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Playoffs / Shameoffs / Rhyno
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the great white ryno joins
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Transcript
Podcast Resumption and Playoff Excitement
00:00:01
Speaker
Good evening, League of Hard Knocks. We come to you on this wonderful hump day at the conclusion of the League of Hard k Knocks regular season. This is stoned by Cornbread and official League of Hard Knocks podcasts. Got a very exciting show for you tonight. A lot to cover since we took a brief hiatus to eat and drink and be merry. I'm excited. I'm in a great mood. One of us is not in a great mood. So let's just talk it out.
00:00:31
Speaker
Let's roll guys.
00:01:00
Speaker
And our first and final playoff member joins the show tonight. What excitement we have for the pod and for you, Rhino. How are you doing today? Fill us in on ah life as a Rhino lately. Oh, I'm doing good. Nothing really new. Just hanging in there, letting this, you know, fancy go as it goes. So nothing really new.
00:01:27
Speaker
Yeah, quite a finish to the year, Rhino. We'll get to a segment later where some people were buying stock or selling on you or holding. But to sneak in the way that you did and hold off Big Booty Judy, truly epic. ah Probably kept you up most of Monday night, I assume. Maybe a couple of Bourbons involved. ah How was that Monday night for you? Well, it just, it got really,
00:01:57
Speaker
more nervous than I expected. I kind of wasn't really paying attention part of it and then realized how close it was and had to watch the rest of it. Rhino, you're still the norm and we're we're thrilled to have you on the show, but what what what's your take on on your your tenure as norm? ah Do you feel like you were you're humiliated enough?
Rhino's League Experience and Engagement
00:02:24
Speaker
ah you know it Enough was enough. It was, you know, I have the trophy and had to do the punishment. It was, it was what it was. It was, it was enough punishment. Yeah. Where's the trophy currently? I'm curious how prominently displayed is it. It's up for a minute, just cause we've had things going on, but it's coming back out soon, but I see it every day.
00:02:49
Speaker
Okay. Okay. As long as you have to at least interact with it on a daily basis. I think that's one of the most important aspects of of being. Yeah. I see it when I wake up every day. So yeah, that's an excellent speaking from experience here. Rhino. What a lot of Norman ship on the pod tonight.
00:03:11
Speaker
Yes, but this might be the most norms effort, but also a lot of titles also. A lot of titles also, let's be proud of what we have accomplished. A true range of experiences, ah what makes the league great in my opinion. Rhino, it brings up a good question. Would you rather experience the highs and lows of of a norm and going through the pain of the shame offs?
00:03:36
Speaker
You know, and, and hold those titles. Would you rather, would you ride, rather ride the roller coaster that James and I have written and you've written, or would you rather be irrelevant? Like our our commissioner has been for the past many, many years. Yeah, I would much rather have both the highs and lows. Cause at least, you know, you're in it and nothing, I feel is worse than the five six C because you're just four weeks of really nothing.
00:04:04
Speaker
Yeah. You know, there could be a side bet, but that's really it. Well, it's, it's, it's Andrew and it's balmy. So I think the only side bet that we would see would be, uh, maybe them, them both being passive aggressive with each other for four weeks, which wouldn't be any different than the other 13 weeks. Yeah. And it's,
Winter Meeting Challenges
00:04:27
Speaker
it really pained me the way that balmy ended in the irrelevancy bowl.
00:04:33
Speaker
to have Cooper Cupp put up 1.7 and then get ah garbage timed ah by Bommie's squad. But knowing that Andrew missed the playoffs completely canceled out my disappointment for the $100, especially after I Venmo requested Jake immediately upon knowing that I lost to Bommie by a slim margin. I had $100 in my Venmo.
00:05:00
Speaker
And I was just overjoyed to see Andrew out of the playoffs and irrelevant. And for Bommie, it's kind of a perfect place for Bommie, right? Rhino, wouldn't you agree? He's kind of skated through this year with no controversy.
00:05:17
Speaker
ah There are claims of him botching the draft. You weren't there. That could have been avoided. We certainly understand weddings. You are a draft dodger, Rhino. We've we've called you that on the podcast. and Hey, I want to back off that statement. I let everyone know early I was going to be out of town and I could have pulled a pitchy fit. I could pull i could have been really upset and pulled late on having to do the draft how I did it, but I didn't. I wish that you you had because your voice is an important one and the draft isn't the same without the norm, Rhino.
00:05:53
Speaker
But for Bami, the management, while it has been easy this year, now it's December 4th and we don't have a winter meeting state. We've got 10 men with busy lives in this league. And that's not okay, right? Because the the odds of ending up with seven to eight by waiting until December 4th to even begin the conversation have skyrocketed. Okay. We've got pregnant women all over the place. I'm so glad the league's just been knocking their wives up. Nothing makes me happier. Great for you guys. But we've got hormonal pregnant wives. We've got families in close proximity. This could easily be the worst winter meetings to date and
00:06:47
Speaker
The winter meetings was not my baby. I will in no way shape or form take credit for it. But I will say that I did a pretty decent job planning around it and all members were always present.
Commissioner's Role and Criticism
00:07:01
Speaker
Were they not? Yeah, they were always present. It's just, yeah, we got to figure it out because, you know, there's punishment involved. So we got to have everyone there to enjoy the punishment.
00:07:16
Speaker
I'm so glad you agree. And part of Blake's rant before you got on, Rhino, was pointed at this subject. And, Tommy, we know you're not listening, but we'll call you out on the signal chat as well. If you're going to be irrelevant for the next month, get to fucking work, dude. I want to know when this this thing is. Everyone's got shit going on. Put it on the calendar. Make people vote like the old days.
00:07:44
Speaker
Yes, was that a little chaotic, the way I ran things, but everyone had a boat and we always ended up all together. Rant over. Yeah, that makes, that makes sense. It's just, ah who knows, maybe he you got to figure it out, but who knows when it's going to happen.
00:08:05
Speaker
Yeah, we would have loved to have you at the draft. I mean, I think what we got to talk about, what what are the commissioner's duties really? I think the commissioner's duties are to maintain law and order. That's important. I think handling conflict is an important aspect of it, which Bommie hasn't dealt with much conflict other than briefly appearing on our podcast before exiting because he didn't want to meet with Andrew.
00:08:28
Speaker
Since then, he did one week of power rankings on the group chat that looked like chat GPT wrote it, but then he didn't, he didn't ever do the power rankings again. And he kind of hid for most of the season while he was in the bottom four. Once he emerged into irrelevance and realized that he no longer had to face shame, he started to perk up. But the other aspect of a commissionership is just planning and organizing social events and and building league engagement and getting people excited to be in this league, which is the greatest fantasy football league in the world. And I'm very confident in that. But under, under a leader who doesn't seem excited to be in a league, we've seen some, some, some members like honestly, including yourself right now, and I get it, you're the norm, but we've seen some members just kind of go quiet, which hurts. It hurts me.
00:09:23
Speaker
Irrelevant, irrelevant to my position in the league. I just love, I love the league banter. I love the shit talking. Yes, I've admitted I'm here to stir the pot, but my bigger frustration is that one of the key aspects, planning and building excitement has been neglected by BOMMY. And I'm not here to just bash BOMMY, but I really would love to get your take. We haven't had you on the podcast yet this year about what you think the commissioner should be responsible for. because you got a former Actually, you have two former commissioners here. We didn't always do the greatest job, but what what in your eyes, Rhino, do you think the commissioner should be responsible for?
00:10:03
Speaker
I just think make sure that, you know, somehow just, I feel like it to be more just like a putting out of fires. If that makes sense on any controversies that come up, but, and then trying to shepherd everything, getting together. Yeah.
00:10:27
Speaker
Yeah, but fortunately for him because there haven't been any, you know, crazy trades that he hadn't had to do any of that this year. Yeah, it's been kind of a low stress year for bombing and, you know, being a former commissioner and Blake being one, that was not our experience and more power to bomb me for getting one of those rare years. I do have this theory that I've expressed before that the league is almost growing to a point of too much maturity that i'm I'm worried about people ruffling the feathers too much and people checking out. And that's kind of what I see taking taking place. I know we're all distracted with the balls and the playoffs. But it's just it's just disappointing, I would say. I just don't think Bobby's done a great job. The unfortunate position we're left in is there's not many people that want to do the job.
00:11:24
Speaker
And that's a shame because they should probably look at what Bobby did this year and think that's the easiest takeover job on the slate. Right. This is if they want to do it, but I don't know if anyone, you know, really. Oh, I don't know. It feels like sometimes it's more trouble with that. It's worth with you guys on that. Fair point right now. Fair point. Do you want the job right now?
00:11:54
Speaker
Probably not, but I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it to be honest with you.
Team Name Brainstorming for Rob
00:12:00
Speaker
Well, as long as you're on the show tonight, you can think about it a little bit longer. I would, uh, I wouldn't hesitate to throw your name into the ring, but yeah, I think, I think the biggest, the biggest complaints I have right now is like, Bobby's not really contributing any of his time or effort to the league. Um, and, and.
00:12:21
Speaker
I didn't think the draft went as, went as great as it could, could go. Uh, because one, you weren't there. And two, we didn't all get away, which created extra distractions. People leaving early, people's wives calling them throughout the draft. Wasn't a great experience, right? People weren't locked in. And then the winter meetings are crucial. We see each other twice a year and not having it on the calendar. I'm not going to lie. I got a baby due end of January.
00:12:49
Speaker
Andrew's got one in March. Are windows going to be small? Yeah. Your windows could be real small. Yeah. And our commissioner, when I asked him about it, made a sarcastic remark instead of addressing the question, which isn't surprising, but yeah, I don't know. Maybe he does. He'll just do nothing and we'll just, we'll just forgo a league tradition of the Hill run and norm punishment.
00:13:17
Speaker
I guess for me in the shame office, it could be worse. So yeah, Bobby, maybe just keep doing nothing. Maybe just keep doing nothing. I would say anything's on the table from a half-assed Hill run that everyone disperses from to three people zooming in for the winter meetings, which is the worst thing ever to begin with, but having people on Zoom or FaceTime. That doesn't work.
00:13:47
Speaker
It doesn't work. Yeah, it's, it's sad, but I'm in too great of a mood to let Bommie's ineptitude of planning that ruin my night. Yeah. I got, I got some big J news to break Blake.
00:14:09
Speaker
Big J coming at you live from the league of hard knocks podcast stoned by cornbread. I'm having a wonderful night, guys. um Just to fill you in on my day, I did to go skeet shooting today, which is the absolute best redneck hobby of all time. I envisioned getting the whole league together to do this, speaking of planning events. And maybe I'll just do it because it's so much fun to shoot shotguns. Anyways, I got two other bits of breaking news.
00:14:42
Speaker
One is I did just place a sizable wager on Duke minus four tonight just to further stir the pot between Blake and I and him calling me a fraud. And ah me finishing with more points than him in the regular season and Auburn writing a hot streak. It just felt like the right bet tonight. Any comments, Blake, before I get into my segment? No, I have absolutely. I have too many comments to make a comment.
00:15:10
Speaker
That's wonderful. I know you're in a world of pain right now, but I just wanted to update our avid listeners and subscribers wherever you are in the world. We did have a big buy sell hold segment a few weeks back. In my notes, I don't state which week this was, but some teams were bought, held, and sell, and some were shorted.
00:15:40
Speaker
And so I've got a ah little earnings update for the pod tonight. Blake, I've updated them in the notes. We want to crisscross on these, but I'll start with Lizzie. This was a buy for Jay and a, uh, a sell for Blake. Lizzie finished the season on a three game win streak and is the regular season champ on points for.
00:16:03
Speaker
Made money for both investors here, small bump for Big J, but this was just a smart buy. It was the easiest call of all time. The smooth moves. This was a hold for Big J and a sell for Blake. Finished the year on a five and one ah record. Small loss for Blake, not a ton to be gained for smooth here. He was ah just kind of holding the ship steady. ah Next up, we got the Billys, proudly preserved by Pilot. This was a sell for both investment groups. He made the playoffs. This was just a boring stock that slowly continued to make money. I am playing them in the playoffs, and it's a great matchup for me. That's all I'm going to say. That is a great matchup. That's a great matchup.
00:16:55
Speaker
For the Wagoner, ah this was a sell for Big J and a short slash hold for Blake. He ended up in the irrelevance bowl, so both investment groups made a profit here. Minor. Team Trump. Team Trump. Yeah, he's a team. Out on Andrew, make the league political again. We also had another we had another name change, James, I saw in the league.
00:17:24
Speaker
Do you want to address that really quick? yeah it was just up of brown Yeah, I was just looking at my team. And, uh, as AJ says, roster baiting, he's a big roster bait guy. And it just, it was just clear as day on paper. I've never done one of those name, my team after my guys guy, but it was perfect. And I like to make mixed cups of Brown. So now I.
00:17:50
Speaker
Quickly follow that name change by losing. How long will that name last? We'll see. Maybe it's cursed my season. Rhino, what do you rate the name? One to 10. Solid name.
Playoff Strategies and Personal Anxieties
00:18:01
Speaker
It you know it works well. Hopefully it doesn't stink you into a losing streak. Yeah, that's that's on the table, especially with mix-in on by week one of the playoffs. Yeah. Rhino, you're going to give us a number, though. What number? One to 10.
00:18:20
Speaker
I'm giving it a five. I give a solid six. Six, yeah. Looks like something he plugged into like Google and was like, name my team. Yeah, but it just came to me. It was over, it was over an old fashioned. Actually it came to me. So it was just, it made sense. Rhino, you were the next team on our list. This was a hold for me and a buy for Blake. Uh,
00:18:47
Speaker
You made the playoffs in a ah riveting finish. This was a smart buy for Blake investors. ah You know, made a little extra coin over me. Just a great finish, Rhino. Any other thoughts on the finish to your season? I know we addressed it a little earlier. Well, I just I just got healthy, really. it's That's really all it is and got decent quarterback play. Usually quarterback play is what makes or breaks my season and I've gotten Decent quarterback play the last couple of weeks, which has helped. Rhino, you got two of my former co-MVPs of my championship season from last year in Almond Ross, St. Brown, and Kyron Williams. How crucial have those two guys been to your success and and driving you into the playoffs? Kyron's been good big, but it's really been the X Factor has been Jacobs. He's really turned it on the last couple of weeks. So that's really
00:19:47
Speaker
kind of kept it going. So that's, I feel like that's helped my playoffs more than anything, but Kyren's done well. He's been solid and I'm ah usually really good. Had a couple of non-touchdown weeks, but he's usually great. Yeah. Yeah. You're being a little modest there. I'm on Ross, the number three ranked receiver in the league right now in terms of fantasy points. Also got Jaden Reed, the fifth ranked receiver in fantasy points, leaning heavily on green Bay this year with Josh Jacobs as well. The fifth ranked running back.
00:20:17
Speaker
I don't think you have any superstars, Rhino, but starting Russell Wilson, first round of the playoffs, talk about Russell Wilson and his veteran leadership going into the playoffs, making this call. Only about 27% of fantasy teams are starting Russell Wilson. Why are you rolling with him in the playoffs? Well, he's been a solid passer. I think I'll get solid play and plus also, you know, its My other option's on buy, so had had to roll with him. Other option currently on your roster. Yeah. that ah you know There's some guys floating out there. There's still Bo Nicks on the waiver wire, but I believe he's on buy as well. There's Gough on the wire. i just I don't know. I just don't know if Gough's going to do it. he's and just I just think Russell's been pretty solid, so I think he'll get solid points this week.
00:21:16
Speaker
Okay. Okay. I like it. I like it. Russell Wilson Mojo. I just wanted to take a moment to kind of dive into your team, Rhino. I will commend you for a really great finish to the season. i I had the exact opposite outcome. I believe you you won your last two games.
00:21:40
Speaker
made minimal moves. You are the lowest scoring team in the playoffs. And I will just take this time to mention that, yes, I did outscore you this season. And that's that's it's a game of inches, and it's a game of matchups, and I realize that. But as someone who scored more points than a playoff team, then you know it is a little bit hard for me to talk to the norm about how great he's doing. But my counter to you on points is four of my six losses are the playoff teams. Well.
00:22:10
Speaker
Those are some stats coming right it right back at you. bla Strength of schedule and still gets in. Yeah. Well, next we'll go to home and away records. Anyways, Rhino, in in all seriousness, you know I'm the champion of the norm. I'm going to enjoy it for another four weeks. And ah I wish you nothing but the best after you're you're no longer the norm. But until then, I wish you failure.
00:22:38
Speaker
as you should hold on to that cup and hopefully maybe or maybe not, we can just do a full cup swap. Oh, you are going to do a swap. Oh, that'd be great. That'd be great. Typically, the commissioner is too lazy to schedule a swap event. ah Hope Mommy has been feeding his cats instead of planting the ah the shame offs and the playoffs presentation. I'm i'm just kidding, Bobby. I know you're not listening. Oh, there's an Auburn three. Boom. Sorry, James. I'm also watching Auburn Duke live from Cameron and Door. And yeah, James tried to further.
00:23:25
Speaker
ruffle my feathers by gambling against my Auburn Tigers tonight, who are number one in Ken Palm. And we are going to raise a banner for being number one in... Oh, Dunk! Five-O. Anyways, Rhino, I know we've got to finish this segment. Just a system play for me, Blake. Too much money. I did buy your stock. I bought your stock, Rhino. Don't forget that. I did buy. I will. And who are you guys?
00:23:50
Speaker
Obviously, not you, but who are you guys rooting for for the norm out of the four? Oh, this is a great question, Rhino. This is a great question. And I'm still undecided.
00:24:06
Speaker
It's the best shame offs we've ever had. And I'm still... I think Rob's had a bad enough year. So...
00:24:19
Speaker
I think I just want to see AJ run that hill. It just, it feels right. It would just kind of be AJ's rock bottom and fall from grace, especially after last year, having the best team and immediately just doing a full reversal and being the norm. It's too perfect for me. And as I stated on the signal,
00:24:42
Speaker
He's also extremely likely to still come drink beers before he runs, which no norm has ever done, including myself, but would be electric. And so I'm rooting for that. Yeah. Especially with all the stuff he's talked about your guys comments about his team. And I'd say that is who you're rooting for. Yeah. I mean, it feels pretty inevitable for me.
00:25:12
Speaker
Like I have this this overarching sense of doom. I woke up this morning and I i was about to go to the gym. It was 26 degrees. And Kellen was like, what's wrong? Why are you just staring into the abyss? And I was just staring. I wasn't staring at anything. I was just kind of like looking into my living room, but there was nothing there to look at except my Christmas tree, which I still need to put lights on, but I i did get a fresh tree. It smells great.
00:25:42
Speaker
Anyways, I'm staring into the abyss and she's like, what is wrong with you? I'm like, I'm sorry. I just have this feeling of impending doom. She's like, is it the baby coming? I'm like, no, no, not at all. It's the fact that I'm in the shame offs against Rob. And and he's already hit rock bottom.
00:26:05
Speaker
There's, there's a 300 point gap on the season between us and he can, he can send me to the battle of shame. Well, and it was a hard moment. It was a hard moment, right? I know. I don't know if you've ever faced crippling anxiety like that around fantasy, but no, but you know, at least you're not playing Larry in the shame off. Cause that's usually where he rises up.
00:26:32
Speaker
That's true. That's true. This is, this is very true. I've experienced that, uh, twice, I believe. I experienced that last year. So we'll see. Yeah. I want to take Rob down. Yeah. So we'll see how Larry does the playoffs now. See if his team brings the same intensity they do during shame off weeks. I, I could see it continuing right now. It's a pretty stacked.
00:27:02
Speaker
Top heavy roster, but guys who are both in the MVP conversation. So, yeah, the only thing that helps is like, is I get one, they might finish one and two. They might finish one, two in the MVP race. Yeah, but I'm rooting for Saquon for the MVP. To be honest, that would be 13, two more or two. Yeah. It's kind of, it's kind of helps things. Oh, get in there.
00:27:30
Speaker
Yeah. Auburn is splashing right now. Minus 4 is not looking good. Speaking of things not looking good, our next stock is the Marsh Cats.
00:27:42
Speaker
This was a hold for both investment groups. They finish on an awful slide as Blake is currently describing and lost huge money for both investors. You just could not hold on to a potential playoff stock that ended in the shame offs and not potentially get fired from the people who are paying you. Next up is the Commish.
00:28:08
Speaker
This was a smart call by both parties. We both said to sell. He ended up irrelevant. Smart, easy one to see. Bommie just not doing anything, not making the playoffs. He didn't have enough points. Have fun, uh, planning the draft, Bommie. Uh, the chef hold for Jay and buy for Blake.
00:28:33
Speaker
He's lost a lot of money for you on that, Blake. We don't have to get into that. Lost money for me as well. The Coug and Bob to finish out. This is why your investors kept you hired and why I got fired, Blake. These were my two biggest buys and your two biggest sells. And the Coug and Rotten Luck, Bob Huff.
00:28:58
Speaker
just sucked ass to end the regular season. I thought they were both at rock bottom and they weren't.
League Performance Recap
00:29:05
Speaker
I'm out of a job now. At least you made some smart calls to end up above ah in the Black Blake. But congrats on beating me during that segment. And that's all I got for Big J. Hufflepuff bitch, Rob. 200 bucks, bitch. Can't wait to see that in my Venmo escrow account.
00:29:28
Speaker
And you better believe Kellan does not have access to my Venmo checking account, which is just for all the the husbands out there. I'm sure you've all learned this trick, but if you do share finances, Venmo is a great place to hold a little extra cash. I can't wait to see it pop into my account, Rob. I mean, I might even heart it. I might even heart that transaction. And I get to name your team again for the second time, Rob.
00:29:58
Speaker
So great. time Speaking of that Blake, speaking of that Blake, and let's bring Rhino back into the fold for this. Can we do a little brainstorm session on team names for Rob? Are you willing to expose your list yet? Uh, are you open to suggestions from the league, from the pod from Rhino? Give us a little update on what's going on there.
00:30:25
Speaker
Yeah, well, you know I think that I had some names that one could just be funny. I have a small list of funny names, and then I have a list of names that like I think every time Rob opened his app would really make him angry.
00:30:43
Speaker
Now, I go back and forth between these two these two veins of thought. Before I jump into the names themselves, I will have to say, Larry might've just given me the name at some point. I forget exactly what his post was, but it was basically ah changing things that don't need changing. That was the summation of his comment. Or or yeah, fixing things that aren't broken.
00:31:13
Speaker
i've had some I've had some good names. I think with Rob, though, what you have to understand is is he he really, really, really values some some great aspects of life, like loyalty, honor, allegiances. He even has two collegiate allegiances that he refuses to let die. So I could see those worked into the name. I don't know, Rhino, what would you name Rob's team? Yeah, this is, there are many things I'm good at.
00:31:44
Speaker
Creativity on names is not one of them. So I'm kind of going to stay out of this one. Oh, but come on. Just you know give it a shot. You know Rob really well. You've known him for many years. You know what well you get you win this bet, Ryan. You get the chance to ah to name his team.
00:32:04
Speaker
like Blake, I'm kind of drawing a blank right now. I have to think about it and be don't Although I don't, that's not something I'm really great at. I'm just thinking of clever names. Yeah. It's kind of how being the norm affects your brain. It it slows down your judgment and your your thought processes. I had one that just came to me, Blake. I did, it's probably lost in the files now, but there was one morning, uh,
00:32:34
Speaker
several weeks ago when Rob's epic losing streak I thought had hit the max where I called into the show but I don't know if that's that's gone now but one that just came to me I i kept thinking back to pass names but retreading those old things is not always great you know rotten luck Bob Hufflepuff was you just can't dip your toe back into that water too much. And then I got thinking about current events and Rob and kickers. And just, it feels like this season has been a massive kick in the nuts. And I thought about Rob and I was like, just like mixing a cup of Brown came to me. I was like, what about kicked in the luck nuts? Kicking Rob loves soccer, rotten luck.
00:33:29
Speaker
It's, it's a half baked idea, but I wanted to at least bring it up. You know, things, yeah things need to be, uh, workshopped a little bit. Yeah. I was just going to go for something like more triggering, like every time you open to the app, it just says like Kelsey's calling. That's like, that's just the name of the scene. Oh, that's. Oh, wow. Wow. I think. Or something just humiliating, like IP sitting down.
00:34:00
Speaker
That's funny, but yeah, Kelsey's calling maybe using, I feel like Rob's collegiate allegiances have finally, it's finally clicked with me with the, the, you know, the pronouns movement. Like Rob is like a they them of fans, kind of like Andrew. So I think, I think maybe I could work in some pronouns as well. Like, you know, Kelsey's calling.
00:34:29
Speaker
might might might be the one. But ah anyways, I don't want to don't want to let the cat out of the bag, proverbial cat, marsh cats. Rhino, let's preview the playoffs. I think we need to transition here.
00:34:56
Speaker
All right. All right. You guys are both in the playoffs. I can, I can guide us down this journey. Number one seed, a team who has no name. We've talked a lot about team names. We've got a lot of different team names this year. We got two seed mixed in a cup of Brown, three seed West Hillbillies preserved by pilot. Four seed, the white rhino rhino. How many years have you been the white rhino for? Um, a decent amount. I'd say probably longer than I should have. I just hadn't thought about it to be honest with you.
00:35:26
Speaker
No, I actually love it. I love the idea of like a franchise name. In fact, I think it would be an interesting amendment to propose is, is the idea that like you have to stick with a franchise name for a certain amount of time. You can't, can't do i like the commanders have done, but I think it might give our league a little more, a little more legacy character. If we, if we froze team names, maybe I could propose that amendment the same year that I named Rob's team to really lock it in.
00:35:57
Speaker
Anyways, you're facing off against Larry, who has absolutely steamrolled the competition this year. Larry finished the season with 1,550 points for a 10 and three record and a team top to bottom that does not have a weak spot. You came on strong at the end, Rhino. I'd say you you are the hotter team normally.
00:36:26
Speaker
but Larry has stayed on fire. In fact, just last week, he put up 130 points on Andrew, his, I guess it his, his, his semi rival, if you will. In an utter beat down, Lamar Jackson, Saquon Barkley, Jamir Gibbs, lad McConkey, Brock Bowers, Marvin Harrison Jr. and the goat, Chris Boswell,
00:36:52
Speaker
How are you feeling going into this matchup right out? Scared, fearless. Give us your thoughts. You know, a little nervous. The one thing that does help is only having one league of Lamar. That is one thing that helps with them having their bye. But team's got to play well. I know I'm going to have to put up points to win. So that's that's where my head's at. And we start early Thursday with three guys going for me and one guy going for him.
00:37:25
Speaker
how do you How do you feel about players on a Thursday night? We've talked a lot about it. And and a second part of that question where I know is, how do you feel about Thursday night football in general? I don't dislike it. i' It's just when it happens, I know the games are going to happen. So there're there's no reason to argue about it. They're going to play the games because they're getting a lot of money for it. I don't like it. I don't like Thursday night. What do you think, James?
00:37:55
Speaker
I'm anti Thursday night. It feels like an extra night out of the week that I am telling my wife, Hey, I'm going to watch this tonight. When I like watching TV shows too, like I got so many on deck, I'm ready to watch and to feel invested with one of your top end fantasy players only to watch the game end up 1710. It just It's a tease, right? it's just There's nothing great about it, and it's less to watch on Sunday, which for me and my house is when Hannah gets out of the house and has a great day by herself. I'm watching Red Zone all day with the kids. It's great. I want more players Sunday. Sunday night, great. Monday night, there's always drama. Thursday night, there's never drama.
00:38:51
Speaker
It's just not fun. The guys are hurt. I want my guys healthy. Yeah, this week might be different since it's basically a week for both teams. Yeah. Well, I mean, this matchup's great. because they vote for match So it's, so it's a full week for both of them. Yeah. And Packers lions is a great matchup. Like that's it. That's a great game. And so ah I think the lions are 11 and one, the Packers are 93.
00:39:19
Speaker
I do actually enjoy listening to Kirk Herb street with NFL commentary. I think he's a lot better than Tom Brady. That's for sure. I'll take him over Collins worth all day, but, but I guess Rhino getting back to your matchup, you guys are both projected for like exactly 102 points. I think Larry might be projected by more like 0.4 more than you, but this is a marathon matchup, two week battle.
00:39:48
Speaker
Next week, you'll have Anthony Richardson coming off of a bye. It's important to not get too high or too too low in these two-week battles. How do you feel like your team is built? Are they are they ready for a two-week matchup against the strongest team in the league? Do you have the stamina? Yeah, I have the stamina. Also, what helps me is not just him coming back, but I got Niko coming back next week also.
00:40:17
Speaker
Underrated it's almost like you're calling your comeback right now right now, which I love I'm not more bold takes on the pot I just I feel like if I keep it close I got a shot, but We just will see it's it's a two
Playoff Preview and Sponsorship Battle
00:40:31
Speaker
-week thing. I just I just know I can't It's gonna be hard to make a massive comeback. So I gotta I gotta keep it close Let's go the other matchup Let's talk about you James Let's talk. Let's talk about you. Let's talk about you. Let's talk about the hillbillies. This is a figure that floats in and out of league more, league engagement. Sometimes Will is locked in. Sometimes he just pops in once a week to call a ball game and then doesn't say anything else to the group. Are you ready for this, James? Are you ready to face off against Will? You guys are two very different styles.
00:41:11
Speaker
Incredibly different styles and Will can act like he doesn't care about this matchup, but I know Will gets up whenever I play him. He often, as did you, came after me when I was commissioned and I thought it was great because that was great league engagement. But it also developed a healthy little discourse, which we need more of in the league. We need more people going at each other.
00:41:41
Speaker
And I respect a man that's willing to come at me. And so having will between me and the finals is perfect. It's going to get Will engaged. It's going to get me hyper engaged. I think we're two similar teams in a way that we both had great drafts. But I'm not afraid to say my roster is better than Will's. And I think that's going to play out over two weeks.
00:42:11
Speaker
Some people, maybe on the pod, have called me a fraud. At no point during the season have I ever said, I've got the best team of all time. I did have a great draft. At one point I looked it up. I think during the worst of my injuries, I still went 500. That's what you have to do in this league. My team survived the bad days. They're healthy right now. Got some rough bye weeks, round one.
00:42:41
Speaker
But I feel good about this matchup, and I think it's going to be an epic tight finish. But I think I'm going to prevail. And I'm not just drinking my own Kool-Aid. I think that's pretty unbiased if you really dive into the rosters. But I would love to hear what you guys think.
00:42:58
Speaker
No, no, I mean, I think your team's completely fraudulent. Uh, I think you and Ryan, it seems you're both fraudulent. I think I had better team than, than both of you throughout the year, but I think that's the way the ball bounces sometimes. And I'm, I'm accepting it with the amount of wins you have and me having more points for what's the basis of that argument.
00:43:20
Speaker
yeah Again, I had a really, I had a really rough last week. I had more points than you going into the final week of the season when you were sitting at whatever 10 and two, and I was sitting at at five and seven. Somehow you had amassed five more wins than me, but from scoring less points, which is totally, totally fair. And, and.
00:43:42
Speaker
And that's just the way the cookie crumbles, as they say. Just the way the cookie crumbles. The easiest place, uh, at failure to look is, is outward. And I, but yeah I see you going through that process right now, Blake, and it's, it's okay. Yeah. you know I've looked outward. Like I said, I, I stared into this. I've also looked in the mirror. It's not your fault. So I want to encourage you to keep blaming others for where you are.
00:44:13
Speaker
Rhino, you know what I see when I look in the mirror? No. What do you see? I see a champion. Yep. You got four more weeks of looking to that mirror. Yeah. Rhino and I see champions too. When we look in the mirror, boy, it's a new experience for me. You guys got to get me, get to give me some time. I'm still processing James. Just on a different note. I was quite worried with the whole.
00:44:41
Speaker
ways that it's been the last couple of times playing you in the playoffs that was going to go the same way. Yeah, Rhino, I've looked up the stats. I own you in this league. I'm not afraid to say that because the stats back it up. And there's other teams in this league that own me. I think my record is the worst against AJ by a long shot. And I lose to Larry in every big shame off matchup that's ever been so You could say he owns me too. But that's just the way, the way things go sometimes. And I'm really pulling for you against Larry. Uh, I got to say, Rhino, even though you're the norm and that's really clouding my judgment to pull against you, I don't know. I'm torn. I'm really torn on that. It will just, you know, have to see how it comes out. I've, you know, I've lost recently.
00:45:38
Speaker
titles to both you and Will, so I don't know who I'm rooting for. That's fair. Playoff preview, playoff preview, great playoff preview. Let's say you guys both get through, facing off in the final, be over $1,000 on the line this year for the the champ. Increased payouts, higher stakes than ever.
00:46:03
Speaker
I'm curious, and and this can be a question for for both of you. I'll start with you, Rhino. Who would you rather face in the the championship game, assuming you make it through? Would you rather play a Will or James? Well, I don't know. I'd probably, ah just for entertainment power and trying to fake those things, I think I'd rather want to play James.
00:46:28
Speaker
I think I want to get over the hump, but first I just got to get past Larry. So that's all we're thinking about now. Yeah, one game at a time. James, for you, would you rather play Rhino or Larry? I want Larry for this reason only. I want to face my demons. Uh, Larry has owned me in every big matchup that has led me to shame. I also, I screenshotted it the other night and I almost sent it to the league. You have to give me a second here.
00:46:58
Speaker
Larry absolutely demolished me earlier this regular season. I think it was over a hundred points. I'm not going to be able to find it. Give me a second to riff here, but it was awful. And so I looked at it. It was week seven. Yeah. He beat you. He beat you by a lot. And for that reason, I'm fixated on Larry. I hope you're listening, Larry.
00:47:28
Speaker
You are the margin of victory in the title. And that's part of why Blake called me a fraud. It was like my one big matchup of the year. And I've had a bad week. But my team has what it takes to take Larry down. I do believe in that. But I want the chance. And Rhino, I just I got to say I'm not going to get up if as much for you as I would for Larry. It's just a bigger match. Oh, I understand that.
00:47:57
Speaker
its You know, it's that's he's been the guy this year. You'd want to knock him off. Yeah, so fuck you, Norm. I hope you don't win any money.
00:48:08
Speaker
There you have it. That's been our playoff preview brought to you by our two loyal sponsors, Ryan Construction. but Ryan Construction, they might be able to renovate your kitchen if they're not fighting the city over permits and things of that nature. Visit ryanconstruction.com or check out Jake Ryan's Instagram.
00:48:32
Speaker
Our other, our other sponsor is in the shame off. So before we get into that sponsorship, I'd, uh, I'd like to point out one thing, Rhino, you mentioned strength of schedule earlier. Quick trivia question for you. Who do you think has the most points against in the league this year? I would say, I'm gonna take crazy guess and say it's not been, I didn't want to say Bobby.
00:49:01
Speaker
Yeah, it's actually me. It's actually me. I'm actually at the toughest schedule as well. Yeah. You are in your Florida this year, Blake. There that argument for your, I know.
00:49:16
Speaker
All right, our other sponsor River Ridge CPA with locations based in Nashville and Knoxville. RiverRidgeCPA.com for all of your small business tax avoidance needs. AJ is your guy. He will make sure that you do not end up getting audited or in prison.
00:49:35
Speaker
AJ finds himself in the shame offs facing off against none other, none other than our other sponsor. And this is something we haven't talked about. And the reason I wanted to bring up our sponsors, we have a sponsorship battle in the shame offs. Before we break tonight, I want to preview the sponsorship battle. The chef versus the coug, the old men versus the quarterback.
00:49:59
Speaker
gentlemen, what's our take on this, this shame off battle, uh, round one, uh, weeks. What weeks is that covering 14 and 15? Is that right? That'll be right. 14, 15. Yeah. Okay. what What's our, what's our take here?
00:50:19
Speaker
I love Jake in this one, not just because I want AJ to be the norm. But I think AJ's team is trash this year and he's scrambling and prioritizing fishing, even in the cold weather. And I think that's only just going to be a bad recipe. I don't think AJ is going to take this first two weeks very seriously, if you ask me. And I think Jake might take it more seriously. Jake's got more time on his hands, let's be honest. So.
00:50:57
Speaker
i See I see Jake advancing and being in the real Breath of fresh air irrelevancy bowl, which is the 7-8 matchup It also seems like if the 5-6 just sucks But when you actually are in the shame offs and end up in the 7-8 matchup for the final two weeks You hold your head high and you enjoy yourself because you have faced the demons and come out unscathed as i did last year it also seems like jake's teams points wise is starting to turn the corner a little bit the last two weeks and he's got bijon dijon he's got the mustard
00:51:47
Speaker
He has got the mustard. Okay. Do we want to touch on your matchup before we go? i mean Oh yeah, no, let's talk about it. First off, Rob, if you're still listening.
Rob and Blake's Rivalry and Episode Conclusion
00:51:58
Speaker
Yeah, let's talk about it if you're still listening, Rob. And I mentioned this. Rob, Rob, Rob, Rob. Our history goes back decades. Lifetimes, if you will. And it's all built up to this moment.
00:52:15
Speaker
Yes, I have named your team before. Yes, I put you through an entire dentist system lifecycle relationship with me. And now I have you have you right where I want you. And i don't I didn't want to be here. I'm not proud to be here, but I'm not scared to be in the shame-offs. I'm embracing the role. I don't fear the norm. Once you've tasted death, you don't fear death.
00:52:44
Speaker
ah i fear I fear no one. I especially don't fear a team that I've already taken my league dues for next year from. A bet that you proposed in a desperation attempt to win back rivalry ship with me after I falsely declared will my rival to make you jealous. And now you're in a tough spot. You're in a really tough spot. You've had your worst year ever. You've had the worst year in league of hard knocks history. Your team is absolutely shambolic, but I wanted to give you a little bit of hope before the shame offs. So you beat me last week in a meaningless game, which kept you at last place. So congratulations for attaining nothing. And now now begins your humiliation. So good luck. Good luck, Rob. A lot of passion behind that voice.
00:53:43
Speaker
I, Blake, sitting here seeing your face, seeing you in anguish and despair, trying to muster up hope. I want so badly for Rob to beat you, but I just don't see a path. I mean, to finally get Christian McCaffrey back, only to have him on the IR again.
00:54:08
Speaker
And hold on for a second, cause I've done as poor a job, keeping up with the league over these past two weeks as I have all season. But let me pull up Rob's roster real quick. Cause I thought he had the backup Jordan Mason, who's also. Yeah. He got also got put on IR. They both so i got, i I got very distracted Sunday and then was not checked in. And that is just.
00:54:36
Speaker
absolutely abysmal for Rob. i just He's going to be in the bottom two, and he might be in a boot for the Hill work. Well, and Larry added Isaac Guarendo for 60 free agent dollars, and and he's now the starting Niners running back. and in The first place team grabs him, saving his waiver cash,
00:55:00
Speaker
The offers report on Gorindo was interesting. Every single team in the league actually bid on Gorindo. Larry bid 60 and one. You bid 27 lost. AJ bid 25. Rhino bid 22. I bid zero because I was out of money, but don't don't sleep on me. I still put my bid in just in case everyone forgot about it. Yeah, yeah. AJ spent six bucks on the Colts D.
00:55:29
Speaker
Rob Rob's team could beat me. I don't know if you've noticed, but my, my running backs this week, I have Derek Henry on by a breeze hall is questionable. I might be starting Gus Edwards and sincere McCormick and yes, sincere McCormick is a real name. And he is starting for the the Raiders. Hopefully. Apparently they said in a press conference, he might get more than 10 carries next week. It's bad. We're down bad.
00:55:58
Speaker
I went all in on our series, it was dumb. Yeah, and then the old two for one trade coming to fight in the rear end at the end. Did it though? Because Pacheco's back and Cream Hunt hasn't done anything. I was talking about the Montgomery,
00:56:21
Speaker
Montgomery one. Montgomery, yeah, Montgomery and Cream Hunt for Breece Hall. Okay, my bad. I forgot it was... I forgot who the second one was. It was pretty much a wash. I actually did the math on it. I think I'd be in the exact same position if I had kept my team, and I think Andrew would be in the exact same position too. Irrelevant and the shame off. so it was ah It was a nothing trade at the end of the day. Yeah, I got nothing else. I got nothing else. Rhino, it's been good to catch up, man. well what's sort of What's new in your world? anything Anything else exciting going on with the Rhino?
00:56:58
Speaker
Nothing really, just normal day-to-day stuff. that's one That's wonderful, Rhino. I know we may be getting together a Saturday and some very special bottles of bourbon might be exchanged. So wanted to spur on the excitement for that. We nearly had a Hannah appearance on the pod. She just went back upstairs.
00:57:23
Speaker
Uh, that would have been electric, but Rhino, thank you so much for your time. Hopping on last minute, being a great pod supporter and. Hey, kudos to you and your schedule. we We sent this to you last minute. Like we all stated talking about bombing. We got busy lives. We got to plan things. Rhino was able to hop on, give us an hour of his time. It's been wonderful.
00:57:51
Speaker
Love having you in the playoffs, even if you are the norm Rhino, I've loved listening to Blake in despair tonight. And, uh, I look forward to watching the next month. unfold ah It's going to be an interesting month, especially if we're watching playoffs and in the fantasy at the same time. Yeah. The, the, the most underrated worst part of.
00:58:21
Speaker
The shame offs is if you end up in that bottom two, you're only days into a new year and you're the norm. Let's not forget that. boom No other thoughts. I know from last year.
00:58:38
Speaker
Gentlemen, it's been a pleasure and an honor chatting with you. This has been stoned by cornbread. This is episode 13 and we are out. All right.