Episode 76 - Nothing but Adaption or Denial

Mike runs his mouth about snow panic, found-money football seasons, and why legacy isn’t frozen in time. From the Patriots’ improbable Super Bowl run to Bill Belichick’s complicated ending, and a body-positivity commercial that sparked a bigger conversation about health, denial, and adaptation — this episode is about what happens when reality changes… and whether we choose to adjust or pretend it didn’t.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Snow Panic And Media Hysteria
• 2:35 Pats Win And Super Bowl Reality
• 5:40 Belichick’s Legacy And First-Ballot Snub
• 9:10 The Commercial And Body Positivity
• 12:20 Profit, Health Shortcuts, And Outcomes
• 15:10 Adaptation Over Denial

Transcript

Mike: 0:10

Alright, so hopefully everybody was safe during that storm 90% of the country got. You know, I've said this before, I'm gonna say it again. Snow is only appropriate from like December 13th to about January 10th. Like, once the magic of the holidays wears off and the whole winter wonderland, oh, we gotta have a white Christmas, that whole bullshit becomes a non-entity anymore. Snow just becomes a useless element. What does it do? Make old people throw out their backs, it makes people drive more like assholes than they would on a normal day of their lives. All of a sudden now a little bit of snow comes their way and the toilet paper is just gone, like it's COVID again. Oh my gosh. You can last three days in a blizzard. I understand. Maybe you might lose power, you're freaking out. But like, I don't know. Shouldn't you normally have toilet paper on hand just regardless? Like, who's out here just not having toilet paper in their house? And then all of a sudden there's news of a blizzard, and that's when the light clicks on. Hey, I should probably go out and get some toilet paper. What have you been using before you came to that realization that you're out of toilet paper in your house? You're giving the cat or the dog the side eye? Like, mm-hmm. But then you know what also kind of baffles me is how people will then just stock up on all the food in the house because they're worried that they're gonna go without food if they don't have power. But guess what, morons? If you lose power, guess what you also lose? Electricity. So unless you're going out there and buying pounds of ice and you've got a thousand beach coolers lying around, why are you stocking up your fridge? Where are you gonna put all of it if it goes bad once you lose your electricity? Just get the essentials. I don't know. I blame the news. I mean, I'm not gonna sit here and downplay how much snow we got because it was a fuck ton. But I think the news ultimately just puts people into this mass hysteria of like, oh my god, I'm gonna lose power for like X amount of days, and I'm not gonna have toilet paper and XYZ. Like, people just go fucking crazy because the news just builds up this mass hysteria. Guys, it's not that deep. But speaking of news, how about them Pats kid? Fucking going into Mile High Stadium and facing a team without their starting quarterback, without their starting running back, and without their starting left tackle. But you know what? Fuck it. A win's a win. But you know what? I gotta be honest. In retrospect, this is kind of like when the only single guys left that last call going home with the leftovers. It's not the prettiest, it's not the most braggable, but you can head home with your head held up. But I I think I can speak for most Pats fans when I say that coming into this season, we would have just been thrilled with 10 wins. Like maybe making a wild card game just functional again after those abysmal last few Belichick years, the Gerard Mayo year. But instead, we're going to the Super Bowl, which is kind of like a fever dream. And look, I'm I'm happy, but I'm not delusional. We got this far just to fucking get smoked in the Super Bowl. At least that's my prediction. Fellow Pats fans, be honest with yourselves. The Seahawks are just a better overall team, they got better receivers, their defense is just lights out. Plus, for the guy who said, I'm gonna fight and die to protect Drake May with everything I got. It truly begs the question of how much Will Campbell actually does got. Because for the past three games, he's been getting smoked. But you know what? Whether it's a win or a loss in the Super Bowl, I'm gonna be happy because the Patriots really shouldn't even be where they are right now. And honestly, it's just greener grass ahead because it this is just a young team. We got the right coach, we got the right personnel. This team's gonna be back to being dangerous, and it's all I could ask for as a pass fan who grew up during the dynasty era. But I gotta be honest, it keeps making me think about Belichick. Like, honestly, how do you think he feels watching this from his couch while he's going up and fucking everything over at UNC? I mean, he can't be too unhappy. He's got his hot young girlfriend, he's got the less stress of being in the NFL. But you gotta wonder if he just thinks, like, dude, this could have been possible? Like, I could have had another one? If I wasn't such a dickhead, I could have had an actual QB. And that's also kind of why I keep thinking about Bill. It's not about his play calling or his schemes, but it's about the legacy aspect of what Belichick had. Cause I don't know if you guys saw this, but this week, Belichick did not make the Hall of Fame the first year that he was eligible. Which sounds insane when you think about it, because over the course of two decades, the guy had 333 wins, six rings, eight, if you count the two that he got with the Giants as an assistant coach, and had arguably the greatest dynasty in all of modern sports. And I think people forgot just how great he was, just due to the way that his tenure with the Patriots ended. People want to talk about how he wasn't able to do anything without Brady, his career pre-Brady and post-Brady. He's only got a 44% win streak, all this stuff. But also, a coach is only as good as the weapons that he has available, right? And Belichick was also the master of making nobody into somebody's. I mean, friggin' Chris Hogan was a lacrosse player, undrafted free agent, wins a Super Bowl with the Patriots in what year was that? 2018, always open Hogan? Like, come on. Who did Belichick really have as a quarterback besides Brady? Drew Bledsoe? You ever look at Drew Bledsoe's numbers? It's not like he was rocking a 500 average for career wins. He was slightly below it. And then who's he get after Brady? A low-key washed up Cam Newton and a low-key glorified backup quarterback in Mac Jones? But ultimately, at the end of the day, the problem was, especially around 2020, the game just completely evolved to where Belichick was trying to instill old school style play, and he just couldn't really keep up with the game anymore. So he kind of outstayed his welcome. But I just don't know how you don't vote that guy in first ballot. Because people want to say, oh, it's deflate gate, it's what it's it's spy gate. No, I honestly think one, it could just be bitter fucking people who lost against him all those years, because those were the sore losers that had to vote his ass in. Because I don't think the last few years of his NFL career should really have any basis on his legacy, because legacy isn't frozen. To me, I think it moves with context, and when the game changes, the last version people see of you matters, whether that's fair or not. Now that idea kept bouncing around in my head while I was watching this game, which is how I ended up seeing this fucking absolutely wild commercial. And from what I understand, this commercial initially aired during the Rose Bowl, but then it aired again during the AFC Championship game, which is where I did see it. And it's pretty much just this morbidly obese fat guy talking to the camera, and he's just like, I bet you think I should lose weight. I bet you think I need to hear about your workout routine. I'm gonna focus on what really matters, which is how I feel waking up in the morning. Oh, if you don't think I had a comment for everything this guy fucking said, I bet you think I should lose weight. Fuck yeah, I do. I bet you think I need to hear about your workout routine. You know, buddy, lifting a quarter pound or four times your face hole doesn't count as a one-pound bicep curl. I'm gonna be focusing on what really matters, which is how I feel waking up in the morning. News flash, pal. I don't think you got many of those left. But alright. All fat jokes aside, that's not why I'm bringing this up. Because anyone can make jokes at someone else's expense. That's easy, that's lazy, and honestly, it's not even that funny. Which is contradictory because I just did it. But if that was the whole point, I wouldn't even bother. What is low-key funny, and by funny I mean absolutely fucking absurd, is what they're promoting and where they're promoting it. Think about it. This aired during football games, where even the biggest guys in the field are peak physical specimens. These dudes are 300 pounds, but they're conditioned, disciplined, and explosive. Former linemen talk about this all the time. Even Jason Kelsey, who said losing some of his playing weight after retirement made his knees and his back feel better. As a former fat guy myself, you don't necessarily want to lose the weight because you hate yourself. You might hate looking at yourself, but you don't necessarily hate yourself. It's also because carrying that much weight on your body, even if it's as low as five or ten pounds, it adds that much more stress to yourself. You become uncomfortable. You ever see those fucking people in my 600-pound life? Those people are panting, sweating, sitting down. Sitting down is uncomfortable. And I'm not just talking about the typical 30 plus year old who, when they sit down, they go, uh, they're not talking about the old people grunts. It's literally physically uncomfortable to sit down when you're that obese and you can't even fucking use your hand and reach around to wipe your own ass. Hey, you know what? Maybe full circle moment, we figured out where all the fucking toilet paper went. These people need it. I can only imagine if you're 600 pounds, the type of shit that person's taking. Look at this size shit that our bunny rabbit makes versus a Doberman. Quite the comparison. Alright, Mike, let's get back on track here. So to run a commercial basically saying being fat is just easier than being healthy. Which I didn't really get too much into the commercial, I'm just kind of making fun of it. But that really was the overall messaging of this thing during a sport that exists entirely because taking care of your body matters, that's not body positivity, that's really mixed messaging. And here's where it gets even weirder. Because the opposite extreme doesn't get this treatment at all. If this treatment were about somebody severely anorexic, nobody would say, Oh, this is beautiful. We should accept this. Don't question what their choices are. Do you think anybody in their right mind would brand an anorexic person as being brave for quote unquote being who they are? Meanwhile, all they really have is body dysmorphia and a true eating disorder? No, everybody would say that's unhealthy, that person needs help. But when we look at a fat person, it's oh, we should accept who they are, even though that person is unhealthy and they need help. So why does the compassion mean intervention in one direction, but affirmation or silence in the other? And we've already seen this play out. A few years ago, when Lizzo decided that she was gonna start losing weight, people online went nuts. Like improving her health was some kind of a betrayal. That's when body positivity stopped being about dignity and started being about never changing. And that's the huge difference. Because dignity and health are not opposites. And look, it's not attractive to see somebody running and it looks like a sound wave is coming at you. But the good news is at least it's a monster you can definitely outrun. But jokes aside, that's not even the real issue. The real issue is this idea that unhealthy outcomes are being framed as empowering. For what purpose? Who does this actually help? And did anyone else notice something? The commercial used a man. Why not a woman? Because it's still way more socially acceptable to show a fat man than a fat woman? Which is ironic, because unhealthiness doesn't care about gender. It shows up everywhere. And again, if this were the opposite extreme, if this were somebody about severe anorexia, we wouldn't celebrate it, we wouldn't brand it, we wouldn't call it brave, we'd intervene. And then I looked it up. This commercial was run by a pharmaceutical company, and suddenly the whole thing makes sense. Because chronic unhealthiness is incredibly profitable. Blood pressure meds, heart medication, inhalers, diabetes treatments, there's a lot of money in managing symptoms. There is not nearly as much money in prevention. And before anyone twists this, this is not about hating people just because they're fat or hating people in general. Because when a corporation tells you never change, it's worth asking who benefits if you don't. Why do you think drugs like Ozempic exploded? It's because people are desperate for outcomes. Not because they're evil or weak, but because changing your life is hard. And shortcuts sell better than discipline. At some point, we have to be honest that outcomes matter. That doesn't mean shame, that doesn't mean cruelty, it means acknowledging that habits add up. If you eat the sleeve of cookies, fine. Just don't eat the whole fucking box and pretend it's empowering. This also isn't about attractiveness. It's not about morality and it's not about honesty. Dignity means that you matter right now. It doesn't mean nothing should ever change. And you know what? I think the more I think about it, the more I'm realizing that this whole thing isn't actually about football or snow or even that stupid commercial, but it's about how people react when reality changes. Belichick didn't fall off because he forgot how to football. He fell off because the game changed and he kept trying to solve it the old way. The league moved, but he didn't move with it. And you see the same thing every time it snows. People emptying the shelves like it's the apocalypse, driving like absolute maniacs. Everyone either panics or pretends nothing's different instead of just adjusting. And that's why that commercial, I think, bothered me. Because it wasn't about dignity, it was about denial. It wasn't saying you matter, it was saying nothing needs to change. And that's the common thread. When reality makes people uncomfortable, we either adapt or we lie to ourselves. Belichick didn't adapt fast enough. People don't adapt to snow, they overreact or ignore it. And that commercial wasn't helping people adapt, it was telling them to stay exactly how they are. But the truth is, those two things aren't enemies. You matter right now. That doesn't mean you shouldn't change. Think about how much I've also adapted in the past year. Going from saying fuck corporate to going into bartending to then being like fuck bartending, going back into corporate, you could admit that your old way of thinking was wrong. And that's true in football, it's true in health, and honestly, it's just true in life. So, anyways, that's all I got. Stay warm, be honest with yourself, and we'll talk next time.