June 2, 2025 • 51 mins
On this podcast: Dave Steinwedel, Payton Girod, and Brandon Stephens are back to talk:
The Knicks putting up banners early. (1:10-4:15)
Baseball having a wild ejection, umpires having too much power, can the Rockies win 20 games? (4:16-22:30)
THe guys discuss what happens with Inside the NBA, when did basketball coverage suffer, the NBA Finals and Ratings. (22:31-43:10)
Stanely Cup Playoffs and a salute to John Brekus. (43:11-END)
The Knicks putting up banners early. (1:10-4:15)
Baseball having a wild ejection, umpires having too much power, can the Rockies win 20 games? (4:16-22:30)
THe guys discuss what happens with Inside the NBA, when did basketball coverage suffer, the NBA Finals and Ratings. (22:31-43:10)
Stanely Cup Playoffs and a salute to John Brekus. (43:11-END)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This week's Opening Kickoff podcast is presented to you by
our friends at cegee and use promo code Opening Kickoff
All one word to get twenty dollars off your first
order with our friends at sea geek. Make sure you
don't miss the next event. Baseball season is underway, concert
season is kicking off, NBA Playoffs, NHL Playoffs, the NFL
(00:23):
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(00:43):
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first order at sea geek dot com. Don't miss the
next event. WG Hello and welcome. Doing already in progress
(01:19):
Opening Kickoff podcast. UH David Miles is off this week.
He's got daddy duties, so you are stuck with the
three of us. I am your host, Dave Salmonell Jordan
as always by my two great cos he's back with us,
he's been away for a little bit. Brandon Stevens is here.
Uh no Celtics in the NBA Finals, but he's he's thriving.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
It's okay, It's totally fine. I got to see those
lift one listen in person. I got to watch that
head So it's cool. That's cool. I'm great. Shout out
to the Knicks like hanging Honestly, you know, I'll never
know what this is like, but putting the street signs
for the players after you win in the second round,
(02:05):
it's so funny. Like you are the New York Knicks,
like you are a storied basketball franchise. That's something I
expect from like the Charlotte Hornets or maybe even the Patients.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
I don't say something about that though, What what is
so storied about that?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I mean, you've had a lot of legends played for
New York. It's not.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yes, okay, so like we're just gonna do that, like yeah,
because I'm like, if.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
We really are like knit, like I'm I'm nitpicking.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I get obviously Patrick Ewing played the start I get
all that they didn't win anything, like famously, they didn't
win anything, like I've never understood, Like why everyone trying
to think about like who's football?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Like fall?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, but they've won like they've won, They've actually won championships,
Like when was the last time the Knicks won at
like the seventies?
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Maybe maybe I think I don't have one championship right.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, well no, they have more than they have more
than one.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
No, I'm like one real NBA championship since the merger.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
I have to look at it.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
I don't have that commit capability at the moment.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I can't say I don't know. I can't say it's
I don't think we have that much like history, we
don't get them. We're just a good team.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Now, would be the Raiders. You can say that about
the Raiders, Yeah, that'd be a good one.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Like John, like they won one and they won one,
like they win more. No, I won one, John Mattin
only won one. Raiders like the Readers for that yeah
old like people still for some reason consider them like
a building block of the NFL, even though like no
one has forever forever like Oakland was just like if
(04:06):
they could forget that they probably would, you know. So
I mean like if they could wipe that out, like
you get one go like a stretch, you can wipe
ten years out of your franchise, it would.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Probably be like that easy for them. So I'm just
saying I get the knicks. I just don't.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
I don't get like why everyone like when like they're like, oh,
boss sin La New York. I'm like pause, pause, Like
that's like like that's like you just went from like
you just said eight like eighteen seventeen one, Like did
you see?
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Like how that doesn't mass? That's what I'm just saying.
But it is New York. You are right New York,
New York.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
And that's really all you need.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
How are you doing, Peyton? Peyton here with us.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Yeah, I'm doing well, you know, college football.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
So just I'm just getting hyped for it. I'm just
hyping myself up for it. Little by little.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Brandon, you might be able to join the Dynasty League now, Dave,
you're too busy, but you're open.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
I'm sure.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, I'd do it if I had the time. That's
the only problem.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Yeah, I'm doing well. How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (05:19):
We're here another school years coming that's the important thing.
We got some sports to talk about. We are now
to the finals in the NBA and the NHL. Baseball
had a fun ejection yesterday. If anyone saw that with
Tampa Bay and Houston.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Did not see I didn't see that.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Look up Taylor Walls, Peyton. While I I kind of
t this up here.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
I can't believe I just said that, but I do.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Uh, Taylor Walls had a quite an ejection, wouldn't you say, Brandon.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yeah, I had to look it up because I was confused.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
That that was like what that meant, because I can't
say I watched so much minor league baseball, so I
wouldn't have known that like that was a thing.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Well, here's the thing about it, and I've seen some
of the big baseball pods talk about it, And the
funny thing about the ejection is, like I didn't realize
it was in the rule book that the umpires will
automatically eject you if you make that signal. And for
those of you that haven't seen the video, Taylor Walls
took a questionable strike in his eyes, which by the
(06:31):
replay that they showed it was a strike and if
you remember in spring training they tried out the ABS system,
the automatic balls and strikes, where if you tapped your
helmet you could challenge the pitch call. So Walls didn't
like to strike, took his time, steps out of the
batter's box, kind of looks at the home plate umpire
(06:52):
readjusts his hat and then taps his helmet twice, almost
saying I want to challenge it. And he looks dead
at the home plate Umpire and homeplane. Umpire just casually
and I get the homeplate umpire. Credit he handled it,
I thought, really well. He just turned around, pointed at
him and said you're done. You're gone, like you are
ejected for your little gesture. And Taylor Walls loses his mind.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Okay, can I got questions? Watch it?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Okay, so you said you tap your helmet. That made
you like it. It was like a challenge right.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Now, you can't do that. They haven't had that system
in yet, No they didn't.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Yes, yes, I'm falling. He did it like.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Mockingly almost yeah, all.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Right, okay, like he would challenge that if he could.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
It would like the best way I can describe it
is like a receiver thinks he made the catch and
he walks right up to the ref and like acts
like you're throwing the challenge flag, sort of reactionary thing it.
What's your take as the non baseball person there, Peyton.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
I do get like he's absolutely doing that. I'm watching
this in real time. This is a great podcast. I'm
watching this in real time. He tapped it. He explained
it to him. He's like, you're ejected. You can't be
doing that.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
He is.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Actually the umpire's called here's my problem, And I think
we can agree on this. NFL mlb umpires are the
weakest minded and softest minded individuals to ever exist in
sporting officiating.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
Ever, I think we can agree with.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
That because I don't think that needs to be ejected.
Is that like a rule you get objected for doing that?
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yeah, until they have the system in if you do
this in a regular season, but we are. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Maybe that's what I don't understand.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Like why here's what I don't get, Like you just
said in the NFL, like I mean, good God, love
if you could get a mic on every person on
the team the ship, some of those guys probably say.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
That, like like like.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
All the guys like you know through the years, like
and like, uh, what's it called?
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Imagine what ed hockey?
Speaker 3 (09:18):
He's heard throughout his career, right the most those like
there needs to be something in like baseball, like rejected
guy for shit like.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
That, like like give him like a penalty.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I don't know what the penalty could be, or something
like find the guy, just find him or some shit
like that's crazy to do that, right, I get, like,
I get why, but like the way like he like
he didn't do that much. You can't say anything, like
they can't hear any criticism back and that's crazy.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Look at NHL rest, Oh they give it.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Back and they just let it be, you know, like
they're like, dude, like I can't remember the guy, the
famous guy in the NHL, but he's always like shut
the funk up, get back to like playing hockey.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Oh, what's well, yes, McCaulay, what's macaulay? What's macaulay talks?
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Ship back to him, ship back.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I think just like you know, you go back to
Angel Hernandez all those guys, they're just weak minded individuals.
They've gotten into baseball umpiring because they want power.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
That's all this is. I mean, it's a power graph.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
They want to go on a power trip and they
love doing it, like anytime they're questioned.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Like more than like their their pumfort zone. They throw
people out and it does.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
It's done because like each guy is different, which is
why I have a problem with it, Like the line
for each umpire is different, so there's not like a
baseline or whatever. Obviously you do something crazy, you know,
you start like call him names, you probably getting gone,
but you know that like that is like that's tiktacky.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
He did dumbire did eject him very cold.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
That's little. But I say I've seen I've seen a
lot of ejections in baseball in all my years watching,
I've never seen one where the umpire just kind of
walks over and just so casually just points like yeah,
you buddy, hit the showers. You're you're going.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Like I think I'm reading like I'm just reading like
people's tweets like it's kind of what I just said,
Like we were saying, like it's not like he did
anything like that bad, like like he didn't flip him off, he.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Didn't do it. He just tapped his head.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And I get like the there's more too, and I
get the now you've explained that, I get the background
of it, but like, I mean, come on, like do
you think that like you needed to eject that guy
for that?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I think the only reason, I truly think the reason
he got ejected is if he'd had just done it
initially and then stopped. But like he deliberately waited until
the homeplay Umpire was looking at him to do it.
He wants to make a point that well that's where,
that's where, not that I would have I probably wouldn't
(11:55):
have ejected him. I just looked at him and said, hey,
all right, knock knock it off or you will go.
You you made.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Exactly And like these.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Guys can't handle it, like they don't like being wrong.
And I think it's like they can't admit they're wrong.
And I think that's the problem in like mlb umpires.
I mean, I hate to say it, like they're just
like very like they're very concerned about their image. But
for guys who are so concerned about their image, they're
never there.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
Never first action is fuck, I might have got that wrong.
I needed to be better.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Their initial reactions like you're wrong, you're gone, Hey, fuck you,
you're losing your game check and it's like crazy, I mean,
like I love my favorite one. I think is it
a Aaron Boone where he's like you want to go
and he's like, no, I don't want to go. And
then he's like the guy ejects him and he's like
I didn't like I love it.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Oh yeah it was the guy was They're playing the
A's it was like a Wednesday afternoon game and the
umpire looked at Aaron Boone and said don't like, don't
say another word or I'm tossing your ass. And then
all of a sudden and if some guy in the
stands said something and it was in Aaron Boone like
near Aaron Boone and a coupark just turning threw him
(13:11):
out of the game, like you can't stay like you're
this is a billion dollar league and you.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Can't fix that. Like that's chicken shit, that's like bush league.
That's literally I bet you go on went, I bet
you I could go around the country and I could
scout how many umpires are there in MLB? Would you say,
just go yes, like a rough number like fifty guys maybe, uh.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Probably close to seventy to eighty.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Okay, I bet you I could go to t ball
games and like twelve twelve and under umpires and I
could find seventy to eighty guys.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
That are better than them, right, Like, it wouldn't be
that hard. I don't think.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I don't think so, Brandon. What's your take on I
want to get you in here?
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
That's that's kind of a bold claim. I don't know
if you could do that, because there are really I
think there are some really good umpires. I think there
are good ones. Yeah, I don't think you can.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
I don't know. Ceb Butner is still running around calling
strikes that are nowhere near strikes.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
The gambling.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
It's like, come on, but what's crazy is that guy
called like one of the best word games of all time.
It's like, it's kind of that one was kind of
like weird to me because clearly he wasn't I don't know.
The betting thing seemed a little like not to have
to do with his job. Like yeah, I know.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I remember.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
I'm just saying, it's like, you know, these guys are
so high get they're fucking doing that.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Yeah, But like, I.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Don't know if you've ever watched maybe like fifteen and
under baseball game. But I mean, those those umps are
just us really just waking up putting on.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
They're not even putting it out for.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Just standing bend the plate, you know.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
And they're probably doing all right.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Ah you know, I'm sure those Facebook dads would disagree. Payton, Well,
I don't give a ship with it.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
I'm out here to do my job for them the
greater part of the game.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I didn't think that this ejection was crazy, and I
thought it was, like, I get it, I get it.
I just had the I thought I was watching the
wrong video. Like the first three times I watched it,
I was like, what, I played it back in slow motion,
I'm like, am I missing something? I'm like, maybe it's
something he said, so like I'm trying to like do
(15:48):
a bit of lip reading, like when the camera's in
his face, and I'm like, I mean, this doesn't feel
like too crazy. And then I finally caught a comment
or a quote wee of somebody explaining it, and I
was like, oh, that's actually insane.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Let me ask this question because we're talking about umpires,
and then we'll get off baseball and move on to
some other stuff. Do you think baseball will ever go
to the automatic balls and strikes?
Speaker 4 (16:17):
No, because they.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Because these guys, they they they need their power. They
need they don't want to be out on third base
line like, they don't want to be out there. They
want to be they want to be the guy behind
home plate making the calls.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
They're self centered bastards.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I've said this.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
And Hocyle did it for the love of the game.
He loved He didn't he did arms for the love
of the game. He did the show.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
What you're supposed to look like, what it's supposed to
look like to be a professional doing this ship?
Speaker 4 (16:53):
Are MLB ur MLB umpires? Again? This is great podcasting
of me on a sports podcast. O. You guys full time?
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Yes, they are.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Full time and hockey. He's like a bush driver in
his Yeah, I mean the business Like the guy on
CBS was my fucking neighbor in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
He had a construction business with his brother. You're like,
now he runs.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
CBS referee, Like, come on, he did a ship park time.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Now he's got a full time gig. This is just bullshit.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Uh. I think they should take a page out of
the book you know, people always talking about soccer refs
being stuffed, and they are in some cases, but they
stand in the face of like adversity quite away.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
I love the ball, dude.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Uh my, Anthony Taylor, bro, we can't. We're not champion?
Speaker 4 (17:51):
Is that what I'm thinking of? He was in It
was in ted Lasso. Fuck, you're talking.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
I'm looking at all the riff from ted lesk Ya
got me?
Speaker 4 (18:06):
I know it. I know.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Everybody, Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor, everybody's too.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Mike Dean, Mike Dean played no games. Who he is
Mike Dean early super famous guy. Wait, yeah, but Mike
Dean is not a.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
So he's not so referee.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Mike Dean. Mh I thought Mike Dean was a urger.
This is fantastic sports podcasting, by the way, I'm just
saying this.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
I thought, yeah, we're off and running in the best
way for.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Mike Dean, not a producer. Who is the ref Mike Dean?
Is he a European referee? He did the Prome Mike
Brown for twenty two years. He was a Fever referee
for ten years. I'm not a non boone.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Oh here you go. You know I got this question
for Peyton Brandon. You may have seen this or or
know the answer to this question. The Colorado Rockies are
nine and fifty one more. Yeah, damn it, you beat
me to it.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
I thought Scottie.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Shuffler is my favorite golfer ever. He's the greatest. He
is the fourth fastest of sixteen wins. He has made
eighty million.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Dollars in two years.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Like he has one hundred million career earnings, which is
also surpassing I think Phil Michelson, which is also funny,
like that he's just.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Been doing this for like four years.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Scotti, and he held his son with a poop stand
on his back, which is impressive after winning his golf tournament.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
The guy's the fucking man. Colorado Rockies explain, actually got
a question for you. Didn't you be that fucking bad
at professional sport as a team?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
You know, it's when is the commissioner step in?
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Well, you know done.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
It's interesting you say that because like I look at
the Rockies and I'm like, they've got some young guys,
Like this isn't like a team where you look at
the Rockies and you go all right when they're like
low renting this with like bottom feeders. Now, they haven't
invested any money into that franchise in terms of contract
(20:32):
extensions for any of these young guys. But I mean
they gotten the part that shocks me about them, and
I'm pulling their roster up as I get ready to
talk about now their rotation has bottomed out in the
worst way, and they play in such a terrible ballpark
to be a pitcher. I mean, if you're a fly
ball pitcher in Colorado, you're fucked. Yes, you get past
(20:53):
like April and all you sneeze and you're gonna hit
a ball out of the ballpark. But they got guys like, well, okay,
they're roster now not looking great as I look at it.
Ryan McMahon and Ezekiel Tovar are two guys that are
homegrown for them. Brendan Doyle is a homegrown guy. Jordan
(21:14):
Beck is homegrown like they've got.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
I wasn't gonna say anything. I was gonna wait for
you to, like name the person, because all I was
thinking of is Ryan McMahon, Like I'm not thinking of
another person who I care.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
I know of Tovar because he was an All Star
I think last year for Colorado. But like they've got
some young Yeah. I was gonna say, like we're I know,
we're picking at the bottom of the barrel, but like
they've got some young guys, but they're just I mean,
they're horrendous. Yeah, they can't pitch, can't hit. Mean they losing.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Sixty one games last year at least.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Yeah, I mean the reality they might not get twenty
wins by the All Star They're losing the the Marlins
right now.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
For the finish like seventy seventy eight games, Baker first place,
which is like unheard.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Of and the worst thing for him too, Like you
can be bad, it's really bad when you're in a
division like the NL West where the other four teams
are above five hundred or like right at this right
near like here's here's their schedule up to the All
(22:26):
Star Break. They have three with the Marlins, home for
the Mets and the Giants. Like they're not beating either
one of those teams. When when was the last time
they won a game? Oh, they beat the Yankees, then
the hold on. Then they gotta play at Atlanta, four
(22:49):
for the Nationals, home for the Diamondbacks, home for the Dodgers,
at the Brewers home for the Astros and the White
Sox okay at Boston at Cincinnati and then the All
Star Break.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yeah, you named there was like maybe a third team,
but I think two teams that White Sox and the
Astros those two series, they might be able to pick
up a couple.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
They could pick off a game against the Astros. Like
outside of that, I don't know how they're winning games
on with who they have to play. There's just no
way they are. All right, we're gonna hop off baseball.
We'll talk more about that as the summer winds on.
I do want to get to We're gonna talk about
the NBA Finals here in a minute, but I want
(23:41):
to start talking about Inside the NBA and the end
of TNT covering basketball. Last night was their final two
nights ago Apologies was their final telecast, with the Pacers
beating the Knicks to go to the NBA Finals to
take all the thunder A long successful run. Inside the
(24:03):
NBA will continue. It will continue on ESPN. ESPN claims
that they will not alter the show, they will leave
the show as it is. But your laugh tells me
exactly that, Brandon Peyton, your thoughts on the end of
an error because really for us, I mean watching the NBA,
(24:26):
watching the NBA TNT was a part of our lives
pretty much since we were born.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
I have something really controversial to say about this. I
don't want to go last.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
So it so it's going to ESPN, right, Yeah, that's
a mess. That's all gonna work.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Yeah, we know, we already know it.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Like I don't get you know what, I don't understand
like why ESPN would buy that, because like unless and
I just doubt this.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
I just don't think they're gonna let them do what
they want to do.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Like I think they're gonna like it just takes like
a couple of times where you know, Chuck feeling himself
a little bit, he's gonna say some crazy shit, and
Bobby Eager and Disney and all those guys are gonna.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Be like, yeah, no, I can't be saying that on.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
This that's crazy.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
We got princesses around here, man, we have kids. We
got kids to think of. Even though yeah, and I'm like, I.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Just don't understand, like why you would buy something unless
you're gonna change it. But if you change it, then
no one's gonna watch it, you know what. I mean,
like it doesn't make sense. I don't know, it's just
fucking people buy thinking they can just like keep the
same thing going.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
I was so they're also filming it in the same place.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Right, Yeah, it is staying at tn T at the
TNT studios. It'll be done. It'll be done by the
TNT production crew that does the show already, but it
will be licensed to ESPN.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Yes, they leased the space or something. I suppose.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Well, TNT Sports is not shutting down because they still
have hockey, they still have baseball, they have NASCAR, like
they they're just not in the NBA game. But they
sold the rights to air inside the NBA to ESPN, So.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Yeah, I mean that must have clearly been part of it.
It's just like it's weird, like I don't know when's uh?
I mean, this is this can't go well right.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
This backfire is horrendously well. Charles Barkley's already said, he
was on Dan Patrick today that he doesn't think he
lives out the contract that he has left. He thinks
he's got two years at best, because he already said
they did a test run and here's the thing they
remember without with TNT losing the rights, they don't get
to show the highlights, like the highlight package goes with
(26:58):
the broadcast package. Okay, so like we like, okay, think
of it like this, if we did the pregame show
for like the NFL, We're not on a broadcast partner,
so we technically don't get the highlights sent to us,
so we can't use the highlights in our own air stuff.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
And Reggie Miller and then we're calling games still right
on tn T.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
No tn T is done calling games, it'll be I
think Reggie Miller is He's either at NBC or Amazon.
I know Iron Eagle is the lead voice at Amazon's standard.
Gundy's going to Amazon. NBC is going Mike Trico, which
isn't bad. Like I don't hate that the Michael Jordan
(27:51):
wants a little interesting is.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
That Tom Brady Like Tom Brady.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
I've just convinced, like Tom Brady will keep doing football until.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
He's see here's here's the thing. I think Brady. I
think Brady is gonna be better.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
The situation going on, Like Brady's thing wasn't from a
lack of effort, Like I can guarantee you the billionaire
Michael Jordan's problem is gonna be Yeah, he.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
Gonna he's lazy, he sucks.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
They're gonna be like.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
I think this.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
I think Jordan is no different than Gretzky with like
he doesn't Gretzky doesn't do much and really doesn't offer
a lot other than telling stories. I wouldn't expect much
out of Michael Jordan because here's the reality, Like Jordan
is sort of like Tom Brady. He's got five or
six other things going on. The most I hear Jordan
(28:52):
talk actually and actually give thoughtful answers, it is when
he's when he's interviewed about his Yeah, like that's you
get the most out of him.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Then.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Other than that, I don't expect a lot. I expect
him to be Gretzky. I think tom Brady's gonna be
better year two.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
I did too. I think people are hard on him
the first year. I think, like I think it's hard
like you.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I still think there's got to be someone out there,
some that does a premium like kind of like a
Manning cast or something, but like they swear and they
can actually call it like it is, and they can
talk about like, oh.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
That's poor effort, that's just pissed four you know what
I mean? Like, I feel like.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
That would be the way to go with Tom Brady.
If Tom Brady could go unfiltered, he'd be infinitely better.
I think he struggles with having to filter himself enough.
That makes sense, No, it does, it does?
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Just yes, how do we think? Go ahead? Brandon? Sorry?
Speaker 2 (29:55):
No you go? Because this is I'm gonna be really
long wind.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
It all means go ahead unless Peyton has something he
wants to add.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
I was just gonna say, how long do you give
each guy on inside the NBA? Like do they all?
Speaker 1 (30:11):
I think Kenny? I think Kenny Smith goes first?
Speaker 4 (30:17):
Yeah, probably.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Because he's like he Him and Charles have been the
two most adamant that they don't like it. But Kenny
hasn't been very vocal about it. But you could kind
of see the last couple of shows when they were
kind of hinting like, yeah, no, the show's continuing. You
could kind of see an uneasiness in the way he
(30:40):
talked about it, like he was the most like I'm
not really buying in this, and you're never gonna get
Ernie Johnson. His heart is at Turner. He will be
at Turner until the day he retires. So you know
he's never gonna fully buy in, but he'll live out
(31:03):
the contract just out of respect to Turner. Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yeah, I mean I think I had Shack definitely going first.
Shack definitely going first. He needs to just go be somewhere.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
I could see. I could see Shack doing like a
man in cast. Yeah, I can.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
See, Like I'm not saying like successfully, but I'm just
saying like I could see him being the guy that
does that first.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Okay, I can see Okay, Yeah, I can see him.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
Training it more than them.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Yeah, he's the more entrepreneurial lot of everybody.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Yeah, he'll do more.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
He'll go out of his comfort zone to try something.
I think what was your take, Brandon, what do you got.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Inside the NBA? I think it has given us a
lot of over the years. Definitely means something great to watch.
And this is not me saying that I'm glad it's
gone or is well it's not going and I'm glad
that it's moving. But I do think it's played a
large hand in just how like unseerious basketball coverageees, like
(32:21):
we're so used to just like watching those guys and
like laughing, and it's like rare that we get like
any sort of like analysis or like anything that like
really means something from that show. And again, like people
are gonna hear this and be like, oh, how could
you Again, this is not me hating inside the NBA.
This is just me saying that, Like I think they
(32:42):
have played a heavy hand in why basketball coverage sucks
so bad. Like everybody's trying to like chase the laugh
and like chase the online thing. Like that's just how
it is. Like people want to get clicks, like they're
the masters. They were the mass stories of like getting
getting clicks and like making people laugh, and like that's
(33:05):
what they felt like was important for basketball coverage instead
of like at covering the actual game and like what's
going on. Like they try to give you like some
things when they do the you know, they do the
Big Board with with Kenny and Shack and them, like
you know, they try to you know, break down plays
and do stuff like that. But that might be the
(33:25):
one thing that you get that's like really analytical out
of him or you know, like just just anything that's
like real analysis, Like you don't get that in the NFL,
Like you get actual analysis in the NFL during halftime shows,
Like you don't get it in the NHL, you don't
(33:48):
get it in you know, anything else but basketball. I
think the uh Terryn Ree and Jamie Carriger, Michael Richards
and Kate Abda when they do the stuff for soccer CBS,
I think that's like the perfect mix of analysis and comedy,
like like the perfect mix. And I think the NBA
(34:11):
should have tried to chase that, but they just leaned
more in the comedy than anything else, and I just
think it kind of ruined it for me.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
I'll see here, I'm going to push back a little bit.
I because I think inside the NBA does a great
job of being straightforward and what they say, I mean,
there's no bullshit, and that's what you want when you're
watching these pregame, these post game, these halftime shows. If
(34:39):
we want to talk about what in terms of the
coverage that has killed the NBA, that's ESPN. I will
die on the hill that ESPN is what's killed the
NBA because of how they covered they covered for the
hot Tide.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Yeah, I think that following uside the NBA. I don't
think ESPN was always like that.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
At all, But just see to me the differences I
always thought even before he got on there, and I'm
he's such a lightning run. And I don't want this
to seem like this is an anti Steven A. Smith line.
But when you add the hot take guy on and
you have one true basketball player on that set, you're
(35:22):
not chasing actual NBA discussion. You're chasing hot takes. And
that's what ESPN created a while ago with that pregame
postgame show. They went for the takes. We want to
have the best take. We don't want to break down anything,
because truthfully, if ESPN ever wanted to actually do that,
Tim Legler would be on that set. They wouldn't have
(35:44):
gotten rid of Zach Low because those are two guys
that know the game inside and out and can explain
it to you in a way that makes sense. You
made a brilliant point. The NFL does it great. If
you're gonna watch their shows at halftime, you're gonna get
information out of it. You're gonna get the highlights, but
you're gonna get a discussion about what you saw. I
(36:05):
think TNT it got a little bit full of themselves
towards the end, I'll be the first to admit that
I think it definitely got full of itself towards the
end because it became so big. But that happens. But
I never thought it lost what made to show great,
which was unbiased, un hero worshiping. And that's the other
(36:29):
thing to ESPN just Oh, they cannot get out of
their own way about is we fall in love with
the stars, and we're not willing at ESPN other than
to make the hot takes, to hold the players accountable
and talk about them in a objective view without going, oh,
it's Janni Anton and Kumpo or it's like they're two extremes.
(36:52):
There's no down the middle where other sports. Yeah, you
can talk about the greats, but it isn't this hero worshiping.
That's where I think the NBA killed itself in terms
of its coverage.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
I agree with that.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
I agree with that like that, but I also do
see I definitely agree with you, Brandon. The Champions League
broadcast is like a great mix and.
Speaker 4 (37:19):
Like it's kind of funny.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
It's like it goes down the line if you look
at it from left to right, most serious like serious,
like unseerious.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
It is kind of funny, Like, but I don't know,
I don't know what the answer is.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
I just think like you gotta get back to like
regular broadcasting and stop being like so pundity.
Speaker 4 (37:38):
Like you said, Dave, like the takes if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
That you had, it's really crazy because like even the people,
like if you look at the careers of the people
that they have like on that show and compare it
to the inside of the NBA, it's kind of like
the contrast is striking, Like it's very similar. Got Terry
Henri who could play that like shack role, like I'm
one of the best players to ever play in the
(38:05):
Premier League.
Speaker 4 (38:07):
Yeah, but he takes it serious.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
I'm just talking about like if you wanted to, like
you know, people talked about like maybe if you change
the people up and you had like, you know, more
legends kind of you know do the show. And it's
like you don't even need that because when I look
at that, you really have like one guy who's like
a you know, like a legend in everybody's mind. You
got Jamie Carriger, who like maybe a little less noteworthy
(38:33):
than Charles Berkley, but like.
Speaker 4 (38:38):
He's a pre legend.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Yeah, I want a premier league. I want a premier league.
Then you got you know, Michael Richards, who definitely can
play that Kenny Smith role where he was like, you know,
just the guy I had amazing teammates, had teammates and
I helped out. You know, I did my share, but
like you know, I was just I was just kind
of you know there. And then you got Kate Abdel,
(38:59):
who play the Ernie Johnson role right like, I am
very knowledgeable about the sport, even though I didn't play
at like a you know, a professional level. I don't
think she Yeah, I don't think she did. If it
was it like probably.
Speaker 4 (39:13):
Wasn't long, probably not much.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
So NBA Finals, talk real fast before we go to
the NHL to wrap this up, because I don't want
to talk about their coverage a little bit before we
end it. What do we think about this matchup and
who do we like?
Speaker 2 (39:35):
Thunder and.
Speaker 4 (39:38):
I would really yeah, I kind of go Thunder and
six and one.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Of those six games is gonna be very nasty, like
like I'm talking like forty point is gonna be very nasty.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
I did like the meme of David Certain choking on
the water bottle from the grave looking at like what
the h the matchup would be because he would never
have allowed this to happen.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
Yeah, but like we gotta like stop with it too, right,
Like let's just let the good teams play.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
Oh oh, I agree completely. I'm just saying is.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Like, like, no, one like we should just stop doing that.
And we again only do that in basketball, and.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
No, we do it in baseball too.
Speaker 4 (40:28):
We did.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
Baseball does it a lot too, because it looks like, Okay,
look at the Sunday night games the ESPN puts on.
It's the Yankees, it's the Dodgers, it's the Red Sox.
Why because those are the big markets. Like I'll be
totally honest, one of their best Sunday night games that
I actually wanted to watch was Phillies and the Guardians
(40:49):
because it's it's a team you don't see a lot,
like we're not showing the best teams. The best teams
a Detroit Tigers. They're not on a prime time game
on ESPN anymore. That's your best team in baseball. And
it's the same thing with the NBA. We want it.
It's the Lakers, it's the Celtics. No knock branded, but
it's the Lakers, it's the Celtics, it's the Knicks, it's
(41:11):
Golden State when Miami was good, Like, we want to
show the big market, so there is a there is
a portion that will care about the ratings because that
drives the narrative that if you don't have a big
market team in it, that nobody's gonna watch. But I
think that's I think that's a falsehood. If the games
are good, people will watch. And I think that's the
(41:31):
problem for the NBA is like you said, I can
see a forty point blowout that's not gonna get good ratings,
Like that's just not But if you have like I
think the thunder went in seven, because I think that
these this is a pretty comparable matchup for Oklahoma City.
(41:53):
If you're gonna get a team out of the East,
I think Indiana can go toe to toe for a while. Like,
if the games are close, it'll be a great series
to watch because you have a lot of star power
with how Tyres Halliburton and Shake Gildess Alexander, Like you're
gonna get people to watch if the games are closed.
But if they're not competitive games, nobody's gonna watch. Playing
(42:14):
it simple, I don't care who's in it.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Yeah, but I mean that goes for any sport that
has a series in a final, like the nfls they
excuse themselves to that because they get won the game.
Like I'm sure if we go and look at the
I've been dying to actually look at this, or like
wonder if numbers are even available for this to like
see how much viewership dropped though from the Super Bowl
(42:38):
last year, Like I almost went home after the first quarter,
like I was out and I was like, man, like
I already know where this is hitted, Like I might
as well just I might as well just did so,
Like while I agree with that, I think like that
you could say that about any any sport that has
a series a series one, like if the games aren't good,
(43:01):
people aren't gonna watch. And I don't think that's a
market thing at the end of the day. I just
think that that just comes down that if the games
are good. I mean we watched Denver, small market Miami
not really, but we watched those games not be close
a couple of times, Like I don't know some of
(43:21):
them they were close. I think people just you get
to that thing where like people just don't want to watch.
Like you think of the Nuggets and you think of
the heat and it's like not sexy, Like that doesn't
that doesn't like, you know, when you look at you
think all the finals matchups we had over the years,
you think of Celtics, Lakers, you think of Warriors, caves,
(43:42):
you think of like all that stuff, and then you
get Nuggets heat and you're like, ah, man, like that
doesn't really, that doesn't really entice me, even before you
watch a game like we're gonna have that now where
people are like Pacers thunder, like oh, like why would
I want to watch two teams from two very small markets,
even though there's a lot of star power, like you said,
(44:03):
they've on both of these teams, and I think it's
at least worth tuning into every night.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
Well, in the same vein, like do we we lost
Peyton turned this camera off? Okay, but like in the
same vein you can talk about, uh, the NHL playoffs
and nice little segue here, like there's not gonna be
a lot of people they claim will be. There won't
(44:32):
be a lot of people that will watch the Stanley
Cup because it's Florida and Edmonton.
Speaker 4 (44:37):
Disagree.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
Yeah, but you'll have that argument because there's no big
market team in there.
Speaker 4 (44:45):
I'll bet you that. I bet, I bet my dollar.
I bet more people watch Stanley Cup fight on the NBA.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
Yeah, probably I would agree with that. I that's a
that's not a big ledger going out on here, Peyton.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
I'm just saying you might get an entire country tuned
into this week. That's not fair at all.
Speaker 3 (45:06):
Well, I mean we could say, I mean, why don't
why don't we You could like dive into that and
be diving into the weeds of like why aren't we
watching basketball?
Speaker 4 (45:13):
Then?
Speaker 2 (45:14):
Well people, Yeah, well we could definitely get into it.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
We could, and it could be the downfall the day
of the music died, When Suart Scott died, that's the
day of the music died, I'll tell you. Scott van
Pelt trying to keep it afloat over there. That's where
I mean it all goes back to all those all those.
Speaker 4 (45:32):
Icons not being around anymore. And I mean we're beating
the drum here. I mean you already said it.
Speaker 1 (45:37):
They they powered up.
Speaker 4 (45:39):
The pundits, they gave them all the power.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
Yeah, and you can't put the genie back into bottle.
Speaker 3 (45:45):
No, and it's a shame because like like a lot
of those guys, it's just like, I guess it's not
their fault either. I mean, they're told they get paid
to do what they got hired to do. You know,
they got hired there to come up with hot takes
and ship and say crazy stuff. You get clicks and
all that, the original clickbaiters. But yeah, I don't know.
(46:07):
I do think like this is a great series and
like this is gonna be like for the Stanley Cup.
Speaker 4 (46:12):
I think, excuse me a rematch? You got Connor McDavid.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
Like, but is it is it easy to say that
Florida should win this series handily? Because that's what I
come back to.
Speaker 4 (46:24):
Oh, I think so. I think if if Edmonton won this,
I'd be stunned. I really would.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
I'm so amazed that Edmonton caught this far with the
bad goaltending that they have. Like how it hasn't killed
Edmonton in a series is beyond me. But I think
this is where it does.
Speaker 3 (46:43):
You ruined the Stars goalie the next right after you said,
they're like, ah, that Edmonton guy is so bad?
Speaker 1 (46:50):
Oh yeah, J got j Poort, J Gottinger I felt
so bad.
Speaker 4 (46:54):
For it, like three goals in a minute, and.
Speaker 1 (46:58):
It's it's so amazing when you get to the Stanley
Cup to just see goaltenders that are so solid have
that like little bit of struggle and it just fall
apart so fast on them. But I I think it.
I think it has to catch up with.
Speaker 4 (47:15):
Edmonton getting bench is tough as well.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
Yeah, that a brutal in Game seven, knowing that you
put your team behind the eight ball like that so early.
But no, I don't think Edmonton can withstand. You don't
have Zach Kiman. And if you're gonna play Florida, you've
gotta have a guy that can go toe to toe
because they're gonna go after McDavid. They're gonna go after
(47:41):
dry cyitle.
Speaker 4 (47:42):
I mean that's one.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
You really need a fucking mark right now, you stop him.
I mean, Conor mc david can only do so much,
especially with.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
Like this right Like, well, McDavid hasn't had a great
playoffs like Edmonton.
Speaker 3 (47:55):
Assists he's playing, he's playing the assist man this time around.
Speaker 4 (47:59):
He ain't scoring goals like he used to. Well, I
say that, and he scored a marvelous one the other night.
But yeah, you are right comparative to last year for sure.
Speaker 1 (48:11):
Brandon, you have a hockey take because I have one
more thing I want to bring up before he wrapped.
Speaker 2 (48:15):
Zero hockey takes. I'm sorry, I really do.
Speaker 4 (48:19):
Oh I have one question. Trent Arnold thoughts you got
ten million dollars?
Speaker 2 (48:25):
Yeah, I take that absolutely million pounds. I mean he
was never going to renew his contracts. I mean ten
million pounds. We'll take that.
Speaker 4 (48:34):
Take that, Okay.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
I do want to get out of here on this yesterday.
As we've been telling about ESPN, so it's sort of prevalent.
But John Bracers, who anyone of a certain age knows
this sports science was a big part of all of
our lives growing up passed away battle with depression for
(49:05):
uh and I know for me, like I loved all
the sports science clips, like that was the best part
of any of the sports centers. When you saw it
on the rundown, you knew you were getting something fascinating
from a guy that was really knowledgeable and had a
great way of explaining it to you in a way
(49:26):
that made a lot of sense. I know it was
a part of my childhood. I'm sure it was a
part of your guys is.
Speaker 2 (49:32):
And I had this conversation not too long ago, maybe
like I want to say, like three months ago with
some friends of mine talking about how sports science probably
would have banged with like the next gen sports stuff
that they had. It would have been like a lot
more information on that. I think it already lose.
Speaker 3 (49:50):
I just never understand, like when ESPN I got rid
of it, I never understood, like why you know what
I mean, Like they're clearly everyone liked it. It was interesting,
Like I never under Yeah, I never understood like what
like you were like literally you just said like literally
at that moment, that industry would have known that next
(50:10):
gen stats was gonna be a big thing or it
was around the corner.
Speaker 4 (50:13):
And I just don't understand like that would have been
so marketable or so useful.
Speaker 3 (50:19):
I just used to love like literally, in the summer,
you wake up, you used to see the old Sports
Center rundown on the side, and you would like, wait,
you're like, what is sports science? Oh shit, we got
sports science today, Like I'm I gotta make sure I
watch that, Like it was.
Speaker 4 (50:33):
I mean, their answer the questions I never even thought of.
Can Kevin love Box out as sumo wrestler, like that
shit's awesome, Like it was awesome, and like.
Speaker 3 (50:43):
Probably fucking skipper, that fucking old fucking fart there, probably
like this is so stupid. Why are we paying for this?
And it was like because people fucking like it, ding dong,
like it doesn't have to match.
Speaker 4 (50:54):
What you like. I just feel so bad for the
guy man, I mean, his family all that.
Speaker 1 (50:59):
So yeah, yeah, we just want to wrap up. This
is a little bit of a quick pod tonight. I
just want to wrap up. Thoughts to the family of
John Brakus, who is a part of all of our
childhoods and sports science. Four Brandon Stevens for Peyton Gerard.
I'm Dave Simonel. This has been the opening kickoff podcast.
(51:20):
Have a great week, Enjoy the sports. Enjoy the finals
in the NBA and the Stanley Cup. Baseball, College World
Series and college softball happening. College World Series has been wild,
a lot of upsets.
Speaker 4 (51:32):
Shout out Mountaineers.
Speaker 1 (51:34):
West Virginia having a good run. Enjoy it all and
we'll talk about it next week.
This week's Opening Kickoff podcast is presented to you by
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next event. WG Hello and welcome. Doing already in progress
(01:19):
Opening Kickoff podcast. UH David Miles is off this week.
He's got daddy duties, so you are stuck with the
three of us. I am your host, Dave Salmonell Jordan
as always by my two great cos he's back with us,
he's been away for a little bit. Brandon Stevens is here.
Uh no Celtics in the NBA Finals, but he's he's thriving.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
It's okay, It's totally fine. I got to see those
lift one listen in person. I got to watch that
head So it's cool. That's cool. I'm great. Shout out
to the Knicks like hanging Honestly, you know, I'll never
know what this is like, but putting the street signs
for the players after you win in the second round,
(02:05):
it's so funny. Like you are the New York Knicks,
like you are a storied basketball franchise. That's something I
expect from like the Charlotte Hornets or maybe even the Patients.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
I don't say something about that though, What what is
so storied about that?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
I mean, you've had a lot of legends played for
New York. It's not.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Yes, okay, so like we're just gonna do that, like yeah,
because I'm like, if.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
We really are like knit, like I'm I'm nitpicking.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I get obviously Patrick Ewing played the start I get
all that they didn't win anything, like famously, they didn't
win anything, like I've never understood, Like why everyone trying
to think about like who's football?
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Like fall?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, but they've won like they've won, They've actually won championships,
Like when was the last time the Knicks won at
like the seventies?
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Maybe maybe I think I don't have one championship right.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, well no, they have more than they have more
than one.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
No, I'm like one real NBA championship since the merger.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
I have to look at it.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
I don't have that commit capability at the moment.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I can't say I don't know. I can't say it's
I don't think we have that much like history, we
don't get them. We're just a good team.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Now, would be the Raiders. You can say that about
the Raiders, Yeah, that'd be a good one.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Like John, like they won one and they won one,
like they win more. No, I won one, John Mattin
only won one. Raiders like the Readers for that yeah
old like people still for some reason consider them like
a building block of the NFL, even though like no
one has forever forever like Oakland was just like if
(04:06):
they could forget that they probably would, you know. So
I mean like if they could wipe that out, like
you get one go like a stretch, you can wipe
ten years out of your franchise, it would.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Probably be like that easy for them. So I'm just
saying I get the knicks. I just don't.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
I don't get like why everyone like when like they're like, oh,
boss sin La New York. I'm like pause, pause, Like
that's like like that's like you just went from like
you just said eight like eighteen seventeen one, Like did
you see?
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Like how that doesn't mass? That's what I'm just saying.
But it is New York. You are right New York,
New York.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
And that's really all you need.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
How are you doing, Peyton? Peyton here with us.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Yeah, I'm doing well, you know, college football.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
So just I'm just getting hyped for it. I'm just
hyping myself up for it. Little by little.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Brandon, you might be able to join the Dynasty League now, Dave,
you're too busy, but you're open.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
I'm sure.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, I'd do it if I had the time. That's
the only problem.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Yeah, I'm doing well. How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (05:19):
We're here another school years coming that's the important thing.
We got some sports to talk about. We are now
to the finals in the NBA and the NHL. Baseball
had a fun ejection yesterday. If anyone saw that with
Tampa Bay and Houston.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Did not see I didn't see that.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Look up Taylor Walls, Peyton. While I I kind of
t this up here.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
I can't believe I just said that, but I do.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Uh, Taylor Walls had a quite an ejection, wouldn't you say, Brandon.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yeah, I had to look it up because I was confused.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
That that was like what that meant, because I can't
say I watched so much minor league baseball, so I
wouldn't have known that like that was a thing.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Well, here's the thing about it, and I've seen some
of the big baseball pods talk about it, And the
funny thing about the ejection is, like I didn't realize
it was in the rule book that the umpires will
automatically eject you if you make that signal. And for
those of you that haven't seen the video, Taylor Walls
took a questionable strike in his eyes, which by the
(06:31):
replay that they showed it was a strike and if
you remember in spring training they tried out the ABS system,
the automatic balls and strikes, where if you tapped your
helmet you could challenge the pitch call. So Walls didn't
like to strike, took his time, steps out of the
batter's box, kind of looks at the home plate umpire
(06:52):
readjusts his hat and then taps his helmet twice, almost
saying I want to challenge it. And he looks dead
at the home plate Umpire and homeplane. Umpire just casually
and I get the homeplate umpire. Credit he handled it,
I thought, really well. He just turned around, pointed at
him and said you're done. You're gone, like you are
ejected for your little gesture. And Taylor Walls loses his mind.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Okay, can I got questions? Watch it?
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Okay, so you said you tap your helmet. That made
you like it. It was like a challenge right.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Now, you can't do that. They haven't had that system
in yet, No they didn't.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Yes, yes, I'm falling. He did it like.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Mockingly almost yeah, all.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Right, okay, like he would challenge that if he could.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
It would like the best way I can describe it
is like a receiver thinks he made the catch and
he walks right up to the ref and like acts
like you're throwing the challenge flag, sort of reactionary thing it.
What's your take as the non baseball person there, Peyton.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
I do get like he's absolutely doing that. I'm watching
this in real time. This is a great podcast. I'm
watching this in real time. He tapped it. He explained
it to him. He's like, you're ejected. You can't be
doing that.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
He is.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Actually the umpire's called here's my problem, And I think
we can agree on this. NFL mlb umpires are the
weakest minded and softest minded individuals to ever exist in
sporting officiating.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
Ever, I think we can agree with.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
That because I don't think that needs to be ejected.
Is that like a rule you get objected for doing that?
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yeah, until they have the system in if you do
this in a regular season, but we are. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Maybe that's what I don't understand.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Like why here's what I don't get, Like you just
said in the NFL, like I mean, good God, love
if you could get a mic on every person on
the team the ship, some of those guys probably say.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
That, like like like.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
All the guys like you know through the years, like
and like, uh, what's it called?
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Imagine what ed hockey?
Speaker 3 (09:18):
He's heard throughout his career, right the most those like
there needs to be something in like baseball, like rejected
guy for shit like.
Speaker 4 (09:25):
That, like like give him like a penalty.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I don't know what the penalty could be, or something
like find the guy, just find him or some shit
like that's crazy to do that, right, I get, like,
I get why, but like the way like he like
he didn't do that much. You can't say anything, like
they can't hear any criticism back and that's crazy.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Look at NHL rest, Oh they give it.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Back and they just let it be, you know, like
they're like, dude, like I can't remember the guy, the
famous guy in the NHL, but he's always like shut
the funk up, get back to like playing hockey.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Oh, what's well, yes, McCaulay, what's macaulay? What's macaulay talks?
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Ship back to him, ship back.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I think just like you know, you go back to
Angel Hernandez all those guys, they're just weak minded individuals.
They've gotten into baseball umpiring because they want power.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
That's all this is. I mean, it's a power graph.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
They want to go on a power trip and they
love doing it, like anytime they're questioned.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Like more than like their their pumfort zone. They throw
people out and it does.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
It's done because like each guy is different, which is
why I have a problem with it, Like the line
for each umpire is different, so there's not like a
baseline or whatever. Obviously you do something crazy, you know,
you start like call him names, you probably getting gone,
but you know that like that is like that's tiktacky.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
He did dumbire did eject him very cold.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
That's little. But I say I've seen I've seen a
lot of ejections in baseball in all my years watching,
I've never seen one where the umpire just kind of
walks over and just so casually just points like yeah,
you buddy, hit the showers. You're you're going.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Like I think I'm reading like I'm just reading like
people's tweets like it's kind of what I just said,
Like we were saying, like it's not like he did
anything like that bad, like like he didn't flip him off, he.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Didn't do it. He just tapped his head.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And I get like the there's more too, and I
get the now you've explained that, I get the background
of it, but like, I mean, come on, like do
you think that like you needed to eject that guy
for that?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I think the only reason, I truly think the reason
he got ejected is if he'd had just done it
initially and then stopped. But like he deliberately waited until
the homeplay Umpire was looking at him to do it.
He wants to make a point that well that's where,
that's where, not that I would have I probably wouldn't
(11:55):
have ejected him. I just looked at him and said, hey,
all right, knock knock it off or you will go.
You you made.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Exactly And like these.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Guys can't handle it, like they don't like being wrong.
And I think it's like they can't admit they're wrong.
And I think that's the problem in like mlb umpires.
I mean, I hate to say it, like they're just
like very like they're very concerned about their image. But
for guys who are so concerned about their image, they're
never there.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
Never first action is fuck, I might have got that wrong.
I needed to be better.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Their initial reactions like you're wrong, you're gone, Hey, fuck you,
you're losing your game check and it's like crazy, I mean,
like I love my favorite one. I think is it
a Aaron Boone where he's like you want to go
and he's like, no, I don't want to go. And
then he's like the guy ejects him and he's like
I didn't like I love it.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Oh yeah it was the guy was They're playing the
A's it was like a Wednesday afternoon game and the
umpire looked at Aaron Boone and said don't like, don't
say another word or I'm tossing your ass. And then
all of a sudden and if some guy in the
stands said something and it was in Aaron Boone like
near Aaron Boone and a coupark just turning threw him
(13:11):
out of the game, like you can't stay like you're
this is a billion dollar league and you.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Can't fix that. Like that's chicken shit, that's like bush league.
That's literally I bet you go on went, I bet
you I could go around the country and I could
scout how many umpires are there in MLB? Would you say,
just go yes, like a rough number like fifty guys maybe, uh.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Probably close to seventy to eighty.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Okay, I bet you I could go to t ball
games and like twelve twelve and under umpires and I
could find seventy to eighty guys.
Speaker 4 (13:48):
That are better than them, right, Like, it wouldn't be
that hard. I don't think.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I don't think so, Brandon. What's your take on I
want to get you in here?
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
That's that's kind of a bold claim. I don't know
if you could do that, because there are really I
think there are some really good umpires. I think there
are good ones. Yeah, I don't think you can.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
I don't know. Ceb Butner is still running around calling
strikes that are nowhere near strikes.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
The gambling.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
It's like, come on, but what's crazy is that guy
called like one of the best word games of all time.
It's like, it's kind of that one was kind of
like weird to me because clearly he wasn't I don't know.
The betting thing seemed a little like not to have
to do with his job. Like yeah, I know.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I remember.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
I'm just saying, it's like, you know, these guys are
so high get they're fucking doing that.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Yeah, But like, I.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Don't know if you've ever watched maybe like fifteen and
under baseball game. But I mean, those those umps are
just us really just waking up putting on.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
They're not even putting it out for.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Just standing bend the plate, you know.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
And they're probably doing all right.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Ah you know, I'm sure those Facebook dads would disagree. Payton, Well,
I don't give a ship with it.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
I'm out here to do my job for them the
greater part of the game.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I didn't think that this ejection was crazy, and I
thought it was, like, I get it, I get it.
I just had the I thought I was watching the
wrong video. Like the first three times I watched it,
I was like, what, I played it back in slow motion,
I'm like, am I missing something? I'm like, maybe it's
something he said, so like I'm trying to like do
(15:48):
a bit of lip reading, like when the camera's in
his face, and I'm like, I mean, this doesn't feel
like too crazy. And then I finally caught a comment
or a quote wee of somebody explaining it, and I
was like, oh, that's actually insane.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Let me ask this question because we're talking about umpires,
and then we'll get off baseball and move on to
some other stuff. Do you think baseball will ever go
to the automatic balls and strikes?
Speaker 4 (16:17):
No, because they.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Because these guys, they they they need their power. They
need they don't want to be out on third base
line like, they don't want to be out there. They
want to be they want to be the guy behind
home plate making the calls.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
They're self centered bastards.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I've said this.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
And Hocyle did it for the love of the game.
He loved He didn't he did arms for the love
of the game. He did the show.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
What you're supposed to look like, what it's supposed to
look like to be a professional doing this ship?
Speaker 4 (16:53):
Are MLB ur MLB umpires? Again? This is great podcasting
of me on a sports podcast. O. You guys full time?
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Yes, they are.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Full time and hockey. He's like a bush driver in
his Yeah, I mean the business Like the guy on
CBS was my fucking neighbor in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
He had a construction business with his brother. You're like,
now he runs.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
CBS referee, Like, come on, he did a ship park time.
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Now he's got a full time gig. This is just bullshit.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Uh. I think they should take a page out of
the book you know, people always talking about soccer refs
being stuffed, and they are in some cases, but they
stand in the face of like adversity quite away.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
I love the ball, dude.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Uh my, Anthony Taylor, bro, we can't. We're not champion?
Speaker 4 (17:51):
Is that what I'm thinking of? He was in It
was in ted Lasso. Fuck, you're talking.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
I'm looking at all the riff from ted lesk Ya
got me?
Speaker 4 (18:06):
I know it. I know.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Everybody, Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor, everybody's too.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Mike Dean, Mike Dean played no games. Who he is
Mike Dean early super famous guy. Wait, yeah, but Mike
Dean is not a.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
So he's not so referee.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Mike Dean. Mh I thought Mike Dean was a urger.
This is fantastic sports podcasting, by the way, I'm just
saying this.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
I thought, yeah, we're off and running in the best
way for.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Mike Dean, not a producer. Who is the ref Mike Dean?
Is he a European referee? He did the Prome Mike
Brown for twenty two years. He was a Fever referee
for ten years. I'm not a non boone.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Oh here you go. You know I got this question
for Peyton Brandon. You may have seen this or or
know the answer to this question. The Colorado Rockies are
nine and fifty one more. Yeah, damn it, you beat
me to it.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
I thought Scottie.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Shuffler is my favorite golfer ever. He's the greatest. He
is the fourth fastest of sixteen wins. He has made
eighty million.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Dollars in two years.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Like he has one hundred million career earnings, which is
also surpassing I think Phil Michelson, which is also funny,
like that he's just.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Been doing this for like four years.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Scotti, and he held his son with a poop stand
on his back, which is impressive after winning his golf tournament.
Speaker 4 (19:49):
The guy's the fucking man. Colorado Rockies explain, actually got
a question for you. Didn't you be that fucking bad
at professional sport as a team?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
You know, it's when is the commissioner step in?
Speaker 4 (20:01):
Well, you know done.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
It's interesting you say that because like I look at
the Rockies and I'm like, they've got some young guys,
Like this isn't like a team where you look at
the Rockies and you go all right when they're like
low renting this with like bottom feeders. Now, they haven't
invested any money into that franchise in terms of contract
(20:32):
extensions for any of these young guys. But I mean
they gotten the part that shocks me about them, and
I'm pulling their roster up as I get ready to
talk about now their rotation has bottomed out in the
worst way, and they play in such a terrible ballpark
to be a pitcher. I mean, if you're a fly
ball pitcher in Colorado, you're fucked. Yes, you get past
(20:53):
like April and all you sneeze and you're gonna hit
a ball out of the ballpark. But they got guys like, well, okay,
they're roster now not looking great as I look at it.
Ryan McMahon and Ezekiel Tovar are two guys that are
homegrown for them. Brendan Doyle is a homegrown guy. Jordan
(21:14):
Beck is homegrown like they've got.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
I wasn't gonna say anything. I was gonna wait for
you to, like name the person, because all I was
thinking of is Ryan McMahon, Like I'm not thinking of
another person who I care.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
I know of Tovar because he was an All Star
I think last year for Colorado. But like they've got
some young Yeah. I was gonna say, like we're I know,
we're picking at the bottom of the barrel, but like
they've got some young guys, but they're just I mean,
they're horrendous. Yeah, they can't pitch, can't hit. Mean they losing.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
Sixty one games last year at least.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Yeah, I mean the reality they might not get twenty
wins by the All Star They're losing the the Marlins
right now.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
For the finish like seventy seventy eight games, Baker first place,
which is like unheard.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Of and the worst thing for him too, Like you
can be bad, it's really bad when you're in a
division like the NL West where the other four teams
are above five hundred or like right at this right
near like here's here's their schedule up to the All
(22:26):
Star Break. They have three with the Marlins, home for
the Mets and the Giants. Like they're not beating either
one of those teams. When when was the last time
they won a game? Oh, they beat the Yankees, then
the hold on. Then they gotta play at Atlanta, four
(22:49):
for the Nationals, home for the Diamondbacks, home for the Dodgers,
at the Brewers home for the Astros and the White
Sox okay at Boston at Cincinnati and then the All
Star Break.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Yeah, you named there was like maybe a third team,
but I think two teams that White Sox and the
Astros those two series, they might be able to pick
up a couple.
Speaker 1 (23:19):
They could pick off a game against the Astros. Like
outside of that, I don't know how they're winning games
on with who they have to play. There's just no
way they are. All right, we're gonna hop off baseball.
We'll talk more about that as the summer winds on.
I do want to get to We're gonna talk about
the NBA Finals here in a minute, but I want
(23:41):
to start talking about Inside the NBA and the end
of TNT covering basketball. Last night was their final two
nights ago Apologies was their final telecast, with the Pacers
beating the Knicks to go to the NBA Finals to
take all the thunder A long successful run. Inside the
(24:03):
NBA will continue. It will continue on ESPN. ESPN claims
that they will not alter the show, they will leave
the show as it is. But your laugh tells me
exactly that, Brandon Peyton, your thoughts on the end of
an error because really for us, I mean watching the NBA,
(24:26):
watching the NBA TNT was a part of our lives
pretty much since we were born.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
I have something really controversial to say about this. I
don't want to go last.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
So it so it's going to ESPN, right, Yeah, that's
a mess. That's all gonna work.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Yeah, we know, we already know it.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
Like I don't get you know what, I don't understand
like why ESPN would buy that, because like unless and
I just doubt this.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
I just don't think they're gonna let them do what
they want to do.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Like I think they're gonna like it just takes like
a couple of times where you know, Chuck feeling himself
a little bit, he's gonna say some crazy shit, and
Bobby Eager and Disney and all those guys are gonna.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Be like, yeah, no, I can't be saying that on.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
This that's crazy.
Speaker 4 (25:17):
We got princesses around here, man, we have kids. We
got kids to think of. Even though yeah, and I'm like, I.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Just don't understand, like why you would buy something unless
you're gonna change it. But if you change it, then
no one's gonna watch it, you know what. I mean,
like it doesn't make sense. I don't know, it's just
fucking people buy thinking they can just like keep the
same thing going.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
I was so they're also filming it in the same place.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Right, Yeah, it is staying at tn T at the
TNT studios. It'll be done. It'll be done by the
TNT production crew that does the show already, but it
will be licensed to ESPN.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Yes, they leased the space or something. I suppose.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
Well, TNT Sports is not shutting down because they still
have hockey, they still have baseball, they have NASCAR, like
they they're just not in the NBA game. But they
sold the rights to air inside the NBA to ESPN, So.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Yeah, I mean that must have clearly been part of it.
It's just like it's weird, like I don't know when's uh?
I mean, this is this can't go well right.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
This backfire is horrendously well. Charles Barkley's already said, he
was on Dan Patrick today that he doesn't think he
lives out the contract that he has left. He thinks
he's got two years at best, because he already said
they did a test run and here's the thing they
remember without with TNT losing the rights, they don't get
to show the highlights, like the highlight package goes with
(26:58):
the broadcast package. Okay, so like we like, okay, think
of it like this, if we did the pregame show
for like the NFL, We're not on a broadcast partner,
so we technically don't get the highlights sent to us,
so we can't use the highlights in our own air stuff.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
And Reggie Miller and then we're calling games still right
on tn T.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
No tn T is done calling games, it'll be I
think Reggie Miller is He's either at NBC or Amazon.
I know Iron Eagle is the lead voice at Amazon's standard.
Gundy's going to Amazon. NBC is going Mike Trico, which
isn't bad. Like I don't hate that the Michael Jordan
(27:51):
wants a little interesting is.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
That Tom Brady Like Tom Brady.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
I've just convinced, like Tom Brady will keep doing football until.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
He's see here's here's the thing. I think Brady. I
think Brady is gonna be better.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
The situation going on, Like Brady's thing wasn't from a
lack of effort, Like I can guarantee you the billionaire
Michael Jordan's problem is gonna be Yeah, he.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
Gonna he's lazy, he sucks.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
They're gonna be like.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
I think this.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
I think Jordan is no different than Gretzky with like
he doesn't Gretzky doesn't do much and really doesn't offer
a lot other than telling stories. I wouldn't expect much
out of Michael Jordan because here's the reality, Like Jordan
is sort of like Tom Brady. He's got five or
six other things going on. The most I hear Jordan
(28:52):
talk actually and actually give thoughtful answers, it is when
he's when he's interviewed about his Yeah, like that's you
get the most out of him.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Then.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Other than that, I don't expect a lot. I expect
him to be Gretzky. I think tom Brady's gonna be
better year two.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
I did too. I think people are hard on him
the first year. I think, like I think it's hard
like you.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I still think there's got to be someone out there,
some that does a premium like kind of like a
Manning cast or something, but like they swear and they
can actually call it like it is, and they can
talk about like, oh.
Speaker 4 (29:29):
That's poor effort, that's just pissed four you know what
I mean? Like, I feel like.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
That would be the way to go with Tom Brady.
If Tom Brady could go unfiltered, he'd be infinitely better.
I think he struggles with having to filter himself enough.
That makes sense, No, it does, it does?
Speaker 4 (29:50):
Just yes, how do we think? Go ahead? Brandon? Sorry?
Speaker 2 (29:55):
No you go? Because this is I'm gonna be really
long wind.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
It all means go ahead unless Peyton has something he
wants to add.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
I was just gonna say, how long do you give
each guy on inside the NBA? Like do they all?
Speaker 1 (30:11):
I think Kenny? I think Kenny Smith goes first?
Speaker 4 (30:17):
Yeah, probably.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Because he's like he Him and Charles have been the
two most adamant that they don't like it. But Kenny
hasn't been very vocal about it. But you could kind
of see the last couple of shows when they were
kind of hinting like, yeah, no, the show's continuing. You
could kind of see an uneasiness in the way he
(30:40):
talked about it, like he was the most like I'm
not really buying in this, and you're never gonna get
Ernie Johnson. His heart is at Turner. He will be
at Turner until the day he retires. So you know
he's never gonna fully buy in, but he'll live out
(31:03):
the contract just out of respect to Turner. Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yeah, I mean I think I had Shack definitely going first.
Shack definitely going first. He needs to just go be somewhere.
Speaker 4 (31:22):
I could see. I could see Shack doing like a
man in cast. Yeah, I can.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
See, Like I'm not saying like successfully, but I'm just
saying like I could see him being the guy that
does that first.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Okay, I can see Okay, Yeah, I can see him.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
Training it more than them.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
Yeah, he's the more entrepreneurial lot of everybody.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Yeah, he'll do more.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
He'll go out of his comfort zone to try something.
I think what was your take, Brandon, what do you got.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Inside the NBA? I think it has given us a
lot of over the years. Definitely means something great to watch.
And this is not me saying that I'm glad it's
gone or is well it's not going and I'm glad
that it's moving. But I do think it's played a
large hand in just how like unseerious basketball coverageees, like
(32:21):
we're so used to just like watching those guys and
like laughing, and it's like rare that we get like
any sort of like analysis or like anything that like
really means something from that show. And again, like people
are gonna hear this and be like, oh, how could
you Again, this is not me hating inside the NBA.
This is just me saying that, Like I think they
(32:42):
have played a heavy hand in why basketball coverage sucks
so bad. Like everybody's trying to like chase the laugh
and like chase the online thing. Like that's just how
it is. Like people want to get clicks, like they're
the masters. They were the mass stories of like getting
getting clicks and like making people laugh, and like that's
(33:05):
what they felt like was important for basketball coverage instead
of like at covering the actual game and like what's
going on. Like they try to give you like some
things when they do the you know, they do the
Big Board with with Kenny and Shack and them, like
you know, they try to you know, break down plays
and do stuff like that. But that might be the
(33:25):
one thing that you get that's like really analytical out
of him or you know, like just just anything that's
like real analysis, Like you don't get that in the NFL,
Like you get actual analysis in the NFL during halftime shows,
Like you don't get it in the NHL, you don't
(33:48):
get it in you know, anything else but basketball. I
think the uh Terryn Ree and Jamie Carriger, Michael Richards
and Kate Abda when they do the stuff for soccer CBS,
I think that's like the perfect mix of analysis and comedy,
like like the perfect mix. And I think the NBA
(34:11):
should have tried to chase that, but they just leaned
more in the comedy than anything else, and I just
think it kind of ruined it for me.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
I'll see here, I'm going to push back a little bit.
I because I think inside the NBA does a great
job of being straightforward and what they say, I mean,
there's no bullshit, and that's what you want when you're
watching these pregame, these post game, these halftime shows. If
(34:39):
we want to talk about what in terms of the
coverage that has killed the NBA, that's ESPN. I will
die on the hill that ESPN is what's killed the
NBA because of how they covered they covered for the
hot Tide.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
Yeah, I think that following uside the NBA. I don't
think ESPN was always like that.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
At all, But just see to me the differences I
always thought even before he got on there, and I'm
he's such a lightning run. And I don't want this
to seem like this is an anti Steven A. Smith line.
But when you add the hot take guy on and
you have one true basketball player on that set, you're
(35:22):
not chasing actual NBA discussion. You're chasing hot takes. And
that's what ESPN created a while ago with that pregame
postgame show. They went for the takes. We want to
have the best take. We don't want to break down anything,
because truthfully, if ESPN ever wanted to actually do that,
Tim Legler would be on that set. They wouldn't have
(35:44):
gotten rid of Zach Low because those are two guys
that know the game inside and out and can explain
it to you in a way that makes sense. You
made a brilliant point. The NFL does it great. If
you're gonna watch their shows at halftime, you're gonna get
information out of it. You're gonna get the highlights, but
you're gonna get a discussion about what you saw. I
(36:05):
think TNT it got a little bit full of themselves
towards the end, I'll be the first to admit that
I think it definitely got full of itself towards the
end because it became so big. But that happens. But
I never thought it lost what made to show great,
which was unbiased, un hero worshiping. And that's the other
(36:29):
thing to ESPN just Oh, they cannot get out of
their own way about is we fall in love with
the stars, and we're not willing at ESPN other than
to make the hot takes, to hold the players accountable
and talk about them in a objective view without going, oh,
it's Janni Anton and Kumpo or it's like they're two extremes.
(36:52):
There's no down the middle where other sports. Yeah, you
can talk about the greats, but it isn't this hero worshiping.
That's where I think the NBA killed itself in terms
of its coverage.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
I agree with that.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
I agree with that like that, but I also do
see I definitely agree with you, Brandon. The Champions League
broadcast is like a great mix and.
Speaker 4 (37:19):
Like it's kind of funny.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
It's like it goes down the line if you look
at it from left to right, most serious like serious,
like unseerious.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
It is kind of funny, Like, but I don't know,
I don't know what the answer is.
Speaker 3 (37:33):
I just think like you gotta get back to like
regular broadcasting and stop being like so pundity.
Speaker 4 (37:38):
Like you said, Dave, like the takes if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
That you had, it's really crazy because like even the people,
like if you look at the careers of the people
that they have like on that show and compare it
to the inside of the NBA, it's kind of like
the contrast is striking, Like it's very similar. Got Terry
Henri who could play that like shack role, like I'm
one of the best players to ever play in the
(38:05):
Premier League.
Speaker 4 (38:07):
Yeah, but he takes it serious.
Speaker 2 (38:10):
I'm just talking about like if you wanted to, like
you know, people talked about like maybe if you change
the people up and you had like, you know, more
legends kind of you know do the show. And it's
like you don't even need that because when I look
at that, you really have like one guy who's like
a you know, like a legend in everybody's mind. You
got Jamie Carriger, who like maybe a little less noteworthy
(38:33):
than Charles Berkley, but like.
Speaker 4 (38:38):
He's a pre legend.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
Yeah, I want a premier league. I want a premier league.
Then you got you know, Michael Richards, who definitely can
play that Kenny Smith role where he was like, you know,
just the guy I had amazing teammates, had teammates and
I helped out. You know, I did my share, but
like you know, I was just I was just kind
of you know there. And then you got Kate Abdel,
(38:59):
who play the Ernie Johnson role right like, I am
very knowledgeable about the sport, even though I didn't play
at like a you know, a professional level. I don't
think she Yeah, I don't think she did. If it
was it like probably.
Speaker 4 (39:13):
Wasn't long, probably not much.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
So NBA Finals, talk real fast before we go to
the NHL to wrap this up, because I don't want
to talk about their coverage a little bit before we
end it. What do we think about this matchup and
who do we like?
Speaker 2 (39:35):
Thunder and.
Speaker 4 (39:38):
I would really yeah, I kind of go Thunder and
six and one.
Speaker 2 (39:43):
Of those six games is gonna be very nasty, like
like I'm talking like forty point is gonna be very nasty.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
I did like the meme of David Certain choking on
the water bottle from the grave looking at like what
the h the matchup would be because he would never
have allowed this to happen.
Speaker 2 (40:04):
Yeah, but like we gotta like stop with it too, right,
Like let's just let the good teams play.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
Oh oh, I agree completely. I'm just saying is.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Like, like, no, one like we should just stop doing that.
And we again only do that in basketball, and.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
No, we do it in baseball too.
Speaker 4 (40:28):
We did.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
Baseball does it a lot too, because it looks like, Okay,
look at the Sunday night games the ESPN puts on.
It's the Yankees, it's the Dodgers, it's the Red Sox.
Why because those are the big markets. Like I'll be
totally honest, one of their best Sunday night games that
I actually wanted to watch was Phillies and the Guardians
(40:49):
because it's it's a team you don't see a lot,
like we're not showing the best teams. The best teams
a Detroit Tigers. They're not on a prime time game
on ESPN anymore. That's your best team in baseball. And
it's the same thing with the NBA. We want it.
It's the Lakers, it's the Celtics. No knock branded, but
it's the Lakers, it's the Celtics, it's the Knicks, it's
(41:11):
Golden State when Miami was good, Like, we want to
show the big market, so there is a there is
a portion that will care about the ratings because that
drives the narrative that if you don't have a big
market team in it, that nobody's gonna watch. But I
think that's I think that's a falsehood. If the games
are good, people will watch. And I think that's the
(41:31):
problem for the NBA is like you said, I can
see a forty point blowout that's not gonna get good ratings,
Like that's just not But if you have like I
think the thunder went in seven, because I think that
these this is a pretty comparable matchup for Oklahoma City.
(41:53):
If you're gonna get a team out of the East,
I think Indiana can go toe to toe for a while. Like,
if the games are close, it'll be a great series
to watch because you have a lot of star power
with how Tyres Halliburton and Shake Gildess Alexander, Like you're
gonna get people to watch if the games are closed.
But if they're not competitive games, nobody's gonna watch. Playing
(42:14):
it simple, I don't care who's in it.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Yeah, but I mean that goes for any sport that
has a series in a final, like the nfls they
excuse themselves to that because they get won the game.
Like I'm sure if we go and look at the
I've been dying to actually look at this, or like
wonder if numbers are even available for this to like
see how much viewership dropped though from the Super Bowl
(42:38):
last year, Like I almost went home after the first quarter,
like I was out and I was like, man, like
I already know where this is hitted, Like I might
as well just I might as well just did so,
Like while I agree with that, I think like that
you could say that about any any sport that has
a series a series one, like if the games aren't good,
(43:01):
people aren't gonna watch. And I don't think that's a
market thing at the end of the day. I just
think that that just comes down that if the games
are good. I mean we watched Denver, small market Miami
not really, but we watched those games not be close
a couple of times, Like I don't know some of
(43:21):
them they were close. I think people just you get
to that thing where like people just don't want to watch.
Like you think of the Nuggets and you think of
the heat and it's like not sexy, Like that doesn't
that doesn't like, you know, when you look at you
think all the finals matchups we had over the years,
you think of Celtics, Lakers, you think of Warriors, caves,
(43:42):
you think of like all that stuff, and then you
get Nuggets heat and you're like, ah, man, like that
doesn't really, that doesn't really entice me, even before you
watch a game like we're gonna have that now where
people are like Pacers thunder, like oh, like why would
I want to watch two teams from two very small markets,
even though there's a lot of star power, like you said,
(44:03):
they've on both of these teams, and I think it's
at least worth tuning into every night.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
Well, in the same vein, like do we we lost
Peyton turned this camera off? Okay, but like in the
same vein you can talk about, uh, the NHL playoffs
and nice little segue here, like there's not gonna be
a lot of people they claim will be. There won't
(44:32):
be a lot of people that will watch the Stanley
Cup because it's Florida and Edmonton.
Speaker 4 (44:37):
Disagree.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
Yeah, but you'll have that argument because there's no big
market team in there.
Speaker 4 (44:45):
I'll bet you that. I bet, I bet my dollar.
I bet more people watch Stanley Cup fight on the NBA.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
Yeah, probably I would agree with that. I that's a
that's not a big ledger going out on here, Peyton.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
I'm just saying you might get an entire country tuned
into this week. That's not fair at all.
Speaker 3 (45:06):
Well, I mean we could say, I mean, why don't
why don't we You could like dive into that and
be diving into the weeds of like why aren't we
watching basketball?
Speaker 4 (45:13):
Then?
Speaker 2 (45:14):
Well people, Yeah, well we could definitely get into it.
Speaker 3 (45:18):
We could, and it could be the downfall the day
of the music died, When Suart Scott died, that's the
day of the music died, I'll tell you. Scott van
Pelt trying to keep it afloat over there. That's where
I mean it all goes back to all those all those.
Speaker 4 (45:32):
Icons not being around anymore. And I mean we're beating
the drum here. I mean you already said it.
Speaker 1 (45:37):
They they powered up.
Speaker 4 (45:39):
The pundits, they gave them all the power.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
Yeah, and you can't put the genie back into bottle.
Speaker 3 (45:45):
No, and it's a shame because like like a lot
of those guys, it's just like, I guess it's not
their fault either. I mean, they're told they get paid
to do what they got hired to do. You know,
they got hired there to come up with hot takes
and ship and say crazy stuff. You get clicks and
all that, the original clickbaiters. But yeah, I don't know.
(46:07):
I do think like this is a great series and
like this is gonna be like for the Stanley Cup.
Speaker 4 (46:12):
I think, excuse me a rematch? You got Connor McDavid.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
Like, but is it is it easy to say that
Florida should win this series handily? Because that's what I
come back to.
Speaker 4 (46:24):
Oh, I think so. I think if if Edmonton won this,
I'd be stunned. I really would.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
I'm so amazed that Edmonton caught this far with the
bad goaltending that they have. Like how it hasn't killed
Edmonton in a series is beyond me. But I think
this is where it does.
Speaker 3 (46:43):
You ruined the Stars goalie the next right after you said,
they're like, ah, that Edmonton guy is so bad?
Speaker 1 (46:50):
Oh yeah, J got j Poort, J Gottinger I felt
so bad.
Speaker 4 (46:54):
For it, like three goals in a minute, and.
Speaker 1 (46:58):
It's it's so amazing when you get to the Stanley
Cup to just see goaltenders that are so solid have
that like little bit of struggle and it just fall
apart so fast on them. But I I think it.
I think it has to catch up with.
Speaker 4 (47:15):
Edmonton getting bench is tough as well.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
Yeah, that a brutal in Game seven, knowing that you
put your team behind the eight ball like that so early.
But no, I don't think Edmonton can withstand. You don't
have Zach Kiman. And if you're gonna play Florida, you've
gotta have a guy that can go toe to toe
because they're gonna go after McDavid. They're gonna go after
(47:41):
dry cyitle.
Speaker 4 (47:42):
I mean that's one.
Speaker 3 (47:43):
You really need a fucking mark right now, you stop him.
I mean, Conor mc david can only do so much,
especially with.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
Like this right Like, well, McDavid hasn't had a great
playoffs like Edmonton.
Speaker 3 (47:55):
Assists he's playing, he's playing the assist man this time around.
Speaker 4 (47:59):
He ain't scoring goals like he used to. Well, I
say that, and he scored a marvelous one the other night.
But yeah, you are right comparative to last year for sure.
Speaker 1 (48:11):
Brandon, you have a hockey take because I have one
more thing I want to bring up before he wrapped.
Speaker 2 (48:15):
Zero hockey takes. I'm sorry, I really do.
Speaker 4 (48:19):
Oh I have one question. Trent Arnold thoughts you got
ten million dollars?
Speaker 2 (48:25):
Yeah, I take that absolutely million pounds. I mean he
was never going to renew his contracts. I mean ten
million pounds. We'll take that.
Speaker 4 (48:34):
Take that, Okay.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
I do want to get out of here on this yesterday.
As we've been telling about ESPN, so it's sort of prevalent.
But John Bracers, who anyone of a certain age knows
this sports science was a big part of all of
our lives growing up passed away battle with depression for
(49:05):
uh and I know for me, like I loved all
the sports science clips, like that was the best part
of any of the sports centers. When you saw it
on the rundown, you knew you were getting something fascinating
from a guy that was really knowledgeable and had a
great way of explaining it to you in a way
(49:26):
that made a lot of sense. I know it was
a part of my childhood. I'm sure it was a
part of your guys is.
Speaker 2 (49:32):
And I had this conversation not too long ago, maybe
like I want to say, like three months ago with
some friends of mine talking about how sports science probably
would have banged with like the next gen sports stuff
that they had. It would have been like a lot
more information on that. I think it already lose.
Speaker 3 (49:50):
I just never understand, like when ESPN I got rid
of it, I never understood, like why you know what
I mean, Like they're clearly everyone liked it. It was interesting,
Like I never under Yeah, I never understood like what
like you were like literally you just said like literally
at that moment, that industry would have known that next
(50:10):
gen stats was gonna be a big thing or it
was around the corner.
Speaker 4 (50:13):
And I just don't understand like that would have been
so marketable or so useful.
Speaker 3 (50:19):
I just used to love like literally, in the summer,
you wake up, you used to see the old Sports
Center rundown on the side, and you would like, wait,
you're like, what is sports science? Oh shit, we got
sports science today, Like I'm I gotta make sure I
watch that, Like it was.
Speaker 4 (50:33):
I mean, their answer the questions I never even thought of.
Can Kevin love Box out as sumo wrestler, like that
shit's awesome, Like it was awesome, and like.
Speaker 3 (50:43):
Probably fucking skipper, that fucking old fucking fart there, probably
like this is so stupid. Why are we paying for this?
And it was like because people fucking like it, ding dong,
like it doesn't have to match.
Speaker 4 (50:54):
What you like. I just feel so bad for the
guy man, I mean, his family all that.
Speaker 1 (50:59):
So yeah, yeah, we just want to wrap up. This
is a little bit of a quick pod tonight. I
just want to wrap up. Thoughts to the family of
John Brakus, who is a part of all of our
childhoods and sports science. Four Brandon Stevens for Peyton Gerard.
I'm Dave Simonel. This has been the opening kickoff podcast.
(51:20):
Have a great week, Enjoy the sports. Enjoy the finals
in the NBA and the Stanley Cup. Baseball, College World
Series and college softball happening. College World Series has been wild,
a lot of upsets.
Speaker 4 (51:32):
Shout out Mountaineers.
Speaker 1 (51:34):
West Virginia having a good run. Enjoy it all and
we'll talk about it next week.
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