What’s Wright - World Cup PREDICTIONS, Messi & Argentina in TROUBLE? Mbappe’s Golden Boot to lose? | Nick Wright

All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet.  

Nick Wright previews the semifinals of the World Cup between Argentina and England, and Spain and France. Then, Nick breaks down the race for the Golden Boot between Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Harry Kane. Later, Nick gives his thoughts on Victor Wembanyama leaving money on the table and the Kawhi Leonard trade being put on hold. #Volume

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome in What's Driving the great episode for seventy eight.
This episode of What's Right with the presented to you
by Boost Mobile and today is a good example of
why we ask you guys to subscribe to the show
because sometimes we were on different schedules. We have been
on a different schedule because of the World Cup for
the last five weeks, and this is an even different,

(00:24):
more and more different schedule than normal because today's Monday.
We don't always do Monday shows. However, I am not
not only am I not going to counter program the
semifinals of the World Cup. I'm not going to be
doing anything during the semifinals of the World Cup other
than watching the semifinals of the World Cup. And so
because of that, we are on the air today. That

(00:44):
also means, however, Demanda is not here with us today
because a had other work obligations because it's Monday and
bts birthday, so I decided to give him the day off.
So happy birthday to Demanday. Also, if you're watching on YouTube,
you might see Nick's wearing a jay Z concert to
your shirt. He is I am and yes. The one

(01:05):
I went to was last night, a concert that was
supposed to end around eleven and instead started around twelve
thirty thanks to I am gobsmacked at how I understand
people ended up bum rushing the entrance and that made

(01:26):
things all screwed up at Yankee Stadium late Sunday night.
But things were really screwed up well before that happened
as far as getting into that concert. And I don't
understand how or why. Still, a Friday and Saturday went
off pretty easily, and b there was not more people
there than go to a sold out Yankee game, and

(01:49):
so they have the experience on how to get all
those folks in. Everybody got in Friday and Saturday with
no problem. But if you guys read anything on social
media or saw any of the videos, it is about
what it looked like, which is getting in there. Last
night was a bit of a debacle, and because of that,
the concert was hours delayed. And because of that, your

(02:09):
old buddy Nick Krai is operating on about ninety minutes sleep.
But such is life. Tried to be. You know, cool
Dad took my wife and daughters to the jay Z
concert and then it was, you know, two thirty in
the morning. The concert was still going, but we pushed forward,
so there's a lot to do today, and the majority

(02:31):
of today's show will be World Cup stuff. However, Kawhi
Leonard trade is on hold, some small Lebron development. All
of those things we will get to, at least I
think we will get too late in the show. Also,
just a couple quick programming notes again. Tuesday and Wednesday
no show, and then Thursday we will be back on

(02:53):
early in the mornings, and then pretty regular schedule the
next couple weeks, and then we're gonna take a bit
of a summer vacation at the end of July and
at the end of August, and then my god, we're
into football. The amazing thing about this World Cup, among
other things, is it has really given us no sports lull.

(03:17):
Like today there's the home run derby and not much else.
And here in about a week we will hit a
sports lull, but again that's only gonna last like six
weeks before actual college and pro football is here. And
this tournament just keeps delivering. And I just got a
text from somebody. I'm curious, you know, I can't respond

(03:40):
to it because I just got it literally right when
we started. Ask I think they've been watching the show,
and they asked me how into soccer I was before
this tournament. And as I've told you guys, you know,
I think I follow international soccer much more than you know,
just the average American, even much more so than the

(04:02):
average American sports fan. But it you know, it's not
one of my two favorite sports. It's probably not one
of my three favorite sports. But it's probably not one
of my two favorite sports. But I have just been
enraptured by this tournament, and I this was the thing
that I I think I said I was going to.

(04:24):
If I'm in reruns here and I've done this already,
I apologize. I meant to talk about this two weeks ago.
I will talk about it now, just briefly before we
get to straight to voice. I'm brought to my boost mobile.
I don't think I did this, and I know this
is going to sound potentially harsh, and I kind of

(04:48):
don't mean it too, but I guess I kind of
do mean it too. I have lost a little sports
fan respect for people that consider themselves huge sports fans,
die hard sports fans, who have not gotten into this

(05:09):
World Cup. It is all even if you have never
liked soccer. Enjoyed soccer, watch soccer. There is a level
of just if you are a fan as kW you
would say of sport, a tournament that has been this

(05:32):
easy to watch, as far as the games being in
our time zone, this many top line stars and top
line teams performing these games, being this close and this good,
that if you haven't gotten caught up in it, then
I think it means you're not quite the sports fan

(05:52):
that you might think or say you are. Oh, use
my buddy Brent Hanks, the great CEO. I don't know
how he turned into a CEO. Just be a regular
old broadcaster, the guy runs poker go who his whole
life has just made fun of soccer whenever it's come up.
Has you really made a point to talk about how
he doesn't like it, he doesn't watch it. He's texting me,

(06:14):
living and dying with every game. Because there is a
level of I've always believed if you're a huge sports fan,
if it's the best in the world, and if the
stakes are the highest, and if there's a crowd that's
super into it, can I don't care if it's table tennis,
I don't care if it's those sick darts matches that

(06:37):
we used to see on ESPN. Maybe you still sometimes do. Honestly,
I don't care if it's professional bowling. It if it's
the best in the world with a great crowd for
huge stakes, it grabs you. And the only thing in
my lifetime that checks all those boxes that has never
grabbed me is the NHL Playoffs. And that's honestly really

(06:58):
a timing issue because the NHL Playoffs are going on
simultaneous to the NBA Playoffs, so you have something else
every night that those are on that check all those
boxes for me. And are you know a sport that
I prefer? And so we have three technically four, but

(07:19):
I don't care so much about the third place game.
Three unbelievable games left and what is the greatest tournament
in sports? And I I just can't tell you how
much I've enjoyed this last month and a half. And
so we'll get to that to start the show. But
first straight the voicemail brought to you by our friends

(07:41):
at boost Mobile. Janick Center wins Wimbledon. This is you know,
I have said that I don't think that necessarily he
is going to end up historically on the same tier
as Carlos Alkarez, who I think could end up with
the Big three, and Djokovic, Federer and all sinners doing

(08:01):
his damnedest to prove me wrong and continuing to dominate.
Shout out to him. Seahawks sell for a record nine
point six billion dollar valuation. And you know, one of
our smash spots of the year, Connor McGregor losing to
Max Holloway in about a minute and Bam punches Tyler

(08:23):
Hero in Vegas. I given the fact that they said
Tyler Hero just had a small mark under his eye,
I wonder if it was closer to a smack than
a punch, or if Bam didn't put his You really
feel like if Bam really hauled off on him, there
would have been more damage done there. And the McGregor
Holloway thing, Here's here's what I can tell you as

(08:50):
far as whether or not folks want to believe Connor
McGregor got injured in that fight as opposed to before
that fight. The betting movement on that fight in the
day leading up and the day of the fight suggests

(09:14):
the smartest money in Las Vegas thought Connor McGregor was injured.
You then add to it that when you watched the
video they showed after the fight of him trying to
get into the ring, he looked like he was already injured.

(09:34):
It is I am not one of the people that
believes when the ring, when the bell rang to start
that fight, he was fully healthy. He tried that crazy
opening kick and that's when he blew out his knee.
That that doesn't pass the eye test to me of

(09:55):
him walking to the ring, and it doesn't pass past
the smell test of how he looked trying to get
into the ring and listen, I feel badly for the
folks that bet McGregor. Uh, but that was all of
the sharp money in Vegas turned Max Holloway from a

(10:19):
two to one favorite for the weeks leading up to
the fight in almost a three and a half to
one favorite by the time the fight actually got going.
Reminder we have mail bag episodes. You can email us
What's Right Mailbag at gmail dot com. What's Right Mailbag
at gmail dot com. Also a reminder to subscribe, like

(10:41):
and review the pod okay so Semifinal number one is
France against Spain. Coming into the tournament, they were ranked
number one and number two in the world respectively. France
is a heavy favorite to one at all, and Bope
is a decent favorite twin the Golden Boot. In the
Golden Ball, again, Golden Boot is the highest goal scorer.

(11:03):
Golden Ball is basically MVP of the tournament. However, should
be noted unlike finals MVP or the MVPs that we're
used to in our sports, it's Golden Ball does not
always go to someone on the winning team. Famously, Leo
Messi won it in twenty what you were saying twenty fourteen,

(11:24):
when Argentina did not win the World Cup, Leo Messi
still won Golden Ball for you know, best player of
the tournament Golden Boot. There's no vote at all. It's
just whoever has the most goals, and if there's a
tie for most goals, then it's whoever of those guys
who were tied had the most assists. So there's the
France side of things. Spain, on the other hand, just

(11:45):
allowed the first goal of the tournament. So here's how
I handicap this game, and then we'll talk about how
these teams got here. I was at obviously the France
Morocco game, and Spain beat Belgium in part well, I
guess we'll do that. I was at France Morocco. France

(12:05):
dominated that game. Morocco was very lucky to be tied
at half. They were trying to hold on, hold on.
They allowed two goals right before the second half hydration break,
good night, good luck. Morocco could not get a shot
off in that game. I think they had one shot
on goal, four shots total. France dominated him. Spain Belgium
was a little different in that Spain takes the early lead,

(12:31):
but Belgium equalizes. Belgium then sadly, their goalkeeper gets hurt.
They have to put in the backup goalkeeper and that
ends up being there undoing. As late in the game
they have a shot on goal, the backup goalkeeper is
not able to hang on to it. It spills out
kind of an easy put back, if you will, and
Spain moves on. The story for Spain is their defense

(12:56):
has been utterly and thoroughly dominant. That goal they allowed
against Belgium was the first goal they've allowed the entire tournament.
The story for Frances of the ten best players in
the world, they legitimately have three of them. They have
a guy a lot of people think might be go

(13:17):
down as the greatest World Cup performer of all time,
killing Embappe, who is won win away from playing in
three World Cups and plut pardon me and playing in
three World Cup finals, who had a hat trick in
a losing effort of the World Cup final last time around,
obviously helped France win the World Cup final as a

(13:39):
teenager eight years ago. And what was I saying, Oh, yeah, sorry,
the reason I was saying the ambape stuff. And yet
he's not the guy on his team that's won the
ballindor which is best player in the world. That's Timballe
and Michael Leise is another one of the greatest players

(14:01):
in the world among you know, the other great players
they had, particularly in the attack. So it's this overwhelming
talent with France. It's this dominant defense with Spain, with
Spain also having a guy who is supposed to one
day be the best player in the world. And some
people thought in this tournament, which show he was lem

(14:22):
and Jamal who turned nineteen today and has had a
quiet World Cup, has scored one goal. You know, Spain's
offense has not been the story. And you know, there's
two ways to look at it. One is Spain's on
the precipice of the final and their best player has
been relatively quiet. Another way to look at it is

(14:45):
all the other best players in the world have been
dominating this tournament and helping carry their teams, and Yamal
hasn't quite done that. So, depending on which way you
want to look at it, I have thought France there's
the most talented team all tournament. On the TV show,
I've talked a lot about how not only can they
win it? Obviously I understand why they're the favorites to

(15:07):
win it, but I don't understand why they are this
big of a favorite to win it. They're one and
a half to one. Everyone else is somewhere from three
point two to three point six to one in Spain,
England and Argentina, and it just doesn't track to me
and hasn't tracked to me throughout for a number of reasons,

(15:29):
not the least of which is France is only a
very small favorite to get to the final. Forget when
it as I think what the odds makers, what are
friends at Hardrock better telling us? Is France will be
a bigger favorite against England or Argentina if they get there,

(15:50):
then they are in this game against Spain. But this
is a coin flip game and the way, so some
just kind of you know, to get you ready for
this game. Just some quick facts, all right. Spain hasn't
lost in ninety minutes in their last thirty four games. Now,

(16:14):
they have not won all of those games because one
of those draws to Portugal maybe two total draw of
those draws they ended up losing in penalty kicks. But
they have not lost when pre penalty kicks in a
couple years, so that's a check mark in Spain's favor. Obviously,

(16:35):
they also are going to a team that dominates possession.
They keep the ball, they complete a ton of safe passes,
and they wear you down in that regard. France might
actually be okay playing that style where they don't have
the ball much, but when they get it they go
and attack. But here is the issue for France. France

(17:01):
has barely lost when it matters over the last few years,
but three of their losses when it's mattered over the
last five years have been to Spain and Argentina, two
of the three teams left. Argentina famously in the World
Cup Final where they were up to France was down

(17:23):
to nothing in that World Cup final with fifteen minutes
to go. It ends up being an insane finish and
Bope scores and they get a penalty in Bope scores again,
and both teams score an extra time it goes to
penalty kicks. It's an all time classical, maybe the greatest
game I ever played. The Spain games one in the
Euros and one in the Nations League are have been
a little different France against Spain. In the Euros France

(17:47):
scored five minutes into the game. Spain then in the
next fifteen minutes Bang Bang scores twice, holds that lead
throughout wins to one. In the Nations League, Spain goes
up for nothing on France, for nothing in a game
France won it. It's for you know, it's a tournament

(18:09):
for a trophy. They're up for nothing. Fifty five minutes
into the game, they're up five one seventy minutes into
the game, the game ends five to four. But that
is not indicative to the level at which Spain dominated France.

(18:30):
So while on one hand, since you know, with killing
Himbape in this tournament in the World Cup, since he's
been there. France is now eighteen and one in games
he starts, and the one loss was actually a draw

(18:51):
the World Cup final to Argentina. But another way to
look at it is Spain's like, we haven't lost in years,
and we're trying to win our third straight against you.
So my lean here this was the semi final I

(19:11):
thought we were going to get before the tournament. I
picked France before, so I will stick with that pick
from before. But I think this is a fifty to
fifty game enough to which I think if I were
if I were to bet this, I would probably bet

(19:38):
Spain plus a half goal, meaning Spain to either win
in regulation or to go to extra time. Maybe my
bet would be Spain to advance. I probably wouldn't do
that because I don't want to be rooting for the
opposite of what I picked, But the point being getting
Spain plus one thirty to advance when I think they

(20:03):
it's a coin flip game, that's really where the value
would be. If I'm right about this. I just think
Spain is super capable of beating France, and I think
that the general public has been just a touch over
rating France because their strength is offense, while Spain's strength

(20:30):
is defensive. France when they're rolling, you know, wins a
game three nothing, while Spain in this tournament, the way
they've dominated is you just can't score on them. They
are also both games this weekend or this weekend, you know,
tomorrow and Wednesday. I should say have obvious insane Golden

(20:55):
Boot implications, which I do. This is the I want
to talk a little bit about the Golden Boot, less
because I care about so much who wins it, but
more because it's a testament to how insane this tournament's been.
A few facts. We right now have two guys with

(21:16):
eight goals in Bap and MESSI. We have two more
guys with six goals, teammates Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.
In the history of the Golden Boot, eight goals would
have won eighty percent of these. There have only been

(21:38):
five instances of someone scoring nine goals or more in
a World Cup the last six World Cups. Every World
Cup this century, eight goals was enough to win it.
And people have won the Golden Boot this century with
five or six goals. Having four guys with six plus

(22:01):
is unprecedented, and yes, ultimately there will be an extra
game because of the extra knockout round game. But we're
not there yet and we are still pacing to shat
like to have the greatest Golden Boot Race ever. And
the fact that it's all superstars, Messi and Bope hot

(22:23):
I'm sorry, Uh oh yeah, Holland's out. Holland had seven left.
I forgot him. I left him out. He was in it,
but he is no longer in it because his team
got knocked out. We'll talk about him in a bit,
and then uh Bellingham and Caine is still alive with six.

(22:44):
We've just never seen one like it. So there's that
piece of it. The other piece of it is who
can win it and who will win it? Im Bope
understandably is the favorite because right now he has the
lead on Messi because he has one more assist than
Messi and that's the tiebreaker. Also, his team is favored

(23:06):
to get the extra game, while Messi's team is not,
and so I get why, and Bope is the favorite.
There is a world though, where one of the English
guys where Spain shuts out France or wins in a

(23:27):
game and Bobbe doesn't score, and either Kine or Bellingham
scores a goal in a win over Argentina and either
of those guys go into the World Cup Final very
alive to win it. I would handicap it basically the
exact way hard Rock bet hasn't handicapped. And Bope is

(23:50):
the favorite. Close behind him is Messy and then a
big gap to the two English guys. But this whole
World Cup, it has felt to me was shouldn't say
because I was, I had believed in Brazil. But if

(24:11):
I remove my Brazil, you know, pick and fandom. This
World Cup has been hurtling towards a France Argentina collision
course a rematch. Argentina trying to become just the third
team ever along to go along with West Germany and

(24:32):
Brazil to go to back to back to win back
to back final or World Cup championships. France trying to
become one of the only teams ever to make it
to three straight World Cup finals. I think that's also
West Virginia and Brazil who have done that. Oh you
know what, it's West Virginia and Brazil who have been

(24:52):
to three straight winning back to back. Was Italy in
Brazil if I have that correct? Actually, But either way,
both of those have only been done twice. France is
trying to do their version of it for you know,
become third team ever, and Argentina's trying to become the
third team ever do their version of it, and that

(25:14):
does feel like the direction we have been. What did
I say? Hold on, did I not say West Germany?
The I said West Virginia. I did not say West Virginia. Guys,
did I really? I promise I meant West Germany. If
I said West Virginia, I apologize the producer. West Virginia

(25:36):
has not won back to back World Cups. I promise,
I meant West West Germany. This is finally where the
maybe the sleep is catching up to me a bit.
As I was saying, it does feel like that's been
what we've been hurtling towards and Argentina escaping from these
games the way they have been does if you believe

(25:58):
in the sports gods, it makes you feel like we're
getting messy in the World Cup Final once again. In fact,
we'll discuss them, their chances against England and how they
got there to the game against England in a moment,
But first today's show is brought to you by presenting
sponsor hard Rock Bet sportsbook. If you haven't tried out

(26:19):
hard Rock Bet yet, there's no better time to get
in the game than right now. We're down to the
final four in the world's biggest soccer tournament. Just a
handful of matches remain before a champion his crown, and
then that's it. You have to wait four more years
for the greatest tournament in sports to return, so don't
spend the next four years wishing you were a part

(26:41):
of history. Hard Rock Bet top rated sportsbook Gap a
top rated sportsbook, Gap built to Viva la copa, and
they've got some of the best soccer promos out there.
Check out no goals, No Problem. If you bet on
a team to win in regulation and the match in
scoreless after ninety minutes plus stoppage time, you'll get a
bonus bet back up to two hundred and fifty dollars,

(27:02):
So when the goals go missing, your bet doesn't. Then
they're super sub a great promo for player props. If
the player you bet on is subbed off, you still
win if their replacement fulfills the same bet, same odds,
same payout, and the promos keep coming every match day.
You can choose your own offer, a profit boost to
juice your winnings, or a no sweat bet for a

(27:24):
little extra security. So if you're ready to try your
first bet on hard Rock Bet today, sign up and
you can score one hundred ffy dollars in bonus bets.
Just plays a five dollars bet and if it wins,
you get not only your winnings, but also an extra
one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets. Hard Rock Bet
is Florida's only legal sportsbook, but you don't have to
be in Florida to join this summer party. Hard Rock

(27:44):
Bet is also live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado,
and Michigan, with more states on the way. Download the
hard Rock Bet app today and don't let the Cup's
biggest game pass you by Roll with Us, Goal with Us.
Hard Rock Bet.

Speaker 2 (28:03):
Offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, offered by Seminal
hard Rock Digital, LLC and all other states. Must be
twenty one plus and physically president in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,
New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Virginia. Play terms and conditions apply.
Concern about gambling in Florida, call one eight three to
three play wise. In Indiana, if you are somebody you
know as a gambling problem wants help, call what eight

(28:25):
hundred and nine with it? In Arizona, Ohio, Virginia, call
one eight hundred my reset gambling problem called one eight
hundred gambler.

Speaker 1 (28:33):
A reminder of you guys again like rate subscribing review
to the pod if you can all right right side
of the bracket. England Argentina these are the other two
top four teams in the world go along with Spain
and France. These are the top four teams in the
FIFA World rankings and they are the final four. That
is the first time that has happened in the history

(28:54):
of this tournament. They play on Wednesday. So here is
where I think. So Argentina is an underdog in this game,
and this is a Argentina smash spot in my opinion,

(29:14):
and this is where I think England has been. People
are i think understandably pointing out that Argentina has uh
had to pull some out of the fire during the

(29:36):
knockout round and by pull some out of the fire.
What it really means is they've pulled them all out
of the fire. So this is what our when Argentina
has scored it's game winning goals in once since we've
gone to the knockout round. Against Cape Verde, they're in
extra time, they score their game winning goal in the

(29:59):
one hundred and eleventh minute. Against Egypt, they're down to
nothing late, they score three goals in fifteen minutes, including
the game winner in essentially the ninety second minute in
stoppage time. And then against Switzerland, despite Switzerland getting the
red card and having to play down a man for

(30:21):
the final twenty minutes of regulation, they get to extra
time and Argentina gets its goal on the unbelievable maybe
the goal of the tournament from was Alvarez. I think
it was Alvarez in the one hundred and twelfth minute.
So yes, they have been pushed, they have needed they

(30:43):
haven't had an easy victory yet in once we've gotten
to the knockout round. All of that's true. What's also
true is a very similar story can be said for England.
England and it's first knockout round game is playing Dr
Congo and their down one nothing, It very easily could

(31:09):
have been to nothing and they need Harry Kane's utter
brilliance late to save them. Their game against Mexico, that
was an unbelievable environment and they played great once Bellingham
got him going, even though they were getting thoroughly outplayed
for the first half hour. But credit to them for

(31:30):
you know, being down, losing a player, being down a
man and holding on. That was a great, great win
and I'm not gonna neck that at all. But their
game against Norway they were far They were so far
from dominant that their head coach Thomas Tukele started basically
a fight with verbal fight with one of their two

(31:51):
best players because he was so disappointed in how they
had played. So England has not been smooth sailing either.
Here's the other thing of Argentina that has I think
been a little underrated so far in this tournament. They've
scored more goals than anybody. For as great as we
have talked about France's offense being, Argentina leads the tournament

(32:14):
and goals with seventeen. The beginning of the tournament, it
was just messy. Since then, other guys have started contributing.
They have you know, they're number one in the tournament
and goals, they're number two in goal differential, they're number
two and expected goals with nearly thirteen. Their offense has
been phenomenal. Another thing that I think Argentina has truly

(32:38):
going for them. They believe it's meant to be and
it seems like, yes, they have gotten some very beneficial calls.
And we'll talk more about the scourge of replay in
sports in a bit, but belief in sports really matter.

(33:00):
And the Argentina belief because they have won in such
crazy fashion, because they're the defending champions, because it's been
so long since they lost a knockout round game of
a major tournament, their belief doesn't just extend that their

(33:22):
own players and their supporters. I think it impacts the opposition.
It feels like the opposition is kind of at times
waiting for the bad thing to happen, and the opposition
does because you are playing the great not only defending

(33:43):
World Cup champion, the greatest player of all time. It
the moment feels so big for these other teams. So
think about the things we have seen just in the
knockout round, in these Argentina games. The cape Verdela with
one of the greatest goals I've ever seen. But again

(34:03):
keep in mind, that's to tie the game. I thought
it was an unbelievable moment. But he lost his mind.
He he ties the game, runs into the stands to
find his guardfriend. He he has an out of body experience,
even though logically he knew like, well, we have to

(34:26):
score again or we're not gonna win. But it was Argentina.
It was the moment he loses his mind. The egypt
coach because he thought they got robbed, essentially goes so
crazy on the sidelines in regards to the refs late
in that game that his brother who's an assistant coach

(34:47):
and his players have to calm him down and you know,
get him back within himself. And then in the Switzerland game,
a Swiss player for no rational reason at all, who's
on a yellow just totally takes a dive again right

(35:08):
after Switzerland had tied the game. Like when the momentum,
if if it was there was with Switzerland, takes a dive,
ends up getting a card for it. We'll talk replay
in the application of that in a bit. Guys, just
they lose themselves a bit when they're playing this team,
and there's a reason for it. Argentina again a small

(35:36):
kind of like history lesson. Argentina won multiple World Cups
before Messi got there, before Messi was born. They also
dominated the Kopa, which is the you know, the World
Cup if you will of South America. Every continent has

(35:56):
their own version of that. For Europe it's called the
EU It's the biggest tournament in years. There isn't a
World Cup, it's every couple of years. And then Messi,
for all his greatness in Argentina, for all their excellence
with him, they never won a major tournament, to where

(36:16):
Messi multiple times was rumored or even said he was
just going to retire from international football because he had
had all this success with Barcelona, had won all the
bottling doors, had won Champions League, done all this stuff
and couldn't do it for Argentina, and then all of

(36:37):
a sudden they started a run of never losing. This decade,
there have been two Copa Americas, Argentina has won both,
one in Argentina, one in Brazil. This decade, there obviously
has been two World Cups. Argentina won the one in
twenty twenty two, and they're here in the semifinal in

(36:59):
twenty two, twenty twenty six. This is almost aside from
an Helde Maria, the identical team they won the World
Cup with in twenty twenty two, they're all back. Messi
somehow is still this unstoppable force, and so while for

(37:19):
everyone they play, it's basically the biggest game in any
of these guys' lives, and that will be the case
in this game against England, and it'll be the case
in the final if they play Spain, if they play France.
France obviously has a lot of guys who played in
the World Cup final four years ago. For Argentina, they've

(37:44):
been here before, and they have the confidence that they
are already champions and that they did what they all
felt they had to do, which is win a World Cup.
With Messi win all these tournaments, I think it really
helps them and I I think Argentina has been far

(38:10):
from flawless, obviously, but I also think that they have
found a way every time, and I do not think
England is better than them, and I am very surprised

(38:31):
that England is the favorite now. It should be said
that England, after having to play it two miles up
altitude wise and Azteca and playing in one hundred and
ten degrees in Miami. England now gets a climate controlled
zero elevation game against Atlanta or against Atlanta in Atlanta,

(38:55):
much like Virginia West. Virginia has never won a World Cup.
Atlanta is not playing in the World Cup, and so
I do like that for England, but I think Argentina
is better than them. And Jude Bellingham's been unreal and
shout out to Jude Bellingham for this. He now has

(39:16):
he has six goals this World Cup and none of
them are team is pouring it on and he adds
one type of goal his six goals in this World Cup.
I'm closing my eyes because I'm trying to remember. Against

(39:36):
Croatia in the group stage game is tied two to two.
Bellingham gives him the lead with a goal. Against Panama
in the group stage game is England. Panama is not good,
but England needed to win that game to win the
group was the final game of the group stage. I
was at Columbia Portugal in Miami when this game was
going on. It's zero zero in the second half. Bellingham

(40:00):
scores the goal to give him the lead against Mexico
in the round of sixteen, it's zero zero, Bellingham scores,
and then a minute later Bellingham scores again. And then
in this game against Norway, they're down one zero, Bellingham
scores right before halftime, and then in the second half
it's one to one. Bellingham scores again. So if his
six goals in this World Cup, five had been to

(40:24):
tire or take the lead, and the one that wasn't
was up won nothing when he had, you know, he's
scored two goals in ninety seconds basically, So Harry Kane
is the favorite right now, understandably to win the ballandor
he's one of the greatest goal scorers of all time.
He is two goals away from being tied for third

(40:47):
and World Cup history. He's arguably the greatest English soccer
player ever. But Jude Bellingham's twenty three years old. At
twenty was a superstar for Real Madrid and scored a
bunch of goals. Then and Bappe joined the team and
his role kind of changed. He England is in this

(41:07):
spot because their superstars have played like superstars, and so
I'm not trying to discount England. I just think Argentine
is better, and I think Argentine is going to win.
All right, now, let's talk a little var. So if
people didn't see what happened, here's here's what happened. Player

(41:30):
on Switzerland already had a yellow card justifiablee He then
is dribbling, appears to be fouled, falls, the referee gives
the Argentinian player a yellow card. Because he gave the
Argentinian player a yellow card, that then opens it up

(41:54):
to where var is allowed to look at it. They
look at it, they see that not only did the
Argentinium player not deserve the yellow card, but Imbolo, you know,
took a dive simulation as they call it, and therefore

(42:16):
that yellow card has to flip. In soccer, obviously, two
yellow cards is a red. Red means you're out of
the game and you can't be replaced. They have played
down to me, and it's just utterly and totally devastating.
And just throw this in the growing massive treasure trove

(42:36):
of evidence that replay is not actually good for sports.
It feels like a good idea and it seems like, oh,
you can fix obvious errors. But in you know, I've
talked endlessly about the way it makes the referees worse

(42:57):
in real time, about how I'm not sure it actually
gets things, you know, more right than it than not.
The way replay was used in the Croatia game, which
is no it. We can prove it barely hit the
Croatian player's hair to be off sides. We see the
heartbeat of the ball, but in the England Norway game

(43:20):
it appears to hit a wire and they're like, nope,
the heartbeat doesn't show it. I just I don't I'm
not trying to be conspiratorial. I just don't think the
technology is flawless. But here's another Here's the thing I
haven't mentioned but I think is God. I'm gonna use it.
The producers are going to laugh hysterically when they hear

(43:43):
the analogy I'm going to use here because the other
thing that replay doesn't allow for is a soul of
a call. So. I don't know how many of you
guys are familiar with the probably probably properly rated, decidedly
mediocre sci fi Will Smith vehicle I Robot, But in

(44:10):
a movie that I think is really trying to teach
us to not be racially prejudiced, Will Smith the main
character of the movie, who happens to be a blackfella,
is really biased and prejudiced against robots. And then I
and then I think late in the movie like he
and a robot shake hands even and it's like, oh,

(44:31):
we're all the same, except literally that's a robot. Bro
You're not the same. But this guy hated the robot
kind of had a soul, but he didn't. It's not
the point. Point is this Will Smith. We find out
the reason his origin story of hating robots is he
was in a car accident and the car his car

(44:54):
in another car went into the water and the a
robot dove in to save him. And there was also
a little kid that fell in the water in the
car accident, and the robot snap did the calculation that you,
Will Smith have a greater chance of survival than the

(45:15):
little kid, so I can only save one of you.
It makes more sense for me to save you. And
Will Smith in his very teary moment when he actually
reveals he is part robot because of this injury, again
this is either a great or a terrible endorsement for
the film I Robot. He says, you know, a person

(45:37):
would have known to let me die and to save
the girl, but a robot doesn't know. He was very
upset about it. That's how I feel about VAR. A
person would know, fuck that. That Croatia goal's got to

(45:58):
stand heartbeat, smartbeat. I don't know. You can't see it,
and he's on sides the spirit of the rules. He's
on sides, and a person would know. Yes, we do
want to get simulation and diving out of the game,
and yes, this on video review that is a dive. However,

(46:23):
Switzerland hasn't been diving all over the place in this game.
That guy happens to be the only Swiss player on
a yellow. It's it's one one in the seventieth minute
of a World Cup quarter final. We're not gonna make
them play down a man and in real time, there

(46:43):
is no way a referee would ever give a yellow
for that, knowing the guy's on a yellow. But it
went out of a human's hands who went to the robots.
And I understand SI actual robots and it is humans
watching the VAR. But you guys follow me. It's just bad.

(47:04):
It just doesn't make sports better. And no, I don't
think it is some massive I also want to talk
about conspiracies here for a moment. Actually, because I don't
know how many actual this is also kind of a
robot take. I don't know how many actual human beings

(47:28):
there are that actually think that this is, you know,
the fixes in for Argentina. I do know that there
are enough bad actors on social media that can pump

(47:49):
that and the box then amplify it, and then folks
in my position are with real platforms like, well, this
is what everyone's talking about. Poor Ian Dark the legend
himself during the Argentina game alluded to it. He's like, Oh,

(48:12):
this is gonna give the folks on social media more AMMO, Like,
I'm not sure how much of that is actually real.
I'm not sure how much of that is real people
giving real thoughts versus a handful of you know, fan
zelots plus bots plus engagement farmers and all of that

(48:36):
would then create out of thin air this narrative. And
so I I just don't think replay has made things better,
and I think VR has been one of the only
things with the World Cup that I have not enjoyed.

(48:59):
And even Norway and Holland I yes upon instant replay.
So there were two var potential controversies in the Norway
game one Holland scores on a corner. Norway scores on

(49:22):
a corner, pardon me, and they're like, oh, let's go
to the robots and they're like, oh, look, Holland shoves
an English player right before the kick is taken, and
that is true, and he did. But there's always a
big scrum right before corner kicks, and there's always high

(49:45):
jinks going on, and it does feel like that there
is too much. There is a level of well, if
we decide to review it, we're gonna be able to
find a foul. So it's really less about was a
foul committed more about do we decide to review it.
So there's that piece of it. Then there is the

(50:11):
that goal kick sure appeared to hit a wire in
the air. We all saw. I didn't see it in
real time to be totally clear, but the videos make
it look like it sure did. And in FIFA's explanation
of no, we checked the ball's heartbeat and it didn't move.

(50:32):
That to me gave me less confidence that it didn't
that it didn't hit the wire. Instead of giving me
confidence it didn't hit the wire, it made me feel
like maybe that heartbeat technology which you guys used to
rip out Croatia's heart metaphorically isn't as foolproof as you think.
So again, I'm not here to complain about the World

(50:54):
Cup because I think on the whole it has been
absolutely electric. But it is really shined a spotlight to
me on replay in sports being a net negative rather
than a net positive. All right, let's uh, We're gonna

(51:19):
get to Victor woman Yama in just a second. But first,
boost Mobile is proving that you don't have to overpay
for great wireless Unlock the savings with the twenty five
dollars a month Forever Unlimited plan. It's a permanent price
with no contracts and no price hikes. You can keep
your phone and your number, but you save up to
six hundred dollars a year compared to the major carriers.

(51:39):
Stop overpaying and switch to a fair price at boostmobile
dot com today based on average annual single line payment
of AT and T price and and T Mobile customers
compared to twelve months on the boost Mobile Unlimited plan
as of January twenty twenty six. For full off for details,
visit boost mobile dot com. All Right, so this has

(52:02):
been misrepresented. I think it's been misreported by a lot
of folks. So Victor Wimbin Yama, see this is and
you know what, I'm now including us on this. Sorry, guys,
I'm I got an argument with the First Things First
producers about this. This is gonna be one of those

(52:23):
things that everyone agrees with the producers on both of
the shows, and I disagree. So I am going to
request apologies that we take off our little sidebar thing
that says Wimby takes a pay cut, even though I
think that's probably enough there the whole show, and I
didn't realize and see and if we can change that

(52:47):
just to say Wimby, because I'm gonna be a little
pedantic here because everyone is calling it a pay cut.
It's being headlined a pay cut, first and foremost. In
no way, shape or form is it a pay cut.
He's getting a huge, huge race. Thank you, Wimby's new deal.
Well done fellas well. Just so I understand why people

(53:11):
are and people are reporting it like that, So this
isn't me picking on you guys. And I got an
argument with Great First Things First producer Stephen Hubbard about
this today Victor woman Yama next year is gonna make
seventeen million bucks. And under the new contract he disagreed
to the year after, he's gonna make an average of
fifty million. So it's not a pay cut. He's not

(53:33):
going down. What is true is Wimby. So I do
have to explain this a bit because I want people
to get this right, because people got this little wrong
with Jalen Brunson. They're like, oh my god, Jalen Brunson,
you know, left one hundred million on the table, and
it's like kind of but he also couldn't. He would

(53:53):
have had to wait a year to get all that money.
There would have been a little more risk associated with it.
Plus his dad's a coach and his AB's dad is
that runs the team, and so he probably is gonna
be taking care of But I got I get it.
It's team friendly. The way the rookie extensions work is this,
everyone is eligible to get a max that is up

(54:17):
to twenty five percent of the salary cap for the
rookie extension. That's the most they can get kind of with.
So for Wenby, that's five years, two hundred and fifty million,
call it fifty million. Year. The Derek Rose rule says,
if you in your fourth season, or in two of

(54:43):
your seasons leading up to your fourth season are all
NBA or Defensive Player of the Year or MVP, you
are eligible instead of twenty five percent for thirty percent.

(55:03):
So for guys that sign these extensions, and for Wimby,
that instead of being five years two hundred and fifty million,
that'd be five years three hundred million for guys that
signed these extensions after the third year. Normally, what what
it would be is Wimby signs for five for two
fifty that if this coming year he's all NBA, MVP

(55:27):
or Defensive Player of the Year, that five for two
fifty turns into five for three hundred. When the sacrifice
that Wimby made is even if he hits any or
all of those thresholds, his contract won't jump. He's locked
into five for two fifty. Even if he wins league,

(55:48):
MVP or Defensive Player they're one of those things, his
won't become five for three hundred. So that is a
real theoretical concession. It's also because of the sixty five
game rule, it's far less of a lock than it
would have been previously. That Wimby is all NBA, you're
a defensive player. There are any of those things he
could be. Last year he played sixty five games. He

(56:11):
hit the number on the nose. So it's possible that this,
while being a grand gesture, has no actual financial impacts.
But the odds are he'll be an All NBA player
next year and that he is giving up fifty million dollars.
The question is is this good? And I respect him

(56:40):
putting winning ahead of personal financial benefit. I also think
it unintentionally puts a bunch of people in a really
weird spot because Jalen Brunson took less than he was

(57:04):
eligible for. Again, it is a little more complicated. They
won the title, Whimby's now doing it. I know how
American sports media works. There are going to be folks
out there that now, if and when a player signs
for the actual true max, people use that as an indictment.

(57:28):
So if if the Timberwolves don't win the title this
year and then Ant extends on the full max, there
absolutely will be folks to be like, oh, I mean, yeah,
that's his right, but does he really want to win?
Forget the fact that star players contracts are already artificially

(57:50):
capped because the max salary exists, Like, and now a
guy who might be the best player in the whole
league is entering his prime. He's not even getting every
last dollar. Of course, there's downward pressure from the media.
I think there will be another guys in the league. Additionally,

(58:17):
I'm really curious how this landed at the desk of
two of Wimby's teammates, Steph Castle and Dylan Harper, both
of whom I'm sure feel like they are going to
be all NBA caliber guys, and now have to feel like,

(58:39):
what the well shit, I guess we gotta do this
same thing, whether they want to or not. And again,
like I Wimby is allowed to do whatever he wants
and this does. This will in the short term, at

(59:04):
the very least help the Spurs. But there's a reason
the NBPA NBA National Basketball Players Association doesn't love when
guys do this. And I would have to think there
are other guys across the league, and maybe even some
of his teammates they're like, well, you sure are putting

(59:25):
us in a weird spot. So there's that piece of it.
There is also the fact that the owners fought to
get the second apron put in, and now they are
able to use that as an excuse as to why

(59:49):
star players have the responsibility to keep these teams together
when Wimby is one of the guys in the league
that at the full full max wildly underpaid. So that
part doesn't sit super well with me. I also recognize

(01:00:11):
right now is one of the worst times imaginable to
try to remind the audience. Listen. I know, these guys
that make forty fifty sixty million dollars a year, you know,
seem unrelatable, But I promise you you have more in

(01:00:34):
common with the guys who play for the NBA teams
than the guys who own the teams that if you
might say, what's the between fifty million and sixty million
a year for Wimby, I promise you it's a bigger
difference for Wimby than it is for Peter Holt, who
owns the Spurs is the CEO of the Spurs. Spurs
ownerships always really confuse me a bit. The billionaire owners.

(01:00:55):
I promise you, the fifty million Winby potentially left on
the table means more to him than it does the
owner of the spurs. That's always even though it's logically true,
that's always been a tough case to make to the audience.
It's become far tougher thanks to over the last six months.

(01:01:16):
Every single time, at least once a week, I scroll
through Twitter and it's a different former athlete or current
athlete being like, Hey, here's the thing about making one
hundred or two hundred million dollars. I know you regular

(01:01:40):
folks don't know this, but let me tell you something else.
Athletes have to deal with taxes. Who fucking knew? Did
you know that if they say they pay, whether they
say they're paying you forty thousand dollars a year or
forty million dollars a year, you don't get a check

(01:02:00):
for the full amount. They take money out the federal
government does different states to this son of a bitch
named Fika shows up takes some of it. I don't
even know that guy. My god, pro athletes and your
friends in the podcast world, I beg of you, please

(01:02:23):
stop talking about taxes. Everybody pays sexes. Everybody knows that
when you sign a contract for twenty million dollars, if
you're not getting the full twenty we all know it.
And yes, we also all understand shorter window of peak earnings.

(01:02:53):
You know, agent takes a commission. There's this, there's that
expensive lifestyle. We get it. There is not there's just
there is not a ton of You're just not gonna
get a very charitable reaction to you know what, I

(01:03:14):
never thought about how hard it would be to make
eighty million dollars last, especially when come to think of it,
thanks to these things I'd never heard of before. Taxes.
It's closer to forty and forty. Really, when you think

(01:03:34):
about forty, that's you know, after you pay for things
like houses and cars, you know, living expenses, it's not
even forty anymore. We got I just somebody in the
athlete podcast world needs to flip that conversation to whenever

(01:03:57):
somebody brings up athlete money, they need to just snap
go to owner money. Just show me Steve Balmer's networth.
Just do that. Just give me the dude that just
bought the Seahawks. Give me that flip the conversation to
the billionaire owners, because you guys are losing the public

(01:04:18):
with the have you heard of taxes? Not a winning argument, guys,
Back to Wimby, I I just worry that there is
now it is now going when it was all It's already,
in my opinion, somewhat unfair for the individual player max

(01:04:43):
to exist for the superstar players, like I think Donovan
Mitchell's really lucky he signed his deal right before this
WMBY news came out or else I think people would
be like, Ah, Donovan Mitchell, how serious is he about winning?
Because he's taking what he's earned, and that to me
is unfair and unfortunate. All Right, So since we've last talked,

(01:05:08):
they've paused the Kawhi Leonard Raptors and Clippers trade. I
just wanted this in the show because I want to
get this on the record. I believe this trade is
still going through. I believe. I do not believe Kawi's
contract is going to be voided. I do believe Kawhi

(01:05:32):
is going to be suspended roughly twenty five games. And
because of that, I believe the Raptors are going to
claw back one of the picks they traded the Clippers
for him. That's what I think is happening here. I

(01:05:52):
think the genies out of the bottle on them nixing
the trade. I also don't think they're voiding Kawai's contract.
I do think that the Raptors got wind that there
is going to be a more significant punishment than they thought,
and because of that, they want the ability right now.

(01:06:16):
They've given up first round picks in thirty one and
thirty three and twenty twenty seven first round swap, along
with two seconds. Maybe they canceled the swap. Maybe they
get the seconds back. I think it'd be hard to
get the draft pick, the first round pick, but I
think they get some of that back. That is my
guess of how this goes. I also want to for

(01:06:37):
the fifth time make the point this is embarrassing for
Adam Silver that they have not wrapped this up yet.
I understand due diligence. So you got the law firm,
Walktel and whatever doing it. You needed to tell them, guys,
we have a drop dead date of the start of
the new league year, and that was two weeks ago,

(01:06:59):
and he held up business for everybody, and it's unlike,
it's ridiculous how long this has taken. So I just
wanted to get that prediction on there and we'll save
the Lebron stuff because I don't think it's coming before
the end of the World Cup. We'll save the Lebron
stuff for Thursday. But this is what I want to

(01:07:24):
say about Lebron. I don't think he's wasting everyone's time.
I think Lebron has a team he is planning or
heavily leaning towards joining. But I think he is leaving
the window open for other teams to make a wow

(01:07:45):
move that draws him in. That's my read on what's
happening with Bron and why we're waiting. And also he's
probably enjoying the World Cup and playing golf, and you
know it, is taking his time with it, all right.
The producers swear I said West Virginia won back to
back World Cups. I say that can't possibly be true.

(01:08:06):
Roll the tape please. France trying to become one of
the only teams ever to make it to three straight
World Cup finals. I think that's also West Virginia and
Brazil who have done that. Oh you know what, it's
West Virginia and Brazil who have been to three straight
winning back to back. Was Italy in Brazil? Well that's mortifying.

(01:08:33):
They're saying Jerry West didn't win back to back World Cups.
What about Kevin Pittsnogle, did he do it? Steve Slayton,
Pat White, any of those guys that mascot they let
go to the games with a musket. By the way,
speaking of going to games with things, I had a

(01:08:54):
true disaster of a time getting into Boston Stadium. My
wife had a clutch and long story doesn't matter, nobody cares.
But the folks were just adamant FIFA rules, FIFA rules,
FIFA rules, and I was like, man, I've been I

(01:09:15):
went to a game in Miami, I went to a
game in New York and know this was a problem,
but whatever, I'm not gonna win this argument. They were like,
they're very sucking what you can bring in? Or I've
had had a hand, not a handbag of a clutch
the size of her hand. They're like, no, you can't
bring it in. Just watching Argentina, Switzerland and Kansas City,

(01:09:37):
a dude had a trombone in the crowd playing it
a full trombone. I need to taking that. Like rate,
Subscribe view to the pod, enjoy the Unbelievable games Tuesday
and Thursday. Wednesday, We'll be back with the Monsday Fresh
Office Birthday on Thursday. Back in the Mornings of Well

(01:10:00):
on Thursday. Thank you to hard Rock Bet, thank you
to Boost Mobile, thank you to the Volume, thank you
to Blue Duck. Thank you everybody for working on the show.
Talk to you guys soon. What's right,