Hour 1: Knicks & Frank The Tank

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg Podcast Summary

Episode: Hour 1: Knicks & Frank The Tank
Release Date: January 30, 2025

In the inaugural episode of "Don, Hahn & Rosenberg," hosts Don LaGreca, Alan Hahn, and Peter Rosenberg delve into the New York Knicks' remarkable season, celebrate the inspiring weight loss journey of Frank the Tank, and engage with passionate listeners. This detailed summary captures the essence of their discussions, highlighting key points, notable quotes, and insightful comparisons that resonate with New York's vibrant sports culture.

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1. Frank the Tank's Incredible Transformation

Timestamp: 01:42 – 04:00

The episode kicks off with Peter Rosenberg introducing Frank the Tank, a beloved figure who has recently undergone a significant transformation. Frank, once weighing 500 pounds, has impressively reduced his weight to 326 pounds through dedicated daily walks, averaging over 15,000 steps each day.

• Peter Rosenberg [02:02]: "He literally lost a ton. Half a ton."
• Alan Hahn [02:05]: "He's now walked for 489 consecutive days."

Frank shares his journey, explaining that his weight loss began after battling MRSA and receiving encouragement from friends. This dedication not only transformed his physical health but also inspired many in the community.

• Frank the Tank [43:14]: "Just a lot of sitting around doing nothing. That's how you get to £500."

Don LaGreca and Alan Hahn commend Frank's commitment and the positive impact of his efforts, celebrating him as a symbol of perseverance and personal growth.

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2. Knicks' Season: A Historic Performance

Timestamp: 04:00 – 14:00

The conversation shifts to the New York Knicks' outstanding performance this season. With a 32-16 record by the All-Star break, the team is drawing comparisons to some of the franchise's most legendary squads.

• Alan Hahn [11:19]: "This is the best Knicks team since 1973."
• Frank Fleming [19:28]: "This is the most talented team that I've ever seen all around."

Alan Hahn highlights the team's intelligent playstyle, effective coaching, and cohesive offense, drawing parallels to the 1973 Knicks known for their ball movement and team intelligence.

• Alan Hahn [13:27]: "This is as good a team, and I say team meaning the whole concept of it, as the Knicks have had since the last time they won the trophy."

The hosts emphasize the significance of the Knicks entering a competitive window, suggesting that the current team has the potential to contend for championships, much like the historic teams of the past.

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3. Strategic Front Office Moves and Player Contributions

Timestamp: 14:00 – 22:00

Discussion turns to the Knicks' front office strategies over recent years, analyzing pivotal acquisitions and trades that have strengthened the team.

• Alan Hahn [21:41]: "Jalen Brunson has been just playing. He had 15 assists and 30 points after three quarters."
• Peter Rosenberg [22:07]: "Brunson is the best point guard the Knicks have had since..."

Key moves include acquiring Jalen Brunson, whose leadership and performance have been instrumental, and trading Cam Reddish for Josh Hart, which has bolstered the team's depth and versatility.

• Alan Hahn [21:15]: "Brunson is obviously brilliant signing him."

The strategic trade for Mikhail Bridges is also highlighted as a masterstroke, bringing in valuable draft picks and enhancing the Knicks' bench strength.

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4. Listener Insights: Passionate Fan Perspectives

Timestamp: 19:20 – 34:00

The hosts engage with listener calls, showcasing the diverse and passionate perspectives of Knicks fans.

• Frank Fleming [19:26]: "This team has that and then some. They're just more athletic, more gifted."
• Frank Fleming [25:05]: "Brunson is the best point guard I've ever seen for the Knicks."

Listeners compare the current team to historic squads, expressing enthusiasm for the team's collaborative playstyle and strategic intelligence. The discussions reflect a deep appreciation for the Knicks' evolution and the collective effort driving their success.

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5. Nostalgia and Team Anthems: The Role of Music

Timestamp: 34:00 – 37:30

The conversation takes a nostalgic turn as the hosts and listeners reminisce about iconic Knicks-related songs and their impact on fan culture.

• Peter Rosenberg [30:27]: "Most of it, you know, we got."
• Frank Fleming [31:33]: "Much better than the Go New York, Go New York, Go song."

They critique past anthems like "Go New York, Go" for lacking authenticity, while celebrating more memorable tunes such as "The Super Bowl Shuffle." This segment underscores the role of music in fostering team spirit and creating lasting memories among fans.

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6. Final Reflections: The Road Ahead for the Knicks

Timestamp: 37:30 – 50:00

In the closing segments, the hosts reflect on the Knicks' trajectory, considering both the team's potential and the challenges ahead. They discuss the importance of maintaining momentum, strategic planning, and continued fan support to achieve sustained success.

• Alan Hahn [48:57]: "Look at that, a sane Mets take by a Mets fan."
• Alan Hahn [49:06]: "We’re not used to seeing this. Trust your eyes."

The hosts also highlight upcoming promotional events, including walks and prize giveaways, aimed at further engaging the Knicks' passionate fanbase.

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Notable Quotes

1. Alan Hahn [13:27]: "This is as good a team, and I say team meaning the whole concept of it, as the Knicks have had since the last time they won the trophy."
2. Frank Fleming [19:28]: "This is the most talented team that I've ever seen all around."
3. Peter Rosenberg [22:07]: "Brunson is the best point guard the Knicks have had since..."
4. Frank Fleming [31:33]: "Much better than the Go New York, Go New York, Go song."

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Conclusion

The first episode of "Don, Hahn & Rosenberg" successfully sets the tone for an engaging and insightful series. By combining in-depth analysis of the Knicks' current performance with personal stories like Frank the Tank's transformation, the hosts create a rich narrative that captivates both seasoned fans and newcomers alike. The blend of historical context, strategic discussion, and listener engagement promises a compelling journey ahead for the podcast.

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Listen to the full episode here.

Transcript

[Don LaGreca]

This episode is brought to you by Love Hurts.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Ki Hui Kwan has had quite a career, from childhood roles in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and the Goonies to a recent Academy Award win for Everything Everywhere all at Once. But now Kee finally stars as a leading man in the film Love Hurts. Love Hurts is the perfect date night movie with its mix of over the top action comedy and a ton of heart. Love Hurts only at theaters February 7th. Don, one day you're not gonna play football anymore. And if there's a God up above, it'll be soon.

[Alan Hahn]

Han, Huge. No, but big. Yeah. And Rosenberg.

[Don LaGreca]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This isn't North Dakota. This is New York.

[Alan Hahn]

This is Don, Han and Rosenberg on 8 80, ESPN and the ESPN New York app.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, yeah, feel it.

[Alan Hahn]

Just let that ride for a min. That's a good beat. When did the horns come in?

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's the best thing we've done and we're gonna do a lot of great things on this show. But this so far has been the best. And I think we all had a hand in it. Peter. We've all contributed in some way to it.

[Alan Hahn]

I agree.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I feel great about it.

[Alan Hahn]

I do. With Don Lagreca and Peter Rosenberg, I'm Alan Hahn. This is Don Hahn. Rosenberg, as you already know, 880 ESPN, the ESPN New York app, which how do you not have that by now if you don't? So make sure you have it. 800-919-3776 is the number. And we got a lot to talk about today, fellas. And Dom, we have a special guest coming in in a little while that you were part of something. Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

3:45. Frank the tank is going to be in here to promote our little walk we did a week ago today. And I guess it's launching tomorrow, so we'll discuss that. He's also weighed in. I just saw like under 340 for the first time in two years. He's lost a ton. He was 500 pounds.

[Don LaGreca]

He was 500 pounds.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He WAS 500 pounds.

[Alan Hahn]

So he literally lost a ton.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And I think not literally.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, I mean a lot. Half a ton.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. So he just weighed in at 326.

[Alan Hahn]

Hmm. How did he look to you?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, you could see it's just like a different human being. And it's great.

[Alan Hahn]

He's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's now walked for 489 consecutive days.

[Alan Hahn]

That's great.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Minimum of over that span, 15,000 steps. So he's.

[Don LaGreca]

What was, what was the, what was the first thing with Frank the Tank again, he. Remind me, what was he?

[Peter Rosenberg]

New Jersey Transit. Something happened with New Jersey Transit. It was opening day at Citi Field, and he missed, like, most of the game because there was a problem with New Jersey Transit. He flipped out, and he made a video flipping out on New Jersey Transit. It went viral, and Barstool hired him off of that.

[Alan Hahn]

Amazing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And then they saw, you know, sick Met fans, sick Dolphin fan, sick Devil fan, flipping out, ever living and dying with every loss, and. And now he's slimming down and using all this for good.

[Don LaGreca]

We definitely talked about him after the first thing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, that was a big deal.

[Don LaGreca]

He played the audio. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I forget the year, but it was like. It was a big deal because he was, like, flipping out about it. It was a big deal. Something happened with New Jersey. I don't know if there was a derailment or something. So a mess of people from New Jersey that wanted to go to opening day didn't make first pitch or maybe missed the. It was something pretty significant. I don't think it was just first pitch.

[Don LaGreca]

It was.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They missed a. And he flipped out in his Met jacket and his Met hat. And here we are. Look now. Here we are.

[Don LaGreca]

And now look at you. Fan passion, Frank, to take.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, fan passion is, you know, is obviously what it's all about. It's what we feed off of. Right. We love that stuff.

[Don LaGreca]

So it's our blood, our lifeline.

[Alan Hahn]

It really is. No, it really is, though. Right? Like. Like. And again, the Knicks won another game last night.

[Don LaGreca]

Damn right.

[Alan Hahn]

And it was another impressive win. And I always think back, I walked out of the Garden and it was 7th Avenue, and I was thinking to myself, it was like four years ago. They won one playoff game and they shut down the block, and people are hanging on lamppost and they're, you know, you're yelling at kd. Don't you wish you chose the net? And that whole thing, you know, I remember that. Just the amount of energy and passion into one simple playoff win. Right. All that was then, because that was the first step of how do we. You know, how do we get out of this malaise that Knicks had been in. In so long and just feel like. Like, I always used to joke that when you. When you root for a bad team, you feel like that you're just never invited to the party. Like, you're just a bad team. You're around, but you're not allowed to be in the party. You can't have fun. You don't want to Watch the highlights of the league because you know your team's going to be the one that's being made fun of or the one that's going to be on the other part of anything or on the other side of some of the highlights. Right. That's what it's about. Like, I always hated watching, you know, like, red zone felt like, oh, that's what the league looks like while I'm watching my Jets. So, like, that's what it is in any sport where your team sucks. And so to get back into just being relevant is such a big part of it. But now you start the climb and you get to a point where last night at the Garden. I'm telling, like the last two nights in the building, like when people say, oh, it had a playoff atmosphere. It didn't. It had like a revival atmosphere.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Like, people were, you know, like almost passing out on some of the highlight plays. And it felt like sometimes it was like summertime at the Rucker. I thought people gonna run on the floor.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. And you know what the reason these things don't become more of a big deal. And I don't know how it was for you growing up in dc, Peter, but, you know, because of the Yankees winning all the time, like, you didn't really get to feel like that engagement moment before the wedding.

[Alan Hahn]

Nate. 96 did 95. 96 was sort of like that. Are we back?

[Peter Rosenberg]

See, that's what I was going to bring up. Like, every emotional. Everybody has their favorite teams. Right. So, like, for me, with the mets, of course, 86 was the culmination. Right. That's the thing everybody remembers. But, you know, for me, as a fan, 84. 84, where they finally were in. They were in a race with the.

[Alan Hahn]

There was no wild card.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They fell to the Cubs. But for the first time, I'm in a pennant race.

[Don LaGreca]

So you're saying that was my year this year with the commander.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, exactly.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now we'll see if you end up getting married. We'll see if you get to the wedding.

[Don LaGreca]

But it feels like it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But when they do, Peter, let's say they win the super bowl in a year or two, you will look back fondly at 20, 24. It might be forgotten by many. It might be forgotten by the people that were old enough to remember 91. But for the people that are new to it, they'll think back fondly to 24. I think back fondly to 85. I think back 84, then 85 when the Mets came up short against the Cardinals and Then you didn't realize it at the time because you didn't know that you were going to win the championship. Then once you did, the 84 giants, very similar. They made the playoffs for the first time since 81, beat the Rams, then they lose to the 49ers. But they kind of appreciated that. The Devils in 94, as bad as you felt as a Devil fan, you lost to the Rangers. It showed you, hey, we arrived, we're here and we're sticking around. And that's the feeling with the Knicks. Like there was the revival with the win and why did you pick us?

[Alan Hahn]

And yeah, yeah, but you lost, but you got in.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But that ended up being fugazi because.

[Alan Hahn]

The next year you didn't make the right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But now you get a sense that this is the lead up to what might finally be the crowning. And I think people are beginning to sense that this is the prelude to something really, really. But don't get caught up in being all in this year with it. Like it's okay to say, all right, maybe it won't be this year, but I'm gonna enjoy it and all this is gonna be a part of us eventually winning it. Don't ruin it by putting the cap on. We've gotta win it this year. Otherwise I'm gonna be disappointed. Don't go out in the first or second, but you know what I mean.

[Alan Hahn]

No, there's a window now. I think we have to start learning as not only sports fans but sports media to instead of talking about is this the year and they have to win it. They have to win it is for the old teams. Melo's 2013 team, they had to win that year because everybody was old. Rasheed Wallace was 38 years old. They had. Kurt Thomas was on that team. They had old guys on that team. Jason Kidd was 40 years old. They had to win it that year. They were not going to bring this thing back together. So that had an urgency to it. But for the most part, what we have to start doing, you know, like the Yankees in 2017, the so called baby Bombers, that felt like the beginning. You lose in seven, but you say to yourself, all right, they'll be back. Now that became more of a frustration because that team could never get over the hump.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right?

[Alan Hahn]

But it felt in 2017 like this is the beginning of something. I think we've got to start designating windows for teams. You have a three year span that you could say you can get it done because players are under contract, whatever it is, like the jets had a window with, with, with Aaron Rodgers.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

That window now is closed. But they had a two year window, couldn't get it done. But windows to me is what it's more about. And I think right now that's where you would describe the Knicks. They're in their window to win one. And it's being recognized not just by me and not just maybe by folks here in New York. It's being recognized all around the league. And if you don't believe anybody that might have the orange and blue, you know, glasses on, how about a guy who's a three time MVP and a guy who's won a championship in Nikola Jokic? They're playing really well, they're well coached.

[Frank Fleming]

They know what they're pushing the pace.

[Alan Hahn]

And even in the half courts they know what they're doing.

[Unknown]

So they're really good.

[Alan Hahn]

They're a really good team.

[Frank Fleming]

And I think they are the favorites.

[Alan Hahn]

Not a favorite like top, let's say top five candidates. Four. Four. So he just called them one of the favorites. Top four or five to win a title.

[Don LaGreca]

That's a guy who knows right there. And so here's what I was thinking earlier, Alan, and I was looking forward to talking to you because of this. So I'm looking at what they did to Memphis, seeing how they show up against Denver. You're looking now at their record, which is now nothing to sneeze at. This is a real, this is, this is the record of a team going to an All Star Break, 32 and 16, that deserves to be talked about in that sort of, that sort of light. The question I have for you is on site to me, as just an NBA fan, I'm kind of like, is this the best Knicks team I've ever seen? And then I'm like, well, no one cares how I feel about that. I'm not a Knicks guy through and through. Sure, I've been watching my whole life. But what does Alan Hahn think? When was the last time you saw a Knicks team that was this good and complete?

[Alan Hahn]

Well, the last time a team that was as good, where you say this team's really good, was 97, when they won 57 games. And then we know the frustration of that playoff where, you know, they get into the fight with the Heat and everybody gets suspended, they lose that series and they never get to play the Bulls who they thought they could be, right? Never got to see it. And that was a really good team. That team won 57 games. This team is the best team since 1973, this current team and the way they're playing, what I'm seeing from this team now recently, yes, five wins in the last couple of wins have been. The last three wins have been very impressive wins. You know, again, the Kings were coming in on a heater and they got completely demolished. The Grizzlies were coming in on a heater and they were, I think There were what, two or three in the West. They got smoked by 37. And then Denver comes in and they have again Jokic and they have a really good team and they're fourth in the West. They won seven out of their last 10 and they put up as much a fight as you would ever see a team put up. I'm telling you, I was right by their bench. I was watching the way they were being coached, their huddles. They were intense. They were trying to steal that one and they couldn't do it. And so I come away with saying like what I'm seeing from that plus the start of the season, the first like the, you know, through December, like you put all this together. And I've watched Knicks basketball since the 80s. I know I'm not old enough to know what the 73 team looked like, but I've written two books. I've done enough research. I've watched the, I've watched as many games as you could possibly watch for somebody who wasn't alive for it. And the way this team plays, this is as good a team, and I say team meaning the whole concept of it, as the Knicks have had since their last championship. That includes the 94 team, that includes the 93, 60 win team. That includes 97 and it includes 99 that went to the finals as well. This is as good a team, if not the best team that they have had since the last time they won the trophy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now you could say that, but not saying they're going to win the title.

[Alan Hahn]

No, I don't think they're. That's the thing is they are good. But you know, again, 97, they were really good. They didn't win the title. 94 was great. They didn't win the title. You know, there are still things that you want to see that can they get better when it comes to personnel wise. But when it comes to the brand of basketball I'm watching, I have never seen a better brand of basketball played by the Knicks in my lifetime. Not like this. The passing score, they have, they haven't scored this many points per game ever in franchise history. Like, they've never been this kind of offense, the ball movement, the passing. You go back to the 73 team that was. That had six or seven hall of Famers on that team, One of the most intelligent basketball teams in the history of the sport, that 73 team, and they move the ball beautifully. Anybody that watched those teams talk about it. When you talked with. I talked with Clyde, obviously, on a regular basis. I talked to Earl Monroe as much as I possibly can. I got to talk to Jerry Lucas about it, who played on that team, a Hall of Famer. I used to talk to Willis Reed. I love talking to him, you know, again, God rest his soul, the captain and the things he would say about that team. That team was special in how connected they were intellectually. And that's why when you watch this team play, this current team, do you see that same type of intellectual connection? And I'm telling you, it is. It is special to watch.

[Don LaGreca]

I really wonder how other Knicks fans feel like, I have no sense right now whether people are going to think you're out of your mind for saying this is the best team since 73, or they're going to be going, well, absolutely. It's the best team I've ever seen. And, you know, a lot of people, of course, Alan won't have seen the 73 team, but they know exactly who they are.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

And they want a championship. So what else do you need to say?

[Alan Hahn]

And I'm telling you, like, it doesn't. It's not a prediction of the Knicks are going to win the championship this year. There's two different conversations. But when you talk about Knicks history, I mean, if we're being. If we're being honest, it ain't the Yankees.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

It's been few and far between. You know, it's not like they have a lot of teams to compare them to, but I know the ones I've seen and I have not seen, again, those 90s teams were tough and physical and all that stuff. And you could look, I love those teams. I love Patrick Ewing. He is one of my favorite people in the world. And I can't believe I can get to call him a friend. John Starks, love him. All those guys from that era, they weren't really the smartest team. They did make a lot of mental mistakes, like, this team's really smart.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But you just wonder, if there was no Jordan, would those mid 90 teams have won a title?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, that's what I mean.

[Unknown]

Of course.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, you don't know.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And I don't.

[Alan Hahn]

This is not about a Title. This is about the type of game they play, the style of play.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They're about ready to pop. Now, the offense, you can explain away a bit, history wise, because it's a more offensive league and the three and all that. So true. But still, they're scoring in an elite level. It's not like the three was just instituted yesterday. I mean, so they've really put together tremendous offensive team. They're able to play defense when they need to. They've got a tremendous coach. They finally have a front office that knows what they're doing. This is. You've got to be thrilled. You've got to be thrilled. But in the same breath you could say, all right, maybe it's not about this year because you've got the team, the defending champions in your division still technically ahead of you in the standings. You've got a Cleveland team that's playing out of their minds. I'm sure they're having the same conversation in Cleveland they were having here in New York.

[Alan Hahn]

Non LeBron team. It's their best non LeBron team since Mark Price and Brad Daugherty in the early 90s.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But they are in the conversation. They're at the table with Boston. You want to play Peter's, you know, tables. They're at the table with Boston, at the table with Cleveland very much. You know, why can't they be at the table with okc? Now you can say, well, Don, they lost the two games in the regular season. I get that.

[Alan Hahn]

But the one game at Oklahoma playing a lot better now, I called that game at Oklahoma, the one they lost at home. They were shot, tired legs, right? I mean, you want to make an excuse, I'm going to make it. They went through a part in the middle two weeks of January where they had nothing in the tank. They were just playing the schedule. They were trying to just catch their breath. They couldn't because the schedule really was a busy one. Everybody's got to do it. But it doesn't mean you can't say they were shot. They were exhausted. But the game in Oklahoma City, I called that game for msg. I was right there courtside. That was a heavyweight fight. And I said on the air that night, I'll take seven games of this, because that game, even though they lost it, they were going toe to toe with that team. They were taking them on in their building, which is a hard building to play. That was an entertaining game that had a playoff kind of feel and a lot of people, if you, if you go back to social media, that night, after that game, man, what people were saying about those two teams, that was an entertaining game. So they weren't outclassed that night. They just lost the game. But. And they were. They were leading that game for most of three quarters. That game at home, that they got smoked. That. I'm telling you, that was a schedule loss. So they're in there still. I think they're on par with that team. I think they're on par. I didn't know how they do against Denver because Jokic is so good, but Towns matches up with him well. So neither guy had a good game, which is almost like a win. What they did with the Grizzlies, who are a physical, fast team, you know, they were scaring a lot of teams with what they've been doing. They handled them. I'm. I'm just. I'm telling you, this is something that I see with this group that once they caught their breath and had a few days off and got themselves kind of recalibrated. They made a few adjustments, and I'm watching them and I'm like, well, there's that offense, but, oh, boy, here comes the defense. And if you get those two things going. Yeah, I think sky's the limit. 800 now. 193776. So you guys want to know what the people think, right?

[Don LaGreca]

What else would I want?

[Alan Hahn]

All right, well, let's go find out. Lou. And Nashville will start us off. Hey, Lou.

[Frank Fleming]

Hey. This is natural.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I.

[Frank Fleming]

You know something? I am older than you, Doc, and I watched that 73 team. I saw the 69 team, and this is the most talented team that I've ever seen all around. The thing that the.

[Alan Hahn]

The.

[Frank Fleming]

The older teams had was they had, everybody can shoot from the outside. There wasn't anybody who couldn't shoot from the outside. This team has that and then some. They're just more athletic, more gifted. But I love that they come out of that mold. They play with the same intensity. They don't play around on defense for the most part. I know that that was a problem for a while, but. And they can light it up. I don't even know if those other teams could score as many points as this team does. Very, very excited about them, and I look forward to seeing them in the playoffs.

[Alan Hahn]

Thank you, Lou. Yeah, Again, I go with iq. I'm big on that. They play with a very similar high IQ that those teams did back then when they were winning championships.

[Don LaGreca]

I love that you mentioned IQ because, I mean, I'm not trying to make fun of fans. I understand everyone has emotion, but when you think about RJ Barrett and Emanuel Quickley going to Toronto.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

And you think about the crying over Dante DiVincenzo and Randall, of course making some sense.

[Alan Hahn]

How about the Cam Reddish people were. I was, I remember when they traded Cam Reddish for Josh Hart. People were ready to revolt. They thought Cam Reddish. Oh, that's it. Cam Reddish is now going to turn into the next Michael Jordan. People thought this guy was. And it's like when you watched him, you saw like there's a little something there, but you could just tell he just doesn't have it. And his effort level defensively, he didn't fit them. Do you think Josh, do you think people would now would turn around and say let's not do that trade?

[Don LaGreca]

Well, you know how many fans now.

[Alan Hahn]

Would go back and want to delete their tweets after that trade that day?

[Don LaGreca]

I know. By the way, let's see, he's now on his second team since then. Of course he's in la. But here's my question for you. Of the moves that have been made by this front office over the last few years, this seems obvious, but it's not. What is going to age to be the best move? I mean the Brunson.

[Alan Hahn]

Great question because Brunson is obviously brilliant signing him. Right.

[Don LaGreca]

But. So he completely exceeded expectations. But Josh Hart is obvious. We all know he's the engine of this team in a lot of ways. No one knew that. And then you have Cat, which had a lot of people like, oh my God, he's soft. We're going to miss Randall. And then you watch him last night. You're going, oh my God, no, no. We just got a true elite offensive player on this team who can handle.

[Alan Hahn]

The biggest, the best. He's the best center in the league and he can handle.

[Don LaGreca]

So it's kind of, it's not, it's not such a clear cut case of which was the best personnel move.

[Alan Hahn]

And think about it, the whole starting five. So Brunson acquired free agency and a lot of people mocked how much they gave him. Right. Like people mocked the contract, the $800 million. How could you do that? They were, they were giving them D grades, D plus for the signing. So you have that the Josh Hart we already talked about for Cam Reddish in a first OG Anunoby as you mentioned for Quickly and Barry. And let's not forget that precious Achua is in that deal too. And Chua's been playing well for them. Mikhail Bridges for five draft Picks a whole bunch of middle schoolers that, you know, who knows what they'll turn out to be getting Mikhail Bridges from Brooklyn. I thought that was the most impossible trade. How could you possibly get the. Get the nets to send him across the river? And they did. And then as you mentioned, towns and towns for, you know, Divincenzo and Randle, which has just turned out to be a great fit as well. So those are all the things you could talk about with the front office. And you know what? I think, you know what's the last step is either this trade deadline or the coming off season. How do they find that one guy off the bench that is a killer that now you're like, oh my God, they got that guy, it's over.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, what's the deal? Do they. Do they make. What's the deal they don't make?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because sometimes the one you don't make is the one that ends up working out.

[Alan Hahn]

800 now. 193776. Want to get some more calls in here?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay, let's go to who is. I just saw somebody was waiting Michael in Medina. Funky cold.

[Frank Fleming]

Hey guys.

[Don LaGreca]

Hey, Michael.

[Frank Fleming]

Awesome show. I love the 3D guys together. So I was around in 69 when the Knicks, the Mets and the jets all won. And that's when I kind of came of age. I actually was a semi pro baseball player for a while in an interesting league which we can talk about some other time. But I will tell you that I have been since the 73 team and maybe a little bit later into the 70s, I've been really lukewarm about the Knicks because we've moved into the era of isolation.

[Alan Hahn]

Yep.

[Frank Fleming]

And I just couldn't handle Carmelo. He bothered me. The same thing with Randall. Randall would like, you know, would grab the ball at the end of the games. He would like, they would steal the ball five times away from him and they would lose games and he would never make those shots. So here we are. That it looks like a Red Holtzman team to me.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Frank Fleming]

Like you were saying, intelligent, incredibly committed to each other. Everybody's playing for the win for the team. And that whole thing about collaboration on a, on a baseball on a field is underrated. People think, oh, you get stars and you win. But it's why the Mets did so well this year. You've got this unit that plays like a unit and that's what we got here for the first time in a really long time.

[Alan Hahn]

Michael, thank you for the call and the perspective. I mean that's that's really what it's about. And these are the types of teams that are easy to fall in love with for exactly what you were talking about. Okay, more your calls coming up. 800-919-3776. I also asked this question the other day on Twitter about Knicks related because Jalen Brunson has been just playing. Excellent battle. He had 15 assists. I'll go along with 30 points real quick. He had 30 points after three quarters. At 18 points in the third quarter last night, it felt like Denver was trying to steal the game. Jamal Murray got hot and Brunson wouldn't let him. Closed the quarter, regained the lead, and then in the fourth quarter he took one shot. He could have gone for 40, he could have gone for four. No, he took one shot. Instead, he had seven assists and they closed the deal. When your leader sets that kind of example of it ain't about my numbers. It's about us just getting the win. Everybody else, how do you not follow suit? So here's the question. Jalen Brunson is the best point guard the Knicks have had since who TaxAct knows filing taxes can be confusing. So we have live experts on hand who can help answer any questions you may have. Questions like, can I claim my SUV is my home office? If I answer work emails in my car?

[Unknown]

If I adopted 12 dogs this year.

[Alan Hahn]

Can I list them as dependents and am I doing this right or am I doing this very, very wrong? Our experts have the answers to those questions and many others. Tax act let's get them over with.

[Don LaGreca]

This episode is brought to you by Allstate.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Some people just know they could save.

[Don LaGreca]

Hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate First. Like, you know to check the date of the big game first before you accidentally buy tickets on your 20th wedding anniversary and have to spend the next 20 years of your marriage making up for it. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate Savings.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Vary terms apply.

[Don LaGreca]

Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If you need three new reasons to.

[Don LaGreca]

Love Jack wraps at Jack in the.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Box even more, here they are. Chicken fajita, chicken Caesar and delicious. Starting at $3. Coincidentally, those are the same three reasons you should come to Jack in the Box right now at Jack Every bite's a big deal.

[Alan Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don LaGreca]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Alan Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. Has Peter ever given me his opinion on this song?

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, you haven't heard this?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, he's hurting. You haven't heard it.

[Alan Hahn]

The original version.

[Don LaGreca]

I thought you were P1AL.

[Alan Hahn]

I can't remember. I said I can't remember. Because if it's a bad take, then I probably just wanted to purposely forget it.

[Don LaGreca]

I mean, I think it's the take. I, I, I hate the original of that song. Hate it.

[Alan Hahn]

Wow.

[Don LaGreca]

I think it's horrifying.

[Alan Hahn]

You know the guy that, that made it though. I know you know him.

[Don LaGreca]

Yes, I do. Yeah, lovely guy. He's great guy. Yeah, lovely guy. My feeling was just always. And don't get me wrong, with Dougie Fresh, the new way feels kind of good. Feels better. A little better. But like, my feeling was Alan. And tell me if you agree. It's New York City. This is the birthplace of hip hop.

[Alan Hahn]

Mm.

[Don LaGreca]

In 2023, let's say to still have been playing Go New York, Go New York, go. And it legit sounds like the Vanilla Ice song from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles soundtrack. I just, we could have done better.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's all I thought.

[Alan Hahn]

Q tip also about 10 years ago did a remix of it too.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, I remember that.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

None of the other ones ever took.

[Alan Hahn]

No, they just never took people like the original.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But I don't think you're judging it as like a hip hop song.

[Alan Hahn]

It's not. It's a fan's theme.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's just their song. Listen, I mean, the mix they play.

[Alan Hahn]

That people love that song. That song sounds like it's from 1943.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because it was from 1962, so it wasn't that far off.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, 43 is 62.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But you know, but even the, you know, the Make a Teamwork, that was garbage too.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, I love Make a Teamwork.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But it's, it was our song and it's something you can't. But most of it, you know, we got.

[Don LaGreca]

Where there's a meth man, you'll find a Mets fan.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, I remember that too. Forgot about that song.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It was awful.

[Alan Hahn]

Forgot about that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But it takes you back to a different. You don't.

[Alan Hahn]

That's what it is. It's nostalgia.

[Don LaGreca]

What does that mean?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Cuz the guy that sold you meth was also a Met fan. A Mets fan, you know. So I, I'm going to go to the meth man.

[Don LaGreca]

There's a meth man, there's a Met fan.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, sure makes, you know, before I get my Purple double barrel, man. What'd you think of Keith Triple last night?

[Unknown]

Man, I didn't think he had the.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Legs for it, you know. So that's kind of what you did back in 86, you know, or at least that's what I did in 86.

[Alan Hahn]

Now, the Yankees never had a song. Right. They just had their. Oh, you're.

[Don LaGreca]

You're above it.

[Alan Hahn]

They. Well, no, they had. Well, they was an instrumental.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, but they just stuck with the. With the original.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, there was the instrumental, which is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There are lyrics to that, by the way.

[Alan Hahn]

Are there?

[Peter Rosenberg]

You never. You never do hear them. But you work long enough with K, you find that old.

[Alan Hahn]

No, there's actually lyrics.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But I'm obsessed with like the 70s and 80s channels on Sirius XM and there are songs that come up that I hated when they came out that I like now because it takes me back to that time when I first heard it.

[Alan Hahn]

I completely agree.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So I'm sure there's a lot of Nick fans that are like, listen, this is not a great song. I wouldn't like, put it on my mixtape.

[Alan Hahn]

But the fact that when you're in an arena with 19,000 other Nick and that song comes out gets you back.

[Peter Rosenberg]

To when you were a kid.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes. You're not going to do it anywhere else. You're not going to play it in your car randomly. It's not in your, like a here, you know, my. My special playlist and that song pops up. No, but. Because when you're in the moment. Yes. And I do agree there is something nostalgic about stuff, but I think we'd.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All agree the greatest hip hop song ever that included the Knicks is Biggie. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The Go. They'll go back to the. The Sugar Hill Gang.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Rapper's Delight.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, I got a color tv, so I can see the.

[Don LaGreca]

Fair enough. Yeah, fair enough.

[Alan Hahn]

809. 19377. I think Rob in the car has a color TV. Hey, Rob, I.

[Frank Fleming]

True. I do. I also, I just want to point out that as I agree with you guys, I'm not a huge fan of the Go New York, Go New York, Go song. But, you know, let's compare it to, let's say the Super Bowl Shuffle song by the Bears. Much, much better.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay.

[Frank Fleming]

You know, it's.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, but you know what? But the difference is. The difference is the Bears let that song die. Like it. It stayed in 1985. They don't play it at every single game.

[Frank Fleming]

I guess it just lives on in my memory.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

I can't unsee the fridge dancing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, The Giants had one in 86, too. The worst of all, maybe Jacob can find the one from 86.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, the Rangers had one, too. You remember the Rangers did. It was the Maloney's and Espo, and they did this whole.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The.

[Alan Hahn]

You know what it is?

[Peter Rosenberg]

They played at the Garden still.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, my God. Were they Giants.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The New York Giants.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, yeah, they did that, too.

[Unknown]

With a video.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. All right, Rob, real quick, what do you got?

[Frank Fleming]

I think Brunson is the best. 54 years old. Brunson is the best point guard I've ever seen for the Knicks. You know, other. We've had other great point guards, but at the tail end of their career. And I was just really impressed with Towns last night. I think, you know, the Knicks defense has gotten a lot better, and he focused on dealing last night for the first three quarters. I'll take any game where Towns has like a sort of, for him, quiet offensive game if he can also keep Jokic from having a huge.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, Yokos got in foul trouble early because they went at him. They attacked him, and he got two quick fouls. He had to sit for a while. When he came back, they were swarming him, and he never got into rhythm. And then later in the game, you know, Towns, you write was quiet, but when it was closing time, who scored six points in a row, who got a big block and then turned it into, you know, the block turned into a big bucket and the whole building went crazy. You know, he woke up at the right time. So, Rob, you know, you're right. And it's. It's. Again, it's just something to witness right now because we're not used to see. I think that's the problem with a lot of Knick fans, is they're so hesitant to embrace it because they're not used to seeing it. And that's why I'm just. I keep trying to talk to fans. I keep trying to tell them, like, no, no, trust your eyes. You've watched enough bad basketball that you probably don't know if you know what good basketball looks like. But it looks like this. Andrew and Long Beach. Andrew. Hey, guys. How's it going today? Good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Hey, man.

[Alan Hahn]

So I think a key part to.

[Frank Fleming]

The last night's great win also was OG hitting those five threes.

[Alan Hahn]

He's been in a really good way.

[Frank Fleming]

Offensively the past few games here, and that's just great to see.

[Alan Hahn]

An Alton.

[Frank Fleming]

You touched on it. Brunson's passing, especially down the stretch, was absolutely special based on my research. Obviously I haven't seen all these guys.

[Alan Hahn]

Play, but I'd say he's the best.

[Frank Fleming]

Fixed point guard since the great wall. Claude Frazier.

[Alan Hahn]

That is the company that he's keeping right now. Andrew, thank you. And again, all respect to Mark Jackson who was a rookie, Rookie of the year came in, became an all star. He was good. But even Mark early on in his career had some troubles as a Knick. When he went to Indiana, he was terrific. But you know, again as a Knick, it wasn't perfect. It wasn't like this. Chauncey Billups had a small run here again. Jason Kidd was 40 years old. Stefan Marbury obviously is was a elite scorer. But that team never won. So I think all of it has to be in the conversation when you're talking about it. Hey, everybody. It is Superbox Bonanza 6 and your chance to get your box for the big game. With a big prize pool of $2,000, all qualifiers will get an ESPN prize pack and a chance at one of 10 super box prizes. Listen daily through February 6th to DiPietro and Rothenberg, Barton Carlin, the Michael K show and our show, of course, this year's big game payouts, by the way, $250 in the first and third quarters, 500 for halftime and a final score payout of $1,000. All brought to you by Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey, Sloman Security and Security, Dodge Shop 24 [e-mail] during their President's Day sales event. For full contest details, go to superbox bonanza.com we don't play it anymore, Brown. Sure.

[Don LaGreca]

Superbox Bonanza.

[Alan Hahn]

I kind of feel like I. I get excited about it. Like I know I anticipate so bad. What happened, Jake? Sometimes I feel like I'm stepping on you guys or startling guys. So you know I laid out that time. No, I didn't.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Don't ever lay out.

[Alan Hahn]

Don't ever. Brownshear. He delivered in that moment. That was his Whitney Houston anthem moment. Yeah, like he'll forever.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like, did he lip sync it? Have him come in. Wait a minute here. He can do it live.

[Alan Hahn]

He could. Maybe that's what he should do next time.

[Don LaGreca]

I doubt it.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, you have your chance to win. Maybe we'll get brownshire in here to sing to you for your opportunity to win one of these boxes. Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything.

[Alan Hahn]

You just set catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. Carl Banks. What are they doing to you, Carlson?

[Peter Rosenberg]

They went to Pasadena. They took care of business, unfortunately. I guess back then, the rite of passage to go win the Super Bowls. Embarrass yourself with a song. Bears work for the giants. Did the 87.

[Unknown]

Well, remember the Mets had Let's.

[Alan Hahn]

We got to turn his mic on right there.

[Unknown]

Remember the Mets had Let's go Mets, which were playing earlier, but they also had something called Get Mesmerized that they recorded on the off day after opening day, which is awful. And Durant, the Rams came out a video called Ramit, which.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, boy.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, yeah, I forgot about Ramit.

[Alan Hahn]

That would get canceled today. I don't think you could sing Ramit.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That, of course, is the voice of Frank Fleming. Frank the Tank. Way to go. Today we did the walk, and it's gonna be launched tomorrow, so we're here to promote it.

[Unknown]

10Am will be premiering, so it's gonna be a good one. It was an entertaining walk right around this area there. And the walks have been great. The walks have been great. I'm getting more and more people. We've got a lot of great guests lined up, too. After this, it's like.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And the update, anyone as big of.

[Alan Hahn]

A guest, though, is Don Leggreca. Like, come on, you have.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Don't you make him nervous because he's had Saquon Barkley. He's had Boomer Assays Barkley. I'm up there. But let's be honest.

[Unknown]

In yards. I mean, he should get MVP consideration.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Unknown]

And maybe he wins a Super bowl ring. We had Marcus Freeman, took Notre Dame to the National Championship game. That's a big one with Jack Kaiser and Riley Mills. Also walked with me that same day.

[Alan Hahn]

And you going to Super Bowl.

[Unknown]

I'll be there the super bowl week. Doing a few walks next week.

[Alan Hahn]

That's great.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Down to 316 after the 16 wave.

[Alan Hahn]

Excellent.

[Unknown]

314, which is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Matt, that's. See, that's awesome. And you were up to £500, right?

[Unknown]

I was £500. 20, 15. 2016.

[Alan Hahn]

So what, like. And I know you've told this story before, but I'm just curious, like, how did. How did it start? Like, what inspired it? Was it simply just one day, like, you know, Forrest Gump just decided to start running one day and then he just.

[Don LaGreca]

Wait, Alan, can we start? Do you mind if we start even before. Before that. Real quick, how did we get to £500?

[Alan Hahn]

Well, that sounds easy.

[Unknown]

Just a Lot of sitting around doing nothing. That's how you get to £500.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, that sounds really easy.

[Unknown]

Not going anywhere, just going to and from work and just going home and plopping in front of the TV and eating. Building the sports encyclopedia, which, you know, I ran that for 20 years. It did its job and just doing nothing. Not getting around, not moving. The only exercise I got in those days was maybe going to two Met games a month or going to Devil games. That's the only thing remotely close to exercise I got when growing up.

[Alan Hahn]

Were you active? Were you an active kid growing up or what?

[Unknown]

I wasn't very active, no.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay, so this is new to you then? To be active then is like a whole lifestyle, a real lifestyle change.

[Unknown]

Yes, it is.

[Alan Hahn]

So what inspired that first day of. Was it you just by yourself? I'm gonna go for a walk.

[Unknown]

Well, the first when I got £500, I got MRSA and I lost some weight after MRSA because I was like really laid up in the hospital for a week. I didn't feel good for like six weeks. I missed six weeks of work. It got me down. Then I had to rant. A year later, Stu started basically trying to get me, encouraged me to start eating better and Stu finer. That is. Of course, then I started walking around a little bit. It's still not full time, but I'm starting to walk around. I do a little bit more physical. I got under 400 finally. Then the pandemic hit and I shot back up to like 469. Went full time barstool, started walking around a little bit. Then I got a little sidetracked and I was at 383. And we went to Notre Dame game. Shane Gillis invited me to a Notre Dame game. And Shane Gillis is basically like, like laid the kindling down for the walk. And we parked in a spot and we had to walk a long way to that stadium and then we had to walk a long way back. And I think I got 20,000 steps that day. And we're thinking that, you know, if I do this every day, I could start losing some real poundage. And about a week later we started to daily walks. And we're fast approaching 500 straight days. And unless something changes with my schedule, I'm going to be doing my 500 walk in Central park next Saturday, the day before the super bowl and at noon and people are trying to join me at Strawberry Fields and welcome me for Walk 500.

[Alan Hahn]

That's fantastic.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Obviously you're able to walk what Are some of the things that you can do now that you couldn't do when you were £500?

[Unknown]

You know, I couldn't walk much. It was really a struggle walking. Like maybe I'd walk maybe about 100ft. I try to park as close to the door wherever I can. If I was doing laundry at the laundromat, it'd be a struggle. It'd be getting groceries into my apartment was a struggle. Doing everything was a struggle. It was like when I'm walking around the grocery store, the cart was almost like a crutch and like everything. I can just like walk as less as possible because it was just every step was labor. It was hard. Going to Met games was very difficult. I'd do my best to try to avoid it and especially when stairs came involved. So it was very hard. And I could actually go upstairs somewhat. Now I have a little bit of a knee issue, but that's basically just old age too. But I could do a lot more. I was swinging a wiffle ball bat a couple of weeks ago. I mean, I saw that over at.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The Met Cit Citi Field.

[Unknown]

I actually made good contact. I mean, there's a video for me from 2022 swinging at the Louisville Slugger Museum versus me now. And it's. You could tell that my whole body just moves differently and everything moves differently. Clothes fit differently. I was size 69 waist, now I'm size 58 and that might be a little too big. I was size 6x shirts. Now I'm fitting into 2x sometimes.

[Don LaGreca]

You're on the path, man. Let me ask you this, Frank. So is doing the interviews and the walks and working with barstools that now your full time gig?

[Unknown]

Yes, it is.

[Don LaGreca]

And what was your, what was your full time job prior to all of this?

[Unknown]

Prior to 2020? Well, up until 2020, I was a court clerk in Ex County, New Jersey for 16 years.

[Don LaGreca]

Wow. I mean, what an amazing story. Beyond the weight loss, which is amazing too. But how cool is it that you for 16 years had a real everyday hard go to work, work job and now you just get to talk about sports and athletes and celebrities.

[Unknown]

Yeah, it's the absolute best. It's great. You know, I think about people who don't like coming to work or who try to avoid work. And this isn't work, this is play. I mean, I went to Chicago two weekends in a row and I'm watching football with Jon Gruden. I mean, that's crazy. It's crazy debt.

[Alan Hahn]

That's my life all of this that came to be because of a moment that you had where you had just was like any other New Yorker, any other person in the tri State area that deals with mass transit is. You just got fed up.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

You had your moment, your breaking moment, and it just happened to be caught on video.

[Unknown]

Yeah. I've been dealing with New Jersey transit most of my life. I didn't learn how to drive until I was 29 years old, 2004. So most of my life I'm taking buses, I'm taking trains, I'm taking the little light rail. And it's always something. It's always something and it's never improved. They got trains. I was on a train today that was like, the train looks like it's about to fall apart. It's like. It's like 40 years old. You have these old trains and they wonder why they break down all the time. And then the tracks aren't well maintained. I mean, Amtrak doesn't do a wonderful job maintaining the tracks. We got this bridge. We got this hunch they're finally fixing. They're replacing the bridge. It's called a portal bridge. It goes over the Hackensack river and it's. The bridge has to open. It swings open, and when it swings open, it gets stuck. And then that will stop the whole transit system. And I've been on a train. That was one time right before the train, right before that bridge, and I saw these guys walking out with a big sledgehammer trying to hammer bridge back.

[Alan Hahn]

Trying to get the. Just trying to get the rails and lined up. Yeah, that sledgehammer.

[Unknown]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Is what we're doing in 2024.

[Unknown]

I mean, it's. They're finally replacing. They're finally replacing the. The new. A new bridge.

[Alan Hahn]

You sound like me talking about the Cross Bronx Expressway.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So you see you meltdown on video.

[Alan Hahn]

You want to hear it real quick?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, take us back.

[Alan Hahn]

We only have like, let's open very, very quick. Yeah, very quick.

[Unknown]

New Jersey. Tragic is the absolute worst.

[Alan Hahn]

That's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So what was your end game when you did that? Obviously you didn't think it was parlay into all this, but, like, what were you hoping to accomplish when you posted that video?

[Unknown]

Just get off some steam and just like New Jersey transit, like, let the people know that this is a. That this is unacceptable. That the fact that the transit system fails time and time again. It failed yesterday, it was failing. Or Tuesday there was problems. I was on a train that was delayed 30 minutes getting into New York on Tuesday. It's Constantly problematic and it's just ridiculous.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to walk with you and to meet you and to get to know your story.

[Unknown]

It's a pleasure and everybody will get.

[Peter Rosenberg]

A chance to see it tomorrow.

[Unknown]

We talked about everything.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We talked Devils, we talked Pete Alonso.

[Alan Hahn]

Love it, love it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Talked everything, man. And you know what? Vent. Cause when I did the show with Kay, he'd always say to me, calm down, you can have a heart attack. I'm like, no, this is why I won't have a heart attack. You don't want to keep that stuff in.

[Unknown]

Yes, it's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So when the Devils blow a two bowling, III let it out.

[Unknown]

Yes, exactly. That's why I let it out. You know, I let it out. And then maybe sometimes, maybe it will linger a day or two, but you know what?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, that's not good. But you don't want it to fester.

[Unknown]

Yes. Well, if it's, if it's a losing streak, it will fester. But frustration is.

[Alan Hahn]

I gotta ask real quick because I know you're a Mets fan, a diehard Mets fan. I gotta ask this real quick. If Pete Alonso doesn't get re signed by the Mets, are you going to flip out or are you fine with it?

[Unknown]

I think the Mets have handled the Pete Alonso affair correctly. I think Steve Cohn is doing it correctly. I think I trust Stearns. It's not their fault, it's Scott Boris fault. I think Pilianzo wants to be a Met. I just think that he overvalued his market. That the fact that he has not signed that tells me the Mets are playing with the market. They're not bidding against themselves. They're not going to give him a bad contract. He shouldn't get more than three, maybe four years to be a. Thank you. But this guy's. You could see the signs. This guy's going to be a guy that his career could go down like.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This and I don't want to landlock first base. If they can get Vlad.

[Unknown]

Yes, exactly. And maybe, maybe it will hurt them in 2025. But you know, I think the Mets focus is not about winning one season. I think now they want to be something sustainable that hasn't been a part of this organization for 35 years.

[Alan Hahn]

Look at that, a sane Mets take by a Mets fan. It does exist, Frank. Thank you, Jinx. Thank you. Good to see you guys.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You're an inspiration.

[Alan Hahn]

All right, Everybody. Superbox Bonanza 6. Each qualifier will take home an ESPN prize pack. Have a chance at one of 10 Superbox prizes including a Ninja air fryer, solo stove, Ray Ban Meta wayfarers and more. Hey Frank, pick a number. Pick a number real quick. 1313 be call it number 13 right now at 88987, ESPN 8 at 8987, ESPN. Just select the box for the big game with a chance to win $250 in the first and third quarters, 500 at halftime and a final score payout of $1,000. All brought to you by Tulla Mardu Irish Whiskey, Sloman Security and Security, Dodge Shop [e-mail] during their President's Day sales event. Peter Some Lids PETER Absolutely.

[Don LaGreca]

Listen, New York baseball fans, the ultimate hat experience is here. Lids is opening a new store and you're invited to the grand opening celebration. It's this weekend. All right, now listen. Listen to this. Get your game face on. Customize your own hat. You could use your favorite player's autograph, you could use your name. You could even have your own design on the hat. It's incredible. Stop by this Friday between noon and 2pm for a chance to win $150 gift card. And I will be in the building starting at 1:00 tomorrow. So come and hang with me. My first time out since the baby came. I'm stoked to see the people. Check out some hats. Michael K is making me get a nice personalized hat for Charlie. It's all going down tomorrow. Plus Saturday between 10am and 11, you can meet Yankee great Nick Swisher. All happening this weekend, Friday and Saturday at lids on 42nd and Times Square. Get in the game and make it a day to remember.

[Alan Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast. I don't want to know how the sausage is made, but I just want to know. It's good. Here, more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers.