4-22-24 Hour 1

Knicks can handle Goliath and previewing Game 2A weird weird weekend in the BronxAlbany Firebird update approaching kick off

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
It's Slovack and Guz on the voiceof the Capitol Regions Sports fan Fox Sports

(00:04):
ninety five and nine live from theGut Toys Studio. That's toys with a
Z or kind of apply from theGT Toy Studio. This week is gonna
be catches catch can So I appreciateguys letting me work remote as I as
I try to make sure that notonly Levac and Gods stay number one,

(00:25):
but the Firebirds come out of theshoots and then also stay number one.
Crazy crazy day over here at theMVP Arena. So I am, I'm
remote. I'm from an undisclosed location. I definitely need to start hangings on
the walls. It sounds terrible inhere, and and Godz is back in
studio. So guys, thanks forthis, man, I appreciate you.
How is everything over at? iHeart? Wait? Are you busy? Is

(00:49):
there stuff going on? You haveonly kickoff this Saturday on the NFL Network
for a team that was bought byyou know, we't have to cover that
part. It's not as if thisis the busiest week of the year for
you. Yeah, I had afew Levac, you will enjoy this.
Before you called me today are Paltristanover at WGY and our engineer Dave I
told, and Mike Susan, whoyou know very well, I mentor everybody

(01:11):
was covered today engineering, programming,sales. I don't know how often Levac
is gonna be in the building thisweek. Luckily it's twenty twenty four.
Luckily you listening are hopefully still herefor the content. We're gonna have a
lot of fun. It's gonna bethe same show. Technology is in our
favor. Let's put it like that. We are still gonna provide you this
stuff, but it will be different. It will be different, but it's

(01:33):
okay. I can see your face, you can't see mine. I want
to keep it that way. Howgreat does the beard look today? I
just saw it in the in thelittle picture like the Beid. Like I'm
gonna literally be gray Beard by thetime the season starts. It's a mix
between a dignified politician in the eighteenthirties in a rocker like a nineteen nineties
rocker. Is what it looks likeright now. See they're back. I

(01:56):
know it's just pure rocker. That'sjust pure. It's ball rock there.
Yeah, man, it's crazy,it's it's uh yeah, Well, I'll
give you a full update on wherewe're at a little bit later on.
But I just, I mean,listen, when you talk about championships,
when you talk about going after it, getting it done right now, it
feels like the Knicks are like thetop of that conversation for me, because

(02:19):
they played about as bad as youcould play and still beat the seventy six
ers over the weekend, and nowwe're coming back for a game two Like
that game guy has had me inknots until you know, hearts started taking
over and everything like that. Andmy computers, my computer's got something to
say. It's it's ridiculous. Idon't know if you can hear that or
not, but it was. Itwas crazy, Like I thought. I

(02:44):
thought we were actually gonna lose thatgame, even with Embid being like sixty
percent getting hurt all that. Ithought the Nat're gonna call that game up.
Thinking back to our Friday show,I thought about this watching the game
too. If you missed at AppleSpotify, the iHeart app at New York
Post to cover article and we ledthe show talking about it on Friday was
Jalen versus Goliath, and I keptgoing back to that, even during the

(03:07):
game, there were times where Ithought the Knicks felt like an underdog,
even when they had the lead.I actually used that picture of the back.
I was like, you know what, I gotta find some non basketball
fans and show this to them andthey're like, how tall do you think
this guy is in a real lifeI gotta get my wife credit. To
my wife's credit, she nailed JalenBrunton at six foot two. She's like,
oh, you know, and sheactually, you know, MJ and

(03:28):
Lebron like bigger forwards are the biggernames of the NBA in the last thirty
years, besides Iverson, who wetalked about. But that game was about
everybody for the Knicks. It wasabout the fans in the garden going absolutely
crazy, and you know, oneof the controversies but the fans were too
loud and too many rich people wereNow, no, no, you don't
get the criticized. I love AlanHans's take. You don't get to criticize

(03:49):
how a fan is a fan.If you're being polite, if you're not
being rude or fighting somebody or beinga drunk, you can cheer as loud
as you want. No criticism,mayor do what you want as a fan.
It was guys like Josh Hart whostepped up and made plays. It
was other guys across this team,Mitchell Robinson making some plays down low.
It wasn't just Jalen Brunson versus Embiidor David versus Goliath or Jalen. However,

(04:15):
it was what you've been saying forabout a month, Levac. This
is actually a team eight team likethe Denver Nuggets, but Jokic turned into
a star, like the Raptors,but Kawhi turned into the star. There's
been winners like this in the NBA, and that was a great start for
the series for the Knicks. Yeah, the bench was strong. You know,

(04:38):
Tim's doing Tim's things only only runningeight deep, three off the bench.
But like when you look at what'sBydogovic, Robinson, McBride off the
bench, those three dudes just cameup. Gigantick gave you the spark he
needed. Like I mentioned, heartin the second half, looks like a
different dude. The Villanova three,you know, two of the three not

(04:59):
a exactly what you're hoping to seefrom him. Brunton toughing it out twenty
two points forty one minutes. Heartagain, the second half came, came
alive, played the electric Devinchenzo likehe's two for five for three point land
that's that's not why you're there,brother d and three baby, come on
now get it together. But justthe bench coming through, and you know,

(05:20):
I think you're seeing Mitchell Robinson's goingto more and more take the the
front end role. And I guessthe biggest question for me moving forward,
Guys, now you get that oneto eleven, one oh four start now
that you get you know, youprotect home court advantage. What Joel embiid
are we going to see moving forward? Because he looks he looks slow.

(05:40):
He looked like, you know,he did his best. How about this,
dude looks slow, still gave youtwenty nine points. Dude looks slow
and was still probably the most dominantplayer in the game at sixty to fifty
percent even with more injuries involved.And he's he is a bona fide all
around super star. What's left ishe gonna be able to you know,

(06:03):
take the shot, get the tourit all and power through and be a
factor or can the next take thisthing in four after playing their worst game
to get their win in the firstgame. I'm not gonna jump to four.
That that I'm not ready to giveyou. But like you were going
for the storyline that I wanted toand then you said the number four.
I'm like, no, no,no, not right there. But it

(06:25):
is the nbad thought. It almostlike we'll do a racing comparison here for
the Capitol region. They do feellike two horses of who's got more in
the tank down the stretch because ifMbad's got enough, he's got to go
to the next series. But canhe actually pieces together their game after game
after game While the Knicks, withthat effort they had in game one,
do they have enough? You mentionedthe bench and how well they played it.

(06:46):
I know we mentioned Hart, butI know it's not too long ago
were you and I talked about thiswhere I'm like, if I had to
pick the biggest weakness of the Knicks, it is the bench in comparison to
other teams in the NBA. Becausea lot of guys on this roster have
been asked to do more. Ihave faith that they'll be able to step
up and do more in the postseason. Now it's just one game. They
were awesome, they stepped up,they answered the questions. They were really

(07:06):
good. The question now is isMBAT at seventy percent good enough for the
Sixers to win? Can Tyrese Maxibecome a all star caliber player? You
know, we just went through aton of names. Did we mention OG?
Like I know O G box score? Why doesn't look great? But
this is the fun part of theKnicks now. But let's say Jalen Brunton

(07:27):
has a good game. Let's sayJosh Hart has a good game. There's
a chance in Game three it's Og. There's a chance in Game four he's
the difference in this series. That'sthe fun part now for Knicks fans,
where even though everybody for about adecade plus is wanted a superstar to take
over every single night and everything else, Look what's happened now in the NBA
in an early part of this postseasonwhen we talk about superstars. Zion got

(07:49):
hurt, Jimmy Butler got hurt,Joelle Ebiid got hurt, Julius Randall got
hurt, and the Knicks are okay, kratsa. I get it to one
game, I get they beat theSixers. I know they're the under the
Jalen life all that stuff. Thatteam looked like a team that could win
the series in advance, and theylost the start. So that's credit to

(08:09):
management and TIBs and everybody else weatheringthat storm, and not every other team
in the NBA has been a todoing I qui Leonard Sherve for the Clippers.
So that's what I took away fromthat. They do look prepared,
they look like they could win theseries, and it's not just because of
one guy. All right, Sonow you realize the reason I said four
is I originally predicted it five.So if I if I'm gonna if I'm

(08:30):
gonna up, you know, hey, you played your worst game, you
won the game. Can you youknow, can you keep that going?
Is that beat out of this thing? I know Max, he's no joke.
Let's not pretend he sucks. Butlike I, you know, if
I'm gonna double down, I gottadouble down to four. I don't really
have a lot of room to move. I didn't. I didn't give myself
a lot of wiggle room here inthe first place. Cause now that I

(08:50):
think about this, if we lookedat what wager would pay the most,
Like you know, the Nixon fourwager probably would have paid the most of
all the things to Wagern because theywould have seen the least. Like so,
if you have a future wager,I'd like that to be texted to
me later on and maybe I'll ridewith you. I did say Nixon seven,
so you know me with my predictions, I'm too stubborn to back off.
Obviously, Game two will be hugeand important and everything else. I

(09:11):
think the Nbat storyline, you andI both agree on that, the health
of him affecting that series. Well, I just want to go back to
this one other thing about the garden, and we don't see it as often.
It is awesome to hear a playoffgame in massive square Garden, to
see the celebrities, to see everybodycome out. I want to hit on
that one other time because I thinkI might to confuse somebody about like why
were fans being criticized about their cheering. It's in sort of the same fashion

(09:37):
of what happened years ago when theybeat the Hawks and it was like a
party outside the garden and people arelike, New York, you guys gotta
calm down. You beat the AtlantaHawks, in a game, not even
the series a game. If youwant to celebrate victories, you're allowed to.
I don't need the national media againAlan Han credit. Hear him on
the radio calls often with Monica MCNUTTNothers. Gotta give him credit on this

(09:58):
one. You don't get to keepmoving the goalpost for the Knicks. You
don't get to say, well,you want fifty games, yeah, but
you're an underdog. Yeah you wanta game, but you celebrated too much.
Yeah but you No, no,no, let's not keep moving the
goal post for the Knicks. Let'sgive them credit where credit to do.
They won that game. They cancelebrate how they want. Don't hate on
people because they're passionate about winning aplayoff game. Well to you know,

(10:22):
to your point, that's the youknow, more superstitious or or just you
know, show me something crowd likelike you know me, I'm a little
bit more of a superstitious type.I know when I'm onto something and I'll
run my mouth a little bit.But at the same time, you won't
hear me talk a lot if I'mnot sure. It's when i'm positive that's
when I'll go so like, yeah, we remember, you know, Knicks

(10:45):
fans. Remember, you know,you beat Atlanta for a game and you
start chatting about Boston and that didn'twork out for you. Now when they're
chanting, we want Boston after onegame, that does feel a little presumptuous.
It feels like a pretty grandiose stepright now for Knicks fan. But
listen, if it works out,That's how Knicks fan always was, always
will be like, I don't imaginesomewhere you know the other Jason Tatum and

(11:15):
everybody's sitting there going, oh,you want us, Oh well we're We'll
go ahead and steamroll everybody right nowto get to you. They want a
steamroll anyway, But it is,it is. It is weird, Like
let's I would have liked if theywere out there chanting about a sweep instead
of chanting about who they want next. That would have made me feel a
little like, you're right, yourfans go how you want to go,
but we want to sweep, bringout the brooms something like that. Let

(11:39):
me know you're focus on this group, then we worry about the next group.
But Knicks fans, we're a littlecrazy, We're a little bit out
there. What are you gonna do? And those Celtics, Man, they
just look like they don't they didn't. Did they sweat. I don't know
if they broke a sweat against theHeat, Like I don't even know.
Like it was. It was disturbingwatching how how asually they just dismissed the

(12:01):
Miami Heat yesterday, Like I justwas, I was uncomfortable with how good
they looked. I was a littlebored by the NBA playoff action yesterday.
And I know the thunder Pelicans turnedout to be a great game, but
that was that ten thirty Eastern tipand that game didn't have a lot of
scoring early on. That's right,Celtics twenty point victory, Clippers by twelve,
and other double digit win didn't reallyfeel like it was that close.

(12:24):
Milwaukee was up thirty at halftime againstIndiana. Don't get it twisted. That
game was over in the second quarter, maybe even the first quarter. There
have been some blowouts in the NBAplayoffs so far. But yeah, if
you're a Celtic fan, you lookat that series and wonder, when will
the test come? You put upsuch huge offensive numbers. The test is
not against Miami. I'm pretty I'mpretty confident to say that even though the
heat made the run from that spotI got. I had one other things.

(12:46):
I know we're talking a lot aboutthe Knicks because I probably mentioned this
like three other times during the show. Don't forget you could hear Game two
of Nick sixers right here on yourhome for the New York Knicks Fox Sports
ninety five nine to ninet eighty ourcoverage we'll get in our way. It's
seven with tip off set for seventhirty. Hey, I like that question
that you just brought up. That'swho is the test for the Celtics.

(13:07):
Ooo. I like that idea,like because it's obviously you know me,
I think it's Nicks, but it'sgot It's not just Nicks, and you
ain't go see next anytime soon,like if they if the Celtics can breache
through everybody in the way, LikeI assume that at some point Miami's gonna
give them a game, maybe two. But it's like that was disgusting,

(13:28):
Like that was that was one ofthose things like watching just someone when you
know someone's good and you hate thembecause they're your rival, like but you
have to watch it go, ohmy god, they're really good. Like
that's really like that's filthy, nastygood. Like I don't know, maybe
you were live wagering and when youwere like, okay, I got the
Heat plus seventeen and a half.I feel strong about that, and then

(13:50):
they go, nah, you needa twenty. That's how good they were.
I know this isn't a wager youcan do, but I would be
very curious if what the numbers ofthis would be. Okay, going to
the Eastern Conference Finals for the Celtics. So the prop is to reach the
Eastern Conference Finals over under one pointfive losses. So that would mean like

(14:11):
they would sweep the Heat or maybelose one game to their next opponent,
which would have been which will beif they get buy the Heat, which
I think they will. The Cavaliersare the Magic. I was watching that
game. Yes, I found whereNBA TV was on a one o'clock on
a Saturday. I immediately I toldyou on Friday, so I'm gonna wager
on the Magic. I feel goodabout this one. My buddy Bert was
watching the game with me and tellsme, he goes, Gods, this

(14:31):
BET's terrible. I'm telling you.The first quarter that was an immediate cash
out situation. I will say this. The biggest thing that both the Cavaliers
and Magic struggle for after Game one, and you could argue they've done this
all year is scoring. So that'sbad. That's not good if you're playing
in the Celtics and your biggest weaknessis putting the ball in the basket.
So yeah, I think that wouldbe a great prop bet one point five

(14:52):
losses for the Celtics combined before theyreached the conference finals, because yeah,
I don't think Cleveland or Orlando willhas them in the semis of the East.
It will be either the Knicks,the Sixers, the Bucks or the
Pacers. And a lot of thereasons the Bucks look good. Damian Lillard,
Yeah, he's a maybe maybe.I think Portland, by the way,

(15:13):
was trending yesterday. Portland Chilblazer fanfelt for that where they're like,
oh man, Dame time dropped thirtyfive. This is I just and I
know, like I probably should justknow this without an issue. NBA,
it's always gonna be the Celtics alwaysget the lowest available seed, right.
It's like the NFL. It's notset up with the bracket where hey,

(15:35):
you get the winner of kas Magic. It's it'scover the lowest available seed is
right, Uh it is No,it is a straight old school bracket one
verses eight, four versus five,three, six, two seven. Okay,
all right, so well that wasYeah. The reason you thought that
was because that was like almost adone deal, like the Bill Simmons of
the world. They all thought thatwas done post COVID. That was the

(15:58):
rumor, and it did not gothrough. Like people are still shocked it
didn't go through. They're like,wait, wait, you guys picked the
NBA lottery thing instead of the recedingSo yes, it is still traditional one
eight two seven, Yeah, yeah, one a verses four, five,
three, six, two seven atthe bottom. All right, so they
get the winner of Calves Magic nextCalves. Yeah, that's not gonna happen.

(16:21):
It might be the finals. Yeah, I don't. I don't hate
so one and a half. Willthey lose one? You gotta take the
over right, I gotta take two. I gotta believe it. I gotta
believe Miami because Miami's gonna get onefrom them. They're gonna just play too
tough. And then wow, that'stough. That's a really that's a way

(16:44):
better betting line. That I waseven gonna give you credit for that's good.
One and a half. That's it'sa struggle. Like I said,
I think the heat can get one, but I don't know if the calves
are magic can have that respect forthe heat one and a half. I
wouldn't touch it as I take theunder, but it's too good man.

(17:10):
Yeah, that's good. I likethat. That's a that's a good that's
an interesting way to look at it. Later on, So I was gonna
say. The other thing I'd sayis that later on in the show.
Now we talked a lot of Nicks, there a lot of Eastern Conference and
more. I have a name laterin the show that I think it is
no doubt been the guy in theNBA playoffs so far. There's a little
tease for you. Maybe at onepoint New York fans wanted this guy.
This guy to me could be hispostseason I'll tell you who that is later

(17:34):
in the show. I like that, I like I like I like it.
I look at you teasing forward radioboy, Tommy hot Takes. I'll
leave it go. Second step,Levac, I can see you, you
can't see me. I can seeyou're wearing some gear. Thanks to elevation
ten thousand, I listen. Ifthey don't either put me on the walls

(17:56):
employee of the month this month orcome down here to be me with embroidered
hats that I ordered something, somethingis probably wrong. Like these guys,
we talk about it all the time, Like when you're doing your business,
you're building your brand, and you'retrying to think, how do I get
from here to where I want tobe? Elevation ten thousand, elevation ten
k dot com. That's the that'sthe joint, my friends. Like embroidering

(18:18):
on the hats, the printing ofthe shirt, the signs. Oh,
that's just one. That's like,that's like the gateway in like literally they
got the brick shop right outside themain building. They can design your commercial,
they can record and do your commercial. They can build your website,
build your marketing strategy. They're therefor you from start to finish. Guys,

(18:40):
they can make anybody look good.They even made you look good.
I mean, come on, that'show good they are. Thousand. Shout
out to everybody over in elevation tenthousands. Ay prep for the season.
Whatever you're looking for again. Socialmedia marketing, Digital marketing apparel and more.
They want to make sure your brandis elevated, and nobody does it
better than Elevation ten thousand. Elevatesyour brand today with Elevation ten thousand,

(19:02):
let's talk more about these New Yorkfans. Some of you get a little
sassy, So meet a little sassy. You may need to check yourselves.
That's coming up next. Le'vack andguys. Fox Sports Radio ninety five to
nine and nine eighty. It's Loveackand Guys on the Voice of the Capitol
Regions Sports Fan Fox Sports ninety fiveto nine and nine eighty. Man.
All right, so remote location.Uh, it's it's Arena Lovack edition today.

(19:25):
I'm uh, I'm out and about. But God's nice enough to hold
down the actual Ford, like literallyhold it down and keep everything moving.
We talked about the next and thefans have been a little like, you
know, a little pushy, butit's like, hey, you know what,
you you won in strong fashion,a tough game. You can you
can feel yourself a little bit,but now you get through your Yankees over
here, buddy still number one ofthe American League's almost nobody picked that blueing.

(19:51):
Aaron Judge, I don't know.I mean, I understand you paid
for the ticket. I'm a bigfan of being able to vocalize how you
want to vocalize. And I knowthat Judge has been having a off go
of it as of late. Ibelieve, I believe he struck out six
straight times. But it's tune.It stings a little bit. It sticks.

(20:12):
I'm not gonna lie to you welllike you can't boo aeron Judge right
now? Man, what are youdoing? Like? And I have two
reasons for it, guys. One, it's Judge and you're you're winning games,
and you know he knows he's playingpoorly. And his comment on the
whole thing was something to the effectof, oh you know, hey man,
I'm frustrated too, which is theright thing to say as always.

(20:33):
But the most important reason is Idon't want to give Wan Soto any reason
to not sign back, to stayin these penstrepes. So everybody be the
softest version of yourself as a Yankeefan that you could possibly be for now
until Soto puts pen to paper.You know this is going to turn into
a pro wrestling analogy for me.So here I go with a pro wrestling

(20:56):
analogy of remember my my favorite wrestof growing up was Ray Mysterio, and
he was the all ultimate good guy, all the fun moves. He was
small, he was on early,he's nothing but good. And then when
people would boom Ray Mysterio, likethe older kids would be like, no,
you can't boo Ray Mysterio. He'sa good guy. Cody Rhad's the
example. Now remember good old MayYoung to late May Young who's in her
eighties, can't boom old lady.Got a cheer for the old lady.

(21:21):
And I bring up those reasons becauseit feels like and people like maybe in
their Fred group, like uh lvac, you'll know this because you're the youngest
of five. You know when someonepicks on somebody else or mocks somebody's no,
no, no, no, that'sour job. You don't get to
do that. Okay, that one'soff limits. It felt like that with
Aaron Judge because if Stan did thatsame thing, and I'd be like,
of course you can boot Stanton.No, no, no, not Judge.

(21:42):
You know if a Rod and Jeter, well yeah you can boo a
Rod. Can't boot Jeter. No, no, no, no, no,
that's not the There have almost beenthese rules of like former Yankee became
a Yankee, grew up as aYankee where the there's an etiquette which is
hilarious. And I know Yankee fansknow exactly what I'm talking about, and
you know what I'm talking about.It's like, hang on, that's not

(22:03):
what we're supposed to do. Butit is New York. It is tough.
He's playing poorly, So Yankee fan, I guess you've decided it is
a hate on everyone, even ifit is Aaron Judge, even if he
is the face of the Yankees andthey're playing great. I was shocked,
like you were, to hear Bigninety nine feelingly he in the Bronx Zoo.

(22:26):
Yeah, I mean again, Iget it. He's he's driving the
struggle bus right now. He's nothimself, but again it's it's Judge,
Like that's our dude. Yes,homegrown Yankees get more love than free aging
Yankees. That's always been the case. It will always be the case.
You know. I told you backin the beginning when when Judge started to

(22:48):
come on and stan was there,and I was like, no matter what
Stanton does right now, he willalways be second to Judge. Like if
if Stan went out and had anMVP year right now and they could need
to boot Judge off and on throughoutthis year and then judging a home run
in the World Series to win itall, they would completely forget about everything
standard to get you there. That'sthat's the that's the meat of it.

(23:10):
Like I don't know, you know, if it's right or wrong, but
that's the way it's always been.You go all the way back to Mickey
Mantle and Roger Marris, like it'sthat is the case. But now we're
turning on the good guy. Nowwe're turning the guy that we always took
care of. And I really reallythink that it's the wrong time. Okay,
if we're trying to show Juan Soto, you brought up being the youngest

(23:30):
of five, when my father andmy mother would have over important people,
we would be told, this isthe one you behave today. I don't
care about nothing else. Today's theone. We need to put a good
foot forward so they come back orwhatever. Like that's like yankee bit,
we got to put a good footforward because we need Sodo long term,

(23:51):
makes his team very very good longterm, So stop it. Behave yourselves,
put down, put down that spoon, and master tails. You're about
to flick at your brother that don'tdo. Stop making faces at the dinner
table, and no more booing.Aaron Judge, how dare you? It
was a very odd weekend overall inNew York. Now, and these three
your things up right? Aaron Judgegot booed. John Sterling retired John Stern,

(24:15):
the Voice of the Yankees. Inone weekend, John Sterling retired,
Aaron Judge got booted. And I'mnot sure if every Yankee fan will call
what I'm about to call it,but one of those Juan Soto bombs he
hit, I would say that's abat flip, Like I would say that's
about pimping a home run doing hissing, which you and I have talked
about in the past, Like that'scool, like expect to potentially get drilled

(24:37):
in the back, but like wehave no issues with showing emotion and all
that stuff. But all of asudden, in one weekend, we got
a Yankee pimp and a home runin April, one Yankee who's loved getting
booed, the voice of the Yankeesretiring. How much pot was in New
York City. I know it wasfour twenty over the weekend, but my
gosh, we were on Mars overthe weekend, and like those two storylines

(24:59):
alone jump out to you were it'slike a Yankee acting non Yankee, like
after a home run. I knowhe just got there. And the guy
who everyone's hurt is the Yankees nolonger being there. Weird, bizarro world.
I like the bat flip. I'mglad I enjoy it, like I
don't. I'm not a robot.I like watching baseball be fun, and
that's that makes it fun, Likethat's those are the thing, the things
I've never really you know me,man, I'm not the unwritten rules,

(25:22):
like I don't want you to bea scumbag about it, Like don't flip
it into the upper you know deckif you're if it, if it makes
the score nine to one and you'restill losing, Like don't just calm down.
But if you crush one, havesome fun with it. AhR.
I flipped the bat, but itis it is weird. It's bizarre time,
man, And I I mean,you think about going to the season.

(25:44):
I was on board with the Yankees. You weren't a lot of people
weren't the experts. Nobody thought theYankees were gonna come out this hot,
and mind you, fifteen and sevenand they've actually cooled off of it.
Like this is like that's that's wherewe're at for the Yankees this year.
Like like you, you you're fifteenseven, your half game up in the
American League East. H You've wonthree of your last four games, you

(26:07):
know, but you lost three orrowd you you cooled off for a minute.
Now you're coming back. So Ithink I think this this Yankee team
is it's gonna be fun, It'sgonna be different. It's the bullpen is
not the strength of this team.It's you know, Lauaska's hurt, Kinley's
hurt. There's a couple other dudesthat you know. I I still don't
think we have that prototypical closer.So I think the other thing, I

(26:27):
have to win big run games.I think they're gonna have to have fun
when they do it. And you'reyou just got so much younger this year
too, So why wouldn't you bemore fun? But you brought to John
Sterling thing, where do you standon TV gate? Uh? What do
you mean by TV get? Ithink I know what you mean by that,
but go on for those who don'tknow, I think I know what

(26:48):
you mean by that. Everyone ismiserable that the that the Yankees went out
and got for his parting gift aneighty six inch whatever. I don't know
what the specs were of the TV. It's basically I think it's like a
two thousand dollars somehow TV or whateverlike that. Maybe maybe more. It
might have been seven thousand, Idon't know, but like people are losing

(27:11):
and saying it's a cheap TV.No not okay, okay, So I
thought that's what you were talking about. At that point of the ceremony,
I had had it on mute,so like there was a lot going on
in that ceremony. So I sawthe TV come out watching with a bunch
of people, and I thought,Okay, they're probably doing this as a
joke because he's worked in radios solong that hey, here's the TV for
you to watch the games on,because you've called that's what I thought.

(27:33):
I thought it was like one ofthose like rocking share jokes or something else
like that. That's why you're almostright they did that, because he said,
and I'm just gonna sit home andwatch the games now. So he
said that. He said that onMichael Kaye said that on whatever other shows
he did. So basically, Ithink on top of you know, putting
a plaque in the booths, alsothey're like, go get him the biggest
TV you can find, and somebodyran around the corner grab that TV and

(27:55):
they made it a part of thepresent. Most people who probably criticized the
TV gift are not John Sterling's age, because we can have view like you're
much more tech than I am,but we can have a long debate of
like what really is a television anymore? Should we still call the medium television
and radio? Isn't it just audioand visual? Where As people fall asleep
during my media tech. But really, like people who are gonna tech know

(28:18):
exactly what I mean, Like JohnSterling is gonna have to have somebody set
that up for him and then hookup cable. He's not gonna be chrome
casting off his Roku through a smartstick. Yeah, he's just just put
the game on for the poor guy. Okay, I mean it's it's I
thought, like said, I thoughtthey handled it well. I thought it
was Okay, there's no perfect gift, like like he's not going to Monument

(28:41):
Park. He doesn't get that.I'm sorry, but I thought it was
all all was great, and youknow what, just to prove it,
I might have to go buy anysix h TV for the room where I
had the sixty six. I might, you know, I might have to
just I'm have to support Sterling.You know, is that still a big
gift on black fraudast televisions? Isthat still a thing? I feel like
the like eventually through time those thingschange, Like I'm sure at one point

(29:03):
it was a DVD player in aVCR and like the big huge TVs that
were super heavy that every uncle hadto help move because it was so big.
I don't even know if TVs arethe thing, Like maybe it's a
PlayStation five now, maybe it's Ihonestly don't know. I don't think you're
allowed to enjoy Black Friday anymore.I think it shows gluttonous and excess.
I think you're supposed to go workin a super kitchen. I'm Black Friday

(29:26):
now. I don't think you're allowedto go out on shop. Trying to
tell my wife that the kids needa PlayStation five. This year they got
to get one, and they're likeyou, you think you're getting it for
yourself and saying it's for the kids. They ever played PlayStation five, that's
a great point. We should getit even more. They probably never played
it before. Oh wait, Ithought you were saying she wanted to get

(29:47):
it. Okay, I get it. So you you're using the kids that
she used to finally get a PlayStationfive. Yeah, I think. And
I was trying to tell people thistoo. I'm like, I think this
is a great idea, and theysay like, yeah, look, you're
the dead. You're not gonna play, and they maybe if they get older,
gotta get it now. I gottafig out the deals now. I
just have this image of like JohnSterling playing MLB the show, calling the
game as himself during it like justdo like can't turn the broadcaster off and

(30:10):
he's just playing a video game ofthe Yankees. Now, I would love
to see that happen. He'd haveno idea how to play on the controller,
but he could still call it batslike that. I wonder if he'll
because he said flat out like Istill could do this right, like like
I I just the community is basicallywhat put him down he didn't want to
do it anymore. Do you finallyget your wish? Just does Sterling go

(30:30):
on like Cameo and put up togetherhome run calls. At some point someone's
gotta help we yes, yes,not out of boaredom, but like maybe
yeah, out of boaredhom not notout of a lack of funds. I
think financially, I'm assuming guy's fineforever. But like like that, I
would pay. I would definitely payfor that. And I'm not a Cameo
guy. I don't. I've neverI've looked at Cameo to figure out what

(30:53):
it would try to get like arough idea what it cost to get somebody
to come to one of these gamesfor the Firebirds, but like or even
to do like the opening video.But like that would be because we once
we were able to get to thirty. For thirty, you gotta do somebody's
voicemail, which was awesome. Onlybetter would be, you know, leave
a message for Jeffler back. It'sa messive like whatever, like whatever,

(31:15):
it's a live action in the boxsaction, and now people would just actually
leave voicemails again too. If anyoneleaves a voicemail, that's also a john
sairything, but they would do it. Justy you no, no, no,
don't answer your phone. I wantto hear John Sterling say it.
I intentionally nord your call so youcan hear Johnson. I would. I
think there's actually a market for that. Cameo is a weird thing because I

(31:37):
think you and I talked about cameoin the past. Like, if you
want us to leave you a message, just venno, sixty nine cents,
we'll do it. We'll just We'lljust send you something. I want more.
I don't know. I want tocouple that. You want to affe,
I like three bucks. I haveenough for a coffee. We'll call
the day. That's it. That'sall I want. We gotta send it.
I can't keep my voice. Everyyear before, at the start of

(31:57):
the season, I lose my voice. So here I am. I finally
lost my voice again. Our guyHall and others who have watched you run
on the field. Oh, bythe way, I have to ask you
that question. Immediately, my mindthoughts like, okay, well, if
the lavac's losing his voice here onon Monday, he's got to have that
voice ready for Saturday when he's youhave officially retired. I think we should
break the news here. We cantalk a little more Firebirds coming up.
But have you officially retired from theon field promotion part? Are you gonna

(32:23):
tell us after the break? Maybegot a decide. I don't know.
I really don't know the answer tothis question. What your role will be
for home games in twenty twenty four? Wow, you make it. You
make me feel sad about like,do I get a TV if I retire?
How about this? I'll answer thatquestion and you have to answer my
question coming up. But first,talking about local sports, let's talk about

(32:45):
the Albany fire Wolves. The AlreadyFireWolves. They got a home playoff game
coming, so shout out to them. The Albany FireWolves will be in action
this Sunday. Cannot wait to talkto everybody coming up on Wednesday at three
forty five. But if you missedthe news, the FireWolves pull out off
that victory three o'clock Sunday, Apriltwenty eighth at MVP Arena quarterfinal matchups.

(33:07):
Tickets are now on sale. Theywent on sale earlier today at ten am.
For more information, make sure tocheck out all the Albany fire Wolves
social media alb fire Wolves head oftheir website as well. Grab your tickets.
We got playoff action in the CapitolRegion Sunday three o'clock. A perfect
time you're looking for something to dowith the family, your friends, and
more support a local team going fora championship. It's see all many FireWolves

(33:30):
Sunday playoff action inside ENVP Arena.Can't wait. So excited for those guys.
They've They've earned it. I'm nota fan of shooting the dog bones,
but aside from that, I thinkI like everything else they've done,
very very cool. All right,so let's let's let's give you quick update
and everything going on in the worldof the Firebirds, which the fire Wolves

(33:50):
definitely have affected. We'll do thatnext right here, Lavac, guys,
Fox Sports Radio ninety five to nineand nine eighty. It's Lavak and guys
on ninety five nine Fox Sports.I've taken the lead here, Levac.
I got questions I want to answered. All right, yoby, yell.
We have a big weekend coming uphere in the Capitol Region. We just
mentioned. The Albany fire Wolves arein quarter final playoff action the Sunday three

(34:15):
o'clock in MVP Arena and then theday before that, the Albany fire Birds
are in action. They kick offtheir twenty twenty four season as a part
of the Arena Football League immediately followingthe coverage of the NFL Network's NFL Draft.
So mister irrelevant hits right off tothe Capitol Region. It's a really
cool thing on the NFL Network.So awesome stuff for the Albany Firebirds.

(34:37):
Now, Levak is on remote today, which is pretty cool. He's inside
MVP Arena prepping for this season.Let me ask you this question before we
get to the nuts and bolts ofthe roster and everything else. I know,
coach, we're scheduled to Jonas tomorrow. We want to know you have
been an on field presence in theCapitol region since the Albany Empire, and

(34:58):
in a rarity, the team presidentwas doing on field promotions because you had
done it for so long. Willwe see you on the field for the
first home game? Your voice isa little we'll say beat since over the
last few days. What happens onfield this year? Will you be a
part of that stuff? Uh?You're year boy back now and Bride is

(35:19):
gonna be doing it, so itis. It is not gonna be me.
I will not be the onfield MCanymore. Yeah, I'm I'm taking
a step back doing got other thingsI gotta focus on. When I'm focused
on that, I can't I can'thelp with everything else. So we hired
Nick Bernard to be our director ofgame day Operations. So I'm gonna be
backing him up, make sure he'sgot what he needs and maybe just maybe

(35:43):
get a chance to watch a fewminutes of football this year. This is
John Sterling. You need the eightythree inch TV. This is what you've
officially retired from on field promotions.I mean, like listen, I can't
tell you. I want to makean announcement or two here and there,
but yeah, the day to dayis going to our guy, Brian.
It's a sad day. We hadso much fun doing that together. You
have to handle it so low.The court gesturing days are over for us,

(36:07):
and in the days that you're notdoing it, you know, like
like when NFL Network's doing the colorcommentary, you go steping into it.
No, no, no back dying. Brye. We are happy for him.
He's our former insern. He's madea presence. He does it for
the Albany fire Wolves. He he'sa younger man. He wears a younger
man's clothes in us. It's ayoung man's game out there doing on field
promotions. He'll be running around soback dyning Bride will provide all that that

(36:28):
is cool stuff. So there's that'sthe first change for the Albany Firebirds upcoming
this week. Any other changes you'reallowed to talk about for Saturday's game here
on a Monday. Oh yeah,Well, it's obviously the NFL network involved,
which is a huge deal. Stillkind of figuring out all the little
minute details what they're covering, whatwe're covering. It's it's been interesting,

(36:50):
Like it's been kind of making mefeel good, Like with all the years
of running the other team when theyreach out and they're like, hey,
what's this, I'm like, areyou did it? Hey? We need
to hire that. He's already here. So feeling pretty good, feeling pretty
strong. Knock on wood. Ithink that's the broadcast is going to be
phenomenal. On the field, youknow, that's always Damon Ware has got

(37:14):
a roster that is going to bloweverybody's mind. The uniforms are in officially,
so we'll be able to do ourour unveiling, our way show.
Everybody that can have a season takeholderevent Wednesday leading up. My understanding is
you'll be able to meet the mascothopefully Wednesday, but worst case, our
mascot will be here for the homeopener and we're going to take on Orlando

(37:36):
and I'm hoping that we just goout there and mixed statemen and and run
the table on this league. Alot of people say this about the show,
that it really feels like two buddiesat a bar talking about sports.
So this is the most two buddiestalking about sports question I can ask you
on today's show. Am I doingthe game this weekend? The NFL?
Okay? All right? I thinkit's the NFL network. Okay, So

(38:00):
people just as soon when you weregiving the broadcast details that it was me.
So I cleared that up more forthat's what I did. I didn't
know, like originally I thought no, I thought it would be them.
Then no one got back to meand they asked who my broadcasters were.
Then I got a call saying thatit was gonna be it was gonna be
NFL Network. But I did geta call yesterday asking about our production staff

(38:22):
staff. So you know, honestly, just be ready, you know,
to have a suit in the car. That's all I can say right now.
I believe this is great love.I love this idea way better.
I love the idea that like theNFL draft is gonna wrap up, mister
irrelevant, and then like you couldcut to Andrew sains hello, and I
like somewhere running with the suits likethey gotta go. What do you mean

(38:43):
you had to put your kid tosleep? Guys, hurry up? What
do you mean the drafts sped upand they got the pixel fast finally,
you gotta I love the element ofthe surprise here. All right, that's
good, all right, I'd likeI'd like where this is going. All
right. I will have my phoneon potentially for Saturday. I I yeah,
it's it's gonna be like, youknow, it's weird because again,
remember I'm used to I'm used tolike smaller leagues that I have a lot

(39:07):
more power, I have a lotmore saying, and this is this is
not the case here. I wastalking to treball games just Saturday and a
little bit on yesterday, and he'sgreat, super helpful guys, ready to
go. He's a winner. He'sintense. But like again, I don't
like with the old league. Icould go, hey, I want to
do it this way and they'd belike, cool, do what you want

(39:28):
to do. You know what you'redoing with this league, Hey, I
want to do it this way,and they're like, now you'll have to
clear that through so and so andso and so. It's like, okay,
fine, be professional, but whatever, what about what about the nets?
What do the nets go up?How does that work? So here's
the deal. So the nets willgo up today for a couple of practices

(39:49):
and I seem taking older event.They'll come back down Thursday afternoon because of
the country concert that's coming up.Was it Jordan something or other? David?
Is that who it is? Idon't even like you, I you
know, I mean, I can't. I can't keep up anymore. When
I was doing country music, Icould keep up. Now that I'm not

(40:12):
in it, I just I don'tknow much of anything. Yeah, Jordan
Davis. Uh So, Jordan Davisshow back up for US uh for Saturday
that everything goes back down and theFirewells take over the building for Sunday.
Hacked you know, credit to everybody, you guys, the FireWolves and the
staff there at MTP Arena, becausethat change over, that change, it's

(40:32):
crazy. I hope we get oneof those videos from the MVP Arena team
of the this is what it lookedlike. Oh yeah, those are great.
Well and that's like it's crazy becauseagain so so we we had to
have our field custom made. Sowe're getting that's on a truck right now
headed here. Uh so that'll behere tomorrow morning. Then you know,

(40:54):
we're gonna put it down to makesure everything's right, do a little season
taking older event, then we againcomes back up. Country Show goes in,
Country Show comes out, our stuffgoes back in, then the FireWolves
go back in, then we goback in because we have the Thursday night
game. If the Firewalls weren't playinga home playoff game, our stuff would
just stay down the whole time.But because of this, you know,

(41:16):
them being so successful, good forthem. The turnover people here, Nate
and the crew at the MVP Arenaare just they're they're gonna earn their paychecks
this week. Shout out to everybodyover there. Is the roster set by
the way to I know, coachwhere suggested it was gonna this weekend.
I know that might be a questionfor him, but the roster we have

(41:37):
now is the roster that's gonna kickoff on Saturday, like this is it.
I don't think he's going on publicwith it. But yes, we
have we have our final roster.All right, I'll save that question for
him for tomorrow. All right,Yeah, we had that. We had
that the practice on Saturday in frontof a scrimmage forty plays scrimmage in front
of the season digging holders and thefans over Hudson Valley. And then and

(42:00):
then he sat down and and itwas I gotta tell you, guys,
I saw his face. That's adude who's not was not looking forward,
just splitting the hairs. Because theseguys are good. Like whoever isn't going
to be on this team this year, you're gonna see probably come up against
us at some point because they getpicked up by one of the competing coaches.
And then you know, if we'reif we're really really lucky and we

(42:21):
get in a stick where we youknow, somebody needs a game or two
off for whatever reason, we mightbe lucky. If you get those guys
back. So that's like, it'sa it's a very it was a very
tough cut for for coach where butyou know he's he's the professor. He
broke it down, he did itand uh and here we go. So
it's exciting. It's I know,listen, our roster is going to win

(42:45):
this thing. If if if everybodyplays up to the back of their base,
their football guard, we win thisthing. That's all there is to
it. I got some more information, by the way, and the fireworks
coming up in about two minutes.Leavec that you had a big hand in
anything else we need to know forthe weekend. Like it's coach, we're
gonna drop something on us on Tuesday. Uh yeah, no, no,
I don't want to. I don'tlike that question. What's it like for

(43:06):
you? Let's make it more aboutthe team president. Are you just wall
the wall? Is there gonna beany sleep? No sleep till Brooklyn for
you will act from now until Saturday. Listen. You know, you know,
I know I need my sleep.I value my sleep so that there
there will be sleep for me,just a lot less of it. It's
I like to say that at thispoint in the game, the president is

(43:28):
support staff. So like you're notthe guy you know making policy anymore.
You're not the guy who is hiringand firing anymore. You're the guy who's
walking up and down the halls goingyou know, Joe Naire who runs tickets?
Do you have what you need?What do you need? Okay,
boom, let's get that for you. Uh Nick, who's gonna be doing
game day? Do you have whatyou need? What do you need?
Coach? Where? What do youneed? Like this this week for me

(43:50):
is crossing T's DoD nys and makingsure that everybody here has what they need
to get us where we need tobe. Love it, dude, I'm
so excited for you. A right, So I'm gonna do this right now.
Why don't you tell us Levac aboutour friends over at Mohawk Chevy.
But why while you're talking about MohawkChevy, I want to open up the
phone lines because all week long we'regiving away a pair of tickets to this

(44:13):
weekend's Albany Firebird game. So let'smake it easy. Caller one five one
eight six nine oh oh nine eightoh five one eight six nine oh own
nine eight to oh On the elevationten thousand film line. Elevate your brand
today with Elevation ten thousand. Youalways call into the show and be a
part of it. Simple and easycaller one right now, pair of tickets
to this weekend's Albany Firebird game whileI grab the collar, Levac tell us

(44:36):
about our friends over at Mohawk schevvitplease if you don't mind, I wo
would love to Mohawks Chevrolet, ofcourse, is where I was blessed enough
to, you know, go andfind my beautiful truck, my Silverado that
I love so much, Black WidowEdition. And I know somebody you're like,
oh sure, yeah, Black Widowthat's expensive. You know what it's
It ain't cheap, but it wassomething I've really really wanted and we found

(44:58):
the right one for me. AndI worked with the finance apartment at Mohawks
Chevrolet and we got the deal done. That could be the case for you
on a different Silverado or Colorado.Uh you know, maybe maybe the Malibu
is your jam, maybe the Tahoe, whatever it is. Even if maybe
you don't know what you really wantyet, go walk a lot a little
bit over at Mohawks Chevrolet because theyhave an amazing selection. Travis Morren,

(45:19):
the GM is phenomenal. Katie Duncan, the assistant GM, also phenomenal.
Everybody in that building is great andhe will take amazing care of you,
from service to sales to management.It's it is phenomenal. Ay Gelcher,
who is the dealer over there withJeff Hard and has been a friend and
you know, just been there forme in a lot of ways for the

(45:39):
last couple of years. Well nowyou know he's part owner of the Firebirds,
so now I get to be therefor him. It's been cool,
It's been a lot of fun,and I hope to keep keep impressing him
at the level that Mohawks Chevrolet hasimpressed me. So together, let's drive
with Mawuk Chevy where they always goout of the way to please you.
Go check that out today. Isgrabbing the phones right now, somebody to

(46:00):
give themselves a pair of Firebirds tickets. Can't wait to see. Congratulations that
person already, but we'll cover thatcoming up with Top four at four next
right here on Fox Sports Radio ninetyfive.