The "Solid Numbers" Edition

Based on the 2023-2024 payouts the ACC made member institutions, the gap isn't as wide as you might expect compared to what the SEC brought in.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's time for Clemson Sports Talk with lowten Schwan. Finally,

(00:44):
Clemson Sports Talk has come back to drive time. Hello everybody,
long swan back in the saddle once again. It is
d show that shakes the south Land, Clemson Sports Talk
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(01:31):
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(01:54):
mets Plumbing dot com. That's the website, all right. Acc
baseball tournament underway up in Durham, Little Durham Bull Stadium
that you can't help but think about. When you talk
about the Durham Bulls, you can't help but think about

(02:21):
the movie Bull Durham and that nineteen eighty eight classic
that came out and really really sort of showcased that facility,
The Bull in the Outfield. Now, I haven't seen that

(02:41):
one since I was a kid, but I will say
that in terms of baseball movies. Did watch Eight Men
Out the other day, and it took me a couple
of days to get through it. I was trying to
watch it in the late evening, maybe two. It was

(03:03):
kind of like watching Titanic. I knew the story, so
I couldn't. It didn't hold my attention as well as
maybe it would if it were, you know, a fiction story,
but being nonfiction, I didn't think the characters really jumped out.
I mean, there really wasn't a whole lot. There wasn't
a whole lot to it to make me go, yeah,

(03:23):
you know what, I'll go back to that one again.
But I am glad to say, proud to say maybe
the bare word, proud to say that I did take
a look at it, and I did watch it from
starting to finish, so check that off of the box.
I watched it because of the situation with Shoeless Joe Jackson.

(03:47):
It did feel like watching it that Shoeless Joe was
sort of enticed into a confession and based off of
his numbers, I'm not so sure that Shoeless Joe was
actually guilty based off of the movie, but I did

(04:07):
not do research after the fact anyway. Again, they are
playing up in Durham, the ACC Baseball tournament underway. As
things got rolling early because remember this tournament's going with
a four day schedule, a four day schedule for the

(04:32):
first two days of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, shifting
away from that pod format that had been so unwell
liked by fans, I think, especially when you had some
what you would call some dead ball games taking place,
games in which maybe shouldn't even be played for some

(04:54):
teams because it could be the loss that eliminates you.
But things got rolling early this morning with Miami and
Cal facing off Miami the nine seed and Cal the
sixteenth seed, and Cal took a whooping stick to the

(05:16):
Hurricanes in a shocking result. Col tops Miami twelve to two,
so upset Special in eight innings run ruling the Hurricanes.
A seven run fourth inning for the cow Bears eliminates

(05:41):
Miami from ACC tournament play. With the win, CAL advances
they will face eight seeded wake Forest tomorrow morning at
nine am. So quite a day for Cal, especially when
you consider that the start time here on the East

(06:05):
Coast would be well before breakfast for those kids out west.
And that'll be the same tomorrow with another nine am
start for the Bears as they take on the Demon
Deacons in game two. At last check and I'll update
you once it concludes. For me, twelve seed of Virginia

(06:29):
Tech led thirteen seed at Stanford in the top of
the sixth inning three to two, coming up at five o'clock.
Schedule for five o'clock, assuming everything continues on pace as
it appears to be at the tournament right now, it'll
be number ten Louisville and number fifteen seeded pitt And

(06:51):
then at nine pm tonight it's eleven seeded Notre Dame
and fourteenth seeded Boston College. Now, the winner of this
Virginia Tech Stanford game that was taking place this afternoon
will advance to face Clemson, the fifth seed, tomorrow at

(07:11):
one PM. So that's the way things are shaping up
at the ACC Championship as the first round is underway
up in Durham, and we'll see how it all works
out and if they can stay ahead of any weather
or ahead of any potential extra inning games. And you know, look,

(07:37):
most teams don't just lie down the way it appears
the Miami Hurricanes did today. Perhaps I didn't get to
see that game, but kind of like Stanford Virginia Tech
in tournament play for the most part, you know, unless
somebody just catches a good inning like maybe Cal did today.

(07:59):
Maybe that says more about Cal that's seven run eating
than it does about Miami. But either way, you would
expect tight games. Tight games lead to extra innings. Extra
innings leads to setting you back on the time clock.
And again I don't know the best way to do this.

(08:21):
I mean I wish I could tell you, because when
you've got teams like Cal and Stanford playing back to
back games to open it up from all the way
across the country, and those fans don't know if they're
going to be around for another game or not, it's
extremely difficult to have good plans. I get all of

(08:43):
that but how in the world you can look at
the sparsely attended contest and think that, you know, this
is the best way to do it kind of blows
my mind a little bit. You know, you look at
the the college football playoff, right, and you put a

(09:06):
couple of games on campus, and while it would be
really cool to have that as a factor, you know,
you look at it and the logistics just aren't possible.
So you're you're forced to play this thing, especially the

(09:28):
early rounds. I mean, in front of literally a handful
of fans. Now, I didn't watch any of the SEC tournament.
I know it's underway today. I would be intrigued to
know what, you know, the numbers look like in terms

(09:50):
of fans that are at the game. It doesn't mean
those tickets aren't bought or purchase, but I mean there
if someone and hit a home run ball at the
ACC tournament to right field, that ball would be fair
game for pretty much any fan in the building to

(10:11):
go track down because there is nobody in the outfield
and rarely do you see anybody really in the grand
stands behind them. It's a strange, it's got to be

(10:31):
a strange vibe for these players, not saying that every
crowd in the country is similar to what Clemson or
South Carolina tends to put out there for a home game.
You know, I know that's not the norm in the
world of college baseball, but I really can't help but

(10:55):
look at it and think to myself, you know what,
it would probably be more fun if there was a
way to play in front of some fans for these kids. Now,
it'll get better as the week progresses, and it'll certainly
be better when schools from the state of North Carolina
are playing. But look, I mean, we got Virginia playing

(11:18):
right now, and excuse me, Virginia Tech, and it's not
you know, they're not making much of a much of
a scene there in Durham, all right, shifting gears, but
continuing to stay with the Atlantic Coast Conference conversation for
a few minutes. And look, we all know that the

(11:42):
financial particulars between the ACC and the SEC and the
Big Ten and the Big Twelve. You know, those numbers
that the SEC and the Big Ten are expected to
put up are gonna be substantially larger than what the
ACC and the Big twelve have. But David Hale from
ESPN put out an article focusing on a tax document

(12:05):
released by the Atlanticoast Conference from the academic year of
twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four that noted that
the ACC generated seven one hundred and eleven million dollars
and that they distributed an average of forty five million

(12:30):
to each of the fourteen full time member schools, which
is a record for the conference. Now, this of course
would be before bringing in SMU, Cal and Stanford. And
remember those partners coming in SMU getting nothing. They took

(12:50):
a seven year hit to come join the league, and
Stanford and col will again take a small piece of
the proverbial puzzle. But the financial reports, according to David Hale,
which cover that follow that that final year before those
schools entered the league, shows an uptick in revenue year

(13:14):
over year, in a roughly fifty six percent increase from
five years ago. Though the revenue distribution puts the ACC
solidly in third among conferences, still trailing the SEC and
the Big Ten, and those deficits are an issue for Florida,
Staight and Clemson. Part of the reason for the whole

(13:35):
hubbub about challenging the granted rights and trying to figure
out a new framework for payments and where the you know,
where the money goes to the teams who are delivering,
so to speak, with that new revenue distribution model. But
here's the stunning fact, and we'll get some new information

(13:55):
on the SEC at some point down the line, but
the ACC made seven hundred and eleven million. The Big
Ten in its last nine ninety filing showed eight hundred
and eighty million in revenue for the twenty twenty two

(14:17):
to twenty twenty three year. Now we're looking at two
different years, but that number is greater than what the
SEC put out in February when they distributed eight hundred
and eight million to its member institutions for that same
year twenty twenty three twenty twenty four. So across the board,

(14:40):
ninety seven million dollars different. But when you begin to
break that up amongst the schools, and look, these numbers
are going to grow. So that's a problem. But it
averaged fifty three million dollars per school for the SEC,
by comparison to forty five million for Clemson. Eight million

(15:03):
dollars is still very much eight million dollars. But eight
million dollars does not seem as large as I think
people thought it would be. Now, when these schools take

(15:27):
that next tick up and go up to the next
level with their new contract, maybe at that point the
deficit becomes so ridiculous that you just sit there and go, man,
how do you ever keep up? But it's not like
a twenty five million dollar gap. It's not like a

(15:47):
forty million dollar gap per program. It's eight million at
this point in the difference in the SEC and the
ACC based off of those twenty twenty three numbers. Now
again you do the math. I don't know how much
it's changed with adding Oregon in Washington and Southern cal

(16:09):
and UCLA, but you gotta slice that pie a little
bit more. They're not getting a full share at this point,
as I recall. But I guess the broader point is
I think all the hand ringing and concern about how
do you keep up? While it still will get larger,

(16:30):
does not mean that it is so infinitely huge that
Clemson can't keep up, that Florida State can't keep up.
And with the changes that the Atlantic Coast Conference has
made to the framework, I mean, I don't think you're
ever gonna make more than those schools in the SEC
are the big ten. But if money was the big concern,

(16:57):
I would believe that most of you would say that
that concern would have been a much larger one in
your mind than just an eight million dollar gap. And
I don't know what brand value is worth. I don't

(17:22):
know what access to the playoff is worth, so to speak,
Like I could tell you financially what it's worth to
get into the playoffs and all that. But I guess
my thing is if you're if your minus eight million
and you have a plan in place that brings in

(17:45):
more money, you get to keep what you earn in
the college football playoff, and you could earn upwards of
if I remember correctly, what was it twenty million dollars
for the postseason? You had that twenty million, Yeah, the
success initiative, it's four million from making the playoff. If
you win the national championship, you know, you continue to

(18:06):
boost up every round, you can make twenty million. You
add that number to the forty five million you're already
being distributed. I mean, if I'm if I'm right on
how this would work, I mean, you're a sixty five
million now again, you gotta go win a championship. But

(18:27):
to me, that's that's kind of like incentive laden contracts
in the NFL. You know, you get bonuses for doing
certain things, and that would put Clemson to the positive
or to the good on SEC schools by twelve million.

(18:47):
Now that again, that's winning a national championship, which is
not going to happen every single year. But even eight million,
or once it balloons to even more, you know, maybe
then you'll you're starting to be a little bit more concerned.
But let's see what happens like at this point. Even
though the gap exists, the acc certainly got you in

(19:09):
the spot to try to offset it. I think the
most surprising thing to me was how the gap isn't
nearly as big as I really expected it would be.
I mean, it's really not a zero three four five
zero zero eighty six text line phone line. Again, you

(19:31):
can be a part of the program anytime, any place,
any wear on our website. That's Clemson Sports Talk dot com.
All right, we'll have a quick break, we'll come back
and uh I'll give you up date. We talked about
Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. Well, the numbers are in
from that game. And while it wasn't substantial by comparison
to most sporting events, it was substantial in terms of

(19:53):
the WNBA. I'll tell you about it after this the
show The Chase of south Land, Clemson's Sports Talk on
a Tuesday afternoon. So watching the ACC tournament, Uh, you know,
in the bottom of the sixth inning in Virginia Tech
and Stanford's game, I've seen guys lose the ball in

(20:14):
the sun before, and normally when that happens, right, the
player almost immediately kind of begins to shield their face
a little bit. You could just tell that they've completely
lost the ball. Now, what proceeded to happen up in
Durham and we'll get to the story about the WNBA

(20:34):
in a minute, But what proceeded to happen in Durham is, Uh,
the outfielder for Stanford looks like he's making a play
on the ball. I mean, it looks like he's got
he's settling it. He gets down really low. He even
like mimics the motion of catching the ball, almost as

(20:56):
if he expected it to land right in the hocket
o the glove, and it landed about three feet to
the left of him, allowing two runners to score from
Virginia Tech, and that allowed the Hokies to balloon their
lead a little bit in the bottom of the six

(21:17):
to six to two. But I've seen guys and you know,
they don't know where it is, right. They just look helpless,
they look lost. Not in this moment. This kid looked
pretty comfortable that he was gonna make the catch, and

(21:39):
like he was settling in. He goes down and I
mean he makes like the motion that you would make
that you're gonna catch the ball, and then the ball
bounced three feet to the left. A little bit bizarre,
little bit bizarre. Anyway, yesterday we talked about the Caitlin

(22:01):
Angel Reese hubbub, and the TV ratings are in for
that game and it's really good. A twenty five year
WNBA TV ratings record. That matchup between the Indiana Fever
and the Chicago Sky pulled an average of two point

(22:23):
seven million viewers, which is the most watched WNBA game
on ESPN platforms now. The game was an absolute blowout.
I never didn't mention that yesterday Indiana beat the breaks
off of Chicago ninety three fifty eight. But with that
game averaging two point seven million viewers, it's the biggest

(22:48):
turnout for a WNBA game in a quarter of a century.
Prior to that game, the league's most watched game in
a season came in May of two thousand, when a
Memorial Day audience of two point seven four million watched
the Houston Comments, which no longer exists, defeat the New

(23:10):
York Liberty by an eighty four sixty eight margin. Now,
my concern for the league would be on that front
is that in twenty five years, twenty five years, you
have yet to get your ratings passed right a two

(23:37):
point seven four In the year two thousand when the
WNBA was created, like in nineteen ninety six, so four
years in you had your peak level of excitement around

(23:59):
the sport, and you've yet to cap that until this
past weekend. It peaked at three point one million viewers.
By the way, Caitlin Clark did have a triple double
in that and after the game, of course, you may
have read some of the situation where Angel Rees alleged

(24:22):
that there were hateful comments towards her and the WNBA
is investigating that situation. Chicago Star, excuse me, Chicago Sky Star.
Angel Rees addressed the investigation to the alleged hateful comments
directed towards her during the game, saying quote, obviously there's

(24:44):
no place for that in this league. For that, she
went on to say, I think the WNBA and our
team and an organization have done a great job supporting me.
I have communication from everyone from so many people across
the league going through this process. Obviously if it happened
to me, it could happen to anyone. I think they've
done a great job supporting us in this. So that

(25:08):
comes from Angel Reese. And look, I don't you know.
I think everybody can stand against racism and hate and
discrimination and things of that nature. And that's certainly what
this is all about with the situation with the WNBA
going in, you know, and that's why they are investigating this.

(25:31):
But I want to cut back to what I said
yesterday about this being a little bit of a show
between Clark and and Angel Reese. And I've heard people say, oh,
this is real hate. This is what hate looks like
when you know, Angel Reese hates her. And it's kind

(25:53):
of ironic because the statement from the WBA talks about
condemning hate. Either way, I want to go back to
what I said yesterday on the topic, which was that
it is possible, given the ratings that these two young

(26:15):
ladies have put up, that they may they could be
in cahoots with each other. Who stands to benefit the
most every time they play they do? Who stands to
benefit the most financially when they play they do? And

(26:37):
while fans certainly should should not take their enthusiasm about
the contest and their disdain from somebody to the level
of racism, hate and discrimination. But it is possible, maybe
even plausible, because these girls know how popular they are,

(27:00):
that they put on a little bigger show with the hard,
foul and the response, realizing that the next time they play,
I bet I guarantee this. I bet you the next
time these two teams play, they'll break a new mark
for viewership. And I hate to speculate that these girls
could be doing this on purpose, but there may be

(27:23):
more to it than just what we perceive on the surface.
I'll leave it there all right, quick break, We'll come
back with more on a Tuesday afternoon. Rocket and rolling
along with there on a Tuesday. Don't forget if you're
in Tiger Town, stop by Alumni Hall right there on
the corner of campus on College Avenue with downtown Clemson.
It's Alumni Hall. Kyall your officially licensed Clemson merchandise, hats,

(27:44):
t shirts, tailgate gear, all the apparel and check out
their hat walls well ten percent off for Clemson students,
faculty in all military when shopping in store, and don't
forget you can get to Alumni Hall's website through clemsonsportstll
dot com. And if you do that and you buy
your items online, we'll get a little kickback from Alumni Hall. Again.

(28:05):
Go check them out next time you're in Tigertown. Right
there on the corner of campus on College Avenue, a
stones throw away from historic Riggsfield, it's Alumni Hall where
Tiger fans shop. Okay, so I thought more about this,
Caitlyn Clark Angel reesting for just a minute, just a moment.
I don't want to get too deep in the weeds

(28:26):
on the WNBA or my possible skepticism that this is
a work like the WWE. What I mean by that is,
is it possible that these two, you know, say hey,
look we're gonna start the pod a little bit and

(28:48):
they don't want the fans to be negative or aggressive,
but they want to take a chance to turn up
the temperature on the matchup so that the next time
they play more people tune in. That's all I'm saying.
And I don't know. I haven't listened to a single show,
so I have no idea if anybody else out there

(29:10):
is playing the plausibility card on that. But I do
feel like the more I think about it, it would
make sense. Hey, if we get a moment in this
game where we can sort of ramp up the action
and the conversation about our relationship or lack thereof, let's

(29:34):
do it hard foul. Now I go just insane. I mean,
that's what like yesterday I said. I mean Angel reyesod
she lost her mind. Angel Reese looked like she lost
her mind in that moment. And there's no need for that,

(29:54):
no need all right, anyway, shifting gear here, back off
the WNBA. But it's it doesn't look a little bit
like a work. It looks a little wwe now that
I think about it. Anything to push more people to
that sport, which obviously makes perfect sense. Now, ESPN has

(30:20):
been hyped about Clemson, well really, all all college sports
media has been a little bit hyped about the Clemson Tigers.
And you know, some people hear it and feel one
way you are correct, and other people feel differently.

Speaker 2 (30:42):
Well, sir, while I may not agree with what you say,
I'll defend to the death you're right to say it.

Speaker 1 (30:47):
But this week ESPNS Adam Rittenberg put out his top
playmakers not at quarterback, and part of the reason that
Clemson is so well thought of nationally is because of
quarterback k Klubnick and the belief that Klubnick is gonna

(31:08):
potentially be one of the top picks in the NFL draft.
Dare I say not mel Kuiper's words. I don't know.
I don't know what mel Kuiper's thinking, but rest assured
if mel Kuiper's got you on his board at the top,
he's gonna stick by you. But in ESPN's Top Playmakers list,

(31:30):
two Tigers found their way to the front of the bus.
Defensive tackle Peter Woods in defensive end TJ. Parker, both
juniors at Clemson and a talented pair they have been,
but this season one would believe, you know, if you

(31:52):
kind of look at the track record of the way
talent progresses at the collegiate ranks, it does often feel
like year three is the sweet spot of the bat.
I mean year one and two. There's always some progression

(32:16):
into your role as a player, no matter how young
and talented you are. There's a growth curve that typically
in sports, you really hit your peak as a junior.
And it's not to say that all players backslide by

(32:37):
a senior year. Many of them are so good collegiately
at the junior season that they take that jump to
the next level. Parker, at defensive end, enters the season
six three, two hundred and sixty five pounds. Peter Woods
has shedded some weight and comes in at six three

(33:01):
right around three ten now. Year ago, Parker had sixty
four tackles, nineteen and a half for loss, with eleven
sacks and six forced fumbles, recovering two of those along
with thirteen hurries and on the interior and exterior a
little bit for Woods a year ago. He won't have
to do that this year with will help coming in

(33:24):
from the Big Ten to play with the Tigers over
at Perdue. But Woods had thirty two tackles, eight and
a half tackles for lost, three sacks, one force fumble
in five quarterback hurries. What Rittenberg says about the duo
is that the two talented linemen have been paired since
their arrival at Clemson and are difficult to separate as

(33:46):
they enter what should be emphasis on should their final
season in college. Both their top NFL draft prospects, especially Parker,
who set a team single season record for forced fumbles
and had Clemson his highest sack and tackles for lost
total since Cleland Ferrell in twenty eighteen. You'll recall Farrell

(34:06):
went fourth in the NFL draft never produced at the
NFL level, but his talent was recognized before arriving at
the professional ranks. Parker was the only FPS player to
finish in the top ten nationally of forced fumbles, sacks,
and tackles for loss. As for Woods, Rittenberg says he

(34:29):
started the twenty twenty four season the defensive end before
moving back to his more natural tackle position. He had
some of his most productive games against Georgia and Texas,
Clemson's two toughest opponents. As I mentioned, Woods slim down
during the offseason and with a new defensive coordinator, Rittenberg
thinks he should be a force. One Clemson source told

(34:50):
Rittenberg quote, he looks awesome he could turn into a
terror when talking about Peter Woods. All right, quick break,
final segment of our one. My youuva joins us. An
hour too, Keep it Locked final segment of hour number one.
Coming up in hour two, Mike EVA Gamecockcentral dot Com
joins US. So not only did the Atlantic Coast Conference

(35:14):
shift to a standard kind of playoff format for their
conference tournament, so too did the SEC give you some
updates on that in a minute. The game Cocks scheduled
to play at five thirty. The South Carolina is the
fifteenth seed out of a sixteen team league. Missouri, the

(35:37):
sixteenth seed. Played earlier today, they were defeated by ninth
seeded Alabama. Alabama advances to play eight seed at Tennessee tomorrow.
The Game Cox and tennesseed at Florida. We'll play at
five thirty this afternoon. Right now underway at the SEC tournament,
thirteenth seed of Kentucky in twelfth seed at Oklahoma. And

(36:00):
then the nightcap this evening it'll be fourteen seed of
Texas A and M and eleventh seeded Mississippi State. So
that's what we're looking at at the SEC tournament. Again,
if you're just joining US at the ACC Tournament, the
sixteen seeded col Bears wallap ninth seed to Florida twelve

(36:20):
to two, run ruled them behind thirteen hits the big
day for Cal. They got two in the top of
the second, seven in the top of the fourth, and
then one in the seventh and two in the eighth.
Miami's only runs came in the bottom of the seventh
inning off of a two run homer, which Cal would

(36:46):
answer in the top of the eighth, putting Miami in
what you would call, I guess, run run rule, the
run rule danger zone for Cal. Oliver Day got the
win in Miami's Griffin Hughes took the loss at the

(37:06):
ACC Tournament. So that's what happened earlier today at the
ACC Tournament Stanford in Virginia Tech were playing that game,
hoping that conclude shortly. Last check bottom of the seventh
Virginia Tech led seven to two. But a pretty cool moment,

(37:29):
at least in my opinion, in that game because one
of Virginia Tech's players, let me go back and see
if I can get this kid's name. I think his
name was Meleek Bo. I'm not one hundred percent sure,
but anyway, you know again at the Durham Bull Stadium,
they got the big bull up there. Hit the bull,
get the stake, hit the grass, win a salad or whatever.

(37:53):
But I was looking and as he drives this ball,
you know, the stadium's got this huge like digital billboard
as part of the outfield wall. And what was really
cool about that moment is this kid drills a home
run to make it seven to two, and he can

(38:17):
actually like see his face as he's watching that ball
sail out of the stadium. And I thought to myself, man,
that must be pretty cool. That must be pretty cool
to be a player. And you know, hit that turn
on that ball and turn and see yourself right there

(38:40):
on that big jumbo tron. But again, Virginia Tech leading
twelve seed of Virginia Tech leading thirteen seat at Stanford.
That last check for me as those two teams head
to the top of the eighth inning, it's not Malik Jordan.
It was Mackay Jordan, number forty seven for Virginia Tech

(39:04):
with the home run there in the seventh inning. All right,
azer three, four, five zeros or eighty six. Don't forget Mike,
you'va set to join us around the bend and we'll
talk with him about everything going on in the world
of South Carolina as they get ready for this season.
And I do wonder somewhat interestingly from our game Cock

(39:29):
friends peeking over the fence and hanging out with us
every day, so you.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
Could continue to peek over the fence at the best radio.

Speaker 3 (39:36):
Showing the nation.

Speaker 1 (39:38):
Like, what is your take right now on all the
love that Clemson continues to get from the national media.
Is it just kind of like barf gross, I don't
want to hear about it. We beat you last year,
so you don't really care about the noise around Clemson.

(39:59):
I think that's one of the stranger parts of where
this rivalry is right now. A little bit. It doesn't
feel like from the standpoint of I think Clemson people
that South Carolina should have been able to beat Clemson
a year ago. You follow that, like from in that

(40:21):
stretch where South Carolina won five in a row. Even
as good as Clemson was, it was pretty easy to
reconcile that that was a really talented South Carolina team,
especially the defensive side of the ball, just elite defensively,
arguably the best defense Clemson saw in several of those seasons.

(40:44):
But when I look at this past season, when you
think about Clemson in the run in the Coage Football
Playoff or the run to the Coage Football Playoff and
just the results of the year, that South Carolina loss
felt more like one where Clemson sort of and I

(41:07):
hate to say this game kind nation tell I hate
to say it to you, but kind of gave it away,
like the trick play that didn't need to be run.
I mean, it was reminiscent, honestly of the loss the
last time South Carolina played Clemson in Death Valley, when
Spencer Rattler in the game came from behind to win.

(41:27):
Like I listen, I left that game so impressed with
the play of Leonora Sellers, no doubt about it. He
was the best player on the field that day. But
the best team from top to bottom is Clemson, and
they should be the best team between these two this year.
So I understand that it's frustrating to hear everybody talking

(41:48):
about them all number two playoff, national championship run like
all that. I get it. I get it. I don't
really love hearing about it. But I think a part
of that's because team versus the best player on the field.
And there's a chance Sellers is the best player on
the field this coming year when Clemson in South Carolina play.
I think Kate Clemting has the ability to be the

(42:10):
best player. Unfortunately for Clemson he wasn't last November. Our
number two, Mike, you havea joins us. Stay with us
each time for Clemson Sports Talk with Luwton Schwan. It

(42:59):
is our number two. That's drivetime right around the show
The Shakespare south Land Clemson Sports tal on this one.
Hang out with you, Mike, You've a Gamecoccentral dot Com
joins us. Of course, he works up in Boston, so
we'll begin with some NBA conversation with Mike today. Don't
forget the show the Shakespeare south Land brought the in
part by our good friends over at METS Plumbing seven

(43:23):
three tow drip, drip, drip drip. You know the jingle
seven three to two drip. That's METS Plumbing mets Plumbing
dot Com. All right, Mike Cva joins the program on
Twitter at Mike underscore you the Hey, Mike, welcome in
my man.

Speaker 3 (43:39):
I'm doing well.

Speaker 2 (43:40):
Swanne, how you doing.

Speaker 1 (43:41):
Doing pretty good? Got some news just came across Man
pretty much breaking news. It's gonna disappoint some of our
listeners for sure, because a lot of people watch Cheers
back in the eighties. George Went, who was a star
on Cheers played Norm passed away at the age of
seventy six. And it's kind of ironic that I've got
you on even though Whence a big Chicago guy, you

(44:04):
know from his S and L days doing dump Bears
and all that, and and Mike Dicka, uh Cheers in
Boston and you're up there and you're telling me off
the air, there's a there's a place you can go
where everybody knows your name.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
I was just gonna say, and everyone knows your name. Yeah, No,
it's it's popular. They have a little little area where
you can go. It's it's in near City Hall. I
think it's on Beacon Street. I was actually not at Cheers.
I was in Boston a week ago and I was
near it, and it's it's a very popular tourist spot
because you're able to go down and you know, has

(44:41):
all the the memorabilia, so it's it's very hot. I'm
sure that there's some people listening right now. Who've made
their way up to Boston and they've actually been to
that spot, so they know exactly what I'm talking about.
So yeah, not exactly where they did the show, of course,
but you know, obviously Boston was the setting, and that

(45:02):
area in particular, they've kind of re you know, they're
resurrected it years ago and it's become very popular. So
I'm sure, I'm sure that there'll be some candles in
that area tonight.

Speaker 3 (45:13):
For normal, I.

Speaker 1 (45:14):
Can't believe he was just seventy six years old. Like
you know, I'm Mike. You might not know this, but
I'm forty eight. I start to look at seventy six
like it's not that far off in the windshield, my man.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
No, I hear you. And I'm sure a lot of
the listeners out there, we can all relate. And I
know I'm you know, still considered young, but uh, you know,
you get into the next stage of your life, get
married to kidd in the next couple of years. So
it's stuff like that where you start to look at
those numbers and I'm sure you've done this not to
make this into a psychiatry you know session for all

(45:50):
of us, but you know, you start hitting certain ages
and you're like, man, like my dad had me at
this age, and man, they did this that you know,
so I've certainly gotten to that point. But you look
at like you said, I mean, seventy six, it's not
obviously young. But at the same time too, you would
you know, you expect people to live at least another
ten years or so. So yeah, just you know, Sad said.

(46:10):
And I don't know all the details because, like we said,
right before we came on, you found out about the news.
I just saw it before I hopped on with you,
So I don't know all the details in terms of
what was the cause of death.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
Mike, you've again game Cockcentral dot com. So let's start
with Boston. Let's start with the Celtics. Let's start with
Jason Tatum's injury, what that means for the Celtics next year.
The NBA a bit of a shift here. I mean,
we're gonna have a team that hasn't won a championship
since nineteen seventy three winning a title, given the fact

(46:42):
that the Knicks last win or championship win was in
seventy three. The Pacers won the ABA in seventy three. Technically,
Oklahoma City did win a championship back in the seventies
when they were in Seattle, but that city of Oklahoma
has not won one. And then you've also got Soa
who hasn't won a championship as the Timberwolve. So I'm

(47:03):
sitting here thinking, Man, a big shift in the NBA
this season and we'll have what I think seven new
champions over the past seven seasons. I believe I heard
that the other night, but I gotta imagine the reigning
defending champion Boston Celtics are not just disappointed with their
performers against my against the New York Knicks, but in
the situation and the injury that took place to Jason Tatum.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
Yeah, Tatum's injury aside. I mean, it's embarrassing. It's embarrassing.
I think the best way to compare it is to probably,
you know what happened with the Bruins in the playoffs
the year two years ago, when they set all these
records or points in a season and wins in a season,
And for non hockey fans, I would put it up
there with what the Patriots did in two thousand and seven,

(47:48):
where they won undefeated in the regular season, and they
laid an egg in the Super Bowl against the Giants.
I mean, that's what I would compare it to. No
one gave the Knicks a shot this round. And again
this is before speaking about Tatum, but even without Tatum,
I mean, and they never should have been in that
whole I covered Game two when they blew the second
twenty point debacle, and it was only fitting Swannee that

(48:08):
right after the game, we're trying to go on live
and we're getting kicked out of the building, not just
me but everyone, including Michael Wilbon and all the national
talking head Reggie Miller because the fire alarm went off.
So it was very fitting. It was very fitting that
on the night with the South flow another twenty point lead,
the fire alarm goes off and the whole building, the
whole building, the trains stay, everything, everyone has to get

(48:29):
out of the building. So it was embarrassing. It was
an absolute mess because I mean, you had all the
pieces and we've talked about this on your show before
with other sports, but it's the God's honest truth. This
is why this is the prime example of why you
can't rely on analytics, where all yeah, analytics are going
to solve every no, no. You need to play with feel.

(48:52):
You need coaches that actually have an idea of how
to make adjustments in situations because you can't. You can't
take into account how players are going to react in
certain situations, flow the game and all that kind of stuff.
So you know, the Celtics they want to go out there,
they just want to shoot a bunch of threes. It
drives me nuts, and I think it's a good example
of why in college football, baseball, whatever the case may be,

(49:14):
analytics and all the nerds that are trying to ruin sports.
This is why you can't just do it because you
have a team that has more talent. And unfortunately the Celtics,
they weren't able to go through because they've relied so
much on the numbers.

Speaker 1 (49:28):
On Twitter, he's Mike UVA. Excuse me on Twitter, He's
at Mike Underscore UVA. I mean that is technically Mike Eva.
Go follow him at the gein. He hangs out with
us every single Tuesday to talk a little college football.
Now Mike still sticking with the NBA. Who's your favorite
right now? To win the whole thing? I mean, it's

(49:48):
an interesting dynamic Oklahoma City has been the best team
all year. They're so young. New York maybe is playing
the best of anybody right now, and maybe even throw
Minnesota into that conversation, but who do you think wins
it all?

Speaker 2 (50:01):
Well, it's gonna be a fun series out west, because
I really think with what OKC has done all season long,
they certainly have been one of the best teams in
the NBA from the start of the year to the
end of where we're at right now the regular season
and going into the playoffs. I like the way Minnesota plays, though,
I like the way Edwards plays. Being able to see
him play when he was at Georgia, I mean, he

(50:23):
just plays with a different type of edge. So that's
gonna be a fun series. And I think the Pacers,
you know, being able to see them last year and
even though the Celtics were able to get the upper
hand on them, just like with every game last year
in the postseason for the Celtics, they played a team
without one of the better players, and certainly the Pacers
went through an injury last year when they played the Seas.
When they're fully healthy, though, they are a fun team

(50:44):
to watch. I mean, I'm never gonna pull for the Knicks.
I want them to get swept. I think that would
be awesome, celebrating the second round as if they just
won a championship. It's like relax, New York. But that's
of course.

Speaker 3 (50:56):
For you.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
But yeah, personally, I'd like to see the Pacers. I'd
like to see the Pacers, and I'd probably throw Minnesota
in there simply because I think it would be cool
to see Minnesota if they want a championship. I'd like
to see Indiana win it all. I just think Indiana
would be you know, based on the way they play.
They're fun to watch, but you know, we don't need

(51:20):
see Here's the thing, Swani, this is what drives me nuts.
This is one thing that grinds my gears. To your point, Yeah,
Oklahomas never won a championship. If they win it, okay,
do they count the championships that Seattle had? I mean,
if they're a Laker, if you're a Laker franchise, right,
you're gonna count those. You're gonna count all the ones
you want. In Minneapolis, so you know, the Lakers, they

(51:42):
always want to count their championships before they moved. Even
though Lakers came from the fact of, you know, all
the lakes going on when they were in Minneapol. But
that that gets me going because you know, a bunch
of Laker fans want to want to celebrate championships when
they were still you know, halfway across the country.

Speaker 1 (51:59):
Okay, now look now, look, I'm a Los Angeles acre
got so I gotta pump the brakes on you here.

Speaker 2 (52:03):
Oh so perfect.

Speaker 1 (52:05):
Yeah. So, first off, that's the same franchise, right Like
if Boston moved to another town and they were still
the Celtics, it's the same franchise. I think the difference
in what happened with Seattle was they had that whole
shift where they were half in New Orleans half in
Oklahoma City. Like I mean, if you look at their

(52:27):
Wikipedia page, it does say they did win a championship,
but they don't talk about it like they did. Now,
now you want to really get a popsicle headache, though, Mike,
I know you like to bring up popsicle headaches here
on the show. Go look at the history of the
Charlotte Hornets, because what you'll find is that, like all
the stuff that happened in Charlotte prior to them becoming

(52:50):
the New Orleans Hornets, stayed in Charlotte, and then the
New Orleans Pelicans inherited all of the stuff that happened
in New Orleans, and now all the new Charlotte records
go with the old Charlotte team. How about that.

Speaker 2 (53:06):
Yeah, it is certainly a popsticle headache. I mean, obviously
Seattle they relocated and now they are okay see, but
it's more of a popsticle headache in comparison to the
Lakers going out west.

Speaker 3 (53:18):
I will give you that.

Speaker 2 (53:19):
But still, like I mean, shoot, if you were I'd
like to see the super Sonics come back. I mean,
that's a great logo, great nickname. I mean, that's something
that you know, we could go down a path one
day and just talk about some of these some of
these teams playing in this in this final four, if
you will, and just bringing back some of the old logos,

(53:41):
you know, like let's just say, okay, super Sonics for
the for the Thunder. But now it's gonna be Look,
I think the neat thing is to your point when
you mentioned that we're gonna have a seventh champion that
had you know, seven years, seven different teams. That's pretty
neat you're talking about being able to and I don't
know if it's the fact that we haven't seen super
teams air quote over the last couple of years. I

(54:02):
don't know what exactly it is, but it has been
fun not to see the same team there as much
as I want to see Boston get back to the championship.
And they had all the ingredients too, I think, I
don't know. Maybe it's the fact that with the with
the playing game now right, I mean, we saw Miami
a couple of years ago, they get in, they had
that eight seed, and what do they do? They went
on a run and they made it to the Championship.

(54:24):
They made it to the finals. They beat the Celtics,
who almost Miami als blew a three to zero elite.
But I don't know what it is, but the.

Speaker 4 (54:31):
NBA right now, even though the rain, the rakings and
everything like that, the ratings have kind of taken a
hit over the last last couple of years. From a
playoffs standpoint, it doesn't seem like it's as easy as
it once was to be able to make it to
the championship and repeat. But we'll see if that trend
continues next year.

Speaker 1 (54:46):
Well, speaking with the City changes, Mike, I'll tell you what,
when you make your next hit there on the television.
Just from my Boston fans, they shouldn't be so upset
with the Braves whooping up on them, because, of course
the Braves are a Boston team as well.

Speaker 2 (54:59):
Yeah, I made a joke the other day, you know,
Chris Seal, why can't we get pitchers like that in Boston?
So now, look, it's it's been tough. It's been tough
for the Red Sox because I felt like this was
going to be the year and obviously it's a long
year that they were going to be able to finally
get into postseason play after being out for the last
couple of years. But we'll see. But certainly got to
tip your hat to the Braves. They came in, they

(55:20):
took two or three. I know that second game was
tough for Braves fans though, because they're probably like, you know,
what are we doing? How we blowing this one? But yeah,
you're able to take the series, and as we know
with college baseball, you know, taking series are important because
you're able to climb the rankings in the in the
standings from a conference standpoint, and as we watch conference
baseball tournaments across the country this weekend. This week, I

(55:43):
should say, you know, it's important the game Cocks know that,
because well, they're at the bottom of the barrel when
it comes to it all.

Speaker 1 (55:49):
Mike, you've a Gamecoccentral dot Com. All right, we will
shift gears to that, Mike. The the ACC and the
SEC both shift to a pretty traditional format tournament format
for their conference baseball tournaments this week. What do you
think about it? I know South Carolina and Florida are
scheduled to get started here in just a little bit,

(56:11):
But you know, what do you make of you know,
these leagues kind of going away from some of the
funky metrics that they've had in the past.

Speaker 2 (56:21):
I like it, I think, you know, never mind the
fact of you having the NXUBA tournament start the following week,
and we know not everything's going to make the conference term.
I mean, I'm not gonna make the NCO DeBlois Tournament.
We know that. But I've always thought it was crazy
that you had a double elimination tournament for the conference championship.

Speaker 3 (56:39):
I'm the conference tournament.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
Because you're waisting arms. All you're really doing is you're
doing a disservice to your conference, because now it's like,
all right, we got the following week, and now you know,
depending on the situations with Okay, we had to play
X amount of games and X amount of days we
had to play this minute, you had to play two
games in one day. You had the rain delay this day,
so we had to go wait a couple. I always

(57:02):
thought it was it was crazy. So I like the
idea that it's just one game. And people have problems
with that, I would say, well, you know what to
yourself do better in the regular season. Help yourself out
from a seating standpoint if you don't like it, and
you know, to your point with the ACC, I like
what they're doing. I mean, you talk about popsicle headaches.
I hated what they used to do. Now maybe some

(57:23):
acc pure enjoy that, but I was just like, they're
gonna play in this pod and they're gonna play X
amount of games. They we're gonna cross it. It's like, geez,
can we just make it simple? Can we just use
a freaking bracket? So I am glad to see that
that's what most conferences are doing. And I say most
because I'm sure there are conferences out there that still
make things very difficult and have to make things more

(57:45):
difficult than they need to be.

Speaker 1 (57:47):
Mike, you have again game concept dot Com. We've got
him for about three and a half more minutes here,
and Mike will shift gears a little bit towards football
because obviously we're getting some of those start times for
the first week of the sea in Clemson and LSU
going to be opening up at seven point thirty. You're
gonna be under the lights in Depth Valley for that game.
South Carolina with a big matchup to open the season

(58:10):
over in Atlanta against Virginia Tech. Mike, what are your
thoughts right now? We're kind of you know, we're pretty
far out from that game, but what are your thoughts
on this matchup for the game Cocks and what's it
going to be like for South Carolina fans to venture
into an arena where they don't play all that often
over in in Atlanta.

Speaker 2 (58:31):
I think more than anything, Swani and Clemson fans are
going to roll their eyes because they've had some tough
matchups to start the year over the last couple of years, right,
So I think with this match at the fact that
you're not playing TikTok Tech Salami State, like you have
to go up against a team who plays in a
power for conference, like you're gonna have to bring your
best in those Week one games. You never know what

(58:54):
you're gonna get. And this is why Shane Beemer has
been so vocal, even going back to his days when
he was an assistant coach under Spurrier, but now over
the last couple of years, especially being a head coach,
he's brought it up more and more why he would
like to see college football have some type of preseason.
It is crazy when you think about it, whether it
be the pros, whether you think about high school, even

(59:15):
Pop one or youth football. A lot of these teams,
every league, I should say not a lot of them.
Every league has the ability to play a preseason game
except for college football. So you go out there week
one and so wani. I think the other thing, too,
is as college football continues to change and with these
super conferences and maybe okay, we talked about this a
couple weeks ago in your show. You go to a

(59:37):
ninth conference schedule of nine nine conference game schedule. If
that does happen with the SEC and some of these
other leagues. If they decide to tackle on more conference games,
you're gonna want to be able to help yourself out.
And if they say, okay, why don't you play another
game early on it could be a conference game, You're
gonna want to try to get some type of tune
up beforehand, right. I just I think going into those

(59:57):
week one matchups you don't truly know what you're gonna get.
I think South Carolina should still win having said all that,
but I am always kind of skeptical about those week
one matchups. When you go up against a good team,
You're not going up against, you know, a cupcake school,
because you just don't know what you're gonna get, and
certainly they don't know either. But there's a lot of
adjustments that have to be made in that week one game.

(01:00:18):
Week zero. Those matchups, you don't know what you're gonna
see out there, especially from the offensive line standpoint, when
you have a new group, No.

Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
You're you're all over it, and that directly affects quarterback playing.
We know how good nor Sellers can be. But anyway,
Mike Buddy Man, you know we appreciate you. We will
talk to you next Tuesday. My man.

Speaker 2 (01:00:40):
All right, Swanny, I'll keep the update on the wedding planning.
We're a month in and uh, I'm already reaching for
the bottle of bourbon. So we're just updated.

Speaker 1 (01:00:48):
Mike, take care of my MAA sounds good, So there
you go, Mike, Youva Gamecockcentral dot Com again. The NBA
Conference Finals begin tonight eight thirty on ESPN Minnesota and
Oklahoma City. Tomorrow night it'll be t on TNT. It'll

(01:01:11):
be Indiana and New York at eight o'clock. So that's
how the Conference Finals will get started. All right, A three, four, five,
zero zero eighty six. You know, we heard a little
bit from John Ripman, Clemson softball coach the other day.
He did spend a few more minutes with the media
talking about his team after they clinched the Clemson Regional.

(01:01:35):
They'll head out to Austin, Texas for their matchup beginning
on Thursday, that three game series with the Texas Longhord.
It's gonna be a little late night softball for all
you Tiger softball fans. We'll update you on that and
we'll hear the rest from John Ripman, Clemson softball coach
when we get back again, keep it a lot right

(01:01:55):
here on Fox Sports with you fourteen hundred. Of course,
you can listen around the world on the iHeartRadio app.
Don't forget that. You can follow the show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube.
We are where you are go be a part of
Clemson Sports Talk on our website as well, clemsonsports tal
dot com Clemson Sports Tall, the show that shakes the Southland.

(01:02:18):
So at the ACC Tournament, we mentioned Cal topped ninth
seed to Miami out of the gates this morning in
eight innings, twelve to two, the bottom seat in the
ACC run rules the Hurricanes. Then in game two, twelve
seed to Virginia Tech top Stanford. The Hokies win that

(01:02:45):
one's seven to four. They will face Clemson tomorrow. So
it'll be the Tigers and Virginia Tech tomorrow, and we'll
talk about the significance of this game in just a moment.
Coming up though, around the bend, you'll get number ten
Louisville taking on fifteenth seeded pit That game was scheduled

(01:03:10):
to begin at five o'clock and then at nine pm
to night eleven seeded Notre Dame and fourteen seeded Boston College,
So four hour windows between those games with a nine
am start. Clemson in Virginia Tech tomorrow at one pm.

(01:03:31):
That game, if it goes about like the Virginia Tech
Stanford game did, we'll be wrapping up at some point
in the middle of our number one of our show tomorrow,
all right, So that's what you got Clemson versus twelve
seeded Virginia Tech tomorrow. Now, how about the projections of

(01:03:55):
the regional hosts, right, that's always something this time of
the year that everybody wants to take a look at.
And look, when you talk about Clemson and kind of
where they've been, I mean, they went from pretty much

(01:04:15):
being hey, they're a lock to host to on the
fringe and maybe need a little bit of work. The
good news, as I said yesterday, is that being able
to host is something that you can really improve your

(01:04:36):
your status upon based off of how things go. And
certainly this past weekend, the three game sweep at pitt
has helped Clemson as well, because according to D one Baseball,
the Tigers have jumped in. More on that in a minute.
So we'll give you the pairings by like the top region, okay,
and the paired region. So the number one seed right

(01:05:01):
now projected to be Texas by D one Baseball, along
with Dallas Baptist, Southern cal and Houston Christian in that
as the one, two, three, and four seeds in that
region that would be paired with the Atlanta Regional. Georgia
Tech the sixteenth overall seed along with again I'll go

(01:05:21):
in order two, three and four Tennessee, Arizona State and Columbia.
The number two overall seed projected to go to Arkansas
with Kansas, Creighton and Wright State paired up with the
fifteen seed TCU region with UTSA, Oklahoma and Oil Roberts

(01:05:43):
that's in Fort Worth. Vanderbilt projected to be the third
overall seed, so the Nashville Regional will feature Louisville, Austin,
p and Eastern Illinois. These are all projections. Haddicksburg the
fourteenth seed, Southern Miss along with Old Miss Cincinnatia, Murray
State fourth overall seed project at Chapel Hill with Florida,
Rhode Island, and Ryder Versus Los Angeles, which is UCLA,

(01:06:05):
who was the thirteenth projected uc Irvine, Virginia, San Diego,
fifthyed Georgia with Wake East Tennessee State and Holy Cross
paired up with twelfth seed Clempson. The Clemson Region as
the twelfth seed right now, with Alabama, Connecticut and Bryant.
Auburn projected to be the sixth Sea with Duke Troy

(01:06:25):
and Long Island. Florida State paired up with them as
the eleventh seed, with West Virginia, Mississippi State and Bethune
Cookman LSU projected to be the seventh overall seed with Arizona, Miami,
and Miami of Ohio. The Conway Regional where Coastal Carolina
the tenth seed, will have n C State, Kentucky and
USC Upstate. Then the eighth region goes to Oregon. That's

(01:06:51):
the last national region. Kansas State, Notre Dame in Nevada
paired up with Oregon State, the ninth seed, Northeastern Oklahoma State,
and Sacramento State. Fantastic stuff that they deliver a little
Miami and Miami of Ohio in one region. Oregon, Oregon
State possibly paired up, Clemson, Georgia possibly pair it up.
I'm not saying this is how it's gonna all lay out, right,

(01:07:12):
but Clemson goes from being a two seed last weekend
projected to play at Coastal Carolina to doing enough and
having enough happen around them that it actually slid the
Tigers up and into being a potential host team, which

(01:07:33):
means the question that you have to ask is how
do you handle this newfangled ACC tournament. You run out
Cannock tomorrow, try and get that win over Virginia Tech
and then advance to face INC State where they've got

(01:07:55):
potentially their best starter. Or do you go with like
Drew Titsworth tomorrow or maybe someone else in the bullpen
and try to somewhat reverse engineer this thing a little
bit to get you in a little a more favorable
pitching status versus in C State. Or maybe if you

(01:08:22):
felt really froggy about it, could you present yourself with
a better pitching status going up against Georgia Tech by
riding out a couple of games without Kannock and saving
him for a semi final. I don't know, man, I
know it's crazy talk. I don't think you ride it
that long. But does the possibility exist? Maybe? I mean,

(01:08:43):
if anything, Right now, if you're Clemson, you know what's
in front of you, Virginia Tech and then possibly in
C State if you beat the Hokies, so you get
to kind of determine how you want to play it.
And in the grand scheme of things, even with a loss,

(01:09:03):
unless some people like shot, you know, some shocking stuff happens,
you're probably not dropping out. Assuming D one Baseball's hosting,
I'd like to know what their percentage is over the
years on projecting that. But all that being said, for Clemson,
definitely winning against Virginia Tech tomorrow at one o'clock would
be big, but beating NC State and having a shot

(01:09:27):
at Georgia Tech would be huge for it just kind
of improving your seating in the NCAA tournament. All right,
with a quick break, we'll come back with more and
turn our attention the Olympics adding a new sport, and
I think America is going to be pretty good at it.
I'll tell you what it is when we return. Lawton

(01:09:47):
swam with you on a Tuesday afternoon. Thanks to Mike
Eva for joining us a little bit ago. Don't forget
if you're up in Tigertown, stop by our good friends
at Alumni Hall on the corner of campus on College
Avenue and downtown Clipson. It's Alumni Hall. Well, you're officially
licensed Clempson merchandise, hats, t shirts, tailgates, tailgate gear apparel.
I'm not sure you can get a tailgate there, but

(01:10:08):
tailgate gear and apparel. Don't forget to check out their
hat wall and ask them about their Alumni Hall Rewards
past program where you can save when you spend money
there in store. Not to mention saving, Clemson students faculty
of military get ten percent off when shopping at their
location right there downtown Clemson on the corner of campus
on College Avenue, Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop. All Right,

(01:10:34):
So we were talking about the Olympics, and I've never
been more certain than my next statement. The United States
will win a gold medal in flag football in twenty
twenty eight.

Speaker 2 (01:10:51):
Oh, I'm just smart.

Speaker 3 (01:10:53):
Oh, I'm just smart.

Speaker 1 (01:10:54):
Hey, Temarkie, I mean, it's a RC now. I don't
know how many people will play, all right, but the
NFL owners have approved a proposal for players to participate
in flag football at the twenty twenty eight Los Angeles
Olympic Games. Flag football book it America's got another gold medal.

(01:11:21):
I mean, the only way America doesn't win a gold
medal in this is if these players start doing what
you see some of these sprinters doing, like, Oh, I'm
gonna run for you know, my dad was from Jamaica
and I can't make the US Olympic team. Well, if

(01:11:43):
you can't make the US Olympic team, you probably can't
make the Jamaican national team. But anyway, maybe I should
pick a different country. Uh, I'm gonna go run for
you know, my dad's native land. I can't do gymnastics
in America. I'm not quite good enough. But my family,
my FA family is originally from Italy, and so I'm
gonna go be a gymnast for Italy. I mean, we

(01:12:06):
see some of that. Heck, Clemson's new gymnastics coaches, I
believe the male of the you know it's a husband
and wife duo. I believe the husband. I believe I
read in the press release and maybe I said it
here on the air. Maybe not, but he coached for
like I don't know, Canada's Olympic team or something. Anyway,

(01:12:31):
the US can potentially have NFL players in their flag
football league, and I know it's not the same, and
so maybe we could argue that skilled flag football players
might have a battle with professional athletes, but I tendedly

(01:12:54):
did All Americas is gonna win the Golden medal. The
vote tuesday at the NFL Spring League meetings in Minneapolis
was unanimous. The resolution need to be approved by at
least twenty four to the thirty two teams. Roger Goodell,
NFL Commissioner, said in a statement quote, It's an incredible
honor for any athlete to represent their country in the Olympics,

(01:13:15):
which is the pinnacle of global sport. I know firsthand
that the inclusion of flag football in the Olympics has
sparked a tremendous amount of excitement among NFL players interested
in the chance to compete for their country on the
world stage. We are thrilled that they will now have
that chance. The league will still need to negotiate negotiate

(01:13:36):
with the NFL players Association, Olympic officials, and national governing
bodies on the specifics of letting NFL players participate, but
wring them up. I'm saying it, if the NFL players
are indeed able to play and everything gets worked out,
the NFL is given to the thumbs up. I'm giving

(01:13:59):
it the thumbs up that NFL players will win the
gold medal. The Flag Football Resolution establishes rules and basic
structures for how the NFL hopes to see the process work,
including permission for any player in the NFL contract to
participate in tryouts, a limit of one player per NFL

(01:14:21):
team on each national team participating, allowing an additional team's
designated international player to play for his home country. All Right,
some of these things are starting to make me wonder.
This a limit of one player per NFL team, I mean,

(01:14:41):
that would mean that so you couldn't have two guys
from the Carolina Panthers. That's okay, that could still be
a whole team of NFL people. So I'm intrigued to see. Now,
these guys have played a lot of like seven on
seven football, you know what I mean, And so there
will be a bit of a shift from the gridiron

(01:15:05):
that we're accustomed to seeing to the Olympic flag football fields.
But I think it's spectacular, and as Roger Goodell said,
the schedule does not unreasonably conflict with the NFL players,
league and club commitments. So why not allow those guys

(01:15:26):
to go out there and spread their wings and showcase
really what they can do. Those Los Angeles games are
scheduled to take place July fourteenth, twenty twenty eight to
July thirtieth, twenty twenty eight, so sixteen days, a couple
of weeks, and NFL players getting the opportunity to participate

(01:15:51):
changes the game in a large degree. You know, if
it were just college players, maybe maybe America doesn't win.
Maybe it kind of falls into the realm of I
would still think. You remember basketball in nineteen eighty four
with Michael Jordan, That's when it really shifted to the US.

(01:16:15):
Was that eighty eight? I know eighty four Jordan they
won the gold I think then eighty eight I think
the US did not win Golden So that's when the
Dream Team, if I remember right, that's when the Dream
Team came around. I'll check that during the break because
we got to we got a little NBA segment coming
up to put a bow on the show as the

(01:16:36):
NBA All Rookie Team was announced earlier today, So we'll
give you that information in I'll double check my notes
on the history slash significance of when American Basketball so
to speak, decided they were going to allow NBA players

(01:16:56):
to play, and that's when that Dream Team in nineteen
ninety two came about, but I can't remember member was
that because of a loss in eighty eight. I think
it was. I think eighty four won it. Now you
also have that huge controversy in seventy six in Munich.
Those medals are still over there because the US felt
they got cheated. Doug Collins and those guys felt like

(01:17:17):
they got robbed. We'll touch on that when we get back.

Speaker 5 (01:17:22):
What have you done for me lately? It's a fair question.
Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Don't forget history.
Lucky for us at Clemson, the answer to the questions
what have you done for me lately?

Speaker 3 (01:17:40):
And what have you done?

Speaker 5 (01:17:41):
Always are the same.

Speaker 3 (01:17:48):
We win.

Speaker 1 (01:18:35):
Final segment on a Tuesday afternoon, and we have We
have covered the gamut of sports. We've talked Olympics, we've
talked w n B. A Our buddy, Jamal give us
a call. He wants to talk about, Uh, the angel
Ree situation. What's up? Jamal?

Speaker 3 (01:18:54):
Too much him? But I think injuries said we've intacted
the way she didnt look at it. I'm just so
sick of the hating the angel reason and it's just
like just so and woting it was was, yeah, I
can't eat the way it will be a possum uh
place at the game. And that was the parting man,

(01:19:14):
And I think it was a heart round. It was
a freaking vowel. So just sick of the hate, man,
you think to do go to.

Speaker 1 (01:19:22):
Higers appreciate Jamal. So, yeah, a lot to unpackt there.
So first off, on your point about you know you're
sick of the hate for Angel Reaves, I understand that.
You know, I think she kind of puts herself in
that situation with the way she reacted. You know, it's
and you went on to say, Jamal, you said, hey,

(01:19:42):
that you felt like that was a flagrant foul. Again,
I did not think it was a flagrant foul. But
the reaction that Angel Reas has to it is why
people come after because flagrant fouls occur, and much more
flagrant fouls than that one take place. And that's how
I think think it's part of the problem is again

(01:20:02):
I was a guard if you know. Again, she pushed
a Leah Boston two hands away, so she's got the
open opportunity at the hoop and to me, as she's
going up Caitlin Clark did what a guard is supposed
to do. Strip at the ball low. She got both
of her arms. That's a foul. That's a foul. Now

(01:20:27):
you know it was Realal Flavorant, I get all that,
but again, I want to go back to what I
said earlier. I'm not so sure these two girls aren't
in it for the money and a little bit in cahoots.
The more I think about it, because guess what, when
they play again. That game was a blowout, but when
they play again, people will want to watch it. Jamal,
appreciate your call, buddy, Hope you're doing well all right.

(01:20:51):
Final thing here on a Tuesday, as we get ready
for the conference championship games to take place, the first
one tonight Minnesota in Oklahoma City at eight thirty, the
NBA put out there All Rookie Team. Stephen Castle, the
league's Rookie of the Year, the only unanimous first team

(01:21:12):
selection for All Rookie average fourteen point seven points, three
point seven rebounds and four point one assist for the
San Antonio Spurs. So the Spurs, you would believe, again
have a pretty good core with Castle and then of
course Victor wimbin Yama being a part of that team.

(01:21:35):
He was also joined on the first team with Atlanta's
Zachary Roscher, who was one but away from unanimous status,
Memphis teammates Jalen Wells and Zach Eedy in Washington's Alex Sar.
Those are the guys that made the NBA's All Rookie Team,
as that came out again today at the ACC Tournament,

(01:22:01):
cal beat Miami twelve to two, eliminating the Hurricanes. Virginia Tech,
the twelfth seed, top Stanford seven to four, setting up
Clemson and Virginia Tech at the ACC Tournament tomorrow. That
game scheduled for a one o'clock start again Pitt in Louisville.
To give you an idea about how this schedule shifts around,

(01:22:23):
that game was scheduled to begin at five PM, but
because of the length of Virginia Tech and Stanford, that
game's first pitch did not take place until five thirty.
So that's gonna mean that tonight's game would Notre Dame
in Boston College could begin as late as ten maybe later.
If you know, if Louisville and Pitt have a great,

(01:22:45):
a great battle that goes a long time, and that
is probably the reason that the ACC decided to do
their quarter final round or excuse me, yeah, their quarterfinal
round the way they did with Thursday for two of
the quarters and Friday for the other two. But either way, again,
it's been a lot of fun hanging out with the today.

(01:23:07):
I always love when we get to dive into some
topics that maybe we don't always get to hash out.
But that's what that's what this time of the year
is about. Obviously, recruiting is getting ready to take back
up Clemsons about that, have a big recruiting weekend. But
you know, this time of the year, there's so much
going on with baseball and softball and getting a chance

(01:23:28):
to kind of talk about the NBA and hockey. I'd
even didn't even talk about hockey today. I'm feeling kind
of bad about it because, as you know, our Carolina
Hurricanes are on the dock at tonight against the Florida
Panthers at eight o'clock on TNT lock in playoff. Hockey's spectacular,

(01:23:50):
absolutely spectacular high definition TV and hockey they were made
for each other. Please, if you don't like the NBA
Carolina and Florida the nine at eight o'clock on t
and t I probably won't watch every second of it,
but I will watch it. It will be on the
television at the Palacial one to eight studios. All right,

(01:24:14):
we gotta get out here again. Thank you so much
for being a part of the program. I appreciate all
your support. Come check out our website. Tell your friends,
neighbors and friends neighbors about this. It's clemsonsports talk dot com.
All right, we'll be back tomorrow for till then. As always,
y'all take care now, hey go Tigers.