Rob Corddry on Ballers, Joe Thomas Predicts Hard Knocks, and Cartoon Mount Rushmore
We are officially in the dog days of summer, which means New York City is currently a swamp of asphalt heat and Darren Rovell is breaking the internet by singing musical theater in his shower. While Big Cat is preparing for his eventual heat-related demise, the news cycle gifted us a late-breaking moos: Rick Pitino is starting a podcast and a Twitter account. Big Cat is extremely concerned for Rick's digital well-being.
Rick Pitino will not survive Twitter
Rick Pitino even plans to start a Twitter account. Rick Pitino, listen to me right now. Do not create a Twitter account. You are not going to survive Twitter.com. This is not going to work, Rick. He is going to hate it.
Hot Seat/Cool Throne
NASCAR CEO Brian France is on the hot seat after a DUI where he reportedly tried to name-drop the President to get out of it. PFT believes there is a much better strategy for when you're in the back of a squad car.
If you get arrested, you should drop the name of a mid-level officer rather than the President
If you get arrested, you want to drop a name. It's kind of the inverse of what you think it should be. You want to drop the smallest name possible that the guy would recognize. Like you want to drop the name of his slightly superior officer. You don't want to go straight to the top with the president.
Big Cat put Ohio State fans on the hot seat for holding an "impromptu" rally for Urban Meyer before any actual facts about the investigation were released. It felt a little too familiar for anyone who remember the Paterno era at Penn State.
Ohio State fans should have learned not to hold rallies before the facts are out from the Penn State / Joe Paterno situation
I feel like we should have learned our lesson with the Joe Paterno rallies. Maybe wait until we figure everything out before you do like an entire impromptu rally at the stadium being like Free Urban Meyer. I can't really wrap my head around these people because I would assume these are the same people that if you bash Urban Meyer on Twitter, they will reply with, wait till all the facts come out. But then they also held an entire rally with none of the facts out.
Mount Rushmore of Cartoons
The guys brought in Bubba to represent the younger millennial perspective, which resulted in some truly baffling picks like Rocket Power and Rick and Morty. Bubba kicked things off with a heavy hitter that PFT couldn't help but qualify.
The Simpsons is the best cartoon show of all time
Number one, no-brainer, Simpsons. Best cartoon show of all time. Even though there were only like seven or eight awesome seasons of it, those seven or eight seasons were good enough to justify like 50 years of shit.
Big Cat went with South Park and Doug (notably mentioning his dad's belt for a Quail Man costume), while PFT went with Beavis and Butthead, SpongeBob, and Looney Tunes. The discussion eventually devolved into whether the Ninja Turtles ever "ran a train" on April O'Neil.
Rob Corddry
Actor Rob Corddry joined the show to talk about Season 4 of Ballers. Naturally, the first question was about The Rock's coolness level, and Rob confirmed that Dwayne Johnson is exactly who we hope he is.
The Rock is exactly as great as you imagine him to be
He's great, man. He's everything you imagine and want him to be. It's very satisfying. He often gets himself into pickles just like we do, but he's like such a magnetic dude that he'll get himself out of it easier than we can.
They discussed the transition from Entourage to Ballers and why the sports world provides a more sustainable backdrop for television drama than the entertainment industry itself.
Sports stories have more longevity and 'better legs' than traditional showbiz stories
I just think sports is more – that has better legs. You know what I mean? There's more there. Then showbiz... showbiz just kind of like it's the snake eating its own tail. You know, but in football, you know, like you'll read an article like somebody tears ACL and that's it. That's the phrase. It's not even a sentence. It's a phrase. And this show [Ballers] is about all the drama that led up to that and follows that tear.
Rob also touched on his time at The Daily Show during the Jon Stewart heyday. While some comedy sets have a reputation for being cutthroat and competitive, Rob thinks one specific legend from the early days of SNL is to blame for that stereotype.
Chevy Chase ruined the reputation of comedy sets for everyone
I think comedy shows have that reputation [of being competitive or mean] because of Saturday Night Live. Chevy Chase ruined it for everyone. Chevy Chase was such a colossal dickhead. He ruined everything. Everything since then, everyone's like, oh, you have to be a dickhead to be in this show business.
Joe Thomas
10-time Pro Bowler Joe Thomas returned to the show to talk about his first summer off from football and the upcoming season of Hard Knocks featuring his former team, the Cleveland Browns. Joe is already in fan mode, losing 50 pounds on the "sunshine diet" and getting ready to watch Red Zone on Sundays. He gave us his early picks for who will steal the show on HBO, starting with offensive line coach Bob Wiley.
Bob Wiley will be the breakout star of Hard Knocks with the Browns
If I had to guess, [Bob Wiley] is the guy, in my opinion, that's the most interesting. He's the most funny, gregarious. He's the most seasoned coach on that staff. He kind of looks a little bit like a walrus. And he's just the nicest guy with the most funny jokes. I think people are going to fall in love with him.
He also thinks Hue Jackson might surprise some people by coming across as a guy the players actually enjoy playing for.
Hue Jackson will be the face of Hard Knocks because players love him and he has a boatload of personality
I think outside of Bob Wiley, I think Hue Jackson will probably be that next guy that becomes the face of the Browns Hard Knocks because he's got a lot of personality. He loves talking off the cuff. He's very passionate. He really loves his players, and he shows it. Players love him.
Joe gave us some incredible insight into the life of a lineman, explaining why the Browns' decision to remove the stripes from their helmets during camp actually helps the players hide their mistakes from the coaches during film review.
Not having a stripe on your helmet is a tactical advantage for players during film review
Not having a stripe on your helmet is really to the player's advantage when they're watching film because the coach really has a hard time deciphering where he's looking and if his eyes are in the wrong place. You can tell when you have a stripe, but without a stripe, he can get away with murder.
He also described the most humiliating rookie hazing ritual, which involves standing in front of the room and disclosing your signing bonus to the veterans.
Players are more ashamed and embarrassed to admit high signing bonuses than low ones in front of the team
The one that I loved the most that was the most humiliating... was when you make [rookies] stand up there and they have to tell you what their signing bonus was... you get like the first round guys like Baker [Mayfield] who's going to go up there and say, you know, 'got a 40 million dollar contract' or something. They're really embarrassed and ashamed because it's the first time in their life that they've made money playing football that they're allowed to admit to.
Take Quake and Guys on Chicks
PFT brought a Take Quake from Fred Smoot regarding the physical appearance of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks. The theory is simple: you have to be hot to hoist the trophy. Big Cat countered by reminding everyone that the GOAT wasn't always the chiseled man he is today.
Tom Brady won his first three Super Bowls before his 'glow-up' when he wasn't that hot
Even Tom Brady won the majority of his Super Bowls before the glow-up. He won three Super Bowls before he had the glow-up. [Brady] definitely looks a lot different than he did. He's gotten hotter with age.
We closed things out with some Bachelor talk for guys who don't watch the show and a Guys on Chicks segment where Bubba had to answer if it's gay for a man to touch a clitoris since it's technically an "undeveloped penis."
Don't forget to check the moss on the trees if you're lost in the woods, even if it grows on all sides.

