DnA Sports Recap

Mammoth After Break, Ace Bailey Record Night w/Jazz, Utes Spring Camp Preview, WBC USA Shocking Loss

• Darrin & AJ

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🏒 Utah Mammoth Check-In

How does the Mammoth look coming out of the break? We’ll analyze their recent play, momentum, and what their real playoff chances look like down the stretch.


🏈 Utah Utes Spring Camp Preview

Spring football is here! What should fans expect from the Utah Utes during camp? We’ll talk position battles, key storylines, and players to watch as the team gears up for the new season.


🏀 Ace Bailey’s Historic Night for the Jazz

Ace Bailey goes OFF and sets a Utah Jazz franchise record with a career performance. What does it mean for the future of the team and his development?


⚾ Team USA’s Shocking WBC Loss

An embarrassing loss for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic — what went wrong and what it means for the tournament going forward.


💬 Join the Chat Live!

We’ll be answering your questions, reacting live, and hearing your takes on all the biggest moments in sports this week.


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Utah Football DNA: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfNUMA6R9eyI5EKDbxEnxGw




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SPEAKER_01

You are looking live here at DNA HQ here in beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah. On today's episode, The Utah Mammoth, how they looked since the break. What are we expecting out of Spring Camp for the Utah for the University of Utah football team? Ace Bailey has a career night for the Utah Jazz. And WBC pool play is heating up. Let's break it down. All that and more. My name is Darren. That is AJ. And this is the DNA Sports Recap. Roll the intro. Hello, internet, and welcome to another edition of the DNA Sports Recap. My name is Darren. That is AJ. What's going on, my friend? Oh man, just enjoying another beautiful day, buddy. How are you? It is lovely out there. Lovely Salt Lake City. Spring weather is starting to warm up a little bit. Love it, dude. Love it. Love it. Fortunately, unfortunately, we didn't really have a winter this year, but that's neither here nor there.

SPEAKER_00

There could be worse things, man. That's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Let's go ahead and jump right into it, man. I want to just first talk a little bit about uh the Utah Mammoth, man. Let's go ahead and get into the Utah Mammoth.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, let's get into it.

SPEAKER_01

All right. So the Utah Mammoth did uh ink Nick Schmaltz to an eight-year $64 million contract extension this uh today, actually. Yeah. Uh which is the last year that a comp that a team's gonna be able to do an eight-year contract, by the way.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, really? Yeah, because they're changing the rule, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so underneath the U CBA, it's a seven-year max that they can do. Uh, but this one's gonna be an eight-year, and it has an eight-year AAV. So eight years, $64 million. Um, and like I said, next year it goes down to seven. So um, yeah, super awesome, man. I love that extension, man. What do you got on Nick Schmaltz?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, really. I mean, it's it's really just it's no surprise that that this is it. Like Nick Schmaltz has played fantastic hockey, and he's got career high in goals this season. So um so far he's got 24 goals, and that's again, that's a career high with 17 games remaining. So he's already got 59 points, and when you add in the 35 35 assists, he has a plus 21 while he's on the ice, which is also a career high. So as of right now, he's one second under, one second under his career high for time on ice at 19 minutes and 41 seconds. Um, but that could still climb. I mean, we still got we still got plenty of time and you know lots of lots of games left in the season, and obviously we're hoping to make sure this team pushes into the playoffs.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly, exactly. This is the uh this is two out of the these are two players that we have on eight-year contracts right now. Yeah. So we have Nick Schmals, who we just inked to that new deal. We also have Logan Cooley, uh, who's also on the payroll, who is in year two of his eight-year deal. Absolutely. Um, with his expension, you know, and then there's also, you know, Clayton Keller, who's on an eight-year deal that he signed with the uh with the coyotes, right? With the coyotes, yeah. Okay. So he's got two more years left on that deal. So that, you know, I expect to see an extension with that.

SPEAKER_00

And he's young enough that he could we could see another extension or maybe an additional contract that goes into that new seven-year plan or whatever. And and hopefully we're we're gonna keep him around. And you know, we we want to see him continue on this team and continue to make playoff pushes.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, exactly. I think that's kind of the route that they want to go. You know, the mammoth are really kind of going for it right now and really kind of pushing all their chips in the middle for sure. And uh it's exciting for this team.

SPEAKER_00

The Nick Schmaltz signing really shows that this team is pushing, pushing him in, and they're trying to make an aggressive push to the playoffs. You know, and then they went out and they did another thing that we kind of wanted to talk about as far as the McKenzie Weager trade.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. So the Utah did make a trade, uh gosh, about a week or so now. Um and exactly right after we recorded last week. Every single time. So if you want to see breaking news, it happens every day on Thursday. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Or Wednesday night after like after 7 o'clock p.m. Mountain Standard Time. Right. Or Thursday morning.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, exactly. That's when everything happens. And of course, that's exactly when the McKenzie Weager trade uh happened. Um Mackenzie Weager, he is good for 22 points so far this year. Yeah, he's got 19 goals, three assists, and 61 games played. Uh, known for high volume shooting uh from the defensive position. He's actually 13th amongst all defensive players last year, which is pretty cool. Uh, he's also known for his penalty killing efficiency. Uh, he's currently in the third year of his eight-year deal. So there you go. There's another eight-year deal. Yeah, absolutely. Worth 50 million, which is actually a 6.25 million AAV. Uh, this is seems to be by many experts is a way for the mammoth to reinforce that defensive core that they've established in Utah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, absolutely. And when you add him with Mikhail Sergachev, like all of a sudden, this looks we got some really good guys on that defensive line that are that are able to produce goals, you know, be really efficient defensively. And it, I mean, it just makes it for a really exciting time in in Utah Mammoth. So with with the trade for McKenzie Weager, obviously it was a trade, right? So we had to give up some pieces. We we had to give up three 2026 first-round draft picks. Um, prospect Jonathan Castagana, Castagana, heard it both ways, and defenseman Olimata. So Ali Mata, the six foot two defenseman. Um, he was kind of getting to the point where he was getting a late scratch in the games, right? He wasn't always, you know, seeing playing time. His stats had kind of fallen. Um, and and he's got a great opportunity to go to the Calgary Flames and get some additional playing time. And he actually said in his post interview that he was looking forward to going and being able to help some of the young guys and and keep coaching and you know, looking forward to some of the additional playing time.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think it's also really important to mention uh that Mackenzie Weager had to rate had to waive his no trade clause to come to Utah.

SPEAKER_00

Which is so cool, dude. I mean, it's crazy that Utah is becoming a destination city for NHL players.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we talked about this actually at the trade deadline last year. There was actually a lot of um like kind of back channel chatter about you know, at the trade deadline, players were asking about Utah and if they were looking for anybody and if they if they had a chance to go there. Yeah, and we're always trying to see the future uh sorry, the fruits of that labor where we're seeing uh a great offseason from this team, great draft, and now we're at the cusp of where there are now with um adding you know McKenzie to this team. We're really in a position where players, like I said, are waiving no trade clause, no trade clauses on their contracts to come here.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and and it really just shows that the mammothers shifting, right? For for a couple years there, they were a hundred percent rebuilding, right? They were gathering draft picks, they were doing everything they could to get as many assets as they could, and then now you see them pushing aggressively to improve the roster. And as they're improving this roster, it's it's showing, you know, like they're they're getting players that want to come here, they're getting good, solid players that want to stay here, signing long-term contracts here, waiving no trade clauses to to be a part of this roster because they believe in what Bill Armstrong and the Utah Mammoth are building.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think it's amazing. Yeah, it's a great time, you know, to be part of a fan base for a you know, whether you are an existing hockey fan or not, which is kind of what we build Utah Mammoth DNA to be, right? Absolutely, kind of like an introductory channel to sports because we're not lifelong hockey fans.

SPEAKER_00

No, you know what I mean? And and there's plenty of Utah hockey channels out there. We're here to provide you what it is to be a new fan to Utah hockey, absolutely, right? And what we're seeing, and we want to help get you through some of the stats and and teach you some of the stuff. We've got a lot of cool videos. Make sure you check them out. Utah Mammoth DNA.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, link to the channel will be in the description down below. So be sure to check it out. If you're watching this on our main channel, DNA Sports Recap, or if you're listening on our podcast after the fact on audio. Uh, by the way, give us a rate and review. All the stars always helps. Do it. So, with that said, man, there's a lot of moves that has been happening for this team uh coming down the stretch here. Um, we want to talk a little bit about you know how that's affecting this team when it comes to the playoffs.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. And since the break, right? I mean, the biggest thing is since the break, Utah has gained nine points in the playoff standings. Um, as of the time of recording, um, they've gone four and four since the break. And, you know, we still got about 17 games remaining, and 11 of those games come at home. So that's that's super important, right? I mean, you know, these rowdy Utah Mammoth fans, they're gonna help, they're gonna show up, and they're gonna continue to help power this Utah team to some more wins and finish out this season and make sure that they get this team on their way to their first playoff appearance as the Utah Mammoth.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Speaking about playoff appearances, that's something I actually want to dive in a little bit deeper on.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So if you talk about before the Olympic break, the mammoth had an 86% chance of making the playoffs, which is really, really good. Absolutely, yeah. Really, really good. Uh, you know, epic collapse, maybe they still fall out of favor, right? Yeah. Well, since then, and like the closest team to them was three points behind them for the next best to kind of challenge that top spot in the wild card, which is Seattle Kraken, by the way.

SPEAKER_00

Which is awesome, dude. And it and it really it just shows you how good the NHL is doing with relocating teams or building expansion teams and and really like catering to to fan bases that want an NHL franchise. They're gonna support and dude, it's it's a really cool time to be an NHL fan.

SPEAKER_01

It really is. It really, really is. And like I said, you know, they were only three points behind them at the wild card at the time of the break, for the top spot in the wild card at the time of the break. Uh, since then, they are now six points behind uh the Utah Mammoth, and now they have a 98.9% chance of making the playoffs, according to uh staff leads, which via ESPN article. So that's all but locked. Yeah, that's about as close as you can get to a lock without actually being a lock. Yeah, absolutely. So, AJ, I think it's the right time to state on this channel. You've heard it here first, folks. We're gonna get Stanley Cup playoffs hockey in Utah, which is just crazy, dude.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, especially it's been years since we've had Utah Jazz playoffs. Oh, don't get me started on that, dude. We'll we'll talk about that later, though. Make sure you guys stay tuned if you're if you're tuning in on the podcast and you're a Utah Jazz fan. We got more to talk about there.

SPEAKER_01

We definitely do, we definitely do, for sure, for sure. Um, I think it's funny because we go back to our our our vlog day where we were in there and we were kind of both on the fence on that. Like you were like, hey, probably want to take us low. This is a rebuilding team, may take a couple of years for them to make it. I was bullish. I'm like, hey, year one, we're in it, right? We fell short like about four or five points at the time uh last year for the wild card spot for the last wild card spot. So I think that between the both of us, we landed like dead sun in the middle.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely a win, man. We totally nailed it. Yeah, DNA sports recap, nailed it. Boom. Oh, actually, Utah Mammoth DNA nailed it. Boom. I like it. There it is. But I mean, really, Utah, Utah's been up and down since returning, dude. I mean, they got Uyghur for his first game back um against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and that was a game that they did end up winning five to four at overtime. So they did get one point for the overtime win. Oh no, sorry, two points for the overtime win. You get one point for the overtime loss. Right. But you know, they didn't end up dropping the next two games against Chicago and Minnesota. But the loss to Minnesota, I mean, they were finishing up a five-game road trip at that point where they just played five games in eight days. So it's gonna be nice for them to get home, play a couple, they're out on the road for a couple, and then they got four games back at the Delta Center. So they can kind of keep, you know, getting into that groove, get the momentum for the tail end of the season, and just build as moment as much momentum as they can heading into Stanley Cup playoffs.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, for sure. And that road trip was crucial because we actually ended up gaining net positive points out of that. Absolutely. There's like a total of what 10 points to get out of that road trip, and they end up with like like what seven?

SPEAKER_00

Oh well, eight eight games, two points each. They could have won 16, they won nine.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah. So I mean that's not bad. That's not bad at all. Yeah, net positive, absolutely. Net positive on points there for sure, especially with the overtime win. Yeah, you know, and getting into an overtime either way, you're you're the positive there.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, they had one overtime win and one overtime loss.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, so they're getting points on both sides. Absolutely love it. Yeah. Um, as a reminder, folks, we did just launch a channel specifically for your Utah Mammoth called Utah Mammoth DNA. All of our hockey content for your Utah Mammoth will be posted here. So if you're listening to this on our podcast after the fact, or you're watching this on our live stream, a link to Utah Mammoth DNA will be in the description down below. So make sure you check it out. Subscribe to that channel, hit that like button, slap us some engagement, really appreciate it. Once this channel is monetized, we will be giving away a Utah Mammoth jersey. So make sure you stick around for that.

SPEAKER_00

Like, subscribe, make it happen. We appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely, absolutely. All right, let's go ahead and move on over and talk a little bit about how about the University of Utah, huh? Let's talk some mutes, man. Heck yeah, let me get this light changed. Let's do that. There we go. All right, man. So for your University of Utah, we have spring camp that opens up on March 20th. Uh, Forever 22 game is March 20th. No. Is it March 22nd? No, it's not a different day. It's not on March 22nd.

SPEAKER_00

That would be cool though. The Forever 22 game on March 22nd would be absolutely epic. Two days into camp. Probably not happening. Yeah, that would be that would be really strange, also. That would be very strange.

SPEAKER_01

Now we do have 35 new players that are showing up on this roster that are new uh to this team that were not there, which is a huge number, AJ. Yeah. That is large, it's massive. And we need to have that those players kind of be more acclimated. Uh, and I think that's going to be the key for spring, uh, spring camp here. But with that said, what are you expecting to see from this team uh coming out of Spring Camp for our boys up on the hill on the offensive side?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean, on the offensive side of the ball, I think it's pretty clear. What we need to do is we need to get that offense installed, and we got to get everyone on the same page as quickly as possible, right? And in a best case scenario, you'd you'd really hope that Devin Dampier can find a receiver that he's got a ton of chemistry with. Right. Uh last re last season we saw him and Ryan Davis right out the gate. They connected. He knew where he was going, he knew where he was going to be. Every time he threw it to Ryan Davis, he was sure-handed enough that you just knew it it something good was going to happen. And I do feel like the guy that could be that, you know, that go-to receiver is Brandon Peagan. He's the Utah State transfer that came over with uh the offensive coordinator. Right. So I think he's going to be most familiar with that offensive scheme. He's got good size, 6'3. He was first team All Mountain West last year. This is a player that I think I could see Devin Dampier kind of zeroing in on and be like, this might be my guy right here. This might be the one that I know where he's going to be. He understands the offensive schemes. Get open, I'll get the ball. Get open, I'll get you the ball. Absolutely. So, as far as the running back room on offense, it's pretty much locked down, right? I mean, we we know Way Sean Parker's the guy. And he's going to be the first option out of the backfield until somebody proves otherwise. This dude's too talented. He he's just that guy. He's got NFL hopes and dreams. He's going to head that direction. So it'll be fun to see who else gets some of those reps with a couple of really talented guys, you know, coming in and then a couple of guys, uh talented guys returning. So I think the biggest question mark on this offense is going to be the offensive line. And we got to build cohesion on this offensive line as soon as possible. Uh, you know, we've got some talented guys coming in. We got transfers, Isaiah Kima from Ohio State, Cedric Jefferson, who transferred in from Montana State. Um, and I do believe Kevin Obott. Well, I mean, I think he'll be a starter on that offensive line to start the season.

SPEAKER_01

Sure.

SPEAKER_00

So it's going to be anchored. You know, we got senior Alex Harrison, you know, junior Keith Olsen. Both these guys had a lot of reps in, you know, in game activity last year. So those guys are going to be the anchors. Uh, they got to show it. But I love Jordan Gross as the offensive line coach. Um, he had a great quote where he said he wants his players to play clear-headed, aggressive, and confident. Such a cool line from an offensive coordinator who who really doesn't think that he deserved this job. You know, he was he was a head coach for for a high school. And and it was really cool to hear him talk about when Morgan, uh, when Morgan Scally called him, he said, he made it clear that I was the guy, you know, and and I think it just goes to show how much confidence, you know, the new coach under the big headset uh has him in a penning t-shirt coming.

SPEAKER_01

T-shirt coming.

SPEAKER_00

Dude, that's exactly what we need as a t-shirt. You're absolutely right. Um, but the new coach under the big set has him to keep the legacy alive, right? This this is a school that continues to put offensive line talent into the NFL. And you know, Jordan Gross is the next guy to kind of keep coaching and moving that shit forward.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah. Absolutely, man. You gotta love it. And there's no better man in that's that's a Utah guy than more. Absolutely. So if you got Morland Scalley, who's been part of this program for over two decades, the one tapping on the shoulder and saying, Hey. And you know, he played with Jordan Gross.

SPEAKER_00

They were on the same, they were on the same team. Yeah, they were teammates for the youths in 2000, 2002. That's really cool, right? That's very cool.

SPEAKER_01

So that's that's that's a guy who understands it, right? And gets it, right? Absolutely. You know, it's all about the right people and then this right scheme and then the right players, and everything will just kind of fall into place. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So what do you think about defense though? Like, where do you think the youths need to shore it up on defense this year?

SPEAKER_01

So obviously, with you know, Morgan Scaly taking over the big headset, right? Being underneath the big headset for as the head coach, exactly. Um, their overall philosophy of you know, smart, tough, relentless is gonna remain kind of that standard philosophy and the main like scheme of of the program. Um, but look forward to Colton Swan.

SPEAKER_00

By the way, it's RSNB. Relentless, smart, nasty ball hawks. That's the Morgan Scaly code for defense. Oh, really? Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01

So apparently that didn't make it in the article. You just missed a couple letters, was all that those just didn't make it in the article, man.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah, just yeah, that's his thing. RSNB. RSNV. And B. Yeah. Relentless, smart, nasty ball hawk.

SPEAKER_01

I like it. I like it. Uh, but so we got uh Colton Swan coming in as a new defensive coordinator for this team, and he's gonna be wanting to put his own stamp on the defense and really kind of see what these young players that are coming into the program can really do. Yeah, and I think that's co those two kind of coalign, coalesce with each other, right? Absolutely. Uh so he stated that his focusing is gonna be on creating Havoc plays, which is basically creating more sacks and turnover plays to support this new look offense. You got to. Yeah. So starting with like let's start with quarterbacks. Uh sorry, not quarterbacks, cornerbacks. Cornerbacks. That makes more sense on defense. The hey, you know, if we need Devin Dampier back there. Absolutely. I bet you he'd suit it up, dude. He's that guy. He would do it. He's that guy. So starting at cornerback, uh, let's talk about their depth there. So Elijah Reed, he's a transfer from Akron. He had uh 47 tackles last year, two interceptions, and he also forced a fumble. Uh, he's gonna get a good chance to compete for some serious playing time uh in spring and also fall, uh, along with junior uh sorry, junior college transfer uh Brandon Holmes. Now, Utes have a lot of returning talent on this side of things with uh Scooby Davis, um Rock Caldwell, as well as Jason Stokes Jr. and JC Hart. So um I really want to see how these high like this is one of those situations where you got cornerback, you got returning players, but you also have the players that are coming in, they're gonna be like high highly touted. You're really gonna want to see them kind of build out that cohesion and see how they're gonna take advantage of this. Because it's all about how you work together on that defensive unit, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Right? It's knowing that he's going this way and I'm going that way, and you're making the right read to make sure your coverage, you don't lose coverage on somebody. We got some smart guys that are coming in that have played, you know, maybe not at the highest level of college football, but they were the best player at their school, right? And that's the reason they get the chance to come to the U because if you come to the U and play defensive back, you got a chance to go to the NFL.

SPEAKER_01

And there's yeah, there's a chance to go to the NFL, but there's also a standard of requirement for this team. Absolutely. This team is known for its relentless defense. Yeah. Regardless of who's the defensive coordinator, that's been their line since you know Witt was a defensive coordinator. Yeah. Right. So that's been like their tagline. So you come to this school, you're you're expected to perform a certain way, not only in the locker room, but on the field as well. And I really looking forward to see what Elijah Reid can do, um, as well as the the JC uh JUCO transfer there, Brandon Holmes, to see uh how they acclimate and see if they compete for some time for some reps in spring and fall. Yeah, it'd be pretty cool to see. If they show up in spring, like to see how they do in fall, yeah, see how that all kind of shakes out, right? Uh the most significant, the most significant change uh, of course, on the defensive side is gonna be the defensive line, uh, where Utah is replacing all three of their main uh defensive uh tackles from last season. Yeah um so we got uh interior rotation, we've got uh Carson uh Kafusi uh as well as uh Peepu uh Seppulana. I'm close, right? Seppalana? Seppalana. I've heard it both ways. Just kidding. No, only the way he said it. Um they're gonna be the primary turners expected to take most of the reps there, but also have the greatest leap forward, right? Yeah. Um these are joining, they're also gonna be joined by they're also being joined by key transfers. Uh Lucas uh Samsula. Samsula. Dude, you nailed it. Apparently still need you there. Lucas Samsula, uh from Wyoming. Um and also Jira Moe, uh, who is a San Jose state uh transfer to rebuild that four deep rotation in that spot. Um we also have the edge rushers, of course. You have Utah that has a strong um continuity here. You have Lance uh Holtzclaw as well as uh Cash Dylan returning. Um but in spring will determine how they integrate uh you know the new transfer, uh Ethan Day, who's a 250-pound edge, uh, who provided uh who will probably provide more physical pre presence in that rotation. Uh he had 53 tackles for an average of 4.5 uh sacks in 2025. These are the notes that I'm getting from uh interviews with the Utah staff prior to uh prior to the spring camp.

SPEAKER_00

And I really like Lance Holt's claw. Uh he's a Washington transfer. Yep. Didn't play a whole lot last year, but when he was in there, he was an impact player. Like I mean, but the problem was he's playing behind John Henry Daly, who transferred to Michigan with Coach Witt, and then Logan Fono, who's heading to the NFL. Right. So he had some depth. You know what I mean? Like that's the thing is he was in there, he's gonna have a chance to show it. And and Lance Holtzkall, he's like one of the funnest players to watch. If you watch any of his socials, and I highly recommend it, this guy is a character. He's super fun to watch. He's just he's he's he's really funny on all of his social media stuff. And he's like they do a lot of interviews with him and stuff because he's so out like outgoing, and he's a really fun player, and and he's and he's really talented. And if he can have a knockout season this year, he's got a chance to play in in the league next year, too.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's really kind of puts a damper on the whole fact that like press is not welcome at practice last year, pretty much at all. We'll see how that shakes out this year. I know there's been rumors that there haven't been any passes issued for practice.

SPEAKER_00

And it's really interesting because with the transfer portal, they close that second window, right? Because it they there's only the December window now. Now, players are still allowed to unenroll and re-enroll at schools, but that's not the recommended wrath, right? It's not as easy, they're not making it as easy as it was last year to just jump in the portal after a spring practice and they get the you know the standard too deep. So, right. It'll be really interesting to see how players you know do that this year and how how the the transfer classes kind of look after spring.

SPEAKER_01

That would really mess with your NIL chances. Absolutely. If you did something like last year, so uh so yeah, that makes sense. Um, also linebackers. I mean, that's projected to be uh the starters are projected there to be uh Jonathan Hall and Trey Reynolds, focusing there on mostly about communication and developing their read and react skills. This is something that uh came from um Colton Swan on an interview. Uh these are the skills that they want to develop for an up to up-tempo type offense that they're wanting that they're gonna see a lot in practice. So they want to kind of identify those read and react skills because whether you're on a high tempo offense or not, having the ability to read and react to your offense is gonna be you know a positive either way. So that's kind of what they're focusing there with the linebackers.

SPEAKER_00

And this is a tough one to replace because you had Lander Barton, who was so good in that position at linebacker, so good, dude. But at the at the tail end of this season, you saw John O'Hall come out and he played a lot of snaps, and you were like, it seemed like the the further the season progressed, John O'Hall was in more and more plays where you're like, but this dude's making a difference, you know. So it's really good to get him back at that linebacker spot, knowing he's got some experience. He can kind of help coach the next guy, and you know, hopefully he's the next great linebacker in the NFL from the University of Utah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely, man. I I 100 agree. Before we move on, um, and we talk uh a little bit about the NFL combine, which is something I want to get into. Yeah, before we get into that, I want to quickly give a shout out to the youth softball team. Oh, really? Yes. So the youth softball team are in the midst of an 11-game winning streak.

SPEAKER_00

That is very impressive.

SPEAKER_01

They are uh they are in second place in the division behind Texas Tech, who's only lost one game, and they've just been killing it out there. So nice job, ladies. Great job.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

Shout out Utah softball. Great job, great job. Yeah, just wanted to make sure we made a note of that. Um, let's go ahead and talk a little bit about the uh NFL combine because we had a couple of players. Um, we have about four or five that we want to highlight there that went into uh the combine this year.

SPEAKER_00

We want to kind of just kind of react a little bit to uh how they did. Yeah, absolutely. So the first player that we got is really Lander Barton. Um we were just talking about him as far as the the linebacker position that he was so skilled and he did such a good job. Bleacher report has him graded as a 6.6, which really lists him as like a role player, part-time contributor. They listed him as a fourth round pick. This guy's better than that. And it's funny because a lot of these Utah players end up getting drafted and they their draft stock doesn't look as great, and then teams get them, and it's like a year or two later, and you see them in the starting rotation, and they're they're just always out there making a difference. So I think Lander Barton is one of those guys that's gonna get an opportunity. He's gonna he'll be drafted for sure. Okay, and when he gets drafted, you'll see him on an NFL roster somewhere.

SPEAKER_01

So that's one that's one we're we're putting our stamp on. One the Utah DNA football, Utah football DNA stamp of approval. Stamp of approval.

SPEAKER_00

Boom, will get drafted. Yeah, and I'll put it something on the screen like a bam.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, glad you're editing that video. Um, but yeah, so the next one we wanted to highlight there uh is gonna be um I wanted to make sure we uh Spencer Fauna is who I wanted to highlight there. Uh his his performance uh is highlighted by a 4.91 second 40-yard dash, uh, which is second fastest among all offensive linemen, by the way. Um, he had a uh height of 9.76 and relative relative athletic score, which is RAS. I have no idea what that means, dude. No, no idea. Like I've watched so many of these combine tapes. I'm like, I don't know what that is. Uh, but again, 10-yard split. He had a 1.72 seconds on a 10-yard split. His vertical jump is over 30 inches. Um, he is his broad jump is over 9.3 or 9-7, depending on which uh source you're using.

SPEAKER_00

Depending on which stat you read, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, some of it's from EFL.com, some of it's from uh 24-7 Sports. Um, but yeah, again, this guy, six foot five, 311 pounds, or 321 pounds again, depending on if you're measuring with pads or not. Uh, this guy is is you know legit, man. Uh top performer ranked first in the combine score of 91 of among all offensive tackles uh by next gen stats. Uh yeah, dude, this guy is just absolutely legit.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, he's he's a first round pick. Um, I would be surprised if he makes it out of the top 10. You will have the opportunity to watch our guy, Spencer Fano, play NFL football next year. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

Defend displayed natural movement, balance, and quickness uh um over all fields. Uh draft stock again. Um so I the potential to a high riser due to his athleticism, but one of the notes is a note short arm length that could cause him to fall. Short arm length.

SPEAKER_00

And it's funny because I can picture nothing but a Tyrannosaurus Rex just like trying to like wearing football pads and just like Yeah, like what's what's the deal?

SPEAKER_01

Like, okay.

SPEAKER_00

This dude dominated college football all year long.

SPEAKER_01

So explain that to me. Is it kind of like like the longer reach you have, the more like Rudy Gobrer setting this green type block thing is what they're looking for? Maybe that's gotta be it.

SPEAKER_00

It's the only thing that I can think is like with your arms out, you can provide you can get more leverage, maybe 311 pounds, dude.

SPEAKER_01

Just because like he's right here versus here. Is it just that extra? I don't know. The short arm thing, it's kind of seems like they're you're grasping at straws to say something negative, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, like they're just trying. And what's really funny is his brother Logan Fono is the next one on the list. Um Bleacher Report has him listed, has him graded at a 5.8, which shows him as like a backup, draftful player. Um, could be taken in the sixth to seventh round. Um, Logan Fono was good, but he didn't have a great season for Utah. He's going to the draft because his brother's going to the draft. They said they wanted to do it together, they came to Utah together. Um but as funny as it is, his his draft, his his downsides is also short armed. So apparently that runs in the family. No kidding. Yeah, Tyrannosaurus Fono is is apparently what's going on here. So well said. I think I think Logan Fono's got a real chance to to be drafted. But of of the five players we're about to discuss, he's probably the one that won't get taken. And I could see him signing an uh an undrafted free agent contract somewhere. Which is actually, depending on where you're drafted, is pref like kind of preferable. Absolutely, because then you have the chance to kind of choose. I mean, if he doesn't get drafted, he could choose to go play with his brother if that's what he wants to do, right? If if he gets an offer from that team.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, well, we'll see about that. That usually kind of unless you're in the NBA and the the Morris brothers, but uh but yeah, no, I I yeah, I I don't know. I I would be I would not be shocked if he doesn't sneak in the draft.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but if he doesn't, like I said, it's um almost almost a benefit for him to not be drafted depending on where he's drafted. Yeah. So yeah, I agree with you there. Um so up next we have uh on my list here we actually have uh Utah tackle uh Caleb Lemieux. Lomu. What did I say?

SPEAKER_00

Lemieux.

SPEAKER_01

I've heard it both ways. Um I love that. I love that. Heard it both ways. Heard it both ways. Anyway, uh he's he's he impressed well at the combine for sure. Uh he he highlighted with a 4.99 40. Uh he had a 32.5 vertical inch leap, uh, 9.5 uh broad jump. Uh they're mentioned here, Deserat News. His at least his elite athleticism and movement skills solidified his status as a top-tier offensive tactical prospect, uh, with many uh analysts placing him as a potential first round.

SPEAKER_00

Um yeah, I like it. I like it. Um there's a very low chance he's there in the second round. This this guy I'll be taken. He's he's really talented. He did a great job blocking all season. Um, you you look at the time Devin Dampier had to make some of these plays and some of the ridiculous stuff that he did. It's because he had two first round prospects in blocking play.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, for sure. But the most important thing here is the is the stat that is driving this whole conversation. Absolutely. Um, he is uh his protected trait is long-armed agile tackle with excellent movement skills. That matters. No Tyrannosaurus Rex arms.

SPEAKER_00

No, Caleb Lomu has normal, preferable sized arm length for the NFL. Yeah, love to see it. Love to see it. Yeah, absolutely great. Uh the next guy we have is Dallin Bentley. Um, he's the tight end for Utah. NFL.com has him listed as a 5.8 ranking, uh, which shows him as an average backup special teamer. Um, he's rated as a 15th ranked tight end in the class. Um this puts him late sixth, seventh round. Another guy, I think he blocks better than team than some of the draft grades that I saw really gave him credit for. They said that he he struggles to make blocks and then get off of them uh to run his routes. I think Dallin Bentley did a really good job. If you see him in some of the the run blocking schemes, he does a good job setting a solid edge uh and and great hands for a tight end. Um that was one thing that is in his draft grade, is he has soft hands and you know has a low percentage of uh missing catchable passes. So he's a great pass catcher. Uh we'll see Dallin Bentley in the NFL next year.

SPEAKER_01

Nice, nice. So that puts us four out of five that we reviewed that we are putting our uh Utah football DNA stamp on that's gonna be getting drafted.

SPEAKER_00

That's correct.

SPEAKER_01

And even the fifth player is probably gonna be in a better position if he doesn't get drafted.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. Yeah, Logan Logan Fono's probably the only one that's kind of borderline, and I I think he's gonna make an NFL roster somewhere.

SPEAKER_01

You'd love to see it. Once again, folks, we did just launch a channel specifically for your Utah football called Utah Football DNA. If you're watching this on our live stream or you're listening to this to our on our podcast after the fact, a link to Utah Football DNA will be in the description down below. If you're following us specifically for our Utah football content, be sure to check it out, subscribe to the channel, smash a smash a like for us for some engagement. We really appreciate it. Um, we'll be doing some like maybe a ticket giveaway for this once with this channel.

SPEAKER_00

That'd be pretty cool. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you get a thousand subscribers on the channel.

SPEAKER_01

We'll be giving uh we'll be doing a ticket ticket giveaway.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I like it. It'll be his season tickets, by the way.

SPEAKER_01

Whatever we gotta do, just hit that subscribe button. Love it, love it. All right, let's go ahead and pivot on over and talk a little bit about the Utah Jazz.

SPEAKER_00

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01

All right, man. Before we jump into the Utah Jazz, I want to make a real quick NBA conversation. Okay. Um, I want to say congratulations to Bam Autobio. Uh, he scored 83 points in a game against uh the Washington Wizards. Uh, this is an incredible achievement. Uh, I think it deserves a little bit of celebration on the channel. So huzzah to you there, sir. Um, there's lots of haters on the internet on this one, by the way. Oh, yeah. Yeah, they say that that needs to come with an ask asterisk. They said that he uh flopped a lot to get to the line, and the uh evidence that they are saying is that he uh hit a record 43 throws out of 47. Um that's a lot of free throws, my friend. That is a lot. That is a lot. You know, but when I when I hear that, when I hear that criticism, that they obviously didn't even watch the not only do they not watch the game, AJ. Right, but they also didn't even watch the recap of the game.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Not even the high they didn't even catch the highlights.

SPEAKER_01

No, no, because I have to say what with up to like four minutes left in the fourth quarter, is when you really start to see them going for the points record. Right. To try to beat Kobe. You realize Bam has a chance to get there, and as you should, right? You're absolutely your team is trying to make the playoffs, you're trying to get the win, and you realize, hey, I'm at 70 points, let's go for it. Yeah, this team's not putting up much of a fight, let's go for it. And this whole flopping thing really kind of irritates me because if you watch it, the guy was like triple teamed, man. Yeah, it was ridiculous. This guy was like triple teamed all the time, and he was making passes. He had like three or four assists in the fourth quarter alone, so it's not like he was just going for the points. Yeah, after the fourth around four minutes remaining, you know, you did start seeing that he intentionally foul Washington to give them more time for Bam to try and get that record, but that's perfectly normal within this kind of thing when you're stat chasing.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Kobe did the exact same thing, um, not as good as as as aggressive as Will Chamberlain did. Did you hear about that one?

SPEAKER_00

No, no, and it's funny because correct me if I'm wrong, but Will Chamberlain's 100-point game is not on video, right?

SPEAKER_01

No, the only evidence we have is a picture of him holding a piece of paper that says 100 on it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And the um basically the statement of everybody that was there at the game. Right. That's the only there's no record sheet, there's no scorecard, there's no book of no record of this at all, except for that. Yeah. The funny thing about that game is that they would actually just not play defense to get the ball back as fast as possible to give Willow. Get it back to Will.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I was like, he's got to hit 100. Yeah. Yeah. But but hold on, Darren, hold on. This is a Utah Jazz basketball channel. Why are we talking Utah Jazz? All right, forgive me.

SPEAKER_01

So, okay, so you you want a jazz update.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean, of course.

SPEAKER_01

That's what you guys are here for? That's what right, right. Okay, sure, sure. Um, uh, let's see here. Uh, forgive me, right? Okay, so you want a jazz update? Here we go. Um uh the jazz are still trying not to win games. Oh, yep, that's right. Okay, correct. And they're still not doing a good job about that. They beat the Golden State Warriors the other night. Which a game they had no business winning. Right. So uh, dude, what are we doing there, man?

SPEAKER_00

I like it's just it's it's a little ridiculous, but it's not like they weren't trying, dude. They gave the ball to to Blake Henson. Yeah, like this dude's on a this dude's on a two-way contract, and he's had great season in the G League. Yeah, but you put the ball in his hands and you're like, yeah, this'll do it. This'll do it. Boom, he sings the shot. Yeah, not what you're expecting.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, hey, hey, um, Ace Bailey. Oh, that's right. Ace Bailey had a career night, right? Yes. So Ace Bailey did have a career night. Uh let's talk about that. Okay, great, great. Uh, he did set career high for himself. Uh, and also, by the way, it was a franchise record for the Utah Jazz. Yeah. And again, it did come against the the Wizards. Wait a minute. This is like the third time we mentioned the Wizards on the is this becoming a Wizards channel? It it it might be.

SPEAKER_00

Or maybe a Wizards defenseless channel. The Wizards don't play defense. That's kind of more the theme we're going for here.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's actually what we're gonna get to here in a minute. Um, Ace did score 32 points on 12 of 19 shooting, uh, which was includes seven from 11 from three, which is good for 63%. He also had two rebounds, two steals, and a block shot. Uh, this actually made him the youngest player in team franchise history to score 30 points in the NBA game.

SPEAKER_00

That's pretty impressive. I like this kid, dude. I do too. And the thing is, is Ace is having a great March so far. He's shooting 37% from three in the four games so far he's played in March. And his season average right now is around 33% from three. He's averaging about 12 points per game in roughly 27 minutes. But I really love how he's gotten better at picking his shots. I mean, he's taking three-point shots that are actually makeable. It's not just go out there and and take contested shots. He's done much better. And it's funny because in that game against Milwaukee, right after he had his 32-point game, you could tell he went in there with a ton of confidence. You know, he's he's he's like, I'm coming off my 32 point, set a set of franchise record. But I I do believe he forced up a few more threes than you'd really like to see, um, especially when when he's not hitting them, you know. I mean, you you you you go one for four or one for five. It's like maybe back it off just a little bit. But shooter's gonna shoot, man.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, for sure, for sure. And this is something we talked a lot about with uh Caleb Williams last year, right? Like we know, like late a more recent episode we talked about Cody Williams and his development from his rookie season to this year, yeah, right? We're seeing a lot of that same trend with Ace Bailey, just he's performing much what much better in his rookie season than what we saw to Caleb Williams. We didn't see hold on, Caleb Williams? Sorry, Cody Williams. Cody Williams, not the NFL quarterback, not the jazz forward, the jazz forward, Cody Williams. He um yeah, Ace Bailey is actually doing a lot better at the the tail end of his rookie year than what we saw to Cody, but we're seeing a lot of this, and what I'm expecting for that to grow for Ace. Now keep in mind Washington is dead last in defense, and they're horrible, yeah. So while we can't dismiss that, I don't expect him to be putting up uh 30 points a game. Um, I do show, I do think this does show what this kid is capable of when he gets on a run. Yeah, and and honestly, if the jazz were trying to win this game, I honestly see him putting up 40 points.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Yeah, no, I mean I really think this kid can shine on the court. I mean, where when you have when you have players out there where every single player on the floor can score the basketball, and we're talking Jaron Jackson Jr., Laurie Markinen, Walker Kessler, and then also out there with Keonta George, all of those guys can score the basketball. And the best part about this is that's an offensive lineup that can also have plenty of length and can defend too. You got Triple J, who won a defensive player of the year. Walker Kessler has been in there, I mean, in the final, in the in the finalist for defensive player of the year multiple times. Laurie Markinen's a solid defender, he's got great length, and Keontae George has become a very serviceable defender in this last season. I mean, he's he's really broke out and showed that that's what he needed to do to stay on the court. So you you put all that together, and I I don't know. This it just sounds like such a fun team to watch.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. And I I honestly think that like on a team that's competing, that's trying to win Ace Bailey year two, we're probably looking at somewhere in the high teens, maybe seven or eight rebounds. Yeah. What you want to see on this kid.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. No, I mean, and I don't, I don't think I really don't think Ace Bailey's gonna be a go for 30 points per night every single night, kind of guy, right? There's just too much of offensive firepower on the feet on the court at any given point, right? With with triple J, he's gonna get his 20, 25, Laurie's gonna get his 25 or 30. Walker Kessler with with the gravity that he draws, he's gonna get you know 10 to 20 points. Exactly. And then Keon's just turned into this offensive weapon that you you almost have to get him the ball because uh it again it helps spread out that defense. And you're forcing teams to make decisions, and you've got enough guys out there that it's like you can punish them if they make the wrong decision. So it's really nice, but I think he can get you know high teams, low 20s. Um, he can be an effective defensive player, and if he can do both of those things, Ace Bailey's got a real chance to continue getting a ton of playing time and be a key piece at that number five pick. You've got to be a key piece to this jazz rebuild. Oh, for sure. That that's that's a huge point. And if Ace Bailey can keep doing those things, he's got a chance.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely, absolutely love it. Congratulations to Ace Bailey on setting a jazz rookie record for most points scored in a game. Yeah, very cool. So let's go ahead and pivot on over from Ace Bailey to Mo Bamba. Mo Bamba, man. Just signed his second day, uh, second 10-day contract with a team. Uh, that's something. It is something, dude.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, the the seven foot big man, he's he's really he's just trying to find an NBA team that'll that'll give him a chance to earn some rotation minutes. Uh, he's got great athleticism. He averaged two and a half blocks per game with the stars. Um, he he also had 14 double doubles in those games. So he can produce at the NBA level. I think. His issue is really he needs to find an NBA team that fits him, that needs his size and his ability, that it just fits seamlessly into that. He he's almost too big and not enough and not a good enough shooter or not or a good enough shooter and not quite small enough.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

It's like he doesn't he doesn't fit all the things you need for him to be what he what you need him to be. But I really like him as a player. I'm glad the Jazz have him out there because with all the Kyle Philipowski foul trouble, they need they need a big guy in there, right? They need a seven-footer that can come out and defend.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, dude, like three, what was it, three fouls within the first quarter of that game against 76ers the other night? And this this is seem to be a growing issue for him this month, too.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, but we thought that same thing about Rudy Gobert. You know, when he first came into the league, Rudy Gobert had a ton of foul trouble.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but this this is flips no Rudy Gobert. That's very true. That's very true. Rudy Gobert's seven foot one with like a seven foot six wings band.

SPEAKER_00

But also, I think it just reiterates the fact that it takes time to learn how to not foul NBA players. Agreed. You know what I mean? Like there, there is there's things and there's players that you can do. And if you've got your hand on the back of Bam Atabaya and he turns and shoots, it you're he's getting the whistle, right?

SPEAKER_01

So there's players that you can you can bump and you can shove and you can be a little more you think with shorter arms, you'd be able to retract that a lot better.

SPEAKER_00

But what what we're finding out though from our previous segment here is longer arms are better.

SPEAKER_01

That's that's you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_00

Like if you don't even have a chance unless you got like the shorter arms, no, those are no chance.

SPEAKER_01

Those are no knock on you for sure. Yeah, uh, yeah, absolutely. Uh with that said, let's go ahead and wrap up uh our conversation here with the Utah Jazz. Uh the Utah Jazz did just wave uh Vince Williams Jr. Uh, this is a sad because this is kind of like a bad look, just simply because the fact that he did get injured, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Uh, which is kind of unfortunate. Yeah, no, I feel like I'm actually kind of bummed about this. Yeah. Um, this this was a player that came out and played with a ton of energy. He was always making hustle plays. He seemed like he was in good to good defensive positions. Um, and it it felt like he could really earn some of those backup minutes just purely based on his effort, dude. I mean, this guy came out and he played hard. It's tough. He's gonna be out all of next season and not have an NBA team because he's been waived. Um, but hopefully when he gets healed up, he gets a chance and and he can get back into the league. Because I really like the minutes I saw from Vince Williams Jr. I I think this guy's got a future as a role player in the league to play good defensive minutes. He shot the ball well and and he plays with a ton of effort and heart, and you can't ask anything more than that from an NBA player.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely, dude. Love to see you on the Sacramento Kings next year. Um just fine with me. Yeah, which is great. Yeah. Uh as a reminder, folks, we did just launch a channel specifically for your Utah Jazz called Utah Jazz DNA. This is a channel dedicated to all of our Utah Jazz content. So if you're watching this on our live stream, uh, first of all, welcome. Thank you for joining us. Uh, feel free to subscribe to the channel. If you're listening to this on a podcast, don't feel free, do it.

SPEAKER_00

Subscribe to the channel, hit the button, do it.

SPEAKER_01

You know you want to. You know you want to. Yeah. Uh if you're listening to this on a podcast afterwards, be sure to check out the link to Utah Jazz DNA in the description down below. If you're following us for all of our Utah Jazz content, jump over to YouTube, check it out, subscribe to that channel. We'll be giving one of those awesome road black mountain jerseys once this channel hits a thousand subscribers.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, and we promise we will get this logo straightened so that it's a little bit further this way. Yeah, it's it's it's fine. Yeah, people make mistakes.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Just don't look at it. Yeah, there you go. Take it off. Okay. Let's talk baseball.

SPEAKER_01

Let's do it. All right, man. I gotta jump into the one thing that I think we need to talk about this week when it comes to baseball. And this has got to be, and I know that the game's already over between um between Italy and Mexico, and Italy won, and USA has advanced in the world baseball classic to the quarterfinals, but we cannot let that most embarrassing upset in tournament history go away without at least talking about it.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, I think I think the team USA losing to Italy is probably the biggest surprise in the 20-year history of the world baseball classic. Do you disagree? Uh they were supposed to win this game, Darren.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

No doubt about it. They are supposed to go out there, and even if they're playing subpar baseball, they're supposed to go out there and beat Italy.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, they're not supposed to lose to Italy.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I'm sorry, but this is full of a bunch of players that are pissed they didn't make the USA team.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Yeah, they're like, oh yeah, okay, fine.

SPEAKER_01

We'll go play with Italy. USA was down 8-0 in this game. I'm sorry, you USA was down 8-0 to Italy in this game.

SPEAKER_00

8-0. And it's crazy because you look at that final score at 8-6 and you're like, oh, it was a close one. They probably just got a couple base hits in the bot. No, dude. They were getting their butts handed to them.

SPEAKER_01

By the way, before we get into this, Italy's got the best home run celebration. The the drink, the espresso. They're taking the shot of espresso, and it's the they put on the uh Versace or Armani jacket, whatever it is, the Italian jacket. Yeah. Take the shot of espresso and they do that devil kiss on the side. That's gotta be like the most legendary. That that is like so Italy, dude. It's so cool. Yeah. Anyway, um, so back on the on the so back on the actual subject. Well, hey, we watched a couple bombs. We got to see it a few times against the against the USA. Yeah. I am 100% convinced, AJ, that this team had absolutely no clue what was going on.

SPEAKER_00

They don't know the rules. Well, no, I mean, and it the the worst part is is the USA team manager Mark DeRosa admitted that he misspoke earlier in the day when he said the US had already clinched a quarterfinal birth. Yeah. Hey, Darren, had they clinched a quarterfinal birth when the game with Italy started? No, they didn't, AJ. Oh my gosh, you're telling me that the manager, team USA manager, wasn't aware of how the tournament actually worked.

SPEAKER_01

I'm telling you that MLB Network TV host Mark DeRosa had no idea on how this tournament worked.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, you mean he's not an actual team manager? No, that's the craziest thing. And why is he coaching Team USA? Nobody knows.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't think he should be fired from his job at MLB TV. Absolutely not. But should this guy be? I'm sorry, is there a TV host uh, you know, managing the you know the the Teams MRI for Japan? Absolutely not. What about the DR? No, no, okay, no way.

SPEAKER_00

Venezuela? No, no, absolutely not. It just goes to show that Team USA does not take this tournament as serious as the rest of the world, right? We put we've we assembled a fantastic roster. We're talking Avengers style roster that these guys put together. Offensively, pitching, defensively. We have a video about it. Check it out on our channel. By the way, the greatest team assembled. Watch that one.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. If you've watched uh Paul Skeen's outing, he was helped out huge by just amazing plays by Bobby Wood Jr. Yeah. Diving into the outfield. Yeah. I I do not know how he's not the greatest shortstop in baseball blows my mind. He's gonna have to be. Yeah. Because oh my gosh, that guy's worth every every penny. I did pick him for MVP a couple years ago. You did, you did. Uh he didn't rewin it though. Every penny worth of that Royals contract, honestly. Yeah. But dude, I am 100% convinced that this team did not realize they weren't that they didn't already have a buy until after the game was over.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

At no point during this game did they show any sense of urgency. They're down 05, and they bring in I don't even know if that happened before the 05, but they bring in Ryan Yarbrough. Right. You know, and they let him in there for three innings, AJ.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Three innings of Ryan Yarbrough. And really, dude, without some late game heroics by Pete Crow Armstrong, this game's not even this close, dude. No. He hit a two-run bomb and then a solo that gave him, you know, a solid what, three great players, four runs.

SPEAKER_01

Fantastic player. Doesn't really understand LA baseball, but that's okay. Uh great player, dude. Two bombs for sure. Why didn't that guy start again? Nobody knows. Oh, I think Mark DeRosa told us. Oh, he did? Yeah, he's got to get those, he's got to get uh the guy's extra the other guy's reps in. Oh, that makes sense. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, but it's not a big deal because you'd already clinched a climb a semifinal spot.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's why you don't start, you know, you don't start uh Bryce Harper at first base, you start Paul Goldschmidt. And by the way, when you were that close, you're down two runs, you have Paul Goldschmidt on first. Why don't you pinch run for him?

SPEAKER_00

No, but I mean that's uh I just I'll never understand.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, the next player up hit a double and he couldn't score on a double from first. Because he's older than Dirk.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And look, why is why is the greatest offensive talent that's ever been assembled for USA baseball making Michael Lorenzen look like an absolute ace? Like this dude pitched four and two thirds shutout innings.

SPEAKER_01

It's kind of it kind of goes back to the whole point that I want that we talked about before that I haven't really seen a complete game from this team.

SPEAKER_00

No, no. It's like you either get a nice pitching outing or a nice offensive outing, but they haven't lumped one together. Maybe they're saving it for the quarterfinals.

SPEAKER_01

God, let's hope so. Thank god they made it. But yeah, I just I just don't want to simply just put this one away because yes, obviously Italy won, and we either needed Italy to win or Mexico to score five runs. But I don't know, man. This is such an embarrassment that even if USA got disqualified, it's well deserved. Yeah, this is this is just goes beyond. Now, I'm not gonna get mad at the play. Well, maybe a little bit about the players. Like if you're gonna be gung-ho and say, hey, team USA, we're taking this one back, even like you don't know the rules, you don't know that runs matter.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And on top of that, the management. What about the front office? Who is not telling this team that runs matter in this tournament?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, like you have to win by a lot to keep moving forward. Yeah, there's a run differential.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, the DR is probably like the only team in the Dominican Republic that's going out there and just dump trucking their pool, right? Everybody, they're winning their run differentials like eight runs. Yeah, they don't care about the rules on how the runs work and how the tiebreaker works because they're beating everybody. But I guarantee you one thing, AJ, somebody on that team knows the rules to this tournament.

SPEAKER_00

And somebody knows that if you only win three games, you're not already in the quarterfinals because you have to win one more.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, just because Japan won three games, they thought they automatically got into it. But that pool, nobody won more than two. So, like, other than Japan. So they automatically got in. So they just assumed, oh, it's the same thing. But these guys had no clue. They thought they qualified, they were partying in the clubhouse till what one o'clock? Yeah. Allegedly. They were drinking beer and talking ball till one. Went back to the hotel, kept it partied. And didn't you mention what DeRosa said?

SPEAKER_00

Um, yeah, yeah. He he clarified on his TV comment saying it was simply a mistake. Know about how the players were showed up to that day to play Italy.

SPEAKER_01

Um, I don't remember what I had there. Oh, so basically, what it what Mark DeRosa said after the partying is that they were struggling. Some of the players were struggling. Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, that the players some of the players were struggling, and you're like, Don't you have a game today? Yeah, you have a game today that really decides whether you move forward on this thing. Because if you win, you clinch.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, but they thought they clinched already, which is embarrassing. It's like it's weird. We want to win the game, even though our tickets already been punched to the quarterfinals. No, it wasn't, dude. No, yeah, no, you're not there yet. This is what happened. Like, you wouldn't see Japan do this. No, or the DR. So, yeah, you're makes you wonder, dude, is it is it just simply USA doesn't take this simply, uh, so doesn't take this seriously, or is it that it's sheer American hubris that thinks that we're just gonna roll through this whole tournament, rules be damned. Who cares?

SPEAKER_00

I mean, I think there's some of that. Neither one of those answers are good I good eye, AJ. You're you're right, but I think some of it is is they knew that they were one of the most talented teams going into this tournament. They'd assembled the Avengers. They're like, we're just gonna we're gonna dump truck everybody, you know, we're gonna DR this thing and we're just gonna go through and yeah, and bust roll everybody. And if we decide to take a game off, then we'll still get to where we need to go. Games don't matter in pool play. We'll make it to the quarterfinals and then we'll turn it on.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so I I just think we can't let this one hang, like, because people are gonna be like, oh, well, they moved on, and if they win the whole thing, no big deal, right? I think this does need to be a big deal and does need to be emphasized for how just a much of a just a simple oversight. You screwed up, you screwed up big time. This is really embarrassing for probably like this is like this is like if if the dream team didn't know you know the shot clock. So they had to win all the games, or that there was a shot clock, or they couldn't, or they couldn't double dribble. Like, that's just like, come on now, what are we doing? Yeah, what are we doing? And just to kind of wrap this all up, man, I want to kind of quickly touch base on the Turk scuba situation. Yeah, this is kind of like a big how do you do about that about him trying to get back. He didn't mention that.

SPEAKER_00

I think you mentioned this before that he tried to like he said he he made some comments in the media that he was trying to make it work to pitch one more game in the WBC. But but really, I mean, it just because he made the comments, he he announced shortly later that he was returning to Tiger Spring training camp.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so honestly, I don't think that has anything to do with the Tigers. I think that's all um Scott Morris. Yeah, oh yeah. He's about to be the highest paid pitcher in MLB history. He's gonna sign a $400 million contract somewhere.

SPEAKER_00

He was like, it's not worth 60 more pitches to risk it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, honestly, but hey, 60 pitches in WBC versus 60 pitches in uh game, what's the difference, right? Yeah, but I I totally get it. And when it comes to this, everybody who's kind of up in arms about Scuball notch pitching, that's not on Scuba, that's on Team USA for not scheduling him at a time where the games matter. You you schedule him against Great Britain, you know, that's kind of on you. The guy showed up, he's the only pitcher of his caliber in a walk year that he that ever pitched in the WBC.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I mean, and he just won his arbitration case for good reason, right? Yeah, uh he walked in there holding both of his Cy Young trophies and he set them down on the table and he's like, Do we got anything else here? Right. They're like, Oh no. Uh stamp of approval.

SPEAKER_01

And he's probably gonna utter that side of the $31 million contract. He needs to be the opening day starter. He knows he has to be. And if he starts in the WBC final, if they make it that far, he's not gonna be able to start on the opening day. And you don't want to mess up your because they're too close together, right? Yeah, it just doesn't give enough time. He doesn't Scott Boris and you know Turk Scoobal did not want him pitching on four days rest. Yeah. That's just not how you want to start your season when you're about to be the highest paid pitcher in all baseball. Yeah. Anyway, um, we want to hear from you folks. Let us know what your thoughts are in the comments down below. As a reminder, this channel did just hit a thousand subscribers. So if you have not yet hit that subscribe button, hit that notification bell. We're giving the first $500 that we earn in AdSense Revenue back to y'all. So if you have not yet, subscribe to the channel so you don't miss out on that giveaway.

SPEAKER_00

Yep. And if you're watching on YouTube on one of our short videos or one of our sub channels, just know this is available as a podcast wherever you get your audio.

SPEAKER_01

With all that said, my name is Darren. That is AJ, and this has been an episode of the DNA sports recap. Till next time.