3-19 H2: Gary Hill Jr. Joins, VM’s & March Madness Discussion

Gary Hill Jr., Mariners broadcaster joins the show to talk about all things Mariners as we’re about one week away from opening day. We play a few audio messages from listeners, and we have a new tweet of the day. W/ March Madness beginning this week, Jim and Tim discuss the structure of the tournament, and much more.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Gary. How about the Koogs.What do you think so far? You
think they're going to beat Drake?Well, yeah, obviously they're going to
be Drake. I mean, youhave to win in the first round if
you're going to win the national championships, so clearly that's happening. Are you
looking for Miles Rice's perimeter shot downthere in Peoria today at all? And
if you do, can can youfind it? We need it? We

(00:20):
need it, especially against Iowa State. We need it. I want to
go to the Sweet sixteen this year? Would that be amazing? This is
one of the great uh, Imean sports stories in general. Just where
they were at one point during thisoffseason and where they are now. It's
one of the I think the greatcoaching jobs we've seen in the history of
Pacific Northwest sports. I think it'sincredible what the Cougars have done this year.

(00:43):
I'm not sure who had them inthe tournament at this point, but
a Sweet sixteen run on top ofthat would be amazing. Yeah, right
year. Yeah. Tim Booth andI were talking about that last segment and
Kyle Smith. If there's anybody who'sgoing to say no to the money and
stay in Pullman we think it mightbele Smith. At least we're hoping that's
the case. Yeah, I thinkeveryone's hoping that's the case. I mean,

(01:04):
I just I can't imagine a betterfit for a place, and just
what he's done with it's just constantoverachievement, which is so fun to watch
and so fun to cheer for.It's been incredible. Wow, that's such
a great job. Yeah, hehas done a great job there. Gary.
This is the time of year thatwe all get excited. We all

(01:25):
think our team's the greatest, butit seems like it's legitimate this year with
the lineup and the goings on downthere in Peoria. Are you getting that
same feeling. Yeah, there's alot of optimism and I think confidence is
the word I would pick, andthat's it's in the clubhouse like they believe.
And there's reason too, I think. I mean, we know,

(01:46):
we look at the rotation and Ithink it's one of the best rotations in
baseball. I think you can sayit's the top three of any three,
and if Willy and Miller can takethe next step, you know, maybe
it's a top the best two threerotations in baseball, which is significant.
We know, the back end ofthe bullpen when healthy is great and the

(02:07):
lineup looks deeper, and the bigquestion is going to be health, of
course with the lineup, like howmany games can you get out of Garb,
how many games can you get outPlanco and can you keep them all
together for most of the Season's that'sgoing to be the trick right going through
this thing. But when you lookat the length of the lineup, you
look at the pitching, there's alot of reasons to be optimistic. And

(02:27):
you know, it's funny because we'vetalked about Brash and Santos a lot and
what they're going through, but Marinersaren't alone in this, and in fact,
the Rangers are going through I thinkmore significant injuries when you talk about
Low's not going to start with theirclub, and you wonder if Seeger's going
to start with them or not.And the Astros have ver lenders. So
everyone's kind of going through this thistime of year. But I think it's

(02:47):
going to be a tight race again, and it feels like the Mariners are
going to be right there with Texasand Houston. Gary. You mentioned the
pitching staff and the starting rotation,and I think everyone has a pretty good
feel for what Castillo, Kirby,and Gilbert is going to look like.
And you mentioned Wu and Miller sortof taking that next step for you.

(03:10):
What does that next step look likefor them this season? And how I
guess crucial is that to the overallsuccess of this entire team. It's a
great question. They're both grappling withsimilar They're doing it in different ways because
they're different pitchers and they go aboutthings differently, but they're dealing with the

(03:31):
same issue and it's basically trying tofigure out lefties. That's what they're trying
to unlock. The splits for bothguys were really heavy last year, especially
Wu Woo. Eight right handed hittersjust crushed them. But lefties, you
know, high average, high slugMiller the same thing, not as extreme,

(03:53):
So both guys this year. Millerit's been with new pitches, so
he has a different arsenal that he'sattacking left he's with he's got the splitter
now that he'll look to get asan outpitch against lefties. And Wu it's
a little more refinement, a littlemore how he goes about attacking lefties.
He's doing it with the same arsenal. But that's the trick if they can

(04:15):
just bring down those numbers a littlebit, because their fastballs are special,
it's different. Righties really have atough time with it. So if they
can bring down those splits against lefties, they can really elevate this entire rotation.
Because if they can't take that nextstep forward and they don't have to
be All Stars, but if theycan take the next step and they're both
really good last year, man tirctationis going to be in a great place

(04:42):
because I have really high expectations forthe top three in the rotation. And
it's funny you look at odds forCy Young Award winners in the American League
and there are three maritors that getthrown around in that conversation. Now that's
real rare. And then if wooland Miller are along for the ride,

(05:03):
that is a deep rotation and they'renot a fun team to go against in
a three or four game series.Well yeah, and we're talking to Gary
Hill down there in Peoria. It'syou know, you look at the giant
signing Blake Snell two year, sixtytwo million. I imagine there's still some
fans thinking, boy, Blake Snell. He wanted to come home. The

(05:23):
Mariners we know wouldn't have gone thathigh for him. And yeah, I
put a bet on Kirby at twelveto one to win the cy. Young.
You look at what these guys cando, and that's I know.
We just wanted to get in theplayoffs. But but they set up so
well for being a playoff team,don't they with having those three starters,
Because I mean, you'd use afour starter and whether you go with Miller

(05:44):
or wu whichever one is fine,but more often than not, you're going
to just go right back to thenumber one starter in game four, game
five, and you know, maybeeven have them available for Game seven.
And so that's that's why I mean, I think most maridonth fans are like,
God, we don't want to squanderthis opportunity, because when are you
going to have a rotation like this? Again, Yeah, it's really special,
and I'm one hundred percent with you. I would love to see it,

(06:06):
especially if you could line it uplike if you go Castillo in game
one of the playoffs. And you'reright, we saw with Texas last year
there's so many off days built intothe postseason. You really have an opportunity
to just roll with your best guys, especially if you can mix in a
sweep or two, which the Rangersdid last year, so they have no
pitching death. But they weren't exposedbecause of the off days. But if

(06:29):
you can imagine just throwing your topthree, even move Woo and Miller to
the bullpen to go along with thefour other guys throwing one hundred in the
bullpen went healthy, It's pretty funto think about. Uh. And that's
the thing. He's just got toget in and they've been so close to
over the last three years. Justgot to get in because that that rotation

(06:53):
that pitching staff went healthy. Itreally matches up against anybody. And we've
seen it. I mean, we'veseen Castillo in the playoffs. We've seen
Kirby in the playoffs. I sobadly want to see it again this year.
It would be so fun to linethose guys up in a playoff series.
What worries you offensively, Garyott atthis point, is it is it
kind of the uncertainty in left fieldright now because Luke Rayley hasn't been terrific

(07:17):
during during spring. Is it isit just the general health that you mentioned
of guys like Garver and Hanniger who'vehad injury problems in the past. What,
I guess what what concerns you aboutthe off the one through nine lineup
at this point, you know,nine days out from the opener. Yeah,
this is going to be a boringanswer, but it's health. For
me, It's it's strictly health.And I don't expect Hannager to play one

(07:42):
hundred and thirty games or anything likethat. And I don't expect Garb to
play the full season either. LikeI think it's built in that we're going
to see some ile time with guys. But what I want the Mariners to
avoid this year is having multiple guyson the IL for long stretches of time,
because I think that's what would stinglike if you had a stretch that
you went without Polanco, Garber andHanneger, for example, if you had

(08:05):
to go month or whatever with thoseguys missing. I think that's what That's
what I'm talking about when it comesto hell. I mean, they can
survive a guy in the IL.I think this is the deepest lineup we've
seen in a long time. Theyhave some other guys to go to that
can represent pretty well in the lineupfor long stretches, which I don't think

(08:26):
they've necessarily had in years past,So that's a good thing. It's just
avoiding the multiples. I'm worried aboutLuke Rayley's spring training. I'm I am
not a spring training results guy.I think whether a guy, especially a
veteran, any not as much ofa veteran as other guys, But when
I watch veterans plan spring training,whether they go five for fifty or forty

(08:50):
for fifty, to the course ofthe spring, it's all the same when
it comes to opening day. Iguess you'd rather have a guy feeling great
going into spring training, but resultsdon't matter to be as much. So
to me, it's been great thisspring and knock on all the what you
want right now. But as muchas we've talked about Brash and Santos,
the fact that their entire lineup hasgone through the spring so far and they've

(09:13):
looked good. They've been on thefield, they've taken their cuts, they've
stayed healthy, there's been no setbacks. I think that's the best news of
all going into the season. Boy, Gary, I think Jared Kelnick could
be I want you to as hismanager because you don't care about the stats.
Well, is there any talk downthere about kel Nick, like,
hey, good move, or isit just like oh, three for forty

(09:35):
two for kel Nick down there withAtlanta, he'll get it turned around.
I mean, I just I feelbad for the kid because I can just
picture him down there just grinding awayand not getting the results. No.
Man, it's so hard to watchfrom Afar. He's just so hard on
himself, which I think is oneof the biggest issues is this game is

(09:56):
constant failure. Especially as a hitter. You're just failing all the time.
I mean, facing the best picturesin the world and pitching has never been
better. Hitting is impossible on itsown, but when you're that hard on
yourself, I just think it's itmakes it that much more difficult to not
only thrive but survive. And towatch it from afar. What's going on
in Spring And I know Atlanta justsigned a platoon partner to kind of protect

(10:20):
themselves a little bit. And it'sfunny because from the outside, I feel
like we say, hey, there'sno pressure, you're going to Atlanta.
Just bat eight or ninth or whatever. Fit in with all those great hitters
and you don't have to do much, just you know, do your thing
and be a little love replacement.But that's not the way he thinks,
you know, he's not thinking that. He's not thinking just fit in.

(10:43):
He wants to succeed and be great. And I don't know where it's gonna
go but this spring as much asI don't read into spring training numbers,
so we'll see what happens in theregular season. But I guess it's not
a great sign, especially with someof the frustration that we've seen from Afart
too. I gotta be honest,scary. I mean, we know that
the Brash and Santos won't be readyfor the regular season opener, and hopefully

(11:07):
they'll be back sometime in April.But in the meantime, it opens up
opportunities for other pitchers on the reliefstaff anyway, and there's a guy,
Tyson Miller. I don't know athing about Tyson Miller until I read Divish's
story in the Seattle Times today.Eight innings pitched in spring training, no
runs given up, two walks,ten strikeouts. I mean, is this
kid gonna make the team? SoI would that's a really good question because

(11:31):
I've been thinking about They've had alot of candidates for kind of what I
think is two open spots at theback end of the bull time. So
I'll handicap it for you how Igot it. I think they really like
Carlos Vargas and his stuff has beengreat. I'm not sure he'll break with
the club, but I think we'llsee him at least at some point,

(11:52):
and I think he's got a chanceto be really good for the Mariners,
not only this year but for thelong term. But the two guys that
have kind of stood out for me, Cody Bolton is one. They picked
him up from the Pittsburgh Pirates ayear ago and his stuff has looked great
and he's pumping ninety seven on aheater. He's got a wipeout slider and

(12:13):
a pretty good change up as well. He's one that I think is on
And I think you mentioned Tyson Miller. I think there's a good bet that
he's going to be the other,and especially valuable early in the season because
we've seen him go multiple innings multipletimes and he's a guy that you can

(12:33):
feel great about. Two just thestory he had such a rough year last
year, just in terms of likereal life person, he oh documentar for
you real quick. He started theyear with the Brewers and he was called
up and down four different times fromNashville to Milwaukee. He was traded to
the Dodgers, he was sent down, they cut him loose. He went

(12:56):
to the Mets, pitched one timefor them, went to Syracuse, was
cutloose, went back to the Dodgers, pitched one time, went to Oklahoma
City. It's just he was allover the map last year. Seven call
ups for ten major league games lastyear, and the way he described it,
he's like, you know, throwingweighted balls against the wall at a
hotel, not knowing where he's goingto go the next day, not pitching

(13:20):
for days and on end. It'sjust not a great way to live.
And he's one you're certainly rooting formaking this team. He's been around a
while, but he was going aboutthings a little bit differently this year.
And that's the fun thing that we'veseen with the Mariners. They have the
magic touch with relievers. So I'malways anxious to see, like who's going

(13:41):
to be next, Who's the next. I think it's unfair to say the
next Paul Seawall because he became oneof the best closers in the game.
But in that along those lines likewho's gonna be the next guy to be
a big part of this bullpen?Maybe Miller and I think Bolt is gonna
be another one. Gary. Whatwhat version of Ty France are we going
to get this year? Everything seemsto say that the the oor show that

(14:07):
the work that he did at DriveLine this offseason, plus coming into camp
and what seems to be better shapeis is going to pay off, and
that we're going to see more ofthe Ty France from a couple of years
ago, and that maybe batting alittle bit lower in the order, he's
not facing quite as much pressure ashe was when he was hitting second or
third. I guess what have youseen and what do you think we're going

(14:28):
to get from him? Well,first of all, he looks great.
He does noticeably look different. There'stwo guys that you look at this year
when you lay eyes on him forthe first time this season that's really stood
out and ty France has won anddom Canzone is another just he added muscle
and it clearly shows. But Tylook's great and I think you pinpointed what's

(14:50):
most important for me when it comesto ty France, and it's where he's
going to be batting in the orderto at least start the game, start
the season. And I think itreally points out how much deeper this lineup
is, because I don't know wherehe's going to about an opening day,
but seventh probably maybe eighth, dependingon where you know it could be.

(15:11):
Seventh, could be eighth. Andto me, that talks about just how
much deeper this lineup is, andif he could get back to ty France
two years ago, it would beenormous for this team. I'm encouraged by
what he said. You know,it's not just looking better, but he's
talking about he's able to get toballs that he wasn't able to get to

(15:35):
in years past. He had ahole in his swing that opponents were attacking
and attacking consistently, and it soundslike he's at a place where he can
solve that a little bit more.So. You know, he's not a
guy you're asking for thirty home runsor whatever, but if he can get
near thirty doubles, you know,fifteen homers this season, twenty homers this
season, be more of the onbase guy that was seeing in the past.

(15:58):
Man, think about it. Imean, that would be enormous for
this team, especially where he slots. And I think you're right to pinpoint
what a bounce back would mean forthis team. Boy, Gary, you
mentioned Dominic Canzone and the spring thathe's having. Is he going to be
the starting left field or are theystill gonna, you know, mess around

(16:18):
with the platoon. He looks likehe's winning the job right now. I'm
really curious to see how it playsout. I kind of look at the
Mariners outfield. I guess it's agroup of four just because I think Hannager
is not going to be an everyday outfielder, if that makes sense.
I mean, they're gonna try andget him through the season right as healthy
as possible, so they're not gonnarun Mitch out there every single day.

(16:42):
And I'm curious to see, Hey, is Canzone gonna bat against lefties?
Israeli gonna bat against lefties? Willone of them be more of an everyday
guy than just a platoon bat.I mean, Julio is the rock solid
that we know in center field.The rest of it, I think it's
super interesting to see how it playsout, and I think there's a chance

(17:03):
that they can be really productive,but there's a lot of unknowns too.
Like I Dom Canzone to me isa guy that has, you know,
such a wide He could have ayear where he it's thirty home runs,
or he could have a year wherehe gets sent down in May and comes
back up later in the season,you know what I mean. There's just
so many possibilities with him. AndI think you could say the same thing

(17:25):
about Luke Rayley, who had sucha great first half, struggle a little
bit more in the second half.So what are we gonna see there?
And I guess Tim, that getsback to what you were talking about the
corner outfields is you know, itcould be it could be super productive and
really great, or they could havesome struggles there. And I'm just not
sure what we're gonna see. ButI know they do think really highly of

(17:51):
Dom Canzone, and I think theybelieve that he is poised for a big
year, especially with homers, andwe've seen his power. He's got a
lot of power and he's a guy. I'm not saying it could happen this
year, but he could be athirty guy thirty home run guy. Wow
thirty. Yeah, okay, yeah, the power's legit. I'm not saying
it's happening this year, but thatpower is legit. He is, He's

(18:15):
got a lot of power, alot of power. Hey, Gary last
saying anything settled at third base,So that's the that's gonna be the big
question. They feel good about it. Uh Arius felt like got off to
a rocky start this spring, butit's kind of settled in and has played.
He's looked fine over there. Rojasis just a pro, So I'm

(18:38):
curious to see how that plays outas well. I'm not one hundred percent
sure that's gonna be a straight platooneither, uh Like, I don't think
Rojas is necessarily gonna draw every startagainst Riody's and there's a chance, you
know, talking about bouncebacks, likeif Marius was able to get back to

(18:59):
who he will two three years agowith Milwaukee, like that's more of an
everyday third baseman. So I thinkthat's a battle that's gonna continue into the
season and not necessarily be a straightplatoon. And it could be more of
a hot hand situation too, becausewe saw Rojas play pretty well for the
Mariners down to the stretch. Butthat's another if you're chairing for a bounce

(19:19):
back type, Frantz is top ofthe list, but Arius to me,
is right behind there because he couldadd a lot of punch to this lineup
in a spot where I think cominginto the season you're expecting a third base
spot to bet nine in the order. If you could get a little more
punch, a little more production thanwhat you expect, that'd be pretty big
for this team. It could helpthem survive some injuries along the way too.

(19:41):
Boy, Gary, the last twentyminutes, you've sounded like this is
a ninety win team. I mean, hey, with this pitching, it's
like, yeah, that's I don'tthink I think ninety one's could happen.
I do I think ninety wins couldhappen. I agree with you, Jim.
Maybe I don't know. We'll seethe offense. No, I just

(20:03):
I worry about I just worry aboutthe offense. That's that's it. I
agree the pitching is phenomenal, butI think they're one bat short. I
think they're one bat short of beinga team that can win the division to
me right now, but that thatalso leads the opportunity to go get something
before the trade deadline. If theyavoid a slow start and they go out
and they and they you know,are in first place in at the end

(20:26):
of May, then you go getthat you go get that bat, and
all of a sudden, you're yougo from being a contender to being a
legitimate, you know, team thatcan make a deep run. And that's
it right there. It's the start, right, I mean, how about
not fall back by ten games exactlythe rest of the way, right,
I mean, I'm not asking fora twenty win first month of the season,

(20:47):
but just get off to a betterstart, right, even even five
hundred ish would be better than whatwe've seen the last couple of years,
because they've really buried themselves the lastthree years and it's really hard, like
even making up five games in acouple months, it's not easy. And
we've seen him come up short acouple times. We've seen him do it
once, but that is not whereyou want to be. And I think

(21:08):
a good start is key to thisteam. He just don't you know,
hopefully you know, the Rangers don'tplay like they did out of the gates
last year because they were they weregreat last year to start the season,
but a better start is critical.I think Gary, you're the best.
Thanks for your time today, andenjoy the game against the Rockies this afternoon

(21:29):
and the Mariners opening their season nextThursday at Tea Mobile, and we'll look
forward to hearing you on the air. Thanks Jim and Tim. This was
fun. Thanks Gary. There hegoes Gary Hill. As I said,
the Mariners season opener coming up nextThursday. Luis Castile will take the ball
for Scott's Service and Brian Bao forthe Red Sox. It's a seven to
ten first pitch next Thursday. Voicemailsare next. Okay, we can just

(21:56):
kind of do what we've always done, no music and voicemails. Oh do
we Well, go ahead and playthe music and let's see what the listeners
think of this four nine, fouror five one. Well, since we're
negative on it, they kind offollowed the lead and they didn't like it
either. But okay, well,okay, you want me to just say,
I'm just fired. It's hard forme to work with Tim Booth because
he's so he was negative about theI mean, I'm used to working with

(22:18):
somebody that's really positive and upbeat.You know, maybe you could interrupt me
a little more than you have sofar, because I'm not used to cut
in now and you just start,okay for you and just do that.
Okay, I can try go aheadand do that. What are we doing?
We got any voicemails? We dohave voice ones? We have three.
We have three. That's positive.That's a good thing. Better than
two. We had two yesterday?We had three yesterday? Did we have

(22:40):
three? Oh? Yeah, that'sright, yeah, one, you had
one? One more? Yes?All right, Well this is good because
I'm kind of late anyway, aren'tI. Let's get to it on Jim.
Yeah, okay, voicemail number one. When you guys started the show
and that music man just kept spinningover and over and over, I go
up. I guess Jim's open inthe show today. Fair enough, and
then you're gonna interview another guy froma sports app. That's interesting. Thanks

(23:07):
for that, Jim. Wow,I don't know what to say to that.
So that is that Your tell isthat the music at the beginning of
the show plays for a longer time. Seems like it went on excessively long.
I didn't think so he's about thesame, didn't I didn't we have
the Great Lady. I think it'sjust they know that Jim's going to take

(23:30):
a little long. I don't know, it takes a little longer to get
started. It's okay. Or whenyou hear Jim talking and the MIC's not
on, he's like, oh oops, I did that again. Do you
think you're funny? Tim? Sometimesright now you think you're funny. Uh.
The guy was ripping on Ian McMillan. He's the senior editor at Fan
Sided, he's the podcast host ofBacon Bets. And I've been listening to

(23:53):
this guy for a couple of yearsand I think that if you're listening at
the top of the hour, Ithink you're gonna enjoy what you hear from
Ian McMillan. But we'll have oneless listener, the voicemailer there. He
won't be listening to that sports appguy, But I hope you will because
I think you'll enjoy Ian voicemail numbertwo. I just want to say that
the WSU Cougars have a chance forthe nation to put the spotlight on them

(24:18):
and how they got screwed over bythis PAP twelve being dissolved because ESPN and
TV right. Deals didn't want toinvite the Beavers or the Cougars. I'm
not the biggest Cougar fan, definitelynot, but I don't like seeing teams
getting screwed over like how the Cougarsdid. I hope they win it all.

(24:38):
Hey, that's awesome. They're notwinning it at all. You sure?
I'm positive they're not winning at all, Miles Rice. I'm sorry,
Miles Rice, great story, greatkid. Had a chance to interview him
earlier this year. He's got tohit a three pointer if they're going to
have any chance of winning any game. He's awesome, insite. Okay,
did you know everyone already knew whatyou just said. Did you know that

(25:00):
in Vegas there was a bet ofover under point five for his three pointers
during the PAC twelve tournament. Yeah, because my kid had the bet,
had a bet on it. Didhe go under? Uh? He had?
In the Stanford game, he wasjust like Miles again, to hit
one tonight, Dad, at leastone? I go. You sure he
hasn't hit one since February seventeenth.I know. Do you think there's any
listener like four nine four five one? Do you think there's anybody out there

(25:22):
that just heard you say what yousaid and gone, Man, I didn't
realize that the Cooks probably won't govery far if Miles Rice doesn't hit a
three. That was I know whyI brought you in here now, expert
analysis like that, Jim, that'susually the game. Always usually the kind
of crap I spit out over inthat seat. I'm I'm trying to provide
something here. I'll stop now,I'll just sit back. You can run,

(25:45):
Jim, You run the show byyourself. All take off. I'll
be done for the rest of theday. Hey, hey, hey,
if you just if you're just tuningin right now, and if you missed
Tim Booth and what that insight wasthat if Miles Rice doesn't hit threes in
the tournament, the coops are goingto be done. Well, you missed
it, but there you have itright now. So Miles Rice, they're
three and three without him hitting athree, so they don't absolutely have to

(26:07):
have him hit one. But he'sjust saying it would help. It would
certainly help. How many I've losttrack? What do we have? One
more? This is it? Allright? Good morning, gentlemen. This
is Blake from a well known realestate company. Here in Chicago. Do
I have your attention about this KJRbracket challenge? We all know what first
place is. It's a million dollars, add some trips to some sporting events.
You know what second place is?Set a steak knives. You know

(26:30):
what third place is. You're fired. You'll never be able to submit a
bracket on KJR again. Good father, Good for you. Go home and
play with your kids. The teamsare weak, you're weak. Your bracket's
weak. Step up, the teamsare great. We need clothes. That
sounds like it should be the nextthe new promo for it. Frankly,
and why is he in Chicago?I don't understand why he's in Chicago.

(26:53):
A lot of questions that we don'thave answers to. He doesn't like our
bracket challenge? Is that that waspretty evident? Maybe just throwing a little
teaser at us. I'm not,you know, not gonna say it doesn't
like it. Yeah, I likeour bracket challenge. I think these brackets
are fun. We're gonna find outwhat Tim Booth thinks on his bracket.
Are you any good at this Booth? No? I'm not usually all right,

(27:15):
Well, we're gonna get your insight. Maybe it'd be better than the
Miles Rice insight. Who's Tim Boothfrom the Associated Press. Who does he
think it's gonna win at all?Who's in his final four? It's Jim
Moore with Tim Jim and Tim Show, Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ
R FM. I haven't looked lately. Is Drake still a one and a
half point favorite? The last Ilooked they were it was still still Drake

(27:37):
by one and a half. Yeah, the Kougs were favored by one and
a half and it's flipped to Drake, probably because they know they've got a
bunch of fans that are two hoursaway. They're going to make the drive
from Des Moines. And I wasthinking about that too. This is just
a remote little thing here, sowe call it des Moines, Iowa,
right, but our own des Moineswe pronounce the S down by Normandy Park.

(28:00):
Yeah, is that correct? Andif that's correct, why is that
the case? Why do we gowith the pronunciation of the S or vice
versa? Why do they not gowith the pronunciation of S? And why
are you shaking your head at myquestion? That doesn't really mean anything,
because I have no idea I've neverheard this the argument brought up before this
debate question whatsoever I mean I've heardoccurred to me. Well, no,

(28:23):
I've heard the one of like,why is every city in Oregon named after
a city that's somewhere else in thecountry, Like I didn't know that.
Well, it seems that way,Like I'm sure there's a Roseburg somewhere,
but like Lammath Falls, maybe notKlamath Falls, but there's that's a weird
place. Eugene. I'm sure there'sa Eugene somewhere else, but it just
seems like everywhere in Oregon is namedafter somewhere else. I have never heard

(28:45):
the debate about the Moines, soI will leave that to you to do
the research and figure out why theone here is Des Moines and the one
in Iowa's Des Moines name the otherstate where there's a Portland May Okay,
well, okay, I was ageography hundred dollars question on Jeopardy. Sorry

(29:06):
I was a bit just somebody outthere missed that I was a geography minor.
Jim, how dare you question mygeography knowledge? Well? Yeah,
okay, Capital Louisiana Baton Rouge,capital of Ohio. This is great Radio
Columbus. Okay, what do youwant? You want? You want me
to break down the first four gamestoday? Probably not, no tournament starts.
Shim Moore and Tim Booth from AssociatedPress. Here Wagner against Howard.

(29:29):
Really excited for that one. Three. Okay, here's here's a question.
Now, maybe you won't think it'sas dumb as the other one. I
just asked you about Portland, andyou've got Colorado State against Virginia. I
think that's going to be an interestinggame, just because Tony Bennett's involved,
and if you want to win somemoney today in the NCAA tournament. Everyone
already knows this. It's like you'reMiles Rice Insight that I'm about to dispense
here. Okay, you take theunder in any game involving Virginia. Don't

(29:55):
under the total whatever the total isin State Virginia game, Bettett with both
hands, because Tony Bennett, becausehis dad Dick. They remember those games
in Pullman when Dick Bennett was coaching. Oh they were awful. Yeah,
they're either one or one. They'relike fifty one forty one kind of games.
Yeah, the total in that gameis one twenty and a half.
It seems high to me, butI think that's because Colorado State can actually

(30:18):
score a little bit, And frankly, I don't think Virginia should even be
in the field. So I'm thatscene for a Virginia game that's probably a
little high, but it could bea sixty one to fifty nine kind of
game. I don't know. Thisis a question that I had yesterday that
did not get answered by Jessman McIntyre. But you, being from the Associated
Press, I think you might havethe answer. Why are some of these

(30:41):
play in games involving ten seeds andnot shouldn't it if you're a playing team,
shouldn't you be like, hey,you barely made it in, so
you're going to be a sixteen onceyou get in. I don't get why,
so, hey, you're going tobe a ten seed. The reason
the reason this year is because somany teams won their conference tournaments that were

(31:03):
unexpected to get into the field.So teams like Oregon, teams like North
Carolina State who aren't making in NewMexico aren't making the field this year if
not for winning their conference tournament.So all that did was it moved where
the last at large teams up tothe ten seed line. So instead of
making you know, Colorado State andBoise State and Colorado and all them eleven

(31:26):
seeds as at larges, they justmoved them up to the ten seed line
as at larges. Because that's whatthe first four is supposed to be,
is your final four or final eightat large teams exctcually me final four at
large teams who get into the tournament. So all the conference tournament upsets which
screwed up the bubble this year,all that did was just they just put

(31:48):
them in as eleven seeds and said, okay, you guys, Oregon,
Duquane, North Carolina State, youknow what, New Mexico, you guys
are just eleven seeds. You wonyour conference tournament, you weren't getting in.
Otherwise you're going to be eleven andthe ten seeds. You're gonna get
stuck playing the first four games thisyear. So I think this this year
is very much an outlier, notonly because the tournament was seated horribly.
I think it was that they dida terrible job of seeding the tournament,

(32:12):
but in that aspect of how manyupsets there were in conference tournaments, that
got teams in unexpectedly. All right, well that answered my question. That
was a really nice job you handledthat well. Thank you. Yeah,
I appreciate that it was a jeopardyquestion. You would have asked it.
Boy. Yeah, you're talking aboutthe regions here, and of course every
year there's criticism of the committee andhow they've laid this whole thing out.
But I mean, the Kugs,it's a decent draw going against Drake.

(32:37):
It looks like it's going to bebasically a pick them game there Thursday seven
oh five, True TV. TheKok's facing Drake. But being in the
region they're in, I mean,they've got Yukon in their region. They
have an Auburn team that looks likethey could win it all Illinois, they've
got Iowa State in the next nextround. I mean, if you come
out of the East, you're oneheck of a team and you're probably gonna

(32:58):
be the favorite to win the wholething, or you might be battered with
all the battles that you've had toget there, that you might be worn
down by the time you get tothe final four. Don't I don't understand
how you're the number one overall seedin Yukon and you end up in the
toughest region with I mean, withoutquestion, it's the toughest region because people
were saying io Iowa State should havebeen a one. Illinois won the Big

(33:19):
Ten tournament byu got dropped down aseed line because of the whole Sunday thing,
so they really should have been afive seed and their seed is as
a six. Auburn has been oneof the top five teams for most of
the season in some of the metricrankings like ken Palm. They're number four
in the country in Ken Palm goinginto the tournament, and you have San
Diego State and Florida Atlantic who werein the final four last year, Like,

(33:43):
how do you look at that andgo, yeah, that's fair for
the team who has clearly been thebest team in the regular season in the
country, and we're giving them thenumber one overall seed for the tournament.
We're just going to give you agauntlet that you have to run through to
get to the final four in thefirst place. I think that's not only
did the Mountain West get really screwedwith the teams that got in and where
they were seated. Because the MountainWest, this year I thought was really

(34:06):
good. It was much better thanthe Pac twelve was this year. But
then for for Yukon to have thisincredibly difficult road to get there where Purdue
doesn't, I mean, Purdue hasa very clear path to get to the
final four as a number one seed. It just it just seemed like the
committee got really frustrated with all theupsets that were happening and just kind of

(34:28):
threw up their arms and said,well, here we go. This is
what we're doing. The first fourgets under way Wagner and Howard at three
forty, Colorado State and Virginia inthe night cap, and then tomorrow the
first four continues in Dayton, Ohio, Grambling against Montana State at three forty
and Colorado against Boise State, whichcould be a hell of a game there
at six' ten. The tournamentproper getting underway on Thursday. Ian McMillan

(34:52):
is senior editor at Fan Sided.He's the host of the Bacon Bets podcast,
And yeah, you're right, he'sinto sports gambling, so am I.
And that's why we're putting him onthe show. It's Jim Moore with
Tim Booth here on Sports Radio ninetythree point three kJ RFM,