We Need More Simone Biles, More Alcaraz-Sinner, and More Dutch Dragon | Plus Dalen Cuff on How College Sports Works Now

Summary

Casuals with Katie Nolan – Detailed Episode Summary

Episode Title: We Need More Simone Biles, More Alcaraz-Sinner, and More Dutch Dragon | Plus Dalen Cuff on How College Sports Works Now
Release Date: June 10, 2025
Host: Katie Nolan
Guest: Dallen Cuff (College Sports Analyst)

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1. Introduction and Setting the Stage

Katie Nolan welcomes listeners to another engaging episode of Casuals, a sports podcast designed for everyone—from the casual observer to the die-hard enthusiast. The episode begins with casual banter about summer activities and Starbucks' Summer Berry Refresher, setting a relaxed tone before diving into the main discussions.

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2. The Need for Simone Biles and Trans Athlete Discussions

[08:22] Katie Nolan:
"I do have to get into this. I am a woman. I'm a woman who supports women's sports and I'm watching people claim that they are too and doing literally the opposite of that."

Katie addresses the contentious debate surrounding transgender athletes in sports, focusing on recent interactions between Riley Gaines—a vocal anti-trans advocate—and Simone Biles. She highlights Simone Biles' stand against Gaines' harassment and sheds light on the toxic environment perpetuated by certain media figures and followers.

Key Points:

• Riley Gaines' Actions: Gaines quote-tweeted a photo of Minnesota's Class AAAA softball state champions, derogatorily associating the success with having a "star player" who is a boy.
  [05:39] Brady:
  "But if you're going to put together a starting nine and a rod, like the best parts of his career... I want Wade Boggs in that room."

• Simone Biles' Response: Biles directly called out Gaines for bullying and advocating for exclusion, emphasizing the harmful impact on young, vulnerable athletes.
  [06:00] Katie Nolan:
  "Simone Biles... She's fighting against bigoted bullying, harassment."

• Katie's Stand: Nolan passionately defends the inclusion of transgender athletes, arguing that sports should be inclusive and that efforts to exclude trans individuals are misguided and harmful.
  [07:32] Brady:
  "Reigning American League player of the week, Vinnie Pasquintino... our favorite baseball player."

Notable Quotes:

• Katie Nolan:
  "You're truly sick. All of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser."
  [06:00]

• Brady:
  "Pascantino hurt himself hustling."
  [07:32]

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3. College Sports and the House v. NCAA Settlement

Katie introduces Dallen Cuff, a seasoned college sports analyst, to delve into the monumental House v. NCAA settlement, which marks a transformative era in college athletics.

[50:08] Brady:
"I do love just that. When you're an absolute horse of a softball pitcher, you're out there every day."

Key Points:

• Settlement Overview:
  A $2.8 billion, ten-year settlement allows colleges to directly pay athletes, correcting the long-standing issue of amateurism in collegiate sports. This includes:

  • Back Payments: Schools will distribute funds to former athletes who competed from 2016 to 2024.
  • Direct Payments: Current athletes can receive up to $20.5 million annually from their schools, with the cap increasing by 4% each year.

• Implications and Challenges:

  • Implementation Confusion: Schools are unsure how to allocate funds within the new framework, leading to uncertainties about fairness and distribution across different sports.
  • NIL Deals Scrutiny: The settlement introduces a NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) clearinghouse, where deals over $600 must be reported and assessed for fairness. This could stifle third-party endorsements and complicate athlete sponsorships.
  • Collective Bargaining Issues:
    [61:27] Chris:
    "Collectively bargaining is the way, but you need to have one entity and another."
    The fragmented nature of college sports conferences poses a significant hurdle to forming unified agreements that fairly represent all athletes.

Notable Quotes:

• Dallen Cuff:
  "Schools can put $20.5 million... but how they use it is still TBD."
  [57:55]

• Katie Nolan:
  "Why does it seem like the compensation of college athletes? The rollout of this has been such a mess on top of a mess."
  [62:49]

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4. Current Sports Highlights and Player Movements

The podcast transitions into discussing recent sports events and notable player movements across various leagues.

a. French Open Tennis Highlights

[27:26] Katie Nolan:
"Coco Golfer... she's the first American woman to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015."
[28:32] Isabella:
"Alcaraz was trailing five, three... attempted a comeback from two sets down."

• Coco Golfer's Victory: Coco Golfer secures the women's French Open title, marking a significant achievement for American tennis since Serena Williams' 2015 win.
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jannik Sinner: Alcaraz triumphs in a grueling five-hour, 29-minute match, showcasing resilience by coming back from two sets down.

b. Aaron Rodgers Joins the Pittsburgh Steelers

[51:02] Katie Nolan:
"Aaron Rodgers... signed a one-year, $13.6 million contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers."

• Contract Details:
  • Guaranteed: $10 million
  • Potential Max: $19.5 million with performance incentives
• Implications:
  • Compatibility Concerns: Analysts question the fit between Rodgers and Steelers' wide receiver DK Metcalf, citing differing play styles and personalities.
  • Fan Reactions: Mixed feelings among listeners regarding this major quarterback transition.

c. Stanley Cup Finals and Player Performances

[44:21] Katie Nolan:
"Brad Marchand scored the game-winning goal in double overtime."

• Game Highlights:
  • Boston Bruins vs. Oklahoma City Thunder:
    • Brad Marchand's crucial goal ties the series at one-all.
    • Offensive performances from players like Shay Gilgis Alexander and Alex Caruso.
• Fan Engagement:
  Listeners call in to express their frustration and support, particularly against Marchand's performance.

Notable Quotes:

• Katie Nolan:
  "Having to listen to his nonsense... This is going to make you stronger as a person."
  [73:12]

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5. Miscellaneous Sports Discussions

The conversation meanders through various other sports topics, adding a lighthearted and humorous element to the episode.

a. Darts World Cup

[89:24] Unknown:
"The World Cup of Darts starts this Thursday, June 12th, at 1pm Eastern on Peacock."

• Darren Van Dongen ("Dutch Dragon") leads the U.S. team, aiming to overcome past challenges and fan hostility.

b. Baseball Prospects

[78:39] Katie Nolan:
"Roman Anthony has been called up to the Red Sox, replacing an injured Willer Abreu."

• Prospect Performance:
  • Hits first home run, showcasing potential as a top prospect.
  • Discussions on fan anxiety and the pressures of debuting in major leagues.

c. Player Anecdotes and Humor

• Beard Comparisons:
  [88:27] Brady:
  "Chris Sale taking a pair of scissors and cutting up the White Sox throwback uniforms was like going through 'Mean Girls'."
• Interview Fiascoes:
  [83:07] Katie Nolan:
  "Is $10,000 enough to make you feel better about the fact that you just biffed a throw to first base?"

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6. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Katie Nolan wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to engage with the sports they love, embrace their emotions, and stay connected with the Casuals community.

[95:56] Katie Nolan:
"Find somebody you love, give them a hug, watch some sports you like, and enjoy yourself."

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Notable Quotes Overview

• Katie Nolan on Simone Biles:
  "Simone Biles... She's fighting against bigoted bullying, harassment."
  [06:00]

• Brady on Vinnie Pasquintino:
  "Reigning American League player of the week, Vinnie Pasquintino... our favorite baseball player."
  [07:32]

• Dallen Cuff on NIL Settlement:
  "All schools can opt into this. If you opt in, you don't have to spend that, but that is the cap."
  [57:55]

• Katie Nolan on College Sports Rollout:
  "Why does it seem like the compensation of college athletes? The rollout of this has been such a mess on top of a mess."
  [62:49]

• Brady on Aaron Rodgers' Fit with Steelers:
  "DK Metcalf is a run in a straight line, barrel through, people get open however he wants... Aaron Rodgers is full Rodgers at all times."
  [53:38]

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Takeaways

• Inclusion in Sports: The episode underscores the importance of inclusivity and standing against bullying in sports, exemplified by Simone Biles' actions.
• College Sports Transformation: The House v. NCAA settlement marks a significant shift in college athletics, allowing direct payments to athletes while introducing new challenges.
• Dynamic Sports Landscape: From major tennis victories and quarterback movements to quirky anecdotes about player behaviors, the podcast encapsulates the ever-evolving nature of sports.
• Community and Engagement: Despite the complexities and controversies, Casuals emphasizes the unifying power of sports and the importance of community support.

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This episode of Casuals with Katie Nolan offers listeners a comprehensive dive into current sports issues, blending serious discussions with humor and personal insights. Whether you're passionate about athlete inclusion, navigating the changing landscape of college sports, or simply enjoy the latest sports highlights, this episode provides valuable perspectives and engaging conversations.

Transcript

[Katie Nolan]

You know, summer isn't just for playing sports. It's for the conversations around sports, too. You know, the casual hangouts, whether they're inside in the air conditioning or out on the beach with fellow sports fans. Whatever kind of summer mood you're in, Starbucks has a beverage to match. Like the Summer Berry Refresher, the unofficial drink of the summer. It's so good. It's sweet, but not too sweet. It's three berry flavors and it's everything I never would have thought I wanted, but absolutely do want. It's perfect for sipping while you catch up on last night's scores. No matter what, whether it's that drink or one of their other summer drinks, your summer favorites are ready at Starbucks.

[Chris]

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[Katie Nolan]

Hey, Isabella, did you see that The Taco Bell 50K happened a couple weeks ago. It was like two weekends ago in Minneapolis.

[Isabella]

Is this a run like that?

[Katie Nolan]

Mm. There's seven Taco Bells on the route that you have to stop at and eat one menu item.

[Isabella]

I love that.

[Katie Nolan]

It has to. It can't be a drink. Has to be food.

[Isabella]

That's kind of messed up.

[Katie Nolan]

You must consume one burrito.

[Isabella]

Anybody poop on the way?

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, it's allowed. Okay, can I finish telling you the rules or.

[Isabella]

Oh, sorry.

[Katie Nolan]

You have to consume at least one burrito and one Crunch Wrap, I believe are the rules along the way. And seven items. You're allowed to drink Pepto Bismol, you're allowed to puke, and you are allowed to poop.

[Isabella]

What the fuck? But they don't let you get like a Baja Blast on the way.

[Katie Nolan]

You could have one. It just does not count as a. I imagine there's a couple Baja Blasts along the way. There's a. That one happened. But there's another one coming up in October in Denver. Your new favorite place.

[Isabella]

Yeah. Wait, 50k also.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Isabella]

You wanna do it together?

[Katie Nolan]

I've never. No. I'll meet you at the Taco Bell's.

[Isabella]

Okay.

[Katie Nolan]

But I won't. I'll just be there to. And I can order your stuff ahead of time so that you're sitting to get you in and out quickly.

[Isabella]

Is there ever backup at the Taco Bell where there's like several. You know what I mean?

[Katie Nolan]

I did. I knew exactly what you meant. Hi, welcome to Casuals. Hi, welcome to Casuals, the sports podcast that is chill and loves sports and loves you truthfully, and is happy that you're here. I'm Katie Nolan. I'm your host. I'm joined today by my casualties, the production crew here. We got Chris, we got Isabella. We have Brady. If you want to email us, you can casuals with Katie nolanmail.com Our voicemail is 646-801-0043. On IG and TikTok, we are at CasualsThePodcast. Little bit of housekeeping before we get into the yap. Uh, we said that we were gonna start. I think it was last episode. Correct. That we said we needed a rivalry. That. That seems to be what's kind of up right now in sports media. And we had sort of set our sights on John Boy. And I told you guys I was going there and I did on Friday, which went. I think, well, it went much better afterwards when the Red Sox won that series against the Yankees. Loved that. But we didn't mention on this podcast that we had received an email from John Boy's. Mr. John Boy. John Boy's father, John Mann. John Mann. That. Telling us that he. I mean, we should probably read it. I think he emailed us and the subject was rival. And it said. So I became a fan of you. I became a fan after you had my son on your show. I really enjoy the diverse team you have in the banter between a highly knowledgeable sports host. Thanks. Someone pretty new to sports and an Aussie. Sorry, can't remember the Jeff Meyer hater's name. Yo, that's Brady. But today it was suggested you guys need a rival and that may be John Boy. Okay, the gloves are off. Let's bring it on. Space four exclamation points. Jimmy will hold his own, but I will need to help Jake. Very funny. Christopher o' Brien or John Boy's dad or Jam Man. So I wanted to say shout out to Jam Man. Thank you for listening. Sorry that the Yankees lost and also a bad day for us to be to have this new rivalry because it was announced today. Brady.

[Brady]

This morning. Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

This morning it was announced that Major League Baseball and John Boy Media will forge a strategic partnership. MLB to acquire stake in burgeoning media company both sides to collaborate on IP growth And special event ad opportunities and more. Good for them.

[Brady]

The content you did with them. You got a lot of crap for picking Wade Boggs over a rod as like the greatest third baseman on a Yankees Red Sox joint. All time starting nine.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, a bit that made no sense and we were told to keep to 90 seconds, so there was really no time for elaboration. But please continue.

[Brady]

But if. I'm saying, if you're going to put together a starting nine and a rod, like the best parts of his career. He was a shortstop anyway. Get away from that. I don't know. I don't want him in the room. If I'm trying to make an actual baseball team. I want Wade Boggs in that room.

[Katie Nolan]

With all the beers. I want Wade Boggs and a bunch of beers. I also chose Mookie Betts over Babe Ruth because, listen, the beer argument doesn't.

[Brady]

Hold up on that one.

[Katie Nolan]

It doesn't. But you know what does? Mookie Betts. Babe Ruth never had to play against a Mookie Betts. Mookie Betts, much more interesting, much more charming. I bet if I knew Babe Ruth, I wouldn't be a huge fan. Yeah, he's really good at baseball. That's fantastic. All he has ever been to me in my life is a curse. That man's a curse. And Mookie was a sweet, sweet baby angel. Also on the Red Sox, Yankees housekeeping situation, Raphael Devers, your number one defender here, Katie Nolan, who's been saying that you deserve better, that the team hasn't been treating you well and that the communic lines of communication have been broken and that it's not your fault. I will say, didn't love this weekend when you pulled up and didn't run out of ground ball. That would have had you safe at first and I think would have scored a run. I believe the bases were loaded at the time. Wasn't a huge fan of that. And I just got to tell you, because if I'm going to lift you up, I'm also going to. I'm going to hold you accountable. And I think you could have run that out. Cora was asked, our manager, Alex Cora was asked if he's injured and he was like, no, but it wasn't lack of hustle. And. And I don't know what that means. As usual. I don't know what he's saying because it's either you didn't hustle or you're hurt. And it didn't seem like he was hurt. He said that he told him to hit a home run next time so you can jog around them. And he did. And that's great and a cool sound bite. But I do need you when you get a hit to run it out to first base. Not asking a lot. That's part of the job. Okay, thank you.

[Brady]

Pascantino hurt himself hustling.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes, he did. You're absolutely right. You're totally right.

[Brady]

Reigning American League player of the week, Vinnie Pascantino.

[Katie Nolan]

Shout out. No way. Yeah, shout out. Vinnie Pasquintino, our favorite baseball player. I guess that's housekeeping. That counts. And then I'm going to. I'm going to a Liberty game tonight. Oh, that's housekeeping. So I'll be. It's Liberty sky and I will be there. Very funny that the other NW not end of the WNBA matchup today is fever dream. That's funny. But yeah, I'll be at Liberty sky with my friend Ashton. I'm very excited. I told you guys I've not been to a WNBA game yet and now this isn't my team. But I think I'm gonna act like it is when I'm there. Is that okay?

[Isabella]

Yeah.

[Brady]

Have a backup team. Especially if your backup team is local and it's just like the one that you're going to be able to attend the games of and root for.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I'm gonna be rooting for them tonight. Is that okay?

[Unknown]

Especially if it's your first game. Yeah, you just have to have a rooting interest.

[Katie Nolan]

I will. You see, there's a conspiracy theory that Ellie has been replaced with a different Ellie. I know.

[Brady]

She did have a very distinctive twerk.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

You could go to the film for this.

[Isabella]

Brady's. Like, her hips didn't move like that before.

[Katie Nolan]

Well, it's also funny. People are noticing it because they say that the way that the. That Ellie interacts with people who know Ellie from before, they're interacting with them now in a way that they're like, that's not. You're acting like you don't know this person. And. But Ellie, the lore of Ellie does know this person, so your interaction would be different. Which made me thinking about mascots in a way that I don't normally. But that's gotta be tough. Do you get like a dossier when you take over a mascot where they're like, you are friends with Katie Nolan, you have a weird rivalry with Sue Bert. Like, is there, like, are they told.

[Isabella]

What'S seen in Devil Wears Prada? You know what I'm talking about?

[Katie Nolan]

Whichever was part of yes.

[Isabella]

When the Meryl Streep has to her assistants or like have to remind her who to say who yes to say hi to. They're like that's Prince Albert.

[Katie Nolan]

Or like Veep. Like in Veep when they whisper the names of like that's the guy. He has three kids.

[Brady]

I got vibes of your Audi. Can dribble in high heels.

[Katie Nolan]

It's good. All I'm doing right now is delaying this yap because there's nothing I want to do less than have to get into this. But I do. I do have to get into this. I am a woman. I'm a woman who supports women's sports and I'm watching people claim that they are too and doing literally the opposite of that. So pardon me, but we do have to get into what happened this weekend with Riley Gaines and Simone Biles. First, allow me to give you a little bit of background. I know a lot of people are off of that website x the everything site because it's a toxic shithole. I agree but am still there. And this is something that unfolded there this weekend that I feel people need to know because I think an entire conversation is happening and being ignored by rational people because rational people aren't on that website. And you my listeners, rational people. I just want to talk to you about this. So Riley Gaines, who you may know, she what tied for fifth with a trans swimmer a coup 2022 I think and has not shut up about it since she's turned it kind of into her job. I actually don't know what else she does except this. So I gu you could say this is her job is to be an anti trans advocate as much as that's a thing. Anyway, she posted Minnesota State High School League posted a photo of a team that had just won Meet Champlin park, the class quadruple A softball state champion for 2025. They tweeted this picture and they turned the replies off on the tweet. Riley Gaines quote tweeted it, which to me is kind of wild. If you can turn the replies off of a tweet but they can still quote tweet it. It kind of feels like everything isn't broken on this website, but that's certainly one of the things. But anyway, Riley Gaines quote tweets this to her followers and said comments off lol to be expected when your star player is a boy. Now this isn't the first time I've seen this where somebody who is loudly anti trans athletes quote tweets a high school a bunch of high school students to their rabid following. A group of people who only follow them because they are interested in being mad at transgender people for trying to participate in sports. That's the only reason you're following Riley Gaines. It's all she talks about. They quote tweet to those people pictures of high school students and essentially where to find them, the name of their high school, and they say, get them. Basically, that's what that is. And I. It's always sat strangely with me, but like a lot of people, I don't interact with that type of content a Because everything's algorithmically driven now. And if you interact with content like this, you are served content like this. And content like this upsets me. I have gotten in a fight with everybody in this room today because I'm in a bad mood and because I have done nothing but spend my time consuming this type of content for the last two days to try to better understand the story. This stuff upsets me. So that's number one reason I don't interact with it. Number two is because these people who are. Who believe this, who are on Riley's side in this, I guess you'd call it a debate, though I do not think that it is one. This is. They are passionate. They are nothing if not passionate. And they will flood your mentions until they find somebody else to do that to with vitriol. I've been told that I'm a whore. I've been told to for one tweet, we'll get to it. I'm getting ahead of myself, but a lot of times I just don't interact with it. Not something I'm proud of, something I am proud of. I saw Simone Biles, our greatest. One of our greatest Olympians, a source of national pride, One of the best female athletes that we have in this country, inarguable. She quote tweeted Riley's quote tweet. Sorry for getting lost in the words of the but you get what I'm saying. She basically tweeted back at this and to her followers said, you're truly sick. All of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive or creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports, maybe a transgender category in all sports. But instead, you bully them. One thing is for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around. I saw that and I was like, hell, yeah. Simone Biles. You're not afraid? She's not like Me looking at those tweets and going, it's not worth getting into this with these people. She's like, yes, it is. I'm going to stand up for them because this is bullying, because this is a person attacking high school kids, high school kids and sending them to her followers. So Simone Biles stood up to her. Now, I would have seen this, maybe mentioned it, and we would have moved on, but the next tweet in this cursed interaction of tweets is what has us here today and why I'm talking about it. So Riley Gaines replies, all the horrific sexual abuse at Simone Biles, witnessed and spoke out against, caused by one man, yet believes women should be forced to strip naked in front of men to validate the man's feelings. If you're lost, you're not alone. I will try to connect these dots for you in a second. You know how many gold medals you'd have if your quote unquote inclusive dream came true? Zero. And the tweet, it is a picture of Simone Biles and then a picture of Larry Nassar. Even looking at this now, I feel like I'm going to throw up. Larry Nassar, you know who that is? He's the former team doctor for USA Gymnastics, who, I don't have the numbers in front of me, who was found guilty of horrific abuse systemic throughout the gymnastics program. Covered extensively. Very difficult to. To talk about. I went to the ESPYs the year that they had the victims come out on stage, and it was incredibly powerful and also devastating to see how many girls there were. Girls that just wanted to pursue their dream of being an athlete, and in order to do that, had to go see a team doctor, and that team doctor sexually abused them. And Riley Gaines tweeted a photo of the man that did that to one of his victims as an attempt to dunk on them there. I do. There's. So here's the thing. There's so many things that I want to say, and it's impossible to say all of them. We would spend the entire podcast talking about this. The main issue for me here is this is. Is that these. Oh, my God, it makes me so mad. The number one argument that the Riley Gaines of the world keep tossing around while trying to argue that trans people should not be included in sports is that a man could pretend to be a woman to infiltrate a woman's space and abuse them. And here, staring her in the face, is a man who didn't have to jump through any hoops to pretend to be anything. He's not. He just got to abuse women by invading their space. And that does not make Riley Gaines go, so men are invading women's spaces and abusing them. I don't need to come up with some fake boogeyman that might do that and use trans people as they're in. Men just abuse women in women's spaces all the time. That's not what her brain does. Riley Gaines brain says that you were abused, so you should want to keep trans women out of sports. And her reasoning is, believes women should be forced to strip naked in front of men. This is a. A narrative, one of many narratives that if you spend any time reading these people's arguments and what they think are solid points, it comes up a lot. It's a talking point that is so insane that people I know who are looking at me right now, producers who don't spend any time in this space are like, what does that have to do with anything? And it's that they think that a transgender athlete being in a locker room would force every other girl on that team to be naked in front of a transgender athlete. It is such a leap of thing that could happen, as is any argument that anybody passionately makes against trans athletes in sports. And again, I could talk about this for an entire episode, and we have a lot to get to. I just wanted to make sure it did not go unmentioned that Simone Biles shout out to her for taking a stand against something she felt was bigoted bullying, harassment, which it is and continues to be. And Riley Gaines is not the only person doing this. It's a bunch of media companies who also participate in this send their followers to attack high school kids. But this group of people who love to claim they are protecting women's sports, they are. They care about women. I had people ask me, do you know, oh, you don't have any kids, so you wouldn't know. Oh, you don't like women's sports. You would couldn't possibly support women's sports. You don't get to say that you're protecting women's sports when you tweet the photo of our greatest female athletes abuser at her. You just don't. She's in women's sports. She's successful in women's sports. And yet she still advocates for a solution for coming up with some sort of fix to this thing you've deemed a problem. I just am fascinated by these people who spend all of their time ruminating on this issue, and yet their understanding of it appears to have deepened. 0 There is never a nuanced, interesting argument. There's never a solution being offered. There is never a here's what the rules are and here's how we would like to change them. All they say is keep men out of women's sports. Trans women are not men. That's where the disconnect is happening. Men go into women's sports and do evil things all, all the time. We don't have to come up with some fantasy scenario where this might happen. It's happening, and you know that because you're tweeting it at the woman it happened to. I just am sick of people acting like keeping people out of sports is some revolutionary position to take, when actually, if you look through the history of sports, it's like kind of the establishment sports loves to keep people out. And fighting for inclusion in sports is actually the radical position to take. And I love that Simone Biles has taken that position. I personally am also taking that position. I, I've, I've promoted this podcast by saying I think it's important because sports are for everybody. And I mean everybody. Trans people are people. Maybe you don't know any, so maybe that's why it's so easy for you to erase their humanity and refer to them as if they're just men pretending to be women so they can abuse people. There's no evidence of that. It's all plenty of evidence of men abusing women. No evidence of this boogeyman that they keep dragging out that like they're doing it so they can abuse a woman. In fact, the only. I don't even. The only people who I've ever seen advocate for that. I saw somebody who's involved in this conversation offer $10,000 to any male high school athlete who can compete in a women's sport. And they have to wear the merch of that website. They're the only people advocating for men to sneak into women's sports. Over here, we're advocating for trans women to be allowed to play sports of all ages. Why? Because everybody should get to play sports if they want to play sports. And sports should figure out what to do with this category of human that we are now more familiar with, that we are now aware of, that sports's job is to come up with the rules from sports experts, medical experts, human rights experts, the people who have previously been involved in making these rules. They should make the rules on how this works. But you don't just get to say, I don't want them here. They can't come here. They're gonna rape. It's not logic, okay? These are children, high school children. Sports are community. Sports are social acceptance. Sports are how you learn and grow as a person. The trans community is already at huge risk of suicide, of isolation, of being ostracized. And it's that important to you that you also don't let them play sports. You are attacking a very vulnerable community very maliciously. And it's so obvious to me that it's wild. It isn't obvious to everybody else. I don't know how you go to sleep at night talking the way that you do about children. Children. Anyway, the main point of that is you cannot claim to be protecting women's sports. And tweeting the photo of an abuser at the person he abused and who's a female athlete. You just can't. So there goes that argument. Come up with something else. You're not protecting women's sports. Simone Biles is. Okay, let's. Maybe we take a little break. Let's take a little break. Reset. We'll come back and we'll talk about the sports news. You know, summer isn't just for playing sports. It's for the conversations around sports, too. You know, the casual hangouts. Whether they're inside in the air conditioning or out on the beach with fellow sports fans. Whatever kind of summer mood you're in, Starbucks has a beverage to match, like the summer berry Refresher, the unofficial drink of the summer. It's so good. It's sweet, but not too sweet. It's three berry flavors, and it's everything I never would have thought I wanted, but absolutely do want. It's perfect for sipping while you catch up on last night's scores. No matter what, whether it's that drink or one of their other summer drinks, your summer favorites are ready at Starbucks.

[Brady]

Hi, Zoe Saldana. Welcome to T Mobile.

[Katie Nolan]

Here's your new iPhone 16 Pro on us. Thanks. And here's my old phone to trade in. You don't need to trade in. When you switch to T Mobile, we'll.

[Brady]

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[Katie Nolan]

Plus, we'll help you pay off your old phone. Up to 800 bucks and you still get to keep it. There's always a trade in. Not right now.

[Brady]

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[Katie Nolan]

I feel like I have to give you something in return for karma. That's okay. I don't really have much in my purse. Oh, let's see. Hand sanitizer. It's lavender.

[Brady]

I'm good.

[Katie Nolan]

Seriously? Let me check this pocket. Oh, mints. Really? I'm fine. Oh I have raisins. I'm a mom. Wait wait one sec. I've got cupcakes in the car. It's our best iPhone offer ever.

[Brady]

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[Chris]

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[Brady]

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[Chris]

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[Katie Nolan]

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[Brady]

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[Chris]

As soon as the same day.

[Katie Nolan]

Loans offered by Netcredit are lending partner.

[Chris]

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[Katie Nolan]

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[Unknown]

People.

[Chris]

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[Brady]

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[Katie Nolan]

Okay, the French Open. Look, not a huge tennis fan myself. Isabella, you're a bigger probably tennis fan than I am. I was screaming at tennis this weekend. Top of my lungs. French Open American Coco Golf and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz took out the women's and men's French Open titles respectfully, over the weekend. It was Goff's second career major. She's the first American woman to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015. Is it just me that hates when we phrase stats that way? When they say she's the first in in in 10 years, it's like, well, it's not the first, but that's just me. Okay, it is just me.

[Chris]

How should we word that now?

[Unknown]

What do you think?

[Katie Nolan]

I don't know. I just feel like no one, no, no American woman has won since Serena in 2015. Or Serena Williams was the last American woman to win and it just is like she's the very first since this other one who did it 10 years ago.

[Brady]

The problem with phrasing it like that is like it diminishes. Makes like, she's good, but Serena did this a while ago. Like, let's just talk about Coco golf. Don't bring people into it. Let her have.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, fine. You win. In the men's draw, Alcaraz came back from two sets down. It. What? Okay, what is the. I don't have the smart words to talk about tennis, but Alcaraz was trailing five, three. It was love. 40. Is that a thing?

[Isabella]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, so Sinner was winning right in the fourth set before he staved off three championships, championship points. He broke Sinner when he was serving for the championship the next game, getting into a tie break and winning it that game. The thing I do love about tennis is. And I said game, and I think I meant match is the thing I do love is, especially with singles, it's like, you are alone out there. It is you and this person. And whatever's going down is going down between the two of you and everybody. I do love in the French Open because of the way the French are when they quiet down the audiences and you just hear the thing that you most hear are really loud shushes of, like, them. So it's just like. But the only noise is the shushing. So it's like, just stop shushing each other and it will be quiet. Um, but it's just, like, dead quiet. And it's these two, and they're moaning or whatever. And, like, again, I'm not coming into this with a ton of background knowledge. I'm watching this as a person who loves sports and athleticism and competition and watching, like, Alcaraz was very good at those little drop shots. Is that what it's called when you, like, bloop it over the net and they gotta come running up for it? And then there was one point where Sinner got Alcaraz with one of those, and it felt like, oh, my God, he's using your thing against you. And then there was one where Alcaraz tried it again, and Sinner came up and, like, just barely by a hair, snuck his racket underneath it and returned it. It was amazing to watch. What did you all think?

[Isabella]

Yeah, I. I mean, with that particular match, I didn't watch the last set, but I watched that happen where he was down and, like, missed triple championship points. And it was an insane comeback. Like, this man, like, Sinner was up. He won the first two sets and was about to win the third set. He was up 5, 3. He just needed to win one more game. I would be so pissed if I was.

[Katie Nolan]

I know.

[Unknown]

I would be so pissed about tennis. Right. Is the fact that it could finish in 10 seconds time or you could still have another three hours of tennis.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, yeah. Worth noting, this match took 5 hours and 29 minutes. So when Isabella says she missed the end, it's probably because she. She had to do something because she'd been watching it for so long.

[Isabella]

Yeah, it's a really.

[Unknown]

That was always the thing about, like when I used to go to tennis matches when I was younger, I used to go to the Australian Open every year. I loved watching the matches. But you would always root for whoever was behind because you wanted the game to go for as long as possible so you could get your money's worth. And it's that thing about tennis where you're like, I can't really just sit there and enjoy the games as much as I want because I want there to be like a five set, five hour, 29 minute match, which thankfully these people got. But it's.

[Isabella]

Yeah, I know, it's like, it sucks for the players you're going to five sets, but for the viewer, it is exciting.

[Katie Nolan]

Rules.

[Brady]

Do they stop serving beer after the second set?

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, good.

[Brady]

Kind of like after the seventh inning.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, they probably like those long extra.

[Brady]

Inning baseball games where they've stopped selling beer after the seventh inning, but now it's the 16th inning and you're like.

[Katie Nolan]

Open it back up. I'm so. Yeah, in hockey, I think it's after the second period maybe or halfway through the third. I don't know. I don't. I got. I'd have to look it up. It's been a while since I've been to a hockey game. They're very expensive in New York for no reason. But yeah, in baseball it's after the seventh. It's like, get your beer and then you. It's done. They close it down because they don't want to be responsible for you getting in your car and driving home drunk. But then when the game goes into extras and you're like, can I. So can we renegotiate? I'm just still here and there's no beer.

[Brady]

The only other option is to like panic over by. Like, grab your two beers that they'll let you carry and then find somebody else before the seventh inning, like, hey, can you grab me two more beers? Just a pallet of beers in front of me.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't want two options. I don't want to encourage bad behavior, but I will say you can get two beers and put them back or put them down and then go back and get two beers again. They won't.

[Isabella]

I'm like, hey, I saw you.

[Katie Nolan]

They're not going to go. You're the guy who looked like every other guy I've talked to since I've been here. It's all kind of the same person. But anyway, don't do that. This was the longest French Open final in the Open era and the second longest Slam final ever for Coco G. What was the storyline here, Isabella, Wasn't it that the woman that she beat, basically, Sabalenka. She said that I. I didn't. She didn't beat me. I made mistakes.

[Isabella]

That's what it sounded like.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. But then Brady made a really good point that English is not her first language. And you always want to be careful, Judge. Yeah. The nuances of what they're trying to say. I think, like, look, I think you can scrutinize what anybody says after a win or a loss. Certainly after a loss. And perhaps she. I don't know enough about her to say if she's, like, deserving of a criticism for this, but I do feel like I'd be pretty upset if I lost. And, you know, people always say, I didn't. We. Didn't. We beat ourselves. They didn't beat us. We beat ourselves type of a thing. That feels like what, that Belarusian woman.

[Brady]

Speaking English to a French audience. There could be something lost.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Isabella]

Going back, though, to what you originally said about that. It's just them on the court, though.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Isabella]

That's kind of like what's. I mean, at least, what's so fun about tennis is that it really is, like, when you win, it's like, that was me. That was all me.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Isabella]

And that's what I find.

[Katie Nolan]

So who do you think you are? I am.

[Isabella]

I am. That's what I'm gonna say if I win the US Open.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, so you're playing tennis, and is this before or after you're coaching the Knicks?

[Isabella]

It's. I'm.

[Brady]

No one's ever done both.

[Isabella]

Yeah. Maybe sometime during the off season, I can do Wimbledon.

[Katie Nolan]

Perfect. Perfect.

[Unknown]

Or just if you just play in the US Open. Flushing's right there.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, right there.

[Isabella]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

You can pull the double next to your Mets. You can go to the Mets game and then go to the. Play the. That's right. She's showing us her Mets jersey.

[Isabella]

Yep.

[Katie Nolan]

Hi.

[Isabella]

But yeah, shout out, Coco Golf. She's awesome.

[Katie Nolan]

Shout out, tennis. Dan was calling. Dan and I were. You know, I was watching it with Dan And. And he just kept calling him Alcatraz. And so he was. He kept calling him the Rock and doing it in the accent, the Sean Connery accent. Because there was a movie called the Rock and it was about Alcatraz and Sean Connery was in it. And so he. Yeah, he was killing in the room. It doesn't, it doesn't translate well to me reiterating it to you. I just kept being like, big, big year for sinners. And. And that was also landing really well in the room as well. So those were the sorts of jokes that we made. The NBA Finals, where this feels like so long ago now, but on Sunday, the Thunder defeated the Pacers in game two. The series is now tied. One, one. Have we had a podcast since the Pacers did what the Pacers did? We talked about that last minute shot.

[Unknown]

Oh, I don't think we did.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't think we did Friday. Right. I think these games are so spaced out. Maybe that was Thursday night, but either way, we wouldn't have talked about it because we did a Thursday day Thursday night.

[Unknown]

How about that Game one?

[Katie Nolan]

It was insane. I. I came into this series neutral, obviously. I know a lot of people are talking about it like it's Oklahoma City and it's Indiana and these are small markets and nobody cares. I hate that narrative. I think it's silly. I like when a small market makes it because you see their fans. First of all, their fans are all willing to put on the promotional T shirt. A lot of other places you're gonna see. No, I mean. And we can still talk about how much I hate that. That is my only hang up on rooting for the Sirs. But they're all gonna put the T shirt on. The place is electric. They're gonna participate in all the fan stuff. Remember Chapel Roan at. Where was that when she was like, oh, you're too cool in the VIP section. You're not gonna dance. Like, that's what a lot of are at sport sporting events to me, where it's like, oh, you're cool. So you're wearing your cool outfit and you're not going to put on your T shirt and you're not going to clap along when it says clap because you don't want to look uncool. These small markets are like, I don't care about looking cool. I want my team to win and they need me to clap on beat or I'm not going to be able to get my team to win. So I like a smaller market. I didn't Come into this with any sort of allegiance. I'm coming out of this, I think, like a Pacers fan. I love their coach. I love Carlisle. I like that he had that press conference where he stood up for Doris Burke, who, because she's a woman and she talks during basketball games, just by nature of that, gets a ton of hate every year. There's always stories and speculation about her job. And he came out unprovoked and was like, I just want to talk about how great Doris Burke is and how many doors she's opened for women in sports, how brave she is to come out here and do this when everybody yells at her that they. That they don't want to. And she's so smart. I've told her she should get into coaching, but this is what she wants to do, and she's helped. And then he label. He named all of the NBA franchises that have a woman that does. That's in their booth and, like, named them by name. And he spent his game, I believe, game one press conference, doing this. And I was like, that's very cool. Shout out to your vibes. Then I saw an old clip of Tyrese Halliburton. Who? Chris. Didn't he get most overrated this year?

[Unknown]

Oh, yeah. By his peers.

[Katie Nolan]

I mean, insane. What an amazing answer he's had to that.

[Isabella]

That's so funny.

[Katie Nolan]

Hitting all of these shots, but I don't. I just didn't really know much about him. But I saw an old clip of him doing a watch along. Taylor Rooks was on it, and he's like, talking about how he would have taken a shot that both of the hosts are like, this is. That's a terrible shot. Why would you take that shot? And you just see him go like, I would have taken that shot. And then we get to see him in the finals in. In the. This entire postseason, taking that shot and hitting that shot multiple times. What's the stat? This was his fourth winning or tying shot in the final five seconds of a game this postseason. That's crazy.

[Isabella]

Yeah, whatever. He's good. Whatever. You know, maybe in, like, five months I can have a more, like, regular conversation about this, but right now. He broke my heart.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. Yeah, you're right. Okay. I should have been more aware of that.

[Isabella]

No, it's fine.

[Katie Nolan]

What I was saying, I just will.

[Isabella]

Be non verbal during.

[Katie Nolan]

No Sirs. No, sirs. No, sirs. Well, they lost. Do you want to talk about that?

[Isabella]

No.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. Well, they lost. Shay Gilgis Alexander, Shane Gillis. Alexander had 34 points and eight assists. His 72 points in the series are the most ever by a player after his first two career finals games. Oklahoma City's reserves scored 48 points, with Alex Caruso Yo. Guy posting 20 and Aaron Wiggins adding 18. Both scored more than any Pacers player did. Okay. Ouch. Oklahoma City is five. And oh. This postseason, after a loss with an average winning margin of 19.6 points. Oh, what I did want to talk about. So, Isabella, did you see any of this conversation about the court? People were upset because usually during the finals or I guess people. It hasn't been this way for a couple of years, but back in the day, the finals, they would like the. The trophy, the Larry that you're very familiar with was somewhere represented on the court. Usually it was like right in the middle. I saw it and said, like, the finals. And they would, like, make it known that if you just tuned into this game, that this is the finals and this year it looks prestigious, right? Game one of this year, none of that. There was no branding on the floor, and fans were like, what the hell? This used to mean something. This used to. Whatever. And then game two, they like superimposed digitally on the court, right? The trophy onto the court.

[Unknown]

And it didn't look like a very low res.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, it didn't look good. It wasn't convincing. It wasn't like when they do those Sunday broadcast graphics for, like, NFL where it makes it look like it's in the room with you and you're like, whoa, how is that on the field? It did not look real. It was like a clip art that they put on the court. Is that the right. Do you think they made the right call there? What do you think's gonna be on the court for game three?

[Isabella]

It's gonna be the same picture, but then also my little post it note on it. That's what it's gonna be. YouTube TV's doing better. You know what they always do is the little. What do you call that on the little dot that's showing when. Chris, help me out here.

[Katie Nolan]

The little dot that's showing. Chris, come on.

[Unknown]

Like the cursor at the bottom to see how it's.

[Katie Nolan]

How far along.

[Unknown]

And it's got the. Larry.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Oh, that's cute.

[Unknown]

I know what you're talking about.

[Isabella]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

What is that called?

[Isabella]

What is that called?

[Katie Nolan]

It's the track ball marker. I'd call it the track ball.

[Isabella]

The marker on the TV.

[Katie Nolan]

Well, it's YouTube, so it's not really. Whatever. Okay. So, yeah, I think they're going to put the post it note on it. Game three, Wednesday night at 8:30 Eastern. Because we can't have a game within a week of another game. I guess it just feels like there's so many days between these games.

[Isabella]

Can I add one? One more. One more thought.

[Katie Nolan]

I would love if you did.

[Isabella]

I will say, watching these games, so much more enjoyable when you don't have a rooting team.

[Katie Nolan]

It is true.

[Isabella]

So much more enjoyable. I'm like, I can watch this and not not, you know, just like whatever. Don't. My anxiety levels are totally fine.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Isabella]

I love it.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, you're just rooting for good basketball more than you are rooting for a team to win. Yeah, I get that. Speaking of games that none of us have any stake in the Panthers and the Oilers. Game three was last night. The Panthers won 6 1. They now have a 21 series lead over the Edmonton Oilers. Game two. Do we have to? I just.

[Unknown]

I think we do. Because once game two finished, we had a few voicemails.

[Katie Nolan]

Gay. So let me say what happened.

[Unknown]

Half an hour.

[Katie Nolan]

Game two hero, Brad Marchand, Ever heard of him? Opened the scoring 56. Oh, wait, that's. This is about game three. So in game two, they went to overtime. Double overtime was game.

[Unknown]

Double overtime.

[Katie Nolan]

And the winning goal was scored on a breakaway. Brad Marchand. Now, my brother, a smarter hockey fan than me, was like, clearly they never watched any tape on a Brad Marchand breakaway. Because that's exactly what he does on every breakaway and still somehow managed to score. That's fine.

[Brady]

Triple D, glove side.

[Katie Nolan]

He. He scored the goal. He scored the game winning goal, as he does, because he's incredibly talented, as I've always said that he is. But yes, obviously it hurt. And now, Chris, you said people called in. Do you want to maybe. Can we play like a super cut of what people had to say?

[Unknown]

I think we can.

[Katie Nolan]

Is it gonna hurt?

[Unknown]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay.

[Chris]

Did you see that? Hi, it's Kyle from Orcas Island, Washington. Also known as the hippie Hampton.

[Katie Nolan]

Nobody calls it that.

[Chris]

Winning that game for you and double OT your boy, man, I bet they're.

[Brady]

Throwing all kinds of rats at the rat right now.

[Chris]

Coming on a mobile here.

[Katie Nolan]

Hey, did you see that? Two overtime games.

[Chris]

Holy cow.

[Brady]

Brad Marchand, game winner, double overtime.

[Katie Nolan]

Wow. Thunder, Martian Panthers. Wow.

[Brady]

Hey, Katie, this is Adam from Chicago. I just finished watching the. The hockey game, the second game, the Stanley Cup Final. And Brad Marchand scored the game winning goal.

[Chris]

And it made me think of uk. My condolences. It got me thinking, like, how long.

[Brady]

Can you be mad at a team before you have to, like, sort of let go that your favorite player got traded.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, thanks. Love you.

[Unknown]

Bye.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't love you. I do. All right. I don't know. I'm still mad. I'm still mad. I'm not rooting for the Panthers. I hate them. I think they stink. Nobody talks about the fact that that game didn't even need to go to overtime at first. And then they scored at the last second. Edmonton got a last second goal. Like, it was like 17 seconds left.

[Brady]

Who would they score on?

[Katie Nolan]

Turn in your badge and gun, Bobrovsky. You're off the force, so. Yeah, okay. And then. I don't know. Cause everybody wants to hurt my feelings, I guess. In this segment. Brady, you wanted to praise Paul Maurice.

[Brady]

I was unfamiliar with this man's game, the Florida Panthers coach. I find him to be legitimately funny.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

And you're telling me that I am wrong for feeling that way?

[Katie Nolan]

You're certainly not alone. I've heard the media does love to say, wow, what a charming guy. I don't see it. Okay. And I reserve. I'm within my rights to say, I don't find you charming. That's fine. I can feel that way. But everybody's like, oh, my God, he's so personable. Oh, my God, he's so funny. It's like. Have you ever met another person?

[Brady]

I've never met another person who will do bits during a Stanley cup game. He is on the. Just on the bench doing his in game interview, doing bits. And I can respect that.

[Katie Nolan]

And I think that's because Jackie Redmond is incredibly talented. I think Jackie Redmond brings it out of him. I don't think Palmer. What was his bit?

[Brady]

Chris, do you want to play the.

[Katie Nolan]

Bit on the Panthers bench with head coach Paul Maurice?

[Unknown]

Paul.

[Katie Nolan]

Sam Bennett with two big hits in the D zone and a highlight reel goal in the ozone. Is that a coach's dream shift or what? Well, he's shouldered all over the ice.

[Brady]

But he doesn't cheat the game for the two goals.

[Katie Nolan]

Right. He's under pucks and does all the hard right things, and that's just who he is. I don't think his agent's gonna have to work that hard this summer, but I'll move on. A horrible attitude. I think he's got bubonic plague. I see what you're doing. Danang fever. He's got a whole bunch of things. We're not sure he can be cured. Play the game, Paul. Play the game. Thank you. For this.

[Unknown]

Brady's losing it right now.

[Katie Nolan]

Was that Danang fever? Oh, so now we're gonna knock him from daang fever. Oh, I'm sorry. I respect victims of dengue fever. Oh, I'm sorry. I don't think the bubonic plague which killed Isabella. Can you Google how many people died from the bubonic plague?

[Isabella]

I don't know.

[Katie Nolan]

I think it's a lot more than that.

[Isabella]

I don't know. I just have the Taco Bell tab.

[Katie Nolan]

A third of Europe that. A third of Europe dying by the bubonic plague is something that we should be making fun of.

[Unknown]

Between 25 and 50 million people.

[Chris]

Million people in Europe alone.

[Brady]

To be fair, there was no overlap between the Black Death and NHL free agency.

[Katie Nolan]

There were different periods in history that you know of. I was watching the BBC News today because we put that on for Myrtle because she likes to stay informed, but she doesn't want the bias. And they were talking about sports, and it's always funny when BBC talks about American sports because I've never heard them talk about hockey before, but they have to because I Stanley Cup. And they were playing a clip of Brad Marchand talking in the. In the little bug on there was like, Sam Bennett. I was like, that's not correct. I wish it were true, but that is not correct. And they also called the Athletics. The Oakland Athletics. And you know what, Brits, we got you.

[Brady]

Am I allowed to dislike Brad Marchand's.

[Katie Nolan]

Texas and Texas Tech Game three?

[Brady]

Well, it's not a good beard.

[Katie Nolan]

It's. Nobody cares. Texas defeated Texas Tech 10 to 4 in Game 3 of the women's College World Series Championship Series on Friday night. To claim its first national title was surprising to me. I felt like I had seen Texas win a national title, and that's probably because how many times have they been. Texas had lost to Oklahoma in the championship series two of the previous three years. Oklahoma was one of the teams that Texas beat on its way to the championship. Texas coach Mike White finally won his ninth World Series trip between his coaching stints at Oregon and Texas. So it's a name you're hearing a lot. But this was their first time winning it. It was triumphant for them. Tegan Cavan, a sophomore, allowed no earned runs in all 311 2/3 innings she pitched at the World series. She went 40 with a save in the World Series for the Longhorns and was named most outstanding player. Texas Tech star pitcher Najari Kennedy, who had thrown every pitch for the Red Raiders through their first Five World Series games was pulled after one inning in game three. The two time National Fast Pitch Coaches Association Pitcher of the year gave up five runs on five hits and threw only 25 pitches. She had thrown 686 consecutive pitches dating to the start of super regionals before exiting. The loss came after she signed a nil deal that was worth more than $1 million for the second straight year. A lot was said about that, which we're going to get into nil in a little bit here when we talk about that new NCAA house v. NCAA settlement. Men should figure out how to be able to pitch that much.

[Brady]

I do love just that. When you're an absolute horse of a softball pitcher, you're out there every day.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

And every time I turn on this team, I'm going to see their best pitcher throwing.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

That's an absolute feature of the sport.

[Katie Nolan]

Absolutely. Because it's less pressure on your joints. It's less.

[Isabella]

Guys, when are we gonna have a team softball game?

[Katie Nolan]

Well, there's four of us, so that's our first problem.

[Isabella]

We can. We can enlist.

[Katie Nolan]

Two of us don't live here. That's our second problem.

[Isabella]

This is true.

[Katie Nolan]

So it's you. Dan would. I could throw my fastest pitch and Dan would I rock that. I'm sure he's gigantic. That has to help in some way.

[Isabella]

All right, Whatever.

[Katie Nolan]

Sorry.

[Isabella]

I tried to promote community at this.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. Thank you. Think. Think twice next time before you do that. Okay? Geez.

[Isabella]

Whatever.

[Katie Nolan]

Aaron Rodgers. Sound the bells, everybody. Aaron Rodgers finally decided where he wants to go. He's. It's gonna be the Steelers. You thought you knew he was gonna do that, but you were wrong. He did it on his own terms. He passed his physical and signed a one year 13.6 million dollar contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That includes 10 million dollars guaranteed. A lot of incentives in here. One year 13.65 million dollars. 10 million dollars guaranteed. Max value of 19.5 million dollars includes 5.85 million dollars of playtime and team performance incentives. So basically, if he does well, he can make that more money. The most money it could possibly be is $19.5 million for this year. And the lowest it could possibly be will be $10 million because that's guaranteed. Roger's participation in minicamp and a post practice news conference will tie a bow on what's been a long drawn out free agency Process as the four time most valuable player with 62952 career passing yards and 503 passing touchdowns finally gets underway with his third NFL team is the craziest part. It feels like after all of this it feels like he's been everywhere but really it was just Green Bay that whole time, the jets for that little nightmare and now the Pittsburgh Steelers. Thoughts?

[Unknown]

At least we don't have to hear him hear about him for the next few months.

[Katie Nolan]

You are so wrong. I wish that that was true but you are so wrong. I saw talk about it. We don't. You're right. I do feel like legally I had to say that he signed. It is something we've referenced quite a bit but we can move on. Alleged that they think he's married.

[Brady]

Friend of the program DK Metcalf does not get to move on.

[Katie Nolan]

That's right. DK Metcalf is there.

[Brady]

DK got traded to the Steelers. Now Aaron Rodgers signs with the Steelers. Lengthy piece by ESPN's Ben Solak this week about why this is not going to be a good fit. Like DK is a run in a straight line, barrel through, people get open however he wants kind of guy. And Aaron Rodgers is a run the specific pass pattern that I want and only the way I want it and be where I want when I say I'm going to throw the ball there. Not really. Their styles don't match. Their personalities don't seem to match. DK is a super chill guy. Aaron Rodgers is full Aaron Rodgers at all times. Aaron Rodgers won't run play action like seems to be the best use of DK is to get him one on one down the field. Not gonna be great pulling for dk.

[Katie Nolan]

Me too. I guess I hope for my friend that Aaron Rodgers is good. I don't know guys. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. Do I care? We'll see. We'll see how it goes. Congrats to him. Congrats to them Pittsburgh. Okay, let's talk about House v. Ncaa. Schools are now free to begin paying their athletes directly, marking the dawn of a new era in college sports brought about by a multi billion dollar legal settlement that was formally approved on Friday. The 2.8 billion dollar ten year settlement will pay past athletes who competed from 2016 to 2024 for missed nil opportunities and allow colleges to pay current players directly. Schools can share as much as 20.5 million dollar of their revenue with players during the upcoming academic year. The cap will increase by at least 4% every year during this 10 year agreement. How schools use their $20.5 million is TBD. Isn't that fun? That's my favorite part about trying to understand college sports and how it works is they're like, well, we don't really know, but we said they can. And now we figure that out. Most schools will follow you guys will.

[Brady]

Responsibly figure out how to use your money.

[Katie Nolan]

You do that giving money to the kids, you'll find a way to do that correctly and not keep any. Most schools will follow the back payment formula for former athletes. 75% to football, 15% to men's basketball, 5% to women's basketball, and 5% to all remaining sports. Some schools, however, may use a gross revenue formula, which just means it's disgusting because it's math. A disgusting revenue formula. Though it's unclear how this will impact nil deals among third parties because nil mostly is a third party pay. Not mostly, it is. It's allowing athletes to profit profit off their name, image and likeness. And that profit comes from a third party. So it's unclear how this will impact nil deals among third parties. Those deals will come under more scrutiny via an enforcement agency, I believe. I read somewhere that any deal with a third party over $600 needs to be reported to an agency. That is an incredibly low threshold. I don't think I've heard of a single nil deal. Now, granted, I'm sure there's a couple that's less than $600, but anyway, you've got to report that to somebody. And then they're going to question mark. And then they're going to question mark. It's still not clear how this will impact international students. So it seems like a lot of things aren't clear. So I thought it'd be a good idea if we brought in somebody who could maybe clear some of this up. Dallin Cuff. He is a college sports analyst for ESPN, ACC Network and Sirius XM's College Sports Rad. He is the former captain of the Columbia men's basketball team. It says here he's an Arsenal fan and a Steelers fan. I won't hold any of that against him. I don't know why it's fully important. But Dallin, on Friday we got this new ruling and it feels like what we've got from this, they're going to back pay former athletes, but also it allows schools for the first time to directly pay athletes. Is that. Am I getting the gist of that right?

[Chris]

That is the overarching headline. Now, there's a bunch of things below it and there's a lot more questions, which I'm sure we'll get to. And there's some more problems created, some of which we've seen in college sports. Some will be new problems. This is why it's not a solution. This is why it's a settlement. Settlement is an agreement to end hostilities, if you will. This is not the solution to college sports problems. They still have not addressed things. They still need legal protections that they don't have. So this is a step. I'm not sure if it's even a step in the right direction, but it's a step. And now schools can pay athletes directly, which has never happened since, like, the 1890s when they first started creating amateurism, like 1910 or 1920. It's been over 100 years. So that's a step. But we'll see what the byproducts of those are.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, and you say you don't even know if it's a step in the right direction. And I'm not. I don't want to ask you to, you know, opine too much, but I feel like, is it good now that. That schools can directly pay their athletes?

[Chris]

I think that's good, but it's the other problems you're now going to create. So part of the settlement, like I said, that's the headline. All right, $20.5 million. That is the cap limit. Now, again, when you have a cap created without a collectively bargain situation, you are walking a legal tightrope.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Chris]

So we'll come back to that in a second. So let's leave that. So they can put $20.5 million and any team, any, any school can opt into this. If you opt in, you don't have to spend that, but that is the cap, and it goes to all your student athletes across the board. Why it's a question now, though, is okay if you create this cap, the other piece is the nil, which I'm sure a lot of your listeners have heard this, and some are aware of it. Some know it more than others. So athletes have been paid since these NIL rules started coming on the books about four or five years ago. But those have been paid by collectives or by individuals or sometimes by businesses like Legitimate Name, Image, Likeness. You come. I'm from Powerade. We sign a contract. You're now in Powerade ads. Those are few and far between. Most of it is just donors paying student athletes. They've been paying them. Now the market has been set. You know how states football team last year, you know, many reports 20, $25 million just for their payroll alone. That's just Football, you add in basketball, sort of a story and all these other things. So why I say all that is now one of the byproducts of this is this nil clearinghouse. So anything over $600 is going to have to be assessed by Deloitte and you have to put into the system. And Deloitte, the great consulting, global consulting firm, will look at it and say, is this fair market value, is this reasonable and is it of valid business purposes? That's written in the settlement. So what they're trying to do is take out these donors from just giving a bunch of money and letting the school do it. The problem with that is we're going to revert, I think, to what we saw from 2020-20-20 all before that. A bags of cash from donors. You can't keep these guys and gals out of wanting to influence their teams. But if you're going to try to create this clearinghouse situation, that's another artificial cap limiting opportunities for players to make money. Seems like lawsuits pending, but that's where that's like another problem. So it's a step to pay the students from the school. But now you've may have gone backwards in terms of dirty money. Under the dirty money quote, unquote, under the table, bags of cash. And then how is, how are those things adjudicated? We can get to that too, because they've tried to create a commission to uphold these rules. And if you break these rules, there's supposed to be a consequence for that.

[Katie Nolan]

And they don't yet know what the consequences are. And they keep saying they're going to figure them out, but that seems like a strange. We know you'll be in trouble, but we can't tell you what kind of trouble you're going to be in.

[Chris]

That's okay. They have this thing called the College Sports Commission just created, okay. And this guy, Brian Seeley, who was a Major League Baseball executive, this just basically came on. He was announced shortly after this settlement was announced as signed off by Judge Wilkin, which was I think like 9:29, 15pm Eastern time Friday night, this past Friday. So Brian Seely was announced a couple days later. This commission is now going to be in charge of assessing whatever Deloitte says about the fair market value assessing if they think there's other outside influences coming in, and then adjudicating a punishment to it, which there is no precedent for any of these things. So it's going to be fascinating to see the first person that puts in a $2 million nil deal. Say it's a commence college basketball player which the market has been set that that's a pretty reasonable price for a first, second, third team All American. If they say that's not reasonable, then where do we go from there? And if the player keeps the money anyway and now he's supposed to be the school supposed to be penalized, what is that penalty? They're going to create it and we're going to set a precedent with this new sports commission upon all these rules that are kind of just created out of thin air. You're creating a market out of thin air and then trying to enforce it again seems like a legal challenge.

[Katie Nolan]

Why does it seem like the, the, the compensation of college athletes? The rollout of this has been such a mess on top of a mess. When it's something that clearly we talked about and people advocated for and argued for for such a long time. Why does it feel like they're figuring it out as they go every single step of the way? Like 2018, I feel like we got the transfer portal which gave athletes freedom in a way we hadn't really seen them have before. Then a few years later we get nil, which is supposed to be able to profit off of name, image and likeness. But like you said, a lot of booster groups use that as just ways to pay athletes. And then a couple years later, now we're saying, okay, schools can do it, but they can only do it by they only have this much money and it has to go to everybody it within their program, all their athletes and their like. If you're a football school and a basketball school, you're almost like, like hurt by this because you have the same cap as somebody that's just seen as like a football school. Meanwhile, the athletes of sports that are a lot smaller and, and don't have as much attention and money on them, they're also held to these same rules that limit their nil availability even though they're not going to be getting a lot of money from the school. Why is this such a GD mess, I guess is my question.

[Chris]

As a famous Frederick Douglas quote. Power seeds. Nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will. Will, this is the issue. The NCAA and their member schools have created this system for over 100 years by which they were in control. They held all the power, they held all the money. And to have it literally pulled out of their hands over the last 15 years with Supreme Court, all these things got to either the Supreme Court or they got to a situation where the NCAA finally said, we need to settle. We're not going to win this case. But they fought them in Supreme Court for years, and they won a lot of these cases up until the last, like 15 years. The Ed O' Bannon case, which was the first nil case, which basically gave the way to end NCAA football, which is a great game, and NCAA basketball and clowns like me. I got a check for 900 bucks. I was floating on. I was losing my mind. It was like 2010. I'm like, you guys are gonna pay me for playing at Columbia. This is great. It was great news. I was like, this is. But that's where the disparity within this sport exists for a guy like me at the mid major level. Yeah, if you gave me a couple free meals, more free meals, I guess, or I got to drink more booze for free. Over 21, of course.

[Katie Nolan]

Of course.

[Chris]

Great deal. Oh, great deal. Great deal. I'm all in. But if you're at Ohio State and you're the quarterback, you command a little bit market value, More market value. And that Delta is huge between college sports. So over the years, they have literally, first of all, they abdicated, I would say, the responsibility in terms of leadership. When you saw where the public was going, where the money was going, and you said, okay, if we wanted to get our hands around this right now, Mark Emmert was the president for years, the ncaa, he could have said and gone to his member schools and sold them them as. When he took the job, he said he thought revenue sharing was coming. He thought we'd have to change some rules. We had to change our model. Well, as soon as he got in power, the president got in there and said, no, we're not doing that. No, no, no, you need to be. He's very much the Roger Goodell. He's the shield. And he just took all the bullets and all the wounds and all the hate, but also had to take them to court over and over again. And if he would have just said, okay, we need to figure out this, this revenue situation here. How do we give players maybe a name, image, likeness piece? How do we do that? And how do we do it under control where we still hold some guardrails, hold some control. We see the transfer portal issue coming up. We're seeing we're getting sued for this. Okay, how do we. How do we figure this thing out? Let's. Let's put some guardrails around that and let's control our own property. But by giving some of the control, by giving up Some of the power. They would not do it. They would not do it unless forced to do it. And it's been incremental because it takes legal process is brutal. It takes time, it takes energy, it takes money. And it's been piece by piece. The portal was less of an issue, but the portal and nil coming together at the same time. And bear in mind the NIL started just because of states laws. California first, Florida and then everyone else followed because they said, oh my God, if the Florida school, California schools can pay and the Florida schools can pay and we can, our kids are going to lose. And as constituents are like, we got to give our teams the best chance to succeed. So all these laws are still just state laws. There is no federal legislation, which is another bigger problem too. But every incremental step along the way, it's because they don't sit down and say, how do we just figure this out collectively? And once the legal balls started rolling all these different angles and the wind started coming for the players, they weren't, you know, we were, we were in a different space. The NCAA just is worried about getting sued with everything they do now because that's been the outcome of every one of these anti. These, these are anti capitalist antitrust matters that are written in like there are laws and they've been breaking them for 100 years. Yeah, it's obvious there's a problem.

[Katie Nolan]

So when you say they need to be forced to do it, how do we force these greedy people who have profited off of the bodies of young athletes, how do we force them to. Is there a way to collectively bargain? I don't know. Business. And I feel like there's a lot of different athletes. And I don't know how you get everybody together, but it seems like collectively bargaining is how this is supposed to work.

[Chris]

That's my biggest question because I think that's the answer. I just don't know how they do it. I've asked this of sports lawyers because I'd like the disparity I outlined between myself as a former athlete and where all these power four football and basketball schools stand. It's just night and day. So I don't know. And every school again doesn't have to opt into this thing how you. You've already forced their hand. This has been. The force has already been. Been going now for five or six years because they've had no control over the transfer portal. And this nil situation where all this money is pouring in, coaches are complaining, you don't know. And some of it to your point before is good. Like Nazaree Kennedy, a great softball pitcher that went from. Went to Texas Tech, got a million bucks for the. That she would never have gotten that before, but she led her team to a college World Series. Now granted, I mean that's pretty freaking cool in the final of that event. And that would never happen. There's other athletes like that where this stuff exists. It's unfortunately not going to be the case anymore when you debbie up the money this way. But they've been forced into this situation and there's no way out of it. Collectively bargaining is the way. But you need to have one entity and another. When you have four different power conferences and then a bunch of other group of five schools and basketball has a different structure, I don't know who you're bargaining with. I don't know how you do it. I think it's at the conference level. It seems the most realistic. I think if you do it with just football and football fully breaks off on its own is probably the most reasonable thing. The most reasonable thing honestly is that football just led the whole realignment on their own 15 years ago. And every school didn't. Every other sport didn't go with them, but that didn't happen. So how this collectively is going to be bargained, that is the answer because that's ultimately that. Then the players have their full voice, the properties have their full voice. And what they will get from that is a federal antitrust exemption, which is what NBA and the NFL has because the two parties have agreed. We've agreed and we're done. We'll do it again in three or four years and you'll sign the deal. When you don't do that and you create these artificial situations where this is still a bunch of people in a room telling the athletes you can only make $20.5 million and you can. You can only go in this nil clearinghouse for anything under $600. Anything over has to be entered. When you do that, that you are now opening yourself up to litigation. Now, when you sign on to do this, every school that signs on their athletes also commit to it. The current athletes, as I understand it, the current athletes in the current administration cannot sue. That does not matter. Ed O' Bannon was 15 years out of UCLA and he sued. Yeah, you can do whatever you want. Like this thing I don't think can hold up. And that's why you need like federal legislation which they were in not to get on too much of a side bar. But last Month we did a. Disney was hosting some. Some event after lobbying day. So lobbying day is all the schools, like, all these Power 4 schools bring their head coaches, ads, basketball, football coaches down to Congress to lobby their local Congress people and understand what the problem, what the challenges are here, why we need your help. And apparently the day went really well. And there's supposed to be two panels at the end, all four Power conference commissioners hosted by two of my colleagues. And I was supposed to host the other panel with Ted Cruz, because Ted Cruz is leading the legislation for this. He's the head of the Commerce Committee, and he wants to help. Look at that. Your face is.

[Katie Nolan]

No, I didn't make a face. It's an audio medium. No one had to know.

[Chris]

Okay, Sorry.

[Katie Nolan]

It's a natural reaction. I'm so sorry.

[Chris]

I was excited to have the conversation. I was gonna have it, and I was gonna leave with tariffs kind of, because it's like, hey, like, I was like, oh, you guys have bigger fish to fry. Yeah, this is like, April 9th. But if he wants to lead this commission, that's what really changes everything. If there's a federal law that stops nil, creates a transfer portal, determines if their employees are not, gives a federal antitrust exemption, they could kind of end all of this. But they do have bigger fish to fry. And it was really, really illustrated when the Power 4 commissioners, the foremost important people in college sports, get done with their panel. Ted Cruz no showed, didn't appear. Boy, we got 500 people in that room. We got presidents, we got ads, and coaches. Just doesn't come.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, boy.

[Chris]

So he doesn't really seem to care that much. So I don't know. This is. Again, we have this step as I started with, but with all these other things hanging in the offing, and the only body that could probably put it to rest is our federal Congress, which the approval rating is rather. Rather putrid across the aisle. This is not a political statement.

[Katie Nolan]

No.

[Chris]

No sides. It does not function right. That's a. That's. That's a tough spot to be in.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes. Also a tough spot to be in. I feel like. Is anybody trying to get into college sports right now? As a fan? It's like conference realignment and, like, what's going. It's just very confusing on its face of, like, wait, this team is playing in the. They're in the Eastern. They're like the acc, even though they're on the West Coast. It's. It's very confusing. And it sounds like it's not going to get any less confusing anytime soon. Is that the case?

[Chris]

As far as the sports? No. And I do think you. I come across a lot of people that love college sports that are just like, all right, man, I'm just going to watch the games.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Chris]

Like, I can't, I can't. I'm going to. I want to. I want to lock in on a Saturday. I want to enjoy my team. I hope we're beating whoever the hell we're playing. And then our rival, that I hope is still on our schedule, but I don't really know, right, because you got teams with Big East, Big Ten's got 18 teams, the SEC's got 16 teams. Football, you're going to play them each like one every four years. It's a strange world we're living in, but I think if you can enjoy the sport. But coming into it, like that's the thing about college sports. And I love that you've become a Liverpool fan now, right? You're on the Liverpool bandwagon.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. You did, though. You did say it.

[Chris]

I did.

[Katie Nolan]

You did say it. Arsenal fan.

[Chris]

I know that's painful. What a terrible year. I digress, anyway. But it is so that sport in Europe and in South America, soccer is so closely tied to the community and you're part of a club and it's familial, it's passed down. College sports is the same way. Like, people go to schools, they love their school, they have nostalgia, they teach their kids to go to that love that school. Some go there, some go to the rival. But it creates this community feel and this love for this place that you may not be anymore, but you want to tune into. And I think that'll carry through. But as far as like, like new fans or kids coming into it or younger or people just trying to be casual fans and tuning in it to make mess with all we just discussed here, it makes people's headaches, heads explode. And if ultimately, if you just want to watch the games, that's kind of what's the only positive left here. It's just the games and then the athletes can make some money, but we'll see what happens with our litigation. But they. You can watch the game and that's the. That's supposed to be. This is all about. Yeah, but it really. That and maybe getting an education too.

[Katie Nolan]

But that's all. That's what they used to say it was all about. They definitely don't say that as much anymore.

[Chris]

It made sense. But when you got to fly from Stanford to North Carolina.

[Katie Nolan]

It's too much. It's too much.

[Chris]

I'm not sure you really care about these kids.

[Katie Nolan]

It's getting into college much. Thank you so much for being here, Dallin. Congrats on Aaron Rodgers. I guess.

[Chris]

Do you want to do this right now? I mean, it's just so painful. It's just so. I would have killed, I would have killed for Mason Rudolph in a three win season and let's just, let's just. I haven't felt that in my life. Steelers fan. I've been a spoiled Steelers fan.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Chris]

But to hear this man have to talk every week and listen to his nonsense.

[Katie Nolan]

So excited, that's your guy.

[Chris]

And then watch him probably throw just bricks on the field. This is going to be a tough, tough 17 games for the next four months of hype.

[Katie Nolan]

It's going to make you stronger as a person, I'll tell you that.

[Chris]

We'll check in next year and see.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, we'll check in on you and see how that goes. Dallin, thank you so much for being here and for clearing this up for us.

[Chris]

Thanks, guys. I don't think I did any of that, but have fun.

[Katie Nolan]

Isabella, your thoughts?

[Isabella]

It's a lot of information.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Isabella]

As someone who like never watches college sports at all. Nothing.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Isabella]

Do I need to know this to watch the sports? No, that's the thing.

[Brady]

I.

[Katie Nolan]

And that was kind of his point there at the end was like, what? You can just watch the games on the field? You can just watch the games on the field.

[Isabella]

Like, I'm curious how many people who watch college sports are aware of this? Like, are they as equally interested in that aspect of it?

[Katie Nolan]

I would say yes. But that's in my experience and a lot of my experience with college sports fans has been ones who work in media. So it might just be that. Yeah, but I think like conference realignment dictates who you play, it dictates rivalries, it dictates scheduling. It's like a. There's a lot there. The payment of the athletes is, you know, nil deals and what they do. All of these move this, all of this weird business is to try to create parody so that no school has an advantage over another school in terms of recruitment. So it's like you shouldn't be able to get all the best players because you pay the most money and it would be unfair to a school that didn't have as much money to pay. So that was always the argument they made against paying athletes at all. But then nil came in because you can't keep telling these people in the age when every person is a brand, you can't say they can't make money on their name. That would be completely unfair. If Shador Sanders, if people want to give him money to be like an athlete for, I don't know what is he? Nike, Under Armour, something, something. They can't. The NCAA used to say you can't accept that money. And then the athletes got to a point where they were like what? You can't tell me I can't take that money. So that's when Nil passed. But then boosters saw Nil. Boosters are people who support usually football but athletic program of a school and they saw Nil and they said oh so I can just directly pay the athletes. I'll just say it's a sponsorship deal but it's just I can pay them and then they'll come. And so now that's kind of gotten out of hand. Now this. It's a mess. It's a mess. I don't get it. And it upsets.

[Unknown]

But the only good thing about it is the athletes are actually getting paid legally now.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Unknown]

Which is what we've wanted for a very, very long time.

[Katie Nolan]

I just wish they figure it out quicker and clearer.

[Unknown]

Yeah. Because before this Nil deal came in five, six years ago, Isabella College football players, college basketball players were legally not able to get as much as like regular students. Regular students could get a part time job. But if you were a college football, college basketball star, you pretty much were unable. Yeah. Couldn't make any money whatsoever. Couldn't get a part time job because the NCAA would look at that and say well you're only getting that part time job. You're only getting that money because of a recruiting tactic that the school is using to, to bring you on board. So if I was just a general student in the, you know, in the student body I would be able to make more legal money than the quarterback of.

[Isabella]

Of what is them getting a part time job at like Duncan have to do with anything.

[Katie Nolan]

It that they would see that as you got that part time job because the school offered it to you and that was money and you. They weren't even allowed to hit a buffet a second time. I remember there being they would get in trouble for if you ate too much of the free food it was seen as too much of a benefit which you weren't allowed to have. And that's an NCAA violation.

[Isabella]

Guys, my heads are.

[Brady]

Do you remember Jeremy Bloom? Does that name ring a Bell. So Jeremy Bloom was a punt returner for the Colorado Buffaloes, like a decade ago. But Jeremy Bloom, at the same time was also the best mogul skier.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh.

[Brady]

In. And was on the Olympic team for mogul skiing. He lost his eligibility to play football for the Buffaloes because of money he got for things he did skiing moguls for the U.S. olympic team.

[Katie Nolan]

Team.

[Brady]

And you may think these two things are completely unrelated, and they are. But that's how things used to work, where if you were getting any money for anything that your body could do, they could say that you're getting that because you're a football player and you're no longer eligible to play football.

[Katie Nolan]

It's crazy.

[Brady]

That was also a show.

[Katie Nolan]

It's crazy how long it works that way. Yeah, that's. It's. So this is obviously progress and we should be happy with the progress. I just have a high bar. And when there's this many dudes who claim to be good at business, involved in something, sit down and figure it out then. Because you got away with not paying them for a really long time, and now you're whining about them having money and being empowered. Figure it out. Figure it out. Okay. And I know we're running out of time, but baseball. We have to talk about baseball. Because, guys, I've been yapping over here about how the Red Sox have the number one prospect in baseball and they refuse to call him up because they're afraid he's so good that he'll finish in a first or second for rookie of the year voting, and then they'll have to pay him and they'll lose a year of service time, etc. Etc. All that doesn't matter anymore because they called him up. Roman Anthony, round of applause.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Thank you. Roman Anthony has been called up. He replaced Willer Abreu, who is injured. He started in right field. This is last night. He hit fifth and went over four with an RBI and a fielding error. Listen, you're never going to catch me judging anybody based off of their first game performance. This is a person who has been the greatest prospect to. In baseball. It's been rumored that he's going to come up. Will he come up? When will he be here? He's been. He had a home run the other day in the minor leagues that I think it might have been a grand slam that necessitated him being called up. It was almost 500ft. It was like 498 or something. Exit velocity was crazy. He is raking. Absolutely raking. Willie or Brayu injured. And so it finally happened. The most fascinating part of it, it for me is I saw the video. Obviously Boston media going nuts. Everyone's very excited that he's finally here. He drove himself. He pulls up in his car and the cameras are all on the car. Have you ever gotten out of your car before? Like, I don't know if this is just a girl thing, but, like, especially because he found out that day and then he, like, gets in the car and he comes straight to here to play for this. In this game, it's like, you got to make sure you got your bottle, you got your water bottle, you got your keys, you have your bag, do you have your this, do you have your that? And like, the camera's all waiting for. I would have so much anxiety if a bunch of cameras were waiting for me to get out of the car. Because then if you get out of your car and then you're like, oh, I forgot.

[Isabella]

Wait, hold on, hold on.

[Katie Nolan]

Wait.

[Isabella]

Yeah, hold on.

[Katie Nolan]

Wait.

[Isabella]

Put pockets in women's clothing. Thank you.

[Katie Nolan]

That's right. It's an injustice. But it was just funny to see him get out of the car and everybody watching. I was like, I would be freaking out. I'd be like, okay.

[Brady]

They've also. We wanted, we've wanted him to come up for so long. It was a 7 o' clock game yesterday. Monday afternoon, they called Roman Anthony at 4 o' clock. He was in Worcester.

[Chris]

Well, you know, he had to drive.

[Brady]

An hour at 4 o' clock. Your players are there. Yeah, well, in advance. Three, three hours at a time.

[Katie Nolan]

They're making him shock. The broadcasters are there at that point. Yeah.

[Brady]

Yes.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

You're telling him you're gonna bat fifth and play right field. Meanwhile, his ass is numb because he's just been in the car for an hour.

[Katie Nolan]

An hour. Your ass is going numb after an hour, Brady.

[Brady]

That's about the mark. You got the mark.

[Katie Nolan]

Have to see a doctor about that. An hour in the car is like a normal commute, I feel. Yeah, your ass is numb. I don't know. I don't know. Anyone else looking at Chris?

[Unknown]

I think, I think an hour and a half is probably my. An hour.

[Katie Nolan]

You gotta take your wallet out of your pocket, Brady. Are you not taking your wallet out of your back pocket?

[Brady]

Oh, no, I, I've been. I, I. Front pocket. The wallet. The back pocket. Wallet is. You still.

[Unknown]

Wait, you still keep your wallet in your pocket while you're driving?

[Brady]

Yeah, my front pocket. Unless I have to pay for something. But, like, why Would I take it out of my front pocket?

[Unknown]

I take everything.

[Isabella]

What about when you're at drive through and you need to get something for your kids and you're like, oh, he.

[Katie Nolan]

Does the dad thing. The dad thing is when you put your hips straight up in the air so that you can get into your. It used to be the arm behind the seat to look back, but now everybody has cameras. I don't trust them still. But now the dad move is like digging through your pockets. I get that.

[Brady]

Feels so accurately attached.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, you have to do that. You have to do that or they'll take your kids away. I think so that happened. Jazz Chisholm oh, we talked about this recently, did we not? I said that in game player interviews make me anxious.

[Brady]

Yeah, well, for exactly this reason.

[Katie Nolan]

Jazz Chisholm this was during the Red Sox series and again it was a three game series and the Red Sox won two of them. I just want to make sure everybody's getting that. That needs to be the major takeaway from this week's podcast. But Jazz Chisholm, it was the top of the third. He was doing a booth interview and he. A ball was hit in his direction, a ground ball, and he went to go get it, gloved it, successfully spun and threw it well behind first base. Like it wasn't close. A little background here. Players are not forced to do these interviews. Networks can propose it to certain players and players who accept receive $10,000 per interview from MLB and MLBPA. That's interesting. I did not know that information. I knew you can't make them do it. I knew that. I did not know that they got paid. So that's good. I like that. Is $10,000 enough to make you feel better about the fact that you just, just biffed a throw to first base?

[Brady]

I guarantee it. That would make you.

[Chris]

I would agree.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. You guys are both not professional athletes. So I feel in a game in.

[Unknown]

June, one throw for 10 grand against.

[Katie Nolan]

The Red Sox, I don't know. On a broadcast, everybody's looking at you. Did he say I couldn't watch? I told you the story that I had that muted because I don't. It makes me anxious and I was on drugs and so anxious on drugs is not a good combo for me. Did he address it after? Was he like, hey, that's my bad. I. That's a bad throw?

[Brady]

Yeah, that was essentially it just shrugged it off.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, I guess that's what you got to do. They say fail fast, move on. And he did. He failed. And then they lost One of the headlines heading into Sunday's game was, red Sox pitcher Hunter Dobbins did an interview with the Boston Herald. Gabrielle Starr over at the Boston Herald and said that if the Yankees were the last team to offer him a contract, he would retire. Which is exactly what you say, ideally, not right before you pitch against the Yankees when the last time you pitched was a disaster, but it is exactly what you say if you want to win over Boston fans, just be like, if the Yankees came a calling, I'd tell them, I don't own a phone type of a situation. And so he did that. And then they spent the entire broadcast trying to get the Yankees to care that he said that. I don't. I didn't need that. I knew they wouldn't care. We care. It was for us. He said that for us. Hunty Dobby. That's what we. That's what we call him. Honey. Honey Dobby. It's like an affection. It's a Boston thing. You wouldn't get it. Aaron Judge hit a home run off of him in the first inning, but then after that, he didn't really do anything wrong, so seems like it was a good move. Judge said he was unaware of the comment until ESPN's Eduardo Perez related to him before Sunday's series finale. I've only heard Ken Griffey say that, so I was a little surprised. Judge said Ken Griffey and Hunter animated for Aaron Judge. Yeah, I know. He said words that were interesting. Are you sure it was Judge? Ken Griffey and Hunter Dobbins. Good company to keep. Keep. Okay. And then a couple other loose ends. I just want to mention that Taylor Lawan had the worst first pitch I've ever seen. Former Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Bush Stadium on Thursday. Look it up. It's so bad. So bad. And then immediately Will Compton threw a strike right after him. So it was pretty embarrassing that.

[Chris]

Speaking of.

[Unknown]

Bush's got to feel good following up with that. Right. Like your buddy goes ahead of you, has an absolute, you know, monstrosity of a pitch. The pressure's off you at that stage.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Unknown]

Like, as long as I can sort of get it near the plate, my pitch looks great.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah. I just go. I go, if I suck, it looks like we did it as a bit. So I'll just get up there with no qualms about it. I'll just. And it was a strike. Like a, A. A literal strike. So pretty embarrassing to be Taylor Luan.

[Brady]

Speaking of Busch Stadium. So Sunday, the Dodgers are there and Clayton Kershaw Is pitching and Busch Stadium. The stadium team just starts playing during warmups on loop. The video of Matt Adams crushing the home run off of kershaw in the 2013, 2014 NLDS. And just played it on loop, like, while Kershaw is warming up. And Kershaw went. Didn't take it kindly. Like, he went to reporters and was like, found that a little bush league, but I wouldn't expect anything better from them. This feels like Clayton up his own ass. This feels like. This feels clever. Like, good gamesmanship.

[Katie Nolan]

Go off. King Brady's got a yap. Go ahead, Brady. This is not, by the way, for the listener. Not in our rundown. Brady has brought a yap, and I'd like him to go off now.

[Brady]

This is on par with, like, things that players don't need. They shouldn't be expected to care about. This is up there with Aaron Judge is not expected to care about Hunter Dobbins saying he would rather not pitch for the Yankees. Okay. Clayton Kershaw had a bad moment against Matt Adams 11 years ago.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, my God. That was 11 years ago.

[Brady]

It was 11 years ago. If they want to run that on loop in the stadium for. For the LOLs of it, like, let it go, man. You don't need to start a fight with Bush Stadium and call them bush league for looping the highlights of something that did happen. It is also. It's a stadium highlight. It's not like they showed Kershaw, like, falling on his ass going down the dugouts. An actual game highlight. Let it go, man. Let it go. Let's not obsess of these things. Let the stadium team have some fun.

[Katie Nolan]

But isn't that what pitchers do? Like, remember when Garrett Cole got mad at. Who was it? Who was it that delayed the beginning of a game? And then they had Billy Crystal, I think, and there was, like, a delay by a minute, and he threw a hissy fit about how it was like, we need to go. It was. We should be starting. And that was the moment that I was like, oh, good, I hate this guy. And now I see that I'm right. Chris.

[Brady]

Chris Sale taking a pair of scissors and cutting up the White Sox throwback uniforms because he didn't like the way the fabric felt.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

Like, went. Went mean girls on it and just started cutting holes in everyone's uniforms.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Brady]

And until they had to just wear their other ones.

[Katie Nolan]

Aroldis Chapman grabbing his grandma's boob. You know, it's like, pictures.

[Brady]

These are all the same thing.

[Katie Nolan]

Do weird stuff. They're Just not, you know. All right, we have to let everybody go. But before we do, Chris, because it's Tuesday, we have to let them know if they want to watch sports this week. What sports can they watch?

[Unknown]

Y' all thought we were done talking darts, but we ain't done talking dots. You know what starts this Thursday?

[Katie Nolan]

What?

[Unknown]

The World cup of Darts.

[Katie Nolan]

And what? Isn't that what just happened?

[Unknown]

No, we had the Premier League of Darts. Of course, that finished. Okay, now we go into the World cup of Darts.

[Katie Nolan]

When's the World Series of Darts? When's the Stanley cup of Darts? Darts.

[Unknown]

Tbd. Okay, but the World cup of Darts, that starts this Thursday, June 12th at 1pm Eastern on Peacock.

[Katie Nolan]

On the Cock.

[Unknown]

Darts on the Cock. Darts on the Cock. You know. You know who you can watch that day? Number 13 seed USA face off against Hong Kong at. It'll be roughly about 3:15 Eastern, depending on how the other games go. Danny, Lobby Junior. And Jules, the Dutch Dragon. Van Dongen, the duo representing the States.

[Katie Nolan]

Van Dongan on the cock.

[Unknown]

Van Dongan, the Dutch Dragon.

[Katie Nolan]

Yes.

[Unknown]

Last year's World cup of Darts wasn't so good for both of them. They got bundled out not winning either of those games and apparently Van Dongan got some death threats from that one. So hopefully this will help. Wait, are darts fans not nice darts fans? Gamblers.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, yeah.

[Unknown]

Those type of people.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

So hopefully the 2025 World cup of Darts is a little bit better for Van Dongen. Australia. Australia and Philippines will also feature in the tournament as unseated teams. Isabella, shout out. So go us. The duo competing for the Philippines, 47 year old Lawrence the Gunner. Elagan and Paolo Pao Nebrida Powell. Pow, pow, pow.

[Katie Nolan]

And the Gunner. That sounds like a morning radio show.

[Unknown]

And even though the gunner's 47, you would think he might have been the oldest darts thrower in the competition. That's not true. The Singapore Slinger, Paul Lim, he's 71. No, that makes him 53 years older than Luke Litler who'll be competing for England.

[Katie Nolan]

Whoa. Oh, wait, so do we have to root for England?

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Katie Nolan]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We can root against Luke and Luke.

[Isabella]

Wait, is the Singapore Slinger still. Still an active darter?

[Unknown]

Yeah, he's in the World cup playing for Singapore. In the world.

[Brady]

What is your prime for darts? I don't know. Is like 50 normal?

[Unknown]

No, like a lot of these players. Yeah. Like late 20s, early 30s is when you're in your peak, I feel like.

[Katie Nolan]

But for darts, that's.

[Unknown]

That's the age of like, if you have a look at some of the best players in the world, if you have a look like the top 8, top 10, top 12, it's generally. Except for like Lute Littler, who is quite young.

[Katie Nolan]

Quite young.

[Unknown]

Late 20s, early 30s, maybe late 30s. And then you start to trail off a little bit. Since then, I also found another person of Filipino ancestry. Isabella Austria's Rusty Jake Rodriguez is part Filipino. Rusty Jake is the hyphenated first name of the Austrian.

[Katie Nolan]

Wait, real actual name? His real first name? Rusty Jake.

[Unknown]

Rusty Jake. And he's got two brothers, Robie John and Roxy James. They are also darts players, but they are not featuring in the World cup this year. Okay, but his name is Rusty Jake Rodriguez from Austria. So you've got at least three Filipino darts throwers. That's what I keep calling them. I'm assuming that's what you know.

[Katie Nolan]

You should know. We don't know.

[Unknown]

Dats throw is actually darters. Dart strollers. Sounds good.

[Katie Nolan]

Dart is dart athletes.

[Unknown]

Dart athletes.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay. So they can watch that. You said it's ours. Is the US is gonna be roughly 3:30?

[Unknown]

Yeah, roughly 3:15pm Eastern. But there's like a whole bunch of games on throughout the day, so.

[Brady]

Go Van Dongen.

[Unknown]

Go Van Dongen. Go Danny Loby Jr go Singapore. Go Philippines. Go Australia. We've got plenty of rooting interests in the World cup of Dots.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay.

[Brady]

Substantially, very hard to to search for the Dutch dragon because it's apparently a very popular weed strain.

[Katie Nolan]

No. Is it? Oh, I didn't know that.

[Brady]

Easier than searching for Van Dongen.

[Katie Nolan]

What? That's what I did in high school. Can we. I meant college. And I didn't. And I didn't. Can we. What else?

[Unknown]

Chris got the College Baseball World Series this Saturday. Number six, LSU against number three Arkansas. That's Saturday, June 14th at 7:00pm Eastern on ESPN. You'll have Kate Anderson of LSU, top collegiate prospect going up against Zach Root in this game. Some of the mock drafts I saw have Kate Anderson going at number one in the MLB mock draft.

[Katie Nolan]

Okay, what else?

[Unknown]

And the FIFA Club World Cup. We spoke about this last week. With LAFC making the field, they will be playing Chelsea on Monday, June 16th. We're going to have to wait six days for this.

[Katie Nolan]

Yikes.

[Unknown]

But that game will be on at 3pm Eastern on DAZN. LAFC being one of three on DAZONE. DAZONE have the broadcast rights for the FIFA Club World Cup. But LAFC are one of three MLS teams that will be competing. You've also got Inter Miami and Seattle Sounders in the competition as well.

[Katie Nolan]

Did you see the report from Mike Ryan? That I don't know, but it. That they were. That Miami. He said. He alleged that somebody offered Miami to have. Have Cristiano Ronaldo for this event. Therefore it would be Ronaldo and Messi on one team and Miami was not interested.

[Unknown]

Not interested.

[Katie Nolan]

Again, that's just coming from Mike Ryan of the Dan LeBatard world. I saw the clip online and I went, whoa, that's crazy. But okay, the Club World Cup, I can care about that. And then it. If Dazn's too expensive, I can stop caring about it almost immediately. So that's good.

[Isabella]

I'm sure there's someone randomly on TikTok streaming it.

[Katie Nolan]

Oh, well, we can't necessarily say that, right? But. Oh, but. But I'm sure. I'm sure that it may be.

[Isabella]

You know, there's a Reddit thread out there that has some type of.

[Katie Nolan]

I don't think we should.

[Brady]

You didn't even think of this as problematic.

[Katie Nolan]

That's the issue here, is that you're just no. The best. She's just like, no, you can. Guys, why don't you just go to freestreams.com like, okay, all right. Okay.

[Isabella]

Free movies. 1, 2, 3, or whatever.

[Katie Nolan]

We found CTEsports's biggest fan. I guess that would be Antonio Brown. Live streaming events. Hey, guys, that's a podcast. Look, we went a lot of places today, okay? Find somebody you love, give them a hug, watch some sports you like, and enjoy yourself. Sorry for the wide range of emotions. We've. We've got a lot of them and we encourage everyone to feel them. And so today we did. But we love you and we mean it and keep calling in. Your voicemails are great. Except for the ones about Brad Marchand. I don't love having to listen to those.

[Brady]

But not a great beard.

[Katie Nolan]

You know what, Brady? Fine. Okay, fine. What do you. And you think yours is great?

[Brady]

No, but I keep it short.

[Isabella]

Dang.

[Chris]

I understand the hockey beard.

[Brady]

I understand the hockey beard doesn't grow it out until the end of the playoff, but it can't be for everyone. Like, he's gotta accept, like, not your thing.

[Katie Nolan]

All right? And because he insisted on talking about this again, I think we should clip this side by side picture of Brady's beard and Brad Marchand's current beard, and then we'll just let the crowd decide. Okay? Yeah, that's you taking the best possible photo. That's the image you'd like to be used find out what face he's making and make that face. Okay, that's it. That's what I was trying to say was goodbye, we love you, we mean it, and we'll see you on Thursday. Bye.

[Brady]

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[Chris]

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[Brady]

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[Chris]

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[Katie Nolan]

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