The Grit-Iron Report | Lions Potential Free Agents | Pistons Win..... Again | College Hoops and Hockey Talk | Grit of the Week

Join the guys this week as they talk about the NFLPA Survey, some potential cap casualties the Lions could target, the Pistons winning... again, some Tigers injuries, and then wrapping up with college hoops and hockey talk!

Throughout each episode, Kiel and Tyler play and discuss listener voicemails, and then wrap up with their Grit of the Week!

Join next week's discussion by calling in and leaving the guys a listener voicemail! [phone]

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
On this week's grit iron report, we have the Lions NFL PA report cards. The Pistons win

(00:07):
again. Some Tigers injuries. Michigan and Michigan State basketball updates, some college hockey
updates and a list of voicemail to wrap up. So let's get into it.

(00:41):
Welcome to the grit iron report. Your Lions first all Detroit sports podcast today is
Wednesday, March 5th. And before we get into anything, I want to just take a quick moment

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to thank all of our listeners out there. Kyle and I have both been traveling honestly
for the last three to four weeks. So whether it was a delayed episode drop, less than ideal
audio, anything in between. Thank you all for your patience. Thank you for understanding
is taking with us. We should be good to go now for the next foreseeable future as we

(01:24):
continue to drop these. So again, just wanted to give a quick thank you to all our listeners
out there. But we do have a jam packed show for you guys touching on just about every
Detroit sports team there is. So you know, we're a Lions podcast first. Let's just start
right there with the Lions. And like I said, with the NFL PA that was just released this
past week. If you don't know the NFL PA is obviously the NFL Players Association, they

(01:47):
release a survey that is sent out on a yearly basis to all the players across the league.
They're asked a bunch of different questions based on the different franchises. They rank
them in terms of a plus all the way down to I believe it goes down to like a D or something.
So real quick, let me just read off what the Detroit Lions had for their their NFL PA results.

(02:08):
I think there's 12 to 12 to 14 or something. So we have treatment of families. They come
in at a B food and dining coming at a B minus nutritionist and dietitian B locker room C
plus training room B plus training staff B weight room B strength coach a minus team

(02:30):
travel B plus head coach a plus ownership B plus and that all comes together for an
overall grade of B which is exactly 14th in the NFL. So basically right in the middle
of the pack. I know that's a lot of different letter grades and in different categories.
But anything anything jump out to you across all these different grades that the Lions

(02:52):
got for this past season. Yeah, for sure. I first and foremost, the things that don't
jump out to me that don't surprise me at all. I mean, head coach a plus. We love MCDC. I
mean, we know he's a fantastic leader of men. I'm all in for him being aggressive going
forward on fourth down. I think that he really gets the most out of his players. And it's

(03:16):
really just a testament to him as a head coach. So yeah, I can't say enough good things about
him. Love that he's a plus type or first. That's that's it's pretty high. And I think
it's warranted. So shout out Dan Campbell there ownership B plus. I think I think that
their ownership has been phenomenal over the last couple of years. She always been great.
She's brought in some some really good pieces. Brad Holmes being the GM. So I think they're

(03:40):
they're just doing some really good things from ownership perspective. So yeah, a plus
there for head coach B plus for ownership. Love it where I was maybe a bit surprised,
but actually just thinking about it just Ford field is aging and it's I think it was built
in like 2002 2003 somewhere around there. So we're going on two decades and there's a lot
of you know, brand new stadiums or newer stadiums with newer facilities. So the locker room at

(04:03):
a C plus 18th in the league weight room at you know, a B 22nd in the league that doesn't
really surprise me too much. I just feel like Ford field. I mean, I haven't seen the facilities.
Obviously, I'm just you know, sitting on my couch every Sunday, but it doesn't surprise
me that the facilities are probably older. They're probably aging. I don't know how much
they invest in them. I'm sure they've probably updated them since 2002. But that doesn't surprise

(04:24):
me a lot. What does surprise me things like nutritionist dietitians, you know, 23rd in the
league, food and dining 19th. I mean, these are things that like, I mean, if you just if you
throw a little money at it and a little time at it, I feel like you could really improve that.
So yeah, definitely 14th overall, I feel like the Lions can probably improve on that. You know,
if they if they want to be a top five team in the league, I do feel like they should be investing

(04:47):
in things like their nutritionists, things like you know, food and dining for the players,
treatment of families, obviously, like we we love the families like got to improve on that a
little bit. But overall, yeah, not too bad. Yeah, I was kind of surprised. I mean, 14, like I said,
14th overall right in the middle of the pack. I feel like in over the last year or two, we've
carried ourselves like you just mentioned as a top five team, we're Super Bowl contenders now year

(05:13):
and year out. I feel like we need to do more to get higher up on the list. You mentioned the head
coach were tied for first. I think the other one who was tied for first was Andy Reed. So obviously,
really high, you know, high praise there and wow, great company for Dan Campbell. I'm surprised
there was no like category for general manager. I know they did they do a bunch of these different
surveys across different publications. I think the athletic did something for hockey a few weeks

(05:37):
ago. And one of them was like best GMs to work with as in like trying to make a trade with or
you know, make a deal or something. And that was a category that was so I'm kind of surprised.
There isn't like a GM general manager category in this, but I agree. I mean, it really is in my
opinion, no reason to not be better in terms of nutritionist, dietitian treatment of family.

(05:57):
Like that's just stuff that you have to get right. So yeah, 14th overall, I think we could do better.
I'd like to see them take this information like again, now that we carry ourselves as a top five
team in NFL and just at least get in the top 10. I think that should be bare minimum on a lot of
these. It can start to do some minor updates and upgrades to Ford field, like you said, as it's
starting to age out. But I think they definitely need to start doing better with this. Yeah,

(06:21):
so that came out this year. It's just interesting. Everyone has different takes and stuff. It's
honestly more fun to look at the different teams that and different franchises that really struggle.
I know the Miami Dolphins got like Cs and Ds across the board. The Arizona Cardinals were
horrendous again, Cs and Ds across the board. So I think this stuff like this only does damage to

(06:45):
teams rather than like actual goodness to other franchises. But again, it's on them for not
addressing these simple things and just putting some money in these guys are making billions of
dollars. They can put a little bit of money and effort into making that better. But yeah, so that
was just a little bit of Lions news coming out. The other Detroit Lions stuff we have, obviously

(07:06):
we are Lions for its podcast. We had to find a little bit more stuff. It is in a sense that cap
casualty time of year. You start to see guys that are kind of surprising to be open on the
market guys that again, our cap casualties teams are having to cut them or release them in order
to free up some money and to go into a different direction or something. So we have a few different

(07:26):
guys that over the last day or so have been released. So let's just chat real quick to see
like would you would you take them on the team? Obviously, you're going to have to pay them.
So if you're paying guys like these, you're going to have less to give. The Hutchinson
say who you're working on an extension for the other guys on your team that you're working on
these extensions for. So the first one, and that's Darius Slay from the Eagles big play Slay was

(07:48):
released by Philadelphia. He is set on record pretty much that the only two teams he would want to
play for is Philly or the Lions. Are you inviting big play Slay back to Detroit now that he's been
cut by the Eagles? Need your reaction is yes. Just because I feel like I mean I've watched a
decent amount of Eagles games the last couple of years. I feel like he has a lot left in the tank

(08:11):
and yeah, just I mean looking at his stats this year, I don't know if he had a inter
actually, you know, I don't think he had an interception this year. So maybe those stats
are falling off a little bit. Not that not that interceptions are like the end I'll be all for
a corner but yeah, I mean he's definitely getting up there in age. I think at the time of record,

(08:33):
what is he like 30 34 years old. So yeah, so it's it's it's tough for me to just say like yeah,
bring him home. But I feel like you know you can get him on a pretty team friendly deal. He's 34
years old at the very least. I think that you know he could add some really good depth and be you
know a presence as far as you know leadership is concerned for you know a lot of the young guys.

(08:54):
I'm looking at like Terry Nardle, you know going into his second season. This is a very pivotal
offseason for Terry and so I think that you probably could get him on a team friendly deal.
I'd be all in on big play slay and maybe maybe we see a little bounce back. I think the key there
is exactly said team friendly deal for some of the other guys we go into in a second,
which probably not going to be the case but because there is has a history here again.

(09:16):
He has said that really the only two teams he wants to play for are the Eagles or the Lions.
I think you might be able to get him on that. I have his numbers in front of me. So yeah,
he just turned 34. His overall grade is on this on PFF 67.6 which is slightly above average.
He's 69th out of 223 qualified cornerbacks. So you know slightly above average. His run defense

(09:36):
was slightly below average 122nd out of 223. His coverage grade was again slightly above average
68.9. He had 44 solo tackles no picks last year no total pressures. Only had 32 receptions allowed
last year which was 74th out of 223. So he definitely has fallen off that aged ledge a little bit.

(09:58):
But I agree with what you said. If you can get him here on a team friendly deal,
it just simply for the mentoring of cornerbacks. You know we talk about how cornerbacks need to
have that dog mentality that confidence that's like even if you're getting burned you need to
believe you're the best player out there in order to deal with these you know six foot four six foot
five receivers who are all stars. You need to have that sort of mentality and Darius Slay is always

(10:22):
in my opinion had that even going back to his time in Detroit is probably why he didn't get along
with Matt Patricia so well. So you bring him in he can you know really help with you know like you
said guys like Terry and Arnold. I think if you get him on a team friendly deal I don't I wouldn't
want him starting every game but I think if you can get him on a team friendly deal I'd be okay
with it. I wouldn't be too upset. The other guy so we have three guys in our show notes here. The

(10:44):
other guy that was just released by the Bengals was Ed rusher Sam Hubbard. So Sam's a little bit
of a more different case. Obviously we just said Darius Slay has history here in Detroit. He's 34
years old. Some what fell off that edge a little bit. Sam Hubbard 28 years old right in the you
know basically the the middle of his prime position of need for Detroit. You bring Sam Hubbard

(11:06):
here to Detroit. He would obviously need and require a larger contract but he is a guy who's
had success in the past. You didn't have a super great year last year but are you bringing him to
Detroit. I'm not exactly sure on Sam Hubbard and admittedly I just I probably don't know enough
about this player. I feel like there's other edge rushers on Cincinnati that you know are probably

(11:26):
a lot more a lot more famous looking at you. Terry Hendrickson but I mean just looking at his stats
last year only two sacks which is very down from his 20 23 season with six sacks and then yet you
know six and a half sacks seven and a half sacks the previous two seasons before that. So I mean
you look at a guy who you know I think he just turned 29 and he did have a down year too. So

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maybe maybe that helps like when you're looking at what you might have to pay him knowing that he's
not coming off like a 10 sacks season or anything crazy like that. He kind of had a down year so
even though he wasn't wasn't really injured you played 14 games right. So maybe you could get him
again feel like a broken record but on a team friendly deal. I'm not really sure. I feel like

(12:08):
defensive ends probably garner quite a bit more cash than a third four year old cornerback would.
So yeah I mean I'm not I'm not exactly sold on Sam Hubbard. I think that you know maybe and I have
seen the Lions mocked at that 28 draft pick to take a defensive end or maybe a tackle but I
almost think that you know they should just invest that first round pick in a defensive end versus

(12:31):
you know trying to get a 29 year old edgerusher who kind of had a down season. But I don't know
what you think. And are you all in on Sam Hubbard. When he was first released by the Bengals I saw
I immediately I mean we've talked about in the past I'm an emotional knee jerk kind of sports fan.
I was like yeah call him up right now get him into Detroit. And then similar to you I jumped into

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his numbers and I mean his past Russian grade is far below average at 47.6. It's 200 and second
out of 211 qualified edgerusher. Overall grade is just below average at 58.9. Real kind of just
middle of the pack. He does he does have a good run defense grade. But again our rushing defense
is already pretty good and especially up the middle and on the edges it's okay. But we're

(13:16):
really looking for people to support the pass rush and get to the quarterback which is just not
exactly something he has done you know and at least didn't do this past year. So I was all in on it
until I started prepping for the show and looking into his numbers and I think I agree with you.
I'm out on it. I think him having a down year might help like you said might get him on a better

(13:37):
contract. But if he can't get it done and have better numbers opposite Trey Hendrickson like
you mentioned I don't know who else who who else is he going to you know that should be taking a
lot of the pressure off of him and letting him eat against these quarterbacks and it really
hasn't been the case. So yeah I think I think overall I'm I'm half in on Darius out on Sam Hubbard

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and then our final guy just released I believe today Devonte Adams wide receiver of New York Jets
a little bit of an up and down year was up and down past few years I guess since him and
Anne Rogers left the Packers Devonte went out to the the Raiders didn't really work out there.
He wanted to play with Derek Carr his his college QB Derek Carr obviously ended up leaving the

(14:19):
Raiders so Devonte Adams was forced to play with a number of different quarterbacks him and Erin
worked out the trade over to the Jets they're releasing him in order to free up money you
know to to try and figure out you know some other positions of need Devonte Adams again 32 years old
61 kind of that extra receiver are you are you taking him in Detroit. Yes I am taking Tay on

(14:43):
the Lions I feel like they could they could get him for decently cheap I know we we kind of had
a chat about it with a couple of our buddies today and you know some numbers were thrown around like
25 mil you know whatever and I think that they could get him for cheaper than that I mean he's
he's 32 going on 33 years old I just I think that a wide receiver of that age like you're not

(15:06):
you're not going to get paid it's like a top 10 receiver in the league even though he is obviously
I think he does have a lot left in the tank and you know you look at his numbers I don't really
put a lot of stock in his numbers over the last couple of years just because he really hasn't had
anyone throwing to him I mean you mentioned it but Derek Carr and then a hodgepodge of Raiders
quarterbacks who all sucked ass and then you know you had a 40 something year old Aaron Rodgers so

(15:30):
on one leg essentially so yeah I think you put him in Detroit with with Jared Goff and you know
he's popping off for a thousand yards and probably probably eight or nine touchdowns so yeah I'm just
picturing him out wide when you have a Monro St. Brown in the slot and then you know you still
got Jamo of course and and I just I think how are you stopping that team I mean it's it's insane

(15:51):
I was on the fence I was leaning towards being in and but you just convinced me wholeheartedly
I wanted to bounty Adams here I the cap space just went up we have money to spend no one knows how
the cap room works the money just seems to continuously go up we can find it if you can figure it out
just even if he doesn't have you know 100 left in the tank because what we said he is 31 years old
32 years old he's so good hand his hand coordination and finding and high-pointing balls is so good

(16:17):
even if he can't go out and get you know a thousand receiving yards which he did have last season he had
1063 so he still has a little bit left in the tank even if he can't go out and do that and replicate
that you put him in the corner in the red zone he's an absolute monster he's a he's a weapon
you know I'm I'm literally just picturing you have like you just mentioned Jamison Williams kind of
doing the under under stuff and and breaking for a touchdown around minora same brown figure in his

(16:39):
way out at a 20 yard line then you have to want to go a little bit deeper in the end zone I mean
he had a 75.8 overall pff grade which is 30th out of 98 receivers so slightly above average I'm I'm
in on it I think like you said get him a good receiver or excuse me a good quarterback to throw
to he had eight touchdowns last year which was 12th out of 98 qualified receivers with a number

(17:00):
of different quarterbacks throwing to him most of which are probably fighting for a starting
position in the NFL next year I'm in on it I'm adding him that does mean probably you take on
Devonte Adams you lose Tim Patrick who we are huge Tim Patrick fans we love Tim E.P. on this podcast
would hate to see him go but you probably can't carry two extra receivers especially if you're
paying Devonte Adams so sorry Tim E.P. sorry Tim E.P. we love you man but yeah I mean Brad Holmes

(17:26):
I feel like you got to work your magic for Brad Holmes and again this has to be at least a semi
team friendly deal like you're not you're not throwing a bag at 32 33 year old Devonte Adams
you know you got to be smart about this but I think there is a way to be smart about it and
still get him in that Honolulu blue and I'm pretty fired up about it okay that's that's really all
we have for the Lions so we have the NFL PA surveys going out the Lions basically coming

(17:49):
middle of the pack got up that a little bit we had the cap casualties would we bring them to
Detroit Darius Slay we're kind of a both a half if it's if the price is right Sam Hubbard I think
we're kind of really in that we're out Devonte Adams give us give us Devonte Adams in the Honolulu
blue all that on him so let's move on to the I'm just gonna I mean the hottest team in the city of

(18:11):
Detroit right now and that's Detroit Pistons they are absolutely on fire again I mean the last
since the new year really they have been a completely different team for a number of different
reasons I mean we had to first start 2025 you had Kate Cunningham going absolutely off really
solidifying his position on the all-star you know during all-star break and on a all-star team but

(18:32):
really over the last three weeks three to four weeks since then we've seen K's numbers drop a
little bit still playing at basically an all NBA level but you seeing the rest of this team
really started to pick up the slack and in support K and which is fantastic because we started to see
it in a few different games teams were starting to zero in on K not letting him get up any shots

(18:53):
like just basically focusing all their attention on to him and now to see the other guys the
Millie Beasley is Jalen Durran Isaiah Stewart to buy his hair is stepping up and doing things that
we brought all these guys here to do is fantastic I mean they're nine and one of their last 10
they are 11th in offensive rating 116.1 first in defensive rating at 109.1 overall net reading

(19:14):
they are fourth in this win streak with plus seven they are absolutely fantastic there we are no
longer talking about this playing position they are trying to make the playing game that is
firmly in the rearview mirror we are trying to now basically get a home playoff series which
would absolutely build a roof off of LCA. It's so fucking sick part of my French it's so awesome

(19:38):
to see I mean what a transformation and you mentioned that yeah there's players that are
around K they're really stepping up what I love you also mentioned it that the defensive rating
first in the league in I think it was in the last 30 games what a transformation from I mean just
think about it Ty last year Monty Williams is your head coach that team couldn't stop a fucking pick

(20:01):
in role which is which is insane if you think about it you know this is the highest highest level
of basketball and you can't stop a pick and roll which you're taught to defend when you're in grade
school and it was so disgusting to see and it's so amazing to see the transformation that's taken
place this year where the team is just selling out they're playing awesome defense I mean Cade
I think in an interview after the jazz game or maybe you know a presser after the jazz game

(20:25):
he was just talking about how the guys the guys can play defense Jalen Durin he just has you know
so much length and you know he's he's a force down low but he also has the length to guard the
perimeter as well same with beef stew you got us or Thompson who is just freak athlete and and he's
incredible at defense too and and he's been so awesome on offense as well just have one stat

(20:47):
for you Ty and I guess I'll preface this bit of a cherry picked stat but also Thompson against the
jazz he actually became the youngest player in NBA history to have a stat line of 15 or more points
five or more boards and five or more assists without missing a shot and you know who else did it in
the same game is Jalen Durin it's they're the first duo to ever do it in the game so yeah I mean the

(21:10):
guys are just selling out they're playing awesome it's really fun to watch and don't look now Tyler
but they are a half game out of the foreseed in the Eastern Conference it's so fun to watch and so
rewarding because you you brought in all these guys you brought in JB bickerstaff who is known

(21:30):
to be a defensive minded coach you had guys that are coming in this year and trying to prove that
they belong in this future i.e. Jaden Ivey and Jalen Durin and both in their own way have proven
they've done the things that they needed to do taken the steps that they needed to to prove that
they're worthy to be a part of this future Jalen Durin what he needed to do this year everyone

(21:51):
needed to see him be at least serviceable on defense he was fucking horrendous in a defense last
year I mean he was terrible and coming into this year he's obviously out for a contract extension
after this year everyone was saying you got to be a better defense you are such a liability
at defense you're 6'11 20 years old you've got to be decent at defense and the start of the year
he really honestly wasn't he honestly was not being any better at defense and it was really

(22:14):
disheartening it really starting to think like is he not going to be part of this future is there
some sort of queen gauge if there's a trade market out there for him and he what all he's done in
this past like month and a half is flip that on his head and start playing phenomenal defense and
I don't I wrote an article about this I think last week just talking about this transformation
he's having they asked him after a game like what is going on how are you suddenly you're you're

(22:39):
you're back to the old jail in Durham of last year that's a walking double double but you're
also playing fantastic defense and he was I don't remember the quote exactly something along the
lines of like I was just playing soft as shit I looked in the mirror and decided I didn't want to
be soft anymore and that's what I'm doing and then it seems to be coming through and that's just
kind of the mentality this team is taking on everyone is playing their role so perfectly

(23:00):
just give him a leak beasley the keys to the city I mean fucking hell he is so fun to watch I mean
that's the reason I was so upset that you got him in the draft last week he is so fun to watch
he they're there each have their own personalities and it's coming through so perfectly it's going
to be a little bit difficult we had a difficult stretch over the last week you know playing the
the Celtics and the nuggets they did you know pretty well over this last week they've been

(23:24):
up crushing the Celtics and I don't want to fucking hear anything about all jaylen brown
didn't play didn't really count I don't fucking care it doesn't sound our fault that a guy has
hurt you we're going to beat who you put in front of us and then they absolutely just crushed the
jazz last night or two nights ago when this is being released and that's what good teams do good
teams beat up on the bad teams so I'm so fired up I if we get a home playoff series or something

(23:47):
downtown you better believe I I would take out a second mortgage on my house to go watch that
game to go watch multiple games I am so fired up with them I'll be there I'll fly in 100% no
matter what it takes to see a playoff game business playoff game that would be incredible and and
yeah just just shout out to JB bickersap eastern conference coach of the month for the month of
February and in my opinion he's he's he's my coach of the year I mean this turnaround we've

(24:10):
talked we talked about it last week we talked about it in previous podcasts but this is one of the
one of the the greatest turnarounds that that you've seen just considering how dog shit the
pissons were last year and you know this the leap that they've been able to take this year
it's it's a huge part of it if not the entire part of it is JB bickersap I mean obviously the
players are getting better too big part of itscade but coaching goes a long way man so just an

(24:33):
incredible shout out to JB bickersap yeah like I said eastern conference coach of the coach of
the month for February and in my opinion he's coach of the year so we'll see on that but yeah I mean
it's um they got a tough game tonight you mentioned there a couple games coming up tough game tonight
at the Clippers they just beat him last week so it's kind of a revenge game there um then you
know well deserved a couple of days off from the road trip before they actually host golden state

(24:58):
at home of course another good team and then and then also host the trailblazers who are like sneaky
one of the hotter if not if not you know one of the hottest teams in the NBA as well after a pretty
horrible start for them so yeah tough tough you know stretch of three games but I mean I just I
like how the pissen stack up against anyone and that's crazy to say we could not say that year ago

(25:19):
the trailblazers are playing really well uh Detroit's own Chauncey billops the trailblazers had coach
they I believe I saw something on Twitter I have not confirmed this even if we lose out on this
road stand that you just mentioned golden state and trailblazers I believe we're still pretty
firmly in that six seed so it doesn't necessarily hurt us against that uh you know any sort of

(25:41):
playoff percentages but obviously it'll hurt us trying to get to that four seed and get a home
playoff series so um yeah super important streak coming up hopefully they use those few days off to
uh you know to start recharging and gear out for this playoff push that we haven't had in seven
eight years so it's it's awesome um we actually have a listener voicemail that has to do with

(26:02):
both the pistons and the lions so let's give that a listen right now hi this is John Technic from
midland love what you two boys are cooking up here with the Detroit sports renaissance I've been
debating which title would mean the most so I wanted to ask would you rather see a pistons three
feet or the lion and party football bring it home thank you oh man uh first and foremost

(26:29):
johnny johnny for midland thanks so much for the voicemail I I almost can't tell if you're from
midland michigan or midland texas with that accent man but it's uh yeah that's it's tremendous to
hear and really great question I love a good hypothetical you know a good would you rather
it's a tough one I think that if I was choosing between a lion super bowl or a pistons three

(26:51):
feet um I think I probably would lean towards that pistons three feet just because you know
there's that's a that's a dynasty that you know you hardly see nowadays in in the NBA it's it's
hard to win three in a row but you throw in you you dangle the carrot and throw in you know a
sparty national championship as well um sorry I didn't hear if that was in football or basketball

(27:12):
of course we're you know approaching march madness I would you know I would cry tears of joy if
michigan state won another natty in basketball but I think when you throw love at spartans
with the lions I think that it's a pretty easy one I'm going with that but if Michigan State sports
weren't in it I'm probably going pistons just because I mean that three feet is it's it's real

(27:32):
tough to do but I don't know Ty what what are you what are you feeling from a good old johnny picnics
uh hypothetical year yeah johnny thanks for the call and the voicemail I I agree with you in that
throwing in michigan state in there really tips the scales I think if if it's going to be that
scenario 100 I think pretty much everyone's going to take the super bowl and and spartans

(27:55):
is regardless of what sport if it's basketball hell yeah 100 we've we talked I think on here
before if not um you know off pod about how tom iso needs one more championship in order to a peacefully
ride out into the sunset once he gets that last one I think he can kind of wash his hands go out as
our hero and never buy another beer in the state of michigan you know let alone this the midwest

(28:18):
again but then be it can also really solidify him as a top I don't know five six college basketball
coach of all time I'd have to break the numbers down a little bit more but getting a second one
for him really would allow him to to move on peacefully if it's if it's football you know it's
a little bit different it's a new new scenario with with jonathan smith there and so it's a

(28:40):
little bit different but I think taking the the college aspect out of it just like you said the
the three championships for the pistons versus the super bowl I agree three championships for
the pistons I mean three in a row it's a dynasty it adds you you know you're suddenly in that
conversation for you know top dynasties in the last 15 years and 20 years if you're getting

(29:01):
three in a row you obviously have a fantastic core that's that's very hard to do it is it is doable
in the NBA but it's really hard to do in the NFL a super bowl obviously the the chiefs were going
for three in a row um it's it's really hard just to get to two it's super hard to get to one I mean
when we lost in the nsc championship a few years ago dan cambell made you know the famous quote of

(29:22):
like it's going to be so difficult near impossible to get here again and he wasn't joking um it's
just so difficult uh in order to even get to the super bowl so many different things had to line up
I I'm definitely I'm going to go super bowl because of what it would mean to the city because the
lions have been kicked for so long I'm going to go super bowl on that one but I can see the I can
see the championship for the pistons if you just do the the three versus the one if you're doing

(29:45):
three versus the two the super bowl and the Michigan State you got it the the scale has
got to be tipped in that in that way yeah I think I think for me just like that that elusive
three-peat I mean you you join the the ranks of uh you know the the shack and Kobe Lakers and then
of course like MJ MJ did it twice right two different three-peats so besides that I mean I don't
know maybe if you go back further in history there's probably a few other teams that done it but

(30:09):
you know the modern era you know the MJ era Lebron era whatever you want to call it only only
handful teams had done it so like if the pistons were up there and and Kate is is you know front
and center there and maybe a finals MVP or two I mean I'm just like I'm salivating just thinking
of it so yeah we should probably talk about something else but yeah let's keep it moving again
Johnny picnic thank you for the call if you guys want to join in the conversation that call in

(30:34):
number is 313 30679 39 give us a shout talk about sports talk about Detroit in general
really anything you guys want us to chat about on the on the pod we can listen to it play it
react live so let's keep it going though we have again a record number of different teams and
different sports to touch on in today's episode so let's keep it moving down to Lakeland down

(30:56):
of Florida we have the Detroit Tigers we mentioned last week they were starting their spring training
catchers and pictures were reporting last week of the week before we had actual games starting
up this week really no one no one's needs to pay much attention to spring training the one thing
you know actually I should say the two things really to pay attention to though are the injuries
that are really starting to pile up and we haven't even had an opening day yet so Matt Veerling who

(31:20):
we talked ad nauseam about Alex Bregman on this podcast we all wanted him to be here we don't
need to lie anymore we obviously all wanted him to be here then once we swung and missed on him
upon intended we decided to you know start talking ourselves into a Matt Veerling being our opening
day third baseman he had like I think 16 home runs last year 257 I think he had something like that

(31:42):
I mean we were all talking ourselves into him he has now gone down with a right rotator cuff
injury has been officially ruled out for opening day which really sucks I mean again we we missed
out on the golden opportunity and then it also was released that some of the other free agents that
we were sort of targeting you know sort of sort of not targeting actively kind of started to avoid

(32:03):
us because it was so obvious that we put all of our attention on Alex Bregman so it's kind of the
triple kick while we're down we lost Bregman we didn't get the other free agents because we were
focusing so much attention on Bregman and now our backup that we have all talked ourselves into
Matt Veerling is out for opening day so it is just a strained right rotator cuff but still you
know obviously less than ideal the other injury that we saw and happens kind of in a routine play

(32:29):
just to pop fly out down there in spring training was Parker Meadows Parker part of this young core
that was just brought up last year he is gone down with a nerve injury in his right forearm
which is really unique and a little bit different than the rotator cuff I think
the rotator cuff is at least a little bit documented you kind of know that's why he's
essentially Matt Veerling's already been ruled out for opening day you kind of know

(32:52):
what to expect with that one with Parker Meadows and his nerve issue in his arm
it's it's actually there's no answer to it there's no timetable to his arm what it was
it's kind of a painful thing to have into him and then his arm just went numb and he's actually just
waiting for that nerve to wake up and the the strange and unfortunate part about that is that
it literally could wake up next week it could not wake up for the next six weeks so he's not been

(33:15):
ruled out for opening day yet but it's trending that way it's a lot of cloudiness regarding that
really unfortunate Parker again is part of the the young core that we brought up he's a gold
glove outfielder contender if you watch any of his plays last year he kept us in a number of
different games once we brought him up based on his his defending in the outfield he's electric
I think he's like six five or something so we can cover so much ground and his bat wasn't too bad

(33:38):
either he's really coming along he's gonna be part of this next young core as long as we can get this
nerve to wake up in his forearm who knows whether it's gonna be one week or six weeks it's really
unfortunate so the only thing really from the Tigers is these two unfortunate injuries that are
already putting a damper on the season and we haven't even started opening day yet
I'll probably start with Parker certainly something that I'm I'm more concerned with just because

(34:02):
yeah like you said it's kind of a little more of a flukey a little more of a freak injury so yeah
I mean I don't I don't know if there's anything that you know you could do to kind of rehab that
or like you know make make that nerve wake up faster I have no idea I don't even pretend to
understand how the how the fucking human body works but just thinking about Parker and yeah
I'm hoping for a speedy recovery hopefully that that nerve you know ends up ends up coming through

(34:22):
just fine and then yeah like the Matt Veerling one probably a lot less worried about that I mean
strain rotator cuff it'd be one thing if he was you know a starting pitcher or you know a pitcher
in the rotation and that was his throwing arm is is that that would be you know kind of a tough
injury for a pitcher but I mean he's a third baseman so obviously he still needs his throwing
arm but yeah I'm not not like super worried it's a strain strains happen they have a timeline for

(34:47):
it they know he's not going to be ready for opening day but I mean I don't see that like
affecting him you know too too far into the season but yeah I mean he's he's super important you
talked about it Ty but when you miss out on a guy like Alex Pregman you know you still have a really
good dude at third base I mean Matt Veerling who's very much like just entering his prime right now
27 maybe maybe just turned 28 and had had his best season to date yeah baton 257 16 dingers

(35:13):
every every year he has improved on his home run count so I mean I have no reason to think that he
wouldn't want to prove on it this year maybe hit you know 18 19 maybe maybe 20 dingers so
yeah hoping hoping for a speedy recovery for both Maddie V and and Parker yep that's it for the
Tigers again opening day is and I believe 30 days from today 29 days from today depending on when

(35:38):
you're listening to this as we already discussed is on a Friday so downtown will be absolutely buzzing
hopefully the weather is beautiful usually it's on a Thursday we all need to you know act like we
have the flu that next day on Friday at work so now that's on a Friday we can actually enjoy it
and hang out on on Saturday down there so let's jump over to the Red Wings let's do it wings

(35:58):
bit of a skid right now they're on they're on a two game skid they actually dropped both their
games to Columbus this past week including the outdoor stadium series game that was played
at the horseshoe where Ohio State plays football so really cool game and I know that the viewership
was way way up I think I don't have the stats in front of me but I was just looking at it on

(36:20):
Twitter I think it was average of 1.6 million viewers which was the most viewed hockey game
since ESPN actually regained the rights to the NHL in 2021 so I mean the people were viewing it
tuning in to view that game I was able to watch maybe just a third period of it I think it was
just coming back from some travel and yeah I mean it was I don't want to like bitch and moan too much

(36:44):
about the refs but I will in this case permission to permission to bitch just a little bit but I mean
just an absolutely atrocious no-call on a high stick by Columbus that actually you know immediately
led to the game winning goal late in the third period so yeah I mean that was just an absolutely
sick one refs and it was actually right after the Red Wings tied up the game and then yeah just to

(37:07):
just to get scored on after just a blatant high sticking the the goal definitely shouldn't account
it and they actually went and reviewed it and and somehow somehow it's still counted and you know
that the you know it's bad when the commentators are pretty flabbergasted so that one sucked but
it happens you know this is this is professional sports and sometimes the refs just make mistakes so

(37:27):
you got to move on you got to move past it they have an opportunity to right the ship tonight
unfortunately it is late in the third period right now the wings are down two to one to the
Hurricanes they're at home they're actually home dogs in this game the Canes are pretty damn good
and the boys boys are down two to one and I think they actually did just give up a penalty so they're

(37:49):
on a penalty kill which is not what you want to be when you're down two one with four minutes left
in the game so we'll keep you guys updated as we record live maybe they can miraculously turn
this around again they're only down one goal but they're kind of at the point where almost at the
end of the game they got to they got to pull that goalie so we'll see how they do a couple games
coming up they have the Utah Hockey Club at home on Thursday if I'm correct this is the first time

(38:12):
that the wings have ever played the Utah Hockey Club of course they're an expansion team so
should be a win for the wings especially if they drop this one they're on a three they'll be on a
three game skid and they'll definitely need that win before the the Red Wings actually have another
huge game at the capitals the Washington capitals on Friday before heading to Ottawa on Monday so
kind of three three you know two tough games a very wonderful game with the Utah Hockey Club coming to

(38:37):
Detroit so I mean you got you got to write the ship if you're the Red Wings you know they're
they're still one of the hottest teams in hockey but they're kind of you know skidding a little bit
lately not something that I'm extremely worried about but you know you got to you got to win games
it's it's it's the home stretch I don't I never claim to be you know a puckhead hockey is definitely
my weakest of probably my weakest of all the sports but I I never remember that Utah Hockey Club is

(39:01):
an actual thing I know their their expansion team they're new and stuff I every time I read I'm like
oh shit I forgot Utah's got a team and named that so it's always so funny when we talk about that but
yeah I mean I agree with you horrendous I was watching the both games against Columbus the no
call was egregious the reviewing of it and then still sticking with it I haven't seen any sort of

(39:21):
NHL you know referee program or anything any tweets or anything like that saying like well
this is the reason why they actually didn't call it I have just only seen people be like what the
fuck this is a blatant miss call so that's unfortunate but you know I will say we got absolutely
pants the night before you know in that was at LCA I believe by the bluejackets it was what I think
it was like one to one or one zero one to one and then we looked down and look back up and it was

(39:44):
five zero and I know that game had a lot of weird goals one of them was knocked down right in front
of the crease and then barely got tipped in with this a stick and it was originally ruled not a
goal because okay it was just thrown in but then it was too so a lot of weird things happened but
you can't get pants like that and then and then the next game you know come back and and allow the
rest you know to dictate the game like that so they got to write the ship again really needed

(40:08):
this one against Carolina even though like you said the Hurricanes are pretty elite this year
but they got they got to figure it out it if April and the D is going to hit as we want it to
they had to make the playoffs and they this little skid they got to put an end to it so
yeah it really important next few games again we talked about the pistons important next few games
for the home seeding not again not necessarily playoff implications for the pistons but definitely

(40:32):
playoff implications for the red wings as you know the next two weeks come and go so um got to get
it done with the boys and then the other thing I will say before we jump into some college hoops
we have the NHL trade deadline later this week again I again I'm not necessarily a puckhead I can
try and bullshit my way through it and guys that the red wings should be targeting and if

(40:52):
they're be available what it would take to get them and stuff I do know that uh steve y who famously
if you want him to make a move he's gonna go the opposite way and just stick with his steve y plan
I know he did come out and say he likes this team we have he's betting on us and he's telling the boys
not to expect the cavalry to come uh at this trade deadline which I think a lot of red wings fans were

(41:16):
pretty upset to hear so I just thought that was interesting yeah I mean I I don't I don't need
the cavalry steve y but I think I do need another defenseman I mean they're thin and they've picked
up a couple injuries and I think if if you have aspirations to make the playoffs or make a run
in the playoffs I mean this team is good enough to make a run um but you know first and foremost you

(41:36):
gotta get there and I think yeah I think there's holes in the defense so yeah I mean no I don't
expect them to like throw you know huge amounts of draft capital at you know getting two three
four guys whatever but I think one defenseman isn't asking for too much so um steve y I mean please
man you gotta we we trust the iser plan but um you got you gotta give us something here so let's

(41:56):
keep it moving let's move into college hoops had an enormous you know week or so of college hoops
going back to when Michigan Michigan State played last week Michigan State was is on an absolute tear
after putting out the two goose eggs out on the west coast they were kind of coming home to
an absolute monster of a five game streak to surprise everyone I think I saw something on

(42:20):
twitter about the odds that Michigan State was going to be was able to win all these games they had a
1.3 percent chance it to sweep all five of the past games one in 75 percent chance um and they did
it they end up winning all five games they beat Wisconsin uh earlier they beat Maryland obviously
Michigan Purdue Illinois we covered those ones but their latest one against Wisconsin just absolute

(42:42):
masterclass by Michigan State time is classic time is oh to lose two random games in the middle
of the season have some people start freaking out and then just come back and just slaughter the
competition uh on his way to uh hopefully might end up being a chance at a big 10 title yeah and
and don't forget to of course you know those west coast games were horrendous too bad losses there

(43:04):
and then what do they do you know two games after that at home they lose to Indiana and
an Indiana team that is maybe a bubble team at best um and the Spartans just laid an egg and
we're kind of thinking we're kind of scratching our heads like you know what is this team made of
and then yeah to your point they rip off five straight wins uh against uh at at the time five
five straight ranked teams i mean i think Illinois has has since dropped five but still um you know

(43:29):
four of the five teams are still ranked right now Purdue Michigan Maryland and uh Wisconsin and
yeah you rip off five straight and those are those are huge wins a couple of those being on the road
to you know with uh Michigan and Maryland and i i think that Illinois game might have been on the
road as well so yeah just just you know an enormous stretch and i think you know what we can break
down the Wisconsin game just a little bit more but i mean just another like you said in iso

(43:53):
master class in a game where once again Michigan State got off to a slow start and i think you
know you kind of blinked and you know Wisconsin was up like i think it was you know 12 to 3 or
whatever that might be and you're thinking you know how does this team start so slow every time
and then you know you're blinking um you got you got guys like Cohen Carr who are just throwing

(44:15):
down insane reverse alley youp dunks the crowds back in it you know jay nake and hits a couple
threes and then you know just like that the Spartans are winning and it seemed like basically
from from then on i know they were down at halftime but they kind of you know commanded the game
especially in the second half there and it was just it was it was another classic Tom iso march

(44:36):
performance where yeah i mean the Michigan State was favored in that game they were at home you
know you got the home crowd but they they really got the best of Wisconsin there they played
tremendous and yeah we have some i have some stat lines in front of us right now you know
akins 19 points eight boards and an assist he was great from three four of nine he wasn't great
overall shooting just six of 18 so not super efficient there but um then you got you know

(45:00):
guys like you know jace richardson who time and time again continues to step up even though he's
just a freshman very efficient 11 points um five board six assist stat line uh including three threes
of his own so continue continues to be one of emissive's best players and then uh i think probably
last thing for me i'll throw back to you ty but uh our absolute dog Jackson coaler who is really

(45:24):
coming into his own this season i know in in previous seasons he's battled some injuries
he's missed some games seemingly he is not only you know the healthiest that he's been
in years knock on wood but also you know he just he seems like he just has that dog in him just a
little bit more than years past 10 points and way more importantly to me 16 rebounds while also

(45:48):
adding two assists i mean you don't win that game without a dog like Jackson just cleaning it up on
you know both the defensive rebounding but also offensive i mean it was awesome to see yeah you
covered the whiskle game pretty pretty great there um we're essentially one went away from at least
a share of the big 10 championship and they're doing it by obviously not shooting the three ball

(46:09):
well but they are doing classic things like it you know like you just mentioned rebounding the ball
so well that are giving a second chance points getting out in transition getting points in the
paint so they're doing it in classic is a ways i don't know if it's sustainable when we get into
march not being able to shoot the three ball very well um ishington state three point percentage
is 347th but the three point defense is fourth so they're doing it in a very unique slash old school

(46:33):
way but it seems to be working so shout out to boys again essentially likely one went away from
at least a share of the big 10 championship uh and on the other side of you know the other
side of the state not to leave out our our michigan listener fans uh michigan had a little bit more
of a rough the last two weeks we don't need to go into much detail about you know stuff before last
week but they had the extension of dusty may and they are now essentially uh one neymarie bernett

(47:00):
buzzer beater away from being over three in that stretch since the dusty may extension they had
that buzzer beater against the ruckers um which was obviously a great shot at ruckers is a borderline
bubble team but have nba talent on that team so shout out to them um really lucky that went in again
so you're not oh in three in the dusty may extension period but uh neymarie bernett had 20 points

(47:23):
cheddar at 16 uh danie wolf had 10 um in their latest game their their loss there or excuse me
that was in the the ruckers game and their they only had five shots beyond the arc for the third
straight game or excuse me only made five shots for the third straight game and so kind of the
similar to two the spartans in that they're not making three point shots but the difference is

(47:44):
michigan state is limiting the opponents three point shots and getting second chance opportunities
michigan hasn't quite figured that out yet i mean just i think they had senior night at home the other
day and got actually stumped by illinois they were just crushed on the glass illinois kind of played
a michigan state like game and just crashed the glass and really did a number on michigan at
at christler arena uh vlad had 22 points for michigan but their other four starters had just

(48:09):
to combine 28 points so vlad almost uh had more than the rest of the entire starting group so
um michigan floundering a little bit they were firmly kind of in the driver's seat with michigan
state for the big 10 championship they are now struggling kind of holding its last breath for
you know a share of the big 10 championship so really important next few games for michigan
there to try and get some semblance of a big 10 championship or whatnot obviously both are firmly

(48:34):
in into march michigan probably falling to a three maybe a four seed michigan state looking to stay
at a two seed maybe even move up a little bit but um yeah really important last two weeks for big 10
basketball yeah let's just let's look at the uh you know the last week of big 10 basketball of
course not including the tournament you know michigan last two games mariland at home on

(48:55):
wednesday tomorrow uh or i guess today when this podcast is out and then of course at msu
and then michigan states last few games um at iowa on thursday uh and then uh senior night
at the brezlin um on sunday against michigan i think that is uh a 12 p.m tip off there so yeah
you mentioned it tie but michigan state can clinch at least a share of the big 10 championship with

(49:19):
one more win if they win at at iowa they will be big 10 champions and then yeah it's just gonna
depend on uh michigan's game against mariland uh if they drop that then of course you know it may
makes it essentially michigan state has already clinched at least a share but of course if they
win then it you know it potentially could come down to sunday's game if you know michigan state is

(49:41):
going to share the championship or potentially have it outright or you know potentially if they
lose to iowa who knows what's gonna happen right you know that could be it could be uh you know
michigan that that kind of controls that destiny a little bit more so it's gonna be it's gonna be
cool to see i think if you're michigan state you're not really looking at anything that anyone else
is doing uh you control your own destiny you're gonna mow your own lawn um and that really starts

(50:04):
at iowa um which is you know always a tough environment i think iowa probably has more of a
down year this year but i mean take care take care of business and uh your big 10 champs let's keep it
at the collegiate state we'll get this move and we just have one more thing to touch on you guys
some college hockey stuff yeah a little bit of college hockey you know uh not to toot the own horns
of um of the boys in uh green and white but msu hockey they are your back-to-back big 10 champs so

(50:28):
i mean we gotta we gotta give them their flowers they're another really tremendous season a season
where they've been you know ranked and uh seemingly in the top five the entire season a lot of you
know they they were the number one or number two ranked team in the country for a lot of the season
so um yeah i just wanted to give them a quick shout out and a quick shout out to uh isak howard
uh one of michigan state's best players he is your big 10 scoring champion for the year 2024

(50:53):
33 points in 24 games and he's just the second spartan to ever capture the league crown of course
you know big 10 hockey uh has actually not been around for that long but still second spartan
never do it so that's huge just looking at a couple of the games coming up for the spartan so the
big 10 tournament the spartans have a bi-week of course is the number one seed uh your big 10

(51:15):
champs and they actually play the winner of michigan and penn state so that's going to be uh the
the first round of first round of that tournament is this weekend uh the winner is gonna play michigan
state on i believe it is uh march 15th so uh week from saturday i think that would be just in my
opinion you know no matter what happens in the tournament i do believe that the spartans are

(51:36):
going to be a one seed in the ncda tournament and i'm uh i'm pumped i'm i'm really pumped to see
you know potentially another frozen four run we really haven't seen it since um that 07 season
the uh justin ablucator and uh duncan keith season uh that was you know pretty magical and ended up
with a uh championship for the spartan so you know we'd love to see another natty come back to east

(51:58):
lansing yeah shout out justin ablucator shout out duncan keith shout out adam nightingale for
bringing this this team back to relevance so that's it for a college hockey that essentially wraps up
all of the different encompassing sports and teams that we had to touch on new record on the
grit iron report for different teams and sports to discuss uh let's get into our final segment

(52:21):
just the grit of the weeks uh you want to go ahead and kick us off here yeah i'll i'll kick us off
man and uh i don't want to be you know cheating too much and looking through our show notes but
i do believe we have the same guy for grit of the week um it's happened before i think we've had the
same grit of the week a couple times uh i know sometimes we want to just kind of be contrarian
to each other but you know in this case when you have 16 boards in a college basketball game

(52:45):
you're winning grit of the week damn it and that is uh none other than jackson coler i mean we
talked about it already but just a really tremendous and really gritty effort by jackson coler
rebounding is majority effort i mean obviously some of its god given talent it's you know the
height obviously plays a factor but a lot of it is you know i'm just going to outwork and i'm going

(53:05):
to out hustle you and i'm going to get this rebound over you because i'm i'm just physically
a harder worker and that's really what i saw from jackson coler on uh on sunday afternoon it was
incredible to see i mean rebounding just embodies grit so yeah um i'm happy that we both have him
as good of the grid of the week like we said this team is not uh blowing the doors off teams with

(53:27):
hot shooting and uh you know just over skilling teams like you said we're out rebounding teams
and just basically hustling to the ball doing the gritty work and jackson coler is at the forefront
of that uh he is leading our team in rebounds per game 7.9 he's also shooting a three ball at 30.2
percent he had a few games a few games ago uh where he was just letting it rain from three

(53:49):
um really kind of changing up how games are being run he is i believe sixth in the big 10 uh
rebound wise again with 7.9 so yeah he's just doing the dirt i don't think we don't win the game we
had the other day if he is not crashing the boards like he was so shout out to jackson coler he's my
grid of the week as well very very deserving of it obviously jackson feel free to come on the podcast

(54:11):
talk about your rebounding the effort you put in um and uh accept your award and i actually have a
surprise grid of the week this is not on our show notes so before we wrap up the show my last
grid of the week again i i know i get catch some flag for giving out too many grids of the week this
one is pretty important i actually have a listener voicemail to show my grid of the week so let's take
a listen to that right now hey just calling to let you know the latin at coney island has reopened

(54:39):
again i knew that make you guys happy so that's my grid of the week my other grid of the week
lafayette coney island the owners of lafayette obviously we are big time lafayette coney island
boys we are not american coney island boys we are lafayette they are open again they were working
hand in hand with the health inspector they had nothing to hide they were working to get those

(55:01):
conies back out to the people they have opened their doors once again probably hopefully for
the entirety of their future hopefully we don't have to go through this again lafayette coney island
back open they're my other grid of the week hell yes mr health inspector please open these doors
that's that's awesome to hear i'm i'm fired up i mean you really just can't you can't keep down

(55:24):
just a great establishment a great cody establishment like lafayette um yeah this is this is this is
really tremendous and and i think my night is made in perfect timing i mean as we're getting into
opening day and look we're talking about the potential detroit pistons playoff games the
the weather is starting to turn up here we're going to be going downtown going to the tiger's game
going to piss in this game stopping at lafayette coney island having a coney dog or four getting

(55:48):
a can of beer squeezed in there with you know the million other people that are there i i'm i'm
fired up i when i heard that this was going on today has reopened shout out to jackson coller and
shout out to lafayette coney island we're so we're all the way back um but that is it for our show
thank you guys for tuning into this week's episode you can find kyle on twitter at kyle underscore
marino you can find me on twitter at dotton underscore tyler and both at piston powered and

(56:13):
champagne athletics join the conversation next week by calling into the grit iron report voicemail
for us to play and discuss on the podcast that number is 313 306 7 9 39 and if you like this
episode please take a moment to rate it five stars and leave us a review it means the world to us
thanks y'all we appreciate y'all more than you know and restore that roar

(57:00):
oh