Billionaire Boosters & Little League Dads

[00:00:00] Back to one pitch, Palacios, rounds one softly, unshakable, unstoppable, and champions at last, the Milwaukee Brewers! The following is a presentation of Hobson Media. Woohoo! Alright, what's up? I'm not really an opening statement guy, but I will open with this statement. I'm fired up to be here.

[00:00:28] This is Church Pew Sports. Where we connect sports to life and faith. Could you repeat that first part? Take a knee. Absolutely glorious! Lend an ear. I believe it's gonna be for the best. Then get ready to laugh, listen, and learn. How about you announce that you're getting better? No matter your team, your favorite sport. Bowling!

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[00:01:19] Bill Hobson here, along with Pastor Paul Miller, and the people's champion, David Collins, who has just added a background tree to his shot on YouTube, because that's where David rolls these days. And by the way, if you happen to be watching this on our YouTube channel at Church Pew Sports, we're glad to have you. And you're saying to yourself, why is Bill literally upside down in this screen?

[00:01:45] That is a fantastic question that none of us know the answer to, because until the second we started the podcast, I was right side up. We're just going to let it roll, because we can't figure it out either. And for some of you who kind of see things differently than most of the world, I will look perfectly normal, and David and Paul will be a little bit askew.

[00:02:04] And Paul Miller, as we come into this episode and this conversation, we do so joined by a guy who, if I understand correctly, is about to use his first words of the entire day today on us, on this podcast. I don't, Paul, when's the last time you made it until 9 p.m. before you talked to anybody about anything? Yeah, that's not a thing that happens to me very often, Bill.

[00:02:34] It's also not a thing where I talk to someone who's upside down. This is a very Halloween-like episode of this podcast show. We'll call it spooky. This is very spooky. I may have adjusted the size of the window on my laptop so that I can't see you, Bill. It's a good call. Because David looks normal to me. And I'm just going to pretend that all I get is your voice. And if you get your screen inverted to the right way, just let me know, and I will be happy to look at you when I talk to you.

[00:03:03] But I'm just going to do this for now. We will be sending a note to the provider of this live stream and asking them for a solution to this, believe me. David Collins, how did it happen to be that on a Thursday you have not spoken to a single human being all day? Well, I mean, I've been texting and different things like that. I just haven't said words out loud very often. I will admit I probably did talk to myself a couple times maybe for a day. But no, I just didn't have a lot of interactions today.

[00:03:32] So, you know, it's just how life is sometimes. It's kind of nice to have those days once in a while, to be honest with you. Not bad. I'm not complaining. Yeah, nice quiet day. I've spent the day doing the exact opposite, so talking all day. At the very beginning here, I played just the final out of the World Series as the Brewers break a forever jinx and apparently had a few golden ticket holders in the stands and win the World Series and strike a blow to the heart of big money in baseball.

[00:04:01] The Brewers, Paul, as we lead off with our headlines segment on the program today, the Brewers made a statement about small money baseball. And I don't know if that statement will save the game for next year, but kind of fun to see them win. Yeah, it really was. And it was fun. It was actually fun for me to have something that I could have in common with my Wisconsin friends who are just Packer fans and annoy me.

[00:04:28] But I could root for the Brewers with them because I definitely wanted the Brewers to win. I found – but I'm not a huge baseball guy, but I found this stat that was really intriguing to me. I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts on the fact that the Brewers played 13 games in the postseason. They won 11 out of the 13, and they trailed in nine of those 11 wins. So I'm wondering what the secret sauce was. Did they just get on a heater as a team and all that?

[00:04:55] Or is there something about their culture in their clubhouse that made them clutch, you know, over and over and over again? I'm wondering what you guys would say about that. That's an amazing stat to me. David, what's the magic sauce of this Brewer team? Honestly, I've been really – I was really excited for this World Series. I'm glad that it ended the way that it did. I think the Rays and the Brewers are the two best organizations in baseball right now,

[00:05:23] and they're kind of pushing a question on the Dodgers that says, hey, you know, maybe just paying for it is a short-term solution, but the Brewers are built for long-term success. I think the sauce is just having good players, good chemistry, and baseball is so weird because you get hot and all of a sudden you hit everything. I mean, sorry, I can't – I don't know how to pronounce his name right, but Chirino or whoever for the Brewers, like almost – he tied the record that Babe Ruth held.

[00:05:52] Ashby went out there and he threw lights out and broke the record for most scoreless innings in a World Series or in a playoffs, like it's been – they're just super impressive, and they're guys that can do it. And when those types of people are put in the fire, they're the ones that come out on top, and they're the ones that you can trust in those situations. So, I don't know, a really talented team, a really good, well-run organization, and congratulations, Brewers. Since you got yours off the shelf, let's go ahead and get one for the Lions, please, this year. Our first one.

[00:06:23] I would vote in favor of that. We've got to make sure, though, that it's a unanimous vote, and I don't know if we can get all three of us to raise our hands with that. Paul, are you in for Lions? Let's go. I would totally be in for the Lions if it wasn't – if the Bears were out. That's so close. Like that would be a – they would be a second team that I would root for, for sure. So, your Bears made a move early in the season, trading a couple of first-round picks. What's happening? What's that all about?

[00:06:52] Yeah, they jumped right into the deep end, right? And they made a – what you would, I guess, call a splash trade, right? They traded two firsts in a couple of pick swaps for Jeffrey Simmons, who's an all-pro defensive tackle. And it immediately – like the pundits in Chicago are talking about how this immediately makes their defense, which was a bit of a liability, makes it a strength. I'm not sure if one player can make that much of a difference, but it sure makes me interested in seeing them play this coming weekend.

[00:07:21] And as a Bears fan, I'm not going to lie, it means – to me, it means that they're pushing all their chips in and they're saying we're in on this year and we think we can do something right now. So, we're going to make the moves that we feel like we need to. Like that two firsts is a heavy price to pay, but apparently this guy is – he's that, you know? Well, and can we just – for one second, let's just talk about the division as a whole. Yeah. Okay, this division is brutal. Yeah. I mean, the Lions squeak out that win against the Packers last week

[00:07:50] and say what you want about the officiating. We can talk about that holy discontent and all that. But, I mean, these games are tough. These teams are good, and they're starting to find out where they need to add, and the Chicago Bears went out and did that. Jeffrey Simmons is one of those players that, for me, a guy that, like, you know, breathes football, like watches film and all that dumb stuff. Jeffrey Simmons is one of those guys that guys like me have loved for years, and a lot of people don't really know the name because he's out in Tennessee and he's kind of – you know, that dude is a monster.

[00:08:19] He's an absolute stud. So, I was wondering, like, okay, are the Lions going to countermove that? Like what's going to happen here? But the Lions just got the news that Kirby Joseph is back at practice. So, part of me thinks they're going to wait to see if he's going to be Kirby Joseph. They may not make a big move, but if they think he's not going to be the guy they can count on, I think you'll see the Lions do something. But this division is crazy. Yes. And no Carolina Panthers. They're down 13-10 right now. Come on.

[00:08:49] It seems like nobody in the NFC North loses games. It's crazy. To me, the biggest surprise of that whole mix is what's happening in Minnesota. And they come to Detroit this week, so, you know, something's got to give. Which is going to be a great – you have, like, the number two, number one, whatever you want to call them, offense in football versus the clear number one defense in football that statistically is – they're, like, historically good. I don't think that lasts.

[00:09:18] But, I mean, Brian Flores blitzed at an 85% rate last game. Dude. He's usually around 60%, but he was at 85%. And the crazy thing is he might come into this Detroit game and blitz 20% of the time because he doesn't go into games, like, with tendencies. It's like he completely scraps whatever game plan between each game and gives you a new look based entirely on what he sees in film for your team.

[00:09:45] I think it's going to be a fascinating matchup because it's the, you know, unstoppable force and immovable object. So, we'll see what goes on. That's going to be a fun one. So, yeah, so I got all my buddies up in Minneapolis because that's where the national offices are for the EFCA, and the text messages I'm getting from them are that the Vikings are going to trade for Jonathan Taylor. That's going to be their move to keep up with everybody in the division, right? He was on the list. He was on the list of teams, so. Yeah.

[00:10:14] Is there anybody in Minnesota wishing that they still had nine as their quarterback after one decent game in New York? No. And you know what? He skipped out of town and kind of looked okay doing it because that one's hanging on the coach. Like, they're talking about the coach failing J.J. Okay. They're not talking about J.J. But think about it.

[00:10:40] I know Kevin O'Connell's considered a quarterback whisperer, but how's Darnold look since he left? You know, like there are some quarterbacks that when they leave him, they wind up finding more success. So, that is kind of a weird situation. It's almost I think he has a specific system, and the system works for specific guys. I don't think Kyler fits that mold, which is why they've been so bad offensively. Yeah. I think he needs – he doesn't want a J.J. McCarthy or a Kyler.

[00:11:07] He wants a guy that's just going to make the first read, throw it to the guy he wants him to throw it to. And Kyler's – you know, he's kind of an improvisation guy. So, I find it really interesting what's going on there with the coach, too, because I think Kevin O'Connell's great. But you're starting to see some maybe flaws or some things popping up that make you go, hmm. I wonder what's going on there. David, quick Lions question for you, two of them.

[00:11:32] Number one, if Branch and Joseph are both back, does this become a top 15 defense? Does it become just top 20, and is that all we need? It certainly doesn't become the number one defense. But what does it do for Detroit? If you go from when they're both healthy and on and leave out the first part of the season when they weren't both on the field together, even though the last two weeks the defense has actually been pretty good.

[00:11:57] I mean, yeah, that's probably a top 12, top 14 defense and DVOA and some other statistics. And all we've been saying all year is, just be like top 20. Be 19. I don't care. Just don't be 32nd. And this offense is that good. Like, just – and they have the last two weeks. So, I think if we – I mean, it doesn't – it's no surprise that when you get better players, you play better, you know.

[00:12:26] And my other question is, and this is for both of you, since we all share a similar affection for the Packers. Anybody here really heartbroken over some questionable officiating last week on behalf of the Lions versus the Packers as opposed to multiple examples where the Lions got the short end of it with the pseudo-roughing the passer against Rodgers and the Hail Mary.

[00:12:54] Anybody have any sympathy for the Packers? I want to give you the floor now to speak on their behalf from last week's officiating debacle in Detroit. I am not even aware. What does that tell you? Absolutely zero concern about the Packers ever getting hosed. So, I'm okay with it any time it happens. David, did they, in Paul's words, get hosed?

[00:13:23] On a standalone basis versus historical basis, did they get hosed? There were some bad calls made in that game that happened to go in the Lions' favor. Yes. That is a truth. I'm not disputing that. I got a friend of mine who's a big-time Packers fan who was texting me during that portion of the game where some questionable things happened with the officiating. And I just politely said, I agree with you. Those were bad calls in our favor. That sucks.

[00:13:53] Very good. And then I said, but you missed two field goals inside the 35-yard line. Josh Jacobs dropped a touchdown pass. They dropped – Evan Williams dropped two different interceptions. They stopped the Lions on fourth down, I think, three different times. We fumbled before the half when we could have scored, and then we fumbled coming out of the half and we could have put the game away.

[00:14:20] And I just said, if you want to put this on the officials, that's fine. But you probably need to take a look in the mirror and realize why you're doing that. Because every opportunity to win this game was essentially handed to the Packers. And they lost. So I know the calls were bad. And I agree. I can't – the two roughing the passers and then the intentional grounding was, like, absurd. That really was.

[00:14:49] They were bad calls. And yes, for us against the Packers, I'm with you. But that has no bearing on why they lost that game. They didn't win it because they – because them and the Lions, neither of them wanted to win it in the end. And the Lions just happened to get this short stick and win the game. We always invite you to share your comments with us if you're watching on the live stream

[00:15:16] on either Facebook or YouTube, the Church Pew Sports channel. Thank you to Scott Tinman for chiming in a two-word summation of most of our feelings about the Green Bay Packers. And we'll let you all go and find that. And at the same time, you know, I look back at so many different moments in Lions-Packers history that went the exact opposite way that I'm nowhere close to feeling bad for the Packers. But the NFL does have – listen, the NFL has officiating problems.

[00:15:46] It's trying to determine exactness without any judgment, without any common sense being employed. And it's a disaster. It's not just that game. It's not just the Lions-Packers game. It's happening everywhere. And yeah, you've got to be better than that as a league. Speaking of, as we continue in our headlines, speaking of being better than that as a league,

[00:16:10] Paul Miller, how about our friends in the WNBA? Earlier today, for those of you who, shockingly, are not hanging on every news release and every moment of life in the WNBA, perhaps you didn't know that earlier today, on Thursday, October 29th, Game 6 of the WNBA Finals took place.

[00:16:41] Not what you would normally expect for a league's finals. Not at a time that you would normally expect for a league that demands equal treatment at all turns. But instead, the game was played at 12.30 p.m. Eastern time at State Farm Arena, which is – On a Thursday. On a Thursday, which is not what they thought they were getting.

[00:17:09] But Paul, somehow, in a league that I believe is the worst-run professional sports league of my lifetime, and that includes the USFL, which was actually pretty good. That includes Live Golf, which at least lasted for four or five years. They double-booked the arena weeks and weeks ago, and nobody thought it was going to be a problem. Paul, go ahead.

[00:17:39] WNBA, what do you got? Yeah, I didn't even know the game was on today, so I had to actually go back and – What? I didn't know. I'm sorry. I'm like most sports fans, I think. What? I went back to try and figure out what happened, and here's as best as I can tell what happened, right? Like the Atlanta Hawks had a game tonight, and they wanted – the WNBA wanted to use their bigger arena because it was a playoff game and they wanted a bigger crowd, whatever.

[00:18:11] And the NBA was unwilling to move the Hawks game. They said it was – Regular season game. Not permitted to move it per NBA rules, which requires teams to have a certain number of hours between back-to-back games. So the NBA said, no, we're not moving it. So the WNBA had no choice but to play a matinee game, and then they were coming out. The WNBA was coming out and saying that it was actually – they could have moved the game if they had wanted to.

[00:18:39] They just chose not to, which that's an interesting strategy to use when that's – the NBA is the league that's funding your financial shortfall on a weekly basis in the WNBA. It's a little bit – yeah, they just can't get out of their own way. I was at – dude, I was at a conference in Orlando earlier this week, and I was talking to one of the pastors there, and he told me that he was a WNBA fan. Really? And I asked him why.

[00:19:07] And he goes, well, I just – I've watched, and I do enjoy the on-court product. He goes, but I'm having a real hard time getting over the fact that they are so inept at running the league. And I think that's the thing. For those fans out there that do enjoy watching the basketball that's played, you've got to get frustrated by the lack of ability to be a professional league, or at least handle your business, right? I don't know. David Collins, I have a pop quiz for you.

[00:19:35] You being a gigantic sports fan. Please share with everybody, if you would, the names of the two teams of the WNBA finals. Who's competing head-to-head? I don't know. I don't know. Well – The Mystics and the Lynx. No, you're so off. It's the Atlanta – The Atlanta – Dream. Dream versus the Golden State – Valkyries. Aces. Valkyries. The Valkyries.

[00:20:04] I don't know what the Valkyrie is, but that's who was playing in this. And I've got to share with you all the tweet of the year. This is all tied directly into this. This comes from at BuySideCPA. Just found out my company's commitment to empowering women doesn't extend to letting me leave work at noon on a Thursday to watch the WNBA finals. Strongly considering filing a Title IX complaint. Tweet of the year. Well done. WNBA, get your act together, for goodness sakes.

[00:20:34] One more item in our lineup, in our headlines lineup, before we get into our main topic. What does it mean to an NHL player to have the C on his jersey? And then to have that C removed from your jersey because you quit on your team one time. And then to have the team bring you back into its fold, back into its lineup, and maybe not fully back into its good graces. You're not getting the captain back.

[00:21:04] You're not getting the C back. But you're playing. You're playing significant minutes, and you're starting to maybe turn the fan base back to your favor because they were chanting bad things about their former captain and opening night in the first week. And I'm talking about the Red Wings' Dylan Larkin, who just quit on them again and literally came out with a statement that was –

[00:21:31] here's the direct quote from his agent, and I don't mean to jump down to my holy discontent already, but here it is. This is mine, too. All right, we'll share it. Maybe we'll play the music. Larkin feels he's given the team ample time since his trade request in May to get a deal done. Larkin has had enough, so the decision was made he won't play tonight nor for a foreseeable future, hoping a trade materializes.

[00:21:57] And the Red Wings countered by announcing that they are suspending him without pay, effective immediately. Yeah. Is he just getting bad advice, or is this guy, David Collins, was he miscast as a captain? Should he have never been one because he doesn't have the character of a captain? Yeah, I think that second part's it.

[00:22:25] I don't think he was really ever meant to be a captain. I mean, he's frustrated that this team doesn't do enough to get into the playoffs, and yet how many years have we been one or two games out of a playoff spot with Larkin in the lineup, and he can't do enough to get us over the top? He's just not a star. He's not a superstar. He's a very, very good NHL player.

[00:22:46] And the problem with Larkin was the Olympics when they won the gold medal, and all his friends were there, and Brady Kachuk asked to be traded, and all his friends, Helly Buck gets traded, and all these guys that he really enjoyed feeling like a big shot with asked to be traded so they could go play with each other and have fun. And he thought, I want to do the same thing, and then he tried to come up with reasons why and said,

[00:23:16] oh, I just don't think this organization's close to winning a title and blah, blah, blah. And then all of a sudden, he had to backtrack at all of his reasoning. I don't get this way about a lot of athletes, but I'm trying to maintain a level head because the things that are going on inside of me about the whole Dylan Larkin situation are not things I want aired on the show so that people can see them. At least not on this podcast, right?

[00:23:42] Okay, so I looked up, I wanted to see if the Red Wings had anything to say about this, and I just want to read you guys the statement from Sean Horkoff, who's the interim GM, right? Here's what he says. Dylan Larkin has informed us that he will no longer play for the Detroit Red Wings. We are disappointed by his decision, particularly given his obligations to the organization and his teammates. We have therefore suspended Dylan Larkin.

[00:24:08] We will continue to explore trade opportunities involving Dylan in addition to meeting his approval. Any trade must also be in the best interests of the Detroit Red Wings and support the organization's long-term goals. And then here's the kicker. This is from Horkoff, and I think this is great. He says, I want to thank and commend our coaches and players for their continued focus and being committed to competing every day. Thank you so much. That, yeah.

[00:24:36] I, okay, so a couple things. One, I need to start seeing quotes from former Red Wings captains. Yes. I know Stevie Y is not employed, he's not working there, or he's not in the same capacity there. I need to see a quote from Stevie Y. I need to see some quotes from, from DMACC. He wasn't a captain, but he's a spokesman for that team. I need to see some quotes from the Stanley Cup champion players from a few years ago. I just need to see him come out and start blasting away. Yeah.

[00:25:05] Because in all of Detroit, and David, I'm going to try to set you up in a way that won't cause you to sin or to go off on a rant. But in all of Detroit sports history, the captains of the Red Wings have been revered. Revered. This hasn't been, it's, it's, maybe it's the same in every NHL city.

[00:25:28] I don't think so because one of the original six and you go back to Gordie Howe and you go back to Ted Lindsey and you go back to, so the captains have been revered. And to take that and rip it off and throw it on the ground and demand this, demand that, and then quit on your team twice. I will say this. If I were to buy a ticket to a Red Wings game this year, which I won't, it would be to the first time they get to play against Dylan Larkin. Because that's a game I want to attend.

[00:25:56] David, you got anything or you want to just move forward? I'm going to move on. I mean, I think the saddest part of the story, just Michigan born kid, Red Wing fan growing up, you know, played in state, like just then was the captain of the team he loved. Like the first, I mean, the first real captain we had since Littstrom like left. And then before him was Iserman.

[00:26:22] And like, I mean, these are, this is important stuff. And for it to be a home, sorry, again, I'm toning down. I'm just trying to, for him to be a homegrown guy that loved the team and was all this, like he came in with so much hype. And for it to go this way makes me very sad. I hope he finds happiness and success where he goes.

[00:26:49] I just, it's just a really hard situation to kind of swallow because you're, you know, you're essentially putting the team back a ways. But put the C on the person it belongs on, put it on most cider and get out the way. Let that kid eat, man. He's a, he's a baller. So anyways, that's my very calm. That's pretty good. Dylan Larkin take. Because I'm telling you right now, the one that I have, I just was not. Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I don't think Larkin helped his future.

[00:27:19] No. He certainly didn't raise his trade value. No. And now, now every, like everybody, like I watched this spitting with the chiclets and these guys talking. It's like, everybody's like, this is just weird. Like what's going on with this Larkin situation? This is, you know, and, and people want to bring up Brady Kachuk and go, well, he was a captain that left Ottawa. Yeah. But he's not from Ottawa. Like he wasn't grown. Like this is a different situation with somebody that was meant to be like a chosen one to bring the glory back to, to, to, to the Red Wings.

[00:27:48] And, and he never, he never once elevated the team beyond being relatively mediocre or above mediocre and hadn't made the playoffs in 10 years. Like that's your captain. And then he wants to go and be a snot after the Olympics and think he deserves more and deserves like, like bro, chill out. Like, and the organization deserves some, some like much needed smearing for the way they've handled all of this. But I don't even hardly blame the front office. I blame the owner and I blame Dylan Larkin.

[00:28:18] Chris Illich is a bad owner who shouldn't own the team. And he does not give the people that are under him, the resources that they need to actually make the kind of moves that we as fans want to see. And we blame them for it. It's a Chris Illich problem. And Dylan Larkin is also the problem. Like that is where the issue is. I take a lot of the blame off of what's going on in the front office. I'm sorry. You got me going. I apologize. To quote the great Colonel Nathan Jessup, son, we use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words.

[00:28:47] It's a very fabric of the foundation. That's what happens in hockey. And that's what Dylan Larkin has spit in the face of. And let me just make it official. It's time to blow off some steam. Get it off your chest. Rant about what's most bothering you. I got a lot of problems with you people. And now you're going to hear about it. It's time for Holy Discontent. So we're breaking format a little bit. We'll get to Paul's Holy Discontent a little bit later on.

[00:29:17] But, I mean, Larkin, for those of us who are in Michigan, it's kind of the unpardonable. It's kind of what he's done. So, all right. A couple more headlines. Paul, you've got a pick-em update in NCAA football? Yeah. I just feel like we're, what, seven weeks into the season or whatever it is. And it's time for us to give a little bit of an update on the picks that we all made. I don't think I'm going to like this very much. But my Oregon for the Big Ten one is not looking good. I'm going to spare you a little bit.

[00:29:44] I'm just going to let all of our listeners know that Carson Greenhaugh and Bill Hobson picked Oregon to win the Natty. Yeah. Just want to let you guys know that. Everyone else seems to still be in good standing. What'd you pick, Dave? Good standing. I picked them to win the Big Ten but not winning in the playoffs. Okay. So, that's it. I just thought it was worthwhile to put that out there. I'm sure Carson will appreciate it. Anything can happen now. Anything can happen. What's the penalty again for losing this thing? What do I have to watch?

[00:30:13] What does Carson have to watch, I should say? Is it a Bears thing? The Bears holiday movie. That's what it was. The Bears holiday movie is this year. Do we have a second straight weekend, Paul, of the NFL providing us with better matchups than NCAA football? I kind of think we do. I was anxious to see if David would agree with me. Like, the games that are most intriguing to me this weekend in college football are Georgia's going to Florida. So, that's a top 20 matchup. And then you got Ohio State going to USC.

[00:30:42] That's probably just intriguing to me because Ohio State's playing their backup quarterback and I'm interested to see if Lincoln Riley's going to be met on the tarmac if Ohio State ends up beating them at that game. Arizona is going to Texas Tech with all the stuff going on with Cody Campbell and all that junk. Those are the games that are interesting to me but for weird non-football related reasons. Then I looked at the NFL lineups. Like, you got Minnesota and Detroit.

[00:31:10] I'm going to be a Lions fan big time this weekend. You got Cleveland going to Pittsburgh. I'm trying to figure out if the Browns are for real. So, everybody is. Yeah. Everybody, I think, is thinking about that. And then you got the Bears going to Seattle on Monday Night Football, which I'm interested to see if Jeffrey Simmons is going to be in the lineup already. I'm interested to see if that, if Quentin Nelson, that offensive lineman that they picked up from the Colts or whoever it was. Yes. He's an unbelievable player.

[00:31:39] That was such a fantastic player. Let's line those two new guys up and let them go at each other and see what happens. That would be great. There's a lot of newfound Deshaun Watson fans at the mistake by the lake. I mean, Cleveland is surprising the world. David, are they for real? I don't think they're for real. I don't think anybody that knows football thinks they're truly for real. It's weird. They're kind of doing what the Vikings are doing, where they play good defense and just enough offense to win some of these games.

[00:32:07] But the Vikings' defense is way better. So, I think you're going to see the Browns falter a little bit. But a lot of it depends on schedule early on. They're not doing anything offensively that's wowing anybody. I mean, he almost set the record. He had like five straight games with a fourth quarter comeback or something like that. That's crazy. Deshaun Watson did. So, that's kind of crazy, but I just don't think that that's the kind of team that can sustain it, especially if you want to go into the playoffs. I think the Bears-Seahawks game is fascinating.

[00:32:36] My cousin Carly, who works for the Bears, I was texting her the other day about something and she just goes, well, anyways, hey, I've got to head off to Seattle soon to, you know, go. And I just said, yeah, you think you're so cool. Yeah, you're so cool. Well, I'm going to Seattle because I'd work with the Bears. But I think that's going to be a really interesting game. I think Seattle's defense is unbelievable. So, that matchup against Ben Johnson's offense is going to be really cool to see. You didn't mention Ravens at Bills, which I think is another great one because you always have the competing Lamar.

[00:33:05] And I don't know Lamar's situation. I don't think he's playing in the game, but I don't know. You hope he is. Falcons-Bucks looks like a good one. But yeah, I mean, this, oh, Chiefs-Broncos. Chiefs-Broncos, too, is going to be a great one. This, a lot of really interesting things. What is up with the Broncos offense? What is Bo Nix? Like, is he Jackson Dart? Is he Jackson Dart? Is he better? Like, there's so many questions still with some of these young players. But yeah, I'm fascinated by this week in the NFL.

[00:33:34] And I'm definitely looking forward to it. D, what does Cousin Carly do for the Bears? What's her role? She's like a nutritionist, trainer type. So you can see her on the sidelines during the games. Do you think she would come on to Church Pew and help us with our nutrition and training? Some insider training kind of stuff? I think she'd be great at it. She is not an extrovert in any way. She would not want to do something like this. Like, I couldn't convince her.

[00:34:04] Would she do the new David Collins podcast that's in the works? Just one-on-one with her cousin? If we did that, yeah. I mean, she'd do that for me. I think that's kind of it. She would get on a podcast with people she doesn't know. Does she know how lucrative it is? I could tell her. Yeah, I mean, if you tell her that, that probably flips the script entirely right there. Okay, on to our primary topic, Paul. Billionaire boosters and Little League dad energy. What do you mean by that? And where are we going with this conversation?

[00:34:31] Okay, so I just tripped across this article on The Athletic where they were talking about Cody Campbell. And the headline of the article was that he can spend all the money he wants on Texas Tech's roster. But on Saturdays, he's just like everybody else, right? And he's just a fan, whatever. And in the article, I don't have the name of the guy who wrote it, but it's brilliant.

[00:34:58] But in the article, he references the fact that Campbell put out a tweet after Tech lost to Cincinnati last weekend. And the tweet from Cody Campbell, this billionaire guy, and while I'm on that subject, why are billionaires always on social media? Why have they spent so much time? I would assume they have more important things to do with their life. That's a good question. Right? All that. But the tweet from Cody Campbell after they lost to Cincinnati was, there's no excuse or reason to lose a game like this. We have to be better.

[00:35:27] And then he tags at Texas Tech football. Like, this is the guy, like, running to the main, like, he's lodging his complaints. And the line from the article that caught my attention was that he's coming out with a lot of literally dead energy. And I thought, that's actually a really accurate description.

[00:35:47] And it just got me thinking about what these billionaire boosters who invest all this money and maybe don't see the return that you would think they would normally expect, like, in a business venture if they invest that money. They're not going to stay in that business venture any longer than they have to if it's a lose deal for them, whatever.

[00:36:11] But how does that work when you're supporting your favorite college football team? Right? Like, I don't know. Like, I'm not a billionaire, right? So if I was, I think it would be really fun to be able to throw a bunch of money at my favorite college football team. And then I think about, I wonder how I'd react if I did that. And then they didn't come through with wins, right? So I just felt like there's stuff here that we can talk about. Well, yeah.

[00:36:36] What do we know beyond a shadow of a doubt is true amongst billionaires and Little League dads? They both are demanding performances they can't deliver. So either one of them's doing it because he's writing the checks and the other one's in the stands and in many ways writing the checks for the aluminum bats and the gloves and all the travel and all that stuff. But it's not all that different because billionaires don't hear the word no.

[00:37:05] If they do, you're fired. Right? So you asked why they're on social media. Why was Mark Cuban on social media? Why was he even thinking about running for office at some point and he has an opinion on everything along the way? Why would Steve Ballmer risk his franchise for Kawhi Leonard? Just to do an end run around all of the rules for one player?

[00:37:28] Because they're used to making their own rules and kind of getting whatever they want. So Larry Ellison pays Bryce Underwood $12 million. Bryce Underwood's now on the bench. Now, we haven't heard from Larry. That's probably good. That's the kind of restraint that we'd need to see more of. But at the same time, there's no chance on earth he's going to write another $12 million check to a 19-year-old.

[00:37:56] I guess unless his girlfriend demands it. But that's kind of the – I know David was waiting for me to drop that part of it in there as well. But I think it's really a function of billionaires not being accustomed to failure. And they think that just writing a check will deliver the results that they signed up for. And that's not how it works in athletics. So I'm not surprised by some of this stuff, but it is clumsy. Even if they're having staff members do the tweeting for them, at some point you would think they would be smart.

[00:38:26] These are smart people. They've made a lot of money. You would think they would be smart enough to say, how about we stay off of the social media stuff for a while because it's making us look bad. D? D? Yeah. Put it on the poll at churchpewsports.com. Why are billionaires always on social media? Yes or no? All right? Those are your poll questions. So this conversation has my mind going in so many different ways.

[00:38:50] First off, if I was a billionaire and I had a team, I would be the single most meddlesome owner in the history of sports. Are you kidding me? I know for a fact I'm so much smarter than all of them, and I could do such a better job running my team. I would be Jerry Jones, but my team would perennially be great. I would be a nutcase. So, yes, I would love that. But if I was a billionaire that bought it, I'm the billionaire owner, GM, everything else.

[00:39:19] But, Bill, what you're saying was something I was thinking about that I found fascinating was when these boosters and these people, they pay the money, and then they don't get the production, it's like, where's – there's going to be some tension there between who's making the decisions, where the money goes, like who actually decided. Because if Larry Ellison's like, I'm giving this amount of money, but it's only for Bryce Underwood, and Bryce Underwood doesn't pay off.

[00:39:43] And then he goes – it's like there's – this is starting a weird, fascinating tug-of-war between, like, like the players wanting stuff, the NCAA wanting stuff, like coaches wanting stuff. The entire thing right now, like conference realignment has ruined all of this because the Big Ten and SEC got so big, they just decided to start making rules for everybody. There's – nobody wants a 2014 playoff except for two conferences, right? The Big Ten and the SEC want a 2014.

[00:40:13] Why? Because they both think they have eight teams that deserve to be in it, and then we'll give a little room for everybody else. That's the only reason this is happening is coaches going to the people that run the programs and saying, hey, we need more money, and can we do this? Can you just – and all of a sudden, we're in this chaotic situation. Like college football's nuts. And now because of conference realignment and all this stuff, it's like there's two conferences calling the shot. Who makes the rules?

[00:40:40] Who is, like, executing the law in this situation in anything that's going on in college football? Like the whole thing's kind of a mess. And I find the fascinating aspect of it is now you bring in the booster side of it, and they're not getting return on investment. What does that mean for these organizations? Yeah. So let me throw a couple of stats at you guys that I think will surprise you, right? Like this is all from that article in The Athletic, so I want to credit those guys. Power 4 teams this season.

[00:41:08] When a Power 4 team is matched up against an opponent that they have outspent by between $5 and $10 million on the – building the college football roster, their record in those matchups, the higher spending team, the record so far this year is 25 and 26. That's – sorry. Sorry to everybody. That's largely Michigan's fault. All right. Go ahead. Well, maybe. But I just think that's amazing.

[00:41:36] And then if you push the gap out to where it's $20 million or more, which basically means like you're doubling the budget of your opponent, they're now – the big money teams are now winning 70% of the time. I would think those numbers would be much, much higher, right? Yeah. But then it's like they got – right now, who's the favorite? Like if you had to pick right off the top of your head who's the favorite to win the title, you might say Georgia, right?

[00:42:05] They're the 10th biggest payroll, highest payroll in the SEC. 10th. Where are the Buckeyes in all of the spending rankings? They are top five. Okay. Yeah. What are with Texas, I'm assuming? So Texas is number one overall, and where would you rank them right now? Yeah, yeah. One overall? Nope. Not even close. So that's – it's just a fascinating –

[00:42:29] Well, okay, so – but there's this illogical connection being made by sports fans that because your program suddenly is imbued with remarkable amounts of money, that your recruiting has become more accurate. Right. Recruiting has always been an inexact science. How many five stars have come in and never done a thing at programs all over the place?

[00:42:57] It just happens now that the five star comes in, and he starts in the mid-six figures and sometimes seven figures. Doesn't mean he's any better of a player than he was 10 years ago when the programs were sending scouts out everywhere, and they were in the high school gyms, and they were in the – all of those things were happening. And it's still an inexact science. And so, you know, Paul, you made a note in here earlier that the Big Ten decided not to wait for Congress,

[00:43:24] and so as a conference they raised the NIL limits by $28 million because they're trying to mitigate the impact of the billionaires just dropping in pallets of cash from an airplane at 30,000 feet into a campus, and they're trying to kind of match it themselves. But none of that changes the reality that these are still kids that you're recruiting when they're juniors in high school and you're signing them.

[00:43:51] In some cases, you're making them sit out their senior year of high school so they don't get hurt before they come to your campus to play college football. And then when they come play college football, huh, they're not really as good as we thought they were. And we paid them a stinking fortune. I think this system in some ways will burn itself out because of that factor.

[00:44:16] Yeah, like I don't think Bryce Underwood is a perpetual headline or a gif, whatever, if it weren't for the NIL deal. He'd just be another five-star guy that didn't end up having what everybody thought he had coming out of high school, right? And so that's the interesting part of this whole thing. And the numbers are just astronomical. The last thing I found as I was reading that article,

[00:44:39] they were talking about the programs that are spending the largest amount of money per victory over the last 10 years, right? And you guys, it's hilarious to me. The number one highest spending program per victory is Rutgers. Really? $10.3 million per victory over the last 10 seasons. First place of football, baby. Man, oh man. That's right.

[00:45:08] Who's writing checks for Rutgers? I don't know. But it was interesting. And none of the schools on that list of, you know, other than Miami. Miami's on the list. I guess that's a big number. But all the rest of them are like Arkansas, Nebraska, Vanderbilt. It's not like Oregon, Ohio State, Texas, the big money schools that you see. But those are just obscene numbers. $10 million per victory? Okay. It's crazy.

[00:45:35] If I'm a billionaire, I would probably spend freely to help my team win. But I don't know if I'd be spending that kind of money per win. That's why if I was a billionaire that owned a team, I'd be that meddlesome. Because I would want to know. I would want to be sign off on all the moves and all that. But you bring up the fascinating point about all this, Bill. And you're right on it. Is the thing I love about sports is in the end, it doesn't matter what it says on the paper. These are human beings that have to do a thing.

[00:46:02] And sometimes they don't do it as well in the moments that you wish they did that you thought they would. Like that's, it's such a human thing. Sports is that you can give the money. But sometimes the matchup is just bad. Bad. Sometimes you have the much better roster, but the way this team, like Minnesota, the way they blitz or whatever they do, it doesn't matter how prepared you are for whatever. You can't expect this. It's going to surprise you. I love sports for that reason.

[00:46:30] It's totally just humanity, but like somehow choreographed so you can feel like you have some knowledge or part of it. It's great. Paul, in just tender, loving care of my maize and blue, tender heart, please don't break out the chart that is spending compared to offensive point output. Yeah. Break my heart. Go ahead. Please, just please. We might be paying $13 million per field goal.

[00:46:58] I don't even know, but it's a pretty ugly number. Okay, so let me ask you this. This is a semi-dangerous question to ask a couple of Michigan fans. If Tommy Carr had come in and lit it up, would that change your opinion of Bryce Underwood in any way? Because there's something about the system.

[00:47:20] It may have one game, too short of a small of a sample size or whatever, but it wasn't like the offense suddenly became prolific when they benched Underwood, right? Correct. Yeah. Yeah, it's a scheme issue. It's simple things they've been doing. I've been screaming about this all year.

[00:47:38] We changed our run game system from a true X's and O's, road grading type offense with knowing who to double team and flip off and hit other blocks. That used to be, and it was a downhill running scheme. And we've switched over the last couple of years to a zone running scheme where our running backs get the ball like four yards back from the line of scrimmage and they dance for a step or two before they pick their hole and make a cut. It's just, it's not working.

[00:48:07] Like whatever they're doing on offense, it's like the San Diego Chargers, like getting, or sorry, the Los Angeles Chargers. They'll always be San Diego in my heart. But it's like the Chargers getting Mike McDaniel and like a really good roster is playing like total garbage. Why? Because whatever offense you've decided to run with this team is not the right offense for the players that you have. I'll always give credit to John Harbaugh. When they decided they were going for Lamar Jackson in that draft, they changed the entire offense.

[00:48:36] They went and got specific running backs, specific offensive tackles of guards. They got, they said, we are changing everything with this team. Now say what you will about how he is as a coach or whatnot. Like that's what I love about like these sports is like you, you have the ability to see these things and adapt. And it's just, yeah. Or not adapt. Or not adapt, which is what we see happening. Yeah. Michigan shifted to an East West running game as opposed to North South. And it's fantastic.

[00:49:03] All you need to know about where Michigan is, is the third and five play or third. I'm sorry, third and goal from the one play last week where they ran a play action. I was just a 12 yard loss disaster. And somewhere Bo Schembechler was spinning at 3000 RPMs in his grave. Like just run, just run forward. This is what we do. So I agree with David. He spins at three yards in a cloud of dust. Well, there's a lot of dust involved. That's for sure. North, South.

[00:49:31] And so, yeah, Paul, so if you're the billionaire class and you're frustrated with your investment, you didn't become a billionaire by making a series of bad investments. And that's why I think that this system will in some ways eat itself up, at least to a point where the dollars that we're talking about maybe just tame down a bit. So it's no longer 12 million to the 18 year old kid.

[00:49:59] Maybe he's going to have to struggle by on 1.2 million or something like that. Because it's kind of like taking, you know, if we compare this into a church setting, it's in many ways, it's like taking the emergency offering the first Sunday of every month. And people are like, wait, you said we had an emergency last month. And now we have one again this month. And then we'll have the same thing in NIL money.

[00:50:24] You can't keep going to these boosters and saying the very survival of our program depends on you giving more and more and more. They're just going to stop giving. Okay, so this is Church Pew Sports, right? I have a great church story that illustrates this for you guys. I was working at our church down in Dallas. I'm serving as the executive pastor. And the kids ministry calls me on a Sunday morning because there's chaos going on in the kids check-in area. Because some guy is there with his kid and their classroom is full.

[00:50:54] And so he brought his little one to church and he couldn't check his kid in. So he didn't, he wasn't, you know, color sheets wasn't enough to appease him or whatever. And so I go walking over there and he's raising a ruckus and he's yelling at the volunteers. And he's saying things like, if you knew how much I gave to this church, you would find a spot for my kid. It's his personal seat license. Right?

[00:51:22] So me and my mercy gift, right, which I'm always, you know, awarded for as in my pastoral ministry, how merciful I am. I say to the guy, hey man, my bad. I just assumed that the money you gave to this church was a gift. Let's go to the office. I'll get you your money back. I always sit to him in front of the volunteers and the staff and all the kids ministry people are like, yeah. And the guy is furious, of course.

[00:51:50] And then the next week he shows up to church again and he's got a completely different attitude. But it's that same kind of like. He showed up. I'm surprised. I broke the check. Let's go. You know, let's take care of this. But it's nuts. I probably shouldn't have told that story live because that's not like going to go in my memoirs of my greatest pastoral. I think that was pretty good. I think you called out exactly as you needed to. And the fact that he came back the next week is the surprising part of that to me.

[00:52:18] I thought you said I never saw that man again in all of my years at that church. Yeah. All right. Let's jump into the next part of the show. We're going to give Paul his moment for his holy discontent. David and I have already gone. It's time to blow off some steam. Get it off your chest. Rant about what's most bothering you. I got a lot of problems with you people. Now you're going to hear about it. It's time for holy discontent.

[00:52:48] Yeah. Okay. My holy discontent this week is with the thin skinned Pat McAfee. Right. Like he's. Oh, man. He's on college game day and they're at college game days at Utah. And did you guys all the hubbub where he's like, they were, they were up in my business and everything else. And he's like, I'm doing everything else. Did you guys actually hear the clip? I've got, I've got, I've got it for you. I watched videos. Okay. It was so embarrassing. First off.

[00:53:15] First, I'm going to play the clip from the university of Utah that Pat was offended by. And then I'm going to play Pat's reaction to it. And then we'll talk. Give me your best Pat McAfee impression. I'd say like Pat McAfee, he's going to say a corny line. He's going to be like, Houston, we got a problem. Give me the Utah Utes. I would actually spend my money on, on the odds of Pat ripping his shirt off this morning. I'm not ripping off my shirt. Bro, Pat, bro, Pat, Pat, Pat, Pat, Pat, we love you, bro.

[00:53:44] But like, bro, keep the shirt on. No one's trying to see that. Like, we don't care. These are, these are college kids, bro. Like, keep your shirt on, homie. Go Utes! Did not enjoy University of Utah. Did not enjoy it. I think everybody. Can't bet a thousand. Yeah, can't all be great. Yeah, you're right. I guess that is true. You know why I didn't like it mostly? Right before I go out there, okay? Right before I go out there, I see the University of Utah's Instagram page, okay?

[00:54:13] The universities. This is, this is our, this is how we are. They put out, they do an impression of Pat McAfee, and one kid goes, ah, he's corny. Another kid calls me creepy, okay? If these kids would have done this on their own blogs, all good. I mean, everybody's taking shots at me anyways for everything. I get it. If the two ladies that were hosting that put that out on their own blog, I'd be okay with it. Hey, you're allowed to do what you're, the University puts that out.

[00:54:40] Like, as I'm about to go out and do an infomercial for the place, and then I'm walking in front of thousands of these people, this is how the university feels about it? It's an uncomfortable feeling. I'm like. And he goes on and on for a bit, and he goes on to say that didn't something very violent just happen on a Utah campus just a year ago? He's referring, of course, to Charlie Kirk. Yes. And so it kind of just, it kind of kept on going and going. So I don't want to interrupt you, Paul, but that's sort of the context of what all this is. No. Like, I just, like, Pat, really?

[00:55:10] With all the snark that you drop every week on College Dame Day and all the sarcasm and all the other things that are kind of your shtick, if somebody's going to call you creepy and somebody's going to tell you to keep your shirt on in front of the college students, that's what's going to offend you. That's going to lead you to the place where you're going to say, hey, man, like me and Charlie Kirk, right?

[00:55:29] Like, I didn't, and now he's going to disparage the state of Utah because a couple of college students made a somewhat accurate caricature of him in their little thing. I just, man, if you're going to make that much money and you're going to be that popular, you're going to put yourself out there like that and you're going to create this persona or this image, you've got to be willing to take it because you give it all the time.

[00:55:56] And so I just, I just, I can't handle how he responded. It was just immature. And as predictable as the sunrise in the east and the sunset in the west, the University of Utah then followed with an apology to Pat, which never, ever should have happened. David Collins, where are you in the Pat McAfee popularity world? Everything that Paul just said, I don't know if you've ever seen this meme,

[00:56:23] but it's from a show called I Think You Should Leave by Tim Robinson on Netflix. It's extremely funny. But in this sketch, a hot dog vehicle crashes into a department store. And then everyone's like, what just happened? What happened? And suddenly there's a guy in a hot dog costume going, yeah, we're all trying to find out the guy who did this. And everyone's going, well, it was clearly you. You're dressed like a hot dog. Okay. That's what Pat McAfee is doing here. Okay.

[00:56:53] He's the hot dog guy going, we're trying to find out who did this. Why are people saying these things about me? Well, buddy, you're the one in the hot dog costume. It was you that did this to you. Yeah, that's good. He sits there next to Saban and Saban just shakes his head every week. Oh, good. Good stuff. Time for that guy. Right now, this minute, today, this week, I am.

[00:57:20] This is where we give a tip of the cap to somebody who's doing it the way that it should be done. David, we'll let you lead us off into that guy segment. Yeah. I mean, as I just watched the Green Bay Packers punch in another touchdown with Josh Jacobs over the Carolina Panthers. Let me say this. My that guy is every team that plays an NFC North team not named the Lions.

[00:57:45] You're doing such a good job not winning any games against any of the teams in the NFL. You're doing great. Like, I'm here to tell you Panthers tonight and every team that plays Chicago or Minnesota or Green Bay. I'm just so proud of you for just always not winning. So, they're my bad guy. I'm thrilled with the opponents of NFC North teams that are not the Lions.

[00:58:15] Thank you for all the help. Not to be confused with a holy discontent at all. No. No. I'm just very grateful for all these teams. Thank you. Bill, you're the one who started this episode upside down. Upside down. It's okay for David to flip. By the way, just a little insider baseball. Do you guys know how I fixed this? You don't know because you can't see it on this. I literally had just turned my camera upside down to fix it because it still isn't fixed. It's still an upside down picture, but I just took the camera and flipped it over.

[00:58:44] I thought you were going to say you started hanging from the ceiling. I just turned myself upside down. Paul, you're that guy. Okay. My that guy this week is Chase Elliott. I'm taking us to the world of NASCAR, right? Chase Elliott is like the eight-time winner of NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award, which is a big deal in NASCAR because they're always doing everything for the fans.

[00:59:08] And he, this year, decided to withdraw his name from eligibility for the fan vote for the most popular driver. And he's basically throwing his support behind the late Kyle Busch. And so a pretty classy move by him. And it's, well, it's partially because his dad, Bill Elliott, back in the day did a similar thing when Dale Earnhardt passed away. And I think we have a clip of Chase trying to explain why he made this move.

[00:59:36] And then I thought about what Kyle meant to my career and just the relationship that we had. How much noise I think our fans have made for him over the course of his career. I know that he, you know, certainly, you know, kind of embraced that villain role. And maybe people totally didn't like him, but they sure did make a lot of noise for him. And I think we can all agree to that.

[01:00:00] I just felt like, and because of a lot of the things that I've got the chance to see behind the scenes of things that he did for his fans and how much he cared about the sport and for his supporters, I felt like that he deserved to win that vote. I just think classy move, man. That's really cool. I'm sure Chase will be back winning the most popular driver award next year. But this year, classy. Very classy. See, this is why we need Paul. He's the heart.

[01:00:29] Like, I can't bring what he just brought. I bring the sarcasm. Paul, thank you. You were being sarcastic? Wait, no, sorry. This is upside down. I don't know what to do with this. My that guy is, man, my absolute favorite studio host of any televised sports show in my lifetime

[01:00:54] is Ernie Johnson of Inside the NBA and, of course, TNT all those years. Now he's with the ESPN crew. But it's the same guys. It's Ernie, Shaq, Kenny, Chuck. And on Tuesday of this week, Ernie announced that this will be his final season. As he does, he gives a very just personal announcement and talks about he's 70 and time and family and all those things. And I'm not going to play for you his announcement because we'll have lots of time to celebrate Ernie.

[01:01:24] And one of my bucket list guests for this show is Ernie Johnson. I've tried. I'm still trying. I haven't given up yet. I'm still hoping. But on the first Inside the NBA show, after his announcement, this was last night with Charles Barkley, Shaq, and Kenny. Charles reacted to Ernie's announcement with tears in his voice. And you'll hear the beginning and you'll hear the end. The whole thing's like three minutes long, so I don't want to take that long.

[01:01:53] But here's kind of a mishmashed version of Charles' reaction. That was tough. We knew the day was coming. It's still tough. But the question I'm probably asked the most is, is Ernie Johnson as good a person as he seems? And I say, man, he's better than that. So I just want to say thank you.

[01:02:19] Thank you for being our leader for all these years. And, man, it's still, even though I knew it was coming, it's still hard, brother. But all I can say, you know, one of my great mentors was Joe Morgan. And he gave me this piece of advice one time. He was going to meet Jackie Robinson. He called his dad and said, Dad, I'm going to meet Jackie Robinson tomorrow. What do I say?

[01:02:47] I don't know how to put it into words. He said, son, just tell him thank you. Because a thank you goes a long way. And he said he's bumped into Jackie Robinson like 20 years later. He says, you're the kid who said thank you to me. And all I can say, Ernie, is thank you. And, yeah, so lots of those sentiments being expressed for Ernie. But I thought that was a pretty cool, pretty touching moment by Chuck, who's not normally very serious.

[01:03:16] And you can tell there's true love there amongst all the panel members on that program. All right, let's wrap things up with our three-minute message. Homer, I'd like you to remember Matthew 7, 26. The foolish man who built his house on sand. And you remember Matthew 21, 17. And he left them and went out of the city into Bethany and he lodged there. Yeah.

[01:03:46] Think about it. Think about it. Yeah. So we're going to have a conversation that kind of jumps off from Dylan Larkin's story. And I think, Bill, you were saying that his agent kind of basically said Dylan's had enough. He's done enough. Yeah. Kind of thing. And I think there's a life lesson that we can take from, like, don't be Dylan Larkin kind of thing, right?

[01:04:14] There's so many scripture passages that we could quote about, you know, like, don't give up, don't lose heart in doing good. In due time, you'll reap if you don't become weary. Or there's any number of passages we could use. I want to go off the beaten path a little bit. And I want to quote Hebrews 10 to us. Hebrews 10, 35. Well, actually, I should just give you a little bit of context. The believers back then were facing public ridicule and persecution.

[01:04:42] They were being imprisoned for their faith. They were getting pressured to abandon their commitment to Christ. And as a result, some of them were apparently considering turning away from their Christian confession, maybe returning to their former religious practices. The problem wasn't that simply that life was hard. It was that following Jesus was making life harder for them, right?

[01:05:08] So the writer to Hebrews says in Hebrews 10, 35 and 36, Do not throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. I don't think any of us can say that we face the kind of opposition or persecution that the Hebrews were facing back then.

[01:05:35] But it can be really easy to think, like, my life might just be simpler if I would walk away from my faith, or not maybe walk away from my faith, but compromise or water down my faith, lose my confidence in the fact that my relationship with Jesus is the most important thing. In my life. And that's why I love this verse. Do not throw away your confidence. It will be richly rewarded.

[01:06:03] So let's not be Dylan Larkin when life gets hard, right? Let's, that's harsh to say it that way. But let's remember that in the end, Jesus wins. And in the end, our faithfulness to him is going to be worth it. It's going to, we are going to be richly rewarded. And when our lives get harder because we're Jesus followers, whatever that means, don't lose your confidence. Don't throw that away.

[01:06:30] Know that if you persevere, you will receive what he has promised you. Well said. Glad to have you all with us here at Church Pew Sports. Thanks for joining in, subscribing, following us on Facebook and X, and the YouTube channel where you can watch each of our episodes live streamed, and you can go back and watch them whenever. If you do that for this episode, you'll see me for the first 10 minutes upside down and then right side up. So there's a little Easter egg for you to enjoy. Thank you, David. Thank you, Paul.

[01:06:59] Thank you all for listening. We'll see you again next time on Church Pew Sports.