April 5, 2023 • 35 mins
Jason Smith and Mike Harmon discuss the crazy controversy swirling around first lady Jill Biden inviting both Iowa and LSU to visit the white house. A big night in the NBA with future predictions of the Lakers making the post season, and so much more!
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(00:46):
way tire buying should be. I just again, stop leaving
Lakers Clippers is the game of the year in the NBA.
To our night, it's the game of the year. Next
level stuff, no commitment to who's playing, who's not, Trainers
working overtime, guys getting treatment round the clock for the
battle herd around the world. This is street lights versus spotlights.
(01:11):
Magnify to him an a leveled rivaling Rustlemania from this weekend.
I mean, that's how global this becomes this battle. I mean,
just think about this for a second, right, The Lakers
win in overtime tonight over the Jazz where they nearly
blew the game. You blew a ten point lead. Half
(01:33):
were terrible, but the Lakers win. And look, quite honestly,
this was a game that the desperation was there for
Utah because this was kind of kind of their season tonight,
right like they they needed a win or that was
going to be it because right now they only have
three games left in their two games out of tenth,
(01:53):
So I mean, this was their season tonight the Jazz
and they go down. So now you're you're talking about
out hey, Now it's the Mavericks in basically a winner
go home game. The next game they play. They don't
want to fall another game back with only three left
to play. But right now, as things stand, the Lakers
are in sixth place in the Western Conference. The Warrior
(02:16):
tied with the Warriors, who right now are battling in
the fourth quarter with Oklahoma City. That is that's something
that Look, when this game ends, okay, then we're gonna
know a little bit more and we'll know. But right now,
if they lose and it's one thirteen, one thirteen right
(02:36):
now in the fourth quarter. If the Warriors lose, Tomorrow
Night's game between the Lakers and the Clippers is for
fifth place in the Western Conference. And now, I mean,
just what a time to be alive, right, all of it?
What a time to be alive. I can't believe. I mean, really,
it's just absolutely insane. And I'm gonna say something great
about the Lakers coming up in a second, but really
(02:58):
it could apply to a lot of teams. But um,
Lebron had thirty seven tonight, A D had a big
shut up? Uh? Odds that they both play tomorrow night?
You're talking about? Hey, because why not have back to
backs for big games? Right, because that's how the NBA
likes to roll. Why not have this game be a
(03:19):
back to back? Right? Uh? Do they both play tomorrow night?
Do we get A D and Lebron tomorrow Knights? Oh?
I think they're both shamed into playing. At this point,
Davis has played twenty six of twenty eight. We're talking
about that a bunch because, you know, perception, reality and
(03:40):
history clouding what's actually going on. And that's one of
the dangerous things about missing as much time as he
has the last couple of years, that even as you're
making this run and playing as well as he has,
you miss one game and the perception is that you
missed two weeks, when really he's played in virtually all
these games. Lebron, on the other hand, look, we we
(04:03):
watched him get shamed back into the lineup as everybody
started to add tens of millions of dollars to the
virtual bank account of Austin Reeves celebrating Vanderbilt, celebrating Anthony Davis.
Perhaps a little bit look at the ferocity with which
he's playing on both ends of the court. Add in
all the other ancillary players the guys picked up at
(04:24):
the trade deadline. Yeah, yeah, he was shamed in the lineup.
He ain't leaving tomorrow. He can't Lakers at Game of
the Year in the NBA, um A night, Lakers and
the cliff. You say it as a jump, but it's true. No,
you're I'm not saying it because it's true. I wouldn't
say you were chuckling. It's why he's a nervous chuckler.
(04:45):
You know, I was doing more than that. I was
doing more than that. This is this is I mean really.
I mean, look at where just three weeks ago it
was mad the Lakers, and look at that they're spiraling out.
Lebron's not gonna play anymore. It's all over and now
here they are they gonna finish If then the Western
Jack Nicholson has to come out tomorrow night game, right,
would seems like you would you would be brought back
(05:06):
out because now you're looking at all right, so now
you're looking at this and but here, but see, but
here's the thing is that with tomorrow being a battle
potentially for fifth place, right now, if the Warriors win
tonight over the Oklahoma City Thunder, you're talking about the
Warriors being a half game up, and the winner of
tomorrow's game would would tie the Warriors for fifth place.
(05:28):
Do you really want to finish in fifth place? Do
you really want to play the Suns in the first
round of the playoffs? Or do you want to finish sixth? Right,
Mayor and you want to play the Sacramento Kings. Do
you really want to finish fifth and play the Suns?
I don't want to play the Suns in the first round.
I don't want to play them with Kate, even though
if you get them. You want to get them early
(05:49):
as opposed to late, But I don't want them in
the first round of the player Do you really have
that luxury? I mean you do for your last game.
You don't have that. Now you're still you still have
the potential of drifting back to the back end of
the playing round if you were to lose two of
the these next two games heading into your finale. Yeah, no,
no that Hey listen, if the Lakers, the Lakers lose
(06:12):
their last three, they could wind up intent. But that's
the point. It's like, Yeah, you can't be saying, who
would we rather play? Blank Dad, You've been crawling from
the no no, no, no, stop stop stop stop stop stop.
You know that's exactly what Lebron James is thinking right now. Hey,
maybe I can sit out tomorrow when we don't win
(06:33):
and we don't have to play the Suns in the
first round, and we'll get Sacramento and everything will be
a lot better and I can see us slotting in
and finishing in sixth place and we'll feel pretty good
about things. But if the Warriors win and then you lose,
then suddenly you jump to seventh and then you're playing
the Pelicans, and then you may have to play somebody else.
Uh yeah, but that's the thing. Do you really want
(06:55):
to finish fifth and play the Suns? I don't want
to play. I don't want to play the Suns at
all because that it's the one team and that I've
said for them. When it got Kevin Durant, it was
look out. Watched them start blowing the doors off the teams,
and then what happened. Katie got hurt. So you can
never really which is what I told you it was
gonna happen, so you couldn't. Yeah, you can never really
depend on on Katie. Right, But if he's healthy, boy,
(07:18):
that makes the Sun's nearly impossible to beat. If you,
if you, if you're not really equipped to go in. Yeah,
but that's the same game we're playing with the Lakers.
If they're both healthy. You don't want to see it, right.
We said that for seventy nine games. Boy, this team
could be fun and dangerous if those two guys are playing. Well.
Here we are three games remaining. But I will say this,
(07:40):
and this is please don't shock. Hey, I said it
earlier and things turned out fine. Frostburger, it was never
in doubt. I bet you were a pool of jello
when they blew that ten point lead go and had
to go to overtime, and then we're down three midway
through overtime. I was sweat worse than Kareem an airplane. Listen, kid,
(08:03):
you tell your old man to try dragon Walton Lanier
up the court for forty eight minutes a night. This
is the best thing that I have said about the
Lakers in a year. And quite honestly, this applies to
other teams in the West too. But since it is
about the Lakers and they're run up the Western Conference,
because this is really unprecedented in the NBA. You don't
get teams running from twelve to six or five in
(08:26):
the last couple weeks the regular season. But because the
West is so mediocre, and look, that's the setting for this.
But that's okay. There's a reason why the Lakers are
moving up because the West is really mediocre. But if
I'm the Lakers, and again, this is the best thing
I can say about them in the year, But I
can say the same thing about the Warriors, and the
same thing about the Clippers, the same thing about the Suns.
Is that I can think yeah, why can't we make
(08:50):
it to the Western Conference Finals? Why not us? Because
outside of the Nuggets, there's no team that you can
sit back and go, well, hey, they're just gonna boat
race us, and we're gonna try to make it. We're
gonna try to make a noble effort because as good
as Memphis is, they've been playing great the last few games,
like a jam Morant back in a seven game series. Uh,
(09:11):
would you worry that much about the Memphis Grizzlies youth
and and and their athleticism or do you think, hey,
earlier they could wind up melting when Lebron and a
d are taking big shots at the end of games.
Sacramentos had a really nice year. They don't have any stars,
and so you're going into playoff there you're feeling like
that's a toss up, right, Phoenick got Darren Fox averaging
(09:32):
twenty five a game. He's not a star. Where Darren
Fox is really good, we got a lot of hey,
let's say, averaging twenty five in this year's NBA. Come on, man,
that's like averaging eight a game. And last year the
last year, I mean, all right, look, this is like
Major League Baseball when suddenly Wade Boggs hit twenty four
before home runs. I understand that to a degree, but
(09:53):
I gotta put some respect on the man's name, particularly
when it comes to being a guy that he was
supposed to be a Aker, So I've gotta hype him
up that much more so when he beats them, you
were beaten by the best. Hey, he's good. But you're
not scared of the Kings. Are you scared of the Suns? Well?
You know, Hey, with KD, you never know when he's
(10:14):
gonna play. You go into that series thinking, hey, why not?
The Clippers are always underachieved. There's nobody in the West.
You goin outside of the Nuggets where you say, hey,
we're really not equipped to win this series. We really
are gonna might have difficulty winning here. And with the
Nuggets you think, hey, maybe the pressure on them being
the team because look, I said it about the Nuggets
(10:35):
many times this year. If they don't make it to
the finals this year, they're never gonna make it. You
have Yogis in the middle of a three year run
of MVP. You have all your guys are healthy, You're
at the top of the West. You are the best
team you're gonna clinch any day. I mean, losing to
Rockets night was really embarrassing, but still okay, this may
be a little bit of a dead spot before you
get to the playoffs. But if you don't win this year,
(10:57):
that's it. And you know, the Nuggets know it. You
know that they talk about it or not. They sit
there and say, hey, this is our year, man, and
we don't get to the finals this year. I mean,
when when is ever gonna happen? Other teams are going
to get better, They're going to improve. John Morant's gonna
get better, The Kings are you know, all these different
So this is the year? Now will they be able
to navigate when things get really hairy deeper in the playoffs? So, yeah,
(11:20):
the Nuggets are the best team and they should make
it to the NBA Finals. But why not? Right if
you told me, the Lakers could just as easily lose
in the first round of the playoffs as they can
make it to the Western Conference finals. So why not
the latter? Because they figured it out? Because as even
though they're not playing unbelievably great basketball, what have we
seen the Lakers do since since the All Star Break?
(11:43):
They make the big trade for DeAngelo Russell. Lebron James
has hurt, he is out, But what does that mean.
Austin Reeves slides into the starting lineup and Russell Reeves
backcourt has been terrific. Right, it's been Wow, look at
we lucked into that, but look what we found. Anthony
Davis has been the dominant version of Anthony David, the
one that we saw in November when Lebron was out. Right.
Ruy Ha Chamura has now settled into his role coming
(12:06):
off the bench as a sixth man. The Lakers have options.
The Lakers adjustments have worked, and now you're adding Lebron
into the mix where this is Lebron's. Hey, if we
don't finish great, they might trade me in the offseason.
I'm gonna have to finish my career back in Cleveland.
So you have motivated players, you have a you have
a fortunate break in in the in the acquisition department
(12:29):
at and and and a fortunate u avenue when when
Reeves is in the lineup instead of Lebron. So yeah,
I mean the Lakers, of all the teams, there's a
reason why they're moving up a little bit that this
is the team It's not the team that we looked
at from beginning of the season to the All Star Break.
It's who have the Lakers been from the All Star
Break till now? And that's a team where I could say, yeah,
(12:50):
I could see him in the Western Conference Finals. It's
truly scary to get to that line. Is thinking is it?
Is it? Mean? You do have the Mike Brown revenge
angle that's hanging over you because he's got a couple
of memes that are out there, the gifts that make
him look like he's Ted Dbasi, Cacklin, all of that stuff. Clippers,
(13:11):
do you trust him? Warriors, just get them on your
home court. You'll be okay. Pelicans stink, They've got They're
frisky enough, but not that great. The Kings, to me,
are are really fascinating. The Grizzlies, we've we've talked about
a lot, just wondering if the bravado, the let's fight
(13:33):
the world thing it works against them. I mean, I
like it curious. You know, you're looking at a team
eight and two in their last ten games, so even
when Morant was out of the lineup, they kept the
machine going. So they're dangerous. And Denver we know what
Yogi can do, will the rest of the cast rise
up around him? I'm not so sure. Michael, don't call me.
(13:56):
Mike Malone has his hands full here and making sure
that Michael Porter Junior and Jamal Murray are up to
the task when it comes to this playoff runs. So
I don't want to agree with you on principle, but
I'm forced to reiterate the point that's all along of.
If those two guys are on the court and quote
unquote healthy whatever that means, everything around them works. You
(14:20):
got two of the ten best in the game when
they're when they're at work and putting their best foot forward,
and you build up a roster with some depth around
them and guys that are committing to defense. Because that's
the thing that stands out right, is that since what
the last twenty one twenty two games, now do the
metrics top two, top three defense in the NBA. That
(14:45):
counts for something, particularly when things bogged down and get
a little bit slower in the playoffs. Yeah, not nineteen
eighties slower, see, because that was the NBA time just
in parallel with the explosion of those fake baseballs, they
were using an eighty seven. But Lakers have a puncher's chance.
And it's kind of funny to watch the ebb and
flow the roller coaster ride of this season, because everybody
(15:08):
keeps doing the breakneck turns to do the one hundred
eighty degree No, no, no, now they're back, Now they're great,
and everybody boot licking and kissing Lebron James. I'll just
pick your body part here at this point and washing
him up giving this run, most of which was done
with him standing around in a suit. Be sure to
(15:28):
catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific, Fox
Sports Radio, The Jason Smith Show with My best friend
Mike Harmon. And well, it looks like the Lakers will
be playing for a tie for a sixth place tomorrow night,
one thirty five, one twenty two Golden State with the
(15:52):
lead over Oklahoma City with about a minute and a
half left to go. But this is some great theater,
these last three games of the Lakers, the Clippers and
the Warriors. And somebody's gonna finish six, and someone's gonna
finish fifth, and someone's gonna finish seventh. I mean, this
really is something I never thought I would love mediocrity
as much as I did in Mike Harmon, But boy,
(16:13):
especially being a Jets fan and Mets fan all these years,
But boy, I really love this mediocrity right now. Well,
with the Jets, you aspire to mediocrity, that's true. That's true.
With the Mets, you've seen some really fantastic runs and
then subpar And I'm being nice here, play in the playoffs,
which you get you back to mediocrity when you balance
(16:35):
it all out, right, it's the I got a's on
all my quizzes and then what did you get on
the final which was worth fifty percent of your grain? Zero? Yea? Why?
Because I mean I dominated the rest of it. I
didn't really give a risk, but you realize it was
fifty percent, and in this case it was winner take
at all. But look the mediocrity part of it, and
(16:57):
the absurdity of the fact that we're so enamored with
teams that are forty one and thirty eight. Yeah, it's
a little bit uncomfortable, but at the same point, it's
great theater and for the NBA. One of the things
we lament is the fact, and many lamented I don't.
It's an EBB and flow. Just like Major League Baseball.
(17:19):
It's a long season. If you don't like it, don't watch,
come in for the final three weeks, just like you
do in college basketball. Right, nobody pays attention unless you're
an ardent supporter of a team or a conference. You're
not paying attention to the NCAA world at large. Necessarily
a couple of stories will break through, but otherwise, hey,
I'll see in March with the conference tournaments. And then
(17:40):
when it's time to fill out a bracket and lose
to someone in the office who picks based on color
schemes or the ferocity of a mascot, that's great. NBA,
it's the same thing. It lives in the background while
we're watching the NFL. And that's not to say it.
Look we pay attention to We've been reporting on it,
and that's part of the gig, but part of the
love of it all. But doesn't mean we can't point
(18:03):
out when the product is bad or inferior, when guys
are taking long stretches off or can't get along or
talking about operations shutdown. Luca and Kyrie, I think we
mightly just leave well, I think we're done. You know,
we're not even gonna play. We're around the playing game,
but to hell with it. No, the fact that all
of these winding roads and chaos turns and hot take
(18:26):
nonsense about breaking it all up and shipping guys off
to the worst NBA destinations doesn't matter anymore because for
three games for one week, all right, less than a week,
but for less than a week, it is going to
be fantastic theater to watch, how it plays, how many
guys actually see the court tomorrow. Who is the hero
(18:46):
that comes off the bench, isn't Ruey Hatchamura. Is that
the move that's gonna set the Lakers to the next
great space in franchise history? Can't wait to watch Twitter
at out about a fresca. Mike gets swollen down the
Jason Show with my best friend Mike Harmon. Now you
said college basketball, and today is another day where hopefully
(19:08):
this controversy that's been raging for the last forty eight
hours is now over. If you remember the whole should
Iowa go to the White House thing that was launched
just a day and a half ago, it feels like
three weeks ago. It was after LSU beats Iowa in
the women's National Championship game, which again Bravo for the
women's game that is getting all these head that we're
(19:29):
still talking about this game, you know, two and a
half days later, first Lady, normally the winners of the
of the championships and big championships in pros and college
me visit the White House, but Doctor Joe Biden wanted
to make sure that, well maybe we get more than
just LSU to visit the White House. So I know
(19:50):
we'll how the champions come to to the White House.
We always do, so you know, we'll have LSU come.
But you know what I'm gonna tell Joe, I think
I wish should come too, because they played such a
good game. So right, so winners and losers that sportsmanship.
Uh yeah, okay, so yeah, okay. Now that now this
(20:14):
is a thing, so that become a story, and I
hate that it's become a story. And the only reason
this became a story is because it was on the
heels of the Angel Reese Caitlin Clark story, which is
a big deal. Which it's okay for Caitlyn Clark to
talk smack, but not when Angel Reese does it. And
then you're getting into racial overtones on it, and why
(20:35):
why is why is it? Why is it okay for
the white player but it's not okay for the black
player to do it. It's the only reason this became
a big deal is because it was on the heels
of that, which is a real topic. But now today
it looks like, hopefully it was put to bed because
Caitlyn Clark went on ESPN did an interview and she said, listen,
we shouldn't be going to the White House. Okay, we
(20:56):
shouldn't be going to the White House. This is not
as it's not for runners up, it is for LSU.
And the White House put out a statement basically agreeing
with that, and they kind of walk back Jill Biden's statement,
and we saw a tweet from Joe Biden President Biden
who said, looking forward to having LSU coming to the
White House and awesome, right, awesome. So now it looks
(21:19):
like it. So now it looks like it's over, and
I hope it's over because this is stupid. This whole
thing was stupid. This was not done with malicious intent.
This was done as many things in politics are done,
where you should have thought about things a little bit
better before you say something. And I don't know if
it was just Hey, in the last three days, why
is everybody talking about this Caitlyn Clark. Someone getting me
(21:39):
some information on Caitlyn Clark so I can find out
what this is all about. Boy, what a great player.
Let's invite them to the White House too. Okay, we
generally don't do that. I understand you want to celebrate
women's sports, and I understand that, Hey, Iaa could be
a swing state in the election. We always went you know,
the White House never does anything with about thinking how
things are going to be politically. So oh, okay, maybe
(22:02):
we can do it and invite them to come, because
maybe that helps us in twenty twenty four. This is
not a racial thing. Do you really think that the
White House wants to get involved in something where they're
dividing racial tensions. Nobody wants to do that, of course not.
This was a stupid controversy that came up that I
hope goes away. I really do, because this was not nefarious,
(22:23):
It was not something that was sinister. It was something
that just should have been fought out a little bit better. Hey,
I get you want to do this and having Iowa
to the White House. Hey awesome, right, you want to
celebrate college sports, but this is kind of a thing
for the winners. This might not be taken how you
think it's gonna go over. They're not going to suddenly go, hey,
this is great, let's have the all, let's celebrate everythna
(22:46):
the winners get to go. That's kind of how it works.
So it just was something that needed to be thought
out a little bit better. And that's what this was.
There was nothing sinister being done about it. There was
nothing overly overly well, there's a hidden meaning behind this
just shouldn't But that's the way it is now, both
sides of the aisle. Now, how many how many times
do we see something something a politician say something, and
we go, oh, I don't know that I would have
(23:08):
said that, Oh I don't know. It happens every day, right,
every day somebody it's it's it's what keeps Jimmy Fallon
and Stephen Colbert and everybody in business the day. It's
when a politician said today, So we get to say
this and say that that's just how it is, and
that and instead of being something fun that we kind
of dismiss it becomes a big thing because it's on
the heels of the Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark story,
(23:31):
which is a big deal. That's the only reason why
this is big. If we didn't have that controversy about
the smack talk and everything else, this wouldn't be a thing.
But now it's become a thing strictly because of that
now and the hard part is is it spins off.
And you know, for her part, Caitlin Clark doing an
interview on on ESPN today, you know, dismissed it, said, hey,
(23:51):
leave Angel Reese alone. All right, it's all in the
heat of battle. We had a fun game. Look at
all the eyes on us and all the great attention
the Iman's game got. I mean, that's just competitors getting
after it, and you give as much as you as
you get, right, or the old adage of what is
it every time you point a finger three year pointing
(24:11):
back at you. That's the way this works for Angel Reese. Unfortunately,
you know, exacerbated it a little bit and kind of
going the hey, you know, I'll decline and I'll go
see the Obama's you know that that's my president inviting
yourself based on a response to something President Obama had
(24:31):
put up on social media and injected race a little
bit when it came down to sportsmanship, as if by
doctor Biden's comments were a smack and herd direction, which
I don't think it was the case. I think it
was a as I laid it out yesterday and you
just so eloquently bring it brought it back there. They're
(24:54):
political animals, man. There's an opportunity to do great things
ahead of a February, you know, an initial run for
the next run at presidency. And I was a hotly
contested state. It has been the last couple of times.
You can flip some more voters your way and maybe
flip it off all the way to your side. And
(25:15):
by using the Hawkeyes as a pawn in that game, yeah,
it all works. And maybe it wasn't as calculated and
it was legitimately they put on a hell of a
show and she got excited. It was an excited utterance
without going and consulting anybody around her kind of looking around,
go we could make this happen right right right, and
(25:37):
Clark in her appearance and no, we're not about that.
We lost, We're done that's their honor and they can go. So,
you know, hopefully commerheads prevail and all of it for
any media that got out of sorts and out of pocket.
We certainly saw some of the well, an old friend
of yours and a number of others who really got
up in their fields. Everybody, just give them a hug
(25:59):
the next time you see him. It's not so serious.
Calm yourselves down. Nobody disrespected a member of your family's
competitors getting after it, and we see it from the
third grade on up. Uh, sometimes even younger. There's gonna
be a little bit, you know, in competition, little chestiness,
and it's part of the head games. Get over it,
(26:21):
and hopefully all of these controversies, nontroversies, whatever we want
to call them, are done. Yeah, I mean, I hope,
I hope this is done. I can't say for certain though,
because I don't know. I don't know, because honestly, I
don't know how far Angel Reese is gonna take this.
I really don't like it. She's she's very active on
social media, she is very active in in a lot
(26:45):
of things, and she's someone who's not shy with her opinion.
I don't know what was she gonna let it go?
Is this gonna be okay it happened, or is this
gonna be I'm not going, my teammates not going, and
it's going to continue to be a thing. I don't know,
because because now I feel like, Okay, if this controversy
between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and and now for
Caitlyn Clark's perspective, it's done right. Caitlyn Clark likes to
(27:07):
talk smack. Angel Reese had receipts, right, she had receipts.
We won, no prod. It was basketball, right, showing me
you can't see me ring on my finger. That's basketball, man.
That's how it is. And that should be it. It
should be over right now. And the people who embarrass
themselves by making by by saying takes it. Oh, you
should be winning with class. I mean there you see
(27:27):
you see those people. You see who those people are
that made this a story. I'm embarrassed for the people
in the media that turn this into something because it
didn't need to be. But now it's become a thing.
And now I don't know, I don't know how far
this goes. Is this just gonna end now or is
this going to continue to become a thing. I don't
know right because Angel injuries. Hey Obamas, can we come
to your house now? Now? Suddenly? Is this going to
(27:49):
continue on? I mean, I can't believe the Obamas are
going to say anything. And I don't think Barack Obama
is going to try to make things difficult for his
former vice president who's now the president. But I don't know,
Like I want to say, I hope this is over,
but I just don't know, because I don't know if
I don't know if this is over from LSU's perspective,
I know Kim Mulkey said we're going to the White House,
(28:10):
which I thought was a great thing to say, say, listen,
we have this going on. And whatever I think about
about Kim mulk because the issues with her are pretty
are pretty legit, but for her to say that we're going, okay,
that's great. She's kind of tamping this down and let's
celebrate that we won. Now it's becoming more than that.
Now now is this good to continue to let go?
I don't know. I hope so, I hope so. But
(28:32):
if you said to me, is this the last time
we're talking about this story? I don't know that I
could say yes, Mike, I really don't know, And I
think you're right just from a the perspective of you
had a couple of knucklehead media members and bloggers, proprietors, entrepreneurs, whatever,
(28:53):
and a lot of idiots in the comments sections on Twitter,
and certainly plenty of that. This ties back to the
comments Dawn Staley made after Iowa beat South Carolina again wondering,
you know some of the characterations, characterizations that she used
that you know, we're being applied or as she alleged,
(29:14):
being applied. Are they just reading on Twitter and ascribing
that to everybody, Because I'd like to think you and
I and most people that work in our business recognize
greatness where we see it and where there's shortcomings or shortcomings.
There wasn't from my perspective, that wasn't about race on Friday,
(29:39):
but I'm sure there was. There was plenty in the
chatter in the in the online world that in style
a play that gets to you. And when we look
at what happened with Reese and Clark, sure there's a
bunch of dumb asses out there. I'll go that far
to say that it is two competitors getting after it.
(29:59):
I thought it was an nothing that suddenly blew up
into a huge controversy, added the doctor Biden Ethic. It'll
linger because I can't tell anybody how to feel, particularly
if they feel they've been slighted, you know, based on
who they are, race, religion, etc. In this case race.
I can't tell Angel Reese how to feel, or any
(30:21):
of her teammates. But I hope she recognizes that the
bulk of people appreciate the competitor and what she put
out on that court and who she is and leave
it at that. But you know, it's in the margins
where where this stuff lives. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays
(30:42):
at ten pm Eastern seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio and the iHeartRadio app Fox Sports Radio The Jason
Smith Show with my best friend Mike Harman live from
the tirerac dot Com Studios. You know, Stetson Bennett has
done something that I would have thought was impossible. You're
(31:05):
talking about a former walk on quarterback who's who had
to change schools beat out some of the best schoolboy
quarterbacks in college football. Five Star guys to become a
back to back national champion has put out an optic
that makes you question the guy and make him seem
extremely unlikable. I can't believe he's able to do that,
(31:29):
because usually his is a story that you celebrate, but
instead it's boy bad optics, bad decisions, and really he
seems very unlikable. The report gets out today TMZ gets
the nine one one call that transpired when Stetson Bennett
was arrested under suspicion of public intoxication when he was
(31:51):
banging on someone's door for a long time at six
o'clock in the morning, police showed up arrested him, and
he has had to explain that through the pre draft process.
Says wherever he is gone, he said, it's a mistake.
I understand. I got to live up to my family name.
He said all the right things. The audio of the
arrest gets out today, and you can't really hear Bennetts
as well as you can hear the officer in the
(32:12):
in the squad car, but Bennett keeps saying, hey, thanks
for looking out for me, officer. Thanks. Looking at the
offer to keeps saying yeah, yeah, you got it, sir.
You got it. I'm like, yeah, No, he's not saying
thank you like he's grateful. He's saying, hey, thanks, because
he goes on to say, you know, I do this
and now five million people are gonna see it, And
the officer tries to explained to him what's gonna happen then,
and Bennett just keeps saying thanks for looking out for me,
(32:34):
thanks looking out for me, and chuckling basically saying you're
not really looking out for me. You could have looked
the other way, you didn't need to do this, or
please don't do anything further with this, make this go away? Yeah,
can you do this? And you know we've seen this happen.
But remember what was it ed bel for? It happened
to him, right, former goalie when when he got it
and he was offering the police like millions of dollars, right,
(32:54):
wasn't that the story, hey, millions of dollars of making
make this step go away and leave me and plenty
of things in between. I mean, we've had stories for
years of guys trying to find their way out of
situations as such, and it's it's hard to know because
I'm not saying I know Stetson Bennett. And I'm not
(33:16):
going to try to pretend I do. But one thing
I do know is perception is reality. And if you
said to the average person right now, even the average
NFL evaluator, what do you think of Stetson Bennett, they'd
sit back and go he's kind of bad, edgy. Like
you see his personality. You can see that wherever he walks,
he walks with a chip on his shoulder. And that
(33:37):
can be good, but that can also be bad. And
you don't want someone continually walking around like that because
that's a little bit too edgy all the time. And
is someone like that always going to make the right decision? Now,
this was a situation where look, the guy wound up ended,
you know, where he shouldn't have been. He should have
had he should have been with other people looking out
for him. But instead he's by himself, knocking on doors
(33:59):
after being in a party all night allegedly, and uh,
he winds up getting in trouble and having to explain
this and seeing his draft stock. Take it because now
it's you're a quarterback and a decision maker, and boy,
this is a really really bad decision. Uh, it was
scary that how allegedly intoxicated he was a police set
he was, and he's still able to be pissed off
(34:19):
at them in a normal ish sort of way, Like
he's not slurring his words or saying I'm he's out.
He's like it seems like he's just I'm really mad
about what's happening here in the back seat when he
when he's in the back of the squad car. And
and that's and that's not an optic you want out there.
But every time, and even in things that that should
be something, he laughs off, like, oh, why were you
(34:40):
on your phone during the uh during the big parade?
You just got to say I was picking a song,
but it said, Oh, I can't believe people would say
that about me. I'm I'm parting with I'm celebrating with
my teammates. It's like, dude, you can't just fight everything
and everything can't be something where yeah, I'm a I
can't walk around as I'm a former walk on with
a chip on my shoulder. And yet that's the optic
that is out there for him, and I can't believe
(35:02):
that's where his story is gone. Well, it's like anything,
you leave it to the judges right, and you and
you put it out that there there's any question from
a football perspective, there's already the look how old you are? Right? Well, no,
but you have the two sides of it because I
have to bring him in Dorian Thompson Robinson. You're starting
to see him because of his age. Initially perhaps there
(35:25):
was a little bit of a dismissal, and now you're
seeing him rising up draft boards, a dichotomy like an
active community guy whatever, and Bennett seemingly standoffish and looking
for some help. So I can't disparage the man overall,
but certainly a bad look. Yeah, that's good. Gotta change that,
optic man, Gotta change it. Coming up next, another quarterback
(35:48):
that maybe your team wants to trade for. Fox
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
ten pm to two am Eastern seven to eleven pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon at Fox Sports
Radio dot com, or stream us live every night on
the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR. You're listening to Fox
(00:25):
Sports Radio. Fox Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with
My best friend Mike Harmon live from the tirerac dot
Com studios. Tirac dot com will help you get there
in unmatched selection, fast, free shipping, free road hazard protection,
over ten thousand recommended installers. Ti irac dot com the
(00:46):
way tire buying should be. I just again, stop leaving
Lakers Clippers is the game of the year in the NBA.
To our night, it's the game of the year. Next
level stuff, no commitment to who's playing, who's not, Trainers
working overtime, guys getting treatment round the clock for the
battle herd around the world. This is street lights versus spotlights.
(01:11):
Magnify to him an a leveled rivaling Rustlemania from this weekend.
I mean, that's how global this becomes this battle. I mean,
just think about this for a second, right, The Lakers
win in overtime tonight over the Jazz where they nearly
blew the game. You blew a ten point lead. Half
(01:33):
were terrible, but the Lakers win. And look, quite honestly,
this was a game that the desperation was there for
Utah because this was kind of kind of their season tonight,
right like they they needed a win or that was
going to be it because right now they only have
three games left in their two games out of tenth,
(01:53):
So I mean, this was their season tonight the Jazz
and they go down. So now you're you're talking about
out hey, Now it's the Mavericks in basically a winner
go home game. The next game they play. They don't
want to fall another game back with only three left
to play. But right now, as things stand, the Lakers
are in sixth place in the Western Conference. The Warrior
(02:16):
tied with the Warriors, who right now are battling in
the fourth quarter with Oklahoma City. That is that's something
that Look, when this game ends, okay, then we're gonna
know a little bit more and we'll know. But right now,
if they lose and it's one thirteen, one thirteen right
(02:36):
now in the fourth quarter. If the Warriors lose, Tomorrow
Night's game between the Lakers and the Clippers is for
fifth place in the Western Conference. And now, I mean,
just what a time to be alive, right, all of it?
What a time to be alive. I can't believe. I mean, really,
it's just absolutely insane. And I'm gonna say something great
about the Lakers coming up in a second, but really
(02:58):
it could apply to a lot of teams. But um,
Lebron had thirty seven tonight, A D had a big
shut up? Uh? Odds that they both play tomorrow night?
You're talking about? Hey, because why not have back to
backs for big games? Right, because that's how the NBA
likes to roll. Why not have this game be a
(03:19):
back to back? Right? Uh? Do they both play tomorrow night?
Do we get A D and Lebron tomorrow Knights? Oh?
I think they're both shamed into playing. At this point,
Davis has played twenty six of twenty eight. We're talking
about that a bunch because, you know, perception, reality and
(03:40):
history clouding what's actually going on. And that's one of
the dangerous things about missing as much time as he
has the last couple of years, that even as you're
making this run and playing as well as he has,
you miss one game and the perception is that you
missed two weeks, when really he's played in virtually all
these games. Lebron, on the other hand, look, we we
(04:03):
watched him get shamed back into the lineup as everybody
started to add tens of millions of dollars to the
virtual bank account of Austin Reeves celebrating Vanderbilt, celebrating Anthony Davis.
Perhaps a little bit look at the ferocity with which
he's playing on both ends of the court. Add in
all the other ancillary players the guys picked up at
(04:24):
the trade deadline. Yeah, yeah, he was shamed in the lineup.
He ain't leaving tomorrow. He can't Lakers at Game of
the Year in the NBA, um A night, Lakers and
the cliff. You say it as a jump, but it's true. No,
you're I'm not saying it because it's true. I wouldn't
say you were chuckling. It's why he's a nervous chuckler.
(04:45):
You know, I was doing more than that. I was
doing more than that. This is this is I mean really.
I mean, look at where just three weeks ago it
was mad the Lakers, and look at that they're spiraling out.
Lebron's not gonna play anymore. It's all over and now
here they are they gonna finish If then the Western
Jack Nicholson has to come out tomorrow night game, right,
would seems like you would you would be brought back
(05:06):
out because now you're looking at all right, so now
you're looking at this and but here, but see, but
here's the thing is that with tomorrow being a battle
potentially for fifth place, right now, if the Warriors win
tonight over the Oklahoma City Thunder, you're talking about the
Warriors being a half game up, and the winner of
tomorrow's game would would tie the Warriors for fifth place.
(05:28):
Do you really want to finish in fifth place? Do
you really want to play the Suns in the first
round of the playoffs? Or do you want to finish sixth? Right,
Mayor and you want to play the Sacramento Kings. Do
you really want to finish fifth and play the Suns?
I don't want to play the Suns in the first round.
I don't want to play them with Kate, even though
if you get them. You want to get them early
(05:49):
as opposed to late, But I don't want them in
the first round of the player Do you really have
that luxury? I mean you do for your last game.
You don't have that. Now you're still you still have
the potential of drifting back to the back end of
the playing round if you were to lose two of
the these next two games heading into your finale. Yeah, no,
no that Hey listen, if the Lakers, the Lakers lose
(06:12):
their last three, they could wind up intent. But that's
the point. It's like, Yeah, you can't be saying, who
would we rather play? Blank Dad, You've been crawling from
the no no, no, no, stop stop stop stop stop stop.
You know that's exactly what Lebron James is thinking right now. Hey,
maybe I can sit out tomorrow when we don't win
(06:33):
and we don't have to play the Suns in the
first round, and we'll get Sacramento and everything will be
a lot better and I can see us slotting in
and finishing in sixth place and we'll feel pretty good
about things. But if the Warriors win and then you lose,
then suddenly you jump to seventh and then you're playing
the Pelicans, and then you may have to play somebody else.
Uh yeah, but that's the thing. Do you really want
(06:55):
to finish fifth and play the Suns? I don't want
to play. I don't want to play the Suns at
all because that it's the one team and that I've
said for them. When it got Kevin Durant, it was
look out. Watched them start blowing the doors off the teams,
and then what happened. Katie got hurt. So you can
never really which is what I told you it was
gonna happen, so you couldn't. Yeah, you can never really
depend on on Katie. Right, But if he's healthy, boy,
(07:18):
that makes the Sun's nearly impossible to beat. If you,
if you, if you're not really equipped to go in. Yeah,
but that's the same game we're playing with the Lakers.
If they're both healthy. You don't want to see it, right.
We said that for seventy nine games. Boy, this team
could be fun and dangerous if those two guys are playing. Well.
Here we are three games remaining. But I will say this,
(07:40):
and this is please don't shock. Hey, I said it
earlier and things turned out fine. Frostburger, it was never
in doubt. I bet you were a pool of jello
when they blew that ten point lead go and had
to go to overtime, and then we're down three midway
through overtime. I was sweat worse than Kareem an airplane. Listen, kid,
(08:03):
you tell your old man to try dragon Walton Lanier
up the court for forty eight minutes a night. This
is the best thing that I have said about the
Lakers in a year. And quite honestly, this applies to
other teams in the West too. But since it is
about the Lakers and they're run up the Western Conference,
because this is really unprecedented in the NBA. You don't
get teams running from twelve to six or five in
(08:26):
the last couple weeks the regular season. But because the
West is so mediocre, and look, that's the setting for this.
But that's okay. There's a reason why the Lakers are
moving up because the West is really mediocre. But if
I'm the Lakers, and again, this is the best thing
I can say about them in the year, But I
can say the same thing about the Warriors, and the
same thing about the Clippers, the same thing about the Suns.
Is that I can think yeah, why can't we make
(08:50):
it to the Western Conference Finals? Why not us? Because
outside of the Nuggets, there's no team that you can
sit back and go, well, hey, they're just gonna boat
race us, and we're gonna try to make it. We're
gonna try to make a noble effort because as good
as Memphis is, they've been playing great the last few games,
like a jam Morant back in a seven game series. Uh,
(09:11):
would you worry that much about the Memphis Grizzlies youth
and and and their athleticism or do you think, hey,
earlier they could wind up melting when Lebron and a
d are taking big shots at the end of games.
Sacramentos had a really nice year. They don't have any stars,
and so you're going into playoff there you're feeling like
that's a toss up, right, Phoenick got Darren Fox averaging
(09:32):
twenty five a game. He's not a star. Where Darren
Fox is really good, we got a lot of hey,
let's say, averaging twenty five in this year's NBA. Come on, man,
that's like averaging eight a game. And last year the
last year, I mean, all right, look, this is like
Major League Baseball when suddenly Wade Boggs hit twenty four
before home runs. I understand that to a degree, but
(09:53):
I gotta put some respect on the man's name, particularly
when it comes to being a guy that he was
supposed to be a Aker, So I've gotta hype him
up that much more so when he beats them, you
were beaten by the best. Hey, he's good. But you're
not scared of the Kings. Are you scared of the Suns? Well?
You know, Hey, with KD, you never know when he's
(10:14):
gonna play. You go into that series thinking, hey, why not?
The Clippers are always underachieved. There's nobody in the West.
You goin outside of the Nuggets where you say, hey,
we're really not equipped to win this series. We really
are gonna might have difficulty winning here. And with the
Nuggets you think, hey, maybe the pressure on them being
the team because look, I said it about the Nuggets
(10:35):
many times this year. If they don't make it to
the finals this year, they're never gonna make it. You
have Yogis in the middle of a three year run
of MVP. You have all your guys are healthy, You're
at the top of the West. You are the best
team you're gonna clinch any day. I mean, losing to
Rockets night was really embarrassing, but still okay, this may
be a little bit of a dead spot before you
get to the playoffs. But if you don't win this year,
(10:57):
that's it. And you know, the Nuggets know it. You
know that they talk about it or not. They sit
there and say, hey, this is our year, man, and
we don't get to the finals this year. I mean,
when when is ever gonna happen? Other teams are going
to get better, They're going to improve. John Morant's gonna
get better, The Kings are you know, all these different
So this is the year? Now will they be able
to navigate when things get really hairy deeper in the playoffs? So, yeah,
(11:20):
the Nuggets are the best team and they should make
it to the NBA Finals. But why not? Right if
you told me, the Lakers could just as easily lose
in the first round of the playoffs as they can
make it to the Western Conference finals. So why not
the latter? Because they figured it out? Because as even
though they're not playing unbelievably great basketball, what have we
seen the Lakers do since since the All Star Break?
(11:43):
They make the big trade for DeAngelo Russell. Lebron James
has hurt, he is out, But what does that mean.
Austin Reeves slides into the starting lineup and Russell Reeves
backcourt has been terrific. Right, it's been Wow, look at
we lucked into that, but look what we found. Anthony
Davis has been the dominant version of Anthony David, the
one that we saw in November when Lebron was out. Right.
Ruy Ha Chamura has now settled into his role coming
(12:06):
off the bench as a sixth man. The Lakers have options.
The Lakers adjustments have worked, and now you're adding Lebron
into the mix where this is Lebron's. Hey, if we
don't finish great, they might trade me in the offseason.
I'm gonna have to finish my career back in Cleveland.
So you have motivated players, you have a you have
a fortunate break in in the in the acquisition department
(12:29):
at and and and a fortunate u avenue when when
Reeves is in the lineup instead of Lebron. So yeah,
I mean the Lakers, of all the teams, there's a
reason why they're moving up a little bit that this
is the team It's not the team that we looked
at from beginning of the season to the All Star Break.
It's who have the Lakers been from the All Star
Break till now? And that's a team where I could say, yeah,
(12:50):
I could see him in the Western Conference Finals. It's
truly scary to get to that line. Is thinking is it?
Is it? Mean? You do have the Mike Brown revenge
angle that's hanging over you because he's got a couple
of memes that are out there, the gifts that make
him look like he's Ted Dbasi, Cacklin, all of that stuff. Clippers,
(13:11):
do you trust him? Warriors, just get them on your
home court. You'll be okay. Pelicans stink, They've got They're
frisky enough, but not that great. The Kings, to me,
are are really fascinating. The Grizzlies, we've we've talked about
a lot, just wondering if the bravado, the let's fight
(13:33):
the world thing it works against them. I mean, I
like it curious. You know, you're looking at a team
eight and two in their last ten games, so even
when Morant was out of the lineup, they kept the
machine going. So they're dangerous. And Denver we know what
Yogi can do, will the rest of the cast rise
up around him? I'm not so sure. Michael, don't call me.
(13:56):
Mike Malone has his hands full here and making sure
that Michael Porter Junior and Jamal Murray are up to
the task when it comes to this playoff runs. So
I don't want to agree with you on principle, but
I'm forced to reiterate the point that's all along of.
If those two guys are on the court and quote
unquote healthy whatever that means, everything around them works. You
(14:20):
got two of the ten best in the game when
they're when they're at work and putting their best foot forward,
and you build up a roster with some depth around
them and guys that are committing to defense. Because that's
the thing that stands out right, is that since what
the last twenty one twenty two games, now do the
metrics top two, top three defense in the NBA. That
(14:45):
counts for something, particularly when things bogged down and get
a little bit slower in the playoffs. Yeah, not nineteen
eighties slower, see, because that was the NBA time just
in parallel with the explosion of those fake baseballs, they
were using an eighty seven. But Lakers have a puncher's chance.
And it's kind of funny to watch the ebb and
flow the roller coaster ride of this season, because everybody
(15:08):
keeps doing the breakneck turns to do the one hundred
eighty degree No, no, no, now they're back, Now they're great,
and everybody boot licking and kissing Lebron James. I'll just
pick your body part here at this point and washing
him up giving this run, most of which was done
with him standing around in a suit. Be sure to
(15:28):
catch live editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven pm Pacific, Fox
Sports Radio, The Jason Smith Show with My best friend
Mike Harmon. And well, it looks like the Lakers will
be playing for a tie for a sixth place tomorrow night,
one thirty five, one twenty two Golden State with the
(15:52):
lead over Oklahoma City with about a minute and a
half left to go. But this is some great theater,
these last three games of the Lakers, the Clippers and
the Warriors. And somebody's gonna finish six, and someone's gonna
finish fifth, and someone's gonna finish seventh. I mean, this
really is something I never thought I would love mediocrity
as much as I did in Mike Harmon, But boy,
(16:13):
especially being a Jets fan and Mets fan all these years,
But boy, I really love this mediocrity right now. Well,
with the Jets, you aspire to mediocrity, that's true. That's true.
With the Mets, you've seen some really fantastic runs and
then subpar And I'm being nice here, play in the playoffs,
which you get you back to mediocrity when you balance
(16:35):
it all out, right, it's the I got a's on
all my quizzes and then what did you get on
the final which was worth fifty percent of your grain? Zero? Yea? Why?
Because I mean I dominated the rest of it. I
didn't really give a risk, but you realize it was
fifty percent, and in this case it was winner take
at all. But look the mediocrity part of it, and
(16:57):
the absurdity of the fact that we're so enamored with
teams that are forty one and thirty eight. Yeah, it's
a little bit uncomfortable, but at the same point, it's
great theater and for the NBA. One of the things
we lament is the fact, and many lamented I don't.
It's an EBB and flow. Just like Major League Baseball.
(17:19):
It's a long season. If you don't like it, don't watch,
come in for the final three weeks, just like you
do in college basketball. Right, nobody pays attention unless you're
an ardent supporter of a team or a conference. You're
not paying attention to the NCAA world at large. Necessarily
a couple of stories will break through, but otherwise, hey,
I'll see in March with the conference tournaments. And then
(17:40):
when it's time to fill out a bracket and lose
to someone in the office who picks based on color
schemes or the ferocity of a mascot, that's great. NBA,
it's the same thing. It lives in the background while
we're watching the NFL. And that's not to say it.
Look we pay attention to We've been reporting on it,
and that's part of the gig, but part of the
love of it all. But doesn't mean we can't point
(18:03):
out when the product is bad or inferior, when guys
are taking long stretches off or can't get along or
talking about operations shutdown. Luca and Kyrie, I think we
mightly just leave well, I think we're done. You know,
we're not even gonna play. We're around the playing game,
but to hell with it. No, the fact that all
of these winding roads and chaos turns and hot take
(18:26):
nonsense about breaking it all up and shipping guys off
to the worst NBA destinations doesn't matter anymore because for
three games for one week, all right, less than a week,
but for less than a week, it is going to
be fantastic theater to watch, how it plays, how many
guys actually see the court tomorrow. Who is the hero
(18:46):
that comes off the bench, isn't Ruey Hatchamura. Is that
the move that's gonna set the Lakers to the next
great space in franchise history? Can't wait to watch Twitter
at out about a fresca. Mike gets swollen down the
Jason Show with my best friend Mike Harmon. Now you
said college basketball, and today is another day where hopefully
(19:08):
this controversy that's been raging for the last forty eight
hours is now over. If you remember the whole should
Iowa go to the White House thing that was launched
just a day and a half ago, it feels like
three weeks ago. It was after LSU beats Iowa in
the women's National Championship game, which again Bravo for the
women's game that is getting all these head that we're
(19:29):
still talking about this game, you know, two and a
half days later, first Lady, normally the winners of the
of the championships and big championships in pros and college
me visit the White House, but Doctor Joe Biden wanted
to make sure that, well maybe we get more than
just LSU to visit the White House. So I know
(19:50):
we'll how the champions come to to the White House.
We always do, so you know, we'll have LSU come.
But you know what I'm gonna tell Joe, I think
I wish should come too, because they played such a
good game. So right, so winners and losers that sportsmanship.
Uh yeah, okay, so yeah, okay. Now that now this
(20:14):
is a thing, so that become a story, and I
hate that it's become a story. And the only reason
this became a story is because it was on the
heels of the Angel Reese Caitlin Clark story, which is
a big deal. Which it's okay for Caitlyn Clark to
talk smack, but not when Angel Reese does it. And
then you're getting into racial overtones on it, and why
(20:35):
why is why is it? Why is it okay for
the white player but it's not okay for the black
player to do it. It's the only reason this became
a big deal is because it was on the heels
of that, which is a real topic. But now today
it looks like, hopefully it was put to bed because
Caitlyn Clark went on ESPN did an interview and she said, listen,
we shouldn't be going to the White House. Okay, we
(20:56):
shouldn't be going to the White House. This is not
as it's not for runners up, it is for LSU.
And the White House put out a statement basically agreeing
with that, and they kind of walk back Jill Biden's statement,
and we saw a tweet from Joe Biden President Biden
who said, looking forward to having LSU coming to the
White House and awesome, right, awesome. So now it looks
(21:19):
like it. So now it looks like it's over, and
I hope it's over because this is stupid. This whole
thing was stupid. This was not done with malicious intent.
This was done as many things in politics are done,
where you should have thought about things a little bit
better before you say something. And I don't know if
it was just Hey, in the last three days, why
is everybody talking about this Caitlyn Clark. Someone getting me
(21:39):
some information on Caitlyn Clark so I can find out
what this is all about. Boy, what a great player.
Let's invite them to the White House too. Okay, we
generally don't do that. I understand you want to celebrate
women's sports, and I understand that, Hey, Iaa could be
a swing state in the election. We always went you know,
the White House never does anything with about thinking how
things are going to be politically. So oh, okay, maybe
(22:02):
we can do it and invite them to come, because
maybe that helps us in twenty twenty four. This is
not a racial thing. Do you really think that the
White House wants to get involved in something where they're
dividing racial tensions. Nobody wants to do that, of course not.
This was a stupid controversy that came up that I
hope goes away. I really do, because this was not nefarious,
(22:23):
It was not something that was sinister. It was something
that just should have been fought out a little bit better. Hey,
I get you want to do this and having Iowa
to the White House. Hey awesome, right, you want to
celebrate college sports, but this is kind of a thing
for the winners. This might not be taken how you
think it's gonna go over. They're not going to suddenly go, hey,
this is great, let's have the all, let's celebrate everythna
(22:46):
the winners get to go. That's kind of how it works.
So it just was something that needed to be thought
out a little bit better. And that's what this was.
There was nothing sinister being done about it. There was
nothing overly overly well, there's a hidden meaning behind this
just shouldn't But that's the way it is now, both
sides of the aisle. Now, how many how many times
do we see something something a politician say something, and
we go, oh, I don't know that I would have
(23:08):
said that, Oh I don't know. It happens every day, right,
every day somebody it's it's it's what keeps Jimmy Fallon
and Stephen Colbert and everybody in business the day. It's
when a politician said today, So we get to say
this and say that that's just how it is, and
that and instead of being something fun that we kind
of dismiss it becomes a big thing because it's on
the heels of the Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark story,
(23:31):
which is a big deal. That's the only reason why
this is big. If we didn't have that controversy about
the smack talk and everything else, this wouldn't be a thing.
But now it's become a thing strictly because of that
now and the hard part is is it spins off.
And you know, for her part, Caitlin Clark doing an
interview on on ESPN today, you know, dismissed it, said, hey,
(23:51):
leave Angel Reese alone. All right, it's all in the
heat of battle. We had a fun game. Look at
all the eyes on us and all the great attention
the Iman's game got. I mean, that's just competitors getting
after it, and you give as much as you as
you get, right, or the old adage of what is
it every time you point a finger three year pointing
(24:11):
back at you. That's the way this works for Angel Reese. Unfortunately,
you know, exacerbated it a little bit and kind of
going the hey, you know, I'll decline and I'll go
see the Obama's you know that that's my president inviting
yourself based on a response to something President Obama had
(24:31):
put up on social media and injected race a little
bit when it came down to sportsmanship, as if by
doctor Biden's comments were a smack and herd direction, which
I don't think it was the case. I think it
was a as I laid it out yesterday and you
just so eloquently bring it brought it back there. They're
(24:54):
political animals, man. There's an opportunity to do great things
ahead of a February, you know, an initial run for
the next run at presidency. And I was a hotly
contested state. It has been the last couple of times.
You can flip some more voters your way and maybe
flip it off all the way to your side. And
(25:15):
by using the Hawkeyes as a pawn in that game, yeah,
it all works. And maybe it wasn't as calculated and
it was legitimately they put on a hell of a
show and she got excited. It was an excited utterance
without going and consulting anybody around her kind of looking around,
go we could make this happen right right right, and
(25:37):
Clark in her appearance and no, we're not about that.
We lost, We're done that's their honor and they can go. So,
you know, hopefully commerheads prevail and all of it for
any media that got out of sorts and out of pocket.
We certainly saw some of the well, an old friend
of yours and a number of others who really got
up in their fields. Everybody, just give them a hug
(25:59):
the next time you see him. It's not so serious.
Calm yourselves down. Nobody disrespected a member of your family's
competitors getting after it, and we see it from the
third grade on up. Uh, sometimes even younger. There's gonna
be a little bit, you know, in competition, little chestiness,
and it's part of the head games. Get over it,
(26:21):
and hopefully all of these controversies, nontroversies, whatever we want
to call them, are done. Yeah, I mean, I hope,
I hope this is done. I can't say for certain though,
because I don't know. I don't know, because honestly, I
don't know how far Angel Reese is gonna take this.
I really don't like it. She's she's very active on
social media, she is very active in in a lot
(26:45):
of things, and she's someone who's not shy with her opinion.
I don't know what was she gonna let it go?
Is this gonna be okay it happened, or is this
gonna be I'm not going, my teammates not going, and
it's going to continue to be a thing. I don't know,
because because now I feel like, Okay, if this controversy
between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and and now for
Caitlyn Clark's perspective, it's done right. Caitlyn Clark likes to
(27:07):
talk smack. Angel Reese had receipts, right, she had receipts.
We won, no prod. It was basketball, right, showing me
you can't see me ring on my finger. That's basketball, man.
That's how it is. And that should be it. It
should be over right now. And the people who embarrass
themselves by making by by saying takes it. Oh, you
should be winning with class. I mean there you see
(27:27):
you see those people. You see who those people are
that made this a story. I'm embarrassed for the people
in the media that turn this into something because it
didn't need to be. But now it's become a thing.
And now I don't know, I don't know how far
this goes. Is this just gonna end now or is
this going to continue to become a thing. I don't
know right because Angel injuries. Hey Obamas, can we come
to your house now? Now? Suddenly? Is this going to
(27:49):
continue on? I mean, I can't believe the Obamas are
going to say anything. And I don't think Barack Obama
is going to try to make things difficult for his
former vice president who's now the president. But I don't know,
Like I want to say, I hope this is over,
but I just don't know, because I don't know if
I don't know if this is over from LSU's perspective,
I know Kim Mulkey said we're going to the White House,
(28:10):
which I thought was a great thing to say, say, listen,
we have this going on. And whatever I think about
about Kim mulk because the issues with her are pretty
are pretty legit, but for her to say that we're going, okay,
that's great. She's kind of tamping this down and let's
celebrate that we won. Now it's becoming more than that.
Now now is this good to continue to let go?
I don't know. I hope so, I hope so. But
(28:32):
if you said to me, is this the last time
we're talking about this story? I don't know that I
could say yes, Mike, I really don't know, And I
think you're right just from a the perspective of you
had a couple of knucklehead media members and bloggers, proprietors, entrepreneurs, whatever,
(28:53):
and a lot of idiots in the comments sections on Twitter,
and certainly plenty of that. This ties back to the
comments Dawn Staley made after Iowa beat South Carolina again wondering,
you know some of the characterations, characterizations that she used
that you know, we're being applied or as she alleged,
(29:14):
being applied. Are they just reading on Twitter and ascribing
that to everybody, Because I'd like to think you and
I and most people that work in our business recognize
greatness where we see it and where there's shortcomings or shortcomings.
There wasn't from my perspective, that wasn't about race on Friday,
(29:39):
but I'm sure there was. There was plenty in the
chatter in the in the online world that in style
a play that gets to you. And when we look
at what happened with Reese and Clark, sure there's a
bunch of dumb asses out there. I'll go that far
to say that it is two competitors getting after it.
(29:59):
I thought it was an nothing that suddenly blew up
into a huge controversy, added the doctor Biden Ethic. It'll
linger because I can't tell anybody how to feel, particularly
if they feel they've been slighted, you know, based on
who they are, race, religion, etc. In this case race.
I can't tell Angel Reese how to feel, or any
(30:21):
of her teammates. But I hope she recognizes that the
bulk of people appreciate the competitor and what she put
out on that court and who she is and leave
it at that. But you know, it's in the margins
where where this stuff lives. Be sure to catch live
editions of The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon weekdays
(30:42):
at ten pm Eastern seven pm Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio and the iHeartRadio app Fox Sports Radio The Jason
Smith Show with my best friend Mike Harman live from
the tirerac dot Com Studios. You know, Stetson Bennett has
done something that I would have thought was impossible. You're
(31:05):
talking about a former walk on quarterback who's who had
to change schools beat out some of the best schoolboy
quarterbacks in college football. Five Star guys to become a
back to back national champion has put out an optic
that makes you question the guy and make him seem
extremely unlikable. I can't believe he's able to do that,
(31:29):
because usually his is a story that you celebrate, but
instead it's boy bad optics, bad decisions, and really he
seems very unlikable. The report gets out today TMZ gets
the nine one one call that transpired when Stetson Bennett
was arrested under suspicion of public intoxication when he was
(31:51):
banging on someone's door for a long time at six
o'clock in the morning, police showed up arrested him, and
he has had to explain that through the pre draft process.
Says wherever he is gone, he said, it's a mistake.
I understand. I got to live up to my family name.
He said all the right things. The audio of the
arrest gets out today, and you can't really hear Bennetts
as well as you can hear the officer in the
(32:12):
in the squad car, but Bennett keeps saying, hey, thanks
for looking out for me, officer. Thanks. Looking at the
offer to keeps saying yeah, yeah, you got it, sir.
You got it. I'm like, yeah, No, he's not saying
thank you like he's grateful. He's saying, hey, thanks, because
he goes on to say, you know, I do this
and now five million people are gonna see it, And
the officer tries to explained to him what's gonna happen then,
and Bennett just keeps saying thanks for looking out for me,
(32:34):
thanks looking out for me, and chuckling basically saying you're
not really looking out for me. You could have looked
the other way, you didn't need to do this, or
please don't do anything further with this, make this go away? Yeah,
can you do this? And you know we've seen this happen.
But remember what was it ed bel for? It happened
to him, right, former goalie when when he got it
and he was offering the police like millions of dollars, right,
(32:54):
wasn't that the story, hey, millions of dollars of making
make this step go away and leave me and plenty
of things in between. I mean, we've had stories for
years of guys trying to find their way out of
situations as such, and it's it's hard to know because
I'm not saying I know Stetson Bennett. And I'm not
(33:16):
going to try to pretend I do. But one thing
I do know is perception is reality. And if you
said to the average person right now, even the average
NFL evaluator, what do you think of Stetson Bennett, they'd
sit back and go he's kind of bad, edgy. Like
you see his personality. You can see that wherever he walks,
he walks with a chip on his shoulder. And that
(33:37):
can be good, but that can also be bad. And
you don't want someone continually walking around like that because
that's a little bit too edgy all the time. And
is someone like that always going to make the right decision? Now,
this was a situation where look, the guy wound up ended,
you know, where he shouldn't have been. He should have
had he should have been with other people looking out
for him. But instead he's by himself, knocking on doors
(33:59):
after being in a party all night allegedly, and uh,
he winds up getting in trouble and having to explain
this and seeing his draft stock. Take it because now
it's you're a quarterback and a decision maker, and boy,
this is a really really bad decision. Uh, it was
scary that how allegedly intoxicated he was a police set
he was, and he's still able to be pissed off
(34:19):
at them in a normal ish sort of way, Like
he's not slurring his words or saying I'm he's out.
He's like it seems like he's just I'm really mad
about what's happening here in the back seat when he
when he's in the back of the squad car. And
and that's and that's not an optic you want out there.
But every time, and even in things that that should
be something, he laughs off, like, oh, why were you
(34:40):
on your phone during the uh during the big parade?
You just got to say I was picking a song,
but it said, Oh, I can't believe people would say
that about me. I'm I'm parting with I'm celebrating with
my teammates. It's like, dude, you can't just fight everything
and everything can't be something where yeah, I'm a I
can't walk around as I'm a former walk on with
a chip on my shoulder. And yet that's the optic
that is out there for him, and I can't believe
(35:02):
that's where his story is gone. Well, it's like anything,
you leave it to the judges right, and you and
you put it out that there there's any question from
a football perspective, there's already the look how old you are? Right? Well, no,
but you have the two sides of it because I
have to bring him in Dorian Thompson Robinson. You're starting
to see him because of his age. Initially perhaps there
(35:25):
was a little bit of a dismissal, and now you're
seeing him rising up draft boards, a dichotomy like an
active community guy whatever, and Bennett seemingly standoffish and looking
for some help. So I can't disparage the man overall,
but certainly a bad look. Yeah, that's good. Gotta change that,
optic man, Gotta change it. Coming up next, another quarterback
(35:48):
that maybe your team wants to trade for. Fox
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