We're back after a brief hiatus to tackle the madness that was the recent Ryder Cup, the early returns in the NFL season, and the improbable collapse of UNC football in the first season under Bill Belichick.

With the NFL season underway, we have a chance to review our 3 bold statements from before the season began.

Let's not forget that this is the first annual TWP Pick 'Em Fantasy League, where there is a lot on the line: If James wins Rich has to eat at Skyline Chili, where as a Rich victory means James has to go to a traditional southern fish fry. The stakes are high!

Week 1 for the NFL and NCAA are in the books - stay tuned to see who is on top for the official NFL Pick-em league!

The week was marred by content creator Charlie Kirk being assasinated at an event in Utah. This spurred on a discussion about where we stand as content creators and what we think about prominent creators that we may not agree with, but still deserver the freedom to express their beliefs.

Lastly, we're bringing a NEW game show to The Word! The "IMDB Known For" Quiz, in which each host names a celebrity and their opponent has to name the 4 IMDB titles they are known for. Harder than you think!

It's our first show back after the Cowboys blew up their defense and traded Micah Parsons to the Packers.

The sports world was also taken aback this week as an alleged under the table scheme to pay Kawhi Leonard was exposed.

The Eagles snuck past the Cowboys in the NFL opener, and we've already got our first gate: Spitgate!

And we've got the early season returns from the show's NFL Pick'em League! You can still join by the links in our Instagram bio: @wordpodcastofficial

And we're back! In contrast to our 3 Bold Statements segment on the last episode, we're debuting our "Coldstone Lead Pick Locks" for the upcoming NFL season. If our takes were too hot last episode, these are more of your blue chip picks for this season.

We're also officially announcing our official NFL Pick-em League for 2025-26 season! You can join by following this link: TWP 2025/26 Pick 'Em League Signup

Prizes to be announced soon. There's already some side action going on between Rich and James over where the loser between them has to take the other out to a restaurant of my choice. At the moment, James is firm on Skyline Chili and Rich will opt for a Seafood spot serving fried catfish and hush pupples.

Rich opened up a can of worms with Skyline Chili in his crosshairs all episode!

Sticking with the football theme, we wrap things up with an in-depth discussion on what to expect out of Bellichick's first season as the head football coach in Chapel Hill for the Tarheels this season.

Follow us on our socials for more details on the show and the Pick 'em League: 

Twitter: @thewordpodcast
IG: @wordpodcastofficial

With NFL preseason games starting this week, it's only appropriate that we provide our way too early "hot" takes in a special edition of "3 Bold Statements".

"Middle-aged Men Yell at Cloud" is back as well. This time, streaming services and ads are in the crosshairs. Remember the good 'ole days where you paid an exorbitant amount for cable and the add on services. Well...they're back, just spread out across 10 different platforms...

And Rich has a new daily gripe to add to our growing list of things we can't believe people do in public. And listen carefully to this section, as there is a very important ask of all TWP listeners. Stay frosty.

Join us in another free-ranging episode where we break down the current labor disputes in the NFLPA and the WNBA. 

NFL Pre-season is on the way, so it's imperative that we ask the perennial question: "Do we even need or want this?"

"Two Trumps & a Lie" returns with a special JUMBO size edition!

And you won't wan't to miss our discussion of Scottie Schieffler's recent Open Championship win and surprising candor with the press core immediately following the victory.

Along the way we also dive into year round schools, the capital class versus the labor class, mindfullness (seriously go buy "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle!), and parenting as a productivity boost.

Lastly, James shows the Trump Administration how to shut a story down when we revisit the infamous "Not giving seats up on a plane so the family can sit together" incident.

While the NBA is in the off-season, the tea is still piping hot as "buyout season" has begun as teams evaluate their rosters and make moves.

We also hold our first ever Summer Cookout Food Draft, putting together our preferred rosters for food, drinks, and desserts for the seasons poolside and backyard activities.

We're skipping "Millenial Men Yell at Cloud" this week, but we'll be back with more things to complain about next episode. That being said, we get a little taste of MMYC at the start of the episode.

We're now on instagram: @thewordpodcastofficial

(00:00:00) Show open

(00:05:16) NBA Finals

(00:10:19) The short window for NBA franchise success

(00:12:16) The grueling NBA season, overuse injuries

(00:21:12) NBA Draft 2025

(00:22:27) Is James the a-hole? Plane seat switch proposition

(00:30:50) Joe Dumars got another job?!?!? How?! Why!?!?

(00:33:45) Back to the airplane story

(00:41:10) Barista life is not a game

(00:44:00) Rich has some airport smoke too! Runway delays

(00:47:01) RDU airport slaps! (Clinton thumb: engage)

(00:50:01) Rich likes the Hornets draft picks!

(00:52:53) NBA needs to fix how it does the draft

(01:01:29) Oregon Trail, Carmen San Diego

(01:07:43) Send us your topic requests!

(01:08:28) Rigors of the youth hockey to NHL dream

(01:11:27) James had to go to soccer court

(01:13:07) Getting "bounced" by an animal

(01:21:03) Trash may have been stolen?

(01:23:46) Wrapping up

We're back after a brief hiatus! On this episode we recap the outcome of the NBA Finals, cover the recent NBA draft and cover the coverage, Inception style. There's also a discussion of the grueling NBA schedule, what it does to players bodies, and how it starts early in their youth development being so competitive, across all sports

"Millenial Men Yell At Cloud" is a jumbo edition this week, focused on airport and airplane snafus, including James sharing a sheisty seat-switch proposition he went through. And of course, "kids don't even know!" about The Oregon Trail and Where In The World Is Carmen San Diego.

Stick around to hear about how James was booted from a recent social event by an animal, and Rich may have had his trash stolen. We're back baby!

On this episode, we dive headfirst into previewing Game 7 of the NBA Finals, celebrating the unexpected triumphs of some of the league's small-market teams and giving credit to the unsung heroes—the role players who've been making a huge impact.

Then, things take a wild turn as our very own Rich Abernethy broke some major news: a blockbuster Kevin Durant trade to the Houston Rockets. We spent a good chunk of time breaking down what this means for both teams and the league as a whole.

We also introduced a brand new game for all of you: "Two Dunks in a Lie," where we tested our knowledge of the upcoming NBA draft prospects. We have decided to suspend "2 Trumps & a Lie" due to the developing geopolitcal situation.

To wrap things up, we get into the wild world of fantasy football last place finisher punishments (are ya'll really doing this?!?!)

The Pacers stormed back in Game 1 to score a last-second upset of OKC. Does this change our Stone-Cold-Lead-Pipe-Lock prediction from last week?

Tibs is out in NYC and Rich's analysis might suprise you!

Since it's a special weekend recording of the show, "2 Trumps & a Lie" is a jumbo edition with an extra headline to shake things up.

Aaron Rodgers has signed a 1 year deal with the Steelers and we give our honest and optimistic take on what will undoubtedly be a very stable, manageable situation in Pittsburge next season...

Lastly, ya'll still have to do PTO requests? We've got some horror stories of our experiences in that arena to close things out. Share yours if you got 'em!