Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome into the Winklerverse. I'm Bart Winkler, joined by Paul Emig and Grant Bills.
It's great to be with you both. Okay, Aaron Rodgers, let's talk about him. I am going to play under the assumption that he does not sign somewhere while we're recording. Sure. I'm going to play under the assumption that if people watch this on Wednesday or Thursday or Friday or the weekend, that he still will not have signed somewhere. Okay, taking a risk. Am I? Yeah.
You think he'll sign somewhere by the end of the weekend? Think, think, think, I think, think. I just feel like an Adam Schefter.
You see that video? He was again, Jen, Gabe and Chewie. And he's like, the Giants want you. The Steelers want you.
How can you be to make a decision? It's like, shut up. By the way, free agency just literally actually started. Yeah.
Okay. And also, why is anybody surprised? Everybody's acting like Aaron Rodgers is every other player in the league where it's like, oh, it's time to do something. He's going to do it. I still feel like for Aaron Rodgers, what's more, based on the guy we know, what's more likely? He signs right away and says, I can't wait to be a Pittsburgh Steeler, or he likes the speculation. He wants you to continue to talk about him. Yeah, he's, yeah, we all rush to talk about him.
It's a two way street. He likes it. We get clicks, but he likes it. And if he doesn't sign right away, not only are we speculating on where he'll play, but he can skip all the off season. He can skip the mini camp. He can skip the training camp. And, and if he signs right away, you got to meet with coach. Coach is going to have a little bit of a superiority over you. Or you come in week five when someone gets hurt, week eight when someone gets hurt and you say, Hey, I'll play, but I don't have time to learn all your plays and learn a new language.
I'm just going to sling it. What Aaron Rogers wants is that not to sign on March 12th and have a press conference on a Thursday. So I just, I say all this, I feel pretty good about it, but I'm also scared that he will sign and then, you know, I'll look stupid, but okay. So Aaron Rogers, we know I like your take. It's an interesting take, but there's not many spots left. So if he wants to start play this year, which I don't know, maybe he doesn't, but if he does, there's really only two musical chair openings remaining giants and Steelers. So I don't think he's waiting because he's been offered and he's sitting on it. I think he's waiting to be offered because I think it's a miscal, if it's the other way, it's a miscalculation by Rogers.
Cause if he waits much longer and he's like, Oh, I'm just going to wait. Like you think the Steelers are going to go into camp with no starting quarterback after having just I think they should bring Russ back to be honest. If you're a Steelers fan, you'd rather Russell Wilson than Aaron Rogers.
I would I'd rather Justin Fields than any of them. Well, I think Steelers fans are in hell and hate every single option that they're being presented. Feelers fans, feelers fans want one year where they're bad so that Mike Tomlin can get fired. And so they can draft a quarterback.
They want off this ride to use a Bart phrase. Same with the coast unrelated, but Colts fans have to be like, you fucking kidding me. Like you're bringing another guy in here for one year, whether it's there's a Colts fan that has a Phillip rivers Jersey that has a Matt Ryan Jersey Carson, Carson Wentz Jersey, Joe Flacco that has a Joe Flacco Jersey Jersey. Oh my God. All right. So I'm not even kidding. Breaking Aaron Rogers news via Adam Schefter.
Not kidding. He just posted now official jets are releasing Aaron Rogers. After 4 PM today, jets will take on 49 million in dead money by releasing Rogers. He's being designated as a post June one cut, meaning they'll carry his 21 million cap into June one, blah, blah, blah, blah, but officially, officially on the books as a release as of today.
And that honestly like heat. So nothing new, but, but, but this does. So again, there's a lot of things that you're going to see happen. I think here around the afternoon of this athletic put out, like it's Aaron Rogers day, they're cutting him at three and then we'll see, no, we won't see. So that's where I disagree there.
It is a, it's a process thing. This did have to happen officially before legally there could be these level of conversations with the Steelers, but there could be, you know, you can, but players have signed while still members about this week, right? Haven't they just, it's been announced. Well, no, those are free agents though. Yeah, but Rogers is about guys who I, I could be wrong. Who cares? I mean, I shouldn't have interrupted you.
Well, no, it's okay. I mean, but I think for the most part, except for some like rule breakers, you are incorrect. Like there, if you are contractually beholden to a team like Rogers was up until a guy that says wrong, he says incorrect, but here's the thing Rogers is going to be skewed. Rogers will not technically be a free agent until June one.
Right? So some other team will announce their intention to sign him and, and we'll get to accept it as gospel and official, even though it won't be, that's what I'm saying, but he's going to be at mini camp. Well, so like a guy of Rogers, veteran status would not do anything before June one anyway. Right.
I mean, maybe other than like a press conference, which even he probably wouldn't do guys, Rogers, come on Rogers, a press conference. Rogers is going to sit on, sit on McAfee every week. And they're, if McAfee is going to say, well, what about this team? Oh, what about this team? And then, you know, the nine people in the back are going to go, oh, they're all seals.
Now in my imitation, they're seals. That's that's cause it's a zoo. Um, they had a guy even filling in for Ty and I was like, someone's filling in for Ty. The show can get by without Ty for a day. Yeah. I know what you mean. It's a game.
They actually play. I don't know if you guys are like avid listeners, but can you get by without Ty brought to you by WWE? Do we, do we seem like daily program? Honey, honey. Yes.
Yes. My big break ties off this week. They're going to let me sit in Ty's chair on the Pat McAfee show. You know, it's kind of like messed up though. It was like, that would be a big dude. You know, it was fucked is I know the guy asked you guys about this, but big cat posted, like, I'm looking for my new assistant submit resumes. And I'm thinking they're like, oh, that'll be a cool job for someone. And then I thought about it for 20 seconds. I'm like, would that be better than what I'm doing? Like would, would, would going to get big cat, his coffee and making us get like, would that actually be a better job than the one I have now?
Would sixth chair on the McAfee show be better? It probably would be. Yeah.
That would be, and that's no disrespect to what you're doing now, but I know what you mean. It's a tiny ESPN. You're on TV every day. I think better than me. Yeah.
Probably. I mean, it's the biggest, is it, is it the biggest sports show in the world? I think for the people who watch it, that's true of anything. Those who watch it, there are people who watch it every day and then the rest of us don't engage with it at all. Like there are people who throw on first take when, when they're home alone in the morning, there's people who throw, I don't think people throw, I could be wrong. I don't think people was just like, ah, I got nothing.
Well, let's see what McAfee is talking about. Like it doesn't strike me as that kind of show. What, what, what am I bigger than let's start, let's find the line.
Let's see who's on your battlefield. Who's I don't know. You know, you know, what's wild to me is the reverence and care that people have for ESPN radio. When I was at the super bowl, we're at a party where they, where there was a group of people around me who were apoplectic over some of the choices being made at ESPN. And they're all like, when I grew up, that was the, that was everyone aspired to be on the chat. I don't think I've ever listened to ESPN radio once.
You know what I mean? Like, and I suppose back when it was Rossilo and was it Rossilo and canal and like, there were good shows, but I don't know. These people need local radio live and local in their life. Why are you listening to ESPN?
Why does that matter so much? Yeah, but it was, I mean, it was the same thing when I was with Fox sports, Wisconsin and just starting. It's like, man, if one day I could work my way up to be, you know, what I like, there's always going to be the brand names. It's like Bart had that one glorious week on CBS sports radio before they changed the name. And they're like, you know, it's the same network. It's the same station.
It just doesn't have the, the big three letters that are, you know, known you, you want to know what I think Rogers is doing. I think there's a little bit of the showmanship and he's earned that and it's good for us. So I'm not going to complain. I think he really wants to go to Minnesota. I think that's the destination that he wants.
Wow. Well, he doesn't want him. So I think he's sitting there. Like I'm going to make Minnesota keep saying no, like I'm going to make them consider that.
I think that's part of this. He wants to go somewhere and then get benched in week seven and he would and should. So that's why I would say, I think, I think Pittsburgh, he wants to go. So the giants are out for me.
Why? Because they're going to draft a quarterback. What pick do they have for three? But what if the first two guys are gone? You going Jackson dart at three?
No, but there's the, there's the risk of it. Like I said, her cousin's going to go to Cleveland and then they're going to draft a quarterback and he's going to get, he's got Kirk cousins is going to get Kirk cousins. He's going to get panicked again for the second straight year. I think if you bring in Aaron Rogers, it's the full year.
I don't think you bring in, you bring in Daniel Jones to start six games that you bring in Justin Fields for the same reason. Like I, I'm not convinced he's going to finish the year with the jets and I don't even know who else is on their depth chart or who they could acquire, but I'm pretty sure Justin Fields isn't starting 17 games. They'll draft a quarterback. The jets will, you know, like, you know, it's not going to be one of those big names necessarily. If I was a Steelers fan, I'd be very excited about Aaron Rogers.
Even if I watched Aaron Rogers the past year, I would still be like, I mean, we would, you know, we would do the fume K marriage, you know, it might work for us. I would, why not get Russ back in pair? He's got DK again. Did they get a, were they, were they good?
I don't know. They did. Right. Russ here was a much better deep ball at this stage of his career than Rogers does. Rogers was underthrowing MVS in 2019.
Don't give me that look. Rogers can still sling it. He can sling it in some ways, but he hasn't properly laid a deep ball out for a wide receiver to run under since like 2018. You're blaming Roger for something. If Mike William just would have stayed on the red line. I'm just kidding.
What was the thing that he kept saying? The red line. I look, I'm not trying to be anti Rogers. I think he played pretty well down the stretch last year. He's 40 and coming off in Achilles last year to me was way more about how the jets were a mess than it was about Rogers. 41 or easier. 41 in December. Yeah. Holy balls. It's easy for I'd like, cause I was associated with being like X number of months older than me.
Wow. But I was gonna say, if I was a Steelers fan, I'd say I'm in. If I was a Vikings fan, regardless of the Packers rivalry, but just like for the sake of my own teammates, I'd say like, what the fuck? Why? Well, partially because I don't know if I want all of that in my space, but also because I think again, like McCarthy, I wish McCarthy for his own sake would have just had a backup year behind Darnold and not gotten hurt.
Cause I don't, I mean, that's going to hinder development. It's not like, it's not like Mahomes behind Alex Smith where you sat and you studied. If you can't move and practice like McCarthy couldn't, yes, you're still in the meeting rooms and all of that, but I would not as a Vikings fan want Rogers, unless it was like to stick it to my Packer friends, but like there would be no, they're already sticking it to us. They don't need to steal our guys anymore. They're, they've been better than us. They were better than us. And I can say us because I'm an owner. I also think like the Vikings gotta be behind the scenes. Like, all right, we love JJ McCarthy.
Love him. But look at this effing roster. Like what if McCarthy isn't that good?
Or what if he's not ready? Like this team could win a super bowl, but isn't that the point? I don't think Rogers can win a super bowl. So maybe it starts and ends there, but well, okay.
The Vikings have, okay, let's, this is gonna be a hard question to ask without having done research, but just off the top of your head, you haven't workshopped it yet. Well, no, I'm saying for you guys, I feel kind of bad for you guys. This is a tough question to throw on. You'll handle it just well. You'll have just fine. Take away the quarterback position off of every roster. You didn't tell me we're doing this today. Okay, fine. Yeah. Right.
The classic Rossello. Sorry, go bomb and to turn my mic off now. The Vikings have a top 10 roster, excluding the quarterback position from every team. If you take away the QB position, it doesn't exist. The Vikings have a top 10 NFL roster.
Mm hmm. Or I think so. If not, they gotta be close.
It's right there. I mean, it's probably closer to 10 than one, but yeah. And if you count coaches and coordinators, they'll play callers on both sides of the ball. Homefield advantage. Got to count that though. It's not a roster thing technically, but yeah, I like I like Minnesota's roster.
I don't know if JJ McCarthy is good or ready. But I do understand I will say this because Bart, I listened to your opening segment on the national show last night. And I have one. You do. It's a different battle aware of it. I mean, not really, but I am. There are some other local Wisconsin radio hosts who have no idea that you have that show. But there's like you were really in.
Yeah, they were very like BK. Reverse it. So you had a very anti Daniel Jones to Indianapolis take and I I'm with you.
I'm pet that pissed me off. I'm with you that if I was a Colts fan, I would say like you're hindering the development. If Anthony Richardson is good, the Colts have a future. If he's bad, I want to find that out.
Yeah. 14 million for a one year rental. Like I'll I'll give you this. Let's just say Donald what let's say Donald had a let's say Donald didn't. Let's say Donald didn't have like the season he had for Minnesota last year. It made sense to me why the Vikings with drafting JJ McCarthy, a rookie McCarthy would want to bring in Donald on a one year 10 million dollar deal. Because I wouldn't want as a Vikings fan McCarthy to start as a rookie Allah. Rogers love, you know, other examples.
Well homes, Pennix homes. I would want to have my cousins, my Darnold so that JJ McCarthy could sit for a while. It's different when Richardson is going into year three, after having been benched in year two, like publicly headline grabby were like, benched. I just get mad that nobody like, so we saw Rogers work, obviously, I think you can say love worked. Yeah. We saw Patrick Mahomes work.
Yeah. And everybody goes into the year either saying, we're gonna we're gonna give him a year, or he's gonna start. They all go into the year thinking that and then they always they always change their mind. Drake may the Patriots changed their mind last year. Yeah, if you're gonna change your mind, just start Drake May then if you're gonna bench Bryce young, if you're owing to is the Panthers and they go, shit, the playoffs are spiraling, they're not gonna fucking make up. Okay, so make up this just make that because then you go back and forth and back and forth and who are you benefiting?
I have a response to that because I heard you make this point last night. And if I would have just been like on the other end of a microphone, I would have chimed in to say what I would say, which is like, the Colts, the reason that they're there in the spiral and the circle and this repeating nonsense of bringing in an old quarterback and trying to fit him in with whatever else they're doing is because the GM and the coach, even though they've changed a little bit throughout, like they're all they've made their decision. And now they're stuck trying to fix a bad decision, and then stuck fixing that bad decision, and then stuck fixing that. So they're just trying to maintain their job. And when you're just trying to maintain your job, you're not going to make the long term best decisions for your company, for your team for you. If I ever had a GM that was close to being on the hot seat, I would just fire him, you kind of have to be or you have to be ready to override their decisions. And if you're going to override the decisions, and they probably shouldn't be your GM, I'd fire Joe Shane right now because Joe Shane's not going to do anything to help the Giants, he's going to do anything to save his job. Yeah, it's like could could the outcome be worse by making the decision to fire said person?
Maybe. But if you're not going to trust that the decisions that your GM is making, because you know, they're just trying to save their own job, then they're making short sighted decisions. Signing Daniel Jones to one year and 14 million, whether it works out or not is a short sighted decision. The best case scenario is like for the Colts in 2025 is that Daniel Jones outplays Richardson has a Sam Donald s gear, the Colts go 10 and 711 and six, Daniel Jones leaves and goes elsewhere. And now you're like stuck with Anthony Richardson and you're forcing I guess it's yours again. But they're gonna start Richardson. And then they're gonna go one and three and then they're gonna bring in Daniel Jones. But he's gonna get anything with him that they did with Flacco or he's gonna get hurt because he's been hurt.
So like he gets hurt again. You can't just have nobody. Like the Colts can't be in that spot.
I think it's fine. I think they're bone with me again. If you can't beat out Daniel Jones, then maybe there's your answer. This is what I said on the midday show earlier today. I said they brought in the best possible quarterback to compete with Anthony Richardson who they still believe can be beaten by Anthony Richardson.
We're gonna have a quarterback competition that's bringing the best possible guy who we also still think Anthony Richardson will beat. Yeah. Yeah. All right. I got a hypothetical for you guys. If you knew you could get 25% off each and every order.
Mm hmm. I mean, once you just go ham, happy place.com. The promo code is Bart 25% off each and every order. We're talking the gummies, the tinctures, the lip balms, we're talking the Delta eights, Delta nines. We got the CBDN for nine night. We got the THC. We got the seltzers. We got everything you need to relax and feel good and not go too crazy, but you can experiment. And if you like this kind, get it again.
If you need a little more order again, because every time you order, it's 25% off with the promo code Bart at happy place, hemp.com. All right. It's week 13 of the 2025 NFL season. The Packers, the Packers are nine and three.
Jordan Love blows out his knee. Oh, I know where you're going with this. The Packers call up an unsigned Aaron Rogers. I'd be down. I guess you have to be, I would do. It would be so awesome. It would be the perfect way.
Even no matter how that season finishes the perfect ending to the story. Yeah. As much as I don't want to, like I left the park. Okay. I wanted off the ride. I left the park. I said, we are never coming back there ever again. But if Aaron Rogers doesn't sign somewhere and Jordan loves her and the Packers need a quarterback and Aaron Rogers is available.
I mean, I just got mailer after mailer after mailer to my house with deals. I can not turn down for the price of that. I will love this ride or at least I'll be willing to go on it one last time. The real last dance, maybe get a trade for Devontae back from the Rams.
No, now you've lost me. Get MVS who signed with the Seahawks today. Finally give Amari Rogers a fair shake. Call up Equinemia St. Brown.
He's too busy podcasting with his brother. Yeah. Yeah.
What else you got on this topic? I would say so. Yes. Signing Roger.
That was it. Week 12. I just wanted to put it out there so that it doesn't actually happen. Put yourself just real quick. Who are you most excited to see retire like in all of sports? I think mine's Adam Schefter. I think he's just so whiny. Well, my answer was actually, I was going to save this for later because I want to do a Packers topic first, but my answer is LeBron.
Second is me. You're not going to get to choose to retire. You're just going to be like gone.
Yeah. Sports journalism will be better without Schefter and the NBA will be better without LeBron. All right, we can do a Packer one. I know we're all like ready to pounce on LeBron, but we can do a Packer one first. I'm ready to pounce on Grant for that take.
We'll save it. He was defending him in our text chain. I was like, what the fuck is going to be two against one? I'm usually the one in the two on one in this group. So I'm going to take a hint.
Oh no. Oh, if you're always the wrong one. I didn't say wrong.
I said the one, not the wrong one. Grant, we did this topic a week ago and you were, I think the question I ended up asking was Packers fans should pay little mind to the DK Metcalfs and the Trey Hendrickson's which could still happen. And the Max Crosby's Packers fans should pay a little mind. I think Bart and I in our seniority of this group are like, we were just tired of, you know, getting excited and being let down.
And you're a youngin with a lot of a lot of years left to be disappointed and you're like, no, like, you know, even sports content radio aside, you thought, you know, I think, no, we should pay it mind. Aaron Banks, Nate Hobbs, maybe something else. Trey Hendrickson is still available, but contrary to like the Preston Smith, Zadaria Smith, Adrian Amos, Billy Turner year, contrary to the Xavier McKinney, Josh Jacobs year, the Packers had money just like they did last year when they got McKinney. Now again, this free agent class was not last year's free agent class and needs and, you know, desires of the players, all these things to be said, but, and you also can't win Super Bowls or go to the playoffs or win divisions in March. Having said that, if the Packers are done for all intents and purposes, they're going to, they did what they did. Now they're going to draft some guys.
If you had to give them a pass or fail grade on March 12th for their off season, it was a fail. Mm-hmm. Or I think you directed that one at Grant. I was, he may, he may only because he was the one who said, no, like I'm, I think they should do it. I think they're going to do it in relation to Metcalf or Hendrickson made a few Twitter dollars on his Aaron Banks takes.
I met him. I just, no, I don't think they failed. Failing would be the Packers had all this money and they sat on their hands. They didn't do that. Although we've had so many callers this week. He's like, I knew they wouldn't do anything. It's like, what the fuck are you getting? They didn't sign the guys that you may be expected at the positions you expected.
And that's my problem. Like, I think they could have addressed corner and O-line just fine in the draft. I think throw a couple of picks at both of those positions. Excellent.
You would have been fine. I thought they would have been better served spending their free agency dollars or any trade capital, which isn't out the window on March 12th, but I thought that would be better served, spent wide receiver and edgerusher. And they neglected that so far. Um, which I think will be harder to get immediate impact in the draft.
Oh, great. You're just a hater. No Lucas van Ness and Rashawn Gary exists. Like I don't want an edgerusher. That's a six year project wide receiver.
It's just hard. Maybe they could pick one at 23. I'd be surprised.
I don't think they failed though. I think that corners a nice piece for Jeff Haffley and the O-lineman whose name has been escaping me since the moment I saw the tweet, he will help move Elton Jenkins to center. I couldn't remember it either. Aaron banks. I've had post-it notes on the bottom of my head, Nate Oates, Nate banks, Aaron banks. I think it's Aaron banks.
Bart Oates was a center for the giants and their super bowl runs of 1990s pass, but a begrudging pass. And it's like, it's like, Oh, the student turned in an assignment. I'm like, Oh, okay. I guess this works. Not really what I was going for, but I'm not going to fail you over this. I think that the way that fans approach free agency, like I'm in one group chat of a fantasy league and they're all like, this is like, this is like the day.
This is like my favorite day. Oh wow. Why?
It sounds like Paul. I mean, there's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of things happening and it's hard to keep up with everything. And you know, there's a rush to that.
The dopamine's kicking in. That's always good. But if you want the Packers to do something, how do you react when they do something and give considerable money? We don't know all the details, but when they give considerable money and then like, it's a guy you've never heard of.
Yeah. So Aaron Banks, I have never heard like I have never, and I think that's okay. He is a guard. First of all, whoever, I mean, it's centers tackles. Then you get to guards in terms of, I know the offensive lineman on other teams. And then it's the 49ers Aaron Banks. I don't know how we're supposed to know that as Packer fans, Nate Hobbs later in the day, someone texts me, is this Nate Hobbs stuff? True. And if, if you would have then told me Nate Hobbs plays NFL cornerback, I'd say, Oh yeah, I, I, I think he plays for the Raiders.
I, I had him in a dying, like some defensive league. Okay. I get there, but just Nate Hobbs initially, is this Nate Hobbs stuff? True. I was like, I thought there was like some guy that killed a bunch of people in a forest. That's what I thought Nate Hobbs stuff.
True. Is this some kid we went to junior high with? This is like Nate Hobbs do.
This is like when Shams broke the Luca news and people were like, is this, are we sure this is true? Nate Hobbs. Are we sure?
Yeah. We sure Nate Hobbs is really coming here. So when you do something, but you don't know the guys. I mean, these are not name brand guys for like 99% of Packer fans.
And I don't know. I don't know that there's any Packer fan that knows both of them before this week. And I don't think there's even one single Packer fan that knows who Aaron Banks is.
You watched a lot of guard tape. And I don't, I don't care. Who's doing a good job podcasting about him. You didn't know Aaron banks.
Nobody knew Aaron banks. I'm still not sure he's real. There's only that one picture of him spiking a football and his headshot looks a lot like Jordan and Morgan, Jordan, Morgan and Sean Ryan smashed together. Sure.
It looks like an, in this day of AI, how are we supposed to trust anything? Did the Packers really sign someone? We're not even sure yet. Well, I have a follow up question about Jordan Morgan as it relates to this, but we can finish this up and then we'll pivot. So I guess like they pass, but then again with free agency, you know, with the bears.
Okay. They rebuilt their offensive line and they're very excited about that. I watched a clip from the score. Well, who's the center David Dane. What's the guy's name?
Yeah. Who cares? They were reacting to that signing as, as if they got the number one, pick the draft, Connor Bedard, like that kind of enthusiasm that Chicago had for him. Like they couldn't believe it. They couldn't believe the riches that were being spoiled to them with this offensive line.
We don't know that that's going to work out. It's fun to win March 10th, which Jacksonville did for five years in a row. The bears have done a couple years in a row now too. Yeah. I mean, winning free agency, winning the opening day of free agency is basically like the NBA cup of the NFL dude in the moment.
You're like, sure, but what's it really going to do? You mentioned the score. I follow the score and I see their tweets and sometimes they'll post a topic and I'm like, Jesus, I don't think I could wear like a couple of weeks ago.
It's like Victor women. Yama has been declared out for the year. How does this impact the lottery odds of the bulls?
And I'm like, I think I'd sell cars. Bulls radio. I was listening to the end of Rami last night. Cause he was in and he's, he's trying to talk about the balls and he's like, they just do enough where they're, they're not good, but then they're not bad enough.
It's just this, I mean, they might, they're going to get the 10 seed with like a 30 and 52 record. It's insane. Gross. I don't know. Did I answer the question?
Yeah, you did. It's a Pat. You said pass, not fail, but not exactly the flying coach. That's of course my answer as well.
Like did the passer, the Packers failed. Like, like I was curious how emotional your reactions could be. And I didn't think they would be, but I'm sure you've had grant.
You would particularly in Wisconsin. I'm sure I've had callers that have, as you've mentioned, like would have said, fail like in bait bar, maybe even one of your friend group chats would have said, fail. I didn't say these were friend group chats. I said I was just in group chat. Sorry. Football that is my, my, my friends of my life.
I barely talked to, but people I was in a fantasy league with God, I know everything about them. Yes. So, no, so Packers did not fail. If you have to give them a pass fail grade, you know, almost by default it's past because it's not fail, but you know, certainly if you went into this and again, this is all premature because it's not the end of for agency week. One is not tomorrow. They could very well get Trey Hendrickson. They like, and even if there's a lot of ball game left now, careful that's trademarked. True. Bart might have to pay a licensing fee now on his show. But it's fine.
It's a pass. It would have been fun. It would have been fun to have DK Metcalf. Like of course, like that would be a fun story, but I don't know.
I want my wide receiver to at least be like a top eight guy before I'm going to pay for a 27 year old to give up a second round pick and give him that contract. Like I would have, I would have given like Bart you're thinking about the dopamine. Like I would have said like, Oh, Whoa, this is going to be fun to watch.
And then you'd like to kind of get past the emotions. I'm gonna say, Ooh, like that's Hmm. Hmm.
I got a dopamine hit for you. Did you see this? Have you seen this?
You heard about this? Atlanta's keeping Kirk cousins. Sure. They are. Yeah.
They are expected to keep them through Sunday's deadline and pay him the $10 million he's due. Wait, I mean, when did this happen? I can't really trust you because you don't go on social media until we tell you about it.
So I don't know until it comes time to fight Bodie about Aaron Rogers. Then you're like, no, I'm back on Twitter now, which seems odd, but good for you. No, I I'm back.
I did tweet today, but otherwise I've deleted all my tweets back to February because the reason I'm deleting my tweets is because I'm ashamed of things I say. The reason I'm deleting my tweets is because they're using it without my permission to build their AI machines. And without having about that, without you, they won't be able to build it.
Well, they won't be able to build me. Oh, speaking of, um, something sort of tangential severance this week needs to be a banger of an episode because last night I had a dream of my own severance episode and it was fucking amazing of you, of you being the central character. No, I just dreamt the severance episode and I woke. I was like, I got to watch that shit again.
And then I realized it was not real. Okay. Let's, let's go there for a minute tangent. I'm only one episode behind. Okay.
Not bad. Season two of severance has been okay. You people know they're, they're taking more like full episode detours.
Too many like one. Well, the next episode you're going to get is a real big one. A big detour. Oh yeah.
Yeah. I back in my day that was just character development. That wasn't a detour, but we used to, I know, I know, but I would, I would watch, I would wa I would save, I wouldn't wait until there was another one this week. I wouldn't watch it tonight. God forbid you should ever finish an episode of television. Excited to watch the next, like God forbid an episode ever gets you geared up to watch the next one. No, no, no.
They should tie it all in a nice neat little bow. Wasn't even a spoiler. They gave you so much payoff. This isn't a spoily show. They do.
They do give you, they do give you answers and payoff, but of the least interesting character in the show, in my opinion, I'm pretty sure Bart that I watched seven season one quite a ways before you. And when I was trying to think, I watched it every week live Oh, so we did. Well, okay. So we were actually, or however it was released, I watched it right away.
Okay. So you were, cause what I was thinking back to is when I was like this show after season one, like I think it was, I think I remember thinking it was a really good show. And then the finale and the final four minutes of the finale of season one were so good that it created unbelievable, well-deserved buzz going into season two. But the thing I never like about shows is if they stray too far from like their, their core, but this show at some point had to, I mean, well, no, no, no, but like, so they like, I want to see the four characters in their cubicle thing. Like you've got like almost none of that. So like I would, this is on Peacock.
If that's what you're looking for the whole show, you, you don't even have to wait a week. I'm just saying, I think it's a little bit of a cheat code to be able to take your characters anywhere. If all of a sudden you wake up in a dream land and you're on like this snowy mountainside, that wasn't a dream though. I'm not saying it was a dream. I'm just saying like you, I was an Orton bow for all intents and purposes.
It's which retangled spells robot point is I think that's, I think that can be cheap. It's like, I remember being in first grade and like write a story. It just can't end with, and then you woke up. This was the first, it was either first, second or third grade. And it was like, you gotta write a story.
Just have it. Do you, we went to different schools obviously, but like literally yeah. Different curriculum, Paul. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know, but like there's a big, big epidemic in your district of kids writing dream tales. The only rule was don't end it with, and then they woke up. That was, I, I remember that to be a rule. There had to be a discussion amongst teachers. Like this is getting out of control, right? These kids in these stories.
No, I think because honestly, so when do we implement it? Cut the head off the snake first fucking grade. What I think of what I take away from it 33 years later is like you have to ground it in some level of reality.
Otherwise, no matter what you do in your story is inconsequential. Well, let's just see it play out. I'm okay with seeing it play out. I just, I was hoping to like go into season two and then by the midway through season two, be like, yup, one of my five favorite shows ever. And it it's not yet.
You know, you know what, what people typically this is a younger person issue, Paul, you're not old by any means, but here's the problem. Do you think a musical artist is good? Do you like what they're about? Okay. Do you believe in, in their process?
Do you have, then get on the ride with them and get excited for where they're going to take you. And sit there like a critic, like, what do you got next? Like we're about to play one off our new album.
Paul's like, God fucking damn it. Yeah. Do you think the people making the show are good and making good choices? Do you think the actors are good and making a choice then just get on the ride and surrender yourself. Not everyone has to have a blog or a fucking reaction podcast to every show that's ever been made. Here's maybe the, here's maybe like the somewhat blind spot benefit I have to the severance discussion is like I actively spoiled anything, right? But I'm saying I'm never watching the, if these reaction blogs and videos exist, I don't know them because I'm always about a week or two behind. So I actually don't know, like, I'm assuming they exist for a show this popular grant, like that these reaction shows, but like Bart and I, as wrestling fans have been like trained to say, let's see how it plays out. It's literally like you were talking like a wrestling fan because complain about everything. No one hates wrestling, like wrestling fans.
This is what I've come to realize. And I, and I think if you make stupid decisions and I think if you like a show, if you like a band, if you like a daredevil kicks ass, by the way, tell me if you disagree with this. If you truly like a band, you like a movie, you like a movie, a TV show, you like a franchise of a movie, you should be able to be like, this one's okay. What do people do that about my show? No, cause no one fucking listens.
No one knows it exists. So it's hard to really judge it. All right. Let's shit on LeBron.
All right. Um, we'll save the bucks one. I know they're in the midst of a losing streak. I have so many, I thought of multiple different ways because really made me mad, but if the bucks play the Pacers in the playoffs, Halliburton is going to be like thinking he's way fucking better than he is just based on that shot alone.
So it might be longterm good. I don't want to play the Pacers. Not because I don't think the bucks will win.
I think they would in a seven game series, but because I don't want to like raise my blood pressure. I don't want to live through Nembhard and name Smith and knee Smith and not Smith and all those fucks again, especially not Nemb Smith. That guy, he grinds my ears. Yeah.
Antonio Nemb Smith grand. Do you ever hear a John, a new John Mayer song? Be like, this one's, I still like the artist, but this one's not good. Are you just along for the ride? And you're just like, I surrender myself up until this point.
I have, no, I think there's some, some music that's better. Like his last album came out like three years ago for a shit four years ago. God, what has he been doing now that I think about that? He's been catching strays with BJ Novak in any, in any event. No, not up until this point. No.
Interesting. Ted lasso season one. I thought like, how could they ever possibly, this is just elite television.
Then like, here's a pile of shit. I never watched season three. Once the episodes became like 58 minutes. I was like, yeah, this a comedy.
Yeah. I was pleased with season one. I did not feel the need to keep going. I thought it was interesting.
Season one was just beautiful and brilliant. Okay. Lebron. A lot of ways we can go with this topic. I don't want it to be too outlandish, but the NBA will be in a better place post Lebron. Once he's away from the league on a day to day, I'm not saying ratings. I'm saying as a ratings regardless, it seems I'm saying as you feel like Lebron, are we, can we make parallels between him and Aaron?
I think so. So here's the thing about Lebron. If I may, here's a guy Lebron is if I may, the greatest basketball player to ever live.
Agreed. Unquestionably top two or three. Maybe the greatest basket man. I will reference again, spark spark guys elite take the most elite take he ever had the most elite take anyone ever associated with the show ever had is that all these guys bitching about load management, Jordan took three years off. I just think that's, that's an elite way to look at things. And then when he was 40, he was just checking up shots of the wizards. Lebron is a top 20 player, maybe higher.
Agreed. And he will continue to be a top 20 player until what age? Like I don't think to use a Nick right take. I don't think he'll ever be bad.
I don't know. We're going to get to the point where we turn on our TV and like, Ooh, it's that's sad. He's true. He's too good. He's he's got too good of a mind, too good of a passing ability. Like he's never going to be bad celebrated for all these accomplishments. But instead of looking at, wow, he's still 40 and doing this, people are like, Oh, he's just playing the rack up so he can be top and everything. And that's kind of a weird way. Lebron should be celebrated that he can have his son that he's good enough.
Yeah. That he's good enough to basically tell a team draft my kid that he's old enough and good enough to still be in the league. But then the way that it goes like the thing was Stephen A. Smith. My first thought was you have a lot of different ways to get in touch with Stephen A. Smith.
Did it need to be on the sidelines of a game? And we're doing that for you. And we're doing that for your son.
It looked like he was doing it for him after watching some of the stuff he said to Richard Jefferson. He's like, you know, say whatever about my kid, but you're talking about me as a father. So now it's about him.
So what are you defending here? I think that LeBron, like, here's what's pissing me off. So LeBron LeBron a couple of weeks ago was bitching about this upcoming Lakers stretch where it's six games in eight days. They play us twice. They play Denver. They've got a couple games, I think on the road in Milwaukee and then Denver and then four at home. But it's six games in eight days. And he put on Instagram like this can't be serious or whatever. And then he plays this other night in this national, you know, Lakers, Celtics.
It's I think the highest rated non-Christmas day game of the season. And then he's hurt. And if you go back, he has missed considerable amount of time in March every year for the last five years. So it's clear that LeBron takes like a period in March to kind of recoup his body and get ready for a playoff run. I don't think there's anything wrong with that during March Madness, too.
He waited just for the conference tournaments to get started. Yeah. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But then say that.
Yep. Say say I'm, you know, because Giannis was hurt around the All-Star break and they explicitly said like, look, we've been hurt. I need to be healthy if I can take a little bit of time to just get my body right. And then, you know, then I'll continue on.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that. It's not like load management, this load management, that load management gets annoying when you go to a game and the stars aren't playing. But the reason for load management is because the season's long and the playoffs are long, too. And the playoffs are grueling, dude.
The players are grueling. So if you can find a little bit of time, I just don't like that. The problem with LeBron is right when you're ready to give him his flowers, he will do something or say something where you're like, I'd rather just keep it a secret that I like LeBron. I'd rather just not tell anybody this because it's always it's always something so stupid with this guy. I've never been a LeBron guy for years, never been a LeBron guy. And I loved the heat because I liked Wade and Battier and Chalmers and Norris Cole.
That team just fucking ripped. But I was never a LeBron guy. But the problem is, and this has happened with folks politically as well, the spectrum has shifted. I've stayed in the same spot, but the anti LeBron people have gotten so much worse. And the pro LeBron people have just like, they're not as boisterous anymore because they're right.
So I have found myself sliding more pro LeBron just because the spectrum around me has shifted. That's kind of where I stand on him. Paul, you are muted. I get what you're saying.
Okay. I say for a second time, this time, not on mute. I, I like your perspective.
I like the way you approach the topic. I just know like, as someone who has had the NBA as his favorite sport for the majority of my years, there are things that he, that LeBron does that make me say, I don't want like, I can't, I don't want this to be my favorite thing. What do I do to have this not be my favorite sport? And it's the unbelievably stupid, embarrassing flops. The thing with Tatum on that nationally, like that is so poisonous to basketball, the future of basketball to the league's perception. Like if Adam Silver wants to have like these, well, you scored the most points.
Congratulations, I guess he should dial that energy. Fuck the all-star game, Adam Silver, like point that energy toward in Bart's opinion and many opinion, the best basketball player ever embarrassing your league with, Oh, and then like, not only does he get the phone call, then he has to kind of keep pretending, right? Cause if he just flashes a smirk, then you're like, okay, clearly he didn't get hit there.
So he has to keep selling it. It's so embarrassing. This is something that the three of us have talked about, like in group chat with, you know, certain people was like, if you don't have that guy who can call you out on your shit, who can be like, bro, like that's a bad look, stop it. Then you're going to, like, it's just so embarrassing. Then you have the Stephen A Smith situation, which is like, if you can watch, if you can watch those two interact in the way in which LeBron chose the interaction and the time, the location, the style, the message behind it, if you can leave that and be like, I'm with LeBron on this, I don't know who you, who you, you know, imaginary person I'm referring to.
I don't know who you are and how that can be possible. I think that makes Stephen A. Smith look remarkably worse than LeBron, in my opinion, but soon as it didn't do anything, he's peacocking on that. He wants to be in the game and he's not, he's a talking head on TV.
You know, we got to get tunnel videos of him showing up to the game. And like, if you didn't like that, Steven, a was like, he's like, I was with, who was he with? Larry David, Larry David.
He was with, uh, Aria man. Yeah. Yeah.
Like you're in the media, get a credential and sit in the media spot. I don't want to take, this is to say like, there's no level of self-awareness from LeBron. The injury thing that Bart talked about the flopping stuff. Great.
Good players. Shouldn't pull the kind of stuff that he does in terms of complaining about calls about flopping for calls. I just don't want to watch that. I just don't want, I just don't want to be, I don't want my favorite thing to be a thing that gives me a level of reaction negatively that that does. That's not about LeBron.
It's about, you know, like if any great player in any sport did the kind of it's, it's honestly like if you took, it's not overly dissimilar of like my home's flopping. He shouldn't do that. Like Brittany or Jackson or someone in his life should be like, just stop it. Like you're hurting your brand.
You're hurting your reputation. I think he's the one who knows people to stop hurting their reputation. Who in my home's life is there to like be a guide to him.
And he is the guide for everyone. This is generally an issue. And this is not to fight John rocker for goodness sakes. Wild. I don't think you should do that. I heard anyway. The point is, is like, I think the tactics are gross.
Look at my shadow. I, the league will drop. And if the league wasn't already going to drop in ratings, which it seems to be, it will. Once LeBron has gone, he's a hugely marketable big name guy as a basketball purist. There's just some of the stuff just drives me crazy.
And I don't know why he hasn't kept someone close enough to him to be like, just don't do that dumb shit. I hate it. You would you would rather watch simulations than the greatest basketball player of all time. And this perfectly aligns with Oh, I want robo lumps and I want I want the purist form every place should be reviewable.
Let's just play the games on computers. Why do we even need real athletes like I'm hyperbolizing Of course, so there's a little bit of a take profile here, Paul. There's a difference. I was so condescending I didn't mean it that way. The difference I would say the difference between this and like the ump thing is wanting like the right outcome. If that's the profile you're saying and I put right in air quotes for those not watching the video version, but it's like, I want the pure version of the thing. And you know, I really don't want is I don't want in this case, lying.
If you are getting touched here, and then you're saying like, my God, my nose is about is my I think my nose just broke. It's not LeBron lies. He just doesn't tell the truth.
If that makes that's good. Yeah, thank you. Anyway, it just it's just I don't lie to my wife. I just omit the truth.
Lies of omission. Yeah. Well, that's a no. With that good. We can pick this up. Another time. We can table this. Yeah, let's table this. Let's couch this. I have to I have to go. Yeah, grants got a job.
Yeah, to do. I don't know if you guys know this, but I will be on national radio again tonight for four fucking hours. Jeff all over the goddamn continent. The Vikings just signed Javon Hargrave. The Packers better hope the Bears remain absolute shit or they're going to get last in this division.
By the way, every take the under on every NFC North win total because they're playing on each other way better divisions also. Guys always listen for on the national show Bart a pleasure. Thank you. Sorry. No, it's it's good.
We're I'm totally happy with my life. I stepped all over your sign off. I'm sorry. I'm gonna go now. Bye. Bye. Yeah. Okay. Talk to you soon. Sure. Bye. Later. Thank you for stopping into the Winkler verse. That's it. Bye.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-03-12 18:26:27 / 2025-03-12 18:48:55 / 22
