Ep. 1089: Hot Take Monday: MSU basketball improves the vibes, as does Dan Campbell the play caller

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I Love, I love.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Wow, Oh oh oh.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
What do you get when you cross a know it
all newspaper columnist with an awkward, unsophisticated every man.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah, well I'm just not sure about that right now. Well,
how the room? Welcome to Couch in the Room, our
Monday show presented by our friends at Muskox Quality Flannels.

(02:09):
You can get your Muscox quality flannel go Muskox dot com,
where couch and the roob listeners get fifteen dollars off
with the promo code Peacock. And Muscox has a new website.
If you go to go muscos dot com, you'll notice
the changes. Fantastic they lay out. Look, all the great
new flannels are there. All the great same flannels are there,

(02:29):
And you can choose between two different kinds of flannels,
The Grand Flannel the Field Grand Flannel. Like the Grand
Flannels their softest, thickest flannel for all day comfort. The
Field Grand Flannel the dentist and strongest flannel. Depending on
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Dan Campbell at go Muskox dot com. Jason, how you doing,

(02:50):
brother war We tell.

Speaker 4 (02:51):
You, worry, tell you?

Speaker 1 (02:54):
What did we tell you? What did we come here
and take it?

Speaker 4 (03:04):
What's up, buddy? You're looking great in that flannel today, man, thanks,
man really brings out your eyes looks great.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yeah, you just see you, which is actually on the
Muskock site looking to see which next flannel would be
my next purchase, just to see what would bring out
my ass. Smart you know, you should just have like
a like seven or eight of them a lot of
time in a rotation. You know, when there's when there's
a little bit of blue, my eyes really popping.

Speaker 4 (03:29):
So that's what i's By the way, before we get going,
can we talk about this picture you posted on couch
in the room yesterday? Okay, the Twitter couch in the
room of you watching soccer yesterday. What is this setup
you have here? You have to explain yourself first of all,
not to mention the fact that we're just normalizing this,
uh stealing a cat. By the way, because I think

(03:50):
about spots sometimes. I think about spots sitting here and going,
do spots like original owners like miss him and like
do they see this picture and going, Man, I wish
we had our hat bag.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
It's just a weird third vibe. So I don't think
they follow the couch and through Twitter count I'm kind
of counting on that. But this whole show is based
on a lot of people not paying attention. Right, My
wife's not allowed to listen. My bosses don't know really
what's going on. Like the whole thing. This whole community
is sort of a secret underground community that's grown and
I probably it probably is a little too public for
what what I would be comfortable if I actually realized it.

Speaker 4 (04:23):
But what in the wolf Blitzer? I mean, what's get you?
Can I get you a TV for Christmas?

Speaker 5 (04:28):
Like TV?

Speaker 4 (04:29):
It's not even a T it's like a monitor, Like
it's an old fifty five inches and it's sitting on
the edge of this like what is it on?

Speaker 1 (04:37):
It was a very nice it's like a hutch or something.
It's not very nice and it's a piece of wood.

Speaker 4 (04:42):
And do you bring this TV out only for when
you watch soccer?

Speaker 1 (04:45):
Like that?

Speaker 4 (04:46):
TV is not sitting there right now. It's there right
now on the edge like that. Well, it's a little
more so, to be fair to the picture, it's a
little more on the edge than usual because we had
an electrical issue and so it's plugged in a little differently.
Than it normally would be. We had we had an
out to go out. We're having an electrician come out,
okay something. So it's a little do you understand when
you when you see this photo, it's someone that someone

(05:06):
that loves TVs and multiple TVs. I know it's not
for you know, for everyone, but you do love consuming sports.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
I do.

Speaker 4 (05:13):
So that's why I'm concerned. And I was at Walmart yesterday.
They have like a seventy inch for like four hundred
dollars now, and I'm just like, why doesn't couch just
spend some money and get a TV because that TV
doesn't How old is that thing?

Speaker 1 (05:25):
You're quite old. It's old, That's what i mean.

Speaker 4 (05:27):
Come on, man, you can get like a forty inch
for like one hundred dollars.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
That's more than forty inches. You could.

Speaker 4 (05:33):
I understand what I know, but it's a clear this
whatever TV, I'm trying to put it in your in
your price range.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Sure, yeah, we'll get it done. We'll get done.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
I'm just not as I mean, if you like it, yeah, embarrassed.
It's just like, first and foremost, it's the cat. I'm
worried about the cat. So the cat, I'm not like
a fan. I don't understand this like I would. I
would feel so weird if someone else's cat was in
my house.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
We communicate with the owner sometimes when Spot will not
go home, will not leave. Like Spot came over today,
it's snow on the ground. You know, I come downstairs.

Speaker 4 (06:02):
Because Spot is like Spot is a cat doesn't know
where his house is.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
Spot is at the side door, just like pawing to
get in and then came and like hung out again
this morning and did not want to lead. I had
to like kick Spot out. I was like the Spot,
you have to leave.

Speaker 4 (06:12):
That's why you can't have a stranger's cat in your house,
because it's probably gonna enjoy it and it's gonna be like, hey,
I don't know, maybe it's better at your house than
it is the former owner. But then you change the
cat's name. Does the owner know that. I'm just fascinated
by this whole thing. I mean, what a what a picture?
This is all to take in on the couch.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
Because we got to know a Spot before we knew
the owner, So we we renamed Spot before we knew
its government name. That's possible you know a cat before
you know the owner. Because it was just around for
a while and then we figured out whose it was. Yeah, anyway,
it's fascinating anyway, all right, sports takes. Let's go.

Speaker 4 (06:45):
Yeah, you know what we got, Mischigon State hoops looking good.
Huh Yeah, a lot, a lot of lot of It
was a good weekend. You know, it's a it's not
great for MSU football when the weekend is better. Probably
without you, probably not a great great thing.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
To carry away. It didn't matter. It certainly was all right. Yeah,
should we just guys a week off? Yeah? Man, let's go.
All right, Well I'll start with a little uh the
American way, except America has gotten soft. Michigan basketball definitely
surprised me on Saturday. I thought they were going to
lose this game. I thought it was going to look
different than it did. I was mad at you, Yeah,

(07:20):
because you bet the other way.

Speaker 4 (07:21):
I didn't bet the other I couldn't take Arkansas, but
I definitely faded it because of you. Yes, really, I
was really bummed with myself. I owe Tom Izzo and
Dan Campbell an apology. I can't believe I doubted both
of you.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
Michigan State would have lost that game on any other court.
And I still think Arkansas will become a team that
is that they may see in the Sweet sixteen Elite eight.
Like I would I would buy Arkansas long term stock
for this season if I were somebody right now, and
it may be a good time to get it, Like
I don't know what their price is do wing the
SEC year reached the final four, but I think that

(07:53):
team's gonna be really good. That was a two freshmen
who played okay on the road first road game. That's
said though, And look, it is also annoying that you
get all these national takes out there basically saying Michigan
State was lucky to be home and they caught Arkansas
at the right time and all this shit. It's the
typical stuff, right, National folks just just trying to find a.

Speaker 4 (08:13):
While you're looking at a box score, you're seeing the
three point percent engine.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
Well, and they watch it and there is an athleticism
and that that intrigues. National people are just you know,
trying to find relevancy in their life and so they
work hard at it. But beside the point what Michigan
State did and and there are still things with this
team that should be concerning in terms of like what
their actual ceiling can be if you want them to

(08:37):
contend for titles. There are issues at the shooting guard,
and there are issues shooting the ball that I think
we all have to acknowledge and a lot of the
takes we're going to get to do, and we'll get
into that quite a bit. But I think what Michigan
State showed you Saturday night was that their floor for
this team is pretty high, and that a lot of

(08:59):
things that are base end of the program culturally have
you know, and some of the sweat equity that comes
with having guys who are in their third or fourth
year have stayed with the program. In Michigan State has
had more continuity than other places, and you get guys
who care about winning year over year and develop and
what that can mean and what that can look like.
Because Cohen Carr, I mean, Cam wored stole the show

(09:22):
in a lot of ways, but Cohen Carr's performance Saturday
may have been the most important performance we see this season,
not because won't be bigger games this season, but because
I didn't know if Cohen Carr was going to be
able to handle sort of the not being a star
is the wrong word, but being the headliner, being the guy,

(09:43):
being somebody that has to perform night at a night
out at a certain level to elevate this team to
a play and can athletically do so, but has certain
limitations that also make things not easy for him in
some ways. And he played. He was a star in
the way he has to be a star. On Saturday night.

(10:04):
It was just relentlessness at the rim. It was triple
x XLT shirt. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (10:12):
I was like, dude, that looks so sweaty, but hey man,
do you going?

Speaker 1 (10:15):
Yeah? It was. It was also it was just not
overthinking things but also trusting all the development he's had.
The passing he had two two fabulous passes of his
three assists were really places he would not have made
a year ago. You see year over year development with him.
Right a year ago it was like the euro step
and the ability to drive and fit in and figure
out how to work in an half court offense. This
year you see that addition to him the ability to

(10:37):
make a play for somebody else a little bit, which
you know, I'm not saying that's his strength, but it's there,
and it led to a couple buckets, right. I think
that was an incredibly important sight. Now he's got a
that's a type of game that requires peak energy every night,
which is a lot to ask, But we saw the
difference he can be in a big game against an athletic,

(11:00):
tough opponent, and I think we saw from this Michigan
State team against an athletic opponent. Cohen Carr, when I
talked to him after the game, thought that was the
most athletic team he's faced. Now there will be more
polished teams, and Arkansas may become one of them, but
I the fact that they handled that team, that they
have some of their own length themselves. The Jordan Scott

(11:21):
and cam Ward now and the way it all looked.
There were certain concerns I had about this MSU team,
their ability to play up against great athleticism and just
their ability to have an identity that worked despite their
shortcomings that they answered, like their ability to rebound nineteen
offensive rebounds, their ability to defend in key moments, All

(11:44):
of those things were really positive. And then having enough
sweat equity from some veteran guys like Carr, like Jeremy Fears,
who didn't let not shooting well get in his head
at all, and then should.

Speaker 4 (11:59):
He just get like a quick bunny basket or a
layup or something to get some confidence going early on
in the game. I mean, shout out to a cuff
junior for following him on that three, that pump fake.
That help me my god, that was a horrible party. Yeah,
recruiting those again college basketball knowledge guys.

Speaker 1 (12:14):
That was very similar to Derek Rose in the Mario
Chalmers Championship game in eight that cost me, cost me
a grand. Still not over that entirely. Now's a little
different play here, but yeah, but this is what happens
when you have freshmen in a tough environment. This is
why you play these games. Arkansas will grow a ton
from that. And Michigan State. Look, they they needed this

(12:37):
game at home wherever it was. You know, there are
lots of advantage to be at home. They don't win
this on the road. I don't think they went on
a neutral court. But you still take it because there's
a lot of growth and a lot of things they
needed to get out of this game that they got
out of it. And cam Ward showing you that's who
he can be this early in his career, looking like
not only does he belong on the court, as a freshman,

(12:58):
but he can star in certain roles that he is
just a smooth player who plays with high efficiency and
adds their rebounding and like there's nothing but positive to
take out of that game, despite shooting seven percent from
three point lane, despite making one And we'll get into that,
and I think that is something that they're gonna have
to win.

Speaker 4 (13:17):
But I think cam Ward is the bigger story out
of the two because I think we know what Cohen
Carr I don't know. I feel like when I saw
it last night, I was like, Yeah, that's the guy
that we were expecting this year.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
But you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (13:28):
I mean just to watch cam Ward in twenty three
minutes to score eighteen points. He need that kind of
guy hill the basket.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
Jade and Akins never really got to where like Jaydenakins
was supposed, Cohen Carr is in the Jade Nakins role
in a certain the guy who's been elevated, who's expected
to take the next step, but now as having more
pressure on him.

Speaker 4 (13:48):
Though I just don't think Cohen has as much pressure
as Aikins had on him, because Aikins would press and
try to do those things. I think Cohen can go
out there and kind of freewheel and kind of play
his game that he knows he can play. With Aikens,
he just thought he was a better basketball player than
what he you know, might have been.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
But it's possible to and look with with with Cohen,
I think you know, he is a guy when he plays,
Like when he sets that tone, they're up fourteen eight.
When he finally sits down, he's got eight points already
to rebounds you. When he does that, everybody realizes, Okay,
they're in the fight like it's it's and he athletically
elevates them. And previously he's been more of an equalizer.
But they have some athletes now that I think make

(14:26):
a difference on the wing that that Yeah, there are
a lot of promising things to take out of that game.
It may they may not have enough to be a
true contender this year, but and he talked about the
bubble of the NCAA tournament like not making you know,
the tournament or all that.

Speaker 4 (14:41):
That's the long season. Hey, it's a long season. Like
we talked about possible injuries. Can we talk about Kurtang?

Speaker 1 (14:46):
Sure?

Speaker 4 (14:47):
You know where we go from here with Kurtang only
five minutes. Yeah, going to be one of those things
we just got to wait and wait. Well, no, that
should we just leave Kirtang alone and just set no expectations.

Speaker 1 (14:58):
And if you don't wait, because they didn't wait, I
mean they stopped starting him. You know, he came off
the bench and his role until he figures it out
will diminish. The problem for MSU is that they could
really use Kirtanng to figure it out. That's the thing.
So you don't want to give up on him. You
just can't wait on him. You know. That's sort of
a delicate balance of like not you want to try
to keep that guy in some confidence because there are

(15:20):
skills within Kirtanng that could really help this team, his
shooting and and whatnot, even if he's not the greatest defender,
if he's a guy who becomes a knockdown three point
shooter off the bench, which he is a great three
point shoot, you just got to do it in games.
But if he could do that, and he could even
if he's playing fifteen minutes a night, and he's giving
you some of that outside shooting that you lack, or
it would make a big difference. For this team that

(15:41):
has a lot of the other things, So you don't
want to give up on him. You just can't wait
for him. And he's got they've got to strike that
balance and what you need from him. And the way
the schedules set up to is, you know, you've got
these games against Arkansas and then you get a San
Jose State, and then it's Kentucky, right, and then it's Detroit,
and then it's East Carolina and then it's North Carolina.

(16:02):
So what I mean is there are these games in
between the big games where a guy like that's got
to have a day where he finds some confidence, and
you hope it happens for him, and if you're a
Michigan safe and you should want it, like it doesn't
matter what his role is right now, but they need
and maybe it's somebody else who finds. I tend to
think Trey Fort is what he is, and he's going
to be a good role player that's going to have

(16:23):
a few games where he scores a lot. He's always
going to be confident, he's going to hit some big shots.
He gives you a baseline at that position. He's going
to take some shots. So they're going to piss his
oh off, and that's going to be kind of a
give and take all year. And then there's Jordan Scott,
who is just another guy who's really good ahead of

(16:44):
his years a little bit. And the question with him
is obviously with his length and sort of tenacity on
the glass, and he gives you some things where he's
gonna be on the court already. The question with him
also is now, he's a shooter, right, That's why he
was recruited in a lot of ways. He's a shooter
with can he start to make shots? If he does,
then your answer is a lot there. Right, there's a

(17:05):
guy who's gonna play twenty minutes tonight who can hit
some shots for you, and you might be okay. I
think that's that's the reason you're not overly concerned so
far at the two guard position. It's it's concerning the
sense that you don't have it right now, that the
shortcomings you have right now will certainly hurt you to
some degree, Like you don't win this game if it's
on the road or a neutral court game. Despite some

(17:26):
of the things that went very well for you to
spike camb or to spite going.

Speaker 4 (17:29):
Car despite one for fourteen from three. Sorry that got
to keep looking at that when I look at the
box score.

Speaker 1 (17:36):
Yeah, you won't. You will be PTSD. You know you're
not going to beat Kentucky in Madison Square Guarden doing that.
But you have to hope on your roster that there
are a couple of guys, especially Scott and Kurtang who
have a little more to them and will get there.
And that's that's really what it's going to come down to.
If they don't, then there is there is a definite

(17:58):
ceiling to this team.

Speaker 6 (17:59):
If we said which somebody, please guard somebody?

Speaker 1 (18:02):
What's your first take? Big night?

Speaker 2 (18:04):
And you're almost lying.

Speaker 1 (18:07):
Three, almost liing?

Speaker 4 (18:13):
So sorry, I doubted the King Dan Campbell DC taking
over the reins as o C, which is great. I
like to see that. But my question is this, what
goes on with Morton for the rest of the season here, Like,
how do you go about the rest of the way.
And I know you don't want to fire guys and
stuff like that, but how do you if you're there,
if you're Morton, right, Graham, what's your position? Like, how

(18:37):
do you does he come back to calling plays this
Sunday against Philly No, I don't think is he done
for the rest of the season. I know that, you know,
Dan It, you know, had a great answer post game
of talking about you know, these guys are still involved.
I'm still in the headset. I'm talking to those guys
and that's a great stock answer. But if you're if
you're Morton, you're going like I guess I'm out of here.

Speaker 1 (18:57):
So a couple of things I want to ask you
about this. Like, earlier in the year, Morton looked pretty good.
There were some games right, everybody was in on more
and then they fell out on more and Dan Campbell
did I take the timing of Dan Campbell doing this
against a really bad Washington defense was helpful for him.
I'm not sure Morton would have looked bad this week
calling that. So the question is did he just do

(19:19):
it because they needed a jolt? He needed this show
this is the priority and it helped the Decker played
as well. Yeah, so godls, Okay, So I don't know
what he'll do, but yeah, we see this all the
time with like dual coordinator roles or people or pass
game run game coordinators. You're still part of the game planning,
You're part of the conversation. You obviously won't be back
next year. I mean, that's part of the understanding. If
you're if you're the offensive coordinator and at some point

(19:41):
in the year the play calling duties are taken from you,
you're not coming back. But it doesn't mean for the
rest of the year you don't have a role. It
like it would be hard to come back from that, right, Yeah,
it's tough.

Speaker 4 (19:50):
It's kind of like it's a public showing of So
now the fan base is going, like, see, Dan Campbell
had to take the reins back over, so anything Morton
does the rest of the season, Let's say Dan actually
takes the readers off and goes, okay, Johnny boy, you
call the plays again, because yeah, he hasn't looked, you know,
absolutely inept. But I mean there's been some third down percentages.
I know it was five or ten yesterday against Washington.

(20:12):
I mean it's still it's getting better. But I thought
we ran the ball a lot better, and so yeah,
it was just a weird It's I know that he
did it with Anthony Lynn back in the day, but
that was at the infancy of the Dan Campbell era,
so you were kind of like we all knew what
Anthony Lynn was back then, but I mean, it's just
weird to have a guy that follows Ben Johnson. And
I was so all of a sudden, Dan Campbell's doing

(20:33):
it this early and taking over the play call. But yeah,
it was a great win yesterday. I'm really sad. I
doubted when we did the picks with Harry and I
was chicken shit to give the nine and a half.
But yeah, after a loss, we always bounce back like that, and.

Speaker 1 (20:46):
It was a needed game to do that because you
know they got Philly obviously next week with oh it
was a must win ye yea, yeah, it's an absolute
must win. That's all I did.

Speaker 4 (20:53):
That's why I hate that when the game's on at
four o'clock because it seems like all day long, I'm
just walking around going some must win, it's absolute must win.
Some next Sunday is gonna even be worse because it's
sent not on till eight o'clock.

Speaker 1 (21:03):
Did you see the touchdown call that Dan Campbell fist
pumped before the play knowing it was gonna be a
touchdown to Jameis Williams. I did not see that, So
apparently there's there's a video out there, He gives us,
is it real? AI? No, I think no, it's it's real.
I mean it's a it's a somebody taking a screenshot
of the broadcast. I think they cut in like he
gives like a a full fist pump before after based

(21:26):
on his play call. He was that excited about the
play he just called. Now maybe it was doctored. You
can't trust anything anymore. I mean, I was pissed off.
One of the things, one of the one of the
reasons I think AI should go away. And I use
it occasionally for help. My wife uses all the time,
and I know there are good things about it here
and there. But when you cannot trust a proper uh

(21:48):
baby video or cat video or fun pet video being real,
then we've gone too far. Like that's enough to take
the whole damn thing away, because all of those are AI.
Now what used to be cute and fun and cool
now you know is fake and you still watch it,
which speaks to our dumbness in our head. But like
that alone, but you can still kind of find which
one which ones are fake that should be. You can

(22:09):
get fooled a little bit, But then when you rewatch it,
you're like, ah, how they get fooled? Like there's a
Teller Woods video where he hits a putt and then
before it's even like in the cup, he goes and
like fist pumps and does that thing. It looks real,
but you know it's not real as humans. Once we've
gone that far, that is the line that's ruining it
for everybody else. It's just it's we don't That's that's enough.

Speaker 4 (22:32):
That's why I prefer the Matt Drolett kind of AI stuff. Yes,
obvious AI. By the way, t cups dot org. If
you want to mug or magnets with Matt dro Let's AI.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
The mugs are cool too.

Speaker 4 (22:43):
Yes, people ordered a mug over the weekend, so thank you,
t cups dot org. I love the way you say
that last Well, I got to promote it, you know.

Speaker 1 (22:52):
No, it's it's your very promotional voice, That's what it's.
It's better than it's almost better than your coach. K No.
So one other thing I wanted to get into Jonathan
Smith's press conference Monday today was leading into the Penn
State game coming out of the bye week. One of
the things that he was asked about and then clarified

(23:13):
as well was the situation at the end of the
Minnesota game with the refs and the decision to pull
the flag. They had a flag and then the pass
interverance call, and then they basically spotted the ball in
overtime and then said got together and said it's not
a penalty. After they had spotted the ball, and Smith

(23:37):
talked to the Big Ten about this, and they said
that that, you know, basically, mechanically, that's not how it's
supposed to happen. The Big Ten ad midte they screwed
it up, and they want they should do better. I
bet those refs have been downgraded and downgraded and and
just the thing that's that's sucks is that doesn't change

(23:58):
the result of the game. And I think we have
to get to a point where we understand what happens
to an officiating crew when things like that happen, and
it's a little more public because everybody else in this
world has accountability right to some degree. Maybe not us,
maybe not you and I, but certainly Jonathan Smith is
dealing with accountability right now. Right he's probably gonna lose

(24:20):
his job. The players deal with accountability. Everybody has account
You say probably. No, No, I'm not saying there's a
chance he's coming. I didn't. I didn't. I'm sorry, Sorry,
I gotta read tea leaves. No one tells me anything,
No tea leaves, all right, and that I mean that
just shouldn't be that way. It's one thing to misjudgment call.
It's one thing to throw the flag on past interference

(24:42):
and it wasn't past interference or when it or not
throw it when it was. Like those are things that
happen in real time and a difficult sport to officiate.
We all understand that you can screw that up. We
can yell at you, we can you know over time,
if you do that enough, it'll cost you. But we
all understand that it's the stuff when it's it's the
way the job works. Like you don't do things like
spot the ball, then have a conversation, then change your mind,

(25:04):
and you should all know that. It's like if we
did this whole podcast but you forgot to record it
and we were just doing it to nothing right right now,
Like if you did that, like that would be problematic,
just the the mechanics of it. You would know that
something you don't do, you might say something dumb on
air when you're panicked, you know, all of a sudden,

(25:24):
something goes wrong and you throw Terse under the bus.
Everybody understands that that's that's natural, that's just that's a
human thing to do. But you ultimately have to hit
record on the podcast. You have to, you have to.
And so that's what bothers me that we don't we
don't have a sense of a public apology. We have
to hear it from the head coach that we don't

(25:45):
have a sense of what happened to these guys, why happened,
their explanation for it. All of that needs to change.
It absolutely needs to change. There's just too much at stake.
There's too I mean, you know, Jonathan Smith, the cake's
probably baked on what's going to happen to him, But
you think, think about it a couple of games when
differently or whatever, like, he might be really coaching for
his job right now and you get a situation where

(26:06):
that happens. It just to me, that's unacceptable and and.

Speaker 4 (26:13):
And that's what surprises me with talking about some of
these gambling things, especially a thing that came out with
the Guardians Relievers and they're indicted now and.

Speaker 1 (26:20):
All that stuff.

Speaker 4 (26:21):
I mean, we need to talk about referees and how
easy it would be to get to them and this
gambling kind of thing, right because a lot of these
guys have to work a second job or you know,
some of the guys in the lower the you know,
FBS kind of leagues or something like that, they don't
make as much money, so you could probably get to
them more than you could a guy that's making twenty
million dollars a year. You need, you need, And we

(26:42):
don't really talk about it as much as we do
the players, and everybody's worried about how the gambling thing
is going to flip everything on its ass. I think
we just don't have any transparency with the with the referees.

Speaker 1 (26:52):
That's the word. We need transparency and everything. And you know, look,
there needs to be a lot more transparency in college
sports right now. There's talk about like a private equity
deal with the Big Ten that Michigan and USC aren't
really into that everybody else wants. That'll get at least
one hundred and thirty five million up front to every
school and more to others, and like private equity bringing

(27:12):
that into college athletics not good on its own. We
need to hear a good explanation from Tony Batiti, who
is not the owner of the Big Ten, he is
a steward right now and these member institutions of why
this should happen now when it could threaten the Big
tenant could threaten college sports, Like there needs to be
more transparency across the board. We need less of Jonathan
Smith and other coaches saying I wish there was transparency

(27:34):
with NIL. Well, you know what, tell us what your
NIL budget is. Tell us what you don't have to
tell us what specific players are making, but tell us
the mechanics of that. It's all there for you. Like
more transparency in all of it. And but that the
officiating is part of that, and that needs to be
a pretty big call for it.

Speaker 4 (27:50):
But why withhold what the players are making? What does
that matter? Well, I think we do know the players.
I think it's worse that we don't know and we
have to assume what they're making.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
Well, and I think we know there are making fifteen
to sixty million in the revs here, But I think
beyond the revs here, schools don't want to look bad.
They don't want to have comparisons to other places. They
think it's it's a competitive disadvantage, is why they don't
do it, and that's the reason for it. But frankly,
just don't say you want transparency anymore. But I just
think sunshine on almost anything makes it better. And but

(28:20):
on officiating right now, I think over time it would
benefit the officials. It would make them more human if
we knew their name. I mean, their names are on
the sheet, but if we if we got you know, look,
if an official makes a mistake and they admit they
made a mistake, everybody forgives that. To the most part.
There are some nutcase fan basis and it costs a
program or a team enough, you know. But that's that's everywhere.

(28:42):
I mean, especially in the sud.

Speaker 4 (28:43):
Jim Joyce with Armando Gallerago, there you go today, right,
he came out, he started crying and all that shit.

Speaker 1 (28:48):
Does anybody hate Jim Joyce today?

Speaker 4 (28:49):
You can't, No, right, you might for a second or
saying fuck that guy, but then you go, ah, especially
if you watch that thirty for thirty. Yeah, but with
the private back to the private equity though, My question
is when you get this money, you have to realize though,
if you're a university, like, well, what else are they
gonna want down the road, Like people are just gonna
hand you one hundred and twenty three million, and then
they think what you just want to have to they
get a yeah, ating on the back end, they have

(29:10):
a stake in the conference, and then the question is
what sort of decision making will they have an influence?
And there are a lot of things, and look, you
may be able to one with one specific deal have
parameters that work for you. But the bigger problem is
while like it's more than what is one hundred and
thirty five to one hundred and ninety depending on the
brand of the and not everybody gets the same amount,

(29:30):
which is also problematic I think in the big ten.
But also this is money that fixes some problems for
some teams. It fixes issues with coaching buyouts, new coaches,
It fixes some issues up front. And if you can
be really disciplined after you fix these issues and living
within your means, that's fine. But college sport people have
never been in to live with them within their means
in college football and college athletics very well. And I

(29:53):
don't have a lot of faith that this is not
just a bandit that get you in a further debt
and you're gonna need more private equity to get you
out of that going forward and relinquishing more decision making,
and it just gets further and further away from what
college sports are supposed to be. That said, part of
that now is you know, players are making money and
that's a big part of why the finances are where

(30:16):
they are right now, and so the you know, the
players have some culpabilities the wrong word, but they're part
of this too. They're part of this conversation and people
may need to at some point be more frugal in
terms of and more realistic with what they offer players.
The problem is to compete. That's hard to do right.

(30:36):
So it's not a great situation, but more transparency. Tony
Pettiti making the case like the Big ten you are,
the Big ten is all of us. Everybody who roots
for a Big ten team, or covers a Big ten team,
or went to a Big ten school, and you need
to make the case. I think before you do something
this drastic, and it'll be interesting to see where it goes,

(30:59):
you have anything else before I do real quickly about
the school bol thing. I did see this clip this morning.
Jeff Passing was on the Rich Eisen Show. This was
last week, but this clip, let me just play this
little part for you, Jeff.

Speaker 5 (31:13):
Not only would the Tigers like to resign Tarek Scoogel,
Rek Scooble would like to say in Detroit too.

Speaker 1 (31:19):
He really likes it there.

Speaker 5 (31:21):
He loves aj Hinch, Chris Fetter and Robin Lund. The
pitching coaches there are excellent, and they're the organization that
not only took a chance on him but helped him
turn into the best pitcher in the world. And yet
Trek Scooble's a free agent after this season in two thousand.

Speaker 4 (31:41):
So basically what I took from that is Tarek Schouble
likes it in Detroit.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
Are you shocked by that?

Speaker 4 (31:45):
Because I've never heard him really speak like how much
that he loves the organization he likes being and you know,
because a lot of it is all you hear the
headlines about how far apart the Tigers and school ball are.

Speaker 1 (31:58):
So I thought that was an interesting thing. Yeah, but
he said that. I think he does.

Speaker 4 (32:03):
Like I'm not saying you have to give us a
hometown deal or anything. But I think you have to
be realistic of especially Scott Boris, of like how many
teams are going to offer schoobl that much.

Speaker 1 (32:13):
Money and we just don't know it. And the big
thing is with if he wasn't a pitcher too, it
would be easier, right because like obviously we all remember
Miguel Cabrera in the final years were rough yep, but
you knew year to year before those final years exactly
what he was going to be for quite a while.

Speaker 4 (32:31):
During that triple crown year, you're like, Okay, well we're
going to pay for it at the end.

Speaker 1 (32:35):
But with a picture, you just never know when the
arm is going to fall off. So the length of
time is a little scary. Sure. And the problem is,
though you also have a guy that was his wins
above replacement like seven last year or something like that,
Like you're not in the playoffs if it's not for
Trek Schooble, like and if you're trying to be a
playoff team and a World Series team year over year,
like I don't know.

Speaker 4 (32:56):
To me, I just think it's all change. If he
stays in that game against the Guardians and he actually acts,
I don't know, I'm sorry I.

Speaker 1 (33:05):
Leaving after six innings. Yeah, yeah, but I mean with.

Speaker 4 (33:07):
Pass and saying that, I just I've watched pretty much
every Tigers game this year. I've watched a lot of them.
You know, I have never heard Schoogl come out. Maybe
I've missed an interview or something like that, how much
that he loves it here. But I thought that was
very interesting.

Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yeah, I just I don't think it's gonna matter. I
think Scott Boris is a guy who, unfortunately, when you
sign with him as a client, you give up, you
relinquish your soul, and you basically take the highest bidder,
and you know your happiness be damned. Apparently that's the
way it works. I don't get it. I mean, I
know other there will be other agents like him that
will take his place, but the world will be better

(33:41):
without Scott Boris existing as an agent.

Speaker 4 (33:43):
But just would and so that'll happen in twenty twenty
seven when there's a workstoppage in Major League Baseball.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
I would love Scott Boris to be retired pretty quick.
You know, I don't want I don't want any pain.
I'm not going to push him downstairs or anything like that.
But I would like him to be You're pretty good
at that. I'd never done that, just saying it would
improve a lot of lives, a lot of fans. I
think it would improve players' lives. I think it would
improve a lot of things. And you're right about that.

(34:09):
That's another thing to consider if there's gonna be a
workstoppags in twenty twenty seven. You know how contracts looking
at I hope baseball doesn't. Baseball's finally gotten it stuff together.
They can't do it. It's it would be the absolute worst
if if that, if that, if that happens. By the way,
this weekend, which an unbelievable weekend for Michigan state sports,
for Lions, for sports in general, all of it, all

(34:33):
of it, pretty much except for the big ten plus
stuff available on Infinity. And I've got it right in
front of me on the shitty TV that Jason thinks
I've gotten on my second TV went with the treadmill,
which all the TVs. I like. The TVs are not
the problem. Whatever TV you have, Infinity will work on.
And like I stream Exfinity. With Exfinity Stream, they've got
all sorts of great stuff. And one of the things

(34:54):
they do obviously is home Internet and their lowest price
forty dollars a month, right, and that's for a year,
and then there is a five year deal it's fifty
five dollars a month where you can lock in those savings.
If you go to Exfinity dot com, you put in
your address, you'll see the best offer there. You can
bundle home internet with TV and then also with mobile.

(35:17):
They have the coverage area of Verizon, but at better
prices there, and they're happy to bundle that stuff for
you at Infinity dot Com. But a lot of things
I saw this weekend on Exfinity. The best thing I saw,
I would say was the most entertaining thing I saw
all weekend was the one thing you couldn't see on Exfinity,

(35:37):
which was MSU Hockey beating Penn State and the way
those two games went. And they look like a juggernaut.
That team four lines deep, I mean, first game, it's
fourth line and shouty and scores the game winning overtime
is that group often does. And they've got I mean,
look in hockey, you can lose in a single elimination thing,

(35:59):
and I get it. And we'll deal with that. When
when Michigan State gets to the postseason. But for they are,
they are equipped to deal with a lot of single
elimination situations. That looks like a team that's there's certainly
I think better than any team that I have seen
at Michigan State in the time I've been covering them,
dating back quite a while. And then you know, my

(36:21):
recollection of those teams in the eighties and nineties is there,
but I don't I don't really have an ability to
recall it and have a comparison. But they are that
is there something else? Right now?

Speaker 4 (36:30):
Let us dig into your hot text you read all right, yep,
let's do it, Eric Schultze. First, number one, MSU seems
to possess the qualities of a classic Izo squad impressively. Two,
It's puzzling to me how a year after three point
shooting was the biggest weakness we'd roll into this season
with so few proven shooters and three so nice not
having a football game.

Speaker 1 (36:50):
Yeah, a lot of people feel that way. Let's go
to number two here, because I think one, Caleb Glenn's
injury hurt they you know, they thought they were gonna
have one more guy shooter on the wing with Caleb Glenn,
who you know, I don't know exactly what he would
have been as a shooter. He was, you know, good
a year ago at FAU, but not you know, as

(37:13):
a freshman at Louisville. But you know, I think he
would have been a capable shooter on the wing. And
and he obviously got hurt enough early enough that if
they wanted to do something over the summer they could have.
I think they thought they'd be better and I think
they thought Kirk Tang would be more ready, and they
they knew he was a shooter. So but it is
it is a criticism, and it's you know, when you

(37:35):
look at what this team doesn't have, you know, I mean,
are they they're basically Jace Richardson away from to me
being like a top couple team in the country that's
got to be one of the favorites to win a
national title. Now, a lot of teams are Jace Richardson
away from that. He was a special player. But you know,

(37:56):
in this day and age, do you just go get
that guy and or do you do you spend whatever
it takes to get him. You know, the freshmen wound
up at Maryland the kid they were recruiting late Adams,
right he was that was a kid where they got
out bid for, and I'm not sure they wanted to
put as much money into as Maryland. Did you see

(38:17):
next year with Josiah Jervis though they you know, from
from everything i've I understand that they were. They were
there financially with him, and so there's a clear on this.
They should be. Yeah, and there's a clear on so second, Natty,
let's go well but yeah, yeah, I'm spend dude. Yeah, No,
it's it's I I would say there should be a

(38:38):
little frustration there, but I do think it's still early
enough to not be sure that that's going to be
a for sure detriment. It's a detriment right now. It's
probably a detriment against Kentucky in this first month of
the season and all that stuff. What can Jordan Scott
become as a complete player and and they're gonna need that.

(39:01):
They're gonna need him to continue to play the way
he is but also shoot. And then Ken Kirtang find
it as a role player who's a shooter. And I
think that still perhaps exists, but they're gonna need that
for sure.

Speaker 4 (39:14):
Dominic next number one, Gibbs might be my favorite player
to watch. It's the saddest part of being a Lion
supporter versus a Lions fan. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with my
fraudulent care bears. We can't we can't all be fairweather
savages like Graham with his Denver Broncos and two MSU
hockey and basketball may never be more important. Can tell
the hoops team is gonna face some real issues, but

(39:36):
passion and effort are so desperately needed that I can't
even be mad love those kids. Hockey team is just
next level elite, and it feels like those late nineties teams.
And three gambling is the fucking anti Christ. Fuck you
Arondez Gadson Junior and senior and anyone in the gads
and bloodline. Oh and the Mormons, and fuck the fucking Bills,

(39:56):
fuck them all. I think a lot of people have
the Bills on teasers and throw the Steelers in there too.
Fuck the Steeler man brutal. Oh my god, I'm done
with the Steelers. Fuck Tomlin.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
So I uh, I nailed a bet last night. I
had the Steelers in a thirteen point teaser that was
plus sixteen and I thought I was cooked. I was like,
screw these guys, and then they get that late touchdown,
it lose by fifteen, and then it all it all came.
But usually that's it's not the way things go. Good

(40:27):
news for you, Dominic. I'm gonna I'm gonna just make
you feel good and make Lions fans not. I don't
think they re signed Jamiir Gibbs when his contracts up,
so he might be a bear. So you can you
can look at it like that, Dominic, Why wasn't that
one of your hot takes? Because I just somewhere they
talk about it. You can't sign running backs and.

Speaker 4 (40:45):
In akend really yeah, like Jamier Gibbs, what are you
talking about?

Speaker 1 (40:50):
We'll see, but.

Speaker 4 (40:51):
Sake one, Barkley. They don't want to be the giants.
The Lions did.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
How much money do they have? Left a lot? Okay?

Speaker 4 (40:56):
Talking about all right, Sheila lamp she can't tell you
whether her neither could Martha leave it? You give it
to rod Wood money bag number one. There aren't many
schools that can give their fans a better experience, and
fans who went to mun in Breslin on Saturday, guy
to this basketball team is just like last year, might
be overmatched against the top couple teams in the country,

(41:17):
but they're winners.

Speaker 1 (41:19):
Yeah, And to what degree they're overmatched it might look
different like I think they might. You know, the shooting
is an issue there, right, do they have the offensive punch?
But I think athletically they're better than last year because
last year they were they were small. I mean they
were really good at the guard positions, but they were
small there. I think Jordan Scott being like a six
six six seven two three is helpful here. And you know,

(41:43):
and obviously I think cam Ward athletically is fine and
we saw that and so you know what that the
cam Ward ascension here. The reason that's so important is
one guy who who I think still needs a little
more time is Jesse McCulloch. Right, you can tell. And
so now, but now that cam Ward's playing like that,

(42:03):
you've got a three man rotation with him, Cohler and
Cooper that pretty much saw that takes if you want
it all your minutes at the four and five and
maybe you throw Cohen car at the four sometimes. We
saw that a little bit. And he can go to
either position in certain lineups, but you're gonna wind up
with more Cohler at the five next to next to

(42:24):
cam Ward. But that's a really nice in terms of
athletic and rebounding matchup for most teams in college basketball.
So yeah, I mean they may wind up overmatched in
certain ways because somebody has more firepower. I think it'll
look different than the overmatch last year. We saw sort
of the end where athletically they looked like they didn't
quite have quite enough.

Speaker 4 (42:47):
David Jackson, next cam Ward, and Jordan Scott in two
hours just raised this MSU team ceiling and floor. They're
the fifth and sixth best players on the team after
the four captains. But until Ugachuku becomes a reliable point guard,
that ceiling will not be as high as we need
it to be. And from PZ, if this is who
cam Ward is, I think it takes a big chunk

(43:08):
of pressure off car and bonus from PC John Morton
get ready to learn indeed dot com buddy.

Speaker 1 (43:16):
Yeah he's gonna any new gig next year.

Speaker 4 (43:17):
Where coordinators go indeed, indeed, yeah, they's just go there.

Speaker 1 (43:20):
There are all the former coordinators are indeed to uh.
To David's point on uh uh, I mean I do
think cam would takes some pressure off car. Uh. But
but Car, what was so important about this game is
he looked ready for the pressure, like this was a
big game. They needed him to show up and and
he understood it. And it was interesting talking to him

(43:41):
because I hadn't you know, I had forgotten that before
this year he had started one game in his career.
It was last year against Ole Miss and the NCAA tournament.
He just talked about how his whole routine was, you know,
he watched the game, he watched how the game was going,
he saw how he could fit in, and then he
would come into the game and try to provide energy.
He had never really been somebody who had to, like

(44:03):
from the jump, be the guy. And how mhich sort
of a mental adjustment that was for him at an
MSU just something I hadn't really thought of and what
that is for. And he just realized, I cannot wait,
I cannot allow myself to sort of fit in and
find where things go. It has to be immediate and
it has to be for this team. So I thought
that was important. I do think it like this was
a team that was called strengthen numbers a year ago.

(44:25):
That is not this team. This team has very specific
guys they cannot live without. They cannot deal with an
injury to Coen car. If Jeremy Fears was to get
in foul, trouble or hurt or anything like that, they're
in deep shit, right. That guy is the guy who
runs the show. They do need guys to get better, though,
so they can have reliable minutes without them, and it

(44:46):
will be interesting to see sort of what happened. Fears
will wear down the way they need Fears to play.
You don't want him playing more than thirty two minutes
a game, top something like that, And they do need
guys they can count on at that position. And Ugochuko
is still a young player, you know. Trey Ford is

(45:07):
a guy that I don't think they plan on using
that realm, but but could somebody came up a point guard.
I'll be very curious to see how that position develops
and what they can get out of it and what
they and what they trust.

Speaker 4 (45:21):
Alex mayor next number one, Trey Holloman is exactly the
type of player this team is going to miss this year.
And two kurtag might go from starter to less than
five minutes a game in the span of about five
games if things don't change quickly and three, Ward and
Scott are classic Izo type players. Both have impressed early
in their careers.

Speaker 1 (45:41):
Boy, they they struck gold on those two guys. I
mean that's two freshmen who are just ready. And that's
you know, that doesn't always happen. It's not just ready
like Wards like if first. I mean there's some He
looks a little like Raymar Morgan in certain ways in
terms of how ready he is. He's a bull in
a China closet. I think he's a better rebounder. But yeah,

(46:02):
the cam Ward get was amazing. That Trey Holloman though, Like,
if you put Trey Hallman on this team, not only
is he starting off the ball, and you sort of
have two guys who can handle the ball, which takes
some pressure off Jeremy Fears, Like, I don't think Trey
Hallman understood how well he would fit into this roster.
It would be, it would be perfect, And would he

(46:24):
become the consistent shooter that they need. I mean a
couple of years ago he was above forty percent from three.
Could he have that sort of season? I don't know,
but we've seen, you know, we saw at Michigan last
year we hit five threes and all those sort of things.
Trey Hallman would have been a starter this year and
he would have had the ball in his hands plenty
and and the thing that could. He wanted to be

(46:45):
the starting point guard. He's getting that right now at
NC State. He's getting paid really well, it's getting a
fresh he's got a coach who's good tactically down there
and will wade whatever you think about him else Otherwise,
I'm not knocking Trey Holloman for looking for a better spot,
but issue not only would have he been a legend
after last year, he would have been starting at the
two guard and playing every minute of the backup point

(47:08):
guard next to fear. So you're talking probably twelve minutes
a game at point guard and eighteen at two guard
and playing a ton And I man, I mean that
that guy right there to lose when you look at
this roster construction, and lose Jace Richardson, who they didn't
realize was gonna be that good and then was, and obviously,

(47:31):
you know, made sense to go He's the first round pick,
and then Trey Holloman. You just think if they had
either one of those guys is in that other spot,
this team would have, this team would look a little different,
and we just wouldn't have the questions we do.

Speaker 4 (47:45):
Spartan eighteen seven seven zero next number one. Saturday Night
provided a cathartic cleansing of the soul for a downtrodden
Spartan fan base. Two, if Jonathan Smith on the sideline
showed a tenth of what Izzo did Saturday, Smith wouldn't
be on the hot seat right now. And three, games
like Saturday should always be played in a college setting.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
Yeah, more home and home. I mean the Champions Classics
fun and some of you know these games over Thanksgiving
and neutral sites I get, but they're again, Yeah, it's incredible,
and it will be good for MSU next year to
go down to Arkansas. It'll be a tough setting, right
and and I'm sure their fans will show up even
if they're not don't have quite the fan base, what

(48:24):
the students around the court that MSU does and everything,
But like, there's what Arkansas will get out of that
game is a ton Like John Calipari was talking about
his his freshman making selfish decisions late when other guys
were open and on big shots and taking the shots
themselves and things like that, Like they'll learn from all that,
and that was a setting you grow from. Like they'll
get so much out of that. There's so much value

(48:46):
in that for the team. I don't know why more
coaches don't want that. You can withstand that loss does
not hurt, That loss will not hurt Arkansas seating will
not hurt anything about their season one iota and anything.
If anything, it'll benefit them a ton. And I don't
understand why more coaches don't don't want that.

Speaker 4 (49:02):
Andrew Luiza next Jason, very entertaining, starting the show with
a marital spat and then working in how she saved
your life at every opportunity for the rest of the show.

Speaker 1 (49:11):
Did it work well? She knows that.

Speaker 4 (49:14):
I tell her that all the time. Yeah, No, it was.
It's totally rectified and good.

Speaker 1 (49:19):
What was the first conversation you had with it? Because
we left Friday, we were talking out in the suit.
I wished you good luck as you were heading on
your way, and I just wondered how quickly you wasn't
it Now.

Speaker 4 (49:27):
It was talked about on the phone. Everything was handled
and the weekends were great, and yeah.

Speaker 1 (49:33):
Try this was Bachelor Jason Weekend? How was it?

Speaker 4 (49:36):
It's amazing as always? What are you talking about every
Weekend's great? To be honest with you, the football Sundays
are amazing and you.

Speaker 1 (49:42):
Guys usually do a big spread. Did you do less
of a spread when it's just here? There was no spread.
I ordered pizza yesterday. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (49:47):
Yeah, Andrew and Monica came over from Groovy Donuts. They
brought their own kind of left over, so you know,
they used my air fryer. But yeah, it's totally a
different spread when it's me just me.

Speaker 1 (50:00):
Yeah, yeah, people know that.

Speaker 4 (50:03):
Yeah, That's what I'm just saying, you know, cutting up
veggies and shit, I'm not gonna do that.

Speaker 1 (50:07):
I'm just I'm just glad the marriage is still in
fact because Tea is really key to the show. I
mean it would yeah, yeah your life and Keith no
t no me. So yeah, it's fine. That needs to
be on a T shirt t Cubs dot Org.

Speaker 4 (50:23):
Kurtz Newsky head coach Dan Campbell should be calling the
offense for the rest of the season and continue getting
his daily two venti Starbuck black eyes.

Speaker 1 (50:32):
The hell is that real? Is that a drink? Okay?

Speaker 4 (50:35):
Bonus, MSU basketball is so much different than last year,
dominanting the paint and no outside shooting seven percent from three.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
Well, the good news is they didn't take thirty of
them like they would have last year. So if you're
not gonna shoot it like they didn't, you know, they
didn't take a lot of bad threes, and so that's
that's promising. At least they're not like last year. Their
identity was supposed to be wrapped up partly in the
three point shooting. At least they don't think that, right.
So yeah, No, My issue with Starbucks is I never

(51:04):
know the sizes anymore because around here we have Big Bee, Right,
Big Bees almost run Starbucks out of the out of
the market. I never know, Like, I'm like just that
size right there, that twenty ounce I always point to,
is that VENTI? Al, Yeah, I'm not a coffee It's
I used to before I was a before I had
doctors who told me I couldn't drink what I used
to drink and eat what I used to eat, And

(51:26):
I'm just a blad to coffee guy. Twenty Well, No,
I told you the story about when I used to
when I lived in Kalamazoo as I did. And there
was a there was a Starbucks in the sort of
upscale grocery store right down the street from me, where
I spent like thirty dollars a day grocery shopping instead
of doing like a one a week, as one does
in their twenties when they're single. But they had a
Starbucks in the store, and there was this uh, And

(51:46):
my whole thing was if I did not have to
say my order, the tip was enormous. If I had
to say it, no tip because it was because your douche. No,
it was cinnamon dulce dulce latte grande with whip and sprinkle. Yeah,
I don't want to say that out loud, so you
leave no tip. If if well I'd been there enough, yeah,

(52:09):
if it was if it was a new person. No,
that's a story we're telling, presented by Midtown Brewing coming around.

Speaker 4 (52:14):
Huge no tip for you if you don't remember my drink.

Speaker 1 (52:17):
You want me to you want me to really sound
like a douche. I can tell you that that particular.

Speaker 4 (52:21):
It's for people's fucking baristas. I have to deal with
you and Detroit Dan, like, oh my god, that was
these ladies enough.

Speaker 1 (52:28):
So we've joked about me coaching six year old and
soccer and everything like.

Speaker 4 (52:32):
That, having a child of your own, correct, stealing people's cats.

Speaker 1 (52:35):
But but that that particular time in my life, there
was a barista who I kind of uh, kind of fancied,
and uh, anyway, we were chatting throughout the whole, you know,
for for a while, and then she's just gone, gone
for a while, and I don't know what's happened. I'm like,
us go down to playstairs to no, and then she's
back one day and uh, and I, you know, I

(52:59):
and we had been talking came at this point. I
never knew her name or we just you know, a
little flirtatious, but she knew my drink whatever for a
couple several years. And I said, I said, oh, I said,
you're back. Where do you go? She goes? Oh? I
was wait at school? I was like, oh, grad school?
What she goes? No? I was a freshman somewhere, which
meant she was like fifteen when I first started hitting.
That was not good, not good, not good at all. Yeah,

(53:21):
I think you wait. I stopped going because I was
so humiliated by it. Just the thought of first of all,
I didn't know children were allowed to be employed at fifteen.
Not my fault, but anyway, that was bad. It was
not It was not great.

Speaker 4 (53:34):
I was she didn't didn't appear to be fifteen at all,
or the fact that she.

Speaker 1 (53:38):
She did not three hours a week. She was always
there when I was there. Hey, did you get kidnapped?
Where would she go? Storyation I told, but told anyway,
presented by our friends at Midtown Brewing Company where their
whole staff is of age. Don't have to worry about that.
If you want to hit on the waitress or bartender
and you fancied a fifteen year old that one. Ah,

(53:59):
I don't know there sixteen. Maybe I was not good.
I was in my twenties. But still it was not great. Yeah,
presented by Midtime Brewing Company. Great. I don't even know
if I should do the live read off of that
should probably let's move on. G. E. Miller.

Speaker 4 (54:14):
This MSU basketball team will set a record for the
worst team three point shooting percentage in D one for
a season in the last three decades. Twenty six point
four percent is the current record, and from BPA, this
has the makings of the worst shooting Izzo team. Ever,
wait till Game five, defenses will be sagging more than
a ring attaing movies. Bigs and slashers desperately need some

(54:38):
someone to open up the d I'm very worried. Can't
overstate this fatal flaw.

Speaker 1 (54:43):
So this is this is an important point though, because
the teams will scout them differently. If they can't hit shots,
They're gonna have to hit open shots. And I think
Jeremy fears will. I mean even last year he hit
more open threes and he thought he hit, you know,
he's hit, He's done. Okay from that, and this year,
I think you know they're going to hit open shots.
But they're gonna need to because it will get harder

(55:06):
for cam Ward and Cohen Carr, and it'll get harder
for Jackson Cohler. I think Cohler is a guy, and
I'm still surprised that the three hasn't started to go
for him, but they need like that would just change
so much if he can start hitting threes in terms
of opening things up. They needed to happen because the
season will get tough on them and they will lose
a lot of games because of it. Their floor will

(55:26):
still be high enough to safely be in the tournament
and all that stuff. But you know, the good news
for them is three point shooting wasn't expected to be
part of their identity and it's not. And they seem
to have found an identity and they seem to be
good at it. But ultimately, if you're not adequate at
three point shooting, it'll it'll become hard to do a

(55:47):
lot of the other things they want.

Speaker 4 (55:48):
Couch on fire, oh ye of little faith MSU starting
again with horrible three point shooting, even though it didn't
impact them too much last year. Nice win, but those
last five minutes were brutal bit of an ISO level
defense thrown in there. Bonus, did someone take the commanders
and the points?

Speaker 1 (56:07):
You bet it? Though, No, it was a fade. It
was absolute fade.

Speaker 4 (56:10):
But you know, yeah, listen, I didn't know Dan Campbell
was going to take over the reins of offensive coordinator.
You would have told me that it would have changed
my mind.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
Yeah, No, I just.

Speaker 4 (56:20):
Thought I didn't know if Decker was going to play
the offensive line scared me.

Speaker 1 (56:22):
I just you could tell right away though, that Washington
was overmatched. Absolutely. Yeah, it was pretty quick. It was
one of those things that I almost I didn't end
up betting it, but I thought early in the game,
I was like, boy, this maybe this is time to
jump on it. But by the time I did, the
line was like fourteen and a half or something. I
got a little nervous.

Speaker 4 (56:37):
None of the props are unbeedable. Yeah, you get Tesla
getting eleven yards instead of fifteen.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
It was great. To his point on MSU, it was
funny they didn't score a field goal in the final
six to Z two. That what's a very typical ISO
team is when they don't score for the final six
minutes and you don't actually realize it because they're able
to keep the score at the UH and we said
with somebody please guard somebody.

Speaker 4 (56:58):
At the same level, all right, Jay brew Next, Fears
is a first team All Big Ten trash talker. He
was in the hogs head all night and from the
Eponine Southern Maine prayers up for Jeremy Fears. Stamina Divine
is nearly unplayable taking San Jose State and the points Thursday,

(57:18):
Uguchukuu needs to get fifteen minutes so Fears isn't burnout
by conference play. It will cost the team short term,
but a ten point win will be worth it in
the long run.

Speaker 1 (57:29):
You may be right about that. There are certain guys
they need to develop, that they need to keep playing.
I think Kertang is one of those guys too, Like
I just don't think, you know, you can be frustrated
by Kurtang and he may not be one hundred percent ready.
But like the ceialing with ker Tang being a capable
player who hit shots for them versus their seiling, with
him just being a guy who's relegated to the bench

(57:52):
entirely is different. And it's probably the same for Ugo Chuku,
you know, so maybe you do. You know one of
the big things about winning the game is of your
four big games, you've now already won one of them.
You probably want to at least win two of them, right,
You want to win a couple of them just for
seeding and for you know, how you feel about yourself

(58:12):
and not lose three straight of them. But you've already
won one, and and I'm not saying you want to
You're not throwing games, but you do need to force
to let guys develop in tough situations and grow. And
because this is your team, your team is not you know,
if this was the NCAA tournament, you do whatever it
takes to win, and I fears playing thirty eight minutes

(58:33):
is what it takes on a given night, you do that.
But you're not going to do that against November in November,
against Kentucky because the win doesn't mean more than the
long term development of your of your roster that you're
not trying to, you know, wearing somebody down to what end.
I agree, I mean there's a development, a development component
of this team that still has a way to go,
that has some possibilities that they need to not give
up on. But what do you think about Ugo?

Speaker 4 (58:55):
Did he just play just I don't know, it's not
out of like out of control. Like what did you
think of his game? You don't think it was terrible.
I just think that he was just playing in front
of a crowd that maybe he wasn't used to or something,
and yeah.

Speaker 1 (59:07):
He just hit a little bit. He just looks like
a backup point guard out there. You know, he looks like,
you know, you want to go back to the Cleaves era.
It fears his cleaves. He looks like Doug Davis, somebody
people will remember that name. Eventually transferred to Miami, Ohio.
Like he's got he's got some of the good stars.
What you're saying, wow, I mean, but just get you
through and you remind me of Doug Davis. Man. Doug
Davis got him through some minutes on a Big Ten
championship team. So I don't know. I I think that, Yeah,

(59:33):
it's a good question. I don't He doesn't stand out
right yet right now, and I think in some ways
that's a good thing. He didn't stand out as somebody
when he's out there, it's like, oh my god, what
the heck? And maybe that's okay. I think defensively, I
think he'll be fine. Offensively, I think the question is defensively,
what can he be? Can he be somebody they can
trust for a few minutes? Spartholomew.

Speaker 4 (59:52):
Next, MSU basketball will at least go one and two
in the remaining tough non conference games, and bonus, Dan
Granny Glasses Campbell will officially no longer be able to
be seen as a meathead coach. Dude is a genius.

Speaker 1 (01:00:06):
Do you think there's people out there that still think
of Dan Campbell's a meathead?

Speaker 4 (01:00:09):
I mean probably, but they have no idea what they're talking.
I mean people on the outside, you know, outside looking
in casual fans, they probably see him view him as
a meathead guy. Yeah makes sense.

Speaker 1 (01:00:21):
Yeah, I mean he's got that.

Speaker 4 (01:00:22):
If he watched the Lions every week, and you know
the Lions, and you follow the line the Lions like
we do, then yeah, you know, it's not a shock.

Speaker 1 (01:00:29):
I think there are a lot of things that people
appreciate again about Dan Campbell, and one of them is,
though his willingness to make tough decisions in season like
you just did. Like you know, we've talked for years
during the Mark D'Antonio era with coaches who you know,
they weren't things weren't going that well. They too loyal, right,
Dan Campbell did not. He told a great line of

(01:00:52):
it's hard to not throw an employee under the bus,
but also do what needs to be done. And I
thought the way he handled post game, he didn't. He
did everything he could not to make John Morton sound
like a dunce. It's our core foundation, man grit, while
also saying I thought our advantage was me and I

(01:01:13):
you know, look, I think he's got just got great
leadership instincts, but the willingness to do make tough decisions
is part of that job, and I think he's got.

Speaker 4 (01:01:20):
And I think that's where he's underrated, is the leadership
and the way he talks to the team before the
post game, the pregame, the speeches and all that, and
the way you know, he speaks with the media.

Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
I just love him and I think the best this
goes back. You remember years ago there was that video
of him in training camp talking about guys, you know,
I'm not gonna do anything to hurt you, but we
have to tackle in camp like we have to tackle
and we have to be physical because this is going
to matter in the season. And I remember what you
could tell was just I watch it every week, how

(01:01:52):
much he cared about it. I think his players know
he cares about them. Oh yeah, And that is also
something that I think is an important It's it's.

Speaker 4 (01:02:00):
The way you see them play, even in preseason games.
You see the way the tackling is. It's just different
than other teams that you watch. Dan Gray Graham is
correct that college football is a lesser product than NFL,
But can we talk about the product of NCAA basketball
Watching two teams shoot forty percent or less in a
rock fight, which includes fifty free throws is a tough watch.
And two MSU is beating Penn State and Maryland to

(01:02:22):
finish five and seven and three. ISO can make it
to the tournament with the local YMCA roster. Don't tell
Graham that he'll start playing at the YMCA.

Speaker 1 (01:02:32):
Yeah, no, you're right in that sense that he seems to.
But yeah, he coached my team. This is more than
that roster. That. What's funny is I thought this team
reminded me a little of his, like his very first team.
For a minute, I was like, is this that who
they're going to be? That was a good rebounding team,
then have great guard play. There's so much more talented
than that group. But there seemed to be some tenants

(01:02:54):
of that. That team could not shoot very well. They had
like one guy could at three's and Jason Klein and
it was just and so there are This is like
a better version of that in certain ways. But in
that team he got sixteen wins out of I mean,
he's is always an underrated coach, an underrated tactician in
some ways, I think because people see him for the

(01:03:14):
yelling and they see him. They don't see you know
what's you can't be somebody who doesn't understand how to
get the most out of roster year over year and
make thirty straight NCAA tournaments. Right, It just doesn't, It
doesn't happen. I think he is underrated in that capacity,
like you're right on the product of NCAA basketball. I

(01:03:37):
think the thing is in what this is where national
folks struggle again. When you care about your team, you
don't care what it looks like. You want winning, You
want excitement, and there are elements of it, though there
are too many free throws. The way the game is called.
I know they're trying to make it less physical, but
these guys aren't good enough to make it less physical.
The court is too condensed. I would consider putting the

(01:04:00):
three point line back a little bit, because what that
does is it creates more spacing, and the three point
line has gotten too easy for some of these guys,
and would it would put a premium on true shooters.
I would consider that in the college game, But otherwise,
I don't know what you can do other than just
be better at officiating. It understand that there's some level
of physicality that's okay. I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:04:20):
As a Michigan State fan, I don't want them to
move it any farther back.

Speaker 1 (01:04:23):
Well, yeah, we need closer, but then everybody could go
one for fourteen and then it would it wouldn't be
so bad. Andrew Goatee. Number one snow in November is
ass two. John Morton's days are numbered as Lions OC
and three. Spartan Hoops has a legit shot.

Speaker 4 (01:04:39):
I had a Big ten championship this season, or it
will be Freshman of the Year.

Speaker 1 (01:04:43):
This is This is one of the reasons though you
want a Muskox flannel and go Muskox dot com again
Peacock for fifteen dollars off your Muscox flannel last night.
Last thing I want to do is like take the clothes,
take the garbage and they recycling out to the out
to the curb and get them set up for the morning.
Everywhere on the ground it's like eleven degrees out and
I'm wearing basketball shorts and a Muskox flannel. Right, not

(01:05:06):
maybe the most best business look, but it's my around
the house look. And I went outside worrying sandals, a
Muscos flannel in basketball shorts and I felt pretty damn
good going all the way to the end of the driveway.
Coming back in wasn't frigid. It just keeps your core
so warm and so comfortable that you're okay. So again,

(01:05:27):
any facet of life, taking out the garbage, going to
a holiday party, just chilling, watching football, watching soccer, whatever
it might be. Muscox flannels. Herefore, you get to go
Muskox dot com. Check out the difference for yourself again
Peacock for fifteen dollars off your Muscos flannel. You can
look through their site and pick the one that looks
best for it for your look again. If you got

(01:05:47):
blue eyes, a little bit of blue in there, make
them pop. I'm telling you right now, go Muscos dot com.
Big John Hog.

Speaker 4 (01:05:52):
Next number one MSU basketball team ceiling is probably a
sweet sixteen. The lack of a legit shooter will hurt
and this team will lose a few games. It shouldn't
excuse me, dude, Kurtang may not have a role if
he can't play, d fort and Scott will take his
playing time. And three, I love winter, but the first
snow of the year is always ass as is.

Speaker 1 (01:06:12):
Big ten plus.

Speaker 4 (01:06:14):
Big ten plus is ass Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:06:16):
I wrote that that column after the game Friday on
about Big Ten plus, Yeah, just about how the hockey,
the two hockey games against.

Speaker 4 (01:06:25):
Wait, you're being serious, calm about it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:27):
Well, just about how the hockey the hockey series against
Penn State deserve to be on BTN, deserve to have
a bigger audience, deserved because it's it is ridiculous that
and I understand they have. I reached out to the
Big Ten on this and I was basically told they
have men's basketball obligations on Friday Night. Those obligations were
like Northern Illinois versus Wisconsin, which was a blowout, and

(01:06:48):
Ohio State, which nobody, even Ohio State fans don't care
about Ohio State basketball this early in the year against
Fort Wayne, which nobody cares about period, and that that's
your Friday Night, Like even people watching BT deserve better.
And that game Friday night, a one to one game
that went to overtime two one Michigan State win, was
a fantastic college hockey game with a ton of NHL
draft picks on the ice, and like that is just better.

(01:07:11):
And if you're showcasing your best athletes, if you're showcasing
the best product, and I understand hockey doesn't always draw.
You have to have the flexibility to get into that game. Now,
what I was told is they did have a space
for hockey Saturday night at eight, and that wound up
being Wisconsin versus Michigan because Michigan State. Penn State was
up against Michigan State basketball at seven, so that game
got moved to four, which is up against football Saturday.

(01:07:33):
Was completely understandable. That was Michigan State basketball getting in
the way of MSU hockey, which is O hates to hear,
but ultimately that's just what it is. Friday night. Though
the whole reason the Big Ten Hockey exists, almost the
entire reason was programming for BTN on Friday nights. This
is why the league came to be. Penn State starts

(01:07:54):
hockey in like twenty twelve, and that gives them six teams,
which allows them to form a conference. Doesn't mean they
have to, but BTN was looking for Friday night programming
and that was part of the discussion back then. Even
though the w CCHA and the CCHA said, you know,
we'll make sure you have Big Ten teams playing each
other on Friday nights when you want those for you know,

(01:08:15):
for TV purposes, and they destabilized college hockey entirely. They
threatened the sport. I mean it's a smaller community. It's
sixties teams, lots of teams didn't have places to go.
You used to have these two great bus leagues and
WCHA and the CCHA, where you know, it's inexpensive to
get the fair est state. It's inexpensive, you know, to
get the Bowling Green, and now Bowling Green didn't have

(01:08:36):
a place to go. Western Michigan has done well playing
out West and all that, playing in a great league,
and they just won a national championship. Financially, it has
not been good for them. That is that that has
not been not been a win for Western Michigan hockey.
It the Big Ten destabilized all of college hockey so
they could have Friday night programming on Big ten network.

(01:08:57):
And then when you get number one versus number three,
Gavin mckaykin versus a whole host of Michigan State guys
who are our draft picks, it's on BTN plus like
that shit. Like, if you're going to be in the
business of hockey, be in the business of hockey. And
I don't think if the Big Ten and BTN knew
then what they know now for sure that volleyball tends

(01:09:18):
to out draw it, that wrestling even does, that they
were going to have access to Big ten hoops on
Friday night, that they would even have become a conference.
I think you'd still have the wha and the ccha
as they used to be.

Speaker 4 (01:09:31):
Pooky mod next. Other than the Bears winning, it was
a perfect sports weekend. It felt like a long time
since something good has happened for MSU Pistons, and first
Dan Campbell calling plays Izzo showing the old dog still
has something up his sleeve, and MSU hockey dominating.

Speaker 1 (01:09:47):
Good shit. I think this is Pooky Bear back. That's
the big news of the day. Pooky Bear back. That's huge.
Welcome back, man, We're happy to have you. Is he fifteen?
Did he go back to school? No, you know, Pooky
Bear we had him in studio once, all right, right right, yeah, yeah, yeah,
he's didn't go back to school, like I'm on fifteen. Sorry,
now I get the reference. I missed it there. Uh yeah,
it's not you would usually end. I wish I hadn't

(01:10:09):
told that story. I can't believe it really might be
one you don't want to tell. Yeah, I don't not
even gonna lie. I enjoyed it, man, Yeah, it's not great.

Speaker 4 (01:10:16):
I'm gonna have quite the admission at the end of that.
It's like police out the door and we'd be checking
his laptop.

Speaker 1 (01:10:22):
What's going on me out here? Yeah, it wouldn't be.
That would not be. It would not be good. Yeah. No,
I think it was a good weekend for a lot
of the Pistons. Yeah. I love watching him, man. Kate
Tunningham was something and he last night against Philly late
he was, yeah, no, it's it's it's it's pretty cool.
And you know, I always sometimes there are too many
games in the NBA and NHL and all that stuff.
But when you got a team playing like they.

Speaker 4 (01:10:43):
Are, if you're gonna play well, I'll watch.

Speaker 1 (01:10:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:10:46):
Uh see Dubs ninety one hot take. College basketball challenges.

Speaker 1 (01:10:50):
Need a timer.

Speaker 4 (01:10:51):
If you can't definitively overturn the call as the time
out timer one minute goes off, you lose the challenge.
And best thing I saw this weekend Graham acting on
an eighty plus year old woman pregame on Saturday. What well,
this is quite a show for you yeah, quite a range.
You have a range range.

Speaker 1 (01:11:11):
First of all, I think he saw me talking talking
to Judith, who's one of our listeners who's a loyal
Oh yeah, I love jud Judith is like not even
close to it. Judas is like mid fifties. So that's
that's a It was not a yeah and uh yeah,
great loyal listener was very pleased that she stopping.

Speaker 4 (01:11:27):
Say hello, Ken Chew number one. Great weekend for MSU
athletics too. It's a different game against Arkansas if Cooper
doesn't take two quick fouls bringing cam Ward off the
bench and baked three pointers. We don't need no stinking
three pointers.

Speaker 1 (01:11:43):
Number two is interesting here the I do think cam
Ward and MSU was helped by Carson Cooper's foul trouble.
I do not think he was Wally pipp though. Like
you see at the end, Cooper is the key defender
stopping an a cuff from Arkansas Darius a cuffs drive,
you know, and like Carson Cooper is a very important

(01:12:04):
part of this team. Him being out for a little
while did allow kim Or to get going, but it's
not so you know. I think in this particular case,
him being out with a guy who hadn't had that
sort of game, and that sort of role was beneficial,
but overall, you're gonna need Carson Cooper, and he played
a lot better. It was interesting. It was him and

(01:12:25):
uh Carson, uh sorry, him and Cohen Carr, Cooper, Cohen
Carr and Jeremy Fears who went out to Body's Steakhouse
in downtown Lance. Oh yeah, and I read that. I
had to look up that place. Yeah. No, it's like
dan is that where the elite people go. It's also
right next to, uh, you know, the Strip club downtown,
so I never know what's going on there. But I'm

(01:12:47):
not saying that's what. Lots of people go there without
going to the strip. I don't mean for that. It's
a it's a very nice steakhouse. The but they went
there in part because they hadn't played well Monday night,
and Cooper hadn't played very well and Cohen Carr hadn't
played very well, and it was they were just trying
to figure out what needed to be done, and they
understood it and Cooper played a lot better and now

(01:13:07):
mesually the foul trouble wasn't helpful, but he was really
good in the second half defensively, and you can see
how he and Kohler and cam Woard together is a
nice trio inside.

Speaker 4 (01:13:20):
His young kids had to go to qp's back of
the day. These guys are going to a steakhouse with
it's a little different attached to it, trying to shake
off stuff. That's amazing. It's party Party ninety four. This
weekend was great hockey, sweet basketball. W We need you
as a d. Graham so you can get rid of
football and we can all enjoy our life. If Ward
and Scott take the next step, I'll take back what

(01:13:41):
I said about this season being a wash three point
shooting though, wtf is the problem there?

Speaker 1 (01:13:48):
Yeah, eventually you'd want football, but there are weekends where
it's nice to just have a reprief especially from this
particular season, and just watch other games and have your
team play basketball and hockey and all that. Shout out
to the double bye, the double by coming through this
year of all years.

Speaker 4 (01:14:04):
For sure, Professor, when your sports weekend is better than
your football team is on a bye, it's time for
a change. In bonus, if you would have told me
MSU could win without Jeremy Fears and Cohler, Bean efficient scorers.

Speaker 1 (01:14:15):
I wouldn't have believed you. I don't think I would
have believed you about this team based on what we'd
seen to this point. And the most important thing that
came out of this game, and from a positive standpoint
from Michigan State, was that you know, a real identity
was formed and that who they were on the glass
I think will travel or can travel. Now they got

(01:14:37):
to repeat that. That's an effort type thing. You know,
they're not an overly overly skilled team, but they've they've
got some grit to them, they've got some seasoning and
you know, I yeah, I think they've they've got a
chance and an identity that will serve them pretty well.
They're gonna need shooting too, but this was this was
a good step.

Speaker 4 (01:14:58):
Scotty Green's al Camino. My eighty year old mother is
texting me during the Arkansas game, going on and on
about how pretty Jordan Scott is. After I question how
much she's been drinking. I told her to look up
Greg Gard. She doesn't see what you see. Graham and
Bonus Couch, I still think you're weird. Nothing tops coaching
a little kid's soccer team where the parents are wondering

(01:15:20):
who the fuck the random dude is touching their kids.
But my god, Tom Brady might be weirder mouth kissing
his kids. And now we find out he cloned his dog.

Speaker 1 (01:15:29):
What the fuck? But he cloned his dog. Yeah, you
can do that. Now, you can clone five hundred grand. Yep.
I wouldn't do it. No, you gotta move on. It'd
be too weird. That doesn't seem right. Our dog Miya.

Speaker 4 (01:15:45):
I would love to have her back, but not under
those circumstances. Not for five hundred grand either. Yeah, my god,
I love her, but man, yeah I didn't. Yeah, it's
just weird, Like what is like what if it's the
weird clone that it's like the psycho clone, right, it's
just a little off.

Speaker 1 (01:15:58):
Yeah, it's not a perfect clone, like you something missing
a chromosome or whatever. You know, there's a little bit
of a Yeah, all of a sudden, it's a dangerous
dog that just got I wouldn't. I wouldn't. I don't
think you want to you want to do that?

Speaker 4 (01:16:10):
Yeah, breeze an alien? Right, he's got to be an alien.
Looks weird.

Speaker 1 (01:16:14):
Pyramid of health.

Speaker 4 (01:16:15):
Next, I've officially moved on from the football until there's
a change. Watching hockey and basketball compete and win at
a high level made me realize football ain't worth the
time until Smith is gone.

Speaker 1 (01:16:25):
Yeah, and I think this is where a lot of
people are and they'll watch next week, but they're not
going to be invested, right, And that's ultimately the problem.
That's why he can't. It just doesn't work. Once you've
lost the fan base, once you've lost the.

Speaker 4 (01:16:39):
Then what's the point of keeping him around.

Speaker 1 (01:16:40):
I just feel because there's yeah, well I do too,
Like you know, there's pressure to I like Jonathan Smith personally.
I like him more than the most coaches I've covered.
I think most people would if they I mean, I
you know, he's he's I think he's handled this in
terms of like not being defensive and I mean just
he's been himself. I think who he is.

Speaker 4 (01:16:58):
To see him get fired without pay, then well then
it'll be a little pissed'll he'll have a little easy
he'll have.

Speaker 1 (01:17:03):
His thirty mil fall back at it. You know, I'm
not saying one hundred grand for nine years saying it's not.
But he's somebody I wish this had worked out for
because I enjoy covering like in other words, I would
have happily covered him for another decade, and I think
enjoyed that working relationship. And so from that standpoint, I
think it's too bad that that it has.

Speaker 4 (01:17:22):
You know how much you love me. If if I
was getting that kind of payout and you love me,
I'd be the nicest guy on the play.

Speaker 1 (01:17:28):
But most coaches aren't like that. Most coaches are defensive
pricks even though they have even though they're getting the payout. Yeah,
I mean, so it's not this isn't like the payout
usually turns these guys. You're still who you are, Yeah,
Mark zot.

Speaker 4 (01:17:43):
Next, the Jonathan Smith situation will take care of itself
with with Jed Fish reportedly wanting out of the University
of Washington job. They will take Smith and his buyout
and Jay Battle will look like a genius.

Speaker 1 (01:17:55):
So bake take Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I
can't imagine Jonathan Smith's gonna wind up washing He was
the coordinator there. He's you know, he's got a history there.
But the Jetfish situation at Washingt's interesting. His his family
before the season moved back to Arizona. His kids were,
you know, kids schooling. I think was the pressipist. They
didn't love Seattle. Whatever it might be.

Speaker 4 (01:18:16):
Damn.

Speaker 1 (01:18:17):
So he's rolling single, but apparently he misses his family.
People say he doesn't. Yeah, fatime zoom call once a week.
You'd encourage your family to move elsewhere if you were
in a situation.

Speaker 4 (01:18:29):
I'm just saying, right, Chris Wild football maybe the moneymaker
having great hockey and basketball teams. Not to mention non
revs like women's soccer is a ton of fun too
and baked. Being able to boo Trump and his sickle
fans in person while watching the Lion stomp the commis
made for a very cathartic Sunday night in DC. That
was wild seeing Kenny Albert and all of a sudden

(01:18:51):
Trump there, Like, dude.

Speaker 1 (01:18:53):
How many mgs did I take? Is this real? Like
Trump's calling plays? It was? It was. It was a bizarre.
It was a bizarre inter and it lasted too long.

Speaker 4 (01:19:01):
It was like, oh my god, I'm like, did they
have any idea he was coming up here?

Speaker 1 (01:19:04):
He must have just like, let's go to the game.
I'm sure they loved it. Unbelievable, All right, done?

Speaker 4 (01:19:10):
Yeah, josh Inwood, best weekend of spartan sports in a
long time baked. Let's cancel the rest of the football season.
Legit MSU football goes winless the rest of the season.

Speaker 1 (01:19:21):
This week could be interesting against Penn State because we
saw Penn State sort of rise from the dead a
little bit in both the last two weeks. But those
are easy games to do it. You're you're at home
against Were they home? Were they at are they at
an Ohio State? I think right? But you're home against
I think I'm better be home both weeks and you're
playing marquee opponents, and it's like, this is what you

(01:19:45):
were supposed to be and you still have a roster
that has a lot of those makings, and you saw
how well they can can do it on a given day,
like they nearly knocked off Indiana, and we saw what
Michigan State looked like against Indiana. Right, so we know
the difference. But so much of college football is focus
and preparation and just you know, wanting to be out there.
And so now you're off the radar in East Lansing

(01:20:06):
on a gray won't be that cold, it's opposedly like
fifty degrees. But Saturday and mid November after those two
big games, like where are Penn State's heads. From a
talent standpoint, they should still in the line of scrimmage
wreck Michigan State. And then for Michigan State, you've got
last time you came off a bye. You look, you
played all your worst games against Nebraska, and so there's

(01:20:27):
you know, you want that to look a little better.
But you're playing a team with a much better line
of scrimmage than Nebraska. So it's it's an interesting game.
I don't think it's a guarantee that Michigan State can't win,
because I just don't know where Penn State's heads will
be after the last two weeks.

Speaker 4 (01:20:44):
Mister Benjen number one, love the win, obviously, but seven
percent three point shooting isn't conducive to meeting season long expectations.
I put it on fears to step up and make
two per game minimum and two the sport is just
different in Latin America for a rivalry. So game in
Buenos Aires yesterday, every nearby intersection was blocked off with
police in riot gear and a six foot barricade for

(01:21:07):
about five blocks in every direction surrounding the stadium.

Speaker 1 (01:21:11):
Yeah, there are some I mean, we think college sports
goes too far. You see some of these soccer games
and like foreign though they do, but they also have
like they cage them in. Sometimes they put them in
separate areas. They can't even be in the same Like
can you imagine spartan stadium a boring sport, you gotta
cage these fans and so they don't leave. I don't
think it's the boredom that's the reason for the cages. Yeah,

(01:21:32):
it is not. Uh yeah, there are times I'll watch
foreign fan bases in certain areas of the world and thing, boy,
we're not so bad over here, you know, we just
we're just animals to each other on Twitter. But it's
not as it's not as bad in person.

Speaker 4 (01:21:47):
BPA, bake Day, Give me fifty MG's and let me
watch Fears versus Tum Tum one on one first of
three points wins could take an hour.

Speaker 1 (01:21:55):
Who you got? Fears is a better offensive player by
a long one, and then Tom Tom Tum Tum did
not have the confidence. He didn't see things on the
court that were happening in front of him, like from
an improvation improvisational standpoint, but he was quick, so prime
Tum Tum one on one against Fears would be interesting.

(01:22:16):
Tum Tum will probably miss at the rim. H give
me Fears, uh three to three to two and it
would only take a couple of minutes. It' it wouldn't
be as long as you think. Let's take a really
quick break. We come back. More of your takes. Couching
the group our Monday show presented by our friends at
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Speaker 1 (01:24:45):
Couch in the Room our Monday show presented by our
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use the promo hode Keycock Peacock. Keycock is a peacock
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(01:25:07):
you know. It's really probably save my marriage. I can't
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I'm thinking, you know, I'm married to this guy. Yeah, yeah, anyway, yeah,
Oh sparty Barb.

Speaker 4 (01:25:20):
Next number one, Jeremy Fears, Cohen Carr, and cam Ward
are all him too, Izzo's passion on the sideline is
contagious to his team and the crowd. Football has been
missing that fire for the last four years. And three
amazing sweep by of Penn State by MSU hockey this
weekend total domination on the ice and bonus how did
a premiere college hockey matchup end up? On BTN?

Speaker 1 (01:25:42):
Plus?

Speaker 4 (01:25:43):
The Big Ten needs to do a better job showcasing
college hockey. Our conference has four teams ranked in the
top ten.

Speaker 1 (01:25:50):
Shameful. Yeah, it's pat It's a ratings issue partly, but
it's also just it's not they could do better. They could,
they should do better with it with hockey, or they
should just get out of the hockey business and let
the other leagues. Uh let it. Let it be the
old c ccha and w c h A. The uh
you know, one of my favorite things that's happened. And

(01:26:10):
I love sparty bar. But the word him has seemed
to be dropp from the vernacular. You don't hear the
young kids saying him anymore. He is him, remember the
Keon Coleman is him?

Speaker 4 (01:26:19):
Stuff Like sure, fucking fuck, it all takes its course,
you know, like the six to seventh thing is the
Seventh Thing made it to CBS Sunday morning. Yesterday morning.
I'm like, all right, it's officially gone. If it's making
this show, what what does it mean? I don't understand.
It means nothing. It's just it came from some rap
song and young kids loved it and it meant nothing,
and they, you know, it was something that young kids

(01:26:40):
like and told old people to f off.

Speaker 1 (01:26:42):
You know, this is one of those things.

Speaker 4 (01:26:43):
And then we come in and swoop it and ruin
it and dress up as six seven during Halloween and
we just ruined their shit.

Speaker 1 (01:26:49):
I get it. Should ask the six year old when
I was coaching, what does this mean?

Speaker 4 (01:26:54):
And a barista Matt Drolette Cohen Car's giant T shirt
that's all I got And from Ramonito Couch Middle School
take cars T shirt reminds me of being the fat
kid in the wave pool at summer camp.

Speaker 1 (01:27:07):
That's funny to you. I thought it'd be really sad.

Speaker 4 (01:27:10):
Sorry, opportunity to convince him to swap out for a
go Muskog's flannel Graham and take from Grahmmonito, Dan Campbell
taking over play calling and our defense playing like dog
shit against the third and fourth team of the Commander
Commanders doesn't bode well for the Foundation going forward. This
is amplified by Holmes not trading for any depth pieces

(01:27:30):
or difference makers. Wow, glad I didn't watch the game
with Grammonito. Yeah, tone Cars T shirt. I felt so
somebody had asked me, but I meant to ask him
about it, and it's one of those things. As soon
as I got back up to the press room, I
was like, how did I not ask him about that?
Because I just I'm just not very good at this,
But you know, I would left the I went down there.

Speaker 1 (01:27:53):
Why this. I was still talking, chatting with him alone
in the locker room for like, you know, seven eight minutes.

Speaker 4 (01:27:59):
While he was wearing the T shirt, and you didn't notice.
I mean, like, I think he'd already changed out of
the shirt. So I think that's part of it. I
couldn't stop watching the looking at the shirt. It's so sweaty,
and it feels like it just would be. It feels
so cumbersome like wearing that shirt. You know, Hey, I'm
you man.

Speaker 1 (01:28:15):
I think there's gonna be availability Tuesday. I will make
sure to ask him about the shirt. I don't know why, Okay, yeah, fine, okay, So,
but yeah, I thought you were doing like a Jason
Do you think that, uh Bill Beakman, he certainly can't
wear a muskox during the games, but Cohen Carr and
a Muskott good look, yeah, cut off muskox. That would

(01:28:36):
be amazing, amazing.

Speaker 4 (01:28:37):
Yeah, but if you can wear that T shirt, why
couldn't you wear a flannel? You could? Yeah, fair enough.
Thomas College basketball will retain its charm and character because
coaches like izz Oh have proven that scheduling incredible games
like the Arkansas matchup connects with fans unlike unlike what
Signette's doing. And bonus big Den college towns shouldn't have

(01:28:57):
power outages from a dusting of snow and thirteen mile
prour wins.

Speaker 1 (01:29:01):
Who had a power out? It was it somebody I
don't know, was this mhmm, Yeah, it might have been
Bloomington or so. I don't forget. But yeah, no, it's
it's not it's you should not.

Speaker 4 (01:29:12):
But wherever it was, it's true, it should not cause
your operation to shut out. So, Felipe Mendez, way to go.
MSU women's soccer, great effort.

Speaker 1 (01:29:22):
Keep coach Smith, that's Jonathan Smith because it's not it's
not a smell. I thought soccer. No, that's interesting, that's
a separate, separate take women's soccer lost in a penalties
uh to Washington and the and the and the championship
of the Big Ten Tournament championship on Sunday, and they man,
they dominated that game. It was it was too bad
they couldn't get another goal. And what sucked to is

(01:29:45):
is you couldn't help but not feel good for Washington
because you know, there their goaltender a year ago. It
just died a few days earlier from a rare form
of kidney cancer, and they were playing for her, and
it was it was I mean, everybody had, you know,
the orange ribbons they're wearing. I mean, it was a
real tough situation. But and he felt good for the
Washington keeper that she was like able to have that

(01:30:06):
moment in the But the MG women's soccer team will
find out Monday afternoon their NCAA Tournament draw, and they
got a chance to be they should be still a
two seed, which would mean they would host all the
way through the Sweet sixteen. I think this is going
to be their best seed in the NCAA tournament. They've
got a real chance to make noise in the NCAA

(01:30:27):
Tournament MCV next.

Speaker 4 (01:30:29):
After Wisconsin beat Washington this Saturday, MISSU officially became the
worst team in the Big Ten, and yes, that includes
Purdue and Bonus. Getting high profile wins from lesser or
non revenue sports does provide short term relief for spartan fans.
It also puts more pressure and animosity towards the football
program as they get more resources than all the other

(01:30:50):
sports combined and continue to underperform.

Speaker 1 (01:30:53):
Yeah, but every place it's more resources and all the
non revs. Right, so everything's relative. But I know what
you mean, Like it's it's like, you know, you are
the sport, like make it happen here, But it's not
nothing what MSU's doing in other sports. And I think that's,
you know, be it. Some are non revs, some are
rev I mean men's basketball and hockey or not non
rev sports. But you know, I think all of it collectively,

(01:31:17):
you know, maybe all of it collectively is is football
if you had winning football. But it's it's it's not nothing,
and it does improve the vibes and helps people sort
of escape what's going on.

Speaker 4 (01:31:27):
Trick Up next, how big of an issue is it
with donors if one of the biggest NIL earners sits
on the bench, isn't enough of a factor to start
Child's again?

Speaker 1 (01:31:36):
And bonus?

Speaker 4 (01:31:37):
Is some of that nil money not being spent for
Smith being spent for Izzo's twenty six recruiting class.

Speaker 1 (01:31:45):
You know, it's I don't think you know, it would
be interesting if it was. I don't. I don't think
that's the way it's working now. The REV share is
you have a certain amount and you've got to divide
it up. In football gets get to share, and it
would be interesting to see if basketball certain places pulled
from that. But you got I went in football. I
just don't see everybody's getting at least fifteen million of
that in football. And then you got to try and

(01:32:06):
raise some elsewhere and be creative and how you do that,
And there are ways to do that. I mean, you
see the other day we're walking into Breslin and there
was people there from I Forget the company to do
some NIL shoot with fears, you know, and like so
there and there are ways too, and there are ways
to do this, so they're even in a legitimate anil way.

(01:32:28):
There are there's more money for these guys. But to
your first question, does do donors care if the biggest
nil owner sits on anil ewner sits on the bench.
I think it's different what's happening with Chiles than what
happened was like Blackstock, the offensive tackle. There was a
five star kid they got a couple of years ago
from the JUCO ranks like that guy never played right,

(01:32:51):
never panned out, And Chiles has been the starter for
a while and it hasn't worked out. And this is
something people are gonna have to get over. There are
gonna be times where it doesn't work. These are eighteen
and nineteen year old kids, some transfers, some high school
kids that you're betting on and you're paying a lot for,
and not all of them aren't going to work out,
and you're just gonna have to trust the coaches to
make moves. And that's one of the hard things with it, right,

(01:33:12):
is sometimes your higher earners aren't going to be playing
that much, and that's when programs are gonna lose, right
that you have to get those decisions right. It's like
pro football. If you're if you're starting quarterback, you're the
person making the most money stinks and you have to
bench them. Odds are your season is not going well.
Your evaluation did not go.

Speaker 4 (01:33:28):
Well, John Noddy. Next, don't take any of this for granted.
One day, hopefully a long time from now, we won't
have our coach is O release Valve to count on.
This isn't normal, it's special. Go to every game he
can watch on TV, Watch on TV every game he
can be a part of it. Last year we entered
another golden era of MSU basketball, and you don't want

(01:33:50):
to miss a moment.

Speaker 1 (01:33:51):
It won't last forever. Yeah, I mean, he's not wrong.
People should take in the Izo era becaus it is
and it's not just that is oh and you know
made that program what it is for thirty years, and
but it's also just you're not gonna find somebody else
who just cares and represents what you care about so
much like ISO. Is it the hockey game Friday night? Right?

(01:34:13):
I mean, like ISO cares the way the rest of
this is going. He brings up in his press conference
the women's soccer stuff. He like cares about the health
of Michigan State. And so if you're an MSU alum
or fan or whatever. He you know, he embodies you.
He meets you where you are. And we talked about
those with the football coaching job. But D'Antonio did so
well was meet you where you were at the earliest
stages of your frustration with the rivalry with Michigan coaches

(01:34:34):
who meet fans where they are and how they feel
about everything and feel like they're in the same foxhole
with him. That that matters.

Speaker 4 (01:34:41):
It's the American way, except America has gotten soft. Rich
seerring number one. Graham likes to skip my question, so
I refuse to send them anymore. Don't I don't funny again.

Speaker 1 (01:34:52):
Sorry, I'm not laughing at I'm sorry Rich.

Speaker 4 (01:34:55):
I mean I want to read them. But Graham's like, dude,
we got to skip riches.

Speaker 1 (01:34:58):
Rich. I would never do that intentionally. I APOLOGI have
a tap.

Speaker 4 (01:35:00):
Blame at Ebling, then blame Graham, but definitely blame blame
Graham first though. H Two outside shooting will be the
Achilles heel of this year's hoops team. Kurtang's Minute Saturday Show,
there's a big problem there.

Speaker 1 (01:35:14):
And three.

Speaker 4 (01:35:14):
Whoever is the next football coach will need to be
given at least three years to begin to turn things around.
It will take at least that long to get some
line help on both sides of the ball. As long
as we see yearly progress, we can avoid another Smith fiasco.

Speaker 1 (01:35:28):
But let's be honest.

Speaker 4 (01:35:29):
I remember lots of people posting bad things about the
D'Antonio hire before giving him a chance. MSU fans are
very impatient due to past hiring traumas, and you can't
blame them.

Speaker 1 (01:35:40):
Yeah, but they don't have to dictate, Like if the
money's there and you see progress, I mean, Twitter is
not going to fire a coach entirely, Like people are
out on Smith in ways that they weren't out on
and Antonio, or if they you know, and D'Antonio one more.
I guess it was two thousand and nine where people
were probably a little skeptical of the direction of that
whole thing, But that was also a different era, Like

(01:36:01):
you just knew a guy had to have time, and
and that's that's changed. But you're right, somebody's gonna have
to be given time. That the hope for the next
guy is that you retain some of the best parts
of this roster, I would think, and offensively up front,
there are some young guys who I think are promising,
and you need to keep them and get them so
that the pain of these years of young guys not

(01:36:23):
being ready is not replicated. Some of those guys actually
become ready in your line is better earlier with the
next guy.

Speaker 4 (01:36:29):
Mojo Jojo Armorgeddin take as someone in business school who knows.

Speaker 1 (01:36:33):
Quite a bit about private equity.

Speaker 4 (01:36:35):
The two point four billion U S deal is the
end of college athletics, just a minor league now with
better branding and franchising and baked. The moment Cohen car
wears a reasonably sized T shirt is the moment we
lose our Turney streak. It's a tailsman for the season now, talisman?

Speaker 1 (01:36:52):
What is that?

Speaker 4 (01:36:53):
T a l I s men?

Speaker 1 (01:36:55):
Yeah, tilsmen. I don't know the word. You want to
look it up. We shouldn't learn this. That's we're learn
this word to tales. It's an object believe. Oh yeah,
an object believed to have magical and productive powers, using
to bring good luck, to protection from evil or others
special specifics. It is. It's like a Musco's flannel but

(01:37:15):
for the basketball court. Yeah, it's it's it's there to
your first point, I mean, I think there's a lot
of things to be worry about with private equity, and
college athletics don't love it, and if the schools desperately
need it to the point they're willing to do this,
they need to be forthcoming about why and just how
bad it is, and you know, and then they need

(01:37:36):
to be more fiscally responsible, and you know, I mean,
I think one of the problems is, you know, you
want fiscal responsibility, but you also want a school to
part ways with Jonathan Smith and a guy who's still
owed more than thirty million dollars, and then maybe the
fiscally responsible thing is to do that long term, but
you have to you know, those are things you have
to weigh. Schools are not great, The whole system is

(01:37:57):
not great at fiscal responsibility, and they're gonna have to
get better because the more you sell yourself down the
road to private equity, the greater the chance this whole
thing goes to shit.

Speaker 4 (01:38:09):
Zabruk is Spartan Trump in the booth calling plays because
there's still no penalty for false starts or shameless self
promotion on live TV, And somehow Jonathan Filma still wasn't
the worst thing.

Speaker 1 (01:38:19):
About that broadcast man the film of my It was
my Kenny Albert.

Speaker 4 (01:38:23):
I know, Chris Myers does the worst game on He
was doing Panthers Saints. Okay, Chris Myers is fascinating to me.
He's been doing it forever and they just look at
the schedule and go, what's the worst game we have,
and they they send Chris Myers there.

Speaker 1 (01:38:35):
He just keeps getting this contract redone and Ednie Albert.

Speaker 4 (01:38:38):
Kenny Albert does some of the lesser games, but yeah,
he was doing Lions Commanders.

Speaker 1 (01:38:42):
I always think of Chris Myers is the guy who
replaced Roy Firestone on ESPN, is doing those never he
did that. He had the show after him for a while.

Speaker 4 (01:38:49):
And it's a weird thing with Myers, like I just
don't get I thought he was good. Is he terrible?

Speaker 1 (01:38:54):
I don't know'st Myers was alright.

Speaker 4 (01:38:56):
Like and he just seems to be on the worst
NFL game iaginable on the Fox.

Speaker 1 (01:39:00):
Gutty and for a long time that was the Lions,
Like we heard a lot, oh we'd always see Chris Myers, yeah,
oh yeah. And I think that's part of the one
of the downsides for him is that when I hear
his voice. Now, I'm like, oh, this is shit. It's
not even his fault. You just they put him on
the worst game constantly. You know, yeah, it's it's a
very good point.

Speaker 4 (01:39:19):
Spartan Dog ninety seven Saturday Night was some ethical ass
basketball brought a tear to my eye. And bonus, I
hope whoever's responsible for this YouTube TV Disney bullshit gets
hemorrhoids and from you, Perkarl. YouTube TV versus Disney fight
is in its second week. Disney worth two hundred billion
versus Google three point four trillion, which is seventeen to one.

(01:39:40):
Google can wait this out. The fight already cut twenty
to twenty five percent of viewers for sports example Monday
Night Football week nine down twenty one percent, So Disney
has to be feeling advertiser pressure and could be on
the hook for plus fifty million in concessions.

Speaker 1 (01:39:57):
It is interesting standoff. Usually don't see happened this long
in the middle of I guess the fan duel or
bally sports TV stuff went on for a long time.
But you know, and and my my biggest advice, and
I'm gonna tell you right now would be Exfinity. You know,
we we and I'm not saying YouTube TV doesn't have
It's a lot of people like it. It's got the

(01:40:19):
Sunday Sunday ticket now, right or red zone is what
it's got, right, So it's got a lot of It's
been one of the best UH in terms of DVR
and other other streaming services that have been sort of
a full cable offering. But I still think Exfinity is better.
I love the Infinity UH DVR and the playback on

(01:40:39):
my phone for games i'm on the road. I think
it's fantastic. So if you don't want to wait to
watch these, you know, for this YouTube Disney bullshit was
eloquently put here, I would I would just switch to
Exfinity today. To your point, though, it will be interesting
because people forget that people think YouTube while they're gonna
they're gonna cave YouTube is Google, right, So I don't

(01:41:00):
know that they are under the pressure that people think
they are.

Speaker 4 (01:41:03):
Ben Chulick next. With Hot Stove season approaching, I don't
want to lose Schooble, but I've accepted it's what's best
for the team. If his agent is demanding four hundred
mili can't pay a picture of that kind of money.
If he can only go six innings in a must
win game, he's not prime Verlander, who would go nine.
I think that's sixty.

Speaker 1 (01:41:21):
I think it really hurts Schoobol that going only six
innings in that game. I really do it not? Yeah,
I think it was yeah. No. And the amount of
money he's gonna want, and I'm curious what he will
actually get on the open open market. Let me ask
you this, Jason, your two choices re signing school Ball
is unlikely, but it's something that would have to happen
after the end of next year if it did anyway,
So your two realistic choices are ride it out with

(01:41:44):
him for another year, try to win a World Series
and you know ninety percent chance you're going to lose him,
or if there's a decent market for him this offseason,
then maybe there is make that move.

Speaker 4 (01:41:54):
Well, speaking of Verlander, what did we get back for
the Verlander Tree? Nothing that Can's what I mean, Like,
I'd rather almost try another season with him with the
ninety percent knowing that he's going to leave, and hopefully
we can put the guys around it and stay healthy
and make a run at a World Series with him.

Speaker 1 (01:42:09):
And then I think I would go. I think I
would too, because part of it is they have a
lot of good prospects now that we're still waiting for
them to show up, and I'm sick of prospect right
and and so that's that's one of the elements. Now,
and you're in this sort of zone where you know
it's time to win, and they're they're competing. And then
again it's a non salary cap sport. So in essence,
if you say you're not going to pay him eight

(01:42:30):
years forty four hundred million, say you're you're like, you know,
the most we were going to do is like six years,
two hundred million, and but you're still looking at like
thirty five million a year you were willing to spend
on this guy or something. Sure, so say that was well,
then fine, okay, but when he leaves, I need to
know that you're willing to spend thirty five million a

(01:42:51):
year on somebody to go get and it doesn't have
to be one person, go get you know, two or
three guys or two guys. I need to know you're
willing to spend that money anyway to go and upgrade
your roster. I think that's where the fear is. I
think there'd be less fear people felt like, hey, if
they don't get Schooble, they'll they'll go spend on somebody else.
That they feel is, you know, they'll put together a
competitive roster, they'll get two really good pictures and maybe

(01:43:12):
not the one or whatever. I just there's this fear
that they won't do that.

Speaker 4 (01:43:15):
But to me, and there's the fear you losing a
wild card series and then there's Schooble for a full year,
you just kind of wasted it. Yeah, right, I mean
there is that fear, but I think I'm willing to
risk that over. I mean it depends and obviously you
know the trade that someone was willing to offer for Schooble.
But yeah, if you think those two options, if you if.

Speaker 1 (01:43:32):
You're trying to put it together a viable World Series
contender next year, then I think you keep.

Speaker 4 (01:43:37):
Richard Kane number one laziest take of the year, trying
to cheapen the Dodgers championship by saying they just bought it.
The Blue Jays pay roll of one hundred and ninety
three million was third highest in MLB, and they would
have signed every guy the Dodgers did and paid them
the same they offered Otani seven hundred million for example,
and two college refs may be asked, but that back

(01:43:57):
judge made a hell of a call. At the end
of the Indiana Penn State game. He was zeroed in
like a laser on Omar Cooper's toes, the most attention
anyone in football has given toes since since Rex Ryan
and Bonus. Coen Car needs a bigger T shirt.

Speaker 1 (01:44:11):
I don't know, you just get lost in it. Eventually,
the ball would just get fall down in there if
he had a bigger T shirt.

Speaker 4 (01:44:17):
That was I can't believe he didn't ask him, like
you forgot to ask cohen Car. That was like the
only thing going through my mind. Like if I saw
cohen Car anywhere, I'd be like, oh, dude, what's up
of that T shit?

Speaker 1 (01:44:27):
I'm a moron. I mean, I'm just not very good
at the job. The I to to the point here, though,
if we talked about officials and making them more accountable
and having uh, you know, a dialogue, ability to have
a dialogue with him, this could be the other side
of it, Like it would be a fun postgame story,
like a great sidebar afterwards to interview that back judge

(01:44:47):
because he got it right and be like, holy shit.
He'd be like, man, I, well, I was sweating my
ass off to get that right. Oh my god. I
thought I would want to hear from refs. I don't know.
I do. I want to hear from refs. I do
even after I do, I want to hear about it
from all the time. I agree with you on the
other thing that the Dodgers have just become less likable
because they're just they've been there before, They've already won it.

(01:45:08):
Toronto hadn't won it so many years. I understand they're
a giant payroll too, but Toronto should have won that series.
They were the better team. That's the thing that's frustrating too.
And they were the better team. I don't know if
I could go that far, but they and it feels
like the Dodgers will always spend whatever is necessary in
the most and it just sucks. And you know, I
don't know, people in LA don't deserve it.

Speaker 4 (01:45:29):
KP number one MSU as the right player mixed to
make the final four into college football was better when
Indiana sucked and three Gus Johnson's horrible.

Speaker 1 (01:45:38):
College football is better in Indiana. I like this Indiana team,
but you just don't like Signetti. I don't mind Signetti.
I don't like his scheduling process. I like Signetti fine,
I don't. I think people are more than Gus Johnson,
more than Johnson.

Speaker 4 (01:45:52):
Scott you number one. This win feels like when MSU
beat Illinois last season at home. Also, most national media
still thinks Ark and size better than MSU, and everyone
said that about uber talented Illinois last year, and then
MSU won by fourteen. MSU will continue to get better
and will shoot better from three two. Winning is so
much fun, So you're right on this. The Illinois game

(01:46:15):
is a good comparison. Ms You would have lost that
game at the time they played it on the road
or on neutral site. I don't know that they were
fully the better team, but they were by the time
they played them later. So seasons can go in a
lot of different directions. And it was still you know,
I always talk about the truth being on the road,
but that was a really big home win at the
time over Illinois. And this was a really big win
for this particular MSU season, even though it was home

(01:46:37):
for Michigan State.

Speaker 1 (01:46:38):
And national media. You're right, they are obsessed with that stuff.
MSU will you know, look, they won the game, and
they'll have to keep improving and they'll have to shoot
better from three if they want more of those games
this season. But this was an important win. And screw
the national media. I just you know again, they're just
clawing for relevancy and they can't find it most places,
so they got to kiss the ass of the most officially.

Speaker 4 (01:47:00):
Don't want a national job, right like says this used
like putting claim on you want to stay local.

Speaker 1 (01:47:05):
I have made the I mean, I am here in
Lancing right after you, well thirteen years, and that is
you love. That That is by choice. Like it's not
like it's not like every day of the week I've
got like you know, ESPN calling me or anything like
you sure you don't want to leave now? Man, you
know it's not. That's not my life either. But what
I'm saying is I have made this choice, and I've
had opportunities to make a different path, and so I'm

(01:47:28):
comfortable shitting on national media now. If I get laid off,
I may sing a different tune. But until then, until then,
you're here. I mean, I felt, all of Fred feeling,
all of Fred absolutely, Mark v. Spartan front court players dominated.
They scored fifty four points out of sixty nine for
Michigan State, out rebounded Hogs by twelve, held Arkansas front
court to thirteen points. Yes, Sparty needs some scoring from

(01:47:50):
the guards, but can win a heck of a lot
of games just like that. They can, there'll be an
NCAA tournament team like that, They'll be a six seed
or better like that. The question is can they be
a three or two seat? Can they play with Michigan
and Purdue at the top of the Big Ten? And
to do that they're going to need the other things,
and so that's that's really the question.

Speaker 4 (01:48:07):
Travis Maynard number one with a sizeable lead. MSU closed
the game with two non shooting guards and two non
shooting bigs, a lineup that hadn't been used all game.
MSU struggled to score, losing the lead, explaining Graham and
to agree with having the guys giving the guys their shot,
but dudes might end up not playing any.

Speaker 1 (01:48:24):
Ways, because it's a two way street.

Speaker 4 (01:48:27):
Yes, it's not fair to a player to be portal
poached over, but it's also not fair to the rest
of the team that lost three scoring guards that desperately
need perimeter scoring.

Speaker 1 (01:48:37):
Yeah, no, it's it's true, like if you're gonna the
danger in doing what Iszo does with relying on Kurtain
and giving him that opportunity is if if they don't,
it doesn't happen, you get caught, and that isn't fair
to the rest of the team. But I think overall,
it's the like, if you think you've got the guys

(01:48:57):
you I think the approach he's done works for him
and it works for the culture they have. And but
but you can certainly make the argument the other way.
You said, well, the size of the lead MSU closer
the game with two non shooting guards and two non
shooting bigs, a lineup that hadn't been used all game.
I would say Cohler is a shooting big. It's just

(01:49:18):
not making them right. And uh yeah, it's who they
trusted defensively and it worked. I think over time they're
the best lineups are gonna be the two of the
three bigs came word often there, you know, Cooper and
Cohler maybe sometimes depending on matchups, and then you're gonna

(01:49:39):
they gotta get something out of the shooting guard. And
I think Jordan Scott is gonna be that guy. And
he's a shooter. He is a shooter. These are It's
not like these guys aren't shooter. That's why he's got
recruited at this level. And so he's wound up being
a lot better at the other things. They just need
him to become a confident shooter and and and I
think there's a chance he will. She would be in
a lot worse shape with him, and a lot worse
shape with Kurtang. If that is shoot wasn't their primary

(01:50:01):
skill that made them the recruit the recruits and the
players that they were as prospects, if they were trying
to turn non shooters in the shooters what they need
from from Scott they're getting everything else. They need him
to make shots. And from Kurtang they need him to
make shots. And you know, so, I think there's a
chance those things develop, and if not, it'll be it'll
be a longer winter. Otherwise.

Speaker 4 (01:50:21):
Ralphie fandom. Jason is to Lions as Ralphie is to Spartans.
Ralphie is to Spartans as Graham as to Blank and Bonus.
This week, the fans will speak with their wallets. MSU
spartans dot com shows seventy five percent of East Upper
tickets still available Seat Geek fifty yard line Lower Bowl
Bowl for forty nine dollars.

Speaker 1 (01:50:42):
Lots available. So I am curious to see what it
looks like this weekend. It is Senior Day, they've been
it's the last true home game. The weather's supposed to
be okay, it's still Penn State. I think the crowd
will be will be okay. It'll be a hard ticket,
maybe to give away, but yeah, it will be. It

(01:51:02):
will be. It will be telling Ralphie Ralphie the Buffalo.
Is that what we're talking about? Ralphie the Buffalo? Ralphie?

Speaker 4 (01:51:08):
You know, the guy that wrote in his name is Ralphie.

Speaker 1 (01:51:11):
Oh oh, but he goes by ralph E. No, I don't.
I don't really know how to answer. I'm gonna need more.
He's a he's a diehard Spartan fan. I'm a die high,
diehard Lions fan. What are you a die hard fan
of me? Yeah? I am nothing, And that's what he's
asking you though. Yeah, I've had nothing, I've got nothing, obviously,

(01:51:33):
Thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:51:34):
Tyler Graham can you profile and give us some highlights
of your thirty six hours this weekend? MSU hockey, MSU hoops,
is os not washed my column? Man City three nil
with a stranger's cat, sleeping on your chair, Lions and Pistons.

Speaker 1 (01:51:47):
It's a good weekend. But he's not a fan. He
doesn't care about anything I'm covering MSU hockey. I don't.
It's not I don't care about things. I just I'm
not like Ralph E. I don't know. It's the guy
that writes it. It's the way that's a good point, Relf. Yeah,
apologize Jesus, I'm really bad at this. No, it was
a fun, busy weekend like MSU hockey, you know, to

(01:52:09):
one night, one afternoon, MSU basketball, at the evening. At
the evening, I watched h fair bit of MSU women's
soccer as well. Watched a fair bit of soccer on Sunday,
uh Lions game, Pistons games. That all of it, you
spelled it out. That was pretty much my weekend. That
and hanging out with my wife. That was That was it.

Speaker 4 (01:52:30):
Hans Jergen number one, I like this basketball team. Graham
not so much to cam Ward has the highest basketball
IQ of any Spartansan's drama and three. This way, the
way this team plays defense, they can beat anybody, but
the way they shoot the three, they can lose to
anyone as well. And bonus unite the Spartan family hired
Narduzzi as head coach and Max Bulla as defensive coordinator.

(01:52:51):
Narduzzi is a bridge to the past and Bullah to
the future and double bonus. I sexualized sports podcasting.

Speaker 1 (01:52:58):
That does not surprise me. I don't know about me,
but it does not surprise me. So yeah, it does
not spres all the Nardouzian bull of combo. You know,
I think people would actually get behind it. I don't
think it's gonna happen. But what about the Saban have
Saban and then Max Bullet Saban? Would people would be
behind that for two years anyway. Jake Hawkins number one.

Speaker 4 (01:53:18):
Thank god Tom Brady was across the country calling Rams
forty nine ers so the Lions could get a much
needed win. But sure, hope most people muted the TV.
When you know who was in the broadcast booth, Kenny
Albert Dan Campbell should call plays from here on out.

Speaker 1 (01:53:33):
Gotta win.

Speaker 4 (01:53:33):
Next week in Philly, to Never in my life I
would ever watch a game where Gus Johnson would have
a Sean McDonough moment where he loses his voice from
an epic play until it happened on Saturday on the
game winning catch by Indiana against Penn State. Hell of
a play, but I'm now more jealous of Indiana football.
And three CBS is finally coming to East Lansing to

(01:53:54):
cover MSU at three point thirty on Saturday. Two Big
Ten teams searching for their first conference win. One team
has seen its season go off the rails, and one
team has lost six in a row. If Brad Nessler
and Gary Danielson aren't excited, MSU should give him melty
moments and bonus. Jason, I do listen to Mike Veleni
on ninety seven to one on the Odyssey app, but
sometimes when listening while driving, I hit a dead spot

(01:54:17):
or snag that causes a skip, or have a system
or software issues in my truck. So it'll be nice
to get it on regular radio and not drain my battery.

Speaker 1 (01:54:27):
Yeah, the explanation for are you are.

Speaker 4 (01:54:29):
You hooking up your phone to your battery? Like, how
does it drain your battery? Like, oh, your battery on
your phone.

Speaker 1 (01:54:35):
I guess yeah. I thought he meant like your car battery,
car battery, that would be bad at the phone. Yeah.
I think you're doing this wrong, Jake. You're driving wrong.
It should not be what's training? Your training your battery
all all the way?

Speaker 4 (01:54:47):
I mean, yeah, there are spots out in OVID where
it drops out. I just kind of wait and then
it just picks back up and I go, ah, how
many dead spots are there in OVID? Ah, there's two.
There's two that that mess with the when I commune. Yeah, okay, yeah,
there's more than a waso. But it's not too bad.

Speaker 1 (01:55:03):
You know where there's one stretch when I he's on
the drive on sixty nine down to like Indianapolis area
and stuff. When you're going near past cold Water, near
the near the state line. Man, you'll be on like
a And there's the same thing happens near Olive. There's
a couple of spots where when you're driving you just know,
if you're on an important call or you're on something,
you're like, I'm scared of this zone coming up. I'm

(01:55:25):
terrified of what's it?

Speaker 4 (01:55:26):
Give us a call, now, tell us where you're dead,
so's Jesus Chrice. Sorry, jerk guy. Finally, let's get out
of here. This weekend for Spartan Football might have been
my favorite in recent memory. And bonus professionals. Professionals shouldn't
lose a whole podcast and then have.

Speaker 1 (01:55:42):
To re record it. That's fair to say. That's what
we had to do with Spartan Speak with Chris and
I and I will. Yeah, there's professionals. Yeah, professionals loosely
doing a lot of a lot of work there. We
appreciate all of you for producing our show and helping

(01:56:04):
us be professionals or whatever whatever it is this is.
We'll be back. We're gonna figure out the show, this
show schedule this week. We've got a couple couple things,
but we'll be back at some point in the middle
of the week and talk to you again. We appreciate Muscos.
Gonna go Muscox dot com. Get your quality flannel, look
your best, feel your absolute best. There's snow on the ground,
it is time for your Muscox plannel. We appreciate Exfinity

(01:56:27):
at Exfinity dot com. Typing your address see the best
offer for you. Chances are we will save money and
have more channels, phone, Internet, whatever it is combined there
for you as well. We appreciate Midtown Brewing Company. Got
to Midtown Brewing Comany in Downtown Lancing for the date
night whatever it is. Watch a game this week. Good
Joe Mann couching the room.

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