You play that younger brother that almost like annoying. Yeah, wyse ass And then with how Damon was playing his character Dudley do right, you know, like you know, it was a fun movie. It was great. But I leave here.
I'm calling Matt like, bro, you're Dudley, dude, Jules says Dudley.
Welcome to Games with Names. I'm Julian Edelman. They're Jack and Kyler, and we are on a mission to find the greatest game of all time. On today's episode, we are covering the a Rod versus Vera Tech, Yankees versus Red Sox from July two thousand and four, with actor, writer, director, and Oscar Winner and Boston legend Casey Affleck. Some of these guys, they're probably nice guys.
I don't know Pasada, he's probably a lovely dude. But when I see his face, I just think, like, hey, man, I hate you.
We get into talking his new movie The Instigators on Apple TV Plus. Movie shot in Boston, the.
First time I went back to work in Boston. They love you, They're great, and then on day two they're like, get off my freaking street. Wrong, the lights and the noise.
And we also talk about what it's like working with Rob Gronkowski on a film set.
His wingspan is like nine feet. I had to beat him in ping.
Pong though on the set?
Would you beat him?
Are you good at ping pong?
Yeah?
Then we wrap it up by the ranking of the least hated New York athletes. It's been a it's kind of a bashing of a New York legendary team.
A little songing sweet stray Han straight hand.
Drahan is a fucking lovable New York.
It's hard to hate Strahan.
Dude, He's good morning to America. You gotta stick around to the very end. It's a fun episode. Let's Go Games with Names is a production of iHeartRadio. July twenty fourth, two thousand and four, Fenway pot Boston, Massachusetts.
I gotta give it that kind.
Of give whatever you want, Give whatever you want.
That's the reading. Yeah, that was Strong and the Idiots versus the Evil Empire.
Scruffy beards versus frosted tips, A century of bad blood is finally boiling over. This is Verit versus Rod photover Hey man, you got that. It looks like you got this baby. You got gas over here, you got a little two Seamer two seamer right there, Welcome to Games with names, Casey. I appreciate you coming, and we are talking about the A Rod versus Veritech Red Sox versus Yankees July twenty fourth, two thousand and four game. Why'd you pick this game? Well?
Look, I was at the game.
This is game, this is this is mid season. Oh really, this is the mid season fight, which had a lot of implications going into this season. It was like a really turning point game for the.
Right Okay, I was I was thinking a lot about the game. Uh, the last game that they lost the end sort of ended the curse, you know, Game three, then into game four when they first won the Game four was the one that that we were I thought we were going to be talking about.
We did that one with David Ortiz to let's talk about we gotta talk about it.
We can talk about all of it.
I see, I say, I see this game. Yeah, it's been a minute, so I can't remember. I remember this, these beefs and what a what a great year.
Man. But into detail on this game. We'll get into the details.
We've got.
But this like when you picked this game, or we at least that's what I thought you picked. That's what they told me you picked. We started doing research. I'm like, this dude's this dude's a real real because he didn't pick that game that we're talking about in game three. You picked a game that kind of like this was the spark for that to happen. Was the whole you know, last the year before where they lose an A A L C S two seven games tossed. There was a
lot of beef going on. They bring in a rod we lost or the Red Sox lost the bid to getting a rod and the whole captain fight that a rod.
Can you imagine that bizarre world? A rod in Red Sox Jersey doesn't seem right?
Yeah, it doesn't seem right now now, I bet it. I wonder at the time was he would he have been happier there because he didn't like being moved to third I know they like being next to the year.
It didn't sit well with him.
At that's a great point. Yeah, I wonder he would have.
Been the big fish in a little pond here bubbs in Boston. You know when you go out there, there's a there's a certain way at being a Yankee. Yeah, that you have to swallow the ego because Jeter ain't going nowhere, you know, and like there was already you had Jeter, you had Mario, So you're like, you're already. It's kind of like when I came to the Patriots, you had Tom you had Randy Moss, you had Wes Welker. By no means was I even like in that category,
But like, were you gonna who comes in to change that? Yeah? You know, you got there.
And that's a big thing because you have to you have to join the team. You have to find your way into the team. You know, showing up sometimes being the big dog is disruptive. Yeah, the whole team that has to adjust to you. That's harder to do than than you finding your way into the system, which is you know you you know well and you did. Yeah, and a Rod, I mean, the New York Yankees have a system, are known for like a culture, probably more.
Than any any other team. Yeah.
Say, and that goes back to the seventies when being a professional baseball player, they weren't you were in stars. You didn't make a ton of money. Early before they could, they collectively bargain and they became made a lot of money and became big stars. It wasn't like that. A lot of those guys were working in the off season, is like selling used cars. They had jobs in the summer, and they were like on the Yankees. And then, uh, when dude came in bought the Yankees, he changed the
whole culture. And the first thing he said was he was like, look to all the other team owners. He was like, let's let them bargain collectively. Let's let them they make more money, they become stars TV, the value of this broadcast becomes much greater. We all are going to make more money. All ships are going to rise with that tide. So uh, he sort of opened the door to that and then and it started to happen.
But then he told everyone on the team, shave your face, you put on a suit and tie when you travel. Stuff that like in the seventies was unheard of because those dudes were like they looked like.
Me, you know what I mean.
They were going out and partying at night. They're taking this famous stories and them doing drugs during the game.
I mean it was picture doc. Yeah I heard on LSD. Dude, they've had so many have you seen that video? Incredible it's fucking that should be a movie.
It should be I mean him telling the story of it. He was like at home with his girlfriend. Wasn't even going to the park and he had like.
Two girlfriends at that time or or so in LA and.
They're like, bro, get to the field. Yeah, you're pitching amazing.
Now what's life looking like? Now?
Life's pretty good?
Man. I was standing.
I was sitting in my son's room the other day and I was like, he's sixteen, and I was he was like doing his homework or something, and I was like, man, life's pretty good, is it. I don't know why I don't have like those kind of conversations all the time with their kids, you know, but I and it just occurred to me. I was like, life feels really good. And he was like, yeah, life's good.
It was.
It was a nice moment. Yeah, And that's how I've been feeling. It's like, you know, there's there's always stuff you're dealing with, and in this industry is going through a lot of changes, and I'm middle aged and going through changes and stuff. But the last ten years has been hard, you know for me, honestly. And suddenly I was like I woke up one day and I was like, man, this life's pretty good. Either that or I just appreciate it more, you know. Yeah, but things are feeling good.
I get this movie coming out that we got to do back in Boston with Matt Damon and Jack Carlo and a bunch of people and the Instigators.
Instigators. Yeah, we actually got a screen copy.
We watched it nice.
We watched it a couple of days ago, and you really, we really haven't had one of those Boston fun in that departed role with the comedic dark comedic stuff in a while. There hasn't been any of those in a while. And I enjoyed it. You know, anytime you're in a Boston movie. You got Matt Damon there. You know, Gronk makes a freaking show which was fun, which I talked to him about. I had him over the house a couple of days ago. He goes, yeah, I thought they
were gonna use me war. We'll get into that, but hell on, you only pay a man hundred dollars scale, baby scale, baby trunk.
Doesn't need a paycheck.
No, But it was it was a really cool, fun movie and action. You had a lot of cool stars in it. And it was just refreshing to see it because we haven't had a really Boston movie, like a fun Boston movie in a minute, Yeah, thanks dude.
Yeah, it was. It was fun to make, It was fun to like. It was like most people won't remember, but there's a movie called Midnight Run that I loved, and I was like, I want to be in one of those, you know what I mean. But I was pretty sure no one was gonna like send me a great buddy comedy script. That's just not the kind of movies I've done. So I was like, let me sit down and try to try to write one. And the buddy of mine has already done most of a lot of the work, and you know, for we spent like
two years trying to write something funny. Then we get Matt and get all these other people involved and elevate it and it works out. Yeah, it's a good like summer movie.
It really was like you play that younger brother that that almost like annoying, like younger brother like you did it in All the Oceans where you were like kind of the smart, funny like get at your older brother title. Yeah, Wyse ass you play that like great, And then with how Damon was playing his character Dudley do right, you know, like you know, it was fucking It was a fun movie. It was great.
When I leave here, I'm calling Matt Ue like, Bro, you're Dudley. Dude. Juelle says, you're Dudley.
I see Matt once. I used to when I lived in New York. I used to bride my bike over the Manhattan Bridge every morning and I go box at the Gleason's right there and Dumbo. I'm riding there. One day, I see fucking Matt Damon getting out of a car. I'm like, what's up, man. He's like, what's up, dude. I was like, I'll see you. It's just fucking the most random thing ever. I've seen mad a couple of times.
You never had him on the show.
Han't had no, dude, He's kind of boring. Interview Were Oscar winners on here?
Bro?
Bro come on, man, listen.
When people come on to that, all they want to do is ask you questions about the pats.
Yeah, a little bit. But that's the fun part of it. Because our show is I always pitch it to people like it's kind of like letting the listener or viewer talk. How we talk in the locker room with like people that play or people that are fans of that, Like, this is how we talk in the locker room. We're just talking shit, talking about things catching up, So I
mean it becomes conversational always. Like when we had we had O'Neal in here and he's over here putting me in a goddamn jiu jitsu head chop thing.
I'm like, what the fuck could you take him?
Had? I mean, he's an older man now, he's an older man, and I mean, what was it nineteen sixty six? Four Touchdowns, Paul Hi Baby, Paul Kai for Bucket, Barry Wood Children. I used to love that show. Jack Harlow was in it. Yep, you had Jack, Yep, that was fun. How was it Working with was great? Yeah, he was amazing.
I Mean usually when someone is like really talented in one thing, you know, as a performer, they're gonna be able to make that transition, you know. But I think people are still surprised. You know, he showed up and he was just incredibly prepared, really funny. He had a full of ideas of his own. He didn't complain about the paycheck, like Ronk. You know what I'm saying. He just like comes and does his work. You know what I mean, does his job?
Job?
Was Grog always worried about the check in the locker room or what he.
Knew the numbers. He's a math guy. Don't let don't let him fool you. The dude is a math guy.
He was more upset than he hasn't got any roles since.
Yeah, he said he was waiting on the next call. He wants to be in whatever the next.
When you have that sense of entitlement, you know what I mean, Like people don't always want to call you up. I say it now, if Gronk was in the room, I would be talking.
If Gronk was in the room, it just me you'd feel a ball of energy. He's he's like the most genuine dude, like out of anyone I've ever played with. I always describe him as just a big ass golden retriever. Yeah that makes kind of silly beauty, like cool loving. He's just a great dude, so good vibes, great vibes always.
I had to beat him in ping pong though on the set.
Did you beat him? Yeah?
Yeah, really good.
I mean I'd be Gronk wingspan is like nine feet.
He's pretty decent though. He's all right because you can get over back and forth. Yeah, I wouldn't call him one of the best on the team. Oh yeah, we had rankings, really we did. We did. Gronk was dec He used to He uses sand paddles, though we used to use the hardware using No, are you using like a padded paddle.
I transitioned to the the real bouncing ones. You can get more span and stuff. It's hard though, because the balls flying. So I played, you know, forty years playing one way, and then I try to get step up to these better padals.
Those better paddles. Brings it to a whole nother. No, who's really Amndola's really good at ping pong, really spectacular. Like we That's what we used to do for four straight years. We would go to work. By the time we were done with all our ship about six six thirty, we'd go to his house, light a couple joints, play pong and play pong for fucking five straight hours, compete.
Damn. I wish I was on that team.
Yeah, for like until like nine o'clock. It'd be like four hours and then we go home, see them at work next day. It was like like clockwork.
Dude.
I saw that the doc about you. I remember you describing your daily routine not ending with you an hour of yoga, eating clean, all your workouts. I remember you talking about the joints you smoked in there that you play.
That was so that was when Ammondola was there. So on that schedule when I would go home and then I would do a body work and then yo.
Then you clean it up.
I that or i'd leave time when he left because he left. You know, I played played with him for five years. You know, I played eight years without him or six. I'm not a math guy, so I would put video games in a category where it's like my decompression time. So that was like scheduled in so I could I played like Call of Duty, FIFA got into Fortnite Train for a while. You know, for for an athlete, the video game system's awesome because it keeps you out
of trouble. Yeah you know what I mean. You know, I used to you know, go home, get my shit done, and then I just wanted to play something that I didn't have to think that I can communicate with my boys from back home. I mean, we're all in the audience. So that's a form of communication with all your high
school friends. But like everyone now in the league, all the leagues, they all play video games because you can't really if you want to stick around for a while, you can't be out in the streets, you know what I mean.
So those games, they have a bad reputation, but they're good for the mind and body to shut down and have some fun.
Sometimes if you're playing a sweaty ass, a little fucking twelve year old, this kid is stimulating your mom, getting pissed off, throwing controllers, Like, I don't know you were in a headset, headset full headset, man, I don't know about that. Who do you play ping pong against that you like in your little circles?
Anyone? I mean, any movie. I'm on, we got a tournament. I'll start a tournament on instigators.
I won. The whole thing.
Was like, it's you know, the whole crew, the whole cast, everyone, and I took them all down. I've done that in several movies.
I used several movies, folks, several movies. Tournament champ keep number one.
My son can beat me now sometimes, which is sometimes makes me proud. Sometimes I just have to like go over there and ground by the neck and put him on the ground, beat his ass a little bit afterwards. There's not a lot of people. Well they can beat me man in my in my circle. But I can see you. I see the wheels turning, and you're wondering for what take me?
Well, you just said there when your sun beach. It was a mix of kind of otion. I remember when I first beat my dad in like one on one basketball or like a race, like my dad used to make me randomly race them. I got, We'd be hitting ground balls. All right, let's go. I'm like, what are you talking about. He's like, get on the line. I want to see how fast you are. And until I was like thirteen, or until I was like fifteen, I couldn't beat my dad. And I remember I beat him
for the first time. You know, it was one of those things where it's a humbling thing for a man. Yeah, I could see it in his eyes. Yeah yeah, But he's he stayed with you.
You got he helps you train a lot, like right through the pros and everything.
Man, I would go home. So he trained me a lot in high school and before high school, like every day of my life, like baseball, basketball, football. Then I would go I went to college, and then I would come back home and he'd always, since we weren't together as much, he would sit up and think about these crazy ass fucking drills for me to do when I
would come home. Yes, so he'd have like the soccer goal post because I was a short quarterback and I had to throw, and he'd make me drop and do my throws over that post and I'd have to get that ball up and over it. He'd be sitting there and he'd line up all these like these pads at like your twenty yard out, your ten yard out, your five yard out, your skinny post, your deep post, your slant route, and he would tape PVC pipe and put a bucket on it, and he'd make me go through
the whole tree. And he would sit there with a fucking broom trying to hit my ball. So I would you know, like, you know, he was just this guy was.
At Were you indulging him or did you like it both? Yeah?
I mean we used to butt heads, but you know I needed that stimulation. I'm an add type guy kid at that time, and so like he knew that, and he knew what buttons to push, and he knew when to take it to the next line to like piss me off, and I would get pissed off, and he knew that I got better when I got pissed off. So there was like a lot of like Jedi mind trick shit going with my dad.
Did you go through years where you resented him like that you felt like too much pressure for him?
No, because I left, you know, when I went to college, I didn't get it as much. And I saw once I left my dad and he wasn't around, I was doing the things that he was teaching me by myself. Now, Like I would do those dumb drills where I would set things up and I wouldn't leave until I hit them all, you know, because that's where you gain your
confidences through your preparation. And I learned that through him, you know, and and anywhere I got to at a next level, the baddest dudes, the best guys, were the guys that were always the prepared guys doing the little extras and stuff. And so I always tried to incorporate all that stuff, and I became kind of like him. You know, I was notoriously known for like my ball drills in the morning at New England. I'd get there, you know, five point thirty, hit the tubs, six o'clock
in the morning. I'd hit up when you know, it used to be double J's and it became Jimmy Neutron. Then it became Bobby balls. Our equipment staff guys, and I'd have like a little combine for them to see who could throw, and I'd have them and I adopt them, and we'd go and do like five hundred balls tennis ball drills before the day started. Just yeah, just so you can get your eyes dilated and have a good work day.
Wow, did you know At what point were you like, I'm gonna make the pros.
I didn't. It wasn't until I housed a punt in in Philadelphia and leaking Financial Field my preseason, my first preseason game. Is that's when I felt like I could play with the pros. Now. I was always the guy. I was always a very confident guy. I always felt like I was the best guy in the field anywhere I played, to the point of until I got to the NFL. It wasn't until that time, because I played a different position, there's always another guy that was supposed
to be the guy. They never really talked about me. There's talked about my deficiencies. So I was always kind of that guy. M So sometimes I don't know if you believe it, but you're so trapped in trying to prove people wrong that you're not thinking about I wasn't thinking about that. I was just trying to I'm fucking better than this guy. You know. I was dealt with with what was on my plate at that time, you know.
I mean the way that people to think of you, like your story is sort of at least for young people, like I coached my kids in football and soccer and stuff and was like the guy who never was on the fast track. People weren't going like, yeah, you're the you're definitely gonna make it, you're the superstar, You're gonna
be the thing. But you persevered and you kept going and you kept going, And those are the most important stories for those kids, you know for sure, because a lot of them are like they don't feel that way, you know, they don't feel like he's always going to be some kid you get in some tournament, even if you're the best in your league, you end up some tournament Vegas and just get destroyed by the kids from Arizona or whatever.
You know.
So there's always those moments where you feel like, oh, damn, there's a lot of people better than I am, and if they don't have someone to point to and think of as like that guy who ended up being that superstar, he also was that way too as a kid, you know, then you lose hope. So you were always someone that like the kids thought of. It was like, I don't be like that, dude, you know.
I appreciate that. Yeah, when did you feel like you? Never? Never?
I never felt like I was never treated like, oh, this kid's gonna be success. Anytime I was in a room with people that were very successful, the attitude was kind of like, what's he doing here?
You know what I mean?
Like, hey kid, you know you must be happy to be in this room, you know.
And I felt that, Yeah, I keep going yeah.
And I And it was It wasn't always. It didn't always make me think, yeah, man, I am here, Like didn't fill me with pride and confidence. A lot of time it would knock you down a bit and make you go like, man.
I'm not.
I'm really like they must there must be something about me that says I don't really belong in the upper tier of people. And wherever my field is, you're you know, sometimes I show up like I did Ocean's eleven, you know what I mean, like all these big stars in it. And there was a big dinner the night before we were gonna start, and one of the producers said, you know, I hadn't even met him yet, you know what I mean, like movie, and he was like, nice to meet you.
You're very lucky to be here, and I was like, damn. I was just starting to feel like okay, like I can compete, I can play with these guys or whatever, you know, But forever there was someone there to remind me, like, you weren't really destined to be this at this level, you know what I mean. And I started to enjoy that because I would think, like, Okay, you think I'm lucky to be here. I know it's it has a lot to do with my own like grit. You know.
I didn't take no for an answer. I kept going it wasn't handed to me and I wasn't born with the like face or the this or the that that says this guy's a movie star. So I would start to reframe that sort of semi rejection as a compliment, you know, of like what I've been able to achieve.
And so even when I was like nominated for like an Academy award or win one, it was still like people would say, like the outsider, you know what I mean, Like they would call me certain things, is like the long shot, the this and the that, and I'd be like, okay, good, I'm a long shot. Okay, I'll take it, you know what I mean, I'll take it. Yeah, So I started to enjoy it, but it's still that way.
You know. Do you think that that thought of what you feel that people or those experiences that you've had has made you the way you are now? Is that why you've attained your success? Because that's the same shit I felt where, you know, like I you'd have the guy like when you said you're at oceans and people are, oh,
you're lucky to be here. I remember going on a recruiting trip and they brought in all like the studs of our high school, and they like pretty much went to everyone else and they didn't go to you, and the like that's what fucking fueled me, you know, or or the motivation of you know, you're not supposed to be here, or you're happy to be here, but you made it. It's kind of like, you know when someone says, oh, how tall you are? How tall are you? You know?
Five ten five nine five ten, it's pretty pretty cool, huh. Get the battle against those six foot six dudes and still dominated. You know, it's the same kind of shit.
It's crazy, but dude, you you managed to be that and still have the attitude like you were a spark on that team. You were really fun to watch man for people. I was talking to my dad on the way over here. I was like, yeah, I when I go over and talk to the Chiels, and he was excited, and I was like, I was like, man, this is eighty eighty four and my my son fifteen. Like that's a big range for a fan base. Man, Like you have people who loved to watch you because you I
think I get loved playing and like you. Sometimes you be miked up. I don't know why they miked you up so much, but you were miked up a lot, you know, and you could hear like the way he talked to the to the other people, to the you know, the other players on both teams, and it was like a dude loves being out there, loves playing the game, and it made it so much fun fun to watch a time, like the Pats are always fun for me to watch, But there were some years in there where
it was like it's a slot. Even when you're winning, it's a slog. It felt like we're on a mart Like if we don't win, then it's a disappointment. But when people hate us, you know, it was always like, yeah, we're gonna remind not like it was like there a few tense years in there, and but you were fun and you made it fun. So not only did you persevere and be like have to prove yourself, but you seem to like carry some joy for the game.
I appreciate that. You know that that means a lot because I did love the game. I still do love the game. You know, it ultimately brought me everything that I've had in my life. But I do have other interests. Do you love acting?
I love acting. I don't always love the business of movies.
You know, no one loves the business of what they're passionate but that's what makes it the work. You know, if you didn't have like I hate you think I hated fucking negotiating with Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft for these dog shit fucking contracts, you know, and being owned up for all the but you still love the game.
You weren't doing that negotiating.
When you get older, you get older, you start, I mean, you learn the ways you.
Would get into it with them and the knocking the door and be like, yay man, I need to know zero on that.
Well. Bill used to corner you so like if there was some you know, if you're if you were talking, if your agent and the GM Cassario or whoever's handling would there's like a stalemate of where we were at a Jels, just come over here for a second. You know, we talked to you in the cafeteria, sit you down. And he did that to me a few times in my career when I was young. I'd be like, coach, you know, I'd play the dumb card. I don't know
what you're talking because he's a smart motherfucker. He trapped you into something, you know what I mean. I'd like, I let my agent do that. Coach you know, I'm just worried about football. You know, by the end, I'm going up to Cassario saying, hey, I need five hundred grand more from these incentives because this motherfucker's getting pay that, so you better put that in there. You know. It
was different, But yeah, I understand. You know, you have a love, but it's all the outside ship that makes things work. Yeah, it's not working. I played football for free if it wasn't for all that bullshit. You miss it, I do. I just I start to miss it more. The better my body feels. Are you healing, I'm pretty much.
I mean I'm as healed as i'll be. I have a lot of deficiencies through you know, twelve surgeries and all everything that I've had throughout my career, and you you know, you feel stuff here and there, but I'm not in like crazy pain. But the year after I retired, like the year I retired, I mean, I had a tear in by the root of my meniscus and like I was thirty four turning thirty five, and they asked me, you know, like do you want to get this thing done?
It's a twelve month microfracture surgery, and like thirty four, I got three Super Bowls. You know, I was like, fuck it, I'm gonna play the year and we'll just rehabit and I'll see how I can do it, you know what I mean. There's gonna be some pain. You could just deal with it, go out and play that year. And it was like such a grind to get to the game, you know, Like, and I'm a practice player. I gained confidence through the practice execution. Practice execution becomes
game reality. So like that's where the shit talking, that's where your confidence comes because you've seen it in your head already. You've done it. You've seen the bad looks the good looks. And I couldn't practice hard anymore. I'd get two reps of practice and then I'd go to the water tanks and I'd condition in the water, and it just became such a grind that I ripped up my ribs and that first year out it was like
I hate football. You know. It just became because there's a there's a standard that you you've earned through your consistent play through the years, and when the time you start seeing that you're not that guy on the film and you're in pain, it's just it's it's a it's a hard thing to do. It's a very humbling thing to do to go through. And every guy goes through it in our in our business, you know, we're we're the wheels aren't going as fast as they used to go.
Father time catches up, and it's just one of those things. It was tough the first year. Second year, I'm starting to feel better. Things are healing up, you know. And now I'm going into year three, year four, and now, like you know, I'm out playing soccer lily in the backyard, kicking stuff, doing a little footdrills, like I think I could do this right now, you know what I mean? But you always miss it.
I'd imagine that even if you you ran your career out and you were healthy, you ended, you know, you went out just when you wanted to how you wanted to, that you would still crave that, like the competition, you know, just organized sports. I mean I played through high school and I still when I turned like thirty, I was like, man, I really miss organized sports. Just going out with dudes playing competing. I miss it. You know, I don't know what what do you do like for that?
Do you now? I compete with myself. I'm learning new stuff. And you get a lot of that competition through your kids. You see when they're learning new things. They're doing soccer, they're doing tennis. You know, I get to see it and watch them with their coach and you see their progression on something they've been working on for a long time. Like, I feel like that's the most excitement I get now. And it doesn't even have to be in sport. It could be in reading, it could be mad like that
is the new competition. And then I've picked up boxing. I started that a couple of years ago, and really thinking when you're tired and and and learning something that I've never I've never done in my life, you know, see how that progression's gone. That that's where I get some competition out. I started golfing a little bit, you know, it's like everyone does that, right.
So you you're friends with Wohlburg a little bit.
How has he in the ring? I haven't fought him yet yet. Yeah, I'll take him. I mean I might have to take him down. I'm thirty eight. He probably like, I don't know, you guys all look young, all you Hollywood folks. Man. I read there you're you're forty eight. I thought you were like thirty two or something.
Yeah, Wolburg's fifty three. You could take him, bro, He's.
On a one hundred thousand supplements and he gets out.
Three in the morning, praying for an hour, fighting for an hour.
Wahlberg would be a tough one. He's a good golfer, is he He's a really good golfer. He's a good dude, he is. He's He was actually one of the first dudes out of the Boston like acting community or whatever.
He popped.
Huh, he popped.
He popped off early like that in high school.
But he also when I was a nobody in New England, he invited me to his house once out and here in LA because he heard I was out here. And he was just a cool dude that like kind of was like, yeah, he let me hang around and and kind of gave me some words of advice before you started. Before I was yeah, I was like a special teamer still, oh nice, So he was. He was pretty cool. He you know, invite me to stuff and he just a
cool lass dude. Me fucking now, it's a crazy story that So I roll up to I go and get this acting coach out here, this acting coach Lee, and I roll up there one day. I'm sitting there and she's like going to her back a little like EIGHTYU And I'm sitting out there and she goes, oh, can you wait up one second, I have one of my clients. I'm like sure, Yeah, this is the first time I ever met with her. I'm like, I'm nervous as fuck. She gave me some homework. I'm thinking about lines and stuff.
Now I got to put weight. Now, I'm thinking like, maybe she's doing this on purpose, maybe she doesn't have anyone there. Gave it me a little bit roll op in there. It's fucking casey, Like what the fuck? And so we kicked it off for a little while. We talked for a little while, and then the next day after our session, she gave me more homework and she
gave me a fucking scene from Manchester by the Sea. Yeah, the one at the boat dock when you're with your nephew and he's like busting your balls about keeping the boat and I was, I was doing that, And the next day I went, like the week after I walked in, I was fucking nervous as fuck that. I thought she was gonna make me run lines with you or something like he's crazy, what is she thinking? And it's just it was fun. That's when we really first got to meet dude. My side of that story.
I was sitting there with her and I'm like, she's like, well, I gotta wrap it up. I get someone coming in. I was like, who are you coming in?
Oh?
I was grilling and she's like, oh, just someone a new client. Didn't want to say, protecting your privacy. And I was like, I'm not leaving me. Who's coming in? And she told me and I was like, now I'm really not leaving. I'm staying here till dude gets here. And I waited and then you came in. I took like half your time. I was like pappering you with questions. I was like, I'm not leaving at my time with my man here right now, I got a lot on my mind. So we stayed there and then I went
back like whatever. It was a few weeks later and I was like, I want you to schedule me before Jewels. Whenever Jewels is coming in, I want to be there before. So I got some more things I want to ask him she was like, no, I can't do that, dude, professional.
She's she's the best. She's such a she. She's taught me a lot. And I only worked with her a little time because at that time that's when I landed the job with Fox and so then or no with Tea with Inside the NFL, and so I put that on hold because I was starting to get nervous for like talking in front of the camera and all that stuff.
So I didn't get to see her. I haven't seen her as much as late, but you know, she's she's a cool teacher that takes a lot of the time to learn you and then learned your motivation, what motivates you, and and and she was able to explain things like I always remember, acting is not about right or wrong, it's about belief or not poly or something. She would say, right, do you do you believe her? You do not believe you know. And she's just an interesting lady that I
enjoyed every bit with. And I got to get back to her.
Yeah, sure, she's very smart. She's good with that. Like I didn't go to I didn't go to theater school or I didn't go to drama. You know, I never did any of that. I never had an act to coach. And then I and then I went to her one time just because I had something to do that was like too much lines. I'm getting old. I'm like, I just got to sit with somebody and run him. And
I met her and she had great advice. She's really really good and everyone, like I know a lot of other people I've worked with her and there she makes them better.
Yeah, she's good.
You would be a good actor, dure. He's still interested in doing that or you just want to do it for like when you gotta do commercial.
No, I would be interested. I just have an insecurity of being the person on set that doesn't know the line, Like it's like not knowing how.
Any insecurities at all.
I don't know, Like that's the only thing I get nervous about is that kind of stuff. But I would. I'm definitely interested in getting it. He gronk, he's funny. We did a We did a we did a parody of fucking Goodwill hunting for the schedule or release party, Gronk, wash your brother. I was Matt and Ernie Adams was fucking h Williams. Huh. So it was it was a fun thing. And Rob was like, I get so excited when I have to do lines. I sit there and I just like practice them for six or seven days
by myself. I love remembering, Like that's that's Rob, you know. Let's get back to the instigators. So movie shot in Boston takes place in Boston, a lot of north shore or south shore all around, because it was Quincy and stuff. It's beach. Yeah. What's it like shooting a movie when you go back home? Is it? Is it a hassle because of people that you know? Or do you like doing it? Because I remember when I go play games in like the Bay Area or in California, I gotta
get forty tickets. I gotta deal with you know, yeah, you're really you're here for work. You're here for a job. Now, how do you handle that when you have to go back and shoot something in you know, upper Northeast.
Well, in this case, you know, more people want to go see Matt. So I'm like, you know, talk to Matt. I'm sure he'll get you, gets you on set, you know what I mean. They're like really, I'm like, yeah, go ask him, man, look you up. But I think that like the first time I went back to work
in Boston. You know, they love you, They're great, They're like, they want you there, they want you shooting, and then on day two they're like, get off my fucking street, bro, the lights and the noise, and then you have to endure the next fifty days of them like poking holes and your tire and you know, they don't want the trucks there, they don't want the shit, so they're not they You know, a lot of movies go to Boston, and Massachusetts has been really good for the industry, and
we've been good for the city, but like the people there understandably get sick of having movies coming and going constantly in their neighborhood. I love going there because I would rather live in Boston than be living out here. So I get to go spend a few months there and it's not like going to Budapest or Pittsburgh, like someplace that's different, you know, where you don't know anyone, and you get to be home. Everything's familiar. So I love it. And when I come up with projects, I'm
always like, we can do this in Boston. I think you said yeah, So I love doing it. But on the other hand, like a lot of people I knew. I've been gone for over thirty years, man, so a lot of people I know are gone. It's not like I don't have to not forty people knocking on my door. You know, it's just a few. And but I love I love doing it.
And do you have a house there?
No, you stay at a hotel, staying at my mom's one time, yeah, and uh did or you just get an apartment or whatever.
Yeah.
But it's nice that you get to go see games, like all the teams you want to see, you're there, you get to go. I used to work at Fenway, so like going home, I always go back there. It's like a core memory those years of every home game working at Filway Park. It's like my like eighth grade into high school. It's like, so that's the first stop. And then then you make the rounds and see all your favorite places.
And with food spots, any food spots, ship Man.
Food spots have changed, as you know, the city changed so the last like especially the last ten years, it's like everything's different. A lot of those restaurants gone, just the old places you go. You know, Leo's Sandwich Shops is gone, you know, and like, but I'll go, uh, I hit my Indian spot, Maharajah. That's the best Indian in the country.
Let's go.
Baby.
Santuca has good rumin over there Newberry. I think that's what it's like, fifteen years old on Newbury Street. Yeah, off a Newberry one.
That's where all the fancy people hanging. That's for you roll around.
I mean, I'm going to Southe. I go to Reno's in East Boston for some good lobster ravioli. You go there, there's really good. Who least goes in East Boston. My favorite Mexican that's been there for a while. Leone's over in Summerville for some fucking sheet pizza. Oh yeah, I used to like going there. Pinocchio's and Cambridge, right.
Yeah, that's where dude dreamed up Facebook, you know, Yeah, that's right.
One of my favorite things about The Instigators is the areas of Boston that we're shotting, because usually, like Boston movies, it's like so North End or all these but like you even Sparler but chasing like in.
His alley in Back Bay.
Yeah, and how you like utilize certain parts that are just generally not seen in Boston movies before it was cool.
Oh nice, Yeah you had the police. Is that where you were at? I live in the back Bay. I lived over there for eight years. I lived in Foxboro. My first six lived in Foxboro, Foxborough, Plainville, Rentham.
Those are the towns that we would play in high school but otherwise never go to.
Yeah.
I just didn't know anyone out there for no reason.
Yeah sticks, I mean there's some good food. The Plainville Deli was always good. It was a little Italian deli. I'll still go back and check that.
Are you support when you joined the team? You supposed those up like a rider passage. You gotta go live out.
At the no, But you're not going to live in the city when you're trying to make a team. I mean I had roommates until like my fourth fifth year. Like I mean, no furniture is like mercenary life. Pizza boxes as your fucking Shanevreen used to order Domino's. We would just stacked the boxes, use it as like a side table and shit, you know what I mean.
Like, dudes, think of anyone who's in the pros and any sport as having made it the rich. They loaded, especially now when everyone shows up they do they like dressed to the nines, showing up at the park or whatever. But like that's not the case.
No, you know, you know, I would say sixty percent of the team is you know, making a league minimum, which is great money. But you got to think about it. At that time, it was like three eighty five, three ninety. You know, you don't even know if you're gonna make the team. You got to make the team to make that three ninety, or if you're on practice squad, it's a hundred racks. You know, you're getting one hundred grands, so you know, there's a lot of moving parts. You know,
you could be on another team. You know, you can get traded. It wasn't until I felt like I had an established foundation of equity with you know, the team in the area that that's when I went to Boston, right, you know, And it must have felt good. It felt really good. And I enjoyed going home. I remember my first four years like I was literally in the backyard of the stadium, like you just it was a fucking grind,
you know. I enjoyed the twenty five thirty minute drive in the morning, reverse commute so you didn't have bad traffic. You know. I enjoyed that. It'd wake me up. It helped me get ready for the day, start the day right, and I could handle like my personal life on the drive back. Yeah, you know, on the phone, because that's the only time you catch me is if you know on the phone, I'm in my car or on my arm chilling.
You worked hard, man, You were focused.
Very focused. I mean I had to. It wasn't good enough not to be.
Yeah, you were good enough.
So guys I could just slap it out there.
That's not really true.
Well they don't stick around long, but there's guys that can fuck around, have one, two, three good years. You don't have a real yeah, and then things catch up, injuries happen. You know. It's a lot of prevention type stuff that you gotta you gotta take your body's your temple, bro. Yeah, and that that thing, especially nowadays with all the technology, the information.
I wrote a movie once about these two back to the Yanks, these two Yankees in the seventies who I don't know if you ever heard this story, true story. They traded wives, yes.
Yes, yes, yeah, yeah, wife swap.
Not only a wife swap a family house, category dogs. Every they traded lives in the middle of the season. They went out like it was like Swingers style, like seventies. They were like, hey, let's like trade you know, one night, like let's swap couples or and then it kind of stuck. They stayed with it, and then they kind of one couple really fell in love and the other couple was sort of into it, but it didn't work as a relationship. But then this is this was when journalists didn't talk
about the private lives and athletes. That was taboo. You didn't do it, you know what I mean. And the journalists traveled with the team, so they all knew them, and they all knew they were around the party, and they knew all the stories Mickey Mantle, wild stories, but they never reported on it, and so what happened was interesting story. They this was going on for a while. They were like living in each other's houses, taking care of the other person's kids, the whole thing. And the
Yankees weren't doing so well. The Mets that year were playing great, and one of the it was like the daily news, someone decided they pulled their person that usually covered the Yankees from the locker room and they went to travel with the Mets and someone else got cycled in and it was a woman. And the Yankees said, we're not going to have a woman covering the team in the locker room. It was like just straight up sexism,
and they blocked her. And she heard about this story because everybody knew about it, and she was like, okay, like, I'm not going to be allowed to cover the team. I'm a woman, I'm gonna how about I just write this story, wrote the story of this, of this what was happening, and I'm simplifying it all and this then the story broke, so now everyone is and now all the other journalists feel like they have to cover this story too because they got scooped, and they're like, this
is kind of a weird story. I guess we better write about it, even though everyone knew, like you're not supposed to talk about the private lives of athletes. And then and then it became a national story. Johnny Carson's telling jokes about it every night, you know what I mean, Like, yes, the Yankees better cancel family Day that kind of stuff, you know what I mean. And they're like and then it sort of became like a lot of pressure on these guys, and they one of the couples broke up,
and the other couple stayed together. They stayed married, had their own kids, stayed married all the way until the end, until that player passed away a few years ago. But in the researching that story to write it into a movie that I learned I talked to all these journalists and who were at the time covering the Yanks, and I learned that, like what their lives were like, and even for the best players, it was not They weren't rolling high, you know, they were like trying to make
ends meet. Even guys that weren't out there partying through stuff, they were still just trying to like pay their mortgage, you know what I mean, even when they're performing really at the highest level. So it's only till just like the eighties, when athletes start catting. I don't know if it's the same for football, but definitely in baseball it wasn't. It was just still kind of recently that people started becoming you know, millionaires and stuff.
What do you got, jack, Yeah, crazy? The daily News never misses a chance to throw a little like pot shot in the headline here. So from that story back in the seventies, two yank pitchers trade wives Peterson and kekch hurl changeups.
They never miss a chance for a bad joke thinking about the wife swapping. Fucking Chappelle show.
The Black Cup for the White gul Oh my god.
We'll be right back after this quick break. Let's go back in a time. So this is a segment where we go back around the time of the game when it was played, and we talked about a little bit of pop culture. This was July twenty fourth, two thousand and four. Number one movie I Robot. You ever see that? No, it's Will Smith right Apocalypse one? Oh? Is it?
It's like a robot legaristic?
Is that I am legend?
Legends him is apocalyptic robot?
Is Maybe this Bridget?
Yeah? This is Bridget?
Oh this Bridget's bridge one in Robot.
Okay, Okay, Tom Brady, there we go.
Number one song, Leave get out right? Huh?
Too cool to come on the pod?
Too cool to come on the fucking pod. Who wouldn't come on, Tom fucking Brady TV? Wouldn't show up? I mean not yet, man, not yet.
We've been left at the Oh my god, it left at the.
Altered it was worth six. I don't know.
I guess he's so busy with everything, being in the world's number one Bachelor of the World. Great team dads. Fucking you know you're getting ready for TV.
This that time for a roast yeast?
I heard that paycheck. I I'd make time.
For that too.
Oh number one song Jojo Leave. You remember that song? Boston Girl, Foxborough.
High Leave, Get up, right up.
I was trying to make sure we get we cleared the rights.
Motorola razor, release the phone. Do you have a razor? No? I had. I think I was like a junior in high school. Right here the razor. I had a black razor flip phone. I thought it was sick. Shake Shack opened its first location. Burger Fan, big deal fan.
Are you vegan right, I've been a vegan for twenty eight years.
How you liking it?
I'm good at it?
Yeah all right?
Yeah, you feel better to put a little bit of meat on me. It's hard to put on muscle, but but you stay lean and stay healthy. The idea, Yeah, come on over, man, come on over.
I when I would play I would do like vegan three days I do like three days where I wouldn't eat meat or i'd have Yeah, what was the idea there? When I was trying to lean up for like a photo shoot or something, wud be like men's health or something, I thought, yeah, you know, try to get try to get yoked. Oh she's twelves drops in December.
Yep, I never saw it.
You never saw I heard. So you don't like watching your movies.
I don't love watching my movies, and those I didn't even really like. I shouldn't say that I didn't like those movies.
I didn't like this.
It's just not my kind of thing.
Yeah.
Have you never watched good one thing?
I saw a good one thing? Yeah, just because.
Why do you?
Why? What was that?
I took some notes time, like watching film.
You know, when you're the MVP.
In the super Bowl, Dude, it's like I hate that over and over You're like, hey, I look at that catch. I'm watching him, like, you know, a lot of other people have manipulated what you've done, and also you just have to live with what you've done. I don't know, it's like here, you're done your voice on the answering machine or something.
I just don't like it. I don't like watching like rewatching our shit, even though I do it with the coach sometimes just to kind of see where I can get.
Back to watch these.
I don't watch these, but like my TV stuff, I don't like watching these at all.
But yeah, can they give you media training for this? Teach you what you can say you can't say for this?
Yeah? No, this is just we own this. This is where we produce this, right right.
And we also just cut the stuff.
Yea. My Space was a social media platform. You remembers, did you have my Space? Didn't You didn't jump on my Space? So you're a little older.
See what was happening in two thousand and four is I was having a kid, so I wasn't paying attention.
To Are you stressed my desks? Yeah?
I was like what is? I was a young dude. I had a pregnant girlfriend and I was gonna have a baby. It was the best year of my life. It turned changed everything for the better. But I wasn't getting the new Razor or watching Jojo or starting my MySpace you know, fan base.
And you could have had so many cool pictures of your new baby on MySpace.
Oh my god, moving around that top eight.
I was a junior in high school growing up in Silicon Valley, so like all those things were at the heat. Yeah, bet of everything Facebook, it was crazy. You mister popular in school. No, I wasn't mister popular.
You're the QB. You're a good looking dude.
Yeah, but I was like an undersized kid still. I wouldn't hit puberty until I was like eighteen. I was like five to two until like my senior year.
And you were still five.
I was five. I was five to two. I was like five to five my junior year. I was like, I sprout up to like five eight my senior year. I started playing quarterback my sophomore year. I was late.
You made up for the late in life.
Let's go into the sports world of two thousand and four. The College Football National Championship LSU. Is that a save in LSU? Uh?
Yes, I belie if that was the one saving one for the Tigers.
College football guy. No, No, I'm Boston. See that. It goes to our town, that goes to our ship. We always talk about always. I grew up in the Bay which is very similar to Boston, where we're a pro sport area.
Yeah, but when you have great pro sports teams, it takes a lot of the energy.
Yeah, Super Bowl Champions, New England Patriots. So you guys got to be starting to feel some juices in Boston. Oh hell yeah at this point, you know, socks are knocking at the door. Patriots got a couple. Where does that bring us in the hierarchy of of Boston sport fan? For you, in the sports baseball, basketball, football.
I grew up baseball, Baseball is number one. My dad was a huge football you know. It's where he probably made more money betting on football than he did working at the.
Bar as far as hell.
Yeah, so he was. It was always football for this guyst.
I.
When I was a kid, I skated hockey. I skated with Bobby or one time. So I so, but I I lost interest in it and too small, got beat too many times, I get and I didn't like it. Like baseball better. So that's that's our rank.
And basketball was last. Was like, yeah, that was I gonna do? Soxtown guy. I mean, I.
Loved Celtics, but I didn't I couldn't play.
Yeah, I get it.
What did you play in high school?
Baseball? Baseball? Okay, play some baseball.
Let's go baby, Yeah, let's go baby.
Stores baseball team in the state.
The only way I made varsity.
Would you play with position?
I played shortstop?
Oh, let's go.
I still and I came When I missed it, I was saying, I missed playing so much. I came out here and I started a baseball team. We played the LA Park and Rec League Heart Pitch, and then we play yeah yeah, And then we played in the Wood Bat League Beverly Hills Wood bad League twenty fourteen City Champs.
Let's go down.
So I kept playing, and then until just a couple of years ago when I had sergeion elbow.
You gotta hit the soft pitch, slow, slow pitch softball. Now, dogs, they're fun. I used to be a ringer with my dad. I used to go play on his team because I went to junior college for years, so I was still at home. Yeah, he'd hit me up on Wednesday nights, like, hey, let's go yeah, we need you.
Up.
Hit bombs now.
Wait two thousand and four, though, can we just talk for a minute about the about Game three. I was at Game three in New York. Matt and I actually we were there. We're sitting on third baseline, only people in Yankee Stadium. This is two thousand and four. Uh, we are down that game. We lost that game, so we're down three, right, Am I getting it right?
Yeah?
And a rod is there a third? And I don't think I've ever had this happen. I've been through a million baseball games and been loud, and I've never had
the players acknowledge me. And dude, we're there the only people I think wearing Red Sox hat balls and move in Yankee Stadium and I'm being loud, and eventually Era looks over right at us, just stares it, gives a look of like like it's just a mosquito that's been in his ear all night, you know what I mean, Like hate, you know, just annoyance, hate and and uh and then he goes back to the game. It's one of my proudest moments as a fan. As a fan. And then when we lose that game, that's the last
game of the curse. I like to think that we broke the curse. Then it's the first game in Boston, right, which is Game four, That game which I said, I guess Big Poppy on to talk about or whatever but I I have I know a lot of people talk about it, but when I was thinking about that game, I was like, the most interesting thing about that game is how and he wouldn't say this probably is that
unremarkable it actually was. It was like, no, it was no historically good performance on the mound or at the plate. It was like their guys are slumping Avertech was kind of everyone's they'd kind of slumping. Who is it? Second he had a few like yeah.
It.
No, it wasn't.
It wasn't.
It was a couple of like infield errors. It was like not a great game that It was like, it wasn't a shutout, it wasn't a blow. It's just that they went back and forth like they had the lead, We had the lead.
They had the lead with the extras too, I think a little bit.
And then and then in the ninth inning they bring in a bear and the only unusual thing that happens, other than it being like we're on the brink of falling apart of losing the season, is that he walks the lead off at and then it was like that never happened. And then things started to turn, and then it was ste and then we then we tied it up and then it went over. But it only went like a few innings.
Mark Behorn, Mark Beorn.
Bell Horn and Bariteck were both slumping, and then bell An a couple of errors. Good dude, good player, bad game, whatever, and then and so it was kind of like a nothing game. It's only in the context of the one hundred year picture of what was happening. Then it becomes a great game because you know, pig Poppy hits it out doing the game that was. But he's doing that that's even not even that uncommon, you know what I mean, Like how many times did he had to walk off?
So Ortiz gets to walk off as a big celebration and they stay alive. But it only becomes an important game because it was the first game that starts the next seven where they just fucking goo, they just run it. So that's why I love that game, just like every day baseball in a weird way, and it's just a big picture story of it that makes it awesome.
In another one of those games, Yank Classic Yankees Red Sox takes about four hours.
It's a war of attrition.
No one leaves. Stadium is still packed, but you're right. Then there are those moments where it like switches and becomes his story.
Who was it Derek Low? Where'd it say?
Is it Derek Low? Would have been in Game four? The one we came back was that was Derek Low.
Yep, Derek who was not like was not being given for some reason. I feel like he had something to prove. Oh yeah, well was it was he dropped or something? He was like pissing, but he was.
I mean, he was absolutely insane that postseason run.
Let me see what it was.
But he only threw a few He gave up a few runs. He only threw like four or five innings. I don't know if you have the stats, but it was all kind of like, man, like, where's this going?
Did you go any more games? After you went to the Game three? He didn't see the rest.
I didn't see the rest. That was the only one I could get to. And and I had a brand new bait. My son was born May thirty first, two thousand and four, so I had a I remember, We're in this tiny apartment in New York when they won. I'm watching on TV. Kid is sleeping. My wife, doesn't my girlfriend care about baseball? She's it's one room bed, TV kitchen. I'm like silently like she's like, what is happening?
Shut up?
You know the sleeping. I was like losing my mind.
Who's your first call? Your dad? I think you got it. I don't know.
Maybe it was my brother. I don't know where he was. It might have been a dude. I worked at Fenway with this guy. We worked like every loom. It wasn't even a very good friend of mine at the time, but I he was the kid I watched a hundred million games with, you know, losing, always losing. Oakland A's coming in. Only home runs we ever caught when I was there was the other team. They'd come over the Monster to go like get the ball. It's never our club, you know what I mean?
Would you ever take? Would you do it?
Fenway?
Just so sausages and hot dogs?
You have a good like sausage it get your sausage hit?
Oh yeah, yeah, I was out there.
I was so young.
You know, when you were young.
You don't know how young you.
Look if you're in eighth grade. I also I didn't hit you.
Eighth grade grade were down those stairs the worst.
I'm behind the Green Monster in a in a sausage stand outside on Land on the streets.
Oh so you're one of the street sausages guys.
And I'm there so f when I get out of school, I gotta go over to the park set up to think sausages are hundred days old, pulling the rats off and you're putting the sausages on the grill, and then you work the inn. People coming in drunk, a million drunks coming to give you a sausage, kid.
You know what I mean.
And then and then everyone's in the park. We'd sneak in, we'd walk, we'd give food to the guy the turnstile. We'd watch the games from like the fourth to the seventh, and then we'd come out. And then people were really drunk coming out and you're serving them sausages on the way home. And then the guy who owned my stand would just go into the Cask and Flagon, which is a big bar or the corner, big famous bar. Again, I'm in eighth grade. I look like I'm seven years old,
and he's like, come in, rock. You didn't want to get me a ride home until you'd had a few. So I go in and I wait in the bar. No one gives a shit that I'm sitting there at the bar. The guy has a few more more drinks, then gives me a ride home. I get home at eleven thirty at night. My mom's like, do you homework?
Go to bed? That was my day. You know, Jesus, have you been back to Fenway since you've become somebody? Did you sign the wall? Did you go in the monster and sign the wall? Yeah, that's a cool thing, sign the wall. Yeah. They have like the coolest names. Everyone's in there, like if you.
Yeah, he used to go take peas between innings or during the innings.
I don't think he's going to take peas. Probably going together.
I was talking to the guy who's in there doing the scoreboards like this exactly who you think he was.
He was in contract negotiation with Fenway. He was like, if it doesn't go my way, I'll be on the show. I'll blow him up.
I'll tell you everything.
So I must have went as well. Oh my gosh, beautiful park.
There's all as little there's like a scorekeeper, there's all these little I've gotten to see. The like underbelly of the park is so sick.
Let's let's jump into the Yankees.
Wait, let's let's we gotta do Boston real Quick.
Hit, the Boston Run, the real quick run through the Sox.
Cat ninety eight and sixty four came in second in the ALS. In the Al East that year, they were the wild card team. Kerry coming off, we gotta set the stage here a little bit, coming off a Game seven loss of the year before in the ALCS. We remember that the uh, the freaking Aaron Boone game. That was not fun.
So Grady Little gets asked after that season.
This is the first year with Tito's manager Terry francona pick up shilling Poke Reese, Keith Folk in the offseason. Pretty big acquisitions down the stretch. Third year the theo epsin era boy Genius. Second year with the monster seats. We're talking monster Oh.
I remember when they put those in there. Watching the Sports Center, I was California KI. We didn't get any of the Red Sox Yankees. Shit, yeah, we were full SF. Yeah, Dodgers. That was like our the Dodgers still do. Yeah.
There's always like these crazy fights.
There's Giants and Dodgers.
I was just gonna say, there's a shanking every year.
Every year rival, And then we can't talk about four without talking about Nomar getting traded in August, crazy man.
Which could have been because of this game.
It could have been. It could have been because.
This I mean, we thought you picked this game because the fight with their attack and a rod bench is clear. Yeah right, one guy didn't go one guy didn't clear the bench no more.
He was an interesting dude. I mean, how would he have done in the era of the faster game. Would they have policed his like twenty minute fucking routine then before he comes to the plate, because then the picture is gonna run out of side, like how does the clock work?
No more?
In the pitch clock era would be a menace.
He get a pitch clock tou like it's an exemption because a fucking OCD. Man. If you if they ain't gonna let me do my thing.
Walk up to the plate and hand on the doctor's note.
Yeah uh.
And of course this is the year of the idiots, the scruffy guys, the beards, the long hair. Johnny damon those guys really rallying the troops, baby tough team not to root for?
What about these New York Yankees?
The Evil Empire baby, we're going full Homer. This episode one one sixty one won the Al East again. Uh, seventh straight year winning that thing. Uh coming off a World Series loss this season prior lost to six and six to the Marlins. Dontrell Willis teams Jack McKee and those are some good Marlins teams. And this was the first a Rod year we mentioned earlier. The Red Sox lost out on the A Rod sweepstakes after his leaving the Rangers and he lands in New York. Uh, this
is a big star power Yankees team. I mean you got the Giambis, the Jeters, the Flash, Gordon's of Kenny Lofton's Matsui. I mean this was Fernie Williams, Gary Sheffield.
This was a squad.
This is a squad. This was a squad.
Chef Mario Come, I can't forget the Goat.
I know, mister blown crazy.
Dat's duk hit.
He was pitching a game four, I believe, so yes, let me double check that one.
See Man Casey, great memory.
Even though I was on the Bay, I was in the I was on the West coast for this and this is high school heat of my the area time, no matter where you were in the country. You hated the Yankees. I hated the Yankees. I didn't know anything about the Yankees other than Babe Ruth and fucking Willie Jackson or whatever and all those guys. But I hated the Yankees just because they Everyone talked so highly of them, always on Sports Center, because that's how we digested our
sports back then. You know, you didn't watch the game because we didn't have tickets, We didn't have fucking satellite TV. You know, you see them sports Center. I was like, they got all the pub I fucking hated the Yankees.
Because you're a good man. That's why, good dude, you have a good heart.
You know, you know the.
Difference between an evil baseball team and everyone else and a great They just have too much money, you want it's not the spirit of baseball to just buy players, you know, by to buy the best all the time.
But then the Red Sox do that eventually.
No, I don't know what you're talking about, b No, he didn't. We embraced the moneyball. We started getting guys that were like not not that you know what I mean, not these big stars started putting it together THEO. But you had I guess Boston and New York, Boston and San Francisco. Like, we didn't know anything about sermons that was going on out there, really, but that was a It's also a similarly great town for sports.
And growing up. It was awesome when we had the forty nine Ers, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Big Football Area Giants. I mean we loved, we all loved Barry Bonds, Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent, Benito Santiago throwing from the knees, John Beck or who was remember John Beck with the fucking Jerry curl mullet. He'd come out. He was our closer the Giants. We got close a few times as a fucking rally monkey from La got us with that stupid remember that, the rally monkey. What the
Los Angeles Angels they had the rally monkey. We were up like three to one in the series and they bust out this fucking rally monkey thing.
Is that a mascot?
I don't know what the fuck it is?
Like monkey?
It was like a monkey that they brought in this one point of the game, and they kept it throughout throughout the whole series and came back and won. It came back and won it.
I learned a lot about you know, Earl.
Smith is Earl Smith.
He worked for the Golden State Warriors and also for the Niners, as they're like you know, pastor, yes, it's there like team team, you know, you pray with them and stuff. And when I was started, I had this baseball team I played on, and we started to go up and play at San Quentin against the prisoners, just because they had a baseball team. And so I learned about this guy who had started their baseball program, and he.
Was the uh.
He worked at the prison mostly there trying to get guys to come to church and stuff. But then he started a baseball program and he realized that like he couldn't get the prisoners to come to church and pray, but he could get them.
He could.
It was a time in Sint Quentin, like all these gang wars going on and stuff, and he he was like, I could get I could get them to play basketball and baseball together, from different gangs, different races. I couldn't ever get them to come to church. So he started this program and then it kind of blew up and then we heard about it, and so I took a
baseball team up there, and we started playing them. Every year we'd go up and play against them, and so I got to know Earl, amazing dude, incredible life story, had been shot six times in the head and neck, survived, he'd gone on to like seminary school, and you know, he started out as like a gang banger and then he ended up doing this and now he and so one time he invited us up to watch the last game between between the Raiders and the and the Niners.
I guess fights on those ones a lot of game. I'm like, what is going on? So we're down on the sideline with him and my kids, which was like a really special moment.
Because we're up close, you know, stadium.
We were in the stadium that I guess was since.
Closed in Okay, candles in Oakland.
Coliseum, which is now done, right is she gone?
Yeah?
So we were there, and so it's a really big deal because there was the rivalry and it was the last time they were going to play against each other because then they left. So there was like sixteen brawls, I mean, and the game's just going on. I'm looking at like there's thirty people fist fighting up there in the stands and no one's paying any attention.
No, yeah, that sounds about right. It's crazy, Yeah, La Dodgers. When the Dodgers played Giants, that's usually four or five stab beings. You know. When the Raiders play the Niners over Runners, usually eight fights. I mean, it's fucking nuts.
My mom being a ballsy lady that she is. When as we went and played in the Colisseum, like my second year, my mom wore my fucking jersey in there, and like, if you're at Oakland Coliseum Raiders game, either a Hell's Angel, a blood Crip, an Ortannal Sereniel, or like some fucking weird dude that's a lawyer that dresses up in spikes and shit. So everyone is legitimately just fucking crazy and they haze everyone who comes into the stadium.
My mom rolls up in my jersey. It's like, shut up, my son's from the Bay Area, and you ain't gonna say shit to me. Like I'm like, oh my god, let's go in. My mom is fucking crazy.
How many people that she stabbing?
No, No, he's got it.
No, I wouldn't mess with hands.
Bro, got that dog in her? Yes, right, alright, got that dog in her right. Let's game game lead up, Jackie.
All right, let's set the stage for this bad boy middle of the season, right after the All Star break. This Socks come in fifty two and forty four. The Yanks come in sixty one and thirty four. We're nine and a half back in the Al East, and the Socks we're slumping a little bit lost three to the last four. The Yankees, on the other hand, one four in a row. It's a Saturday afternoon game, nice and quiet,
just to you know. You're at the home, napping on the couch, watching a little little game of the week on Fox.
And uh, this is a brawl game, though.
All hell breaks loose home before the storm, Calm before the storm. And we gotta preface this with the fight the year before in the game three of the two thousand and six two thousand and three ALCS Pedro versus Don Zimmer. So there's already been better.
Say this about that Pedro Pedro. That wasn't fair. People talked about it. It was not because Dunzi were charged. He was standing there just defending himself and he just used the man's weight again, you know what I mean. And he ended up falling down because he's oh god, and he was worked up, and and it wasn't It didn't make me happy to see it now, but I didn't. But it wasn't fair to say that Pedro threw this man to the ground.
Absolutely not.
Hey man, no matter what age you are, you come charging to get your ass ready. Yea, that old ass?
I mean, yes, what was he so angry?
I don't remember exactly what started that fight, whereas this one was like so clearly the plunking of a rod and.
He mushed him. He didn't even he could have punched this old guy.
Yeah, he laid him down easy, baby. I Yeah, that Pedro gets a bad rap for that one. I'm with you, But that's definitely a memorable moment. That uh, that was still bruined from earlier in the year. And like this was really a heat of Yankees Red Sox hatred and rivalry.
I've got a question for you, So, when was the darkest moment of.
Being a Boston fan? Is it before the two thousand Patriots? Is it three with the Red Sox before they break through? Like when's really the darkest before the dawn?
It's definitely before the Pats start winning.
That that was when light light broke through the clouds there and then and then the socks came up. But so so maybe it's just the nineties is everyone. I can't remember what's having with the Bruins, but I think everybody was just losing and there's a few years there where to make matters worse. We had like hope, there's hope there was socks looked like they might. I can't remember when Morgan magic was. That was like in late nineties.
Remember we won thirty games, They replaced the we got a new manager, and we won the first like thirty games in a row. It was like it was like a miracle. Everyone thought, this is it. We're gonna we're making a run for it now. And then we just started losing again, and I think people thought it's never gonna happen. Recurse that that was maybe the darkest moment and the Pats what was going on. And then in the late nineties in the Super.
Bowl with Bledsoe in ninety five four got smoked, Yeah, and then they went against eighty five Bears. They were leading at that game three zero, but then got smoked.
In eighty five eighty five, just ten years old. That I'm not I wasn't paying attention.
Yeah, mid to late nineties.
We have to make jumps, like by the decade to find little good moments.
Of it was rough. It's pretty much how New York is right now. Yeah, it's been a decade since they've had a championship in any sport of the Big four. That it could be decade plus, could be decade plus, which I think is honestly bad for sport. They need like it's kind of embarrassing, Like, we gotta they gotta start getting this thing up a little more.
They have all the money. What's the problem.
It's weird distractions.
I'm with you, though, it is good for sports when a New York team is like in the mix a little.
Bit because everyone likes rooting for a not routing. But yeah, I have to have a bad guy. What do they call it the protagonist in the movie antagonist? You know you need that. So year before and three they lose in the ALCS to these guys, these Yankees that had to be must watch TV anytime they played the next year?
Then was it for like you? Is it you circle the calendar whenever you're playing the Yankees or was it like a special Was there something special when like you watch that or you see it with a friend, a buddy, a certain you know, superstition that you'd have have. Is any of that when you're watching with the Yankees? Or it's just a little little more intention.
He's just a bigger charge. Yeah, you just want to see that game. Yeah, it matters more, it's more, it's more important then. Uh, and you're tracking usually you know the Yankees, you knew you were hearing a lot about them. As you say, you're watching Sports Center, you're hearing a lot about them. So you know that who that team is, you know the players. It's fun to watch.
This game was going back and forth, and it wasn't it really. It was kind of a shitty game until the third inning where the fight was.
There's a tracked me to a game. Like Derek Jeter said after the game, whoever was at bat last was winning this thing.
Allah.
You know some of these Chiefs Bills shoot out we see in modern football. It was it's weird to think that in baseball, But like this game really was that way a little slow starting the Yankees get up three nothing, then we get the fireworks. In the third, a rod gets plunked with it's like a slow curveball right in the padded elbow pad and he comes out. He's jerping it vera tag, chirping it very tag. He gives them three f us and then the fourth the f you motherfucker.
That's when he gets the mint in the face from Veritex, from Veritechthe's a big dude, big big guy.
I like underrated rivalries are between catchers and it's not a catcher, but there's something when the catchers worked up because he's big. They're big, they're armored, they look like warriors, like the Thurman Munson was the he was the guy Yankees way back then, the same way. You know, tragic and his story, but like that. Those are great fights.
Yes hockey, yes, and smartly Veritech. He didn't take off the mask, he doesn't shed anything. He just goes mitt right to the face baby, and then he goes for the lift up.
Yeah.
I saw that he was going for the leg like he was gonna dip them.
It's weird. Yeah, he went I think that.
You know the fights nowadays, you see guys giving one two s.
Which that sounds fun. Yeah, oh it's too far. I think it's a little.
Much and you could break a hand. You're on the d o even though there's no incentive to play in baseball because contracts are guaranteed.
But but you don't actually don't want to break the dude's shaw or break their nose. That's like you want to see a wrestling match. You want to see like an old school bench clearing. Like guys, there used to be brawls and baseball and people wouldn't really get that hurt.
You know, we see the the veriteke a ride is what it starts with.
Then it kind of splinters off and you get a you get a Tanyan Stirts.
Got tossed, Kenny Lofts in the mix, get you.
Get tossed, and then you get you get big poppy Trot, Nixon and Gabe doing a three on one on Stirts. It was starting that day. He was just starting Pitcher getting in there, throwing punches, doing cheap shots on Gabe Kapler. So that really that's one of those moments you know, this team is getting galvinized when when you got three dudes.
Going at one, So these dudes are getting.
These dudes are at the top of their game and they're they're on a winning team. Yes, they don't want to break their hands, you know, so you know they're really worked up if they're doing something because they're pro athletes, hurt out there, they want to play, Paul.
You can't do that. You can't three on one to pick picture. Though.
I do like this.
That's kind of like if a quarterback throws in her eception, you see a fucking defensive lineman try to go back and block the quarterback as tacky. You can't do that. That's bullshit.
It's funny some of these guys you hate them for so long because they're on the other team.
They're probably nice guys. I don't know.
Pasada, he's probably a lovely dude, But when I see his face, I just think, like, hey, man, I hate you, but it's not fair, you know what I mean. He's a total stranger.
You know that probably everyone, like a lot of people think like that way of Tom. Oh for sure, you know what I mean. And and it's crazy because whenever someone who hates him meets him, they end up like, yeah, you can't hate the guy. He's really just a dude. Did people hate you?
Oh?
They hated us. Bro, did they hate you? Yeah, they did eas easily.
Yeah, no, you're not easily hat Well. I would go like people people, even when they're on the other team. You always like the guys. Haven't they respected me? They respected me, but I would like I loved taking on that villain role of when like we would go And one of my things was when when the team would
go out, we were introduced. I'd let Tom go for the first fifteen yards because he leads us out, and then I would I would start a sprint and I would sprint all the way to the other end and i'd fucking like give a fist pump jump to.
Like the other crowd. They'd be booming and stuff, and I had like fed off that. I loved that. I want to you know what I mean.
It was like but the players on the field.
Nah, they all respected and no one. By the time I got older, the league has kind of changed, Like you didn't want to talk shit with me because then it would piss me off. And then I was gonna fuck you up every play. And it didn't matter if it was a run play or a pass play. Something's gonna happen. Don't don't don't bark up this tree, you know what I mean. It was like that, so and they knew that that'd probably be in the scouting report, like don't piss him off because you know I don't.
He uses it. He uses it.
Yeah, but you weren't talking that much to people.
If they never crossed lines, and it'd be like stupid ship, like did you Like I remember this one dB from Pittsburgh. He had this fucking Jerry Curle thing going on, and I was like, Bro, you ain't good look, you ain't good looking enough to have that hair. You gotta cut that ship like immediately, like after roasting him on something like I would say ship like that, like, bro, you have no swag. Or guy would come come up to me.
One time, this guy comes up to me from it was some I think it was like Jacksonville or something, and we we've already had like two super Bowls at the time. I go, bro, I've forgotten more football important football games that you played in dude, Like can you just get the funk out of my face? Like that kind of stuff like check the resume, get out of here.
And people didn't Simes take it personally like we were in a fight on the field.
Me and Benny sat almost got in a fight. He was a safety for the Dolphins. I used to fight and practice a little bit with your own squad. Yeah,
is that about it? Because practice was competitive. I remember when we first signed Gilmore Gilmore, he came over from Buffalo Bills, and I was like it was kind of like a welcome, welcome to the team moment, like we practice hard here, so kind of pissed off that you're making fourteen when I route you up every single time we've gone at each other, and like it just gets Practices are like mini games in the NFL because we don't have one hundred and twenty eight one hundred and
sixty two games, so those those practices become really competitive, and especially in New England, like they put such an emphasis on execution and competition because when you do it hard in practice the game, you feel that situation. It's like muscle memory, it's like deja vu.
But the practices I've seen you guys aren't even fully padded.
There was padded practices and then there's shell days. So you'd like when I was first in the league, you could have as many padded practices as you want, which we'd have like two a week. Usually usually Friday would be a fast Friday where you're in shells because you just want to have a nice fast a no balls in the ground. And then as I got older and through a second bargain agreement, we were only allowed fifteen padded practices a year, So.
That was to just protect guys.
Yeah, that's also why a lot of the offensive line defensive line plays, like offensive line play for sure is gone to ship because of that, because they need to feel the pads so they can have that rev. It's like dancing together, you know what I mean.
But having the pads means more contact, means more brain injuries, that kind of thing.
Yeah, but they just implicated these like new condom things that they put on your helmet for practice that are supposed to distribute the energy. There's a bunch of stuff. Technology is getting like really good right now.
I think these guys are getting so big and fast that sounds gonna get very badly hurt definitely.
And there I mean a lot of these rule changes we all bitch and complain about, Like they're doing the hip hip drop tackle where guy's from behind can't just drop their weight on the back of the guy's leg anymore. How does that work? So if a guy's getting tackle or running and a guy comes from behind and he grabs you, yeah, he can't just drop his weight on the back of your legs anymore. That's a fifteen yard fine.
Or like if you swing a guy, or like the horse collar you can't grab a guy from the behind or a face mask.
But the horse caller has been their place for a long.
Time, probably about fifteen years now, you know. But the hip drops new this year. That's gonna be a huge one. And you try to get the behavior out through fine and then goes through the farming systems of the younger kids. And the only.
Ones I see that I feel like aren't being managed right is the is the rough past.
There's a huge emphasis on that, which they put a rule in now that it is reviewable.
Yeah, because sometimes the guy's coming in he can't change.
His no, no, no, But the penalty is reviewable now, so they can go and take a look at it after the play the flag is done. That was added this year because there are too many calls, right, there's a lot of calls. There's a lot of calls, but we don't want to see our stars get hurt, right, you know? So, Jack, should we.
Wrap this game? Wrap it up?
The fight winds down, we get four guys tossed, Kenny Lofton, Gabe Kapler, hold on here, we got very tech, very techy rod Kenny Lofton, Tito gets tossed in the fifth for arguing a call. Then in the.
Sixth, all hell breaks loose, the floodgates open.
We get twenty two total batters, ten total runs, ten total hits, seven pitchers used, eighty nine total pitches. The inning lasts over an hour hour. No hitch clock era here, Baby, So then we get it down. We're down nine to four. Bottom of the six we cut it. We're down nine to eight. Flash forward to the ninth inning. We are down ten to eight going into the bottom of the ninth.
We need something here. That's when we get Billy Miller three to one count one man on blast the walk off to run home or into the bullpen in right field. Liner wins the game, Socks win eleven to ten, and we're rolling. Baby galvanize the team. We're moving on.
Boston believes. What's the aftermath?
Josh or jossh Red Sox win the World Series.
Red Sox win the World Series. Some suspension, some fines, break the curse, go twenty one and seven in August and we're rolling. No markets traded to the Cubbies. We talked about that a week after.
We win it again, win it again, baby, and then five years later we win.
It again again.
So you love the baseball, Yeah, I love it.
I love the football. I love I love watching football. And now, I mean there's so many baseball games. I feel like they've extended the season how many times in the last I don't know, it's too many. It's a bit too many games.
It's playing game, and the more and the.
More so so the football season has taken on. Like also, when you have kids, Sundays are just sacred, you know what I mean. We get together, we watch all the games.
You know.
My son was just saying, he's like, I can't wait for the season to start. That's a special feeling. Whereas the baseball season goes on so long that it's not it's not quite specially.
The kids Pats fans, yeah, yeah, you.
Know, Browns something. Sometimes they pick teams they're like all right, you know what I mean, they get super into the Browns and you're like.
Could be fantasy they drafted someone. I mean it's a different generation and you get fans from everywhere now.
They well, the Browns had such a good squad. They were fun to root for because they could have done it if they you know, Mayfield's good, dude, it's good QP. That was a rough that just was not the right year. Otherwise they were in place. Man, they had the defense.
I spent a lot of time in Northeast Ohio and those people are very it's it's very similar to the Boston baseball curse drought where they are with football. I mean they're they're feeding for that when they love their sports, they love their football up in Northeast. I hope that the the Browns can get something going here soon because it'd be great for the league. You know, that's a that's a that's a very old organization that's been around
a long time. But also like that's like a huge part of football is Ohio for a lot of these country fed, huge old white linemen, great ass like Lebron's from there. You get a lot of these unbelievable dbis. I mean it's a fun like.
These like American hardscrabble town.
It's like when you.
Watch like Green Bay, Yeah, and Cleveland, they're like it's old as hell when they're playing man, it's like, that's fun, fun football.
And they don't have like Boston and New York. You guys they have they have other sports. Green Bay they're only football. Cleveland you got basketball, but in baseball, but they love football.
Jules has beef with someone else who's very relevant to this conversation.
I do have a little beef for your brother too. I was sitting there getting my ankle taped or something, watching Sports Center or some fucking show on ESPN, and it's your brother, come on, we just want a super Bowl and he's talking about we don't have any receivers, we don't have this. I'm sitting here like, what the fuck?
When was this? He has just won the super Bowl and he said, you.
Did something maybe a year removed or something, maybe nineteen.
It's a one way beef.
It's a one way. It's one way beef.
I just well, you seem like a great dude. Let me tell you something. Don't hold a grudge.
It's more of like a joke. But we'll be right back after this quick break. Let's name this game. We have a couple of things, or you've have a name if you have a name for it, Casey, we had the ver Tech Versus a Rod game, the Shut Up a Rod game, the a Rod Fight game? Which one do you would you like to choose to name this game?
I'm gonna throw Veritech in there. He deserves.
That's that's a. That's a. That's a good answer. Is this the greatest game of all time? Let's score it, Casey on steaks regular season, mid season game. What are the stakes of this game? Zero to ten decimals? Okay, we got a great it like I think.
The stakes are like a like a seven. It wasn't. I don't think people understood just how it was going to be a pivotal game and a turning point for the energy of the team, you know what I mean.
So this is midway through the season, but it's Yankees red Sox, so the stakes are auto lost. I got I go six to five.
Jack did sixty three, I did four.
Nine star power. You got a lot of stars in this game, big time, a lot of Hall of famers. Yep, that's a good score. I'll go with the eight Jack did ninety two nine one.
We're in the same ballpark here.
Gameplay of this we have a brawl. Gameplay means like, how did how was the game for the viewer? How was how was the game?
As?
Uh, you know? Back? Was it back and forth? Was it a blowout?
Fundle?
I was thinking about eight and a half because I think that people really love to see everyone caring a lot, especially in baseball. Dudes rowing some some days they're phoning it in. Everyone was had showed up at the.
Park, amen, walk off run, walk off bat one day.
I'm gonna go with a seven eight no eight a A A.
I looked at the name Jack did nine one, I did nine two, The name.
Of the game ver talkt veritec versus a Rod.
Cultural elevans of this game.
The cultural relevance of this game was pretty high for a baseball game, For a single baseball game.
I like that that's.
Gonna get a lot of attention in the sports center and the sports fans.
I'm going eight. I mean, we're still talking about a regular season baseball game here in twenty twenty four, twenty years of twenty years ago, so.
It's gotta be Nate what's worse than julyve baseball? And we're talking about it twenty years later.
Hey, we're coming up on the twentieth Anni Baby.
Afterd eight point two, I did seven point nine?
Where does it? Stan?
Seven point nine?
Seven point nine? Where does that go in all the games that we've done.
That puts it right below.
Highly rating Super Bowl fifty three Patriots versus Rams, and then right above the miracle Miami BC versus Miami ninety four, the Douglas Fluty.
Yeah.
Now seeing all the other games, I feel like we gave it a slightly inflated score, a little high.
But it's okay.
It's okay, Casey, we missed anything from this.
We covered it.
We covered it. Everyone. Remember to go see the movie Instigators. It'll be available on Apple TV August ninth. Awesome movie, fun movie, Boston movie. Even if you don't like Boston. It's a fire movie, great cast, a lot of awesome people in it. It was fun, great movie of the summer.
Thank you boys, thank you.
It's fun.
I appreciate you, man, appreciate you dude.
What fu.
Man. He's a he's smart dude, love Casey.
He's got a smart guy. He's got like he's got like what is I.
He'd be able to finish what I was thinking, like he did a couple times in the episode, like he he knows how to I'm not like smart enough to say it. Like he's got like regular people thoughts and able to compute them in a different way.
He's an artist.
He's an artistist, but he's also not like two art arty about it.
He's still he's a guy who played baseball in Boston.
Guy from exactly. I mean, I like just talking to him. I we didn't even get to like half the questions. I wanted to know so much stuff, you know what I mean, It just but things right out of times fucking and I and I went, and you know, I've been watching some of his movies. He's just he gets into some of these crazy roles. Man, he plays them, and you really believe the fucking character and you know, and that he's unbelievable. Shout out to Lee acting coach.
Hopefully she'll see this somehow, World Instigators. It's awesome movie. We got the screeners, copy screeners, whatever. It was awesome to watch. We watched it as a whole team here in the nuthouse. It was a fun experience. We should do some more of those, you know, nuthouse screenings and then like review and give him like how many nuts we give him?
Yeah? Three?
I give that that was a five nuts.
That was five nuts.
All day, five nuts up, five out of five nuts.
I hope he tells Matt Damon that you called him deady do right? Yeah he should, he should.
I feel like I sneaked out too on when he said you can't hold a grudge on you know, my brother, maybe a fucking neflack Ben. He comes up in here and apologizes, maybe there won't be no grudge maybe.
To my face.
Brother, Wait, wait that man range savagey.
I went full like where'd that come from? When when the grudge talk comes out? I just get hold.
I know we're not grudge holders.
No, we can't be, even though yeah, I've got a couple if.
We if we were to talk it out, we wouldn't be a grudge. There's no grudge. There's just a little like un you know what I mean. But you know, being a Boston guy, he knows you see me and we talk it out. Maybe maybe we got.
Some stuff to talk about.
I'm missed that we didn't get to talk about Casey Afflecks Dunkin Donuts SNL, like the best representation of a Massachusetts person.
Cigarette outside the store while he's drinking his coffee inside the store because it's too fun cold and he wants to smoke.
Yeah, I get the crack screen. Yeah, we want to get the dunks order. Yeah. No, He's great. That was awesome so much so.
And he's been in dude, his career has been along. He's got a long career. He's been around twenty years, damn near and in a lot of good stuff.
You and he's he's worked with longer.
I mean, he's got an Oscar and he's worked with some of the most incredible actors of our generation. I mean all the big names.
I felt bad about asking had he watched Goodwie Hunting.
He's like he was a little bit just because like being from Boston, that's such like a culturally relevant movie from Boston that if you like, even if you're in it whatever, like being from that time in that era, to not see that, you.
Could tell he's a competitor though, Like he probably sees that when he watches his film, and it's a competitive competitiveness with himself. Yeah, that like man, I would because he said I think I could have done it better.
Yeah, I understand that. I hate.
But he seemed really happy. He seemed a great spirit, really great.
He was awesome.
I wanted to ask him what it was like to meet Bernie made on the set of Oceans Damn. Yeah, all right, Bernie, we love you.
Let's see this post post guest segment.
You know, after bashing New York and fully going Homer on this episode, we're gonna end this with a sweet note ish ish with that being said, we're going to put together the top five list of least hated n y athletes. We'll do we've been bashing the top five of athletes that played in New York that we got love for that we don't like.
Just a nice top five in no particular order.
I think Jeter's got to be on there. Mario, He's just lovable. Who else?
I agree? I think I think we gotta put Jalen Brunson in there.
I think we gotta put Brunson. Shout out Sam Morrel, Shout out Sam.
He's been loving him for years.
Oh man, he's an early early Jalen.
What what about I mean, does Babe Ruth count.
Babe count I'm counting, babe, Yo, Bara, Babe Babe.
What about Eli Manning?
I don't know, man, I just had a Fox retreat, and I you know, I always say that Eli is my favorite Manning. I fucking fully take that up. That's back hung out with Cooper Manning and he's the coolest Manning by far. Shout out Coop Manning. You know I used to be an Eli guy. I guess I just didn't hang out with Coop enough. Cooper is a fucking man We golfed together. So yeah, no, no, Eli Manning.
Okay, sorry, Eli, Okay, straight hand, straight hands guy, straight hand is a fucking lovable New York straight hand.
Gotta good morning America.
We still got Broadway Joe left though right Joe only got one slot left.
I think I think we got to revisit some of these just because of the gotta, because we don't know.
We don't know.
But he crushed. He could crush glzzies like no one else.
Yeah, they said he could put down like nine hot dogs in like thirty seconds.
Dude, what about a lot? What about Rangers?
What about lung Quist and a Clunkquist does Wayne Gretzky count?
Wait a minute, does lump Quist go before? Does Brunson get taken off? Because he's still too young? He's only done it for one year, he's done for a couple. I mean, I mean, no one. Everyone liked that guy. And he's just so damn good looking, handsome, he always fucking dress cool.
He's a great fucking goalie.
He's great goalie.
Do we put as a Penguins fan?
My favorite thing ever was when they chased him and he like freaked out and like smashed them that.
Oh I love that. I think we are out of respect for him?
Are we puttingnist in?
Just keep it, keep the list going right there, I think we're getting close.
You can throw. So does Wayne Gretzky count? Because I wouldn't. Really he's a ranger yet, but he's not a range.
I agree. I don't associate immediately. I agree, do we What do we think about like a do we go with like a Derek Mason or a Patrick Ewing or a John Starks.
Straight hand, straight hand?
I think straight hands up there, dude, he's got to.
Be he's very likable, like or at least hated. Yeah, he's very least hateable.
Dude, straight hands up there. Put him in.
He's getting enough other sport record, like be nice to get some representation from the other teams. What like, what we got a hockey, We got a Yank hockey. We got a giant he Mets.
Mike Piazza. I don't hate him at all.
He did hit the homer on nine to eleven. He did or the day after nine to eleven against New York. But Mike Piazza is he on the top. No one really thinks of the Mets as a New York team. It's gotta be from like the big the big, big dogs.
We're gonna catch some heats, no second fiddle guys.
I'm just saying, it's like the Jets.
Do we even think about them?
Man Broadway, Joe?
Do we hate Curtis Martin?
No? What about Wayne cot.
Was loved and the slot father slop father slot father, and he tested Verdi he didn't play long enough one year.
He belongs to the league.
He's kind of like his his uh, his merch hat is kind of like Rob Low's NFL hat. It's just all of the NFL. The fate of the league.
Because I want to see a good game, I asked him.
Remember I did his podcast about it.
I heard he got that custom made.
No. I think he just he saw a hat and he took it, or so I think he needed a hat picked up an.
NFL red hat, fucking official hat. I feel like we're hold.
On, we got a wriddle down here. There's someone I got to throw in here too. Yogi be Yo, Yogi, how do you hate? You come to a fork in the road, you know what you do?
You take it?
Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded. He's given us some great yogis. I mean, he's got a cartoon after him.
Was that? Yeah, I'm pretty sure Yogi bear the TV cart.
To all of a incidents if it wasn't is it not? Or is is it? I check it.
I mean, I don't know Yankee history like that.
Yeah, it was the Hanna Barbara character.
Yogi Beart debut in nineteen fifty eight and was named after Barra.
Look at I mean, it's fucking all right.
We got to keep him in the top five.
So Mike Pia is the most lovable.
This is this is in order?
I think, Jeter, Yeah, I don't. I mean we watched that the Red Sox fight thing or when we we were doing the research for this episode yea. And the way he handles the media afterwards like he's just he's a pro captain. I think you ask any Socks fan, no one really, they don't really hate Jeter.
Yeah, retwo pecked.
What's that?
It's like respect thing? Remember when he retired? Oh the wordmark like our eh. Yeah. And the little kid doing this, the little kid. Yeah, it's a plant all right. Jeter straighthand Lunquist rivera Broadway, Joe Broadway, Joe or.
For betwat And I also think the first Super Bowl for the a f C bro guarantee and the Colts super Bowl three Yeah.
An fl.
I think I think we might have to pull out Mariano rivera Okay, I think you put Yo.
Yankee for a Yankee. I can see why people would hate River.
That cutter, Yeah, I like him when he blow all those saves in Finoya.
I think that's looking pretty good. That's looking pretty good.
List, that's a real list.
I think Hendrick Conscious might be too high, but h Henry Glunquist.
Yeah, I think he needs to go to five.
I think he goes to five, and I think you go you move the other two up? I like this, yeah, sober one. Derek Cheeter, number two, Michael Strahan, number three, Yogi Berra, number four, Joe Namath number.
Take one Quist. Oh, we got to get a hockey guy.
So you could do.
Mark Messier but he hasn't really owned Rangers and he's not really liked.
Uh. You could go yarm or Yager with a Ranger number My my hate is we'll go lung Quist right now. So I think this list list is all right. I don't hate this list.
I don't hate, honestly, I usually hate all of our lists. Don't hate.
This list is the least hated list. All right, there you go.
How come hate brings us together? It's the least hated team.
Have you got hate in your heart? Let it out?
Number five Henrik Lundquist, number four, Broadway Joe Name number three, Yogi Berra O boo boo boo. What is that is that his little friend pick a basket? Number two, Good morning America. And Fox is Michael Strahan. Everyone loves him, everyone loves them. And number one another Fox guy. This is kind of it's kind of skewed. Derek Jeter, that is our top five least Hated New York athletes because we were tough on them today with this and they got they got beat in this one. Good list. It
was good list. Well, what a game. Thanks again to Casey and everyone. Go out there and check out instigators. The Instigators on Apple TV. That's been another episode of Games with Names. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcast.
Comment, coment a game you want us to do, rate and review, and I.
Remember to follow Games with Names on YouTube, Instagram, x TikTok, and snapchat. Leave them message on the hotline at four two four two nine one two two nine zero. Those have been awesome. We'll see you guys next week. Games with Names is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
