Spurs Drop Another, Project Marvel in Peril, & Remembering Doc Holliday

Welcome to the Wednesday edition of The Sports Cave with Biggest Puma, hosted by the charismatic Sam Freas, also known as the Biggest Puma himself. Broadcasting live from the vibrant east side of San Antonio, Sam brings you the latest sports news, insightful commentary, and engaging interviews.

In this episode, Sam dives into the excitement surrounding the Final Four festivities in San Antonio, sharing his thoughts on the city's transformation since it last hosted the event in 2008. He also discusses the ongoing construction chaos downtown and the city's controversial decision to repave roads temporarily for the event.

Sam is joined by his good friend and Texas Radio Hall of Famer, Bama Brown, for a lively conversation covering a range of topics. They reminisce about the city's past, discuss the potential new Spurs arena, and share their thoughts on the passing of legendary actor Val Kilmer. Bama's stories, filled with celebrity encounters and humorous anecdotes, add a unique flavor to the show.

The episode also features a breakdown of the latest NBA action, including the Spurs' recent struggles and the standout performances of stars like Steph Curry and Nikola Jokic. Sam provides his take on the Western Conference playoff race and the implications for the Spurs' future.

Additionally, Sam touches on the latest MLB news, highlighting the Texas Rangers' recent games and the Astros' early season performance. He also gives a shoutout to the Dallas Stars' impressive run in the NHL and their prospects for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Join Sam for an entertaining and informative episode that covers the hottest topics in sports and beyond. Don't miss out on the fun—subscribe to The Sports Cave with Biggest Puma and stay updated with all the latest buzz!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Li Be, lie Be, lie Blight.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Light the beam. Welcome into the Wednesday edition of the
Sports Cave. I am your host, Sam Freeze, also known
as the Biggest Puma himself, broadcasting back live to tape
again here on the east side of San Antonio, where
my neighborhood has fully been shut down for all final
four festivities. We find ourselves twenty two days till the

(00:36):
NFL Draft. If you want to reach out to the program,
as always, you can find me on x at Biggest Puma,
on Instagram, Biggest dot Puma, and Away we Go. Had
a lot of fun the other night Monday night, launching
the first live edition of the Sports Cave. If you
miss that, do me a massive favor go to the

(00:59):
YouTube page at sports Cave Live. Give us a subscription
there to the page if you don't mind, like the
video all of the like and subscribe. You hear from
every live streamer. We will be doing Monday shows eight
o'clock live every week, and then Wednesday and Friday we'll

(01:19):
be back to live to tape. But got a good
one coming up for you Today I set down for
almost an hour with my buddy Bama Brown, who joined
me in the main segment today, we talked about the
well talked about the Final Four being here in town,
talked about the massive construction delays that have now led

(01:41):
to some embarrassing cover up by the city at the
expense of taxpayers, but we more generally talked about just
how much the city has changed since the last time
san Antonio hosted the Final Four back in eight. Also
talked a little bit at the end about the Project

(02:02):
Marvel and today's announcement of a lawsuit by the Conservation
Society to potentially prevent the tearing down of the Institute
of Texan Culture. So covered a lot. Also, of course
it's Bama, so immediately right out the gate, we got
a couple of celebrity name dropping, which again the man's been.

(02:26):
He's been in radio almost four decades. He is a
Texas Radio Hall of Famers, as much as he doesn't
like to admit it or even have other people admit it.
The dude has so many stories, so many years of
crossing paths with different people. And you'll hear right at
the top of the interview a story that I've known

(02:47):
him for years and I hadn't heard this one yet,
which somehow is not surprising considering how many stories he
has to pull from in the roll of decks. But
before we get to the main segment with Bama, as always,
we start with what I watched last night, and unfortunately
or fortunately depending on how you look at it, that

(03:10):
was the Spurs dropping their fifth game in a row.
They end up losing one sixteen one oh five to
the Magic and it's one of those best case scenario
games for this point of the season. While yes, technically
they're not mathematically eliminated from the play in, not that
they would really want to get there now because they

(03:30):
don't have Wemby obviously. Still, I think five games back
of the Kings with seven games to play, so not
mathematically eliminated, but basically eliminated, which, if you're asking me,
that's not such a bad thing at this point. Try
to not intentionally just flat out tank because you still

(03:53):
want to see guys like Steph Castle get to ball
out in these last few games to build going into
next year. But I said best case scenario, it's a
game where the Spurs led most of the game and
then got outscored in the fourth quarter. What was it?
I have a thirty seven to twenty one in the
fourth quarter, end up losing that after being up double

(04:15):
digits there in the third, and again, it sucks to lose,
but at this point not the worst case because all
as we watch these final four games this weekend, I
know a lot of y'all out there will be thinking
about who the Spurs are potentially taking with that top
ten pick that they are going to have that they own,

(04:37):
but not just that, also looking at the other pick
they will own this year for sure, that's the Atlanta
Hawks pick, where we'll talk about that here in a minute.
It actually it was a win win for the Spurs
because not only did they increase their draft odds by losing,
but also the Magic moved ahead of the Hawks with

(04:59):
that win last night, so the Magic now sits seventh
in the East, pushing the Hawks back to eighth. Of course,
Spurs owned the hawks unprotected first round pick, so it's
a win win. Spurs made their own pick better. They
also made the Hawks pick better by dropping them in
the standings with the Magic moving up. So I know

(05:22):
it doesn't feel good to watch losing basketball. The bigger
headline coming out of the game last night to me
is not the outcome of the game. But the fact
that Jeremy Sohan was ruled out with back spasms, you know,
less than an hour before tip off. It was it
was actually during warm ups when he got taken off.

(05:44):
He removed himself from warm ups to go get checked out,
and then was eventually ruled out of the game with
back spasms. That's not what you want to see the
rest of the way, you know, with only seven games
to go and already being bitten by the injury bug
all year, with you know, starting the season with the
Cell injured, and then Jeremy's injury a month into the

(06:07):
year into the season, and then of course Wemby's indefinite leave.
Now with the blood clots. You gotta believe eventually the
injury gods will swing back your favor. But last night,
it last night that was not the case. Hopefully nothing
long term for Jeremy. Hadn't seen any significant update of

(06:31):
how long they were expecting him to be out. But
you know, I say, you want to lose these games,
but you want to see the guys like Castle, like Sohn,
like vascill, the guys that you think are going to
be building blocks. You want to get them at least
as much development time as possible in these potentially meaningless

(06:52):
games the rest of the way, So certainly having him
out of the lineup, while it might help you lose games,
and it's not ideal because he's a guy you want
to actually see developed. So a bit of an unfortunate break,
but hopefully in the long term that is nothing too serious. Also,

(07:13):
for those keeping records, CP three last night passed Kobe
for fifteenth now all time and games played in NBA history,
So yay, we made history, you know, the CP three thing.
I would have loved to see what this team would
have looked like over the course of the last month

(07:35):
of this season, with Wemby still healthy, with the veteran
like CP three leading things obviously, you know, dearon Fox
out now opting to have the surgery because these games
aren't really meaningful in terms of actually trying to make
the play in I would have loved to see what

(07:55):
this group could have cobbled together, especially as the MAVs
have completely crumbled post Luca trade. The Sun's look worse
off somehow. The Suns are probably gonna have two all
NBA players, you know, Durant and Booker. It seems like
one of those will probably slide into a third team

(08:16):
All NBA spot. But the Sons having two All NBA
guys and potentially missing the play in themselves, it would
have been wide open for the Spurs to make a
late charge. But I think, assuming Wimby's long term health
is nothing too serious, I think the best outcome is

(08:37):
probably missing this This was not the window, miss this
play in, miss this playoff, and then next year it
is time. There's no more rebuilding, there's no more CP three.
We need your veteran leadership going into next season. It
is all about being a solid playoff team, not just

(09:00):
fighting for a play in spot. And again that's why
I'm so excited about this summer. With the two draft picks,
the two first round picks guaranteed, and looking at how
deep this NBA draft class is, potentially the Spurs getting
not one, but maybe even two guys that end up

(09:22):
being a part of the future plans. I say all
that they'll probably end up trading the second pick like
they did with the Dillingham pick that was even higher.
What was that sixth overall? So looks like they're going
to get potentially have an opportunity to draft a another
foundational piece with that pick that they own in the

(09:44):
top ten because this draft class is so strong. But
it wasn't just the Spurs last night. The NBA as
a whole had a great night across the league, headlined
by two of the biggest performers, two of the biggest
names in the league having absolute standout performances. Steph Curry
goes for fifty but more, it wasn't the overall points,

(10:07):
it was the three point shooting. He entered the fourth
quarter last night with eleven made threes. You'll remember Klay
Thompson holds the record for most threes in a game
at fourteen, so it looked like Steph might make a
run at his former teammates record. Ends up only making twelve,

(10:27):
but twelve threes on twenty attempts, so I mean shoots
sixty percent from three. Warriors end up beating the Grizzlies,
which actually pushes them up the standings past Memphis. Golden
State now sits in the five seed. Memphis slots back
to the six. But the game of the night, no question,
potentially honestly the game of the year in the regular season,

(10:51):
at least Denver and Minnesota absolutely had a preview of
what the Western Conference playoffs could look like this year.
Jokich ends up going for sixty one sixty one points,
ten assist, ten rebounds, triple double. Unfortunately, t Wolves win
the game one forty to one thirty nine in double overtime.

(11:13):
But Jokic's numbers are just absolutely insane. He shoots eighteen
for twenty nine from the field and six of eleven
from three, so just insanely insanely efficient. Sixty one point
nine one of the best game we've seen from an
individual all season long. I know the double overtime helps

(11:35):
his numbers a little bit, but still, when when you
get sixty plus points on that level of shooting efficiency,
I don't necessarily hold it against you that you had
an extra two periods two five minutes overtimes to make
those stats look a little gaudier, but an amazing game.
I mention potential playoff preview there. You know those two

(11:59):
teams Minnesota knocked Denver out last year. Minnesota looked like
they had the recipe, at least the best recipe of
any Western Conference team to stop Jokic in a playoff series.
Last year with kat Karl Anthony Towns and Gobert. Well,
it looks like this year Minnesota might be prepared to

(12:22):
play spoiler again. If you go all the way back
to the beginning of the season when I made some predictions,
I said, if I had to guess, I had Boston
and Denver in the NBA Finals, and the Boston side
of things I feel really confident about. Although Cleveland is good,

(12:44):
but we'll see what they look like in the playoffs.
The Western Conference looks appears to be absolutely wide open
with mentioning stuff. And the Warriors, you know, they have
completely rebuilt themselves on the fly. The Jimmy Butler edition
could not have gone any better so far, and it
gives them. It gives them a bit of that Warriors

(13:05):
championship edge back, some of that attitude. No one wants
to see Steph Curry in a playoff series, but if
it was just Steph Curry and Draymond, you don't. You're
not as scared, You're not as worried. Jimmy Butler makes
them a real threat now in the West. Of course,
the Lakers getting Luca that completely changes everything I talked.

(13:28):
I talked a little bit about the Luca trade on Monday,
Night show. I could talk about it every time, I'm
not going to. It's just crushing, especially of all teams.
The fact that he went that it's the Lakers that
makes that just makes it so much worse. But go
back listen to Monday show and talked about it a

(13:48):
little bit. I'm gonna have in a in a coming
Wednesday show. I'm gonna have one of my childhood buddies
on to talk about where his MAVs fandom sits now
now at this crossroads for the franchise, and I just
I just don't think they realize the actual damage they
have done to their fan base, generational damage. But as

(14:12):
far as the rest of the West, I mean, Memphis,
is you fire your head coach in the final month
of the season when you're still sitting in the middle
of uh you know the playoff teams there now I
fall back to six, but you know that's a Memphis
team that two of the last three years they have

(14:34):
been the two seed in the West and the other
year was when Jaw didn't play. So Memphis, I think
is still they're the team that you're potentially wanting to
hunt in a in a playoff series them or Houston
just because all the other teams in the West have
championship pedigree and they're really the only two that don't.

(14:55):
But you know, Minnesota, if they are starting to round
back into what they looked like in the playoff going
into the playoffs last year. You remember that's a Minnesota
team that made it all the way to the Western
Conference finals before Luca absolutely started just went off yelling

(15:17):
at Gobert after he crossed. Luca hunts Gobert more than
any player in the league, and that goes back to
international days. But Minnesota looks like they might be up
for a fight, at least put up a good fight
in a playoff series. But as far as a neutral fan,
you know, not going to have sure you know, my

(15:38):
childhood MAVs will be in the play in They're not
going anywhere. There's and of course the Spurs, you know,
falling out of the race here. Over the last month
as a neutral fan, I am really really really looking
forward to the NBA playoffs. I just think the Western
Conference side of the bracket is going to be every

(16:01):
single first round series, I think you could talk yourself
into either team winning no matter what the matchups end
up being and it'll be curious to see over the
last two weeks of the season if any teams try
to rest guys against certain other teams to potentially target
a specific seed or a specific matchup they want to

(16:24):
try to get in the first round. But a big
night across the NBA capped with the double overtime game,
last game of the night before we get to Bama.
Real quick. Got to mention my Rangers, got to mention
a little baseball. We talked a lot of baseball on
the Monday program. Rangers end up giving up fourteen runs

(16:49):
in that first game of the series in Cincinnati. But
wouldn't you know it, the pitching as massively as they
can implode and give up fourteen runs, they can also
have back to back one to nothing wins, back to
back shutouts two nights ago or last night, it was

(17:10):
Valdi going the full complete game shutout earlier today this afternoon,
Jack Lder, another strong inning, gives up zero runs over
five innings. But the side note he only threw seventy
pitches because he started to form a blister on his finger.
So something to keep an eye on. But as far

(17:33):
as Rangers fans looking at the question marks, in that rotation,
I think you had to You had to brace yourself
for potentially only one or neither of the Jack Lder
Kumar Rocker combo actually hanging around the rotation longer than

(17:54):
the first couple months of the season or even first month,
and it looks like Jack Lder might have figured some
things out. His velocity is way up. It just looks
he looks more poised so far. Of course, it's baseball.
It's only two starts, but compared to last year, where
he made a handful of appearances and had an ERA
over nine, versus Kumar Rocker, who made a dramatic rise

(18:19):
through the system after getting healthy last year, I think
going into spring training a lot of people had more
faith in Rocker than they did Lighter. And of course
it's only been a week, but through one trip through
the rotation, it looks like Lighter potentially has figured some
things out. Hopefully Kumar. Kumar was the starter in that

(18:40):
game where they gave up fourteen runs in the first
game of the series in Cincinnati, so hopefully he figures
some things out. But well, of course we're going to
keep an eye on the Al West throughout the season.
Astros I talked about it Monday. It's so weird for
the Astros to open the season with back to back

(19:00):
series against National League teams. They open in Houston, take
two out of three from the Mets after dropping the opener,
but then today, earlier this afternoon, they lost in San Francisco,
lost six to three to the Giants, and that gave
gave the Giants the sweep, the three games sweep. So

(19:21):
the AO West standings, it is very early, I understand,
but first place Texas Rangers. Again, I know it's early,
but good God give it to me at least for now,
because I think we all believe it's a Rangers Astros
battle for that division. The Mariners have the pitching. We'll

(19:42):
see if their offense it can match the slugging prowess
of both the Rangers and Astros lineups. Because surprisingly, the
Angels are off to a four and two start. But
besides my love for Ron Washington, I don't think there's
a whole lot of hope amongst the Angels fan base
that that is going to be something that is able

(20:07):
to sustain itself over the course of one sixty two.
And then of course there's the poor Sacramento Athletics, who
can't even they sold out the minor league park they're
playing at. I think it's fourteen thousand capacity. They sold
it out for the opener, didn't sell it out for
game number two, and by game number three they were

(20:28):
under ten thousand paid attendants. So no matter what city
the A's go to, they will never have a draw.
Maybe Vegas will change things, but at least for this season,
there's just something something about seeing a minor league stadium
not even full is somehow so much worse than seeing

(20:53):
the giant Oakland Colisseum completely empty. If you can't even
sell out a minor league stadium, that's, of course, I'm
not sure that people of Sacramento are real are really
rushing out to support the A's, knowing that they are
just a basically a you know, a jumping point until

(21:15):
the stadium in Vegas is done being built. So we'll
keep our eyes on baseball. I mentioned at the end
of Monday's show the Stars were playing late night hockey
Monday night. They end up winning that game three to
one up in Seattle. They haven't lost in regulation since
March fourteenth. If you have if you have no desire

(21:38):
to watch the NBA Playoffs because the Spurs aren't in it.
If you have no desire to watch, you know, any
of the other teams in the West battle it out.
If I didn't convince you earlier with how excited I
am for that, I highly, highly highly suggest getting on

(21:58):
the Stars bandwagon, because there's still a chance that they
have their best statistical season record wise ever. Obviously I
don't expect them. I mean, they're on a six game
win streak, only have two losses over their last nine games,
and both of those losses one was in overtime and

(22:19):
one was in a shootout, so you know, have taken
almost have only dropped two points over the last nine games.
That's not a sustainable trend, but still have a chance
to end up having their best season ever. Made a
giant audition at the trade deadline, bringing in Miko Ranton

(22:41):
in increasing their Finnish mafia, you know, basically Finland's national team.
Their whole top line now plays for the Dallas Stars.
Three forwards, two defenseman. They're just missing a finish goalie,
but we've got Otter, so not too worried about that.
I cannot tell you how much I'm looking forward to

(23:01):
the to the Stanley Cup playoffs and potentially another Deep
Stars run real quickly before we get to Bama. It's
April second. I'm not going to spend time talking about
Jerry Jones, but bear with me. Him and Steven are

(23:22):
opening their mouth this week talking about the Mica and
the negotiations, and we're not I'm not going, you know,
tit for tat quote for quote with them. You know,
Steven talked about, well, you know, we're not worried about uh,
we're not worried about what other people think of the
timing of when we get contracts done, of when we
get extensions done. But that's also the same Stephen Jones

(23:45):
that said his biggest regret was that they didn't get
the DAK deal done sooner. So Steven's talking out of
both sides of his mouth. Now. Jerry is saying, I
don't even talk to Micah's agent. I don't even know
his name. That's a lie. He's gonna goiated deals with
that same agent before. It's more of the Joneses trying
to conduct business like it's nineteen ninety four and we

(24:09):
don't have the Internet and we can't just fact check
film immediately and pull up the quote that they had
less than eighteen months ago that absolutely contradicts what they're
trying to tell you. Now, don't fall for any of it.
It's only the negotiations are only getting started. They haven't.

(24:29):
It doesn't seem like they have actually compared or you know,
put any numbers in front of each other. It doesn't
sound like Micah has really given them a absolute firm
what he wants expectation wise, and it doesn't seem like
the Joneses and the Cowboys as an extension of them,

(24:50):
have offered Micah a specific number. Yet they've already misplayed
this negotiation like they did every other one, Like Steve
and said, you know what happens when you drag your
feet and you don't get a deal done, The market
re the market resets itself. You didn't get Micah done
when you should have. You still haven't got it done.

(25:13):
Miles Garrett can reset the market. The edge rushers that
are still going to get extensions apparently before Micah are
just going to drive Micah's number up. And Micah is
as whatever you think of Micah, whatever you think of
the Micah as the entity, Micah the football player is elite,

(25:35):
the elite of the elite. He is Miles Garrett when
it comes to you get what you're paying for. The
production on the field is truly elite. You can have
the argument, the conversation that he does too much off
the field. I don't really, honestly have a whole lot
of concerns, as you remember. I mean, I just I

(25:58):
like it when Michah parts like it when Michah Parsons
looks good again, and I want him to look good
again in a Cowboys uniform. And unfortunately they have drugged
their feet once again getting one of these extensions done. Hopefully,
hopefully it does not end up like the CD LAMB
contract extension contract negotiations of last year, where it goes

(26:20):
all the way down to you know, they've broken camp
and we're in the final week of the preseason and
we still don't have a deal done. I can't imagine
the Cowboys want to go down that route again, especially
the difference when you are negotiating with Micah. Mike's going
to talk about it in the press, and he is
already shot back at Jerry in a somewhat respectful manner

(26:43):
of basically saying like Jerry, you know my agent's name,
you talked to him last week. Don't don't do this,
don't play this game. You know what I want, You
know the structure of the parameters. Let's actually drill down
and get this deal done. So no one surprise. The
Cowboys have already misplayed this negotiation. But unfortunately it can

(27:07):
get worse. And even more unfortunate, the expectations are that
it will get worse. So that's too much time talking
Cowboys the first week of April already. We will, of
course twenty two days till the NFL Draft Cowboys have
the twelfth pick. We'll talk a lot of football in
the next few weeks as we get ready for the draft.

(27:28):
But earlier today I was joined by my good buddy,
Texas Radio Hall of Famer Bama Brown. Set down for
almost an hour with him, had a good, wide ranging
conversation about the new Spurs Arena, potential potential deal, the
Final Four, and all of the fun local construction chaos

(27:51):
that the Final Four has now somehow made even worse
here in the neighborhood town. And at the top, had
to talk about the news that we all received earlier today,
the passing of Val Kilmer. So, without further ado, here's
our conversation from earlier. Well, joining me now is a

(28:14):
man that needs no introduction, but I will attempt one anyway.
We're joined in the sports cave now by the great.
Some might even say Hall of Famer, Bamba Crown. You know, Hey,
you know I'm gonna give it to you every chance
I can get. Though. I was joined by my buddy
Bama here thirty would you say? Thirty seven years.

Speaker 1 (28:38):
Seven years Austin radio.

Speaker 2 (28:40):
Yeah, and a Texas Radio Hall of Famer. As much
as he won't care to admit it.

Speaker 1 (28:46):
Let me just say this, just because you've done something
a long time doesn't mean you're good at it. I mean,
you know it's and I think that Hall of Fame
if you just don't die after that length of time
they put you in there.

Speaker 2 (28:58):
Yeah, you're saying you're like the A C. Green of radio.

Speaker 1 (29:03):
Yeah, you know what's funny? What's funny? I have a
name dropper friend, but my friend Dan rather news newsman.

Speaker 2 (29:11):
Dan dropping names.

Speaker 1 (29:13):
Yeah. First thing Dan, when I got in the Hall
of Fame, he said, I think I speak for Walter
when I say we want out. Now. You know, as
you have deluded it so badly. And I said, you know,
if you keep giving me crap about this, I'm going
to give you crap about Robert Redford playing you in
your movie.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
You know.

Speaker 1 (29:32):
I'm like, you talk about a stretch you and Robert you,
Robert Rivers playing you?

Speaker 2 (29:39):
What are we doing here? Yeah? Let the record show
that Walter name drop. You dropped there as well as Cronkite.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
I'm I didn't know him, No, I just knew Dan
and and uh Dan King I'm famous for I'm not famous.
But this is when when Dan Rather and Connie Chung
having a national fallout, you know, it was national news.
They had a falling out. The first radio show Damn
Rather did was mine and he came in there and

(30:09):
I had a female partner at the time. So this
goes back what thirty something years, and I said something,
my partner sits up to you know, when I went, well,
then you know how those female partners are. And he
goes tell me about it. Oh. I got all the
way back up to New York Man and they were like,
why would you You were told not to even bring
that up. And I'm like, hey, you know, I was

(30:30):
just trying to be funny, you know.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
Yeah, that is literally my job here. Like I am,
I saw an angle for humor and I took it absolutely.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
I'm not going to let that just lay there. When
they tell you not to talk about something, you go, okay,
I sure won't. Then you can't wait, you know, to yeah,
and you.

Speaker 2 (30:46):
Get creative to find a way an angle where you
can bring it up and actually not piss off the
guest and actually response from the guest.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
I'll have another on my Friday night date from when
I was growing up as you're too young, but for
me and a lot of guys, MI, I'm sixty seven.
Marsha Brady, Marsha Marshall. Marsha Marcia came and did my
show one time, and right before she walked in the
same female partner, they said, you can't bring up the
Brady bunch. She was there for some charity event, and

(31:16):
I went, I don't know what else. So I sat
there in an interview with my partner doing everything, and
I was like, I don't I couldn't think of anything
to say, and then finally it was becoming awkward that
I wasn't talking, and my partner goes, Bam, I do
you have a question for Marsha Brady or Merriam McCormick

(31:37):
or whatever her name is. And I said, when you
went to the problem of that astronaut? Was that a
real astronaut? You know? Couldn't help myself? And she said, well,
that happened on the TV show I was on, and
that's helped me build a career. But I'm like, I'd
like to think I'm more than that. And I said, well,
you certainly are more than that. But for me, guys

(31:59):
my age, you were my fright. You and Susan Day
you and in the Partridge girl y'all were my babes,
you know, for Friday Night.

Speaker 2 (32:06):
So yeah, I always I always wonder about the celebrity
that uh, you know, doesn't want to be identified or
associated with the most obvious thing that they are identifiable for.
It's just embrace it.

Speaker 1 (32:22):
I mean, I had had I had a buddy in
radio that had Foster Brooks on and he goes, yeah,
I'm not doing the drunk thing, And.

Speaker 2 (32:30):
Then what are my buddy here? Why are you here?
It really is that simple.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
What do you you know? What are you doing? I mean, uh, now,
my other friend another name dropper, Uh, Larry the Cable Guy.
You here done that. He'll say that any and all
that you talk about a whore, that boy is, Hey.

Speaker 2 (32:50):
That's that's a man who knows how to make his money.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
He and I go way back. He was a radio guy,
and we go way, way way back, and in fact,
I go back with all those guys. But they used
to come into my shows. They were doing their stand
up suit town. They would come in to my show
free plug and then they you know, sell tickets and uh,
Larry the Cable Guy, whose real name is Dan by
the way, he his whole act was what is his
rush or something? And then when the wall fell, he

(33:16):
calls me and he goes, dude, my act's over. My
whole thing was when the wall fall and now it's falling.
You know what is his rush ism? And it was
he said I got nothing. And he was at a
club and just part of his stand up was that
Larry the Cable Guy part. You know. He would go, hey,
this guy come to your house and he talks about
Larry the Cable Guy. And David Spade was in this

(33:38):
club and I don't know David Spade, but David Spade
told him. He said that's your that's your act right there.
You need to do this Larry the Cable Guy, and
he should send a check every month to David Spade
for suggesting that. You know.

Speaker 2 (33:51):
Yeah, no, that's uh. I had no idea. So he
was he was basically like Alie G like Sasha Baron
Cohen where yeah Ollie G Brune.

Speaker 1 (34:01):
End up guy. Yeah, just he just hes just going
around and all of a sudden, you know, he's his
axe over because his main what is is ruges. He
did it kind of in that same voice, you know.
But uh uh. I remember when Ron white Tater.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
The Great Ron White Tater called.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
Me and he goes, hey, I can't do your show. Now.
We were scheduled to have him on in two weeks,
and he said, I can't do your show in two weeks.
I'm going to Mexico to lay tile. I'm done with comedy.
And I said, uh yeah, okay, good luck with that
laying Tyle in Mexico. Yeah, I hope that works out
for you. Ed uh. Then he called about three months later,
I need to come by and do your show. Man
that Tyle Dell didn't go, and so.

Speaker 2 (34:41):
He ended up as well as playing with Foxworthy.

Speaker 1 (34:44):
Foxworthy is the smartest of all those guys. He's the
genius in that thing. He's got about half a billion
dollars too, you know.

Speaker 2 (34:51):
Him and the other guy, what's the uh, the other
main ring leader, Bill Inglell.

Speaker 1 (34:56):
Now, Bill is actually from Georgetown. He was a he's
uh he lived in Georgetown as a kid. Uh, and
he was a lifeguarden round rock at the pool. But
I buddy mine bought his house in Georgetown and uh,
he's got some ties here uh forever.

Speaker 2 (35:13):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
Tater Ron White's mom lived in Buttah forever, I mean forever.
And he actually had her come to a show one
time and he said, I just want to say, I
want to point her out. My mom's here and uh,
and his mom stood up and he goes, what are
you doing standing up? Nobody told you to stand up.
It's my show. And now I got to pay you.
You know.

Speaker 2 (35:32):
Now you're now you're a functioning cast member.

Speaker 1 (35:36):
No. He funny stories from those guys back in the
old days, you.

Speaker 2 (35:40):
Know, the most fun. And we've been doing okay, we
should say you always give me a chance to plug
my podcast at the at the top of yours. Uh,
we've been working together what six months now, like.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
We've known each other a long time. And and let
me say this, the big Cat, he the Big Puma.
He is nationally known for sports. He actually played college basketball.
Always point that out because he did. You're not talking
about it. He actually did it. And that's one thing.
When the guys did it and then talks about it,
you can go, yeah, he knows what he's talking about.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
My check already cleared. You don't have to give me
the credit. This is the opportunity to promote the Bama
Brown experience and.

Speaker 1 (36:22):
Been doing a long time. I didn't say you were
good at it.

Speaker 2 (36:24):
You longevity? Again, was it.

Speaker 1 (36:28):
Gessa College when it was Tier one, Tier nine school or.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
It was just barely? There were high schools in Abilene
that had better facilities than where I was at at
McMurray University.

Speaker 1 (36:42):
McMurray. That was at McMurray University.

Speaker 2 (36:45):
The honest to God's truth. We practiced at Abilene Wiley
High School.

Speaker 1 (36:49):
Oh my god, we have better.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
Facilities, uh than McMurray. And then play you kicked.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
The School of Deaths basketball team's ass. I remember that game,
you know, because and they don't have to Nobody cheers
for them. They can't hear it anyway, so it's you know,
and don't nobody's gonna call them play because nobody, you know,
they can't hear this.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
So yeah, so you're safe. You're still safe.

Speaker 1 (37:10):
I feel what I am. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
The most fun I have had over the last six
months of us doing the podcast together is just stumbling
into the random stories that you have floating around your head,
like the one like I didn't even intend have a
I have a run sheet here for us, uh, And
I didn't even imagine that we would be ten minutes

(37:34):
into it as I'm still trying to plug your podcast
because again, you just you have so many stories from
your time in radio, and not just your time in radio,
but just your time here in South Texas. Uh, obviously
the region that is most familiar to both of our listenerships.
You over in Austin area, me here in San Antonio.

(37:57):
So I thought, you know, we've relaunched or reconfigured the
Sports Cave a little bit recently. I won't have you
you don't have to do any live shows to go
on camera, but oh thank god. Yeah, having you here
on Wednesdays, it feels like a good day to kind
of maybe catch some of the stories that are either

(38:20):
sports tangential or obviously like today we have massive breaking
celebrity news Yeah yeah, I said you or yeah something
you know as many I mean hell, just the course
of the first three stories full of name dropping that
you threw out there. You have a history of crossing

(38:42):
paths with a lot of different celebrities. So when someone
as big as Val Kilmer passes away, who we got
the news he passed away at sixty five, apparently late
last night. I always feel I feel like getting your
thoughts on uh celebrity news, uh feels feels like a

(39:05):
good use of all of those stories and uh, you know,
references and knowledge you have floating around your head. I
know we talked about it a little bit earlier, uh
uh for your podcast, but uh, you know, for for me,
you know, Val Kilmer is one of those guys. It
feels like if you're you know, I'm born in the

(39:30):
mid eighties, so a lot of my I mean, he was,
he was one of my batman's he really uh you know,
I was forced to watch Western movies my whole life,
you know, Eastwood movies, and they're fine, they're fun, but
as a kid, it's not the most entertaining thing. And
then all of a sudden, Tombstone comes along and.

Speaker 1 (39:50):
I'll be your huckleberry. I say that, I said it.
I believe Sunday I said it to somebody. I'll be
your huckleberry. You know it's uh, it's I tell you
what's to me? Whom is you know you've had a
career when people have a favorite movie of yours, you
know what I'm saying, And they're so different. I know

(40:12):
you are a Doors fan man, You're you're a Morrison fan.
I know that the way that's gotta be. Probably, I
believe somebody told me one time he learned fifty Jim
Morrison songs and he could sing him better than Morrison,
and his own band couldn't tell the difference. That's one
of the things that I remember he's saying so well

(40:35):
that when his band was listening for the movie track,
they couldn't tell which one was Val Kilmer, which one
was was Morrison.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
So that's that's what PRIs me, because you know, Val
Kilmer is a he's not he plays all of these
or he played a lot of these badass roles. I mean,
I Doc Hall to day Batman, Bruce Wayne. Uh, but
he was at his heart a absolute theater drama nerves,

(41:04):
the Juilliard School, a drama graduate. Was was always I think,
viewed himself as more of a serious actor that ended
up becoming, uh, maybe more of the pop culture actor
than he ever intended to.

Speaker 1 (41:20):
And you can you can name a dozen movies and
no tour alike. I mean you start thinking like a
John Wayne or like you said, Clint Eastwood. These guys
they have that same that same kind of whatever the
movie is, that same kind of act. You know. Val
Kilmer was completely different in every single movie. And and

(41:43):
by the way, this isn't just because the guy's passed away.
We're talking great about him. We always both of us
are always been big fans of his. Uh but uh,
he will always you know, he'll he'll always be Doc
Holliday to me. But then there's some other people that
just as much thought about him. And uh in that
movie where he's he's uh, simon, what's his face? He's

(42:06):
the what do you call it? That I can't think of?
It is there? He travels all over with the Elizabeth
shoe that movie.

Speaker 2 (42:12):
Yeah, Oh man, I was looking through the list of
the the the couple that I had forgotten adult what's.

Speaker 1 (42:20):
The name of the in uh? Roger Moore played the
original and then he was the Saint. It was the Saint,
and a lot of people just thought he was fantastic
in The Saint, you know. And uh so that's their movie,
you know, my you know, and of course Iceman, He'll
always be Iceman to the whole you know, eighties, eighties,
late eighties generation there, you know, and not early generation.

(42:42):
I guess mid eighties, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (42:44):
So yeah, yeah, I mean I was an absolute top
gun uh nerd as a kid, you know. That was
that was probably the first time, first thing I ever
saw him in. Uh And then you know, flash forward
to a couple of years ago with the sequel that
came out, The Top Maverick, And I mean, I remember

(43:06):
the roommate and I sitting in the movie theater because
that was one of those movies where I told myself,
I want to see this in a theater because you know,
I need I need the full experience for this. And
I remember we were sitting in the theater when they
got to the scene where Val Kilmer Iceman shows up

(43:26):
and he's talking through the computer and he's you know,
he can barely talk because of the tracheotomy he had
because of the throat cancer. And you could audibly hear
people either one, you know, doing the right hold back
the tears, and then you heard you, I mean we,

(43:47):
God is my witness, even heard multiple people let out
solid like oh, you know, like the little It was heartbreaking,
but it was also somehow the perfect bookend on his career,
like that his final acting credit.

Speaker 1 (44:04):
I mean, he had a good run, man, that's all
you can say. He had an absolute great run. And
he's uh, I don't like fact he's a year younger
than me and he died. That that happens more more,
you know that people are are dropping then people I
grew up with, and it's really you know, sixty seven,
I started going, man live. You know, I should have

(44:27):
took better care of myself if I knew I was
gonna live this long.

Speaker 2 (44:31):
At this point, you've already made it that far. Why
change now?

Speaker 1 (44:34):
That's a good point.

Speaker 2 (44:35):
Yeah, I was talking speaking of the roommate. I was
talking to her earlier today about you know, Kilmer's passing,
and I immediately before I could even tell her. She
texted me, She's like, you're gonna make me watch Heat again.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
Love Heat, And I.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
Said, honey, you know what you signed up for. You
already knew the answer to that before you asked. I mean,
his his the way he plays you, the way he
played the bank robber, you know, part of the heist crew,
and he I genuinely fundamentally walked out of that first

(45:14):
time seeing that movie. Uh, not in a theater, but
just seeing it whenever I was in college, and it
made me feel like Val Kilmer could handle a weapon
as good in the movie as he could in real life.
It made me think he could actually be he He
could go rob a bank the next day, just based

(45:35):
on how well he played the role in that movie.
I mean coming apparently. I think there is a Heat
too coming.

Speaker 1 (45:43):
But I heard that the I know, they trained with
the seal teams before they shot that movie so that
they would look like they were and man, they did.
They looked like they were experienced, you know, because you
people go, well, why is it, why aren't they aiming?
And I've been trained weapons and automatic weapons. The after

(46:03):
after fifteen rounds through the magazine, it's not a clip
by the way it's called a magazine. After fifteen rounds,
the barrels are so hot that they're curving you. You
couldn't as many rounds as they shot that you just
spray and hope you hit somebody. But there's no way
you're going to sniper, you know. And that's one of
the things when when when al uh, when he uh,

(46:27):
what's his face runs up and splashes in yeah, yeah,
and Pacino, you know, breeze and aims at him. After
Pacino has spent at least three mags through that that
gun of his. There's no way he could have shot
that guy in the head. What's his face? That had
so many drug problems. I can't remember his name now,
Michael God, I hate being sixty seven, and but I'm

(46:52):
glad it's I'm glad it's happening it on your show.

Speaker 2 (46:54):
And not mind you know, I've already put you through
the ringer earlier today. You mentioned, of course, the the
I'm Your Huckleberry. That was also the title of his
twenty twenty memoir, which I think now I mean again
not to just give him his flowers after his passing,
but there was a great he did so he turned

(47:18):
he had actually recorded most of his childhood because he
was such a film nerd and act so he had
all of these old home videos and they put that
out a few years ago as a big biography, right,
and that was that was amazing. Definitely going to go
back and rewatch that. But I hadn't had never read

(47:38):
his memoir and he seems like it seems like a
you know, a lot of actors. I don't really think
I ever care or need to know anything else about
him than exactly what I see on the screen. But
Valcolma seems like a guy that there was more going
on behind the camera that that I would be interested
in learning.

Speaker 1 (47:59):
So yeah, that always said that, always said he was
difficult to work with. And I remember him on Letterman
one time, you know, and Letterman said, you know, I
started asking about it, you know, and he said, well,
I'm difficult because I want it right. I want it perfect,
and you can't fault anybody for wanting it perfect no
matter what it is. I'm I hate to say it,

(48:19):
but I'm one of those guys that that's close enough,
let's call it. That's the way I build stuff, that's
the way you know, that's close enough. What you I
want to tell you who you produce the radio show,
so you know the podcast. So that's good enough. Let's
you know, let's say goodbye. So to have to know
somebody that absolutely demands perfection and with the people he's

(48:41):
working with, yeah they're going to be difficult, but the
end product is perfect, you know.

Speaker 2 (48:46):
And so yeah, it's like a hard It's like a
good coach that is hard on you because he wants,
he wants you. He just wants it to be better.
It's not it's nothing personal. I mean, if I was
difficult to work with, it's because probably because you weren't
doing a good enough job.

Speaker 1 (49:00):
It's a lot to that right there. You just said
a whole lot. But yeah, it's a toss up for
me between Tombstone and then the UH and then Heat.
I think Heat may may be my win. Let me
put it this way. I'll watch either one when it
comes on, no matter where it is. When would to
win it is? Except I can't watch TBS because you

(49:20):
have three minutes of TV a movie and then eight
minutes of commercials. And believe me, somebody that's made a
living off commercials, I can get it. I understand it,
but that don't mean I gotta sit through it. I mean,
come on, man, TBS and USA Network is like ten
of those guys that are the network. I'm on Motor Trend.
You know, I'm on Iron Resurrection seven seasons. I did

(49:42):
Iron Resurrection. You can't watch that show because there are
so many commercials running in that deal and we're not shooting.
By the way, we're not shooting any new episodes of
that that that show is is done, is done, and
I don't think they'll be doing it. The Martin Brothers
won't be doing another one that I'm aware of. They've
had asked me if I would that, because Motor Trend

(50:03):
apparently is either going away or they're talking about it.
But anyway, there's my TV plug too, So if.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
You well, pour one out for Iron Resurrection and the
great Val Kilmer. Yeah, moving on, talking well, speaking about
being close enough for government work, something I have learned
about you over the last six months. You are, ah,
you are two things, I would say, uh, a proper
hard working guy. You know, the the radio career, well,

(50:31):
the radio career not so much, but the time spent
rough neck in out in West Texas and the water
fields and you know, you have the found you had
the foundation of hard work and realized, I can't do
this for sixty seven years. I need to find a
way to get into radio. So you have the foundation
of the hard worker, and you're also seemingly a uh

(50:55):
a proper pragmatic conservative dude. Would you say that correct?

Speaker 1 (51:00):
I say, I'm a closet Okay, I'm a conspiracy guy,
you know, and I think we're I think we're all.
You know, everybody talks about, you know, the liberal and
being you know, everybody wants everybody to work and earn
their way, you know. And if you if you are
just on the government tit and have no plans to

(51:21):
do more than that, you're gonna nobody's gonna like that.
Nobody's gonna respect you. You're you're nothing. You might as
well you're you're not accomplishing anything or doing anything. Now,
that's easy to sit here and say when I have
a little money, you know, a little scratch, I'm not
you know, eating eating you know, loaf bread that's green
because i've you know, I didn't have enough money or

(51:42):
something and that, and so it's easy to be it's
easy to be that guy and look back at him.
But I can say this, if you came here and
you're ready to work, I don't care where you're fromf
you're ready to work, but welcome that. The whole country's
built on that. If you came here to steal or
rob or to uh and I'm talking about if you
ran for a.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
Fishing did these Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
And that's both sides of the isle. And it is
you know whom I know a lot of those guys
I'm friends with in the m S stuff and been
borked both sides. I did the Reagan Dinner, and I've
also worked with the most liberal people you've ever met
in your life. And and Huh, everybody wants to help somebody. Uh,

(52:24):
they want to help people. Make sure everybody. I'm an
all boats rise kind of guy.

Speaker 2 (52:28):
Yeah, that's one thing that getting you know, having known
you for as long as I have and now getting
to work with you, uh, and you know, learning, you know,
getting to know you on a day to day basis. Now. Uh,
there's a lot of crossover between the uh. You know,
obviously I'm a long haired, more liberal leaning texture. Yeah,

(52:51):
you're losing your hair conservative Texan.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (52:56):
There's a lot of crossover there though, because it's still
at the end of it, it's Texas. And one thing
we have come to agree on is the absolute inability
of our two respective cities to complete government projects in
any sort of timeline. And I see all of that

(53:18):
we have complained about in past episodes on your podcast.
I've got a good story for you today. So as
you know, the Final four is in town this weekend.
Huge expecting a huge weekend. Last time it was in
town was two thousand and eight, which I want to
talk about more, just the differences in what downtown looked

(53:40):
like then versus as it looks now.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
But and Puma tell you, I absolutely adore. I love
San Antonio. I go there every chance I get. I
have a hobby shop down there, Dibble's Hobbies, a little
plug for them, old school hobby shop. Go there today
and check it out. Don't order it online, go and
buy from support the local business down there. And and

(54:04):
I just love San Antonio. Winning a clear channel A
company that put me in radio. Their headquarters was was
San Antonio.

Speaker 2 (54:10):
And so you almost worked on revitalizing the missions at
one point.

Speaker 1 (54:15):
That whole story, that's just crazy story. We have to
tell that on your show one day is Antonio. People
will appreciate that. But I love I love San Antonio
from the Toyota plant all the way over to the
nearly the Victoria and all points in between. I wish
the two cities would grow together. I really do.

Speaker 2 (54:32):
I think well, I think, first of all, I think
Iheart's doing their part to try to make that happen
by programs like this and pairings like this to try
to cause I mean, naturally, the sprawl is eventually going
to get there. It's media markets that need to find
potentially some you know, symbiosis between the two of them.

(54:52):
But something specifically about the Final Four coming to town
this week and caught my eye. So we have the
downtown area here in San Antonio has been going through
massive construction projects over the last few years. We've added
uh you know, four three or four new high rise hotels.

(55:13):
Uh and not the cheap kind, I mean, you know,
nice elevated hotel experiences for tourism.

Speaker 1 (55:21):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
You know, we've got rooftop bars downtown on multiple buildings.
Back you know, when I first moved here, there was
a rooftop bar. Now there are you know, half a dozen,
probably actually more now that I think about it. But
along with all of that construction, UH comes the unfortunate

(55:42):
small town. San Antonio is the biggest small town in America.

Speaker 1 (55:47):
Oh that's a good that's a good way to phrase.

Speaker 2 (55:49):
It of my hometown of less than three thousand people.
But along with being a small town, that also means
massive projects are being conducted by small town folk. And
when you're talking about an event as big as the

(56:09):
Final Four, Yeah, I can't just have streets that are
completely torn up as they have been for almost a
year now. Uh. You can't have these projects that seemingly
just appear to be open ended and we'll finish them
when we finish them. Well, they're so so far behind
schedule on one of these, the stretch of road so

(56:30):
it all started. They're gonna replace the water mains underneath
the underneath the road here in downtown, so UH city
gets the gets the money for it, tears the road up,
gets down to the water mains.

Speaker 1 (56:44):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
And when they get down there, then the county and
uh CPS or the water saws they end up starting
to fight over who's gonna pay for the actual replacement parts. Right,
So instead of solving or coming to an agreement or
any of that. They just stopped working on it. They

(57:07):
stopped the project. They're like, all right, well we'll figure
that out later. We'll go do something else. For now,
we did our part. We tore the road up. So
flash forward, you know that was last year and now
the Final Four is in town in basically forty eight
hours from now, we will be having we will be

(57:28):
hosting a game at an arena that you need that
road that is torn up to get to get it
to Yeah, as a main augury. So the big brains
of our city government have decided that they finally settled
on who's going to pay for the water main, but

(57:48):
they're out of time to get the work done, right, Yes,
what they're doing now and I know you will love
this with the amount of government waste I'm about to
They tore the road up, came to it, couldn't come
to an agreement, have finally come to an agreement or
out of time. So their solution now they are repaving

(58:11):
the road without doing the work just for this weekend, right, no,
three days, four days of tourism and commerce and then
the National Championship game is Monday night Tuesday morning. They
are going to tear up the road again to restart

(58:33):
the original project a year ago. It not only is
that something, all of that is coming with an eight
hundred thousand dollars price tag.

Speaker 1 (58:44):
Yeah, that's just well. I and let me just say
it this way. I see the opportunity that San Antonio
has to get into national spotlight, you know. And so
you've got such an opportunity. So I see what they're thinking.
We want everybody that does come here for this. You know,

(59:05):
there's no there's what top five sports events. The final
four is the five, you know, and you've got a
chance to a show. So maybe in their head they're
figuring that eight hundred grand will come back in spades
down the road. I don't know, but that's.

Speaker 2 (59:22):
What they're telling us at least. And I also I
understand this is like the this is the best case
of a bad scenario.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
Right.

Speaker 2 (59:31):
You already screwed up. You got so far behind, you
spent so many months bickering about who was going to
cover the tab to begin with that. Now you've put
yourself in this situation. And no, you can't have one
of your main arteries in downtown right by the convention
center leading to the Alamodome. You can't have that road

(59:52):
tore up the way it has been for the last
six months.

Speaker 1 (59:55):
One of my favorite things about San Antonio is when
I used to go through there when I was going
to Odessa and I moved to Houston, and I was
my ex wife was in Odessa, so I was going
back and forth once every three or four weeks. But
Ten was having so much construction on ten that the
bible to go around ten. You you came to a

(01:00:18):
a left turn and a right turn and water barrels
and orange barrels, and above it to the left with
a sign that said Houston, and to the right the
sign said Houston Street, Houston and Houston. But the street
was very small and the barrels were all caved in.
I never made that trip once the barrels weren't all

(01:00:38):
shoved up against it. People at the last minute, going
which which way, Which way I turn?

Speaker 2 (01:00:44):
We called that last minute decision. That's the old San
Antonio shuffle, that just U turn the wheel, pray to God.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
And they made that trip three or four times, and
I still couldn't remember when I got is the Houston
is the street to Houston Street? What am I is
this go to cute what? And then by then you're
out of time and you're crashing into barrels or putting
somebody in the guard round. And I always thought to myself,
you couldn't have found a different street or just went
and renamed that one. You know, hey, you know like

(01:01:15):
the Austin. You know Austin. You have one intersection that
is Highway seventy one. It's also Highway two ninety. It's
also Lamar, it's also three sixty's. So, I mean it's
got five names. Ben White, it's been White also. Uh
so you got five names on one intersection and you're

(01:01:37):
driving along and you when someone asked you, and there
was a lot of stuff built around it, how do
you get where is this? And you go, well, it's
you go take Ben Well seventy one and then you
go they closed. You can't. You just don't go there.
You know, you can go there.

Speaker 2 (01:01:54):
It's just fine. Unlike the hobby shop. Just order whatever
it is you need all that.

Speaker 1 (01:01:59):
Yeah, come in. My other favorite San Antonio story is
the time that we went to the rodeo there. Uh no,
I'll tell you what we went. We went and saw
Billy Joel Nelton John at the Rodeo ground. Though, is
where that at and T Center?

Speaker 2 (01:02:13):
I think is yeah? Over yeah, over by show.

Speaker 1 (01:02:15):
So this show's over at midnight. We're going up through
this road there on the east side of San Antonio.

Speaker 2 (01:02:22):
And that's my neighborhood.

Speaker 1 (01:02:23):
Now I know, I know, exect. I'm telling you execut
And so I stop at a red light and a motorcycle,
a San Antonio motorcycle PD pulls up beside me, and
he does his window and I roll down. He goes,
don't stop, don't don't stop here, go till you get
to the I thirty five state. Don't stop at any
red light here. And I was like why, I don't understand.

(01:02:46):
Then I figured out after a few blocks. I was like, oh, man,
we're in no man's land here, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:02:51):
Yeah, and probably you know a few years ago it's
the east Side, and now we have the opposite, the
opposite problem. Now I'm I'm seeing instead of potential high
crime intersections, now I'm seeing multiple women running with their
dogs and a stroller.

Speaker 1 (01:03:10):
Now you can't afford to live there, you Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:03:13):
This country boy redneck is being priced out of the neighborhood. Yeah,
but it's it's funny you say that the is talking
about the changes in the area here. You know, I
moved to San Antonio in February of twenty eleven, and
the last time the Final Four was held here was
two thousand and eight, and so I would just you know,

(01:03:34):
I would I would like to get an idea or
maybe you know, if there's been an NCAA employee that
has been around long enough, I would love to hear
an outsider talk about how much they see the downtown
area has changed, because just in just in the last
five years, it has transformed so magnificently versus what it

(01:04:00):
was when I first moved here and course two thousand
and eight not being much much before that. It's you
talked about it like opening San Antonio up to a
more national audience along you know with these big Final
Four events. We had the Women's Final Four last year. Yeah,

(01:04:21):
you know still uh now the big speaking of downtown projects,
the big the next big project uh for for downtown
San Antonio is potentially this new Spurs arena. They're calling
it Project Marvel, moving into the part of downtown that's
right across the interstate from the Alamodome. Where the Final

(01:04:44):
Four is going to be held here.

Speaker 1 (01:04:45):
What are they gonna do with the Alamodome? Is there
is there a plan?

Speaker 2 (01:04:48):
Yeah, it's all tied into each other. It's a four
billion dollar project, and part of the plans are the
Alamodome gets a massive facelift, it a Jair Jones level
facelift h and turns into more of a not fully

(01:05:11):
NFL caliber upgrade, but like closer to that in terms
of amenities, because you know, right now, the Alamodome is
great for hosting huge events like the Final Four, but
it doesn't have a whole lot of It doesn't have
a whole lot of the like suites or uh you know,

(01:05:32):
the more fancy aspects of being a modern uh you know,
football stadium. Of course, you know U T. S A
still uses it, but they're not they're not filling it
out or really needing the you know, they got a
bunch of big money people coming to watch those games.

Speaker 1 (01:05:51):
So the sweet have you feel like a Major League
Baseball or of national football team coming here at some
point between the two.

Speaker 2 (01:05:58):
The I mean the more likely of those two is
definitely Baseball, just because I don't think Jerry Jones will
ever allow uh, the San Antonio market to have competition
with the Cowboys fans that are here, and now, I
mean there's a crap ton of Texans fans here too,
and that already probably pisses Jerry off. NFL I think

(01:06:21):
is such a such a pipe pipe dream. It's really
close as close to zero percent chance as you can
get the.

Speaker 1 (01:06:30):
Baseball what baseball team would you think is struggling in city?

Speaker 2 (01:06:34):
Sure? So they at the same time that the city
is trying to build this project Marvel, they're also looking
at building the minor league baseball stadium on the north
part of downtown, so you would have a new Spurs
Arena on the south part of downtown by Southtown, and
then you would have the new Baseball Arena kind of
on the northwest side by the market side and all

(01:06:56):
of that. Yeah, again, that's just minor league baseball, and
the stadium they're building is nowhere near what would be
required to attract a major league team. But baseball is
at least showing some openness, like they want to expand
they you know, some of the names some of the

(01:07:18):
cities that have been met like Nashville is really hard
on baseball's radar. It sounds like a potential return to
Montreal where they never should have left.

Speaker 1 (01:07:29):
Right, But would there be a team that moves or
would they start up a new team?

Speaker 2 (01:07:35):
That's the thing. It sounds a lot like baseball is
less interested in moving teams and more interested in expanding,
just adding a couple additional teams. So I still, you know,
as much as I think the thinking about it as
a San Antonio exclusive idea, I think is where MLB

(01:07:59):
probably wouldn't interested in that they would want a ideally,
I mean again talking with no sources or anything. Ideally,
I would think baseball would have a much better chance
of happening in like Butta or San Marcus, New Bronfiles area,
somewhere where you could hopefully funnel the Austin and San

(01:08:22):
Antonio market into the stadium. But again, I don't be able.

Speaker 1 (01:08:26):
To afford to buy a piece of land that big,
you know, I think.

Speaker 2 (01:08:29):
And then that's the other part of it. I mean,
New bronfles is becoming the fastest most expensive city and
not only in Texas but in America, and so I
just think the pro sports argument or attraction appeal is
so minuscule. Uh, it drives a lot of people. It

(01:08:53):
gets a lot of people clicks, and it gets a
lot of people eyeballs talking about it. But I think
if you spend five minutes it's looking at the logistics
and specifics of any proposal, I think the idea falls
apart pretty quickly because it just doesn't seem like it seemed. Honestly,
I think San Antonio, as you're sitting there in the

(01:09:15):
Austin area, I think San Antonio needs to be more
worried about getting this project Marvel done because the Spurs
are continuing that flirtatious relationship with Alan and they've brought
in multiple Austin millionaires to be minority owners over the
last few years. They're playing the games there now in Moody.

(01:09:37):
It's not realistic that they would leave for Austin without
you know, they're clearly wanting to build this new stadium.
But all of a sudden, if the you know, because
here's the other aspect of it. San Antonio doesn't have
nearly as much you know, average wealth, no exactly, yeah, market,

(01:09:58):
it's a poor city. It just it is. It is.
And when billionaire owners are asking a uh, you know,
less fortunate fan base compared to other alternative cities to
build them a new arena. I mean, a four billion
dollars price tag. Is that is outrageous.

Speaker 1 (01:10:19):
That's just that's just can't even imagine, you know, just
the stadium.

Speaker 2 (01:10:22):
As you know, it's renovating the Alamodome, it's building a
new shopping and residential area next to the stadium. It's
basically building an entire entertainment district to go alongside, UH,
to sit right next to the arena. So you're all,
you know, hopefully all of the money is just being

(01:10:43):
UH slush fund passed around between the arena and all
the businesses right around it that they're wanting to potentially.

Speaker 1 (01:10:51):
Does a river walk still do well as far as tourism?

Speaker 2 (01:10:55):
Is it still a yeah, it's still a mat. I mean,
we were It's funny you say that we were there
last weekend. It was the first time I was out
on the river, out on the Riverwalk past midnight in
a while. And it was it was a Saturday night
Spurs at home game, so I mean, there was and
there was multiple events at the downtown theaters UH, and

(01:11:17):
it felt like for the first time, granted it's the
first time I had been out since you know, post COVID,
but it felt like a normal spring break Saturday night
level of commerce, you know there even at you know,
at at eleven thirty, Uh, there were still you know,

(01:11:38):
people waiting for tables at certain restaurants.

Speaker 1 (01:11:41):
Oh that's great. Yeah, yeah, that's my memories are you know,
Saturday night the Dix there, you know, right on the riverwalk,
just you know, having a party and having a good time.
And and I've got so great every time I go there,
those memories pop up, you know, cool car, the arth concerts,
you know. And then then once again at Billy Joel

(01:12:04):
and Milton John. I mean that was the greatest show
and loved that. But uh yeah, I hope I hope
everybody gets to see San Antonio like I see them
in just a wonderful, wonderful culture city that that many
cities don't have anymore. They don't know just how we
do and go. This is our culture. It's like, look
at this, Look what we're able to accomplish. You know.

Speaker 2 (01:12:26):
Yeah, and I think that's the you know, not to
take a shot at Austin. But as it has become
more tech dominated and become more you know, as more
corporate money has funneled into that city, the whole live
music capital of the world, that whole esthetic, i mean
south By. This year was a brutal disappointment.

Speaker 1 (01:12:49):
And yeah, it's over. It's it's south By is done.
They're never gonna do it again. I don't believe somebody
said they might. But here's the thing about there's not
one musician anywhere that plays the south By that can
afford to live in Austin, Texas. That's the part that
just the music capital of the world. Ask any musician

(01:13:11):
if he can afford to live in Austin, Texas, you know,
and they just they go, Nope, they're in Butta. They're lucky.
If they're in Buta. They're you know, east of Butta,
east of Kyle, they're down there. They're all they're out
here in dripping springs, i mean dribven Springs. They can't
afford Ribbon Springs anymore. That's you forget that, man. The
average house and driven spring eight hundred and nine hundred

(01:13:31):
thousand dollars. If you've ever talked to any local musician,
that they got to practice so they have to take
construction jobs or you know, jobs that don't pay that well.
Construction does now. But you know a lot of those
jobs that so they could practice and then do their
gigs and stuff. You just can't, I mean, until you
can make it to where musicians that can afford to

(01:13:52):
live here, uh in Austin, that you forget that live
music capital of the world. Man, that's over.

Speaker 2 (01:13:59):
I think it feels like, uh, you know, the way
San Antonio has preserved its soul and its culture as
long as it has, you know. On the other hand,
Austin's barely hanging on to the tethers of what what
once was or what yeah either. It now feels like

(01:14:23):
like it's just open for business at the expense of
any lore or legacy it held beforehand.

Speaker 1 (01:14:30):
Which, yeah, the cool, the cool Austin is done. Man,
it's over, so you know, and people are leaving now.
People are leaving in droves because they come here and
they realize this. You know, I've been sold to bill
of goods. This isn't this isn't all cool like I
thought it would be. You know, it's just a.

Speaker 2 (01:14:47):
I think that's why in the end, I think the
two markets need each other more than either once to admit, right,
while yeah, while we sit and fight over things that
don't actually matter. I think both markets San Antonio drags
its feet towards any kind of a modern progress, and

(01:15:09):
Austin might move a little bit too fast. So it
feels like there's maybe a Goldilocks zone between the two markets.
It is ironic. You mentioned the cultural differences today, the
lawsuit that is holding up or that was announced that
potentially could hold up this project Marvel. It's actually the

(01:15:30):
conservation Society Share San Antonio suing to prevent the teardown
of the Institute of Texas Texan Culture. Right, So it's
again it's a conservation group in San Antonio trying to
preserve culture by blocking potential modern progress of building a

(01:15:50):
much needed new arena, but a four billion dollar price
tag and the pass that down to the citizens, it's
a hard sell.

Speaker 1 (01:15:59):
Yeah, Round Rock through that. When they built that stadium.
You know, people were talking about Nolan Ryan bad about
Nolan Ryan was like, how can you talk bad about
Nolan Ryan? But if you're asking, you know, he's a
millionaire and he's going, hey, help pay for this. A
lot of people didn't like that. The hotels, a lot
of people didn't like that. But yeah, I mean they
got it done and it's turned into next to Dell Computer,

(01:16:21):
probably the greatest thing that's happened around Rock.

Speaker 2 (01:16:23):
So you know, well, is what is it? It's Dell Diamond, right, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:16:27):
Dale Diamond is a great if you like minor league baseball.
But you get a chance to see some big name
guys before they get there, you know. So it's it's
pretty cool. It's a wonderful facility. And and I'll tell
you by Nolan, Quick, quick, Nolan, And now I'll get
out of here on this. I had Nolan he and
I I used to have him on the show. I
was a spokes first for Rudy's and so was he,

(01:16:48):
and so we would do innermural softball games between the stores.
He would pitch and I would catch. So I played
catch with Nolan Ryan and did it many many times.

Speaker 2 (01:16:58):
Well amazing, Oh.

Speaker 1 (01:16:59):
It was great. He's a super nice guy. But I
had him on my show one time and I said,
no one, I got to ask you. I said, if
you could kill somebody with a baseball, who would it be?
He goes, he goes, good Lord, Bana, he goes, My God,
Think that's the worst question. Think of all the questions,
all the interviews have done my whole life. The absolute
worst question ever. Pete Rose. Yeah, okay, he said, great player.

(01:17:24):
I hold to be in the Hall of Fame. But
if I could kill somebody with a baseball and be
Pete Rose, I'm gonna get out on that one.

Speaker 2 (01:17:30):
Man on that Canna. I know I can rely on
you for many things, but dropping the mic with a
celebrity name drop story might be at the top of
that list. As always, I appreciate you joining me man,
Love you, buddy. We'll catch up here.

Speaker 1 (01:17:49):
Soon, Love you, Love san Antonio.

Speaker 2 (01:17:51):
Yes, sir, there he goes the Texas Radio Hall of
Famer himself. He loves it when I say that if
you couldn't tell it, absolutely he drives him crazy when
I intro or refer to him as the Texas Radio
Hall of Famer that he is. Thanks again to Bama Brown,
you can always catch me alongside him on the Bama

(01:18:12):
Brown Experience. Give that a listen, because not only does
it make Bama feel good, but it also makes me
look good with the corporate overlords that control my future.
At iHeart again, thanks to Bama. I'm gonna have him
on probably a couple Wednesdays each month, and then interspers
some other guests in on Wednesdays. Wednesdays will be kind

(01:18:33):
of a floating guest day. Coming up Friday on the program,
I am gonna be joined once again the triumphant return
of the Roommate for another edition of Who Won the Internet.
As far as sports on the docket before then, we've
got Spurs at Nuggets tonight, Stars host the Preds tomorrow,

(01:18:55):
and then that dreaded Astros game up in Minnesota for
the twin home opener where it looks like it might
be wintery blizzard conditions, so we'll as always have plenty
to talk about come Friday. I know y'all are probably
tired of hearing it, but I cannot thank you enough
for your support as we around things back into form

(01:19:18):
here on the Sports Cave. But that will do it
for the Wednesday edition. We will catch you all Friday again.
If you miss the Monday show, go audio version out
anywhere you get your podcasts, but go give that YouTube
page a subscription if you don't mind help me out.

(01:19:39):
Help the crew of a LG CAP and I try
to build something there. Live every Monday night at Sports
Cave Live all audio versions of the podcast will still
come out as normal through iHeart, Spotify, Apple, wherever you
get your podcasts again, something else. You'll probably get tired
of hearing me say wherever you get at your podcast.

(01:20:00):
But that will do it for tonight, That will do
it for Wednesday. We'll see you all Friday.

Speaker 1 (01:20:07):
Kids. What do we say about drugs? You stay Yeah,