Zane Owns The Scream: "I Lost My Mind"

[00:00:00] I think Tyson Lug is probably the biggest beef. Is that the biggest one in it? Is that top of Mount Rushmore of beefs? Because I'm pretty sure that Tyson wanted to fight Tyler Lug. Welcome everybody to another episode of The PicklePod. And as we say, if it's not on The PicklePod, it did not happen in Pickleball.

[00:00:24] I am Nico the Lefty and as always we got the main host, Zane Navratil. Zane, we got a crazy episode. We're gonna get to you in just a second because you know for sure we're not letting that yell slide. But we got the yell. We're doing beef rankings. We got the playoff pitchers. We're gonna do a fast food draft, MLP awards that we should see. And then you want to stay tuned at the end because we're gonna go off a little bit from the normal.

[00:00:53] We have a amazing story of a family doing fantastic good in pickleball. And there is a way for all of you to help out. So, normally I ask you guys to like, subscribe, share, hit all the buttons, subscribe to the newsletter, which you should still do. But if you're gonna do anything, stay to the end, see how you can help out in the most inspiring pickleball project that I've heard all year. Yeah, it was, we, we interviewed the gentleman before this actually.

[00:01:23] And it was a pretty, very sad, but also inspiring story. Definitely something a little bit different for the pickle pod, but you're gonna want to listen to it. They're doing some, they're making some, some pretty cool stuff out of a, out of a tragedy that happened. So, definitely stick around to the end for that. Yeah. Guys, the Pro Pickball Talk Discord hit over a thousand members. And to celebrate, we're doing a couple things. I'm giving away two signed paddles.

[00:01:51] I'm giving away two tickets to San Diego because, unfortunately, I'm not using them. And then, uh, Nico and I are going to be going live within the Discord on Saturday to watch some of these matches and kind of just hang out with you guys. We'll announce the winners of those things during that time too. So, join if you haven't already. We're over a thousand members. It was popping off during this last week as I was screaming my brains out against Casey. So. Perfect. Alrighty. All right, Zane.

[00:02:21] With that, we're going to get to the heavy hitting portion that we're not going to, we're not going to, hold back and wait 55 minutes until we get to the yell. We're not burying the lead here. Zane, you screamed. Some people say like Michelle McMahon. Some people say like a girl. Some people say, you know, it was offensive. We're going to get to what everybody said about you. They were not nice. But the scream heard around the pickleball courts.

[00:02:48] Zane, you're playing in your playoff match against Casey Diamond, Dekal Barr, and the Palm Beach Royals, the beloved Palm Beach Royals, who everybody loves. Not a single question about that. They are the darlings of MLP. And you decide to pick a fight with Casey Diamond. Walk us through what exactly happened. Yeah, well, obviously we played them two days in a row on Friday and then on Saturday again.

[00:03:17] And, you know, I think Friday was normal MLP just chippiness and smack talk and bags and the norm and whatnot. And Saturday it was going basically the exact same way. And then I think we're up like six, four or something like that. Deckal just ropes one at me and I like it was pretty high and I counter it back and I hit Casey and I basically like lost my mind.

[00:03:46] And I screamed at him for all of all my with with all my might. And yeah, definitely went over the top with it. So got got a little bit more hyped than I feel like I should have. And yeah, I mean, we've talked about like screaming just in general kind of a lot. Right. It's been a hot topic.

[00:04:16] And I think we've struggled to really define how much is too much. Right. Is Kate is Leah is Jay is whomever. Like, where is the actual line? And I think it's like, you know it when you see it. I don't think there's a way to define it, but you know what you when you see it. And yeah, I mean, me seeing it like, yeah, that that that feels too far. We finally found the line.

[00:04:45] We've been saying they've been, you know, to benefit everybody figured out where the line was. He decided to cross it for the good of the sport. So we know exactly where it was. Yeah, you know what? It was for science. Yeah, we'll put it that way. It was totally just unbiased for science. Like we need to establish the line. Okay, here we go. So, so yeah, I mean, like, I'm not, I'm not proud of it. I had some choice words for them afterwards as well.

[00:05:10] In response to it, I didn't get a paddle tap from Casey, which like, I don't know. I don't know if I don't know if I deserve one or not, but I didn't get one. And so I had had some, some words for them. Um, and, uh, yeah, not, not proud of it. Um, I'll own it. I think there's a difference in between shit talk and just being shitty. And I would say I was just being shitty. So I'll own it.

[00:05:40] I'll try and get better. Um, but, um, yeah, what's, what's done is done. And I can't really go undo it. I apologize to, yeah, a bunch of people were asking like, Hey, am I being like scolded by Sophia at the end? Like, no, I, I pretty much scolded myself. Um, we, I chatted with, uh, with Sophia on the court. I chatted with, uh, Casey on the court, the, the Royal squad, and they seem receptive and understanding that like, Hey, I went too far in the moment and I'm not proud of it.

[00:06:09] So I feel like we, um, generally bear that. Zane, is there what, what I saw a ton of questions asking, was this unprompted? Was there, is there backstory? So, um, it was, it was it specifically because it was Casey? Like, um, was there a problem with him beforehand? Is it just the heat of the moment? If it was Hayden or whoever, it would have been the same thing or like any, any, any provocation

[00:06:39] at all for the yell. I mean, nothing other than like the, the general, like MLP chippiness and being down and, you know, needing some form of like a little bit of a turning point. Um, which I took too far. So, um, no, I don't have, uh, I don't have beef there. Um, you know, I think it'd be understandable if they have, they have beef with me at this

[00:07:02] point, but, um, yeah, not much I can do other than say sorry and, and, and like not do something like that again. You know, I, I want to kind of break it down. I, I, the way I think about it is there's like two separate instances, right? There is like the non paddle tap words. You said after, which I think everybody agrees, including you is like, all right, maybe Zane acting shady. Zane went too far. Right. Um, and there's regret.

[00:07:30] Now the yelling, I would like to give you more permission. I want to, I want to retract any apology that you have ever given for that. Cause I don't have a problem here. Here's, here's what I, my thoughts are is, is that unsportsmanlike? Absolutely. All right. Should there maybe be a blue card? Sure. I actually, I think that's totally fine. Right. That there should be maybe some kind of consequence for that. Right. It was kind of an aggressive yell. It was at a person.

[00:07:57] Like I think in most sports, if you yell in someone's face and I think Casey was probably back to you or like, he was far away, but like you make some of those gestures, you probably get unsportsmanlike penalty. Right. Um, but I actually don't think that in the grand scheme of things, it was a bad idea. I don't think it was wrong necessarily. And like, I like to equate it to like an, like a NBA coach. Right.

[00:08:22] Um, eventually sometimes like their team needs to get fired up or the refs need to like hear that something is wrong and they just go off or a manager in baseball. They'll just start yelling at an umpire. Right. Um, or you might have like an unnecessarily heavy hit in football, but it's a penalty that you're willing to take to kind of send a message either to your team or to the other team that might change the kind of the dynamic of the game.

[00:08:49] And while I, I don't think your team lost because of it, I actually think your team got more fired up and I think it was beneficial. You guys still lost. Right. But I think there was like a net positive effect and it is not like detrimental ruthless. It didn't cross a line to like dangerous or anything. So I think that more players should do what you did. I think Kate Fahey does it for herself and for her team.

[00:09:15] Uh, and for me, people say Zane, not a good role model to 13 year olds. I think the yelling helped a 13 year old and, and, you know, and you know, John Lucian Goins, who's relatively soft-spoken get more energized. So I don't see anything wrong with it. Yeah. I mean, like, is it, was it a good role model thing to do? Probably, probably not. Um, like, is it tactically maybe a pretty good thing to do?

[00:09:41] I would say, yeah, but, um, look, I'm, I guess, yeah, I, I don't fully agree with you on a couple of things. First off, I actually don't think I'm pretty, I think out there on the regulation of screaming and whatnot. I personally think in sports, like if a player wants to make themselves look like an, an idiot or go over the top, so long as they're not hurting somebody, like, I think you should let them do it.

[00:10:10] I think you should let them do the most ridiculous celebrations, do whatever, whatever the heck they want. Like, I don't think that that needs to be something that's regulated by the rule book. But then again, you know, our buddy Jordy from bar stool, hilarious article afterwards that this is why pickleball needs fighting. Like, cause you do something stupid like that in another sport, like in the NBA, I'm getting flagrant one in, in the MLB.

[00:10:38] I'm getting beamed by a pitch in the NFL. I'm getting, I'm getting destroyed in the NHL. I'm getting hit like, or the gloves are dropping. So maybe pickleball just needs fighting after something like that. I think so. And, and honestly, you know, I think that might just turn some of the yelling, like saying you get to pick your battles. Maybe you yell at Casey, maybe you're playing against AJ Kohler or something like that. And you're like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna choose not to yell at that guy.

[00:11:04] You know, I think maybe we have not enough repercussions, but Hey, I mean, I'm all for it. Like some kind of retaliation. I'm not above it. I don't know. I think all sports have it to your point. Unfortunately, I don't think you can fist fight like you can in hockey, but something. I mean, it's just, it's tough in tennis and golf. 4, 5, 8, 9, 8, 9, 0, 1, 0, 1, 4.

[00:11:31] Oh, yeah. Oh. If, if, if, if this was hockey, I would, I would be, I would say as many words as JW.

[00:12:03] I would be silent. I wonder how many people are like, you know, we love to do power rankings and drafts, but like, I wonder how many people Zane would feel comfortable in a fight with in pickleball. Uh, maybe just the people on his team besides AJ. Yeah. Not many, not many. Not many. Um, yeah, I would have, I would have made some different trades though. I would have brought Ed and Lika back into the league. The Chicago slice roster would look a lot different.

[00:12:32] I'll be sitting on the bench as an honorary coach just for, you know, we just need some size. We've got to probably be the most fightable team in MLB. Maybe that, maybe that's what the power rankings we need this week is which teams would win in all out brawls. Seriously. I mean, you, AJ Kohler might be number one scary person, but the rest of your team is just so easy to just stop.

[00:13:00] Like you, it would just be like, they would immediately just get murked. And then you have AJ fighting six people at the same time. Uh, yeah, that's about it. I don't know. Maybe there, maybe the ranchers, you know, they got, they got Rafa on the bench. Yeah. I feel like Leia probably could just beat some ass. So I'd agree with that. I think the ranchers make sense. Yeah. Eric, you got Nico Acevedo.

[00:13:27] Who's he's like, he's a surprisingly big dude. Like he's a built dude. Yeah. And you got three very athletic ladies. Leia, Caitlin, Lane, and then Rafa Hewitt on the bench. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, that might be our next draft. Once we have some, some time to prepare, we can, we can go through, go through that list. Oh man.

[00:13:50] So Zane, um, you got roasted by a lot of people online. Um, should we, should we go through some of the comments, uh, towards you, uh, after this weekend? Why not? All right. So, uh, as long as they're, as long as they're at least funny, I think there's plenty of mean ones out there. Let's at least get some like mean, but also clever. This person, one person said, what happened to Zane?

[00:14:20] Normally he's like a cool chick, not a cool chick that the, I don't know what that means. Um, this one says, was that, I thank you, I guess. Yeah. Uh, Casey must've forgotten to smash that like button on Zane's recent YouTube video. Yeah. He's not subscribed. I would never do that to one of my subscribers or a podcast. This is true. Zane was that kid in high school who always got stuffed in his locker.

[00:14:49] Come on, not high school. That was middle school. I did get shoved in a couple of lockers in middle school. I was going to say, I probably got stuffed in the trunk of some cars in high school. Um, we got, I don't, I don't know who this is from. It's probably from your dad, but it says, Hey, Hey, he doesn't get on championship court much in the PPA. He has to take advantage of the spotlight when he can. Um, your dad, by the way, just roasting you randomly on Twitter. Just insane. Dude, that was hilarious actually.

[00:15:19] Uh, that was hilarious. This one says, uh, is the scream as high pitched as his talking voice? I feel like, no. Um, I guess it's just loud. I don't know. I don't know. I listen to it back. I don't know. I have it on slow motion. It's like, like that. Uh, and, and I, I love the fact I don't have it on here that that pickleball trainer specifically called out that you had to scream in two breaths.

[00:15:50] You screamed for a little bit. You pause how to catch your breath scream a second time. So I don't even know that if that makes it more intense or sad that you couldn't just let out one gigantic roar. Uh, but it was, it was one. And then I realized, Oh, I'm not done yet. I got to do another like for, for emphasis. So I don't know. I think, I don't think that's a fair critique. There was no post yell clarity for Zane.

[00:16:18] He, he had his yell nut and then he yelled one more time. Oh yeah. I was not, I wasn't finished. Um, of course we got Leia chiming in randomly. Somebody was defending you, uh, in the comments. It was like, Oh, Zane must've been provoked. Leia says, do you even know him? He involves himself in everybody's business and is really ass.

[00:16:44] Uh, I mean, like, I guess if, if covering pro pickleball is involving yourself in people's business, then sure. I can't see Leia's comments because she's blocked me. So. But here's the thing. I've got rules with the content and my rules are. I don't say anything that I wouldn't say to somebody in person. I don't talk about people's personal lives whatsoever.

[00:17:13] And I don't talk about anything that's not already public. So I don't think I'm in people's business whatsoever. If you do something stupid on the court, I'm going to say something about it. If I do something stupid on the court, I'm going to say something about it. Right? So I don't think I'm in people's business. I'm covering pro pickleball the same way anybody else in any other sport would. In fact, they go way worse. So I think that's a, just a, another thoughtless critique from Leia. I agree. I agree.

[00:17:43] We are men of principles, especially you Zane. I agree. And I definitely don't share anything that's said to me in a text message, regardless of how rude, heinous, disgusting it is. And for some reason I'm included in group text messages that just bash me. Anyway, that's for another day. But we have the, the last one here that I saw, what comes from Mish, Michelle McMahon, who says,

[00:18:12] I was once informed by James Ignatowich that Zane and I have a similar voice. I'm not sure who that's a greater insult to, but I can confirm Zane can definitely hit a higher pitch than me on screams. I don't, I don't know how to unpack that. There's a lot going on in that statement, Mish. That's pretty good. That was good. Oh, wow. Appreciate those. Anyway. Yeah. It's great. Great. I get to take my, take my lashes.

[00:18:42] I deserve them. But that was actually kind of a fun segment. Yeah. Well, you got your screen. I have anything else mean to say, leave it in the comments. Yeah. If you haven't got it out yet, please. The comments are, are already, we, you know, we need the Zane mean tweets section. We already have Nico mean tweets. You see that the, the, the, the mean comments for Nico are in the KOTC podcast channel. You want to go read those.

[00:19:10] But you can leave either of them nice or mean in the comments. If they're funny, we will read them. If they are just mean, then we'll let them go. We don't, we won't do that. You know, Zane, I want to ask you this. Um, uh, just speaking of just mean, we're going to get to beefs here in a second. Um, but I want to get your take on the new bucket hat debate of this week, which is actually about memes of pickleball.

[00:19:34] So memes of pickleball posted a video of, uh, all the pros, huge fat, extra names. And a lot of people didn't like it. Um, I want to get your take. Is it funny? Is it not funny? Is it offensive? What are your thoughts? Do you have any thoughts Zane on the means of pickleball fat posts, uh, 2026? Yeah.

[00:20:02] I mean, I think it's funny and I think it's offensive. Like offensive stuff is funny sometimes. Like, yeah. I mean, yes, it's both. I think it's funny and offensive. So. Okay. So Zane here. So here's where I agree. And I disagree. So like my thoughts, and I don't want to make this a bummer podcast is, um, I did not find it funny at all. Like just not, not because it was offensive, but because I found it done.

[00:20:32] Like I'm, we've had this take before. I'm not like an Adam Sandler kind of guy. Like I just like some humor just doesn't land with me. Uh, and that's one of them. I was like, people hate AI slop this day. I slop, whatever. I found it like kind of unfunny. The names are funny. The pictures dumb. Um, I also understand why a ton of people would take offense to it. Um, and you just got to realize like, Hey, I, if I'm an asshole, I just got to own it. This is an asshole thing that I'm doing. Don't say like, Oh, this is just not, you know, it's not offensive and it's okay.

[00:21:02] And you should be unsensitive. It's like, Hey, if you're sensitive, you get, I get it. And I'm going to deal with that as the author of the post and just be an asshole. So, um, that's, that's my thought. Uh, but the last thing I'll mention is multiple people for some reason unprovoked put me into that, into that debate. They're like, you should see Nico's face when they talk about fat people or, uh, Dude, I didn't know that. That's actually brutal.

[00:21:30] Somebody was like, Oh, even Nico finds this funny. I was like, what the, I was like, I know why you said that. Like I, I, I, I replied to a comment. I said, wait, I'm fat. Oh man. And they're like, Oh no, I don't know if you're fat. You're just tall. Um, but, uh, I was, so I thought, I thought that was pretty funny. Like, I'm just like unintentionally catching strays for like both sides, both sides. One side is like Nico is fat and you can tell that he, this gets to him.

[00:21:59] Um, the other side is Nico is even fat. Nico can appreciate these tweets. So both of you, both sides of this argument, fuck you guys. Uh, diet starts tomorrow. Um, you know, I, I, I got invited as a, as an influencer to attend the, uh, the, the, um, Selkirk, uh, Sparta combine. I reached out to them and I think they still think I'm joking. I said, let me participate in it as a person.

[00:22:24] Uh, so maybe it's, it's, it's at the end of October and maybe I'll get my ass in shape. Uh, and you guys can stop talking shit and I'll do this barbicomb. I will see. Yeah. Well, uh, sorry that you're getting shit on from, from both sides. I get being upset about it. Like, um, for, for people who are like, yeah, it is, it is offensive. It's coming from a meme account. Like, what do we, what do we expect here? Like. Yeah. So that's the hard thing is comedy.

[00:22:52] It's just like one of those things where you be as offensive as you want and people get to decide whether or not they want to listen to it or watch it. And maybe it means a pickleball lost a lot of viewers. And, you know, so there's definitely consequences for whatever line you want to draw. And I don't know how to draw it. So anyway, um, maybe I'm, maybe I'm waffling flip flopping. Maybe I'm not a man of principles. I don't know, but that's my thoughts. To be fair. You thought the dink movie was funny. So there are, you think you thought the dink movie was funny, but Adam Sandler isn't like we've, there are some questions that he asked here.

[00:23:22] Nico. That's fair. That's that, that is fair. I don't know. I just, I think it was like, I don't know why. Um, God, for my parents, but. Yeah, I suppose it was, I mean, like it was just, it was lazy. Like I didn't really think about it very much. It was like, Oh, okay. A couple of funny names, but like they definitely didn't need a round two of that one. Oh, definitely. Definitely did not need a round two. Um, uh, anyway. Um, so we got the beef from, from the people there.

[00:23:48] And I think you got beef with, with Casey, with that goal, with the Palm beach Royals, with everybody. I don't know. It's the most hated person in pickleball right now. Um, I think now is a good time to revisit the beef board. Maybe I shouldn't call it the beef board. I'm not sure what we're going to call it. Beef rankings. Anyway, I want to go through, I wanted to chat about kind of pickleballs, biggest beefs, because now you're in a bunch of them. Um, and I find myself collateral damage as well in a ton of these beefs, but what are

[00:24:18] the biggest beefs in pickleball? I mean, yeah, I feel like they're kind of a lot, like, especially if you go down, if you go back in history a little bit, like, I mean, I think the Riley versus Matt beef was probably kind of one of the biggest because they were partners that, that broke up. They didn't like each other before. I mean, you had Tyson and Riley Tyson and Matt. Um, yeah, just kind of a Tyson and loon.

[00:24:48] For sure. I, yeah, I mean, it's, it's definitely that one escalated a good amount a few years ago. Um, I don't remember all the details. And honestly, like all these little things in the grand scheme of things, the pickleball beefs are not even close to what the beefs are and other sports or in real life. So. I mean, that, that one was intense. Cause that, that, that was like a, you know, a few seconds away from being like a Will Smith, Chris rock Oscars moment.

[00:25:17] Keep my wife's name out your fucking mouth. That's that's exactly what Tyler Loon basically said. Uh, just didn't slap Tyler Loon or Tyson said that's what basically just didn't slap Tyler Loon across the face. Um, but I think that was a good one. Um, I think Connor, Connor and, uh, and, uh, Duke, uh, Duong probably a good. Yeah, I suppose so. Yeah. Connor versus Duke.

[00:25:46] Um, let's see, you could do like Tom Dundon versus Steve Kuhn. Ooh, that's a big one. Connor versus Ken. Maybe like they don't really have like a public beef. Let's see. Jared and Thomas. Jared and Thomas. I was going to say there's like board number two. So there's like pickleball beefs. And then I want to talk about like the pickle pods, biggest beefs, but Jared and Thomas have got to be up there. Uh, I'm not sure who, who's winning.

[00:26:15] It's a very one sided beef because I don't think Thomas has ever responded to anything, but, um, yeah, a one sided beef there. We got Yola versus every other pickleball paddle manufacturer on earth. Yeah. And Yola versus Ignato, which although I think Ignato, which is fighting back on that one. Yeah. Counter suing. Counter suing is crazy. The best defense is, is more offense, I guess. Yeah.

[00:26:44] It sounds like there's some, I don't know, prior art. I don't understand all that stuff. Um, but yeah, you got Yola versus USAP. Like there are actually, there are a lot of, a lot of beefs. So Christian versus Proton now. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yep. QD versus a contract. Uh, one of the, I guess you got, Anna Lee's got a few.

[00:27:11] She's got Anna Lee versus Matt versus Riley versus Hayden. Um, Rico. But I think, I think her and Fed are, are, were totally fine after that. In fact, I actually think that she gets along fine with Hayden. I just think that they're like pretty bitter on court rivals. Like, I don't think they actually like, I think that's a rivalry, not a beef. Yeah. I agree. I agree. Um, Hmm.

[00:27:41] Anything else? Is there any other, anybody else that just like hates anybody? Any, anything that we're missing here? I'm sure there's a Leia and Jay. Did we not say that one? Oh, Leia and Jay. That's a good one. I think there's, yeah. Um, let's see, uh, you and Jimmy. We got that one. We can go to the pickle pod piece.

[00:28:04] We got Jimmy and I, um, we got, uh, both you and I and Leia. That's, you know, that's a beef. Um, we got you versus Chris Olsen. Which hold on. Let's go back to Leia. Yeah. I find Leia incredibly entertaining and this doesn't need to be a beef, but like she's outspoken. I'm outspoken. You're outspoken. Like this is it. I think this is kind of a one sided beef.

[00:28:33] Like she says mean stuff to us and about us all the time, but I honestly think it's kind of funny. Like, so it doesn't need to be a beef from our end on that one, or at least my end. I don't think I've actually ever even said bad things about Leia either. This is what's, what's confusing. And I think that like Leia, um, the people that Leia has abused, I think all have Stockholm syndrome. You, me, Chris Cowley. Like where, like, and Chris Cowley says this all the time.

[00:29:01] He's like, he's like, I actually really enjoy Leia, even though she's yelling at my face and threatening me and all this other things. Like, I enjoy it. Like, I've done the same thing. I was like, she, she at least speaks her mind, whatever, even though for some reason she just goes after me relentlessly. Um, I, I still, I still appreciate it. So, you know, Leia, the invitation is still always open. Uh, we are happy to be your BFFs again, uh, or you can continue hating us. It will enjoy it all the same. We are indifferent.

[00:29:32] Um, but, uh, you got one, you got you and you and Jimmy is that one's another one. That's kind of just out of nowhere. I, yeah, that is like the, once again, that's like somebody that just, I think I became as a big, uh, and every single episode I get to listen to either. Like I said, I think I might've said this in the last part, but masterclass by Jimmy of always yelling at somebody else and then throwing me in there randomly with a disc. Also a compliment.

[00:30:01] Like literally the, nobody likes Jim Claus and even Nico who has no redeeming quality. People still might like him. I was like, okay, what is happening here? Or he'll be like, he's got away with doing it all the time. He'll just be like, Oh yeah. You know, the other day he was like, Oh yeah, there was like this good take that, that, that dipshit Nico had. I couldn't believe it. And I was like, Oh, I think I had said like maybe Colin Johnson should play, uh, with Ben in men's only. Right? Like when they were doing the trade, I was like, just get Colin to play.

[00:30:32] Um, and they can play men's together. They know how to play. And I think that might be better than Max. I don't know. Then you find the other person for mixed. Jimmy literally says great idea from that dipshit Nico who's living in his mom's basement. I'm just like, I don't understand how you do it, but kudos to you. I'm impressed. Um, but, uh, yeah, that, that's a, an interesting beef. I don't, I'm not exactly sure where I stand there. Just like I said, punching bag, I guess. You know what?

[00:30:56] We need to get you and Jimmy and me and Tyler and do a crossover pod in New York. We did one with me, Jimmy, Tyler, and Thomas in New York a couple of years ago. I'll do it. I mean, that would be, that'd be peak entertainment for me. I probably wouldn't even say anything. I would just let you guys go, go at it. I think we do that. And then maybe we like have some kind of like decathlon. I think it'd be like, let's play a match of pickleball. We could do like a beer Olympics. We can play board games.

[00:31:24] Like we can have like a day against them and we just compete against them in all things. And then Jimmy can talk as much shit as he wants to. Um, also other idea means a pickleball. If you are listening, I would appreciate maybe if you can take me and Jimmy Miller and a few other people and you can, you can make a skinny and then you can just give us like skinny names. Like, I don't know. I was going to say, I feel like we need pro pickleball players on the Ariana Grande diet. Like, yeah. Oh, you put me on the ARIA. Oh my gosh.

[00:31:54] Uh, just have me melt away. I don't know what my nickname would be, but I'm sure something with a GLP one. Um, so, um, so anyway, that's just, just an idea. I'd always love to, I've always liked to see what I would look like, uh, you know, in shape. Um, so, uh, yeah, so, so we got those, uh, we had Zane, Zane with the service rule changes. Um, and then Zane and Chris Olsen. I mean, Oh yeah. Easy. Number one. Longstanding beef.

[00:32:24] Enemy of the pod. One enemy of the pod. I thought we weren't allowed to say his name. Actually me and Gino, the righty as well. Fuck that guy. Both of those guys, Voldemort. And, uh, I don't know who the other person is, but who could be, but I'm not sure if you saw this, it was the most Chris Olsen thing I've ever seen is, you know, the low, the more I learned about him, the more that you like, you go, Oh yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. That makes sense. Right? Like you, you see him a, like he does paddle review nerd stuff. And then you find out, you know, the lore is he does, he did speed cubing, which you're

[00:32:54] like, you know, Rubik's cubes and you're like, okay, that makes sense. And then just recently he posted a video of him doing guitar hero. And I don't think I've ever seen anybody do guitar hero as well as him. Um, and like, honestly is insane. Like I said, he's got to do dance dance revolution next, but you know, that there's like a, if you could do like a bucket of things that, you know, Chris Olsen is really good at, uh, the surprises me zero. So check it out guys.

[00:33:20] If you want to see Chris Olsen do, what are some other things that Chris does? Well, I bet you, he types like 300 words per month. Oh, it took classes. Absolutely. We always talk about how we should have a typing contest on the pod with all of our guests. There's no way he's not number one. Like he's got a dust and a bright with typing. Uh, yeah. I don't know. I bet he's probably good with knots. Just in general. I can see that.

[00:33:49] I bet you he knows how to tie like 15 different variations of a knot. Untie himself from a tree. Hmm. I can see him having two or three recipes that he's really good at cooking. Maybe an elite Yelper. Hmm. Yeah, I suppose. Although, you know, yeah, I could see it. I could see it. I don't know. I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. If anybody else has ideas. Oh, you know what?

[00:34:18] I could see him totally being a fucking cup stacker. Sorry. That's the best one. That's the best one. Can you imagine Chris? I absolutely can't imagine. And Chris, if you're watching this, we need video of this within the week. You can practice as much as you want. So yes. Chris, give us your best cup stack within by the next by the next pickle pod episode. Your best time. All right. All right. All right.

[00:34:48] Well, should we actually talk about pickleball at some point this episode? I think we should. Okay, I gotta go to the bathroom first. Okay. All right. We didn't actually talk about the results from last week. We didn't. You gotta talk about the results. All right. So let's talk about the actual results of last week. Palm Beach takes us out 3-1, 3-1. And honestly, pretty good matches all around competitive. No real like blowouts.

[00:35:17] But yeah, they advance. We found out they're going to be playing against the New Jersey Fives this week. And yeah. So any takeaways from you watching that series, Chicago versus Palm Beach? No, I mean, I was surprised how much you guys were able to hang in it. I thought you guys had your chances to take them to the Dream Breaker. It didn't work out.

[00:35:47] But, you know, no offense to your team. And I think you guys are playing good, well. But I think Palm Beach is, I'm surprised they are now like the weakest team left in MLP for sure. Like their women did not look particularly scary. I think somebody mentioned it's kind of seems like Jade Kalamoto and Catherine Parenteau last year where they were unbeatable for the middle of the season.

[00:36:15] And now they look definitely beatable. And then I was just surprised that they benched Tyson, right? They pulled a Zane Navratil, benched Tyson. And I tweeted, I don't think Casey's the hot hand. I don't think he's the play. But when I looked back at the record that Tyson and Dekel had, bad, real bad. Like seven and 15. It was terrible.

[00:36:44] And so like, I'm surprised. And if that's kind of their struggle in men's, I think that they, they're not gonna have a chance going forward. Yeah. I don't know. Just because on paper, I feel like Dekel and Tyson, like you see that team, you're like, okay, that's a pretty good team, right? Yeah. Like they fit well together. And I would have had no idea that they were like, had a losing record like that. Especially because the Royals were doing well. And then I think Sophia and Tyson had a big streak where they were doing quite well too.

[00:37:12] So, um, yeah, interesting. And now it'll be interesting to see if they get to a dream breaker, if Tyson is, is in for the dream breaker lineup. Um, I don't know. Um, gotta be, but if they go to a dream breaker, they're toast. They don't even think they need to put Tyson in. You can just rest any dream breaker that team goes in. They're going to lose. Yeah. They're, they're pretty cooked. Well, especially against the fives.

[00:37:35] Um, so yeah, I mean, I think the fives chose the Royals because on paper, the Royals are, are, can be a tricky team. But when you've got, when you can pretty easily like take out the other teams best line, I think it's a good matchup, right?

[00:37:55] When you, when you have Georgia and Anna Lee going up against their best line, which is, um, Sophia and Tina, who are, I think 26 and seven or 27 and six, something like that. Not undefeated. Not undefeated. Um, but like, yeah, it's, uh, it's solid. So, and then I, I mean, they're the favorites in, in every, everything and huge favorites in the dream breaker.

[00:38:20] The only thing I, I mentioned in my video is I bet you, they put Anna Lee and no way against Casey and Sophia and then fed in Georgia against Deco and Tina. Because last time they had those flipped Deco and Tina had a match point against no way. And, and Anna Lee, and then Sophia and Casey beat, um, Georgia and, and fed. So I would imagine they switched those matchups and I don't see any way.

[00:38:48] This is not a two zero series for the, for the fives. It, yeah. I mean, the thing for me with the fives, with these matchups is I just want to pick the team that I can beat in a dream breaker because the odds that even gets to a dream breaker are slim, but you play the ranchers, something happens magical. They get to a dream breaker. They could be scary. The flash could be scary. Brooklyn, definitely great dream breaker team, but the Royals terrible.

[00:39:13] So there's no way there's no universe bulletin board material for all of you, you know, Palm Beach Royals fans. And the person, the very active person on Twitter that owns the Palm Beach Royals account, there is no chance that you guys will ever go three, one your best. The best case scenario is you go to two and then New Jersey five is just going to, you know, whoop that ass in a dream breaker. So a hundred percent lock New Jersey fives next round. Yep. All right.

[00:39:42] So the next series we had in, in Dallas was the Dallas flash versus the Las Vegas night owls. And not super interesting. The only thing that it was interesting is, did you see the just absolutely blown challenge call? Yes. Like where the ball.

[00:40:01] So in the first game of the first match, um, the Las Vegas night owls, unbelievable, like super clearly hit the ball into the back of the other players paddle and it goes over. Right. So like Callie is behind Zoe and they like hit the ball deflects off of both paddles and goes over. And you can see it clearly on the, on the replay too. And the way the ball bounces everything. And somehow or another, this doesn't get overturned.

[00:40:32] Like, first off, I am so, I hate this AI system. I think it's brutally bad. Like there are so many times where it's off compared to what you see by like an inch and a half, which makes all of the difference on every single call. It's like, yeah, it's generally in the same area where the ball actually bounce, but like, it's not where the ball actually bounces. Yeah. Um, I'm not a fan either.

[00:41:02] I'm a fan of the speed, but, and, and I guess it, I'm not sure how it works. At least it's not a fake system where you magically put a circle. Um, it's based in some kind of technology, even if the technology is terrible. Um, so I'm still okay with just watching with your eyes. I don't love that. I would rather just watch the shitty video. Yeah, no, I agree. I agree. I would rather watch the shitty video. And make your best judgment based on that. Like we've, I, yeah, we've, I think overdone it.

[00:41:28] And I think there's absolutely a reason that they don't show the actual replay anymore. And they just show you the dot because the dot is not matching up with where the ball actually goes. Um, I think maybe the Dallas flash is the only team that is nice enough to like, let what happened fly. Like, you know, between JW and Augie and Danny being new and, and, uh, Alex, like they just like took it.

[00:41:54] Like if I'm just imagining, I just, I still remember, you know, like the, the, uh, Matt Wright, Travis Redden, Meyer, Federico, you, whatever. Like the call gets is wrong. Like, I feel like you're calling like Samin on the phone. That's like, Hey, what the fuck is happening right now? Like I fixed this, this call right now, or I'll call Tom Dunn. I don't know. You know, like call the head. When it's not shown, we don't know like what they're seeing. That's fair.

[00:42:23] Right. So it's hard to be hard to be like that adamant about it. Like we've, you've got to assume that the people who are watching this in the booth are like with all the angles available are like getting it correct. I'm not getting the very easy angle that is on our TV screen. Like maybe there needs to be somebody on the, I guess that's why there's no technology on the bench. But if you had somebody watching pickleball TV, you'd know that was a mistake. So, and, and it cost them because I think there was like five, five or something like that switched.

[00:42:52] And then Vegas goes on a run and wins that game. Yeah. Okay. So Dallas, they lose women's. They then, they have a close match in the men's. They win that. And then after that, it was all downhill. They win the three one the first day they win three zero in like half an hour, the second day. And they move on to San Diego.

[00:43:17] Um, I think the most interesting or the best matchup was Texas versus Atlanta. Uh, two dream breakers. What were your thoughts on that one? Um, yeah. So, I mean, I, I thought it was going to go to one, it went to zero. So I thought it was going to be close no matter what. And I think it, it didn't like sell me anymore or dissuade me anymore on the ranchers.

[00:43:46] The way that I think about the ranchers team for the whole playoffs are hope they get to a dream breaker. Hope they win a dream breaker. Like I think two, two is kind of like their ceiling, but they could, they're a team that I think could beat anybody. Um, I think, uh, I, their women are their weak spot. Like their women's doubles. I think they lost both women's. Did they lose both women's doubles? Um, let's see. Now I'm trying to remember. I think they did.

[00:44:13] Uh, first day they lost both doubles. Yeah. And then the second day I know they split doubles. I think that the. Yeah, that's a great question. Um, but I just think like that, that's their weak spot is women's doubles. They're, they lost to doubles both. They lost women's doubles both days. They're, they're mixed is crazy good, right?

[00:44:40] Like Eric's playing insane, whether it be with Leah or Lane, he seems to be on fire. Right. And I was hoping that Lane would be available for the playoffs. It sounds like she may not be. Um, which I think is a, is a hit, but Eric and Leah have been playing fantastic. So maybe it's really not that big of an issue. Um, so no, I still think that's a team that I don't want to see in the playoffs. Um, and we'll get to that in a second when we talk about who picked two, but I think they're

[00:45:08] scary, even though they're also vulnerable. But even if Lane's healthy, I just don't know where you slot her in. Like, do you put her in instead of Caitlin? And then you put Leah and Nico back together. I don't know. Like, yeah, I'm not sure exactly where you slot her in. Um, so yeah, two dream breaker wins for Texas and two pretty decisive dream breaker wins. Atlanta is not a horrible dream breaker team. We got Jeff, Jay, um, Mari and Kylie Ulery.

[00:45:38] Who's a good singles player. Um, they lost like 21, 14 and then 21, 11, but, um, yeah. Anyway, their dream breaker is not going to be great next week against, uh, against the team that we'll discuss. Um, final matchup was this one was perplexing to me. It was Brooklyn versus SoCal. And we talked about it in our little live session.

[00:46:07] So Brooklyn gets Rachel Rohrabacher back in the women's doubles lineup for the first time since after New York video board incident. And they lose 12, 10 to Megan and Kalen, um, which like, honestly, that can, that could happen if Rachel is fully healthy or not. Like Megan and Kalen is a good team and Kalen had herself a weekend as well. She played great. Brooklyn wins men's mixed one.

[00:46:35] They blow six match points against Kalen and will to force. And so SoCal then forces a dream breaker where they lose 24, 22. And honestly, one of the craziest ends of a matches I've, I've seen, um, pretty crazy, crazy first day in that one. Yeah. I mean, I, every time I thought SoCal was going to roll over, they did not.

[00:47:03] Kalen Campbell played like the best player on the court for a majority of that match, uh, including in her dream breaker will survived sacrificial lamb to Chris Hayworth. And like, I was like, man, this is not even fair. Like they're the, uh, the, um, Brooklyn pickleball team. I feel like they're like, we're going to get the monkey off your back. Chris, you've had a couple of bad dream breakers. We're just, we're going to feed, we're going to give you Will McKinnon just to get your, you see, you know, it's a slump buster, you know what I mean?

[00:47:32] So just you get Will so that you can smoke him and you can feel better. And then it was only, I think seven, five in favor of Chris, um, will saving match points maybe, um, to get, you know, to, uh, Megan Dazon who just got rolled the entire dream breaker. Yeah. Um, well they had, no, they had Kaelin versus, uh, Hannah Blatt after that.

[00:47:56] And then Jackie, uh, finish it off against, uh, Megan for the 24, 22, uh, next day, Rachel is back out of women's doubles. So that's got to scare you. If you are a Brooklyn fan, if you're Jake Galvar, um, SoCal wins that one 11, four, but then Brooklyn wins the next three. So let's talk about Brooklyn's matchup. They were the fifth seed.

[00:48:24] So basically the fives chose the Palm beach Royals for the reasons that we discussed the St. Louis shock, I think had a relatively easy choice of going with the, the Texas ranchers, um, could have potentially gone with Dallas in that position. Maybe. I think so. Uh, hear me out Zane. I would have picked Dallas because just like I said,

[00:48:50] with New Jersey fives, I would rather have Dallas in a dream breaker than the Texas ranchers in a dream breaker. I think Alex strong might be a slight weak link there when it comes to women's doubles, her and Danny have not been fantastic. Um, but their dream breaker, I definitely do not think is as good, um, as the Texas ranchers. So I would have taken the Dallas flash. Most likely you win three, one or three Oh, but if it goes to a dream breaker, I like that more. So St.

[00:49:18] Louis shock, I think you made the wrong decision. Um, but it could have gone either way. I don't know. I mean, I think that there, I think that the favorites at all four lines, like pretty decent favorites at all four lines in doubles, right? You have, you're a good favorite in women's doubles. Kate and Anna win that 85% of the time, 90% of the time. And men's go against the ranchers against the ranchers men's. I mean, Nico and, and Eric can

[00:49:47] get hot and they did beat them 12, 10. Um, the last time they played, but I still think playoffs Hayden and Gabe win that 75, 80% of the time. That's a weird thing to say because playoff Hayden and game are not necessarily the best team. You know what I mean? For the last couple of years. I think they're going to be locked in. Like, yeah, I think I do. You can, you have two options. You can put Anna and Hayden against their better team of Eric and whoever he plays with.

[00:50:17] If it's Leah or if it's lane or if it's KK and you're still a favorite there, or you could avoid that, put your better team in the mixed doubles slot too, and guarantee a mixed win. And you're then a huge favorite in the dream breaker. Like, remember how good the shock are in the dream breaker. You put Hunter against Eric on scenes. You put, let's say Gabe or Hayden against Nico and maybe

[00:50:42] he's a little bit of a favorite there. Toss up. You got Kate versus Leah. Kate's a slight favorite there, but then you got, yeah. Anna versus KK. I don't think that dream breaker is like a done deal. I think that's like a 50. No, you're right. Yeah. They learn in real time. You need Hunter to step up big against that team, man. I'm going through that. Like the

[00:51:07] ranchers might be a top four dream breaker team. Yeah. Yeah. I think there might be a top three dream. Yeah, exactly. I'm a top four. There's a lot of good dreams. I'm the shock. I try to avoid a dream breaker there actually. And try to win. I try to, I think yes. So you have to put, I think you put one, one versus one. The hard thing though, is like Eric's beaten Anna Lee, you know, in mixed this year. Like that's scary.

[00:51:33] So that's why I'm like, I'd much rather play Augie, uh, in one in a dream breaker to just in general. Like, I feel like I'm not afraid of Augie. Like I'm afraid of Eric and Nico. So. Yeah, but you probably should be talk about playoffs though. Augie is a guy who shows up in the playoffs every single year. That is true. Yeah, that is true. Oh, and good in the dream breaker. Augie does not get enough dream breaker credit. I just think like, I

[00:51:59] don't know. I feel like, I feel like Dallas has some momentum. Yeah. They're a little bit, a little bit scarier in the doubles. I think St. Louis thinks like, all right, we take this, we take this before a dream breaker most of the time. Yeah. But I do think the hardest decision came next for the LA Mad Drops who were left with choosing either Dallas or, um,

[00:52:30] or Brooklyn. And so that's a, that's an interesting one because a healthy Brooklyn team is scary, but a health and healthy Brooklyn team is like finding a fucking four leaf clover. Like it's just, it just never seems to happen. Um, like, uh, but Dallas playing good ball. I think you've

[00:52:51] got to be just more afraid of Rachel coming back to full force for Brooklyn. So I do think, I do think LA probably made the right pick taking Dallas there. Yeah, I think so too. And I use the same as that. I, I, I just think Dallas has the worst dream breaker team. Um, not saying that they're bad, but if you can at least go 50, 50, I like my chances

[00:53:20] against Dallas. Um, yeah, I, I think that's the way to go. Um, and, and, uh, pardon me. Um, and this is not all right, Rachel, if you're listening to this, this is not a slight on you, but part of me was like, I wonder if they rope a dope a little bit with Rachel, like, Hey, I, I, I, we're good enough to win without her right now. Let's keep her looking very vulnerable

[00:53:49] and injured. And then next week she's going to come out and she's just going to beat ass, you know, like who knows? Like, I don't know, maybe, maybe she's going to be better in a week, but, um, with Rachel full force, I don't want to play that team if I'm anybody. Uh, so I think you made the right decision if you're the mad drops. Um, yeah, I don't think that Brooklyn's messing around with the lineups like that. Uh, I like you, you can't expect Rachel to come in and

[00:54:16] play amazing. If you've been keeping her out of lineup for two months, like, so I don't think that's the case. I understand the logic, but I don't think that's the actual, like what's going on in practice. They just need to give her one of those shots that they give like Patrick Mahomes, uh, you know, in the, in her knee and magically she'll be better, uh, in like a week. Um, those players, the football players recover from crazy stuff in like a matter of minutes. Um, I don't know, but I think that also makes the Columbus sliders, Brooklyn pickleball team matchup,

[00:54:45] the, the must watch matchup of the, of the weekend. Yeah. I mean, I think LA versus Dallas is going to be good. I remember Dallas beat them back in San Diego last time, but that was also apathetic Ben who lost, uh, 11, three in men's and then 11, one in mixed. Um, so like I would definitely expect they beat them in a dream breaker with Ben losing both matches. So I just,

[00:55:11] I don't know, I don't see that happening again. Um, I think that the mad drops I'm hoping to one, like I'm hoping Dallas steals one, but I don't think they steal two out of the three. No, I don't think so either. And I think that matchup comes down to who's a better player, Ben Johns or JW Johnson for the last month. It's been JW. Ben is definitely the better player overall.

[00:55:38] Is he going to bring it in the playoffs? I don't know, but that, I think that's the difference in the matchup. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, if we get sleepy Ben, like, yeah, they could be cooked, but it was just, unfortunately we have to like factor that into any predictions. Last but not least. Yeah. I think the series of the weekend is going to be Columbus versus Brooklyn. Interesting because Columbus hasn't played in like forever. Um, I don't think Columbus has played

[00:56:06] since they didn't play Orlando. They didn't play Chicago. I don't think Columbus has played since San Diego, which was, which will be a month between matches. So that's the idea of interesting idea of, yeah, they haven't played since they lost to Dallas back in San Diego a month ago.

[00:56:28] So rest versus rust Brooklyn, on the other hand has played every single weekend since they have played Chicago. They played Orlando, they played Dallas and they're going to be playing Newport. So this is the ultimate rest versus rust. Um, what do you think?

[00:56:49] Yeah, that's a great question. Um, I think I like the Brooklyn pickleball team here in this matchup. Um, and I think it's just like, I haven't seen a like completely convincing Columbus sliders team all year, really. Um, and on paper, I feel like that team should get it done. The Columbus sliders. Um,

[00:57:18] but no, I think this is one of those ones that might go three dream breakers. Uh, and if Chris Hayworth is playing like Chris Hayworth, they win. Um, actually, no, I don't know that now, now I'm tossed in the dream breaker and now I'm thinking maybe the sliders might win. Honestly, I want to abstain somehow from making a pick on this. Um, yeah, I'm going to go, I'm going Brooklyn. All right.

[00:57:46] I'll take sliders. Um, I think that Andre is going to have that team like in shape and ready. Like Andre is going to show up ready playoffs. Andre is a thing. Like I think the level of intensity just goes up a little bit. Um, I I'm taking sliders there. Um, and I, I think it's a, I think the sliders,

[00:58:14] the sliders are a good dream breaker team. Like if I'm the sliders, I put Diascu against Chris Hayworth. Cause I think Andre is long enough to neutralize big passes. I put crumb against Alshon. You've got Paris versus Hannah Blatt, which should be a blowout. And then you've got Tyra

[00:58:37] versus Jackie, which should be a win for Tyra, but Jackie's obviously quite, quite, quite good. Um, but I still think Tyra goes positive in that one. So I don't know. I was a better dream breaker team. Um, I, I've been underwhelmed by, by Brooklyn's dream breakers, like for Christian and, and

[00:59:02] Hayworth aren't getting us the eight fours that we would expect. Hannah Blatt is honestly, I think should probably be in the four spot behind, um, Jackie. We just, not because Hannah's bad, but because Jackie is so fricking underrated in a, in a dream breaker. Um, but yeah, I think the biggest, the biggest difference there is going to be a Paris versus Hannah, you know, six, two or eight,

[00:59:27] four type of spot. Yeah. I think, uh, and this is maybe where Anna Bright's, uh, theory comes into play, but like it might just for Brooklyn, it might just come down to the fact that they get to play their men a third round before the women of Columbus. I think it's one of those things where, and you see, you're like, can we survive this matchup to get to the one that we love? If they can survive to the third round of women's, they got it. There's no way that the Columbus doesn't

[00:59:56] win, but they have to survive Chris Hayworth and Christian Alshon. You know, Alex Crum is hot and cold, uh, as well. So sometimes he looks great. Sometimes he looks very beatable. And then Andre, I think is like one of those YOLO experiences where he's actually a pretty good dream breaker person for four points. He's long. So I don't know. I think they can survive, but I mean, honestly, if you're, it's a betting market, it's like gotta be 50, 50, even money, right? Those two teams,

[01:00:22] like they play a hundred times, probably 50, 50. Yeah. I mean, I would pick, I'd pick Columbus as 57.5 to 42.5 in a dream breaker. Is I think that I think maybe the, the difference and you just said it is I trust the captain Andre to ask you maybe more than anybody on Brooklyn. Like Rachel might is, is Rachel the captain of that

[01:00:47] team? Like, I feel like she might be the most like outspoken lead, more leader figure, but she's also hurt. So it's hard to be captain in that experience. I just think Andre, Andre has more of that playoff mentality, leadership mentality than, than a Christian all shot. Yeah. I mean, I also think that I think that the women's singles has actually more value in a way where in women's singles,

[01:01:14] I think there's less variance in a dream breaker based on the way they play. Right. So when you are, when you're grinding in a women's singles point from the baseline, generally the better player is just going to win those longer rallies. But when you're somebody who just comes in and charges in, in a men's doubles or an amend singles, like an, like Andre is going to, there's a lot more randomness

[01:01:38] involved. And so I think the spreads between the top men and the bottom men are a lot smaller than the spread between the top women and the, and the bottom women. Like I would be very confident that Paris is going six to at the very least, but Hayworth could go, he could go 10 to against Andre. You could have a situation where Andre is up seven, five, like there's just so much more variation in the, in the men's

[01:02:05] singles. And there is the women's singles based on the style of play, in my opinion. Hmm. That's a great point. I mean, you saw it with the SoCal hard eights where like Will McKenna, maybe 100th ranked ranked player goes five, seven, Anna Lee plays the 100th ranked women's player. And it's, it's a hundred. She's on 12-0 every time. She's not losing a point. So anyway, it'll be interesting to see. So that's why I've got, that's why I've got the, um,

[01:02:32] Columbus is the favorite. I think you can, I think Paris owns that, that three matchup. And I think you're doing a great job talking me out of my pick, but I'm sticking with Brooklyn. I'm ready to eat crow next week though. I'm not confident. What? Is that it? Eat crow? Is that, is that how it is? I gotta look at it. I don't know. I've never heard that before. Admit you were wrong. Face humiliation back down after taking a strong, confident position. The only

[01:02:59] difference is I'm not taking a strong, confident position. I am definitely already regretting it. We've been taking recommendations on the draft, uh, from the discord today. We are drafting fast food items for our MLP team. Everybody wants to see whether or not the Whopper is going to be your number one singles or whatnot. The way it's going to work is we are going to draft six fast food items

[01:03:25] to fill out an MLP team. You get two mains, two sides, and two drinks slash desserts. I love it. I love it. Um, are we doing snake draft? We are doing snake draft. Do you want the first pick or the next two? I want the next two.

[01:03:50] Okay. All right. Um, I am going to take the double, double in an hour burger as my first, my first pick sold sold. Give me McDonald's Coke. Give me McDonald's fries. I am loving this start. There is nothing better. Everybody knows this. It is scientifically fact. There is nothing better

[01:04:20] than a McDonald's Coke. Best soda there is. You, you, uh, okay. One, I'm not going to do what I do every single draft, which is take a variant of what you already picked, but McDonald's Diet Coke is better than regular Coke. Stop it. I swear to God, I will never podcast with you again. If you pick a McDonald's Diet Coke, get out of here. I'm sick of your Toy Story three bullshit.

[01:04:45] Everybody knows, everybody knows Diet Coke is the best. You, you, you fucked up, but I'm not going to pick Diet Coke. I'm going to win separately. All right. Uh, I am now going to take the best fry, uh, not McDonald's fry. McDonald's fries used to be the best, but then they changed their recipe. Anyway, I am taking the waffle fries from Chick-fil-A. That's my fry pick.

[01:05:10] Then I am going to take from everybody's least favorite, but maybe everybody's favorite Taco Bell. I am taking the Crunchwrap Supreme. That is a top tier main. Give me the Crunchwrap Supreme. Yeah. Nico, I feel like our audience isn't the 2 30 a.m. stone Taco Bell crowd. So I feel like that

[01:05:35] one might miss. I love it. Um, all right. Give me, give me a spicy chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. Ooh. Okay. We like those and give me a Dairy Queen Blizzard. Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one.

[01:06:01] Dairy Queen was not even on my board. I didn't forgot that they're fast food. Um, all right. I'm going to take for the dessert. Give me, in my opinion, a better Blizzard. Give me the McFlurry, Oreo McFlurry. Oh, stop. Okay. Come on. Let's like, let's be, let's be adults here for a second. The McFlurry is not better than a Blizzard. So good. It's the right amount. It's not too big,

[01:06:26] not too much. And Dairy Queen can't kiss my ass. Um, now for the drink, give me, so you're, you're, you're already, uh, um, McDonald's heavy. I'm Taco Bell heavy. Give me a Baja blast from Taco Bell. I respect the game there. I respect a blast. I respect the game.

[01:06:48] All right. Now I've got two more. Um, give me the good old Wisconsin Culver's Butter Burger. Oh, to die for. Unbelievable. And you know what? Fuck me up with some cheese curds too. Let's go. This is a perfect draft. Do I, I think I have, this is like, so what, I think I still have one more pick

[01:07:11] sadly. Um, just don't even, just don't even do it. You're cooked. I am cooked. I am cooked for sure. Um, you, you are, this is like an East coast versus West coast draft. Uh, because, because we got in and out for me, you got Coliverse for you. Um, I do not actually find that good. Uh, I know slander,

[01:07:34] right? Um, but I need one more side and, oh my gosh, give me five guys Cajun fries. That entire gigantic basket of fries that they put in the bag. Give me five guys fries.

[01:07:58] I mean, that's like having your season on the line and just selling you sold. You needed it. You needed a home run there and you hit a single, but you needed a home run. Um, I think this is going to be the absolute biggest beat down that we've had. Uh, I think I drafted the perfect team. Um, yeah, but the people go over. No, you're going to be surprised. Colverse, not as big as, uh, as you

[01:08:26] think that should basically be, that should be the thing is it guys, if you like in and out burger more than Colverse, just pick my team. And if, if Colverse is better than you don't know ball. That might be the only spot that you, that you have me is, is the burger, but my secondary, my secondary, and honestly, that was my second. That was my line to main was the Colverse. I still have a spicy chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. That's a good sandwich. That is a, that is a good

[01:08:55] sandwich. I don't know. Crunchyfee Supreme, you know, we're both feeling pretty confident about this Zayn. This might be the time that you break your losing streak. I don't think so, but like you are on the, I don't know. You're the Columbus. You are the, you are the Carolina hogs of drafting right now. You are, you are. I had such a good Disney movie draft until I didn't know a fourth Disney movie to pick. And I just was like, what's one that I actually know? Cinderella.

[01:09:20] I had such a good team until I picked Cinderella at the end. The one that you, the, the movie that you watched most as a kid, Cinderella. Oh yeah. But this is the week that I break that streak a hundred percent. Take it to the bank. You're cooked. All right. All right. Um, all right. And with that, as mentioned, we have Cameron Bultez on to talk about the most inspiring, inspirational,

[01:09:45] inspirational pickleball project. Stay tuned, check it out. Um, and with that here's Cameron. Well, thanks a lot. We have Cameron Bultez here with us. Uh, Cameron, we were, we're diverging from the normal slapstick silly humor that we have throughout the pod all the time. Hopefully people enjoy that, but we had a story, uh, Cameron, you reached out to me and I'll, I'll

[01:10:11] let you share more of the story, but, uh, that, that really touched me. I shared immediately with Zane. Um, and Zane's first reaction was let's, let's get Cameron on the pod because I mean, this is, I think an incredible use of, of energy coming from a difficult situation. So, so Cameron, um, why don't I just give you the floor and kind of maybe share a little bit about having about your son, um, and what, what you guys are doing.

[01:10:40] Yeah. So thanks. You know, I guess I would say first, um, before I get into my son, you know, we had this tragic thing happen and, um, you kind of hit this like panic wall of like, man, I don't know what to do. And, uh, he passed away. Uh, we have an incredible 16 year old son who passed away a week ago and, uh, everybody was like, well, do what do you want

[01:11:06] to do in lieu of flowers? And what do you want to do? And our son loved pickleball so much. Um, now I can't wait to tell you maybe more about why I love pickleball, but, um, we just had the idea that it would be awesome to be able to do something besides flowers for him. And, uh, we live in a little town in Eastern North Carolina, about 10,000 people. And we

[01:11:33] technically, we have, um, two pickleball courts in town, but there's no lights and they're in a neighborhood and, you know, you can't play after dark cause it frustrates folks. And, um, so Solomon and all of his buddies, um, would go out at nighttime and they would drive to the only place with lights, which was tennis courts. And they'd use their headlights and the lights

[01:11:59] that were sort of there and play pickleball on tennis courts with lines. Right. And like, I liked to play pickleball too. And I kept being like, Hey man, or like, but on tennis nets, like what? And like, they just don't care, you know, like they want to hang out. There's like 30 or 40 dudes that would roll and guys and girls that would like roll out there and play until midnight. Like his curfew was 12, you know, and we'd be like, I mean, come home. And he, they would,

[01:12:27] it's hot here and muggy. And then he would be like dripping wet when he came home from playing for five hours. You know, he'd get off work. He was a lifeguard and he and his best friends would all play pickleball literally every night of the summer. Um, so late. So we had the idea of wanting to build a place that he and his friends could go, but also just anybody could go and play, um,

[01:12:53] regardless if it was nighttime or daytime and it actually maybe had real pickleball nets and courts and that kind of thing. So that's kind of what started this for sure. So, yeah. Wow. Well, it's like, it's like a, like a field of dreams situation. Just make sure, you know, building it out. Uh, I'm just like imagining like the imagery of, you know, all of the, the car headlights, just trying to shine some light on the court. And just like, you know,

[01:13:23] you get to that point where I always say like, and this is kind of sad where it's like pickleball sometimes gets less fun. The more you play it is because you start getting picky or particular, or I'm like, I'll only play with a lifetime pickleball. Right. Right. Right. Right. Same, same, same here. So the best of us where it's like, I'll play on the tennis court. I'll play in the dark. I'll play with light, you know, Colin Johns won't play in a professionally lighted indoor

[01:13:50] facility and your son is playing with headlights, you know, um, outside on the street. So like, I mean, that's like, I think that's what people, everybody fell in love with pickleball doing something similar to the way your son did. So. Man, a hundred percent. I think one of the things that was like, you know, so I want to be good at pickleball. I'm not, but I like to play a lot. And, you know, I'd try and like, have like tips for beating your friend, you know, like, Hey man, have you figured out like a third shot drop? Like,

[01:14:19] you know, like this is going to help be. And he'd be like, I don't care about that, man. Like he just, he just wanted to rip man. Like he just wanted to go out there and have fun. And he plays with an old paddle that was mine. And I was like, do you need a new overgrip? And he would look at me like I was speaking Greek, like what? No, like he wants to go hang out with friends and play. And, you know, maybe that's like, what's the coolest about pickleball

[01:14:46] is like, you can be that guy, you know, like you can go out with a bunch of high school friends and just rip for five hours. And, um, or you could grind away on this one specific shot. And then like, it just checks so many boxes for so many people, you know, like, and the community around it, like you guys are a perfect example. Like I was kind of at a wall and I was like, man, I don't even know who to ask her. And you were literally the first person that I sent something to. And I,

[01:15:15] you know, my wife and I both love your podcasts. And, uh, we were just like, well, maybe I'll send a flyer. And like 15 minutes later, you were like, can you be on the podcast? And I was like, if there isn't a better affirmation that like, this is the best group of people and the best sport of all time, like that was it. Like just the community around it. You guys know, I mean, you guys see it on all the levels Zane from being like one of the very best in the world. Um,

[01:15:44] and you know, just to Solomon, who just wants to go and play with friends at nighttime and uh, it just, there's a space for everybody in pickleball, which is so cool and cool for us as parents of kids to have something like that for kids to go do is awesome. Yeah. It's, uh, the pickleball community is definitely tight knit and unmatched. That's for

[01:16:09] sure. And I think evidenced by, I took a look at the GoFundMe right after Nico sent it. And I think what yesterday it was at like $40,000 already. And I think today we're like over 55,000 in a matter of a few days. So it's just been freaking unbelievable, man. And you know, we not to do all the talking here, but like we went and I talked to Parks and Rec in town cause I was worried like, Hey,

[01:16:37] we're going to raise money. And they were just awesome. They were like, man, we're going to give you a bunch of different possible places. And we want to do everything we can do to help make this come true. There was no red tape. There was no like this or that. It was like, yeah, we're going to make it happen. However, whatever it takes to make it happen. So that felt awesome. That's so cool. I didn't realize, I didn't realize this happened just a week ago. So,

[01:17:03] I mean, the fact that we've already gotten so much traction so quickly is, I mean, it's, it's incredible. And hopefully we're not even close to the end of that. What would you say is, is the, the overall vision with, with everything you're able to earn? You know, like I think, um, I'd love, you know, I'd love to build enough courts that, um,

[01:17:32] and I don't know if that's six courts or what, but that people feel like they can actually go there and get on a court and play. You know, last night I went for a walk, um, just different times of day are tough in different ways. And I walked by the courts that are kind of by our house. And this was just a testament to how great pickleball is, but there's these two courts that I was telling you all about. And there was about 15 or 20 people out there. And one of the courts, our courts have

[01:18:00] like no rules, right? Like there's no rotate in, nobody's figured out how to do like, and there were like two dudes in jeans and cowboy boots ripping singles. And, uh, it was like, oh, okay. Like that's what's going on right now. But you know, I want a place where there's enough courts where people can go and play. And like, when my wife came down the other day, she was like, it was a hard morning. And then she just said, um, you know, I just, it was the first thing she

[01:18:28] talked about in the morning was getting these courts going and like having lights and maybe even having a cover on a quarter too. So that if there was a kid like Solomon that was struggling and that there'd be a, you know, a place to go with friends kind of, kind of rain or shine day or night, you know, that, um, there's a place to show up and play and that people will be there and that

[01:18:54] we'll have, um, you know, that's free and you can just roll in there and play. And, uh, it doesn't matter if you suck and can't hardly play or if you're killing it, you know, and clearly to Solomon, it didn't matter. I would try and give him all these tips and it just, he didn't, he didn't care. He just wanted to be with people. And it was so fun on that, that side of things.

[01:19:17] Yeah. Can you tell us a little bit more about Solomon? Like, what was, what was this? I mean, what was your favorite pickleball memory with him? Um, yeah, yeah. Let us know, let us get to know Solomon a little bit. Yeah. So Solomon, uh, was actually, he was born in Kampala, Uganda. So he's been home with us since he was about 18 months old. And, uh, he was a state, like a multiple

[01:19:46] time state champion gymnast. So he loved gymnastics and he was incredible. And when he got to, uh, high school, it was so important to him to like, be able to do high school team sports, you know, gymnastics is so singular in so many ways. And he was, he killed it. Like he just did all the sports, like every season he, he did cross country and he'd never swam before. And he was like, well, I want to be on the swim team. Cause that's a winter sport that I could do with the team. And

[01:20:14] so we did that and then, um, played tennis for the first times ever. And, um, like totally figured it out and was, you know, he, he just loved being on a team with people like that was special to him. Um, and, uh, when, when we had his service on Saturday, you know, like a consistent theme was, you know, people were like, well, he was always like wearing me out to go play pickleball,

[01:20:40] you know, like I'd get texts and his best friend, like they had made plans for on Monday to go play. And, um, that was, you know, consistent. He loved doing that with people. And I think more than anything, he just loved being with people. And, uh, you know, it, it kind of feels perfect in all the right ways, you know, another, you know, just pickleball is one of those sports where you can be with people. You can talk trash with your friends, you can hang out. Um, I think

[01:21:10] y'all know better than anybody, like you can be terrible and still go have a great time. It doesn't, this like barrier to entry is so low, um, as evidenced by like the dudes in jeans and cowboy boots playing the other night, like you can just come right as you are. And Solomon did, he did a great job of that. He just showed up as he was and, and played. Yeah.

[01:21:35] Well, it's an, it's incredible. And it loved, loved hearing about Solomon. And when I was reading, I was like, you know, it, he reminded me a little bit about, of me, but better. Like, I was like, oh, like, I was like, we're into cross country and swimming and pickleball and tennis. And it just sounds like, you know, loved everything, love, love spending time, love, love being active. And I think that I'm sure one thing that, that drew him to pickleball and what I, what I love about kind of

[01:22:03] where, um, you and your family are putting your energy is like how much pickleball brings people together, you know? And like, there's a lot of adults or kids that, that don't have a lot of friends, right. That don't like, don't have a lot of connection. And because of pickleball, they have friends, like example, like they retired, they worked their whole lives. And they were just

[01:22:31] like, it was like their immediate family and work. Then they retired. And I was like, oh no, what are they going to do? They found pickleball. And like last night they were like at a concert that they would never go to with friends, like having fun, sending pictures. It's all because of pickleball. And so like, I just feel like, you know, this, this project is, is so impactful. You know, it's, it's, you know, it's a, you know, a great, you know, memorial or, you know,

[01:22:58] um, tribute to Solomon, but also how many people it's going to help. And like, yeah, much as flower or fantastic, this pickleball might change other people's lives. Um, I'm sure it's changed more people's lives than probably almost anything that has come, you know, in vogue in the last, you know, 20 years. No doubt. Mine included, you know, like I, Meg's and I, my wife and I will, the closest like courts courts are about 40 minutes away from our house and we'll go play

[01:23:25] over at this pickleball club. And like, we've met all these people, like the guy I play with is a dude named Jerick, who I like, I refer to as the walls of Jericho. And, uh, like he was at Solomon's service, you know, like, and I know him from nothing but pickleball. And like, we got a card and like hundreds of people from that pickleball club had like signed it. And, you know, I don't, I just don't know where else that happens. I don't think it does happen in other communities

[01:23:52] the same way. Um, so, and, and like you said, I think just having a spot for people to go when there's other kids in Solomon's place or, um, just feels right, you know, and feels, uh, I, I don't know where else you could set up where kids are going to go show up or people are going to show up and make friends as easy as it does on the pickleball court. So we're excited about that

[01:24:20] for sure. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, just one more testament to that. Uh, I looked yesterday, like I said, and it was at 40,000 and, and just now I'm already up to 60,000 and 290 different donations. Unbelievable. Yeah. That's gotta be. Oh man, I got like cold chills right now. I, uh, yeah. Hearing you say that I haven't, I haven't done a good job looking. And so man, just hearing

[01:24:48] you say that it's like, I was driving in my car this morning and, um, had to go take care of something really sucky that I didn't want to deal with. And I just got thinking and I was, um, you know, I'm like, I gotta buy the new paddle, you know, like I had a coral and then I had to get a coral pro cause better grit. Right. And I suck. I'm not good. And it doesn't matter. I could play with the

[01:25:11] frying pan and be the same. But, uh, I was like, man, and this sounds so dumb, but I was like 500 people, if 500 people were like, instead of buying the new paddle, we would like kick in towards these courts, like we'd be done. And I wish I, I just want to, it seems so minor. Right. And, uh, but it

[01:25:34] matters a lot. Uh, it's yeah, it feels like the goal is like right there and totally doable and no knock on the coral pro. It's great. Right. Uh, I could have held off, you know, had I known, but yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Six, six, zero sponsor of the pod. If you guys are listening, you know,

[01:25:56] okay. Yeah. Donation buttons right there. Um, no, I love this. And you know, if anybody's listening, um, maybe the donation is your, um, permission to get your next battle. So you, you hit the donation button and then you can feel good by your next battle. It's a win-win. Um, but I mean, I I'm sure you guys will make your goal. I'm sure everybody listening is, is inspired. I think so basically,

[01:26:25] um, for those at home, you can, uh, we'll link the GoFundMe in the bio. We put it on Twitter. I'll try to make sure we get it on Instagram everywhere I can. Um, we'll share the GoFundMe. We'll share the link, um, to the park project as well so that you guys kind of see what's happening. Um, and, uh, to your point, you know, I think, you know, what I, what I had said is like people listening, either you can,

[01:26:53] you can donate or you can share either one. It's just valuable. Um, and, and, um, and if you are, if you guys know anybody, sell Kirk, C and D nets, whatever, you know, if you're a court surface person, if you can provide in-kind donation to the park, everybody can do their part. Um, I think these are, you know, I'm going to go on a limb and say this is the most important pickleball court project

[01:27:19] that is currently happening in the country. So if you want to be a part of it, like we all, we would all appreciate it. Um, you know, it couldn't be a better feeling than, than supporting this for sure. Man. I can't thank you guys. Oh, for reference to, uh, I just, you can Google it. It's a building Solomon Bolt has Memorial pickleball courts. It's the go fund me. You can find more

[01:27:43] info there as well. If you just want to do that. Um, uh, yeah, I think my wife, uh, I'm terrible at social media and everything. And I think my wife, uh, it hers is Meg sports picks on Instagram. And I think she's got links. She's a pro sports photographer. So she's got a link in there somehow and all that. Yeah. Yeah. This is actually prompted. This is, you can edit this out, but you know, I listen to

[01:28:11] y'all's podcasts all the time. And I hear you guys talk about like the discord. And so like last night I was like, I just got to figure out how, what, I don't even know what discord meant, you know, like I'm Googling discord. Like, what does that mean? And then I like, man, I got to, like, I figured it out. It was so cool to go in there and read all that stuff. So yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you guys so much. Y'all are, um, like a testament to why this is the best

[01:28:40] community. I don't, you know, this would never happen in baseball or football or tennis or whatever. It'd be, everybody would be too cool. And you guys like are unbelievable, man. I'm super, super thankful for y'all big time. I can't, I can't, I don't, I don't got the right words other than to just say, um, how much this would have meant to Solomon and, um, it means to my wife and I, so pulling hard. I was, I'm bummed that y'all didn't get through the MLP, man. I was

[01:29:10] fired up to get you guys out of that round. And yeah. Yeah. Well, and Hey, I'm a bucket hat guy, by the way, like to my wife's, uh, disappointment. Like I actually have like an, I'll have to text you a picture, but I have a strong contender for bucket hat here. A little, yeah, strong. So good stuff. Yeah. Well, good. Good. Well, Hey, I appreciate you. I mean, look, it's, I think if I was in your

[01:29:38] position, the last thing I would want to do is actually come and have to speak on something like this, but it goes a long way, right? I think this is going to be great for continuing the goal that you have with these courts. So we're, we're just as appreciative and honestly, pretty humbled to be able to have a positive impact with, with you and with the courts and like, and that we just talk smack and talk about pickleball. So if we can do something in that like helps in real life,

[01:30:08] that's pretty cool too. So thanks to everybody who listened to this, this segment and cam, thanks so much for coming on, man. Oh man. Thank you guys. Y'all are the best. Appreciate it. Big time. All right. Take care.