September 12, 2024 • 39 mins
A special double feature for the first week of football! First, Brian and his old pal Rainn Wilson commiserate about their abysmal showing in their fantasy league, wonder what happened to television comedies, and get pumped for their upcoming Office trivia night supporting Rainn’s foundation, Lide Haiti. Then, he recaps week one on the field with Off the Beat producer and NFL aficionado Ryan “Papa” Zachary.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Hi everybody, and welcome back to a very special episode
of Off the Beat. As always, I am your host,
Brian Baumgartner, but everything else will be a bit different.
There's so much going on this week in my world
and in the world of the office, and in the
(00:37):
world of things that I like, mainly NFL football and
fantasy football. I've got my old friend and yours, Rain Wilson,
on the podcast today. We're going to be talking about
the Office Fantasy Football League now here, I believe in
our twentieth season. So not to steal a line from
(01:02):
David Letterman, but our first guest needs no introduction. Rain
Wilson aka Dwight Shrut. He has been working with Lee
da Haiti, his charity for now fourteen years. Girls' Education
is what Lee da Haiti supports. It's been a tough
time down in Haiti now, so Rain is hosting a
(01:26):
big charity office trivia contest that a number of us
are attending this weekend. I wanted him to come on
the podcast and talk about that and talk about he
and I and the Office Fantasy Football League. Here's Rain,
(01:49):
Bubble and Squeak.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I love it, Bubble and Squeakna.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Bubble and squeak.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I cook get every month lift from the Nabopo.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Here we go. I'm gonna blow.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Whatever you need. Let's get in. And I'm oh, wow,
what's happening? You do you have a cold? Do you
have COVID?
Speaker 1 (02:20):
I don't think I have COVID.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
COVID is everywhere. Everyone's getting COVID again.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Well maybe I do. Maybe I did and didn't test.
I don't know. Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, and yet you're podcasting.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Listen. We just do the best we can. We're professionals.
We work with what we got.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
You know, if you've got half an ear, you know,
and a microphone you got at radio shack, it's fine.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
We're rolling. It's no, it's totally fine. That's just the
new world. Yes, well, first off, thank you for coming on.
Have you been out of the country?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
I was, Yes.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Your your Instagram is very confused. It's like, I are
you posting like talk backs, like sessions, and then I
click on it and it's like in Belgium or something like,
they're not even in the United States. You don't announce
I'm going on a world tour. You just sort of say, hey,
(03:15):
I'm in Amsterdam this week.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
That's how I roll. I like to keep it a
little mysterious. Do you notice my my get up is
a little mysterious.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah, you're a rat? Now are you a hat guy?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Now?
Speaker 1 (03:27):
I've kind of become a hat guy.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well, when you have a very large, rapidly balding dome,
such as myself, yeah, sometimes a hat is the only alternative.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, now do you? Here's here's the thing though, I
think hats, those kind of hats don't hide me. I
feel like they cause more attention.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Well, that's that's for certain. This is not a hey,
I want to walk around and be anonymous hat. This
is this is like I want to look incredibly sexy
and content temporary right hat. And I think it's working magnificently.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Yes, in your home, it's working great. And for you
to do with me here, yeah exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
But I definitely do with the baseball I get the
baseball cap, going, the sunglasses, baseball cap, even the head
noise canceling headphones, and maybe even a COVID mask, and
just try and stay as under the radar as possible.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
You do, see, I don't do the headphones. The headphones,
I don't know, I don't I don't do that.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
You just take those headphones you're wearing right now and
just wear them around.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
It just helps, does it? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
It helps. Everything helps.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
But when you can't hear with them that, it's probably
not not good to have them on. All right, We're
recording here on September the ninth, Monday, the Monday night
football games haven't happened rain. You and I and our
office fantasy league are both losing by sixty points.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Your reaction, my reaction is discussed fear, chagrin, overwhelm. I
have seventy two points right now.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Well, here's the thing. I think you would be beating
me now after tonight. I don't think you would be,
but I think you are currently currently lead leading me.
I have sixty three points. Now, I've got Breithe Hall tonight,
I've got the kicker. But yeah, is the season over
(05:33):
for you? Have you given up?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
No? I really like my team.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I don't understand it. I don't understand how Patrick Mahons
only got sixteen, Amon Ross sat Brown, who is a
top five wide receivers, got me three points, and Christian
Kirk got me three points. He's a top you know,
(05:59):
twenty receiver yeah, so I think things are going to
turn around. I have Lad McConkie on the bench so
I can bring him out.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
He's yeah. I like him too. I wanted him. Yeah,
I you know, the Chargers looked for The Chargers looked
fun all. By the way, all of the principal cast
members are are being saddled with an l that are
in the office fence meet you. John Soxy, our commissioner.
He's gonna win. Andy Buckley, who knows nothing about football,
(06:34):
admittedly his son runs his team. He's gonna win. We
feel like we know things, yet we're terrible. It's very discouraging,
it is. It's very sad.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Uh. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what to say.
But Mahomes is gonna light it up some more. And
he had a tough go. Baltimore defense is tough and
just wren up. And I think Kamara and etn and
I've got debo tonight. I feel good about my chances.
I've got a good team.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Your chances in the future, not this week. Yeah, you're
you're destroyed this.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yeah, that's okay. I have I have learned in the
in the great game of Fantasy football. I have there
have been multiple seasons where it's like I've lost like
five of the first six games, Yes, and then picked
up some waiver wire additions and made a late season
run and gotten in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
So you you do not give You do not give up.
There are there are some people who do you do?
You do not?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I work the wire till the bitter end.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah. I'm discouraged though, because I liked my team as well.
I will ask you this. I was texting during the
draft with Uberaga, who drafted third, who built his entire
draft on on the assumption that I was going to
take Tyreek Hill. Uh, we can't really say how my
choice panned out, obviously it's the first week anyway, But
(08:01):
I took bres Hall and not Hill. What would you
have done?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yeah, I definitely wouldn't have taken Breee Hall. I think
he's like number ten or something, So I don't know.
I'm not sure what the thinking was there. Is your
podcast audience are they really into fantasy football? Because what
about your podcast audience that just loves conversations about being
an actor and.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Well, we're going to have that conversation too. But I
mean it's week one, it's the Office, Fantasy League. I
feel like, you know, people are interested in the things
that we're interested in. I don't know, Rain, I don't know.
It's interesting to me. There's a lot going on, the
Emmys coming. Are you watching television?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
I watched television sometimes. Yeah, I'm watching Chimp Crazy. Have
you seen Chimp Crazy?
Speaker 1 (08:51):
I have not seen chimp Crazy. What's chimp Crazy?
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Oh my god? It's amazing. It's about the world of
people that collect and chimpanzees, and.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
We mean collect chimpanzees, like actual chimpanzees.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah, they raise chimpanzees.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Is that called collecting?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I don't know. You collect, you collect them, You collect
them in your basement or in your backyard, and they're
really crazy and it's just a fascinating train wreck.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
So it's this is a reality to me.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
It's a docu series on a docu series on HBO Max.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Are you watching? Are you watching Bad Monkey?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I haven't seen Bad Monkey yet? Is it good?
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Michelle Monaghan on the podcast a couple of weeks ago.
I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoy I mean it's it's Vince Vaughan.
Is is Vince Vaughn And he's back and he's doing
his thing, and it's entertaining.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
To me fair enough, Maybe I'll give it a try.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
You should, you should. Here's the thing that strikes me
quickly about about the Emmys this year when you look
at the comedy show that none of them feel like
comedies to me. The bear is the bear a comedy.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
The bear is not a comedy. Beef is not a comedy.
Palm Royal, it's not a comedy. I don't understand the
lack of comedies in the comedy realm. But I don't
understand why networks and streamers aren't buying more comedies, developing
more comedies. Why they Surely there's an audience for comedies
(10:26):
out there somewhere, right, I would think, so, yeah, people
doing funny things. Yeah, I mean those are some good shows,
don't get me wrong, they're very absolutely but even like
only murders in the building.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I was going to bring that up, it's not really
a comedy. It's a little.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Bit more of a comedy, but it pushes the needle
a little bit more towards comedy. There are certainly comedians
in it.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
That's what I was going to say. It stars too
great comedians and even Hacks, which is about stand up comedians.
I don't is that a comedy? Is Hacks a comedy?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Yeah, it's it's a little it's a little bit dark. Yeah, yeah,
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Yeah, but you're you're watching the Chimp thing.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Yes, that's what I'm watching. I watched The House of
the Dragon. I love that show. That's over with. I
think Slow Horses has a new season out. I really
like that show on Apple.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Yes, it's out now. I enjoy that show as well.
The limited series stuff is I mean, that's what it
feels like everything is these days.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
But Baby Reindeer Fargo, I just absolutely love Fargo. Do
you watch Fargo.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
I couldn't get into this last season. I thought the
tone was weird. It got very goofy in ways that
earlier Fargo's didn't. So I did not.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I didn't.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I didn't get it. But I know people that thought
it was just brilliant and loved it.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
I loved it. Ripley, Yeah, I loved Ripley. I was fished. Ripley.
Replease the comedy.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Here's my comedy pitch. Serial Killer moves to Italy in
nineteen sixty three, very stylish.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
We filmed it black and white and it's going to
be a riot. All right? Are you are you going?
Are you? Are you presenting?
Speaker 2 (12:21):
I haven't watched an award show in ten years. Really,
I don't. I'm not what are you boycotting? I just
don't enjoy award shows. I mean that's not true. I've
seen some of the Oscars, not every year, but some
of that. But so I don't know. I couldn't tell
you what's going on in that in the world of Amys.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Yeah, well we just talked about a lot of shows
that are nominated, So I mean, that's okay, that's a start.
That's okay. You have a big event going on this weekend,
which is really why I wanted to talk to you
this week. I was looking at your website for Lead
a Haiti, knowing you for a long time, knowing you
(13:05):
started it, I didn't realize that you started lead a
Haiti as like a temporary thing, according to your website
in twenty ten, in response to the earthquake that happened there.
So you did not think that you were still going
to be doing this fourteen years later.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
No, Yeah, we came as a temporarily to teach arts
and education. To adolescent girls through a program sponsored by
the United Nations, and that was a temporary measure and
then we just kind of stayed and some Haitian friends
of ours and us started this and out in rural Haiti.
(13:46):
Haiti is in terrible shape right now. I'm sure you've heard.
Gangs are controlling at least forty percent of Porta Prince,
the capital city. It's in complete and total chaos. We
were very fortunate because our programs, which do arts, literacy,
healthcare scholarships for adolescent girls, are in rural Haiti, way
(14:07):
in the north, far away from where any gangs.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Would go because it's too poor.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
So we're able to be functioning and we've actually been
thriving as an organization and we're working with almost a
thousand girls right now.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
It's incredible.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Yeah, it's been great. Yeah. But we're doing a big
office get together trivia night event this weekend to fundraise
for Haiti and very excited about.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Yeah, so you're bringing in its fan. I know you
did a what do you call it.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
A raffle, right, raffle Yep, there's gonna be raffle winners
and there's going to be kind of people bidding to
come as well through charity.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Buzz Okay, how many people are they going to be there? Well,
so I'm I'm I'm coming.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Who else is going to be their Creed.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Creed, Oscar Franery, Oscar, Ellie Kemper Nice, Paul Eberstein, I think,
Paul Okay and Andy Buckley nice And yeah, it's going
to be It's gonna be a good group.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Very excited. This is going to be a lot of fun.
I'm excited about it.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Thank you for attending and supporting. You've always been very
supportive of Lee da Haiti and our work, and you know,
this is what I do, Brian. I wore myself out
as Dwight and do some Dwight related events and T
shirts and you know, sales and cameos and stuff like
that to raise money for girls' education to some of
the kind of poorest, neediest girls on the planet. And
(15:33):
it's great. It's a great way to kind of leverage
celebrity towards a positive cause. So I'm happy to do it.
I'm so grateful that I got to play Dwight.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Well, what is funny to me about this particular event
going back well five years ago on the first incarnation
of the podcast when we did an oral history of
the Office. How little you remember about our time there.
So the fact that you're doing office trivia is very
funny to me. I will not get any I am
(16:03):
asking the questions. Are you participating?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I have no idea. I don't know how it's working.
I really don't. I I have seen every episode once,
and I have seen about two thirds of the episodes twice. Okay,
and there's whole other seasons I've I have not.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Story life seen in ten years.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
So I'm the worst person you can ask, but I'm there.
I'm gonna be jovial and it's high fighting.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
You're gonna be nice rain. You're gonna be.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Nice bringing on nice rain, not grumpy rain.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yes, okay, do you have like a off I have
a office trivia question that I do you have one
that you ask people?
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Let's hear yours.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Well. When people come up and they're like, hey, you
know I won the office Trivia night at my local
community center or whatever, I have one, and I always
say to them, I have one question. I have one
question only Okay. Here it is, what is Gabe Lewis's
middle name? Five? Seconds.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
I have no idea, Charles, No.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
He yells it one time. It's referenced one time. Gabriel
Susan Lewis. That's good.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
See that's comedy, folks. Why aren't there comedies on the air?
Jokes were someone who's very self serious is named Gabe
Susan Lewis.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Gabriel Gabriel Susan Lewis. Well, the other bit that I
do is the other than just the straight flat dunder
Mifflin T shirt, the one that everybody wears is the
fun Run for the Cure thing. And so they'll approach
and they'll say something, and I'll say, do you ever
(17:54):
do you usually wear clothes that you don't know? What?
They say? And I take something and I block their
shirt and ask them to tell me what it says? Nice,
zero percent correct on that one.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
That's right, that's right, Fun Run for the Cure blah
blah blah.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yeah, there's like a Meredith Palmer and a Michael Scott Rabies. Anyway, Well,
good luck with the fundraiser this weekend. I look forward
to seeing you. It's been since it's been since pre
COVID that we've done a charity right with Creed's Benefit concert.
I think we're the last. We we did one together.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Well, last year I did one that was a dinner
with me and Steven Angela.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yes, I wasn't invited. No you want I wasn't invited.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
You're not a list enough.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Oh boy, I didn't go.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Well, I didn't want to invite Steve Is. Steve is, Yeah, Steve,
Steve wasn't like forty episodes.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Come on, that's true, that's true.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
So yeah, no, I'm psyched to be there. This is
gonna be so much fun and we'll raise a little
money and it's all all for a good cause. And
it's good to see. How it's a podcast going. How's
the golfing going?
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Everything's going well. I need to get rid of this
like sinus thing and I'll I'll be back in business.
But you know, I just did my American Century Championship
deal there in Lake Talk, you know what you know.
So here's the thing. People are like, oh wow, or
like it's impressive or something. For me, it's just that
I'm old. You know that American Century Championship thing that
(19:24):
you've known. I've been you know, we started this on
the eighteen years in a row, Holy moly, eighteen years
in a row.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
It's unreal. My golf game is a little better.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
But did you get free golf clubs out of it?
Speaker 1 (19:40):
I have golf clubs. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Did you get free ones out of doing that?
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Out of that event? No? Okay, Ran, I do a lot.
I play a lot of golf.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
I know you do.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
I know you do. But I enjoy it. Everyone's got
to find something they love.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I play tennis, as you know.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I know I love it. Yeah, and Angela's is with
the tennis now too.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Angela and I played Steven Nancy and tennis recently a
month ago.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Really, yeah, who won?
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I think they won in a tiebreak, but I honestly
can't remember. And I'm truly saying that. I'm not saying
that because we lost. I think Nancy Correll is really
good at tennis played. She plays four or five days
a week. She's a monster. She's really really good. Yeah. Wow,
but we did well, we did well.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Good for you. Yeah, I love hearing that.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Yeah. No one plays golf. That's the thing. That's my
number one question at these things. It's like who else
will play? No one plays? I don't know. Well, good
luck and Fantasy. I'm gonna try to get Lad McConkey
from you because I'm a big fan of his too.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
But anyway, you try your best, my friend, you try
your best. Uh congression, Oh maybe you can trade me
Breeze Hall for him.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
He mean, let me at least get Can I get
one game under my belt with him? He was my choice.
Congratulations on soul Boom. By the way, I'm so happy
for you and the success of the book, the new podcast.
Where can people hear that anywhere that you listen to podcasts?
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Wherever you get your podcasts. Soul Boom our our YouTube channel.
Check out the book soul Boom on a bookstore near you,
and thank you for all your support. You're the best, Brian.
I love you so much.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Thanks Rain, I love you. I'll see you this weekend. Okay, great, all.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Right bye everybody.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Welcome back everybody. You know it is the the inaugural week,
the first week, Week one of the NFL season. We're
coming to you live on September the ninth, a very
very big game tonight between the San Francisco forty nine
ers and the Jets Jets. Jets Jets. By the time
(22:20):
you hear this podcast, you'll know what happened and likely
know whether I'm happy or I'm sad. We're going to
bring on a producer of ours here on the podcast,
Ryan Papa Zachary to talk with me about the NFL
Week one season. Ryan has worked for I don't know
(22:43):
fifty years, for the SBS and for the NFL honors.
Many of the great NFL guests that we have on
the podcast here are due to his relationship with the
players or coaches or analysts who work for the NFL.
(23:03):
I want to bring Ryan on here so we can
talk a little bit about Week one. Papa. How's it going, Papa?
What's good? Be well, not a whole lot as I
just talked with mister Wilson about. But I'm excited football
is back Week one. Did you watch any of the games?
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I did?
Speaker 4 (23:26):
I mean pretty much red zoned it all day, okay,
and then watch the evening game.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Do you like the red zone?
Speaker 4 (23:34):
I do it just it gives you all the information
at once. I don't have the NFL ticket, so for
me it does a trick.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Who impressed you the most Week one? Week one? Cooper Cup?
Speaker 4 (23:48):
Cooper Cup, I I a friend off the podcast there
you go. Yes, off a super fan friend of Brian Baumgardner.
Your guy, Cooper man Pooka goes down in the first
half with the knee injury that he kind of I
don't know what it was. I'm not a doctor, but
they take him out of the game, and I'm assuming
it's the same thing that he kind of had or
re retweaked in the preseason. I'm guessing that's what it is.
(24:12):
I don't know, I haven't read, I haven't looked this morning.
But Cooper comes in there and your guy had like
they sent him in motion every play. He was ever
in motion every play. He had to be over forty
plays in motion and they targeted twenty more than twenty times.
I think he caught twelve or thirteen something like that,
(24:33):
but he had over one hundred yards and a touchdown.
I mean, Matt was looking for him every play.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
I mean, I'm going to text him today and ask
him if it's due to Dodo Coffee, his coffee company,
Like is that? I think his answer is going to
be yes. Is there a world?
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Is there a world where where see Ki says no
to that?
Speaker 1 (24:51):
I don't I don't think so.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
I mean he also he also gave him, you know,
a couple of those inter round sweeps. So I don't
know what the I don't know what the Rams call
him in their playbook, but you know he ran for
ten yards, twelve yards, they're given the ball handing him
off to him too.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
I was listening to some people this morning who commentate
about football. They will remain nameless, but they said that
loss by the Rams last night was maybe the best
loss in a decade. That they looked really good. Both
their tackles were out, three members of their offensive line,
(25:30):
and they dominated the second half.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
What do you think as a viewer, as a fan
of the game, I could see that. I mean, I'm
not going to argue. I think going to the Rams
facility today and tell them that was the best loss
of all time and see how they see how they feel,
I think you're going to get a different answer.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
But no, I mean it was a great game. It
really was.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
I mean Matt made some great throws. That was a
one throw where the guy was in his face and
he was getting pushed back hit, So yeah, it was
just I mean in Collinsworth went over and over and over,
so I don't have to redo it. But it was incredible.
It was a great game. I enjoyed it a lot.
It's interesting to see the Lions be good again, because
(26:14):
they haven't really since I was a kid and Barry
Sanders was running around.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Yeah yeah, I mean.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
I think there's there's plenty a Week one headlines to
go around.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Well, yeah, I mean it is overreaction Monday. I mean,
Monday is always overreaction Monday. But this week, Week one,
obviously you can't you can't read too much into it. Obviously,
the Bengals were very surprising. What was the biggest surprise
game for you this week?
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Surprise surprise?
Speaker 4 (26:45):
I mean I think New Orleans scoring forty seven points
was not on my vision board.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
They scored nine possessions in a row.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Yeah, that was not I mean, not trying to be judgmental,
I'm not trying to be judgmental, but that was not
on my vision board for twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Well, I was surprised by a lot. I think that
how good this early that the Chiefs look that had
to put some people on notice. I think I showed
on my social media my candle predicted the Ravens were
going to win. On Thursday night, I was surprised by
(27:23):
how good Kansas City looks better than they did. I
know it's overreaction. Monday, they looked as good or better
than they did all of last year. They just looked
like a more well rounded team to me against what
should be a really good Ravens team.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
And it is a really good Ravens team. I think,
what's the name of the kid Xavier Worthy that they drafted.
I mean, I would love to see him in Tyreek Hill.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
In a race.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
I mean he just yeah, like he just out. I
mean he's super fast and will knew it like it's no.
But like when you see it in a game, it's
it's a different and it's a different story.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
People talk about the NFL being the greatest reality show
on television, and if you watched the games this week,
starting with that the toe being out of bounds on
Thursday night, so many of the endings, it sort of
lived up to that billing. At one point, there were
eight games in the early time slot on Sunday, Six
(28:27):
of them, halfway through the fourth quarter were one possession games.
Most of the games very very close and compelling till
the end, with storylines that abounded.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
I agree one but two, if you back up, you
still want to talk Chiefs Ravens. The drama in the
first half, was it like four illegal formations in the first.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Half called on that more.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
And I mean, I'm not a not a player, but
as far as I know, that's that's a penalty where
the ref's always kind of like, hey, you're you're moving
a little, you gotta scow it in, or hey, you
gotta you gotta scoop back a bitter. For me, that
seems like a penalty that the refs always kind of
give you a little, uh, a little grace with and
kind of warn you and if you if you adhere
(29:10):
to what they're saying.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
They don't call it. Yeah. I heard this morning a
friend of the podcast, Andrew Whitworth, who's been on here
obviously having a ton of success on Thursday Night Football
as a commentator now that he's retired a Super Bowl
champion with the Rams. I heard him talk and he
said something that was really interesting to me, and I'm
glad you brought this up. What he said is what
(29:35):
he doesn't like is the NFL saying this penalty or
this rule is a point of focus for us. He
was like, look, it's either a penalty or it's not, like,
but all of the rules should should play in and
(29:55):
he doesn't like this sort of targeted focus on one
specific thing. And I don't know if you've ever had
this speaking of reality shows, I mean I don't watch,
as you know, a lot of reality television shows, but
that like cringe moment or like cringe comedy. At the
beginning of that game, that's how I felt. I was like,
(30:17):
really again, no, stop, like it felt, it felt uncomfortable,
and ultimately I wonder if somebody started sending a message
down because it was not a good look for the league.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
I thought, well, and it's one of those things where like,
are you you know, everything is reviewed at the end
of the year, right, so the ref's performances get reviewed,
their calls get reviewed. They probably get reviewed weekly and
then yearly and then whatever, I mean, do they look
at it and they go, hey, there's a there's a
there's a bunch of missing illegal formation penalties here. We
(30:50):
need to overcompensate now, Like that's what it's That's what
it seemed like. Because it's game one, it's two of
the best teams in the league. Everybody wants to see it.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
But I think the.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
You know, you talk about the moment, the cringe moment.
I think the thing that sucks for fans is like,
let them play, right. I want to watch Lamar and
Patrick go at it. I want to watch like.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
This is what everybody does.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
This is why it's the first game of the season
and it's a primetime game. Everybody wants to watch these
two teams play.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Obviously, you and I have watched a lot of the
Green Bay Packers over the years. Ultimately, I don't think
the folks at the NFL will be happy that I
say this. It felt like going to Brazil. Great, you
want to expand the fan base, great, if this is
something you want to do. It felt unfortunate to me
(31:41):
that these two teams that everyone, at least on paper,
believes are going to be two great teams in the NFC,
that they have to make this trip and do this game,
and obviously turf issues, some players concerned about security issues
down there. It felt a little awkward to me, although
(32:03):
I did like having a game on Friday night. What
what what did you think?
Speaker 4 (32:07):
I I I'm not gonna I'm not a player, so
I can't speak for for any of them, but it
I mean, how can you be a fan of that
flying in on a was it like on a Wednesday
or Tuesday night ten hour flight, they're two hours ahead.
You practice the next day, and then you have a
game the next night, and you turn around and fly home.
I mean, when anybody travels internationally getting your bearings, there's
(32:28):
always a day or two of kind of just like
I feel a little weird from flying across the world.
I think airplanes do that in general, but I don't know,
that just seems it seems like a lot for the
players and coaches and and all the all the employees
of the teams as well, like the front office people,
the equipment people that are involved. Because they're not just
bringing players and coaches, they bring they bring staff. There's
(32:50):
a there's a whole city that travels with them. There's
a village, and I I that can't be easy for anybody.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Yeah, you know, And that's.
Speaker 4 (32:57):
That's always been kind of a conversation where like teams
like Chicago in Green Bay being in the middle of
the country that they have a slight advantage over teams
like New York and Seattle that have to travel. If
you know, Seattle's playing the Dolphins, or if you know,
the Giants are playing the Rams's two.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
And a half hour flight as opposed to a six
hour flight. Yeah, it felt difficult, a little bit awkward.
Hopefully Jordan is okay. Obviously he's very important to their
success this year. Also, Josh Allen with an injury that
we're sort of waiting to hear back on. Those are
a couple of the marquee guys. I want to ask
(33:34):
you quickly about the other LA team, the Chargers. Chargers
relevant this year. They're one to zero.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
I don't think you can count Jim Harbaugh out, with
his resume and what he's done everywhere he's gone. I
just don't think you can do it.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
It felt like if there was a script for what
you thought might happen to them, it couldn't have gone
any better for them. And yeah, as an offensive coach
coming in, what was so surprising to me was how
great the defense looked and how tough they the entire
(34:15):
team played start to finish. I don't know that it
was a fun game to watch, but the results well,
I think it's I think it's good for the NFL.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Well, I think too. The other thing in that game
is JK. Dobbins towards Achilles, and he came on and
played ran for the Chargers, and he played well and
didn't get hurt. I think it's the same for Atlanta
Kirk Cousins. They lost, maybe not had the game that
he wanted to have. But you know, tonight there's also
another guy with the same injury coming back. So it's
(34:46):
good to see those guys back and healthy, and it's exciting.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
What's going to happen tonight? J Ets Jets, Jets, Jets
at the Niners, your pick.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
I think the Jets take it. I don't think it's
gonna be easy on either side. I just hope everyone
stays healthy.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Yeah, I do as well. It should be a lot
of fun, obviously. I'm excited football is back. Thank you
for coming and talking about some of the biggest stories
this week. By the way, my fantasy football team sucks. Sorry.
Did you play rain this week? No? We just both
lost by sixty so we're uh, yeah, we're not good.
(35:32):
We have to look ourselves in the face. I don't know,
is that what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
Nobody have to be good at fantasy People are lucky
at fantasy.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Well, don't tell me when I win that. Thanks for
coming on, appreciate it. I couldn't be more excited about
the season being back, and we'll see what happens tonight.
I promise you this. I may have a cocktail and
watch the game. Yeah, I'm in let's do it all right.
(36:05):
Thanks Papa Sob, Thank you everybody for indulging me this week.
The last thing is the Emmys this weekend, the seventy
(36:27):
sixth edition of the Emmys. You know, it brings back
so many great memories for me. Every time I think
about the Emmys, I think about my first year. Angela
Kinzie and I went together. Very long story short, we
were late to our first Emmys. Our car broke down
(36:51):
on its way to Angela's house. Angela then got picked up,
called me, said we're coming to you. We have no Eric.
We melted on the way to the Emmys and arrived
after missing the entire red carpet. The opening conan all
of our friends. But the story ended well. The Office
(37:14):
won Best Comedy, so it became it became a very
special night, and ultimately I probably wouldn't remember who I
talked to on the red carpet. Or what interviews I gave,
or what anybody was wearing, or what Conan did in
that opening. I think it makes it cooler now that
(37:35):
the story was real and much like the show, a
comedy of errors, maybe it made it a little more special.
So you never know what's going to happen there at
the Emmys, very excited about seeing what happens. And look, ultimately,
it's not about who wins and loses. I said that
(37:56):
to myself for many of the ten years we were there.
But it is a celebration of the thing that I
love more than football, which is television. So enjoy the Emmys,
regardless of what Rain says. I encourage you to watch
and celebrate along with me that and we will see
you next week on Off the Beat. Until then, have
(38:19):
a great week. Off the Beat is hosted and executive
produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Ling Lee.
Our senior producer is Diego Tapia. Our talent producer is
(38:40):
Ryan Papa Zachary. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed
by the one and only Creed Bratton
Hi everybody, and welcome back to a very special episode
of Off the Beat. As always, I am your host,
Brian Baumgartner, but everything else will be a bit different.
There's so much going on this week in my world
and in the world of the office, and in the
(00:37):
world of things that I like, mainly NFL football and
fantasy football. I've got my old friend and yours, Rain Wilson,
on the podcast today. We're going to be talking about
the Office Fantasy Football League now here, I believe in
our twentieth season. So not to steal a line from
(01:02):
David Letterman, but our first guest needs no introduction. Rain
Wilson aka Dwight Shrut. He has been working with Lee
da Haiti, his charity for now fourteen years. Girls' Education
is what Lee da Haiti supports. It's been a tough
time down in Haiti now, so Rain is hosting a
(01:26):
big charity office trivia contest that a number of us
are attending this weekend. I wanted him to come on
the podcast and talk about that and talk about he
and I and the Office Fantasy Football League. Here's Rain,
(01:49):
Bubble and Squeak.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I love it, Bubble and Squeakna.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Bubble and squeak.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I cook get every month lift from the Nabopo.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Here we go. I'm gonna blow.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Whatever you need. Let's get in. And I'm oh, wow,
what's happening? You do you have a cold? Do you
have COVID?
Speaker 1 (02:20):
I don't think I have COVID.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
COVID is everywhere. Everyone's getting COVID again.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Well maybe I do. Maybe I did and didn't test.
I don't know. Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, and yet you're podcasting.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Listen. We just do the best we can. We're professionals.
We work with what we got.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
You know, if you've got half an ear, you know,
and a microphone you got at radio shack, it's fine.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
We're rolling. It's no, it's totally fine. That's just the
new world. Yes, well, first off, thank you for coming on.
Have you been out of the country?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
I was, Yes.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Your your Instagram is very confused. It's like, I are
you posting like talk backs, like sessions, and then I
click on it and it's like in Belgium or something like,
they're not even in the United States. You don't announce
I'm going on a world tour. You just sort of say, hey,
(03:15):
I'm in Amsterdam this week.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
That's how I roll. I like to keep it a
little mysterious. Do you notice my my get up is
a little mysterious.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah, you're a rat? Now are you a hat guy?
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Now?
Speaker 1 (03:27):
I've kind of become a hat guy.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Well, when you have a very large, rapidly balding dome,
such as myself, yeah, sometimes a hat is the only alternative.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, now do you? Here's here's the thing though, I
think hats, those kind of hats don't hide me. I
feel like they cause more attention.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Well, that's that's for certain. This is not a hey,
I want to walk around and be anonymous hat. This
is this is like I want to look incredibly sexy
and content temporary right hat. And I think it's working magnificently.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Yes, in your home, it's working great. And for you
to do with me here, yeah exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
But I definitely do with the baseball I get the
baseball cap, going, the sunglasses, baseball cap, even the head
noise canceling headphones, and maybe even a COVID mask, and
just try and stay as under the radar as possible.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
You do, see, I don't do the headphones. The headphones,
I don't know, I don't I don't do that.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
You just take those headphones you're wearing right now and
just wear them around.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
It just helps, does it? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
It helps. Everything helps.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
But when you can't hear with them that, it's probably
not not good to have them on. All right, We're
recording here on September the ninth, Monday, the Monday night
football games haven't happened rain. You and I and our
office fantasy league are both losing by sixty points.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Your reaction, my reaction is discussed fear, chagrin, overwhelm. I
have seventy two points right now.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Well, here's the thing. I think you would be beating
me now after tonight. I don't think you would be,
but I think you are currently currently lead leading me.
I have sixty three points. Now, I've got Breithe Hall tonight,
I've got the kicker. But yeah, is the season over
(05:33):
for you? Have you given up?
Speaker 2 (05:35):
No? I really like my team.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I don't understand it. I don't understand how Patrick Mahons
only got sixteen, Amon Ross sat Brown, who is a
top five wide receivers, got me three points, and Christian
Kirk got me three points. He's a top you know,
(05:59):
twenty receiver yeah, so I think things are going to
turn around. I have Lad McConkie on the bench so
I can bring him out.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
He's yeah. I like him too. I wanted him. Yeah,
I you know, the Chargers looked for The Chargers looked
fun all. By the way, all of the principal cast
members are are being saddled with an l that are
in the office fence meet you. John Soxy, our commissioner.
He's gonna win. Andy Buckley, who knows nothing about football,
(06:34):
admittedly his son runs his team. He's gonna win. We
feel like we know things, yet we're terrible. It's very discouraging,
it is. It's very sad.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Uh. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what to say.
But Mahomes is gonna light it up some more. And
he had a tough go. Baltimore defense is tough and
just wren up. And I think Kamara and etn and
I've got debo tonight. I feel good about my chances.
I've got a good team.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Your chances in the future, not this week. Yeah, you're
you're destroyed this.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yeah, that's okay. I have I have learned in the
in the great game of Fantasy football. I have there
have been multiple seasons where it's like I've lost like
five of the first six games, Yes, and then picked
up some waiver wire additions and made a late season
run and gotten in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
So you you do not give You do not give up.
There are there are some people who do you do?
You do not?
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I work the wire till the bitter end.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah. I'm discouraged though, because I liked my team as well.
I will ask you this. I was texting during the
draft with Uberaga, who drafted third, who built his entire
draft on on the assumption that I was going to
take Tyreek Hill. Uh, we can't really say how my
choice panned out, obviously it's the first week anyway, But
(08:01):
I took bres Hall and not Hill. What would you
have done?
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yeah, I definitely wouldn't have taken Breee Hall. I think
he's like number ten or something, So I don't know.
I'm not sure what the thinking was there. Is your
podcast audience are they really into fantasy football? Because what
about your podcast audience that just loves conversations about being
an actor and.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Well, we're going to have that conversation too. But I
mean it's week one, it's the Office, Fantasy League. I
feel like, you know, people are interested in the things
that we're interested in. I don't know, Rain, I don't know.
It's interesting to me. There's a lot going on, the
Emmys coming. Are you watching television?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
I watched television sometimes. Yeah, I'm watching Chimp Crazy. Have
you seen Chimp Crazy?
Speaker 1 (08:51):
I have not seen chimp Crazy. What's chimp Crazy?
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Oh my god? It's amazing. It's about the world of
people that collect and chimpanzees, and.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
We mean collect chimpanzees, like actual chimpanzees.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah, they raise chimpanzees.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Is that called collecting?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I don't know. You collect, you collect them, You collect
them in your basement or in your backyard, and they're
really crazy and it's just a fascinating train wreck.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
So it's this is a reality to me.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
It's a docu series on a docu series on HBO Max.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Are you watching? Are you watching Bad Monkey?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I haven't seen Bad Monkey yet? Is it good?
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Michelle Monaghan on the podcast a couple of weeks ago.
I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoy I mean it's it's Vince Vaughan.
Is is Vince Vaughn And he's back and he's doing
his thing, and it's entertaining.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
To me fair enough, Maybe I'll give it a try.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
You should, you should. Here's the thing that strikes me
quickly about about the Emmys this year when you look
at the comedy show that none of them feel like
comedies to me. The bear is the bear a comedy.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
The bear is not a comedy. Beef is not a comedy.
Palm Royal, it's not a comedy. I don't understand the
lack of comedies in the comedy realm. But I don't
understand why networks and streamers aren't buying more comedies, developing
more comedies. Why they Surely there's an audience for comedies
(10:26):
out there somewhere, right, I would think, so, yeah, people
doing funny things. Yeah, I mean those are some good shows,
don't get me wrong, they're very absolutely but even like
only murders in the building.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I was going to bring that up, it's not really
a comedy. It's a little.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Bit more of a comedy, but it pushes the needle
a little bit more towards comedy. There are certainly comedians
in it.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
That's what I was going to say. It stars too
great comedians and even Hacks, which is about stand up comedians.
I don't is that a comedy? Is Hacks a comedy?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Yeah, it's it's a little it's a little bit dark. Yeah, yeah,
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Yeah, but you're you're watching the Chimp thing.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Yes, that's what I'm watching. I watched The House of
the Dragon. I love that show. That's over with. I
think Slow Horses has a new season out. I really
like that show on Apple.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Yes, it's out now. I enjoy that show as well.
The limited series stuff is I mean, that's what it
feels like everything is these days.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
But Baby Reindeer Fargo, I just absolutely love Fargo. Do
you watch Fargo.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
I couldn't get into this last season. I thought the
tone was weird. It got very goofy in ways that
earlier Fargo's didn't. So I did not.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
I didn't.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
I didn't get it. But I know people that thought
it was just brilliant and loved it.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
I loved it. Ripley, Yeah, I loved Ripley. I was fished. Ripley.
Replease the comedy.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Here's my comedy pitch. Serial Killer moves to Italy in
nineteen sixty three, very stylish.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
We filmed it black and white and it's going to
be a riot. All right? Are you are you going?
Are you? Are you presenting?
Speaker 2 (12:21):
I haven't watched an award show in ten years. Really,
I don't. I'm not what are you boycotting? I just
don't enjoy award shows. I mean that's not true. I've
seen some of the Oscars, not every year, but some
of that. But so I don't know. I couldn't tell
you what's going on in that in the world of Amys.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Yeah, well we just talked about a lot of shows
that are nominated, So I mean, that's okay, that's a start.
That's okay. You have a big event going on this weekend,
which is really why I wanted to talk to you
this week. I was looking at your website for Lead
a Haiti, knowing you for a long time, knowing you
(13:05):
started it, I didn't realize that you started lead a
Haiti as like a temporary thing, according to your website
in twenty ten, in response to the earthquake that happened there.
So you did not think that you were still going
to be doing this fourteen years later.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
No, Yeah, we came as a temporarily to teach arts
and education. To adolescent girls through a program sponsored by
the United Nations, and that was a temporary measure and
then we just kind of stayed and some Haitian friends
of ours and us started this and out in rural Haiti.
(13:46):
Haiti is in terrible shape right now. I'm sure you've heard.
Gangs are controlling at least forty percent of Porta Prince,
the capital city. It's in complete and total chaos. We
were very fortunate because our programs, which do arts, literacy,
healthcare scholarships for adolescent girls, are in rural Haiti, way
(14:07):
in the north, far away from where any gangs.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Would go because it's too poor.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
So we're able to be functioning and we've actually been
thriving as an organization and we're working with almost a
thousand girls right now.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
It's incredible.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Yeah, it's been great. Yeah. But we're doing a big
office get together trivia night event this weekend to fundraise
for Haiti and very excited about.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Yeah, so you're bringing in its fan. I know you
did a what do you call it.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
A raffle, right, raffle Yep, there's gonna be raffle winners
and there's going to be kind of people bidding to
come as well through charity.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Buzz Okay, how many people are they going to be there? Well,
so I'm I'm I'm coming.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Who else is going to be their Creed.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Creed, Oscar Franery, Oscar, Ellie Kemper Nice, Paul Eberstein, I think,
Paul Okay and Andy Buckley nice And yeah, it's going
to be It's gonna be a good group.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Very excited. This is going to be a lot of fun.
I'm excited about it.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Thank you for attending and supporting. You've always been very
supportive of Lee da Haiti and our work, and you know,
this is what I do, Brian. I wore myself out
as Dwight and do some Dwight related events and T
shirts and you know, sales and cameos and stuff like
that to raise money for girls' education to some of
the kind of poorest, neediest girls on the planet. And
(15:33):
it's great. It's a great way to kind of leverage
celebrity towards a positive cause. So I'm happy to do it.
I'm so grateful that I got to play Dwight.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Well, what is funny to me about this particular event
going back well five years ago on the first incarnation
of the podcast when we did an oral history of
the Office. How little you remember about our time there.
So the fact that you're doing office trivia is very
funny to me. I will not get any I am
(16:03):
asking the questions. Are you participating?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I have no idea. I don't know how it's working.
I really don't. I I have seen every episode once,
and I have seen about two thirds of the episodes twice. Okay,
and there's whole other seasons I've I have not.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Story life seen in ten years.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
So I'm the worst person you can ask, but I'm there.
I'm gonna be jovial and it's high fighting.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
You're gonna be nice rain. You're gonna be.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Nice bringing on nice rain, not grumpy rain.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yes, okay, do you have like a off I have
a office trivia question that I do you have one
that you ask people?
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Let's hear yours.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Well. When people come up and they're like, hey, you
know I won the office Trivia night at my local
community center or whatever, I have one, and I always
say to them, I have one question. I have one
question only Okay. Here it is, what is Gabe Lewis's
middle name? Five? Seconds.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
I have no idea, Charles, No.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
He yells it one time. It's referenced one time. Gabriel
Susan Lewis. That's good.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
See that's comedy, folks. Why aren't there comedies on the air?
Jokes were someone who's very self serious is named Gabe
Susan Lewis.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Gabriel Gabriel Susan Lewis. Well, the other bit that I
do is the other than just the straight flat dunder
Mifflin T shirt, the one that everybody wears is the
fun Run for the Cure thing. And so they'll approach
and they'll say something, and I'll say, do you ever
(17:54):
do you usually wear clothes that you don't know? What?
They say? And I take something and I block their
shirt and ask them to tell me what it says? Nice,
zero percent correct on that one.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
That's right, that's right, Fun Run for the Cure blah
blah blah.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Yeah, there's like a Meredith Palmer and a Michael Scott Rabies. Anyway, Well,
good luck with the fundraiser this weekend. I look forward
to seeing you. It's been since it's been since pre
COVID that we've done a charity right with Creed's Benefit concert.
I think we're the last. We we did one together.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Well, last year I did one that was a dinner
with me and Steven Angela.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Yes, I wasn't invited. No you want I wasn't invited.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
You're not a list enough.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Oh boy, I didn't go.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Well, I didn't want to invite Steve Is. Steve is, Yeah, Steve,
Steve wasn't like forty episodes.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Come on, that's true, that's true.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
So yeah, no, I'm psyched to be there. This is
gonna be so much fun and we'll raise a little
money and it's all all for a good cause. And
it's good to see. How it's a podcast going. How's
the golfing going?
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Everything's going well. I need to get rid of this
like sinus thing and I'll I'll be back in business.
But you know, I just did my American Century Championship
deal there in Lake Talk, you know what you know.
So here's the thing. People are like, oh wow, or
like it's impressive or something. For me, it's just that
I'm old. You know that American Century Championship thing that
(19:24):
you've known. I've been you know, we started this on
the eighteen years in a row, Holy moly, eighteen years
in a row.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
It's unreal. My golf game is a little better.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
But did you get free golf clubs out of it?
Speaker 1 (19:40):
I have golf clubs. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Did you get free ones out of doing that?
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Out of that event? No? Okay, Ran, I do a lot.
I play a lot of golf.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
I know you do.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
I know you do. But I enjoy it. Everyone's got
to find something they love.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I play tennis, as you know.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I know I love it. Yeah, and Angela's is with
the tennis now too.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Angela and I played Steven Nancy and tennis recently a
month ago.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Really, yeah, who won?
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I think they won in a tiebreak, but I honestly
can't remember. And I'm truly saying that. I'm not saying
that because we lost. I think Nancy Correll is really
good at tennis played. She plays four or five days
a week. She's a monster. She's really really good. Yeah. Wow,
but we did well, we did well.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Good for you. Yeah, I love hearing that.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Yeah. No one plays golf. That's the thing. That's my
number one question at these things. It's like who else
will play? No one plays? I don't know. Well, good
luck and Fantasy. I'm gonna try to get Lad McConkey
from you because I'm a big fan of his too.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
But anyway, you try your best, my friend, you try
your best. Uh congression, Oh maybe you can trade me
Breeze Hall for him.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
He mean, let me at least get Can I get
one game under my belt with him? He was my choice.
Congratulations on soul Boom. By the way, I'm so happy
for you and the success of the book, the new podcast.
Where can people hear that anywhere that you listen to podcasts?
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Wherever you get your podcasts. Soul Boom our our YouTube channel.
Check out the book soul Boom on a bookstore near you,
and thank you for all your support. You're the best, Brian.
I love you so much.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Thanks Rain, I love you. I'll see you this weekend. Okay, great, all.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Right bye everybody.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Welcome back everybody. You know it is the the inaugural week,
the first week, Week one of the NFL season. We're
coming to you live on September the ninth, a very
very big game tonight between the San Francisco forty nine
ers and the Jets Jets. Jets Jets. By the time
(22:20):
you hear this podcast, you'll know what happened and likely
know whether I'm happy or I'm sad. We're going to
bring on a producer of ours here on the podcast,
Ryan Papa Zachary to talk with me about the NFL
Week one season. Ryan has worked for I don't know
(22:43):
fifty years, for the SBS and for the NFL honors.
Many of the great NFL guests that we have on
the podcast here are due to his relationship with the
players or coaches or analysts who work for the NFL.
(23:03):
I want to bring Ryan on here so we can
talk a little bit about Week one. Papa. How's it going, Papa?
What's good? Be well, not a whole lot as I
just talked with mister Wilson about. But I'm excited football
is back Week one. Did you watch any of the games?
Speaker 2 (23:24):
I did?
Speaker 4 (23:26):
I mean pretty much red zoned it all day, okay,
and then watch the evening game.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Do you like the red zone?
Speaker 4 (23:34):
I do it just it gives you all the information
at once. I don't have the NFL ticket, so for
me it does a trick.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Who impressed you the most Week one? Week one? Cooper Cup?
Speaker 4 (23:48):
Cooper Cup, I I a friend off the podcast there
you go. Yes, off a super fan friend of Brian Baumgardner.
Your guy, Cooper man Pooka goes down in the first
half with the knee injury that he kind of I
don't know what it was. I'm not a doctor, but
they take him out of the game, and I'm assuming
it's the same thing that he kind of had or
re retweaked in the preseason. I'm guessing that's what it is.
(24:12):
I don't know, I haven't read, I haven't looked this morning.
But Cooper comes in there and your guy had like
they sent him in motion every play. He was ever
in motion every play. He had to be over forty
plays in motion and they targeted twenty more than twenty times.
I think he caught twelve or thirteen something like that,
(24:33):
but he had over one hundred yards and a touchdown.
I mean, Matt was looking for him every play.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
I mean, I'm going to text him today and ask
him if it's due to Dodo Coffee, his coffee company,
Like is that? I think his answer is going to
be yes. Is there a world?
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Is there a world where where see Ki says no
to that?
Speaker 1 (24:51):
I don't I don't think so.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
I mean he also he also gave him, you know,
a couple of those inter round sweeps. So I don't
know what the I don't know what the Rams call
him in their playbook, but you know he ran for
ten yards, twelve yards, they're given the ball handing him
off to him too.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
I was listening to some people this morning who commentate
about football. They will remain nameless, but they said that
loss by the Rams last night was maybe the best
loss in a decade. That they looked really good. Both
their tackles were out, three members of their offensive line,
(25:30):
and they dominated the second half.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
What do you think as a viewer, as a fan
of the game, I could see that. I mean, I'm
not going to argue. I think going to the Rams
facility today and tell them that was the best loss
of all time and see how they see how they feel,
I think you're going to get a different answer.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
But no, I mean it was a great game. It
really was.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
I mean Matt made some great throws. That was a
one throw where the guy was in his face and
he was getting pushed back hit, So yeah, it was
just I mean in Collinsworth went over and over and over,
so I don't have to redo it. But it was incredible.
It was a great game. I enjoyed it a lot.
It's interesting to see the Lions be good again, because
(26:14):
they haven't really since I was a kid and Barry
Sanders was running around.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Yeah yeah, I mean.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
I think there's there's plenty a Week one headlines to
go around.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Well, yeah, I mean it is overreaction Monday. I mean,
Monday is always overreaction Monday. But this week, Week one,
obviously you can't you can't read too much into it. Obviously,
the Bengals were very surprising. What was the biggest surprise
game for you this week?
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Surprise surprise?
Speaker 4 (26:45):
I mean I think New Orleans scoring forty seven points
was not on my vision board.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
They scored nine possessions in a row.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Yeah, that was not I mean, not trying to be judgmental,
I'm not trying to be judgmental, but that was not
on my vision board for twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Well, I was surprised by a lot. I think that
how good this early that the Chiefs look that had
to put some people on notice. I think I showed
on my social media my candle predicted the Ravens were
going to win. On Thursday night, I was surprised by
(27:23):
how good Kansas City looks better than they did. I
know it's overreaction. Monday, they looked as good or better
than they did all of last year. They just looked
like a more well rounded team to me against what
should be a really good Ravens team.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
And it is a really good Ravens team. I think,
what's the name of the kid Xavier Worthy that they drafted.
I mean, I would love to see him in Tyreek Hill.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
In a race.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
I mean he just yeah, like he just out. I
mean he's super fast and will knew it like it's no.
But like when you see it in a game, it's
it's a different and it's a different story.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
People talk about the NFL being the greatest reality show
on television, and if you watched the games this week,
starting with that the toe being out of bounds on
Thursday night, so many of the endings, it sort of
lived up to that billing. At one point, there were
eight games in the early time slot on Sunday, Six
(28:27):
of them, halfway through the fourth quarter were one possession games.
Most of the games very very close and compelling till
the end, with storylines that abounded.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
I agree one but two, if you back up, you
still want to talk Chiefs Ravens. The drama in the
first half, was it like four illegal formations in the first.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
Half called on that more.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
And I mean, I'm not a not a player, but
as far as I know, that's that's a penalty where
the ref's always kind of like, hey, you're you're moving
a little, you gotta scow it in, or hey, you
gotta you gotta scoop back a bitter. For me, that
seems like a penalty that the refs always kind of
give you a little, uh, a little grace with and
kind of warn you and if you if you adhere
(29:10):
to what they're saying.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
They don't call it. Yeah. I heard this morning a
friend of the podcast, Andrew Whitworth, who's been on here
obviously having a ton of success on Thursday Night Football
as a commentator now that he's retired a Super Bowl
champion with the Rams. I heard him talk and he
said something that was really interesting to me, and I'm
glad you brought this up. What he said is what
(29:35):
he doesn't like is the NFL saying this penalty or
this rule is a point of focus for us. He
was like, look, it's either a penalty or it's not, like,
but all of the rules should should play in and
(29:55):
he doesn't like this sort of targeted focus on one
specific thing. And I don't know if you've ever had
this speaking of reality shows, I mean I don't watch,
as you know, a lot of reality television shows, but
that like cringe moment or like cringe comedy. At the
beginning of that game, that's how I felt. I was like,
(30:17):
really again, no, stop, like it felt, it felt uncomfortable,
and ultimately I wonder if somebody started sending a message
down because it was not a good look for the league.
Speaker 4 (30:29):
I thought, well, and it's one of those things where like,
are you you know, everything is reviewed at the end
of the year, right, so the ref's performances get reviewed,
their calls get reviewed. They probably get reviewed weekly and
then yearly and then whatever, I mean, do they look
at it and they go, hey, there's a there's a
there's a bunch of missing illegal formation penalties here. We
(30:50):
need to overcompensate now, Like that's what it's That's what
it seemed like. Because it's game one, it's two of
the best teams in the league. Everybody wants to see it.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
But I think the.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
You know, you talk about the moment, the cringe moment.
I think the thing that sucks for fans is like,
let them play, right. I want to watch Lamar and
Patrick go at it. I want to watch like.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
This is what everybody does.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
This is why it's the first game of the season
and it's a primetime game. Everybody wants to watch these
two teams play.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Obviously, you and I have watched a lot of the
Green Bay Packers over the years. Ultimately, I don't think
the folks at the NFL will be happy that I
say this. It felt like going to Brazil. Great, you
want to expand the fan base, great, if this is
something you want to do. It felt unfortunate to me
(31:41):
that these two teams that everyone, at least on paper,
believes are going to be two great teams in the NFC,
that they have to make this trip and do this game,
and obviously turf issues, some players concerned about security issues
down there. It felt a little awkward to me, although
(32:03):
I did like having a game on Friday night. What
what what did you think?
Speaker 4 (32:07):
I I I'm not gonna I'm not a player, so
I can't speak for for any of them, but it
I mean, how can you be a fan of that
flying in on a was it like on a Wednesday
or Tuesday night ten hour flight, they're two hours ahead.
You practice the next day, and then you have a
game the next night, and you turn around and fly home.
I mean, when anybody travels internationally getting your bearings, there's
(32:28):
always a day or two of kind of just like
I feel a little weird from flying across the world.
I think airplanes do that in general, but I don't know,
that just seems it seems like a lot for the
players and coaches and and all the all the employees
of the teams as well, like the front office people,
the equipment people that are involved. Because they're not just
bringing players and coaches, they bring they bring staff. There's
(32:50):
a there's a whole city that travels with them. There's
a village, and I I that can't be easy for anybody.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Yeah, you know, And that's.
Speaker 4 (32:57):
That's always been kind of a conversation where like teams
like Chicago in Green Bay being in the middle of
the country that they have a slight advantage over teams
like New York and Seattle that have to travel. If
you know, Seattle's playing the Dolphins, or if you know,
the Giants are playing the Rams's two.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
And a half hour flight as opposed to a six
hour flight. Yeah, it felt difficult, a little bit awkward.
Hopefully Jordan is okay. Obviously he's very important to their
success this year. Also, Josh Allen with an injury that
we're sort of waiting to hear back on. Those are
a couple of the marquee guys. I want to ask
(33:34):
you quickly about the other LA team, the Chargers. Chargers
relevant this year. They're one to zero.
Speaker 4 (33:43):
I don't think you can count Jim Harbaugh out, with
his resume and what he's done everywhere he's gone. I
just don't think you can do it.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
It felt like if there was a script for what
you thought might happen to them, it couldn't have gone
any better for them. And yeah, as an offensive coach
coming in, what was so surprising to me was how
great the defense looked and how tough they the entire
(34:15):
team played start to finish. I don't know that it
was a fun game to watch, but the results well,
I think it's I think it's good for the NFL.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Well, I think too. The other thing in that game
is JK. Dobbins towards Achilles, and he came on and
played ran for the Chargers, and he played well and
didn't get hurt. I think it's the same for Atlanta
Kirk Cousins. They lost, maybe not had the game that
he wanted to have. But you know, tonight there's also
another guy with the same injury coming back. So it's
(34:46):
good to see those guys back and healthy, and it's exciting.
Speaker 1 (34:50):
What's going to happen tonight? J Ets Jets, Jets, Jets
at the Niners, your pick.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
I think the Jets take it. I don't think it's
gonna be easy on either side. I just hope everyone
stays healthy.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Yeah, I do as well. It should be a lot
of fun, obviously. I'm excited football is back. Thank you
for coming and talking about some of the biggest stories
this week. By the way, my fantasy football team sucks. Sorry.
Did you play rain this week? No? We just both
lost by sixty so we're uh, yeah, we're not good.
(35:32):
We have to look ourselves in the face. I don't know,
is that what you're saying.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
Nobody have to be good at fantasy People are lucky
at fantasy.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Well, don't tell me when I win that. Thanks for
coming on, appreciate it. I couldn't be more excited about
the season being back, and we'll see what happens tonight.
I promise you this. I may have a cocktail and
watch the game. Yeah, I'm in let's do it all right.
(36:05):
Thanks Papa Sob, Thank you everybody for indulging me this week.
The last thing is the Emmys this weekend, the seventy
(36:27):
sixth edition of the Emmys. You know, it brings back
so many great memories for me. Every time I think
about the Emmys, I think about my first year. Angela
Kinzie and I went together. Very long story short, we
were late to our first Emmys. Our car broke down
(36:51):
on its way to Angela's house. Angela then got picked up,
called me, said we're coming to you. We have no Eric.
We melted on the way to the Emmys and arrived
after missing the entire red carpet. The opening conan all
of our friends. But the story ended well. The Office
(37:14):
won Best Comedy, so it became it became a very
special night, and ultimately I probably wouldn't remember who I
talked to on the red carpet. Or what interviews I gave,
or what anybody was wearing, or what Conan did in
that opening. I think it makes it cooler now that
(37:35):
the story was real and much like the show, a
comedy of errors, maybe it made it a little more special.
So you never know what's going to happen there at
the Emmys, very excited about seeing what happens. And look, ultimately,
it's not about who wins and loses. I said that
(37:56):
to myself for many of the ten years we were there.
But it is a celebration of the thing that I
love more than football, which is television. So enjoy the Emmys,
regardless of what Rain says. I encourage you to watch
and celebrate along with me that and we will see
you next week on Off the Beat. Until then, have
(38:19):
a great week. Off the Beat is hosted and executive
produced by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Ling Lee.
Our senior producer is Diego Tapia. Our talent producer is
(38:40):
Ryan Papa Zachary. Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed
by the one and only Creed Bratton
Host
Brian Baumgartner
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.