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 - E29 - Sports Talk Tonight, Underdog Mayhem & There's A Mammoth In Utah!
When legends leave us and underdogs rise, we're reminded why we love sports. Today, we begin with a solemn tribute to Detroit Tigers legend Chet Lemon, whose passing at age 70 marks the end of an era for the 1984 World Series championship team. His decorated career and impact on the game leave a lasting legacy that deserves our respect and remembrance.
The hockey world brings both exciting beginnings and significant shifts as Joel Quineville joins the Anaheim Ducks, bringing his 969 career wins and championship pedigree to a team hungry for success. Meanwhile, Utah's hockey franchise unveils its new identity as the Utah Mammoth, complete with a thoughtfully designed logo that honors the state's natural history. On the ice, playoff drama continues with the Stars and Jets advancing after Game 7 thrillers, while the Edmonton Oilers set records with five consecutive comeback victories.
Baseball season is heating up but not without casualties. Several teams face significant roster challenges as Jordan Alvarez (Astros), Jesse Winker (Mets), and Tristan Casa (Red Sox) all head to the injured list. The Pirates' decision to fire their manager early in the season reflects growing frustration, while spectacular plays like O'Neal Cruz's rocket throw from center field remind us why we watch. For a moment of nostalgia, we celebrate what would have been Yogi Berra's 100th birthday, remembering his contributions and unforgettable quotes.
The NBA playoffs have delivered stunning upsets. The Knicks have shocked the Celtics by overcoming 20-point deficits in consecutive games through physical defense that's disrupted Boston's shooting rhythm. Meanwhile, the Pacers have taken a surprising lead over the top-seeded Cavaliers, suggesting we might see unexpected conference finalists. In San Antonio, coaching legend Gregg Popovich steps into a front office role after his recent health challenges.
Whether it's Washington DC preparing to host the 2027 NFL Draft or Metallica playing a concert at Virginia Tech featuring the school's iconic entrance song, the intersection of sports and culture continues to create memorable moments. Join us for this packed episode exploring everything from playoff battles to tributes to the legends who shaped our love of the game.
Welcome back everybody. May 8th 2025. We are that much close to summertime blues where the sports world's gonna cool off. Thank you once again, everybody, for joining us for another episode of sports talk. I'm Brian with an eye and I I'm Mike. And we are Two for the Win. Welcome back everybody, Mike. What's popping tonight, bro?
Speaker 2:Man playoffs have us right now going. What in the world is going on in here? And the MLB is just rolling along, but unfortunately we're starting tonight's episode in a bit of a down note. Brian, what do we got?
Speaker 1:You know first of all it's Brian with an I, but I will let that go. But we unfortunately say goodbye. Farewell to Mr Chet Lemon. Farewell to Mr Chet Lemon. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr Lemon and his family and the communities affected by his passing. Lemon was a member of the 1984 Tigers World Series championship team. He passed away at the age of 70. Just a great, you know. He was born on February 12, 1955 in Jackson, mississippi. Lemon became a first-round draft pick out of Fremont High School in Los Angeles in 1972. Of course I'm taking this from MLBcom. You know the Athletics traded him to the White Sox in 75 in a four-player deal, veteran pitcher Stan Benson, and he debuted in that September 9th in Chicago. Excuse me y'all, I'm having issues tonight. You know words are difficult More ways than one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but anyway, mr Lemon became an all-star at the age of 23, ripe young age of 23, very young athlete In 1978, then he led an American League with 44 doubles in 1979. While returning to the Midsummer Classic, his 509 put-outs in center field in 1977 set a major league record. I mean, early on in his career he just had an absolutely decorated career. I mean, his accolades go on, it seems like for days. So you know, mr Lemon, our thoughts and prayers are with you, your family and the communities affected by you. May you rest in peace. Oh, you know. And going on to the next thing, you know, as we say farewell to chet lemon, let's move on into some nhl news here. Okay, uh, the ducks, you know, anaheim just got a new coach they just cut a new coach, and who they go after?
Speaker 1:Mike, they go after Joel Quineville, right? This guy? Uh, this is a significant hire for them, all, right?
Speaker 2:uh, let me find my notes here, so I'm sorry, mike yeah, Joel, Joel, for those who know him and if you watch the NHL you should know him he's been an NHL coach for a number of years. He holds the second most wins in NHL regular season history, at 969 wins. He was a coach for the Colorado Avalanche, the St Louis Blues, the Blackhawks, the Panthers, and he led the Chicago Blackhawks to three Stanley Cups.
Speaker 1:Three.
Speaker 2:So the man has a decorated past. The Ducks are probably hoping that he can find that magic with them.
Speaker 1:Very strong head coach hire, probably hoping that he can find that magic with them. Very strong head coach hire. Do we equate this to like a bill belichick hire, or is he like hiring mike tomlin?
Speaker 2:I, you know, I don't know that I would. I wouldn't equate him to anybody in that reference, because he's he's a hockey coach and they're they're a breed of their own you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how can we compare? You're right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's hard to compare him. I mean, if you want to talk wins, yeah, you can go ahead and talk wins and compare in that arena. But being a hockey coach is a tough job because you're not. It's not just managing one line. You've got multiple lines. You're running in hockey and knowing when to move those lines and when to play certain players and pull certain players because they're just not having it that night.
Speaker 2:And you don't get to 900 over 900 wins without having a good grasp on how to get your players playing at their best and get your best lineups put out there. Because sometimes you've got to have the hard conversation and say I'm going to put you on the second line, not the first line, because you'll be more beneficial on the second line. And being able to take guys and say, hey, look, I'm not having you on the starting line because you're going to get more points on the second line. And being able to take guys and say, hey, look, I'm not having you on the starting line because you're going to get more points on the second line, you know, like being able to manage people on a hockey team to a point where they're beneficial for them and the team. That's how you get wins like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, clearly Quineville brings culture, he brings hard work, he brings discipline and a lot of strategy, because you need some strategy to win in hockey as well.
Speaker 2:And that's what the Ducks are hoping for, because they haven't been doing well and now you've got a coach you're hoping can get you over the hump and get you into playoffs.
Speaker 1:For his coaches Maybe Maybe, yeah.
Speaker 2:To a Stanley Cup, but that's not the only news we have from hockey. So, hockey, there's a Utah Hockey Club. They're not the Utah Hockey Club anymore Many of you may have already heard but they're now going to be called the Utah Mammoth and I love this.
Speaker 2:If you haven't see, the color scheme is going to stay the same. So if you saw the Utah Hockey Club during the season, you saw what their colors will be. But they have this neat little new logo with the Mammoth and if you look at it there's a lot of little Easter eggs in it, that kind of allude to not only the city but the point of being the mammoth. But uh, one of the reasons they got the name the mammoth is because one of the very first mammoth fossils ever found was in utah. So that's kind of a a nod to that. But they were trying to go with, uh, the name yeti, you know, but as we all know, there's a company that already has that name trademarked, so they couldn't do that. So they went with next best and did the mammoth oh wait they make.
Speaker 2:I think it looks kind of cool. I like the logo. I like the colors. With the logo, I think it'll fit I like it.
Speaker 1:if you haven't seen this logo yet, this is a a badass logo and if you look at it like any other sports team's logo, they got some Easter eggs in this thing, right, Mike?
Speaker 2:Well, I wouldn't say all logos. I mean, some logos are pretty simple.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, you know the Cowboys logo sucks, but what else is new? But this logo looks really cool. Okay, can you tell he's a Washington fan, sir, I love the philadelphia eagles.
Speaker 2:Okay, I don't know what you're talking about anyway, I'm surprised you said that without throwing up their green does look like puke green, doesn't it?
Speaker 1:anyway, if you haven't seen this thing, they got some easter eggs in it, okay of all, off the back and off the top of the head of the mammoth you can see the Rockies of Utah. It definitely looks like Utah, not that I've ever been there. The tusk is shaped like a U for the state of Utah. And something I think I noticed and I might just be looking for conspiracy theories at this point, but if you look at the forehead where the white shading is, to me it looks like the skyline of Salt Lake City. But you know, maybe I'm just a conspiracy theorist, we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2:I don't know. But one thing that isn't a conspiracy theorist theory is the Kings have said first round exit, we got to chop the block. So what they did is they took their GM Blake Bye-bye.
Speaker 1:Bye, Felicia.
Speaker 2:They said goodbye After our first round exit. Their GM is gone.
Speaker 1:Should have moved to Virginia Beach when you had the chance.
Speaker 2:Nobody wants to move here. Anyway, so moving on, because we know we're talking about stuff happening in the nhl, but we haven't started talking about the playoffs, and the playoffs is what we need to talk about yeah, this note right here in front of us.
Speaker 1:I literally thought it said star wars for a second, but it doesn't. What does it say, mike?
Speaker 2:No, what it says is the Stars in the Game 7 match against Avalanche, beat the Avalanche to move on to the next round. So the Stars have moved on to the next round, but playing the Winnipeg Jets. And they weren't the only ones that had a Game 7 win. Those very Jets had a Game 7 win to move on to play the Stars. But both of those were very significant, especially the Jets. The Jets literally had three seconds left in the game and tied the game up and took it into overtime Not just overtime, double overtime and finally won the game. So that was one heck of a series by the Jets. But they're not the only ones making comebacks, because the past five games by the Oilers have been comeback wins, five comeback wins in a row by the Oilers. So that's pretty impressive and that's saying something, because in order to do that, they knocked out the Kings, which we alluded to. Kings are knocked out, they move on and the Las Vegas Golden Knights they won their series and moved on. So they're playing Edmonton Oilers now.
Speaker 1:I believe that Oilers' comeback record is an NHL all-time record that makes history.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is for playoffs, but that wasn't the only impressive feat that had happened during this run. During this run for another nhl team, the dallas stars their their player, uh, miko ratatan look miko, he was with the Carolina got moved out of Carolina, went to the Avalanche, moved out of the Avalanche.
Speaker 1:Rantanen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Rantanen, sorry.
Speaker 2:Words are Thank you for correcting me, but he moved over to Dallas and lo and behold, what team is he playing His former team. And not only does he get to play his former team, but he got the sweetest sweetest thing you can get in hockey a hat trick against this old team. But, not to be outdone, he has two hat tricks in a row in the playoffs. So he's just playing amazing hockey right now, and anybody that let him walk out the door right now has to be going. Who signed off on this? Who said this was okay?
Speaker 1:And man, I love tricks anyway, but this man gave me a hat trick.
Speaker 2:It's like giving me a silver platter instead of giving me a regular platter, he gave the hat trick.
Speaker 1:He did it twice. You're right, he did it twice. That was a weird voice. I'm not going to do that again.
Speaker 2:So rolling on into MLB. Well, actually, my apologies, I'm getting ahead of myself. We didn't talk about the East. We've got to talk about the East for the NHL.
Speaker 1:Damn, we didn't even talk about the East.
Speaker 2:So, as we know, the Toronto Maple Leafs moved on after beating Ottawa, wound up closing out that 4-2 in the series and they're playing the Panthers who won the Florida series Florida, really, or Florida Panthers, I should say, because it was the Florida series, because they were playing the Lightning. They basically almost swept that series because it was 4-1. But this round they're not doing so hot. Right now toronto maple leaf are up two to one in the series, or no, not two to one, two to nothing. Sorry, I'm giving the panthers hope when they don't have it yet, and that's unfortunate panthers yeah, they're down to historically, when they're down two oh in the playoffs, they don't make it out of the series.
Speaker 2:They usually get bumped out. And that's saying something, because they were last year's cup champion. They won the Stanley Cup last year. So if they get bumped, guaranteed new champion this year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, honestly, I'm taking Toronto over Florida. I mean, toronto is D1, florida is D3. They're already up 2-0. And, like you said, once Florida's down, they don't typically make it out of that hole.
Speaker 2:Right. So right now we have the Washington Capitals and the Hurricanes series going on. Hurricane lead that series 1-0. But they are playing tonight. Actually I don't have the game pulled up, but they are playing tonight. So we'll see if Washington can get their act together and tie that series up tonight.
Speaker 1:Nope, we got the Timberwolves and Golden State on right now. That's what we be watching.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, for those if we haven't said it before be watching. Yeah, yeah, we for for those if we haven't said it before. We do typically have something sports wise on while we're doing the the show, but we try not to really mention too much unless it's something significant you know we should really do.
Speaker 1:We should put on the show and then talk about all sports, or put on the game, if we ever go video. And then do like a Mystery Science Theater 3000 where we're just there talking about all sports stuff but you still see the game happening.
Speaker 2:Well, I hear what you're saying, but I don't need any league coming and trying to steal out of my wallet because I'm illegally broadcasting their games.
Speaker 1:We're not illegally broadcasting. We run a YouTube channel. It'll be a replay. Oh Jesus Christ, we record after it's already happened.
Speaker 2:Anyway. So rolling on into baseball. So the Texas Rangers have found themselves a new hitting coach in the likes of Brett Boone. That is brother of Aaron Boone, so that's actually a really good hire for them. Brett Boone, that is brother of Aaron Boone, so that's actually a really good hire for them.
Speaker 2:Brett Boone was a multi-time all-star and a darn good second baseman in his day. He played for the most. Notably he played for the Mariners, but he did have a stint with the Braves and he was a really good player for the Braves. I remember him playing for the Braves and he was a really good player for the Braves. I remember him playing for the Braves and he was good, but he will be a good hitting coach for them. He was a very good batter when he played.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately for the Astros it hasn't been a really good start and they just took another big hit. They just lost one of their better hitters who's kind of off to a bad start this year. But Jordan Alvarez will be down for a little while. He's having issues with his hand and I'm willing to bet that the reason he's not swinging the bat as well is because of his hand. A lot of times, if you've never swung a bat trying to swing when you have a hand that is just hurting. It's next to impossible because every move you make with the bat trying to swing it puts, you know, force and torque and pressure on your hand and if you're already hurting it just makes things worse.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and Alvarez, just to add to what you're saying. Clearly something's going on there because he's off to one of the worst starts in his career. Yeah, he's slashing uh 210 306 340 with three homers and 18 rbis and 120 121 plate appearances. This season he was 0 for 4 in friday season opener in chicago. So in 12 games since april 18th he's slashing 190 265 310 with one home run. A 436 foot moonshot on april 27th in kansas city is what that was. So significant difference in his numbers there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean he's when he's right. He's one of the better hitters in baseball, but he just he hasn't been himself and any any astros fan can tell you he hasn't been but another team that is doing pretty well even though they're not right. Unfortunately, the mets are taking a hit right now. Uh, their designated hitter, jesse w, is going to miss six to eight weeks with a grade two oblique strain, so he's not going to be around for a while. And they got even worse news finding out that their reliever that they just paid $22 million to for the next two years, aj Minter, is actually going to be lost for the season. This is because of a torn lat muscle that he's going to have to have surgery on. Mets are going to be bringing up Brett Beatty in the spot for winker in the meantime, while he's on injured reserve.
Speaker 1:He's a winker.
Speaker 2:Or not. Injured reserve. It's IL now injured list. Oh yeah, that's injured reserve, it's il now injured list.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, that's right, it's il injured list so mets are still rolling along, though they're doing, they're doing pretty well, but the hits still keep coming because the red socks they're losing their first baseman, tristan casa, for for the year he's done, done. He's having knee surgery. This happened not too long ago. It was in a game that they won against the Twins, but he ruptured his patella tendon while running to first base. Basically, if you saw the play he's running to first, he tries to leg out the play and he goes down and instantly is grabbing for his knee and they bring out a cart and take him off. In baseball, if a guy is being brought off on a cart, like most other sports, it's not a good sign especially if the guy was just running to first.
Speaker 2:I mean that's usually indicative of something bad, and in this case it was. So they're going to have to figure stuff out. They've got to figure out what they're going to do at first base now with him being down. So to me I think they have the perfect guy to play first Rafael Devers, their designated hitter. Now I know he's had a little bit of issue with kind of giving up his third base spot to Alex Bregman when they brought him in a free agency which we alluded to in a previous episode. I honestly think if they can convince him to play first, that would be the most beneficial way for everybody on that team to get along and keep things rolling Rolling down. Some other news the Pirates are firing their manager, oh so.
Speaker 1:Bye Felicia. We need to start a segment called Bye Felicia.
Speaker 2:So Don Kelly is going to be their bench coach, coach is going to be the interim coach, but Derek Sheldon, he's out, and you know it's funny that they make this move now. You know, this is not typically the time of year. You see coaches getting fired because the season just started. But the but the comments that were coming out of the ownership group just seemed to be rather annoying. Like they're just like they're basically saying stuff like change needs to be made, we need to do things to make this team better, and it's like how about you pay to get better players? I mean, they're okay. The brewers spend more money than they do. The pirates don't spend squat for their team, bro, they don't.
Speaker 1:They don't pay players right now, at this point in the very early part of the mlb season, the pirates are 12 and 26, that is, 10 games behind the team that leads their division and they're they're loose. They're behind their entire division.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I can't last they're.
Speaker 1:They're the pirates are probably. They're probably making this move in hopes that they can salvage this season. I think that they're trying to salvage. They're probably making this move in hopes that they can salvage this season. I think that they're trying to salvage. They're trying to find a coach that can come in and at least be mediocre and not be bad.
Speaker 2:Here's the problem. You can't sit here and say, okay, this is going to fix things. I don't know that it will, because it's not just having the right coach, but you've got to have the right players. And the Pirates for years have gotten great players and then they ship them out. They're basically a farm system to all the other good teams.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and on top of that, this team's already gone through the offseason. They've gone through offseason training with the coach. They just let go. So coming in and changing everything up may may not benefit them, but I think that I don't know what they're hoping for this early in season. This is a little bit unorthodox.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I, like I said I'm not in favor of what they did um, but moving along. So Reds rookie outfielder Tyler Callahan. He exited a game against the Braves the other day.
Speaker 2:Ooh, just nasty and a loss to the Braves, but they lose him to a broken forearm. Now, this particular play. It led to the Braves' first baseman, Matt Olson, getting an in-the-park home run. Now, granted, Tyler was down on the ground in pain and, for obvious reasons, he had broken his forearm, but he didn't make a play on the ball to throw it in because he just broke his arm. He's in pain, he's on the ground, but you know, it's kind of like a fair or foul. Should he have been awarded an in-the-park home run on an injured player play? Should he have been allowed to go ahead, run all the bases while the guy that's the closest person to the play can't get up and throw the ball?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think play should have been stopped. As soon as you have a real injury in any sport, it should look.
Speaker 2:But here's the thing With baseball play continues. There's no stoppage in play just because a player gets hurt hey, mike, that's baseball yeah, that is that is baseball when?
Speaker 1:you can't explain something in baseball, it usually equates to that well I guess, I guess he should have got his broken arm ass up and made the play then uh, I don't want to say that.
Speaker 2:I mean I don't want to, like, the kid suffered an injury. That's like they were. They were counting on this kid to be, yeah, be a big part of their club this season and him getting hurt. And you know, it sucks for him because, like I said, he's a rookie. Yeah, so he's, he's finally cutting his teeth in the big leagues and he gets hurt. I mean, I feel for him in that aspect.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the broken forearm too. Which forearm did they say? Is it his throwing arm?
Speaker 2:I don't recall.
Speaker 1:Either way, that's going to hurt.
Speaker 2:It's going to be a while.
Speaker 1:Now, if it's not his throwing arm, he might be back a little bit quicker, because then you can wrap it up. It can be easy. You just won't use that arm right.
Speaker 2:Well no, you use that arm because you've got to have the glove. He can't swing a bat, though.
Speaker 1:Well yeah you can't swing a bat and then you can't hold a glove. His glove goes on the left hand.
Speaker 2:But generally it goes on the. So I just yeah, but moving along want to give a tip of the cap to Braves starting pitcher. We just had Braves starting pitcher, aj Smith-Sharver. He had a no hitter going into the eighth inning of a game just the other day against the Reds and he was doing really well. I honestly thought that he was going to probably get to the point of having a no-hitter because I mean, he had walked a few guys in the game I think it was like four or five but he just had it. It's one of those games where you see a guy and he just has it. He's getting in there and he's getting guys one, two, three and back to the bench and sometimes, even when guys are making contact, it's right at a short stop, it's right at the first baseman and he just steps on the bag. Everything that was hit seemed to be going to somebody. So it was just one of those games where you just feel like, oh, he's on it today.
Speaker 1:Man, no hits into the eighth, though that's pretty good man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know that he and the Braves are hoping for more of that in the future, but I know every week we seem to have one of these plays that we talk about and we want to give some note to, and this week I want to give a shout out to O'Neal Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates may be down, but having O'Neal Cruz in their outfield pulling plays like this is amazing. So we have all seen a sacrifice fly before, but the problem is most of the time it's almost an automatic play.
Speaker 2:Well, not when not when you have o'neill cruz in center field who throws a plate, a dart, to home plate, at a over art look he throws more like a rocket yeah, he throws a hundred mile an hour, throw to to the catcher and the catcher tags the guy who tags up a third, and it was against the cardinals. But I mean, look, if you're getting play like that out of, out of your young players, you've got to hope that you can build some stuff around them and you know.
Speaker 2:By the way, sorry, I mean go ahead sir, they fire their, their coach, but you get players doing stuff like this and it does provide some hope for fans if they can keep these players.
Speaker 1:Look, anytime a lesser team beats a team who's considered better than them at that time, in my opinion, is a feat. Okay, I know, the Pirates are down. They probably feel like they're getting kicked while they're down because they just fired their coach, so all their players are like what the hell man? So having Cruz, definitely a bright spot for him, but of course, as you mentioned before, he may find himself on another team soon, since they give everybody away, but maybe the new coach won't do that.
Speaker 2:Well, new GM.
Speaker 1:The new GM? Well, not new GM, they, I don't know. Well, new GM, the new GM.
Speaker 2:Well, not new GM. They still have the same GM. They just got to learn to pay guys. You know? Stop being so frugal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but the Cardinals are 19 and 19, pretty even here they're kind of like middle of the pack in the MLB. Right, they're not great, but they're not bad.
Speaker 2:They're at 500.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're at 12 wins and there's only one team in their realm behind them, maybe two, so they're among the worst.
Speaker 2:So for them to be a basement dwellers yeah.
Speaker 1:So for them to beat a team who's considered better than them, I, I think, is a good thing for them. That's progress, right? Um, the cardinals, you guys fucked up.
Speaker 2:You lost to a lesser team, so I don't know what to say about you well, I don't, I don't, I don't know if that play wound up resorting in a win, but I, I still like the play, but anyway, o'neill cruz playing some great outfield. Not not so automatic on a uh uh sacrifice fly anymore with him in the outfield. Not so automatic on a sacrifice fly anymore with him in the outfield.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Anyway, moving on, we're going to talk about an interesting situation that you don't see much in baseball anymore, and I used to love seeing it because back in the day it happened quite frequently. If you were a Braves fan, you saw Bobby Cox go out there and stick up for his players and get thrown out. I think he holds the record for being thrown out the most times, but the Padres coach, mike.
Speaker 1:Shield.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he stepped in and was angry about the balls and strikes being called on Fernando Tatis Jr. And he got so mad that he tossed his glasses. And I'm just thinking anybody who's ever owned glasses knows that like that's the last thing you want to do, because those damn things are expensive. And not just that If you screw them up, you're going to wind up with these things all scratched up and there's nothing you can do about it. There's just nothing you can do about it, except be like oh yeah, I threw my glasses, I got a scratch on them. It's just like, great, great, in a fit of anger, I screwed up something I'm going to have to pay a bunch of money for.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, his $200 prescription glasses. I'm sure insurance will cover them.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I mean, I'm not saying this because I like the fact that he threw his glasses but the going out there and getting in the ump's face and just like you don't know what you're saying, you don't know it, you don't see it and your calls are garbage and blah, blah, blah. You know just having the manager come up and like kick dust at the ump's feet and just talk trash to them and the ump's like get out of here.
Speaker 1:You're out, get out of here. I miss seeing that, because it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:And, as a Braves fan, Bobby Cox used to get thrown out all the damn time. I mean it was so fun to watch.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's funny, I'm going to mention your fanship for a minute because, although well known by now on the podcast, you're a san francisco 49 fans when it comes to football. You are not a san francisco giants fan, sir, you go coast to coast when we talk about that message.
Speaker 2:Look, look, you're a braves fan I was, look, I was gonna wind up being a braves fan regardless, because my aunt, my great aunt, were both Braves fans or are Braves fans and my very first friend I ever had was a Braves fan. Hey, and TBS at the time was airing Braves games religiously and WGN was airing Cubs games religiously, but I saw more Braves games at the time. So yeah, I kind of led into being a Braves fan because of all of the surrounding support of be a Braves fan.
Speaker 1:You guys are the Redskins of the MLB. I just want you to know that it was the Guardians who used to be the Braves.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you're thinking of the Indians, sir.
Speaker 1:Who are now the Guardians? Yes, and now you're the Braves. Well, you've been the Braves, but you're the only Braves. Yeah, you're the only ones brave enough to be brave. That's why you're the Braves.
Speaker 2:Yeah, nobody has a problem with the Braves name. Anyway, let's move on.
Speaker 2:I don't like your bruise, sir. Sir, we will not deal with insubordination tonight, so okay, uh, this segment I like to call gold is the new black. So in sports, those of us who have played sports before, we all know that in baseball, football, you typically see guys wearing eye black. And for those who don't know, eye black is used to kind of reduce glare and, you know, help you on the field. Now here's the thing Like, a lot of times you now see guys they're doing like doing crosses or they're, you know, filling their face up with eye black and doing all this weird stuff, filling their face up with eye black and doing all this weird stuff. I saw a new one recently, not eye black, but eye gold. So a player on the A's, lawrence Butler, one of their best players. He, on a day game, was wearing gold, eye black. I don't know if I can call it eye black. Maybe it was eye gold, but yeah, it's gold eye. He's golden eye, but yeah it's gold eye, he's golden eye.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's got the golden eye.
Speaker 1:Anyway.
Speaker 2:But anyway, even the announcers are just like wait, they were just confused, like is that gold? Does he have gold on his face? But yeah, if you haven't seen it, look it up. It's just like huh, okay, that's a bit different. I've never seen eye gold before you know.
Speaker 1:That is interesting because I would have thought I'd see eye white before I saw eye gold oh, because white would white would reflect more.
Speaker 2:You need dark colors but gold is not gold is a light color too, so I'm not quite sure how much it's blocking out but gold is also shiny and reflective, exactly, and white is, don't get wrong, white's reflective. But maybe it's a different type of reflective, maybe there would be a glare if it was white, maybe gold maybe what we need now is we need to just have somebody that comes out and does face painting for the players before they go on the field.
Speaker 1:He even dresses like a clown, a little clown face painter on the side of the field. Somebody just comes out.
Speaker 2:Somebody comes out. Can I be a cat?
Speaker 1:Make me a cat today he makes a cat. Somebody's got Batman.
Speaker 2:Somebody says I want to be Spider-Man.
Speaker 1:Somebody has smiley faces and face black on their cheeks. Anyway, it still reflects light, that's all that matters, okay.
Speaker 2:Anyway, this is the side of baseball that I don't think people get to see enough, that there are players with rather big personalities and MLB is getting a little bit more embracing of like, go ahead, be yourself, be a personality, and it's kind of cool to see.
Speaker 2:Like you get guys doing crazy bat flips, or you have guys that they'll wear special cleats and it will have a message on it, or you know they'll have different armbands on or just like. There's multiple ways. These guys are showing their personality and, plus the, the dugout celebrations are always fun after a home run. But yeah, if you haven't seen it, go take a look at it. It's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:The eye gold now where we're going with this Kansas City. All right, it was a brief pause in Cole and Cole Reagan's normal rhythm of the season, having gone 10 days in between starts after mild left groin strain, caused him to skip last week's start. What do we know about this, mike?
Speaker 2:if causing him to miss a start is going to get a performance where he puts up 11 Ks, maybe he needs to go every other start, because that was a great outing he had Now, albeit it was against the bottom-dwelling White Sox, but 11 Ks in the MLB is still 11 Ks in the MLB is still 11 Ks in the MLB. So, needless to say, the Royals got the victory in that game and if they're going to get performances like that, they might have to start thinking about hey maybe we give Cole every other game starts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he was just fired up, I guess, yeah he did that again April 8th against the Twins, with 10-plus strikeouts, four coming in this year. So you know, not bad man, Good going there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, KC, definitely they would like to see some more out of that pitcher, but right now they're standing at 23-16 on the season and they're only two and a half back of the Detroit Tigers, so that's pretty good. Speaking of which Tigers are 25-13. But let's go ahead and run down the leaders right now, as always in the East. Right now we have the New York Yankees leading the way at 21-16. With Boston right behind them by two games at 20-19. So we just mentioned the Central already.
Speaker 1:The only.
Speaker 2:Thing we didn't mention was Cleveland is ahead of Kansas City. Well, actually, no, technically they're tied because they're two and a half games back of Detroit as well, but they're 22-15, not 23-16. So technically, same amount of distance.
Speaker 1:Very highly contested division there, with three of the top five, three of the five teams being in the 20 wins.
Speaker 2:Uh column already so, moving on to the al west, we have the seattle mariners at 22 and 14 with the a's. Surprisingly, they're doing quite well this season.
Speaker 1:They're three games back hey, weren't the a's the worst team in the mlB last season?
Speaker 2:No, that was the White Sox.
Speaker 1:It was the White Sox. That's who I'm thinking about.
Speaker 2:But the A's historically have not been so great but they're playing really good ball this year. Hopefully they're at least athletic. So, as mentioned earlier in the episode, the Mets are leading the division in the NL East at a 24-14 record, with the Phillies are two games behind them at 21-15.
Speaker 1:Pretty comfortable lead there for the Mets Little cushion.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's close, close, but I say that. And one note I want to make is that the fact that the braves right now they're playing the reds and if they win this game, there'll only be one game below 500. Remember the braves started out oh and seven on the season and they're now 17 and 19 and only six games back on the mets, so they have plenty of time to turn it around, but they have actually been playing some decent ball here. Recently, though they've been about .500 on the record, 5-5 in their last 10 games. But moving on to the NL Central, the Central has the Cubs leading at a 22-16 record, with the Cincinnati Reds, the Milwaukee Brewers and the St Louis Cardinals all three games back with a 19-19 record.
Speaker 1:All three of them, All three 500, tight there. The Cubs got a little comfortable lead, but don't slip up, man, because one of those three teams is going to catch you.
Speaker 2:They can't get too comfortable. I know one of their starting pitchers just went down with a little bit of an injury, so can't get too too comfortable.
Speaker 1:And the Pirates bringing up the caboose there in that division.
Speaker 2:Yep, the Los Angeles Dodgers are leading the NL West at a 25-12 record, with the San Diego Padres just behind them at a 23-13, making them a game and a half back, but so are the Giants at a 24-14 record. They are a game and a half back on the Los Angeles Dodgers as well. So I'd like to see that, because that's tight.
Speaker 1:That's a tight one right there too.
Speaker 2:That might be one of the tightest ones right now, and well, I, I like, I like to see this, because the dodgers went and spent all this money and everybody was saying, oh well, give them the world series, not so fast. Their division is not going down like a sinking ship. They are fighting back. They're going to try to keep themselves within the fight. Like I said, they're only a game and a half back, but it's early in the season. Injuries happen, people go down and we'll see how it shakes out.
Speaker 1:Hell yeah.
Speaker 2:Exactly, but before we go from baseball, man I wanted to give a little nod to a certain, to a certain individual that, if he was still alive today, mr yogi barra of the new york yankees.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:He would be 100 years old today if he was still alive. Unfortunately, Yogi Berra passed away. But just to give you a few of Yogi's classic quotes. I love some of the things he said. Yeah, so one of the things Yogi Berra used to say is he said baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical. I'll let that sink in for a moment.
Speaker 1:I agree. I think most sports are probably 90% mental, like a lot of them are. I mean, it depends on how you approach it.
Speaker 2:You missed the other half of that.
Speaker 1:I said baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical yeah yeah, I missed that, you're right yeah, so I definitely did not pick up what you're putting. 10 is not half yeah, that's, yeah, so something's not math and he also said all pitchers are liars or crybabies.
Speaker 2:He's a catcher he's a catcher. So if he's saying that all pitchers are liars or crybabies, he's a catcher. He's a catcher. So if he's saying that all pitchers are liars or crybabies, might have to believe him.
Speaker 1:I might be a catcher too, because I think I agree with him.
Speaker 2:He said, hits from both sides of the plate. Finish the tag.
Speaker 1:He's amphibious, it's from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious that is that. I'm sorry. That is a good. That should have been the term I'll tell you later off air.
Speaker 2:But that here's, here's, here's another one. He says you can't think and hit at the same time. That's what she said, and yogi bear was famous for doing the. So I'm ugly, dot, dot dot and lead into, lead into some reason why he's so. Well, yeah, or it's deja vu all over again it's deja vu all over again.
Speaker 1:This guy was full of these. I love me some yogi burra. This guy might be one of my all-time heroes.
Speaker 2:Like he doesn't even know it if you ever want to just and the. The funny part about it is when he said these things. He was so serious when he said them so and when he would say them, he'd be like, oh uh, even though he screwed up, he'd make fun of himself, he'd continue to play into the joke. So it was great.
Speaker 1:I like this guy but anyway, thank you for your contributions. Mr Yogi Berra, you'll always be remembered and happy would-be 100th birthday to you. We got a little nod to the WNBA. We don't have terribly much on them. We're working on that, but you know, this is significant, even though they're kind of in their preseason right now. The Fever took on an international team. They took on Brazil. They beat the pants off of them quite literally.
Speaker 2:Maybe an understatement.
Speaker 1:Maybe an understatement, but these ladies Fever, by the way, beat them 108 to 44. They beat Brazil 108 to 44. By the way, right below them, never it, but 108-44. They beat Brazil 108-44. By the way, right below them, never mind, that doesn't matter. Storm beat the Sun 79-59. This is preseason but 108-44. Mike, let's get into this debate here. I know this was an international game in the preseason.
Speaker 2:I don't know if there's much debate I mean it is what it is but I think the more interesting thing that happened after this game is some of the Brazilian players were coming up to Caitlin Clark and asking her to sign their shorts or sign their jersey. And that just shows you the level of which the fame has gotten for Caitlin, that it's gotten to a point where international players are like, hey, you're one of my favorite players, will you sign my stuff? So that's pretty cool. It's kind of like when Jordan was playing in the Dream Team and players after he would beat them are coming up hey, mike, would you sign my shoes or would you sign my jersey? The players on the opposite team are coming up like Mike, sign my stuff.
Speaker 2:And that's kind of what we got going on here. I mean, I'm not saying don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Caitlin Clark is Michael Jordan, I'm just saying that the level of fame which she has already is on pace. You know where people are recognizing her. I mean, hell, we just had a Gatorade commercial that she was just in.
Speaker 1:Look, angel Reese is gagging somewhere right now. Okay, I just want to say that. But you know, not just Kaitlyn Clark. Kaitlyn Clark might be one of the biggest names in the WNBA, but again you have Angel Reese and a couple others. These names, first of all, all these ladies are young. They literally are starting their second season in professional basketball.
Speaker 2:Okay, Right, their careers are young and early.
Speaker 1:Their reputations are going to grow. That's why it's important they handle themselves now properly. Okay, as they're coming up. But that's not for me to discuss. But I'm proud of them for what's going on, because the WNBA they are pushing it more. It's getting more popularity. I do think they deserve it.
Speaker 2:I think it's a great thing, um so, speaking of popularity and, you know, having having success oh yeah and that leads me into the next topic.
Speaker 1:here, sue Bird is going to be the first managing director of the US women's team.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so this is basically the same thing that Grant Hill does for the men's team. Sue Bird's going to be doing the same, where she's going to be basically setting up the team, getting the team that's going to be the women's team that competes in the Olympics.
Speaker 1:And, by the way, she herself, sue Bird, is a five-time Olympic champion in her own right.
Speaker 2:So she's well-qualified.
Speaker 1:She's well-qualified. This is huge, so I think that's a great move for women's well qualified. She's well qualified. This is huge, so I think that's a great move for Women's.
Speaker 2:USA Basketball? I do too. I heard an interview with her where she basically was asked so what do you do now when the women are coming in giving you gifts or sending you flowers or trying to ask you to have a little favor and get them in there, like, hey, we're good friends, you can get me on the team, right? She's like, yeah, that's not gonna work. Like I'm gonna choose people based based on yeah, it makes sense that's called doing good business you know.
Speaker 2:What's funny, though, is the very next question was so would you have put in c Clark on the team on the last go-around? And she avoided the question, like somebody who has to answer those types of questions would.
Speaker 1:Very diplomatic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, very diplomatic. She was just like. She's an amazing player and we'll see if she's on this next team which odds are she probably will be but the way in which she kind of danced around it, she's like I knew you were going to ask me that.
Speaker 1:But you know, congratulations to her. We can't wait to see what Women's USA Basketball does under her tutelage in the upcoming tournament. So we're excited for that Now. We love women's basketball. They're trying to gain some popularity and they're getting there and we're trying to talk about them more ourselves, right, but aside from the NFL, mike, I do believe. But men's basketball, the NBA, has become almost like a secondary flagship topic of ours here, especially as we've talked about it in our inaugural podcast season here in year one. Thank you everybody, by the way, who's still with us, and welcome those who are just joining us. But the Spurs right, we're getting ready to say goodbye to one of the NBA's greats. Okay, greg Popovich is stepping down. Okay, san Antonio will miss him, the NBA will miss him, we will all miss him. Okay, he's just saying go ahead, mike.
Speaker 2:Well, he's stepping down because Popovich recently suffered a stroke and obviously once you've had a stroke you're more susceptible to having another one and you need to kind of keep stress levels down and you need to do things for your health and probably stepping away isn't the best for him and the team. And it's not because they don't want him to be around, because they're actually going to move him up in the office. He's still going to be part of the team from an organizational standpoint, but not on the court coaching the team and to kind of give him the best way to still be a part of it, but not kind of giving him a oh dang. I'm trying to remember in Miami they did the same thing with their coach they moved him up into the front office and I can't remember his name.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think this last little bit on this is funny as well. You know, the goal is to make sure they keep it going. That's why they're adding him to the front office, but Popovich removed his jacket're adding him to the front office, but Popovich removed his jacket before bringing Johnson to the podium for that announcement, revealing a t-shirt with his new title. Guess what they're calling him? El Jefe Said in Spanish phrase for the boss. So you know he's no longer coach. Popovich is El Jefe. If that tells you how valuable and how respected he is in that franchise, that should tell you everything right there. So sad day, but also kind of good news at the same time. Sorry to see you go, popovich, but at the same time, uh, sorry to see you go, popovich, but at the same time, congratulations on your new position.
Speaker 2:Right onward and upwards always so, moving on into more nba topics, we have we have a situation in the golden state oh with injury yes, we do steph curry? Yes, uh, steph has gone down to injury.
Speaker 1:He has a hamstring injury as we're talking about this right now, his status is up in the air for game two well, they say, with hamstring injuries it's a the timberwolves it's a week's injury.
Speaker 2:You know like you're not going to be back in a day or two, so it's strongly likelihood that he's not going to be there. And we allude to that because the warriors toot our own horn. The warriors beat the rockets. The number two seed to move on to play the Timberwolves the sixth seed.
Speaker 1:So we called that um, I just want to point something out here. Okay, I know the Lakers haven't had a great recent history in the playoffs, but the Rockets are really young. Golden State edged them out four to three. Minnesota just beat the Lakers four to one. Okay, by the way, timberwolves, one of the best defenses in the league, one of the best defenses in the postseason right now so that's not the only other series that came down to the wire.
Speaker 2:The Nuggets and Clippers came down to the wire, but the clippers didn't have a good showing, they did not. They basically let the nuggets just kind of walk away with it, I mean, and their star player harden, he didn't put up any points. Really, he put up like seven oh, let me tell you what.
Speaker 1:First of all, I love me some. Harden the thunder. Let that first one slip, okay, but in game two and I watched this last night game two was a bloodbath. Okay, thunder said hold my beer, watch this shit. Okay, the team who shoots? Who is shooting 33, 34 percent, I think in, uh, three pointers? Who's all-time leading scorer in the NBA? Right now, before the second half was even over, it was 84-42.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It was just a bloodbath. That's all I can describe it, as the Nugs were just. They never even had a shot. Okay.
Speaker 2:You jumped way ahead of me because I was Sorry.
Speaker 1:We were talking about OKC.
Speaker 2:The Nuggets in the last game against the clippers they beat them 120 to 101, so it wasn't a very close contest for game seven of that magnitude. It kind of puts the clippers in a position now where it's like where do they go from here? Because they're kind of in a middle spot.
Speaker 1:They're oh yeah, they're they're not a.
Speaker 2:they're kind of in a middle spot. Well yeah, they're not a fringe team that is in a play-on situation and they're not the top of the crop.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're not the cream of the crop.
Speaker 2:So right now they kind of are in a no-win situation. I mean a lot of their star players are older, they're signed up, I mean they have them long-term. But I mean when you of their star players are older, they're signed up, I mean they have them long term. But I mean when you're getting seven points out of your star player and he's not showing up in a game seven. And historically, if most people didn't know, harden's game seven record is horrible. He is horrible in game sevens Like he does not show up. So it's not a good feeling for a team that gets bounced like that and you're still stuck in the middle. But, like we said, they moved on and the Nuggets are playing the Thunder and in the first game, the first game against the Thunder, they basically came in and they took it.
Speaker 1:The Nuggets came in and took the game.
Speaker 2:This could wind up being a seven-game series for this matchup.
Speaker 1:I don't think so. After last night's game, no way in hell.
Speaker 2:Well, I know it seems that way, but if there's a team that can figure it out out of all the teams that are left for the West, I mean you would hope that the Nuggets would be it, because they played them tough all season long. So it's not like, but maybe the season doesn't matter much, because when we start talking about the East we'll talk about how season performance doesn't necessarily dictate the postseason performance.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can't wait to get to that side. We'll get there. We'll get there, Yep.
Speaker 2:I'm right there with you, brother, but this is weird though. So, basically, if you look at it, every single lower seed won their first game against the higher seed. So the six-seeded Tim timberwolves lost to the warriors, the one-seeded thunder lost to the nuggets. Now, granted, the nuggets came back and and mollywhop the nuggets.
Speaker 1:Uh, so it was a bloodbath, I wouldn't call it mollywhop.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, you can't call it I'm getting mollywhopped anyway, I'm big of. Spider-man, kind of moving over into the east side. We'll start alluding to the things we had discussed and yes, you called this. You said the Pacers would beat the Bucks and move on into the next round and face the Cavaliers. Now, what you didn't call and what we were just alluding to with every lower seed winning, the Pacers beat the one-seeded Cavaliers.
Speaker 1:And you're right. Oh, I didn't call that but I should have, because I said did I not say the Pacers have a history of playoff upsets?
Speaker 2:They do. And here's the thing In game one they beat them 121 to 112.
Speaker 1:Comfortable lead. Now, the Cavaliers did try to catch up.
Speaker 2:It's kind of a comfortable lead. They did try to catch up and earlier the Warriors game against the Rockets. The Warriors won that first game 103-89. So it was or no, sorry, that was the series win game. Sorry, my apologies for that. The Warriors beat the Rockets 103-89. So that was not a good showing by the Rockets in their last game. My apologies for that.
Speaker 2:But, moving right along, that wasn't the only one. That was a bit odd. For this first game of the next round, the Knicks and Celtics Now granted the Knicks and Celtics Now, granted the Knicks are three seed in this playoffs. But during the season the Knicks didn't win a single game against the Celtics, not at home, not away. They did not beat them in four games, they lost all four. This is why I say the season doesn't necessarily dictate the playoffs, because in this game, their very first game, the Knicks came back after being down 20 points to beat them 108-105. Now you would say, okay, you got that one, but then they did it again. They were down by 20 the next game and came back to win again.
Speaker 1:Now, this is interesting. I read about this right. Oh, I know why the Knicks are. I know why the Knickerbockers are beating the defending NBA champs. Okay, I do do too.
Speaker 2:Because they play a brand of physicality that the finesse Celtics can't compete with.
Speaker 1:Well, you're right, I agree with that. But there's something else at play here. Okay, the Celtics they score a lot of three, they shoot a lot of three-pointers. Okay, that'sics, they score a lot of three, they shoot a lot of three pointers. Okay, that's where they score a lot of their points. The knicks went out there and they're making them make their shots. They're playing defense as well.
Speaker 2:You know what they're doing is they're saying you want to shoot that three go ahead.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're saying shoot it, but you're going to have to shoot over us yeah, they're forcing them not into the spot they want, but they're forcing to shoot from a different location that's right, they're forcing them, they're forcing yeah well in the first game we love the force
Speaker 2:well, in the first game the celtics put up 63 point attempts and only made 15. So you're only making one out of every four, you know? You're basically saying we're okay with missing, you know, three quarters of our shots just because. Now, here's the problem. Even if they were trying to work into the paint, the Knicks were working a defensive scheme where they were not letting the Stars beat them. They were trying to make them force the ball to other players.
Speaker 1:So your.
Speaker 2:Tatum, because you're looking at Tatum, he's supposed to be the guy for the Celtics. Whenever he got the ball in the second game, they didn't even get a shot off. They had the ball at the end and they didn't get a shot off because they surrounded him and they actually, if there was still time on the clock, he turned the ball over. So kudos to the way that Tom Thibodeau has this team playing, because he has them playing, and maybe it's because a lot of their guys are from Villanova, but they're playing like Villanova basketball. They're playing good, sound team basketball. And here's something added extra right. So we just got a new Pope today and he's a Villanova grad. So now you have a Villanova Knicks team with the new Pope being Villanova and he's probably rooting for the Knicks. If you're a Celtics fan or you're a Celtics player, it's got to be a rough time, because now they got God on their side, they got the Pope on their side.
Speaker 1:I just want to add to that. By the way, congratulations to the new Pope, and you're right, he was elected today. That's a huge mark in history. Doesn't come around very often, uh. It's usually not a happy time, uh, but it is.
Speaker 2:No, it's a happy time to have a new pope. It's a happy time to have a new, not a happy time to lose but you're, you're remembering also the old pope.
Speaker 1:but anyway, we're not. We're not a religious podcast, so I'm gonna get back to sports here. Um, the celtics in that game had the most three-point misses in nba playoff history and, by the way, a good friend of mine, uh, made this point um, bronson had already been flagged for four fouls and they said, you know, uh, whoever he was covering, I didn't catch, I forgot who it was, but instead of shooting threes, they should have took him straight into the paint and you'd get a foul or you'd get the two points.
Speaker 2:Well, and that's see, this is the thing. Even when they do work down, a lot of these guys are going for fadeaway shots. That's not a high percentage shot. A high percentage shot is getting down in the paint and trying to put up a layup, or trying to hit a guy underneath so he can dunk it, or just going to the hole hard and getting the foul and going to the line because giving you two free shots at getting points. So it's mind-boggling because you see players that used to do this in the past your Kobes, your Jordans, your LeBrons, your Dwayne Wades who would just relentlessly go into the paint because they knew one of two things was happening they were going to get those points in the paint or they were going to get fouled and go shoot their foul shots and get their points. And now, granted, I don't know about anybody else, but I am loving the way they're doing the playoffs.
Speaker 1:They're letting them play this is more physical basketball.
Speaker 2:This reminds me of the 90s basketball right now.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I like this too, because the Knicks were projected to go deep into the playoffs since before the playoffs even started. But the other thing I have here is we won't dwell too long on this matchup here, but does this spell trouble for the Celtics? Are they figured out?
Speaker 2:Well, I don't know, I wouldn't. I could see this series going, going seven. But right now, if you're the celtics and you're questioning where you're supposed to, because when they were the team that like was the underdog, they were just trying to prove it right now they're the team that everybody's looking up at because you're the champs, right, right. So now you have a different mindset. We got to keep everybody back. We're the champs, we're trying to move up, we're trying to fight. So now, with the knicks playing as physical as they are and the way that they they have been the day, basically their defense, the way it's set up in the later game, later portions of the game, where they're basically forcing guys to have to try to make a shot, or forcing guys into a position where they're getting double teamed every time they touch the ball, giving them no opportunities and saying all right, we'll take, we'll take you passing it off to Pritchard and let him take a shot, some guy off the bench, they're willing to sacrifice certain shots because they ain't hitting them.
Speaker 2:It's proven right. And that's the weird thing, Even when they're in the paint and I saw this a couple of times they'd be in the paint, get a rebound. Instead of trying to just go up and put it in, they're kicking it out, trying to kick another three out and then miss another three. Yeah, then they kick it out and kick another three and they miss it again well, like guys.
Speaker 1:This was another thing I was talking about points. They were on the verge of a uh, triple double when he shot that shot from three and he had a teammate. The other player was on the and he had a teammate. The other player was on the ground. He had a teammate right under the basket. They were already in the lead. Who?
Speaker 2:did. Which player are you specifically?
Speaker 1:talking about this was the Celtics.
Speaker 2:Oh, one of the Celtics players almost had a triple-double yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't remember who it was. I got to find the information here, but I remember who I was talking about. But anyway, we'll move on past that, since I lost the note here. Forgive me for that.
Speaker 2:But going back to the Pacers game, because we had a situation where Tyrese Halliburton came up clutch twice, twice yeah, halliburton.
Speaker 1:Uh, you know hitting that three-pointer 1.1 seconds left in the game versus you know pull that up here.
Speaker 2:So having the Cavs up two games in this series against the Cavaliers, the one seed is awesome. Like I am so happy for the Pacers right now because I mean Pacers I just feel like they're a team that never seems to really get the love you know, like they're always seem to be.
Speaker 1:They always seem to be that team that like they get to the playoffs but they get bumped out honestly, I might be becoming a Pacers fan here because I I like their run in the and the more I read about their playoff history, the more I'm like yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, and they need to do something soon because eventually they're going to have to start paying some of these young players. And when they have to start paying some of these young players they're going to kind of be in a bad spot, because once you start having to pay the guys, then it starts becoming we can't pay everybody, so you want to keep that young group together as long as you can and take advantage of it while you can now going from here.
Speaker 1:Okay, thunder nugs 1-1. Timberwolves warriors 1-0. Cavaliers pacers 2-0. Nick celtics 2-0. Knicks Celtics 2-0. I got my bets in the East. Who do you?
Speaker 2:think is coming from the West. I still am rolling with the Thunder.
Speaker 1:I still think the Thunder are going to be the ones that make it to the championship. Yeah, I'm with you there. I think they're the easy favorites. Honestly, I see Thunder and Timberwolves in their conference finals.
Speaker 2:So the series I want to see in the next round, I want to see the Pacers and Knicks. To me that would be such a great East championship to see who goes to the finals. That to me would be so much fun.
Speaker 1:I'm right there with you. I was supposed to not agree with you, but I agree with you on that one. Pacers and Knicks.
Speaker 2:You can agree, because it would be good basketball.
Speaker 1:Now Pacers and Knicks, and then Thunder and Timberwolves, and then we'll ask the question again after we get to that point.
Speaker 2:All right. So moving on into college football, we have some news. So Clemson and Notre Dame actually just signed an agreement to play each other for the next 12 years. Yeah, so they have a scheduled agreement to play each other, so this might become a nice little rivalry, having Clemson and Notre Dame.
Speaker 1:Clemson and Notre Dame, yeah, Two prominent college programs you know could see some good action out of that.
Speaker 2:I like it and I love Notre Dame. Yeah, two prominent college programs could see some good action out of that.
Speaker 1:I like it and I love Notre Dame football anyway.
Speaker 2:So, speaking of college football, you know, sometimes these schools they have a song per se that kind of is their school song. Maybe they play it to hype the team up before they come out the tunnel. Yeah, the school song. Maybe they play it to hype the team up before they come out the tunnel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the hype song.
Speaker 2:In this case for Virginia Tech. Their hype song is Inner Sandman by Metallica, and this past Wednesday night Metallica played a concert. They did. They played a concert at Virginia Tech.
Speaker 1:I followed this. I watched them setting up this. That must have been a hard rocking concert.
Speaker 2:I got to tell you what. So here's the funny part about it, though. Metallica had a little fun with this because they know that their song is Inner Sandman. So you know, a lot of the people are there going. I want to hear it. I want to hear Inner Sandman played by Metallica in our stadium. So Metallica teased the fans into a simulated Inner Sandman situation where they were playing a little bit of it, and they go wait, wait, I think we're missing something, because they were going to just walk off the stage. They thought the show was over and it was like oh yeah.
Speaker 2:And they just said, all right, let's go Hokies. And they started playing the Inner Sandman song right after that. You know, just poking a little fun with them. They're just not going to play Inner Sandman for the school that uses that as their outgoing song when they're hitting the field. Nah, nah, nah. They wouldn't stand for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that brought just that apparently was 25 years in the making.
Speaker 2:Hey, I mean the song's been out for a long time.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's been out for a while. If you haven't seen the clip, go watch the clip. Never seen that level of energy in there. That was just awesome in there.
Speaker 2:That was just awesome. But get coming off this nfl draft where we had some success by having it in green bay.
Speaker 1:Nice segue, by the way we're having say that we're having a?
Speaker 2:uh, I don't. I don't know if you want to say a battle or kind of a uh, the next place up, or I don't know how you would say basically basically these the the draft is moving around now.
Speaker 2:It used to be always in radio city music hall, but there was a conflict one year and that's what started this whole moving it around business. So actually teams or teams and destinations, such as was Washington, have stepped up and said they want to host the NFL draft. Guess what? So in 2027, the NFL draft will be in DC and they're expecting a million plus.
Speaker 1:Guess where it's going to be at On the National Mall lawn. Yes, yes, yes right there, right there, okay, oh basically where all the monuments and stuff are at. Yeah, the national the national monuments there and you know the water and the nice walkway, all that shit.
Speaker 2:Anyway, the scene from forrest gump that guy, but this is so.
Speaker 1:This is near and dear to me as a Washington fan, because for the longest time the NFL didn't want shit to do with our franchise. They didn't even want our franchise.
Speaker 2:So and I think that's only because the owner you had was a bit of a dingus.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's probably also what, and I'm dingus, yeah, and it's probably also what, and I'm trying to be polite by saying that it's probably also what contributed to us losing our moniker. But anyway, it's not like we've been through four of them. But I think this is great news, bringing the draft to the nation's capital. I mean, look what happened in Green Bay. They did theirs. I mean Chicago's, they usually do it at Radio City Hall, but now they're trying to switch things up right.
Speaker 2:Well, this all came about because there was an event that conflicted with the draft time and they were just like Radio City said nope, we got something else going on. And which? Honestly, what kind of money and pull do you have to have to tell the NFL?
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:Nope, it's our party. Go away, we're doing something yeah.
Speaker 1:Sorry, bro, we're booked that weekend, but you can have the weekend after, no.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the NFL said hold on, we're going to Chicago, we'll go somewhere else. But anyway, it's been moving around since then and actually next year's is going to be in Pittsburgh, That'll be interesting as well so that'll be really cool.
Speaker 1:Pittsburgh in the dead of winter I cannot wait to be freezing cold.
Speaker 2:So, moving along, ex-patriots player Julian Edelman is actually getting some notoriety from the Pats. They're going to be moving him into the Patriots Hall of Fame Now. He might not be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but being inducted into the Teams Hall of Fame a little bit significant.
Speaker 1:One million plus fans voted for him Sorry.
Speaker 2:So, moving on to the next note.
Speaker 1:I just read a note from the wrong. No, excuse me guys, we just talked about that. No fans, edelman and the Pats Hall of Fame. Congratulations to them. I'm caught up now. Sorry, I was looking at the wrong note. Not a good night for me tonight.
Speaker 2:So moving right along the Browns while, be it, they're trying to get right, they got players that ain't getting right. So you don't say, unfortunately, we just had a player.
Speaker 1:All right Browns linebacker Devin Bush arrested. Why did you hand me this? Arrested for? Charged with assault? Linebacker Devin Bush was arrested and charged with simple assault and harassment in Pennsylvania on Sunday. Not a good look. According to the criminal complaint obtained by ESPN, by the way, which is where I'm reading this article from, police were called to a home in Pittsburgh suburb on Sunday to report an assault on a woman who identified herself with Bush's girlfriend. Said Bush assaulted her and took her car keys. So police discovered the cuts on the inside of the girlfriend's wrist and outside of her foot, as well as a smashed piece of cell phone. According to Fred, bush is 26, has preliminary hearings scheduled in Allegheny County May 20th, so this is not a good look for Bush or for the Steelers.
Speaker 2:Well, he was a former Steeler. He's with the Browns now.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, for the Browns, yeah.
Speaker 2:But it almost makes you want to say do you really want to take on a Steelers player once they've left? Yeah, it's just, I mean, you have Antonio Brown you have. Martavius Bryant.
Speaker 1:Martavius Bryant.
Speaker 2:Martavius Bryant.
Speaker 1:And then you had which is a name I haven't heard in a long time.
Speaker 2:Oh dang, why did I forget his name, the one they traded to the Bears for a second round pick? Recent receiver.
Speaker 1:Not Elijah Moore.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:They traded to the Bears.
Speaker 2:They traded him to the Bears and he didn't do squat for the Bears Dang. That's how good his play was. We just totally forgot about him.
Speaker 1:It's not a good night.
Speaker 2:Anyway, when the Steelers move off a guy and he's known to have issues no, Pickens just went.
Speaker 1:He went to Dallas.
Speaker 2:And now you're getting ahead on the notes, anyway. So yeah, pickens is another one. He just got moved to Dallas, but they traded him for a third-round pick and, I think, a fifth-round pick another year. Anyway, regardless, the Steelers are getting some compensation, which is going to work out for them.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:In other news, john Gruden is finding his way back into football, but now, with the NFL, he is getting a part ownership in an arena football team.
Speaker 1:You know this is interesting because his brother, jay Gruden, came up in arena football as well Actually was an arena football coach before he took over for Washington in 2016.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the team he is now going to be joining to is the Nashville Cats. It's an arena football league. He'll be a part owner in that team.
Speaker 1:I remember when we had the Norfolk Nighthawks.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:I really miss them.
Speaker 2:Yep, bruce Smith was part of that. Yes, sir. So was Emmett Smith. Ooh, all the Smith them.
Speaker 1:Yep, bruce Smith was part of that. Yes, sir, so was Emmitt Smith. Ooh, all the.
Speaker 2:Smiths. He had some ties to that, anyway. So just had a few players that had releases recently, one of which was Jadavian Clowney. He's going to be looking for another team. This is a former first-round pick, a guy that most looked at as man. He's going to be one hell of a pass rusher in the NFL.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it ended up being a huge— I don't want to say bust, I know a lot of players are bust, but I think that is incredibly down-putting.
Speaker 2:okay, I feel like his draft status came off that one hit he had in college where he just hit a guy so hard and his helmet just flew off. Everybody that sees the hit goes.
Speaker 1:Oh.
Speaker 2:Dang, because that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 1:It's like dang he, and why can't I think of his name right now? Chase Young, he and Chase Young, kind of I think them slightly similar with their situations. They both are drafted very high, with very high expectations, both edge rushers.
Speaker 2:Well, you have another one in Javon Kinlaw on your team now.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, you know he's probably right behind them. Yeah, you'll see In his timeline he's probably right behind them, but yeah, like just a swing and a miss overhyped. Whatever happened once they got to the NFL level, we don't know.
Speaker 2:But you know you swing and miss sometimes. Well, speaking of miss, we saw a lot of these from Justin Tucker last season and he has now been released by the Ravens and they're stating it's because of football. But for those of you that might not be aware, he's having a lot of Deshaun Watson-like allegations thrown his way by multiple women.
Speaker 1:He's facing a lot of sexual abuse and sexual assault allegations and look.
Speaker 2:I know the Ravens. My massage therapist Sounds familiar right.
Speaker 1:Listen, I gotta credit the Ravens organization. Okay, I gotta listen, I gotta credit the Ravens organization. Okay, because there's not a lot of organizations out there who will help you save face, okay, um, we know what this is about. We're not. I'm not saying they're true, by any means I'm not saying he's guilty.
Speaker 2:No, I'm not saying he's guilty but what I'm saying is and we're not saying that what he, what he may have done, is right either, but what?
Speaker 1:what I'm saying is there is so much going on with his situation that the ravens cannot handle it anymore. Okay, well, and they're saying it's football related decisions, but I promise you it's because of what he has going on in his personal life but yeah, last year was one of his worst seasons with missing kicks that is also a double win and could this possibly be because he knew some of this stuff was going on and he was going to be hit with all these lawsuits and other stuff?
Speaker 2:possibly, but we don't know, hey.
Speaker 1:Hey guess what. Didn't he miss in their last season of the game?
Speaker 2:Their last game of the season.
Speaker 1:Their last game of the season. Yeah, did I say that backwards, sorry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you said it way wrong Anyway.
Speaker 1:What ebbs. Listen, mike. I'm not going to deal with this level of insubordination tonight.
Speaker 2:Okay, anyway so, yeah, he's released and you know, know, if some of this stuff gets cleared up, I'm sure somebody will pick him up, because before all this he was on his track to be a hall of famer. I mean, if things get cleared up and and you know he plays football again, somebody will pick him up because he is a very good football player.
Speaker 1:I mean mean, look what happened with Brett McManus. He was with Washington, had a bunch of sexual allegations right after they just got rid of Snyder. The organization was like, look, we're not dealing with this. They cut him and now he's with Green Bay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's with Green Bay. He was with them all last season and had a fairly decent year from what I understand.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then another player that was kind of surprising being released was Gabe Davis. You know if the name kind of sounds familiar. He used to be with Buffalo Bills but he was released or not released. He was a free agent and he went and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars for a big contract and he actually got hurt last season, had a knee injury. That kind of prevented him from playing a full season and he didn't really do much with the time he had had like 200-something or no. I think it was like he only had. He didn't make 1,000 yards and he only had two touchdowns, so he didn't do much I see a correlation here.
Speaker 1:This is travis hunter all day long where do you think he winds up?
Speaker 2:hmm, not with dallas no, no, no, there's the wide receiver room's, already too packed with having well let's see here who's who's weak at right.
Speaker 1:Wide receiver right now, right, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know how many of those?
Speaker 2:weak, but adding some veteran presence or some talent, that may help. Honestly, Seattle.
Speaker 1:No I don't see Seattle. They just got rid of DK Metcalf and I'm not saying he's DK Metcalf at all, but they need receiver help. I could see him going Seattle. They got JSN's going to step up into DK's spot. And he can step up into JSN's spot, but that's not that's not his position. Jackson Smith, and Jeeba is who I'm talking about yeah, I know what you're talking about. I'm talking about for the listeners what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:I think he winds up going to the Chargers.
Speaker 1:I could see that as well. They also need receiver help.
Speaker 2:They need receiver help. But this is a veteran that you can plug him in Slot guy. No, he's not a slot guy, he's more of a down-the-sideline kind of guy.
Speaker 1:Well, where did he play? In Buffalo.
Speaker 2:Buffalo. He was the deep threat. They were sending him down the field.
Speaker 1:I thought they lined him up. Maybe I might be mistaken. I thought they lined him up.
Speaker 2:Shakir was the one they were always lining up in the slot.
Speaker 1:Shakir came along.
Speaker 2:He was still there. He was there when Gabe Davis was there.
Speaker 1:But he was behind Gabe Davis when Davis was there. Anyway, that doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2:What I'm saying is he's got to wind up in in one of a few spots. Another one that might fit pittsburgh. They shipped out pickens and they need another receiver. He might be a good fit and if they do indeed bring rogers in, rogers would not say no to having another receiver look they're not going to bring rogers in.
Speaker 1:Rogers doesn't even want to go to Pittsburgh. Okay.
Speaker 2:No, he'd rather go to the Vikings, but that's not probably going to happen.
Speaker 1:Do you know why? Because they're the most playoff ready. Look, I'm not fooled here, I'm going to pivot. Okay, no one's fooled here. Okay, all right. Rodgers wants to go to a contender. It's not a secret he wants to go to a contender, it's not a secret. He wants to go somewhere where he knows he can win Because he. Look, he walked confidently into the Jets organization saying he was going to bring them a Super Bowl. Two years later he's out as a free agent. Okay.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm sure he didn't see his Achilles heel being ruptured.
Speaker 1:That was year one and he had a good end of the season, especially once they got Devontae Adams there. He had a good second half of the season with the Jets this last season.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but he's not going to have Devontae Adams this year because the one team that has him is the Rams and he's not going to be a part of the Rams because they got Matthew Stafford.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but the expectations were higher for him in New York and they just didn't occur. And I give him the Achilles' tear and maybe it takes another year or so to get past that. Okay, we'll give him a mulligan here in New York, but I'm telling you right now, I don't think he's going to Pittsburgh, I don't think he wants to go to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2:I think. Well, okay, I think that it's coming to the point where he's playing musical chairs and there's only but one chair left. And guess what? All of your other opponents? They found a chair. There's one chair left. The music's going to stop and you're either going to sit on it or you're going to walk out that door I agree you know, sit on the pot or shit, right, but or shit on the pot, I get up.
Speaker 1:I think that was the saying. Anyway, I words are hard anyway either. Oh, either shit or get off the they didn't draft a quarterback, much like 27 other teams or 28 other teams it might even be a higher number than that. So they have quarterbacks, but I don't think they're comfortable. They're waiting on Rodgers, but I think Rooney's already said look, Rodgers doesn't want to come here. We don't care.
Speaker 2:We're moving on. Your misstatement earlier just makes me think of a saying that could come off of what you just said, and that's you miss, you miss a hundred percent of the toilets. You don't sit down you miss, yeah, I like that, that's a good turn on that.
Speaker 1:That's very good. I'm going to title this episode that.
Speaker 2:What shit, shit, shit in our buckets.
Speaker 1:Anyway, we're not going to do that so, but anyway, you know, that brings us to the conclusion of our show. Hopefully it was slightly entertaining. I know we had some hiccups tonight. Thank you, everybody, for your support. Thank you for joining us, listening to us. You're welcome to conversate with yourself.
Speaker 2:Putting up with us through this episode.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're welcome to put up with us, but you're welcome to conversate with us. We won't know you're conversating with us, but at least we hope you're listening to us.
Speaker 2:I think what you're trying to say is hit us up on social media If you have topics you want us to hit on, or you just want to debate some of the things we've said or say, hey, you dummies, it's this name or whatever it may be. We've said all good and bad At this point.
Speaker 1:You don't know if it's scripted or if it's real, but you're going with it, ok, and we appreciate you for that. We love you guys. All right, thank you for being here, Spread the word For the last time tonight. I'm Brian with an I and.
Speaker 2:I'm Mike.
Speaker 1:And we are 2 for the win.
Speaker 2:Thanks everybody.