Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 2: WBC, NFL Binge, St. John's

ESPN New York | March 16, 2026 | Hosts: Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg

Episode Overview

This hour of “Don, Hahn & Rosenberg” features a quintessentially New York sports conversation, traversing topics from the energy and fan culture of the World Baseball Classic (WBC), NFL free agency and quarterback movement (“NFL Binge”), to college basketball’s tournament seedings with special focus on St. John’s. Expect the typical blend of insightful sports analysis, sharp opinions, and offbeat humor as the trio debates what makes sporting events fun, the cycles of quarterback hype in the NFL, and the politics behind March Madness seedings.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Michael B. Jordan and the Evolution of TV/Celebrity Roots

(Starts ~03:00)

• Playful banter about inviting Newark native and newly-minted Best Actor Michael B. Jordan to Calandra’s for a Devils-Rangers watch party.
• The conversation shifts to Michael B. Jordan’s television trajectory and how rare it is for actors to break through multiple TV shows before stardom.
  • Rosenberg: "For me it was always Friday Night Lights. That was how I got into Michael B. Jordan." [03:16]
  • Don noting, "He was in an episode of Cosby... Parenthood... The Wire... brick by brick for that guy. Piece by piece." [03:47–04:18]
• Nostalgic riffing on old TV, channel-surfing before streaming, and how “channel laps” are a lost art.
  • Hahn: "It's like what the kids would say with reels—just keep flicking until you get to something interesting. What we did with a remote." [06:41]

2. “Making Baseball Fun” and the World Baseball Classic Debate

(Starts ~08:00)

• Hahn introduces a debate about fan enjoyment and the culture of “celebration” in baseball, responding to a recent caller and ongoing chatter about the WBC—“Do Americans really want baseball to be fun?”
  • Hahn: "I hate that, because to me...I understand it was getting a little ridiculous...but you can't really enjoy a moment. The taunting, that feels extra..." [08:21–09:16]
• Caller Anthony from Dallas (11:12) contends that the American media undersells the WBC, especially given New York’s diverse, passionate Latino fanbase.
  • Anthony: "With all the Dominicans and Venezuelans and Puerto Ricans in the city, there's such a thirst for this tournament...And you guys especially should be the ones...with your hand on the pulse." [11:12]
• The hosts reflect on their own relationship to the event, audience engagement, and local team involvement.
  • Hahn: "If it's in our backyard, it's more on our radar. Maybe that's part of it too...I'm not infallible...Sell it to me, man!" [16:09–16:35]

3. The Heart of March Madness: St. John’s Disrespected?

(Tournament update begins ~38:27, deeper discussion ~39:15)

• The hosts break down St. John’s seeding as a 5-seed in the East, while past rival UConn receives a 2-seed—sparking debate about “disrespect” and tournament committee bias.
  • Hahn: "This is exactly what you want. If you're Rick Pitino, this is what you want: they don't believe in us, they're disrespecting the Big East champion..." [39:37]
• They contextualize Big East basketball’s status and Rick Pitino’s coaching credentials, juxtaposing the team’s back-to-back titles with broader lack of national blue-blood cachet.
• They discuss seeding oddities and historical upsets (e.g., never a 5-seed winner), and the “12-5” upset narrative.
  • Rosenberg: "The 12 seed has pulled off 57 upsets since 1985 against the 5...It doesn’t make sense. That’s the thing you find irritating." [48:53]
• Endearing inside-baseball on how fans “celebrate” moral victories, covering point spreads, and what constitutes a winning “banner” moment.
  • Rosenberg: "If we were all together, Liu hits a buzzer beater to go from down 32 to lose by 30, and I send video to Strickland of Alan celebrating, he’d never come on the show again." [47:19]

4. NFL Binge: Trades, Free Agency & Quarterback Carousel

(NFL segment starts ~23:43)

• Justin Fields traded from Jets to Chiefs for a sixth-round pick, with the Jets eating $7m of his $10m salary.
  • Hahn: "So they get a pick and they save 3 million on the cap. Brilliant." [25:49]
  • Don: "But you still got to be a little concerned...If it's KC, Philly, Baltimore, San Francisco, you go: I don't know if we did this..." [25:54–26:14]
• Giants' signing of Darnell Mooney—"That's good, that's not nothing"—with honest self-reflection about his impact.
  • Rosenberg: "Darnell Mooney, like, why does, watching him play...not hit my cerebral cortex? Did I miss any great Darnell Mooney moments?" [27:43]
• Debate about quarterback draft “hype” vs. development, with many highly drafted QBs now on their 3rd/4th teams.
  • Hahn: "We have a quarterback hype problem before the draft—start pushing these guys..." [33:05]
  • Don: "Trust your board. If the quarterback is not there, you don't take him...Honor your board." [34:40–35:08]
  • Insight that if a QB is picked later, teams are more patient; top-3 picks face too-high expectations and are labeled busts too quickly.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Michael B. Jordan’s ascent:
  "It was brick by brick for that guy. Piece by piece." – Don La Greca [04:48]
• Baseball fun vs. taunting:
  "There's a place to celebrate, and there's a place to show out." – Alan Hahn [09:27]
• Caller Anthony’s WBC thesis:
  “There's such a thirst for this tournament…and you guys especially should be the ones with your hand on the pulse.” – Anthony, Dallas [11:12]
• Tournament Seeding "Disrespect":
  "If you're Rick Pitino, this is exactly what you want...they don't believe in us, they're disrespecting the Big East champion." – Alan Hahn [39:37]
• QB Cycle Critique:
  "We have a quarterback hype problem before the draft—we start pushing these guys." – Alan Hahn [33:05] "If you take him number three, expectation is he should be starting right away. If he’s not starting, he’s a bust. It’s amazing." – Alan Hahn [35:25]
• On ‘Moral Victories’ in college hoops:
  "If we were all together, Liu hits a buzzer beater to go from down 32 to lose by 30, and I send video to Strickland of Alan celebrating he'd never come on the show again." – Don La Greca [47:19]

Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-------------|---------------------------------------------------| | 03:00–08:00 | Michael B. Jordan's roots, TV & nostalgia | | 08:18–17:00 | Is MLB “fun?” – WBC, fan engagement, celebrations | | 23:43–35:56 | NFL Binge: Fields trade, Giants' moves, QB hype | | 38:27–49:55 | Tournament Update, St. John’s seeding, March Madness history | | 47:19 | Liu, point spreads & “moral victories" |

The Show’s Tone and Flow

True to their New York roots, the hosts deliver a mix of sharp sports debate, self-deprecating humor, and cultural reflection. The segment transitions are marked by quick-witted back-and-forths, occasional gentle ribbing about guest invitations and insider media strife, and an openness to listener feedback (especially on the WBC calls). Their critical but affectionate style—“Sell it to me, man,” “He was on the Santa Maria, yeah”—ensures both die-hard and casual fans feel included in the mix, making this episode an essential snapshot of the week in New York sports and the minds who live it.

For Listeners Who Missed It

This episode is a tour through what New York sports talk does best: energetic debates on the hot topics of March sports, framed with punchy stories, local color, and that never-dull mix of sincerity and snark. Whether you want to understand why Americans still struggle with international baseball or why colleges with “disrespected” seeds may be the most dangerous in March, or you simply want to keep up with the NFL’s relentless churn of quarterbacks and “what could have been” storylines, Hour 2 doesn’t disappoint.