March 15, 2025 • 53 mins
On this edition of The Best Of The Week Of The Doug Gottlieb Show: Doug reacts to the news that great sports author John Feinstein has passed away at the age of 68. Doug gives out his take on the firing of Minnesota's head basketball coach and how it went down.
Doug talks about Championship Week and offers up a way to improve conference tournaments.
Doug welcomes Robert Morris head basketball coach Andrew Toole onto the show to talk about his team winning the Horizon League championship and winning a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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(00:24):
the tyrack dot Com studios tyrack dot com. Well we
get there. Unmatched selection, fast, free shipping, free road has
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the way the tire buying should be. Wow. Still stunned
(00:48):
a little bit by that news of John Feinstein passing again.
I want to do the sports radio talkie talk thing
and we will, but oh that's a man. It's a
gut punch from this standpoint. So John Feinstein passed away today?
(01:11):
Did I do the tyrach We're broadcasting from the tyrach
dot com studios. Unmatched selection, fast free shipping, free road
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way tire buying should be. So we're getting ready to
do the show and Jason Stewart he says, hey, did
(01:35):
you hear about John Feinstein? And you know, like it's
very very interesting here the I'll just give you a
little history lesson on me and then my relationship on
John and Jason Stewart's relationship with John. So when I
was in fourth grade, I had to go see a
(01:58):
reading specialist. You know, I was the classic ad ad
D or now it's ADHD kid right where they're like, well,
maybe we put him on Rulin because I would get
bored in school. I'd get up, I'd walk around the classroom,
really good at math and science, not particularly good at English.
Not a great reader, a more oral presentation sort of guy.
(02:21):
And so the reading specialist was like, look, he just
needs to sit down and read books. And my dad's
big thing was like, you know, sign you got to
pass the English part of the SAT Like my dad
nearly got a perfect score on the on the math
part as well, and he'd be and he is a
vociferous reader. So we made it. He made a deal
(02:44):
with me that I got five bucks every time I
finished a novel, and they we would alternate between non
sports and sports novel. Right, So my my non sports now,
(03:04):
first non sports novel was The Boys from Brazil by
Leon URIs. Have you guys ever heard of The Boys
from Brazil? Leon leon yours incredible award winning best selling author.
If you guys, Jay Stu, you ever read familiar with
the movie? Oh yeah? Became okay, so, and I guess
I can. It's like a fifty or sixty year old
(03:26):
book by a fifty year old book, right, or maybe
not that old, but it was. It was really fascinating
if you think about it. The the premise was that
Nazis had escaped Nazi Germany to Argentina and through the net,
through the use of genetic splicing, they had created basically
(03:47):
Hitler clones and they were trying to mirror Hitler's upbringing
to help, you know, mother Germany rise again. That was
I mean really like now obviously it's like truth or
stranger than fiction. Now, it's like, wow, these technicist technology
probably does in fact exist. Anyway, When I would read
(04:11):
the sports books, my first one was actually the autobiography
of Catfish Hunter. Fascinating, but I fell in love with
John Feinstein's work with a season on the Brink, which
of course followed around Bob Knight in Indiana, and it
was a terrible year one in which ended up in
the NIT and it was I think the year before
(04:33):
they end up two years before they end up winning
a national championship, and you followed up with a season inside.
And later on there was Next Man Up, which follow
around the Baltimore Ravens, and each one there was the
Army Navy, one there was Forever's team. Like you kind
of go back and if you know, if you've ever
read a sports novel and read more than one or two,
(04:57):
you read a Feinstein and you're like, that was unbelievably thorough.
Couldn't put it down. It remarkably not a well written
but it was kind of well narrated in terms of
how I was written, because I always thought, like, I'm
a big Tom Clancy guy, right, but Tom Clancy's novels
at times became too wordy and I don't care about
the exact data behind every missile that it's like showing
(05:19):
off how much research he had done. But for whatever reason,
I thought Feinstein did just the right amount of I've
done the right research, yet it's tangible to you, so
fast forward to twenty twelve and I started. I was
part of the initial launch group to CBS Sports Radio,
and we followed Jim Rome, I believe right, That's how
(05:42):
it was, Jim Rome and then us. And before Jim Rome,
John Feinstein had a show and John was let go.
Well I still had the radio job there, and I
don't want to know if we had a falling out,
(06:02):
but they were just you know, John was not the
easiest dude in the world. Now, when I say that,
you're gonna sound like that's gonna sound like John was
an a hole. He wasn't. He just wasn't easy. He
did not what's the term you used, Jay Stu didn't.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Suffer what he did not suffer fools.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
No, not at all. And he held people people around
him to a way higher standard than most people did.
And I know, and and look what happens in this
business is when you're like that, you can get you
can get coined difficult. But difficult doesn't mean bad. Difficult
just means difficult. And I mean I just fascinating to
(06:43):
fascinating person. Somewhere along the way over the past. Well,
you know, I've been at Fox Sports Radio for eight
years Over the past five years, he and I have
run into each other at various events. Back when I
was the CBS, I covered the Patriot League. I saw
one of those games. Of course, he wrote the book
on the page, literally wrote the book on the Patriot League.
(07:04):
And then in the last eight years we ran each other.
It's the big ten term of the NCAA tournament, and
we had kind of, I don't know, made amends, but
there was no falling out. It was I don't even
remember what it was over, but I think it was
mostly over the fact that John got let go and
he just lashed out at people because he was upset,
which you have every right to be upset, right. I
(07:25):
didn't get you fired. I didn't like. None of that
thing was me, But that's what I thought. I thought
that's where his bitterness kind of came from. And Jason,
I want to get to your story about him in
a second. But here's what's fascinating. Obviously, our season did
not go as planned in terms of wins and losses.
(07:46):
There are tons of wins and some losses off the
court and in the preparation and things that we've learned.
And in terms of the story, like I still continue
to contend that if you named college basketball teams that
have been covered this year, there's like five or six
and we're one of the five or six. Right, we're
(08:06):
one of the five or six. Your college basketball is
kind of a month long sport, but there's like five
or six and we're one of the five or six.
And uh, you know, we we've done. We have a pilot,
and there's another couple of shows for a reality show,
and we have the buyers are kind of lining up,
you know, all the all of the usuals want to
(08:28):
have you know them follow us around be embedded. And
we have a production group that's already done some of
this work and it's really really good stuff. But there's
a lot that happened this year, like man I wish
there was camera there, or man I don't I wish
there wasn't a camera there. But it's a it's a
really fascinating story, like if people only knew And uh,
(08:49):
let me make sure I get the date right. So
I texted John March fifth, March fourth, and he texted
me back March fifth. He said, are you glad your
season is over? I said, no, we just were figuring
out playing well and starting to get healthy. So we
texted back and forth a little bit and I said,
(09:12):
what are you working on? He said, I'm doing a
book on what makes great coaches great besides great players.
I'm also teaching journalism at Longwood University. And I said, John,
do you want your next bestseller? He said always. I said,
come follow me around for a year and write this story.
And he said, I'll call you, and he did. He
(09:35):
called me earlier this week and I was in the
middle of an exit meeting with one of my players
and I pushed that button that says can I call
you back? And now what it says is going to
call you back? Whatever? And I was driving today long
drive last two days, and on my list of calls
was John and I was like, Ah, I'm just I'm
(09:58):
going to do it tomorrow or I'm gonna do it tonight.
And John Feinstein passed away today, is studying And.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
How old was he jasetu sixty eight. He died at
his brother's home. He just penned an article today for
The Washington Post about Tom Izzo.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
For people who don't know, how did you get to
know John Feinstein?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
It was in this very building that I'm in right now.
He was a frequent guest host for Jim Row And
by frequent, you know, Jim often says he takes a
lot of vacation, because he gets a lot of vacation.
We're talking like twelve weeks a year. And I would
produce those shows for guest hosts, and John Feinstein was
(10:47):
a regular of ours. So I got to know John
on a professional level and a personal level, and you know,
to say he was difficult, He's just one of those
guys that kind of demanded a certain standard, old school
and I felt privileged to being as good grace as
because of that, because I knew he could be that way,
(11:08):
and you know, he didn't suffer fools. And the older
I get, the more I appreciate that about people. You
just know where you stood. There was no pretense to John,
and I really did love that about him. And I
read a couple of his books, my favorite being The Punch,
which chronicled the entire episode of Kermit Washington almost killing
(11:33):
Rudy Tomyanovich in a game. And I encourage any of
our listeners to read that book. It was fascinating. One
of my good friends is Stan Brooks, He's a executive producer,
made a lot of TV movies as an Emmy Award
winning producer. He was the one that produced Season on
the Brink for ESPN. And Stan has told me so
(11:55):
many stories about how Feinstein was during that process. Imagine that.
Imagine being the person that has to make Feinstein's book
into a movie and how difficult that may have been.
But again, all these stories are just speak to how
genuine he was as a person. And I really did
(12:16):
like John.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
John Finstein was sixty eight years old in John Feinstein's honor.
I have a rant I want to make and we'll
do it right now. First, let me tell you speed
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(12:41):
your hiring process. Okay, here it is. Would you say
that a good portion of why he was how he
was is because at the end of the day, right,
there's a right way and a wrong way to do something.
That is that a f depiction of it? Yep, yep, Okay,
(13:02):
there's a right way and there's a wrong way. And
I think what's what's truly fascinating about college athletics, And
you know, we can get into the nil and all
that other stuff. But Ben Johnson was fired at about
midnight last night or this morning by the University of Minnesota.
(13:25):
Ben Johnson was the head coach. He's young, he was
an assistant Xavier at the time. It was a surprising hire.
He's a Minnesota allowed me play basketball Minnesota, he was
only assistant. Took over a Big ten job. And again, look,
you probably hired him to save money when they couldn't
get their initial guys they wanted to hire when Richard
Patino left went to New Mexico, and so they hired
(13:48):
Ben Johnson and it started out pretty bad. Last year,
they end up going to the n i T. Won
a game in the n i T. His entire starting lineup.
I believe left because that's what happens when you have
some success, your whole team lead, and now you have
to go and buy a new team. That's where we are.
I am not making a comment about whether or not
Ben should have kept his job, okay, because I don't
(14:10):
know any of the particulars other than they probably didn't
win enough and college head coaches and look, I don't
make a lot of money as a college head coach,
but whatever I make, it's plenty. It's plenty. So you
shouldn't feel bad for me if in you know, four
or five years, you know it doesn't work out, and
(14:31):
and my boss Josh Buon walks down the hallway and says, hey,
let's sit down, let's talk about it, et cetera, et cetera.
But there's a right way and a wrong way to
do something. And it's one thing to fire a guy
at midnight and announce it on social media after you lose.
It's a whole other thing when it's also an alum
(14:54):
of the school that he represents. That doesn't mean he
can't be fired. That doesn't mean you're not with it
and your rights to fire it. But again, there's a
right way and there's a wrong way. Why why can't
you call him in this morning and say, hey, man,
we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna let you go, but
we want to give you a couple hours to call
(15:16):
your coaches, to call your support staff, to have a
team meeting, Okay, to make sure everybody knows the process
of what's taking place. And then why don't we come
back at noon. We'll grab some lunch, we'll sign some papers,
we'll shake hands like men, and we'll be on our way.
And we'll be on our way and and look again,
(15:39):
I have nothing bad to say about Minnesota or their
athletic director or anything. Again. And I don't know. I
don't know the particulars of why it was done when
it was done. I don't and I don't care. Okay,
Mark Coyle is there there ad Okay, he's been there
(16:00):
since twenty sixteen. I have no doubt that Mark who
you know. He's been the ad at Syracuse, at Boise State,
he's been at Kentucky. He knows what it looks like.
He's been in this business for years. There's a right
way and there's a wrong way. When do we get
to the place where you have an alum he's gonna
(16:21):
get fired? He gave him a whole cycle of four years.
It's not good enough. Why can't you just call him
into your office and have him relieve him of duties
like a grown up, like grown people do. Right. There
is a right way in a wrong way, and a
midnight tweet, a midnight firing, just like the tarmac firing
(16:43):
with Lankippett. It ain't right. It ain't right. And this
is not me saying, hey, Ben should have kept his job.
I thought Ben did a really good job this year.
I thought they were well coached. I didn't think. You know,
it's hard. You know you're going against teams with gigantic payrolls,
and like everybody's got their problems. I'm not making commentary
on it. I don't pay enough attention to somebody else's team.
(17:05):
I only know Ben is a good man, and he's
he's a gopher. It's not how you treat people. It's
just not. And as much as you can sit there
and say, hey, the head coaches you make plenty of money,
they do and Ben I'll be fine. He'll get an
assistant job. And now he's been a head coach for
four years in the Big Ten, and he'll he might
be able to get another head coaching job right now
because he's handled himself like a complete mench. He might not,
(17:28):
but he's got enough money now, and he'll get money
on whatever's buyout is a couple million dollars to where
he could probably live comfortably doing pretty much whatever he
wants and I'm sure he wants to coach, but you
have I mean, here's all the people that are that
are affected. You have all the gas, all of the players,
all of your support staff, like all of their families
(17:51):
are going to lose their jobs, have to move. And again,
it doesn't mean that it was wrong to fire them
and that we should think about all those people before
they're fired. He don't. That's not how you run an
athletic department. You sometimes you got to make hard decisions.
I got to make some hard decisions as well, with players,
with coaches, with support staff, and and and even with myself.
Got to make hard decisions. But in the middle of
(18:12):
the night, when the guy's in a lum you're not
firing for cause you know, he didn't get a dui.
It didn't beat up a woman. There's no nonsense. They're
not Mclem Houskins was they were. I mean the type
of cheating they were doing back in the day, right,
But they did go to a final four. So people
(18:33):
are like, ah, Clem not bad. Like look that one
you can do in the middle of the night. That
one you can do in the middle of the night.
This one, it's just in honor of John Feinstein, who
did not suffer fools. That's not the right way to
do it, and I think everybody knows it, and the
(18:54):
more adults act this way, we shouldn't be surprised when
players don't even tell their coach, Hey, I'm going to
the portal. They just put in the portal. You find
out on social media. When players don't do things the
right way, you're like, oh, well, their kids. Now what
they are is they they they see how everybody else
acts and they react as such.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
This is the best of the Done dot Leap Show
on Fox Sports Radio, Boom on.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Up America, Doug Godleib Show, Fox Sports Radio, coming to
you from the tyrack dot com studios tyre dot com.
When we get there, unmatched selection, fast free shipping, free
road has protection over ten thousand recommended s dollars tirack
dot com. It's the way tire buying should be. So,
(19:45):
how you doing? How are you?
Speaker 4 (19:49):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Good to talk to you? Yeah uh And the Doug
Gottlib Show broadcast live in direct from that tyrack dot
com studios. T Judgments Out is gonna joinp ME in
twenty five minutes to talk abo some of this free
agency stuff. We got some Cooper Cup stuff to discuss.
John Middelkoff's going to join us. We have a good amount,
(20:10):
good amount of NFL peraver and as you listen to
these updates, you know that this stuff's coming fast and furious,
whether it's signings, trades, or releases with free agency upon us.
I do want to start with Championship week because not
just because I'm a Division one coach. Well, obviously we're
(20:30):
watching at home and our women's program, the Green Bay Phoenix.
They just won their twenty second consecutive game and beat
Perdue Fort Wayne for a second consecutive time. In listen
in a week, you know, a week and a half. Yeah,
week and a half. Anyway, So they are going to
(20:53):
the NCAA tournament. Kayla Carris, who's in her first year,
returning home to a place that she played. She's got
seven seniors. They're awesome anyway there winning. So again there's
there's part of my job and my school and what
we're all doing. But I just this is more kind
of a question and there is no firm, true answer
(21:17):
in terms of what's best. But there's this balance, you know,
of making money, fairness and core of what you are
and here's what I mean. And I think it's no
different than when hockey expanded to the south right. Where again,
(21:38):
I'll just take our league, the Horizon League. If the
game today between Green Bay and Fort Wayne the Women
was played at our home arena, the Cress Center, which
seats four thousand people, they would have had four thousand
people there today. Now would it have been fair to
Fort Wayne? M Probably not right, even though it was
(21:59):
a closer game when they lost in overtime. I think
it was like a week and a half ago Saturday
or Sunday Saturday, so it would have been fair. What's fair? Right?
You win your league, it's a true double round robin,
meaning you have played everybody twice. Shouldn't you get the
benefit of the doubt and get to host the games.
(22:20):
On the other hand, you know, it does stretch your
league more thinly, and it eliminates the neutral site, which
is like, let's really find out who the best team
means in your league. And then you factor in the
TV element to it, which is that for the men,
you know last night, the second game went beyond midnight,
(22:41):
and you're like, why are you playing on a Monday
and Tuesday. Well, because once you get to Wednesday into Sunday,
that's when the Big Ten, the SEC, the ACC, the
Big Twelve, the Big East they're all playing then. And
yes there are still championship games at the mid major level,
but they are very very much the side show, whereas
last night it's kind of and tonight kind of the
(23:02):
main event. So let's do this. Let's go around to
you guys, get your thoughts, your opinion, if it matters,
if it doesn't matter. I mean very likely that Jay
s Douo says, I don't care, you know, just tell
me who I need to bet on so I can
win money, is really what Jay s dou actually cares about. Right,
Sam is the Midwesterner, right, maybe he has an opinion.
(23:25):
I don't know. We have all different sorts of cornucopia
of people. Jase, do do you care? And if you do,
which for again? And I have a working philosophy on this,
but I'm open to suggestions on it. Obviously, the Big East,
the ACC, the Big Twelve, of the SEC, they're gonna
play at you know. I mean, look, I think everybody
(23:47):
should end up getting to Vegas or into New York City,
which is where the Big East is and Vegas is
where you know, a lot of the West West coast
conferences are a big ten I think is going to
Vegas eventually. Maybe the Big two does eventually as well.
I'll get to why I think that makes sense. But
for you, when you get past those top five conferences,
(24:07):
what are your thoughts on where this conference tournament should be?
Speaker 2 (24:12):
So the choices are home sites, home sites for bigger seedings,
or site neutral venus. I think the home sites work.
I think the home side sites work for me. And
here's why. I think the drama and excitement. If the
home team has a game going down to the final
(24:34):
shot like we see all the time, the actual energy
is much better in the building and it adds to
the drama and the watch as opposed to the neutral
site that you're probably going to get half and half.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Yeah, if that you know? Now there are some leagues
where the neutral site, even for smaller conferences, does work.
I watched the soakon last night. It was who It's
Winter No, No Wafford? Who that did Wofford play less?
Wafford Furman? Right, those are two small private schools and
(25:10):
the Soacon And I've called this tournament on radio. That
that arena. It's just really cool. It's in Asheville, North Carolina.
Do you guys know anything about Ashville, North Carolina? Not
you never heard of it?
Speaker 5 (25:21):
Yeah, of course you've heard nothing.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
What what have you heard?
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Oh, I don't know anything about it. I've heard of it.
Speaker 6 (25:26):
I've heard barbecue.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
Unc Ashville's there, not.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Really, Yes, unc Ashville is not really it's it's I
think in many people. Many people, it's considered kind of
like the Austin of North Carolina. It's a little hippie ish.
There's a cool music scene, you know. I'm sure there's
lots of micro pubs and coffee houses, and there's areas
there in the Carolina. It's not far away. We can
(25:50):
go to the Blue Ridge Mountains. You can go hiking
like it is absolutely beautiful and while not perfectly centrally located,
it's a destination spot. And that place was jumping last night.
It's the perfect size venue. It's small schools, they're all
within driving distance. I think we're on spring break like.
All these things work, so it's there. There's there's I
(26:10):
don't believe in absolutes in life and absolutes in rules.
But there are generally places where things work, in places
where they don't work, places where they don't work. Sam,
what do you think? Give me your thoughts? So we're
talking like the Missouri Valley is arch Madness, right, it's
played in Saint Louis. By the way, my new favorite
nickname is the Big Sky, which is played in Boise
(26:33):
in Idaho, and that's called starch Madness. Shout out to
the Big Sky.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
God's great that before it.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
It's really good. It's really good. There's somebody sitting there
who listens. We're on in Boise, and there's somebody who's
sitting there who came up with that idea that works
for the Big Side Conference. And whoever you are tweet
at me, you deserve a raise. I will help try
to get you a raise today. Anyway, Uh Sam, what
do you think?
Speaker 5 (26:57):
Well, you know what we talked about this last week.
I'm definitely in favor of of think. I'm in favor
of the top seed and you know, one bid leagues
getting to host games because give them as many chances
as possible to get to the nca Tournament. I feel
like they did that work during the regular season that
should stand for something. Whether that's you know, either your
top seed and the conference tournament, or even going as
(27:17):
drastically far as I had an idea of, you know,
getting rid of some of the bottom dwelling teams in
some of those smaller leagues, just so you can give
those teams to finish with a good conference record a
better shot to get to the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Some of those have that, some of those have these
staggered sunbelt don't know if you've seen, there's like eight
rounds and yep, you know, and the top two teams
like sit out the first seven rounds. It's like crazy,
I lo werre.
Speaker 6 (27:40):
Are you on it for on campus sites? Yes, yes,
a thousand times yes. The problem is it makes too
much sense to ever happen. It will never happen. There
are so many conferences mid major conferences across the country
that have phenomenal regular season atmospheres, and then when it
(28:03):
goes to whatever conference tournament, it automatically goes to an
antiseptic site. I mean, when you're playing the first game
of a quadruple header during the day or something like that,
it's a very antiseptic atmosphere that is just not comparable
to the general fun of the regular season. In the
(28:24):
NCAA Women's Tournament, I believe they have on campus sites
for the first two rounds, which is at least a start.
But because of logistics and TV, that sort of thing's
never gonna happen for conference tournaments. The other thing, I
don't think any conference tournament should ever have more than
eight teams.
Speaker 5 (28:40):
Hey, Isaac, I like that makes too much sense to happen.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Why should not have more than eight teams? Well, no, no, no, no, no,
no no.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
A conference tournament.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Yeah, the SEC has how many teams?
Speaker 5 (28:55):
Okay, well, the SEC is a little bit eighteen teams
and only fifteen. Now the bottom three I would just
meet the cut.
Speaker 6 (29:01):
I guess I'm talking about mid major teams where you
know you have play quote unquote playing games, you know,
on the Tuesday, and then they go Tuesday one.
Speaker 5 (29:09):
I mean you have a Delaware Blue Hens team win
the uh.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Well, see here's how it works in Horizon Leak. So
the Horizon League, what we do is the first two
rounds are home sites. So the top five I believe
got to buy. Next year it'll be I think the
top six because in two years of the top six
because We're had no with the Illinois by the top,
and so we had to go to Oakland. There's there's
(29:33):
four games the first night where the bottom seed goes
to the higher seed and then the winner goes and
plays one of the teams with a bye. Right, So
that's what happened, and then the final four teams go
to Indianapolis and the Innanapolis Arena is really really cool.
It's the old I think it's called the Indianapolis Coliseum.
Speaker 6 (29:53):
They played some games there during the twenty twenty one
COVID tournament if I'm not mistaken at the fair rounds right.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Yes, that's exactly where they Yes, they played games there.
I didn't know that. Yeah, I think the old ABA
Pacers used to play there back before Market Square Arena
was built. So it's like historic and it's been redone
and it's really really cool. It's not huge and great sitelines.
The problem is, you know it was you know a
(30:23):
quarter to a half full tonight, you got Robert Morris,
which is you know in you know, Moon Township, which
is just outside of Pittsburgh taking on Youngstown State. Youngstown,
Ohio is actually closest to Pittsburgh. Like if this game
was played at Robert Morris and they have a beautiful
arena that's like five years old. There would be an
empty sea in the house, be an absolute bunker's atmosphere.
(30:46):
And yeah, again I don't know the logistics of it.
My guess is it's easier to get a title sponsor
if it's at the at the venue. Plus you have
the women's and men's game again at the same venue.
It probably saves you money. And everybody knows you're going
to Minneapolis, and it is very difficult in terms of
(31:06):
travel planning. Like, look, well we were there leading into
our last game of the year at Oakland. There was
five different places we could have gone for our first game,
and then we knew because we were the last seed,
we were going to go to Robert Morris if we
won the first game. But then there's just all these
kind of moving targets for everybody else. I understand there's
an expense to not knowing where you're going, and it's
(31:26):
based upon whoever the higher seed remaining is. But here's
my biggest issue with it, And you guys tell me
if that makes sense, And it's honestly an issue I
have with college football's playoff. What separates college football and
college basketball from the NFL and the NBA other Obviously,
(31:49):
level of talent, level of skill is far greater in
the pros. But what makes it special, especially college basketball,
is the atmosphere of that home gym as much as
the coaches and the historic coaches and players are synonymous
with their program, right, and you think of Dick Vitees. Oh,
(32:10):
let me tell you about Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams
and Built self and Delvin Sepson and Tom misso, oh,
it's right, and those are they're synonymous with their schools.
And Richard Pettino, oh the Pizon right, all of those things.
College basketball has been synonymous with the coaches. But also
I just saw Rose Hill Gym. That's where Fordham plays,
(32:32):
really cool plays one hundred years of basketball there. Fog
Allen Field House, to me is the greatest place to
play a basketball game ever. They used to play NCAA
tournament games there by the way Gallagher I Arena where
I played. Obviously not the same as the Cowboys under
five hundred season, but eventually they'll you think they'll get
it back. You know, you go to New Mexico in
the pit and Xavier where they play at the centtas
(32:53):
centers incredible, you d Arena. Now, I know they host
the first four, but I did the only First four
game where Daton actually played in the first four. The
home court atmosphere is as much a part of college
basketball as the actual basketball is. And yet we get
to the end of the season and let's cut out
(33:14):
the part of the sport that makes it so cool
and so unique, that makes it so cool. It's unique.
There's no student section, right, and they'll have the little
student court in a section. But again, with these schools,
a lot of them, the students don't travel as much,
and I get it. Sometimes it doesn't match up a
spring break. It might not work, but I guarantee, if
(33:35):
you have hey travel sites will be home sites. Many
of these schools would adjust their schedule beforehand knowing that
this is a possibility of hosting a conference tournament game
or the conference championship game.
Speaker 6 (33:47):
That's an outstanding point, and I'd like to raise this
as an ancillary point that you made me think of
by talking about this. The Final Four has been played
in a dome ever since nineteen night. It'll obviously never
happen certainly with the final four, But wouldn't it be
great from an atmosphere standpoint if you could host NCAA
(34:09):
tournament games, even a regional round on the second weekend
at a place like Allen Fieldhouse. Now that'll never happen,
but that would be great for the sport in my opinion.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Yeah, I yes, I think if they add another round
of the tournament, that's what needs to happen. That's what
needs to happen.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
And doctor.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
But I was just saying during the Calton Clark Herrett Iowa,
those opening two games in the NCAA Tournament at Carver
Hockey Arena were really fun, really wild special. They actually
got I think our sophomore year. The second game they
got upset by Creighton. So it's not impossible to go
in there and win if you're the visiting team. But
you know, on the arch, madness works so well because
(34:55):
you know, all of those schools are pretty much in
five hours, maybe seven hours or less of dry It's
changing now, but yes, yeah, what do you mean it's changing?
Speaker 2 (35:04):
What am I?
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Well? Like the makeup of that league continues to evolve. Yes, yes,
I don't know how far Murray Kentucky is but no, yeah,
that's a hole in Chicago.
Speaker 5 (35:12):
It's not like now where you got a team on
the West, you know, right, it's it is a little
bit more condensed. And so it does work well because
people can drive for the most part to Saint Louis
and enjoy those those But.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
The reason, the reason Vegas works and I would be like, hey,
if you want to do Vegas, I'm cool, is because
every team would want to go. And though the fan
bases may be smaller, you'll get people like, hey, I'm
going out for the week, and it's just it's like
basketball topia there. It's amazing. So Vegas is like the
and you know New York if you're gonna play Madison
Square Garden. Otherwise nobody goes to Barclays again, like they
(35:44):
the Vegas does work for the Big West, it does
work for the Whack, It does work for the WCC
because you can plan every year. If you're a basketball fan,
I'm gonna go there, I'll see my team and then
if not, I'll stay, I'll gamble and the weather's better
than wherever I live. But in the Midwest, in the South,
on the East Coast, I just is it hard to
(36:08):
play on the road. Yeah. Yeah, we played at Oakland twice.
We played there in the regular season, you know, quarter fall.
We played there in the postseason and again we had
just nearly upset them at our place and three quarters
full and that's that was a six' eleven. GAME i just, think,
(36:31):
man this is it's just screaming to you to what
makes college basketball great is your home court. Advantage and
if you win your, league you should get home court
advantage in those levels. Leagues and the only only time
that changes is if you can sell out a neutral, site,
well then by all means keep it a neutral. Site.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Yep SO i looked it.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
Up Doug, Murray kentucky To Saint louis is only a
three hour and forty minute. Drive that kind of blew my.
MIND i thought they were more spread out than.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
That Fox Sports radio has the best sports talk lineup
in the. Nation catch all of our shows at Foxsports
radio dot com and within The iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
App Doug Gottlieb, Show you're On Fox Sports. Radio we'll
get To Tyre's halbert AND i want to discuss. This
what was the stat you? Had. Jays we were talking
before the show about iPhones versus. Androids it's, like seventy
percent of the world is actually More.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Android let's, see so seventy. Percent, no, no let's back.
Up android has seventy percent of the market share, worldwide,
okay and iPhones have fifty six percent of the market
share in The United. States in other, Words android is
(37:44):
soccer embraced by most of the world and iPhone is
the nfl embraced. Here, yeah but it Gives americans this
like this, weird twisted deceiv thing where they think iPhones
are the greatest and why isn't everybody else on, board
(38:05):
when in fact the numbers are the. Opposite More android
users worldwide than.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
iPhone what if the iPhone is the metric, SYSTEM i,
mean the iPhone.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Is the that's that's. Good that's.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Good is that The android is the metric? System what
do we call? It the? Future it's the? Future, oh,
MILES i don't.
Speaker 5 (38:24):
Know, No, like our system here has its own. Name
it's like called like the COMMON i don't even. Know but,
yeah it's not the metric.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
System do we know what that's called? Iload do you
know what that's called the non metric?
Speaker 6 (38:38):
System i'm just thinking, Thinking, Hey Saquon barkley ran for
one hundred and twelve meters On. Sunday it just Doesn't
you can't put that into.
Speaker 5 (38:46):
Perspective, oh it's called the imperial system or THE us customary.
System although we do we use, yard we use like in,
sports we use weird ways of determining, length like, Yards
like a yard is what three and a half feet or?
Speaker 1 (39:00):
Something, no yard is three, feet three?
Speaker 5 (39:02):
Yards three?
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Feet, okay but not to get too far away from
my point the listener right.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
Now, hey hold, on before we get too far away
from the, Point before you get to your. Point that
was a funny. Moment, WELL i didn't know he was.
Accurate think on. Yards it's, like, no a meter is that?
Speaker 5 (39:21):
Executive oh, right, right, okay keeping straight a yards three?
Feet a meter is like three and a half feet
or something could be.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Wrong we don't. Know go, Ahead jace, Too i'm. Sorry,
OKAY i thought he lost his train of. Thought my
point is, like, look you don't have to. Share jason
is very. Concerned first he Knows I'm I'M I android
(39:49):
shame him all the. Time. Yeah, second POSSIBLE i have
a group chat with, him and the thing pops up
Green you're, like are you blocking? Me like, No i'm Just.
Android like it just doesn't feel.
Speaker 5 (39:58):
Good the worst thing is when you you send a
message and it says could not, send and then you send,
it you hit it again and says could sen and
then someone with an iPhone gets something four or five,
times like the same gift four, times.
Speaker 6 (40:09):
Or a, picture especially when it's a.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
Picture, WELL I i find this to be really hard
When i'm flying on a plane and they give you
the free, messaging but free, MESSAGING i messaging doesn't work
when you have An. Android, uh let's let's let's come
back to, this or maybe we'll ask our next guest
About It's Doug Gotlieb, Show Fox Sports radio live from
the tyreq dot com. Studios andy tooles our, Guest, okay
(40:34):
and he's the head coach Of Robert. Morris Robert morris
won our league and won the conference tournament. Championship they'll
get ready for THE Ncaa CHAMPIONSHIP Ncaa tournament. Upcoming so
champions of the regular and, postseason The rise In. League
andy joins us now on The Doug Gottlieb show On
Fox Sports. Radio You're i've texted you before you're an iPhone.
Guy number of staff members who are, motorole who are
(40:59):
who Are android? Zero is there anything worse On earth
than when you're in a group chat and there's always
one guy who's got The.
Speaker 4 (41:08):
Android there's probably, something BUT i can't think of it right.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Now how are? You what is it like in a
day after you win a conference tournament? Championship it's.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
AMAZING i mean you're just kind of sitting. Floating you,
know you're just, literally you, know obviously getting a lot
of well, wishes text, messages PREFERABLY i, messages you, know phone.
Calls you, know your team is just in unbelievable. Spirits you, know,
guys we just got back To pittsburgh and you know they're,
laughing joking on the back of the. Bus you, know
(41:45):
they're doing all the different stuff on social, media and you,
know it's just. AMAZING i, mean not much could go
wrong today after you win a championship last.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Night all, right compare and contrast that to last. Year,
okay last year this, time you guys were ten and twenty. Two,
okay what were Those what was that bus ride back
like from last Year's Horizon league?
Speaker 4 (42:05):
Tournament it was it was. Miserable but the one thing
THAT i would say about it, was you, know when
you go through a season like, that you automatically get
some clarity on, now this is our chance to start fixing. It,
right how do we fix? It what do we need to,
Address what do we have to do with our? Roster
how can we? Improve and so as much as you're
(42:27):
disappointed in how your team, played when the season is,
over there's like new life because it's, okay now we
can fix. This now we can do something to make it,
better to put the kind of product on the court
that we want to. Have and so as soon as
we knew our season was over last year and we
lost last year At prue For wayne in the in
the opening, round and we weren't very competitive and it
(42:47):
was frustrating as, hell but it's, like, okay now let's fix.
It and you, know we got fortunate and we hit
on some, guys and those guys they bought into what we,
were what we were talking, about and they came together
as a, group and obviously great things.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Happened when was the point that you knew this season
that you, had you, know, something something, different something, special
because it wasn't like you guys were killing in the non,
conference right when did you know like we might have something?
Speaker 4 (43:14):
Here so we won a couple of close games in Early.
January we won a triple overtime game right at the
end Of december Against Northern. Kentucky we went At oakland
in the first week Of, january AND i thought, Like,
OKAY i DIDN'T i didn't necessarily anticipate IN us going
To oakland and winning the, game and SO i started to, Think,
okay maybe there's something to. This and then when we
(43:37):
won At Cleveland, state we played a great last thirty
minutes of that, GAME i, Thought, okay we're going to
be involved in. This how this thing gets sorted? Out
like someone's going to have to beat us here in
order for, us you, know to end our. Season and
not that other teams couldn't have done, it because you,
know you know how good the league is top to
bottom and how competitive each and every game. Is but
(44:00):
when we Meet Cleveland. State At Cleveland, STATE i saw
our guys just kind of go to a little bit
different level of trusting each, other a little different level
of activity and. Urgency AND i thought that those were
some of the things that we had been missing that
we could that could get us over the.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
Top, yeah you go back to was it was it
twenty fifteen when you made THE Ncaa. TOURNAMENT i think
it's like every five, years, right because you should have
Been you would have made it in THE covid year as.
Well but but twenty fifteen that you were one of
the first coaches to lose your lose your best players
to transferring up, right and for people don't know what
(44:36):
transferring up is means kid has a really good back
then you were the best team in THE neec and
then you, know you lose a kid to The Big
east or to one of the power back then power
five conference. Schools now you've seen where this is kind
of it's kind of like a regular, thing a normal.
Thing but like that, team you, know your two best,
PLAYERS i think we're under we're like freshman and. Sophomore
(44:59):
Wasn't rodney And Marquise reid like your two best players
like freshman and sophomore at the, time.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
What was the?
Speaker 4 (45:05):
Freshman read was a freshman And prior was a, junior
but he had two years to, play so and we
lost reed To clemson directly after THAT ncaa. Tournament we
played them in a bye game earlier that, year and
Then rodney came back and we ended up losing him
The georgetown the next year and he led The Big
east in.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Scoring, YEAH i mean so for people who don't understand
how hard is this? Level even back then before the transfer,
portal this is a challenge to hold on to guys
like you get LIKE i recruit, YOU i saw you
when other guys. DIDN'T i gave you, opportunity and then
they're still. Gone.
Speaker 4 (45:38):
Right the only the only thing that's good about it
now is that you at least have an opportunity to
try to get somebody, back because back then you were
trying to replace them with a high school kid or
a juco, kid and you had no idea if that
guy was going to be able to, be you, know
near the level of the guy you, Lost, right how
do you replace a fifteen point? Scorer you think you
just struck gold because you have a freshman that's averaging
(45:59):
fifteen a. Game how are you going to find another
freshman that's going to come in the next year in
iurge fifteen in a game that doesn't happen too. Often
so you were like you were completely. Shattered now now you,
can in the least go into the portal and, say all,
right this guy average ten points a Game division one
or he averaged twelve points a game or, whatever and
we think he's had some experience and he might be
able to help, us you, know kind of stem the
(46:20):
loss of the of the good player that just left.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
Us, SEE i don't think you guys had the best individual. Talent,
again you guys have. TALENT i thought the pieces fit
together really. Well what's that like to try and you
said you had to fix? It you know what's that
like to try and put together in terms of pieces
that fit and they mesh so?
Speaker 4 (46:40):
Well, yeah and some of this is you, know this
is more art and, science, Right so sometimes you just
kind of get fortunate and everybody kind of fits. Together
but things we knew we needed to address was our
ability to. DEFEND i, mean last year we just were
and in all the Years i've been more fifteen, years
we've all always been a good defensive. Team we were
(47:01):
so bad a year, ago and so we knew we
needed to get a little more. Athletic we knew we
needed to have a little more of an. EDGE a
lot of my better teams have played with an. Edge
we did not play with an edge last. Year and
so going out and trying to find some guys that
can help us protect the, Rim guys that could guard in,
Space guys that could kind of handle some of the
physicality in this. League and so you, know when we
(47:21):
got A Mario dickerson and his ability to you, know
become defensive player of The year in block, shots or
josh amajoffo at you, know six foot, four two hundred
and five, pounds you, know that can guard multiple positions
on the, Perimeter Cam woods who can guard big small you.
Know so we were looking for some guys that would
be able to really bolster our defensive side of the
ball with the ability to make some, plays and we
(47:43):
got some guys that can make plays and con junctually
being able to.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
Guard you, know you guys had that you hosted THE
i think it's a quarter final at, home and, yeah
Min a rot more is they got a, beautiful essentially
brand new, arena right it's a couple of years. Old
it's it's. Beautiful but you guys won the league and
yet you had to go To. Indie now you won
the conference. Tournament you survived that incredible semi final Against.
(48:06):
Oakland but now having been through it with THE nec
and been through it with The, horizon what are your
thoughts on home sites versus neutral sites for conference championships
at this.
Speaker 4 (48:16):
LEVEL i might be a little biased, today BUT i
will say that some of the greatest Environments i've been,
in and we've played In rocks and we've played in
The Dean, dome and we've played In, McHale and we've
played at Mattiew. R we've played in a lot of
places across the. Country some of those semi final and
final conference tournament atmosphere that we've played in on campus
(48:39):
sites have been. ELECTRIC i, mean you can't even hear,
yourself thinks you can't even communicate to the bench sometimes
it's so. LOUD i, mean people are right on top of.
You and we've been in four thousand seed, arenas we've
been in two thousands, arenas and there's an energy in
that building that is our. Guys some of our past
(49:01):
players talk about some of those experiences and some of
those road winds and conference tournaments in the most hostile of,
environments like it was the greatest thing they've ever been
a part. Of and so those are pretty pretty neat
places when you have the student body, out the community,
out the opposing team brings fans and they're trying to
fight the other two thousand people that are, there and
it's just every, possession every, pass every shot is multiplied by.
(49:26):
Ten the important to send the energy that's involved.
Speaker 1 (49:28):
In SEE i just think and to take that a step,
Further Andy tooles our. Guests he's the head coach Of Robert.
Morris The colonials won The Horizon league regular season and postseason.
Tournament they're going the Nca. Tournament they'll see where they're
going On Sunday Selection Sunday This Doug Gottlieb, Show Fox Sports.
RADIO i would just say, like and, actually this is.
INTERESTING i called your first four game right that year
(49:51):
you guys were in the first, four but then the
nightcap Was boise Against dayton In, dayton and why while
it wasn't particularly fair To, poise it's inarguably the greatest
atmosphere you've ever seen at a first. Four and my argument, is,
like what makes college basketball great is home court. Advantage
(50:15):
and since we take it sort of out of play
in THE Ncaa. Tournament why we take it out of
play in the mid major level to get into THE Ncaa? Tournament?
Right does that make? Sense it?
Speaker 4 (50:26):
Does AND i also think that now that you don't
get the automatic bit to THE, nit what is the
value of the regular Season and if you now have
a situation where you've worked to earn that home court
advantage throughout the duration of your time in the conference,
tournament that puts so much importance on each and every
regular season. Game because when we won the regular season
(50:47):
AT Iu, indy it was kind of, Like, okay this is.
Awesome our guys, celebrated we were, excited but, like we
didn't really Have we didn't really get a reward from,
that you know WHAT i? Mean, yeah we played at
seven o'clock in the seventi five miles instead of nine,
thirty but we're still on a neutral. Site AND i
don't get me, wrong The horizon likely did a great.
Job the experience was, awesome first class all the. Way
(51:10):
but what's the reward for being the regular season? Champ
can you host that stuff in your building and then
create you, know maybe a sizeable home court advantage as
you go into the most important games of your.
Speaker 1 (51:21):
Year most important question would ask you do you own?
Ties or because you wear suits with no? Tie? Right
do you actually you own a bunch of.
Speaker 4 (51:31):
TIES i have a bunche of.
Speaker 1 (51:33):
Ties so what's tell me the? Thought in the in
the in the habitaty it's just not.
Speaker 4 (51:40):
As comfortable wearing the?
Speaker 1 (51:41):
Tie so why not? Go why? Not why it's all? Restrictive,
okay why not go quarter? Zip everybody? Want everybody's pushing
for the. Quarterzip coach go. Quarterszip everybody goes quarters? Zip
why not go quarter?
Speaker 4 (51:52):
Zip my my whole staff goes quarter. Zip AND i
don't care what they. WEAR i just feel like a
little super. Rescision you, know OUR covid years when we
recorders have been one of our, best and so you,
KNOW i wanted to get back to where maybe you
Know i'm respecting the game a little bit with the
WAY i.
Speaker 1 (52:09):
Dress fair, enough fair. Enough last, Thing, ANDY i appreciate your.
Time look hard. Business you guys switched. Leagues you hadn't
seen some. Success obviously we know how this thing. Goes
right when you're, struggling people are out for. You what's
that going to be like for?
Speaker 4 (52:24):
You?
Speaker 1 (52:24):
Sunday when you See Robert morris in THE Ncaa. Tournament
understanding all you and your program have accomplished and turned
this thing.
Speaker 4 (52:30):
Around that's the best feeling in the. WORLD i, mean
hearing your name called on Selections, SUNDAY i, mean there's
no feeling like. It there'll be a lot of satisfaction from.
ME i know. That you, know there were some you,
know tough conversations that happened last spring and some tough
decisions that needed to be, made and you, know to
be able to see in one calendar year that you're
you're you've won a championship and you're going to THE
(52:52):
Ncaa tournament is there's gonna be a lot of emotions for,
me for.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
Sure, well, listen it's well, deserved. OBVIOUSLY i have nothing
but respectful what you guys have done and how you guys,
Play stay, healthy get, right and go out and win
another game for The Horizon league in the. Tournament thanks for,
me our, guest Appreciate doug all, right That's Andy, toole
who is the head coach of The colonials Of Robert
moore
Thanks for listening to the best of the Doug Gottlieb
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday
three to five Eastern twelve two Pacific on Fox Sports Radio.
Find your local station for the Doug Gottlieb Show at
boxsports Radio dot com, or stream us live every day
on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR boom. What of
America Doug Gottlieb Show, Foxsports Radio coming to hear from
(00:24):
the tyrack dot Com studios tyrack dot com. Well we
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the way the tire buying should be. Wow. Still stunned
(00:48):
a little bit by that news of John Feinstein passing again.
I want to do the sports radio talkie talk thing
and we will, but oh that's a man. It's a
gut punch from this standpoint. So John Feinstein passed away today?
(01:11):
Did I do the tyrach We're broadcasting from the tyrach
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way tire buying should be. So we're getting ready to
do the show and Jason Stewart he says, hey, did
(01:35):
you hear about John Feinstein? And you know, like it's
very very interesting here the I'll just give you a
little history lesson on me and then my relationship on
John and Jason Stewart's relationship with John. So when I
was in fourth grade, I had to go see a
(01:58):
reading specialist. You know, I was the classic ad ad
D or now it's ADHD kid right where they're like, well,
maybe we put him on Rulin because I would get
bored in school. I'd get up, I'd walk around the classroom,
really good at math and science, not particularly good at English.
Not a great reader, a more oral presentation sort of guy.
(02:21):
And so the reading specialist was like, look, he just
needs to sit down and read books. And my dad's
big thing was like, you know, sign you got to
pass the English part of the SAT Like my dad
nearly got a perfect score on the on the math
part as well, and he'd be and he is a
vociferous reader. So we made it. He made a deal
(02:44):
with me that I got five bucks every time I
finished a novel, and they we would alternate between non
sports and sports novel. Right, So my my non sports now,
(03:04):
first non sports novel was The Boys from Brazil by
Leon URIs. Have you guys ever heard of The Boys
from Brazil? Leon leon yours incredible award winning best selling author.
If you guys, Jay Stu, you ever read familiar with
the movie? Oh yeah? Became okay, so, and I guess
I can. It's like a fifty or sixty year old
(03:26):
book by a fifty year old book, right, or maybe
not that old, but it was. It was really fascinating
if you think about it. The the premise was that
Nazis had escaped Nazi Germany to Argentina and through the net,
through the use of genetic splicing, they had created basically
(03:47):
Hitler clones and they were trying to mirror Hitler's upbringing
to help, you know, mother Germany rise again. That was
I mean really like now obviously it's like truth or
stranger than fiction. Now, it's like, wow, these technicist technology
probably does in fact exist. Anyway, When I would read
(04:11):
the sports books, my first one was actually the autobiography
of Catfish Hunter. Fascinating, but I fell in love with
John Feinstein's work with a season on the Brink, which
of course followed around Bob Knight in Indiana, and it
was a terrible year one in which ended up in
the NIT and it was I think the year before
(04:33):
they end up two years before they end up winning
a national championship, and you followed up with a season inside.
And later on there was Next Man Up, which follow
around the Baltimore Ravens, and each one there was the
Army Navy, one there was Forever's team. Like you kind
of go back and if you know, if you've ever
read a sports novel and read more than one or two,
(04:57):
you read a Feinstein and you're like, that was unbelievably thorough.
Couldn't put it down. It remarkably not a well written
but it was kind of well narrated in terms of
how I was written, because I always thought, like, I'm
a big Tom Clancy guy, right, but Tom Clancy's novels
at times became too wordy and I don't care about
the exact data behind every missile that it's like showing
(05:19):
off how much research he had done. But for whatever reason,
I thought Feinstein did just the right amount of I've
done the right research, yet it's tangible to you, so
fast forward to twenty twelve and I started. I was
part of the initial launch group to CBS Sports Radio,
and we followed Jim Rome, I believe right, That's how
(05:42):
it was, Jim Rome and then us. And before Jim Rome,
John Feinstein had a show and John was let go.
Well I still had the radio job there, and I
don't want to know if we had a falling out,
(06:02):
but they were just you know, John was not the
easiest dude in the world. Now, when I say that,
you're gonna sound like that's gonna sound like John was
an a hole. He wasn't. He just wasn't easy. He
did not what's the term you used, Jay Stu didn't.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Suffer what he did not suffer fools.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
No, not at all. And he held people people around
him to a way higher standard than most people did.
And I know, and and look what happens in this
business is when you're like that, you can get you
can get coined difficult. But difficult doesn't mean bad. Difficult
just means difficult. And I mean I just fascinating to
(06:43):
fascinating person. Somewhere along the way over the past. Well,
you know, I've been at Fox Sports Radio for eight
years Over the past five years, he and I have
run into each other at various events. Back when I
was the CBS, I covered the Patriot League. I saw
one of those games. Of course, he wrote the book
on the page, literally wrote the book on the Patriot League.
(07:04):
And then in the last eight years we ran each other.
It's the big ten term of the NCAA tournament, and
we had kind of, I don't know, made amends, but
there was no falling out. It was I don't even
remember what it was over, but I think it was
mostly over the fact that John got let go and
he just lashed out at people because he was upset,
which you have every right to be upset, right. I
(07:25):
didn't get you fired. I didn't like. None of that
thing was me, But that's what I thought. I thought
that's where his bitterness kind of came from. And Jason,
I want to get to your story about him in
a second. But here's what's fascinating. Obviously, our season did
not go as planned in terms of wins and losses.
(07:46):
There are tons of wins and some losses off the
court and in the preparation and things that we've learned.
And in terms of the story, like I still continue
to contend that if you named college basketball teams that
have been covered this year, there's like five or six
and we're one of the five or six. Right, we're
(08:06):
one of the five or six. Your college basketball is
kind of a month long sport, but there's like five
or six and we're one of the five or six.
And uh, you know, we we've done. We have a pilot,
and there's another couple of shows for a reality show,
and we have the buyers are kind of lining up,
you know, all the all of the usuals want to
(08:28):
have you know them follow us around be embedded. And
we have a production group that's already done some of
this work and it's really really good stuff. But there's
a lot that happened this year, like man I wish
there was camera there, or man I don't I wish
there wasn't a camera there. But it's a it's a
really fascinating story, like if people only knew And uh,
(08:49):
let me make sure I get the date right. So
I texted John March fifth, March fourth, and he texted
me back March fifth. He said, are you glad your
season is over? I said, no, we just were figuring
out playing well and starting to get healthy. So we
texted back and forth a little bit and I said,
(09:12):
what are you working on? He said, I'm doing a
book on what makes great coaches great besides great players.
I'm also teaching journalism at Longwood University. And I said, John,
do you want your next bestseller? He said always. I said,
come follow me around for a year and write this story.
And he said, I'll call you, and he did. He
(09:35):
called me earlier this week and I was in the
middle of an exit meeting with one of my players
and I pushed that button that says can I call
you back? And now what it says is going to
call you back? Whatever? And I was driving today long
drive last two days, and on my list of calls
was John and I was like, Ah, I'm just I'm
(09:58):
going to do it tomorrow or I'm gonna do it tonight.
And John Feinstein passed away today, is studying And.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
How old was he jasetu sixty eight. He died at
his brother's home. He just penned an article today for
The Washington Post about Tom Izzo.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
For people who don't know, how did you get to
know John Feinstein?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
It was in this very building that I'm in right now.
He was a frequent guest host for Jim Row And
by frequent, you know, Jim often says he takes a
lot of vacation, because he gets a lot of vacation.
We're talking like twelve weeks a year. And I would
produce those shows for guest hosts, and John Feinstein was
(10:47):
a regular of ours. So I got to know John
on a professional level and a personal level, and you know,
to say he was difficult, He's just one of those
guys that kind of demanded a certain standard, old school
and I felt privileged to being as good grace as
because of that, because I knew he could be that way,
(11:08):
and you know, he didn't suffer fools. And the older
I get, the more I appreciate that about people. You
just know where you stood. There was no pretense to John,
and I really did love that about him. And I
read a couple of his books, my favorite being The Punch,
which chronicled the entire episode of Kermit Washington almost killing
(11:33):
Rudy Tomyanovich in a game. And I encourage any of
our listeners to read that book. It was fascinating. One
of my good friends is Stan Brooks, He's a executive producer,
made a lot of TV movies as an Emmy Award
winning producer. He was the one that produced Season on
the Brink for ESPN. And Stan has told me so
(11:55):
many stories about how Feinstein was during that process. Imagine that.
Imagine being the person that has to make Feinstein's book
into a movie and how difficult that may have been.
But again, all these stories are just speak to how
genuine he was as a person. And I really did
(12:16):
like John.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
John Finstein was sixty eight years old in John Feinstein's honor.
I have a rant I want to make and we'll
do it right now. First, let me tell you speed
up your hiring process with Express Employment Professionals. Reduced time
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(12:41):
your hiring process. Okay, here it is. Would you say
that a good portion of why he was how he
was is because at the end of the day, right,
there's a right way and a wrong way to do something.
That is that a f depiction of it? Yep, yep, Okay,
(13:02):
there's a right way and there's a wrong way. And
I think what's what's truly fascinating about college athletics, And
you know, we can get into the nil and all
that other stuff. But Ben Johnson was fired at about
midnight last night or this morning by the University of Minnesota.
(13:25):
Ben Johnson was the head coach. He's young, he was
an assistant Xavier at the time. It was a surprising hire.
He's a Minnesota allowed me play basketball Minnesota, he was
only assistant. Took over a Big ten job. And again, look,
you probably hired him to save money when they couldn't
get their initial guys they wanted to hire when Richard
Patino left went to New Mexico, and so they hired
(13:48):
Ben Johnson and it started out pretty bad. Last year,
they end up going to the n i T. Won
a game in the n i T. His entire starting lineup.
I believe left because that's what happens when you have
some success, your whole team lead, and now you have
to go and buy a new team. That's where we are.
I am not making a comment about whether or not
Ben should have kept his job, okay, because I don't
(14:10):
know any of the particulars other than they probably didn't
win enough and college head coaches and look, I don't
make a lot of money as a college head coach,
but whatever I make, it's plenty. It's plenty. So you
shouldn't feel bad for me if in you know, four
or five years, you know it doesn't work out, and
(14:31):
and my boss Josh Buon walks down the hallway and says, hey,
let's sit down, let's talk about it, et cetera, et cetera.
But there's a right way and a wrong way to
do something. And it's one thing to fire a guy
at midnight and announce it on social media after you lose.
It's a whole other thing when it's also an alum
(14:54):
of the school that he represents. That doesn't mean he
can't be fired. That doesn't mean you're not with it
and your rights to fire it. But again, there's a
right way and there's a wrong way. Why why can't
you call him in this morning and say, hey, man,
we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna let you go, but
we want to give you a couple hours to call
(15:16):
your coaches, to call your support staff, to have a
team meeting, Okay, to make sure everybody knows the process
of what's taking place. And then why don't we come
back at noon. We'll grab some lunch, we'll sign some papers,
we'll shake hands like men, and we'll be on our way.
And we'll be on our way and and look again,
(15:39):
I have nothing bad to say about Minnesota or their
athletic director or anything. Again. And I don't know. I
don't know the particulars of why it was done when
it was done. I don't and I don't care. Okay,
Mark Coyle is there there ad Okay, he's been there
(16:00):
since twenty sixteen. I have no doubt that Mark who
you know. He's been the ad at Syracuse, at Boise State,
he's been at Kentucky. He knows what it looks like.
He's been in this business for years. There's a right
way and there's a wrong way. When do we get
to the place where you have an alum he's gonna
(16:21):
get fired? He gave him a whole cycle of four years.
It's not good enough. Why can't you just call him
into your office and have him relieve him of duties
like a grown up, like grown people do. Right. There
is a right way in a wrong way, and a
midnight tweet, a midnight firing, just like the tarmac firing
(16:43):
with Lankippett. It ain't right. It ain't right. And this
is not me saying, hey, Ben should have kept his job.
I thought Ben did a really good job this year.
I thought they were well coached. I didn't think. You know,
it's hard. You know you're going against teams with gigantic payrolls,
and like everybody's got their problems. I'm not making commentary
on it. I don't pay enough attention to somebody else's team.
(17:05):
I only know Ben is a good man, and he's
he's a gopher. It's not how you treat people. It's
just not. And as much as you can sit there
and say, hey, the head coaches you make plenty of money,
they do and Ben I'll be fine. He'll get an
assistant job. And now he's been a head coach for
four years in the Big Ten, and he'll he might
be able to get another head coaching job right now
because he's handled himself like a complete mench. He might not,
(17:28):
but he's got enough money now, and he'll get money
on whatever's buyout is a couple million dollars to where
he could probably live comfortably doing pretty much whatever he
wants and I'm sure he wants to coach, but you
have I mean, here's all the people that are that
are affected. You have all the gas, all of the players,
all of your support staff, like all of their families
(17:51):
are going to lose their jobs, have to move. And again,
it doesn't mean that it was wrong to fire them
and that we should think about all those people before
they're fired. He don't. That's not how you run an
athletic department. You sometimes you got to make hard decisions.
I got to make some hard decisions as well, with players,
with coaches, with support staff, and and and even with myself.
Got to make hard decisions. But in the middle of
(18:12):
the night, when the guy's in a lum you're not
firing for cause you know, he didn't get a dui.
It didn't beat up a woman. There's no nonsense. They're
not Mclem Houskins was they were. I mean the type
of cheating they were doing back in the day, right,
But they did go to a final four. So people
(18:33):
are like, ah, Clem not bad. Like look that one
you can do in the middle of the night. That
one you can do in the middle of the night.
This one, it's just in honor of John Feinstein, who
did not suffer fools. That's not the right way to
do it, and I think everybody knows it, and the
(18:54):
more adults act this way, we shouldn't be surprised when
players don't even tell their coach, Hey, I'm going to
the portal. They just put in the portal. You find
out on social media. When players don't do things the
right way, you're like, oh, well, their kids. Now what
they are is they they they see how everybody else
acts and they react as such.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
This is the best of the Done dot Leap Show
on Fox Sports Radio, Boom on.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Up America, Doug Godleib Show, Fox Sports Radio, coming to
you from the tyrack dot com studios tyre dot com.
When we get there, unmatched selection, fast free shipping, free
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dot com. It's the way tire buying should be. So,
(19:45):
how you doing? How are you?
Speaker 4 (19:49):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Good to talk to you? Yeah uh And the Doug
Gottlib Show broadcast live in direct from that tyrack dot
com studios. T Judgments Out is gonna joinp ME in
twenty five minutes to talk abo some of this free
agency stuff. We got some Cooper Cup stuff to discuss.
John Middelkoff's going to join us. We have a good amount,
(20:10):
good amount of NFL peraver and as you listen to
these updates, you know that this stuff's coming fast and furious,
whether it's signings, trades, or releases with free agency upon us.
I do want to start with Championship week because not
just because I'm a Division one coach. Well, obviously we're
(20:30):
watching at home and our women's program, the Green Bay Phoenix.
They just won their twenty second consecutive game and beat
Perdue Fort Wayne for a second consecutive time. In listen
in a week, you know, a week and a half. Yeah,
week and a half. Anyway, So they are going to
(20:53):
the NCAA tournament. Kayla Carris, who's in her first year,
returning home to a place that she played. She's got
seven seniors. They're awesome anyway there winning. So again there's
there's part of my job and my school and what
we're all doing. But I just this is more kind
of a question and there is no firm, true answer
(21:17):
in terms of what's best. But there's this balance, you know,
of making money, fairness and core of what you are
and here's what I mean. And I think it's no
different than when hockey expanded to the south right. Where again,
(21:38):
I'll just take our league, the Horizon League. If the
game today between Green Bay and Fort Wayne the Women
was played at our home arena, the Cress Center, which
seats four thousand people, they would have had four thousand
people there today. Now would it have been fair to
Fort Wayne? M Probably not right, even though it was
(21:59):
a closer game when they lost in overtime. I think
it was like a week and a half ago Saturday
or Sunday Saturday, so it would have been fair. What's fair? Right?
You win your league, it's a true double round robin,
meaning you have played everybody twice. Shouldn't you get the
benefit of the doubt and get to host the games.
(22:20):
On the other hand, you know, it does stretch your
league more thinly, and it eliminates the neutral site, which
is like, let's really find out who the best team
means in your league. And then you factor in the
TV element to it, which is that for the men,
you know last night, the second game went beyond midnight,
(22:41):
and you're like, why are you playing on a Monday
and Tuesday. Well, because once you get to Wednesday into Sunday,
that's when the Big Ten, the SEC, the ACC, the
Big Twelve, the Big East they're all playing then. And
yes there are still championship games at the mid major level,
but they are very very much the side show, whereas
last night it's kind of and tonight kind of the
(23:02):
main event. So let's do this. Let's go around to
you guys, get your thoughts, your opinion, if it matters,
if it doesn't matter. I mean very likely that Jay
s Douo says, I don't care, you know, just tell
me who I need to bet on so I can
win money, is really what Jay s dou actually cares about. Right,
Sam is the Midwesterner, right, maybe he has an opinion.
(23:25):
I don't know. We have all different sorts of cornucopia
of people. Jase, do do you care? And if you do,
which for again? And I have a working philosophy on this,
but I'm open to suggestions on it. Obviously, the Big East,
the ACC, the Big Twelve, of the SEC, they're gonna
play at you know. I mean, look, I think everybody
(23:47):
should end up getting to Vegas or into New York City,
which is where the Big East is and Vegas is
where you know, a lot of the West West coast
conferences are a big ten I think is going to
Vegas eventually. Maybe the Big two does eventually as well.
I'll get to why I think that makes sense. But
for you, when you get past those top five conferences,
(24:07):
what are your thoughts on where this conference tournament should be?
Speaker 2 (24:12):
So the choices are home sites, home sites for bigger seedings,
or site neutral venus. I think the home sites work.
I think the home side sites work for me. And
here's why. I think the drama and excitement. If the
home team has a game going down to the final
(24:34):
shot like we see all the time, the actual energy
is much better in the building and it adds to
the drama and the watch as opposed to the neutral
site that you're probably going to get half and half.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Yeah, if that you know? Now there are some leagues
where the neutral site, even for smaller conferences, does work.
I watched the soakon last night. It was who It's
Winter No, No Wafford? Who that did Wofford play less?
Wafford Furman? Right, those are two small private schools and
(25:10):
the Soacon And I've called this tournament on radio. That
that arena. It's just really cool. It's in Asheville, North Carolina.
Do you guys know anything about Ashville, North Carolina? Not
you never heard of it?
Speaker 5 (25:21):
Yeah, of course you've heard nothing.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
What what have you heard?
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Oh, I don't know anything about it. I've heard of it.
Speaker 6 (25:26):
I've heard barbecue.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
Unc Ashville's there, not.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Really, Yes, unc Ashville is not really it's it's I
think in many people. Many people, it's considered kind of
like the Austin of North Carolina. It's a little hippie ish.
There's a cool music scene, you know. I'm sure there's
lots of micro pubs and coffee houses, and there's areas
there in the Carolina. It's not far away. We can
(25:50):
go to the Blue Ridge Mountains. You can go hiking
like it is absolutely beautiful and while not perfectly centrally located,
it's a destination spot. And that place was jumping last night.
It's the perfect size venue. It's small schools, they're all
within driving distance. I think we're on spring break like.
All these things work, so it's there. There's there's I
(26:10):
don't believe in absolutes in life and absolutes in rules.
But there are generally places where things work, in places
where they don't work, places where they don't work. Sam,
what do you think? Give me your thoughts? So we're
talking like the Missouri Valley is arch Madness, right, it's
played in Saint Louis. By the way, my new favorite
nickname is the Big Sky, which is played in Boise
(26:33):
in Idaho, and that's called starch Madness. Shout out to
the Big Sky.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
God's great that before it.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
It's really good. It's really good. There's somebody sitting there
who listens. We're on in Boise, and there's somebody who's
sitting there who came up with that idea that works
for the Big Side Conference. And whoever you are tweet
at me, you deserve a raise. I will help try
to get you a raise today. Anyway, Uh Sam, what
do you think?
Speaker 5 (26:57):
Well, you know what we talked about this last week.
I'm definitely in favor of of think. I'm in favor
of the top seed and you know, one bid leagues
getting to host games because give them as many chances
as possible to get to the nca Tournament. I feel
like they did that work during the regular season that
should stand for something. Whether that's you know, either your
top seed and the conference tournament, or even going as
(27:17):
drastically far as I had an idea of, you know,
getting rid of some of the bottom dwelling teams in
some of those smaller leagues, just so you can give
those teams to finish with a good conference record a
better shot to get to the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Some of those have that, some of those have these
staggered sunbelt don't know if you've seen, there's like eight
rounds and yep, you know, and the top two teams
like sit out the first seven rounds. It's like crazy,
I lo werre.
Speaker 6 (27:40):
Are you on it for on campus sites? Yes, yes,
a thousand times yes. The problem is it makes too
much sense to ever happen. It will never happen. There
are so many conferences mid major conferences across the country
that have phenomenal regular season atmospheres, and then when it
(28:03):
goes to whatever conference tournament, it automatically goes to an
antiseptic site. I mean, when you're playing the first game
of a quadruple header during the day or something like that,
it's a very antiseptic atmosphere that is just not comparable
to the general fun of the regular season. In the
(28:24):
NCAA Women's Tournament, I believe they have on campus sites
for the first two rounds, which is at least a start.
But because of logistics and TV, that sort of thing's
never gonna happen for conference tournaments. The other thing, I
don't think any conference tournament should ever have more than
eight teams.
Speaker 5 (28:40):
Hey, Isaac, I like that makes too much sense to happen.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
Why should not have more than eight teams? Well, no, no, no, no, no,
no no.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
A conference tournament.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Yeah, the SEC has how many teams?
Speaker 5 (28:55):
Okay, well, the SEC is a little bit eighteen teams
and only fifteen. Now the bottom three I would just
meet the cut.
Speaker 6 (29:01):
I guess I'm talking about mid major teams where you
know you have play quote unquote playing games, you know,
on the Tuesday, and then they go Tuesday one.
Speaker 5 (29:09):
I mean you have a Delaware Blue Hens team win
the uh.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Well, see here's how it works in Horizon Leak. So
the Horizon League, what we do is the first two
rounds are home sites. So the top five I believe
got to buy. Next year it'll be I think the
top six because in two years of the top six
because We're had no with the Illinois by the top,
and so we had to go to Oakland. There's there's
(29:33):
four games the first night where the bottom seed goes
to the higher seed and then the winner goes and
plays one of the teams with a bye. Right, So
that's what happened, and then the final four teams go
to Indianapolis and the Innanapolis Arena is really really cool.
It's the old I think it's called the Indianapolis Coliseum.
Speaker 6 (29:53):
They played some games there during the twenty twenty one
COVID tournament if I'm not mistaken at the fair rounds right.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Yes, that's exactly where they Yes, they played games there.
I didn't know that. Yeah, I think the old ABA
Pacers used to play there back before Market Square Arena
was built. So it's like historic and it's been redone
and it's really really cool. It's not huge and great sitelines.
The problem is, you know it was you know a
(30:23):
quarter to a half full tonight, you got Robert Morris,
which is you know in you know, Moon Township, which
is just outside of Pittsburgh taking on Youngstown State. Youngstown,
Ohio is actually closest to Pittsburgh. Like if this game
was played at Robert Morris and they have a beautiful
arena that's like five years old. There would be an
empty sea in the house, be an absolute bunker's atmosphere.
(30:46):
And yeah, again I don't know the logistics of it.
My guess is it's easier to get a title sponsor
if it's at the at the venue. Plus you have
the women's and men's game again at the same venue.
It probably saves you money. And everybody knows you're going
to Minneapolis, and it is very difficult in terms of
(31:06):
travel planning. Like, look, well we were there leading into
our last game of the year at Oakland. There was
five different places we could have gone for our first game,
and then we knew because we were the last seed,
we were going to go to Robert Morris if we
won the first game. But then there's just all these
kind of moving targets for everybody else. I understand there's
an expense to not knowing where you're going, and it's
(31:26):
based upon whoever the higher seed remaining is. But here's
my biggest issue with it, And you guys tell me
if that makes sense, And it's honestly an issue I
have with college football's playoff. What separates college football and
college basketball from the NFL and the NBA other Obviously,
(31:49):
level of talent, level of skill is far greater in
the pros. But what makes it special, especially college basketball,
is the atmosphere of that home gym as much as
the coaches and the historic coaches and players are synonymous
with their program, right, and you think of Dick Vitees. Oh,
(32:10):
let me tell you about Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams
and Built self and Delvin Sepson and Tom misso, oh,
it's right, and those are they're synonymous with their schools.
And Richard Pettino, oh the Pizon right, all of those things.
College basketball has been synonymous with the coaches. But also
I just saw Rose Hill Gym. That's where Fordham plays,
(32:32):
really cool plays one hundred years of basketball there. Fog
Allen Field House, to me is the greatest place to
play a basketball game ever. They used to play NCAA
tournament games there by the way Gallagher I Arena where
I played. Obviously not the same as the Cowboys under
five hundred season, but eventually they'll you think they'll get
it back. You know, you go to New Mexico in
the pit and Xavier where they play at the centtas
(32:53):
centers incredible, you d Arena. Now, I know they host
the first four, but I did the only First four
game where Daton actually played in the first four. The
home court atmosphere is as much a part of college
basketball as the actual basketball is. And yet we get
to the end of the season and let's cut out
(33:14):
the part of the sport that makes it so cool
and so unique, that makes it so cool. It's unique.
There's no student section, right, and they'll have the little
student court in a section. But again, with these schools,
a lot of them, the students don't travel as much,
and I get it. Sometimes it doesn't match up a
spring break. It might not work, but I guarantee, if
(33:35):
you have hey travel sites will be home sites. Many
of these schools would adjust their schedule beforehand knowing that
this is a possibility of hosting a conference tournament game
or the conference championship game.
Speaker 6 (33:47):
That's an outstanding point, and I'd like to raise this
as an ancillary point that you made me think of
by talking about this. The Final Four has been played
in a dome ever since nineteen night. It'll obviously never
happen certainly with the final four, But wouldn't it be
great from an atmosphere standpoint if you could host NCAA
(34:09):
tournament games, even a regional round on the second weekend
at a place like Allen Fieldhouse. Now that'll never happen,
but that would be great for the sport in my opinion.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Yeah, I yes, I think if they add another round
of the tournament, that's what needs to happen. That's what
needs to happen.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
And doctor.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
But I was just saying during the Calton Clark Herrett Iowa,
those opening two games in the NCAA Tournament at Carver
Hockey Arena were really fun, really wild special. They actually
got I think our sophomore year. The second game they
got upset by Creighton. So it's not impossible to go
in there and win if you're the visiting team. But
you know, on the arch, madness works so well because
(34:55):
you know, all of those schools are pretty much in
five hours, maybe seven hours or less of dry It's
changing now, but yes, yeah, what do you mean it's changing?
Speaker 2 (35:04):
What am I?
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Well? Like the makeup of that league continues to evolve. Yes, yes,
I don't know how far Murray Kentucky is but no, yeah,
that's a hole in Chicago.
Speaker 5 (35:12):
It's not like now where you got a team on
the West, you know, right, it's it is a little
bit more condensed. And so it does work well because
people can drive for the most part to Saint Louis
and enjoy those those But.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
The reason, the reason Vegas works and I would be like, hey,
if you want to do Vegas, I'm cool, is because
every team would want to go. And though the fan
bases may be smaller, you'll get people like, hey, I'm
going out for the week, and it's just it's like
basketball topia there. It's amazing. So Vegas is like the
and you know New York if you're gonna play Madison
Square Garden. Otherwise nobody goes to Barclays again, like they
(35:44):
the Vegas does work for the Big West, it does
work for the Whack, It does work for the WCC
because you can plan every year. If you're a basketball fan,
I'm gonna go there, I'll see my team and then
if not, I'll stay, I'll gamble and the weather's better
than wherever I live. But in the Midwest, in the South,
on the East Coast, I just is it hard to
(36:08):
play on the road. Yeah. Yeah, we played at Oakland twice.
We played there in the regular season, you know, quarter fall.
We played there in the postseason and again we had
just nearly upset them at our place and three quarters
full and that's that was a six' eleven. GAME i just, think,
(36:31):
man this is it's just screaming to you to what
makes college basketball great is your home court. Advantage and
if you win your, league you should get home court
advantage in those levels. Leagues and the only only time
that changes is if you can sell out a neutral, site,
well then by all means keep it a neutral. Site.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Yep SO i looked it.
Speaker 5 (36:52):
Up Doug, Murray kentucky To Saint louis is only a
three hour and forty minute. Drive that kind of blew my.
MIND i thought they were more spread out than.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
That Fox Sports radio has the best sports talk lineup
in the. Nation catch all of our shows at Foxsports
radio dot com and within The iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
App Doug Gottlieb, Show you're On Fox Sports. Radio we'll
get To Tyre's halbert AND i want to discuss. This
what was the stat you? Had. Jays we were talking
before the show about iPhones versus. Androids it's, like seventy
percent of the world is actually More.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Android let's, see so seventy. Percent, no, no let's back.
Up android has seventy percent of the market share, worldwide,
okay and iPhones have fifty six percent of the market
share in The United. States in other, Words android is
(37:44):
soccer embraced by most of the world and iPhone is
the nfl embraced. Here, yeah but it Gives americans this
like this, weird twisted deceiv thing where they think iPhones
are the greatest and why isn't everybody else on, board
(38:05):
when in fact the numbers are the. Opposite More android
users worldwide than.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
iPhone what if the iPhone is the metric, SYSTEM i,
mean the iPhone.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Is the that's that's. Good that's.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Good is that The android is the metric? System what
do we call? It the? Future it's the? Future, oh,
MILES i don't.
Speaker 5 (38:24):
Know, No, like our system here has its own. Name
it's like called like the COMMON i don't even. Know but,
yeah it's not the metric.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
System do we know what that's called? Iload do you
know what that's called the non metric?
Speaker 6 (38:38):
System i'm just thinking, Thinking, Hey Saquon barkley ran for
one hundred and twelve meters On. Sunday it just Doesn't
you can't put that into.
Speaker 5 (38:46):
Perspective, oh it's called the imperial system or THE us customary.
System although we do we use, yard we use like in,
sports we use weird ways of determining, length like, Yards
like a yard is what three and a half feet or?
Speaker 1 (39:00):
Something, no yard is three, feet three?
Speaker 5 (39:02):
Yards three?
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Feet, okay but not to get too far away from
my point the listener right.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
Now, hey hold, on before we get too far away
from the, Point before you get to your. Point that
was a funny. Moment, WELL i didn't know he was.
Accurate think on. Yards it's, like, no a meter is that?
Speaker 5 (39:21):
Executive oh, right, right, okay keeping straight a yards three?
Feet a meter is like three and a half feet
or something could be.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Wrong we don't. Know go, Ahead jace, Too i'm. Sorry,
OKAY i thought he lost his train of. Thought my
point is, like, look you don't have to. Share jason
is very. Concerned first he Knows I'm I'M I android
(39:49):
shame him all the. Time. Yeah, second POSSIBLE i have
a group chat with, him and the thing pops up
Green you're, like are you blocking? Me like, No i'm Just.
Android like it just doesn't feel.
Speaker 5 (39:58):
Good the worst thing is when you you send a
message and it says could not, send and then you send,
it you hit it again and says could sen and
then someone with an iPhone gets something four or five,
times like the same gift four, times.
Speaker 6 (40:09):
Or a, picture especially when it's a.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
Picture, WELL I i find this to be really hard
When i'm flying on a plane and they give you
the free, messaging but free, MESSAGING i messaging doesn't work
when you have An. Android, uh let's let's let's come
back to, this or maybe we'll ask our next guest
About It's Doug Gotlieb, Show Fox Sports radio live from
the tyreq dot com. Studios andy tooles our, Guest, okay
(40:34):
and he's the head coach Of Robert. Morris Robert morris
won our league and won the conference tournament. Championship they'll
get ready for THE Ncaa CHAMPIONSHIP Ncaa tournament. Upcoming so
champions of the regular and, postseason The rise In. League
andy joins us now on The Doug Gottlieb show On
Fox Sports. Radio You're i've texted you before you're an iPhone.
Guy number of staff members who are, motorole who are
(40:59):
who Are android? Zero is there anything worse On earth
than when you're in a group chat and there's always
one guy who's got The.
Speaker 4 (41:08):
Android there's probably, something BUT i can't think of it right.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Now how are? You what is it like in a
day after you win a conference tournament? Championship it's.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
AMAZING i mean you're just kind of sitting. Floating you,
know you're just, literally you, know obviously getting a lot
of well, wishes text, messages PREFERABLY i, messages you, know phone.
Calls you, know your team is just in unbelievable. Spirits you, know,
guys we just got back To pittsburgh and you know they're,
laughing joking on the back of the. Bus you, know
(41:45):
they're doing all the different stuff on social, media and you,
know it's just. AMAZING i, mean not much could go
wrong today after you win a championship last.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Night all, right compare and contrast that to last. Year,
okay last year this, time you guys were ten and twenty. Two,
okay what were Those what was that bus ride back
like from last Year's Horizon league?
Speaker 4 (42:05):
Tournament it was it was. Miserable but the one thing
THAT i would say about it, was you, know when
you go through a season like, that you automatically get
some clarity on, now this is our chance to start fixing. It,
right how do we fix? It what do we need to,
Address what do we have to do with our? Roster
how can we? Improve and so as much as you're
(42:27):
disappointed in how your team, played when the season is,
over there's like new life because it's, okay now we
can fix. This now we can do something to make it,
better to put the kind of product on the court
that we want to. Have and so as soon as
we knew our season was over last year and we
lost last year At prue For wayne in the in
the opening, round and we weren't very competitive and it
(42:47):
was frustrating as, hell but it's, like, okay now let's fix.
It and you, know we got fortunate and we hit
on some, guys and those guys they bought into what we,
were what we were talking, about and they came together
as a, group and obviously great things.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Happened when was the point that you knew this season
that you, had you, know, something something, different something, special
because it wasn't like you guys were killing in the non,
conference right when did you know like we might have something?
Speaker 4 (43:14):
Here so we won a couple of close games in Early.
January we won a triple overtime game right at the
end Of december Against Northern. Kentucky we went At oakland
in the first week Of, january AND i thought, Like,
OKAY i DIDN'T i didn't necessarily anticipate IN us going
To oakland and winning the, game and SO i started to, Think,
okay maybe there's something to. This and then when we
(43:37):
won At Cleveland, state we played a great last thirty
minutes of that, GAME i, Thought, okay we're going to
be involved in. This how this thing gets sorted? Out
like someone's going to have to beat us here in
order for, us you, know to end our. Season and
not that other teams couldn't have done, it because you,
know you know how good the league is top to
bottom and how competitive each and every game. Is but
(44:00):
when we Meet Cleveland. State At Cleveland, STATE i saw
our guys just kind of go to a little bit
different level of trusting each, other a little different level
of activity and. Urgency AND i thought that those were
some of the things that we had been missing that
we could that could get us over the.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
Top, yeah you go back to was it was it
twenty fifteen when you made THE Ncaa. TOURNAMENT i think
it's like every five, years, right because you should have
Been you would have made it in THE covid year as.
Well but but twenty fifteen that you were one of
the first coaches to lose your lose your best players
to transferring up, right and for people don't know what
(44:36):
transferring up is means kid has a really good back
then you were the best team in THE neec and
then you, know you lose a kid to The Big
east or to one of the power back then power
five conference. Schools now you've seen where this is kind
of it's kind of like a regular, thing a normal.
Thing but like that, team you, know your two best,
PLAYERS i think we're under we're like freshman and. Sophomore
(44:59):
Wasn't rodney And Marquise reid like your two best players
like freshman and sophomore at the, time.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
What was the?
Speaker 4 (45:05):
Freshman read was a freshman And prior was a, junior
but he had two years to, play so and we
lost reed To clemson directly after THAT ncaa. Tournament we
played them in a bye game earlier that, year and
Then rodney came back and we ended up losing him
The georgetown the next year and he led The Big
east in.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Scoring, YEAH i mean so for people who don't understand
how hard is this? Level even back then before the transfer,
portal this is a challenge to hold on to guys
like you get LIKE i recruit, YOU i saw you
when other guys. DIDN'T i gave you, opportunity and then
they're still. Gone.
Speaker 4 (45:38):
Right the only the only thing that's good about it
now is that you at least have an opportunity to
try to get somebody, back because back then you were
trying to replace them with a high school kid or
a juco, kid and you had no idea if that
guy was going to be able to, be you, know
near the level of the guy you, Lost, right how
do you replace a fifteen point? Scorer you think you
just struck gold because you have a freshman that's averaging
(45:59):
fifteen a. Game how are you going to find another
freshman that's going to come in the next year in
iurge fifteen in a game that doesn't happen too. Often
so you were like you were completely. Shattered now now you,
can in the least go into the portal and, say all,
right this guy average ten points a Game division one
or he averaged twelve points a game or, whatever and
we think he's had some experience and he might be
able to help, us you, know kind of stem the
(46:20):
loss of the of the good player that just left.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
Us, SEE i don't think you guys had the best individual. Talent,
again you guys have. TALENT i thought the pieces fit
together really. Well what's that like to try and you
said you had to fix? It you know what's that
like to try and put together in terms of pieces
that fit and they mesh so?
Speaker 4 (46:40):
Well, yeah and some of this is you, know this
is more art and, science, Right so sometimes you just
kind of get fortunate and everybody kind of fits. Together
but things we knew we needed to address was our
ability to. DEFEND i, mean last year we just were
and in all the Years i've been more fifteen, years
we've all always been a good defensive. Team we were
(47:01):
so bad a year, ago and so we knew we
needed to get a little more. Athletic we knew we
needed to have a little more of an. EDGE a
lot of my better teams have played with an. Edge
we did not play with an edge last. Year and
so going out and trying to find some guys that
can help us protect the, Rim guys that could guard in,
Space guys that could kind of handle some of the
physicality in this. League and so you, know when we
(47:21):
got A Mario dickerson and his ability to you, know
become defensive player of The year in block, shots or
josh amajoffo at you, know six foot, four two hundred
and five, pounds you, know that can guard multiple positions
on the, Perimeter Cam woods who can guard big small you.
Know so we were looking for some guys that would
be able to really bolster our defensive side of the
ball with the ability to make some, plays and we
(47:43):
got some guys that can make plays and con junctually
being able to.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
Guard you, know you guys had that you hosted THE
i think it's a quarter final at, home and, yeah
Min a rot more is they got a, beautiful essentially
brand new, arena right it's a couple of years. Old
it's it's. Beautiful but you guys won the league and
yet you had to go To. Indie now you won
the conference. Tournament you survived that incredible semi final Against.
(48:06):
Oakland but now having been through it with THE nec
and been through it with The, horizon what are your
thoughts on home sites versus neutral sites for conference championships
at this.
Speaker 4 (48:16):
LEVEL i might be a little biased, today BUT i
will say that some of the greatest Environments i've been,
in and we've played In rocks and we've played in
The Dean, dome and we've played In, McHale and we've
played at Mattiew. R we've played in a lot of
places across the. Country some of those semi final and
final conference tournament atmosphere that we've played in on campus
(48:39):
sites have been. ELECTRIC i, mean you can't even hear,
yourself thinks you can't even communicate to the bench sometimes
it's so. LOUD i, mean people are right on top of.
You and we've been in four thousand seed, arenas we've
been in two thousands, arenas and there's an energy in
that building that is our. Guys some of our past
(49:01):
players talk about some of those experiences and some of
those road winds and conference tournaments in the most hostile of,
environments like it was the greatest thing they've ever been
a part. Of and so those are pretty pretty neat
places when you have the student body, out the community,
out the opposing team brings fans and they're trying to
fight the other two thousand people that are, there and
it's just every, possession every, pass every shot is multiplied by.
(49:26):
Ten the important to send the energy that's involved.
Speaker 1 (49:28):
In SEE i just think and to take that a step,
Further Andy tooles our. Guests he's the head coach Of Robert.
Morris The colonials won The Horizon league regular season and postseason.
Tournament they're going the Nca. Tournament they'll see where they're
going On Sunday Selection Sunday This Doug Gottlieb, Show Fox Sports.
RADIO i would just say, like and, actually this is.
INTERESTING i called your first four game right that year
(49:51):
you guys were in the first, four but then the
nightcap Was boise Against dayton In, dayton and why while
it wasn't particularly fair To, poise it's inarguably the greatest
atmosphere you've ever seen at a first. Four and my argument, is,
like what makes college basketball great is home court. Advantage
(50:15):
and since we take it sort of out of play
in THE Ncaa. Tournament why we take it out of
play in the mid major level to get into THE Ncaa? Tournament?
Right does that make? Sense it?
Speaker 4 (50:26):
Does AND i also think that now that you don't
get the automatic bit to THE, nit what is the
value of the regular Season and if you now have
a situation where you've worked to earn that home court
advantage throughout the duration of your time in the conference,
tournament that puts so much importance on each and every
regular season. Game because when we won the regular season
(50:47):
AT Iu, indy it was kind of, Like, okay this is.
Awesome our guys, celebrated we were, excited but, like we
didn't really Have we didn't really get a reward from,
that you know WHAT i? Mean, yeah we played at
seven o'clock in the seventi five miles instead of nine,
thirty but we're still on a neutral. Site AND i
don't get me, wrong The horizon likely did a great.
Job the experience was, awesome first class all the. Way
(51:10):
but what's the reward for being the regular season? Champ
can you host that stuff in your building and then
create you, know maybe a sizeable home court advantage as
you go into the most important games of your.
Speaker 1 (51:21):
Year most important question would ask you do you own?
Ties or because you wear suits with no? Tie? Right
do you actually you own a bunch of.
Speaker 4 (51:31):
TIES i have a bunche of.
Speaker 1 (51:33):
Ties so what's tell me the? Thought in the in
the in the habitaty it's just not.
Speaker 4 (51:40):
As comfortable wearing the?
Speaker 1 (51:41):
Tie so why not? Go why? Not why it's all? Restrictive,
okay why not go quarter? Zip everybody? Want everybody's pushing
for the. Quarterzip coach go. Quarterszip everybody goes quarters? Zip
why not go quarter?
Speaker 4 (51:52):
Zip my my whole staff goes quarter. Zip AND i
don't care what they. WEAR i just feel like a
little super. Rescision you, know OUR covid years when we
recorders have been one of our, best and so you,
KNOW i wanted to get back to where maybe you
Know i'm respecting the game a little bit with the
WAY i.
Speaker 1 (52:09):
Dress fair, enough fair. Enough last, Thing, ANDY i appreciate your.
Time look hard. Business you guys switched. Leagues you hadn't
seen some. Success obviously we know how this thing. Goes
right when you're, struggling people are out for. You what's
that going to be like for?
Speaker 4 (52:24):
You?
Speaker 1 (52:24):
Sunday when you See Robert morris in THE Ncaa. Tournament
understanding all you and your program have accomplished and turned
this thing.
Speaker 4 (52:30):
Around that's the best feeling in the. WORLD i, mean
hearing your name called on Selections, SUNDAY i, mean there's
no feeling like. It there'll be a lot of satisfaction from.
ME i know. That you, know there were some you,
know tough conversations that happened last spring and some tough
decisions that needed to be, made and you, know to
be able to see in one calendar year that you're
you're you've won a championship and you're going to THE
(52:52):
Ncaa tournament is there's gonna be a lot of emotions for,
me for.
Speaker 1 (52:55):
Sure, well, listen it's well, deserved. OBVIOUSLY i have nothing
but respectful what you guys have done and how you guys,
Play stay, healthy get, right and go out and win
another game for The Horizon league in the. Tournament thanks for,
me our, guest Appreciate doug all, right That's Andy, toole
who is the head coach of The colonials Of Robert
moore
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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