Does Rich Have a Legitimate Gripe About the Show's Fantasy Football Draft Last Night??

Rich came in with a grievance and, by his own description, the authority to act on it. As host of the program and, "if you will," owner and CEO of his own production company, "the buck stops here."

Every year before football season, the show throws a shindig, and for the last few years that has meant a fantasy football draft. This year's went down at The Pawn Shop in Los Angeles, which Rich thanked for the food, the service and the place.

The league is named after the man whose portrait hung in a room the crew took over at a restaurant in Kansas City. He wore a cowboy hat in that portrait, which explains why Don Bowie showed up to the draft in one. Bowie is a Saints fan and a USC Trojan, so the hat made no obvious sense to anyone else. Rich sent the photo to Susie anyway. Her reply: "Why?"

Then came the actual problem. John, who directs the show more often than not, has been in the league all three years. Rich called him a sweetheart of a guy, and noted John shares rooting interests with Rich and TJ as a Cowboys fan and a Michigan Wolverine fan.

John had never been on the league text chain, and Rich was careful about why. "The reason why he is not on the text chain has nothing to do with him as a person. Nothing to do with him as a professional. And nothing to do with him as a fantasy football player."

The reveal: "Reason why is cuz he doesn't have an iPhone. And the text chain was all blue."

Don, the reigning champ, added John anyway. Rich found out on draft night, right when it was time to start texting smack. "Why is the text chain green?"

His complaint was part technical, part personal. Green messes with the whole system, sometimes needs an internet connection, and then tells you it sent a text message, "whatever the hell." His summary was simpler. "And it pisses me off."

So Rich, as the guy at the top of the flowchart who also wants to keep everyone happy, turned to the league commissioner. "What are you going to do about it?"

The commissioner was not about to overrule the champ. It was Don's wish to have John on, and "what am I going to deny the champion?" Worse, the commissioner warned that if Rich removed John himself, it would cost him five waiver dollars, out of the $200 every team gets.

Some at the table thought that price was worth paying. Rich pictured himself in week 12, trying to make a $5 pickup with only $4 left.

The debate wandered into bigger questions. Android and iOS do talk to each other now, but do Android users on Android group texts look down on iPhone users the way iPhone users look down on them? The consensus was that they can't even tell. "They don't see blue."

Rich then made a direct appeal to John, who was back there running cameras. "Will you stop this madness and get the proper phone for all of us?" John said no.

With the room split, the show turned it over to the audience with a poll: should you kick someone out of a group chat for having an Android? Rich predicted a landslide, 70/30 in his favor, maybe 80/20. Early results came back 53% absolutely, 47% no, with around 200 votes in.

"I'm stunned by that," Rich said. "What do I know, I guess."

He admitted he hadn't followed through on his threat either, and conceded the point. "Fine. Enjoy the green text chain."

The chain stays green. For now.