Overview of Pardon My Take with the Kachuk Brothers, Taylor Twellman, and Mount Rushmore of Aquatic Animals
This episode mixed a loud, frustrated postgame reaction to the U.S. men’s national team getting wrecked, a fun in-person interview with NHL brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk in Tahoe, and a deep soccer discussion with Taylor Twellman about why the U.S. still falls short on the biggest stage. The show also featured a chaotic Mount Rushmore draft of aquatic animals, plus the usual “Hot Seat / Cool Throne” and listener mailbag chaos.
U.S. Men’s National Team: “We Suck at Soccer”
The hosts spent a big chunk of the opening reacting to the U.S. getting blown out by Belgium and concluded that the program once again underperformed when it mattered most.
Main points from the reaction
- The performance was described as flat, passive, and mentally weak from the opening minutes.
- Christian Pulisic was heavily criticized for a no-show performance and for not looking fully bought in.
- Matt Turner / Matt Freese and Tim Ream were called out for costly mistakes.
- Malik Tillman was basically the only player praised for bringing energy.
- The crew kept circling back to the same theme:
- the U.S. may have talent,
- but against elite European teams the skill gap and mentality gap still show up.
- Their final stance was blunt: the U.S. sucks at soccer, and that’s okay enough for them to keep getting excited and disappointed every four years.
Taylor Twellman on the U.S., Pulisic, VAR, Messi, and the World Cup
Taylor Twellman joined for a much more detailed soccer breakdown and mostly agreed with the broader frustration, while adding more nuance.
What Twellman said about the U.S.
- The result was a major disappointment because the U.S. had real reasons to be optimistic.
- He thinks the team looked like it shrank under the lights in a huge game.
- He believes Gregg Berhalter/Pochettino-style coaching questions matter, but the bigger issue is still player mentality and execution.
- He was more sympathetic to the idea that the U.S. is still not at the level of the true elite nations, even if the talent pool has improved.
Pulisic discussion
- Twellman pushed back a bit on the idea that Pulisic doesn’t care, but agreed his messaging and body language have been off.
- He said Pulisic’s public comments about the Gold Cup and his ankle injury were handled poorly.
- The bigger issue, in his view, is that Pulisic thrives as a supporting attacker rather than a burdened face of the program.
VAR and officiating
- Twellman and the hosts agreed VAR has gone too far in some situations.
- They specifically disliked:
- microscopic offside calls,
- hair/shoulder/pinky-level rulings,
- and over-analysis that takes the human element out of the sport.
- At the same time, they admitted VAR is useful for obvious missed calls and major injustice.
Messi, France, England, and the rest of the bracket
- Twellman was firmly on Messi > Ronaldo.
- He raved about Messi’s competitiveness and ability to control a game even at this stage of his career.
- He picked France as the best team in the field because of their depth and talent development.
- He thought England still needed a more heartbreaking loss to fully reset the national narrative.
- He also broke down penalty kicks, saying:
- the best taker should usually go first,
- teams should decide kick order ahead of time,
- and some players simply don’t handle that pressure.
Matthew and Brady Tkachuk: Brothers, Panthers Teammates, and Golf Chaos
The Tkachuk brothers were one of the best parts of the episode. They talked about becoming teammates on the Florida Panthers, life as brothers in the NHL, and all the weird side stories that come with being elite hockey players.
Big takeaways
- Both said it still feels surreal that they’re now teammates.
- Matthew joked that they’re already preparing for their first brother-on-brother fight in camp.
- Brady said he knew Florida was a real possibility, but the trade still caught him off guard.
- Matthew described the Panthers as a team full of guys in the same age range with a strong, easy chemistry.
Brotherhood and hockey culture
- They joked about:
- pranks and hazing,
- car-key jokes,
- chirping each other in poker and cards,
- and how they’re not going to be attached at the hip just because they’re brothers.
- They admitted the locker room will be full of trash talk, even between them.
Podcasting and hockey media
- Their podcast, Wingmen, came up a lot.
- They said they’ve gotten good feedback because fans love current-player behind-the-scenes stories.
- They also praised the hockey podcast space and seemed genuinely happy to be part of it.
Golf and Tahoe chaos
- They talked a lot about the American Century golf tournament:
- Brady is expecting to hit a lot of people with golf balls.
- Matthew said he’d be happy just to finish in the top third.
- They played up the “gallery pressure” and how hard it is to golf in front of crowds when you’re not a real golfer.
Wild side stories
- Matthew described getting to fly in an F-16 and pulling insane G-forces.
- They discussed how the Panthers became a “we” team now that Brady joined.
- They also joked about being in the same group chat with all the top Olympic and NHL teammates.
Hot Seat / Cool Throne Highlights
Hot seat
- Zach getting rejected from “Streamer University.”
- Anyone who wants to live forever, after a guy who spent millions trying to defeat aging got sick.
- PFT also revisited the pain of the U.S. soccer collapse.
Cool throne
- Novak Djokovic, for his absurd Wimbledon run and five-hour marathon match.
- Ovi coming back to the Capitals, potentially for more years.
- Sean Payton’s imagination, after reports that he once seriously considered hiring Bill Belichick as Broncos coach and then demoting himself.
- ABS / automated umpiring, with multiple umpires announcing retirement after being exposed by technology.
Mount Rushmore of Aquatic Animals
This segment was the usual mix of serious animal drafting and completely unserious logic.
Notable picks
- Dolphin
- Great white shark
- Orca / killer whale
- Blue whale
- Hippo
- Giant squid
- Bluefin tuna
- Crocodile
- Hammerhead shark
- Octopus
- Mermaids
- Alligator
Funniest debate points
- Whether dolphins are “chick picks”
- Whether hippos count even though they don’t really swim
- Whether mermaids count at all
- The group also nearly wandered into picking food instead of animals
“Guys on Chill” Mailbag Themes
The listener questions were mostly about everyday chill strategy.
Best answers / themes
- It’s chill to care more about the playoffs than the regular season in some sports.
- A perfect nap was described as:
- a couch nap with the windows open,
- sports on in the background,
- or a post-golf / post-beach nap.
- For a bartender trying to stay chill:
- fake drinking with customers,
- smoke breaks,
- and generally managing energy over a long shift were suggested.
- On men’s league baseball:
- if a league is serious enough to keep stats and records, then you should probably go for the stolen base record.
Overall Takeaway
This was a classic PMT episode: sports frustration, absurd jokes, real athlete interviews, and a surprisingly serious soccer breakdown. The core themes were:
- the U.S. still can’t fully close the gap with elite soccer nations,
- the Tkachuk brothers are an unreal interview and perfect team-fit story,
- Taylor Twellman is still one of the best at explaining why soccer makes people irrational,
- and the aquatic animal Mount Rushmore somehow worked exactly the way this show wants it to.