Hour 3: Knicks & Harbaugh Presser

Summary

Podcast Summary: Don, Hahn & Rosenberg

Episode: Hour 3: Knicks & Harbaugh Presser

Date: January 20, 2026
Hosts: Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg
Producer: ESPN New York

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Don, Hahn & Rosenberg" is centered on two main themes:

• The recent on-ice exploits and broadcasting adventures of Don La Greca in Canada, including deep dives into hockey arenas and wild booth stories.
• A thorough, lively conversation about the current state of the New York Knicks, their struggles, possible roster moves, and speculation about the team's direction, especially in relation to prospectively acquiring a superstar like Giannis Antetokounmpo.
• The hosts then close with an analysis and “official grade” of John Harbaugh’s introductory press conference as the new Giants head coach, with the trademark wit and digressions that listeners have come to expect.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Don’s Adventures in Canada and the Devils’ Win

• Don, reporting from Canada, shares vivid details about calling the New Jersey Devils’ recent overtime victory, emphasizing the unique characteristics of calling games from the Saddle Dome:
  • Nemec scored the OT winner, lifting spirits for a struggling team (00:57, 01:38).
  • Peter recalls “feeling the heat” of the flames when Calgary scores, adding color and personal anecdotes about arena idiosyncrasies (04:41).
  • The dangers and quirks of the booth and catwalks above the ice are discussed with comedic detail.
    • “They built it for people that are, like, five-three. So I literally have to stick my head out of the booth, Peter. I’m, like, hanging out of the gondola to call the game.” — Don (02:25)
  • Special mention of the “incident” (Don got a stomach bug during a prior visit) for levity.

2. Knicks’ Locker Room Dynamics & Trade Deadlines

The show’s heart is an involved, engaging debate about the Knicks’ rough patch, roster construction, and what kind of moves (if any) make sense for their future.

• Players-Only Meeting:

  • Carmelo Anthony reportedly advocated for a closed-door, players-only chat after a disappointing performance, emphasizing self-accountability.
  • Alan clarifies: “It tells you that the players, or at least the leadership of the players acknowledge this is not a coaching issue... This is a ‘me’ problem.” (08:27)

• Team Trajectory and Expectations:

  • The hosts break down how early season promise sometimes fades, and warn against overreacting to a midseason slump.
  • “You just can’t say, well, we did it earlier in the season. You’re not doing it now.” — Peter, on consistency being key (11:22)
  • They reference past mistakes like the Carmelo trade that blew up a promising roster in the early 2010s, and how patience is critical now.
    • “You give this team a chance to show you what it can do and sometimes if it falls short, that’s when you’re like, all right, now we know.” — Don (14:29)

• Front Office Strategy — Giannis Watch:

  • The panel repeatedly circles back to whether the Knicks should risk possible deals now versus staying patient for a shot at Giannis in the summer:
    • “You can’t trade anything that could take away from you getting Giannis in the off-season. They’re just going to have to ride this out, guys...” — Peter (13:43)
  • The comparison to the Carmelo Anthony trade is used as a cautionary lesson.

• Fan Expectations and Management Pressure:

  • The influence of Knicks owner James Dolan is debated, with the worry that an “all-in” mentality could force rash moves.
  • “[Dolan] has been doing that from the start ever since he hired [Leon], so I don’t understand why there’d be a reason to go away from that right now.” — Don (20:47)

3. Debating the Best Seat in Sports

A lighter discussion erupts on the true “best seat in sports,” using courtside Knicks seats as a jumping-off point.

• Celebrity Row and Seat Privileges:

  • They discuss which celebrities pay or are gifted seats, and what constitutes “no such thing as a free lunch.”
  • “TINSTAAFL: There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” — Don explains the economics acronym (24:43).

• Season Ticket Hypotheticals:

  • The hypothetical: If independently wealthy, would you attend every home game?
    • “If I had that kind of disposable income and, more importantly, the time... Would I go to 41 games? Yeah, people do it.” — Peter (26:34)

• Courtside vs. Other Sporting Seats:

  • Alan, Don, and Peter lavish praise on courtside NBA seats:
    • “There is literally no comp... in sports.” — Alan (28:21)
    • “You literally, like in baseball... you’re so... the length of the field away from seeing it. What’s the farthest anything’s happening in the action on the court away from you?” — Peter (28:37)
  • Other experiences (baseball, football pregame field, etc.) are compared, but courtside is universally declared the best.

4. Don’s Annual Dunk

• In a humorous segment (33:54+), Don brags about still dunking a basketball every year, to the good-natured skepticism of Alan and Peter.
  • “Every year, like, usually around my birthday, if I could get near it, if I was near a gym, I would go in and just [dunk].” — Don (35:44)
  • The friendly ribbing continues with admissions of being “nozzles” (privileged gloaters).

5. John Harbaugh’s Giants Press Conference — Graded!

• The trio gives a thorough, tongue-in-cheek breakdown of new Giants coach John Harbaugh’s presser, including his tone and the uncanny resemblance of his delivery to President Biden’s.
  • Notable sound byte:
    • “Our focus is simple. It starts with building a team that is physical and tough, that’s capable of overwhelming their opponent from beginning to end and especially at the end...” — John Harbaugh (44:42)
  • Alan's Official Grade:
    • “I am going to give John Harbaugh a B plus. I’m gonna give him a nice B plus. No, it’s a B plus. That’s really good.” (46:21)
    • “It was a little generic. It was a little generic. He could have basically given this anywhere... I didn’t get anything that I found to be incredibly personal about this specific team. But I also thought he sounded really good.” (47:11)
  • Don and Peter debate whether a “B+” is fair; Don describes grading like an essay versus multiple choice (51:46).
  • The Biden impression/gag recurs throughout, with the hosts riffing on Harbaugh’s cadence and intonation.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It tells you that the players, or at least the leadership of the players acknowledge this is not a coaching issue... This is a me problem.”
  — Alan Hahn on Knicks’ players-only meeting (08:27)

• “You just can’t say, well, we did it earlier in the season. You’re not doing it now.”
  — Peter Rosenberg on the Knicks’ struggles (11:22)

• “You can’t trade anything that could take away from you getting Giannis in the off-season. They’re just going to have to ride this out, guys...”
  — Peter Rosenberg on front office strategy (13:43)

• “TINSTAAFL: There's no such thing as a free lunch.”
  — Don explaining old economics wisdom (24:43)

• “There is literally no comp... in sports.”
  — Alan Hahn declaring courtside NBA seats are the ultimate sports experience (28:21)

• “I am going to give John Harbaugh a B plus. I’m gonna give him a nice B plus. No, it’s a B plus. That’s really good.”
  — Alan Hahn on Harbaugh’s introductory press conference (46:21)

• “Our focus is simple. It starts with building a team that is physical and tough, that’s capable of overwhelming their opponent from beginning to end and especially at the end...”
  — John Harbaugh (44:42)

• “It’s the most sound-alikey we’ve ever had of anyone.”
  — Alan, on how much Harbaugh sounds like Biden (50:19)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment / Topic | |-------------|------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:57–03:16 | Devils’ OT win, Don’s Canada tour, Saddle Dome stories | | 08:27–11:54 | Knicks’ player dynamics, players-only meeting vs. coaches | | 13:02–16:17 | Knicks’ expectations, Giannis watch, Carmelo trade analogy | | 20:47–21:09 | Listener call: James Dolan's influence | | 24:43–25:06 | TINSTAAFL, no free lunch at Celebrity Row | | 26:07–29:21 | “Best seat in sports” debate: courtside NBA wins | | 33:54–36:08 | Don’s annual dunk tradition and group “nozzleness” | | 44:42–46:21 | John Harbaugh’s press conference: the Biden comparison | | 46:21–51:53 | Breakdown and official grade of Harbaugh presser |

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Tone & Style

• The conversation effortlessly balances serious basketball analysis, insightful context, and their signature blend of New York sarcasm, inside jokes, and culture references.
• Playful ribbing and lighthearted boasting (“nozzles”) contrast with genuine, passionate sports talk.
• Listener calls and celebrity anecdotes make the show feel personal and local.

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For New Listeners

• This episode is a superb sample of the team’s chemistry: you get smart, experienced NBA and NHL talk off the top, transition smoothly into Knicks obsession and newsroom banter, and close with a goofy but sharp segment dissecting a press conference while doing spot-on impressions.
• If you want a window into New York sports fandom — equal parts hopeful, critical, and self-aware — and a primer on what drives hot stove speculation at Madison Square Garden, this episode is highly recommended.

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End of Summary

Transcript

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[Podcast Host (Don Hahn or Peter Rosenberg)]

This is the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That sounds like heaven to me.

[Podcast Host (Don Hahn or Peter Rosenberg)]

Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.

[Don Hahn]

502 in the big city with Don Lagra and Peter rosenberg. I'm Alan Hahn. 800 now at 93776. Continuing with your calls and we will get Peter's grade of the John Hallberg Press.

[Alan Hahn]

I've done the work, I've done the math, okay.

[Don Hahn]

But that is coming up momentarily. Numbers I do want to though as Don is in Canada and he is talking to us remotely. Yes, has a back to back but doesn't have to work tonight. So we're going to get full frontal Don tonight. And then the Canadian tour continues with the Devils. But that was a nice win last night, Don. That's a good one. And. And who but Nemech, of course. With the overtime.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Brat drives Brat behind the net. Brat spins, looking for somebody to pass to. Uyghur pokes it ahead, but Jack finds Nemes who scores.

[Don Hahn]

Sean Nemes.

[Alan Hahn]

And the Devils Win it overtime, 2 to 1.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Put a pitchfork in this one.

[Don Hahn]

That's glorious. And by the way, beautiful. Did you have what was Daniel gagged like? He did a great job letting you go.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, he was because he was too busy punching bright Salvador.

[Don Hahn]

He was so fired up.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Listen, this team's really struggling and the Flames aren't very good and they traded Rasmus Anderson the day before, so they're kind of in their rebuild mode. But it was a great back and forth game that they just absolutely had to have. And it was disappointing. They couldn't get into regulation, but with a non conference opponent, you don't care. The Flames get a point, right? And what really impressed me that you saw on television is, you know, it would have been so easy for Nemetz to just blast the pass, but he just gently lifted it over Cooley the goaltender. It was such a great way to score and they desperately needed it. Now they get the Flame. Now they get the Oilers tonight. Granted, it's a second to Back to back. No dry saddle. He went back to Germany because of a family issue. And then you got a Vancouver team that you know is selling off pieces. They've lost A franchise record 11 straight games, and a Kraken team you just beat last week. You know, maybe they can get on a little bit of toot here. They won three or four, but they desperately needed it. And I love the Saddle Dome. It's great. And that booth, you know, you're. You're hanging over because it's so small. They built it for people that are, like, five, three. So I literally have to stick my head out of the booth, Peter. I'm, like, hanging out of the gondola to call the game. And you're right on top of the action. It was. It was a lot of fun. It was a cool moment, and it should be a good game tonight.

[Alan Hahn]

So when you cross the bridge that. I saw your video. The very scary bridge.

[John Harbaugh (Press Conference Clips)]

The.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The catwalk.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, the catwalk. On the catwalk.

[Don Hahn]

On the catwalk. Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Don does his little dance. So after you cross over, you then where do you then land?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like, the other side, you know, because it. It's easier to get to the buses if I cross over the ice and take that elevator. I could take the elevator that's closer to me, but I like to. I. It does that. The height doesn't bother me. You're literally walking over the scoreboard, and.

[Alan Hahn]

You'Re over the ice when you call the game. How high up are you?

[Peter Rosenberg]

About.

[Don Hahn]

About. You can touch the roof a little bit.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But, yeah, it's. Because the way the roof goes, it's. It's a saddle. That's why they call it the Saddle Dome.

[Alan Hahn]

So you can. So. So even when you're up really high, you can still see the action. Well. Oh.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because you know what it is? It's not even. You don't even worry about being hot. You're. You're, like, over the ice. If I were to fall out of the booth, I would land, like, in the first row, so.

[Alan Hahn]

But you could see. But you could see jerseys and everything.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, yeah. No, it's. It's. I'll send you a picture of the. Of actually what the broadcast looks.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, that's what I was curious about. Cause it looks so far away from the catwalk.

[Don Hahn]

Does that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Does that a lot of fun.

[Don Hahn]

Does it still shake a little? Oh, yeah. It's. The craziest thing was when you get the vertigo the first time you're out there. And first of all, they still shoot the flames when they score.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh. And you feel the heat.

[Don Hahn]

And you feel the heat on your face. Oh, yeah, baby. Like, it's that feel, feel, feel, feel.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Feel, feel the heat.

[Don Hahn]

It's that. And then when, if there's a lot of people moving or if the crowd reacts, the, the. The bridge thing that you're on starts to like, rock and you get vertical. It. It's crazy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, but. And that was the. That was the famous arena where the incident happened, Peter. That was my return to the scene of the crime, but luckily everything went okay.

[Alan Hahn]

That's very, very cool. I'm looking right now.

[Don Hahn]

The incident.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, I had the stomach bug and.

[Don Hahn]

Oh. Oh, yeah, we don't. We probably don't need.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But here's just a real quick.

[Don Hahn]

Did it shake then too?

[Peter Rosenberg]

When the.

[Alan Hahn]

When the Dodgers.

[Peter Rosenberg]

For you.

[Alan Hahn]

Hold on.

[Peter Rosenberg]

When the Dodgers.

[Don Hahn]

You don't need to.

[Peter Rosenberg]

When the Dodgers won the World Series, Game seven, We were in la, so there was that surreal moment. They were showing the game on the Jumbotron while I was calling the game.

[Don Hahn]

That's cool.

[Peter Rosenberg]

When. When the Buckeyes lost in the playoffs, Ohio State. We were in Columbus. Oh, that's right. For that game. Yeah. And now we're going to be in Seattle Sunday, the same day where the championship game played between the Seahawks and the Rams. They moved our game down, up an hour, so the game's going to be at noon local. So the game could be over before the championship game. So we'd be kind of following around.

[Don Hahn]

But you're out of town though, right? You're not going to be there for the game?

[Alan Hahn]

No, he'll be gone.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, our game is going to start at noon and then we're leaving right now.

[Don Hahn]

Leaving right away. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Their game is going to start at 3:30.

[Alan Hahn]

Chocolate soft serve.

[Don Hahn]

In your pants.

[Alan Hahn]

Diarrhea that you dream about.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now, if you're telling me. No, I. I will say this.

[Alan Hahn]

Why would you dream. Don, why would Freddy Kitchens dream about diarrhea?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I. I would need to talk to him about that.

[Alan Hahn]

Can I hear that one more time?

[Don Hahn]

I. For.

[Alan Hahn]

I forgot he said diarrhea that you dream about.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, that. Not even like you dream about. I'll have you know. In the round of 64. Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wow. Actually, God's name, would you ever dream about that? I don't know.

[Don Hahn]

Actually, though, Anthony, like, we're getting close. We're almost to February, right? Like, we're almost. He's gonna have to start putting a bracket. Listen, I'm on the phone daily with Lenardi.

[Alan Hahn]

You gotta talk to Leonardi, we've got our.

[Don Hahn]

Who's in, who's out? First four in, last four out. Oh, it's there. This is great. So right now all of you and the callers are just trying to get. Get yourself in. I'm excited. Get that MIAC bid while you still can.

[Commercial Announcer]

That's right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because you're gonna have the, the conference tournaments are going to be coming up soon.

[Don Hahn]

That a 10 automatic bids. Yes.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Sure. But you know, if you're telling me there's going to be a storm hitting on Sunday, maybe we don't leave right away and we end up staying over in Seattle. And if that. That's the case, I'm getting in that.

[Don Hahn]

You got to go.

[Alan Hahn]

Come on, dude.

[Don Hahn]

By the way, show your ESPN badge. You'll get in somehow, some way. You got to get.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, because when Don had that tough night in Calgary, the Legion of Boom, you know what I mean? In Japan.

[Don Hahn]

This is not going to stop, is it? Let me. All right, let me answer what Peter said on the other side. We'll get back to the Giant stuff too. But you did say, right, like, because as you said, there's reporting that the Jalen Brunson held the players only meeting after that game, which, by the way, that had to happen. Carmelo Anthony said it on the NBC broadcast. He said, like, you have to, you don't let anybody leave. You close the doors, no coaches, and you have it out. And that had to happen. It apparently did happen. And when you said, like, is that when it comes to the coach, what does that say? Because if you have a players only meeting, what, what I'll tell you is this. It tells you that the players, or at least the leadership of the players acknowledge this is not a coaching issue. This is not a system stylistic issue. This is a us issue. Right. This is a me problem.

[Alan Hahn]

Yep.

[Don Hahn]

And we got to fix it here. And why I say that it's evident is because last year there were times during the season, especially in the playoffs, there was a moment where it had been reported that the players collectively, not as the group, but like the leadership went to Tibbs and say, hey, listen, you need to play Mitchell Robinson more. Josh Hart said, I'm playing like crap. They're exposing me. You need to put Mitch in the starting lineup. I'll go to the bench. I'll take the sacrifice and go to the bench. You got to play him where they were talking about, hey, I know we're trying to win every night. We need a break. You need to bridges getting too many Minutes, like all that stuff. So when players go to the coaches and say, we need this, we need that, that's when you say, okay, so there's a divide between the players and the coaches about how they're doing things. Interesting. When the players close the door and tell the coaches, we got this. Stay out of here. That's them saying, this is not involving you. You guys are fine. It's happening in this room, and we got to fix it. Does that make sense? Yes.

[Alan Hahn]

And you think it would be the exact opposite. You know what I mean? Well, if you think going to coaches was a sign of closeness, we know we have an issue. So we're talking to the coach.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

You're saying, no, it's the opposite.

[Don Hahn]

Well, no, they could go to tips because they knew they could. They had that relationship with them, but.

[Alan Hahn]

It'S also because they had a problem.

[Don Hahn]

They had to finally say, hey, listen, then I know you're. You know, he's. You're being rigid this year, and you need to stop. We need to do some stuff. The guys have had enough, and before it gets be a problem, we need to fix it. But this is one that they say is, you know, in the room. And Jalen Brunson last night even was asked about whether or not, like, okay, everybody wants to buy trades. Anytime a team has struggles, all right, you got to blow it up. You got to trade guys. And Brunson was asked about whether or not you've got the right kind of mix in this room. I had utmost confidence in every person in this room. Just things haven't gone our way, but we have the ability to. They know it because they did it early in the season, Donnie.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, but it's a long season, and you just. There's a couple of things at play here. Number one, we talked about earlier about. We anointed them the Eastern Conference championship not based on their play, but what was around them. Detroit's too young and not ready. Boston lost Tatum. Halliburton's out for Indiana, and we thought there was a clear path. You still got to take it. So it was more by default. And the other thing is because I saw with the devils. Devils had eight straight wins after their first loss. They were 81 to start the season.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And now they're five points out of a playoff spot. It's a long season, and consistency is a major part of it now. They haven't fallen out of it with a three seed right now. I mean, they're still okay as far as seeding is concerned. But you just can't say, well, we did it earlier in the season. You're not doing it now.

[Don Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And you're also not doing it after the in season tournament, and it was only the third one. And you've outlined what happened to the Lakers and the Bucs in the second half of the season when they won it. So were they reading their press clippings? Did they leave it too much out on the court in December and don't have it right now in the month of January? Or, you know, if. Or is the easy answer somewhere in between the great start and what they are, is the answer. And if the answer is in between, Alan, that's not good enough to win a championship. That's not good enough to come out of the East.

[Don Hahn]

No, it's pretty clear, right? That's the part. That's the part, I think, that you. Because in the first, you know, the first two months of the season, you want to get a feel, all right, what is this team? Do they have a chance? And then when you get into December and you see them play at a high level through the middle of December, and you start thinking to yourself, okay, this team's got a chance. Like, look at how they get after they're good this and that. You know, maybe make a little subtle additions at the trade deadline. Remember, this is when Giannis was basically kicking and screaming, get me out of here. I want to go to New York. Even though he wasn't saying it publicly, you know, that was going on behind the scenes, his agent basically said it brought it up again during the season, that he doesn't want to be there. And the Knicks, you know, I mean, the owner said it. We're not. We're not ready to do anything. We don't want to blow this team up. We want. We want to give this team a chance. We like what we have. That's them saying, like, we don't want to make a crazy trade. We think we've got something here. We want to give it a chance. So a month later, now it's like, well, wait a second, maybe we're getting more focus on this team. As scatter reports and everything else come out, everybody starts to see how we're playing with the new coach and they adjust. And maybe it's not as good as we thought.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And it's also a curse in New York, where whenever there's a lot of noise coming out of New York, where the prognosticators say, hey, that's the team to be, then you end up getting the target on your back as if you've accomplished something when you haven't yet.

[Don Hahn]

Because of all the noise. Yeah, it's very loud here.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, it gets. It gets loud here where you always have a target on your back after you win. But it was almost like they won, right? Like just the way they got the conference final and there was just a lot of people annoyed with how much chatter there was around the Knicks and going to the final. So I think they get pumped up to play at the Garden. I think they get pumped up to play the Knicks. They haven't been 100%. There's a lot of built in excuses here, but you can't trade anything that could take away from you getting Giannis in the off season. They're just going to have to ride this out, guys, and they might have to take a bullet of getting bounced early in the playoffs and just saying, that's okay. We're going to get. We've got the tools to get Giannis and we'll make a run next year. You can't overly panic, not living up to the expectations this year and doing damage to what you could possibly pull off in the future.

[Don Hahn]

Yes. And it's something that's funny because Kat last night also said we don't have the audio, but he said that we can't, we don't want to throw away an opportunity that we have this season. And I said, no, you see, you can't have that. Now, players should think that way, but the front office shouldn't. Right? The front office shouldn't do the all in on this season mentality because a. Like I said, unless you think you can pull it off, which is very hard to do, making a massive trade like that for a player of that magnitude. But that's an off season thing. I've said it all along and I said, you give this team a chance to show you what it can do and sometimes if it falls short, that's when you're like, all right, now we know because everybody references the Carmelo Anthony thing and how they blew up. That team that I keep reminding people was at 500 when they made the trade.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They were.

[Don Hahn]

They were starting to leak oil. They had a nice start to the season. They started to leak oil and then they made the trade for Carmelo. Now, that team finished the season strong and then everybody got hurt in that series against the Celtics. Was I still thinking that if, if Stoudemire and Billups don't get hurt, I think they can win that series, but they don't and everybody's mad about that, blowing up that team. Okay, so this time around, you go, all right, we're not going to do that this time. We're going to see this through, see if they can figure it out, get it right, see what they can become. And if it falls short now, you have every reason to say, okay, we have our assets and we have a player that wants to be here. Now we can go get them. I think that's reasonable, right? It sucks as a fan because you want to win now because you wait. You're tired of waiting. But you cannot. Just like, you can't be impatient by making a trade immediately. You also can't be impatient with a team that goes through a lull in the middle of the season after they shown you for a bulk of the season that they could be a really good team. You agree?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, 100% agree. Plus, I don't think anybody really had this team winning a championship this year. The feeling was maybe they can get.

[Don Hahn]

To a fall, get there.

[Alan Hahn]

But when you looked at. When you looked at what's out there, there was reason to think, if there's going to be a year, it's kind of like the NFL this season, it might be a year where you could, at least through the East.

[Don Hahn]

This is the Buffalo Bills thing. You're right. Josh Allen is Jalen Brunson and just trying to break through and just can't.

[Alan Hahn]

And now, granted, you have McDermott with tips, you have Oklahoma City sitting there, who would have been the Eagles in this situation, but you're thinking, I'm gonna have to deal with them. Yeah, but we might be able to get through in the East. And then you look up and you're now seven games over.500, playing like hot garbage. Jaylen Brown's putting up MVP numbers. Celtics look like they want to be around. Detroit is. I'm trying to look for the comp here. Who's the Detroit afc? Indianapolis? I don't know who the Detroit AFC comp is.

[Don Hahn]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

That's surprising. No, but think about it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Halfway through the year, Jones doesn't get.

[Alan Hahn]

Hurt that they are. They are.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The Detroit.

[Don Hahn]

Detroit look like they were. They were on. On a schedule faster than we expected.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But I brought this up with the Rangers. You could bring this up with the Mets. How close is close? Oh, you go to the conference finals, you're close. But are you really close to winning a championship? And if the answer is no, then you've got to try to get there. And sometimes you got to take a step back or stay stagnant in order to take those steps instead of like, oh, well, we bought BB Boston last year and we should have beat Indiana. If we won that game one, we would have went to the final. We could have won. All right, great. But you didn't. And now you look at the landscape and look at the way you're playing right now. All right, maybe you were close under those circumstances, but are you really a championship caliber team? I don't care how far you went there, guys. Oh, you're learning.

[Don Hahn]

You're not. You're learning. You're not.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Sports are littered with teams that make runs that we know aren't that good. They're good, but are they really championship caliber? The Rangers proved that twice in three years. Yeah, they went to the conference final. They weren't good enough to win. The jets went to two championship games. They weren't good enough to win the Super Bowl. The Mets went to, lost to the Dodgers in six. So theoretically, hey, you were five wins away from a championship, but you really weren't that close. So you've got to be honest with yourself. Is there a deal that's going to get you over the top? If not, then you're going to have to be patient and you're going to have to listen to them fans moan and groan and us on radio ripping into them. But if you believe that there's a deal out there in the offseason that's going to get you there, don't damage that by just making some sort of foolish move that's not going to end up paying off anyway.

[Don Hahn]

Right. And that's why right now it's the worst of it. Because if they give, if you're 5 and 5 over 10, you can say, I was just going through it, but we'll get right. Once you go two and eight, once you go, you know, nine out of your last 11, you know, it feels like a pitfall. And you worry that all the hard work you did to get, you know, 12 games over.500, you're giving it all back now and it makes the end of the season harder. Everybody starts to panic. You can't. If that guy is there and he's willing to wait to the off season to revisit the opportunity to be traded to New York and that's what he wants. You just can't. You can't give that all away because of what you just said, Don, for the chance of thinking you might be good enough to make a run with what you've got, let's grab A couple of calls here. 800-919-3776. Nick in Woodbridge, you've been waiting a while. Nick, you're up next.

[John Harbaugh (Press Conference Clips)]

Hey guys.

[Caller Nick]

Thanks for taking the call. Alan, for what it's worth, your interview with Clyde was awesome. So don't worry. There are people that are still watching it and looking into it.

[Don Hahn]

We appreciate it. No, thank you. Mostly for Clyde, but thank you.

[Caller Nick]

Yeah, for sure. So a couple things come to mind, like, I don't know long term if this personnel is going to be a F for Mike Brown's system. But I think everybody needs to take a breath like in the scheme of things, man, we're 43 games in. I know it feels like the world is falling and everything's terrible. I think this team will right to ship. I think they got. I think Jalen Brunson is the type of leader that will resonate in that locker room at some point. I don't worry about that. I think what I do worry about, and you said this, that the fans should or players should have the mentality about being all in this season. The guy I worry about the most that has that mentality is James Dolan. And does James Dolan start ruffling the feathers like Steph Bondi tweeted yesterday that Dolan left at halftime of that game and never went back to his seat? Does he get so pissed off at this recent play that he forces Leon's hand and then that whole plan of Giannis in the summer gets pushed up to mid season, which I don't think is the right move either. So curious your thoughts. Just remember the Pacers last year at this time with one of the worst teams in the NBA, made it to Game 7 of the final, so anything's possible.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, that's a good outlook there, Nick. Look, I think we've, we've seen the quotes from Dolan about unless Leon. Right? What, what he, he follows Leon and what Leon suggests and what he thinks the right thing to do. And he has been doing that from the start ever since he hired him. So I don't understand why there'd be a reason to go away from that right now.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, I can also tell you there are a lot of reasons why there are.

[Don Hahn]

Yes, there are.

[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Podcast Host (Don Hahn or Peter Rosenberg)]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Podcast Host (Don Hahn or Peter Rosenberg)]

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

[Alan Hahn]

It's a great question, though, isn't it?

[Don Hahn]

Do you want to bring it to the floor?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, I want to hear.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, I was just. I just. Sandra, in the break, they were on a commercial. We're watching the the great replay of last night's competitive basketball game.

[Don Hahn]

Oh yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Between the Knicks and the Mavs.

[Don Hahn]

Why wouldn't we want to watch that again?

[Alan Hahn]

And they were. And they were doing the Celebrity Row, which was last night. A bunch of the regulars were there. Bobby Bacala, Tracy Morgan. Why am I forgetting Bobby Bacala's real name?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Sharipa. Steve.

[Don Hahn]

Steve Sharipa.

[Alan Hahn]

Apologies, friend of the show. Jace. Steve Sharipa.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Especially since you know his name.

[Don Hahn]

Friend of the.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, that's either the friend Jace or the. Whatever. Anyway, so Steve Sherpa was there. Tracy was there. You know, I think Ben was there still. Or that is Ben's.

[Don Hahn]

Benji was there a lot.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's almost.

[Don Hahn]

Remember if he was there last night. But he's. He's always there.

[Alan Hahn]

And Don, I was just asking the question. For the ones that I see there literally every night, they're getting the celebrity row treatment, which means they get a. Literally front row seat.

[Don Hahn]

Yes. They're gifted it. That's the best seat in the house. I don't think everything is gifted.

[Alan Hahn]

Maybe not every night.

[Don Hahn]

I don't think it's like that.

[Alan Hahn]

A lot of them are gifted.

[Don Hahn]

I mean, it's, It's.

[Alan Hahn]

They have an allotment.

[Don Hahn]

It's a relationship. Let's just say that it's a relationship. You know, the old Tinstaffel. No, you never took Economics. No, Don, you know what Tinstoffel is?

[Alan Hahn]

Did I take econ 100? Maybe, but I don't know what.

[Don Hahn]

Tinstoffel is an acronym. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

[Alan Hahn]

You're confusing with Tim Toffle.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, I meant Tim Toffle.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Voodoo economics.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, no economics.

[Alan Hahn]

So.

[Don Hahn]

No, no. But Tinstafel is. There's no such thing as a free lunch. So when you say they're gifted, it's not really like everybody has something they do. You're always paying for it in some way, so.

[Alan Hahn]

But it's a good situation.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, it's. It's a beautiful situation. Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

So, like, you know, like, remember last year, Don, when. When I. When I took the beautiful picture of you and Mark Ronson.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Alan Hahn]

You know, and Ronson took me to the game. Ronson sometimes gets gifted the tickets. And on this night, he had not heard anything. He just went on and bought it.

[Don Hahn]

Got tickets. Yeah, he went and paid for tickets.

[Alan Hahn]

He'll do either one because he's.

[Don Hahn]

He's a fan.

[Alan Hahn]

What I was trying to say to Alan was, though, I wonder if that was my situation, if I would literally, if I would be up to be like Tracy Morgan and go legit 40 nights a year.

[Don Hahn]

Spike.

[Alan Hahn]

Spike pays for him.

[Don Hahn]

And Spike, you know, those always been his. He's very proud of that. Those are his tickets. He. He always talks about how the first time he could afford it, the first thing he did.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's a big deal.

[Don Hahn]

It's a big deal. But he's religiously there.

[Alan Hahn]

Like, Don, do you. There yesterday, Don, do you think that you still have it in you to love A team enough like now. I guess it also depends where you live. How long's the trip to get there?

[Don Hahn]

Every time Here, this is all you need to know. Like Don, we know. Loves the devil so much, he's got a tattoo.

[Alan Hahn]

That's right.

[Don Hahn]

Right. You know, I've been involved in nicks in a long, long time. If I, Don or I became billionaires, let's say we won lottery. Billionaires don't have to work anymore.

[Alan Hahn]

Quit the job.

[Don Hahn]

Would you buy tickets, season tickets to the devils and go 41 nights a year? I buy a courtside seat and go to 41 Knick games a year.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If I had that kind of disposable income, and more importantly, the time.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Where I'm independently wealthy, I could do whatever the heck I want to do. Would I go to 41 games? Yeah, people do it. People have season tickets and they go to 41 games. They may not be on the glass or on the court, but they go.

[Alan Hahn]

Those are real things.

[Don Hahn]

Let me tell you, sitting courtside, it's the best thing.

[Alan Hahn]

No, it's the best.

[Don Hahn]

That's not like when you say, would you get tired? No, because it's. Every game's unique. It's different opponent, so different players, different stars come in. You're sitting there and you're in it versus, you know, again, when you're sitting elsewhere, I could see how it's like, you feel a little bit distant. And a good game, you're into it because it's a crowd around you. But if.

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, no. It's unlike side.

[Don Hahn]

That seat. No, you can't get tired.

[Alan Hahn]

There is literally no comp in other sports. Even up against the glasses.

[Don Hahn]

Disagree. I think the best comp.

[Alan Hahn]

Try me.

[Don Hahn]

Sitting. You remember where Giuliani used to sit next to the next. The dugout.

[Alan Hahn]

Next to the dugout.

[Don Hahn]

Right in front of. Right in front of the deck.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes. Right behind the. On decks.

[Don Hahn]

Now the netting's there. Now it kind of sucks.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Don Hahn]

But back in the day.

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, listen, if. When you're close enough to the. To the field where you can hear the players chatting to each other and.

[Don Hahn]

You can hear the crack of the.

[Alan Hahn]

Bat and you can hear the.

[Don Hahn]

You can hear the. The manager cursing out the umpire. That. Come on, that's special.

[Alan Hahn]

Not. And then the view, but it's still not. And don't.

[Don Hahn]

July evening.

[Alan Hahn]

Don, are you with me, though? There's no comp to truly. I mean, maybe ringside at boxing. Certainly not ufc.

[Commercial Announcer]

The cage.

[Alan Hahn]

You're too far back.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Ringside at Boxing or wrestling is pretty great. You can hear everything and see. But basketball.

[Don Hahn]

All right.

[Alan Hahn]

There's nothing between.

[Don Hahn]

So there's the question. The best seat. No, there's no question in sports.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm telling you, there's no question.

[Don Hahn]

You're saying it's courtside. You're with me. There's no question.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm not going to be bullied. Peter's right. Thank you for this aspect. There's not. You're not. You're seeing everything. Everything is right there.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Literally, like in baseball, you got those seats, but do you have the angle to see if it's going to be a home run or not? And if the great catch. It's still so far. Oh, the great catch is way out because you're so. You're literally the length of the field away from seeing it. What's the farthest anything's happening in the action on the court away from you?

[Alan Hahn]

Well, especially if you're in the middle and in the seats. We're talking about the ones that they're Defense. Stiller. No, no, but the ones that Stiller and Timmy Chalamamla is getting. The ones that. The ones that Timmy and Ben Stiller are getting and Spike seats. Those are within feet of center court. So both directions. You see it all. They're running right by you. They're talking to you.

[Don Hahn]

It's crazy. So, again, I have the incredible opportunity to call games sitting at that middle table, the number one seat literally on center court. My seat. Right. And I always take a picture for the game because it's always like, I'm gonna tell people one day. I used to actually do this. You never. But, like, I make sure it's like proof.

[Alan Hahn]

Paid to sit there.

[Don Hahn]

Paid to sit there.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Don Hahn]

And watch, like. And watch the. And. And that's literally, like, I look to my left, and there they. All the guys. There's Distiller, There's. There's Morgan, There's Michael J. Fox. They're all right there. And that's. That's the unbelievable perspective. And you're right. You're only 40ft away from the action. Either way.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And this is goofy, but it just. It's. Even if going to be 58 years old, I still get a kick of being on the field or the court. Like, to get to your seats, you're.

[Alan Hahn]

Walking on the court. Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Playing baseball, you're not walking. Even if you did walk on the field, it's foul territory.

[Alan Hahn]

You're not.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You're not walking down the first base line.

[Alan Hahn]

Now now, now, let me.

[Don Hahn]

It's the closest I could come up with.

[Alan Hahn]

No, no, it's.

[Don Hahn]

Let me see. Next to the dugout where you can hear Tory, like screaming at an ump. You can hear cheater saying stuff like, that's pretty cool.

[Alan Hahn]

I'll throw this at you, though. It's in it. This isn't a seat that you can go by, I don't think. Maybe it's some. Maybe with some teams you can. If you're able to ever get the experience, someone invites you or there's some connection and you get the pre game football field experience.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, that's pretty cool.

[Alan Hahn]

Standing. And I've. And I don't know if you've done this. Stood on the sideline when the game starts and you're watching the game, kind of walking with the team because they walk up and down the field as the game goes on.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, it's a fly.

[Alan Hahn]

It's. That is a pretty insane thing. I still wouldn't put it in basketball, though.

[Don Hahn]

What did you notice about being on an NFL field when. When like speed. No, no, I don't mean the action. I mean perspective.

[Alan Hahn]

I mean how gigantic these men.

[Don Hahn]

No, no, no, no. Well, it's. For me, I felt like this field is a lot smaller than it looks on tv.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, yeah. Yes. That's a fair point.

[Don Hahn]

Like there's no room out there.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

It's a full field.

[Don Hahn]

It's really not that bad on tv. It feels like this gigantic space and you're standing there going like, this really isn't that big.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I've told you this a million times, that when we finished the post game for the Jets, Greg and I, our cars were literally parked on the other side of the stadium so security would let us cut through the field. We'd walk on the field.

[Don Hahn]

Nice.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I got the biggest kick out of. And you're right. You stand to the 50 yard line, it feels like you could touch the goalpost.

[Don Hahn]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Not that it doesn't seem like that far away. And then you look up at the stadium and you see it's just how.

[Alan Hahn]

You want to have it feel. You want to have it feel further away. If you want to have it feel further away. And I've had the pleasure of doing this too, because topic seven, does Summer Jam throw a ball, take an NFL official ball, drop back and try to throw a 25 yard pass with anything on it.

[Don Hahn]

Don.

[Alan Hahn]

That doesn't require you leaning into it and heaving and going, what do these.

[Don Hahn]

Psychos like Caleb Williams.

[Alan Hahn]

Yes. Who's running back backwards and threw it 50 yards.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You've done it, Peter. So you know, and Alan's done it a million times. But I, I played basketball when I was a kid and I played like CYO and I didn't play in high school, so I was still a kid. But when I did those college basketball games, the holiday festival Allen.

[Don Hahn]

Oh yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'd hang out on the court.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And. And there'd be a ball and we bounce it around, we throw it around before the game. And then I'm in a suit and I'm in shoes or whatever so I'm not in sneakers or. But you know, to take a jump shot from three point. It's like I can't reach. Like I got like really heave it. No.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, NBA 3 is funny to me. Like whoa.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It's just pretty.

[Alan Hahn]

Well see for me, for me it's not distance of shot because I'm aware of what that is. To me it's for basketball. And this happened when I did the celebrity game in 2017. I had been practicing leading up Don remember my. I was worried my Achilles were hurting so I was wearing the braces because Alan I didn't want to pop an Achilles on national television.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, that'd be bad.

[Alan Hahn]

So I'm wearing the Achilles brace, getting all prepared. I'm playing at little gyms around New York to prepare. And then I, and then I get to the Smoothie King center or wherever the hell we did the game and I walk out on the full size court and I go. I'm not going to be able to breathe after three times up and down this court. Like the actual. It's the opposite of the football field. It's not the size of the. I know. But the width of the court. If you play pick up ball, you're never on a court that's as wide as an NBA court.

[Don Hahn]

I guess I don't. I did a thing get ready again when I was a beat writer.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh no.

[Don Hahn]

Anytime there'd be a morning shoot around like on, on the road, they would leave out the rack.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Stratus.

[Don Hahn]

The basketball rack. They leave it out.

[Alan Hahn]

You're popping.

[Don Hahn]

And so a bunch of the guys on the beat, like we're all. We'd grab like once the. Once we knew the team left and now all it's just workers in the building. And now you're done. Like see you had a few minutes. So we put shots up. But I always made it a point to dunk in every arena. I could dunk.

[Alan Hahn]

Oh God, this you Know what?

[Don Hahn]

You know what I mean? Like that. That felt good. Because it's different. Listen, and by the way, TD go. I have a picture.

[Alan Hahn]

The whole segment here, Don, has been us being nozzles. Let's be honest, right? The whole segment is just three privileged. You know what? All the places we've been talking about. Oh, when you get on the court here and you get on the football. I was at MetLife Stadium kicking field goals, and I did this and I.

[Don Hahn]

Did that, blah, blah.

[Alan Hahn]

And Don, we're already being nozzles.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep.

[Alan Hahn]

But then Alan literally hangs on the rim. He literally goes, I see your nozzle, I jump over your nozzle and I hang on.

[Don Hahn]

See what you're doing?

[Peter Rosenberg]

You remember Raw where the Italian guy goes, see Rocky?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And they go to this. And then there's the big tall black guy. He's like bends down and goes, hey, little man, did you just see Rocky?

[Alan Hahn]

That's Alan to us. That's right.

[Commercial Announcer]

You guys went on the court, huh?

[Alan Hahn]

Oh, you took a three point in the celebrity game. Oh, Tom took a three pointer playing up before his college basketball game.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Really? I dunked. I dunked on every basketball.

[Don Hahn]

Every. Every rim I could get. I got.

[Alan Hahn]

I want to see a picture.

[Don Hahn]

I'm.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm finding you're still clearing a dunk right now.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, yeah. The last one I did was in.

[Alan Hahn]

August and you could still jam.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. Now, are you coming?

[Alan Hahn]

Are you going to do this?

[Don Hahn]

Five is a big one.

[Alan Hahn]

So are you going to keep doing this until you tear everything on the dunk? Like, is that what the plan is? I just keep going until it all falls ap.

[Don Hahn]

I'll throw it out there. What should it be? What should I do? Because this is just. Once I turned. Once I turned 40, I started saying, I. I gotta make sure I can keep doing this. So it just became a thing that I just. Every year, like, usually around my birthday, if I could get near it, if I was near a gym, I would go in and just now. Would you.

[Alan Hahn]

You stretch first?

[Don Hahn]

Oh, of course.

[Alan Hahn]

Like, for the one dunk, you still gotta stretch.

[Don Hahn]

I told you, it's not going up, up. It's the coming down.

[Alan Hahn]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

You need to understand that that is the part that scares me.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He's not Prince, you know, he just glides down after.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

No, that's not how it works.

[Don Hahn]

No. And I don't. You can't hang on the picture. We're £230 something pounds. I'll. I might break something.

[Alan Hahn]

You'll go full Daryl Dawkins.

[Don Hahn]

I don't want to do that. Yeah, I'm. I'm. It's.

[Commercial Announcer]

It was a long time.

[Don Hahn]

I was a beat writer years and years ago, man.

[Alan Hahn]

But you said scrolling back for this. Oh, so you're saying for the. For the arena ones. It was years ago.

[Don Hahn]

The arena one. That's the one you want to see is so this.

[Alan Hahn]

So every year now, when you do it, you do it in a gy.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, I do it. I have. I have my regulation on the driveway that I warm up.

[Alan Hahn]

You ever do it on the hockey rink? That would show me something. Put the basket on the hockey. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

[Don Hahn]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

Do it on skate. Show me something.

[Don Hahn]

But if you want to play that game. I did skate at Lake Placid.

[Alan Hahn]

See, here we go now. Now he goes again. Exactly. Yeah, no big deal.

[Don Hahn]

I will find this. All right, well, we'll wait. The one in Boston. Tina Servacio took the picture.

[Alan Hahn]

Now he's name dropping on the photographer.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There it is.

[Don Hahn]

And that's long ago. Before camp phone cameras had, like, any type of quality.

[Alan Hahn]

This is.

[Don Hahn]

But that's legit. That's me.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Hold on.

[Alan Hahn]

This is an insane thing. First. April 19, 2011.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Wow. And he come and he wrote in the caption, shaq isn't the only 39 year old in Boston who can bang one at TD Garden.

[Don Hahn]

Bet your ass.

[Alan Hahn]

But I have to admit, I did airball a few threes. Shrugs.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, I did.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And send me the picture.

[Alan Hahn]

You got to send this to him. And also, one of the illest things about. It's horrible. Blurry.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Blur.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Nasty. Everything.

[Don Hahn]

2011.

[Alan Hahn]

But I can still tell.

[Don Hahn]

What?

[Alan Hahn]

That it's those mid 2000s jeans. I can tell from the blood. They're those big straight leg 2011 jeans that are in all my pictures. From that, everybody was.

[Don Hahn]

Why am I wearing jeans?

[Alan Hahn]

What are you doing? Send on that, though.

[Don Hahn]

That.

[Alan Hahn]

That is amazing.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Alan Hahn]

Jamming in the Garden.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, I'll.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I'm gonna.

[Don Hahn]

I'm gonna actually. Yeah, I'll put this in the group.

[Alan Hahn]

All right. It's not jamming in the Garden, but when we get back, Don, I officially will give you my grade. Let's do it for John Harbaugh's introductory press conference. I'm not wrong on these folks. We'll do that next.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Podcast Host (Don Hahn or Peter Rosenberg)]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Podcast Host (Don Hahn or Peter Rosenberg)]

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

[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Don Hahn]

Give. Yeah, it's good. It's such good vin. But you know what? You know what he stole from us though, Peter?

[Alan Hahn]

What's that?

[Don Hahn]

The ability to do a transition again. He had a great. He had an elite transition earlier in the show. And coming out of break with this, we're robbed of another elite.

[Alan Hahn]

I know, but it's still so good.

[Don Hahn]

You almost left the audience now wanting more, Don. But you gave us good vin. You gave us good vin.

[Alan Hahn]

Thank you for that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Tomorrow.

[Don Hahn]

You know what else we have to give a game time Brought to you by Till Mordew Irish Whiskey. Because when it's game time, sure is. Hockey Ranger, right? The Rangers continue their west coast trip. They're in la. They take on The Kings coverage immediately follows Dan Grasse like you dream at 9:30. And as we know, Los Diablos, they're in Edmonton. They take on the Oilers. No Donnie tonight. No. This is a TNT vehicle.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Don Hahn]

So we get full frontal Donnie to you on the show and we might get shirt off. Don cheering for the Devils tonight in the building. But that puck drop is at 10. The original triple distilled, triple blended, triple cast matured Irish whiskey. Be sure to grab a Telemardu or try the new Telemurdo, honey. During today's action, glasses up to enjoying Telemardu responsibility right in your app. It is right in your app.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

All right, so you want to grade?

[Don Hahn]

Let's get it.

[Alan Hahn]

So we played a lot of, of President Biden's conference. I'm sorry, John Harbaugh's press.

[Don Hahn]

Should we give people a taste? Yeah, I'll give you the short one that we have.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Do we have Biden though?

[Don Hahn]

Oh, do we have a Biden clip? Do a side by side. Later in the week we'll do a side by side. Here you go. Here's a little bit though of like what it sounds like.

[John Harbaugh (Press Conference Clips)]

Our focus is simple. It starts with building a team that is physical and tough, that's capable of overwhelming their opponent from beginning to end and especially at the end that understands how to finish, that is smart and disciplined and plays the game the way it should be played and that everybody watching it, including those playing it, be proud of.

[Don Hahn]

It's that uncanny is as close to a Biden sounding cut as any of the ones that we could.

[Alan Hahn]

If he had said I'm not kidding around, well, that that's all we would have need that.

[Don Hahn]

It's that simple. It's that simple.

[Alan Hahn]

It's that simple. I'm not kidding around.

[Don Hahn]

We like football.

[Alan Hahn]

We like. I like football.

[Don Hahn]

You love football.

[Alan Hahn]

You love football.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You want to be here.

[Alan Hahn]

But we all love football.

[Don Hahn]

Just like my dad said.

[Alan Hahn]

My dad loved football. My son Bo loved football. We all love football.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I don't know.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm coming, Clinton. So.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, yeah. Anyway, so okay, so what do we think of the press conference today? A lot of things that were said. Why he took the job. He wants to work with Joe Shane. Very impressed with Shane. He likes the hierarchy where he has the ability to go to the owner and he plans, as you just heard, plans to build the team. That's going to be tough.

[Alan Hahn]

Now listen, I gave Joe Judge, you know, I don't know if I gave a letter grade, but if you listen to the show it was clearly a fail.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, it was an E. And the rest of the guys, Right. Don and Michael thought it was great.

[Alan Hahn]

Well, Michael. John wasn't as committed, I think, one.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Way or the other.

[Alan Hahn]

And Michael went crazy. Put him in the hall of Fame. He went absolutely nuts.

[Commercial Announcer]

So.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, you never gave.

[Commercial Announcer]

Great.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You said, no, it's not going to work.

[Alan Hahn]

I said, it's not going to work.

[Don Hahn]

Okay. And then Aaron, Glenn, same thing last year.

[Alan Hahn]

You were like I said, let's be honest. Let's be honest. Let's fast forward. This thing ain't happening.

[Don Hahn]

Okay.

[Alan Hahn]

That's what I said.

[Don Hahn]

Okay.

[Alan Hahn]

I'm going to use a letter grade here because I think that it's.

[Don Hahn]

It's.

[Alan Hahn]

I cannot say about a Hall of Famer, like, it's not going to work. And I can't say, oh, they're winning a Super Bowl. I am gonna give John Harbaugh a B plus. I'm gonna give him a nice. A nice B plus. No, it's a B plus. That's really good.

[Don Hahn]

Solid B.

[Alan Hahn]

It's the. No, no solid B plus.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But what about.

[Don Hahn]

Hey, what about A minus? What kept him from that? Yeah. Sound like Biden.

[Alan Hahn]

No. Someone say that? Should. I shouldn't A for that?

[Don Hahn]

You worried about him falling off?

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah. No. You know what it was? The reason I didn't go A is that if I really break it down and again here, I don't want Tessa to call or whoever else just come scream at me.

[Don Hahn]

Well, let's see.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Too late.

[Alan Hahn]

It was a little generic. It was a little generic.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Really? Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

He could have basically given this anywhere. He added the I'm impressed by the market and the team is so great. Oh, do you like Jackson Dart? Oh, I hear the quarterback's important. I like Jackson Darth. I didn't get anything that I found to be incredibly personal about this specific team. But I also thought he sounded really good. I don't think he said anything stupid. There was no rah, rah, rile them up football, you know, annoying, placating junk to fans. It was a really solid performance. I think you could feel good about what he said. I didn't.

[Don Hahn]

I don't know.

[Alan Hahn]

Did you guys have a moment of.

[Don Hahn]

Well, here, let me.

[Alan Hahn]

An A would have been absolute inspiration.

[Don Hahn]

Okay, let me.

[Alan Hahn]

I didn't come away absolute inspiration for those late.

[Don Hahn]

Did not hear some of the cuts we played earlier. Like, here's one example again, how he made it clear, despite all the. The consternation before he officially signed that this was the job he wanted One.

[John Harbaugh (Press Conference Clips)]

Of the most iconic franchises in all of sports. I wanted this job. I think I told you that, Mr. Mayor. I wanted this job. I wanted this job. And to be on the. The biggest stage in the biggest sport. I know the challenges. I understand the expectations. I know the fans are hungry for a winner. We're here with one mission, to become. To earn the right to be called the world champions in New York. And that's what we plan to do.

[Don Hahn]

And applause.

[Alan Hahn]

Yeah, I had to be the players, right?

[Don Hahn]

The assembled media.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Listen, it's your.

[Alan Hahn]

Couldn't have been assembled.

[Don Hahn]

No, it was. It was the staffers, of course.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, I don't. When you call the franchise that hires you, you know, an iconic franchise, he recognized New York. He recognized how hungry the fans are. I think anything more over the top would have been, you know, just a little too much. I think he hit.

[Alan Hahn]

No, he couldn't at all. He couldn't.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, no.

[Alan Hahn]

I don't mean that he should have gone more over the top. I think he nailed the exact tone of how excited he should be. I just mean in terms of him saying anything in particular I think you missed. Inspiring.

[Don Hahn]

If we could find it, it might have been a question that he answered. He does go into a little bit of detail about the team and what he saw on film and the fact that his dad called them. Did you see this? Did you see that? Yeah, yeah, I saw all that. Oh, here, this is Harbaugh. If you may, maybe. Maybe this will help change the grade. Let's see a little extra credit maybe. Let's see if you'll be willing to change the grade. Here's Harbaugh talking about the Giant roster.

[John Harbaugh (Press Conference Clips)]

I see a lot of really good players when I look at the roster. Really? Well, not the roster so much as the tape. That's where you look. You look at the tape. You know, that's what shows you, right, guys? It shows you it's on the tape. So I'm on tape and I see a lot of good football players and not just me. My dad, he calls me up about three days into this process, and he goes, you watch the Giants? I'm like, yeah, I watch them. He goes, you see the way they come off the ball on offense? You see the offensive line, you see the offense. See those guys? See that quarterback, you know, you see that defense? See that front? You see those guys flying around back there? I'm like, yeah, I saw it. I saw it. So when my dad told me, I knew it was true. We have a chance. We have A chance.

[Don Hahn]

How do we feel?

[Alan Hahn]

I am.

[Don Hahn]

Can we bump it up to an A minus?

[Alan Hahn]

No, I'm going to leave it at a B plus. But I will. I will give the Biden impression an A times a thousand. If. If you're listening to that. I don't care what your political affiliation is. If you are listening and you don't hear what we're talking about, It's Don.

[Don Hahn]

It's.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You haven't heard him.

[Don Hahn]

No.

[Alan Hahn]

It's the most.

[Don Hahn]

Don.

[Alan Hahn]

Is it the most sound alikey we've ever had of anyone?

[Peter Rosenberg]

One of the most ever.

[Don Hahn]

Wait.

[Alan Hahn]

Can't get over.

[Don Hahn]

It's like Mahomes to Kermit the Frog.

[John Harbaugh (Press Conference Clips)]

Yes.

[Don Hahn]

Very close.

[Alan Hahn]

It's. It's almost on the nose.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Alan Hahn]

Like if he said that was Garrett Cole.

[Don Hahn]

Patrick Mahomes. Jericho. Patrick. Mahomes is almost identical.

[Alan Hahn]

It's close, but.

[Don Hahn]

And those are two humans.

[Alan Hahn]

I think this is better.

[Don Hahn]

This is very good.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I guess the thing that impressed me, Peter, is that we heard the reports that he wanted this job. He respected the Giants organization. That certainly came across it. Did he see these athletes? Oh, my dad was a Mickey Mantle fan. That's why I signed with the Yankees.

[Commercial Announcer]

Oh.

[Alan Hahn]

Not.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Not the fact that they gave you a million dollars more a year than everybody else offered.

[Don Hahn]

How dare you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know they. But no, but that's always. Every. Every Yankee sign. There was always. They found some kind of common ground on why they. That it's not about the money. When you know damn well it's usually about the money. Right?

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

George Young always said when they say it's not about the money, it's about the money. But I think he backed it up by. By how enthusiastic he was. I think he checked every box.

[Alan Hahn]

No, but is it. Is it checking every box a B plus?

[Peter Rosenberg]

You don't say checking every box is an A plus.

[Alan Hahn]

No, an A plus is they tapped into something you didn't even know was gonna be there.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He.

[Alan Hahn]

They went to some other. Well, there was another place that we're like, wow.

[Don Hahn]

A is. I got all the answers right. I got everything right. He got everything right.

[Alan Hahn]

What did you wrong? I don't know if that's. That's not my. I see what. You're a tough grader.

[Don Hahn]

No, he's grading an essay. We're grading a question. Multiple choice. That's the difference. You're grading the essay.

[Alan Hahn]

Okay, That's a good way to put it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Don Hahn]

What we can do is we can grade what's coming up next. Let's grade enn thanks for listening to.

[Podcast Host (Don Hahn or Peter Rosenberg)]

The Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don Hahn]

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

[Podcast Host (Don Hahn or Peter Rosenberg)]

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.