Takes

This has to be Al Michaels' last year

I do think this has to be Al Michaels' last year. Next year has to be. I would appreciate if Al Michaels would do a retirement tour. If he was like, this is it, I would not complain about him at all because he is a legend of the game.

Corner camping is a legitimate and awesome strategy in Call of Duty

I think that's awesome. Yeah, it's great. You find a good spot where you kill... corner camping. I ended up winning. It was great.

Battlefield 6 is bringing realism back to first-person shooters

The Battlefield six beta has brought realism back into first person shooter games. They peaked with 520,000 concurrent players only on Steam. Battlefield six, none of [the skins]. We're riding tanks. We're blowing up buildings.

The NFL owning a 10% stake in ESPN will make it much harder for other media companies to interview players

I'm glad that florio's all over this, but I, I don't know what differences we're gonna see, but I do think that the NFL is going to make it way less likely for other media companies to conduct interviews with NFL players.

ESPN will eventually ruin NFL RedZone by adding commercials

There's a decent chance that ESPN fucks us up. ... They won't fuck it up right away because they know people will be upset but they'll eventually fuck it up and they'll slip in some things. ... I don't think they're gonna have commercials right away, but I think that they're gonna have like very intrusive onscreen commercials during the actual play. And I think they're gonna eventually get to commercials.

Inside the NBA at ESPN will struggle to maintain its magic if they cut it for SportsCenter

The number one time on our show is after the game. You get like 4 to 5 minutes to shoot the shit. That's the magic. But me and Ernie have talked about it... Are they gonna say 'No guys, y'all got 15 minutes. We gotta go to SportsCenter'?

Excluding Joe Rogan from a list of the 100 most influential podcasts is crazy

Joe Rogan not on the List, kind of crazy. Like Joe Rogan is the biggest podcast in the world. And he's like, he's in the news all the time and think about how many careers he started. It's fucking nuts.

A streamer locked in a padded room playing Elden Ring will go insane before finishing the game

He has locked himself in a padded room... Doesn't know what time it is until he completes Elden Ring... It took him roughly seven hours and 165 attempts to defeat the first boss... I'm a little worried he's gonna go insane.

Our 10th anniversary book will be the dumbest book ever created

It's gonna be the dumbest book ever created. And it's not gonna be... like, I don't wanna, we're not gonna write like a a tell all that's like super serious. It's gonna be stupid. ... We want it to be dumb. We wanna be stupid.

Ryan Clark is a psycho for his social media attack on Robert Griffin III

Ryan Clark is kind of a psycho and just went like nuclear on a take about a foul in the WNBA. ... It basically comes down to RG3 had a misdemeanor of being corny online and, and Ryan Clark put him in front of a firing squad.

Pardon My Take will end in 21 years.

I'm gonna retire in 20 years. 20. You have 20 years of Pardon? My Take left... I kinda like walking away in 21 years... 30 total.

I will retire from the podcast in 10 years.

I got 10 more years... I can see myself doing it until your guys age.

Skip Bayless is the biggest loser of the LeBron interview on Pat McAfee

All this to say Skip Bayless was not mentioned once and all Skip Bayless wants to do is get mentioned by LeBron. He's the big loser in all of this.

The HBO show 'Hard Knocks' canceled its North Carolina season because fans were calling it 'Tar Knocks'

Do we think that the hit show 'Tar Knocks'—the naming of it—has maybe ended Hard Knocks at UNC?... Somebody from HBO listened to the show and was like, everyone's gonna be calling it Tar Knocks. We can't have this.

The NHL's Four Nations tournament completely outclassed the NBA All-Star weekend

The NHL absolutely bodied the NBA in terms of getting it right and what they did, what they've done with the Four Nations Tournament instead of the All-Star game versus everything that's been going on for the NBA All-Star game. It's not even close.

Scott Hanson and NFL Red Zone are on the Hot Seat for airing commercials on a 'commercial-free' broadcast

My Hot Seat is Scott Hanson and NFL Red Zone... Their entire tagline for years since the beginning of Red Zone... Get ready for seven hours of commercial-free football. And on Sunday they ran commercials. They were like 30 seconds of commercial... you just completely rug pulled them.

The Meta Quest 3 is significantly better than the Apple Vision Pro

I got the Apple Vision Pro like seven months ago. What a waste of fucking money that was. That was probably the the biggest waste of money I've ever had in my entire life... picked up the Meta Quest 3. That thing rocks... this kicks the shit out of the Apple Vision Pro.

Opting out of the lottery ball should be grounds for losing your job

If you Opt outta a lottery ball, you're opting outta the booth. Is that what you're doing? And then you might be opting outta your job. I don't understand this. Hank is the very definition of grace. You could complain, you could bitch... You can't Opt out.

The Dodgers-Yankees World Series will average 14 million viewers.

I'm predicting 14 million average. Whoa. Average for this one. Whoa. That's, that's what we're talking about. We're talking about ratings.

Bob Costas is horrible at broadcasting baseball and should stop

Bob Costas... He just sounded, he's broadcasting the Yankees-Royals series and he sounds horrible... He has all the money. He doesn't need to do it. I don't get why he chooses to do it.

Adam Schefter will become the Ultimate Insider covering both NFL and NBA

Adam Schefter could be a candidate to replace Woj... In this scenario, Schefter would cover both the NFL and NBA as what a source called the Ultimate Insider... there's nothing you can do when someone says, Hey, you wanna be the ultimate insider?

Noah Lyles is the Hater of the Year for his comments on the NBA

Noah Lyles... might have to do that as a Takey Hater of the Year. Because he was the one who before the Olympics said, you don't win a world championship if you win the NBA championship. That's not the world... He definitely got cut playing basketball. He's got some very deep seated anger for any ball sport.

The New York media is unethical and prioritizes control

The media in general is scared of people that they can't control. Because they built this brand that can't be controlled. I would say the majority of them too are so unethical. The practices now is just a fucking joke.

Stephen A. Smith officially won the Skip Bayless divorce

Stephen A. Smith has won the Skip Bayless-Stephen A. Smith divorce. It took a few years to get there... Skip is out at Fox Sports I believe at the end of the summer... he goes off, does his own podcast, gets 5 trillion views on it. Works for ESPN, seems to be having a good time.

The Sonos app is terrible and needs to be completely fixed

I got something to say about Sonos. Figure it out guys. Ooh, what's up with this app? Why do I need the app to, to play the, the music? I agree. And if you're gonna require me to have the app to play music, at least make the app good. You know? Yes. I gotta be able to go on my Spotify and just click a speaker. Yep. You can do it with everything else.

Jalen Brown's necklace bio-streams caffeine and melatonin into the body digitally

It's caffeine and a necklace... use its patented technology to bio stream compounds like caffeine and melatonin digitally without you having to ingest them... happy tiny magnetic songs naturally stimulate bio receptors and cell to recreate the same sensations without side effects... 25 blends are available... simply choose the blend you'd like to play. And happy does the rest.

Podcasters can do anything now that JJ Redick is the Lakers head coach

JJ Redick is now the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers... my first thought was, it's huge for the podcast community. It is. Us podcasters can do anything. It's important to have representation in the media. So growing up, if you're a kid out there with a podcast, you can look at JJ Redick and say, I too one day can coach the Lakers.

I will be calling college football this fall

If I make myself publicly fully available right now, best case scenario, I'm in the booth calling college football this fall. Is that gonna happen? Is that reality? I don't know. But the odds are going to increase by making this jump right now.

Every athlete should get one pass per year to skip the media after a loss

I think that every athlete should get one a year where they can just say, I'm I'm not doing this and, and this you, you and if you, if you don't use it, you lose it. So you don't get carryover, but you get one a year where you can just be like, Nope, no moss, I can't do it. Because I would, if I were Rory and I had to sit there and have Bryson come up to me and be like, that was an incredible fight you put up, you know what? Oh, you played so great. I wish two of us could have won this. And then go sit and have some reporter say, Rory, talk me through what happened with that putt that you missed. I kill myself.

Charles Barkley's retirement announcement is just a leverage play

I don't buy it. I don't buy it. I don't buy it. He's too good. That's just what you say at the end of the year. He's just doing, he's he's said a million different things. He's like, well maybe I'll just hire everyone and we'll have a new, we'll bring it over here. Maybe I'll retire. Maybe w he's just, I love Charles Barkley. I love, love, love Charles Barkley. I don't buy it. Charles Barkley could talk about anything on TV and I would watch. Yeah. It doesn't matter what it could be.

The Masters app is the greatest piece of technology ever invented

My cool Throne is the Masters app... I redownload the Master's app. Have to, it's a tradition unlike any other. And when you log into the, the first time, it just feels, it's such a great way to come down from the NCAA tournament being over... the greatest piece of technology ever invented. Yep. And you open it up and you're like, everything's going to be okay. 'Cause the Masters app's here and it's comforting and it's perfect.

Reggie Bush should get his Heisman Trophy back

The Heisman people will do [it], give that Heisman trophy back to Reggie Bush... there's probably half of those guys that won the Heisman Trophy that got paid amounts of money. He's not the only Heisman Trophy winner that got some benefits for their families.

JJ Redick is playing a character on 'First Take' to lean into his Duke heel persona

I do think he is doing a little bit of a bit when he goes on first take, it's the heel in him. If you watch it under the idea that JJ is being like the Duke smart ass, I know more Ball than you, it's great TV.

Baldur's Gate 3 is currently bigger than Dungeons & Dragons itself

I'd say [Baldur's Gate 3] is bigger than D&D itself right now. It has won all the awards. It has become this huge video game and it's all based off of the D&D rules. It's the best job they've done taking the game we know and love and turning it into a video game experience.

Tony Romo doesn't add any substance to broadcasts anymore

Tony Romo, he just doesn't. And we were the first to this take... He doesn't add any substance anymore. And it's like, and he makes weird noises. He was singing into commercial. He just says obvious things and he misses obvious things too.

Tom Brady should not over-prepare and should just be himself in the broadcasting booth

If I am telling Tom Brady anything... I would just say be yourself. I, I don't get into this trying to sound like what you've heard over the years... You know the game. Don't over prepare and see what you see and react with your gut on what you see. I, I think so many times people like that's, they, they overdo it to the point where they're just paralyzed by so much information.

The NFL Super Bowl should be called by the season's best announcers

I think that the Super Bowl should be announced by the best announcers that year... It should be Greg Olsen and Jim Nantz.

This might be Jim Nantz's last NFL season

A friend of the show told me this... He has a theory that this might be Jim Nantz's last football game.

The word 'analytics' is used as a placeholder for any number that sports fans dislike

I have a take. And that's, people just use the word, they substitute the word analytics in whenever there's a number that they don't like and they're like, this is analytics.

Al Michaels hears the social media criticism and thinks it is bullshit

Al hears it. He disagrees with it... Social media is using those two examples [Jacksonville playoff game and Denver game] to just say Al Michaels hates Thursday night, Al Michaels has lost it... He hears the noise, I don't think he's like 'I'll show them'. He has more of an f-you attitude about it. He thinks it's a bunch of bullshit.

Al Michaels is the perfect broadcaster for Thursday Night Football because the games are usually bad

Maybe Al Michaels is the perfect guy for Thursday night football. Yeah. Because like, you don't want to peak too early. No. You want to kind of ease your way into the weekend.

The old Patriots lighthouse was completely forgettable

I mean, ooh, I don't know. I was so busy trying not to mess up anything back there... Little did I know, it's just kind of an NFL thing... no, I can't think of [the lighthouse] off the top of my head.

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the official tallest lighthouse in the US, not the Gillette Stadium one

Per the United States Coast Guard. The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the official tallest lighthouse in the United States. Not your fucked up Fugazi piece of bullshit [at Gillette Stadium].

Jason Garrett is a total buzzkill on the broadcast

There's no better way to kill your football buzz than having Jason Garrett call the game... I know it was week zero. I know there's only like seven games. They all, they all mean something to me. And then Jason Garrett was on there and I immediately fell in a nap in the second quarter.

Phil Mickelson is not one of the most famous people in the world

Joe Rogan, Pardon My Take, Tiger Woods, like is whatever it is. A million X Phil in terms of, you know, celebrity and recognizability. ... I wouldn't say that if Phil Mickelson was walking down the street, do you think he would get stopped endlessly? I don't think endlessly.

I don't think any of the content on Pardon My Take changed while the company was owned by Penn

In terms of the content of this show, I don't think we changed anything. Did we, PFT? ... It's just been how we've talked about gambling, which I understand that was part of the, the rules And it made sense for to, to make sure that we talked about gambling the correct way under pen.

Everyone gaslights me into thinking I play golf all the time

You gaslight people into thinking I play all the time. [Big Cat asks: how many times this week?]. Two... I just picked up a little hobby, something to do on the side. Everyone in all these comments are like, oh someone that plays golf so much, you suck, you suck. You assholes have somehow got it in a world where I don't even want to play golf because I just know people are gonna be mean to me.

The MLB Fantasy Draft we recorded is the worst thing we've ever done

I think it's without a doubt the worst thing that we've ever done. Yeah. It's just, it's just guys saying names and then most of the names have already been said before.

The Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier is the ultimate piece of heavy machinery

Nuclear powered aircraft carrier... they can just go forever because they got a nuclear reactor on board... China doesn't have an actual [one]... It's why we're the GOAT.

The Elon Musk versus Mark Zuckerberg fight would be the biggest pay-per-view ever, despite being a bad fight

Dana White said that he would put the fight on and he said it would be the, the highest pay-per-view of all time... And I actually, I probably agree — like it would smash all records and it would probably suck. It would be the worst fight and everyone will tune in to see it.