2 Vintage Sports Guys - Episode 19

Join Joe and Paul as they argue over the NBA and NHL Playoffs, and Paul's degenerate gambling problem. Wink wink. 

Watch the video at:

https://bzzr.com/public/videos/player?tab=videos&watch=true&videoId=9MFR8HzPABJs8A9JXuhK

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Welcome back to Two Vintage Sports Guys. I am your host, Joe Rendacci. Welcome back, and I'm kick welcoming back my partner in this uh endeavor, Mr. Paul Gallagher. Sit an intro, Paul.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Hey Joe, Paul here, live from uh what is going to be in a minute? Thunder and lightning and rain in Atlanta. And that's a great segue for you to talk about the Oklahoma City Thunder.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

So we sit Oklahoma Thunder versus San Antonio Spurs and Mr. Wemby tied at 1-1, going back to San Antonio. So what was your thought? Well, first San Antonio taking game one in double overtime and it's sitting at 1-1. And if Oklahoma had somehow gone back to San Antonio down 0-2, would the series already be over? Thoughts on all that?

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Yeah, no, I mean I watched both Wemby hitting a 28-foot from all I mean, it was almost near half-court, three-point shot. Sent me out of my chair in game one. Um, we did not watch a lot of last night's game because we were watching the Canadians um and gleeful at that game. But Oklahoma, I mean, I mean, I just found a way to bet uh in the state of Georgia, which is illegal, but I found an app to bet. And so I just placed a few bets last night, first time in a long time, because it's probably not a good financial move for me to be doing this. Um, and I just bet on Oklahoma to win in San Antonio. I think they're just a better team. I think SGA is gonna go off tonight and and establish himself as as the premier uh guy in the NBA that he is. Great for them to get a win on the road, but I do think it comes back down to earth in Oklahoma probably in six, you know. Um, I think they'll win the next game in San Antonio and then go from there.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

So first of all, he shot that 28 three-pointer like it was the the halftime buzzer was just about to go. Yeah, and like it didn't matter. Like yeah, like who stops 28 feet from it in the final minute of the game to do that, and absolutely nails it.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

It was great. I mean, that was just that was amazing. So crowd in Oklahoma, it was great, everything was good. I think they were shocked. I'm not buying into you know too much rest for anybody starting in a game one. I think San Antonio won, but last night they they or not last night, the Knicks played last night, but the last game, um Oklahoma did did get back to their their brand of basketball and start winning. So I think it's a matter of time before they win that series.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Well, is it me or do I watch Wemby 7-4-235? My problem watching him run around on that court at 22 years old, getting smacked left and right, is a racehorse about to break that leg and be shot. He is not gonna last.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Well, that's what they say about all the all the big men like that. And there's sure, there's been a history from Sean Bradley all the way through that the big men can't last. I mean, I don't I don't know if if if we're supposed to be that tall, but he has put on weight, he has gotten thicker. He can he'll continue to do so, but yeah, he gets the he does get beat up pretty bad. It's not as bad as in the eastern when you're playing Detroit and New York and the other thugs, but uh he does get a little bit hammered. So he's gotta last.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

San Antonio's 1.5 point uh spread tonight. So they're favorite at home. If uh the thunder go down 2-1 tonight, does that make game four a must? Can they go can they go down 3-1?

SPEAKER_00 4:11

No, I think Oklahoma can can run off three wins if they go, if if they for some reason lose on the road and and San Antonio wins at home, which is could be, could happen, right? You're supposed to win at home. Um, but Oklahoma's that good where they could win the next three and come back from whatever deficit. I I think Oklahoma, everybody thought this was gonna be a seven-game series when they lost the first one. I still think it's a six-game series. I think Oklahoma wins. Um, I think they win tonight, establish themselves and say, hey, we're not we're not messing around. We're not gonna give San Antonio a a chance to win here. We're gonna stomp and go on a roll. And I think SGA, one of the bets that I made was he gets 35 points or more. So I took Oklahoma, I took SGA. I'm about to take the Phillies to beat the Guardians. Um I might become a degenerate by the end of this episode.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

You're already a degenerate, you just mean sports-wise. But so, you know, it's been two years and 33 games since the Oklahoma Thunder have been underdogs in the playoffs. Tonight is their first game. So, how's that for epic respect for uh Wemby and the Spurs?

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Yeah, and they're at home, right? Yeah, so I think that is that's a big deal being at home in game one. I thought Cleveland would get some respect, but they're done. Knicks and four. In fact, that's another bet that I made yesterday was I just went out on a limb and I picked the Knicks uh to win it all just because of the odds I can win a lot of money if they do it. I don't believe in it, but put down five bucks to win 40.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

So here's the only way I would say that Knicks have a chance of winning it all. They sweep Cleveland, which is not hard to do at this point, and San Antonio and OKC go seven, beat the crap out of each other. Right. Knicks get a little rest, and if they can get anything out of then, like you know, the first game, that they could have a chance. But that's a long way off.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

But I just it's a long way off. I think the Knicks exactly that is the recipe to do it, along with the three-pointers, and they just launch you know, game one against the Thunder, launch start launching three-pointers, and they could uh they could win it that way. It would be a horrible way to end the season. I wouldn't want it, but I'd make 40 bucks.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

I I just don't see it happening because the Knicks, this Knicks team right now is not the Knicks team that's been playing all year. Everything has gone right. They've played just about lights out perfect basketball since they've been down, they were down 2-1 to the Hawks in the that first round. So you're gonna put these Knicks up against either OKC and Wemby with those defensive teams, they're not gonna shoot that way.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

But I think that's what sports is, is a series of streaks. And I think if you're on a hot streak, uh you could be at the craps table, you could be at the poker blackjack table, wherever you are, or on the basketball court and and get on a streak and ride it out. That's what baseball certainly is. It's a game of streaks and and everything. So they're in the Knicks are are doing well. I'm not gonna take anything away from them. They could ride this streak out and and take it into the next one and God forbid win win the series.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

I mean, again, used to be a huge Knicks fan, could care less now, but I just don't. I think each series is its own. I mean, Atlanta, Knicks was supposed to crush them. Your your your 76ers, we've already had this conversation. That should have been the Celtics. If what's his name was playing game seven, so Philly, uh your uh 76s were not winning that series. So now Cleveland, I thought, would put more into this, and they still might. Let's not forget they went home versus uh Detroit down 2-0 and won both games at home, yeah, and one it and seven, right? Yeah, so that's not gonna happen here. I think they get one of these two, down three, one, Knicks go home and finish it, and that'll be that, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:25

But all right, we could the better sport.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

Let's go to the better sports. Let's go to the better sport, all right. So uh Canadian curling. That's what we're gonna discuss now.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna discuss uh uh the ability to play as physical a game as basketball, but on a uh quarter inch blade uh on ice while traveling at 30 miles an hour. Hockey.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Uh which one are we gonna argue and disagree about first?

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Uh the night's avalanche or no, we're gonna disagree about the Canadians because you like like you know, so many others are gonna say, well, it's all because of rest and they rested too long, and and they get they were, you know, they started off slow. Listen, the the conversation needs to be skill versus system. And yes, the canes are very skilled. Um, they they are fast, they are driven by, I think, the best coach in hockey and Brenda Moore. Wonderful team, tons of talent, but damn, the Canadians are fast and skilled, and the way they move the puck and pass the pluck, they they got five, you know, plus an empty netter. They got they got a bunch of goals because they're skilled and because they could do it, and because they just passed it more efficiently, not because the the canes had a few more days off. So whether or not they can win the whole series, I don't know. But in fact, I'd I'd put the mortgage on on the Hurricanes winning game two at home. I don't think they lose two in a row, I think they're that well coached, but then they go back to Montreal, anything can happen. So thrilled for the young folk in Montreal that are uh got a got a well-deserved win.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

So all right, so you don't think you don't think, despite the fact that the Hurricanes somehow came out and scored in the 30s 33 seconds, the fact that Cole Caulfield uh responded at a minute, yeah, three minutes later, they put another one in. Three minutes later, they put another one in, three minutes later, they put another one in, and it's four goals to one by the end of the first. And then I think Carolina settled in, they didn't give up any any goals in the second, and by seven minutes into the third, I think down uh two goals, they just kind of upped it and just didn't work.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

But yeah, I go on the opposite side of that completely. I I look at the positives of what Montreal did, how fast they were, they moved the puck, and yes, they got they they were down one nothing on the road in an exciting um stadium with the crowd going, and they silenced them, and then they and then they put their foot to the pedal and they executed. And I I just think it's a very skilled team that responded well, that you have to respect, and you can't put it all on what Carolina didn't do. Instead, glass half full, you put it on what Montreal did do, which is executed, pass effectively, fast as hell, and they went out and got it, and they got a great goaltending performance as well. So that's it.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

Totally wrong, totally wrong, totally wrong.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

It's fine. If I just remember that the next time I say you're wrong, and you end up hanging up and stopping this little experimental podcast in the middle because we all know that nobody can pull you back until you hang up on you again. Yeah, right. No, you never can say to Joe again.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

So Carolina swept the first round, swept the second round. Yeah, too long rested, weren't ready. I will give you this the Canadians are young, they are fast, and they came and won two game sevens on the road in the first and second series, right? But they played 14 games versus the eight uh Carolina played, and Carolina is just they were just waiting and just waited too long. Now, if you win this, I'm not gonna take anything away from the Canadians. They'll have earned it, but they're gonna have to go out and earn it because Carolina, this is not Montreal went from nowhere to here from last year to this year. Carolina has been a disappointment the last three years in the playoffs, but this is an experienced veteran team. They are not just gonna fold.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Yeah, I listened to my son more than anybody else in hockey, and he sat there and schooled me last night. He says Carolina's an extremely talented team, and they have Rod Brindamore screaming at them all the time to play harder and better. I think Carolina does win the series, but I think it's going to go six or seven games. And and we're that's still fun.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

I think it's gonna go six, too. I'd rather argue with you and disagree.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Well, I mean, I'd I I it doesn't take away the fact that you were wrong on everything that you said because you were Montreal, so I could beat you. I may, I may game three is gonna be the is gonna be the deciding one, actually, when they get back to Montreal. Game two, no way that Carolina loses at home two in a row. Not gonna happen. Let's say they do, and why will then the Canadians win in in six.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Yeah. So you don't think you don't think down two back to Carolina does?

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Carolina doesn't come back, but it's not gonna happen. They're they're gonna win at home.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

All right. So well, let's talk, let's talk about the other the Western Conference finals with uh the Colorado Avalanche hosting Vegas at home. Okay, I'm gonna go on a rant about Vegas before this. So I never uh this is the grass is always greener. Forever in a day when hockey scored wins and losses by just wins and losses before the overtime led to a sh um the shootout, which led to an overtime loss point. I was happy when all that happened instead of you just won or lost. Okay. Now I'm starting to think these overtime losses and points adding up are just not doing right by some teams anymore. What's what's my point with that? Vegas Vegas won the Pacific division with 39 wins, right? The Ducks came in third with 43 wins because Vegas had 17 overtime losses points, won the division with 95 points versus Edmonton with 93 and Anaheim with 92. Is there a better way to do this than losing and still somehow winning that division?

SPEAKER_00 15:30

Yeah, I've I've read about that argument all year, especially at the end of the season, with you know, would would what would Vegas be like if they played in the East and a lot of the stats that you just rattled off a lot of sense? Let's not just make those points. Well, it's indicative of then you get to the playoffs. Are you who you portrayed yourself to be to get there, which is a playoff quality, solid team? Maybe not. I mean, Vegas, weird, weird, weird, weird team, right? Who fires their coach two weeks before the end of the season? The IELTS. Uh yeah, you didn't make it. Yeah, it's true. Um, it's somebody else. You proved my point. Tortorella then gets the helm. I don't know. You don't allow Cassidy to interview for the Edmonton job, which no other team. So that owner is probably a prick. Um they're they're an odd they're an odd team, which is now I think getting the the crowd turning against them. Um Colorado, the only reason this could be a series is because Kale McCar's out. Again, again, he's out tonight. Um so you know, you're you're you're you're facing a Colorado team that isn't firing on all cylinders that should be dancing their way to the Stanley Cup finals and win it. So with McCar out, it does make a difference. Now that said, uh Mitch Marner is unbelievable watching him. I I'm rooting for him. He's doing well. Um, I won't even touch the goaltender with a 10-foot pole. I'm not even going there. We're not talking about him. Um it's it's an interesting series because to your point, are they a high quality caliber playoff team after only winning 39 games?

SPEAKER_01 17:40

And as I'll say, opposite to everything I just said, they're here in the Weston Conference finals.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

So you know, they did earn to this point. Now, they may not have earned their seating to get here, to my point, about 17 overtime loss points. Um, I still don't know what a better I you know, and I and I'm almost the person that that it that hates people who don't doesn't like something, but they don't give a better answer to to the thing they don't like. I don't have a better answer.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

It's an observation that is very I'll give you points for the observation. It's a good one. They they won 39 games. Are they at the same level as Colorado? That's what it comes down to. Um, and again, it's a game of streaks. Um, so we'll see where they are. They have they have a star in Mitch Marner, they have a couple other key components. Colorado's unbelievable. Now they're without Makar. So that's what really tipped the scales back to closer to even is not having him. So Colorado and six. Yeah, I think so. I think Colorado and I'll you can say six, I'll say seven. We'll give them a shot.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

All right. So then let's say so we have let's finish it on this. We got the Avalanche versus the Canes. What would be Canes?

SPEAKER_00 19:07

Uh I'll root for Rod Brindamore because he's awesome. Like the guy. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Okay. You and I will sit here and we'll we'll we'll stew as we watch uh the Golden Knights versus the Canadians in the Stanley Cup final.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Yeah, now when you when you transcribe this over to the stick figures, why don't you put a big uh Donald Trump wrong meme right in the middle of that? And that would that would that would be apropos wrong.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

We'll call it. It's just gonna be a banner that right above our words, I guess, say keep listening.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

20 minutes left. Well, you know. Uh what else? We got hockey. We got some baseball happening, but you know, we're in as I told my Atlanta Braves friend last night who keeps going on and on and on about how great they are. It's a long season. And so, yes, we're a third of the way through. We still got two-thirds of the way to go. So everybody's still in it, everybody's still going. I might put five bucks on the Phillies. Um, in fact, that's how I'll end our show. Joe, I'll end it with a bet. Let's go to this named unnamed app. Let's put a prediction in there. Let's put five bucks on the on the hometown Phillies. There we go. Ooh, they're heavily favored. I don't like betting when they're heavily favored, but let's do it. Five bucks will win me eight. I know. That's uh that might get a lot of things. That's a big dollar. It's heavy. That's that's you know, we're not higher anytime soon. But you know, it's more about the fun. I'm not doing it for the money, I'm doing it just to feel better about my own capabilities of of uh of calling it. I was very good last night. I won on the A's, I won on the Blue Jays, I won on the Canadians. I picked Cleveland uh to show up and they did not.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

So you're a competent degenerate gambler. All right, great. That's that's good. Thanks for sharing. All right, well, we're gonna wrap up this episode with uh Paul needing um what's it called? Gamblers Anonymous? Right, so it's G, I so it's it's degenerate.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Uh we're all I've been called degenerates. I've been called a lot worse. Maybe write in and and and Chris Gilbert can fill in for me if you want uh to listen to Chris and and not the degenerate. Feel free.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

All right, say goodbye, Paul.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Goodbye, Paul.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

Goodbye, everybody. See you soon.