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00:00:01
Will Responds
41 Plays1 year ago
Will joins and listens to Larry's rant live for the first time, discusses his hanging of dong on the Chef, and furthers his political movement
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:01
Speaker
Good evening, or good morning whenever you're listening, League of Hard Knocks. This is episode seven of Stone by Cornbread, an official, whether you want it to be or not, League of Hard Knocks podcast. Got a great week to break down, got a very, very special guest coming on, Mr. West Hillbilly, preserved by pilot. It will be an unofficial gathering of the the former commissioners And I really look forward to this conversation. How are you doing tonight, Blake? I'm excellent. I'm excellent. It's been a while since I fired up the former commissioner association group chat and c incredibly thrilled that our guests accepted our invitation. Very interested to see what Will has to say. Let's cut to
Weekly Fantasy Recap
00:00:50
Speaker
the chase. It's intro. Our man, Mr. Will Coley.
00:01:23
Speaker
And we are live. Breaking down the week that just happened. Having a great time with our guests tonight. And entertaining the league as we go. What
Fantasy League Discussions
00:01:37
Speaker
a wonderful week it's been for some. It wasn't for myself. How did you fare this week Blake?
00:01:45
Speaker
Yeah, we week five. Week five was a doozy. Just a quick recap of the matchups in case you didn't open your fantasy app, which you did. Bommie took me down. Bommie decided that he had heard enough. No. Oh, wait. Oh, wait. He's coming in live. Hey. There's the West Hill, Billy. Proudly preserved by pilot. How we doing, Will? Here.
00:02:16
Speaker
I'm out here on the porch. Let me turn on the bistro lighting here and really set the tone. I'm ready. Yeah, well, right when you hopped on, we were kind of doing a brief recap of the week that was... Care to give us any thoughts on your matchup? You once again claimed victory in the three o'clock hour. How are spirits right now with the squad? Oh, well, um I kind of feel a little bit like like Tennessee coming out of the NC State game to be telling you the truth. I feel really good. I feel like I haven't been tested. I feel like, you know, there's really a lot better that I can go. I think where I'm going to stray a little bit different than Tennessee is I'm going to keep my foot on the floor and I don't have to worry about offensive lines. So I think in that sense,
00:03:13
Speaker
um I should be just fine. I think we're going into a new week. i got to do a little Actually, I don't even mess with the waivers. I was going to say I need to do a little waiver wire work, but I don't actually even look at the waivers in this league. um And I don't know who I play because I don't have to look at it until Thursday.
00:03:36
Speaker
so Yeah, I feel good. It's the most relaxed fantasy football season I've ever had. There's not a lot of strategy in the league. There's not a lot of work to be done. It's really only a 20 minute a week commitment. But I mean, I enjoy it nonetheless. That's good. That's good. Well, I'm glad you're you're feeling like it's a very light lift. Yeah.
00:04:03
Speaker
Yeah, less seems to be more for you. You've got people on the other side of the spectrum, like Rob, on a four-game losing streak, just hammering the waivers, churning them like a ah big thing of butter, and it's not working for him. And you're saying less time is the secret for you this year. Yes, I am playing Larry this week. Taking a look at my team. My defense is on a buy.
00:04:33
Speaker
So
Upcoming Matchups and Rivalries
00:04:34
Speaker
I guess I do need to get on the waivers tonight. I'm glad we had this, because I was kind of falling asleep on the couch. But I i will put in a ah and will put in a claim for a defense here while we're talking. If you don't mind me multitasking, if that's OK. Yeah, while you're doing that, we were just breaking down week five that was. I was going over how the bomb squad came out of came out of his his grave, honestly. He was down and out.
00:05:00
Speaker
puts up a season high for the bomb squad, 113 to 97 over yours truly. The old men also rose up. An incredible performance from DJ Moore and and and Swift on on AJ's team.
00:05:15
Speaker
gives James his first loss of the year. So that that's noteworthy. You know, we now have three four and one teams going into week six. The bandwagoner in a battle of the bottom took down the omission and does send Rob on this four game skid 95 to 91. The Rhino who is charging on a three game win streak, the norm 138 points This was our top scorer of the week, led by T Higgins and Brian Thomas Jr. takes down Larry, gives Larry his first loss of the year. And then finally, Will, since we have you on, the dong hang of the week, you more than doubled Jake's score.
00:05:52
Speaker
yeah 136 to 62. I know you guys think I'm being a prick right now and playing a shtick, which I kind of am. I did not look at the final score. I did not look at the final score of this game.
00:06:07
Speaker
I knew that I killed Jake, but this is my first time looking at it, and he had chrysalis naked two receptions for 10 yards. Oh my gosh, Jerry Judy, one catch. Zach Moss, 24 yards, holy cow.
00:06:35
Speaker
Yeah, Jake, Jake's bad. Jake's bad, bad. Oh, yeah. it mackerel It brought, it brought me great joy to watch Jake struggle like that. Uh, on a week where I took my first loss. Where's he at in the standings? So Jake is falling. Oh, he's dead last. Okay. He's fallen. He's fallen to the bottom. The chef, the chef, although ESPN is giving the chef a higher playoff percentage chance than Rob. Rob right now has a 2% chance per yeah ESPN.
00:07:05
Speaker
ah The chef has a 9% chance of making the playoffs, but one more loss for either one of these guys, and it's going to be shame-off strategy time. Yeah, yeah, I think you start. If I'm if i'm ah if i'm them, I'm starting looking at who has an advantageous defense matchup in weeks 14, 15, 16, 17, because they're playing for shame-offs now.
00:07:34
Speaker
So you find yourself in first, well, going into week six against Larry two, four and one teams. I know that you're just now looking at your opponent. We, uh, we had Larry join us last week. He had some choice words about, what about you in particular? And I didn't know if if you wanted to take a moment to respond to those ah statements, if you will. I figured you could, you could.
00:08:00
Speaker
Can you respond back to Larry or you could you could directly decline? you know that and say number Can you give me a summary of what he said? I did hear through the text that he said that he made he made a comment with racial undertones towards me. Yeah, I don't know, James, could you could you summarize Larry's ah larry's i guess rant? Yeah, he went out a few people and it was great. I'm hoping for you to bring some of the same energy. It's hard to replicate, but when he was talking about you, Will, he really went at you much to our surprise. I think it was something along the lines of Will hates to see a black man on top. Those were some, some sharp words in your direction.
00:08:49
Speaker
And then he went in to talk about politics and a black woman maybe being on top. It was. Yeah. I actually, flip I'm going to, I'm going to go ahead and just play it for the pod here. Okay. This is our geta away from life this is where we get to be complete idiots and you guys are sucking the fun out of getting to be stupid because you guys want to be serious. Who the hell wants to get serious? I don't. I'll get serious. problemss I have a job.
00:09:14
Speaker
I have four kids and a wife who gets on my nerves. I know, but she gets on my nerves. I can be serious with them. I don't be in this league to be serious. So if you come in here with that serious stuff, take that on somewhere, because I don't want to hear it. So those are my grievances. If you come here with an, I don't want to hear it. Andrew, you stand on what you stand on, all right? you be Be the troll at all times, or don't be the troll at all.
00:09:41
Speaker
Bobby, be a man and say what you need to say. Last but not least, and I'm doing my rant and we can continue. Will Colley, you know, I know what the issue is with Will Colley. I'm gonna call a spade a spade, okay? Will Coley don't like to see a black man on top. It has always threatened him. It has always been a thorn in his side. He's been pissed at me since this black man won Mr. West over him in 2008. He hasn't let it go. So he doesn't want to see me back on top. It is killing him inside. A black woman is maybe president. This is a bad time for Will. This is a bad time for him. So I understand, which A,
00:10:21
Speaker
I don't care. I don't care, Will. You stop your crying. Stop your, Larry's not good, Larry. Whatever, baby. Four and O. What you gonna do about it? Quick, quick, quick correction. Can we say Larry's four and one. Oh, is this a week old? Oh yeah. So he went on that rant and then he promptly lost. Is that what happened? Surely not. Surely not.
00:10:49
Speaker
I mean, that was incredible. If you think I'm matching that brand. I was I was half asleep watching the gentleman in Russia that I remembered I have this if you think I'm matching that rant tonight you've got a complete nothing going that was hilarious he is right about mr. West ill will I don't know why he feels that he needs to bring race into this but if he thinks I'm mad that ah he beat me in 2008 well he's right
00:11:23
Speaker
But I fail to see what that has to do with me calling it like it is in fantasy football. and then i mean to just Clearly, Larry has nothing to say to me, so he just just made up i mean and put it into a public forum that I'm somehow a bigoted human.
00:11:46
Speaker
It's just lashing out wildly is what it is. It's lashing out wildly. And like I said, I have big aspirations in life. I might want to run for city council and I'd like for you to purge of the tape. Wow. Yeah. the The first and the last name was the real day. I mean, that's somebody to get dig up that audio. You know, I mean, I feel like.
00:12:14
Speaker
I'd like to know if Larry would like to have another shot back at that. I mean, I'm just going to come on here and just absolutely... Sorry about my dog, by the way. Yeah, just absolutely go for the most over the top accusations you can go for. I mean, it's not exactly kind.
00:12:35
Speaker
Yeah, and initially, as we discussed via text, we thought having both of you on at the same time would be electric. We were learning quickly as a podcast that the two guests at once is not a pro move. we We may not quite be ready for that, but I'm glad you're able to come on in.
00:12:54
Speaker
and set the record straight. You know, there's three three sides to every story, isn't that right? Yeah, three former commissioners. My side, your side, and the truth. And, you know, ah one there's an artque there's an art to radio. There's an art to ranting. I'm not a rant guy, you know? I like to come on and and give a thought-provoking moment here and there, but I think what,
00:13:23
Speaker
What most people can't do when they're in a conversation is have discourse, not discord, you know, this is, this isn't physical, you know, this is, this is verbal bro. You know, this isn't physical. So tough guy, Larry, you know, I mean, we're, we're playing fantasy football, you know, now it's just verbal and an intellectual.
00:13:51
Speaker
dare I say, and you know, Larry and I, I think in 2008 at West, the the cream rose to the top. Larry and I, number one, number two, Mr. West. He was number one, I was number two, I mean, and it's fine, it's fine. I'm not mad. I'm not mad, i it's fine. But I think what you're seeing is just a natural shuffling of the deck and I respect my opponent. He's not a rival.
00:14:21
Speaker
He's a good player. I mean,
League Rules and Strategy
00:14:23
Speaker
I can't say I've ever had a memorable game with Larry. Just like you can't just make these rivalries out of thin air. It has to be organic. who is the who are the two who is the When they did the conference reshuffling, do you remember when they made up the trophy? i'll look up I'll look this up and I'll put it in the chat if you can't remember outside your head. It was like the conflict. That was it. The conflict. There were two teams. It was Connecticut.
00:14:50
Speaker
And who was it? Connecticut and who? like Blake, you've got to know this. Where's this poll? So what what conference is this? It was Connecticut. Are we talking like old Big East days? Made up rivalry. No, this is recent.
00:15:09
Speaker
Oh, the Civil Conflict Trophy, I believe that was with UFC. Yes, the Civil Conflict. Yes, UCF and I do remember this. In Connecticut, the Civil Conflict, when there was a conference reshuffle, UCF and UConn were left without a rival.
00:15:30
Speaker
And so they just got together and the two schools just decided out of thin air that they were going to be rivals and they were going to make it the civil conflict and do a traveling trophy in the whole bit. Like they were going to do the little brown jug, like they were Michigan and Minnesota or do the Red River shootout. I mean, and they just said, we're going to become the civil conflict. And you know what that reminds me a lot of?
00:15:58
Speaker
James, do you know what that reminds me a lot of? I i feel like you're about to say something about Tennessee football and Kentucky, maybe. Say something what? I don't know where you're going with this one, Will. You cut out for a second. Remember when Blake in the middle of the offseason out of nowhere declared that I was his rival? It said, oh, who wills my rival?
00:16:23
Speaker
And I said, what? What are we talking about? You and I have been on the same side the whole time. Blake just made up nothing. And he tried to make a civil conflict out of me and Blake. I mean, it's what in the world, Blake? Like, seriously, what in the world was that? mis aly too What it? may honestly to tell Let me just say my thoughts out there. I was bored.
00:16:50
Speaker
and nobody was talking to me and I needed a rival. No, well you know for the sake of being more direct and and part of ah part of me working on myself, which Larry doesn't want me to do too much because it'd be too much in my feelings, but no my it's being direct about my intentions. It was it it was it it was a direct hit on rob was a direct hit on Rob. I knew nothing would make Rob angrier.
00:17:14
Speaker
than me declaring that I was too good to be his rival. And and you were just you were just there. You were there. It seemed like a good moment. I had just taken the trophy from you. It seemed like a good way for me to stir the pot. Did you declare it at the winter meetings? I did. I did. I declared it during the trophy presentation once you handed me the trophy. That was that was when I declared it. If you remember, I just stood there. I was like, what are you talking about, Blake? yeah What do you mean?
00:17:40
Speaker
I mean, I just, I just felt like, you know, back to back, uh, you and I had both won titles. I felt like i I could tell politically, we were starting to go in different directions and I felt like with Rob completely dejected and defeated. This was before he's one in and four. So don't we can imagine where he's at now but removing him from rival status would, would just plummet him to the depths that he's never known before. And it was an intentional shot at Rob and.
00:18:07
Speaker
yeah I mean, that was that was my whole thinking. Okay. yeah So yeah, I mean, I don't think that that was that like thinly veiled. I think that was pretty ham handed. We think we all understood what you're doing there. I just don't ah just I guess renouncing Rob as a rival, but I guess you felt like you needed to replace that. So there I am. I'm just UCF. I'm just sitting down here, you know? And then yeah you're Yukon's AD and you just call me and I'm sitting in my lazy boy and you're like, hey, hey bitch, you want to be rivals? And I'm just like, what?
00:18:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And honestly, if nothing else, it's insecurity. It's insecurity on my point. i I was scared to be single at that moment because I definitely needed to break up with Rob. We're going in different directions. We have been for a long time, but, but I was scared. I was scared to be alone. Yeah.
00:19:06
Speaker
you know yeah I'm not saying you're just like a quick rebound. it's just you were You were literally the man who just handed me the trophy. It fell right at the time. I don't think it developed. It was a fling. I don't even i don't even consider us rivals at this point in the season. okay okay That was my question. You answered the question. just and and Actually, I didn't even have to bring this up. I just just kind of like ah just kind of replayed the history of our rivalry and without ever really even asking if we're rivals, which is kind of where I was headed, obviously.
00:19:37
Speaker
You already answered the question, we're we're not rivals. Yeah, I mean, it it was essentially as good as a civil conflict trip. Okay, so what was a more fruitful endeavor, Jake's commissionership or your and I's rival? Rivalry. Our rivalry lasted longer technically, so I guess that was more fruitful. Well, did it because we haven't played as rivals. We we never faced off as rivals. So I think our rivalry was exactly zero days long.
00:20:07
Speaker
We have yet to play, am I right? Did we play earlier this year? ah Have we played this year? No, I don't think so. No, I mean, so we were rivals who never played. So maybe that is actually worse than the civil conflict. The history of this rivalry is oh, oh, and oh. Zero wins, zero losses, and zero ties, and the rivalry is over. So Blake, who's your rival?
00:20:35
Speaker
To be fair, Will, political rivals in this league are becoming bigger than the actual play on the field, so there's still time. Who's your rival, Blake? Like I said, I'm working on it. I don't have one right now. I'm a single and how and how does that league member alone and scared, and I miss Rob, and we'll work it out.
00:21:03
Speaker
Okay, so you're alone? You're scared and you miss Rob. Okay. All right. So Rob, I guess I, what kind of listenership are we getting? Is Rob even going to find out he's back in as the, your rival or? Oh yeah. no rob the bri do I mean, Rob's Rob's aware, Rob's aware. He, he, uh, you know, he made the side bet with me for the entirety of league dues. So oh I think, I think that was, that was an olive branch, if you will. He,
00:21:34
Speaker
He wanted to bring me back into the fold. It was a late night text. That was the happy birthday, the year after you broke up. How you doing? You up? Yeah.
00:21:47
Speaker
So Blake and I aren't rivals. this Actually, this has been more productive than I thought it would be. OK. so Blake and I are not rivals. Are there any other orders of business? Did you know that's where this was going to go tonight, Blake? or this kind of I figured it would come up. I figured you would ask some hard-hitting questions. One more question for you, speaking of hard-hitting questions. The civil conflict. Bami recently in the group chat stated his proposition for next year's changes to the rules. He proposed removing the IR spot and bringing back the tied-in position. Based on your
00:22:23
Speaker
Your, I guess, dialogue this year so far about how waivers are diminished, the league is on autopilot. ah Do you support this change? Would that be sufficient for you or are you looking to take further action when when we when it comes to a vote or would tight end an IR spot being removed be enough for for you to to silence on this matter? I think one of the things that this league needs to get away from is just boomeranging and back and forth and just ricocheting off the walls or acting like a pendulum. We swing and then we overcorrect and then we swing and then we overcorrect. I would say incremental, sensible reform is what this league needs.
00:23:13
Speaker
and i i think there's it really I think there's some validity to the IR spot. I would probably say there's a you you look at an issue, right? am i i'm I'm not necessarily opposed to the wide receiver tied inflex. I'm opposed to the lack of strategy needed for this leak. I'm opposed to the fact that everybody still has $70 in their fab budget. I'm opposed ah i which I'm not even looking that up, but I just know for a fact. Nobody's drained their fab budget Who's got the lowest fab right now, right? There's no reason to look at our waivers There's no reason unless your team is just decimated by injury. I'm sure there's some but I'm not kidding you I don't think anybody's doing anything in this league and we have to be realistic about why that's happening and
00:24:13
Speaker
And what it is is we have bloated rosters because we overreacted to COVID, which I mean, don't even get me started. Talk about the dumbest rules of all time. We overreacted to COVID and we added the IR spot and we've added roster spots. i I don't know when it happened, but our rosters are too big. They're way too big.
00:24:41
Speaker
and And then this this like mini flex position, you guys understand my point about this, right? The mini flex position has totally watered down all the strategy. Because your tight end goes on by, you don't have to get a tight end. You just play your fifth bush but your third or fourth receiver. And if they're on by, then you play your fifth receiver, because everybody's got five on their bench.
00:25:08
Speaker
We've got problems and it's fine. We'll fix it. I think what Bommie's proposing is actually a bit of an over-creation. I would rather make small changes that are going to make things a little bit better and then let's take a step back and assess if we need to go farther. But I would say, and I'll say this even if I win the league, this is the most i don't I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything by being in first. i I've not touched my line up. Would you say you had a good draft then? It's kind of a valuable part of the season. It was a good draft, but I didn't study for it. I got lucky. I mean, I just followed the ESPN rankings.
00:25:55
Speaker
the the Hang on. let' let look I'm trying to look right now. who's I've got the fab pulled up. Jake's got 14, the Amish. The two worst teams in the league have the least amount, and there's another guy in the 30s, Blake. Most of the guys are hovering around the 70-ish range.
00:26:16
Speaker
my that You make some good points there, Will. the The argument I'm not willing to hear is someone saying, we deserve to have better players on waivers. That makes no sense to me. What you're talking about, I'm willing to hear that argument about strategy. But this is a great forum for you to get your points out. I mean, I don't disagree with all your takes there.
00:26:39
Speaker
I feel like the hot takery and the trying to be the smartest guy in the room is where we've gotten to the point where our league is kind of dumb. We have person rosters in a 10 person league. we have a 170 players rostered across the league. Isn't that an issue? Could be, could be for for a sage. Yeah, it depends on your point of view. I think the league's running great, but that's why we get to vote on these things and it's what makes the league go round, I would say.
00:27:29
Speaker
i have i yeah I'm in other leagues with IRs and there the IR makes up your 16th player. I mean, and nobody cares about your other league. I'm just saying, I'm proving the point. yeah with With everybody having an extra player on the roster, the the amount that that limit the transactions, and I've already been talking about that for years, and then we further limited the transactions by making it to where nobody has to make any tied-in decisions. And so that's where we've continued to push the envelope to the point where there's no strategy in the league. Now, I'm still enjoying the league because it's fun, it's all my buddies, but I'm not
00:28:12
Speaker
I'm not scouring the league like I was. There's nothing there's nothing to do. as long as you're As long as your guys don't get hurt, there's nothing to do. Now, late in the year, when people are banged up or whatever, you might have to add and drop people, but there's nothing to do. I feel like if you get on right now, you're just tinkering your way out of a sensible roster.
00:28:37
Speaker
Anyway, I've made my point. My point's been received. I think Bomby, I've actually, I actually think Bomby's a little more fired up about it than I am, but I would agree that coming at it from the sense of
Commissioner Challenges and Advice
00:28:55
Speaker
I need better players on the waiver, I think that's a little bit, I think that's a little bit, that's an incorrect way of thinking, because then,
00:29:06
Speaker
Yeah, you're devaluing the draft and all those things. but to say but But the whole like, set it and forget it, I can just look at my lineup on Wednesday, just make sure I don't have any buys and move my guys around. That's all I gotta do. You're just shuffling guys on your roster around because you don't you're you're you're freeing up so much when you remove and devalue the tight end. I have Travis Kelsey, I don't even play him.
00:29:34
Speaker
play I play for boomer bust wide receivers boyfriend yeah do you see your outfit last night no that's what they're talking about because I don't need to because I don't need to know anything about the NFL to do well in this league hey it's working for you well we can't argue against that I appreciate you giving us your points there I'm sure we'll get to hear a version of that at the winter meetings if not many times before I We do have a couple more questions. I think the hay's in the barn. I don't think I really need to say anything at the winter meetings. Just come in and drop a mic. We have 17 roster spots and four opportunities to play wide receivers. That's the way you look at this league now. Okay, done. i mean I'm enjoying it. so
00:30:26
Speaker
Will, you talked about Bami and being fired up. While we have a meeting here of the three former commissioners, I wanted to get your take on the commissioner role in general and how you viewed your time there and how you see Bami doing currently and how long do you think he can last? Kind of a three layered cake question there. I think one of the things I've learned about the commissioner is it tends to, I think the thing Bami will get right.
00:30:57
Speaker
is knowing when it's just time to leave. I think that the mistake that I made, and James, if I can be candid, the mistake that you made was staying too long. This thing needs to be passed around hot potato a little bit. I could not agree more. energy It's not this. Go ahead. I sensed that my time was over around year three, and I was trying to find a exit strategy. It was ah an interesting time in the league though, ping ponging between norm and back to back championships and norm and another championship. It was, I felt like five was a good number though. I think it sets a good precedent somewhere between three and five. Yeah, I think because and unfortunately, we don't have enough people in this league willing to step up. I mean,
00:31:51
Speaker
I was looking at our text thread of the three former commissioners. We basically started Bommie's campaign in that text thread. I made his campaign banner and sent it to the group. I mean, I wanted Bommie. I thought Bommie would be a good one. I thought Larry A.J. would be entertaining. And my list kind of stopped there.
00:32:14
Speaker
i think that i think that it is It is a pain because you have to yet to plan a couple things. Hang on, sorry guys. Come inside. My dog is annoying if you guys want a dog. It's annoying. ah it's a it's a It's a bit of a responsibility. It's just enough of a thing. I would say Bommie has it easier than you had it. And I agree with that. And a lot of that has to do with the success of River Ridge CPAs.
00:32:50
Speaker
Because back when AJ still had time and he didn't have all this disposable income to run down to the 30A every four weeks, he was just lurking around in the tech thread, just looking for ways to create complete nonsense. And then he would make a complete firestorm. Blake was sitting there more than willing to fan the flames.
00:33:20
Speaker
and Then the next thing you know, blake on of or excuse me James is on a 35-minute drive up to Tazwell, and by the time he parks at the Kroger, he's got a full-blown situation to deal with. and so That's usually when it happened. It was exactly on my Thursday morning drive to Tazwell. He nailed it. That's good.
00:33:43
Speaker
and I think, honestly, if you let's pretend River Ridge CPAs is a publicly traded company, if you follow their stock price and watch the increase that's happened and there's, A, there's more business coming in, so he's busier, but B, he's doing, I mean, this guy's on the river 100 days a year. And actually, quite frankly,
00:34:13
Speaker
figured out how to outsource a lot of his problems. so He's not sitting there with the AirPods in, grinding it out, building the business, stirring up a little chatter in the group text anymore. He's out he's out you know he's out doing guided tarpon trips every six weeks. so He really doesn't have time to worry. He has new and more refined hobbies because of his newfound business success.
00:34:41
Speaker
and so I mean, some would call it maturing. I'm not going to give him the credit to say he's matured. I'm just going to say his fast, thick energy is directed to his true love of fishing. And therefore, that's a great thing. Bommie's had a much easier time and Bommie's had a really good tone early on of just not dealing with it. And so when AJ tried early on and I said, I've said for years, the job of the commissioner of this league is to not feed into the BS. And it's easier to see it when you're on the outside. Would you agree with that, James? When you're in it and you feel like it's your responsibility, you do feel like you have to be fair to everybody. And then you take a step back and you go, oh my gosh, I see exactly what's going on. And I can kind of see it already happening with Mommy. Like he's actually getting frustrated with people.
00:35:38
Speaker
Oh, you know I could, could not agree more, Will. When I, everyone takes a different approach. Mine was that of the peacemaker and that was a difficult job during that five year stretch. Yeah. And I tried to recuse myself from stirring the pot and people know that I love to interact.
00:36:00
Speaker
You can call it thin skin. I'll accept that, but I usually do respond and I think people liked that. So I i enjoyed it. It was exhausting at times, but I i found it highly entertaining. and I mean, when I get Andrew going at me, it's great. I said, you said three to five. I don't see how anybody can do it for five years.
00:36:24
Speaker
I mean, I think you can have multiple three-year stints, but you need to roll off the commissionership for a couple of years. i think I think Blake is about due to roll back on, but Bommie's term might be short. I'm calling that because I do think he's doing a good job, but you can tell he hates it. And when Bommie is... like I'm like, Bommie, dude, you cannot...
00:36:51
Speaker
You cannot actually be taking these comments seriously. He's a little lost in the sauce right now in terms of actually listening to what Andrew says and things like that. I mean, you got to, when you're there, you got to take a step back. I think you're totally right. And I think it's the larger problem back to my initial point is we don't have enough good commissioners willing to step up and eventually You, you took the words right out of my mouth. We're going to have to cycle back to old commissioners and you and Blake would both be great commissioners. And they'll probably come a time when your name's in the hat, but I would love to see more people hold it first. I don't think everybody in the league needs to, because there's some very obvious reasons that would be a disaster. But it's, it's an interesting problem we have because I hope this league goes on a long, long, long time.
00:37:49
Speaker
oh it Will there's nothing that's gonna kill this league Yeah, I think I think to answer your question succinctly I think bomb is doing a fantastic job. I think he's I think You can start to see a couple chinks in his armor right now a couple cracks and in the facade Where I will not be surprised. I will be disappointed But I will not be surprised if he takes a step back at the winter meetings, just because, like I said, he's actually, you can always tell us about the go downhill for a commissioner when he, he starts to actually take the comments seriously. And, uh, I think at that point you got to start, you got to start looking elsewhere. So let me, yeah I know. I mean, obviously it's not going to be Jake, you know, guy.
00:38:43
Speaker
I mean, you want to talk about quittin quitting on the job. the only The only thing with less legs in this league than Jake's commissionership is Blake's artificial rivalry. That's a civil conflict. That's fair. That's fair. It is funny. We've talked about it a couple of podcasts that you probably haven't caught up with and and don't expect you to.
00:39:09
Speaker
But we've talked about how certain people in the league are are playing a bit or a character and certain people aren't. And our league ah sometimes gets signals crossed. I think one thing I learned from being commissioner is you have to stay in character and not take anything seriously. And that would be my only advice to future commissioners is don't take the bait. Everyone is going to try to dangle a carrot and get you to go after it.
00:39:39
Speaker
And unfortunately for Bommie, I think Andrew was his proverbial carrot. and And the situation James and I created was toxic. And we we actually do have remorse about it. But we we hope he can recover. And we've stated it many times, even though Bommie, I think, is the last member actually boycotting this podcast, that we are we are supporters of the commissioner on Stone by Cornbread.
00:40:04
Speaker
and and we We want him to continue his reign. We do feel like he's done a good job. of
Humorous Anecdotes
00:40:10
Speaker
Who was I on the phone with when I was debriefing the podcast? And I was standing right next to Andrew Morton's mother at the... That was me. I was at Food City and I was getting you to explain what happened on the podcast.
00:40:26
Speaker
And I was talking openly about how stupid all of it was and evoking the names of my friends. And I looked to my left and Andrew Morton's mom is right there looking at the, looking at the chicken breast. And I'm looking at the ground beef and I was like, Oh, Hey. And she said, I thought I heard you saying some names I was familiar with.
00:40:52
Speaker
I was like, oh, sorry, Mrs. Morton. We were just talking about the podcast. Yeah. It's a small town, Knoxville. You know, it's a small town. Well, let's do
Matchup Predictions
00:41:08
Speaker
let's do a week let's do a week six preview, then we'll let you go. As our celebrity guest picker, we don't have a a big J segment, but we we did want to bring you in and and just get your take on every matchup this week. So give us a little...
00:41:22
Speaker
We got Will joining, Big J. I don't know if you'd like to go into any specific matchup to start off with, but I figured I'd let you throw our first matchup at and Mr. Coley here. Yeah, let's let's go over the battle of the Streakers. The Amish are on a four-game slide against the charging White Rhinos on a three-game win streak.
00:41:46
Speaker
Will, do you have the fantasy app pulled up? You want me to break down a couple match-ups here? I got it. I've got it here. I got it here. What I'll say about Rob is the absolute last place you want to play Rob is when he's backed into a corner. He is. He's going to get the claws out. He is going to. And he's back. He's in a corner. If you go, if you drop to one in five in a league, it is.
00:42:16
Speaker
Sayonara playoffs. Traditionally, seven and five has been required to get in the playoffs in this league. Is that an accurate statement? Yeah, only a tiebreaker around seven wins. Yeah, seven's the golden number. So, Rob, note like if you can get this thing to like three and four if you're Rob, you've got a puncher's chance. But when that for when that fifth loss hits your resume in this league, and it's week six, and it it's over for you. And then at that point, you're starting to get into shame mode, and I would never, ever, ever, ever in a million years bet against Rob in the shame offs. I do think Rob, as much as I don't think he's elite in this league anymore,
00:43:11
Speaker
I do think Rob will never win a norm. I do think that's a thing. Again. Oh, did he win a norm? Oh, okay. Oh, he won a norm. yeah Yeah, I forgot. Sorry. Okay. He will never win another one norm. I don't remember. I'm sure he can give you the full history onyx of what led to that. I'm going to guess injuries and bad luck, but I'll say. Larry's amendment. Larry's amendment. He wasn't in the bottom two, but that was the first year of the shame offs and it sent Rob.
00:43:42
Speaker
but To the hill. Yes. Golly, I have i think I had too many sub-concussive blows. I don't remember anything, but that is incredible. Yes. Okay, I do remember that. Point being, Rob's back into the corner. He's working hard on the waivers. This is the this is this feels like a Rob win.
00:44:04
Speaker
love it Love it, love it. One one other point on on that is that... Not only that, it feels like a Rob 120. When he gets really down on his guys and really starts... I wasn't watching the NFL, but I had a kind a text and it just said, CJ Stroud is horrible.
00:44:29
Speaker
like They're talking about this guy being like the next generational quarterback. And I'm like, what in the world? CJ Stroud, I'm like, oh, Rob's mad. Okay, got it.
00:44:43
Speaker
Before we break on this game though, the Rhino, he's he's the norm. I want to know what you think about his approach to norm ship, just going going dead silent. And James, as the norm last year, maybe this is also a question for you. Is that is that what we've is that what we put the norm in now, like this chamber of silence? And and is that healthy for the league? like Do we want to maybe loosen restrictions on the norm, get them a little more vocal?
00:45:09
Speaker
I don't, maybe, maybe that's just the way you have to operate as a norm, but I'm starting to rethink how we, how we allow norms to just disappear into the bushes during the season. Uh, no voting ability. And then they, they tend to go silent. You were pretty quiet last year too, James. Maybe I, there's also my last year as commission. I'll tell you that is the one thing you don't want is commission norm at the same time.
00:45:35
Speaker
I thought I was my normal engaging self, maybe not as much pot stirring being the commission, but it is bad. I mean, Renaud didn't even come to the draft. We know the the reasoning behind that. That got it off to a slow start on communication with the league. And he's just kind of held that line. And I don't think it's good for the league. Other other people like, you know, AJ being the norm would be electric, Rob would.
00:46:04
Speaker
I don't know about Larry. We'll we'll see. i I don't think the norm is dead. I think one of the best things you did, Blake, was doing the rumblings from the norm, which I carried on for a long time, having had it two more times in our media era. yeah i think i think but I think Rhino should give us a little more as a norm. Yeah, I do. I do, but we'll talk to him Thursday. We'll say, hey, listen.
00:46:34
Speaker
You gotta, avoidance is, I mean, if you just wanna make it as painless as possible on yourself, then yeah, Ryan knows handling this beautifully, because he just doesn't he just doesn't allow people to to to even get to him, which is a good strategy, but I'd like to see him do a little more. By the way, CJ Stroud last week, 28 of 38 for 331 yards,
00:47:05
Speaker
ah sos Sucks at a QBR of QBR of 64.4, which was good for top 10 in the league in week five. So, final account, pretty good game.
00:47:28
Speaker
I think Rob blows them out, 120.
00:47:36
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think it's, I'm not trying to, I'm not trying to nitpick your words too much. I don't think this is a do or die game. But like I said, when you hit that five loss mark, that's when you really start to pucker up in this league. ah So I think there's a little bit of buffer there.
00:48:02
Speaker
My favorite motivational speaker, Harrison Butker, is on a buy, so that's tough. I think I'm leaning Bommie here. Bommie is not losing to Harrison Butker. There's no way. There's no way. Bommie's gonna be laser focused on this week, and I think Bommie pulls this one out.
00:48:26
Speaker
Okay, yes. Bami said he's on playoff watch, so we'll see how that goes for him. What about another two and three matchup, the Marsh Cats first, the Bandwagoner?
00:48:39
Speaker
Well, I really haven't been paying much attention to either of these guys ah because I don't think I've played either one of them. I don't remember for sure, but hang on.
00:48:56
Speaker
I'm trying to remember, hang on, hang on. No, I haven't played either one of them. So I don't know anything about either one of these teams, but just based on pedigree and, and, uh, well, I was going to go with neither one of them's got any pedigree. I mean, you want to talk about two completely non, I don't know. Next. Okay.
00:49:21
Speaker
So what about the, uh, the matchup of the side bet four and one verse one and four me verse. Yes. Chef Jake Ryan, who just just, he just let us know. He is not bringing his, uh, potato dish Thursday night. Are you freaking kidding me? Probably not going to happen. Those are a two hour process that I ain't going to have time for. Yeah, right. Get it.
00:49:48
Speaker
Yeah, but I'm taking James off the off principal load. What? Come on. That's what your job is in this league. You're the chef and we're having a gathering. Yes, chef. And he's not even putting in the most the modicum of effort, so I'm taking the smooth moves. I love that. This is, you know, we've got some separation four and one to one and four, but $100 on the line. I would love to.
00:50:18
Speaker
Barry, Jake, there. Last matchup, an epic four-in-one battle against the accuser and the accusee. Yeah. Still, Billy's versus a team who has no name. So thoughts on this matchup, Will? I'm going to get on here, and I'm going to put in a bit on a defense. I honestly think, here's the scary part, you guys.
00:50:48
Speaker
I'm about to get healthy. That's the scary part of this whole thing. AJ Brown coming off the IR. Jonathan Taylor coming off a week of injury.
00:51:03
Speaker
Probably gonna drop my handcuffs. I would say i would say this is this is a statement week for me. Joe Burroughs got a nice matchup.
00:51:17
Speaker
James Cook has a really great matchup, you know new coach, no Robert Sala. Chuba Hubbard might be the story of my team right now. He's been an absolute, he's been an absolute apparition, an absolute gift.
00:51:35
Speaker
Diggs, London, and then I'll probably slide Jonathan Taylor in the flex. Who knows, if AJ Brown gets healthy, I might slide him in the wide receiver tight end flex. um it's Yeah, it's an embarrassment of riches right now when you go down my roster. And it's the next man up for me. It's the nameless faceless opponent. And if he wants to if he wants to make this personal and throw out wild accusations, then he's welcome to do whatever he thinks he needs to do to get his team ready to play.
00:52:15
Speaker
But for me, it's just week six. That's it, right? words of ah Words of a rivalry right there. ah sorry that's our That's our week week preview.
00:52:29
Speaker
ah brought to you by our one remaining sponsor who who hasn't dropped us, Ryan Construction. We'd like to thank Ryan Construction despite your lack of potatoes. We thank you for your sponsorship of the podcast. And we'd also like to thank our guests, West Hillbillies, preserved by Pilot. So I guess Pilot is kind of a secondary sponsor in this ah form for joining the show today. And this has been ah the week week six preview of the big day.
00:52:58
Speaker
Anyways, i will before we part ways, I know you probably got the kids down at this point and the dog is a little bit quieter than earlier. Any any thoughts on improvements? We've been asking this unfiltered and unedited. What would spark more listenership or maybe what would cause you to turn in and tune in every week to the show? we We've heard from, from several league members recently, but we'd love some honest feedback and criticism here. Uh, if we're going to get really honest, I have not listened since the first 20 minutes of the first episode. Uh, I listened. It was, I feel a lot better about it now because, uh, this whole.
00:53:53
Speaker
you know It's been fun for me to poke holes in your shtick, Blake. I'm looking at you personally. yep It's been enjoyable for me because you're you're having to go back to the drawing board on your oldest shtick and now you're having to come up with a new shtick. and that It's very, very similar to the old one that I'm working on me. is very It's similar but different to the I've been victimized shtick you've had going.
00:54:22
Speaker
So I'm willing to give it a try again, just for that. But when I listened to the first 20 minutes, it was basically just self congratulatory Blake time. Uh, and, uh, you know, I love James, but James is the self, uh, self declared peacemaker. So he's not going to call you on your BS and.
00:54:51
Speaker
I just, I kind of got busy and and ended up out of the rhythm. The Vols were good. I don't have much, I have a really short commute. The Vols were good. Now I feel like they're bad. So this is actually a good time for me to jump back in the podcast because I can't listen to Vols talk when the Vols are bad. um So I'll jump back in. I'd like to see, I kind of like this form, just bringing people on, letting them, letting them talk. You never know what you're going to get. You get, you get Larry.
00:55:21
Speaker
and You never know on the moon, you know if people if Larry was fired up last week and and this has been much more of a What did you say discord versus discourse? I would say it's been much more of a discourse which has been healthy Yeah, I And I knew I needed to set the record straight about my my stance on the new roster construction I I feel like I'm in the general election right now. I i won the primary. You know you win the primary by by being extreme, by riling up a loyal base. But now I need to appeal to the middle of this league. And yeah, I know I'm not gonna flip Rob.
00:56:16
Speaker
I don't need to flip Rob. I don't need to flip James. These guys are, these guys are radicals and they need to stay over there. But if I can get sensible people who want what's best for the league to come to my side, then that's where I need to be. And so I think, I think Bommie got a little too make LHK great again, and he's kind of over-correcting with his proposal.
00:56:46
Speaker
But I'm just gonna say we need to take a micro step back and look at what we're doing and be very honest and realistic about the impact it's having. So I've been glad that I've had this opportunity to open mic in this forum and you've done a nice job of ah keep it keeping it keeping it going. ah Half of this is just dedication and consistency.
00:57:11
Speaker
So I'll be encouraging. I think it's good. I'm going to jump back in. I'll listen to the Larry episode because the that was hilarious, the bit you played for me. And I'll listen going forward. Wow.
00:57:28
Speaker
Wow. I mean, and and we want your voice and your political movements to be heard here as well. We don't side with the political party on stone by cornbread. We might lean one way or the other at certain points, but as James states, we do try to be fair and balanced. We want to have radicals and rationals on alike. And maybe those people in the middle of the swing votes or are who who need to hear both sides the most.
00:57:53
Speaker
Well, we do want to have you back on at some point before the season's over, because a couple of episodes back, you did bring up on the group chat, league values. And James and I tried to discuss this solo, just the two of us, two of us, two of us. He and I discussing what those might be, but but you seem to know what they are. So we'd we'd love to welcome you back in a future week to really hammer down our league values. And maybe we could eventually put them on the website that Bami promised us.
00:58:22
Speaker
Now, how many weeks ago was that, James? i Somewhere after the draft. I've i've lost track. Yeah, yeah. you know I think it's eight weeks ago. yeah False promises is not good for your commissioner, Ray, and we have learned that. We sure have. Hey, Will, we're just over the one hour mark now. I just want to say thank you for your time. We're all busy men here. some Busier than others, thank you for your time. I enjoyed getting inside the mind of a politician there and viewing it from that perspective. I don't know if your video is on right now, but Blake is doing a great troll job halfway through the podcast, put a gator hat on. It's a big week, a lot going on, and I'm looking forward to the tailgate, Will. You're here.
00:59:15
Speaker
ah I didn't notice that I haven't had the camera on, but good job, Blake. I know you're looking literally anywhere, anywhere you could possibly be looking for anything to root for on Saturdays. So i by all means, please have fun, watch the game, cheer for the Gators. Are you coming up this weekend?
00:59:41
Speaker
It's still 50-50. We are working on potentially rescheduling my aforementioned appointment, ah which I don't want to get too into that right now. At this moment, it's a 50-50 chance that I will make an appearance. Regardless, ah this has been We could get more into that at another time. Yeah. If you guys want to talk birthing classes, please reach out. I was told I was very wrong on my take on that, that it was super beneficial. so Yeah. And I've learned a lot. I've learned about night nurses and a different group chat. I also learned about, ah ah what are they called? Doolies? Doolies. Doolies. These things you learned about. ah But for our nonfathers out there,
01:00:34
Speaker
I don't want to go on too much. I everyone have a lot to learn. I have a lot to learn. what We'll start another parenting podcast in the future. All right, guys. yeah guys Gentlemen. that Can't wait. Jamesy, good work on Thursday. Jake, make those potatoes. And Blake, I hope to see you Saturday. But if not, just act like you're having the best time ever, and be supportive. It's just a hand off from the center. It's a snap, if you will, is what I've heard.
01:01:04
Speaker
All right, Will, peace out. See ya.