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Now, on with the show. Oh my god, you guys are my favorites. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Rich Eisen. I know what I'm talking about.
That's the headline. The Rich Eisen Show. With guest host, Dan Schwartzman. I mean, honestly, he's brilliant. He's a poet.
Dan Schwartzman. Oh, my gosh. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. And now, sitting in for Rich. It's Dan Schwartzman.
Elliot may be a poet, not so much. I cannot rhyme to save my life. Frankly, I don't even like poetry, that's why I'm in Sports Talk Radio. Fan Schwartzman in for Rich Eisen, the Rich Eisen Show on a Black Friday. on ESPN Radio, the SPN app and Sirius XM channel eighty.
And it's been a fun couple hours. We have a whole nother hour to go leading up into really what a heck of a football game, Eagles. And the Bears. We talked about Philly to end last hour. I do want to give the Bears a little love here because they deserve it.
I mean, here's an 8-3 team. Caleb Williams has had a very nice season. You know, I liked Caleb Williams coming out of USC. I thought clearly he was the number one pick. And I think last year was a struggle as most young quarterbacks struggle.
This year, it's been a bit of a different story. Better coaching right now there. And they are a surprising eight and three team. Don't think they're that great, frankly. I don't.
But this year in the NFL you don't have to be great if you want to win games. And for the Bears, I have a buddy who's been a Bear fan for his entire life, and it's been a struggle, right? The Bears, by the way, if you want to talk about and look, as a Jet fan, I look at the quarterback position, and from Joe Namath to now, it's been a mishmash and a mess. The Bears have been even worse, right? Think about the quarterbacks the Bears have had.
I'm going to go back to a guy named Sid Luckman back in the day. You're talking what, like, the forties, right? Sid Luckman. And Jim McMahon They won a Super Bowl with Jim McMahon, and no offense to Jim McMahon, he's not why they won the Super Bowl. They won the Super Bowl because of Walter Payton.
They won the Super Bowl because they had a dominating defense with Mike Singletary, Richard Dent, Wilbur Marshall, Steve McMichael. It was a dominant defense. It was a formula that won a Super Bowl for the Baltimore Ravens in the early 2000s, a dominant running game and a dominant defense. Not as much a quarterback play. Flacco, though, did do a lot.
Don't get me wrong. But. It was more because, again, Because of or excuse me, Dilfer again won that Super Bowl one I'm thinking of, I think. Right? Was it Tilfer?
Who won that Super Bowl when the Ravens uh beat the Giants early two thousands? That was yeah, maybe it was. I think it was. I may be completely wrong. It was Brian Billig, I think it was the head coach.
And they beat the Giants. And they had Ray Lewis and dominated. And I believe, maybe it was Dilfer. Yeah, I think it was Fred Dilfer, who was the Super Bowl. Quarterback.
They didn't win because of Trent Dilford. They won because of a running game, and they won because they had a dominant defense. Same with the Bears. Bears have tried to fill that position, right, all these years. Look at the guys they have drafted.
Cade McNoun, guys like this. No one worked out at that position. Jade Cutler, they made that trade with Denver, gave up a boatload of picks, two first-round picks. He was okay. Not great.
Not enough to win. They get the top pick. They draft Caleb Williams. And I do think they now have the person that will. Potentially bring them back to the heights they had in the mid-1980s.
It's been that long. They had that one-year run with Lovey Smith success there. But Caleb Williams, I am a fan. I know people, the jury is out.
Some people think he's soft. He's kind of an alternative type of guy, right? He's kind of like Cam Newton in that sense, kind of an alternative type of guy. He's got other interests. He is progressive, I guess.
Is that the term these days? Progressive? He paints his fingernails, things like that, right? He's kind of a he's out there a little bit. And when it comes to football, it's a very interesting dynamic where people think you have to live, breathe, and die football.
That's what it is. If you have other interests in life, it's a detriment to your football career. I'll tell you a quick story. I've worked with a bunch of NFL guys. And they will tell you that if a player comes into the league and he's highly educated, for instance, or he has this love of something else, right, maybe he loves his music or something else, that's looked upon as being a negative in the NFL.
In those circles, that's a negative. Like, what do you mean you have other interests outside of football? Nuh-uh. You got to live and breathe football 24-7. That's your job, that's your life.
And guys who don't Live in that school of thought are kind of shunned to a point or questioned. And Caleb Williams falls into that category a bit. People forget the talent, how good he is. How he comes to them naturally. He's a generational talent in that aspect.
I'm not saying he's a generational player. But he is a talent. Doesn't mean he will evolve to be a generational player. There's a difference. But it comes down to where he is now seeing success.
The organization is now seeing success. Back off a little bit, let them grow. They have talent there now, finally, offensively. They will add to that talent over the next couple of years. It will be a different story.
And you will see success in Chicago because they have the right guy at the helm. At coach and also at quarterback.
So I gave the Chicago Bears some love, deservingly so. It's going to be a good matchup in Philly. Eagles, Bears. One team's going to be 9-3, others going to be 8-5. Still, playoff hunt, both teams looking very good as the season goes on.
I want to switch gears here because. There's something happening in the NBA right now that's not being talked about enough. And that's because it's football season in a lot of people's minds. You know, I'm one of these guys, too, where it's like when it's baseball season and the NFL kicks off in September, I say, no, no, come on. It's still baseball season.
It's still nice outside. Football is a cold weather sport. It's too nice outside. I'm still a baseball guy at that point. Then it switches to football.
And then the NBA tips off of the NHL. I'm like, no, no, I'm not ready for this yet. I'm not ready for hockey yet. I'm not ready for basketball yet. It's still the NFL.
And when baseball starts off and guys are all bundled up in wool, you know, I remember the World Series where they had the. Where they had the ear musk built into the caps. Remember that? It was Phillies in Tampa Bay. It was at 08, I think it was.
And I'm like, what is this? Ridiculous. You can't be playing baseball in cold weather like this. But when it's still cold and baseball's going on in spring training, I get happy because I know warm weather is right around the corner, but I'm still not ready for baseball yet.
So the NBA season is 19 games in right now. You're talking there about a quarter of the way through the NBA season. And maybe this is because it's happening in Oklahoma City and not in Los Angeles or New York or Boston or Chicago, a big city. You're talking about one of the smallest markets in the entire league, actually, entire professional sports in America. They're not as many small markets as Oklahoma City is.
It's one of the smallest markets out there. But OK see the defending NBA champs. are doing something right now that's never been done before. They're eighteen and one that's happened before. But they are winning right now.
uh on an average of sixteen and a half points. They are beating their opponents per game through nineteen games On average by 16.5.5. points. That means every single game they play is a blowout win. If you're in Vegas, if you're an odds maker.
And you're giving somebody Mine is fifteen. People think you're out of your mind. But yeah, with OKC, actually that's a good bet. You take the over. Unbelievable.
You know, and what's also incredible to me. Is that OKC has been winning all these games and dominating their opponent? And they're missing one of their top players. Jalen Williams is making his season debut today. This is an all-NBA all-defensive player as well who has yet to play this year because of an injury and surgery.
From back in July. Had pins removed in October, he is making his season debut to day. On a team that is 18 and 1 and dominating the entire NBA. It's not even funny how good they are. They are head and shoulders right now the best team in the NBA.
Head and shoulders. Not even close. And when you look at Jalen Williams, you're not talking about some player who is. Yeah, twelve, thirteen points. Does a nice job on defense.
You're talking about a superstar player. Who's young? It's year four for Jalen Williams. He's averaging 20 last year, he averaged 20 points a game. Six rebounds, four or five assists, whatever it is.
These are superstar numbers when you talk about adding the defense that he brings to the court.
So he comes back and it's now just getting silly, right? Who in their right mind can beat OKC and the NBA right now? Let's look at the Eastern Conference. Detroit, by the way, leading the Eastern Conference. They're 15 and 3.
You know what? They're not OKC. Toronto's number two, not OKC. Miami, New York, Cleveland, not OKC. Western Conference, Lakers, Denver, Houston, San Antonio, not OKC.
It's as if OKC is there and then there's everybody else. You got this nice little mix of teams: Lakers, Nuggets, Houston, San Antonio, Toronto, Detroit, Miami, right? Good teams, good players. And then you have this one team that's just far and away. They are the Christmas ornament on top of the tree.
Everybody else is the tree. They are the star on top of that tree. Far and away better. Winning 95% of their games. Unbeatable.
The only thing that's going to stop OKC from repeating his champions right now is injuries. Talent-wise, no one's matching up. No one.
So is that fun to watch? Not really. When you know one team is that much better than everybody else, is it fun to watch? Maybe you root against them because you want to see more parody, more competition. But here's what it comes down to, okay, and this is why it's not fun.
In a one-game scenario. Could Denver, if Nikola Jokic has an incredible game, can they beat OKC? Sure, they can beat him. Can San Antonio if uh Wemby has some ridiculous game. Yeah.
I can beat him. Eastern Conference team maybe in one game compete 'em. But in any series Five games, seven games, whatever it is. You're not going to win three games against this team. You're not going to win four games against this team.
It's not happening. That's why it's not fun. One game here there, sure, they can lose. Do you know what what a mind? Boggling upset it would be?
For OKC to lose a playoff series? Like an actual series? Wow. You want to talk about an upset. You want to talk about Vegas having to pay out a lot if anybody'd even bet against them.
They're just not going to lose this year. I don't know. It's not competitive to me. It's not. Everybody else is okay, pretty good.
And then you just have one superstar team. And Sam Presty, what an incredible job he has done. You know, it's interesting because this is a guy that was there for the first. Group of talent that people thought potentially could win a championship. That was Kevin Durant.
That was Russell Westbrook, James Harden, remember they had to get rid of Harden. When he was just really starting to click into his prime, they had to get rid of him. They traded him because they couldn't keep him salary-wise. Presty tore that team down. He got rid of all the top talent there.
Down to the studs, tore it down. And rebuilt him because they had their version of. The NFL's Herschel Walker trade, right? where the Cowboys traded Herschel Walker to the Vikings for a ton of picks. And if you look at who they brought back in those picks, it was a who's who of talent.
And the Cowboys became a dynasty because of that one trade and great drafting.
Well, he got rid of Paul George. And got Shea Gilgas Alexander, and the rest is history. And they've built around A superstar MVP with more talent. And then under the radar signings as well. And that's why you have this team that's just so good compared to, well, everybody else right now, and it's that case.
We're going to talk a little bit more NBA. Who can truly compete with OKC? Also, Lakers and Dallas. Luca is going to go for 80 tonight against his old team to just show him how dumb they were to get rid of him. And that trade is just not aging.
By the way, when it happened, it wasn't good. And it's not aging well at all for Dallas. The Lakers are winning, Dallas is not. Our buddy Mike Vorkhanov, the athletic basketball reporter, he's going to join us next to break it all down for us. We are in our number three, Dan Schwartzmann in for Rich.
It is the Rich Eisen Show on ESPN Radio, the ESPN app, and SiriXM Channel 80. Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start? Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin? Or what that clunking sound from your dryer is.
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Shopify.com/slash network. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. I don't even know where to begin. Yeah. Dan Schwartzmann infrared eyes and the ranch eyes and show.
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Now, I do have to ask. Is this little John doing Christmas music? Affirmative. How do you go from get aloe to this? Did the career get low and he had to do something to bring it back up?
And Christmas was it? Yeah, I think he got low in the totem pole and got something. I honestly have to say, this isn't bad. It's a great when I found it in the system a number of years ago, I was like, this is my go-to song now. Can you text me this?
Yeah, not the song, but like the name because it's so stunning, I will have to play it for people. Lil John did a Christmas special, who knew? If Little John did a Christmas special, maybe Eminem did one. We just don't know about it. Go look in this system, Renee.
You find this. whacked out stuff in the system, there's gotta be more in there. My goodness I know like Michael Booblay does it, but I did not expect Little John. NBA season rolling along almost a quarter of the way through, as crazy as it sounds. Lakers and Dallas the Luka game, and we're now finding out they're not going to play on the wacky NBA Cup court tonight.
Because there's apparently a slippery issue there. We've heard some players complain about that. It's gonna be the court's being sent back to the vendor for repairs, and they're gonna play on their regular court apparently. But the game will, of course, occur. Mike Vornikov, the athletic basketball reporter, joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show.
And Mike, first off, Happy Thanksgiving to you and the family, and I hope you had a great turkey day. I do have to ask you this, Mike. The Oklahoma City Thunder are 18-1. They get the best Thanksgiving present of anybody. Jalen Williams comes back.
I mean, come on, they're dominating, Mike, and they get back an all-NBA player. Does anybody in this league stand a chance against them? It's hard for me to make a case that they do. They have an air of inevitability right now with how good they've been without Jalen Williams, eighteen in one You know, winning every game on average, on average by 16 and a half points. It's an insane start to the season that they've had.
And sure, now they get their second best player back who they just didn't have for the first nineteen games and didn't matter. But is this fun for you, Mike? You're obviously an NBA guy to have one team that is so far and away better than anybody else. Is it fun? I mean, I think so.
I like to see great teams. I don't know that anyone's complaining when it was the Jordan Bulls that were awesome that turned to the Century Lakers teams. The Warriors, the heat there for a while. I like to see people who are at the very best of their abilities or teams that are at the very best That they can be. And so, you know, I think it's fun because you get to see the amazing teams, and then you also get to see.
Like, okay, we think the thunder will repeat. We think um that they are inevitable. But sometimes they're not. The Warriors won seventy three games and didn't win a title. Sanos said he was inevit inevitable in in Avengers and ultimately he lost, right?
That's the lesson that we can sometimes take from this is that What we believe to be true sometimes isn't. But, Mike, you know what? I said this a little bit ago here on the show that maybe in a one-game scenario they can lose, although they haven't really 18 and won. But can a team beat them three times or four times to win a series? That's where I have a problem with this.
It's like, yeah, it's fun because you either love them or at this point, maybe you hate them because they are so successful as champions and dominating to an even higher degree this year. You root against them because of that. But no one, in my opinion, could win a series against them because you can't win three or four games against this team, Mike. It's impossible. I mean, I kind of disagree.
I mean, I think last year, we saw two teams push them to the very brink, right? The Nuggets and the Pacers took him to Game seven. We don't know what Game seven would have gone for would have been like for Indianapolis if If Tyree Halliburton hadn't torn his Achilles, I think they're up at halftime, right?
So they're 24 minutes away from winning the title. The Nuggets are better this year with the team around Jokic. Jokic somehow, I don't know how this is humanly possible, but he seems better than he was last year or the year before that. And so I think in the seven game series, the Thunders showed some real cracks last year in their frailties. Obviously, these are all relative, right?
But for a team with championship aspirations, they showed some holes there. And so they seem better. But are those still exploitable? Can a team like Denver with the absolute best player in the league beat them and take them to seven games? I could see that.
I think that. We saw it last year. I think we could see it again this year if they get the right matchup, let alone injury issues or whatever else might happen. Mike Vorkanoff from The Athletic joining us here on The Rich Eisen Show. Dan Schwartzmann in for rich on this Black Friday.
You mentioned Jokic, and is it even possible that he's actually better this year than he's been even last year and the MVP seasons as well?
Now we know he is Probably the best player in the league right now. And I have this fun argument with people, and maybe it's a little early, but at some point you have to start thinking about is he one of the best players in history? Where does he rank? And what's he playing toward at this point? Mike, it's kind of a fun argument and difficult to do because of different eras.
But when you have a guy at seven feet tall doing what he does, passing like a point guard, rebounding and scoring in bunches as well. You've got to ask yourself, what does it mean in terms of long-term and where he ranks?
So, Mike, I'm going to throw it to you because we're having fun on a Friday here. How quickly is he moving up that list of greatness? I mean, to me, I think the way that he's playing now and the accolades that he already had, like. I I don't know how he doesn't end up being one of the top fifteen to twenty players ever. He's got three MVPs already.
This year, he could win a fourth. I think he's got a few second place finishes. He's got at least one title, and I he's only thirty, so he might get another one or two over the course Of his career. And this is a guy who just now routinely averages essentially like 30-point triple-doubles. You know, he's at 30, 13, and 11.
so far this year and is even more efficient as a shooter. Yeah, I mean, I think it's clear he's one of the best players of all time. It's really now just like how. High up, uh, does he go really? Like, how do you compare him?
to someone like to a Tim Duncan or Maybe like a tier below, like a Jerry West or someone like that. I think if the athletic did its rankings in the top 75 players of all time. For the NBA 75th anniversary, I think if we did that again now, I'm pretty certain Jokic would be in the top fifteen. You know, Mike, you brought up Tim Duncan, and let's look at the comps here. And what differentiates Jokic, I think, from any other big man is the passing, right?
Guys can rebound, guys can score, but it's his vision on the court where he is. You know, behind the back passes, he is the greatest passing big man I think I've ever seen, frankly, maybe in history. But Isn't that what's kind of separating him from other big men? Is that ability that you just don't expect from a guy his size? Yeah, I mean, he's unique that way.
He's a point guard. He is the Nuggets point guard. He's the guy who runs the offense. He's the one who facilitates most of it. You're right, that like his passing is it's just it's probably his Greatest attribute and averaging 11 assists a game and his size.
Anyone averaging 11 assists is pretty crazy, but him doing it is another world apart. And yeah, that's kind of what will probably make him go down as a legend is just his passing ability and that's his separator. And I think that's what makes the Nuggets run is that because he can score, but he can make it work for everyone else. And I don't think we've ever seen a player like that in NBA history. I want to look at the Lakers and Dallas.
They are playing today, whichever court they play on, by the way. I don't really care. Luka Doncic, we know the greatness is there and still Obviously, you know, that trade where you ship a guy in his prime. At a young age. Out for a guy that's nearing the end of his prime, and Anthony Davis.
It was a bad trade when it happened, and it clearly is not aging well. You look back at that and what's happened since and Donchich is another guy who is in the MVP conversation, averaging thirty five points a game. Forget the assistant rebounds. I is it still mind-blowing to you to see a guy of this ability actually get traded at such a young age? Yeah, absolutely.
It's still insane. I still can't believe it happened almost a year after the fact. It's insane. I cannot understand it. And you have to, and I understand Dallas fans are upset, and they should be upset.
This is the guy they bought the jersey thinking he's going to be there forever, and he's the superstar, Dirk to him. You know, the Euro, great to the Euro, great. And you get rid of him. And for the Lakers, what a boon it's been. LeBron is back now.
You throw him into the mix, and he's 41 years old, and he's still great. You add LeBron to this team. They're winning games right now. They're thirteen and five. I think they've won eight straight or something like that.
How good are the Lakers? You're going to have to manage LeBron's minutes, obviously, and make sure he stays healthy. But where do you look at the Lakers in terms of rankings of teams right now in the NBA this year? Yes, that one's hard for me to figure out. They're thirteen and four, so they have the second best record in the West.
But some of the underlying numbers aren't as great. I think they have this Seventh best point differential in the Western Conference. Denver and Houston, and obviously the OKC are each winning games right now on average by 10 or more points per game. The Lakers aren't in that class. They have.
You know, a mid-tier point differential. And so for me, all those things matter, right? Like the wins and the losses, obviously, are very important. But those things over a longer period of time can tell the story of how good a team is. I'm curious to see where they'll be, let's say, in January as they kind of bring everyone back into the fold and healthy with LeBron and what kind of form is he that he is in.
Luca obviously has been playing insane and out of his mind to start this season, but I'm still not quite sold on them as a title contender. I want to see them kind of improve with some of these underlying statistics that have foretold how good a team actually is beyond just Just a wins. Mike Vorkhanov of the athletic joining us here on the Rich Eisen Show. Dan Schwartzmann in for rich on this Black Friday on ESPN Radio, the SPN app, and Series XM Channel 80. Let's move on to the Eastern Conference and Detroit atop the Eastern Conference 15-3.
Toronto, though, has won nine games in a row. They were, what, five and five at one time. They've now won nine in a row to now jump to that number two seed in the East. What's going on in Toronto? They're pretty good.
How about that? They're fun. I mean, usually there's a team that kind of surprises you, right, in how good they are. I don't think Detroit is that team this year because you could see it coming that they would take a step up from where they were last year just because of their youth and their talent and their coaching. Toronto is a little bit more surprising, but it's good for them in the sense that they finally have some of their best players healthy.
Brandon Ingram has had injury problems over the last few years. Emmanuel quickly, too, and R.J. Barrett has been playing well before he got hurt. And so it's interesting to see them all kind of come together. It felt like the last few years.
The Raptors were kind of treading water, getting from their championship core to whatever next. Iteration of that team is. And now we get to see it. And it's been fun to watch so far. And I want to see if they keep it going.
Obviously, the bear and injury hurts. We'll see what kind of impact that has. But they're deep and they have talent and they have length. And they have some pieces that seem to fit well together. And as long as Brandon Ingram can stay healthy, that seems like a team that has the possibility to end up with a you know, top four seed or certainly at least the top six seed and avoid the play-in.
Mike, the Knicks come in with high expectations this year. Got far in the playoffs last year. There's still a ton of talent on that team, but some of the same problems have plagued them this year. Mitchell Robinson, when healthy, they're a different team. When he's not healthy, obviously, it does hurt to not have the big guy in the middle.
But are the Knicks playing at the level you thought, or did you expect a little bit more at 11-6? You know, I probably expected just a little bit more. maybe see beat another good team or so, something like that. But I thought there would be kind of a figuring it out process for them with the new head coach, right? Mike Brown is very different than Tom Thibodeau.
And that's the guy that that whole team had known for the last five years. And Mike Brown wants to play differently. He wants to play faster. He wants to take more threes. And we saw some, let's say, hiccups or some discomfort, even in the preseason with Carl Anthony Towns, and how he was.
Adapting to it, and they had some injuries and stuff, too. And so I'm curious to see if they'll. Figure it out as they go along. Their defense needs to improve. They struggled away from home.
You know, like Toronto is seven and three on the road. The Knicks are three and five. And so your road record to me is an indicator of how good you can ultimately be in the playoffs, right? And how real you are as a contender. And I think they'll get better, but I think they also have some of the same issues we saw last year and could have foreseen this year.
It's like, you know, questions about their defense, how much can you win with Carl Anthony Towns? As a centerpiece of the defense and just as one of your best players. And I think all those things are still in play. And we'll see if they can, you know, if they've got any more moves to make, if Mitchell Robinson Finally gets healthy because when he's healthy, he's he's an offensive uh rebounding machine and an asset for that team and um we'll figure it out for the next few months. Real quick, Mike, the way I look at it, and I've been a Nick fan my whole life, is I think they've kind of hit a ceiling, and I I don't like to say that because it kinda hurts me, but I think they're really good.
I just don't think they're good enough. I don't see how they make that next step right now with salary cap and drafting and things like that. I don't know how they make that next move up. And people talk Giannis, and Giannis isn't coming here. I mean, I just don't see that happening unless they pull off some miracle.
But I just think they have reached a ceiling and it's nice, and they're competitive, and they'll win 50 games. But do you think they can take that next step somehow unless Leon Rose is a magician? Do you see it? Look, if you're a Knicks fan, I get it. That's a legit concern.
I will say, with the Eastern Conference where it is right now, being very good and not great, or however you describe them, like. That's still enough to get you to the finals, potentially. And if you get to the finals in one series, you never know what can happen because the East, to this point, no one has really made themselves. A clear cut Eastern Conference favorite, let alone like defending the title contender. The Pistons have been good, the Raptors have been good.
But I wouldn't, I don't know how you feel, but I wouldn't say, like, hey, for sure, this is a team that can win a title. And as long as the East is kind of muddled like that, the Knicks being who they are is still probably good enough to potentially get them. out of the Eastern Conference and into the finals, especially since this is the same team that beat a really good Celtics team last year before the Pacers beat them. No, you're right about that. There clearly is no juggernaut in that Eastern Conference.
Detroit, not a juggernaut. Toronto, not a juggernaut. Knicks, Miami, all those teams, not really one amongst them that you say is standout better than anybody else the way that you look at an OKC in that Western Conference. The Athletics, Mike Vorkhanov, always appreciates you hopping on the show. Happy holidays to you and the family, my friend.
Of course, thank you. And I hope everyone's recovering from a big Thanksgiving meal and just kind of sleeping off today. Oh, man. Your words to God's ears. Absolutely.
Thank you, Mike. Great time. As always, chatting with our buddy Mike Vorkhanov. And. I had a rough I mean, I ate a lot.
I ate too much. I still think I'm twenty five years old and I can eat what I want and it doesn't affect me. I look at a doughnut now, it affects me. I'm at that point in my life. Renee, you're a young guy still.
I mean, I could sort of call you son, you know? That's disturbing, but I could not. I'd be a very young father then. But It's different, I'm telling you, man, you hit twenty five years old. And the days of, you know, eating fast food after going out to friends at two, three in the morning.
And you're fine the next day, and do it again the next day, are over. Twenty-five is when you hit that wall. And I'm well past 25 right now. And I look at fast food or a donut, and I look at a couple of beers. It's going to take a toll on me, man.
It's bad. I get.
So I've discovered that. Once you go north of thirty. Heartburn starts to become a real thing.
So I look at Chinese food nowadays and it's like, oh man, I could just feel the heartburn at that. That's why I stopped eating Chipotle. Harpurn. Actually, I got Harpurn yesterday. I had a bunch of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, all that stuff, right?
I was actually at work and they brought stuff in. And I'm sitting at my desk. And I had like a little acid reflux moment. I'm like, man, I'm getting old. This is terrible.
It hit it hits you at all the wrong times as well. It's just awful. Ruins a day. What I'm not gonna go that far. It doesn't ruin the day.
Oh, I get annoyed. You're getting yourself to that, right? I don't know. I I get annoyed. I don't wanna deal.
I don't wanna have to start chewing thumbs. Yeah, but that brought ten minutes of discomfort. was kind o' worth the hours of enjoyment, right? Look at it. Look, you are a glass half-empty.
You are a pessimist. Listen, you're talking to a guy who's. About two and a half bills here. I I love eating.
So food is my comfort zone. But once it starts giving me heartburn, Kinda out on it. Not gonna be. Maybe because you're two and a half bills you're getting that. That could be it, too.
That could be it, too. What are they? GLP1s, my friend? A lot of people like those things. Like candy, apparently.
Unbelievable. I've thought about it. I have not done it, by the way. I'll tell you that. It's getting very popular out there.
It's like a cosmetic thing. I don't know why. Hey, uh, let's go have dinner and then let's take some uh wagovi. Yeah I mean, what's your dessert? Ozempic, nice, yeah Give me that shot.
There you go. Shot of vodka and a shot of Ozempic. What a night. All right, we got to wrap things up. Oh my goodness, time.
Where has this show gone? Besides off the rails, where has this show gone? We are almost out of time here. We're going to wrap things up. Want to, again, final thoughts?
Tie a bow on Thanksgiving's NFL triple header. And my thoughts as to who is going to be victorious. NFL game, eight and three Bears, eight and three Eagles in Philadelphia. The Rich Eisen Show, Dan Schwartzmann and for Rich on this Black Friday, and ESPN Radio, the SPN app and SiriusXM Channel eighty. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy.
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Leave it up to Mikey there in the control booth to end it with Mariah Carey. Final segment for me today. This show has flown by Dan Schwartzman in for Rich Eisen, Rich Eisen Show, ESPN Radio, the ESPN app and Series XM, Channel 80, presented by Progressive Insurance. It's been a blast. I got to tell you, this is so much fun.
All right. Look, I want to just kind of tie that bow. It is pink, I have daughters, and about what we witnessed yesterday. Going to do this very quickly, okay? We're going to run through all six teams very quickly.
I'm going to give you a little quick thought on each. Dallas Cowboys impressive last three games. Excited to see what it means for them. Is there a letdown coming up, or is this team.
Now moving up to the upper echelon of the NFC as competitive as anybody else. Ah, the good music. Thank you. Appreciate it. Are they on that Rams level, Eagles level?
Seattle level, our Bears, that kind of level? My answer is yes. Kansas City Chiefs, off year for them. Will they miss the playoffs? Right now they're out.
They have not missed the playoffs since 2014. Patrick Mahomes has never missed the playoffs. Since getting to Kansas City, rookie year 2017, starting at 2018, has not relinquished that spot. I don't think they're that good. Defense is too good and real is not good.
And frankly, the skill positions on offense are not great. Running game is not great. I don't think the receivers are great on that team right now, and you're seeing it, they are struggling. The Lions seven and five. Again, defense is the problem there.
Goff hasn't been the issue. They have some injury concerns. They've been kind of knocked around on the wide receiver core. You saw that yesterday. They are 7-5.
They get guys back healthy. I think they will be okay in a wide open NFC. Packers, good to see Jordan Love back. Four touchdown passes. He had kind of struggled as of late.
He answered a lot of questions on the road. Massive game, national TV audience. And he was for real for the Green Bay Packers in that win at Detroit. Joe Burrows back, unfortunately, a little too late for the Cincinnati Bengals. He showed that if he's there all season long healthy from week two when he went out, it's a different story in that wide open NFC, AFC North, excuse me.
But four and eight at this point, it's a bit late for the Cincinnati Bengals to make that run. If they do, it is an absolute miracle. On the other hand, the Baltimore Ravens, five straight wins, you're going to lose, but to lose at home, national TV audience, Lamar Jackson struggling, defense, which has been the calling card of that organization all these years, not getting it done. Derrick Henry, only 10 carries because they're playing from behind. Not a good sign for them.
But again, a wide open AFC. Anything can happen, but I'm not a believer in this year's Baltimore Ravens. Big game coming up, kicking off shortly. It's going to be. The Chicago Bears at the Philadelphia Eagles.
Both teams are eight and three. Look, you know, Philly. Coming off winning the Super Bowl, dominant offensive line hasn't been as good. Saquon Barkley is not getting the holes he got last year. He's being hit a lot earlier every time he carries a football than he was last year.
Jalen Hurts, question marks surrounding him. People wondering: is he going off script a little too much? Apparently, from all indications and what we're hearing outside or coming from Philly. Is that apparently teammates are not happy with the way he's doing that? On the other hand, Caleb Williams and the Bears, 8-3.
How many people saw the Bears having this type of season through this point? Probably not too many teams have thought that was going to be the case. All right. And the Lane Kiffen situation, we talked about that. They are a quarter of a way, Ole Miss, that is, from going 11-1 on the season.
College football playoffs in their future. The question, though, is what happens tomorrow? Because Lane Kiffen expected to decide tomorrow. If he stays at ole miss, which is of course Oxford, Mississippi. Does he go to LSU, which is Baton Rouge?
It is a step step up job to go from Ole Miss to L S U. L S U is one of those jobs you strive for. Ole Miss is not the career job you end at. No offense again to Ole Miss. Florida from all indications Are kind of shifting away from Lane Kiffen, maybe because they think they are not going to win the sweepstakes, and maybe they are getting indications.
He either stays at Ole Miss or he does make the leap to LSU. But Lane Kiffen at 11-1, his stock is as hot as it's going to be. I told you earlier on this show, whatever he decides to do, stick around in Oxford or head to Baton Rouge, he will sign a new deal that will make him the highest paid coach in the history of college football. That is a no doubter. It will happen.
thirty one to thirteen, Ole Miss leading Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. There was a big brawl, a bench clearing brawl. That occurred early in this game. I have to tell you, I'm not advocating for violence, that's not what I'm saying here, guys. But when you talk about rivalry games, heated matchups In state rivalry games, you're gonna get that at times.
Right? And that's a heated rivalry. People may not think about it. You know, you think about the Iron Bull. Alabama-Auburn.
You think about what is it called now? The Red River rivalry, I think it's called these days, right? They used to use another word for it, and then it sounded too violent, so they took that away. The Red River rivalry, Texas, Oklahoma, always going to be heated. One of the great rivalries in sports.
To me, college football has always had the greatest rivalries of any sport. Really, professional or collegiate, maybe North Carolina Duke and basketball.
Okay, that's kind of Army, Navy, and college football is great. But the college football rivalries, Ohio State, Michigan, games like that are second to none. Those I've been fortunate enough to be in the press box for an Iron Bull back in the day. You're talking the Mike Schuler, Alabama years, not good times for Bama fans. But I was there for that.
The electricity in a stadium. how people kind of just live for those games. There's no greater rivalries than in college football. Ole Miss Mississippi State, the Egg Bowl is one of them. All right, we are running out of time.
The show has flown by today. Do want to thank the crew in the booth. Renee, Mikey, Rachel, awesome job on a Black Friday, guys. You have been relieved. Time to go shop, spend your money on holiday deals.
Just kidding. Don't do it. Don't fall for it. Just go online, order this stuff after the holidays when returns come in. Coming up, Freddie and Harry, Randy Scott, and Chad Brown in for Harry Douglas and Freddie Cole.
And this has been the Rich Eisen Show on ESPN Radio, the ESPN app, and SiriXM Channel 80. Goodbye. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show podcast. You can watch and listen to The Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app, The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
