Draft Week, NBA Playoffs & Marine Corps Logic

The NFL Draft is one week away, and the debate is heating up.

Jed and Mark break down what their teams need most — with Jed representing the Minnesota Vikings and Mark holding it down for Cowboys fans in Fort Worth.

They also discuss Jed’s neighbor, NFL linebacker Leo Chenal, signing with Washington and what it’s like having professional athletes living next door.

The conversation then shifts to the NBA as the Play-In Tournament wraps up and the playoff matchups take shape. Who looks dangerous and who doesn’t belong?

The guys also talk about the early dominance of the Dodgers and whether Major League Baseball has entered the era of the super team.

And of course, the show features the Marine Corps Logic segment, where two Marines apply simple barracks logic to the complicated world of sports.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

A round of applause for the 5050 Club. We are back. It's Jed. It's Mark. Mark, how are you feeling on this Saturday?

SPEAKER_01 0:12

We are great. Rainy Day does not stop the show. Welcome everybody for the 2026 edition.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

All right, here we go. Hopefully it's not the only one in 2026. We're going to try to keep this thing going, right? You know, we've been friends for a long time, you know. Marine Corps 1991 on, man. And um, it's it's good for us to be able to continue these conversations and and argue about sports like we've been doing for the last 40 years, not dating ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Of course.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

But no, man. So hey, getting into the show, I want to I want to hit on something that's a little personal and just like a peek behind the uh behind the curtains of the NFL. So I've been lucky enough for the last four years to be uh neighbors, uh person living directly across the street from me, the place for the Kansas City Chiefs. So you see that normal life vice vice pro life, and like even Mark, when you came to visit, uh you you never were able to meet Leo, but it's like he was because he was I think he was going home. Like both of the times that you came, he was he was back home. But um it is kind of interesting to see how these guys have a normal life vice, you know, vice, you the the pro life, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:23

That's correct. And like I said, he's right there in your neighborhood as an everyday person.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Yeah, and it was it was it was you know just seeing him grow up too. You know, you're talking about like a 22-year-old kid, freshly married, new kids. And now, you know what? I I like when good I like when good things happen to good people, and he's a really good person and um very humble, and he signed a contract, you know, with the with the Washington Commanders. You're your nemesis, Mark. Leo's coming over there to try to wreck shop against the Cowboys.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

He deserves it. Good on him. I I'm glad he is coming to wreck shop, but just keep his uh fellow cowboys in mind when he comes to Dallas. You know, homeboy hookup would be nice.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

I will I will keep that in mind because yeah, he'll he'll definitely be there at least once a year. I know he's gonna be playing my Vikings here. Um, don't know what what week that's gonna be yet, but we're we're planning on going in going in to seeing them put seeing them play against the Vikings. Wanted them to VFB a Viking, but it just didn't happen. Dang it. Almost. Yeah. And you know what? And one more thing, speaking of the speaking of Washington, so they got they got this logo that they kind of brought back with the with the arrow and trying to go going back to their old roots. What's your what's your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_01 2:44

I thought that was a good take by them, letting them know that we are still the Redskins at heart, and you you can make us change our name, but we're not gonna change who we are.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Yeah, I get it. I mean, you know, to me, I thought uh well, you know, I thought the the mascot, the whole thing is a little bit prop problematic, and you know, but it's gonna be what it's gonna be. I you know, I feel like we have I I got bigger fish to fry or bigger things to be mad about than that. So if they wanted to do that, that's fine. I do wonder if um if the if the president's pressure on it affected this too with the new with them trying to get that new stadium built.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Yeah, I think it did just a little bit, and that was probably a token to let him know we are working on trying to change our name to get that stadium in the DC area because that was a great location.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Absolutely, man. All right, man. Well, moving on, we'll just start getting into this show. We wanted to talk about the draft, and since draft week is like pretty much officially here, um, and we're looking forward to this. Your Cowboys, one thing that we can say about Jerry Jones is he drafts very, very well. What are the what are the Cowboys' biggest needs going into this draft?

SPEAKER_01 3:56

I I believe we are going to get a linebacker slash maybe a hard-hitting corner with our first pick. Okay, if the right trade is available, like trading down to six or seven and giving up our 12 and 430, I would do it.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Okay. Yeah, that sounds that's that sounds good, man. So, you know, you you guys always believe in April because you guys tend to draft well and these these these players tend to, you know, tend to pan out. So I know you got to be excited about that. Um any any other needs? I mean, um how how are we looking with with this George Pickens deal? Is there a chance that he may be traded or moved on draft day?

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Inside sources have kind of tanked his stock a little. And it looks like um the Jones family came out and said we haven't had one call for a first-round draft pick. So we might hold if we get a second, third, or fourth trade him. Or otherwise, we're probably gonna have franchise tag him and go from there.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Yeah, if you franchise tag him, he's a he's a weird cat that one. I I would expect that you would you expect to see him at training camp then?

SPEAKER_01 5:09

No. And I I hope we can trade him because we do not need those guys that like to, you know, act different at the wrong time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

Yeah, yeah. So um, you know, I know for us, for the for the Vikings, I know our our our quarterback future, that that's that's what we're kind of looking at. But we're you know, we got Kyler Murray, we still have JJ McCarthy in here. Um they re-signed Carson Wentz. Our needs, of course, are gonna be you know, we're looking at offensive line and anything to make our defense better, especially with the um we um lost a retire retirement of of our safety, and then we have some line uh linebackers that we lost in the so we're we're looking at that just because we gotta have those bodies for um for for B flow to so our defense can uh you know wreak havoc like they did last season.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

And I believe if you had the right guard or tackle to give Kyler Murray just a little lane, uh Minnesota might be potentially 20-something points a game easy.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking, man. You know what? It's so weird because like I had the I had a conversation with people, almost arguments about it, you know, about Kyler Murray. And and my argument was my observation was is that Kyler Murray is just as good, if not better, than Sam Darnold, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Uh yes. Yes. And Sam Darnold had a pretty good line, but he was a step slower. Yeah. That's where Kyler Murray's skill set comes in play, and some of those um sacks could have been touchdowns and first downs.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Yeah, exactly. That's a that's the way I'm kind of seeing it. So, what about with the Cowboys with Dak Prescott? So are you guys still set up quarterback? I know you guys didn't guys draft like, was it uh Milrow you guys got last year?

SPEAKER_01 6:55

We did not. No. Um we just keep picking up uh third round quarterbacks, quarterbacks been released from other teams. Um I don't think we're gonna draft another quarterback until Dak's contract is workable.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Okay, okay. All right, man.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

He's not a problem for the record. The record is the defense. When you score 28 and give up 29, you're probably gonna lose a lot of games in January.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

Yeah, for sure, man. For sure. Well, I got a I got an interesting question since we're talking Vikings and Cowboys. Who's which fan base is more tortured? Is it you guys or is it us?

SPEAKER_01 7:32

I would say you guys, because they're Ofer. I mean, we haven't won in 30 years, and that's still one more than the Vikings.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Yeah, yeah, I think it, you know what, and I think that answer is I I by that metric, it is the Vikings, but by expectations, could it be the Cowboys?

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Like, so I guess we're expected every year until January.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Well, yeah, yeah, that's right. That's the problem, man.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

You know what we're the best uh football team all the way up until Christmas, and after that, yeah, man.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

That's crazy. And so let's talking about this NFL draft. Is the NFL draft the most overhyped event in sports? And I'm serious about this.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

I'm gonna say it's not because they spend four hours talking about the Derby, and it's just one race.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Two minutes.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

You know, we know there's only 12 players. In the NFL, there's 32 teams, and we know there's at least 50 good guys that should go on night one.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Yeah, and I think it's I think it's totally freaking overhyped, man. Like, I just feel like, first of all, and we talked about this off air, we can bring it on there. Like, I don't feel like anybody, like these guys know who's gonna succeed and who's gonna be good. It's all guesswork, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:02

That's a hundred percent correct. I mean, it's the eyeball test, and I'm not gonna go with the metrics. What does the eyeball tell you if this person's helpful?

SPEAKER_00 9:11

Hey, man, look. And then they, you know, then they they mix in the the oh, we gotta they're the combine, and then these pro days. And I'm like, okay, so you're gonna base your draft pick off of this stuff when you have like three to four years of tape on a player, like I feel like they should already know if this guy can play, what they what their strengths yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Exactly. And we're gonna use that Ty Simpson. This guy's only got 15 games. That's not enough tape for you to say he's better than Mendoza. Certainly.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

And you know what, to your point with that, the last the last quarterback that I could think of that that didn't have a lot of starts and then got overdrafted was Anthony Richardson. Remember, he didn't have a lot of starts, and they were like, oh no, he's gonna No, man, yeah. So, you know, that's crazy. And then the draft grades, man. I feel like the draft grades, it's it's almost like giving somebody a grade in a class that they haven't taken. So like you say, hey, this like the this team, their their draft grade afterwards is an A or B or an F. Like, what do you think about when you hear that kind of stuff?

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Uh, I think it's uh ludicrous as to say because most of the guys that are grading them, once again, never played football. Or they have an agenda. Now, if you are a true GM, a former player, and you give out those kind of grades based on your skill set playing in the NFL at least five years to be qualified to grade somebody.

unknown 10:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

Yeah, yeah, agreed, man. And I, you know what, and also, how about this? Like, does it but does the draft build dynasties? Like, do you like do you feel like that that it does? Like, I I I know when I look at like a Seattle who drafted and got all these defense draft all these defensive players, and they drafted, you know, the wide receiver, and it kind of, if you do it right, you are built, you are building something that could be something, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:07

I I believe so. Well, it worked in the 90s. We got three Super Bowls out of it. Should have been four. All on draft.

SPEAKER_00 11:15

Yeah, yeah. It's yeah, it's true. It's true. I do feel like this too, Mark. I feel like the draft is like the only hope for bad teams. So, like if you're if you're the Raiders or somebody, or Arizona, this is the like one of the few times where your your fans can get excited about maybes.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

Yeah, yes. Or you can get booed off the stage. Like, who's this guy? He's not even he's from Utah State or somewhere. Why are you drafting him number one?

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Exactly, man. You know the one I always think about, and this is a weird one for me, like when I was like really following the Raiders, is when they drafted Darius Hayward Bay that year, and I was like, what is going on?

SPEAKER_01 11:57

Hey babe, who could not catch?

SPEAKER_00 12:00

So wild, man. So wild.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

He's fast, but he had no hand.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

Yeah, man. Hey, so I wanna I wanna introduce a new segment that we're gonna use, okay? I was I was in my bag last night, okay? It's since we were Marines, I'm I'm calling this the Marine Corps Logic segment, okay? And this time we're talking about the NFL draft. And so Marine Corps Logic says that if your team needs a quarterback, stop getting cute and just draft one. Like correct. Like, what do you think about when teams are overthinking this stuff?

SPEAKER_01 12:39

That's once again a person who never played the sport. I mean, if if you don't have a quarterback, you don't have a team. Why are you even playing?

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Yep, yep. And so you are and and then so that's where this analytics versus instinct comes in, right? And I'm a I'm more of I'm more of an instinct guy. I'm okay with the analytics, but the the tape don't lie, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Because who's guaranteed that next year's class is going to be any better or any healthier? Now, I'm not gonna spend uh top ten drafting on a quarterback that we think might be good. I'll just wait and get him in the second round and we'll find out.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Exactly. Like if you like don't like with the with the Ty Simpson thing, like why would you why would you reach for something that is probably Go ahead under 100 pounds, 15 starts, and when he got against quality teams, they pretty much knocked him out the game. Yeah. And and I'm gonna tell you, man, like I I have an example of overthinking it, and it's with the Vikings, actually, and it's recency and it was with JJ McCarthy. They overreached for him, they had to talk themselves into it, they overthought the whole thing. And my point was like, if he's if if you have to talk yourself into it, he's not worth being a top 10 quarterback because no, he's not. No, because that's a franchise kind of guy right there, right? That's what you're saying.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

He he was chip, but he only threw like a hundred passes.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

They should have they they should have seen that Harbaugh was hiding him with the run game. Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

But when you watch the tape, he only threw like a hundred balls. Most of them were plays and rolls.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

Yeah. And you know what they I'll I'll leave you on, I'll leave us on with this topic is like the the people that talk about this not knowing what they're talking about. Like Christina and I will watch the draft, right? We'll have the draft on. And I play a game with her going, okay, when they name a player, you tell me, you give me some information on them and why they're gonna be good. And she literally just regurgitates the this person is a he's a he has a he has a high motor. Um, he's a ceiling razor. He he can play three technique or 12 personnel. And it and it sounds like she knows what she's talking about.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

But it's it's so just like I just think that they they read off a script too, because they can't know all these players. How many players do we have on each college team?

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Like 80, 80 players times they have books and stacks of sheets off camera or on their laptop that they can scroll up and down and just take the best words they could use or worse for that person.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

It's Rick, it dude, it's it's the most, it's the I'm we're gonna video it this year. I'm gonna have Christina do it like when when a when a guy gets drafted, I'm gonna have her do it, and and she's gonna sound like she's she's gonna sound like Mel Kuyper or one of these other guys sitting up there.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

That's gonna be great, because that's how he sounds. You know, he's just reading the script, reading what somebody might have paid him under the table to talk about or not talking about.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

No doubt. Man, look, well, guess what? You know what season it is right now, Mark? It is it, yes, it is NBA playoffs. Now we don't get no sleep for two months season because we gotta stay up and watch all these games, man.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Um it's gonna go quick, but I'm ready.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

I'm super, super excited for this, man. So, like going into this, like, you know, we had to play in games like last night that got got got settled. Um I think the right teams moved on in both both of those um, you know, play in play-in game series. Um what what was your take on that and uh on on who on who moved forward?

SPEAKER_01 16:48

Uh with Steph going out, I hope that in the Draymond Green Golden State partnership. Uh for Scarlet going out, it looks like they had to pay the price for him tripping old boy.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Yeah, man, because he Yeah, he he did nothing in the first half, and I was just like, are you gonna shoot the boy? What is going on here? So, yeah, it was it it was wild to see that, but I was happy. I was happy for Orlando, but in a way a little bit disappointed because I think Orlando's too good to be in the play-in game. Like, how did y'all get here? And same with same with Phoenix, but I know Phoenix had injuries too, but Banquero was out too a little bit, huh?

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Yeah, and with Orlando, I was told their coach doesn't get along with Pablo, Ventero, or whatever his name is. So that's half the problem why they were losing towards the end of the season.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Well, well, uh yeah, we we're gonna we're gonna talk about them a little bit more here in a minute. I don't want to give it away, but so which team, like coming out of this play-in game, these play-in games, do you think is the most dangerous?

SPEAKER_01 17:58

As long as that's a tough one. Because I don't like none of them seven, eight, seed teams at all.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

So um, I don't think any of them are gonna last. I think they're all when you're playing one versus eight, we might be having sweeps in the first round.

SPEAKER_00 18:20

Yeah, I mean, it's gonna be really tough for for the Suns um, you know, going up against that juggernaut um in OKC, but man, they have the might the right mindset, the way that they play the game, and Dylan Brooks, you know, being Canadian and bringing bringing that Canada rivalry uh to SGA, I think is gonna be interesting to watch.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Now, I'm gonna say the Suns pulled the trigger one year too soon. Had they had Durant, I might have picked them to give them a tough series against the number one seed.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Yeah, what well Durant won it out, right? Or do you think it was a mutual parting of ways?

SPEAKER_01 19:01

It was a mutual um Durant wanted them guys, you know, with the game on the line, it should be him or Booker. And he wasn't up for none of that silly mess. He just wants to play basketball and win.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I think I really think Orlando is is is the most dangerous man. I feel like I just I don't know why I don't believe in Detroit, but I don't believe in Detroit. And I feel like Orlando is gonna give them all they want, man.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Um I would say if their role player who got all that money, Desmond Bain averages 27 points, they got a really good chance.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Uh Detroit was like what, seven out of ten without their starting um what's his name? The good one.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Yeah, um with the collapsed lung.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

Um they looked pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

Kate, yeah, Kate, Kate, Kate Cunningham, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Hey, hey, dude. Yeah, yeah, they gave it to our Lakers. And I was like, oh my goodness. Okay, I thought this was gonna be a close game, but it was not.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

No, based on what I saw on the iCest, they look pretty deep.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

So one more thing about this play-in game. Does the play-in tournament improve the NBA or just extend mediocrity?

SPEAKER_01 20:19

It improves it just a little because if you're a seventh or eight seed, you can easily be ninth or tenth and at home. Other than that, you still got 20 teams that are tanking. So um for the top eight, yes. Other than that, no.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

Yeah, I'm I don't know. I'm I'm I'm not in on these play-in games, even even in baseball, man. Like, I I'm old school that way where I'm like, you either made the playoffs or you didn't. That's correct. So you're either the eighth seed or you're not the eighth seed, and and that's it. I'm not I'm not given a night. I don't here's here's the problem. I think with the play-in tournament, it's given teams an opportunity to go into the playoffs that have no chance of winning the tournament, except for maybe Orlando, which I just said was dangerous.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Yeah, well, unlike baseball, these guys are 30 and 50. They don't tank, they just suck, and they all suck together. Baseball is literally just tanking. They're sitting down four starters a night.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

Yeah, there yeah, there's some ridiculousness going on, but I do uh I do take up for the NBA a little bit because you know, it seems like everybody talks about this like no other sport is tanking, and no other sport is sitting players all the time. That's you know, I feel like it that's happening in hockey. It's it we know it's happening in baseball. So, and you know, in football only at the end of the season, but there's so much urgency in the NFL, it's a little bit different. You only have 17 games, it's soon to be 18.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

And if you're not any good, they can take you off TV.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that that that does matter, man. So let's talk about some quick predictions, man. So who's gonna win the East? Boston. Wow. Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

I'm gonna do Boston over Detroit.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

All right.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

If it's a shootout, Boston has the shooters and they have the defense when they play small ball.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Yeah. I think it's gonna be New York. It's so crazy. I can't, it's in a way I can't believe I'm saying it, but I just feel like this team is finally coming together at the right time. They have to they have to fill out some things with the coach, and I know they there's some personality issues, but I think right now, and especially with them being rested, not ran into the ground like Tibbs does, I think they're gonna be, I think, I think this is gonna be a magical run for them. So I see them going in the east. What about the West?

SPEAKER_01 22:59

I'm gonna pick San Antonio.

SPEAKER_00 23:02

Holy crap, Mark. We are on the same page with this one. Okay, give me your logic. Give me your logic, man.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

I believe a healthy Wendy is unguardable. And with his role players, on any given night, somebody can put up 25 points, and they don't care which one it is. They have a very unselfish team, which leads to team basketball, which leads to team.

SPEAKER_00 23:26

Excellent analysis, dude. And that's the way that I see it too. And I see Wendy as in a seven-game series, you're gonna have no answer for this. There's no coaching adjustment to what he does and how he affects the game. There's no you can't adjust for it. It's how do you put your big at the 3.9 and stop him from shooting threes?

SPEAKER_01 23:51

Good luck with that.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

Good luck with that. And over a seven-game series, that's what it's gonna be. So they're only the own the only chance that these teams have is if he if if he doesn't hold up. Like if he gets tired. Like remember you got the little rib contusion after he played in Denver. That's the only thing. But and that's the other thing, Mark. He don't have to play 45 minutes. He's getting he's having these effects on these games in 29 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

29, 30 minutes. I got 30, almost a triple-double in 30 minutes.

SPEAKER_00 24:23

Man, I think it was that Lakers game earlier this season where he had 25 points in the first quarter, and I was like, oh, he's getting ready to score 100. And I'm and I really firmly believe he could have if he wanted to. Yeah, it took him out. Man, but no, man. So, and that leads to which team could surprise everyone. And to me, it is San Antonio. Is that the same for you, or do you have another team that you think could surprise?

SPEAKER_01 24:47

Um, sometimes Denver, they're kind of iffy, and if Joker goes on a run, like an MVP run, they could upset some teams.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

And and I would say Denver. That's pretty fair. Without being a homer and all that mess, I'd say Denver.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

Hey, listen, we have a first round matchup with them playing Minnesota. Wasn't that the Western Conference finals like a year or two, two years ago or something? So that's a great matchup. This that is gonna be a battle, man, and we're gonna have some fun watching that. But and this is just one, just one quick hit or two. So if I hear all this stuff about the MVPs, and I hear about Joker, and I hear about all these guys, and who's the greatest player, who's the best player in the league? If you're starting a franchise today, who who who are you taking first?

SPEAKER_01 25:38

I'm taking Wimby first.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

It's I mean, it's no it's not even a debate, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:43

It's not even no questions asked. Who do you want, Wimby? Yeah, like and that should answer your question. Forget all that other metric stuff. If you want somebody to start your team right now, it's probably gonna be Wimby.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

If you say anybody else, you're a fool. And I'm just saying, and I'm saying it out loud, okay? And as great as Joker is, and as great as SGA is, and Luca, dude, none of them is this. Like, no, no, not even close, man.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

So um I plays in defense. Yeah, he plays both, dude.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Changes the geometry of the sport, same, same as, same as Steph does. He changes the geometry of the sport. And you don't get a lot of guys that are like that. And he's super super special.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

Well, you're like, oh, he's playing, let me watch. And I don't care who they're playing, let me let me go watch him, see what he's gonna do tonight.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

Yep. And Mark, uh, the other part is he has his head on straight, man. Do you hear him in some of these interviews when he's when he's talking about breaking down the M the MVP stuff? Um, is is amazing. He had a he had um one, he was asked a question about what what was the most unexpected thing that he's seen since he's coming to the NBA. And dude, his answer was so brilliant. He talked about, he said it was defense. He was like, people people say that there's no defense being played in the league. He's like, they're wrong. He's like, the problem is that the players are so great. So, like from one to five. Yeah, yeah, man. Yeah, he's great. This is gonna be fun, but remember, we ain't gonna be getting no sleep for two months. And you and you and me, we're gonna be on the phone a lot and and doing podcasts. Quick, hey, and look out for that, folks. We're gonna be doing quick hitter podcasts just on NBA playoffs because uh, and and they may be only like five, ten minutes, but we the there's gonna be things that are gonna be happening we're gonna need to talk about.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

And I I do want to go to one quick last point about your New York Knicks, and the reason why I don't believe they're gonna win, and I can't let this man get off the hook either. I believe Stephen Smith is a jinx, and he picks the Knicks to go all the way. And I need to see him crying in May like he treats our cowboys.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

You funny. So, like, and and you know what? I feel like Spike Lee is a jinx, so but it could be either of the two. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

But I like Spike, so yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

Yeah, we got we, yeah, we got he's given more to the culture than um that Stephen A has for sure. Yeah, but no, man, that's funny, dude. But no, you're I don't you're not wrong, and especially from a cowboy fan, I know you can't wait to drink his tears.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

That's right. I can't wait to see it over and over and over.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Hey, so um, you know, a couple of one more thing I wanted to hit at. So, like we were talking about MLB, we're talking about my Dodgers, man, and this dominance early in the season. We know it's 162 games, but are the Dodgers already they're the best team in baseball for sure. And you mentioned the Yankees. How does what you're seeing um how does it compare to what you saw when the when the Yankees went what um when they went back to back to back?

SPEAKER_01 28:57

Uh they invested their money well, they had quality players, and their quality players show up and like each other. And if you look in the Dodger dugout, they're high-fiving, they're smiling. You don't see nobody downplayed when they strike out. And with good money, good ownership, and good investments, you can win a lot of championships.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

Oh man, so that's a great point. Those Yankee teams, they did like each other. You could see it, and that is what's happened. The Dodgers are having fun out here. And dude, and it's funny, like you watching these games, it the Mookie's not even playing right now. They pitched Otani the other day, and he didn't even hit. They're getting controvers contributions from Tommy Eppman's not playing. We haven't seen Kike Hernandez yet. This is a juggernaut, but thank you, Mark, for saying this um for talking about ownership and investing, where these other teams are not investing their profits in the teams. That's and that is the problem. That's the problem. So the Dodgers reinvest like I believe it's like 80%, 80% of their revenue is reinvested into the team. Where a team like here in Kansas City, like the Royals, they're only reinvesting like 50 something percent. So this is what's gonna happen. So of course you're not gonna be good if you're not reinvesting in your product.

SPEAKER_01 30:20

You drafted those players, you gotta keep them.

SPEAKER_00 30:22

Yeah. And and thank you for mentioning the the Dodgers ownership. Since they now own our own our Lakers, good things are on the horizon for us, man.

SPEAKER_01 30:33

Yes, I believe Magic Johnson's gonna quietly clean house, and the Lakers should be better next year. They let them back in the building, though boy. And I'll go on the record early and say hint, hint, the Greek freak, and we'll just talk about it later.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

Yep, yep. Hey, man, so we you know we're a you know, we're we're both seasoned adults. I'm not saying old yet because we're not, but we're seasoned. So looking at the athletes today, baseball, basketball, football, all this, are they better or are they just more protected?

SPEAKER_01 31:08

They are better due to the technology, more protected because they're softer.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Our athletes of our day, um, you know, if we fail, we just got back up. Today they fall, they're out three games.

SPEAKER_00 31:25

Yeah. This load management stuff and things like that, like some some injuries that keep guys out that wouldn't have kept guys out back in our day.

SPEAKER_01 31:33

So they put ice pack on that buttocks and get right back out there.

SPEAKER_00 31:37

Yeah. Now there is one thing that I think that they have to navigate through these, the, the, this, the younger generation that we that we didn't. Hey, would there were would there have been a Cowboys championship era if there had been social media back in the day?

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Uh no, we'd have 20 players locked up. We wouldn't have teams.

SPEAKER_00 31:59

The White House.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

If they were carried loud, uh, a lot of them would probably just get out on parole now.

SPEAKER_00 32:07

A hundred percent, man. A hundred percent. Oh, man. But um, all right, man. So hey, do you got you got any final final takes or final hitters before we get out of here?

SPEAKER_01 32:19

Uh stay tuned, fans. We will do it again shortly. Um keep up the faith.

SPEAKER_00 32:25

Yeah, we're yeah, we're here. I will say the NFL draft is really all about hope, and it's not talent, but we're gonna watch it anyway. And you're and and you you guys, the Cowboys are are gonna draft somebody that they that they really need, and it's gonna be a good player. We know that that's gonna happen, man.

SPEAKER_01 32:44

And I'm gonna say one last thing for the draft day. It's really um Ohio State um party Thursday. We're gonna have five folks go in the first round, so just get used to hearing Ohio State on Thursday.

SPEAKER_00 32:57

All right, man. I'll be dot that dot that oh, but you know, for now, you know, this this is Jed Mark for the 5050 Club. And bravo to you, sir. Let's give a round of applause. Mark in the building. And we go we're gonna get out of here on this note, but stay tuned for some other um for more podcasts, especially dealing with the MBA. But until then, 5050 Club, we are out.