The Most Unfair Team in MLP History

[00:00:00] They invited me onto the court after they won. And I think it was more of like a ritualistic shame ceremony for me. They're like, Nico, you can come on and you can film. But then Federico started leading everybody in a chant that literally went, Nico the lefty, f*** you, f*** you. Stop, no, for real. How did you not videotape that? I was too busy being cheered. It was almost like a Jewish ceremony. They lifted me up and they started saying F you. I know they didn't lift you up, Nico.

[00:00:29] No, they needed extra. Welcome to the PicklePod. Welcome back to the... Fuck. Go ahead. No, you do it. You do it. Welcome back to the PicklePod. Not a lot happening this week, Nico. What are we even going to talk about? US Open, tennis. Just kicked off. Last night? I went? Can we talk about that?

[00:01:00] No, I don't want to talk about that. That's tennis. Your dog? We could talk about my dog. How about this? Let's start the podcast. I will give you three guesses as to what type of hotel room I am in in North Carolina. I don't think you're going to guess, but when I tell you, you're going to be like, yeah, that makes sense. Okay, Courtyard Marriott. Nope, good guess. Am I in the right hotel chain? No. No, okay. Okay. It's an obscure one. I'll give you it. It's an obscure one. Okay, can I give it...

[00:01:29] It's not obscure. It's like you've definitely heard of it, but it would be not something that would ever come to mind original. Can we get like a mini show? Can you like pan the room for two seconds here? Look, I got a whole couch over here. That looks just like a Courtyard Marriott. I don't believe that it's not a Courtyard Marriott. I'm going to say Embassy Suites. Not an Embassy Suites. You're down to your last guess. Okay, La Quinta. La Quinta is a very good guess. It's not La Quinta. It is a Sinesta. Sinesta.

[00:01:57] Random. Okay. All right. Well, let's actually... We'll actually talk about the Everything MLP Finals. We were there. Nico and I were both there. There were so many people that said, I saw Nico. And I was like, yeah, you can't really miss him, can you? I don't know how you feel about that. That was my go-to the entire weekend, Nico. No, every single person is like, man, you are much bigger in person. I'm like, taller or wider? Or like, what do you mean? Like my head? Or Sally. Yes.

[00:02:26] So, if anybody's listening, when you see me, it's not a jump scare. I am like the size of Jaws from James Bond. I'm a massive guy. But yeah, I saw a ton of people. Zane was like hiding in a standing room only VIP, but you couldn't miss him with his bucket hat. It's just like the virgin homing beacon. But he was there. I was there. And I'm glad we went. I've been to one MLP event in the last year, and that was the one to go to.

[00:02:55] Yeah, 100%. So, obviously, we'll chat through everything that happened on the court, everything that we did off the court, which mostly centered around getting food. And probably highlight a little bit of the new PPA. The PPA that's literally happening today. Not much of a rest, especially given that it's a slam, which is insane. Insane. So, where do you want to start? Do you want to start with your just broke-ass pics or what?

[00:03:21] Before we get there, I do want to say a big thank you to everybody. So, if you guys heard on the pod last week, and many of you did, because I got a ton of DMs, which, unlike Zane, I do look at, I do reply to, I do listen, that said, Hey, did your wife find tickets? And so, we were able to get her tickets to the event. MLP hooked us up. Because I do a bunch of filming, and I'm not really good at holding the camera at the same time, she was my go-to cameraman. So, we got her with media. She did a bunch of photos, a bunch of stuff. So, we put her to work all weekend.

[00:03:50] But literally, I probably had like 50 people messaging me if I needed tickets, including one specific person. Zane, I'll give you three guesses of who messaged me specifically to tell me that they might have tickets for me. Ooh, give me... Well, I know my boy Lucas from the Pro Pickball Talk Discord hooked you up with some VIP tickets for a day. He did. White feet. So, I know that's... Will Howells. Not... Oh, that would have been a good... No, Will Howells was hoping that I wasn't there. Not Will Howells. Am I along the right lines, though?

[00:04:19] Not even along... Not even close. Wow. Is it somebody from MLP PPA? No. I'm out. I don't care anymore. All right. It was your mom. Your mom DMed me on Facebook and was like, hey, here's some tickets that I found. Do you still need tickets? And so, I got a dimple message. I tried to tell you, but your mom's just lining up in my DMs. What?

[00:04:46] She said she still listens to the podcast, begrudgingly. I know she listens to the podcast, but... Okay. Wow. Thanks, Mom, I guess. So, yeah. I know. I appreciate that. I think she probably... I think what it was was she found a ticket like on third-party marketplace. I probably still had to buy it, but yeah. She definitely reached out. So, I was like, hey, one, at least you know my last name. You found me on Facebook. And I was pleasantly surprised. So, shout out dimple. Okay. There we go. Shout out dimple. That's the high.

[00:05:15] The lows, as Zane mentioned, my predictions couldn't have been any worse. All right. And maybe they could have been a little worse, but the New Jersey Fives fans are relentless. The ownership group is relentless. The players are relentless, not just in their pursuit of glory and championships, but in letting me know that my picks suck. And so, I think it's just like... I think more people enjoyed that than anything else, making sure that I was wrong. So, I predicted that the Brooklyn Pickleball team

[00:05:46] would win in the semifinals two games to one against New Jersey. Not only did that not happen, they got swept six games to zero. Not particularly close. Then they go on, win the finals. I predicted St. Louis Shock in three. And at some point, I think I even dug my heels in extra, predicted them in two. That also didn't happen. So, New Jersey goes, you know, four and O, and just shits all over my predictions. Yeah.

[00:06:15] Now, rough day to be Nico the lefty. That's like, who's your... Are you... Does that officially sort of put you into Jim Kloss territory? Uh, you know, I don't think so. Here's what I think. The answer is yes, Nico. Yes, okay. I just think I might be a little bit more of a gracious loser than Jim Kloss. I will say, in the year-long pick-em that we have for media that you can find on Twitter... Oh, that's a deflection, Nico. Oh, my God. I am number three. I am in third. Tied for third. All right?

[00:06:45] Out of like 20 people. So, I did good all year. Nico, I won my middle school spelling bee. What the fuck is that? Just like the New Jersey Fives, when you were on the team, I shit the bed when it matters most. And so, I was terrible. So much so that after... So, we'll get to the actual play, but they invited me onto the court after they won. And I think it was more of like a ritualistic shame ceremony for me. They're like, Nico, you can come on and you can film.

[00:07:12] But then, Federico started leading everybody in a chant that literally went, Nico the lefty, fuck you, fuck you. Stop. No, for real. Yes. How did you not videotape that? I was too busy like being cheered. You know, it was almost like a Jewish ceremony. They lifted me up and they started saying F you. Yeah, I know they didn't lift you up, Nico. No, they needed extra. But they took the entire Fives army. But, and then Federico's like, everybody come in.

[00:07:41] We got to take a picture with Nico the lefty. And then everybody basically said, no, thank you, except for Will House. I got a picture with Will and Federico. So Federico was leading people in basically every chant. He was drinking a lot of sake. If he made it to North Carolina, I'm not sure. If you've seen him, like Zane, let us know. Because, like I said, there may be like a one in four chance that he makes it to North Carolina in one piece. Dude, isn't it hilarious? Okay, so we're wandering all over the place. We'll get to everything going on. But Fed's been on the team for like three and a half weeks. And he is like the most excited out of anybody.

[00:08:10] Dude was just launching dirty socks into the crowd. Like, what is going on? It was electric. It was so freaking funny. Like, good for Fed. Like, dude, okay, they win the championship. He had to have thought of this before because he just runs around his whole team celebrating. He's like trying to take his shoe off while they're all celebrating. Launches it into the crowd, but runs around the other side of the net and then goes and celebrates with his team. Like, what is that? Yeah, no, he took both shoes off

[00:08:39] because he did it once like naturally in game one. And then when they finally won it all, the first shoe flies and you like see him like hobbling along on one foot trying to grab the other shoe and rip it off, toss it in the crowd. Nobody partied. He partied harder than everybody else combined. And nobody else has ever celebrated a pickleball victory in history more than what Federico did for that final. It was great to see. They definitely got the right guy. Yeah, 100%. That was iconic. All right.

[00:09:08] Well, should we start from the start? Kind of go through a couple of semis, go through the five? Yeah, let's start at the semis. Which one do you want to start with? Let's start with, honestly, there's not really much to talk about from the semis. St. Louis beat down Dallas. Only thing of interest there was something you pointed out pretty interestingly. Boyes lost both. So it was 3-1, 3-1 for St. Louis, kind of dominant in pretty much every other lineup position. Boyes lost both to Jada Abinagi.

[00:09:39] And you pointed out that meant they were winless in Central Park. Last year, they lost both to Andre and CJ. This year, they lose both to Jada Abinagi. So, I don't know. I think something to talk about is something we chatted about last year, which is the rollout courts were kind of garbage again. Yes. Like, I feel like the rollout courts have been getting better. There's, they've got like this new formula. They're bouncing higher, all that stuff.

[00:10:08] But the court, they had a bunch of rain the first day. Like, I almost missed my flight coming over there. Or I almost didn't get in on time because, like, they weren't letting anybody land in JFK. The court underneath has like some plywood and some plastic and water gets underneath. And it was so squishy. The court, it was dead. And by the end of the weekend, there were like ridges. And it was worse by the end of the weekend

[00:10:36] than even by the beginning of the weekend. So, the courts just kept getting worse. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there was literally a point. And it like, I think in like men's doubles in the finals, in the second match where Gabe... I know exactly which one. 10-7 or something like that. 10-6-1 match. Yeah. Ball to Gabe. Easy dink. Basically rolls. And they lose one match point that way. And like, I mean, that's a huge difference maker. Literally like an unplayable ball because of the court.

[00:11:05] And at 10-6. I mean, yeah. The court's the same for everybody. But that's brutal. Yeah. Exactly. I don't know. And it was tough. At the end of the week, like the guy next to me that was shooting footage, you know, now that I'm media, he was like, look, he's like showing me in his cameras. Like, look at the court. And it just like literally looks like, you know, like waves. So, tough. I mean, the venue, fantastic. Perfect. Amazing. Right? Court, bad. Probably some part the fault of MLP,

[00:11:35] some part of the fault, just the cause of, you know, rain and whatnot. I feel like they could have put it down better. Maybe. I don't know exactly. But like, that was tough because it definitely played a role in, I feel like, multiple points that were in key big moments. Yeah. And I do want to shout out, the rollout courts have been much better this year. Like last year, they were garbage. This year, I think much, much better. But it felt like it was that step back to kind of the crappy rollout courts at the most important time. But honestly, I'd say that

[00:12:05] that's probably the only thing to complain about from this weekend. Other than that, I think it was all highlights. It's like 4,200 people. And there was not one more person that really could have been fit in there either. They extended the stands from last year as well. And the attendance was great Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So yeah, 4,200 people. I wonder how many they could have gotten, right?

[00:12:33] Like if they just went cheaper tickets, some bigger venue, right? Like 4,200. Do you think you could have gone, you know, 7,500? Do you think there were 3,000 people waiting out there? Because Caitlin Kerr posted something that VIP tickets for Sunday, first off, they sold out by the time I actually looked at this. The last one went for $1,500 on a secondary market. Yeah. I literally thought about that.

[00:13:03] I was like, I was, you know, I used to, you know, be scum of the earth in college. I used to resell tickets to like pay for some of my college. And I literally was like, wow, like somebody's probably gonna get killing next year reselling tickets because yeah, there was not enough capacity to meet the demand. And tickets were getting insane. And I mean, I also saw box suites are $30,000 for the weekend. Insane. But yeah, I think they could have probably almost doubled the venue size

[00:13:33] and still packed the crowd and made more money. I just, I don't think, I don't think Central Park is gonna be the place that fits that many people. And I'm not sure how you do that. I don't know what the biggest venue that could hold like a pickleball match would be because it's not like tennis where like the court is so big that you can really build out like Arthur Ashe Stadium at US Open. Like there's only so many people that could actually like see. But yeah, you could definitely have had more people. Yeah. No, I mean like at that point it's much more about just being there, right? Like the, you know,

[00:14:03] once you're more than a couple rows up, like it's probably better to watch on TV, but like it was electric being there. Like you want to be there 100%. I would have been, I would have been content being all the way up in the back of the bleachers just being there for that sort of atmosphere. Yeah. It's an interesting hypothetical. Do you think they could have doubled it? Or if like, or if attendance was virtually free, do you think they could have got 10K people in there? I don't know. It would be very interesting. Yeah. That's a good question. Uh, yeah,

[00:14:32] I think they could have gotten double for sure. And I think they wouldn't have even had to change the price too much. So, and maybe if it's like in Arizona or Florida or something like that, uh, where there's even more pickleball players than New York, like maybe you get even more people. I don't know. Um, but there was definitely a ton saying, I guess this is one question I have. We will get back to the semifinals. We will get back to play, but speaking of the venue, um, should they, do you think they should rotate locations? So, uh,

[00:15:02] Central Park is perfect, right? Like the backdrop is amazing. It's iconic, historical, the venue's great. Everything is wonderful. But do the, do the New Jersey fives win that match if this is played in California? Like, I mean, it's huge home field advantage, especially if you eventually want to have like mobilization in the city, like that every year, the finals have played in the New Jersey fives backyard. Like, yeah, I mean, that's a good point. Um, but to be fair, I feel like the Jersey team, like in Orlando,

[00:15:32] they had just as many people. Like, uh, I feel like they've got their core and of like those few clowns. And then they just do a good job of like, you know, recruiting other people at those events. I mean, I'm sure there were more because it was Jersey, but it didn't seem like they had that many more fans than they normally do at like every event. But yeah, I get what you're saying. Like for a team like Brooklyn, like Brooklyn honestly had more fans than, than Jersey and their head to head match, which was interesting and cool.

[00:16:01] So it's tough for, tough for a team like St. Louis where, you know, whatever. But I honestly feel like right now, the fan bases are more based about on players than locations. Right. Right. Like, like which team do you, which team do you like? Which player do you like? Right. Like you could be a from Florida, but a Chicago fan. Cause you, you liked our, our season. Like you'd be from California, but be a shock fan. Cause you like Anna bright or Hayden or whatever.

[00:16:31] So I think it will become more important, but yeah, I mean like maybe there's a couple, a handful of venues that you rotate, but also you need somewhere where you can fit more than 4, 200 people next year. Where's that going to be? Right. It's arena. Well, we'll just put it in the shock stadium and then we'll see what happens there. That'd be kind of crazy. Yeah. I think eventually, but I, and I also think that the, the, um, the venues are catching up. Maybe we need to put it in a tennis stadium or something or another Madison square garden. Maybe. Yeah. I know. You know,

[00:17:01] once, uh, once Utah gets that like pickler, I'm not sure that's that 47 court, you know, venue that they've been talking about. I'm not sure if that's still in the works or not, but like that's supposed to have 5,000 people, I think for a court side. So yeah, I'm excited to see what they do. Jim Kloss always says we need bigger stadiums. And I think the hardest thing is the state is, this, what do you do with the stadium for the other, you know, 300 and exactly days a year. It's hard to justify the cost, but, uh, yeah, I mean, it'd be nice. Yeah. Okay.

[00:17:30] I honestly don't think there's really anything else from that St. Louis semifinal. Do you have anything else from that one? No, um, I don't. Um, other than just like shout out to, to the Dallas flash. Like they proved us wrong all year. Uh, they, they played fantastic. Uh, I think overachieved probably got getting to the semifinals. We gave them 1% chance. We knew they weren't going to win it all, but 1% chance or, or whatever, like they're the fourth or third best team, uh,

[00:17:59] in MLP. So kudos to them. And, uh, I was, I had mentioned, um, in a reel that it was fun, you know, going to media day and seeing the owner of the flash, Mark Molten, and then explaining to him, like, he's like, Oh, Hey, 1%, Hey. And I'm just like, yeah. Uh, you know, everybody apparently listens to the pod, but like, I was like, sorry. I was like, I apologize, you know, but yeah, congratulations for being here. Then immediately after that, I see Mark's daughter and she's like, Oh, Hey Nico,

[00:18:28] remember how you asked for that custom Danny Townsend Jersey? Well, I sent it to you. It should be in your mailbox. Can you check like anything you need? I'm here for you. And she started like talking to me about like, um, creating apparel and stuff. And I was like, man, she's so nice. And all I'm doing is just like blasting their team for having no shot. And then we're like, they take us up to time square where we get to go see the ball that drops and, for, uh, new year's. And it's like, like a pickleball. And as I'm walking up the steps, I see Margo, the, uh, Mark Molten's mom.

[00:18:58] And she's like, Hey Nico, I just want to say, I love you and Zane on the podcast. And especially that you guys always defend us. And you're so nice. And I was like, Oh, I was like, just don't watch the latest episode of this podcast. But, um, anyway, it was Margo. We're always, we're always nice to the, to the Dallas. Yeah. In case you're wondering, we are always nice to the Dallas flash. I did not check my mail beforehand. So there is a Danny Townsend custom Jersey that I found out that is in the mailbox at home.

[00:19:27] That'll be on the next podcast. But anyway, great team. Uh, and we'll talk about owners later as well. But like, I just think like there's a select group of owners that really care about the pickleball experience and all those owners and their teams end up in the playoffs and in the semifinals. And, uh, you know, as much as the players decide the outcomes on the court, like I think the ownership group probably has more to do with that than anything. Anyway, so that's all I have to say about Dallas. Congratulations. Thank you guys, uh, for making it better. But, um, Brooklyn.

[00:19:57] Brooklyn. Yeah. I mean, they kind of did. We just knew like that was priced into our predictions. They're a hot and cold team. They're volatile and they were kind of cold this weekend. Right. And so I think that just because something doesn't work, doesn't mean that it was, or just because something works doesn't mean that it was right. So this is one that I will double down on. I still think that Brooklyn five's obviously won the championship. I still think picking Brooklyn was the wrong choice. Like it worked out, but it was the wrong choice.

[00:20:27] Like sometimes you speed up a ball. It was a dumb shot. It works. Doesn't mean it was the right thing to do. It means that it worked. So anyway, I still feel like that was the wrong call, but it is what it is. Um, that's one that I'm, I'm not, uh, I'm not redacting. No, I don't think so either. I mean, Dallas put a more of a fight than Brooklyn, but, uh, and Brooklyn, like you, you cannot lose those men's matches, right? Like you have to win that one, that one's tough. And it's, it's so interesting,

[00:20:55] like watching some of these matches and then playing them back in my head and thinking, I think like if you play those like a hundred times, like Brooklyn, I still confident Brooklyn wins a majority of those men's matches, at least like they went, they got down big, like they were down like eight Oh or seven Oh, and they come down like eight Oh and Aaron ate one. And like both of them. Yeah. They come back, they tie it or they take the lead. Um, and, and they, they end up losing. Uh, obviously they dug themselves up too big of a hole, but like, I think at least in that matchup, they, they'll probably win like maybe seven or eight of 10 of those matches.

[00:21:25] Um, especially they have the best winning percentage. Actually, no, I think they were second best to Hayden and Gabe on the season. Like, so you, you, I mean, you expect, you expect the Christian and, and, um, and Riley to, to win those. But, uh, yeah, I mean, also shout out to, to Will and, and fed, right? I know you're a Will Howells hater. I'm a Will Howells lover. So now they played, they played really well, uh, kind of got tight when they were up or started playing sort of like, you know,

[00:21:55] they just needed to make balls to get up eight zero. Cause I feel like Riley and Christian were kind of like missing early on. And then they making stuff and getting hot at the end of these matches. And, you know, but they held on, they held on to both of those. It was weird. It seemed like the beginning of the match, it's like, it was like the same strategy for both teams at some point. And it weren't like the beginning of the match. I feel like they targeted Riley and he just kept on popping dinks up. Like just, just, just, you just like one out of every five just kind of got popped up and then just got punished. And then eventually they turned it around. They started, they started targeting will and they,

[00:22:25] they got the better of the exchanges against will Christian played a little bit bigger. Riley played better. And then Zane, I guess the biggest, the biggest thing of that whole semifinal matchup is the game point fault on Riley Newman. Um, so for those of you who may not have seen, uh, I think the score is, um, 10, 10, nine, 10, nine, second one. Maybe it was 10, eight, 10, eight, 10, nine, 10, eight. Uh, and basically what happens is, uh, there's a questionable ball. I think it's,

[00:22:55] I think they're trying to challenge, right? There's like a question. He's just trying to walk off and call timeout. I call timeout. Okay. It looked like they were like looking to challenge anyway. Um, but he tries, he tries to pause the game, take a timeout. And, uh, because the score had already started being called, that's a fault. And point awarded to the New Jersey fives game over. Uh, the worst way possible to end a playoff game. Uh, so terrible. And I don't,

[00:23:24] and then we'll talk about like letter of the law versus like the spirit of the game. But like, it was so bad that the team immediately, I think they just gave up at that point. Like Rachel came out with basically no energy. They went down huge, like six. So before she like woke up, um, but yeah, I mean, is that, that's the right call, right? Yeah. I mean, like they got the rule correct, but, I mean, like, I don't know how many refs like call that, right? Like, okay. So they, they call the score. Like,

[00:23:54] I feel like I've heard them say, maybe this is right. Or maybe this is wrong. Like I called the score. Like, and maybe she did say that to Riley too. Like, we don't know, but like, I mean, if I'm the, if I'm the ref, it's not my place to like coach people up or whatever, but hopefully you could be like, Riley, get your ass back on the court. Uh, like, I mean, like, he, if the guy doesn't know the rules and he breaks them at that moment, it sucks.

[00:24:24] But like, is there something you can do as the ref to kind of like, get back out there champ? Exactly. Oh, yeah. A hundred percent. I, I, there had to be something. And I, I, I was wondering if like the ref, like knee jerk reaction was to enforce the rule and then realize the stakes. And like, I've already started saying what I'm saying, I can't stop now. I got to enforce it. And then I got to double down. Like there's no way to, you can't say like point game match and then go, Oh, actually let's take it back. Let's play it because it makes more sense. And let me give you a second chance. I mean,

[00:24:54] maybe there was, maybe there was other stuff that, that she said there to, to him, who knows? Um, but so it's a sucky way to end, but like, I think somebody made this point on Twitter. It might've been Johnny 5.0 shout out. Um, like you got to enforce the rule of the same way at zero zero in the, um, in the first game or like 10, 10 and or 10, nine in last. So I disagree. That's the hard thing is like, I think this is weird to say, but like in lots of sports,

[00:25:23] like you'll watch most refs, not call ticky tack fouls at the end of the game. Cause they don't want it to affect the game. And so like that to me, that's a ticky tack foul. Like, so like I, I wouldn't have, uh, and then I'm just like in my head, I thought if they had Zane Navratil on the bench of the Brooklyn team, I feel like you would have like, there would have been like a 30 minute pause before the next game started, but you would have been fighting. You would have like, I don't know who you would have called or what you would have done,

[00:25:49] but I feel like Brooklyn kind of rolled over a little too fast on like trying to figure out how to get, you know, that reversed. Yeah. I don't know what else you do. Um, but yeah. Oh, well, I mean, that was, unfortunately the most, that was pretty much the only interesting part of, of that. I mean, other than Riley or I'm sorry, Christian going back and forth with the clown. Oh, that was, that was good about that. Actually, lots of comments as,

[00:26:14] as is always been the case with the fives that the people don't like the clowns, all that stuff. Like your opinion, Nico. Yeah. Um, okay. So I, I think they're, they're good for pickleball. I do not enjoy them as a non fives fan, obviously. And I think that's probably the goal. Um, I think that it's interesting because the clowns are also so,

[00:26:44] and maybe I'm just, I'm just being like, uh, heard about this for no reason, but like they're very aggressively negative towards the other team versus like positively cheer, which is probably what you want in your fan base. Um, but like that, that like lead five guys or a clown, uh, who I think followed me on Twitter randomly yesterday. Yeah. Um, but he, uh, like, he was like, look at me, Christian, look at me, look at me when I'm talking to you, Christian. And I was like, Oh my gosh, like this, is this too far? Like, does that cross? Have we crossed the line at this point? I don't know.

[00:27:13] I was like how much you're getting paid or if it was for the love of the game. Now I'm sure it's just for the love of the game. Um, or maybe free tickets. I don't know. Okay. I don't know where this narrative of the paid clowns comes from. I feel like they might just like give them tickets to go to the game and sit in the front row. Is that, does that, would that be like a reasonable expert like thought or like the clowns all buy separate tickets in the first row or like, no, I don't, I don't know. I mean, yeah, I'm sure there's probably like a, a section that, that Harwood like buys out. So yeah. Okay. Maybe,

[00:27:43] maybe there's free tickets for a handful of them, but like whatever, like Jake Galvar is getting, free tickets too. I'm sure he's getting box suites, dude. Oh, he is getting box suites, Jake. That guy also paid, bought and paid for. Um, but so, okay, but they're not getting paid to be there. Like they're just, they're people that show up that they fly to some of these events on their own, their own dime. Like, uh, I know they have like a, uh, an awesome like community manager person that like, you know,

[00:28:13] sets up the, the clown costumes and all that stuff. Like, so I'm sure they're not paying for that either. But like when they brought up the, the suitcase, I was dying. Like I'm sitting, I'm like standing in the, in the, uh, in the, in the stands watching the Dallas flash match. And then all, I just like see in the corner of my eyes, like two big suitcases full of fucking clown costumes. And then like, I don't know why I just thought that was so funny that, and then like, they like started sneakily under the bleachers. Uh, but yeah, they come prepared. My goodness. So,

[00:28:42] and it had to be hot as hell in all that outfit. So, so that's true. Good for them. Uh, they, they are so rowdy that at one point, one of the MLP staff, like basically started yelling at them in the middle of the finals, because I think they were trying to break the bleachers. Like there's only explanation was they were like stomping so hard on the bleachers. I'm like, bro, you guys are literally going to break this shit. And they had to like tell me like, Hey, you guys do whatever you want, but just don't break this. but no, like they're, they're intense. They're good. They're basically, uh, you know, the seventh member of the team,

[00:29:11] even so much that like, I think Martin Emmerich's role outside of coach is make sure that those guys have water that is taken from the players water section in the middle up to the stands. Like I just see him at every time out. He's just like tossing up waters to the clowns who are probably going to pass out if they don't get any. Yeah. So that's an interesting question though. So like, first off, uh, regard, even if it wasn't on the fives the last two years, like I think that that's good for the sport. I think they're probably unanimously hated by everybody who's not a clowns fan. Like, is that not a good thing? Like you want you,

[00:29:41] sometimes you watch people that you just want to lose. Maybe the fives are that for some people because of the thoughts, whatever. Like, I think they're just great for MLP, even if you do hate them. But the one guy, Ross, unbelievable heckler, very good at his craft, great at finding targets. Like he, he feels it out. He's, we talked about it up in the bleachers. Very good at his craft. I'm curious, like, where is the line? Right? Like, what do you get kicked out of an NBA game for? Like LeBron's getting people kicked out. Like,

[00:30:11] you know, when, when he's yelling, like, look at me, Christian, I don't think that's too far. Like, I think you can yell players names, like whatever. But, where is, like, if he's like, yeah, where, where is the line? Like, what, what do you get kicked out for at, at MLP? That's a great question. I think it also depends on the play. Like, here's the question. It's like, if he said, look at me, Leia, and it was yelling at Leia Jansen, like, does she kick him out? Like, does she get him? He was yelling at Leia Jansen last year. He was, she was target number one last year.

[00:30:43] So, maybe there's, I think the line is like, when it gets personal, I think like, you talk about family, or like, probably like, unrelated pickleball stuff. I don't know. Maybe that's like, where you draw the line. If you say, if you, if you're swearing at them, probably also drawing the line, right? Like, I don't think I, I wouldn't, if someone swore at me, I wouldn't care. But like, at the same time, like, you just can't say everything that you want to say, right? Um, but I think saying, look at me, Christian,

[00:31:12] as much as it gives me like a, kind of a yucky taste in my mouth. Like, I still think it's, uh, I think it's okay. It's not crossing the line. Yeah. That's such a random one. Look at me, Christian. Like, that's, it was just so funny. Oh my gosh. And then like, and then it would just be like him yelling. And then every time Christian's, the hard thing is like, Christian only has like one emote. Like, it's just this, you know, like that's all he does. And like, um, I was, so he's not winning any horror battles. Cause you can only do this so many times. Only so many times. Exactly. Uh,

[00:31:41] and I think what made the finals so awesome is that the shock, I think is the only team in MLP that can fight with the fives, like from like, um, a heckling perspective. Like this from like the players, right? Like Hayden or Gabe or whoever, uh, talking shit back. Uh, Christian, he has the roar. The rest of the team is just like so well behaved. Uh, and so like, even though Brooklyn had like this huge, massive contingent fan base, which I thought was fantastic.

[00:32:11] And like, they're the kind of fans that I'd like to root for because they were like more so positive. Um, their players didn't have kind of that nasty behavior that Hayden has. And I, I feel like it affected them. I feel like the clowns were able to basically dunk all over Brooklyn and then they lost because they just didn't have the energy. Whereas, and I understand that the shock also lost, but I, I like would hear Hayden chirping back at the, at the clowns or at Ryan Harwood or whatever, you know? And so like, um,

[00:32:42] I thought it was just, I thought it was pretty funny. I think I, I like hearing him mouthing off, like the clown is like yelling, leave clown is yelling. And I just, I just see Gabe. And this is right after Gabe lost men's. He's just sitting there like this. And he's just like, how old are you? How, how old are you? And the clown, like literally at that point, the clown kind of showed up. Like, he's just like, how old are you dude? Like, and there's nothing worse than having like two 20 year olds. Like just think you're the oldest piece of shit ever. And that's basically the attitude that Hayden and Gabe gave. And like, they gave it back and forth.

[00:33:08] And I think that that was needed to try and combat whatever the clowns did. And not only do you have the clowns, but then you got Ryan Harwood, who is just also relentless. He's like clown number one, you know, it's like him and the guy on the stand. So I don't know that team. Uh, it makes it really tough to play. I think it's a really good thing for their team. I think it's a, probably a good thing for the, for it as much as it is the most annoying thing I've ever seen. Yeah. So, I mean, the good news is we do have both for people. I actually like, look, I disagree,

[00:33:37] but I completely understand the people who that's not for, right? Like, I get it. You don't want to see that. Like, you don't want to see the smack talk. You don't want to see this devolve into something different, but I do. I do want to see that. I like, we've got, we've got two properties within the UPA. You've got PPA, which is much more standard and the players kind of get the distinction. Then you've got MLP, which is rowdy. It's fan based. And like, I do think that the energy at this event is just completely unparalleled by worlds, which is the next,

[00:34:07] which is the biggest event of the year or the best energy event of the year from the PPA side of things. Like it's a different level of intensity. It's a different level of like skin in the game for the fans. I feel like for the players, even like, so yeah, no matter what you just, do you think fed is throwing socks the next time he wins a, a PPA event? Like, I mean, the most emotional player out there at this point, I would say like,

[00:34:35] he's still not throwing socks at PPA events. No, no. So I do have a question. Speaking of crossing the line is what are your, your thoughts on like a Ross Chaffetz and Ryan Harwood heckling the other players and their role on the bench. Hmm. I say, go for it. I know it's not really something that's done in other sports, but I say, go for it. Like we don't need to be like other sports. All right. All right. It's just interesting. It's like, I'm, I'm hearing Ryan, you know, obviously you,

[00:35:05] you know, Ross and when Ross is like, I feel like Ross is heckler light. Like he has his like two things. Um, like, you know, he, he has like a way out always doing this kind of thing. Like, uh, and then there's Ryan Harwood who is like more so built like Hayden Patrick. And he's just like in the, in the dream breaker. It's every point. I just hear him go, it's okay, Hunter. It's the court. It's the court, Hunter. Worst courts in on tour. It's okay, Hunter. You got this dude. And just Hunter is just crumbling and the courts are just like in his head, you know, relentless at Kate.

[00:35:34] It just like talking about how tight they are. And so I'm just like, I dude, I mean, a little bit of this is giving like a, I peaked in high school. I wasn't able to play professional sports. And now I'm living vicariously through, you know, obviously these other guys, uh, which is how I act as a parent. And when I watch my kids play sports, I also do the same thing. I'd love to get in fight with parents because I am a misbehaved, um, a psycho, but, uh, so was Ryan Harwood. Uh, so I'm not sure if I like it or not. Uh, to your point, it doesn't not happen in any other sport. Really? Uh,

[00:36:03] maybe it happens in WWE wrestling. Um, but I'm okay. If, uh, MLP is a little bit more like WWE, bro, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna let you slander Ryan like that. He's got plenty of things going on. He's just a competitive guy. And honestly, it like helps the team win. So you talk about the clowns fan section being the, the seventh man, like, I mean, Ryan seven clowns fan sections, like seven point five, eight. Right. So now he's competitive and he knows what he's doing helps his team to win. So like,

[00:36:31] you don't get to the spot that Ryan is in his professional career too, without being like a competitor. He's got other stuff going for him too. He's not, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying like his athletic career, his athletic career. I know that he is successful in everything that he's doing, but, uh, yeah. So living through your kids is like a kind of a thing. Zane, eventually when you, you know, if you have kids or whatever, you're like, Oh, my, well, my kids be better than me. And then you just start like pretending like you play their sport. I feel like that's kind of like the Ryan mentality, but also like you said, it helps.

[00:37:01] Yeah. It's, it's, it's his team for sure. So, um, and I mean, you talk about culture and that's something that we'll, we'll talk about too. Or what you mentioned before is like, you don't get there with team owners that don't care. Right? Like the four team owners that were there this week, all like cared a tremendous amount. And Ryan, just as much as Ross and rich Schaffetz who show up to everything, like, no, he, he cares. It's his team. Like he's, he won a title yesterday too, just as much as the players did. Yeah. So, all right. Anything else?

[00:37:30] Like on, let's talk about the actual matchups. So dream breaker. The first day, the fives win or side, the shock, when both gender, the fives, when both mixed the next day, the fives, when both gender, the shock, when both mixed, I have never, ever seen that before. I would love for the nerds out there to let us know if there's ever been a playoff series where you've had all four matches flip. Isn't that crazy?

[00:38:00] It is. Yeah. One on one. Every single person went one on one. I was like thinking about who's going to be the MVP of this finals. And I was like one on one, one on one for everybody. So I guess two and two. So yeah, I never seen it. Yeah. How different could this have been? If Gabe converts a match point in the first one, like, I mean, it's, they go, the shock go down in two games, but will how will saved a match point in, in men's singles at 2019. Yeah.

[00:38:30] I mean, it was just a, the Gabe miss it. You know, it was a Gabe two and a backhand of the net. I don't remember exactly what happened, but yeah, Gabe missed a two, he like halfway up the net. Yeah. Like it was kind of a rough balance as well. Oh yeah. And that was close. It was that right after also Gabe hit like the, uh, 18, 18, Gabe hit the craziest shank overhead winner. Miss it, um, gets to 19, 18, will wins the next one. Gabe wins the next one. Uh, he's at 20 to 19. Um, yeah,

[00:38:59] serving it huge. I mean, Gabe had two, what if moments, the ball bounce that died the next, the next day and mass point, like, and to, to your point, like, did the best team win probably in the finals, but like, yeah, I mean, we're talking about a huge, it could have been very easily two points change with Gabe and it's two, Oh, St. Louis, St. Louis actually won more points overall in doubles than New Jersey.

[00:39:30] Really? Yeah. So yeah. So overall point winners, St. Louis, I mean, they, cause they dominated Anna Lee and Georgia to start. And then it was a close one in game two, right? Uh, men's, I think we're close both ways. Uh, and then mixed kind of flip flop. But yeah, I mean, there was, I think they might've scored three more points overall, uh, than the, the New Jersey fives. It wasn't huge or anything, but they definitely didn't get dominated or anything. The score is not indicative of how close to final was.

[00:39:59] Yeah. Interesting. Um, let's see. Anything else you got from the finals? Not what I want to do is I want, is this, was this the best NLP finals ever? You have been, I mean, you got to watch one and be a part of two more. We're going to talk about, about the modern era of MLP. Um, yeah, I mean, like what's your ranking of the finals? I think. Yes, I would, I would. So, uh, yeah, I would put this as the best.

[00:40:26] I think both of our previous two finals were more interesting on court stories, but it was like us versus Dallas. There wasn't like bad blood and all the crap talk there. Like it, the match was crazy. The comeback was crazy. Like this one gets negative points for only being two games, but this is the, I think without a doubt, best two game series you possibly could have had. And I don't think it's close. Um, Columbus, I think sort of the,

[00:40:55] the same thing completing the comeback is, is interesting, but like, there's not the same, like, this has just been, this is honestly, this final has been building for three years. And so I think that factored into it, um, makes this, even though this is the only two game final in the modern era of MLP, I think this is the best one yet. And obviously like the crowd, everything like phenomenal, uh, isn't the best rivalry at pickleball. It's not close. And so I'd, I'd call it the best. What about you? What do you think?

[00:41:25] I think so. I think if I were to rate them, I would say third place, the Columbus sliders win. I really, yeah, I just think, I don't know. I think the run was impressive, but I think the shock of the Dallas flash beating Annaly waters, uh, in the first year and kind of like the good guys versus the bad guys experience, like the flash were just like,

[00:41:55] so lovable by basically everybody besides New Jersey. And it was a, to me, a big surprise. I thought that was, was not, was, uh, better than Columbus. And then I, I agree. I think that this one is by far the best. Um, other than the fact that it didn't go three, um, you just, I think these are probably also the two best teams in MLP history. I think both of these teams are better than Columbus. Both of them are better than Dallas. So power ranking. All the teams ever in MLP history. You got the two best ones right here. And I think that if these teams played a hundred times,

[00:42:25] it's going to be so close to 50, 50. Um, other than the fact that it just seems like I'm, you know, I was wrong about their dream breaker ability. The New Jersey fives are freaking good at dream breakers. Um, and, uh, yeah. So then that was the difference, but yeah, this is, I think the best, the best finals ever. Yeah. So if you're the St. Louis shock and you've got to point a finger somewhere, where are you pointing fingers? Uh,

[00:42:54] I think I have to point it. I'm probably Hayden and Gabe. I think that that's my, I mean, you got to go better than one in five and then you gotta, you have to be Will Howells and Federico's wives. Like I think that's, that's what it has to be. Um, I think Kate was the best player on their team. Yeah. Per, per their, per their norm, right? Like Kate played, I think even better than she, than she normally does. Anna played probably regular.

[00:43:23] I think Hayden and Gabe played slightly less than their, their norm. I mean, they had flashes, right? But they also had flashes the other way of, of not playing particularly well. Yeah. I just think that that is the one matchup. If you were to say, what is the one matchup that is the most secure win for either team? Would you say men's doubles, Hayden and Gabe is, should be the biggest. I would have said women's doubles, Georgia and Anna Lee, and then men's doubles, Hayden and Gabe. Okay.

[00:43:53] I would have flip flopped it. Um, but yeah, I, I think that that's, you have to win that men's match. And I think that, you know, you, a couple of these points go different ways and the New Jersey fives don't win. Like you're, we're having a huge conversation about Anna Lee waters and her inability to win a mixed match and a women's doubles match. You know, like going to go in two and two is not good enough for her for sure. Um, dream break a different story, but other question, uh, do the fives? I mean,

[00:44:22] looking back at it, it looks like there's no way they get this done without Federico. Not a chance. I mean, men's are winning a single match. And I think if you put no way in for fed, I don't think Hunter Johnson's going whatever, you know, one in or three, like three and nine or whatever he was going in that second dream breaker against no way. You know, that's why feds the MVP and not just because of how well he played this weekend, but because of how much better he made the team.

[00:44:52] Uh, saying I do have a, um, a fun fact. I don't know how much this is just like, uh, blowing smoke up our ass, but, uh, after the finals, when I'm sitting on the court, um, having people taught me, uh, I got to talk to some of the owners of the fives. I talked to Raquel, I think. And she just, she, she's like, you and Zane are the reason we picked up Federico. She's like, you guys said on the pod, if we got Federico,

[00:45:22] we'd be unbeatable. And so I said, let's get Federico. And so did we create a monster? I don't know. I'm sure that they're smart enough to figure this out on their own, but, uh, just a victory lap for us. Um, we, you, you are still honorary member. You got, you know, shouted out by Federico. Um, but yeah, I mean, our, our wonderful analysis helped bring that team together. And for sure that team does not win without Federico. Not even close. Yeah. Well, I actually did. I really appreciated that shout out from, from fed. Cause I do think that's like, like I said,

[00:45:52] culture is a, a big thing in any of these teams. And, you know, I think Ryan is the leader of, of that for sure. But I also think that we put a lot of good things into place when I was on that team too. And so it was weird watching, like people asked me the entire weekend who I'm cheering for. Like, first and foremost, like I was cheering against them in the first one. I wanted game three. Okay. Like I'm as a fan first, I want to game three, but I didn't want the fives to, to win. Like I wanted my, my, my former team to win.

[00:46:20] And I don't know if I've, you know, shared this or spoken about it on the pod or, but like, you know, Ryan and I had a really good conversation at the end of last year. And I think if there's one thing about me, I think I'm pretty self-aware of what I am as a player and, and what I'm not. And, you know, I wasn't going to play on the fives this year and I'm not going to play on MLP teams for that much longer. If I'm being honest, right. Or, or be somebody that can be, be out there. And so while I can,

[00:46:50] and while I can still, you know, contribute to a team in more ways than just talking shit and, and being a good, like a teammate, um, I want to play. And so, you know, Ryan and I chatted and, and like, you know, he traded me to the, to the slice, which is, you know, what I, what I had wanted and sort of asked for, and it worked out well. Um, but, uh, I, uh, I am happy that the, that the fives won. Um, I'm happy for,

[00:47:18] for all my former teammates and, and whatnot. And I do think without the experience that we had the last two years and being in the same position after winning game one, who knows what would have happened. So I think it's cool. Uh, I was happy for, for the whole squad, happy for, happy for Ryan as well. And, uh, yeah, stoked for the fives. Sad, honestly, that obviously I, I wasn't there for it. And, you know, I'd be lying if there wasn't some envy that, uh, that like, damn, you know, it sucks.

[00:47:48] We couldn't get it done when I was there, but at the end of the day, I'm still happy that we were able to, or that they were able to get it done, um, this weekend. I mean, that, that's what I was, I was going to say. I'm glad that you, you know, you can find joy and peace in this. Uh, to me, I think the fact that they, they brought back Martin Emmerich, uh, as like a figurehead coach player and not using after your team was eliminated, you know? Well, I would have said no to that. No, I'm on the, I'm on your team. Like, uh,

[00:48:17] so I think Martin's different because I think his player contract is up. And so like, this is the next step of his, his career. Everybody's been asking about that. I do think it's like slightly strange, weird, whatever. But when you, when the player contract is up, it's a good hire. I have, I think Martin's very smart, good dude. Like, I think he's helped the, the, um, fives a ton as well. Um, but yeah, no, I would have said, I would have declined that role. Like I want to play. Well, I can.

[00:48:46] So don't worry. I'll be, I'll be coaching soon enough. Don't worry, Nico. Oh, please. Uh, I'm just waiting for your contract to be up. Jane. So is the, so is the Chicago slice. No, no, they'll, no, you, you've been great. Um, obviously like, like to your point, it was, it was great to hear Federico shout you out. Uh, the culture, the T like that team won a title this year based on what they did for two prior years. And I think St. Louis is where they're at because of what they did for the entire time. Um, they never sold out for just like one championship.

[00:49:16] They're there to build. And, you know, I think we'll, we'll go through like, uh, way too early power rankings here in a bit, but I, I think both those teams should be at the top of, you know, the power rankings for probably a long time. Okay. And one of the conversations that I, I wanted to have specifically if the fives had lost, uh, unfortunately they did not. Um, well good for them, but is Annalise waters legacy. Uh, at this point in pickleball,

[00:49:42] do you need to have an MLP title to cement yourself as one of the all time greats? Like is Annalise, you know, is, is this the, this is the one missing piece, but how important is an MLP title to overall legacy? I think it's, I mean, obviously I think it's extremely disproportionately valued, right? Because there's so few of them. And I think it just shows off a different skillset that you can win with, you know,

[00:50:10] players that aren't Ben Johns or Anna Bright, right? Like it's, it's relatively easy to win a, a mixed doubles with Ben when you're the best female in the world. And it's, it's relatively easy to win a, a gold with Anna Bright when you're the best in the world. It's much harder when, you know, you have to win every single game. Otherwise, you know, you can't count on, you know, a will and no way to win every time or something like that. So, um, I'm sure she felt that way.

[00:50:39] Like she's the goat regardless, but I think that she had a lot of pressure on her. And obviously that's something that we would have been talking about. I probably would have, I mean, it would have been an interesting conversation, but I think at the end of the day, I would have to come down on like, no, she's clearly the, the goat. Um, she's been in the final three times, like just getting there, I think is an accomplishment. That's not spoken enough about. Um,

[00:51:09] it's hard to fricking get to like finals are, are good. Right. Um, so yeah, I don't know. What's your take? Yeah, I think that there is, she had goat asterisks, uh, on her, her roster or on her name up until this weekend. Uh, I equated also to like, she's like messy, right? Um, so messy shatters every record as one player of the year, like nine years or something like that,

[00:51:38] like scored a bajillion goals, won every club title, uh, everything. But had not won the world cup until the world cup prior, you know, four years ago. And so there was like some kind of argument to be had, like, is messy the best player ever? Is it Ronaldo? Is it the pay layer? Somebody else? Right. And now nobody has a quitting questions, right? Like you can be a hater and think that it's Ronaldo or something like that. And I know that you love talking about soccer. Um, but, um, she's now, she's now in messy right in territory. Right. So she's, she's done everything. So there,

[00:52:07] there's nothing left for her to, to achieve. And to me, she is, you called her a psychopath, uh, in the partners documentary. And there's nothing that was more psychotic than I saw a quick clip of somebody asking her on the field. You want MLP finally once after three years, how's it feel? How are you going to celebrate? She's like, feels great. Probably going to have some dessert. And then I'm going to focus on North Carolina. And I was like, that's sick. That is sick. Um, no, I mean like, I actually had this conversation,

[00:52:35] like partners obviously took me out of, out of context, which like good for them. Like that's, that's a good way of, of selling this. Like I get it. You got to build hype, but calling Annalia psychopath was a huge compliment. Like that was not an insult by any means. I'm like, I've never been in the vicinity of somebody as competitive of, as Annalie. So like, that was absolutely a, uh, a compliment. And I mean, she showed it again. Yeah. That was some, I'm going to have dessert.

[00:53:04] I'm going to fly over to North Carolina. It's a slam. I'm going to go fucking win that too. Yeah. No, no days off. No days off. Um, and you know, I, to be kind of, it was Federico's moment this weekend, right? Like he was the star. Uh, part of me, like what have, someone asked like, could you have scripted this finals any better? And I, I just thought like if you could have switched, switched game one and game two and have Annalie have the walk-off dream breaker winner at 21, 20, that's, that's the perfect, perfect ending.

[00:53:34] Um, uh, you kind of forget a little bit about her cause of Federico. Um, but yeah, I mean, she, she has been the best player in MLP all three years. I know Georgia Johnson won MVP last year. Annalie's MVP last year. She was the MVP this year. She was the MVP before that. She'll be the MVP next year, whether or not she wins the award or not. Right. There's MVP fatigue. I'm not sure if we actually ever had this conversation, but every time they introduced Anna, Anna Bright, they introduced her as the million dollar baby. Every time they introduced Annalie, I'm so fucking sick of the million dollar baby. Holy shit.

[00:54:04] I didn't like it to begin with. I didn't, I don't like it now. Like it was just cringy to me. Like, I don't think that's Anna's fault. And I think it's like an interesting tagline. I just don't like it. I think it's cringy. I don't think so either. I do think maybe her thumbnail might've said million dollar baby when she was drafted. So it's a little bit of a wrong deal. but it's like funny once. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But my question here, Zane is if Anna Bright is 1.13 million, like we're, I know we're going to change rules, but like how, how much is Anna Lee Waters worth? Yeah, no, I mean,

[00:54:34] that would have been so interesting if it was AL up for, up for grabs. I mean, I bet you, I don't know. I mean that, what is she worth? Okay. So if the price of Anna Bright is 1. 1.3, what is she worth? Not necessarily what people are going to pay because that could have gone into the five, 10 million dollar range between those two, but what is she actually worth? This is probably some like money ball type of wins above replacement calculation, but my,

[00:55:03] my gut tells me almost double, right? Like what's her war? We need like a pickleball wins above replacement calculation. Uh, I would say 2.5 million if Anna Bright's 1.3. Cause that tiny little bit is, is worth so much. Yeah. I mean, I was going to say like, it's weird to say, it's like, I think that the answer is really, it's like priceless. Like she's like, there's not like, you're not going to stop bidding on her if you're Gary V. Right? Like, I think at some point, like somebody would have to come in and,

[00:55:31] and like stop the Chaffetzes and, and Gary V from bidding $10 million. But like from advertising, from the fact that like Anna Bright can win with almost anybody. Anna Lee Waters can win with anybody. I think, um, I like, I don't know. I, I just think that she's so far ahead of everybody else mentally, physically, like everything. It's incredible. Like I, I get online and I roll my eyes. There's a couple of people, especially on Twitter and Instagram that it's like the most Anna Lee

[00:56:01] Glazers ever. And I'm just like, I've always been like that with the same little shock, but like it's time to get like Anna Lee. It's just, it's insane. Like if she's here, you can even argue Ben or Anna Bright is the next person, but like, she's like double either of those two. Yeah, for sure. Funny enough. Uh, if anybody's interested, I did a video on what makes Anna Lee so good that came out like just a week ago. It's a brand new YouTube series that I'm doing. And I'd love to get actually your opinion on some of them sometime. Nico, I have this fun little thing that I'm going to do for all the players and

[00:56:31] give them like a 2k rating card. Right. So Anna Lee is obviously like a 99 overall. Um, but like I went through like, um, the, the rating card was like attacks, defense, dink, ground strokes, like, uh, serve return, all that stuff. And I thought it was kind of like a fun, um, a fun little exercise. So if anybody's interested, go, go check that one out. Nico, I'd love your, your feedback on that one too. Cause we all know Anna Lee is obviously unbelievable,

[00:56:59] but it's kind of hard to articulate why. And it was, it was a fun little project going through that. And I'm going to go through some of the other players as well. Um, kind of wanted to collect some feedback on the first one before. Is she the only 99? Like in Madden, is she the only 99 or? No, I think, I think you gotta, I think like Anna Lee and Ben will probably be the only 99s. Yeah. I think like Anna will probably be like a, a 98,

[00:57:27] like Gabe and Hayden will probably be like 97s. Um, and then like a bunch of like, you know, nineties and stuff like that. Yeah. We'll get all the way down to me in the, in the seventies, seventies. Oh, I think highly of yourself. Uh, and then we'll get all the way down to Nico in the forties. I'll, I'll take it. I'll take it as long as I have a rating, agility, 63, um, 69, uh, six, four, three.

[00:57:57] Oh my God. Here's a question. Yeah. Have you ever earned? Uh, yes. Have I ever earned successfully? Nobody knows. Um, I don't think I've ever earned in a tournament. Uh, I haven't earned plenty of times in practice, like Lee Whitwell style, but yeah, I just like, it's not that I can't jump. It's that my brain doesn't like recognize Ernie. So like, I think that's like something I'm, you probably have done a video about this and like, I think other people have too, but like in my head and I feel like, you know,

[00:58:26] it's like 50% of people can like make like a clam out of their tongue or whatever. Like there's like certain things that you have to do. Or at least you can make a clover out of your tongue. I can do it. Yeah. No, I can't do it. Um, and I feel like 50% of people that are pickleball players can recognize Ernie and 50% can't. Like, I just like, I can't see it. So, uh, yeah, uh, not that I'm not athletic, which I'm not. Uh, but that's my Ernie problem. Hmm. Okay. That's your Ernie problem. Got it. That's my Ernie problem. You know,

[00:58:56] Zane, speaking of Ernie's and speaking of my pickleball ability, I was on the phone right before the match started with Mari Humberg and she was like, you should play a challenger with Zane. She's like, what else does he have to live for? I was like, I don't know. Um, so she's like, you guys should do it for the content. So I was like, Zane, I'll throw it out there. Hey, I will, I'll, I'll lose some weight. I will, uh, I will drill for the first time ever. But I told her, I was like, I was like, Mari, then you play a challenger with me too. I was like, I'll be your right side. Bitch. Um, and, um, we'll play a challenger.

[00:59:25] So we'll see if we make it happen, but let's put a wager on it. We'll do the next, uh, do the next Nico the lefty challenge. Give yourself like, we'll come up with a weight target for you. Okay. You hit it. We'll do a challenger together. If I'm allowed to even do that. If you're allowed to do challenge, are you in the top 20? Uh, no, I mean like if I'm allowed to actually play with you in particular, we, we can, we'll talk to Connor and we can see if I can have like, um, a special contract. Uh,

[00:59:55] this is the first contract ever in PPA history where the player actually pays Connor. Um, uh, and we, I just want that signed graphic sign Nico the lefty. I wonder what my picture would be just like on the bed with crumbs. Yeah. The exact same thing. Like Doritos in the bed. Oh my gosh. This would be so funny. We'll have to figure this out because I think I told you, uh, that they invited me to, to go watch the spark, the, the Selkirk, uh,

[01:00:25] Sparta combine. And I tried to, I'm trying to convince them to let me actually play in it. I'm like, Hey, I'm actually, I'm probably like when it comes to hands, like as good as half of these people here, when it comes to movement better than none of them, but I'll drop some weight. I've been athletic before in my life. I'll try it. And so maybe I'll do something. We'll figure it out. We'll do a challenger in Sacramento. Um, I'm never going to know. Sacramento's out. No, never Sacramento. For Sacramento. You lost me. All right. I'll go to Asia. We could do a PPA Asia. Um, and then you're going to do okay. And fucking Vietnam in 90 degrees and 90% humidity.

[01:00:55] You might want to rethink that one too. You'll hit your weight loss goal in that one tournament. I will literally die. I think I saw, uh, Wang Yun playing last week with cramps and he couldn't even move. I can't even imagine what would happen to me. I actually might be designed to play in Vietnam because I don't move. I can't sweat if I don't move, right? I'm just like stand there. Oh, you can sweat. You can sweat. You can, instantly sweating. Oh my gosh. Yeah. That's a hard condensation.

[01:01:22] You go from inside to outside and water accumulates on you like a water bottle. Oh my gosh. All right. Well, if you're listening in the comments, let us know, or if you're listening in the comments, uh, or on the discord, let us know, uh, should we play together? What should the goal I have to hit be? And maybe we'll crowdsource the, uh, challenger location. We'll see what they say. If they love you, maybe they'll do a good one. If they hate you, Sacramento, it is. It's never going to be Sacramento. That's my point. That's going to be my one veto.

[01:01:52] I know, no chance, no chance. Never going back. Oh my goodness. All right. Um, I don't know how we got there. Oh yeah. I was nine, a 94 on, uh, on Zane's, uh, Madden ratings. I liked the idea. Uh, I, you know, I saw those cards as well. Um, the, the playing cards that have pickleball players on them. I forget what they're called, but like if they always had ratings like that, that'd be cool. Oh, the dub cards. I think we're going to open some, uh, some packs. At some point or another. I just, I just got a couple. I think that'd be fun. I have not got any yet. So, uh,

[01:02:22] send them my way as well. Uh, happy to open them as well. And, I guess, I guess I'm, there's not a lot of stats in pickleball. So we'll just have the, the Zane Avertill, uh, Madden ratings. Love it. All right. What else do we got to talk about this week? Zane, I, we mentioned this was the best rivalry, uh, in MLP. I want to do a draft. We are going to do, and we'll just do four each this time because I'm not, not that smart. Um,

[01:02:49] but I want to draft the best rivalries in all of pickleball, in pickleball history. Not now. It doesn't have to just be now in history. Okay. All right. I like it. You want the, uh, you want the first pick or you want the next two? I, I'll take the next two. Give me shock fives first. Fuck. Okay. What do you think? I wasn't going to pick that one. What? That's a good one.

[01:03:18] Um, okay. Give me, give me Ben and Colin Johns against Matt Wright and Riley Newman. And then give me, um, and Lee waters and Catherine Parenteau against the girlies and a bright and Rachel Rohrbrocker. Yeah, those are good.

[01:03:50] All right. Give me, um, Ben and Colin versus Andre and Gabe. Uh, when they first came into the PPA tour, Andre and Gabe were kind of the ones that I feel like broke up Ben and Colin eventually. Um, and then give me Lee and Anna Lee versus, I think it, well, there's a couple of different ones.

[01:04:19] There's Simone and Lucy. And then I think there was Catherine and somebody. Maybe that's a great rivalry with Catherine and Catherine. So give me Lee and Anna Lee versus Simone and Catherine. Okay. All right. I'm going different here. I thought about this, uh, puts it on the spot. Give me PPA versus MLP. Oh, we can do those.

[01:04:50] I thought these were player. I thought these were player. Right. I said best rivalries. I said best rivalries. Oh my God. Do you want to go? We should do six so that you have enough to do some of these. No, no, no, no. We're good. All right. I'm going to take PPA. I'm like, this just turns into our beef draft. Then give me Wang Yun versus a contract. Uh, no, not just beefs. All right. Uh, sometimes rivalries are good too. All right. So I got that one. Um,

[01:05:18] and then I am going to take old school rivalry, lopsided as fuck. Um, but give me Ben Johns, Tyson McGuffin in singles in singles. Yeah. Oh man. There's probably some that I'm, I'm forgetting. Let's see.

[01:05:53] Huh? I'm going to stick with on court. Cause I feel like that's the, that's the, the general premise of this, um, that you've just abandoned. Just give me, give me Jeff Warnick and Jesse Irvine versus Matt Wright and Lucy Kovalova. That was an electric one. The shit talk was phenomenal. Um, that was definitely before your time,

[01:06:23] Nico. So only the OGs are going to vote with me on that one, but the OGs are going to know. They will know. Uh, as soon as I hear Jeff Warnick and basically every kind of, it's like, all right, we're going to get the OGs. We're going to get Jeff Warnick. We're going to get some of the, one of these other people. Um, all right. I like it. Um, Zane, what are some honorable mentions? Uh, doesn't have to be players, but like another rivalry, I think the dink versus the kitchen, that's a good rivalry, not necessarily a beef, but it might, might have be a beef too, but, uh, I'll give you that one.

[01:06:52] Yola Selkirk. I don't know. Yeah. Oh, let's see. Um, I mean, there's probably some team owner, like team owner rivalries or, you know, personality rivalries, but that's like, what's a rivalry versus what's a beef. And so that's why I was kind of like ranchers flash. There you go. That might be a rivalry. Kind of. I feel like the Brooklyn versus New Jersey could really be a good rivalry because they're also close geographically. They've got good. Um, they both have good fan bases. Like, I feel like that could be a good rivalry.

[01:07:22] Should hopefully be a good rivalry. Oh, I don't know. Nico, I didn't prepare for this one. How about this? How about Nico versus Nikki and ping pong? Oh my goodness. I didn't talk any smack during the finals until Nico and Nikki got onto the court during a timeout. They set up a mini ping pong paddle and I was smack talking Nico the entire time. The whole time. Well deserved. It was insane. All I just hear is move your feet. I was like, Oh, I was like,

[01:07:52] who's this guy? Uh, no, they had us come out. You, you know, you, you recognize my voice right away. I did. It was like, it was like a woman's voice, but worse. Uh, I mean, women's voice aren't bad, but, Zane's his anyway. Yeah. Okay. Be careful there, Nico. I'm about to get some. Yes. we had us play two out of three points ping pong style on the mini ping pong table. And they were like, the winner gets the table. And I'm like, what the hell am I going to do with this table? How am I going to get this back to Reno? Yeah, exactly. So Nikki, you live in New York.

[01:08:21] I'm gonna go ahead and sell this game. Yeah. That's why you sold. That's why you hit your serves into the net. That's why you, that's why you hit that. That's why you barely made contact with that last backhand to sell. I did. I tried to blast it and I hit it, blast it right into the net. Uh, I threw some lobs in there. I was trying to have some fun, but, definitely got my ass handed to me by Nikki. I was disappointed because I was screaming my face off. Nikki, nasty Nelson. I heard that. I'm like, come on. You guys are content creators, Nikki, like hit him with the nasty Nelson, please.

[01:08:51] Nikki, that's an L. I lost a little bit of respect for you. I have so much respect for you, but I lost like 0.01% of the respect. Oh my goodness. Honestly, you definitely shouldn't have done it, but it would. No, you know what? I'm going to put it this way. I would have gained so much more respect for you. Had you done it? I didn't lose respect. I would have, I would have gained a ton of respect for you. More respect. We'll put it that way. Boy. All right. Well, that was, that was, that was fun.

[01:09:17] So Zane to round out MLP. The one thing that we haven't done yet, uh, want to get your, your thoughts on some official awards here, just MLP, first team, second team. Um, so I just think we just do two men, two women per team. We don't have to worry about dream breaker specialists unless you want to. Um, but want to think about overall season first and second team. Okay. Oh yeah. Why don't we do all dream breaker too? That'd be, that'd be, and it can be the same people, right?

[01:09:46] Like Annalie is going to be in, in, in both obviously. Okay. Um, I mean, all right. First team. I mean, first team women is, I feel like easy, like Annalie and Anna bright. Okay. Yeah. First team men is a little bit tougher. Yes. Ben Hayden. Ben and Hayden. I think Ben and Hayden is probably the right choice.

[01:10:16] Yeah. I think Ben Hayden is probably the right choice too. Um, all dream breaker. Do you want to pick just one? Maybe like, what if we just did the single specialist, like one women's single specialist that I don't think there are any. So nevermind. They're Sam Parker. Yeah. Actually. Yeah. All the, yeah, there are no women's single specialists really. Um, cause I mean, that's unfortunately a boring one. You just have to give that to Annalie. Um,

[01:10:46] and then men's, I mean the, who's the best, is the best singles player. I mean, maybe fed, um, but I don't know if statistically he was the best. No, I don't know. I think Hunter was the best up until the finals. Um, I think Looch was up there. Uh, I think Looch was very high up there in terms of singles win percentage on the men's side. So I think we go Looch. Looch. All right. John Looch and Goins. All right. I like it. Uh, now second team.

[01:11:15] This is where it gets a little more interesting. Women. Second team. Ooh. I feel like you got like six people you can put in there. I feel like you can put, or we're looking at like Kate Fahey, Tina Pisnick, Sophia Seving, Danny Townsend, Georgia Johnson. I think I'm going Georgia Kate. Oh, yeah. It's same, same shock and fives. I'm going Georgia Kate. Okay.

[01:11:48] Let me think. I am going to go. I didn't go Kate and Tina. Does Nick. Kate and Tina. Yeah. I think Tina does definitely deserve some, some flowers. She had a, an awesome season. Just not flashy. Right. Is she not the person that like it gets the highlights other than, you know, that crazy ATP, but like, she just doesn't have that, like a flashy game. She just got a game that wins. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I see that too. Um,

[01:12:18] Tina might've been my third team and then men's side. I would probably go Gabe and Ben fed and Andre are in that conversation too, but I think you probably got to go Ben and Gabe, but you already have Ben. You have Ben and Hayden and, okay. Then, uh, then Gabe, uh, I don't know what Andre was like statistically, but like,

[01:12:48] I usually think that he's, has a, just an outsized impact even beyond his like wins and losses. Like he's another guy who's just an MLP guy, right? Like, I mean, he's a PPA guy too, but, um, maybe statistically not, I think probably statistically Gabe and Ed. Yeah. It's tough. It's tough. Um, cause I, I think we all, I'm going to go Gabe and Andre cause fed was good,

[01:13:16] but not phenomenal with the squeeze also had, had much better teammates with the fives. No, this is, this is the one that's the hardest and it's where you'd like need a third team, but there are two players that you mentioned or that you did not mention that I feel like actually three players that I think you probably didn't mention that should be in this consideration. Seriously. One J dub. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. Two Christian Alshon. Also true. Three. Uh, and maybe this might be slightly farther back. Eric Consens.

[01:13:48] Yeah. It's just hard. Cause I'm like, what are you basing it off of? Like how well they played or how well they did wins and losses, right? Yeah. I mean, it's like, you've got to go Gabe. Like if you look at like, again, like a wins with your, with the quality of partner that you have, like Eric Consens is potentially like first team. Um, yeah. So I don't know. I'll stick with Gabe and Andre. I'm going to go, I'm going to go.

[01:14:18] Uh, um, I'm gonna go Christian Alshon. Uh, and then I'm going to go, I'm gonna go Gabe too. So, uh, so with all due respect to JW Johnson, uh, and Eric, yeah, maybe their third team, but, uh, a lot, a lot of good players. JW Eric, third team. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, there's only like two, maybe the first team and second team should be four. Right. Yeah. so, Oh,

[01:14:47] Jackie Kalamoto, uh, you know, should be, you know, this is, there's only so many spots, but like another fantastic season for always underrated. Still doesn't even get anything from, from us. Specialist right there. Alrighty. Well, uh, we got PPA this week in North Carolina. We got some new partnerships and whatnot. So, uh, make sure to tune in next week. We'll break down everything that happened in North Carolina, but for now, that is so long to the MLP season. Adios MLP.

[01:15:17] All right. Pickle pod. Pickle pod.