Zane Owns The Scream: "I Lost My Mind"

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and seemingly unsolvable problem sets.

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Jumbled slides transform into a polished keynote,

and that midterm assignment gets a lot less mid.

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I think the Tyson and Lou is probably the biggest beef.

Is that the biggest one in hit?

Is that top of now Rushmore of Beef's?

Because I'm pretty sure that Tyson wanted to fight Tyler.

Yeah.

I'm gonna lie down and have fun.

Welcome everybody to another episode of The PicklePod.

And as we say, if it's not on The PicklePod,

it did not happen in Pickleball.

I am Nico the lefty.

And as always, we got the main host, Zayn Navratil.

Zayn, we got a crazy episode.

We're gonna get to you in just a second

because you know for sure we're not letting that yell slide.

But we got the yell.

We're doing beef rankings.

We got the playoff pictures.

We're gonna do a fast food draft, MLP awards

that we should see.

And then you wanna stay tuned at the end

because we're gonna go off a little bit from the normal.

We have an amazing story of a family doing

fantastic good in Pickleball.

And there is a way for all of you to help out.

So normally I ask you guys to like, subscribe, share,

hit all the buttons, subscribe to the newsletter,

which you should still do.

But if you're gonna do anything, stay to the end,

see how you can help out in the most inspiring

Pickleball project that I've heard all year.

Yeah, it was, we interviewed the gentleman

before this actually.

And it was a pretty, I'm very sad,

but also inspiring story.

Definitely something a little bit different

for the Pickle pod.

But you're gonna wanna listen to it.

They're doing some, they're making some,

some pretty cool stuff out of a tragedy that happened.

So definitely stick around to the end for that.

Yeah.

Guys, the Pro Pickball talk discord,

hit over a thousand members.

And to celebrate, we're doing a couple of things.

I'm giving away two signed paddles.

I'm giving away two tickets to San Diego

cause unfortunately, I'm not using them.

And then Nico and I are gonna be going live

within the discord on Saturday

to watch some of these matches

and kinda just hang out with you guys.

We'll announce the winners of those things

during that time too.

So join if you haven't already.

Remember a thousand numbers.

It was popping off during this last week

cause I was screaming my brains out against Casey.

So.

Perfect.

Alrighty.

Alright, Zane.

With that, we're gonna get to the heavy hitting portion

that we're not gonna hold back and wait 55 minutes

until we get to the yell.

We're not bearing the lead here.

Zane, you screamed.

Some people say like Michelle Big Man,

some people say like a girl,

some people say, you know, it was offensive.

We're gonna get to what everybody said about you.

They were not nice.

But the scream heard around the pickleball chords.

Zane, you're playing in your playoff match

against Casey Diamond, Decker Bar

and the Palm Beach Royals.

The beloved Palm Beach Royals

who everybody loves,

not a single question about that.

They are the darlings of MLP.

And you decide to pick a fight with Casey Diamond.

Walk us through what exactly happened.

Yeah, well, obviously we played them two days in a row

on Friday and then on Saturday again.

And, you know, I think Friday was normal.

MLP just chippinus and smack talk and bags

and the norm and whatnot.

Saturday was going basically the exact same way.

And then I think we're up like six, four

or something like that.

Decker just ropes one at me.

And I was pretty high and I counter it back

and I hit Casey and I basically like lost my mind.

Screamed at him for all my, with all my might.

And yeah, definitely went over the top with it.

So got a little bit more hyped

than I feel like I should have.

And yeah, I mean, we've talked about like screaming

just in general kind of a lot, right?

It's been a hot topic.

And I think we've struggled to really define

how much is too much, right?

Is Kate, is Leia, is Jay, is whomever,

like where is the actual line?

And I think it's like, you know it when you see it.

I don't think there's a way to define it,

but you know what you, when you see it.

And yeah, I mean, me seeing it and like, yeah,

that, that, that feels too far.

We finally found the line.

We've been saying, you know, to benefit everybody,

figuring out where the line was, he decided

to cross it for the good of the sport.

So we know exactly where it was.

Yeah, you know what?

It was for science.

Yeah, we'll put it that way.

It was totally just unbiased for science.

Like we need to establish the line.

Okay, here we go.

So yeah, I mean, like I'm not, I'm not proud of it.

I had some choice words for them afterwards as well

in response to it.

I didn't get a, a paddle tap from KC, which like,

I don't know.

I don't know if, I don't know if I deserve one or not,

but I didn't get one.

And so I had, I had some, uh, so words for them.

And, uh, yeah, not, not proud of it.

I'll own it.

I think there's a difference in between shit talk

and just being shitty.

And I would say I was just being shitty.

So I'll own it.

I'll try and get better.

But yeah, what's, what's done is done.

And I can't really go undo it.

I apologize to, yeah, a bunch of people were asking like,

hey, maybe I'm like scolded by Sophia at the end.

Like no, I pretty much scolded myself.

Um, we, I chatted with, uh, with Sophia on the court.

I chatted with, uh, KC on the court, the, the royal squad.

And they seemed receptive and understanding that like,

hey, I went too far in the moment.

And I'm not proud of it.

So feel like we, um, generally bear that.

Is there, what, what, I saw a ton of questions asking,

was this unprontered?

Was there, is there backstories?

So, um, it, was it, was it specifically because it was KC?

Like, um, was there a problem with him beforehand?

Is it just the hue of the moment if it was haiding or whoever it would have

been the same thing or like any, any provocation at all?

For the yell?

I mean, nothing other than like the, the general like MLP chippinus and being

down and, you know, needing some form of like a little bit of a turning point,

um, which I took too far.

So, um, no, I don't have, uh, I don't have beef there.

Um, you know, I think it'd be understandable if they have,

they have beef with me at this point, but, um, yeah, not much I can do other than say,

sorry and, and, and like, not do something like that again.

You know, I, I want to kind of break it down.

I, the way I think about it is there's like two separate instances, right?

There's like the non-paddle tab where as you said after, which I think everybody

agrees, including you is like, all right, it makes a enacting shape.

Is they went too far, right?

Um, and there's regret.

Now, the yelling I would like to give you more permission.

I want to, I want to retract any apology that you have ever given for that,

because I don't have a problem here.

Here's, here's what I, my thoughts are, is is that unsportsman like absolutely?

All right.

Should there maybe be a blue card?

Sure.

Like I, I actually, I think that's totally fine, right?

That there should be maybe some kind of consequence for that, right?

It was kind of an aggressive yell.

It was at a person like I think in most sports, if you yell in someone's face,

and I think Casey was probably back to you or like he was far away.

But like you make some of those gestures, you probably get unsportsman like penalty, right?

But I actually don't think that in the grand scheme of things, it was a bad idea.

I don't think it was wrong necessarily.

And like I like to equate it to like an, like a MBA coach, right?

Eventually sometimes like their team needs to get fired up or the refs need to like

hear that something is wrong.

And they just go off or a manager and baseball.

They'll just start yelling at an umpire, right?

Or you might have like an unnecessarily heavy hit in football,

but it's a penitently that you're willing to take to kind of send a message

either to your team or to the other team that might change the kind of the dynamic of the game.

And while I don't think your team lost because of it,

I actually think your team got more fired up and I think was beneficial.

You guys still lost, right?

But I think there was like a net positive effect and it is not like detrimental,

ruthless.

It didn't cross a line to like dangerous or anything.

So I think that more players should do what you did.

I think K Fahey does it for herself and for our team.

And for me, people say, Zayn, not a good role model to 13 year olds.

I think the yelling helped a 13 year old and you know,

John Lucian Goins who's relatively soft-spoken, get more energized.

So I don't see anything wrong with it.

Yeah, I mean like it was a good role model thing to you probably, probably not.

Like is it tactically maybe a pretty good thing to do?

I would say yeah, but look, I guess.

Yeah, I don't fully agree with you on a couple things.

First off, I actually don't think I'm pretty, I think, out there on the regulation of screaming and whatnot.

I personally think in sports like if a player wants to make themselves look like an idiot or go over the top.

So long as they're not hurting somebody, like I think you should let them do it.

I think you should let them do the most ridiculous celebrations, do whatever, whatever the heck they want.

Like I don't think that that needs to be something that's regulated by the rule book.

But then again, you know, our buddy Jority from Barstool,

and hilarious article afterwards, that this is why pickleball needs fighting.

Because you do something stupid like that at another sport.

Like in the NBA, I'm getting flagrant one.

The MLB, I'm getting beamed by a pitch.

In the NFL, I'm getting destroyed.

In the NHL, I'm getting hit.

Like the gloves are dropping.

So maybe pickleball just needs fighting after something like that.

I think so.

And honestly, you know, I think that might just turn some of the yelling.

Like saying you get to pick your battles.

Maybe you yell at Casey, maybe you're playing against AJ Kohler or something like that.

And you're like, I'm a, I'm a choose not to yell at that guy.

You know, I think maybe we have not enough repercussions.

Hey, I mean, I'm all for it.

Like some kind of retaliation.

I'm not above it.

I don't know.

I think all sports have it to your point.

Unfortunately, I don't think you can fist fight like you can in hockey.

But something, I mean, it's tough.

It's tough to do an intense and cool.

Getting to a great idea is hard in college.

Nonsenseical essays, cringing-ducing presentations,

and seemingly unsolvable problem sets.

But then.

The first thought becomes a final thesis.

Jumbled slides transform into a polished keynote.

And that midterm assignment gets a lot less mid.

Because the road to great ideas is littered with bad ones.

You just have to keep going until something clicks.

Great ideas start on Mac.

Find out more on apple.com slash college.

And your mouth forever and nothing happens.

If if if this was hockey, I would be, I would say as many words as JW.

I would be silent.

I wonder how many people are like,

you know, we love to do power rankings and drafts.

But like, I wonder how many people,

Zayn would feel comfortable in a fight with In pickleball.

Maybe just the people on his team, besides Asia.

Yeah, not many.

Yeah, I would have made some different trades, though.

I would have brought Ed and Lika back into the league.

The Chicago slice roster would look a lot different.

Obviously, the other events is an honorary coach just for you.

You know, we just need some size.

We've got to probably be the most fightable team.

And maybe that's what the power rankings we need this week is which teams would win in all out brawls.

Seriously, I mean, AJ Kohler might be number one scary person.

But the rest of your team is just so easy to just stop.

Like, use it.

It would just be like, they would immediately just get

marked and then you have AJ fighting six people at the same time.

Yeah.

That's about right.

Maybe they're maybe the ranchers.

You know, they got they got raffle on the bench.

Yeah, I feel like Laya probably could just beat some ass.

So I agree with that.

I think the ranchers make sense.

You got Eric, you got Nico Assevado who's he's like he's a surprisingly big dude.

Like he's a built dude.

And he got three very athletic ladies.

Laya, Caitlin, Lane, and then Rafa Qut on the bench.

Yeah.

All right.

That might be our next draft.

Now that once we have some time to prepare, we can we can go through that list.

Oh man.

So Zane,

you got roasted by a lot of people online.

Should we go through some of the comments

towards you after this weekend?

Why not?

All right.

So as long as they're as long as they're at least funny, I think there's plenty of

mean ones out there.

It lets at least get some like mean but also clever.

This person, one person said what happened to Zane?

Normally he's like a cool chick.

Not a cool chick.

I don't know what that means.

This one says, what's that?

Thank you, I guess.

Yeah.

Casey must have forgotten to smash that like button on Zane's recent YouTube video.

Yeah, he's not subscribed.

I would never do that to one of my subscribers.

Or a big obfusc.

This is true.

Zane was that kid in high school who always got stuffed in his locker.

Come on, not in high school.

That was middle school.

I did get shoved in a couple of lockers in middle school.

I was going to stop.

Probably going to stop in the trunk of some cars in high school.

We got, I don't know who this is from.

It's probably from your dad but it says, hey, he doesn't get on championship court much in the

PPA.

He has to take advantage of the spotlight when he can.

Your dad by the way, just roasting you randomly on Twitter, just insane.

That was hilarious actually.

That was hilarious.

This one says,

is the scream as high pitched as his talking voice?

I feel like no.

I guess it's just loud.

I don't know.

Listen to it back.

I don't know.

I have it on slow motions.

I love the fact I don't have it on here.

That pickleball trainer specifically called out that you had to scream in two breaths.

You screamed for a little bit.

You paused, had to catch your breath, scream a second time.

I don't even know if that makes it more intense or sad that you couldn't just let out one gigantic roar.

It was one and then I realized, oh, I'm not done yet.

I got to do another for emphasis.

I don't know.

I think I don't think that's a fair critique.

There was no post-yield clarity for Zane.

He had his yell nut and then he yelled one more time.

Yeah, I was not.

I wasn't finished.

Job not finished.

Of course, we got Leah chiming in randomly.

Somebody was defending you in the comments.

It was like, oh, Zane must have been provoked.

Leah says, do you even know him?

He involves himself and everybody's business and is really ass.

I mean, I guess if covering pro pickleball is involving yourself in people's business,

then sure.

I can't see Leah's comments because she's blocked me.

So, it's what it is.

But here's the thing.

I've got rules with the content.

My rules are,

I don't say anything that I wouldn't say to somebody in person.

I don't talk about people's personal lives whatsoever.

And I don't talk about anything that's not already public.

So, I don't think I'm in people's business whatsoever.

If you do something stupid on the court, I'm going to say something about it.

If I do something stupid on the court, I'm going to say something about it.

Right?

So, I don't think I'm in people's business.

I'm covering pro pickleball the same way anybody else in any other sport would.

In fact, they go way worse.

So, I think that's just another thoughtless critique from Leah.

I agree.

I agree.

We are men of principles, especially you, Zane.

And I definitely don't share anything that's sent to me in a text message,

regardless of how rude heinous disgusting it is.

And for some reason, I'm included in group text messages that just bash me.

Anyway, that's for another day.

But we have the last one here that I saw,

what comes from Mish.

Michelle Migmann, who says,

I was once informed by James Ignato,

which said, Zane and I have a similar voice.

I'm not sure who that's a greater insult to,

but I can confirm Zane can definitely hit a higher pitch than me on screams.

I don't know how to unpack that.

There's a lot going on in that statement, Mish.

That's pretty good.

That was good.

Wow, appreciate those.

Anyway, yeah, it's great.

I get to take my lashes.

I deserve them, but that was actually kind of a fun segment.

Well, you can't use your stuff.

I don't have anything else mean to say.

Leave it in the comments.

Yeah, if you haven't got it out yet, please.

The comments are already, we need the Zane mean tweet section.

We already have Nico mean tweets.

The mean comments for Nico are in the KOTC podcast channel.

You want to go read those.

But you can leave either of them nice or mean in the comments.

If they're funny, we will read them.

If they are just mean, then we'll let them go.

We won't do that.

Zane, I want to ask you this.

Just speaking of just mean, we're going to get to beefs here in a second.

But I want to get your take on the new bucket head debate of this week, which is actually about

memes of Pickleball.

So memes of Pickleball posted a video of all the pros, huge fat, extra fat, the names.

And a lot of people didn't like it.

I want to get your take.

Is it funny?

Is it not funny?

Is it offensive?

What are your thoughts?

Do you have any thoughts on the memes of Pickleball fat posts?

2026.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's funny and I think it's offensive.

Like offensive stuff is funny sometimes.

Like yeah, I mean, yes, it's both.

I think it's funny and offensive.

So.

Okay.

So Zane, here's where I agree and I disagree.

So like, my thoughts, and I don't want to make this a bummer podcast,

is I did not find it funny at all.

Like just not because it was offensive, but because I found it done.

Like, we've had this take before.

I'm not like an Adam Sandler kind of guy.

Like I just like some humor just doesn't land with me.

And that's one of them.

I just like people hate AI slop this AI slop whatever I found it.

Like kind of unfunny.

The names are funny.

The pictures dumb.

I also understand why a ton of people would take offense to it.

And you just kind of realize like, hey, if I'm an asshole,

I just got to own it.

This is an asshole thing that I'm doing.

Don't say like, oh, this is just not, you know, it's not offensive.

And it's okay.

And you should be unsensitive.

It's like, hey, if you're sensitive, you get it.

I get it.

And I'm going to deal with that as the author of the post and just be an asshole.

So that's that's my thought.

But the last thing I'll mention is multiple people for some reason,

and unprovoked put me into that, into that debate.

They're like, you should see Nico's face when they talk about fat people.

Or, uh, I don't know that that's actually brutal.

Somebody was like, oh, even Nico finds this funny.

I was like, what the, I was like, I know why you said that.

Like I, I, I, I, I, I reply reply to a comment.

I said, wait, I'm fat.

Oh, man.

And they're like, oh, no, I don't know if you're fat.

You're just tall.

Um, but, uh, I was, so I thought, I thought,

that was pretty funny.

Like I'm just like unintentionally catching a straights for like both sides,

both sides.

One side is like Nico is fat.

And you can tell that he, this gets to him.

The other side is Nico is even fat.

Nico can appreciate these tweets.

So both of you, both sides of this argument,

fuck you guys.

Um, I'm going to get the science starts tomorrow.

Um, you know, I, I got invited as, as an influencer to attend the,

yes, the, um, Selker, uh, Sparta Combine, I reach out to them.

And I think they still think I'm joking.

I said, let me participate it in as a person.

Uh, so maybe it's, it's at the end of October.

And maybe I'll get my ass in shape.

Uh, you guys can stop talking shit.

And I'll do the Sparta Combine.

We'll see.

Yeah. Well, uh, sorry that you're getting shit on from, from both sides.

I get being upset about it.

Like, um, for, for people who are like, yeah, it is, it is offensive.

It's coming from a meme account.

Like, what do we, what do we expect here?

Like, yeah.

So, and that's the hard thing.

It's comedy.

It's just like one of those things where you, we, we be as offensive as you want.

And people get to decide whether or not they want to listen to it or watch it.

And maybe means a pickable loss to a lot of viewers.

And, you know, so there's definitely consequences for whatever line you want to draw.

And I don't know how to draw it.

So anyway, um, maybe I'm, maybe I'm wacheling footflopping.

Maybe I'm not a man of principle.

I don't know, but that's my thoughts.

Uh, you thought the Dink movie was funny.

So there are what you think you thought the Dink movie was funny,

but Adam Sandler isn't like, we, there are some questions that he asked here.

Nico, that's fair.

That's that, that is fair.

I don't know.

I just, I think it was like, I don't know why, um, kind of for my parents, but, uh,

I suppose it was, I mean, like, it was just, it was lazy.

Like, yeah, really think about it very much.

It was like, oh, okay, a couple funny names, but like, they definitely didn't need a round two of that one.

Oh, definitely not need a round two.

Um, uh, anyway, uh, so we got the beef from, from the people there.

So I think you got beef with, with Casey, with Deckel, with the Palm Beach Royals,

with everybody.

I don't know.

It's a most hated person in Pickleball right now.

Um, I think now is a good time, uh, to revisit the beef board.

I mean, they shouldn't call it the beef board.

I'm not sure where to call it.

Beef rankings.

Anyway, I want to go through, I wanted to chat about kind of Pickleball's biggest beefs,

because now you're in a bunch of them.

Um, and I find myself collateral damage as well in a ton of these beefs, but

what are the biggest beefs in Pickleball?

I mean, yeah, I feel like they're kind of a lot like, especially if you go down,

if you go back in history a little bit.

Like, I mean, I think the Riley versus Matt beef was probably kind of one of the,

the biggest because they were partners that that broke up.

They didn't like each other before.

I mean, you had Tyson and Riley, Tyson and Matt.

Um, yeah, just kind of a Tyson and Lung for sure.

Yeah, I, yeah, I mean, it's, it's definitely, that one escalated a good amount a few years ago.

Um, I don't remember all the details.

Honestly, like all these little things in the grand scheme of things,

the Pickleball beefs are not even close to what the beefs are in other sports or in,

in real life. So, I mean, that, that one was intense because that, that was like a,

you know, a few seconds away from being like a Will Smith, Chris Rock Oscars moment.

Keep my wise name.

I should fucking mouth.

That's, that's exactly what Tyler Lung basically said.

Just didn't slap Tyler Lunger, or Tyson said, that's what basically just didn't slap Tyler

Lunger across the face. Um, I think that was a good one.

Um, I think Connor, Connor and, uh, and, uh,

Duke, uh, Dwang, probably a good, yeah, I suppose so.

Yeah, Connor versus Duke, um, let's see, you could do like Tom Gundin versus Steve Koon.

Who has a good one?

Connor versus Ken, maybe, like they don't really have like a public beef.

Let's see, Jared and Thomas.

Jared and Thomas.

I was going to say there's like board number two.

So there's like pickleball beef.

And then I wanted to talk about like the pickle pods biggest beef.

But Jared and Thomas have got to be up there.

Uh, I'm not sure who who's.

It's a very one sided beef because I don't think Thomas has ever responded to anything.

But um, yeah, one sided beef there.

We got Yola versus every other pickleball paddle manufacturer on earth.

Yeah.

And Yola versus Ignata, which although I think Ignata, which is fighting back on that one.

Yeah, countersuing.

countersuing is crazy.

The best defense is more offense, I guess.

It, uh, yeah, it sounds like there's some, I don't know, prior art.

I don't understand all that stuff.

Um, but yeah, you got Yola versus USAP.

Like there are actually there are a lot of, a lot of beefs.

So Christian versus proton now.

Oh, yeah.

Yep.

QD versus a contract.

Yes.

Oh, one of the, I guess you got Annelise got a few.

She's got Annelise versus match versus Riley versus Hayden.

Oh, but I think, I think her and Fed are, are, were totally fine after that.

In fact, I should think that you get the long fine with Hayden.

I just think that they're like pretty.

Better on court rivals.

Like, I don't think they actually, like, I think that's a rivalry not a beef.

Yeah, I agree.

I agree.

Um,

hmm, anything, is there any other, anybody else that just like hates anybody,

any, anything that we're missing here?

I'm sure there's, oh, Leia and Jay, did we not say that one?

Oh, Leia and Jay, that's a good one.

I think there's, yeah.

Let's see.

You and Jimmy, we got that one.

Yeah, we can go to the pickle pod, Beast.

We got Jimmy and I.

We got both you and I and Leia.

That's, you know, that's a beef.

We got you versus Chris Olson.

Which, hold on, let's go back to Leia.

Yeah.

I find Leia incredibly entertaining and this doesn't need to be a beef.

But like, she's outspoken, I'm outspoken, your outspoken.

Like, this is, I think this is kind of one-sided beef.

Like, she says mean stuff to us and about us all the time,

but I honestly think it's kind of funny.

Like, so it doesn't need to be a beef from our end on that one.

Really smart.

I don't think I've actually ever even said bad things without Leia either.

This is what's confusing and I think that like Leia,

the people that Leia has abused, I think all have Stockholm syndrome,

you, me, Chris Callie.

Like, where, like, and Chris Callie says it's all the time.

He's like, he's like, I actually really enjoy Leia,

even though she's yelling at my face and threatening me and all this other things.

Like, I enjoy it.

I, I have not done the same thing.

I was like, she, she at least speaks her mind, whatever.

Even though for some reason she just goes after me relentlessly,

I still, I still appreciate it.

So, you know, Leia, the invitation is still always open.

We are happy to be your BFFs again,

or you can continue hating us.

It will enjoy it all the same.

We are indifferent.

But you got one.

You got you and you and Jimmy is that one's another one that's kind of just out of nowhere.

Yeah, that is like the, once again, that's like somebody that just,

I think I became his punching bag and every single episode I get to listen to either,

like I said, I think I said this in the last part, but master class by Jimmy of always

yelling at somebody else and then throwing me in there randomly with a disc,

also a compliment.

Like literally the nobody likes Jim Klaus and even Niko who has no redeeming quality,

people still might like him.

I'm like, okay, what is happening with him?

Or he'll be like, he's got a way with it.

Oh my god, all the time, you'll just be like, oh yeah, you know, the other day,

he was like, oh yeah, there was like this good take that that that deep shit Niko had.

I couldn't believe it.

And I was like, oh, I think I said like maybe Colin John should play with Ben in men's only,

right? Like when they were doing the trade, I was like, just get Colin to play.

And they can play men's together.

They know how to play.

And I think that might be better than Matt's.

I don't know.

Then you find the other person for mixed.

Jimmy literally says,

great idea from that deep shit Niko who's living in his mom's basement.

I'm like, I don't understand how you do it.

But kudos to you.

I'm impressed.

But yeah, that's an interesting beef.

I don't know.

I'm not exactly sure where I stand there.

Just like I said, punching bag, I guess.

You know what?

We need to get you and Jimmy and me and Tyler and do a crossover pod in New York.

We did one with me, Jimmy Tyler and Thomas in New York a couple of years ago.

I'll do it.

I mean, that would be that'd be peak entertainment for me.

I probably wouldn't even say anything.

I would just let you guys go go at it.

I think we do that.

And then maybe we have some kind of like de-Cathalon.

I think I'd be like, let's play like a match at pickleball.

We could do like a beer Olympics.

We can play board games.

Like we can have like a day against them.

And we just compete against them in all things.

And then Jimmy can talk as much shit as he wants to.

Also, other idea means a pickleball.

If you are listening, I would appreciate.

Maybe if you can take me and Jimmy Miller and a few other people.

And you can you can make a skinny.

And then you can just give us like skinny names.

Like, I don't know.

I don't know the other day.

I feel like we need propane, or Ariana Grande diet.

Like, yeah, I'll be the Ariana, oh my gosh.

Just have me melt away.

I don't know what my nickname would be,

but I'm sure it's something with a GLP one.

So, anyway, that's just just an idea.

I'd always like to see what I would look like, you know, in shape.

So, yeah, so we got those.

We had Zayn with the service rule changes.

And then Zayn and Chris Olson.

Oh, yeah, easy number one.

Long standing beef.

Enemy of the pod.

Enemy of the pod.

I thought we weren't allowed to say his name, actually.

Me and Gino the righty as well.

Fuck that.

Both of those guys, Voldemort and I don't know who the other person is,

but who could be.

But I'm not sure if you saw this, it was the most

Chris Olson thing I've ever seen is, you know,

the more I learned about him, the more that you like, you go,

oh, yeah, that makes sense.

That makes sense.

That makes sense, right?

Like, you see him, like, he does paddle review and stuff.

And then you find out, you know, the lore is,

he does, he did speedcubing, which you're like, you know,

Rubus cubes and he's like, okay, that makes sense.

And then just recently, he posted a video of him doing guitar hero.

And I don't think I've ever seen anybody do guitar hero as well as him.

And like, honestly, it's insane.

Like, I said, he's got to do dance dance revolution next,

but you know that there's like a, if you could look at bucket of things

that you know Chris Olson is really good at,

surprises me zero.

So check it out guys, if you want to see Chris Olson do.

It's one of some other things that Chris does well.

I bet you he types like 300 words per moment.

Oh, it took classes.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

We always talk about how we should have a typing contest

on the pod with all of our guests.

There's no way he's not number one.

But he's got a dust and a bright with typing.

Uh, yeah.

I don't know, but he's probably good with knots.

Just in general.

Yeah, yeah.

I can see that.

But he knows how to tie like 15 different variations of a knot.

On time, cell from a tree.

Hmm.

I can see him having two or three

recipes that he's really good at cooking.

Maybe in the lead, Yelper.

Hmm.

Yeah, I suppose.

Although, you know, yeah, I can see it.

I can see it.

I don't know.

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

If anybody else has ideas.

Oh, you know what?

I can see him totally being a fucking cup stacker.

That's the best one.

That's the best one.

Can you imagine, Chris?

I absolutely can't imagine.

And Chris, if you're watching this,

we need video of this within the week.

You can practice as much as you want.

So.

Yes.

Chris, give us your best cup stack within

by the next by the next pickle pod episode

your best time.

All right.

Well, should we actually talk about pickle ball at some point

this episode?

I think we should.

Okay, I gotta go to the bathroom first.

Okay.

All right.

We didn't actually talk about the results from last week.

We didn't.

You gotta talk about the results.

All right, so let's talk.

Getting to a great idea is hard in college.

Non-sensical essays, cringed inducing presentations,

and seemingly unsolvable problem sets.

But then the first thought becomes a final thesis.

Jumbled slides transform into a polished keynote

and that midterm assignment gets a lot less mid.

Because the road to great ideas is littered with bad ones.

You just have to keep going until something clicks.

Great ideas start on Mac.

Find out more on apple.com slash college.

Talk about the actual results of last week.

Palm Beach takes us out 3131.

Honestly, pretty good matches all around competitive.

No real like blowouts.

But yeah, they advanced.

We found out if they're going to be playing against the new jersey 5s this week.

And yeah, so any takeaways from you watching that series?

Chicago versus Palm Beach?

No, I mean, I was surprised how much you guys were able to hang in it.

I thought you guys had your chances to take them to the DreamRaker.

Didn't work out.

But no offense to your team.

And I think you guys were playing good.

Well, but I think Palm Beach is I'm surprised they are now like

the weakest team left in MLP for sure.

Their women did not look particularly scary.

I think somebody mentioned it seems like Jade Calmoto and Catherine Perento last year,

where they were unbeatable for the middle of the season.

And now they look definitely beatable.

And then I was just surprised that they bench Tyson.

Right? They pulled the Zayn Navratil, bench Tyson.

And I tweeted, I don't think Casey's the hot hand.

I don't think he's the play.

But when I looked back at the record that Tyson and Decal had,

bad, real bad, like 7 and 15, it was terrible.

And so like, I'm surprised.

And if that's kind of their struggle and men's,

I think that they're not going to have a chance going forward.

Yeah, I don't know.

Just because on paper, I feel like Decal and Tyson,

like you see that team, you're like, okay, that's a pretty good team, right?

Yeah.

Like they fit well together.

And I would have had no idea that they were like, had a losing record like that.

Especially because the royals were doing well.

And then I think Sophia and Tyson had a big streak

where they were doing quite well too.

Yeah.

Yeah, interesting.

And now it'll be interesting to see if they get to a dream breaker,

if Tyson is in for the dream breaker lineup.

I don't know.

Gotta be.

Yeah.

But if they go to a dream breaker, they're toast.

They don't even think they need to put Tyson in.

You can just rest.

Any dream breaker that team goes in, they're going to lose.

Yeah, they're pretty cooked.

Well, especially against the fives.

So yeah, I mean, I think the fives chose the royals

because on paper, the royals can be a tricky team.

But when you've got, when you can pretty easily take out the other team's best line,

I think it's a good matchup, right?

When you have Georgia and Annelie going up against their best line, which is

Sophia and Tina, who are I think 26 and 7 or 27 and 6, something like that.

Not undefeated.

Not undefeated.

Yeah, it's solid.

So, and then I mean, they're the favorites in every thing and huge favorites in the dream

breaker.

The only thing I mentioned in my video is I bet you they put Annelie and Noay against Casey

and Sophia and then Fed and Georgia against Deco and Tina because last time they had those flipped,

Deco and Tina had a match point against Noay and Annelie and then Sophia and Casey beat

Georgia and Fed.

So I would imagine they switched those matchups and I don't see any way this is not a 2-0 series

for the fives.

I mean, the thing for me with the fives with these matchups is I just want to pick the team

that I can beat in a dream breaker because the odds that I even get to a dream breaker are slim,

but you play the ranchers, something happens magical, they get to a dream breaker,

they could be scary, the flash would be scary, Brooklyn definitely great dream breaker team,

but the royals terrible.

So there's no way, there's no universe, bulletin board material for all of you, you know,

Palm Beach Royals fans and the person, the very active person on Twitter that owns the Palm Beach

Royals account.

There is no chance that you guys will ever go 3-1, the best case scenario as you go 2-2

and then New Jersey 5 is just going to, you know, whip that ass in a dream breaker.

100% lock New Jersey 5s, make sure to have them.

Yep, all right.

So the next series we had in Dallas was the Dallas Flash versus the Las Vegas Night Owls

and not super interesting, the only thing that it was interesting is,

did you see the just absolutely blown challenge call?

Yes, like where the ball.

So in the first game of the first match, the Las Vegas Night Owls,

unbelievable, like super clearly hit the ball into the back of the other players' paddle and it

goes over, right?

So like Calle is behind Zoe and they like hit the ball deflects off of both paddles and

goes over it. And you can see it clearly on the replay too and the way the ball bounces everything

and somehow or another, this doesn't get overturned.

Like, first off, I am so, I hate this AI system. I think it's brutally bad.

Like there are so many times where it's off compared to what you see by like

an inch and a half, which makes all of the difference on every single call.

It's like, yeah, it's generally in the same area where the ball actually bounces,

but like, it's not where the ball actually bounces.

Yeah, I'm not a fan either. I'm a fan of the speed, but and I guess I'm not sure how it works.

At least it's not a fake system where you magically put a circle.

It's based on some kind of technology, even if the technology is terrible.

So I'm still okay with just watching with your eyes.

I don't love that. I would rather just watch the shitty video.

Yeah, I agree. I agree. I think your best judgment based on that.

Like we've, I, yeah, we've, I think, overdone it. And I think there's absolutely a reason

that they don't show the actual replay anymore and they just show you the dot because the

dot is not matching up with where the ball actually goes.

And I think maybe the Dallas Flash is the only team that is nice enough to like let what

happened fly like, you know, between JW and Ogi and Danny being new and Alex, like, they just

like took it. Like, if I'm just imagining, I just, I still remember, you know, like the,

the Matt Wright, Travis Redenmeyer, Federico, you, what I like, the call gets is wrong.

Like, I feel like you're calling like Samine on the phone.

It's like, hey, what the fuck is happening right now?

Like, I fixed this, this call right now or I'll call Tom Dunn. I don't know, you know, like,

call the head of the house. Read it somewhere.

When it's not shown, we don't know like what they're seeing.

That's fair. Right. So it's hard to be, hard to be like that adamant about it.

Like we've got to assume that the people who are watching this in the booth are like,

with all the angles available or like getting it correct.

They're not getting the very easy angle that is on our TV screen. Like, maybe there needs to be

somebody on the, I guess that's why there's no technology on the bench. But if you had somebody

watching a big, a wall TV, you'd know that was a mistake. So, and it cost them because I think

there was like five, five or something like that switched and then Vegas goes on a run and wins that

game. Yeah. Okay. So Dallas, they lose women's, they then, they have a close match in the men's,

they win that and then after that, it was all downhill. They win the three one the first day,

they win three zero in like half an hour the second day and they move on to San Diego.

I think the most interesting or the best matchup was Texas versus Atlanta, two Dream Rakers.

What were your thoughts on that one? Yeah. So I mean, I thought I was going to go to one,

it went to zero. So I thought I was going to be close no matter what. And I think it didn't

like sell me anymore or dissuade me anymore on the ranchers. So what the, when I think about the

ranchers team for the whole playoffs are hope they get to a Dream Raker, hope they win a Dream Raker.

Like I think two two is kind of like their ceiling, but they could, they're a team that I think

could beat anybody. I think their women are their weak spot, like their women's doubles. I

think they lost both women's doubles. Let's see. Now I'm trying to remember. I think they did.

The first day they lost both doubles. Yeah. And the second day I know they split doubles.

I think that the yeah, that's a great question. But I just think like that that's their weak spot

is women's doubles. They're they lost to doubles both. They lost women's doubles both days.

They're they're mixed is crazy good, right? Like Eric's playing insane whether it be with Leia or

Lane, this he seems to be on fire, right? And I was hoping that Lane would be available for the

playoffs. It sounds like she may not be, which I think is a is a hit, but Eric and and Leia have

been playing fantastic. So maybe it's really not that big of an issue. So no, I still think that's

a team that I don't want to see in the playoffs. And we'll get to that in a second when we talk

about who picked two, but I think they're scary, even though they're also vulnerable.

But even if Lane's healthy, I just don't know where you slot her in. Like do you put her in instead

of Caitlin and then you put Leia and Nico back together? I don't know. Like yeah, I'm not sure exactly

where you slot her in. So yeah, two Dreambreaker wins for Texas and two pretty decisive Dreambreaker

wins. Atlanta is not a horrible Dreambreaker team. We got Jay, Jay, Mari and Kyle Euler, who's a good

single-spire. They lost like 21-14 and then 21-11. But yeah, anyway, their Dreambreaker is not

going to be great next week against the team that we'll discuss. Final matchup was this one was

perplexing to me. It was Brooklyn versus SoCal. And we talked about it in our little live session.

So Brooklyn gets Rachel Roarbacher back in the women's doubles lineup for the first time since

after New York video board incident. And they lose 12-10 to Megan and Caitlin, which

like honestly, that could happen if Rachel is fully healthy or not. Like Megan and Caitlin is a good

team and Caitlin had herself a weekend as well. She played great. Brooklyn wins men's mixed one.

They blow six match points against Caitlin and Will to force and so SoCal then forces a Dreambreaker

where they lose 24-22. And honestly, one of the craziest ends of a match is I've seen.

Pretty crazy, crazy first day in that one. Yeah, I mean, every time I thought SoCal was going to

roll over, they did not. Caitlin Campbell played like the best player on the court for a majority

of that match, including her Dreambreaker, Will survived sacrificial lamb to Chris Hayworth.

And I was like, man, this is not even fair. The Brooklyn Pickleball team, I feel like they're like,

we're going to get the monkey off your back, Chris. You've had a couple of bad Dreambreakers.

We're just going to feed. We're going to give you Will McKinnon just to get your, you know, it's a

slumpbuster. You know what I mean? So just you get Will so that you can smoke him and you can

feel better. And then it was only, I think, seven five in favor of Chris Will saving match points maybe

to get, you know, to Megan Disson who just got rolled the entire Dreambreaker.

Yeah. Well, they had, no, they had Caitlin versus Hannah Black after that. And then Jackie

has finished it off against Megan for the 24-22. Next day, Rachel is back out of women's doubles.

So that's got to scare you if you are a Brooklyn fan, if you're Jake Galvar. So Cal wins that one,

11-4, but then Brooklyn wins the next three. So let's talk about Brooklyn's matchup. They were

the fifth seed. So basically the fives chose the Palm Beach Royals for the reasons that we discussed.

The St. Louis shock, I think, had a relatively easy choice of going with the Texas ranchers.

Could have potentially gone with Dallas in that position, maybe?

I think so. Hear me out, Zane. I would have picked Dallas because, just like I said with the

Jersey fives, I would rather have Dallas in a Dreambreaker than the Texas ranchers in a Dreambreaker.

I think Alchstrong might be a slight weak link there when it comes to women's doubles. Her

and Danny have not been fantastic. But their Dreambreaker, I definitely do not think is as good

as the Texas ranchers. So I would have taken a Dallas flash. Most likely you win 3-1 or 3-0,

but if it goes to Dreambreaker, I like that more. So St. Louis shock, I think you made the wrong decision,

but it could have gone either way. I don't know. I mean, I think that they're the favorites at all four

lines, like pretty decent favorites at all four lines in doubles. You're a good favorite in

women's doubles. Kate and Anna win that 85% of the time, 90% of the time.

I guess the ranchers. Against the ranchers. Men's, I mean, Nico and Eric can get hot and they

did beat them 12-10 the last time they played. But I still think playoffs, Hayden and Gabe win that

75, 80% of the time. That's a weird thing to say because playoff Hayden and Gabe are not necessarily

the best team. You know what I mean for the last couple of years. I think they're going to be locked

in. Like, yeah, I think you do. You can, you have two options. You can put Anna and Hayden

against their better team of Eric and whoever he plays with. It's Leah or if it's Lane or if it's

KK and you're still a favorite there. Or you could avoid that, put your better team in the mixed

doubles slot two and guarantee a mixed win. And you're then a huge favorite in the Dreambreaker.

Like, remember how good the shock are in the Dreambreaker. You put hunter against Eric

on scenes. You put, let's say Gabe or Hayden against Nico and maybe he's a little bit of a favorite

there toss up. You got Kate versus Leah. Kate's a slight favorite there. But then you got, yeah,

Anna versus KK. And KK is a huge favorite. I don't think that Dreambreaker is like a done deal.

I think that's like a 50% you're right. Yeah. Say and learn and pick the ball in real time.

You need hunter to step up big against that team. And going through that like,

the ranchers might be a top four Dreambreaker team. Yeah. I think there might be a top three dream.

Yeah, exactly. I'm a top four. There's a lot of good dreams. I'm the shock. I try to avoid a Dreambreaker

there actually and try. I think yes. So you have to put, I think you put one versus one.

The hard thing though is like Eric's beating an elite, you know, and in mix this year. Like

that's scary. So that's why I'm like, I'd much rather play Ogi, one in a Dreambreaker to

just in general. Like I feel like I'm not afraid of Ogi. Like I'm afraid of Eric and Nico. So

Yeah, but you would be talk about playoffs though. Ogi is a guy who shows up in playoffs

every single year. That is true. Yeah, that is true. And good in the Dreambreaker. Ogi does not

get enough Dreambreaker credit. I just think like, I don't know, I feel like I feel like

Dallas has some momentum. Yeah. They're a little bit a little bit scarier in the doubles. I think

St. Louis thinks like, all right, we take this, we take this before a Dreambreaker most of the time.

Yeah. But I do think the hardest decision came next for the LA mad drops. Yeah. We're left with

choosing either Dallas or

or Brooklyn. And so that's a that's an interesting one because a healthy Brooklyn team is scary.

But a healthy Brooklyn team is like finding a fucking four leaf clover. Like it just

it just never seems to happen. Like

uh, but Dallas playing good ball. I think you've got to be just more afraid of

Rachel coming back to full force for Brooklyn. So I do think I do think LA probably made the

the right pick taking Dallas there. Yeah. I think so too. And I use the same as that. I

think Dallas has the worst Dreambreaker team. I'm not saying that they're bad. But if you could

at least go 50-50, I like my chances against Dallas. Yeah. I think that's the way to go.

And part of me, and this is not all right. Rachel, if you're listening to this, this is not

a slide on you. But part of me was like, I wonder if they rope a dope a little bit with Rachel. Like,

hey, I we're good enough to win without her right now. Let's keep her looking very

vulnerable and injured. And then next week she's going to come out. She's just going to beat

ass. You know, like, who knows? Like, I don't know. Maybe she's going to be better in a week. But

with Rachel full force, I don't want to play that team if I'm anybody. So I think you made the

right decision if you're in the madrops. Yeah. I don't think that Brooklyn's messing around with

the lineups like that. I like, you can't expect Rachel to come in and play amazing if you've been

keeping her out of line up for two months. Like, so I don't think that's the case. I understand

the logic, but I don't think that's actual like what's going on in practice. Do you think you

give her one of those shots that they give like Patrick Maholms, you know, in her knee and magically

she'll be better in like a week. Those play the football players recover from crazy stuff in like

a matter of minutes. I don't know. But I think that also makes the Columbus Liders, Brooklyn,

Pickleball team matchup, the must watch matchup of the weekend. Yeah. I mean, I think L.A. versus

Dallas is going to be good. I remember Dallas beat them back in San Diego last time. But that was

also apathetic Ben who lost 11-3 in men's and then 11-1 in mixed. So like, I would definitely expect

they beat them in a dream breaker with Ben losing both matches. So I just, I don't know. I don't see

that happening again. I think that the madrops, I'm hoping to one. Like, I'm hoping Dallas steals one,

but I don't think they steal two out of the three. No, I don't think so either. And I think that

matchup comes down to who's a better player Ben Johns or JW Johnson. For the last month, it's been

JW. Ben is definitely the better player overall. Is he going to bring it in the playoffs? I don't know.

But that I think that's the difference in the matchup. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if we get sleepy Ben,

like, yeah, they could be cooked. But it was just unfortunately we have to like factor that into

any of the predictions. Last but not least, yeah, I think the series of the weekend is going to be

Columbus versus Brooklyn. Interesting because Columbus hasn't played in like forever. I don't think

Columbus has played since they didn't play Orlando. They didn't play Chicago. I don't think Columbus

has played since San Diego, which was, which will be a month between matches. So that's the idea

of interesting idea of, yeah, they haven't played since they lost to Dallas back in San Diego a

month ago. Rest versus rust. Brooklyn, on the other hand, has played every single weekend since.

They have played Chicago. They played Orlando. They played Dallas and they're going to be playing

Newport. So this is the ultimate rest versus rust. What do you think?

Yeah, that's a great question. I think I like the Brooklyn Pickleball team here in this matchup.

And I think it's just like, I haven't seen a like completely convincing Columbus Liders team

all year really. And on paper, I feel like that team should get it done. The Columbus Liders.

But no, I think this is one of those ones that might go three Dreambreakers. And if Chris

Hayworth is playing like Chris Hayworth, they win. Actually, no, I don't know. Now I'm tossed

in the Dreambreaker and now I'm thinking maybe the Sliders might win that. Honestly, I want to

abstain somehow from making a pick on this. Yeah, I'm going to go. I'm going.

All right, I'll take Sliders. I think that Andre is going to have that team like in shape and

ready. Like Andre is going to show up ready. Playoffs Andre is a thing. Like I think the level of

intensity just goes up a little bit. I'm taking Sliders there. And I think it's a, I think the

Sliders, the Sliders are a good Dreambreaker team. Like if I'm the Sliders, I put Diasque

against Chris Hayworth because I think Andre is long enough to neutralize big passes. I put

Crum against Alshon. You've got Paris versus Hannah Blatt, which should be a blowout. And then

you've got Tyra versus Jackie, which should be a win for Tyra, but Jackie's obviously quite,

quite, quite good. But I still think Tyra goes positive in that one. So I don't know. I

better Dreambreaker team. I've been underwhelmed by Brooklyn's Dreambreakers. Like for Christian and

and Hayworth aren't getting us the eight fours that we would expect. Hannah Blatt is honestly,

I think should probably be in the four spot behind Jackie. I mean, just not because Hannah's bad,

but because Jackie is so freaking underrated in a in Dreambreaker. But yeah, I think the biggest,

the biggest difference there is going to be a Paris versus Hannah, you know, 62 or

eight four type of spot. Yeah, I think, and this is maybe where Anna Brights theory comes into play. But

like it might just for Brooklyn, it might just come down to the fact that they get to play their men,

a third round before the women of Columbus. I think it's one of those things where, and you see

you like, can we survive this match up to get to the one that we love? If they can survive to the

third round of women's, they got it. There's no way that the Columbus doesn't win, but they have to

survive Chris Hayworth and Christian Aushon. You know, Aush Krum is hot and cold as well. So sometimes

he looks great sometimes. He looks very beatable. And then Andre, I think is like one of those

Yolo experiences where he's actually a pretty good Dreambreaker person for four points. He's long.

So I don't know. I think they can survive, but I mean, honestly, if you're, it's a betting market.

It's like, got to be 50, 50 even money, right? Those two teams, like they play 100 times probably 50, 50.

Yeah. I mean, I would pick Columbus as 57.5 to 42.5 in a Dreambreaker.

Is I think that I think maybe the difference and you used to set it is, I trust the captain

Andre to ask you maybe more than anybody on Brooklyn. Like Rachel might, is Rachel the captain of

that team? I feel like she might be the most outspoken leader figure, but she's also hurt. So it's

hard to be captain in that experience. I think Andre, Andre has more of that playoff mentality,

leadership mentality than that Christian Aushon. I mean, I also think that

I think that the women singles has actually more value in a way where in women singles, I think

there's less variance in a Dreambreaker based on the way they play, right? So when you are,

when you're grinding in a women singles point from the baseline, generally the better player is

just going to win those longer rallies. But when you're somebody who just comes in and charges

in a men's doubles, or in a men's singles, like Andre is going to, there's a lot more randomness

involved. And so I think the spreads between the top men and the bottom men are a lot smaller than

the spread between the top women and the bottom women. Like I would be very confident that

Paris is going 62 at the very least. But Hayworth could go, he could go 10-2 against Andre. You could

have a situation where Andre is up 75. Like there's just so much more variation in the men's singles

and there is the women's singles based on the style of play in my opinion. That's a great point.

I mean, you saw it with the Soca Hard Aids where like, we'll be able to make 100th ranked

ranked player goes 57. Annelie plays the 100th ranked women's player and it's a hundred.

She's going 12-0 every time. Yeah. She's not losing a point. So anyway, it'll be interesting to see.

So that's why I've got the Columbus is the favorite. I think Paris owns that three matchup.

You're doing a great job talking me out of my pick, but I'm sticking with Brooklyn,

I'm ready to eat crow next week though. I'm not confident. What? Is that his? What do you say?

Eat crow. Is that my size? I got a little good. I don't know.

Getting to a great idea is hard in college. Nonsensical essays, cringe-inducing presentations,

and seemingly unsolvable problem sets. But then the first thought becomes a final thesis.

Jumbled slides transform into a polished keynote and that midterm assignment gets a lot less mid

because the road to great ideas is littered with bad ones. You just have to keep going until something

clicks. Great ideas start on Mac. Find out more on apple.com slash college. Oh, I've never heard that

before. It made you a wrong face humiliation back down after taking a strong confident position.

The only difference is I'm not taking a strong confident position. I am definitely already regretting it.

We've been taking recommendations on the draft from the discord. Today we are drafting fast food

items for our MLP team. Everybody wants to see whether or not the walker is going to be your

number one singles or whatnot. The way it's going to work is we are going to draft six fast food

items to fill out an MLP team. You get two mains, two sides, and two drinks slash desserts.

I love it. I love it. Are we doing snake draft? We are doing snake draft. Do you want the first pick

or the next two? I want the next two. Okay. All right. I am going to take the double, double

in an Albert as my first, my first pick. Sold. Sold. Give me McDonald's Coke. Give me McDonald's

fries. I am loving this start. There is nothing better. Everybody knows this. It is scientifically

fact. There is nothing better than a McDonald's Coke. Best soda there is. You, you, you, okay. One,

I'm not going to do what I do every single draft, which is take a variant of what you already picked,

but McDonald's Diet Coke is better than regular Coke. I swear to God, I will never podcast with

you again if you pick a McDonald's Diet Coke. Get out of here. I'm sick of your toy story three

bullshit. Everybody knows. Everybody knows Diet Coke is the best. You, you, you fucked up,

but I'm not going to pick Diet Coke. I'm going to win separately. All right. I am now going to take

the best fry, not McDonald's fries. McDonald's fries used to be the best, but then they changed

their recipe anyway. I am taking the waffle fries from Chick-fil-A. That's my fry pick. Then I am

going to take from everybody's least favorite, but maybe everybody's favorite. Taco Bell. I am taking

the crunch wrap supreme. That is a top tier main, give me the crunch wrap supreme. Yeah.

Nico, I feel like our audience isn't the 230 AM stone Taco Bell crowd, so I feel like that one

might miss. I love it. All right. Give me a spicy chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A.

Ooh. Okay. We like those. And give me a dairy queen blizzard.

Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one. Dairy queen was not even on my board. I forgot

that they're fast food. All right. I am going to take for the dessert. Give me, in my opinion,

a better blizzard. Give me the McFlurry. Oreo McFlurry. Oh, stop. Okay, come on. Let's,

let's be adults here for a second. Nico. Oreo McFlurry is not better than a blizzard.

So good. It's the right amount. It's not too big, not too much, and dairy queen can't kiss my ass.

Now, for the drink, give me, so you're already McDonald's heavy. I'm Taco Bell heavy. Give me a

ball-ha blast from Taco Bell. I respect the game there. I respect the game. All right. Now, I've got

two more. Give me the good old Wisconsin culvers butter burger to die for. Unbelieveable. And you

know what? Fuck me up with some cheese curds, too. Let's go. This is a perfect draft. Do I, I think I have...

Oh, I think I still have one more pick, sadly. Just don't even do it. You're cut. I am cooked. I am cooked.

For sure. You, you, this is like an East Coast versus West Coast draft.

Because we got in and out for me. You got culvers for you. I don't actually find that good.

I know Slander, right? But I need one more side.

It's not good. And... Oh my gosh. Give me five guys, Cajun fries.

That entire gigantic basket of fries that they put in the bag. Give me five guys, fries.

I mean, that's like having your season on the line and just selling. You sold. You needed

it. You needed a home run there. And you hit a single, but you needed a home run.

I think this is going to be the absolute biggest beatdown that we've had. I think I drafted

the perfect team. Yeah, but the people... You're going to be surprised. Culver is not as big as,

as you think. That should basically be... That should be the thing. Guys, if you like

in and out burger more than culvers, just pick my team. And if, if culvers is better,

then you don't know ball. That might be the only spot that you that you have me is the burger.

But my secondary, my secondary, and honestly, that was my second. That was my line to

main was the culvers. I still have spicy chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. That's a good sandwich.

That is a good sandwich. I don't know. Crunchyash the cream. We both feel pretty confident about

this. This might be the time that you break your losing streak. I don't think so, but you are on

that... I don't know. You're on the Columbus. You are the Carolina hogs of drafting right now.

You are. I had such a good Disney movie draft until I didn't know a fourth Disney movie to pick.

And I just was like, what's one that I actually know? Cinderella. I had such a good team until I

picked Cinderella at the end. The movie that you watch most as a kid, Cinderella.

Oh yeah, but this is the week that I break that streak. 100% take it to the bank, your coach.

All right. All right. And with that, as mentioned, we have Cameron Boultez on to talk about

the most inspiring inspirational pickleball project. Stay tuned, check it out.

And with that, here's Cameron. Well, thanks a lot. We have Cameron Boultez here with us.

Cameron, we were diverging from the normal slapstick, silly humor that we have throughout the pod.

All the time, hopefully people enjoy that. But we had a story, Cameron, you reached out to me,

and I'll let you share more of the story, but that really touched me. I shared immediately with Zane,

and Zane's first reaction was, let's get Cameron on the pod, because I mean, this is

I think an incredible use of energy coming from a difficult situation. So Cameron,

why don't I just give you the floor and kind of let me share a little bit about your son and

what you guys are doing? Yeah, so thanks. I guess I would say first,

before I get into my son, we had this tragic thing happen. And you kind of hit this panic wall of

like, man, I don't know what to do. And he passed away. We have an incredible 16-year-old son

who passed away a week ago. And everybody was like, well, what do you want to do in lieu of flowers?

And what do you want to do? And our son loved pickleball so much. Yeah, I can't wait to tell you

maybe more about why I love pickleball, but we just had the idea that it would be awesome to be

able to do something besides flowers for him. And we live in a little town in eastern North Carolina,

about 10,000 people. And we technically we have two pickleball courts in town, but there's no

lights and they're in a neighborhood. And you know, you can't play after dark because it frustrates

folks. And so Solomon and all of his buddies would go out at nighttime and they would drive to the

only place with lights, which was tennis courts. And they'd use their headlights and the lights that

were sort of there and play pickleball on tennis courts with lines, right? And like, I like to play

pickleball too. And I kept being like, hey man, but on tennis nets, like, and they just don't care.

You know, like they want to hang out. There's like 30 or 40 dudes that would roll in guys and girls

that would like roll out there and play until midnight. Like his curfew was 12, you know? And we'd be

like, come home and they would, it's hot here in buggy. And then he would be like dripping wet

when he came home from playing for five hours. You know, he'd get off work. He was a lifeguard. And

he and his best friends would all play pickleball literally every night of the summer. So late. So we

had the idea of wanting to build a place that he and his friends could go, but also just anybody

could go and play. Regardless of it was nighttime or daytime. And it actually maybe had real pickleball

nets and courts and that kind of thing. So that's kind of what started this for sure. So yeah.

Well, it's like, it's like a, like a field of dreams situation. Just makes you, you know, building it

out. I'm just like imagining like the imagery of, you know, all of the car headlights just trying

to shine some light on the court and just like, you know, you get to that point where I always say,

I'm just kind of sad where it's like pickleball sometimes gets less fun the more you play it. It's

because you start getting picky or particular. I'm like, I'll only play with a lifetime pickleball.

Right, right. Same, same, same year. So the best for us where it's like, I'll play on the tennis court.

I'll play in the dark. I'll play with like, you know, Colin Johns won't play in a professionally

lighted indoor facility and your son is playing with headlights, you know, outside on the street. So

like, I mean, that's like, I think that's what people, everybody fell in love with pickleball

doing similar to the way your son did. So man, 100%. I think one of the things it was like, you know,

so I want to be good at pickleball and not, but I like to play a lot. And, you know, I try and like

have like tips for beating your friend, you know, like, hey, man, have you figured out like a

third shot drop? Like, you know, like, this is going to help be. And he'd be like, I don't care

about that, man. Like, you just, you just want to rip, man. Like, you just want to go out there to

have fun and he plays with an old paddle. That was mine. And I was like, do you need a new over grip?

And he would look at me like, I was speaking Greek. Like, what? No, like, he wants to go hang out with

friends and play. And you know, maybe that's like, what's the coolest about pickleball is like,

you can be that guy, you know, like, you can go out with a bunch of high school friends and just

rip for five hours. And I'm, or you could grind away on this one specific shot. And then like,

it just checks so many boxes for so many people, you know, like, and the community around it. Like,

you guys are a perfect example. Like, I was kind of out of law. And I was like, man, I don't even

know who to ask her. And you were literally the first person that I sent something to. And I,

you know, my wife and I both love your podcasts. And we were just like, oh, maybe all those

send the flyer. And like, 15 minutes later, you were like, can you be on the podcast? And I was

like, if there isn't a better affirmation that like, this is the best group of people and the best

sport of all time, like, that was it. Like, just the community around it, you guys know. I mean,

you guys see it on all the levels, Zane from being like one of the very best in the world.

And, you know, just to Solomon who just wants to go and play with friends at nighttime. And

it just, there's a space for everybody in pickleball, which is so cool. And cool for us as

parents of kids to have something like that for kids to go do is awesome. Yeah, it's, uh,

the pickleball community is definitely tight knit and unmatched. That's for sure. And I think

evidence by I took a look at the go fund me right after Nico sent it. And I think what yesterday,

it was at like, yeah, $40,000 dollars already. I think with today, we're like over 55,000 in the

matter of a few days. So it's just been unbelievable, man. And you know, we, not to owe to all the

talking here, but like we went and that talked to Parkson Rack in town because I was worried like,

hey, we're going to raise money and they were just awesome. They were like, man, we're going to

give you a bunch of different possible places. And we want to do everything we can do to help

make this come true. There was no red tape. There was no like this or that. It was like, yeah,

we're going to make it happen. However, whatever it takes to make it happen. So that felt awesome.

So cool. I didn't realize I didn't realize this happened just a week ago. So I mean, the fact that

that we've already gotten so much traction so quickly is, I mean, it's incredible. And hopefully,

we're not even close to the end of that. What would you say is the overall vision with everything

you're able to turn? You know, like, I think I'd love, you know, I'd love to build enough courts

that, and I don't know if that's six courts or what, but that people feel like they can actually go

there and get on a court and play, you know, last night I went for a walk just different times

the day are tough in different ways. And I walked by the courts that are kind of by our house.

And this was just a testament to how great pickle ball is, but there's these two courts that I was

telling you all about. And there was about 15 or 20 people out there. And one of the courts, our

courts have like no rules, right? Like there's no rotate in nobody's figured out how to do like,

and there were like two dudes and jeans and cowboy boots, ripping singles. And it was like,

oh, okay, that's what's going on right now. But, you know, I'll place where there's enough courts

where people can go and play. And like when my wife came down the other day, she was like,

there's a hard morning. And then she just said, you know, I just was the first thing she talked about

in the morning was getting these courts going and like having lights and maybe even having a

cover on a quarter to so that if there was a kid like Solomon that was struggling and

that there'd be a, you know, a place to go with friends kind of kind of rain or shine day or night,

you know, that there's a place to show up and play and that people will be there and that will have,

you know, that's free. And you can just roll in there and play. And it doesn't matter if you suck.

And can't hardly play or if you're killing it, you know, and clearly to Solomon did that,

or I would try and give him all these tips and it just, he didn't care. He just wanted to be with

people and it was so fun on that that side of things. Yeah, can you tell us a little bit more about

Solomon? Like, yeah, what was, what was this? I mean, what was your favorite pickleball memory with him?

Yeah, yeah, sure. Let us know. Let us know Solomon a little bit.

Yeah, so Solomon was actually, he was born in Kampala, Uganda. So he's been home with us

since he was about 18 months old and he was a state like a multiple time state champion gymnast.

So he loved gymnastics and he was incredible. And when he got to high school, it was so important to

like be able to do high school team sports. You know, gymnastics is so singular in so many ways.

And he was, he killed it like he just did all the sports like every season he, he did cross-country

and he'd never swam before. And he was like, well, I want to be on the swim team because that's

a winter sport that I could do with the team. And so he did that and then played tennis for the

first time, Zever. And like totally figured it out and was, you know, he just loved being on a team

with people. Like that was special to him. And when we had his service on Saturday, you know,

like a consistent theme was, you know, people were like, well, he was always like wearing me out to go

play pickleball, you know, like I get texts and his best friend, like they had made plans for

on Monday to go play. And that was, you know, consistent. He loved doing that with people. And I

think more than anything, he just loved being with people. And you know, it kind of feels

perfect in all the right ways. You know, another, you know, just pickleball is one of those sports

where you can be with people. You can talk trash with your friends. He can hang out. I think you

all know better than anybody. Like you can be terrible and still go have a great time. It doesn't,

this like barrier to entry is so low. As evidenced by like the dudes and jeans and cowboy boots play

in the other night, like you can just come right as you are. And Solomon did, he did a great job

of that. He just showed up as he was and played. Yeah. Well, it's incredible. And

it loved, loved hearing about Solomon. And when I was reading us, like, you know,

you reminded me a little bit about of me, but bad her. Like I was like, oh, like, I was like,

we're in the cross country and swimming and pickleball and tennis. And it just sounds like, you know,

loved everything, loved love spending time, loved love being active. And I think that I'm sure

one thing that drew him to pickleball. And what I, what I love about kind of where you and your

family are putting your energy is like, how much pickleball brings people together, you know,

and like, yeah, there's a lot of adults or kids that that don't have a lot of friends, right?

That don't like don't have a lot of connection. And because of pickleball, they have friends. Like,

you know, like, they're an example. Like they retired. They worked their whole lives. And they

were just like, it was like, they're a media family and work. Then they retired. And I was like,

oh, no, what are they going to do? They found pickleball. And like last night, they were like at a

concert that they'd never go to with friends, like having fun and pictures. It's all because of

pickleball. And so like, I just feel like, you know, this, this project is so impactful. You

know, it's, it's, you know, it's a, you know, great, you know, memorial or, you know, tribute to

Solomon. And also how many people it's going to help. And like, yeah, as much as flab or fantastic,

this pickleball might change other people's lives, I'm sure it's changed more people's lives than

probably almost anything that has come, you know, invogue in the last, you know, 20 years.

No doubt. Mine included, you know, like I, Meg's and I'm a wife and I will be close just like

courts courts are about 40 minutes away from our house. And we'll go play over at this pickleball

club. And like we've met all these people, like the guy I play with is a dude named Jeric who

like I refer to as the walls of Jericho. And like he was at Solomon's service, you know, like,

and I know from nothing but pickleball. And like we got a card and like hundreds of people from

that pickleball club had like signed it. And you know, I don't know where else that happens. I

don't think it does happen in other communities the same way. So and like you said, I think

just having a spot for people to go when there's other kids in Solomon's place or just feels right,

you know, and feels I don't know where else you could set up where kids are going to get show up

or people are going to show up and make friends as easy as it does on the pickleball court. So

we're excited about that for sure. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, just one more testament to that. I looked

yesterday, like I said, and it was at 40,000 and just now already up 60,000 and 290 different

donations. Unbelievable. Yeah. That's got to be. Oh, man, I got like cold chills right now. I,

yeah, hearing you say that I haven't done a good job looking. And so man, just hearing you say

that's like I was driving in my car this morning and had to go take care of something really

sucky that I don't want to deal with. And I just got thinking that I was, you know, I'm like,

I got to buy the new paddle. You know, like I had a coral and then I had to get a coral pro

because better grit, right? And I suck. I'm not good. And I didn't matter. I could play with the

frying pan and be the same. But I was like, man, and this sounds so dumb, but I was like 500 people,

if I've heard people were like, instead of buying a new paddle, we would like kick in towards

these courts, like we'd be done. And I wish I just wanted to. It seems so minor, right? And

but it matters a lot. It's, yeah, it feels like the goal is like right there and totally doable.

And no knock on the coral pro. It's great. But I could have held off, you know, had I known. But yeah.

Yeah, six six zero sponsor of the pod. If you guys are listening, you know, okay. Yeah, man.

Donation buttons right there. I love this. And you know, if anybody's listening, maybe the donation

is your permission to get your next battle. So you hit the donation button and then you can feel

good. Yeah, buy your next battle. It's a win-win. But I mean, I'm sure you guys will make your

cool. I'm sure everybody listening is is inspired. I think so basically for those at home, you can

we'll link the GoFundMe in the bio. We put it on Twitter. I'll try to make sure we get it on

Instagram everywhere I can. We'll share the GoFundMe. We'll share the link to the park project as

well so that you guys kind of see what's happening. And to your point, you know, I think you know,

what I would say is like people listening either you can you can donate or you can share either one

is just valuable. Big time.

It's better and and and if you are if you guys know anybody, sell Kirk, C&D, Nets, whatever,

you know, if you're a court surface person, if you can provide in kind donation to the park,

everybody can do their part. I think these are, you know, I'm going to go on a limb and say,

this is the most important pickleball court project that is currently happening in the country.

So if you want to be a part of it, like we all we would all appreciate it. You know, it couldn't

be a better feeling than than supporting this for sure. Yeah, thank you guys.

So for reference to I just you can Google it. It's a building, Solomon, Boltes, Memorial Pickleball

Courts. It's the GoFundMe. You can find more info there as well if you just want to do that.

And I think my wife, I'm terrible at social media and everything and I think my wife,

it hers is Meg SportsPix on Instagram. I think she's got Link. She's a pro sports photographer.

So she's got a link in there somehow and all that. Yeah, this is actually prompted. This is

you can edit this out. But you know, I listen to you all's podcasts all the time and I hear you

guys talk about like the discord. And so like last night, I was like, I just got to figure out how

what I don't even know what discord meant, you know, like I'm googling discord. Like what does that mean?

And then I like, man, I got like I figured it out. It was so cool to go in there and read all that

stuff. So yeah. Well, thank you guys so much. Y'all are like a testament to why this is the

best community. I don't, you know, this would never happen in baseball or football or tennis or

whatever. Everybody would be too cool. And you guys like are unbelievable, man. I'm super,

super thankful for y'all big time. I can't, I can't, I don't got the right words other than to just

say, how much this would have meant to Solomon and I'm oh, it means to my wife and I. So

pulling hard. I was on bums. They that y'all didn't get through the MLP, man. I was fired up to

get you guys out of that round and yeah. Yeah. Well, and hey, I'm a bucket hat guy, by the way,

like to my wife's disappointment. Like I actually have like an off the textual picture,

but I have a strong contender for bucket hat here. Little yeah, strong. So,

and good stuff. Yeah, well, good. Good. Well, hey, I appreciate you. I mean, look, it's, I think if

I was in your position, the last thing I would want to do is actually calm and have to speak on

something like this, but it goes a long way, right? I think this is going to be great for continuing

the goal that you have with these courts. So we're just as appreciative and honestly,

pretty humbled to be able to have a positive impact with you and with the courts and like,

and that we just talk smack and talk about pickleball. So if we can do something in that like

helps in real life, that's pretty cool too. So thanks to everybody who listened to this segment and

Cam. Thanks so much for coming on and oh man, thank you guys. You're the best. Appreciate it big time.

Come on.

Thanks. Take care.