State of Play
State of Play is a unique sports show that brings prominent political figures into conversations about today's sports and pop culture. Each episode offers an unfiltered, authentic look at how the games we love shape our society, and how today's leaders connect with the sports that moves America. From courtside memories to flaming hot takes, this is where the political meets the personal, revealing the human side of public figures through the universal language of sports.
State of Play
We might love hockey now...
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Ok, probably not gonna love hockey per se, BUT Vince has a new appreciation for the game. He interviews Jeff Burton about the congressional hockey game, which happened last week in the Nation's Capitol! Plus, did you see that shot?! March madness in full effect.
Turn the ball over. Should have been strong with the ball. It cost our team our season.
SPEAKER_03You're damn right, it cost you your season. Did you see that? Did you see that? Pardon the cliche, but it's called March Madness for a reason. Uh for UConn, the joy, the adulation, the celebration. Probably a really rude inter post-game interview from Bobby Hurley. I don't I mean, he's probably I didn't even bother listening because whatever. Uh the shock, the horror, the dismay, the smell of NIL deals burning in the distance for Duke. What a game. Uh, no excuses to lose that big of a lead. 17-point, I think, lead. But at the last second, what what the hell was the literal point guard for the team thinking? What was he thinking? All you had to do was first of all, uh can't Cameron didn't have to pass the ball, he could have just held it, went down like a man and shot two free throws or one-on-one. And then Caden got the ball. The point guard, by the way, you guard, you're you're a guard, you're supposed to guard the ball, you're supposed to take care of the ball, and you literally did the opposite. Uh, you know, still no excuses. Uh, I didn't want this. I'm actually a Duke fan. Uh, you know, I love college basketball in general, but I was actually rooting for Duke in this game specifically. Still, no excuses. Uh, you know, you have to realize also that Caden is just an you he's just an 18-year-old kid, probably never been in a game-winning or game-ending situation before in his life, been playing with your brother all all this time, and you know, probably never been in a situation where you're having to um hold the ball for a couple of seconds. You probably just blew everybody out. I don't know. I don't know, but there's no realistic excuse for why you felt obligated to pass the ball. You could have literally thrown the ball straight up in the air for three seconds and it would have hit the ground by the time the the buzzer sounded. There's a whole bunch of scenarios which would have been right, other than tossing the ball right into the hands of the opposition for them to hit a step back to hit a hit a three-point shot. And then, you know, Isaiah Evans, I love him. Love him. He's one of my probably my favorite player personally on the dude team. Didn't offer really any real defense to block, try to block the shot. And then the hero, Mullins, hits the shot. He's gonna be he's the only you know, real draft pick for UConn that I can see. Or at least the hype over him is uh really good. His game was pretty terrible. Uh he didn't shoot the ball well, but when it came down to it, knocked it down when it was time, right? And that's what Marsh Madness is all about. Still no excuses. Uh, I didn't want this, like I said, I actually dislike UConn. I think UConn is like the a Starbucks vanilla latte brand of boring ass basketball college. UConn is UConn is the McDonald's coffee of college basketball. You Yukon is more Nintendo Switch 2, not PS5 of college basketball. I would have preferred if Duke had gone to the Final Four, faced Illinois, maybe face Arizona, Michigan in the final. What, but you know, the basketball gods did not give us that. We're going into a final four, that is meh, meh. You know, meh. Like I said, Mullins is the only kid I would want to see in the final four. I want to see how he performs. I want to see him play. Uh uh, despite the coach sort of holding him at bay and sort of like, I don't want to say diminishing the skill, but definitely holding him back to a degree. Uh, he's definitely loosened up the reins on him a little bit in this tournament, which I am happy about. I'm happy to see the kid win. But you talk about 30 for 30 in the future, or at the very least, this is a shot, an all-time shot that we're going to be seeing for years and years to come. Despite if you're a Duke fan or a UConn fan, you gotta admit, you gotta, you gotta give it to them. That shot is going to go down in history as one of the biggest March Madness shots in the history of uh NCAA basketball. So, congratulations to Yukon. But you know, eh, still not excited that they're going to the Final Four, but whatever. It is what it is. We'll try to enjoy it for what it is. Uh, listen, today, our guest today is um Jeff Burton, uh GOP strategist. We're going to discuss last weekend was the congressional hockey game, and we're going to uh recap that game and discuss it. But first, let's discuss more basketball. The final four is set. We have uh Yukon, Michigan, Illinois, and Arizona. Uh, my my my bet is on Arizona at this point, although I think Michigan can give them problems size-wise. Uh depends on what Michigan does. If they shoot the ball well, they can have a real shot. But Arizona's audacity, sheer energy and force, bro. I'm I'm not sure anybody's gonna beat them, honestly. Um, so the Final Four set. My favorite team to watch. I still say Arizona, but I really like the way I uh uh the freshman Keaton Wagler is um playing for Illinois. The freshman 6'6 point guard out of Kansas. Should have gone to Kansas. Not sure why he didn't go to Kansas, but I get it. You know, NIL deals probably like bigger for Illinois. I don't know. Speaking of NIL deals, uh I wonder which team had the like I haven't truly looked into this, but I wonder which team had the biggest NIL like budget. It'd be cool to see or interesting to see which team had the biggest NIL budget across NCAA basketball versus who actually made it the farthest in the tournament. You know, actually, I I I got a computer in front of me. Let's I can I can look it up right now, I can do whatever I want. Let's see. Um let's see. Uh I'm on essentially sports, and I just see one for the athletic. Um I'm gonna go to essentially sports first. Um, okay, look. Of the of the uh of the teams that made it into the Sweet 16, it looks like they definitely had the biggest budgets, I'd say, uh, of the teams in the tournament. Um you had uh uh Kentucky wildly outspent the entire field um with a $20 million NIL roster budget or spending. And then you had uh never an outlier because they went out early, and you had BIU BYU that had a $13 million NIL budget. Obviously, the the line share of that went to went to AJ DeBanza. Uh and then you had uh Duke in order from top to bottom, right? You had Duke with $12 million, Arkansas, uh St. John's, Michigan, Arizona, Tennessee, Yukon, Illinois, Purdue, Michigan State, Houston, and then Iowa State. And then surrounded out, you had uh Texas, Alabama, and Nebraska, right? That was the the the Sui 16. And um, it looks like the spending, obviously, uh, come on, obviously, the spending, the spending paid off because again, just a reminder, you have Duke, Arizona, Illinois, uh, and UConn, all big spenders in NIL budgets, and by the way, coaches, um, coaching, coaches pay, right? Uh, all of those teams made it to the Final Four. So it looks like they're I'm not really sure it paid off because I think in the athletic, it looks like in terms of revenue for Duke, they spent 12 million on it looks like overall basketball expenses they spent 25 million, and it looks like their actual revenue was for 40 almost 45 million dollars last year. Revenue 45 mil spending and expenses 25 mil. So that that's paying off for them, but surprisingly, uh Illinois also made $36 million in revenue. I did who knew I didn't know Illinois was that big for uh for NIL versus you know they're maximizing how much they're investing. Um, but again, the salaries, just to remind people, the coaches are getting all the cheddar, right? The salaries take up the biggest chunk of actual basketball budget. So Dan Hurley makes like eight million dollars, John Calapari, Tom Izzo, they make seven million dollars. I think John Shire uh makes like seven mil as well. So, you know, players are getting paid. Yaxel Lindenberg, I think, got like five mil in NIL deals, NIL to go to Michigan, and um obviously he was he was a prize. I mean, you're talking about a guy who's a probably a lottery pick, definitely a first round pick. Um he made uh made five took five mil to go to Michigan, turned down like double that, double that to go uh to go to Kentucky, turn that down because he thought Michigan would be a better fit. And boy was he right, because now he's in the Final Four, he's got a shot at winning a championship, a legitimate shot, and um his stock coming out of nowhere from University of Alabama Birmingham is through the roof. So he bet on himself, bet big, plays hard, plays good, plays competent, is a perfect compliment to most NBA teams, and um that young man is getting it done. So NIL is definitely paying off for big spenders, right? If you're Cinderellas are cooked. Jay Will was right. Cinderellas are cooked, right? I think Iowa. Iowa was and maybe Nebraska too were the only remote Cinderellas in the tournament this time. But I mean you had high point, right? High Point was probably one of my favorite teams to watch in in the tournament. Point guard, 5'10, uh, what's his name? Rob Rob Martin, one of the best handles and skills I have seen in the in the tournament, probably since Kyrie, honestly, if we're being honest. Um I say tournament, but just in basketball in general. I haven't seen that kind of handle, that that fluidity with a handle in a minute. Um he's on the shorter side. I'd probably give him a shot NBA-wise. I don't know, man. That that boy is an exception to the rule. Uh, I would I would consider I would I would highly consider giving him a shot in the NBA. Because that boy, it's a bad boy. Rob Martin's a bad boy for high point. But the Cinderella's a dead. High Point was the only Kaj that even remotely had a shot, and that's because uh the young boy, young man for um High Point, Rob Martin was elite at playing basketball. Handles. And he's a senior too. So you power five schools, hands off. You will not get a shot at him. That's an NBA kid. The bottom line is that power five school, Cinderella's a dunge because if you're a good player at a mid-major or a lower tier school and eyeballs get on you, you're definitely gonna take the NIL money as a player to go play for that power five school because of NIL. So I we're not gonna see any more Cinderellas in the f in the near future. Um unless something is done about putting some guardrails on NIL in general. And even if you do put guardrails on it, that's toast. If you're offered to play money and go play basketball somewhere at your dream school, you're you're gonna you're gonna take it. You're gonna take it. You can't keep up with 20 million dollar budgets, uh Trent and IL uh 15, uh, 10. You can't keep up with that. So um as good as it was, as good as it was to see to see schools like Florida, Atlantic make it super far into the tournament, to the Final Four, even to the Elite Eight, guys like that, it's done. We're not gonna see that anymore. Wrap it up. But be that as it may, my money's on Arizona. My money is on Arizona to take it home. It always takes, I always say it takes a good superstar level, level-headed point guard, Arizona checks that box. Kids that can shoot threes, Arizona checks that box. Size, Arizona checks that box. I mean, Michigan checks all those boxes too, except for some of those shooting can be sometimes a little man. And then defense, defensive intensity. Arizona checks that box more than anybody. So um I think it's it'll be no surprise if Arizona takes it home and completes my bracket to help me win my my NCAA bracket challenge personally. I had Arizona in the beginning, I'll have Arizona at the end, and that'll be that I've spoken. My only issue with the Final Four is that Michigan and Arizona are in the same bracket and thus have to play each other to get to the final game. I would have rather had Arizona play, say, Yukon and then Michigan play Illinois, because they're all Big Ten teams, the drama. The drama. And then Arizona versus Michigan at the very, very end. At the very least, we get you know, we get Michigan versus Arizona. Exciting, exciting game. But I would have rather had as the final game, Arizona versus Michigan. Um, but it is what it is. It is what it is. We're we're going to get some really, really, really, really, really good basketball. We're going to see some really, really, really good uh NBA draft picks for the tank-a-thon. The tank-a-thon. I think there were mock drafts going now, having Keaton Wagler. He's he's gone way, his stock has gone way up. He could he could easily go to my my towns if the Wizards are unlucky again, because God hates the Washington Wizards. If he ends up getting, if the Wizards end up getting, like, say, the fourth or fifth or even sixth pick, Keaton Waggler could go to them. I wouldn't be mad at that. I'd be mad in general because I think they should get like the number one or even two pick, uh, and then have their pick of the litter when it comes to the to the draft. But there are some. I don't know why, but by the way, I don't know why people are doing these projected um mock drafts when you don't know where the teams will be picking anyway. You know what I mean? Like, you have no clue where anyone will be picking until the actual day to the lottery. It's fun to imagine, but you can definitely imagine that different you pick the best player, right? But definitely different teams have different needs. And I would argue the the Wizards now that they have Trey Young, he's gonna be around for a minute, and they have Will Riley, who's a rising, he's a rising NBA point guard, I think. You have guys like that. Why would you, if you're the first or second pick, why would you pick a point guard, right? So you don't know where these guys are gonna be picking, so mock drafts are just for shits and giggles, it's just for fun, right? Doesn't really mean anything. Wizards might need someone like Cameron Boozer before anyone else, who I'm not super high on, but you know, fit-wise, he'd be a great fit. He'd be a great fit. So would AJ DeBanza, not so much Darren Peterson, love Darren Peterson. He ain't, I think he'd be a better fit elsewhere, right? He'd be a better fit for the Pacers. Or God forbid, God forbid the Sacramento Kings. I would consider going back to school if I were any of the draft picks, and I got in the Sacramental Kings were the first pick. I'd run for the Hills. I'd sign another multi-million NIL deal rather than go to the Sacramental Kings. I would rather go to one of the expansion teams. I'd rather go to the Seattle Supersonics, the new, the newly formed, rebranded Seattle Supersonics than go to the Sacramento Kings. I would not want to go to the Sacramento Kings. I wouldn't wish the Sacramento Kings on my most hated player. The player I hate the most. Hate is a strong word, right? It's a strong word. But I wouldn't I I wouldn't I wouldn't want to send anyone there. Maybe Julius Randle. Okay, maybe Julius Randle, but no one else. I wouldn't want to send anyone else. Someone go rescue Sabonis, someone go rescue him, bring him to the whiz, bring him to you know where he'd be a good fit? San Antonio. Match him up there. No one else, though. No one else. I wouldn't wish them on the worst NBA starter. Period. I wish I was joking. Um, I'm not joking. I alright, enough. Enough. I'm sorry, Sacramento. You deserve better as a community. You deserve better as a town. But man, man. At least listen, maybe we'll get Stoyakovic, Andre Stoyak uh uh Stoyakovich from Illinois. Maybe he plays well. Cinderella's story. I mean, you know, what a story, not Cinderella story, but what a story it would be to see him get drafted to the Sacramento King. Uh he might want that for himself because his dad and the symbolism and yada yada yada. I get that. But I mean, that would be kind of fun. That would be it. Sacramento go for go for Soyakovich, the Illinois kid. All right. I have rambled quite enough. Uh up next, we are going to have on Jeff Burton. He is a GOP strategist and an avid hockey player, and we're going to have a discussion, conversation about the uh the last week uh Congress held the congressional hockey game to game to raise money um for worthy organizations or adjacent organizations. Um and we are gonna have him up next, right after this. Um, so this week, uh just like there is a basketball game and a congressional baseball game, DC hosted the congressional hockey game. Uh and joining us to discuss all things hopp hockey and recap the game, we have uh GOP strategist Jeff Burton. Jeff, welcome to the show. I'm guessing uh all of your teeth are still in place after last night.
SPEAKER_01Yep, yep, got it, got them all. Haven't lost any yet, but I'm knocking on wood, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_03Knock on wood for sure. Yeah. Uh how sore are you today on a scale of one to I regret everything? Is that does that usually happen?
SPEAKER_01I I'm yeah, I mean, I'm 51 years old now, so playing hockey uh isn't the smartest decision, but I would say uh I'm at about a survivable, but stairs uh aren't a good idea.
SPEAKER_03I I I'm close. I'm not I'm not too far from that. I uh uh and you'll hear me say it more in reference a little bit more throughout just um just to relate, but I'm you know forty, forty-eight and playing basketball. I'm a former college basketball player playing with uh you know 20, 25 year olds and this I'm like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, man.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, man. I I I think the youngest yesterday on the lawmakers team was a 23-year-old staffer who could uh Jesus I'm like, oh my gosh, where'd he go? He's flying by me.
SPEAKER_03I know you just look one way and he's like gone like the flash. Um exactly.
SPEAKER_01I just try to put my big ass in front of him.
SPEAKER_03It is what it is what it is. Um I'm not a I'm not a hockey guy. Uh I know the game, obviously. Shout out Ovi, uh DC area. Um, but explain this to me like I've never watched hockey in a way in my life. Well, like, well, actually, what actually happened like last night? Tell me about the game.
SPEAKER_01So it was a very intense game. So you say you're a basketball fan. So we went into overtime. Uh at the end of overtime, uh, if we're still tied, there's a shootout, which is one of the most exciting things in hockey, which is just uh a skater versus a goalie trying to get the puck in. And so, you know, as a bunch of you know, old guys on our team, on the lobbyist team, the lawmakers are filled with uh a few members of Congress, Cash Patel, the head of the FBI played, administration officials, and then the rest of the team. So there's five or six, five or six of those folks, and the rest of the team is filled in by you know mid-20s to mid-30s year old staff who uh are pretty good. And uh so we've been doing this since 2009 uh for charity for actually a we started doing it for a youth hockey program in Anacostia, actually, that uh want to talk about uh in a bit to help out that program. But as far as hockey goes, is you know, three periods, it was uh a tight game. Uh and you know, we were up 3-2. The uh lawmakers scored with about two and a half minutes left. It was really tight. They had a couple both teams had a bunch of chances, but it was uh the first time we went into overtime and the first time we went into shootout, but uh us old guys uh beat the youngins uh in the shootout. So we won four three on the scoreboard.
SPEAKER_03That's amazing. So um I'm gonna I I had no idea Cash Patel played hockey. That's I'm gonna leave that for another day because that's like a whole conversation. I'd love that I didn't know he actually played. That's good. He actually is behind, you know, actually keeping staying fit.
SPEAKER_01Um Yep, he he he's a huge fan. Yeah, too. Uh the you know, he got he took a lot of heat for being at the Olympics when uh we won gold just uh last month or earlier this month, I think it was. So uh he's a huge fan.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, a huge fan. It's funny how yeah, he took some heat, but you know, it's funny how these things like pass by and then all of a sudden it's like a nothing burger and no one's even thinking about it anymore.
SPEAKER_01Like like Yeah, the the the American people have a attention span of a nanosecond. Yeah. So it moves on quickly.
SPEAKER_03That's the Republican strategy. Yeah, you gotta, you know, you know, it's like what do they call it? What did uh uh your boy say? Uh he said we're we're flooding the zone with like news, and it's like okay, we there's one thing, one thing, one thing, one thing, one thing. You know, it's constant. Yeah, it's a constant thing. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01You can't easily be mad at everything, but you you forget half the stuff uh after a while. Exactly. I don't know if it's a strategy or just how it works out sometimes.
SPEAKER_03I think it's a little bit both both. Taking advantage of the taking advantage of everything, right? Everyone's like we're in an intention economy. But um, like what what's the vibe um of the game? Is it is it is it more I wish I would have actually saw it, but like, is it more like like you know, people going hard, or is it like you know, guys with beer suits in league in a you know in a league?
SPEAKER_01Like what's no this is this is serious. So most of us played in in college, a couple of folks played in the minors, everybody grew up playing hockey. And the thing about hockey players is we are uber competitive, yeah. But we're also you know really nice people for for the most part. There's there's your your there's one player on the other team I can't mention who uh is a member of Congress and nobody likes him even his own team. But um, I I'd get in trouble if I mentioned his name. But we're all friends, we've been playing together for a long, long time. And but out on this game is the time where you go all in. We try to train as much as we can. We you know have a strategy, and it is even though you play, we you know, we have a big bench, bigger bench than when we play on Monday nights or in league play and such, which is more for fun. But on this game, you know, you are gassed with about half the ice time because we go all out and there's elbows flying and little mini scrums and fights, even against the members of Congress and such. Tom Emmer, Tom Emmer, the Republican whip, throws a wicked elbow. Uh he's from Minnesota, grew up playing pond hockey and played in college and such. Uh, so there and there's a lot of scrums, but then we all get together afterwards, have a beer, and uh uh fall back in love with each other.
SPEAKER_03You're like that's that's the game. We we hate each other until we like each other again. That's awesome. Yep. So for for people who didn't is it like you say it was intense. So is it like that from the jump, or is it like you know how I don't know if you're into NBA or even some of the sports like oh yeah in the NBA I follow every sport right? So then the NBA, like it's the first half traditionally it's been this way for years until like lately it's been kind of like ass. I'm like to be honest, the all-star game, like you know, it's it's pretty chill at first, and then they go hard. Is hockey is it is it like when does it start to like really get serious? Is it like from the jump?
SPEAKER_01The the day the date is set for the game, everybody starts thinking about it, smack talk, and then you know, from in the locker room the day of we have reception the week before where the Stanley Cup is usually here on Capitol Hill, and we do reception for the players and the sponsors and such because this is all for charity that we do it. Um, but it is it is very intense and we're friendly, but we're from the puck drop, we are focused and everybody's on on edge and yelling and screaming and uh putting our all in for sure. Wow.
SPEAKER_03So, like in the game, like who's the biggest surprise out there? I mean, you've probably been playing this for a few years. Is there any new surprises or people are surprised that they are like really that good at hockey?
SPEAKER_01You know, we mentioned Cash Patel, he played for the first time last year, was surprised how good he was. Um, you look at Tom Memmer, he's 67 years old and he had a couple surgeries, he has some foot issues, nobody was sure if he could play, but um he might not be the fastest skater, but he knows positioning and he's nasty as I'll get out. So uh that's always surprised. And then another member of Congress, Rob Bresnahan from Pennsylvania, uh, he uh plays goalie. And you know, goalie is you know, really tough position. I would never want to do it. They're all pretty crazy, right? But uh he did a really good job. So uh, you know, like I said, we know most of the skaters, but then there's some kids uh Tom Emmer, his son Jack Emmer plays, and then that kid's you know, he's like 29 years, 25, 26 years old, and he's just fast as can be and a great skater. So uh, but it always gets it always gets heated and there's always some uh scrums in front of the net.
SPEAKER_03Um not to call anybody out, but did anyone take it like too seriously, like it was game seven, you know?
SPEAKER_01Like was it No, we we all basically do that there, but for the most part it stays it stays for the most part clean.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay. Okay, that's good. Um so uh um like I was saying earlier, I'm a I'm a former college basketball player. We we have gyms like we have gyms like all over the city. Like I can go anywhere and get a good run. It's virtually you know everywhere in DC. DC is a big basketball town for in case you don't know and for our listeners who don't know, this is like this is like one of the best places in the area to play basketball, right, around town.
SPEAKER_01But like not necessarily watch the wizards, but not that like the to play asterisk hard to watch.
SPEAKER_03Uh yeah, but like how do you guys like keep fresh around here? Like, is there like pickup hockey, like pickup basketball? Like, how's that work?
SPEAKER_01Um, so there's a few rinks around town, but uh back even before we started the game in 2009, uh a guy named Nick Lewis, he was a lobbyist for UPS, and uh he wanted to start play everybody playing hockey. So we have uh we started a pickup game uh every Monday night at Mount Vernon Ice Arena over just uh kind of by Bellhaven uh area, just uh off of uh uh Washington uh parkway. Right. And we basically go there every Monday night, nine between nine, nine and fifteen, play for an hour and a half, and that's that's how most of us stay fresh. And then a bunch of the guys stay are in leagues on top of that, playing you know, two, three times a week. So we've been doing that Monday night game since probably 2006, 2007 or so, and it's just white jerseys versus dark jerseys, pick up and play for an hour and 15, hour and a half, and uh you know, nobody really plays defense. That's just goof, goofing off, having fun. Like uh, but you know, we that's how we stay fresh, and then you have your leagues all over the place there where we play the game is where the Capitals practice uh in Boston uh at Boston Mall. There's two rinks there, right? There's ranks in Maryland that people play at. Uh the Mount Vernon rink used to be really old and decrepit. They spent the last couple years refurbishing it, so then there's two rinks there. So hockey has a great history uh here in DC as well.
SPEAKER_03I had zero clue about any of that. I mean, the only I think there was one out in Capitol Heights of all places. I I think I remember seeing. And then there's the the St. James, and that's like the only two I know. Like I didn't know.
SPEAKER_01And then there's rank uh, I think it I think they were doing work on it, but uh Fort DuPont ice rink in Anacostia uh is uh where we started a couple of these games and why we started the charity game as well to help uh youth youth hockey program there.
SPEAKER_03I've I've been to that facility, but I I just didn't know there was a hockey rink inside there. I that's crazy. I had no idea. Yep. Like zero.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and that that place had the best refrigerator, so it was cold, cold AF, but the rink was always cold and the ice was hard, which was nice.
SPEAKER_03Um nice. Um so do you like is there like how's it well first of all? Let me ask this. How are the teams broken down? Like how do you pick the sides of who plays with who on whose team? Like, how is that broken down?
SPEAKER_01For the charity game?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So it's lawmakers versus lobbyists. So uh that's that was the original name of the game. Then we changed it to the Congressional Hockey Challenge. The NHL is uh uh main partner for us. They adopted us a few years in. Like I said, we started in 2009. So it's uh lobbyists, uh, folks who are lobbyists are in that community versus a few members of Congress, administration officials, a very bipartisan game, and then uh the rest of the lawmakers team is filled in with staff, current uh Hill, Capitol Hill and administration staff. And most of the folks come from Capitol Hill because that's where we all came from. Right uh when we started, I played the first four years on the lawmakers team before I became a lobbyist. So I got traded back in 2013.
SPEAKER_03Uh I have fun. I love that.
SPEAKER_01I had to wear the dark jersey from then on. But uh we we all have fun and that's how it that's how it's broken up. And then there's you know, there's a long waiting list of people who want to get into the game, but it's the original folks who uh are around that get to uh kind of decide who's who's part of it because you you could in hockey, you know, we have on the lobbyist team about 20 skaters, which is a little bit too much, but the lobbyists are the ones responsible for uh excuse me, for raising the money for the charity.
SPEAKER_03Right, right, right. Well, of course. So how do you like like what's the politicking that someone has to do to get get like in the door if like you're waiting in line? That's clearly a wait list that you described. Like how do you think about it?
SPEAKER_01Well, it it depends, it depends how good you are on the lawmakers team. Uh so Tim Regan uh with the House uh representatives clerk's office, uh he runs it, he helps start the game and he's been the captain for the lawmakers team and he kind of has his list. And we keep the teams balanced. Uh, you know, the lawmakers won six or seven years a row in a row um because they had, you know, we're you know, yeah. I I I think you know, we're 40s, 50s, some players in our 60s and playing, you know, 20, 30 years old. Um, and then on top of that with the members of Congress uh there, so that kind of evens it out at least a little bit. But uh we won the last two years. So we won a blowout victory, I think eight to two last year, and then this year we won in the the closest game we've ever had, and the tightest game.
SPEAKER_03Everybody's really excited about how how close it was. You know, they're gonna be plotting in the congressional side. Uh from the they're gonna be bringing in step young staffers from Minnesota and New Hampshire next year. Um it's it's I can I can imagine it can it can be like it can be like made for TV or something like that at some point.
SPEAKER_01Um, but it but it also comes down to your goalkeepers. So they the lawmakers have those young guys and they're they're better than us, but we played like more of a team and our goalie came up big.
SPEAKER_03Ah, nice. And and not to put them out there, your your goalkeeper was is he like an older gentleman or uh uh yeah, I mean late 30s probably.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so old Tim is yeah, he's in good shape. And we we have uh we have three goaltenders typically have one per one per uh period just because they help to both sides. But uh our our best goal he played two the last two periods because we needed him. Ah, nice, nice, very strategic. Um if you're not playing well, you you get benched. That's how serious it is. He there's no guarantee out there, even if you raise the money, and if you've been around for a while, I'm I'm not one of the best players. I'm middle of the road at best, but uh I try real hard.
SPEAKER_03Any uh any uh any like distinct rivalries that we should know about? Like, is there someone on the opposite on the congressional versus lobbyist side that like you like they really don't like each other? Is it just like like really are the other things?
SPEAKER_01For the most part, yeah. We we play and and get along pretty well, um, Democrat and Republicans. So there's there's not really uh because we play every week, there's not really that hatred. But uh if they're wearing the other jersey during this game, there's uh there's a hatred for the uh the hour and a half that the game goes. That's for sure. And then afterwards we all hug it out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, shared hatred for the other side. Yep, yep.
SPEAKER_01And and we actually, it is um uh male and female. So we have uh on the lawmakers team, we have Michelle McGregor, who actually won a Division III uh women's national championship in college with Amherst College, and then on the uh lawmakers side, they have uh 2018 gold medal winning winner Haley Skarupa, who won a gold medal with the U.S. national team playing for them, and there's a couple other women. Kate McGregor, who is Deputy Secretary of the Interior, plays. And so the McGregors are are a great story. So they're they're a hockey family, and uh on the lawmakers team, you have Rob McGregor, who works uh over the Senate. You have Kate McGregor, who's actually a confirmed deputy secretary, brother and sister, and then Rob's wife, Michelle, who I just mentioned, she's on the lawmakers team. And so the whole family I played hockey against five different McGregor's, uh, because there's uh three brothers and a sister, and then Michelle, who uh I've known forever, uh married Rob. So she became a McGregor. So there's there's three McGregors on the ice, but they're uh at a time, and it's so it's fun to watch. Sounds like the McGregor's and nothing to mess with. That's that's crazy. Rob McGregor is the best player on the ice uh almost at all times. So you just try to you can't you can't stop him, you can only help to contain them.
SPEAKER_03Wow, I bet, man. That's crazy. I'm gonna have to Is there is there like is there video of the game? Like, can we watch like recaps of it anywhere? Or like what's that? Is there anything?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, we we played at Verizon Center or now Cap One Center, I guess. Um a few years uh and that was uh taped, but for the most part, there's you know a bunch of pictures out there and some videos that some fans took. We had shoot it it was that stacked crowd. We had to have four four or five hundred people there, I would say. Oh yesterday, and everybody was was doing the wave at the time and cheering and nice having fun. So it's it's it's a rowdy crowd. Hockey games are uh an adventure for fans as well. So everybody gets into it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um, what was your um did you have first of all, did you did you get any goals? Like what how was the game for you?
SPEAKER_01Uh I didn't get a goal, but I got a couple assists uh yesterday. Uh basically just uh using my big butt, like I said, screening goaltender, getting the fuck out, and uh blocking folks around. So and then had had a few good defensive plays too. So play played better than I expected.
SPEAKER_03I wouldn't any good checks? You like you like any any anybody go, oh, like when you threw someone into the what do you call it, the wall?
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, uh no, no, no huge ones, but in front of the net a couple times uh took a couple guys out, and that was good. There was one uh one big check uh along the boards against uh that I didn't do, but another one of our players just ended up happening against one of the the lawmakers' female players, but she she got up and kicked that guy's ass. So it worked out fine. Nice. Uh hockey players are tough no matter what sex you are.
SPEAKER_03What's that like like when you get to like hit someone or check them? Like like how does it is it just like oh business as usual, or is it like blocking you out? Oh no, no, no.
SPEAKER_01It's like a really good it's like a huge dunk in basketball. It's a dunk, it's a big alley oop. You know, it it it's the it's the one that the announcers are talking about for five minutes while there's you know 20 other points scored. That that's what it feels like when you get that big check or you know the goal, it just it just riles you up, rouse everybody up, and it's a momentum changer. That's right, you know, we don't have fights, but that's why in the NHL you have fights and such, because that's it's all about changing that momentum and going on that you know 20 to zero run that it can start that. The the big checks can start that.
SPEAKER_03Well, you took the you took my next question, which was did anyone get up and like punch someone in the face and like all that kind of stuff? It was just no, no.
SPEAKER_01What what's this so there's no fighting? Um, there's a bunch of scrums, and what you do is you face wash somebody, so you put your like dirty old gloves, you wear these big gloves, right? And they're sweaty and gross. You put it on somebody, you put it on somebody's face and such, or or you just stick checks, give some elbows and and such, but uh from those part, it's the there's no there's no fights, no punches thrown.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay, got it. So um we're gonna shifting just a little bit. You you mentioned um in the beginning, like what you guys were doing with the game in general. Like, why does the game sort of exist? Like, what's the real purpose behind the congressional games, football? I mean, not football, baseball, basketball, hockey, like what's the general idea behind it?
SPEAKER_01So it it it's all helping, it's all helping charities, and most of them are based locally here in DC. And there's also a congressional soccer game. There's a congressional flag football game that actually, you know, some former NFL players play, like Herschel Walker played in it a few years, other players uh um shoot. Who is the Tennessee Titans uh long time ago? Eddie George played in it a couple times. Nice, yeah. And that that one is actually um members, staff, and a couple NFL players against Capitol Police officers. And these guys are huge. So, like somebody lost a member of Congress lost half an ear in one of those games. Holy crap! But um, so there's all these charity games that go on, and you know, how the hockey game started, the baseball game, which I used to help with, uh used to help coach the team and do batting practice and such. That's been around since, shoot, I want to say like the 1950s or 60s. Wow. And so we came up with the idea, Nick Lewis, who I mentioned before, and a couple other guys, uh, around 2008. And I think how it started actually was we went and played in at Fort DePont ice arena and met this guy, Neil Henderson, who had a uh ice hockey program for young kids from five, age five, six years old through high school. And it was focused large, it was part of Anaca focused more largely on minorities. And like 95% of these kids in this program graduated high school uh right on time. And this guy, Neil, like kind of served as their father figure, but the rink was kind of decrepit. They had trouble getting equipment because hockey's really expensive sport. Buying ice time, you're looking at 300 bucks an hour. So we started the game specifically to help that program. And we played against these kids a few times, some of their like juniors and seniors in high school. And you know, this guy Neil, he would keep everybody in line. If somebody talks and started talking. Smack, he'd come out, grab him by the face cage and such. He did he did a great job. But uh that's how it started. And I think we raised $70,000, $80,000 the first year. And someone went to the rank to fix it up with the locker rooms and such, but mostly it went to uh that the four two-pon ice hockey program.
SPEAKER_03That is amazing. Wow. Um, do you know what the um the uh I think I read about you that you do baseball too, correct? Is that right?
SPEAKER_01I I did in the past. I had neck surgery a few years ago, so I don't do that anymore. And and the practice, those practices at 5 a.m.
SPEAKER_03Jeff, wait, wait, wait. Hockey is far more dangerous, right? Am I am I wrong? What am I missing? Like you get out there after the other.
SPEAKER_01For this, I was a pitcher, so you I was a pitcher, so rotating my arm got a little harder.
SPEAKER_03Uh okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And and the practices are for baseball are basically three months long, 5 45 a.m. and I'm not a morning person. So that made it well once I left, once I left DC and moved away and then started commuting, it just got harder to do. But I did that for a good 10 years or so.
SPEAKER_03So the getting hit in the hot, hit in the hot and getting hit, like I guess getting checked, wouldn't necessarily like rattle your neck in it.
SPEAKER_01You know, no, I was uh so I had neck surgery similar to what Peyton Manning had. So basically cadaver bone put it, I had a herniated disc, put it in my neck, had two titanium plates put in. I was playing hockey six weeks later. Bro! Although I did have a a red jersey on like the quarterback, so I'm like, don't touch me, I'm just out here skating. Yeah, I'll take it easy. But I've taken a few direct hits and been totally fine. That was 10, 10, 11 years ago I got that surgery.
SPEAKER_03So uh yeah, remind me not to walk up on you on a on the street. Like who would hockey players are tough, man. People can uh I don't think there's any question. No question. No question. I'd probably you know equal your second tough to to uh to football players who you know they you guys like hockey players will break a tooth and just all kind of I could never never get hit in the mouth and break a tooth and then be like, yeah, let's go, let's go out and play again. I'd be done.
SPEAKER_01But the yeah, then we we just go on in college. I uh tore my uh interior medial collateral ligament. I tore it about 75%, which is you know, there's ACL, MCL. I tore it about 75% and played a game in New Mexico uh against uh University of New Mexico two days later. I wrapped it in an ace bandage as tight as I possibly could, and uh it hurt like hell. But halfway through I think my second or third shift, I think the whole thing just snapped and I had no pain and just been playing playing like never got it fixed, just been playing like that ever since.
SPEAKER_03That's crazy. I tore my um I tore my ACL, my PCL, and my MCL all at once. And oh damn, never imagine like doing the ACL. Maybe if it was like, oh, I just you know tore my MCL and PCL, but you know, I could never imagine the pain is so intense. That's really tough. That's impressive.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I honestly and you know, ACL is one thing. The but hockey, it's different than basketball, it's a lot more low impact. Yeah, there's the hitting and the checking and such, but you look at basketball where you're just on your knees on the hard court. We're gliding, we're sliding, and you know, it's hips, it's it's upper body. But uh, you know, John Kerry played with us for three or four years. Uh he was 68 years old until he became Secretary of State and the Secret Service didn't let him anymore. He was a great teammate, I'll tell you. I mean, he dropped the F-bomb every other word, but he was uh a great, great teammate for for everybody and a great guy to hang out with. And and you know, I was Republican. I worked for the Republican Party at the time, and it was after the 2004 election, but uh he he's just great, and and uh I was honored to get my picture with him and to play with him.
SPEAKER_03That's fantastic. Um uh let's wrap this up. Are you uh what about you for next year? Are you uh are you in it for the long haul? Are you gonna you're gonna stay for a while?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I I have no intention of stopping playing anytime soon. So uh I play uh when I'm out in California, I play roller hockey out there. Ice time is you know hard to come by, but then when I'm out here, I play on Monday nights and look, you know, we get our dates uh for the game, January, February time frame. And uh, you know, we so sometimes it's anytime from February to end of March this year, it was a little later based on ice time, based on when the Stanley Cup can come for hockey day on the hill and such. So uh, and we got bumped because of a big dinner that was Wednesday night. We were originally supposed to be Wednesday night this week. We got bumped this. We found out a month and a half ago, so it gave us plenty of time. And so we fundraised for it. We raised about two uh almost $200,000 yesterday. And and so a few years after we started, I think year three or four, the NHL came in, they heard about what we were doing, and they have a big uh minority youth hockey program. So they kind of adopted the Fort DuPont folks, and you know, we still helped them a little bit, but uh most of the money now goes to Wounded Warriors hockey, which is basically veterans coming over from uh wars, losing land. I we played against guys who uh don't have two feet, literally, and they're playing on prosthetics and they're great players, one arm, stuff like that. So it helps the wounded warriors hockey program and then a scholarship program for uh the professional women's hockey uh players association for uh to help young girls go to college and such. And then there's uh NHL foundation and such like that, but we're able to raise 200 grand. And like I said, uh we don't we still help out the program at Fort DuPont, but because of the because of what we did, NHL came in and fully uh outfits them with everything that they need now.
SPEAKER_03Well, that is honestly impressive. It's really amazing and refreshing to hear that like so much good is coming out of like this isn't just a game, this is actually helping and impacting people from all kinds of um uh backgrounds and demographics and walks of life. It's really refreshing to hear like really good news like that, considering all that's going on around us all the time. So it's really uh it's been a real pleasure um learning about you and learning about the game and and uh perhaps when baseball happens if you're are you doing baseball this time? This year? Um I'm down tied in with all the folks.
SPEAKER_01So uh and and I know enough about it, but uh, and I go to the games and know all the players, so we can definitely get you set up to have that conversation. That game is June 10th at Nats Park. Okay. Uh so they actually play at the baseball park, and that's all members of Congress. So it's Republicans versus Democrats, uh, all members of Congress. Yeah, staff just helps coach the team and such. And uh next year everybody's excited on the Republican side because uh longtime uh baseball player Mark Tesera just won a primary in Texas. So he played for the Boston Red Sox, the Angels and the Yankees.
SPEAKER_03Are you dead ass serious? Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So the Republicans are gonna have Mark Teshera, and I was talking to him the other day. He said he actually, even though he was in the other league in the American league, he hit seven home runs out of Nats Park uh at his time there. So uh that that'll be fun. Um I'm gonna favor the Republicans for a few years.
SPEAKER_03I'm gonna I'm gonna go bet uh I'm gonna go place a bet on Calci right now about that. I'm just gonna put it out there and do it. Hopefully no one knows it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the the Democrats had a few years ago, so they had uh in 2008, I want to say Cedric Richmond got elected in Louisiana. He ended up working for the Biden administration. Yeah, he played baseball, I think, for LSU and he didn't throw into the 80s. So Republicans were awful during those those years. I mean, Democrats would just destroy us, but once he moved on and didn't play, Republicans have a pretty good winning streak, four or five games now.
SPEAKER_03That's fantastic. Uh uh I well, I look forward to I think I'll try to go to that game this year and hopefully cheer people on and see how it is.
SPEAKER_01Let everybody know that that game raises about a million dollars for like boys and girls clubs in DC and a couple other charities. So they they've really done well. There was that shooting a few years ago that um the fortunately everybody ended up being okay, but the one offshoot of that is it really boosted the profile. So now they get about 10,000 people at the game and you know raise a lot of money. So uh, you know, out of out of that tragedy, something good really came up at and a friend of mine, a friend of mine, Matt Micah, uh, who helps coach the team, he'd love to come on. He was actually one of the he was shot uh and almost died uh that day, but he's been helping the team both beforehand and ever ever since. So he'd probably love to come on the show and tell everybody about it before and after the game. And maybe he could do something even with some of the members of Congress who play. They they love advertising the game.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. Yeah, let's connect afterwards and um and uh we can we can set all that up and and keep the trains moving, so to speak. But Jeff, it's really great to have you. Thank you for letting me know all about the game. I'm I'm I'm genuinely um interested in making sure I don't miss the next one. Uh so I'll try to make it out and uh immerse myself in in all things hockey at that point. I'll try. I don't I don't know what to do while I'm at the game, but you know.
SPEAKER_01Hey, well we'll we'll sit sitting next to somebody who does. It's it's a great game and non-stop action and fun, and uh it's just a lot of fun being out there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, great. Well, Jeff Burton, everyone, um we'll be right back on State of Play. Thanks. Thanks, Jeff. Have a good one. Thanks, Vince. You too. Huh. Who knew? Who knew that so much hockey did so much good? I didn't know that. I am educated and you are educated. You can't judge about it. Right? That all came to life for me like Cash Vatels adult site subscriptions. Right? Cash. You dirty boy. But I digress. When I love when sports comes together with the community and does good for the community. That's the that is part of the power of sports, right? No matter what side of the alley we're on, sports can do good for all and do good for a lot of people. It brings us together, it gives us a sense of camaraderie, it gives us direction for a higher purpose. Sports can do all that, right? No matter what the sport, like hockey. I don't know, I don't know shit about hockey, bro. I mean, I know some things about hockey, I know how the basic setup of the game, I know the the classic players like Mario Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky and Ovi, right? Ovechkin. But I don't I don't know nothing about hockey. I I know about as much about hockey as I do about soccer and tennis and everything else out there that's not the big three. Right. But it's uh it was a great conversation, very enlightening. Um makes it exciting. I'm definitely gonna go next year to the congressional hockey game. I'm gonna try to make the rest of the games too, but definitely that one. I wanna see what it's like. I didn't know that many people played. Right? I mean there's a lot of basketball players, and God forbid you let me in that game because I'm dog walking everybody in that in that joint. I'm saying it now. Put me out there, coach. Put me in the congressional basketball game and let me dog walk all over the competition. Anyway, look, thanks for joining us today for State of Play. I hope you enjoyed the conversation. If you do, be sure to tune in next week. Tell your friends, uh go to state of play.net, send a link to your buddies and pals, tell them to tune in, spread the word about our podcast because we're building something really fun and really interesting. So download and stream state of play wherever podcasts are downloaded, and we'll see you next week. Bye.