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00:00:01
Season Preview - We're baaaacck
30 Plays1 year ago
Championship defense begins
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Transcript
00:00:10
Speaker
Wow. Wow.
Season Two Kickoff
00:00:14
Speaker
It is I, Champion of the League, back with another season, which many of you probably did not expect. It's done by Cornbread, season two. It's happening. I'm Blake. I started the podcast and I'm the Champion of the League of Hard Knocks. This is an official League of Hard Knocks podcast.
00:00:36
Speaker
has not been confirmed by the commissioner because he has been quiet, quiet recently.
Excitement for Upcoming Draft
00:00:44
Speaker
We have a draft. We have a draft this week. We are less than a week from our draft and it was time to drop a pod. I can't wait to see all of you. I can't wait for the season. I can't wait to defend my title. And trust me, I have a lot to say about my title.
00:01:04
Speaker
but I also have a lot of questions to ask. I think we as a league have a lot of questions to ask. Lots and lots of question marks surround our league going into this season.
Introducing Co-host James
00:01:18
Speaker
So gentlemen, welcome to season two of Stone by Cornbread. I'm Blake, and let's get this thing going.
00:01:55
Speaker
Wow. New intro song as well this season. Welcome back. Welcome back to League. Welcome back to fantasy football. I'm sure everyone missed me. I'm sure everyone missed the League of Hard Knocks. I have a lot of question marks going into the season, but one of the biggest question marks is would I return?
00:02:15
Speaker
Would this podcast continue? Well, guess what? I'm back. And I have a special surprise. A new co-host. Like I said, we got a lot of question marks. A lot of question marks entering the season. One of the biggest question marks was, will I even bring this
Media Criticism and Engagement
00:02:38
Speaker
podcast back? I had a lot of criticism towards the end, mainly from one League member.
00:02:43
Speaker
Again, apologies for producing some of the only lead content that we had all season long. No, thanks to our benevolent, absent dictator. But yeah, I spent all off season quietly, quietly in the lab with my trophy. And I've been working on a lot and I can't wait to show you all that I've been working on. One of the things that was most important to me is elevating this podcast.
00:03:13
Speaker
making this a true voice of the league. And that's why I couldn't be more ecstatic to introduce my new podcast co-host. And before he says anything, I just wanna give a brief intro. This is a true man of the league. This is a three-time champion. This is a three-time norm.
00:03:41
Speaker
This is a founding father, and this is someone who spent years, years in the arena as the commissioner, which I've also sat in that seat and handled that criticism. This is James, Stacey Hicks Jr.
Blake's Defense Against Criticism
00:03:59
Speaker
James, welcome, but make yourself comfortable because
00:04:07
Speaker
You are the new co-host of Stone by Cornbread, and we couldn't be more happy to have you part of the show. Welcome in. Wow. Quite the introduction. I had a loss of words here, but as the league knows, I'll quickly regain that. Thrilled to be joining the pod, Blake. Honored to be here. The pleasure is all mine. After a really successful first year for you,
00:04:36
Speaker
nowhere to go, but up. I would, I would think, um, well, no where to go, but up for you because guess the last year you were, you were the norm. So that is also true. There was, uh, kind of a inability to really connect with the league, uh, being the norm, but, uh, I'm back baby rhinos, the norm, and we will discuss him later on.
00:05:03
Speaker
It's true. It's very true. It's very true. James, you've handled, like, before you get too far into it, like, you've been such an instrumental part of what I would call league media.
00:05:15
Speaker
Right. And I think that, I think that, you know, I claim this is official podcast in the league of our Knox. It's really our only source of, of league media currently. We we've gone through some different phases, right? We went through, uh, the Marco Polo years, which I thought were phenomenal, but only about four or five league members really participated last year. You said nowhere to go, but up from
Luck vs. Skill in Fantasy Football
00:05:39
Speaker
here, like for me.
00:05:41
Speaker
It was all about connecting the league last year. I actually interviewed every single league member on a pod last year, but the content, it declined. After I interviewed everyone, it was just me. I was on my own. So I guess I will say this to the league and the people listening is like, oh, okay. Like maybe your podcast did get a little boring towards the end of the year. I actually acknowledged that. I was a solo writer.
00:06:10
Speaker
I even thought about bringing people's wives on the podcast. I had no, I had no guests left, but I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll throw it back, back your way, throw the mic back your way. I just wanted to kind of clarify to the league that I do acknowledge that the podcast dropped off in quality as the season went on and I got more focused on my title chase. A part of that was because I didn't have any help.
00:06:34
Speaker
The rest of the league was silent, including our commissioner. We'll get to that later. But yeah, back to James. I just, I just wanted to say that before we got too
Draft Night Expectations
00:06:41
Speaker
deep into things this evening. You bring up some really great valid points there, Blake. I mean, the, uh, the burden of, uh, giving media to the week to the league every week is a lot. And in our infancy as a league, the media threatened to go behind a paywall. Um,
00:07:04
Speaker
Oh, yeah. With some dark years with no media at all, I would give Rob a lot of credit. You know, Bob is an innovative guy. Don't underestimate that. Introducing Marco Polo to the league. And that was great. And it had a very interactive feel. And the podcast is just kind of changing it up again, which is something I think about a lot. You never want to be stagnant in anything.
Critique of League Commissioner's Engagement
00:07:31
Speaker
And it got me thinking to a quote that I'll read for you now, to improve is to change, to perfect is to change often. And I kind of want that to be the mantra for the league and I think we've really grasped that in the last
00:07:50
Speaker
five to seven years. Um, so I hope we can keep continuing to do that because I'm seeing that right now, but there are certain factors at play that are threatening the health of the league. So that's interesting. You bring that up. Yeah. I mean, that's been on my mind all off season, right? Like I hold a heavy burden. Not only am I the champion, you know, if you will, the, the king of the league, you know, hail the champion.
00:08:22
Speaker
But I think for me, I'm concerned that the league is not as engaged as it once was. And I'm interested, I'm interested to get your opinion because I know part of bringing you on this year, and I had a lot of candidates.
Larry's Influence on League Rules
00:08:41
Speaker
I had, well, I had eight other qualified candidates to join me as co-host of this.
00:08:49
Speaker
of this really esteemed and award-winning podcast. And I chose you because I felt like you could provide a truly neutral investigative perspective that the league is lacking, right? I'm a polarizing figure. I realize that. Someone say I'm a feather ruffler. But I needed someone who's tasted both
00:09:18
Speaker
The highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I mean, three time champ, three time norm. It doesn't get higher or lower than that, really in life. I appreciate your insight here because this podcast has been lacking a truly, might I say,
00:09:41
Speaker
investigative, neutral voice that understands the heart of the league and what we need to get back to. I could continue to sing your praises, James, but I couldn't be more ecstatic to have you on the show. I just wanted to say that again. I know that you've been hard at work in the off season as well. What have you been up to? That is a great question.
00:10:09
Speaker
I thought long and hard when I was approached about joining this podcast, Blake, it's a it's a commitment. It is a burden, as we've discussed, but many
Analyzing New Draft Strategies
00:10:19
Speaker
hands make light work. And I decided to get to work and just to embrace the grind that will be this podcast. So I started with
00:10:33
Speaker
with a little bit of a off season project and I hate to go off script here. We did have a pre pod planning session that this was not discussed in the outline, but I decided to get a pen to paper and do a little journalism over the off season and interview a few league members. No one was willing to go by name.
00:11:00
Speaker
And I will not betray their trust, but some were willing to go anonymous on the record. And I've gathered a few of them. There were some more damning ones that I had to leave out for obvious reasons. Can't betray the trust of the league. So I just wanted to introduce a Big J journalism segment to the league that
00:11:31
Speaker
We'll be breaking news all year. I'm just really excited about pressing that button. Are you prepared? Are you shocked with this little pod ambush? Are you ready to hear some of the quotes? I'm willing to accept all criticism. I'm actually fascinated to hear what the league has been saying in the off season because I haven't heard shit. I haven't heard anything.
00:12:01
Speaker
It has been too quiet, wouldn't you say? It's been quiet. It's been quiet. Give it to me. I'm ready for it. Yeah, I kind of miss the league interactions. I've only got a couple here, so I won't get too far into it, but this was one of the ones. Yeah. Blake is a total fraud and cheated his way to the title. I had one of the best teams in the league last year and nothing to show for it.
00:12:31
Speaker
This league has always been out to get me, and that's the only reason I haven't won the title in God knows how long. When I saw that stupid red jacket, I wanted to punch Blake right in the nose. Oh, wow. Well, there's been a couple of league members that have taken a swing at me before. I will start by saying that. Some have taken more than a swing at me. We're not going to get too deep into that, but you know,
00:13:00
Speaker
There was a beer bottle hurled at my head one time. Uh, yeah, there has been physical violence, uh, around you over the years, I'd say. So the fact that, that a, a simple jacket that I intended to be something that was in addition to the league as a whole was, was taken as a reason to punch me in the face. Doesn't surprise me in the least. I guess I'll just address that right off the bat.
00:13:29
Speaker
But whoever's quote this was, and I really don't know who this is, this could be a variety of people. It could be Andrew, it could be Rob, it could be AJ. It's probably one of those three, if I had to guess.
00:13:44
Speaker
Yeah, they all had great teams last year. Actually, Rob probably didn't. They're all on huge droughts. Also, like Andrew's on a permanent drought. And yeah, Rob and AJ haven't won a title in forever. Clearly, I know how to get under Rob's skin. Without a doubt, I know how to get under AJ's skin. Whoever this league member is,
00:14:08
Speaker
Look, the red jacket is not a reason to punch me in the face. There's a lot of reasons to punch me in the face, but the red jacket isn't one of them. The red jacket is meant to be something that I honestly can't wait. I can't wait to give the red jacket to someone else after my dynasty is through. I fully plan on retaining my title year over year, but once I'm tired of winning the championship, I can't wait to give that red jacket in a very master's like ceremony
00:14:37
Speaker
and place it on the shoulders of another League member. So to whoever quoted this, Big J, I would just say, look, I think you'll think differently of the red jacket if it ever falls on your shoulders. Interesting. I do have one question before the next quote I have to get to. Are you worried that some people have been commenting on your physique lately?
00:15:04
Speaker
You've been noted as a high in the fashion rankings guy. I'm curious what was behind the red and also, are you worried that that coat is going to fit anybody else? That jacket's going to fit anyone else in the league? Because there are some people who would be a fat guy in a little coat. Well, I mean, all right. So there are some league members that in its current state, the jacket would be challenging to
00:15:34
Speaker
wear to a formal event. But the jacket is not meant to be a daily wearer. It's not a daily driver. I highly doubt that anyone's going to be throwing the jacket on before heading into the office for their nine to five. The jacket is meant to be more of a symbol.
00:15:53
Speaker
The red represents royalty in our league. It's a bold color that I think really, really represents the League of Hard Knocks. I know that a lot of people say, well, it's orange. That's Knoxville. That's the League of Hard Knocks. But I think ultimately red represents our league the best because
00:16:15
Speaker
Red is on the state flag of Tennessee. We have people in Chattanooga. Red is on the state flag of Georgia. We have two league members in Atlanta. I'm not going to get too much into the color here. I would just say that red is the color of blood. And every man should be willing to bleed for the league of hard knocks. And I know I'm willing to bleed for the league of hard knocks. I have blood for the league of hard knocks. And anyone that participated in fight night has also
00:16:42
Speaker
Most likely blood for the leopard knocks. Never forget eggnog fight night. Just want to throw that out there, but I will say this James.
00:16:52
Speaker
The jacket can be adjusted. Yeah, I talked to the people. It's like a 46, so I don't know jacket size wise what people are wearing out there, but it can expand to like a 48, 50. All you have to do is get your arms through it on winter meetings day. Get your arms through it, it'll be worth the moment. But if nothing else, if you win a title, I would even go as far to say if you win a title, you should be motivated to get in shape for that trophy presentation.
00:17:21
Speaker
So if nothing else, next person won a title after me, don't practice your hill runs, that's for the norm. But at least do some crunches, maybe a little ab work, maybe a little planking. Get ready for that red jacket ceremony, it's gonna be great. But yeah, I appreciate you bringing that up. We can take the jacket out.
00:17:44
Speaker
Well, iron truly sharpens iron. One champ challenging men to fit into that jacket. I love it. I'll go on with the next quote here because I've only got a few more. Seeing Blake smiling ear to ear at the winter meetings was one of the most nauseating experiences of my life. I almost vomited during the ceremony and it was mostly cheese.
00:18:12
Speaker
there's no way he makes the playoffs next year. So they're saying, obviously no repeat, only legends can do that, but they're saying no playoffs. Any reaction to that? No, I don't have a reaction to that. I mean, traditionally my team has been very average. I've had a couple of great seasons. I understand that sentiment, but I will say this.
00:18:42
Speaker
I am committed to not being a one hit wonder. In the off season, I focused very, very hard to operate on improving in silence. Not only did I improve my podcast by bringing you on, I knocked up my wife. I'm bringing a child into the world now. And I felt like it was the right time to bring a child in the world because
00:19:09
Speaker
What child wouldn't want their father to be a champion? And, and yeah, we just, we just found out it's a girl, which is really exciting. So my, my daughter, did you just break that news? I did. I did. Yeah. My daughter is, is gonna. Yeah. My daughter is going to enter the world as well. Congratulations. As the, as the daughter of a.
00:19:38
Speaker
a champion. And so I have more motivation than ever to succeed. And I guess that's what I would say to this league member. The idea of me not making the playoffs is so absurd because I will be laser focused. My child is entering the world
00:19:59
Speaker
Right after this league season concludes and I will be damned if my child does not experience her father as a back to back champion. And that's what I'm laser focused on. Wow. That was a shocking for me and the league. Um, I'm really excited for you, Blake. It is special. My, my daughter has touched the trophy, the cup.
00:20:29
Speaker
Uh, my son has not, and that's one of my greatest motivations in life right now. He's only seen the, uh, the massive blue balls as I, uh, more recently during the heaviest, uh, snow Knoxville's had in years tested that it did go above the eight inch truck nuts. Yeah. So Jimmy's Jimmy's only known you as a loser. Yeah. It's tough for the, for the little man. So that hurts.
00:20:57
Speaker
I truly am. Unlike some other league members, let's not forget the league members that since they've had children, haven't won shit. There's plenty of those. There's plenty of those. Yeah. And there's some people who, I don't know if Larry's even made the playoffs. Sorry for that. That dart out of nowhere. That was a real strip. Rob's been on a terrible streak since he had kids.
00:21:26
Speaker
Wow. Yeah, that was kind of mind-blowing. That's cool, Blake. Anyways, here's some more shitty quotes about you. Blake's antics from the first pick last year all the way to the trophy ceremony proves that he only values attention in the spotlight over winning.
00:21:46
Speaker
How he was able to pull off that title proves fantasy football is dumb and all luck. It's even made me question if I should even stay in this league. He's a fan politician that will stab anyone in the back and blows with the wind.
00:22:05
Speaker
That was a great, that's a lot of heat. I probably deserved every single word of that, but I will say to this person, the fire rod for the league. It's great. Whoever this person is, uh, lightning rod. That was, that was, could be Will could be Andrew. Honestly, it could be someone that's just as quiet like Jake or Rhino, but it's fantasy football luck.
00:22:31
Speaker
James, you work in sales. I'm also, currently my profession is communicating with businesses all over the world where I pitch them my software, my product, and I work with a team of people also pitching this product. And a lot of times I'll go into these conversations and say, is sales luck? Is winning luck? Is success luck? Hmm. Now,
00:22:59
Speaker
I guess to the jealous mind, yes. Yeah, it looks like a lot of luck. Looks like a lot of luck. Patrick Mahomes looks really lucky. Travis Kelsey. Got Taylor Swift is his girlfriend. Looks pretty lucky. And to those people, I honestly pity them. Because just like sales, just like sports, fantasy football is a mixture of three things.
00:23:27
Speaker
Skill, timing, and luck. That's right. I didn't exclude luck. I didn't see that coming. Just only 33% of it. Timing and skill are the other 66.6% repeating. And the reason I say that is because timing is everything in the league. Not just timing for when you make a draft pick or timing for when you pick someone up off waivers.
00:23:56
Speaker
but sometimes you just know it's your time. I sensed it from the very get-go of last season, when I had the first pick, did I think that Bijon Robinson was gonna score the most fantasy points in 2023? No, absolutely not. But did I think that by picking Bijon, it would create such a shockwave through the league and such a distraction that I would come out victorious? Absolutely.
00:24:26
Speaker
I think that winners take risks. And honestly, I want more people in the league taking risks. This league is a bunch of conservative, cautious, oh my gosh, PPR, that sounds so scary. Oh my gosh.
00:24:51
Speaker
Oh, keepers, let's pass that amendment and then let's not do it because that would be way too scary. Oh, live draft. Oh, I'm sorry, I have a tailgate the next day that's more important, right? That's where we're at as a league and that's how it addressed the person that called it luck. Is luck involved with gambling? Absolutely. But guess what? You don't have to show up to the casino.
00:25:21
Speaker
if you don't want to deal with luck. You can stay at home. You don't have to take the plight to Vegas. No one will miss you. So to whoever said that, I would say go ahead and quit the league because I am tired of that mentality. This league is elite. This league is special. And there is a line out the door of people that would love to be a part of a brotherhood like we have. Wow.
00:25:53
Speaker
I'm really enjoying this now. I'll keep going. Can you handle a couple more? I mean, you seem like you're invigorated by this. This is kind of backfired for what I imagine this. I'm less than a week from the draft. I have a pregnant wife and I am four beers deep. I am incredibly prepared for whatever you throw my way.
00:26:21
Speaker
Well, new dad energy is real. I would say two dad energy is draining. But that's a story for another day. Or today, yeah. I'll keep going, I guess. Just two more. I don't want to waste your time with these, but it seems like you're enjoying it. I don't even care if he is the champ.
00:26:49
Speaker
On draft night, I'm going to have a beautiful sourdough roll batch made from my famous starter. The only twist is they'll be stale and moldy. And I plan on continuing the stoning draft tradition with my laser rocket arm hitting Blake's square in the jaw.
00:27:13
Speaker
Jake well, I don't think Jake will listen to this first off, but I can't wait to see you Jake if you do Thank you for hosting the draft You've salvaged what our commissioner and my rival my new rival sought out to destroy So thank you for stepping up to the plate and being a man and I accept I accept all stoning
00:27:35
Speaker
Because first off, for the record, and everyone was there, no one actually made contact with me. Yes, I sprinted down the firing squad of cornbread, but to my knowledge, and yes, I had been roasting bowls with Bob out on the patio. There was not any cornbread that made significant contact with my person during the firing squad. So I welcome it.
00:28:06
Speaker
I welcome Rocket Arm quarterback, Jake. And thank you, Jake, for hosting. And really, like I said, just bringing together the league on a night that some sought to destroy. Well, yeah, I'm kind of looking forward to that because we'll get into it later when we talk about the actual draft night. But I'm expecting an elite menu. And if he has prepared a stale, moldy sourdough,
00:28:35
Speaker
rolls for everyone in the league to throw. I'll be thrilled, but I hope he has some nice bread for us to eat as well. Anyways, just one more quote, and then we'll move on with the podcast. This is kind of derailing us. It's completely off the outline. In the future, you should just bring these people on. You're like, a roast. A roast sounds great. Maybe that's a future episode, like a roast. Maybe. We need more league interaction. I have a lot of thoughts about that.
00:29:04
Speaker
Blake is a one-hit wonder and his podcast is fucking stupid. If he's not careful with this platform, I will seize and destroy all of his content. I can't have anyone undermining my authority. I got to be honest. That one is kind of could be construed to a couple of different guys. It really had an authoritative tone.
00:29:29
Speaker
but sounded like the commissioner, which I don't get those vibes from him. So I'm curious what you mean. I'm not going to rat out the quote here, obviously. Yeah, I know. As you should have. It's pretty obvious. It's got to be one of those two, right? I mean. I mean, it could be Will, but Will wouldn't use that kind of language. I know he's a more clean. I feel like Will's
00:29:54
Speaker
verbiage is much cleaner than that. That sounds like it could be the coug after four or five double IPAs, but... Yeah, while he's touching his hands. Oh, yeah, crinkling his shirt, thinking about latching his hands onto my neck.
00:30:15
Speaker
And yeah, I can just see him. I can see the shirt. I can see the bend of the cotton fabric as AJ twiddles his fingers, excitedly planning on thrusting his hands right onto my neck. But honestly, I think it's got to be Bommie that said that. Because Bommie, he is not slight of tongue, especially when he's passionate. And he has fully embraced this role
00:30:43
Speaker
And he has really, really, really struggled in that position of power, which I didn't expect. I didn't expect from a Harvard business grad, a man that had such knowledge and such command of a spreadsheet to struggle this much with maintaining lead health. But yeah, I think this brings up a great point, James, actually.
00:31:12
Speaker
and I'm really glad you're here. Let's talk about the commissioner. Let's talk about him. Unless you have any more quotes for me because I brought you on this show. I was like, I think James is going to bring an edge. He's going to bring an element. He's going to bring insider information around the league that people weren't willing to disclose to me and as they shouldn't. I'm a pot stirrer. I'm a feather ruffler.
00:31:37
Speaker
I have self-admittedly, I love to get under people's skin because I get bored if the league is just like, hey, good game. That's, that's no fun. This is like I said, it's, it's luck. It's skill. It's timing. It's a combination of those three. It makes it electric. And the commissioner is a, he's, he's benefited. He's benefited from luck.
00:32:07
Speaker
into getting the role, timing, and that no one else wanted to step up to the plate. But has there been any skill, James? Has there been any skill? How has he managed this first draft? How did he manage his first winter meetings? I personally would give Bonnie a C minus. And that could be generous so far. But I am more of a hot take feather ruffler. I want to hear your more
00:32:37
Speaker
I guess more perspective-based, neutral take. You were the norm last year. You got to see everything from a zoomed out view, which honestly is a lot of value to look at things from the press box instead of on the field. What's your take on the commissioner right now? Yeah, I love that you're opinionated about him. Bommie does not elicit a lot of opinions right now, and I think that's part of the problem.
00:33:07
Speaker
Uh, a good commissioner engages with the league often and that's not really something balmy has done. Um, you know, media has had to come out of the woodworks, not from the commissioner at this point. And maybe that's for the better. We can't have a.
00:33:28
Speaker
too much power at once. Well, he's welcome. He's welcome on the pot. I mean, not to not to interject too much here, but like, hey, Commissioner, if you're listening, we'd love to have you on almost every pot. I'd love to have a state of the union segment. I'd love to. I don't know about you. Would you would you like to hear? I would love to hear from the Commissioner. Every time we drop a podcast, I think that'd be fantastic. We need to hear from that's part of it. We haven't heard from it.
00:33:56
Speaker
I think we're writing the next podcast outline right now. I think we just need to work it in and challenge him to have his voice heard on some media for the league. I think, Bommie, if you're listening right now, let's get it on the schedule. Where are you? Where are you, Commissioner? You know what it reminds me of, James? It reminds me of probably how I imagined Dave running his entire Duncan empire.
00:34:27
Speaker
Like, yeah, maybe on paper the league looks like it's in a good spot. Bami's sitting there behind the screen like, okay, increased league dues, check mark. Which, by the way, awesome. Okay, you wide receiver, tied in spot. Oh, okay, cool, got that done. Great. Oh, draft scheduled. I did a good job. But,
00:34:55
Speaker
But where are you, Bonnie? Where is the communication? Where's the plan? Where's the draft day schedule? And most importantly, James, where is the norm? That is the question everyone's asking right now. I'm going to call a spade a spade. The norm is a draft dodger. I don't want that.
00:35:25
Speaker
phrase to go unremembered in this league. If one other norm decides to skip out on the humiliation that you must endure when the league meets only twice a year, I will be fucking pissed. It's not cool. We need all 10 people at the draft, period. End of discussion. This is partly on the commissioner. This is partly on the Norman.
00:35:52
Speaker
and it's not okay. It sets a very dangerous precedent for the league. As you can tell, I feel very passionate about it. Blake, you've had three Normans. Did you ever skip out on a get-together?
00:36:08
Speaker
This isn't just some get together. This is the draft. This is the most important night of the year. There's a lot of call outs. There's been a lot of distraction. I think going back to the commissioner and the norm, there are two good people to talk about because I think they're both to blame here. First off, this date was announced far before Rhino decided that he was going to be absent. It just happens that he has a wedding on the same weekend that we knew we were going to have the draft.
00:36:37
Speaker
And it just so happens that once he has been declared the norm, oh, then the wedding takes priority. But with this wedding, and I just posed this question because we are asking a lot of questions going into the season, James. Would this wedding have taken priority if Rhino was the champ? Would this wedding have taken priority
00:37:06
Speaker
if Rhino was not the norm. And I think it's a question the whole league should be asking. I don't think it's a question a lot of people asking, because a lot of people like to be like, oh yeah, Rhino, so sorry you can't make the joke. No, screw that, man. That is not right. And part of it, part of it,
00:37:28
Speaker
is the mentality of other league members. And I will call out my new rival. I will call out William Coley because Will also has tried to undermine this draft. Will has demanded this draft stay in Knoxville. Will has scheduled a tailgate that is much more extravagant and much more hyped up than the biggest night of the year for this league.
00:37:54
Speaker
And James, I have nothing against Will hosting a tailgate for all of Knoxville. If he wanted to invite the whole city to his tailgate and drop those fancy GPS coordinates in the Knoxville News Sentinel, so be it. But guess what? This is a feeble attempt
00:38:15
Speaker
to supplant draft night with something that Will created. And I, for one, refuse to accept it and buy into this narrative. And you are just as guilty as Rhino Will. You are just as guilty. You are almost a draft dodger because you are a draft distracter. That's my personal feeling. And I can't wait to tell that to his face.
00:38:42
Speaker
some really damning words there for two league members. Will's been kind of quiet lately. Bommie is the commish. We expect him to interact with the league. But there are certain members over the years that have been more interactive and not. We can't all be AJ, right? But Will used to be more interactive in this league.
00:39:12
Speaker
Uh, I can't say that he has been recently. He's been the champ only a couple of years ago, right? I mean, that was even a somewhat quiet year for him. What's, what do you think is going on with Will right now? What, what's going into that lack of interaction? Cause as I see it, Will's a core, uh, valued member of the league and we need his interaction to really be at full health.
00:39:41
Speaker
So I'm curious your thoughts on that. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's part of my frustration. That's part of my passion is will is this league will is the league of our knobs, just like every league member is, but it feels like he's almost quite quitting the league. It feels like he he's gotten to this point where he can't accept being a regular citizen.
00:40:11
Speaker
He has to be in power, or he has to be competing for power. And I love Will. I want Will to be a core member of this league, but it was hard for me. There's a group text I'm in where Will actually sent out a message regarding keepers in another league.
00:40:39
Speaker
to this group chat, like, hey, anyone have any thoughts on what keeper I should take? Now, trust me, there's some people that have forgotten, but there's a lot of people that remember, we actually passed the keeper amendment from Rob, they got struck down, got struck down by our league illegally. And for me,
00:41:05
Speaker
I feel that Will is trying to remove himself from the league for several reasons. One is he doesn't have power. He doesn't have political influence. He's not the commissioner and he's not the champ. So what do you do? Can you accept regular citizenship? Can you be one of the boys? Can you participate? Can you be passionate about the league?
00:41:32
Speaker
It doesn't seem like that right now. It seems like he's trying to distract from the league. He suggested that we instead forego the draft and all get together on a random weekend. It's preposterous. The draft night is my, I'm actually gonna ask you James, what would you say about the draft night in terms of its significance? Because I know I'm coming in with a lot of hot takes and that's what I do, but what would you say is the significance of draft night? It's the most important night of the year.
00:42:02
Speaker
It's bigger than the Hill run. It's bigger than the trophy ceremony. It is, it is how I felt when I was eight, nine years old on Christmas morning and I got the Michael Jordan jersey in my stocking. That's what draft night is to me. Right. So I think some people forget about that and get too mature for the league. And I worry about that.
00:42:31
Speaker
Guys, yes, it is $200. It is watching football. It is luck. Whatever Blake's percentages were probably skewed by using fantasy pros. But this league is about getting together and people in their forties and fifties and sixties would kill to have what we have. So don't forget that league. That's what I would say about draft night.
00:43:00
Speaker
No, no, I mean, I talked to my dad about it. I'm like, I'm like, dad, I'm coming up to Knoxville. He's like, for what? Like, well, my, my fantasy draft is on Friday night. I'm sorry. I was like, I love you. I'll stay here to the family. But like, I have more important things. He's like, no, I understand. And my dad, I mean, my dad's, he's getting up there. The latter half of his sixties, he said, like, you know, Blake, I would kill if I could.
00:43:24
Speaker
hang out with all my high school friends for a night. He literally told me that last time I talked him on the phone. It was one of those moments where I was like, oh wow, like what we have is really special. And so to cast it aside as immature or a second thought to something else I had planned or, oh, I had a wedding or a family engagement or I got a big tailgate plan tomorrow. Two out of 365 days to
00:43:51
Speaker
to connect with brothers that you've known for the majority of your life at this point, that's not too much to ask. And I guess maybe my dad put in perspective, and I'm not trying to get emotional on this Friday night show, James, but it made me think he would kill for what we have right now. And I hope that we don't throw that away for a bunch of, I guess drama and privileges, like there's nothing,
00:44:19
Speaker
There's no reason not to be passionate about draft night and seeing the boys. Can't wait to see everyone. I really can't. Rhino, you will be missed, but you should be there, Norm. You should be ashamed, Rhino, but you will be missed. So let's quick snap back into some hard data and real fantasy football talk here after that emotional diatribe, which I highly enjoyed.
00:44:49
Speaker
It's going to be a new type of draft this year, right? I mean, we've got a new amendment. The wide receiver tied in flex. I've got a lot of questions, one that I would pose to you is. How do you think that's really going to impact the draft? We've been traditionally a very heavy running back league. It's easy to say there's going to be an early one early run on whiteouts, but.
00:45:18
Speaker
there's a lot of good receivers this year. So how do you see that going? Just really want to use my ref whistle. I think this is a huge talking point, James. I think that
00:45:30
Speaker
We have for a long time in this league, opposed PPR. Now I've been pro PPR. There's been a select a few that have been in my political party. Maybe they've jumped political parties. I don't even know the political sphere anymore within the league, but there are still some proponents of PPR out there. And, and what I say to those pro PPR proponents is we already got it. You just don't realize it because now.
00:46:01
Speaker
we have an extra wide receiver in the starting lineup. And this will change the draft strategy dramatically, dramatically. Rob's standard printed out ESPN standardly 10 team draft rankings doesn't apply anymore. The value of wide receivers
00:46:27
Speaker
has not doubled, but it is up at least 25%, which everyone that was so scared of PPR that voted for this, it's almost hilarious to me because, oh no, we don't wanna add half a point if someone catches a pass, but we'll add a whole new pass catcher. Ugh, ye of small minds. This is like full point PPR and you just rolled it out without even knowing. But the league will find out
00:46:58
Speaker
The league will find out. James, you said earlier, we have to continue to evolve, like Winston Churchill said. But this is a good evolution. I'm very excited about this. We've talked about this a lot. Kyle Pitts is a wide receiver. The Falcons even come out and said, yeah, Kyle Pitts is a, quote unquote, tight end. But he's going to line up in the slot.
00:47:22
Speaker
He's not even gonna, he's not even gonna stance. If you're not in stance, you're not a tight end. Kelsey half the time isn't, he's not down in stance. He's lined up like a wide receiver. These are pass catchers. The league has evolved. The league has to evolve. Our league. And it did without even knowing, which I find very humorous. But yes, James, I think this is going to be
00:47:48
Speaker
a very confusing draft for a lot of people, especially the traditionalists. Yeah. So let's talk some more, some more actual fantasy guys here with, with that change going forward, where do you see the first tight end going? I mean, obviously not in the first round. We're not going to go Andrew back to back tight end. Uh, and well, maybe he will. That's why I love this league, but.
00:48:15
Speaker
I mean, are we seeing like Travis Kelsey dying off here? Is it Sam LaPorta? How do you see that landscape playing out? So I have a service that I subscribe to. It's called fantasypros.com and I have a premium membership. I just wanted to throw that out. We're not sponsored by Fantasy Pros, but maybe if we continue to grow our listener count, we will be one day, but... Yeah, like and subscribe, share to your wags.
00:48:46
Speaker
Yeah, or else we'll bring them on for an interview. Uh, eight out of 10 teams in our league, and this is data from fantasy pros that goes back over years and years of draft history. Eight out of 10 teams have never taken a tight end in the first two rounds. Now I know that sounds crazy. Who would take a tight end in the first rounds, but two teams have. Right. Two teams have taken a tight end in the first two rounds.
00:49:13
Speaker
Can I guess? One of them. Yeah, please do guess. I'm gonna guess Andrew and Jake. You are absolutely correct. And that's actually phenomenal. AJ has never taken a tie in the first two rounds. Take that historian. Suck on those nuts. I've never taken a tie in the first two rounds. Will has never taken a tie in the first two rounds. Rhino has never taken one.
00:49:39
Speaker
Larry has never taken one. Bobby has never taken one. And Rob has never taken a title in the first round. But yes, Jake and Andrew have both taken a tight end in the first two rounds. I don't think it'll ever happen again. I really don't. I really don't. In fact, I'm trying to remember, can this jog your memory? The year that Andrew did it, it was Julius Thomas on the Broncos. Who was the other, was it Jimmy Graham?
00:50:05
Speaker
Well, Jimmy Graham was taken by Bommie, but I didn't actually know. I didn't count that in this current stat that I'm bringing up because Bommie... That was a legendary draft. By all means did not mean to draft Jimmy Graham. In fact, he self-admittedly did not mean to draft Jimmy Graham. That that was a...
00:50:28
Speaker
That was a complete accident. I'm not going to bomb the credit for like premeditating and being like, okay, yeah, I'm going to drop Jimmy Graham. I can't wait to drop Jimmy Graham. No, that was, that was irrelevant. I crossed that from the league memory and the league archives. I don't hear what the historian has to say, but yeah. Uh, I think another interesting stat game just to bring up is that also eight out of 10 teams have never taken a quarterback on the first two rounds.
00:50:54
Speaker
I think that's interesting too. I know it's not necessarily related to this, but... I know who those two teams are as well. That's Jake and Bommie. It's Jake and Bommie. It is actually not Jake. Jake has never taken a QB in the first two rounds. He's taken one and round three. I thought he took Josh Allen early. Maybe it was Will. But... Bommie definitely took Mahomes in the second, right?
00:51:24
Speaker
You've never taken a QB in the first two. Andrew has never taken a QB in the first two. I've never taken a QB in the first two. Rhino's never taken a QB. AJ's never taken a QB. Jake's never taken a QB. Rob's never taken a QB. Will has taken a QB in the first two rounds. Will has taken a quarterback.
00:51:51
Speaker
I think it's very, very, very interesting here because does the value of quarterbacks suit up with our new format? Because all of a sudden you have an extra opportunity for a stack. And I think it's something we're not talking about enough because no one loves a stack more than the historian. And I believe, I believe with the additional pass catcher,
00:52:20
Speaker
There was the Mahomes Kelsey stack. That was truly the only quarterback tight end stack that was worth anything. I played around with Goth Laporta last year. Maybe at one point, way back in history, there was some kind of like, maybe a Chargers quarterback tight end stack. What would that have been? Like rivers and gates?
00:52:46
Speaker
Rivers and Gates, that was a legendary stack. I don't think Peyton had a good tie-in. It was more like a Peyton-Marvin stack. Dallas Clark was a problem. But does it open up another stack and does it add value to the quarterback position? I think that's something to watch going into this because a lot of people are saying that Josh Allen is a top two round tied quarterback. A lot of questions being asked about Josh Allen. A lot of questions being asked about the Bills.
00:53:16
Speaker
but I could see some people reaching and not just team reach. Larry, we're actually really concerned about how you handle this rule change because actually I'm not concerned about it. Larry can't get any worse at fantasy football. I'll just stop there, James. Larry has been against all rule changes. He's been a conservative league member.
00:53:45
Speaker
But why would you want to stick to the same script if you're on the wrong end of the script every single year? It's just a question of post. I think it's hilarious that Larry's always like, no, we shouldn't change anything. I suck at fantasy football and we shouldn't change anything. Hey, to perfect is to change often. That's what I say.
00:54:10
Speaker
Despite all that, Larry has the greatest change to our league that has ever happened. And I've been on the wrong end of that, too. But hey, if you play your worst football at the worst time of the year, you deserve it. And I've deserved it three times. So that's the way the cookie crumbles. But it's really incredible that Larry's staved it off this long.
00:54:39
Speaker
He's not a norm. He's not a norm. He's a four-time father. He's your time norm. It's incredible. It's admirable. He did come up with the best amendment in league history. Larry, I'm sorry. I'm not actually hating. Your amendment
00:54:59
Speaker
change the face of the league forever. And the fact that you have never ever had to show your children the blue balls that James has, it's a beautiful thing. And you should be proud of that. And a lot of people would say you're a much better fantasy player than my co-host, even though he's got three titles, you've got zero norms. So who's actually better? The guy with the blue balls or?
00:55:25
Speaker
the guy that's got four kids and a great amendment. I don't know. That's an interesting way to think about it. I guess you got to change your thinking too. Yeah, it begs the question, doesn't it? I mean, league members will have to decide that on their own. Love you, Larry. We're approaching the one hour mark, Blake. There we go.
00:55:53
Speaker
It's getting late on the east coast. Let's talk about the actual draft night.
00:56:02
Speaker
It's the best night of the year for me. How do you see it playing out? Is there going to be some early exits? I think we're all beyond throwing up at this point, but who do you see being the most likely candidate to take it a little over the edge? What's the menu going to be? I have a lot of questions that I almost want to be just surprised by, but I'm curious about your thoughts.
00:56:30
Speaker
Yeah, I know. I feel like there's a classic rivalry that goes way deeper than any current league rivalries between Will and Jake that both of them really want to crush the menu for their respective events. And I, I was kind of messing with Will earlier about his tailgate and he signed up the tailgate. Jake's hosting the league for the draft and I, I will be damned if Jake does not attempt and succeed at your planting Will.
00:57:00
Speaker
and Sir Planting Will's tailgate as a premium event with a premium menu. I expect steak. I know Jake is a master of the steak. I know he's also got a couple of tricks up his sleeve. He's got an uni out back. I can see the man bringing out quite the charcuterie cheese board.
00:57:21
Speaker
And yeah, draft time is going to be electric. I mean, there's a lot of candidates for getting wasted. I mean, I think it's not just about getting wasted. It's like, who's going to exit early, right? Like, Will's got this tailgate tomorrow. He's probably going to be the first out the door. He might even put his team on auto draft. If you can do that for a live draft for the last year round, it's like, God, it's bigger, quicker for me. No, okay. We know you got better things to do, bigger, bigger plans to make.
00:57:49
Speaker
Rhino phoning in. Does his phone stay powered up the whole draft? Big question to ask. Big question to ask for Rhino. The norm. Draft Dodger. Rob. Rob. You know, depending on how the draft goes, Rob can easily be talked into. Heading out back, ripping another bowl. Did that last year with him. Maybe Rob could be talked into. Another fireball shot. Another, another rip a baloney.
00:58:20
Speaker
There's a lot of things y'all could be talked into. The Coug. Does the Coug, once the Coug's office leash, does he find double IPAs? If he does, could be in for a double Coug night. Not just seeing double, but I feel like Coug is double trouble when he gets into the IPAs. There's a factor there. Don't forget Andrew in the bathtub. Don't forget Andrew in the brown water bathtub.
00:58:50
Speaker
We know that Andrew is always liable. There's a lot of factors going into draft night, menus, people that could get wasted, myself included, probably you included. I know you're a white claw guy now, high noon guy. What's your... Yeah, I love the high noons. I might make a bunch of transfusions for the league or something just to push people's limits.
00:59:19
Speaker
I like when people get spirited and I will be Ubering in and out. You have my word on that, but it's going to be a great night. Honestly, I can't wait to see everybody. In all seriousness, the intentions of the podcast are only to bring the lead together. I think that's what I'm so excited about having James on this year.
00:59:43
Speaker
You bring so much to League history, but also League present state. And that's what I really hope this draft is about, is all of us getting together, even if Rhino's on the other end of a cellular signal. I'm excited about talking to Rhino and hearing his draft picks. Guys, we don't ask for a lot. We ask for two out of 365 days a year.
01:00:11
Speaker
It's just a blip in the radar, especially if you zoom out enough to look at time beyond our lives. It's a very small fragment that we should value. And we're running out of time for this podcast. James, I think that's all we got. We got a lot more to come. I will say that. We're gonna bring on the commissioner. We gotta get him on. We gotta have a State of the Union. You can expect
01:00:39
Speaker
in future, future episodes, more about the league, more about how the season is progressing, maybe some power rankings. I wasn't joking. I would, I would love to get, I would love to get at least the first lady Fran Baumgardner on the podcast. I think that would be electric. What time will tell what that was not in the pot outline either. I'm enjoying the, uh,
01:01:07
Speaker
the breaking news on the other end here as well. Yeah, Blake. Time will tell. And Big J, let's just give you one last. Yeah, that's Big J's breaking news. I just want to say I still believe in this league. I think it is a healthy league. But remember, we need all 10 guys to be at full health. So that would be my challenge to the league. I'm looking forward to a great year on this podcast.
01:01:37
Speaker
Let's have a freaking week if your kids are listening. Draft day will be complete by the time that we're recording this next Friday. Well, you guys are going to be probably driving to what? So if you have a little Gatlinberry tomorrow listening to the show. So if you're listening in your car, drive safely. Keep it at 10 and 2. Make sure your kids are buckled up. And we'll see you next time on Stone by Cornbread.
01:02:05
Speaker
I'm just one of the hosts now. I'm Blake and this is my co-host, Big J. James Stacey H. Jr. and we'll see you whenever we decide to record again. Peace out.
01:02:38
Speaker
you