Usually when we have a guest like Jeff Passan — inexplicably his first time on the show, by the way — I like to write an enormous recap of every single thing we discussed. That won’t be this recap. Instead, spend that time reading an excerpt of Death to the BCS, the new book Passan co-authored with Dan Wetzel and Josh Peter.
We talk about Wetzel’s intimidation factor and, for lack of a better term, aggressive style of writing and reporting and how that translated into this book.
We discuss the fascinating financials involved in just how much money the bowls make, yet the teams going to those bowls lose, in the current system. We discuss the book’s model for a viable playoff system and why some coaches may be against that idea. It seems illogical for anyone to be against a playoff that, as Passan explains, could be worth 530 million dollars more in TV revenue than the current bowl system. But if everyone agreed, there wouldn’t be a book, would there?
There is a LOT more football talk, but again, read the excerpt and listen to the show. The rest…is about two of my great loves; Philly food and baseball.
Passan is a noted foodie, so we talk about the sandwich scene in Philly and he tells me where to get the best roast pork in the world. He also tells as story about drinking absinthe and ending up in a hoagie shop with the worst cheesesteak he’s ever had. I told him that the only answer to a night like that is…another cheesesteak.
Yes, I not only share my story about I didn’t eat pork for a decade, but I also share my model for going to the tourist trap steak joints in South Philly. Get Pat’s first, as it’s usually a shorter line. While you’re eating Pat’s, stand in line for Geno’s. By the time you get to the window. you’ll be hungry for another steak. THAT’s how you do Pat’s and Geno’s. Of course, it helps if you’ve been imbibing. A sober double steak night is much harder to pull off.
If you didn’t know, the key to a good Philly sandwich is the bread. Never forget that. Also keep in mind, there are hundreds of great steak joints in Philly if you know where to look. And if you’re looking for a good steak, or roast pork, and a game…Tony Luke’s is the place to go. Even the one at the stadium is great.
Speaking of the stadium, we somehow eventually get to a conversation about baseball. Oh, right, we talk about my bet with Big League Stew editor Kevin Kaduk and what TastyKakes I still owe him for the Blackhawks beating the Flyers. That spins us into the MLB playoffs…because Nothing Goes Better With Phillies Baseball Than a TastyKake(tm)…
Passan is covering the AL to start, then going to San Fran to cover the NL. He’ll be missing one of the great pitching matchups in LCS history between Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum. We talk about if local fans — and FOX — are overselling Saturday’s matchup. In a word, no. We also talk about AJ Burnett potentially starting game four of the ALCS and how CC Sabathia is a horse (there’s a Photoshop there somewhere).
We talk about Derek Jeter’s future with the Yankees, and in baseball. If the Yankees win, why not retire? Is he willing to sit the bench to end his career? Can the Yankees afford to have him out at shortstop if this season was more foreshadowing than just a down year? Player manager if Joe Girardi goes to Chicago (we didn’t actually talk about that, but I’ll throw it in now)?
Last, someone tweeted that the Phillies pitching staff is like the Beatles, with Joe Blanton being Ringo. We try to figure out who everyone else will be. We can’t agree.
Thanks to Jeff. Thanks to you. GO BUY THE BOOK.