Don Hahn (1:39)

Yeah, okay, the Big east event. And I remember when he went on with the guys, I go, that's what the great Richard in Manhattan looks like. I was blown away. He's a very handsome, good looking dude.

Rosenberg (1:48)

So you thought he was ugly?

Don Hahn (1:49)

Not that he was ugly, but he sounds a lot older and kind of like the voice didn't match with what I was picturing. And I don't even know what exactly I was picturing, but it was definitely not what the actual Richard of Manhattan looks like.

Rosenberg (2:00)

You pictured he looked like what Rosenberg thinks Jacob looks like.

Don Hahn (2:03)

Yeah, I mean, apparently Peter thinks he's ugly. I don't know why. Unattractive, particularly very handsome.

Anthony Pusick (2:09)

But this might have been one of the first times I got that, I was offended.

Rosenberg (2:12)

You should be. Why was Richard cranky? Didn't you talk to him on the phone?

Anthony Pusick (2:17)

No, that was Anthony. But, you know, it was a regular.

Don Hahn (2:21)

Richard call from me, from what I've heard.

Anthony Pusick (2:22)

Yeah.

Rosenberg (2:23)

I don't know, man. Like, that. That was wild. And also, new rule. If your elevator pitch is convoluted and you gotta, like, explain too many things, it's a bad idea. There was too much.

Jake Asman (2:34)

That's exactly why I put him through it.

Rosenberg (2:35)

There was too much happening. Like, I lost interest. I didn't really understand it. And then he got frustrated. Like, if you present me an idea, you have to allow for interjection. Right? Like, I can push back on your idea. And he got frustrated by that.

Don Hahn (2:50)

I just. I didn't.

Rosenberg (2:51)

You wanted to just, like, sign it, like an executive order. Like, you've got no opinion on it. This is what's happening.

Don Hahn (2:57)

There's. There's no way to fix the tanking problem. There's no way to fix the lottery situation other than getting rid of the lottery and making it random. And I think you've had the best one of the day. I think there should be some sort of rule that's put in place where you can't pick in the top three multiple years in a row and that hopefully will. Maybe it's even in the top five. And you really deincentivize teams from losing. Like, you got one chance to tank. If you don't work well, what's the point? Because you're going to be picking at pick six at the minimum, and then.

Rosenberg (3:21)

You do away with what Utah is doing, what Oklahoma City did for a couple years, and all these teams who just go into the season saying, like, we just don't want to win for.

Don Hahn (3:29)

Years, this goes on. It's one thing for a team to do it once when there's a wembanyama coming out. Like, all right, everyone's going to give it their best shot at it, but every year, the same team still doing this, it's a problem that has to stop. I don't even know if top three is enough, because then people might say, well, there's five good players in this draft. We'd rather just be one of the five. Like, you have to make it really, really insignificant to lose. Like, you have to make it not worth any team to even think about trying to lose games on purpose.

Rosenberg (3:55)

Which, by the way, I don't blame the team for doing it. It's smart. Like, if I can get wimby if I can get Cooper Flag, like when the Mavs lucked into Luka Doncic, like how. How that changed everything for them.

Don Hahn (4:09)

If you're a team like the Jazz, you need that superstar because you're not going to get that guy to join you in free agency. Like, the Thunder were built because they made a great trade selling on their current superstar. And Paul George, one of the worst.

Rosenberg (4:21)

That'S going to go down as one of the worst trades in history of.

Don Hahn (4:23)

The league, other than probably the Luc.

Rosenberg (4:25)

Trade'S a disaster for Dallas.

Don Hahn (4:27)

It's. It's right up there with among the worst Clippers trade.

Rosenberg (4:30)

And it's the gift that keeps on giving because Oklahoma City's got.

Don Hahn (4:34)

They got their pick this year, yo.

Rosenberg (4:35)

So imagine this and we'll get to baseball in a moment when it talks to me. Yankees and Mets, yo, this is on the table, guys. Jacob, I know you're a hoops guy, too. I think the lottery happens during or right before game one of the conference finals. So the appetizer for Oklahoma City hosting San Antonio in Game 1 of the conference finals could be us learning that the Thunder are going to get the number one pick because of the Clippers madness, and then they go on to win the championship. And I don't even think that the worst case scenario is them getting the number one pick to draft the player, because all of a sudden, and this is not going to happen, but they now have a package that they can.

Don Hahn (5:18)

Trade with Milwaukee to get Giannis, which would be insane. But again, at least in the case of that happening, it'd be like the ultimate crapshoot in the lottery. Like, as bad as it feels that the Mavs basically traded Luca and then got rewarded with Flag, at least like they want it. So we think. I know people could argue they want it in the lottery and they had a very low percentage chance. And you're like, oh, well, this should stop teams for just being bad, because, you know, anyone can win the lottery, but it hasn't. So I feel like the only thing you can do to definitively stop this is to get rid of it and put restrictions on that. Essentially. Say you can't be picking in the top three or the top five more than one year in a row. You got to put limitations on it. Otherwise, I think if there's a way for teams to lose strategically, they will always try and do that as they.

Rosenberg (6:04)

Should, especially if you're not going to get penalized.

Don Hahn (6:06)

And that's where the commissioner used to step in and say the basketball teams like the people, the GMs, the coaches, their job is to win. That is what they are judged on. The commissioner and really the owners should have a say in this. Cuz they should care about the health of their sport. That's the product their league. The commissioner, especially though Adam Silver in this case, he's gotta be looking at it from a big picture perspective and saying while these teams are doing what they believe is in the best interest of winning, it is not good for the product on the court, it's not good for fans, it's not good for the rights holders that you have half the league not trying to win. And we have ESPN and NBC and all these networks spending billions with a capital battle on the rights to air the games. Like that's where the commissioner has to do what's in the best interest of his sport and hold players and owners and teams accountable. Because it's not good for the league that this continues to be a recurring topic.

Rosenberg (6:53)

It's also not good for the current players on the team who are actually capable, like Larry Markkanen who every year is in trade rumors. He's pretty good and he's just around all this losing and I think that that starts to wane on you as a player. Like we talk about this a lot in football with like culture and the culture shifter is what winning. Because if you're a program that's just perpetually losing, like it's just bad vibes, it's bad for the organization. And I think that that starts to trickle down into how it affects the players. And so when you've got fans also on board with teams tanking, like it's just an embarrassment, it's a sickness that we just gotta get rid of. And I suggested this to you, I don't think you love the idea, but I just think you get rid of the draft, make it free agency for all the players. Now you got to create a system that allows for like salary allocation. And so like Cooper Flag can get a max contract from this amount of teams.

Don Hahn (7:58)

And it's the problem, if it's only the only teams that could offer the contract, then teams are going to be bad. So they could sign the good players. And if Cooper Flag could sign with any team, we're seeing this in Major League Baseball. All the Japanese superstars want to play for the Dodgers.

Rosenberg (8:12)

Yeah, but the baseball's got a salary cap, doesn't have a salary cap where the NBA does. And so Oklahoma City wouldn't be able to sign Cooper Flag.

Don Hahn (8:20)

Why not?

Rosenberg (8:21)

Because there's a salary cap.

Don Hahn (8:23)

They have room on their cap. They could trade away their superstars so they wouldn't add the best player. But why wouldn't the best players want to go all go to the Lakers or go to the Knicks or go to the Heat?

Rosenberg (8:30)

No, they probably would.

Don Hahn (8:31)

So that's a problem.

Rosenberg (8:32)

You would then have to have these teams created cap space for rookies, which wouldn't make sense. Like if I'm Oklahoma City, I'm trading away Jalen Williams and Chuck Holmgren to create cap space for Cooper Flag if.

Don Hahn (8:45)

You know you could get flag and add them to your core.

Rosenberg (8:48)

I don't think that that makes sense.

Don Hahn (8:49)

But I don't think you're like, in theory, like the spirit of what you're trying to do makes sense. I don't know how that could be implemented. I think the easiest thing, again is just to abolish it completely. Make it totally random with rules in place to prevent the team, like, ok, like if you won the NBA title within the last two years and, and you happen to win the lottery to get a top three pick, you can't, you can't get it. There has to be certain things that are agreed upon that are put into place.

Rosenberg (9:11)

The fact that, and this is one of the, this is the biggest indictment of the league. We're coming off of the Super Bowl. So the NFL is kind of, you know, died down a bit up until we'll get to free agency next month and then the draft in April. Like, this is your time to shine and what you're showcasing really isn't your product. We've spent the majority of the show talking about tanking and the All Star Game. Now this past All Star Game, which is funny, the All Star Game was better than the super bowl and no one thought that that was imaginable.

Don Hahn (9:49)

As far as competitiveness, you're saying, yeah.

Rosenberg (9:50)

Like just, just the game itself was better objectively. But for the NBA, like, this is now your opportunity to, as the second most popular sport of the four major only behind football, to really like, have the shine, to really showcase what you have to offer in the lead up to what I think is going to be a great post season. When you look at both conferences and yet, like every segment on TV today is doing like, did we fix the All Star Game? How do you fix load management and tanking? Like, that's just a bad sign. If you're Adam Silver, it's terrible.

Don Hahn (10:28)

And I think a big criticism of Silver and part of his legacy will be it has been allowed to get to this point under his watch. I'm telling you, if David Stern nipped it in the butt right away, came out strong against it, other teams wouldn't have followed suit. But since Silver has basically been so pro player and taken a backseat and has allowed these guys to do whatever they want, it's now become a thing where I don't know if there's any one solution you could fix it. Teams are going to keep doing it again. It doesn't happen in hockey. It doesn't, it doesn't happen in baseball, it doesn't happen in other sports, but it happens in basketball. And that's because the commissioner's been very lax with doing anything about it. It took until finally this year when he finds. Which seems the Jazz and he finds the Pacers. The Pacers, to finally address the tanking thing. But this wasn't the first time we've seen teams overtly tank at the end of games. Sit star players at the end of three quarters. We've seen this a lot.

Rosenberg (11:16)

Yeah. So. And look, the whole load management thing where I will defend organizations and players is the sport has never been harder to play than it is right now. The talent pool is deeper than it's ever been. The players are more athletic. We've got because of pace, just a lot more happening on offense and defense. And we've seen like the rash of significant injuries. 25 year old Tyrese Halliburton just tears his Achilles. 27 year old Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles. Like these things didn't happen 30, 40, heck, 15, 20 years ago. And so there is proof positive of like the wear and tear and how, how much it has physically affected these players to the point where, yeah, if I can prolong my career, if I can guard against injury and doctors, team doctors are telling me this is the best way to do it, sitting out games, then I understand. I hate it, but I at least understand it. Tim in Charleston, he's got an idea for how to fix what's going on in the NBA as it pertains to tanking. What's up, Tim?

Caller Tim (12:28)

Hey, how's it going, guys? Love the show. So once you reward the teams that are right there, people that are trying but not good enough. Right. So say like your middle 15, take the 3 above, 3 below. So you could, you know what, if you get seated 12 through 18, they go into the lottery. They get a player, you know, they get a player so that you're rewarded for actually trying. You just might not be good enough. And you get a good player for it. And if you don't want to invest money in your team and you want to have a low payroll, then you get nothing.

Rosenberg (12:56)

Yeah, but the problem is if you're like the Sixers and you know you've got no shot at winning the title, like, would I rather make the playoffs and get stopped by the Knicks in round one or just start tanking and get into that middle pack? So now you're going to have playoff teams that decide, yeah, we're better off just getting into the lottery.

Caller Tim (13:15)

Yeah. You don't think those players are going to be more motivated to make sure that they don't? You know, the team might think that, but the players aren't going to want to think that because that guy's going to maybe replace you.

Don Hahn (13:25)

Yeah, but if the players want to win, we've seen this. The teams can just strategically bench the good players in the fourth quarter. Like what happened with the Utah Jazz, they sat their star players so they would guarantee lose the game and had the lead after three quarters.

Rosenberg (13:38)

We saw Oklahoma City a few years ago Send Al Hor, 33 year old Al Horford home, who a couple years later went to the Celtics and helped them win a championship.

Caller Tim (13:50)

Yeah, I just, I don't know any other way of trying to do it. You know, it just seems like if at least you people to try, then you know our teams to try so they can get that better pick. I mean, who knows, Maybe, maybe they would. Or you know, the teams that are just on the outside looking in, you know, those 20, 21, you know, ranked teams, you know, actually play their players instead of sitting them out to try and get into the lottery. So, I mean, it kind of works both ways, you know, I don't know, it's just an idea I thought of.

Rosenberg (14:17)

No, it's not a bad one. I'm just saying, Tim, I appreciate the call. Like there are so many unintended, unintended consequences that come when, you know, Jake said this. The teams are just going to figure it out. Like there's always going to be a loophole and you can just, you know, find a way to get yourself into the lottery. Got to switch over to baseball because apparently Aaron Judge has weighed in on the off season. So Aaron Judge was asked by the media assembled down in Tampa his reaction to the off season. Let's take a listen.

Aaron Judge (14:51)

It was brutal. You know, I'm like, I see a lot of free agents out there. I see a lot of guys that, you know, like the Bellingers, the Grishams, the Goldschmidt, like, yeah, let's sign these guys right now and then start adding more pieces, you know, because I'm seeing other teams around the league get better. They're making trades, they're signing big prospects or big players. And, you know, we kind of were sitting there for a while, you know, kind of making smaller moves, but it was tough there in the beginning. But I think once we solidified getting Bellinger back, you know, we got Trent being our center fielder, be our leadoff guy for another year. And then you had a guy like Goldie, some of the back end, you know, bullpen pieces that we've been doing, I think we'd be in a good spot. But early on, it was pretty. Pretty tough to watch. I'm like, we're the New York Yankees. You know, let's go out there and. And get the right people, get the right pieces to go out there and finish this thing off. Because we got a special group of players, players here. We got a good core, good young core. So, yeah, it was frustrating, but I think we're right where we need to be.

Don Hahn (15:37)

Wow.

Rosenberg (15:37)

I mean, so he cleans it up there at the end, but the way that starts, I'm like, I've never heard Judge talk that way.

Don Hahn (15:44)

The order of what she talked about the off season doesn't make sense, though, because he's like, you know, I've seen all these teams get better. We knew Trent Grisham was coming back before the off season really got underway. He took the qualifying offer. So it's like Judge was just trying to, like, talk up, like, some drama there that really didn't exist. And again, he's a captain. He's being a good teammate there. Lumping Paul Goldschmidt in with, like, getting Bellinger back or Grisham taking the qualifying offer when Goldschmidt is going to be basically a platoon player backing up Ben Rice this year. I mean, we don't need to lump goldie at age 38 into the same category as Bellinger, who's getting close to $30 million a year.

Rosenberg (16:20)

I like that from Aaron Judge. He was also asked, did he voice his frustrations to the front office?

Aaron Judge (16:26)

Yeah. Oh, yeah. But they took care of business. I've always my opinion about a couple of guys and Bellinger being one of the guys that he just adds a dynamic to this team that, you know, we've been missing for quite a few years. So excited he's back.

Rosenberg (16:40)

Who are the couple of guys? Because it's really just Bellinger.

Don Hahn (16:43)

It's the same team they brought back the same exact team minus the two relievers the Mets signed, minus Weaver and minus Devin Williams.

Rosenberg (16:49)

He was going to bat for Ahmed Rosario. Like we gotta get him back again.

Don Hahn (16:54)

The Dodgers are signing Kyle Tucker and Edwin Diaz coming off a championship. The Yankees won 94 games, got destroyed by a division rival in the divisional round. And the big move is just bringing back everyone. And again, I'm not, we can argue whether or not that's the right move or the wrong move. But like, like the standard for the Yankees used to be they would act similar to how what the Dodgers have done. Meanwhile, the Yankees big moves are just bringing back the same exact players they've had.

Rosenberg (17:18)

I've got to take. I don't believe Aaron Judge. I do not believe you're calling him a liar. No, no, no. I think he is being professional. He's being professional and he's not going to rip his organization. But I find it very hard to believe that Aaron Judge at the start of the offseason was frustrated. He was irate. Saw all these free agents that were available and as he's sitting there fresh off of another league MVP, he's 33 years old, in the prime of his career, coming off of a Postseason where he hit.500, he all of a sudden feels all right, we're right where we want to be after we just brought back the same team. So I don't, I honestly don't believe him. I don't believe that he thinks this is, we are right where we want to be.

Don Hahn (18:10)

I think Judge has such an unwavering confidence in himself and the guys in that room truly believe in him. So he believes in them back. But I do think he thinks they're really good and thinks they got the team because he's an all time great athlete that's got all the confidence in himself. So I think he probably deep down thinks his team can win and they probably could. I just don't think that they're, they've done nearly enough to maximize the fact that here he is one of the greatest players we've seen of this generation in his prime right now. Are you truly all in doing everything in your power to win when you have this great player? Or is Aaron Judge on his way to being the best Yankee of all time that's never won a championship?

Rosenberg (18:49)

I just, I want to play the cut one more time. Here was his reaction to the off season.

Aaron Judge (18:53)

It was brutal. You know, I'm like, I see a lot of free, free agents out there. I see A lot of guys that, you know, like the Bellingers, the Grishams, the Goldschmidt, like, yeah, let's sign these guys right now and then start adding more pieces, you know, because I'm seeing other teams around the league get better. They're making trades, they're signing big prospects or big players. And, you know, we kind of were sitting there for a while, you know, kind of making smaller moves, but it was tough there in the beginning. But I think once we solidified getting Bellinger back, you know, we got Trent being our center fielder, be our leadoff guy for another year. And then you had a guy like Goldie, some of the back end, you know, bullpen pieces that we've been doing. I think we're being a good spot. But early on, it was pretty. Pretty tough to watch. I'm like, we're the New York Yankees. You know, let's go out there and. And get the right people, get the right pieces to go out there and finish this thing off, because we got a special group of players here. We got a good core, good young core. So, yeah, it was frustrating, but I think we're right where we need to be.

Rosenberg (19:39)

So. So who were the other pieces he wanted them to add? Because he mentions had to bring back Bellinger, had to bring back Grisham, and he just throws Goldschman in there because I don't think he wants to, like, you know, be disrespectful to Goldie. But, like, who are these other pieces that he wanted that he ended up getting to where now he goes from being frustrated? We're the New York Yankees. We should be doing more to. Oh, yeah, we're right where we want to be. It just doesn't, like, sequentially. It doesn't line up for me.

Don Hahn (20:07)

I don't really understand what he's frustrated about. To your point, they brought back all the guys that he, in that cut, seemingly wanted them to bring back. But then he's talking about how they added other pieces. Who have they added? I mean, you want to count Garrett Cole. I guess, technically you're adding him at some point because he didn't pitch last year.

Rosenberg (20:24)

But that wouldn't fall under the category of what he was describing happened at the beginning of the offseason. We knew Garrett Cole was coming back.

Don Hahn (20:32)

And we also knew Trent Grisham was coming back the second he took the qualifying offer. That happened before anything with Bellinger or any other big free. Who were the big free agents like Bregman? Guess what? Trent Grisham was re signed by the Yankees, Kyle Tucker, all these guys were anyone who moved Pete Alonso move teams after the Yankees already knew that Trent Grisham was going to be paid $22 million on a one year deal.

Rosenberg (20:55)

We all knew.

Don Hahn (20:55)

We knew that already. So what more did he want or is he just like giving I guess what is supposed to be like a PC answer there about just his? Oh yeah, I was frustrated. I really wanted our guys to be re signed and I'm glad they are and we're ready to go. What is he's really not saying anything.

Rosenberg (21:12)

There because it starts off like wow, like that's popping. That is as critical as I've ever heard Aaron Judge of anything, let alone the people making decisions at the top of the organization.

Don Hahn (21:30)

Right.

Rosenberg (21:30)

But what is he, what is he.

Don Hahn (21:31)

Criticizing by the end of the answer? It's like you realize as he's talking maybe I gotta clean this up cuz it sounds like I'm being critical but that's not my intent.

Rosenberg (21:38)

But the answer there I'm beyond that's a bad answer cuz it doesn't make sense. The answer to me doesn't make sense.

Don Hahn (21:44)

Does it really matter? How many more times is Eric Judge going to be asked about the upcoming season between now on February 16th and whenever Yankee opening?

Rosenberg (21:52)

It's just a bad answer. Like I'm, I am analyzing that in real time and I think it's a bad answer.

Don Hahn (21:57)

If you gave him truth serum, his answer should have been hey, I'm in my prime. I've won three MVPs. Garrett Cole's coming off Tommy John at age 35. We have this window right now. The Blue Jays maybe got a little worse with some of the losses they had in free agency. Let's go for it right now. Like we could be the best team to get back to the World Series. We got to win and we got to win it right now. I might only have one or two great years left in my prime.

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Don Hahn (24:39)

Thanks for listening.

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To the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast. I didn't listen to anything you just said. Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

Rosenberg (24:51)

So didn't this make the list? This made someone's list, right? Top five rock songs of all time. Don had this on his list. I love this song. It reminds me of when what's his name sang it at the end of the boxing match. Fury. Tyson Fury. After he beat what's his name again?

Don Hahn (25:13)

Fury beat Deontay Wilder.

Rosenberg (25:15)

Deontay Wilder. And he starts singing this in a ring. I thought it was a great moment.

Don Hahn (25:19)

American Pie.

Rosenberg (25:20)

Yeah, it was awesome.

Don Hahn (25:21)

Great moment, great song. Great movie. Please tell me you've seen the movie.

Rosenberg (25:25)

Of course.

Don Hahn (25:26)

Come on. I'm just making sure.

Rosenberg (25:27)

Come on, man.

Don Hahn (25:28)

Anthony hadn't seen Office Space. That was a Big topic on the show for a while. And Boys in the Hood.

Rosenberg (25:33)

Boys in the. Disappointed in you?

Jake Asman (25:36)

In me? Why?

Rosenberg (25:37)

Because you look that.

Jake Asman (25:38)

I hadn't seen it.

Rosenberg (25:39)

You look like the kind of guy that will watch Boys in the Hood.

Jake Asman (25:41)

The thing, Ty. And you understand how this goes because you've been through this with Dave. You've been through this with everybody when you were behind the board. And the same thing happened with Office Space. Jake. Yeah, Anthony. You can't come in tomorrow until you see the movie. So here's where the bar is now.

Don Hahn (25:57)

It's a.

Jake Asman (25:58)

This is gonna be one of the best movies I've ever seen. Office Space was funny. Boys in the Hoop was a good movie. I wasn't blown away by either. And now I'm a bad guy. That's how this goes. You know how this goes?

Don Hahn (26:08)

Hyped up too much so you didn't get to enjoy it properly.

Rosenberg (26:11)

I knew a lot of pressure that.

Jake Asman (26:13)

Ricky was gonna die already because they talked about it. So how am I gonna be shocked and upset when he dies? I was told he's gonna die.

Rosenberg (26:20)

By the way, speaking of movies like Cuz Godfrey, I hadn't seen Godfather until like a couple of months ago. Like the entirety of the movie.

Anthony Pusick (26:29)

Okay.

Rosenberg (26:29)

I had seen bits and pieces of.

Jake Asman (26:31)

It and your thoughts.

Rosenberg (26:32)

But, oh, fantastic movie. But we also have to send, you know, rest in peace to Robert, who passed away today was announced the greatest.

Don Hahn (26:40)

Consiglieri of all time.

Rosenberg (26:42)

Absolutely. But Jacob, start throwing some movies in there. Direct, like big. Just come out randomly and say, big Mama's house. Have you guys seen that movie? Because you got to bring. You're the only black person on the show.

Anthony Pusick (26:55)

It's crazy.

Rosenberg (26:56)

You got to bring some cultural relevance.

Anthony Pusick (26:58)

I would think because it's a comedy. I think at least if not two thirds of the show seen it.

Rosenberg (27:03)

I've seen Big Mama. Have you seen Big Mama's House?

Don Hahn (27:05)

I've never seen it.

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For.

Rosenberg (27:08)

Never seen it, Anthony.

Jake Asman (27:11)

Yes, I have seen it.

Rosenberg (27:12)

You have?

Jake Asman (27:13)

It's funny.

Rosenberg (27:14)

There we go. Martin Lawrence. Never seen it.

Don Hahn (27:17)

I'm a fan of his, but I have not seen that.

Rosenberg (27:19)

I wouldn't say it's like a must see movie, but it was just, you know, in the crib growing up.

Jake Asman (27:24)

Jake, you could do the Jake Asmon show tomorrow. If you don't see the movie, you're allowed. I'm giving you permission. You don't see the movie. You're still allowed to do your show tomorrow.

Don Hahn (27:32)

But you're saying if Don gave you a movie, you didn't see it. He would not let you into the producer room to produce the show.

Jake Asman (27:39)

Now, Grant, I don't know. Listen, he's got a lot of sway, but I don't know how deep the bench is right now in terms of you can't come into work if you're available.

Don Hahn (27:46)

Well, you're the president of the producers.

Jake Asman (27:47)

You don't want the title, a title named by you.

Don Hahn (27:49)

You're the. You're the people's producer. There was no election.

Jake Asman (27:54)

For this.

Rosenberg (27:55)

The election was stolen. Wait, so would he just stand in front of the control room and not allow you to get in?

Jake Asman (28:00)

Well, listen, I didn't see it for the first night, and they were very upset with me. And this was for Boyz n the Hood. Then I said, all right, I'll watch it the next night. And I still was able to do my job.

Rosenberg (28:10)

But you just didn't think it was a good enough movie to the way. Like, to where they hyped it up. Because that does happen. Like, you. You set your bar so high because people are forcing you to watch a movie that is just. That guy.

Jake Asman (28:22)

I didn't say I hated. I said it was good.

Anthony Pusick (28:25)

The.

Rosenberg (28:25)

The.

Jake Asman (28:25)

The scene where he died didn't just tear you up inside. You told me he was gonna die, so I knew it was coming.

Rosenberg (28:31)

That's true. By the way, you guys see the rip on Netflix?

Don Hahn (28:35)

I haven't watched it.

Anthony Pusick (28:35)

Oh, yeah?

Don Hahn (28:36)

Is it worth watching?

Rosenberg (28:37)

Oh, yeah, it's good. Yeah, it's good. There are. I enjoyed. I'm not gonna give it away, but, like, there's some twists that happened in the end to where, like, you now want to watch it again, knowing the information that you were given to look at it through that perspective.

Don Hahn (28:53)

I like that. I. So I have not seen. I'm a big Game of Thrones fan, and they have a new series, night of the 7K. Oh, my God. And I haven't watched it yet. And I know they're, what, five episodes in. That's the next show I will be watching at some point when I get a moment here, because I. House a Dragon. Very good. Obviously, Game of Thrones seasons one through six, some of the best TV of all time. We won't mention the last two seasons. And I know that there's another prequel that's out there that's apparently already better than House of the Dragon I have to check out.

Anthony Pusick (29:22)

So it's set, I want to say, a couple hundred years after House of the Dragon, but a couple hundred years before Game of Thrones. And you'll notice in that first episode immediately that is a stark difference in terms of how the story is told compared to those two.

Don Hahn (29:37)

I heard it's a lot faster.

Rosenberg (29:38)

I could never get into the Game of Thrones.

Don Hahn (29:40)

Why not?

Rosenberg (29:41)

It's just.

Don Hahn (29:41)

You don't like dragons?

Rosenberg (29:42)

Dragons, like just not doing it for me.

Anthony Pusick (29:44)

It's crazy because I didn't get into it until that final season. I was like, let me just binge watch everything. And I kind of did it. And I was into it from like the accents and like call everybody maester and ma' am and my lady. Like it's something that you get into.

Don Hahn (29:59)

The incest. Were you into that?

Anthony Pusick (30:00)

I mean, no, that's. I don't think I could never get into that.

Don Hahn (30:03)

Yeah, that's a tough one.

Rosenberg (30:04)

That's a tough one. Real, real tough one. His and hers.

Don Hahn (30:09)

I have not seen his and hers.

Anthony Pusick (30:10)

Haven't seen it yet. I heard it's good though, so.

Rosenberg (30:12)

It's really good. I don't know if I love who we landed on as far as who was responsible for everything that happened, but I do appreciate the direction, like the, the endless amount of directions it took us in and then like ending on us learning who actually was responsible for all that had happened. And I'm trying to talk around, you know, the storyline so I don't give it away.

Anthony Pusick (30:36)

Is it almost like. I guess. Cause I haven't seen it yet. But the twist wise, I guess like the rip where we had like so many different.

Rosenberg (30:43)

Yeah, there was a couple of like, you know, misdirections.

Don Hahn (30:46)

Okay.

Rosenberg (30:47)

And then as soon as you feel like you're landing on the person, you just get brought back to someone else. But they do it in a way where it's. It's just. It's meticulous, it's well done.

Anthony Pusick (30:58)

And that's on Netflix, right?

Rosenberg (30:59)

That's also on Netflix.

Anthony Pusick (30:59)

Okay, so I gotta take.

Rosenberg (31:00)

That's not the show I'm watching now. My wife and I just started. What's the name of the show? So this woman, her husband was killed, her sister was killed, but now she thinks her husband might actually still be alive. What's the name of the show?

Don Hahn (31:15)

What network? Netflix.

Rosenberg (31:17)

Netflix. Someone's gonna say it to me in the chat.

Don Hahn (31:19)

I'm the wrong guy to ask why am I?

Rosenberg (31:21)

I just started the show and now I can't remember the name of it. Fool Me. Fool Me Once.

Jake Asman (31:28)

That sounds right. Based on Google.

Rosenberg (31:30)

Fool Me Once. Yeah, that's the name of the show. It's another good one. So I got these recommendations.

Don Hahn (31:34)

I appreciate it.

Rosenberg (31:34)

So the next time we do a show together, hopefully soon, maybe we can discuss these, these movies.

Don Hahn (31:40)

I appreciate some good wrecks because during football season that's like when I'm at my busiest.

Rosenberg (31:45)

Yeah.

Don Hahn (31:46)

And now I have a little more time, so.

Rosenberg (31:48)

But between you and having the relationship.

Don Hahn (31:49)

And, you know, very busy, you know, my relationship with my Tannenbaum on Sundays, no longer.

Rosenberg (31:54)

How did that go?

Don Hahn (31:56)

Honestly, great. And I saw Mike at the super bowl this past year at Radio Row in San Fran. We hugged it out at a really discussion. We get along great when we talk about is Mike Tannenbaum really a name drop? But we more you at the super.

Jake Asman (32:10)

Bowl because you were big time. You broke a little bit of news on Super Bowl.

Don Hahn (32:14)

We were making things happen, baby. But all is well with Mike until we start talking about the jets and he tries to basically give us the, you know, the rosy colored, you know, spin on how things are going. Other owners are envious of the position the jets are in. He said to me, so you know, when he says stuff like that, that's where I'm like, mike, come on. All right. And we argue about Glenn and all that, but when we talk non Jet topics, I enjoy doing the show.

Rosenberg (32:38)

What if he comes up to you and you go in for a hug and he just punches you in the face?

Don Hahn (32:42)

That would surprise me because he had a chance to do it cold blooded at Radio Row and he did not.

Rosenberg (32:48)

Did you think it was on the table?

Don Hahn (32:49)

I did not. That's why I went in for the hug. I thought we would be okay.

Rosenberg (32:52)

But before, like the interaction, did you think there's a chance this might not go well? Because he's like really annoyed with me?

Don Hahn (32:59)

I think if it was like right after we did a heated Aaron Glenn debate segment, perhaps, but enough time had passed that I wasn't concerned.

Rosenberg (33:07)

Who do you think wins? You and Mike Tenenbaum just start fighting at Radio Rock?

Don Hahn (33:12)

Mike's a lot bigger than me. I mean, Mike's like six foot. He's a big dude. Also, I learned he's a hell of a basketball player, apparently.

Rosenberg (33:18)

What's that got to do with his ability to win a fight?

Don Hahn (33:22)

Mike? I just think size matters. He always talks about that.

Rosenberg (33:25)

Really?

Don Hahn (33:26)

Yeah. He likes his quarterback to be big and beefy and I think that would apply in a fight. I have my limitations.

Rosenberg (33:31)

There's a lot happening in that sentence.

Don Hahn (33:33)

I could win a sports argument. I think I would take myself. But who'd win in a fight? I got to show some respect to Mike.

Rosenberg (33:37)

It almost would have been just a great story for like, him to come up to you and knock me out cold. Slap you right in the face.

Don Hahn (33:47)

Radio host get into a fight over Aaron Glenn is a good Coach for the chats.

Rosenberg (33:51)

800-919-3776 I teased that we were going to talk some Mets. So let's do a Steve Cohen. This is going to find. This is going to be shocking to you. Excited about this year's team?

Steve Cohen (34:03)

Yeah, I just got here today and, you know, I feel like there's a different energy here this year than last year. I don't know what it is. It just feels really optimistic. A lot of new faces. And so I'm kind of, you know, I'm really excited by this team. I'm excited by. By the energy. I see. And we'll see what happens.

Rosenberg (34:19)

He's taking shots at. Cause like, none of us believe you. I don't know what it is. We know what it is. The people who were viewed fairly or unfairly as negative contributors to the clubhouse were shipped away. So that's why. That would explain why something feels different about this team if you're Steve Cohen.

Don Hahn (34:39)

See, I don't buy that, though, because wouldn't the energy feel different or there'd be, like, more excitement as what he's intimating there coming off of the 2024 NLCS run and then they added Juan Soto. So wouldn't last year have been the year where there's all this hype and expectations and excitement? They brought back Pete. There was a big debate. They signed Soto to the largest contract in professional sports history. Wouldn't last year be the year you'd have all this buzz and excitement? Not this year with new players.

Rosenberg (35:05)

Or maybe there was a sense of, like, the energy is just off. Like, the group is not jiving. Now to your point.

Don Hahn (35:12)

They started the year on fire last year.

Rosenberg (35:14)

How could you, like, have that opinion?

Don Hahn (35:17)

I think he just says that. I think he's just excited. He's a billionaire. He bought us. He grew up on Met. Fan. He bought his toy. I think every year you ask Steve Cohen about the energy, he'll tell you it's great. He's excited to be at spring training.

Rosenberg (35:28)

Steve Cohen asked about the Mets not winning last year.

Steve Cohen (35:32)

I'm annoyed. I'm absolutely annoyed. You know, every year goes by, I get frustrated and I'm really. Listen, I'm really committed to this team and I know how much the fans care. I know we're celebrating the 40th anniversary of 1986. And that's just too long. And there's a lot of great teams out there. No matter what you do, it doesn't mean you're necessarily going to win the World Series. But I just want to put myself in position every year in the playoffs where we have a chance with a really good team.

Rosenberg (36:00)

Yeah. And I mean they can't be any worse than they were last year. All that was required of you to get into the playoffs was 84 wins and you couldn't even even do that.

Don Hahn (36:08)

So Saddy Reds with, I mean a fourth of your payroll who weren't even.

Rosenberg (36:12)

Trying basically got in. And so it, it brings me to this take. Stearns doesn't get this team to the playoffs. He's got to be gone.

Don Hahn (36:21)

I think the managers have those.

Rosenberg (36:23)

Everybody's got to go. Like we can't. Because his plan when he first got here, here was what? We're going to win the title. In the first five years that hasn't been accomplished. We're going to be the Dodgers East. Well, last I checked, the Dodgers have three World Series to your two playoff appearances. That has not happened. You can't with these expectations that owner this fan base in back to back years just completely miss the playoffs when you're spending all of this money. And so Mendoza, Stern, all of them are on the hot seat. If this team doesn't get in it, you've got a clean house.

Don Hahn (36:56)

Agreed. Again, the one thing Steve Cohen was talking about and Yankee fans heard this and probably were annoyed, but that's how these teams all look at it. Including now the Mets being lumped in. They all want to just make the playoffs because they believe the playoffs at times could be a crapshoot. Right. Anything can happen in a short series. So you got to make the playoffs. And the Mets have not consistently made the playoffs in the five years going into this one. Steve Cohen's own, the team, this is year six. He said he wanted to win a World Series within his first three to five years. They haven't done it. They really have only come close one year when they made that run to the nlcs and they've been up and down as far as making the playoffs. You know, the Mets have never made the playoffs back to back years or more than back to back years. I think they've only done. They've never made it three straight years. I think that was the stat.

Rosenberg (37:38)

And I think they had only once have they won a playoff game in back to back years. I've had to go because I remember.

Don Hahn (37:46)

All you need to know is the jets have made the playoffs in their history more times than the New York Mets have. That's all you need to know, I think.

Rosenberg (37:53)

And we're just going all over the place. I think Mike Tomlin ended up with as many consecutive winning seasons as the jets had winning seasons in their franchise history, which is just remarkable.

Don Hahn (38:04)

1919 crazy.

Rosenberg (38:06)

Just amazing.

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Podcast Announcer (40:15)

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Rosenberg (40:27)

You know what I learned this weekend? The biggest story that's not actually a story story. Valentine's Day next year is Super Bowl Sunday. It's not that big of a deal if you are a serious person. Took my wife out yesterday for brunch. We get home at a decent time. Here's what you can do. Make Saturday the affair. Like, do it up on Saturday, Sunday morning, take her out to breakfast, maybe throw a little brunch in there. If you're not an early person, you're back in time for the game. It's not all that serious. You can. You can also, like, send her away, send her to a nice spa. You can be present on Saturday, be absentee on Sunday, and it's perfect.

Don Hahn (41:12)

This, to me, is the best scenario ever. My one true love is football. So the fact that it's on Valentine's Day, what's not to love?

Rosenberg (41:20)

But you've got a girl now, so you got to think about these things. I just don't. I just don't think it's actually all that controversial or it's as problematic as people are supporting it to be whether.

Don Hahn (41:32)

Anyone out there is single or not. If you love football, this is the best thing ever. You get to celebrate your love of football on a day all about love. I think it's great.

Rosenberg (41:40)

Now the biggest question is, what does Jacob do on the Monday side piece day? Like, what happens on side piece the day after the Super Bowl?

Don Hahn (41:48)

Reaction Monday on Don Hodden, Rosenberger.

Rosenberg (41:50)

Well. Cause you gotta work. You guys gonna be recapping the game? Like, how do you plan that? That creates a lot of tension in your household.

Anthony Pusick (41:58)

I mean, you can make it work.

Don Hahn (41:59)

Leftover from the super bowl party. Leftover chicken wing dip maybe.

Rosenberg (42:04)

Nice.

Anthony Pusick (42:05)

Might. Might have to snag some flowers off somebody's table at one of these events and make something happen.

Rosenberg (42:11)

Little caramel. Another thing that I thought of because, you know, I think about these things. Anthony's doing the baby making thing on Valentine's Day.

Anthony Pusick (42:18)

Oh, geez.

Rosenberg (42:19)

You've got to now move it up to, like, pre 6:30.

Don Hahn (42:23)

The baby making thing?

Rosenberg (42:25)

Yeah.

Don Hahn (42:25)

Can you elaborate on what that means?

Rosenberg (42:26)

He's putting his, you know, his keys into the ignition.

Jake Asman (42:31)

Is that how we're calling it?

Rosenberg (42:33)

Oh, we've now renamed the pusick. I love it.

Don Hahn (42:35)

I don't.

Rosenberg (42:36)

I'm gonna use the pusic.

Don Hahn (42:37)

It's a long time bit of mine. I don't know if I've done this on this radio station, but you could take really anyone's name and you could basically do what I just did. Like, I could be like, oh, yeah, you're using your Ty Butler. You, you dog. You just take anyone's name and just. If you use it in a certain way, oh, my God, your Jacob Perry is showing. Like, there's just a way of doing it where people understand what you're doing.

Rosenberg (42:56)

I get it. I love it. So I actually like it. Have you thought about this, Anthony? You've got using your pusick, 300 and what is it, 63 days? So he's on the phone. I'm sorry. But yeah, man. Should be fun. Next year. Super bowl on Valentine's Day.

Don Hahn (43:11)

I love it.

Rosenberg (43:12)

Not all that problematic.

Don Hahn (43:13)

And by the way, if the NFL goes to the 18 game season during the next CBA negotiation, which I believe they will, we're gonna have the super bowl every year on the Sunday before President's Day. And most people in the country, not us, because we're having. We have a great job talking sports. Most people throughout the country wouldn't have to work the next day. Everyone always says the day after the.

Rosenberg (43:33)

Super bowl should be a holiday.

Don Hahn (43:34)

Well, thanks to the presidents, it will be.

Rosenberg (43:37)

And then we get to name our favorite presidents of the last 25 years.

Anthony Pusick (43:40)

You see, you said it wouldn't be a problem, but it's going to be a problem for somebody that's not really a sports person. Like, I understand the super bowl is a big thing, but there are people out there who are not sports. People who probably be like, bro, go to. Doesn't affect me.

Rosenberg (43:54)

Go to breakfast, go to brunch.

Don Hahn (43:58)

There's no issue day before Saturday night.

Rosenberg (44:01)

That's great.

Anthony Pusick (44:02)

I mean, unless they're a subhes then.

Rosenberg (44:04)

Hey, baby, you want to go to a spa like you and your mom? Like, I'm just going to give you guys tickets to a spa and you get to spend the entire day. There's like, that's perfect.

Anthony Pusick (44:13)

I don't see nothing wrong with that. But there are people who look at the super bowl or just any sporting event. Like, why are we making this a big thing?

Jake Asman (44:21)

I know there's gonna be some nauseating deals, though, that people are gonna try to put together.

Don Hahn (44:25)

You're not wrong. Super Bowl, Valentine's Day.

Jake Asman (44:27)

Yeah.

Don Hahn (44:28)

Like, but here to your point, Jacob, those people, you shouldn't be with them. If they have an issue with sports, you can't be with them.

Rosenberg (44:36)

Wait, so our businesses like restaurants losing money next year because everyone's just gonna stay home for the Super Bowl. It's.

Jake Asman (44:45)

You might not be wrong. There might be people that do it on Saturday.

Rosenberg (44:48)

I guess you can make it back because you. You can take them out Friday and Saturday probably.

Anthony Pusick (44:52)

I mean, I'm pretty sure too there will be restaurants that are probably have the game on. But not only that. Offer you a Valentine's Day deal to go hand in hand.

Rosenberg (45:00)

Restaurant to watch the Super Bowl. We can't have a disaster that sounds like a disaster. You just brought up expansion. I meant to mention this earlier before we hit a break. The NBA, like the parent who can't handle the kids. They already have, but they're already talking about getting pregnant again. You've got a third of the league tanking and now you want to expand. We want to give cities two more teams that can just be involved in tanking. That doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

Don Hahn (45:27)

It's all about money and that's the biggest problem. And look, every sport, it's a business. They're trying to make money, but it just feels like the NBA is so openly overt about it. Like they just do not care about the fans. They've completely devalued the regular season. They have. Adam Silver has done nothing to stop tanking. He's done nothing to stop the load management aspect which both things we've discussed. Devalue the product in the regular season. And if you had two more teams, it's just more money. They don't care about the quality of those teams. They don't care about the fact that it could be two more teams that yes. Are trying to tank. It's the numbers game. They have the funding available to expand to two different markets that can make the NBA more money and raise the price. The value of franchises for the other 30 clubs. They're going to do it.

Rosenberg (46:08)

Speaking of raising the value, let's do that by Anthony pusicking this thing using that Pusick. Yeah, he's going to puzik his way up into the segment coming up next right here on ESPN New York and streaming live on YouTube.

Don Hahn (46:21)

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