Best of the Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
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Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
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Speaker 2 (00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Greetings, Welcome inside, Happy E Cup Championship Night, The Jason
Smith Show with my bas friend Mike Harmon. Every goal
starts with an assist on and off the field. That's
why Haley On and US Soccer are launching for the Assist,
a celebration of everyday acts of support that help people
achieve their goals with iconic brands like Sensini and Thumbs,

(00:53):
Voltare and Advillincentrum. To learn more, go to Haley Onassist
dot com. That's h A. L.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
E O. N.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Haley on Assist dot Com, Censiti, Toms, Volter, and Advil Centrum.
All of it again. Haley on Assist dot Com. Speaking
of assists, We're getting one tonight in an E Cup
Championship Night. It's almost like the Super Bowl, except we're
getting it here in the middle of December. It's that
big an event, Mike Harmon, and if the Knicks lose,

(01:20):
it doesn't have to.

Speaker 3 (01:21):
Be a big event at all.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Well, there we go. So it's kind of gotten accordion
feel to it here. No, that's good, except for the
Super Bowl.

Speaker 4 (01:26):
There's a clamoring and a high price secondary market for tickets.
Here they've darkened the Upper Bowl because I don't know
that there's nobody in there.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
It's almost the closest thing you guys are getting to
a real d Cup.

Speaker 4 (01:38):
Well, but that's the other part, right, is that you
know it can't be a real championship because tischer'sier.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Oh that's true. Yes, it's only a.

Speaker 4 (01:45):
Big because usually he's got like some events that that
he MCS or DJ's at or something.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
What you tell me, it's all basketball championships at tyser
I think Tycher has an anti basketball thing because those
are the games. You you missed the National Championship in basketball,
miss NBA finals nights, but you're here for the E
Cup Championship. It's not championship. Oh so that's so it's
not in the Alex tight shirt rankings, not a championship.
It's like a championship means nothing. All right, you need

(02:12):
to call Adam Silver and tell him that because he
would love to hear that from you. He'd love to it. Yeah,
this doesn't really matter, Jason, That makes no dose. You know,
I know this isn't a real championship game. How do
I know the Knicks are in it?

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Well?

Speaker 1 (02:24):
And Ben Stiller didn't bother to come in from why
Stiller recorded, well, I would as much as I love
the Knicks, I don't know. If I a trip to Hawaii,
I would, I kind of.

Speaker 4 (02:33):
But this might be the only championship in his lifetime
he ever gets.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
This guy that sits court side at Knicks games, I
think he's okay with.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
Miss You know when they can actually have pirate Steve
come out with a war chest of booty that he
would have liked to have been court side here because
it was actually a victory.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
They got a bunch of E Lifts celebrities. Oh yeah, hey,
they had a great list of people the NBA like
flew in for this championship game. You know, he thought
Chris Bosh was there and all the name Jefson, like, oh,
like all the people that.

Speaker 3 (03:04):
Hey, look at the guys that were here for this game.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
I run into Richard Jefferson at the card shop every
once in a while. He's right down the street and
now here he isn't vague.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
How about that?

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Uh? Early in the third quarter, Shalam is gonna play.
I thought he's a fan. Yeah, you know he's gonna play.
He's on his promotional tour from already Supreme sixty nine
sixty one spurs a couple of buckets here to start
the second half, have the lead over the next ten
and a half to go in the third quarter on
an E Cup Championship night, And yes, you can't really

(03:33):
tell how many people are there because boy, it is
really dark in the stands back you can't see like
they've made it so blue. It looks like the inside
of a comedy club. Like I can't even sell, like
are people in those seats or not? I don't even
I can't even see.

Speaker 4 (03:47):
As well, have cardboard cutouts, so there's at least a
shadow that looks like a person up there. It's like
they hired someone Hollywood lighting. It's like, all right, let's
let's do what we can.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
What do we do?

Speaker 5 (03:56):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (03:56):
It's like when the WWE was doing matches or in
COVID in the sound stage. Yeah, it was completely dark. Yeah,
so you had no idea. You could pump in some
sound if you needed to, but you had no idea
that they were wrestling in front of nobody.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
No where is that now? It doesn't matter, matter, it
doesn't matter. Still a game, still a game, still a game.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
They had the one IOTA for the semi finals where
you could have gone and sat courtside for free.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Has Tracy Morgan thrown up yet?

Speaker 3 (04:21):
No?

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Not yet, we're saving that. If we get down by ten,
Tracy Morgan throws up and then that that's five minutes. Yeah,
maybe less. It's a sixty nine to sixty one lead,
only to do with another three.

Speaker 6 (04:31):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Now, a couple of things about this game, right, the
NBA has taken the night. Hey, we've given the night
to the NBA. Sure, and so far the E Cup
has been good, but not quite what they thought it was.
So what do we have here on Positivity Tuesday? A
way to make this even a bigger event Like you've
seen at the beginning of the E Cup, everybody sort

(04:51):
of bought it. Now the money for everybody at the
end is a big deal. I'm sure that always whenever
you give out money to people, that helps.

Speaker 4 (04:56):
Well, we talked about the Jalen Brunson response to a
report yesterday.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
Right, but you still see you still see a lot
of players, You still see an amping up in excitement
level for the game. Look, this feels like a playoff game.
You can see both teams really want to win. It's
not just hey, it's a it's a bonus game on
the schedule. So the e Cup coming in is a
great idea because to try to find a way to
make something out of the doldrums that is the regular

(05:22):
season of the NBA is really difficult.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
Right.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
So it's good, Right, it's good.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
It's good.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
It's good, it's good. But but this Vegas thing is
a disaster like this is I mean, you need to
have more than if you're gonna have an event in
Vegas and you have the Final Four, Like when you
have the Final Four in a place, Okay, well, final
Four is coming. They play Friday, or they play Saturday

(05:46):
and Monday. Hear these games are you know, play Tuesday night.
You gotta come in Friday, stay a all the way
through till Tuesday. Like who's doing that, right, Like, there's
so many things that you could have a little bit better.
Because the Knicks played two thirds in the afternoon on Saturday.
So if you're coming for that early game, right, the
Nicks and the Magic, you can't come in Saturday morning.
You got to get in Friday night. So now suddenly

(06:08):
to come and see this, it's a Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
Monday time.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
It's Vegas.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
But you have to make it into a vacation. And
you're not making that into a vacation in the beginning
of the calendar year because you're not planning for. This
is something that comes up and oh hey, wait a minute,
it's not the super Bowl, it's not quite that event.
But there is way to make this bigger. And there's
a couple of things that you can continue and look,
it is a work in progress, but I would say
the three biggest things you can do is this. Number One,

(06:36):
this is for the teams. Yes, they get the money
at the end, which is great. Number One, you guarantee
them a top six playoff spot. You win the e Cup,
you're guaranteed a top six playoff spot, no matter.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
Make it a big deal, right.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
You can avoid the play in automatically, you are you
are no worse than sixth overall if you win the
E Cup. Right now, that's a fun way to get in.

Speaker 7 (07:01):
Now.

Speaker 1 (07:01):
Obviously, these two teams, they're both really good, don't have
to worry about that, and generally the best teams are
getting there. But you never know what could happen over
the course of regular season, and teams deal with injuries
and X, Y and Z always happens. So the first
thing for the players, yes, you win, you are guaranteed
no lower than the sixth spot in the playoffs. This
gets everybody playing their asses off during the E Cup

(07:22):
in games, and all of a sudden, all those games
get even better and bigger, leading towards a championship where hey,
the winner knows no matter what, we're a six seed.
When if you said to every NBA team at the
beginning of the season, he can guarantee you one of
the top six seed. Yeah, we won't even play the
regular season. Give us a sixth seed. We're fine with it.

Speaker 4 (07:39):
Well, but that becomes the problem is that we already
lament the the and I mean by we, the collective,
we me I kind of shrug, Guys, are gonna take
his off, teams are gonna have no show efforts whatever.
But you're already at a watered down regular season products.
So that's at least one of the teams that might
be an operation no show if they're not vying for

(08:01):
a top spot, right, if they're in the muddled mess
that is that five to ten seed. It's like, Okay,
you got a little ear, you're banged up a little bit. Yeah,
we're just sitting you down for two weeks. Why because
we got that six in our pocket. So you run
the risk of a little of that of down the stretch.
Little uh Johnny and Zusie in regular season final months

(08:23):
don't get to see their heroes on the court.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Now, the second thing for this to make it, to
make it bigger, is you have to have it as
one encompassing timeline. You can't play games up and down
throughout the first month plus of the season. Then this
is a cup night. This is not a cup night.
It's kind of ridiculous, right because this is borrowing from
all of the big European soccer leagues where they take

(08:48):
time away. Yeah they play once while they'll play the
FA Cup and but generally, hey, we take some time,
we're taking a break, and we have a tournament that
we're gonna play. That would be a little bit bigger deal.
You still get the at ten of the NBA. But
it's this. Everybody is in on this event right now
for x amount of time. Maybe it's two weeks, maybe
it's three weeks, but everybody is in on this event.

(09:11):
You're all playing the NBA E Cup. We play the
first twenty games of the regular season, then we take
a break for three weeks, we play the E Cup,
then we come back, we play the rest of the schedule.
Now you would still have a bunch of games. You
would probably have to cut the regular season by a
couple of games, but not many because remember these games
will still count in the standings overall. But you make
it one encompassing. This is the E Cup. This is

(09:33):
the E Cup.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
We're freezing everything at twenty we're playing the E Cup
and then.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
We're moving on. You can put them, you know, you
can put them in the standards yor not put them
in the stands. It really doesn't matter. But you're playing
the games, and you're playing the games on teams home floor,
so they're not losing home games. They're still getting gate
and revenue. So that's the next part. Is that make
this there's no two games this week and an E
Cup game Friday. Then the next E Cup game is
the following Thursday. And you can tell by the floor.

(09:58):
But now teams don't want to use the so you
gotta be reminded it's an Ecups. We gotta put that
font on TV. It's an E Cup all the time.
Make this a one inclusive I'm concentrating on the regular season.
We're taking a break and now it's the Emirates Cup.

Speaker 4 (10:11):
Well, I look at the the E Cup Championship tonight.
The floor is boring. There's nothing they didn't even overlay
for the good benefit of the folks at home. Go
get your three D glasses. Here's some fire as they're
running through the pits of hell. I mean, I don't know,
they gave me nothing. There's no juice. But I do
like the operation shut down. I do think the inclusion

(10:31):
of the stats highly important, inclusion in the standings highly important.
Why because we keep having the thing you agreed upon
of the sixty five games for MVPs and award consideration.
So what are you gonna do you can't add another
seven games and not have them count. I've always been
upset that they they make.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
Them play the championship game.

Speaker 4 (10:51):
Yeah, you get paid, but you don't get the benefit
of whatever stats, Like, why don't these count towards their stats?
You played an eighty third game, that's life, right, your
body had the wear and tear. Why shouldn't you also
get Because yes, you get the bonus in a higher
bonus if you win, that's great, But you play forty

(11:12):
minutes and you don't get those stats to your accumulated totals.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
That seems kind of silly to me.

Speaker 3 (11:18):
Yeah, I mean, look the totals thing. They'll work it out.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
Obviously, that's a work in progress with the NBA deciding, oh,
you got to play in this many games to be
eligible for MVP, all these words, but this game doesn't
kind of figure that.

Speaker 4 (11:29):
Not that it's coming down to one in most cases,
but I mean it's still forty games that or forty
minutes for the starters that may affect your availability. Right,
there's the trickle down effect. Not looking for anybody to
get hurt in any of these kind of events, but
it's the reality of like we're doing the math of
how many minutes you've played. This doesn't just because it

(11:51):
was an E Cup championship, it doesn't subtly not count.
You know, that didn't really affect your body at all.
You know that elbow that cat from Castle and then
you probably got a deep bruise under his rints. Yeah, no, no,
that didn't happen because those stats never didn't accrue.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
Like my ass they did. I got beat up. And
the last the last change would be this is and
you can you can do this by saying, hey, the
top couple of finishers can get a bye of some kind.
But to make it to get the math down to
sixteen teams, but have a sweet sixteen and it's single

(12:28):
elimination from there on out. You have you have teams
that play in the E Cup and have a lot
of teams that can you know, have half the league
that can make it into the next round, like you
want to have that. You don't want to say, hey,
we're sending everybody home. So it's hey, we're playing this
and and just like the NCA Termy, you win enough,
you get in, you get an not that you get
an at large big But however, you want to do
it with winning by a certain amount of points because

(12:48):
I kind of liked the winning by a certain month.
I kind of liked the running up the score because
we need to have that point differentially. It's kind of fun.
Come on, right, it's kind of fun. So get down
to a Sweet sixteen, have the team seated bar that
from the NCAA tournament, like why not, Like we've seen
this already, and you get sixteen down to eight, down
to four, down to the championship. Everybody likes. Everybody is

(13:09):
familiar enough with that kind of basketball to make that.
So if you have those three things, playoff spot for
the winning team guaranteed no lower than six, you play
an NCAA style Sweet sixteen, and you have it as
its own part of the calendar twenty games. Then we
get to the E Cup and it's all the Cup
until it's done. I think those are big changes and
people will buy in. It will be an even bigger

(13:29):
deal than it is now.

Speaker 4 (13:30):
Your gadens is like Steve Martin when he had the
wishes for his Christmas wish and all the children of
the world dancing and singing hand.

Speaker 1 (13:38):
In hand and everything else. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (13:40):
The other is I think the halftime show should have
been a Battle of the Halftime Shows. So let's spin
some plates, Let's have some dogs chasing frisbee, Let's have
the Blue Man Group or whoever else you want to
try it out there, and let's just make it a
full spectacle Vegas style.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
Where's Wayne Newton net? Oh yeah, we can do that.
Oh I'm all for the glitz and gas. I'm all
for that. I'm off of that. And really you kind
of have to have the champ you know, you want
to avoid situations like this where.

Speaker 3 (14:06):
Hey, you know there's no juice. Man, you gotta play
it in the top seeded teams.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
That's a house. You gotta do something like that, because
to to not have it that way like you're risking
a lot. You're risking it not looking like it's a
big deal.

Speaker 4 (14:18):
Well, that's like there's no juice to this, a lot
of sitting on the hands. And to your point, you
gotta rely zoom in because there's nobody there.

Speaker 3 (14:25):
So there you go.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
That's how to take a great idea that's working but
needs some help and make it a little bit better.
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(14:47):
buying should be. Well. The Spurs are the six point
lead right now, seven and a half to go in
the third quarter seventy four to sixty eight. Will keep
you updated on this, but coming up next, we got
big stuff out of the NFL. We could see one
high priced franchise quarterback hitting the bench after what we
heard today. That's next Jason and Mike Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Hey is Covino and Rich from Fox Sports Radio. Now.

Speaker 7 (15:26):
In addition to hearing us live weekdays from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,
We're excited to announce a brand new YouTube channel for
the show.

Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yup, that's right.

Speaker 7 (15:36):
You can now watch Covino and Rich live on YouTube
every day. All you gotta do search Covino and Rich
FSR on YouTube again, go to YouTube search Covino and
Rich FSR. Check us out on YouTube, subscribe, hit that
thumbs up icon, comment away.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
Happy Night three and TJ. If you are sick of
holiday music, you can instead listen to Menora Jones former
Best New Artist at the Grammys TJ. Wow.

Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah, you can listen to Nick and Nora's infinite playlist
teaj uh So here we are Yes Night three?

Speaker 1 (16:21):
Then they in and Adam Sandler movie. Uh was she?

Speaker 3 (16:25):
I remember she was on?

Speaker 1 (16:26):
I think, well, I think the last time I saw
Nora Jones maybe on Sesame Street, Like like a bunch
of years ago, when Zoe was young enough, we watched
Sesame Street. Okay, are you ever really too old for
Sesame Street?

Speaker 3 (16:37):
I think she did don't know Why?

Speaker 1 (16:40):
Why didn't? Why didn't come? And it was about the
letter why not showing up to meet her? And that
was a song don't know Why Why? And the letter why.

Speaker 3 (16:48):
Comes down it why You're here? Like, I think that's
the last time I saw Nora.

Speaker 1 (16:53):
That's pretty same thing. Yeah, uh so E Cup Championship
and again the best part is that the Knicks win,
it means everything.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
If they lose it doesn't matter.

Speaker 1 (17:01):
Uh eighty four seventy nine, three minutes to go in
the third quarter, Uh, Spurs with the lead over the Knicks,
all making an eighty seven seventy nine lead. Wemby hits
a three.

Speaker 3 (17:10):
Uh. So far, Wemby looks pretty good. I gotta say that.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
Yeah, coming off the bench, Wemby looks pretty good. I'm
not I'm not too concerned about Wemby.

Speaker 4 (17:20):
Well, but when it started and he and he's not
in on the court as they have the opening tips
like you're gonna You're gonna play some of your superstars
in your championship game, aren't you, And then he just
hits this step back three on you, so there in
your face Smith.

Speaker 1 (17:37):
So well, we'll have more on this game coming up.
Isaac lower Kron will have the latest and what's trending. Uh,
But big NFL news today. It was last night. Look,
we talked a lot about how Miami after last night,
they know the tow a tongue of iloa era has
to end. They can't go into next season again trying

(17:58):
to make it work with Tua when he is a
limited quarterback. And again, how many Decembers can you go
into and say well, we're not gonna get what we
need because the guy can't throw the football in the
wind and inclement weather. We need something else. And today
the beginning of that era of without Tua maybe even
closer than expected because a night after Dolphins head coach

(18:20):
Mike McDaniel said, hey, let's say not's do his fault.

Speaker 3 (18:23):
Everything is fine.

Speaker 6 (18:24):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (18:24):
Usually again this is a big thing for coaches. A
day after, they always say, well, with time to think
about it, which means with time to talk to the
GM and the owner. Uh. This is what Mike McDaniel
had to say about Tua and his future after Monday
Night's lost to the Steelers. He has opened the door
to a quarterback chain, saying, quote, everything is on the table.

(18:45):
Quote I think the quarterback play last night was not
good enough. So everything is on the table. It could
be Zach Wilson, it could be Quinn Ewers, it could
be Dan Marino, it could be Jay Fiedler. But we
could see a quarterback chain for the Dolphins for their
next game, which would be a short week coming back,

(19:05):
which tells you if you big a quarterback change in
a short week, this tells you we got to move
on from this guy. And the reason you would move
on is if you are worried because Mike McDaniel wants
to keep his job next year. And that's why this
is even closer to happening than you think it is,
because he wants to keep his job and he's got
to keep his job by keeping the team intact and
keeping them focused and playing out the last couple of

(19:26):
weeks hard. Now he saved his job a bit by
having the big run after being one and six. Now
the playoffs are over for them, but they need to
finish strong. He can't lose the locker room. If you
are going to change quarterbacks in a short week, it
means the locker room is going to revolt if you
go back to this guy at quarterback. Maybe the next
guy's not good, but I know this guy's not working
and we need to get to that next level and

(19:47):
the next iteration of this team.

Speaker 4 (19:49):
Well, the other part is that you also have to
keep this quarterback healthy, which he has been and he's
been fairly durable. And in last night's game, as we
broke it down, there were an number of unconscionable throws,
a number of misses. The interception that he threw. As
a team, they received and I think rightly so, a
lot of incoming for the lack of urgency early and

(20:12):
then suddenly trying to close things out in a frenzied
state in their final possessions, the on side kick, calling timeouts,
et cetera.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
But we also talked about too.

Speaker 4 (20:22):
Even when he didn't make a throw, he took some
unreasonably poor sacks. Right, it's one thing that you don't
you miss. The pocket collapses quickly, you've stepped up in
anticipation of a play and you get caught up in
someone gets your legs. That's fine, but we saw him

(20:43):
rolling out to the left, left handed thrower and instead
of putting the ball safely out of harm's way, you know,
into the third row, he's absorbing a six seven yard sack.
You're not a team that lives by the explosive play
like you did once upon a time. We've talked about it,
and the shift defense have been playing better obviously that
a four possession skid would be the nice way to

(21:07):
say it against the Steeler squad, first time they'd done
that since twenty eighteen. But overall they'd played pretty well,
and you'd move to where A chan was option A,
B and C. He got lessened a bit yesterday, which
again McDaniels should have taken some more questions about that.
But Tua didn't help things by taking the unreasonable sacks

(21:28):
and putting them behind the markers and putting them into
more disadvantageous situations to where his arm isn't cutting through
the wind at fifteen to twenty miles an hour. That
ain't happening. We had the discussion about game time temperatures
or whatever else, but what we do know is he
puts the ball in harm's way consistently with narrowly above

(21:50):
a one to one ratio of touchdowns and interceptions. So
going forward now with this being the end, right, I
have two solutions. I have a trade that works forever everyone.
Oh boy, Okay, we talked about a where could he go?
I got a trade that works for everyone. And I
have one solution that maybe people haven't thought about.

Speaker 1 (22:09):
Okay, let's do. Let's do the solution people haven't thought
about before you get to the trade. Okay, he's got
a bad contract, we know this, right, But bad contracts
it doesn't mean is untradable. It just means it makes
it really really difficult the next couple of years. The
money he is due it is insane. So when you
think about where it's going, if you're gonna bench toua,
he's not coming back to start for you. There may

(22:32):
be this situation where to a tongue of iloa is
Kirk Cousins for next year in which the Dolphins have nothing.
He's got to come back. But the Dolphins next quarterback
is whoever they get in the draft, or somebody they
go in on in free agency, somebody who's a bridge starter,
whatever it's going to be. But the potential is out
there because we saw it this year. It hasn't worked

(22:52):
at all in Atlanta because Atlanta hasn't won, but maybe
mainly because Michael Pennix wasn't very good. But Cousins playing
well the last couple of weeks. If he finishes strong well,
then guess what Cousin is going to get a deal
someplace else next year? Someone will fork over money. It's
only two years left on his deal. Now he could
We talked about this last week. He has played himself
into being a bridge quarterback and getting a starting job

(23:14):
next year.

Speaker 4 (23:15):
Or Pennick's coming back with another huge injury, right, Kirk
Cousins may stay right where he is, be your quarter.

Speaker 1 (23:20):
So the possibility exists that he could be Kirk Cousins
next year where the money's not working, the trade, the
trade is not we wants to keep all his cash.
He's not gonna say no, and so it winds up
the two is on the team, but it's somebody else
is coming in, whether it's in the first round of
the draft or like I said, free agency, something else.
Somebody else is coming in to take this job. So
that is that is that is definitively an option, especially

(23:44):
since we've seen the Falcons do it this year and
while it hasn't worked, it hasn't ripped the team apart. Right,
It's not like you're hearing stuff where everybody is on
the side of of of Michael Pennix and Kirk Cousins
is making noise and he's being Kirk Cousins has always
been a pretty good pro and and we would have
heard a lot more stories about how bad this was
this year if it was bad, So clearly it was okay. Mainly,

(24:07):
they probably need a new head coach in Atlanta because
Raheem Morris with all that, all that talent. Offensively, it's
not working. But mainly Michael Pennix Junior has not been great.
So but the off the field stuff didn't rip the
team apart. We thought that was gonna happen. So I
think a lot of teams are looking at that. Miami's
gonna look at this and say, hey, you know what,
if it comes to it, we can still move on
next year. Maybe we maybe quinn Ewers starts the last

(24:31):
couple of games. He's really good. He's named the starter
for next year, and two is the backup. Two is
a pretty good pro. I think two A handles this
pretty well. He's always handled himself pretty well publicly. It's
kind of he kind of reminds me of Russell Wilson
light a little bit the way he approaches things. Well,
that's pretty a pro.

Speaker 4 (24:45):
Because that's part of the equation as well, Right, is
that you Russell Wilson and then just say, hey, it's
a poison pill. We have to swallow. But we eat
all that money against the cap, right, we just have
the huge dead dead cap charge. To your point about
yours or or will or some combination thereof, you do
have Cincinnati. I mean Joe Burrow quit this last week.

(25:05):
I don't know if you saw that. And then week
seventeenes against Tampa their past d stinks. Yeah, so you've
got an opportunity either of those quarterbacks to at least
put up a little bit of an effort and a
show for folks, and from Mike McDaniel to show that
he can work with another quarterback for sure. And then
you have the season finale against New England that might
not be playing for anything at that point.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
So if that happens, all right, we see. But now
here's a trade that works for everybody. Okay, taking everything
into account, here's a quarterback with a bad contract. Somebody
else would need to take on this bad contract, but
they would trade a bad contract of their own. Both
these guys need fresh starts to and this other quarterback

(25:47):
need fresh starts. I don't know anybody who says no
to this, because while the team trading their quarterback is
trading someone who is a little bit higher value and
then seen a little bit more of a solution. His
contract is a little bit longer, right two of the
big deal for his contracts the next couple of years.
This contract goes through twenty twenty eight. So there's a

(26:09):
little bit of bend, but don't break. Now. If he
was part of the solution, he would stay. But both
guys need a fresh start. It's not like you have
to worry about the money because you're still spending money.
But it's different, right, You're getting a different Maybe Tua
can work in a different offense. Maybe this guy can
work in Miami's offense. I think Miami would be excited
to have him in. I think if you are this team,

(26:30):
you're excited to get to it. To come in doesn't
mean you can't go out and get a different quarterback
as well. But you have seen it. Okay, it's not
working with this guy. We'll get out of his contract
a year earlier than this, which means we're not postponing
the future as much to a tongue of Iiloa to
the Cardinals. For Kyler Murray works for everyone, seeks for
everyone you know who? It doesn't work for what me?

(26:51):
Why does it work for you?

Speaker 4 (26:52):
Because Jacoby Brissett is under contract for next year? Okay,
he signed a two year, twelve million dollar deal. Sure
I can if I and Kyler Murray being gone as
part of the equation. But if I can add my quarterback,
because Jacoby Brissett's played really well, right he is, sure,
he has been good. Sure, that's a lot of money
you can spend on other pieces to make this team better.

(27:13):
Bring in tua in doesn't help me. He's no better
than Kyler Murray is.

Speaker 3 (27:17):
But here's it.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
No, But here's the thing is you're getting out of
Kyler Murray's deal a little bit earlier and you are
able to move on from it. Because that's the thing.

Speaker 4 (27:24):
But I'm bringing in another contract that I don't want
to have.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
To but I don't want to as contact.

Speaker 6 (27:29):
I know.

Speaker 4 (27:30):
Listen, if I'm the Cardinals, but to get rid of
Kyler the Jets tape.

Speaker 1 (27:34):
But if you're the Cardinals, if you're the Cardinals, Okay, yes,
Jacoby Brissett's playing really well this year. But is he
all of a sudden a great quarterback? Or if you
go into next year with Tuah and Jacoby Brissett they
battle it out and can't however you want to do it.
It's a new team. For two, he's got an earnest spot.
You feel a lot better about the quarterback room, then
we're really gonna hand it over to Kyler Murray and

(27:54):
he's gonna be the same guy, and he's gonna he's
gonna get the same kind of production. So you understand that,
you know, to lose that salary, you gotta take salary back.
But because you're giving away the quote more talented player,
you're gonna get out from under that contract a little
bit earlier if to it doesn't work out. Look, it's
it's exchanging problems for problems. And I'm always a big
fan of well, if this problem is not working for
me and that problem's not working for you, let's change

(28:16):
problems because maybe it'll work for both of us. It
maybe it works for me and not you. It works
for you and not me. But that's a way to
solve this problem.

Speaker 4 (28:23):
I mean, on the plus side, he would be playing
in Arizona, so all of that forty degrees no sin
would be thrown out of film, so we can have
proof of concept once and for all that it's not
just the cold as to the reason that he stinks.

Speaker 1 (28:38):
So I did that trade works for everybody. It works
for everyone. Yeah, I've seen I'd rather have Kyle. You
can't just you can't just but yeah, if you could
just do an I dream of Genie where you cross
your arms and blink your eyes and go blink it
and they disappear.

Speaker 3 (28:54):
Okay, but you can't do that.

Speaker 1 (28:55):
No cares you can do that. Give me someone else
at a different position. Bring it in. Another problem, more
potential problem at quarterback.

Speaker 4 (29:01):
When I got a guy making nothing, I'll go draft
my bridge guy, my guy towards twenty seven and let.

Speaker 3 (29:07):
Him in the room.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
Jason, how about the trades cancel each other and they
both go away. I say, if you can find a
way to make that happen, I think both they cancel out,
just like a flag on each team.

Speaker 4 (29:16):
Okay, all right, so then by sorry, we're training you
out and now we're balancing equations and we're getting rid
of burials Kaimer Murray's next franchise quarterback for the Argonauts.

Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah, no, exactly. Yeah, I'm sorry, We're able to cancel
out your contract and get rid of you.

Speaker 5 (29:32):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (29:32):
Time now to find out what's trending in the wide
rule of sports. But guy, we can't get rid of
It's Isaac low and Cross.

Speaker 8 (29:40):
You keep changing the lots, but I keep finding away
in Yeah, Unfortunately, there's a lot of gullible people who
will just open.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
The door whenever you knock on it. And that's how
it works.

Speaker 8 (29:50):
Speaking of knocking on the door, Notre Dame junior running
back Jeremiah Love knocking on the door of the National
Football League.

Speaker 1 (29:56):
How about that for a segment.

Speaker 8 (29:57):
By the way, I've announced on Instagram this evening that
he is declaring for the NFL Draft. In the NBA
Cup Championship game, the San Antonio Spurs led the New
York Knicks ninety four to eighty nine after three quarters.

Speaker 1 (30:12):
What's the.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
Break?

Speaker 8 (30:15):
Reportedly, Knicks head coach of Mike Brown implored his team
to win it for Smith, Win it fort Smith. Then
the Knicks opened the fourth quarter on an eight to
nothing ron so at ten twenty seven left to play
in the fourth quarter, the Knicks now lead the Spurs
ninety seven to ninety four.

Speaker 3 (30:32):
Go New York O, New York Coat, Go New York O,
New York Coat.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
You know that song is what how many years a
little show like thirty years old? Yeah, just as good
as it was the first time you heard it.

Speaker 8 (30:43):
It is a classic, one of the underrated sports anthems
in my estimation. Elsewhere, the NBA concluded today that officials
made three incorrect calls in the final two minutes of
Denver's overtime win on Monday against Houston, with all three
incorrect calls benefited Denver, prompting Rockets head coach Ime Udoka

(31:04):
to say of the officials, it's.

Speaker 1 (31:05):
Poorly officiated game.

Speaker 6 (31:06):
I've seen a long time to have no business being
out there, and the crew chief of the Second.

Speaker 8 (31:10):
Starstruck Finally, guys. As we mentioned, this year's NBA Cup
Championship game being held in Las Vegas. However, before the game,
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told Amazon Prime that future NBA
Cup Championship games could be held elsewhere.

Speaker 9 (31:27):
We're talking about whether it makes sense to maybe go
to some unique locations for the final game, for example,
some like storied college arena. So we're just looking at
other ways we could do this.

Speaker 3 (31:39):
Storied college arena, Let's go play at Syracuse the JWA Dome,
like that's gonna get people at Really, the JMA Wireless
Dome isn't Madison Square Garden technically a storied college arena.

Speaker 1 (31:51):
I saw Sat John's won a lot of big games
at mess how all trying in the day. Yeah, Hey,
didn't they just run it's a new one. Basically, it's
like a new football stadium.

Speaker 4 (32:02):
I mean the basketball arena's been You're right near Chicago.

Speaker 1 (32:05):
I mean, come on, Bob Dylan once played there?

Speaker 3 (32:09):
Sure? Did you say Jacob Dylan once played there?

Speaker 6 (32:12):
No?

Speaker 1 (32:12):
Oh, okay, I saw Bob as a freshman. Okay, all right, that's.

Speaker 8 (32:16):
A pretty good deal for a college student to be
able to send thought on campus for ten bucks and
see Bob Dylan. Right, I paid thirty to hear a
boring lecture by Henry Kissinger. Back to you, guys, that's
true story. That's a boy.

Speaker 3 (32:29):
I could just I could just the dusts just came
through my microphone when you said that.

Speaker 8 (32:35):
And you know what, it still would have come out
if that had been said thirty years ago too.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
Thank you very much. ILove Jason Smith Mike Harmon Live
from the Fox Sports Radio studios. It's a one hundred
and ninety five lead for the Knicks right now, nine
and a half to go in the fourth quarter. Nicks
on a thirteen to one run in the last three
plus minutes. More on this game coming up, but straight ahead,
A huge story that will rock the NFL Draft is

(33:01):
next Jason and Mike Fox Sports Radio, The Jason Smith
Show with my best friend Mike Harmon, live from the
Fox Sports Radio studios, where the E Cup Championship is
getting tight seven and a half to go in the
fourth quarter. The Knicks have a one oh four to
ninety seven lead over the Spurs. The winner of this

(33:22):
game is basically the NBA champion of this year. As
long as it's the Knicks. If it's the Spurs, it
doesn't really matter and we're moving on. But that's the
stakes of this game right now.

Speaker 4 (33:31):
Dad has been written into the bylaws of the NBA.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
It's basically like, if the Knicks win, cancel the NBA
Finals and and and the Knicks of the.

Speaker 4 (33:41):
Champs, well, they are automatically advanced. It's like pulling a
card in a board game that you're playing.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
My idea of allowing the winner of the E Cup
to be a top six seed, no worse than a
top six seed, I like just putting them in the finals.

Speaker 4 (33:55):
I like that if the Knicks winners to advance, so
you just take the final three and a half.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
It's just kind of like you're in the bubble.

Speaker 3 (34:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (34:01):
Going back to although like you get a couple of
months off and then you come back play a short schedule.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
You're self contained.

Speaker 4 (34:09):
Maybe we'll let you ride the rides of Disneyland World
late in the evening.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
You know that kind of thing. I think it would
work a little bit better though, if you did, if
it was like the Thunder who won in the West
instead of the Spurs, and you would say, well, really
don't need to play the rest of the Western Conference.
That is, come on the Thunder twenty eight and two.
Come on.

Speaker 4 (34:25):
The other is do you run it like Daytona to
where it's the kickoff of the season is first three weeks?

Speaker 3 (34:30):
Oh, I could see it. Okay, yeah, maybe maybe.

Speaker 4 (34:32):
Maybe I got that coming in on the instem Graham
from one of our followers. I appreciate you all out
there at Swallodo, man, how about a fresco? You got
an idea of how to liven all right? Excuse me
living this up?

Speaker 1 (34:45):
Harmon? Get a drink, Get a drink. Oh, get a
time out, my carman, Oh, get a time out. Give
me do some kind of liquid.

Speaker 4 (34:52):
Well, the problem is it's ninety seven degrees in here.

Speaker 1 (34:55):
Oh, Harmon, I don't know. We've got like a saun
of effect going on. Rob Parker comes in here before us,
and Rob Parker likes it a little bit uh dry
form side Yeah sure. Now Harmon actually getting up right
now to go change the trips over his headphones and
is getting up to change the temperature on the wall. Now,

(35:17):
can't wait five minutes getting up to change the temperature.
What's gonna happen in the next five minutes? So I waited.

Speaker 3 (35:25):
You didn't need to do it.

Speaker 1 (35:26):
You could have you break You broke your microphone. You
you yes, you're breaking all kinds of stuff. You had
to turn your microphone on.

Speaker 4 (35:34):
I didn't break anything. The entire mind upside down. It
just came out of its housing. Yeah, well it'll go back,
see kids, just so you know, it'll go back in
its hole.

Speaker 1 (35:45):
The lesson that my mom taught me when I was
very young, don't touch the thermostad bad things happened. No,
that is just there usually, do not trust. Broke the
whole bunch of I broke nothing. I'll break you.

Speaker 6 (35:57):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (35:58):
Meanwhile, this big out of the NFL draft. If you're
picking in the top five of the NFL draft, you
got another absolute superstar at the top as Notre Dame
running back and Heisman finalists Jeremiah Love has decided he
is heading to the draft. He put out a note
tonight thanking Notre Dame for every in the last few years. Look,
this year was incredible for him. He ran for thirteen

(36:20):
hundred yards before you think, well, thirty hundred yards. Yeah,
didn't even get two hundred touches. So you don't have
to worry about this guy coming out with all kinds
three three hundred plus touches the last couple of years,
averaging seven yards of carry this year, eighteen touchdowns, twenty
five all purpose touchdowns overall. I know he's a running back.
He's not getting out of the top five. There is
no way, especially now with the getting back in style

(36:44):
of the running backs following Saquon Barkley's big year last
year running the Eagles to the Super Bowl title. When
you get a special running back, yeah, people are gonna
take him high. And Jeremiah Love has all the talent
in the world there is doing with the elusiveness, the power,
the escape ability, he is the entire package. Yes, he's
going in the top five, and not only that, he's

(37:05):
someone that you're a top five team. He gives you
an identity and all of a sudden he becomes your
best player. A team like the Titans, all of a sudden,
you're teaming Jeremiah Love up with with cam Ward the
team like the Jets, who are gonna be crying out
for a player you can easily move on from Breese Hall.
Hey we got Jeremiah Love here. Like there's teams in
the top five or teams will move in the top

(37:25):
five to get him that are gonna say, this guy
is not getting past number five. He's not.

Speaker 3 (37:29):
You have you can go out, you can, you can.

Speaker 1 (37:31):
The quarterbacks are big question mark, right If you have
teams at the top now that have quarterbacks, are they
really going to go in for it? And potentially you
get down to the three, four five spot, your first
quarterback's coming off the board there. But a guy like
Jeremiah Love, as good as he is and the pedigree
that he has, Yeah, there's no way he gets out
of the top five. I don't know he gets out
of the top three. Yes, it depends where the Jets
and the Titans pick, But it looks like they're picking

(37:52):
that hut.

Speaker 4 (37:53):
So I want to be glib and just say does
he know that Marcus Freeman's leaving for an NFL job or.

Speaker 1 (37:58):
Another college job. Marcus Freeman least the Giants, and the
Giants draft him number one overall and you have him
in Skataboo in the back go. Now, that would be
something the Giants takes naps if Jackson Dark gets hurt
and goes back into the blue tag seven. No, But legitimately,
he's also a good receiver out of the backfield. And
as we've watched the game evolve, you know, you talk

(38:19):
about all purpose touchdowns, the fact that he is that
much of the passing game, fifty five receptions the last
two years, and what else is there left to prove
at the collegiate level, Right, He'll get paid either way,
And with running backs the market being what it is
and Saquon Barkley having the drop off that he did
this year may not help things as much. It may

(38:43):
off set it.

Speaker 7 (38:43):
Go.

Speaker 1 (38:43):
Yeah, we get that one big year, but then.

Speaker 4 (38:46):
But we're also talking about about a guy who's been
in since twenty eighteen, So it's a long long run
for a running back. But for love, I mean, there's
a lot to like. Seeing a ton of interviews with him,
he does. He's got a comic book that he's been
out and promoting and whatever, and it just seems like
a man of the people as well. So you get
a franchise guy that you can sell to your community

(39:08):
and your fan base as well.

Speaker 1 (39:09):
Yeah, because that's whole thing. It's not like, well, we
can draft a guy who's really good here. Some teams
you need an identity and a team, like like the Jets,
who are in search of who's our star going to be?
You have Garrett Wilson, right, that's really the one guy
you're bringing back on your entire team you're starting over. Hey,
Jeremiah Love would be that guy. He'd be that guy
for the Titans. He would, honestly, if you're the Giants
on I know everybody loves Camskataboo, I know, but the

(39:32):
guy is up is is a part time running back.
He is a he's a guy in the red zone.
He's a he's a a big cult hero. But man,
can you imagine you go john there, Jackson Dart with
both those guys in the backfield and Love.

Speaker 4 (39:46):
And neighbors come sack and you got theo Johnson who's
been pretty good in spots and tight end position.

Speaker 1 (39:52):
He's on a nothing. How did how did the how
did the Lions build that team so great?

Speaker 6 (39:56):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (39:57):
Well we have David Montgomery, he's pretty good. Go get
Jamre Gibbs who was great. Wow, that's kind of working
pretty well for them the last couple of years.

Speaker 3 (40:03):
I was the Giants.

Speaker 1 (40:04):
Why not number one? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (40:05):
Except they didn't get over the top. You Jinkstom. You
can't go back to Detroit over the weekend. You talked
about them being dead. You can go find that entire
podcast wherever you find your podcast.

Speaker 1 (40:16):
Exit about a Fresca exit swollen dome. Jason Smith Mike
Harmon Live from the Fox Sports Radio Studios. Oh, we
got more on the top of the NFL Draft come
up next, as well as the weirdest NBA story of
the week. I know it's only Tuesday. Ain't gonna get
weirder than this. That's next Jason and Mike Fox.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.

Speaker 1 (40:40):
For Patrick Ewing, Phil Jackson, Charles Oakley, Trent Tucker, Bernard King,
Ray Williams, and Dick Barnett. The New York Knicks are
on top of the basketball world once again, maybe the
greatest team to ever play this sport. I'm jim nantz
enjoy this rollout. I think you need to redo it.

(41:02):
I don't think Oakley gets I think he's X size.

Speaker 3 (41:05):
We love everybody now, we love that the Knicks of
the champs.

Speaker 4 (41:08):
I mean, we were not a show of hate. We're
a show about positivity and inclusion. We love everybody, right,
Josh Hart is taking pictures with fans. Now, wait, they
let all those people from the five rowsip?

Speaker 1 (41:21):
I mean I really well, Yeah, I think you come
to the game, you get a picture. Is that part
of the ticket package?

Speaker 3 (41:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (41:27):
And wait, so I sit in the first five rows,
I'm guaranteed to get a picture taken with a player,
A pin, a start to choose the player. The Knicks
are your Emirates Cup champions. They beat the Spurs one
twenty four to one thirteen. Jalen Brunson is your MVP.
I am waiting for this trophy to be here in

(41:50):
this studio. I got to make it happen. The e
Cup in the studio. You may as well give the
Knicks to lari O'Brian Trophy as well. It's that big
a deal. It's Jalen Brunson's first Nicks championship joining us
now in the hotline to break it all down. Nobody better.
And I say this, He's looking at his clock right now, going,
I can't believe I agreed to this after the next one.
It is one insider extraordinay. Check out the On the

(42:13):
Ball podcast as well. It is Rick Buker. He is
on Twitter at Rick Buker.

Speaker 3 (42:18):
Rick. I mean, I know the words you can use
for the greatest achievement in basketball history, the Knicks, yep,
are your Emirates Cup champions.

Speaker 6 (42:27):
Here's the question. Here's the question I have is when
they bring the Emirates Cup by the studio and they
give you your I don't know what do you get
twenty four forty eight hours with it like they do
with the Stanley Cup. Huh, where are you taking it
and what are you consuming from it?

Speaker 1 (42:44):
Well, I'll take it to McDonald's. I'd have a normal
day with it, Rick. I take it to McDonald's. I'd
go get coffee. I'd take it to Burger King, I'd
go get coffee again. I would take it to my
daughter's school so she could see it and show it
off to all her class they bring into the studio.
I'm a simple guy, Rick, I'm enjoying my day. I
making a normal day like everything else.

Speaker 6 (43:06):
We're drinking coffee. We're drinking bad coffee out of the
Emirates cup.

Speaker 1 (43:09):
Yeah I love it. Yeah, yeah yeah.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
We're making a mocha frappuccino from Mcdonald're pouring that thing
and drinking it.

Speaker 6 (43:15):
Very nice, very nice. Okay. See.

Speaker 4 (43:17):
I immediately trying to figure out how many Knicks fans
are in the Greater La area. Rick and I try
to see how many won't pay for a picture with
the Emirates cup to make some money for myself for
this holiday season.

Speaker 6 (43:29):
Is there is there actually an Emirates cup or is
it like one of those Is it like one of
those red Dixie cups that they have, you know at
parties when you have a keg, when you have a kegger.

Speaker 1 (43:39):
It's it's an Emirates. It's a cup, and it's it's
it's four poles that hold up a cup. I'm worried
that if you hold it the wrong way, like the
cup falls out and they'd have to just put it
back in so I'm kind of worried about that, but
so far that has not happened. You're nice serving book.
Karl Anthony Towns has held it up pretty well so far.

Speaker 6 (43:56):
In any way, any shape or form, it's going to
hold a frappuccino for you.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
Yes, good, yes, it will. Now Now to get to
this right for both of these teams tonight, it's weird
to say this right. It is an e Cup, it's
a championship night, and you can tell both sides really
wanted it. Watching the game, you could tell the Spurs
wanted the Knicks wanted it. It had a late playoff
kind of feel. I mean, maybe not in the arena
because it's in Vegas, but watching them, not that you
needed it, but I feel like the Knicks sort of

(44:23):
they feel a lot better about themselves that the changes
they made and what they've done so far. Now they
feel like, hey, we're building on something. What we're doing
is working. Because the validation of the Emirates Cup says,
hey getting you know, moving on from Tibbs, because that
was still hanging on and Mike Brown's way or the
Guy's going to be able to find a way to
coalesce together and the Knicks are. You know, That's why

(44:45):
this is so valuable because now they can point to
this and say, yeah, what we're doing is work and
we can do it.

Speaker 6 (44:51):
Yeah. And I would say that a big part of
their success in this game was their depth. I mean,
the big turn was at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
It was led by Mitchell Robinson and Jordan Clarkson, just
like we all expected. But and I was thinking it
couldn't help. But I'm watching it and I'm thinking, you know,

(45:14):
probably one or both would not be playing if Tims
was still running the show. So I think that, Yeah,
I think it is. It's it's encouraging. I don't want
to put too much on it, but it's.

Speaker 5 (45:27):
Certainly it gives reason reason.

Speaker 6 (45:30):
For guys to believe that maybe the changes that Mike
Brown has has instituted and the sacrifices that he's asked
guys to make, that they are moving them certainly in
the right direction.

Speaker 5 (45:45):
So yeah, it's it's all positive.

Speaker 6 (45:48):
And on the flip side, I think it's a really
great experience for the San Antonio Spurs are really young
team to play in competition like this, which I don't know,
as you said, I don't know that it's full on
playoff atmosphere, being played in a neutral site and the
NBA Cup not having all the meaning that the playoff

(46:10):
games do, but but still playing in in a you know,
a make or break sort of format, winner go home.
I think that I think that's a it's going to
serve the San Antonio Spurs very well down the stretch.

Speaker 4 (46:24):
Yeah, we we talked a lot about at the start
of the show, Rick, just in terms of how do
you make this thing a bigger deal and get some
more juice for it. We talked about the blue lighting
like you're in a comedy club or a dark match
that they had during the COVID run of Hey, we
can't show that there's nobody at this thing, so just
trying to juice it beyond you know, Nicks fan smith

(46:45):
people are already putting over unders on how much money
he spends on E Cup.

Speaker 1 (46:48):
Merch right right right, You're gonna get to cut merch,
right you get you get E Cup merch sent to you,
So just send.

Speaker 3 (46:56):
It to me.

Speaker 6 (46:57):
You know, if we don't if we don't get if
we don't get T shirts, we don't get T shirts
out of this I'm going to be very disappointed, but
just trying.

Speaker 4 (47:05):
To goose this a little bit Rick as we look
at it, a good experience. Jason gets a title in
his lifetime, so he's excited about that. But on the
grand scale, trying to add some gravitas to this because
I mean, this game doesn't count in the standings. It's
gonna count and the wear and tear on their bodies,
and yes, they got nice bonuses for it, but down

(47:28):
the stretch, I mean, this is another game towards those
sixty five for awards, but also just in terms of
the wear and tear because this was a hotly contested
game down the stretch.

Speaker 5 (47:37):
Yeah, So are you talking about the wear and tear
from playing in the game.

Speaker 6 (47:41):
Are you talking about the wear and tear from being
in Vegas for a well?

Speaker 1 (47:43):
I think I think both are going to have an effect.

Speaker 4 (47:45):
I don't know how big your pie chart, you know
which side is bigger. I mean the media members covering
it are even worse because they've been there for five days.
Stan Van Gundy looked like he wanted to be released.

Speaker 5 (47:57):
Yeah yeah, yeah, Trucky.

Speaker 6 (48:00):
You see when you see guys at Summer League, like
after the first forty eight seventy two hours.

Speaker 5 (48:05):
Everybody's begging to get out of there.

Speaker 6 (48:06):
I've always said this about Vegas. The idea of Vegas
is so much better than the reality of Vegas. Every
time I go to Summer League, I'm like, man, I'm
going to go to Vegas.

Speaker 5 (48:16):
I'm going to let Vegas for the Summer League. And
as soon as I touch down, I'm like, gosh, darn it,
I'm in Vegas.

Speaker 6 (48:22):
For Summer League. Where can I go?

Speaker 5 (48:24):
It's almost immediate as soon as I hit hit the ground.

Speaker 6 (48:28):
It's crazy. But yeah, no, I don't even know where
we were at this point.

Speaker 5 (48:35):
We went so far afield.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
You're in Vegas now, sunnyhow when I went to Vegas
last time and what happened in But the thing is like,
for this, this event as a whole, as you can
see overall, it works, right, It's an exciting thing. It
needs some tweaks, and you know, I think maybe if
you took a break from the season and just played

(48:57):
e Cup games for a two to three week period,
that might help a little bit. If you, you know,
anted up a little bit more and just said, hey,
you know, twenty games in the regular season, we stop.
Now we have the E Cup, then you resume it,
like certain things you need to do. You need to
have the games at the higher seeded team's place, because
you're always going to get a great atmosphere. You know,
the fans are going to show up, they're going to

(49:17):
sell out the place. It's not going to be where
you have a dim arena in Vegas where after five
rows up, we have to turn the lights off because
we don't want you to see who's not there. So
it works, and it's a great idea, and now it's like, Okay,
how do we make it even better? I kind of
feel like that's where this whole Emirates Cup is at.

Speaker 6 (49:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (49:35):
I think there's a couple of things.

Speaker 6 (49:36):
One, I love the idea of ultimately going to where
you have basketball year round, and if you had a
break in the season and you had this tournament and
then you gave gave teams a little bit of rest
at the beginning and the end of it, and it
would really heighten what this meant within the season and

(49:58):
the playoffs as a whole. And what you would just
do is you would extend the season, so rather than
having the playoffs in June, you have or you have
the finals in July and the and the draft at
the end of July, and then uh, summer league in August,
and you know, September you start dialing up for training

(50:19):
camp again. And there really is there is no break
to the basketball. And I don't know that that would
necessarily be a bad thing because you're talking about different elements.
So obviously the veteran guys.

Speaker 5 (50:29):
The guys are going to be playing in the in.

Speaker 6 (50:31):
The Cup and in the regular season, in the playoffs,
aren't going to be playing in summer league, so uh,
and you're going to get some rest within the season.
Uh And and with.

Speaker 5 (50:42):
Some of the injuries that we're dealing with, I think.

Speaker 6 (50:44):
That that that could potentially be.

Speaker 5 (50:47):
A positive, especially because you know, there's always to talk.

Speaker 6 (50:50):
About you got to reduce the season to you got
to reduce games, And the reality is that's just not
going to happen because nobody wants to give back the money.
If you if you said, okay, we play sixty five games,
but everybody is you're the Salarridge gonna come down ten
percent or fifteen percent, and everybody like, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa whoa, No, I'll grind through an eighty two game

(51:12):
season to keep the money where it is. So I
like the.

Speaker 5 (51:16):
Idea, and I also just I think there has.

Speaker 6 (51:19):
To be a little bit, there has to be a
little bit more at stake in terms of and I
don't know what you make it, you know, something attached
to the playoffs, something attached to the postseason, something attached
to maybe seeding in the playoffs. I haven't. I haven't
thought it through. I have thought about, like, how do
you make the game? How do you just make it

(51:40):
overall more competitive? Because I've been I've been watching a
lot of EuroLeague lately and like every game is huge,
and the players play hard every game and it's meaningful.
And it's not just because they play fewer games, but
all of these guys are playing for contracts on a

(52:01):
year to year basis. You have very short term contracts,
And so I think a combination of peering it.

Speaker 5 (52:10):
The way that you have in soccer. I was I
was thinking, like, how do you make.

Speaker 6 (52:13):
It, how do you make it more competitive? And how
do you completely end the tanking? And I think if
you tiered it and you had like you've got to
finish in a certain seating, if you've got thirty teams,
you've got to finish in the top twenty, or you're
playing in a second division and you have no hope

(52:34):
of playing for a championship the next year. I think
that all of that would change the way that every
game is approached.

Speaker 5 (52:44):
Because we are at a place.

Speaker 6 (52:45):
Now where there's just so many options. There's so many
entertainment options that for the NBA to have games that
don't matter is just it's it's damaging to the brand overall.

Speaker 3 (53:02):
Well, Ricky, come to the right place, because the beginning
of the show, I had an idea, and I think
this is gonna work, and it's gonna.

Speaker 1 (53:08):
Say tell me what you think You ready? Okay the
two teams.

Speaker 6 (53:13):
Ready is a relative term for any time you're coming
with an idea.

Speaker 1 (53:16):
Yeah, be about weary, but you're gonna lie.

Speaker 5 (53:19):
I'm about as ready as I could possibly be.

Speaker 3 (53:22):
You ask, I give you answers.

Speaker 1 (53:25):
You make it to the championship game in the Emirates Cup,
the loser is guaranteed a playoff spot, the winner is
guaranteed a top six finish. You go buy your record,
and let's say your record is worse than six. You
finish sixth, if you finish fourth or third, you finish
your normal spot. But no matter what, if you win
the Cup, you are guaranteed to be no lower than six.

(53:48):
If you're the other championship team, you're guaranteed in the playoffs.
Now you could be in the playing round as welleven
depending on where your record is, but you're guaranteed to
be in the playoffs. That's you do for the teams
that make it to the.

Speaker 5 (53:58):
Championship, and it doesn't matter what your regular overall regular.

Speaker 6 (54:02):
Season record is, doesn't matter if you win the Cup.
You win the Cup, you're essentially guaranteed a playoffs, guarantee,
a Cuba tournament, the wind Rug.

Speaker 4 (54:11):
As you get in you can be sub five hundred anymore.
At the back end of the bracket, winners guaranteed no
lower than six. The losing team is guaranteed to at
least make it into the play and round. And if
you have a great record, obviously you're in the playoffs.
But just you never know what could happen in the
second half of the season with injuries and different things.
But hey, you got to have some kind of spoils
for winning the e Cup. It's a big deal. It's

(54:32):
kind of like winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy. It's Jalen
Brunson's first championship. So there you go.

Speaker 1 (54:37):
That's how you make it a little bit more stakes
for everybody involved.

Speaker 5 (54:41):
It'll never happen, but it is an interesting though.

Speaker 1 (54:44):
Well you mean Jalen Brunchon's next championship or the playoff.

Speaker 6 (54:48):
The playoff thing, it's I mean, it is an interesting thought,
and I think we're thinking along the same lines in
terms of you want something meaning, really meaningful, where you go, oh, man,
like we should play go try to win this, I mean,
and that that would do it. I just what I do.

Speaker 5 (55:10):
What I don't know is what kind of impact.

Speaker 6 (55:13):
That has on the meaning of the regular season games
for that team. Then, so in a big picture, you
have more teams vying for the NBA Cup with everything
that they that that that they have.

Speaker 5 (55:27):
On the other hand, the team that wins the.

Speaker 6 (55:29):
Cup like, we don't have to do anything for the
rest of the year if we don't want Yeah.

Speaker 4 (55:34):
So I got baseball after the eighty strike, right if
you won the first half?

Speaker 6 (55:39):
Yeah, And now I'm understanding why Jason came up with
this and why I got that.

Speaker 4 (55:46):
Yeah, well, he kept looking at the sideline to make
sure that they didn't give Jalen Brunson accidentally the Larry
O'Brien right now, because he'd be like, I.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
Don't have to give this back. We're the champs.

Speaker 3 (55:56):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (55:57):
Basically the the champs. I mean basically they're already the
champs matter.

Speaker 6 (56:00):
See. See this is why you can't give good things
to a New York Nick fan.

Speaker 1 (56:05):
You just can't. They did actually give him.

Speaker 6 (56:08):
You give him an inch and they take forty miles.

Speaker 3 (56:11):
Yeah, that's right. Come on, man, Spike Lee is on
the set right now. It's fantastic, Rick, this is it.
This may be the only championship I ever get to celebrate.
This is the only one.

Speaker 5 (56:24):
Yeah, which is fine, So relish to this, but.

Speaker 6 (56:27):
Don't like immediately go to and we're getting the Larry O'Brien.

Speaker 1 (56:31):
Oh. Two trophies for Jalen brunts in this NBA season,
actually three, the Emirates Cup, the MVP Trophy, and the
Larry O'Brien Trophy. Three trophies for Jalen Brunson. And he's
on Twitter at Reck Buker, that is at Rick Buker.
Rick is always buddy, appreciate it, my friend, We'll talk

(56:52):
to you. Have a great night.

Speaker 6 (56:53):
Trappaccinos. Yo.

Speaker 1 (56:55):
See Rick spike Lee is sitting in Dirk Novinski's chair
right now, how about that? And it looks really awkward
because you know, everybody is really tall and he isn't.
And Dirk is standing behind spike Lee and Dirk looks
like he's eleven feet tall like this, That.

Speaker 2 (57:12):
Is not John Cena.

Speaker 1 (57:15):
Taylor Rooks is sitting to his right. She looks like
she's eight feet tall. Relative It is a Knicks championship.
And about that again, the first of three trophies for
Jalen Brunson this season. Time now to find out what's
trending in the wide world of sports. Who had been
Knicks laying the points? It's Isaac Lohenkron.

Speaker 8 (57:33):
Indeed, that is our dominant story. Indeed, Jason and Mike
and the NBA Cup Championship game in Vegas, the New
York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs one twenty four
to one thirteen. And guys, here was the call. As
the final seconds ticked away, the Knicks.

Speaker 1 (57:50):
Dribble out the last ten.

Speaker 3 (57:53):
The New York Knicks are key Cup champions, Give them.

Speaker 1 (57:58):
Malari O'Brien trophy, give them everything they need.

Speaker 3 (58:01):
They are the champs, making one championship for Jalen Brunchon.

Speaker 8 (58:05):
It's right up there with Marv Albert calling Willis Reed
in Game seven, as far as i'm.

Speaker 3 (58:10):
He was standing up in the studio and the Knicks
with yet another championship here years after the last time
they lost to the Spurs because they couldn't win more
than one game with Patrick ewing out with a torn achilles.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
I'm going back to nineteen ninety nine.

Speaker 8 (58:27):
Hey, Latrell Spreewell was awesome in Game five of that series,
thirty five points, dueling with Tim Duncan. You had Charlie
Ward throwing that last second in bounds.

Speaker 1 (58:37):
Pass, He missed that layup at the very end, latroll
s free.

Speaker 8 (58:40):
Well, yeah, they get their revenge tonight over the Spurs.
Spurs actually led this game ninety four eighty nine after
three quarters, but the Knicks outscored him of the fourth
quarter thirty five to nineteen. Og Nanobi led the Necks
with twenty eight points. No word yet on whether New
York City plans to have a ticker tape parade to
celebrate the Knicks Cup triumph. However, it is expected that

(59:01):
New York City Rats will be parading across subway platforms
in celebration.

Speaker 1 (59:06):
Already out da data stop trains in every direction like
it's a taking a fellow one.

Speaker 8 (59:10):
Two three, the Rats big basketball fans. Apparently finally in
college football, Notre Dame junior running back Jeremiah Love announced
on Instagram this evening that he is declaring for the
NFL Draft, coming off a season that saw him be
a Heisman Trophy finalist after running for nearly fourteen hundred
yards with eighteen rushing touchdowns. Guys, back to you.

Speaker 1 (59:32):
Thanks a bunch ilo The Jason Smith Show with my
best friend Mike carbon Hey, don't forget check out our
brand new YouTube page. Go to YouTube dot com slash
at Jason Smithshow. That's YouTube dot com slash at Jason
Smith Show. Or if you're already within YouTube, just search
Jason Smith Show. Check us out, subscribe, tell us what
you think. Color away. Mike and I love putting this

(59:52):
content out for you every single night.

Speaker 4 (59:55):
That's of friends and family checking in across the country
on my well being on this Nick Championship night.

Speaker 1 (01:00:01):
This song goes out to the San Antonio Spurs. Nice try.

Speaker 3 (01:00:09):
More on the biggest story in sports next right here,
Jason Fox Sports Radio