Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Guys, did you watch that championship game for the men's? Wow. Complete, utter wow. Like, what the hell happened?
What was bigger? Houston blowing that game or Duke blowing the game against Houston? A lot of blowing going on this weekend. Speaking of blowing, the women's tournament, those all blowouts. It was amazing. I love it when my team is beating the crap out of the other team. It's not so much fun when it's happening. Like, my Lakers being the crap of the Thunder. Aaron said, wasn't a big deal. Want to shut me up? But, man, that was a clinic. There was a lot of clinics this weekend for basketball. So Houston letting it slip. Kevin Sampson, like, oh, my God. So close, but no cigar. Three times and twice to the youngest coach in college basketball. That's tough. We Talk a little F1. Was it a snooze fest? Not a lot of excitement in the NBA, in the west, it's super tight. I think it's the first time in NBA history that you have. What is it? 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Six teams basically tied with the same record. I think Denver just half a game up, but they're all tied with the same record with four games left. Like, anything can happen. The Lakers can technically drop down to the eighth seed. They could technically go up to the second seed, but Houston got that thing locked up at number two. I would like to think my Lakers got it locked up at number three. Austin Reeves. Man, what a baller. And then we talk about, well, the guys, they're really hyped up on the Chicago Bulls for some reason, creeping up to the ninth seed, so go figure. But then we talk about Vladdy Jr. Getting that $500 million contract, but for 15 years or 14 years. That's a long, long time. I know he's 26, but that's a long, long time. I really don't know why baseball ever does these contracts. It makes no sense whatsoever. I think, like, maybe a rod. Maybe he's the only one that actually performed all the way through the end of the contract. Am I wrong?
We got a lot to cover. Don't go anywhere.
[00:02:13] Speaker B: Foreign.
[00:02:19] Speaker A: Big weekend today. We're recording Monday night after the NCAA men's Basketball championship game where Florida came out of nowhere, came back from 12 points down. Houston gave that away. Houston gave it away. You should have seen Sampson's face at the end of the game. I felt bad for the guy. They. Florida wins 65 to 63.
[00:02:41] Speaker C: They.
[00:02:41] Speaker A: They claimed their third, I believe, their third basketball championship in the last 20 years. I think UConn might be the only other team to do that for basketball. And then I was reading a stat somewhere along the lines. Todd Golden, Aaron, your guy. Youngest to win a natty since Jim Valvano.
[00:03:02] Speaker B: Tom Golden's just who ironically beat Houston in the national title game back in 1983.
If you actually think about Houston's national title game losses, is there any two ways to lose more heartbreaking times? 83 and now in 25. I mean a half court heave that hits in an out, basically alley oop and then a shot you don't get off, you can't touch the ball because it would have been traveling. But it probably would have been better to do a traveling because at least there's like three or four seconds on the clock. You can foul and play the longout game maybe. Crazy man. I mean if I'm a Houston fan, wow. I mean those guys falling right away. Hello friends. I mean that's all I can say.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: It was a wild game. It was really good. I, I gotta say it started off a little rough. Houston was 048 for three point land. Houston was the best three point shooting team in college basketball and Also the number one ranked defense as well. Every team in the final four was ranked in the top 10 for defense and offense. First time that that's happened in a very, very long time. It's a rarity. So this Final Four was a rare species of its own and we were presented with some real games. First, let's recap the championship game because it's fresh. It just happened just minutes ago. And then we'll go back to what happened in the Final Four because those are some great games too. Where do we start here? Actually it was pretty close. I, I would say it felt like Houston had pretty good control up until about, I want to say like the seven minute mark or maybe it was 12 minutes ago. So they were up by 11, 45, 34. Yeah, 34, 12 minutes ago. Then Florida hits like this tough three. Then they rejected Houston on this three point shot and then did like a fast court break and they converted for an AI one basically that ended up being an 8, 0 run.
So they were only down by 4 points, 4 points with about like 11, 10 minutes ago. They end up being tied shortly after at 48 apiece with seven. And then Florida gets teed up for bouncing the ball off the, off the court, you know, losing composure a little bit. Houston just seemed to answer at the right times with either a three point shot or like just driving to the basket. And you Know, hitting clutch free throws. It went back and forth. They go up by 3:4 to catch us up. They go by 3:4 to catch us UP. They were tied 60 with three minutes ago, and then I think they were up by 63 to 60. Florida converts on. On a few foul shots, a few drives. Clayton, I think, hits a big time three at the end as well. And then Houston has some costly turnovers. They look like they just didn't know what to do with the ball. Even though I think they only had one timeout left with eight minutes to go. They spent everything in the first half of that SEC of that second half. So tough, tough loss.
[00:06:01] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, you only get four timeouts in the collegiate game because you get the media timeout every four minutes.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: So. And they burned a timeout, I think midway through the second quarter on the offensive rebound. The guy was falling out of bounds. So rather than lose that possession, they burned a timeout. So Rome, like you said, they were down at one timeout like eight minutes ago. Florida had like three left. They burned a couple themselves.
But yeah, I mean, Houston was in control, like you mentioned, up 45, 34. But Florida, we've seen it throughout this tournament. They've come back down close to double digits, are double digits a number of times. And it's with the three ball, right? They hit a couple threes, they get momentum going their way. And Houston, we talked about it all tournament, they're a great defensive team, but if you look at the scores on a lot of their games, their offense has always been the question mark. I mean, they destroyed Tennessee, but they didn't light up the scoreboard there. Purdue, they beat similar to how they kind of lost today. Last second inbounds play, they won what, 64, 62. And then Duke, they caught lightning in a bottle, went on a 90 run with 33 seconds of remaining in that game to pull off the upset there. I know we weren't. Jason wasn't on yet. We're talking about off air, but I mean, Duke's got to be shaking their head because I think they would have beaten Florida pretty handily tonight.
But, you know, credit to Houston, the fight they have. I know you touched on it. Todd Golden, 39 years old, our age, winning his first national title. He's from your area, neck of the woods there. Rome, coming from San Francisco, the Dons University where he coached there, got them back to relevance and now goes to Florida. He was. He also played at St. Mary's with the Gals there. So he's he's had a lot of background here.
Give him credit. And then I feel bad for Kevin Sampson. I mean, you talk about a coach that has won everywhere he's gone. Oklahoma, Indiana, now Houston. He had some trouble back in the day before nil became a thing and got the 5 year no show caused by the NCAA. Ironically went to work with Popovision, the Spurs, part of the couple of their titles there and then the final Four in his own backyard in San Antonio.
Just. I feel bad for him, man. I feel bad for the Houston program.
[00:08:15] Speaker C: Especially how the game ended.
Just, I don't know if there's a lot of golden rules to end the game, especially when you have the amount of time that Houston have, but not getting a shot off is just, I mean, it's almost unforgivable. You're not giving yourself a chance. And that's like the, it's just terrible. I mean, I forgot which player had the three point attempt where he kind of pump faked himself out of the ball and then could touch the ball.
Just throw it, just throw it up.
[00:08:43] Speaker B: So two, two turnovers back to back on. I remember the play before that. It was dribbled off his knee so he looked a little rap the back turnovers. That's real tough, man.
[00:08:52] Speaker C: Yeah, and I know, and I know last week we were talking just about Clayton's importance, I think, and that was in the national semifinal game. We were talking about that. But as much as he was important in this game, in the offensive end, really his closeout at the end of the game defensively really was, you know, as important as anything that entire game of just not letting them get that three point shot off. So it was crazy to me, kind of to the ending sequence of the game, I'll say the beginning of the game, I, I didn't, I didn't get to see the start of the game. I'll be honest with you. I got, I got a, got a text from a, from a friend in a little group chat I got, and this was Texas said, my God, they've been, they've been shooting bricks. Houston is literally shooting like Zinky, which means they're just shooting it off the backboard. Because, you know, generally in my prime, man, you know, why the hell have the backboard if you don't use it? And that was like me and I was younger, you know, you hit the square, let it go in. So apparently Houston in the first half was doing this. I don't know, you guys would have to confirm that for me.
[00:09:51] Speaker A: But I was gonna breakfast the beginning. Okay.
[00:09:54] Speaker B: All right.
[00:09:54] Speaker C: Well, I mean, no shame to the guys. Man, you. That squares back there for a reason. That's what they invented the game for. For you to bank it in.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: So I've never seen you play basketball, so that's the first thing I ever heard of. So, I mean, I think we just.
[00:10:06] Speaker B: Got a good impression. And it sounds like it's a brick fest where you better. You better put some Windex on that backboard because it's gonna be stained up.
[00:10:14] Speaker C: All I knew back in the day, you know, when I'm playing street ball at my house with my friends next door neighbors, you know, you don't get those nice, like, shiny glass backboards. You got a hard carbon fiber. She can slam that thing up against it, and it just deadens the ball and then goes down in. So just a little key to know it, knowing your game. And, you know, so that's.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: That's.
[00:10:32] Speaker C: That's how I play.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: I'm curious, Jason. What hand do you shoot with? Are you right handed or left handed when you shoot?
[00:10:37] Speaker C: I actually shoot right handed.
[00:10:39] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:10:40] Speaker C: Which. I think we've talked about this before. I'm right. Left handed. I'm left handed, but.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: And you throw the baseball with or football with the other hand?
[00:10:47] Speaker C: Right, I throw a football with my right hand, but a baseball with the left hand. But I shoot a basketball right handed, too.
[00:10:52] Speaker B: It gets confusing tracking all these hands.
[00:10:54] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a lot.
[00:10:55] Speaker C: Just the depends, you know, if I was. If I was a little more athletic, I can be like one of these pitchers, throwing with both arms and doing both things, you know, But I know.
[00:11:04] Speaker B: Wouldn'T even need a reliever. We go five innings at the right and then four of the left.
[00:11:08] Speaker A: Maybe he does do that.
[00:11:12] Speaker B: Hey, I'll tell you this. He's not going nine innings if he's on the old blue tune there.
[00:11:21] Speaker A: Jason had a hard time getting on. That's why we're making fun of guys.
[00:11:26] Speaker C: This computer had some performance issues, you know, it happens.
[00:11:29] Speaker A: It happens.
[00:11:29] Speaker B: You got to close those tablets up.
[00:11:32] Speaker A: There, those little tabs. Yeah, well, speaking. Speaking of which, it was a hell of a game.
Let's go back to the Final Four.
Gators got here because they edged out Auburn, which I thought Auburn should have won that game. And they kind of flubbed in the end of that, especially in that second half.
And then we all saw the Duke Houston game. Duke was up, I think, like six. Six points with like 30 seconds ago, you know, the probability was like, at 98.
Still you know, it was like some. A weird foul called on, on. On flag with like 20 seconds ago.
[00:12:17] Speaker B: That was a bad.
[00:12:17] Speaker A: That guy was right. The ref was ready to blow it. I'm like, that's kind of.
[00:12:21] Speaker B: That was a terrible call.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: I'm like, whatever. You know, there, there was other things, other elements happening, but I, you know, you always want to believe that your team has a chance to still win the game six points 30 seconds ago. You know, it's a possibility, but you would think, like, the other team might like, try to dribbling it out. Duke didn't.
And then, you know, we all know how that happened. You know, not a good ending. They really, I think, choked that game away, but yeah, as much they. They choked it. Houston has a history of, of playing tough defense and edging out these wins.
Real quick as we talk about Duke, I have a cool little stat for you guys if I can pull it up right here. I think my phone's acting really stupid.
[00:13:10] Speaker B: A lot of electronic problems tonight.
[00:13:12] Speaker A: There is, dude, you know, he, he.
[00:13:15] Speaker C: Gave my computer so much crap for, you know, their performance issues, but his phone not working.
[00:13:20] Speaker A: So I did screenshots.
Something's up.
Oh, man.
[00:13:29] Speaker B: Yeah. But let's touch back on Rome, like you said. I mean, Duke was up, what, six there with 33 seconds remaining basically in the game. I mean, the problem with Duke, they haven't been tested. We talked about it all year. Really. I mean, they've been blowing people out in the ACC at a conference typically that's been the standard in college hoops. The ACC has been one of the best, if not the premier conference for the last two decades, really. And this year, just outside of Duke, didn't another team didn't want a game in the tournament. You know, Clemson got upset early. North Carolina played in the play in tournament, they got a victory there, but Ole Miss ended up beating them around one. But Duke really didn't have a true point guard to withstand that pressure. You know, they just, I mean, a lot of times they use Cooper Flag 6, 9 as a point guard and they just, they pressured him, they trapped him. They had no one to really dribble out, get out of those pressures. And Houston, for some turnovers, got back in the game. You mentioned that Cooper flag foul. That wasn't a foul. Sent Houston to the line to shoot two shots. And then they go on Cooper flag misses. A good, a good look there at the end. I mean, I don't really question the shot there. I thought it was a good sequence. He got where he Wanted. He got to the spot, missed it. But yeah, Houston give him credit for that victory. But you know, they, they found a way to choke this one against Florida.
[00:14:51] Speaker C: Yeah, I would say, you know, you're not going to make them all, but I think that was really the end of that sequence of the game with Duke and Houston for Cooper flag. Like that was kind of his moment at that to have one of those March Madness like legacy kind of making moments there at the. I mean, I thought it was like, oh, this is, this is going to be his time, this is going to go in. And when it just. I mean, I wouldn't say it wasn't close, but I mean it really wasn't even that close. And so that was kind of disappointing from Duke. We're a team that I know I did and I think Aaron and a bunch of other people thought this was the team to beat kind of in the tournament at least getting the title game versus Florida. So yeah, just some weird end of game stuff between that game and then what Houston did in this game where you're just kind of expecting a little, you know, some better things from some late game heroics that are going to come down to, you know, ultimately nothing. Especially I think Houston's obviously taking the cake with not getting a shot off in this title game.
[00:15:44] Speaker A: It was rough. I think the style I was looking for was Duke. Man, they were about four possessions away from having a perfect season. So all four losses, including in the last game against Houston, they lost by one possession within 15 seconds. They, they were within one possession with 15 seconds left in every single game. They were that close.
[00:16:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think we touched on it too. Rome, Duke, like we said, we've been blowing everybody out. But all their losses, if I'm not mistaken, were against teams that defensively were in the top 25 in the nation. Yeah, and obviously Houston's one of the top, if not the top team defensively. And we question whether you've be able to hold up and withstand the pressure that Houston just constantly brings. Constantly. They're.
[00:16:25] Speaker A: Duke's not deep.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: They only play like really seven deep. They're all led by mainly freshmen. And then they got like a graduate player and then another senior.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: But I think that's what happened. They just had a lot of freshmen that's never really been there and they.
[00:16:36] Speaker B: Don'T have a true point guard. They don't have that true like point guard guy that can set it up and get things going. I mean, you look back at the traditional Duke teams, they had we all know Jay Williams. He was one of the best premier guards in the game back in the day. Chris Duhan, a famous Duke player as well. So they've had a lot of premier guards and this team was kind of just like, I want to say they were the tallest, most lankiest team, height wise.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: Like they had a lot of length.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: Yeah. So. And yeah, I mean just that's something.
[00:17:09] Speaker A: That you're so I, I was watching the games with Aaron's parents. I was in.
[00:17:14] Speaker B: Yeah, I saw the photo.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: I saw the photo there, which is really cool.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: You watch both games or just the one?
[00:17:20] Speaker A: I watched at least the first half of the Duke Q's. No. Yeah, the first half of the Duke Houston game at your parents house. Then we took off. My daughter was ready to go get ice cream and you know, we watched enough basketball, but a lot of fun. That's something that your dad did mention. Like damn, Duke's really tall.
And it's pretty crazy that they're here just like three years after Coach King.
I don't know what could have been, man. What could have been?
I did hear or I have heard like some rumors where it would be nice if, if Flag stayed for another year. This is something that Jason talked about a few weeks ago and it's like, no, that's not happening. And so you know, different people have been positioning whether he did or not, you know, if he did. But if he stays one more year, he's more than likely not going to be like the number one consensus because next year is also a pretty a deep draft class.
This year he's definitely the number one consensus. So it makes more sense to leave this year. But you know that what if, like, what if he pulls like a Paige Beckers, right? Like, what if he wants to come back and get that title? But then there's also those scenarios like you never know what happens, right? You can bust your acl, lots of injuries. You know, basketball is weird, you know, especially in college basketball. Lots of injuries happen in college basketball. So you know, to stay, to try, try to win a title.
You got the boot. The boozer boys come. Coming up, one's ranked number three in the country, the other one's ranked number 17 or something like that, both top 20.
You know, that's a tough decision. But if he has a month to decide whether he stays or whether he goes.
[00:19:04] Speaker C: Yeah, I know I floated it the last time around about him staying and I think there's could be arguments and people will talk through a ton about nil and all this type of stuff, I, I don't buy into it. Especially for a caliber player that high. If you're, if you are the like, you know, starting outside linebacker for whatever SEC school and you get an nil money, okay, yeah, that's a little bit different. But NBA, the incentive for the one and done and get to the NBA as soon as possible because of just the amount of money in the NBA versus some of the other sports makes it. I don't care what kind of money you're talking through, you get into the league at the NBA level, you're getting to the big max contract even faster. Yeah, you delaying that a year. These guys right now, like I don't know how old, how old Jimmy Butler is right now, but like you look at a player like this kind of Jimmy Butler's age, Maybe it's like mid-30s or something like that. These guys are chasing this like, yeah, you guys are chasing this like last big contract and the longer you wait, the kind of, you know, longer you're putting out when you get to this, you know, mid-30s type deal that you're potentially out there, that's a significant amount of money that you're holding off for a year versus like okay, whatever nil money you're getting in college, whatever car dealerships giving you a sponsor, great. There's some national dealership or some big market, you know, that's going to sponsor you as well too. That's going to make up for the money. So I think you're really playing for some sort of college experience or whatever it might be like some people, like some people truly the money doesn't matter to them. A lot of the times I think there's been like, I love that, you know, I mean even think of like kids. I'm trying to think of a good example but like, you know, some like second generation like player that's out there can't think of a good example. But okay, you came from a sports family with legacy money. Okay. I'm not worried kind of about that. You could take that time. But others, hey, it's about to get, get right away and start getting paid. Because as the career stacks up, especially with the NBA is concerned for the massive TV deal they spine for the next decade, the cap's going to be keep getting bigger. These max contracts are even bigger. You want to go like, what are you doing saving your time here at Duke? Especially if you said your value could potentially go down just on the rookie deal alone.
[00:21:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean it makes no sense when we Go back to Duke. I mean, even if you got an nil deal worth what, 5, 6 million?
[00:21:24] Speaker A: I don't think it's about the money. I think it's more about the history making.
[00:21:28] Speaker B: I mean, look, he got to the final four. I mean he had a chance to win the game. You couldn't ask for any more. If you're Cooper Flag like I. I'll tell you this, growing up as a kid playing basketball, you counted down that moment in your life every day. If you played basketball and you dreamt about playing college hoops or NBA or the game is on the line and you put a shot up in the backyard like we've all done it. It was there. He was living the moment that he's been dreaming about forever and he came up short. Now it's time to take his game to the league. I think he's ready for the NBA. He's. He's the best freshman I've seen since Carmelo Anthony. And that's what you know, talking 20 years.
[00:22:04] Speaker C: So I'm glad, I'm glad Aaron brought up Carmelo Anthony because like to me I think he's the perfect comp for like I during that time. We're growing up, that draft was loaded. LeBron, Melo Bosch, Wade Darko.
[00:22:23] Speaker B: But you had Kirk Heinrich too, I think fifth or six, but so I.
[00:22:28] Speaker C: Mean you had this like, you had this loaded draft. Melo has the college moment, wins the title with Syracuse, like, you know, goes on the Cinderella run. Most dominant player out there. But the entire discourse of the last like 15, 20 years about Carmelo Anthony was that he couldn't win the NBA title. And nobody even talks about what he did in college or even, you know, kind of gives his flowers on the Olympic team. But his entire legacy is like, ah, could have win the NBA title, didn't really get anything for the Knicks. So we, anyone could talk about all this crap about getting your moment in college, but you've proven and Mellow is a perfect example. No one remembers and no one cares. It's gonna be like if you get to the league and win the title.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: Yeah, it's.
[00:23:12] Speaker C: I mean obviously, and I do like Melo is the best that. I mean him and McNamara on that team. Yeah, that was the.
[00:23:18] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:23:18] Speaker B: I was the key why they won. McNamara was six threes in that title.
[00:23:21] Speaker C: I was.
[00:23:23] Speaker A: Valid point, Jason.
[00:23:24] Speaker C: Yeah, I just, it's just thinking about it like for Mellow personally, hey, that's probably a moment list for him ever. You know, LeBron and all these other dudes like, they can't talk, you know, Wade and Bosch, whoever, in college, like, they can't talk to that. But, like, for his legacy, personally, we get to the basketball time. Like, the college stuff, man. Just. It doesn't. Sick, Sid. It'll be a resume kind of cherry on top for some people know, for Jordan, that could be the thing. Like, he won the national title at North Carolina and the six championships. But if you don't have it on the resume, nobody really remembers.
[00:23:52] Speaker B: I. I think Mellow's problem is our expectations were too high. I mean, we talked. I mean, Jason brought up a great point about Melo.
[00:24:00] Speaker A: I don't think so.
[00:24:01] Speaker B: But no one talks about Christian Laitner's NBA career because it's all about that shot in college. So it can go both ways, depending on the guy. I thought, you know, problem with Melo is, you know, he never got to an NBA Finals. He never got the Knicks anywhere. He got to a Western Conference finals with the Nuggets. They got beat by, obviously, Kobe and stuff. But, you know, he had a great NBA career. He's the first ballot NBA hall of Famer.
I remember Carmelo more for what he did at Syracuse the freshman year than his NBA, just because off Jason mentioned he didn't get to the finals or ever was, like, really that true leader, that, like an Iverson. Iverson still carried the Sixers to an NBA title. No one expected him ever to beat Shaq and Kobe in the finals, but he got there. Carmela didn't even get that far. So. But, you know, Christian, like, Christian Lane are still living off a shot he made in, what, 91, 92.
And it's declared the greatest college basketball player maybe of all time because of that tournament run.
[00:24:57] Speaker A: I think part of it is because he's probably the last great white basketball player. I think that's why he's kind of, like, still infamous right now.
Cooper flag, though. This is the next Larry Bird. This is the big white hope. This is Eminem. This is. This is Jim Carrey. You know, he's hanging out with all the brothers and doing it better than them. Like, that's why he's a big deal.
He could. You know, people are already debating how many MVPs is he gonna win. Is it over? Under one and a half. It's pretty wild. Like, Cooper flag's that good.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: Cooper flag's really good. Where's he. Where's he gonna go? He's gonna end up in Washington. He gonna end up in Charlotte.
[00:25:33] Speaker A: I think every team is, like, every team's tanky now.
[00:25:37] Speaker B: For him it is. There's no secret.
[00:25:39] Speaker A: Washington's like the worst team I can think of. Everybody else has, like, something working for them at least, you know.
[00:25:45] Speaker C: You know, he's probably gonna go to the spurs or something like that, right?
[00:25:49] Speaker A: Don't say stuff like that.
[00:25:51] Speaker B: I've heard this. I've heard the spurs rumor. I've heard the spurs frozen envelope to remember. Remember, they had Robinson and then they got Duncan. So now you get.
[00:26:00] Speaker A: Now sat out the whole year.
It's all. It's. You know what? It's. It's a legitimate conspiracy theory.
[00:26:07] Speaker B: And. Hey, hey, where'd he lose the final four at San Antonio? It makes sense to go back.
[00:26:13] Speaker A: By the way, Aaron, you know what your dad said about you?
[00:26:16] Speaker B: What'd he say?
[00:26:17] Speaker A: He said, aaron's built it for. This guy's all in on conspiracy theories. And I just started laughing.
I'm like, you're absolutely right, dude.
[00:26:28] Speaker B: Hey. Hey, man.
[00:26:30] Speaker A: He's like, I don't know what's wrong with that guy. That guy's all about conspiracy theories. It's just like, huh.
[00:26:36] Speaker C: Your dad. His dad saying he's.
[00:26:38] Speaker B: Was he drinking an IPA or is he drinking a whiskey?
[00:26:41] Speaker A: He was drinking some IPAs and I brought over some, you know, ipas from a brewery, by the way. I've never actually checked out Ventura, man. Great drinking scene. Good food scene. It's really awesome, dude.
[00:26:52] Speaker B: It's great.
[00:26:53] Speaker A: I. I even looked at some apartments actually down there. I was just like, it's really beautiful. It's nice.
[00:26:59] Speaker C: Well, yeah, it would give you about halfway between coming down to visit us in San Francisco if you just moved to Ventura.
[00:27:04] Speaker A: I would just build out a studio and just have you guys come out once a month.
[00:27:08] Speaker C: The Ventura Studios.
[00:27:09] Speaker A: There we go. Studio.
[00:27:10] Speaker B: There you go, man.
[00:27:11] Speaker A: Not like the Carpenteria or.
[00:27:14] Speaker B: Carpenteria is really cool. Yeah, it's a really cool spot.
[00:27:16] Speaker A: Cool downtown. I was blown away, dude.
[00:27:19] Speaker B: I know G used to like the hangout down there a lot.
[00:27:22] Speaker A: It gets.
[00:27:23] Speaker B: Smoke a cigar. He like to hang out down there.
[00:27:26] Speaker A: Oh, really?
[00:27:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:27] Speaker A: I can see why. It's a new batch of talent down there. It's lots to look forward to. Ventura I really like.
[00:27:34] Speaker B: Hey, hey, make sure you make sure you take a blue chew with me next time you're down there.
[00:27:38] Speaker C: I guess we're gonna have to go to the Chili's in Ventura if we want to see him again now for the. For our next dinner?
[00:27:44] Speaker A: Yeah, that'd be great. I would love that.
All right, let's talk about the women's championship. Real quick.
[00:27:50] Speaker B: I know Jason had it, Yukon winning it, so he was right on that one.
[00:27:55] Speaker C: I believe that Yukon defeating South Carolina was the final I predicted, so.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: Yeah, I believe so.
[00:28:04] Speaker A: All right, so women's final four less exciting than the men's. These were blowouts.
[00:28:12] Speaker B: Before you get into it, Rome, I just gotta ask, did you and your daughter watch it? And what was her comment on the game?
[00:28:18] Speaker A: We didn't get a chance to watch the games because when I checked on it, it was like I was gonna make an effort for us to go to like a restaurant or like a bar. Let's go watch it. And it was just over. South Carolina was already up at like 20 or so points when I checked the score. And it was like, actually Texas was up in the first quarter. They were up by like 7 or so. And then they were even after this, after the first half, after the second quarter. And then the third quarter is when they. South Carolina blew it up. And then they never turned around. 74 to 57. Destroyed a really good Texas team. UCLA, one of the best teams in the country this year. They beat all the good teams, even UConn early in the year. USC, everybody, South Carolina, they got worked by UConn. Like UConn was on a mission. Like this game was over after the first quarter. Paige Beckers, the whole squad. They have two freshmen that are balling their ass out. Which one girl, she might be the next, you know, basketball phenom. Since what. What's her face, you know, Juju's out. This girl's got serious game. She won MVP for UConn in the championship game. She scored 20 something points.
But man, they were really phenomenal. I really felt bad for my UCLA team because I'm like, that's UCLA, you know.
[00:29:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:39] Speaker A: Destroyed 34 points, 85 to 51.
[00:29:43] Speaker B: And you said they beat him in the regular season.
[00:29:46] Speaker A: Dude, you say was.
[00:29:47] Speaker B: Yeah, they were good.
[00:29:48] Speaker A: Unstoppable for. For a large part of the season. They. They only had a couple tough losses. And then. And then Yukon. I did catch the second half of it, but it was already, you know, locked up. My daughter didn't watch too much of it. Yukon just.
Just out bald. South Carolina, but they have legitimate stars. I don't think South South Carolina actually, like, they're a good team, but I just don't think they have anybody like Paige on their squad. So it was just a no contest. It was pretty amazing. And Gene, we were talking about this in the last pod. 11 championships in 20 years or whatever it is. No. Or 30 years. Because he hasn't won since what, 20, 2016.
[00:30:32] Speaker B: It's been like 10 years since his last one. Right? 2016, I think, was his last one.
Now he's got 12. He's got a. He's got a dozen.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: Yeah. So for whoever doesn't know about Paige, she was Caitlin Clark before Caitlin Clark. She was really hot, you know, hyped up coming out of high school. Got recruited to go to UConn to kind of end that drought. Had a killer freshman year, but had some injuries. They bowed out.
[00:30:54] Speaker B: She had an ACL tear. Right.
[00:30:56] Speaker A: Speaking of second year. Yes, she did. She had two injuries, actually, her second year. I can't remember what the first one was, but kept her off for half the season. Then four weeks later, she tears her acl. She came back a little early. That ruined that whole year. Well, that also took out her junior year. And so basically her senior year was basically a bounce back. That was last year. But you have Caitlin Clark, you have Angel Reese. You have a lot of people that have been like, you know, building up for three years. They get bounced out in the Final Four. Just barely missed out by two points to Iowa, I think, in the final Four. And then they come back this year and she finally gets her flowers. But it's been like a long redemption story for Paige, so, like, it's actually pretty cool.
[00:31:37] Speaker C: Yeah, the. You spoke about a bunch of different names in that, you know, Paige was with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Camila Cardoza and a few others. Cameron Brink, all in like the same recruiting class.
[00:31:51] Speaker A: Cameron Brink. Yeah.
[00:31:53] Speaker C: Like, it's just like that was probably a loaded class, most loaded women's or high school recruiting class ever that came in like 2020 or whatever it was. So, yeah, just. Just insane. I mean, she kind of had been like you said you had the injuries and just hadn't had that big moment. Caitlin Clark dominated the, the social media and these entire narrative around the tournament for her to finally get the championship. And now that kind of the stage was all for Paige. Beckers to herself in this time, like, really rose to the occasion. Just a, you know, an overall dominant effort by UConn just the whole way, almost the whole way through. But the Final Four, really, for how they basically blew out two teams really just made this, like, not even competitive here, you know, I know, someone text me like, okay, this is boring. Just blowout city. They're a UCLA fan during the first one, but yeah, I mean, just, just a dominant, dominant performance. And it really sets up, I Mean, I'm not gonna sit, you know, come around, say I'm a WNBA fan, but like the amount of star power that like WNBA kind of has right now.
[00:32:52] Speaker A: I'd be getting a lot. The next two, three classes, it's, it's gonna be fun.
[00:32:57] Speaker C: Yeah. And I, and I know people like, you know, moderately. WNBA is a far off from what, what the NBA is. And you can't make an apples to apples comparison, but when you consider, you know, you're in like the 25th year, whatever, the WNBA is kind of celebrating right now and they're kind of, they're kind of having their moment, you know, pre breakout for the, you know, NBA where like, you know, imagine like late 70s, early 80s when, you know, Magic and Bird were kind of getting their start, their run where the NBA finals is on like tape delay and like no one cared about it, you know. Now, I mean, WNBA is, did they get the kind of the summer to themselves? To a degree and kind of a, you know, you know, footballish free during time to, you know, baseball doesn't really dominate the headlines, you know, so you, you're going to get some interest in these games and it becomes one of the popular things that you can watch. And now you got a bunch of stars that people are going to want to see. You know, it'll be, it'll be, it'll be sick. Because at least, I mean, well, you can say for the WNBA is at least they don't do a ton of load management like their male counterparts do in the NBA where you're not guaranteed to see the stars. You know, wnba, for the most part, you're going to come out and see the stars and they're going to be playing.
[00:34:00] Speaker B: Yeah, and like you guys said, a lot more stars coming in and they're expanding teams. So you got what, one team, I think, coming this year and then another one like the following year, if I'm not mistaken. So the WNBA right now, the ratings are up. They got good players. I mean, the college game for even the women's side is getting, you know, a lot of love. It's been really competitive this season. I mean, obviously UConn just went on a run that just dominated. It would have been interesting to see what happened. You know, there's a lot of people that said if Juju hadn't got hurt, they would have beat Yukon or something. I. I don't think so. I think UConn was just that good.
[00:34:36] Speaker A: They were on a mission, were just.
[00:34:38] Speaker B: Going to get it done. But yeah, I mean, The WNBA game, like Jason just said, I mean, it starts the drafts pretty soon, happens pretty quickly. They start up. I want to say may, the WNBA season.
[00:34:50] Speaker A: It's quick, dude. They have.
[00:34:51] Speaker B: They have May, June, July and all that because, I mean, baseball's going. But baseball really doesn't start getting going hot again until late August, September, when it's that final month for the playoff stretch. And then all camp stuff.
[00:35:03] Speaker A: It's already hot.
[00:35:05] Speaker B: What was that?
[00:35:05] Speaker C: Baseball?
[00:35:06] Speaker A: Yeah, it's already hot, baby.
[00:35:08] Speaker C: I know baseball's over. The White Sox lost like five or six straights.
[00:35:12] Speaker B: The Dodgers have lost three out of four. So I mean, yeah, at least. At least there's a pulse in the game still.
[00:35:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:18] Speaker B: This guy Blake Snails already hurt. So. I mean, I see the writing on the wall for the Dodgers right now. It doesn't look great.
[00:35:25] Speaker A: This guy's hating. 24. Seven, the player haters. Hall of Fame nominee 25, Aaron told her.
[00:35:32] Speaker C: Aaron's built different. All right.
[00:35:34] Speaker B: I've been saying that. I've been saying that for 40 years almost. I'm glad my dad finally acknowledged it. I'm gonna have to buy him a beer next time I see him.
[00:35:41] Speaker A: Dude, that was the biggest.
Oh, man. I was laughing and I was like, what? What are you talking about, Gary? It's like, what?
[00:35:50] Speaker B: I'll say this. My mom's always had my back. She's always had it. No doubt about it.
[00:35:54] Speaker C: It's true, man. When you say he's built different, I mean, we all kind of look like our parents, but Aaron's literally built like his dad. So I don't know who you're talking about. Right.
[00:36:03] Speaker A: Not as stocky.
[00:36:04] Speaker B: No, that's true.
Yeah.
[00:36:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:36:09] Speaker B: My sister's built stocky like my dad.
[00:36:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
All right, we'll take a quick break. And we come back. Little F1, little NBA updates. We'll see if our guest actually shows up today. NHL, Nick, wherever you are.
[00:36:26] Speaker B: Oh, Ovechkin.
[00:36:27] Speaker A: Yeah, and we can talk about that too.
Time to talk a little F1.
The Japanese Grand Prix was this past Saturday at 10pm it was actually a really nice time.
Got back to the hotel, had a beer all chilled up.
So popcorn. Had another tv. Dude, a TV at the hotel was really huge, man. It was awesome. It was the first hotel that had like a popcorn.
[00:36:56] Speaker B: Take it from my parents place or what?
I know. I saw that there's popcorn there last time I was there.
[00:37:02] Speaker A: I should have. Nah. You know. You know, if we were like in a more relaxed setting out, definitely took some snacks. But now now, went to the liquor store, got some juices, some juice box for the daughter and I and a little bag of popcorn, but basically, wasn't too much action. Some drama again at the pit stops with Lando Norris seems like to follow him every single race. There's always some drama with the pit stop. This time he was coming out maybe allegedly a little too early or it was. It was a really efficient pit stop. And then it was at the same time when Verstappen was coming out and they're side by side and he gets ran off to the grass, however you want to put it. That's how I saw it. Yeah, well, he kind of ran himself off a little bit.
[00:37:50] Speaker B: It was a game. It was a game of chicken. And Norris lost. Let's just put it that way.
[00:37:55] Speaker C: Yeah, he lost. Well, first, you know, I will say I am the one who champions F1. I think I could say that I probably influenced you guys, you know, to be fans of the sport. We've talked a little more about the pod this year. Listeners seem to enjoy the F1 talks to write a segments, talk about Formula One. But let's be honest with you, that race freaking sucked. It was boring as hell. So I agree. It was. It was pretty bad there. Nothing really happened. If you ask Oscar Piastri in the cool down room, I don't know if you guys watch that. It was some of my favorite part the year. They'll get the. They'll get the podium inside the cool.
[00:38:32] Speaker A: Down room stout in the last lap.
[00:38:35] Speaker C: I didn't miss anything.
[00:38:36] Speaker B: After. After Verstappen1, he got out and kind of did like the. Ah. I basically turned the TV off and went to bed. I was falling asleep after that. Kind of, like you mentioned, a little bit boring of a race.
[00:38:48] Speaker C: I was not. I like the pomp and circumstance of Formula one. So, you know, the drivers, after they get their little interview, they go into a cool down room so they get. There's a big old tv and, you know, they're kind of just shooting at the hip. Sometimes they're super interesting, sometimes they're not. They and they show the highlights on a big old TV inside that room. And these highlights ran for probably about 15 seconds. And Oscar Piastri is like, that's it. That's all that happened in the race. And Lando Doris is like, yeah, nobody passed each other. And so, like, even those guys are shitting on just like how overall, uneventful the kind of race was. I mean, in the top 10, I think we only had one significant pass. And it was Lewis Hamilton passing Oscar Hazer like early in the race. And then there was some little passing here on the cars towards the end of the grid, but just nothing of significance the entire race. I think the, the only moment highlight you talked about for this race, Rome was the pit stop.
And the whole reason it happened was because Red Bull was a second slower in their pit stop versus McLaren. So when, when, when Lando released from the box, he was basically right next to, to Verstappen. And as they're exiting, it basically narrows down to one lane. And yeah, it was chicken. He went straight off the road, but it should have been Lando getting up behind him. The biggest question for me though is why the hell was Lando even pitting with Verstappen again? Like strategy. Oh, they did again for strategy for McLaren. They did it a couple times last year. You know, generally you don't want to like off cycle pit. There's, there's always something. We talked about tire how many times pit stops are going to make. I think we're kind of way off on that, talking about two pit stops. These guys at this point are now just going to do one pit stop per race because we're going to make the tires last.
[00:40:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I think only one team did too because they started with soft two guys and then they came in after 8, 10 laps and then changed, and then probably changed the, into the heart at the end. But I don't remember what two guys.
[00:40:30] Speaker A: Interesting. A lot of guys switched to soft like already 20 laps in. I was like, oh, okay.
[00:40:36] Speaker C: No, no, they didn't. It was, it was mediums and medium, medium to hard.
[00:40:40] Speaker B: Hamilton started with the hards.
[00:40:41] Speaker C: He did, which just gives you the longer run. It was Lance Stroll who started with the softs. And you're right, he went and he finished last, I think. So the straight, the strategy did not pay off. It wasn't buying you the time. But what they learned throughout the races is like, like Kimi Antonelli ran the mediums and he did like a super long run. He was the last car to, to stop on there for Mercedes. And so going back to like the, the, the, the McLaren side of things, you saw there was no tire degradation or time gap that was happening up on kind of where things are at the biggest, like contention in this race was you couldn't pass anyone because you lost speed the closer you got to the person in front of you. So you needed the clean air. And that was part of Max being kind of so dominant is just. He had the clean air the whole time. Right now, the way these cars are all set up, that we've kind of maxed out some of the upgrades and everything is once you get near some of these cars, you get the dirty air, you're just not affected. You don't have that speed before any sort of the passing turns to be able to get enough momentum to get past. So like why McLaren didn't have Lando stay out, get the fresh air, run some faster laps in the open air instead of just relying on, okay, maybe Red Bull botches the pit stop, which they kind of did, but you would have need them like a 2, 3 second botch on the pit stop versus, hey, 1 second to get it by. And this Lando just never just stood a chance to get by. He never could get within one second to get the DRS. He was always between 1.1 and like 1.5 seconds away from Max. Oscar was kind of coming back and forth. Lando was probably trying to preserve some of the tires to a degree to mount the challenge at the end, but just overall it was a pretty boring race. There was nothing eventful happening. We're just waiting for a move to happen that never did. It got to the point where was Lando just really comfortable finishing in second and was going to take the points where it's at because there's such a history of him and Max and you know, Lando not being as aggressive when it comes to that turn, Is he going to sacrifice potentially like causing a wreck and losing out at any points where they're just taking, hey, I'm going to take the 18 second place points, move on with the day and continue to go. I'll still be first in the driver standings. That's a strategy, just staying at the top and, and being competitive and scoring points in every race. Like that's how you can, you know, really win the championship. If you look at back in the late 80s, early 90s for Alan Prost, who weren't McLaren kind of known as the professor, he didn't, he didn't care about winning every race. He was about maximizing as many points. If the car didn't have it, it didn't have it and he didn't push it. And so there was some argument it was Lando kind of doing that too, because the race really was one on the, I guess that would have been Friday night for qualifying. Max putting in the qualifying time that nobody expected right at the last second was really what won the race. Because for, you know, we kind of Talked about. Yeah. And we thought McLaren had the car, but, I mean, this is true. You know, as much as even people like me who are the Lewis Hamilton stands who just think, you know, Lewis is the goat greatest of all time. I still think he is. Verstappen just is an unreal talent that could put him in the conversation of greatest of all time. When you look at a guy who can maximize a car that is not the fastest in the field, it's maybe the third or fourth fastest car, the Red Bull. But he knows how to get the most out of that car and put in a lap time in qualifying. That makes a competitor where it doesn't matter that he isn't the fastest and going to win a race.
[00:43:51] Speaker A: Well, they were talking about in the race, I think it was like 10 to go. They made it public where Piastri was asking if it was okay to take over Norris because he felt like he could catch up first. Then Norris wanted to keep it because he said he was asking if he was saving his tires. And he's like, no. He. You know, he's going full throttle, keeping up. And. And they kept it as is. So it was kind of weird. Like he couldn't get it closer. I think it was like 0.7 seconds behind Verstappen. It was after that.
[00:44:17] Speaker B: Yeah. I think he got what, four tenths of a second. Then it went to like 1.2, 1.3, and then they just kind of died off there.
[00:44:24] Speaker C: I really didn't.
[00:44:25] Speaker A: Pretty upset about that, apparently.
[00:44:27] Speaker C: Yeah. But I didn't really buy Piastri had the car to get by Norris either. Because every time he got closer to Norris, the same things was happening where he wasn't gonna have enough car take and it was going to be the same. Like his car wasn't any better. Those guys have that kind of unspoken but kind of spoken rivalry dating back to last year between the teammates on, like, who kind of the number one driver is. Because you. They won't say. But Norris has been there longer. He's the one that's supposed to take this step. But Piastri, if you ask the people within F1, they think Piastri is probably the better driver and it's probably going to be the one that maybe wins more world championships because he's kind of got that.
[00:45:03] Speaker B: Honestly, I do too. And I've been watching for maybe five total races. I think Piastri is a better racer than Norris.
[00:45:09] Speaker C: Yeah. If you. We had our. We had our guest on talking Formula one before the season started and we're talking about the drive to survive. And one thing that clicked in, drive to survive. They were in. They. They were highlighting the feud last year between Lando and Piastri. And they asked Christian Horner, who's the team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing, of, like, if you could have one of the drivers, who would you want? And he said, Piastri. And so that. I think that is very much spoken where he's got the more aggressive tendency that could be the driver where Lando, hey, happy guy, competitive, great driver. But, like, the questions will always be about Lando. Does he have this kind of killer instinct where it could be at? Or, yeah, he could win the championship, maybe two. But Piastri is kind of built differently, almost like a Verstappen type that, hey, he wants to win, and I'm coming out this track to win, and I got it. And so I think it'll continue to be interesting where a lot of these weekends, because generally in Formula one, there's almost an agreement among teammates. Whoever qualifies better gets the priority of the strategy. So they get the priority when they pit. You know, they're going to get the kind of default. If they got the better car, they'll get better in the race. So I think the rivalry, Team Piastri, Norris is really going to come down to the qualifying days throughout the year is like, hey, who qualifies better to get that starting grid ahead, you know, in the race?
[00:46:28] Speaker B: Well, it's interesting, you know, they both, you know, Norris won the Australian Grand Prix and Piastri won the Chinese Grand Prix. But had he not, you know, spun out into the grass there during the Australian Grand Prix, that could have been real interesting. Who would have got that victory? Because they were really riding neck and neck then as one and two. I think Oscar ended up finishing, you know, seventh or eighth after he got out of the grass there. But, yeah, I agree. I think Oscar is a better driver. I think he's the more aggressive. He's ready to go for it. Like Rome mentioned, you know, whether or not he had the, you know, the lap or the pace as they pit it to make a run. He wanted to try to make a run. Ultimately, they decided not to, and they took the points and, you know, they got a good, sizable lead right now on the Constructors Cup. But, yeah, Verstappen, you know, the theme of the show has been built different. He just is, man. He just is. He's. He's a heck of a racer. Say what you want. I mean, Lewis Hamilton That's Jason's guy. But Verstappen, this is his fourth straight. Fourth straight Japanese Grand Prix 1.
The guy's impressive, man. Say what you want about, I mean we didn't even talk about the red ball. Car number two again struggling. Yuki did not have a good run, but Verstappen stepped up, got it done. Four straight Japanese Grand Prix wins.
[00:47:48] Speaker A: Yeah, he'd have a good run, but Lawson did pretty well.
No, you think? No, not, not the end.
[00:47:56] Speaker B: 17. 17. No.
[00:47:58] Speaker C: 17Th. No. The, the second Red Bull driver that was the best was Isaac Hager who's driving the other. It was Liam Lawson's teammate in the Racing Bulls car. He finished in eighth in that race. That was his kind of best finish in Formula One as a rookie too. So you know, a lot of criticism of him because he's the one who spun out at the Australian Grand Prix during the like the pre race.
Yeah, during the formation lap. So. But you know, he was pretty impressive and qualifying and yesterday too where that car is at. So he was, he was the best of the kind of the junior Red Bull, you know, contingent with Lawson and, and Yuki and them. So yeah, Yuki wasn't all there with the car, but again he was kind of thrown into the seat. I think he'll get a little more, you know, kind of time to prove himself. Lawson though. Yeah, Lawson didn't look good in the, in the Racing Bulls cars either. You know that there was a lot of talk coming from him last year as he was not happy he wasn't in a seat when he was reserve driver. Ended up taking Daniel Ricardo's seat at the Racing Bulls. Then got, you know, the promotion of the Red Bull seat and kind of he was, you know, fairly confident in himself, in what his skills would have been. Got lost, lost the ride two races in and now performing even, you know, just as bad in this in the secondary Red Bull team. So a lot for him to prove going in the rest of the season.
[00:49:12] Speaker A: I must have passed out earlier because I remember they were complimenting how well loss of his driving.
He was around 11 or 12 ahead.
[00:49:19] Speaker B: After 11 or 12 and then I think he made the regular pit stop.
[00:49:22] Speaker A: Like everybody else, including Alonso. So I'll. I was kind of curious. I did look it up because I remember at some point during the telecast they showed about like five or six drivers running on softs. This was like after the 25th lap mark and it was saying Alonzo, Straw, Lawson and Tsunoda were all ending the race with the soft tires at least a few of those, I can't remember. Like, who are the other ones that started with softs? Like, some people started with soft, some people ended, so. All right, any other notes from the Japanese Grand Prix or stop in? Down one point, I think, and the drivers down with the bin.
[00:50:03] Speaker C: Yeah, he's down one point. McLaren, obviously with a pretty sizable lead in the constructors. But Mercedes has kind of been the pleasant surprise number two in the constructors right now. Had good performance from George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, like, talked about broadcast, made a big deal about Kimi Antonelli. He read, led a good, I don't know, 10 laps in the middle of the race where he didn't pit and he was riding the medium tires. And so I think at some point you're going to see this kid jump onto a podium here in the next, like next month or so. I think that the Mercedes has pace and keeps up with it in certain races. I'll be interested to see what kind of track, you know, he'd be looking for. You go to Bahrain next, where they did preseason testing. Is that a track where, you know, Kimi's got a little bit of an experience with, see what the cars are at. A little bit of a different course. But the one thing I will say, the circuits which Bahrain will be as we get into the. The road or the street courses, I'm a little more interested in that from the passing and stuff perspective. Because a lot of those street courses, you get some long stretches. Saudi Arabia has some, Vegas has them. Singapore, there's like big long stretches for passing where a lot of these like, circuits like in Suzuku and Japan and, you know, some other. In some other China a little bit. But it wasn't as bad because it's a little flat open. But some of these street courses get some little more passing. So I'll be curious in some of the setups as we get longer in the season and how many more of these races like Japan and circuits are like, hey, it's a qualifying really race and we're just running the race out with minimal passing. It'll be. It'll be interesting to see.
[00:51:39] Speaker B: Yeah, That's Sunday at 8am it looks like so good time again. Wake up, get a little jog in and be ready to rock and roll a little F1 on Sunday morning.
[00:51:49] Speaker A: Is this. It's this Sunday?
[00:51:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:51:51] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:51:52] Speaker C: No, it's next Sunday.
[00:51:54] Speaker B: It's the 13th.
[00:51:57] Speaker A: Yeah.
This Sunday. All right. What time is it for us?
[00:52:03] Speaker B: 8:00Am Our time?
[00:52:07] Speaker A: Yeah, why not? I think I have the day off. Let's do it.
[00:52:11] Speaker B: I mean, Rome, you might still just be up. You might be crashing back at your pad at 6, 6:30am Anyway, so it might be.
[00:52:18] Speaker A: You know, this doesn't feel like one of those party weekends for me. I'm a little tired. I. I need some.
[00:52:22] Speaker B: You look a little tired right now, Rome. You look a little tired.
[00:52:25] Speaker A: Feeling pretty good. All right. Feeling good right now. It was nice sleeping in at the hotel, only driving two and a half hours to la and then six lap up. All right, so let's just transition first. Let's talk hockey and then we'll talk NBA, because it's pretty exciting right now. I don't know if you've seen the standings, but there's I think five teams or six teams with the same record in the Western Conference. It is pretty wild. I can't remember the last time that's happened, but let's talk hockey first. Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky's goal scoring record in the same amount of games that Wayne Gretzky got his record, which is pretty crazy. It's pretty impressive.
They made a pretty big deal. I guess he had a chance to compete in the. In the game prior, there was no goalie in the net, but he didn't want to score and break the record that way. He wanted to do it with defenders and the whole nine yards and much love, you know, much props to him for. For wanting to do that. So he gets it against. Was it the Rangers, I believe Islanders. Islanders. And Gretzky was there. Big celebration. Fanfare.
Jason, want you to answer first. What are your thoughts on Aveshkins becoming the new guy on Mount Rushmore for goals?
[00:53:56] Speaker C: Yeah, we. I think we talked about this like a month or so ago. It was one of those records growing up where, hey, this is going to be an unbeatable record. No one's, you know, no one's gonna get close.
And it kind of felt like that when you look at. I mean, I think I did. I did the stats or something like Sidney Crosby's like 200 goals or something besides behind Ovechkid or something like that, where he's his like, modern contemporary and like the rival that these guys were kind of like built on and everything.
[00:54:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:54:32] Speaker C: And I. It just was a record that you didn't see. Like Gordie Howe, who held the previous record, like Gordy. How's like one of the few players that I think scored a goal in like four different decades, like he scored an NHL goal and like when he was like 51 or 52 or something like that. Just absurd. If you ask. If you ask my cousin and my uncle Gordy Howes the greatest hockey player ever, don't ever. Don't ever try to tell them different. They're a bunch of Red Wings homers. But yeah, Rome's a Red Wings homer. I forgot about that. So you're not. I thought you were.
[00:55:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I am.
[00:55:02] Speaker C: Oh, okay. You are. Whatever.
[00:55:03] Speaker B: I think just like that Detroit style pizza. But yeah, yeah, it helps.
[00:55:08] Speaker A: And it helps that my favorite pizza is Little Caesars.
[00:55:13] Speaker C: Yeah. So, I mean, you think just the un. The unbreakable nature of this goal. Gordie Howe, how long he played, how great he was. Somebody like Yarmier Jagger, who's number four all time he was playing until like.
[00:55:24] Speaker B: Right? Yeah, yeah.
[00:55:25] Speaker C: I think he's still. I think he's still playing in Europe right now. He's like 53 or something like that.
[00:55:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:55:29] Speaker C: So, I mean, these guys are playing forever. And when you looked at kind of like where Ovechkin was sitting, you know, he passed. He hit 800 goals. So around Gordie Howe back in like the 22, 23 season. So you know how many goals he needed to score between now and then, like, basically like almost like a hundred goals. And then this year he puts up like, I don't know what does. He had 49 goals right now. Rome, I think 42.
[00:55:57] Speaker B: 42. I'm looking at right now.
[00:55:59] Speaker C: 42 goals this season. I mean, at his age, you don't think of that, you know, that type of production as a goal scorer. So just how prolific he has been as a goal scorer throughout his career. Finally got that Stanley cup championship, you know, at a certain point to really cement his legacy. Because as he was compared to Crosby, kind of his contemporary, as they were both number one overall picks and one, you know, Vechkin during kind of that lockout year, they basically started kind of the same. Same time Crosby got the Stanley Cups and, and was getting all the kind of the praise with kind of the Penguins dynasty there in the. In the 2010s, but Ovechkin getting the cup and now just the individual accolades, like it puts it on a level that you now you assume no one's going to be like Ovechkin to be able to break this record too, because it's not just, you know, being great as a goal scorer, but the longevity that. Which you need to do it. Like me thinking of, you know, turn this into a home of herself. The blackhawks you know, I had Patrick Kane and Jonathan Taves won three Stanley Cups. Like these guys, like just, you know, as they got older, naturally, as we all do, like all of a sudden the production just kind of falls off or Obetian, you know, has still been able to have just a killer shot from the top of the circle, you know, almost, you know, an unbeatable slap shot at certain, like, certain points and just always finding ways to score goals. Like, it's super impressive, awesome. From Gretzky kind of being there for him. I know he said that Gordie Howe was there when he was passing it and he sold and he said he would do the same if anyone passed his record. So it was a cool moment. It was live, you know, all trending on social media and everything. So I think he got a. Did he get free beer or got a beer named after him or something like that, too. I forgot I was going on that. I thought it was like some zero calorie, like Budweiser or something. He's got something like that, you know. Think about Betsky, man, he's still pounding. Still pounding the beers. He peak physical form in the hockey.
[00:57:48] Speaker B: 39 years old, 42 goals this year. As we mentioned, 31 he had last year. You know, me and Rome saw him in person about a month ago. And like you said, Jason, I mean, the guy knows how to, you know, he didn't look like he was on the ice for 17 minutes because he just.
[00:58:04] Speaker A: He knows how to pick the spots.
[00:58:06] Speaker B: But he knows how to conserve his energy. He knows how to attack. And he's really quick, strong and physical. Once he does get the puck. I mean, every time he got the puck, I mean, the Ducks had two or three guys on him all the time. I think he had like three assists in that game that they won.
[00:58:19] Speaker A: A lot of shots on goal. Yeah, they were there.
[00:58:23] Speaker B: But just, you know, the attention he gets. And then Rome, like you said, I mean, he had the chance the night before. Empty nets and no, I don't want to break it like that. Gets the power play goal against the Islanders. You guys mentioned, he does have one Stanley Cup. They've got the best record right now in the East. They're probably the favorites to come out of the east right now, maybe get back to the finals if he can win another Stanley Cup. That'd be two given the record. I mean, he's already a Hall of Famer. But just to cement a great legacy in the career, another Stanley cup would go a long ways for that.
[00:58:55] Speaker A: Yeah, I like Ovechkin I gotta be honest. I'm a big Pittsburgh Penguins guy as well, so. Sidney Crosby followed his career for the beginning. I like him more than Ovechkin. That's just, you know, that's just my guy.
I think Crozzy is more relatable to Gretzky. I think they kind of, you know, at least he's always looking for, like, the assist, you know, trying to make, make the right play. And I think total points, I think Crosby still has more points. Hell of a lot more assists. It might be double than what Oveshkin has. I, I, I, I didn't get a chance to check, but just want to point out, I just want to give some love to Crosby because everyone's glossed him over. He's been injured a lot in his career. Feels like he's, he's missed, like, five or six years and on and off, on and off. Like, half the games he plays is, like, just getting back in shape because he's had some pretty serious stuff. But I want people to recognize. Yeah, Vechkin flowers, but crossing is pretty great, too. Like, if he wasn't injured, he'd be a little higher on that, on that goal list. But Prosta Vechkin, the guy's a tank dude. I didn't realize how big he was until we saw him in person. I was impressed.
[00:59:59] Speaker B: And the way he moves. He moves quick too, man. Just glides to the ice.
[01:00:03] Speaker A: I don't ice skate a lot. I'm okay, and people always impress me. So I go ice skating. Like, oh, you know how ice skate? Like, I'm sore, dude. My groin can't move for, like, three weeks afterwards. Like, it's, it's a tough sport, man. It just works everything. And falling on the ice is no easy task. Like, I, I, I don't know what the paths feel like or, like, how the movement is. Like, it already feels like you're just, like, kind of limited on skates. So it's a really impressive sport. A lot of people talking about, like, what's more impressive, LeBron doing what he's doing now or Ovechkin? You know, Ovechkin now has a goal record. LeBron has a scoring record.
Say what you will. I don't know, but it's kind of crazy that we're both or we're all living to kind of see these, like, records that we thought would never be passed being passed up right now. It's wild.
[01:00:51] Speaker C: Yeah, I, not to disagree or anything. Like, as far as the comparison comp you talked about Krausi and stuff like that, but you look at like most points in a career. As much as, you know, Gretzky's, you know, 800 and you know, 90 something goals, Gretzky's got 2, 857 points.
That might be the most unbroken record because not only guys is prolific goal scorer, like the amount of assists that. That Gretzky got there too. So yeah, I mean, different times, different errors and stuff, you know, it's a big deal if we can get hockey on first take. It's Stephen A talking about. You know, we go, Stephen A talking hockey. That's what he said. It was. We had to get LeBron into the argument. So it was LeBron versus Ovechkin. I think it was what the argument was. So. Yeah.
[01:01:36] Speaker B: Let me guess, let me guess. He took Ovechkin. Let me guess.
[01:01:39] Speaker C: I have no idea. I didn't listen to it. I just. I just saw the thing. I'm assuming they said LeBron, does nobody watch hockey.
[01:01:45] Speaker A: They had that guy that. That commented on the All Star game earlier, like. Like they brought him back on. What's his name?
That black guy, the hockey player.
[01:01:53] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[01:01:55] Speaker A: He's really opinionated. So he. He brings a lot of tension and debate on that show. Whenever they bring him on.
[01:02:00] Speaker B: PK brings good energy.
[01:02:02] Speaker C: Yeah, BK is good.
[01:02:03] Speaker A: Yeah, he has. He has some pretty strong comments. I caught a clip of it, but he had some pretty strong comments on it. Obviously he's going for a veg.
When did the playoffs start for NHL? Probably pretty soon, right?
[01:02:19] Speaker C: Yeah, generally. I mean, what do we got down here too? We got.
[01:02:24] Speaker A: It's like the NBA season. I don't like how they just run parallel to each other.
[01:02:27] Speaker C: They. I mean, they always have. You got. Yeah, most teams got about five games left. Five or four games left.
[01:02:33] Speaker B: That's the same.
[01:02:34] Speaker C: You got.
[01:02:34] Speaker B: It's the same 82 games.
[01:02:36] Speaker A: It's just so.
[01:02:36] Speaker C: 82 games. Yeah, they. They generally repair. Hockey generally starts like a week or two before basketball, but then they, you know, they generally line up in the playoffs at the exact same time. So, yeah, getting down to it, where things are at some shuffling as we get kind of into the. The end of the playoffs. You only got a couple teams eliminated out of the east, several teams, like the west is pretty much taking shape at this point with five or six teams already out and you got five teams clinch. So it'll be interesting. I think, you know, we'll probably do some more previewing as we kind of go, but like, the jets have been fairly dominant in the west all year. The. The Capitals have been, you know, as we talked through with Ovechkin, I think there'll be maybe a little bit of jockeying here on these final, final couple of games. It was interesting. I don't know if Rome, you brought it up with. With Oveshkin breaking that in New York at the Islanders, like, and not trying to do anything goofy to make sure this was at home or anything like that, because the Capitals are playing for something because they're three points behind the jets for the President's trophy to give them basically home ice in the Stanley cup finals. So, you know, they've clinched all through the. To the east, have the Capitals up, but you know, they have one. One less game played so far than. Than the jets, so they have an opportunity right now if they keep winning to. To get the President's trophy. So I think there is. There is something for them to play for here down the stretch.
[01:04:01] Speaker A: That's tough. So you got the jets and the Stars ahead of them, the win column.
Yeah, Red Wings kind of had a little rough patch.
[01:04:13] Speaker B: Look like they're. Look like they're six points back right now. So.
Yeah, with six to play.
[01:04:22] Speaker A: Tough. That's tough.
All right, let's talk a little NBA basketball first. The recap.
Lakers looks pretty. I think we already had the podcast last time. They look pretty iffy against Golden State. Aaron was jerking that game off pretty extensively. Pretty happy about the outcome. Not a big deal. The Lakers, so that's.
[01:04:49] Speaker B: No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
[01:04:50] Speaker A: Put on a clinic.
[01:04:51] Speaker B: No, no, no, no.
[01:04:52] Speaker A: On the Thunder.
[01:04:54] Speaker B: Not a big deal. Next, Next. Next.
[01:04:56] Speaker A: It put a clinic.
Dominant and you know, just like that's what Luca does. He ignites the offense. Austin Reeves looking like a potential 25 point, 30 point guy in the NBA going on a tear himself, which is pretty crazy when you consider that the Lakers, they have Austin Reeves running the offense.
Undrafted player chosen to be undrafted. He could have been drafted in the second round. But there's a cool story band. Yeah, yeah. You have to listen. Well, they orchestrate it where, like, they felt like la hon better not to.
[01:05:35] Speaker B: Get drafted late second round.
[01:05:37] Speaker A: After I heard a story, I'm like, oh, this makes a lot of sense because then you can kind of try to pick and choose like the best spot.
[01:05:43] Speaker B: You can join the camp. You can join a camp of a team that could use their spot.
[01:05:46] Speaker A: Yeah, smart move. I think he said he was going to end up in Charlotte if he would have got Drafted, which.
That's dead. Dead man zone for a lot of.
[01:05:54] Speaker B: Players would have been dead man zone for Austin Reeves, that's for sure.
[01:05:59] Speaker A: Possibly. Possibly. But it's kind of crazy, though. Even Luca is deferring to Austin Reeves running the offense. Nonetheless, you know, they. They play again tomorrow night, so, you know, I'm pretty sure be revenge playing.
[01:06:14] Speaker B: Aren'T playing for anything, man. But, I mean, I didn't see the game, so I can't comment on it.
[01:06:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I know you didn't see the game because they. They. They play their ass off. They got worked. It was. It was a fun game. It was actually really cool.
[01:06:24] Speaker C: So Romeo Rome only sees Laker games when they win.
Aaron only sees Laker games when they lose. And so just whatever dynamic is in the.
[01:06:35] Speaker A: I have a feeling like Aaron has like a. An alarm clock. He's like, oh, Lakers are down by 10. Trying to put on the TV.
[01:06:41] Speaker B: I didn't even know the Lakers were playing the Thunder. I was watching Rockets warriors, and they were talking about the game, and they were. Well, I guess the big thing I heard was sga.
[01:06:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:06:51] Speaker B: No free throws.
[01:06:52] Speaker A: Yeah. The Free Throw Merchant denied for the.
[01:06:55] Speaker B: First time because the warriors were complaining about it.
[01:06:59] Speaker C: Is that a. Is that a real nickname?
[01:07:01] Speaker A: Yeah, they call him the Free Throw Merchant because they think the refs just give them free free throws.
[01:07:05] Speaker B: Yes.
[01:07:06] Speaker A: It's a big knock on SGA right now.
[01:07:08] Speaker B: Yeah. So no free throws. LeBron also had no three throws in that game.
[01:07:12] Speaker A: He's also not doing.
[01:07:13] Speaker B: But they. The Warriors. The warriors broadcast was talking about NBA TV because they're like, SGA 03 throws. And somehow Draymond Greens got five fouls early in the third quarter. Like, what's wrong with the NBA officiating? And I've been asking the same thing for, you know, 25 years, maybe 30 years.
[01:07:29] Speaker A: Sounds like. It's not like being corrected, to be honest with you.
[01:07:33] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll see. I mean, the Lakers are a good matchup for the Thunder. They match up well against them, so we'll see. I mean, Luca had his way of Dort last year in the playoffs. I heard he had his way again with them. So Dort's not the answer. He's not the Luca stopper, that's for sure. But I think. I mean, in the west, we're going to get into it. But if you're the Lakers, I think they're one of the teams with the Thunder. But the Rockets, warriors, and T. Wolves, those are the three teams. I'm most. I'm Most worried about if I'm a Lakers and Thunder fan, I don't want to see either one of those three teams. The Rockets look really good. Shutting down Steph Curry for what, three points. I mean after he dropped 37 on the number one ranked Lakers defense. Which is a joke by the way, but you know, I mean me, Jason, I don't know why we haven't talked about it, but the Bulls are red hot again. Red hot Bull.
[01:08:25] Speaker A: Get out of here.
[01:08:26] Speaker B: I mean they just swept the Lakers. They just swept the Lakers in the last month and I think Rome wants to dismiss that. The Lakers want nothing in the polls in the NBA finals, I'll tell you that right now. They do not want to see them in the finals.
[01:08:39] Speaker C: The Bulls, you know, they went out just, you know, taking out the Lakers and then you know, Romans poo pooing them because they just, hey, they did all they need to do. They had to play, you know, you know where they play the Thunder and a couple other teams, you know, then they get right back on it. Win three straight seven and three, hop the Heat in the the east or sitting a game behind the Hawks right now, man, the Bulls are in it.
[01:09:01] Speaker B: Man, we're pools are in it. Makes a lot of sense. Billy Donovan, the king of Florida, he led him to their only ever final fourth, two national titles. Florida wins a national title. Billy Donovan's feeling that Gator vibe. He's got the Bulls chomping at the bit for the playoffs. Bulls are going to win that play. You're going to get in. I'm guaranteeing it. Now they're getting in.
[01:09:20] Speaker A: Yeah, bulls Guys, they're 36 and 43.
[01:09:24] Speaker B: That's better than 23 and like 38. Whatever they were a while back, they're different.
[01:09:30] Speaker C: Listen, it's not very long ago that the Miami Heat were playing in a play in game, you know what went all the way to the NBA Finals.
[01:09:37] Speaker A: Man, Bulls have a chance to inch up and into the eighth seed. Actually there's a half game out. There's seven and three Hawks on a little bit of a stumble themselves. I like the Bulls chance to sneak into that eighth spot.
[01:09:51] Speaker C: I'll tell you this, I'll tell you this. I know Aaron and I are putting on a little bit of a show here. But besides the Cavaliers and the Celtics, there's no one in the else in the east that I'm the Bulls I'm scared of. I think they could beat the Knicks, I think they could beat the Bucks.
[01:10:06] Speaker A: I don't think they could Beat the Pistons?
[01:10:09] Speaker B: Well, they're not going to play them right away, but, Jason, the Knicks. Have the Knicks ever beaten the Bulls in the playoffs? The answer is no.
[01:10:15] Speaker C: The answer is no.
[01:10:16] Speaker B: Come on. I'm not in the Bucks. I mean, half the team's either suspended, taking steroids. I got blood clots. So, no, I'm not worried about them either.
[01:10:24] Speaker C: Hey, if. If the Bulls play.
[01:10:26] Speaker A: Who's suspended on. On the Bucks?
[01:10:28] Speaker B: Portis. Bobby Portis.
I think he's. I think he's due back. But yeah, if the Bulls.
[01:10:35] Speaker C: If the Bulls play the Knicks. How do I get Bob Costas and Marv Albert on the broadcast?
Can the game. Can they move it to NBC? Six months earlier?
[01:10:44] Speaker A: Just get that game.
[01:10:46] Speaker C: Give me that game on NBC right now. All right, I need John Tesh and Round Ball rock flowing. I need. Bob Costa's giving me an essay on, you know, he'll probably do some trump essay.
I. I need. I need that in my life right now.
[01:11:03] Speaker A: You guys are more pumped up for the playing than anyone else I know. We need, like a playing segment now.
[01:11:08] Speaker C: Hey, I'm gonna go find my Bulls jersey that's buried deep in the closet that I haven't been able to wear in, like, 15 years. Agree that out. All right, agree, man.
[01:11:16] Speaker B: I'm gonna wash it, shine it up, get it on. I'm ready to rock and roll.
[01:11:20] Speaker C: Man, it's 90 degrees out here. Rome. Sun's out, guns out.
[01:11:25] Speaker A: Yeah, dude, it was.
[01:11:27] Speaker B: This ain't Ventura, where it's like 68 and overcast and partly cloudy right here, man. It's. It's 84, 85 and sunny, man.
[01:11:33] Speaker A: Dude, I was freezing my ass when I got back to San Francisco today. It was cold.
[01:11:36] Speaker B: It looked windy at the ballpark when I was watching that baseball.
[01:11:39] Speaker A: Really? Oh, there's game right as.
[01:11:40] Speaker B: It's over now.
[01:11:42] Speaker A: Yeah, it was a good game. You don't want to be in that ballpark when it's cold. It's, like, hard to enjoy yourself.
[01:11:46] Speaker B: No, that's. Remember we went to that football game. Whatever. Like 20 years ago. We froze our ass off there. That was against Simmer, too.
[01:11:53] Speaker A: It gets worse. It gets worse.
All right, anyways, back to the Western Conference is what we started off with. That was like a hell of a tangent there. You have.
So the best possible.
[01:12:06] Speaker C: When it's. When it's our team, it's a tangent. But we're talking about the Lakers. It's like half.
[01:12:10] Speaker A: We're talking about the conference here. Okay?
So we only have, you know, four games to go for. For most teams. Rockets, they can either be the second or the third seed. Same thing with the Lakers. They still have a chance.
[01:12:25] Speaker B: The Rockets are guaranteed too. They're not dropping behind the Lakers.
[01:12:28] Speaker A: But mathematically I'm just. I'm just breaking it down for you.
[01:12:32] Speaker B: Put it down too.
[01:12:34] Speaker A: They saw mathematically they can drop down to the ac. That's the lowest that they. They can drop Everybody else from 8 to 3 chance of being so Rome.
[01:12:43] Speaker B: What you're telling me is your Lakers are so great they might still end up at the same seat as the Chicago Bulls. That was what you're telling me right now. That's what you're telling me right now, that they might end up as the same seat as the Chicago Bulls.
[01:12:56] Speaker A: They're not chopping.
[01:12:58] Speaker B: I'm just saying. You said they could go to eight, you're saying the Bulls could get to eight. I'm just saying.
[01:13:03] Speaker A: Number three, the Gridley's. Yeah, they could possibly be the number three. Yeah. So you have underneath the Lakers, Nuggets, Clippers, Warriors, Timberwolves, Grizzlies, all with the same record. Nuggets are just happy game up with the in the win column. But that is. Anything can happen in four games. That is like the craziest, tightest grid I've ever seen.
[01:13:27] Speaker B: Once Jamal Murray coming back for the Nuggets, he's been out for a minute.
What's he got? Knee injury, hamstring?
[01:13:34] Speaker A: Don't know. But it sounds like Nuggets fans are slowly starting to turn on Russell Westbrook. Not a big fan of that, of that foul that costed Joker.
[01:13:45] Speaker B: Not only that, he had the layup that he missed too.
[01:13:48] Speaker A: Yeah, he lost in that game.
[01:13:50] Speaker B: They haven't won since. They have not won since that moment.
[01:13:53] Speaker A: Feeling they lost four games now. And it's not like Lakers are playing lights out there. They're 500 ball. Clippers have been pretty good.
[01:14:02] Speaker B: Clippers, man. I mean say what we want about the Clippers, if they're healthy, they're always competitive and good. That's just the real question. Load management, who's going to show up and play every night?
[01:14:11] Speaker A: I don't like them, but it's impressive that they're.
[01:14:13] Speaker B: I mean I saw. I saw them in person. They're pretty. They got a pretty good squad.
[01:14:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:14:20] Speaker B: Your boy Bill Simmons was there. That's all you could talk about. Not how I was there, but whatever, dude. I don't want to get into it.
[01:14:26] Speaker A: You don't want to get into it?
[01:14:27] Speaker B: I'm still. I'M still emotionally hurt from it.
[01:14:29] Speaker A: Are you?
[01:14:30] Speaker B: Yeah. And then you took it. Then you and your. My dad are taking jabs at me when I'm not there. So, I mean, I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I might have to go to therapy this weekend. I'm just saying, brother, like paradise, you know, I might need a therapy session. I'm gonna call her up. If this is one, if this is.
[01:14:47] Speaker A: What gets you in therapy, it's been a long time coming.
[01:14:50] Speaker C: If Aaron calls up the therapist in paradise, he ain't calling for therapy.
[01:14:54] Speaker B: That's a different kind of therapy.
[01:14:58] Speaker A: I haven't seen paradise yet.
[01:14:59] Speaker B: Hey, I'll say this. I'll definitely have the blue shoes on me because I'll be ready to go.
[01:15:04] Speaker A: That's where it's coming from.
[01:15:07] Speaker B: Jason knows what's up there.
[01:15:10] Speaker A: All right, going down the stretch, one week left. Any bold predictions with how the west ends the order?
Because we're not going to talk NBA until the season's over.
[01:15:23] Speaker B: Are we going. Are we going on Thursday?
[01:15:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:15:27] Speaker B: Okay.
[01:15:27] Speaker A: You know, nothing's crazy happening.
[01:15:29] Speaker B: I mean, I think the Lakers are going to get the three seed.
[01:15:31] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay.
[01:15:32] Speaker B: Outside. Outside of that, I. I really.
I think the Nuggets.
[01:15:37] Speaker C: I think. You think the junk is drop.
[01:15:40] Speaker A: I think. I hope the Nuggets hold on to the four.
[01:15:43] Speaker B: Well, let me see what their schedule looks like.
[01:15:44] Speaker C: I mean, they dropped four straight, right.
[01:15:47] Speaker B: They got Keen's, Grizzlies, Rockets followed by.
Yeah, this is a rare stretch.
[01:15:56] Speaker A: So they've lost four in a row, three and seven in their last 10.
[01:15:59] Speaker B: I mean, granite, the Rockets probably won't have nothing to play for that last game. And the Kings, really, they don't have anything really to play for either. Right. Because they're locked in as the. The nine.
Well, I guess they need to win because they don't want to get to 10. They want to host Dallas. So, yeah, Memphis and the Keens are two tough games for them. So the Rockets, I don't think, have anything to play for unless the Rockets just want to be dicks and knock them into the play in. But yeah.
[01:16:33] Speaker C: Besides, I think jockeying for the seat, I feel like no one's really talking about the Phoenix Suns or. It's just. I'm not paying attention right now.
[01:16:41] Speaker A: Durant's out. It's about to be the summer. Durant again, I mean, just lost six straight.
[01:16:47] Speaker C: Like, I mean, they allowed. They're allowing the Mavericks to get in after the disaster that their last two months have been just crazy to me for what that team was supposed to be.
[01:16:57] Speaker A: Yeah, it's, it's been like a hack job I think from their coach.
[01:17:05] Speaker B: Management and ownership's been terrible there, man. I mean the experts, the expectations there ever since they got to the Finals. What was that in 2021?
[01:17:16] Speaker A: I mean they took that too much. Yeah.
[01:17:18] Speaker B: I mean they extended Chris Paul when he was kind of like past his prime, gave him a three year deal. They got rid of the.
I can't think of the big guy's name. They traded him to Portland, the seven footer.
[01:17:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:17:33] Speaker B: They went all in on Durant, Booker, Bill.
[01:17:38] Speaker A: Like it's, it just has getting Bill is stupid.
[01:17:41] Speaker B: They got to move all three.
I, I would start over like if I, this is what I would do. They won't do it. No team would be dumb enough to do. But I would call up D.C. and say, look, we'll give you Durant, we'll give you Bill, we'll give you Booker. Give us Cooper flag and let's just start over.
[01:17:56] Speaker A: He'll go back to D.C.
[01:18:00] Speaker B: Yeah. They're the ones that gave him that stupid contract. Here, have them back.
[01:18:04] Speaker C: I don't think any way they can do it. I don't even think they have the salaries to match it because the NBA's got all these goofy rules for yeah. Trading and stuff. So they'd have to have like, you know what that'd be like a hundred million dollars in expiring contracts which no team has or anything like that. So it's a mess. I'm guess I'm guess I. I would assume they've been long rumored. I assume the Miami Heat at some point with Durant is going to be trying to, trying to show some interest there now whether they have to sucker them into taking something else from a contract perspective. But that's long been that Durant to Miami's always kind of been a thing but I think it's probably five years too late now.
[01:18:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I've. I've heard the Knicks mentioned as well if depending if they go first round exit against mining Jason's Bulls. So yeah, it's a possibility.
[01:18:50] Speaker A: He was supposed to go the Knicks like five years ago anyway.
[01:18:53] Speaker B: So yeah, I mean so yeah, I mean the Heat make a lot of sense but yeah, I mean Durant. I think Durant's played his last days. I don't even know if he's going to come back. I think he's supposed to be clear to come back from that ankle injury and play for the Suns. But given that he's going to want out. Phoenix has got to ask for a lot less. I mean what do they want three first round picks for Durant's like, come on guys, like the guys. The guy's still a great player but take your two first round picks and give me a good medium salary guy.
[01:19:22] Speaker A: Back and let's go even that. You know, just give him one first round pick. That's the Lakers did for Luca, but.
[01:19:29] Speaker B: They also gave him AD it's, it's a shame really. And Kyrie not getting hurt in A.D. i mean Dallas would have been a serious player in this thing too. I mean, let's. Not that. I mean it's amazing given all the injuries they got, they got back into 10. Yeah, I talked about, I talked about Portland. Portland schedule down the stretch of the year was just brutally tough. They're about ready to pass Phoenix, but yeah, tough.
[01:19:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
Okay. And east is pretty much locked in. I don't think nothing else is going to change there. Bulls can possibly go to eight. Do you think they do it?
[01:20:08] Speaker C: I don't know. Just.
[01:20:09] Speaker A: I mean they're your 10 seated bulls moving up the rankings, playing better without Levine.
Who'd have figured?
[01:20:16] Speaker C: I mean we got the Cavs tomorrow.
Yeah.
[01:20:20] Speaker B: Then Heat Wizard Sixers. So they should win.
They should win maybe three out of these final four.
[01:20:26] Speaker A: Cavs have been playing like 500 balls since they're like their last little 15 game winning streak.
[01:20:31] Speaker B: Well, Cavs don't need to win. I mean, I guess they could win if they think the Lakers can beat the Thunder and they think they could get the best record in the NBA. But that, that's a tall order right now.
I don't know if they want to pursue that or not. I don't know what the tiebreaker is either with okc.
[01:20:51] Speaker A: Don't know.
That's really tough.
[01:20:56] Speaker B: I'm going to say the Bulls stay at nine.
[01:20:58] Speaker A: Okay.
Hawks magic. Any movement there that's pretty much like locked in those two. I like these like it's pretty easy. Everybody's grouped in twos.
[01:21:11] Speaker C: Yeah. The game. So I've. Hi Aaron, how does the play in work? Is it a 7, 8 and 9, 10?
[01:21:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:21:18] Speaker A: 7 10, 8 plays 9.
[01:21:21] Speaker B: I think 7 plays 8 and 9 plays 10.
And then whoever wins that 7, 8 game is. Gets the seventh seed. And then whoever wins the 9, 10 and plays the loser for the seven eight for the, for the spot for the eighth. I think that's how it works because.
[01:21:39] Speaker C: It'S multiple games, right?
[01:21:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Because if they, if you're seven, if you're seven and eight, you can lose one game and then you get another game.
[01:21:46] Speaker A: Yeah, seven plays the eight. The winner automatically gets the seventh seed.
[01:21:51] Speaker B: Yes. And the loser plays the winner of the 9:10 game.
[01:21:55] Speaker A: That's tough.
[01:21:57] Speaker B: So obviously I'd like for the Bulls to get to number eight, so at least they could afford to lose a game.
But we'll see. I think Atlanta has a tiebreaker over the Bulls, too. Atlanta's own the Bulls. I believe this year they've been pretty good against them.
[01:22:11] Speaker A: Oh, really?
[01:22:11] Speaker B: I think so, yeah.
[01:22:14] Speaker A: Everyone else is locked in. Cavs 1, Celtics 2. Knicks 3. Pacers 4. Bucks 5. None of that's going to change, actually. Technically, Pistons could move up to the Pistons.
[01:22:25] Speaker B: Lost against your Sacramento Kings earlier today.
[01:22:29] Speaker A: Tough loss.
[01:22:30] Speaker B: And they've kind of struggled a little bit down the stretch here, too.
[01:22:32] Speaker A: Yeah, they've been playing 500 ball as well, so they have a chance. Do they get the fifth seed or no Bucks? Yeah. No.
[01:22:41] Speaker B: Pistons.
[01:22:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:22:44] Speaker B: Stay at 6. I think 6 is better. I think if I'm the Pistons, I'd rather play the Knicks.
[01:22:49] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a better match.
[01:22:51] Speaker B: Yeah, the Pacers are going to beat the Bucks again.
[01:22:53] Speaker A: Pacers are. Are kind of a weird team, man. Honestly, the place is good or really bad.
[01:23:00] Speaker B: I'll say this, if it is. Cavs, Pacers, round two. This could be a really, really good second round matchup.
[01:23:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[01:23:06] Speaker B: And the Knicks, I just don't trust Boston owns them. I don't know if they can even give him a series. We'll see.
[01:23:15] Speaker A: All right, final thoughts on. On the world of sports.
[01:23:19] Speaker C: I don't know. I mean, the NFL draft is creeping upon us here, too, so we got that coming up. And then, you know, there's some. There's some baseball there.
[01:23:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:23:31] Speaker C: You guys see. Did you guys see Tiger Woods's tweet on April Fool's Day?
[01:23:35] Speaker B: Yeah. I did radio about how he's gonna play in the Masters.
[01:23:39] Speaker A: He said he's gonna play in the.
[01:23:40] Speaker C: Masters if people bought it, man. Great.
[01:23:43] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Dan Patrick was laughing his ass off.
[01:23:46] Speaker A: He just said he just tore his ACL or whatever it was.
[01:23:48] Speaker C: He said. Yeah, he said he's Achilles. It wasn't as bad as they initially thought. Doctors cleared it for the Masters. Jason Whitlock particularly bought it hook, line and sinker. It was great.
[01:23:56] Speaker A: These guys are stupid.
[01:23:58] Speaker B: Yeah. I think he said, like, it. Yeah. Like Jason mentioned then he was doing like the whole, you know, chamber sleeping and everything and that he's gonna be able to walk in in the whole nine and then like five minutes later, I think he's like, nah, just me, y'all.
[01:24:12] Speaker A: That's crazy. Jesus. Dodgers have lost three of the last four Rome.
[01:24:17] Speaker B: I, I never lied to you on the show, man. Despite.
[01:24:20] Speaker A: You're full of.
[01:24:21] Speaker B: But despite what you and my dad might say behind the scenes.
[01:24:26] Speaker C: Oh, you did say, I guess World of sport.
Jay's given Vladdy Jr 14 years, 500 mil.
[01:24:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[01:24:34] Speaker A: A lot of people say that's too much for a potential DH guy that's going to be going to the DH pretty soon.
14 years, a lot. I don't know what's up with the baseball contracts. I, I still don't get it. Like, they still keep on doing these long term.
[01:24:48] Speaker C: You blame Scott Boris.
[01:24:50] Speaker B: I think if you don't, these guys leave. But that's the problem. Like, just because, I mean, when has.
[01:24:56] Speaker A: It ever panned out besides, like, Alex Rodriguez might be the only one that's like, done. Well, even at the end of that.
[01:25:01] Speaker B: Contract, it doesn't pan out.
[01:25:04] Speaker C: I, I would say it depends. How old's Vlad, do you know?
[01:25:08] Speaker B: 26, I believe. I believe.
[01:25:11] Speaker C: Yeah. I would say that's on the cusp of where you want. Like, if you were to give that type of thing. I made this argument for Bryce Harper to the White Sox and Machado at the time, when they hit free agency, if they're doing it in like they're 25, 26, 27, where you're getting them for their late 20s and early 30s, which is really like the baseball player's prime, then it's worth it. But if you're hitting free agency, if you're hitting free agency at 30, then it's not worth it.
[01:25:40] Speaker B: Well, that's what the Angels did with pool holes, remember? I think they signed him when he was like 31.
[01:25:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:25:46] Speaker B: To a 10 year deal.
[01:25:47] Speaker A: Was he 31?
[01:25:48] Speaker B: He was in his 30s.
[01:25:49] Speaker C: Allegedly. He was probably 37, but I mean, they said he was 31.
[01:25:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I mean, Harper, Harper signed what, a 13 year deal at what age? 26, 27. Like you said there. Jason with the Philly was good though. He was.
[01:26:07] Speaker C: But to me, that was always. My argument is like, those are the players.
[01:26:10] Speaker A: That's your argument.
[01:26:11] Speaker C: I would never pay the hitter like some of these guys got. But if you can get them in their mid, mid 20s, mid to late 20s, right. In that 26, 27 year old air and give them a 13, 14 year that you're basically, you're paying them through 40, you're getting six to seven years. Of true baseball player prime. And then okay, 37 through 40, you're not getting as much. I get that. But I. Those are the only realistic. And it's hitters only like pitchers. I think the Dodgers got it right on the way they kind of do pitchers, they'll just do like a two and one or something. One and one.
Well, to me that, that's the competitive edge of the Dodger. They'll play just an insane amount of money for a two year deal. Like, because like, hey, well there's a lot of money here for the one year and that and then we'll give you a second year after that. But after we're not, we're not giving you a 10 year deal for a freaking pitcher.
[01:26:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean most pitchers I think probably get four to six year deals. I think Blake Snell, what do you get? A four year, 180 million. Maybe it was five years. Whatever it was. I mean they'll give some pitchers, but you're, I mean even carbon burns who came over for him, the American League, he got a six year, 200 million.
[01:27:13] Speaker A: That was like a weird one because they don't give those contracts. I was like, what?
They're getting snail and they're giving a contract. Like what the hell?
[01:27:20] Speaker B: Well, they can because they, you know, they deferred all that money. So now, I mean even the pitch, even the Japanese pitcher, He got a 300 million dollar deal, right? Yokomoto or whatever. So they, I mean, and then they got a bargain on the new young chat pitcher they got because he's not even part of that the pool yet. So they basically got him on a signing bonus of like six and a half, seven million.
[01:27:45] Speaker A: Initially I thought 14 years for 500 mil. I think that's like a deal.
I thought if anything, Vlad probably should have got more or he could ask more for more. But then is he really a defensive guy?
[01:27:58] Speaker B: He's the first baseman currently, right?
[01:28:00] Speaker A: Yeah. And he's basically just a hitter though.
[01:28:06] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, yeah, first base is what you pay for.
[01:28:09] Speaker C: I'm not, I don't need a gold Glover at first base. Like are you, are you serviceable at first base? It could you be a big time hitter. It's a lot of things. Like, I mean I don't want to break fantasy into this, but like Luis Arias who plays for the Padres now, he's like prolific batting champion. But I got this guy playing first base right now and okay, great, you could hit 350, but you got no power and you're not driving in Runs, you're just getting on base. But at first base, hey, you want to waste that? I need, I need a, I need a big dude, a big bopper that's going to get home runs and RBIs and then where can you hide him? Whether it's first base or the designated hitter. I mean you need some of these guys like that. And for, and for a franchise like Toronto, when you play New York and you play Boston and now Baltimore, while they haven't paid money, they got just a young gun kind of, you know, stacked them out there. Toronto's got to like put something out that makes you want to come to the ballpark and as you need to pay some of these stars, everybody. Yeah. And I mean they got Anthony Santander, which, you know, which isn't small. I know, I mean he had a ton of home runs for the Orioles last year. But I mean you need a star face of the franchise. And out of all the second generation guys the Blue Jays had, where they just drafted everyone's son, you know, they had Calvin Bio and Boba Shet and Vlad Jr here. Yeah man, they had, they had the squad of second generation guys but Vlad, he's been the one that has, you know, mostly panned out that you want on the team. And hey, you, you need a star face of the franchise.
[01:29:32] Speaker A: So I'm mistaken, man, I did not know that he won a Gold Glove. That was a couple years ago.
[01:29:40] Speaker C: He played third base when he first came up. So he's, that he's athletic and having him at first, you know, he pro just prolongs it a little more.
[01:29:47] Speaker B: So yeah, and he can hit. I mean he comes from good genes obviously. His father played forever, was a hitter, could hit pretty well. Finished his career out with the Angels right there in dh. So I mean I'm not a fan of giving guys 14 years all this money, but at the same time that's what you got to pay or what you start doing now what teams are starting to do. The Braves kind of started. Now you're seeing the Padres and even the Red Sox. When these guys are 20, 21, just give them a 10 year deal now because they basically, they're not making any money. Instead of waiting four or five years, how baseball set up and team control just go like, hey dude, I'm gonna give you 160 million right now for nine years. And these dudes sign it and it's a bargain. I mean Jackson Merrill is the best player on the Padres right now. Should have won NL Rookie of the Year I mean if he was a hit free agency in two, three years, his value would be worth 300 million. They basically got him for what, 175, whatever it was. So a lot of these teams, Braves with Ronald Acuna like two, three years ago, before all ACL injuries, signed eight year, 100 million. Same with Michael Harris. Red Sox just signed that Campbell guy. He played four games in the majors. What, he got a nine year deal. So to me that's smarter business. That's smarter business.
[01:31:02] Speaker C: It's a smarter move because you lock them up during their prime. But I'll say on the flip side, the White Sox did that for a bunch of guys who are now no longer with the team. So yeah, they signed, they signed Elohimnez and Johan Moncada, Tim Anderson and all these guys to those deals and they didn't pan out. And you know, is what it is right now. But I, I do agree with Aaron because they posted that graphic with Acuna and Riley and Ozzy Albies and all those guys that hey, you basically instead of them toiling through arbitration and all this random crap, hey, we bought off some years, paid him a little more money in the next like three, four years. But you made, you made year seven and eight significantly cheaper where they're going to demand higher and arbitration. So baseball's got the goofiest like salary structure ever. I think you need to play a lot of MLB the show to really understand and how, how it works. But, but yeah, I, I think I agree with Aaron. I like the way the Braves and the, the Padres to agree have done this.
[01:31:52] Speaker B: Or you could just be the Dodgers and have a printer at your fucking yard and just print up money as the days go by. That's all.
[01:31:58] Speaker A: Yeah, Dodgers do a lot.
[01:32:00] Speaker B: They got that gun that shoots out. It doesn't shoot out. T shirts that shoots out money and the fans are just grabbing at it.
[01:32:09] Speaker A: Scouting. They're the best at developing talent, they're the best at managing their money.
[01:32:14] Speaker C: It's all right. The, the tariffs are going to hit them for all the, for all the import money right here, brother.
[01:32:20] Speaker B: Exactly. What is that 34 tax on Ohtani now?
[01:32:23] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, that'd be really funny if actually applied to like talent. Dude, that'd be really hilarious.
[01:32:29] Speaker B: That would be.
[01:32:29] Speaker A: Not really, but pretty funny.
All right, Funny guy here doing tariff jokes at the end of every pod. There you go. That means it's time to go.
