Spurs Not Lost in New York - Take Game 3, Stanley Cup Final Recap, A Less Boring Monaco GP

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. What's up? This is Rome. This is sources from the Sofa Sports podcast. After hours. We're recording right after game three of the NBA Finals. Spurs take one away in New York. I had the spurs winning in game three, if you're following me on X. And plus Trump was at the game. So a little bit of bad luck, bad juju there. There's a lot of good vibes happening in New York. Not saying Trump doesn't bring that if you're into him, but I'm just saying probably doesn't help either. But hell of a good game. We're gonna talk about that, especially all the non calls that have been happening. I just feel like New York has been ripped off non stop game after game after game. But still a pretty well balanced, pretty fun finals series so far. We're gonna talk a little hockey. NHL, Stanley Cup Final, Game 1, Game 2, Game 3. Everything has been a thriller. Really exciting. We had one of the fastest hat tricks in the last game. Game four is set for tomorrow in Las Vegas. I think Sniper had this going. Six or seven games. I had Vegas in six. We'll see how it goes. But it has been non stop. They've been hitting the overs on every single game. I think that initially it was like three and a half, four and a half. And they've been killing it every single game since then. We had a very underwhelming French Open finals. I don't know if we'll touch on that. Not sure since it didn't have any big name players. But Besides that though, F1 Monaco, we had some new rules come into place and Antonelli just kicking ass, much to the demise of George Russell. So we got special guest Andrew Rodriguez coming back to talk F1 with us along with Jason, who's our resident F1 expert. And we have a lot to talk about since last time we've been on the air. So let's get to it. NBA Finals game three in New York. First finals since 1999. Their first real shot at possibly winning since 94, I guess when they had the Ewing Knicks. But really it hasn't been much since the 70s when they won the chip. Jason, I don't know if you've been first of all, we haven't seen a while. So good to have you back. What's like your reading so far on the NBA Finals thus far? Who are you going for? All that good stuff. [00:02:29] Speaker B: Yeah, good to be back. Rome, you know, busy spring, you know, as you saw, I was touring the the Midwest and all the great Midwest I was, I was at the Indianapolis 500, you know which the greatest spectacle in motor racing. So that was there. You know I toured Chicago as I do to take in some White Sox games. You know the playoff bound Chicago White Sox. We haven't talked about them and you know ah, see even, even the dogs excited about the White Sox. [00:02:58] Speaker A: I know, right. [00:02:59] Speaker B: And, and you know and saw a little bit walkie and back in was that late March where I did see Wembanyama play the Giannis Free Bucks at that time and saw Wemby up close which honestly is just crazy. Like you're you know 30 rows up and the guy's probably still taller than me at that point. 100% watching this game when you got something on the court. So yeah, I would say a little bit of a, a shocker. We haven't been on the air going through the NBA playoffs but I know at the beginning of the season, you know we're thinking the Celtics and what they were going to be able to do in the east you didn't see much of a winner and I mean that was two months ago. I think they lost in the first round at this point but yeah we're thinking Jalen Brown and when they got Tatum back and oh man it's going to be a run. They go out in the first round the East a little bit wide open. Then we talked you know with the James Harden trade, where was he going to be at for the Cavaliers? Is he going to help Donovan Mitchell take the next step? And no and you get this Knicks run which you know we talked last season when they fire the coach and because they didn't get fired enough, don't know what the improvements of the roster and then you know they're having just one of the all time runs. I mean when's the last time they lost a game? Rome was like April or something like that for the Knicks until today they [00:04:15] Speaker A: were, they were down 2:1 against Atlanta Hawks. It did not look good. In fact I think that's the last time we were actually, you know, all three of us or not Andrew, but Aaron and, and we talked about it and I had a potential like Hawks upset. I was pretty adamant about it. All of a sudden they put cats switching them to point center and it opened up so many different things having them facilitate all these things and it was. They've been on a tear since then. 13 straight games I think or 12 or 13 until tonight they finally lost at home. It's been a pretty good run but they've Been, like, impressive. Like, it's a fun team to watch. Me and Aaron talked a few times on the phone and. And he had spurs in five, I think. And I just thought, like, how come no one is crediting, like, this is a solid Knicks team. They got veterans, the villanoa championship pedigree. You know, it's just, Just a bunch of veterans. And the spurs, eventually this youthfulness has to show up, and, you know, they beat up a, you know, an injured Timberwolves team. OKC didn't have J Dub, so they've gone. They've had, like, a pretty nice path, granted, still wins seven games, but there's a different animal. So we kind of saw some of the mistakes happening in game one. Game two. I can't believe Nick. Like, the Knicks were up 2:1 or like, you know, 2:0. Anyways, so not surprised. It's down 2:1, but improbable run for the Knicks. Really impressive. And Mike Brown, I haven't been a big Mike Brown guy. Didn't like him in Cleveland. I definitely didn't like him with the Lakers, and I thought he did a pretty good job in Sacramento. All right. You know, he got fired a little too soon, and, you know, good for him. It looks like the changes he's done so far for the Knicks, he's never done in the past, and Tibbs would have never done it anyways. So maybe it was the right move. [00:06:04] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, at this point, it definitely was the right move, and it paid off in what they were looking for. I mean, at the time, we thought it was, hey, Tibbs was a guy who got this roster to where it was and maybe maximized it, and that's obviously not the case. You mentioned the move with Cat in the playoffs right now, and he's been the biggest difference maker. There was a lot of questions when they made the trade for Cat. You know, he was too soft and everything to play with the type of basketball they wanted into in New York. But, you know, he's been, he's been given the spurs the fits in, in, in this final and really, you know, probably the key cog in there, you know, going through the east in the run that they're. They've been on. So, I mean, I, I will, I, I. We haven't been on Rome, but I will be honest with the audience and listeners and, you know, everyone would be lying about. I would have told you in every podcast and every episode we were doing everything going up to that. I thought OKC was going to go through everybody and if it wasn't going to be okc, then okay, if the spurs are going to be the only thing, they're kryptonite. And then they would have ran through whoever it was in the East. And then you're sitting there after game two and, and you're right. The, the spurs and their youth made the mistakes in game two. And you know, that's why the Knicks are up 2 0. And I'll say the same thing, we get to the hockey preview. I would have told you two months ago that the Colorado Avalanche were going to roll the entire NHL and, and they get steamrolled by the, the Golden Knight. So like, you know, two months ago, like I am just flat out wrong because I would have said it would have been ABS hosting the Stanley cup and the Oklahoma, Oklahoma City Thunder going back to back and you know, what was seen as, and hey, unbeatable dynasty for Oklahoma City. And we're sitting. Neither of those two teams are in the finals. [00:07:37] Speaker A: This has been a weird finals for like, like playoff run for both NHL and NBA. I think when I was talking to Sniper west last time when, when he was on, you know. Yeah, you and everyone else, Colorado Avalanche, you know, they were kind of like dominating non stop. And then Golden Knights. I, I feel like that series against the Mighty Ducks. Or not, not the Mighty Ducks. [00:08:00] Speaker B: Yeah, they're still the Mighty Ducks, man. [00:08:02] Speaker A: They're still my Ducks dude. Young team, but they really gave him a fight and I feel like it really brought the, the Knights together and ever since that series, they just been a whole different animal. The, the goal setting has been great. You know, the scoring has been phenomenal. And who'd have thought the first game, what was it? Like 5 4, what was it? [00:08:22] Speaker B: Yeah, something like that. I mean, I was shocked with the Golden Knights. I mean you, you fire your coach like the week prior to the playoffs. You get John Tortorella in there. I know we're probably jumping from sport to sport right now. [00:08:32] Speaker A: That's okay. [00:08:33] Speaker B: I mean, but, but I mean, yeah, like I, I was telling my friends out here who aren't big hockey fans but like, hey, they're local Southern California people. They're like, hey, we're rooting for the Ducks. I'm like, the Ducks get past that first round. Like, I like the matchup versus the Golden Knights. I was like, because like man, this team just. This hasn't done it all year and you're going to change your coach. It's almost a little of a panic move, but the Golden Knights turned. They, you Know, have obviously turned things on since that series and had a little bit of an improbable run too. [00:08:58] Speaker A: You know, I think I missed the whole firing with like the Knights firing their coach, like eight games to go in the regular season. So I, I haven't even had a chance to like go back and revisit like what happened. But I did see, I think I was watching game one because I, I, I didn't really catch it during, during the Western Conference finals. And I'm watching game one for the Stanley cup and I'm like, I'm like, what? Tar really's on the bench? What? Like, like since when? [00:09:24] Speaker B: Yeah, it was like probably the week prior. [00:09:26] Speaker A: Dude. I'm like, this is crazy. I didn't know you can do that. [00:09:30] Speaker B: I mean, you can do anything. You fire a coach or whatever you want to do. But yeah, I mean, you think about the Golden Knights won a Stanley cup with, with you know, the previous head coach and he gets fired just because they were just so bad down the stretch. And yeah, I mean, Tortorella, he's probably one of the greatest coaches the NHL has had, but he, he has, he has immediate impact and then everything kind of falls off from there. But this is the immediate act you're, you know, impact you're going for. He's going to come in, take the baton. Certain level of discipline hockey. And here we go, you know, Knights up 2:1. [00:10:06] Speaker A: You know, it's crazy, like they were down like what, two, three goals in game one, came back, made it a game, still lost. Game two, it's opposite, still down a few goals. Like both these teams have like shot like three goals and like a, it seemed like a five minute period in each one. You have some like crazy, you know, battles out there. It's been getting really testy. The same thing. Game three in Vegas. Vegas is out what, four, zero lead, I think. And then the third period comes around and they swarm back with goals. We go into double overtime and the Knights still barely get out. Like both teams could have won either game. Everything's been a 50, 50 game. Same thing with the NBA Finals. This is like really rare that we've had back to back finals in both sports where like they're just like 50, 50 ball. [00:10:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's great for both sports. I mean, generally, you know, you're the NBA defender out of the podcast. Between me, you and, you know, me, you and Aaron, Aaron and I are generally a little more down in the NBA. And, and early on there was a lot of blowouts. Early in the NBA playoff wasn't really appetizing. But now you get to the, the finals. I mean, you think the OKC series and, and now here in the finals with the Nixon spurs, like super competitive stuff. It's going back and forth. The hockey finals have just been insane. Like game three, Game three with, with the Golden Knights. I had, I had a friend, he's a big basketball guy, but he's betting, he's betting the Golden Knights. He's watching a little hockey. Not a big hockey guy, but say, okay, I'm going in. So he watched his entire first period. You know, it's scoreless. Goes and takes his dog out in the second period, Comes back nights up, four nothing. I'm like, ah, game over. All right, well, I'm still watching third period. Puts his daughter down to sleep, comes back games tied. 4, 4. He's like, I've watched more than half of this game. I haven't seen one goal yet. It was eight goals scored. So it was just how crazy the turn of events were in that game three and how the momentum was just swinging in directions. Because in period one, I would have told you in game three, Carolina was just that all the pressure was on Vegas. It was, it was a matter of time and Vegas held strong. Never happened. And then they got that momentum and just cashed in. And then finally when Carolina just got back the pressure they got in period one, the goals started coming and it was just entertaining hockey. [00:12:25] Speaker A: Yeah, dude, I, I've been really liking hockey in the playoffs, and I still remember you saying, like, it's the best playoffs out there. I don't know yet. But honestly, from a competitive standpoint, outside from like the two Eastern and Western Conference, you know, you know, finals, because we didn't see sweeps, like a gentleman sweep happening. Same thing with the NBA. But other than that, though, like, first round was great. Second round was great. Yeah, Final sucked and we're in for like another classic Stanley cup final. So it's pretty awesome. [00:12:55] Speaker B: Yep. [00:12:57] Speaker A: Since we kind of jumped into the Stanley cup final, you want to like, talk a little bit more about it? Like any, like 2 cents about it? [00:13:04] Speaker B: No, I mean, I just. It's just been. The games have been so momentum and you don't know where the comeback is at. Obviously, we just talked about game three, but you thought about game two. Vegas is up two nothing there in the third. [00:13:15] Speaker A: They were dominating. Yeah. [00:13:16] Speaker B: You know, and then, yeah, you figure, okay, it's wrapped up. It's not going to be Carolina. Vegas is going to go into this thing 20 and Carolina was able to get that momentum and get the goal in overtime there. And so yeah, I, I thought at that point in game too, when Tortorella challenged it, lost it. [00:13:32] Speaker A: Did you like it? Did you like or no? [00:13:35] Speaker B: Oh, I hate it. Literally. I mean, theoretically it lost in the game because it put Carolina on the power play, which get. [00:13:42] Speaker A: And that's where they. Yeah, they got. Yeah, they got the goal like what, 20 seconds later. [00:13:46] Speaker B: Yeah. And so at that point I would have said, man, this is a turning point of the series that you're to challenge this. Something that's at borderline. And the repercussions of that, I mean, you know, putting someone on the power play in hockey, like I get you're wanting trying to get something from a challenge perspective. And, and I think that even wore on Tortorella in game three. You know, there was a kind of a questionable call on that last goal for Carolina as far as the goalie interference and whatnot and thing. And I was like, I think he maybe wanted to challenge him, but if it didn't go in and then you're going to put Carolina on the power play to potentially go ahead. I mean, that might have been seeping back in Tortorella's mind at that point. [00:14:17] Speaker A: Hey, that's a crazy role though. If you lose the challenge, you get the other team a. Yeah. How long has that been? Have I just missed that the whole time? [00:14:27] Speaker B: Yeah, man, I want to say it's the last two years or something like that. [00:14:31] Speaker A: It hasn't been a long time. I just like, that's a crazy rule. And I'm just thinking like, imagine challenging something in football and like, oh, you up. We're gonna give the team 25 yards right now. [00:14:42] Speaker B: Just more prevalent in these moments. Like, honestly, I was taken aback just watching game three of the NBA finals right now, know, tonight and you know, there was What a, a 4 point, 6 point swing on this Wembiana 3 point infoul. But then it got, you know, reversed because, you know, they pushed them into Wembanyama. [00:15:00] Speaker A: And then there was a challenge. [00:15:01] Speaker B: There was a. And then Wemba's challenging a foul on kind of a, a loose in the middle. I was like, I was like, man, there's this many challenges in the NBA now too. Like that kind of took me back for some momentum of that game in game three for, for that game. [00:15:13] Speaker A: A little weird. One thing with like, obviously the spurs have been pretty good on the road and they picked up like some big wins, knocking out OKC Picking up a big game, five win. And that game, you know, or back to back, rather 6, 6 and 7 to knock off the champs. But is it me or like, it. It seems like the NBA is really, like, the officiating is just so pro. Spur, spurs, they're like wembanyama. I know there's, like, a lot of fans of it, but the more I'm watching, he kind of seems like a. There's like a dirty side to him. He's a dirty player, man. I saw him kind of instructing, like a little knockout punch against OKC the previous round where his homeboy just, you know, did like a little nudge. And now there's a bunch of fouls that could have been called on Wembanyama when he knocked down Brunson. And just some of the ticky tack calls that they're getting. They're getting the. I think it was like 22 free throws, like six in the. In the second half, like three minutes ago in favor of the spurs, granted. I didn't like the gameplay from the Knicks, though. Like, they shot way too many threes. Way too many threes. They were just like kind of forcing it. Forcing. They weren't playing really good team basketball, actually in the second half. And I feel like that's what cost them. Like, I feel like they could have won this one. But besides that, though, the calls are definitely going spurs way. [00:16:35] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I mean, you're thinking in this game alone, you had 78 free throws for the spurs and 82 for the Knicks, so. Or from a three throw percentage standpoint, I guess he had 32. Yes, 32 overall free throws from the spurs and 22 for the Knicks. So, yeah, potentially. I mean, I don't know. I'm. I guess I'm not watching enough basketball to understand. Do you compare some of the officiating with Wembanyama versus, like, when it was Shaq? Is he a hard person to officiate? Does he get more calls? Because, you know, his overall length and skill set and everything like that. Is he gonna get a few more here and there? I guess I'm not seeing the drastic numbers when I'm looking at the box score now, you know, potentially. But I mean, if I'm a Knicks fan, yeah, I probably could definitely see what you're talking about there because, you know, he got, what, nine free throws in this game? I mean, Jalen Brunson's, you know, he got eight, but maybe he had to work for those a little bit harder. [00:17:30] Speaker A: He got worked, man. He got words. He's been knocked out a few times. Yeah, no sweep happening in this Finals, but I still got the Knicks in six. [00:17:43] Speaker B: Well, I mean, you could be the skeptical person that, you know, Adam Silver makes the call, man. We're not looking for a sweep at the NBA Finals. We need it. We need this thing to go to at least six. I mean, you probably. You're dreaming it up for the NBA right now. You. Then they want the Knicks to win in six at Madison Square Garden. [00:18:00] Speaker A: Dude, New York's not even going to survive, man. I don't know if you've seen clips on Socials. Dude, these guys are going nuts after game one and game two of the Finals. They're, like, wilding out, man. [00:18:11] Speaker B: I mean, it's what it's always said that New York's really a basket. It's a basketball city, and they just haven't anything to root for. So they don't get that acknowledge, the acknowledgement of them being a basketball city. [00:18:22] Speaker A: Dude, if they win, this is like. I feel like there's like a handful of teams, you know, like, we've been waiting for them to kind of end the drought. You know, you got the Bills, right, and the NFL. I don't know who else is on there, but definitely Clippers. You know, probably people are waiting for. Or maybe. Maybe they're not waiting for the Clippers, but New York, though, has been waiting for a championship for a long time. And. And if they win, if they pull this off, dude, I don't even know. Like, they're gonna go crazy. They have so much nypd, you know, reinforcements there. You know, I saw some guy doing lines on. On top of a bus, you know, on a clip, and then jumping onto a, you know, street sign. It's been really wild. But I'm really digging the Finals, though. [00:19:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it's been. It's been great tv, I think, on both ends for the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals, so great stuff. I. I'd be happy for New York because, again, this is their sport. I think it's what they. I. I can't think of a comparison. Rome, off the top of my head, like, what's another major city that's had, like, their. The one team, the. So the team that really speaks for the city that just hasn't won the championship. I don't know. I mean, maybe at this point, I mean, it's way more. But, like, the Cowboys at this point will be like this maybe. [00:19:43] Speaker A: Yeah, Cowboys is a good one. [00:19:44] Speaker B: It's been more than 30 years for them winning a Super Bowl. We talk all this thing. I mean, the Knicks, you said since 99 they haven't been in the finals, but a team that could actually win. It was 90, you know, the 94, 95 team, they got sucked up by the Jordan era. [00:19:58] Speaker A: Jordan, I think Hakeem knocked him out in four or five games. Yeah, yep. [00:20:04] Speaker B: But you imagine that how they have that whole Knicks team that just besides when Jordan retired those two years, but the entire 90s being, they just couldn't get through the east because it was blocked by Jordan. But I mean, yeah, I mean, because we're, we're dating this thing back, you know, beyond our time on earth. At this point they have been, you know, our NBA champions. But the brand out there for the Knicks is still there. I mean, at this point, like your daughter's going to be talking about why are the Bulls ever relevant? And you know, they're, and they, but they somehow get sold out crowds every year for a 500 team. [00:20:35] Speaker A: She's still asking me questions like, oh, so which team is your team, daddy? I'm like, no, like I'm the Laker fan. We're just watching because it's game six or it's, it's game seven. Amelia, you know best two words in sports. Game seven. She's like, so who are you going for? I'm just, I'm just rooting for a good game. She's like, why are we watching then? She doesn't get it yet. But who did you have before the series started for the NBA and who do you got going now? [00:21:03] Speaker B: I, I, I would still think the spurs are going to win. I mean, I'll be the villain in that take. I, I, you know, I think tonight was the equalizer. I still think there's a, there's some advantage with Wembay and Yama and I mean, Harper was good on the boards tonight, you know, Dude. Yeah, I know. Just crazy. And then Fox, I mean he, he had some solo ball there a little bit in those last couple minutes. You know, that pull up jumper kind of see jumper. [00:21:33] Speaker A: And he's been dealing with the ankle injury, but he had a kind of like a double step fake and he split the defender in for like a layup in, in, in the fourth quarter. It was like a timely 2, 2 points, but I'm like, oh, wow, I haven't seen Fox do that in a while. It was really nice. He had a good game. Harper for rookie, 20 years old, killing it. Castle had a great game. I think Wemby and Castle, first teammates under 22 to get 20 points and five rebounds, five assists, etc. So it's a young team, man. I don't want to see the spurs win because, you know, first of all, I hate the spurs because the Lakers probably could have won like another one or two championships without the spurs and same thing for the spurs, they probably could have won another chip or two without the Lakers. It was like a really good like two dynasties battling at the same time, which we don't see too often. They've cleaned up championships for like that 10 year period. But Wemby, everybody's young, they're just, we thought the Thunder were set up for life at least for like the next 10 years. And all of a sudden the spurs went from like a 38 win team to like 60 something and in one year, in year three for WEMBY and they look like they're just gonna get better. Like everyone's young. Harper is gonna probably be one of the better point guards that we've seen and his dad was on the Bulls, really good player. I'm a big fan of his. [00:22:49] Speaker B: So [00:22:51] Speaker A: I, I just, if the Knicks gonna steal one, this is it. I like the veteran stuff, but just young talent, dude. If a young 20 year old team can like knock out a whole bunch of late 20, early 30 guys, seasoned stars by the way, that have won a lot in the NBA, no championships, not too much at least, but it'll be pretty impressive. [00:23:13] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I, I don't know if I would say this is the Knicks only shot, but I mean when you look at, when you look at the stuff in the west right now you're talking about how young the spurs are. We're going to be talking about the Thunder and their infinite draft picks and assets and everything they have of the way, you know, that team operates so impressively from a front office and roster construction perspective. I mean, the good thing for the Knicks is the east basically is just wide open. And so I don't, you know, you got, you got the turmoil in Boston with whatever's going with Jaylen Brown and potentially wanted to be out, you know, don't know what the Pacers, the Pacers basically tanked the whole season and didn't get the draft pick that they were probably, you know, know, you know, expecting. So I, the East just remains wide open where even if you, you know, you said the Knicks, they're not a young team, but like, you know, they're, I don't think they're, they still got A lot of younger guys that are really in their prime. That Cat and Brunson and OG like they, you know, this could still be their time. So. Yeah, but I think this is the one they want to steal because I think at this point you're going to talk about you want to get Wembanyama when he's young because he's just continuing to get better. I'm. I'm sure he's probably still growing at a certain point. I don't know if he's going to be 8ft in the next two years at some point you. But, but yeah, I mean, entertaining finals for the NBA. I think we could look at Aaron and I at the beginning they were talking about where. Where the NBA is at. And I think, you know, a pretty good regular season with the new broadcast partners and you know, a different hype around the league. And then you get to this finals where you got a lot of young players or you got a young phenom with Wembanyama and a good. A lot of good young players around him. And then you get the Knicks, which I think for the NBA, like, hey, this is. I mean the only thing that probably would be better for the NBA at this point would be if it was Knicks, Lakers. I mean that would probably be the only thing that would probably put it over the top for them because I mean, this is probably going to be a massive rating success given like, you know, probably 95% of households in the New York area are watching this game. [00:25:06] Speaker A: It's crazy. It's like none of these teams are great teams. They're just really good. They're obviously in the finals. So it's just one of those off years that we don't. We're not having a making of a great team. But I guess you. We really can't say that for the NBA anyways because now we're going on our eighth straight year with the new champion that's going to be crowned pretty impressive. Real quick, NHL before we wrap up and then we switch over to F1. Who did you have coming into the final and what are you thinking now with Las Vegas up 2 1. [00:25:34] Speaker B: I guess I was just picking, you know, all the people that are down because I would have thought Carolina because I just. I just didn't think the Golden Knights had it in from the beginning. The Avalanche. Obviously we're going to be the pick. Going over Carolina we talked about in the one episode we did. For me, they've had a really good team the past couple years and just couldn't make through in the playoffs and the east is a little more wide open with Florida not making the playoffs. There wasn't, you know, there just wasn't the team that could be standing in their way. And they're going to get to the east mostly unscathed to a degree and get to this point they've just been playing, you know, they're playing a little behind in these games, but they have the attacking portion. I guess I'm just going to go with it. I'm going to pick them too. I, I still think Caroline's going to somehow get it past the Golden Knights, but it's going to be a long series and you're gonna, I think you're gonna have to see them be ahead in some of these games and not having this late heart attack stuff to catch up against the Golden Knights because man, you've, you just proven. You mentioned the hat trick in three minutes or whatever from Marner. You know, the Knights, the Knights can play and put the goal together as quickly while playing on their heels the whole time. [00:26:39] Speaker A: Sniper. When he was on the show he was making a point like these are two defensive teams and so he kind of had like the under like the goals. I think it was just like three or four and a half goals per game. We've went, we've gone over on everyone. Do you see it continuing just being high scoring game? There's good defense. It's just like they're, each team is capitalizing like the tiniest mistakes. [00:27:04] Speaker B: Yeah, I, I just think there's just so many ways both teams can score and this is where you get into the Stanley cup playoffs is like, you know, the stars step up and that's where the big portion in. But you know a lot of times you get unlikely heroes that are going to be like scoring at this time and you think of the depth of the fourth line and they mentioned this a couple of the broadcasts and like both coaches liking how deep these teams are. And so I think that puts it just in an array of like hey, these goals can happen kind of at any time, you know, in, in the series. So I, I would, I mean I'd have to look at the overs of what there is, but I still think they're going to be some, be some high scoring games. I don't think we're getting a one nothing shut out or a two one. Yeah, something like at this point, like I don't want to get some gold goals on there. You know, I, I would expect Carolina in this next game. You Know, probably trying to really set the pace again like they did in game. In game three. [00:28:03] Speaker A: Three. [00:28:03] Speaker B: I mean, I mean they, I for the most part I thought they owned game the period one in game three and just they couldn't break through and then they lost everything in the second period when Vegas just went on, you know, quick run in, in the kind of the marner time. But yeah, I, I don't know. I like Carolina in game in game four. I like it to even up. I, I think for both series that, you know, you're going back to the NBA. I think you're just. We're going to have two, you know, tied up series and it's going to be the best of three in both the San Linka final and the NBA Finals. [00:28:34] Speaker A: I don't know why, man. Like, probably because my Red Wings haven't been there very often and like my backup team, the Penguins haven't done much lately. I've been kind of like rooting for Vegas. Maybe it's because Kelsey Plum was there for a while too, you know, with the Aces. Now she's the Sparks. I gotta take my daughter to a game. We got some signs made. My daddy's single. [00:28:57] Speaker B: Gotta shoot your shot. Hey, I will, I will say it for Vegas. I don't, I don't think there is a better story in sports history from a launch of an expansion franchise in the success both on the ice and just like the fan base and support when it comes around, you know, this Vegas team, like year one obviously going to the Stanley cup finals, just unprecedented. They ended up losing to the Ovechkin team. But like, you know, I, I went that by. I went to one game there and it was that first season. I watched him play the Blackhawks in their first season and we're talking three, four months into the season and there is just a core fan base that has only gotten bigger that is just all in on this team. And when you go to Vegas, you know, it's, you know, Vegas is a touristy town to a degree, but like, you know, the population that continues to grow there is there. Man. They are all in on hockey in the desert and that and that is the team of Vegas. You know, you got the Raiders there now and you're going to have the, the A's whenever they get their stadium built. But I think for Vegas, they're a hockey city and they, and, and the Golden Knights are going to be like the core of that. And I think that continues to like impress me of like, hey, they won a Stanley Cup. They've been to two finals. They've pretty much been the conversation every year in the West. They really haven't had like the down period. You know, they've continued to, you know, adjust their roster and tweak. They brought in Jack Eichel, who is a huge star. You know, it's, it's, it's a really well run franchise. And like you said, being a Red Wings fans ain't good. The Blackhawks, for me, they haven't been good in a decade at this point and they're just continually rebuilding. But, you know, this is a team that's been a part of the conversation since their expansion year. [00:30:34] Speaker A: I feel bad for the A's when they finally go to Vegas next year because they're going to be the third best team there. Aces are still killing it. Knights are killing it. [00:30:44] Speaker B: I mean, I think for the A's, they're always somehow just, you know, they got a cheap roster that. Just a bunch of players every five years and before they get rid of them all. So I don't know. I mean, Vegas to me is like a great place for sports especially. I mean, they may not. I mean, the Vegas hockey team, the Golden Knights, they, they have a great home ice advantage. But I always said this about the Raiders, like, great. You're just gonna get every fan base flying in eight, eight weeks out of the year for these away games and just get everyone over there and it's. Yeah, well, I mean, yeah, I don't know if the A's are gonna be the A's, maybe the second best team. I don't know what the Raider. I mean, the Raiders basically are this transient team that's got fans in La Oak, Vegas. So they just got this kind of triangle of the west coast that's in there. But I mean, I, I don't know what fans there is left of the A's and what the attraction's gonna be like. I'll definitely check out their ballpark. It's gonna be on the strip. It's gonna be, you know, kind of something to go to. But I mean, it'll be interesting. [00:31:40] Speaker A: Yeah. At least in the Bay, a lot of Ace fans will not go to any more A's games ever again. They're still rocking the old A's gear. You see it all over the place. The green, the yellow. But no one will go up to Sacramento Ghostion play. All right, we'll take a quick break. We come back, we'll get Andrew back on the pod, we'll Talk a little F1 and what happened in Monaco and Antonelli's epic, epic run right now. All right, we are back sourced from the sofa. The talk a little F1. We got a few races to recap if you guys want. We have special guest Andrew Rodriguez, who made a few appearances last year. Big Hamilton guy, big Mercedes guy. Ferrari guy. Mercedes. Yeah, yeah. Okay, sounds good. Well, on the plus side, Jason's also a big Hamilton guy and you guys must be excited because Hamilton's been not winning, but almost like a return back to old form here in a really nice Ferrari car that's like the best out there outside of Antonelli's car. And we won't talk about Norris's car at all because engine failure is non stop for McLaren. But Monaco, it was a nice spectacle. A little bit of drama in the race as well. And Antonelli claiming pole and now winning his fifth, fifth race in a row, which has never been done by someone this young. He now he joins the rank of like Verstappen, who's done it like at ten races in a row, nine, five a few times. I think Hamilton's done it twice as well. And he has what, a 60 point lead over Hamilton, as well as his teammate Russell, who still has some points in there. But pretty fun stuff so far, I guess. Like, like, let's, like, I don't know if you guys want to like focus on Monaco right now, kind of recap the race of what happened or kind of like step back, Talk about the F1 season so far because we have a few races missing, so we're like kind of like a little bit more behind than usual since we skipped, what, two races in the Middle East. But I'll let you guys decide if you guys want to talk about Monaco first or kind of reverse back and talk about the season. In retrospect, I'd say we can just [00:33:57] Speaker B: talk about Monaco because I think it's really, you know, obviously the easy results from last week, but also the culmination of these last five races for where Kimi's been. Honestly, Rome. I think the last time we talked about it was Australia and looking at Australia and like George Russell dominance at that point. And Aaron and I were telling you a year ago that Mercedes was going to have the car to beat in 2026. And you know, the. I'm going to do a whole day worth of podcast, Roman, to tell you where I was wrong. So I was wrong about the Colorado Avalanche, I was wrong about the Oklahoma City Thunder, and. And apparently I'm wrong about George Russell. Because Aaron and I were putting our house, you know, betting it all in Vegas that 2026 was going to be the. The one year George had the chance to win the championship before Kimi the phenom potentially takes over before the other manufacturers figures out what's going on. That it was going to be a Mercedes runaway and George was going to be the number one driver. And as well he, as he did in 2025 with a sub par Mercedes car and got it on the podium and got it close as he could to verstappen in the McLarens. Okay. He's gonna have the best car. He's gonna, he's got a still a 19 year old partner. He's gonna, he's gonna run away with this thing. And you look at Australia basically runs away. He's post race. I'm loving this car. This car is fantastic. And ever since then it's just been an absolute nightmare for this guy. And Kimi has just taken the world by storm. I mean he is, I mean we talked about NBA, you know, in the last show. You know, you're talking about a kid that's in the second year. This is dominating F1 at 19 years old. And you saw that in Monaco. Him taking the pole against everyone and just running basically a flat out almost perfect race, you know, around Monaco at that point. [00:35:45] Speaker A: Andrew. [00:35:47] Speaker C: Yeah, no, I echo all of that. I think especially with the context of Australia versus now in the string of five runs with Antonelli. It's just a, a flip on the narrative. And I think it was Russell who had said an offhanded comment interview that it was kimmies to lose. Now [00:36:08] Speaker A: he said a lot of things in there too. He also said he's perplexed or bonkers or something. [00:36:13] Speaker C: He's flat. He said I'm very flat. Yeah, I'm emotionally flat. But I don't think he's flat. I, I definitely think he thinks there's some gremlins on his side of the garage. But I guess going to Monaco specifically, you know, it's Monaco. So even like I guess zooming out for the 2026 regs and stuff, I mean what did we have to really like look for that was going to change what Monaco represents on the calendar? Slightly smaller cars, I guess. [00:36:44] Speaker A: And you know, we had more changes in the race. That was kind of nice. We didn't have that like in the last two years, at least since I've been watching F1. So at least we had like some changes, some takeovers. Antonelli almost laughed. Right? Yeah. [00:36:57] Speaker C: I mean, there was, we can jump into it, I think. You know, I don't know how to say this diplomatically. Monaco was, I, I guess, like it wasn't, I mean, like, you know, like, because like, even like Christian Horner talked about, like, there's been all this, like, I believe it was. Monaco has been extended till 2035 on a contract now. [00:37:21] Speaker A: Nice, nice. [00:37:22] Speaker C: There's a lot of hand ringing about that, you know. And so Christian Horner, I believe, was the one that said, like, the only thing you can really do fundamentally with the way, you know, the principality is the, the, the landlock of it all is maybe make it a harder breaking zone for turn one. You know, there's not like a lot you can do to make the racing exciting. So for me, like, personally going into Monaco and I think for a lot of people it's qualifying. Qualifying is like really exciting. It's the best qualifying of the year. That's kind of, I don't know, a bit of a, a bit of a bummer. But I mean, like practices. Let's, I guess, zoom back to the beginning of the weekend. We had, I believe it was Antonelli P1. Yeah. Hamilton P2 and LeClaire P3. Or was that. They flipped that around. So, you know, so that was good. So you saw some Ferraris. We thought that the Ferraris would be good. Antonelli has been on the streak. He's just gone from strength to strength. But we know that the Mercedes power unit, you know, going back to the talk about Mercedes having a dominant new red car, is that their power unit is just bonkers. [00:38:37] Speaker A: Right. [00:38:37] Speaker C: Their straight line speed is just unassailable. So the thinking going into Monaco was that, you know, the Ferraris have, you know, really good in the corners. But again, again, you're, you're, you're threading through a needle, a camel through a needle, as it were. So for me, I enjoyed qualifying, I enjoyed practices. I didn't have a lot of expectations for the, the Grand Prix in Monaco. And it turns out it was interesting for different reasons, which we can talk about. [00:39:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I like how Andrew wanted to say this diplomatically, but I mean, for the fact of the matter, generally the Monaco Grand Prix sucks because you can't pass anywhere on, on the street. So it is a time trials qualifying and then we just basically, you know, do this 56 lap going around the pretty countryside and it's the most beautiful place in the world and it's where rich people want to hang out. And it's on the calendar because, hey, Great. We just want to have the massive celebrities of a bunch of rich people and their yachts out there and every. Everything there that's, you know, the history behind it and the wealthy that is in this elitist sport want to be there, and that's why it's there. So, I mean, it's an insanely hard track if you're going to try to go around there. I'm pretty sure if any of the three of us try to navigate this, like, I'll be honest, I get in the f. I get the. I'll go in the F1 game. Right now. Up on the loft, we'll get F125 for the 2026 expansion pap. I'm gonna destroy the left front tire on one of these turns already because I'm going to try to go too fast in one of these turns. So the incredible skill these guys get around this place without, you know, smashing into a wall is great. But the overall racing is basically like it's. It's a thing of attrition. You can't pass anyone. You saw people slowing down, which happens every year as far as to get an advantage because you can't get around them. So the actual racing of it all isn't there. But as Andrew said, it was probably our expect expectations low. Everyone's like that. It's like, ah, race. I mean, they moved it outside the Indy 500 date for some different reasons, but also because, like, it's not as good a race on that kind of triple header weekend. So now you're putting it kind of by its own and from a motorsports perspective, but it's still not even great racing. But this one, hey, it was a little better because, you know, half the grid got a speeding penalty which felt like the sensor was wrong and we're just arbitrarily giving speeding penalties. You got suspense because George Russell might have got the tire on the pit exit line there for a little bit. And then we got George snitching on people because they're more than 10 car lights are in a safety car. And then, you know, the cobblestone roads are coming up and so people are smashing into walls. And you finally saw Charlotte Claire actually like not be the, you know, the Disney prince nice guy and really just kind of let things loose there in the garage. So that was cool to see, but I think it was way more entertaining than I thought for the politically correct way. Andrew saying is, hey, it's not that great of a race. But yeah, this one was better than [00:41:22] Speaker A: we probably Expected okay, now you guys can say that's why I didn't like it at first. I'm like what's the whole point of this race? [00:41:30] Speaker C: It wasn't a good race. It was just less bad I guess. You know, [00:41:36] Speaker A: less bad. So scaling back a little bit I think I watched the last race with you Andrew. That was the Canadian Grand Prix. Really exciting where we had Antonelli and Russell battling an alpha. Like the what first 35 laps until Russell's car just took a. And then we had a whole bunch of cars just like die out in that race. What like eight guys were disqualified or like malfunctioning. Russell throwing his stuff out in the middle of the track, you know, just looking perplexed if you will. And that pretty much. And then, and then Hamilton have having a battle with Verstappen. Verstappen not having enough to hold him off and him taking. So he's had back to back races now second podium right behind Antonelli which is pretty awesome. Hamilton's having like a bounce back year if you will. The Ferrari looks great. Obviously Mercedes there's some rules that come that are going to be taken in effect right pretty soon because Mercedes found a loophole in the regulations and they caught it and so typically they wait till the end of the season to put that in but it's actually going to affect pretty soon. [00:42:47] Speaker B: I thought that already went into effect and they went to Canada. I, I thought, I mean it's not a full thing there. There's a bigger rule adjustment they're doing for next season and the conversations are basically around the, the internal combustion versus electric aspect of thing and not be the 50, 50 and be some sort of 60, 40. But then the manufacturers are pushing back because then that equates to how much gas they have to put in the car and all sorts of stuff. So I think there's more to come in that I don't think there's anything stopping Mercedes in their power unit right now. You know like you said like Ferrari is having the resurgence and a little bit this year with Lewis and I think the entire bad season last year with Lewis was really like he already had this crappy ground effect car. The contract what it was because that was the timing and he knew it wasn't going to be great but there's probably a bunch of work he did from the details aspect of preparing this car for what it was going to be this year. You know, knowing it's going to, hey it's going to be an R and D sprint for Every team to get to the right spot. But I say at the same time, Andrew and I both big Lewis guys, it sucks because man, you wish Lewis had this Mercedes right now because you know, if you had, you know, George versus Lewis or you had Lewis versus Kimi in, in the kind of this Mercedes and what kind of battles you'd be having there too. Like man, like there's just something, something to think about what it could have been, you know, for a guy chasing his eight championship. I think for me that's what's in the back of my mind. [00:44:13] Speaker A: Oh man. 101 thing is real. I want to ask you guys what's up with this like this new reemergence, like this love affair with Toto Wolf and Lewis like all of a sudden like they're all hunky dory flirting in public and he's like oh, like only if you're in our car again and stuff like that. Just totally disregarding Russell. I, I feel like Russell's watching his, his wife having a, an affair with, with her hot ex husband or something like that. It's just really awkward. [00:44:41] Speaker B: Toto's doing that with everyone, bro. Like you, you want to look at there, there was memes going out there. I will say that the Canadian Grand Prix podium I thought was a symbolically fantastic podium of you know, you had basically the legend and probably in Andrew and I's opinion the all time Formula one great Lewis Hamilton. You had the guy that he kind of symbolically passed the torch with, controversially with Max Verstappen who had this like four or five year run. Now you have the winner in there, which is probably the next guy who potentially is going to be the next great with Kimi Antonelli. And so you had these three generations of Formula one on the podium and there was a meme out there of total Wolf just looking at these three guys and they're all wearing Mercedes outfits because it's like my current prodigy right now is winning my great that I'm responsible for all success. Lewis, he's still our driver even though he's wearing Ferrari. And then the guy, the love affair that Toto Wolff wanted with Verstappen in 2016, the one that got away that he's still dreaming about to this day and we can get into this more but I 100% right now feel like George is on the outs and if he doesn't turn it on quick like there's going to be a hard court press on Verstappen in 2027 right now, [00:45:52] Speaker A: George was doing really well. He had a great year last year. Great, what, one or two races? And I think now it's mentally getting to him. Dude. I think he's. [00:46:01] Speaker B: It is. And it's another disaster because you're not wrong because it's there with Toto. Like, he's. There's a lukewarm defensive where George is at, and, like, you know, there was, like, yeah, it was the car in the Canadian Grand Prix, and, you know, what it was. Was. But George is feeling it, and it's obvious. And I think Mercedes kind of knows, like, hey, what. What's it going to be like? Verstappen gives them the star. It's going to be a lot of money and what they want, and they may not need him because the car may be that much better. But to think about where this regulation goes. They're dominant in year one for Mercedes, but in years three, four, five, whatever it is, you want the best driver in a car that may be competing with McLaren, maybe competing with potentially Ferrari if they can start making some steps. So, like, this is disastrous for George because you're right. Like, Toto's got his eyes on. I'm gonna put the greatest driver lineup of all time. I have my young prodigy. This is my child, Kimi. You know, this is. This is everything he is to me. But, yeah, I got. I got the. The love that I never was able to consummate with Max. I. I still want to get that one, too. [00:47:03] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. And Ryan Russell has the unfortunate complex now of being a middle child. So, I mean, it's just, you know, he was the baby brother and that. Back to your point about how he looked last year or the last two years. Yeah. Standing next to a. I don't know, a Hamilton who's, you know, kind of going through a dark spell. Right. Only only raises Russell's stock. Russell was set to be then the big brother when Antonelli comes in. You think Antonelli. It would take a couple years to kind of, I don't know, come to form, but Antonelli is just swinging. And so now Russell doesn't have any more luxury to prove himself. And, you know, I mean, I guess, like, one thing in Russell's favor is that Mercedes is strong. I mean, even with Antonelli, Russell's not performing as bad as, like, Cho or anybody else in that second, like Red Bull Seat was doing, you know, with a caveat of what's going on in the last two, two, three races with some of this stuff. So. But, yeah, I mean, Russell will Find a seat. For sure. Russell will find a seat. [00:48:16] Speaker A: He's having a bad. He's still third in the driver's championship. [00:48:20] Speaker C: Right, right. But you know, and again I think that. So back to like talking about like the race, the scene, the good fighting between Antonelli and Russell. For me as a fan and I think for like a lot of people that felt like we were getting the inner team battle that we wished we got from McLaren. And so that kind of felt like, okay, like Mercedes has precedent for letting that run a little too far and I think they're self aware of it. [00:48:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:48:49] Speaker C: So I don't think there, I think there is like a ceiling to how much Toto will allow. But it definitely seemed a lot less, I don't know, cowardly than how like, than McLaren and Zach was trying to kind of bottle things. I don't think this goes on all year but I do think that like at a certain point like Antonelli is kind of going to start winning like the garage politics Rome. [00:49:12] Speaker B: Do you know the lore of the Mercedes, like Rosberg, Hamilton stuff? [00:49:16] Speaker A: I don't actually. There's still a lot I got to catch up on. [00:49:20] Speaker B: Well, basically their rivalry in inter Mercedes battle was so bad, total Wolf took him aside and basically said, if you guys keep messing up the car, you're going to have to start paying for all the damage you guys do to it. Yeah. [00:49:33] Speaker C: And Rosberg famously won a championship after that coming together. And then what did he do? He's like, I'm, I'm good, I'm retiring now. So Hamilton never got a chance to fight back. [00:49:44] Speaker A: Oh man. [00:49:44] Speaker C: So it's that one, that one needling. But yeah. So anyways, back to Mercedes. They've got a strong enough car that they can kind of just fudge the problem for a bit. They can kick the can down the road a little bit. But you have to believe those conversations and those rumblings are going on and that's only going to cannibalize Russell's poise, which is kind of like his only characteristic. I feel like that he has at this point. So. Yeah, so, and then like back to Monaco itself, like the actual star of the race. I mean we had Verstappen, you know, a second right behind Antonelli. We know Mercedes has had these troubled starts. They seem like they've got on top of it with a little bit of help from the regulations. The Mercedes kind of prior to. I'm not sure if you're aware, but Mercedes are, you know, apex. They're really good. But they were Having issues with starting. And so some of the other cars were as well, was just like rev limits and getting these new hybrid engines to take off the lines properly. Ferrari kind of like indexed on that problem and designed their car to be able to handle that. And then it became such a kind of a. As things Normally go, in F1, there was enough belly aching that they sort of compressed that problem so that everyone had a better start. It's a longer startup sequence when people go off the line. So that plus Mercedes engineering has allowed Mercedes to be more reliable on the starts. But even like with, you know, this potentially interesting start, what happened? Verstappen did not start. So there was no chance for any first turn heroics. There was no, no chance for any of that. So, yeah, and I guess like, you know, the biggest thing of all of it, I think the scariest thing of all of it is that for what we say about Monaco being a very boring race to watch. And we talked about like playing it on a F1 game or just what drivers think about Monaco. The stakes are high and I heard someone mention it's, it's the safety danger is low because you're not really going at any sort of speed where any of these mistakes are going to cause you a lot of physical damage. But it's the technical danger is high. The smallest infraction is going to like you're going to, you're going to mess your suspension up or something. So yeah. So I mean, ultimately, I think the scariest thing about it all was that Antonelli even being as young as he is second time there at that track, by the, I mean like he, he seemed not bored. He just seemed unbothered by, by having to hold that position. And so that I think is the scariest indicator about what the rest of the season looks like with Antonelli's reign. [00:52:27] Speaker A: It's kind of crazy seeing a teenager running a muckman. And George Russell is, I don't know, I don't know the right word for it, but you can use the wrong one. Team standings right now, Mercedes is killing it. First place right now, 244 Ferrari at 165 McLaren 118. Those are probably the three best teams and three best cars running on these new regulations. Right? You have everyone else in the middle of the pack from Red Bull Racing, Alpine Racing, Bulls Haas and Williams. And then you have the bottom of the pact if you want to include Williams in there. But two one and zero points for Audi, Aston Martin and Cadillac respectively. Cadillac zero points so far after what Is it six, seven races, not a good start. [00:53:20] Speaker B: Yeah, you knew that was gonna happen with Cadillac. I mean, starting a team from the ground up. They almost got their first point in that race. Sergio Perez was in 10th when it ended and then had a penalty and it took that point away and gave it to Aston Martin. So I mean, both of those teams are now there. Obviously they're just trying to get something at this point. But I think you're right. Rome, you look at the top three right now, Red Bull potentially can maybe get into the mix. But you know, consistently the, the amount of DNFs both between Isak Hajar's car and Verstappen in this race, obviously he's gonna plague them. Mercedes, for all intents and purposes is gonna probably wrap up the constructors. You're probably seeing a 1, 2 battle with Antonelli and Russell. I'm not sure like Lewis is even very self aware of like, hey, this is a great season. He loves the car, loves the team, he feels the resurgence. He's in second place, but he knows the Mercedes power units. He gives it all the praise in the world. I mean, there was, there was a shot. I wish I could have taken a picture of it. They were interviewing Isaac Hajar post race at Monaco and Lewis is behind Hajar during the interview, like cyborging the Mercedes car. Like, he's just looking in the side. He looked and he goes to the back and he's looking the wing here, then look at the other side here. Like the whole time is like just trying to probably find any edge of like what is kind of in this car. I don't know if I don't know. Those keys are in the arrow, to be honest with you. It's all in the power unit and whether Ferrari can get the power unit working. [00:54:43] Speaker A: But I just wasn't a rumor that it was Hamilton that kind of caught on like, like the advantage that Mercedes had in, in the engine and kind of blew no whistle. [00:54:53] Speaker B: No, I, I mean, I don't know about that. I mean, I think he probably knows a little more. I don't think. I don't think he was in tune to anything they had developing for 2026. I mean it was just long ruben in like F1 vehicles that this power unit was even something different. [00:55:04] Speaker A: They knew. [00:55:05] Speaker B: Oh, then they knew the reg. Everything about the ground effect era in the previous car was around aerodynamics, which what McLaren nailed for the most part. And Red Bull had a good start to it where this one was to be known. Like, hey, the engines are gonna matter because this is what Audi and a bunch of these and Mercedes was pushing for is like the engine and the power unit needs to matter more of just having great aerodynamics because you couldn't, you couldn't follow in the other cars. Like, you'd get close, the arrow would be bad. You get dirty air, and the car sucked. And that was like, what McLaren kind of thrived on and what they were able to fix. So I think there was always this head start with McLaren or with Mercedes and the power unit, but they also had the head start versus these other manuf. Other teams that have the Mercedes power unit that's not as Good. You mentioned McLaren having some reliability issues and other things up with the car. So I just think the head start with Mercedes is there and Ferrari is not going to do it. And Lewis is probably the most vocal voice. It is like, yeah, we're just, we're a step behind these guys and we got a lot of work to do to even get close. So I would say, you know, I know you mentioned the team, but for George, forget to bring it back to him in the Mercedes duel. The, the, the European run, which we're going to start right now, you know, Monica going to. And Barcelona next, and we'll get into Austria and, and Silverstone and all that stuff. This is where Kimi season last year was awful. So the guy that was from Europe, like, he had his worst stretch. It was DNF in Barcelona last year, you know, wasn't great in, in some of the other tracks. And so I. It's a, it's a massive margin George has to make up. But you think about how close the, the, the Norris Verstappen Piastri thing got last year. Yeah, you know, you know, Kimi's been very poised so far, but he has a killer in him. And there's some aggression there where, hey, he does something and crashes out a car one day because some of these battles get a little too tight. It's not off the table, dude. [00:56:57] Speaker A: He's had a few close calls in, in all these races where he almost lost control, hit the wall, especially when he was leading. It might have been like one of the first two races he, he won. It might have been like the first one where he almost, you know, wiped out on like one of the turns. That was like five laps to go. So I don't know. Really exciting. Really quick, though, before we go, thoughts on McLaren's team right now. Oscar Piastri, Lionel Norris, back to back, five and six in the points. They both have been eliminated in a handful of races already. Engine failures. Whatever thoughts on the McLaren team? [00:57:31] Speaker C: Well, I'd say the, the first thought is just, it's, it's a, it's poetic, a Sad poem that McLaren is celebrating its a thousandth start. It's 1001 Grand Prix retiring. Norris, you know, previous world champ. So, I don't know. Like I said, the Mercedes power units, I think reliability issues, we're seeing a lot of DNFs. I think that's something that's part and parcel. When you have reg changes, you know, you take some risks and some things just don't pan out. So my feelings are that I think McLaren has the infrastructure and momentum and talent. I mean, you know, they just poached Max's engineer for a later date, but they're still whatever the opposite of a brain drain is. They, they are still. I think they have good momentum. So that I think, I guess bottom line up front is that I think McLaren is stumbling, but they have two competent, competent drivers who have been in that organization for enough time to kind of, I don't know, feel comfortable there and perform if they're given the correct car. So I think things could change. I think it's possible. But I'm not hearing any rumblings that there's any one single thing that McLaren needs to do to keep pace with the development that's going on right now between the Mercedes and the Ferraris. Because if the Mercedes can. If the Mercedes can crack the suspension, which they seem to have, you know, Toto was down there watching with his own eyes during free practice, kind of studying how good those Ferraris were handling the chicane. And it looks like something worked. They were, they were riding those bumps really well. And it's Ferrari. Hamilton seems to believe he's seeing a lot of good positive changes. And if Fred can, you know, I don't know, somehow eke out more power over the power in the power unit, then they seem to be really on a good advanced track. I'm just not sure what that is for McLaren. So bottom line is they've got good drivers, they've got a good organization. It's just a matter. Is it too little, too late? [00:59:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I would say this year is probably already done for McLaren as far as like, hey, are they going to be able to three peat as Constructors Championship? They probably knew that going into this year. But think about the previous regulations with them like they were in the bottom of the grid, 20, 22 and even the start of 2023 until they found something in that Ground Effect era. And then by the end of 2023 they're up there and then pushing Red Bull in 24 and obviously winning the championship last year in 25 for the driver and the constructor. And so maybe it's not all here this year, but as Andrew said, they got a really great team top to bottom from a factory perspective. You know, they have the Mercedes power unit. So I think the other things that go around it which they were able to figure out before they continue to invest in the right places that's there. I, I think it's a team that's probably going to be competing at some point, you know, next year and the year after as, as they kind of level up to where Mercedes at. So I think, I think there's something there. My only thing with McLaren and Andrew mentioned the drivers, you know, haven't been talking about the any Lando Piastri drama. But we'll get into like post Silverstone, what do the contracts look like for last year and if Verstappen does leave, long rumored is Piastri the number one guy to go to Red Bull? And so if we think about like, and so we think about like, I think Verstappen will be the key domino and what happens his manager, Mark Weber, former Red Bull driver that was the number two to Sebastian Vettel. There's obviously a tie there. And really if Verstappen leaves, there's no clear number one. I mean Hajar is good and young. They have Lynnblad who's kind of supposed to be, you know, the next prodigy for the Red Bull machine too. And, and for the most part Lawson's probably just the odd man out at this point, but if Red Bull's gonna make a splash and there's something there is Piastri get the reins to something to be the number one guy and doesn't have it. So I, I would say like while they have now and we argued be, hey, they have the, the best total one two punch. I think there's an argument to be made for them. Is that out the window in 2027 if some of the cards begin to shuffle here for some of these top teams. [01:02:02] Speaker A: Cool. Any predictions going into Barcelona? [01:02:06] Speaker C: Mercedes dominance. [01:02:07] Speaker B: Okay, yeah, I, I agree. I, I, I want to, I'm, I'm gonna die on my George Russell Hill in 2026 right now just like my other bad picks of the year. I just think there's a time for George to figure it out and He. He self. Admittedly didn't. Doesn't do great at Monaco in Canada is. Which I don't love that he's kind of admitting to, but I think there is an opportunity here in Spain and in as he gets to this European stretch, which he historically has done well in, like, hey, this is some time to start putting some performances together, win some races, even if Kimi's finishing second. I just think there's something there for George just to break Kimi streak and just get the kind of momentum going in his favor. [01:02:51] Speaker A: Do something, man. Don't sulk. This guy is meant to be looking like a rich kid, you know, I guess he is a rich kid, so I guess it makes sense. [01:03:01] Speaker B: I mean, this is Formula one. They're all rich kids, so I don't really think there's a difference. Yeah. Yeah. [01:03:06] Speaker C: All right. [01:03:06] Speaker A: All right, cool. They'll do it then. Unless you guys have more final thoughts. [01:03:11] Speaker C: Just pour one out for. Pour one out for poor Charles. You know, I've heard it was. It's either misery or magic for him. And again, he's like the tragic prince. So again, about people who, who overdrive their car. It's working out for Antonelli, you see, it's where it's not working out so much for Charles. [01:03:33] Speaker A: Yeah, fair. I do want to say one thing. Rest in peace, Bush. Him passing away was really unexpected. And I did catch the Indianapolis 500 this year, and what a finish. Man, I wish we did a pot afterwards. I know it's like weeks been since then. One of the greatest 500s I've seen a while. And you were there, Jason. In person. [01:03:58] Speaker B: I was there. [01:03:58] Speaker A: That's amazing. [01:04:00] Speaker B: Yeah, I, I. For the record book, I have been to the two closest Indy five hundreds of all time. The previous close one was the 1992 Alanzer Jr. Scott Goodyear, you know, finish. That was, I don't know, less than a half a second or something. And somehow this year, this one was able to atop it. So, yeah, amazing race. [01:04:21] Speaker A: So good. [01:04:22] Speaker B: I can't. I can't hype up the Indy 500 enough to people I know in my, in my friend group of basketball fans, like, racing's just lost on them. But, and, and for IndyCar, like, I, I love F1, love NASCAR, like, just, you know, there. But my first love was IndyCar. Like, I went to the Indy 500. I went to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Like, IndyCar was the number one for me. And when you go to this event, like, I know you get the World cup coming to the United States right Now, the Indianapolis 500 is the largest single day sporting event in the world. And I think people don't understand. That was like 150, 160, 350,000 people. [01:04:59] Speaker A: That was so off, dude. [01:05:01] Speaker B: And so, so when we're talking about like, I think it was one in every 1,000 of America, one in every 1,000Americans is at that track on race day. And so the pure spectacle about it, the pageantry, like, you know, there's a, there's an American feel about it, man. We had, we sang, I think, you know, was God Bless America national anthem, you know, back home again in Indiana. There's fighter jets, there's, there's helicopters over the, you know, the thing like hell yeah, brother. The Padres start the races there and I think just the excitement of the cars and everything going like that and the speed you're talking these guys doing, you know, 240 plus miles an hour around this track and to get it where the finish was at with like, you know, with a fraction of a second between two guys just hauling down the front stretch, which is kind of where my tickets are at. Just like amazing stuff. [01:05:49] Speaker A: Really. Yeah, I think it was like that last. What, like Final Five. Laughs it was pretty content. I don't know. It's really good. It was awesome. I got nothing else but like, I would like to go to the Indy 500 one day. If I can go with you, that'd be great. So you say you can show me what's poppin. [01:06:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I'd love to go too. [01:06:09] Speaker A: Yeah. I haven't been to a race since I've been a kid. And back then I, I probably, I had, I had a hookup with like the John Forrest family, so I went to like a handful of those things and saw Ashley Forest as well. But I've never been to a nascar. I don't think so, actually. I don't think so. Definitely no indy. Definitely no F1. [01:06:30] Speaker B: I mean, I, I've been to Indy obviously, you know, more than a dozen times. I've been to the Daytona 500, which is another, you know, for, you know, that's the super bowl for nascar, which is obviously expect to go to Daytona Beach. It's. There obviously went to the British Grand Prix, which was an amazing experience for me. So I, I've been to these ones, man, they're all great. You mentioned nhra. It's out there too, down Pomona, down the street. It's probably where you're at, you know, great stuff as well. I mean, racing live another Thing we obviously talk about here in the pod from an F1 perspective. But yeah, overall there was some great stuff. [01:07:01] Speaker A: I mean he's just loving. [01:07:03] Speaker B: He's loving racing so much in the pod. [01:07:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:07:05] Speaker B: You just can't. Can't get into it. I mean there was a great. We had an IndyCar race last night roam out in. Out in Saint. The St. Louis suburbs over there too. Man. It was. It was, you know, the Gateway 300. It was Joseph Newgarten coming through king of the ovals in IndyCar. [01:07:21] Speaker A: I. I was trying to watch the French Open, but it just. It lacked all the star power this year for men's and women's and it was a good final. It was a good final for the men's but hockey took a lot out of me. NBA Finals took a lot out of me. And then drinking all day Sunday took a lot out of me. [01:07:38] Speaker B: Hey, there's. There's just a lot of sports going on. You know right now. Roman. It's been. This is kind of like the prime time of the year when you think about no football. But we got, you know, great racing. We got the Finals going on. We haven't even talked about baseball and all that stuff too. You know. [01:07:53] Speaker A: We'll do that next time, man. Lots of stuff happening in baseball. [01:07:56] Speaker B: I. I do got a. I got. Aaron's not here. I just want to give you an update. Rome. We got to talk about my fantasy baseball team as a 2 in. In. In the big NL only league that Aaron invited me to. Just want to let you know I'm still 21 and a half games clear in first place right now. What? Just utter serious. I'm serious. Oh man, that's awesome. So just utter domination in the NL only league. My team is stacked. It continues to go dynasty, big money. Aaron going to the well 50 plus moves every week trying to just scrap some guy that gets two starts out of the the Miami Marlins. He added your guy from the Dodgers. Kike Hernandez got hurt immediately the day added him. It was even great. So you know, much love to our guy Aaron. He'll be on the next pod, I'm sure. But just you mentioned wanted updates on it. I'm still holding strong here through two and a half months of baseball. Utter dominance in the NL only league. [01:08:48] Speaker A: You know Aaron is so smart and like he absorbs all this information for sports like. Like no one I know. I still think he's autistic or something like that. Like some aspect like sports because that's what he is. But he. He overanalyzes things so much. He himself in everything, dude. And it happens in betting happens in the fantasy leagues. I'm just like, dude, sometimes you gotta pull out because you already know more than anyone else does. No one else is reading the stats like the way you read them. Dude. This guy knows about like your, your, your high school junior, you know, freshman, sophomore guy, 12 years old. He's like, this guy's gonna be a star in 10 years. Like this guy should be a scout but kills himself, shoots himself in the foot. [01:09:25] Speaker B: I give him all the credit. He invited this means to this league a couple years ago. You know, coming into it he won like three out of the last four championships and stuff. So he knows how to build a good team. He knows so much. And it's honestly when he. When I like I haven't had to make a lot of moves this year, but I've had a few guys from injuries and whatnot and stuff. And when I stole one of the guys he wanted, I'm like, all right. I knew I made a good pickup there. Still sitting clear this LA on last week's waiver wire call. You know the. The maximum amount of points you can get is 100 points because you got 10 categories and you got your ranked one through 10 in all the categories. Last week I was at 95 out of 100 points. And so I was being a smart ass on the call saying I'm going for the hundred. Aaron declares on the call, if you get 100, I quit and retire permanently. And I just told him, you'll never hear the end of it if I go to 100. So you know, I can end Aaron on fantasy baseball if I somehow get the perfect. The perfect season going this year. [01:10:20] Speaker A: I think he would do it too. I think he would do it too. Yeah, I think he's pretty serious about that. [01:10:25] Speaker C: I'm going to need that update. [01:10:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, [01:10:30] Speaker B: I am. I'm bracing myself for utter disappointment for how good this team has been. I'm just saying that at the bottom of my heart. But I'm gonna talk mad loads of crap between now and then like I'm doing on this call just because I just want. It's two and a half months in and it hasn't gone away. 21 and a half games lead in first place. [01:10:45] Speaker A: Dude, I. I love it. Sorry, Aaron. Sorry, bro. All right, that'll do it. Thank you guys. [01:10:52] Speaker B: Thank you. [01:10:52] Speaker A: Jason, man. Hopefully we can get a little more things going on here more consistently. Things are picking up. NFL baseballs going around. Andrew. Thank you for hopping on to talk F1 with us. [01:11:03] Speaker C: Thank you. [01:11:03] Speaker A: We got to bring you on when back whenever you guys are get. Get a chance. Hopefully we can hop on after Sunday's race. I don't have Apple tv, so I gotta go to someone's house and watch it or do something. [01:11:15] Speaker C: Yeah, we can go, we can watch it here. We can go to Kizar. [01:11:19] Speaker A: Kizar. I'm trying to quit drinking, but every time I. Every time I say I'm gonna quit drinking, I have game blacked out somewhere. So it's not going well to me black out here. Then I, I went, I went two weeks without drinking. And then. And then I met up with my friend, you know, had a couple of drinks. All of a sudden I'm getting home at three in the morning. It's like, what the is that? You know, how come I just can't have one or two? [01:11:42] Speaker B: That's a big sign. Yeah, it's. It is a trend that if you say you're quit drinking, you know, you're not showing up to the scheduled podcast you would want to do afterwards. But yeah, we got, we got, we got Spain this weekend. If you get over to Andrews, watch the game, you're in the right state of mind. Let's. Let's hop on. Let's talk some F1 dude. [01:12:03] Speaker A: Copy, Chris. [01:12:04] Speaker C: I love that. [01:12:04] Speaker A: Coffee, croissants and F1. Great. Ah, man, I can't believe you converted me to F1 fan, dude. Hate you, Jason. [01:12:12] Speaker B: It's one of my. It's one of my great things about the pod, you know, we saw early on, you know, you and Aaron now just. Just watching F1 every Sunday. It's great. [01:12:19] Speaker A: Really cool. All right, I'll do it. Source on the sofa. Talked a lot of good stuff. NBA Finals, NHL, F1. Even Jason's domination in Aaron's fantasy league. Got to love it. Catch us next week. We are out.