REShow: Adnan Virk - Hour 2

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Try Dove Men Plus Care Dry Spray goes on dry, clean feel all day. This is the Rich Eisen Show with guest host Ben Lyons. What do you hear? What do you say? Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. What do you think of when you see that toll booth scene again?

If there were no girls on this shit I wouldn't have done it. What do you mean? I've got an image. James Caan, you are the best for doing this. Earlier on the show, singer and 49ers fan Asher Roth, still to come. Host of the Cinephile Podcast Adnan Virk. Plus host and reporter Daniel Robay. And now here's Ben Lyons.

Welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show. As always you can find us on Peacock, Peacocktv.com, Sirius XM Channel 85, NBC Sports, Westwood One Terrestrial Radio. You guys are everywhere.

Everywhere. Honestly I haven't even heard of some of these platforms. To borrow a phrase, you can't stop us.

You can only hope to contain us. Odyssey, the Odyssey app streaming for free. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. What's up with the show? TikTok. We get to TikTok on the Rich Eisen Show. Big point of contention. You guys got a lot of like young people in the family here, come on.

Well, we're all old here, but Rich's son Xander is 13, wants to run the show. I just don't see how our platform like in TikTok where it's all about either you're dancing or you're scared of the cloud. It's not. I learned a delicious feta pasta off of TikTok. It was so delicious.

We're not doing that. They sold out of feta in Iceland. The entire country of Iceland went through a feta crisis because the TikTok recipe was so delicious. And I can attest, it's really good. Have you ever been to Iceland?

No, no. We went to Iceland a couple of years ago for Christmas and we literally ate whale. We didn't know it was on the menu. We went to one of the price fix for Christmas and all of a sudden, no, this is a bit that Sarah does in her act and it's true.

We went to price fix meal for dinner for Christmas and they just bring you item. You know what I mean? One of those things. And so they bring us this thing. It looks like little steak. It's great. We're eating it. It's kind of an appetizer. And then the waiter comes over and goes, first time eating whale. And we go, excuse me, what did you just say? Yes, it was our first time and it's my last time.

Now she had tied that routine to her routine about James Van Der Beek's fertility. You might be on to something there. Yeah, that's horrible. All right. Iceland.

All right. Another thing I want to do is to get our Iceland talking for the week. Are we good on Iceland? Also, it was a great time. Have you ever seen a waterfall? Yeah. Great.

They have been in Iceland. So in the radio open there, we had two clips, two sound bites, one from James Caan and one from Tony Sarico, played Polly Walnuts on The Sopranos. Just shout out. We lost those two guys last week. And as a show, we love gangster movies. Obviously, The Godfather is one of our favorite movies. Sopranos, one of our favorite show ever. So just a shout out to those families for losing two icons in Tony's three.

Incredible. How many different types of people those shows have affected and how many fans are from kind of all walks of life. It's not just sort of one type of person who likes a gangster movie or likes The Sopranos. You get people from literally the entire tapestry of humanity, which speaks to the greatness of those particular pieces, obviously. You have a James Caan or Tony Sarico story?

No, no stories. Obviously, you know, that's the day that Bobby Thompson hit the home run in the World Series was the day that Sonny Corleone died at the toll booth. You can hear that in the background playing at that scene, which I think is very cool. A little baseball shout there. But I was with my dad over the weekend when the news passed of James Caan and some of the radio shows were calling him for reaction and stuff. And we're just going through his career and just the versatility as an actor who didn't have traditional leading man like stature.

He was a smaller guy, but could do all types of genres of a film as what kept him as a working actor, you know, deep into later years of his life and a grinder. There's something I saw a great quote about him about New York. And, you know, I grew up in the city, lived out here for 15 and now back in New York. And you get like a sixth sense that's just from being a New Yorker. And you can leave, you can travel, you can live somewhere else. But I think he said something very James Caan, you know, who to punch and who not to punch if you're from New York.

Right. And I think that really rings true as I'm experiencing this transition to my own life, that New Yorker stays with you and it stayed with him as an actor, I think, and all the stuff he did. I thought it was interesting, too, to see there was an article about some of the films he passed on and like everyone in those, they went on to win Best Actor. It was like, wow. Yeah, that's got a really incredible, yeah, probably things.

But he also it didn't seem like it really bothered him. No, no, because, you know, there's another role around the corner and there is something about in Hollywood, if you truly believe that the role goes to the person who it was meant for and you really live your life that way. It's the only way to kind of navigate that, because otherwise, you know, I mean, God, if every time I turned on the Ellen DeGeneres show and was like, I could have been the deejay, you know, I got to pull my hair out. You know, Tufo does that. You know, actually, I was going to say, he, yeah, TJ, you auditioned for that, right?

No, I don't. So did I. Like 15 years ago when she, yeah, yeah, I sent a tape for this guy from the guy from Meet the Parents did it or something. Yeah, Johnny Abraham. James Gunn passed on Gene Hackman's role in French Connection. He passed on Jack's role in Cuckoo's Nest, Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters. He passed on Han Solo. It's just kind of crazy to think about all the parts that he did say yes to the coach in the program.

So that's pretty sweet, by the way. And arguably one of the greatest football movies ever. I don't think there's any argument to one of the greatest football movies ever. Everyone will put it in that category. And he's the elf. I mean, come on. Elf. That was a role that's supposed to go to Gene Wilder. And so there you go.

So that's the universe opening up a moment for him when it closed the door on another part in the past. All right, we got overreaction Monday here. What are we overreacting to? Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it.

Oh, come on now. Everything, everything. That was terrible. That was crap. That was garbage. This place sucks. Overreaction Mondays. All right, normally we go crazy football heavy on these, but we'll go, we'll go half and half just because because why not?

Rich isn't here because nothing's going on. We can do whatever we want. All right.

One of the big one of the big stories. What did you just say? That's why you stole the sign. Yeah, I'm the best. By the way, I'm the best.

Forget that. Rich is on an epic vacation where he can't put his phone down with his without his kids. Yeah, exactly. He's not being the best. He's not being the best. He sent his kids away to summer camp so he could go to Italy. He can have the best pasta. That we don't need to see Instagram about for the 14th time.

I was up at 4.45 this morning with my kid because he doesn't want to sleep like a psycho. All right. Some news over the week, last week that you guys, we haven't really talked about yet, but Baker Mayfield no longer on the Cleveland Browns. Baker Mayfield traded to the Carolina Panthers for basically a bag of balls. Oh, my overreaction here is Baker is going to win more games than the Browns this year. I don't think that's an overreaction.

I think that is absolutely what's going to happen. I think the energy around the Browns is toxic and it starts with the Deshaun Watson situation. I hate even calling it a situation that really demeans.

I think the severity of it. I agree. I think that bringing somebody like that not only into your organization, but to lead your organization and be the face of it tells you everything you need to know about the people running that organization. And it's a reason why they've been the laughing stock of the NFL for my entire lifetime. And it's going to go right back to business as usual in Cleveland. And I think Baker is going to have an opportunity in Carolina to win some football games.

It's a division that's ripe for the taking besides Tampa. He can go out there and if he wins eight football games this year, it'll be more than the Browns. I think the Browns are going to be a total dumpster fire. Do you think Deshaun gets the year or is he, does we see Watson play football this season? I don't think we ever see him play football again. Over, done. I think it's a wrap.

I think the more that comes out from these stories and these allegations and these charges, the less chance there is for him to go out there and compete in the NFL. Dang. All right. All right, let's move on. Let's talk about... Overreaction Monday, let's go.

That is great. No, I love that actually. Hot takes. Let's talk about the Cowboys, TJ, because did you see the quote from Dak Prescott this weekend?

I did not. Oh, Dak's in the best shape of his life. Ah, we are in that time of year, boys.

We are in, I am in the best shape of my life time of the summer. Which is followed by, I'm going to Nordstrom's and buying everybody the latest designer bag time. So you're going to see the entire Cowboys offensive line with some Prada purse bags.

Is Prada the move this year? I think, I don't know, TJ. What's the fanny pack of choice right now?

You know, I'm not in that tax bracket, so I wouldn't know. Wait a second, speaking of the fanny pack. Yes, I might.

Do you have a fanny pack? See, there you go. I was watching Moana last night.

Great movie. Dak Prescott is in the best shape of his life. Lamar Jackson has reworked his throwing motion and has put on 15 pounds. I still think Dak's going to have the better 2022 season than Lamar.

Is that an overreaction? No, see there's actually a gym in Las Vegas. It's called Best Shape Your Life. Ben Simmons works out there in the summer time. He's in there right now. He's in the best shape of his life. I think Lamar Jackson's going to have the better season because he's a better football player. I think he's got a more dynamic set of skills. I think his team is far more functional than the Dallas Cowboys. And I think that Lamar Jackson's going to have, he's going to figure out this contract stuff after he watches the sequels to How High, and then he's going to have a better year than Dak Prescott individually. In what way are they more functional? The Dallas Cowboys?

Yeah. Which way are the Ravens more functional? Oh, they're always winning more football games and won more Super Bowls in recent years. They go deeper in the playoffs. They're just a better organization. They have cooler jerseys now. I like that purple and black on TV. Everything you're saying is kind of, you know, debatable.

Yes. There's no confidence coming out of Cowboy Nation this summer. Last summer, maybe it was TJ and I were just meeting each other and he was peacocking, but I think that this year he's really deflated and there is no optimism.

It's not deep. We'll get into it later as the season, I'll get more hype, but it's like this, no matter what, if I try to be cool and be like, I don't know how good we are, I get roasted. If I try to be like ridiculous and be like, we're going to win the Super Bowl, I get roasted. So I'm going to get roasted, but I'm just going to wait until closer to the season.

It's called being a Knicks fan. How about you guys? You guys got Zach Prescott.

He's going to wait till they're three and eight before he gets roasted. That will never happen. I think Dak is awesome. I love Dak as a person and I like watching him play football despite that he plays for the Cowboys.

I think Dak's going to have a really good year. All right. What else are we reacting to? You think it's overreacting? Yeah. Oh, come on now. ESPN is saying that they talked to an AFC personnel evaluator that the Broncos are tailing their offense around Russell Wilson.

I think that would be a smart idea. This is real. Wait, this is real. This is a real thing.

They're going to, the Broncos are going to tailor their offense around Russell Wilson. What? I don't know. It's just, it's just a quote. They got a good supporting cast. So my overreaction is this Broncos top five offense this year. Well, that's as good as a complete overreaction. No, they're not gonna be top five offense, but no, I just love the idea that someone puts on their taxes at ESPN evaluator. What was their position?

Oh no. So ESPN talked to an AFC personnel evaluator. This is what I do for a living. I'm at the highest of my profession. I evaluate personnel. I evaluate personnel. The Broncos are going to run the office through us.

This is what I get paid to do. Tailor. They're going to tailor it. It's a technical term in my industry.

Tailoring. We're going to, that's insanity. So I laugh at that. Yeah. Duh. Okay.

Thank you. No, they're not going to be a top five offense. Was Seattle a top five offense? You know, Russ, Russ had that. I love Russ. Remember the beginning of 2020, he was like crushing it, MVP talk, fantasy, all this stuff.

I don't think so. Who's playing football out in Denver right now? They still have Jared, Judy and Corland Sutton. They got some good running backs. Devante Walker.

Devante. Nobody's excited. No, I like, I like the addition of Russell Wilson in Denver.

I think it makes them better. I think that division's way too tough. They're the third best team, maybe even last in the division.

And I think that, no, it's not going to be a top one. Denver's always had success traditionally. It's been their defense. So I don't see them all of a sudden just putting 40 points on the board every week. All right, let's switch over to NBA, Jay.

You can get rid of the NFL films music. All right. How about this one? We've been talking a lot about Kevin Durant. Obviously we love talking about LeBron. KD is going to win another title before LeBron and Kyrie.

I think there's a better chance of Kevin Durant winning an NBA championship before LeBron and Kyrie do. If they play together, if they play separately, KD has more high level basketball in front of him than those other guys do. Kyrie doesn't play high level basketball anymore because he's never available. He's missed, I believe, five of the last seven post-seasons at some point because of injury or just because of some 30 years old.

So there's always a real like avail. When people call Kyrie the most skilled player, it drives me nuts. He's not skilled because he's not available and availability is the best skill set to have because without it, you have nothing.

So he can dribble through his legs like any Harlem Globetrotter. He can Rucker and one you, he can be efficient. He's incredible, but if you can't do it every night, it doesn't matter.

Honestly, if you guys had said, Hey, Rich is going to be over Instagramming in Italy. We need you to come over here and host the show. We love listening to you talk about sports.

I really appreciate it. But if I wasn't physically here to do it, it didn't matter if I had the hottest takes or if I had the funniest jokes or knew the best people to book on the show, if I wasn't available, right. Just to wake up and physically be here is my best skill. Just to exist is what I bring to the table. Actually, you may not have even gone to bed last night.

So you didn't have to wake up. You just, I played 18 holes and was staying up all night thinking about that four putts, the dreaded four putts. I have a four putt.

I'm human because that mountain gate, like two tiered five, whatever country club golf, nobody needs to hear about. But I think that Kevin Durant will have higher levels of basketball in front of him than LeBron and Kyrie. LeBron's almost 40 years old.

Like we can't just assume this is going to happen forever. And he hasn't been in high level basketball in two years. So I go with Kevin Durant on my overreaction Monday, Kevin Durant, only 33, a birthday in September, so be 34 in the season starts. Do you think Durant is playing for Brooklyn this year? I do think Kevin Durant is playing for Brooklyn. I think it was a smart move by Rich and KD to push their chips in and put some pressure on the organization.

They don't have enough. And also, I don't think Kevin Durant wants to be in the business of playing basketball with Ben Simmons. Ben Simmons is the exact opposite to me and Kevin Durant. Ben Simmons is not a hooper. He plays basketball really well, but he's not a hooper. He doesn't have a love of the game that you can just sense and tell and feel.

KD has touched every court on earth. This man is at the Rucker, the Olympics. He's overseas. He's Kevin Durant is a basketball player. Like that's what he is. He's a hooper. He dresses like he carries himself.

He is a hooper. Ben, can you ever imagine Kevin Durant buying a multimillion dollar mansion in Southern California that didn't have a basketball court on it? Is that what happened to Ben Simmons?

Yeah. And then he just sold it. He sold it a year later. He got rid of it. But yeah, that was Brockman's big thing like two years ago. He bought this $12 million house and Brockman's like, there's not a basketball.

It had two kitchens, but not a basketball hoop. Right, right. The guy loves making frittatas, but he doesn't want to work on his right hand. Also, I can trust a man in an iced out goat chain. Don't know if I can trust a man in an iced out kangaroo.

I don't know. Hey, by the way, speaking of things that you ate when you went to a foreign country that you didn't realize, you went to Australia. Oh yeah, that kangaroo is gamey down there. Yeah, you ate kangaroo. No.

Oh really? No, not into that. Not into that.

It did taste like steak. It was just... Are you guys watching Summer League? Yeah. I was trying to get you guys to go. I know.

I was trying to get you guys to go. How about this overreaction? Orlando is going to regret not drafting Chet Holmgren.

That's a complete ridiculous reaction. You obviously did not watch Summer League. We love Chet. No, Chet's awesome. Love Chet Holmgren. I watched Chet Holmgren destroy Houston. Okay, so you didn't watch the next game when Kenny Lofton Jr. put him in the blood. This kid from Duke that they got it.

Kenny Lofton is like 400 pounds. First of all, he's not, but Paolo has crushed it. I know, Paolo's great.

We love Paolo. I'm just saying. It's overreaction Monday. I know, and I'm reacting. I'm reacting.

Please. That's the point. I'm reacting. I haven't been able to spit hot takes for nine days. Do you understand that?

I just probably tired of hearing. I did get a sense of what's happening down in Oklahoma. I went down to West 4th the other day and was watching the games and some dude was out there hooping and people were like, oh, Josh, giddy, Josh, giddy. Okay, you're starting to get love and playground culture a little bit like something's cooking down there in Oklahoma into it.

I like it. Chet was, he was hella impressive that first, I mean, six blocks. That was a record. Yeah, no.

Big Chet Holmgren guy, but that Paolo guy's for you. Anything else to overreact to? Yeah, we got a couple of baseball, but I know we got to get going. All right, so we'll do this. We'll get to the baseball stuff with Adnan because he does work for MLB, but I want to talk tennis with Adnan because he's the biggest Roger Federer guy on the planet.

We saw more history yesterday out Wimbledon. Joker getting his seventh. I got some takes there. Yeah, I'm sure you do.

So we'll get to that. Plus, we'll talk some Tom Cruise because Adnan hates Tom Cruise. I love this man. I'm so excited to catch up with him. His podcast is A Must Listen, the cinephile podcast, part of the Levitard network, Levitard and Friends. So Adnan Virk going to join the show coming up next. Ben Lyons filling in for Rich on the Rich Eisen show and want to remind you as well, we've been talking some golf, you know, it's golf season across the country now.

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Find your Rogue ST irons at CallawayGolf.com slash go Rogue Golf. The only sport you believe you can get better at as you get older, the show rolls on. Ben Lyons in for Rich Adnan Virk coming up next on the Rich Eisen Show. Welcome back everyone to the Rich Eisen Show. My name is Ben Lyons. I have the honor and privilege of hanging out all week filling in for Rich as he goes to try and eat Italy out of all the pasta in the country. I will be filling in, talking sports, talking pop culture, and nobody loves both more than my next guest, a dear friend, my Academy Awards brother for life, Adnan Virk joins the show. How are you, my friend? I'm doing great, Ben. Congrats on the gig, on the return. I had the pleasure of talking to Rich actually when I did a show on peacock called Winter Gold during the Olympics. I said, hey, Rich, I love you, but I love when Ben Lyons fills in even more.

So I hope he's enjoying his pasta. It's great to reunite as always, buddy. Thanks, Adnan, for being a friend and my publicist. I appreciate it.

I want to talk movies. I want to talk baseball, but I want to talk tennis out of the gates. Your buddy, Roger Federer, no longer the GOAT, huh? Devastating news to see Djokovic win yesterday, although I will fight what you just said about him not only being the GOAT, because there are many different qualifications saying someone is the best. As you know, I have no interest in golf, but you love golf. Now, if somebody argues in golf somebody is the best player ever only because of majors, well, that's just one criteria.

Now that may be the right criteria, but I'm just saying it's only one. Nicklaus is 18 and, of course, Tiger, Arnie, et cetera. But as Ben Peltis told me many a time, there are people who argue Arnold Palmer is still the greatest golfer of all time. In hockey, Gretzky obliterates the competition when it comes to points.

But there are people of a certain age that say Gordy Howe is still the best and Bobby Orr revolutionized the game. So to your point, yes, in order just by majors, Nadal is 22, Djokovic is 21, Federer has 20. But if you want to argue appeal of the game, impact of the game, popularity of the game, most beloved by the game, most money won, most tournaments won, then Federer is still very much in the conversation. Very fired up, Adnan Virk joining the show, which I knew I'd get him going with the tennis talk. What is it about Federer that has you so enamored with this man?

There's a great article, Ben, by David Foster Wallace. It's called Federer as religious experience. It's a brilliant article and I, like many, enjoy the pilgrimage and the worship of Federer and I think it comes down to this very essence. He makes greatness look so effortless and I think the athletes that we most admire, you generally appreciate the fact they've got that clutch gene and they can do without breaking a sweat. Nadal is admired and envied by many, but he looks like a bull in a china shop.

He's literally snorting the entire time. He looks like he's wringing every ounce of energy from his body and that can certainly be appealing to some. But if you look at Gretzky, if you look at Jordan, if you look at Federer, these guys seem to do it without breaking a sweat. And I think particularly in tennis, which is a really aesthetically pleasing game, if you really love tennis like I do, you can appreciate the beauty of the game and there's never been anyone who makes the game look as beautiful as Roger Federer. Talking about effortless, the way that Adnan can go from Oscar talk to MLB, NHL Network, I saw on the screen just now. I forgot that he works with them.

You're able to touch on so many different things that you're passionate about. Right now in the world of baseball, what's the biggest story for you heading into the All-Star break? I think it's Otani again, Ben.

I know people go, same old, same old. But listen, the Angels are having another miserable season. They look like a playoff team the first month or so, but then had a calamitous 14-game losing streak and they're not committing to the playoffs. But Otani is still remarkable. As they cough it up, he is sublime. His pitching numbers, he's pitching even better this year than he was last year. ERA's been a hell of a lot of pace, but a half run lower. He's walking less and he's striking out more. He's on pace to strike at 207 batters over 150 innings.

That's impressive, right? And offensively, a year ago he hit 45 home runs. He's not on pace for that.

He's only on pace for 38 home runs and 100 RBI. As John Heyman said to me, as a hitter, he's J.D. Martinez. And as a pitcher, he might be Garret Cole. Garret Cole makes 36 million a year.

J.D. Martinez makes 24. Well then, Otani should be getting 50 million dollars a year. He's the best bargain in sports.

He makes 5 million dollars a year. It's incredible the Angels have such a steal on Otani and yet they're not even close to playoffs. They're paying 30 plus million to Trout who's incredible, but 30 plus million to Rendon who's also hurt.

So that's a real disappointment. But I also think, Ben, big markets are crushing it. The Yankees are the best team in baseball and the most popular team arguably in American sports. The Mets are in first place in the NL East, although the Braves World Series champions are coming.

They're a game and a half back. Huge three-game series tonight. Sure as they're pitching it for New York. And your beloved Dodgers are the class to NL West. They were tied with the Padres a few weeks ago, but LA flexing their muscle. Big market teams bringing it right now in baseball. Yeah, great to see Clayton Kershaw back in the All-Star Game as well.

Ninth time in his career. Adnan, we switch gears now once again from the world of baseball to the world of movies. You're the biggest Tom Cruz hater on the planet. What is happening? Yeah, I was going in the hives there having to listen to that rejoin there from Rob Lowe extolling his virtues as I've said all along. See?

No, we lost you. As I said all along, dramatic pause. The phone goes out.

I guess Tom Cruz is in the back cutting the wires. Something happened. Oh no. Oh no. Adnan, we lost Adnan. See? Hold on. Adnan.

You can't be Smurch Cruz, man. Adnan sounds like he's being held captive and needs Tom Cruz to come rescue him. Just have him call back.

Just have him call like, wait is he back? Yeah, the Mission Impossible. That's a bummer.

That's a bummer. But I love this man because he can literally talk Roger Federer with expert analysis as a top tennis analyst would and he can switch gears and break down what's happening in baseball and that is ridiculous that Otani's only making five million dollars a year. Like, he should be getting 55.

Well, he'll be getting a lot more than that in two years. And then he switched gears and, you know, we can talk some golf and talk some movies. Do we have this man back? Yeah, he's back.

We got the Dixie cups and the string connected now. All right, we got Adnan back. What's up, buddy? You were talking about how Tom Cruz is the greatest movie star of all time and we lost you. Paul Newman is rolling over in his grave as you say that, but Tom Cruz is undeniable. His charisma and his longevity, the fact he's been a movie star for almost 40 years is awfully impressive, but he is a horrific human being. When I saw your tweets and you and your dad saw Top Gun a previous screen and Tom Cruz rocked, I almost had to say delete your account.

This guy, and if there's one person out there, this is all I do, every single time I go on these screens against Cruz, if I change one person's mind and go watch Going Clear, the case against Scientology, that's a brilliant documentary by Alex Gibney and it changed my life. Prior to seeing that documentary, if you asked me what Tom Cruise would have said, I think he's a little overrated, but hey, I love Magnolia. He worked with Scorsese in Color of Money. He certainly had a great career. I think he's an overrated actor, but yes, he's a movie star. I watched that documentary.

I said, listen, you cannot separate fact from fiction. This guy is a reprehensible human being and that documentary by Gibney is incredible and God bless Leah Remini, who in Top Gun, everyone's tweeting about it all at great times. Don't forget what Tom Cruise stands for and this is why he is vile because Scientology abuses people. They treat people horribly and when you try to leave, they cause irreparable damage to your life and you say, what's up to do with Tom Cruise? He's just a member of Scientology. He doesn't run the thing and I say, come on.

David Miscavige runs it. Tom Cruise is his right-hand man. If Cruise came out once, then I said, hey, listen, you guys got to knock this off. Stop treating people so poorly if they don't want to be Scientologists. Allow them to leave. You should be able to leave any religion you want and that's not a religion.

It's a cult anyways, but instead this behavior exists and watch one hour and 50 minutes of going clear. The great Paul Haggis, you always defend the fact that Crash won best picture, even though I think it was a joke and broke back down to the one, but Haggis is brilliant. He's Canadian.

He wrote Million Dollar Baby. He's a former Scientologist and he's amazing in that documentary. He talks about the horrible things these people do and the fact that Cruise turns a blind eye to it, I can't turn a blind eye to it and normally you and I can watch films and we can separate who these people are. Yes, they can be adulterers.

Yes, they're drug addicts. Yes, they're not perfect people, but what Cruise stands for to me is beyond vile and that's why I watch Top Gun 2 and I'll tell you right now, it's a perfectly adequate movie, okay? This best picture target is nonsense. It is melodramatic. It's predictable and I get that it's fun. You want to go enjoy the film by all means, but please go watch going clear and make my day and see what this guy stands for.

Adnan Virk joining the show, fired up. I appreciate you so much, Adnan. I really do. You put the big picture in perspective and, you know, this is a question that we have to ask ourselves across the way we consume art, the way we watch sports, the way the people we vote for in politics. There's so much of this stuff that gets blurred and I understand you even mentioned Paul Haggis. Paul Haggis is not, you know, necessarily the best person to mention in that defense of your argument as well right now. You're right. He's not immune either. He's faced issues with regards to sexual assault and people feel like, well, how do you pick and choose?

Well, you have to look at each person in each egregious violation. That is, you know, I love Broadway. I took my wife to see Beetlejuice on her birthday. I was appalled that MJ the Musical is still happening.

Are you kidding me? Speaking of documentaries, go watch Finding Neverland and see what Michael Jackson did. I can't believe anybody could sit and watch a Woody Allen movie.

You, me and your father know how funny he is. We know how brilliant he is as an auteur. But if you watch and learn anything that Woody Allen's done, you go, how can you possibly support this guy's work? So again, that doesn't mean you castigate every single person in Hollywood, but I do think you have to make that personal choice and say, all right, what can I stand with? What can I separate between art and art for its sake?

And certainly for a few people, at least I can't take it. I'm just very happy, Adnan, genuinely so, that you're taking your wife to see something fun in the city because usually you go to New York for religious persecution movies, and that would have been a really tough birthday for her. You'll love this even more, Ben. I'd never seen Moulin Rouge. It's one of her favorite movies.

So for Valentine's Day, I surprised her by going to see Moulin Rouge the Musical, and I doubled down by watching the movie the night before. You'll be stunned by this. I liked it.

I was stunned. I said, there's no way I'm going to like this Baz Luhrmann melodrama, this romantic artifice. I think I liked the first half. I thought it was hilarious.

Jim Robinson's hilarious. He's got great razzle dazzle. You know, when it comes to Baz Luhrmann, it's more style than substance, but Moulin Rouge, I can see why people love that movie so much. And the musical is terrific. And as much as I'm deploring all the people talking about Top Gun for Oscar talk, I will bang the drums slowly for Elvis. Again, I was skeptical because Baz can be more style than substance, but we need more directors like this, Ben.

He takes big chances, big swings. I thought Austin Butler gave a star-making performance as the king. Production design, costume design. You and I know how hard it is for music biopics to cut through for the Oscars.

Look at Rocket Man a few years ago. Summer release, snubbed by the Oscars. I love to see Elvis get to love.

I get three and a half maple leafs. How about my major quibble? The movie is one of America's favorite actors. I thought Tom Hanks was the worst part of the movie, and I love Tom Hanks, but he was going to be drowning in latex. Horrible action of the Colonel, but go check out Elvis.

I thought it was a heck of a movie. And then you got so much going on this summer, covering Major League Baseball, covering big summer movies, but the big thing in your household this year was your oldest graduated eighth grade, and he did something to send you a little tribute, which I thought was very nice. Oh, thanks for mentioning, Ben. He has young Yusef graduating eighth grade, and shout out to my son, Dean. He graduated elementary school, and my Shaz is five. He graduated preschool, a little mod still in preschool, but very proud of all four of our boys, but very cool of Yusef.

On the graduation day, he didn't tell me. My parents were visiting. They came down just to see his graduation.

Eight-hour drive from Toronto. My sister-in-law flew into town to see him, and everybody up there is dressed beautifully. I mean, there's a 13-year-old kid. They look so smart and sharp and beaming, and he put on my fedora. He had my fedora and his crummy sunglasses, and he looked great.

I thought, what a great tribute. He's wearing his dad's fedora, and when he went to the front, Ben, the teacher said, you can't wear a hat for the picture. He said, okay, I'll take it off for the picture, but when they call my name, I'll wear my dad's hat. It was a really, really proud moment, so I like any student who sticks it to school administrations and does whatever they want.

Let people be who they want to be, right? I want to wear my dad's fedora, damn it. I'm going to do it. Very cool, very cool. Congrats to him. Congrats to you, and I love that you're developing a signature look. It's like a Richard Schiff fedora.

It's like an Adnan Virk hat is now a thing. It's very cool. I'll talk to you soon, my man.

Thanks for checking in. Ben, I appreciate it, man. Normally, people go fedoras when you're bald, but I said, listen, I think it's a good look no matter what, so I hope you and I reunite sometime soon, and we're both going fedoras to go check out a flick.

No, I will never wear a hat that is not sports-related. I just can't pull it off. I'm sorry.

I can't do Coachella in the wintertime. Sorry, bro. Appreciate you, Adnan. Ben, you're the best. Have a great show.

Talk to us, pal. Adnan Virk joining the show. All right, can you see me, Brockman, in a hat that's not sports-related? No, Coachella. Nick Fouquet. I love this man, but I'm not going to wear his Carmelo Anthony hats.

I just can't do it. Who is headlining Winter Coachella? I mean, is there a Winter Coachella? What is Winter Coachella? I don't know.

I don't know. Winter Coachella. I think we're onto something. TJ's like, oh yeah, I went to that 20 years ago.

I introduced Rage Against the Machine on stage, and Flea gave me a foot massage. What? Hey, do you guys know that weekends are better with MLB Sunday Leadoff? That's right, you can catch the Kansas City Royals as they play the Toronto Blue Jays with coverage starting Sunday at 1130 Eastern. Love waking up with baseball.

Only on Peacock. Blue Jays got a squad. That whole A.L.

Lease is ridiculous. I saw Vlad Jr. hit three in Yankee Stadium this April. That was a fun night in the Bronx.

Yeah, buddy. It's a fun D train back to Manhattan as Vlad Jr.'s hit three bombs and the Blue Jays put on a show. Yeah, they're a real fun team. They're the All-Sun team, too.

They have... They had Dante Bichette's kid. Yeah, they had Craig Clemens. Did Clemens' kid pop up or no?

He popped up and he's on... There's so many guys from our childhood now who are doing it across all sports. I know, it's kind of awesome.

I do love that. Yeah, no, I'm very much looking forward to that Bronny Keon Anthony showdown that was on the schedule for ESPN. Manny Ramirez's son is in the minor leagues.

It's a pretty fun time. LeBron is going to play with the whole team of guys he played against kids. He's going to play with Shaq's son. He's got Scottie Pippenstein's kid on the team.

Here's a hot take. Everyone knows LeBron's wanting to play with Bronny. What if he's really wanting to play with Bryce?

Honestly? He's called his twin. I thought that kid went the Magic Card route, which is all good.

Creative artist. I thought that was his path. But now he's got a little handle and he's good, huh? He's big. He's a legit 6'5'' already and he's in the eighth grade.

Yeah, it's stupid. Oh my gosh. All right, we got we got Daniel Robay checking in. She was out at WNBA All-Star Festivities in Chicago, which looked amazing. Kelsey Plum gets the MVP, so we'll catch up in about 40 minutes or so with Danielle. I want to talk a little bit about Russ going back to Denver.

We touched on it a little bit, but let's dive a little deeper into the AFC West when we come back. Ben Lyons filling in for Rich on the Rich Eisen Show. Don't go anywhere. All right, welcome back to the Rich Eisen Show. Ben Lyons in for Rich all week long. Appreciate the opportunity so much. What's up, Ben?

Come and hang out with the guys. Last week I was meeting you guys on television, like meeting you on the radio. I didn't know you. Yeah, last year at this time. You said last week. I was like, wait a minute. I say last week.

I'm in last year at this time. Yeah, man. And well, you would come in once when Nick Swisher was hosting. If you remember that a few years ago, I said something crazy on that, too. I said that LaMelo Ball was the Lindsay Lohan of the NBA. And then I realized I don't even know what that means. You're going to walk that back? LaMelo Ball is the future of the NBA.

I don't know. At one point Lindsay Lohan was the future of Hollywood. It just was a different Hollywood. That is factual. I did come on that show.

That was fun. Nick's the best. Yeah. Nick's in London doing some home run contests with legends or something. I saw him in his uniform in London hitting bombs. And I don't know, that guy lives a life.

Good boy Swish. Love to catch up with him. He's doing a big St. Jude fundraiser out here in Los Angeles.

End of this month. I would love to get him to call in. I told you, I saw that guy at a wedding and he had a t-shirt on that said, don't bro me unless you know me.

So awesome. What's up, bro? What's up, bro? Yeah, we had a bro count one time when Swish was in.

I think it was like 48 or something. So yeah, so it's nice to come back this week and hang out with the guys and actually know who I'm going to be talking with and what your guys' interests are and stuff. And I know football is obviously top of mind on this show and you guys are genuine NFL fans.

Like deeply, I'm on the text. I see, I watch the show. I've been to the NFL game with Brockman. Like I played the 50-50.

Like I get it. We did not win by the way, in case anyone out there was wondering. No, because if we won the 50-50, I don't know if I'd be here right now in Tijuana. But you know, the big thing that I wanted to see more of in the NFL this off season is more high profile player mobility. I think it adds intrigue and interest to the city. Now, the NBA has gone a little too far with it, but it's a big reason why they have been able to culturally stay kind of top of mind, you know, in the zeitgeist. And besides Russell Wilson leaving Seattle, I can't really think of another just off the top. Tyreek Hill leaving, I guess, is a big deal.

Some of the skilled positions. Yeah, Devante Adams. Devante Adams is a big deal. He goes from Green Bay to the Raiders. You know, that's okay.

That's fine. Yeah, Von Miller, big name and not exactly the MVP type player anymore. Matt Ryan leaving Atlanta.

I guess that happened while I was gone. But I think the Russ move to Denver could really not only, it's obviously high profile, but it could really be impactful in that this dude is a winner and say what you want about Russ. If you don't like him, if you think this stuff with Sierra's corny, whatever, the dude elevates people. He reminds me of working with someone like Rich or someone, you know, who is at the top of their field and it just elevates everyone else around them. Like, you guys know when Rich is in, you guys, and let's say you're not with me, but I do have a little substitute teacher vibes, but the idea that you guys are on it, you're focused, you're, you're dialed in, you're producing, you're doing the boards, you're doing the social, like everyone's and, and it's not from anything he says, he's not saying to you guys, do this, do that. It's just their presence. And there's a confidence that they exude that makes everybody else buy in and feel a part of it. And I know he might not be one of the guys with that story. You heard about Russell Wilson coming out of Seattle, like the locker room's very divided, but that dude is a winner. Like I spend 10 minutes with him and you realize that he has that ability to just get it done and just to be great. And I think that, I don't know.

I think that that move will actually, not only it's a splashy move in the summertime, but it's a move that could get them to the playoffs. I could get them back into respectable football. It's been a while. Yeah.

Well, I wonder what you think that is. Like, what is it about him? You spent time around a lot of, I spent time around Russell. Like I did a lot of work with the Players Tribune when that launched and Russell Wilson was in all the early meetings and stuff. But even just like you spent a lot of time around movie stars and rock stars, like, is it just a quality? Like not everyone has it. Not everyone can be like, you know, despite what we heard, but Adnan said like Tom Cruise, who, you know, we hear the viral clip about Mission Impossible.

We are doing something important here. You know, what is it about these guys? I think with Russ, there's like a comfort. He's comfortable being uncomfortable in his own skin. I think he's in a weird place right now with that. And I think it's good that the idea that he was always trying to be somebody else or something else.

And I think now he's just accepted. Like I'm a corny winner and that's awesome for me. I think that's the thing that I connect with successful people, engaging people, people you want to, you know, you're gravitated towards. They're just comfortable in their own skin. Like there's nothing awkward about Kevin Garnett. It's awkward for you. And he screams and curses at you on why Ben Wallace should be in the Hall of Fame and how you've never stepped on a basketball floor, even though you're like, I played private school basketball dog.

But I think there's a comfort in your own skin that gravitates, you know, you to somebody. And I think Russell has that in a way now by being like uncomfortable. He was trying to fit in and trying to be one of the guys when he was younger. He had more success, you know, early on in his career than he probably should have for his contract, for his, you know, third round pick. Exactly. All that.

And now that's kind of like leveled off. And I think he's in this place of, look, I got 10 years to do this at a high level, maybe seven. I'm going to dedicate everything I have to and I'm all in on him.

I think if he's on your football team, you have to be excited. And I think the Broncos are a real shot in the AFC West. It's a tough division.

I know last segment I said they might be third or last, but I think they still have a real shot in it. Yeah, it's obviously a really tough division, TJ. We've been talking a lot about the AFC West this off season. They are the best division in football. Rich thinks the Raiders are going to win the division kind of out of nowhere. He's been really pounding that drum. But if you look, and I refer this to you because I know you are reading the comments, the mentions that we get, Broncos fans are fired up and they're very angry about the disrespect that they've been getting this off season by everyone being like, so what if they got Russell Wilson?

They're still fourth in the division. And I kind of am with you. I don't love Russell Wilson. I think, like I said, I think he's super corny. I don't know if I buy that he believes a lot of the things that he's saying. Nobody does is what I'm saying is like, I know that's how our feelings of him on the outside looking in. I think clouds our understanding of how impactful and how good he is as a football player.

And I totally believe you on that. But he is an awesome football player. He is really corny. And he does do really corny stuff on the Internet.

And so it makes it really hard for us. And I'm sure you notice this, too. One thing about Russell Wilson, when I when I've met him a few times, gigantic hands.

Oh, my God. Like absolutely enormous hands for a guy who's five eleven. No, he's not.

He's not that tall. But his hand, I've noticed both you guys have used the word corny about him multiple times in this little back and forth. And I'll just say this. If getting Sierra said I have to be corny, I will like them break out the corn popcorn, corn on the cob, any type of corn that you can think of. Kettle corn, corn, like whatever it takes then. Yeah, then I'll be corny. You know, here's the deal. Right. And it was like maybe this isn't something to say for this show.

This is something a little deeper. But you get guys like I don't want to go down that route. Let's just go this way, because Russ isn't like, I think. I don't even know how I want to say this, right, but there's a way that I think sometimes brothers looked at as far as athleticism go and people in their mind have a way about how a guy should look and a guy should talk. And now you got a guy who doesn't look and doesn't talk the stereotypical way that people think that he should. And then he comes off as corny, which I think is kind of weak. And I'm not calling you guys weak. I'm just saying because he doesn't come off like a hood or something.

No, not that at all. I think it's being authentic. I think being who you are truly and understanding your own voice. And that takes a long time for people to find. That doesn't always happen.

And I think he's at a place now where he's found it and he can go be great and continue to be great. Yeah, I have I have a lot on my mind about that, but that's not this isn't the forum. We'll talk about that.

No, it's good. Like 10 seconds before a heartbreak, like a really weighty subject that I have a lot of nuance and interesting discussion about. Why don't we get into it next? But lines here are going in for rich heartbreak on the rich eyes and show. I heard I heard Hoskins in my ear and I was like, OK, I guess I guess you're right in a way. You're right, TJ.

The corny, I guess, is a lazy word for that. I think for me, for Russell Wilson, my issue with him is just like you don't you don't think Russ is being authentic to himself. I don't think so. Yeah, he just doesn't say anything. So like everyone's like, oh, we got Russell Wilson.

I'm not interested in that interview because it's a lot of like, man, I'm just out here. I'm working hard. I'm doing the best I can. And we're going to get together. We're a team. We're team.

Go Hawks. Yeah. What was the point of that? Like that's what I think. That's what he genuinely is.

I'll never get back. I don't think he's putting on any air acting. I think he's the guy who would talk in those type that type of CEO talk where you don't really say anything, but you have everybody fired up. And ask me. I'm Russell Wilson. Ask me about the upcoming season.

All right, Russ, new team, new situation. You're going to Denver. How excited are you for the new year? So excited for the opportunity.

Got in the gym with the guys. Really looking forward to the season. I love my Hawks nation. Always have a part of me in Seattle. But right now it's all about the Denver Broncos.

And I'm expecting some big things for us this year. That's what he would say in that answer. Right. And you think that he genuinely believes that answer. Yes.

And it's kind of corny and cheesy. And that's okay. Yeah. He's not gonna say, man, we're gonna be fourth in this division.

Our team stinks. He's not gonna say that. Yeah, but nobody's gonna say that. But I mean, just like the whole like rah rah.

They're gonna say the answer I gave and not believe it. But inside be like, oh, we really see. He really is, I think, like that. I think he's like this guy.

And I guess Russell Wilson's been in our life now for over 10 years. And I've had a hard time just connecting with that person just because you're not a real person. You don't seem real to me. That's who he really is.

Right. So it's not this like veneer that you thought it was. It's actually like, he is this person. I think that's what it is.

It's very meta. And just for me personally, it's not a black and white thing. Tom Brady was the same way for 20 years. It was like, Jesus. Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers finding his voice.

He has a robot. Like, I'm not interested. Even though he played for my team. Totally. Aaron Rodgers 10 years ago wouldn't have gotten that tap.

And now he's in this place where he's more in tune with his authentic voice. And so he goes out there and he gets like the Kyrie logo on his arm. It's a really bad tattoo.

I don't know. I thought it was kind of killer. Really?

Yeah. Because it's aggressive. Like it's not like a butterfly or something. It's like, it's aggressive. There's a lot happening. There's a lot happening to break down here. That's why I respect it.

You didn't just get like a love mom and a heart. And some barbecue sauce. And he's just dunking the nugget.

You double dipping. Rich eyes and show coming right back. For the real story behind some of wrestling's biggest moments, it's something to wrestle with Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson too. All-time Hogan opponents. Macho Man's got to be in the conversation. Where's Andre for you? I've always said Andre was number one. Because even going back before Hulk Hogan was a babyface, Hulk and Andre were able to go in and headline at the New Orleans Superdome at Shea Stadium in Japan. Wherever they went, that was an attraction. Something to wrestle with Bruce Prichard. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.