Very Clinical: Very Football!

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[00:01:30] Welcome to the Very Clinical Podcast brought to you by Zerk Dental Products. In about the time it takes to do an MO on three, we will entertain and enlighten you with tips and tricks for regular daily dentistry. Here's Kevin and Zach. Welcome to the Very Football Podcast. This is Zach Miners coming to you from Kansas City, Missouri, home of the defending multi-time Super Bowl champion Chiefs.

[00:01:55] With me, as always, my trusty co-host, Dr. Kevin, Hare Fryer. Kevin, are you excited about the Browns for this weekend? No, I'm not excited for the Browns at all, but I am going to say go Bucs. Yeah. Go Buckeyes. That's right. That's right. Monday game. We brought in some people that do have games going this weekend also. Dr. Alan Mead. Greetings and salutations. Who are you representing, Alan?

[00:02:22] I'm hoisting a Faygo Red Pop for the Lions, baby. Let's go. Excellent. Excellent. And all the way from Illinois, we've got Dr. Jake Whipple. Jake, what's up? Hi, everybody. How's it going? It's been an exciting, exciting football season this year for me as a Lions and a Notre Dame fan. So looking forward to talking things over with you guys and the game's coming up. New old representation over there.

[00:02:51] He's got the Notre Dame hat, but the Lions hoodie, I feel like he's solidly representing. Jake, what years did you attend Notre Dame? I attended Notre Dame from the fall of 97, graduated in 01. So I started there just after Lou Holtz left. So I got the first four years of Bob Davey. It was awesome. Okay. Excellent. Excellent. The beginning of Notre Dame wandering in the desert, and hopefully we're getting out of that.

[00:03:19] And how are you a Lions fan? And I know you're a Detroit Tigers fan too, but how are you? Where did you grow up, I guess? What's your backstory? I grew up in Northern Michigan. I grew up in a small town in Northern Michigan called Mesick. It's a town of less than 500 people. Mushroom capital of the world, baby. It is. It is. The Detroit Tigers won the World Series when I was five years old and got me hooked. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's been disappointing me ever since.

[00:03:49] Mm-hmm. And just kind of baseball was my first love, my first sport that I loved when I was a little kid. Got into football more around junior high. That was the Barry Sanders era for the Lions. It's okay. And so that kind of got me into that. And I've moved to Chicago going on 20 years ago, but I've stuck with my Detroit teams.

[00:04:12] And so now I get to be the obnoxious guy walking around the neighborhood in my Lions gear this year in the suburbs of Chicago. So we're talking football because both Allen and Jake's Lions are in action for the NFL divisional playoffs on Saturday night's game. I believe it's the 7 p.m. game. And my Chiefs are of the 3.30 game.

[00:04:35] And then the college national championship is on Monday night, and that is Notre Dame versus Kevin's Ohio State Bucs. Go Bucs! Kevin, what years did you attend the Ohio State University? From 1985 to 1989. Graduated from dental school in 1989. Did they have much success when you were there?

[00:05:02] So that was the Earl Bruce, John Cooper sort of transition. Now, mind you, I went to undergrad at Purdue, and my last year at Purdue, the Boilermakers beat Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame in the same season. I'm not sure they've ever done that since. Wow. It was the first time they ever did that. Whoa. They opened the Hoosier Dome beating Notre Dame, which was a huge upset.

[00:05:31] And also, the Boilermakers went to this one of the best football games I've ever seen in my life. It was against the Miami Hurricanes with Bernie Kosar. Oh, wow. I think both teams passed for like 600 yards. It was insane. No defense at all. It was awesome. But they did lose that game. I think we went to the Peach Bowl that year or something like that. But anyway, I was used to like going to the Purdue games and then going home at halftime because we were getting crushed.

[00:06:01] But my senior year at Purdue, it was fun. And then going to Ohio State, I mean, I grew up in Ohio, obviously, nominally an Ohio State fan. They're used to never losing. Yeah. And their first year, 1985, I think that was Earl Bruce or John Cooper. They lost two games or something like that. I'm like, what's the big deal? But it is a big deal. Okay.

[00:06:23] So because this is normally a dental podcast and we're completely talking about football today and we're going to lose a lot of our audience, we do have a dental bit. So I messaged our participants four pictures of prominent football players and or coaches of the respective teams. So let's and we're going to analyze their smile slash teeth. So the first up is Patrick Mahomes.

[00:06:51] Zach, since he's your guy, what do you think? For sure. He grinds the hell out of his mouth guards when he plays. You can just tell he's a he's a grinder. He's got short teeth. He's got a little bit of diastomal. I need some he's some composite veneers. I can tell. Are you able to blow up that picture a little bit? I that and I also I knew you were going to ask me in detail. So I decided to Google a different picture that showed his teeth a little bit closer. And yeah, he needs he needs four units of some resin veneers.

[00:07:21] It looks like he has him up in this line buttons on. Oh, I don't. I don't have that level of detail. Yeah. All right. That's possible. I mean, that is possible. But the teeth are short, though. He needs really short. Like he does need some veneers or he needs to like also the pretty prominent gums. I can see where he could maybe do a little laser cut back of the gums, expose some more teeth. That said, he could probably afford anything. Right. He could probably afford anything.

[00:07:48] My question is, do these athletes just not worry about that when they're planning on getting smashed in the face for years on end or not really? I don't know. I never I always wondered that. Do you need a nice smile when you're worth a billion dollars? I don't like, you know, who cares? If you can chew, you're good, right? I've had several Browns players as patients. Some of them care. I think I think it's not the billion dollar ones. The mid. I've never had a billion dollar one. No. Right. Well, do we have one? Well, yeah.

[00:08:16] But I'm just saying I think there's I don't know. I think there's a little bit of a difference there. I don't know. All right. Moving on. Let's move on to Jake. Jake. And we lost. No, he's back right now. And he's back. Switch over down. Go to me. Let's look at Jared Goff real quick. OK, let's look at it. What do you think? OK, he's had previous ortho. I bet a thousand dollars. He's got I'm seeing like I said, I'm seeing buckle corridors. I like where I like that his laterals are position. He's got really prominent upper canines.

[00:08:45] He looks a little narrow to me. I don't know. I feel like I feel like I feel like he looks all right, though. I think he looks pretty good considering he's a young guy, too. So he hasn't I don't think that there's been any restorative work on the upper anteriors. That's really all we can see in this picture. But I do believe I do agree with the buckle corridor. He needs some expansion. He has a thick neck. He probably has sleep apnea. Look at those eyes, too. Look at the bags under the eyes. Yeah. I mean, also, the CTE is going to get him after a while, too. So he has all the hallmarks.

[00:09:16] He's definitely going to need a sleep study and a sleep appliance. There's some sort of expansion down the line. What's interesting about it, though, is it doesn't seem to affect his play very much. I just I feel like he's doing OK, really. I would say that Jared's teeth are average, above average. Yeah. Yeah. And you can still play way above average as a quarterback with average. See what you did there. I agree. Yeah, I agree. So let's analyze Marcus Freeman, the head coach of Notre Dame. His smile. What do you think in there?

[00:09:46] I think he's got the best smile of the group, which obviously means Notre Dame is is despite what the Vegas may say. Notre Dame is obviously the favorite to win the championship. The championship of smiles, maybe not the football game. Way better than whatever those anterior PFMs are that Ryan Day. We're going to get to that. We're going to get to that. He looks like he's had some solid porcelain work. Mars Marcus does. And I think that bodes well for for Notre Dame on Monday. He's a young guy.

[00:10:16] I didn't realize how young he was. He's only 39 years old. He just he just turned 39 a couple days ago. You think that's six units of porcelain on those front teeth? That's what I was thinking. I was thinking minimum four. Yeah, I think he's got the canines too. Marcus wouldn't go go halfway. He goes all out. He's got all six there. I think I think we're looking. I think we're looking at an FP one. I think we're looking at an all on four.

[00:10:41] So 39 years old coach Notre Dame all on for the guys got what he's got what it takes. I'm telling you. I saved the worst for last. So let's you can let's look at Ryan Day's photo here. Eight and nine are just insanely ugly. I could tell that I've always like, obviously, as a dentist, you focus on people's smile on the sideline. Like what the heck is going on?

[00:11:09] So eight and nine look like they they do have some sort of PFM. Probably not. They're probably a zirconia, but they don't match anything at all. No, I bet they are. I bet you anything. He had some kind of an injury because he played probably for sure. Right. For sure. Yeah. You know, those have endo on them and you know, they've got some kind of a PFM. Yes. And they're probably they're probably a minimum of like 15 years old. Yeah. It's possible. Number 10 has a PFM to something doesn't look right.

[00:11:36] Nine really, really sick in this picture in particular, really don't match each other. That's one of the things that's like super noticeable. They've done it at separate times for sure. You can tell. Yeah. And they don't look right on TV either. Okay. It's they just don't. Oh, Ryan. Oh, Ryan. But as we're going to find out, you can have ugly teeth, but still win national championship. So I mean, that's how life goes. All right. So that's our bit for today.

[00:12:03] That satisfies our dental requirement for us to keep our podcast license. That's right. This is a dental podcast officially. Yes. All right. Onward. That was it. That was it for dental content. Okay. Okay. All right. We're going to tackle these games in the order they are going to be played. Yes. So I like how you said tackle too. I see what you did there. Indeed. Oh, very funny. It's football podcast.

[00:12:26] First up, I get to enjoy the Chiefs versus the Houston Texans in the divisional round. Can I say something? Please. The Texans upset my Cleveland Browns last year when we made the playoffs. So, you know, it could be sneaky. I think the Chiefs are way better than the Texans are, but I just had to throw that out there.

[00:12:52] The Browns did make the playoffs last year and came nowhere near the playoffs this year and were basically out of the running in week two. That's all I'll say. I'll leave it for the rest of you guys who actually have a say in this matter. I will be at the game. Oh, nice. Oh, I didn't know that. Very nice. That's awesome. You can look for me on TV. I'll be the one wearing the Chiefs gear. Oh, that guy. It should be easy to find you. Yeah. So, yeah. It should be easy to find. I will be there with Dad as usual.

[00:13:21] Interestingly enough, the first playoff game of the Mahomes Super Bowl era that we went to was Houston. So, it's kind of a... Missing Oilers? Warm Moon? Yeah. Hey, I love those Warm Moon run and shoot Oilers. Those were fun. Those guys were ahead of their time. Ahead of their time. I think the Chiefs' biggest risk in this game is that they have been idle for multiple weeks.

[00:13:48] And I am fearful that they're looking to the next game. That's a factor. That's the biggest concern. That's got to be a big playoff problem for a team that's heavily favored like that. It is. They're favored by over eight points. And they don't blow out teams. So, that's a... If I was going to wager money on the game, which I'm not. But if I were, I would take the points and use it. You wagered the money by getting the tickets. Because I have a feeling you paid a pretty good amount for those tickets.

[00:14:16] Because my understanding was the Lions playoff, like the cheapest ticket you could find was like $1,300 or something like that. It was insane. So, let me tell you that Dad and I's philosophy... It's going to be very cold here in Kansas City on Saturday. We will buy our tickets probably 10 or 11 a.m. on Saturday. Like, we don't have tickets. We're going to go. There'll be tickets and we'll get them that day. So, there'll be some scalping. Yeah. It's just going to be a ticket master thing. And the team is called the Chiefs, right? Yeah.

[00:14:46] Oh, I see what you did. I see what you did there. I remember having a team called the Indians. Yeah. For now. You wait. As soon as the Mahomes year is over, then I'm sure we'll be there. So, you're kind of telegraphing that... That Zach and his dad may be walking around Kansas City with wads of cash in their pocket. I don't know, man. Oh, no, no. That's not... That's not how it works anymore. Oh, really? Oh, I didn't know that. There are no tickets, Alan. Yeah. There are no physical tickets. I'm out of the loop, man. That's okay. That's okay.

[00:15:15] No, we're just going to be buying digitally on... We've done this multiple times before. Either by the day before or the day of. Oh, so you don't have to hang out in the parking lot as people are walking in trying to get an extra ticket. That used to be a thing. Yeah. I know. We've done that. Yeah. But in the last three to five years, that's all but been eliminated completely. Yeah. Because there are no... There are no... You'll be able to go on StubHub. StubHub or something like that. Pick up tickets and go. Yeah. Either... Yeah, exactly.

[00:15:44] Or one of those SeatGeek StubHub's. So you're saying if I wanted to drop a whole bunch of money, I could probably do the same thing at the Lions game. Yeah. You could do it for any game. If those tickets are $1,300 now, especially if you go solo, I bet you could get in for way less than half that. Yeah. Single ticket, for sure. I have a very warm living room with my own popcorn. So that's what's happening. Hey, there's nothing wrong with sitting on the couch and enjoying it. I definitely enjoy it.

[00:16:13] I don't go to any regular season games like that. It's happening. I get it. I totally get it. What's the general mood of the Kansas City fans for this game? I've got to be honest with you. It is entitlement. I think that... That's dangerous. They expect to be here, and they expect to win, and they expect to move on. And I don't think there's a whole lot of hype for this game, which is another reason why I think ticket prices are going to fall. I think people are going to be like, ah, we'll go to the next one. Oh, we got this. And they may. Yeah.

[00:16:43] We'll go to the next one. And so there's some scary levels of entitlement that like, well, they're going to win this game for sure. And that is my biggest fear. If we lose, it's because they overlooked them. You know? Yeah. I sincerely hope that doesn't happen. Okay. That's enough Chiefs chat for... We need a score prediction, though. We need a score prediction before we move on. Absolutely. No problem. 23-20 Chiefs. They'll win on a...

[00:17:12] They'll either kick a field goal in the last little bit, or they'll just kind of run out the clock or something like that. 23-20. They like to keep it close. This is what they always do. Yeah. Scary close all year long. Yeah. That's what they do. So 23-20 Chiefs. Low-scoring game. Going to be cold. Cold, cold, cold. Probably game time temperature of 20. 19, something like that. Very cold. Oof. Yep. So there it is. That's cold. Houston and the points. It would be what I would do if I was actually putting cash on.

[00:17:42] Hey, it's Kate, the dental assistant. And it's time to get very clinical in this episode's Very Clinical Corner. Are you ready, Dr. Mead? I'm ready. Dr. Mead, what's your favorite instrument? I'd have to say my mouth mirror. I can't really do my job without it. I've been using the same one for 15 years. I love a good Minnesota retractor. And it's not because I'm from Minnesota. But those things are kind of heavy. What made you finally switch to a new mirror? The ones I used to use were really dark. I needed something brighter to provide the best care for my patients. And what was your first thought when you used a new brighter one?

[00:18:12] Honestly, it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. Sure. Dark mirrors are the worst. They force you to neglect your ergonomics and make you crane your neck, leading to back issues long term. Have you ever heard of the dentist's hump? It's a real thing. Yeah. And how do you feel about those quote unquote ergonomic handles? I love them for the grip, but they're so heavy. I know. Every time I used them, I felt like I needed to go home and do wrist curls just to hold the mirror all day.

[00:18:41] Bad ergonomics can really shorten careers. Anything that we can do to make instruments lighter is worth it. So listeners, if you're still using those clunky, dark mirrors, do yourselves a favor and find something brighter and lighter. I'll save your eyes and your hands. That is great advice. Thanks, Dr. Mead. And listeners, check the show notes to learn how to upscale your workflows. All right. Let me tell you a little bit about the Lions here. So we're more confident now than we were last year.

[00:19:12] And I think, I think, I think, I don't know that we're more confident. They're not, I will say that it doesn't feel cocky, but I will tell you that the entire state is out of their minds about the Lions. Good. They were, they were, they were last year, but it's nothing compared to this year. Jake, do you agree? Have you heard the same thing from Lions fans? I mean, I have heard the same thing. You know, there's always the trepidation about the injuries, the injuries. Yeah. There's been so many of them. The bye week getting, getting that number one seed.

[00:19:41] Made a huge difference. Minnesota was so huge. How about Minnesota falling apart? They got trash. Yeah. They didn't, they didn't look right at all. Yes. Aaron, Aaron Glenn gave the, gave everybody the playbook as to how to beat Darnold and the Rams went and did it. Yeah. Yeah. I got to tell you that the Minnesota game, you know, the, the last game they played against the Lions, I was convinced Minnesota was going to roll over us because everyone, all everyone talked about was the injuries in how Minnesota was the healthiest team in the NFL. I'm like, Oh boy, we're in trouble.

[00:20:11] Minnesota had looked so good. I was shocked that they, they got trashed. They kicked their ass. They got their ass down. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't watching. Cause again, my, as I said to you guys, I have the superstition this year. I've not really watched any of the games. I keep track of the score, but I haven't watched them because I feel like they'll lose. I all bets are off for the playoffs though. Sorry. Lions fans. I'm watching, but, but yeah, I mean like it was a, it was an ass kicking for the Vikings. And then, and then I thought the Vikings, everyone was like, yeah, the Vikings has got this, you know, and they, they just didn't show up.

[00:20:40] So let's talk to your playoff position and they started a week early. Yeah. Let's, let's talk to your point. I didn't expect Washington, um, to, to come out of this. So, uh, have, has Detroit played Washington this year, Jake? I mean, what do you think about Washington? You know, did they play? I don't think they did. I don't think they did. You know, this, the, the central, you know, we all know the, remember the bears, uh, losing on the Hail Mary to Washington. So the central division did play them. I don't think they played them.

[00:21:08] I, I, you know, if they did, it was very early in the season. And honestly, I don't remember. I don't think they did. Um, first of all, going back 30 years, I'm always scared of Washington because the lions have never done well against Washington going back to the Redskins days. Now I hope we've covered the chiefs and the Indians. Now we're going to cover the Redskins. Sure. Yeah. I'm hoping that the change of, of name, uh, Rexans that, that the lions will break the curse here.

[00:21:34] Um, you know, the, the lions should on paper have a, have a better team and be able to do this. I think it's going to be a high scoring game. I do too. Uh, Jaden Daniels is a hell of a quarterback. Um, he does not look like a rookie out there. He doesn't at all. Um, I think the lions are going to have just enough of an edge, even with the injuries, it's going to be a higher scoring game because of the defensive injuries.

[00:21:57] Uh, you know, I'm, I'm thinking somewhere 35 to 28 lions. I was going, I was going 28, uh, between 10 and 14. So I'm going to say 28, 10. I think the lions are going to pull. I think they're going to pull ahead. They're going to take care of, they're going to take care of business then. That's what I think. All right. But, but I will say this, they're 9.5, uh, point favorites. That's like, wow. I'm kind of surprised, but also huge line for the NFL, especially the playoffs. It is. I agree.

[00:22:25] I was not expecting that, but there were multiple lines like that in the wildcard round though, that got, they got covered, you know? So it's, it is, it is very interesting. Um, I guess the weather is a non-factor since you're in a dome. That could, that could run up the score. Sure. Sure. Absolutely. If the weather becomes a factor, they have real, real problems. That's a, that's a huge problem really for the whole city of Detroit. Honestly. Yeah.

[00:22:55] I, I, I mean, I'm looking forward to it. I, uh, I gotta say that just like, um, my feed, my Facebook feed is completely filled with feel good stories about lions, lions players. There's a, there's a bakery in Bay city that has this cake. What's the guy who stands on his head? What's his, I forget his name. Uh, uh, I'm in Ross St. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So they have a cake, you know, of course the, like the, the meme, you know, is it real or is it cake? They have a cake of him standing on his head.

[00:23:24] And, and, and, uh, and like he went to visit the bakery. I think it's local. I think it's close to me. And he said, look, uh, we're going to do a drawing at this bakery from here on out until the game. Uh, if you buy something from this bakery, you get, I'm going to give you tickets. It's like, like, it's just all this stuff. There's so much feel good lions football stuff. And I did see a great line from Campbell that was something like, look, uh, for all, for

[00:23:49] all you naysayers, for all you naysayers, uh, it's too late to jump on the bandwagon. We don't want you. He was something cocky like that. You know, it's pretty, that's a pretty strong move. I think that's cool. I think he's amazing as a head coach. I think that guy could lead anything. You know, he's a, he's cut from a different cloth. He really is. He really is. He's very cool. Now let me ask you this though. Is he too aggressive? Especially I'm directing this to Jake. He's hyper aggressive. Is it too much?

[00:24:18] He is. He's predictable. Honestly. You know what? I saw something about this the other day. The math works out. They're like plus 50 some points on the year by him being aggressive. You mean like going for it on fourth down? Exactly. Exactly. They, so yeah, he doesn't always get it, but the, you know, the, the statistics say he's ahead of the game by doing that. And so, you know, I think it goes, it's just his personality.

[00:24:48] He makes these guys want to run through walls for him. Yeah. And part of that is, Hey, I'm going to go balls out and, and we are going to go for it a lot of the time when, when people think we shouldn't and it's worked for him more than it hasn't. So I, you know, I trust the guy he's, he's, he's already just about the, gotta be the best head coach in the history of the lions. And that says more about the lions. Yeah. Well, I mean, there was Wayne fonts. I mean,

[00:25:18] I mean, Wayne fonts made one trip to the championship game. He's done that. He's he's at least Wayne fonts is equal at this point. He's had a better season this year than the best season in regular season in history. Yeah. Oh yeah. So I'd say he's passed when fonts already. Yeah. What do you guys think about the trend in both college and NFL of going for it on fourth down that, that has, that's like way ups, the excitement factor. Punts are the worst. Agreed. But you're punting from the, from the opponent's 40. I mean, come on, go for it.

[00:25:46] I mean, you punt from the opponent's 40, even if you don't get a touchback, they, they, they, they hit two pass plays and they're right back where you were. It almost seems like a money ball thing where they, they have sort of calculated the odds. It is. And the statistics say you should be going for it a lot more than people. I love it. But it's, you know, sometimes it really makes you nervous. You know, it's funny. I've been, I've been watching a bunch of high school football this year.

[00:26:13] I saw a ton of high school football this year and they were doing it. They were going on the fourth down like crazy. And I think it was probably, probably our, our, our boy. Well, okay. So to, to the high school boy, I watch a decent amount of high school ball and follow it. Some of that is because they don't have the field goal kickers and they have crappy punters. And there's a, with a lot of those factors. Yeah. What's really the exchange there, you know, if you make it great. And if you, if you don't, you're probably not that. Actually, I do agree with Jake. Trust your defense.

[00:26:44] The state champion football teams, high school football teams always have a punter. Like someone who can actually punt, you know, it's like, cause. Well, that's rare too. Yeah. That's true. Kevin, as an, as an outsider, no really, no really dog in the, in the fight. No hopes and dreams really. No. There's nothing. What's, what is your, what are your predictions for both of these, these, the Saturdays. He's going to bed early on Saturday. What do you think? I was going to say, yeah, we're going to bed early. You know, I, I think both the Chiefs and the Lions will win.

[00:27:11] Um, I, you know, there's that old, not old, well, relatively new, uh, advertisement, you know, for Cleveland, we're not Detroit, but I will say that Detroit is the closest thing to Cleveland in terms of our trips to the Superbowl or trips to the playoffs or 20, 20 minutes by flight across the lake.

[00:27:36] Um, in terms of the NFC teams, I'm, I'm all in for the Lions this year. So I hope they go far and I hope for, uh, Zach's sake that the, the chiefs make it too. I mean, it's been fun these past few years with you winning the Superbowl. So, uh, we're kind of used to that. I know it's becoming passe. Personally, I find it kind of boring. That's what I, I feel boring. I'm sorry.

[00:28:01] I'm, I'm, I'm, it's very interesting being in the fan role of the hated team that everyone wants to see take a, take a, I wouldn't know nothing about that. Yeah. Never experienced that myself. Yeah. So, so Jake, I got, okay. I got, I'm going to come back to you first off. What team that we might run up against if, if we win on Saturday, what team scares you the most? I mean, when I know Philadelphia has had some injuries, but when Philadelphia is running on all cylinders, they're scary.

[00:28:29] Philadelphia has a long tradition of taking us out too. In the, like, yes, back in the, back in the nineties, uh, when the Lions scored like 38 points and still got blown out in a playoff game against Philly. I was driving, I was driving in, in Wisconsin towards Minneapolis and I was listening to that game on the radio and I almost, I almost swerved off the road. I'm not going to lie to you. Scott Mitchell. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh yeah. Scott.

[00:28:56] I just, I, from there on out, I just, the Eagles are, I just can't, just can't with the Eagles. So, so I've got to say about the NFC teams are the Eagles for sure. I agree. I agree. I think they can handle anybody, but the Eagles are, you know, and again, if they get some guys healthy and they're running close to all cylinders, the Eagles are a scary team. The, on the, on the, on the, on the, on the AFC side, the, that Baltimore Buffalo game, that is a serious game. Yeah. That is.

[00:29:24] Um, and that, that should be, honestly, that's, that's probably going to be the best game of the weekend, or at least it has the potential to be the best game of, of the weekend. Uh, those are two heavy hitters and you know, it's tough to call. We've played them both this year. We lost, we beat Baltimore, barely lost to Buffalo in Buffalo. Um, I, I guess I kind of, Lamar Jackson scares me. So I don't want to, I guess I would pick not to play Baltimore. Uh, but, but they're both really good.

[00:29:52] And so that's, yeah, that's a, that's a, which Buffalo team shows up. Yeah, for sure. That if the chiefs win as predicted that AFC championship game is going to be a great game, just, just like, you know, Philly Detroit, you know, if that happens on paper, that's a great, that's great game too. I agree. For sure. For sure. Okay. Uh, got to move past the NFL and it's time for college Monday night, college football. Uh, before we get into this, I want to know this. What do you, I don't.

[00:30:22] Personally watch a ton of college football. How have you guys liked this new 12 team college football playoff? Yay or nay? Kevin, you start. Well, I mean, when we lost to Oregon, Oregon, the second week of the season or whatever, I thought our chances are gone. Not, not realizing that there was going to be this tall, you know, I just didn't, wasn't paying that close attention. So personally, I love it. Obviously we wouldn't have been in it. Worked well for Ohio state. Yeah.

[00:30:50] And it's interesting to me that, uh, you know, it's, we were the eight seed. Notre Dame was the sixth seed or something like that. I was seventh. Seventh seed. So eight and seventh seed. So the seeding doesn't matter really. And part of that is because it is still very difficult to, uh, sort of match up all these different divisions in college football. They're so diverse. I know they have all sorts of computer rankings and all that sort of stuff, but when it all

[00:31:19] pans out, you're not necessarily playing the same teams or the same, uh, style and all that. So, you know, I'm all for it. I'm glad, I'm glad it worked out that way. And, you know, Jake, you have to say the same thing. If you remember six seed, you wouldn't have been in it. Exactly. Um, you know, I was skeptical. Uh, I've frankly, I've been a traditionalist. I, if it were up to me, probably back in the day, I would have kept the old bowl system

[00:31:47] and all the bowls are on new year's day. And it's just, uh, uh, a football festival the whole day. And you let it shake out wherever you are. And on January 2nd, you find out who the champion is, you know, um, going from four, I thought four was okay. Um, I think the sweet spot, frankly, would be eight, but I agree, you know, uh, where they've gone to 12 and if there's one ironclad rule in all of sports, they're never going to go backwards. You're never going to go have fewer games.

[00:32:17] So we're at 12 now. Um, I went to the on-campus game between Notre Dame and Indiana in the first round in South Bend. Uh, fantastic environment. Really, really a cool experience, uh, to be, it was, it was kind of weird. A bunch of my roommates were, were in town. We had a tailgate beforehand. Uh, you know, Friday before Christmas, you're on campus tailgating for a playoff football game. It was just kind of a weird experience, but, but really a fantastic environment in the stadium.

[00:32:44] And I loved having the playoff game on campus. Um, you know, I think they definitely need to tweak the seating, uh, with, with this whole conference champions automatically getting the top four spots. It created some weird seating with, with Boise state and Arizona state getting, getting buys and, and I think it's like Indiana, that they really deserve to be there. It's, it's just weird. Well, I mean, who, who deserved to be there ahead of them is, is the thing you can, Indiana had one loss and yeah, their schedule wasn't great.

[00:33:13] In fact, it was terrible. Uh, but when you put Alabama in with three losses and I think they deserve to be there, you know, I think if I were going to do this, it seemed like, and I know it's a one year sample, so it's a small sample size still, but all those first round by teams lost. Correct. I, you know, I think if I were going to say, how are we going to do this? I would get rid of the conference championship games, go to 16 teams. Okay. Yes. Everybody plays the first weekend.

[00:33:43] First round is at home. So you got eight teams playing at home the first round. Uh, and from there you can go just like they did into the bowl games for the quarter finals and the semis. What's happened is this, um, you know, conference championship has become obsolete in the way a bowl game has become obsolete. I mean, what's the purpose of it? The purpose of it is to make money for ESPN. Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Always money. Money's always the answer. So that's why we go to 16 teams. That's why we go to 16 teams.

[00:34:10] So they still have that, those games to show. Um, no, nobody's rusty after an extra, which, you know, they have bi-weeks during the season too. So I don't really know that that was the reason that all those four teams lost or if it was just a small sample size in the first year. But, um, I think the conference championship games are outdated and stupid. Uh, let's go to 16 teams on campus games, the first, uh, uh, weekend.

[00:34:37] And you'll have four additional on-campus games that first weekend and then go from there just like we have and, and just see them. If you want conference champions to have an automatic access to the playoff, then fine, which shouldn't be an issue with 16 teams, but you just see them one through 16. And, and that's, we go from there and nobody has a buy to worry about. Yeah. Love it. All right. Um, so Kevin, obviously we know you're rooting for Ohio.

[00:35:03] Uh, make, I assume you're going to pick them to win, make your case for the Buckeyes. Why are, why are they going to win this game? And what's your, and what's your score? I think the Buckeyes have played exceptional football all year, except for that Michigan game, which that, um, you know, I have my, um, my observations and thoughts about that. Uh, other than that, they've played strong all year long. I think they are the best team in the nation. I predict that they will win their offense is really strong.

[00:35:33] Their defense is really strong. Their special teams are very strong. Ohio state has a way of wearing down their opponent as the day, as the game goes on. I think they're just, uh, a very physical team. Uh, the thing that will get them in trouble is, uh, stupid penalties. And also I think in the back of my mind, you know, Ryan day has faltered in huge games, meaning Michigan games.

[00:36:03] And I personally, if they do win and I was Ryan day, I would quit the next day. I'd be done. That's it. I've won everything. Um, I can't beat Michigan. I can't satisfy what your true desires are, but I've won the national championship. I'm done. See you later. Um, but I, I, I think that's the wild card here. Can he, um, come up with a good enough game plan to meet, to beat Notre Dame? Got it. What's your score?

[00:36:33] Give me a score. Uh, 28, 14. Buckeyes. All right. Right on. All right. Uh, where's this, Jake, where's this game being played? Is this, is it Atlanta? It's Atlanta. Okay. So this is a dome. This is a dome also then. Okay. Yes. All right. Uh, Jake, uh, Notre Dame's a big dog. Um, what's, what's the game plan to, to win this and why is Notre Dame going to win? What's this? Give me a score. Okay. So first of all, everything Kevin said is, is correct.

[00:37:02] I agree with him on, on pretty much all points here. Uh, yeah. Ohio state on paper, uh, is the healthier team and, uh, the more talented team. Okay. Um, if, if Notre Dame were at full strength and, you know, we've had a lot of guys injured too, between Notre Dame and the lions, I've been in the fricking fetal position, uh, for most of this football season and somehow my teams are still winning. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, you know, so.

[00:37:28] Uh, the thing with it is this Notre Dame team ever since had Northern Illinois game. Yeah. They lost to Northern Illinois. And you know what that did that put them in the playoffs. They've been in the playoffs since September 14th against Purdue. One loss is fatal. One loss. You're out. So, and they, they haven't lost. Um, just the, the chemistry that the team has, they play really, really hard for Marcus Freeman. We've got Al Golden is, I think the best defensive coordinator in the country.

[00:37:56] Uh, Mike Denbrock's a really solid offensive coordinator. The whole staff, uh, has, has coached this team up this year. And it's really been, you know, surprising sometimes the way that it's just been, Hey, the next guy in, you've got true freshmen out there. Uh, you know, Leonard Moore, Adon Shuler, true freshmen, uh, playing out of their minds. And, uh, the defense plays hard. They're hard hitting, um, good on special teams.

[00:38:23] The offense has, you know, the offense scares me because we've got great running backs. The offensive line has, has a lot of injuries. We'll see who gets healthy. Um, Riley Leonard, he, you know, he he's, he's come back well from that Northern Illinois game, but still, uh, his passing, especially throwing the default is a weak point. Um, so, you know, I still think, I think the way this team has come together and played hard and, and done what they've done all year, I think they're going to find a way to come

[00:38:52] through and win this game. I think it's going to be close. I think these two teams, quite frankly, are going to beat the hell out of each other. Yeah. A lot like happened with Penn state. Um, I'm looking for a game, you know, the defense is going to have to carry ND and they're going to need an opportunistic turnover like they had against Penn state and they can't make turnovers. Okay. And that's going to be a tough order, but I think they're going to get it done. I'm going to say we're looking at a score in the range of, uh, 27, 21 Irish. Okay.

[00:39:23] All right. So you guys, this is a, that's not that many points for college football. Neither one of you think it's going to be a, you know, a big, big scoring, you know, I've seen Ohio state sort of, you know, as an Ohio state fan during the regular season, we just crush people. Like you stop washing at halftime and that's not, that's just, that's just a fact. Notre Dame has blown out a whole bunch of people too. But when it comes to these big games, you know, Notre Dame is a worthy opponent.

[00:39:50] Um, and so, you know, I, I do think it affects the scoring for sure. I don't think you can run up, you know, it's not going to be 50 to nothing. Like we have, you know, no, it's just, I don't think that, I don't think that's possible. You know, it's, I do think this is going to be two heavyweights slugging it out. Um, and we'll see what happens. All right, Jacob. I, I asked you this earlier, which game lines game or Notre Dame game are you more excited about?

[00:40:20] Notre Dame a hundred percent. No question about it. Uh, you know, I, I like the NFL. I like to follow the NFL. I've been a Lions fan for a long, long time. Uh, I'm pretty insane about college football, especially Notre Dame. So, uh, yeah. You went to the university. That's yeah. I know that's yeah. There's some ownership there, you know? Yeah. Why would the university of Minnesota come on? Who's the bigger? Who's the bigger Notre Dame fan? Jacob Whipple or Shane Gillis?

[00:40:50] Oh, I thought you were going to go with Rudy. It was Jacob or Rudy, you know? So, well, you know, it was fun at the, um, at the Notre Dame, Indiana game, the playoff game on campus, you know, Shane Gillis was, was there. He was in a suite and they would show him on the jumbotron and they'd show him in his Notre Dame jacket and the crowd would, would go wild. And then they would switch and they'd show a random Indiana fan. The crowd would, the crowd would boo.

[00:41:19] So there were all these random, random Indiana fans just in the crowd getting booed because they, they happened to pick that, pick them to show after Shane Gillis. Did Shane attend or just, just, just a, he's just a big fan. Okay. Yeah. He's a super fan. Okay. All right. Yeah. Honestly, I didn't even realize he was a fan until he was on college game day that day. And he's a super fan. Alan, um, neither one of us have a, have a dog in this fight. Uh, who, if you, if you turned it on, who would you, who would you be, uh, pulling for or would you just watch?

[00:41:48] So I have, I have some strong feelings about this. Oh, I, I have, uh, I, uh, I, I know college marching bands better than I know college football. Then you've got to be for the Buckeyes. Ohio state, Ohio state has the best marching band in the world. And I know there's people in Alabama that might come for me, but they're wrong. Just check out YouTube. There's no one better. And I, I marched us, I marched in Miami, Ohio. I marched at Miami, Ohio. Uh, I went for undergrad.

[00:42:15] We had a great marching band, but you know, it sucks to have a really good marching band and always be second best in the state. Cause like everyone there even knew that Ohio is like, I'll, I'm going to find one of the halftimes. They did a rush halftime. They did a halftime show that featured rush song. Oh my gosh. Unbelievable. So yeah. So I, I think Ohio state's got it on the marching band. Sorry, Jake, but I feel like Notre Dame's got a fine marching band. Don't get me wrong, but Ohio state's next level. So there you have it. Uh, as much as, um, you know, I'd love to, uh, for one of Kevin's teams to, to get a win.

[00:42:44] I, I, I, I am Catholic by, uh, uh, it's kind of required high school. So, uh, I gotta, I gotta go. I gotta go with ND. That's funny. So I think they're going to pull that upset. Uh, 27, 25. Ooh. A last second field goal. Again, like I say, and Kevin, I don't know if, I don't know if you know this, but I actually have, have, uh, I went to dental school at Michigan. So. Yeah.

[00:43:13] I don't even know why I'm talking to you. A lot of bad blood there. A lot of bad blood. So interestingly, uh, we're not like, we know Monday the college football is done. We'll know by the end of this weekend, if, if our teams are still in it. So Zach, Zach and I may say, we may do another emergency episode. Yeah. One of us are going to get through this, this weekend. If not both. I expect both. Yeah. I expect both for sure. One. Yeah. The only thing I'm worried about is, you know, this buy factor for both of you guys,

[00:43:43] you know, it's, it's. Yeah. I mean, for Kansas city, that's, that's almost a college bowl game amount of time off for Kansas city when they, you know, basically through the Denver game. They threw the Denver game. They have not played a meaningful game since, since Christmas, Christmas day. So you're right. It's a very long layup. If this had not been a team that had played essentially, I don't know, three seasons in the last two seasons, like they've played a lot of football. So I, I feel like it's going to be okay.

[00:44:12] A lot of veteran, a lot of veteran leadership. So you've got lots of, either way, it's going to be a fantastic three day, you know, holiday football weekend for sure. Really looking forward. I did also read somewhere that the chiefs are undefeated with this, uh, officiating crew that they're going to have. Saw that coming. Saw that coming. All the holdings and false starts. You can, you can eat. Fantastic. Sure. Hey, whatever it takes, whatever works, right.

[00:44:42] With Taylor Swift's there to provide a little bit of mojo too. That's right. We'll see how it all shakes out. All right. Um, final, final thoughts, final thoughts, Kevin. Um, go bucks. Final thoughts, Jake. Hey, this is, this is what college football is all about. Two Northern traditional powers are going to beat each other's brains in. And that's how it should be. Go Irish. I like that comment for sure. Two Northern teams. Alan. Lions are America's team guys. I'm telling you.

[00:45:12] They actually really are. They are. Agreed. Agreed. Unless you're a 13 year old girl who probably have a Travis Kelsey jersey. That's fair. That's fair. You know? And, and so that's, that's a different America right there. For sure. That's what we've got going for us here. New demographic. Yep. Indeed. Hey, all right. Thank you guys. Hey, thanks for listening. If you stuck with us for 45 minutes, I appreciate it. There may be more. We'll see how Alan and I shake out on this year. Maybe Alan's going to be taking me to the Superbowl. Maybe. I don't know. Yeah. It's in the budget.

[00:45:42] All right. See you later, guys. See you.