because I mean he's strong. It's well known around the NBA.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's always been muscle that he has, because I mean he's strong. It's well known around the NBA. Yeah, it's always been known that he's an absolute strength to have. But one thing that I can tell you, and you can vouch for this being from out of state, that Louisiana food's something else, boy.
Speaker 2:Oh no, I agree.
Speaker 1:I agree, it's hard to go into a restaurant and they offer you a gumbo and say, no, you've got to be out of your cut. Nope, nope, nope. Oklahoma City Thunder announcer got fired for saying that. You got to be out of your damn mind. Sorry, you got to be out of your damn mind to pass up that bowl of gumbo.
Speaker 2:Right, I agree, and it's so hard. You got etouffee and oysters, all that good seafood.
Speaker 1:He lives in Nola, bro, he could wake up in the morning and go get a beignet.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 1:And that's something that's been talked about.
Speaker 2:You know it's been talked about like around the NBA. There's reports of Zahn eating too much, zahn overdoing it with the food, zahn overdoing it with like going out and whatnot. You know what I mean. Right, it's such a temptation in NOLA because there's just so much going on in the. French Quarter uptown. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a lot to do in New Orleans. There really is, especially when you're an NBA player and you've got this status. You know what I mean. You get in anywhere for free, you're the first one to be served. You know what I mean. You're a priority around these parts. So, zion, I feel like that's something he struggles with. You know what I mean. With the going out and the eating and overdoing it, I feel like I want to see him succeed in NOLA. I don't know how much longer he can continue to do it.
Speaker 1:He hasn't done it yet.
Speaker 2:I think this year was his most productive season.
Speaker 1:I mean no doubt, but does it count, because how many games did he play in the playoffs?
Speaker 2:Yeah, he played the play-in and then got hurt. Yeah, like, and we were going to win that play-in game against the Lakers. We were going to win. Zahn almost had 40. You know what I mean. We were going to win.
Speaker 1:Nobody. Let me say this Nobody gives a shit if have a good record in the regular season. We don't talk about the 2016 Warriors anymore. You know why? Because they lost in the finals. They were 73-9 that year the most wins in NBA history, yeah, but nobody talks about that. And, like I said, you know why? Because they didn't get a ring. Nobody gives a shit about what you do in the regular season. I don't care if you go out and you average 45, 50 points a game and you get to the playoffs and you shit the bed for your team or don't play. You didn't have a good season, in my opinion, because good seasons win rings.
Speaker 1:I agree, you don't have a good season unless you're either winning a ring or in contention. And due to Zion being hurt in the playoffs and I'm not it's an injury. You know that shit happens. He's a professional athlete, but I don't think you could consider him, although, like you said, it is his most productive season. Why does that matter?
Speaker 2:It doesn't.
Speaker 1:It didn't pay off for us at all it didn't pay off for anything.
Speaker 2:We got nothing out of it. Especially in the playoffs, we get swept by the youngest team and I was the one to say that the Pelicans could most definitely win that series Definitely. I was the one to say that they're the youngest team in the NBA.
Speaker 1:They had zero guys on that entire roster. There's 13 men on an NBA team. Zero of the 13 have played in a playoff game. Zero of the 13 have played in a playoff game. Exactly, they've never seen a playoff environment.
Speaker 1:And then they come in and sweep your team and it doesn't matter. Zion being hurt is just another bullshit-ass excuse for the city of New Orleans. This team has consistently got to the playoffs and shit the bed every single year, and I'm sick of it. The front office I'm sorry, I'm ranting right now. I had to get this out. I've been wanting to talk about this for so damn long. The front office has to do something different. Think about this for a second, Jonna. Let me tell you this the Pelicans drafted Chris Paul. Then we trade him away for a fucking bag of Chee Wees, A bag of Cheewis. We trade Chris Paul away. We lose Chris Paul for good. He's not coming back to NOLA. Then, after we lose Chris Paul, a year or two goes by. Oh shit, Look at that. We got the first pick of the draft again. Let's take Anthony Davis. We keep Anthony Davis for a couple years Wait.
Speaker 2:We rebranded to the Pelicans Right Hornets to Pelicans Right, we get Anthony Davis.
Speaker 1:We get AD. And what do we do? We keep him for a few years. Let everybody in the NBA know oh, they got a star. Then what do we do? Trade him for a fucking bag of Chiwis and a guy named Brandon Ingram. Who else did we even get out of that trade? Lonzo Ball, shit, yeah, dog shit.
Speaker 2:Hurt Always.
Speaker 1:Our front office has got to do something. First of all, our front office does not need to be our front office and you know what's crazy? Our GM has to go. I mean, our coach is good, I like Willie Green.
Speaker 2:You like Willie Green, I do Look he's made some questionable coaching decisions, especially in this playoff series, right, but every single year he's improved on his wins.
Speaker 1:Right, he has. But back to where I was at with the AD thing. We get AD, he stays around four or five years, trade him, lost him. What happens again One to two years later? We start to play like shit. We get the number one pick, we get Zion. People are seeing okay, they got a guy that can be good. What are we going to do this year? How much do you want to bet that we trade Zion either this offseason or next? I don't.
Speaker 1:I will literally go pull out everything in my bank account, hand it to you right now and say give this shit back to me. I think they give him one more season.
Speaker 2:I think they really do. Considering the amount of games he's played this year, they're going to do their absolute best to keep him healthy, whether that be him playing 25 minutes a game. You know he might not play the full deal because maybe he's not capable of it, but I think they maybe limit his minutes. They keep him in the game. You know especially, you know third, fourth quarter. They leave him in for a lot of that. You know a little bit of the second, maybe a little bit of the second, maybe a little bit of the first, but I don't think he plays the full length of the game because he's just getting hurt too often. He really is. You know what I mean. That's what I want to see out of the Pelicans Limit Zom minutes. Get rid of CJ. They need to get rid of CJ. I think CJ I mean shoot the rock and he can spread the rock, but he's just too inconsistent. You know what I mean. He puts up 35 on the road, comes back home, puts up 13. We've seen it, we're victims of it. We've seen it on the book. You know what I mean. Right, it's just CJ's too inconsistent.
Speaker 2:I think you need to get rid of him. You need to build around. I think you give Zion one more year. You build around Zion. You build around Herb Jones, who's a great defender. You can maybe get some trade value out of Jonas. You know what I mean. We do have one pick in this upcoming draft which sucks. It really does. I'm seeing some of the stuff I'm seeing. We're going to draft Kahlil Ware out of Indiana as center. He's 7'1". I mean I'm sure he'll be a great young guy, but you know what I mean. We need to get some help at center. Larry Nance and Jonas Valanciunas ain't gonna cut it Right, and another thing back to the Pelicans.
Speaker 1:I mean, we're already talking about the Pelicans or whatever, but another thing about them. What's the? What is the deal Like? How much longer do we continue to think that we're going to be able to get lucky and just keep trading these number one picks? We get, trade them away after a few years, build them up, give them to somebody for nothing, and just how many more times do we think we can get that number one pick Because it's a lottery system.
Speaker 1:It really is, you know. I mean given— it's luck of the draw, I mean it's total luck of the draw. And I mean how many more times can we watch our team have bad, bad, bad seasons after we trade our number one guy and typically our number two guy as well?
Speaker 2:It's a vicious cycle. We're stuck in.
Speaker 1:And it hasn't ended Like that's my problem. I have with them and, like I was saying earlier, we have to. Our front office no longer needs to be the Pelicans' front office.
Speaker 2:We need to get rid of some guys.
Speaker 1:like I said, the general manager has got to go, has to the man calling the shots. The man calling the shots, the man making these trades and getting rid of these stars. Just think, imagine if we just kept Chris Paul to be with AD. Or imagine if we kept AD to be with Zion.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because we swept. Who did we sweep? We swept, was it the Trailblazers? Or the Raptors With AD, with AD and DeMarcus Cousins. Yeah, that was the one series that we swept and that was a great team.
Speaker 1:They had Dame and CJ during both of their absolute primes Dame, dame Willard.
Speaker 2:The Trailblazers. Oh, the Trailblazers did have and CJ. They did have Dame and CJ. That's crazy.
Speaker 1:In their absolute primes and we swept them. And then what do we do that offseason? Get rid of both of them. Get rid of AD, like why?
Speaker 2:And then D-Boogie goes to win a ring. We literally pretty much With the Warriors.
Speaker 1:Right. I mean we literally pretty much realized that we have the fitting pieces, we have the missing puzzle pieces and then we're like, oh, you know what, I can go give those to Goodwill right now I don't really need to finish building this puzzle and just goes and pawns off the two main pieces Like not even the corner pieces of the puzzle I'm talking about the center piece.
Speaker 2:That is going to make that. I agree the Pelicans are a bit of a mess. We need to get right. I think. Definitely some changes and some tough conversations need to be made Right.
Speaker 1:I think there's no doubt about that. I think a lot has got to change in that front office To switch gears.
Speaker 2:the NFL draft just went down.
Speaker 1:We do have to get into that, because we spent a lot of time here talking about the Pelicans and I'm sure nobody really wants to hear shit about the Pelicans right now because they suck. But yeah, let's definitely switch gears and talk about the draft, because that's one thing we haven't got to speak about just yet.
Speaker 2:I'm excited to see Jaden Daniels we haven't got to speak about just yet. I'm excited to see Jaden Daniels. I'm not You're not Absolutely not. You don't think he fits into that system.
Speaker 1:What happened the last time? The Washington, previously known as the Redskins, at the time RIP because nobody was complaining about that. And then now you want to go change their name and take it away from the Indian chief. There's actually a conversation going on about there was being like a changeorg, like petition or whatever.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They had got to like a few thousand signatures. It might have even been up to like almost 100K at some point. Just to change the name back to the Redskins Really and it was started by the tribe that the Indian fellow Was named after Was, yeah, like the photo was after or whatever, like their logo was after, really. So I mean, I think it's crazy to take that Dude.
Speaker 2:I had an RG3 jersey.
Speaker 1:That's exactly where I'm going right now.
Speaker 2:I had an RG3 jersey. What?
Speaker 1:happened the last time the commanders took a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback and ruined his career. And shit the bed with him First.
Speaker 2:of all and ruined his career and shit the bed with him Because he was good For those first two years. He was rough.
Speaker 1:First of all, washington has the shittiest stadium and they have been noted to have the worst field, as voted by the NFLPA, which, if you don't know what that is, that is, the Players. Association, the Players Association, is made of what Jonna Players Exactly. How do you not fix these issues If you've seen QBs?
Speaker 2:get hurt on this field.
Speaker 1:It's not even QBs.
Speaker 2:It's.
Speaker 1:QBs, DBs, O-linemen, running backs, wide receivers. The field is literally known for taking people's ACLs and running with it and you haven't done anything to change the turf or anything like that.
Speaker 2:I agree. Nothing is swapped. They need to fix that. That's my skepticism. With Jaden Daniels going to the commanders, I want to see what's going to go down, especially that field suspect. He likes to put the move on a lot of defenders. You know what I mean. He really likes to plant field suspect. He likes to put the move on a lot of defenders. You know what I mean. He really likes to plant a knee. He likes to juke. He likes to put a move on guys when he's running around with the ball and it's, you know, on Tiger Stadium. You know real grass. It's different, it's easy. It's a real, different story. He can do it and not have to worry.
Speaker 1:That turf catches, bro. I used to play baseball on turf when we would play in high school.
Speaker 2:That's not even turf, though.
Speaker 1:That's real grass Tiger Stadium.
Speaker 2:No, I'm talking about FedEx Field. Oh, FedEx Field, that turf.
Speaker 1:Where the commanders play.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I used to play baseball on turf fields in high school and we had metal spike cleats and that's what we wore. They were given to the team by Wade Miley, MLB pitcher, and we would wear these metal spikes when we played on turf. We couldn't wear them. We had to go out there and pretty much wear tennis shoes, Whereas in the NFL you're still wearing the same cleat for the shitty turf. I'm not saying let the players play in tennis shoes, because in football you have to make a lot of more shifty, quick moves Right, but either change the cleat for when you play in those turf stadiums that's one thing you have to do or go away with the type of turf that's hurting these players.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Because it's happened time and time again. Look at Aaron Rodgers. He ran what three plays in the New York Jet.
Speaker 2:I was so excited too. I was so happy I had Garrett Wilson. I was like Garrett Wilson, aaron Rodgers, they're going to light it up together no Mm-mm. And then, once Aaron Rodgers went down, garrett Wilson's season went down, because I mean he had to deal with Zach Wilson.
Speaker 1:I mean this happened less than a minute into the season. That was the first game of the year for the NFL. All the players and you watch, pretty much the face of this company, the NFL pretty much the face of this company, the NFL pretty much the face of it. Since he left Green Bay, that was all the talk. All anybody wanted to see, myself included, was Aaron Rodgers in a different jersey, and I was so excited to get to that point. And then what do you get out of it?
Speaker 1:Three plays and a torn Achilles, the turf and this entire podcast has just been me ranting for the most part, and I apologize for that if you're listening, but something has to change, and it's not. I mean, this can't keep going on. It's just a repeating process. Every year, one of your main guys is going to get hurt.
Speaker 2:It doesn't matter, it happens in every field too. You know it's, it happens in every field too.
Speaker 1:You know it's crazy, Except for the grass fields.
Speaker 2:Except for the grass fields, the guys who are outdoors.
Speaker 1:I mean think about the Odell Beckham injury in the Super Bowl against the Bengals. Of course I wanted the Bengals to win, but still you never get excited to see a star caliber player get their ACLs taken away from their body. Pretty much I want to see that it sucks. I mean and and it's just such a repeating cycle and it's sad to watch the NFL fall into this absolute bottomless pit of Roger Goodell being so stuck in his stupid jelly ass, fucking hair it's. He's so stuck in his ways and his hair is so damn stuck up to his head that you can't even get past it.
Speaker 1:Why do you think people boo him whenever he goes up on the stage at the draft? The NFL draft has consistently started with a boo for the past like 10 years. As soon as Roger Goodell gets up there, before he even says good afternoon, name city, before he even gets up there, before he even says good afternoon name city, right Before he even gets up there to speak, the mics are only picking up the boos. That's how loud it is. You can't even hear him.
Speaker 2:Even in this year's draft you couldn't hear him.
Speaker 1:Right, it's pathetic. Nobody likes him and the NFL it's not, like they can't do something about it. And, god knows, we're probably about to have a Barstool Sports type of blow up here on the podcast, because that's what happened to Dave Portnoy. He talked shit about Roger Goodell and makes it. You know, he's locked up with a t-shirt with his mugshot on it and he sells a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of them.
Speaker 1:Right Maybe that's what we need to do. Let's go handcuff ourselves together, like Dave Portnoy did. Go handcuff ourselves together, fly to the corporate office in New York and go sit outside Goodell's office Right Me, you and, like a couple other buddies, like I know, cade would be in. Cade would do it for sure.
Speaker 2:That would be funny.
Speaker 1:But I mean, I think that's what we need to do. I think we're running out of options here. You know, I mean it's a guaranteed success rate, and the one man that's tried it is now known as El Presidente Right and he runs a multi-million dollar sports organization.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to copy exactly in his footsteps, but it seems like he's on to something.
Speaker 2:Right? No, I agree, I agree with that plenty. Portnoy's a big name in sports, regardless of you know. He's putting in million dollar bets and taking, you know, crazy props and stuff and all the guys in Barstool are doing that. But Portnoy's on to some. I do agree with that, right, I'm excited to see. I like Barstool. I do. I really like Barstool sports. I like what they got going. They're funny.
Speaker 1:Very funny.
Speaker 2:They do uncover some shit too, to be honest.
Speaker 1:Did you see that, georgia?
Speaker 2:pitcher in college baseball. Yeah yeah, he was putting a foreign substance on his glove. Oh yeah, oh shit. Oh yeah, somebody sent it into Barstool and Barstool posted it and then ESPN was kind of like investigating it. And now NCAA is investigating it. So Georgia pitching, you guys are in trouble.
Speaker 1:That's good to see though.
Speaker 2:Again.
Speaker 1:LSU bias here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, lsu bias here. Lsu baseball is suspect. We just went to one of their games. Thank God they won on a walk-off Against Auburn, bro, against Auburn, who's not very good this year.
Speaker 1:Not good at all, bro. You know how many wins that they have in the SEC play this year.
Speaker 2:How many?
Speaker 1:Three, and one of those came against LSU. Yeah, because of course we're not going to sweep anybody in the SEC, apparently we can't do it.
Speaker 2:We got the hangover we got the hangover. We definitely got the hangover. We got the hangover from the national championship we won and it was like, oh shit, shit's about Showed the impact of Paul Skeens. You know what I mean, Right.
Speaker 1:And Dylan Cruz and Thadger Hurd last year.
Speaker 2:Absolute tank and Hackenhausen in the World Series played great. Then he just got hurt. He was hurt at that game that we went to Right. You know when was it A couple days ago.
Speaker 1:Last week, yeah Saturday against.
Speaker 2:Auburn Was it Saturday? Yeah, yeah, we went to the Auburn game. Nate Akenhausen gets hurt, some with his leg, and it's just like man. These guys are just going down and down and down. You know what I mean? Right, and it's just a tough watch for the LSU sports fans. It is a tough watch.
Speaker 1:So back, we're going to kind of jump back a little bit again. We're kind of getting a little off topic and kind of going back to topic. But that's what you can expect out of us. We're unscripted, raw uncut, still all the same that we used to do with Tales from Tigerland, just to a set topic now. Right, I agree, but we're going to jump back a little bit. Caleb Williams first pick of the draft.
Speaker 2:I don't know. He's a little girly for me. He's a little girly for me as a first-round QB, with them painted fingernails and whatnot. That's a little suspect. Pink iPhone that's a little suspect.
Speaker 1:That's a little suspect, especially his scream at the end.
Speaker 2:But look, as they said in Moneyball, we know when they were talking about Jeremy Giambi, you ever seen Moneyball?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've seen Moneyball.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when they're talking about Jeremy Giambi, you know in that room with scouts and Peter Brand is there and he goes. We know what he can do on the field, but off the field you know what I mean I don't know what Caleb Williams got going on. I'm interested to see what he does, because in college, on the field, he was arguably one of the best players in college football during his time span there, won a Heisman and whatnot and finished second in Heisman voting or whatever. You know what I mean. Or you know it was Pennix Daniels, marvin Harrison and somebody else. Was it Caleb Williams? No, was it Caleb Williams? No, was it Caleb Williams? I don't remember. Anyways, it might have been Caleb Williams there at the Heisman ceremony. Anyways, I mean, we know what he can do on the field. I just don't know if he fits into the Bears organization that well. They had a great draft though. They got a lot of good guys. They got Rome too. Rome's a great wide receiver out of Washington.
Speaker 1:Keenan.
Speaker 2:Allen, keenan Allen, they still got Cole Kmet.
Speaker 1:The Bears have a chance to be good. But the Bears, quite frankly, are quite like the Pelicans they're just going to shit the bed with their number one picks. Quite, like the Pel.
Speaker 2:They need to put Tyler Bajan back in.
Speaker 1:What can you expect out of a poverty franchise like the Bears and the Pelicans and I don't mean to call them that, but that's what they are Straight up. I call it like it is here. That's what we do at the Green Check Guys pod, because that's what we do we chase a green check. That's what it is, and we chase a big check. That's all we do around here.
Speaker 2:But Jay jayden at the number two pick, I liked it, I liked it. I don't know if I liked it at to washington. You know what I mean. Right, you know, especially with everything we discussed about. You know washington's field in general, but I mean washington was all right with, uh how, sam howell, the third at a unc. They draft, you know, they draft jayaden. I think he can definitely be a dynamic playmaker for them. I'm excited to see what he can do. The Saints got Kool-Aid.
Speaker 1:Kool-Aid was a great pick.
Speaker 2:Kool-Aid McKinstry I think so him and Marshawn and Paulson Adebo out there. I think we have the ability to lock down a lot of defenders, but our offense needs to get going. I don't know how we're going to do with Spencer Rattler. I think Spencer Rattler is also quite a suspect pick. I like him. Look, I'll never forget. I'll never forget when we took Spencer Rattler to throw for 275 yards, what game were we watching? That was.
Speaker 1:UNC. Wasn't it UNC versus South Carolina South?
Speaker 2:Carolina and Drake May went off, had like five tutties, four tutties and 300-some-plus yards. And Spencer Rattler had like 220 and three interceptions and maybe like one touchdown pass.
Speaker 1:And they still only lost by what like one or two points.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they had a lot of coming from their. You know their running back and their wide receiver it was just. I'll never forget that and that's why I'm always questionable with Spencer Rattler. You know he went from Oklahoma. At Oklahoma he had arguably a halfway decent season. You know what I mean. When he needed to be Went to South Carolina Didn't really fit in. You know who I do like out of South Carolina. We were talking about this at work earlier. Xavier Xavier Leggett, that dude's a dog right there, man. That dude's a country man right there.
Speaker 1:I woke up next day and they told me I was going to be out there at the facility for 9-3. Not even close and they was going to be picking me up.
Speaker 2:Way more country than that, but Way more country than that but like deeper though somehow. Yeah, I can't do all that.
Speaker 1:I'm from the hills they were Well not the hills there ain't even got a damn hill in Louisiana.
Speaker 2:But that was some real country stuff. There I saw a TikTok edit to like him and it was like George Strait was playing in the background and it was like him talking and it was awesome. It was like, damn damn, this guy might actually be legit. And you know, when you look at his, his film, it's like he's a great receiver. He's a great red receiver he's incredible.
Speaker 1:I'm excited to see what he can do. Unfortunately, he is a carolina panther. We're not a fan of that and we're not a fan of that again, but we're a fan of it we like.
Speaker 2:we like isabella get. We don't like the carolina panther organization Right or Bryce Young because he's from Alabama. The good news is the Panthers freaking suck dude. They're going to be bad regardless. I'm a little worried. I was a little confused with that Michael Penix pick. That one did throw me off a lot. To the Falcons.
Speaker 1:I didn't know Atlanta was in Alabama because they fuck Cousins.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Kirk Cousins was mad. Because they fucked Cousins. Yeah, kirk Cousins was mad, that's funny. Kirk Cousins was mad. I saw that report about his camp.
Speaker 1:Was mad and confused about what's going on.
Speaker 2:I don't know, they traded Desmond Ritter, right. Right, they did correct.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I believe so Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they traded Desmond Ritter, so I'm excited to see. You know, obviously Penix is going to back him up. The problem is, you know, penix is 25, with questionable injuries. You know what I mean. How good of a backup can he be? I think, if anything, he needs to start now to figure out if he's going to be a real deal or not. You know what I mean. Right, like, let's get it over with. You know you're not going to make him sit behind somebody, especially with lingering issues. You know what I mean. If he's going to be healthy, you need to see what he's going to be like. Yeah, you need to get him out. You need to get him out on the field. You need to, you know, make sure he can make these passes and scramble around, because in that college football semifinal he showed, he showed it. You know, in college in general he showed great pocket awareness. He showed great ability to throw the rock. I like Michael Penix, but I just don't know. I just don't know how much longer he's got left in him, especially at 25.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean, yeah, I mean he's already an old QB and he's a rookie and he's a rookie and he's had a lot of injuries and also we all know what happened the last time. I mean pitbulls in atlanta must be scared right now because atlanta just drafted another michael left-handed black qb michael vick. Michael vick shaking his boots, yeah, nah or the pitbulls in atlanta are shaking in their boots. We know what happened to them last time.
Speaker 2:That's crazy, but I think it was a good draft overall.
Speaker 1:I think it was. I mean a lot of great talent. I mean even even guys going in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds. There were still dames in there that I thought even maybe could have been like a round two, round, three guy right, I agree there were a lot of guys falling.
Speaker 2:We had btj brian thomas jr. Uh, we had him to go in the first round under what 20? 19 and a half.
Speaker 1:So under 20.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah. We needed him to go in the top 20, and he didn't. There was just a lot of QBs that went. You know what I mean. There was a lot of linemen and stuff that were going as well. A lot of linemen and stuff that were going as well.
Speaker 1:On most note, a draft record actually happened last week during the draft yeah, 14 straight offensive players to open the night, latoy Latu, which we had to go in the top 10.
Speaker 2:We had to go in the top 10.
Speaker 1:Latoy Latu was the first defensive player picked off the board at the 15 spot.
Speaker 2:It's crazy. It is crazy because everybody seems like they need an offensive guy when their defenses aren't that good. Right, you could very much add on the defensive end. I think there was a lot of great defensive talent in this draft. They just didn't do it.
Speaker 1:Especially see kool-aid fall as far as he did. We got him at what? 41, the 41st pick of the draft, I think yeah, we traded up.
Speaker 2:We got him early in the second, but still like that.
Speaker 1:That's late for him. I feel like and there's a lot of people that that think, oh, kool-aid's not that good of a defender because he only had two picks in his whole college career. Okay, look at his passes defended. How many passes were caught on?
Speaker 1:right not very many, not very many, like not many at all. So I think that's an incredible pick, and the saints always just have a nod for finding guys in that second or third round that are going to be absolute tanks, and I think kool-aid is going to be that guy this year, I hope so I he can very much fit in as a one guy.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean, right you can insert him right into the lineup and he's going to be ready to roll. I think he can defend at a very high level already, right um, against some of the best in the nation. Um, I'm excited to see what he can do. You know, as a saints fan, I think he'll be good. And I'm dude, I want one of them. Kool-aid jerseys me too. I want a mckinstry jersey. I want a mckinstry jersey. I'm excited, I'm excited for when those come out.
Speaker 1:I want to get one I want to know what number he's gonna wear. I think he's gonna wear a cool ass number. I think he will too. It's got to be an even number. I won't buy his jersey the only jersey I have. That's not an even. Actually I have two. I've got the odell jersey from lsu.
Speaker 2:You got the odell jersey and then I got a drew brees jersey.
Speaker 1:But yeah, without a doubt, those are the only two odd number jerseys that I own dude, I like, I like them.
Speaker 2:Odell jerseys. I've got one, the purple lsc one with the sec logo and I got the yellow four net jersey that four net jerseys I wear that. I wear that a good bit. That's a really nice jersey because it's all yellow and not many you know not many people have that Right. But outside of that I got like two Drew Brees jerseys, like the all black and gold, and then I got the all white with the black accents. That one's pretty nice. And then I had the RG3 jersey. It's a little too big on me.
Speaker 1:I'll take it I have the Reggie Bush jersey.
Speaker 2:I have the LSU Reggie Bush jersey and then I have Reggie Bush when he first got traded to the Dolphins with the tag still on it. With the tag still on it. Haven't done nothing with that.
Speaker 1:And it's all teal you need to show me that, yeah, I need to send it to you.
Speaker 2:It's an all teal jersey. It's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm already knowing, bro, but I think that's gonna be a wrap. I agree, I liked it, I did I.
Speaker 2:I enjoyed having you by my side again, jono. I'm excited.
Speaker 1:I'm excited we're gonna get on this for the people to hear it. We're gonna we're not gonna miss a week, like I said earlier in the episode. I appreciate you guys tuning in. Thank you very much for listening. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I'm sure jono appreciate you yeah, absolutely, I'm excited.
Speaker 2:I'm thank y'all for listening, uh, and getting this far with us. Um, we appreciate the support and everything and we're excited to keep putting stuff out for y'all right.
Speaker 1:We got a lot of good content, as I mentioned earlier, got a lot of good guests lined up. The only way from here is up. Bro, I agree, the only way from here is up. There's's no downhill slides, there's no slacking off. We're in this thing.
Speaker 2:I agree.
Speaker 1:And it's going to work out. This is going to be a great idea. We've got it all lined out in front of us. It's just perfect.
Speaker 2:We've got one set topic now.
Speaker 1:It's not like.
Speaker 2:We're deviating. I love Tales from the Past. I like Tales I I like Tales from Tigerland. I love it.
Speaker 1:It was one of the most incredible podcasts, one of the most fun times I've ever had in this podcasting journey that I've had for the last four or five years of my life. Jono for the last two years of his Tales from Tigerland was very fun. But here we are again. You're Tales from Tigerland, guys, but we're talking about sports. I mean, what more could you ask?
Speaker 2:for I agree.
Speaker 1:You get. I mean, what more could you ask? I agree, you get tales from tiger land, just with a set topic. Nothing changed. I agree, nothing, nothing still raw and uncut.
Speaker 1:We are still the same raw and uncut. Just like I lay it down on your mama. I'll be fun. I'm thinking about taking that out, but I'm probably gonna leave it in there, okay, just because I don't really all right. I mean, dude, cancel me, like what's that gonna do? Get me more views and have more people hate me and love me at the same time. I'm cool with that. Thursday Enough people hate me and enough people love me already as is.
Speaker 2:Thursday Thursday, 8.30. 8.30. 8.30.
Speaker 1:We will be dropping episodes from this point forward. Follow us on Instagram at Green Check guys. Thank you so much for listening.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.