All Episodes

October 17, 2025 30 mins

John Middlekauff kicks things off by previewing some of NFL Week 7's most interesting games, all while ordering his favorite snacks and household items from the Walmart app. John starts by previewing the New England Patriots led by QB Drake Maye and head coach Mike Vrabel traveling to Nashville to take on the No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward and the Tennessee Titans. John then previews a must-win game for the Philadelphia Eagles when they travel to Minnesota to battle former Eagles QB Carson Wentz and the Vikings. Next, John discusses the Sunday Night Football matchup between Bijan Robinson and the Atlanta Falcons vs. Mac Jones and the San Francisco 49ers. John wraps up by receiving his Walmart order and showcasing what he buys to get ready for NFL Sundays.

Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. 

All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume What Is Going On? Got a special weekend
episode brought to you by my friends at Walmart. We

(00:22):
got a really good slate of games, some interesting stuff
going on. We got Mike Vrabel taking on the Titans.
That's uh, that's pretty fantastic, especially given the Tennessee Fire
heading to Nashville and the Eagles versus Carson Wentz and
the Minnesota Vikings. That's hard to beat. So we're gonna
dive into the big slay of games, and my friends

(00:43):
at Walmart, UH make it really easy because I got
a friend in town this week. He just got a
job at a big bank that's actually based out of
here in Arizona. He lives in southern California, and I'm
fired up for him. It's it's a it's an awesome gig.
And I was like, you know what, stay a couple
extra days, don't leave at the end of the week.
You've been at this convention hanging out, Like, make it

(01:03):
a full week and come over and watch some ball.
We'll watch some of these games on Sunday. But I
realized my wife's out of town, and I don't have
any food here, and I'm busy. I don't really want
to go to the store. So I'm like, why don't
I just do this. I got someboddies coming over, I
want to barbecue some burgers, and I want to have
snacks delivered to my house. But in order to save

(01:25):
some time, I'm gonna go to the Walmart app because
they have express delivery, which means Walmart can get to
your all this stuff to you in as fast as
one hour, from snacks to sippy cups. It's a legit
life saving. So what I did is I ordered some burgers.
I ordered some buns. I gotta ketchup and mustard here.

(01:45):
I also have not a big fan, especially when she's
gone of using our normal plates, so I bought some
paper plates as well, and got a couple of Gatorades
as well. Need to hydrate. I gotta stay sober because
we've got a busy week on a busy day on Sundays,
So no boozing. But you could easily order booze if
you wanted to. So I'm placing my order right now.
I've already got it in the hopper and I'm checking out.

(02:08):
And here's the thing. When it's delivered, we're gonna see
it delivered before the end of the show, and if
you want to try it yourself, just head to Walmart,
download the app, and get free delivery on your first
order with the promo code Express. The promotion is valid
for the first Express delivery with fifty dollars minimum, subject
to availability and restrictions apply. So let's dive in. We've

(02:34):
talked about it all week that the Titans are a
complete embarrassment. They fail as an organization, not like an individual.
I'm not defending Brian Callahan. He clearly was pretty pretty
bad at his job. You could argue that he didn't
even know the rules. He literally said that week one,
I didn't know that an elbow down meant two feet
in men a catch A didn't challenge. It was over

(02:56):
his head. And it happens a lot. You're seeing with
Aaron Glenn. You see it with a lot of guys
that are coordinators and become head coaches. And here's the
difference where I will defend Aaron Glenn. Aaron Glenn ran
the defense. So he was tasked to not just like
be a coordinator, like to actually call the place. Bran
Callahan didn't call the place in Tennessee like he became
famous because he was the offensive coordinator for Joe Burrow.

(03:19):
He was at the play caller. The head coach was
like Mike McDaniel. He became famous as his offensive guru,
but he didn't call the place this guy named Kyle
Shanahan did. Some of mcveig's guys. Now, granted they've had success.
When Kevin O'Connell worked for Sean mcvah, he wasn't calling
the place sehn was, So it could be really difficult
to go, is this guy gonna be good or not?

(03:39):
We got no clue. You see it in college football, right,
it's like, let's take this guy from a little school
and make him the head coach at Florida. Well, being
the head coach at Louisiana Lafayette is absolutely nothing like
being the head coach at Florida. Beside, the field is
one hundred yards and whatever fifty nine yards wide right

(03:59):
and the goalpost are the same size. But in terms
of running the program on a daily basis, they have
nothing in common. And that's why the Mike Rabel thing
is so fascinating. I look back and I go, this
guy had taken the Titans, who under this ownership is
a laughingstock. Now, granted they lost in their home opener
when they were the one seed, but he literally made

(04:21):
them in the number one seed and they ended up
losing to Joe Burrow, who would go on the next
week to beat the Kansae Chiefs. And the previous year
when they were a little bit of an underdog, was
going on the road to New England, was going on
the road to Baltimore, made the Titans the one seed
and one road playoff games with Ryan Tannehill. Like Mike
Rabel isn't just a good coach, Like he's really good.

(04:42):
And to think that the Patriots, now, I'm sure they're
paying him pretty good money, but they should have had
to be in a bidding war. Like think about the Jets.
You interviewed him, and I think clearly part of vrabel
interviewing there was to spark some interest with the Patriots,
or at least to kind of get the wheels and motions,
you know, just feed up the process a little bit.

(05:02):
But if I was the Jets, I'd be listen, you
can use me a little bit, like I'm cool with that,
I understand, but I'm also gonna use you because I
want you to be my head coach. So how about
five years, one hundred million dollars. How about we offer
you amount of money, Like, okay, people say the crafts
are cheap. Let's see if they're willing to pay you
what we're willing to pay you, because we will pay you.
If they were cool with paying you fifteen million dollars

(05:23):
a year, we'll pay you five more per season, and
we'll give you full autonomy and anything you want to do.
We're not gonna force you to work with anybody like
they're forcing you, even though I think Josh mccanner's doing
a really good job, Like that wasn't Rabel's higher you know,
Elliott Wolf probably getting along, but like he was kind
of forced to work with. We'll let you bring in
whoever you want. Now, you could argue if that's the

(05:43):
right move to operate as an organization, to give all
the power to a coach, But like the power of
Mike Rabel. Cause again, if you're the Jets, Like, is
Mike Rabel ever gonna win a Super Bowl? I don't know,
I have no clue, But there is a value in
just having a team that can make the playoffs. Right now,
the Jets have the longest standing current you know, time

(06:06):
period of a team that has not made the playoffs
in all of North American team sports. That's pretty crazy.
I mean, that's seems like the Sacramento Kinks have been
checked off the list. The Giants a couple of years ago,
who have mainly been an abomination for like well over
a decade, made the playoffs, won a game. They beat
the Minnesota Vikings a couple of years ago when they
were nine to eight. And you see this week like

(06:29):
I can't imagine that throughout the week, and he's downplayed it.
He's not gonna feed into this. He's got a little
Belichick to him, but you have to imagine that he
has been pacing because this is a moment and I
don't know if his team's quite good enough to beat
the breaks off a team, but if he was ever
gonna do it, this is the type week where he

(06:49):
tries to just embarrass your entire organization. And they're gonna
be a lot of fans with the Titans, who because
when you just lose over and over and over again,
it's human nature for like apathy to kind of set in. Eventually.
It's like, I just don't even care, and that's what
it feels like a little bit with Tennessee. It's like,
we don't even care. This is college football country to

(07:11):
begin with. We've had some moments with this franchise, but
there's no way I'm watching a team that had the
number one overall pick last year that now looks like
they're destined to compete for the number one pick again
and just constantly suck. There is nothing worse because in
baseball it's like whatever, these games don't matter. In football,
like you get once a week, the games you get
build up for in terms of the hype, the different

(07:34):
press conferences, there's like a lead up to the game
every week. So he's like that kind of sucks you
back in and this week it's like, I'm almost rooting
for Mike Vrabel. If I'm a Titans fan, i want
Mike Vrabel to make it even worse, to make it
even uglier, because that's how we feel, and it really
sucks for We talk a lot about Sam Darnold, we
talk a lot about Baker Mayfield, we talk a lot

(07:56):
about Daniel Jones. These quarterbacks get put in these situations
that are just chaotic, that are just you know, dysfunctional
feels like an understatement. There's no way to overcome it.
In most human beings, I don't care who you are,
don't have the mental fortitude, the just ability to stay confident,

(08:17):
keep your head up and handle the adversity that comes
with Like every single person in the building of this
franchise that is worth billions of dollars is staring at you.
Save us. It's like, guys, I might be able to
save us in a couple of years. But I'm like
twenty three years old and I've played six games in
my career and clearly I look around, no one knows
what's going on. Maybe one day I will know what's

(08:38):
going on like a Sam Darnold, like a Baker Mayfield,
but right now I don't. So right now I can't
really help anybody out, and I'm screaming for help with
my coaches. They're firing people and it's just a joke.
And this is why, looking back on them firing Mike
Vrabel because he was like mean, I think there are
some industries where it's like you're allowed to be an
a hole, you know, and football is just one of those.

(09:01):
Finance is one of those. You've ever been to a
construction site. It's not for the faint of heart. And
there are other industries where you probably, like, if you're
gonna be a high school teacher, you know you're probably
not screaming at other teachers in the lunch room, right,
But if you go into a football office, high school football,
let alone college or the NFL like, it's aggressive. There's

(09:23):
a lot of ego. There's a lot of alpha and
sometimes like guys like I don't think Mike Vrabel's a
bad guy by any means, but you're not sleeping much
during the season, You're not always gonna have a smile
on your face. And if you're an owner, you should
always have a smile on your face because you're just
cashing enormous checks. Amy and the ownership brass for the

(09:44):
Titans are going to make money whether they don't win
another game for the next five years. They are going
to print cash just because the league gives them money. Right. Obviously,
there is pressure going in to this new building and
season tickets and stuff, but even if they don't win
many games, it doesn't matter. They are guaranteed to make money.
And also when they go into these hiring cycles, so

(10:08):
you fire Brian Callahan. They fired a million guys before,
including Mike Rabel. Unless you're willing to pay top dollar,
how could any candidate worth his salt feel comfortable that
this is going to work, that it's worth me risking
my career because a lot of these guys. One, if
you're quote unquote Retrade and Mike Frabel technically was you're

(10:31):
not getting like three or four spots, right, Unless you're
Pete Carroll. This might be it's going to be your
second go around. You better feel pretty comfortable, like I'm
Mike McCarthy, and if it is your first opportunity, you know,
these coordinators make so much money now that you can
be I would say a little more cautious when making
the decision. Oh, I just got to become a head coach, right,

(10:52):
Liam Cohen kind of did that last year. It's liked, bro,
you went from nobody to somebody quick. They're offering your
head coach. He's like, yeah, unless you get rid of
Trment Balkey, I'll just stay with Baker Mayfield. They're like, a,
we really want you. We'll fire Trent Balke and we
want you. And look at Liam Collin looks like he's
gonna be a pretty good coach. But if you're the Titans, like,
what do you have to offer a coach to get
him to take the gig? You just fired Mike freaking Vrabel,

(11:14):
who I would say, just if you just went around
the league is like universally respected, you would not find
a coach or another GM that would go that guy's
just good. You know. Again, it's like, well, can he
win a Super Bowl? Like I don't know? Like Ryan Day,
it was like, could he ever win the National Championship?
Then he did, like he was winning a lot of games.
And I'm not even the biggest Ryan Day fan, but
I would say, listen, he's pretty good. Like is Sark

(11:36):
ever gonna win a National championship? But he could he's
at Texas, right, he hasn't, but he's pretty good relative
to the rest of the country. And say the same
thing for Lincoln Riley could say the same thing for
Dan Lanning, Right, Dan Lanning had a great season last
year and got blasted in his first playoff game. So
I think part of this is having the understanding of
when you get someone good in your building, they're gonna

(11:57):
pish you off every once in a while. There's never
been a grouchier human being than Bill Belichick on a
daily basis. And that's when the Patriots were printing money
and making Super Bowl runs and winning trophies, and he
still wasn't nice to anybody. And everyone's like, yeah, we're winning,
it's worth it. That comes with the cost. Let's check
in on the order. It's like they're picking it up

(12:21):
right now and coming over. So I'm really excited for
this game. And listen, I think Drake May has turned
into one of the more fun young players really just
in the league. I mean, if he's going to be
this good the Patriots, they took a little hiatus from Brady,
but it feels like now you put Vrabel, you put

(12:41):
you know, kind of that Mac Jones and Cam Newton
era behind you, and you got Drake May. That the
future feels very very bright. The other game that's really
really fascinating is one thing I really appreciate about Philadelphia
is the intensity that goes in the organization that it's

(13:02):
just win at all costs and they'll do whatever it takes.
People get fired, players get caught. And this is after
going to the playoffs. Right, remember that year where they
kind of fell apart at the end and they just
start firing everybody. They had literally the year before been
in the Super Bowl. Their standard is just crazy high.
They have no let up. And this was one of

(13:22):
Sabans great qualities, is one of Great Belichick's great qualities.
And this is like the Eagles ethos with Jeffrey Leary
and Howie Roseman that they just don't have much patience,
patience and they know what they're doing. That's the difference
of them. And like the Raiders, the Titans, the Jets,
who you could say also say don't have much patience,
but they have no clue what they're doing that, they

(13:43):
have no clue who they're hiring. They just constantly do
it wrong. The Eagles know what they're doing, but like
any industry in life, you're not always going to hire
the right people. Sometimes you hire the wrong guy and
it backfires and it leads you to evaluating and going
at the end of the season, we might need to
make a change, because you could argue the Eagles, well,

(14:05):
I think you are in a little trouble this weekend
at Minnesota on the road. Their defensive backfield is a
major question mark. You're going up against Justin Jefferson, who
isn't just one of the best, if not the best
wide receiver in league, he's one of the best players
in the league. Jordan Addison's a stud. Naylor's a really
good player. Hockinson, they got multiple running backs. It's just
that they are really really going to put the Eagles

(14:27):
defense on tilt. And the Eagles pass rush hasn't nearly
been as good as it has been in years past.
It's not as dumbinant, they're not as good, and it
just lost players. That's part of paying a lot of
money to a lot of veteran guys. You can't sign
Milton Williams, you know, you can't sign Sweat, not even
saying that they would have wanted to and definitely not
at those prices, but you got no chance. They're as

(14:48):
good as gone. And Brandon Graham's like, I retire a
couple of years ago, Fletcher Cox, I retire. But they've
lost a lot of people, you know, CJ. Gardner Johnson,
who can be a polarizing individual, was just they're Ronnie Lott,
you know, in the league that where you're not really
allowed to hit anymore over the middle. I would not
want to go over the middle on that guy, and
they're random defensive backs. Like last year they had one

(15:11):
of the best rookie corners we've seen in recent memory,
to go along with Darius Slay. Now you have random
guys like a Dori Jackson and Ringo the kid from
Georgia who just aren't very good or at least not
playing well. And when you can't cover people and your
pass rush isn't quite the same, that can be a problem.

(15:32):
Even when you have one of the best defensive coordinators
of his generation, there's only so much you can do. Now,
you could argue that Fangio, he's gonna have to adapt
a little bit. If your front four is not getting home,
you're gonna have to blitz more. You don't need to
be Flores or some of these coaches that are very
aggressive as blitzers. But you can't treat your unit like

(15:52):
it was last year, or like in San Francisco when
you had Justin Smith and Alden Smith and Ray McDonald
and Ahmad Brooks and you didn't need to blitz. It's
Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman. But when your front's not
getting home, you got to utilize your linebackers. Who are
great athletes in Campbell from Alabama and Zach Bond, who's
been a revelation as an Eagles player. You're gonna have

(16:14):
to use those guys to manipulate some pressure. And the
one thing I would imagine that Kevin O'Connell's is going
to try to do is we're going to attack over
and over and Kevin O'Connell, like Sean McVay, and they're
the younger version of the Andy Reid, they want to
pass the ball all the time. You know, some of
these old school offensive guys. I think Sean Payton falls
under this a little bit, like he has no problem

(16:36):
running the ball a lot. John Gruden I thought was
going to be this progressive guy when he came back
to the Raiders, it was like full back. He wanted
to run the ball. Some of these people, just like
you know these coaches, they just lean run over the
pass when all else fails, especially in a closer game.
Kevin O'Connell's a pass guy. He wants to throw it
over and over and over again, and against the Eagles,

(16:58):
I wouldn't blame him. So to me, there's gonna be
a microscope on this game. It's part of you know,
the Eagles have really turned in in like some of
these other sports, like the way we talk about the
Yankees or the Red Sox, or like the Lakers or
the Warriors. They're just a polarizing team. They win or lose,
everyone has an opinion on what's going on. Their quarterback
is pretty bizarre because he's had some of the greatest

(17:20):
Super Bowl performances we've ever seen. He like literally just
outdueled Patrick Mahomes. He was fantastic. But then he plays
regular season games against like the Giants, Like, is this
guy even good? And he can be, He's probably a
hard guy to coach, uh, And clearly the identity of
their offense feels a little lost to go along with
their offensive coordinator who just doesn't feel that comfortable calling

(17:42):
the plays now Sirianni earlier this week stuck by him.
But this is this is just an awesome storyline game.
Like if Minnesota beats them, they've done an awesome job
with quarterback situation kind of influx and a bunch of
injuries on their offensive line. And if Philly were to lose,

(18:03):
I mean, it would be like Defcon five in Philadelphia.
It would not shock me at all. If the Eagles
were to fire somebody, if they were to make some
personnel changes, I think we would start asking big picture questions,
like when you ride a running back like they did
last year or like the forty nine ers did the
year before, is there an attrition that comes with their
legs now that is unlike we've ever seen, And they're

(18:26):
just kind of they're never quite the same. Because Saquon
was so good last year, he looked like a rocket
ship busting those fifty sixty seventy yard runs, and this
year you're watching years he just doesn't quite feel the same.
And then obviously defense, like there's just a level how
he's probably the best GM in the league. But when
you're paying a lot of guys a lot of money,

(18:47):
there is just not that much you can do right.
You're gonna have to pinch pennies at certain positions. You're
gonna need to hit on some low price free agents,
You're gonna need to hit on some random draft picks. Right,
every guy gets to be a first rounder in your
starting lineup. You're gonna need a fifth rounder, a third rounder,
a guy that you found on a practice squad to

(19:07):
be starters. At different positions, and they're kind of going
through it right now with some of that, and they're
just not as good and the drop off between their
starters and because of the injury bug to the next
guy is pretty dramatic. Like they couldn't resign McKai Beckton,
mckaie Beckton last year, to go with Jurgens, to go
with Dickerson, to go with the two tackles was just
a road grader. I mean, they just he was incredible.

(19:31):
I mean he was he was a physical force. Well
what happens, like, well, we can't resign him. He goes
to the Chargers, which is normal NFL business, Like that's
just part of the practice of the modern day salary cap. Right,
You're like, what we got, we can't we got to
pick this guy over this guy. We're gonna resign this guy.
We can't resign this guy. Just it's just part of
the deal. And all of a sudden you get Minnesota

(19:53):
who let Sam Donald go, which Sam Donald is objectively
one of the best players in the league. Like he is,
like you can't even argue it. I test statistically, just
his win loss record over the last two years, he
has been fantastic. Now he's gonna get judged based on
last year, the two big games. At the end, you know,

(20:13):
Seattle's in the playoffs or playing for the division. At
the end of the year, he's gonna be under a
microscope too. But right now he looks awesome and we're like, Wow,
you got a bunch of cap space. Is your quarterback
situation good enough? Because you have this awesome team. I
know you got some injuries, but these conversations are just
not gonna die. And one other game that is gonna

(20:33):
be fascinating to me is the Sunday night game. I
just don't know how you replace Fred Warner. See this, Walmart.
My order is actually on the way right now. They've
picked it up and they're coming to delivery. Watching the
Monday night game with the Atlanta Falcons, the two best
players on the field on a field that had Josh

(20:56):
Allen on it were Bijon Robinson, who was by far
the most dynamic guy on either team, and Drake London,
who has really turned into a high end wide receiver.
Those two guys are dominant forces, and the only way
you can kind of neutralize a guy like b John
Robinson is to have a star linebacker who essentially treats

(21:16):
him like when you have a spy on a quarterback
like Michael Vick or Lamar Jackson. That's what you do
to a running back. And you lose Fred Warner to
a shattered ankle, which is just devastating. It sucks. There
is no replacing that. I've always thought it was kind
of cheesy. I understand why you got to say it,
but like, next man up, Like, this isn't high school football,

(21:37):
this is the pros. Fred Warner makes twenty five million
dollars a year. The next man up is a rookie
making a million dollars a year who might not be
a starter on ten teams in the NFL. So next
man up, Like he literally has to be the next
man up because we need a guy to play middle linebacker.
But we can't act like this is the same. This

(21:57):
is the guy that breaks down our team pre game, postgame,
throughout the year, who is the sheriff in the locker room,
who is like the heartbeat of the coaching staff on
the field. You're just kind of screwed. And then you
get this team, who if I was Zach Robinson, who
is the offensive coordinator for the Falcons, who's the former

(22:18):
quarterback for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who a lot of
people think have has a decent chance to be their
next coach. If you start doing well in the NFL,
you don't need to go to Oklahoma State, which is
not a good job, but you could just become a
head coach in the NFL. And the way you do
that is to make Michael Pennix look good, is to

(22:39):
make v John Robinson and Drake London continue to look awesome.
Then all of a sudden, look around the NFL like,
who are the next shooting star coaches? And I think
a lot of people, including myself early on the season
is like and based on last year with cousins, Zach
Robinson just kind of struggled as an offensive coordinator. Well
sometimes And I'm no different, You're no different. We're all
fall under this is we just need some reps, and

(23:02):
the more reps in anything we do when we take
different steps in life and we work up the ladder
and whatever we're doing, like, some things take more time
than others. There are certain tasks and certain jobs that
we pick up really quickly and other things that take
us some time. What's unique about the sport of football
is when you go from a position coach to a coordinator,

(23:23):
everyone's watching you, especially on a team where the head
coach is a CEO head coach slash. He's a defensive
guide by nature, Like that's kind of becomes your baby.
We all know it. He knows it, the players know it.
So when it struggles, like we all look at you
and listen. This is why you make a lot of money.
And there's a lot of pressure in these jobs. These

(23:43):
coaches know it like. It's a very unique profession that way,
because it's so public and so many people are passionate
about it. And he did a really good job the
other night. Now, the Bills are not good on defense.
I think we all agree, but I don't know how
good the forty nine ers are going to be on defense.
Nick is gone, Fred Warner is gone. They are very

(24:03):
dependent on two rookie defensive alignements. So I think if
you are the Atlanta Falcons, you attack early and often.
With Bjeon Robinson, he is he's a special player. I
mean I've been I've had buddies that were going through
Texas when he was a young player, and they would
go John. It is stupid. How talented this guy is.

(24:24):
There is nothing he can't do. Oh yeah, he's a
great character guy too. He's kind of the total package.
I mean, the NFL has been pretty lucky at running back.
I mean, over the years, they've had some guys that've
been a little bit of a wild card. Now look
at the last like three superstar running backs. They've had McCaffrey, Saquon,
and Bijon whereas my wife calls him Dijon Mustard. They

(24:46):
are just they're everything you want when you draft a player, right,
when you draft a player high, unless running backs are
pretty polarizing, when you take them high, and I guess
typically I would be against doing that. I would leave
an offensive lineman a defensive lineman. But sometimes in a
draft it's supplied demand. So if there are no offensive

(25:07):
or defensive linemen worth taking, now, when you take Saquon
number two or I'm pretty sure they could have taken
I forget the defensive linemen off the top of my head,
but there were guys they could have taken over Bejhon.
But if you're gonna be this, no one's gonna argue
with you. It's like you can take Ashton gent number
six overall, he's better be a pro bowler. Like you
watch Bejon Robbins, You're like, that's Pro Bowl, pro level.

(25:28):
You watched McCaffrey two years ago, Saquon last year, Like,
that's that's Hall of Fame talent. So you give me
Hall of Fame talent. We can argue with the value
in the draft. No one ever argues when the player
scoring multiple touchdowns a game, going for two hundred all
purpose yards week in week out, and I would expect
Bejon to go nuts, and I think the forty nine

(25:49):
ers are in major trouble. You can only when I
was in high school, I used to work on the ranch.
My dad was a farmer, and basically sophomore, junior, senior year.
It's when I realized, like, I'm not My brother still
does it again. His job isn't quite what we were
doing back then, but it was. It's really hard work

(26:09):
and I lived in an area it was really hot.
It just it's it's a humbling profession. It's it's tough.
And the guy my dad worked for had this barge,
and the barge was actually from I think World War One.
He had bought the barge, and this is in the
Sacramento area. This is probably twenty plus years ago. And

(26:32):
he had bought the barge it had I forget where
he got it, but what happened was in World War One,
these guys that were on the barge, a bunch of
soldiers had a bad batch of moonshine and they all died,
all of them. So this barge was so it might
have been in like the Bay area, and he had

(26:53):
bought it because no one was using it. And I
don't even know technically what he used it for, but
he had it in this area kind of between where
I grew up in Davis and Sacramento. And it started
to sink one day. I can't remember if there were
holes in it, if like the motor had gone out,
but it was taking on water and it was going
to sink and it was gonna be a major problem.

(27:15):
So we started getting these little pumps, right, not like
a big water pump, like little gasoline pumps. And we
had like three or four of them on the barge.
And the guy I was working for was the owner's son, John,
and he was so mad. He's like, this is the
dumbest idea of all time and him and his dad
were screaming at each other. He ended up like fire

(27:38):
broke out. It was a disaster, but it was a
stupid idea because you could not save this barge with
these little two pound pumps. It was not gonna work,
and that's what it kind of They ended up saving
it by getting huge pump brought in and erected the
barge and kind of saved it and kind of patched
it up. But there is no filling in a band

(28:01):
aid for Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. It's literally impossible.
You maybe can do it with Nick Bosa over the
course manipulate some passer, there is no doing with Fred Warner.
And that's what it feels like right now with the
forty nine ers. They're at the point where they've kind
of band aid this. It's like the leak here now
the barge has broken waters flowing through and I'm kind

(28:23):
of nervous for the rest of the season because it's
been very admirable. They've played their ass off. They're four
and two. They've done a good job coaching. But you
just can't miss this many players. You can't have this
many injuries, you can't have this many issues and overcome it.
And it's one of those things like last year it's
like they just lost some close games. This year it
feels like, I don't want to say, built an excuse,

(28:43):
but at least you can understand it, you know, in
the moment, Fred Warner's ankle was pointing the other way, like,
who do you think is gonna be tackling Bijon Robinson
when you play them in a game? And a huge
part of the forty nine ers potential success was well,
they play a crappy schedule, which is true. They don't
play a good schedule. Their schedule is really easy and
if they were fully healthy, they'd probably win like twelve games,

(29:06):
but they're not. And I do think when the dust
settles it's going to be a struggle to win nine.
So this is an excellent opportunity if you're ahem, Morris,
if you're Penix, if you're Robinson, if you're London, like
they should be licking their lips to play some of
these random dudes on the forty nine ers defense. Okay,
my food is here, let me get a quick sip

(29:28):
of my gatorade. How do you beat that? I'm trying
to tell you you're getting ready for the best time
of the week to watch football games, and you realize
you need some stuff. Whether it's burgers and buns like
I ordered, whether it's gatorades, whether it's anything from the
Walmart app. I cannot preach enough the convenience. I didn't

(29:50):
even need to leave my seat in my office recording
a podcast press a couple buttons. Walmart has me taken
care of. So that's gonna do it for today's episode.
Shout out to Walmart for the clutch Assist. Everything I
needed showed up fast, and I didn't even need to
stress about it. If you're like me and always realize
you forgot something right before the game, just head to

(30:12):
the Walmart app for Express Delivery and you can get
free delivery on your first order. I know, I just
did with promo code Express that's Express. Just enter it
at checkout. The promotion is valid. Express Delivery Order fifty
dollars minimum, subject to availability restrictions applies. See you guys later.

(30:35):
The volume
Advertise With Us

Host

John Middlekauff

John Middlekauff

Popular Podcasts

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.

Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.