David and Marshall use an insightful article from Go Long ("Ass-Kicking Origins: Why the Detroit Lions Are Built for 2024 Football") to explain why they aren't the least bit worried after the Lions' inauspicious start to the season. Theme music: Mr. Jukes and Barney Artist, "Blowin Steam (Open Up Your Mind)"

Author Bill Morris joins us to discuss ⁠The Lions Finally Roar⁠, his chronicle of the Detroit Lions's organizational dysfunction and dramatic turnaround.

• (02:40) The time David kind of met William Clay Ford
• (05:08) The urine-soaked legacy of the Silverdome
• (07:49) How Bill’s father was almost the general manager of the Lions—and why that epitomizes the organization’s struggles
• (13:44) The reversal of fortune that coincided with Sheila Ford Hamp’s backing of coach Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes in 2022
• (15:27) Dissecting the team’s culture of failure
• (17:26) Why Ford kept former general manager Russ Thomas in a position of power for so long
• (22:26) How the Lions ruined former coach Bobby Ross
• (26:28) Differing perspectives on last year’s playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers
• (27:42) What it's like in metro Detroit on the eve of this highly anticipated new season
• (29:09) Why Barry Sanders simply handed the ball to the officials after a touchdown
• (30:08) The worst Lions loss Marshall ever saw—and what Sheila Ford Hamp did about it
• (31:35) The uncomfortable design history of the RenCen
• (35:38) The post-retirement signing bonus controversies of Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson
• (38:34) The moment we knew the Lions would lose the NFC championship against the 49ers
• (40:59) The organizational disasters that ended the Lions’s 1950s championship run
• (44:09) The phenomenon known as ‘Lions-free’
• (45:17) What rooting for the team again is like for us now

Post-interview, (49:03), we share what we would have said if someone had asked us to be general manager of the Lions.

Theme music: Mr. Jukes and Barney Artist, "Blowin Steam (Open Up Your Mind)

We document the unimaginable: a meaningless Detroit Lions preseason finale that a) was sold out—even for standing-room-only!—and b) featured a crowd so loud they actually affected the outcome of the game. Then:

• (10:10) Did David invent the phrase "going sideways?" Did Marshall invent The Floor is Lava? And the essential quality of bringing yourself present to the moment
• (16:08) Why MTV's The Real World was must-watch TV
• (19:56) Parental GPS-tracking interrupts our recording; Marshall recognizes the obscure Meg Ryan 'meet-cute' the situation resembles
• (24:44) David wants to know: is the Sports Illustrated jinx a thing?
• (28:50) The real benefit of having been right about these Lions

Theme music: Mr. Jukes and Barney Artist, "Blowin Steam (Open Up Your Mind)"

David and Marshall discuss:

• David's observations of his son's band-camp dance this week—and our own nerve-wracking high-school experiences calling girls we liked;
• who's playing—and who should be playing—John Madden in the upcoming biopic on his life (08:33);
• who wins the daily practice battle between superstars Penei Sewell and Aiden Hutchinson (16:51) and why;
• do you make room on your 53-man roster for a player who's quiet in practice, but shows up big-time on game days? (22:47)
• is David a human AI? (27:11)

Theme music: Mr. Jukes and Barney Artist, "Blowin Steam (Open Up Your Mind)"

Inspired by the Detroit Lions' reinvention many of us believed would never happen, David and Marshall discuss and debate other successful—and unsuccessful—reinventions in our lifetimes, in entertainment, business and (20:38) sports. Theme music: Mr. Jukes and Barney Artist, "Blowin Steam (Open Up Your Mind)"

David and Marshall discuss what the preseason really means, flash back to when the most popular person in Detroit was our backup quarterback (06:17), and wonder if backup QBs get practice reps with the first-team offense (08:00). Then we ask: when, if ever, should an NFL player choose going down or running out of bounds, versus fighting for an extra yard and risking injury (12:33)? Theme music: Mr. Jukes and Barney Artist, "Blowin Steam (Open Up Your Mind)"

Part 2 of 2. David wonders if our phones are listening to us, tells Marshall how to make their bedroom bats more effective against intruders (07:59), and has an intense reaction to a comment Dan Campbell made to Sports Illustrated (11:38). Theme music: Mr. Jukes and Barney Artist, "Blowin Steam (Open Up Your Mind)"

Part 1 of 2. David and Marshall try to solve a dead-rabbits mystery before they discuss second chances: will the Detroit Lions become only the third NFL team in the last 30 years to lose a conference championship, and come back the next season to win it (18:34)? And…what about second chances in love (29:54)? Theme music: Mr. Jukes and Barney Artist, "Blowin Steam (Open Up Your Mind)"