Knick Fever, Because I Said So, Honey…..

New York City has a fever, and the only cure is a deep playoff run. This week, we dive headfirst into the chaotic, beautiful energy of the Knicks making the Finals and how it is miraculously forcing a divided city to actually get along.

But the peace doesn't last long once we head home. First, we break down why parents completely forget their kids grew up, unpacking the absolute audacity of talking to fully functioning adults like they are still toddlers. Finally, we tackle the ultimate unbeatable boss: trying to win an argument with your significant other. Spoiler alert: men are statistically undefeated at losing.

Tune in for championship hoops, childhood regressions, and the art of admitting you're wrong before you even speak.

Transcript

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Welcome to Gotta Get Said. Here's your host, Matt Cuco.

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What's happening, guys, and welcome to another episode of Gotta Get Said on this Wednesday, June the 10th, 2026. How are we doing, everybody? Has everybody's time? Has everybody's week? It's been a long week. You know those weeks that are so long mentally that they feel like, well, wow, that was last week. Like, I feel like it's been months since I've done an episode. And in actuality, it's only been a week. And that's life. Life is life, and right? But it's all good. The weather's great. Everything's starting to come together weather-wise up here in the Northeast, which is always fun, always a pleasure. Uh, what's going on in the world? Uh, what do we got? We got Knicks playoffs, Nick's finals. Listen, all kid on the side, I don't like talk, I don't usually talk about sports. You know, you can go get that a zillion different outlets of people way more qualified than I'll ever be. So I don't go down that road normally with sports. But I will say this just being a human being, living in the tri-state, living in New Jersey, living an hour away from Manhattan, the buzz is insane. Like, you know, MBA-wise, I'm a LeBron guy. I'm 36 years old. I grew up with LeBron. He's right in my demographic. It is what it is. People scoff at that, but it's just a God's honest truth. I grew up with LeBron. I went where he went. I'm a LeBron guy. I'm not this super big MBA guy. I don't know more than the guys know. You know what I mean? But I know enough. And I stay in tune with every finals. And I will say this: I haven't seen a buzz like this in a long, long time. I can't remember the city being united. And I know that's a heavy word. I know that's a dramatic word. I know you guys are thinking like, yeah, that's a little bit much for the situation at him. But I disagree. I think the city is literally united with Knicks basketball right now. Everything I see is Nick's, Knicks, Nick's, Knicks, Knicks. I know people that work in Manhattan. I know people that live in Manhattan. And apparently every single bar in Manhattan during Knicks finals is completely line out the door packed. Completely line out the door packed. And it's just like something I've never seen. I've never seen. Nick's fever is a real thing. Nick's fever is a real thing. The city is on fire. And you only get these situations once in a blue moon. Very, very rare that things all align a certain way and make, for the most part, a city united. You very rarely see it. And we're seeing it right now, people. We're seeing it right now in New York City. The Knicks fever exists. I've been seeing people wearing Knicks outfits that don't give a flying you know what about the Knicks. And they're still buying the merch. They're still buying in. They're still watching the game. I've spoken to people in passing, not even speaking about sports. I've been talking to people that I know for a fact don't watch the NBA, not a second of it. And I've been talking to these people in passing, and they were like, oh uh, uh, just so you know, yeah, I'm gonna be watching the Knicks game. And I'm like, you just said in my head, I was like, you just said that you're gonna be watching the Knick game? That might be the first and only time you've ever said that sentence. And it's been happening more often than not. And I'm happy for the Knicks. I really am. I'm happy for their fans, I'm happy for the city, I'm really happy. Do I think they're gonna win? Maybe. Maybe definitely have a shot to win. They're up two games to one, which is insane. Tonight's uh game four, which I would argue is for the Knicks, probably gonna be the most important game. Going 2-2 back to San Antonio isn't ideal. Up 3-1, you pretty much won the series. For the Knicks, this game tonight at 8 30 is by far the most important game. By far. And I'm rooting for them. I really am. I'm not a Knicks fan, I don't pretend to be a Knicks fan, but I'm rooting for them. I'm getting catch- I got caught with the fever. I truly did. And I'm happy. I'm happy for the city, I'm happy for the fans, and I hope they pull it off. I really do. I really hope they pull it off. Because if they don't, going up two games to none like they did on the road, I think that happens. They said never in the finals, twice in the playoffs ever has a team won 2-0 on the road going into game three. Twice ever has that team lost, never has that happened in the finals. So, you know, I don't wish that upon them. You know, it's a very it's like a fork in the road. They can either get divine intervention and be immortalized in the city for the rest of their lives and break curses and do all these other amazing things. They're right on the verge of that happening, or or they can lose that all in such a fashion, in such a typical New York Knicks fashion, that the curse will be more toned in than ever. You never quite seen anything like that. Right now, I'm right in the high of the city. Right now I'm staying optimistic, as people should be. They're up two games to one, they're at home tonight. Right this second, you still should be optimistic. But in the back of their minds, there has to be looming. Like, we're either gonna have the best and be the best known, or we're gonna be known as the worst known. That's very tricky. A lot of teams, I can't remember any, having pressure like that, having like monumental, life-changing pressure like that. Very, you know, we'll see. We'll see. Like I said, this isn't a sports podcast. Uh, but you know, I had to mention it because watching the city blossom into this united Nick front has been, you know, something something really cool to see. Something really cool to see, whether you're on their side or not. It's you still can't deny that it's happening. You still can't deny that there's a buzz around the city. And I feel like that personally has gotta get said. So go Knicks over here, gotta get said. We're rooting for them this chance and this time only. Hope everything works out. This is a big game tonight. Hopefully, you guys can pull it off for the Knicks fans. And I know a lot of you listeners are Knicks fans. You know, I'm hoping on hope for y'all. I'm hoping on hope for y'all. I will say this this is a big game. This is the biggest game. So if you're gonna do it, do it now. If you're gonna do it, do it now, Knick fans. Now or never. Now or never. Anyways, enough of my sports radio talk, if you will. Let's get back to gotta get said shit. Let's get back to shit that's gotta get said, but no one says it. Let's get back to little things that I think of that are in our society that no one talks about. Let's get back to that stuff, right? Shall we? I was walking my children into school. Excuse me. I was walking my children into school. And you know, the parents are all there. And this isn't even funny. This is the god this next excuse me, this next three minutes is truly the God's honest truth. I'm walking my kids to school, the parents are all there, they all gather at the door because the doors open at 8 40 where they let all the kids in. So from 8 30 to 8 40, it's parents and children hanging in the outside foyer waiting for the doors to be let open for school to start. So, parents, you know, parents are clicky, some sit alone, like myself, some sit in groups, mom groups, strollers, friends, you can tell, talking about life. Great, great, give a fuck, right? That's normal. I'm not talking shit about that stuff. That's normal parent behavior, totally normal parent behavior. But the other day, I'm listening to a parent talk to me, which they rarely do. And they're talking to me. Both of our children are, you know, on her by our knees, doing whatever they're doing down there. And we're talking, and this mother, great mother, I'm sure she's a great person. She's telling me about uh something that this child has, a toy. And she's like, Yeah. I'm like, oh yeah, I'm thinking about getting that toy. And she's like, oh yeah. She's like, Santa got him that toy, and he really likes it. Santa got him that toy. But yeah, no, he really likes it. We enjoy it. Good reviews from us, but Santa got it. And I'm I'm I'm looking at this lady and I'm like, does she not think I know that she's Santa? Does she have to reiterate to me that she's Santa Claus? I don't understand. And now look, look, I'm not saying break Kfabe here. I'm not saying tell people how the sausage is made. I'm not saying let's shatter lives at 835 before school shards and telling these people that San is not real. I'm not saying that. I'm not a monster. Obviously, we keep the magic alive. Obviously, I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying is when you're talking to another adult, and in no way, shape, or form are the sentences being said gonna be taken in a certain light that these children are gonna catch on to Santa not being real. I don't need you to imply that you're Santa to me. I don't need you to let me know that Santa got it. Like I bitch, I know you're Santa. I know you're Santa. I get it. I'm Santa, you're Santa. I hear you. I hear you. You don't gotta, you don't gotta double down telling me in a tone that I'll pick up, but the children won't pick up that Santa got it. Bitch, I know you're Santa. It's okay. It's okay. And now I'm in this awkward situation outside of this school at 8 35 a.m. on a Tuesday, and I'm like, oh yeah, no, absolutely. And she keeps doubling down. She keeps first of all, to get this sentence across for you and I to have this conversation, I don't need to know that he got it for Christmas. We're talking about a toy that I'm getting that you already have. I don't need to know when and how you got it. So I don't know why you're even telling me that Santa got it. And when you're really telling me you got it, and I really don't know why you're doubling down on Santa having it. It's insane. And I have to sit there and go with it. I have to sit there and nod and smile. I have to sit there. I have to sit there. This is how my brain works. This is how crazy I am. This is how socially involved. This is how socially aware I am. I now have to sit there and I have to coddle you indirectly. I can't be like awkward. I can't be, you know, put off by your statements. I can't be startled by your statements. I can't give a judgmental body language by your Santa statement because that wouldn't be nice. That would make you feel uncomfortable. That would make you feel like you did something wrong. You can't say, yeah, no, Santa got it. And I can't be like, obviously, like what? And I can't be like, what? What would you mean by that? And I can't be like taken aback. I can't do any of those things to you. I can't break your heart. I can't have you hate me. So now I have to act. I have to pretend that I am thankful that you let me know in your tone that you're Santa. I have to be like, oh Santa got it. I got I have to do that. I now have to dumb it down so you feel comfortable in the delivery you just gave me. See, in actuality, you botched the delivery, you're the problem. But now I have to clean up the mess at 8:30 on a Tuesday because I can't have you leaving feeling bad. I can't do that. So now I have to put on my acting hat, and now I have to let you know that I understand and I'm thankful that you reiterated that you were Santa by the tone you gave me. Now I have to do that. Isn't that fun? Doesn't that sound amazing? And that's how my mind works. So now I have to say things like Santa got it for him, but he really likes it. I have to be like, oh, okay. I got I I'm reading you. I'm reading the situation here. Me and you are on the same page, thankfully, that you handled it the way you did. Now I have to do that. I don't want to do that. I don't want to do that. Who wants to do that in a lobby with a stranger pre-9 o'clock? But I have to do it. I have to do it, or else my son's not gonna get played with. I have to do it, or else we're not again gonna get invited to those birthday parties. I have to do it, or else we're gonna get shunned out of the fucking trinity that is the parents pre-840 letting children into school. I have to do it, I have to play the game. But man, does it suck? Man, does it suck? I literally am walking back to my car after that interaction, and I'm like, when did that person lose herself? You know? When did she not become whoever she is? I'm sure she had hopes, dreams, ambitions, I'm sure she was flirty, I'm sure she was, you know, mysterious. She's a human being, she's made up of the same things we're all made up of, and we all have our own story to tell. We all dream and have all these things that make us who we are. We all have flipped out, we all have, you know, been in love, we all have been in lust, we all have yelled, we all have cried. Um, this person was all of that. When did she lose all of that and become a mom robot? This lady was a mom robot, no soul, no soul, man. I'm not losing my soul. I'm not losing my soul as a parent. And I feel like these parents lose their soul, and I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it. I'm staying true while being a parent. We'll see how that works out. It might not work out well, it probably won't work out, to be honest with you. It's probably gonna deem me a bad parent and have me shunned out of the groups. But I'm still gonna do it. The council. The council will frown upon that. All the moms and their fucking strollers and leggings. The council. They're gonna deem that inappropriate. They're gonna deem that not okay. That's okay. That's okay. Oh yeah. I was just thinking about that. Another thing I was thinking about is this. Um relationship. When do we lose ourselves? When do we lose our identity? Because it happens. It happens. And I know you guys are listening to that and you're like, what is he talking about? When do we lose our identity? And this isn't just a me thing. Because I've done my homework and I've asked around very, very, very I don't know. I've been diligent. I've done my due diligence on this next statement, and I am not the only one at all. The mass majority of people I've asked, if I asked 50 people, 47 of them have agreed with me. So and I've seen it. I've seen it with my own eyes. Not only myself, I see it all over. Every pretty much everyone I know, I've seen it. So, you know, I know that it's not just me. That's why I'm gonna bring it up. When do we lose our our identity in a relationship? When does it happen? When? When does it happen? You know, my significant other and I, I'm sure if you put her in a room alone and you interviewed her, and sh they said to her, does your significant other, does Maddie Dubbs from Gotta Get Said, let you win arguments? She would laugh. And she would mean that. She would mean, and it wouldn't be an act. She'd be like, Absolutely not. That motherfucker overshares to win arguments. He's rude, he's vicious, and he has to win the fight. It's impossible. He never takes the high road. And she would say that and not be a liar because she would mean that from the bottom of her heart. That's the scary part. That's the part I find fascinating. And this isn't a me and her thing. This is my uncle, my dad's, my fucking brothers, all my friends, cousins, strangers, coworkers. I've seen it my whole life. 36 years I've seen this exact story. This isn't a me and her thing. This is a most of men I know thing. They would mean that. The wives, you interview my aunts, my mom, my sisters, my cousins, my friends, all the women. You would interview them and you would ask that same question about their sitting for another, and they would have the same delivery. And most of them would mean it from the bottom of their hearts. They would really mean it. They really think that we don't take the high road. They really think that we are vicious. They really think that they're the victims. They really think that. And it's alarming because they are not the victims. You know, like I said, my significant other, if you put her in a room and you interviewed and you asked her those questions, she would have those answers. And she would mean those answers from the bottom of their heart. But in actuality, they couldn't be further from the truth. The thing that these women accuse us of during fights is the actual thing that we're avoiding during fights. For instance, I would get told, oh, you never just let the fight die. You never just hear my point across. You know how many times I've thought I was right, but ended the argument saying I'm sorry and I'm wrong. You know how many times I've done that? 100% of the time. And I know that number sounds dramatic. I know you're like, no, not 190. No. 100% of the time have I felt that I was right during an argument. And instead of actually throwing valid points out, winning my argument, defending my statement, having the courage of my conviction, instead of any of that, I take the high road, I say sorry, I say I was wrong. I'm not the only one that does that. And they still read that. These women still read that as no, no, they they really do fight. The one thing we get accused of during a fight is the actuality, one thing I'm consciously avoiding. I'm consciously not doing this one thing that I'm actually being accused of. It's so crazy. It's so crazy. The one thing I'm openly not doing, making it a point not to do, I'm being accused of doing. Very fascinating. And it's not just a me thing, like I said, it's everyone I know. It's everyone I know. You talk to these women, and they're like, no, he does. And in actuality, he's making it a point not to do dude, but he's still gonna get he's still gonna get treated like he did, boom, boom, boom. It's crazy, it's very fascinating. I I literally find it fascinating. And I was thinking about it in bed the other night. I was like, you know, we kind of lose a voice, we kind of lose our voice because we just take the high road in every argument because we don't want to fight. So we let them win every argument so we don't want to fight. And listen, ladies, I know you're listening to this right now, and you're like, you guys are crazy, you're always wrong. I hear you. And listen, I'll play fair with you. I'm just I need you guys to be fair. I'm even gonna be more fair to you for argument's sake. Let's say you're listening to this right now as a lady and you're laughing. You're like, what a fucking idiot, you know, blah, blah, blah. You're so wrong. Okay, great, whatever, sure. Let's say that you, I'll play fair. Look, I'm gonna be fair. Let's say you win 80% of the arguments. You're actually right 80% of the time. And I know you guys are laughing, like, no, we're 100. Uh-huh. We can all laugh and agree. But let's truthfully, let's be let's be fair. More than fair, quite frankly. But let's be fair. I'll give you your right 80% of the time. I'll give you that for argument's sake. Let's say you're right, truly right, 80% of the fights. Great. Those other 20% times that you're wrong, do you take the high road? Do you do you say no, no, I was wrong, you're right. Do you let him win the art? No. The answer is no. And if you say yes, you're lying to me, you're lying to forget me, you're lying to yourself. You're lying to yourself if you say that. So don't be mad at me, ladies. Don't listen to this and be like, wow, what an asshole, what a chauvinistic pick. I'm not. I'm really not. I'm telling you, I'm coming hat in hand, and I'm telling you. And it's so funny because like I just get like it's such a it's another true statement. In actuality, you're most likely, let's say I think you're wrong 80% of the time. I didn't say that because how would I even present that to you to try to remotely win this conversation? You know what I mean? I can't do that. I didn't even say 50-50. 50-50 would have been the most fair statement. But I couldn't even come to you ladies saying, let's say you're right half the time, because you would have scoffed at that so poorly that the next sentence out of my mouth after the 50-50 wouldn't have been taken seriously. So I wouldn't have even been considered to be taken seriously unless I brought you 80% to the table. And even then you're laughing at it. And I still came to make my point. I still gave you 80%. That just goes to show you. That just that's how it is every single time. That's how it is every single time. We have to give it to you every percent of the time. And it's not just me, it's everyone I know, it's every man I know that's in a true relationship. The ones that like, listen, I have a couple of one-offs that are like hot headed and they win, they wear the pants, but like it never lasts. That relationship never lasts. They leave you or they cheat on you. It just is what it is. Sometimes they do both either way, but that's another c that's another podcast. But yeah, I don't know. I just found it fascinating. I was laying in bed, I was like, huh. Like, so we never get to defend our points, we never get to defend our points. Because if we start to defend our points, then we get deemed monsters. We get deemed it anyway. That's the best part. We get deemed it anyway, but if we really start our points, we're this, that, and the other thing. And it's just, you know, it led it had me thinking. I was like, man, I was like, uh, when did that happen? When does that happen in a relationship? All right, guys. That's it for me over here at Gotta Guess at headquarters. I will be back next week, same time, same place. I hope you guys have a great week. I hope you guys have fun. And until then, I'm out of here. And I say peace.