#sportsreportsasordered - TURNING THE PAGE

[00:00:00] V.A. wants to see you too. Yo, this pen just glides across the paper. You are now listening to the sound. Sports Reports As Ordered. We are here. And guess what? It's March. So you know what that means? That means the madness is here. The madness. I am here. I am here with Mr. Logicals, raised in Texas. He was born there, raised in VA.

[00:00:31] Representing everything New Jersey and for all you country music fans out there, he wants you to know that you need to come to the state of New Jersey as square dancing. Don't bring feelings to a fat fight. Don't do it. And then of course you have me, your unorthodox statistician going left so much you thought I was southpaw. Dang Davis wish he had these reflections. I am. He had grease in his hair. He had grease in his eyes. He had grease in my eyes, you know what I mean?

[00:01:01] Tonight, we're going around the association. We got some free agency notes. We're going to do an MLB preview. And of course, as I said before, the madness is here. So like, review, subscribe, share, rate, do all the free things. And do all the good things while you're at it. Grab you a liquid death. Let's get it. So Mr. Logical. I'm listening. I got a question for you. I got answers.

[00:01:29] You know, I've been called a hater a time or two in my day. Because that person didn't do the research and they want to do it, but keep going. You know what I'm saying? Like a lot of people think that we talked about this. I don't hate Jason Tatum. And as I'm about to say what I'm about to say, I want y'all to know, I don't hate Wardell. But look, 4,000 threes. Awesome. Never thought you would ever see anything like that.

[00:01:58] But why the hell are we acting like the Warriors just won the championship because he hit 4,000 threes? Excuse me. Like we talk about, we always talk about how this era is all about the three-point shot and all this. And like, you know, teams don't have identities because they're just clones of each other. He hit 4,000 threes and it's like, we got to throw him a parade. I don't give a f*** about that.

[00:02:27] Remember that, remember when you saw the Terminator for the first time and you saw the Matrix? Like think about those moments. Okay. Think about what cinematically had to happen, the special effects had to happen to turn Robert Patrick into a robot that could chase down a dirt bike on the street.

[00:02:52] You know, fun fact, he trained himself to breathe so well and around with that stoic face. He was catching Edward Furlong on that dirt bike in that parking garage. But think about that technology. And then you think about the Matrix and the story behind that and all the special effects. So you're like, yo, this is crazy. You went to the movies to see it.

[00:03:15] Now in 2025, you could get that Matrix effect in like a Hood Boogers rap video. Like the effect is everywhere. The computer stuff is everywhere. So it's like you become kind of desensitized to like the odd and spectacular because it seems to happen all the time. Curry was already the all-time leader in three-point shots made. So him making 4,000 is a big deal.

[00:03:44] But he was already the leader. So it was like, what do we celebrate? Like when LeBron hit 50,000 points a couple weeks ago, it was like, well, he's been the leader in points for years. So him hitting 50 wasn't like he hit 50 and somebody else had 4,999. It was like now he's submitting himself as number one. He's been number one for so long. I think the same thing with Steph. But in the same sense, I think it's like it's that Matrix conundrum. Like where you've seen the cinematic stuff.

[00:04:11] So when you see a movie now, maybe you compare it to the Matrix or you might say, I've already seen something like that in Terminator. I've already seen that before. And with Steph, it's just you already knew he was going to hit that number as long as he kept playing. So there's never any doubt when he got to 3,000. But is he going to get to 5,000? I mean, maybe if he does or if he doesn't, it won't.

[00:04:37] The way you feel about 4,000 is going to be the same way you feel about 5,000 because hypothetically, I don't know what the number is. Say he hits 400 a year. That takes some. You got to have less of this year. So you got maybe maybe he has another 80 left this year. 80 to 100 this year. He gets 400 next year. Maybe, you know, 450. Then he goes 450. He gets 5,000. That's still two more seasons.

[00:05:07] If he doesn't win a championship in those three seasons that are going to be ended by the time he has 5,000 threes, the conversation is going to be like, well, he didn't win any championships. Because we've already seen what we deem as spectacular. Now the fan wants you to pile on to this mythical legacy resume thing. This year. So yeah, yeah. His record is 402. Yeah.

[00:05:37] And that was like when they were rolling, rolling. Yeah. That was the year. That was actually the year that they blew to 3-1. Yeah. That was the year that they were like, they were rolling. Everything was, everything was good to go. 7-3 and 9. So with that being said, Mr. Logical, you know the Warriors are 13-1 since they got Jimmy Butler. Jonathan Kaminga came back last night. Fit in pretty seamlessly. Pause. You know, we putting Steph Curry in the top 10 all time?

[00:06:04] I think the top 10 all time is full of guys whose positions kind of locked in concrete. You can't move Magic out. You can't move Jordan out. I think LeBron is cemented in the top 10. I think Shaq, even though he's low-key a hater, he's in the top 10.

[00:06:30] Kareem's in the top 10, I think, off of his impact, even only in a short career, in what he did, his accolades, Larry Bird. I think he's locked into your top 10. I think Tim Duncan is in your top 10. Even if you're like, you're not really sure, I don't know if you can't pull him out to put stuff in. If you got Duncan in there, you probably got Kobe in there. You probably got Kobe in there.

[00:06:58] So if you have Duncan, even if you have Duncan at 11, it's like you got to pull somebody else out of the top 10. Yeah, and you still got to figure out your wheels and your Oscar Robinsons. I mean, you might be able to move, you know, Oscar. I'm not saying like some of these guys were like early pillars. And I think some of these guys kind of carried a torch and like pushed it, advanced it a little bit. Like Magic was an advancement. I think Bird was one of those guys that kind of advanced it.

[00:07:27] Shaq, obviously, his dominance. I think Kobe's the way he resembled Jordan when he played and then the tenacity that he played with after Shaq. He stayed with the Lakers. They had the up and down gears. But then he still was like feared and revered at the same time and still was a winner. I think people can probably lock him in the top 10. I think LeBron's locked in your top 10. So it's hard to get Steph in considering that.

[00:07:57] I think if you compare any of the guys that you would have in your top 10, like maybe if you have Barclay in your top 10, maybe you could squeeze Barclay out. But then the counter argument would be this guy was 6'4", and he was playing dominant basketball amongst trees in an era where it was all trees. So it's just – it just depends on – it's hard for me because, like I said, I don't dislike him at all.

[00:08:27] But, you know, we all got it regardless of what we say, regardless of what we try to be. You know, we still have some inherent biases that are just there. And for me, you know, my bias is – you've heard it before. You know, everybody shits on Kevin Durant for coming to the Warriors, the weak move, and it absolutely was. But the best player on that team has to sign off for that deal to go down. I mean, he flew. Flew to the Hamptons. He flew to the Hamptons, yeah.

[00:08:57] I just struggle with that. You know what I mean? I just struggle with that. But, I mean, he absolutely deserves a seat at the top 10. I mean, let's keep it a bean. Jordan flew to Vegas to get Dennis Rodman out of bed with Carmen Electra to get him to come back and play basketball. So sometimes – But he was already on the team, though. You got to, like – you might have to, like – you might have to take that private jet from the owner to get your team together. Hey, Dennis Rodman was in the WWE. They just happened to do it in the offseason. They just happened to do it in the offseason. I feel you.

[00:09:27] And I think because Kevin Durant was such a – I think that Kevin Durant moved to Golden State. I just feel like there's an unfinished story. It shouldn't diminish either one of their impact on the league. But when you have 10 spots, and I'm trying to keep – if I'm trying to keep Tim Duncan at 10, if I'm an advocate for Tim Duncan at 10,

[00:09:56] KD is physically more gifted than Tim Duncan. He could do more from the rim to 27 feet than Tim. He could handle the ball better than Tim. I can – you can give me all of that. But Tim changed an entire franchise. I think Tim kind of changed the whole small market concept of, like, you can't play and be successful in a small market. He stayed there the whole time.

[00:10:24] Granted, rumor has it from T-Mac and other guys that there was a – He was supposed to go to Orlando, but Doc Rivers wouldn't let his family go. So, T-Mac, Trace, and Tim Duncan, you know, big three. But that never came to fruition. He kept winning championships in San Antonio to include two that he won over LeBron, who most people have two. Some people have one. Some people have three.

[00:10:52] Anybody has them six is like, you're capping. Yeah. But he got two off of him. You know, a guy like me got to throw Elijah Juan in the top ten too. But, you know what I'm saying? But like I said, you can make an argument. Like, if you put Elijah Juan and Duncan in nine and ten and you got KD and Steph on the outside and your argument that they belong in,

[00:11:15] what's going to kind of – for lack of a better phrase, devalue your argument is the fact that those two guys teamed up in the manner that they did. Right. So, it's KD going to you after you lost a 3-1 lead. It's like, KD, you went to Steph after you blew a 3-1 lead to him. And then Steph, you went to KD to have him join you after you blew a 3-1 lead to LeBron all in the same summer. I think it hurts Elijah Juan that he didn't play Jordan in the finals. You know what I mean?

[00:11:44] And that he didn't beat Jordan in the finals because he won those two titles while Jordan was pretty much away. So, like, I think that hurts him in a lot of people's eyes. But it ain't his fault that Michael Jordan ran. But anyway, so the Suns apparently want three first-round picks for the aforementioned Kevin Durant. What they smoking? I don't know. Give me one second. I'll have a charge. My phone's about to die. Give me one second.

[00:12:09] So, Matt Ishbia has already shown us that he has no clue what he's doing. You know, there's rumors already that Mike Budenholzer is going to get let go after the season. They already let go of Frank Vogel, so that would be two championship-winning coaches in less than two years that they decided to get rid of. So, what was the Phoenix Suns' plan? You know, Bradley Beal had the no-trade clause that he had to waive to come there. So, you already knew it was a losing battle.

[00:12:38] You know, it's one thing if a LeBron James has a no-trade clause. It's one thing if a Dwayne Wade has a no-trade clause. Kobe Bryant, so on and so forth. You get what I'm saying. Man, Bradley Beal having a no-trade clause is one of the dumbest things in NBA history. And I know it comes with the deal, you know, so you can't do anything about it. It's a part of the law, basically, that it came with that deal.

[00:13:00] So, when I look at it, the Suns had to know that their spacing was going to be atrocious with Katie, Booker, and Beal. They're all mid-range merchants. You know, they all occupy the same space. You know, with Kevin Durant being 6'11 or whatever it is. Devin Booker and, you know, Bradley Beal are pretty much the same size. Booker might be a little taller. But you're talking about the same players.

[00:13:31] Like, Bradley Beal's lesser than Booker, but he doesn't know that. You know, Bradley Beal still thinks that it's him and John Wall running up and down the scene. It's not true. So, they went through last year without a point guard. You know, got swept by the Wolves. This year, they're still two or three games behind the Mavericks who have no Kyrie and no AD.

[00:13:54] Yeah, they – it's not a physical – it's not a lack of physical capabilities. I know you talk about the monsters of mid-range and how these guys kind of occupy the same space. That's fine. That's perfectly fine for you all to be mid-range guys. But as a coach, I know Phil Jackson perfected a triangle.

[00:14:19] But when you have three guys who can score off the dribble on their own as well as these three guys can, then it's up to the coaching to figure out how do I implement that to be effective as possible. So, I'm not sure that the ownership in Phoenix understands basketball chemistry and success. I don't think they understand that formula.

[00:14:49] I think the people like the young – we talked about this with these new – like the Vegas people who bought the Mavericks and the young tech people. We talked about the Russian oligarch who bought the Nets before he sold them to Joe Cy. A lot of these guys come into basketball with this Silicon Valley framework of organizational management. It's not the same.

[00:15:16] Sometimes you can simply have a concept that just works. Google can have nap time and the chairs that recline and this kind of assistant and these kind of paid internships. They can have all these things. But it's like on a basketball team, I need a guy that can wrangle all of these $50 million a year personalities and make it work. I don't think Ishpa understands it.

[00:15:44] I think he feels like I'm a successful businessman. I built myself from scratch to be worth billions of dollars, which is a crazy number to think of for a person who wasn't worth billions of dollars at one point in their life, to work their way up to billions of dollars in net worth, and then to buy a team and to see it flop so dramatically and fastly. It just, I mean, like I can't even think of an adjective to describe how bad Phoenix is. Why does he even know basketball?

[00:16:12] He played on the same team with Magic Johnson in college. Ishmael? Yeah. Or Boutinoser? Ishmael is young. No, Ishmael. He's a young guy. I thought he went to Michigan State with Magic. Nah, I thought he was a young guy. Like he's one of these young tech billionaires. This is craziness. Yeah, I think he's a young tech billionaire and bought the team. Well, I think that's true too.

[00:16:39] Because he was the one that was like grabbing the ball away from Jokic a couple of years ago. It's like, why are you getting involved? Oh, no. You know who I'm thinking about? I'm thinking about Rob Palenka playing with the Fab Five. That's what I'm thinking about. Yeah. Yeah. So Ishpa is one of these young guys. I think he might be in his 30s. 45. Yeah. So I think he made his billions through tech. But you can see that game. First of all, you doing anything with Jokic is a problem.

[00:17:05] Anytime you beef him, he's seven feet tall of Serbian angst and anger. He'll punch you right in your face. Ask Cameron Payne. Like he doesn't care. Like kick me at the league. I got enough money. I got my brothers. And deal with these horses. So I think it's just a matter of like expectation management. We talk about it a lot.

[00:17:27] I'm not sure the people in the room are people who don't have any buy-in with the team. Like an arbitrator. Like if me and you, we go public with this show and it's like, yo, Mike keep making my screen small and his bigger. And, you know, whatever the case. He's going on without me and not telling me. And we got to get an arbitrator.

[00:17:51] We got to get somebody that's literally independent from you and me so we can figure out where our problems are. I think these new guys are just only hiring people that they rock with because that was the strategy they used to get their billions. So now when it boils down to it, you need somebody. Dallas, you needed somebody in the room to tell Nico Harrison, yo, you need to mend that bridge with Luca before you try to trade him. So I know early in the season.

[00:18:21] I think that's the same thing with Phoenix. It's like they should have figured out how do we get the coach and our star players on the same page and build around what they want and get the coach to coach it that way. So I know early in the season, you know, we talked about teams and when do you turn it on? We talked about Shaq with the whole like we're going to flip the switch thing. So Boston lost some games earlier in the season to teams like Indiana and, you know, New Orleans. People were like, hey, what's going on with Boston?

[00:18:51] Oh, oh, don't worry about it. You know, it's December. It's January. Don't even worry about it. Do I take anything away from them losing the OKC at home the other night? No, mainly because they went 17 for 63 from three. And I think Jalen Brown went like five for 14. It might have been worse than that. Yeah. Yeah. He had an off game. It was like very off.

[00:19:20] I think the thing that I didn't like about Boston in 2022. No, not 2022 that he made a doka. And then that offseason he had is his personal issues that leaked into team business, which became his personal business public. He got fired and then they came in with Joe Missoula and they end up and Joe end up losing to Miami in that seven game series. But that battle back was one thing.

[00:19:47] So then when they won the finals last year and they pretty much kind of dominated the East all year long. I think they know. If you look at the way the top teams are built, Boston is built like those teams. So you have a couple of primary stars. You have a couple of like OG veterans, Holiday, Horford.

[00:20:15] And then you have guys that come in and play a very specific role very well for your team. I think OKC has that with the guys that come off the bench. I think Cleveland has that same thing. And I think I'm trying to get another thing. I think Denver does that very well, whereas like Jokic and Jamal Murray, they know their score leader role.

[00:20:41] Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., they know I'm a slasher and catching lobs or Michael Porter Jr. and I'm puff faking and shooting threes. Maybe occasionally take it to the paint. Christian Brown, I'm an energy guy. I'm attacking the ring with my athleticism. I'm not a three-point shooter all day, whereas a guy like Hauser in Boston, he knows. Listen, I got eight shots today. They're all going to be from behind the three-point line. I think because they know their role. They did like eight threes and a quarter in one of those games the other day.

[00:21:10] So it's just they know that – I sense since Boston players know their role, and it's not like a situation where – remember when Paul George said last year going into the playoffs with the Clippers, like guys are still trying to figure out their role or something along – something to that effect? These top teams, one in the West and number three in the West, probably Denver right now, number one and two in the East, Cleveland and Boston, those four teams don't have those problems.

[00:21:40] L.A. has it because they have to trade and they're trying to figure out who's going to be the big – And LeBron's out. And LeBron's out. So I think they have that problem now. Like, okay, do we try to figure this out and maybe slip the four and let LeBron rest? Or do we keep him in here and battle and say it too? Yeah, he out here at Bryce Championship game. You know. But I think that's why I'm not worried about Boston because I believe that everybody knows their role, and I think Jalen Brown knows that.

[00:22:07] I'm not going to have five for 14 nights, four out of the next six games. And it's crazy, right, because, you know, since LeBron's been out, the Nets beat the Lakers. You know, last night I think it was Luka had 45 against the Walsh, and they lost by 20. They're down 13 right now at Denver. I don't think he was playing tonight. Yeah, so, like, I don't know. Like, but last question before we move on, or not question, well, I guess it is a question.

[00:22:37] So the Cavs, sitting at 55 and 10 right now. Correct. They get to 70? Or do they start resting people at the end? They got to go 15 and 2 for the rest of them? Nah. All right. Well, there's a very specific reason why I asked you that question. Because the Cleveland Cavaliers are the sixth team in NBA history that have two winning streaks of at least 15 games within the same season.

[00:23:07] The bad news for the Cavs, only two of those teams won the championship, which is the Lakers of 99-2000, so Kobe and Shaq's first title, and then Oscar Robinson and Kareem back in 70-71. That means that not even the 73-9 Warriors or the 72-10 Bulls won 15 games in a row twice in the same year. Yeah.

[00:23:33] I don't want to be dismissive of their success, but it's an argument and a conversation I've had about multiple teams. It looks good when you're a West Coast team and you come East and you play two games in Florida.

[00:23:52] So you play Miami, you play Orlando, you come up, you play Charlotte, you play Washington, and then you fly up to New York and you play a game against Brooklyn, a game against the Knicks, and then you fly back home and you go, you know, that six game spans, you go 5-1. But you're not going to play those teams potentially seven times in 11 to 12 days.

[00:24:19] And when I watch Cleveland, and that's why I sent it in the group, I think Boston represents the East in the NBA Finals is because I think what Darius Garland does very well, I think Holiday can adversely affect what he's doing. I think he can cause them to have a bad night.

[00:24:43] I think Donovan Mitchell plays great, but if he has to like constantly go through Tatum or Brown if they switch in, and even like the tenacity of Derek White, or even some of these guys that come in off the bench that they know they're going to get, they're going to get six fouls. Like, hey, I'm going to be able to defend this guy hard and hit him and knock him down or, you know, slap him across the arm because I'm only a 20-minute guy.

[00:25:10] So the coach knows, okay, you can do six fouls throughout the game. I think Boston's role players, because they had the championship experience in those games where Eastern Conference Finals, because I'm booking that it's going to be 1-2 Cleveland-Boston, Eastern Conference Finals game, game four in Boston, 79-79 in the third.

[00:25:39] Pritchard's shooting that three if it swings him and he's open. I don't know if Struis is if he's one for six that day. If Pritchard's one for six, if they swing, swing, and he's open in the corner, he's shooting it. If he's covered and he's kicking back the houser, he can be 0-4. He's shooting that fifth three because they just, I think they have that kind of confidence that they're going to keep shooting

[00:26:04] and keep making the plays that they have been making for this team all year. I think the Cleveland players, I think they're a little smaller. So I think in a seven-game series, it's going to be a couple of games where just rebounding is going to be the edge. You know, rebounding, offensive rebound. Like, I just think Boston, the way they played, the conference they played with, and their size, I think Cleveland's going to have a great year.

[00:26:33] They're going to dial it back because they're probably going to end up with about a, let's see, about a four-game, five-game lead as we get to the last 12 games. Yeah, they're up by eight right now. Yeah, it won't slip under six. So they're going to be able to rest guys, guys, you know. Well, see, and that's the thing. Like, the problem that Cleveland's going to run into is in the playoffs, Darius Garland will give you a six for 19. Donovan Mitchell will give you an 11 for 34, and you just got to hope they don't happen on the same night.

[00:27:04] You know, that's the thing. You know what I mean? Well, you got to hope that a coach, I mean, hell, they end up with someone like, say they get Detroit in the first round. However, you know, if it works out that way, they end up getting Detroit in the first or second round before they get to Eastern Conference Finals. And Detroit just figures out Garland can't do, Garland can't shoot the floater if the defender guarding him is 6'6 or taller. If there's something that simple, like, you know what?

[00:27:32] But he can't get to the paint if he's being guarded by a guy that's 6'6 or taller. And they're like, you know what? We're going to employ that. We're going to wall off Garland and make Mitchell go one-on-one. Because, like I said, I think the bench players for Cleveland, I believe they're good basketball players. I just don't know if they're physically going to be tough enough for a seven-game battle with a team that has any kind of girth to it.

[00:27:59] Yeah, speaking of Detroit, you know what I'm saying? I got my eye on this 4-5-6. You know, Milwaukee and Indiana tied at 4-5. And then you got the Pistons a game back. So I got my eye on that. But, Mr. Logical, while we're talking about winners and losers here, you know, is there anything from the NFL free agency period so far that stands out to you?

[00:28:25] The one thing I was thinking about a lot this week, because we have a – shout out to Residente. Residente are, you know, resident 49ers fan. The 49ers are letting a lot of guys walk. And I understand it. You know your player personnel more than I do. You know if you can replace them. You know what the talent level is between the guy you let walk and the guy you're keeping and the eight or nine draft picks, whoever you have.

[00:28:51] My problem is the optics is you're letting a lot of guys walk. And then this contract negotiation with Brock Purdy hasn't really been locked in.

[00:29:02] If you let that many guys walk and you pay him 50 plus, to the fan who's paying to come to the game, support the team, the expectation is, oh, so you feel like this guy can make up for the loss of these other guys.

[00:29:24] And if it doesn't immediately pay dividends, by like October 10th, it could be complete pandemonium in the bay. Yeah, I was thinking about that. Like if they start three and five, you know what I'm saying? Is Shanahan basically a dead man walking? If they start one and three, I'm talking like – I'm thinking early October. October because we aren't GMs. We're not scouts. I never played football.

[00:29:53] I played football once for a few weeks in eighth grade back in 1994. I'm not an expert on what happens on the field. But if we're watching it and we're having this conversation on our podcast, me and Jersey, you and Texas, and we're saying like, I think if you give this guy this much money and the team falls apart, which is what I'm expecting because I don't think he's as dynamic as the check he might sign.

[00:30:20] If I'm thinking that from here, you have to be thinking that from your offices in San Francisco or Santa Clara or Oakland or San Jose or wherever your offices are out west. If you're not thinking that and then we get into this season and September goes by and you have one win and you look terrible in your three losses, it's going to be like, how did you not see the writing on the wall when some dude in Jersey –

[00:30:48] some dude in Jersey wearing a hockey jersey in March told you this is what it could look like. So I think that's going to cause a lot of calamity. Seattle, I don't know if they're rebuilding, retooling, reshifting, or just changing what the skin color of their skill players look like. I have no idea what they're doing because they just basically traded apples for different kind of apples. They traded the grannies for the food.

[00:31:17] Granny Smiths for food, geez. You know what I mean? I like the Cooper Cup signing because I like Cooper Cup as a player, but I don't know what they're doing there. Sam Darnold to replace Geno Smith. Sam Darnold replaced Geno Smith, which is basically a lighter five-year younger version of Geno. Basically the same path. And maybe the luster has worn off. Maybe last year was his Nick Foles 27-2 year.

[00:31:47] Remember that year Nick Foles had 27 touchdowns, two picks. He threw seven touchdowns in one game. I think he tied Peyton Manning. And then someone threw money at him. I don't know if it was Jacksonville or St. Louis that time, but someone threw money at him from Philly after that. I wonder if he went to Chicago. I think he went to Chicago after Philly, I want to say. Yeah. Either way. But yeah, I get your point. So like that kind of like that he had. Was this a flash in the pan?

[00:32:18] I don't think Atlanta's done much. They released the guy. And they released Grady Jarrett, obviously. But I don't think they've really done much. Well, for me, you know, when I think about San Francisco, Brock Purdy is one of those guys that is going to become the can't-win quarterback. You know, because when he's successful, like right now, it's going to be, well, he's got this team around him. You know what I mean? Like then you take the team away. Maybe it doesn't look as good. Then it's like maybe he's not that good after all.

[00:32:47] And then, you know, you go back and look at it, and he won the year they went to the Super Bowl. He won both of those playoff games for them. He did that, you know, in the second half. Came back from behind to include, I think it was 17 against Detroit. And Dan Campbell kicks a field goal and runs the ball on 4-3. That ain't Brock Purdy's fault that that man got to be proud. And I get it. I guess that Brock's fault. You know what I mean? And you know what I mean?

[00:33:11] But the team that stood out to me in free agency is a beneficiary of the 49ers moves. Okay. The Denver Broncos. You know, they went out and got Tafanga. They went out and got Dre Greenlaw. And even though this guy didn't come from the 49ers, they said, hey, we'll grab Evan Ingram too. So, you know, so Denver is doing it the right way. We got the young quarterback. We overachieved year one, made the playoffs.

[00:33:38] Let's put some pieces on this team to improve on that. Because Kansas City, you know, they lost Uche. You know what I mean? They're losing linemen all the time. Yeah. They lost a lineman in Chicago. Yeah. And, you know, so like we on Kansas City's ass is what I'm saying if I'm in the Denver locker room or building. We on their ass. You know what I mean? And then you look at the Chargers. They went out and got Najee Harris. And I was shocked that – well, I wasn't shocked because we talked about it.

[00:34:07] I had a feeling that he would walk, but I'm still shocked that it actually happened. That he's going to another – That he left Pittsburgh? Yeah. And I don't know what Pittsburgh is doing because it's Aaron Rodgers coming. Pittsburgh didn't really have a run. Pittsburgh didn't in an offensive scheme. I think this is going to be one of the things. Like I think Mike Tomlin is a great – I think he's a great leader. I think he's a great example to coaches. Black, white, young, old.

[00:34:34] I think he's a great example of like I'm the leader of this team. All these arrows, shoot them into me and then watch me handle it. I think he epitomizes that like he talked about on the pivot. He was like I run the coaching. If a guy has bad hand placement, I can teach it. That's coaching. So I think he embodies the role of leader, coach, father, man, wisdom on their team.

[00:35:04] The problem is I don't think that they hired the most creative minds. I think he hired like-minded people. I think he hired good, smart, tough-nosed people. But I don't think he hired like creative people. I think he hired like people who were like, listen, we're going to ram this battery ram until the door, until the castle, the door is open.

[00:35:31] Instead of being like, hey, man, you know, we can just climb the side of this or like we can launch fire and these cannon poles on the side. Like, nah, we're going to go in this way because this is the way we do it. I think that's the problem. Well, did you see their running back pickup? I don't know. I saw so many. They went and got Kenneth Gainwell from Philly, you know, who to me is- You only got one point. I saw that he got $1.3 million. Yeah.

[00:35:58] Like, I know it's a lot of money to like you and I if we were to get sponsored for this show. But for me to be a football player, like, so you mean to tell me I'm standing next to a guy that's probably going to be getting $40 million behind a guard that's getting $25,000, this guard getting $25,000, this guy getting $30,000. These guys on the edge just paid DK and you giving me $1.25 and I got to pay Pennsylvania state taxes along with Ohio state taxes.

[00:36:27] I got to go there twice. Then I got to go to Maryland and pay taxes there. And on top of that, like, yo, like you better off just- So what do you think about the DK move? Is it Aaron Rodgers or Bust? I don't like it. I don't like it because they don't have a quarterback in place. Yeah, so that's why, like, for me, when I thought about it, I'm like, okay, they paid DK. But now what? Because what if Aaron Rodgers says, you know what, I'm going to retire?

[00:36:55] What if Aaron Rodgers says, I'm going to go to Minnesota? Are you just going to hope that Jackson Dart- They're going to bring back Russell. That's probably the move. But I know he talked to Cleveland and I know he talked to the Giants yesterday. You know what I mean? So I don't know. Like, you know, but like, are you hoping that the door falls? You didn't get Mac Jones. I'm like, like, you didn't- Hey, they brought Mason Rudolph back. I'm just saying, like, guys in the NFL that had, like, coach- Like, quarterback starting experience.

[00:37:27] I'm just trying to think. It's just Russell Wilson. That's it. Unless you can't- I don't think he had any trade collateral for Kyler. I mean, it's Russ or Aaron. If I had to pick football-wise, I'd go Aaron. I would go Aaron, yes. Because I think football-wise, he's fine. And I think he'll-

[00:37:55] He'll benefit more from the tough-nosed Pittsburgh defense because he'll get the short field. So he'll get the punts. He'll get the ball back. So it won't be a situation where they're down 10 and a fourth. You know, we talked about Aaron Rodgers' record. If he's down going to the fourth. I think- I don't know if the- I don't- Honestly, when people talk about Aaron Rodgers' personality, I don't think it's that off-kilter. I think it's just not very-

[00:38:24] It's not good for journalism. Mm-hmm. I think writing about him. Because if you think about it, it's just football. It's football and his quirky personality. That's all you get from him. I don't know- Like, his family- I know his brother was on The Bachelor at some point. But they're kind of estranged. He was dating a Hollywood actress, Shaleen Woodley. I think that relationship- Danica Patrick? Danica. So he has a relationship. I think he was dating, like, Olivia Munn.

[00:38:53] So he's having celebrity relationships. But it's not like Gronk. You see Gronk everywhere. Gronk's on different shows. Like, you see- I know Snoop Dogg's not an athlete, but Snoop's everywhere. Like, you see him all over the place. So you can kind of, like- You can kind of piece together what his personality is. Based off all these events and him talking- Aaron just plays football. And I think the Jets just kind of launched this expectation campaign.

[00:39:19] Thinking like, oh, we did this great with poor quarterback play. Now we're going to get this great guy in. Speaking of which- And then he's towards Achilles. How about the Jets' new quarterback? Who was that? Justin Fields. The problem that he's running into is that who's your- Who's your fucking-

[00:39:47] He's down there somewhere wide open wide receiver. He's got his college- He's got his college receiver. Garrett Wilson. He's not one of those kind of wide receivers. Oh, okay. Okay. Garrett Wilson's like, I'm open on this route. I'm talking about the whole, like, give me- I know Megatron's a stretch. But the way Sam Darnold and Kirk Cousin would throw it up to Justin Jefferson. Mm-hmm. Like, he's down there somewhere.

[00:40:16] The way Matt used to throw it to Julio. Justin needs that guy because he's going to miss the first read a lot. He's going to be looking to either get out of there, but he has- He's shown a tendency to submit the first read. And we saw a lot with Kayla Williams last year in Chicago. I don't know if maybe Matt Eberflutes didn't really hire the right guys to kind of teach that or stress. Hey, if the first read is the tight end and the tight end is open, just throw it to him.

[00:40:46] I don't care what the scouting report said about you and you can only hit the first read. You'll make $100 million a year as an NFL quarterback hitting the first read because that means you're doing the right thing. You're not getting hit by defensive ends and you're gaining yards. You're moving the ball. You're in commercials. You're in the owner's suite at the Super Bowl if you're not playing in it. Your life is set if you just simply do this. Because Justin Fields holds onto the ball too long. He runs.

[00:41:16] He'll go 11 for 16 for 145 yards and have like 62 yards rushing. It's like they call 30 pass plays for you. I'm just happy that he got $40 million. You know what I'm saying? I'm happy for him. You know what I mean? Yeah, he's just going to keep scrapping up money. He should have been a guy that had a real deal. But that whole 2021 quarterback class is kind of an enigma at this point. Boo, boo. You know what I mean?

[00:41:46] But you brought it up. It's like you're almost inside of my head or something. Because I was going to bring up the Chicago Bears are another team that I think did really well in free. Chicago Bears win the all season every few years. You know what I'm saying? But it's different this time. It never applies. I need to see it applied on the football field. They just got a new coach. Because last year, right, they went and got Keenan Allen. You know, they drafted Roma Dunze. They got the young base.

[00:42:14] They're going to be the most explosive offense in the NFL. Right, right. And Matt Eberflus is going to hand the rings over to Shane Walton. They're going to be the most. But now there's a new sheriff. They're going to win 11 to 12 games and win NFC North. This is every year. But there's a new sheriff in town now, Ben Johnson. And what have I been saying for the last three years? Why don't the Bears invest in the offensive line? So they went out and got Joe Tooney. They went out and got Jonah Jackson. They went out and got Drew Dahlman. You know what I mean?

[00:42:42] So that offensive line should be solidified this year. With Ben Johnson at the helm, we're going to see what Caleb Williams is or isn't this year. Caleb Williams never hit the first read either. That's what I'm saying. We're going to see what he is this year. He did the same exact thing, holding on to the ball, trying to make the big play, completely rattled in the pocket. It's the Bears' MO. If you could talk to any Bears fan, I'll tell you this. You'll have quarterback.

[00:43:12] They fire the coach. They bring a new coach, GM. They play that quarterback, get rid of that quarterback, draft another quarterback. That quarterback plays poorly for a year and a half. They fire the coach and the GM. They get a new GM. They let that coach and the GM work with that quarterback again. That doesn't work. They get rid of that quarterback. I'm feeling good this time around. They insert new quarterback. That quarterback, old coaching staff, old GM. They make it all work.

[00:43:41] Then it doesn't work. Now you got a new coach. I think they kept the same GM. But the old coach is gone. Quarterback is still there. Now you got the new coach coming up with this quarterback. He didn't really have that much success last year. And now expectations are going to be, Green Bay is still going to be good. Minnesota might take a step back because they don't have to. The quarterback playing Minnesota is uncertain. So they should take a step back. Detroit getting their defensive players back off the injury.

[00:44:10] Theoretically, they should be another 12-13 win team. Two coordinators who haven't been coordinators before. Yeah, but if you just watch the film, if you watch their top 50 explosive plays last year as a coordinator, and then Dan Campbell's like, listen, these are our top 50 offensive plays. I want concepts like this built into your offense. Cool. And then everything else you already have, you build on a concept to make sure, like,

[00:44:37] you can match these top 50 plays with the plays you have. They're good to go. Same thing defensively. Defensively, a lot of times it's about effort and availability. Because a guy can be out of position, but if he understands what's going on and he has the effort and athleticism to get back to his spot, like he can be fooled on a play action. But as long as he doesn't keep going straight and he knows, like, you know what? Play action. Let me get out of here. So by the time Caleb Williams or whoever is running a play action turns back around,

[00:45:07] I'm in my general spot where I need to be in this zone and I can still be defensively good. So, like, as long as you match the effort on defense, I think Detroit will be fine. Green Bay, without the lack of no more receiver, maybe they'll be thinking Duncan, but Chicago is still going to be bottom of the NFC North. Do you know who had the oddest offseason to me? The Buffalo Bills.

[00:45:34] Because, you know, we talked about their lack of cap space. You know, so they went out and gave Josh Allen $55 million. That extension is probably going to be studied at Yale. Because I don't know how they – because he had, like, two or three years left on his current extension. Right. And I think they've only paid one year of, which was last season. Then they went and got Joey Bosa.

[00:45:58] You know, then, you know, saying they brought in Josh Palmer from the Chargers who, you know, we talk about this, right? You know, saying what's in Buffalo's way? Kansas City. If you look at Josh Palmer's numbers against the Chiefs, it's probably the best team that he plays against. So you're hoping for some of that magic. But then they signed Michael Hoyt from the Rams. And now he's suspended for being these.

[00:46:27] You know, not even – And you – can you void that contract? You sure can. You know what I mean? So just an odd offseason. But let me tell you something, right? I've told you a long time ago. One of my favorite personalities as far as listening to sports talk and everything is Mina Kimes. I love Mina Kimes. Nobody has ever made me feel as bad as Mina Kimes made me feel the other day. I was walking around here with my chest all out.

[00:46:55] I'm like, hey, we got Laramie Tunzel. You know what I'm saying? We got some muscle on the offensive line. We going to put people in the dirt. And then the next day I turned on Mina Kimes and had to listen to her spend about 10 minutes breaking down all the running assignments that he missed this year. And about how part of the problem in Houston is that he wasn't given the effort that D'Amico Ryan requires of his players. Yeah.

[00:47:23] And then I just kind of went back into – so then I was sitting there, right? I said, when the hell are we going to get a corner, man? I've been talking about a corner for like three years now. And then we went and got Jonathan Jones from the Patriots. And I was like, that's not what I had in mind. I mean, Patriot guy, they learned it the right way. Maybe. A lot of these moves, it's tons of them.

[00:47:54] But we talk about this every year. The spread week one, we've got 32 teams. It's going to be 16 games – well, week one because you're going to have the Thursday night opener. Yeah. 16 games. Most of the spreads are going to be less than a touchdown. A lot of it is just getting good, fresh, smart bodies in the room. Physically capable, obviously. But then it's about can you coach them up? Can you win your division?

[00:48:23] Can you handle this assignment, this assignment, this assignment? I like – I don't understand a 29-year-old, 30-year-old guy in the NFL being considered old. I guess because I'm almost 44. That's just a lot of wear on your body. But it's not like they're doing it year-round. They get six months off. And that's the part – like I'm literally kind of like thinking about it right now.

[00:48:51] People talk about, oh, man, it's so many miles on those tires. He's not doing shit from March until August. What job do you know that's physically demanding to wear from – depends on your playoff standings. If you don't make the final – you're January to August. Shit, you might not be healed by the time the season come around from whatever was bothering you in some cases.

[00:49:16] But if you have that much time available to heal, stretch, surgeries, chiropractors, Reiki doctors, ayahuasca retreats, whatever it is you need to get healthy, you got seven months. So when guys say there's a lot of wear and tear on Von Miller, Von Miller's not tackling anybody from January until August. He's not hitting a single person. Well, he actually is older though.

[00:49:45] But like I say, even with that, it's like, okay, cool. He's still – if you can – these guys are elite at what they do. They're elite physically. How many people you know personally have a 43-and-a-half-inch vertical? Probably not many. Not many. I don't know if you could – I don't know if you could go through your social media with 200, 300 friends on social media, 400 friends and be like, yo, can any of y'all do an 11-foot broad jump right now? A lot of these guys probably still good. My son could do it.

[00:50:15] Your son is a teenager. I know. And he should be able to do it. I know. But anyway – You get what I'm saying? So it's like I think this whole narrative that these guys are washed up, sometimes you sign a guy – like if you sign a guy like Joey Bolsa, I'm like, listen, man, if there's 55 defensive snaps, can you give me 35? Yeah. Can you give me 35 good ones? I'll get this rookie from Iowa State to fill in the other 20. Can you give me 35 good ones and maybe one and a half sacks? Okay.

[00:50:45] Fair enough. But I want to know what these Yankees going to do because – Buy it. Buy an antropo. I'm saying weaver. Because as I look at this, I don't think the Yankees making the playoffs. You know, you got Garrett Cole out for the year with Tommy John surgery. You lost Juan Soto. You know, Giancarlo got the John McCain. He can't even lift his arms.

[00:51:16] Yeah. You know, you got – you know, you're an Aaron Judge injury away from like not even winning 80 games. And that might be a little dire. That might be a little dire because they did pick up Max Freed from the Braves. You know, they gave him eight years, 218 million. They did grab Devin Williams, one of the best closers in the league, you know, from Milwaukee. So the Yankees are always going to have talent. Correct.

[00:51:45] I just don't know if their bodies are going to work for them. The weird thing with baseball is that if your body is right, you can play for a long time as well, like golf. Like you can hit, you can run, you're good to go.

[00:52:04] So the Yankees' bank account and their accounts payable to players kind of ensures them a fighting chance at making the playoffs every year. Right.

[00:52:22] Just that alone, just the amount of money that they are willing to spend on their current players and the amount of gambling they can do at trade deadlines as far as giving up prospects to get other players and then take on those contracts. That's what separates a lot of these upper echelon teams financially from the rest of the pack. So we're going to talk about the Mets. You know, we're talking about the Mets. Yeah. We'll get there.

[00:52:50] As far as like the Red Sox, you can have it down here. Guys can get injured. But if you have enough, if you have enough guys that can get you like the 80 wins, you can then turn around at trade deadlines and pay for a couple of guys that get you an additional 20. Yeah. And I think that's what the Yankees are right now. So I don't want to steal lines from Elsa.

[00:53:21] But, you know, when I look at the American League East, I call it into the unknown because we just talked about the Yankees. Baltimore lost one of their best players, Sat Tander, to a team in the division, Toronto. But Toronto has their own drama with Vlad Guerrero. You know, he turned down 500 million from them. You know, you look at Boston, who's the young team on the come up. You know, they got beef with Raphael Devers because they want him to play DH.

[00:53:51] And there were rumors that he was going to ask for a trade because of that, even though he's come out yesterday or today and said, like, no, I'm with it. I'm with it. But we'll see. Tampa Bay is going to be in the basement. So I'm not worried about them. So I'm so I'm just going to put my name on it, bro. I'm picking Baltimore to win the division. OK, and I'm picking the Red Sox to be the wildcard team. I'm I'm out on the Yankees, you know, saying, of course, you know, they're going to do something at the trade deadline. We'll see what that is.

[00:54:21] That's the thing. Like, like I said, the Yankees can buy the Yankees can buy 20 wins. But for this moment, their team of the team off the rip is 80, 162 games. An average Yankee team is really 81 and 81. Yeah. Just off of talent, depth, paycheck, home run hitting capabilities, pitching. They're 81 and 81 off the bat. Like you can book them for 81 wins.

[00:54:49] Because they're the Yankees, they're going to strive to get to 101 wins. And they went 55 and 38 against winning teams last year. So, I mean, they have that going for them, some kind of confidence in close games. But we'll see. Because we're going to talk about something later with like the like a team like the Rockies to talk about the salary cap thing. Right. Well, those teams, like not necessarily like the Diamondbacks are bad, but like a team like the Diamondbacks or even the Padres.

[00:55:19] Yeah, it's over for them too, Padres. Once it's – so you got the season starts late March. So by like two weeks probably, probably opening weekend. You know, so you figure you got April is 30 days. May is 31 days. So that's 61. June is another 30. That's 91 days.

[00:55:43] By July 1st, there could be teams that are sitting at 25 and 55. See, there you go into my mind again. Because I was just about to say, let's go to the NFC South. I mean, the AL Central. Yeah. The Chicago White Sox. 41 wins last year. 41 wins. We talked about this. We were talking about should they move away from Chicago at one point.

[00:56:12] But that team, if they are – like I said, if they're 25 and 55 after 80 games – that math is right. Right, right? Yeah. So if they're 25 and 55 after 80 games, which is basically end of June. And they might not be. We still have July, August to really make a run. If they're 30 games under 500 in June, they're going to become sellers.

[00:56:41] And that's where teams like the Dodgers are going to pick them off. The Yankees are going to pick them off. So that's why certain teams, they're going to – everybody, the cruise ship sank and everybody's wearing life vests. Hey, don't be saying that. And they're all out there just kicking along.

[00:57:04] And then you're going to have teams like the White Sox is going to be like, that dude can't – that dude's not staying afloat. So let me go ahead and take his vest and replenish mine because mine didn't really fit me right anyway. So I'm going to take his, let him sink. Now I'm good to go. I'm kicking. And it's like, oh, where are you taking his? What are these – what the Padres doing? Oh, we'll give them a couple of prospects that we drafted in 2023. Cool. Let me get your starting left-hander.

[00:57:32] Let me get your best, you know, your best stolen base guy, your best second baseman or whatever the case may be. And then you'll pluck them off and they'll sink. So that's what's going to happen every year. Oakland, a lot of teams before they, you know, they're preparing to go to Vegas. I don't know how much they're going to be into it. Their fans definitely are going to be into it. Yeah. So here's some numbers for the White Sox that puts last year in perspective. So, you know, they blew 36 out of 51 save opportunities.

[00:58:02] You know, their best pitcher had five wins and 15 decisions. But he did win three of his last four games. So I guess that's ending the season the right way. You know, first base used to be such a staple for the White Sox. You know, they had the big hurt back in the day. Paul Kurnerko, Jose Abreu. And, you know, he's here this year. But look at this. It's been 20 years since they won the World Series and there ain't no end in sight. I'm picking the Detroit Tigers to win this division.

[00:58:30] You know, the Tigers made the playoffs last year for the first time in 10 years. You know, you got the Kansas City Royals, who I think is going to come in second. I think the Indians fall back this year. They, you know, the Indians made it to the ALCS last year, lost to the Yankees, led the league in ERA at 2.57. But I think at this point, they don't have the offense to go with that pitching. So give me Detroit to win the division.

[00:59:02] I like it. It always sucks. I think I bombed every pick I made last year. I don't think they were close. I believe I had an L.A. Yink, L.A. New York World Series just because I was looking at objective. Oh, my World Series didn't happen. I thought it just was like the money leverage piece. Like, I figured the Dodgers paid enough guys.

[00:59:28] I had Atlanta and Seattle, and Akuna got hurt, you know, real early in the season. So that was over, and Seattle missed the playoffs by a game, literally. Yeah, so baseball has that potential to be the worst of firsts, and these guys climbed to the top. But the way they're allowing these contracts to be written, deferring payments until 2034, 2036. I mean, I'm talking about substantial payments.

[00:59:58] It's not like you got a guy that's getting $80 million, and you want to defer it. And he's like, you know what? Cool. Give me this $80 million over the next eight years. You have guys getting $500 million. And it's like, yeah, we're going to pay you $12 million this year, and then we're going to give you $3 million for the next three years, and it will be $97 million in 2029. Like, what's going on here?

[01:00:24] So I think a lot of these teams and their ability to leverage the value of their team based off location, the value of their stadium based on location, is giving them an advantage. Baltimore, I like your ALEs pick. Baltimore is my dad's favorite team as well. But what happens if it goes sideways early than expected?

[01:00:51] What happens when you're 20 and 30 after 50 games? And that's a legit question, because they lost the last few years in the wildcard. When they're 20 and 30 or 24 and 35. Baltimore has a young rookie I'm looking forward to seeing. And Kobe Mayo, I'm looking forward to seeing him. So we'll see. But here's one last thing about the White Sox for you. Vegas has their over-under at 49 and a half. 49 and a half.

[01:01:21] Colorado is expected to be the second worst team in the league. So 49 and a half for the White Sox, 60 and a half for the Rockies. That's how bad they think the White Sox are going. They expect the White Sox to go 49 and what, 113? Well, last year they went 41 and 121. So that's an improvement. You can't live like that two years in a row and keep your sanity. You can't live like that. You can't. I don't think you can. Come on, dog.

[01:01:48] Can you imagine going to work being that unsuccessful two years ago? Even if the check is good, you can't do that. Yeah. Kansas City does have Mr. Unanimous, though, Bobby Witt. You know, the Twins, you know, last year they were 17 games over 500. They finished two games over 500. You know, I think that they just get off the slow starts and that's going to continue because that's just culture-ish, I believe. You know, but then let's take it to the AL West, a.k.a.

[01:02:17] Can we just send the Angels down to AAA? Mike Strauss literally just, he might have had, he might have, of all major sports, the most underwhelming Hall of Fame career in the history of the world. Because everyone, we talk about it. You know, shout out to Violent New Jersey. He's from out here.

[01:02:41] There is people who will still argue this day that he's the best player in baseball and it's like nothing about his life after September 30th dictates that, like, equates to that. And it's crazy because he's got to go down as, like, a great player and it's like you don't have, you don't have a jeter, pat, you know, a throw from the outfield backhand moment. I mean, him and Shohei couldn't win.

[01:03:13] They couldn't win. You know what I'm saying? That's just one of those situations. And for some reason, I don't know if it's the LA teams because I talk a lot about the value of money in teams and property and location. They probably are just overvalued because of location. And when you have that kind of value in your team, I think it might offer you leverage in other places financially. So if you are a part owner in the Angels, you're doing nothing with your team.

[01:03:42] Your team has been dangerously mediocre for years. But every year, I'm pretty sure the value decreases. And every year that the Dodgers get better, your value gets better. Even though they don't even have to play in LA. Lakers Clippers. That whole big brother, little brother situation. So, well, say hello to the Sacramento athletics, you know, as they start in Sacramento on their way en route to Las Vegas.

[01:04:12] The worst owner in sports. You know, they haven't made the postseason since 2019. No one's worse than the Spanos and the Chargers. I don't know. No, no, no. The Bengals. The Browns. Yeah, the Bengals. There you go. So they ranked 14 out of 19 AL teams in ERA. They did spend some money and take Luis Severino from the Mets. So they got that going for them. I'm picking the Rangers to win this division.

[01:04:36] I think last year they just had a lot of injuries that they're going to, you know, you can't necessarily bank on being that injured year to year. They were coming off of winning the World Series and it just fell apart. This is the Astros last dance. You know, Kyle Tucker's gone. Bregman's gone. But my guy, Jose Altuve, still holding it down. So I got the Astros making the wild card. I'm out on Seattle. They have the offense, but I'm not sure about the pitching. The Angels are the Angels.

[01:05:06] We just talked about it. So to clear it all up in the American League, I have Baltimore, Detroit, and Texas winning the divisions. I have the Red Sox, the Royals, and the Astros as my wild card. And I'm taking Texas to get back to the World Series. You said the Royals? Yeah, the Royals are wild card with the Red Sox and Astros. And I'm taking the Rangers to get back to the World Series.

[01:05:35] So you got an MLB postseason in 2025 without the Yankees. I do. I got one without the Dodgers too. No, I'm just kidding. I didn't call you 25 because it sounded good. I called you 25 because it applied logically. So, yeah. I like it.

[01:05:58] Obviously, man, anytime you break down any sport, NCAA, baseball, the nuance, the back and forth, I just sit and listen just like the rest of the fans who are watching the show. So I like it. I'm just looking at it from a logical standpoint.

[01:06:17] I just think that there's going to be opportunities for the financial leverage of these teams to play a major role. I believe that Texas, Texas, the Texans and Astros, I think they're pretty much locked in. I'm just wary of the Boston, Baltimore, because I think the East Coast teams.

[01:06:43] I feel like they rely a little bit more on the bank account and framing their teams. And with that, you have to be somewhat perfect. I think the East Coast team, the Dallas trade that they just made. The trade that Dallas made would have been highly effective if the way we framed it was trading Luka,

[01:07:11] which still sounds crazy to say out loud. We're getting AD back. We're going to be out for like maybe a week and a half, but we're going to get this guy back, this guy, this big back, this big back. We got Kyrie. We have the other guys. And then we're all going to be whole in three weeks. And it all sounded good, but because it all fell apart, it looked like the worst deal in the world.

[01:07:36] I think baseball teams, it all looks good when you build and you keep your prospects and you build for what then and your Kansas City Royals, or you trade a star pitcher you paid $100 million to to get a couple of prospects from Boston or get a couple of prospects from Houston. And then you go on a two-year run where you're making deep playoff runs, but it's not sustainable because the Mets come calling with $700 million and they take your guy.

[01:08:05] The Dodgers come calling with $400 million and they take your guy. Speaking of the Mets, the National League, you know, the NL East, which I'm going to call, he's back. Robert Acuna is back. So the Braves are going to be back on top of the division. And he is, you know, and, and, you know, they, they did lose Max free. Like I said, a non-contact sport. It's tough to be injury prone in a non-contact sport.

[01:08:35] I don't know. Some people walk into walls a lot. So, you know, like it just kind of goes down that way, you know, like, but, but once he got hurt, Spencer Strider got hurt. And, you know, so his injury, they were done. Strider's injury finished them, you know, but they're still loaded. They're still loaded. You know, Chris Sale, 2.38 ERA Cy Young Award. So let's give it up for that. Phillies won their first division in eight and 13 years last year.

[01:09:05] So, you know, I think that they're still good. I just don't know how good the Phillies are because they're one of those teams that kind of, they can adapt. So you like that. They can play any style, whether you want to pitch, whether you want to get into a, I guess, a shootout. I don't know if that's a baseball appropriate term. But if you want to get into a shootout, they can do that with you too. But they just never really change. Like, you ever, like, see a team and you're like, hey, this team is probably. Buffalo Bills.

[01:09:33] Yeah, one piece away from really knocking down the door. The Phillies are, like, literally one person probably away from being right there next to the Dodgers. You know what I mean? But they just never make the move. Like another hitter that you can't pitch around. Yeah, like something. Yeah, Bryce Harper. You know what I mean? But the Mets, you know, they got back Pete Alonzo, even though, you know, Chris don't want to hear me say he's declining.

[01:10:01] He is, you know, but he is back. They broke the bank for Juan Soto. So the Mets are going to be a factor in this playoff race as well. The Nats, you know what I'm saying? Remember what I just said about Philly? Well, the Nats are about four pieces away. So we'll take another year on that one. And the Marlins, yeah, nothing left to say. You know, like honestly, to be honest with you, the Marlins could be this year's White Sox. You know, and you know how you know.

[01:10:32] They're always close. Well, you know how you know the Marlins are going to be bad? Is if they have a good year the prior season. Like if the Marlins ever win 85 games, you already know what's coming the next year. 47. Yep. And, you know, and that's where we are. So I'm taking the Braves to win the division. You know, and then, you know, as well, I'm taking the Mets and Phillies both. Both to make the wild card.

[01:11:02] You know. You don't think all the money that the Mets has spent has bought them a division championship? You think it's still a wild card team? No, because I still think that the Braves are just, they're just loaded, man. Like the Braves are literally the one team that I believe could beat the Dodgers. But are the Braves, are they one or two injuries away and still being loaded? Or are they one or two injuries away being like completely an afterthought?

[01:11:32] I think as long as it's not the same dude. They'll be fine as long as it's not him. You know what I mean? Because he is him. So let's talk about the AFC South. You know, the NL Central. I call this one the year of the Cubs. I think the Cubs are going to put their foot back down on the division and take it home. They're going to take the division. The Cincinnati Reds, I fell for the hype last year. You know, they were young.

[01:12:01] You know, my guy, Ellie De La Cruz, you know, I was ready for it. You know what I mean? But they weren't ready for it. So you know what they went out and did? They went out and hired the one and only Terry Francona. So if nothing else. It blows my mind at the retread that these baseball managers give. It drives me crazy that he just can't keep jobs or doesn't keep jobs or whatever. I mean, like he ended the Boston streak. He had Cleveland back in the forefront of baseball.

[01:12:30] And here he is in Cincinnati now. It's because we talk about head coaches in NFL and head coaches in college and the recruitment and impact. I think the manager, the managers are getting substantially less than their best players. And I know in the NFL is kind of the same way. The voices just get old. But the NFL, like at least those coaches are all kind of on par with getting lots of money. Like there's a lot of coaches getting 10, 12 million dollars a year.

[01:13:00] So it's, you know, 10, 12, 13, 14 million dollars a year. They're all kind of mixed in. These managers are getting like five or six million dollars a year. And they're easily replaceable. Like you said, the voice is. It almost feels like a baseball game requires so much effort. That when a team is done with the manager, they can easily get them out of there. Because you can swing hard and miss. Sammy Sosa. Or you can just swing.

[01:13:29] You can just, you can swing at bad pitchers, bad pitches. And now you're getting chewed out by the manager because he knows it's a bad pitch. But it's like, you know, like if you swing at enough of these, you lose enough games, you'll get rid of the manager. And you have enough in baseball to sacrifice eight because you have 162 games. Right. So the Cardinals are going to be the wild card here. And I don't mean the wild card as in making the playoffs. I mean the wild card in determining how this division goes.

[01:13:59] They have the talent. You know, they're young. So this is more of a let's get to next year type year. But I think that they're good enough to cause problems, especially if Jordan Walker can get better. He only hit 201 last year, but he's got the talent. I brought up the Cubs. The Cubs are going to win the division in my eyes. You know, they had a weird year last year. You know, they started real well. And then you know what happened? May and June happened.

[01:14:26] You know, so then they went 18 and 8 in August. So it's like, okay, they're back on the right path. But apparently they didn't like September either. So the Cubs just have to find a way to be consistent. But I think they're the most talented team in the division. So I'm going there. Hey, how about our Pittsburgh Pirates? You know, 72 wins. I mean, 76 wins in back-to-back seasons. They were hot last year. They have baseball's longest playoff drought. You know what the Pirates are?

[01:14:56] They're Iowa football from two years ago. They're not going to put up runs. But, you know, they got that pitcher who got that lady on his arm. You know, and he's coming for it. You know, like... Too bad she can't do backflips to get them runs. If they could do anything, if the Pirates can do anything, he might end up with a Cy Young in the next couple of years. You know, Milwaukee... He'll end up in a New Jersey. Yeah, he sure will.

[01:15:26] So they're the baseball version of the Milwaukee Bucks. So how fitting, right? They're mid, hoping that Joey Ortiz and Jackson Chorio figure it out and take that leap. They lost Devin Williams to the Yankees, as I mentioned earlier. So Milwaukee is the team that is over-reliable. You know, like, they're always good for being right there at the end. They got into the playoffs last year. Not this year. I'm taking the Cubs. And then, finally, the NL West. You know, the only...

[01:15:54] I call this division the only thing in the Dodgers' way is injury prevention. Because as long as the Dodgers are healthy, they're going to win this division. They're going to win the World Series. So there's that. You know, Shohei is cleared to pitch starting in May. So we'll see if they do that. You know, I don't think they should. But, you know, but we'll see. Clayton Kershaw should be coming back around May. Because if you remember, he didn't even play in the playoffs last year.

[01:16:23] I think Arizona, though, has the best pitcher in the division. You know, Zach Gallin, you know. And, you know, you add in Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez. You got Corbin Carroll on the offensive side. The only problem is who's going to help them out? Who's going to help them out? You know, the Padres fired their manager. You know, like, the window is closed. Yeah, they spent a lot of money over the last few years. The guys are getting suspended and or injured.

[01:16:52] They're going through the 49er right now. That's what they're going through. You know what I mean? You know, so we'll have to see. The hitters are going to have to carry the load. I brought up Colorado. 60 and a half wins, according to Vegas. You know, we got Chris Bryant, who was their big move from the Cubs. And he hasn't played 100 games in the last two seasons. So, basically, at the end of the day, the worst teams in baseball are going to be the White Sox, the Marlins, and the Rockies. That's your bottom three.

[01:17:20] The division winners for the NL, Braves, Cubs, Dodgers, your wild card, Mets, Phillies, Diamondbacks. So, give me the Dodgers over the Rangers in the World Series. Rangers. You said Rangers-Diamondbacks? Dodgers. Rangers-Dodgers. Yeah, with the Dodgers winning back-to-back. You know what I'm saying?

[01:17:50] And don't forget, you know, the Dodgers went out and got, what is his name? The pitcher, right? Yoshi Yamamoto. You know, they went out and got him as well. How come they're the only guys getting people from Japan? You know what I'm saying? I don't know. I don't know. I get that the flight from LA to Tokyo is a direct flight. But so is the one from San Francisco and the same one from Seattle. Yeah. Like, get your ass on the plane. Fly to Asia. Get you a player. Bring them back. Get an interpreter that doesn't gamble.

[01:18:20] And do something. The Giants are the Pittsburgh Pirates with more tradition right now. There you go. You know, and that's kind of fitting that I could say that because Barry Bonds went from the Pirates to the Giants. So kind of poetry in motion, if you will. Yes. You know, but that's baseball. And then finally, the madness is here. You know what I'm saying? So we're going to run through this real quick. Yeah. Mike's going to run down his pitch in the morning. Because, yeah.

[01:18:49] So let's get through this. Let's see what we got. So Cooper Flagg injured. So the question that I have for you, Mr. Logical. Tie it up like Zion did and go beat number one pick in the draft. Wrap it up. What's next? That's exactly what I was going to ask. That's it. Because they're saying that it's a high ankle sprain. You know what I'm saying? Which we know can take like a month or so. As to a. So Duke beat North Carolina tonight. You know, had a 22-point lead. One by three.

[01:19:18] They get the ACC title game tomorrow against the winner of Clemson and Louisville. That's happening right now. He's not obviously going to play tomorrow. So you got Selection Sunday. Then they're going to play Thursday or Friday. Probably Friday because the games on Friday are in Raleigh. So they don't. They're going to be a one seed. So they don't need Cooper Flag to beat the 16 seed. But. But this is what might force Duke's hand.

[01:19:46] What happens if you get to the second round? You look across that bracket because I said you're the one seed. You're getting the winner of an 8-9 game. What if that 8-9 is Gonzaga or UConn? Just food for thought. But not only Cooper Flag. They lost Malik Brown too again. So, you know. So he's probably not coming back. So Duke is down some guns right now. You know. But they get the home game in Raleigh. So I know what you want. You want sleepers, right?

[01:20:16] Who are these teams that can make runs during the NCAA tournament? I just mentioned two of them. Gonzaga. They got the talent. Slow start. Got to mesh it all together because the transfer portal. You know. So you got to mesh these guys together. They're coming on late. Beat St. Mary's the other day. You know. They're ready. UConn. The back-to-back national champions. And I'm not saying that they're a Final Four threat. They're sleepers? Yeah. I'm not saying that UConn's a Final Four threat.

[01:20:44] But what I'm saying is on any given night, they will peel your cap. You know what I'm saying? Watch out for Alex Caravan hitting the threes. Watch out for Liam McNeely who people are lazily comparing to Gordon Hayward. But, you know, stop comparing all the white players to white players. Yeah. Come on, man. Cooper Flagg is like the more athletic Larry Bird. I guess so. You know what I'm saying? But I know what you're thinking. Gonzaga. UConn. Those aren't sleepers.

[01:21:13] Well, how about Drake? How about Drake as a sleeper? Is Drake getting in? Did it have to win a tournament? Are they getting in? They already won it. They already won it. So they're in. Okay. And if I remember correctly, they're 30-3 or something like that. Because that was the same boat with them last year because they had a – Tucker DeVries. Was it Cream? Yeah. Was it Cream Abdul-Jabbar? No, no. That was Indiana State. Was that Indiana State? Yeah, that was Indiana State. And he's at St. Louis. And Drake beat him. Yeah, he's at St. Louis now. Okay.

[01:21:42] Yeah, so Drake's got head coach Ben McCollum. First year on the job, you know, Tucker DeVries and his father went to West Virginia. They're going to be in the tournament as well. Watch out for them as far as not a Final Four threat. But matchup dependent, they play that defense and they can get you. But Drake plays defense as well. Ben McCollum, keep an eye on his name for the Indiana job. You know, Mike Woodson stepping down at the end of the year. I think Drake's defense is going to be good enough to give somebody fits.

[01:22:12] The problem is they're going to have to win 59-53 or something along those lines. They're not going above 65. So that's where they're going to get in trouble. Yeah, playing within an offensive system is always really tough for college basketball players. Because it's like, if you go through one guy, a lot of teams do that in NCAA tournament. Especially back in the day, like Steph Curry. I remember the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

[01:22:40] They had a guy that dropped like 30 or 40. Wally Zerbiak dropped like 40 for Miami of Ohio. So if you don't have a team where it's just like, this guy's the guy and we all kind of play off of him. Then you end up with a team that plays tough, smart defense, two, three zone, matchup zones, a boxing one. And then all of a sudden, you can only get 60 points out of that. But here's another sleeper for you.

[01:23:07] Oh, the New Mexico Lobos coached by Richard Pitino. Not Rick Pitino, Richard Pitino. And shout out to the Pitinos because they are the first father-son combination to win a conference in the same year. You know, of course, Rick's handling things at St. John's in the Big East title game tomorrow. You know, so I got more on St. John's in a little bit. But New Mexico is a sleeper.

[01:23:36] And then one more small school. One more small school. McNeese State. You know, what is it about McNeese State down in Nacogdoches? You know, what do I like about them? I like Will Wade. Head coach Will Wade. Remember him from LSU? Got caught up in the whole Nike shoe scandal and all that stuff. With the recruits. He's at McNeese State now. They made the tournament last year. Ran into Gonzaga in the first round. And here you are now. Another year. Another shot.

[01:24:03] And, of course, don't watch out for the Antelopes if they get in Grand Canyon. You know, remember they gave Bama that tough game last year. So, you know, keep your eyes on them too. You know, but hey, beyond that. SMU, I'm sorry. You lost to Clemson last night. You can't get in. Schedule too weak. But my problem, Mr. Logical, is I got to go SEC for a second. And what I mean by that is applying SEC college football rules to basketball.

[01:24:31] So, the North Carolina Tar Heels, right? They've lost to Duke three times this year. You know what I'm saying? No big deal, right? Duke's the number one team, number two team right now. This is the problem. So, you got your four quads. You know what I'm saying? And if I need to explain the quads, I can. But I'm going to just roll with that. So, four quads. One is your highest quad. This is the game of your toughest games.

[01:24:58] North Carolina in quad one has a 1-12 record after losing to Duke tonight. Whereas Texas, on the other hand, has the same amount of losses as North Carolina. But they have three fewer wins. But they have seven quad one wins. Their strength of schedule is worse than North Carolina's. But I don't care about your schedule if you didn't beat anybody.

[01:25:26] They went 1-12 in quad one. And that only win was against UCLA. You know why I hate this? What's that? This quad one, quad two, quad three. I like it. I don't like – the one thing I don't like about it is how constantly it changes. Because you could have a quad win tonight. And then on Sunday, some other results will happen. And it will knock that to quad two or whatever.

[01:25:55] I don't like that part of it. But I like the concept of it. I think a lot of these – the shaping and the framing of these playoffs is just to get a 19-13 Texas team in. And that's the problem. You know, like not necessarily Texas. But I think it's like they use that instead of being like – Drake played Indiana State last year in their conference championship. They had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for Indiana State.

[01:26:23] I believe Drake was like – they had like a three or four loss season. It was two really good teams. I'd rather have both of those teams in the tournament instead of a 19-14 South Carolina. See, and that's the problem. Even though like they would say, oh, like they rank these wins. And I understand that. But it's like you went 19-14. I got a team that's 27-4. And you went 19-14.

[01:26:51] Even if – if you went 24-7, 24-8 maybe. Okay, I get you that. But it was like I got another team that's 27-3, 25-4, somewhere along those lines. And you lost 14 times. I'd rather get some new blood in the tournament. Because for the most part, 30 of those teams are just fodder. Like 30 of them have no shot.

[01:27:20] A lot of times it depends on the region. You'll put a Texas or VCU or UCLA or one of these teams in with 13-14 losses. It's because you want the marquee to say Texas A&M versus USC or UCLA. And UCLA is a 12 or 13 C.

[01:27:42] If you're a top Division I basketball program, you shouldn't even accept the invite to the tournament if you're not at least a nine seed and up. Nine, eight, seven. Like if you're 10, like nah, man, get that to somebody else. You didn't earn it. I still hate the – I can't call it the play – the first four. That's what it's called. I still hate the first four just from the standpoint. I hated it. Because it's like you do all this work to win your conference. Right. And then you've got to play a game to get into the tournament.

[01:28:12] Yeah, and this is two 16s, right? And it's two 11s. So it's usually the 16s, 11s. Yeah, 16s and the 11s, yeah. But I don't mind the 11s. So how did 12 off the hook? How did 12 off the hook? How did 12 in the tournament? How was 13 in the tournament? But yet I'm an extra 11 and I got to play my way in. It makes zero sense. You know what I'm saying? I just hate it.

[01:28:42] You know what I'm saying? Because it's just – like I said, these teams want their moment in March Madness. Yeah, they're probably going to get killed by Auburn. They're going to get killed by Duke or whatever. But let them have their moment. Don't call that a cheap win. Yeah. So they can say, hey, our school won it. I mean, they get the money for it, so give them the money. But, you know, anyway, my coach of the year is up right now by three. It looks like the game is over. Actually, they just won, just went final.

[01:29:10] The Louisville Cardinal, as much as I hate to say it as a Kentucky fan, as we're up here losing by 20 to Alabama right now. But Pat Kelsey from the College of Charleston, you know, shout out Residente, you know, alumni, you know. But he came to Louisville, a program that was at the bottom, you know, won single-digit games last year. And here they are playing for the ACC title against Duke tomorrow. Who did they just beat? They beat the Clemson Tigers, who was the one ACC team that beat Duke this year.

[01:29:39] So Louisville gets another crack at the Blue Devils. You know, hey, FAU, right? Like I talked about this a couple of weeks ago. You know, they're not going to be in the NCAA tournament this year. They lost to Tulane today in their conference tournament. But Coach Dusty May is the head coach at Michigan. You know, they got John L. Davis down at Arkansas. You know, they got Elijah Martin down in Florida. So, you know, they got a guy out at San Diego State.

[01:30:06] So they're still making impact on the college basketball landscape. And, you know, more on that later too. You know what I'm saying? So then watch out for Yale if they get in this year. Remember, they knocked off Auburn in that 4-13. Hey, LeBron James, remember I've been saying this for a couple of months now. Why don't you put some NIL into Akron? All they're going to do is make the NCAA tournament again. You know, that's all they're going to do. They're going to be a tough out for somebody.

[01:30:34] Tell Stephen A. Smith to say something about it. Maybe he'll react to it. Yeah, maybe, maybe. So teams like Illinois frustrate me because they lose a lot of games, but they have people like Yachionis who is projected to be a top seven or eight NBA draft pick. Why are you losing that many games? And then I got to bring it to you. Time out real quick, real quick, because I'm pretty sure you can pull this off the top of your head. I saw some about Rutgers. I meant to look into it. I was just about to bring them up. But they're not going to make the tournament with two?

[01:31:04] No, they're under 500. With two of the top three draft picks. How? I don't know. You know what I'm saying? Like, could it be youth? Could it be, you know, trying to be the man? Could it be coaching? Could it be what does the rest of the roster look like? Because they're in the big team. So I have two NBA.

[01:31:32] So I got Cooper Flagg as your potential consensus number one. Yeah. Then you got Ace Bailey and with Dylan Harper. Yep. Dylan Harper, Ron Harper, son. Yep. And they're both on Rutgers. Yep. And they're sub 500. They are 15 and 17. That's coaching. They just lost in the conference tournament two days ago to USC in the first round. You know, in the Big Ten, they went 8-12 this year.

[01:32:00] You know, and speaking of conference records real quick, just because you brought that up. I wasn't even going to mention this, but since you just brought it up. You talked about these big conference teams that get in. You know, Oklahoma is potentially getting in with a 6-12 record in the SEC. And there's word on the street that the SEC may get 14 teams into the tournament, which would shatter the record of 11 by the Big East some years ago.

[01:32:29] Iowa State, I love their head coach. I boycotted. I boycotted the tournament. I've seen 14 teams in it, especially teams that are under six games in the 500-year-old conference. Yep. You know what I'm saying? And, you know, TJ Otzelberger, you know, I think is one of the best coaches in the country. He might be on that Indiana short list as well. But the problem is they're Georgetown Temple of the 1990s. You know what I mean?

[01:32:55] Like, if you get them into a game where they have to score 70, it's almost like fighting Mike Tyson, right? If you could get past round four, your chances to win the fight go up like 80%. Yeah, you could ride it out. Yeah, that's Iowa State. They're good enough, but they just can't score enough when it matters. Iowa just can't score in football. They can't score in basketball. They're just not offensive-minded out there in the Midwest. So, Mr. Logical, where is the final four this year?

[01:33:28] I want to say Vegas. It's right down here in the Alamo. Oh. And the reason that I bring that up is because back in 2008, that was the year Mario Chalmers hit the shot against Memphis. That is the only year in NCAA tournament history that all four number one seeds made it to the final four. The only time it's ever happened. I'm not saying it's going to happen this year. I just thought that was a cool fact. And Duke's in line would probably be a number one, correct? They are. Duke, Auburn.

[01:33:58] Now without Cooper Flagg, it won't be all four in the final four. You know, Duke, Houston, Auburn, and potentially Florida or Michigan State probably get the last one seed. You know what I'm saying? So then, you know, some quick notes real quick. Kevin Keats, head coach at NC State, out. Made the final four last year. He's got no DJ Burns. Under 500, you're out of here.

[01:34:26] You know, Leonard Hamilton out at Florida State. You know, he stepped down. You know, they hired, you know, Luke Locks, you know, who I'm still learning more about, but apparently he's been with the Sacramento Kings for a few years. Virginia, not keeping their interim coach. Minnesota, you know, just fired their coach. Miami, you know, Jim Laranaga left earlier in the season, NIL, all that kind of stuff. They just hired Jay Lucas from Duke.

[01:34:56] You know, Rodney Terry, if Texas doesn't get in the tournament, he's probably out. Kyle Neptune at Villanova, see you later. Go back to Fordham or something. And then finally, Iowa's Fran McCaffrey got fired today, but we already knew that was coming. So with all that being said, So with all that being said, I'm not going to be here for the next week and a half.

[01:35:20] So I'm going to miss the bracket, you know, as far as being able to react to it live because I'm going to be on a boat, you know, but I didn't want to cheat the system. So I'm going to give you a final four anyway. You know, so I'll give you the final four anyway. You know, saying I already know Mr. Logical will disagree with me, but it just is what it is. And it makes for better conversation. It depends on what they end up in the bracket. So you got to factor that into right, right. And this is me doing it blind without a bracket.

[01:35:46] So give me Auburn and give me Auburn as the national champion. And I know Mr. Logical just said something two minutes ago, but give me Duke. I'm still taking Duke to get to the final four because I think that Cooper flag does come back. Give me St. John's, you know, Rick Pitino doing the thing. You know, they plan the Creighton. In the Big East championship game tomorrow.

[01:36:17] And then I brought up Dusty May earlier. Give me Michigan to surprise the world and get to the final four. Then give me Auburn over Duke in the national title game. Mike, I know you out there watching. I know that Duke beat Auburn earlier this season, but I said what I said. Give me the Auburn Tigers to cut down the nets. I just think they're the best team outside of Duke in the sport. You know what I mean?

[01:36:43] I don't trust John Shire in NCAA tournament formats. He's not quite Rick Barnes, but, you know, I just don't. I don't trust Arizona who's in the they're making the Big 12 championship game against Houston tomorrow. So Houston, I want to believe, but I believe every year and every year they score 50 something points and go home. They disappoint every year. Every single year. So that's my final four. That's my national champion.

[01:37:14] Yeah, you heard it here first. Really early. If no bracket. Before Selection Sunday. No bracket. You know what my luck will be? My luck will be Auburn. I've been talking all this shit about. Auburn is the same bracket. Well, I was talking all this shit about Drake. So my luck will be Auburn and Drake in the Sweet 16 and Drake pulls the upset. And I can't even enjoy it because. But just think about it. You'll be able to be like, yo, I put everybody on to Drake.

[01:37:39] So it's like you'll be a little winging of the college basketball scene. Yeah, man. Drake is the real deal. You know what I mean? Like I said, you know, I just like them. You know what I mean? Like they play that defense. You know, I'm a big defense guy. But I just, like I said, I think their scoring is going to keep them from probably. If they can get their defense to turn to offense, that's the thing with a lot of these teams that play great defense.

[01:38:07] Because eventually the 2-3 zone is a very effective defense. Man to man is very effective defense. Pressure defense. Blitz in the ball, a handler. All of that's very effective. But if one guy turns his head the wrong way on a bounce pass, it's easy two points. The ball moves so quick.

[01:38:28] Or even in the 2-3 zone, if you're big, flash to the free throw line and can consistently knock down that 14-foot jumper that you're giving them because of the framework of the defense, then that makes things change up. As long as teams can consistently attack. Like, listen, I get it. What they're doing defensively is effective. Rotating to the ball, being, you know, tenacity, hands in the passing lane, all that's effective.

[01:38:58] It can all be neutralized by calmly getting to your spot inside a three-point line, knocking down shots, making the extra pass to create open looks. Because the three-point line in college basketball is 20 feet. I think a lot of players rush that swing, swing pass. So teams that play a lot of tough defense in college basketball, I believe they rely on the inexperience of the offensive team.

[01:39:27] If you have a team, like I said, in a 2-3 zone, the big flashes to the free throw line, if you can space the floor out enough to where you can get a good pass into him, and he's a confident shooter and the team's confident in shooting from there, or if he's a decent passer, then you can be effective. And that's where teams that play tough defense and defense, defense, defense, but they don't have an offensive identity, that's where they lose games. But who knows, right?

[01:39:56] Because check this out. So their best player, you know, conference player of the year of the Missouri Valley, Bennett Sturts, right? Average 18.9 points, 5.9 assists, and 2.2 steals, and all three of those led the conference. So he led the conference at 18 points a game. So maybe it was just one of those things where it was just a defensive conference. And as you play opponents that aren't familiar with you, maybe the offense will open up a little bit. But I did forget one thing real quick.

[01:40:28] UC Irvine, the Ant Eaters, are fucking up right now. You know what I'm saying? They're losing. Actually, they just took the lead, but they're playing Cal Poly right now in the semifinals of the Big West. So the UC San Diego Tritons, this is their first year eligible to make March Madness. And, you know, like they have one of those – they're going to be one of those teams that we talk about because they're 29-4. So if they don't win the conference title –

[01:40:58] And that's where you go. You know what I mean? But if UC Irvine wins, they meet each other in the conference title game. UC Irvine wins. The fucking Big West could probably get two teams in the tournament. Ain't that something. You know what I'm saying? Better than a 19-14 Florida team. 22-13 North Carolina, yeah. Yeah. You know, but hey, y'all. Thanks for joining us.

[01:41:26] You know, he is the world-renowned Mr. Lott. Word. And all he asks is that you don't bring feelings to a fat fight. Don't do it. You know what I'm saying? Sports Reports is ordered. It's off next week. You know what I'm saying? We'll be back. Hold on. Let me look at my calendar real quick. The following week. March 25th. The following week. You know what I'm saying? We'll be back. And obviously, we'll be talking about some tournament. Catching that up. Opening day will be coming up. All the good things.

[01:41:53] So, like, review, subscribe, share, rate, do all the free things. Do all the good things. And while you're doing all the good things, make sure you grab you a liquid death. We love you. And I'm sorry I've been neglecting you, Granny, but we still love you too. Peace. Shout out to Ogden Mustangs. Outro.