PMT DB
PMT DB
JJ Redick on the NBA Bubble, Duke Hate, and His New Podcast
The sports world is finally back in full swing, and Big Cat and PFT are riding the high of having games on the screen from noon until 1:00 AM. Between Devin Booker hitting icy buzzer-beaters and playoff hockey returning to its stressful glory, the mood in the studio is electric. PFT is already analyzing the nuances of the restart, specifically noting that Devin Booker has reached a new level of superstardom based purely on his post-shot horizontal celebration.
PFT CommenterDevin Booker is officially 'a dude' because of how he celebrated his game-winner
I'm on board the Devin Booker train just watching his body language after he made the shot. He basically went to sleep... a person that reacts like that, that guy is a dude.
The conversation shifted to the logistics of sports returning, leading Big Cat to wonder why the NCAA isn't just following the lead of the pros to give us the tournament we missed out on in March.
Big CatThe NCAA should run the March Madness tournament in a bubble right now
Why aren't we just doing the NCAA tournament right now? Like if someone... go, yeah. Hey, whoever wants to win the presidential election just pay for it. Like that would be pretty good. How about him in a bubble? And let's just do the NCAA tournament.
Hot Seat Cool Throne
Hot Seat/Cool Throne was headlined by the triumphant return of the XFL, now owned by The Rock. PFT is convinced that the sale isn't just a business transaction but a high-level setup for a multi-year wrestling angle between Johnson and Vince McMahon.
PFT CommenterThe Rock buying the XFL is a staged WWE-style feud with Vince McMahon
I think that this is work. I think that I think that this is WWE. A situation where the rock but McMahon's baby from underneath them. And now it's going to be like a WWE style Feud which is what the XFL should be in the first place.
On the Cool Throne, Big Cat highlighted Ben Roethlisberger, who seems to be in a season-long competition with himself to see just how many body parts he can have surgically repaired. According to Big Ben, he isn't just injured; he’s historically injured.
Big CatBig Ben Roethlisberger loves being the most injured person in the world
Big Ben is on my cool Throne because Big Ben no one likes to tell you how injured they are as much as Big Ben... from what I understand not three [ligaments], so he's flexing about who's three torn ligaments in his elbow.
Meanwhile, the MLB bubble is facing its own challenges, specifically regarding players leaving to acquire dairy. PFT defended the logic, noting that when the craving for cookies and milk hits, protocols become secondary to satisfaction.
PFT CommenterThe urge for a glass of milk to wash down cookies is an unstoppable force that justifies breaking MLB bubble protocols.
If you get it in your head that you need a glass of milk, you have to go get a glass of milk. If you get in your head that you're thirsty and you need milk to wash down Oreos, guess what you're going to do? Come hell or high water, you're going to go get some fucking milk.
JJ Redick Joins the Show
JJ Redick joined the show from the NBA bubble to discuss the launch of his new company, 342 Productions, and his new podcast, *The Old Man and the Three*. After years of being a top-tier guest and contributor elsewhere, JJ decided it was time to take the reins of his own media future.
JJ RedickIt was time for me to own my own podcast network rather than just being a contractor for other companies.
My contract with the Ringer was up. I've been there for three years and for Tommy [Alter] and I, we just wanted to own the podcast. I figured I had been doing podcasts for four years and I felt like it was time for me to actually own the podcast and build out a little podcast network.
JJ gave some incredible insight into the atmosphere in Orlando, describing the "Broadway stage" feel of the empty arenas and the "muffled" fake crowd noise that makes it hard to hear coaching instructions. Despite the weirdness, he’s been blown away by the quality of play.
JJ RedickThe basketball in the NBA bubble is surprisingly high-level and the players are in great shape despite the layoff.
I'm actually pleasantly surprised, maybe even a little bit shocked, at how in shape everybody has been. The shot making has been unbelievable... It's just been high-level basketball. It's been amazing. It's been incredible.
Moving to his college days, the conversation got deep regarding the NCAA's amateurism model. JJ and Big Cat agreed that the current system is a relic of the past that doesn't account for the massive revenue being generated by the players' likenesses.
JJ RedickNBA players are not amateurs and the 1930s model of amateurism is dead
To argue for amateurism Based On A system that was set up in the 1930s and 1940s prior to billion dollar TV contracts and ticket sales and Merchandising is crazy. Amateurism does not exist in high-level college basketball and high-level college football.
Big Cat proposed a free-market solution for recruiting that would let boosters pay players openly, arguing that the system would eventually find its own equilibrium.
Big CatCollege sports boosters should be allowed to pay players openly because the market would naturally correct itself once donors tire of busts.
I honestly think that they should just put it all above board and be like boosters can pay players... rich people don't like to just hand their money away. So when they make a mistake on paying an 18 year old kid and the kid doesn't pan out, they're going to think twice about the next kid and it will correct... it will kind of come back down to earth.
JJ also reflected on his time at Duke and why he became one of the most hated players in college basketball history. He explained that at 19, he didn't have the tools to handle the vitriol, which created a defensive cycle of being an "asshole" on the court.
JJ RedickI was only an 'asshole' at Duke because I was a 19-year-old who didn't know how to handle the cycle of hate from fans.
The only reason I played the game in the first place was to be an asshole... I was fucking 19 years old and I had to deal with this, and you know, at that age you're unsure of yourself. I would see the hate, I would feel the hate, I would hear the hate, and then I would react to that, and then my reaction would garner more hate. That cycle just kept repeating itself.
Billy’s Big Sheet and Guys on Chicks
To close out, the crew touched on Billy Football’s latest research, including a Twitter spat between Clay Travis and Darren Rovell that PFT found more punishing than a life sentence.
PFT CommenterReading a Twitter fight between Clay Travis and Darren Rovell is worse than a 20-year prison sentence
If you're like, hey, you have to go to prison for the next 20 years or you have to spend the next two days reading their [Clay Travis and Darren Rovell] back and forth. I choose prison. Yeah, it's like the most popular nerd verse the least popular not nerd.
We also addressed a listener's concern about her husband wanting to play golf every single day of their honeymoon. Big Cat offered some veteran perspective on the different "tiers" of golf guys and which ones you actually need to worry about.
Big CatSerious golf guys who travel to Scotland won't cheat on their wives, but business golf guys will
What from you from your perspective... the business golf guys will [cheat]. The like I'm just going to play a few rounds here and there, that guy will cheat on you. The I want to go to Scotland and all I want to do is play golf at one golf... that's his form of cheating on me.
If you get sent mystery seeds in the mail, please do not eat them, no matter how much PFT wants to see what happens.
