The Best of Stugotz and Company LIVE!

On this edition of The Besst of Stugotz and Company LIVE!: Monse Bolanos and Buck Reising in for Stugotz and the guys as they discuss the World Cup Final between Argentina and Spain and how Argentina has gotten to this point. Monse and Buck react to Adam Silver's comment about Caitlin Clark being a political football. Monse and Buck get into the latest with Lebron and his pending decision.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of Stu Gotson Company
Live podcast. Find your local station for Stu Gotsen Company
Live at Foxsports Radio dot com, or stream us live
every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is the best of Stu Gotson Company Live on
Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Oh what's up everybody? Happy Friday.

Speaker 4 (00:22):
Thanks for tuning in to Stu Gotson Company Alive. As
you just heard, I am Monty Bilanos with book rising today.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Buck.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
I'm so excited that we get to do this today.

Speaker 5 (00:35):
I always enjoy having Mansey on our Saturday show when
she's doing the updates, but this is even better because
now we get to enjoy the conversation.

Speaker 6 (00:44):
We get to lean back, kick our feet.

Speaker 5 (00:46):
Up on this Friday, talk a little shop, get some
World Cup, going some lebron Watch. I know everybody's so
so invested in lebron Watch.

Speaker 6 (00:55):
We got a lot of things to get into. Looking
forward to it.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Girl, Oh so much to get into.

Speaker 4 (00:59):
Buck, I am super excited to be on the same
side of you typically. You're right, I get to hang
out with you guys on Saturdays at the update desk,
So I'm excited to do this. But before we dive
into the World Cup, because that's what we're starting, Buck,
I gotta tell you that further forty years, Tyrek has
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(01:20):
mobile tire installation tyrek dot Com the way tire buying
should be. Now I know for you, Buck, this is
not the way the World Cup Final should be. But
we have it, and it is a Argentina to no
one's surprise, taking on Spain this Sunday on Fox TV.

(01:41):
You can catch all the action. It all starts at
three Eastern. But Buck, there is so much with this game.
And I'm sure you're you have a different perspective than
I do. I don't. I don't hate Argentina, I really don't.
I don't hate Messy, but.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
I don't think I'm rooting for Argentina.

Speaker 5 (02:01):
Well, it just depends on what your what you're interested
in on this coming Sunday, because it much to my chagrin, Monci,
this is the final that I that I would want
if I did not feel that I saw I've got
dual citizenship I'm an American citizen obviously, but my family,
my dad's side of the families from Egypt. I got

(02:22):
an Egyptian passport, so I was rooting for Egypt as well.
Now Egypt's really the only one that's kind of gripe
to say that this thing is rigged the way that
it felt like that match played out. I know Switzerland
felt like they had a case as well. I didn't
think that call or that review was quite to the
level of egregiousness that the call the waved off goal
against Egypt was given. How far back Vaar had to

(02:44):
go in that specific play to determine a foul. We
don't have to re litigate all these things. That was
from the round of sixteen. If you're rooting for history,
you're rooting for Lionel Messi. You're rooting for Argentina. If
you're rooting to see greatness in front of you, you're
rooting to see back to back World Cup champions for
the Argentinians and to see Messi take his place above Ronaldo,

(03:07):
above Pele above I mean, I'm sure there's some people
in Argentina who still wouldn't put him above Maradonna if
he was able to win his second one, but still
he would be the most accomplished athlete in the world's
biggest sport should he win this World Cup.

Speaker 6 (03:24):
So if you're rooting for all.

Speaker 5 (03:25):
Those things, then you want to see Messi in Argentina
win And I'm not necessarily against it, even though I
feel like I should be. I personally don't think that
they are going to win this World Cup based on
what I've seen from Spain. I don't love the way
that Argentina has gotten here. I understand Messi's point. Yesterday,

(03:45):
he was being interviewed by media during his availability, and
the summary of his statement was nothing has been handed
to us as a team, where I think if you
wanted to be the most cynical version of yourself watching
the world you would say you've had a cherry path
to the final. Here you've been the beneficiary of basically

(04:07):
every call. Most calls that have been reviewed for other
teams under var have not been reviewed for you.

Speaker 6 (04:15):
And here you are sitting in the World Cup.

Speaker 5 (04:17):
And I still feel like he's right to some extent
because that team's full of dogs.

Speaker 6 (04:21):
Man like I'm not. I'm not doubting just.

Speaker 5 (04:23):
Because I don't love the way that FIFA is set up,
and I don't love the var thing. And I'm not
gonna pretend like I'm any kind of diehard soccer fan, Monci.
I'm just kind of riding, riding the wave of the
World Cup and thoroughly enjoying it here here in Tennessee.
This I was curious to see what the level of
engagement would be, especially after the US laid down like
dogs and went out in spineless fashion against the Belgians

(04:46):
the way that they did. I was curious to see
if the American audience audience would still be captivated by
how compelling this World Cup has been in I've been
pleasantly surprised, myself included. But I think that I think
that his point is correct, even if there is plenty
of evidence to say that Argentina has been the beneficiary
of many favorable calls and route to getting back to

(05:08):
the final.

Speaker 4 (05:08):
I agree with a lot of what you're saying. That
game against Egypt, I said, I was like, if I'm Egypt,
I'm burning this place down. Like there's no way that
you walked off that pitch feeling like things were fair
and you were up. And I think people want to say,
but you know the teams that Argentina has come back
to be like in the last couple of knockout games,

(05:29):
Argentina has scored.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
Their goals very late in the match.

Speaker 4 (05:33):
So the argument is always like, well, the team let
them score, the team you know, didn't stop them, and
I get all of that, but you're what you just
presented to me made me think like, huh, You're right
if I am if I do want to see something historical,
if I do want to see an awesome story to
come to an end, because I'm assuming MESSI will retire,

(05:53):
I'm assuming from the World Cup after this one. But
you know what, wouldn't be surprised if we find out
four years from now he's gonna play.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
But right, if I'm rooting for that type of story,
you wouldn't.

Speaker 6 (06:02):
Be surprised if his three year old ass was out
there him buck.

Speaker 5 (06:06):
Do you see no, I know he looks I'm getting
I hope he's gonna play here in Nashville. Here in
a couple of weeks Ander Miami is supposed to be
here against Nashville SC on the fifteenth. I'd be shocked
if he plays, uh, but yeah, I mean he he
looks like the best version of himself. It's disgusting, it.

Speaker 4 (06:20):
Is nuts, and it's like because he doesn't look like
he's the fastest, but he doesn't need to be because
his football, his football, his soccer skill is so evident,
whether he's the one scoring or placing the ball in
the perfect spot. Every time he wins. He goes to
kick a corner, I think it's going in for someone.
He puts it always in.

Speaker 3 (06:39):
The right spot.

Speaker 4 (06:40):
He does it with his skill, like technically, he's the
best I think soccer player ever.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
He's the best food butter. You know what I'm saying,
And you're right, like he it would not It really
would surprise me. Buck.

Speaker 4 (06:51):
But as you just said, if I'm if, I what
I've watched throughout this entire World Cup, and like like
most of us, I'm not a soccer I actually don't
think I could do a full time book because it's
so stressful. So I'm glad it's only part time for me.
This entire time, as I've been watching, Argentina does not.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
Look like the best team.

Speaker 4 (07:10):
So does that feel like it does actually give you
this this story book ending, this historical game, because Argentina
has not looked like the best team at all we've
They've been tested by everybody, including kve Verde, So I
don't know if in reality that gives me that feel
good story. In reality, I feel like it's Spain that

(07:31):
has shown defense wins games. I don't know how many
goals they've conceded, but not many defense wins games.

Speaker 3 (07:38):
Like it's it's just one goal. So they, to me,
are the better team.

Speaker 4 (07:46):
And if Argentina wins, I don't know if it's gonna
be as as sweet as you presented it, even though
you got me thinking twice like maybe maybe I should
roof for Argentina. You're right, but they have not looked
nearly as good as other teams, and I feel like
if they do win, no one's gonna have a problem
with that because, like you kind of hit on it,
it's not a new team. Argentina's full of they know

(08:06):
what they're doing. They're not they're not afraid of the moment.
Even when they're down, they're probably like, hey, well how
much time we have all seven minutes, we got plenty
of time, no worries.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
Hold my beer.

Speaker 4 (08:16):
It's been it's been incredible, But they definitely to me,
don't look like the best team.

Speaker 5 (08:21):
So you're saying, if the best team were not to
win the World Cup, then you would feel that there's
been some kind of injustice or the nament play out
the way the most fair way it could have.

Speaker 4 (08:31):
It absolutely has not played out the most fair way.
But that storybook ending to me, right, that storybook.

Speaker 3 (08:37):
Ending to me is not there.

Speaker 4 (08:38):
If Argentina wins because you have not been the best team,
had you been the best looking team, then I'm like, yes,
this is this is exactly how you want to end
it for Messi and Argentina and the World Cup, them
defending their title.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
But I'm gonna if they went on me like man
they got real lucky.

Speaker 5 (08:55):
I that's an interesting premise because I think it, at
least from my perspective, Manci and maybe I'm missing something here.
I think it's better when the imperfect team wins, like
Peyton Manning got the last ride with the Denver Broncos,
but he got benched like he looked terrible. He was
a corpse out there in that Super Bowl. Von Miller

(09:18):
is the reason that that Broncos team won the Super Bowl.
So that's probably not the way that Peyton drew it up,
but he won the Super Bowl and then retired after
the fact. It's very rarely the perfect ending, and a
lot of times by these guys choice right. Brady kept
playing beyond the seventh Super Bowl and probably could still
play at a reasonably high level, but wasn't able to

(09:41):
get it done. Went out, I believe against the Rams
in his final postseason.

Speaker 6 (09:45):
I can't remember exactly. I want to say it was
the Rams.

Speaker 5 (09:48):
But either way, I'm sure Tom Brady would like to
have gone out a Super Bowl champion, but that competitive
drive kept him going past the point of his actual
team's contention. For MESSI, it feels like they are a
flawed team. They are an imperfect team, and they are
doing everything in service of MESSI to try and make
sure that he can have this this final sendoff in
as perfect a way as humanly possible. But I, at

(10:11):
least in my experience covering a team, and I'm a
I'm a beat reporter, I cover one team on a
daily basis.

Speaker 6 (10:18):
It's the Tennessee Titans.

Speaker 5 (10:19):
Which may be a particularly miserable existence of light, but
I enjoy seeing the rise of an imperfect team, fighting, struggling,
finding unconventional ways to beat superior competition. I enjoy that
component of it. I think more than watching the best

(10:41):
just run the table, go wire to wire and end
up winning the championship. That that, to me is the
least compelling version of a championship run.

Speaker 4 (10:49):
I feel like what you've described is typically someone that's
maybe an underdog. I don't know if I look at
Argentina as an underdog. No, hell, and that's sort of
and that's that's what it is. Because you're listen last
year or last couple of years.

Speaker 3 (11:02):
I am. I am a big Brice young fan, so
I am rooting.

Speaker 4 (11:05):
For those Panthers every single time, and every time they win,
it is so awesome. But they Argentina is not that.
Argentina is the exact opposite of that.

Speaker 3 (11:15):
They just aren't nearly as good by my eye test.

Speaker 4 (11:18):
Again a soccer fan for the last thirty days, but
by my eye test, they just don't look as nearly
as good as other teams.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
And if it had been Egypt in this.

Speaker 4 (11:26):
Position, Cape Verdy in this position, I would absolutely be
rooting one hundred percent for this so called or so
this underdog, this team that has been fighting their way
because for me, Argentina, I don't know if they've really
fought their way.

Speaker 3 (11:39):
I think things that just happen in their favor, and.

Speaker 6 (11:42):
I strong disagree with that though.

Speaker 5 (11:44):
I mean, they're they're getting breaks, Manzi, but that that
team is out there battling, I strongly disagree with.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
That they're battling, but I don't think they're worried.

Speaker 4 (11:53):
Or stressed the way other teams that don't have the
experience that Argentina does. Though, to me, that's those are
the teams that are like bad tested. I felt like
Mexico Battle was battle tested to the end. Mexico went
out swinging the entire way against England. With Argentina, they
look not as good. They don't look like they have
an attack, and then their attack comes late in the game,

(12:14):
and I don't know if that's their strategy.

Speaker 3 (12:16):
Maybe they're like, guys, let's just keep it easy, keep
the game close.

Speaker 4 (12:19):
Then at the end we pick it up because MESSI can't,
you know, play this entire game at a high level
because he's older, but he's so still damn effective. And
so that's that's what I mean. I just I see
them and I'm like, your you guys, look good. Your
attack comes in late in the game for me, So
what's happened this entire time?

Speaker 3 (12:36):
Maybe it's their strategy. Maybe that's what they've been trying
to do.

Speaker 5 (12:39):
Well, that's kind of how he plays, right, I mean,
he just picks the spots like he's famous for walking
on the pitch and when he needs to turn on
turn on the gas that he makes the play. He
has the vision you've mentioned, his high level of skill,
his high level of football acumen soccer acumen to be
able to identify those spots, and he also puts his
team in great position to win. Right, He didn't en

(13:01):
route to getting getting past England, but he set up
both of those assists and was critical in them being
able to do that.

Speaker 6 (13:07):
So there probably is something.

Speaker 5 (13:08):
I don't want to quite describe it as lackadaisical I
would I would describe.

Speaker 6 (13:12):
It, frankly as efficient.

Speaker 5 (13:13):
The way that Messi plays Argentina Argentina is this version
of them has its flaws, but in the places where
those flaws have been exposed, Right, that's where the controversy
tends to come in about, well, did var bail them
out against Egypt? Should that have been a call against Switzerland,
the way that it was the College Great controversy, even
though we all saw that dude take a dive like

(13:34):
it's I think that one was much overblown. And Argentina
is kind of an easy They're an easy Uh, they're
an easy target. Sure right now, given given that we're
talking about when when my real the real crux of
my issue with the way that they've gotten into a
lot of these situations, or frankly gotten out of a
lot of these situations, is more about var the spots

(13:56):
that that FIFA and the officiating has choose chosen to
implement is confusing to me. And then beyond that just
the general corruption of FIFA and being if I was
gonna accuse any any league of having a script or
being rigged, it'd be this damn one. I just hate
that they're I don't hate it because I've enjoyed it thoroughly.
I hate that they are the super villain organization and

(14:18):
that they are just absolutely crushing this World Cup. Like
you're gonna be looking around if you're Gianni and Fantino
looking like a James Bond villain saying yeah, you know
what you you you were you were giving me a
hard time about what I was charging for tickets.

Speaker 6 (14:30):
You were saying, they're gonna be at these seats in
the stadium.

Speaker 5 (14:32):
Look at these crowds, look at the results, look at
the drama. This has been everything a World Cup, you
everything you would hope a World Cup would be. Uh,
and it couldn't happen to a worse, worse coverning body
than FIFA.

Speaker 6 (14:44):
I'm telling you.

Speaker 3 (14:44):
It's so you're so right, because it's like, I'm not.

Speaker 4 (14:46):
I love the conspiracy that FIFA is trying to get
Argentina there and that Missy is the golden child of FIFA.
I love that conspiracy and I'm for it this entire
World Cup. I just like, I don't know if I'm
rooting for Argentina. But let's just say that Argentina does win.
Buck And let's say Messi has a whatever game, whether

(15:08):
it's two assists, a golden assist, but you know he's
going to be part of the offense because again.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
He's so good.

Speaker 4 (15:14):
Still, what does that do to Messy when it comes
to just like the room of goats that he would
be in, because he would be so accomplished, maybe the
most accomplished goat, Like, how does he just sen all
of a sudden become better than Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan,
then Novak Djokovic, then Tom Brady, then Lebron James.

Speaker 3 (15:35):
Does he get does he surpass those?

Speaker 6 (15:38):
I think he's already surpassed them.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
You think he's already surpassed them.

Speaker 5 (15:41):
Oh, of course, I mean he's a he's a global superstar.
None of them, none of them even sniffed him. As
far as I'm concerned, Like, I think this is it's
an it's a very American conversation, right because most of
the world is not having a conversation about American football
within this context. The NBA is a global game, the
NHL is a global game. So those those sports have

(16:03):
a better seat at the table or a more compelling
argument if you're going to make this a world conversation,
if you're talking about purely through the context of American
sports fans, I still think he wipes the floor with
the rest of them. I do think that Brady is
second there, simply because the further we get removed from.

Speaker 6 (16:17):
Seven Super Bowls, it's just it's.

Speaker 5 (16:20):
The most ridiculous thing you've ever heard, and we have
taken him for granted because he just did it routinely
for over the course of two decades.

Speaker 6 (16:27):
And I know there was a bit of a golf between.

Speaker 5 (16:28):
The first three and the second three with the Patriots
and then obviously going on to win another one. Not
unto himself. He had a great team and a good
coaching staff around him, but one without Belichick right, the
arguably the most important one for defining who Tom Brady
was and how Tom Brady should be remembered in our
sports consciousness. But yeah, Lionel Messi is already the world's

(16:51):
most decorated soccer player. If he wins this World Cup,
he will become definitively the world's.

Speaker 6 (16:57):
Most decorated soccer player.

Speaker 5 (16:59):
And if you are the best player in the world's game,
that trumps anything that the NBA or the NFL, the NHL,
whatever other sport you may may submit for contention. It
dwarfs everything else because soccer is just so much bigger
than I think we give it credence for in this country.
And I think we're witnessing that first up close and

(17:20):
personal with the way that the World Cup has taken
over our entire our entire country and Mexico and Canada,
m hmm.

Speaker 4 (17:26):
All right, then let's let's simplify that question a little bit,
because you're right, you are so right that already h
everywhere else aside from the US, Messi is probably at
the top of every single list and there's no discussion
or question about it.

Speaker 3 (17:39):
So what about here in America?

Speaker 4 (17:41):
Do you think then Messi becomes a constant name that
we will bring up from time to time when discussing
the goats because I'm not gonna lie, I don't know
how many times I've brought them up aside from the
World Cup, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 5 (17:55):
Admittedly, you're you're not are You're not a follower of
the sport, and that's okay, Like I I'm not knocking
you for that, but like if you haven't brought it
up and you're not watching you know, know, you're not watching
the games, Like why why.

Speaker 6 (18:06):
Would it matter to you?

Speaker 5 (18:07):
Right, it's not a part of your your sports consciousness,
it's not a part of your fandom.

Speaker 6 (18:10):
You wouldn't consider it.

Speaker 5 (18:11):
But I think when you take I don't know what
the percentage of people in this country would say that
they are soccer fans that they follow EPL, LA Liga.

Speaker 6 (18:20):
You know, the.

Speaker 5 (18:21):
Euros, whatever, whatever level of competition, cock A calf Right, MLS,
like all.

Speaker 6 (18:24):
These different things, Soccer is.

Speaker 5 (18:26):
Soccer has so many different branches on this thing that
I think even the most diehard of fans of the
sport would have difficulty following it. And I still think
most Americans, if you are, if you are at all
globally conscious on things in sports that happen outside this country,
you're saying messy hands down. I mean, the only the
most stubborn, and I think this is a generational thing.

(18:48):
Only the most stubborn American sports fans would have the
conversation around Michael Jordan when.

Speaker 6 (18:53):
They're still there.

Speaker 5 (18:54):
I mean, and that that's fine if you want to
talk about Michael within that context. Obviously he's the greatest
winner in the NBA. Nobody would dispute that Lebron James
is the greatest athlete in the NBA in that sports history.
Nobody would dispute that. I think most smart people or
most people would not dispute that maybe there's a few
out there who want to fight just for the sake
of fighting because they're Michael Jordan diehards. But I think

(19:16):
if you're if you're saying anybody but MESSI You're just
you're either ignorant or you're or you're you're being obstinate, right,
I don't think there's any anything in between. And I'm
not taking a shot at you there. Well yeah, for sure,
for sure, Like that's ignorant in the sense of well, yeah,
it's just that's not a part of my that's not
a part of my day to day.

Speaker 6 (19:33):
It's not a part of my sports fandom. So I'm not.

Speaker 4 (19:35):
Thinking about it, right, right, No, you're so, you're so
one hundred percent right. And I think, at least for me,
and I think for a lot of people, he is
going to be now something that I'm constantly thinking about
when it comes to the best of the best, especially after.

Speaker 3 (19:48):
Watching this World Cup.

Speaker 4 (19:49):
Maybe I will watch an Enter Miami game more often now.

Speaker 3 (19:53):
Just to see how he looks out there.

Speaker 4 (19:54):
And I do like those pink uniforms, so maybe I
have to dive into that a little bit more. But
you think Argentina wins on Sunday, buck no one picking spot,
you're taking Spain. You have a final score, give me
the final score prediction here one, no one nil.

Speaker 3 (20:09):
That's it. So they're not gonna score has argent You.

Speaker 5 (20:12):
Talk about drama is going to be dramatic as hell,
It's going to be excellent.

Speaker 6 (20:15):
But I think they're blank him.

Speaker 3 (20:16):
I love that. I think you're right.

Speaker 4 (20:18):
I really do think Spain's defense is going to be
a little bit too much for Argentina based on what
I've seen in this tournament.

Speaker 2 (20:26):
Be sure to catch live editions of Stu Godson Company
Live weekdays at three pm Eastern twelve pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
That's right, what's up?

Speaker 4 (20:39):
Everybody? Happy Friday? Hour two of Stu Got Some Company Live.
I am Monti Bolanos. He is Buck Rising. We're hanging
out with you on this Friday. We've got Jason Stewart,
our producer. We've got Ioscam on the ones end. Who's
Isaac Low and Cron You just heard his update which
I'm gonna have a question about golf when we talked
him in about thirty minutes Again, Buck, because I did not

(21:00):
understand about this. Bryson Deshambo standing on walking over grass
and I gotta ask him a question after.

Speaker 3 (21:05):
But Buck, before we get into it, let's real quick.
Let me tell you about.

Speaker 4 (21:10):
FIFA World Cup. Yeah, we got the two matches coming
up this weekend. Upgrade your FIFA World Cup twenty twenty
six setup. Build it like Beckham from living room to
lawn with the Home Depot and take the fast free
delivery assists the Home Depot Official FIFA World Cup twenty
twenty six Supporter Subject to availability. We are going to
talk about Kaitlin Clark in the comments that Adam Silver
said about Kaitlyn Clark Buck, But I just want to

(21:33):
wrap up what we were just talking about with Dabo Sweeney,
the head coach of Clemson, and his comments that were
just made in case he wanted to let it out
a little bit more. But my question to you is
to wrap it up because I agree with everything you said.
That is, I don't know how you say both things
in the same sentence of not necessarily needing to win
another title, but that he wants.

Speaker 3 (21:53):
To win more than anybody. I don't get how that works.

Speaker 4 (21:56):
If he is playing this game of dare dare you
to fire me? And let's say Clemson does fire him,
do you think Buck, that there would be teams lining
up to talk to Dabo Sweeney.

Speaker 5 (22:10):
No, No, why the hell would anybody want to talk
to Dabo after the way that he's behaved, Well.

Speaker 3 (22:15):
You know, he just told you I won two titles.
I've won eleven conference.

Speaker 6 (22:19):
CHAMPI was the last time he won a title.

Speaker 3 (22:21):
Montson, I couldn't tell you. I couldn't tell.

Speaker 6 (22:22):
You, correct.

Speaker 5 (22:24):
I mean, I mean, it's it's not been like one
hundred years ago, but it's a it's an entirely different
world of college football that he won his titles in.
You know what I'm saying, Dabbo, people, there would be
interest in Dabbo. I'm not going to act like he would.
He would be some kind of pariah that never worked
in college football.

Speaker 6 (22:44):
Again.

Speaker 5 (22:45):
But if I'm if, I'm a program who is trying
to get, who is trying to be on the forefront
of nil, who is trying to find different ways to
win within the margins. Because now that's a part of
college football, and it was always a part of college
football and college athletics generally. But we understand that the
game has has changed in so many different ways. And

(23:07):
at every turn, Dabo has beat his chest and said, no,
I'm not only am I ignorant, not only am I unwilling,
I'm proudly ignorant and unwilling. I am beating my chest
at a podium to tell you that I'm this great
thing from essentially a different era. I know that's kind

(23:30):
of a crazy thing to say, because it's I don't
know when when was the Supreme Court ruling on nil Is,
Probably six years ago, maybe five, maybe a little more
than five, some somewhere in that area. So to say
a completely different era of college sports about an era
that was five years ago, maybe he's a little extreme,
but like the college athletics landscape has changed almost annually

(23:50):
since then, and especially with as few guardrails as we have.
I want somebody who's who's proactive. I want somebody who's hungry.
I don't want I don't want to place at coach
who's sighting titles from ten years ago. I cannot I
cannot fathom what's going through his head. And that like,
I don't hate Dabo Swinty, like it may say, it
may sound like I've I've got some kind of grudge

(24:12):
towards the guy, ors harbor some level of ill will. No,
I'm just I'm just disappointed in him. It's like the
famous thing when your parents say I'm not mad. I'm disappointed,
disappointed almost worse like I'm I'm I'm not getting mad
at Dabbo anymore because he's just he's just perpetually shooting
himself in a foot Because what happens if they don't
ever get back to the mountaintop the Dabbo keeps sighting

(24:33):
that they've been to. He's still going to have program
records as far as accomplishments, He's he is going to
go down as the best coach in Clemson football history.
There's there's no disputing that. But you cannot rest on
your laurels. This is a sport. This is a profession.
Even around sports, sports media, any any level of competitive business,

(24:55):
whether you're talking about private equity, whether you're talking.

Speaker 6 (24:57):
About h.

Speaker 5 (25:00):
Whatever industry you're working in right now, it is highly competitive.
You have to want it more than the other person
who's competing to do the thing that you're trying to do,
but faster and better and smarter. Because they want to
capitalize on it, they want to cash in. And these
are incredibly lucrative jobs, incredibly lucrative jobs beyond the parks

(25:21):
that come with being a power for head coach and
things of that nature and Dabbo for some reason, and
he's not completely wrong in everything that he's done, because
he is he is going to be remembered as a
success no matter how this flames out at the end.
And it does feel like it's flaming out, not just

(25:41):
because of how unbelievably underwhelming relative to expectation their.

Speaker 6 (25:46):
Season was, but he's in one of those situations.

Speaker 5 (25:50):
And Tony Gonzalez, I think aired when he was talking
about Russell Wilson this past football season on Amazon Prime
and he said something to the effect of Russell Wilson's
playing himself out of the Hall of Fame, and I
thought that was a little bit of an extreme comment.
I don't necessarily know that Russ was in to begin with,
but like Dabbo, feels like a better case of no,
You're you're hurting yourself at every turn to your detriment,
to your legacy's detriment, because you just won't stop shaking

(26:13):
your fist.

Speaker 6 (26:13):
At a cloud.

Speaker 4 (26:16):
Everything you said is so on the money, And especially
now that I've seen schools not care about firing someone
in the buyout, like what I'm telling you, it seems
like he's he's daring them to fire him.

Speaker 5 (26:28):
What's Jimbo was on the table for what was it,
like eighty five million dollars? Yeah, thet in college sports history,
Like what's once the Jimbo buyout was on the table.

Speaker 6 (26:38):
Anybody can get fired at any time, right, So I'm
with you.

Speaker 4 (26:42):
I don't know what he's thinking in these comments. But
we'll see what happens this season for Clemson and their
football team, and we'll see what happens with Dabo Sweeney
if he's their coach by the end of the season.
But let's pivot here back to Adam Silver once again,
except this time he had different comments, not about his
superstar in the NBA, but a star in the WNBA,

(27:05):
whether you'd like to admit it or not. Caitlyn Clark
describing her as a political football some of the quotes
that he said that it's become a political ping pong
with her, and she's a young woman who's trying to
improve her game. This obviously has to do with the
officiating everything that's been happening lately with Caitlyn Clark. And

(27:26):
I am a fan of Kaitlyn Clark, Buck, I am
not a mega fan of Kaitlyn Clark, but I am
a fan of hers. In fact, I have an Iowa
Kaitlyn Clark shirt that Iowa Sam gave me and sometimes
we're twinsies and we wear them on the same day.

Speaker 3 (27:39):
So I am a fan.

Speaker 4 (27:42):
But it's hard to watch her antics when she starts
complaining to the reps and acting like a brat. She's
having a rough year, her numbers are down, and you
could just she's hurt and all of this. But I
do feel that no matter what that girl does or says,
it causes an uproar of bow sides, and I don't
know how that changes. I don't think it changes with

(28:04):
fixing the officiating. I don't think it changes by getting
a new commissioner. I think that I think we're kind
of stuck in this and I don't know how we
get out of it. Whether she becomes all of a
sudden her like shooting goes back to being awesome beyond
the arch shooting from the logo and all that. I
don't know if like winning will change it, because it's
she's so it's such a political take with her.

Speaker 3 (28:28):
It's never gray with her. It's black and white, and
it's extremely black and white.

Speaker 5 (28:35):
The so I'm from Indiana. I went to I went
to Indiana. I'm a I'm a Pacers fan, IU basketball fan.
I just recently discovered that we had a football program.
The first IU football game I went to was the
Peach Bowl, the Peach Bowl semi final, and then I
went to the National Championship. Yeah, it's pretty cool. But
I'm rooting for Caitlin Clark. Once she joined the Fever,

(29:00):
I as a fan of her team and her by extension,
AM just exhausted by her.

Speaker 6 (29:10):
But it's not her.

Speaker 5 (29:12):
I'm exhausted by the situation, and I think at every turn.
The best thing that I can say about her is
any time she makes a statement on it, and she's
had to do this several times because it, to your point,
it has not abated at all. It just keeps getting
louder and louder and more vicious every time. And that's
a product of the Internet and Internet discourse and all
the different things that makes sports and things around sports,

(29:33):
or politics for that matter, toxic as hell. The dialogue,
the discourse around her is exhausting and never ending, and frankly,
if I'm Adam Silver, Adam Silver's correct in that she's
being used as a political football because I said there
was a number and listen, it's not necessarily about one
side or the other here, but it does just so

(29:55):
happen that there were a number of I believe it
was Republican law made makers who were petitioning the w
NBA to come out and make significant changes as far
as the way that Caitlyn Clark was being treated. They
feel that they felt that she has been and this
is not an unpopular talking point, but it felt like
a political grift to kind of capitalize on the fact

(30:17):
that Caitlyn Clark is being fouled regularly, and recently Alisa
Thomas Gott suspended for the foul that was should have
been a flagrant yeah, fist to the throat essentially, I
mean it was. There's been a lot of things that
could be debated this way. But you are also seeing
now parties who are not actually interested in the well

(30:37):
being of Caitlyn Clark or the health of the w
NBA now jumping in on the conversation because it.

Speaker 6 (30:42):
Is politically convenient for them to do so.

Speaker 5 (30:44):
And I also think that the same tact is being
taken on the other side of the conversation. Which is,
if you want to make her a villain, you can
make her a villion a villain quite easily, depending on
if you're if you're willing to actually listen to her
or not.

Speaker 6 (30:57):
Nobody's actually listening to her. In the middle of all of.

Speaker 5 (31:00):
This, people people are are having conversations around her, and
then when she speaks about the conversations being had around her,
people put that to the put that to the side,
and just continue the shouting match on whatever side of
the argument that they were on in the first place.
Adam Silver is correct and that she's being used as
a political football. But I bet, and this would be

(31:22):
reckless speculation on my part, of course, I bet, though
if you got him in an honest moment, I bet
he doesn't want that to go away. She drives numbers
in ways that no other single player. I might argue
that she drives numbers more for her sport than any
other single player drives numbers for their respective sport right now,

(31:45):
just the wide margin between her fever games and everybody
else in the WNBA right now, as far as viewing
habits go, I bet if I'm if I'm Kathy Engelbert
or Adam Silver, or any of these people who are
I mean, in the case of Engelbert, supposed to be
governing their league and doing so in just horrible, terrible fashion,

(32:07):
an outright detriment to her league. As far as I'm
concerned with the commissioner of the WNBA.

Speaker 6 (32:12):
I don't think I'll comment on the noise.

Speaker 5 (32:14):
I'll poo pooh and wag my finger at the people
who are doing the bad thing and yelling and screaming
and shouting on either side of things. But in the dark,
quiet moments of my private of my private mind, if
I'm Adam Silver or Kathy Engelbert, I'm sitting there thinking
no louder, louder more more, because it keeps interest, it

(32:35):
keeps attention, it keeps eyeballs, not necessarily for the right reason.
But they're in the business of visibility and monetizing that visibility,
and they are able to do so at an incredibly
high rate with her, especially given the nature of the
polar polarization around her.

Speaker 4 (32:50):
Nobody moves the needle for their sport the way Caitlin
Clark still does. That is one hundred percent true, And man,
I honestly didn't even think of it. The way you
just pull uh the way you just put that out there,
of them not wanting this to change, like they don't,
You're right, why do they want this to change? This
is bringing in all the numbers, all the conversations. She's

(33:11):
still people are still going to see her play, whether
it's because you want to see Kaitlyn Clark because you
love her or you hate her, and so them pretending that, oh, yeah,
we got to fix this, when in reality, you're probably right,
they're probably not doing anything because they haven't done anything.
The officiating was something that they could have tried to fix,
I think pretty quickly by just even speaking to these

(33:32):
to these officials of like you, cau's got we gotta
tien it up, like it seems as though they do
want this to continue to happen. And that's that's awful
because eventually I do think it's going to turn people
fully away from the WNBA because you said you're exhausted.
I'm exhausted, and I don't I'm a fan, but I'm exhausted.

Speaker 3 (33:53):
And even having any.

Speaker 4 (33:55):
Discussion with a person of Kaitlyn Clark, it always gets
so just to one side or the other, and you're like,
I actually just wanted to talk about her shooting percentage
because I.

Speaker 3 (34:05):
Think she's like not doing so hot.

Speaker 4 (34:07):
I didn't really want to start arguing, like, you can't
do you can't have a normal conversation about Kaitlin Clark.
Our executive producer, Jason Stewart, you want to jump in
on this. I know you.

Speaker 3 (34:16):
You tuned into the WNBA because of Kitlin Clark.

Speaker 7 (34:19):
Absolutely. I watched my first WNBA game because of her.
I fell in love with her and her antics and
her attitude. And now I'm getting to the point where
I can't stand it. And but I do have a
question for both of you.

Speaker 8 (34:32):
So you know, when politics, as you guys are discussing,
since Adam Silver brought politics into this, I kind of
want to make this analogy. Nobody from the political theater standpoint,
the people that talk about politics make money off political content,
the pundits, you know, the operators. Nobody really wants fixes

(34:52):
to these major problems, like nobody really wants a fix
to immigration, nobody wants a fix to healthcare, because then
they would have nothing for their side to complain about,
nothing for their side to make money talking about. Doesn't
not feel like Kitlin Klark is that in sports, most
of the content that we put out, if you put
out anything Kitlin Kark, it gets numbers. That's a fact,

(35:15):
no matter what you say, because somebody is going to
agree with you times ten, and then somebody's going to
disagree with you times ten. To the point where as
you said, you're exhausted by it. But don't you feel
like she's in that realm of our sports space?

Speaker 5 (35:31):
Oh yeah, I think that's the point I just made,
or earlier you talking about Adam Silver, Wayne Louder. You know,
I think that's exactly the direction that they want this
thing to go. Again, reckless speculation on my part, but
I don't think it's that hard to figure out.

Speaker 6 (35:44):
It's like when Jerry Jones is talking about.

Speaker 5 (35:45):
Bad publicity versus good publicity, and he's for all publicity, right,
Jared didn't care, Jerry Wance, you watching, listening, interacting, commenting, liking, clicking, whatever,
whatever the case may be, as much and as often
around the Dallas Cowboys as humanly possible, because that's good
for the brand. That as long as the brand is strong,
then the program can continue to be strong, even if

(36:06):
the thing hadn't won a Super Bowl since the nineties, right,
and we all treat it as if it's something that
should be respected as a perpetual a perpetual contenders.

Speaker 6 (36:14):
It's the noise around these things.

Speaker 5 (36:16):
You want to keep that noise as loud and as
turned up as humanly possible if you can, because that
is the way to further your level of engagement, your reach,
and ultimately your ability to monetize this thing.

Speaker 4 (36:27):
But the difference with the Cowboys, even though I do
agree with you that we always talk about the Cowboys,
the cowboy on a slow news day, you can always
just talk about the cowboys, right, like you just bring
them in, and Jerry Jones loves that. But it's so
different because I've said I was like people, now I
feel like tune into the w NBA. I wouldn't have
said this two years ago when she first joined, but
I feel like now you tune in because it's it's

(36:50):
almost you're in.

Speaker 3 (36:51):
For the gossip, You're in for the trash talk. It's
like watching a bad reality TV show.

Speaker 4 (36:56):
It's like watching The Bachelorette, like I'm gonna watch it,
but I'm you know, because it's trash television.

Speaker 3 (37:02):
And I feel like that's the way the w n
B is going and that can't be good for long term.

Speaker 6 (37:09):
I don't know. I mean in trash TV, sustainable, sustainable, but.

Speaker 3 (37:13):
Sports is not trash television. It's not supposed to be.

Speaker 4 (37:16):
I would would you know what I'm saying, Like, I
don't think the Cowboys are are trash television.

Speaker 3 (37:20):
It's just I don't. I don't.

Speaker 4 (37:23):
I don't think that. I'm I'm talking about the Cowboys
in a gossip ye way.

Speaker 5 (37:28):
Oh, I think people do tend to write. I think
Jerry Jerry loves the gossip, right, that's the whole purpose
around him. What the Jerry Jones then came out on
Netflix last year or HBO? Remember, yes, which the streaming platform?

Speaker 8 (37:40):
Right?

Speaker 6 (37:40):
Which is which is Jerry gossip? It's cowboys gossip right
like we are?

Speaker 5 (37:44):
I think honestly, Manzi, I think sports is at every
turn trying to take a page out of reality television's
playbook because I think that's the way to further grow
it beyond just the product on the field. Right, Like
I'm I'm being harassed because I have no interest in
watching quarterback. Okay, it's the Netflix and the quarterback that

(38:06):
I cover cam word for the Tennessee Titans is one
of the four quarterbacks being featured.

Speaker 6 (38:11):
I've never watched quarterback in any of the three seasons
that they've done.

Speaker 5 (38:14):
I think I've seen an episode and a half of
Receiver the one year that they did. It didn't really
hold my attention, but that's that's human interest, right. They're
doing football reality television on a regular basis because that
they understand there's another audience for that, or there's an
additional audience for that, or that's a different way for
me to keep you captive with this thing that's not
actually being played right now. But I'll still keep your

(38:35):
attention because I've got your football player here, and look,
you get to see him watch film in his home
and go fishing and play with his dog and all
these different things that are completely nonsense and completely you know,
normal human being things. And most quarterbacks are most athletes generally,
and this is not maybe I shouldn't say athletes is
in such a despairing way, but maybe it's more more

(38:57):
about the general population.

Speaker 6 (38:58):
Most people aren't actually that interesting athletes, least of which.

Speaker 5 (39:01):
Right because their entire existence is focused on discipline and
making sure that they don't stray from the path and
that they are being as studious as humanly possible and
all these different things, eating clean, like there's very little
fun involved outside of the playing the actual games involved
in being a professional athlete. Like these guys aren't that
interesting to me, Joe Burrow. People try to turn into

(39:23):
some into some kind of mystical figure or something like that.

Speaker 6 (39:27):
Joe Burrow's boring as hell. So I'm looking at this.
I'm Brady Brady.

Speaker 5 (39:32):
Brady is vastly more interesting after his wife cheated on
him with this jiu jitsu instructor or whatever the hell
that was. And that's not even a Brady interest, Like,
that's not even a personality trait of Brady's, right, It's
just a thing, a TMZ thing that happened to Tom
Brady that gets us all oohing and eyeing, and you know,
Netflix roast jokes and things of that nature. So I think, yeah,
every turn Sports is so willing to lean into the

(39:55):
reality TV element of it because then we're following storylines
that we saw in last season series of Quarterback, and
then we'll carry that over to the season and Robert
Sala MF and Liam Cohen on the field postgame and
all these different little things that don't actually matter to
the playing of the games, but will keep us titillated
by them, because again, trash TV sustainable as hell, and

(40:19):
I think there's I think, if anything, the WNBA is
probably gonna lean into it more.

Speaker 4 (40:23):
Iowa Sam the biggest Kaitlyn Clark fan here wrap this
up for us.

Speaker 9 (40:28):
I am a huge fan, but I recognize what's going
on with her right now. We talked about it, Manci.
The drama for with Kaitlyn Clark might be helping the
WNBA cash in right now.

Speaker 6 (40:37):
They're counting their money.

Speaker 9 (40:38):
They see the engagement, they see the numbers. I don't
think it's sustainable for them long term, and I don't
think it's sustainable for Kaitlyn Clark, like spiritually and mentally
like she. I think if this keeps going like this,
she's going to be completely dried out, exploited, just completely bitter,
not unable to focus on her craft if this just

(40:59):
circus keeps continue. And I think, honestly, Jerry Jones would
probably rather win a Super Bowl. He'd prefer the gossip
and the tabloid fodder to continue. But if he won
a super Bowl, it'd be like, yeah, we can do
all that fun stuff. It's really it's this stuff is
much more fun and bearable when you're winning. And I've
said I said this yesterday, Kaitlin Clark with the team
is not really a factor. In fact, I think they're

(41:20):
losing more than their winning when she's on the court
with them. So I think if she's gonna get shooed
up and spit out if things don't if she doesn't
do better, if the official officiating doesn't do better, and
if like they need to just shift focus off her
a little bit. Her numbers need to improve. But this circus,
as it is, this front of the grocery checkout line,
she's on the front page of the Globe or the

(41:40):
National inquir this is going to eventually just corrupt her
and destroy her, Like as a person and as a
professional basketball player.

Speaker 6 (41:47):
I don't think it's sustainable. I don't think it's healthy.

Speaker 3 (41:49):
I don't think it's sustainable either.

Speaker 4 (41:51):
And I agree with what you're saying Buck that, like
everybody loves reality television, I tune in because it's entertaining,
but it's also something where I I can just half
pay attention to, and I feel like it's not sustainable.
In the long term for the WNBA in the sense
that these people that view you as reality television or
trash television, they're just talking about you on social media.

(42:15):
They're not going to spend money to go watch you
in person, and once that money stops coming in in
that way, then it's just a joke for social media
and they're going to go back to that. And that's
what Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you're right that this is
the way it keeps going, But there's there's got to
be I don't know a little bit, something's got to
change and in reality, and the truth is I don't
see it.

Speaker 3 (42:34):
Changing, So I don't know.

Speaker 2 (42:36):
Be sure to catch live editions of Stuve Godson Company
Live weekdays at three pm Eastern twelve pm Pacific.

Speaker 4 (42:45):
Lebron James still has not made an announcement buck of
where he's going, and it's not just the fans that
are waiting. As Commissioner Adam Silver said on Thursday, he
was at the CNBC Sport and Boardroom Game Planned Summit
in New York and he said, quote, we have to
finish up the schedule, and where Lebron plays will affect

(43:07):
the schedule. So I would like him to make his
announcement already so we can finish the schedule, because, as
you might imagine, the teams are calling us, the networks
are calling us, and everybody wants to lock in the schedule.

Speaker 3 (43:21):
When are we going to find out? Buck? When do
you think?

Speaker 5 (43:25):
I mean, I have no earthly idea. And the trust
the process clip that Isaac just played I think is
so funny because it's just it's a cliche that every
athlete and coach I've ever covered you, And it's not
just because of the seventy six ers and Joe El

(43:46):
Embiid and Pablo Torre and the whole reporting around that.
When he was doing that story on the process and
everything that led the seventy six ers to try and
become a championship contender, which obviously fell flat on its face.
I just think that the audience understandably so. Lebron James
is an incredibly important figure in our sports lives, and

(44:06):
his decision another decision is holding up everything right, everything
down to the schedule. Adam Silver is all but pleading
for Lebron James. Hey, Bud, you know, I appreciate that
you enjoyed the drama. I appreciate that you're gonna You're
gonna squeeze every last bit of juice out of this
because you know the retirement tour is coming. You know

(44:27):
that he's gonna have the celebration and probably should right.
I don't want to denigrate all of Lebron's accomplishments just
because I'm a little impatient and the world is a
little impatient to find out where he plays. If I
was Lebron James, I'd tell Adam Silver, I don't give
a damn well, I'm taking my time. This is this
is my league more than it's your league, and Adam
Silver has shown it every turn that he is the

(44:49):
If not for Kathy Engelbert's existence, Adam Silver would be
the worst commissioner in all of professional sports, certainly in
all of American sports, because of the way that his decisions.

Speaker 6 (45:01):
Other than getting rid of.

Speaker 5 (45:02):
Donald Sterling to a decision, almost every one of Adam
Silver's decisions and his constant deference to the players has
been to the I think unrelenting, unrelenting detriment of the NBA.
I think he is just done a terrible, terrible job.
So if I'm Lebron, I'm looking at him and be like,
I'm more in charge than you are. You're literally telling

(45:24):
me that I'm more in charge than you are. I
have control over the schedule. So if you're if you're
gonna just outright say that I've got that kind of power,
why would I what's gonna what's gonna hurry me along?

Speaker 6 (45:33):
I don't give it.

Speaker 5 (45:34):
I don't care about your schedule. I want to see
I want him to go to Memphis. I want him
to then pick up Memphis like he said. He he
said that they should do and move them to Nashville
and I can have an NBA team that would be.

Speaker 6 (45:44):
Delightful for me.

Speaker 3 (45:45):
I don't think that's gonna happen, Buck, but I'm gonna
root for you. I'm gonna root for you.

Speaker 6 (45:49):
No, don't want to go Memphis. Nobody want to go
to Memphis.

Speaker 3 (45:52):
That's what who said that? He said that, right, Listen,
I don't think Lebron James cares about Adam Silver at all.
And Lebron James is still moving the needle in the NBA.

Speaker 6 (46:04):
We all know that.

Speaker 3 (46:05):
And I'm sure that they want to know where are
you gonna be? What team are gonna be on? For Christmas?

Speaker 4 (46:09):
Day. We're trying to figure out Christmas Day, opening day,
that is what we are trying to figure out. Adam
Silver is probably hoping that Lebron makes his decision so
that he doesn't have to put his big boy pant,
his big boy pants on and make a decision about
Kawhi Leonard. Like that's he's hoping that this whole thing
with Lebron James is overshadowing how he has nothing, has

(46:30):
no spine when it comes to the other side of
another decision that is also being we're waiting on that decision.
Not all fans, but there are certain NBA teams like
the Toronto Raptors, even the Clippers that are just kind
of waiting to see what's gonna happen because we're we're
on hold here because Adam Silver can't make a decision
within ten months of an investigation.

Speaker 3 (46:50):
That's still going on.

Speaker 4 (46:52):
And so with this, either he's hoping that this whole
Lebron thing is he either says soon so that like
people will talk about it, or maybe he is liking
the fact that he's not saying it because people are
talking so much about it and forgetting about Kawhi Leonard
and the Clippers and the Toronto Rafters.

Speaker 5 (47:10):
Adam Silver would definitively rather answer questions about Lebron James
next team than Kawhi Leonard and Steve Bomber, you know,
paying players off the side outside of their salary cap
allotment through endorsements and things of that nature and everything
that we mentioned Pablo Torre within the context of the
seventy six ers. Obviously, he was at the forefront of

(47:30):
the reporting that exposed the Clippers and the Kawhi Leonard
situation that now has the league in a situation where
they have to make a decision. Though to your point,
Adam Silver has not made any kind of declaration or decision,
no suspension. We don't know what he's going to do,
and other than he has been loath to actively make

(47:51):
a decision because he I think he's worried about how
many other things it's going to turn up if he
starts to if he starts to whack a mole, stuff
like the Steve Bomber thing, which Steve Bomber knows. I mean, obviously,
he's been at every turn defiant in the way that
they have done business and denying the allegations that have

(48:11):
shown up in Pablo Tory's reporting. Yeah, Adam Silver much
rather drag this thing out, drag the Lebron stuff out
as long as he can, because frankly, it's it's our
fault as an audience because we don't have the attention
span to keep keep our eye on the ball for
too long.

Speaker 6 (48:27):
Right when what is the more important.

Speaker 5 (48:29):
Story, manci, what happened everything that happened around Kawhi Leonard
or Lebron james next team?

Speaker 6 (48:35):
More important story.

Speaker 3 (48:37):
Lebron James's next team, wouldn't you say you think.

Speaker 6 (48:40):
More important than Kawhi Leonard.

Speaker 4 (48:42):
I think the reason I'm saying that is because I
think the situation with Kawhi Leonard and the reason it's
taking so long is because, like you just said, we're
going to open a can of worms and a lot
of stuff is going to come out that has been
going on for years and we just don't want to
talk about it.

Speaker 3 (48:56):
And so I feel like people.

Speaker 4 (48:58):
More care about the Lebron James James then the severity
that is the Kawhi Leonard situation with the Clippers, because
the Clipper nobody takes the Clipper seriously.

Speaker 3 (49:07):
So I think, like in the in the grand scheme
of things. You are right, this should be the bigger deal,
but I don't think it is.

Speaker 4 (49:13):
No.

Speaker 5 (49:13):
Well, that's that's kind of where the differentiation the distinction lies, right.
And I'm gonna use a Mike Vrabel quote that might
I know Mike stole from Ron Rivera, but Mike used
to used to use it in press conferences when he
was here in Nashville coaching the Titans and things like that.
There are there's there are things that are interesting, and
there are things that are important. Lebron James is interesting, right.

(49:35):
We are interested in Lebron James. We are captivated by
Lebron James. We are annoyed at Lebron James, we are
angry at Lebron James. We're happy when Lebron makes another decision. Uh,
And we're excited about Lebron and the idea of who
is he? Who's he gonna play with? Is it gonna
be with Steph and uh and the Warriors? Is he
gonna go back to Cleveland? All these different things. That's
not important though, Like I mean, maybe it's important to

(49:56):
you know, the the the standings and things like that,
but like the on court stuff from what actually the
business of the league, the things that are more complicated
and thus less interesting. Right, You lose people's attention when
you start to get into bureau bureaucracy and boardroom stuff
and paperwork and all manner of different legal filings, and

(50:20):
it's it's I'm not blaming people for it, but I
think it's generally a tougher thread to follow.

Speaker 6 (50:28):
Even though the.

Speaker 5 (50:29):
Reporting has been excellent and they have made it about
as clearcut as humanly possible, it is so easy to
throw up the jazz hands of Lebron James and get
everybody distracted from the Kuhi Leonard story. I think, to me,
definitively Monci, the Quhi Leonard story is the more important one,
while Lebron James is the more interesting one.

Speaker 4 (50:46):
And that's I think that's perfectly said. But you know
what I mean, it's like people don't care anymore, Like
it's been dragged on so long because it's the Clippers
and even the Raptors. Is kind of like, like people
don't take this seriously. And I think like, because Steve
Balmer was cleared from the like business side of things,
they're stuck in this weird position of like do we
only punish Kawhi Leonard. Is that really?

Speaker 8 (51:08):
Who?

Speaker 4 (51:08):
Like, can we get away with just punishing the player
when obviously the team and the owner were involved. And
I think that's a bit of what the hesitation is.
But in really just to spend Kawhi Leonard, just say it,
Just say twenty twenty five games and we all move on.
Half a season.

Speaker 3 (51:23):
I don't care.

Speaker 4 (51:24):
I think the Raptors will take Kawhi Leonard regardless of
the suspension. It's just gonna be a difference in the
amount of picks that they sent to the Clippers. But
I think they want Kawhi Leonard no matter what. And listen,
you're telling the Raptors that Kawhi Leonard can't play the
first half of the season, They're gonna be that's fine.
We can have him the later half of the season,
no problem.

Speaker 6 (51:40):
He wouldn't play that much anyway, that's it.

Speaker 3 (51:43):
Hey, he had a great year last year buck with
the Clippers.

Speaker 6 (51:47):
Okay, a little bit.

Speaker 3 (51:51):
It was a bit of a throwback. So what do
you What do you think comes first a decision on
Kawhi or a decision from Lebron. James Lebron.

Speaker 5 (51:59):
I think they'll keep this stuff that's crazy. I know,
I know, but I really, I mean, Lebron actually has
has a time timeline that he has to make a decision,
and theoretically they have to make a decision. There's a
timeline to make a decision on Kawhi as well. But
if you if you want to talk about getting bogged
down on the paperwork and the bureaucracy of things, the
NBA can can drag this out really as long as

(52:21):
they want to.

Speaker 3 (52:22):
I guess the loll Watch twenty twenty six continues.

Speaker 6 (52:26):
Watch twenty twenty six Watch.

Speaker 3 (52:30):
Thank you there, Sam.

Speaker 4 (52:31):
If you've missed any of today's show, be sure to
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Live wherever you get your podcasts. Please follow the podcast
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Speaker 7 (52:41):
Again.

Speaker 4 (52:41):
Just search Stu Gotson Company Live wherever you get your podcasts,
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