Jaylen Brown Traded to the 76ers. Celtics Disaster, Paul George Panic, Worst Boston Trades & UFC 329 Preview

Cold Open And Immediate Panic

SPEAKER_03 0:18

It's missing the point. And it's not great, guys. It's not great. I'm here with Matt Wilcox. I'm not saying the Jalen Brown trade made me suicidal because I don't want my phone lighting up with texts from people like, hey man, just checking in. You know, while I'm trying to compare Paul George's hamstrings to the Massachusetts Infrastructure Report. But spiritually, I am lying face down in a Duncan parking lot using a crumpled 2008 Celtics Championship shirt as a weighted blanket. The Celtics did look at 29-year-old Finals MVP, a guy who just had the best year of his career and said, What if we turn this into a 36-year-old Paul George in a scavenger hunt? This is not a trade. This is Brad Stevens doing ayahuasca with Rick Patino's ghost. We're going to rank where this lands among the worst Boston

What The Celtics Actually Did

SPEAKER_03 1:04

trades ever. We're going to try to figure out if there's any possible way to salvage it. And at the end, we'll cleanse the palette by previewing next week's UFC 329 card with um Conor McGregor and Max Holloway apparently agreeing to fight a welterweight because everybody involved has lost control of the group project. Okay. Starting off, Matt, with the Jalen Brown trade, uh what happened?

SPEAKER_02 1:27

What fresh hell is this? What kind of a nightmare trade is this? How bad was the trade value out there?

SPEAKER_03 1:35

I'm I'm glad we're doing the show now because I'm already starting to convince myself of the advanced analytics uh uh argument on the other side that this is a good idea that we traded him. Um, but anyway, I mean just give me your fresh thoughts. Uh, let me know where you are with it. Well, just give me your overall.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

I feel like we as uh idiot podcasters and taking on responsibility that we should tell our fans that are also fans of the Celtics that if you're struggling with this, call 988 for Suicide Hotline because it's not gonna get any better from here. This is fucking bullshit. You sign this kid, this kid who has what five and a half turnovers a game to a $50 million a fucking year deal. Give him the rock, let him run with it. He carries us all the way to the playoffs, and then you traded him for Paul George, the number one overrated player of all time. This is fucking bullshit. I'm not okay with this. I'm not okay with this. We got nothing back in return. I don't want the 23rd pick in the in the next year's draft. I don't want it.

SPEAKER_03 2:38

Yeah, let me let me break down what we actually got in this package, and I will caveat it with the idea uh that our co-host

Breaking Down The Trade Package

SPEAKER_03 2:45

Sach mentioned in the in our group chat. If you need to know whether or not you won a trade or lost a trade in the NBA, uh a dead giveaway is if you traded for Paul George, you lost that trade. Um so we got Paul George and we got a 2028 first rounder with some sort of favorable swap structure, a 2031 unprotected first round pick, a 2028 second round pick, and a 2030 second round pick. Now, second round picks in the NBA, I mean, you know, you just throw a dart at the board at this point and and hope for the best. Um, you're it's it could be a Jalen Brunson, you know, it could be a Bonnie Ginobi. I don't know, but it's it's not gonna probably be that. Um I don't know why we traded them directly to uh probably our main rival. Like if you look at the if you look at the different franchises across the NBA and you're having having to pick the biggest rival of the Boston Celtics, your gut wants to say the Lakers, but it's like we beat their ass a shitload of times in the 60s, we played each other a handful of times in the 80s, they didn't show up for the last game for the last series, and we played each other a handful of times in the 2000s. I I mean they're in a completely different conference than us. It's not it's not really them, is it? It is the Sixers. We've always for my whole life and for your your dad's whole life,

Why Trading To Philly Hurts More

SPEAKER_03 4:10

there's always been a playoff battle happening with the Sixers. We usually do absolutely sun them, but like that's who we play against all the time. The road to a lot of Boston success has come through Philadelphia. It's what's the most famous favorite thing.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Oh, you know, so why most famously what's the most famous Larry Bird photo? Is it him against Magic? No, it's him and Dr. J Dr. J choking each other because the Sixers have been up our ass every year forever, they always have been. And you not only that, Jalen Brown held the torch of the current Celtics on hating the 76ers, talking shit about indeed, getting into fights with Maxie. He was that guy before us because you know Jason Tatum's not gonna put his purse down to go start anything with anybody. True. I'm not happy, Dave.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

I'm not happy. I I mean, I I know it sounds crazy, and it sounded crazy to people the entire time we've done this podcast, but I've been consistent in sort of knowing that eventually the Jays were gonna get split up. I've been consistent that I wanted Jalen Brown to be the one that stayed. And it's for the reasons you just described his his presence, his his kind of just personality as a whole. We got to see what the team looked like with him leading the the dance, like like alone without without Tatum. And I really liked the scrappy nobody believes in us Celtics of last year's regular season. And also he has a ton of, and this is such an underrated quality in in an athlete period. He has a fucking bag of playoff time of year durability. He he gets to the playoffs and he stays healthy every single fucking year. That almost every year of his career. I know. I I it's it's like the man's played so many minutes, and it's because I mean, obviously Tatum's injury is a freak injury, whatever, but like he's been banged up in the playoffs at really inopportune times in the past, and like Brown's always

Brown Versus George By The Numbers

SPEAKER_03 6:05

sort of been there thereabouts. Brown's coming off a career best 25-26 season, 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 47.7 from the field, 34.7 from three, 57.3 true shooting, and like between me and you, I don't know what the fuck that means. Um, in 71 games. 71 games he played last year. Paul George's 2025-26 season, 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 43.9 from the field, 39.2% from three. So a slight edge from three. I mean, that's a meaningful percentage considering the system we play. But he played 37 games in the regular season last season.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

I appreciate you saying system instead of just fucking chucking it.

SPEAKER_03 6:43

But yeah, I mean, we that is what we do.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

That's all we got, baby. Um I said earlier, I think Joe Mazzula thinks he's um the coach from TC Williams to remember the Titans. He's just got two plays like Nova Kane. Shoot it, run and go get it.

SPEAKER_03 6:57

Yeah, I have to agree. I mean, I really went I went from sort of happy that we added Mitchell Robinson and a guy, a guy who brings qualities I've been calling out for for the Celtics since we drafted Jalen Brown, which is rebounding, presence, dunking, you know, just just general rim presence, you know. And actually, yeah, if I had to watch another year of the time lord be Jason Tatum's uh an inch shorter than Jason Tatum and apparently be our rim protector, I was gonna fucking drive my car into oncoming traffic. But yeah, I the theme of tonight's episode is suicide, but in a fun way. Um that's fair. It's not bad because they traded Jalen Brown, it's bad because they traded him inside the division, they traded him to Philadelphia, they got older, they didn't meaningfully escape salary hell. They took on Paul George after two injury-limited six-year seasons. They gave Philly the wing they were dreaming of next to him, B Maxi and Edgecombe. And I will say, by the way, I think that this was a trade on Philadelphia's part for Maxie. For Maxi and Edgecombe. Like that this is this is this complements their young core so well. Dude, these are that scrappy big body guard.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Like, that's huge. Or like it's huge for them.

SPEAKER_03 8:05

He's gonna do great on Philadelphia. Let's let's just be honest. He's gonna come and give the Celtics 60. Like anytime we play against them, it sucks.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

And you already hit on it. It's because he feel he felt like a Celtic. He was scrappy, he was he was not gonna get bullied around anybody, which Sam does. But the worst part is now we have to beat them because it affects our trade value. We we like we took their first round picks, and they're gonna come here and feed us our lunch, and we're gonna watch the trade value slip away.

SPEAKER_03 8:31

I know. It's bad. Um, it's bad. We didn't even get that clippers pick, huh?

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Oh, Brad Stevens. Brad's so good. I love Brad Stevens. He went and bought a bunch of aging all-stars and won a championship. He's the smartest, way better than Danny Ainge. Fuck Brad Stevens.

SPEAKER_03 8:45

Yeah, I'm pretty mad at him right now.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

I gotta say, he looks like he has he looks like he has sex by pulling his penis through the peehole, you know, in his shorts. I don't like him.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

Yeah, he does have a little bit of welcome back cotter about him. I I have always noticed that. Uh, and I they did stop playing for him when he was the coach, and I think the GM move was the right one at the time, but everybody's getting fired after this. Not this season, but after what we were about to see. I I really think so. I do have at the end some plausible salvage moves that we could we could maybe go through that I would love your opinion on.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

Maybe we should just go to that right now.

SPEAKER_03 9:18

No, before that, we're gonna rank

Ranking The Worst Boston Trades

SPEAKER_03 9:21

this. I have an initial top five ranking of worst worst all-time Boston trades.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 9:29

I'm gonna need you to tell me because you have so much more deep knowledge of the Red Sox and uh the Bruins and everybody gets mentioned here. So I have it ranked as follows. Let me know where I'm off. Okay. And this thing, this is gonna include, I'm not gonna include Jalen Brown to the 76ers yet. You're gonna have to tell me where it's gonna go. Okay. So here's the top five. Number one, letting Mookie Betts walk for 10 cents on the dollar to the LA Dodgers and having him immediately win a championship. I think that was the worst thing a Boston sports ownership has ever done. Followed closely, and I'm just gonna talk about these two in context by Babe Ruth going to the Yankees because it fully fucking cursed the Red Sox for the next 86 years. I don't think that applies as much to us because, you know, it's Babe Ruth to the Yankees. I mean, you can see how bad it was, but even I, as not nearly as dedicated and deep a Red Sox fan as as yourself, was enraged by the Mookie Betts deal. And then to see it work out the way that it did, it's difficult for me to not say that that's the number one worst Boston trade ever. I know there's recency bias. Would you put Babe Ruth first or should I should I knock it down a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 10:39

I I feel like you can go two routes as a fan. I feel like kids today will never take the route that the answer is Babe Ruth because we're part of a solemn group, an honor guard of Boston. But I think me and you being fans of the history of sports, we owe it to probably give it to the babe because of what it did and its direct correlation to murderers row and to the Yankees improving and becoming what they did. And because it didn't just stop us from winning a championship for 90-something odd years, it also created a monster down the highway from us that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_03 11:12

The most famous baseball player of all time. Yeah, yeah. It's it's really bad on paper if you look at it like it there. So that's fine. I'll put Babe Ruth one. That's fine.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

But talent for talent, the Mookie trade.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

I mean, I mean, yeah, 10 cents on the dollar, Matt. The math really was 10 cents on the dollar. It's so crazy.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

I'm still mad. I'm never not gonna be mad.

SPEAKER_03 11:28

That was bad.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

So I don't think it touches either of those yet. I think next year at this time, we'll be able to know just how bad it was because they do have the that's the the Celtics are always. Mookie Metz is still winning championships. He's in he's hit what almost 100 home runs without us. Like he's won three rings.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

He's had he's had a Hall of Fame career just just since leaving the Red Sox.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

And just a couple weeks ago, he said, Yeah, I I mean I never would have left Boston. I loved Boston, they didn't want me there. That's brutal. That's not gonna be.

SPEAKER_03 12:36

I feel like it crippled the franchise for many a year.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

That ownership team and and that GM. It's hard the way for people people not a lot of people watch hockey. The way to think about it is that we got rid of prime, you know, not prime Brady, but like end of career Brady. And what we got back was it was essentially Kirk Cousins, and it it was just that was I I'll remember a lot of teams want to give Kirk Cousins a lot of money, my friend.

SPEAKER_02 13:01

All right, there must be something they know that we don't.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

I'll never forget being a kid sitting at my kitchen table, and the news is on, and I I never I was eating dinner with my dad, and we looked over, and all I already heard him say is that's the fucking ruins for you. I'll never forget that moment. It was in the the the GM even said, you know, I woke, I I woke up this morning. I thought, oh my god, am I really gonna trade Joe Thornton? And I did like shut like that. Was the worst day of my life up until I'm gonna throw in a curveball at you. I'm still mad about the Sagan trade, too. I've never let that go. I love that kid.

SPEAKER_03 13:35

He was I wouldn't put it in the top five, though, because I have a couple of stinkers to mention still.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

But the thing about Joe Thornton is he never ended up getting that ring, baby.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

That's true. I I do think hockey's a little bit of a fickle. I don't want to get into too deep a philosophy conversation about this, but I do feel like hockey's a bit of a fickle bitch as far as championships go. Like, oh, it is. How many years? Yeah, how many years was it that goalie just went crazy? You know, like there's been Bruins championships in our lifetime where we're like, I mean, our goalie just went crazy for the whole playoffs, you know. Like there's a little luck involved, as opposed to the championship.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

That but that's you're but you're absolutely right. The speed of the game and the randomness of the puck bounces is a huge part, which definitely separates it from baseball in that regard. But yeah, I I think that your list right now is super solid, and I'm still so angry about the brown trade. I'm more angry about the brown trade than I was.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

So this is good because I want to know the context. I want to know where we're really gonna put this because my next my next trade on the list, and again, this is part of this is just me throwing around, just trying to mix up the sports, because I really do think that there's one more stinker of a baseball one. But next, I'm gonna put the Chauncey Bills trade by the Celtics just to get the Celtics on the board. Then this might get bumped, I don't know. But they drafted Chauncey third overall and gave him up almost immediately. He became a finals MVP. We planted the tree, then sold the orchard. It was it was terrible. I mean, I watched Chauncey Bills' whole career, and he was one of my favorite players. He was one of my favorite all-time non-Celtics. I mean, I don't know who is he in jail right now, I don't know, but that was his coaching career. So uh yeah, I thought he was a great guard, and I really think we should have kept him.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Man, that team they that that was that was the Detroit Pistons, they they were unbelievable. He was such a good leader, too. Um, and he was tough too. Again, that Celtics kind of great. I didn't even think of that one.

SPEAKER_03 15:18

That one hurt a lot after the fact because at first I was like, whatever, but maybe because you watched him his whole career, and then like this the 2.0 version in in Denver with Melo was a ton of fun, too, even though they didn't win. It was still just like I loved picking that team in 2K, you know.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

So it was like and Chauncey was sick in 2K. It but that was another one because we got nothing out of it, and they nothing came back to us. It didn't help us build towards a championship. We still had to go and build the team that we had to build, so it was just a useless trade for a natural, what, 13 season leader? Horrible.

SPEAKER_03 15:48

Lastly, now this people may argue this one should have been higher, but I just didn't want to stack everything with baseball at the top because Red Sox fans, holy shit, you guys have been through some stuff in the research. But uh Jeff Bagwell to the Astros for Larry Anderson. I think if you just then look at their careers after the fact, Bagwell goes on to become a Hall of Famer. I don't think he pays for a drink in Houston uh for for you know from now until the end of time. Boston got a short-term rental as a relief pitcher. And I I mean, honestly, like it's like trading away the winning lottery ticket for uh Tank of Gas. I that's so nuts to me that that they did that. And I don't really have the context. So tell me if it should be higher in the in the overall Boston trades list. Tell me if I missed any Patriots stuff. I couldn't find any that really ranked here where you lost someone like absolutely insane that may or may not have uh brought or busted a championship or or or changed careers. I think, especially since the majority of the time we've spent watching the Patriots, they got it right. Like, I don't know if you noticed, but they won six fucking championships in our lifetime.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

So it's hard to criticize them on trades.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

They really kind of kind of difficult, right? Because like what I remember happening is people would be really after Patriots players and then they wouldn't be as good in other systems, right? So it was always, you know, that was always the case with the Pats. Let me know if I there's any honorable mentions if I missed, and then just you decide as the as the Boston sports expert more holistically than I am by a lot. I want you to decide where Brown ranks in this top five.

Red Sox Ownership Grudges And History

SPEAKER_00 17:12

So the first the only thing that sticks out to me, I love that list. That's such a good list. The one that sticks out to me, and it wasn't the Red Sox's fault, was the A-rod trade, where we literally struck a deal for A-Rod. We figured that was an honorable mention, and then the leaks.

SPEAKER_03 17:25

Trading no more is crazy, yeah. That's that's yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

And look what it did. Nomar would not play for us anymore. And it kind of reminds me of the Browns trade a little bit because they were gonna go for Giannis. Now you have to cut him, he's not gonna come back, he's not that guy. And that one that really sucked, but we ended up winning.

SPEAKER_03 17:41

I just really didn't want to stack it with five Red Sox trades, dude.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

No, the Red Sox are hilariously tragic. They're the Simpsons of the MLB. It's wild, it's crazy how funny it actually is. You've seen them win three titles. Oh no, no, they turned it on. Creepy boy turned it on, and now we're begging for him to sell the team. Do you mean John Henry? I know John Henry. I know is that who you mean by creepy boy? Is that who you're talking about? Look at his face.

SPEAKER_03 18:06

John Henry delivered uh delivered me two uh uh English Premier League titles with Liverpool and a Champions League. I he's gonna break your heart. No, we're good, we're already good, we're good forever.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

He's gonna break your heart.

SPEAKER_03 18:20

You uh you New Englanders are uh spoiled, spoiled little rich kids, is what you are.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Absolutely cake eaters. Everyone's screaming about selling the team. He gave us everything that we have for the Red Sox Pride. Like I hate him.

SPEAKER_03 18:36

Yeah, I mean, I will what I will say about the whole A-rod thing, though, just lastly, and in the spoiled kids thing, it's like you do go on to get Cabrera, who becomes I don't know, top four most important players for you in the O4 in the 04 win.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

So oh my god, like literally our our bench saved our lives in that, and not getting Arod allowed them to do that. Well, I hate to say that because uh in baseball they can spend as much fucking money as they want, so fuck them and their billionaire money.

SPEAKER_03 19:03

That's a fair point, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Yeah, but within what they were willing to spend, our bench saved our lives.

SPEAKER_03 19:09

Yeah, and your defense. I mean, you got a shortstop in a first baseman in that trade, and they played really fucking well in the world. Out of their minds.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Out of their minds, yep. So that one's hard to put on the list, but that's the one that's six. I would say it's hard to say with the Jalen Brown trade because we don't they could come out and every single player on the Knicks on the I mean on the 76ers could tear an ACL, and that those first round picks could be two Duke kids that we don't even know about yet that are gonna be unbelievable at the moment from the optic. I hate Paul George. I don't think he's been worth his while in four seasons. I think Damian Lillard essentially ended his career with a logo shot. Um, as our friend Zach said, a Zach fact, if you will, um, in the two trades that he's been a part of, he's been the the the one going the other way of the championship win. I'm not happy. I'm gonna say it goes the babe, Mookie, Bagwell. And then you know what? I'm gonna throw Brown in right there because that's how upset I am right now. I'm so mad. And the Johnson Mills one didn't come to me, but that was a great pick. I didn't even I didn't even think about that because I ended up just focusing on from 06 forward with the Celtics and I like to pretend that the rest didn't happen before laying by us RIP.

SPEAKER_03 20:19

Yeah, yeah, that was actually should be an honorable mention as a really bad trade with the good lord. Uh we we really didn't get anything back at all for that, you know. Like, but when you're trading with God, you gotta be real careful, okay? Because you don't want to get smoked. Don't get smoked. Um, okay, listen, here's the thing. This is an important fact, an important caveat in this whole in this whole deal. The best thing about watching the Philadelphia 76ers for the last 15 years has been knowing that they're not gonna do it, not trusting the process, trusting the process to do what it's gonna what it's gonna do, which is fail. They just became, for the first time in a very long time, not reliant on Joel Embiid's health in order to make a run in the playoffs. And if you're I'm talking now to to the Philadelphia 76ers fans in the room, uh you heard it.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

Uh the behind me.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

Shit, Philly fans.

SPEAKER_03 21:18

Yeah, I mean, I you are the worst people on in the world, uh, other than you know, the state of Israel. But like, I I have to say, like, without a doubt, you're already underrating Jalen Brown. I I even if you're really happy with the trade and who you got and how much you had to give up, which you should be, you're already underrating him. I promise you, you're gonna really like him. Just just give it give it a chance. I'm gonna really miss him. I'm genuinely just upset and sad that we lost a really good player. He was my favorite player since we drafted him. There's I flirted with other, you know, favorite players. I love the Isaiah Thomas era. Um, you know, I I think Drew Holiday was my favorite player for two seasons, and but like, you know. Those are flashes in the pan, baby. I'm always coming home to you, Jalen. But I I guess I appreciate what I had.

Sports Fandom And Hating Legends

SPEAKER_00 22:05

You love a little guy, huh?

SPEAKER_03 22:07

Uh no, historically in basketball, I think I'm more um I think I go rim abilities, you know. Like I think that's always been a thing for me. Like finishing around the rim, I is my favorite thing. I think grit and I think mid-range, you know, and and I th and I know that the advanced analytics don't do shit for mid-range anymore, but like the best players I watched growing up had a turnaround jump shot in the mid-range. The best players I had, yeah. I mean, it's Jalen Brown you're describing Jalen Brown.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

Jalen Brown, yeah. But there's another name that comes to mind. And I think you're hopping on the LeBron train with me here.

SPEAKER_03 22:43

LeBron, it that's a different thing. He's I'm not, I don't want LeBron to be a Celtic ever.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

Yeah, you do.

SPEAKER_03 22:50

Let me tell you something about how much of a homer I am when it comes to the Celtics and LeBron James. If you offer me LeBron James at 28 right now, I would decline. I would dec I would say thank you so much, but I'm good. All good. Thank you. And the I'm I might get chased through the streets. I might get I might get chased down Yaquki Way because of that. I might, but I gotta tell you, uh, I'm I'm saying no. I'm good. Thank you. Or I'd take them and see how uh what I could flip them for.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

Like a 2K punishment.

SPEAKER_03 23:24

Yeah, it's like all right, I got LeBron. I'm gonna, he's my six man at best. Uh just because uh we don't get along. And Rich Paul doesn't get to come to the training facilities, he doesn't get to enter the room. That's he's gonna. So are you still you sure you still want to come?

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Well, let's let's break this down here. First of all, there's that little attraction of sleeping with the enemy that I love so much. You know, just the guy that ruined it.

SPEAKER_03 23:44

Terrible film.

SPEAKER_00 23:45

Terrible film, great idea. Because he ruined so much of my life. And I I I think if I wasn't a fan of basketball, if I was just some some girl in the room not paying attention with you know my vodka red bull, I'd look and be like, wow, that guy's really cool to watch. Yeah, how he just jumped. That was awesome. But unfortunately, we had to hate him. But now I don't hate him. I don't hate him anymore. He's he's old, he's passing. Got to see him play with his son.

SPEAKER_03 24:08

I feel that way about Cristiano Ronaldo.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

Right. I did you cheer for him today? I cheered my ass off for him today. Yeah, me and Kim both jumped up and did the shoo when he started.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

I was I was really I've really been in it. I've really been like, yeah, go on, Christiana.

SPEAKER_02 24:20

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

It's not about Messi's face, you know. Oh man, we hated him when we were kids. He he was he was killing us. I know.

SPEAKER_03 24:28

But but it's shows how arbitrary it all is, doesn't it? Like it just shows like you're you're you're just picking fucking things to like an eight. We're just dead inside.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

That's the problem now.

SPEAKER_03 24:38

We've lost I've lost all my fire. I mean, usually not when it comes to sports. I I think it's one of the things I could still sort of really passionately care about and and sort of forget uh myself and and I guess what would you say, like suspend my disbelief, like really just like give myself over to the spectacle, you know?

SPEAKER_00 24:54

And I will give it to you. You never crossed the Kobe Barrier, you've always been a stand, like you have your your Lockins feelings and you stick with it. And even post-death, you've been very critical of him and his rape allegations. So congratulations for that.

SPEAKER_03 25:06

I just I I don't think he was I don't think he was a good teammate, you know. Like I it's like when you start bit I I I have him 10th all time. That's I think that's really nice. I think I'm being really nice. Like I think that's I think I could that's because I saw him and and I and I think that I think that yes, he was accused, verifiably accused of rape, and like that's not cool. We can't just like decide that's not cool. Uh that's cool, you know, like because he was good at shooting uh the basketball. First off, second off, uh I don't know if he made the people around him better. I think he needed ready-made uh guys to win. I think he needed a really specific type of player, and I think that if he didn't get like a lot of defense around him, and like Derek Fisher was very clutch for him, you know what I mean? Like there's a lot of pictures that you have to do.

SPEAKER_00 25:53

I was just gonna ask you, which player for his run there do you think was most important? Do you think it was Powell? Do you think it was Fisher? Was it Bynam for his ability to just go up there and get it?

SPEAKER_03 26:01

Like Derek Fisher is the most important player after Shaq. Like I it's it's Shaq obviously is number one, and and he got him three in a row. That's fucking crazy. Oh no, yeah. But like that's Shaq. Like, that was just Kobe being important to Shaq. That wasn't Shaq being important to Kobe. Like, fucking you know what I what I really liked in that whole arc? This is we're really on a tangent here, but what I really liked in that whole arc was Shaq going to the heat. We've got nothing.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

We're Celtics fans.

SPEAKER_03 26:25

I know. This is I liked Shaq going to the heat and Dwayne Wade being verifiably the reason that they won that championship. Unlike, in my opinion, Kobe over the course of the three P because like Shaq was obviously a huge factor, but like Dwayne Wade went fucking crazy in that like off of those injuries, too.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

You're so right. That was fun to watch.

SPEAKER_03 26:44

It was awesome. I really always rated Dwayne Wade. It was always like, why is he the third best? I don't, you know, I I was like, maybe second. I think there's a case to be made. Pierce or Wade? Uh Wade. It's Wade. It's of course it's Wade. Um, but for me, Pierce, like if I'm building, if I'm building a team, you know, like I'm 100% taking Paul Pierce first because like you guys are all traitors.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

I I yeah, I agree with you. I think Wade was so smooth with it. To bring us back though, I like I I do think LeBron at this stage in his life in his game, with both the Jays, with Jalen and Jason.

SPEAKER_03 27:21

I'm not here because they're this isn't getting tabled. Like the like what what would what who would does the magistrate throw out a case when you like before he even like lets it go in front of the judge, whatever that process is.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

Um yeah, dismissal prior to arraignment.

SPEAKER_03 27:35

Yeah, that's what's happening right now. You're getting dismissed prior to arraignment. I'm not talking about LeBron and the Celtics. It's not, it's not it's like I couldn't even really look at it when you texted it. It could happen. It could happen. No, it couldn't. It's not happening.

SPEAKER_00 27:45

It could, he's the league minimum.

SPEAKER_03 27:47

I bet he goes to the six years and they win a championship.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

Oh my god, don't say that. Yeah, probably. That's possible. Um, so you said you were gonna make me feel better about this in some way with some mystical moves on Paul George's gonna wave. No, go ahead.

A Wild Salvage Plan With Zion

SPEAKER_03 28:07

Ready? Yep. Here's the plan. Call New Orleans, right? Oh you get New Orleans on the phone. Okay. Bear with me here, okay? Because I just have to put it in the street. I just have to put the stats in front of me, or sorry, the the salaries in front of me, and like do this like actual trade machine thing.

SPEAKER_00 28:31

This is Moneyball. You're Brad Pitt. I'm I'm what's his name? The big guy from from uh every movie. Let's go.

SPEAKER_03 28:40

I don't know who's the big guy. Oh, Jonah Hill.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

Yeah, I'm I'm your Jonah Hill right now. Let's go.

SPEAKER_03 28:45

Uh okay. Here we go. Here's who I want. I know there's been some Jordan Poole talk, and I know there's been some Trey Alexander talk. And uh, and honestly, if we could get Trey Alexander with with that trade exception and throw a couple of those firsts or like whatever their way and get it, fine. What I'm talking about is the Pelicans being there to be fucked because they're the Pelicans, right? Like they're the most easy to trade with team in the league, and no one's exploited them properly. Get ready. This works. Celtics receive. Sorry. Let me start with Pelicans receive, it'll be more okay. Okay, okay. Pelicans receive Paul George, a 2031, the 2031 Sixers first round pick, the 2028 Sixers first favorable swap rights. Both the second rounders we just got. Kick in a sweetener if you need it. We get Zion Williamson and Herb Jones. We get massive, massive in the front court. We get we get Herb Jones, 6'7, forward, Zion Williamson, fucking just an absolute tubby delight. Just bring that fat ass up from New Orleans. I brought her back. I brought her all the way. I got her pregnant. I got her, I brought her back to Boston. Wiggle that fat ass up to fucking Boston, Zion. I want to see you dunk on the Philadelphia 76ers. Herb Jones also has adds much-needed wing help, which actually I think would be more valuable than Paula George right now because you can't lose the wing replacement, right? You need that Herb Jones replacement. It's a style of wing that I like. Um, this is the one path I think where you can talk yourself into the original disaster as a step one of a bigger plan. Um, I I don't know. Zion and Tatum is scary on paper, at the very least.

SPEAKER_00 30:31

Because it gives Zion it gives Tatum so much more time to set to his spot instead of having to jack up the three over people all day, make his cuts and Peyton Pritchard to make their cuts get open because Missoula's gonna make them shoot. Having Zion and having Mitchell down there, that actually is terrifying. At least it's fun.

SPEAKER_03 30:48

Paul George is the least fun thing that has happened in forever. You know, let's stop saying his name.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

Amy Lillard killed him. I knew I saw him die on the court. Why is he still here?

SPEAKER_03 30:58

You just um you just reposted that shot. The that's all I said for the audience.

SPEAKER_00 31:05

All I did, I didn't react on social media, all I did was reshare uh Dame from the logo over Paul George, who then argued, well, it was a bad shot. Uh it went in, dickhead.

SPEAKER_03 31:15

It was uh maybe the best shot I've ever seen. Ever seen in my life. This the what's actually crazy about it, and I when I I now have to do this because Paul George is a Celtic, is that that was one of the quickest sidesteps and shots I've ever seen. It was absolutely lightning. And but Paul George actually defended the shot pretty well. If you watch the highlight, he's actually he's got his hand up, like he's in he's in his face. Like it was an unguardable shot, apparently.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

And he was like he was actually within range of where he needed to be. Yeah, like he should have taken one more step, which is what Paul was banking on. It was a good deed, but he I watched him die. He died. He got shot by Lillard's arrow. I saw it happen, so I don't know what we're doing here. And when you just said he's a Celtic, that hurts so bad. I actually just cringed. Stop saying that. This sucks, dude. This sucks. All right. That was a great trade idea, actually. I'm like, not only for its plausibility, but like how it could actually work out. That's a that is a good value trade for them as well, and they're idiots. They love it.

SPEAKER_03 32:17

I don't think they take the call, but it would be cool. It's a girl can dream.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

There was already rumors about Zion.

SPEAKER_03 32:23

Yeah, I mean it doesn't exist.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

You're a big availability guy, and and that kid, him and his dumpy spend a lot of time on the bench. I know. It's kind of fatty.

SPEAKER_03 32:34

I want to get that fucking Kardashian ass up here at Boston.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

I want to I want to see that thing wiggling green.

SPEAKER_03 32:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Was it not in Mexico or Brazil? Somebody tell me.

SPEAKER_03 32:43

That's what I'm saying. Might be part of the injury problems. Let's be honest. Let's look like fucking up his center of gravity. Um the fear isn't that Paul George is bad. It's not that he's bad. He's skilled, he's smooth, he plays really good basketball a lot when the planets align and the knee doesn't open a small Etsy shop. Um the fear is that Jalen Brown was the kind of player I thought he was. You spent 10 years developing this guy, you go through the weird years, the awkward years, the weird things, you win a title with this dude, you win a title with this dude being your finals MVP, well-deserved finals MVP, I might add. And then he has the best individual season of his career, and you ship him to Philadelphia, like you're trying to punish everyone in Massachusetts for uh enjoying their and it's not asset value, it's like the emotional vandalism of the entire how did he go from being worth Johnis to be I just it sucks, man.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

It's just not it. He's a team leader, he's a league leader, he's one of the youngest presidents of the players' association ever. Um, I'll miss him dearly, even though I talked a lot of shit about him because he does turn the ball over a lot. He is he was a Celtic, like exactly what we're looking for. That gritty, tough, strong player who will score when he needs to. Sorry, man.

SPEAKER_03 34:01

I think it's really annoying that like now everybody that ever talked shit about Jalen Brown as a non-Celtic fan is talking about him like he's the biggest thing we've ever given. You know what I mean? Like, there's so many hypocrites out there at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

Every person that didn't want him on team USA is now going, well, you know, now I think the Sixers just jumped to number two in the East.

SPEAKER_03 34:24

All right.

Pivot To UFC 329 Preview

SPEAKER_03 34:25

Before I walk into the Charles River uh wearing some new balances, let's pivot to something more emotionally stable. Connor McGregor is fighting Max Holloway at welterweight after five years away from the cage. Finally, something normal, I guess. Um DOC329 is next Saturday, July 11th. They're doing it in Vegas. It's McGregor Holloway 2. And the card overall has some real juice, Matt. Um, it really does, yeah. Quick teaser. I'm gonna go bottom to top because it's better. Um, who's start? Well, let's just do the main card because it's more interesting. Uh, Gable Stevenson versus Elijah Ellison. Gold medal wrestler making his UFC debut at the start of the card. That could be a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 35:08

I feel like this is gonna be like what we were promised with uh with Bo Nickel from the start. Like, I think Gable is gonna really, really hurt people. And I'm very excited for it. John Jones is impressed by Gable. He says that he's the next man up. I I am really excited to see how badly he pretzels this kid in the in his opening fight.

SPEAKER_03 35:27

That's fun. I really like that you had that ready. Uh, I didn't know anything about this fight, so I'm really glad somebody had something. Um, he is an Olympic gold medal wrestler, right? So heavyweight, this would be a fun gambling day. Um, it's already getting a fun gambling day.

SPEAKER_00 35:43

I don't know how many of our listeners are big UFC fans, but even every UFC fighter will tell you that there is nothing harder than being a gold medal Olympic wrestler. Like it is impossible. There are so many people competing for this one slot, and this kid did it really without breaking his sweat. Um, and and Dana's been holding him back. He's this kid's been working at the PI now for a long time. Uh, we are gonna see something special here with this kid. I think he gets another two fights before the year's over.

SPEAKER_03 36:10

Oh, okay. I mean, great breakdown there, Matt. I got nothing. Robert Whitaker's fighting Nikita Kirov. Kilov? Is that he said?

SPEAKER_00 36:18

Yeah, Kir Kirlov. Kirlov.

SPEAKER_03 36:20

Kirlov. Sorry, buddy. Um Russian weirdo. I don't know. I this one I do have uh a take on, even though I think it might just add value to the bet I want to make. Whitaker 205. Um, he's little like, I don't know. I mean, I'm I'm a fan, he's a fan favorite. I'm a fan. Okay. This is the thing, but I know he's got a high IQ, I know he's got good footwork. I've watched his chin start to deteriorate over the last few years of the lower weight. I do think that like moving weight classes when you lose is never really a good sign, in my opinion.

Gable Steveson Debut And Early Bets

SPEAKER_03 36:55

I think when you move up to challenge yourself, that can be cool. I've seen that work out. Moving when you're losing, I don't know. There's a lot of like one to two rounds of somebody being like, he actually looks pretty sharp at this weight, and then he gets like tossed on his head and you're like, oh god. So tell me what you think about this fight. Uh I'm leaning Whitaker just for the fun of the bet, but like it's it's a risk.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

I I feel like you hit the nail on the head for me. I hate watching a late, late in life or late in career move up because it means you can't even handle the weight cut anymore. So if you can't handle the weight cut, how are you gonna come back from the fact that we just walked that the last time we saw you, we watched you swallow half of your jaw because Humb Dot literally broke your face in half. I that's a hard thing to come back from. Whitaker's awesome, man. He's a he's a dog in there, but I just he's too old. I think this time's probably passed. I think this is gonna be the fight where we see his time has passed. Um, but both these guys are old, man. Both these guys had a lot of fights under their belt, so it's it's always interesting if these two can get past the first round and that experience starts kicking in, that second win starts kicking in. This could be a really fun fight.

SPEAKER_03 38:05

Who are you gonna who would you bet on?

SPEAKER_00 38:07

Uh, because you're my boy, I'm gonna follow you with Whinnaker, even though I don't love it. I would stay away, but you're but you're going Winnaker, so I'm going Winnaker. We ride, we die.

SPEAKER_03 38:15

I haven't decided anything yet. A stay away might be might be a choice. I like the next fight for reasons. I think this will be a fun little scrap. Uh Brandon's the next one, McKinney Brandon Roy Val versus Lanier Lanier, uh, Kavanaugh. Yeah, um, yeah. I think this is a fun one. I think they're both dangerous. Uh, I think that anything could happen. This is a real stay away for me, to be totally honest with you. Like, I don't like I have no idea what what can happen here, but I have spent so much time cheering against England in the World Cup and enjoying that that I'm probably gonna go. I'm gonna fade Kavanaugh because he's English, and I'm gonna go with Roy Vall as well.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

Uh Roy Vall. Chaos fights chaos fight, man. Just two guys that are very talented fighters, um, that are not quite strong enough to knock each other out. So we're just gonna watch them get hit until their faces are big and bloody. And Roy Vault is is multifaceted. So I'm gonna go with Roy Vall on that one. Do you know what the line on it is? Actually, I don't have it pulled up. I'm looking right now.

SPEAKER_03 39:13

No, I'll look, but uh yeah, I think just because Roy Val is more of a known commodity to me, and I like that when I'm when I'm doing mid-card bets, I want to kind of go not name recognition, but like what am I looking for? Like I I I I feel like a guy who's been in and around for longer is a good bet in a situation where it's like a kind of a high profile card that you're fighting on the undercard of.

SPEAKER_00 39:34

Plus, Roy Val's gone gone the distance with Moreno and Pantoja. He's a dog, man.

SPEAKER_03 39:39

Yeah, he knows. Royval's like a like a small favorite. He's minus 185. Well, a mid-size favorite, minus 185. So you could go find some fun bets, like you know, just method of victory is always tough, but like like is there any like amount of power

Whitaker At A New Weight Class

SPEAKER_03 39:58

shot? You know what I mean? Like, I don't know, like just some fun stuff to sort of sweeten the pot. Any sort of sweetener you can find, I would take on Roy Vall's uh line and don't hedge against yourself, kids. Okay, only throw in supplemental sweeteners that help your your your show thesis. Um teasing uh fucking, yeah, like I I think that hedging is for pussies. So it is it is what it is, you know. I I just my goodness. I I if I think if you can just try to get those odds up to like one, you know, 1.8 area, like if you're getting a decent return, I think you could bet hard on Roy Vall. It's gonna be a chaos fight though. Like, this is gonna be more of a fun bet than anything else. Um I do want to spend a little bit of time on the main event because I mean it is interesting despite the sort of allegations. Uh, so let's just breeze through these and I'll I'll do Patty Pimblet and Benoit Saint Denis, San Denis last, um you know, last in the undercard, struggle through that one. Uh, Patty is always live because he's awkward and confident and hard to kill uh most of the time. Um Sand Denis is better, I think. Uh, this is the the issue for me. I unless Patty went up a level from his last fight and he learned a lot of lessons about like, you know, there's levels to this, and he had a tough outing last time, uh, to be fair to him, after he gave Michael Chandler the the what for, which would have been a maybe a better warm-up fight for our main event, but we'll come on to that later. Um I'd still gonna cheer for Patty. I'm still gonna want Patty to win, so I'm gonna let my money do the talking in that direction. And I think we might get some odds on it. I'll look up uh the odds while you tell me about this fight.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

This is a hard one for Santani because he won his last fight pretty convincingly, but the one before that, I mean, he got he got handled by um uh now shouldn't be felon from Louisiana, who I will not name because I do not condone that language they used. That was a funny video, though. All right, yeah. By the way, the way he threw out that word,

Royval Fight And Betting Philosophy

SPEAKER_00 41:55

smooth. Um, no, but I I will if Patty wins this fight, I think he puts himself right back in line for real contention. Um, and that's where I want to see him because I think he's become he went from being just uh a really strong wrestler to I'm he seemed multifaceted. He was in over his head, he's young. Um, so you're gonna go through your trials and tribulations. But if he can beat Benoit Saint, who gets that that kind of scary, you know, that I know he's I know he's canadian, but he has that build of like that block European, like that just you don't want to run into him. He's gonna hit really, really hard. So I love to see Patty win this. I will put money on Patty just because of how badly I want to see him come away with it.

SPEAKER_03 42:33

You're gonna get value on it, though, too. And I I think even if you look outside of like fan favoritism, it's pretty decent value on a guy that's like won a lot of fights. And I don't think I think that this is a drop in level from Patty's last fight. So I think it could it could go.

SPEAKER_00 42:45

It definitely is a dropping level. It's a hard step. Yeah, maybe it's a hard step, but you're so right. I think I think he's gonna he didn't seem like he was defeated by his loss, and he shouldn't have been. He fought hard, it was just a tough fight.

SPEAKER_03 42:56

He would and he looked tough in it, you know. He took a beating and he like got on with it.

SPEAKER_00 42:59

I mean, it's he won some rounds.

SPEAKER_03 43:02

A round. Uh okay. Connor McGregor is then fighting Max Holloway, apparently. Uh, allegedly. Allegedly. It's important to use those words when you're talking about Conor McGregor. Um his aura has significantly diminished, and I think that's the thing that he was, basically. You know, he he was like such a he had such a an aura about him. Even in the build-ups, this, like, can you really believe it's next week? Like, there's been no press conferences, there's been no fun, like, you know, back and forths, there's been no like any kind of lead up, like a signature sort of Connor McGregor fight. I think that era's over, and I think he's just like a sad old rapist now. That being said, like, if you're just gonna take it on the basis of a fight, Connor's a lot more comfortable at this weight than Max. And like, I think there's a world in which he wins this fight, to be honest. If it goes more than two rounds, obviously, like the old money, uh Yeah, on Connor is always this. If it goes more in two rounds, bet on the other guy. But first or second round,

Pimblett Versus Saint Denis Stakes

SPEAKER_03 44:05

Connor, I think it could happen, to be honest. I think he could you could really see him take chunks out of Max like early. Max fights with his fucking face, dude. So he really does. How hard can Connor still hit? I guess is the is the thing. And can he hit him? Is he still fast enough to hit Max Holloway? I don't know. And the ring rust a factor. You tell me.

SPEAKER_00 44:21

I'm you you hit every point, the ring rust five years, five years since we last saw him. Um ten years since he last won the belt for the first time. It's it's he's been out of the game for so long. He went through a spasm with drugs, he went through a spasm with partying too much. He thought he was gonna become president, he claimed uh uh a nationalistic right-wing stance for the Irish people, which is a he's a bigot and he's a piece of shit.

SPEAKER_03 44:46

And I think he's a piece of shit. I think the worst part about his his bigotry and his newfound um Christianity is I actually respect a real bigot more than someone who's trying to co-opt themselves into a existing grift that's been working because of a hard swing to fascism because the human race doesn't really know how to use the internet yet. So you know, you finding God and finding that brown people are bad at the same time, it just to co-opt yourself into this fucking just so obviously fake and and fragile movement that all predators seem to find themselves in is uh a really unfortunate uh twist in your tail, man. And it's a real sad ending, I have to tell you. Um, properly loathed by by my home country at this point, pretty universally. Um, it's hard to just talk about the fight when you talk about this guy because the shit that comes out of his mouth has been so about everything but fighting over the past five years.

SPEAKER_00 45:54

But about immigrants and poor people that need refuge from their war-torn land and like fuck off, dude. That is iron in a nutshell.

SPEAKER_03 46:02

Know your own history, know what your country hate immigrants is an Irish

McGregor Versus Holloway And The Aura

SPEAKER_03 46:05

person. That's the craziest shit I've ever done.

SPEAKER_00 46:06

Know what your cousin, what your your your grandfathers and your uncles went through? Like, are you kidding me? Shut up, dude. And you know what? You want to be Mr. Christian turning the page here, your sobriety or whatever. How about you answer questions about the rape you committed, scumbag? Why don't you why don't you get holy about that? Yeah, I call back.

SPEAKER_03 46:22

I think Jesus would be cool with immigrants. I gotta tell you.

SPEAKER_00 46:26

Yeah, something tells me about the Palestinian kid that walked all the way to Nazareth or knocked all the way, whatever the story is. I don't know, it's it's made up anyways. But you know, I he I think you hit the nail on the head uh again, Dave, where Connor has been walking around at 180 to 190 for three years now. Max is not, because Max has been active. Um, I think that there's a comfortability with going up in weight. I don't think this is the same as Whitaker. This is Max going to get Connor, which I love. But what do you think it is? Why isn't uh Dana, the the number one world pimp, uh putting his horse out there to dance for everybody? What is is it just that Connor's not gaining the traction online that he used to? Because normally we would have had press conferences, we would have had those weird exhibition, those weird training moments where he swings his elbows like a freak. Uh, we're not getting any of that here. So is Dana just not seeing value in the clicks?

SPEAKER_03 47:17

I think if I'm being honest, and this is purely speculative on my part. I think the model, the Paramount Plus model, and where Connor is in his career, I think that they genuinely are relying on the nostalgia pop to hit to do numbers on Paramount Plus, but it's not it's not the same level of investment. Like, is Connor getting back amp points? Like, I don't know, you know, like I don't know how I don't know what the deals is now at this point. So I it's strange to me. So who knows?

SPEAKER_00 47:51

He'd get the pay-per-view points, so he would go out there and sell.

SPEAKER_03 47:53

And now what is I and they won't tell us, which is so cool. Well, and it's also so strange, too, is like you made that Paramount Plus deal switching your your your model completely while a bunch of guys are still on active contracts that had stipulations about that model in their contract. So I'm just wondering, like, what you know something like that.

SPEAKER_00 48:12

Like even uh even Sugar Sean, he had two more fights on his contract for pay-per-view points, and well, okay.

SPEAKER_03 48:18

But not because that's over the White House card did fucking numbers, you know, and it's all sort of yeah, pleasing the Paramount.

SPEAKER_00 48:24

The international numbers were even were were insane. That like, but to what end? Who cares? It was free. I already paid for it.

SPEAKER_03 48:30

Yeah, I mean, it's but I let me ask you that question. Is is the fact that it's on Paramount Plus and you've already paid your $12.99 on the first, uh is that gonna take away from the the feeling, the spectacle of like watching Conor McGregor come out, among other things.

SPEAKER_00 48:45

You know what? That's a great question. And in his uh Zufa boxing interview, um Dana just said it. Somebody asked me UFC question. He goes, No, I didn't see that. Honestly, my algorithm, there is no UFC in my algorithm. It's one of my staff has to tell me about stuff going on online. The man's moved on because it's not it's not the same animal anymore, and he looks bored. So I'm kind of bored of it. But the the the town of the fights has been great. It's just this does it.

SPEAKER_03 49:14

There's

The UFC Model And Streaming Spectacle

SPEAKER_03 49:15

some really good fights, but it doesn't feel the same as it used to.

SPEAKER_00 49:17

It doesn't feel the same. I'm not getting the same zing, the same pop.

SPEAKER_03 49:23

All right, we did it.

SPEAKER_00 49:25

Fucking Jalen Brown.

SPEAKER_03 49:28

Look, it was the most upbeat episode of Missing the Point that you've ever heard, ladies and gentlemen. They's them's those is these. Wherever you are in the world, I really do hope that you are not sad, quite happy, enjoying the 250th birthday of the massive colonial um power that is the United States, the current reigning empire. Yeah, celebrated his birthday with a cage fight on the White House lawn, and uh there is a hint of idiocracy about our current level of existence, but no more so than in the annals of the Auerbach Center and in Brad Stevens' office. So for myself or Matt Wilcox Esquire, uh for the ghost of Rick Patina, this has been a good thing.