Two for the Win
Mike is a U.S. Navy Veteran and Bryan has more than a decade of civil service experience. Together, these blue collar guys dissect the latest sports headlines and events.
Two for the Win
Two for the Win - S2.75 - Playoff Sweeps & Hard Truths; Welcome! Brian "Madd Maxx" Morrison!
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A sweep can end a season fast, but it can also expose everything a team tried to hide. We start with the NHL playoffs and the series that are already tilting hard, then shift into MLB news that hits home, including the legacy of Braves legend Bobby Cox and what real clubhouse leadership looks like over decades. From early trades to strange headlines and highlight moments, we connect the dots between small roster moves and big-season outcomes.
Then we hit the NBA playoffs where the margin is razor thin. We talk Donovan Mitchell’s huge scoring swing, why bench production decides series, and how physical defense changes the math in May. We also get into the Lakers conversation fans can’t stop having: the optics of players confronting referees, what accountability should look like, and how roster construction can break down when defense becomes the price of star power.
The back half turns to the NFL offseason with a mix of remembrance and roster building, from Craig Morton’s passing to key signings and why multiple tight end sets are surging again, including what David Njoku joining the Chargers could unlock. And to close, we bring you an exclusive interview with Brian “Mad Max” Morrison, indie pro wrestler and Por Vita drummer, on life on the road, injury comebacks, building a music career in Virginia, and what sobriety and AA taught him about showing up for yourself. If you like smart sports talk with real-life grit, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave us a review.
May 12th, 2026. Welcome back everybody and thank you for joining us once again for another episode of Sports Talk with us. I'm Brian with an I. And I'm Mike. And we are two for the win. Mike, what are we cooking tonight?
SPEAKER_02Well, playoffs are cooking, and you know, one thing you don't want to be on the opposite end of is a sweep when it comes to the playoffs. And no, I am not talking about the Lakers. And we're gonna dive into a little bit of baseball news as well as talk a little football. But we have something a little special tonight.
SPEAKER_03What do we got, Brian? Oh, we got another exclusive interview. This time with our good friend Brian, Mad Max Morrison, Poor Vita Drummer and Indie Pro Wrestler coming up here at the end of this episode. On this episode, very excited to uh show you what we've done with him as well. Next week, killing it with the interviews, Mike, our friend Brandon Casey. More on that one later. But right now, we're eager to introduce uh Mad Max. And before we get rolling too soon, uh too fast, Mike. Sorry I get hit myself. Everybody, I just want to give a shout-out to our sponsors and partners. Uh, Body by D Gym, located in Yorktown and Gloucester. Uh, Deshaun's a former bodybuilding champion and training future bodybuilding champions in their own right, as well as many uh youth-oriented and community-oriented uh things happening, and they are now an official AKC venue. Congratulations, guys! Our good friends Caden and Christian over at Solace Outfitters, uh, made in Norfolk uh clothing company, and our friend Dub over there running that show good. And our good friends, as always, MATW Mid-Atlantic Territory Wrestling, who, by the way, their next event is coming up, is a free one, May 23rd in Shenandoah at the Carnival Grounds. That one's at 6.15 and their next major event, Scars and Stripes, their annual event every June. Don't miss this one, everybody. That one's gonna be June 13th at Body by D Gym, and doors open for that one at 5 p.m., everybody. And Mike, I know I'm running long-winded, but we're gonna talk about our good friend Jason's. Take a breath. Yeah, I know, right? We're gonna talk one last time. Our last partner and friend of ours, our good friend Jason Swain, who we all heard last week on the show. Uh his band, Request Station, is going to be playing this Saturday, 5.16, at Ocean Beach Club, Virginia Beach, 3 to 7 p.m. And next week, 523, Eagles Nest, 9.30. And Mike, that's one of my hangouts, so I might be at that one, boy.
NHL Playoffs And Avoiding Sweeps
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you can often catch him at Eagle's Nest. But let's start off tonight diving into some hockey playoff. Hockey. So we're gonna start off in the West and talk about the Colorado Avalanche that are kind of easily taking away this series against the wild. Uh, they're leading that series three to one and just looking like they got a handle on this.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, Avalanche just running hot right now. A nice little warm-up with the Kings there in round one, you know. No, with the wild. I know I'm looking at their first round. Yeah, the Kings are already gone.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they their warm-up. Sorry, I was thinking about the uh Golden Knights down here go going against the Ducks, and that's been a proven to be a very good series, tied up 2-2 right now.
SPEAKER_03Actually, I saw this game. Well, the last game.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I'm hoping the Ducks move on personally because I just want to see them have some success after so many years of just not having success. They they really need this as a fan fan base. I'm pulling for the Ducks because the penguins are already out. Sliding over here. Sliding over here to the east. We're gonna talk about about the Buffalo Sabres and the Canadians. Right now, Buffalo's got the well, actually, no correction. Let me slow down here. The Sabres the Canadians have the lead two to one in that series, and they're actually going right now, and you have the Sabres up one-nothing in the first period with 1156 still to go in that. And moving over here to what I was alluding to. Dang. Dang is right. Flyers. Where were you? Because you guys swept.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they walking, they're not flying anywhere. I don't even think they have shoes on.
SPEAKER_02The hurricane said no fly zone. Y'all go on home. We got this, and they're already they're the only team right now. Yeah, go ahead. Moved on to the championship round.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, go on ahead and pass the torch over to the Eagles because y'all's is just done. Well, we all know it's an Eagles City.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, flyers come kind of come after the Phillies and I think after the Sixers.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02For most fans.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we're not we're not counting on them. So go on ahead and get your football season rolling, Flyers fans.
SPEAKER_02Man, with the dominance that that the hurricanes are showing and the avalanche showing, we might be seeing the Avalanche hurricanes final, but you know, which is why we watch the playoffs.
SPEAKER_03The hurricanes happen. Didn't they win? Was the hurricanes or the panthers that won last season? I keep getting them Panthers. It was the Panthers. Okay, I keep getting them mixed up for some reason.
SPEAKER_02Panthers.
SPEAKER_03I just really like hurricanes. It's probably because I'm from Virginia and we got a hurricane problem here.
SPEAKER_02No, we don't. Don't say that. Don't put that bad Juju on us.
SPEAKER_03Who's Juju?
SPEAKER_02What? I don't know anybody named Juju. Juju Smith Schuster. Oh. Oh. But we're not talking about that.
Bobby Cox Legacy And MLB Moves
SPEAKER_03I don't know him though. I know of him. You know of him. Yeah. Anyway. That of thing. Let's go ahead and slide on into some baseball action. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. We're uh we're starting this off baseball with a side note, and especially hits me a little bit um because I'm a Braves fan. And this is kind of a big one. Bobby Cox, lifetime Braves manager, World Series champ with the Braves, has passed away. Um now, granted, he's 84 years old, so you know he lived a long life.
SPEAKER_03I mean, 84, but lived a very full life at that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Full of baseball. Bobby Cox was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 2014. Uh he has won more than 2,500 games in his career as a manager. And one of the one of the things I remember is, you know, Bobby Cox, if he had an issue, he wasn't quiet about it. He was coming up and he was getting all he could get from the mumps, and he would get thrown often. But he had a way of getting the most he could out of players. Like for some reason, they would pluck a guy out of out of uh free agency, and you wouldn't really know who the guy was. But when he got to the Braves, he just, you know, not to be you know kind of cliche, but he'd get them playing Atlanta Braves baseball. You know, they would play a certain way, you know, the guys would play tough, they would play hard for him, and he just had that way about him. And you could tell because like all of his players loved him, all of them did, and all of all of the staff loved him too. You know, and he didn't play long as a as an actual major leaguer, he only had two seasons playing with the New York Yankees from 1968 to 1969, finished with a batting a average of 225, so just barely over the Mendoza line there, but he got into managing and never looked back, you know.
SPEAKER_03He Hey, good on good on him, man, because he found a way to still stay in the sport in the industry, uh, because he wanted it. He loved it so bad. He said, Okay, well, I'm maybe I'm not player material, but I know this game, and obviously his track record proves it.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, he led the Brave Braves from 1991 to 2005, getting the lone World Series title in in 1995, and you know, they did they did go to another World Series and unfortunately lost to the Yankees. Damn Yanks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When they were buying everything. But they they were dominant, they won the division multiple times during that that 14-year stretch, you know, as and actually it was 14 years of dominance, you know. They basically won the division every year, but he will be sorely missed. This is definitely a hard-hitting one for the Braves.
SPEAKER_03Yes, and we have Braves Nation. And we're only getting started here because we have a couple pieces of sad news tonight, but our thoughts and prayers certainly go out to him, his family, and his community, uh, and everybody affected by his loss. He will truly sorely be missed.
SPEAKER_02So, diving into some stuff that's been happening, we're we're not even midway through the baseball season. We're already seeing a little trades happening. The Guardians acquired gold glove catcher Bailey from the Giants, uh, Patrick Bailey to be exact. Um, he was originally a number 29 pick uh in the in the draft for the Giants. Um they're getting a solid player. He's only 26 years old. And for the Guardians, I mean, I guess they're just trying to load up. I mean, they send him away and just get a pitching prospect, a uh Matt Wilk Wilkinson in return. So hopefully, yeah, hopefully he turns out to be pretty good. I mean, if you're giving up one of your already at the major league level players for a prospect.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, clearly they feel like they just need a piece or two, and they're just well, a few pieces, but uh they clearly feel like they can make a run, if not now, then next season. But I think they're thinking this season if they're making moves right now like this.
SPEAKER_02So the Dodgers bolster their outfield depth by bringing in Alec Thomas uh in a trade for for a prospect with the uh Diamondbacks. The I don't want to get this right. The prospect is, and I love making Brian do this right there in blue, Brian.
SPEAKER_03Again, I thought this was AI's uh job now, but Jose Raquena. Rikina. I don't know. Raquena sounds like a good one.
SPEAKER_02Rikina sound sounds pretty good to me. Jose, regardless, has been traded to he's an outfield prospect, been traded over to the Diamondbacks, which is a rare, you know, in division trade.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, because in fact we were just talking about the Dodgers a second ago. Um so yeah, that's uh interesting there.
SPEAKER_02That is an interesting trade to make it uh so as I as I'm looking over some of the headlines here, I saw one that seems to have caught my eye. It's a little weird. Uh Oriol's headline is Beavers Scratched from O's lineup. Beaver Beavers Scratched from O's lineup.
SPEAKER_03You know, that is that is a funny one.
SPEAKER_02Like, oh because of right oblique discomfort. That's that is a funny headline. I mean, uh maybe we could have found a better way to put that headline.
SPEAKER_03I mean I think they did that on purpose, honestly.
SPEAKER_02Some someone's got a little bit of humor over there with MLB in their news department. Um, but uh kind of diving back, I wanted to point out uh Braves just had a road trip where they played the uh the Mariners and the Dodgers. Uh didn't fare so well with the Mariners. They took that series, but they played the Dodgers in their house and took the series. But there was an amazing catch by one of their players in the third game where he's running back towards the wall, jumps up, catches the ball, but as soon as he catches the ball and turns his head, he's like right there at the wall. He just basically eats a face full of wall before he get get falls back to the ground. And Max Muncie, who hit the ball, is looking at him like really really? He caught that dang. You know, just kicks a little dirt and goes back to the dugout like dang, I thought I had a hit.
SPEAKER_03Don't you don't you hate that? It's like, oh man, I had it. Those damn outfeelers, outfielders. I had it. I was this close. I almost said outfeelers. I said, he was feeling some wall.
SPEAKER_02Outfeelers. Getting a little feeling a little getting caught in the feelings, the feelers. Hopefully not. We don't do feels.
SPEAKER_03Wow. Well, let's move right along here. Uh, you know, short, short baseball night, short hockey night as well. Yes, yes, yes, yeah, yes. Short on the hockey, short on the house. I believe we're gonna be a little long, a little more longer-winded with basketball because there's a lot going on with basketball right now.
SPEAKER_02My God, yes, yes. Basketball, basketball is producing some some good stuff for us.
SPEAKER_03We love you, basketball. Thank you, NBA, because without you, so we might not have an episode tonight.
SPEAKER_02We're gonna rewind back and talk about games happening from Saturday on. And I want to talk about how the fact that we we pointed out last show that Donovan Mitchell is not exactly having a great playoff so far as far as his points are concerned. And man, did he show up. He showed out, he showed up this last Saturday, he gave us 35 points and 10 rebounds. That's what you want out of your star players.
SPEAKER_03Hey, look, they got the win, they got the win.
SPEAKER_02Yes, the Cavs beating the Pistons 116 to 109, and this coming on the fact that Cade Cunningham, he put up a triple double. Yeah, he had a triple-double 27 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists. So he had a good game. They just couldn't close it out. I mean, and Cavs doing their thing. I mean, these teams were balling out in that matchup. This is turning in to be a pretty good series, just all around. Like it's good physical play, and I me personally, I like when games are more physical. Playoff basketball is excellent to me because you're getting a hell of a lot more out of the basketball because the players are giving everything they can when it comes to just physical defense, physical play on both ends. Like I'm just loving the way that things are shaken out. And the Cavs really needed that 35 points from from Donovan Mitchell because you weren't getting much out of Dean Wade and you weren't getting much out of Jared Allen. I mean, he had 18 points, Evan Only, only 13 points. Harden Harden's been a little sluggish here.
SPEAKER_03He's been a little sluggish here recently. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Our guy, my guy is kind of slipping a little bit here with the Cavs, but but Kate Cunningham has to be a little excited because Tobias Harris has given him some support, getting 21 points out of him, but it's not enough. It's not enough. He needs a little more out of out of his uh uh other players around him, really more so the bench. The bench is not beyond Paul Reed, they're not getting anything in production out of their bench. And I would say the same same for over on the Cavs.
SPEAKER_03I mean, they get a little bit from Schroeder and a little bit from Struss, but you know it's it's not rotational players, but it's still not uh not enough.
SPEAKER_02Not at least on Saturday's game. But going to the Lakers and Thunder's game or Thunder. The Thunder won the game. The Thunder won the game 131 to 108 on Saturday with uh dang Hachamura having 21 points. I was expecting to see somebody else's name there. And really, you're expecting some of your big name players, your SGAs, or you know, somebody off of the starting lineup to to pop up here. But no, we're getting we're getting a young guy in Mitchell putting up 24 points, 10, 10 assists, and three steals in that game. It's like, oh, hold up.
unknownWhat?
SPEAKER_02We're getting production off our bench.
SPEAKER_03I saw a game, I think it was the I think it was a Spurs game. Actually, I think it was their most recent game.
SPEAKER_02So I I correction He doesn't come off the bench, he's a starter. But SGA only had 23 points in that game, but they were getting pretty good production out of the bench players as well. Carson or uh or what is that? No, not Cason. Carson Kayson Wallace. Quezon Wallace, my bad. Quezon Wallace had 16 points, and Isaiah Joe had 12 points. I mean, you're getting points off your bench, that's the biggest thing. I mean, Lakers getting Luke Kennard 18 points. But LeBron only showing up with 19 points in this game. But if you roll over to his assist totals, he had eight assists, so and one steal and and six blocks. I mean, he's putting he's putting in work. Yeah, he's playing heavy minutes. I mean, he's got 37 minutes, and the next the next closest players to him minutes-wise, is Hachamuro with 39 and Austin Reeves with 39. Well, that's but Austin Reeves only put up 17 points and was five of 13 in field goal chances, so that's and one of five from the from three-point range. So that's not exactly great numbers from somebody. You're kind of looking to be a key piece going down the stretch through the playoffs and into next year. Um, we'll get to what happened with the Thunder and Lakers in this series.
SPEAKER_03While while we're talking about the Lakers, uh, I think you seeing those young players come up and put some stats up is largely because Braun is mentoring them. He's doing he's putting in work, but he's also setting guys up for success.
SPEAKER_02I feel it's like a get in where you fit in kind of thing where he's basically facilitating guys to play better.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I I like what they're doing right now, they're having a lot of success.
SPEAKER_02So moving on to Sunday's games, May 10th. Uh, we had the Knicks and this and the 76ers going against each other. It's been 76ers the whole way in this series. The Knicks putting up uh 144 to 114, just dominating the Sixers in this game. Uh Carl Anthony Towns had 17 points and 10 assists. Joel Embiid, who did play in this game, only had 24 points. But I mean, when you're when you're getting beat down like this, after having a pretty good first round series against the against the uh let's see, no, the Knicks played the Raptors. The Knicks played the Raptors. Celtics got bounced by the Sixers. Yes. So, you know, you do a dominant performance again against the Celtics, and then you come in to play the play these Knicks, and you're just falling flat, man. I mean, I mean, everybody on the starting starting lineup for the Knicks had double digits and points, you know, albeit, you know, Bridges only had 12, but it's still double digits, you know, and they're getting double digits off. I mean, bench. The Knicks got some they got some good shooters on that team, though. But I mean, you're getting lackluster performances from Edgecombe and Paul George in that game with only seven points from Paul George and Edgecombe, who's been a pretty good player all year long, yeah. Only putting up eight points. I mean, you're you're just not getting production out of your starting lineup, and then you're going to the bench and it's I don't want to say non-existent, but it's like nobody on off the bench in double digits. Just not getting a lot of production. I mean, you're playing heavy minutes with your starters and your your secondary players. But your bench is just not giving you anything.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, if you're not getting anything from your bench players, like your bench kind of keeps you alive, right? You're you your starting players start strong, end the game strong, they win the game, but you're you're you need points from your bench, man, you to keep y'all going, keep your starters going.
SPEAKER_02So coming over to the other game from Sunday, we had the Spurs and the Timberwolves with the Timberwolves coming away with the 114 to 109 victory. But yeah, who wasn't there? This game comes with a little bit of controversy. Yeah. Because when you look at the stat lines, you find out Wimbenyama only had four points. He was he only had 12 minutes. Did he get hurt? No, no. Wimbinama Wimbinama is getting tired of getting the shack treatment where they're just beating up on him, and he threw an elbow in this game. Like, he's like, I'm done with y'all bullying me. I'm gonna show you, I'm not gonna take it. And so he actually took and threw a big old elbow to one of the wolves players' throats in this game, and it became a technical two, which got him thrown out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it was Nas Reed, go figure. Yeah, yeah. Who's seems to wherever the Timberwolves are, I see there's gonna be physical controversy, okay? We've been following this for a couple years now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, right. But with that said, I gotta say, and I I watched I watched this game. Their rookie that they got on the Spurs, Harper, man, that boy was playing. He was putting up points for a while.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Dylan Harper, that's the kid that came in for winning.
SPEAKER_02Dylan Dylan Harper, no, he didn't come in for Wimby, but he came and played some hard minutes and he put up 24 points coming off the bench. But this is a rookie. He wasn't playing on the road. He's the son, he's the son. He's the son of Ron Harper, former Bulls player who was there for the Jordan three-peat, at least the second three-peat. And they were getting some good production off of him off of him coming off the bench. But you're seeing double-digit points out of De'Aaron Fox, uh Vessel, and Castle. I mean, and I saw I saw Darren Fox the ball handles he had. There was a couple points in this game where he kind of like lost the ball. It looked like, oh my god, he's about to turn it over in the paint. And he just somehow scoops it back up and then puts a puts a shot up over to the defenders of the Minnesota Temper Wolves. And it's just like, how did he even get that shot off? Like he put up some good shots. Like there was one, he left dude in the dust. He broke that dude's ankles just kind of like, yep, I'm gonna take this step back and boom, sink this right in your eye.
SPEAKER_03And you know, not to take away from what you're saying, but I'm over here trying to win money, and I thought I had a surefire bet, even a pedestrian. It wasn't even a it wasn't even a crazy odds bet. It was a pedestrian bet, okay? I put a parlay on Wimby. Wow, the one time I put a parlay on Wimby. He ain't there.
SPEAKER_02So you're the mush. You're the you're the one that caused him to get get thrown out. Sir, don't put it on you. Don't put that juice on. I'm blaming it on you. It's your fault. Don't put that juice. Don't put your money on that. Anyway.
SPEAKER_03He was only supposed to get, I think, like. Oh, here we go. With the only supposed to. Alright, never mind. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that I lost. Yeah. It happens, man. You win some, you lose some. You win some, you lose some, but it's okay, because Wimby will pay me back on the next game when I put another parlay on him.
SPEAKER_02Oh man, you can do that to man twice. Anyway, I need to get over here to what we need to talk about and the fact that the Wolves with the with them playing some bully ball basically looking like uh bad boy pistons here. Uh Anthony Edwards needs a lot of shine here because Du put up 36 points on 40 minutes. So he was darn near scoring at you know a point per minute base in this game. He's sitting there shooting 13 to 22 from the field, three of five from three-point range, six rebounds, two assists, had a steal. Man was playing lights out. He's doing really well in the playoffs. And this is after you know, people were saying, I don't know if he's gonna come back. He's got an injury. And at one point in this game, dude literally walks up the tunnel to go get oxygen because he's winded, like he's he's still coming back, you know, he's been hurt, you know. So like the fact that dude's putting it all out there like tip of the cap, man.
SPEAKER_03I mean, he put it that he he put some work in. Yeah, yeah, he really did. He he brought the lunch pail to work today and said, we working through lunch. No breaks. No break for you.
SPEAKER_02You get back to work. Get back to work. So rolling into Monday night's games, we're gonna talk about the fact that the Cavaliers playing the Pistons, Cavaliers came away with the 112 victory over the 103 that the Pistons put up. And again, Mr. Donovan Mitchell. Now, this was a this was kind of an odd scenario here. So Donovan Mitchell did something that was a little bit suspicious for this game. So in the first half, he only had he only had four. Four points going into half. So you're like, oh man, he did he revert back? He's not gonna put up no points. This dude came out in the second half, put up 39 points in the second half, tying a record for most points in a half in a playoff game. So Donovan Mitchell, he heard loud and clear what the fans were saying. Get some points. Get some points. For the love of God, get some points.
SPEAKER_03Or the love of Jesus, if that's you know, I'm not gonna get religious. Wherever your love is at.
SPEAKER_02Wherever your prayers go. Anyway, Donovan Mitchell gets his 43 points, sealing this victory for the Cavs, which is a big one for them. They need to still snag one at in Detroit to kind of help them get this series. But man, Detroit, like, y'all gotta do something.
SPEAKER_03You know what?
SPEAKER_02Because you got two starters only putting up four points.
SPEAKER_03I'm gonna say it it figures this would happen because I have two parlays on Detroit. Uh, none of them on this series, but this would make sense to me because of course I put a parlay on you and you underperform.
SPEAKER_02Look, thank god, thank god for Leverett and Reed putting up points off the bench, both of them in double digits. Reed giving 15, Leverett giving uh 24 points, big time production when they were failing on the starting end.
SPEAKER_03I mean and I mean if the Cavs, and they've the Cavs have had a fairly strong season uh themselves. Uh Detroit's been a dominant team as well, but um go ahead, Mike.
SPEAKER_02But Mr. James Harden starting to turn it on a little. He put up 24 points in this game, and that's what you need from this man. Yeah. He was 5-9 from three-point range, which is a good thing you're seeing, and he had 11 assists. So you're you're getting some well, you know, you're getting some good hard minutes from him, and it's it's it's proving to pan out here for him. And then you want to see that. You want to see your veterans going into a series because they needed it, they needed everything they had out of him because you had Dean Wade again. Sorry to be picking on this man, but he had no points in his 23 minutes, no points, not one.
SPEAKER_03That's not bad. But I like seeing James Harden come alive because he's been a little sluggish here in recent uh weeks.
SPEAKER_02Do you get a credit this victory on the back of their star star player for the Cavs being being Donovan Mitchell, that is. So Donovan Mitchell definitely tip of the cap to you.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So going back here, and let's move on to Tuesday. Tuesday, which is today, we've got the Timberwolves and Spurs. And we just found out that Victor Womenyama is not getting suspended. He will be in this game.
SPEAKER_03He will be in this game, and we will have a winner tonight, folks. Okay.
Lakers Refs Debate And Roster Questions
SPEAKER_02Somebody is going to advance. Nobody's gonna advance off this game. It's only game five. It's 2-2. It's 2-2, but it's a best of game. Oh, they got that's right, it's best of best of four. Best of four. See, because that's why, you know, Lakers are gone. They didn't even win a single game. They got swept. That's right. Okay, sorry. They got confused. I gotta say, do you think it's kind of a BS move that after they lost one of the games, they kind of all the Lakers players kind of paled around the refs and little meeting? You know what?
SPEAKER_03I'm I'm glad you mentioned that because so I tag things for our podcast episodes, and I that's one that I tagged, and I don't know where I lost the note at, but I did want to talk about that because they uh thank you again, Mike. Um to me that was a little weird because you don't so the way I was raised, you never interact with the refs. You know, talk to the ref. In fact, we talked about this last week. No, no, no, you let your coach handle it. If you disagree with the ref, you need to let your coach handle it, okay? Or the administr or the administration, the organization.
SPEAKER_02I mean, you could talk to the refs, you just gotta make sure that like you ain't being the one that's constantly over there crying to them, you know. Yeah, I mean eventually they're gonna be like, saunter off, dude. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, if they do something glaring, I might be like, hey man, can you explain that to me? Or I might go to my coach and be like, hey, can can you get them to explain that? Because I don't know what that call was. Those times do happen. Or you at least be like, explain to me what I did. So I don't do it. Yeah, and and that's acceptable. That's okay, but I'm sorry. Your whole starting lineup coming over to the team of refs, be like, yo, what's y'all's problem? Why y'all, bro? Y'all lost that game, okay? In fact, you didn't just lose that game, you lost the next game, too.
SPEAKER_02I have to admit something. When I was playing playing indoor flag football, I know, kind of weak, kind of weak at a point.
SPEAKER_03I missed these days.
SPEAKER_02Those were I will say, I talked a lot. And I did talk to the refs a lot because I felt like a lot of times these dudes were not calling stuff for us. And I don't know if that was helping or hurting us, but I definitely couldn't keep silent. And so I kind of get it to a point when you're like mid-game and it's like he's holding me, man. Like, come on.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, well, I mean, if they're just blatantly not calling. Now, I didn't see this game, so it's very likely that I have no idea what I'm talking about. But to me, right, wrong, or indifferent, that's just a no-go move, okay? You lost, so yeah, maybe they made some bad calls. Okay, you still they're not gonna change their call just because you can test it.
SPEAKER_02I agree with you only in the fact that having a pow wow meeting doing it, you know, where you have like a group of people for all Laker players like surrounding the refs to talk to them, yeah, that's kind of Bush league. But like if you have one guy, like maybe if LeBron comes over and is like, hey, gotta talk with you and like has a conversation about it, or maybe LeBron and the coach, like if you have a few people, not the team, come over and be like, We got grievances.
SPEAKER_03To me, to me, it's a professional thing. Like, I'll never interact with ref even if I disagree. And I grew up in sports too, right? I'll even if I disagree with you, I might look at you funny and be like, the fuck? Excuse me.
SPEAKER_02But at the end of the day, I'm gonna go to my coach and be like, hey man, figure that shit out. What most people probably think when they see that is, man, quit your crying. You soft, you like Charmin.
SPEAKER_03But I I also feel like at the end of the day, even if the rest are just making belligerently bad calls, like it's hard to overcome that, but you still lost the game as a team.
SPEAKER_02Okay, right. And look, in this series and in this playoffs, if if if you're gonna sit here and do finger pointing and being like, oh, this guy's the reason, that guy's you cannot point a finger at LeBron in this case because this dude, he was playing his butt off in not just this series, the Rocket series, the Lake this one against the Thunder, like he he has been carrying the Lakers through this playoffs, and they're sitting here talking about like not bringing him back, and it's like, but you're gonna keep Austin Reeves, who's a defensive liability. I mean, I get that he's younger, I get it, but why are you gonna like handicap yourself with your two stars both being defensive liabilities, you know, with Luca and Reeves both being poor defenders? I just I don't understand the logic. I to me, I think you you try to find a way to smooth it over and keep LeBron around, maybe see if you can get a hometown discount.
SPEAKER_03Well, that that poor that poor defense is part of what they're complaining to the refs about.
SPEAKER_02So, like I mean, they only lost this last game by it was 115 to 110, so they were in it.
SPEAKER_03They yeah. Well, that's not. I was saying they had that powwell and then they still lost the next game. Like Yeah, so I don't know how much they helped them to cry. Like, I don't, I don't under it. It seemed like it was for nothing to me. I don't I don't understand. I get they're frustrated, they're looking for answers, uh, but to me you just can't ambush the refs.
SPEAKER_02Well, see, I kind of like I know how you said like the coach needs to handle it. I do know that the coach coach of the of the Pistons, Bickerstaff, he did point out like the disparagement between his team getting foul shots and the Cavs getting foul shots in this last game. So he's kind of like putting it out there, kind of like the way you know back in the day used to get get uh when the bulls were doing their three-peats, used to get uh I don't know why I'm blanking right now with the coach. Uh he used to do the same thing. He would just kind of put out there, you know, subtle things and try to get the either the refs to pay attention or to kind of motivate his players, you know, kind of figure a way to get things out of players without or the refs without going up to him and being like, bro, seriously, you gotta make better calls. Your calls are trash. Well, yeah. Why are you not calling stuff for us?
SPEAKER_03And that that does happen, but like I said, it just um I had a thought. I lost it, it's gone. Happens to me a lot. It's gone. It's it has left us. He's he's waving bye-bye as it floats away. I know you're waving, I don't know which direction it went. It ran away. It could have came out my ass for all I know. I don't know where it went. I lost it.
SPEAKER_02Anyway, so like we said tonight, you have you have the Timberwolves and Spurs playing at 8 o'clock, which by the time this airs, the game will already be over. The next next going over to the east side game. That series between the Pistons and Cavs is tied up 2-2. Coming down and going to the series, it's already over. The one thing we always like to say in this thing with the playoffs is you don't want to get swept. Sorry, Knicks. Bye-bye. Or or not Knicks, 76ers. 76ers. I'm an idiot. The Knicks are saying bye-bye.
SPEAKER_03It's the Sixers. It's just because the Sixers have a cooler logo than the Knicks.
SPEAKER_02And you know what's you know what's sad? That last game that they played in the Sixers house, it was mostly Knicks fans, and the thing that the Knicks fans are saying, it's cheaper for us to come down here and go to this game in Philly than it is to go to MSG. Yeah. So you're willing to get on a train, travel by train down to another another state, another city. Isn't like, you know, you just went over, you know, hopped train, you know, went from you know, Brooklyn to uh Manhattan or something.
SPEAKER_03Like what I I will say this is because New York is all about making money, even off of its own residents. Philly, as much trash as I talk, is all about having an affordable brotherhood, okay? Emphasis on affordable and brotherhood, and you put them together, and that's where you get those affordable NBA tickets from.
SPEAKER_02One of the cool things about their their sports teams, all of the stadiums are right next to one another. Yeah, they are. I've been there. Basketball, hockey, and baseball, they're already.
SPEAKER_03So I I got to go to Philly. I won't tell you why, because it was for my job, which I won't disclose here. Well, I went I went to a baseball game up there. But I I went there, and that experience, by the way, first of all, I don't know why they call that a shipyard, but it's not anymore. But anyway, right just off of the shipyard area and their, I guess they call it their uh industrial area, there is like what three stadiums sitting right there. Right there. Lincoln Financial Field is one of them, and it was much smaller than I thought it would be in person, which made me feel better because I'm a Redskins fan. You get to see them like from the highway. You can see you actually could drive by them, and you it's not like it's not like here at Harbor Park, right? If you're and you drive by, it's a quick glance. Oh no, like they're right up on the highway, and you can see them for a good couple minutes as you pass. Like they're in your view in your face. It's a good view. You almost could if you could see the field, you could probably even almost watch the game as you're leaving.
SPEAKER_02Do you hear this Washington fan saying it's a good view to see the stadiums in Philly?
SPEAKER_03Yes. I I love to watch, I love to watch my team losing as I'm also leaving town. Anyway. So get out of there before things get heated.
Grizzlies Loss And Human Side
SPEAKER_02So moving in into some topics with within basketball itself, um now that we've talked a little playoff basketball, we have some unfortunate news that is coming out of uh out of the Grizzlies organization where one of their young talent, their one of their young players, Bernard Clark, died at the age age of 29. Um, unfortunately, at this point in time, it looks like, according to the LAPD, which that's never a good thing, uh, he was found dead of a possible drug overdose Monday. So, really, really sad news. He was really coming on as as a one of the longest tenured Memphis players, you know, and was was showing promise and was like you just hate to see it. You hate to see somebody that's in the prime and has all that talent and all that ability to to pass away so young. Yeah, it just really really unfortunate.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, uh truly unfortunate. Um again, obviously, we unfamiliar, not totally familiar with the circumstances surrounding his passing, but uh very unfortunate, especially at such a young age and just seemingly uh having a career in professional basketball. You know, people seem like they have everything going for them, but you just don't know what people are dealing with or what they're going through.
NFL Farewells And Offseason Deals
SPEAKER_02So or what demons they have. I mean, yeah, sometimes you don't know that somebody's into doing some heavy drugs until it's way too late. So moving on over to football, we're gonna talk some NFL football, but we have to start it out with again another side note. I hate doing this, but we can't not say something here. Yes. Um agreed. So Craig Morton has passed away. He spent 18 years in the NFL uh as a quarterback for both the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos, and the first player to take two different franchises to the Super Bowl, he passes away at the age of 83 this past weekend. Uh so again, you know, you don't like to like to hear that happening, but you know, it's it's a fact of life, you know, we get older, we die, but you know, at least he made it to 83, you know, and had a had an NFL career and a successful NFL career at that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and you know, this this strikes a nerve with me because uh my own father is 82, so you just look at the life they've lived, right? And and my father's had a great life, and he's still going, bro. But like you hope they've lived a full life, you hope they've lived a happy life and a fulfilling life, right? Um, it's not about when you go, it's about what you've done before you go, okay? That's how I feel about it. Well, fair enough. Fair enough. What did you do before that time came? Okay. Uh obviously some of us have a chance to bolster that argument, and others are less fortunate, you know. But either way, my heart and uh my prayers go to every single one of them.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. So leading over to some news within the NFL, uh just recently, the Jets have given their running back Brees Hall a three-year extension worth 45.75 million dollars. So he is sticking around. Well, unless they decide to trade him. Hopefully, not with that deal. I'm hopefully they're planning on using him towards the future.
SPEAKER_03Is that you just said Njoku? No. Are you not listening to me? I said breeze hall. Clearly, obviously, I wasn't. And you and you're and you're right, and I've breeze all and I'm sorry to our listeners for that mess up. Anyway, but that's a good I think that's a good signing for them. Well, I mean, it's it's obviously team friendly.
SPEAKER_02You want to have those key pieces and having a good running back to start off is a good thing because like it helps with the passing game and they're gonna need all the help they can get. And speaking of running game, the Cardinals have already signed their rookie deal with their new running back, Jeremiah Love. So you know like so now that he's got this deal done, he's he's ready to go. He's like, I'm ready to do work, you know, no relation.
SPEAKER_03No relation to Jordan Love.
SPEAKER_02So a low-key signing that happened, uh the Vikings adding to the receiving core by snatching up Juwan Jennings on a one year, eight million dollar deal. And this is kind of a this is kind of a a really good move for them because after them losing uh one of their key receivers to the Raiders, adding in a player like Juwan Jennings to Help them with those, and and this is what I like to say. He's one of those need-a-catch guys, like it's a third and whatever, and you just need that catch. He's not gonna necessarily be the guy that you know comes out, gives you 150 yards and two touchdowns. He's gonna be that guy, like, damn, we really need this first down.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and he's gonna be the guy, and you know, I I agree, I was gonna echo that sentiment. A very sneaky good signing for them. Who was it? Was it Jalen Naylor that left for the Raylor Raiders? Uh Naylor did go to the Raiders, and uh Naylor is absolutely gonna break out somewhere because he was on the brink of it with Minnesota, but I like this signing by Minnesota, bringing uh uh bringing him in because their their receiving core is pretty good, and I think they're just trying to maintain that level of quality here, and I think he very much adds to that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you're just you're adding to your pieces, you're adding to your weapons, and they needed something, and you're getting a veteran presence. And and and on a one-year, eight million dollar deal, it's a good little if it works out, you like what you see, you're you like what you're getting from them, go ahead, sign an extension.
SPEAKER_03If they could just get a competent quarterback, they would be so much better than they have shown on the field.
SPEAKER_02Well, we already saw that they had to see that they had him in the building and they let him go to Seattle.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and we saw what could have been, and then he went to Seattle and we saw what was. Yeah, well, it wasn't just him, you know, that defense was pretty damn stout too. They were, and I'm not gonna lie, McDonald taking over in Seattle. He's just done a I think he's done an absolutely flawless job. He just year one, maybe well, it was his second year. Second year.
SPEAKER_02Hold on, hold on, hold on. I think you're overlooking the fact that GM-wise and coaching-wise together have done a good job. Needed one in the one and the same to get them to where they got and to get them to that point because they made some really good draft moves these last few years, and McDonald came over and just took what he had and molded into something better, you know. Because let's face it, some of the players they had were there same same players were there when they had uh Pete Carroll there, yes, and they weren't doing shit.
SPEAKER_03Well, sorry, you know, people were figuring out Pete Carroll's system and the players he was using, but this is why I was looking at John Harbaugh, because he lost I know McDonald left, but he also lost his offensive coordinator to a head coaching job, I think, right? A couple years ago. His OC went somewhere. Uh, so when things like this happen to a head coach who's been tenured for quite some while, you you want to see how this isn't gonna affect their quality and their coaching, right? So the Ravens obviously had a less than stellar year last season. It wasn't a bad year, but it was less than what they expected. And now John Harbaugh is in New York, so he's starting fresh. And I feel like him losing McDonald, because McDonald's a really good coach. So I feel like him losing McDonald helped create such a drop off in what he was producing in Baltimore that Baltimore was like, all right, it's time to reset here.
SPEAKER_02They were also ravaged by injuries this last, especially on the defensive side.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the injury bug as well. I agree with that.
Tight End Trend And Chargers Njoku
SPEAKER_02But let's move over to this other news. The Chargers making a what I feel is a very good ad for them. They signed tight endjoku to a one-year deal, and I love this for two reasons. Now, you you might say, well, why would you go ahead and sign a tight end? They had a pretty good young tight end who was showing promise last year, but why would you add another one? What we're seeing out of league now, you're getting more multiple tight end sets, you're getting 13 personnel, uh, and really you're seeing this starting with the the Rams, and that's been kind of a key like everybody likes to steal from different coaches who are doing well. So you bring in another playmaking tight end who can block too. So now you're adding protection and adding a weapon for a team that needed it desperately, and now you're giving multiple options for your star quarterback and making your offense just that much better.
SPEAKER_03You know, you're gonna slap me, but the New England Patriots were really ahead of their time, okay? Uh, you know, Gronk and Hernandez, rest his soul, however you feel about them. The two tight end set they were running with Brady, you know, back then, like Garrett Blount. Well, they only brought him back from the Super Bowl. But anyway, um I think they were ahead of their time. We've seen this two tight end set.
SPEAKER_02When he did it, though, it was so new that people didn't know how to defend it. Exactly. That's why I say they were ahead of their time back then. Now people are doing this 13 personnel where you have three tight ends on the field.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_02So now that you bring in two playmaking, they already have one on the bring in another one.
SPEAKER_03And and they clump them up just like receivers over there, all three, like an X, Y, Z, all three clumped up, but it's tight ends.
SPEAKER_02And you don't know who's rushing, you don't know who's staying, you don't, I mean, you don't know who's pass defending and who's going out for a pass. So you're like, or rush defending, I should say. So you're you're sitting here in a in a who's got who kind of scenario, and then you wind up with guys getting free up the seam, and it's like, oh, bink, let me sit that guy.
SPEAKER_03And mark my words, I know the Chargers have a very up-and-coming tight end already, and I'm a big fan of his. But Njoku, I have been waiting for a few years now for Njoku to land somewhere where he can break out. This, I mark you not, 2026 is gonna be the year of the tight end, Mike. 2026 will be the year of the tight end resurgence in the NFL. Mark my words. Because I mean, there's a few different examples I could point to. Isaiah likely being another one. Okay, played behind Mark Andrews under John Harbaugh, who's now in New England with him, right? But they also had a pretty good, maybe not a Pro Bowl caliber tight end, but they had a good receiving tight end who's a very strong blocker. Now they have likely who is a receiving threat. O Ronde Gadston.
SPEAKER_02That's Gadston. That's the so right now, as their depth chart shows, it's gonna be Chargers. It's gonna be Gadston, then and Joku, and then Charlie Connard will be their their third, who's a veteran tight end, and then Jannard uh Bradley is the fourth tight end. So right now, that's looking like a pretty good one-two option.
SPEAKER_03They have a good one-two option, and and I had Gadston in a couple leagues. I don't think I have them in a dynasty league anywhere, but uh Gadston was a good breakout candidate tight end uh and a good receiving threat tight end, but he was a little bit weak, I think, on the blocking side. But he can block. It's not necessarily a strong suit. But guess who learned how to block in Cleveland, Njoku? Because he couldn't block when he first got there. And wouldn't you know it? Their offense sucks so much that's all he couldn't do was block. It's the only way he was gonna get on the field. So, Njoku is a halfway decent blocker now, and also of, in my opinion, a receiving threat. Super vertical threat. Um trying to see where we're at here. Okay, but anyway, as we digress from that and my feelings of it going to be the year of the tight end this year, watch breakout tight ends, number one performers across multiple teams. Uh but here, Mike, I need to ask you a question, okay?
SPEAKER_02Sure, sure. What you got?
SPEAKER_03And our uh listeners can chime in if they could talk.
SPEAKER_02But well no, go to social media, put up on social media what you think.
Cowboys Draft After Parsons Trade
SPEAKER_03That's right. Go to social media, let us know what you think. Uh, preferably actually on Instagram now, because that is now our number one uh social media thing. Anyway, as Instagram is social media, yeah, it's our number one whatever, Mike. I don't care. Anyway, as I was as I was saying, get back to what I was gonna ask you and our listeners, okay? So a lot of people, especially NFL fans, they get they get finicky, right? When a when a team owner kind of gets Jerry Jones, anybody? Dan Snyder, okay. Uh Irsay, okay, Bill Polian. Hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up, hold it, hold up.
SPEAKER_02I gotta stop you right there. Only because you brought up the Cowboys and it made me think of this. And we gotta go down this rabbit hole. Oh shit. Sorry. Here we go. How do you think that Michael Parsons' trade looks now, now that they we've had the draft, we've had these pieces moved, they've added in free agency, and now how do they how they look now? All right, I hear me out, hear me out. Okay, listening. So, Michael Parsons, who is a great pass rusher, don't be wrong, can't run defense worth shit. Sorry. I don't know what why are we cursing so much tonight? Anyway, it's because we're bored. No, no, no, we're not bored, and I want anybody to be bored, but it's okay, we're bored, but I want people to be entertained by this.
SPEAKER_03But my point is not their children, though, I'm sorry. No, no, no. Earmuffs.
SPEAKER_02My point is that after that move and after some of the pickups they made through free agency and through the draft, I have to say that what they did, it looks a hell of a lot better now. Hold on on the defensive side.
SPEAKER_03Hold on. I'm gonna speak to you as a Redskins fan.
SPEAKER_02No, no, no. Put your fandom away and just be realistic here. Okay. They address look, their their first draft pick addressed one of their biggest needs. They got Caleb Downs.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I I thought that was a great pick, but they only got him because we took Sonny Styles.
SPEAKER_02Which was a good pick for y'all.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. But neither of those picks were supposed to be in the spots that they were in.
SPEAKER_02But they addressed that. They also addressed middle linebacker, they also addressed pass rush, they also addressed corners, they addressed all the concerns with their defense, but with quality picks.
SPEAKER_03Well, they drafted a a rusher, somebody to replace Parsons at his position. Okay. And I thought, I don't remember the kid's name, but I thought that that was a great pick because I did some reading, but I was like, huh, huh, huh? You know, I did some reading on them. Oh, so what you did is you spied to be like, am I need to be afraid of this guy? Why would I need to be afraid? I'm not playing football. They're playing football. I'm not afraid of shit. Except losing money, which I yeah, because you if you bet on your team, you're gonna lose money. Yeah, and I don't do that because my team has a tendency to drop by the way.
SPEAKER_02Low-key tip don't ever bet on your team.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's how it'll it'll put a dent in that relationship. I put it in.
SPEAKER_02It'll it'll fill a it will create a hole in your heart where you're just like it was lost money, my team lost.
SPEAKER_03Don't ever do that. Getting back to our secondary topic here, uh, I thought the Cowboys had a good draft, and I I thought that largely what they've done post-Micah Parsons trade was trying to salvage so they could say it was worth it. Hey, but it worked out, it worked out for them. It didn't work.
SPEAKER_02I think it's worth it because like if they would have paid that money that they did to like Michael Parsons got from the Packers, they would be handicapped.
SPEAKER_03By the way, we will be having the Preston Quinn as our Resident Cowboys fan. There's gonna be some good head-to-head debates here, Mike. Oh, good lord. All right, get back to your to your uh owner's question. We should bring Micah back so you can argue with him while I argue with PQ. But anyway, as I was trying to talk about before, over involved owners, right? Sometimes they're a good thing, sometimes they're a bad thing. Al Davis comes to mind, Jerry Jones comes to mind, Dennis Snyder comes to mind, okay? But then you have uh Jim Irsay comes to mind, Bill Polian comes to mind, okay? Uh that guy that owns the Jaguars. Khan. I don't know his first name, but I can't remember it, so that's why. But anyway, it's Shad Khan. Yeah. It's Shad Khan. So I've just named three mediocre to bad owners and three mediocre to good owners. Mike, how do you feel? Okay, so we know Jim Irsay passed a daughter, Carly Irsay Gordon, has kind of taken up the ownership role, okay? And she's almost like like her dad, for real. So she's been spotted on the sideline with a headset, listening to play calls, okay? Uh behind the scenes footage from Indianapolis Colts draft room revealed owner Carly Irsay Gordon's active role in selecting Georgia linebacker CJ Allen and Oregon standout Bryce Bocher, highlighting her transition into the team's decision maker now. So she's now got a huge voice, if not the voice.
SPEAKER_02Well, the CJ Allen pick made a lot of sense because they traded away one of their best male linebackers because they didn't want to have to continue to pay him.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So CJ Allen was a great pickup for them. I'm really, I'm really excited to see what he'll do in that Colts defense, to be honest. So I agree with that pick.
SPEAKER_03I I agree with that as well. Uh so now Irse Gordon, Irse's daughter, has become one of the most visible and hands-on owners in the NFL now in her short time in ownership, uh, from the draft room to the sidelines. So I say, to me, as long as she seems like she's got her head on straight, I think it's a good thing for the team. And I honestly, Josh Harris bought the Redskins. I love seeing him involved as an owner because I feel like he has the team's best actual best interest at heart. It's not just about making money, right? Well, he was a fan before an owner.
SPEAKER_02Exactly.
SPEAKER_03Exactly.
SPEAKER_02But but getting back to the to the Ursay situation here, um, so in this situation, they did trade away a bunch of picks to go for it and trying to get Sauce Gardner to try to create that lockdown one-two combination at corner, and it didn't work out this year because due to injuries and things that happened with the team. But you could see where there's there's passion to make moves when the team needs them. Like they identified, one of the things they identified was we're weak at corner, we need to, I mean, we need to add another guy to kind of lock down both sides of the field, and they did it. They went and got Sauce Gardner, and and it was a good move at the time. Uh I I don't know that I'd give up what they gave to get him, but it's like three first-round picks or some. Well, let's also remember that it it kind of gives a little little hope to the team because this this player also remember he was out of, I believe, Cincinnati when from college. So there's a you know, just a state over from that.
SPEAKER_03But the other thing I'm looking at here is how she plans for the future, okay? She gave up those three picks, but I know as a new owner, she's thinking ahead, okay, if I give these up for this player, what am I giving up in the future? Do you think I'm pretty sure she had her scouting department give her uh just a quick rundown, and she probably said, We have little to medium interest in any of these players, we're gonna go ahead and give up our first rounds. So I think she that played a role in that planning, I think.
SPEAKER_02Here's my thing, right? First round pick busts are a thing, they happen all the time. So if you can get a proven player and know that that player is productive and has been productive and healthy, trading a pick for something like that kind of makes a lot of sense. It's kind of what the the Giants did. They traded away a player who is, you know, in Dexter Lawrence, they traded him to the to the uh Bengals, and the Bengals basically looked at it as we're trading away a possibility for a known. We're getting a known good player. Well, yeah, they had a lot of drama with Trey Hendrickson and all that, but but for me, here's something that I don't think enough fans pay attention to. It's not so much the first three rounds what you do with your draft, it's what you get out of the later part of the draft. Yeah. Can you find those diamonds in the rough? The diamond in the rough. Can you find those players that mold into something that is productive and good for your team? It's not. Don't call me a homer for this, but it's it's just a fact. George Kittle, fifth round pick. That's a proven year-to-year great player. You go over to the Raiders. Their pass rusher. Crosby. Fourth round pick. Passed over a bunch of times because of his substance abuse, but he got off of that and he's good. He's he's a great player, has a high motor, excellent player, a lot of players. He would have been drafted a little higher if it wasn't for his issues with uh drinking. Anyway. Fred Warner. Fourth round pick. Hey. So it's not always the pick in the first or the second round that's necessarily gonna be the difference maker. It's gonna be the guys you can find in the later rounds. Case in point, Richard Sherman.
SPEAKER_03He was not he was not picked in the first first few rounds. I got a homer for you. I'm gonna play a homer now. Undrafted free agent, London Fletcher. Didn't even get drafted.
SPEAKER_02Did he did he initially start with the Rams? He started with the Rams. And then you guys picked him up.
SPEAKER_03And then he came to us in free agency. So then can you claim that? I'm not well, he had a good career as a Redskin. Uh but he had a good career overall, especially with the Rams, too. But you know, I I like I like players. I don't just like my team, though. I it's a homer because he played for us, but I like you bring him up a lot. Do you have a love affair with this guy? Yes. I absolutely do. Is he your boo? He is my boo. Okay. I love London Fletcher, okay? I love Bobby Wagner. I have a self-centest man flowers. I have a soft spot for linebackers, okay? Especially middle linebackers. Okay, and that's where I was strong at when I played football.
SPEAKER_02He's not the only player that that kind of happened with. I'm gonna give you another name that one team found him and then another team loved him. Wes Welker. Do you know what his first team was? His first team was the Dolphins. Yep. And then Belichick said, Oh, we'll take that guy. He can come play over here. Yep, he made him look good. He can be on our team. He made him look good. And then all of a sudden, you know, he becomes like the best thing going for the Patriots. Like, look, I'm just saying, like, you there's multiple ways to figure out your team. There's multiple ways to figure out how to get good players on your team. Now, you gotta really look at what works for what you're doing. You know, like you can't just say, alright, uh, let's just pick this guy. You know, this he's he's rated the best. You can't always just go with best.
SPEAKER_03Well, they they have it broken down to a side.
SPEAKER_02You gotta pick what's best for you at times.
SPEAKER_03Well, they have it broken down to a science. Um, they have whole departments, and they have people who just know they just watch. This is a science to NFL teams, okay?
SPEAKER_02You're you're saying you're saying that teams have departments for scouting?
SPEAKER_03Yes, it's called a scouting department. So like what a new what a great concept. But as you were saying, this to me is how they part of how they make decisions. As fans, we know we know, we follow college, we follow, we know what we know about players, but like these people and these teams are actually looking into these players in depth. So this is how they draw their decisions.
Seahawks Sale Rumors And Fan Culture
SPEAKER_02So I I I gotta I gotta say something here, man. Okay. What's what's some things you never ever want when it comes to the bedroom or when it comes to when you're selling something? You never want anything soft. So right now, right now the Seahawks are finding out that what they thought was gonna be a hard market with a lot of driving bids, no, it's kind of soft.
SPEAKER_03The market's soft. They got a soft, and it's weird because they need they won they won the Super Bowl.
SPEAKER_02They need a little blue chew or some, you know, a little blue pill or something.
SPEAKER_03Are they too expensive? Like, is the quality too good? Like, yeah, I'd love to own a BMW, but I don't want to pay the price. But I know they're good cars. They're very good cars.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so there's been a lot of rumors. Like we've heard things like, oh, well, you know, because it's in Washington, you know, maybe maybe Zuckerberg will buy 'em. I hope Zuckerberg doesn't buy anything sports related. You never know. I mean he is he is into like jujitsu and stuff.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, stay there.
SPEAKER_02Stay there. Keep getting your ass beat. Don't come over to actual support. Bro, actually, no, he's he wins those tournaments. I hate you for this. Like, I'm just saying, he wins the tournaments. I'm like, it's a fact. He's actually pretty good, darn good at it.
SPEAKER_03Well, yeah, when you can do that every day, every minute, and you don't have to go to work. Like, well, of course.
SPEAKER_02I think he still works. I mean, come on, man. But uh, there was also talks about Bill Gates buying them, and there was talks about you know Elon possibly buying them.
SPEAKER_03Well, Bill Gates Bill Gates is going through a divorce. He's not buying anything big right now. He's been through a number of them. Anyway. He's only been through one. This is his first one. Second.
SPEAKER_02Bill Gates? Yeah. Whatever. Anyway. Point of the matter is. Apparently I can't count either, so. And then Bezos has been thrown out there, but I don't think Bezos.
SPEAKER_03Nobody cares about Bezos. Nobody's worried about what Bezos is.
SPEAKER_02Point of the matter is they're looking to get a big payout on this, and it's probably, I mean, yeah, the owner died. They do own the the trust also owns the trailblazers as well. So the trailblazers aren't for sale, but this is for sale. The Seahawks are for sale.
SPEAKER_03I mean, outline them.
SPEAKER_02Going off of like the Broncos purchase, what hat happened recently, the Broncos was$4.65 billion. So you gotta think there's gonna be somewhere in that market. It's gonna be with the range.
SPEAKER_03They keep getting more expensive, and the Seahawks are a recent Super Bowl winner. Here's the thing. Here's the thing.
SPEAKER_02Look, I can say this as a 49ers fan. I have been to that stadium. I have sat there for a game, I have been there for how the fans are, and I can tell you, even as a rival fan being in their stadium, that was probably one of the coolest games ever. Because look, those fans, they love their team. And when I say love, like, bro, they are hyped the whole way there. There really is nowhere to tailgate. And this is one of the sad things about Seattle. They don't really support their teams by any tailgating, so there's no tailgating before the games. What? They're basically like, yeah, I know it's crazy. So like basically everybody like either goes to like bars around the area or restaurants around the area and they flood to the game, or they take the ferry over, and then you just have this ferry full of fans that's like a couple layers big, and it's really cool. You see a lot of cool stuff when you're going to Seattle. Look, you go across on this ferry, and then like you just more and more Seahawks fans just kind of pile in and they're all going to the game, and then occasionally you'll see like you know, people like me wearing San Francisco stuff, and they're just like, you know, giving you thumbs down like boo.
SPEAKER_03At least they don't stab you like they do in Cleveland.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well. I would say over in Oakland when the Raiders were there.
SPEAKER_03I mean, even in Philly, you might just get beat up, but in Cleveland you will get stabbed.
SPEAKER_02Look, they threw snowballs at Santa, so Eagles fans are messed up. That's why they have a jail in their in their stadium for a reason. Anyway, it's called a getting getting back to Seattle. Seattle, like, they have a great stadium, it's like a new stadium, and it really is. Like when they talk about how loud it is, that place is deafening. It is loud, it really is. But it is so much fun. And really, like, I have I don't have bad things to say about it. I mean, this is coming from a Niners fan. I'm not supposed to be like, it's a great team, it's a great state. No, it really is.
SPEAKER_03You got paid to say all this. I did not. I did not.
SPEAKER_02I'm not, I don't have a gun to my head. I'm not being held hostage.
SPEAKER_03We have to bring in income somehow, and it was either sex work or talk good about your rivals. And so he chose.
NFL Schedule Leaks And Top Games
SPEAKER_02Sir, don't misinformation. We're not that we're not involved with either of those misinformation organizations. Anyway, getting back to football and some of the things going on in football. So we're all we're all football addicts here. We all we all like getting our our news. And so the NFL does this, does this really nasty thing to us every year where they kind of just trickle out before they give the full release of games, which has happened this Thursday. They just kind of trickle out. Here's a few games, here's a few more games.
SPEAKER_03Ironically, two days after we record. Yes.
SPEAKER_02So they just they just drop these little hints, like we're gonna do this game, we're gonna do that game. And it's it's really annoying because as a fan, you're like, just give me schedule.
SPEAKER_03We're gonna touch on it a little bit here, but guess what? Next week, we're diving into that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but they've given us a few already. So we already know a few of the games. Right. So the first Monday night football game is actually gonna be a good rivalry game. Broncos and Chiefs.
SPEAKER_03I'm excited for this. That's gonna be a good opener. This is gonna be a good opener. I like that.
SPEAKER_02They also have given us the Sunday night opener game between the Cowboys and the Giants. I like it. That's gonna be a good one. That's gonna be a good one. You're getting a first hardball game against a divisional opponent, and a divisional opponent that is revamping their team, and a divisional opponent. Oh, actually, you could say that for both of them. Both of them have kind of revamped their team.
SPEAKER_03I just want to say the NFC East is back and probably stronger than ever.
SPEAKER_02And they have hinted that the Eagles are gonna host a Turkey Gay. Turkey Day game. Turkey gay? What the f- What are we talking about, Mike? Turkey Day game.
SPEAKER_03I don't think you can say that on air legally. Anyway, that's gay.
SPEAKER_02Turkey Day. Hey, maybe, maybe I was just thinking of what the Eagles really are. Bro, we're gonna get sued. Looking at a bunch of Eagles fans like, screw you. Anyway, no, slip of the tongue there. No, the Eagles are getting a Turkey Day game.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they haven't said who the opponent is, but they're gonna cook goose because they're from Philly.
SPEAKER_02So don't come here.
SPEAKER_03We don't cook turkey.
SPEAKER_02I mean, and obviously we already know that you know Niners open up with the Rams in all the way in Australia.
SPEAKER_03And just as a just as a little teaser here, we got uh Eric Adams uh you know top ten games he's looking to so far. Obviously, NFL analysts have had access to the schedule. Uh but the number one he's looking forward to uh seeing a matchup, and I don't think this even has a date on it, but he's looking forward to seeing the Rams and the Seahawks. That's his number one ranked. Look, we know that game's gonna happen. You know, like we it's a lot of it. Yeah, it's a it's a division game. You know that's gonna happen. I I discount that one. But this one I do like. The Chiefs and the Bills. We saw that last season. Um the Bills, that was the one where the Bills got, or where the Chiefs got Molly. Which one got Mollywapped? Look, they both had a rough start. They both had a rough start. It's not the same. I feel like this list should no, that's gonna happen. We're gonna skip that.
SPEAKER_02No, go ahead and say it. All right, we'll go. Packers, Bears.
SPEAKER_03He's got Packers, Bears as his third rank. He got a lot of divisional matchups ranked to this top ten.
SPEAKER_02To be honest, like, we're probably gonna see one of those teams win the division. Sorry, Lions hate to break it to you, but you went ahead and you lost your two running back monster and let Montgomery go down to the Texans.
SPEAKER_03And you lost your offensive guru in Ben Johnson. Well, that's been happening.
SPEAKER_02He's that was two years ago now. He's with the Chicago Bears. Yeah, he's with the Bears now. Which, by the way, that should be more of a screw you kind of thing than anything else. Like, if you see a coach leave, you don't want to see them go to your rival teams. Like, at least, at least for us, our defensive coordinator leaves and he goes to the Titans. He doesn't stay in division.
SPEAKER_03Bro, I don't really care about this division, but I'm just gonna call it right now. The Bears are gonna walk away with that one. I don't know, man. I think I think the Bears are gonna win that division. Injuries always play out, man. Look at what happened with the Colts. That changes things.
SPEAKER_02Because the Colts, first half of the year, they look like the best team in the AFC. Next half of the year. I was like, who are they?
SPEAKER_03Well, we shall see. But his number four ranked is once again another divisional matchup. I actually don't think this is very high at all because I don't the Steelers are fledgling, the Ravens are in reset. I don't even know why this is on the list. I don't, I don't either. Uh I don't care about this matchup either. It's the Bills and the Patriots. Actually, it was a pretty good matchup last year. So I don't think they were good matchups, and this was the one where the Patriots wore their ice hues. So is this his top 10? This is his top 10 matchups, he's looking forward to. And clearly he didn't have access to the schedule because a lot of these are divisional matchups.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, apparently. So again, another divisional matchup.
SPEAKER_03Finally, 49ers and Rams. That's always a good game. But you just made the list. This is the second time the Rams have been. No, but like this is this is always a good game. You know this. Uh he's got this one marked on September 11th uh with the Rams as the home team. Yeah, because we're we're opening with them in Australia. Oh, that could be that could be why that's on his list then. Anyway. Uh the Broncos and the Patriots. I actually do want to see this because this is Bonex versus Drake May.
SPEAKER_02Um, and they were um you know one that I'm surprised is not on the list?
SPEAKER_03I don't see anything on this list I'm really interested in.
SPEAKER_02Look, the one that's not on the list that I'm surprised it's not on there. Jaguars? Titans. Yes. You know why? The coaches. Yes. They have a feud. Yeah. If if you don't remember, there were some words said about how the Jaguars were, you know, signal stealing by Sala and basically calling out the Jaguars coach, which remember they both were up for that job and Salah lost. But he had some harsh words for him after the game, and it was funny because Salah was like, he kind of got big chest and looked at him like, what'd you say? Ready to throw bows on him. It was kind of funny. I liked it. I liked it a lot.
Wrestler Lineage Joins The Saints
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it really I mean, I'm a solid guy. I do like Salah. I like Sala as well. But real quick before we close out the show, uh, for all our wrestling fans. Oh, we're not closing out. Remember, we got the interview. Oh, yeah, that's right. We got the interview to jump into next. Sorry, I misspoke. But before we get to our interview, uh, for all our pro wrestling fans, put hold on Brock uh Braun Breaker, you know, Rex Steiner, you know, one of the Steiners, Scott Steiner's, you know, sons. Uh Rex Steiner, son of WWE Hall of Famer Scott Steiner. Yes, another one. Instead of going to wrestling, he's signing an undrafted deal with the New Orleans Saints. He's 6'2, 225. He's a receiver out of Jacksonville State. I thought he signed with the Titans. No, he's he's signed with the Saints. Rex Steiner, son of WWE Hall of Famer Scott Steiner, is signing with the New Orleans Saints. The team has just announced. Maybe he had a workout, it didn't work out with them. But uh it's I think this is interesting, especially if you're a pro wrestling fan, since we cover some pro wrestling here or there.
SPEAKER_02Let's let's remember that a lot of football players, if football doesn't pan out for them, some of them have gone into pro wrestling. Yeah, it's time happened time again. Brock Lesnar. I was gonna say, Brock Lesnar is one of them. Bill Goldberg is one of them. Uh The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, you know, it's a rock time and time again. We see this. I mean, very, very few of them do like Terry Crew and go from football to acting, but you know, The Rock went, you know, football, wrestling, acting, you know, it went a different path.
SPEAKER_03Terry Terry Crew is a very animated person, and I love Terry Crew.
SPEAKER_02But it ha it happens all the time where guys like they're big, they're strong, they don't quite make it on the NFL field, yeah. But or injuries happen that prevent them from being an NFL player, but they can wrestle, you know? Because like I'm not taking anything away from wrestling, but you could be a great professional wrestler and not be so great at football, you know?
Meet Madd Max Morrison
SPEAKER_03Yeah. It it just finds uh how you find your pathway there and where you find your strengths at. Um but real quick, Mike. Wow. Are we ready to move into our interview with our good friend? Yes, we are. We have here with us on our Two for the Wim podcast uh Brian Mad Max Morrison, drummer for Poor Vita and also Indie Pro Wrestler. Welcome to the show, my friend. Thank you for joining us. How are you feeling today?
SPEAKER_00Feeling pretty good, dude. Like I woke up this morning and everything was alright.
SPEAKER_03Well, that is certainly a good start. Uh Mike, do you want to dive in on this one for us? Yeah, this one's like he's a subject. Sorry.
SPEAKER_02So for people who aren't aware, can you kind of dive into who you are as a pro wrestler and who you are as far as say an artist?
SPEAKER_00Music artist? Sure. Yeah. Uh Mad Max Morrison, that's the wild-eyed headbanger. He's been up and down the East Coast for the last 10 years, hang, you know, banging and clanging. Uh, former world champion, well, pfft, world dug. Former heavyweight champion, multi-time tag champion. Uh, you're also talking to a drummer that's been around for the last 20 years, multiple bands, lots to talk about. Uh that's what you're getting into.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so you you did a few projects with uh Swain who recently interviewed with us. Uh, what was the project you did with him?
SPEAKER_00Oh, Jason Swain is fantastic. I'm really happy with what he's doing right now. So I met him like early in my cover band career. Because I started off playing in original bands. I did that for a few years, and then I got into the business of making money. So I met up with Jason Swain through some mutual friends, and we started a band together called Broke by Sunday, and we stayed busy. We stayed busy for a long time. So, and then after that, years after that, uh Swain had like hired me for a couple different bands he was a part of, so that was fun.
SPEAKER_02So tell us uh tell us about your your band you're in right now, Port Vita.
SPEAKER_00So, Por Vita has been around at least five years. I've been with them going on three in July. So basically, everybody has come from somewhere in the local Virginia metal scene. Um everybody had the same passion, same drive, same ideas, and they blended together and made what Por Vita is now. And then um, I just moved back in the area, and I was talking to their old drummer Corbett, and he was like, Look, man, I'm getting ready to leave Porvita. I know you're coming back because I have history in this area for a long time. So he was like, dude, I know these guys would love to have you, so why don't you take my spot? So I was like, hell yeah, man, I'll get back into it. They were excited, I was excited, and everything worked out, and we've done some amazing things together in the last almost three years.
SPEAKER_03I think that's awesome. Uh, real quick, uh, talk about Por Vita and your time with them. I kind of got a twofer for you here. Uh, tell me about Por Vita as a little more in depth. What kind of band uh is it, as well as uh where does the name Por Vita come from? Can you tell me things like that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sure. As far as Por Vita, it's Spanish for for life, and we feel very strongly about you know things like families and bonds and promises and trust and things like that. Art. So I mean it just kind of goes with everything. But um as far as influences, we've played with crowbar, we've played with like Iron Effects, we've played with a lot of heavy bands, but we play with a lot of like it's almost like uh I don't know, Spotify calls us garage rock, but I don't know what that means.
SPEAKER_03Garage inventing new genres now, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I feel like they just put a word and then rock, and then that's whatever it is.
SPEAKER_00I think so. I was like, yeah, whatever.
SPEAKER_02We don't have a label, so what do we call it?
SPEAKER_03Well, it's very uh I've heard you guys and came and saw you guys live, actually, uh with Sam, as you remember. You guys play some really good music.
SPEAKER_00Thank you.
SPEAKER_03Uh so I highly recommend it. I I love what y'all are doing.
SPEAKER_00We um this last year we were at the Veer Awards, we won Best Metal Band for the second year in a row.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah. Nice, nice. And I'm not typically like a metal head, right? It's not the realm I come from, but I really enjoyed uh listening to you guys, and you guys also put on a great live performance.
SPEAKER_02And you guys you guys have have opened up for for some big names in the industry, like Seven Dust, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, last March we opened up for Seven Dust. That was probably our biggest show to date. Uh packed out Peabodies on a Thursday night. It was amazing. And um we've been playing a lot at Elevation 27 and they put on great shows.
SPEAKER_02What are some shows you have coming up?
SPEAKER_00Um, let me pull that up because we're playing at Scandals on May 8th with Vallette, who we've been doing a lot of shows with Vallette. Uh, we there we have a common bond between us is there's a set of twins named Mark Flige. Yeah, and he plays guitar in both bands.
SPEAKER_02Nice, nice. Um, so you said when you were wrestling that you're up and down the East Coast. So I imagine that means a lot of travel. Uh, could you talk to some of the travel that you've done and some of the some of the industries you you ran into, like organizations and what you did for them, what they did for you, and kind of how that all ties together while you're trying to find your your tour dates.
SPEAKER_03Real quick, I want you to answer that, but I do want to circle back to more of the music stuff and keep that pulled up as well. Go ahead and answer what Mike was talking about here.
SPEAKER_00Man, so as a pro wrestler, you kind of don't know where you're going, and that's a lot of the fun of it. That's what makes it part of the adventure. So I was taking bookings pretty much anywhere that people would take me, and I got popular enough that people up in Rhode Island looked at me and was like, all right, come on up. So me and uh me and this guy I used to ride ride to shows with all the time, Dewan O'Neill, uh, Mr. Second of None. We spent a lot of miles together. I remember me and him drove to Rhode Island before for 25 bucks. Wrestling in front of like eight people in the middle of an afternoon at the same place where Tommaso Champa came up in his career, yeah, up in uh East Warwick, Rhode Island. I thought that was cool.
SPEAKER_03So, um, and I well, I got a question on that too. We're we're still gonna circle back to the music stuff.
SPEAKER_00But I spent a lot of time in North Carolina, spent a lot of time in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, Northern Virginia.
SPEAKER_03That's quite a bit of traveling, uh, especially. And so we the wrestlers we've had on, we've we've kind of tried to hit on that a little bit. Um especially since you traveled a lot. I'll say you trained here in this area, graduate of uh primetime wrestling, yeah. All right, PWA. Um what drove you to pursue wrestling uh to begin with? And then what about it, given all the travel, everything you have to put in? I mean, you funded most of your own stuff, right? Yeah. So what about it was motivating to stay part of it for as long as you have?
SPEAKER_00I always thought pro wrestling was cool. I followed it mostly through like middle school, going up in high school, and then um, so there's always been an interest. And then I guess uh I had just got out of college, I just got my degree, and then three months later I ended up going to this uh I met I met somebody at a flea market who was selling wrestling merch. He knew somebody who knew somebody. So I got introduced to Mark Myers, the dust man, Mark uh Mark Anthony from Southside Pro Wrestling.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, then uh he had a school over off Oceania, and then I got invited up. He's like, hey, check it out for a month, see if you like it. And I tried it out. I loved it, so I kept doing it. And then uh I got you know integrated into their program. program over time. But then eventually that company got bought out by Deshaun and we all moved to North uh Yorktown. So we had Marty Reed teaching the school and Brittany Cole was there. And then a bunch of us moved over there but then people started kind of weaning out. And um yeah I finished I finished my uh formal training there.
SPEAKER_03It's it's kind of interesting you mentioned Deshaun bought that because I always wondered how he got his hand in the pro wrestling scene as far as the school because obviously obviously a little bit before my time. So it's interesting that he bought it and then moved it up there because I had actually flirted with opening a school again back down here on the South side. But that's not really relevant to this conversation.
SPEAKER_00I think um because I used to be in a tag team with Rock Richards who also is a PWA guy. That's where I met him we did a tag for like three and a half years called Noise Pollution.
Wrestling Injuries And Road Lessons
SPEAKER_02If I'm not mistaken we were one of the first champions to come out of that school for that for that uh season yeah so you've been doing it for a number of years now as far as the wrestling um and I know personally because we've known each other forever you've dealt with some injuries through the years when it comes to wrestling can you speak to that and how it kind of maybe I don't want to say humbled but it kind of like made maybe put you in a position where it's like hmm maybe pause on this move for real quick because I I'm coming back from something. So tell me about how you get past the injuries sure yeah injuries are hard.
SPEAKER_00Sorry about that they always happen um I've had nothing that's been like too painstaking. I've almost died twice but um nothing too painstaking so the first like major injury I got two injuries in the same match I was wrestling in Norfolk for a while and I was in this tag match with Rock we were it was noise pollution versus the hall stars at BCW. Yeah you know and we it was a it was a it was a Halloween street fight and we were beating the shit out of each other as we do because we've already met up once or twice we built this whole program to get to this match this was the big payoff and we go because we're over at the Masonic Temple. Yep yep and that uh stage we because it was a street fight we wrestled everywhere so we made it to the stage and that thing is solid I will tell you I believe it I uh took a suplex and uh broke my foot because I turned my foot the wrong way oh no yeah and then earlier in the match the dude dropped an elbow on my sternum which caused another condition I didn't find till a couple days later because my my clavicle and my neck ballooned up and it sounded like rice crispy so I got took the urgent care and then they put me in trauma for a night and was like yeah you got this thing yeah no big deal yeah you got this thing. Do you mind if we use you as like a uh medical specimen for this uh team of students coming through I was like yeah I don't mind because they were like we only get this every once in a while maybe like one in 17 people I'm like well great I'm a statistic maybe not the way I want to be hey write your name in history one way or another but the wild thing is like this is something people could die from because I went out uh I went out drinking the night I hurt my foot and I got all messed up and went home and then I woke up everything was all fucked up and then when I went to the doctor and they told me it's like yeah if you would have got alcohol in that hole you would have had like a stroke and you would have died. So of course that was that was eye opening I made smarter decisions after that. I uh that's one thing I can attribute to pro wrestling is I learned how to make smarter decisions just by things I've learned being around this business and the adversities the adversities and having to come back a lot and having to level up all the time and just kind of stay ready for shit. So it's just now it's now everything I just kind of take it and run with it. Speaking of wrestling is that a wrestling shirt you're wearing I see what is that yeah so when I was in North Carolina early on in my career I met this wrestler he's amazing he worked for Gouch that was like this all gimmick promotion I got beat up by Otto Schwanz that night he used to wrestle for ECW as one of the dups so he was a local legend but he would just maul you to death I remember one 4th of July he hit me with 14 standing splashes in the middle of a 96 degree weather in the middle of downtown Raleigh. So nice and sweaty oh my god oh he goes by 100% German beef but I met uh I met Seymour Snott the geek with the physique the ultimate math lead um I've had a feud with him off and on for years through a couple different promotions um we fought each other a lot of times I've learned a lot from Seymour I'm a fan so I remember I got he gifted me this shirt.
SPEAKER_02Yeah so though those of you that don't know that's what he's wearing he's wearing it kind of looks like a comic book character but it's Seymour snot.
Por Vita Origin And Upcoming Shows
SPEAKER_03Yeah he loves he loves Batman that's his favorite I will say there's the inspiration this is one thing I love about the pro wrestling and indie pro wrestling industry is you always learn new names just by simply talking to people and you always see the depth of the love of what you guys do. Oh like you can see I mean I'm sure every industry like I said before has its bad apples but you know you all rep each other you all want to see each other get over uh which is actually what Preston Jeter was talking about. So I love when I see you know indie pro wrestlers uh and other indie pro personnel you know there's more than just wrestlers you know repping and supporting you know others from other programs. So yeah that's very admirable. I see there you have your your phone pulled up with poor vita is that the tour dates yeah let's jump back to some poor vita all right yeah so we're playing May 8th at Scandals on Holland Road uh with next week yep next Saturday with uh no next Friday throw that up on social media for people we will because by the time this interview comes out the the concert will be a week old sure sure but we had this big show on June 27th at Elevation 27 it's a Saturday night poor Vita's headlining we've got 434 from Waynesboro they've been making a really big name for themselves they are amazing dudes they sound great they took us on tour for a night and we're returning the favor bringing them here for the for the Tidewater crowd oh yeah shoot me that information in the text by the way we will definitely pass it on yeah but we got Bear Cross and Invalete oh bear crossing still around yeah they're coming back I saw them at the Norva when they were just starting to make it I think they were opening for might have been I forgot who I want to say Fallout boy but I won't be wrong but they were opening for somebody they were the first band up and that is when I first saw them and they were just they had I think they had just signed their first record label like we talking 20 years ago easily 20 years ago.
SPEAKER_00Yeah I know they've been long time um I heard just recently because of this show they've decided to come back so we're giving them a platform to do that.
SPEAKER_03I think that's incredible and real quick while we're back on music I wanted to dive into your history in music a little more just like I wanted to dive into your history in wrestling as well. Sure. So you said how long have you you've been around the local music scene for about 20 years. How long have you been playing drums?
SPEAKER_00I started playing drums at 15. Do you play any other instruments? Yeah so I've been musical my whole life like anytime I was in school I took a course class I'd do it in church uh got into school I picked up a guitar at 10 uh did that real poorly for a couple years because I didn't practice and then uh yeah at about 15 I met up with a kid I knew from school and we just started jamming in his garage and he had a drum set so I was like I've always wanted to try it so I got on there and played a few songs and just kind of fell in love with it and it became one of my callings in life. So I took that and then eventually not in middle school but high school I went into the marching band because I wanted to play drums and I wanted to get better so I spent I spent a season on in the percussion pit doing stuff and that's where I got my name Maximus.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Which is where Max comes from is that where you drew the Mad Max persona from as well?
SPEAKER_00Uh it's part of it. That's kind of a multi-layered thing uh I played in the band Mad Hatter with two D's and uh they'd been around a long time all of us knew each other. I was there for like two years. Shh yeah so that came from that inspiration because it was very whimsical and it was very just crazy. So I was when I got into wrestling I was like well I could be Max Morrison so what else could I do?
SPEAKER_03And I was like well mad Max here let's add some let's add some letters to it for branding I I love how it's all kind of connected it's almost like a superhero origin story.
SPEAKER_02And that's really where the gimmick comes from too is just from my overall journey as a person, as an artist just as a warrior you know what I'm saying of so uh you kind of told us how you came up into music could you kind of speak to maybe some advice you would give to somebody if they were if they're wanting to get into the music industry like like not not so much as like being a professional musician but if they just want to try music like could you lend some advice as to how to get yourself going in the right direction like how do you how do you become a musician?
SPEAKER_00Uh what worked for me was I went to a lot of shows I went to a lot of shows and I networked with people and I shook a lot of hands and said hello introduced myself and if something grows from it awesome and then uh seen a lot of benefit from that so I've been able to make a lot of things happen.
SPEAKER_02Uh and if you can't then you know sorry try again so I know through the years you've kind of like evolved uh because I know you started out with like like most people you start out with basic gear but your gear has kind of evolved over the years uh what and how did those evolutions how did they happen? Was it was it because of somebody giving you advice saying hey try one of these it's pretty cool or was it you know just looking at something be like man that's a little better than what I have maybe I want to upgrade sure how how did how did your evolution of gear and and not just with the music but wrestling is too how did your gear evolved as you evolved so so for drums it was probably because I started I started playing out like in bands.
SPEAKER_00I got hired to my first band in 2005 we were doing things for a little bit I got my intro kit I'm just learning how to play drums and I play my first band and we make a little wave and then I got picked up by a bigger band and once we started showing some promise you know I ended up upgrading my kit and spending a lot of money on equipment but you know that's just part of the art especially as a drummer.
SPEAKER_02What kind of upgrades were they?
SPEAKER_00Um buying a like a brand new drum kit something nice something durable something you know it's gonna take you a long time uh just better equipment just to be more pro. Because I mean if you're really trying to make it as a musician you want to always be better. So if you can improve what you got and just keep on trying then things are going to be alright.
SPEAKER_01So but then with wrestling I took a lot of seminars I did a lot of traveling talked to a lot of legends I talked to a lot of guys currently on TV I was part of a lot of people's come up I didn't really have I didn't really have my own come up but I was part of a lot of other people's come up so what seminars did you did you attend like uh could you give an example of like who was teaching the seminar and where you had to go for them sure and then just give us a couple of your favorites uh one of my favorites was Tracy Smothers uh he wrestled old territory days ECWs one of the full blooded Italians one of the coolest guys I ever met he told me my faces were money he saw me sell them while we were wrestling that day in this little warehouse in the middle of like Beulleville North Carolina and he was just like brother your faces are money keep doing that shit so I made a career with it and um I liked him I learned how to wrestle from Mike Quack and Bush I took psych a psychology class from Raven Raven told me to shut the fuck up because I was answering all the questions because I'm a mark for Raven I like you but shut up stay there in the chair just listen let somebody else have a turn Jesus Christ kid that's but I feel like that got me a book in though too like that Raven Seminar got me a booking in uh Hamburg North Carolina but that was that one of the times where you really felt like alright I'm in this I got this like I know I I know that I'm on the right side of what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_00I do because I was wrestling farther and farther away from home I was getting my own bookings my gimmick was getting over people were like like paying attention to what I was doing so I'm taking my act on the road and I'm trying different places I went up to I went well I did a lot down in North Carolina but when I started making my way up north and I started going into Pennsylvania uh the Hamburg the historic Hamburg field house I got to wrestle there a bunch of history happened there um once I started wrestling there I started bumping elbows with other uh indie wrestling veterans I didn't know about that knew what the fuck they were talking about so I got to wrestle in a new style I got to learn a lot I got to meet a bunch of new people and that would take me to different promotions in the area take me back out of state so I'd be on the road like every weekend a couple shows a weekend different places just doing it.
SPEAKER_02Now oh go ahead Mike so what's the furthest you've traveled for your wrestling I know you said Rhode Island was kind of one of the places you went and was there ever somebody you were wrestling and you're like I can't believe I'm wrestling this guy right now so Rhode Island was the furthest north um the farthest west I've ever been on the in the country was Chicago and that was music I got I toured out to Chicago once for music but I wrestled in Georgia and a bunch in ten in like five different cities in Tennessee. Now who was who was the person that you wrestled that you were like I can't believe that I'm wrestling this person right now.
SPEAKER_00So we're we're at the level I was at when I was the most active a lot of companies were trusting me with their assigned names like their guests on the show who had a career at currently at one of the competent big companies or you know they were a name for a while or whatever but they were trusting me to be in there with these guys and you'd learn from these guys so I got to meet some of the some of my favorites and they turned out to be super awesome like uh one of my last messages I had in uh Winchester I was I was in a tag match that turned into a six man tag and I found myself uh looking across the ring at the franchise Shane Douglas ECW champion from uh you know as my partner across the ring I'm like what the fuck kind of life am I living right now he was my champion growing up I was like this is amazing and even before the show I had no idea I walk in there and I knew Shane was on the show and the promoter knew he was a favorite of mine and he had told me later on he's like yeah you and Troy are going to work together and I was like what? What sweet so he had this podcast at the time and it was fantastic. If you're a wrestling head you want to learn psychology you want to learn about business talk to a guy who's been there man Shane was the best and it went off the air you know Stevie Richards took it over whatever it's he's doing a great job anyway so when I went up to shake uh Shane's hand talked to him a little bit I told him about the podcast he talked to me for about the business for like 45 minutes like I got my own personal podcast from him. Nice it was so cool. And then when I got to tag with him I did I threw up the uh the 3D or not 3D well I'm a I'm a I'm an idiot. Triple threat he threw up the triple threat and he shared that with me in the ring I was like that is amazing.
Burnout, Support, And Work Balance
SPEAKER_03I think that's that's incredible um and I think that it's very incredible that you got to have some of these experiences because dude I'll tell you that the fun one the really fun one was the first time I got in the ring with one of those guys it was Gang Grell and Kevin Thorne in in uh VCW and it was for the titles that I mean we got our asses whooped but Jesus Christ those those guys weren't cool as shit just beat y'all ass but uh you know let's go grab a beer oh man yeah no no I I took Kevin Thorne around Norfolk one time he was down there for a book and took him to go look at the boats he taught me about uh bojangles and amazing combinations you can make while you're there for med cheap yeah but I I really admire that and this is how it is with people who are aren't afraid to get out and chase the dream right you tend to have some experiences that just everyday people don't get to have no but we've talked a lot about the good right let's talk about some of the hard right you've had to balance a life and all three of us know you're no stranger to adversity here okay so I understand like what are some of the things some of the challenges that you've had to overcome in pursuing both your music career and your wrestling career if you want to do one at a time that's fine you don't have to answer them together. Right.
SPEAKER_00But what are some of the things that you've had to overcome and you don't have to go terribly into detail but uh while you were dealing with those things how did you maintain the drive and the focus to keep going there is a lot of no that's a very loaded question you can take your time yeah Jesus but yeah there was a lot of no's I got a lot of no's either no or not right now or now's not your time you're not ready you're not good enough I got a whole lot of that uh when wrestling started taking off I got my body better started taking care of that music I had to sacrifice a lot I missed a lot of birthdays I missed a lot of parties missed a lot of things same with wrestling I was always on the road I missed a lot of parties I missed some birthdays miss some events who would you name as people that were there for you when you needed support because you know those are trap you're on travel you're doing things that you know like you said take you away from from things what are who are some people that kind of helped you along the way that kind of helped you when you needed you know like am I doing the right thing is this for me and then people that like kind of you got it man you're good you're like who are some of your like biggest supporters absolutely man number one was family at my lowest points they were always there to help kind of pick me up so family's important and then of course my partner she's amazing definitely the support system I've always wanted to need to have a partner Crystal she's amazing yeah she's pretty cool I've I've met her by the way um for sure so you would uh I
SPEAKER_03Would say having a solid support system, no matter how big or a little bit, definitely plays a role in you pursuing not just you, but anybody pursuing success.
SPEAKER_00Shit, man. You gotta give it everything you got. You can't you can't half-ass it if you want to be something.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and you need people in your corner.
SPEAKER_00You gotta be ready to go at a moment's notice.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. I can imagine that both industries, you can't just be half in, you gotta be full-on focused, because it seems to me that you can't just be like, uh, I don't feel like playing that show. Or I I don't want to do that match. You know, you have to be upset and focused and scheduled and you know, like you kinda have to be you have to be organized. Is it at least that's the impression I get, would you agree?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, to a degree, yeah. Because you gotta know what you're doing.
SPEAKER_02No I won't Oh, go ahead, sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt you.
SPEAKER_00No, you're fine. But yeah, I think to know what you're doing, it takes a lot. Because you gotta give a lot of yourself to it if you want to get anywhere in uh any industry. You gotta commit a lot of yourself to it, and you end up losing sight of some of the important things when you go too far. So you kinda gotta be careful with that. But other than that, that's the big thing is you you give a lot of yourself. So you also got there has to be a balance. You gotta find a balance if you really want to make it work. Like everything with Porvita, we've got success, but I also have time to like enjoy life.
SPEAKER_03Of course, I think that's important. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00Of course, there's work, you can't avoid that. Oh yeah, you gotta pay the bills.
SPEAKER_03And that's another thing. We talk about balance, we talk about balance of families, we talk about what balance between your wrestling life and your music life. What is the balance like having to also hold down a full-time? We're all blue-collar men in here. What is the this is a different level being a professional in two different realms and also having to hold down a full-time job? I mean, people really underestimate how hard it is.
SPEAKER_00You lose a lot of energy. You have to pace yourself, otherwise you're gonna burn yourself out.
SPEAKER_02So, would you say that comes with having to say no to some things at times for as far as like maybe we're not gonna do that festival, or maybe I'm not gonna take that trip for that event.
SPEAKER_00At times. And you feel terrible about it sometimes, but but when you really think about it, unless unless something's coming to you that's a huge deal, you know what I mean? You get a really good opportunity. A lot of these companies all understand. Because some things are more important than just the wrestling booking, you know? So you gotta take the time for that.
SPEAKER_03And while I don't want to talk too much about the dark times, I got one last question. Well, one last question on the matter. Uh, for anyone going through a rough time while they're trying to pursue something that they really want to accomplish uh or attain, uh, I know we talked about balance, but what if you could give uh one or two pieces of advice to people going through it, whether it's music, whether it's wrestling, whatever they're doing, what would you say if they're going through some level of adversity in their personal life, but they're still trying to pursue success, what would you tell them?
SPEAKER_00Shit, just have a solid support system and hope to God it works for you. You know?
Sobriety And AA Tools
SPEAKER_02That's uh Well, I know I know one thing that you did that that may help some people. Uh you did kick drinking, like you don't drink anymore. You've been sober for a while. Congratulations, by the way. Could you kind of uh maybe lend some advice to that? Because I mean there's a lot of people out there that struggle with drinking issues.
SPEAKER_03Uh could you maybe And if you don't want to talk about it, that's totally okay.
SPEAKER_00No, I don't mind. I don't mind spreading the message. Because it's one I believe in. So I quit probably four years, three or four months ago. I was a heavy drinker for many years. Oh yeah, I was a you know part of the rock and roll lifestyle. It's a blessing and a curse. You know? But um Then when COVID hit, I'm in a I'm in a strange town by myself that I'm not used to, don't know a whole lot of people, maybe one or two people, the world shuts down. So of course I you know, brand new father, I picked up drinking.
SPEAKER_03What a peculiar time to be alive during the COVID era as well.
SPEAKER_00Jesus. That was hard, and then trying to find wrestling through the COVID era was hard too.
SPEAKER_02So you um I know you started going to like AA to help with that. Um so would would you recommend that for folks? Like to seek out AA if if you feel like you need to take that step to kick it?
SPEAKER_00I feel so. I feel like they got the tools to help you kind of better your life. It's kind of an easy program. But uh Yeah, if you ain't tried if you tried everything, you tried nothing else, go find some support. Go find some people just like you. That been through some hella shit too. And you'll definitely get a lot of perspective off it. So I think feeding from somebody else that's been through it, you know, you get like a sense of I don't know, there's almost like a sense of brotherhood.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, nothing you can say they haven't seen or done.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. So it's just it's real and it's raw, and it's it's very religion-based. They take the ideals from like Christianity and all that. There's a lot of prayer involved. And um the 12-step program was actually very challenging. I learned a lot about myself through that whole process, made amends to some people, and life got better. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Now I will say we got just a couple minutes left before we get ready to wrap up. Oh, is there anything else that we want to add to this? Mike, Brian. Yeah. Uh anything wrestling, anything all all day.
SPEAKER_02You say you've been in a a number of bands. Uh could you just dive into some of the bands you went through and like what kind of music you played and kind of let people give people an insight of your music journey.
SPEAKER_03Well, I'm sure it's quite a long list. How about you just give us a few of your favorites?
SPEAKER_00Sure. Uh, the ones I was most known for. I played in Unhinged in the early 2000s, and they had been around and made a Richmond name out of themselves. So I got picked up by them. I did about two years with Mad Hatter. That was very experimental. I feel like I improved as a musician, having to learn their songs and try to write to it. It was very different. Um, then I got into cover bands. There was a band I traveled to Chicago with. We played anime conventions, that was a lot of fun. It was like an adventure rock band. We were in costumes, there was a production, there was everything.
SPEAKER_03I think that's awesome.
SPEAKER_00It was cool. But then I also did think I also did stints with Broke by Sunday, the walkouts, the Fenies, the what was that other swaying band he's got? He's got the Feenies and Popwire.
SPEAKER_03I did Popwire. I did Popwire. Familiar with Popwire as well.
SPEAKER_00I did a lot of kaboon box with uh Damian Wade.
SPEAKER_03I like kaboom box. It's it's crazy. So somehow kaboombox just always seems to be in places where I hang out at. And it's crazy to me how yourself, Jason Swain, one or two other people who I didn't realize are also close to members of that band. So just like in the wrestling industry, you don't realize who you're just one or two people separated from somebody much bigger, right? In your eyes. So I think that's also that was that was crazy to me to realize. I was like, dang, it's you know, because you really just like one or two people removed from somebody who's making a million bucks in WWE or somebody who's got a million-dollar contract with a with a uh record label, right? Like how did we go through life?
SPEAKER_00Like, honestly, I can't say anything but nice things about Damian Wade because that guy taught me how to be a rock star and how to be a businessman and how to own your own business.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I I would love to pick his brain on that as well. And uh one thing as Mike, as we've brought more uh begun to bring more musicians on, not only are we diving into the local sports scene and the local indie indie wrestling scene, but now we're starting to open up the local music scene here in the 757. So this is very exciting. Ain't that something? It is something. Um, I have one last thing to add to this, and everybody else has anything else that we'll hit it real quick, but um, you were part of a tag team. I'm gonna jump back into wrestling real quick. Uh, static age was your tag partner. Uh a lot of people we always talk about wrestling as a person, right? Pursuing wrestling as an individual. But what was it? Uh how much different and how much more complicated was it like having to plan things and be part of a tag team, especially being a road type tag team.
SPEAKER_00So both teams were like different situations because I was dealing with two different like different people, different styles. Right. So when it was with Rock, because we compared on a lot of things, but we were also different on a lot of things, and we uh committed I can relate to that. We committed a lot, we did what we did, but then it was different when I got with Newzy, the psychopath in Static Age, because we're both we're both metal heads, we've been around the block, we both came from the same training camp because he was out of SPW too. I remember looking up to him. I'll tell you a really funny story about Newzy. So when I was coming up, he was in a tag team called Outlaw Inc. with the outlaw Sam Bass. They were managed by uh General Salazar back when he was just Mr. Salazar.
SPEAKER_03General Salazar!
SPEAKER_00So they were wrestling the Geordie Bulldogs, Sean and Marky, and they're coming out, Outlaw Inc. They're a bunch of us are sitting in the crow's nest, right? We're just watching. We heard, we heard what's about to happen. So they're coming out to bad company. They're coming out to bad company, and then out of nowhere, the YMCA starts playing. And they're trying not to laugh the entire time. They're trying to be angry.
SPEAKER_02Oh, somebody got a good prank on it. Oh, that is that is hilarious.
SPEAKER_00It was amazing.
Where To Follow Por Vita
SPEAKER_02We've talked a lot about your music and your wrestling, um, and not so much we haven't talked about how to find you. Like, where where can people find you as a wrestler and you as part of Por Vita? Where can people find not only your music, like your wrestling page, like where where where are you at? Like, do you have social media pages? Like, where where can people find you?
SPEAKER_00Sure. We're big on Facebook. You can look up Poor Vita the Band, uh Por Vita VA. We got that, we got um a website, poor Vita.live. That's got all our schedules, our photos, that's got all our music links, our sponsors, which we've got some pretty rad sponsors right now. They're uh we got Worth guitars out of Suffolk. The guys over at Worth are building my guitar player Ross a guitar right now to commemorate his dad. So that'll be done by the June show. That's incredible, but another reason to come out to this June 27th show at Elevation, so you can hear this new brand new guitar in action.
SPEAKER_02Uh so you get you guys are on the streaming platforms too, right?
SPEAKER_00On Spotify and Amazon, Apple, Spotify. You can look up Poor Vita.
SPEAKER_02Nice, nice. So easy easy to find y'all if you're looking.
SPEAKER_00That's it, man. We're all about accessibility.
SPEAKER_03Maybe there's some room in the future for Poor Vita and Two for the Wind to do more business together. You know, see what happens.
SPEAKER_00But I'm always open to an opportunity.
SPEAKER_03That's what it's all about, man. I I will say that's that's how it's been for me in my life. When opportunity shows up, you just take it.
SPEAKER_02So, what about the the wrestling? Where can where can people find your because you have a don't you have a social platform for that as well?
SPEAKER_00I do. You can find Mad Max Morrison, M-A-D-D, M-A-X-X. Uh, you can find them on Facebook. I post a lot of throwback matches because I'm inactive right now. So you'll find a bunch of photos and memories and videos of old matches with the wild eyed headbanger.
SPEAKER_02Isn't that also where you can find your merch?
SPEAKER_00Uh, merch is inactive. Oh, okay. If you if you find me around town, I might have some on me.
SPEAKER_03Well, uh, Brian Mad Max Morrison, uh, I want to thank you once again for coming on our show, sharing your experiences, sharing your journey with us, uh, sharing what's coming up for you and Poor Vita in the future. Um, we hope to see you again. We hope to have you back again. And uh, as well as I just mentioned, we hope to continue to do more collaborations with you in the future. Uh, Mike, do you have anything you'd like to say to our guest? No, just thanks for coming and chilling, dude. Such an underwhelming response.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but yeah, thank you, brother. I appreciate you and uh everybody look for this interview. Uh and once again, for the last time today, I'm Brian with an I. And I'm Mike. And we are two for the win.