It’s not just the local guys marching onto the RADIO WARS battlefield.

The always mouthing-off Colin Cowherd took Dan Patrick to task — as Patrick and others had ripped into Skip Bayless for calling Johnny Manziel an alcoholic (he was right…) — for not having much of a work ethic. Cowherd, on his show, said:

“I’ve worked in this business 35 years. Skip outworks all of us. The hardest working guy when I got into this business was Jim Rome … That guy grinds it every day. You don’t know anybody that works like him. This radio business I’m in is full of guys who read the sports page and rip crap off. I’m here three hours a day. So is Rome-y. Dan Patrick doesn’t work as hard as Rome — not even close. That’s why I’ve always respected Rome-y. He puts the time in. Patrick needs 35 producers to fill a segment.”

Few sportscaster sling (or attract) more shit than Bayless. He was right in this case (and I’m not saying he’s never been right before), but his whole schtick is still that of a rabble-rouser. Cowherd is cut from the same cloth. It makes sense he would leap at the chance to defend Bayless and knock somebody else down. Hell, that’s part of the game. But you can probably figure out that Patrick had a problem with this.

Right before that clip from the Dan Patrick Show above, Patrick’s old colleague Rich Eisen called in. Eisen brought up Cowherd’s comments and offered to “bring a blowtorch” if it came to a back-alley brawl. After Eisen’s call, Patrick went all in. The best part is below, but the whole thing is worth checking out. Patrick said:

“Colin needs to work harder at understanding how hard we work on this show. That would be my suggestion. And what was it? A couple years ago I wasn’t on his radar. Now I’m on his show, so I must be doing something right. And he’s watching the show, which I appreciate. But hey, you wanna criticize? You criticize. You wanna use your airtime? Go ahead. You criticize all you want. You’re criticizing me because of the Rob Gronkowski moment on the podium? You have every right to do it. Guilty as charged. I criticize myself. But you know what Colin, I’m good enough to be able to make a mistake in front of a hundred million people. Are you?

And here’s the thing: We all have ESPN muscles. I had ‘em for 18 years. Leave ESPN. Get out and do what I do. Try it. Try a radio network. Try a simulcast. Maybe a column for Sports Illustrated. Oh that’s right host the Olympics and Football Night in America and do Sports Jeopardy as well, Colin. Try that, and then we can discuss work ethic. Until then, enjoy your show. Enjoy your life, because it’ll be over one day and nobody will care. Just like nobody’s gonna care about what I’m saying right now.

I gotta take a nap. I’m exhausted from working so hard on this show.”

Ho. Lee. Shit. Insert a video of Kyle playing air-violin to the Game of Thrones theme here, and then set that air-violin on fire and blow up the air-violin factory and every one that came before it. Patrick, obviously annoyed at Cowherd’s analysis of his work ethic, went full existential on him. Not only does Patrick not agree with what Cowherd had to say, he doesn’t think anything he’s ever said matters. At all. None of it does. And if Cowherd wants to hang his hat on a smirk and a hot take, that’s fine by Dan Patrick. Because Dan Patrick doesn’t matter. And Colin Cowherd doesn’t matter. And one day we’ll all be dead.

That’s one way to win an argument.