Hour 1: NBA v MLB Popularity

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 1: NBA v MLB Popularity (March 20, 2026)

Main Theme / Purpose

This episode dives deep into the debate over the relative popularity of Major League Baseball (MLB) versus the NBA in the U.S., sparked by recent television ratings and some bold takes from colleague Michael Kay. Alan Hahn, Don LaGreca, and Peter Rosenberg analyze what the numbers really mean, unpack regional versus national appeal, and comment on the evolution of American sports fandom. The show also keeps a running eye on March Madness, with heartfelt banter about their alma maters and March bracket drama, alongside their signature "Drop Madness" fun—a bracket of the trio’s favorite on-air soundbites.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. March Madness and the LIU Game

• Early Show Context (01:11 – 07:16)
  • The hosts discuss the struggles of LIU (Long Island University) as they get blown out by Arizona in the NCAA tournament's first round.
  • Alan Hahn reflects candidly on experiencing disappointment as an invested fan:

    "This is my first experience in it...It's the first time it kind of like, I gotta admit, kind of hurts. Kind of sucks." – Alan Hahn [05:17]

  • They discuss the disparity between big and small programs in college hoops, noting the physical mismatches for lower-seeded teams (e.g., LIU’s lack of height).
  • Don projects hope for LIU if Rod Strickland stays as coach, suggesting a path to better seeding and more favorable outcomes in future tournaments.

2. MLB vs. NBA Popularity: Is Baseball Really Back?

• The Michael Kay Argument & Rating Trends (07:16 – 19:37)
  • Michael Kay claims, based on World Baseball Classic (WBC) and recent World Series viewership, that MLB is surpassing the NBA as the #2 sport in America.
  • Peter Rosenberg and Alan Hahn push back, calling the stance "cherry picking" and contextualizing the numbers:

    "I'm not...it's cherry picking because in Oklahoma City, Indiana, those two markets playing in the Finals is akin to when we had the Diamondbacks and the Rangers..." – Alan Hahn [09:21]

  • The group points out that market size and big names (Judge, Ohtani, Dodgers, Yankees) drive MLB spikes, while NBA struggles when finals feature smaller-market teams.
  • They note that the NBA, despite "load management" and "tanking," still rivals MLB in viewership even during a “down” period.
  • Hahn and Rosenberg clarify that baseball’s appeal remains more regional, while the NBA retains greater national (and global) attention:

    "Baseball is a regional sport. It is not a national sport...The NBA is a far more national and even global sport because its stars become a bigger part of the story and the drama." – Alan Hahn [16:36]

  • The looming threat of an MLB lockout in 2027 could jeopardize baseball’s momentum.

3. Media Consumption & the Meaning of Popularity

• Debate Over What the Numbers Prove (19:04 – 21:19)
  • The hosts highlight how TV ratings alone don't capture fandom as many consume highlights and follow games on social media.
  • Rosenberg notes:

    "It's not a very current way to judge popularity." – Peter Rosenberg [19:37]

  • The only sport currently insulated from declining ratings is the NFL.
  • National sports talk shows discuss NBA far more than MLB, further supporting the argument for basketball’s broader relevance.

4. Drop Madness: A Bracket of Show Soundbites

• Signature Segment Launch (20:00 – 24:22)
  • The team kicks off their annual “Drop Madness,” pitting favorite show sound bites in a bracket format.
  • Features playful banter about the origins of various drops, inside jokes, and competitive predictions for winner.

5. Society, Social Media & Sports Insecurity

• Exploring the Roots of the Debate (28:32 – 40:14)
  • The conversation shifts to lament how social media and clickbait headlines inflame tribalism among fans.
  • Hahn observes:

    "We are an expert at reading headlines and turning them into opinions rather than getting the context." – Alan Hahn [28:32]

  • They muse on why fans tie personal identity to the popularity of “their” sport.
  • Don:

    "Why do you find your own self-worth based on what other people think about what you like? Why do we do that? I do it. I do it. Hockey." – Don LaGreca [35:04]

  • Discussion equates this dynamic with behaviors in politics and pop culture (e.g., streaming shows).
  • Rosenberg’s advice:

    "Be the 1,800 of your own life." – Peter Rosenberg [40:14]

6. Listener Interaction & Knicks Playoff Hope

• Caller Segment – Moose from Jamaica (44:41 – 47:32)
  • “Moose” calls in with a detailed statistical argument on the Knicks’ chances of winning the Eastern Conference.
  • The hosts analyze probabilities, referencing Basketball Reference’s simulations and trade friendly Knicks banter.

7. On Tattoos, Storytelling, and the Layers of Fandom

• [47:10 – 49:32]
  • A humorous tangent about tattoos commemorating New York sports figures, featuring:
    • Gina, a staffer, has a "Danny Dimes" (Daniel Jones) tattoo, which she plans to morph into an Eli Manning tribute if needed.
    • Playful references to hosts’ own tattoo plans and anecdotes.

8. Remembering Chuck Norris & Social Media Reactions

• Cultural Commentary (27:06 – 32:17)
  • Discussion on Chuck Norris’s passing, the legacy of celebrity “jokes,” and social media’s role in spreading misinformation or out-of-context hot takes.
  • Hahn:

    "Let's celebrate a life, right?...These [Chuck Norris] jokes and the memes and all that stuff about him. They'll live forever, right?" – Alan Hahn [31:12]

  • Commentary on the tendency for headlines, not actual content, to drive outrage or misunderstanding.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the significance of seeding and “Cinderella” teams in March Madness:

  "There is a big difference, guys...that 15 and 16 has always been different than everything. Yeah, there's a big gap between 13, 14, and then it widens even more for 15 and 16."
  – Don LaGreca [05:37]

• On star power and national reach:

  "You travel around with the Dodgers, you're going to get Dodgers fans in all the buildings you go to on the road. When the Lakers and the Knicks travel...half the building are Knick fans. Half the building could be Laker fans. It's a real thing."
  – Alan Hahn [11:16]

• Summing up the psychology of sports tribalism:

  "Why does your sport have to be the best? Does that make you feel special that your sport's number one or your sport's better than the other guy's sport? I love hockey. If nobody else loves it, boy, they're really spending a lot of money on just me."
  – Don LaGreca [35:04]

• On measuring modern sports popularity:

  "It's not a very current way to judge popularity."
  – Peter Rosenberg [19:37]

• Advice for the era of hot takes and bandwagons:

  "Be the 1,800 of your own life."
  – Peter Rosenberg [40:14]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• LIU/Arizona tournament blowout, heartbreak, and hope: [01:11 – 07:16]
• MLB vs. NBA TV ratings, market analysis & Michael Kay take: [07:16 – 19:37]
• TV ratings and fandom nuance, rise of social media sports punditry: [19:04 – 21:19]
• Drop Madness tournament starts: [20:00 – 24:22]
• Social media clickbait debate, celebrating Chuck Norris: [27:06 – 32:17]
• Sports insecurity & why we seek validation as fans: [35:04 – 40:14]
• Listener “Moose” Knicks playoff odds & sports tattoos banter: [44:41 – 49:32]

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Overall Tone & Format

The episode features the classic blend of heartfelt New York sports fandom, honest skepticism, playful banter, and thoughtful social commentary. The trio bounce between stats, storytelling, and cultural critique—never taking themselves (or the debate) too seriously but always digging for what's real beneath the headlines and rivalry. If you’re a passionate sports fan, or just curious why these debates recur every March, this hour provides sharp conversation, laughs, and insight—no matter your favorite sport.

Transcript

[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

Sign up [e-mail] CollegeCard the Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank. NA Select Schools available Venmo Stash terms and exclusions apply at venmo me stashterms max $100 cash back per month. Don, where do we stand on Sus Han?

[Alan Hahn]

It's lame. It needs Viagra. And Rosenberg.

[Don LaGreca]

I'm gonna lift my shirt up, take my pants down and shake it all around.

[Peter Rosenberg]

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

[Alan Hahn]

This is Don, Han and Rosenberg.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The best threesome I've ever heard on

[Alan Hahn]

ESPN New York and streaming live on YouTube.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, ladies and gentlemen, 302 in Orlando, Florida for me, New Jers Hawthorne, New Jersey for Don Legreca. And actually, I'm sorry, in 80s Jersey, New Jersey for Don Lagreca.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There you go.

[Don LaGreca]

And at Madison Square Garden for Alan Hahn. Welcome to Don Hahn and Rosenberg tournament Friday. Allen. Not the greatest of starts for liu.

[Alan Hahn]

Listen, is rebounding important in the. In basketball? I don't really know the game that well, so I was wondering if you guys thought, you know, if you don't rebound, like only nine defensive rebounds in a game, is that bad? Holy Christmas. You know what, though? Now all we've got. All we got now is just. Can we just cover? Because they're down by 28 right now.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And what is it, 31 and a half.

[Alan Hahn]

31 and a half. Just at this point now the only saving grace is that we covered. That's all I could. That's all I got. They were early on. Arizona, not unknown as a three point shooting team. You play a zone against them, they don't like shooting threes. They got a ton of size. They'll go inside on you. And these freaking guys wouldn't miss. Guy hit a logo 3. I was at that point, I'm like, all right, there you go. That's it. They can't get a rebound. They're making threes. So what was like a, you know, an 11 point game midway through the first half? And I'm thinking, just hang in, get through the beginning where you're nervous and all. Figure it out. They'll get cold. You got. Your best players have got to show up. That didn't happen. And then he couldn't get a damn rebound, man. And so this thing turned fast in this. In the second half of the first half. Like, later in the first half, it started to slip, and. And now It's. Now it's 30.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now it'll be.

[Alan Hahn]

It's.

[Don LaGreca]

It'll be an interesting part of the Rod Strickland story to see, you know, Don, where they are this year versus, hey, maybe next year they get to a point where they're an 11 seed, a 12 seed, and you can start getting a favorable matchup where you can hope to compete. But this, this, this year as the 16 up against an Arizona, that. That's tough sledding.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, listen, the thing is that when you're talking about the pros, I'm trying to draft a team, trying to sign free agents, make trades to build my organization. There shouldn't be that big a discrepancy between teams, especially in cap sports like the NBA. But in college basketball, like you said, they're just too small.

[Alan Hahn]

Too small because you're not going to

[Peter Rosenberg]

get the best athletes in the country to come to liu, to come to Hofstra, to come to Fordham. You know these small schools. Right. Siena. So really, the only way you can win a game like that is that you've got to take advantage of their mistakes. They've got to play poorly.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep. And you said they're hitting their threes. You're done. There's nothing physically you can do to win the game mano a mano. If I bring my best and you bring your best, I'm cooked.

[Alan Hahn]

All right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

If I play great, you play average. Maybe I can hang in this situation. When you're 31 and a half point dog is I've got to play great. You got to play like garbage. And in order to win the game.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And clearly you're seeing that Arizona's come to play, and that's why you're down 30.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, it's. It's 34 points in the paint. They really. It. You know, they're. They're threes early, and now they're just dominating inside. They're threes and rebounding early. They. They had a ton of offensive rebounds even when they missed. They did. They had a second chance, but it really is that, man. Like, the next step is they've got to get. They got to get a big guy. They got to get somebody, like, legit. There's. They started a lineup was like, 6, 8, 6, 5. Like. Like, that's my team. My. When we were division two, that's what we were. We had a six, nine guy. I was listed at six, seven. Like, that's what we had. We had that kind of size. We. This the same exact lineup. So it's like, how are you supposed to compete against teams that have 6, 10, 7 footers? So that's the next thing now. But first time in the dance, you want the experience they got. It's good for the brand. It's good for Rod Strickland. It's hard to watch, though. It really. I. This is my first experience in it. You know, I never really had a dog in the fight we watch. Stephanie went to North Carolina, so we would always. UNC was our team. But, you know, this is now officially our team because this is blood in the ground. Peter, you got blood in the ground? I got blood in the ground. So it's the first time it kind of like, I gotta admit, kind of hurts. Kind of sucks.

[Don LaGreca]

I feel you, dog. No, it's. It's not good. It's not good, but give it time. My prediction is if Rod Strickland sticks around, assuming someone doesn't come to try to get him elsewhere, if he puts in a few years at liu, there will be a time when they get up to maybe a 12 or 13 seed, and you could get a more reasonable matchup and try to pull off some magic. Similarly, Wright State is up five on UVA in the second half as a 14 seed. There's a big difference, guys. I don't know if you realize this, that 15 and 16 has always been different than everything. Yeah, there's a big gap between 13, 14, and then it widens even more for 15 and 16. And by the way, I do want you guys both to know that I have a. In my days of really collecting authentic gear, I have. For the summertime, I have a pair of the late 90s Authentic white Arizona shorts that they're wearing right now. One of the great shorts, one of the Arizona merch. I have no connection to that team.

[Alan Hahn]

Like Damon Stoudemire era.

[Don LaGreca]

Simon Bibby.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, Mike Bibby.

[Don LaGreca]

Give me the Lou Dolsen days. You know what I'm talking about? Luke Walton, baby. Anyways, now, that's not all we got today. Well, of course, keep our eye on the tournament and 320will get you going with Drop Madness today's action. But when I got on the call today down here from the WWE Performance center, where we have an Evolve. Taping tonight, Don legreca was shot out of a cannon about something that his good old pal Michael K Had to say on the railroad today.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Michael K. While talking about the WBC and the tremendous rating that it got for the gold medal game or championship game, however you wanted to call it, I guess it was a gold medal game, did over 10 million viewers, I guess combined with Fox, English and Spanish, over 10 million. And coming off the 16.1 million on average to watch the World Series last year and the 15 million that watch Yankees, Reds, Yankees and Dodgers the year before in the World Series and the putrid numbers that the NBA Finals produced this past year with the Thunder and the Pacers at just a little over 10 million that this clearly shows. It's a joke that people say that the NBA in this country is number two and the baseball is number three. That baseball is big, the baseball, MLB is bigger than the NBA. And I started thinking about it and I'm like, I've always now not in this market. I think in this market it's baseball over basketball. But in the country, I'm not going to go by these numbers through the WBC because the, the championship of four nations got over what, 9 million people to watch it. I think there's patriotism coming off of the Olympics. That and plus all of the Latino viewers and Venezuelan Americans that were watching that game drove the number up. I don't know if that tells you that baseball's hot. Baseball is hot in the sense that you've got Ohtani on the west coast with the Dodgers, you've got Judge on the east coast with the Yankees and the Dodgers being good and the Yankees being good helps baseball. And that's why the numbers were through the roof in the World Series the last couple of years because you had the Dodgers in it and you had Thunder Pacers in the NBA. But I am not quite ready to say, even with all the NBA struggles with the load management, with the tanking with the best team in basketball being from Oklahoma City, that I'm ready to say that baseball is securely number two in this country. Are you?

[Alan Hahn]

I'm not. I think, I think all due respect to Michael, of course, all due respect, it's cherry picking because in Oklahoma City, Indiana, those two markets playing in the Finals is akin to when we had the Diamondbacks and the Rangers, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

And by the way, the Diamondbacks, Rangers did slightly over 9 million on average for that, for that five game series. So that just shows you that that number was not, not quite half of what it's been over the last couple of years. Based on that, you had two teams with no stars and no storylines and, like, nothing to really get into. I'm not going to say Dallas is a small market, Alan, but the Texas Rangers aren't exactly a team that's going to move the country. And the Arizona Diamondbacks aren't going to do that either. That's akin to Oklahoma City and Indiana, even though Oklahoma City's got maybe the best player in the sport right now.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, but he, He's. He's only popular among basketball fans. He's not popular beyond it, which is, of course, we all know, is the most important thing when it comes to sport.

[Peter Rosenberg]

OKC is San Antonio Mach 2. Oh. As far as.

[Alan Hahn]

That's pretty good. It's a pretty good comp.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Not in style of play, but. But just in the fact that is it gonna move the country?

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

When the spurs were dominant, they were not getting a number. They were not getting people. And they had stars.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, they, they had. They. I wouldn't say how like Tim Duncan was a household name, but they weren't bereft of stars, and they had a coach that people hated, but had a personality. But San Antonio didn't move you. Oklahoma City's not going to move you. Arizona's not going to move you. You know, the Texas Rangers aren't going to move you at this stage. And that, that, that has a lot. But Dodgers will.

[Alan Hahn]

Dodgers always. I mean, here's your example. Last year, both, Both series went to game sevens. Okay.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

Dodgers, obviously a mega market compared to the other three markets that were involved. Are involved in this conversation. Right. Indiana, of course. And the Pacers reach. It's just not. It's not there. And this is not disrespect. It's just real. Like, the Pacers aren't. Again, you travel around with the Dodgers, you're going to get Dodgers fans in all the buildings you go to on the road. When the Lakers and the Knicks travel, you get. And I've been there, I've seen it. You get. Half the building are Knick fans. Half the building could be Laker fans. It's a real thing. Boston, the Celtics have this as well, but you don't have that with the Pacers. You don't really have that with the Thunder. You have people who are fans of Shea, but that's about it. So understand. And then there's Toronto Blue Jays, you don't have that either. But the Dodgers, no, no, no. They're filling road seats and so that game averaged 27 million viewers. That game seven, that unbelievable game seven. It peaked, of course, at 33. When. When it got. When it became an epic and this thing's going to go into the extra innings. Then it peaked. That's a big number. 27 million, it was the average. 33 was the peak. Thunder Pacers, remember, it started with Halliburton getting hurt, and so that all of a sudden compromised the game. That game averaged 16, and it peaked at 19.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

So there's a big, obviously, gap between the two, but when you're talking about one of them had a mega team with a mega star in Ohtani, and the other one was just two good basketball teams that basketball people would like, but the rest of the country might not be as involved. Is the gap really as big as you think?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right, exactly. And you know what? And again, Michael's argument is going to be that they were able to get 16.1 rating on average because of the fact that. That they. That you lose Toronto because you don't. There's no local market in the states. That rating should be drawn, brought down. Okay. Because of the fact you had a team that's not from the United States. But I would say that around the country, the Blue Jays, with some of the names on that team and their story and how compelling that was, is going to move the country more than the Indian Pacers are going to. I mean, it's no offense to Halliburton. They didn't have the star power Pacers, you know, the Blue Jays, it's in it. Plus it's Toronto. I understand that it's. You don't get the rating because they're all watching it on. Right. On sportsnet and not watching it on Fox. But like Toronto's America, Jay. See, it's not like it's Edmonton or Calgary or.

[Don LaGreca]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Or Saskatchewan. You know, it's not Regina, it's Toronto. The Blue Jays, you've got the Raptors. And by the way, when the Raptors play the Warriors, 13.5, 19 million, which is a better rating than last year.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, I'll need a drop. I'll need a drop for it's not Regina. And also, don't forget, in Buffalo and surrounding areas, they literally root for the Blue Jays and watch them like they're the local team.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

So that is a thing. It's different.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And it was compelling. And then. And then Ohtani. It's almost bigger than having a LeBron James in the NBA Finals because it's Ohtani. He's a unicorn. He's pitching one day and hitting and then he's hitting the next day. Like people were watching that really? I think it could have been Dodgers against anybody.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And that number was going to be big. And then you throw Yankees, Dodgers and then how compelling that series was? It beat the World Series the year before. Now obviously just went five with the Yankees and the Dodgers. You know how many Yankee fans there are, right?

[Alan Hahn]

They travel.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And we're having this conversation and this is what I want to bring. Why I wanted to bring it to attention and be able to draw you in at 1-800-919-3776 is is that baseball is hot. They're coming off a big wbc. The Dodgers are good, the Yankees are good. The Red Sox have built up their pitching. The Mets should be better. The Phillies are in contention to win their division. And football and basketball load management teams tanking a non compelling regular season. The best team in the NBA is in Oklahoma City and we're still having a conversation about it because you could say the NBA is in its worst place. It's been. LeBron James is about to retire, Steph Curry's not playing and yet it's comparable. And now baseball is going to blow it all up when they go on a lockout in 2027.

[Alan Hahn]

That could be dangerous.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So, you know, the NBA can correct some of their issues. So if we're having a conversation and Michael wants to stick out his chest and say, you know, baseball, forget about football. We're not even talking about football. But between basketball and baseball, the baseball's king. Baseball could not be in a better place. And it's still a conversation when NBA is in a very dark place right now. If both of these leagues were clicking, I'm sorry, it'd be basketball. Now, again, not in this market because you only have the Knicks. You at least got the Mets and the Yankees. And I always felt that this has been fundamentally a baseball town. Although you could argue the city game is basketball. But I just think New York and the surrounding areas lean.

[Alan Hahn]

It's always traditionally been a baseball town all the way back to the 40s.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes, I'm more talking about the nation, but you know, in New York, I don't think it's as debatable.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, all you got to think about is this, Don. On national shows, the NBA is talked about exponentially more than Major League Baseball. That's a real thing. And why is that? Baseball is a regional sport. It is not a national sport. That's a real. It's a real thing. It doesn't make it bad, it doesn't make it worse. It doesn't make it anything. It is regional. People in St. Louis don't care about hearing about the Mets or hearing about the Dodgers or the Angels or anybody else. They want to hear about their team. I think it's just a different mentality. The NBA is a far more national and even global sport because of its stars become a bigger part of the story and the drama and everything else. I think baseball's strictly regional and it's a market to market kind of situation.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And the scary thing, getting back to what really concerns New Yorkers and that is if there is going to be a baseball season of next week. I guess it's the 2025, so I guess what is that next? What's today? The 20th? So what next Wednesday? Wednesday when the Yankees play the Giants. That this could be the beginning of the last baseball season we see in a while.

[Alan Hahn]

And when did it turn? When the first time it turned on was when we lost the World Series in 94.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

And that's when the NBA, I think, passed them in the race. And even the NHL was making a case to catch up as well until they had theirs. But that, that World Series, not having a World Series, I think they lost a lot of people. It frustrated a lot of people. Obviously, the 98 season, with all the craziness that happened in that year, did bring some people back until we realized that everybody was using steroids. But I think we saw it then. And how damaging would a lockout be for this sport right now as it's just seemingly getting traction as what we might have witnessed in the wbc. Right. And maybe even in the Olympics.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, but. And I do think that the people that believe that baseball's on the uptick, that the owners will say, we can't ruin this. I think they see the forest through trees and realize, is any of this sustainable not having a salary cap, the way the salaries have exploded? What do we have to 9, 10 regionals being propped up by Major League Baseball?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like. Like it's really bad. And that affects the NBA. That's also a shot of the NBA and the NHL because these regionals have baseball, basketball and hockey. So it's really a shot at all of just really. It's almost a shot at TV itself. Right. I mean. Right, Peter? Because you follow. It's like, I don't know if any. We might be doing a disservice saying something's popular based on how many People watch it because the numbers are going down across the board. Other than football, that has figured out the formula. I mean. I mean, football. 20 million people to watch it, by the way.

[Don LaGreca]

It even works against Michael's own argument. Like, there are people like me who were invested in the WBC throughout it. The only game I sat down to watch was the final, But I'm watching highlights. I'm consuming it in different ways. It's just. It's. It's not a very current way to judge popularity. Guys, though there is something that's. Popularity is never in question, and it's drop madness.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, yes.

[Don LaGreca]

Let's get started. The voting begins right now on the DHR Twitter page. Okay. Get on your Twitter and vote. We start in the flub region with the two seed.

[Alan Hahn]

Is that his name? Utoko?

[Don LaGreca]

No, it's. That is not his name. Up against the 15 seed, Satan Johns.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm smelling an upset.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't know.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm smelling an upset.

[Don LaGreca]

It's tough. It's tough for Marco jumping in against

[Alan Hahn]

a heavyweight like Richard, but I think the kids got it in him.

[Don LaGreca]

We go to the seven seed in the flub region.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We're getting a lot of callers that are very confident. Ben Judicus was on. He's a little nervous.

[Alan Hahn]

Jadakiss.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Jadakiss. Yeah. I'm sorry.

[Don LaGreca]

I would be.

[Alan Hahn]

Judicus.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm judicious.

[Don LaGreca]

Up against the 10 seed, who spoke

[Alan Hahn]

on the condition of anonymous anonymity. That hurt. That hurts to hear.

[Don LaGreca]

I love that. At the time the drop ended, Allen was no closer to getting the word right.

[Alan Hahn]

No, I think I was further away.

[Don LaGreca]

He's going the wrong way.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, that's like when you. When you're walking upstairs and you trip, then you fall backwards down the stairs.

[Don LaGreca]

He's back.

[Alan Hahn]

How much? What I did.

[Don LaGreca]

All right, we go to the funny region. The two seed in action.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You got the job.

[Don LaGreca]

Yes. Up against the 15 seed, Timmy Chalamanama. We have the seven seed.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'll be licking the television screen. Licking it like it's ice cream.

[Don LaGreca]

In a tough. In a tough spot is the ten seed.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, the.

[Don LaGreca]

The Patriots. The facoctor. Other team that I also don't care about.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Whoever you want to bet on.

[Alan Hahn]

Yep.

[Don LaGreca]

Just forgetting the super bowl team. No big deal.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, we go to the.

[Don LaGreca]

We go to the troubling region, and I'll tell you what. There are people out there who think this two seed could be a contender. You suck. Music.

[Alan Hahn]

That feel. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

Up against the 15 seed.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I said Lord totally can't be heard. Did you hear me? The point that he can't be heard, that involves Richard. Like, Richard's all over this. That's he's screaming at Richard. Or actually, no, he's screaming at Jacob about Richard.

[Don LaGreca]

His. His imprints are just, you know.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, I know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It should be a Richard region. Excuse me?

[Don LaGreca]

We go to the sev.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, it's called the Nether Region.

[Don LaGreca]

We go to the 7 seed in troubling.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Say his name.

[Don LaGreca]

Up against the 15 seed.

[Alan Hahn]

All. It all sounds like just one little.

[Peter Rosenberg]

A little Drop Madness trivia. Whose name did I want said? And for bonus points, who was I saying it to?

[Alan Hahn]

I know both answers. Wait, I think it's my name. Wasn't it my name? No, it wasn't my name. No. You were mad at a caller. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I am screaming at Danny from Long island to say. Not saying R.J. santillo's name.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, right, right, right. No, that's right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Anthony Pusick.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes, it was Anthony's name.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right. Confusing with rj.

[Don LaGreca]

I called him the screener or something.

[Alan Hahn]

It was one of us.

[Don LaGreca]

We go to the Nether region, the two seed. The last time I called up, I was not high.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I was pooping in my pants.

[Don LaGreca]

Up against the 15.

[Alan Hahn]

No, she shot jokes at me.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But I'm big on the organ. Oh. Now, having. Having met and actually had lunch with Spike. It's an image I need to get out of my head immediately.

[Don LaGreca]

He's big on the organ, Don. Yeah, guys, you know how I feel. Maybe my favorite drop in the tournament. The seven seed.

[Alan Hahn]

Take it off.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Take it all off.

[Don LaGreca]

Up against the ten seed, Monica.

[Alan Hahn]

I sent you a picture of my toilet, by the way.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, you know what? We need to bring. You know, we need to bring back Peter.

[Don LaGreca]

Huh?

[Peter Rosenberg]

The perv element of Drop Madness is.

[Don LaGreca]

Oh, well, we may. We may find out. Yeah, we may find out today. We'll see how that goes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It.

[Alan Hahn]

It's definitely going to test it. Hey, by the way, right now with 548 to go in the second half, it's a 30 point game. And Arizona's win probability is 99.9.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, but. But really for our benefit and for the gamblers out there, it's a two point game.

[Alan Hahn]

Come on, man.

[Don LaGreca]

That'll do it. That will do it for your drops. Get on the Twitter machine, Dhrones, and vote.

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[Peter Rosenberg]

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[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.

[Don LaGreca]

Don Han and Rosenberg on ESPN New York. Happy Friday. Happy first day of spring.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. What's so happy about it?

[Don LaGreca]

I'm sorry, Alan.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We lost.

[Don LaGreca]

Not a good day for the fins. For your fins to be up.

[Alan Hahn]

Down. We're down. We're down.33 now. All right, this is.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But let's not ignore the song that came in, guys.

[Don LaGreca]

Go ahead, take me through it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That was Chuck Norris. We lost him today.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't know that was Chuck Norris.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm glad somebody noticed.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't know. I didn't know he sang a song.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No sing. He speaks it because he did speak It.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And he's the only person that. That dies. But what is death? He's still with us. He's still.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah. When you're Chuck.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, that. That's like. That was a guy that I thought if he could, like, somebody could live to 130, I thought it would be him. Like, Chuck Norris, man. Chuck Norris doesn't die. But I guess when John Wayne died, it was like, I guess anybody could die. But. And I gotta listen. They've been very good to us, so I should. That I should be very.

[Don LaGreca]

Who's that now?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like, Awful announcement. Oh, they had a clickbait thing about Stephen A. Smith says that Bruce Lee was bigger than Chuck Norris. And so everybody's like, ripping, like, on the day that he dies. You got to say that if you watch the video, which is three minutes long, he waxes poetic about how great Chuck Norris is. And like, in the middle of it, he does say, if I had to say who is better? I'd probably say Chuck. I would probably say Bruce Lee was better. But still. And. And that's the clickbait. You use one little kind of throwaway line. And of course everybody reacts like, how dare Stephen H. Smith on the day that Chuck Norris dies? You know, compare him to. That's not what happened. Can people just click on the videos? Please click on the video.

[Don LaGreca]

Don't respond. But that's. But that's awful announcing. That's what they do.

[Alan Hahn]

But it's also what we do, though. Too many humans do. We are the. We are an expert at reading headlines and turning them into opinions rather than getting the context. But here's the thing. You know, it's the most magic thing about our society and what social media has created is this whole notion that I have the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But I wish there was a way, guys. I wish there was a way. You know what? I wish X would spend time, you know, trying to get this social media right. Like, it's.

[Don LaGreca]

Drop a note to Elon.

[Alan Hahn]

He'll work on it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm sure I would get right under the hood because what is the term? Clickbait is to get you to click.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, that's right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But unfortunately, unfortunately, people are not clicking. They're just looking at the headline and they're responding to the social media. So it's not really even working. Because if it did click, you'd read,

[Don LaGreca]

no, no, no, don't worry. No, they don't need you to watch the video. Awful announcing wants you to read their tweet. That's all they need. No, they want the impressions on the tweets.

[Alan Hahn]

That's all.

[Don LaGreca]

They don't need you. Why do they need you? To watch the espn.

[Alan Hahn]

We though it. Can we take a moment article.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm just. I'm just. I'm just looking at it and then responding to the tweet. I'm sorry.

[Don LaGreca]

That helps impressions.

[Alan Hahn]

I just want us to. Instead of putting energy into something as just, you know, again, menial as this. How about instead, since you mentioned it, Don, how about we look at some of the best Chuck Norris jokes about his death that we can have here? Oh, he didn't die. He just kicked death out and took his job. How about this one? He didn't die. He wanted life and retired from it. The Chuck Norris jokes and the memes and all that stuff about him. They'll live forever, right? And it's the best thing about it.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, man.

[Alan Hahn]

Dude.

[Don LaGreca]

Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris has been famous like the last 30 years. He's continued maybe really 22, like since social media got big. He's continued to be huge with no work. Young people don't know one thing of his. It's not about that.

[Alan Hahn]

No.

[Don LaGreca]

It's like his brand is forever. It's.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. Total gym in this.

[Don LaGreca]

I don't think I can name anything Chuck Norris except Walker, Texas Ranger.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, but I never saw a second of it.

[Don LaGreca]

Never.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm no idea. Years old. I love the guy. Never. Never saw him fight. Never watched a movie he was in. Never really. 2nd of Walker, Texas Rangers. I love the guy, but Peter's right. He just took on a life of his own without really anybody knowing the body of work because of just. He just didn't need it.

[Alan Hahn]

Here's another good one, boys. When he was born, Chuck Norris drove his mother home from the hospital. This is why, like, let's celebrate a life, right? Let's celebrate the life. He doesn't flush the toilet. He scares the crap out of it.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

These are awesome.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I think he carried his own casket to the.

[Alan Hahn]

To the gravestone. He actually dug his own grave and then laid in it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I saw that today. It's a life well lived. 86 years old, but God bless. I just saw the awful announcing and I said. And I. And again, they're. We're guilty of it too here when we do. But the idea, though, is to take something that actually was said in the. In the spirit in which it was said and make it the headline. That's what you wish. But I just thought that that headline was not at all the theme of the three minute video or what Stephen A. Was gonna say. But unfortunately 95% read the headline and then think Stephen's a bad guy for what he said. And he, he did say it, but you needed context there before you would have it pass any kind of negative judgment on.

[Don LaGreca]

Early on, folks, I got breaking news here. Early on. The number 15 seed, Marcos Satan Johns.

[Alan Hahn]

Let's go.

[Don LaGreca]

Up 65. 35. Udeki Udoko. Holy cannoli. So, well, we said Holy cannoli is still in the dance as well. That's exactly right.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm here for Marco. I took that sticker, by the way. Oh, yes, it's in my bag. For Marco.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, we have Nice. Over at Calandra Colandrus.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, it's great.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Great. Live.

[Don LaGreca]

That's right.

[Alan Hahn]

Down 35, 40 to go. Come on.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Saw. They've got wings. The, you know, the cannolis. The Holy cannolis.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

I got news for you, Alan. Coverings not in the cards either.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, like we can't even have that, can we? I thought, you know what, there's, there's some, there's some honor in losing by less than like 25. Like it's some honor in that. Come on, man.

[Don LaGreca]

This is why people love this, this tournament, though. It's tough, man. Wright State

[Alan Hahn]

one for nine.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Brutal.

[Don LaGreca]

Wright State is hovering with Virginia down six. But it's just tough for these dogs, man, to survive an entire game against these big program teams.

[Alan Hahn]

We saw it last night.

[Don LaGreca]

Better players.

[Alan Hahn]

We saw, we saw UNC couldn't do it, got knocked out. Yeah, man, that was an amazing game.

[Don LaGreca]

It is a. It is a. This is what makes it one of the most compelling things in all of sports. Now, Michael would probably get on the radio and say, can't hold a candle to the wbc.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Just look at the numbers. Come on. Do you ever see a pitch out? You ever see a pitcher step off and throw the first. Come on.

[Alan Hahn]

The one too low.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Foul?

[Don LaGreca]

I mean,

[Alan Hahn]

I don't like these conversations because it creates this motivation to disparage one, Right. Instead of just talking up one, you have to knock the other one down. Which now you become the haters because of what you say. But when you make statements like this, I just, I feel like it's still. Beauty's in the eye of the beholder when it comes to the. What you think about a sport. And the closer you are to it, of course, the more you're going to think it's better. That's how you're supposed to feel.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's the thing, is that. Listen, we. My favorite sports, hockey, football is very, very close. All right? And I love baseball and basketball. That would probably be the list if I were to give my top four.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

All right. And Michael's is baseball, and yours is yours. Basketball or hockey? Allen?

[Alan Hahn]

Hockey's my first. Basketball's like, it's, it's. It's my job, Peter. But hockey, I love hockey. I watch hockey all day long.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Football clearly is number one for Peter, and I would think basketball is number

[Don LaGreca]

two at its best. Basketball, but.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And so everybody's got their favorites and all that. But when I was growing up, I loved all the sports, really did, and had friends that loved all the sports. When you turned on SportsCenter, all the sports got their equal due, and the newspapers treated them pretty much the same. And there was no, I have to defend my sport. But now when you got in the ratings, they did the analytics and they realized, well, this sports more popular than this sport. They're more popular than this sport. And when you have places like us at ESPN that have put football and basketball on a bigger stage, you feel as a hockey fan and a baseball fan, especially those two sports that you've got to have, like, I wish you loved the sport like I do. Moments like, why don't you love the sport like I do? Why can't it just be enough for you to like it? And believe me, we live in a world where you're not bereft of chances to watch. All the games are on, right? The coverage is there for you with social media and the Internet. So it's not like you can't find interesting topics and all that. And the sports are covered. Why do you care what other people think? Why? Why does it matter? Why does your sport have to be the best? Does that make you feel special that your sport's number one or your sport's better than the other guy's sport? I love hockey. If nobody else loves it, boy, they're really spending a lot of money on just me. I really appreciate it, Gary. Thank you so much that you're sinking these billions of dollars just to entertain me. But does it. At the end of the day, does it really matter? Oh, March Madness. It's the greatest thing ever. Nothing is even close. How dare you even say that Thursday and Friday isn't the greatest sporting. To you, maybe it is. And to a large segment of the population, it is. And for some, it's the super bowl, or for some, it's the Masters. And for some, it might Be bowling. Why do you find your own self worth based on what other people think about what you like? Why do we do that? I do it. I do it. Hockey.

[Alan Hahn]

I get defensive.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I take it personal.

[Alan Hahn]

Why I understand it. You take it personal because it's something you love and someone's trying to convince you or others are saying that it's not as great as you think it is and that you feel a certain way. But I also, I also think it's something as simple as this. When you hear it said enough, it becomes annoying and you want to say it to knock it down. Like, I think it's really about how annoying it is because really, why do you care if someone's opinion. Who cares? Oh, yeah, you think it's the best fun. Good for you. But if enough people say it, you're kind of getting annoyed now, right? It bothers you so that you need to. You need to fight back. Let me come up with some stats. Let me, Let me prove that you're wrong because I'm tired of you saying it. It's bothering me that you're saying it rather than. You keep wasting your breath. But it doesn't matter. It's not going to change how I feel. See, to me, if an opinion changes your mind or changes or makes you suddenly think something you loved is no longer as valuable than you, like, isn't as valuable as you thought it was because you didn't think that way, that's a strong opinion. But if you can't do that, then who cares what they're saying?

[Peter Rosenberg]

So. But are you suggesting that if your sport's the best, that. Yeah, I don't. I don't know why people don't think this is the best. Like, how do you even argue with me? Are you saying that if it wasn't the best, you wouldn't be interested in it? That if it wasn't the most popular, you wouldn't be interested in it? So are you a leader or a follower? Sounds like you're a follower to me. Oh, that's a good. Everybody loves the Thursday and Friday. I could take it or leave it, but everybody else loves it. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna love it too, because I want to be like everybody else. I don't care how many people watched the Stanley Cup Final. I enjoyed it. I watched every game. I cared about it. I knew a lot of other people that cared. I don't care that you don't care. You know, like. But for some reason, there's this insecurity of well, maybe I shouldn't be watching this because all my friends say they don't watch it. Well, come on, man. Be independent. Be self.

[Alan Hahn]

I agree there. But I will add this as I tell you that Hofstra's up 5.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There you go.

[Alan Hahn]

2318 on Alabama. Here we got something that's. That. That's not nothing. I will say, though, Don, that there is, because it goes beyond sports. If there's a streaming series that everybody's talking about and you haven't seen it yet, aren't you compelled? Everybody's telling you how great it is, you're kind of compelled to, well, I'm watching this series, but everybody's talking about this. And I don't want to miss out or I want to be part of the conversation because there's times where like you guys were talking about a movie yesterday I hadn't seen. I just, you know, not that it was personal. I didn't care, but I, I had nothing to add to the conversation. So I was like, I was left out. Like, I'm not part of this. So it does, it does compel you to say, well, if people really love this thing, maybe I need to get into it too so I can talk about it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, you're getting into something specific. I'm just talking about. That would be. But my argument would be if somebody said, if you're not streaming, you're a moron, you got to be watching all of these streaming shows. Like, I'm just talking about the broad picture. I'm not talking about one specific game or one specific moment. I'm just talking about all of, like the sport or the entire tournament. You know, I just think that we all feel, I think this is the way in politics. I think it's like religion that we feel like the more people that agree with us, the stronger we feel. Yourself. This is how I feel. It doesn't matter.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Be the 1, 800 of your own life.

[Don LaGreca]

1, 800-919.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Pretty deep, man.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, you're going pretty deep.

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[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.

[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Don LaGreca]

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[Alan Hahn]

It's game time.

[Don LaGreca]

Knicks tall time. Knicks Nets like you dream about with coverage immediately following us on 880 at 7 o'. Clock.

[Alan Hahn]

No one's good.

[Don LaGreca]

St. John's tipping off March Madness tipping off March Madness against Northern I with coverage on 1057.

[Alan Hahn]

That's a God bless you.

[Don LaGreca]

And the Diablos are in Washington without Don Legreca sadly facing the caps at 7 o'. Clock. Tullamore Dew the original triple distilled, triple blended and triple cast matured Irish whiskey. Be sure to grab a Tullamore do. Or try the new Tullamore Dew. Honey, during today's action, glasses up to enjoying Tullamore Dew responsibly.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I should have just went for it and said, I'm going to, but I was so sick. But now I feel better.

[Alan Hahn]

Don, you're doing the. No, you did the right thing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't like to miss games.

[Don LaGreca]

I get it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, you missed Alan. Cause you're sick.

[Alan Hahn]

This season, anytime. Oh, yeah. I've had a couple of times where I've had to miss a game.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

But it's not often, I bet.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, it's. Thankfully. Thank you, Wood. Yeah. Or this is Formica Touching.

[Don LaGreca]

A touching Instagram post from Bruce Lee on the passing of Chuck Norris.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm better than you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Ha ha ha.

[Don LaGreca]

No, it just says, rest in peace from Bruce Lee. Well, it's from his account.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes, well, Bruce Lee has not supposed to die.

[Don LaGreca]

Bruce Lee has 12.4 million followers.

[Alan Hahn]

But wait a minute.

[Don LaGreca]

It's. It's run by his daughter. Oh, Shannon Lee.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay. Cuz. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I don't want to say it, but we all know. Unless he's tweeting from the beyond.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, anybody could. It would be those two.

[Alan Hahn]

It could be the him.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, let's. Let's. Let's close out the hour. Talking to Moose in Jamaica. Wants to get some Knicks talk in. What's up, Moose?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Why not Big game?

[Alan Hahn]

What's going on, fellas?

[Peter Rosenberg]

How are we? Hey, hey, hey. I hear that. Yeah. So I did some personal research based on what you guys were talking about yesterday. When it comes to the Knicks remaining schedule, Boston's remaining schedule and Detroit's remaining schedule. Knowing K. Cunningham's injury, now playing the. Win, loss, loss, loss, win, win that game. In my head, looking at the schedule, I figured since the Pacers game two, three weeks ago, they can finish the season either 21 and 8 or 22 and 7, depending on the run, that Boston finishes up with the seventh most difficult schedule and Detroit, you know, maybe not performing, forming to its capabilities, even though they're deeper now since the. The trade. So I give the Knicks, like a 30 chance to maybe finish with the best record in the east if things fall into place. I. I don't know. I'm trying to be hopeful for Knick fans. They could. They could steal the home court advantage throughout the east and make it to the Finals. The possibility. Well, Alan, you said that Detroit's record, what, was five and two without Cunningham

[Alan Hahn]

this year, and now it's six and two.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right. Six and two, and then a 30% chance seems right to.

[Alan Hahn]

To. To win the East.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Alan Hahn]

Is that too high? 20.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Key word there.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, 20%. Okay, so 10,000 simulations per day done by Basketball Reference. 10,000 per day. The Knicks are at 21% to get out of the conference. Their average win total is 52.9. So. Yeah, no, it's so.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So what you're saying is if Moose had a dime bag. Right.

[Don LaGreca]

I like the comp you're doing here.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You're probably only gonna get, what, like. Like, about half of a nickel bag chance? A little bit over half a nickel bag chance, probably of finishing with the best record. You're saying it probably a little lot less than half.

[Alan Hahn]

Lot, lot less. Speaking of dime, by the way, you know our lovely and talented Gina who works with us, Right. Does a lot of our socials and all the things she does for us, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Sure.

[Alan Hahn]

I learned something today. She has a Danny Dimes tattoo.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I did not know that.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, but it's a dime. Literally, like a 10 cents.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Alan Hahn]

And she got it after the. After the playoff win in Minnesota. So I was hearing this that I thought, this is so brilliant, because she's going to now turn it into an Eli Manning tattoo by just putting a heart over the cent sign, which is very smart.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But was it a profile of Daniel Jones in the.

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, no. It's just. It's actually a coin. 10 cents. So it has a 10 on it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Was she high?

[Alan Hahn]

I. But I found it to be, like, a brilliant way to fix a problem.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, no.

[Alan Hahn]

How many times when you get a tattoo, can you fix it easily? This is a brilliant thing. So when you said dime, I was like, oh, yeah, that's right. The Danny Dime story blew my mind.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But that's a little early in the process. No, I mean, you don't see how

[Alan Hahn]

she was quite excited about the potential.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Sounds like it. It sounds like it.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. She was very fired up.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now, did I tell you that Peter and I saw a doppelganger of Daniel Jones last Friday?

[Alan Hahn]

No.

[Peter Rosenberg]

At the Irish exit. Peter, I should have taken a picture.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, it was.

[Don LaGreca]

It was nutty. It was straight up nutty.

[Alan Hahn]

That's crazy.

[Don LaGreca]

Like a miniature. It was a miniature. He was like Danny Nichols. I mean, he was a miniature.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You might have thought possibly it was him.

[Alan Hahn]

Wow.

[Don LaGreca]

But he would need. He would need to have been, like, 5 inches taller and broader. Like Danny Dimes, a pretty big guy in real life.

[Alan Hahn]

He's five. He's a big dude. Yeah.

[Don LaGreca]

And his hands are like Oven mitts. This kid wasn't that, but he really did. It was wacky, man. You know, it's weird. I have it. I actually have a tattoo. Not a lot of people know this of Daniel Jones. And in the tattoo of Daniel Jones, don't. He has a tattoo of Rex Ryan.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, boy.

[Don LaGreca]

Who has a tattoo of Mark Sanchez?

[Alan Hahn]

It's.

[Don LaGreca]

No, it's deep, Don. There's layers to these failed New York football tattoos.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay?

[Don LaGreca]

You got to keep going. It's layers and layers and layers of failed football in one.

[Alan Hahn]

I want to know when is. When is Don putting the last Stanley cup number on his leg?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Great point.

[Alan Hahn]

That's what I want to know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't know if I said this on the air, but one of the things that was talked about and I shut it down was that they do it while I'm calling a game.

[Alan Hahn]

That would hurt.

[Don LaGreca]

Yeah, we talked about that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I would do. There's no way I could do that.

[Alan Hahn]

No, but you should do it. Maybe between periods. What Don suggested was, he also hang upside down and sharks were under him.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Then he would do it right?

[Don LaGreca]

And then he shot with a BB gun in the face.

[Alan Hahn]

Listen, look, just for fun, anything for promotion, I think it would be brilliant of you when the season's over to have it done so that, you know, now you bring it all together. And what you also say is, now there's one more space for the next one.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There you go. The opening day, they were. People were showing their tattoos. They did a thing during the commercial break, but they. They taped before the game showing mine, and it went out, and you'd see me, and I was pumping my fist. That was pretty cool.

[Alan Hahn]

You're missing 03, though, right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm missing 03.

[Alan Hahn]

So Dano wore the O3 ring on Wednesday night. He was very proud of it, he said, because it was the last one, it meant the most to him. They all mean something. But he said because he knew that day, at 38 years old, like, he knew this is the right way to just walk away. I can walk away a winner. Like, he was getting emotional about it, telling me the story. Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don LaGreca]

I don't want to know how the

[Alan Hahn]

sausage is made, but I just want to know. It's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers. Monster Energy. Everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra.

[Don LaGreca]

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[Alan Hahn]

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[Don LaGreca]

So if you've been living in the

[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Don LaGreca]

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[Alan Hahn]

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