Two for the Win
Mike is a U.S. Navy Veteran and Bryan has more than a decade of civil service experience. Together, these blue collar guys dissect the latest sports headlines and events.
Two for the Win
Two For The Win - E23 - Remembering Two Colossal Legends, Fever For The Flavor & Buzzer-Beaters!
Legacy and transition define this week's sports landscape as we bid farewell to two towering figures. George Bell, the 7'8" Norfolk native who charmed audiences as a Harlem Globetrotter and actor, and George Foreman, the boxing legend who reinvented himself multiple times, leave behind remarkable legacies that transcended their respective sports.
Meanwhile, MLB Opening Day brought immediate thrills. Tyler O'Neill continued his remarkable streak with a sixth consecutive Opening Day home run, this time for Baltimore against his home country's Blue Jays. Mackenzie Gore delivered a historic 13-strikeout performance for Washington, joining Bob Gibson in the record books despite not getting the win. The Mariners made a significant move by locking up catcher Cal Raleigh with a $105 million extension, demonstrating their commitment to building around their young core.
The basketball world delivered dramatic moments across multiple leagues. Candice Parker's legacy reaches new heights with the announcement of her jersey retirement by the Los Angeles Sparks, marking another milestone in women's basketball's continued growth. LeBron James delivered a game-winning tip-in against Indiana after being held scoreless for the first three quarters – something never before seen in his storied career. The Sweet 16 bracket breakdown reveals fascinating matchups and potential Cinderella stories, though USC faces a significant challenge after star JuJu Watkins suffered an ACL tear.
NFL offseason moves have created intrigue, particularly with the Giants signing both Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson within days. This puzzling quarterback situation raises questions about their draft strategy, while ESPN's potential $2 billion acquisition of NFL Network, RedZone, and NFL+ signals major changes in sports media consumption.
Follow us on social media and share your thoughts on these developments! Whether you're tracking March Madness brackets, enjoying baseball's return, or speculating on NFL draft possibilities, we're diving deep into the stories that matter most in the ever-evolving world of sports.
Thank you and we are two for the win. Everybody, we have the fever, y'all have the fever. It's getting mad in here, mike. What are we talking about?
Speaker 2:Well, you're alluding to the March Madness, which we will discuss, and we have made it to opening day for Major League Baseball. So, ramping up for that good 2025 season, we're going to discuss some mlb well, mlb action and mlb transactions and also see what's happening with the nfl, because we're not too far away from the draft that's right draft right around the corner.
Speaker 1:everybody's doing their pro days right now. We've kind of kept kept our fingers on the pulse of the NFL, but we are firmly in basketball and baseball season, make no mistake about it, and there's no other way to talk about that than March Madness.
Speaker 2:Correct, but we're going to start today on a little bit of a sad note.
Speaker 1:Oh yes.
Speaker 2:Yes, bit of a sad note, oh yes, yes. So over the over the past week we lost a couple huge figures. Uh, pun kind of intended here, brian, who do we lose?
Speaker 1:well, uh, to start out, you know, our sincerest condolences go out to the bell family. George bell uh passed away, age of 67. This one is particularly near and dear to us because he is a local, born and raised, native out of the Hampton Roads area. He was well known for many things, but for those who worked with him he'll be remembered for his kind and fun loving personality. Those are words from the Norfolk Sheriff's Department. He was a member of Norfolk Sheriff's Department from 2000 to 2014. 14-year career with them, but that aside, he had a role in the American Horror Story Freak Show series. He was a former globetrotter. He was also, at the time time, the tallest man in the world, at 7a. So this man was uh, very decorated and knew how to leverage truly his strengths and talents. Uh, for his success truly will be lost, will be missed in our community and in the communities he was part of and our.
Speaker 1:Again, our condolences go out to the Bell family. And you know, another one we lost this week, unfortunately. You know, all the cool kids are leaving us and it makes me upset. George Foreman has passed away at the age of 76 himself, and you know talk about Mike. What a life both of these incredible individuals had Mr Bell, as well as George Foreman. George made it twice. Okay, he was a heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist. You know he was part of that colossal rumble in the jungle.
Speaker 2:With Muhammad Ali, with.
Speaker 1:Muhammad Ali, with Muhammad Ali, you know. And then he, you know, I know he lost, you know, in 1974, but he came back 10 years later and then won the World Heavy Shaker. He is the definition of vindication. Okay, he came back and got it and then, in 1994, right as he was retiring out of boxing becomes a spokesman for the George Foreman Grill, among many.
Speaker 2:That's after. You know, considering, in 1994, at the age of 45, he won the heavyweight championship for a second time and most people, because he took a hiatus from boxing for a little while and most people are like why are you going to go back? You're too old, you're too slow, you're too fat, you can't do it. And he watched me and he did it. He, he got the belt back and he, for most people any you know that grew up in the 90s. They'll remember him from, you know, his spokesman, uh, where he was selling his george foreman grills, and he was, you know, in the uh minor key commercials as well as other other commercials that he was on you know.
Speaker 1:So george foreman is, you know, basically had two different careers yeah, uh, he did at two different times of his life, at two different times of generations of the sport, uh. So to win it twice each time is absolute vindication. And then he's got the gold medal the first time around. And then he was also a humanitarian preacher as well. I mean, he started, established and built a church out in Texas himself which is still active and running today. So talk about a guy you know he had a little bit of a rough upbringing, okay but talk about a guy who really stepped up to the plate and came out for us. So again, george Foreman, mr Bell, our condolences go out to you, your families and the communities affected by your losses. You will forever be missed. What you got, mike.
Speaker 2:Another little fun fact about George Foreman he has five sons and all five of his sons are named George Foreman.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:And they interviewed him one time and said well, why did you name all five of your sons, george? And he goes look, I had a career where I got hit in the head a lot, so one thing I can never forget is a name. If they're all the same name, yep.
Speaker 1:He said that's one thing we'll all have in common. If we have nothing else, we'll have that. Yeah, so I gotta give it to him. He was, he was pretty, uh, he was pretty good guy. He was very smart, okay, very well liked, very well liked and he knew what he was doing. And just I can't say enough. Okay, moving on in here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's roll on into opening day for Major League Baseball.
Speaker 1:Major League Baseball opening day. There's an echo in here. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:So a few things before we get into opening day action and discuss some of these games. Some of these games have already happened and gone final. Discuss some of these games. Some of these games have already happened and gone final. But the Mariners locked up their catcher, cal Rowley, finalizing a $105 million extension through 2030. So that's a really good move for them because he's been one of the better catchers in baseball. So locking him up right before the season starts definitely a good idea.
Speaker 2:They got some good young pitching. The Mariners do so, hopefully by locking him up. That will help their pitching staff and hopefully they can keep some players healthy and make a run this year. So, getting to opening day baseball, there's been some interesting things that have happened. So if I told you that there's a streak going with opening day and that the streak with opening day baseball would be home run driven like somebody has hit a home run and they have a streak going, now what comes to mind is the home run hitters. You're thinking like, okay, if I told you there's a streak with home runs on opening day you might think.
Speaker 2:Aaron Judge. You might think Otani, you might think players of that caliber, but this distinction actually belongs to Tyler O'Neal, who's now with the Orioles. He has six straight opening day home runs, including the one he hit today, so he's keeping the streak alive. He was at five, now he has six.
Speaker 1:Man, this guy's a fan of streaking too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so he keeps the streak alive. Uh, orioles were playing the Blue Jays and they come out with the victory 12 to 2, so they really put it on the Blue Jays. And what makes this even sweeter for?
Speaker 1:him he's Canadian and they did this in Toronto.
Speaker 2:So not only does he keep his streak alive, but he does it in his home country. So that's a little caveat. That's a little nice there. Bittersweet in his home country.
Speaker 1:I know he loves that, so his local fans.
Speaker 2:Speaking of home run hitters, yankees started their day out with a home run from their leadoff spot and they never looked back. They won over the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2. So, yankees starting out with a win, boston beats Texas 5-2. And the Phillies they win over Washington 7-3,. But here's something that was very interesting out of this game.
Speaker 2:So in the beginning of the game the Phillies not the Phillies the Nationals, mckenzie Gore, their left-handed starting pitcher, set a franchise record in tying a Hall of Famer with 13 strikeouts and a dazzling six-inning one-hit performance against the Phillies. Now he got the no decision, unfortunately. Well, fortunate for him getting the no decision, because the Phillies ultimately, after he went out, put on the runs and obviously, final score 7-3. But with that performance, gore joins the iconic pitcher Bob Gibson in 1976 as the only pitcher of the AL or NL with 13 strikeouts, no walks and a scoreless outing on opening day. So when you're including your name with the likes of Bob Gibson, you're doing something, oh yeah. So congratulations to Gore for his performance. Good job, gore. I'm happy for him, but I'm sure he would rather have the victory, but still, you've got to give him his tip of the cap.
Speaker 1:That's a good performance by him Absolutely Just on fire man.
Speaker 2:Going down, some of the other scores Cleveland won today 7-4. Mets lost to Houston 3-1. San Francisco beat the Reds 6-4. Atlanta lost to San Diego 7-4. And the Angels lost to the White Sox, which is a little surprising because the White Sox were awful last year 8-1. Yeah, 8-1.
Speaker 1:Womped.
Speaker 2:Pittsburgh lost to Miami five to four.
Speaker 1:Close game there.
Speaker 2:Minnesota lost to St Louis five to three. Now we have a couple of games that are still going to happen later this evening, because they haven't happened yet. We have Oakland. Well, I say Oakland, see, that's going to be hard. For me it's not Oakland anymore, it's the Sacramento Athletics, because they're not in Oakland anymore. They're getting ready to move to Las Vegas, so they're going to be taking on Seattle Can we visit this for a second.
Speaker 1:Oakland has almost lost all of its sports teams.
Speaker 2:Pretty much. There are no teams in Oakland anymore.
Speaker 1:I mean, the football team already went to Vegas, and now this one might be falling Just a little sidebar. No, no, no.
Speaker 2:They're going to Vegas. They're just waiting for the stadium to be built. So right now they're going to play in a minor league park until they get their park built.
Speaker 1:Oakland has to hate Vegas right now hey. Just a little sidebar.
Speaker 2:When you don't support your team and you don't build a stadium, they're going to leave. It's facts.
Speaker 1:Facts.
Speaker 2:So the other game we have coming up would be the Cubs, and Arizona Diamondbacks will be playing later tonight. So plenty of opening day action happening. The season is kicking off. We're going to be seeing some great players on the field. Hopefully you've had a chance to catch some of these games. If not, there'll be more.
Speaker 1:I mean, we've a 161 games to go so we got a full season ahead of us and it's already started hot and wild exactly so rolling on down here. Uh sorry, mike, just a little check right here.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes yes, that where. Okay. Moving on into the WNBA I apologize, folks, I had a little bit of rainfalls today. It's been a long week, as I'm sure you can relate. But getting into some WNBA action here we don't have a lot. But we do have some very significant news for you. The Los Angeles Sparks are retiring Candiceer's number three jersey on june 29th this year. Okay, she becomes the third player to have her jersey retired by the franchise. Joining hall of famer lisa leslie and former player and general manager penny penny toller mike, how huge is this kind of a moment for any athlete across any sports?
Speaker 2:Well, let's keep in mind she was playing in Los Angeles, so she's playing in the Staples Center. So when she looks up at the Raptors, she's seeing all the Laker greats, all the Laker championships, and not only that, she's seeing Spark championships as well, because she she got herself a few championships. So I I saw an interview earlier where they asked her how she felt about it and she's like incredibly honored and humbled to have my name up in those rafters with championships alongside some of the greats that have played with the Lakers. And I can imagine I mean putting your name next to you know, kobe Bryant.
Speaker 1:I was just about to say Kobe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and not just Kobe, but all of the Laker greats you know are up in the rafters, you know, with their jerseys retired and then having your jersey up there there too, that's got to be a tremendous feeling, especially, absolutely, for anybody who loves the game that they play as much as you know most basketball players that make it that far and win championships like that they, they have a level of love for the game and to be honored is just got to be the best feeling.
Speaker 1:Absolutely and just a decorated career and no better way to show appreciation for that career than to retire and commemorate her jersey among the greats. And let me give it up really for these women of the WNBA, because the WNBA has a had a little rockier road to success than the NBA had. So to see some of these names finally be recognized and enshrined in greatness is a huge deal, especially for the WNBA.
Speaker 2:Well, the WNBA has definitely, you know, for their greats. They've definitely been willing to, you know, showcase them and, you know, put their names out there and you know we'll say it for what it is. The WNBA just didn't have the eyes that they have now. I mean, now they're really getting out in front and pushing a lot of their stars out there to be seen and heard, and they're getting endorsement deals, they're getting put into different spokesmodel situations and they even have shoe deals now.
Speaker 2:So it's like you're really seeing the progression of the WNBA, moving in a direction a lot further than it ever has.
Speaker 1:Yes, these players now finally being recognized have laid the groundwork and traversed the road to where they're at now, and they're now passing the torch to the next generation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean you don't have the players now the Angel Reeses and the you know dang. I don't know why I'm spacing on names. I'm so horrible with names.
Speaker 1:It's been one of those days, man. It's been a long week.
Speaker 2:But you don't have the stars of today without the Candice Parkers. Yeah, you know like one leads to the next.
Speaker 2:You've got to have the stars from the past to have the stars in the future. You know, it's kind of like majority of the time when you have players that are like who's the next, fill in the blank, you know who's the next player. Like when LeBron's gone, in the nba people are going to be like who's the next lebron? You know who's the next guy. You know so. And it's no different in the wmba. When the you know lead stars walk away after a long decorated career, you, you want to see the next star take their place, and we're seeing that. We're seeing a lot more names being made.
Speaker 1:And, by the way, mike, speaking of the NBA, after Braun, who do you think the next face is going to be?
Speaker 2:for them. They've got a few good candidates. They've got a few guys that could be the face. The problem is the players that we have in the NBA right now. We have so many good ones that you can't really single out anybody necessarily. I mean there's a lot of European players right now the Jokers and the Lukas, yeah, necessarily. I mean there's a lot of European players right now that you know the Jokers and the Lukas and you know yeah.
Speaker 2:And then you have, you know, the Anthony Edwards. You know we have players that they're young and they're up and coming and some of them have already won championships. I mean, hell, joker's already been what. He's already won a championship, he's already had MVPs. He's probably going to get more MVPs.
Speaker 2:But I'll tell you right now, I mean he's not necessarily the most fun player to watch because, I mean, his game is very just well-rounded. He can pass, he can shoot, he shoot, he can, you know, play pick and roll like there's not, it's not like, uh, you know, when you used to have the Derrick Rose crossovers or used to have the AI, you know breaking of the ankles and going to the rim like we're. We have players that do that in the NBA and a lot of people enjoy watching those players more than they like watching a joker. But it's one of those things that it'll get figured out in due time. The players will make themselves known because there'll be moments, and that's what you want. You want your star players to have their moments, and they usually come in the playoffs. You can be a great regular season player, but if you don't do anything in the playoffs and it just is not a good look yeah you got to make runs in the playoffs.
Speaker 2:I mean might not win a championship, but if you're consistently in the playoffs and you're consistently in the playoffs and you're consistently making those clutch shots or being that guy that has over 50 points in a playoff game, they'll take notice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I agree with that. And, that being said, the NBA, as well as the WNBA we talked about a week or two ago, they're trying to get some expansion teams. The NBA is looking to expand. I believe the most likely year be the 27 2027 2028 season. Um, we could see a return of the Seattle Supersonics, mike? Uh, according to Adam Silver, that is a very real possibility. And the newly renovated stadium out there, uh, the climate pledge arena is newly renovated, along with the arena um in las vegas I forget the name, lost on me right now both of them considered front runners to for expansion teams, and seattle is trying to bring back supersonics they already do the summer League in Vegas, where they bring in the future players and G League players and let them play it out in the Summer League, and so they do have a market out there.
Speaker 2:They have seen people come out for those games.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:It could be very viable and the Seattle Supersonics man, seattle, has been so bummed about losing their team to OKC that they really want a team again. And they're good, they are a good basketball city, they like basketball.
Speaker 1:They love. They are among some of those diehard sports fans in general out there.
Speaker 2:I can tell you with 100% certainty, if they get a team again, that arena is going to be so live. People are going to be ready and showing up. People are going to be having their jerseys on. They might even have face paint. They're going to be loud. It's going to be like the 12th man of basketball, like they're going to have the loudest arena because they they have been dying to have their supersonics back, because the supersonics were fun. You know, like they were a really good team, yeah, for a long time, and people loved the supersonics like man, they just it's one of those. When it happened, people were just like oh man, really. You know, it's kind of like when the hornets moved to new orleans to become the pelicans. People were like, really, there's not going to be the hornets anymore.
Speaker 2:And then they rectified that yeah there's no reason adam silver needs to get on this. Just get the team back already. Like Just get the team back already. Just get the team back. Nba will be so much better.
Speaker 1:They said an official announcement is pending, but it sounds like there are some things happening Behind the scenes To bring the team back to Seattle. I think that's great news for Seattle fans. Let's get into Some current game action. Let's start with LeBron. Last night's tip-in game winner really credited my opinion goes to Luka but Bron gets the. Bron basically gets to call the game after he tips it in. Big win for him 120 to 119 in Indianapolis versus the Pacers. What a thriller.
Speaker 2:What you got. So what's interesting about that game is they do that in Indiana's house, and Indiana has only lost nine games in their house this year, so they've been a very dominant home team. So another impressive thing or unimpressive thing about this game LeBron did something for the first time in his career in this game and it's not a good thing. He had no points for the first three quarters. He didn't get any of his points until the fourth quarter. Terrible if they kept LeBron from scoring that long, because that's kind of an anomaly. Like I said, first time in his career.
Speaker 1:No, I agree with you there, excuse me. Congratulations to them. And down here, jimmy Butler, man on fire with the Warriors. They are 16-2 with him on the team bro.
Speaker 2:Man, this is one of those things where it's just good fit, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's a good fit. That's all it is, yeah.
Speaker 2:He's not. It's not because Jimmy Butler's playing lights out, because he hasn't been playing lights out. He's been playing okay, but it's not like he's coming in here and he's like. You know, here's a 40-point night or anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but he, he's like you know, here's a 40 point night or anything.
Speaker 2:But yeah, but he's just like you say. Yeah, he's, he's kind of being the glue, that keeping everything together. As far as, like you know, however, they're meshing with him on the team. They've just been a different team with him around and you know there was a lot of speculation when he first went there. People were saying, well, how is that going to work with Draymond? They're both, like you know, aggressive personalities. They're both like dominant personalities. How is this going to work? Are they going to butt heads? And Jimmy Butler came out and said there is not going to be any head button between the two of us ever. And you know I'd like to believe them, but you know we'll see how that works out, you know. So I think one thing they've got to hope for is, when they get in the playoffs, that they're going to have playoff Jimmy. You know Jimmy Butler, and it's proven. He's done it time and time again. When he hits playoffs, he just hits another level. You don't earn the nickname Playoff Jimmy without doing something in the playoffs.
Speaker 1:If you've got a nickname in the NBA as wide as the NBA is you're doing something.
Speaker 2:Exactly exactly, so he's definitely fitting well.
Speaker 1:I think so, and I know the Warriors in the the very, very beginning of the season might have, you know, knocking off, you know working out some of the bugs. But they seem to have them worked out now because they're rocking and rolling. Uh, a little bit injury news here. Uh, steph curry suffers uh pelvic contusion versus the raptors a few nights ago. His timeline for return is they don't even have one right now.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:I don't think they even know what they're dealing with to the full extent.
Speaker 2:Steve Kerr already came out and said he's also going to be resting him a little bit too, because he's just spent. He came out and said that Curry needs some time. He's just tired, so he's going to give him some time. You know he's he's just tired, so he's gonna go, he's gonna give him some time to get healthy and also give him some time to rest so he can he can be fresh for the playoffs now steph curry.
Speaker 1:He's been around for a little bit. Yeah, is this wearing terror on him? Do you think he's? Well, I mean jurors this just a bang bang situation think.
Speaker 2:All coaches know when their players are needing of a break. I mean, it's not something as fans we like to see players taking a break. But sometimes you're just gassed and it's better for you to take a night or two off and get yourself right than to be dragging through a game and possibly get yourself hurt or wind up missing more time because you're so gassed that you cause yourself an injury that keeps you out for a long period. So it's better, just once in a while, get your guy. Maybe you don't even have to necessarily keep him out of a game, but maybe restrict some minutes a little, maybe adjust his play for a little while, just to get him you know fresh and steph curry.
Speaker 1:He's 37 years old right now, so it's not like he's a terribly, terribly young guy. Uh, so maybe they do like you say. You need to start considering that maybe he should get a little more rest or something. And that's what Kerr's doing. Yeah, he's just trying Like you said.
Speaker 2:Look, kerr was a good player in his day too, so, like he knows what it means to get, you know some rest before the playoffs, or you know, to have your minutes changed so you are fresh for the playoffs, because you don't want to go into playoffs having your players spent, because then you're going to be a one and done. You're going to be getting in there ready to play and the other team's going to be fresh and you're not, and then you're going to just get ground down in a seven game series and be done.
Speaker 1:You know and that's you know, and that that's not a good situation either. Um so, after the uh, so nba off and running after the players break. You know, steph curry's a little injured. Lebron's back seems to be picking it up. Got the game winner last night.
Speaker 2:Nba is rocking and rolling yeah, they're hard charging towards playoffs but over here and women's college basketball oh man, man, I'll tell you what I know.
Speaker 1:This is a hard blow to usc and this is might even be a hard blow to the team in the wmba looking to take this player, juju, walk-ins at a usc star player. Man, just absolute beast on that team put all the potential in the world she has. Has suffered an ACL tear.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean this is one of those. When you saw her go down and you saw her grab the knee, you knew, without having confirmation, that it was a serious injury. Yeah, and it really bites, because you never want to see one of the star players that's in the tournament, that's in the thick of things and is one of the faces of the tournament, go down. And I mean, most competitors will tell you that they want to play against the top. They want to play against the top adversaries. Unfortunately, with her going down, that's going to weaken USC. It's unfortunate. I hope that she has a speedy recovery and that she makes it back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree. Our condolences to her and what she's dealing with. Again, like you you say we wish her speedy recovery and I hope to see her back out on that court and she and she is gonna go pro oh, 100 she's 100. I don't think. I think it might affect her a little bit but acl injuries are not the same anymore.
Speaker 2:Like no you know, this isn't, this isn't acls from, like you know, 30 years ago, where it was pretty much oh well, their career's done. Bro.
Speaker 2:You know this isn't, this isn't acls from, like you know, 30 years ago, where it was pretty much oh well, their career's done bro, you know, like this is 40 years ago well, true, it's more like 40, but like because, look, you know, we've had players like running backs, like adrian peterson come back and then they have a 2 000 yard season the next season, so she can have this surgery and come back and maybe be better than she was.
Speaker 1:It's very possible.
Speaker 2:I've heard players say that after you've had one of these injuries, it's not so much going through the physical therapy and it's not so much the pain and stuff, as much as it is having to get past that mental part of it where you know you're okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Where you're not thinking about. I'm going to go to make this move, and do I want to do it? Because my knee, and it's the knowing that you can go at 100%. Yeah, not that you can go at 100%.
Speaker 1:It's getting that confidence back.
Speaker 2:Exactly, Exactly exactly.
Speaker 1:Because you feel like, because it feels different. Right, it feels weird, it's brand new and you can feel.
Speaker 2:you know, if every step feels like you could tear it and you're worried about that, right, and I mean having gone through some injuries myself, I can tell you that there really is a huge mental factor that plays into it. Where you want to go, you feel like you can go, but you might not be there yet.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it might not even be physical, it might be mental, where you're having to convince yourself I'm okay. Yeah, I'm fine. You know that little bit of soreness, that's normal, that's okay, that's not. I didn't re-injure myself, it's just a little sore, it's fine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I agree with you, man, and it's just that confidence is the biggest hurdle. A lot of physical therapy is regaining that mental confidence.
Speaker 2:That's what the repetition is, a little bit for strength building and, you know, muscle memory, but all in all it is to get you feeling that, get that mental confidence back and you know, as long as you do the right things, don't overdo it and you know, listen to the doctors and you know, kind of take things in stride, I mean you'll be fine. I mean, like I said, there's been plenty of athletes who have had this injury and it's just one of those. You've got to do the time, do the recovery.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and when she comes back I think we'll see her, maybe hopefully a better her. I don't think she'll miss a beat too much to be honest with you?
Speaker 2:No, I don't either. She's too good.
Speaker 1:She's too good and she's got too much drive and I want to see her back and moving. We'll just talk a brief second here about the women's tournament, because the landscape in sports, especially in college sports, is shifting right and we'll get to the men's tournament in a second. But they only have four conferences represented. For the first time ever here in the women's tournament, a 15 seed has beaten a number two seed. Okay, nc State, knock it off, or sorry. Yeah, no, sorry, I forgot what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2:Wouldn't be the first time. Yeah, that happens it happens a lot.
Speaker 1:I'm looking at a score NC State 35, vermont 33. 15 seed has never beaten a two seed in a women's tournament and apparently it didn't happen here either tonight. So I don't know what I'm looking at either there, but that doesn't matter anymore. Congratulations.
Speaker 2:I don't know, I don't know, man, like 15 I've seen we've had it happen. We've had lower seats not women's tournament though but but not okay.
Speaker 2:So that actually brings up a good argument. Well, I don't know about a good argument, but an argument nonetheless. I've been hearing these rumblings where people are saying that NIL is screwing up those Cinderella's, the ones where you have a 15 seed beat a 2 seed. You know the crazy upsets and NIL is still very new and is's still very, you know, like everybody's still trying to figure it out. So like we don't really have enough data to say it is that I think it's because people are looking at this and they're going oh, we haven't really had any upsets.
Speaker 2:Yes, we had clemson lose to mcneese, but but you know, like I feel like people, people want that. Well, you know, like NC State was last year, they were kind of the Cinderella last year and we don't really have one this year. That is is necessarily the, the one that everybody's looking for. Like everybody, everybody loves that Cinderella team. Like a few few years back we had Loyola Marymount where we had Sister G, you know, sitting on the sidelines cheering on the team and it's like, oh man, you guys got to go up against the team. They got God on their side.
Speaker 1:You know like oh no.
Speaker 2:So I think that's kind of where you know people love that, people love the tournament for these upsets but at the same time the number of viewers speak otherwise. You know people like big brands, they like the big teams that win. Big brands, they like the big teams that win. I hate to go back to football for most of my comparisons, but look at the last few years. There have been way more Chiefs fans, there have been way more Chiefs games televised, because people like the big brand, people like the name, they like the winners. We were just talking about how we could have had a three-peat in the Super Bowl if the Chiefs won. So people aren't necessarily looking for the David and Goliath with David winning. Sometimes they want the Goliath.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true, and I think, all in all, people just want to see a competitive sport. But there's a lot of factors here, especially when we get into the men's tournament. Here men's side of things A lot of schools have been switching well, not a lot, but a handful of schools have switched conferences over the last couple of years, oh yeah, so there's been a shakeup, which also contributes to the number of conferences being represented in the overall tournament.
Speaker 2:Well, and not to mention with the NIO, you're having a lot of the players that were D2 school guys being snatched up by Division I schools, where it's not just the men's, the women's too, like they're. They're when you have a star player who goes down to, you know, like a junior college level and they, they show out, you start seeing those players getting moved up, you know, getting better NIL deals and moving on. So a lot of players are shifting and so are the coaches. The coaches are shifting, like McNeese's coach is moving on to another job and now McNeese needs to find a new, new, new coach yeah, and I mean congratulations for him for putting on that success.
Speaker 1:But I don't. I think NIL, I think, affects things. Um, I think it does have an effect, but at the same time I think it kind of does it because they've always paid players. It's just now they're doing it in front of you.
Speaker 2:Now they're going through the front door. They had the bag man.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, Well, now they're going through the front door instead of the back door.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And, yes, the numbers are inflated. Yeah, the numbers are inflated, of course, but I think that only minimally contributes to what people are complaining about right now.
Speaker 2:Well, honestly, I feel and you may have a difference of opinion here Debate, Debate. Well, I feel like the whole deal with NIL. It's not really. It's not a bad thing Because, like honestly, I don't think it's a bad thing.
Speaker 2:I don't think it's a bad thing for the standpoint that the players are finally getting a piece of the money. Like you know, these colleges and the networks, they were making millions of dollars off these players, and now the players, they're finally getting a little bit of that money too. Now, granted, it's still going to be the bigger schools have the bigger pots of money.
Speaker 1:Yes, true, but Well, they're bigger schools, they have more money, they have more students.
Speaker 2:Right so.
Speaker 1:Probably also have more sponsors to contribute.
Speaker 2:The effects of that aren't known yet. Like people are trying to say things that are definite, like oh NIL is ruining college basketball. I don't know about you, I've been enjoying the college basketball. In fact, I've been enjoying these games.
Speaker 1:We have a game on in front of us. We're watching Maryland and Florida right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, right now Maryland's down. It's 60-, 47 and five minutes to go in the second.
Speaker 1:so big competitive in and out, but overall not bad. And you know maryland's not getting blown out, so no, I mean they well, I mean they really shouldn't be.
Speaker 2:I mean it's only a 4-1, not a 15-1.
Speaker 1:Well, they're down 14 points with five and a half minutes left to go. They're not exactly doing great, but they've held their own through the majority of this game. Yeah, before half they were trading back and forth, you know, taking the lead.
Speaker 2:It's been a pretty good uh pretty good game.
Speaker 2:The whole game so you know I mean that and that's that's kind of the point I'm trying to make. I've been enjoying the tournament. The tournament has has definitely added some surprises, uh, kind of moving in into the the men's side of the house, and uh, I'm gonna go ahead and and admit I'm an idiot because I said that drake wasn't gonna win and and unfortunately, you know, my dumb ass said that and then drake wound up beating missouri and moving on to play texas tech, but they lost to texas.
Speaker 1:So they're out anyway. I called St John's to go all the way and they got knocked out in the second round, just like Drake.
Speaker 2:Yes, but they got knocked out by.
Speaker 1:Number 10 seed, arkansas.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but Arkansas is. I mean, arkansas is not a Cinderella Arkansas, I don Cinderella Arkansas. I don't Arkansas? Your kid has an S, so look, they got the former you know, one-and-done Kentucky coach as their coach. So, like I don't exactly think that you know they're somehow handicapped in this tournament, I mean, yeah, they're going to be playing Texas Tech later, you know, and we're in the Sweet 16. This is when things are going to start getting really, really intense, because these teams are trying to get to the Elite Eight.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then into the Final Four.
Speaker 1:Then into the top four, then into the, the top honestly teams going into the.
Speaker 2:This is kind of where you get an idea of who the cinderella team actually is at this point in the right right, but like there's been some really good matchups, like like I watched the florida and yukon game, uconn game and that was such a good game.
Speaker 2:Like early on early on, uconn was eating Florida up with the pick and roll game. They were eating them up in that first half with that pick and roll. But Florida adjusted and they came back and they made a game of it and they they came out with the win and honestly very close.
Speaker 1:For Florida. I know they're the number one seed, but UConn has a very positive history in this tournament, so to knock out UConn even though they're ranked higher.
Speaker 2:Two championships back-to-back, I'd say that's pretty damn positive, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:So yeah, uconn, very formidable school in the March Madness tournament, yeah, for some time now. So for Florida, even them being number one to knock them off in a close game 77, 75. I mean just a thriller, man. These games are fun to watch, man, and uh, I'm I'm eating up every bit of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I yeah, definitely, because I mean I mean okay. So let's run down some of the scores from these last few games.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's break down the bracket real quick.
Speaker 2:So Auburn moved on by beating Creighton. So they moved on and they're going to be playing Michigan because Michigan beat out Texas. A&m and Ole Miss moved on after beating Iowa State, so they moved on to play Michigan State because Michigan State beat New Mexico.
Speaker 1:That's a game to watch right there. To be honest with you, yeah.
Speaker 2:And, as we said, florida and Maryland are playing right now.
Speaker 1:I mean they're really all games to watch. But that is really a game to watch.
Speaker 2:And, as we alluded to a moment ago, Texas Tech beat Drake to move on and they're going to be playing number 10, Kansas, who beat out St John which St John was a lot of people's kind of dark horse team to get down into the final four.
Speaker 1:Mike, that's our Kansas, our Kansas, not Kansas. Okay, our Kansas, my bad.
Speaker 2:It's ours not theirs, okay, arkansas, my bad, it's ours, not theirs, my bad, okay. So UCLA lost to Tennessee, tennessee moved on and Kentucky beat Illinois and they're going to be playing Kentucky in the next round.
Speaker 1:Honestly, uk and UConn are two teams that I almost always expect to at least make the sweet 16.
Speaker 2:I know uconn didn't this year, but those two teams I almost always expect to at least get into the third round well, mcneese, as we said, beat clemson and moved on and they ran into purdue and purdue beat them and purdue for their beating of McNeese. They got the winner of Houston who beat Gonzaga and now we have number one Houston against number four Purdue who Purdue was a pretty good team. Last year they lost a few players, but they're still making a deep run in this tournament.
Speaker 1:Just like UConn and UK, I like Purdue to always make it deep into the tournament as well. And number one versus number four that's going to be another hot matchup.
Speaker 2:And we had Alabama beating St Mary, they moved on.
Speaker 1:Woo 80-66.
Speaker 2:They got BYUu who beat wisconsin, so now we have byu alabama, who's actually playing right now, and the score is 113 to 88.
Speaker 1:So I'm pretty sure bam is moving on if they haven't already and I think also the highest score of the tournament to this point.
Speaker 2:And now we have Arizona beat Oregon. They moved on to play Duke because Duke beat Baylor, so now we have Duke going against Arizona.
Speaker 1:Another good matchup, another one-in-four matchup.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we have everything broken up right now.
Speaker 1:Alabama okay, we talked about them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Alabama's already moved on. We talked about them. They're way up there They'll get the winner of the Duke and. Arizona game Yep, so probably going to wind up being Duke. Arizona usually makes it about this far in the tournament and then loses. That's kind of been their MO the last few years.
Speaker 1:Can't say I disagree.
Speaker 2:We're getting some really good action in this Sweet 16.
Speaker 1:Duke being a historically basketball team as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and honestly, I didn't know how to really pick this team in the beginning of it, because we didn't know if Cooper Flagg was going to be healthy, we didn't know what was going on with him and, to be honest, I didn't really have them going that far in the bracket only because of that factor, because I thought, okay, they're one of the teams that could get upset if they don't have Flagg out there. But Flagg's been playing the whole time. So again, I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong.
Speaker 1:And you know.
Speaker 2:Flagg isn't just playing but based off of, you know, duke loss or you know, possible upsets for them in the tournament. I'm going to say right now this is a spoiler Spoiler, if you like the show White Lotus. Go ahead and fast forward. So in the show White Lotus this past Sunday they had an episode where there was a character in the show who was kind of this you know, head executive for this large company, and he's on vacation with his family and they're at a resort. This resort is a no phone resort, but he requests for his phone back because his company is being raided. And they're being raided because the government is looking into their books and you know, everything is going chaotic because they're across all of his, his business dealings, they're busting in and investigating all of it did he he hasn't told his family this is going on.
Speaker 2:So during this time he's wearing a duke t-shirt and in the midst of this he uh he steals a gun from one of the uh security people at the resort and he takes the gun and from what seems to happen is he uh kills himself in front of his family. So this leans to a very, you know, big possibility that this could be a really good meme for for a lot of people who hate duke. So if duke loses, you know this thing is coming out of the woodworks. But there's flip sides. This duke is pissed because of the, the connotation that they have put out there, this negative, like you know guy killing himself and doing wrongdoings, and he's a Duke alum.
Speaker 2:So it kind of looks real bad and Duke's like hey, we didn't say you could use our stuff, so Duke is getting ready to start suing White Lotus over their portrayal of their school. Hey, honestly, I agree.
Speaker 1:Licensing rights man. You've got to go through the proper channels. It's copyrighted. Suing white lotus over their portrayal of their school? Hey, um, honestly, I agree it. Licensing rights, man. All right, you gotta go through the proper channels. It's copyrighted. Yeah, it's copyright. You gotta go through the proper channels just like our show.
Speaker 1:Our show is copyrighted if you and, like I say you, portraying a school in a negative light, especially with you know something as sensitive as suicide, right, um, which is not a joking matter at all, okay, no, so yeah, I say I, I gave it to duke for going after them for that one um yeah, but let's face it.
Speaker 1:If we're getting a meme out of this that insults duke, you know unc is going to be all over it honestly, I see that I see the ai junkies coming out and replacing the jersey, replacing the sweatshirt, or the he's wearing a jersey sweatshirt he's wearing a t-shirt, wearing a t-shirt. I see the ai junkies replacing the duke t-shirt and putting anything else up there. They want?
Speaker 2:oh, of course, of course, of course. There's definitely. Hey, the internet's undefeated that.
Speaker 1:That aside, I know we're jumping around a little bit here. We'll get get back on track. But since we just mentioned Cooper Flagg a minute ago Cooper Flagg wasn't just playing the other night. He is joining some very relevant names here. Give me a second to get my thoughts together. He's joining Zion Williamson from 2019, Anthony Davis, 2012,. And Kevin Durant in 2007. These dates are relevant here in a minute. As the only players in NCAA history to sweep the following awards Oscar Robinson Trophy, which is the National Player of the Year award. The Wayman Tisdale Award, which is the National Freshman Player of the Year. Those two awards. Flag is an elite company. First of all, Kevin Durant's name and Anthony Davis, Zion Williamson I didn't even know where to start with these names. These are three huge names right now.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean Zion's huge for a different reason. He needs to watch his weight, so he will stop being hurt all the damn time. Yeah but still, you know AD and KD. You know, like Kevin Durant, one of my, yeah, being associated with players that have had long careers in the NBA, yeah, it's saying something. I mean, look, cooper Flagg, he played a little, you know, pickup game with some of these professionals and the professionals were like, yeah, that kid can play.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, If you're only a freshman and you're in the company, your name's in the company of some of these greats who have come before you and made it through the NBA. I say keep an eye on Cooper Flagg because he could be a future face of the NBA.
Speaker 2:People have been keeping an eye on him for years. Man, this is the nation starting to know him.
Speaker 1:He's been popular through the Internet for years and people have known who he is, so this is this is just the rest of the nation finally catching up yeah, and not from only fans, from something legit basketball so I wouldn't say that being popular and only fans makes you, makes you widely known. But you know I mean, you might be widely known under your alias. But whatever the case, let's talk a little bit about Dan Hurley man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, after that loss, what do you?
Speaker 1:think of that. Was that an apology? Was that a humble brag? I want to hear your opinion, man. In fact, we'll do that later.
Speaker 2:Go ahead, you talk, give them a breakdown of what happened.
Speaker 1:All right, so they lost right Dan Hurley, his team.
Speaker 2:They lost to Florida 77-75.
Speaker 1:Yeah, not really a close game Crying. In his post-game interview with Tracy Wolfson, by the way, who I'm a big fan of Hurley led the Huskies back-to-back national championships and said the loss, said in the loss there's an honor in the way he went out. I think he's a little over-emotional through the whole thing. He says he doesn't think he'll ever love a team more. For now I mean the loss. This loss marks yukon's first ncaa defeat in 1102 days. Now, when you're throwing out numbers like that in stats, you're being awfully specific. Are you crying anymore? Are you humble bragging?
Speaker 2:well, he, okay. So there's a couple of things. There's a couple of things in, there's a couple of things.
Speaker 1:In his interview.
Speaker 2:in his most recent press conference they addressed the fact that he made comments walking up the tunnel and was recorded saying to the other coach, hopefully you won't get effed over by the refs like we did. So that first off big no-no. He shouldn't have said that, and especially shouldn't have said it where people could record it. But when he found out the reporter that recorded it, when he found out who they were, he threatened them and said that he would get them fired and they would never have a career again. And you know so he came after him. So there's that part of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think what they were looking for in the interview was for him to apologize. But the only person he apologized in this whole thing was his wife, which his wife has nothing to do with it. He kind of had like a low-grade, humble brag about you know how things have been so good with the team and you know they're back-to-back champions and you know that they've been a well-rounded program and that he kind of goes well, everybody knows you get what you get with me and everybody knows how I am. And you know he didn't really apologize, he just kind of sat there and he's like, yeah, you win two national championships and you know you hope that you get good calls by the refs and he just kind of.
Speaker 1:I think he's caught in his emotions, maybe a little bit. He's worried about his job.
Speaker 2:I don't think he's worried about his job. I mean, you win two national championships. Nobody's going to be worried about their job.
Speaker 1:I agree with you, but in the way he handled the situation in the moment and in all of the emotions, he might not understand something or have even rationalized something like that I don't know about that.
Speaker 2:I mean dan dan hurley, as some people would say. He's an acquired taste like he's not. He's not for everybody yeah, like I mean he's, he's a. He yells at the. He yells at the refs, I mean and yells at the refs, I mean and yells at the refs. And you know he makes comments like what he said to the other coach, you know, like hope you don't get effed over like our team did. You know, like he's a, he doesn't hold back his emotions, you know, and he kind of speaks his mind.
Speaker 1:To me that's just bad sportsmanship. Okay, I understand speaking your mind, but you cannot and I get refs make mistakes. Okay, but you cannot come out and say things like that about the refs and reduce the level of integrity in the refereeing, in the officials. When you say things like that, fans lose integrity in the officiating crew. Okay, what?
Speaker 2:you got Brian. Brian, not to cut you off, but it just went. Final, Florida just beat Maryland 87-71. Woo.
Speaker 1:Number one knocks off number four.
Speaker 2:Florida's moving on. So getting back to the Dan Hurley thing, honestly like what he does with the refs aside, whatever, but the threatening a reporter is the part that kind of gets me, I agree.
Speaker 1:I was going to get there next.
Speaker 2:Realize that in this day and age, everybody has a camera phone. So if it wasn't a reporter, it could have been a fan. So just because this time it happened to be a reporter, you have to always be thinking if you're somebody in the spotlight, there may be somebody with a camera, there may be somebody who's going to record this, and if you're somebody that's a figurehead of a program, like a UConn basketball team coach, you need to think twice before you say things and do things that could put you in a bad light. Now, granted, when you win two national championships and your team is in the playoffs again and you run deep, I can understand emotions get high, but you're supposed to be the figurehead of your team is in the playoffs again and you run deep, I can understand emotions get high, but you're supposed to be the figurehead of your team. You're not supposed to be the one going off on a tangent or getting in the media for the wrong reasons. You're supposed to be the one that's reining people in and showing them how to be professional.
Speaker 2:When you're not being professional, I have to wonder sometimes if your team looks at you and goes look at this joker you know, like they might lose a little respect for you yeah, you know, so like I don't know man. I agree it hits a little weird, but I think I think overall, dan hurley is fine. He's not gonna lose his job. I don't think anything like that's gonna happen. I think it's more so. Dan hurley just needs to tweak his personality just a tad. Maybe I agree, maybe his wife needs to take him aside and be like Look, you're the coach.
Speaker 1:Come on, you're sailing the ship. Okay, you're driving the car. When people look at you, when your athletes, your athletes look at you and they see that best believe at some point in the future of their life they're going to repeat that behavior.
Speaker 2:Well, I don't think. They're like a toddler.
Speaker 1:No, I don't think blatantly, but you will see characteristics of that behavior ingrained into them at some point in their future. And hopefully I'm wrong, but that has been my experience through sports, like athletes athletes especially playing under coaches for a considerable amount of time it's just like the friends you just like the company. You keep right. You take on characteristics of the five most important people in your life that you're most often around right, I don't know.
Speaker 2:I didn't see too many of bob knight's players becoming, uh, you know, chair throwers and and, and you know choking out people like like bob knight did. I mean bob knight was, he was rough on his players well, sometimes it's just excessive.
Speaker 1:I mean, he wasn't out there pulling players hair is either behind me. So, speaking of the devil, you know now, while we're on that, but, uh, you know another interesting fact here. Uh, three members right, the three top scorers of fau florida, atlantic, florida atlantic university's 2023 um ncaa tournament team by the way, that team that year is notable because they made the Final Four and their three highest scorers are all in the tournament this year, two years later, and all of them are on different teams. I can tell you about those teams and their names here when I pull the note up. The note up uh, john l davis, junior guard. Elijah martin and excuse me if I'm wrong, vladislav golden. I hope I said that, right. John davis, playing for arkansas. Elijah martin, playing for florida, just went off air.
Speaker 1:Actually, we just talked about them yep and uh, mr golden sorry I'm not gonna try your first name again playing for Michigan Wolverines. All three of these teams are advancing to the next round, okay, so I thought that was pretty notable because the talent is being spread around. We don't really see. I don't think FAU even made the tournament this year, did they? Let's check? I don't think FAU even made the tournament this year, did they? Let's check? I don't see them anywhere. No, they didn't even make the tournament. So that was clearly a huge loss for that school with those three players going somewhere else.
Speaker 2:Well, you lose three really good players. It's going to happen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then you know know, the number 10 seed Razorbacks. You know we just went over this and the bracket breakdown. They survived the St John's rally. Okay, john Calabrese is just the second coach to take four different schools to the sweet 16. This man's coaching skills is on fire.
Speaker 2:Well, like I said before, not bad for the guy that was known for the one and done. You know he was all about the get my players in, get them to the NBA, get them paid.
Speaker 1:Hey, he clearly knows a thing or two, so good job on them. Now, this is a fun one right here. Okay, mcneese sweetheart school did. Okay, they're knocked out now. Uh, amir khan is the first ever student athlete to sign an nil deal. If you're not familiar, mr khan, he was the guy in the yellow Buffalo Wild Wings jumpsuit with the Buffalo Wild Wings boombox leading his team in and out of the locker room. He's the team manager. He got an NIL deal. I think that's crazy. I don't think it's crazy in a bad way, I think it's great. But this is what NIL is doing in the college ranks these days.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean the manager is usually somebody who is in the background. You don't really know who they are, you don't really know anything about them, but due to NIL and some of the antics of the student manager for McNeese, he's going to give himself a little bit of money.
Speaker 1:And it's not huge. I think it's like $2 or $3 million or something like that.
Speaker 2:Oh, is that all? Only $2 or $3 million?
Speaker 1:I mean in all my years working, I still don't think I've made a million, if you added it all up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't think I've made a million if you added it all up.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I don't think so either. So like, so not buying all those wendys still wouldn't make me a millionaire. I don't care what you said anyway, but that's good for him and this is the positive thing that I like about the nil setup it's opportunity for players and other personnel that would not have otherwise had it.
Speaker 2:Well, I know a lot of people. They get a little bent out of shape about the money, but I put it this way, it's just jealousy.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because, honestly, if you had the same opportunity, you would take it 100 times out of 100.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and you should.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and you should, I honestly like just because people came along and they were at the right place at the right time and got the right situation. Don't hate it, it is what it is you know, Look, if I had been born 6'6" you know, and jacked and you know like 240 pounds, I probably could have been playing you know sports somewhere, but I didn't. But that doesn't mean I'm going to, you know, sit here and be like oh man.
Speaker 2:Well, screw these athletes. I'm not. You know I'm not getting millions. You know, and on that line, if you're upset about players making millions, keep in mind you know they do something that other professions do, that you don't have a problem with making the same argument when they go see a movie or they watch a show on on netflix. And these actors are making 40 million dollars for a six months worth of acting I think they make more than that, robert downey jr got 250 million dollars to come back as doom.
Speaker 1:I think he even made more than that, like it was 200 million.
Speaker 2:That's point. Nobody gets mad at them for that. Nobody gets mad at them for a skill that they're getting paid for. These athletes are skilled in getting paid for it, so stop getting mad at them just because you think they only work one day and it's complete bullshit because they don't. They work out all the time. They do film study.
Speaker 1:They have to fly here, there, everywhere to go to these games look and they get separated from their families, so there's no reason for you to be hating on them and I agree with you, mike, and I know again, our listeners don't want to hear us agreeing all the time, but fuck off because we do a lot, uh. But I, I agree with the opportunity because these, these kids are getting this because of what they chose to do with their lives we all.
Speaker 1:Well, all of us, most of us americans everybody can't go to college. I get that, but all these kids can't afford to go to college that are currently in college they worked hard. Okay, a lot of them are on sports scholarships. They can't afford that out of pocket. They have to make the grade and play the level well with nil now.
Speaker 1:Yes, they can afford it well, well, now, with nil they can't. But to get to that point, right, you still have to maintain good grades, you have to maintain your status with your university. Okay, people forget about that and, yeah, some of them might get some help here or there, you know, yeah, I think that's unfortunate.
Speaker 1:Regardless that's happened in the past, it did happen in the past, but at the end of the day, the real world. It did happen in the past, but at the end of the day, the real world. It is literally 60% about who you know and 40% about what you know. But let's get on down here. It's fun facts time Before we move into our flagship subject of the podcast which we don't have a terribly long agenda for, but it is fun facts time tonight. Mike, Are you ready for some fun facts?
Speaker 2:Hit us with it right.
Speaker 1:Here's a few ones, all right. First one chris weber never played one game for the team that drafted him. Funny fact, right? A lot of people think he did. Orlando took him first overall in 1993. Then they traded him to Golden State. A lot of people think Golden State drafted him. He didn't. He was traded to them. Fun right? Ray Allen's real first name is Walter Walter Ray Allen Jr. Anybody didn't know that. Now you do. He uses his middle name. A lot of people do. It actually has a very strong sound. Ray Allen is way better than Walter Allen. Good job, man. Kobe Bryant's middle name is Bean. Do you know why, mike?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:It is derived from his father, joe Jellybean, when he played Joe Jellybean Bryant, so his middle name is Bean Comes from his father. That's pretty cool. Nolan Ryan, seven-time All-Star, played 27 seasons in the MLB the most of any player. He never won a World Series except in 1969, and he was a reliever, so he wasn't even a primary player.
Speaker 2:Do you know what team that was? The Miracle Mets?
Speaker 1:The Miracle Mets.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, and that, I believe, was his rookie year Yep, so that's why he was a reliever. But another fun fact Nolan Ryan holds the record for most strikeouts in a career. I don't think anybody's going to catch it.
Speaker 1:It's over 5,000 strikeouts, so good luck, yeah. So kind of a good career, but kind of not, at the same time, very gray area.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I mean he had multiple.
Speaker 1:Well, he was a seven-time All-Star.
Speaker 2:Well, seven-time All-Star, and he threw a ton of no-hitters.
Speaker 1:And he played 27 seasons, so he did have some good things going for him season, so he did have some good things going for him. It just sucks he never really, you know. I mean he got the World Series as a rookie but he never went on to experience it after hey, look he did on a team that, like I said, Miracle Mets. That's right.
Speaker 2:You know, nobody thought they were going to do that and they did, and that would be one hell of a team to be a part of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the last one I have for you folks unlike most sports, baseball fields, baseball parks, they actually vary significantly in size and shape. I mean, aside from the regular three bases in the home plate, those are pretty standard. The outfield, the foul zones, the shape of the outfield, all that is subject to team ownership and the way that they design the stadium. Uh, and I've seen it myself, tide stadium here, you know, uh, medium league team out of norfolk, triple a triple a team. They have a relatively small state. I mean, they have a decent size data, but their outfield is rather short because the river. But if you see another team like I don't know who's got a big stadium in baseball I'm not familiar with all their stadiums the yankees, they got a huge. No, they do not no, they do.
Speaker 2:They got a short porch and right, which is why a lot of lefties like going to play for the Yankees because they can up those home run numbers. But no, no, no. It put me on the spot here trying to think of a team with a, because I always think of, like the teams with friendly. You know home run areas like the Rockies.
Speaker 1:I tried. I wasn't well prepared for that point. I just threw that at you though.
Speaker 2:I mean, I guess you could say like maybe, well, I wouldn't even say the Cardinals, because the Cardinals, you know, they had McGuire hitting all those home runs there. So, geez man, the Giants, the Giants have a pretty.
Speaker 1:I almost said the Giants.
Speaker 2:It's not easy to hit a home run in their park.
Speaker 1:They do have a little bit of one.
Speaker 2:It is nice when you hit a home run that goes over the right field fence and splashes into the bay. That's always a cool thing. You have a splashdown home run ball.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's always cool.
Speaker 2:It doesn't happen all the time, but it's cool when it does. But they definitely have a pretty big outfield. But you're right, they do vary in the size and the shape. I mean, you have the giant, the green monster, there in Boston, where probably the biggest wall just right there and left, and the players have to learn how to play off that thing. You know an interesting, interesting fact about that.
Speaker 2:Uh, the green monster used to have I, I think it's still still there but they used to have a ladder and it was the most useless ladder in baseball. That was on the green monster. Because before there was stands up on the green monster, yeah, you used to have to climb a ladder up and fish the balls out of the net that would catch them. So they had a ladder that they would connect to a ladder that was fixed on the wall. So for a while there it was just a useless ladder. It was there and there was no point to it because there was no need to go up it anymore. But a baseball would come in and hit it and careen off and like, take these weird bounces and stuff. So the hometown team, they're used to it, they've seen it, they know what happens if a ball goes near it. So they're prepared. But you know, you get those out-of-town teams. When a ball comes in and ricochets off that ladder they're like, oh crap, it takes a funny bounce and goes bouncing way over.
Speaker 1:They're not in any way shape or form ready to field it, not prepared for it, not ready to field it. But those are your five fun facts of the night. I try to keep them on subject this week. Since we talk a lot about baseball and basketball right now, try to keep some continuity. We're gonna move into, I think, if not everybody's favorite subject, most everybody's favorite subject. Um, when it comes to our sports show, the nfl, let's talk about some football. Uh, where are we starting at here? We got a few things, uh espn so this is a good starting point here, mike.
Speaker 1:This is a good one to talk about. Okay, espn is exploring a deal to purchase nfl network, red zone and nfl plus for over two billion dollars. This is y'all, because the NFL currently owns those three things themselves and we all know NFL Plus was almost a horrible launch.
Speaker 2:Honestly, I don't know if that's a good move by ESPN jettisoning people from the company these last few years, moving on and pushing them out to where it's like okay, if you don't have the money, how are you going to pick up all these different personalities and stuff personalities and stuff if we'll pick up these networks and spend $2 billion? If you're having trouble keeping the people you already have in your company to begin with, and you're canceling shows they're going to be canceling Around the Horn here soon why would they be able to be canceling around the horn here soon, so like why would they be able to afford that?
Speaker 1:two billion dollars. Yeah, I feel like that's a low number for a streaming service, an exclusive network and a semi-exclusive network, I don't know, and it does the nfl necessarily want to let it go? I mean, I, I think's theirs but it's their stuff. Well, look at what's going on. Right, the NFL Sunday ticket is their moneymaker and that belongs to YouTube now okay.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, they already got that deal worked out.
Speaker 1:Which, by the way, is way better which mind you, they offer Red Zone as well.
Speaker 2:So if you're going to have Red Zone be sold off to an individual company like ESPN, well, what about the agreements you already have in place with all those other companies? Because you can get Red Zone with a lot of the other. If you still have cable which not a lot of people do, but should you still have cable? A lot of companies still offer the red zone.
Speaker 1:I honestly see them honing it. It's NFL specific. Right now, espn gets their hands on it, you could be seeing red zone NBA only scoring plays, only scoring plays.
Speaker 2:You could be seeing red zone MLB only scoring plays only scoring plays.
Speaker 1:Only scoring plays. You can be seeing red zone MLB. Only scoring plays. Only scoring plays.
Speaker 2:Okay With as annoying as ESPN's streaming stuff is already. I don't want to deal with them also owning NFL stuff. Just me personally, because honestly, I used to love watching UFC fights, especially when you know it would be like a Friday night or a Saturday night and they were just random fights where you didn't know the fighters but they were up-and-comers. It used to be. That was. The cool thing when the UFC was new is you were seeing a lot of the fighters starting out their careers in these Friday, saturday fights that were free and then if you wanted to see the big matches you had to pay for the pay-per-view. So that's all done because ESPN has done this BS where they've taken it over, and now if you want to watch it you have to have ESPN Plus, and it's kind of why most people don't even pay attention to UFC anymore, because ESPN has kind of put it behind a paywall, unless you want to legally stream it, which I'm not saying you should do but.
Speaker 1:Unless you are in mixed martial arts yourself. It's kind of the same thing, just different names of different people. It's just a fight in the octagon, and, don't get me wrong like there's not a lot of storyline to it I'm not looking for look.
Speaker 2:I'm not looking for storyline, I'm looking for a good fight and yeah it used to be in the early days of usc.
Speaker 1:You were getting some really good you did have some, but the problem is now fights back then now you can't even see the fights because it's always behind this stupid ESPN Plus stuff.
Speaker 2:So unless you're paying for additional stuff to be able to stream it, it's aggravating. So if you add the NFL behind that aggravation, I'm just I don't know man, I don't like the thought of it, the look of it. I don't like man. I don't like the thought of it, the look of it. I don't like any the streaming.
Speaker 1:Streaming services is the next generation of quote cable. Okay, it is going to be more expensive than cable because you're going to be paying for a hundred of them. Everybody has a streaming service. Everybody has multiple streaming services for different things. They all cost 20 to $40 a pop.
Speaker 2:You know like I just get aggravated having to piecemeal it, because as a sports fan, I like sports.
Speaker 2:And in order to get all of the sports. Well, okay, this service doesn't have, you know, baseball, so I got to go over here and get baseball from somebody else. This service has the NBA, but they don't have NFL. So now I got to go over here and get baseball from somebody else. Oh, this service has the nba but they don't have nfl. So now I gotta go over here and get it from here and then, yeah, like and then you just aggravating and then what it's gonna become is okay, nba season.
Speaker 1:Now I'm unless you're a diehard fan, you're not gonna pay for a year round. Okay, nba is out, cut that stream. Nfl is coming in. We're gonna pay for that one for the next few months while their season's in.
Speaker 2:I see that happening yeah, but most of these it's kind of like sunday ticket it's a huge bill up front or you break it into chunks so you're still going to wind up paying for it throughout the year. So it's like you know it's like you're saying it's twenty dollars here, thirty dollars there, forty dollars there, in order to get all these sports Unless again, unless you illegally stream. Not that I'm condoning that, but people do what they do. Yeah, and I agree.
Speaker 1:And speaking of people doing what they do. Stefan Diggs $69 million deal signing with the patriots. What a splash move for mike vabrel and his first offseason with this team. I know um drake may is probably ecstatic.
Speaker 2:He really didn't have much for receivers last year honestly, this move says a couple of things to me. You paid a guy coming off an ACL tear off of a down year $69 million over three years, right? So assuming that average being right around $20 million with incentives laced in there.
Speaker 2:I don't know man, this guy's been kind of a personality is a little less than to be desired, because he was shipped out of the Vikings facility to go to Buffalo. In Buffalo he kind of butted heads there and they shipped him out. Well, they didn't ship him out, they let him walk and he goes to Texas, the Texans.
Speaker 1:He went to Dallas.
Speaker 2:He went to Texans. He played for the Texans.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking of somebody else though.
Speaker 2:You're thinking of his brother, his brother's, on the defense.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that's right Anyway so he plays there, tears his ACL. He was kind of like the third option there, so he wasn't exactly he was productive, but he wasn't productive like a number one, you would think. Now, maybe that's just because they had a crowded receiver room, but they're throwing big money at him, probably because he also probably didn't want to go there. So now you're bringing in him at that dollar amount. Now, granted, they're not paying anybody really. I mean, they did throw around some cash, but they had the deepest pockets as far as free agency was concerned and salary cap was concerned. So they can afford to take the hit, but they better be drafting receivers, somebody for a direct man to throw it to, because you can't have just Stephon Diggs out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, three-year deal, which means he may get, if he does well, year one, he'll get year two and year three. They're going to be looking to restructure or get rid of him. That's pretty much how that's going to go. Probably, if he doesn't work out in year one, he's probably gone in year two.
Speaker 2:Hey, but you know what? There was also some really crucial signings. That happened in New York.
Speaker 1:Oh look, oh Lord, please, let's get started, please, let's get started.
Speaker 2:The question has been like what are the Giants going to do? What are the Giants going to do? They've been sniffing around Aaron Rodgers Rodgers is going to them, or he's going to the Vikings, or he's going to the Steelers. But now, now we have an answer. Now we have an answer. The first answer we got Jameis Winston. Come on down, man. He got a two-year deal worth $8 million. He's coming in and Jameis is sitting there thinking man.
Speaker 1:I got a chance.
Speaker 2:I'm going to come in here. I got to compete with Danny DeVito or Tommy DeVito.
Speaker 1:Before you go too much farther. I liked Jameis Winston before they did what you're about to say next.
Speaker 2:But Jameis is sitting here on a high going. Yeah, I found me a spot, I'm going to have a chance, I'm going to have a chance. And then he looks down his phone. Russell Wilson signs with Giants One year deal, $10 million. Huh, damn it. Just when he thought he had a chance, russell Wilson comes out of the woods.
Speaker 1:He has no luck. So when he first was, when he was in Tampa Bay before Brady went there, I remember the tweet Brady, move with the Tampa Bay Jameis, oh, I'm in Tampa, what brings you to town? So, and then the rest is history, right? Uh, you know, I I really liked before the russell wilson signing. I really honestly liked the jamis winston signing because I was like, okay, he's not a bad backup. They're probably gonna draft somebody shadur sanders or carson beck, whatever. I don't think they're going to take Beck. I think that's a charade.
Speaker 2:But that's the thing they brought those two in. They already have, you know, devito as their third option.
Speaker 1:DeVito.
Speaker 2:Are they going to draft Shadur?
Speaker 1:I think they draft Shadur all day.
Speaker 2:I don't think they do, I think, but Shadur all day I don't think they do, I think they do. But this move right here says a couple of things.
Speaker 1:Oh well, yeah, yeah, Look to me.
Speaker 2:this says they're not looking to this draft to get a quarterback. They're looking to next draft, and what they're looking to do right now is we need some veteran guys to come in and get us some wins to keep this coaching staff and this GM employed. So if they drafted Shador, put him in and he didn't get them the wins that they wanted. They'd be out.
Speaker 1:Now, and you're right. But think about this right, they got DeVito, they got Jameis Winston, they got Russell Wilson. Okay, two out of these three guys aren't going to make it out of training camp but, or sorry, the preseason at least. But say they draft a quarterback, they have a QB competition for the backup. Well, that doesn't even make fucking sense.
Speaker 2:I mean they're going, they're gonna keep wilson, they're gonna keep that's a horrible statement that I just said.
Speaker 1:Forget that. Okay, nobody does that shit, okay I. I want to believe they're gonna do the right thing and draft a quarterback this year, but you're right, they might wait till next year. But but I have a, something's just hitting me, I mean honestly, think about it. Yeah.
Speaker 2:The things that they need are not so much Like. Okay, understand that they have some pieces. They're not exactly a team that is, you know, full rebuild While be it. They did not play well last year. Full rebuild While be it. They did not play well last year. They didn't really have much going on. As far as they need a running back, that's for sure they need that. Do they have a star receiver? Yes, they have neighbors, so that's okay.
Speaker 1:They have a very good receiving core.
Speaker 2:Do they have a decent O-line? Yeah, it's okay.
Speaker 1:You know it's not the worst in the league. It could be a little better.
Speaker 2:Do they have pass rushers? Yes, they have pass rushers.
Speaker 1:They have a relatively decent defense overall.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So if you get some competent quarterback play and you can somehow establish a good run game, which is a running back heavy draft, they might be able to piece together a team where they could rattle off some wins and possibly save the coach and the GM's career with the Giants. Now, it might not be the motive here, but to me that's what it looks like. Might not be the motive here, but to me that's what it looks like. It looks like they're doing stuff to win now because they know their job is gone if they don't win now.
Speaker 1:Look, I've been waiting for Brian Dable to get fired, I think longer than I was waiting for Ibraflus to get fired.
Speaker 2:Oh, and, by the way, we already have the Russell Wilson. Whatever he's going to say at the end of interviews, you know, like when he was with Seahawks it was Go Hawks. When he was with the Broncos, let's Ride and the Steelers was so forgettable that nobody cares what he did there. He's going with Go Blue or Go Big Blue that's not original. They already say that well, that's what he's gonna say they already say these things.
Speaker 1:Well, this is not original look it's russell wilson.
Speaker 2:This is what he does, he is, he is just, just, oh, he's. He's that guy that's like. So just, I don't know, like the entire league, it sounds like he's tired of trying.
Speaker 1:All right. Well, I'm on the Giants, Go Big Blue.
Speaker 2:He's just the over-trying guy.
Speaker 1:He's that guy that like I don't think he's trying at all.
Speaker 2:Well, not on the field, but he sure loves to be that rah-rah guy at the interviews. The positive go-lucky.
Speaker 1:Now they got Russell Wilson. Look, I guarantee you on a whim. Okay, because they were waiting for an answer for Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 2:Well, they got sick of it.
Speaker 1:Who's another subject in his own right.
Speaker 2:Well, and he might still retire. He's discussed and said he might retire.
Speaker 1:I hope he does, cause he's disgusting.
Speaker 2:Look, bottom line, even if he retires, he's not going away. We're going to see him everywhere.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's going to be on a Pat McAfee show.
Speaker 2:It'll be. It'll be the the Aaron Rogers segment every, every, every few days. Yeah, check in from the darkness retreat.
Speaker 1:That's what it'll be. It'll be check in from the darkness retreat. I'm sitting here in the dark reflecting.
Speaker 2:I know you can't see me, but I'm in the dark. Trust me, it's dark in here.
Speaker 1:It'll just say some useless shit. I'm rolling an egg roll full of rice. You just do some dumb stuff. I don't know if you can tell, but Aaron Rodgers has soured with me. I actually really liked Aaron Rodgers At one point in life I really liked Aaron Rodgers, like back in 2010.
Speaker 2:Oh, back when he wasn't acting all crazy and was winning a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1:Look, he won that Super Bowl but I still think he inherited that team. There were some good players on that team that he inherited and he hasn't taken a team back. I mean, he's been to the playoffs a few times, but he hasn't taken a team back to the Super Bowl since then.
Speaker 2:Well, that's because he'd run into the Niners in the playoffs and they would beat him every time.
Speaker 1:With Colin Kaepernick, mind you, with Colin Kaepernick, hey Like hey. So I'm sorry, you know. I think now is look, rodgers obviously doesn't know what he wants to do. He's come out publicly and said he's waiting for the right situation to be competitive. First of all, in the situation you're in, at the stage of your career that you're in, you're not going to a contender, bro, you're going somewhere.
Speaker 2:No, no no, no, I wouldn't say that. I mean, look, if he goes to Steelers, he's going to a team that was in the playoffs last year and that was with mediocre quarterback play from two quarterbacks. So I mean and we did see down the stretch that he had better quarterback play- I don't think he goes to Steelers.
Speaker 1:I mean, he already lowered his standards. He went to the Jets. That's one of the teams at the low of the low. If you go to the Jets, you're like all right.
Speaker 2:No, I mean so going to a team that's at least more competent in the Steelers, who you know has a good defense and who you've seen, has a year-after-year winning record.
Speaker 1:You're going to a better situation. Didn't they just get a receiver?
Speaker 2:they just got somebody really from the seahawks that guy, dk metcalf, yeah there you go, so they got sorry, I, yeah, I.
Speaker 1:It's not in front of me so it's a little foggy. But d DK Metcalf, I thought that was a good move, because now you have George Pickens on the other side taking a little bit of stress off him. Okay, well, they don't have Najee Harris anymore, but they still have Jalen Warren.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and they're going to draft him back.
Speaker 1:They will draft him back and he's a good speed back, so I guess if he lands with the Steelers it wouldn't necessarily be a bad situation.
Speaker 2:They need some O-line help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the expectations would be high. Yes, he didn't finish year one with the Jets and year two was basically.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, he got hurt with the Ach achilles, but year two he had a full season this last year it was almost a train wreck until like the last month of the season yeah, but understand that he's still coming off of injury and he's still trying to come back from from a torn achilles yeah so, and everybody who has had that injury has said that like, yeah, you'll come back, but you're not, you quite yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree, it's just you'll be cleared to play, but you're not quite you and we did see a different aaron down the stretch.
Speaker 2:So there is a good possibility he could come in and play well for the steelers. I'm not saying he's going to win a super bowl, but he could play well and get them into playoffs. So it I don't know, we'll see how it shakes.
Speaker 1:We'll see how it shakes out. A little bit of a lull time right now for the nfl. That's okay, because we got plenty to focus on with college, with the nba, with women's basketball and with mlb now starting back out. So we got plenty to focus on with college, with the NBA, with women's basketball and with MLB now starting back up. So we've got plenty of things to focus on and the NFL draft is right around the corner. Once again, everybody find us on Facebook, find us on Instagram, find us on your favorite streaming service.
Speaker 2:Yeah, hit us with a like. Let us know what you think of the show or drop an opinion maybe we'll say something about it on one of our, one of our episodes, oh, yeah, drop that in.
Speaker 1:Interact with us. We try to do some interaction stuff. We have a lot of followers right now, but we still try. Thank you everybody for listening to us and spread the word yeah, spread the word. We really appreciate your support. Once again, I'm b'm Brian with an I.
Speaker 2:And I'm Mike.
Speaker 1:And we are Two for the Win.
Speaker 2:Thanks everybody.