Sports Live! With Steve and Justin

Why The New York Knicks Are So Hard To Guard Right Now

• Steve and Justin

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 59:43

The Knicks are playing like the kind of team that makes opponents look confused. We get into why New York’s offense suddenly feels unstoppable and why it’s not just about star power, it’s about buy-in. Jalen Brunson’s control, Josh Hart’s timely shots, Karl-Anthony Towns bringing real force inside, and a bench that stays effective all add up to one of the most frustrating teams in the NBA playoffs to defend.

Then we pivot to New York baseball and say the quiet part out loud: MLB makes it hard to be a fan. We talk Yankees slumps, league standings, and why watching a simple game now turns into a hunt across streaming platforms, blackouts, and paywalls. From there we debate the modern obsession with baseball analytics, rule tweaks, and interleague play, plus what we miss from the older style of the sport: contact, situational hitting, smart baserunning, and games that don’t feel engineered for a spreadsheet.

We also take a sharp turn into Formula 1, because the weekend had everything: Mercedes on top, Kimi Antonelli vs George Russell tension, Lewis Hamilton still hunting rhythm at Ferrari, and Monaco on the horizon. We break down how strategy, tires, weather, and massive budgets shape results, and why the sport feels so high-stakes right now. We close on a Memorial Day reflection about athletes, protest, and respect, with a reminder of what we’re actually honoring.

If you enjoyed the ride, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave us a review. What part are you most fired up about right now: the Knicks run, MLB access, or the F1 title chase?

Memorial Day, Birthday, And Vertigo

SPEAKER_02

Hello everyone, it's Memorial Day, it's five o'clock, it's a Monday, and we're Sports Talk Live with Steve and Justin. Hello, Justin. Hello, Steve. Those of you that saw our earlier, my earlier little Memorial Day podcast to say we're not doing a podcast. Well, guess what?

SPEAKER_03

I was wrong. Here we are. Yep.

SPEAKER_02

We had originally were going to just do it recorded tomorrow in the day or something. And Justin texted me and said, why don't we do the podcast? And I was sitting here, it's my birthday as well. Happy birthday, Your Honor. Thank you, dude. And I was sitting here sound asleep on the couch with all these plans that I was going to do today. As Justin knows, and most of you don't, I don't know if I mentioned it last time, but I've been fighting a bad case of vertigo. So today I said, you know what? I would never take the medicine. I'm going to get up and take the medicine. So I get up, I take the medicine. It knocks me out. I end up sleeping the whole day away. So what good was it? What good is the medicine if you can't if you can't stay awake long enough to do anything? Of course your vertigo doesn't bother you. And it wasn't that bad today in the first place. So my fault.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, vertigo is not fun.

SPEAKER_03

Certainly no fun.

SPEAKER_02

And then, you know, uh my girlfriend says it's okay, I go home later. You know, earlier than we said. I said, Well, you want to wait till after the podcast? Because Justin and I are gonna do the podcast. She goes, Oh, I'll take an Uber. She got out of here as soon as she could. Sorry, Arietta. Sl sleeping beauty strikes back. I just was asleep all day.

Knicks Playoff Surge And Toughness

SPEAKER_02

So anyway, tonight, I mean, we're really just I don't want to say shock, but the heart and skill of the New York Knicks has really just blown my mind. I mean, teams don't even know how to defend them. You see players just hanging out there. I mean, you saw, first of all, Brunson's been unbelievable. I mean, who is this guy?

SPEAKER_01

He's averaging 30 points a game on the road. He's got 12 30-point games on the road in the playoffs now for his career as a Knicks, which is incredible.

SPEAKER_02

And then you have and you have others like Hart. He had a game the other night. I mean, what are you gonna say about that?

SPEAKER_01

I think they feed off each other. They're they're good friends off the court as well.

SPEAKER_02

And and he hits all these great shots. I mean, I'm I'm amazed. And then, you know, Towns has been physical, you know, seven-foot-tall guy rattling everybody's cage under the basket. Really is a great, good team.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think when you hear the analysts talk about them in the postgame, and you hear NBA Hall of Famers discuss how tough they are to defend because of how they distribute the basketball and they find the open the open man as opposed to one guy trying to carry the team on his back, which is vastly different than we've seen from the Knicks previously in the playoffs. They're they're pretty formidable. I mean, they're they're scoring more points now than they ever have. And this is van-I mean, they're not the same team they were in the regular season. I mean, they were good, but they weren't this good. They've they're clicking on all cylinders right now. So credit them for putting it together at the right time and credit the coach for unlocking, I think that's what everybody's been saying, unlocking their offense. And on top of that, they've been playing solid defense, which you don't normally see in the NBA across the board. I mean, in the playoffs, yes, but to this level, they've been more than than better than average, more than decent. They're they've been plugging away. And, you know, this group of guys that people describe previously as, you know, lunch pail guys, hard workers, grinders, it's paid off.

SPEAKER_02

Right. Well, and um and they it's more than just talent and more than than playing. It's it's it's something like the they just have this heart about themselves that we haven't seen in the New York team in a little bit.

SPEAKER_01

They enjoy playing with each other too. You know, there's there's really this team doesn't have a diva, you know. There's no, not that they're not superstars, but there's no superstar, right? Like, I mean, I know Jalen Brunson is playing like a superstar, but when you think of the NBA and you think of the faces of the league, and I'm not taking anything away from him, he's playing like a guy that should be up there, and he's he's the last guy in the room that wants the accolades or or the spotlight or the attention. He just plays to win and grinds every night. And these are the kind of guys you can root for.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely. Especially as a New Yorker. That's what we look, we look, we look for.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. And then, you know, you factor in that he took less money to stay here and build help build this team. You know, what can what else can you say about the guy? You know, you you're in the point now where you're you're looking at somebody who is, you know, the Knicks, the way they've been playing, their point differential is up there in the stratosphere with other teams that have gone on to win championships. So they've put themselves in a position now where, you know, I think fans are expecting to win. Whereas before it was like, you know, kind of a prayer. And now it's, you know, you've got fans talking about not only, you know, sweeping the series potentially, but they're already, you know, looking ahead to can we beat the Spurs? Can we beat the Oklahoma City Thunder? So, you know, they're a relevant, real basketball team, clicking on all cylinders. It's like, you know, when you watch hockey and a team gets hot in February through March and they march through the playoffs and and because they got hot at the right time, that's where the Knicks are right now.

SPEAKER_02

Right. Well, when you look at the Cavs, the Cavs are a good team. I mean, but they definitely have the Knicks have Cleveland miffed, for lack of a better word. I mean, Hord James Harden, great player. Can't say he's not. He always seems to be out of place. He's either covering the wrong guy or standing around covering nobody, and then you have two Knicks open.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think that's because the Knicks are so deep and they can lose pretty much anybody with the basketball.

SPEAKER_02

So even when they were doubling, they were double covering um Branson, I mean it's funny because they're leaving guys open that are left hard open all the time. He was just hitting them left and right. He's got that fall away jumper. I mean, just unbelievable. And then so Harden, they go right at him. And they let it be known we're going right at him. And I thought that was you know, that was when you hear Brown uh after the game, he's saying, Yeah, we were going right after Harden. And and everybody was like, I can't believe they're saying that out loud. Well, you know what? I'm impressed they're saying it out loud. They're saying out loud, saying, listen, here's your best player. We're coming at you.

SPEAKER_01

I think there's a little psychological warfare going on there, too.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely. And then you have the guy from Worcester, um Donovan Mitchell. Donovan Mitchell, and he's playing well.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. But it ain't well enough.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Well, they're they're they're basically going through those two, two or three guys, and they can't keep up because they're just not as deep. And the Knicks are, you know, when you take a try to take away Brunson and Towns, you like you said, you've got Hart and Ananobi, and you know, the the basketball finds its way to an open man, and they're making their shots.

SPEAKER_02

Right. And then they have that guy coming off the bench that really been great for him. Is it Struuss? Struess. Strauss? Yeah, S T R U S. Struce. Strauss. They really, in the playoffs, they really came off the bench to him, and he's scratching his head, too.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, they're getting considerable time and and not just time, they're getting effective time. Guys are scoring when when they're on the court, coming off the bench. You know, a guy like Mitchell Robinson, who I know, you know, most recently is struggling with a mental health issue, you know, he was doing great through this playoffs. You know, I think playing above where people expected him to be. And uh, you know, guys like McBride and uh just from top to bottom. It's not just a six-man rotation anymore, you know, or seven-man rotation. Everybody's contributing, everybody's playing on both sides of the court. You're seeing these guys. I think one of the most impressive things about this particular Knicks team is how they hustle back on defense. They're, they're, they seem to be, you know, they have a good shot selection, not rushing any shots, they're finding the open man, they're playing very cool on offense, but when the play is over, they're not pointing to the sky and tapping the floor and beating their chest. They're they're back on defense, ready to take the ball away from you. So I give them all credit because they whatever Mike Brown is selling, they bought in, and so far so good. They've looked unbelievable.

SPEAKER_02

I agree. I totally agree. I I think they've been then really bought in. I'm I'm looking here because there's a little thing to click on for tickets.

SPEAKER_03

And I was just curious on on that. It's funny. They don't have it for the Knicks, they have it for the Cavs. So Yeah, New York Knicks.

SPEAKER_01

And a guy like Mikhail Bridges, who, you know, for all intent and and purpose was, you know, on his way to being a superstar in this league, has to, you know, name recognition and all that. He's found his niche in this offense where he hits those 15-foot jump shots all day long. And he doesn't have to attack the basket because they have Carl Anthony Towns and they have Brunson going to the basket. And if if those guys get in trouble, they kick it out, and he's there and he's hitting wide open shots, and he's hitting contested shots as well. So they're just they're playing really well and they're very deep. And like I said, I give them all the credit in the world. You know, this is not a team of guys who are looking for any sort of accolade or a pat on the back. Like we said before, they pack their lunch and they eat your lunch on the way.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, I agree with you 100%.

Ticket Prices And Closing Out The Series

SPEAKER_02

I was just looking at what it costs for two tickets tonight. It's got to be in the stratosphere. Uh at Cleveland. So down on the floor there, they're about five, six grand. On the left side, that that one must be right on the floor. It's 30 grand. But like at the 100 ring, which is the first ring up to around 15, 50, anything from a thousand to fifteen hundred.

SPEAKER_01

Just to be in the first ring.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Upstairs, you still get them. You know, you still get them at a hundred uh hundred and seventeen. I mean, if it just to be there, you know what I mean, is is uh those are just to be there seats. You don't take the seats, you wander around, you go to the bar. You know. I mean, that's where the penthouse is. That's where everything else is. So what's the difference? So all right, let's stop looking at seats. So maybe they win tonight, maybe they clinch, right? Fourth game, four in a row.

SPEAKER_01

Put it away tonight, they can get a little rest. 11 in a row. 11 in a row.

Spurs And Thunder Finals Forecast

SPEAKER_01

The the the West series looks like it might, you know, go the distance. It's tied 2-2. The Spurs are fighting hard. You know, we talked about them a couple of weeks ago about how they're in the window and how, you know, when Wemby threw that elbow, it was, you know, it was time to put your big boy pants on because, you know, they kind of not that they left them, you know, hung out to drive, but you know, this was that growth that you're looking for from a young player to take the next step, and he's right there. And they're doing it against now, they're doing it against the defending champs. So the defending champs are in a dogfight for real. You know, I know they're the favorite. I know I think that the Spurs were were plus 125 tonight or tomorrow, whatever the their next game is. It's hard to believe that they're an underdog, but they're giving they're gonna give Oklahoma City all they can handle for sure.

SPEAKER_03

I agree. I agree.

SPEAKER_02

And I I I don't you know, I watched those teams play, and I remember Oklahoma from last year, and they don't just seem as dominant as they did last year.

SPEAKER_01

Oklahoma City?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I think they kind of took everybody by surprise last year. I mean, they were good. They're still great, don't get me wrong. And they've got the you know reigning MVP, so they're they're absolutely formidable.

SPEAKER_03

And I know San Antonio the best player in the league, probably. I think the Knicks can take them if they win.

SPEAKER_01

If the Knicks continue to play this way, they're unbeatable. It's just that simple. You know, I think now you have to look and see, you know, well presuming they win tonight. If if if they get into a dog fight, you know, this series started with the Knicks being down in game one 22 points at one at one time in that game. And they came storming back and won. I don't think that happens against San Antonio or uh Oklahoma City. But, you know, are the Knicks gonna suffer a little rust entering the finals if they win tonight? Could be, but they've proven that they could shake it off right away. So I think it'll be tougher, certainly. But again, it's a seven-game series, and if they have no rust, or even if they're rusty in game one, they shake it off and play like this, they will be champions.

SPEAKER_02

Well, they certainly remind me of the old.

SPEAKER_01

It will be their toughest test, though, that's for sure. Because I think if it's Oklahoma City, they're they're a deep basketball team and they they play better than average defense for sure. So there might not be as many open shots as there are, you know. But again, the Knicks are winning games by by 20 points plus. So you know.

SPEAKER_02

True.

SPEAKER_01

If you win by five or ten, what's the difference? As long as you win.

SPEAKER_02

The first game that you thought I I mean, I almost turned it off when they were down 22 points or whatever 20 points with seven minutes to go. I'm like, yeah, how are they coming back?

SPEAKER_01

I was at a concert. We left the concert, they were down by 20 points. Oh, this game's over. And I by the time we got home, the Knicks had won the game.

SPEAKER_02

What

A Concert Detour And A Comeback

SPEAKER_02

concert were you?

SPEAKER_01

I went to see the Toadies in Connecticut.

SPEAKER_03

The Toadies? Yeah. Punk rock Toadies from back in the 90s. I don't remember him.

SPEAKER_01

I come from the water. You know that song?

SPEAKER_03

No.

SPEAKER_01

Or Possum Kingdom, that's their big one. Those two songs. Possum Kingdom? Kingdom? Possum Kingdom. Yeah. I had never seen the Toadies before that. I just listened to the, you know, one or two albums that I have. And that was 30 years ago already.

SPEAKER_02

Where did they play in Connecticut?

SPEAKER_01

Man, let's see. It was in Connecticut. You know what town?

SPEAKER_02

Oh, probably another venue.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I'll find it. I was because I had texted pictures of it to my buddy, and we were in it wasn't, what was it, 40 minutes away?

SPEAKER_03

Right off 95. Uh Stanford?

SPEAKER_01

Was this Stanford or was it Danbury? No, I'm not. District Music Hall.

SPEAKER_02

Never heard of it.

SPEAKER_01

I was making jokes when we got there because it looked like they pressure washed the whole town before we came. Everything was very, very clean, even for Connecticut. It was just a small venue, you know. It was like no bigger than a high school auditorium. Formerly Wall Street Theater in Norwalk, Connecticut. But it was a good time. Don't ask me who opened for them because I'll never remember that the name of the band. But they were all pretty good.

SPEAKER_02

Wow.

Cavs Ownership And Billionaire Rabbit Hole

SPEAKER_02

Did you know Miles Garrett owned part of the Cleveland Cavaliers?

SPEAKER_01

That I did not know. That's that is new.

SPEAKER_02

I'm looking at it right now. So he can afford to buy anything a minority owner. Well, great player. Usher Raymond, whoever, who is Usher. He owns the minority owner. And Gary Gilbert, who I don't know who Gary Gilbert, American film producer and founder and CEO of Gilbert Films. He made what did he make? Gary Gilbert's known for. He made La La Land, was the executive producer of La Land, The Kigs Are Alright. Garden State, which is one of my favorite movies, if you've ever seen it. And Margaret. Wow. No kidding. I'm impressed. And then the majority owner is a guy named Dan Gilbert, which must be Gary Gilbert's brother. And Dan Gilbert is American billionaire businessman philanthropist. He's a co-founder of a majority owner and chairman of Rocket Mortgage. Well, that explains that. Net worth $22.9 billion. Wayne University Law School, he's $5'6. And he's married to Jennifer Gilbert, also a philanthropist, of course. Oh, no, he's not. Couple filed for uncontested divorce in September 2025. I'll give you a hundred million dollars and you go away. It's only money. Only money.

SPEAKER_03

When you have 22 billion, it's easy to give a billion away. Right? You can't put a price on peace and sanity.

SPEAKER_02

You're, dude, you are preaching to the choir here. I've paid my millions out and happy about it. So, richest man in the world, richest man, people in the world. Elon Musk, 839 billion. Larry Page, 257 billion. So look how far Musk is ahead. And wait till X really gets going. It's gonna be off the charts. Sari Brin, 200 and whoever that is, Google, Bezos, Amazon, Zuckerberg, Facebook, Ellison. Oh, I heard the greatest conspiracy about Facebook, but I'll leave that for another podcast. Boy. Who the heck is that? Semiconductors, Berkshire Hathaways, Zara.

SPEAKER_01

I'm not hearing, I'm not hearing any usual suspect. I'm not hearing Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Getty. Because they don't That's family wealth. They don't count, right? They're not individuals.

SPEAKER_02

Family wealth that's on who is this? Telecom. Carlos Sim Hilo. And then you have uh cryptocurrency exchange, Michael Bloomberg, which is not really family wealth either. Then you have Bill Gates. He's 18 Bloomberg, 19 Gates. Then you get Myers, who owns L'Oreal. That's family money. Uh a lot of cryptocurrency people on here. I didn't realize that. Bitcoin billionaires. Then Koch is even down at Julie Cox, 24, Charlie Cox 30. There's 80 and 70 something billion. Then you have TikTok, beverages, retail. I don't know what that is. Mining. That's family. But we're in a thirty richest people anymore. You don't see it at the top. Ken Griffin for hedge funds. Walton. Lucas Walton's the first Walton. Walmart, 50 billion. But I was looking for uh shipping. Who am I looking for?

SPEAKER_03

Rockefeller. I don't even know if they're on here. I don't see him at all. I'm sure they don't share their financial their true financial numbers with Forbes. Yeah, who knows? A lot of foreigners. Not Amer not Americans, I mean. So there's another Walton, twenty-four billion, but I don't see any Rockefellers. Wow. Maybe I'm on the wrong planet. Alright, let me get off that. I don't want to get too sidetracked here. I just the Miles Garrett thing caught me by surprise. Good for him.

SPEAKER_02

Well, it's good for the team to have somebody like Miles Garrett, right? So what do you want to talk about, Yankees?

Yankees Reality Check And League Standings

SPEAKER_02

Aaron Judge lives up to Aaron Boone's promise to break out of the slump.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I'm I would uh I I did promise Mario from Harrison that I would give his prognostication. Knicks in four. Way to go out on the limb, Mario. But Mario is probably the most diehard Knicks fan that I know, and he hasn't wavered. He's also the biggest Jets fan I know.

SPEAKER_02

That's his problem.

SPEAKER_01

Kudos to him. I hope the Knicks win it off just for him because he he deserves it. He's been starving for a long time. So Yankees are four and a half.

SPEAKER_02

Yankees are four and a half games out of first place.

SPEAKER_01

Shocker. With three guys in the lineup hitting under 200. I'm shocked.

SPEAKER_02

I mean ahead of the race. You know, and they beat the Rays a lot this year.

SPEAKER_01

I just the American League season what does the American League have? Three teams, maybe four over 500 at this point. I just, you know, I I I can't take the Yankees seriously right now. I'm sorry. I I it's it's the same old thing now since Boone has been there. You know, they've got 50 wins by this time, and then, you know, the summer months come and all of a sudden they're in a swoon, and I think they're already in it, to be honest. But maybe maybe it's because all their interleague games came early. I don't know. But I'm not uh anything the Yankees do, I'm not blaming or crediting anybody specifically. But I'm not worried about Judge because last year at one point he was hitting 400, and that was, you know, after batting 100 at some point, like 195 in Jordan May.

SPEAKER_02

There are five Tampa Bay is 34 and 16. They're playing good baseball. Yankees are 31 and 22. Uh the Guardians are 32 and 23. So just a couple statistical points behind the Yankees. The uh Chicago White Sox are 27 and 26. So are the Athletics. And then the whole rest of the league is below 500.

SPEAKER_01

Tells you all you need to know.

SPEAKER_02

How does that happen?

SPEAKER_01

Well, I think more importantly that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02

Inter league plays are the only way it happens. You know why? Because otherwise you would have to Oh, here's the National League. So the National League is a little bit better, actually. They have one, two, three, four, five teams. Somebody would have to be better, right? Because the National League because that's the way it works. Bad teams win. So they have ten teams above five hundred. Braves Dodgers, Braves are thirty-six and eighteen, Braves Dodgers, Brewers, Padres, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Cubs, Reds, Pirates, Nationals are 27 and 27. Everybody else, Phillies, and believe it or not, the Mets are not the worst team in the National League. Mets are 22 and 31. Oh, actually, they're tied with the Jets. What is 22 and 31?

SPEAKER_01

What is the Phillies record now?

SPEAKER_02

26 to 27.

SPEAKER_01

They're just a couple of points below five and they're like they're like 15 to 5 or whatever since Mattingley took over? They're considerably better than they were.

SPEAKER_02

I don't know. That's that's not on here. But I know they've been playing well since Mattingley's been there.

SPEAKER_01

I I'm happy for him. And I, you know, outside of rooting for the Yankees to win it all, if it's not the Yankees, then so be it. Let it be the Phillies. I know it's early, but I'm ever rooting for Don Mattingley to be successful. And I know that, you know, he didn't think he was ever going to manage again. And he found himself in the right situation, unfortunately, for their previous manager who got fired, but I'm sure Mattingley is not taken for granted that he's got another opportunity to win. And if it comes in Philadelphia, so be it. If anybody deserves to win a championship, it's that guy. I hope they can sustain their winning and make the playoffs and give us a good show.

Streaming, Blackouts, And Fan Frustration

SPEAKER_01

As far as the Yankees and the Mets are concerned, we talked about it not last week, but I had texted you about how that Mets Yankee series, the first game was on Apple TV.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_01

So, and you and you, you know, I said I had a gripe, and you said this was uh, you know, supposed to be for the fans, interleague play. And I think only one game was on regular regular network television. I know one game was on ESPN, but I don't count that either because I go back to the not everybody has cable days. And I just, you know, baseball wonders why they're having trouble selling and marketing this game. Maybe you're doing too much. To me, the game was more popular when it was regional to the team. You know, don't black out games. Absolutely. I mean, you know, let's let's be honest. If you're I understand they're trying to squeeze every dollar, and that's their problem. You're either going to have a good product or you're gonna maximize your profit. I I I've yet to find a league that can do both. So, you know, if you want people interested in this game and you want fans, you have to make it accessible. And not everybody can afford six different streaming networks or eight different streams, whatever the hell it is. And people want to come home and watch a game and put on the television. They don't want to have to press six buttons to find the game on a channel somewhere on some streaming network that they don't have. I just think it's incredibly ridiculous for baseball to gripe, oh, we're not making money, we don't have this, we don't have that, we're not, we don't know what to do. And they sell you all these rule changes to make the game faster and make the game. Real fans don't care about that. But they clearly don't care about real fans. All they care about is money. So if someone wants to pay them billions of dollars to televise something that nobody's gonna watch, who am I to argue with that? But don't come crying about the game not being popular.

SPEAKER_00

I agree.

SPEAKER_01

It's ridiculous. And the interleague thing, I think the experiment is over as far as I'm concerned. I never like interleague.

SPEAKER_02

I I don't care. It's so stupid.

SPEAKER_01

I I don't like it. I will say that.

SPEAKER_02

I don't understand the purpose of it. I I don't think there really is any purpose. It removes the magic of the World Series. It's it's especially if you're gonna have different rules.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, oh yeah. Well, they straighten that out to a degree. But, you know, the even the the the rule changes with the extra innings and the runner-on base, all these dumb things that they did to try and facilitate more scoring. Or to look, the proof is in the pudding, right? I mean, uh they can harp on home runs all you want, but you really want guys in a lineup that can't hit 200? It's across the league. It's not just the Yankees. I complain about it because it's the Yankees, and I expect I expect them to have everybody in the lineup hitting 300, but apparently batting average doesn't matter. But remember when they won all those games in 1998, their number nine hitter was Scott Brochus, who nobody even knew who he was when he got here. And God bless him, the guy hit 300 in the nine hole. You can't tell me that doesn't matter. They won 115, whatever it was that year, 125 games. I mean, you have to hit that's part of getting on base. That's part of on base percentage. To me, it's it's it's not worth it when they talk about all these other ridiculous stats, you know, war and OPS this plus and who you are C minus plus. But I don't want to hear it. I want to watch a game, I want to see ball players. I don't mind watching a pitchers duel. I want to see a guy go nine innings and strike out 10, 12, 15 guys. I want to see a pitchers duel one-nothing game. You know, it can't all be seven home runs a game and look like, you know, the last two minutes of a regular season basketball game because each team scores three or four runs in the ninth inning. And you got guys that can't close. Oh, the specialists, it's harder to hit. Like, why do all these closers suck? I, you know, I don't understand it. The game has just been, to me, it's been ruined by guys that never played the game. That's the way I see it. By numbers guys, you know, statistics-driven analytical nerds with their computers, how to maximize every dollar's worth of player output. I I don't know, fans aren't into that. Maybe today's fans are, because they they don't know any better. But the product was better years ago than it is now, and I've seen it. You know, and it and people older than me are even less enthusiastic about it. I'm, you know, I just turned 51, but guys that are in their 70s, sometimes they seem lost even watching these games. You know, you talk to any of my old baseball coaches, and you know, it it it you they're not what they tell you, it's just a different game. You know, guys don't do little things. They're not moving runners, they're not stealing bases, they're not hitting, situationally hitting, hit and run. They're not even making contact.

SPEAKER_02

Small ball. Back in the day, small ball was national league. I don't know. Get a hit, get a runner on, whether it's a walk or a base hit, move them over, score a run, and and chip away it that way.

SPEAKER_01

And you had to maximize those opportunities, especially in the National League, because you had a hole in your lineup once every nine guys because the pitcher was hitting.

SPEAKER_02

And that was you didn't have a DH.

SPEAKER_01

So really it was like having two holes in a lineup.

SPEAKER_02

But and that was ruined by the league, by the commissioner who knows nothing about baseball, getting involved in how these how everything works. It never should have taken place.

SPEAKER_01

He took some corporate CEO car salesman from Milwaukee and made him the commissioner of baseball. I mean, come on. I just that guy ruined the sport, period. He definitely is where it kind of exploded as far as I'm concerned. And I don't think enough is said about how much he ruined this game. And he's in the Hall of Fame. A guy who's been sued multiple times, dozens, dozens of times and all the other stuff that they do.

SPEAKER_02

A guy who let steroids ruin the game, to let steroids get big to bring people in, and then it was like, what do you talk about?

SPEAKER_01

And then pretended like he didn't know what was going on. Correct disgrace.

SPEAKER_02

They should have brought when they were questioning players, they should have brought his ass down and asked him what he learned about steroids.

SPEAKER_01

100% agree. I, you know, if everybody always, you know, if it were me, if it were mine, you know, people have some fans have great ideas, you

Fixing Interleague With Rivalry Series

SPEAKER_01

know. I I I like the interleague play between the rivals. I like Mets Yankees. I wouldn't mind seeing more of it. And that idea came to me, and I thought to myself, you know, what would be really cool is if there were an equal amount of rivalries, right? Not every city can have two teams. I get that. But you can still have cross-border rivals. You can have teams play like, you know, Houston and Texas is a built-in wood potential interleague, you know, you could find the mismatch or a matching solution to that. I think what I would like to see is a five-game series before and after the All-Star break. Because then the players can be close to home for two weeks. You get the All-Star break so they can remain with their families. And if you play five games in four days and you have a built-in doubleheader on the front end or the back end, whatever it is, that breeds excitement. People want to see that. Those are like, that would be like 16 mini World Series all at once. And it would be very exciting, I think, for an average fan to not just for Mets Yankees fans, but for Padre or Giants and and and Dodgers fans, uh Texas and Houston fans. You know, I don't know who Seattle's rival is, but let's just say it's San Diego for the sake of argument. Whatever it is. You cut down the travel a little bit, right? You have some built-in rivalries, whether it's Boston and Atlanta or Boston and Philly. You know, how they can work it out. You know, Tampa Bay can play Miami. You know, it it can work. Cincinnati versus Cleveland, it's it's there. So that led me to believe that maybe baseball should switch entirely to five-game series every week so that it cuts down on travel, it's got to cut down on expenses, right? And you have three built-in off days to make up for any weather anomalies. So if you don't play on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays, those are three days that you can travel, and three days that you can make up any of those games that get rained out. I don't I there's a lot smarter people in the room than me, but to me, it seems like a viable option that they they could use. I know people are gonna say, well, you know, you got to compete with the NFL on Sunday. So what? It's only for a month and a half. Big deal. Baseball fans are gonna tune in to watch baseball. And if they lose out on Sunday, you're still getting twice the gate on a Sunday if you do the doubleheader thing at one o'clock and eight o'clock, or even one o'clock and six o'clock, whatever. They'll figure it out.

SPEAKER_02

Which is another another thing. I don't I don't like twice the gate. You come, you get a ticket, you sit, stay for the second game.

SPEAKER_01

I'm willing to concede that because they would lose money on that. I get it. But it it works in my mind, it works. And like I said, you know, it's it shortens things up for the teams and travel. You get rid of these stupid two-game series and three or four, just play five games in four days. It works.

SPEAKER_02

Well, you know, it used to come that the teams got on a train, right? And they took a train, they'd stop in Chicago, and from Chicago they would go to Detroit, and it would go around like that. Of course, there were no teams west of the Mississippi, but you know, that's that's that's the way it worked.

SPEAKER_01

Baseball might be headed that way anyway. You know, they they might they might end, I mean, I know everything's becoming global sports, and they have to have a team everywhere, and that's I think every sport is headed that way. But baseball's a different animal altogether, and I think they've ruined the sport.

SPEAKER_02

Well, analytics ruined the sport. I mean, a lot of things they did, but it wasn't really.

SPEAKER_01

There's a place for it, but the over-reliance when you're listening to a broadcast and you have to hear about spin rate and exit velocity. Who the hell, who cares about that? You want to see it live. The guy hit the ball hard, it went far. It's very simple. I don't need to know, you know, anything else. I don't need to know how fast the ball was rotating. Uh all right, it's cool. It went 500 feet, that's cool. It's a, you know, but a home run's a home run, no matter how far it traveled. It went over the wall, it's a home run.

SPEAKER_02

I can't argue with you. I I think those are all the I agree with you 100%, those are the reasons. So that's that's what's wrong with baseball. I don't know when it comes to the Mets, I don't know where they stand, what their last games. I don't really follow them. I apologize.

SPEAKER_01

My text thread with that I'm in with with all my friends that are Mets fans is is not a happy thread. I can tell you that. I feel I feel for them because unlike Dom, I want the Mets to be good so the Yankees can beat him in the World Series, because then it hurts more.

SPEAKER_02

That's interesting.

SPEAKER_01

And if we lose, we still have 27 world championships to fall back on. It's a much softer landing.

SPEAKER_03

I guess so.

SPEAKER_02

So

Formula 1 Chaos And Mercedes Dominance

SPEAKER_02

F1 this weekend, change the subject, change it a little bit, and we'll go F1. F1 was an interesting.

SPEAKER_01

I have to turn the logo around, make sure people don't think this is a Mets hat. There we go.

SPEAKER_02

All right. So uh Mercedes really ruled the day again. You know, we had Antonelli and Kimmy Antonelli, who won the first three Grand Prix races. And and and George. I don't know why his hat his name is lost me for a minute, but we're going head to head. Matter of fact, they collided with each other, and and Kimmy went ballistic, and they had to keep telling him to George Russell? George Russell. They I I kept thinking Rogers. We could talk a little bit about that too. Um, we kept on and on and on. He kept going on, the this guy's out to get me, my own teammate, and they kept telling him, shut up, we'll talk about it when you get in.

SPEAKER_01

So just keep your foot on a gas paddle and get here as fast as you can.

SPEAKER_02

Right, because he wants to win everything, right? So they have a collision, and it causes, you know, Russell ends up winning the the sprint, and Antonelli comes in second, much to his dismay. But, you know, the conditions were a little weird on Sunday. We had rain, and then it dried up, and nobody knew what tires to use, and went on and on and on. The Mercedes cars were rocking as they were the day before. And Ferrari was trying to make it, and Max Verstappen, who races for Red Bull, they were all like in this mix.

SPEAKER_01

And whatinelli is 19 years old?

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

I think we gotta send him a letter and get him to be a member of the club.

SPEAKER_02

Kimmy Antonelli is Italian. He's 19 years old. He is first driver in history to win his first four. That he won his first race and then won the next three. He's won four in a row. That's exactly what I'm saying. Russell and him were going back and forth and back and forth. Russell seemed to have the day, and then Russell's car died. Matter of fact, they fined him, I think five thousand, maybe six thousand, because when he got out of the car, he died. Pulled over on the side of the road, couldn't even make it back to the pit. He just pulled the stuff off, he threw it while the race was going on. They fined him like $5,000. Of course, he makes $50 million a year. So it's not that much, right? Sure at him, I'm sure. But Antonelli won. He is leading in the world championship.

SPEAKER_01

Lewis Hamilton made the And Russell is I mean, not that he's an old man. He's he's 28 years old, but he's he's a veteran in this sport, right? Antonelli's just getting started.

SPEAKER_02

Right. So so this is what happens in Mercedes. So Hamilton has been in Mercedes for years. That's where all his wins are.

SPEAKER_03

He switches to Ferrari. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

And why did he switch?

unknown

Who knows?

SPEAKER_01

Did they just age out for one of the Mercedes and wanted new drivers?

SPEAKER_02

One of those things.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

No, I think Mercedes wanted them back. But Ferrari's Ferrari, you know? They're the two biggest ones.

SPEAKER_01

So Well Hamafort's still in the top four. I mean, he's right there in points.

SPEAKER_02

He he can't, yeah, he can't, they can't get the car as well. I mean, it's better, but they still haven't been able to get it right. Like Mercedes has.

SPEAKER_01

Is it the engine or is it the is it the mechanics team, or whatever you call it?

SPEAKER_02

It's ever it's everything. You know, they have to balance the power, and now it's 50% electric and 50% gas. So you have to you can only you have to balance when you use the electric, you gotta make sure you charge it. It goes back to the ball.

SPEAKER_01

Are there rules as to how and when you can there was.

SPEAKER_02

And there was, and they've been loosened a little. So they're a little bit different. I don't know exactly how they work, but when you have um so Antonelli wins his fourth in a row, Hamilton, you know, lifts him up in the air. I mean Hamilton comes in second, so he ends up on the podium, which he hasn't been in some time.

SPEAKER_01

Since he started dating Kim Kardashian.

SPEAKER_02

So when you look at the moving next one is in two weeks, I think it's hit Monaco, um, which is a big time race because you race on the streets in Monaco.

SPEAKER_01

Does how how I mean I'm sure analytics plays a part in racing because everything is computer driven with these cars, right? So there's gotta be some usage that that is that could be a factor for Ferrari versus Mercedes.

SPEAKER_02

So it's interesting because they basically I mean, there's so many factors. The engine, the wind, the this, the that. I mean, the teams are between three and five hundred people. It is incredible.

SPEAKER_01

That's incredible.

SPEAKER_02

So right now, driver standings, Mercedes Kimmy has 131, Russell has eighty-eight, the other Ferrari driver, Charles LeClair, um has 75, and then Hamilton has 72, and then Norris Piastri verstappen, that's the way it goes. But what's interesting is when we started to say before you asked me another question was that so Mercedes, so Hamilton was Mercedes' number one driver. Russell was number two. So he left, and Russell became the number one driver, and Kimmy Antonelli was number two. But last year, and the year before that, honestly, the Red Bull, um, the McLaren cars were better than everybody else. And so there was no one and two because it was McLaren. It was it was Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were really one and two almost in every race. So what happens when that isn't an the cars change and Mercedes gets their car working around? Kimmy surpasses Russell. I mean, all the odds favorite to win the driver championship, and it's far, far from over.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, they go all summer.

SPEAKER_02

So was Russell. But now he's second, and Antonelli's won the first four. So, you know, he's picked up 50 points, which is I mean, listen, you anything can happen. You can have an accident and you do not finish and you don't get any points. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Right. And that could really severely impact your points. Correct.

SPEAKER_02

And you have guys that like never been on the top 10 before, like Pierre Gasly, Oliver Berman, Liam Lawson. Well, Lawson's probably been there, but you know, the Gasly certainly hasn't been. I I don't think he's matter of fact, I don't think he's ever won a race.

SPEAKER_01

So But conceivably you could never win a race but finish first in points.

SPEAKER_02

Kinda hard.

SPEAKER_01

It's conceivable, but it would take You still have to probably finish in the top five every week, no matter what.

SPEAKER_02

Well, you need to be if you're not gonna be number one, you're gonna be number two. So it's never happened where somebody never won race of three. And you get points for sprint and you get points for pole. Like one point, not really much. But also there's a thing called the constructors. So Yeah, I'm not doing that. Uh, he sent me an email with the breakdown of everything. I can't really go through all of that.

SPEAKER_01

No, I didn't expect you to read it now. Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_02

But but it changed it changed this this race. They changed a lot because big time racers have been threatening to say if this is the way you want to race, I'm gonna go race somewhere else. I mean, because it's not unusual.

SPEAKER_01

The driver's gonna be comfortable, right?

SPEAKER_02

I mean, he's gonna want to be in the car. It's not unusual for a driver who races F1 to race Lama, or vice versa. So, you know, they have that ability. Just like in a movie. Yeah. F1, that's exactly what happened.

SPEAKER_01

So are these are these teams representative of because I'm looking at the standings and each each guy has a their country's flag. So Antonelli's Italian, but Russell is is British.

SPEAKER_02

Right? The the teams aren't country, the drivers are.

SPEAKER_01

The drivers are. Interesting. So So Italians are are rooting for Antonelli or are they rooting for Ferrari or Partner? I don't see Lamborghini on here.

SPEAKER_02

No, but that they're trying to put another team in for next year.

SPEAKER_01

And did Cadillac get their team in this year? I don't see anybody from Cadillac on here.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, well, you're not. You have to go all the way on the bottom. I see Alpine. I don't even know what that is. So Cadillac is 16, and I think the other guy's not even on here.

SPEAKER_03

17. But he didn't finish.

SPEAKER_02

And you had Leonard Ars for uh a Lamborghini didn't finish. And you had Aston Martin's, they didn't finish. But those are not Aston Martins aren't running Aston Martin engines. I think they were running Honda, and now they're running here it is. That that just seems They were Renault and then they were Honda, and I think now they're running Mercedes.

SPEAKER_01

Wow. So they're only in name only.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so there's there's a lot of teams. Well, there's a lot of car manufacturers that buy their engines from other people, right? So there are a lot of teams that buy their engines from other people. I mean, it's only Ferrari, Cadillac has their own. It's only Ferrari and Mercedes that are the big time spenders. They spend $500 million a season on their team.

SPEAKER_03

That's incredible.

SPEAKER_02

And I think they pay $10 million to race each race to be able to race.

SPEAKER_03

Wow. That is absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_02

The money that is spent in F1 is ridiculous. So we're looking forward to Monaco, which is Sunday, July, Sunday, June 7th. So that's two weeks away. So we look forward to that. Monaco's always a grace race. It's racing on the street, and it's a lot better than racing on the street. And uh it's tight, so you tend not to see as many passes on turns and things, but it's interesting because the cars are smaller this year than last year, and they made them narrower, they made them smaller. Faster. They're fast. They are fast, and the electric has given them a real good boost. So the more electric, the more responsive it is. It's interesting.

SPEAKER_01

Does does that amount of money you know influence other racing entities like NASCAR? Like, is that something that NASCAR looks at and says, wow, you know, look at all the money they're spending and making. I'm assuming they're making money. They can't be spending all that money and not and not making money. I'm assuming a NASCAR is a machine, but they're not spending 500 million.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, well, the cars cost, you know, 15 to 18 million each. So And if you ever notice, you know, when they have an accident and the front end gets bumped or you hit the wall a little bit, they could they can unbolt it and bolt it in a pit stop. So it's it's amazing what they can do. What NASCAR thinks, I don't know. And

NASCAR Loss And A Dangerous Sport

SPEAKER_02

if we're gonna mention it, I guess we should, since we said the word NASCAR, we should mention the passing of Kyle Bush. It's um it's a dangerous world we live. You know, somebody that has pneumonia ends up being septis, a young man ends up passing away at the age of 41. He will be missed. He was a great to anyone, even the casual observer, he was a great racer.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And his son is also a great racer, from what I hear at 12 years old or whatever he is. So there will be more to come, but unfortunately, he is he has died, and we send our hope and support to his family. And on that upbeat note, I think we should call it a day unless there's something else you want to say being the Memorial Day.

SPEAKER_01

I

Memorial Day, Athletes, And Respect

SPEAKER_01

don't know if you have that graphic that I sent you earlier, but I did want to just say that about it being Memorial Day and respecting people's political boundaries, if you will. You know, as far as athletes are concerned, I really don't care what their politics are, as long as they can play the game. I respect people's opinions, but I I wanted to just mention that, you know, uh regarding Memorial Day, when you think of of all the things we've seen in sports over the years and things that I happened before I was, you know, born. Most importantly, Jesse Owens, you know, winning a gold medal in Berlin in front of Hitler, and subsequently standing at the podium for the national anthem. And then in the 68 Olympics, uh uh Juan Carlos and Robinson, Tommy Robinson, you know, defiant and victorious, and standing at the podium, even with a raised fist. You learn that as a child about American history. It's not just sports. And I respect them very much because in the face of adversity, and I think what they faced was vastly greater than anything that's going on today, because it was really separated, segregated, divided, etc., in those in those two different times. All three of those men stood at the podium, and even a guy like Usain Bolt, who stopped an interview with a reporter who's from Jamaica, but stopped his interview because the American national anthem was playing out of just out of respect for another nation. I think today's athlete needs to look back at that and think before they say things out of turn, again, they're entitled to their own opinions, but in my humble opinion, having respect not just for the people that came before you, but the people that watch is important because men and women from this country, regardless of your personal feelings or politics, sacrificed their lives so you could have a right to protest or enjoy however you want. So just something I I wanted to mention.

SPEAKER_02

And uh as you agree, we I did a little earlier, um, which was started the conversation, I think, a little earlier podcast. Just to memorize Memorial Day and how we have to learn to get along and start talking and reach compromises. And I I think, you know, I can't say it better than Justin just said it. I mean, there's one thing to kneeling down and to protest something is another thing to kneel down during the national anthem. It's the national anthem that symbolizes our strength to be able to stand up to adversity. It's not the adversity itself. And we have to remain Tommy Smith.

SPEAKER_01

I'm sorry, sorry.

SPEAKER_02

We have to remain vigilant and and fight for what we believe in, and that is our God-given rights protected under the Constitution, and no person, no politician, no group of politicians, no group of people in our country should be able to infringe on that. Our nonviolent, as Martin Luther King said, is much more effective. Our nonviolent protests are much more effective than any violence could be could be can achieve. So on that, no, and memorizing the Memorial Day of our family members and people that came before us, you have to remember that we all stand on the shoulders of giants and uh and remember this. And as we leave today, we were not gonna play our our usual song. We're gonna do what I did for that remembering. So thank you, Justin.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you, Steve. Happy birthday. God bless you.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you. And we will be back with the rabbi next week. And we're gonna talk about where we are on the playoffs, if they're vended, if we're moving towards the finals and what everything means. So thank you all. Please, in a moment of silence and reflection for all our service members who risked their lives and and earned our respect.