Don't want to be an American idiot.
In one of the final after President Joe Biden way student loans about one hundred and fifty thousand people, you know, just kind of a little tip of the hat is he headed out of office about a year ago on that though, It's not like, you know, the Trump administration has righted a lot of those wrongs, which is simply have forgotten about this meant, the total US debt is almost two trillion dollars in student loans, the average borrow ohs over thirty nine thousand dollars per person, and so
many more have defaulted on those loans as well.
Delinquency rates are high, the repayment timelines are question well at this point, where do things stay in relative this and how do we solve this? Allen Clinch is the founder of Studentloan Justice dot org.
Ellen.
Welcome back, Ay.
Ben, Good morning, Scott.
We saw default rates spike after COVID and then once we return to payment or try to anyway, where are we headed to now relative to the default cliff?
Yeah, that's right, Yeah, we are headed for a mass default. People are just done. People. You know, so many people have been paying for years and years and years under any one of the alphabet soup of already existing income driven repayment plans. There's been four since nineteen ninety five, and the disqualification rate for these IDR programs is upwards of ninety percent. And so.
It is a huge crisis. Yeah, there's no I mean, if you don't have the money, you don't have the money. I get that. And it's it's easy to wag your finger at young people and say it's your fault. But and I get that too, But I'll be honest with you, the plans that I've seen from both Trump and Biden don't really address the issue. I mean, for giving a loan during COVID, I guess we can suspend that. That's all fine, But there's no accountability here for universities. That's
why I don't like the entire ballout system. The way it's been proposed and structured is so what happens is, fine, we're gonna we're gonna wind up wiping all this debt out, all right, Well, what then happens, Well, universities will raise their prices even more because students will have that extra money to pay students who took on huge levels of debt will be able to you know, turn that towards the government, meaning me and you to pay that pick
up the tab and politicians score points with young voters who seldom turn out in order to get elected or reelected. So it serves all those interests, but it doesn't solve the problem.
Right.
The problem is you keep subsidizing college, you get more and more and more expensive. That's really the problem here, and it's not addressed in any of these plans.
I actually almost completely agree with you. I mean, the lending system is a large catastrophic failure at this point, but the loans will not be paid. So ultimately the loans, at this late day, they will be canceled. But you raise excellent points. You know, canceling student loans solves nothing the price for all.
The reasons that you mentioned, and you.
Know, the core of this problem, Scott, why is in the fact that, unlike every loan in this country, student loans have been uniquely stripped of the most fundamental consumer protections you can imagine, mainly bankruptcy rights. So the family Father has called for bankruptcy rights, uniform bankruptcy rights in the constitution ahead of the power to you know, raise an army and declare war. And this has been stripped
uniquely from student loans. And this really is the lynchpin that is enabled this runaway spending, run well, runaway charging tuition prices and so court by the colleges, no accountability. And you know, counseling loans is all good and well, but if you don't change the underlying system, then we're going to be right back where we are now in a few years.
The system, the system from top to bottom has messed up. I mean, if you go back to the nineteen sixties, seventies, I think it was eighteen percent of family income is what tuition was, which is manageable sixty five. That's when the government says, hey, you know what, we're going to guarantee student loans now. And then Sally May gets involved. And by seventy eight, as all these government programs, more
government gets involved, the more they screw things up. Tuition and fees crept up to what almost fifty percent of a family income today. It's a totally government controlled problem. Because they stepped in guaranteed, subsidized for gave loans. They have the power of the pen, and all it does is encourage universities and colleges to hike their prices up
because they're getting free money. It's a simple solution if you've got government out of this, because I'm guessing back in the sixties and seventies, you take out a private loan like you would for anything else, or you simply the cost to be affordable for a family to pay out of pocket. That's not true.
Anymore, No, that's exactly right. And you know, in some states, particularly a lot of the Southern states, average student loan that in those states exceeds the yearly earnings of the average earners there in those states. But you know, Ohio is actually terrible as well, seventy five billion dollars in mostly federal student loan debt across the country. And it's this sort of rampant inflation that just can't be allowed
to continue. Now, we as a group student on Justice dot Org, we've been pushing probably eighty percent of our our efforts have been towards getting the right of bankruptcy returned to these loans, not so that everybody can run out and file. That won't happen. Nobody wants to foilve for bankruptcy but rather because bankruptcy serves to constrain the lending side, it makes it ensures good faith in the lending relationship. But more, maybe more importantly, it guarantees rational
sort of market based prices. You know, it prevents the price of the commodity being purchased from getting out of control. And so if there is even to be a federal student owned program, I'm going forward, and I'm not sure the government really is I should be in.
The lending business at this point.
Not very good consider consider our federal debt right now.
Yeah.
Yeah, but if they are, at a minimum, whatever loans that they want to use to fund higher education in this country, they've got to have all the consumer protections, most notably bankruptcy rights that every.
Other loan for every other borrower has. We think that's really the core of the problem. And you know, if they had returned bankruptcy to student loans back when we started our group eighteen long years ago, there would be.
No student loan crisis today.
The Department of Education in Congress would be very much more judicious in how much they lend out and maybe even for what sort of programs.
Well, I think that's interesting. You bring that by the ways, Allen Collin, jac president of Student Loan Justice at organ normally we probably we actually are agreeing on a lot of stuff here because I hear a student loan justice and think, well, you know, we're just gonna get free money away, make college free. That's not really what you're saying. And I agree on some points there's no way these young people are generally young people going to be able
to pay these loans back. We're seeing a seventy five percent default rate that is just catastrophic. But I guess when I think about bankruptcy, which you're right, it does keep the lenders in check, going okay, is this a good risk? But here's what's going to happen, right, And
it's two sides of the same coin. There's gonna be arguments and going, well, now you're stifling you know, higher institutions of higher learning and what people are going to study and career paths and things like that, which I say good because you know, if the argument is that if we forgive all this money or make college free, it results in a better educated population, it's got to
be worth the cost. But it's not because what happens is you get a whole bunch of students majoring and I'm sorry bs that the market doesn't value and other people simply just you know, showing up going out. I guess I'll go to school because someone else is paying for it, So if it's for free, it's for me. And then it doesn't even discount all the ones that go to college who fail and still have to pay
the loans and drop out for whatever reason. Graduates need marketable skills going and we know this right now, and so I think the bankruptcy thing, in a way would eliminate all these fluffy programs and education in the Ivory Tower. Allen would have finally have to come around and go, hey, guess what, we're in a market too. Here, We're not
in a bubble. This is a market economy. Teach the jobs and teach the skills that people need to make money to service their loans, and the rest will take care of itself.
Yeah, that's right. You know, there's a very good reason the founders called for bankruptcy ahead of the power to raise an army and declare war in the Constitution. And I think this student loan behemoth is precisely the sort of thing that they wanted to avoid. Yeah, and you know, we're all.
For having educated citizenry. And you know, maybe there's a value.
To a philosophy degree or something that maybe may not be necessarily marketable, but it's got to be done in the context of fiscality.
And well, as I've been saying, don't confuse a hobby with a career. So if you want to study philosophy, you can do that in your own time. You don't need to go to school for it.
Yeah, you know, it's hard to say what all what all reform might happen when you know, at least the accountability that comes with having to contend with bankruptcy laws will compel, but certainly lower prices, smarter degrees. And I might also add, you know, the colleges are now it's taking an average of six.
Point two years to get a four year degree, and so.
The colleges have really got to be arranged in And you know, we're looking at people like Jim Jordan. Quite frankly, he becomes very important in this whole discussion. He runs the Judiciary Committee where our bankruptcy legislation is likely to come from, if it comes from anywhere in the House, of represent is and so we're hoping very much that Jim Jordan will look to people like, look to other Republicans actually.
Like why not just called for the return.
Of bankruptcy rights to student loans with a caveat that the colleges should be held at least somewhat financially accountable absolutely for bankruptcy discharges. And we think that's exactly the way go. It's a lot like Dick Durbins bill from last year as twenty five ninety eight. We think Jim Jordan could get that sucker passed to the House in no time on a bipartisan basis, and that would that would really be the first thing that needed to happen if we want to see sanity, sanity.
And you know, fiscal prudence returned to.
Is I guess because the federal since we federalized student loans back in the seventies. Though, and okay, I can file bankruptcy now, but based on the way our government spends and how much debt we're in right now, Allen, do they even care? Would they just go, okay, well, we're not going to really change, you know, this is not going to make coll just tighten their belt I mean the private market. Yeah, but we're talking about federally subsidized student loans here. Do they even care?
Well, you know, they don't.
They don't.
The government does not act, you know, like a business for example. That's true, but the Department of Education they guard their nest egg, They guard their agency funding very carefully. They run the Department of Education as if it were a business. So you know, one would hope that they would care, but that sort of remains to be seen.
Well, here's here's what happens is you yeah, here's a interrupt a second. Here's what happens as you know though, right, so we'll get this will go through rest like, Hey, it makes sense. They're tight to their belts. We're not going to hand out money for programs that you're not gonna make a lot of money at, and it's gonna
bring the cut. And then you're gonna hear the cries from people who are lobbying their lawmakers and saying it's unfair, it's racist, it's sexist, it's this, it's that, And then lawmakers, of course will kowtow to that contingent and you know, break it and it'll probably worse than it was before they did bankruptcy.
Well, yeah, that remains a be seen.
That's the problem with it.
But generally you can pick a random college funding scheme out of a hat at this.
Point and I can almost guarantee.
You that whatever they get will be far better than what we have today. So you know, it's it's always a balancing act with condres. Different spirit interests will have their say, But at the end of the day, you know, we can't be financially ruining eighty five percent of the people who take out student loans and leaving them with you know, predatory, untaable debt for the rest of their lives. I mean that does not serve the country.
Yeah, I mean I look at it and go, well, okay, mom and dad. In the equation, they should kind of know better about how much money they're borrowing because you're old enough to know how that works. But if you're young, and you're you know, sixteen, seventeen years old, and you're applying for colleges and it's all all well and good, you don't have an idea what that's like, what servicing
a loan is. And I think they keep kids financially ignorant from the beginning for a reason, because at the end of the day, it's mana from heaven for the federal government. They're just going to keep getting their money. How when you can go after mom and dad social Security because the kid doesn't have a job that's going to pay anything and can't serve us a loan. I think that's just speaks volumes about where we are right now.
And the sickening part is, I honestly, I mean outside of Jim Jordan, as you said, both sides to be complicit in just basically doing the dirty work for colleges and universities. It's insane that someone has not called us out sooner, rather than just going, yeah, we're gonna just give you free money, and uh, well what about next
year's class? They're gonna want. And once it starts, of course, once you say we're gonna give forgive loan debt each twenty three, twenty four, twenty five, twenty six, twenty twenty seven, every class is gonna want basically a bailout. And if the idea is we forgive loans to stimulate the economy, well, I don't know about you. I got a mortgage that'd be great. Imagine how much money I'd spend on liquor and hot tubs and strippers and coke.
Well, I would.
Actually disagree with you on not so.
Much what you just said, but sort of the underlying premise here and that and the important point here that I haven't brought up yet is the federal government, believe it or not, the Department of Education, they have been making a king's ransome in profit on this federal student loans program, certainly since Obama federalized in twenty ten. You know, in nineteen sixty five the President LBJ declared that these
student loans would be free of interest. Well today over one hundred billion dollars a year in interest, really, and it accrues to the books of the Department of Education. And so the Department of Education is this is really a cash cow for the people in Washington. People don't quite understand how incredibly profitable this thing has been for the taxpayer.
And out of that, I mean, think of it. There's no you know, you can't discharge it, you don't put a collateral up. They can garnish your wages, they can go after your mom and dad social Security, they can do all these horrific things that that you know in the private sector, you can't do it all al and all the best. Thanks again.
Well, it's been about.
I think almost exactly a year since Biden and is one of the last gasps of his presidency wave the magic wind would come to student loans. I haven't heard a lot in last year with Trump on that one guard. But the problem is still there, still exists, can be fixed, but they refuse to address the issue. And it's a problem. It's a big press as what college looks like is being changed by AI for example. We'll get a news
update in and more ahead. It's a Scott Sloman Show on seven hundred WLW My Scott on seven hundred w WELW short week, Ready for Christmas, winding it down, Ready to eat some good food and a lot of that. By good food, I mean food that's not good for you. A lot of sugar this time here, a lot of candy, a lot of pie, a lot of cake, all that stuff, cookies, you name it. I am down for it. Over a word of the wise here. Nicole Avina joins the show again.
She wrote writes a book called Sugarless about the I don't know if it's the dangers of sugar, but we didn't like some sugar from time to time. Nicole, welcome, good.
Morning, good morning.
Good when's the.
Last time you had sugar?
Well, you know, I have I have to say I can have it in moderation. I have it, you know now, and then I have it under control. But I have very little compared to most Americans.
I would say, yeah, I'm more of a savory person. I like the savory stuff I'll have, don't get me wrong, A good dessert or something like that, or a piece of candy. But I'm not I'm not a sugar feen.
Now.
I have a friend of mine about the same age, and he has the diet of an eight year old. He'll drink like three of those blue slushies a day, and yeah, he's a mess.
Yeah.
I think there's a lot of people that sort of fall into one of either camp right where it's you have that sweet tooth and you crave it all the time, or you're more of like a savory chips and cheese type person.
He has the you know, if you go to a hotel and they have these real dispenser it's got three things and you turn the crank and at ceral comes out, he's got one of those in front of his TV.
Oh.
I think that's definitely the sign of a sugar addict in one of those devices.
Yeah.
I was like, okay, skittles all over the place, Like it's like Willy Wonka in his basement. It's it's something else. Some guys have bars. He has unlimited sugar, all right, And it's why is sugar so easy to I guess to abuse. I don't want to see abuse. It's not a fair term because everything in moderation, as you said, is fine. I'm glad you're not like, oh you can't had sugar at all ever. I mean, sugar is it's good, you just can't make it a steady part of your diet.
Yeah.
But I think that's really the issue that a lot of people are struggling with because although we want to do it in moderation, most of us have a really hard time doing that because it's so pervated. If you think about it, you know, everywhere you go in the grocery store, if you go to restaurants, most of the dishes that we order when we eat out have sugar
added to them. And so even if you're trying to cut back, and or even if you don't really have a big eat tooth and you think you're not eating a lot of sugar, odds are that you probably are eating more than what is recommended.
By the guideline.
What are the guidelines? I have no idea.
Well, you know, it's funny because for the longest time, we did not have government guidelines about sugar. We had guidelines about everything else in terms of vitamins and you know, how many calories you should eat to have a healthy diet, but we didn't have it for sugar. Now we do, and it's recommended that you have no more than six to eight teaspoons of sugar a day, which sounds great, but the problem is the average American has twenty two teaspoons or sugar a day. So yeah, we're all eating
weight too much of it. And you know, it's not just about obesity or being overweat. There's so much research out that's come out. I talk about it in my new book, Sugar Lists, about how sugar can impact your physical health. It can also impact your mental health too, So it's a really good idea to cut back. Even if you're not struggling with your body weat and.
I think it's important too. You go, well, wait a minute, I don't eat a lot of sugary food. How can I have twenty two teaspoons or tablespoons of a sugar a day. Well, it's hidden. And so the formula for really really good food. If you want to make food taste well, you've got to have savory, you got to have sweet, you got to have you got to have a fat, you got to have those things in it,
and tart. Every good dish like wh it's a secret. Agree, there's probably most people don't use enough acid in their cooking, like lemon or something like that. But the big one is sugar. And if you get that balance right between sweet, fat and salty, you're gonna This is why you can sit down and get a whole sleeve of oreos and not be satisfied for that reason. But sugar is a big and it'shidden in you know, pasta sauces and everything is sugar in it.
It does and I think that's really, you know, the tricky part. So it's really important to take a look at the nutrition fact labels on the foods that you're purchasing, and really, you know, look at the ingredients, you'd be surprised. So many things that you wouldn't expect to see sugar in you'll find that, you know, sugar's listed as one
of those ingredients. And again, you know, even if you're thinking that maybe you are consuming too much of it, it's not about you know, completely cutting it out of your life. And I really make a point of this in my new book, because that's just not sustainable, and you know that's going to set people up for failure.
It's really more about reducing it and doing more to try to replace it with healthier alternatives so you could still enjoy the foods and have them, but just without all that added sugar.
Yeah, big holidays roll along or occasions whatever, and you have some sugar, or somebody brings some cookies and you know, I'll have one. You have a couple, and you know, you feel great, and then all of a sudden, like minutes left for me, minutes later, maybe like an hour later. I want to kill myself. What is that?
Well, you know what the problem with sugar is is that it affects our brain in so many strange ways. It can affect the brain in a way that leads us to be addicted. It can release dopamat and these other neuro transmitters, and that's what leads people to crave it and want more and more of it. But it also does so many things to mess with our mind. It causes us to feel guilty after we eat it.
It causes us to have these, you know, rapid spikes in our blood sugar levels that then lead us to then have these crash is in our blood sugar levels that can impact our mood. So when people start to reduce the sugar in their diet, they really start to get in touch with those feelings and see that, Wow, you know, this stuff is really making me feel strange and act funny when I eat a lot of it.
So if you stay away from it, then you really can get a better control on what it's doing to your brain and your body.
Yeah, what does it do to your Is it more of a physical thing or a mental thing or is it both?
Well, it's both. I mean, you know, when you consume sugar, it's affecting your blood sugar levels, which then in turn affects your neurotransmitter levels, and so it's affecting your brain. And I think you know, we have this physical change that occurs in response to that, right we react to it. Our brain tells us, you know, how to react and
how to feel. But there is also this psychological piece of it too, and I think that goes along with the fact that you know, it is so pervasive in our society and it's sort of this forbidden thing in many ways.
You know, we know.
Sugar's bad for us, you know, we shouldn't have too much of it, and then when we do indulge, we get that psychologic guilt. And I think this is what happens with a lot of people who were dieting right around this time of year. Everybody's you know, trying to clean up their diet and maybe lose a couple pounds, like you said in the beginning, Yeah, and you know you get that guilt if you gave in and you know, ate that giant slap cake, then you feel bad about it.
You feel like you let yourself down. So that's important to avoid and I talk about that in my new book Sugarless, about how you know, you want to change your relationship with food. You don't want to, you know, have this unhealthy relationship with the things that we're eating. It's got to be a healthy dynamic, all.
Right, Nicole Vina is here. Sugar List is the book, and it's the big problem for people, and that is kicking the sugar hat. But if you want to lose weight, sugar is definitely going to add some hidden calories and it does a lot. One of the issues that came up and this is totally wow, it's kind of related. Now I won't know how to get in this is we just legalized not long ago for recreational use. Ohio did recreational marijuana, and the opponents of it to always
talk about how it's a gateway drug. You smoke some weed, it's gonna next thing you'd be shooting heroin. You get blasts, you get a cocaine nipple, bumps, everything right, And I never I think that's a bunch of bunk. And I basically my counter to this was, well, if that's the case, if that's the gateway, is the real gateway drug caffeine or in this case, sugar is sugar gateway drugged other things?
Absolutely, I think sugar is a gate I think it's the original gateway drug.
So right, Halloween comes along the holidays. Whatever you pack your kid full of candy Easter and they lose their mind and their mounds off the walls. They're like, wow, I feel great after each sugar. That's that's a drug.
Yeah, And you know, we've actually conducted research studies in my laboratory looking at that, looking at the relationship between sugar and then behavior later on and proclivity to use drugs and alcohol. And for sure, if you have experience with sugar, you're more likely to use drugs for alcohol. So yeah, I think that's that's really the bigger problem. It's you know, it's not about recreational marijuana. I think it's about getting to the root of the problem, which
is sugar. And it starts, you know, in kids when they're three, four or five years old.
It's crazy you have a a few years later, you're doing lines off the near end of a hooker. It's it's it's a town, it's a slippery slope, nicole, it sure is.
It really is, all.
Right, So sugar, there's just sugar addiction and drug dependency. And there certainly is a link there too, because you get that. It's it's that feeling that you wind up getting, go wow, the sugar high. This is this is really cool, and then later on you're looking for that maybe in different ways. So it makes sense. But again, it's it's moderation, it's tolerance, it's a bunch of other things too. And we also have a culture in our society too, this
diet culture. You know, there's a gym I drive by, uh near my house, it's the gym, and then right next door is like a cookie place, So it's you can't even get past the gym without being tempted by by cookies. And I think we have a thing where, hey, if I work out, I can treat myself to a cookie or sweets later in the day. And the problem is you just eat too many of them.
Yeah, what is that? That's happening where I live in New Jersey too. I feel like that there must be something going on with like the planning boards of you have to put a cookie joint next to the gym, because I've seen neither myself. Yeah, I think you know, you're so right that it's sort of part of this culture of like rewarding ourselves. If we do something good like workout, right, then we're supposed to reward ourselves with
a cookie. And I think that happens on multiple levels throughout the day for a lot of people when you know they do a good job at work, or let's go out and you know, celebrate by getting ice cream, if you've got a good grade on your test. You know, it just happens throughout the day in multiple ways where
people reward themselves with food. And that's fine, But the problem is, you know, if you're rewarding every little thing that you do right with food, then that's where people start to get into problems with you know, health issues, diabetes.
Being over weed.
Yeah, yeah, and I in our household, we had to fight that. I mean, if me and my two brothers would have stayed at home and lived at home, God would probably be four thousand pounds by now. My mom and you know, hey, you're having a bad day, have a meatball. You're having a good day. Here, have two meatballs. Gonna be one of those one of those Italian mom situations. What about withdrawal, We mentioned the connection between sugar is a gateway drug and a full dependency on sugar later
in life. And like anything that means there's withdrawal symptoms. We know what it is for other hard street drugs which are much more serious and sugar certainly, but are there withdraw symptoms and how do you combat that?
Yeah?
Absolutely, And so I think this is one of the main reasons why people end up going back on sugar is because of the withdrawal. We see this this time of year where people say, Okay, I'm going to cut back on sugar, and then all of a sudden, they get irritable, and they get lethargic and cranky and crabby, and you know, maybe they're tired a lot and a lot of times people will misattribute that and say, oh, it must be that I have low blood sugar, so I better eat more sugar so that I can make
sure I don't pass out. Well, the reality is it's withdrawal. That's what sugar withdrawal looks like. It's you know, these feelings that are similar to what would happen if you try to quit smoking cigarettes. That's really been the one that seems to parallel at most. And again, you know, it's not going to kill you. You're not going to you know, die from the withdrawal, but it's uncomfortable, and you know, a lot of times it's enough for people to then say you know what, forget it. I'm just
going to have some sugar so I feel better. But then that starts to pull vicious cycle all over again. Of you know, Okay, now I'm overeating sugar, and then I try to quick and I wink to withdrawal, and then I crave it, and so it's this non stop cycle that emerges.
Where are you on artificial sweeteners, That's a good question.
So I look at them as kind of like the methadone to heroin, right. I mean, they're better than sugar, but you don't want to stay on it for the rest of your life. And so what I usually recommend is that if you are really struggling to get the added sugar out of your diet, if you need to rely on some of these artificial sweeteners or these alternative sweeteners as a crutch to kind of bridge you away
from it, then that's fine. But the ultimate goal should really be to reduce the dependence on the sweeteners in our diet. You know, we don't need to add sugar to everything we have. Coffee is a perfect example. And I've been talking about this a lot because I think about it more and more when I go to a coffee shop anymore, it's more like going into a sugar shop. I mean there's more sugar in the store that.
There is coffee.
So again, we have to, I think, really just focus on reducing the dependence on sweetness and think about, you know, why do we have to have sugar in all these different things that maybe doesn't really belong there in the first place.
Yeah, I got a little cream in my coffee. That's about it, just to you know, get that little balance going on. But black is fine too.
Yeah.
You know, you go to a place and it's kind of frightening actually that some of these drinks. I don't want to vilify any coffee chain, Starbucks, but you go in there and one of their drinks is the same number of calories as a big Mac. That's a problem.
Oh yeah, and they're desserts. I mean, I don't even know how they can be considered coffees anymore. I mean they're like literally desserts. I think I could probably find fewer calories at the ice cream store than I could from you know, many of these coffee chains. So you do need to be mindful of that. And the marketing
is a big part of it. I mean they're marketed as being you know, coffee drinks and you're getting your energy and getting it through that three pm slump, But the reality is, you know you're going to hit a huge crash when that sugar wears off, and it's going to be compounded by you know the fact that your craffein's wearing off as well.
Right, get caffeine and the sugar at the same time. You put two or three of those down to some people do a day, and you're talking a full day amount of calories just in your liquids on top of everything else. And you wonder why, you know, we're a little heavy. So uh, people concerned about maybe dropping a few LB's and getting right as we as. We have those cycles every year and this would be one of those cycles. A good idea would be looking at how
much sugar you're getting in your diet. Sugarless is the name of the book. It's Nicole A.
Vine.
I know you have some strategies in there too for trying to wing yourself off the sugar.
Right, Yeah, absolutely, I have a whole seven step plan that talks about how you can figure out where the sugar is in your diet. Because a lot of people just don't know right, kind of hidden in many places. And then also dealing with you know, the cravings. That's really a big thing. And I think that's a hard problem for a lot of people because you know, everywhere we got ads for it all the time. You're you know, being offered it basically everywhere you go. And so how
do you cope with that? And you know, really just reevaluating your relationship with food and really just basically retooling yourself so that you can eat things alike, but just not have them have so much control over you.
Yeah, And I think it's the thing. We all have our food triggers. I guess I'm a savory person, lesson more than a sweet one. You know, put up pizza in front of me, I'll kill it. But yeah, you know, an entire cake or I may have a cupcake, but I'm going to eat twelve of them. But everyone has their own triggers. But if here's a sugar Sugar list is the name of the book, and it's Nicole Avina. She's a PhD but also a world renowned neuroscientist. So
great having on the show this morning. Thanks for the.
Info, all right, Thank you.
Yeah, you lean into it, and then after the holidays hopefully you're back off unless you've got that elf diet or everything you eat is sugar. I know people like that. So there you go. All right, we're winding it down for twenty twenty five and we'll get news here in just a few minutes. Traffick other all that just ahead. Scott's Loan Show seven HLW.
Do you want to be an americanity?
Here we go.
It's a Scott's Loan Show Monday more seven hundred ww. Here we go from the Big Bengals win yesterday, enjoying life. What is not to love about this time of the year. I got something for you because it's all not you know, happy holidays, even though that's most of the show today.
I don't know if you caught this, but seven on Friday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine shockingly line item vetoed a provision of the state CB law which will now effectively ban the sale of something a lot of o'hon wands enjoy and that would be the hemp derived THC beverages that you can get in bars and restaurants and other similar products from General e taylers in the state, not necessarily carry outs and Lifebo're talking about bars, and we're talking about bars that have spent a fortune to try and
stay alive because the craft industry is fading, anda and fused beverages of the future, and they've been embraced by millions of Ohios. And with one stroke with pen, the governor overrode that and the band means these beverages that millions and enjoy can no longer be sold in locations like convenience stores, bars, breweries or general stores. And these restrictions will take effect in mid March. I cannot believe
that it's come to this. Ohio State Senator Steve Hopman from Just the Tipsity joining the show this morning on seven hundred w W Steve, I wish I wish you a good morning. It doesn't feel like a good morning based on what feels like a good part of your life's work here. I mean, you've spent so much time on Senate Bill fifty six, being the author of it, and this is like the fifteenth time we've had this conversation about stuff getting changed.
Well, you're right now, We're done with it. There's a couple of House members that have already introduced some other things that they'd like to see change. But overall it was a good bill. But unfortunately the governor saw differently on this one subject.
Did he explain his reasoning why and please just don't tell me because it's about the children.
Yes, So whenever he line item vetos, he has a you know, the reason for doing it, And basically he said that there would be confusion because you know in the bill, you know, we got rid of gummies, different things like that, especially for children. So we got rid of that, but then we carved out the beverages until November because we're following the federal law. And he said there would be too much confusion with the beverages being
outlawed before the you know, after the other one. So we're just going to outlaw everything all at once in ninety days.
Okay, Well, if it's the federal legislation is the root cause of these problems, and giving this Congress just banned certain THT products when you know they reopened the government, why did we need Why would the governor have to act more aggressively than federal rock requires rather than just simply mirroring federal standards.
Well, I mean in the bill we did because we in Ohio wanted to get rid of the gummies and stuff that underage kids were getting. And we were doing that in ninety days. I'm not sure that there would be confusion among the consumers, at least for the you know, over the next year. It would give people to finish their you know, whatever allotment that they currently have. But also in the bill, it would allow them to continue
to process. We were at five milligrams, so that was you know, your six percent, like a six percent beer, but would allow was going to allow Ryan Geist and fifty West to process at ten or twenty so that they could sell out a state, make money, keep people employed that has gone away in ninety days.
Also, does the.
Governor realize how many millions of Ohioans not only enjoy this, but how many thousands of people of employees? Does he understand the business dynamic here?
I you know, that would have to be a question for him. My understanding in the state of Ohio this year it is a seventy five million dollar business, mostly in the craft industries. You know, recently Cores and Anheuser Busch is starting to get into the industry. But basically it's a something that you find in the craft.
Yeah, and as I talked to purveyors of craft beer, the taste for craft beer has ebbed. I mean, we hit a peak. Everything has a business cyclist, you know, Steve Hoffman, and now we're starting to be like the post you know, select beer kind of thing. A lot of people still enjoy it. I don't think it's going to go away, but it's pretty clear that people are switching to other beverages. Seltzer's are big, and certainly THC beverages are big too. So my concern is you don't
give people that option. Do they go back to drinking craft beer? Probably not, They'll find something else. I would imagine that these breweries aren't selling, doesn't that mean jobs and some of these breweries closing up?
I would think so, you know, you know, the statistics I see is that people under thirty drink more of the THHC drinks than they do than they do beer. And you know, seventy five million dollar industry in the state of Ohio, that seems to be a good number of jobs that ultimately would be lost. And do they go to beer or something else or do they just they want the THCHC effect and do they just start smoking it?
Yeah?
Right, and kind of cut the middle man out entirely. And you know what, I cringe every time. And you know, Mike the Wine is a Republican, and I hear about how Republicans are pro business, pro small business, pro growth, proll is and they do things like this that completely lead me scratching my head. Is Mike the Wine turning his back on what used to be conservative values? There has always been this way?
Well, I mean, I again, you need to talk to him about it, but I think he is more concerned about safety of people and health of people, and I believe that's in conflict of of what other people are thinking that these things do for him.
Mike the Wine is a lawyer. He's not a physician. You, Steve Hoffman, are a physician. What's your physician's take on this stuff? Are people killing themselves when they sip THHD and fuse beverages?
You know, I think, like any other intoxicating substances, it's within reason. So if you're within reason and you're not going out and driving after taking large quantities of them, No, I don't think we know the long term health effects of these things. But you know, the early science says, you know, it's not that bad. You know, maybe beer and whiskey in the long term might be even worse for you, but you know, no real big negative effects currently known.
Yeah, that we currently know.
Now.
The future is always you know, always changes, science always improves, and we listen to that science. But at the same time, I have a definitive right by God to put whatever it is on why my body. Plenty of people abuse substances, food, whatever it might be. I mean, you name me something in the world and I'll find somebody who abuses it.
And you see that all the time in your practice, Steve, and have to deal with those kinds of things for sure, And you see the effects of people not taking care of their bodies and neglecting their health and focusing on too many vices. And when we say that declined. But again we all know that today. We know that cigarettes are carcinogen, We know that smoking is not good for you. We know about popcorn lung now with vaping and things like that. But again, you could do things in moderation,
and it's fine to me. It just seems to not only be left to the adults to make a decision. Not kids, of course, but adults. And we know what we put in our bodies. I mean, it's not I don't think an exaggeration and think, okay, should there be a I don't know the side. Remember when more liberal states we're talking about banning the size of sodas, we're going to talk about regulating the fast food industry and only being allowed to get McDonald's once a month as
I mean, how far does the government go. I hear these things, and you know, damnit, I'm a grown person. I can make an informed decision is what I want to consume and put in my own body. It should not be up to the governor with the stroke of a pen to undermine that. Because I think, in your opinion on this, Steve, does this at some level go against the will of the voters. Let's not forget almost six and ten people supported recreational marijuana and Ohio we
generated over seven hundred million in the first year. At what point does the legislative modification of a voter approved citizen and it should have crossed the line from reasonable regulation and define the clear will of what people want.
Well, I don't disagree with that a lot of that. But the beverages had nothing to do with the ballot initiative because we're talking hemp and the ballot initiative was strictly concerning marijuana. Yeah so, but you should, within reason, have the uh the right to do, you know. In the same for however you feel about tradum. You know, his pharmacy board last week is going to outlaw that, and many people feel that is of benefit for their own health.
Yeah, let's say. I mean, I don't go the weave on that, but I think it's an excellent point. Stamfuffman is is creative. A lot of people know what that is. I mean I I personally don't use it. I don't really know anyone that does. It's been around for what's the substance what's a concern with cretum?
Creative is something kind of like a t from East Asia that that many that that people use and they feel that it helps with anxiety and sleep and a lot of things that that that the hamp people do. But in that end, there there's a substance. The intoxicating substance is known as seven oh H and it is at a very very low level, so it's really not
thought to be intoxicating. But just like camp they manufacturers will concentrate seven O H and put a large amount in there and then makes it dangerous, makes it makes it intoxicating, and and so that's uh, you know, we're you know, the pharmacy board is gonna band all of it.
So but at the same time, we live in a country where you could get you know, an intoxicating marshroom tea or so some of those lines where you know, a tribal ancestors been using that for for eons, right and seemingly I don't know if there's all effects to that or not, but for some people they feel that it's therapeutic.
I agree. I just you know, it's a scheduled uh it's not scheduled one, but he wants to make the scheduled one drugs so we can get rid of it. But there's no real scientific research, you know, a high state and you see and other highly academic places aren't really doing the research or haven't done the research to tell us this is good for you, and this is what it's it's you know, this is why it's mad.
The cat's catch twenty two. It's a schedule one, so they can't research it. And then they people who made us schedule one say well there's not research. Yeah, because you made a schedule one. We can't do research on something that's that's that controlled. It's simple.
Yeah. You know, how how about the great news from Donald Trump last week on marijuana?
Really good? This is an odd game, isn't it. I mean you mentioned, okay, yeah, the Sistanist initiative and sixty percent of people wanting recreacial THC marijuana. You got, Well, that doesn't this this THHC, the CBD, THHG derivative liquids and the alcohol well not alcohols but the beverages. It's not really what the vote. But I get that argument the same time, it's I think the spirit of it is going, hey, you know what if I can smoke THC? What is it that far reach to think that that
would include CBD derived beverages like this? And now that Trump is doing what he's doing, I think that's even more against what what Mike Line thanks with this vetout.
No, I don't, I don't disagree. You know, when when Trump said that you know, I'm going to speed up the process of making the marijuana THHC a Scheduled three drug and Schedule one. It will be great for the banking industry. We can't you know, can't bank. It's all cash business in the dispensaries and in everything.
Uh.
And it'll provide the ability to do scientific research. And I am I'm hoping that, uh, the academic institutes in the state of Ohio will jump on it and be able to go out and get federal funding to say marijuana is good for you or it's bad for you, and let's settle this for you know, what type and how and what conditions.
Steve another, by the way, that's the Ohio State Senator Steve Huffman on the show on seven hundred w OLW. I'm sure you heard Mike the line shockingly line item vetoed a provision in our state CBD law. You know, the the CBD slash THHD infused beverages that a lot of people enjoy. That's spurned an entire industry that's rapidly growing as big as a craft bret beer industry. And it was I think in a few years of clips that because so many people want this stuff. Mke the
wine ban that in Ohio. So all these companies that leaned in and invested the small brewers, the rhyin geis the fifty west of the world and others are no longer in ninety days going to be able to sell and produce that stuff. And so six thousand plus people and so six thousand small businesses alone, by the way, businesses, not people, but six thousand businesses are no longer going to be able to compete in the sphere, despite the massive demand by millions of adult Ohioans that want this stuff.
The other element here too, we had talked about, I think last time around Steve about protections for housing, employment, organ donation, stuff like that. Is that been removed by the governors. That's still in there.
It's still in there. Basically, those things are things that mere previous laws. I don't believe there was anything really new in there. I mean, if you're a smoker, you can be banned from an organ transplant because of scientific studies that show that you and so that's why it was the you know, the organ band is still has been included in there.
Is there a connection medically, Steve, between the organ donation and marijuana. Why would you be excluded.
From that, if I remember right, the law doesn't say that you are excluded. It says if there's a scientific basis, you can be excluded if if they feel hey, look if if if science shows that if you smoke marijuana and you get a liver transplant plant, your likelihood of rejection as higher. If the science is there, then we should should stick by it. But we shouldn't just totally get rid of that not based on science.
Yeah, I mean, if it's science says that you have a higher rate of not not being able to get the organ, so it's kind of a waste of that pressure tree. So I kind of get that element. One of the thing I saw too was allowing police to establish probable cause during traffic stops because someone is a known user of marijuana. Is that still part of this.
I can't remember, but again I think that was you know, restated from previously that you know, when we initially did the medical marijuana law back in twenty sixteen, most of the drug dogs in the state were became obsolete because when they smelled marijuana, they would have hit and they you couldn't tell if it was a legal substance or an illegal substance or where they derived it from. So
that caused a lot of a lot of trouble. But you know they if they still have probable cause not because you're smoking, because they feel you're impaired, they would be able to do a field sobriety test.
Yeah, a lot of contradictions here. It just leads one scratching. There is there any remedy here for manufacturers? And I'll try to get somebody on maybe from Ryan Guister fifty West to talk about this later on. Is this fight completely over to this? In the overturned.
Well, in the original bill, the House and the Senate and had an agreement that we would, you know, the Feds are going to get rid of it in a year in November twenty six if they change things, that we would look at that and see because we didn't have time to put taxes on as regulations in the whole scheme of things, so we kept the plan was to keep it till November, so we can re look
at it from that. But from that aspect and see if Governor DeWine has a different view of it, we could look at a veto override it would take two thirds of each each body so there are some things we could reintroduce this, you know, when there's a new governor.
Well that won't be long, that won't be much either year, but still ramping down production, ramping it back up. I don't know what to tell the six thousand small businesses out that have invested in this stuff when it was illegal yesterday, now it's illegal today or ninety days. I should say, Steve, my head is scratching. You're you're scratching your head, I'm sure, but we'll leave it at that,
and you have a merry Christmas. Thanks again for a joining the show and keep us updated and what the future holds for this.
Yeah, Merry Christmas to you and your family and all your listeners.
You take care of Scott. Thanks against Steve. That's Ohio State Senator Steve Hoffman from just the Tips city just north of Dayton and Mike to wine again allegedly pro business. I don't know how this is pro business, pro pro consumer because it goes against the face of the hottest growing beverage. I guess niche in the state right now, if not the country, for that manner, we don't want any part of it. Why it's about the children oh
my god. Stop seven hundred w welw. Everyone needs help every now and then, and it's easier to help us get our heads right. This is Mental Health Monday with mental health expert Julie Hettershire. All right, it's hard to believe that twenty twenty five is coming to a close and the end of the year calendar. You know, we've got a lot crammed in there, lots go on, lots to do, a lot of things to wrap up at the end of the year.
You know.
One of the things we'll talk later is about credit reports and pulling those look at those, you know, financial advice Andy Schaeffer tomorrow. Beyond talking about that in one area though people often don't think about it, and that is what Julie's here to talk about this morning on seven hundred WW Julie hat to share our licensed mental health expert. It's Mental Health Monday on the Scotsland Show. Welcome. How are you hey?
I great?
Thanks?
Helly?
You good?
Ready for the holidays? Ready for the what do you got gone for the holidays?
We're having family over on Christmas and then a couple of days later we're taking off for a week going someplace warm and beachy.
It's going to be lovely.
Oh nice, good time to get away, all right. So this one weird trick for your mental health would be what.
Well, this is something that I've been doing for a few years. I didn't invent it. Lots of people do it, and it's called sort of a year end life review. And you know, businesses do year end reviews. You if you're an employee of a business, you very often get
a performance review annually. But we don't often take a look at our own lives in a holistic way and ask ourselves some questions and reflect on what went well and what didn't go as well over the course of the year so that we can set ourselves up for success going into the following year. And I think I've been doing this about four or five years now, and I love it. I love the whole process.
So I thought we could talk about.
It as a way to close out twenty five and set ourselves up for success.
It's like a personal annual self review sort of thing. You got to tact grow. Most of us, though, tend to yeah, people like, hey, you know something bad, I don't want to talk about it, ignore it. But there are those of us that tend to just focus on the future because you know, I can't change what happened. I can learn from it and move forward. I don't really want to look back. Is that flawed thinking?
Well, you can learn from it and move forward, but only if you take the time to reflect on not only what happened, but what it meant and why it happened, and how maybe to prevent what you didn't like, and to optimize for and maximize what you did like. So if business has just closed out their books at the end of the year and started fresh the following year without learning lessons positive or negative from what happened in the prior year, they wouldn't have the level of success
that they do. If they do a comprehensive review, what were our hits, what were our this is what went well, what didn't and why, and move forward from that. So it's not really dwelling in the past. It's learning from your year to set yourself up for an even better year to come.
All right, So seven point maintenance check. You're like your car, what do you got?
Yeah?
So the first one is and I don't didn't do this when this article that I we are going to list in the show notes is one that I really liked. And the first question that the guy asked is what did I change my mind about this year? What did I think I knew, or what did I think was true? Or what did I think was right.
That I learned wasn't.
Because one of the things that we know about mental well being, both cognitive and emotional into old age is that cognitive flexibility is really important. Being able to think something is true and then being able to find evidence that indicates it's not, being able to consider that evidence
and maybe change your mind. This mental and cognitive flexibility is really important for emotional well being but also cognitive health as you enter later into life, and so being able to take a look at what you believed and what you might have changed your mind about and how cognitively flexible you were over the course of the year, and then also what those changes meant. So you may have thought A was true, you realize at that point
A is not true for you. I mean, it may be factually true, but it doesn't work for you anymore. So you change your mind about it, And what does that do for you during the rest of the year, How does that impact your life?
Going forward.
So being able to take a look at that is really important.
Okay, we're in the post truth world, though, and many more people would rather be right than finding the truth.
Well, in that case, then this question may not appeal to them, but I.
Look at it.
I look at it at it as sort of you know, software updates for your brain. You know, you update your phones, you update your computer. Things that used to work didn't work anymore, lands that you tried. So, for example, I tried to scheduling tactic with some of my clients over the last couple of months of the year.
Wasn't a huge hit. Not going to do it anymore.
Thought it would be. Tried it, it wasn't. I'm not going to do it anymore. It doesn't have to.
Be actual facts.
It can just be I tried this, it didn't work, I changed my mind. I did something else. But how cognitively flexible are you?
Okay? Good?
Next up?
What gave you energy?
What we energy you?
Whether it's physical energy from.
Working out, sleeping more, and eating better, whether it's energy from being with different kinds of people, whether you started a new hobby or a new project.
That really really got you juiced. What gave you energy.
This year and take a look not only at the thing itself, but sort of a larger theme and see how you can incorporate more energy promoting things into your life going forward.
So, if you did a.
Home reno project for the first time and you found you really liked it, are there more things like that that you can do to create positive, generative, life affirming energy in your world? And what really got you turned on and got you juiced this year is another really good question.
To ask, gotcha all right that? No, that makes a lot of sense and find that and then maximize that for the next year, obviously would be the suggestion there.
Yes, maximize that for the next year. If being with certain types of people really work, do more of that?
Right?
Good?
And then and then the flip of that is what drained your energy? What were the vampires? What sucked your energy this year? Was it people that you spent time with certain people? Was it activities or projects that you were involved in. Was it staying up too late if we're talking about physical well being, was it staying up
too late? What really sucked your energy this year? And if you can take a look again at the overall themes of that, then you can try to minimize those and optimize for the things that at least or neutral, if not create energy in your life.
Okay, yeah, it makes sense. You got a look at the it's yin and yang understandably, Julie Hatter's here the term boat anchor. We know a boat anchor is, but how does it apply to what we're talking about here.
Well, for all of us, we have some things in our life that kind of hold us back. They don't necessarily prevent us from getting where we want to go, but they make it harder. So, you know, we have maybe an unsupportive spouse if we're trying to get healthier, or we have a boss who doesn't really seem to put our ideas forward. We have to work really hard
to get anywhere with that person. Or we have some beliefs that seem to hold us back from doing our best, like women can't be successful, or I shouldn't make too much money or whatever.
That can kind of hold us back.
And so just taking a look at what those things might be that aren't necessarily preventing you from getting somewhere, but are making it harder.
For you to get where you want to go. You have to work twice as hard to get half as far. Those are boat anchors, and just kind.
Of understanding in your own life what those are and then minimizing, eliminating if you can, or figuring out how to work around them so that you can maximize your success and your potential and your happiness in the new year can be really impactful.
We tend to look at the.
Things that stop us, but we don't necessarily tend to look at the things that flow us down or make things harder than they ought to be.
Yeah, because you're dragging that anchor, is what you're doing. But for many people, isn't that going to be your career or your job? And what does that mean?
Well, it might be for sure. And one of the things that this life review can let you do is if you are in a career a job that you really don't like and that really is an energy suck for you, then you can take a look at maximizing the positives in other areas of your life to sort of balance out the negative of the work. I realize not everybody loves their work like I do, and so being able to maximize the positives the projects, the hobbies,
the people. The activities, the habits that really build your energy and build the positivity in your life can work to offset some of the negativity around maybe your job, maybe a family situation that you can't get out of, maybe a health situation that you can't get out of. I mean, boat anchors can certainly be poor health. That doesn't prevent you something, but it just makes it harder.
You're in pain or movement is hard. So maximizing the positive can help offset some of the negative or minimize the impact of some of the negatives.
It's mental Health Money and the Scott's Loan Show on seven hundred WLW. She's July how to share local licensed mental health therapist and the Personal Annual Review, which very few people do, and it certainly is it has great appeal. I think you know you want to be a better version of yourself in twenty twenty six and you were twenty five. And there are seven things you should do if you do your own self analysis mental health analysis, one being what did I change my mind on this year?
The second one is what created energy? Then what took my energy away? Number four is what are the boat anchors in my life? And that brings us to number five.
Yeah, what could I not do because I was afraid? What did I want to do but I didn't do? Because I was afraid?
For me? That would be skiing.
Skiing terrifies me. I'd really like to I'd really like to learn, but I get so freaked out about that. There's no way I think I'll.
Ever be able to scary about skiing.
I can't stop, and stopping is a really important part.
You can trust me, you can stop. It may not be pretty, but you can stop yourself.
It may be a freaking yard sale when I stop, and I may take others down with me.
It could be really ugly.
I'm gonna take you ski and that you know what I'm gonna let's do that. We should make a play day. I'm gonna take you ski date.
All right.
You've never skied before.
I have, and I'm really bad.
At it, all right.
I haven't scanned.
You many times and I'm really bad.
Okay, all right, we may have to do that and break your fear of that. So I'll go out to perfect North, all right. So what did I not do? Because of fear? And a lot of people have move There's some people that are extremely brave, they'll do anything. But man, you don't fear. It gets in your head and that's a huge problem.
Yeah it is, and you know, you can take a look at it. I didn't do this thing becau as I was afraid. What would have been the upsides if I had done it? What would have been the downsides?
Now that it's.
Past and I'm looking at it in the rear view mirror, I can maybe take a more clear eyed look at it and recognize where the fear came from. And fear comes from being new at something, from not knowing how to do it, from being inexperienced. Very often, it doesn't come from being incompetent. It usually comes from being inexperienced and new, and the only way to get experience is to do things.
So there's a really.
Great book out there called Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. I can't remember who wrote it, but it's a classic. It's been around for a long time, and it talks about how fear can actually motivate and energize you to do things if.
You harness it correctly.
But I think taking a look at our year and saying, what did I not do because I was afraid can set us up to be braver going into the new year and to really more clearly analyze the risks and benefits.
Yeah, yeah, and that's true. The fear thing is true, especially the more of a competitor or someone who's a perfectionist, because that fear gets in your head and it'll prevent you from doing things in life that you enjoy. And that's a whole different matter.
Yeah, it really can.
Yeah. Yeah. Greatest hits and worst missus number six.
Yeah, So I think it's important to take a look.
At what went well, really well, and what didn't go so well and optimized for what did go well. We learn as much from analyzing what works as we do from analyzing what doesn't work, because sometimes we think it worked and we don't need to pay attention to it, but oftentimes the reasons why it worked, the ingredients for the hit are replicable if we understand what they are, so we tend to take apart the missus the things
that didn't work and really analyze those deeply. It's also important to analyze what did go well and understand why, so you can do more of what works, which is a great, great tactic, and it's important to do a balance, not just look at the things that didn't go well,
because the pessimist tends to do that. Optimists to look at what worked, but take a balanced view what worked and what didn't, and understand a little bit about why that is, so that going forward you can optimize for the positives and minimize the negatives.
All right, So Albert Einstein famous you said, when you stop learning, you start dying, and that would be number seven. What did you learn this year?
Yeah? What did you learn? What new thing did you learn? It might be something you changed your mind about, as in question one, it might be a whole new thing you learned. Did you learn to play piano? Did you learn that you like spicy food when you didn't think you did. Did you learn how to ski? Maybe that's me next year with you. But what did you learn this year? What new thing did you try? What were you willing to be a beginner at? What did you allow life to surprise you with? What did you learn
this year? Because we really are creatures that are meant to grow and learn until the day we die, and oftentimes we get stuck in our bubbles of competence.
We know how to do this.
We know we like this, we know we like to go there, and we keep doing the same thing over and over. So did you expand your horizons in any way? Did you broaden your world and make it bigger and richer?
In any way?
Did you learn something new? And what was that and what impacts that have on you? And how can you maybe do more of that going into the future.
Okay, makes sense. Julie Hatter Share a licensed mental health therapist. Your own personal annual review in your head? What did you change your mind on this year? What created energy? What drained your energy? What are the boat anchors in your life? The things slowing you down? What did you do because of fear or did not do because of fear? Greatest hits worth, missus, and what you learned this year.
I'll kind of center around the same theme. But and if you do this, you have a greater direction of what twenty twenty six is going to look for you. I appreciate you so much and thanks for joining the show every Monday all this year, and I look forward to meeting up with you and maybe skiing in twenty twenty sixth.
Joly, it sounds great. We'll talk soon.
Take care Merry Christmas. Be well, my friend, let's do a news update and boor to follow here it's a Scott's Loan show on the home of the best Bengals coverage, Big Dub Yesterday, Big Dub's Baby seven hundred WW Cincinnati. Do you want to.
Be an Americans?
Got flowing seven hundred W A guest the leads the nation in spam and scam messaging. This guy, Ohio, congratulations and study just came out and said, we get more junk mail, more phishing emails, more fake texts or tolls we never went through and have to pay. It's incredible. I don't know why that is. We're gonna find out. His name is Brian Cross. Brian lives in the realm of SMS messaging and he is one of the guys who follows this stuff on a very very close basis.
And I guess, Brian, I've always said this, first of all, welcome. Secondly, if we didn't respond to the spam and the scams, they wouldn't send us as much stuff. It's our fault because clearly there are people who love junk mail.
You know, That's exactly it. There's there's always the complaint of junk mail in the mailbox, and you know, the response always the junk maan would go away if it didn't work. These marketers have budgets and they've got ROI numbers to hit, and if a tactic isn't working, they're the first to stop it. So these things keep coming because they make money.
It's an interesting study though, too, because I'm trying to think ten thousand ads a day. Do you think that is six to ten thousand ads a day is with the typical person faces And you're like, I don't really see that many. Well, I guess if you included billboards and radio and television typical broadcast, but then factor in you know, email, product placement, text messaging, things like that, maybe you're getting close to that mark. But that seems softly high.
Ten thousand seems very high. I've you know, I've heard that number in terms of pieces of information things that we see, but an actual advert something like that, that does seem a bit high.
Well, there's no doubt about it. You know, most people don't like this. I guess it would be that one third of consumers in the service, if sixty six percent surveyed said they want fewer marketing messages. That means a third are fine with them out there getting or don't think they're getting enough, which is driving this whole problem.
Yeah, I'd be curious to break that one down. I've none of those people are saying I need more.
But well, somebody is responding or clicking on this. I mean that's the thing with social anyway. If you click, even accidentally on something, that algorithm is going to force more of that type of product to your device. And not only that, it's also going to show them, hey, we've got to click through here, So that encourages more of the bad behavior it does.
It does, and marketers have this thing. There's many different ways called three sixty cults around, sound caught, whatever, but they're basically starting from a point where they say, hey, if you know, there's there's information that says the average consumer makes the buying decision after being touched at least seven to twelve times, and there I think with gen why now I think that jumps up to like twenty, So it means I got to talk to you, you have to see something from me at least seven or
eight times before you even start thinking of buying my products. So the three sixty the surround sound. You know, you think, okay, I need to surround the consumer. I need to touch you with its you know, TV radio, out of home Internet, where do you go like text message there. That's that's why we're seeing all of this because you know it's sort of I guess exasperates it, right, It's it's okay, if Jen why is twenty hits? You know this is
gen Z going to be thirty five hits. So if the science so that have to touch you that many times, that's probably going to increase the amount of advertising you see from every brand that is out there.
Yeah, because in order to I guess overwhelm your senses to put that to the top of your feed, so to speak, you've got to hit people more with your message in order to get through it.
You do. Now, that's that's one theory, right. So you know there's there's there's lots to talk to you know, disruption and differentiation and things like that. You know, I mean, every everybody, every marketing school as a slide where you see like, you know, all these advertising you know, usually like in Times Square or something like that, but I mean you see billboard over billboard over billboard over billboard and things like that, and you're taught, Okay, you have
to differentiate from this. Well, everyone's differentiating with quantity. But one of the things that kind of has been going away. You think I would say quality, right, so you can combat quantity. You do quality well, generally quality is a subjective term, but basically you know some sort of creativity, some sort of risker reward. One of the other problems that we have in marketing is not just the number, the sheer number of it, but everyone's doing the same thing.
They all blend together. The reason why it takes eighteen hits, twenty hits whatever to find somebody is because they all look the same. Everybody is afraid of losing their job. CMO have this what I think it's sounded like an eighteen month average tenure at their company. So everybody's following the data trends. Everybody's following, you know, the best practices. Everybody's playing it safe. Well, the thing is is if you go down to the base core of marketing, it
is to differentiate. So if you look like your competitor and everyone's doing the same thing and doing what data tells you to do, or gosh. Now, whatever the aipot tells you to do, you look the same. You're not differentiating. Quite frankly, you're not doing your job. And I think that that's why the majority of all this marketing that you're seeing is useless, because it's terrible. It's not the right stuff.
Yeah, it's retally interesting. I mean, you know, having some experience in this to Brian and not certainly your level, but you know you watch I don't know, streaming or a regular broadcast television, let's say, because you know I get the the visual. Two is you know every car ad looks the same. And I always joke about it, is I just listen. I just need this suv or this truck to get me through the potholes in Cincinnati.
I'm not driving up a mountain. I'm not towing the Queen Mary, I'm not trying to pull I don't know, some sort of it looks like a giant steel cover over the top of a nuclear missile silo or something, all right, And no one is driving their truck like that. And you know there's a new one the rendering the super Bowl, the Jeep one where there's a charging station on top of a Mountain. Yeah, no one's doing that.
So but that's to your point, right, is that somebody will come up with that idea and everyone will rush to copy. We've seen I think the diversity thing in TV and also broadcast too, right, is if you look at your typical ad now, they're really I think I think a lot of these says are more diverse than
what the that's reflective of the general population. I know someone may take that in a Dilbert kind of wrong way, but that's what I'm saying is you just have this rush to imitate that going Okay, well we need a lot more diversity, or we need a lot more of these the same thing over and over and over, and you just beat the you just beat it to death.
We're taught about authenticity, and we're taught about you know, hey, if if you really want to consumers to pay attention to advertising, it needs to provide value. And and a lot of people scratch their head and they're like, how
does it. How does the advertise that provide value? And sure, you can do things like hey, here's a you know, here's a recipe for my you know, liquor brand or whatever that provides value, but you know what what struck me is is when you were talking about driving the potholes of Cincinnati, and I was thinking about you know, if you think about a pizza commercial, right, every pizza commercial is a slice of pizza being pulled away from the main pie with this long the cheese pull. So
that that's what all these marketers are rushing to. But there was a key study and a few years ago where Dominoes basically went and and and and put these trucks out on the street. You know, obviously branded them Domino and it was Balos and they were going through and they were filling in the potholes of people's and people were like, what the heck is going on here? Then they had a cute little tie in about making it safer for the pizza if you live at you
faster or whatnot. But they were filling potholes that the city wasn't. So you talk about providing value and breaking through clutter and having a bunch of people go, man, you know when you see Dominoes fixing that potle you hit every night coming over from work, you you go, oh that's different, and you remember it, well, it's.
A new one. So speaking of Dominoes is the one that advertises that they're going to not an all electric, but they're converting a lot of their cars to electric now, and I'm not quite sure that trends. I get what they're doing, and that's trying to appeal to a younger, environmentally conscious consumer, but I don't know if that's the right play.
You know.
What I'm saying is like, Okay, well, I just want my pizza to get their hot and fresh. You know, I'm assuming that some drivers are electric and some aren't. But well, why is this why is this part of a national marketing campign?
Yeah exactly. So, yeah, no, the you're trying to hear all the things, so that one obviously would be, hey, let's show that we're you know, conscious mean corporation destroying the plan.
Right.
So Brian crossing the show. He's a marketing expert with Elasticity his name of his agency, and we're talking about a new study coming out two thirds of consumers want fewer marketing messages. Well know, duh, we're just we're inundated all the time, and it's working because there's a percentage that that will click and go through and actually use the product or service, and that'll drive more of this
stuff too. And you know the one I thought would die by now, and I just thought this morning, the free newspaper. I live in suburbia, proud suburbanite, where once a week someone will drive through and throw a I don't know, some newspaper thin It's just like a big ad section in my driveway and a bag plastic bag, which I then promptly pick up and throw on my recycling. And I do this exercise every week. I'm surprised that's still around.
You know. It's it's the exact same thing as the direct mail. There is a lot, you know. One of the things that we do when we bring you know, you know, new teammates on, you know, the younger employees right out of college and whatnot, we take them and sit them in focus groups. And what's interesting is is they go through school and and even you know, early two three, four years in the industry, they come out in this bubble thinking everybody does what they do, that's
that the entire country is like them. And they stick them in in a focus group and they just scratch their head. They're like what, and we're like, yeah, these are the people you're marketing to this is this is what you need to think of. Like not everybody went to designed school and thinks exactly like, so no for for everyone. And I do the exact same thing, right, I take it, I lean over, I pick it up, I put it right into that trash can. But again,
it's the same thing these newspapers. You know, it takes money for them to you know, write it, print it, produce it, stick it in the wrappers, stick it on a van, have that van drive around at four a m. Throw it around. That all takes money. And I mean they're not doing that just to burn money. They're doing it because the advertising and the things that paper made
for all of that to happen. So there are enough people that don't throw it away, that do pick it up, that love it, and they're like, I want the local news. This is way better than what I get on the national CNN, Like I need to know.
Yeah, this is a bad of ads, a bag of ads. It's not even like a paper, Yeah, it's just ads. I'm like, well, now I'm going to kick it out of the plastic wrap, and somebody's looking, and of course the ones in your mailbox, and I've got a I think it's a gutter or windows or something. Every week they send me something, I'm like, wow, that is an incredible a lout of money in markup that you have to add to the cost of your product in order to send me these unwanted messages. And it's a lot
easier to just bombard people with the email. And that's the new frontier, right Brian. And maybe not that new, but texting now I get probably three or four day now, and I'm guessing that number is going to grow in the near future.
It will until the numbers change. So again everything is when I talk about data driven, some of the data is good. So you know, we now know that hey if I it out through email, if if five percent opened my email, then man, I did good. Ninety percent of people with with phones they can't have an unread text message like like like if they get a text message, they have to read it. It's just it's behavior, whereas people are used to having these big, full fat you know,
email and sys of unread things. So if you if someone comes and says, hey, if I send a text message, I have a ninety percent chance of them opening it. Well, I'm going to use the text message channel until that that that stat changes and that stack comes back to hey, most text messages are you know, getting bound, getting blocked, aren't being read. Then they'll start changing their tactics. So yeah, that number will go up as long as the stats are people read them.
Yeah, your little balloon pops up says you know, one, two, three, or four messages and you click on it like other ads, but you click on it to get rid of that. Then the alert that tells you how many there are. I think the phone companies are going to start figuring that out pretty soon is a way to work around that. And then in addition, and we have the eight hundred pound gorilla, which is always and has been now the automated robo calls.
Right, yeah, uh, there there's a there's an article. I wish I would have researched this, and I know where to go this way, but I was one of my favorite articles I've read, and I'd say the last moth was a guy there was They were interviewing a man who you know, because robo calls are illegal now and with fines of up to I think some of my fifty thousand per you know instance or something. He's he's made a side business of using that that that law
because these robo calls is aren't following the law. So you know he's talking about you know, it's a job like it takes persistence and running papers and knowing the process, all these things. But apparently this guy makes like something like twenty twenty five thousand dollars a month in following up in charging the robo calls that are breaking the laws.
Yeah, we all want to figure out a way to streamline that. I get that people continue. I think lonely people. We just want to talk to somebody when the telemarketers call, which is a sad indictment of our society, but it kind of ruins for the rest of us. So that's a getting texted and inundated with all these things. And then finally too, I look at this and go at some point, you know, all these cold and personal marketing messages you get get deleted. They're gonna have to fine
tune that, aren't they. I mean, you mentioned the onset of this thing, Brian, that it's it's the different stuff that cuts through the clutter. Be a difference maker, make a change and don't do the same old, same hold but a lot of these are the same old, samehold that are getting I don't know, I guess marginal results.
So it'll continue, it will and and that's the fine line though, right you said the cold and in personal conversation are the marketing message. Well, if you slip over the other side, you know, you know, marketing has the data and the ability to you know, say, hey, Scott, saw you just bought a glass of red wine at dinner last night. Hey, we were selling bread wine. And on that line, you have that that creepy like whoa wait a second, how do you know my name and
what I bought what not. You're always trying to kind of thread that needle of how do I make it important to you and personalize to you? So that's not cold, but not like hey, creepy, you were tracking you a big brother kind of thing. So it's definitely a fine line to walk there.
He is Brian Cross on the Scott Sloan Show this morning. Text marketing expert or communication expert. I guess the stuff that annoys you, Brian, with the news that Ohio leads the country when it comes to spam scam communications. I don't know why we're getting hit, maybe because so many Ohioans apparently like getting that kind of stuff and react to it all the best. Thanks again for joining the show.
Well, I appreciate you having me. Thank you Mary.
Christmas buddy, have a great holiday. Got to get to a news update, traffic, weather, all that and what lies ahead is Christmas here twenty twenty five. Hopefully I have some good time to sit down and relax and enjoy your holiday. Scott's Loan Show seven hundred w WELW Money Money, Scott's Sloan Show on seven hundred WLW. Not too many more of these left and the show. But Bengals football. Following last week's shutout embarrassment by Baltimore, the Bengals end
a two games stead. They're up to what five and ten now, of course out of the playoffs. The team is healthy, they look dominant. They look pretty good for most of this game. James Rapeat is here with Bengals Talk dot Com and the Sports Illustrative of course and Lockdown Bengals Podcast. James, welcome, How are you. I'm doing well. I'm doing well. They look pretty good yesterday. As I said healthy. You know when they're healthy when you get tea and you get Jami Joe together, magic things happen.
And if you looked at that, certainly you could always do the what if game? Uh, you know, if they stayed healthy this season? What now? Okay, Well that that didn't happen obviously, although I look at this and go, I've seen this movie before in previous lives, James and you have as well. In that the Bengals going they beat Baltimore and then they went out, let's say, their last two games, and now we're in a you know, we're on a three game heater right now.
Great.
What scares me about that is front office looks at it and goes, We're fine, everything's good. We've done that before. We've done that in previous seasons. Why would this time be different.
I don't know that it is. And you're right, that's the scary part because what they may say is, oh, we're born too with healthy Joe, and we've found a way to build the momentum, and that momentum can carry into the offseason, which is completely fallow now. I think specific players can build momentum for themselves. Teams don't carry momentum to it from one year to another. It's not
how it works. And so yeah, I think that is the major concern in the thought yesterday as we're starting to wrap the Dolphins and then you see the schedule and it's the Cardinals and the Browns who are both really bad and theoretically you should beat.
Well, theoretically you should be able to be able to beat them. But again, let's just say they do. What changes then in the mind.
Of the Blackburn I don't know if there's let's start big, big picture. I don't think Duke Tobin and Zach Taylor, I don't think that that is happening. And you go beyond that. Al Golden, the defensive coordinator. Yeah, his first year and they've had an up and down year, but that Zach Taylor Scott and I know he believes in now and so for keeping Zach, I always thought you're keeping up, and so I don't think that they're going to let out go. And so then what change do
you want, like what major changes? You know, maybe you're saying, all right, you want them to add more scouts, which sounds great to me, or you want them to do organizational structural changes like that, and maybe some of that could happen. But from a coaching staff standpoint or a Duke Tobin standpoint, which those are the two areas that fans are frustrated with and calling for change. I just don't think you're going to see it, because you're right.
I think they have a good shot to win these next two games, and even if they split that, I don't think Zach Taylor was necessarily in danger.
I don't see that either, simply because they don't like to pay someone for not playing for them or not working for them mean part of the organization. They're extremely loyal to a fault, and I contend you knowose people. There's billboards up fire, Duke fire Zach. Okay, great, you could bring in I don't know. You could bring Bill Belichick in, You could bring Bill Cower in, You could bring in George Hallis. You can bring in Hall of Fame coaches if you want to. But the problem, to
me and I think most fans, it's above them. It doesn't matter the coaching, it's the front office. And yeah, you've added more pieces to your scouting staff. Still, the smalle Cy NFL, they tend to be a pound foolish penny wise. But unless that attitude changes, it really doesn't matter who the coach and GM are. I mean, could Duke Tobin do his job if he had more tools? He says no. But like Zach being the spokesperson for the entire organization, if it continues to be that way,
it doesn't really matter who you bring in. Am I right?
I think to a degree, yeah, I think to a degree. It's at the same time I do things that certain things could change and matter, And the identity of the team and the players is as much as you put it on ownership, it certainly would be the head coach and you take the identity, and I think Zach would say, hey, we know what we need to do to get back to where we need to go. And I don't think they feel like that they're internally that they're super far
off from doing that. Obviously part of that is Joe's health. But what I would say is you need to be able to find a way where Joe Burrow misses nine teams that the season doesn't just go completely down the drains. Yeah, And they would push back and say, well, that's our franchise quarterback, and it's really hard to win without your franchise quarter Fine, I am not saying it's not hard hard to win a super Bowl too, but that's the standard.
And so yeah, I think the entire organization should be looking at itself right now because Joe Burrow had missed the playoffs for three straight years and that should be damn near impossible, and yet they pulled that off. And yeah, twenty twenty three was the one that I'll give them them all against for, but this year I don't, and certainly last year whinjo without the.
Yeah it's a down or trae director, you know, the AFC Championship appearance of Super Bowl appearance wre awhile pass that after three seasons something monument has to change. Nonetheless, let's not overshadow we win yesterday against a division rival in the Baltimore Ravens or Baltimore is Baltimore the week before they got got destroyed by them and ending the two game skit obviously five and ten. Now for the Bengals, Dolphins are a terrible team. Two it gets benched in
favor of a rookie. Bengals had a at third quarter was unbelievable. Three takeaways a fourth down stop in the third quarter set up the offense for the forty five to twenty one win Ki, And you know, I watch that game and I went, well, that was kind of an unremarkable first half. I mean, Bengals on the first drive in Miami with a fumble caused by Battle and Miles Murphy scoops the ball up. Barrett Carter in her
have some of the Dolphins next drive. Dolphins had a lot of big plays in the first and somewhat in the second half against the Bengals.
Yeah, and they did, and it did feel like at one point it was going to be a shootout. And the Bengals go down, they score and take a lead, and then Devin Chan has his huge run where Geno Stone and you mentioned we only have a few games left of this, we better have only a few games. I think the I mean he's right in front of Devin Chan and he doesn't even get a finger on no, I don't think, goes off and scores a really long touchdown and you're like, all right, well, this is going
to be a shootout. And obviously the Dolphins took the lead later in the half, but this this defense, they were opportunistic and they force the fumble and then they bat the ball up and it gets intercepted. And that's usually what happens when you're facing a rookie quarterback, a late round rookie quarterback making its first start, is you can force a couple of turn on. So that's a
game they should have won. When you have Joe Burrow and you have Jamar and t and you have your fallout and the weapons and a defense that has shown as bad as they've been this year, they've shown that they can force turnovers in tee times and they did that. I mean, it was a crazy third quarter where the game just completely gets away from Miami. Yeah.
I've never seen a melt down well, I mean Bengals opponent melt down lock that. Bengals have had plenty of that these days. And for sure, oh my god, it's good to say another the other team, the opponent actually had that. App James Rapeen from Bengals Talk dot Com and Lockdown Bengals podcast, chopping up the win yesterday, get right game for the Bengals. Certainly it looked on weak spots. You mentioned Genostone. He and all intensive purpose should not
be in the league now. He shouldn't be on the team next season. If you're to restructure that defense next year. Who stays? Who do you like? DJ Turner? Obviously, Miles Murphy has surprisingly turned his game around. Shamar Stewart. I think the sample size is a rookie is just too small. With the injuries and the holdout and all the other stuff. You got to give them a little bit of time.
But other than that, can you think of people who would be necessary and vital to building around on the defense for twenty twenty six?
Oh it's tough, Like right.
I'll just go to it.
It's such a short list because I think that they're going to build around their young linebackers. But I'm not sure those guys are going to start next year. I just think they have three years left on their deal. Miles Murphy, I think has become a building block piece, But that doesn't mean you don't need another edge rusher like you still do, right, And that's what's really tough here is outside of Corner, And I feel pretty good
about Corner. I think Dax Zille and DJ Turner, he saw Jalen Davis, Benball, but Dak Vielle and DJ Corner DJ Turner, I think those are two real building blocks. Jordan Battle I think he can start for you in his final year of his rookie rookie deal. Gino Stone has played his way out of Cincinnati. I would not I wouldn't have him play on Sunday this week, to be honest with you, I would try to get a
look at some of these young defensive linemen. Obviously, he tells Famar Stewart out there, you need to get him as many looks as you can, m Kimley Jackson, as many looks as you can, just to see if there's anything there. But you're talking about all three levels. You're going to need to invest in your defensive line room and tactical linebacker and safety. And you still can use
another corner, There's no doubt about it. So there's a lot of work to be done in my mind, specifically in free agency where you go get proven talent that can fill some of those needs.
Yeah, and they did have a quarter for sure. I mean at halftime, I'm watching them interview Zach Taylor for the three questions he gets, and one of is he responded saying, you know, if we could win the turnover battle and sure enough to go out and get four just in the third quarter, alone. That was absolutely remarkable. Talk about calling your shot on the other side of the ball. Though offensively, Joe Burrow had the worst performance
of his career last week against Baltimore. This week twenty five or thirty two, three hundred nine yards, four tds. He has surpassed twenty thousand career passing yards and one hundred and fifty touchdown passes. And they pulled him after Cincinnati was up by thirty one. That's a great comeback game for QB one.
Yeah, it is, it is, and he's that's what you expect. Like I went and I was thinking about it going into the game, and certainly when I was driving to the game, and I'm like, man, I think Joe's just gonna play really well to it. Yeah, Like it's it's study out, it's Miami, and it kind of resets you. And he's playing against the team that he should be
able to dispect and bounce back against, and he did that. Now, he was aided by some short fields, but you look at it as one forty six and a half quarterback graating passer rating is the second best of his career, and the four touchdowns, it just seemed like he got whatever he needed to, and early on it was t Higgins, and then it evolved into Jamar Chase, and then it was Chase Brown and andre Yosabash made a big play, and Drew Sample made some big plays, and then it
was Nike get sticky with the touchdown and he just was able to spread the ball out. And so I the one takeaway I had from yesterday from a Joe Burrow perspective is it was just, at least for me, if I was in the organization, it would just remind you how close you can be when you have a franchise quarterback and all star quarterback like that, and how desperate and bad you look when you don't. Yeah, And so to me it should remind them that they need
to be very aggressive this offseason. But you know, I'm not damn and they're not me, right exactly exactly.
Chase Brown twelve carries, sixty six yards then and a touchdown. By the way, as a receiver, just four catches forty three and two touchdowns. That was a huge performance by the feature back. What three of those scores came in just over I think seven minutes of game time. Those of us rushing and receiving scores and you see that, you go, wow, why can't we have that nice thing all the time? And then you know, next two games maybe he rushes for inal fifty yards. I just I can't figure it out.
Yeah, it's it is tough. I'll say this. I think the past two weeks, the Buffalo game, I felt like it was all snow and that was the issue. Last week, the offense was just so bad it was hard for me to put it on Chase. But he definitely has shown the series well over the twel hundred yards from scrimmage that last year and at the end of last season,
wasn't a fluke. I mean the juke he put on that Dolphins defender in the third quarter when it's seventeen fourteen after catching the ball out of the backfield and I use number twenty. I forget exactly what which Dolphin's depender was, but to score the touchdown like that's special,
Like that's that's a really high level play. And we've seen that where he just continues to rack u one hundred plus yards from scrim to China from I do think he's a building block and it's gonna be interesting because he's going into a sports season and end of his rookie contract next year? Is that a guy they tried to get ahead of with a team friendly deal. Do they draft a running back instead? I know everyone's
focused on the defense. They're gonna have to spend some draft butts on offense to either start building the replacements Andre Joselvashkaian last year, next season, you know, like they start to do that now, and and so I do wonder what they'll do with a guy like Chase Brown has clearly been productive.
Yeah, James Rapine, We've got two games up, both home games, so the road trips are over way to end in Miami. Well of the sunshine. It's nice and maybe that was the happy juice that Joe Borroniti. You see some fight him and d to quit tripping and just focus on the game. Home games against Arizona, they're fighting for a spot. Cleveland, of course, is out of it, and there are many in Cincinnati, and I think some people, even in the media and influencers, that think the Bengals should tank it
in order to get a better draft. I don't think football's ever worked that way, nor should it work that way. And not only that, even if you did and the lost three instead of one three. What does that move you up a couple spots.
Yeah, if they lost yesterday, the eighth instead of ninth. Late. Now, if they win the next two, there's a decent chance that they they dropped to the twelfth, the fourteenth pick like in that range. I think is realistic to expect. I did it. I do. I think it's It's really tough because you want to see Joe Burrow play football, and if he plays like he did yesterday, then that you live with it. But at the same time, they do need talent, man, and the earlier you pick, it's
not just the first round. The earlier you pick in the first round, the earlier you pick in the second fourth different And so that is I'm not telling fans that they need to worry about that or should worry about that, because that's not their job. That is my job. So I do think about it. The good news is is their draft position was completely unchanged. They went into
yesterday picking ninth, they're still picking ninth. I think if they win the final two, they'll be in the uh the low double digit, somewhere in the ten to fourteen.
RAS gotcham uh James rapine. Let's catch up off this week obviously, but double catch up and do a post mortem on the season. What do you say after that Cleveland home game? Yeah, but it's it's over. It's over. There is no postseason. Hey, Merry Christmas, buddy, enjoy your time.
Off, Mary Christmas. Time off.
You got time off? Come on, you show up, you watch a football game, you write a couple of words, that's like four hours. That's like seven hours of work coming.
I'm off.
There's no time YouTube, buddy, Thanks again, I appreciate you. Merry Christmas. James repeat, talk about just just diminishing what he does for a living. Got to get to news and Willie on the way. Scott Sloan Hope the Best Bengals covered seven hundred w ol thebody since now