This message is brought to you by AppleCard. Shave ice by the beach. A trip to the state fair. and a throwback flick at the local drive-in. They're more than just items to check off the summer bucket list.
They're also opportunities to earn 2% daily cash back when you use your Apple Card with Apple Pay. Apply for Apple Card now and use InMinutes with Apple Pay. Subject to credit approval, Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City Branch, Terms and More at AppleCard.com. Hear that? That's now Crispier McCrispy Strips meeting creamy Caesar sauce.
Sounds Extra crispy. Caesar sauce at McDonald's for a limited time. Bottom up pop up. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody.
Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show.
We've got a podcast, so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part, our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment.
Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show.
So please welcome the greatest performer ever to have graced this earth. Rich Eisen. Is he back yet? If Aaron Donald comes back live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles, earlier on the show. Senior writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer.
Rams cornerback, Trent McDuffie. Still to come. Writer and actor, Brendan Hunt. Your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen.
Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Brendan Hunt, the man who plays Coach Beard on Ted Lasso, is in our green room. He's been here before. We're welcoming him back as season four is out there for everybody to take in at Apple TV. Coop has never seen Ted Lasso.
Susie and I started from scratch with him. Whoa. Zan's all caught up to speed. Oh, that's fun. He's binge-watched it.
It's been fun watching season one again while season four is back. Cool. It just makes you, you wake up the next morning, just you're like, why do I feel so good? And that's why. It's awesome.
He's coming out here shortly. The news broke in hour number one while we were talking with Albert Brewer of Sports Illustrated that the Minnesota Vikings told the team it's Kyler Murray's gig.
So we've been talking about that throughout the show. Hour number two, great chat with Trent McDuffie. We asked him, is he back yet? And he confirmed he is not back yet.
So we all know who he is.
Okay. I'm going to have to keep repeating it. It's Aaron Donald.
Okay. And then we made a mistake in the middle of Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday that everybody listening to us on ESPNLA is like, what's your malfunction? Because you were talking about how Tarek School got. Uh, got a no-decision uh last year. Yeah, they lost, they didn't, they won.
They won, they won. They actually won. Edwin Diaz, uh, hey, the trumpets are back, although they've been more trombonium. Yeah, he was a little uh, he had been sent one too. Uh, but at any rate, um, that's what has been going on.
If you missed any of it, there's our podcast, all three hours, there's our YouTube channel, youtube.com/slash Rich Eisen Show. Our Disney Plus page has got all three hours as soon as we're done.
So, um, that's uh, you have no excuse to miss any of it, is what I'm basically saying to all of you. Um, again, 844-204-Rich is the number to dial right here on the program. Um, let's go to Martin in Colorado. He's been hanging on since uh, we started the program. What's up, Martin?
How are you? Hey, fellas, Rich, brother here to speak with you, as always. Thank you. What's going on, Mark? Hey, I usually call in when I have to air a grievance against you guys, but this time I'm going to do it in the form of the win-loss game for the Broncos.
Okay. Because the Bo Knicks is disrespected being left off your quarterback power rankings.
Okay. All right.
So it's time to put the Broncos schedule up. Let me get it here. I need to get my papers a little bit more in order, right? I'm a bit of a mess. All right, I have it.
The Denver Broncos win-loss game with Martin in Colorado. He's got a bone to pick and is communicating it through saying the words win and loss. Starting with the Monday nighter at Kansas City, what happens? Win. Then they're home for the Jaguars.
Win. Now you're home for the Rams. Lost.
Now it's a two and one at the 49er visit. Three and one at the Chargers. Boss. 3-2 Thursday night home against the defending champs. Win.
That's a four and two record visiting Arizona. Yeah. That's a 5-2 record finishing up your series with the Chiefs at home. Sweep, win. Wow.
Six and two at the Panthers. Wins. 7-2 home for Vegas. It might be one of Mendoza's first games. Win.
Eight and two.
Now you've got the day after Thanksgiving against the Steelers. More objects.
Alright. Uh home for the Dolphins.
Alright, that's nine and three at the Jets. We have to win. Ten and three at the Raiders, Vegas. Sweeping the Raiders win. 11-3, you've got a fraud, a Christmas game, a home for the Bills.
Brutal, but lost. Oh, okay. Yeah, I hear you.
Now you're at the Patriots. I think we get you, Brockman. Win. Twelve and four home for the Chargers. I'm going to say win, though.
It may not matter at that point.
Okay, so your point is 13 and 4, and Bo Nick should be in my top 10 quarterbacks in the league list? He should be maybe in the potential MVP conversation at some point, maybe.
Okay. Call that shot. And yeah, I mean, three of his classmates were in there, and I think deservingly so, but he I believe he's performed just as well. Martin, he did take out Josh Allen in the playoffs. Did he?
Did he though? Take out Josh Allen in the playoffs, Martin. That was that was an exception.
Okay, very good. There goes Martin in Colorado, everybody.
Okay. Listen, I'm a big Bo Knicks fan, and I think what he's done there with Denver is remarkable. There are times where it what they had a fourth quarter. He and Caleb were the fourth quarter magicians, right? Yeah.
Bo Nick's played well in that playoff game. He did. It should have been in 283 touchdowns. He played well. And it was an interception.
I agree. I hear you. I hear you. Listen, and Bo Nick should have gone. Super Bowl.
Just to be completely straight up here, Bo Nick should have gone into the Super Bowl fully healthy. Or gone into the AFC championship game fully healthy. had the referees called a clear hold in the end zone.
Okay. For safety, they didn't. But For another day. Hmm. Another day.
844-204-Rich, number to dial right there on the program. Do you think Bo Nick should be a top 10 quarterback, or is that just fandom? I do not. That is fandom. Ooh.
I forgot what my top 10 list was, but I had it off that list for Bo Nix. It would have to be. Um somebody obviously eight through ten. But All right, I've got the Carolina Panthers in the four downs barrel today. Hit it.
Four downs with Ridge. Here we go. Why did he suck?
Okay, four downs right here with yours truly on the Carolina Panthers. The GM, by the way, was in Kenton. Dan Morgan was there. Everybody knew him, but I heard he was there for Luke Keekly as everybody was continuing to pound. First down, how much better did the defense get?
Because Dan Morgan hit the heck out of that in free agency. Jalen Phillips, Devin Lloyd. Let's add somebody up front. Let's add somebody in the back. Let's make sure this front seven.
Is a lot better this time around. The Carolina Panthers last year, right there in the middle of the pack, and points per game given up, yards given up. I mean, they didn't light a lot of fires, but they also weren't terrible either. And they want to get in that top 10. You get in the top 10 and you start scoring more points, and off you go.
And in terms of scoring more points, the offensive line at the tackle position, second down right here. Second down. It's just, you know, they got the interior guard play, they got that going for them. But Ikwanu just can't stay healthy. Their tackles have just been a problem staying healthy.
And let's get the guys up front healthy. Protecting Rico Darrell's gone. Is Jonathan Brooks going to be able to run the football? Can he stay healthy? You know, let's not forget Chuba Hubbard got a nice deal a couple of years ago.
Um but it's really about Protecting Bryce Young, blowing open the uh the uh the running game. And get to the second level. Because if Carolina can stiffen up the defense and get. Healthier on the offensive line.
Now you got something cooking. And or do they have the horses to cook? At the receiver position, and that's third down here. Third down. Nobody's talking about the Carolina Panthers receivers very much.
Nobody's talking about the Carolina Panthers offense very much, period. That's true. Or the Carolina Panthers overall. I mean, it's the NFC South that right there in the. You know, the mid-Atlantic.
Listen. Kentetaroa Macmillan and Jalen Coker. Take a step up. And create a new dynamic deal and say, you know what, we've got two guys here for Bryce Young, too. And that kid Coker was torching people.
in the latter part of the season. And then Macmillan, as we all know, had an offensive rookie of the year campaign.
So you got the reigning offensive rookie of the year in year two, a thousand-yard receiving in his first year. Can he pop it? 1200, 1300 yards? Can he start Showing up and showing out Pro Bowl style. And then can Coker be the...
That they Number two. They got some talent. It's talented there, man.
So. Can they step it up? and take it to another level.
So that's third down right there. And then fourth down, we all know. We all know what the drill is here. Bryce Young, year four. Is it getting late early for him or never too late?
It's kind of crazy, man. We're here in year four. He's got a fifth-year option picked up. Nobody's talking about a long-term deal for him right now. I'm sure his agent is asking for it, and I'm sure there's something maybe going on that we just don't know, unless nothing's going on.
I don't know. But he sure has come a heck of a long way. from Dave Canalis just a couple weeks into his tenure there. In the regular season as a head coach, sitting him down and putting Andy Dalton in. And all of us sitting here echoing what everybody else in the national media was saying, which is, he's got to get the hell out of there.
Like, this isn't for him. You know, they just hired, you know, a first-time head coach after his first year calling plays in Tampa. He did really well for Baker, but really we're hiring him and giving him a monster-long. you know deal And now, the first thing he's going to do is bench him and bring in Andy Dalton. Remember that?
And he's come a long way from he needs to get the hell out of there. And last year, I know they didn't Get above 500, but they did win the division. That's all that matters. It's about what happens in your neighborhood. And it's Bryce Young time.
Like, it's never too late. To show what you can do and then get your long-term deal. And if not, Maybe it's getting late early for him there. I don't know. Chris, you're always looking for a team that's going to ditch the guy that they draft.
It's going to happen. You say you're not worth the market value deal.
So we're just going to go start from scratch again. You're always looking for that one. And I keep telling you, keep looking for it because it's never going to happen. Searching somewhere. But it's funny, right now, it's Bryce Young and C.J.
Stroud. We're like, are you going to get a new deal entering year? Four Still in they have not gotten it yet. But the Carolina Panthers, I mean, Jalen Phillips and Devin Lloyd had terrific seasons last year. You add them to the mix of what they already have, you pop the defense up a little bit.
The the your receivers pop themselves up a little bit. Bryce Young gets protected. Brooks can finally stay healthy and show Carolina what they drafted him for. And then they win the division. For a second straight year, they're above 500 and they're getting better every year.
I just gave you the Panthers four-downs outlook in a very. Bright, sunshiny way. And also, as a fan, like Xavier Liggett is one of the worrying on him, too. Yeah, but he's just someone who you root for, right? He's just a positive kid, and you're just hoping, man, that he can turn that corner.
Yeah, I mean, if you can understand a word he's saying.
Well. That bright young ones told me he didn't understand what we're going to say. It doesn't make him any less. No, I know it helps and daring. No, no, I'm obviously having a little bit of fun, but.
I'll never forget. Remember, he got drafted? Um They traded up into the first round to go get him because he said something along the lines of. You know, yeah, Carolina's already told me they're going to draft me at the top of the top of Broadhead, top of the second round. Come on, man.
He earned himself a fifth year of contractual control for the team. I remember that happened. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. Let's go to Liam in Las Vegas. L-I-M.
L-I-M. Hey guys, sorry, I was eating something.
So when I called into the show, I didn't know that they had already named the Vikings quarterback because I was thinking this will be a perfect time. to see who is better against these good defenses. Especially this weekend. Against my New York Giants.
So. Then Like a minute after I call in, it's announced, and I'm like, well, dang. Right. And that's when you got something to eat, Liam? Might as well just like having some shit.
Oh, I mean let's make better choices, Liam. Let's make better choices from here on out, okay? Better choices for you.
Okay. You know, I will.
Okay. I will. Listen, but for your Giants, let's see Jackson Dart against this. Top five defense. You know, Flores is not going to just another thing I was thinking about.
Like, Brian Flores is a really good DC. I want to see what packages they run because. I believe we're playing one of their divisional yet lion. around right after Christmas, so Maybe we'll see something. like with Something with the Vikings going into a lion the Lions game three days after Christmas.
Liam, thanks for the call. What's your beverage of choice to wash down your lunch? Oh, you just had fingered him. Dude, what is going on? I'm like the ABS.
You know, boom, it's quick. It's like the ABS. Or do we tap the helmet? The question is. You should have tapped the helmet.
You didn't. Too quick. I found your top 10 QBs real quick.
Okay. I'm sorry. Not sure who you're taking off. You had Caleb Williams 10. I had Caleb Williams 10.
Justin Herbert 9. This is from July 15th. Yeah. J One Hurts eight, Dak seven, Drake May six and then the top five. Go for the top five again?
Borough, Lamar, Stafford, Mahomes, Allen.
So I'm not sure where Bonex sneaks in there, honestly. Instead of Caleb, you could make that case. Yeah, I guess so. 'Cause Bo has been more consistent since being drafted. You know?
The thing that Bo Nix does really well, first of all, is he can take hard coaching. That's number one. Number two, he's. Tough. And number three, he doesn't throw interceptions.
You want to look that up? How many interceptions has he thrown? He had 11 last year.
So. That's a decent amount. You had eleven last year, huh?
Okay. And twelve is rookie year. That's 23 in in two years.
Some he just he, let's put it this way, then I guess he's he's not careless with the football. You don't look at him like you, the same way you look at Drake May and go, come on, man. Drake may do some head-scratching things. You know, sometimes. Caleb has 13 in two years.
He takes care of the football. He takes football. 844-204-Rich, number to dial. We'll maybe sneak in a phone call at the very end of our program. But let's take a break right now and coming back, Brendan Hunt.
The man who plays Coach Beard and is a producer and writer, co-creator as well of Ted Lasso coming up right here on the Rich Eisen Show. But before we do, just wanna remind you what's going on right now at your local Hyundai dealer. It's called the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Where you can get away with a deal so right it almost feels wrong. And right now, you can get great deals on our most popular models.
There's the bold and stylish Elantra that's loaded with the latest tech, all-electric. You can go that way on the IONIC 5 or the IONIC 9. You want adventure-ready SUVs like the Hyundai Santa Fe or Santa Fe hybrid? The Tucson also has a Tucson hybrid for you as well. Get down your local Hyundai dealer and get away with a deal you'll love during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event.
Visit HyundaiUSA.com for details. Brendan Hunt, when we come back here on The Rich Eisen Shows. O'Reilly Auto Parts gets you back to savings. Buy five quarts of Syntec Full Synthetic Motor Oil and get a free MicroGuard Select Oil Filter. Limits apply.
Save 20% on a MicroGuard or MicroGuard Select Engine Air Filter when purchased with this Syntec special. Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high-interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an Audible with a SoFi personal loan. It consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required. And with as soon as the same day funding, you can make the right play fast.
Call an Audible on your debt today at sofi.com/slash debt play. Loans originated by SoFi Bank NA, member FDIC. Terms and conditions apply, NMLS 696891. FastFunds terms apply at sofi.com/slash debt play. Rich Eisen here.
We talk a lot about battles in sports. Teams battling through adversity, athletes fighting for every yard. The toughest warriors I've ever seen, though, aren't on the field. They're kids fighting cancer. Famil standing beside them, doctors, nurses, caregivers.
That's why I'm proud to support Hyundai Hope on Wheels. For over 28 years, they've helped fund pediatric cancer research, raising more than $303 million and supporting over 40,000 children. Learn more and donate at hyundaiusa.com backslash hope on wheels. Mm-hmm. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
Our radio audience has returned. Brendan Hunt, the co-creator, co-writer, and actor who plays Coach Beard on Ted Lasso, is here on the show. Does Coach Beard have a name? Has that ever been revealed? Yes, in the final moments of season three.
That's right. And it's not like a secret anymore, but for those who might be discovering the first three series, I'll refrain from saying it as it is. It is uh it is Easter egged. Early it is Easter eggs early.
Okay, very good. Um, you know, sort of like Kramer, you know, and Seinfeld. We found out his name was his first name was Cosmo. Um, so look, were you involved in the originals bit that was done for NBC Sports? Yeah, walk me through how this idea of Ted Lasso was born.
Yeah, so NBC goes to Jason, they had just gotten the rights to cover the English Premier League in a big way. Like, you know, we forget now, but like soccer fandom at that time was a was kind of a wasteland. Like, you really had to work to find your shows, but they were going to have it like on network TV on weekend mornings and for a soccer fan, like moi, it's like very, very exciting. Um, so they go to Jason, Jason asks, Can I hire anyone I want? And they're like, Sure, and okay, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly, because all three of us were guys who were big sports fans who then moved to Amsterdam to do comedy out there for different lengths of time.
Yes, and discovered, like, oh, soccer actually doesn't suck. We've been lied to for all our lives.
So we were all in the same boat for that.
Now, mind you, I had just shot a scene. On uh For We're the Millers. Yes. And like, that was the first movie I'd done. It was really, you know, an exciting time.
But Jason calls me and says, Good news, bad news. Bad news is you got cut from We're the Millers. I'm like, ah, dang it. Good news, there's this soccer thing. And that becomes, you know, we make a commercial where there's a coach named Ted Lasso, who's an American college football coach who knows nothing about soccer, but is for some reason the coach of a Premier League team.
In this case, Tottenham Hotspur. And we make fun of Americans. We make fun of Americans' ignorance towards soccer. And it was basically just a sketch. Like, we got six minutes out of it.
It's still on YouTube. And it holds up pretty well. But there wasn't Anything like a show there, I'd say. But the next year, like it had gone well enough as a campaign, and like some of the people who put it together, like one, like. Ad awards and stuff, like, please come back and do it again.
And, like, okay, sure. And that time, we found a slightly different angle in the character. Like, he missed London because he'd been fired at the end of the first commercial, and now he's coaching a girls' team. And, like, we find he's like. Sensitive side.
And after that, Jason's like, okay, there's something more here. Let's figure out what it can be. And the next year, me and him and Joe Kelly hang out at Jason's big-ass Brooklyn apartment and that's what it is. And And like we put together, like we write a pilot and a couple seasons of an ark, and like it was pretty exciting. And then it just sits there doing nothing for a very long time.
Is that right? Yeah, collecting dirt for a few years.
So then, how did you. Pitch it? Like, how did it land at Apple then? Eventually, Bill Lawrence wanted to meet with Jason, TV mogul, creator of Scrubs, Cougar Town, now shrinking, and now Ted Lasso as well. He calls up Jason because he wants to work with him in general.
They can't quite find the right thing, but Jason's like, Well, hey, do you ever see the Ted Lasso commercials? And Bill's like, Yeah, sure.
Well, we got some stuff. And he shows him stuff, and Bill's like, This is great, let's do this. And once Bill Lawrence gets involved, well, that's it. Things start happening. Yes, they do.
They sure do. And now, yeah, here we are. But yeah, they did the pitching at first when they did like. Then no one bit. except Apple.
And Apple did not yet exist. But it was like, okay. Thanks, Apple. And we had very humble hopes for what it might be, and now here we are. With what it's been.
When did Brett Goldstein, who plays Roy Kent, get involved in this whole thing? Brett was a last-minute addition to the writing team. The uh the whole writing team, except for the three of us, like had had never worked together before. Um but uh Bill had worked with Brett on I think Undatable was what the show was called. And um he talked to Jason, Jason liked him.
He came out just as a writer. He was gonna be in the writer's room for I think three months, though we were gonna write for like five. And when it came came time for him to leave, We were starting to cast Roy Kent. And Roy Kent is loosely based on Roy Keene, this Irish football legend.
So we were mostly looking at Irish actors, a couple Scottish guys, not picturing anything London. And also, like, I knew Brett was a good stand-up, but I didn't know he was like a capital A. And um On his last day, he He leaves an audition video and he's very humble about it. He shows it to. Only to Bill Lawrence.
And it's like, if this sucks, please don't tell anyone. It's fine. We don't have to speak of it ever again. And I get into the office a little later that day, and I was like, Brett turned in a video, and it's really good. And I'm like, oh.
Is it?
Okay. You're right. And it's one of those where you watch it and it's like.
Well, well, goddamn. It turns out Brett is Roy Kent.
Okay, here we go. And yeah, good on him. Like, baldy move, and it worked out. It sure did. That's awesome.
So, what's the your okay, another one? A rumor is is Ted Lasso based on Jim Harbaugh in any way, shape, or form? Um, yeah, I hear that a lot, you know. Just the khakis. No, but even that's a sidebar.
Because, like, they're not quite true. Because the khakis are really based on. On Ditka. When we were first doing the commercials, he's very Ditka. You remember the short shorts Dickie used to wear the polo shirts and then sidelines, you know, for black tie events, he'd put khakis on.
Nice. And maybe that's where Harbaugh got his khakis too. But Ditka was his first coach. Yeah, yeah, yeah. To ill effect at times, but yeah.
So Ditka was the initial khaki inspiration. Yeah, and the mustache too. But other than that, there's no Harbaugh connection. No, but he did consult with Harbaugh about like, okay, what's your day-to-day on the khakis? Like, what's your actual process?
And Harbaugh responded with like a three-page email. Like, okay, I've got two pairs. I want to keep in my office. I got one to bring on the road. And like, talked about his toothbrush habits.
Like, he kind of overdid it, frankly. But it was, yeah, so now we know the full. Khaki protocol. Brendan Hunt here on the Rich Eisen Show.
So you mentioned that you did stand-up in Amsterdam. Is that why Amsterdam was chosen as a locale at one point for the show? Out of respect to our friends who are actual stand-ups, I must mildly correct. We were not stand-ups. We did sketch and improv out there.
There's a company called Boom Chicago that a lot of good people who you've heard of have gone through their doors. Seth Myers was there, Jordan Peel, Amber Ruffin, Ike Bernolds, a lot of folks who folks know. And yeah, I did not give two squats about soccer before I got there, but this was in 99.
So, no streaming, no broadband. I can't keep up with Chicago sports. And Michael Jordan has just retired anyway. Seemingly forever.
So, I was like, All right, soccer, I'll give you a shot, and like just caught the bug in a ridiculous way and became a bit of a bit of a zealot. And yeah, so when we finally had the budget and the leverage to to honor Amsterdam, which is a city that's very important to all of us. They were like, okay, you can do it. Apple was like, you can do it, but it has to connect to the story for some reason. And we're like, oh, yeah, we can do that.
And so to go back to Amsterdam in that way was pretty damn special.
Well, the bike riding scene, we talked about that with Phil Dunster when he was here about a month plus ago. And he talked about that as one of his favorite scenes that he's done. With Roy Kent for riding, teaching him how to ride a bike and things of that nature. And it's so moving. What's your favorite episode that you have that you're most proud of?
The Amsterdam episode. It is. All of our scripts are a team effort of the riders' room and all, but someone has to eventually go away and marshal the script and make it theirs. And uh yeah, I was put at the helm of the of that script. And yeah, it's just very, very special.
I, you know, most people who go to Bloom Chicago go for a year or two. I was there for five, which is too long, actually. Not really a great career move, but you're not Amsterdam long enough. You're not really thinking career as much as you should. And to be able to convey some of that experience was really very special.
And like most Amsterdam stuff you see in American media, you know, still is like very weed-heavy, you know, and. And we managed to get through the whole episode. I think we mentioned weed, but like we don't, we don't, you know, show weed. And we kind of. skitter around mushrooms.
It apparently I s still have friends in Amsterdam, the ones who own the theater, um, and um they are in touch with the like tourism board of Amsterdam. Yes. And, you know, anecdotally, one of them said to her that that episode is the best advertisement for Amsterdam they've had in media in twenty years. And I was like, Oh, you oh. I gave back.
Well, I mean, that's what the show is. It's constantly giving back. It's good karma. The show that's what the show is, man, at its core. You have a favorite soliloquy that you've written.
Delivered on the show.
Well, I've only delivered one, and it's Dutch-tinged, too. But in the episode after Amsterdam, Beard has to convey to the team the importance of total football, which is this iconic Dutch football tactical idea, thought, what have you, that Ted accidentally reinvents in Amsterdam when he's not on mushrooms. And so, since we're going to do total football, a lot of times when Beard is explaining any rules to Ted, that is a disguise of we, the writers, are explaining something football to the audience that the audience needs to know. And we always have to give them the exact right amount of information because too much and it's boring and too little and they won't understand a plot point later.
So. Getting to write a monologue explaining total football, which, you know, my love of Dutch football, total football, a passion of mine. It's a very interesting history and philosophy. And that is the one and only time the, you know, generally taciturn. Taciturn, taciturn.
Taciturn. Taciturn, thank you. You're welcome. Master's degree, this guy. I feel like we just had an exchange straight out of Ted Laptop.
Sometimes I get to beat Ted. Should we start howling? Like to get everyone together?
Sorry, keep going. He's normally taciturn, but to give it a monologue where he gets emotional and into it because he cares much about this topic, that was pretty fun.
Okay. What about have you written one for somebody else? That you're proud of? Um um monologue wise, no, because Jason generally hands hi handles his big speeches. His the the Ted Lasso moments that hit you in the feels.
Yeah, yeah. He he's doing that himself. Yeah, for the most part. And one big example is the dart speech from season one, you know, Be Curious, Not Judgmental. You know, that episode was written by Leanne Bowen.
And as Jason will do, the night before a scene, he's looking at everything and it's like, okay, there's something missing here. And he just, he apparently just that night was like, oh, there's this Walt Whitman thing. That I like. And then he was able to time it out perfectly to coincide with the game. And obviously, our editors helped a ton with that as well.
But yeah, Jason's handling the heavy lifting on Ted for sure. Let me tell you, man, that scene. shows up a lot in my algorithm. That scene shows up a lot. You know, the speech where the believe sign rips, that shows up quite a bit.
You know, Rebecca Singing shows up quite a bit. You know, Hannah Waddingham is just so. Damn talented. Yeah. Unbelievable.
That shows up a lot. Roy Kent cursing shows up a lot. You know, just the different ways of the inventive ways that he comes up with his. put-downs that cannot be repeated here. That comes up a lot.
And um And what also comes up all the time is just what a great feel-good. It is. It's just a salve. You know what I mean? It just feels, when I watch Ted Lasso the next morning, I feel waking up great.
Oh, well. And it's the truth. It's the absolute truth. And I'm so psyched that it's back. In the few minutes I have remaining, I do want to hit this weird fantasy league that you are in.
Brendan Hunt, what weird fantasy league are you in? Pardon me for saying weird, but I guess I should let the audience decide what the adjectives should be associated with your league. Longtime listeners may recall that I'm in a 10-sport fantasy league called the All-Sport Fantasy League that a friend of mine invented. We're about to have the draft for season 20. It's the four pro sports: college football, college basketball, European and MLS soccer, tennis, men's and women's, NASCAR, and golf.
And 10 sports. 10 sports. Yeah, but you're not doing each player in each sports. Like you have the Bears. You don't have Caleb Williams.
So you're getting points for wins and playoff progress and stuff like that.
So you're saying it starts now.
Okay. Is that what you're saying? There's a draft. There's a. First of all, how many people are in this?
There's 15 teams, some of which have co-owners or a GM.
Okay. And yeah, we have an auction every year. It's Keeper League, but the Keepers reset every five years. And this being season 20.
Okay, all right.
Well, that changes the value of all your trades because that's just one year left of having a keeper. And then next season, there's a whole redraft. And, like, who's going to get the Spurs? Who's going to get Scotty Scheffler? Like, it's going to be a big, big deal.
So you're like, somebody could trade Alcaraz for the Patriots? And I'm so glad you brought this up because I didn't trade this off-season that I'm really starting to have doubts about. Oh, no. Lay it out. I traded the Rams.
Four. Two keepers.
Okay. But are they strong enough really for the Rams? In my two worst sports, I got Coco Goff and Chase Elliott. Are they together worth the Rams? It remains to be seen.
Well, obviously, I see. He acquired Goff. Yes, he acquired Coco Goff and Chase Elliott for the Los Angeles Rams. Was this pre or post Miles Garrett arriving here in Los Angeles? Post.
Oh, my word. Post. I mean, a two-keeper for one, two-for-one keeper. That's very, very rare.
So you're keeping Coco Goff and you're keeping Chase Elliott. Yes, along with Arsenal, the Yankees, and Texas football.
So is it just wins? Like, what is the, like, are Grand Slam wins worth more in the tennis category? How does this work? In tennis, we just do slams and the finals.
Okay. You know, those weird finals that they do of like the top eight.
Okay. And yeah, but other than that, I must reassert the scoring system is proprietary, Rich. I can't get too to ten. But yeah, regular season is a little bit. Playoffs and tournaments are where the Big points are at.
What's the prize? The prize is winning. Like, we don't, there's no, there's no, nothing monetary. Oh, you get a jacket. This is what sucks.
And I won season, oh, excuse me. Go ahead. I won season five, I was the first guy to win who wasn't the guy who invented it. It was four seasons of just getting beat up on.
Okay. The only guy who understood the point system. But then, and then I won season five and I got a really wonderfully hideous and handsome plaid jacket that I still wear proudly. Plaid jacket, like straight out of Bear Bryant era, like of his hat or something. Like what sort of plaid jacket?
It's a little, it's like a combo platter of like, you know, an early ESPN blazer and a, and, and the green jacket, I'd say, yeah.
Okay. Yeah. Very tasteful, but also horrible. Would you want to play in a league like this? Kind of.
Yes. I was going to ask you: are there any slots open?
Well, there's a bit of a waiting list, but I can see what I can do.
Okay. What's great about it is you only have to do roster stuff once a month. Like you get you there's there's like a a bidding list and you can like bring in three things and like you have you have the ten sports and then a bench of ten that kind of fluctuates during the year. Like August and September people have a lot of college football and football, but by June and July it's a lot of golf and tennis. The mind boggles.
It's great.
So it's a 20%.
So, how does the roster look? You have to have multiples of each sport? You always have to have at least one, even when that sport is dead. And then you have 10 slots of bench.
So, yeah, like by December, you're starting to get rid of college football, get in college basketball. How early do you move on baseball? You don't want to have a dead month.
So, it's like a rolling draft auction, kind of once a month is waivers, basically.
So, by the way, so you'd have to say, based on the way that they play men's and women's college basketball, having UConn would be a keeper, right? Yes, they were not this year, but they had been in the past. I mean, don't you think? I mean, getting a college that would win it all.
So if you're missing and you you hope that y they're going to win like last year. Women made the final eight. Right. Michigan won it all. Obviously, football wasn't anything, but is that what you're trying to do?
Is you're trying to get a school that can do well amongst all the other schools?
Well, we don't do women's college basketball, just college, men's college basketball, and then college football. But yeah, they're separate categories.
So you don't have to worry too much about being good at both per se.
Okay. So, before I let you go, right now, Brendan Hunt, I'm just taking a look at you. Coach Beard is more coach shavedown right now.
So, is this an indication that this is the last season of Ted Lasso? Am I reading too much into the way your beard is right now? It grows back. It only takes a month. This is just an indication of it.
It's been hot out, and I love my wife. That's really it.
So, it takes a month to get into Coach Beard. Yeah, just about. All right.
So, where are we for season five? We're hoping that Apple and Warner Brothers will deign to provide us with further life. But I have heard nothing of an official capacity just yet.
Okay, so but that's from the business point of it. What about from the creative point of it for you and Jason and the rest of the crew? Yeah, I mean, we'd love to. Like, we're not coming back. um just to like, you know, squeeze one last nugget out of the tube.
Like if we're coming back, we're coming back ready to do as much as we'll be allowed to do.
Okay, 'cause I obviously haven't seen we haven't seen the culmination of of season four. Um so it's it's left in a way that We could see season five, it's left in a way, or yeah, it's left in a way that we could see season five, or it could be the end because we biffed it and we need to run away. You never know.
Well, one never knows. But the idea, again, just from the creative side of it, it's not like, okay, we're because sometimes you hear people like, all right, we've put it all out there, we're done. But that's not the way it is from the creative side of things. No, we like these new characters and this new, you know, half new world. And yeah, we think there's a little more to do with it than what we did this year.
All right.
But we'll see. All right.
So Apple's on the clock. Basically, what we're saying right now. And you will be against.
So, what the fan. I still don't. kind of grasp this whole ten sport fantasy league. Shout out Rush Howell, who invented it. Yeah, it's it's it's incredibly satisfying.
I don't do any of the other fantasy sports anymore. I used to be pretty avid into fantasy football and fantasy basketball, and now this takes the place of both. Really? Yeah. Because it's year-round.
Because it's year-round and you don't have to do stuff every week or every day. In the case of fantasy baseball, which was always too crazy for me. I can't get into fancy baseball. But yeah, very satisfying. And now I know more than I should about.
Well, I remember you used to be able to swear on the show, but now you can't. And out of respect, I won't.
Now I know more than I should about freaking NASCAR. And that really burned me, actually. I knew too much. Because last year, I drafted Connor Zilish because I thought, here comes the sensation. Oh, but little did I know, rookies never do well in NASCAR.
And that was a zero-point pickup. And that really tanked my season. That's why I finished seventh. But you're going to, I believe in you, Connor Zilish, next year. Here we go.
A lot of people Googling Connor Zilish right now. I get it. That's why you traded for Chase Elliott, right? That's it. Yeah, that's why I had to upgrade.
That's why. Oh, but no, was the Rams too much? But you got two keepers. Am I overconfident? He's got a long runway ahead of her.
Great to see him, Adam. YouTube. That's Brendan Hunt, everybody, at Brendan Hunting on Twitter and Instagram. And of course, Ted Lasso every single Wednesday on Apple TV. Season four premiered on the fifth.
Catch up on seasons one through three of this remarkable, wonderful program on Apple TV. We're back here on the Rich Eisen Show to wrap things up in a sec. Rich Eisen here for Gusto. On my shows, we talk a lot about what happens in the spotlight, the games, the highlights, and the moments that get replayed and debated. But in any successful operation, what happens behind the scenes matters just as much.
Small businesses are no different. Payroll, hiring, onboarding, benefits, and all the details that keep things moving may not be the most visible part of the job, but they still have to be handled right. That's where Gusto comes in. Gusto is online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. It's all-in-one, remote-friendly, and incredibly easy to use.
So you can pay, hire, onboard, and support your team from anywhere. Automatic payroll tax filing, simple direct deposits, health benefits, commuter benefits, workers' comp, 401k, you name it. Gusto makes it simple and has options for nearly every budget. And it's all built to save you time with built-in automated tools for offer letters, onboarding docs, direct deposit, and more. Plus, you can Get unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price.
No hidden fees, no surprises. Try Gusto today at gusto.com/slash rich and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free payroll at gusto.com/slash rich. One more time, gusto.com slash rich. Rich Eisen here.
Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow. The challenge? Finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in.
It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent. With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com/slash Eisen. Terms and conditions apply.
The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. A SoFi personal loan is here to help you achieve something once thought impossible, overcoming high-interest credit card debt. Walk the tightrope of your finances with one low fixed-rate monthly payment, no fees required, and as soon as the same day funding. That's right. Pull off your own debt-defying stunt with a SoFi personal loan.
Visit sofi.com slash trick to learn more. Loans originated by SoFi Bank NAA member FDIC Terms and Conditions Apply NMLS six nine six eight nine one. Listen. One thing that I'm proud of about this program. And am I doing this here in the manner in which I host it, if I may?
is that when I Talk about stuff.
Okay. I make suggestions. I don't just say something and then just leave it alone. I suggest. You're trying to improve.
That's how RES consulting got created. The best thing about us, though, is it's about us. That is the motto of. Rich Eisen Show Consulting. RES Consulting.
We all get together, we come up with ideas, and I'm an idea man. Like, for instance, when I criticized ABS before, I'm like, let's fix ABS where you can let the challenge go, more than just. One second, like you got to give a guy more than one second of challenge. And then, if the challenge is so far off, let's give the umpire something.
Somebody's so far off and challenging and being wrong about it, they lose all their challenges. You see, I'm just making suggestions.
So, when LeBron James finally joined the Sixers, remember how the commissioner was kind of like Mona Lisa Vito, like stamping? His foot saying, Can you make a decision? Because we've got to come up with some nationally televised decisions. We're waiting over here. Yeah, we're waiting over here.
And as soon as LeBron showed up with the Sixers, on July 30th, I made this suggestion on the program. Oh yeah, I made the suggestion on the program about Hey. Here on the show. Let's go. Let's put LeBron in Massive square garden.
Yeah. To start the uh to start the um The season. On opening night. Guess what?
Okay. Rich Eisen is right. Thank you. They did it. You're welcome, NBA.
You're very, very welcome. Yeah. So there you have it.
Well, I mean, if they would have listened to me, they would have known LeBron would have been on the Sixers weeks ago. Polly could have jumped it. Yeah, they could have just jumped. But it's happening. I had this as an overreaction topic.
We did not get to it. I think this is a terrible idea. Of course, you agree. This should have been a Christmas Day game. Why?
Because you get the season, you get it to kind of go on a little bit, see how the teams go by putting, and I'm going to actually defend the Knicks here. This should be a celebration of New York. The league kind of wanted New York to have a title. The city has been waiting, and the fans more than 50 years for something like this to happen.
Now you're bringing LeBron. The whole night is going to be about him. He's going to make it about him. The TV partners are going to make it about him. And it's going to all be about LeBron James when it should be a celebration for New York basketball.
Excuse me. And I will take this here because we're almost up against it here. As much as I want a celebration of New York. I must ad Fully admit. The celebration of New York has been going on Quite a long time.
This is the culmination banner, rings, all of it. Honestly, the Knicks were all over the Espies. They were all over late night television. They were all over morning television. They still are.
I saw a clip of Brunson with his mom recently. I mean, it's just non-stop. And they get the rings. It's a culmination of that. It'll be a nice night, and now it's time to defend.
And it's LeBron James wearing a Sixers uniform in Madison Square Garden. And plus, the Knicks are doing him a solid, Chris. And then the league's doing him a solid. He doesn't have to travel very far. He's at home.
Right? Six or shit. One in again. One fewer Hallam. Cleveland or the Lakers.
There's an actual storyline there. Saying? Fine. LeBron's in the building. We get to see him.
You're just upset. The Celtics.
Well, they don't have a backseat. Jalen Brown is in this game. 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. You know when you're locked in, focused and fearless.
Welcome to the WNBA. Your vision narrows. You can't look away. Every assist, every stop, every logo three. From beyond!
And the logo. Every did you see that moment? You can! What records are going to be broken this season? All of it, right here.
Lock in. It's the WNBA on ESPN, all season long. Yeah.
