March 20, 2025 • 63 mins
Nick Wright recaps the game between Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets and looks ahead to LA’s game against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. Then, Nick discusses the latest news out of the Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes with the Minnesota Vikings taking themselves out of the running. Later, Nick weighs in on the new NFL rule proposals and the Cincinnati Bengals' newfound confidence. Finally, as always, Nick and Damonza answer your questions.
0:00 - Intro/missed the cut
2:50 - BREAKING: Celtics sell for $6.1B
4:05 - Lakers crush hobbled Nuggets
18:13 - Reacting to Mavs wanting to shut down AD
20:36 - Lakers-Bucks preview
23:32 - Nick’s thoughts on Draymond Green
28:51 - Nick’s March Madness picks
30:14 - Jackie Robinson and DEI
44:56 - Cavaliers lose three-straight games
47:54 - Vikings OUT on Aaron Rodgers
50:12 - NFL rule change proposals
53:25 - Can anyone fill Caitlin Clark’s shoes?
54:41 - Nick and Damonza answer listener questions
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome in What's Right with Nick Wright, Episode three twelve
on nc DOUBLEA Tournament, Day one. And so here's the thing.
If you're watching live right now, the games haven't tipped off.
Oh the dog just jumped on the couch. Look at
Dexter in the back. They're just hanging out. So here's
here's the deal. We are. We're gonna bang, bang bang
(00:22):
through this show because I think, to be totally honest,
people are focused on the college basketball today and by happenstance,
by dumb luck, the TV shows only a half hour today,
which is good because first two days of the NCAA Tournament,
nobody's watching Sports TV. They're watching the actual games, so
(00:43):
that thirty minutes will be you know, for friends and
family only essentially. However, today's show, we have good stuff
for you. And something happened yesterday demonse that enraged me,
and probably not in the direction people would think that
I'm going to talk about it. So after we do Lakers,
Nuggets and some NBA from last night, we're going to
(01:05):
do that story. But first and foremost, here's what missed
the cut. Season two of Quarterback Joe Burrow Jared goff
Kirk Cousins It's gonna be a weird one. Burrow Amazing year,
team stunk, Goff Amazing year, dog walked in round one,
and Cousins playing the role of Marcus Mariota from season
(01:26):
one of Quarterback as himself in season two of Quarterback,
the veteran quarterback who gets benched. So we're I'm interested
how it's gonna go. Jalen Milroe runs a four to
three seven. It is pro day if he gets drafted
higher than projected. He is the first Jalen Hurts quarterback,
(01:47):
meaning a guy who's like man and now Jalen was
a better passer in college. Jalen Hurts Dan Jalen Milroe,
but leader has some winning characteristics, tough, but questions as
a passer. That was Jalen Hurts. He slid to the
second round. Milrose projected to go second and third. Wonder
if he goes higher. Kyle Hamlinson had a take on
(02:08):
White Lotus. I am not equipped to discuss the last
White Lotus episode, he said, does anything ever happen in
White Lotus when people just watch and say watch it
to say next episode gonna be crazy? If you did
not think the last episode of White Lotus involved two
of the most bananas scenes in the last decade of
American television. I don't know what to tell you. I'm
(02:31):
not saying it's great TV. I like it, but people
can dislike it if they want. But there were two
scenes in White Lotus this past week. I've never seen
anything like it on television or in life. Also, the
Celtics just sold for six point one billion dollars to
Bill Chisholm. There that is the after shocks of the
(02:52):
Celtics going for six billion. Like you know that stupid
meme about the little tiny domino and then it goes
to the giant. It was like this led to this.
There is a version of that meme where the first
domino is the Celtics sale and the last domino is
a competing professional basketball league backed by foreign, mostly saudy
(03:21):
money that Lebron James is a piece of. I'm not
saying that's going to happen. What I am saying is
if the Celtics are worth six billion, if the franchise
fee for the expansion team Lebron wants is going to
be six billion, If that all happens and it just
(03:43):
gets too expensive, is there a world where what Lebron's partner,
Maverick at you know, has been kind of publicly flirting
with a competing league where Lebron's a part of that. Maybe.
But speaking of Lebron, he didn't play yesterday, did Jokic.
Seems like a totally fair fight under those circumstances. I
(04:04):
wonder who won Lakers, Nuggets, Demons take it away?
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yeah, so funny.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Luca actually came out and said that any team that
has Jokis is always going to be dangerous. But like
you just said, Jokich and Murray didn't play, so Luca
let them up. La Cruz to that w He's he's
looking really good. He's also had his six thirtieth point
game in a month of March. What do you think
about the Nuggets resting their guys again?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Though, so listen, Joker plays as much as anybody. Michael
Malone was correct that Jokers played I think the second
most games of any player in the last decade, So
I'm not going to kill him for it. I'm not
certain exactly why Jamal Mury, you know, Jamal Murray couldn't play.
Maybe because Jamal Murray without Nikala Jokic. You know, doesn't
(04:50):
quite look like the Jamal Murray that a lot of
folks like to believe he can be. I I will
say this, the Nuggets are no longer a bad matchup
for the Lakers. The Lakers are a bad matchup for
the Nuggets. And that's with or without Joker. And there's
multiple reasons for this. Uh. I understand Daniel, our producer,
(05:16):
saying Jamal was hurt last game two. I get it, man.
I'm the I'm not I'm I'm not accusing anyone of
anything I do. I does anybody think that if this
were a playoff game, Joe Kitchen Murray wouldn't play, wouldn't
have played, of course not. They're not that injured. But
that's totally fine. You want them to be rested and healthy.
(05:38):
You'd prefer it not happen on a national TV game.
You'd prefer it not have to happen in back to
back games. Uh. But it is what it is, so
to speak like, you deal with it, and you you know,
you move forward. I think a lot of people assumed
that the Nuggets, because they rested those guys or they
didn't play against the Warriors, that they would play in
(06:00):
the next game. But whatever, I'm not gonna kill him
for that. What I am gonna talk about is if
this is a playoff matchup, it favors the Lakers heavily,
because here is the thing. The Lakers scored one twenty
last night, could have scored one forty. And I said
it on the TV show. I will say it again
(06:22):
with this question. In the playoffs, if you get Lakers Nuggets,
if Aaron Gordon is primarily matched up on Lebron, who
is guarding Luca? They tried some Peyton Watson last night?
How that work? Luca had twenty before you turn the
(06:43):
game on and okay, no, no, no, Aaron Gordon's gonna guard Luca?
Then who is guarding Lebron? It ain't Michael Porter Junior
in a bad back. It ain't Russell Westbrook. It certainly
ain't Christian Brown. Who are we talking about? Con car
He ain't doing it. Gonna dust off Dario Sarich, he
(07:05):
ain't doing it. It's certainly not the two guys who
were missing last night and Joe Kitchen Murray. The Nuggets
are bad defensive team at this point, and having Yo
Kitchen Murray out doesn't hurt their defense and the Lakers
scored at will without Lebron. Now, the Lakers, I think
(07:27):
are going to actually end up being the best offense
in the league. And you're starting to see it where
they are generating so many great looks from three, so
many wide open threes, and that's without Lebron on the court.
And here's the other thing about the Lakers Nuggets matchup.
(07:50):
The best thing the Nuggets had going for them in
these playoff matchups is Joker, no question. The second best
thing they had going for him was D'Angelo Russell minutes.
And the third best thing they had going for him
was Darvin Ham's coaching, which is why there was nobody
that was a bigger Darvin Ham defender than Michael Malone.
(08:12):
Michael Malone out there defending Darvin Ham, like Darvin Ham
owes him money and he needs him to stay employed
to get it. He's like, this is unfair that guy
took him to the conference final. This is an outrage
and Michael Malone, now of a sudden, Lakers got real coach.
And by the way, are we done with that demands?
(08:32):
I haven't checked the scoreboard. Is JJ Reddick now just
Lakers head coach? Or is he still you know Lebron's
podcast buddy, or now that everybody knows he's a great coach,
or we just saying no, he's a Lakers head coach,
because I know if he wasn't a great coach, it
would be Lebron's podcast Buddy. It'd be like I'm I
just again, I'm not seeing the exact rule right, and
(08:53):
I'm not sure about the rules of any of this stuff.
What I do know is this Nuggets are in real,
real trouble and the Lakers are real, real dangerous.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
You don't think the Lagants are just like resting their
guys strategically, like the same thing Golden State did with
Steph Curry.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I like, bigger.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
I think that's a game they wanted to win. That
you're fighting for seeding. I I don't right now, the
Western armentge standings go like this, Oklahoma City has locked
the one seed. It's so bananas they they have locked
(09:31):
locked up the well, I guess technically they're their magic
number for locking up the one seed is one game
with fifteen or how however, man eat thirteen games remaining. Uh,
they have fifty seven wins. No one else in the
conference can get to fifty eight, So Oklahoma City's locked.
(09:53):
And then it gets interesting. The Rockets have twenty five losses,
the Lakers have twenty five losses, the Nuggets have twenty six,
the Grizzlies have twenty seven, the Warriors have twenty nine,
Clippers thirty, Timberwolves thirty one. So four five six, I'm sorry,
two three four five two games apart, two three four
(10:19):
one loss apart, and I don't think the Nuggets would
give these games away. Say it again, it would be.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
In their best interest being one game. I mean they
were tied before last night and then now Lakers.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
And the other piece of it is because of last
With a win yesterday, they would have locked up the
season series three to one, which would have given them
the head to have ty breaker if they finished with
the same record. Now it's two to two, so I'm
not even sure what ty breaker it goes to. Now
the Nuggets do they get Portland next? Then Houston Chicago?
(11:02):
Like I'm just looking at their easy, tough games. I
think they When we went to Tankathon before and we
checked it, I thought the Nuggets were league average essentially
remaining strength, strength of schedule. They have a little tougher
than league average. They have the eleventh hardest strength of schedule,
left the Lakers by the way of the third hardest
(11:24):
strength of schedule, left Houston tenth hardest. I'm just doing
the teams fighting for this seed, Memphis seventh hardest, Golden
State with the easiest of the group with the eighteenth hardest.
So but here's the other piece of it. For the Lakers,
as I said the other day, you can now kind
of definitively say, even though they lost those first three
(11:48):
without Lebron, they have survived his injury. They I said,
if you missed ten games, going six and four would
be a great result. And six and four is now
very on the board. And I don't know that he's
gonna miss four more. But the Lakers are three and three.
(12:09):
Lost to Brooklyn, bad loss, lost to Milwaukee, lost to
Denver in what would have been an unbelievable win when
Denver had all its guys and Lakers without six of
their top eight. And then blew out Phoenix, blew out
San Antonio, blew out Denver. And now the next four
home for Milwaukee, Tonight home for Chicago at Orlando at Indiana.
(12:35):
Can you go three and one in those four you
should be able to even if Lebron's not back. And
that's the other piece of last night the blowout being awesome.
Luca only played thirty two minutes. Reeves probably played a
little more than he needed to, but so be it.
And so the Lakers are really well positioned. Houston keeps winning. Houston,
(12:57):
to their credit, has really taken advantage of the absolute
softest stretch of their schedule imaginable, and they have won
more soft game Friday against Miami. But their schedule during
this winning streak has been the following teams for Houston,
New Orleans, New Orleans, Orlando, Phoenix, Dallas, Chicago, Philly, Orlando.
(13:23):
So those are the worst, like some of the worst
teams in the league, plus Orlando, which has been really
bad for months, and Phoenix, which hates itself, and now
you have Miami, and then it gets way tougher for Houston.
So I because after Miami, Houston goes Denver, Atlanta, Utah, Phoenix,
Lakers Utah Oka see Golden State Clippers Lakers Denver. What
(13:46):
a final stretch for Houston final five games Oka see
Golden State Clippers Lakers Denver. I wonder what OKAC is
gonna do down the stretch because they will have locked
up the one seed and with the Calvs losing all
of a sudd and as of late, they will you know,
they're gonna be in a good position for the number
one overall seed. But I expect Houston to drop back
(14:08):
and eying. The Lakers got a real shot at the two,
a real shot at the two, and so I you know,
I think and Daniel tells me LA is the tiebreaker
because they win win their division? Oh, the stupid divisions
or the next tiebreaker. Oh well, then last night's game
(14:29):
was even bigger for Denver because now if they finished
with the same record, Lakers have the tiebreaker. That's noteworthy.
That's really really noteworthy. All right, Ask what are the
follow ups here?
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Pal, Well, who do you think needs to adjust more
when Lebron does come back, because you know, Lucas obviously
getting into a groove. So Lebron Luca, Oh, Lebron's Lebron.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Lebron can do more different things. Lebron can play so
many different ways, So it wouldn't make sense to ask
Luca to adjust because Lucas not going to be great
at other things. Lebron can be great at playing almost
any style of offensive basketball, so Lebron should and will
look like and so that to me is not even
(15:14):
a concern. And one of the benefits demanse to having
every single statistical record in NBA history already accomplished. You
don't have to worry about your stats as much like
when you already have all the records, you already have
all the all nbas, all the points, all the all
(15:37):
of that you can, you don't really have to necessarily
put that first and foremost in your mind. Now, I
will tell you this a sneaky stat that Lebron cares about.
That is such a silly one.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
The double digit what oh well.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
No, no, no, that one's not sneaky.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
That one's definitive.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
The thirteen hundred straight game of at least ten points.
But he doesn't have to try to get that one.
It's that he has averaged at least twenty five points
per game to the tenth of a point in every
single year of his career except for his rookie season,
twenty one straight years. And the reason I know he
(16:21):
cares about it is a few years ago, post ankle injury,
going into the final game of the year, he needed
a bucket. I think he knew the exact amount of
points he needed, and he needed a bucket late and
went and got it. So he finished that year averaging
twenty five point zero zero zero. Right now this moment,
(16:43):
Lebron has played fifty eight games and has scored one
thy four hundred and fifty points. So let's just do
the math on that. Fourteen point fifty divided by fifty eight,
that is twenty five point zero zero zero zero zero.
(17:05):
So here's the point I'm making. I do think Lebron
will want to make sure when he comes back he's
still getting twenty five at night. I haven't talked to him,
but I I think that is a sneaky one that
he would be annoyed if he missed it by a
couple one hundredths of a point.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
So yeah, but even with him having to make the
adjustments with Luca, like him getting twenty five points isn't
like a stretch, Like I don't think that's like it's
gonna be hard with his new role.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
I actually think his scoring might go up with the
new role because I think I think his assists will
plummet and scoring go up a bit and rebounding go
up a lot. That's what I would anticipate is gonna
happen here, all right.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Go to the other side of it. Yeah, So.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Anthony Davis the Swears, Oh my gosh. Tim McMahon reported
that he wants Anthony Davis to play, but the team
doesn't want him to play right now. He said he
is steadfast in his determination to want to return this season,
maybe as soon as next week, despite the fact there
are people within the Mavericks organization that try to take
him out of it. Do you think Anthony Davis should
(18:23):
try to force the issue and play here?
Speaker 1 (18:26):
If he's healthy, you should play. They're tied to the
City of Dallas. Yeah, get listen, they're tied for the
tenth seed like they and the team they're tied with, Phoenix,
is an open revolt. I know they've won a couple
in a row. But you can make the play in
and if you have a health even as injured as
(18:47):
they are. If you have a healthy Anthony Davis, you're
live in the first playing game against the Kings, and
then you see what you are in the next playing game.
If you get there against either Golden State, the Clippers
or the Timberwolves, like you. You can't just napalm the
entire season like this. And I give Anthony Davis credit
(19:11):
for wanting to play. I give him the mint credit
to be totally honest for wanting to play. I think
it's the right thing to do, and I think it's
I now, listen if he is not you know, if
they're like, ah, he really shouldn't play. He's not healthy,
(19:31):
but he could force that's different. But if he is
cleared by the doctors, you should let Anthony Davis play.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
That trade what you say, I was saying, like, after
making that trade, I don't think you can mail it
in in any type of form or fashion whatever you
can possibly do, I think you should be going after
Like obviously the fans are in a bad state.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
But yeah, and like playoff games are fun and as
upset as the Dallas fans are, and they you know,
does rightfully so are they would get hyped up for
a play in game or you know the potentially like
that would be fun. And so you gotta if he's healthy,
you gotta let him play. The guy's played thirty minutes
for twenty five minutes for you since the trade yeah,
(20:17):
and so you gotta at least let the fans have something,
some type of hope for next year, like Anthony Davis
comes back and looks good something. All right, let's go
to the other Lakers stuff.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
So since it was a blowout, Luca got a lot
of rest at the end of that Lakers game. So
now they got The Bucks just lost to a currulous Warriors.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Who would you have in that game tonight? So your
thing Doc had that meeting with Giannison Dane. I am
legitimately not just worried about the Bucks. I'm ready to
say the Bucks are done as a contender. I didn't
I had been holding on hope for them because of
(21:01):
how good Giannis is. But these are some bad losses, man.
The you know, the losing to Orlando would started this
five and seven, not being competitive against OKC, losing to
Golden State without Curry. The only time they've looked really good,
you know, in the last couple of weeks was against
(21:24):
the Lakers, when Lucas still scored. What did Lucas score
in that game? Forty five? So that's so, yeah, Lucas
scored forty five and the Bucks still blew the Lakers out,
and so I the Bucks should win tonight. The Lakers
are on a back to back. The Lakers kind of
(21:44):
knew what they needed was a split with Milwaukee and Denver.
They got the benefit of Denver resting their guys. But
at this point, you can't be shocked any game the
Bucks lose because they just seem disjointed and they seem
like a team that cannot survive anything but an excellent
(22:08):
game from Yannis. So and I think this kind of
speaks to the situation the Bucks find themselves in. The
Lakers are on a back to back, Lebron is not playing,
the Bucks are desperate, and it's a three and a
half point line, So the Bucks should win. But the Bucks, Uh,
(22:32):
the Bucks right now are just an okay team with
an all time great player and.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Get back just driving to the cup. I'm shooting well.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
I mean, Yiannis has been unbelievable this year. I mean,
Giannis is like thirty a game on sixty percent, like
Janice's numbers this season, thirty twelve and on sixty percent
from the field. I mean, he really has been great.
The rest of the team just hasn't been there. It
(23:08):
would be a great win for the Lakers tonight, but
you've gotta you've gotta think that the Bucks get this one,
and then we get another update after tonight about Lebron's
health and the next time we're gonna see him. What's
your follow up here?
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Uh yeah?
Speaker 3 (23:26):
What do you think about Draymond saying that he's a
million percent as a case to win Defensive Player of
the Year after his performance against Milwaukee?
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Listen, he was unbelievable against Giannis, and Draymond probably does
have a case for Defensive Player of the Year. Listen,
I have to segment, Mike dra I almost have to
segment my Draymond opinions into three buckets in my brain.
Bucket won is this. I think Draymond Green is one
of the greatest defensive players ever. I do think that
(23:59):
on the pre and post KD Warriors, Draymond, not Klay Thompson,
was the second most important player, and I don't really
think it's that arguable. I think he unlocked so many
things they could do. And and I also am on
the record from years ago that those defensive Player of
(24:20):
the Year awards Kawhi Leonard won. I think Draymond Green
should have won and so I think Draymond should have
three already, and I do think he is a legendary
all time defensive player. That's bucket one in my brain.
Bucket two of my brain is this, every single person
(24:41):
that I am tight with that has a personal, non
basketball relationship with Draymond Green talks about him like he
is one of the best dudes in the world, and
I have to give him credit for that. The third
(25:02):
bucket of my brain is that, man, oh man, he
just strikes me as a really bad guy. And the
Carl Anthony town stuff from this weekend I thought was outrageous.
I thought him, mister new media, And we don't as
(25:23):
the dog is back there and we don't need to
make this a social breakout clip or anything. But I
just want to get on the record on this, mister
new media, being like talking about one of the problems
with old media was not getting the real story going
with anonymous sources getting stuff wrong and then putting out
(25:46):
there are Carl Anthony Towns. You know, people are saying,
I'm hearing he was scared of playing Jimmy when Carl
missed the game because he was at a funeral. He's
then confronted with that for some reason, thinks he's above apologizing.
Baron Davis, who was on the other side of that conversation,
(26:07):
immediately apologized and then uses it a way to promote
the Draymond Green Show. And then when he does play
really well against Karl Anthony Towns and the Knicks over
the weekend, takes a victory lap about the whole interaction
when he was dead ass wrong. That's shitty, that's a
(26:30):
bad so like so like Draymond Green, one of the
greatest defensive players I've ever seen, and I actually think
should have more Defensive Players of the Year awards Draymond Green.
When it comes to Draymond Green, that's not an NBA
guy or a podcast host. Everyone I know that knows
(26:51):
him loves him and swears by him. Draymond Green the
basketball player slash basketball media guy. Just when I say
basketball player, I don't mean quality of player, but how
he acts on the court at times, and the way
he you know, talks about guys, all those things, does
(27:12):
all of the things I typically dislike in an athlete.
So it's a complicated thing.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
And that that think that just happens not complicated at all,
Like that that thing with Karl Anthony Towns, the show
must go on.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
This is the weirdest thing ever. In my opinion, I
didn't like.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
It at all. I one thousand percent agree with you.
I totally agree. That is not a complicated thing. Draymond
was dead ass wrong, didn't want to admit to it,
and has a weird thing that not just he but
a lot of men have, which is saying my bad,
I was wrong is like a sign of weakness when
it's not. And so I totally agree to Monsey, that's
(27:52):
not a complicated thing. The point I'm making is squaring
how he appears to be when he's not almost playing
the character of Draymond Green with that. That's what's complicated.
It's easier when you know what I mean, Guys have
(28:14):
a consistent personality like oh, that dude's just a bad
guy at all times, or or that guy's just and
so that's not the case here, and so that is
that kind of just is what it is, so to speak.
I there's also something that's not complicated, but it's going
to sound complicated, and it's what happened with Jackie Robinson yesterday,
(28:40):
and we will do that in a moment. But first.
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(30:54):
So here is the deal for what we're gonna do
over the next few minutes. And this is kind of
a production note as well to our people. Once I
get into this, I want I want this to be
a standalone YouTube video and I want it to be
(31:16):
in full posted to our socials, and I am asking
the audience who's watching now, please do not get in
arguments in the comments about it. It's not worth your time.
I know that might be a fool's errand to ask,
(31:37):
but let people yell into the void because I need
to get something on the record here because and the
segment kind of starts now, folks are far too often
(32:00):
fighting on enemy ground and seeding the wrong territory. So
this is gonna be a winding road, but follow me down. So,
once upon a time, I really thought that when I
was done with sports, I would go into politics. My
(32:21):
wife has since kind of convinced me she's not really
into that, doesn't think it would be fun to be
in that world. And as it turns out, you know,
my dear friend from high school, Quinton Lucas, beat me
to it as being the mayor of Kansas City. So
(32:42):
that's not even cool anymore. And if I wanted to
go for the very top of the top, it looks like, Hey,
would there ever be a sports guy who thought about
running for president? Well, it turns out I wouldn't be
the first to consider that either, So you know what
I'm not. I don't think I'm gonna run for office,
but what I might do one day is open a
(33:05):
consulting business that teaches folks how to frame and have arguments,
because far, far too often what happens is folks who
(33:28):
have my political leanings seed the ground on definitions and
meanings of things to intellectually dishonest charlatans, and then we
have arguments based on their terms. And that has happened,
(33:55):
and we just saw it happen in real time with DI.
So here is where we're at. Jackie Robinson, before he
broke the color barrier, was in the US military. There's
(34:15):
a story about him on the US government website. It
got deleted, it then was reposted, and DI was in
the url. Jeff Passing made a huge fuss about it.
Shout out to Jeff. They have since fixed it and
restored it. And this is what folks who are on
(34:38):
the first, the right side, the correct side of Jackie
Robinson have been saying. Calling Jackie Robinson a DEI hire
is insulted. And everyone who agrees with me politically was
saying that. And that's why we lose arguments because we
(35:06):
have just seated the ground that, oh, yeah, DEI is
bad diversity, equity and inclusion. What that means is people
who didn't deserve a job got one. And don't you
dare call Jackie Robinson DEI because he wasn't he deserved it.
(35:28):
But what people don't see is that's how the bad
actors win is by reframing definitions, because a DEI hire
is not someone who did not deserve the job, who
got it. That's just what they have claimed it is.
(35:49):
And now folks are like, you can't call Jackie Robinson
DEI hired some insulting guys in Major League Baseball. Jackie
Robinson was the definition of a DEA hire, and that's
why we need it. He was he awesome, Yes? Was
he deserving? Yes? Was he blocked because of his race? Yes?
(36:17):
And so it is not an insult. Now, this whole
thing it was department offenses, wasn't a DEI military, But
set it aside. It it is incumbent that we not
see ground and that we instead say, let's have the
(36:37):
actual argument. And the actual argument is the reason DEI
policies came to exist was not to elevate undeserving people.
It was to make sure deserving people of all colors, creeds, genders,
(37:02):
ethnicities had a shot. And the conversation that we should
be forcing is the following if we are going to
act like DEI is this awful buzzword that pre DEI
(37:27):
things were a meritocracy, true and clear, and that's how
it should be. Pick the industry, pick the data set,
and go out there and argue folks on the other
side that it was that when and I'll give you
the actual data that when fifty years ago five hundred
(37:53):
of five hundred fortune five hundred CEOs were white guys,
that was a meritocracy. And fifteen years ago, when four
hundred and fifty of four hundred of fortune five hundred
CEOs were white guys, that was a meritocracy. And four
(38:14):
years ago when there were four black fortune five hundred CEOs,
that was actually when we were doing it all by merit.
And now that, thanks to the scourge of DEI, that
four has doubled in four years up to eight. That
(38:34):
you know what, all the white guys who got the
jobs deserved them. That was merit, and the black people
or women or whomever got them, they they were the undeserving.
If that's the argument, make them make it. When you
look at the United the our politicians, fun fact, how
(39:02):
many governors in US history have been black. The answer
to that question is five, kind of six, but one
during reconstruction. Would have been one more during reconstruction, but
that fella got, you know, died suddenly in his office
(39:24):
due to a suspicious poisoning. Can't quite figure out what
happened there. So four black governors since reconstruction? Was that
all merit was that? Listen it just as it happened?
Was never a good black gubernatorial candidate? What about this one?
Pre Barack Obama in Illinois in two thousand and five,
(39:49):
there had been around two thousand United States Senators in
our history pre two thousand and five. How many were black?
Quick question? The answer to that is four, two during
reconstruction one hundred and sixty years ago or one hundred
(40:11):
and fifty years ago and two post reconstructions since Obama.
You add it all up, all of history, from the
start of the US Senate to right now this moment,
there have been fourteen black US Senators, eleven elected, three appointed.
So again, again, if your argument is when the numbers
(40:36):
were literally ninety eight to two white, guide to everyone else.
That's when we had a merit based system. And now
that the numbers are slightly going towards the actual demographics
of the country. That's all bullshit, you know, elevating undeserving people.
(40:58):
Then make that argument, and folks who are saying aim
into what I'm saying. Make them make that argument. What
you can't do is let them is act offended when
when people are like, oh, you're calling Jackie Robinson a
DEI higher, Your goddamn right. He was a great example
(41:26):
of it of why it's an important They are important
policies because you had a guy as great at what
he did playing baseball as Jackie Robinson who was blocked
entirely because of his race, and then the DEI policies
(41:48):
of the day gave him a shot and it's like,
holy shit, this guy's awesome. That's the idea behind it.
And you're not going to win arguments if you only
have them on other people's terms. Stand firm and say,
(42:11):
here are the numbers. Here is how disproportionate in every industry,
in every position of power, in every political sphere, white
males are. Is that because, in your opinion, because they
are simply smarter, more equipped, savvier, all of it. If
(42:32):
that's what you believe, make them, If that's what they believe,
make them argue that if they won't say that's what
they believe, then ask them, so, how do we fix that?
What are the policies one would have to implement to
make sure we're actually getting the best in the brightest. Instead,
(42:54):
we've let them turn DEI into a slur, a buzzword,
a meaning it's synonymous for unqualified dufist that gets a
job and tar any black person or minority who has
a big time job as that. And so obviously the
(43:22):
asshole the Department of the Defense that took down Jackie
Robinson's page is everyone can agree that guy's the worst.
That's an easy conversation. A far more serious conversation is, yeah,
(43:42):
Jackie Robinson in Major League Baseball was a DEI hire,
and that's why such policies need to exist, and that's
why we'll defend them. Or it's just the craziest coincidence
in the world. The all of the deserving people for
(44:06):
all of the big time jobs, the ones who actually
got it on merit, all of them just look like me.
I wonder how that one worked out. Hey, guys, got
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for more updates and recipes. All right, Demanse, let's turn
to the Calves a bit and then do some Viking
stuff and we'll get out of here.
Speaker 3 (45:45):
Uh yeah, So after winning sixteen straight games, the Calves
have now lost two back to backs or back to
back games. One of those games came to the Clippers,
team that doesn't even.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
Have a coach.
Speaker 3 (45:56):
How many more losses do the Calves need to take
before it's time to hit that alarm?
Speaker 1 (46:01):
Well's And now it's it's three straight now, and that's
their first three game losing streak of the season. And
so here's the thing, Now, Donovan missed some time, but
you were seeing the Calves be a little creaky really
since the beginning of the month. So they had that
great win in Boston, but they were down twenty five
(46:24):
to three to start it. They then needed overtime to
beat Portland. They then had a squeaker and I think
it was a big comeback, not necessarily a big comeback
they but a squeaker against Miami. They then had a
one point win where they did have to rally to
come back to beat Charlotte. They then had again another
(46:48):
one where they needed a furious comeback to beat the Nets,
and now they've lost three straight to Orlando, the Clippers,
and Sacramento. Now some of that I'm sure is we've
locked up the one seed. Essentially we're fine, and they're
you know, they're only six up on Boston, but Boston
ain't catching them. They have thirteen games left and they
(47:13):
have a six game lead. So like, even if Boston
went undefeated the rest of the way, Demonse, the Calves
would only have to win seven games, and like, so
the Calves are going to be the one seed. Now
they might have squandered the number one overall seed, which
would matter if it's Calves Thunder in the finals. Here's
where I stand on the Calves. I think they have
(47:39):
the fourth best team, and maybe that seems unfair, But
the Thunder, the Celtics, and the Lakers, I would pick
all of them in a series against the Calves, and
I'd feel pretty good about it. And so that you
know what I mean. That just it is what it is.
So I don't think the Calves, the Calves. You know,
(48:05):
a week ago we're flirting with seventy wins. That felt
a little rich, And now they're still gonna win. That
was so if they're fifty six and thirteen, let's say
they lose four more, that still still means they're gonna win.
Did I do the math wrong on how many games
(48:25):
they have they lose? That still would mean they win
sixty five games, which is an unbelievable season. But I
do think they're the fourth best team. All right, let's
talk to some NFL.
Speaker 3 (48:36):
So, Minnesota is out on Aaron Rodgers. He got that
news and did not immediately retire. I know there were
talks of him potentially doing that. So the Giants and
the Steelers they're still looking out for him.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
Yeah, what's here?
Speaker 1 (48:52):
So where I stand on it, good job by the Vikings.
I listen. The Vikings, I think are gonna end up.
If they need an insurance policy, the insurance policy will
be Kirk Cousins, and I don't think it'll be Rogers.
I think that the Steelers need to give Aeron a deadline,
(49:14):
and I don't know that they have the temerity to
do it. But the analysis people had on the Steelers
why it might work as well. He's not going to
come in there and run the show like he did
with the Jets. Well, he certainly will if he sees
(49:35):
his power before he even gets there, by making them
wait the entirety of the offseason. And so I think
that the Giants should just go ahead and sign Russell Wilson.
I think the Steelers shouldn't give Aaron a deadline because
Aaron's going to end up with the Steelers. It seems
(49:55):
very clear Aaron is going to end up with the Steelers,
and they should re seize the power back or else
he's gonna come in there and just do whatever the
hell he wants.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
What's he thinking about, man.
Speaker 1 (50:10):
He's thinking about what's best for Aaron. Rodgers that if
I don't sign with Pittsburgh until after the draft, maybe
they are less likely to take a flyer on a
quarterback with their first round pick, and therefore I don't
have to worry about being supplanted at some point. That's
what I think. The only way he can impact their
(50:33):
draft is by making them.
Speaker 3 (50:35):
Wait, screwing the team, oh, screwing the team over either way.
Speaker 1 (50:39):
I just I don't know why teams want to be
in the Aaron Rodgers business at this point in time.
But that is a you know, that is a lot
people have heard me talk about that.
Speaker 2 (50:51):
Enough.
Speaker 1 (50:52):
Let's talk about the NFL rule changes.
Speaker 3 (50:54):
Yeah, so some new NFL rule proposals. What's will be
voted on at the league meeting. So first off, we
got Detroit. They proposed changes the playoff seating and holding penalties.
Philly wants to bring the playoff overtime rules to the
regular season, and green Bay officially proposed banning the Toush push.
You always said you've hated that play. Do you see
(51:16):
any of these passing or going through.
Speaker 1 (51:20):
No, not right now. So here's the deal. At some
point the NFL is going to get rid of the
Toush Push. They can't do it when the Eagles are
the defending champs. You can't give the Eagles lifelong bragging
rights of we'd have never lost. They like you can
get rid of the Toush push after the Eagles don't
(51:41):
win the Super Bowl, So they could have done it
a year ago, where they could do it a year
from now. But I don't want to hear these Philly
fans for the rest of my life saying the way
because you still hear Patriot fans. Man Jeanie brought it
up on the show Patriot Fans, Who's say, oh, the
(52:01):
Colts couldn't beat us, so they changed the illegal contact
rules because of that, And that's kind of true, but
it'll like, don't change the rules that the defending champs
of the defending champs, this is their play. And I
(52:23):
know eventually they're gonna get rid of it. And I've
said it once, I'll say it one hundred times. They're
gonna get rid of it for two reasons. And it's
not player safety and it's not pace of play. The
first reason is it's an ugly, boring play and it's
bad for TV. And the second reason is this, what
if the Eagles got so good at it? Instead of
(52:45):
getting two yards when they did it, they got four
and first game of the twenty twenty five season, this
is an allowable play. First play, first and ten from
their own thirty after a touchback and they line up
in the toush push and then announce it like the
hell are they doing? And maybe, but I'm saying, like,
(53:08):
if they got so good at it that you could
just do a drive of tush pushes. They would have
to change the rules mid season. They'd have to be like, no, no, no,
this is out, so you can't put yourself in that
jeopardy as a league. Now. I like the illegal contact
and defensive holding not being automatic first downs. I wish
(53:31):
that rule would change. There is nothing more frustrating as
a fan. Then it's third and thirteen and there's an
illegal contact and the other team gets a first down, because.
Speaker 3 (53:41):
Then, especially when it doesn't even affect the actually play correct.
Speaker 1 (53:45):
So I would like that. I don't think they'll change it.
I do not. I do not like the idea that
you can get a home playoff game without winning your division.
I used to like that idea. I've changed my mind.
I like there to be a premium on winning your division.
And no, I don't see any of these passing. All right,
last one before we go?
Speaker 3 (54:07):
Uh yeah, So the headliner of March Madness last year
was Caitlin Clark. Do you think that anybody will be
able to outshadow that or even come close to it
this year?
Speaker 1 (54:16):
And I'm bummed at the women's tournament put Paige and
Juju in the same region. Now, the upside to that
is it basically guarantees we get a Paige Juju game
in the Elite eight. I would have rather them be
on the same side of the bracket and that we
you know, run the risk of one of them getting
(54:37):
bounced early. But we get them in the final four.
But Juju is a star and Page is unbelievable. And
by the way, neither one might be on the best team.
UCLA or South Carolina might be the best team. So
on the women's side, Paige and Juju should be great.
On the men's side, it's gonna be Cooper Flag and
this duke team that is the rightful, huge favorite. I
(55:01):
saw a mock draft the other day that had three
of the top seven picks or players on this duke team,
so that that gives you an idea of how good
that team actually is. All right, reminder like rate, subscribe review,
please do that. It helps us out more than you
could possibly imagine. Go to Scott's question demonse.
Speaker 3 (55:24):
Okay, Scott says it's time to try to quit smoking.
What patch do you? Oh, what patch do you recommend?
I need the strongest one possible. Thanks so.
Speaker 1 (55:35):
Unpaid endorsement the generic Target brand Step one Nicko Team
patch clear is the best one. And now yeah, now
I don't know, you know the so here it's hard
to phase down. But if you get on a schedule
(55:59):
of putting on that phase one target nicotine patch first
thing in the morning, you'll kind of get that same
rush you do from a morning cigarette and it really
will last all day. And I also strong recommend that
in the beginning phase of this trying to quit smoking,
don't the first week or so, don't drink because anybody
(56:22):
that smokes, you get an extra even strong in the
nicotine patch, craving for a cigarette when you've been drinking.
So get yourself used to the nicotine patch. That that
would be my That would be my recommendation. Uh go
to Trey.
Speaker 3 (56:38):
Uh to Tray says Oh yeah, Tray says Nick best
vacation advice at All Inclusive and Costa Rica.
Speaker 2 (56:46):
Uh, Matt, turn off YouTube.
Speaker 1 (56:48):
Oh no, don't worry. So here is Oh I don't
know if Trey was trying to tell Matt to turn
off YouTube. I don't know. I am not an All
Inclusive fan. And there's two reasons for that. One is
one of my favorite parts about traveling is eating, and
(57:12):
typically the food at all inclusive places is mediocre, you
know what I mean, because people so like that's one piece.
The other piece is this. It almost forces you psychologically
into drinking more than you want to because it's like, well,
I paid for it already, it's free. Like you feel
(57:36):
like in order to get your money's worth, you need
to be hammered by noon. And then you know, and
so and so I would I'm a bigger proponent of
stay somewhere nice and buy liquor, either at the airport
or you know what I mean, off the resort and
(57:56):
keep it in your room whatever it is. So if
you do want listen, if you're a cationing and friends
or whatever and want to really get hammered, more power
to you. But don't you don't necessarily have to do
it at the hotel, bar, at the those things. As
far as the my favorite place in the Caribbean, the
only place in the Caribbean that I've gone to that
(58:18):
one of the time, as perfect weather, and the beaches
are as beautiful as anywhere, and it's such a small
island you can see everything you want to see. Is Aruba.
Now there are portions of the island that have become
almost like Orlando, but with nicer beaches, just super kind
(58:38):
of like tacky americanized. But there are other portions of
the island that are just unbelievable. So I but I
had a great time in Costa Rica. Uh and the
you know, there's there's not really a bad space. Oh
one other thing, Saint Martin for food is great because
(59:00):
there's a French side and a Dutch side. The Dutch
side is kind of more fun. The French side's fancier
and better food. And if you go to Grand Cayman,
it sounds like the most touristy, silly thing there is.
But the swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman is
(59:21):
app You did that, demands you. You were there with
us when.
Speaker 2 (59:24):
We it was turtles, turtles, there's turtles.
Speaker 1 (59:29):
Maybe there were turtles, but when we.
Speaker 2 (59:31):
Took the most scared and got.
Speaker 1 (59:35):
The yeah but whatever, it.
Speaker 3 (59:37):
Was no, no, okay, I was thinking of like the pool.
I don't know where we did that with the turtles.
The sting raise was out in the actual ocean.
Speaker 1 (59:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is actually better than advertised. It's
like a really, really truly elite I can't I cannot
speak highly enough about that and one other little vacation tip. Okay,
(01:00:06):
this is one of my things. My family does, so
we very often do an airbnb instead of a hotel
because we have so many people and because we want
to be able to cook some of our own meals
or whatever. I'm a big airbnb guy if it's the
whole crew. But the kids obviously like hotel pools and
(01:00:32):
like resort style pools and stuff like that. So pro
tip that I think you're shaking your head. I think
I don't even think this is against the rules. I
think it's in the gray air. Make a reservation early
in the after early early in the afternoon for your
(01:00:55):
whole group for lunch at the nicest outdoor restaurant at
whatever hotel or resort you think your kids would like
the pool the most. Get there, immediately, order a full
round of drinks, a bunch of appetizers, and make it
(01:01:17):
clear you're gonna spend money. And then while the adults
are drinking, snacking on the appetizers and eating, let the
kids then go run and you know, do the water slides,
play in the pool or whatever. They won't give you
a hard time because you're not a hotel guest because
you are spending money and you're eating, but that way
you're not just tied to that location. And then the
(01:01:39):
other thing is again if they really really like it,
what you do is you leave a really big tip,
you know, become friendly with the hotel staff, and then
if you want to go back and maybe not order
quite as much food, whatever it is, they usually will
take care of you.
Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
Success rate so far, yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (01:02:04):
Mean I'm pretty good at that. Uh. And again I'm
not trying to it's I'm not like trying to get
over be cheap. I just the like little kids, like
meeting other little kids on vacation. Not gonna be able
to do that at the airbnb. And so yeah, this is.
Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
I appreciate you getting me to that pool that I
was looking for.
Speaker 1 (01:02:23):
The well being sarcastic right now, sarcastic. Yeah, this less
for deman is more for Deanna. But still when Demanse
was Deanna's age, we took a bunch of water vacations
Toss City and water parks and in Texas, yeah, we
(01:02:48):
take different vacations now. We used to go We'd be like, hey,
we're driving to Galveston and that was fun. We had
a great time, but it's a little different now, all right,
Good luck in your march Madness, Pool's fun Show. Good
job everybody like rate, subscriber view, Help us out what's right.
Welcome in What's Right with Nick Wright, Episode three twelve
on nc DOUBLEA Tournament, Day one. And so here's the thing.
If you're watching live right now, the games haven't tipped off.
Oh the dog just jumped on the couch. Look at
Dexter in the back. They're just hanging out. So here's
here's the deal. We are. We're gonna bang, bang bang
(00:22):
through this show because I think, to be totally honest,
people are focused on the college basketball today and by happenstance,
by dumb luck, the TV shows only a half hour today,
which is good because first two days of the NCAA Tournament,
nobody's watching Sports TV. They're watching the actual games, so
(00:43):
that thirty minutes will be you know, for friends and
family only essentially. However, today's show, we have good stuff
for you. And something happened yesterday demonse that enraged me,
and probably not in the direction people would think that
I'm going to talk about it. So after we do Lakers,
Nuggets and some NBA from last night, we're going to
(01:05):
do that story. But first and foremost, here's what missed
the cut. Season two of Quarterback Joe Burrow Jared goff
Kirk Cousins It's gonna be a weird one. Burrow Amazing year,
team stunk, Goff Amazing year, dog walked in round one,
and Cousins playing the role of Marcus Mariota from season
(01:26):
one of Quarterback as himself in season two of Quarterback,
the veteran quarterback who gets benched. So we're I'm interested
how it's gonna go. Jalen Milroe runs a four to
three seven. It is pro day if he gets drafted
higher than projected. He is the first Jalen Hurts quarterback,
(01:47):
meaning a guy who's like man and now Jalen was
a better passer in college. Jalen Hurts Dan Jalen Milroe,
but leader has some winning characteristics, tough, but questions as
a passer. That was Jalen Hurts. He slid to the
second round. Milrose projected to go second and third. Wonder
if he goes higher. Kyle Hamlinson had a take on
(02:08):
White Lotus. I am not equipped to discuss the last
White Lotus episode, he said, does anything ever happen in
White Lotus when people just watch and say watch it
to say next episode gonna be crazy? If you did
not think the last episode of White Lotus involved two
of the most bananas scenes in the last decade of
American television. I don't know what to tell you. I'm
(02:31):
not saying it's great TV. I like it, but people
can dislike it if they want. But there were two
scenes in White Lotus this past week. I've never seen
anything like it on television or in life. Also, the
Celtics just sold for six point one billion dollars to
Bill Chisholm. There that is the after shocks of the
(02:52):
Celtics going for six billion. Like you know that stupid
meme about the little tiny domino and then it goes
to the giant. It was like this led to this.
There is a version of that meme where the first
domino is the Celtics sale and the last domino is
a competing professional basketball league backed by foreign, mostly saudy
(03:21):
money that Lebron James is a piece of. I'm not
saying that's going to happen. What I am saying is
if the Celtics are worth six billion, if the franchise
fee for the expansion team Lebron wants is going to
be six billion, If that all happens and it just
(03:43):
gets too expensive, is there a world where what Lebron's partner,
Maverick at you know, has been kind of publicly flirting
with a competing league where Lebron's a part of that. Maybe.
But speaking of Lebron, he didn't play yesterday, did Jokic.
Seems like a totally fair fight under those circumstances. I
(04:04):
wonder who won Lakers, Nuggets, Demons take it away?
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yeah, so funny.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Luca actually came out and said that any team that
has Jokis is always going to be dangerous. But like
you just said, Jokich and Murray didn't play, so Luca
let them up. La Cruz to that w He's he's
looking really good. He's also had his six thirtieth point
game in a month of March. What do you think
about the Nuggets resting their guys again?
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Though, so listen, Joker plays as much as anybody. Michael
Malone was correct that Jokers played I think the second
most games of any player in the last decade, So
I'm not going to kill him for it. I'm not
certain exactly why Jamal Mury, you know, Jamal Murray couldn't play.
Maybe because Jamal Murray without Nikala Jokic. You know, doesn't
(04:50):
quite look like the Jamal Murray that a lot of
folks like to believe he can be. I I will
say this, the Nuggets are no longer a bad matchup
for the Lakers. The Lakers are a bad matchup for
the Nuggets. And that's with or without Joker. And there's
multiple reasons for this. Uh. I understand Daniel, our producer,
(05:16):
saying Jamal was hurt last game two. I get it, man.
I'm the I'm not I'm I'm not accusing anyone of
anything I do. I does anybody think that if this
were a playoff game, Joe Kitchen Murray wouldn't play, wouldn't
have played, of course not. They're not that injured. But
that's totally fine. You want them to be rested and healthy.
(05:38):
You'd prefer it not happen on a national TV game.
You'd prefer it not have to happen in back to
back games. Uh. But it is what it is, so
to speak like, you deal with it, and you you know,
you move forward. I think a lot of people assumed
that the Nuggets, because they rested those guys or they
didn't play against the Warriors, that they would play in
(06:00):
the next game. But whatever, I'm not gonna kill him
for that. What I am gonna talk about is if
this is a playoff matchup, it favors the Lakers heavily,
because here is the thing. The Lakers scored one twenty
last night, could have scored one forty. And I said
it on the TV show. I will say it again
(06:22):
with this question. In the playoffs, if you get Lakers Nuggets,
if Aaron Gordon is primarily matched up on Lebron, who
is guarding Luca? They tried some Peyton Watson last night?
How that work? Luca had twenty before you turn the
(06:43):
game on and okay, no, no, no, Aaron Gordon's gonna guard Luca?
Then who is guarding Lebron? It ain't Michael Porter Junior
in a bad back. It ain't Russell Westbrook. It certainly
ain't Christian Brown. Who are we talking about? Con car
He ain't doing it. Gonna dust off Dario Sarich, he
(07:05):
ain't doing it. It's certainly not the two guys who
were missing last night and Joe Kitchen Murray. The Nuggets
are bad defensive team at this point, and having Yo
Kitchen Murray out doesn't hurt their defense and the Lakers
scored at will without Lebron. Now, the Lakers, I think
(07:27):
are going to actually end up being the best offense
in the league. And you're starting to see it where
they are generating so many great looks from three, so
many wide open threes, and that's without Lebron on the court.
And here's the other thing about the Lakers Nuggets matchup.
(07:50):
The best thing the Nuggets had going for them in
these playoff matchups is Joker, no question. The second best
thing they had going for him was D'Angelo Russell minutes.
And the third best thing they had going for him
was Darvin Ham's coaching, which is why there was nobody
that was a bigger Darvin Ham defender than Michael Malone.
(08:12):
Michael Malone out there defending Darvin Ham, like Darvin Ham
owes him money and he needs him to stay employed
to get it. He's like, this is unfair that guy
took him to the conference final. This is an outrage
and Michael Malone, now of a sudden, Lakers got real coach.
And by the way, are we done with that demands?
(08:32):
I haven't checked the scoreboard. Is JJ Reddick now just
Lakers head coach? Or is he still you know Lebron's
podcast buddy, or now that everybody knows he's a great coach,
or we just saying no, he's a Lakers head coach,
because I know if he wasn't a great coach, it
would be Lebron's podcast Buddy. It'd be like I'm I
just again, I'm not seeing the exact rule right, and
(08:53):
I'm not sure about the rules of any of this stuff.
What I do know is this Nuggets are in real,
real trouble and the Lakers are real, real dangerous.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
You don't think the Lagants are just like resting their
guys strategically, like the same thing Golden State did with
Steph Curry.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I like, bigger.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
I think that's a game they wanted to win. That
you're fighting for seeding. I I don't right now, the
Western armentge standings go like this, Oklahoma City has locked
the one seed. It's so bananas they they have locked
(09:31):
locked up the well, I guess technically they're their magic
number for locking up the one seed is one game
with fifteen or how however, man eat thirteen games remaining. Uh,
they have fifty seven wins. No one else in the
conference can get to fifty eight, So Oklahoma City's locked.
(09:53):
And then it gets interesting. The Rockets have twenty five losses,
the Lakers have twenty five losses, the Nuggets have twenty six,
the Grizzlies have twenty seven, the Warriors have twenty nine,
Clippers thirty, Timberwolves thirty one. So four five six, I'm sorry,
two three four five two games apart, two three four
(10:19):
one loss apart, and I don't think the Nuggets would
give these games away. Say it again, it would be.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
In their best interest being one game. I mean they
were tied before last night and then now Lakers.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
And the other piece of it is because of last
With a win yesterday, they would have locked up the
season series three to one, which would have given them
the head to have ty breaker if they finished with
the same record. Now it's two to two, so I'm
not even sure what ty breaker it goes to. Now
the Nuggets do they get Portland next? Then Houston Chicago?
(11:02):
Like I'm just looking at their easy, tough games. I
think they When we went to Tankathon before and we
checked it, I thought the Nuggets were league average essentially
remaining strength, strength of schedule. They have a little tougher
than league average. They have the eleventh hardest strength of schedule,
left the Lakers by the way of the third hardest
(11:24):
strength of schedule, left Houston tenth hardest. I'm just doing
the teams fighting for this seed, Memphis seventh hardest, Golden
State with the easiest of the group with the eighteenth hardest.
So but here's the other piece of it. For the Lakers,
as I said the other day, you can now kind
of definitively say, even though they lost those first three
(11:48):
without Lebron, they have survived his injury. They I said,
if you missed ten games, going six and four would
be a great result. And six and four is now
very on the board. And I don't know that he's
gonna miss four more. But the Lakers are three and three.
(12:09):
Lost to Brooklyn, bad loss, lost to Milwaukee, lost to
Denver in what would have been an unbelievable win when
Denver had all its guys and Lakers without six of
their top eight. And then blew out Phoenix, blew out
San Antonio, blew out Denver. And now the next four
home for Milwaukee, Tonight home for Chicago at Orlando at Indiana.
(12:35):
Can you go three and one in those four you
should be able to even if Lebron's not back. And
that's the other piece of last night the blowout being awesome.
Luca only played thirty two minutes. Reeves probably played a
little more than he needed to, but so be it.
And so the Lakers are really well positioned. Houston keeps winning. Houston,
(12:57):
to their credit, has really taken advantage of the absolute
softest stretch of their schedule imaginable, and they have won
more soft game Friday against Miami. But their schedule during
this winning streak has been the following teams for Houston,
New Orleans, New Orleans, Orlando, Phoenix, Dallas, Chicago, Philly, Orlando.
(13:23):
So those are the worst, like some of the worst
teams in the league, plus Orlando, which has been really
bad for months, and Phoenix, which hates itself, and now
you have Miami, and then it gets way tougher for Houston.
So I because after Miami, Houston goes Denver, Atlanta, Utah, Phoenix,
Lakers Utah Oka see Golden State Clippers Lakers Denver. What
(13:46):
a final stretch for Houston final five games Oka see
Golden State Clippers Lakers Denver. I wonder what OKAC is
gonna do down the stretch because they will have locked
up the one seed and with the Calvs losing all
of a sudd and as of late, they will you know,
they're gonna be in a good position for the number
one overall seed. But I expect Houston to drop back
(14:08):
and eying. The Lakers got a real shot at the two,
a real shot at the two, and so I you know,
I think and Daniel tells me LA is the tiebreaker
because they win win their division? Oh, the stupid divisions
or the next tiebreaker. Oh well, then last night's game
(14:29):
was even bigger for Denver because now if they finished
with the same record, Lakers have the tiebreaker. That's noteworthy.
That's really really noteworthy. All right, Ask what are the
follow ups here?
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Pal, Well, who do you think needs to adjust more
when Lebron does come back, because you know, Lucas obviously
getting into a groove. So Lebron Luca, Oh, Lebron's Lebron.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Lebron can do more different things. Lebron can play so
many different ways, So it wouldn't make sense to ask
Luca to adjust because Lucas not going to be great
at other things. Lebron can be great at playing almost
any style of offensive basketball, so Lebron should and will
look like and so that to me is not even
(15:14):
a concern. And one of the benefits demanse to having
every single statistical record in NBA history already accomplished. You
don't have to worry about your stats as much like
when you already have all the records, you already have
all the all nbas, all the points, all the all
(15:37):
of that you can, you don't really have to necessarily
put that first and foremost in your mind. Now, I
will tell you this a sneaky stat that Lebron cares about.
That is such a silly one.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
The double digit what oh well.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
No, no, no, that one's not sneaky.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
That one's definitive.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
The thirteen hundred straight game of at least ten points.
But he doesn't have to try to get that one.
It's that he has averaged at least twenty five points
per game to the tenth of a point in every
single year of his career except for his rookie season,
twenty one straight years. And the reason I know he
(16:21):
cares about it is a few years ago, post ankle injury,
going into the final game of the year, he needed
a bucket. I think he knew the exact amount of
points he needed, and he needed a bucket late and
went and got it. So he finished that year averaging
twenty five point zero zero zero. Right now this moment,
(16:43):
Lebron has played fifty eight games and has scored one
thy four hundred and fifty points. So let's just do
the math on that. Fourteen point fifty divided by fifty eight,
that is twenty five point zero zero zero zero zero.
(17:05):
So here's the point I'm making. I do think Lebron
will want to make sure when he comes back he's
still getting twenty five at night. I haven't talked to him,
but I I think that is a sneaky one that
he would be annoyed if he missed it by a
couple one hundredths of a point.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
So yeah, but even with him having to make the
adjustments with Luca, like him getting twenty five points isn't
like a stretch, Like I don't think that's like it's
gonna be hard with his new role.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
I actually think his scoring might go up with the
new role because I think I think his assists will
plummet and scoring go up a bit and rebounding go
up a lot. That's what I would anticipate is gonna
happen here, all right.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Go to the other side of it. Yeah, So.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Anthony Davis the Swears, Oh my gosh. Tim McMahon reported
that he wants Anthony Davis to play, but the team
doesn't want him to play right now. He said he
is steadfast in his determination to want to return this season,
maybe as soon as next week, despite the fact there
are people within the Mavericks organization that try to take
him out of it. Do you think Anthony Davis should
(18:23):
try to force the issue and play here?
Speaker 1 (18:26):
If he's healthy, you should play. They're tied to the
City of Dallas. Yeah, get listen, they're tied for the
tenth seed like they and the team they're tied with, Phoenix,
is an open revolt. I know they've won a couple
in a row. But you can make the play in
and if you have a health even as injured as
(18:47):
they are. If you have a healthy Anthony Davis, you're
live in the first playing game against the Kings, and
then you see what you are in the next playing game.
If you get there against either Golden State, the Clippers
or the Timberwolves, like you. You can't just napalm the
entire season like this. And I give Anthony Davis credit
(19:11):
for wanting to play. I give him the mint credit
to be totally honest for wanting to play. I think
it's the right thing to do, and I think it's
I now, listen if he is not you know, if
they're like, ah, he really shouldn't play. He's not healthy,
(19:31):
but he could force that's different. But if he is
cleared by the doctors, you should let Anthony Davis play.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
That trade what you say, I was saying, like, after
making that trade, I don't think you can mail it
in in any type of form or fashion whatever you
can possibly do, I think you should be going after
Like obviously the fans are in a bad state.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
But yeah, and like playoff games are fun and as
upset as the Dallas fans are, and they you know,
does rightfully so are they would get hyped up for
a play in game or you know the potentially like
that would be fun. And so you gotta if he's healthy,
you gotta let him play. The guy's played thirty minutes
for twenty five minutes for you since the trade yeah,
(20:17):
and so you gotta at least let the fans have something,
some type of hope for next year, like Anthony Davis
comes back and looks good something. All right, let's go
to the other Lakers stuff.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
So since it was a blowout, Luca got a lot
of rest at the end of that Lakers game. So
now they got The Bucks just lost to a currulous Warriors.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Who would you have in that game tonight? So your
thing Doc had that meeting with Giannison Dane. I am
legitimately not just worried about the Bucks. I'm ready to
say the Bucks are done as a contender. I didn't
I had been holding on hope for them because of
(21:01):
how good Giannis is. But these are some bad losses, man.
The you know, the losing to Orlando would started this
five and seven, not being competitive against OKC, losing to
Golden State without Curry. The only time they've looked really good,
you know, in the last couple of weeks was against
(21:24):
the Lakers, when Lucas still scored. What did Lucas score
in that game? Forty five? So that's so, yeah, Lucas
scored forty five and the Bucks still blew the Lakers out,
and so I the Bucks should win tonight. The Lakers
are on a back to back. The Lakers kind of
(21:44):
knew what they needed was a split with Milwaukee and Denver.
They got the benefit of Denver resting their guys. But
at this point, you can't be shocked any game the
Bucks lose because they just seem disjointed and they seem
like a team that cannot survive anything but an excellent
(22:08):
game from Yannis. So and I think this kind of
speaks to the situation the Bucks find themselves in. The
Lakers are on a back to back, Lebron is not playing,
the Bucks are desperate, and it's a three and a
half point line, So the Bucks should win. But the Bucks, Uh,
(22:32):
the Bucks right now are just an okay team with
an all time great player and.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Get back just driving to the cup. I'm shooting well.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
I mean, Yiannis has been unbelievable this year. I mean,
Giannis is like thirty a game on sixty percent, like
Janice's numbers this season, thirty twelve and on sixty percent
from the field. I mean, he really has been great.
The rest of the team just hasn't been there. It
(23:08):
would be a great win for the Lakers tonight, but
you've gotta you've gotta think that the Bucks get this one,
and then we get another update after tonight about Lebron's
health and the next time we're gonna see him. What's
your follow up here?
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Uh yeah?
Speaker 3 (23:26):
What do you think about Draymond saying that he's a
million percent as a case to win Defensive Player of
the Year after his performance against Milwaukee?
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Listen, he was unbelievable against Giannis, and Draymond probably does
have a case for Defensive Player of the Year. Listen,
I have to segment, Mike dra I almost have to
segment my Draymond opinions into three buckets in my brain.
Bucket won is this. I think Draymond Green is one
of the greatest defensive players ever. I do think that
(23:59):
on the pre and post KD Warriors, Draymond, not Klay Thompson,
was the second most important player, and I don't really
think it's that arguable. I think he unlocked so many
things they could do. And and I also am on
the record from years ago that those defensive Player of
(24:20):
the Year awards Kawhi Leonard won. I think Draymond Green
should have won and so I think Draymond should have
three already, and I do think he is a legendary
all time defensive player. That's bucket one in my brain.
Bucket two of my brain is this, every single person
(24:41):
that I am tight with that has a personal, non
basketball relationship with Draymond Green talks about him like he
is one of the best dudes in the world, and
I have to give him credit for that. The third
(25:02):
bucket of my brain is that, man, oh man, he
just strikes me as a really bad guy. And the
Carl Anthony town stuff from this weekend I thought was outrageous.
I thought him, mister new media, And we don't as
(25:23):
the dog is back there and we don't need to
make this a social breakout clip or anything. But I
just want to get on the record on this, mister
new media, being like talking about one of the problems
with old media was not getting the real story going
with anonymous sources getting stuff wrong and then putting out
(25:46):
there are Carl Anthony Towns. You know, people are saying,
I'm hearing he was scared of playing Jimmy when Carl
missed the game because he was at a funeral. He's
then confronted with that for some reason, thinks he's above apologizing.
Baron Davis, who was on the other side of that conversation,
(26:07):
immediately apologized and then uses it a way to promote
the Draymond Green Show. And then when he does play
really well against Karl Anthony Towns and the Knicks over
the weekend, takes a victory lap about the whole interaction
when he was dead ass wrong. That's shitty, that's a
(26:30):
bad so like so like Draymond Green, one of the
greatest defensive players I've ever seen, and I actually think
should have more Defensive Players of the Year awards Draymond Green.
When it comes to Draymond Green, that's not an NBA
guy or a podcast host. Everyone I know that knows
(26:51):
him loves him and swears by him. Draymond Green the
basketball player slash basketball media guy. Just when I say
basketball player, I don't mean quality of player, but how
he acts on the court at times, and the way
he you know, talks about guys, all those things, does
(27:12):
all of the things I typically dislike in an athlete.
So it's a complicated thing.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
And that that think that just happens not complicated at all,
Like that that thing with Karl Anthony Towns, the show
must go on.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
This is the weirdest thing ever. In my opinion, I
didn't like.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
It at all. I one thousand percent agree with you.
I totally agree. That is not a complicated thing. Draymond
was dead ass wrong, didn't want to admit to it,
and has a weird thing that not just he but
a lot of men have, which is saying my bad,
I was wrong is like a sign of weakness when
it's not. And so I totally agree to Monsey, that's
(27:52):
not a complicated thing. The point I'm making is squaring
how he appears to be when he's not almost playing
the character of Draymond Green with that. That's what's complicated.
It's easier when you know what I mean, Guys have
(28:14):
a consistent personality like oh, that dude's just a bad
guy at all times, or or that guy's just and
so that's not the case here, and so that is
that kind of just is what it is, so to speak.
I there's also something that's not complicated, but it's going
to sound complicated, and it's what happened with Jackie Robinson yesterday,
(28:40):
and we will do that in a moment. But first.
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(30:54):
So here is the deal for what we're gonna do
over the next few minutes. And this is kind of
a production note as well to our people. Once I
get into this, I want I want this to be
a standalone YouTube video and I want it to be
(31:16):
in full posted to our socials, and I am asking
the audience who's watching now, please do not get in
arguments in the comments about it. It's not worth your time.
I know that might be a fool's errand to ask,
(31:37):
but let people yell into the void because I need
to get something on the record here because and the
segment kind of starts now, folks are far too often
(32:00):
fighting on enemy ground and seeding the wrong territory. So
this is gonna be a winding road, but follow me down. So,
once upon a time, I really thought that when I
was done with sports, I would go into politics. My
(32:21):
wife has since kind of convinced me she's not really
into that, doesn't think it would be fun to be
in that world. And as it turns out, you know,
my dear friend from high school, Quinton Lucas, beat me
to it as being the mayor of Kansas City. So
(32:42):
that's not even cool anymore. And if I wanted to
go for the very top of the top, it looks like, Hey,
would there ever be a sports guy who thought about
running for president? Well, it turns out I wouldn't be
the first to consider that either, So you know what
I'm not. I don't think I'm gonna run for office,
but what I might do one day is open a
(33:05):
consulting business that teaches folks how to frame and have arguments,
because far, far too often what happens is folks who
(33:28):
have my political leanings seed the ground on definitions and
meanings of things to intellectually dishonest charlatans, and then we
have arguments based on their terms. And that has happened,
(33:55):
and we just saw it happen in real time with DI.
So here is where we're at. Jackie Robinson, before he
broke the color barrier, was in the US military. There's
(34:15):
a story about him on the US government website. It
got deleted, it then was reposted, and DI was in
the url. Jeff Passing made a huge fuss about it.
Shout out to Jeff. They have since fixed it and
restored it. And this is what folks who are on
(34:38):
the first, the right side, the correct side of Jackie
Robinson have been saying. Calling Jackie Robinson a DEI hire
is insulted. And everyone who agrees with me politically was
saying that. And that's why we lose arguments because we
(35:06):
have just seated the ground that, oh, yeah, DEI is
bad diversity, equity and inclusion. What that means is people
who didn't deserve a job got one. And don't you
dare call Jackie Robinson DEI because he wasn't he deserved it.
(35:28):
But what people don't see is that's how the bad
actors win is by reframing definitions, because a DEI hire
is not someone who did not deserve the job, who
got it. That's just what they have claimed it is.
(35:49):
And now folks are like, you can't call Jackie Robinson
DEI hired some insulting guys in Major League Baseball. Jackie
Robinson was the definition of a DEA hire, and that's
why we need it. He was he awesome, Yes? Was
he deserving? Yes? Was he blocked because of his race? Yes?
(36:17):
And so it is not an insult. Now, this whole
thing it was department offenses, wasn't a DEI military, But
set it aside. It it is incumbent that we not
see ground and that we instead say, let's have the
(36:37):
actual argument. And the actual argument is the reason DEI
policies came to exist was not to elevate undeserving people.
It was to make sure deserving people of all colors, creeds, genders,
(37:02):
ethnicities had a shot. And the conversation that we should
be forcing is the following if we are going to
act like DEI is this awful buzzword that pre DEI
(37:27):
things were a meritocracy, true and clear, and that's how
it should be. Pick the industry, pick the data set,
and go out there and argue folks on the other
side that it was that when and I'll give you
the actual data that when fifty years ago five hundred
(37:53):
of five hundred fortune five hundred CEOs were white guys,
that was a meritocracy. And fifteen years ago, when four
hundred and fifty of four hundred of fortune five hundred
CEOs were white guys, that was a meritocracy. And four
(38:14):
years ago when there were four black fortune five hundred CEOs,
that was actually when we were doing it all by merit.
And now that, thanks to the scourge of DEI, that
four has doubled in four years up to eight. That
(38:34):
you know what, all the white guys who got the
jobs deserved them. That was merit, and the black people
or women or whomever got them, they they were the undeserving.
If that's the argument, make them make it. When you
look at the United the our politicians, fun fact, how
(39:02):
many governors in US history have been black. The answer
to that question is five, kind of six, but one
during reconstruction. Would have been one more during reconstruction, but
that fella got, you know, died suddenly in his office
(39:24):
due to a suspicious poisoning. Can't quite figure out what
happened there. So four black governors since reconstruction? Was that
all merit was that? Listen it just as it happened?
Was never a good black gubernatorial candidate? What about this one?
Pre Barack Obama in Illinois in two thousand and five,
(39:49):
there had been around two thousand United States Senators in
our history pre two thousand and five. How many were black?
Quick question? The answer to that is four, two during
reconstruction one hundred and sixty years ago or one hundred
(40:11):
and fifty years ago and two post reconstructions since Obama.
You add it all up, all of history, from the
start of the US Senate to right now this moment,
there have been fourteen black US Senators, eleven elected, three appointed.
So again, again, if your argument is when the numbers
(40:36):
were literally ninety eight to two white, guide to everyone else.
That's when we had a merit based system. And now
that the numbers are slightly going towards the actual demographics
of the country. That's all bullshit, you know, elevating undeserving people.
(40:58):
Then make that argument, and folks who are saying aim
into what I'm saying. Make them make that argument. What
you can't do is let them is act offended when
when people are like, oh, you're calling Jackie Robinson a
DEI higher, Your goddamn right. He was a great example
(41:26):
of it of why it's an important They are important
policies because you had a guy as great at what
he did playing baseball as Jackie Robinson who was blocked
entirely because of his race, and then the DEI policies
(41:48):
of the day gave him a shot and it's like,
holy shit, this guy's awesome. That's the idea behind it.
And you're not going to win arguments if you only
have them on other people's terms. Stand firm and say,
(42:11):
here are the numbers. Here is how disproportionate in every industry,
in every position of power, in every political sphere, white
males are. Is that because, in your opinion, because they
are simply smarter, more equipped, savvier, all of it. If
(42:32):
that's what you believe, make them, If that's what they believe,
make them argue that if they won't say that's what
they believe, then ask them, so, how do we fix that?
What are the policies one would have to implement to
make sure we're actually getting the best in the brightest. Instead,
(42:54):
we've let them turn DEI into a slur, a buzzword,
a meaning it's synonymous for unqualified dufist that gets a
job and tar any black person or minority who has
a big time job as that. And so obviously the
(43:22):
asshole the Department of the Defense that took down Jackie
Robinson's page is everyone can agree that guy's the worst.
That's an easy conversation. A far more serious conversation is, yeah,
(43:42):
Jackie Robinson in Major League Baseball was a DEI hire,
and that's why such policies need to exist, and that's
why we'll defend them. Or it's just the craziest coincidence
in the world. The all of the deserving people for
(44:06):
all of the big time jobs, the ones who actually
got it on merit, all of them just look like me.
I wonder how that one worked out. Hey, guys, got
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for more updates and recipes. All right, Demanse, let's turn
to the Calves a bit and then do some Viking
stuff and we'll get out of here.
Speaker 3 (45:45):
Uh yeah, So after winning sixteen straight games, the Calves
have now lost two back to backs or back to
back games. One of those games came to the Clippers,
team that doesn't even.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
Have a coach.
Speaker 3 (45:56):
How many more losses do the Calves need to take
before it's time to hit that alarm?
Speaker 1 (46:01):
Well's And now it's it's three straight now, and that's
their first three game losing streak of the season. And
so here's the thing, Now, Donovan missed some time, but
you were seeing the Calves be a little creaky really
since the beginning of the month. So they had that
great win in Boston, but they were down twenty five
(46:24):
to three to start it. They then needed overtime to
beat Portland. They then had a squeaker and I think
it was a big comeback, not necessarily a big comeback
they but a squeaker against Miami. They then had a
one point win where they did have to rally to
come back to beat Charlotte. They then had again another
(46:48):
one where they needed a furious comeback to beat the Nets,
and now they've lost three straight to Orlando, the Clippers,
and Sacramento. Now some of that I'm sure is we've
locked up the one seed. Essentially we're fine, and they're
you know, they're only six up on Boston, but Boston
ain't catching them. They have thirteen games left and they
(47:13):
have a six game lead. So like, even if Boston
went undefeated the rest of the way, Demonse, the Calves
would only have to win seven games, and like, so
the Calves are going to be the one seed. Now
they might have squandered the number one overall seed, which
would matter if it's Calves Thunder in the finals. Here's
where I stand on the Calves. I think they have
(47:39):
the fourth best team, and maybe that seems unfair, But
the Thunder, the Celtics, and the Lakers, I would pick
all of them in a series against the Calves, and
I'd feel pretty good about it. And so that you
know what I mean. That just it is what it is.
So I don't think the Calves, the Calves. You know,
(48:05):
a week ago we're flirting with seventy wins. That felt
a little rich, And now they're still gonna win. That
was so if they're fifty six and thirteen, let's say
they lose four more, that still still means they're gonna win.
Did I do the math wrong on how many games
(48:25):
they have they lose? That still would mean they win
sixty five games, which is an unbelievable season. But I
do think they're the fourth best team. All right, let's
talk to some NFL.
Speaker 3 (48:36):
So, Minnesota is out on Aaron Rodgers. He got that
news and did not immediately retire. I know there were
talks of him potentially doing that. So the Giants and
the Steelers they're still looking out for him.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
Yeah, what's here?
Speaker 1 (48:52):
So where I stand on it, good job by the Vikings.
I listen. The Vikings, I think are gonna end up.
If they need an insurance policy, the insurance policy will
be Kirk Cousins, and I don't think it'll be Rogers.
I think that the Steelers need to give Aeron a deadline,
(49:14):
and I don't know that they have the temerity to
do it. But the analysis people had on the Steelers
why it might work as well. He's not going to
come in there and run the show like he did
with the Jets. Well, he certainly will if he sees
(49:35):
his power before he even gets there, by making them
wait the entirety of the offseason. And so I think
that the Giants should just go ahead and sign Russell Wilson.
I think the Steelers shouldn't give Aaron a deadline because
Aaron's going to end up with the Steelers. It seems
(49:55):
very clear Aaron is going to end up with the Steelers,
and they should re seize the power back or else
he's gonna come in there and just do whatever the
hell he wants.
Speaker 2 (50:07):
What's he thinking about, man.
Speaker 1 (50:10):
He's thinking about what's best for Aaron. Rodgers that if
I don't sign with Pittsburgh until after the draft, maybe
they are less likely to take a flyer on a
quarterback with their first round pick, and therefore I don't
have to worry about being supplanted at some point. That's
what I think. The only way he can impact their
(50:33):
draft is by making them.
Speaker 3 (50:35):
Wait, screwing the team, oh, screwing the team over either way.
Speaker 1 (50:39):
I just I don't know why teams want to be
in the Aaron Rodgers business at this point in time.
But that is a you know, that is a lot
people have heard me talk about that.
Speaker 2 (50:51):
Enough.
Speaker 1 (50:52):
Let's talk about the NFL rule changes.
Speaker 3 (50:54):
Yeah, so some new NFL rule proposals. What's will be
voted on at the league meeting. So first off, we
got Detroit. They proposed changes the playoff seating and holding penalties.
Philly wants to bring the playoff overtime rules to the
regular season, and green Bay officially proposed banning the Toush push.
You always said you've hated that play. Do you see
(51:16):
any of these passing or going through.
Speaker 1 (51:20):
No, not right now. So here's the deal. At some
point the NFL is going to get rid of the
Toush Push. They can't do it when the Eagles are
the defending champs. You can't give the Eagles lifelong bragging
rights of we'd have never lost. They like you can
get rid of the Toush push after the Eagles don't
(51:41):
win the Super Bowl, So they could have done it
a year ago, where they could do it a year
from now. But I don't want to hear these Philly
fans for the rest of my life saying the way
because you still hear Patriot fans. Man Jeanie brought it
up on the show Patriot Fans, Who's say, oh, the
(52:01):
Colts couldn't beat us, so they changed the illegal contact
rules because of that, And that's kind of true, but
it'll like, don't change the rules that the defending champs
of the defending champs, this is their play. And I
(52:23):
know eventually they're gonna get rid of it. And I've
said it once, I'll say it one hundred times. They're
gonna get rid of it for two reasons. And it's
not player safety and it's not pace of play. The
first reason is it's an ugly, boring play and it's
bad for TV. And the second reason is this, what
if the Eagles got so good at it? Instead of
(52:45):
getting two yards when they did it, they got four
and first game of the twenty twenty five season, this
is an allowable play. First play, first and ten from
their own thirty after a touchback and they line up
in the toush push and then announce it like the
hell are they doing? And maybe, but I'm saying, like,
(53:08):
if they got so good at it that you could
just do a drive of tush pushes. They would have
to change the rules mid season. They'd have to be like, no, no, no,
this is out, so you can't put yourself in that
jeopardy as a league. Now. I like the illegal contact
and defensive holding not being automatic first downs. I wish
(53:31):
that rule would change. There is nothing more frustrating as
a fan. Then it's third and thirteen and there's an
illegal contact and the other team gets a first down, because.
Speaker 3 (53:41):
Then, especially when it doesn't even affect the actually play correct.
Speaker 1 (53:45):
So I would like that. I don't think they'll change it.
I do not. I do not like the idea that
you can get a home playoff game without winning your division.
I used to like that idea. I've changed my mind.
I like there to be a premium on winning your division.
And no, I don't see any of these passing. All right,
last one before we go?
Speaker 3 (54:07):
Uh yeah, So the headliner of March Madness last year
was Caitlin Clark. Do you think that anybody will be
able to outshadow that or even come close to it
this year?
Speaker 1 (54:16):
And I'm bummed at the women's tournament put Paige and
Juju in the same region. Now, the upside to that
is it basically guarantees we get a Paige Juju game
in the Elite eight. I would have rather them be
on the same side of the bracket and that we
you know, run the risk of one of them getting
(54:37):
bounced early. But we get them in the final four.
But Juju is a star and Page is unbelievable. And
by the way, neither one might be on the best team.
UCLA or South Carolina might be the best team. So
on the women's side, Paige and Juju should be great.
On the men's side, it's gonna be Cooper Flag and
this duke team that is the rightful, huge favorite. I
(55:01):
saw a mock draft the other day that had three
of the top seven picks or players on this duke team,
so that that gives you an idea of how good
that team actually is. All right, reminder like rate, subscribe review,
please do that. It helps us out more than you
could possibly imagine. Go to Scott's question demonse.
Speaker 3 (55:24):
Okay, Scott says it's time to try to quit smoking.
What patch do you? Oh, what patch do you recommend?
I need the strongest one possible. Thanks so.
Speaker 1 (55:35):
Unpaid endorsement the generic Target brand Step one Nicko Team
patch clear is the best one. And now yeah, now
I don't know, you know the so here it's hard
to phase down. But if you get on a schedule
(55:59):
of putting on that phase one target nicotine patch first
thing in the morning, you'll kind of get that same
rush you do from a morning cigarette and it really
will last all day. And I also strong recommend that
in the beginning phase of this trying to quit smoking,
don't the first week or so, don't drink because anybody
(56:22):
that smokes, you get an extra even strong in the
nicotine patch, craving for a cigarette when you've been drinking.
So get yourself used to the nicotine patch. That that
would be my That would be my recommendation. Uh go
to Trey.
Speaker 3 (56:38):
Uh to Tray says Oh yeah, Tray says Nick best
vacation advice at All Inclusive and Costa Rica.
Speaker 2 (56:46):
Uh, Matt, turn off YouTube.
Speaker 1 (56:48):
Oh no, don't worry. So here is Oh I don't
know if Trey was trying to tell Matt to turn
off YouTube. I don't know. I am not an All
Inclusive fan. And there's two reasons for that. One is
one of my favorite parts about traveling is eating, and
(57:12):
typically the food at all inclusive places is mediocre, you
know what I mean, because people so like that's one piece.
The other piece is this. It almost forces you psychologically
into drinking more than you want to because it's like, well,
I paid for it already, it's free. Like you feel
(57:36):
like in order to get your money's worth, you need
to be hammered by noon. And then you know, and
so and so I would I'm a bigger proponent of
stay somewhere nice and buy liquor, either at the airport
or you know what I mean, off the resort and
(57:56):
keep it in your room whatever it is. So if
you do want listen, if you're a cationing and friends
or whatever and want to really get hammered, more power
to you. But don't you don't necessarily have to do
it at the hotel, bar, at the those things. As
far as the my favorite place in the Caribbean, the
only place in the Caribbean that I've gone to that
(58:18):
one of the time, as perfect weather, and the beaches
are as beautiful as anywhere, and it's such a small
island you can see everything you want to see. Is Aruba.
Now there are portions of the island that have become
almost like Orlando, but with nicer beaches, just super kind
(58:38):
of like tacky americanized. But there are other portions of
the island that are just unbelievable. So I but I
had a great time in Costa Rica. Uh and the
you know, there's there's not really a bad space. Oh
one other thing, Saint Martin for food is great because
(59:00):
there's a French side and a Dutch side. The Dutch
side is kind of more fun. The French side's fancier
and better food. And if you go to Grand Cayman,
it sounds like the most touristy, silly thing there is.
But the swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman is
(59:21):
app You did that, demands you. You were there with
us when.
Speaker 2 (59:24):
We it was turtles, turtles, there's turtles.
Speaker 1 (59:29):
Maybe there were turtles, but when we.
Speaker 2 (59:31):
Took the most scared and got.
Speaker 1 (59:35):
The yeah but whatever, it.
Speaker 3 (59:37):
Was no, no, okay, I was thinking of like the pool.
I don't know where we did that with the turtles.
The sting raise was out in the actual ocean.
Speaker 1 (59:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that is actually better than advertised. It's
like a really, really truly elite I can't I cannot
speak highly enough about that and one other little vacation tip. Okay,
(01:00:06):
this is one of my things. My family does, so
we very often do an airbnb instead of a hotel
because we have so many people and because we want
to be able to cook some of our own meals
or whatever. I'm a big airbnb guy if it's the
whole crew. But the kids obviously like hotel pools and
(01:00:32):
like resort style pools and stuff like that. So pro
tip that I think you're shaking your head. I think
I don't even think this is against the rules. I
think it's in the gray air. Make a reservation early
in the after early early in the afternoon for your
(01:00:55):
whole group for lunch at the nicest outdoor restaurant at
whatever hotel or resort you think your kids would like
the pool the most. Get there, immediately, order a full
round of drinks, a bunch of appetizers, and make it
(01:01:17):
clear you're gonna spend money. And then while the adults
are drinking, snacking on the appetizers and eating, let the
kids then go run and you know, do the water slides,
play in the pool or whatever. They won't give you
a hard time because you're not a hotel guest because
you are spending money and you're eating, but that way
you're not just tied to that location. And then the
(01:01:39):
other thing is again if they really really like it,
what you do is you leave a really big tip,
you know, become friendly with the hotel staff, and then
if you want to go back and maybe not order
quite as much food, whatever it is, they usually will
take care of you.
Speaker 2 (01:02:00):
Success rate so far, yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (01:02:04):
Mean I'm pretty good at that. Uh. And again I'm
not trying to it's I'm not like trying to get
over be cheap. I just the like little kids, like
meeting other little kids on vacation. Not gonna be able
to do that at the airbnb. And so yeah, this is.
Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
I appreciate you getting me to that pool that I
was looking for.
Speaker 1 (01:02:23):
The well being sarcastic right now, sarcastic. Yeah, this less
for deman is more for Deanna. But still when Demanse
was Deanna's age, we took a bunch of water vacations
Toss City and water parks and in Texas, yeah, we
(01:02:48):
take different vacations now. We used to go We'd be like, hey,
we're driving to Galveston and that was fun. We had
a great time, but it's a little different now, all right,
Good luck in your march Madness, Pool's fun Show. Good
job everybody like rate, subscriber view, Help us out what's right.
Host
Nick Wright
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