06-25-24 Hour 1 of Broncos Country Tonight

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Everybody, welcome into it. BroncosCountry Tonight. Benjamin Olbright here with you.
Short show tonight, Post Rockies Astro'sEdition five six six nine Zeros text
line, you guys want to getinvolved in conversation. Had a little bit
of a discussion last night. Iwant to stay too long on this,
but we had little bit of discussionlast night about esports and one of the

(00:20):
more popular esports streamer over the lastcouple of years, a guy named doctor
Disrespect, and how there were allegationsthat I knew to be true against him
that had been floating out for abouta week on Twitter. He has come
out today and sort of softly acknowledgedthose allegations. His apology he's edited three

(00:44):
times and remove the word minor forthe minor girl that he was inappropriately talking
to. But it looks like thatstuff is actually coming full circle finally.
So it's one of those good things. And I just want to follow up
on that story from last night.You guys have anything you want to talk
about? Five six six nine Zerostext Linbick Story of the Day. The
Broncos are going to have sixteen opentraining camp practices, sixteen free open practices

(01:11):
this summer, team announced it today. Practices are held out at Dell Valley
do also include free parking. Sixteenopen practices is four more than we had
a year ago. It's tied forthe third most among teams that have announced
their training camp schedule so far.Denver's first open practice is schedule for Friday,

(01:33):
July twenty six before the team hostsback Together weekend on Saturday, July
twenty seventh. Broncos also announced theywill host a joint practice with the Green
Bay Packers on Friday, August sixteenth. Denvery previously revealed that it would host
the Packers for a practice ahead oftheir August eighteenth preseason matchup at in Power

(01:57):
Field at Mile High. The teamwill release the entire training camp schedule tomorrow.
Season ticket members can reserve four complimentarymobile tickets per practice through their account
beginning on Wednesday. The general publiccan get free tickets on ticketmaster dot com
starting Thursday at ten am, SoThursday at ten am if you're not a

(02:22):
season ticket holder Thursday at ten amticketmaster dot com. The passes are free,
but you have to have one toget in. The free tickets are
required for entry. Fans can reservetickets for up to eight practices during the
first forty eight hours of availability.In twenty twenty three, I believe we

(02:43):
have more than twenty five thousand fansthat got the tickets. There is more
information available on Denver Broncos dot comif you need to get that. But
the basic gist of this is ifyou want to go to a practice,
there will be sixteen of them,the first of which will be Friday,
July twenty sixth, and of courseback to the weekend it'll be July twenty
seven. So if you do geta ticket, it does entire lead to

(03:05):
free parking. The tickets are free, but you have to have them to
get in. We had some problemswith this last year where people said it's
free, but they did not goget a ticket and then they were denied
entry. So I'll be out thereobviously, Right Edwards will be out there,
Brad Kristall will be out there,a well of the Kmawa family be
out there. We look forward toseeing you guys out there saying hi,

(03:28):
all that good stuff and having funand all that good stuff out there with
you as well. So and thereason we have to do the ticket thing
now they have to have a headcount to fire marshals, all that kind
of stuff. They used to nothave to do that. Somebody went and
random mouth, so now now wehave to do that. Five six six
nine zero is text line. TheWashington Commanders announced several moves to football personnel,

(03:51):
scouting and football support staff. Ourfriend coach John Pagano is obviously on
that staff, so we're wishing himwell out there. Former Washington quarterback Doug
Williams is moving back to the frontoffice as a senior advisor to the general
manager, and he will advise Generalmanager Adam Peters instead of team president Jason

(04:12):
Wright. Chris White was named Directorof Pro Scouting Sarah Saizbo assistant to the
general manager. White joins the Commandershave to working for the Bears the last
ten seasons. Dwayne Jones is nowNational scout Dustin Reagan, a college scout,
Charles Bressinger, Alberto de la Guardia, nich Starter, Myles Turner.

(04:32):
Those guys are all scouting assistants.Rob Rodgers takes over as the VP of
Football Admin there, and Sewn deBarbieri received a promotion to VP of Football
Communications. There are several other staffposition whos they made and a lot of
a lot of turnover, a lotof change for the Washington Commanders in that

(04:54):
front office as they continue to cleanout, clean out the front office in
the post Dan Snyder era. Iguess the post Dan Snyder era, and
they continue to kind of clean upthat mess. I think they've done a
pretty good job so far. Feelslike they get the right coaching staff in
there, and you know, obviouslythey're cleaning out that front office as well.

(05:15):
Adam Peters of course spent time herein Denver, so a little bit
of a connection there. The KansasCity Chiefs will play on Christmas this season.
They'll also be featured in a Christmasmovie. The team announced that it
had reached an agreement with the HallmarkChannel for a movie titled Holiday Touchdown,
a Chief's Love Story. Chiefs presidentMark Donovan said, we are honored a

(05:41):
partner with Hallmark on a project asunique as this, and as a club,
we provide our we pride ourselves,excuse me on exploring new ways to
grow a brand as well as connectwith new audiences. It's partnership units to
passionate fan bases and gives us anopportunity to show Chiefs Kingdom's energy and tradition
on one of the most watched channelsduring the holiday season. The movie has
a typically sacerine Hallmark plot. Awoman who's chief super fan family is in

(06:06):
line for the team's Fan of theYear contest falls in love with the Chiefs
director of fan Engagement, and thensomething goes wrong and it gets resolved and
everybody lives happily ever after, asthese kind of movies are. Hallmark,
of course, is based in KansasCity. The movie will be filmed in
and around Kansas City, include ErowheadStadium. I wonder if fans Broncos fans

(06:28):
would be alright with a Hallmark Christmasmovie. I feel like we would not
be okay with that. And I'mlooking at Kansas City. I'm like,
don't you guys have enough distractions thisoffseason? Between Rashi Rice and Harrison Butker
and Isaiah Bugs who they finally cutyesterday, and britt Reid everything. It
feels like they've had enough distractions postsuper Bowl. Maybe making a movie about

(06:50):
how much their superfan families want tobe want to fall in love with front
office people and be on the Hallmarkchannel just kind of sort of feels like
up in the wrong direction for forKansas City. I wonder if we'll get
any pab mahomes catch up on stakereferences in there. We'll see how that
that goes. I are you gonnawatch a Kansas City Chiefs Hallmark movie?

(07:14):
I wouldn't even watch Broncos Hallmark movie. So I don't know, you know,
I don't I don't know much.I don't know. I don't know
many people be tuned in for that. That doesn't feel like doesn't feel like
that's the way too, way togo. Hard Knocks announced or showed the
first trailer for their their coverage ofthe Giants this offseason. Kind of painting

(07:38):
Saquon Barkley in a bad light inthat trailer. Interesting to I don't know
if you guys have seen that yet. Saquon Barkley, of course, after
spending his first six seasons with theNew York Giants, signed a three year
deal with the Philadelphia Eagles back inMarch. Barkley figures to be a centerpiece
of you know, Philadelphia's offense,which has been an exciting proposition for offensive

(08:03):
lineman Lane Johnson. Johnson said,once you see him, you never forget
he's just a physically imposing guy.He walks in around two hundred and thirty
pounds, ultra competitive. When yousee what he can do at the running
back position and we can flex himout of receiver, he can go,
it's unbelievable. I never thought he'dbe playing for us, but here it
is. You know, he's excited. We're definitely excited up front. I
think he's pullysed for a big year. Barkley, who's twenty seven years old,

(08:24):
rush for nine hundred and sixty twoyards and six touchdowns. Caught forty
one passes two hundred and eighty yardslast year, but his per carry average
dipped from four point four in twentytwenty two to three point nine in twenty
twenty three. In Philadelphia's offensive line, he stands a chance at being a
little bit more effective in the comingyear. Hard knocks, of course,

(08:45):
covering the Giants, where Barkley movedon from. Philadelphia has new offensive and
defensive coordinators this year. Head coachNick Sirianni stayed the Kellen Moore will be
the new offensive cord and of course, former Broncos head coach Vic Fangio returning
home will be the defensive coordinator therein Philadelphia. Sean McDermott came out and

(09:11):
talked about von Miller today. ABill's coach, Sean McDermott believes pass rusher
Von Miller, even at age thirtyfive and after a tough recovery from a
torn ACL, still has plenty tooffer. McDermott was on former Bills center
Eric Woods podcast and said that Millerwasn't completely recovered from his torn ACL last
season, but that this season theBills are optimistic about what he can do.

(09:31):
First of all, and ACL isan uphill climb. McDermott said,
now we're on to the second yearof the injury, excited to see what
he can do, how he's moving, how he's going to impact our team.
You ever count a player or aperson like von Miller out. I
know some people would say age andthe injury, and that's real, but
you're talking about a guy also,and this is where the hope comes from.
The guy that's going to be inthe Hall of Fame. He's got
an incredible mindset and he I thinkhas something to prove. I think that

(09:54):
he would say that we're excited aboutseeing how all that fleshes out of the
course of the next couple of months. It's not very realistic to think that
millerd Age thirty five is going tobe the elite pass rusher he was a
decade ago, but he didn't recorda single sack last year, and the
Bills are optimistic that he can bringmore to the table than he did a
year ago. Obviously, coming backfrom an acl is tough, you know,

(10:20):
It's it's we've seen it, youknow, and there's a difference between
you know, an acl which cantake a year, year and a half,
two years, versus an achilles,which you can completely recover from in
a year. And you know,Vin, I think we're all wishing him
well. Outside of anytime the Billsplayed the Broncos last year was tough to
watch as he just could not getit going. As part of its effort

(10:46):
to defend against the narrow claims ofthe Sunday ticket trial, the NFL painted
with a very broad brush regarding thepotential ramifications of teams having to sell their
own TV rights in a nutshell.The league's lawyers have suggested via the evidence
they presented, that a loss inthis case would create a massive disparity in

(11:09):
team revenues, implode the salary capand destroy competitive balance, and eventually threaten
the league's existence. When the NFLrested its case in chief, the plaintiffs
called a rebuttal witness, with thegoal making it clear that losing this case
won't bring down the NFL. Harvardprofessor Einer Elhau testified there's no link between

(11:30):
the NFL's effort to protect CBS andFox by overcharging for Sunday Ticket and competitive
balance by the Associated Press. AlHog said that teams get roughly sixty two
and a half million each annually fromSunday Ticket and that the absence of that
influx of cash won't impact the salarycap or the operating budgets for teams.
Of course, the league would stillget its money for Sunday Ticket. The
NFL might even get more if thepartner that buys the rights can sell the

(11:56):
package for whatever it wants to chargeand however it wants to carve it up.
Question would become whether the NFL wouldstill get the same fees from Semis
Fox if consumers had the ability toget out of market games at a more
affordable price and in more creative ways, one team at a time, one
week at a time, when gameat a time. However, all the
cart they wanted to do that regardless, the league will figure it out.

(12:18):
It will have to if it loses. The notion that removing the NFL's ability
to engage in any trust violations asthe Sunday ticket will threaten these entire business
model is laughable. But that's thekind of stuff that gets thrown at a
wall in situations like this. Skilledlawyers like to distract juries from incomediate facts
by suggesting unrealistic consequences. Whether itworks will come down to closing arguments,

(12:41):
and after that, jury deliberations willa lot more tomorrow as this thing starts
to starts to wrap up in thisone. I this has been fascinating to
me. Maybe it's just fascinating tome, but you know, this is
a broadcast rights issue. And Iwill say that I like the idea of

(13:03):
being able to buy Sunday ticket ala carte. What's the point in paying
as much as you pay when youcould pay uh, significantly less just for
the you know, the team thatyou want, you know, and you
know, I get it that,you know, if you're an out of
market fan, and a lot ofpeople are These days, people move a
lot more than they used to.And you know, Broncos, Broncos Country,

(13:24):
we got fans all over the place. UH, it's you know,
the Denver Broncos are global brand now, like the like the Steelers over the
Cowboys. And so for people tobe able to watch games that aren't in
their market, they're having to payexorbitant amounts of money buy a bunch of
games they don't want. UH inan effort to do that, and I
think that if they can win thisone and get the ALA card option to

(13:46):
just be able to buy Broncos gamesand do that at a cheaper price,
I think a lot of people willbe happy. We talked a little bit
about the cost of UH Sunday ticketand how it's just not it's just not
a affordable you know, Sunday ticketsis expensive and it's not affordable for the
average the average person. You canget it on YouTube YouTube TV for three

(14:13):
hundred and fifty dollars a year,and you know, I mean three hundred
and fifty dollars. It goes along way right now. And so I
think, you know, if youcould get it for one hundred dollars for
just for just your team or threehundred for the whole league. Then I
think you give people options, youknow, as far as that kind of
stuff goes, And I just Idon't know. I mean, it could
call it depending on how you payfor it. Three to fifty. I

(14:33):
think it's the now price because itgets closer it goes up to like four
fifty, so you know, ifyou're going to buy it, buy it
now. But it's just one ofthose things I think that's frustrating for a
lot of fans in the sense thatyou know, they would like to just
pay for the things that they're usingand not have to or not be forced
to pay for things that they don'twant to. And I get that.

(14:58):
I mean to me, it's it'sthat seems rather simple or rather easy.
I don't know. So recap.One of the other things we talked about
would open up the show Broncos sixteenfree open practices this summer. They will
be down at Broncos Park. Theywill include free parking. That is four
more practices than we got last year. The first open practice will be Friday,

(15:22):
July twenty sixth. They will haveopen practice against the Packers August sixteenth,
and if you want to get theseagain, you have to have a
ticket. They're free, but youhave to have one in order to go.
You can general public can claim theirfree tickets on ticketmaster dot com starting
Thursday ten am Mountain time, andyou can reserve tickets for up to eight

(15:43):
practices within that first forty eight hoursof availability right there. So again ticketmaster
dot com Thursday ten am if youwant tickets to Broncos training camp practices,
and again if you're looking for aspecial date, the first one July twenty
sixth. If you're looking for anotherspecial date, obviously August sixteenth, joint

(16:07):
practice with the Green Bay Packers.If you're a Packers fan, maybe you
want to get in and kind ofsee that. Living in here in town,
you might want to get over thereand get a chance to see that
and go from there, you know, and bring the family. That'll be
fun. Season ticket members can getfour per practice starting tomorrow, but again
general public ticketmaster dot Com Thursday,ten a m. Benjamin O. Albright,

(16:30):
you are listening to Broncos Country tonight, so short show post Rockies edition
right here on KOA. It's eightfifty AM ninety four one AFM News Talk
Sports. Welcome back to it BroncosCountry Tonight. Benjamin Albright here with you
short show post Rockies edition programming.No tomorrow. We will have a full

(16:52):
live show tomorrow, Wednesday, Junetwenty sixth we will have a full live
show. I'll be joined by RyanMichael. We're gonna have several guests on
there. We were going to havea former Bronco. He had to cancel,
so we'll we'll try that again soonsurprise mystery guest, hopefully next week,
maybe the week after, but thereis a former Bronco. I think

(17:15):
you all going to have some funhearing from that. We're gonna get on
the show here soon, not justNick Ferguson, another former Bronco. So
looking forward to that Thursday programming.Note there will be no Broncos Country tonight.
That is the night of the presidentialdebates. Myself, Ross Kaminski,
Mandy Connell. We'll be doing apre debate show talking about our various different

(17:38):
experiences in that. I'm excited foryou guys to get to kind of know
another side of me. We geta chance to talk about that. We
will have live coverage of the audioof the debate here on KOWA, so
you don't have to go watch iton CNN or anything. You can listen
to it right here on KOWA andor if you want to, you could

(17:59):
join my self, Mandy and Rosson the Facebook koa cast where we will
be talking about the debate, youknow, kind of live as it's happening,
and point counterpoint, you know,what's going on. So whatever candidate
you favor, whatever your beliefs are, I'd love for you guys to take
a listen to us and get theopportunity to talk to you about a few

(18:21):
things that we all feel and maybe, who knows, maybe I'll surprise you
a little bit with you know,my my take on some of these some
of these answers. So hope tohave you guys join us Thursday for that
as well as the full live showof Broncos Country Tonight tomorrow, Wednesday,
June twenty six, So looking forwardto both of those. When we left

(18:41):
us tell you a little bit aboutI want to get back to this real
quick. Just for anybody who's justtuned in, Broncos are going to have
sixteen open training camp practices free openpractices this summer. There'll be at the
usual spot down there, Broncos Parkdown there Dove Valley Free Parking. The
first practice is set for Friday,July twenty sixth, and then they will

(19:06):
have also a joint practice with thePackers on Friday, August sixteenth. So
the entire Trading Camp practice schedule getreleased tomorrow, so you guys could take
a look at it. You can'tget those tickets yet. Season ticket members
can get four complimentary mobile tickets perpractice through their account on Wednesday, that's

(19:26):
tomorrow. The general public who ifyou're not a season ticket holder, can
claim free tickets on ticketmaster dot comon Thursday at ten am Mountain. You
must have a ticket for entry,so they're free, but you gotta have
one to get in. Fans canreserve tickets for up to eight practices during
the first forty eight hours of eligibility. So looking forward to seeing you all

(19:48):
out there, and I'll if youmissed any of that, I'll give you
the the update on that again atthe end of this segment. The Charlotte
City Counts has approved a plan tokeep the Carolina Panthers in the city for
at least the next two decades.Council proved a joint eight hundred million dollar
plan with the Panthers to renovate Bankof America Stadium and keep the team there

(20:11):
till at least twenty forty five.Plan was approved by a seven to three
vote on Monday night. The citywill pay most of the renovation costs.
Out of the plan, Panthers ownerDavid Tepper will for one hundred and fifty
million. Tepper, according to theAssociated Press, also agreed to pay an
estimated four hundred and twenty one millionin potential overages for capital improvements. The

(20:34):
city's portion of the deal, whichcomes to six hundred fifty million total,
will be funded by existing hospitality andtourism tax resources. Tepper, who purchased
the team in twenty eighteen for twopoint two billion dollars, is the second
richest owner in the NFL. Accordingto Forbes, he is worth an estimated
twenty point six billion. Bank ofAmerica Stadium, which opened in nineteen ninety

(20:56):
six, is one of the oldestand most outdated stadiums in the league.
It seats about seventy two thousand fans. The new renovation plan, which is
scheduled to be done by twenty twentynine. Includes upgrade video and audio systems,
redesigned concourses, social areas, exteriorspaces, new seating throughout the lower
bowl, new restrooms, and more. Panthers, of course, have not

(21:17):
had a winning season since Tepper tookover the franchise. They've gone through seven
different head coaches or interim head coachesas they enter what will be just his
seventh season with the team this fall. The Panthers went a league worst two
to fifteen last season with rookie quarterbackBryce Young, who was the number one
overall pick in the twenty twenty threeNFL draft at the helm. The team
split with Frank Wrich after just elevengames, and his sense hired Bay Bucks

(21:41):
offensive coordinator Dave Canalis to replace him. Outside of NFL and MLS games,
Charlotte FC also plays there. Bankof America Stadium also plays host to the
Duke's Mayo Bowl, the ACC ChampionshipGame, and various neutral site college football
games each year. It was interestingbecause there was a lot of talk about

(22:03):
that going back and forth, whetheror I think was going to pass and
ultimately pass easily at seventy three,but there was a lot of people that
felt like that one may not maynot have passed as in the run up
to that vote. Copa America goingon right now, and I don't know
if you guys have watched any ofthese, but there are a lot of

(22:23):
empty seats. Perhaps you've seen afew of the float photos floating around social
media, or watched one of thegames and caught a glimpse of the sam
stands and sort of wonder why morepeople aren't there. Empty seats have been
an intermittent feature of the tournament's earlystages. Fans have filled seventy one percent
of listed stadium capacities thus far,and only sixty four percent through the first

(22:45):
six games. All involved have toutedCopa America as a competition on par with
the European Championships, but its opticshave stood in stark contrast to the urals,
where stadiums are invariably full. Andthe question is why. The answer
probably is less simple and more multifold. Part of it is ticket prices of
marketing, but on broader macroeconomics,on geography, or been planning public transit

(23:11):
in the sheer size of the stadiumsthrough one round of group play, Copa
America is averaging fifty five hundred andninety two fans per game, which is
actually more than Euro's twenty twenty fouraverage attendants of nine hundred and ninety and
that was through twenty eight group games, but at the first round of games
it was hit fifty three for theEuros. The simultaneous tournaments look different in

(23:37):
part because seven of the teven Germanstadiums hosting the Euro twenty twenty four seat
forty to fifty five thousand people.Copa America, meanwhile, is being played
primarily in NFL stadiums that seats sixtyto eighty thousand. So the follow up
question, of course, is whyhasn't that extra capacity been put to use.
At the Euros, over ninety sevenpercent of seats have been filled and

(23:59):
more be filled if stadiums were bigger. At five of eight Copa America games
so far, on the other hand, tens of thousands of seats have remained
empty. Two reasons I think forthose divergent outcomes are ticket prices, which
and you know, are high,and the uniquely American obsession sort of with
revenue. The average price of aCopa America ticket, according to multiple estimates,

(24:26):
it has been over two hundred dollars. Even the cheapest seats at many
of the COPA games cost more thanone hundred dollars. As of Tuesday morning,
the lower bowl tickets still available forArgentina Chile at MetLife Stadium in New
Jersey, the cheapest one was overfive hundred dollars on the primary market and
the culprit is dynamic pricing, whichis, for those that don't know,

(24:51):
an algorithmic scheme whereby prices fluctuate basedon demand so sellers and event organizers can
try to maximize their pit their theirprofits. Those that again don't understand what
that is. It is a I'mtrying to think of how to explain this.
It relies on data analytics and algorithmsto determine optical ticket prices. So

(25:11):
in traditional fixed pricing models, there'sone price for all attendees, doesn't matter
if you attend the events at noonon Sunday or eight pmter freight prices the
same. Dynamic ticket pricing is ticketpricing strategy where ticket prices fluctuate based on
various factors demand, time, date, specific attendee details, and those prices

(25:33):
go up and down and very basedon the time of the day, so
it's really or even the day ofthe week, or how many people have
clicked to just look at it,and so you know, you wind up
trying to play a guessing game withsome of these ticket prices, and the
dynamic pricing is kind of an interestingthing if you follow these follow these things.

(26:00):
It really does take a lot ofdata that it has out there and
sort of try to feed you thehighest price it thinks it can get you
to pay. And so that's apart of this. At the Euros,
prices are fixed. Group stage ticketsare about thirty two bucks two fifteen for
non premium thirty two for non premiumseating. If you go for prime seats,

(26:25):
they cost anywhere from you know,four hundred euros, which is about
four hundred thirty dollars, you know, and so on. So this approach
by the Euros leads revenue on thetable because demand overwhelms supply, but it
builds and maintains pretty pretty good willwith the fans and it's a reason why

(26:48):
the stadiums are full. Contributes tothe spectacle, the overall a tractors to
the tournament, et cetera. Etcetera. This critics say is what various
US soccer energy have failed to understand. They see ticket sales primarily and sometimes
solely through the rents of revenue,and apparently see a little difference between selling
thirty thousand tickets to two hundred dollarsand sixty thousand and one hundred despite the

(27:10):
medium and long term benefits of thelatter. Thousands more people who get to
soak up the sport, become fans, buy merchandise, concessions, things like
that. Millions watching on TV.You see a pack stadium, which sends
a very different message than a halfempty one suggests that this is a game
worth caring about it and not justthat, but advertisers see empty stadiums and
the like, is this really?Is this really something that people are doing

(27:34):
it have you know, the attentionfor or have the thirst floor So you
know, it's not just ratings arebasic man, that it is something that
the United States really has struggled tocapitalize with, you know, with soccer.

(27:56):
So it'll be interesting to see ifthey're able to do it anything to
sort of to sort of build onthat. You know, we'll see,
we'll see if more people get involved, or if they you know, if
they reduce the cost on this,if the dynamic pricing model, which again
I hate, has anything to dowith UH, has anything to do with

(28:17):
this. UH talking about advertising ratings. The Chicago Sky and the NF Fever
played each other on Sunday eighty eight, eighty seven. Game Chicago won third
meeting between Angel Rees and Caitlin Clarkrecord viewership. According to ESPN, two

(28:37):
point three million people tuned into Sunday'smatchup, which saw Rescore a career high
twenty five points and sixteen boards,Clark net seventeen points thirteen assists, and
Chicago overcame a fifteen point deficit toearn the victory. The previous meeting had
two point two five to two millionaverage viewers, with a game peaking close
to three million, according to CBS, the most watched WNBA game ever on

(29:02):
ESPN. Three of the league's mostwatched games since two thousand and one have
all come within the season's first sixweeks. Two have featured Clark and the
Fever against Reese and the Sky.The other was Clark's debut game against the
Connecticut Sun on opening night. Gorgeto Sports Media, watch nine WNBA games
this season have already passed a millionviewer mark after the league went nearly sixteen

(29:26):
years without one. And I youknow, for me, it's just interesting
is the league has sort of createdthe WABA has sort of created its Magic
Bird moment with Angel Reese and CaitlinClark. But if you look at social
media and how toxic it is withthe discussion of these two, you can
be a fan of one and appreciateboth. You know, you didn't have

(29:48):
to pick Larry Bird or Magic Johnson. You could appreciate that both were phenomenal
basketball players. It's possible to do. It's also possible to talk about how
great one is without putting the otherdown. But for what whatever reason,
we have this this toxic discourse onsocial media where battle lines are drawn and
if you're this person, you can'tbe this person and if you're you support
that one, you can't. Andit's just it's stupid. It's stupid.

(30:14):
I'm so sick of it. I'mso sick of seeing it. I you
know, I don't know, uhwhy don't I don't know where this original,
I don't know why it's the thing, but I just I'm enjoying the
fact that there are additional options towatch in this dead period for sports,

(30:36):
with uh the Stanley Cup being onelast night. Uh, it's basically baseball,
and now we've got some some sortof basketball. You know, we
got something else to watch. Sowhy why is everybody trying to ruin this
with with just this toxic discourse?Man, Like, I get so so
tired of this stuff. If it'sokay to like Caitlin Clark and Angela Reese,
Angel, excuse me, it's okayto like angel and Caitlin Clark,

(30:59):
it's ok like neither. It's okayto like one over the other. But
why does everything have to turn intothis us versus them dynamic all the time?
And I just I don't know.I see it on there, and
it's just it just bothers me.It's just something that's sort of stuck with
me, and I don't particularly carefor it. The NBA Draft Men's is
coming up soon. Hawk's still consideringoptions at number one, even with one

(31:23):
of their top targets, Alex Saw, refusing to come in for a workout
and meet with the organization. Theripple effect that will take place with the
decisions it picks one, three,and five. Well, we'll kind of
throw the first night into into chaosa little bit. Brownie James probably gets
picked by the Lakers at fifty five. But you know, whether or not

(31:45):
anybody grabs him in the first roundand attempt to leverage them and try to
you know, make a trade orany of that kind of stuff remains to
be seen. I think the biggestquestion is who the Hawks take at number
one. Donovan and cling it outof ucat has been a huge riser,
kind of a dark horse, butbeen gaining traction. Uh, you get
Zachary Risischer out of France. Wementioned Alex Saar already. The Hawks aren't

(32:08):
against taking Saw at one, buthe hasn't come in for a workout,
so you know, for me,it feels like that they're likely to take
Ristcher or Clinging or entertaining trade talkswith these Spurs who have picks four and
eight, uh and future assets thatcould be valuable for the Hawks if they
try to blow this thing up anduh, you know and rebuild. Uh.
There are several potential trades there inthe in the lottery portion. If

(32:34):
the Spurs uh take Ristisure, theytrade up, they take Risarder and clinging
falls. He could be in playat five for Detroit, Portland, Memphis
and they're picking five, seven atnine. So there's you know, there's
there's a lot. There's a lotthere Uh. Nicola Jokic. Uh,
There's there's a lot of buzz aroundthe the other Nicola. It's a Serbian

(32:57):
guard. Nicola topic. His draftrange, depending on who you asks,
anywhere from eight to twenty two,so quite a quite a range. But
as a guard, he's one ofthe best passers in the draft. He
puts pressure on defenses at the rim. He's a he's got a quick burst
off the dribble. Teams like theSpurs Jazz under heat could could take him
toward the end of the lottery,mid first round and sort of have a

(33:19):
guy that can stash and and havekind of a maybe a top five talent,
you know, if you can geta year to kind of develop him.
The Briddy James to the Lakers atfifty five, I think is it's
one of the weirdest sort of kindof locks. I think there's never been
as much speculation a buzz around aprojected second round prospect in recent memory.

(33:42):
But the Stars seem to be aligningfor this. The consensus around the league
is that there may be some interestfrom Toronto at thirty one, Minnesota thirty
seven, Dallas at fifty eight ifhe falls past the Lakers at fifty five.
But he's far for a finished productand he wants a guaranteed deal,
and it feels like that the Lakerstaking him at fifty five just feels fairly

(34:06):
obvious at this point. I thinkthe big the other big question is is
the big man, Zach Edy.You know, where he goes seven four
to three hundred pounder, how hetranslates. That'll be uh, that'll be
sort of an interesting thing to keepour eye on, as well as the
as the NBA Draft sort of getscloser. You are listening to Broncos Country

(34:27):
Tonight on Benjamin all Bright Long GrantSmith, Broncos Country to Night rolls on
here on kawai if at the Aninety four one FM News Talk Sports