WEBVTT - BRENDAN HUNT (COACH BEARD) 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.319 Season six, Fouler, Who You Got is here. We're really 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:14.680 excited about the episodes we've gotten lined up for you, 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:19.840 including our season debut Brendan Hunt coach beard On ted Lasso, 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:23.760 also the show's executive producer, co creator, and co writer. 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:26.520 I'm a huge Ted Lasso fan. They just kicked off 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:30.760 their third and final season. We also talk about Brendan's 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:34.520 deep passion for sports, his formative five years in Amsterdam, 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:37.800 his deep run on Celebrity Jeopardy Are long ago chance 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:42.360 meeting in a Chicago bar, and our separate encounters with 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:46.600 a very feisty Burt Reynolds. Today, I've got Brendan Hunt. 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:51.360 Brendan Hunt. I'm grateful in advance for your time and 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:54.560 your energy and your wisdom. Sir. I've set the bar 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:56.080 quite high, but I think we can get there, and 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:58.320 we have much to discuss. So thank you for being here, 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:02.720 Thanks for having me this thriller. We have our joint 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:07.920 background growing up in Chicago, Chicago sports. Our initial indifference 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:10.919 to soccer turned to passion. We'll get to all that stuff. 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:15.040 A story involving Burt Reynolds and bodily harm that you 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:19.080 won't see coming. But the obvious place to begin, of course, 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:22.520 is with the beloved ted Lasso, And like millions of fans, 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:25.120 my wife and I are waiting for the beginning of 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:29.119 season three as we start this, and I wonder if 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:31.840 you have a sense of the fans you're you're an 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.640 avid reader, as is your character Coach Beard. We feel 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.080 like we're getting to the end of a great novel 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:40.080 and we're watching the pages dwindle and dwindle, and we 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:41.800 can't wait to see how it ends. But we don't 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:44.720 want it to end because once it ends, those characters 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:46.440 are they're not dead to us, but they're sort of 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:50.840 cryogenically frozen at Lacy, do you have a sense of that, 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:53.320 And how are you feeling about you know, where you 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:58.360 landed it and how you're going to take us there? Yeah, 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:02.880 I mean, you know, like yeah, as as as people 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:06.080 have heard. But but just to get a body on board, 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.600 you know, we've always seen it as a three movement 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:11.760 suite essentially. You know, we didn't know it's gonna be 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:14.760 three seasons. We thought maybe we'd get you know, do 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:19.120 like the original all right, you know, um framework from 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:21.160 the original office, Like maybe we get two six episode 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:23.040 seasons and then a special wouldn't that be nice? And 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:26.160 we kind of had it mapped out that way, um, 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:29.840 but then we got you know, picked up by a 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:34.200 streaming service that doesn't exist son or that didn't exist, 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:36.239 so we didn't know we'd get even a second season. 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:38.560 So here we are at, you know, getting towards the end, 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:43.680 and we still are trying to finish the story that 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.320 we originally saw, you know, but with all the like 0:02:46.400 --> 0:02:48.400 new additions that people have brought to the table over 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:52.880 the years. Um, it may not be it may not 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:55.680 be the end end um, but we are telling the 0:02:55.760 --> 0:03:00.520 end of this story at the very least um. And yeah, 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.640 I don't know. It's kind of funny because like we 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.720 like we've gone through it already in a way, like 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:08.560 we had our emotional last day of the shooting, We 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:10.640 had our emotional last rap party, we said our goodbyes. 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:14.440 But now everyone else is getting the emotion part because 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:16.840 now they're always just going to start watching, you know, 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:20.240 and get through these three months for goodbyes that are 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:23.840 like the you know, like how we see a black 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:26.880 hole happened, but it actually happened a million years ago. 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:31.840 People are getting this late goodbye of latent cosmic energy. 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:37.320 And yeah, I think we I think we're off to 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:38.720 a good start. And we had the premiere of the 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:41.440 night showed two episodes. People were into it, and that's 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:45.200 a real good sign that hopefully people will will enjoy 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:48.640 the journey with us. Again. I'm not sure how much 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:52.000 time you spent around coaches, but you've nailed as a 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:56.640 collective group so many of the inner sanctum details, the 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:00.520 richness of these relationships between coaches, the camaraderie, the chemistry 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:03.480 that comes from competition, the highs, the lows, the friction, 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:07.920 the little attacks on each other, the backstabbing that's also 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.520 a part of it. I promise you you've gotten all 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:13.320 of those elements. So right where did the inspiration come 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:19.920 from up to nail nail the relationships in that coaching room? Um, 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:22.080 I guess just from the desire to make sure that 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:24.720 the show is more about relationships than anything else. So 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:28.280 in every in every um you know setting that the 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:30.560 show takes place in, be at the coach's office, or 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:32.840 Rebecca's office or at the pub, you know, it's relationships 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:37.520 first and foremost. Um, you know, Jason and Uh and 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:40.279 Joe Kelly are are the co creator and Bill Lawrence, Like, 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:43.120 they all have a lot more athletic experiences than me, 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:47.320 that's for sure, and so we all have some degree 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:50.120 of coaches to to draw from me. I just draw 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:55.080 from acting teachers. That counts, right, Um and uh, but 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:57.400 they've all been real people for it, you know, Jason, 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:00.000 very early on we first met as a writer's room, 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:01.919 first thing who wanted to know from everyone was was like, 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:04.680 who's your mentor? Talked to us about your mentor and 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:07.560 because everyone's got one, even if it's not necessarily a 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:12.680 football coach, And yeah, that was kind of like the 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:14.280 start of it, you know, just making sure that these 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:16.880 are we're drawn from real people and not making a 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:21.560 not making the fantasy of a of a happy dude. Well, 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:25.719 even the shocking scene where the character of Naty goes 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:31.400 from this lovable underdog to this machiavellian creature who stabs 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:35.120 ted Lasso in the back and creates a huge public 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.760 problem for him and eventually leaves the staff at the 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:39.960 end of season two, I mean that that stuff is 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:42.360 not unheard of in real life coaching. Believe it or not. 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:45.480 They're all kinds of coaches who share unflattery stuff about 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:48.239 their colleagues for whatever reason, with people in the media 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:50.440 and people in the profession. And so I didn't find 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:52.080 that quite as shocking as a lot of people did. 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:55.159 Yet you know, it goes on in that profession, and 0:05:55.160 --> 0:06:01.280 I thought, wow, you guys even went there. Yeah, I mean, 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:04.880 we're not we're not trying to do anyone in particular. Um, 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.200 we just always knew that Nate was going to be 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:12.120 the character who just wasn't quite ready for for all 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:15.240 the opportunity that he was going to get. Um, you know, 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:16.920 it'd have been too much of a fantasy world if 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:20.000 if Nate is just uh, I don't know, if everything 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.480 ted touch really did touch, you know, turning a relationship gold. Um, 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:27.400 you know, some people just aren't ready. And yeah, I 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.520 mean as much as anything that I mean, that's the 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:31.440 stuff that we're kind of getting out of, like Empire 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:34.720 strikes back and at a bit of shakes here. Um. 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:36.960 But but I mean, feel free to name names who 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:38.840 were talking. We're talking about Charlie. Well, well, let me 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:42.080 say you there was this No it happens where listen. 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:45.040 I mean, in college football there's ten eleven coaches and 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:48.120 so the boss sometimes doesn't run things the way Ted 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:51.120 Lasso runs things. You would say, top down dictatorship. The 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:54.119 hours are long, the stress is real, winning or else 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.280 is the only thing that matters, and frustration that comes 0:06:57.320 --> 0:06:59.640 from that. And then obviously they're just ego and opportunity. 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:01.160 And I'm I'm gonna get a chance to call the 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:04.039 players because coaches intervening, you know that that kind of 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:07.960 thing is rife for you know the kinds of reactions 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:09.520 you get. But I'm not going to name him here, 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:11.960 but because I would, I would never have that dirty 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:13.680 stuff share with me again. N then I would have 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:17.280 lose the trust of these people. No, but it happens. 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:20.320 I just didn't shock me as much as maybe some people. 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:23.640 Although Nate didn't seem a likely didn't seem a likely 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:27.080 trader going into that. Your character Coach Beard is so cool. 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:29.920 I was always drawn to that character in the show, 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.720 way before I ever thought we would meet. And you know, 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:36.880 stoicism as wisdom is quiet is there coaches just like 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:39.480 that too. They're typically in the supporting role, but but 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:44.080 not everybody is an extrovert, alpha vocal person and there 0:07:44.080 --> 0:07:47.560 are a lot of coaches like that. And yet you 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:51.240 capture something else that's so real where you have to 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:53.240 lay into Ted, your best friend. I get's late in 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:55.600 season one and you look him in the eye and 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:58.680 basically he's being selfish and being stupid and and you 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:00.640 won't drink with him. You storm out the puck. It's 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:02.880 an a powerful great acting, by the way, but a 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.560 powerful See. That's also the kind of thing that that 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:09.240 does happen in real coaching experiences and obviously happens between 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:11.840 real best friends. But but what a moment. It must 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:16.520 have been interesting to act that. Yeah, I mean, I 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.160 think that's my longest chunk of dialogue in the entirety 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:23.400 of season one, certainly up to that point. Um. But yeah, 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:25.120 I mean, that's one of the fun things about their 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:29.880 relationship is you know, um beards there, um, you know, 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:33.040 to just fill in Ted's gaps. And because Ted has 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:36.960 got all the talking covered, there's rarely any um, you know, 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:39.800 gaps in oratory that he needs to step up and 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:43.880 help with. Um. But he'll he'll point out, he'll point 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:45.360 out stuff that Ted needs to be looking at that 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:46.719 isn't I mean, he gives them all the warnings in 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.600 the world about Nate and uh, and Ted just still 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.360 doesn't quite catch it. So, yeah, we all should have 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:54.280 that friend who's telling us that, you know, we've got 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:56.800 toilet paper on our on our shoe or let us 0:08:56.840 --> 0:08:58.800 in our teeth or toilet paper in our teeth, depending 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.000 how the night just gone. Yeah, but you told him 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.000 his philosophy is full of shit. How he handled a 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:04.520 key player or a key moment. It's a little bit 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:09.680 more than toilet paper on the show's powerful philosophy just 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:12.240 in this one instance. And you turned on you, you 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:14.120 turned on your former girlfriend, which is why that's a 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:17.160 great how to mic drop MoMA bluck out of the no. 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:18.719 I mean there's I'm not going to geek out and 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:20.720 this we could go on for for for about seven 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:22.920 hours on this show. I just think it's something that's 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:28.720 so hopeful and compassionate, human and empathetic, and it celebrates 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:30.920 humility and curiosity, and it runs so countered to so 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:33.240 many of the shows, by the way, who great shows 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:37.320 that I also love to watch, whether it's um, you know, 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:44.120 White Lotus or Succession or Oazark. But those are not 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:47.280 about the sun of your sides of human nature, right, 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:49.240 I mean that's not what they're trying to be. But 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.280 you mentioned positive cosmic energy. Maybe some of that comes 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:56.760 into your life because this show is so much about upbeat, 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:01.440 positive qualities. Yeah, I mean we feel we think about 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.079 this a lot. I mean, Jason has said, like, um, 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:06.160 it could one of the best thing about playing into Lasso. 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:07.920 He gets to, you know, at least pretend to be 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:12.320 in a good mood pretty much. I'll be um, And yeah, 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:14.640 I wonder sometimes, you know, we had that we had 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:17.200 the premiere the other night, and like, you know, this 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:19.880 show like makes does make people happy, and you know, 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:21.480 it doesn't just make them laugh, like it means so 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:24.760 much to them. And so when we have crowds to encounter, 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:28.800 it's like this outpouring of of of you know, we look, 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:31.040 we'll call it love. And I find myself wondering, like, 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:33.520 what what were the premieres like for True Blood? Like 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:35.319 what kind of crowds did they get for that? Was 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:40.200 it a different vibe? A bunch of incestuous people wearing 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:44.760 fake things? Um, so yeah, we're pretty we're you know, 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:47.640 it wasn't the goal wasn't to create you know, parties 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.600 with with with with positive vibes. But it is a 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:54.840 wonderful ancillary effect of what we've ended up doing. Yeah, 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:56.640 last thing I'll touch on about the show is that 0:10:56.720 --> 0:10:59.400 the Beard after Hours episode, which is one of my favorites, 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:04.760 and it this I would say, almost Scorsese like trip 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.760 through the dark, murky, grittier side of London where your 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:12.680 character suffers a huge disappointment and then gets humiliated Chase, beaten, abandoned, 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:14.280 rescued and ends up in a dance club with a 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:16.160 hula hoop, which is a skill. I know you authentically 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:18.400 brought to the role because you you've done a lot 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:20.559 of hula hooping in your life. But wow, I mean 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.480 that was just this incredible experience to watch, and I 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:26.839 would imagine a fun departure for you where you get 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:32.160 to show more than the typical coach beard vibe there. Now, 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:36.160 it was pretty cool and know cool that Joe Kelley 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:39.040 and Brett Goldstein went ahead and wrote that they didn't 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:40.760 let me see the script for a very long time, 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.720 which was somewhat frustrating, but I knew some of the 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:46.760 basic things. But yeah, a'l hula hoop with the drop 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:48.440 of a hat, as long as the proper hula hoop, 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:50.320 but not one of them toys they sell a target. 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.319 But yeah, that was a fun, fun couple of weeks, 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:58.000 but also very arduous for a man who's slightly too 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:02.160 old to be doing all this. I fucking running. Did 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:03.760 you do your own stunts? Did you get your ass 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:08.240 kicked all over the place? I mean, like they they 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:10.560 had asked casually at one point if I wanted to 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:12.520 do the stunt where the guy falls off the building 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:15.200 or jumps off the building, and I was like, oh, 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.480 that moon, that's probably more than I should do. I'm no, 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:20.480 I won't do that. But then I saw the guy. 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:23.160 There was video of the guy like practicing it, you know, 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:25.719 and they have the decelerator cable, you know, going down 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:28.320 his back, and it's like, oh, well that doesn't look 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:32.760 so hard, Like if if it helps the project to 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:34.719 have my real face in there. Yeah. So I go 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:36.480 to the producer. I'm like, hey, just you know, I'm 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:40.520 happy to do that stunt, and he openly laughed at me, like, no, No, 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:43.080 whoever said you should do that is being ridiculous. If 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.400 we can't ensure that it's into a dumpster. Right, it 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:48.920 was into a dumpster, and on the day, like, you know, 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:51.079 it's exciting, it's the biggest dump you've ever had, and 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:53.240 you go down and you see the dumpster. It's like, 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:55.800 you know, it's it's like a fake top layer of 0:12:55.840 --> 0:13:00.360 garbage bags, but you know there's pads and stuff inside. Um. 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:02.440 And then the stunt finally happens. They're all watching around 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:05.920 the monitor and stuntman goes down and uh as he's 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.400 getting close to the dumpster, like, oh shit, he's he's 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:12.319 too close to the wall that dumpster. And he goes through. 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.720 It seems like inches away at most from the hard 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:20.480 metal wall of this dumpster. And we're and we're all watching, 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:23.640 waiting for a signal, and we don't hear anything from 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:25.640 any from anybody, and we don't see his hand, we 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:27.640 don't see his head. It was like fifteen seconds of 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:30.439 like can we get word plays? Come we get word plays? 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:33.400 Is he okay? It was fine? But he did he 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:35.520 did acknowledge that, Yeah, he'd put a little too much 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:38.079 oomp into it, and he ended up being two inches 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:40.240 from the wall when he was supposed to be two 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:45.440 feet pro almost breaks. I would have murdered this thing, 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:49.880 but this guy he gets to have his day. I'm 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:52.000 not going to annoy you by asking about spoilers, but 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:53.840 I did I did have one curiosity. Maybe it's not 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:56.839 a spoiler. Do we know Coach Beard's name at all? 0:13:57.080 --> 0:13:58.959 Is he going to be the man of mystery where 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:00.880 you don't even know his first or lasting at least? 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:04.640 I don't think that's been revealed, right, Um it has not. Um. 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:07.679 We We've had fun debates over the years of what 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:11.520 we think it might be. UM, various shout outs of 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:13.480 tributes might we might do if it was this was 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:14.960 his name or that was his name. But you know, 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:17.960 in the end, we got to protect the mystery up 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:20.200 Beard for as long as possible. I know. I think 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:24.520 learning Cramer's name, uh was like, oh cool, his name 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:28.880 is Cosmo? All right, fine, you know, but it didn't 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:32.080 end up making Seinfeld any funnier knowing that his name 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:35.880 was Cosmo. So um, it's not. I love the people 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:37.800 care so much, but it's not as high a priority 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.040 for us as it appears to be for the lovely 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:45.840 Lovely messes. I uh, what hazard a guess that Richmond 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.160 versus west Ham will feature somewhere in this series with 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:52.280 the once but now not so longer great Nate coaching 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:53.840 that say, that'll be interesting to say, I would buy 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:56.080 I would fight in London and buy a ticket to 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:58.160 see that game if it were if it were real, 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:03.040 so looking forward to it. Hey, your passion for soccer 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:08.080 is authentic. It was born in the Netherlands, I understand. 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:11.880 And you if you grew up in Chicago, you're younger 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:13.600 than I am, so you wouldn't have experienced all of 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:15.640 the heartbreak of Chicago sports. You wouldn't have seen the 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:18.240 Cubs collapse in the late six season early seventies. You 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:20.560 would have been closer to the time that Michael came 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:24.800 along and the Bulls became great and not just good 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:27.360 or decent and always lose to the Bucks and the Warriors. 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:29.960 And you would have experienced, you know, a Cubs World 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:32.360 Series without having to wait as long in the Blackhawks 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:35.480 in the Stanley Cup. But man, you must have had 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:37.760 some scars. You grew up like you could walk to 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:40.280 Wrigley Field, right. I did birthdays there, but I had 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:42.920 to I had to come down the toll away from Rockford, 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:47.120 Illinois to get there. Uh. Yeah, we moved a lot, 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:51.280 but we were always dan near, always within walking this 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:55.920 since the Rigley Field, and my mom in particular would 0:15:55.920 --> 0:15:58.040 take me to games a lot. You know, my dad, 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.280 I heard. My dad divorced when I was two, and 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:04.480 my dad was not in the picture that much, but 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:07.680 they were both. They were both from the South Side 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:09.840 and Socks Country, so I was a Northside child of 0:16:09.840 --> 0:16:14.640 the South Side parents. Um, but I ended up being 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:18.040 a rare Chicagoan that is hated by many. But I 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:20.160 am who I am. I'm a fan of both. If 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:22.000 they play in the World Series, I'm rooting for the Socks. 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:24.280 That's just how it's going to be. I've been to 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:27.200 four or five times as many Cubs games as I 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:30.240 have Socks game, just by geography. And when I go back, 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:32.360 my family still lives there. My family still wants to 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:36.200 go see Cubs games. Stephen, my stepdad came into the picture. 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:39.640 My stepdad was a proper Bleacher bum and had been 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:44.400 for years. So yeah, wait, wait, wait, wait, You're rooting 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:48.400 for the Socks in a Chicago World Series. Yeah, I'm 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:52.360 shocked and and crestfallen at that. I mean, I'll have 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:56.880 heard about the Cubs Wrigley, come on, that's how That's 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:58.760 just how it is. And you know, I mean for 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:00.920 most of my life, I guess you know, probably not 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:03.000 most anymore, but for most of my life, it was. 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:06.160 It was much easier to compartmentalize this because they never 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:08.840 played each other. And then finally interleague play comes along. 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:10.720 And I think inter league play started while I was 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:14.440 in either I was in Amsterdam or it just came 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:16.520 at a time when I when I couldn't afford tickets 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:18.359 to games. But it took a few years before I 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.280 went to an interleague game, and I went into it 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:24.520 with incredible trepidation. It was it was Cub socks at 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:29.080 Wrigley UM and and you know, Wrigley more of my 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:31.680 home stadium than than than the South Side, even though 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:36.480 I loved old kemiskey, but um, hearing Cubs fans, you know, 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:39.240 you know, yelling shit at the White Sox as as 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:42.400 they I've heard them yell a million times to Cardinals 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:45.439 and Reds and Padres, it made me mad, you know, 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.960 Like I was like tensing up. And the Cubs murder 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:52.159 the Socks that day, and I took no joy in 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:54.800 watching the Cubs score. And this was not a decision. 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.960 This is just like you know, instincts, you know, this 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:00.080 is this is this is not how I know. And 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:03.240 Paul Knerko hit a home run, uh you know, which 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:05.080 made it You know ten to one instead of ten 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:08.120 an oven or whatever, and I remember, just like lay 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:13.040 at lea ye, And it's the only circumstance I'll ever 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:16.760 root against the Cubs um. And I can't explain it. 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:20.600 I know it's not socially acceptable, but I've literally only 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:23.359 in the last few years finally decided like, I'm not 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:27.880 gooding that about myself anymore. I respect that in all 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:29.960 things in life, but especially in sports fan and you 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.199 must let your authentic inner voice come out. And that 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:35.879 was a visceral reaction. So I respect that this sucks. 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:38.760 I don't know if I respect the fact um that 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:42.520 you're an Arsenal fan. We we support rival London clubs 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.760 Arsenal for you, Chelsea for me. Arsenal has ruined a 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:49.160 couple of trips across the Atlantic um for FA Cup 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:51.360 finals when Chelsea were the better team. Arsenal were better 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:53.800 on the day. But you know our trophy case, I'm 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:58.040 nothing to nothing to apologize for there. Um. Gunners may 0:18:58.040 --> 0:18:59.879 win the league this year, that that that that would be. 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:02.480 They're trying to hang on as we sit here right now. 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:06.600 It was Britain hushed tones but but but you fall 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:11.199 in love with soccer in in Holland, and it's the 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:14.280 it's the total football. It's a beautiful style of player. 0:19:14.359 --> 0:19:16.120 The Dutch teams at that time. It's a great time 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:18.160 to get caught up in the culture. The Dutch fans 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:21.119 are passionate and very direct, and I found somewhat welcoming 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:25.160 about ciders who kind of get it. Um. So you're 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:29.040 a passionate fan of the Dutch national team, which is 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:30.760 what has set you up. I guess for some heartbreak 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:34.840 because they're kind of close calls. Three World Cup finals 0:19:35.760 --> 0:19:37.679 I hosted in twenty ten in South Africa when they 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:39.800 lost to Spain in the final. They lost a couple 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:41.560 of times in the Sammy's I was in Brazil when 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:44.639 they lost on penalties to Argentina, which is how they 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:46.840 went out again in the recent World Cup. So I 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:51.280 guess you you've gotten joy but also stabbed in the 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:53.480 heart a few times by being as being a soccer 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:56.280 fan will do to you. Um. Being a fan of 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:59.119 the Dutch national team is a really there is a 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:02.480 really specific thing, you know, like they they haven't won 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:04.760 a major trophis since nineteen eighty eight, which before I 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:06.520 was a fan, So I got no joy from that, 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:11.040 they they've lost the three finals, two of which were 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:14.280 to the host team. But the only final I saw 0:20:14.320 --> 0:20:16.160 I was was in twenty ten and a twenty ten 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:19.960 you know, the Dutch put a lot of value on 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:23.960 attractive teams, you know, who play football, you know, the 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:26.960 right way, and that twenty ten team hadsome highlights. You know, 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:29.920 Bessie Snyder was incredible that that tournament. Few guys were. 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:33.560 They beat Brazil, which is always exciting, but they were 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:35.840 not an attractive team, like they were coached by a 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:39.000 final guy, not an IAX guy. And you know it 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:41.840 was typified by the magic two young uh you know 0:20:41.920 --> 0:20:44.720