With Authority

The Giants have gone from pretenders to contenders. Do the Giants dare trade Madison Bumgarner before the deadline next week? Disregard last episode because we totally changed our minds. Why the A's may be armed and dangerous on their playoff push -- without even making a move. From optimism to reality check. Over/under totals for the 49ers, Raiders, Jimmy G and Derek Carr. The one thing Larry has in common with Kevin Durant. And if you REALLY need a friend, we have the website just for you. And it's not this one...

Bader Two Belts is in the house. Ballator MMA heavyweight AND light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader joins the pod. The streaking San Francisco Giants have surprisingly played themselves into Wild Card contention. For a team in desperate need of a rebuild, it’s time to do some soul searching. We’ll dive into the options at hand. Meanwhile, the surging A’s are expected to contend. After a night of Matt-to-Matt jacks, we’ll debate if Olson and Chapman are the best duo in A’s history. And then we go off the rails with Moon Landing conspiracies, Chicken Hypnotization, and why you’ve been voluntarily sending all your data to Russia, comrade.

Larry is so committed to the podcast that he did the entire show beach-side in Hawaii. Come for the sports talk, stay for Larry being taken out by waves while trying to tiptoe down a seawall mid-show. The Warriors loss of Kevin Durant may actually help them out. Maybe the forced youth movement gives them the kind of accelerated rebuild the San Francisco Giants never got -- ultimately hurting their roster. We were originally going to talk about hypnotizing chickens, which Casey can do, but instead do a deep dive on Larry's Hawaiian roots. We'll save the chicken hypnosis for next week's show. And would you trust a 100-year-old doctor?

We promised each other we were going to take a break from talking about Kevin Durant this week – so, of course, we spent a bunch of time talking about Kevin Durant this week. HE OPTED OUT. We didn’t. What does it all mean? Plus – we expose just how ridiculous the NBA rumor mill is, and why it’s that way. The A’s and Giants NEVER make deals with each other, but this year it could be time to break that trend. We also talk about the day we spent in San Quentin Prison together – seriously… The solution to the awful Bay Bridge traffic, and give free pep talks to your youth soccer teams. This pod is weird in all the right ways.

The Dubs Dynasty came to a crashing halt in the NBA Finals. But is it really over? A battle between optimistic and pessimistic viewpoints regarding the Warriors immediate future. Like it or not, we have to look at life after the Warriors now. Is it the 49ers, Raiders, A’s, or Giants that best represent a chance of capturing the interest of the Bay Area sports landscape over the next few months? Tell Me A Story: A first pitch of a lifetime for Emmy Pratt. The story of Casey’s 2-year-old daughter’s epic first pitch at the Stockton Ports game. Breaking the law! With NASCAR heading to Sonoma, Leonard gets Larry and Casey to open up about speeding tickets. And Facebook enters the crypto currency game. But is Mark Zuckerberg just borrowing ideas from the Winkelvii again? Everything you need to know about Libra and Bitcoin. Seriously.

The immediate aftermath of Kevin Durant’s injury in Game 5 of the NBA Finals led to raw emotion, speculation, and even ridiculous celebration. In this emergency podcast, we cut through the ridiculous hot takes and drama in the aftermath of a moment that could send shockwaves through the entire NBA. We do a deep dive into the ramifications of the KD injury. How it will affect the 2-time NBA Finals MVP, the Warriors, and the league. No nonsense. No uninformed opinions. No disrespect.

After a season filled with turmoil, rumors and injuries, there are so many questions and so few answers going into the NBA Finals. How much will Kevin Durant play in the Finals, does KD log more minutes than Boogie Cousins. Who will be the MVP, Drake or E-40? Special guest Julianne Herrera helps break down the Warriors-Raptors series. Why is a betting website paying out all Warriors bets BEFORE THE FINALS? Is Mike Breen an even better person than broadcaster? We say BANG! YES! Plus an update on our Meatball Paul bet, the A's and Giants, two teams heading in very different directions.

We are witnessing an unprecedented level of success with the Warriors. An era of dominance the likes of which we may never see again. AND ALL PEOPLE WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS WHERE KD WILL SIGN NEXT SEASON. Let’s pump the breaks and live in the moment. Casey dubbed the Sharks the “Team of Destiny” on this very podcast. Now he has to eat his words. Tell Me A Story: Larry talks about the time he met “Nature Boy” Ric Flair and asked him to cut a promo-– for free. Wooooo. Good or bad idea? And our news of the week: The new rage in composting. Bring out your dead!

It feels like 2015 all over again for the Warriors. That’s good, right? Does the Dubs success minus Kevin Durant make KD want to stay? -- or convince him the Warriors don't need him. It's the return of Meatball Paul! As we revisit Larry and Casey’s stomach-churning wager with the Giants and A's, both now residing in last place. It would be better than the NCAA Tournament and NBA All-Star Weekend. We’ll tell you about the battle every NBA fan would love to watch. Speaking of battles… Our official Iron Throne predictions – including one Las Vegas longshot -- and would you name your next child Arya, Khaleesi or Ramsey? You’re not going to believe how many people have actually done this.

The Dubs have a Durant Dilemma. We dig into the numbers that suggest it’s not time to completely panic... yet. Casey keeps it optimistic and Larry delivers a fiery pep talk to the Warriors bench. The Game Of Thrones obsession continues. Let’s just say Cersei Lannister is coming off a Bye with home field advantage. Tell Me A Story: A crazy tale about Dallas Braden’s Mother’s Day perfect game. And could you ride your bike from sea to shining sea? Probably not. But they’re trying to build the trail anyways.

Don’t worry. No spoilers will be found here. But we will talk about how fragile a dynasty can truly be. Is this the last ride for the Warriors? Or will it be statue building time at Chase Center? We’ll discuss how every last digit can determine if the Dubs will make it back to the promised land. Plus – Casey is completely convinced this is the San Jose Sharks year. Larry? Maybe not so much. A mystery envelope catches the guys completely off guard. Plus – Casey tells a story about fully nerding out on his birthday while watching both The Battle Of Winterfell and Avengers: Endgame in one 5-hour span. And Larry explains why eating rice is the new diet craze.

From the basketball court to the halls of Winterfell the guys discuss everything in between. Casey and Larry do a deep dive into how the Warriors are doing in the playoffs. The guys then turn to another battle for the ages... THE BATTLE OF WINTERFELL! Larry, Casey, and Leonard share their theories on who they think will sit upon the Iron Throne and who won't make it to the finale.

Larry and Casey dissect both the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants rosters ahead of Opening Day. The result: A stomach-churning Giants vs. A’s meatball bet that may make Joey Chestnut queasy. Also, find out how Larry and Casey’s last bet ended with Larry in the Emergency Room. Say, do you like free money? We’ll tell you how to get some of that. Why Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi may be a fan of Storage Wars. And the key aspect of CEO Larry Baer’s suspension that most people have overlooked. Plus: Teslas, Mario Kart, Jack on the Rocks, and the debut of Meatball Paul! Hiiiiiiiiii Laaaaaaar-eeeeeeeee….

Flashback: We caught a glimpse of the pre-Kevin Durant Warriors – and it wasn’t so bad. The A’s are in Japan to open the regular season – yay? But as a result, they’ve made the first games of the 2019 season virtually unwatchable. If Mike Trout walked down Market Street would anyone recognize him? Why MLB has a major marketing problem. Larry tells a story about getting stuck in a post-NBA All-Star Game mass of humanity. Why they had to get down to go up. And would you rather live next door to the Flintstones or Naked Mannequins?

Raise your hand if you had Boogie Cousins as our first ‘With Authority’ guest! We spend 15 minutes with the 4x All-Star and 2x Olympic Gold Medalist – even though we were only supposed to spend 10. He likes us, he really likes us. According to the Dubs Dynasty Doomsday clock *patent pending* the Warriors are doing better than most people. The NFL Free Agency Frenzy is in full swing. Why the Oakland Raiders have gone from down and out to the biggest winners of the NFL offseason thus far. And did Antonio Brown rope-a-dope the Steelers? Have you heard the expression there’s no such thing as a bad question? Well, there are such things as bad questions in sports reporting. Find out which sports figures got mad at Larry and Casey in the past. Plus: If you could turn back the clock to any sports era, where would you go? And how far would you go for a jaguar selfie?

The dynamic duo take on the problem with the Warriors! Also, who could be the next Bay Area dynasty (Hint: Larry's answer will surprise you). Larry takes a look back to the time a pro-wrestler held his face down on a copier for a special TV spot. All that and more on this weeks 'With Authority'!

NOTE: The discussion about Bryce Harper happened before he had signed the deal with the Phillies. Larry Beil and Casey Pratt take you into the wide world of Bay Area sports-- everything from their opinion on the Dubs and Bryce Harper to that time Casey almost got hit by a car for a job with the A's.