Hour 2- Knicks Finals Reaction

Mike Harmon and Arnie Spanier react to the Knicks getting to their first Finals since 1999.

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Episode Transcript

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

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Thirty six fast breakpoints. And this is the stat I
really want to focus on for a moment because it
certainly drew the ire of the radio broadcast team within
the first oh, I don't know, three minutes of the game,
thirty three fast breakpoints for the Knicks. Wow, twenty three

(00:48):
of those were at halftime or twenty six of those
were at halftime. Twenty six first half fast breakpoints. That's unconscionable.
That's that's the right, and yeah, that's fine. That's that's
what you expect to see in a rec league game.
That's what you expect to see at different levels where
a team is riding out the string, you know, and

(01:10):
not getting paid for it. This was on your home
court to where you might as well have not shown up.
But as well. Have just gotten any great entertainer from
the greater Cleveland area. Here's a cover band from some
of your greatest bands that currently enshrined in the rock

(01:30):
and Roll Hall of Fame. Yeah, here's the miz of
WWE Fame who's a Cavaliers fan. They were, I mean,
come on, they were.

Speaker 4 (01:38):
Sick a Backstreet Boys at a cappella and Radio City
Music Hall after the game, after the Knicks one. Where
were you? I see I see a tweet here. It
wasn't sent to us. I don't know if it's true
or not, though, but it's a hell of a I
love this tweet. Am. I allowed to read it even
though I don't know it's true or not.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
You've never stopped you before.

Speaker 4 (01:57):
Okay, the guy goes just got a crazy intel that
I must share. My dad is an investor at the
Baja Mar Hotel in the Bahamas, and he just received
word that Jay Allen booked the week long stay starting
May twenty six, that's tomorrow, and'll be picked up from
his flight from Cleveland at three pm. He playing tonight
hashtag Gavaliers. So he made it sound like they're already

(02:20):
making plans like three two one can't coud. He's like
three two one, bahamas, let's go.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
I don't know. You were also casting aspersions over certain
other NBA related stories where I'm like, hey, just check
out the two yeah.

Speaker 4 (02:35):
Yes, yeah, yeah yeah. The one guy that's really sleuck
with that that Sophia.

Speaker 3 (02:41):
Ranger trot wants to Yes yes, was offering a bucket
full of money. And that's as far as we're gonna
go with that one. Fulks gonna look that up. One
thing about the Radio City Music Hall was curious as
to how they distributed tickets because someone posted in the
Twitter verse with the blue check mark again could buy those,
So take it for what it's worth, that it's really cool,

(03:04):
it's a great vibe, but that it was about a
third empty. How many p in the middle of the
second quarter. Yeah, so saying I don't know, it's like
six thousand, five thousand.

Speaker 4 (03:14):
Oh that little wow.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, Radio City is not that big.

Speaker 4 (03:18):
Well, you know when they have it in Madison Square
Garden though, that thing sells out for these watch parties.
You know.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
Well that's the thing right again, You're you're going back
to what do you got? The Orchestra fifty nine to
sixty is.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
But I didn't even know they were having a Radio
City Music Hall because all we heard about being out
here on the East Coast is that, you know, we're
not gonna have watch parties. The police are gonna have
a big presence. Supposedly there was a big presence outside
Radio City Music Hall. Didn't even know it was going
to be out there. I just assumed when they're on
the road, it's always a Madison Square garden, and we
knew that they weren't going to have it today for

(03:54):
some reason, so that maybe some people, a lot of
people didn't go because of that.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
I mean, they didn't file the permit in time. I
don't know. There's a lot of bureaucracy that gets in.
A lot of police canvassing the streets nearby, so maybe
they just thought better of it, you know.

Speaker 4 (04:10):
Let let them have a good time. Man. The Nick
fans have been waiting a long time for this.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
And I'm gonna go out on a limit say they
will not be deterred, as I don't think so. Last
call is three forty five am. It is a holiday,
which means folks probably had a head start, or many
of the Knicks fans long before Tip off.

Speaker 4 (04:30):
Yeah, yeah, but tomorrow's a workday. So I wish they
were having a game out here, like on a Friday
night or a Saturday night or a Thursday night. This
place would really be rocket. But that's okay. It doesn't
make a difference, though. They'll still have an electric crowd,
no doubt.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
Say, you'll be just fine now, regardless of the night
of the week. And look, since they're not playing on
the weekends, maybe you can go get your lower price
ticket that.

Speaker 4 (04:52):
You know, if I if my friend wins that lottery
again and he goes, you want to go. You have
to pay three point fifty for a phase value you take.
The finals will be more. But yeah, yeah, but that's
up there. It was so far up though, Mike. I'd
rather just sit at home and watch.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
You gave me see no, no, no, no, Now we're
doing the beggars can't be choosers thing. You keep moving
the line. You're so far away from the line you
can't even see it.

Speaker 4 (05:16):
I don't want to breed the binoculars with me, you know, that's.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Looking A nice pair of bushnails is one of the
great gifts you can give someone for a Father's Day.
For any kind of holiday, as well as the link
to the iHeartRadio app of course to install on all
of their.

Speaker 4 (05:31):
Ten dollars for a soda, twenty for a sandwich or something.
Come on.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
But in the end, like you make your choices with
what you do with your boy, right, if you like
to go out to eat multiple times a week, go ahead,
you can brown bag it, right. There's a lot of
ways to navigate your financial realities. And if going to
an NBA Finals game is on your bucket list, and
after twenty seven years it means that much to you,

(05:56):
I hope you find a way. It's a game.

Speaker 4 (05:59):
Yeah, it's just being a Knicks fan. I just don't
know why it doesn't cost as much. The people in
Oklahoma are just as big a fans of the Thunder
the people in San Antonio just the bigger fans of
the Spurs, But yet they don't go ahead and flee
show over ticket prices down there.

Speaker 3 (06:13):
It's what the market will bear once once we go
to a secondary market, supplied demand.

Speaker 4 (06:18):
I don't even think it would be like this if
the Celtics were in the finals or the Lakers were
in the finals. I don't think it would be this
much to go there either, Well.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
It hasn't been twenty seven years since they went to
the final true. True, it's basic math, supply demand recency.
How often you've gone to one of these.

Speaker 4 (06:38):
Negative the Patriots twenty seven years, ten years, five years
at all.

Speaker 3 (06:42):
It's okay, Well, I mean, there's always going to be
more fans in, but there is a certain percentage that
it's like, all right, we've done this run. Right, It's
like college football playoff scenarios. Now right, you might not
be able to afford to go to four games. No,
you're not right. So well, I mean, I'm just saying
in general, some people can, some people stretch, some people
decide this prioritizes over XYZ for those couple of months,

(07:05):
and a way you make it happen, figuring maybe your team,
your school is on a once in a millennial kind
of run. Same thing here with the Knicks. It's been
twenty seven years, so the perhaps you've got that percentage
of super fans not talking about the celebrities, and however
those things get broken out just folks saying, look, I've
got to be in the building for one of those.

(07:27):
I was blessed back in two thousand and five. My
brothers made sure I was able to get to Game
two of the White Sox World Series. Oh good, I
got and I got Canerico. I also then had to
cancel I think it was like seventeen radio spots for
the next two days because I had no voice left
to do fantasy ads. There would be no call ins
with the young Mikey Harmon at that point. But all

(07:49):
of that to say, they made sure I got there,
and I'm forever indebted to them for that.

Speaker 4 (07:55):
And if I remember how much prices were, No, you
don't remember.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
I don't remember why. Look, and it didn't come out of.

Speaker 4 (08:00):
It more reasonable than they are now, that's for sure.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
Well, but it's also baseball. There's forty thousand seats, right,
I mean, and depending on where you're at, And look,
the White Sox are a We are a small and
vocal bunch, but we are certainly not the majority in Chicago.
Knicks fans. I mean they're everywhere. Yeah, certainly in the media,
they're everywhere, and they're very proud like you to let

(08:24):
everybody know it. But it's also the how many million
is the Greater New York Area?

Speaker 4 (08:30):
Oh, easily what fifteen or fifteen to twenty.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, so if we start talking about that and just
doing basic math, I mean, that's a very small number
of people. They say the New York City has about
eight and a half million, but then you add New Jersey,
Long Island, Connecticut all this, but it gets up in
around twenty million. Wow, eighteen thousand seats.

Speaker 4 (08:56):
That's a lot, my friends.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
So right, hence the price is going to go up
now you start adding travel to these other spaces, and
and people put different values on all of these things, right,
I mean just look at the and by the loss
differential and pretty much everything else in New York State,
in California as opposed to the rest of the nation.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
Now you you probably know this better than I do.
The those stars that you see, like Spike Lee pays
for his own seats, Mariska Hardaway, right, they they pay
for their seats. I don't know about that. What's the
actors that that's.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
Going out with?

Speaker 4 (09:34):
Uh with general well shalamyes?

Speaker 3 (09:37):
How do you not know that he's won?

Speaker 4 (09:40):
Does he pay with Bob Dillans or does he get
it for free like Patrick Ewing, John Starkspinard King. I
assume they get their seats for free. No way they're
affording seventy five hundred hour or anything like that. But
what about those actors do do they get them free
or they have to pay for them.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
Let's put it this way, they may not pay for
the them directly. Now, Spike Lee, according to this it's
four thousand a ticket for his two VIP floor seats.
Just a quick Google search saying it's three hundred k
plus and then we get into the playoffs final whatever
else there. But like he and his production company, look,

(10:19):
it becomes a business right off, because fame is for
that than anything else in the last decade or two.
Not that he didn't have some of the greatest movies
of all time. Who doesn't want to help two slices?
But I mean that might be his agency, that might
be one of the perks that might be on behest
of Hey, I sign onto this movie, but you make
sure and it's good for them. It's good business if

(10:39):
he's front and center, Like who's actually footing the bill?
Is more? Is inconsequential? Right, A guy like fat Joe
probably needs to make a skate actions to actually pay
right and and it's not to throw shade at him.
It's like there's a list, there's B lists or see lists,
there's longevity, there's whatever else, and you decide where these
folks fit in your individual toolboxes there. But yeah, for

(11:04):
those nicks Alum, well, but I'd be curious how that's handled.
I mean, he can't pay for because that's revit, that's revenue.
That guy that we know really likes revenue would be
giving up one hundred percent. I don't buy what kind
of good will are you getting out of all of those?

Speaker 2 (11:22):
Right?

Speaker 3 (11:22):
You get these tickets, but.

Speaker 4 (11:24):
No, you can't charge them. Those guys are the old timers.
They were around, you know when when you aren't making
that type of money. So that's that's not happening. You're
not getting Patrick, even Patrick Ewing is not going to
fork over fifty or one hundred thousand dollars for a seat.
That that's not gonna happen. Especially John Starks and Bernard King,
and especially Benard King. He was way before them. He

(11:46):
wasn't making that type of money, So that's not gonna happen.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
Yeah, So I mean that becomes a how do you
do this under a bit of a a shield of Hey,
you're gonna do some some service you'll you'll do some
meet and greet, some autographs, whatever else. Now, remember Patrick
Ewing gave us one of the greatest quotes ever as
the NBA was on the verge of a lockout. Hey, hey,
we make a lot of money, but we spend.

Speaker 4 (12:10):
A lot of money. I can't argue with Kenny and
find the problem there.

Speaker 3 (12:17):
Yeah, exactly, except for except for these workstops that they had.
But all of that to say, it is going to
be one of those fun things to watch over the
next couple of days of folks doing a go fund
yourself to try to get some seats selling off.

Speaker 4 (12:35):
The NBA can capitalize on this a little bit, just
to I mean, because we've we've mocked the NBA that
they've been losing popularity, that you know, that ratings have
been down the last couple of years, or that people
have been disinterested, and Nike complained that their stocking is
going now because they don't sell basketball shoes hardly because
they find the players very unlikable and the people find

(12:56):
the players very unlikable. You think this is a situation
sure where the NBA maybe capitalized on the Nick speed
in the finals, or I don't even know, how you
could do something like that.

Speaker 3 (13:05):
Oh, there's plenty, There's plenty to be made for it.
I mean, you look at the New York market being
as one of these ultimate teams is huge for the league.

Speaker 4 (13:15):
Did you put the game on Times Square right there?
Right there?

Speaker 3 (13:18):
The big might be able to broke or that. But
I mean, you know, we talk about it a lot
when Steve de Seger's in the chair. They talk about
ratings being up for this year. A lot of that
being back on network and being on NBC as opposed
to the cable exactly.

Speaker 4 (13:33):
It has a big difference.

Speaker 3 (13:34):
But you know it's some of it becomes fuzzy math
and you believe it or you don't.

Speaker 4 (13:39):
It's the Gilberts questions it though. Yeah, I saw that article.

Speaker 3 (13:42):
Gilbert Renas has questioned a lot of things, and well,
does he really want us to go and point back
at him. I'm using my words carefully. It was related
to Gilbert.

Speaker 4 (13:51):
Well, he does have that MI t excouse be Arizona education.

Speaker 3 (13:55):
So I met Gilbert many many years ago. But all
of that to say, I mean, it's it's good for
the NBA. When you've got your big markets involved, your franchise,
you know historical franchises. On the other side, you've got
SGA and what the thunder of build and will be
doing for for years to come. We talk about draft
picks and continuity of your front office and your coaching

(14:18):
staff and everything else. The Spurs seem like they're built
for that next, big, long run. So you've got two
great stories. And obviously when Ben Yama's a guy that
begets so many other conversations. But for the Knicks, I mean,
it's it's hard to distinguish. And Smith and I talked
about this a little bit last week. It's the the

(14:40):
Knicks versus Knicks fan and you know what, We're gonna
put a pin in it right there as we continue here.
It's Fox Sports Radio because Arnie's gonna try to defend
himself and Knicks fans, or maybe he won't. At stick
A genius one is where you find him in the twitterse,
you find me over at Swollen Dome, find us always
at Fox Sports Radio, carry us with you on the
Ihear Radio app, and all our affiliates nationwide. We appreciate

(15:03):
you being part of our extended family. We're blessed to
be able to do this and yap away. Hopefully it
makes you forget about some things that may be vexing you,
stressing you work that you got to go back to tomorrow,
maybe you're stuck in traffic. Whatever it is, we're here
for you at Fox Sports Radio, and we'll talk about
that great divide between the team and it's fans next

(15:24):
on Fox.

Speaker 2 (15:25):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Palli Fusco here with Tony Fusco. You know, as the
host of the number one rated Polly and Tony Fusco Show,
we get tons and tons of fan mail every day,
piles of it. In fact, Tony, why don't you open

(15:46):
up one of those letters right now and read what's inside?

Speaker 5 (15:48):
Hey, listen to this. Dear paul and Tony, your sports
takes the dumbest and most.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
Terribly that wait, why this other one?

Speaker 5 (15:56):
Dear Paully in Tony, you suck more than anyone. Wait yea,
Paulie and Tony, you guys are the absolute best there
coming up with the stupidest Takeusco.

Speaker 3 (16:11):
Show on the iHeart radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcast. Welcome back in the party. Music
continues nixt night here a bit muted because Smith isn't
here and Arnie, I don't know. Evidently his family decided

(16:35):
they needed him more than America did.

Speaker 4 (16:39):
I don't know how that's possible.

Speaker 3 (16:42):
I don't know. I mean, it got you a couple
hours to yell on National Network about the Knicks. You've
already sung that damn theme song at least once.

Speaker 4 (16:50):
I love that song, that song ever too.

Speaker 3 (16:53):
Oh now, it's the best song ever.

Speaker 4 (16:54):
Yet than anything ever. I'm gonna make that.

Speaker 3 (16:58):
I thought that better right there.

Speaker 4 (17:00):
Yeah, I need that as my ring tone.

Speaker 3 (17:02):
You got people sweeping up in the streets of We're
getting videos.

Speaker 4 (17:07):
Going on that other media. People are jumping on the Knicks.
Stephen A. Smith. We did, and we did, and all
of a sudden, he's a lifelog Knicks fan and all that.

Speaker 3 (17:16):
I hate that, you know, uh, I mean some of
these guys may have actually been.

Speaker 4 (17:22):
I know that, but I don't give it to him.

Speaker 3 (17:23):
Really well, no, it's all about you. I get that.

Speaker 4 (17:26):
Yeah, my buddy Nick taturo I messaged him. He's a
big time Knicks fan. So he's excited to to go
to to go a game.

Speaker 3 (17:34):
Maybe nicely done, Maybe he'll end up getting there.

Speaker 4 (17:37):
Name dropped. There. Put me in your next movie, Nick,
let's go, let's go.

Speaker 3 (17:41):
Go work with the Jesus. His brothers all together.

Speaker 4 (17:45):
His cousin or his sister wasn't Sopranos, wasn't it?

Speaker 3 (17:48):
Yes?

Speaker 4 (17:49):
She was Janus, Well.

Speaker 3 (17:50):
He was Dennis. That's right. She also showed up on
a lot of court television as a judge. So there
you go, long long history, no quiet about and obviously
you got John Taturo along there, and he's a big
time Yeah, I said, the Jesus everything about the Big
Lebowski here.

Speaker 4 (18:08):
They they were making a movie about umpires and I
asked Nick for to be in it, and he was
going to try to get me in that movie. I
think it was a movie on TV.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
Did he ever write you back?

Speaker 4 (18:18):
No? No, we went to the batting cages though.

Speaker 3 (18:21):
Yeah, John, the one over here by the by, they
used to be here.

Speaker 4 (18:26):
That's you know who what be him? And Michael Rappaport
they drafted.

Speaker 3 (18:31):
Who Michael Rapaport there he is.

Speaker 4 (18:36):
That's a threesomes.

Speaker 3 (18:38):
Going back to the christapsporzingis draft. He really went next
level there. Hey. For over forty years, tyre ACK's been
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(18:59):
It's pretty cool. I mean we're looking at the different
stanchions and people climbing up the party in and their
tops and everything. Yeah, they let them do this, right, Arnie.

Speaker 4 (19:09):
I thought they weren't gonna let the party there wasn't
gonna be no.

Speaker 3 (19:12):
No, no, no no, They're just out there to make
sure they don't go too cred. Oh wait, no, these
clowns jumped on top of a stanchion at the subway entrance.
Good luck with that. All of that to say, the Knicks,
with the decisive series clinching win onto the NBA Finals
for the first time since night a momentum.

Speaker 4 (19:33):
Because it's not gonna be till June third, or we're
gonna lose a lot of momentum.

Speaker 3 (19:36):
I don't know. That didn't seem to do a lot
except for about three quarters in this last round.

Speaker 4 (19:40):
Right right? Well, what about the people watching too? Is
they're gonna be momentum? I don't think so. I think
once we get closer to the game, well we'll pump
it back up. I want to see that. You know,
you played the halftime show at the end of our
number one. I want to see them get a little
bit more involved. Also, are they gonna be outside Madison
Square Garden or they're gonna interact with the fans? Are

(20:01):
they too afraid? I don't want them to be in
the cushy comfort of some studio, you know.

Speaker 3 (20:06):
Yeah, I don't. I don't know about their Telling Tram
or Tell Tell Vision programs. I'm like slamming five words
together as I'm trying to look something up while I'm
I'm talking to you. I've got a producer on their shows,
and frankly, I don't watch them, so.

Speaker 4 (20:24):
I really don't you know, yeah, you know, I they
they've since they've gotten over to ESPN, I haven't really
watched them all that much. But I just want to
see how much you're going to do we have it.
We didn't have a pregame show during the week one time.
They just just straight to the game.

Speaker 3 (20:40):
But I saw more of their show today waiting to
come on air. Just the timing was a little different
in terms of how this one was adjudicated. So I
got most of the halftime show and it was just
the third quarter starting. We could have.

Speaker 4 (20:56):
Played this one earlier to Mike, we didn't have to
wait till eight o'clock. This could a bit a perfect
three thirty eastern twelve thirty West coast dime early in
the day it is.

Speaker 3 (21:07):
It is a holiday, but again you go back to
TV metrics and sales and add spots and everything else,
so you still have it in the primetime window even
if it is a holiday holiday holiday, but for the
you know, the just to punctuate and put the period
at the end of the sentence. Like most of the time,

(21:28):
Smith and I would see anything going on with Charles
and the crew. We don't have sound, so unless something
goes viral, we don't see it.

Speaker 4 (21:39):
And I am get a snippet on Twitter or something.

Speaker 3 (21:41):
No, that's what I mean, Like, unless it goes viral
like something something may pop up, hey they said this
or whatever. Generally I don't see it and I don't
feel the need to go and rush and do it
like we're on air two to break down a game,
and while I can't claim to do it with the
acumen and accuracy and no how of a guy who's
one of the greatest players I've seen in my lifetime.

(22:03):
And one of the things of these playoff runs, particularly
that Philadelphia series, was you got to see at least
enough of Berkley as a player to maybe people remember
what he was once upon a time. But yeah, I
kind of live in my bubble.

Speaker 4 (22:19):
Well Shack's not that all too no, but.

Speaker 3 (22:21):
I mean Shack, Shack's a guy though, I mean, he's
out of the league a while, and folks don't may
not be old enough to remember what Shack was. When
Shack was Shack?

Speaker 4 (22:31):
Really you think it were? People?

Speaker 3 (22:34):
When? When would when did Shack retire?

Speaker 4 (22:38):
How long has it been? Twenty years? I guess I
don't know.

Speaker 3 (22:41):
Fifteen years, twenty eleven, so fifteen years, okay, how many
years before that? Was he really? Shaquille O'Neill, say, other
five years?

Speaker 4 (22:49):
Five years, twenty years?

Speaker 3 (22:50):
Yeah, so it's twenty years since. I don't remember that
guy who was like, he's still had his moments, no
question about it. As the big Shacked is the big Leprechaun,
whatever persona he took on and his troubadour days. Yes,
but he wasn't the Shaquille O'Neal of that early destructive
nature with the Magic or what he was with the Lakers.

(23:12):
There's no question about that. Now, let's go back to
the topic that I wanted to start us on this
path because we recognize that the media side of Nick's
fandom is insufferable. You mentioned Steven A and start going
on down the line Jason Smith, several other members of
our community. I know, of course, I have to. I

(23:35):
live and die with it for four hours a night.
Are you kidding me? I had people writing me early
this morning going I'm sorry, Harmon, and I didn't respond
right away because I knew you eventually We're gonna be
like in for how about a Prescott? And I where
should we start? I knew the tweet was coming, so
I didn't have to do it, but I had people
on Instagram, Twitter just saying, my god, I feel bad

(23:57):
for you.

Speaker 4 (23:58):
You can't be a Nicks fan unless a you have
a knicked tattoo.

Speaker 3 (24:03):
Uh be you don't have a mixed tattoo well, or you.

Speaker 4 (24:07):
Named your kid after your favorite player or team. If
it was a girl, my kid was gonna be named
Madison for Madison Square Garden or three. You gotta have
a New York accent. You know. The Smith doesn't even
have a New York accent for crying.

Speaker 3 (24:20):
You know what, if you live away from the city
for a while, it can go away.

Speaker 4 (24:24):
No, that never goes away.

Speaker 3 (24:25):
See me, My Chicago ease either comes when I've been
hanging out with my friends and family back home, particularly
by others, or if I've been drinking. There you go
that truly, then I truly get back to Wow, he
dropped a used guy, the US guy, US guys in there. Yeah, no,
that's it. Anyways, start talking about the taverns of the

(24:47):
South side of Chicago, no question about it. But the
thing with the Knicks players and the team itself is
they're also damn likable. Yes, right, We've got to do
the crack research staff of how many games the Villanova
guys have played together now between college and the pros, right,
and their chemistry and what they do. Mike Brown is

(25:09):
going back to the finals. He was there nineteen years ago. Wow,
nineteen magic that.

Speaker 4 (25:14):
Two thousand and seven, Right, two thousand and seven always
when he was there. So you talk about unbelievable it's
been that long for him.

Speaker 3 (25:22):
But he talks about how, you know, working with and
around Steve Kerr and Popovich and these guys, the you know,
the formative, you know, foundational kind of learnings that we've had.
We still need to talk Western Conference finals in a
little bit here. We got plenty of space here on
the show. But like you go from Brunson, undersized guy,

(25:42):
kind of cast off a lot of the narrative, and
you've seen it percolate. I know you live on social
media from about twenty four hours a day. I think
you just perpetually plugged in. You've seen all of the
resurfacing of the denigration of what Jalen Brunson could be
right of you're never going to win this, that the

(26:03):
other with a short guy, this guy can't play d
whatever as your leader.

Speaker 4 (26:09):
Well, those those days are over now, you could.

Speaker 3 (26:12):
But look, until they win it, there's still gonna be
folks that are going to be hold out.

Speaker 4 (26:16):
Well, I'm not so sure the domination they've had right now,
you could throw that narrative out the window. After what
he's gone through.

Speaker 3 (26:22):
That, Yeah, you say that. But you know, folks get
attached to labels on players teams that they don't necessarily
what's that work like? Right, And they stay with it
if for any if for no other reason, just to
be the dissenting voice in the wilderness. I mean, that's
a tried and true radio hallmark. So you know, let's

(26:43):
just keep that where it is. But like, that's the
thing with these Nicks. If you've spent time watching them,
it's a fun brand of basketball.

Speaker 4 (26:51):
Absolutely right, But when they were two and nine in January,
then it wasn't so fun.

Speaker 3 (26:56):
Well, but I mean that's for you as a fan.
For the rest of the watching world, well, it let
other people come back into the pack. We saw the
Eastern Conference get a little bit tighter, and it became
the all right, well what if because there was still
the potential at that point, you're ahead of the trade deadline.
What if? And then nothing substantive is done and they

(27:16):
move forward and here they are just some tweaks, some
rededication to different principles, running the ball through Karl Anthony towns.
And you know, I gave him all the credit in
the world. Much was made of Lebron James is gonna.
I'm gonna, I'm the third guy. I've never been that before.
Look at me and everybody patting him on the back
and kissing his ass like you had to do that

(27:37):
for seventeen games, not how many games he Luca and
Reeves played together. Let me see that for eighty two
plus playoffs and then tell me that it works for you.
Then right, and even though you won't have to because
neither of those guys is staying healthy.

Speaker 4 (27:52):
For a No, you're right about that, and you want
to talk about taking a back seat to take somebody
like Brunson today, If I would have told you that
Brunson would only have fifteen points on six or fourteen shooting,
you would have thought that maybe the Knicks might have
even lost the game, or if they won, it would
have been a close game. You wouldn't have thought they
were gonna be up by forty or whatever it was
and destroying Cleveland on the road. He was at, Oh,

(28:13):
they're in for a tough game, but they do it.
I mean they have such great chemistry and such great
balance scoring that it doesn't have to be all Brunson
all the time. Bridges played shot horrible four to sixteen
the guy was shooting like seventy percent coming into the game.
Did have a very good game, but Towns picked it
up and Noby picked it up. Shaman's been shooting a

(28:37):
three pointer lights out. The guy I think is about like,
if I'm correct, eighteen of his last twenty two to
three pointers. That's unheard of. That that is just such
a shot in the arm. So you know, they get
it from other sources. McBride's been playing well, so it
doesn't have to be a mad.

Speaker 3 (28:55):
Are you just gonna read the entire roster? Yeah, you
want to talk about how the guy at the end
of the band was cheering real, No.

Speaker 4 (29:02):
Guys, Yeah, the rest of the guys are gonna do anything.
I just I mean, they just do so well. So
I'm enjoying this run.

Speaker 3 (29:09):
Man.

Speaker 4 (29:10):
Mitchell Robinson played awesome today too. That was great.

Speaker 3 (29:12):
But again, you know favorite and you know the poster
of him going up over m beat is one that
will live in Knick's history. Right, eight points, ten boards tonight,
Karl Anthony Towns. Another nineteen fourteen game.

Speaker 4 (29:25):
The best thing they did, Mike, the Knicks did was
what they didn't do. They didn't panic and went out
and got Yannis or you know, traded towns. Like there
was some rumors right before the deadline that they were
thinking about trading towns, and they didn't panick. They stood
their ground. They said we'll get through this and it
paid off. Thank goodness, they didn't get Yannis or end

(29:47):
up getting Lebron or something like that. I would have
been pretty upset.

Speaker 3 (29:50):
Might have been even better, you don't know. But here
we are, and Karl Anthony Towns is a guy that
not only is getting it done on the court, he's
getting it done in the the eating world. And we'll
give us.

Speaker 4 (30:01):
Talk about bringing the Vincenzo back. I don't know if
you heard about that.

Speaker 3 (30:05):
And then it ripped his leg and that was the
end of that, and that was all your fault, just
because at stick a genius one where you find him
in the Twitter verse. Find me over at Swollen dom
I'll tell you where else Carl Anthony Towns is dominating.
You're gonna love it. And it might be a story
that only really impacts me. But there's our guy, Steve
de Saga over at the news desk. It has been

(30:26):
a wild and wooly full slate of appearances across the
sporting universe. What do you got, Steve.

Speaker 6 (30:33):
We'll start with the Knicks, And it turned out to
be not a panic move to make the East Finals
last year and get rid of their coach, say goodbye
to Tom Dibbodeaux. And so Mike Brown comes on and
in his first year with a team, takes them to
the NBA Finals. And yes, his last trip was with
Cleveland in two thousand and seven. So that's the longest
chasm between finals appearances for a coach, almost two decades.

(30:55):
So they wait, where they're going to Oklahoma City or
are they going for Game one at San Antonio June third?
But one of those West teams will have home court
advantage when the finals start June third because of a
much better regular season record. But these Knicks, you can
only play who's in front of you. They've destroyed the
competition in front of them, just these three series clinching games,

(31:18):
these three rounds. They're the first team in the league's
history to win the three series clinchers by at least
thirty points each wow in a single postseason. Because the
clincher against the Hawks, it was Nicks one forty to
eighty nine. Next round against Philly Knicks won forty four
to one fourteen and tonight at Cleveland one thirty to

(31:40):
ninety three. Average margin of victory in those three clinchers
thirty nine points.

Speaker 4 (31:45):
Wow Wow.

Speaker 6 (31:47):
A dominant, dominant game at the Cavs tonight to sweep
the East Finals four games to none, and the Knicks
had a twenty to zhering run in the first half.
Jalen Brunson name series MVP. The Knicks are in the
NBA Finals for the first time since nineteen ninety nine.

Speaker 4 (32:00):
Nine.

Speaker 6 (32:00):
The Knicks have won eleven straights. I'll go a step further.
They've won six straight on the road, all by double
figures this postseason. That is the longest such run in
NBA playoff history.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (32:12):
In the West on Tuesday, once again, it'll be San
Antonio at Oklahoma City, with that series tied at two.
In the NHL, it's over at Montreal. Carolina leads the
East Final two games to one after an overtime win
against the Canadians three to two. Kines outshot him thirty
eight to twelve. Tonight, Vegas Fiantek won her first round
match at the French Open. There was a combined no

(32:35):
hitter in Major League Baseball by Houston tonight winning nine
nothing at Texas. There are two late ball games. The
Dodgers have scored four in the bottom of the seventh
now lead in the nine to five to three against Colorado.
The Dodger bullpen streak if thirty eight straight scoreless innings,
was snapped by a home run in the top of
the seventh. The Seattle Mariners hit three home runs at

(32:57):
the A's, and Bill to Leed is now seven to
nothing in the set seven against the Athletics. For the A's,
Nick Kurtz has reached base forty eight straight games. That
ties an A's all time record for a single season.
It ties Mark McGuire nineteen ninety six, who reached base
forty eight straight games. And then there's the Cubs. Pittsburgh
beat the Cubbies two to one today. Cubs have not

(33:19):
only lost thirteen to fifteen. This is a team that
had two ten game winning streaks already early season, and
now they've lost nine in a row. Apparently, according to
the stat folks at the Elia Sports Bureau, only one
other team in the entire expansion era over sixty years
had had two ten game winning streaks and a nine

(33:40):
game skid all in the same season. That was the
Dodgers of twenty seventeen, who did wind up making the
World Series until they met a team that was found
to have been cheating. But the Cubs have done all
their streaking just in the first half of the season.
Kind of impressive in its own way. But speaking of streaks,
and will close on this, the Knicks i mentioned had

(34:00):
won eleven in a row. The Lakers of Shaq and
Kobe had won eleven straight until the finals when they
lost Game one of the finals and that blew that
double overtime game against Allen Iverson and then won the
next four in a row and took the title. Nineteen
eighty nine, Lakers won eleven in a row going into
the finals and then got swept by Detroit as Magic
and Byron Scott got heard. But the Warriors have the

(34:23):
record twelve straight going into a finals since they expanded
the playoffs over forty years ago, and the Warriors then
won the first three of the finals in twenty seventeen,
so the playoff record is fifteen straight wins. Nicks right
now at eleven straight this postseason back to you, well, they.

Speaker 3 (34:40):
Can get to a tie. Thanks Steve. That's Steve Sager
at the news desk. We got Brandon, We've got Alex
making us sound so pretty. That's the stinking genius over
there at Stinking Genius One. Our guy Arnie Spanier kind
enough to hold off his revelry. Maybe he's got a
special cake or something there to hang out with us tonight.
I'm Mike Armin at Swollend home coming up next, we

(35:00):
go back to that cub streak because there's there's something
that's in the offing and in the wells there in
Chicago as well as Carl Anthony Towns and what he's
pursuing and maybe as a second career. We'll talk about
it next here on Fox.

Speaker 2 (35:16):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio App.

Speaker 3 (35:29):
Welcome back in Fox Sports Radio, Jasus Smith Show with
Me Mike Carmen. It's Arnie Spaniard. This on is a
tribute to the Cleveland Cavaliers. We hardly knew ye. Shame
us live wherever you happen to be on the iHeart App,
catch us all our Fox Sports Radio shows. Live twenty

(35:49):
four seven is a new and improved iHeartRadio app. Search
Fox Sports Radio and the app sham us live all
day every day. Be sure to select Fox Sports Radio
is one of your presets in the iHeart app, so
it always popped up at the top of your screen.
Coming up in about ten minutes, we'll get into the
Western Conference Finals best of three, defending champs showing some vulnerabilities,

(36:11):
and one man literally standing tall. Now, two quick stories.
One go back to that Cub streak. Right, it's been bad.
They lose a couple of games of the White Sox
and they've been on a horrible slide. Pete Crow Armstrong
is having a miserable follow up season. Right. He had
a great first half, Yeah yeah, and then fell off
last year and this year has been a disaster. Well,

(36:31):
he also had an altercation with a White Sox fan
beyond the fence that well, he had to apologize because
he said some things he shouldn't have. They have not
won since, and people in Chicago, if you're not a
Cub fan, they're enjoying that quite a bit.

Speaker 4 (36:44):
Oh I could imagine. Yeah, I bet you they're loving that.
He had stuff up because they were off to such
a hot start. And now we'll get them there.

Speaker 3 (36:49):
But Steve gave you the notes right the way they've
had these this ebb and flow of the long streaks,
very very odd first half of the seas, no doubt,
but Carl Anthony Towns might be looking into another another career. Now.
We've got a bunch of players that have gotten involved
in the trading card business. They do brakes some of it,

(37:13):
you know, going to gradings, sending stuff off to auction houses,
partnering up Tom Brady's got a bunch of stores that
are memorabilia and trading card stores. Well, Karl Anthony Towns
is evidently building himself a collection here, Arnie Spaniard, right,
and he's doing so in the w W E sphere.

(37:34):
Help me out on this now. He lost out on
a one of one Randy Orton Matt card from WrestleMania
forty one that came out of a product got out
bid to the tune of forty two thousand dollars. Well,
now he'd said, you know, I'm not going to lose
that again. There was a big story arc that included
the Rock with Cody Rhodes, a year ago and he

(37:56):
inscribed a card that was inserted into packs with he
wanted my soul, and Arl Anthony Towns decided he was
not going to be beaten again.

Speaker 4 (38:08):
Right, he had to have it right.

Speaker 3 (38:09):
He wanted my soul, question mark exclamation points, so he
had to have that. So at Big Bodega Cards is
where you find him cracking stuff and having a good
time over on Instagram. But see this is showing once
again I'm not the mutant. I am part of the collective.

Speaker 4 (38:25):
I was that's your that's your field. There, that's your
that's your wheelhouse.

Speaker 3 (38:29):
I enjoy it.

Speaker 4 (38:30):
Yeah, I didn't know there was so many different cards.

Speaker 1 (38:32):
You know.

Speaker 4 (38:32):
I used to just think baseball, football, basketball, that was
pretty much it maybe a little hockey after that. Man,
it's just gotten crazy outside the ford normal sport now.

Speaker 3 (38:42):
But you go back one hundred years. You got Disney
cards from their first inception.

Speaker 4 (38:45):
Wacking bats. There was millions.

Speaker 3 (38:47):
Oh sure, I mean you had the Horrors of War
cards for you had storm cards.

Speaker 4 (38:53):
Yes, murderers that were at cards.

Speaker 3 (38:56):
Another one on because we're going to talk about when
min Yama here in a minutu. He's he also was
at a show last year, and you know what, he
was buying Star Wars cards, maybe leaning into that whole
alien moniker. We'll talk about it as we continue. It's
already I'll buy Carmen, and this is Fox Sports or
radio