“You’re the matchbook guy”

Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we'll go around the NFL with Jason Lock and Fora. James Carville will call in with his weekly football picks, and we will preview the next round of college football playoff games with Pat Forte. But first, commerce. Previously on the Tony Kornhizer Show. Okay, that's good. And for those of you who are interested in my attempt to frame some matchbooks over the course of time, I have an appointment today at 10 o'clock in the morning at Frambridge. Are we giving out the location? No, I'm not going to do that. There's a number of Frambridge's. I'm going to one. I'll hold release of the episode till 10th. The Tony Kornhizer Show is on now. If you wait for it, I'll tell you all about it. I got some other things to start with. First from Brett Hobbs of Linton, Indiana, who emails us a lot. My hometown of Linton, Indiana was hit by an F1 tornado on December 28th. Second tornado to hit our town this year. You have mentioned my town several times and emails I've sent. We're hurting right now. Please say a prayer for this small southern Indiana town, which of course we will do. From Dillon Garen in Reston, Virginia, I was driving home from my in-laws while listening to Monday's episode. Wanda, thank you for sharing your high school memories, especially the way you quoted the Beatles in my life. That song holds a very special place for me. On my wedding day, I danced with my mom to it. It's a memory I'll always treasure. Hearing them about the notes and letters you've received from childhood friends made me reflect on a message I recently received from my own best friend, someone I've known since I was six years old. We grew up in a tiny town in New Hampshire playing little league together and eventually made a run for high school state title as best friends. As life unfolded, I moved to Reston, Virginia over time through distance misunderstandings and growing up, we drifted apart. Last week, he reached out to me unexpectedly, writing about our best years, but also the lost years and ended up being the best Christmas present I could have ever received. Your episode captured that mix of nostalgia, gratitude, and quiet healing perfectly, reminding me how powerful those early connections can be even years later. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you for writing that to me. That's lovely. Two things, and these are catch-up things. One is about Sherman oil. Just so we understand each other about Sherman oil, I got another bill two days ago for like $500. And I'm angry because I had for many, many years subscribed to their budget situation where you lock in a certain rate for a gallon of propane, whatever that rate is, and you pay, you prepay. And then whatever you use, if you go over, you start paying at the regular rate, but you're locked in for the overwhelming majority of your winter needs. How often did you go over? Half the time, but not by much. A couple of hundreds, something like that. It just depends on the weather for the winter. This is a colder winter so far. I got a gas bill yesterday for $750. And that's not even, we haven't entered the cold months yet. That's really bad, yes. So if I'm getting it, other people are getting it too. Yes. They're getting it too. So anyway, so I'm very upset at the customer service of Sherman because I feel that my position is very clear. I feel that if I have subscribed to this for 15 to 20 years and I don't subscribe, good customer services, you call me. You have my number. You say, Hey, you didn't subscribe. You always subscribe. You just call me. That's good customer service. I didn't get anything like that. I've written notes, the last two bills I've paid, I've written notes expressing my disappointment at not being able to go back to that budgeted plan, that pre-pay plan, which happens around Labor Day, prepaid. I called yesterday and I asked to speak to the president of the company. And I didn't get the president company. I got the same person who I've talked to before who said to me, I've explained this to you. I've explained why we don't do it. There are lots of people who just don't sign up even though they've signed up for years. We don't, we just accept that. We don't go after it. And I said, well, you should. That's good customer service. And you haven't answered my notes. I want to speak to the president of the company. Who's the president of the company? He says, well, I'm the manager. And I said, yeah, but who's above you? How about the owner? Can I speak to the owner? Who's the owner? He says, Mr. Sherman. I said, I want to speak to Mr. Sherman. Now, there's no chance. It's Richard Sherman? I don't know. It could be Richard Sherman. Then we got to wait for him to be off the air. There's no chance it could be William Tecumseh Sherman also. There's no chance it's ever going to happen. There's no chance. I'm stuck on this level of this manager who just, I'm not saying that she does anything untoward. I'm saying we have a fundamental disagreement as to what good customer service is. I don't believe I've had good customer service. So I wanted to talk to the owner just to say, look, I can afford this. It's okay. That's not the point. I'm paying you what you're asking for, but I'm talking to you about good customer service. That's all I want to be able to do. Is that wrong, Michael? To be able to do that? We'll get this figured out by Labor Day 2026. Anyway, so I bring you up to date with that, but that's not the good stuff. The good stuff is Framebridge. Here's what happened. Before we get into this, I talked to you probably two to three times a day. Yesterday, I hid from my phone to avoid any spoilers. Hid. Okay. So did you find it okay? Okay. I found it. I was parking. Yeah, parking. Look, I'm going to tell the whole story. I'm going to tell the whole story. I got to the Framebridge area and I drove past it to make sure I knew where it was. There's no parking in Bethesda. The only parking in Bethesda are in these lots where you have to, is it a credit card? Is it a app? I don't know how to do it. Yeah, it's easy. A ParkMobile app. I don't have that. Then you have to enter in the space number. So I don't have that. I don't want to do that. So I went to the big parking lot by Strohn-Sneiders, which is about two blocks away. Oh, sure. And I parked in that lot. Two and a half blocks. Very windy, very cold. And I'm carrying my tin of matchbooks. And there was a sign in the parking lot that says parking only for Strohn-Sneiders. Parking only for this shopping center. It doesn't say Strohn-Sneiders exactly. Strohn-Sneiders is on the north end. This is where the boys get haircuts as well. So it says, and if you're not, if you're not using these stores, we're going to tow you away. Okay. I'm cognizant of this. Do I believe I'm going to be towed away? No. But this affects me to a point that I'll get to. I will get to. I walked to Frambridge. My appointment is for 10 o'clock. Frambridge is a considerably smaller store than I thought. Considerably smaller, tighter. There's one person inside when I get there at about 10 of 10. And she opens the door and I say, I have an appointment at 10. And she says, oh, you're the matchbook guy. And I say, yes, I'm the Matt. That's what people call me. I'm the matchbook guy. We called you that for years. Okay. So I go inside. Like a match. I go inside, I dump all the matches out and begin to not so much arrange them, but turn them over so that that which I want to be displayed will be displayed. I say, you know, you can take the matches out. She says, no, it's better when we don't take the matches out yet because your house burns down at that point. It's much better. And, you know, we kind of sort of arrange them, but we don't really kind of sort of arrange them. We just, we just put them out there. And I keep, you know, I knew I had one from 21. 21 is a great restaurant in New York. I don't even know if it's still there, but it was, I think 21 East 44th Street. It was just called 21. And I knew it just said 21 on the front. And I would know what that was and I couldn't find it and I had to flip over one. So I'm flipping over three or four or five or 10. And then she is saying to me, this is, we can fit them here and we can do this and we can do that. And it's fine. But as we arrange them, I'm cognizant of the fact that we're not arranging them by color. You know, like it's not as beautiful as I want it to be. It's not as varied as I want it to be. And she's taking pictures of it because this is the way it's going to be. I go, I say to myself in my own mind, okay, it's all right. She gives me a price for how much this will cost with a black frame. She says, either get a black frame or a white frame. I said, black frame is fine. It's fine. She gives me a price which is considerably lower than I would have thought. Considerably lower. I mean, they talk about and Frambridge is owned by Don Graham's company. I worked for Don Graham for many, many years. Graham Holdings is part of that. And I was so, because I've done framing before with people who are artists. It's much more expensive where I used to go. So I thought to myself, you know what, you know what, if it doesn't work out the way exactly the way I want, I'll open it up. I'll rearrange it all myself and I'll give it back to them and they can do it again. Yeah. Because it was, do you know what I mean, Michael? Yeah, they're going to want to make you happy. Yeah. And we'll do it again and I'll pay them again. It's okay because it came in under, you know, it's not like these other things that I'm telling you about, like a grapefruit is $2.79. It's not like they're like, oh, really? But there's a big generational divide where my generation does not do custom framing and a lot of it is because of the sticker shock. And so there are these options where if you go to places like, you know, Target or even to Michaels, you can get something that's close to custom framing for a fraction of the cost. It doesn't last as long. It doesn't have the same beautiful matting, but it works. Well, and I'm not going to say, yeah, and in my case, I'm not lasting that long either. So it's okay if it doesn't last that long. But I will, what I will do is I'll just say, if it's not exactly what I want, I'll say, let's open it up. Let's stand here together. Let's move some stuff around and you can charge me again. It's okay. But it sounds like there's worries that you have about the order of the math books and where's the color palette that's on. Yes, all of that. Yes. And other people would just look at it and go, oh, that's pretty cool. But I would, you have a specific vision for it. You know, I didn't, but I didn't, I couldn't say to her, let's go over this for the next hour and a half. She has other customers. I can't do that yesterday. So I let it be arranged the way it was arranged, thinking to myself, okay, this wasn't as much money as I thought, I'll do it again. Okay. Now I leave the frame bridge and I walk down, again, there's no parking in Bethesda. There's a million stores and there's no, I don't know how any stores stay in business because there's no parking, except in these lots that I, of course, as everyone knows, I don't understand a lot. So I walk back to where my car is at Strohn-Sneiders and I think, you know what? I have a moral obligation to shop in the shopping center now, to buy something in the shopping center. Right, Michael, you'd be happy that I did that, right? Yes. Yes. I had a moral obligation. We like to support those local businesses. And also because I felt I was cheating on the parking. Yeah. Yeah. It's a stand-up thing to do. Right. Sure. So I went in. There's also a bakery there that you love. This is what I'm getting to. You're way ahead of me, Michael. This is why you went to an Ivy League college. You're so far ahead of me. I'm a state school kid. Yeah. You went to Notre Dame. I'm from Texas. You guys just have guac with pancakes. All right. I'm going on and on. So I go to the bakery. Is it called Breds Unlimited? Is that the name of it? I don't know. It's a bread store. It's right next to Edith's Pizza, which is very good. It's a bread store. Yeah. I think unlimited breads. Yeah, I think so. Bread store. And I look in the counter and I don't want to get a bread. So I'm going to get like a cookie. I'm going to get like a... I see one of these cinnamon swirl raisin things that I really like. Oh, the boys' brothers. It really can be delicious for the kids, too. I really like those. Yeah. Breads unlimited. Yes. I say to the woman, I'd like a raisin bun. And she says, well, there's no raisins in that. It's just cinnamon. And I go, oh, because I like the raisins. Yeah, that's part of the deal. She says, we have a raisin scone. And I said, oh, and she... A scone guy. Well, I didn't say that, but that's the end of the story. So she gives me a raisin scone and I can see two or three raisins on the outside. And the scone is substantially smaller than this big cinnamon bun that I wanted. If it only had raisins, I would have had... I would have bought two of them. And I say, I'm going to buy the scone thing. And the scone, you want to talk about sticker shock. Like I was... $40. No, it wasn't $40. But it's just... You can test to pay there. It's a small piece of dough with a couple of raisins. It was $395. I mean, I just thought, wow, that's a lot. Now, here was my plan. My plan was I was going to buy this thing. I was going to go to Columbia. I was going to take a shower at Columbia because that is my nesting procedure. And then I was going to go upstairs and have a cup of coffee and eat this raisin bun, which is now a raisin scone. Are you not allowed to do that? I'm sure they would care. No, I don't think... I was the only one in there. So with great anticipation, I went, I took shower. I got a cup of coffee and I sit down and I open up the scone thing. I didn't like it because, as Michael said, you're not a scone guy. No, I didn't like it. It was a big ball of dough. I didn't like it. It had no taste. So I went around sort of like a mouse, eating just the raisins, opening it up, getting crumbs all over the place, making the crumbs, putting the crumbs into the paper bag that I had being very neat, very tidy, eating the raisins, about eight raisins, 395. Eight raisins. I could have bought a box of raisins. Absolutely. So I'm not... Are you a scone person? Yes. Well, I think culturally, I have to be. Yes. Michael, do you like scones? Sure. Do you like scones? A scone, I think has to be enjoyed with something else. So you're... Coffee. Yeah. You're in the right place to have it with your coffee. I was worried you're going to try their black and white cookie because it's not the black and white cookie that you would remember from New York. Oh, okay. So I didn't try that. It's more cakey. The scone is very cakey. I didn't... But without sweetness, it's just dough. I didn't like it. I'm never getting it again. Yeah. I learned the lesson. I was going to say, this is not like an experiment. You're like, oh, I'll just try a bunch of different kinds. No. No. That was it. No. Now, for the scones... For the future, just down the street there in that same malls, Bradley Food and Beverage, they have a really nice deli counter. They always have good sandwiches. You can get something prepared to take home and they have good... Well, this was only... This was like 10.30 in the morning. And I had this great plan and the only thing that didn't work was the scone. So I was sort of hoping... Again, I was hoping that that would be the raisin bun that I was used to, but it was not. Well, the next time when you have to go back to Frambridge, now you have a better plan with breads unlimited. Yeah. But I could go to the deli. I mean, I felt the moral obligation to adhere to the sign in the parking lot and to buy something, to shop, to buy something. Well, I didn't want to go to Strohn Snyder's and buy a Weber grill. That seemed a little bit rich for me, but bread, the staff of life. Yes. But it didn't work out. I'm just amazed that you found this parking lot to be easier because this is the most stressful lot. You're there early, but if you go there later in the day, you get... It's forced one way up and down. It's impossible to navigate. And a couple of different entrance points into it. Yeah. I got there early. I did everything I was supposed to do. Now, maybe the thing will look good, but I don't think it's going to look optimally good. Because I didn't spend the time arranging it. Yeah. Because it is a tiny little store. Other people, like you just can't monopolize everything like that. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Jason Lock and Foro, when we return, I'm Tony Kornhiser. You're listening to the Tony Kornhiser show. Michael Grandbury sends us in. The first time I heard the stunning voice of Mari Campbell, my wife and I were sitting in a theater watching the 2008 film version of the HBO series Sex and the City. And there it was, Mari's undeniable voice singing a rapturous version of old Lang Zion during New Year's Eve scene. I'm thrilled that she's given permission for you to use her more recent arrangement of old Lang Zion that she has graciously sent along, which is roughly means for old times sake. It's based on a poem written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in the late 1700s and was arranged with the help of Mari's ace musical partner, Dave Francis. I should tell you that this point, Mari has been a trailblazing Scottish musician for three decades. It's an inductee in the Scottish traditional musical of fame. And this is called I Want to Build a Band. It sounds like Jimmy Shand, which is based on the Scottish dance band on the Isle of Lismore that Mari found it three years ago. Everything Michael Grandbury sends is great. Yes. I hope he saw that we put his book out. He did. I forgot to mention he sent a note. Very, very grateful for that. Yes. Happy for that. It plays in Jason Lock and Fora. Let me start with something that is, as the phrase goes, a bee in my bonnet. I would fire the Atlanta general manager, the Falcons general manager. I'd fire him. I'd fire him because now Kirk Cousins, who the team paid, I don't know, 180 million dollars to, finally gets a chance to play and he's four and two. And this general manager is the guy who upset Kirk Cousins by drafting Michael Penix, who may or may not be good, but at the moment, isn't as good, isn't as good as Kirk Cousins. I'd fire the GM. What chance is that? What chance is that? Oh, I mean, there's certainly a chance. Yeah, there's a lot. There's sort of an attack about how the Falcons continue to find themselves in these situations where there's some evidence to say it may be better than a record, but the record's just never very good. And there's long, long stretches in these seasons where in game management, close and late situations, the sort of falconing of it all, the way they specialize in losing games, you don't think that they should lose. That a lot of people in the league think they shouldn't lose. It just sort of keeps happening. Yeah, if you look at Kirk Cousins now from the time he got there until he got hurt, and then you take out the games he played, and again, this is obviously cherry picking, but you take out the games he played while he's recovering from Achilles last year, right? And then you pick back up this year. You've got a stretch where he's won 10 or 15 games. He's grown for almost 4,000 yards. He throws more picks than you'd like. He doesn't necessarily shine in the postseason. He's not a guy who had often been great at home in prime time, and I would posit he wasn't even great at home in prime time the other night, but they won the game. He certainly didn't cost them the game, and that was a legitimate Super Bowl contender. They were playing against him. He has looked better in the seasons called on. No doubt about it. I watched him play the first game this year and thought, I don't know if this guy's got an NFL future. I reached out to some people who worked for teams that are probably going to be looking at the quarterbacks, and I'm like, they're looking at the Cousins'self, and they're like, ooh. And then even the second game, it was pretty rough, but hey, you know, he's called him back from a long absence, whatever. They have function better as an offense with consistency with him than they have with Pettix. There's no two ways about it. You ruined the team. He ruined it. He should be fired. That's what I think. I mean, it seems clear to me. I don't even know how good they'd be with Cousins, to be honest with you. Like, I mean, because they've had head coaching issues, they've had coordinator issues. The hiring of Zach Robinson as office coordinator was terrible. But yeah, I mean, there's a strong case to be made that the Atlanta Falcons should be rebooting, you know, entirely. Yes. Oh, that's what I think. Oh, okay, let's get to the big thing. The Ravens and Steelers, to your best guess, will Lamar Jackson play and should he? And should he? Or are they, I don't want to say better without him, but if he's hurt, are they better off if the other guy plays? If he's healthy enough to protect himself, but if the medical people don't think he's at, you know, an extreme risk here from a health standpoint, then he will play. And I believe barring some odd step back through the week, that that's where this is heading. And if he's remotely close to being able to play, then he has to play. And Huntley can do some things. He's improved as a game manager. I think he's learned his limitations. And this version of him, which is a version, by the way, they didn't want back in their building. Like he got here only because Cleveland caught him and Cooper Rush was terrible. And there was familiarity. So they took a flyer because they badly needed a third quarterback in case their second quarterback really wasn't a fit. And it turns out Cooper Rush really wasn't fit. So like, I think all that though, got Huntley to a point where he knows his arm is not that good. He knows his accuracy is not that good. He's going to play within himself. He's going to lean even more into his legs. And he's not going to try to make throws that for him are lower percentage throws. Now that's also going to really severely limit the scope of your offense. But if you have a 30 year old, 260 pound hammer of a running back, which just needs to be ageless, then that can work for you here or there. But you can't run Derek Henry 40 times every week. Like that's not sustainable. It's not really sustainable to play off. And you know, Tony, they averaged four area yards per attempt in that game. But it was awful. We have four area yards per tip. Their leader in target yak, which means yards beyond the sticks when you're targeted or a pass, you don't even have to catch it. You have to be targeted. Their leader in that entire football game in that category was Mark Andrews with 21 yards. Like that's, that's not, that's not going to work. So now if Lamar doesn't look great and he's playing this game and they get into some situations where you really want to run the quarterback and you're not sure about him there and you want to bring Snoop in for a next point player too. I mean, you've got to win the game and I wouldn't be sitting here saying, Oh no, my God, how dare you do that. But if Lamar is remotely ready to play this game, Lamar has to play this game. And I think you will. Let me get to the overarching question about these teams. Do you think both of these coaches will be back on, you know, will Harbaugh be back in Baltimore? Will Tomlin be back in Pittsburgh? I think those are great shirts that neither is back than both are back. I just, I mean, we're talking 20 years here for these two basically like, right? That's forever years in the NFL. And both have been dealing with sort of varying degrees of their fan base, their supporters, kind of really wanting something else. I think both have grown frustrated with the fact that the fingers always, they've been there so long, the fingers always on them, even if the issue truly in this instance might be personnel, or that instance might be personnel, or that instance might be ownership, or that instance might be, well, gee, are we ever going to sign somebody from anybody else's roster who makes real money? That's more in the case of the Ravens, because still it's a chance to spot that a little bit. Like, yeah, I think both to some degree are open to see what's behind door number two or door number three to be wooed, to have people come in and tell them you're the greatest thing ever. We've never had a coach nearly as good as you. Man, we trade this pick and that pick for you. We really want you or, you know, or it could be a college program as well. You just told some ten years that last this one, then the NFL for a multitude of reasons, and most of it is, yeah, the team doesn't want to get back after a while, or a team, man, a terrible hire, or whatever. But I think both, if they stay, Tony, you're talking about sweeping changes. Like, who's going to sit there and say Arthur Smith's done a great job running that offense, and boy, whoever the quarterback is next year, we want Arthur Smith back. No, I think everybody's going to be like, yeah, that was, that was a brutal watch. Like, what the hell? Defensively, Terrell Alst, the way they've been eviscerated at times, I don't think he can come back. And I don't think we're just talking coordinators. I think we're talking multiple position coaches, almost like a reboot. And then in Baltimore, there's no way Zach or you can bring him back. And I don't think you can bring back most of those defensive coaches. And then on offense, you know, I'm not sure Todd Munkin really wants to stay. Like, after some of the play calling debacles, like what's going on there? I just think when you're dealing with all that, you're answering all those questions and ownership is probing you like that. At some point, you're going to say, Hey, you know what? I could go make the same money somewhere else. And it won't cost you a damn thing. You won't have to pay me to leave. But I want to, I want to get a look. I know I just did this extension of that. And I know you have my right for another year. But do you really want me here? If I don't really want to be here? If I don't really feel like rebooting my coaching staff again. So I think there's major, no matter who wins this game, I still think there's a better chance both are gone. But both are back. Wow. Let me do one more question here. There's a fairness question. I was, I've been one of those guys who for the last six weeks has gone on the air and said that I think the Rams are going to get to the Super Bowl. I don't think that anymore. I don't think it now because not only do they lose games, but they're going to have to leave Southern California and go on the road to maybe Chicago, maybe Philadelphia. They're not going to win. Is that fair? Is it fair that the January weather can be so determining of who wins and who does not win? I think that's football, man. I mean, they played this schedule forever. They're only going to extend it deeper into the winter. Yes. Like I just think that, you know, look, as these owners are able to propagate some of the most diabolical grips and schemes and disgusting acts of bribery to get what they want for these stadiums that they really don't need. And more and more of them want them to be enclosed so that they can get more free money by hosting one Super Bowl, I don't know, every 30 years. Like that's why we should be giving them billions of dollars in subsidies so there could be a Super Bowl in our vicinity that a mined fraction for the populace can attend once every 30 years. Then that takes some of it away, right? Like Arrowhead in January and five years ain't going to be a thing anymore. It's going to be, you know, we're going to Kansas to play in the dome. So I mean, some of that may eradicate it a little bit from an odd standpoint, but no man, I think, um, now look, we could debate the fairness of, if you're in a division like the NFC West, where there's three teams worthy of a one seed, who could all win a Super Bowl and the rest of the, you know, five of the other divisions don't have anybody who you think's going to win one. Like, is there a different way to wake the playoffs? Like should divisions matter this much? I mean, when the NFC South is such a joke that Atlanta could still affect who gets in and Atlanta has been eliminated from the playoffs for three weeks. Like, does that make sense? Like probably not. You know, I don't know if they're ever changing that because it's another free subsidy. Hey, you don't have to be that good and you might get a free home game, you know, an extra free home game, or you could charge even more because it's the playoffs and we like subsidizing, you know, but, you know, borderline, pedestrian teams, like they love that stuff. That's why more teams get into the playoffs. Not because there's more teams that are worthy. It's more watered down than ever. It's just more money for them. So I think the fairness question is why does the playoff process work the way it does? But in terms of who's indoors, who's outdoors, home field advantage, you get a home game. It should work to your advantage. Yeah, you gotta live with it. I mean, the Rams are gonna have to live with it. They had the chance to not be in a situation that didn't happen. I plug one of that for us. Hey, you can check us out. Me and my buddy, Bob Wapen Hall, breaking down gambling markets, trying to stay ahead of the curve, giving you guys the best gambling advice, best picks we can, and plus money here. We're not doing, you know, U-Lay free to get one. We don't play those games. On one of that, you can go to one of that with us.com and get access to our videos on Twitter, on YouTube, our live shows, our podcast and all their formats. You can watch us daily on my Twitter feed at Jason Lockett or on our YouTube page. And we're, you know, we're live around noon most days, sometimes 10, sometimes 11, depending on our schedule. And our only real goal in this is to obviously make some money on these bets ourselves and to get you guys paid too. So, whatabetwithus.com. Thank you to all the little, who's mostly male and support us. We greatly appreciate it. All right, we'll talk to you next week. Happy New Year, guys. Happy New Year. Bye. Jason Lockett for boys and girls. We will come back with what? Carvel. James Carvel and Pat Forte. Yes. We think. Yes, because Jeff Ma is off. No, Jeff's in Hawaii. Yes. Jeff's in Hawaii. All right, I'm Tony Kornhizer. You're listening to the Tony Kornhizer show. Should all the acquaintance be for God? I never brought the mind. Should all the acquaintance be for God? For all the land sign module. For all land sign. We'll talk a cup of plain as yet. For all land sign. Mari Campbell sings better than I do. Wow. Sings better than you do. Unless you're Mari Campbell. And she sings the same as you do. It plays in James Carvel this week's picks with James Carvel, brought to you by Fandals Sportsbook. Make every moment more. James, you were two and two last week. You won one of the overs. You lost one of the overs, but you won on the Saints. I was proud of you for that. Yeah. 45, 47 and two. You're right there. You're right there at Mount 500. What do you got for us? We're coming. We're coming. The summit is in sight. Okay, good. I would take, I will plus five and a half be Vandy. To beat Vandy. Vandy had a good year. I had a pretty sneaky year. Again, five and a half points is nothing. You know, what do y'all say? That ain't chop live. That's right. Arizona State plus three and a half against Duke. Take Arizona State. Duke coming out of a big win against Virginia, right? You're going to take Arizona State. Okay. All right. What else? If they went by field goal, you win your money. That's right. That's right. Miami University of Miami, the cause of Miami. Yes. They're getting 10. 10 at Ohio State. Yeah. Take Miami. You take Miami. Even though Miami, you watched that game. That was such a painful, terrible game. Miami A&M. That was terrible. That was really painful. And what stunned me was the big 10 championship game. Oh, Indiana. Indiana shut them down. Yes, they did. Yes, they did. They did. So I'm going to take Indiana and later seven. Yeah. Take it in the seventh. I said later seven. It took me forever to bleed, but I guess I'll come around and to bleed. Have you ever? Have you ever? Yes. Yes. But have you ever imagined in your life other than with an LSU game, other than with an LSU game, you, um, not taking my Alabama when they're getting seven? Have you ever imagined that? No, I have not imagined that. But I, and I never imagined that Indiana would probably be the best team in college football. I mean, because somebody beats them, they are. I guess there's a lot of unimaginable things, but maybe minus seven against Cincinnati. And then maybe pretty good. They are pretty. So it's army. Yeah. Army and navy are both good. That was a good game. Yes. Army, Navy are both good. What else you got? You got one more. Right. I got the New England and Miami take the over first half, six and a half points New England. So in the first half alone, you believe that New England will be ahead of Miami by at least six and a half points. Is that no, no, it's that they go score more than six, six and a half. Oh, oh, the score more. Oh, just to score more. Okay. Oh yeah. Just to score more than six and a half. Oh, first half over. My mistake. Oh, wow. Then all I have to do is make one touchdown. Yeah. Wow. Okay. I will. I'm with that. All right. Have a happy new year and good luck on these games. We'll talk to you next week. That's absolutely one. Probably one of two over 500. Let's hope so. Oh, sure. Let's hope so. So let me explain how this works. But by saying this week's picks with James Carvalho have been brought to you by Fandall sportsbook. Make every moment more. Now normally we would have Jeff Ma, that's correct in this position, but Jeff Ma is in Hawaii. And when you can't wake him up at one in the morning or two in the morning, do you remember? And this is why Jeff last week, last week, Jeff picked the, picked four college games and Buffalo, Philadelphia lost on Buffalo, Philadelphia. He took Buffalo minus one and Philadelphia one by one. Yeah. So yeah. So he's oh and one on that week with all these still to play. Do you remember who did talk to us from Hawaii? Remember we called Brian Windhorst and he talked to us and he's like, Oh yeah, I'm scaling one of the mountains. That's why he's so I'll be up in two in the morning. Feel free to call me. That's right. Yeah. So that's completely insane. Yes. Okay. So I read all the things in his path. I believe Pat 40 is with us now. Pat, are you with us? Yeah, I'm here. Wonderful. Fantastic. We're lousy with Pat. We always ask him to be armed because he's better than everybody else. And Pat actually goes on and I wouldn't and you know, when he does. So that's very nice. So let's start with this. Let me just start with your thoughts on Michigan hiring the guy from Utah. And what do you think of that? Because I think I think they're doing that to reset the reputation of the school more than to win games. I would not be surprised if after three years, he's gone and Michigan goes and gets another coach. But I wonder how you view it and were you surprised by it? Yeah, no, I view it the same way. I mean, I think this was a as much a reputational hire as a competitive hire. But it can be a good competitive hire too. I think, I mean, he's a good coach. There's no doubt about it. But Kyle Whittingham has won a lot of games at a place where it's just not automatic. But you know, do you just, does he hit the ground, you know, and say, all right, we're just going to do five years, 10 years of, you know, ramping up from no, that's not what this is about. This is, we are an embarrassment and we need to get somebody in here who's an adult and is going to run the program in a respectable manner and get us back to being the Michigan that we portend ourselves to be, you know, the school that wants it all, that wants to be a high class, high competition program. I agree with that 100%. My fear would be this, because I watched this happen. I watched this happen. Virginia hired, remember when they hired Bronco Mendenhall out of BYU? Sure. And he, you know, his entire life had been spent in a different area than Virginia at a different kind of school than Virginia. And it was okay, but it didn't really work. And Utah is Utah and it ain't Michigan, and it ain't the big 10. You know, that's why I, I mean, God bless him if he's great. But I, I just think that I think that's a tough, a tough ask. No doubt. I mean, you're right. It is, these are very different programs. Yeah. And this is a guy who has spent his entire life in the Rocky Mountains and in that area and coaching in Utah. And Michigan is Michigan and it's, it's, it's its own place. It is provincial to a degree. They do things their way. They want to do things their way. And this is a guy who's done things his way for 40 years, basically. So it's not necessarily, you know, plug and play. I don't think. Yeah. That's how I feel. Again. Yeah. Good. I think, I think they need to do it because they hired someone who turned out to be a pervert after hiring someone who paid no attention to any rules, any rules. So, right? I mean, that program has been running on chaos basically for five years. They've won, at least under Harbaugh, but, but it's the exact, yeah, put, put an adult in charge. All right. Let's go to the games because we've waited years and years and years, it seems, for all of these games that we'll start tonight and extend into tomorrow. We'll start with Miami, Ohio State. Your, your thoughts, who you like? Um, I like Ohio State. I, you know, I think that they've lost one game by three points to a really good undefeated team. Uh, they had not trailed in the second half all season until that game against Indiana. So they, I mean, they are a proven commodity in my opinion. Uh, Miami's had a good season, but I think what we saw against, uh, Texas A&M was a team that is struggling offensively um, you know, they, they, Carson Beck is getting paid like $4 million to hand off at this point. So, you know, can they throw the ball downfield? Can they make big plays offensively against the best defense in the country? I don't think so. Uh, there, I mean, Miami's very good, very good defensively too, especially defensive front. So I think it's probably going to be lower scoring, but I, I, I think Ohio State's clearly a better team. Let's go to Alabama, Indiana, and if we had had this game on the board anytime in the last 75 years, 100% of the people would pick Alabama, not 99.5, no, 100% of the people would pick Indiana, would pick Alabama. And now what does it take for us to believe? And isn't that the essential existential question here? What does it take for us to believe in Indiana? Um, they're 13 and no one ranked number one, and they have beaten Ohio State and they've beaten Oregon and they've beaten Iowa and they've destroyed Illinois. I think they're the best team in the country. So that's, I, I believe in them fully. It is truly a laundry equation to your point. Yes, it is incredibly hard for those of us who have been watching college football for 50 years to say, yeah, Indiana's better than Alabama, but they are, they are. And so that's what we've got to wrap our arms around and say, that's the way this is. Now, is there a chance Indiana wakes up and says, oh my God, we're 13, no, we're number one with the Rose Bowl. What are we doing? Yeah, probably, but Kurt Signetti, I'm a total believer. I mean, he's run the program like Nick Saban-Lite and I, you know, I'm, I'm here, I'm in Los Angeles for the game. We got to interview them yesterday and I thought they passed the look test and the look test is, are you freaking out or not? And they are not freaking out. I think they're like, yeah, you know what, we're here to win. Okay. All right. Oregon, Texas Tech, Tech, if there's a team that's a higher seed that is doubted at all, it is Texas Tech. Who do you like in that one? Yeah, the great game. I think I'm really close and that's why the spread I think reflects it's like two and a half points. Two and a half. Two and a half. Yeah. Texas Tech has a like high level SEC caliber defense in terms of, you know, they've just got animals up front and they rush the passer and they disrupt and they get after you. And so it's up to Oregon to handle that. I think Oregon's good enough to handle it. But this is the closest game I think on paper and probably in reality, because I think they're very evenly matched. I think Oregon's a little better offensively, a little more reliable. Texas Tech struggles in the red zone. They don't finish drives, they're quarterback inconsistent, but they're a good team. I just think Oregon's a little more talented. So you would take Oregon in this one? Yeah. Okay. Ole Miss, Georgia, they played once before. You never ever want to play a second time. You never ever want to play a third time. Dean Smith made a living out of saying no, no, no. And then it's, and the example of course is Georgetown Villanova. You just don't want to do it. I don't know about twice. Who do you like in that one? Yeah, I think it's a really good game. I mean, even in that one, which was in the Athens, Ole Miss led by nine points in the second half. I'm sorry, in the fourth quarter. And then Georgia just played a phenomenal fourth quarter and rolled them from there. But still, I mean, I think Mississippi matches up well with them. They're a good offensive team. I don't know, especially the way Georgia's playing right now, the way Georgia just dominated Alabama. They kind of got that look like Georgia had in 2021, 2022, when they were the best team in the country. So I think Georgia wins, but I think it's a good competitive game throughout. Let me shift gears, because I keep reading stories. I'm sure you're familiar with this, of college players wanting, I don't know, six, seven, eight years of eligibility. And why not? Because they make more money than they're going to, many of them are not going to go to the pros. And they are pros now, and they want to do this. And then I saw that Charlie Baker came out with something, that was more about basketball, that if you are pro on any level, you cannot, if you signed with the NBA, you can't go back and play NCAA basketball. I don't know if the football eligibility and the basketball eligibility are comparable, but what are your thoughts on where we are headed? My thought is, you know what, that eventually the candy store closes, like it has a closing hour at like six PM or whatever, and you have to go do something else. You cannot just a dirty candy. And I think it's time for people to move on and stop eating college candy and get a job, frankly. It's now, it is a job, but you know, this has become kind of this Peter Pan syndrome of, I can stay in college forever. And that's not what it's supposed to be. It's not what it's ever been. You're not even going to class. None of them go to class. No, I mean, frankly, like, so look, I interviewed Diego Pavie, the Vanderbilt quarterback, who did successfully get next for year of eligibility back in September. And I asked him, like, you know, what's the vibe like on campus when you're walking around? I mean, you're the guy that came from New Mexico State here at this, you know, this unbelievable academic institution. And are you, you know, people just mobbing us? I don't go to campus. It's like, oh, great. They said, he's a paid pro. Yeah, the paid pro probably is at least enrolled in online classes. Doesn't mean he goes, doesn't mean he pays attention. So we've completely lost the plot to a degree with some of this stuff. It is, it has become like minor league, highly paid, highly watched minor league sports. And the notion that in basketball that you could be, you know, sign an NBA contract and say, man, it's not really working out. So I'll go back to college. I mean, how does that work? How can you even think that? How's Scott Drew, how do you even think that, right? Yeah, no, but that's the situation that college sports has gotten itself in from a legal standpoint. And so as they are flailing to get antitrust exemption or keep antitrust exemption, that, you know, they find themselves saying, yeah, okay, you know, we'll find a way to say that this is okay, but it is a complete warping of what college sports has been and is supposed to be, which is played by 18 to 22 year olds, basically while you're working your way into a professional future. And now, again, it's like never, never land with, I'm just going to stay here as long as I can. Yeah. And it's not like they're going to med school afterwards, like somebody we know. Because they don't go to class. They don't go. Are we going to, we go to 16 by next year? 16 teams, you think? Yeah, I think, I mean, you know, there's still some, some pushing and shoving on that front, but I would bet we get 16 next year. The question I would assume is going to be 16 with five automatic bids and 11 at large bids, but you never know. Tony Petiti, who does not seem to actually like college sports, the commission of the big 10, he convinced that this is something to do. Yeah. Well, we'll see. All right. Pluggy podcast for us. Others receiving votes, si.com with Jim Mojowsky and Brian Fisher. We got a new one up yesterday. So please check it out. Okay. Thank you, Pat. As always. Hey, Talina, but I do it. I do it. All right. Pat 40 boys and girls. We'll come back with email and jingle. I'm Tony Kornhizer. This is the Tony Kornhizer show. Mr. Tony's mail bag. Gonna reach out for all our folks. Have mercy. Don't I wish I could do that like Bruce Gleason? Don't I wish I could do that? Oh, good. It's just so good. Won't do the Bethesda bagels at please? Yes, Bethesda bagels. We love them. You will as well. Just go to Bethesda bagels.com for the location in the DC area near you, then pop one in and you'll be thrilled. And I give a shout out for our good friend Adam Farrar, who's in the area, the DMV. Gonna meet McGoobie's two shows one night this Saturday. So head on by. He's funny. He's very funny. You'll enjoy yourself. You will enjoy yourself. Yeah, you really will. Before we get to the mail bag on the last day of 2225, let me just say we were born before the wind, also younger than the sun there. The bonnie boat was won as we sailed into the mystic. Hark now hear the sailors cry. Smell the sea, feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic. That's the greatest Van Morrison song there is. Just the greatest. Thanks to our guests today. Jason Larkin for James Carville, Pat Forty. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple Podcast, Spotify and Odyssey. If you get to show through Apple, please leave us a review from Ken Letzler. You tell us your accountant says the IRS will no longer accept checks for estimated taxes. Sounds fishy to me. I just sent the IRS a check from my fourth quarter estimate and they cashed it. Second, if you go to the website, I'm not going to the website, www.irs.gov, payments by check or money. It says you can send a check. I thought your accountant was just making this up until I read further and found the problem. The IRS says they quote, can't accept single check or money order amounts of $100 million or more. Thanks for flagging that for all the little's who have the same problems. You don't have any problem like that. And I don't understand why this has happening. You sent your fourth quarter in, I was going to send it in around January 5th, January 6th, something like that. I don't know. John Taglioreni, in your rant on the IRS, you mentioned anyone can mail a check. While that's probably true of those over 30, I would argue teenagers have no idea. My 18-year-old had to mail thank you cards this summer and watching her try and address them and where to put stamps was one of the most painful experiences as a parent. And I taught her how to drive. Tell Dr. Peter, continue to eat it. From Mark Courier, Ellicott City, Maryland, I had no idea about the new rule in 2026 that the federal government will not accept a good old-fashioned check for your tax payment. Thank you for information for life. Do you think Reginald could go over the new salt laws and senior bonus deductions for 2026? From Chris in Apex, North Carolina, last week you mentioned how U.S. mail has become unreliable. Will the Danes have a solution to that? End the postal service. That's right. After 400 years of delivering mail, the Danish Postal Service will deliver its last piece of mail on December 30th. That's yesterday, 2025, to focus on the e-commerce and package delivery. A private company will still deliver some mail. So how will bills get paid, you ask? An app on your phone. That's right. All business with the government utilities will be handled through an app. We are doomed. Yes, we are doomed. This is a terrible idea. Alan Orlan in Oakland, California, the so the cool birthday numerology is a thing this week. Finally, beat this. My wife has three children, all born on the 22nd of the month, June 22nd, September 22nd, and December 22nd. When our youngest was due and my wife called me on the afternoon of September 21st saying she's going to the hospital with contractions, I screamed at her, don't let them birth that baby until after midnight. And the capper my wife's birthday, February 22nd. Boom. That's good. Brian Huff, my oldest masculine child's birthday is 9-11-11 at 11-11am, six pounds, 11 ounces, could have been 5-11. Delivery room was stunned when it was announced. As you can imagine, he wears Jersey number five for baseball. Apparently, travel ball doesn't work like the NFL, and you can't just buy the Jersey numbers from other kids. At least our offer wasn't substantial enough. From Steve, from Ashburn, not Steve the sickle fan. While catching up on the podcast, flying back to the DMV from Denver, I caught a reference to a listener game referencing Offsrings' birthdays, and I thought at last an actual podcast game I can play. My masculine and only child was born in Washington, D.C., at Columbia Hospital for Women, on March 9th, 1993, making his birthday 3-9-9-3. With this count as a David Aldrich Moe, shit's very good. That is good. I hope so, as close as I have come so far. Keep chasing the golf ball. Sure hearing of your trials and travails on the links. From Tony in Melbourne, Australia, hope this finds you well. I can confirm with you that wind is not the greatest thing for a pleasant day on the course. I recently played Barnbogle, a links course in Northern Tasmania. I'm sure Michael can confirm one of the best public courses in Australia. Do you know it, Michael? Sure, yeah. Okay. I've been warned previously by several people that can be taxing if the wind is blowing. All I can do is confirm it. Five holes, ball blown off tee while addressing it. 13 holes, buggy blown over. Wow. That said, it was worth it. I'm going to be your way May 7th next year. I'll be playing a nine-hole course in Wrangle, Alaska. Let's hope early spring in Alaska is somewhat above freezing, if no chance. If not, can you send me a Tony Kornheiser branded hand warmer? I'll send you a check, because I'm sure it's the only kind of payment you will accept. If you're interested, give me a yell. I'll see if I can book you a spot. Isn't that nice? Is Alaska really coming by our way? Sort of when you're in Australia. Craig Simon, Silver Spring, happy new year. That's it. That's the wish. Thank you. Adam, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The discussion with Bob Ryan on athletes born on 1230 made me curious. That said, rather than waiting for you to find an astrologist, I chose to reach out to your favorite A.I. platform. Why 1230 screams a lead athlete in astrology terms? Number one, sun in Capricorn. Discipline as a superpower. It's a cardinal earth sign. It wants to win, but in a long game way. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, the coach, the clock, the standard. Saturn's symbolism is literally pressure, responsibility, standards, resilience, endurance. Three, Mars is exalted in Capricorn. This is one of the most athlete-coded placements in traditional astrology. Mars, drive, aggression, competitive fire does really well in Capricorn because it becomes strategic, efficient effort, relentless pacing. Feel free to share with Mr. Ryan. I also took the liberty of looking up what cancers are about. I'd mind it, sinus cancer. I'll skip to the shadow traits. Do any of these resonate with you? Moody, sensitive, feelings run deep, can withdraw when hurt. Guarded, slow to trust, protective shell, holds on to memories, grudges, or the past. Indirect when upset, can be passive aggressive instead of up front. Yeah, sure. And tell Michael Norwood to you. Bob in Burlington, North Carolina, just heard your conversation with Bob Ryan about the possible proliferation of statues outside sports stadiums, and I found myself shouting, what about Wrigley Field in Chicago? The lovable losers on the North side have been on a statue spree the last 10 plus years. I grew up in Chicago and while I see the possible logic of Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Sano, Fergie Jenkins, and Ryan Sandberg as part of their statue row, these cup grades seem somewhat diminished by the statue of Harry Carey near the bleachers. As far as I can tell, Mr. Carey's career statistics lean towards taking the number of beers he consumed every game before. It would slur his way to take me out to the ballgame while waving his microphone at the fans in a seventh inning stretch. Oh, you know, Harry Carey deserves a statue. Yeah, and Wilbon loves Harry Carey beyond anything. Yeah, he was a great fixture. Drew in Manhattan, Kansas. The other night, the woman tomb I'm related by marriage casually commented that her iPhone told her it was ready for an update, but first she needed to clear up some memory. I immediately jumped into action telling her not to do it. She found a loophole to keep Apple from taking over. I emphasized how much you hated the update, but after a chuckle and hint of an eye roll, she diligently went about the task of deleting old photos to make that update happen. The result is she hates it. Charlie Burt's Springfield, Virginia's Josh Allen was going for two on Sunday towards the bill's inevitable victory over Philly. He uncharacteristically threw a lousy pass to seal the Eagles win. When asked about it afterwards, all he could dejectedly say was, I just hate my stupid phone. Maybe the bears could move into Arrowhead. The Missouri fans are eagerly awaiting the invitation to join Wilbom's text chain. From Larry Johnson in Austin, Texas. You didn't know Sandy Kofax was born on December 30th. I knew how I was born on December 30th. Growing up, I paid attention to those who shared my birthday. It was Sandy and two of the monkeys. I gladly welcome Tiger and LeBron. Yeah, it was Michael Nesmith and David Jones, I believe. Jared Schofer, Exeter, New Hampshire. Sure, LeBron, James Tiger Woods, Sandy Kofax and Ben Johnson are great athletes, but how many times in total do they walk across America? None. Not a zilch, squadoosh is the answer, but I did. And yes, my birthday is also December 30th. Tell those other guys to eat it. Mark Lynch, Camby, Indiana. When Kofax, Tiger and LeBron called you on their birthday, did you talk sports? Did you also talk about insurance not covering your MRI? And Patrick Sitter, who's so great in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I have one living aunt or uncle, an aunt, a nun who lives in Omaha, Nebraska. I wonder if Peter Goldstein, Levitown Division Class 79 knows that. It's so funny. It's so funny. If you're on your bike, time everyone is always do wear white. What does this song mean? My whole life, I don't know what this song means. I mean, should all the acquaintance be forgotten? Does that mean that we should forget all the acquaintances? It doesn't mean that if we happen to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot them. That may know you. That may know you. Katie's on the keyboard. She loves a galex song. Knocking out the chords as the dancers hum along. She knows all the lyrics for the old fashioned waltz. So we all fall into line as Katie exalts. Shona calms her down with her lemon and ginger pie. She plays guitar with a mighty swing and a twinkle in her eye. But now I'm hearing mutiny, mutiny in the ranks. They've slipped into reggae for the Canadian barn dance. I want to build a band that sounds like Jimmy Shand. But why you say because he was the best in the land? His beat it got you swinging, dancing hand in hand. And for those who like to reprimand will have to sound like Jimmy Shand. Arthur plays the whistle, the music's gone in deep. Probably helped by shepherding and rounding up the sheep. He'd like to see us lift our eyes from the busy score and watch the smiling faces and the dancers on the floor. Noel tends to ask if we have to play so fast. Can't we drop the tempo, I respond flabbergasted. Jimmy plays a real at 112 BPM. Just play half the notes until we reach the end. I want to build a band that sounds like Jimmy Shand. But why you say because he was the best in the land? His beat it got you swinging, dancing hand in hand. And for those who like to reprimand will have to sound like Jimmy Shand. Our boxes are a requirement to sound like Jimmy Shand. And I'm happy to say we have a few to compliment the band. To fill the shoes of Jimmy, we truly are blessed. And plays the right hand, wheelie dunk and plays the left. Jorick is our drummer, the one who found the stone. He grew up in Devon, but now calls Lismore home. But wait, something's shifted. Jorick sent to Samba. See those hips are swaying, it's a dashing white labamba. I want to build a band that sounds like Jimmy Shand. But why you say because he was the best in the land? His beat it got you swinging, dancing hand in hand. And for those who like to reprimand will have to sound like Jimmy Shand. Should all the quaintens be for God? I never brought them mind. Should all the quaintens be for God? An old lang sign. For old lang sign, Maju. For old lang sign. We'll talk a cup of cleaness yet. For old lang sign. And surely you'll be oud painstoop. And surely I'll be mine. And we'll talk a cup of kindness yet. For old lang sign. For old lang sign, Maju. For old lang sign. We'll talk a cup of kindness yet. For old lang sign. We'll talk a cup of cleaness yet. And surely you'll be oud painstoop. And we've wandered mornig the weary fed. For old lang sign. We twigh piddled in the bend. Femorn and sundheld dine. But the seas between us bray it oud. So an old lang sign. For old lang sign, Maju. For old lang sign. We'll talk a cup of kindness yet. For old lang sign. And here's a hand, my trusty fear. An gie's a hand o thine. And we'll talk a dicht, get well-walled. For old lang sign. For old lang sign, Maju. For old lang sign. We'll talk a cup of kindness yet. For old lang sign.