Tiger Woods, Gary Woodland, And March Madness

Recorded March 29th, 2026

The sports calendar is doing that thing again where every headline feels bigger because the biggest stages are right around the corner. Masters week is almost here, and we start with that buzz, the Augusta anticipation, and how the whole golf world starts to tilt toward one place on the map as soon as April hits. 

Then the mood shifts hard: Tiger Woods lands in the news with a DUI, and we talk through the frustration that comes with watching a superstar make a choice that feels avoidable. We get into accountability, public perception, and the simplest question we always come back to with high-paid athletes: why not just hire a driver or call a ride and remove the risk entirely? It’s not about erasing what Tiger did on the course, it’s about what it means when the spotlight finds you again at the worst possible time. 

From there, we get to one of the best stories in sports this year: Gary Woodland winning the Houston Open after brain surgery and everything that followed, from PTSD to the emotional moment on the final green. We also hit PGA Tour access and sponsor exemptions, then jump into March Madness madness with Elite Eight swings, a brutal Duke collapse, and our Final Four picks. We close with a wild NHL turn as the Golden Knights fire their coach while still in a playoff spot. 

If you’re riding with us into Masters week and the Final Four, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review. Who are you picking to win it all, and do you think Tiger plays Augusta after this?

#baldguysonthebench #graboneandcrackone #marchmadness #garywoodland

Transcript

Welcome And Weekend Check-In

Graham 0:00

Welcome to another episode of the Bald Guys on the Bench podcast with your hosts Graham Cohen and Scott Wasco. What's up, everyone? Welcome back to another episode of the Bald Guys on the Bench. Scotty Wah. How you doing, brother?

Scott 0:20

I'm doing great. Sunday night. The Final Four is here. You know, to quote my boy Graham last week. March Madlas is off and running. You know, we got a couple games left. But, you know, before we get into anything, you know what time it is? It's time to grab one and crack one. You know, March Madless, grab one and crack one. Couple things. You know, I remember to grab one and crack one.

Graham 0:47

Oh my God, beat a dead horse already. Let's crack it. Shit.

Scott 0:52

I mean, I had to throw that out there to the Madlist. I mean, that was pretty good. But anyhow, Graham, how was your weekend? It's Sunday night. Uh the only thing we're watching right now that's on TV is NBA, because you know, college basketball. We got three games left. Sheesh. Crazy.

Graham 1:14

I know. Crazy. It's yeah. Well, there is a silver lining, though. Yes, there's less games, but that just means it's closer to the Masters. Silver linings, folks. Silver linings.

Scott 1:28

It is. A week, dude, a week from right now. Everybody will be on the way to Augusta Joja. Man. Georgia. Georgia. Did you hear the new song that they had Thomas Rhett do?

Graham 1:45

Yeah.

Scott 1:45

Crazy. Pretty. I was I was like surprised they you know had somebody else come in and do it, but man, I ain't mad at it. Little T Rhett gets the gets all the ladies into it because they all love T Rhett because he's man pretty. But let's go.

Graham 2:04

They mad at it. No, no chick is gonna be like, oh wait, I heard this song. I think this guy's hot. I'm gonna watch the masters now. Get the bleep out of it.

Scott 2:15

You've obviously never been to a Thomas Rett concert.

Graham 2:17

I don't even know who the hell he is.

Scott 2:19

Exactly. My point. Um so once again, how was your weekend, Graham? What'd you do? Uh worked, went to some movies, slept in. What else?

Graham 2:29

I mean, you pretty much hit the nail on the head. So that's pretty much all I did. Worked all day. Less yesterday, worked all day, did the same today. Barely got to watch some of these basketball games. I mean, had to catch it on replay on Sports Center last night. Uh did catch a movie this past Thursday, saw Hill Mary, talked about it the previous week, saw with Ryan Gosling. Amazing movie, worth worth the watch. But uh yeah, pretty much it. How's your weekend, brother?

Scott 2:58

It was great, it was good. Uh started off Thursday, Major League Baseball opening day. Friday was Ava's 18th birthday. You know, we talked about it a little bit last week, and uh yeah, had her her birthday was Friday, had the family over for a party last night, watched some basketball, ate some food, and celebrated, you know, my oldest child being 18. And wow.

Graham 3:26

I still I still can't get over it. I'm just like, wait, what? And then you when you sent me that picture of her, I was just like, who is this girl? Like it grew up quick, man. Especially how like how much she looked like I mean, she definitely looks like both of you, but like she just I mean, looks like Kristen.

Masters Hype And Tiger News

Scott 3:44

Yeah, definitely. It's just like it's it's funny because you know, when she was born, her dad, Kristen's mom and dad were in town. Yeah, and Kristen and her mom literally went and did a bunch of errands on Thursday of March Madness. Yeah. And then they went, you know, she had some contractions, went to the hospital. Her dad and I literally had just ordered pizza, watching basketball games, you know, opening day. And Kristen calls, uh, C-section in 45 minutes, let's go. Left the pizza on the counter, gone. You know? So, you know, always around her birthday, it's always around opening day of baseball and obviously March Madness. So, you know, turned 18, couldn't be happier of the person she is and the things she's done, and just gotta give her a little nod, tip of the cap. Amazing person, and can't wait. Yeah, it's gonna be weird next year, you know. She's not gonna be here, she's gonna be at college. This is our last real summer, dude, you know, as a family. It's weird to think about. And I started thinking about it yesterday, and I'm like, this is it, dude. Yeah, you know, this is it. Like the four of us, yeah, we'll be together all the time, but never like this. Yeah. So, but anyhow, uh, did that March Madness, watch little G. Uh, but before we even get into you know, opening day of baseball and Monday night, or was it Tuesday night and Wednesday night was the TGL finals, and we all got that surprise Tuesday night that Tiger was gonna play on Wednesday. Everybody's like, oh, does this mean he's playing at Augusta? Everybody's like, Yeah, it is. As it's dude, as it's going on, I sent you a text, I sent TP a text, I sent my boy, one of my members at work. Dude, Tiger's the only person like sweating bullets indoors at this thing. Can we get off the pain pills? Yeah, and everybody's like laughing about it, you know, like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then what happens Friday?

Graham 6:01

What had happened was uh look, I was at work and you sent me the message, and I was just like, are you effing kidding me right now? I'm like, are you I'm I'm like, are you showing me an article from the last time that happened? What was that? How many years ago was that now? Six?

Scott 6:19

Not uh not I don't think that many, but oh no, it was before whatever.

Graham 6:23

Yeah, but still I'm like yeah, you know, I see the article, and obviously my first response to you is WTF.

Scott 6:35

And then 45 minutes later it comes out DUI.

Graham 6:40

I the and I mean for the time of the day, I'm just like a DUI. I'm like, that doesn't make any sense.

Scott 6:47

I'm like it's what everybody's saying. It's two o'clock in the afternoon. I I mean on a Sunday during NFL, okay, I can kind of get it if you're in California and you started drinking at the 10 a.m. start of games. Yeah. But on a Friday, I and what did I say? Boom, pain pills.

Graham 7:08

I you know, it's I it's something it sucks. Yeah, it sucks. It sucks. I'm just at a loss for words because it's not like I want to say, oh, you know, it's not even like a fallen hero type of situation. It's just like, dude, you're put up on a pedestal for a reason, right? And after what happened the last time, to come back from that two times. Remember, he passed out at the wheel. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I was more exactly I forgot about that, but still To be that guy, to win back public perception for what the definite second almost third time because all the previous stuff that he had way back in the day, it's just I mean, what he did at the to win the masters again back in 19 to get to pole vault him up. Now he's doing the TGL. Like, look, Tiger's Tiger, we all are fans, all this, all that. But like, look, everyone has their own demons, you know, we don't know everything, but still, something that you and I talk about all the time. When it comes to athletes, and I it just is different because like when we associate it with you know, like NFL players or any other players, baseball, hockey, football, whatever, we always say for that type of money with your contracts, why are you risking it? Have a driver, Graham.

Scott 8:40

I've said it probably since before I've known you.

Graham 8:44

Right.

Scott 8:46

And these athletes that make this kind of money, pay one of your boys a hundred grand a year. He's your driver. Yeah. You know, they're giving their boys money anyway. At least make somebody have some responsibility. Yeah, right. I I I just don't get it, dude. I mean, if I'm in that situ, and you know, I'm not in that situation, you're not either. Right. But I I'm also in that situation at different times where I go to a concert and guess what? I Uber home. Yeah. And I'm not a bazillionaire. Okay? I'm smart enough to hit the app and Uber home. Yeah. So are you. Yeah. You know, that's the part that sucks, dude. That's the part that sucks. They think they're they can't be beat. Yeah. You know, I I just even if it's not your boy, hire somebody that's not your boy. If I'm in that situation, you think I'm hiring you to be my driver? Hell no, because you're gonna be sitting there drinking with me. Facts. I mean, it's gonna be something random that I don't somebody else is gonna be driving us. I I just uh a hundred grand to drive somebody around?

Graham 10:04

I I just uh I okay. I mean, here's a sixty-four thousand dollar question. To you personally, is this a chink in the armor? Does this take a a hit to the to the perception you know how you feel about him? Dude, oh as overall. I mean, not I mean what he's done in golf.

Scott 10:28

I mean, they like No, you can't you can't say that because think about it. Ava was talking about it, we were talking about it on the way to do something on Friday, and she's like, Yeah, this is only the second one we know of. I'm like, Ava, Tiger's been under the microscope since he was like four years old. Yeah, if anything he had done, we would know about it. Yeah. But but you think about, and I'm not you know saying anything bad about Jack or Arnie or any of these other people, right? But they could have done something way back when. Oh, for sure. It's not across the country in 30 seconds, yeah. Is it you can't take away what the guy did on the golf course. Oh, of course not. No. It's a tough question, and you know, what he's done on the golf course is amazing, and you know, the thing about Tiger is what he did off the golf course, not only the DUIs, but all the other shit back in the day. You know, but uh I don't know.

Graham 11:29

It's hard to it's it's like they say if you win, things get swept under the rug, and that's kind of what happened. So I I just I don't know. I mean, it's rough. I saw an article online that basically, you know, a guy was being interviewed and he was a former employee of Tigers, and dude basically said he was just like, Look, man, he likes to drive, he's reckless, and he just he doesn't care. Like he made it an example, he's just like, dude, I was in the car with him and had to tell him repeated times, like, dude, slow down. Or, hey, you know you're passing a cop, and he's just like, whatever.

Scott 12:07

Dude, I mean, the the accident he got in in California, where he almost died, was pretty close to where you lived. Yeah, you've driven on that road, yeah, and said on this podcast, you've been on that road and you drove 30 miles an hour and you were still white knuckling it. Yeah. And tigers drive an 80 plus. Yeah. I mean, one of my one of my members was a pharmacist. And we were literally talking about a TGL night, and then the other night, and he goes, I can promise you he's on chronic pain meds. 100%.

Graham 12:47

Yeah.

Scott 12:49

It sucks. You know, obviously the guy's been through shit medical, medically wise. I mean, pain, and I mean uh you can't put yourself there. He wants to get back. You know he wants to get back.

Graham 13:03

Yeah.

Scott 13:04

But to get back, he's gotta, you know, go through all this shit. And you know, it just sucks, man. It sucks because the day before this, he literally committed to playing the U.S. Senior Open.

Graham 13:17

And and look, for as much as well, I don't want to say is for as much as we love the TGL, we've been talking about how much we want to see him play on the champions tour. Like, we've been talking about that for years. Like, now he's finally of age, and for him to pick and choose certain events, you know, especially the majors on the senior tour, if he was gonna do that, like this is just the perfect opportunity for him to take advantage of that. You got you get to take a card, and plus you get to beat up on the guys we get to you, I'm sorry, we get to watch you beat up on the same guys that you beat up all through the late 90s and early 2000s. Trust me. And I guarantee you there's some guys that are waiting for him to come back and saying, all right, we're getting our you know, we're getting a second chance with this.

Scott 14:06

But I mean, we're all sitting there waiting, is he gonna play at Augusta? You know, as of whatever Wednesday night TGL, everybody's like, oh, he's playing at Augusta. Now I would, if I was a betting person, which we all know I am, I would say I would say the chances of him playing at Augusta are pretty slim. Well, I mean, he didn't get hurt, so I I'm just saying the reason I say no is because he doesn't want to bring that negative publicity, you know, the media tint. Could you imagine the interviews at Augusta?

Graham 14:44

Well, yeah, hey, okay, here's the second sixty-four thousand dollar question. Even though he's a five-time champion there, does does the chairman say, hey, maybe you shouldn't come? Does he does he make that call? Or does he tell them no?

Scott 15:01

I'm pretty sure he let Ann Hel Cabrera come back who did jail time. That's fair.

Graham 15:09

All right, you you got me there. I I I I'm not saying it to be a dick. I'm just saying You got me there.

Scott 15:15

You you can't like Andy said, is he DQ'd from the Masters? Well, number one, obviously Andy's not a golf nerd. You're never DQ from the Masters as a past champion, you know. They're not gonna tell Tiger you can't play.

Graham 15:34

No. I just man.

Scott 15:38

It just sucks, dude. It sucks because how excited. I mean, I got home and I'm like, let's go, TGL, Tigers playing. I'm texting, you watching Tiger? You know, and then 2 30 Friday afternoon on the way home, I get the notification, and it's like, oh my god, dude. Then you get the next notification, DUI, and you're like, oh my god, dude. Yeah. I I just I don't know. I don't know, man. It sucks. It it really sucks.

Graham 16:15

Well, I guess only time will tell.

Tiger’s Image And Athlete Accountability

Scott 16:17

Yeah. I don't know what I I don't know what the deadline is to say yes or no. I thought it was I thought it was tomorrow. I think it's tomorrow. But I I mean I have no idea. But I don't know, man. Anyhow. Uh couple things real quick. I know you're not a huge baseball person. I just want to throw them in there uh just to before we get into the Houston Open, because that is a story of all stories. Uh the Major League Baseball season started, right? Thursday. I actually started Wednesday night with the Yankees boat racing the Giants. Um, everybody here knows I'm a Mets fan. Okay. We talked about my boy Carson Bench, the rookie that made the team starting in right field. Uh we actually had open day against Skeens. Chase Skeens in the first inning, only got two run two outs. But that's not even what I want to talk about. Bench hit a home run in his first game for his first hit, right? And had a stolen base. Okay. Fun fact Bench became the youngest player to ever hit a home run walk and steal a base on opening day. The two guys that he passed, Barry Bonds and Bryce Harper.

Graham 17:35

I mean, they're okay.

Scott 17:37

Is that any good? Is that any good?

Graham 17:39

I mean, I've heard of them.

Scott 17:41

Yeah, I mean, insane.

Graham 17:45

Wow.

Scott 17:45

Crazy. Yeah, pretty wild. Next thing, baseball related. I just got to throw it out there because it's quite hilarious. Jeff and I were talking about it last night, and all Mets fans. Everybody knows Edwin Diaz left the Mets, went to the Dodgers, right? Yeah. So Diaz, when he came in for the last eight years with the Mets, they play that song Narcos. Well, all these Doyer fans that have no clue have been posting for the last two nights. Best entrance in the history of baseball, because they had some lady playing the trumpet when Diaz entered the game. They didn't have the real dude, Timmy Trumpets. They had some chick that butchered the song, and everybody's like, greatest. I'm like, dude, even Yankees fans are going, Dodgers fans, relax. It's it was way better in City Field where there's real fans. You guys have been fans of the Dodgers for three years.

Graham 18:39

Oh shit, it's hilarious.

Scott 18:42

It's it's spot on, dude. It's so funny. But just had to throw that out there. Jeff and I were just rolling last night. It was just the comments, it's hilarious. But anyhow. Uh Houston opened. No, go ahead.

Graham 18:57

No, I was just gonna I was gonna make a joke and say, well, my Dodgers did come back three come back in the late innings all three games to sweep the the diamondbacks.

Scott 19:06

That's great. Who cares?

Graham 19:11

I know because there's 157 more games to go. Who? Anyway, so uh golf.

Scott 19:20

Anyhow. Houston open, dude. Houston open. Last chance our boy had to get inside the top 50, right? We've been talking about it for four or five weeks. Good opening round, bad second round, you know, is what it is. Misses the cut. You know, uh it's golf, man. It's golf. That's all you can say. He's got one more opportunity to get into Augusta, and he's got a win this coming week. At least he is entered into it. So, you know, crazier things have happened. And by crazier things happening, the story of the year in sports as of you know March 29th, in my opinion, is Gary Woodland getting the win today. And people that don't know the story of Gary Woodland, look it up. We're gonna give you the Cliff Note version. My guy had brain surgery in September of 23. Okay, that's three years ago. Two weeks ago, he had a very emotional press conference at the players' championship talking about the PTSD from that surgery and the things in his life, and then gets the dub today. And if you saw him coming up the last couple holes today, and the the crowd chanting his name, and when he finally made the last putt and got the dub, the emotions, it was absolutely incredible. And a quote he said was in a game where it's an individual store uh individual sport, the team I have behind me is why I'm here. And dude, when he took his hat off, embraced his caddy, then embraced his wife. All I can say is if you didn't have tears in your eyes watching that, you probably needed to check your pulse because you were probably dead.

Graham 21:24

I I mean look, I was just watching the highlights earlier, and I mean I thought it was a really cool thing that Menwoo Lee and Hoy and Hoygaard basically did, and to you know, they they stood back to let Homeboy get his flowers. And look, there's a re It's funny, unless you're really into golf, and what I mean by that is like you know all the players, you know, you're into the day to day like how you are, because you know, being a head pro and it's on TV all the time for you. A lot of people don't know how well Gary Woodland is liked amongst all the players. And To have that respect from his peers and everything that he's gone through, it just it just says so much for everyone else and him as well. And it's just like, look, man, this is his second win since what was it, the the US Open in 19? Right?

Scott 22:17

Yeah, he won the US Open.

Graham 22:19

And it's just, I mean, and plus, I mean, I watched his highlights today. This dude was dropping, I mean, he was hitting shots, dropping putts from 30 feet, like, oh, it ain't no thing. You know, I mean, he lit, I mean, he said in his press conference after it was over, he said, besides that first win he had, he's like, honestly, this felt like it was the best four rounds of golf I've played on tour.

Scott 22:45

Yeah.

Graham 22:45

Like everything clicked.

Scott 22:47

If you want to know the story of Gary Woodland, go watch the Netflix thing. What's it called? Full swing. Yeah. Watch the episode about him when he's going to have surgery. Yeah. And he and he literally wrote his kids' letters before his surgery in case he didn't make it. Jesus. That's all you need to think about. Yeah. That's how far we've come from that to today. And tell me that's not the best story in sports.

Graham 23:18

No, I I agree.

Scott 23:20

I mean, it's dude.

Graham 23:23

Choke me up over here a little bit, bro.

Scott 23:25

Dude, hey, it should, dude. It should, because you're a human being.

Graham 23:29

Yeah.

Scott 23:30

You know, uh, it's insane, man. I just I don't know. Pretty wild, pretty amazing, amazing story. But what else can you say, dude? Golf, like we always say, right? Sports is what? The ultimate reality show.

Graham 23:47

100%.

Scott 23:50

You can't make it up. Can't make it up. But I don't know. What else you gotta say about golf? Anything? I mean, yeah, dude.

Graham 23:59

I well, I saw in the highlights. You see, your boy Jake Knapp in the final round had a birdie putt, just missed it off the right side to shoot the course to go for the course record, 61.

Scott 24:11

Dude, Jake Knapp. Like, he's a stud. Right? He is so good, dude. He is so good, and he is gonna break through. Oh, yeah. And dude, oof. He's gonna he's gonna do damage out there.

Graham 24:27

I you know the we've been saying that about a few guys now, and you know, we talked about this a couple days ago, how you know, from the press conference from the PGA championship, where they were talking about the new commissioner was saying they're gonna be making some changes, and it's just like with basically not more or less the formatting, but how players, tour players, get into fields. Because folks, if you don't know, like there's so many different qualifiers, and if you won this and you won that, or you're this rank, you can, you know, this allows you to get in certain tournaments, you know, they're gonna change all that. And now with how the fields have kind of come down a little bit. I mean, Scott, you were saying that now all the elevated events, instead of being guaranteed no cuts, now they're gonna have basically the full field and there will be cuts. Um, I mean, look, people don't realize like golf, such as you know, the other sports leagues, it almost feels like you have to know someone to become a PGA tour player. Like, there's so many people I mean, yes, and no. I'm just look, if you win what you're supposed to win on the lower tours, yes, you'll make it. But I'm just saying, there's so many guys that are not on the tour that play what it's not the Quant Ferry, is it or whatever they call it now? Like so many of those guys could play on tour.

Scott 25:55

Granted, here's the thing, and we've had him on our show, yeah. Eric Mikeree, okay? If and I've always said if Eric Mike tree was as good as he is at the sport of baseball, he's on a roster. If he's as good as he is in the sport of football, he's on a roster. There's only a certain amount of players that can tee it up, dude. Yeah. In a tour event. Right. And the thing that sucks, the old school way of PGA tour cues course Q school, you could go from having zero status to getting through level one of Q school, level two, and level three, and you're on the big you're in the big show. Right. Those days were over. Right. Okay. So yes and no. I I mean, are there players on the Corn Ferry tour that could go compete on the PGA tour? Absolutely. And that's been the same way as 10, 15 years ago. Right. Okay. See Jason Gore. Jason Gore wins the California State Open at SCGA, my spot, 2024, right? Yeah. Qualifies for the U.S. Open in 2025. He's in the last group with Goosan. Okay, shoots 80, whatever. Doesn't win, so does Goosen. But anyhow, Gore wins three in a row on the nationwide tour, goes to the PGA tour, wins a PGA tour event. Yeah. If you play well, you're gonna go. Yeah. But knowing people, that's that's not the way you get on the PGA.

Graham 27:25

No, yeah, not anymore.

MLB Opening Day And Mets Notes

Scott 27:26

I I'm just saying, like, it's it knowing people is not uh being a being a draw for a tournament when you have sponsor exemptions, yes, that's how you can get in. AKA C Seth Curry, C Tony Romo. Yeah, those are the things that I hate because you got guys that are grinding out there for a living. Right. And they're not giving those sponsor exemptions to them. I get it. If I'm running the tour, yeah, who do I want? John Smith or Seth Curry? Yeah, people are gonna come watch Seth Curry. I get it. But Seth Curry's taking away a spot from somebody that's doing this as for a living. It it's Steph Curry, not Seth Curry. Whatever. Steph, Steph, whatever. Don't care. I'll smack myself three times. Don't care.

Graham 28:07

I'm just saying.

Scott 28:08

Don't care. March Madless. Let's go. Um, don't care. I'm just saying it has nothing to do with knowing people.

Graham 28:17

Yeah, I I mean, look, I mean, ultimately to the fans, all we care about seeing good golf, right? But also within that, the fans kind of want to see their guy. I mean, I guess really the question is for the average fan, is it harder to find a new person to root for? You know what I mean? It's just like I I don't know. It it it's it's just like if you're watching golf enough, like that's really what it comes down to. Do you have the casual fan that's just watching the the majors, or do you have fans that will at least watch seven, you know, sixty percent how about this? Half the tour events. I mean, let's put it this way besides you and I, how many people are watching the Houston Open?

Scott 29:08

Yeah, I would say more people are watching this week than are gonna than watch last week.

Graham 29:14

Oh, for sure.

Scott 29:15

And the thing that sucks about that is the course last week is one of the best courses that those guys play.

Graham 29:22

I mean the irony sometimes it's just like I mean, Justin Thomas came out and said it, you know, over par cut, 7,400 yard par 71, you know, 11 underwins. Yeah.

Scott 29:36

How good is that venue?

Graham 29:38

Unlike, you know, Gary shoot was it 25, 24? Yeah, yeah.

Scott 29:43

I mean, but this the Houston Open is always geared up for a practice for Augusta. There's no rough, you know. They try to make it as close to Augusta as they can. But anyhow, I mean, I I can't say enough. Gary Woodland gets the dub. Uh what can he say? You know, we got one more week until it's master's week, and well, I don't know, man. But you know what we have to do. Uh, is tonight the night we do our Masters Champions Dinner or do we do it next week?

Graham 30:15

No, next week.

Scott 30:16

Okay. Because Rory announced it. Uh did we talk about that last week?

Graham 30:20

No. I don't think. I don't know. No, we didn't. No. I mean, we didn't talk about the food. I mean, I know we I know each of the years we've been doing this, we talk about what we would order, but no, we didn't get into it as of last week.

Scott 30:34

Well, well, I know we didn't. Yeah. Oh, it's yeah.

Graham 30:39

But hey, it's time to jump in.

Scott 30:42

March Madness. I don't even know. Do we I mean we really don't even need to talk about the games Thursday or Friday. Everybody's already heard about that shit and know about that. Yeah. I just wanna dude, Illinois beats their fellow Big Ten opponent, Iowa, by what, 12? And somebody brought something up about this that I saw today, and I thought I never even thought about it, dude, until I read this.

Graham 31:11

Okay.

Scott 31:12

Who's the most famous basketball player that ever played at Iowa?

Graham 31:19

Is this something I should know? Yeah, you should. Shit.

Scott 31:28

It's not a man.

Graham 31:29

Oh, it's Caitlyn Clark.

Scott 31:31

Did you ever see her say anything about them making it to the Sweet 16 or the Elite Eight?

Graham 31:38

I well, I mean, uh you know it's funny. No, the answer to that is No. Well, no, I I was debating if I was gonna take a quick little segue here because it wasn't in the notes, because I know you don't really care. But uh maybe it was because you know she's worrying about uh the WNBA got a new CBA and they got paid. And folks, if you can see the look on his face, who but yeah, you make a valid point. See, you caught me off guard with you know who the most famous player is. Yeah, obviously I was saying Caitlin Clark, but I would assume you meant male. Uh male?

Scott 32:19

It's it's amazing to me, dude. Right? The more you think about it, you're like, wow. No support. I wonder what Google says.

Graham 32:30

Like who's the most dude? Who's the most famous men's? That's a good question. I have no, I mean, I couldn't even tell you.

Scott 32:39

No support out there on social media.

Graham 32:43

Hmm.

Scott 32:44

Yeah. Very weird. Very strange.

Graham 32:47

I'm I'm a little shocked by that, to be completely honest.

Scott 32:49

Yeah. I well, I mean, who knows? I don't know. It's crazy. But Illinois beat him. Illinois beat Houston Thursday night. Uh uh, just I don't know. Second game last night, dude. Arizona down seven and came back and won by what 15 to events. Ugh. I was, you know, pulling for Purdue, not just because you had Arizona, but we could have had three teams from the Big Ten in the Final Four. And Purdue looked good, dude, for 22 minutes, and then you know, Arizona just became Arizona. I mean, geez, Arizona on what, Thursday night? 62% from three-point land. How are you gonna beat that? Yeah, you're not. What are you what are you looking up, Graham? You're like intensely looking something up.

Houston Open And Gary Woodland’s Win

Graham 33:50

Well, I I hey I'm I practice what I preach over here. I hey Google, who is the most famous college basketball player at Iowa? The first response is Caitlin Clark. Yeah. I should I have said male player? And it says other notable Iowa legends, Luke Garza. I mean, I've heard of him. I mean, he's in the league. Uh, I don't know who the other guy is, but you know, do you you know who BJ Armstrong is? I know the name. He played, he won three championships with the Bulls the first three years, or at least the first two years, but still, like, yeah. I mean, wow. Sorry. I just I'm like, come on, Google, you gotta say something. And yeah, Caitlin Clark, wow.

Scott 34:35

Yeah, didn't say anything about it, dude. Very weird. But I don't know. What do you do? What do you do? I'm just gonna throw this out there too, everyone. Uh last week when Graham and I were talking about our predictions going into Sweet 16, and I was like, Iowa State looks strong, I'm afraid of them. I hope everybody faded me because boy, they got smoked. And then I'm like, then I'm like, then I'm like, Yukon bet your house on Michigan State. I hope you faded that too.

Graham 35:07

So now see, the thing is, is you said that on the podcast, but did you even take any action to back that up yourself?

Scott 35:18

Uh I had Michigan State plus seven and a half in an alternate line. And I had Iowa State in a money line parlay, you know. Yeah, I remember that, yeah. That was my one loser. But yeah, I mean, Iowa State ran out of gas, dude. Like we said last week, their best player done on the court. Sucks. But what do you say? What do you do? I mean, it is what it is. But let's jump into today, dude. I mean, Michigan lays the wood to Tennessee. Wow. Didn't see Tennessee beaten Iowa State last week, and I had to screenshot this. This is pretty wild. In the Michigan game, with 10 minutes and 52 seconds left in the first half, Tennessee was up 16 to 14. Okay. Wow. At half at halftime, Michigan was up 48 to 26.

Graham 36:11

Wait, what?

Scott 36:12

Yeah. With 10 minutes and 50 seconds left in the first half, Tennessee was up 16 to 14. At halftime, Michigan was up 48 to 26.

Graham 36:22

Yeah. You know, the Yeah. It's like when you hear scores like that, you're like, wait a minute. This is the Elite Eight? How is the team getting boat raced? Like, what had happened was uh the juice ran out.

Scott 36:41

I I I don't know, like this is weird, dude. Michigan's too big, too deep. They shoot it well. Tennessee, hey, not saying they're a bad team, they just ran into a buzzhole. Oh, for sure. Obviously. Just like, you know, Zona down seven yesterday and went by 15. Or they went, they won, they outscored them by 28 in the second half. I was telling you earlier the bet. I wish I made them minus six and a half in the second half. Is that any good? Didn't didn't want to lay the juice, but whatever. Uh then we got the game that capped off the uh the weekend. And that is uh Duke and Yukon. Dude, once again, Yukon people, I'm sorry. I've bashed your team all year. All year. Fraud, fraud, fraud, fraud, fraud. I'm sorry. I'll give credit where credit is due.

Graham 37:40

Duke blows 19 point lead, dude. Buzzer beater.

Scott 37:47

Up two with 10 seconds left. Inbound the ball. All Boozer has to do is hold on to it. Foul. Get fouled, go up four, game over. Instead, they try to play keep away.

Graham 38:01

And he throws it away. And homeboy hits that three from almost half court. Wins by a point. Wins by a point.

Scott 38:12

I'm just gonna throw this out there. And then I'll let you say what you're gonna say.

Graham 38:18

What do I have to say? Except disappointment.

Scott 38:22

Two years in a row. Two. That Duke's season ends on incredible choke jobs. Last year in the Final Four against Houston, 14-point lead, 10 minutes left. Duke only had one field goal in the last 10 minutes. They had a six-point lead, dude, with 35-36 seconds left in the game and lose by three. Okay. Since 2015, Duke has only been in the national title game once. With all of those players on that team. They have all the talent, all the time, one national championship game since 15.

Graham 39:06

Can we just go out there and say you know, I just you got no response.

Scott 39:15

I know. I'm sorry.

Graham 39:17

The hate is real. Did they choke? Yeah. Did they make it's not hate? It's not hate, it's facts. I said earlier. No, it no no. The reason why I'm saying hate is just because of how emphatic you are about it. There's a that's what I'm saying. If you weren't a North Carolina fan, you like if you were a fan of Washington, you wouldn't care as much about this story as being a North Carolina fan. Like, that's my point.

Scott 39:45

Like it's maybe a little bit, but I'm spitting facts. Like if Carolina choked, lost by 19, and I'm blasting them.

Graham 39:52

Yeah, you're not wrong. I I mean, look, what had happened, happened. I'm uh was that a a bonehead move by a freshman player? And it was the it was the younger brother, it was Caden, not you know, the but still like it's self-awareness. I it's it you know, it's it's one of those things that I I guess what I have to say is this the one thing that people took for granted with Bill Belichick is you know, every everyone say, you know, the him being a great coach and all this, but it's just like you know, when you played for him, they practiced everything to the most minute things just to make sure they you know they're on top of everything. And even though you you know it's just like the most basic of things, they're still gonna practice that. That situation, is that something Duke is gonna practice? Nine times out of ten, probably not. Should they have practiced it? Yes, but I mean it's all I it's hearsay. Like you just said, they had a two I mean look, they had the turnover, the play before that. They got rid of the ball, like they hit they were up five, and then they came back and got uh or it was either four and they got a two-pointer or three, because I was at work when I was watching it. Like they got that three-pointer again and made it the two-point game. So they gave they turned over the ball before, Connecticut scores, and then they inbound the ball, and then that shit happened. With ten seconds left, there's a ten-second rule to get it to the other side of the court. You could have just held the ball and wait, waited for them to foul you. Why they needed to move it up, you could because here's the thing even if there would have been a half a second left, or even a full second, how hard is it to inbound the ball with a second left?

Scott 41:57

Dude, and then basically.

Graham 42:04

Yeah, but they still have to take the length of the court.

Scott 42:08

You've seen you've seen the end of games in certain situations, and now I'm playing devil's advocate, right? You've seen the exact situation where teams do play keep away, okay, and don't get fouled. Breakaway, dunk, game over. You know, tomato tomato. If they would have done that, nobody'd be talking about this right now.

Graham 42:28

100%. But yeah, I mean, look, look, it is a choke job. Like, I mean, you can't say it's not. It's just, you know, for being a Duke fan, like it's just like watching it slip through the cracks, you're just like, what the hell just happened? Like, as I was telling you after I got out of work, I'm watching it, I'm just like, yo, man, you better be careful. You're gonna turn this ball over. And then he turns the ball over, and I'm like, bro, he has a chance and makes this. And not only does he make it, it's a swish. Like, dude was nothing but net.

Scott 43:00

We're sitting here watching it. They're on the line, UConn, he misses the first one, makes a second one, and I'm like, Well, this shit's over. He's gonna get fouled, two free throws, they're gonna win by you know, four.

Graham 43:11

Yeah, why didn't they foul him right away? That doesn't make any sense.

Scott 43:14

That was weird, too. That was weird, and there you go.

Graham 43:19

Like, why were they not like were they expected like that's what I mean? Now that I think about it, it's crazy. When he gave up the ball, there was four seconds left. Why were you not trying to foul there? Did you did you expect you're gonna get the turnover?

Scott 43:35

Crazy. Insane. But like everybody expected, our final four. I mean, and by expected in everybody, I mean Kellen and I. We have we have three of the four in. Uh Illinois, two and a half point favorite over Yukon. They have the early matchup on Saturday. Don't know what I like right there. Michigan, one and a half point favorite over zona. In my opinion, like I said last week, that game is the national championship game. Yeah. Especially, especially now that you know Florida's out, Houston's out, you know, Duke's out. I mean, and then the ball guys on the bench pool. If Michigan beats Zona, Kellen wins the bracket. And if Arizona beats Michigan, our boy Grammar Police wins the bracket. So once again, it's been tight uh for three weeks or two weeks, unless her name is Tyler Pritkin, who, however, has moved his way up a little bit.

Graham 44:44

You know, he's not in last place.

Scott 44:46

Yeah, his champion's still out there. Okay. Who is in last? I mean, they need to get a shout out. Who's in last place? I mean, it wouldn't be the bald guys if we didn't shoot out, shout out last place. Come on.

Graham 45:02

Who's in last place? This is a catch 22 for me. I want Arizona.

Scott 45:06

Oh, I don't know who this guy is. This is one of Aiden's boys. I don't know who it is. But he's in last place. But Ron Masters is somebody we do know that's in second to last place. So second Ron. Yeah. TP's actually tied with Ron. There you go.

Graham 45:22

All right.

Scott 45:23

Yeah.

Graham 45:24

You're not in the basement, T P. Congratulations.

Scott 45:26

Yeah. But hey, I mean, geez, Louise. It's been a good event, good tournament.

Graham 45:34

Yeah.

Scott 45:35

Uh, you know, I I don't know. Obviously, I'm pulling for Michigan number one because of my free $50 bet I made on him a while ago. And number two, you know, it's Michigan. But speaking of Michigan, uh made it into the frozen four along with Wisconsin. I mean, yeah. Uh Michigan State, who was number two in the country, got that L in the tournament, and Penn State got that L. Uh, but you know, I don't know, dude. It this tournament, I I just I'm shocked with Duke. When I read that thing about they haven't been in the national championship game since 2015 with all that talent, I was just like, wow.

Graham 46:24

Pretty amazing. To be fair though, it's it's hard to get to the national championship. In the last ten years, how many they've at least made this uh Sweet 16 every year, right? They've at least made the Elite Eight. You know what I mean? It's just like look, so if you just say in the last 10 years, has there been more than two teams to go back more than once?

Scott 46:55

Yeah, UConn went back to back.

Graham 46:57

Yeah, well, I'm saying, but the like besides UConn and like maybe one other team has gone twice.

Scott 47:04

So Caroline Carolina and 17 and 22.

Graham 47:09

All right. I I I'm just saying, like, I mean, I get what you're trying to say. You're throwing shade, I get it, but like, yeah, they're good programs.

Scott 47:17

And and I think they were in it in 16 when they lost that buzzer beer to Villanova, Carolina. Well, it is what it is.

Graham 47:30

It is what it is.

Scott 47:31

Oh, here we go. 2005 win, 2009 win, 16 loss, 17 win, 22 loss. There you go. But whatever. Next year. It was brutal, dude. I mean, brutal. Brutal.

Graham 47:57

Because then they was so they would have played Illinois, dude.

Scott 48:02

Illinois, yeah.

PGA Tour Access And Sponsor Exemptions

Graham 48:04

I mean, the the the worst part is I had them losing in my bracket. I actually had Duke losing in this round, but I had them losing to Houston, not Connecticut. So I but you know, when I was watching at work, I caught literally I caught the last minute and a half, and I was just like, you know, I really want them to win. And then it didn't, but you know, it's the catch 22 with with the pool, you know what I mean? Kellen has missed it's like I want Arizona to win, but I'd, you know, I'd rather have Kellen win the 50 bucks than Andy. Sorry, Andy.

Scott 48:39

Um, I it last time Duke was in the national championship, they beat Wisconsin by five and fifteen. Wow.

Graham 48:49

Wow. They're always in the thick of it. I mean, it's I look expectations are high. When you're one of four teams, I mean, could you imagine being a program where you're expected to win or you're expected to go to the national championship every year? Yeah. Yeah. Like, that's insane to think about. Insane.

Scott 49:11

Oh, this is even more insane.

Graham 49:13

Oh, okay. Wow. Wow. No, don't. I don't. I don't like this one.

Scott 49:18

Jason Tatum, Zion Williamson, Cooper Flag. Zero national championships.

Graham 49:25

Yeah. How many NBA championships do they have? Uh Tatum, I don't care.

Scott 49:33

Don't care. Wow. I uh Wow.

Graham 49:40

Yeah, they've had some good players.

Scott 49:42

Cameron, Cameron Boozer, Wendell Carter, Derek Lively, zero. Cam Reddish, Mar.

Graham 49:51

Yeah, they got good players. I mean, if you take the amount of top five players or top ten players that come out of Duke in the draft the next year, there's at least one. They have at least one top ten player in the year. Or should I say they have a top ten player come out of their school every year in the draft?

Scott 50:15

Wow. Hey. Tomato, tomato.

Graham 50:19

Yeah. Hey, let's give, you know, let's give some other teams a chance.

Scott 50:25

Wow. Dukes last four losses, led by 14, Houston Final Four, led by 17, Texas Tech this year, led by 13 versus Carolina this year, led by 19, Yukon this year. Love it.

Graham 50:41

Well, they're a young team. I I I I mean, I don't know what to say. Yeah. I agree.

Scott 50:48

Anyhow, uh, what else we got going, dude? Final four. Oh, my knights fired Cassidy today, dude.

Graham 50:56

Dude, I'm at work and I saw like they had the the news on and they showed that. I'm like, wait a minute. I'm like, aren't they are they out of the playoffs?

Scott 51:04

No, dude, we're still in a playoff spot. That's my point.

Graham 51:07

Like, what happened? Did they catch the him with the owner's wife or something? Like, what happened?

Scott 51:11

Dude, what there's eight regular season games left, right? We're still in a playoff spot. Right. But this team, this team, since the beginning of their existence, has been very aggressive in all things. Trades, free agency, coaches, all the above. I mean, homeboy just won a Stanley Cup for us three years ago. Yeah. I don't agree with it, but Jerry is all fired up about it. You know, some say he lost the team. I don't know, dude. I guarantee you, and this is Wester Domas right here on Sunday, March 29th. He's gonna go to the Oilers next year and win the cup. Wow. Boston shit canned him, which was weird. Successful coach. I don't know. I don't know, dude. I don't agree with it. The guy we replaced him with, I hope it's not a long-term thing. Because Greg I would assume it's internal.

Graham 52:20

They're not gonna bring in someone. It's not. It's not. They brought in someone that's not even within the building.

Scott 52:26

Yeah. Some dude that coached the coached the flyers and got fired from them last year.

Graham 52:35

That doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't you have the interim? Like that doesn't make like the assistant head coach.

Scott 52:43

It's a very knee-jerk reaction, I think, dude. Wow. John Tortarella is our interim head coach.

Graham 52:51

I didn't know that name. Didn't he use the coach the Rangers back in the day?

Scott 52:57

I have no idea.

Graham 52:59

You're the hockey guy.

March Madness Elite Eight Chaos

Scott 53:00

All I know, all I know is Greg, one of the dads on my on Kellen's fantasy team, is a huge flyers guy, and he goes, dude, hiring torts is insane behavior. I was like, insane. We fired Cassidy, but we are a sinking ship. And he goes, something maybe will help for the rest of the season, but bringing him back for next year would be a huge mistake. I mean, I don't know a lot about him. TP was like, dude, he's had great teams and never done well. I mean, are the Knights going to do anything in the playoffs? I don't think so. Dude, we're we're so top heavy. We've been so, like I said, aggressive and moves and this and that. We have no draft picks. You know, we've traded them all away. And it's been great. We started off well. We have no goaltending.

Graham 53:50

Okay.

Scott 53:50

I mean, I mean, it's just you can get hot though in hockey and win. So and that's, I guess, what the front office is thinking. Make a change. I mean, never forget the Kings were the eight seed and went all the way in one.

Graham 54:08

Yeah.

Scott 54:10

But TP said he's had many chances with many good teams, didn't do anything. The Knights have been terrible, and then on a after the hockey or Olympic break, we've been awful. Couldn't do anything. Beat the stars. One of the best teams out there. It's whatever. I don't expect to do anything. I'm kind of hoping we don't even make the playoffs. I said it to Jerry last night, so it's not a first round exit. But I mean, if you're looking at it right now, I mean, we're still sitting there on the 29th. Look at standings in the Pacific. The Ducks are first in the Pacific, Oilers second, Knights third. And what do they take? Top two? No, three in the Pacific. Oh, okay. Three in every every but, and then wild card. But I mean, if you look at the East, I mean, we have the Knights have 80 points, okay? The Avalanche have 106.

Graham 55:17

Oh.

Scott 55:19

Yeah. Dude, and the whole Eastern uh uh just whatever. So once again, it's hockey. It's talking. Get a hot goalie and shit can happen.

Graham 55:30

Yo, you you got me laying around somewhere? No, no. I mean, like, you know, it's kind of like uh basically my entire rant when it comes to the Steelers, where it's just like, yo, man, if we're not going deep, what's the point? Get the draft picks.

Scott 55:49

Well, I don't really care about draft picks because we ain't got nothing until God knows when. It's like the Rams. It's like the Rams throwing off us. What did the dudes less sneed where shirt said fuck your draft picks or something? Yeah. That's what the Knights do. Or so I mean, well, then okay.

Graham 56:03

Then if that's the case, then why did you say you'd rather not make the playoffs?

Scott 56:09

Cause we ain't going nowhere. The first round matchup's gonna be a tough matchup.

Graham 56:16

So what you're saying is you'd rather not watch them lose in the playoffs.

Scott 56:20

Correct.

Graham 56:21

Okay. No, that's I'm just correct. I'm just trying to gauge where where you were coming at with me with that.

Scott 56:26

But I mean, like I said, it's hockey. You can go on a run. Facts. Well, I mean, I don't expect it, but you never know. The Skings fans didn't expect it way back when.

Graham 56:38

Yeah.

Scott 56:39

Either. But they rode a hot goalie and they got shit done.

Graham 56:43

Well, I guess my only my last question to that would be I mean, are you guys healthy at least? Yeah, they're healthy. They're healthy.

Scott 56:51

They just, I mean, Wild Bill hadn't played a game all year, which sucks. But is he the reason we're struggling? No. You know, right. For the first time in franchise history, we're not gonna have a winning record as far as wins and losses ever. Which is crazy. What? But we're still in play. Yeah, but you're still in playoff contingent. That's how bad the West is.

Graham 57:15

Wow.

Scott 57:16

Yeah. Terrible. Wow. Yep. But what can you do? Just sit here and watch it and love it. Because it's a great sport.

Graham 57:32

I mean, yeah, you know, I'll pick it up when the playoffs start. Dude, the last hockey game I watched was USA Canada at five o'clock in the morning.

Scott 57:43

And if that's the last hockey game you ever watched in your entire life. I you can't I mean, if you're gonna go out on a high note, I mean, like I told Jerry, like I told, like I told TP the night's first year of existence. I'm like, yo, if we were in the Stanley Cup in year one after we won game one against the Capitals, I'm like, I'm never watching a hockey game again. I'm done out. Yeah, done. I'm done. But obviously, I would that was not real. But anyhow, anyhow, fun episode next week, dude. Start thinking about your you know, favorites and underdogs. Start thinking about your your Masters Champions Dinner. Uh it's almost here, dude. Good God. Good great. Didn't we do an episode Sunday night after Rory won? I think we did. I think yeah, we did.

Graham 58:39

I think we did.

Scott 58:40

Yeah.

Graham 58:40

I mean, hey, that's a historic event. There's not too many people that can say they got the Grand Slam.

Scott 58:48

Yeah, until Scotty this year at the US Open.

Graham 58:51

Yeah.

Scott 58:51

Well, I mean He'll be number eight, he'll be number eight, and then Jordan at the PGA.

Graham 58:59

You know, he's one I always forget about. I'm like, oh yeah, he did win those other tournaments. Yeah, he did. I'm like, wait, what? He did. I'm like, he won the British, really? He did. Yeah. I I don't know. I mean, I I mean, is it a hot take? I almost want to say Rory's not gonna make the cut. I mean, he's been playing like shit. He's been playing like shit.

Scott 59:24

You heard it here first, folks. G Money, everybody? Hey, whatever I've been throwing out lately is a fading. So throw, I mean, we gotta find that line right here. Let's go.

Graham 59:40

Right. Hey, I'm excited about it. I'm excited to jump into this master's dinner next week. I'm excited about the final four. I mean, so who you picking then? Who do you like?

Final Four Picks And Bracket Pool Talk

Scott 59:55

Uh gun to your head. I like gun to my head right now.

Graham 1:00:01

I like Illinois, Michigan. I like in the championship game. Michigan's been the best team all year. All year. Without a doubt. And I'm going with history. Hey, represent the blue. I'm representing the West. I'm taking Arizona and I'll take Illinois. So let's go West. Come on.

Scott 1:00:31

And so that means everybody take UConn.

Graham 1:00:36

Right. Dude, the way they've I mean, Yukon is just pulling shit out there. I mean, like, I dude, all their games that you've been I've been watching, I mean, uh, mostly highlights, but I mean, I watched their games, like they there's something to be said about tenacity and grit.

Scott 1:00:53

Dude, they were down 18 the other night and made it a game, lost by four. Or no, they were winning. No, sorry, they were they weren't advanced into Michigan State. Yeah, they were up 18 against Michigan State, and I'm like, oh my god, never saw this one coming.

Graham 1:01:08

Yeah, they were up and then one, yeah.

Scott 1:01:11

Then I'm like, oh come on, Michigan State, come on, make me feel right. No. But I don't know, man. Well, I don't know. It's gonna be regardless, it's gonna be pretty good. I mean, you got three, what do you got? Two of the number one seeds? Yeah, two one seeds in there. No. Yeah. Illinois at three.

Graham 1:01:33

Arizona. Oh, it was Michigan one?

Scott 1:01:36

Yeah, Michigan, Arizona are one seed. Yep. Could have been three. Yep. Yep. But anyhow, Graham, get us out of here. Fun episode, and uh here we go. Back at it.

Graham 1:01:54

Scotty Wah, it's always a pleasure doing the podcast with you. Tiger Woods, get your shit together. And hey, as the best homie always says, boo-bye.

Scott 1:02:05

Good night, friends. Jim Nance, can't wait to hear you next Monday. One shining moment. As the champions rip down the net. And then we get to hear him on Sunday at Augusta National. Let's go. Greatest job in the world, Jim Nance, my hero. Bubba!