Hour 1: March Madness

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 1: March Madness (March 27, 2026)

Overview

This episode centers around the excitement of March Madness, with special attention paid to St. John's return to prominence, the significance of blue bloods in college basketball, the impact of NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) on the sport, coaching styles in the modern era, and the ongoing shifts in college athletics. The hosts, Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, and Peter Rosenberg, blend New York sports energy with humor, nostalgia, and sharp commentary—making for an episode that’s both insightful and entertaining for fans of basketball and city culture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. March Madness: St. John’s Resurgence & Tournament Stakes

• St. John’s Big Moment: The main story is St. John’s making the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999, now facing Duke—an iconic college basketball powerhouse.

  • “St. John's to me, is what stirs the drink here in New York. And to have them in a Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 is a big thing. And have them take on Duke…as sexy as it gets.” – Don La Greca [06:27]

• Potential matchups excite the hosts, especially if St. John’s advances to a likely Elite Eight clash with UConn.

  • “How sexy would it be? UConn and St. John's again, for the right to go to the Final Four... you’re right at the doorstep of something exceptionally special.” – Don La Greca [06:50]

• Overall Tournament Landscape: Discussion about other marquee matchups (Michigan State–UConn, Alabama–Michigan, Tennessee–Iowa State), and the changing landscape as traditional "blue bloods" face new challengers from the football-centric SEC.

  • “There's this sense now that while there is a renewed interest or maybe a bigger interest this year in the college game, there's a sense that they're really... Are the blue bloods, like we know them?” – Alan Hahn [15:40]

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2. The Blue Blood Debate

Are College Basketball’s ‘Blue Bloods’ Still the Same?

• The hosts debate if the traditional elite programs (Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, UNC) still occupy an untouchable status.

  • “Pitino’s also—he said something, I think a little bit controversial, saying that he doesn’t think blue bloods exist anymore in college basketball.” – Alan Hahn [18:50]

• Rick Pitino’s Take:

  “The blue bloods no longer control basketball any longer... there's no such a thing as a blue blood anymore. Everybody is the same in basketball, and that's what's going to make it a great product.” – Rick Pitino [19:02]

• Tom Izzo’s Counter:

  “Well, I love Rick, but I don't agree with that. I think a blue blood is somebody that’s earned it over time... If you can be consistent not over two years, four years, but 10 years, 15 years, I think you have the right to feel like that's the difference.” – Tom Izzo [23:08]

• Hosts’ Reflections: The show acknowledges both perspectives can be true, and keeps an eye on whether recent NIL changes will shift power long-term.

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3. NIL and Changing Power Dynamics

• The hosts dissect how NIL has equalized recruiting power for more programs, allowing traditionally smaller schools or those with rich donors to compete for top talent.

  • “Now I’m not going to what gives me the best chance to get exposure. I’m going to the highest bidder. And some of those schools now are able to compete for the NIL.” – Don La Greca [20:49]

• They reference the film “Blue Chips” and real-life “cash under the table” scenarios, now replaced by legal NIL payments.

  • “Now it’s just straight up out in the open. What do you want? Like you hear this in the portal with transfers all the time. It’s unreal. It’s like this guy got $3 million and a truck and they transferred here.” – Alan Hahn [21:08]

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4. ‘Tough Love’ Coaching and Its Place in Today’s Game

• The hosts discuss the evolution from intense, tough-love coaching to concerns about new-age "softness", with direct commentary from coaches:

  • Dan Hurley (UConn):

    “I think that's, you know, society we've got soft in a lot of ways... You remember the teachers and coaches that pushed you to your maximum, pushed you beyond your comfort level, that got the most out of you...” [34:28]

  • Calvin Sampson (Houston):

    “I don't have to be their life, but they are my life.” [41:14]

• Debate on Line-Crossing: The line between motivating and verbally abusing players is drawn; the crew agrees physical aggression is always inappropriate.

  • “There's never any excuse to lay your hands on anybody... But verbally, getting in the face of a player, like in the Maryland incident, the athlete in question wants to be coached hard.” – Don La Greca [36:26]

• Discussion on the challenge for coaches: building deep relationships with players in an era of rapid transfers and player movement.

  • “You need time to build the relationship with these players... that camaraderie used to come over time. That’s just not a thing we see anymore.” – Peter Rosenberg [40:15]

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5. On Sports Media, Nostalgia & Fan Culture

• Personal Reflections and Nostalgia: Don recalls his early radio days, with playful reenactments – “The final score would be the magic make the nuggets disappear. 103 to 100.” [13:31]
• Drop Madness: The show launches their annual “Drop Madness” bracket, a lighthearted contest of their funniest sound bites, encouraging listener interaction on Twitter. [24:52]
• On Social Media’s Role: The hosts discuss skepticism about taking Twitter (X) criticism too seriously.
  • “Stop everyone trying to gain information, opinion trends on social media. It’s always going to skew negative.” – Don La Greca [51:13]
• Larry David Yankee Ad Discussion: The hosts debate the purpose and fan reception to YES Network’s Larry David ad, highlighting how fans often misconstrue the function of commercials.
  • “Why is that what a yes. Commercial would be about? You morons.” – Peter Rosenberg [47:57]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “St. John’s to me, is what stirs the drink here in New York. And to have them in a Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 is a big thing.” – Don La Greca [06:27]
• “The blue bloods no longer control basketball any longer... there’s no such a thing as a blue blood anymore. Everybody is the same in basketball.” – Rick Pitino [19:02]
• “I think a blue blood is somebody that’s earned it over time.” – Tom Izzo [23:08]
• “You remember the teachers and coaches that pushed you to your maximum, pushed you beyond your comfort level, that got the most out of you...” – Dan Hurley [34:28]
• "There's never any excuse to lay your hands on anybody... But verbally, getting in the face of a player... that's okay." – Don La Greca [36:26]
• “Now it’s just straight up out in the open. What do you want?” – Alan Hahn on NIL [21:08]
• “I don't have to be their life, but they are my life.” – Calvin Sampson [41:14]
• “Why is that what a yes. Commercial would be about? You morons.” – Peter Rosenberg [47:57]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• St. John’s Sweet 16 Hype & Matchups – [06:00–08:50]
• Blue Blood Debate & NIL Impact – [15:00–24:50]
• Sound bite Bracket (“Drop Madness”) – [24:52–27:32]
• Coaching Culture & ‘Tough Love’ – [33:00–41:42]
• Larry David YES Network Ad Critique – [46:42–54:20]

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Episode Flow & Tone

The conversation is spirited, rooted in New York sports attitude, and rich with camaraderie, humor, and authenticity. The trio blend deep basketball analysis with media commentary and nostalgia, making discussions of serious topics—like NIL and coaching culture—both engaging and accessible. They deftly critique sports culture, riff on commercials and fan expectations, and maintain listener involvement through fun segments like Drop Madness.

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For Listeners

If you missed the episode, this recap provides a full grasp of:

• Why St. John’s moment is so significant in NYC sports culture;
• How NIL and conference realignment are shaking up college basketball’s old hierarchies;
• The ongoing debate about what it means to be a blue blood in the sport;
• The changing (and unchanging) nature of intense coaching;
• How sports media, nostalgia, and social commentary intertwine in the modern landscape—a must-listen for fans who love the blend of hoops, hot takes, and humor.

Transcript

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[Don LaGreca]

Don, you know what? Maybe they can go pee on each other. That'd be great. Don, there's a lot of women out

[Alan Hahn]

there that want you.

[Podcast Host (Don, Han, Rosenberg)]

Ally and Rosenberg.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Give me the porn. For God's sake.

[Don LaGreca]

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

[Podcast Host (Don, Han, Rosenberg)]

This is Don, Han and Rosenberg.

[Don LaGreca]

The best threesome I've ever heard on

[Podcast Host (Don, Han, Rosenberg)]

ESPN New York and streaming live on YouTube.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, it's a Friday. It's a beautiful Friday with Don legreca and with Peter Rosenberg. I'm Alan Hahn. It is don Hahn and Rosenberg. 880 ESPN ESPN New York app. And of course on YouTube. Shout out, everybody. On YouTube certainly as well. How we doing, boys? Good.

[Don LaGreca]

Beautiful day in Raleigh. Gorgeous day and got tons of steps.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, steps.

[Don LaGreca]

Went for a nice, nice point. Six mile walk to some Starbucks for some breakfast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Star. You went for a start to Starbucks for a little breakfast. What'd you get there?

[Don LaGreca]

We haven't, you know, it was. It was a part of our regular daily ritual, Peter, for the longest time. And now it's been out of my life.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So you went back to it, but coffee or breakfast?

[Don LaGreca]

No, I had coffee and I had a blueberry muffin.

[Alan Hahn]

Got it. Sounds healthy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now, did you get the. Did you get the bad coffee or regular coffee?

[Don LaGreca]

I got the bad coffee, but I figured I'd walk it off.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Got it. How long do you. You got it? Did you walk? 12 miles.

[Alan Hahn]

You earned it. Another win.

[Don LaGreca]

Not 12 miles, but like a mile and a half round trip.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There you. There you go.

[Don LaGreca]

Getting some steps in. Got in late because not only it's a quick hour flight from Nashville, but we lost the hour. So. Trip winding down. Good so far. One more game tomorrow and then I'm home.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now, the standard Starbucks blueberry muffin.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, no, don't do it. Don't. Don't read the calorie count. Don't do it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's not. Now listen, it's not as bad as

[Alan Hahn]

I actually Thought it would be okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's 330 to 360 calories, 1415 grams of fat, 47 to 52 carbs, and 29 to 33 sugars.

[Alan Hahn]

Now what?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now that's bad. But I actually thought it would be worse. I had one of those days yesterday, guys, where I wake up with the best of intentions, and then you show up. And then you show up. You show up to the studio, and Calandra's literally just left cakes and cookies on the table.

[Calvin Sampson]

Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like, there's just cakes and cookies everywhere. And then my friend Jeff spelled Geoff, comes over yesterday to hang out with me and Maya because Natalie went to the Cardi B concert. So he came to hang out with me and Maya and watch the basketball, and he's like, oh, I wanted to bring you these cookies from my neighborhood. And he brings me these two, like, thick, beautifully baked chocolate cookies, and you just, like, can't get out of the way of it. It's just like a day or, again, best. Best of intentions. Lot of issues. A lot of issues.

[Don LaGreca]

By the way, Natalie, save your best life, buddy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, saying no is a hard. Come on, you know, I know. I've watched you, Alan, in those settings. I know that when it's free and sitting there, you struggle as you struggle with the best of them.

[Alan Hahn]

Yep.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's. That is when it's. It's one thing to say, I'm going to avoid it all day. It's another thing when people go, hey, want a pile of cookies? It's just. That's where it's challenging now.

[Don LaGreca]

Hey, some ball.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now, Natalie did go to Cardi B last night.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And. And gets on the subway and. And the mayor is in the same car on the subway.

[Don LaGreca]

Man of the people sitting.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Sitting down across from her with his head down, just, like, working on stuff. She said he had a couple people with him and a couple security people, like, standing near him. But she said, pretty under the radar because he kind of just had his head down looking over stuff on the train. But he turns out he was on his way to the Cardi B concert as well. Madison Square Garden shout out to dawn, who Natalie ran into last night as well. But I, of course, was locked in. Sadly, not to Allen, but to some fine early basketball games. The first. Or do you know? Absolutely. That wasn't even considered. But the first. The first. The seven o' clock slate of games. Last night was a lot of fun. The nightcap was not fantastic. Obviously, we talked about this some on the show yesterday. Tonight's lineup is Definitely the sexier teams. Of course, Duke and St. John starting things off is about as. As sexy as it gets. But the. For the first couple, yesterday were a good time.

[Alan Hahn]

That Arizona game was something. Arizona game was a blowout. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Got nasty as the night went on.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. No, this is my brackets down to 85%. So I'm.

[Don LaGreca]

Well, this is where it gets interesting for the. For March Madness, right? Because they kind of had that Thursday, Friday to themselves and that first weekend. But now. Now it gets tough because you need the games to be compelling because now there's a lot going on, Right. You had opening day of baseball. You know, the Yankees didn't play, but the Mets play Yankees playing this afternoon, 430. So that doesn't hurt St. John's at all because that game will be a little bit later. You know, now game is getting a little bit more meaningful. Like, you know, the Islanders had a big win last night, so it's got a little bit more competition to it. But St. John's to me, is what stirs the drink here in New York. And to have them in a sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 is a big thing. And have them take on Duke if there's a face of college basketball, right? Peter, as much as you hate it, the face is Duke. Even post Kyzefsky and all that, it's like, that's the team they still are, and you're trying to get to the Elite Eight, and that's who's standing there. And then if you can find a way to do that, it's going to be Michigan State or UConn. And how sexy would it be? UConn and St. John's again, for the right to go to the Final Four. I mean, it's right there for St. John's all we've talked about since Patino's got here is trying to get St. John's back on the map. And now I don't know if they're back on the map because of one Sweet 16 appearance, because it'll hit different if they lose by 30 tonight. And then the season ends and it's like, okay, whatever. But, boy, if they can take this next step and we can get even, even. It's Michigan State, but still a UConn St. John's matchup.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

For the right to go to the Final Four. Now we're talking. So it's like you're right at the doorstep of something exceptionally special, just off the charts. That's what you have tonight.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, it would flip the whole, the whole tournament. When you take Duke out, right. That's the first thing you flip the whole tournament. But then obviously it just continues to galvanize what St. John's and what Rick Pitino has done there. And if you ask Rick Pitino the reason why this tournament, there seems to be a lot of energy behind it and a lot of interest in it. College basketball just seems to be back on the rise again. Listen to what he said is he thinks is the reason why that's happened. Given that you coached during the height of the NBA's cultural popularity, I was

[Don LaGreca]

hoping to get your perspective on why

[Alan Hahn]

you think fan interest in the NBA

[Don LaGreca]

seems to be waning while college basketball

[Alan Hahn]

is at an all time high.

[Rick Pitino]

I think the resurgence of St. John's.

[Don LaGreca]

I think he was kind of half kidding.

[Alan Hahn]

Of course he is, but he's, he's. I also think though, it was an easy response for him to make because he's loving every minute of the. You talk about a resurgence, it's not just for St. John's it's for him.

[Don LaGreca]

Well, yeah, like what a back.

[Alan Hahn]

He knows it, he's enjoying it. And this, this regional down at Capital One arena in D.C. this regional is like a Final Four. If I gave you the names and you would say, oh, that's probably a final Four again. Duke, Michigan state, Yukon and St. John's yeah, that's his, that's his glitzy glamour, like historic, whatever you want to say. That's as close to blue blood, I guess that's left in college.

[Don LaGreca]

But that's sports, right. Like, you know, Michael's been talking about the great ratings that baseball has gotten in the World Series the last couple of years. Yeah, you get the Dodgers involved, you get Yankees, Dodgers, that, that's going to be amazing. Right. Especially if you get a great series like you had, even though it was the Blue Jays, Dodgers, Game seven. So there's the resurgence, right? Like I'm sure if the NHL, you know, they got a Stanley cup final last couple of years of Edmonton, Florida, the first one was pretty good because they came back from three, nothing down to force a game seven. Not much last year, but if you, if you got, you know, a Ranger, Blackhawk, Stanley Cup Final, there'd be a resurgence, Right. Two original six teams playing each other.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

When you basketball, the same thing. All right. Get Oklahoma City, Indiana, but you get a Laker. Nick, forget about it. It'll be off the charts. And it's the same for college basketball. When you get Duke involved, you get Saint John's. Which means you now get a major market in Michigan State. I mean, is Izzo been there since like dinosaurs walked the Earth?

[Alan Hahn]

Honestly, it's 30 years.

[Don LaGreca]

Has there been a coach. This is a serious question because I, it just popped into my head. Has there been a coach that's been associated with a school or team as long as Izzo's been associated with Michigan today?

[Alan Hahn]

Well, currently, but obviously, you know, Coach K and Duke is of course saying currently, but currently.

[Don LaGreca]

We saw it all the time.

[Alan Hahn]

Not.

[Don LaGreca]

Not at that level.

[Alan Hahn]

Not at that level. Right. He again, he took over for Heathcote, who coached Magic Johnson in 1979. Like think about that. Right. And he took over in the 90s.

[Don LaGreca]

That was when Peter was born. He's a 46 year old man now.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, but it just shows you. It just shows you that that's how long. It's actually incorrect. What's in.

[Don LaGreca]

Greg Camp of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies

[Alan Hahn]

has been the head coach since 1984. Wait, I mean, I'm sure everybody, when we talk. In all due respect to coach Camp, I'm sorry, I thought we want, I

[Don LaGreca]

thought we wanted to be correct here.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, no, the question wasn't like, exactly. It's more of a. A coach who is associated. So when you say this school, that coach is like the first thing you think of. Like when you say Michigan State, there's two things you think of. Spartan and then Izzo.

[Don LaGreca]

It's true.

[Alan Hahn]

Maybe even not in that order, but that's really what it is. Right? Like that's. So that's what we're trying to say here. So all due respect to coach Camp, God bless, you've been there for a million years. I mean, they've been to how many tournaments? I can't even count them. Right. I probably can on one hand, but I'm just saying this is what we mean though is a coach associated to a program

[Peter Rosenberg]

is 71. He's been there since he was 40.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, it's about right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Shouts to team Cleaves.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, yeah, that is.

[Don LaGreca]

No, it's crazy because now, you know, listen, it's really difficult to do it on the professional level, but you know, like Tomlin's out in Pittsburgh. Right. So there, there's a guy that was there forever. It just doesn't happen now because there's so much of an onus on winning now that it's just so easy. Oh, you haven't won in a while. Get lost. But it's kind of cool that he's still associated with that Scott. I just, I could just think back when I started, you know, in this business.

[Ron Hunter]

He.

[Don LaGreca]

He was the coach of Michigan State.

[Alan Hahn]

So it is.

[Don LaGreca]

I think it's kind of crazy.

[Alan Hahn]

I think he started. He was a head coach at Michigan State before I was a full time sports writer.

[Don LaGreca]

So 31 years, right?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, I'm almost positive.

[Don LaGreca]

Like 71. And he started when he was 40?

[Calvin Sampson]

Yeah, he started 95, 96.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. I was still part time six.

[Don LaGreca]

So 95, 96. I was working at SportsVA.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Before our career started, Don and I

[Don LaGreca]

was doing weekend updates on 1010 WINS.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Don LaGreca]

So I was, I was in.

[Alan Hahn]

Give me a little bit of that. I'm sure you have muscle memory. Give me a little bit of that. What's the. How'd you break? How do you intro it? Where do you go?

[Don LaGreca]

Oh my God. That's a great question.

[Alan Hahn]

I know you can do it. It's muscle memory. You see the score of the, of the Nick game last night. Give me a quick 1010 wins like lead with the Knick score.

[Don LaGreca]

Well the problem was they would introduce me. So I would just go right into.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, you wouldn't say like this is Don the Greco with no, no, no 30 second update or whatever it is?

[Don LaGreca]

No, I think so. It would be. I'd have to put the card in and for. People don't know what a card is again I would describe the card as an eight track. That's not going to help the younger generation to figure out what I'm talking about. But that ticker sound. Because when I don't even know if they still do it. It's been forever since I listened to 1010 WINS. But so you would hear underneath me. I'd have to, I'd have to hit the button to do that. There'd be a cart that had the ticker noise. And now with a sports update, here's Don Lagreca. Knicks and the Hornets last night in Charlotte and I dive into it. The better one would be I'd give the scores on sportsphone and they're like. The final score would be the magic make the nuggets disappear. 103 to 100.

[Alan Hahn]

You had to be clever.

[Don LaGreca]

Sports updates in 10 minutes. Stay with us.

[Alan Hahn]

I like that. You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world. Nothing better than that.

[Don LaGreca]

People calling the hotline complaining that I didn't give the 12th race at Belmont.

[Alan Hahn]

Hey, listen, listen.

[Peter Rosenberg]

A lot of money was riding on that thing.

[Don LaGreca]

Well now we're getting people's pockets.

[Alan Hahn]

But, but, but just Getting back, of course, to what we're going to see tonight. And those are one, it's a 710 tip off, I'm told CBS. And, and this is, you know, this is, I think all eyes are on this game because for, for St. John's there is so much riding on this game. There's, there's a lot on this for Duke too, obviously, like this, this is a year you would expect them to reach the championship game. I don't know if you'd pick them to win. I did. But, but if, if still, it's a huge game on many levels. And then the idea of going to Sunday night in the Elite Eight with the chance to play either Michigan State or UConn, obviously, as Peter said, them playing UConn for the, what would it be the fourth time this season? Like what a wild game that was

[Don LaGreca]

in the regular season.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

Then the matchup in the Big East. You know, there's a lot of reasons why you're excited about St. John's they're taking a chance to go to the Elite Eight. There's also a lot of reasons why people buy at Ramsey Mazda. It's their selection, it's their customer service and it's their savings.

[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Don LaGreca]

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[Alan Hahn]

So again, that's the other game tonight. That's a 945 tip. So that's a late one. Even though it's east coast, Michigan state, Yukon after St. John's Duke, that alone, that alone is just like, just sit and enjoy that. But it's still some like Alabama, Michigan is nothing to sneeze at. That's in the United 10 in Chicago. So another big marketplace, another big arena where you're going to get the other regional. Alabama, Michigan's a Great one at 7:30 and then Tennessee, Iowa State. Don't sleep on Iowa State, by the way. That Iowa State team's really good and they can score. So that's a 1010 game. We got late night, a lot of basketball tonight. Just like last night. Setting up for the elite eight. So these are all really good games, really exciting games. And it just brings you back also to talking about, as I'm naming these teams, North Carolina just fired Hubert Davis. So there's one team that's out, Kansas, Bill Self might, might be calling it a career Kansas team. We're so used to seeing in it is there's this sense now that while there is a renewed interest or maybe a bigger interest this year in the college game, there's a sense that they're really. Are the blue bloods, like we know them. You know, UCLA was in the tournament. Like, like is, is that going away? Is that a good thing or a bad thing for college basketball? Because I don't know, like there's so many SEC schools now that you aren't normally used. The SEC wasn't really known as a big time college basketball conference. And while the Big Ten is still mostly dominating, like the SEC is starting to become an issue in college basketball. And that changes the idea of the blue bloods. Is that good or bad?

[Don LaGreca]

Well, we talk so much about nil and how much it affects college football.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

And not that they're called blue bloods, but when you take a look at some of the big time programs like

[Alan Hahn]

Alabama, I forgot about Kentucky. Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

You know how much they're affected by nil because do their alumni have the billions of dollars that they have in Oregon, Stanford, you know, different places. So it's kind of shifted. Is that happening? Can that happen in college basketball? Where are some of the blue bloods now? Feeling it. Because do they have the boosters to be able to spend, you know, the kind of money that some other schools can. How much does that shift? How much does that put the blue bloods in a.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, think about it, what you're saying. The blue bloods that we remember historically in college basketball that I named Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, places like that, are they known for football? The answer is no, obviously. Right.

[Don LaGreca]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

Now when I tell you Alabama has emerged. Right. That I tell you that, you know, Iowa, Nebraska have emerged. When I tell you those. Michigan, who's always been good. Right. They've always been good, but like they're. They're still very strong. Tennessee back, Iowa State, like, what are you. What, what do all those schools have in common?

[Don LaGreca]

Big football programs known more for football.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, yeah. I think, I think there's got to be something to it that it's almost like the impact of football that can have on college basketball. And especially like I said, the sec, it is Something, though, that another thing that Rick Pitino talked about is because St. John certainly doesn't have a football program. Right? That's not a big thing. UConn, it has a football program. They. They tried to go with football when they left the Big east, realized that was a mistake, came back. But Pitino's also, he said something, I think a little bit controversial, saying that he doesn't think blue bloods exist anymore in college basketball.

[Rick Pitino]

The blue bloods no longer control basketball any longer. There's no difference between Kentucky, North Carolina than Illinois or St. John's there's no difference anymore. There's no difference between Michigan State, who's a blue blood, to any of the other teams from the conferences, from Mississippi. When they get it going, it's all going to be the same. You're going to see 40 to 50 teams all the same. So there's no such a thing as a blue blood anymore. There's no difference between North Carolina State and somebody else. Everybody's the same. Everybody is the same in basketball, and that's what's going to make it a great product.

[Alan Hahn]

Agree with that, too.

[Don LaGreca]

Well, I agree with that. Just for the reasoning that I said with nil, is there a big difference between, you know, St. John's and Kentucky as far as the alumni you look at, you look at Indiana winning the national championship in college football, why did that happen? Because it's an attractive place to go play a college basketball school, all of a sudden becomes the national champion of football. Why? Mark Cuban donated a ton of money. They got a coach that was able to recruit from other places. They had a perfect storm and they won the national championship. You know, so I'm a great college basketball player. I long to play for Duke or North Carolina or Kentucky because that feels like my best chance to win a national championship, play on national television, get exposure to go to the NBA. But if the NIL money is the same in Illinois as it is in Kentucky or Duke, well, now it kind of evens the playing field a little bit more, right? Or maybe it's. Maybe it's even more like, hey, Duke might be more sexier to play, but I can make more money going to Illinois or I can make more money, you know, going to St. John's but at this point, that's the biggest thing for St. John's Peter.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, why did St. John's become St. John's is Mike Ricoli, right? They don't do anything without him.

[Don LaGreca]

Right? So that, that's, that's where I think it Just evens the playing field. Now I'm not going to what gives me the best chance to get exposure. I'm going to, you know, the highest bidder. And some of those schools now are able to compete for the nil. So that good. I don't. It's what we've all waited for these guys to get paid.

[Alan Hahn]

But now we all knew. This definitely shifted it back in the day, you know, the blue Chips era. Right. Like the. The duffel bag of cash and all the other stuff. We all just kind of believe that was always going on. And when you got caught, well, that was on you for getting caught. Right. And now it's just out in the open. Now it's just straight up out in the open. What do you want? Like you hear this in the portal with transfers all the time. It's unreal. It's. It's like this guy got 3 million and a truck and they transferred here. Like what? Like that used to be the thing you couldn't do. Now it's perfectly legal.

[Don LaGreca]

Well, so you look at blue chips, which. I'm gonna go.

[Alan Hahn]

Raw Recruits was the most accurate. Raw Recruits was the book. It was.

[Don LaGreca]

It was pretty accurate.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes, but the movie was accurate.

[Don LaGreca]

The J.T. walsh character, who's probably one of the great character actors of all time, how much would he have paid for those players if it wasn't against the rules?

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I mean, especially to put that cost in current days numbers with inflation.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

You know, and now maybe I don't have to. Hey, listen, I don't have to get his mom a job at the school. I don't have to buy her a house.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

Just get more money.

[Alan Hahn]

No tractor for dad.

[Don LaGreca]

You know, it's like. So, you know, what was the line he said? Electronic surfboard or something. Super high powered surfboard going when they're laughing about the stuff they're giving them. But this is all under the table. All not allowed. No. You know, so you didn't want to go too far because then it would send up red flags, but now just spend more money. So. So that character in Blue Chips would have just given Shaq and Penny hard away all that money to have him come play. Who was it called? Western.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

That is such a good movie.

[Alan Hahn]

Such a good Nolte was great in that movie too. Now, Tom Izzo had this to say in response to Pitino claiming that schools like Michigan State, it's a even playing field.

[Tom Izzo]

Well, I love Rick, but I don't agree with that. I think a blue blood is somebody that's earned it over time. You know, what I've always looked for is. And if you can be consistent not over two years, four years, but 10 years, 15 years, I think you have the right to feel like that's the difference. Now, we all know with the changing environment and everything, it's going to be harder to sustain that kind of. But to me, you know, Kentucky and Duke and, you know, Kansas had earned that over years and years and years. So there might not be as many blue bloods anymore. I like the term because I think that means you've withstood the test of time and you've earned the right over years and years and years.

[Alan Hahn]

That's a great point. And he would know. He's the one that's been there for years and years and years. Well, they.

[Don LaGreca]

Can they both be right in the sense that, yeah, Izzo's right, because those teams are still good. I mean, Duke still goes every year. Right. And. And those teams are still very, very important. But can Rick be right in the sense that now that this playing field is even that. Now, let's take a look. Ten years from now. Are the blue bloods consistently good or are they just like everybody else and they kind of fall out of it just like any dynasty in professional sports. Right. There was a time where the Canadians always won, a time the Celtics always won.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Don LaGreca]

Cowboys always won. Well, that's. That's changed now.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, the game's changed, the rules have changed. There's so much that has changed that now will allow something different. So it's in. In the nil era, as long as it goes on. Like, who are the schools that emerge as the new blue Bloods because of, again, people like a Mike Ripoli who shows up and says, I want to invest in this. And I'm sure it's going to take more than just him to keep this thing going year after year. Peter, we have drop Madness for today.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, you bet your ace we do. And you can vote only on dhr, on espn, on Twitter. And I was not thoroughly impressed with our voter turnout yesterday. I hope today no Mets game. I hope today is much better for us. But either way, we are in the round of 32 trying to get to the sweet 16. We start out in the flub region where you have. I. I don't understand this matchup.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, no.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Give me the. Give me the flub matchup, please, on

[Don LaGreca]

880, ESPN, New York and ESPN.

[Alan Hahn]

We're so bad.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay, that one I get. That's the four seat up against this

[Don LaGreca]

12 seed, Don Han and Rosenberg. But we're going Rosenberg, hard knock.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, wow. Don on Don.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's really a match, a sign off matchup. I mean, again, great work by the committee to set up a fantastic, perfectly matched battle. There we go. To the funny region. And it is the four seed.

[Don LaGreca]

Get him away from the cake. Somebody get him away from the cake.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Up against the 12 seed.

[Don LaGreca]

So I'm looking forward to this. Anthony. What do you got, buddy? Oh, hey guys.

[Alan Hahn]

We've got some calls, we've got some emails. Zesty Anthony's gonna win. I'm sorry. The cake is a good one, but I think the people are big fans of Zesty Anthony.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, hey guys. We go to the troubling region, the four seed.

[Don LaGreca]

I gotta divorce my wife and have my kids bleed out because the Giant game's on.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Otherwise I'm not a real fan. Up against the 12.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, that's a tough one, man.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's a good. Well, now one that will have some controversy is this final matchup in the round of 32. This is the nether region, the five seed from New York.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm not supposed to say that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's okay.

[Don LaGreca]

We got it.

[Alan Hahn]

It's all good.

[Don LaGreca]

But.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, but we're live.

[Tom Izzo]

Ready.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I can't say no, don't say it again.

[Don LaGreca]

We're gonna run out of dump time.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But that's a bad word. That's one of the words.

[Harry Douglas]

Those are bad.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Stop, stop. However, that 5 seed is up against the 13.

[Don LaGreca]

Holy canoli.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, come on. I'm a big fan of holy cannoli.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Heyman versus Marco. You can do all your voting on Twitter. Do you hate kids or not? DHR on ESPN, on Twitter to determine our sweet 16.

[Alan Hahn]

By the way, speaking of blue bloods, Don Lagra, clearly a blue blood. An hour drop madness. This is, you know, every year, always there.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, he's. That's a blood.

[Alan Hahn]

Deep into the tournament. That's. That's a blue blood for sure.

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[Podcast Host (Don, Han, Rosenberg)]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Podcast Host (Don, Han, Rosenberg)]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts

[Alan Hahn]

while we continue the conversation. Just wanted to let everybody know ESPN has a report that Tiger woods was involved in a rollover crash in Florida today. There's no details yet at the cause or anything else or in Tiger's condition. But they're investigating it right now. And then there'll be some, I guess, news around 5. It happened a little after 2 o' clock this afternoon and in the same area where he lives down in Jupiter Island. But it's the second time he's been involved in something like that. I remember the, it was a couple years ago. Right. The one where he was in California and he was heading somewhere and that was a terrible crash and he was just speeding.

[Don LaGreca]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

Serious injuries. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So that was a really serious one. God willing, this isn't anything like that, but certainly weird. Also, coincidentally, four minutes ago, TMZ has a story up that Trump was on Fox News and on Fox News, casually dropped. He said it says, president Trump reveals that Tiger woods would not be playing in the 2026 Masters.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Quote, he'll be there, but he won't be playing in it. Tiger last week kind of left the door open, but.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Let's just hope that every. Everything's all right. Man, that is, it is weird to have another story like this related to Tiger.

[Caller/Listener]

For sure.

[Alan Hahn]

It certainly is. So again, as we get information on it, we'll, we'll certainly update everybody there. But 800 now we're 93776, of course, is the number to be part of the conversation here with us, Don Han Roseberg, ESPN New York I mentioned this because again, we were talking about the college tonight, the college games tonight and certainly St. John. The biggest St. John's game, St. John's Duke, which already just sounds like a big game to begin with, the fact that it's the Sweet 16, the NCAA tournament, it's the biggest game St. John's has played easily in 25 years, 26 years. Right. So huge game tonight. Everybody will be watching this thing, keeping an eye on this thing for sure. But it's a huge regional. UConn's in it as well with Michigan State. That's the second game later in the day. And what we've noticed and we've seen this every year when it comes to the tournament because you see so much the intensity of it and the coaches that have been around for a long time, old school coach who coached the old school way. And that's of course, tough love. We saw it in the women's game. It slips my mind who the team was, but it was the head coach, a female got in the grill of her female star. It was basically you can read lips saying it was Maryland. Was it Maryland?

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, it wasn't Maryland thought it was. No, the screaming coach. I wasn't Maryland.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay, well, anyways, the point I'm trying to make is I don't think you could see the intensity in her face. And she was making it clear like, I need you to step up and I believe in you and all those things. But it looked aggressive if you couldn't understand what she was saying. And there were people that couldn't understand this type of coaching. And why do you. You know how some of these coaches are too tough on players? Look at Tom Izzo and the way he treats some of his players in the huddle and the way he, you know, tears into them sometimes. I remember, what was it last year where he. He kind of like.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It was Maryland. My bad.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay, sorry.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Bad guy.

[Alan Hahn]

If only you had a connection. And it was something with Izzo that people got really frustrated with him and thinking that you can't coach that way anymore.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Suck music.

[Alan Hahn]

Listen to. Listen to Dan Hurley, who is also another guy that coaches hard and him talking about the criticism of coaches being this way with young players.

[Caller/Listener]

I just think that's, you know, society we've got soft in a lot of ways. I think we're trying to develop young people. I think young people, the teachers and coaches that impact their lives the most are not the teachers and coaches that like gave them a grade they didn't deserve. I mean, you remember the teachers and coaches, coaches that pushed you to your maximum, pushed you beyond your comfort level, that got the most out of you, that English teacher that, you know, made you do the work and the tests were hard and you had to study hard. And just think the same thing applies to coaching. I feel like I got a responsibility. You know, I coach 18, 19, 20 year old men. There's a lot that I gotta instill in them. There's a lot of discipline, there's a lot of accountability, there's a lot of commitment that I've got to instill in them to prepare them for the real world. The real world is tough. It's cruel. You gotta be equipped. So on the flip side of how I'm driving them and pushing them to be the best that they can be and prepare them for life, I'm also, I got a very close bond with my players. I love them, they know I love them. And a lot of our relationship that the media doesn't see, or times that we spend together, laughing, joking, making fun of each other, you know, you don't see that part of me, you unfortunately just sometimes see the monster.

[Alan Hahn]

The monster Interesting. Now, Bob Knight, we know, went too far. That's another era. That stuff, we all agree, too far. Damon Bailey, that whole relationship thing that happened, the way he felt he was verbally and physically abused as he played. For him, we know that's going too far. But we're all older guys, so I think we're from a different generation where tough love was something that we all kind of got used to, we all understood was a real thing. I mean, is this actually. Is this a good thing to talk about? Like, isn't this something that goes through. Watch the college game and understand, like, when Pitino, he flips out on the side, when coaches are flipping on the sideline, that you can't act like that's old school and you can't do that anymore with kids, it might be exactly what you need to do to get the most out of a play. I don't remember a coach that was ever super nice to me more than I remember the coach that got the best out of me.

[Don LaGreca]

I think there's never any excuse to lay your hands on anybody. So I think we can all agree that any kind of physical abuse is just unacceptable. But verbally getting the face of a player, like in the Maryland incident, the athlete in question wants to be coached hard. She didn't have a problem with, you know, And I remember something John Tortorella told me, like, years ago. He's like, it looks like I'm yelling at my players, but they're, you know, the music's playing, the building is loud, and sometimes I've got to scream for them to even hear what I'm saying. Sometimes when it looks like I'm screaming and I'm mad, it's me just trying to get my message across. Now, clearly, she was in her face, but she didn't get physically abusive. I think she was trying to send a message, and I think that's okay. You should know every player. Some players don't respond to that, some do. I think you've got to understand that every player is going to be individually different. But for us to judge from afar that that's abusive, that's wrong. When you don't know all the information, you don't know how the athlete responds to that. I think sometimes can be taken too far. What I think is worth exploring, though, now that we've got into the nil, and these are professional athletes now, they're being paid and they can transfer and they can move around because they're a commodity and the coach is hired and fired based on what now? Many. How many kids he graduates success, not how many great things they do beyond the basketball court or the football field or the ice or whatever. They're judged on wins and losses. So this, the whole student athlete, the fact that they're kids, I'm preparing them for life. Is that even a thing anymore? I think it was at a time, but now that they're getting paid, it's kind of a business. So how much responsibility does a coach have to get them ready for life after basketball? Or is it just, hey, I need you to play well so I can keep my job and you need to play well so you can continue to get paid and you can move on to a better school or you could you get a higher draft pick in the NBA or the WNBA or the NFL. So how much of it really is teaching and how much of it is just a big glorified business transaction?

[Alan Hahn]

I don't know. I'm going to ask you guys, do you get as far as you have in your careers if you took it easy? No, no. I think that's the. That's the message here. Like, there's no taking it easy when you want to have success, when you're competing with. We're all in competition in some way in our lives, right? And so there, There is something about it that you have to drive now. It's not for everyone. There are people that. It's not for you, but that's okay. It's not for you. But when you're. When you're somebody who's driven, that has a goal and wants to achieve it, no matter what it is in life, you have to. The tough love is a part of it. You have to be pushed. You have to push yourself just as much as have somebody push you as well. Get more out of you. There's more here. I know where there is. And we got to get it out of you so we can be great. I don't know if you understand that anymore.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's. I think it's challenging for these coaches, though, because you have some players whose talent are, you know, it's. It's solid talent, but they're probably not going to make the league. They're not complete superstars, and they really need to be pushed a certain way. And then it's. It's hard because you have guys coming in who are already on the path to, like, you know, everyone has known since they were 13 how good they were. And I think some of those guys are harder at times to push because they've been Coddled from so young.

[Alan Hahn]

But does it bother you to see it when you see me?

[Peter Rosenberg]

No. To me, it always shows closeness. That's the other piece, by the way, with the nil and the version of basketball, we have it. You got it. You need time to build the relationship with these players.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, it's hard. It's hard over what you get a kid one year and by. And by your 15th game, you're that comfortable where you could be in their face, and you're really like. That's camaraderie that used to come over time. That's just not a thing we see anymore.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, it is. Like I said, it was interesting that Hurley brought it up. It's the way he explained it. And as we're watching these games tonight, you're going to see it. You're going to see intensity out of Hurley and Izzo and. And Pitino for sure. I don't know if Shire is the same way, but, I mean, he's a player who became a coach, who became the head coach of the biggest program in the country, and, you know, he's trying to drive his players the same way. It is just something that exists. And I think we see it. We don't see it in the pro level. We just don't. Not nearly enough. Maybe a little bit in football, but we don't see it really in the other levels of the pro game. But in the college game, especially college basketball, it seems to be front and center more than ever, and it sometimes shocks people when they see it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If you want to hear, let's hear from Calvin Sampson of Houston. He spoke exactly on this after the game last night.

[Calvin Sampson]

I always get a kick out of people that say, well, now you can take some time off. I will eventually, you know, not right now, but right now, you know, helping Emmanuel, Milos, Ramon, Khalifa Kingston, making sure those guys are settled, making sure they're organized on what their next step is, helping them, helping the other kids. I've said this a lot over my career. I don't have to be their life, but they are my life.

[Alan Hahn]

That's a great line. And that's the one thing about a lot of these college coaches. They talk so much about the players and what they mean to them. Just talk to Coach Cal. You can say what you want about John Calipari, how you feel about him, what you think of him, but have a conversation with him and it'll blow your mind how quickly anything about basketball relates immediately to players he's coached. And some of them you've never heard of, but he'll they always immediately have. Their response is never about them personally, but more about a player they coached or players they've coached and what it means. It does mean something to these guys. It is something different and you know, it's why this time of year, I mean they're letting it all out like the emotions are running blood, sweat and tears. This is that time and again. That's what makes tonight kind of fun because for St. John's we haven't seen this in a very long time.

[Don LaGreca]

This college basketball tournament moment is brought

[Alan Hahn]

to you by Marriott Bonvoy after rupturing

[Ron Hunter]

his Achilles celebrating the Team Sunbelt Tournament championship, Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter was forced to roll the sidelines of the NCAA tournament on a stool with wheels. In the opening round, 14th seeded Georgia

[Podcast Host (Don, Han, Rosenberg)]

State faced third seeded Baylor down two. RJ Hunter, the coach's son, hit a

[Ron Hunter]

game winning three pointer causing his father to fly off his stool celebrating on the floor.

[Don LaGreca]

Marriott Bonvoy where gameday checks in.

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[Ron Hunter]

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[Podcast Host (Don, Han, Rosenberg)]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Podcast Host (Don, Han, Rosenberg)]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

Let's do a Pinstripe starting lineup brought to you by Ramsey Mazda. I got the lineup right here.

[Don LaGreca]

You don't know.

[Alan Hahn]

I do because it's right in front of me, Don, so it's the best I could do. But a very interesting change already in the lineup. Paul Goldschmidt's gonna lead off and play first base, batting second. Aaron Judge, who was 0 for 4 by the way in the opener because we're all gonna have to talk about that. He's in right, of course, batting third. Cody Bellinger, he's in center field. Gee Stanton is the dh. He will be the cleanup. Ahmad Rosario at third, so he's batting fifth. Jazz Chisholm batting six at second. Jose Caballero at short batting seventh. Randall Gretchen, he's in left field. He's making his debut. He is batting eighth. And Austin Wells, who had a really good opener, he's catching and batting ninth. Cam Schlitler is on the mound for the Yankees. So right away you already see no Grisham. What's going on there? That was the Pinstripe starting lineup brought to you by Ramsey Mazda. Get more for your money at Ramsey Mazda. Like a new 2026 CX50 or Mazda CX90? Choose wisely. Choose Ramsey Mazda.

[Don LaGreca]

You give good lineup.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I have to say something.

[Don LaGreca]

Say it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I know it's Friday, guys, it's not Thursday, but I have to. I have to have a follow up that guy and I can't Wait till he and N. This morning. One of the first things I saw to start my Friday on a great note was the terrific Michael K. Larry David Yankee commercial. If you haven't seen it, it's a commercial for.

[Don LaGreca]

Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And it's more than just like a nothing commercial, I would say. Don, you watched it before the show, right?

[Don LaGreca]

Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

More than any spot I can recall, at least for yes. Or the local networks. It's a really, like, legit Larry David being pretty funny. It's almost like a good sketch, like a solid sketch with Michael and Larry. And basically, it's a promo for people to watch games on. Yes. And that you can tell your remote control to turn the game on.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And now I've seen fan and pundit alike complain, complain about the commercial, saying it's missing the point. They're missing the point. It was an opportunity for them to talk about how hard it is to find games. We know how to find games on. Yes. The problem is there aren't enough games on.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Why is that what a yes. Commercial would be about? You morons. How dumb do you have to be? Some of you talk about these things, but professionally, the point of the commercial, it's just. Yes. Hyping up excitement among Yankee fans to watch games on. Yes. You want them to take time in their commercial and go. Let me talk about, though, how Major League Baseball has made terrible decisions by including Peacock, Apple, and Netflix.

[Don LaGreca]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

No, that's not what it's about. Second spot. We don't have time for all that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But it's not what we want to do. We tell you to watch games here.

[Alan Hahn]

So I recorded. I. I recorded a commercial for the Gotham Sports app. Okay. Yesterday in the studio.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I like the sound of that.

[Alan Hahn]

And it's. It's a very simple spot just to let people know that if you get MSG already on tv, you get the Gotham Sports app for free.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, No. A list actors like Michael's commercial.

[Alan Hahn]

No huge stars, just Alan Hahn, other than myself.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's right.

[Don LaGreca]

Of course.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Of course.

[Alan Hahn]

I think. I think that's enough. I do, you know, I think I have the credibility to tell people, listen, I got maybe more than. This is factual information you need to know, but it's like a straight up. Like, this is what it's about. Because most people don't know that. You know, it's like, I can't watch the game. I'm not gonna be home. Well, do you get msg? Yeah. Well, then you get the app. Put it on the app. Most people know that. So we're telling that now. The response that you get on social media is that the app people have trouble with the app, whatever it is or where it's available and all that stuff. And they're just like, how come you don't bring this up? And I'm like, it's a. It's a commercial, dude. Like, what, What. What am I supposed to stop in the middle of commercial?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Go listen.

[Alan Hahn]

All right, we can talk about some of the issues we can talk about.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I know some of you are struggling

[Alan Hahn]

with, like, you know, like. Like none of them. This is not. This is not a TED Talk, man. This is not a. This is not a talk about it. This is not even a rant. It's a commercial. It's just a promo.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You people don't want.

[Alan Hahn]

Michael is doing there with Larry David is an entertaining little commercial that says, hey, if you ever wonder, this is all you got to do. That's it.

[Don LaGreca]

And. And also the sub part of it is that there are people that are Larry's age or older that do love Yankee baseball, that do have problems finding it on television. My mom still struggles. Like, that's my. They need to do a commercial on MSG with me talking to my mom. How to find me doing it. Seriously, like. Because last night, that would actually be really funny. You had the Knicks playing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That is a good idea.

[Don LaGreca]

Actually, we had the Islanders playing and the Devils playing, and I think the Devils were on msn. Msn. No, no, no.

[Alan Hahn]

You were on Ms. You were on MSG to the Islanders, probably because they're. The Devils always get precedent over the Islanders, so they must have been on MSG plus or whatever it is.

[Don LaGreca]

Right. So there's different channels. My mom's gonna be 84 years old, but she does struggle. He keeps at what channels it on. And I can't tell her because that. Or unless I know. All right, the Knicks are playing. And if the Devils and Rangers and the Islanders are all playing, it could be on a different station. So it would actually work for her if she had a remote where she'd just speak in give me, you know, MSG or Give me the Devil's Hockey, and it would pop on. So it was a really fun way to promote yes. But it also, I think, helped people of a certain age be able to find where the yes. Network is, because as you start to get a little older, it's difficult seeing finding the channels. So it would be a lot easier for my mom to just speak into the remote, too. But could we stop, please? Stop everyone trying to gain information. Opinion trends on social media. It's always going to skew negative. It's always going to skew into some contra. I don't know if we should use it as a gauge to what people are actually thinking and what people are actually doing. One of the things used to always irritate me about Michael is that he'll get one tweet from somebody saying, why are you talking about this? And then he'll come on saying, well, everybody's talking about how we should move on. No, not everybody.

[Kodiak Waffles Advertiser]

Just one.

[Don LaGreca]

Yo, yo got in your brain and said, why you talking Yankees baseball? Why aren't you talking about Wimbledon? And now I got to change the subject.

[Alan Hahn]

You know what it is? It's. The problem is that's how the Nielsen ratings work. One guy. One guy is the voice of a thousand. That doesn't make sense either.

[Don LaGreca]

But. But I don't know if that's skewing negative. That's what they're watching. That helps. But I just think that when you go on Twitter, your main objective is to either complain or hate or something from. From a negative standpoint, rather than just giving genuine. There's some good. But don't you really feel like it's always kind of skewing more negative? It's the same way. Like, I don't know how Yelp and all these things exist, because I've never. And maybe I should. Gone to a restaurant, go, this place was amazing. I'm gonna go run home and write up how much I love this restaurant and just smash five stars on it. No, but if I got botulism from a place, you damn right. I'm gonna go home and I'm gonna. I'm gonna write a. Because isn't that what the Internet's all about? Isn't that what, you know, the letters to the editor are never like, boy, I really love Don Hanna Rosenberg. They do a great job. Anytime you make an effort, it's always to complain.

[Alan Hahn]

Which is why, to me, I'd rather respond to people who actually take the time to say, hey, I enjoyed that show, or, I like what you do. I'd rather do that than respond to people that do nothing but bitch and moan. I've had enough of that. And that's the problem. But this commercial was funny. It was entertaining. It was actually hilarious. And it was Larry doing what Larry does.

[Don LaGreca]

Right, Larry. And I gotta tell you, it was really good. I thought Michael did a terrific job, too.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes, solid.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It was. It was. It was a. Well, like written commercial. The whole mahjong thing was funny. It was, it sounded really like Larry. The idea of him calling him the only funny the the funny part. I'm going to call you tomorrow, say it's a commercial. Right? And so we know it's supposed to be silly. The idea that Michael would actually be annoyed if Larry called him before the game is the is the most untrue

[Don LaGreca]

part of the commercial. But. But Michael would answer 30 seconds before

[Peter Rosenberg]

air if Larry Davis oh, and with Larry call, he'd answer mid inning.

[Podcast Host (Don, Han, Rosenberg)]

Thanks for listening to the Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't want to know how the sausage is made, but I just want to know. It's good.

[Podcast Host (Don, Han, Rosenberg)]

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.

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[Peter Rosenberg]

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