WEBVTT - Mike Leach + Bowl Confidence Preview 0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:05.560 Welcome to the solid verbal hell that for me. 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:09.680 I'm a man, I'm forty. I've heard so many players say, well, 0:00:09.720 --> 0:00:11.640 I want to be happy. You want to be happy 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:13.000 for a day at the steak? 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:14.480 Is that woo woof? 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:17.080 And Dan and Tie. 0:00:18.640 --> 0:00:21.079 Welcome back to the solid rebel boys and girls. My 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:23.639 name is Ty hilde Brandt. That fine gentleman over there, 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:28.880 the one, the only, still, the incomparable Dan Rubinstein, sir, 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:32.000 how is your cold bath this morning? 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:34.400 Is that a thing that you do is good? I 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:37.440 heard I've been hearing for a long time so much, 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.159 and I have friends who are believers in the I 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:43.640 guess it's like a Scandinavian thing right where you uh sure, 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:47.000 the cold plunge. I have no idea if I'm going 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:48.760 to do this with any regularity, but I have a 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:50.840 good amount of energy this morning, and I am very 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:55.920 excited to eventually get into the the show topic at hand, 0:00:56.000 --> 0:01:01.880 which is running through the the Bowl situations from across 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:05.000 the country. So I think my energy level is good. 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.240 We do have a lot of news stuff to get to, 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:11.800 some pretty pretty awful and sad, and some you know, 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:15.080 pretty happy. So that's you know, such as life. But 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:16.800 Ty always a joy to be here with you. 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:18.920 Yeah, we will do our best here to balance it 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:21.399 all out. We do have some heavy stuff to get into. 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.399 We will do that momentarily. This episode, all of our 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:27.959 episodes driven by our good friends over at Geico. In 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:30.720 addition to that, the only other bit of housekeeping here 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:33.640 at the very top. You may have seen our emails, 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:36.080 you may have seen our social media postings. You may 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.280 have heard us talking about it at great length here 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:42.360 on the podcast solid reblelive dot com. We are going 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:44.720 to be in La in about a month's time now, 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:47.360 a little under a month from now, at the Troubadour 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:52.640 seven point thirty Pacific time, of course, at the historic Troubadour, 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:56.120 which we're very excited they're letting us in the door. Frankly, 0:01:57.400 --> 0:01:59.360 it's going to be a great show. As we've said 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.200 time and again, we don't know when we'll be out 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:04.040 on the West Coast again. I mean, you'll be back 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:07.000 visiting family, I'm sure. But in terms of us doing 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:09.560 a show on the West Coast, it's something we've wanted 0:02:09.600 --> 0:02:11.720 to do for a good long time now. We had 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:14.440 plans to do it before the pandemic. Obviously that did 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.520 not work. Out. We have now got our ducks in 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.720 a row. We are headed out west the Saturday before 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:23.360 the National Championship on January of the seventh, So come 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:25.400 on out if you can get to LA. If you're 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:27.320 already in the LA area, maybe you're coming in for 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.400 the game. Just saying if you can get on out there, 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:32.400 it's going to be a show for the Ages and 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:35.440 we would be super excited and thrilled and honored if 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:38.880 you would join us. Absolutely can't wait to see out there, 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:42.560 all right, Dan. With that being said, yes, I'm not 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:44.560 going to play the breaking news sound. It would not 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:48.520 be appropriate because we got some sad news today in 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:51.840 the world of college football. Mike Leach. Beloved coach Mike 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:55.480 Leach passed away on Monday evening at the age of 0:02:55.560 --> 0:03:00.880 sixty one after complications related to a heart condition. This 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:06.400 news started to circulate, I guess on Sunday when we 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:09.160 started to hear that coach Leach had suffered from what 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:13.600 the university called initially as a quote personal health issue 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:17.800 at his home in Starkville. He had to be airlifted 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:20.800 to the University of Mississippi Medical Center up in Jackson, 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:22.480 which is like one hundred and twenty or so odd 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:27.040 miles away. News had sort of been hard to come 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:30.760 by from that point forward. I think folks wanted to 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.200 respect the privacy of the family and coach Leach, but 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:36.080 we started to get indications that it was a pretty 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:39.320 dire situation. And then just this morning, as we record 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:44.520 this on Tuesday, heard the news of coach Leach passing away. So, 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:50.200 you know, a tragic thing, man, It's it's sad. We 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:53.160 had the opportunity to interview coach Leach on two separate 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:56.520 occasions back in twenty eleven twenty twelve. Maybe I'll if 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:59.440 I can dig those interviews up, I'll post them. But 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:02.880 just one of those things where you see it, you 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:05.840 sit back and you're just kind of in shock for 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:06.400 a minute. 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:07.240 You know. 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:10.600 Thoughts condolences go out to the Leech family, to the 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.440 Mississippi State community, to his friends. I even think of 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:16.320 guys like Bruce Fellman, with whom Coach Leech spent a 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:20.560 ton of time writing that book Swing Your Sword. You know, 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:22.479 just a lot goes through your mind. This has been 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:26.320 truly a titan in some sense in the college football 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:27.960 world and really the broader world of sports. 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:32.800 Yeah and yeah, everything you said, and I don't really 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:36.760 have a terrible amount of things to add or things 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:40.520 to say that others haven't already said better than I can. 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:43.279 Only knew him a little bit, was on the show 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:45.400 a couple of times, we spoke to him a little 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:51.719 bit outside of that. But his legacy on the field 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:56.159 obviously is an incredible amount of creativity and fun football teams, 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:59.520 fun offenses, and the legacy off the field is a 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:05.840 tremendous this amount of curiosity and eccentricity and quirkiness and 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:10.120 you know, holding a variety of interests. And I'm sure 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:14.200 the overwhelming number of people who sort of consumed the 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:17.080 Mike Leech experience publicly will know him for that. I'm 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:20.560 sure a number of former players of his are absolutely 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:25.960 crushed today. And like anybody you know, sort of complicated, 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:29.800 flawed dude, I raised my hand absolutely as well as 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:33.440 a complicated, flawed dude. So I'm sure a lot of 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:37.040 people have a number of emotions, largely I'm sure sorrow 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:42.320 about the loss of Mike Leech. But man, it all 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:46.839 is especially given the timing, especially sitting head coach, which 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:49.520 is rare in this sport right usually, you know, we 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:52.280 mourn somebody and it's they've been retired for some time, 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:54.520 and that's sort of the cycle of life. But you know, 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:57.159 you go, I think it was Randy Walker maybe the 0:05:57.240 --> 0:06:00.680 last sitting head coach. That was summer though that wasn't 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.599 mid season, and so yeah, it this kind of thing, 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:06.479 and I'm sure all of us in some way have 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:11.159 been touched by untimely deaths and especially heart disease. You know, 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:14.800 it's just boom, it's it's one day, this, one day that, 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.159 So it's it really does speak to the fragility of 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.279 it all. And you know, echoing with you said, obviously 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:25.000 our thoughts and condolences with everybody touched by Mike Leach 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:28.960 and his family in his circle. Just incredibly tragic. 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:35.800 Yep, heavy stuff, so sad news. Always hate to lead 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:38.080 with sad news, but sometimes you don't have a choice. 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:42.240 So again, thoughts and condolences to those who who knew 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.839 coach Leach, and as you said, we're in his circle. 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:48.600 It's the sad stuff. Yeah, there is no easy transition 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.359 to go to other subjects, but I will attempt to 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:54.640 do so because there are things around the world of 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:58.240 college football, thankfully that aren't quite as sad aren't quite 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:00.800 as heavy that we did not have an opportunity to 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:03.159 mention if I could get to those. If that's okay 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:04.240 with you, Dan, please do. 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:05.320 Williams. 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:10.000 Congratulations he wins the Heisman Trophy. Not a great surprise 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:11.400 there that he would win. 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:11.880 C J. 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:14.800 Stroud, Max Dugg and Stetson Bennett were also in New York, 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:18.040 but Caleb Williams was the runaway winner, So congratulations to him. 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:22.720 He's got the bowl game coming up against Tulane. Purdue 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:27.160 has hired Ryan Walters, the defensive coordinator from Illinois, as 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:31.000 its new head guy. They're doing so because Jeff Brom 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:33.880 decided to go to Louisville. That became official as well 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:37.960 since we last recorded. Stanford has named its coach Troy Taylor. 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:41.080 Troy Taylor was a name who sort of emerged in 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:43.520 that search. Now he's going to be the head guy 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:44.000 as well. 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:45.280 Tim Beck. 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:49.800 Tim Beck going to be the new guy at coastal 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:53.240 as such, Grace McCall has decided to throw his name 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:56.160 I'm out in the transfer portal. Yeah, I'm sure that 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.680 was not at all coincidence. But tim Beck going to 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:03.880 be taking over at Coast Carolina and in other coaching news. 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:08.640 Navy decided to part ways with ken Neiamatalolo after the 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:12.000 season after the the Army Navy game here about a 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:14.320 week ago. So a bunch of news breaking in the 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:17.840 coaching ranks there, in addition to Caleb Williams winning the 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:18.440 Heisman Trophy. 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:21.600 Dan, that's a lot of a lot to digest that 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:25.680 the run of news items. Uh So, I suppose in 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:28.880 some kind of order, the Caleb Williams experience for USC 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:32.840 was incredible, and him winning the Heisman, especially who he 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:34.719 was pitted against, like you want to talk about the 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:40.720 Max Duggan experience incredible obviously, uh CJ. Stroud some incredible 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:44.520 highs obviously for the Ohio State offense. Stetson Bennett extremely 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:48.320 consistent and I am you know the the engineer on 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:52.000 the Stetson Bennett is actually very good train. Even if 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:55.040 we're all joking about the future car dealerships that will 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:58.920 make him a very ye yeah, let me put you 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:01.240 I saw somebody tweeting him with Spencer Hall, you know, 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:05.120 putting you in a Kia Tell You Ride, which is 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:08.080 such a funny you know name for a car at 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:15.040 Kia Tell You Ride. I yeah, I don't I Hendon 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:18.160 Hooker finishing out the year and having Tennessee he would 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:22.439 have been the presumptive favorite if he remained healthy and 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:27.400 not getting shelled by South Carolina, I suppose, But that 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.720 had little to do with Hendon Hooker. Yeah, Blake harm 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:33.240 maybe the same thing. It just it was a year 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:38.520 of very, very good and the Caleb Williams experience was excellent. 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.000 Almost the best quarterback in his conference, says this bitter Oregon, 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.040 with bon Nicks finishing as a more efficient thrower and runner, 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:50.400 but can't lose games, and Caleb Williams by and large 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:52.880 won a number of games almost solo. So you tip 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:55.280 your cap and you're like, he is the most excellent 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:58.880 quarterback and player in college football. Hard to argue with it. 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:01.680 Pretty high, Ryan Walters. 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:04.439 Yeah, I think I think it's a good higher. I 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.200 think it's a low key, awesome higher. I really like, 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.760 I really really like that hire. It's a guy who's 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:14.920 familiar mm hmm with the Big Ten given his fine 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:21.120 work at Illinois. Obviously the results have been outstanding. He 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:25.880 hopefully will boost that defense on the Purdue side and 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:29.080 can give them some new ideas otherwise, so I like it. 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:32.160 I like the move a great amount. 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:35.120 I'm in it. I'm into it. Yeah, he's been around 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.640 big programs. I like that he is as sending right, 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:42.080 that Purdue is taking a swing on somebody without a 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:45.400 ton of experience, and that he is a younger guy, 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:49.960 was a thirty six. Yeah, but I'm into swings. Ty, 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:53.360 you know that I am a proud swinger. He set, 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:58.040 settle down, set I'm not a proud swinger. I'm deeply 0:10:58.080 --> 0:10:58.920 a shamed swinger. 0:10:59.320 --> 0:10:59.720 I am. 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:01.920 I'm into it, Ty, I just I am. And I 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:04.240 think Purdue is a program that is going to have 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:06.960 money to play with. If he's good, they can I 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:09.559 mentioned this in our discord at verbolers dot com. They 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:12.360 can compete with salary. If he's not good, they have 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:16.080 the big ten money. That's sweet, nbccbs, whatever cash to 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:19.880 buy him out. And so I always appreciate this over 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:23.439 a retread, and so I'm into this higher Troy Taylor, 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:26.000 I'm very much into It's kind of funny that Stanford 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:29.920 hires a cow guy through and through, but Troy taylor 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:32.760 success as an offensive coordinator at Utah, his recent success 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.600 at Sacramento State. I went back and watching tape of 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:39.120 a very good sax State offense. I think it's been 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:41.640 needed for Stanford to start over a little bit, and 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:43.720 I like that they went outside of the obviously Jim 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:46.679 Harbaugh David shaw Tree to sort of start a new 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:49.920 thing with Troy Taylor. So I'm into that higher to 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:51.960 see what he can do on the West Coast. And 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:55.840 I don't know what else. Did you mention Tim Back? Whatever? Yeah, 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:57.400 the Tim Back thing is just notable. 0:11:57.440 --> 0:11:59.040 We had to mention it. I think if only because 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:01.200 of the Grayson mccallney, that he's still his name in 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:05.880 the hat. The Kenya Mono Lolo firing was it took 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:11.480 a lot by surprise given what he has accomplished at Navy, 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:13.120 But it does feel like things are going to be 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:14.839 sideways over the last couple of years. 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:16.840 So did you see the story yesterday about how it 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:18.839 all went down? Did you see that on ESPN? 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:21.000 An, I saw it, But if you'd like to recap it, 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:22.400 you'd probably do a better job than me. 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:25.840 So he was essentially fired, he claims at his locker 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:29.480 after losing in double overtime to Army final score twenty seventeen. 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:33.280 I believe overhit. I think the overhit for the first 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.680 time in a long time, it seems in that game, 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:38.680 and there were quotes from the ad, there were quotes 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:42.000 from Kenya Montalolo that expectations were made clear, and that's 0:12:42.040 --> 0:12:44.520 beating Army and going to bowl games, and Navy has 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:48.719 been doing less of that recently and winning the Commander's 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:53.560 Commander in Chief's Trophy, whereas I mean that the strength 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:55.920 of that has been with Air Force lately. Who will 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:58.360 finished the season I think nine to three in a 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:03.040 good Mountain West conference, So it's it's I think a 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.400 tough pill to swallow, given he is the best Navy 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:09.280 coach ever, at least in the modern era, and it 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:13.760 just didn't seem to be consistently improving. And at a 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:16.960 certain point you reach that breaking moment where you're like, 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.719 it doesn't seem to be trending in a direction that 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:23.199 makes sense now. So there's never a good way to 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:27.960 sort of fire somebody. But if those expectations were laid 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.480 out well in advance and he didn't meet them, I 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:32.760 suppose it could not have come as a complete surprise. 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.760 Yeah, it was not a great season for Navy with 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:38.920 what four wins, four and eight I think they finished up. 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.640 But interestingly, bet UCF on the road in Week twelve, 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.560 which was a bit of a head scratcher when it happened, 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:50.720 played Notre Dame tight, played Cincinnati tight enough, talk about 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:53.839 a difficult month of November, and then of course they 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:57.080 lose the big game against Army in double overtime. So 0:13:57.440 --> 0:13:59.240 we wish him well. It'll be interesting to see which 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:02.880 direction Navy decides to go next. But a bit of 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:04.600 a surprise move, I would say. 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:08.280 Yeah, he mentioned some of the restrictions Navy had. Obviously 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:10.440 they were not able to red shirt players, and they 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:13.800 didn't bring back players who technically would have had eligibility 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:18.719 after the COVID season because of the Navy path to 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:23.720 serving in the military after your four years at the 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:27.400 Naval Academy. So the class schedule was brought up. There 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:29.080 are all sorts of different things brought up, and I'm 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:31.360 sure all of them, you know, played some sort of 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:36.800 part and Navy's downturn. But you know, if the expectations 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:41.400 were not reasonable to coach Nea Monalolo, he could have left. 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:46.560 So left and he had opportunities, right ken Nea moned. 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:47.440 To have opportunities looked around. 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.960 Yeah, there was there there was a minute for coach 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:53.680 Neia Monaalolo when he was a hot name out there, 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:55.160 and so maybe you can get back to that. 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:55.520 I don't know. 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:56.680 We wish everybody well. 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:59.280 Yeah, I think his reputation in the coaching world is 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:00.440 extremely strong. 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:05.800 Shall we get to our bowl? Zoom through? I would 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:06.600 love to tie. 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:08.680 Well, we told you today's flight would be special. 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:12.720 Here is the way this is gonna work, Dan. Every 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:15.600 year we do a confidence pool. We have done this 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:18.560 for about fifteen years running. Now you can play. If 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.440 you're listening to this, you can play for free at 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:26.640 playwinter Wonders dot Com. Go there, enter your email. We 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:28.440 will send you the instructions for how to get in 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:32.120 the group. All right, plain and simple, no strings attached. 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:37.280 This is a confidence pool, though. Explain a confidence pool 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:41.840 works like this. There are forty three bowl games if 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:45.480 you count the College Football Playoff National Championship on January 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:48.560 the ninth, there are forty three games that you have 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:49.040 to pick. 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:49.880 Yes. 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:54.400 The way this works is you pick straight winners, go 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:56.560 all the way down. You pick the teams you think 0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:58.480 are going to win, and then you rank them in 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:02.400 order of confidence. Forty three points to the winner that 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:05.720 you are most confident in one point to the team 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:10.280 that you are least confident in. You astutely mentioned on 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:12.760 the last show, I think just playing off the first 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:17.560 three words of confidence, Toto, and that maybe, just maybe 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:19.560 we should make this con Air. 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:21.040 Theme Welcome to con Air. 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:26.720 So that is what we are doing on today's show, Dan. 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.720 Throughout the course of the next forty forty five minutes 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:32.360 or so, this is going to be a zoom through. 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:34.120 We are going to go quick. We will come back 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:36.480 to some of the bigger games in due time to 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:41.400 preview individual matchups and schemes and point spreads and things 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:43.920 of that ilk But for now, we are talking confidence, 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:47.360 and we are talking all the games, all the games 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:48.040 on this show. 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:54.800 The general plot of Conair is a number of convicts, 0:16:55.040 --> 0:17:02.840 prisoners vics or correct convicts. Yes, prisoners escorted via a plane. Yes, 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:07.600 they overtake the pilots of the plane obviously conn Air 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:11.720 and use and try to use the plane to aid 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:15.800 in their escape to freedom. Correct, and things go haywire, 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:21.520 and their goals go from escaping to surviving and getting 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:26.080 loose and figuring out. Essentially, this is literally landing the plane. Yes, 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:32.120 and the treacherous analog that I'm drawing here is nobody 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:35.880 knows exactly how to pick bowl games, because of opt outs, 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:39.359 because of coaching changes, because of motivation, lack of motivation. 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:41.040 You all of a sudden, you're gonna play a bunch 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.200 of red shirts and younger players to see what you have. 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:47.800 And so from a confidence perspective, it's hard to have 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:50.720 a ton of confidence, just like it's hard to fly 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:54.760 a number of prisoners through the desert, perhaps onto the 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.440 Las Vegas Strip. So we're going to do our best 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:00.480 to figure out on the fly as we run through 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:03.199 these You said, forty three games, I believe how to 0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:06.000 land this proverbial confidition. 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:09.680 The confidence plane. Yeah. And there were some characters, of course, 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:13.159 notably Nick Cage, the one true god of the solid 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:17.840 verbal Nick Cage played Cameron Poe. Cameron Poe was the 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:21.639 only guy on the plane outside of the undercover US 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:24.879 Marshall and maybe the pilots who had any integrity. Cameron 0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:27.800 Poe was just trying to get home. He was a parole, 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:31.080 just trying to get out. He had his struggles, of 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:34.320 course when he came home from serving active duty. That's 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:36.160 how he ended up in prison in the first place. 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:39.080 But at this point when we meet the character Cameron Poe. 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:42.080 Cameron Poe is he's going home and he just wants 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:44.359 this plane to get up to land so that he 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:47.760 can go and see his wife and daughter. So in 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:51.719 this case, Cameron Poe is the game is the winner 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:53.320 with integrity that you can count on. 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:58.240 Said, put the bunny back in the box. 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:02.800 That's Cameron Poe. There's also a great character played by 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:09.000 John Malkovich, Cyrus Grissom. You know him as Cyrus the Virus. 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:13.240 His name is Cyrus Grissom aka Cyrus the Virus. 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.320 That's Agent Lark and that's John Cusack. Also in the movie, 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:20.680 John Cusack sets up Cyrus by saying that he's done 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:24.880 it all dan kidnapping, robbery, murder, and extortion. He also 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:27.720 notes that he's been incarceratored since he was fourteen. That's 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:30.160 a lot to do before your age of fourteen. That's 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:31.719 a lot. And I think he did a little bit 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:34.240 of that when he was he was serving his time, 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:38.199 but still that's that's a lot. Cyrus the Virus in 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:42.720 this case is the cold calculated upset. Okay, the cold 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:47.760 calculated killer. Yeah, takes down a team that you any 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:52.880 means necessary. He says, and then, last, but not least, 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:56.359 that's William Bedford aka Billy Bedlam. Billy Bedlam is just 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:58.800 that Billy Bedlam caught his wife with another man and 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:01.080 then just lost it. He's pure chaos. That's why they 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:03.520 call it daily Bedlam. We've got games here in front 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:05.800 of us that I think are pure chaos. So obviously 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:07.199 not all the games are going to rise to any 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:08.679 of these levels. But these are just a few of 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:10.520 the characters that we're going to interject as we go 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:13.520 through this confidence pool. Love to hear it, all, right, 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:17.320 what are your rules for picking teams? I think you 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:20.359 rightfully pointed out that when we get to Bowl season, 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:23.760 a confidence pool is harder than it looks. We're picking 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:26.360 straight winners. Usually we're picking against the points spread. We're 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:28.199 not doing that here because that's not the way the 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:30.520 confidence pool works. We can give those picks out a 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:32.840 little bit later, But on today's show, when we're doing 0:20:32.880 --> 0:20:34.920 the zoom through where we're talking about all these games, 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:39.280 we need to have rules, some rules, some guiding precepts 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:41.320 when it comes to who we're picking and who we're not. 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:44.600 I have a couple that you know that I talk 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:46.639 about every year. I modify them a little bit every year. 0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:48.320 I think I finally got it figured out to go 0:20:48.400 --> 0:20:50.359 forty three and oh just saying, oh, look at you, 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:52.800 just saying, but I just want to know where you're 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:54.680 at here. Are there any rules that you live by 0:20:54.840 --> 0:21:00.000 with respect to the Winter Wonders Bowl Confidence Pool? Okay? 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:02.919 So I always I love picking against the MAC. I 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:08.000 just think as a conference, the defenses put out by 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:11.879 MAC teams, by and large, if they aren't already exposed 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:14.479 by the MAC offenses that they face during the season, 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:17.760 they surely will buy teams from the American buy this, 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:20.040 you know, in the sun Belt, in the Mountain West, whatever. 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:25.280 So I like picking against the macpec Mac please do 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:28.240 I love some action? I do. I love some midweek 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:33.600 football taking place in Toledo or uh I'm you know, 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:35.439 decalb Illinois. 0:21:34.880 --> 0:21:36.800 Wherever, Sure, Buffalo. 0:21:37.640 --> 0:21:40.520