Almost Shameless

7. Bill Belichick has nothing to prove to you people, ESPN editor Chris Armendariz joins for a quarantine TV roundup

Almost Shameless is back at it now that everyone has settled into life in quarantine, and while there may be no sports happening at the moment, there is never a bad time to have a Bill Belichick, Tom Brady debate. Or is there? Tanya rips apart a rant by ESPN's Mike Greenberg, who believes the GOAT coach has to prove that he's still the GOAT without Brady. Then it's time to investigate what worked and what didn't with ESPN's 64-person bracket of All-Time College Basketball Players. Let's just say that it appears the kids have never heard of Lew Alcindor. And finally, Tanya welcomes fiance Chris Armendariz to the pod. He is a longtime ESPN video editor, but these days, their greatest mutual interest is binge-watching TV shows - and so they review everything they've watched start to finish since the start of quarantine. 

6. Instant reaction - Tom Brady leaves the Patriots for the Bucs, more NFL free agency, coronavirus fallout

We start out with a breakdown of the world in sports and at large as the United States comes to terms with the coronavirus outbreak, thanks in large part to Adam Silver and his leadership with the NBA (01:50). Tom Brady has officially left New England, it appears that everyone is sad about it and no one could do anything about it - and so Patriots Nation is left with a lot of questions and very few answers (08:52). Meanwhile, news broke that Brady plans to sign with the Buccaneers and Tanya reacts live (13:50). Plus, Bill O'Brien is still the worst GM in all of the NFL, much to the delight of the Arizona Cardinals, and Stefon Diggs just made the Bills potentially the best team in the AFC East (16:54).

5. Tom Brady has broken the reporters, LeBron vs Giannis for MVP, we need to stop bad Instagram art

Tanya opens things up in episode 5 with a loving, nerdy ode to voting before hitting on the big topic of the last 10 years -- WHAT THE F**K IS GOING ON WITH TOM BRADY AND WHY/HOW HAS HE BROKEN ALL THE REPORTERS?! (5:33). Then she breaks down the inherent flaws in choosing regular season NBA MVPs when legacies are created in the playoffs, and why what LeBron does this season will probably end up mattering more than what Giannis does (16:26). Finally, most definitely the weirdest rant to date. If you ever wanted to know how Tanya feels about sticking an earring on an ear of corn and calling it art -- today's your lucky day (25:15).

4. The NFL scouting "lunch pail mentality" dilemma, Kobe & GiGi's memorial, bad waiters and waitresses

This week Tanya got herself in a weird Twitter beef with the "lunch pail mentality" establishment, so she explains her issue with the use of the phrase in relation to NFL players - and specifically, the decidedly-not-blue-collar New England Patriots (3:14). Then she goes over what it was like to watch the public memorial service for Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant, and how their deaths have reshaped her interpretation of his legacy and his destiny (11:20). Finally, what is the right thing to do when your waiter is very bad at their job and the service sucks?

3. Mid-Winter ROUND UP -- MLB Cheatfest 2020, Kobe's All-Star Game sendoff, AP's Athletes of the Decade

It's mid February which means it's time for a ROUND UP of all the hottest stories so far this winter. We kick things off with Justin Turner and a whole host of baseball superstars getting very mad at their commissioner, so Tanya offers a little advice to the MLB (3:40). Then she breaks down what AP got right and wrong with their Male and Female Athletes of the Decade (12:30), rediscovers the joy of basketball thanks to 2020 NBA All-Star weekend (22:45) and gives the latest on the Tom Brady free agency saga that might never end (27:13). And finally... reality TV can be better, and here's how (31:12).

2. Who could *actually* replace Tom Brady in 2020, and fixing the MLB with a Summer World Series

Everyone wants to know where Tom Brady might go but no one has a single good answer or any real insight so Tanya is controlling what she can ... which is figuring out who could *actually* be the quarterback of the New England Patriots in 2020 if the GOAT goes out to pasture. (04:13). Then she attempts her most daring feat to date .... fixing the MLB -- and the purists are not going to like it. You just might, though (19:24). And of course, what would the week after the Oscars be without a little complaining about Joaquin Phoenix and his aggressive, terrifying veganism rants? (29:21) That, and more, in the second episode of the revamped ASP with TRF. 

1. Patrick Mahomes isn't the first Patrick Mahomes, how much does Belichick really owe Tom Brady?

The all new, rebranded, relaunched Almost Shameless podcast is finally here! Same Fox, just more of her. And new theme music! What better way to kick things off than with a full PUMPING of the breaks on the Chiefs dynasty talk. Mahomes is the real deal, but didn't we just do this a decade ago a QB in the NFC? ... Plus there are murmurings that Tom Brady might want to build a Super Team with all of his discarded offense buddies somewhere, but not so fast. Brady has it better with the Patriots than he seems to think? Finally, Tanya grapples with the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant. 

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Email almostshamelesspod@gmail.com 

Vol. 29 - Patriots captain Devin McCourty joins the pod, plus Sam Darnold is seeing ghosts & Belichick is on a mission

BREAKING NEWS: We finally got nice and asked someone important to join our podcast .... NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidate and All-Pro Patriots CB Devin McCourty joined us and it was glorious!

BUT FIRST... Sam Darnold was caught saying that he was “seeing ghosts” on Monday Night Football and we break down just how poorly the Jets handled themselves in the aftermath. (Yes, there will be ranting!) Then we hit on even more insane stats from the NFL’s best defense and break down the state of the offense in the wake of the trade for Mohamed Sanu. Finally, we chat with NFL interceptions leader and Patriots captain, Devin McCourty, who reiterated that he is NOT a fan of nicknames (we will persist anyway). And don’t miss our final thoughts, which include the Astros-Nationals World Series and the bitter end of LeBron’s Taco Tuesdays.

Vol. 28 - *A Very Special All Patriots Episode* Bill Belichick is a warlock, Gronk is Tanya's new coworker

At long last, Fox & Fallon have done it ... an all Patriots podcast, people. It was our destiny. The Patriots improved to 6-0 on Thursday night with a 35-14 blowout of the Giants, so we did you the favor of breaking it all down. First we combine the stats with our expert eye test to examine just what is so special about this year's defense (04:50) and (07:18). Then we look at overreactions and major needs on the offense (13:50), and cut Tom Brady a little (a lot) of slack. Then we go through the rest of their 2019 schedule (23:54) to see which games they could realistically lose and make final season record predictions. And of course, we honor and celebrate Rob Gronkowski's epic debut on Fox Sports (29:12).

Vol. 27 - Patriots kicker emergency, four-way NFL tank battle, #PayMookieBetts, spooky sports stories

We kick it off with a victory lap over our perfect Patriots vs Bills prediction (00:44), then carry the New England talk into the breaking news that the champs have lost kicker Stephen Gostkowski for the season (08:00). Apparently his hips did lie ... with every extra point he missed. Then, we break down which of the 0-4 teams (14:49) in the NFL are most likely to fulfill their destiny by tanking and rebuilding. Spoiler alert, none of them seem ready to right the ship anytime in the near future. And of course we make the case for the Red Sox to pay Mookie Betts (23:20) and stop whining about the luxury tax. Time to pony up the cash, John Henry. This isn't Pittsburgh. Finally, we rattle off our quick hits on some spooky trending sports stories (31:05) that have us feeling the October Halloween vibes.