Jonny Athletic! - Bumper to Bumper 7/6/26 Hour Three

Bumper to Bumper with Dan Barreiro!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A gutter helmet of Minnesota. Never clean your gutters again.

(00:03):
Learn more at gutter helmet dot com.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Scene looks decent outside of Luminfield. Right now, watching Fox nine,
the pregame has begun for the United States Round of
sixteen match against Belgium in the World Cup. The scene
looks a little lively. Brett, how much fomo? Do you
have a ton of fomo?

Speaker 3 (00:23):
Look at? I think that there was circulation.

Speaker 4 (00:25):
There was talk of maybe doing a stripeout trying to
get a college football vibe that I saw him. Yeah,
but it looks of it. I don't think it's gonna ha.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
There's two guys in the same kit the you're wearing.
That could be you. They were just standing right there.
That could be you if they win.

Speaker 4 (00:39):
I just got offered a place to stay in LA
for the game against Spain.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
That's what it sounded like.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Oh Trueell, Yeah, oh yeah, he's got room for you.
I'm sure he Yeah, he's definitely got room for you.
We're gonna do two segments in Top five because we
went along with Mike Trudell from Lakers dot com to
talk about Lebron and talk about the World Cup.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
I will say quickly.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
In these divided two times, it's hard to find unanimity
on anything that we talked about on the radio. That
people talk about their family gatherings. I always say, like
Thanksgiving and holidays, you don't talk politics, you don't talk
about the Rudy Gobert trade, like it's just too dangerous,
you can't do anything. I have yet to receive any

(01:21):
feedback that is not glowingly and universally positive about the
bumper to bumper decision to enlist Brett Blakemore as our
World Cup correspondent. Covenant collapse for Brett Blakemore. Literally, I'm
not just blowing smoke everybody, because you know I wouldn't
do that obviously.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
Well you did just say two minutes ago, I'm here
and you're there for a reason, so it's you're.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
Balancing it out. Did I say that, Yes?

Speaker 5 (01:49):
She did?

Speaker 3 (01:49):
Oh weird.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Everybody I talked to gooes, Brett is incredible as your
World Cup correspondent, And I say, yeah, he is.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
That's what we expected. That's why we that's why we
had him in.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
We thought this is good, this is the perfect role
for Brett Blakemore.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
And you've delivered.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
And I hope you've enjoyed, not just on our show obviously,
because you have your own show. Worst case scenario and
you've been with all the guys. But Covenant collaps, bumper
to bumper claps.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
I hope it doesn't end today. Well, that's kind of
why I'm bringing it up.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah, I'm kind of getting ahead of it in case
we don't talk. We don't have time to preview another
USA match because they fall to Belgium tonight. But you
are the World Cup correspondent. You are the leader of
the Top five and five. You are there for a reason.

Speaker 4 (02:33):
It's a good one. This is the a topic to
do Top five of five. Oh, it's f night football.
Well I'm on a night soccer. It's a huge match.
And a statement has been put out, as with a
thousand different statements. The so Trump put out a statement,
he had a press conference, then the President of FIFA

(02:55):
put out a statement. Then Belgium put out sixteen statements.
But here's the statement that matters that just came out
not too long ago. It's a statement from the chairperson
of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee. Now it's a thirteen point statement.
I'm not going to read all thirteen yeah, May eleven
of them are basically saying, here's the rule, here's article
twenty seven, and we can do whatever we want. But

(03:17):
here's the last point that I thought was was, I
don't know, humorous point thirteen. Reviewing the legal consequences of
red cards in football is nothing new in the modern game.
For instance, the majority of the top tier leagues belonging
to UEFA, that's the European governing body, who also put
out a statement saying.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
This is is bitter. Yeah better, yeah, is bitter. So
this is them saying, oh yeah, UEFA, watch this.

Speaker 4 (03:43):
So it says, for instance, in the majority of the
top tier leagues belonging to UEFA affiliated members associations, the
overturning of red cards is common disciplinary measure. Yet this
has never raised concerns about crossing any red line. And
again it should be emphasized that the decision under scrutiny
the card was not overturned. We're suspending the effects of

(04:04):
a red card based on an explicit provision of the
appicable regulations. Is a much more balanced measure. So basically,
to translate, we can do what we want.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, everyone shut the hell up.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
Everyone sucking well, Okay, am I wrong?

Speaker 2 (04:20):
Well no, But here's my follow up question, So does
this mean that at some point he's going to sit
out a match? Like is he going to sit out
a friendly at Alliance? So at some point is he
going to be suspended?

Speaker 4 (04:33):
The way that I understand it through all this legally
is is that it's basically you're on a probation period
where if you get another red card that becomes two,
but if you don't in that year window, then it
just goes away. And that's my understanding of Okay, well,
we'll take it. The important part is he's playing tonight, correct,
And we're going to find out in a half hour
and we'll be on the air at five point forty

(04:54):
five that's the lineup's come out.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
So most likely he's going to be starting.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
We why wouldn't he I've heard I don't know who
it was, if it was Pierre, if it was Trudell
that said we'll see if he's starting or not. Isn't
he like our best player? He's been our most effective player,
he's our best score Okay, yeah, well do you need
to score? The fans learn that's part of the game.
You do need goals. So what would keeping him on
the bench to start the game due is it a
good time or is there such a thing? As I know,

(05:21):
subs kind of come in late and there's different matchups
and fresh legs and the whole deal. But why would
he what possible has he come up the bench in
any other match that we've had here recently.

Speaker 5 (05:32):
No.

Speaker 4 (05:32):
The only argument you could make is, well, they've spent
three days preparing to play without him, so now you're
playing what maybe just stick to the game plan you
spend three To me, that's your best player should be
out on the pitch.

Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yes, yeah, you start him, and I'm sure they will.

Speaker 4 (05:47):
The other argument that people are making is we should
not start him out of fairness, out of equity.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, no, that's dumb. No thanks, Yeah, that's dumb. Let's see.

Speaker 4 (05:57):
So that's the big storyline that will be heard right
here on the fan pregame right after we're done at
six thirty. The lineups will come out at five forty five,
so we can talk about that if you want.

Speaker 3 (06:06):
I will be right in the middle. Johnny Athletics. Maybe not.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
All right, Let's do the cash contest and then we'll
come back and do the rest. Do we have anything
printed out. No, they're just wanted to make sure it
wasn't forgetting it. Okay, yep, because next week usually when
you get in this chair, you forget the cash contests, right,
I mean, it's just I do it every time. It's amazing.
I come in here and I forget it. And when

(06:29):
I'm sitting where you are, I'm annoyed that Dan forgets it.
But there's a lot going on over here.

Speaker 4 (06:33):
Yeah, there's no cash contest next week. Everyone's pumped about
the return.

Speaker 3 (06:37):
It is coming back. Yeah, all right, how about it?

Speaker 2 (06:39):
So we got more to get to in the top
five at five. Don't forget John Krasinski's coming up at
the bottom of the hour for the latest on the
lebron Watch.

Speaker 1 (06:48):
Justin Garr just in case you missed it. It's the
top five spour stagers of the day. Now it's time
for Dan Barrero's Top five and five, brought to you
by gut Her Helmet Minnesota. Never Clean your gutters Again.
Learn more at gutter helmet dot com.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
Johnny Athletic and ten Minutes, Part two of the Top
five and five led by Brett Blake Moore.

Speaker 4 (07:11):
Now, so we talked about USA Belgium pregame six thirty,
puck drop at at seven. They don't do the seven
to twenty three bit. You'll hear all that right here
on the fan. But earlier today while we were on,
Spain beats Portugal, and that's important for the US because
they play the winner of that, So they will get Spain,
who is a very very good and scary team in

(07:32):
the next round.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
Should they beat Belgium today.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
Looked like Portugal had some pretty meady opportunities late in
the match, Yeah, including one actually including two like point
blank shots in the final minute.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
Can I ask you dumb soccer question, go ahead?

Speaker 2 (07:47):
How come they haven't come up with a better mechanism
with the the extra time or the injury time? You
know how they just say plus six? Yeah, how come
they can't just give us a legitimate countdown.

Speaker 4 (08:00):
Because it's about the vibes. There's really no good answer.
It's stupid, it's really dumb. They should just have a
countdown because but they'll they'll give them grace, like if
you know, let's say it's someone's chasing the game and
it's two to one and they're attacking, and there's corners
and they're they're just all over them. They'll go over
the time just to let it play out right until

(08:22):
the other team clears it, and.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
Then they'll blow it down. Yeah yeah yeah.

Speaker 4 (08:25):
So it's more of like we'll let this attack stand
no matter how long it goes, and the second it's over,
games done.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
That's why you're the World Cup corresponding because I have
vivid memories of like every match that's ended, it's like
a big, long, clear kick and then the horn blows.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
Correct, it's a vibes thing. It makes no.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
Sense, but that's why they do it. That's hilarious though.
It's just all about the vibes whatever they're feeling. Yeah,
if it's over, who blows the horn? The referee does, the.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
Main official who's in charge of the cards and everything,
blow it three times and that's that.

Speaker 5 (08:56):
Wow. Yep.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
By the way, I thought they win a little over,
sorry to interrupt you, in the match today because they
had like a free kick. Yeah, and it was right
around it was like six minutes of stoppage time and
they were at the ninety six minute mark. But that's
an example of they're going to let them run that.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
Let's see what happened.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
Do that set piece, do a five check yeah, and
then go okay.

Speaker 3 (09:19):
It's silly, but that's that's why they though, yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yeah, it's worse for him, so's they don't need my approval.
It's just as somebody brought that up. I think Zach
Low on Simmons podcasts, like, how can we just not
know the time?

Speaker 3 (09:32):
Yeah, if you have the.

Speaker 4 (09:33):
Stoppage time, well, and then they stop it in stoppage time,
so they account for that, and then you never know
what that time is.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
It just I suppose it's inevitable that you couldn't really narrow.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
It down to the second. It is really sorry, So
check the vibes late tonight.

Speaker 4 (09:47):
By the way, Spain has not conceded a goal this
entire tournament. Really have not giving up one goal this tournament.
So if we do get past Belgium, which is questionable,
I mean, yeah, it was neil Nili again'st Cape Verde.
It was four nil against Saudi's, it was one nil
against Uruguay. There's three nil against Austria and it was
one nil today against Portugal. So have fun with that.

(10:11):
More Wall Cup. Really, there's feel free. We can go
Lebron watch if you want DeRozan Kings.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
Series in New York for the first time in forever,
including two pretty authoritative wins. I saw not one second
or one pitch of either one of the games that
they won, but they won six to one. Yesterday they
won eleven to four a couple of days ago. People
in New York are bitter. It's worth mentioning there are
only three games under five hundred now bowlow five hundred.
If I had more time, if we.

Speaker 3 (10:39):
Didn't have so much going on today, I mentioned I
was just in Wisconsin, like the polar opposite vibes.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
Milwaukee and Minneapolis, would you agree are kind of similar
cities or.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
Upper Midwestern cities.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
Yeah, but in terms of size and market place, Minneapolis
is bigger than Milwaukee, which I think is actually worse
when you factor in that.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
Like all the Brewers do is win.

Speaker 4 (11:02):
Yeah, and I'm not a Milwaukee guy either. Rowers Yeah,
do nothing for me.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
But you just look at their record fifty five and
thirty three. There's six games ahead of the Cubs in
the Central Division. They've got a great pitcher, they put
money into the team, They've made big trades for guys
like CC Sabathia.

Speaker 3 (11:20):
Well do you put money, money into the team. I
know it's confusing.

Speaker 2 (11:24):
Oh it's confusing, but you just look at because they
are a small market team like US and I haven't
gone through, it just feels like they're always much more
of a factor and they take bigger swings, no pun intended,
and just the vibe around them. It's all my Wisconsin
relatives wanted to talk about was the Brewers and baseball, Like, hey,

(11:45):
the World Cup's going on. All right, I'm a football guy. Now,
all right, the US has Belgium. We've got to figure
out if Baligan's gonna be able to play or not. Like,
I can't worry about the brew Crew. Okay, we're happy
for the brew Crew, but they're in it. They're invested
because the team is invested, and they go. It's just
I always you know, the Bucks went in the title
like showed it could be. It's showed as possible for

(12:06):
a smaller market team, a mid major team so to speak,
to be able to do it, and we just have
never been able to crack it.

Speaker 3 (12:12):
Did you watch any of Mexico England last night? As Teca?
I did? I did?

Speaker 2 (12:18):
I feel like I fell asleep for like the greatest parts.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
I watched it.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
I watched the dueling penalty kicks, and then I fell asleep.
As I woke up to like fifty texts, including from
I and Leonard, our other World Cup correspondent who's fan
of England because that's where his parents are from. Went
to a match in New Jersey a couple of weeks ago.
It was epic, right, it was unbelievable, and even the
parts I saw were outstanding.

Speaker 3 (12:42):
The Azteca good luck, Yeah, pack of lunch. They haven't
lost a competitive game there in thirteen years. I can see. Why.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
How do you feel why how have we grandfathered in
the behavior of the Mexican fans, the Mexico fans in
terms of the serenade, as Lavelle's told us, that's what
it's called, where they go to the opposing team's hotel
and just keep them up all night. Why are we
okay with that? And we just kind of go ah,

(13:10):
Team Mexico. That's just part of the experience you go
down there. They went to like thirteen different hotels. England
tried to throw them off the scent. Of course they
still found it. I mean, you're not gonna be able
to keep it secret. You're a national soccer team. Yeah
there was police outside. Yeah there's gonna be. There's gonna
be some tells you're riding buses.

Speaker 3 (13:28):
I think so.

Speaker 2 (13:30):
But how do we feel about that generally that that's
just the accepted They can light fireworks off, they can
make as much noise as they want outside of the hotel.

Speaker 3 (13:38):
I don't love that as much.

Speaker 4 (13:40):
My personal taste on that is that and you see
that a lot in Europe too, Like you know my
club team that I follow, if they play a big
game in France in the Champions League, they're gonna do
the same thing outside their stadium, outside their hotel.

Speaker 3 (13:52):
So that's just part of the bed. That's part of
the bit.

Speaker 4 (13:54):
The stuff I don't like is when England scored all
three of them, garbage just rained down from the crowd.
They do that every game. Ye do that against the US.
That's that's the stuff. And then there's also some problematic
chance that they do as well. So yeah, they're Mexico
fans are not to be a not a good role
model for fans.

Speaker 2 (14:14):
I would say, yeah, it sounds Bill Simmons talked about it.

Speaker 3 (14:17):
I brought up this.

Speaker 2 (14:18):
Podcast fifty Times today, but he mentioned he went to
a US Mexico friendly in like two thousand and nine,
and he said his opinion was basically, the approach there
is to make you feel as less safe as humanly
possible when you're there as an opposing fan. And the
England fans, God bless them, because they had that little

(14:39):
pocket right behind the net and that's where they sang
Wonderwall after, which was awesome.

Speaker 3 (14:42):
You could barely hear it because there weren't that many
of them.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
That that takes Cojones to jump into that belly of
the beast.

Speaker 3 (14:50):
That type of stuff. I suppose, yeah, I suppose. Yeah,
it's just another just another match. Yeah they're.

Speaker 4 (14:57):
Yeah, it's just not good and they they've been doing
this for years and.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
Yeah, yeah it's it's not good stuff.

Speaker 4 (15:02):
I mean there was last time the US played a
huge game against Mexico. There were fights and Wes McKinney
shirt got ripped off.

Speaker 3 (15:08):
Or starbage throw and everywhere. Yeah, I don't love this. This
is a standard operating procedure. Yeah, which, hey, I don't
like it.

Speaker 2 (15:13):
In Philly for the NFL, we just kind of grandpat Yeah, Philly,
what are you in it? Don't don't wear opposing stuff,
like really that's what we are.

Speaker 3 (15:22):
I don't know, I don't.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
I don't love it, but you know, I guess I'm
just gonna have to get over it.

Speaker 3 (15:27):
Anything else. Johnny k around the corner. I love it,
love the tease. Good job per usual.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
Brett blakemore in the top five and five John Krasinski,
how much longer are we gonna have to wait to
buy our number twenty three Lebron James Timberwolves uniforms in
the new uniform that was unveiled just a few weeks ago.

Speaker 5 (15:48):
In don.

Speaker 3 (15:50):
Johnny ahead.

Speaker 2 (15:54):
Right, No, no, Mike, It's not Mike Lindell. And this
is not John Krasinsky from the office. He is John
Krasinski from the Athletic. We call him Johnny Athletic. And
he's on the Kinneticut Water Systems hotline right now thanks
to RBC Wealth Management. Happy fourth of July, Johnny. Did
you get to stay outside at all or were you
inside on Lebron watch for the entire weekend?

Speaker 5 (16:15):
No, it was a nice weekend. I was out on
the lake with the family, doing some tubing, doing some fishing,
kind of you know, doing some s'mores by the campfire,
try to do as much Americana as we could on
the two hundred and fiftieth birthday. Yeah, we had. There
was a little bit of excitement on Friday night when
I had to kind of put out a report, but
other than that, we were able to kind of keep

(16:37):
our wits about us, which was really really nice.

Speaker 3 (16:39):
That it takes a lot.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
By the way, I did text you offline that I
wake up, you know, groggy from the night before, sleeping
on a couch aunt and uncle's cabin, and I'm just
immediately hit with the Johnny athletic breakdown from my brothers
in law about Lebron and where everything stands. But you
gotta do what you gotta do, right. You don't do clickbait,
as you said, you can only for what you.

Speaker 5 (17:00):
Can report, That's right. I mean, you know, look, whenever
the team that you cover is in on a Lebron
James sweepstakes, it's got to be, you know, all chips
in the middle of the table from a coverage standpoint.
And when that team that you cover is the Minnesota Timberwolves,
who for most of their existence had been the losing

(17:22):
this franchise and in North American sports history, and and
and just a constant source of dysfunction and and halplessness.
Like now they're in the running for either the best
or the second best player in the league in in
in the league's history. I think, you just you got

(17:42):
to throw everything you got at it. And so when
I got some information that kind of popped into me
on Friday night, it's not the ideal time to push
something out. But I don't make those decisions. I just
I just report the news when it comes.

Speaker 3 (17:54):
So where do we stand right now?

Speaker 5 (17:58):
Yeah? Right now, I would say the Timberwolves, And I
think if you look at some of the reporting from
Cleveland and Philadelphia and Miami and elsewhere, I think that
everybody is just in a bit of a holding pattern.
The Timberwolves have been very aggressive in communicating with Lebron
James camp about what they are willing to do, about

(18:21):
what they can provide for him from an opportunity to
win for you know, teammates who can take some of
the load off, and also how much they need him
to help them take the next level, the next step,
and and so they've they've really just thrown the kitchen
sink at Lebron James representatives and just said, hey, we

(18:42):
are ready for him, and this would be the best
spot for him. And as far as I know, they
have not been told no yet from Lebron James that
they are still very much under consideration. Do I think
that they believe they're in the in the you know,
kind of front of the line. No, I don't think so.
But but they're doing it because they haven't been told no.
And so everyone waits with beta breath right now.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
That's kind of where I want to go next, because
earlier in the week, you know, everybody is setting you
even tweeted out, we all have kind of gone into
on this eyes wide open. You can make a legitimate
case for why he should come here the Minnesota Timberwolves,
why it makes sense basketball wise, legacy wise, fit wise,
all of it. But everybody kind of knows the deal
that it would be foolish to call the Timberwolves the favorite.

(19:26):
Did anything change at all in terms of how they
viewed themselves in the sweepstakes from maybe early in the
week last week to when you put that information out
on Friday, or do they kind of still have the
same original feelings that they had about their chances yeah, no,
I would.

Speaker 5 (19:42):
Say it has evolved Guardzee. Now right now it feels
kind of like they are, you know, in this sweepstakes
for the lottery, and they're just like, I can't imagine
we're going to win this, right, They're telling themselves, you know,
it's it's a long shot. And it is it's it

(20:02):
is a long shot. But I do think that the
reason that I reported on Friday what I did is
that there has been belief within the organization that they
are getting an absolutely full audience and and full consideration
that this is not some sort of dog and pony

(20:23):
show that they are not being used for, you know,
a documentary or you know, being you just kind of
patted on the head and play caated that there is there,
there is and was a belief that they are getting
the you know, the real consideration, which I think is notable.
That you know, they've they've put their best foot forward.

(20:45):
They said, hey, come play with ant, can play with
LaMelo and Jayden and Rudy and i Owe and and
and all of these guys, and we will give you
a chance, the best chance to win. And you know,
Alex Rodriguez has a good relationship with Rich Paul, so
does Tim Connolly, and so I think they are trying
to leverage all of that to really put their kind

(21:07):
of hat in the ring, and that they believe they're
in there, and that's to me notable. This is I
don't think any of this is just optics right now.
And so whether they end up winning the sweepstakes or not,
I really do believe that there's been a period here
over the last four to five days where they thought, hey,
we've really got a shot here, and so that's really notable.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
What did you make of the Whiteboard with Rich Paul
and Max Kellerman. I watched it, I listened to most
of it. I listened to the episode today that they
put out not a ton new Fourth of July weekend stuff,
the whole deal. What was as a guy who reports
on this stuff and probably knows the inner workings of

(21:49):
that kind of stuff, what did you make of that
whole episode and that whole scene.

Speaker 5 (21:55):
I mean, like unprecedented, honestly to have the agent of
an incredibly sought after player just going on a podcast,
even though it's his own, so clearly they benefited from it,
but then really having a real conversation about all of
the teams that are involved in the pros and the

(22:16):
cons of it, and I thought it was really enlightening
to me, and that honestly sort of expedited my reporting
on it because it came out, I want to say,
Friday morning, right, and the Wolves are on the whiteboard.
You have four names from the Timberwolves, so they're like

(22:36):
prominently displayed within their consideration of Rich Paul and Lebron James.
And so that I think, in and of itself validated
what the Timberwolves were doing and what impression the Wolves
have made. I mean, I've covered this team for twenty
two years. I can't tell you how many times over

(22:58):
that period where I've called an agent and said, hey,
are the Wolves in on this now? How we're not
coming to Minnesota and no, this is ridiculous, we would
never do that, you know, and just been told that
over and over again. And then here is Lebron James
agent with the Wolves in one of the most prominent
positions on that whiteboard and talking everyone through it. I think,

(23:20):
I don't under I don't blame any Wolves sham for
getting excited looking at that and saying, Holy Kyle, like
this is this is something real, And kudos again to
Rich Paul because when he did that, the world didn't stop,
nothing fell apart, no one got out of the running
that was going to be in it like these were.

(23:40):
You don't have to have everything the cloak and dagger
about it. I thought it was really refreshing just to
see real conversation about all of it laid out for us.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
Who's your betting money on?

Speaker 5 (23:54):
I've kind of waffled back and forth. I think if
I had to, and again I don't, I don't ever bet.
I just don't have the stomach for it. But if
I had to, I would probably lean ever so slightly
toward Cleveland, even though I don't like that as a
basketball spot for him really at all. But just when
you think about he's got this documentary thing that's going on,

(24:20):
you know, if he's going to play one or two
more years, ending up at home, like all of all
this stuff going on there, that seems to be the
one that that might be just a little bit ahead.
Though I'm watching Philadelphia closely too. I mean, so they
got Jalen Brown all of a sudden, they have a
roster full of talent that's really intriguing and and Tyrese

(24:42):
MAXI is a clutch client, and and so I look
at those two situations as kind of maybe slight leaders.
And this is just me guessing. I don't have any
inside knowledge on what Lebron is thinking, on what rich
Paul is thinking. But I do believe that the Wolves
are in it, and that they you know, I don't

(25:03):
know if they're top three, top two, top four, whatever
it is, but like I think they're I think they're
right there. If they're not, maybe just a half step
behind one or two teams.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
Do we have any indication, any knowledge, any speculation on
when this decision might come down. I had Trueell on
about an hour and a half ago, and he said
it'll probably be a minute. Lebron likes to slow play,
It'll probably.

Speaker 3 (25:26):
Be a little while, I know.

Speaker 2 (25:27):
I think Rich Paul even said over the weekend that
he doesn't expect anything in the next couple of days.
So that allowed everybody, I think, to enjoy the fireworks
for at least today.

Speaker 3 (25:34):
So what do you think, because.

Speaker 2 (25:37):
There's a lot of guys still out there and a
lot of backup plans to get to I would imagine,
or is Lebron just not backup plannable like whatever Lebron
is his own entity and that any other plans you
just kind of move forward with those as they go.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
What do you think for the timeline.

Speaker 5 (25:52):
Yeah, I mean totally guessing. Would I would say it's
not imminent. I don't expect like a resolution in the
next day or two. And where you when you look
at where the rest of the league is at free
agency wise, there's not a whole lot of players out

(26:14):
there I think that are waiting for Lebron or a
lot of teams waiting. I think, like, for instance, if
the Timberwolves miss out on Lebron, I think that they
just gonna largely go forward with a plan of Jaden
at the four, uh, maybe Karen Shannon Junior up there
and kind of mix and match at least early in

(26:36):
the season and then see if another trade opens up
in December, January, February somewhere like that. I don't think
that they are sitting back and saying, man, if we
have to go do something with DeMar DeRozan or with
somebody else, yeah, and we risk losing him if we're
if if we wait for Lebron too too long. So

(26:58):
I think I think most of the teams in it.
You know, you saw San Antonio went and got Tobias Harris,
so they're out of it. You know, the teams who
are wanted to move on have already moved on, and
the teams who are sitting here waiting don't really have
any other things that they really need to get done.
And so I think that, you know, Lebron sounds like
it's going to take his time and work through things

(27:20):
and give this long and hard thought before he makes
a decision. And I do think, guardsy that the longer
this takes, I would think the better this is for Minnesota,
because let's make no mistake, it's a hard sell for
the Timberwolves there. You know, the winters here, and you know,
he doesn't have experience playing for Finch, and he he's
you know, he's never you know, played in Minnesota. And yes,

(27:43):
he loves Anthony Edwards, but there are a lot of
moving pieces here, and so if it goes long, maybe
he's really molling this over. Maybe he really is thinking, gosh,
can I can I spend a year in Minnesota? Can
I get through that winter? Can I do this or that?
And I you know, if he if he was gonna
take the Warriors. Why wouldn't you've already done it? You know,
if he's going to take Cleveland, why wouldn't you have

(28:04):
already done it. That's what I just wonder about in
trying to like read leave.

Speaker 2 (28:08):
Johnny Athletic making his weekly appearance on Bumper to Bumper
guards mean today Dan will be back tomorrow World Cup
correspond to Brett Blakemore will join at the top of
the hour. Oh, do you want to get to the
breaking news in terms of not lebron but in terms
of the lineup for tonight's match.

Speaker 4 (28:22):
Brett, Yes, there is breaking news. It should probably warrant this,
although we already knew it was probably coming. Floren Balligan
starts for Team USA today. It's pretty much the exact
same lineup that they've rolled out pretty much every time
except the Turkey game where they play all the backups.

Speaker 3 (28:39):
It's the same lineup that you know and love.

Speaker 4 (28:42):
The interesting thing for Belgium in their lineup, the two
best players that we said look out for these guys
both start on the bench for Belgium. They are not
starting either one of them, that being Doku and de Bruyna,
which tells me either they're playing the long game. They
want to bring them on late on to have them
full stamina, or they think there's going to be a
walk over all.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
All right, more on that in the top of the hour.

Speaker 2 (29:03):
Now, Be honest, Johnny, because a lot of my friends
and people in my life, they've been texting me about
the Lebron thing and the possibilities and all of that.
I feel like your anticipation is a little bit different
because you cover the team. Be honestly, you have the
framework of the oral history how it happened Lebron James

(29:23):
to Minnesota written out in your head at least, if
not already kind of put pen to paper on how
you're going to format that.

Speaker 5 (29:32):
Yeah, I'll say this. I mean this is not unique
to me. I can guarantee that every writer in every
market that is a potential for Lebron has some sort
of Lebron James is coming to X place story ready
to go, so that if it happens, you make a

(29:52):
couple of tweaks, you get it out there because the
masses are so thirsty for it, and so I have
a basic story put together. But I will say that
it's been interesting. You know, you talk to people behind
the scenes about this, and there is a bit of
almost superstition. I think that plays into this, where you know,
everyone's playing it close to the best, but they also

(30:14):
don't want to jinx anything. And so I think that
a lot of the details of the pitch of you know,
what they're trying to sell like that, I know the
bullet points, but I don't know a lot of the
real color behind it. I think only that will come
out if they get good news from Lebron in the end.
And so I am I will say, as a journalist,

(30:36):
as a storyteller, I am wicking my chops and waiting
because if it does happen, it's going to be an
epic tale and it's and it's only going to start
and then it'll go through the whole season, and shoot,
it might be a book for all I know. But
I you know, I just am kind of like sitting
back and rubbing my hands together and you know, hoping

(30:56):
that it comes because I just I would love to
cover such an amazing story and I know that as
soon as it does happen, I would get seventeen phone
calls from people that have been ducking me for a
couple of weeks ready to talk about what went right
and what you know and how and how they got it,
and it would be I'm sure a very good story

(31:17):
to tell.

Speaker 3 (31:17):
Johnny Walkoff would be ready. Johnny Walkoff would be ready
for sure.

Speaker 5 (31:21):
Got that right now.

Speaker 3 (31:21):
We've gotten this text a couple of different times.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
And if you have text questions for Johnny six four
six eighty six bratch on Brian camfan text line wondering
about Ruey Hachimura, who signed, we can't get him. Some
people are going, hey, why can't they just pivot and
go for him. Well, he's signing with the Clippers two
years I think fourteen each, which is pretty big money.
I think money that the Wolves don't have. So it's
your contention too that these two are unrelated. And given

(31:45):
the money he got, that was probably an unrealistic target
for the Wolves in the first place.

Speaker 5 (31:51):
Yeah, And I'll even admit to slightly misreading the market
on Rui because I thought that there was a scenario
where the market would really dry up and Rudy and
Ruey would have to maybe take a one year prove
it deal to to re establish his value and going
back into free agency next year. And if that were

(32:13):
the case, coming here to Minnesota and starting at power
forward for a team that expects to win a lot
of games, I think would be a very palatable idea
for Ruiy Hatchimore. I do think that there were fans
of Rui within the organization, within the Wolves team that
would have loved to see him come here. But talking

(32:34):
to people around Ruey over the last couple of days, uh,
it became clear to me that no, they were going
to be able to get something done at a much
higher number, and that you know, Rui was never going
to consider playing here for the minimum, just like I
don't expect DeMar DeRozan to consider playing in Minnesota for
the minimum as well. And that's all really the Wolves

(32:55):
have to offer, you know, to those two guys. And
so it never really turned out to be much of
anything of a possibility for Rui to get here, unfortunately,
even though he would have been an amazing fit for
the Wolves in that power forward spot.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
So on the money stuff, we got a text about this,
what's the money Lebron? They would be comfortable paying Lebron
here is because yeah, I know it's not a money situation,
that's what they claim. But I'm guessing he's not coming
here for the minimum or am I wrong?

Speaker 5 (33:25):
Well, so we don't know about that part of it
so far. Guards THEE I would say, I'm not going
to speak for Lebron. I will say that Shan Chrania,
my good friend and now ESPN guy, he is, he's
really connected to Lebron camp and he has said that
Lebron would be open to playing for the minimum in
the right situation. Does that mean Minnesota? I don't know.

(33:45):
And so there is a possibility that it's the minimum
that's that's it. Sure is a possibility. I would also
imagine that if Lebron James tells you that he wants
to come and play for you, maybe you're open to
doing things from a move standpoint to open up more

(34:08):
money than you would be for not then you wouldn't
be for anybody else. And I'm talking about would you
attach Terence Shannon Junior to Josh Green to get to
get someone to take on that contract and open up
some more avenues. That's a possibility, But I really don't
know what exactly the Wolves have pitched there. I don't

(34:29):
know what Lebron wants, and so I do think that
you know, obviously that would become clear if you were
to give them the green light. But you know, there
is a scenario where he says, you know what, I
will come here, and I believe the reason I'm coming
here is because I think i have the best chance
to win here, and so I'm going to give everyone
the most flexibility financially to build around me. That's a possibility,

(34:52):
but I really don't understand how that will all work
until you know that actually unfold.

Speaker 2 (34:58):
A couple of things off the Lebron to what is
the lesson or what have you observed about the Jalen
Brown trade?

Speaker 5 (35:08):
Shocking, you know, to see what you know, cause I
did report early on in the process of this summery
before the LaMelo trade guards E that you know, the
Wolves did reach out to Boston and talked about, you know,
seeing what the market was or what they were looking
for for Jalen Brown, and they were told that the
price was incredibly high. And I'm talking like Rudy nas

(35:33):
picks maybe a young player as well, like a lot
and so the Wolves at that time we're like, that's
too much for us. We don't want to pay that
price for a player who is a really really good player,
but we're not even sure exactly how that fits with
Anthony Edwards as well. And so they quickly moved on
to LaMelo Ball and got a deal done that they love.

(35:56):
But it is clear that the market completely fell apart
for Jalen Brown. And I really do think that Brad
Stevens a very good general manager for the Boston Celtics.
Whether he overplayed his hand or misjudge things or whatever.
I just don't think that there's any real justification for
the deal that they got. I would have just waited

(36:19):
and waited till later in the summer, wait till the
start of the year, and just see if something better
comes along, because you could always go to Philly and say, yes,
we'll take Paul George in a pick for Jalen Brown
and that would be it. So I don't know exactly
what made them say we have to move now, but
it's a bad deal. There's just no there's no other

(36:40):
way to put it.

Speaker 3 (36:40):
What have you made about the analytics.

Speaker 2 (36:42):
It's almost like a baseball argument, the analytics battle between yeah, yeah,
I'm trying to think it was a Bobby Marks that
had the tweet about the person said he was their
seventh best player, which is Ludicris, and he also had
the ball in his hands. I'm guessing a lot as
I'm guessing his efficiency numbers weren't great.

Speaker 3 (36:59):
Because he was kind of their own the guy. But
what have you made about that?

Speaker 2 (37:01):
Whole seems like a referendum almost on the new age stats,
the counting stats. Jalen Brown's bitter about it, which I understand,
what what are we learning about that or what's the
observation there?

Speaker 5 (37:12):
Yeah, it feels like this is the new front for
analytics versus hoopers kind of conversation, and that's been going
on forever and ever. This one, I have a real
hard time kind of siding with the nerds on this one,
to be honest. Guards Yet I mean, yes, when you
look at the numbers, the Celtics have been better when

(37:33):
he's off the floor than on the floor over the
last I think six out of the last eight years.
That's the kind of a glaring number that you look at.
But I just think that look at common sense. I mean,
they lost their best player last year in Jason Tatum,
and they still won fifty six games. That's not in
spite of Jalen Brown. That's got to be because of

(37:55):
Jalen Brown. Jalen Brown is the Finals MVP, They've won
a championship, They've bend deep into the playoffs a lot
with him, and so I understand that maybe the numbers
aren't favorable to him, but the winds are and at
some point you have to look at it and say, hey, maybe,
at least in this case, that something isn't lining up.

(38:17):
And so I just, you know, I just think that
it's become a very heated debate, and there are some
very stubborn people in the analytic community that are just
really digging in their heels here and saying no, no, no,
like Jalen Brown, actually isn't that good when all of
the winning that the Celtics have done has said otherwise.

(38:39):
And I'm just like, I'm going to lean a lot
more towards the eye test, because the eye test is
what gets people paid and what gets people trophies, and
he's passed that with flying colors over the last over
his entire career.

Speaker 2 (38:52):
Really a couple of quickies, a couple of bullet points
here at the end. We've done a lot of texts
about Kevin Love making a return to Target Center and
the Timberwolves are we considering that.

Speaker 5 (39:03):
I don't see it. Guards the number one, I think
he's going back to Utah. He's got a great relationship
with the ownership group there, really likes it there. He's
kind of settled with his family there. So I think
that is where I would lean toward him going. And secondly,
I mean, he is he is what he is at

(39:24):
this point. I know he shot a good percentage last year.
I know he rebounded fairly well, but he is not
going to be the difference for the Timberwolves going going
into next season. He would play sparingly, just as he
played sparingly with Utah, and just as he's kind of
played sparingly over the last several years of his career.
Loved Kevin Loved to death. But he's not making a

(39:47):
difference for you right now, especially in the playoffs, which
is what this team is trying to gear up toward.
And so I understand that there's a need that power forward,
but I don't think Kevin Love is the guy that's.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
The correct answer.

Speaker 2 (39:59):
Are the amenable to Bronnie also joining if they get
lebron that, I don't know.

Speaker 5 (40:07):
You know, uh, when you look at it. I what
I can say is I think that Tim Connolly was
one person who did not put his nose up at
Bronnie in the draft. Back with you know, when he
was picked by the Lakers in the second round. You've had,
you know, some conversations, and I don't think that he

(40:27):
is as down on Brownie as as a lot of
people are and were at the time. That doesn't mean
that they would get a deal done for for Bronnie.
There could be a situation where Lebron thinks, hey, maybe
it's time for Bronnie to go his own way and
try and find his own kind of path in this
and and and try to become a player with the Lakers.

(40:48):
But I would if if Lebron says, hey, Timberwolves, I
will come if you go get Bronnie, I think they
would do everything they could to go get Bronnie. But
I don't, I don't. I haven't heard that as a
something that is kind of factoring into all of this.

Speaker 3 (41:04):
Yeah, that would be the right answer too.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
If he says I need Brianni to come with me,
you say, okay, what about Bryce? Is your daughter good?
We'll bring them up right exactly If that's what you want. Lastly,
this is from Mike from section one thirty three. Has
Johnny been able to use back channels yet to communicate
to Lebron's camp the Wonders of Tasty Pizza and the
National Sports Center?

Speaker 5 (41:24):
Not yet. But I'm going to be out there at
the Sports Center this weekend with my daughter at the
USA Cup, and so maybe I'll snap a few photos
and send them along, and maybe people who have watched
my Twitter accounts a post in Lake Country and a
picturesque scene of the landscape, and hoping that you know
that King James was watching and keeping an eye on things,

(41:47):
and I'm imagining that that fits really high up on
his priority list of when I think about Minnesota and
then some of the nice photos that I take. But hey,
if it will get him here and get me a
huge story, right, I'll be all for it. So watch
out for some some you know, blazing hot photos of
of of the you eleven soccer girls going at it

(42:12):
this weekend against against teams from all over the region.

Speaker 2 (42:15):
Right, world, I assume Catt'll be there again, right means
about that time, I assume Catt'll be there to cheer on.

Speaker 5 (42:21):
Hey, I'm not going to rule it out. Not going
to rule it out at this point. He's I think
he's kind of busy these days. He seems to be
taking a world tour. But but maybe he'll pop in
and check it out and see these girls again. He
did it once before, so why not.

Speaker 3 (42:34):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (42:34):
Great stuff, man. We will be following you. Everybody's refreshing
you right now because it's the Wolves, And if it's
the Wolves, it's Johnny Athletic. You're the best, dude. Have
a good week, enjoy the USA Cup and we'll see
you soon.

Speaker 5 (42:46):
All right, Thanks Cardy.

Speaker 2 (42:47):
That is John Krasinski making his weekly appearance on The
Bumper The Bumper Show. Thanks to our BC Wealth Management,
we got a quick segment with our World Cup correspondent
Brett Blake Moore, who's in who's out for Team USA
and Belgium as we are within an hour if kickoff.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
In the round of sixteen justin guard is summary.

Speaker 4 (43:04):
Mystery Prizes are back and we're bringing them to you
all summer long. You can come grab yours Kfan events
throughout the summer. Wherever you see our Kfan street team,
make sure redeem them in Maal of America for fun
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kfan dot com keyword calendar.

Speaker 2 (43:21):
Seeing as lively outside Leominfield, we're forty No. Fifty one
minutes away from USA Belgium, a game you can hear
right here on the fan. The pregame show starts right
when we are done at six thirty KKE Show Edition
a Bumper to Bumper Today Guards and Brett blakemore here.
World Cup correspondent Brett Blake Moore is going to give
us a final preview in a minute. But we have
not talked to any Minnesota while today. But I think

(43:42):
a lot of that is because there's nothing to note
right really that was new over the weekend.

Speaker 3 (43:46):
We're just waiting.

Speaker 2 (43:47):
We're just waiting for Dylan Markin. We're waiting to see
what's going on with Quinn Hughes and O Russo put
out a big piece I think this morning, Like first
thing he and Joe Smith talking about that it's going
to be a new look wild like they are letty
go of some of the old guard right trade midzy
Z Carrello's going to la like a lot of the
names we got used to the last Johansson Johansson's in Sweden.

Speaker 3 (44:09):
Tarasenko, I think they're gonna let walk as well.

Speaker 2 (44:12):
He wants to get talking about Garren younger, possibly faster
and we'll see. But those are the two big things, right,
Larkin and Hughes. But Larkin trade and the Hughes extension.
Other than that, am I missing anything?

Speaker 4 (44:23):
Not really, unless some miraculous you know, Austin Matthews decides
to change his mind and declare he wants a trade,
which I don't see that happening at least for the
time being, or a Jack Hughes. But basically that's it.
We're waiting on how much is Quinn going to cost us?
Is it going to be the three years that everyone
talks about? And can we get a number one center
in zel markin?

Speaker 3 (44:42):
All right? So how are we feeling?

Speaker 2 (44:44):
Inside of fifty minutes before the match starts US and
Belgium round of sixteen. The winner advances to take on
Spain Friday night. That match is in Los Angeles. Spain
beat Portugal, right one zero today, that's correct, one nil?

Speaker 3 (44:58):
Excuse me? Give me the mood.

Speaker 2 (45:01):
The vibe check is a guy to set the scene
who's wearing the polistic Jersey right now, Polisic kit.

Speaker 3 (45:08):
What's the mood, what's the vibe. I'm nervous.

Speaker 4 (45:11):
I'm the closer we get, the more nervous and getting
because they are a good team and this is by
far the best team that we've played. Let's see what
are they in the FIFA rankings. They're nine in the
FIFA rankings compared to our seventeen. And they've got world
class players with talent that we just don't have.

Speaker 3 (45:27):
We have class, you know, guys that play over in Europe.

Speaker 4 (45:31):
I mentioned that nine of our eleven starters play over
in Europe and play for good clubs and big leagues.
I think the two remaining play in the MLS, which
would be our keeper, and then Tim Reidon plays in
the MLS.

Speaker 3 (45:42):
But everyone else plays in Europe.

Speaker 4 (45:44):
So Belgium has better players, so there's a different class
above some of the guys over there. Doku plays for
man City, which is like you know the Yankees. De
Bruyne played for Man City for a long time. They've
got guys that played in the Premier League. The problem
is that either one of those guys are starting, and
we don't really know why, whether it's we haven't been

(46:04):
playing well this tournament, so we're gonna sitch in and
try something different.

Speaker 3 (46:08):
Yeah that's odd, Yeah, or.

Speaker 4 (46:09):
It's we're going to bring them on in the sixtieth
minute where they're fresh as a daisy and you're not
gonna have anything and we're just gonna hold you off
for sixty minutes. We'll see how it plays out. But
the US are playing, there's no changes. Baligan's playing. He's starting.

Speaker 2 (46:23):
Let's play and with Baligan for people that missed it,
his red card has been suspended.

Speaker 3 (46:28):
He is eligible.

Speaker 2 (46:29):
Whatever appeal process there was for Belgium, they're kind of
claiming we didn't technically appeal. We asked you to look
into it. That opened up an appeal. The appeal was denied,
So Baligan's playing. Belgium's pissed. Who was at Pierre Trudell
that basically said, did we wake a sleeping giant? A
team that's been kind of sluggish, like you said, hasn't

(46:52):
played great up to this point in the tournament? Are
we worried of the emotional reaction now Belgium's.

Speaker 3 (46:58):
Coming in here.

Speaker 2 (46:59):
I mean, you can see the scenes in Seattle. It's absurd,
as you would expect for this World Cup match. Are
you worried about the nobody believes in this factor and
we got the short end of the stick factor that
Belgium will be playing with tonight.

Speaker 3 (47:13):
There certainly will be some of that.

Speaker 4 (47:15):
I wouldn't be surprised that there's a hard tackle on
Balkan at some point really send a message that wouldn't.

Speaker 3 (47:20):
Shock be at all.

Speaker 4 (47:21):
But I think that the home field advantage of the
scenes that you're seeing outside in Seattle, I think that
should carry the US. And also we're used to We're
used to having everyone else mad at us. This is
not a new everyone rooting against US. You ever watched
the Olympics. No one is rooting for Team US and
Europics besides US.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
So it's different territory, or it is for the soccer team,
though it is for the soccer team to be I mean,
people are basically saying they're a privileged group. Now, they're
a made group of men, that they are on the
right side of a controversial FIFA decision, not a place
that we've lived historically, correct.

Speaker 3 (47:57):
That is true.

Speaker 4 (47:57):
It's nice to have a favorable decision go your way.
And obviously we're hosting the damn thing too, so that
in itself it's a favorable decision. It is in that sense,
I suppose it is. But what's not is everyone from
the outside world and in Europe rooting against us.

Speaker 3 (48:14):
That's that's pretty standard operating procedure.

Speaker 4 (48:16):
So but this I'm still nervous because you know, they
played three months ago and Belgium white the.

Speaker 3 (48:22):
Floor at US, and how did they do that? What
were they better at than we were?

Speaker 4 (48:26):
It just it we didn't have that organized. I to
be honest, I thought at least twenty five percent of
it was.

Speaker 3 (48:35):
The kid matchup was just horrendous. It was you'll see.

Speaker 4 (48:38):
The Belgian they're wearing their kind of whites and it's
almost like a turquoise blue mix, and we're wearing our
dark blues tonight. Well, we were not doing that in
that warm up and it was basically white on white
and no one had any clue who Even the players
are like, this was horrible.

Speaker 3 (48:53):
You think they were confused.

Speaker 2 (48:54):
You think that part of the reason we didn't play
well was because of the uniform confusion.

Speaker 3 (48:57):
Maybe fifteen percent is that what the.

Speaker 2 (48:59):
Fifteen what's the number of the percentage number that's going
to get you into PST and are you trying to
get into the PSD tournament right now?

Speaker 3 (49:06):
I'm not trying if they have been taking preposterone.

Speaker 4 (49:09):
The uniform matchup, if you watch that, if you go
back and watch that game, it was terrible. The players
were talking about it, but I think that's only fifteen
percent of it. They've had more talent that day, and
the US were not as organized as they have been
playing this tournament. But it's it's a battle of Belgium.
I think has better top players than we do. But
we've had a better tournament than they have. They have

(49:31):
not looked good at any stage. They were down, they
should have lost the last game that a miracle comeback
against Senegal. So which one will prevail the recent form
or their overall talent, I guess we'll find out.

Speaker 3 (49:42):
So they could easily lose this game the US, which sucks.
Do you agree with? So is this kind of the
Super Bowl tonight?

Speaker 2 (49:49):
Because Trudell and Pierre Nujam who joined in the first
couple of hours of the show, Mike Trudell, they believe
that this is the match and then it's found money
against Spain. Spain's going to be the heavy favorite. That's
probably where the dream dies. So is that why? And
that could be true? I like to be more optimistic.

(50:10):
I've always been so optimistic about the US. Enjoy the tournament, team,
enjoy the tournament. Yeah, let's not worry about to finish line.
But that's why tonight feels really big, right because it'd
be something they haven't done in forever. It's maybe maximizing
what you can do in this tournament. It's hard to
think that a round of sixteen loss, with everything that's

(50:31):
come before it here and how the last few weeks
have gone, would be a disappointment. But so how are
you feeling about that whole thing? Like, let's just get
through this, take our chances with Spain. You're on your
own after that. But tonight is just like would be
unbelievable to win to me.

Speaker 4 (50:47):
I think if they tonight represents the line of is
it a good tournament or a great tournament. I think
if they lose tonight like it, it would still be
a good tournament. And I think they played well. They
show that they're a quality team with a bunch of
talent and skill. I understand that you know they didn't
play a murderer's row Paraguay did upset Germany, so there

(51:08):
is that. Australia and Turkey they played with their backups.
I understand the quality of opponents wasn't unbelievable, but they
looked the eye tests showed.

Speaker 3 (51:18):
That they I mean, they dominated these teams.

Speaker 4 (51:20):
So and that's something that the US said they had
had to claw and scratch just to get a result
in any other past World Cup.

Speaker 3 (51:27):
So from that perspective, I think it's a good World Cup.
Even if they lose tonight. If they win tonight, it's
a great World Cup.

Speaker 4 (51:34):
It's we made it to the quarterfinals, beat we knocked
out one of the big boys, and you're on your
own after that with Spain.

Speaker 2 (51:39):
I hope that this was not the last time that
we have you on to preview a United States World
Cup match as the World Cup correspondent on Bumper to bumper.
If it is, it's been a magical ride. You've been
great at it.

Speaker 3 (51:51):
Thank you. I hope you've enjoyed it.

Speaker 2 (51:53):
Thanks for all you've done for it, and we hope
we can preview another match on Friday.

Speaker 4 (51:56):
We'll see you in Spain and Portugal in twenty thirty.

Speaker 2 (52:01):
That is World Cup corresponding Brett Blake Moore with his
final thoughts on the US match tonight against Belgium, a
match you can hear right here on the fan. We'll
put the finishing touches on this show. Remind you that
Dan's back tomorrow. What's coming up on the program when
we come back.

Speaker 3 (52:14):
It's the Bumper to Bumper show wrap.

Speaker 2 (52:17):
American Pressure brings us this commercial grade pressure washers since
nineteen seventy five. Kind of a two track program today,
a lot of World Cup, a lot of Lebron James.
We did touch on briefly the fact that the Twins
won a series against the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium,
first time in forever that that has happened, and then
immediately sparks a bunch of the Yankees trade for Joe

(52:38):
Ryan in a couple of weeks.

Speaker 3 (52:40):
That's kind of what happened there. But good for them.

Speaker 2 (52:43):
Twins are three games below five hundred now. But it
was a lot of World Cup. As you can imagine,
you never know when it's going to end. It could
end tonight. We've milked this thing from the last three weeks.
We would love to continue to milk it for another week.
If the US wins tonight, they will take on Spain
on Friday. That will be interest scene for Dan's return
his new love to the wesident of soccer team against

(53:04):
La Roja. The Tiki Taka versus the Pentagon. The Tiki
Taka versus the Pentagon. We talked with Pierre newsam my
buddy from Fox nine Sports, big soccer guy about to
be a dad.

Speaker 3 (53:17):
We got some great advice the bratcheawan.

Speaker 2 (53:19):
Bryan kfe in text line six four six eighty six
for him as his fatherhood journey begins here in the
next couple of weeks. Mike Trudell, longtime Lakers reporter and
another great soccer mind, played at Northwestern, played at Orno.
He joined at four point thirty, talked about the world,
talked to a lot of Lebron and LaMelo with Mike
Trudell's guy who's covered the NBA for multiple decades.

Speaker 3 (53:41):
And Johnny Athletic made his