Hour 3: Will Mitch Return?

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg – Hour 3: Will Mitch Return?

ESPN New York – June 29, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this lively hour, the trio of Don La Greca, Alan Hahn, and Peter Rosenberg dig into the fallout from the New York Knicks’ championship season, debating the future of pivotal center Mitchell Robinson, the franchise’s roster constraints, and the emotional toll of high-stakes team-building. The episode also journeys into memories of the Meadowlands Arena, the Brooklyn Nets’ identity crisis, and even hits on pop culture and pronunciation debates. Fans call in to join the conversation, weaving a distinct New York flavor throughout.

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Main Discussion: The Knicks’ Offseason and Mitchell Robinson’s Future

The Roster Crunch: Who Stays, Who Goes?

[00:43]

• With the Knicks fresh off a championship, the hosts discuss efforts to re-sign key contributors.
• Landry Shamet has re-signed for four years ($25M), and Jose Alvarado is set to return, stabilizing the bench.
• “The bench pieces all seem like they’re falling into place. But one of the most important bench pieces they had is Mitchell Robinson, who has been a Knick the longest.” – Alan Hahn [01:15]

The Second Apron: The Knicks’ Salary Cap Dilemma

[02:40]

• Alan breaks down the NBA’s new “second apron” – an unofficial hard cap with severe restrictions on roster moves and asset flexibility.
• James Dolan, Knicks owner, publicly declared, “We’re not going to be a second apron team,” surprising the front office and limiting options to retain Robinson.
• “The Knicks as a front office were surprised by that … they were hoping to bring the whole team back, including Mitch, going to the second apron.” – Alan Hahn [03:34]

Mitchell Robinson’s Market and Medical Concerns

[04:36–09:13]

• Robinson, now an unrestricted free agent, is expected to command $20M annually — more than the Knicks can offer.
• Potential suitors include the Lakers, Nets, and Pelicans.
• “Centers, especially rebounding centers, defensive shot-blocking centers, guys that can defend multiple positions like Robinson, are at a premium…” – Alan Hahn [03:05]
• Injury history and load management are red flags for teams:
  • “He’s not, he’s worthless to you the second of back-to-backs... He is going to be on, for lack of a better phrase, an innings limit.” – Rothenberg [05:29]
  • Robinson played all playoff games in 2025, but only 14 minutes per game in the 2026 postseason.
• The hosts agree he’s most valuable to a contender, not a rebuilding team:
  • “He’s only good to a championship caliber team.” – Rothenberg [08:11]

Emotional Impact and Team Chemistry

[11:38]

• Alan reminisces about Robinson's popularity and big championship moments:
  • “You fall in love with guys like this, right? ... I’ll never forget the interview I did with him sitting in his truck, waiting for the parade to start.” – Alan Hahn [11:38]
• Losing fan favorites is “the price of winning a championship:”
  • “These are the tough moments, but it’s the price of winning … if that’s all you lose and now you trust your front office … that’s kind of what the NBA was hoping for, and that’s why you’ve seen eight different champions in eight years.” – Rothenberg [12:52]
• The question shifts: How do the Knicks pivot? Can they find a backup center on a minimum deal who fills some of Robinson’s roles?

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Sidebar 1: Nets Nostalgia & Arena Identity

The Brooklyn Nets’ Identity Crisis

[14:24–16:09]

• The hosts riff about the Nets’ “irrelevance,” with Rosenberg referencing their new rebrand and 60th anniversary.
• Nostalgic debate over Nets’ best uniforms: red, white, and blue ‘70s, ‘90s tie-dye era, or the current black-and-white Brooklyn look.
  • “I would like … to see them go back to the red, white and blue.” – Rothenberg [14:29]
  • “The black and white was kind of … it doesn’t have any … There’s been really nothing to this era.” – Don Hahn [14:44]

Memories of the Meadowlands Arena

[16:23–19:16]

• The Meadowlands Arena (now a film set) prompts stories about NBA Finals, concerts, and the Devils’ Stanley Cups.
• “The Meadowlands was cool, man. You had two NBA Finals there. The Devils won two cups there…and the three Stanley Cup Finals…” – Rothenberg [17:42]
• Rosenberg imagines the Nets playing a few throwback games there or even a documentary on MSG about arena history.

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Sidebar 2: Pronunciation Debates and Comedy

Soccer and Pronunciation Arguments

[21:38–24:13]

• A hilarious tangent erupts as Don pronounces “Paraguay” with a Spanish accent, sparking mockery from Rothenberg.
  • “Nobody says it that way unless you’re from Paraguay. All of a sudden, because it’s the World Cup, I now gotta say Paraguay? No, no, man…” – Rothenberg [22:06]
  • “He’s just putting some sizzle on.” – Rosenberg [21:58]
• The trio riff on how hockey and PA announcers “over-perform” names, blending sport and cultural comedy.

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Pop Culture & Other Musings

The Meadowlands as a Film Location

[29:08]

• The arena is now repurposed as a location for productions like The Walking Dead and The Equalizer.
  • “Meadowlands arena … has been reimagined as an ideal filming location.” – Don Hahn [29:08]

House of the Dragon & TV Recommendations

[30:01–31:32]

• Don and Rosenberg try to sell Alan on House of the Dragon, veering into Game of Thrones “incest talk,” with plenty of self-aware humor.
  • “Where do you stand on incest? Because that’s really big in Game of Thrones.” – Don Hahn [31:29]

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Key Caller Highlights

[36:09] Greg from Tom’s River

• Reminisces about the Meadowlands and stresses how “arenas belong in cities.”
• Notes that Howard Cosell wildly over-Frenched the name “Montreal.”
• On Robinson: “I think he would have a tough time getting out of that group of players and organization that he’s been with basically his whole life. I think it would be a mistake...I think he should stay with the Knicks.”

[41:02] Mike in the Bronx

• Critiques Mets’ leadership for undermining locker room culture by not paying clubhouse stalwarts, comparing to how the Knicks prioritized keeping Jalen Brunson’s “guys.”
• “What you do with your money says more than what you say and that affects things.”

[47:31] Joe in Rocky Point

• Shares vivid memories of concerts at the Meadowlands, from Springsteen’s legendary ‘84 show to a love story sparked at a Grateful Dead concert.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Robinson’s Role:
  “He is the best offensive rebounder in the NBA and that’s a value in today’s game. He also is a very good defender.” – Alan Hahn [06:27]

• On Managing Fan Emotions:
  “That’s the problem with when you win a championship. It’s really difficult to run it back fully…and there’s always going to be one or two players that do fall off. But…we’ve seen dynasties; it’s how you replace these guys.” – Alan Hahn [11:38]

• On the Modern NBA Parity:
  “That’s why you’ve seen eight different champions in eight years, because it’s difficult to repeat. There’s very difficult decisions that have to be made…” – Rothenberg [12:52]

• On the Meadowlands:
  “I’d love to be able to go back there and talk to people and do it from inside the arena.” – Don Hahn [19:36]

• Caller Greg on Robinson:
  “Mitchell Robinson seems like a very … emotional … guy, and I think he would have a tough time getting out of that group of players and organization…” [37:43]

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Timestamps for Important Topics

• Knicks championship fallout & Shamet signing: [00:43–04:34]
• Robinson’s market & Knicks’ cap restrictions: [04:36–07:46]
• Robinson’s fit, medical issues, and playoff role: [07:46–11:13]
• Emotional side of offseason cuts: [11:38–13:27]
• Nets/Meadowlands nostalgia: [14:24–19:16]
• Soccer pronunciation debate: [21:38–24:13]
• Meadowlands as film location: [29:08–30:01]
• Game of Thrones banter: [30:01–31:32]
• Callers on Meadowlands nostalgia, Robinson’s future, and Mets culture: [36:09–47:31]

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Tone and Style

The hosts’ banter is conversational, passionate, and peppered with humor both high and low-brow. Whether dissecting Knicks’ roster moves, riffing on broadcasters’ quirks, or sharing personal and fan memories, their love for New York sports — and its quirks — shines through.

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For Knicks Fans

This episode captures the bittersweet reality of post-championship roster moves and the real human connections that fans and players share. If you missed the show, you’ll feel both the pride of a historic season and the pangs of a beloved player’s likely departure — plus, enjoy plenty of laughs and pop-culture sidetracks along the way.

Transcript

[Don Hahn]

Lamine Yamal steps into McDonald's, looks left, sees Pulisic, looks right, sees Jimenez, gives a nod to Ronaldinho in the corner with a FIFA World cup meal. Ronaldinho sees son in the booth. Son finds Beckham going for extra Big Mac sauce. He's got Davies at the table just behind him. Davies going for his collectible cup. A steal by Henry, who pulls his own collectible cup. Collect one of nine legendary cups with

[Rothenberg]

a FIFA World cup meal.

[Don Hahn]

Participating McDonald's for a limited time while supplies last. All rights reserved. 20:26 McDonald's at FIFA World Cup 20:26

[Rosenberg]

this is the Rosenberg Podcast.

[Rothenberg]

That sounds like heaven to me.

[Rosenberg]

Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 880 ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.

[Rothenberg]

5 o' clock in the big city. Don Juan and Rosenberg take it'll 6:30 that it's Mets baseball, Mets and the Blue Jays at the Great White North. So now we've kind of settled into the championship for the New York Knicks and now you got to assess who stays and who goes. You just heard that Landry Shammat's gonna stay for the next four years. 25 mil. And now we are waiting to see what's gonna happen with Mitchell Robinson and it doesn't look very good.

[Rosenberg]

No, it makes it even harder now. I mean it's. Look, Shamet was a priority as well. Very valuable piece off the bench. You saw the impact he had in the postseason. Mike Brown trusted him late in the game, games, sometimes to close games. He made huge shots in that run, huge three pointers that he made. Showed a lot of toughness and real high iq, great locker room guy. He loved New York. He wanted to be here if he went to free agency. I was told this morning he was going to get offers the Knicks were not going to be able to match. Like that was a fact. They knew it, but they made an appeal to him and he took it rather than go into free agency and play that game. He has said many times how much he loves being in New York. He had family here. He had played in Brooklyn once before. But coming to the Knicks two years ago, he loved it. He loved it so much he came back again. He's fought through a lot with injuries and whatnot, but this championship, you could tell at this stage of his career meant a lot. So the Knicks prioritize a key bench player and he's back. We know Jose Alvarado is going to agree to a deal and he'll be back. So the bench pieces all seem like they're Falling into place. But one of the most important bench pieces they had is Mitchell Robinson, who has been a Nick the longest. This is. He's the longest tenured Nick 2018 draft second round pick and this is his first time as an unrestricted free agent. And we know centers, especially rebounding centers, defensive shop blocking centers, guys that can play multiple, defend multiple positions like Robinson, Ken, are at a premium in this league and teams are willing to pay a lot for them because of how they change the game. The Knicks can't possibly make an offer if they are going to stay out of the second apron. Second apron for everybody that wonders is it acts like a hard cap when you hit that second number that I think I forget the exact number it is. But when you hit that number on a payroll, not only does it affect your ability to sign any more players, it also freezes all of your assets. Can't trade certain things you can't. Like there's draft picks you can't trade. There's no more you can do with your roster. There's trades that like certain trades you can only take. You can only send out more money than you take back. It's a mess. But it restricts you from doing anything. And if you have one injury, you're absolutely screwed. You can't add another player. Done. So the Knicks, you heard the owner, you heard James Dolan say, we're not going to be a second apron team. The Knicks as a front office were surprised by that because they kind of were hoping to bring the whole team back, including Mitch going to the second apron. Who cares? We have our team. We're not looking to add anybody else. We don't want to bring in anybody else. We want to keep our own players. But because of the restrictions, it's also triple the tax, by the way. So it's also a ton of money that you're spending every dollar you spend. So as a result, they were restricted to how much they could spend. They had 13 million to get to and they used it. And Mitch is going to get a lot more than 13 million.

[Rothenberg]

Oh, sure.

[Rosenberg]

So it does.

[Don Hahn]

How much do you think he gets? Close to 20.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah. I mean, you got to think about it. If somebody sees him as a starting center, which that's where I would say, hey, hang on a second.

[Don Hahn]

We do know starting for 40 games.

[Rosenberg]

That's what I mean. Like, he is limited. We'll put it this way. His contract, last contract he signed was $60 million, four years. So you're averaging 15. He's certainly going to Take more than they're going to get more than that. I imagine it'll be upwards towards 20. And you got teams, look, the Lakers would love a guy like him. Brooklyn, apparently they don't have any centers at all on their roster. They would try to make a move. I think the Pelicans would be smart to try to bring him in. He's from there. So yeah, he's going to get offers

[Rothenberg]

but you got to be careful with those teams. And I understand he's a center on a championship caliber team, played huge, huge defensively in the postseason for them. He's 28 years old, coming off a 60 game season. The year before that 17. The year before that 31 22, 23 59. Most games he's ever played was 72 and that was the 2122 season when he was 23. All right, he's not, he's worthless to you the second of back to backs. Right. So he is going to be on a, for lack of a better phrase, an innings limit, right?

[Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Rothenberg]

And you're signing a guy for big money because of what he can do. But in the regular season he's probably a 50 game player and then once you get to the postseason you hope that he doesn't break down. It's a risk. As much as the Knicks want to

[Rosenberg]

keep him and when he plays he. Look, he got the biggest. Think about this. OG Anunoby had the biggest offensive rebound in franchise history, right? He got the. Mitchell Robinson got the second biggest one the next game.

[Rothenberg]

Right?

[Rosenberg]

Because that offensive rebound off the missed free throw allowed them to get one more point off the free throw again. That won the game, that won the championship, Put him up by four and that was it. Game was over. And so that offensive rebound was huge. And that's his specialty. He is the best offensive rebounding. He's the best offensive rebound in the NBA and that's a value in today's game. He also is a very good defender. So there's teams that are going to be willing, especially teams that are trying to become a contenders and there might be teams that are like trying to weaken the Knicks a little bit too. Take him away.

[Rothenberg]

No, I get that.

[Rosenberg]

But 20 million for a guy that like you just said, and I'm not trying to disparage him because he is what he's developed into is such a weapon. But you have to think about cost and what you're getting and the cost versus availability, how close it is if another half, another injury happens to the foot. Can't Play back to backs. And offensively there's very limited, you know, there's very limited offensive talent.

[Caller/Listener]

Right.

[Rosenberg]

He's a lob threat. Yes. Can't make free throws and you know, teams will foul him to get him out of games. That's been a strategy. So there's a lot of things to consider here. But it's a gaping hole now on that bench for this Knicks roster. If they lose him, which is the expectation is, is that they're probably going to lose.

[Don Hahn]

I think he, as you notice, they keep signing all of them. I think he's the one that. Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Well, the only thing left is if like he sees all this and then it's like, hey, Mitch, so all we

[Don Hahn]

got and he's like one. If you were to decide, I love this, I'm having so much fun, I'm down.

[Rosenberg]

But if you're him, this is the biggest bank you're going to get here at life.

[Rothenberg]

It's the book and it's the only one.

[Rosenberg]

And he already got 60 mil. Think about that. He just got 60 and this is going to be the biggest bank he ever.

[Rothenberg]

This will be his last big contract right now. Last year, because we talk about the load management in the regular season, but last year they played 18 playoff games and he played in all of them, averaged over 20 minutes a game. Yeah, but this year he played in 18 of the 19 playoff games, but 13.9 minutes. So even in the postseason he's limited in what he can do. Now what he does is great. If you're a championship level team, you want him. But if you're a team that's looking to make a splash, if you're looking at, hey, we need a center, he's not for you because I'm sorry, if you're just a, if you're a mid team, just, you know, throw out a mid team. Charlotte Hornets. He's no good to the Charlotte Hornets. He's going to play 60, 55, 60 games and in the playoffs he's going to be limited, which you can live with if you've got a really good team. And I just need him in spots to get a big rebound, play well defensively. So really he's only good to a championship caliber team.

[Rosenberg]

And he's. And his again, I'm not disparaging him, but it's a reality of where he is and how they've had to manage him medically over the last couple of years. He's valuable off the bench. He's valuable when you have a starting center that's going to eat the majority of the minutes. And then you come in and you play 15 to 20 nightly basis. But you can have impactful 15 to 20, right? It goes back to the Hartenstein thing. When they had Hartenstein and they lost him. It's like, man, you know, like, that guy's so valuable. No, is he? Look, look at the Thunder. Treated him a certain way. They didn't treat him as a 35 minute a night starting center. They treated him as a situational starting center. In certain games you're valuable, but in other games we got to play small. So you're going to be on the bench more, right? That's kind of the same thing. But those guys are so rare in the NBA. And he's going to get paid. Now the question is, if they lose him, which it does seem like this is going to happen, it seems very likely now, he's going to end up where the Knicks know. And he knows there's going to be offers out there when we get to tomorrow night that the Knicks won't be able to get into. So the Knicks have to pivot now, quickly, no pun intended, and find themselves a quality backup center that can do at least some of the things that he can do. And that's not easy, but that's the next thing. Who's that guy going to be that they bring in on a, let's say, veterans minimum that wants to come to a championship team and be part of it? So the money's not the thing anymore. It's more about, I want to go play on a championship team and contribute. Who can that guy be? And can it be enough to help you win another championship? Because Mitchell Robinson, despite the minutes that he played, was a huge part of them winning a championship.

[Rothenberg]

It's tough. The guy that can. There's so much there and yet there's such. It's just not for everybody. So we'll see if he's going to get his bag and what team it's going to be.

[Rosenberg]

That's why winning the. Remember I told you winning the champ this year, it was so important to win it this year it's so important.

[Don Hahn]

I wonder how many of these deals would be different, first of all, how many would be gone where they just have no interest in. You can't even. You can't even fully qualify.

[Rosenberg]

First, let's start with would Giannis be in Miami or would he be in New York?

[Don Hahn]

Right.

[Rosenberg]

If they did, if this run and

[Don Hahn]

then if he was there, who was in the trade to.

[Rosenberg]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

And Then it's about who you signing now. Because all of a sudden, these indispensable parts of a championship become dispensable parts of a team that came up short.

[Rosenberg]

So how do Knicks fans, like Knicks fans, feel about this? Because this sucks, losing a guy like him, who's so possible, so popular and important and impactful. You fall in love with guys like this, right? Because they're fun. Like, I. I'll never forget the interview I did with him sitting in his truck, waiting for the parade to start. He wanted the truck in the parade. He's sitting in the driver's seat. I went up to him and we interviewed him in there, and he just. The thrill. He was so happy, Right. His high school coach, who he took care of after his high school coach's wife passed away, brought him up to New York. Stay in my house. Live with me. I don't want you to be by yourself. He was at the. At City hall after the parade, and I talked to him with a smile. He's just lit up so happy to be part of this. And so these are. This is such a great story. But, you know, that's the problem with when you win a championship. It's really difficult to run it back fully, and there's always going to be one or two players that do fall off. But, Don, as you know, we've seen dynasties. It's how you replace these guys, right? I know it's not easy, but if you do it right, you know, you can set yourself back up. So really, for the Knicks and for fans, it's the pivot to the next thing.

[Rothenberg]

These are the tough moments, but it's the price of winning a championship. Nobody's going to give the championship back. But if that's all, you lose and now you trust your front office that they'll be able to replace them. That's why this is kind of what the NBA was hoping for, and that's why you've seen eight different champions in eight years, because it's difficult to repeat. There's very difficult decisions that have to be made because. Especially with the Knicks, because it wasn't about one guy. Everybody found a way to contribute. So anybody you would have lost would have hurt, right?

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Rothenberg]

Because you'll think of something they did during the course of the run that could have changed everything if it didn't happen.

[Rosenberg]

Right? What I hope. And I just. I would hate to see him sign with the Nets, because it would be weird. You know what I mean?

[Rothenberg]

And if I'm the Nets, that's probably exactly what I would want to do. Right? Hell no.

[Rosenberg]

That's the worst thing they could do because you know what happens. They got to play him if he gets hurt. It's a disaster for the Nets.

[Rothenberg]

I know, but just to get a championship player there. I know something from the Knicks. I mean, it's really been tough. Listen, I know we say there's not a lot of them, but I do. You probably don't. I don't know how Peter feels. I do feel bad for the Netflix. It's got to be difficult. I mean, I went through it growing up as a Devil fan, but you know what I was able to do? I was able to win a cup the next year after The Rangers won a 94. You know, I was at least rooting for a team that was on the cusp of doing it themselves. But the Nets are so far away and you got people like Stephen A. Smith. They should move. Like they're completely irrelevant. I mean that's.

[Rosenberg]

They just did a rebrand thing. They just put something out.

[Rothenberg]

I saw that. Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Celebrating their anniversary.

[Rothenberg]

60 years, man.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah. I would like. Would you like to see them go back to the red, white and blue?

[Rothenberg]

Yes.

[Rosenberg]

And just.

[Rothenberg]

That would be something.

[Rosenberg]

The black and white was kind of.

[Don Hahn]

That is for a minute. I like. I like that.

[Rothenberg]

I like even the floor.

[Rosenberg]

The floor at Barclays kills me.

[Don Hahn]

I couldn't agree with you more. I hate it.

[Rosenberg]

Right. Like I know you're trying to do, but it ain't.

[Don Hahn]

It just. It never hit quite right. And like it's a building where like the experience in. The building's great. Great in arena experience inside. It's a beautiful, beautiful building. Inside. Easy. Really big concourses, lovely setup. Lots of fun stuff there's convenient. Every train on earth gets you there A lot like MSG in that way. But then the floor doesn't. I do not like the floor and the black and white. While you thought it would have been cool and at the time they had Jay Z connected. It's like got the black jerseys, Brooklyn black. Everything is. It doesn't have any. There's been really nothing to this era.

[Rothenberg]

So. So what is their. Like if you were to really just focus on the Nets best era obviously would be the back to back finals, right?

[Don Hahn]

Yes.

[Rosenberg]

Or Dr. J.

[Rothenberg]

But. But that. See, I'm just. I was just saying. Or is it Dr. J.

[Rosenberg]

The very beginnings of the franchise.

[Rothenberg]

Well, you go back to those unique uniforms with the stars and the red white.

[Rosenberg]

Billy Paul's like they had.

[Don Hahn]

I think you go. They Had a. I think that would look so wacky in this era. Like those look so old inherently. I would make that your throwback and make the 90s early 2000s blues your regular.

[Rosenberg]

I did. I did love the 90s look. Even the tie dye wasn't that bad.

[Don Hahn]

I don't remember the tie dye.

[Rosenberg]

Tie dyes weren't bad. Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

But then you have.

[Rosenberg]

That logo was a little more updated. Had a. It. That was a good look. The. The Derek Coleman era.

[Rothenberg]

Yeah. I want. I want to pitch this to msg. I'm just trying to figure out the angle because the metal lens is still there.

[Don Hahn]

Oh yeah. The tie dye was fire.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah. Right.

[Don Hahn]

Yes. Kenny Anderson era. I think Derek Coleman. Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Meadowlands was still there.

[Rothenberg]

Metal lens is still there.

[Rosenberg]

Yes, it's still there.

[Rothenberg]

You could walk in there. I mean, there's no ice. But the Jumbotron is still there.

[Rosenberg]

Still.

[Rothenberg]

Eyes on.

[Rosenberg]

What is it called?

[Rothenberg]

It's nothing. I don't think it's called anything.

[Rosenberg]

Continental Airlines Arena.

[Rothenberg]

I just think it's. I think it's like a television studio now. Film. Documentary. But if you could walk in the stands, the. There's a. There's an ad for Xanadu. Like they didn't change anything. That the scoreboard is still there.

[Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Rothenberg]

In the middle. And I want. They did go back to it for a little spot when. Remember. I forget exactly what the number was. When they had the blizzard and the Devils played the Flames and It was like 364 people in the stands. Player. The Devils didn't have any players. It was crazy. They played the game anyway. They went back to. And that was like 10 years ago of going back there and just because. Play some games and just do something on the Meadowlands. And I know like people roll their eyes like the Meadowlands was cool, man. You had two NBA finals there. The Devils went, you know, won two cups there and the three Stanley cup finals set 20,000. It was amazing. Concert venue. I mean I saw some of the. I saw, you know, Metallica there. I saw AC DC there. They had amazing content. Melania was always a really good. When'd you play that?

[Rosenberg]

In college. Played there.

[Rothenberg]

I. Seton hall played there. There was, believe it or not, a final four and 96 at the medal. I mean it's not nothing. And I think. I think it would really make for a good documentary like on MSG where like Devil fans would watch. I think net fans would watch or anything. And again, it was a lot like Shea Stadium.

[Caller/Listener]

That's.

[Rothenberg]

That's known for a Lot of great concerts. The Midlands was always a place to see a show. The bands would play to garden, but they'd also play the metal.

[Rosenberg]

So you want them to move or do you want them to just like, put. Play some games there?

[Rothenberg]

I don't know if it's sustainable.

[Rosenberg]

Can you really leave Brooklyn at this point?

[Rothenberg]

Let me ask you this.

[Rosenberg]

He can't leave.

[Rothenberg]

They stopped doing it. Maybe Peter doesn't remember this because it was a while ago. It's been at least 20, 25 years that the packers played six games at Lambeau and they'd play two games in Milwaukee every year.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, yeah, I do remember that.

[Rothenberg]

What if they just said, we're going to play just to see. To test it out. We're going to Play. I know. Five games out of our. Out of the 41. We're going to play five over at the Metal.

[Rosenberg]

Lands on your percentage of season ticket holders from New Jersey.

[Rothenberg]

Well, that's what you got to do. The investigation, find out if. And also if you. Is the arena sustainable now? Like I said, it's still there, but can they actually have a basketball game there now? And I know the parking. There's plenty of parking because that's where the mall is and everything. I just don't know if it's sustainable to have the mall open and have a basketball game where potentially thousands of people could show.

[Rosenberg]

Ask him in Philly.

[Rothenberg]

I would love to. I would just wonder if that would be sustainable. But I'm just talking about with msg, of just doing a doc on the

[Rosenberg]

history of the Meadowlands.

[Rothenberg]

Of the Meadowlands. And I think there's. I think there's something there.

[Rosenberg]

Of course there's something there.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

That arena seen a lot.

[Rothenberg]

It did.

[Rosenberg]

I mean, there's a lot that it's seen a lot.

[Rothenberg]

I'd love to be able to go back there and talk to people and do it from inside the arena.

[Rosenberg]

Whoopty dam doo happened in that building.

[Rothenberg]

It.

[Rosenberg]

Oh, that's fuch. He was there.

[Rothenberg]

Whoopty damn do happen there in the hallway. It's.

[Rosenberg]

It's another donut. Your fat pig was in there.

[Rothenberg]

Oh, that was in there. Oh, classic.

[Rosenberg]

That's a great moment.

[Rothenberg]

Craig Anderson. Kenny Anderson.

[Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Rothenberg]

Was sitting down in a folding chair and I was covering it for Sportsphone. And that's when Yankee Dari walked past naked. And I can't even change the light.

[Rosenberg]

He couldn't unsee it that.

[Don Hahn]

Couldn't see anything, really.

[Rosenberg]

It's never been the same.

[Rothenberg]

It's the only time where I'D have to close my eyes and, like, move my head from the right to the left to just get the entire picture what I saw. And that's when Kenny Henderson said they lost the game. And he's got. He said, I don't know. It's. I think it's from a rap song. And I was slack Joe. And he said, I don't know, man. Cause I got my mind on my money and my money on my mind. Mother Trucker. But he didn't say trucker.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Rothenberg]

I'm like, I don't know if I can use that sound, but it's a hell of a way to respond to a question.

[Rosenberg]

I don't know if I could use that sound.

[Don Hahn]

What was he saying this in context.

[Rosenberg]

Could you repeat? I don't remember.

[Rothenberg]

It was 30 years ago.

[Don Hahn]

What if I.

[Rothenberg]

Clearly, it wasn't anything about, like, don't blame me for the game.

[Rosenberg]

Oh, boy.

[Rothenberg]

And I don't know how he can have his mind on his money. When Yekidari walked by. Well, I'm surprised. I remember the story.

[Don Hahn]

Well, he probably wasn't paying as much attention, Don. Well, he's.

[Rothenberg]

Because he's probably seen it before. It's less impressive the 50th time you see it.

[Caller/Listener]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

I think he had over it.

[Rosenberg]

I want Will Smith to come with the pen from. From Men in Black and just.

[Don Hahn]

No, because he's never stopped talking about it.

[Rothenberg]

And selfishly, I'm just looking to get back because I got a lot of memories there, too. I got, like, great concerts and. God, I saw so many bands there. Fleetwood Mac.

[Rosenberg]

Wasn't that the last Kobe Shark championship?

[Don Hahn]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

In that building. Right. The last Kobe Shaq one.

[Rothenberg]

I was there for that. That's where I got the Lakers championship. That's right.

[Rosenberg]

You have.

[Don Hahn]

Paraguay is up 10 on.

[Rothenberg]

What are you saying?

[Don Hahn]

Germany.

[Rothenberg]

It's not Paraguay anymore.

[Don Hahn]

Paraguay.

[Rosenberg]

Paraguay. Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

I'm just saying it with. In Spanish. I'm just saying that with an accent.

[Rothenberg]

Say it again.

[Don Hahn]

Paraguay.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Rothenberg]

Did you throw a D in there?

[Don Hahn]

Paraguay.

[Rosenberg]

Paraguay.

[Don Hahn]

I'm just rolling the R, Don.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Paraguay. No, that's not even. Alan.

[Caller/Listener]

Paraguay.

[Rosenberg]

He's just putting.

[Rothenberg]

But you're not Spanish.

[Rosenberg]

He's just putting some sizzle on.

[Don Hahn]

I'm just putting a little sizzle. That's how you say it. I'm just putting.

[Advertiser/Commercial Voice]

But this is.

[Rothenberg]

This is what. This is where people get lost with Sock.

[Don Hahn]

No, no, no, no.

[Rothenberg]

Because you're not Spanish. Nobody says it that way unless you're from Paraguay. All of a sudden, because it's the World Cup. I now got to say Paraguay. Completely different. No, no, man. No, I say no. I think it's pompous. I think it's arrogant. You come across me, and I don't like that.

[Rosenberg]

So when you go. When you. When you. When you do hockey, when you're up in Canada.

[Rothenberg]

Yeah, right, exactly.

[Caller/Listener]

You.

[Rosenberg]

You're just saying Montreal Canadiens. Is that what you're saying? You know, you put a little something on it.

[Don Hahn]

You know, put a little.

[Rothenberg]

Do I say Montreal? No, I don't.

[Caller/Listener]

No, I don't.

[Rothenberg]

And then all of a sudden, Canadian. All of a sudden, Canadian.

[Don Hahn]

Canadian. He does say Canadian, you know, or.

[Rothenberg]

I don't have an accent from Switzerland every time Nico touches the puck. All right, Although. Although, I have been reprimanded by. Because if I give the extra T in Toronto, and they'll say, well, that's not how we say it up here. Toronto. I'm not from up here. I'm broadcasting back to New Jersey.

[Rosenberg]

It's not Toronto, it's Toronto.

[Don Hahn]

No, that's how Americans say it. It's Toronto.

[Rothenberg]

Toronto.

[Don Hahn]

Right, but Americans say Toronto.

[Rothenberg]

Right, And I'm American. Right, And I'm broadcasting to America.

[Don Hahn]

Why do you have so.

[Rothenberg]

No, I don't want to have.

[Caller/Listener]

Wrong.

[Don Hahn]

No, but this. Actually, the Toronto one's worse than mine. I'm just having fun.

[Rothenberg]

You can read a parent. I'm just having fun.

[Don Hahn]

No, no, but the Toronto one. You should say it the way they say it. Why do I say it wrong? For Americans, it's pronounced Toronto.

[Advertiser/Commercial Voice]

Because just.

[Rothenberg]

That's not how we do it.

[Don Hahn]

But it's wrong. It's English. They're saying we pronounce it Toronto. But if I. But it's not a hard thing. We have to go. No, no, we need to say it wrong.

[Rothenberg]

No, but if you. Let me ask you this. If there was a wrestler from Paraguay and you're calling. You're calling one of the matches when they.

[Don Hahn]

Well, I would. I would probably on commentary say Paraguay Ex. The ring announcer would 100% say from Paraguay. Yeah, 100%.

[Rothenberg]

But. But he's. They're all. They're all yo yos. The PA Guys.

[Don Hahn]

No, because they're trying to performative.

[Rosenberg]

They're very performative.

[Don Hahn]

He said PA Guys. Like, they're just in the high school

[Rosenberg]

gymnasium, right, Working the system.

[Rothenberg]

I mean, public address announcement. I respect all of them, but there's a certain job to be over the top. Well, now all of a sudden, it's the World cup and we're Pronounced in the countries like with the accent.

[Don Hahn]

Stop it. Stop.

[Rothenberg]

But I know you're be before.

[Don Hahn]

But I got to go through it all the time.

[Rosenberg]

But I'm about to hear him through the next.

[Rothenberg]

All of a sudden people like somebody's from Ireland. All of a sudden people break out and broke.

[Advertiser/Commercial Voice]

Stop.

[Don Hahn]

But of all the ones, Kenny Johnson

[Rosenberg]

once told me, you know, there's an umlaut over my. Over the O.

[Don Hahn]

Is that right?

[Rosenberg]

He would point that out to me. So, mom, I'll pronounce your name how

[Rothenberg]

you want me to pronounce the paper.

[Rosenberg]

We didn't do that.

[Don Hahn]

But isn't it funny, Alan, of all the ones to set off.

[Rothenberg]

They were trying to say on the

[Don Hahn]

ink, by the way.

[Caller/Listener]

Of all.

[Don Hahn]

Of all the ones to set Don off. I love that. The one that was was Paraguay, which is so clearly the same as Paraguay.

[Rosenberg]

It's so great.

[Don Hahn]

But that's the one.

[Rothenberg]

You know, I'm save this for remind me Thursday. I'm going to just destroy all these people. Now you got to throw the act.

[Don Hahn]

I don't know. There'd be a lot of people. I think Thursday might have a lot of World cup crowd. The game's going to be shown there. We have. We have.

[Rothenberg]

I'm ready.

[Don Hahn]

Knockout games there.

[Rothenberg]

You know what? All I ask, All I ask is that you punch me in the face. Well, I can't take it below the belt. Will bother me and stomach if I 8.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Do me a favor.

[Rothenberg]

Punch me. You can't make.

[Don Hahn]

Well, how about this? I'll tell you, it's the biggest stage in the world. Of course it is. And fanduel is changing the game because, you know, sometimes here's what happens. Your player gets subbed off. Allen didn't know this till today. The player gets subbed off. And guess what? They can't come back in. So that means your bet would be gone.

[Rosenberg]

That's the dumbest thing ever.

[Don Hahn]

But not anymore, Alan.

[Rothenberg]

Don't worry.

[Don Hahn]

Because Vandu's super sub means if your players subbed out, your bet stays in with whoever subs in for the player. Sure. So the bet continues on with the substitutes. You're still in it till the final whistle, which will be, you know, seven, eight minutes or so after the game ends.

[Rosenberg]

Whatever.

[Don Hahn]

FanDuel.com local to get started now. Let there be goals this summer on FanDuel21 physically present New York. For help with the gambling problem, call 877-hope and why text open y467369 buster

[Advertiser/Commercial Voice]

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[Rothenberg]

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[Don Hahn]

Save $2 when you buy 2 cans of superior products Coverall Tire Dressing plus receive 4 times O rewards points now at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Coverall delivers long lasting shine. Visit your O'Reilly Auto Parts store or O'ReillyAuto.com thanks for listening to the Don

[Rosenberg]

Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.

[Don Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Rosenberg]

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

[Rothenberg]

ESPN New York Beach Bash is this week. It's coming up Thursday, July 2nd at Bar A in Lake Como, New Jersey. Head down to the Jersey Shore. Join the Michael K Show and US Live starting at 1pm and an appearance by Dpietro, Rothenberg, Bart Carlin and more will have plenty of giveaways for fans in attendance, a soccer watch party and a chance to test your skills by trying to kick a soccer ball past Rick DiPietro plus live music from surfing for Daisy. I got the song all picked out. Been working on it, looking forward to doing it again. They're gonna be performing an hour before the festivities and also after the shows. It's all brought to you by Spiked Aid Boost Mobile, Miller lite Fanatics Fest NYC and the New Jersey Lottery. Must be 21 years of age to enter. 1-800-919-3776, Kofi sent a a tweet about the Meadowlands. Here's a statement from Nets historian who has a great book on the Nets History, by the way. Okay, got from the NJSA spokesperson saying the Meadowlands arena is structurally functional for events, but doesn't have staffing and security. So I'll just bring over.

[Rosenberg]

Need that.

[Don Hahn]

Well, they can get there.

[Rothenberg]

You can't bring over the people from Barclays Center. You know, bus them over for people to take mass transit and say, all right, you're working today, but you're working in New Jersey, and we'll get you back to Barclays.

[Don Hahn]

They probably have to give them a few extra bucks, whatever it is.

[Rothenberg]

Yeah, whatever. I mean, if that's the only issue,

[Don Hahn]

by the way, or people who work at. Did you hit MetLife? People around.

[Rosenberg]

Are you reading this? This is very fascinating. Meadowlands arena over the past decade has been reimagined as an ideal filming location.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, yeah. We talked about this recently, but, Don, you brought this up, didn't you?

[Rosenberg]

Did you bring up. Though it has served as the backdrop for several popular productions, including streaming series the Walking Dead, the Enemy within, and the Equalizer.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, didn't know that part.

[Rosenberg]

And films such as Marty supreme, then.

[Don Hahn]

They owe me money. Springsteen, Marty Supreme. I give it 45.

[Rothenberg]

Oh, that's the Shyamalama Ding Dong ping pong movie.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, Shyamalama ping pong. I gave it 30 minutes. 45 minutes of my life on a plane. I really like Timothy Chalmale, but I was just like, I can't do it anymore. I don't care.

[Rosenberg]

I just don't care.

[Rothenberg]

People.

[Don Hahn]

There are people who loved it. I just didn't care.

[Rothenberg]

Well, I think there are movies that,

[Don Hahn]

by the way, you up on Dragon. Anthony, you caught up on Dragon.

[Rosenberg]

What's Dragon?

[Don Hahn]

So good.

[Rosenberg]

How's the dragon?

[Rothenberg]

Yeah, boy.

[Rosenberg]

Oh, man.

[Don Hahn]

They are too late.

[Rosenberg]

I'm too late.

[Caller/Listener]

What?

[Don Hahn]

No, you're not.

[Rosenberg]

No, I'm probably way too late.

[Don Hahn]

Let me just. Let me throw this at you.

[Rosenberg]

I can't get.

[Don Hahn]

You didn't watch Thrones, right? Okay, so don't worry about it. So don't worry about it. Dragon. House of Dragon is a completely separate show that just lives in that universe.

[Rosenberg]

Okay.

[Don Hahn]

And it's only on the third season, so it's like you're 20 episodes in. It's not.

[Rosenberg]

You can do it. I can get it. So good. Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

I mean, I don't understand whatever's happening. 45 minutes. But the last 20, every time, you just go, wow, I'm not gonna.

[Rosenberg]

I need something this summer. So that's it.

[Don Hahn]

I think dragons. Is it so good?

[Rothenberg]

Okay.

[Rosenberg]

I think between that and then they have the Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Like, it's all pretty.

[Don Hahn]

I didn't do night. Well, Night of the Seven.

[Rothenberg]

Don't.

[Don Hahn]

Don't do this. What happened, Jake? Sometimes. Do you not know the room well, John?

[Advertiser/Commercial Voice]

Jake.

[Rosenberg]

Jake killed.

[Don Hahn]

Come on, you can explain to Don the weird, offbeat comedy version. They also have. No, don't even mention that. The Seven Kingsoms. Get it out of here.

[Rosenberg]

I actually think that's the one that

[Don Hahn]

Don would like the most about, by the way. You're probably right, but getting him to understand, like, no, he's going to be disgusted by the idea. But you're right. He'd probably like it the most. But Alan is our audience here. Because Alan likes dorky stuff. You could absolutely like dragons. Okay, no question.

[Rosenberg]

I'll give it a shot.

[Don Hahn]

I mean, you don't like the idea of gigantic dragons flying over cities and burning things? It's awesome.

[Rosenberg]

It all depends.

[Rothenberg]

You're one of the non virgins that care.

[Don Hahn]

Where do you stand on incest? Because that's really big in the Game of Thrones.

[Rothenberg]

Is that the big thing where I stand on it? I'm good.

[Don Hahn]

I wouldn't say it's the big thing, but it pops up. Hold on. The guy kissing his mom last night out of the blue was bizarro.

[Rothenberg]

You're not selling this very well.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah, this was the first episode.

[Caller/Listener]

No.

[Rosenberg]

Oh, boy. I happened again last night.

[Rothenberg]

I might have missed that.

[Rosenberg]

Did he just say it happened? It was the first episode.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, maybe it was.

[Rosenberg]

First episode, happened again, he said.

[Don Hahn]

Well, there's. It happened in the first Game of Thrones.

[Rosenberg]

I'm all set.

[Don Hahn]

No, that's not a reason to not be there.

[Rothenberg]

I want to apologize that this is the thing that follows incest talk. Happy birthday to Pat o'.

[Caller/Listener]

Keefe.

[Rosenberg]

Now, Pat, to not deserve. It could have happened at any other time. He really did not. Forgetting might have been better.

[Rothenberg]

The conversation. The conversation didn't jog my memory. I just happened to see it on social media.

[Don Hahn]

But now it's a drop and you can't escape it. Yeah, you can't see it. Apropos, I didn't want to forget.

[Rothenberg]

He shows almost over.

[Don Hahn]

What was the line? Not that it has anything to do with incest, but. Happy birthday, Pat o'.

[Caller/Listener]

Kee.

[Rosenberg]

I think forgetting might have been. I think forgetting might have been better. Pat now wishes you forgot. How about that?

[Rothenberg]

He deserves to get a birthday shot.

[Rosenberg]

We do, by the way, need to go back at some point this summer or the next time that he calls Griff the Next time he calls. His voice boys. Yeah, a little different.

[Rothenberg]

That's why we thought something happened on that cruise.

[Rosenberg]

He doesn't want to talk about it.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, Griff.

[Rosenberg]

Something.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, no. It sounded like something dropped. You know what I mean?

[Rosenberg]

Yeah, Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

I don't think.

[Rosenberg]

And it wasn't just bass, but I don't.

[Don Hahn]

I don't think it. I think we're wishing something. No.

[Rosenberg]

Why?

[Don Hahn]

Because I've asked many times. It's not on the radar.

[Rosenberg]

He's not gonna.

[Don Hahn]

It's not on the radar. No, I'm telling you, he might not even remember. Don, you're with me, aren't you?

[Rothenberg]

I'm with you. He.

[Don Hahn]

He shot it down so bad, it's not even. But you heard a difference in his voice.

[Rothenberg]

No, no, there was definitely a difference. And we hoped and we were wrong.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah. Like, we pick up the phone and

[Rothenberg]

you expect to get.

[Don Hahn]

You're expecting to get.

[Caller/Listener]

Whoopee do.

[Don Hahn]

He's like, yo. Yeah, Alad.

[Rothenberg]

What's good? What's good?

[Don Hahn]

It's me, Griftster. I'm back.

[Rothenberg]

But you know what happened?

[Don Hahn]

Hot off ak.

[Rothenberg]

He's just excited about all the sports. That's all.

[Rosenberg]

I know.

[Don Hahn]

And then you ask with the hopes that it's about, you know, he. Something popping off.

[Rothenberg]

Get away, get away.

[Don Hahn]

And instead he goes, well, I have to be excited because, I mean, World cup on Wednesday night, Yankees play during the day, Mets play during the day. All eyes on World Cup.

[Rosenberg]

He just had such a chill vibe about it.

[Rothenberg]

I don't even know what it's called. It's come together. But not for the reason he had.

[Rosenberg]

He was.

[Caller/Listener]

Peter.

[Rosenberg]

He was the vision of laying back on the pillow with his cigarette in his hand. That's what that sound does.

[Caller/Listener]

What?

[Don Hahn]

Peter, I have to tell you, I would pay $100 in human monies. Human to see Grifter, shirt off. Sitting back on a. On a beach chair, just hitting a. Just hitting a Camel light, just ripping a camel. I'd pay 100 in human minds to see that.

[Rothenberg]

No, I would. I would pay that for the reason that Alan thinks, not for the reason it's actually happening. That's because it's World cup and people are going to watch because the Mets and Yankees are in the afternoon.

[Don Hahn]

I just love the idea. I just want that be something.

[Rosenberg]

Him outside a motel room, sitting on a folding chair, and he's got. He's got like. Like Johnny Depp Miller light, like, between his knees, looking like the COVID of

[Don Hahn]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. That's that's the griftster. You want to see that. But ripping a heater just sitting there, just like.

[Caller/Listener]

I don't get it.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, that was him today, actually.

[Rothenberg]

You know what? I just thought about it. He didn't bring it up. But you got the World Cup.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Rothenberg]

And you got Giannis in Miami. He's a HE fan.

[Rosenberg]

Fair point.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, yeah. He didn't get to that.

[Rosenberg]

He never looked at that. Notice that he was away also during the greatest week in Nick's history, because

[Don Hahn]

he's not an exit.

[Rothenberg]

He checked out.

[Rosenberg]

He was.

[Rothenberg]

That's why he checked out. He couldn't even participate in the conversation.

[Rosenberg]

A little annoyed. I let him get. I helped him get a photo. Center court, Madison Square. Gordon.

[Rothenberg]

Oh, yeah, right.

[Don Hahn]

But what was it for?

[Rosenberg]

Did he ever. He won the. The contest. Right. To come to the game. And did he once say to me, hey, you know, I know I was away, but I know the Knicks championship meant a lot to you, Alan. Did he bring. Did he say.

[Caller/Listener]

No, nothing.

[Rosenberg]

He was nothing. He was.

[Don Hahn]

Didn't even compliment your wife.

[Rothenberg]

He was very self absorbed.

[Rosenberg]

Very. Apparently he was.

[Don Hahn]

She was checked out.

[Rothenberg]

Let's go to Greg and Thomas river. You're on ESPN New York. What's up, Greg?

[Caller/Listener]

Hey. Three quick comments on three things you guys just talked about. Number one, the metal. I'm 71 years old. The Meadowlands. The good thing about the Meadowlands was after a game, you could go to the racetrack. But the bad thing about the Meadowlands was there's nothing to do before or after the game. You know, to me, arenas belong in cities, football stadiums out in the boondocks, that's number one. Number two, as far as pronouncing cities, in 1976, when I watched the Olympics, Howard Cosell called Montreal. Montreal. The whole time it was just.

[Don Hahn]

That's not even how you pronounce it. I mean, that's just going too far.

[Rosenberg]

No. Old Montreal.

[Caller/Listener]

Oh, yeah.

[Rosenberg]

There's a part of the city. He's right. There's a part of the city called Old Montreal. Old Monreal.

[Rothenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

And Howard just kept leaning into that.

[Rosenberg]

He was leaning.

[Rothenberg]

It's toolbox. Right.

[Caller/Listener]

Howard's from Brooklyn. But anyway, number three, as far as Mitchell Robinson and. Alan. Alan, you could speak to this seriously. Now, money is money. But Mitchell Robinson seems like a very. I don't want to say fragile guy, but I think he's very emotional. Yeah. And I think he would have a tough time getting out of that group of players and organization that he's been with basically his whole life. I think it would be a mistake. I mean, again, I know money is money, but to go somewhere else for three or four or five years for an extra five or six million bucks, I don't know. I think he should stay with the Knicks.

[Rosenberg]

We. We all kind of feel the same way, right? And that's. But at his age and where he's at, it's gonna be hard to say no. It's gonna be hard.

[Caller/Listener]

No.

[Rothenberg]

Money's money, but, you know, fans can think one way. But it is a business, and it could be a lot of human monies. Keith in New Jersey. You're on ESPN New York.

[Caller/Listener]

Good afternoon, guys. Please stay hydrated. Down at the shortest week to my Mets. I have two points. Let me get it in. First one is about that team in Queens. Stern seems to be gone. The Cats. Chavez said.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, no.

[Rothenberg]

Keith, try to give us a call back. We lost you. I know. You're on hold for a while. We'll get to you because it's the last call crew coming up.

[Caller/Listener]

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[Rothenberg]

Always consult your doctor to determine if this product is right for you.

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[Rosenberg]

by thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.

[Don Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Rosenberg]

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

[Rothenberg]

All right, last call crew 1-800-919-3776. Then an en that you dream about at 6 and the Mets baseball coming up at 6:30. Let's get back to the busy phones and let's talk to Mike in the Bronx. You're on. Don Han and Rosenberg, what's up?

[Caller/Listener]

Hey Don, Hanan Rosenberg, how are you?

Good.

I like to talk about the Shabbos comments. I do want to take it a step further and I'm talking to particularly Honda, who's been in locker rooms. I think another thing GMs don't realize, like Stearns, who's just a geek, is that you're their boss and what you do with your money says more than what you say and that affects things. And everyone's using Knicks as an example. We should do right. The first thing that the first move the Knicks did after they got Brunson by trade deadline is they got Hart, which tells you two things. Number one is that this is Brunson's team. We're bringing his guys. Number two is we want effort and that's the guys who we want here. So Sterns, this team went to the LCS before Soto got there and that's fine. You bring them in and you treat him like a king. But you had a guy who was consistent when you were bad.

[Rothenberg]

He had a bad year that year,

[Caller/Listener]

but he came through to you when you needed. His name was Pete Alonso. He was the leader and then you treated him like a piece of garbage and he came begging with a hat for money while you treated this outside guy like king what does it say to everyone else? And you could have just paid like $10 million to keep Iglesias in your locker room who help, you know, to show that you appreciate a guy who brings everyone together. And you just weren't willing to do that. So what does that tell your team?

You're the boss.

I think that affected the team and where you see cohesiven the most is late. And like you saw by the Knicks late in games when you're down. That Mets team before Soto got there used to come back. Since they got Soto and they did all that which ruined the chemistry. They came, they had 19 9th inning comeback which was against the Yankees this year in a year and a half. They had made way more than that that year at the end of the year. And you just, I think that, you know, the treatment of Pete really hurt the chemistry because he was that guy who you described who's a star and was part of the team. Thank you so much.

[Rothenberg]

It's fair.

[Rosenberg]

But Dom, we've seen this though. We've seen this. This happens a lot. I know, but he, I'll give you another example guy, you know Tom Fitzgerald.

[Rothenberg]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Islanders team went to the 93 semifinals.

[Caller/Listener]

Right.

[Rosenberg]

They got to the conference finals loss. But that was a great run that they went on. And the belief was this was, you know, flesh in the pan. It's not really who we are. We just kind of got right the right time, right. Expansion draft happened. They let a couple of guys unprotected. One of them was Tom Fitzgerald, who was a heart and soul kind of gritty player for that team. Right. They did it because they wanted to keep a prospect that they all, you know, felt good about in Brad Dalgono. But Brad Dalgono didn't have that grit and all those things. Right. So you lose a guy like that a locker room, the players kind of see, okay, so they didn't believe in us. Glenn Healey let him go. Right. Didn't believe in him. So that tells the room. They don't really believe in what we did. They don't really have faith in us. And that changes the mood of a season like that.

[Rothenberg]

It does. And I'm not defending Sterns because he got it wrong. But remember when he got here, it seemed like his plan was to blow it up right away. He didn't want to give Alonzo because Alonzo was a free agent going in that year. They gave him that, you know, that one year deal, but they gave it

[Rosenberg]

to him post way after when the fan, when they had that fan festival and Cohen got booed and Cohen wasn't like.

[Rothenberg]

Exactly. And Cohen said, let's give it one more run with this team. And so Stern said, okay, let's take a look at it. And they go out and they win 83 games.

[Rosenberg]

Right.

[Rothenberg]

And then.

[Rosenberg]

Well, they started out great.

[Rothenberg]

The reason why a lot. And they did collapse.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Rothenberg]

So that emboldened him to say, see, I told you we can't win with these guys. I don't want a team that almost makes. I don't want a team that makes it. Where Stern screwed up is he didn't replace any of these guys. Now they're going to have a 90 loss season. But what the caller is talking about is what he should have done. Sure. But he didn't want to give him a five year deal. And Pete wanted a five year deal. He got it from Baltimore. And now the history is where it is. They don't look at that. And to Stern's defense at the moment was, well, we haven't won anything with these guys in 22. They collapsed at the end of the year, fell to the wild card, got beat by San Diego and then losing 23. And he lets Buck go, brings him Mendoza awful start to the season and they get hot in the second half and they make the playoffs and impede. It's the historic home run. They lose to the Dodgers. So they buy another year and then they win 83 games again. So I will support him in the sense that maybe there was a reason to change. What he pivoted to was a disaster.

[Rosenberg]

Yes, it was what he wanted though. It was the team he wanted versus the team that was there. And I still go back to yes, they won 83 games, but how many did they win in June? Till June, you're right. Like they fell apart late in the year. Those are things you have to watch. But a lot of it had to do with the fact that you had no starting pitching. Go back, remember it was David Peterson and nobody else for the whole month of August.

[Rothenberg]

But go back to, go back to when the Knicks made the playoffs. They went around with Randall.

[Rosenberg]

They lost around. They lost in the first round with Randall.

[Rothenberg]

When did they be. Cleveland was the next year.

[Rosenberg]

It was Brunson's first year.

[Rothenberg]

Right. All right, so. But that was a good team.

[Rosenberg]

So they lost to Atlanta. Then they lost the playoffs the next. Right.

[Rothenberg]

And so clearly they need to pivot to something.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Rothenberg]

And they obviously pivoted to something that worked.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Rothenberg]

If it didn't work, what they pivoted to it wouldn't mean, oh, we should have kept Julius Red. No, no, you were still supposed to pivot. You just made the wrong decisions. Like, I still think, looking at those teams, they were nice teams, but they weren't perfect. All right? They played that. They. They would play like a half a season of baseball. Luckily, in 24, they said got hot, you know, and they were able to make the playoffs. But their changes were needed, and I agreed with that. The changes he made were wrong. If the changes he made were right, everybody be like, yeah, it doesn't matter about Alonzo. Who cares? All that stuff doesn't matter.

[Rosenberg]

I agree with that.

[Rothenberg]

So, yes, the pivot. We're not arguing he shouldn't have pivoted. Some fans are. My argument is what he pivoted to is he's falling flat on his face.

[Rosenberg]

Well, what fans are doing is it's the love affair with Pete Alonso, because Pete Alonso was their son. Like, that's what it is. He is the Met. He grew up a Met.

[Rothenberg]

And I think you could have pivoted away from Nimmo, could have pivoted away from McNeil. You could have found a way to keep Pete.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Rothenberg]

Split the difference. And he decided he didn't want to do it.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Rothenberg]

Let's go to Joe and Rocky Point. You're on. Don Ana, Rosenberg.

[Caller/Listener]

Hey, guys. Hey, listen, thank you so much for the call and thank you for the conversation. I'll bring it back to Meadowlands. Again, I'm sorry if it's too timeless bad, but.

[Rothenberg]

No, go ahead.

[Caller/Listener]

But 1984. 1984. I'm a deadhead. A long time. And I would see Springsteen on the USA Tour. That sound system that he did at the Meadowlands was insane. I'd never heard anything. I'd seen a lot of stadium shows. It was insane. What he did. 1984, which is talking about a long, long time ago, the sound system that he had. Now I'm going to pivot up to 1980, 1987. Newly married, brand new girl, daughter. And I take my wife, who's a Queen's girl, kind of like, you know, you know, into disco kind of thing. But I go, you're gonna love this. So we go to the. We go to see Dylan and the Dead at the Meadowlands. 87. And we. We get out of the car, you know, throwing the Frisbee around. She ends up with the girls, and. And then she's missing for, like, half an hour, 45 minutes. I'm like, where is she? She comes flying out of this bus, you know, one of those psychedelic buses. And she goes, I love these people. I'm like, told you. Great. There's nothing like a Grateful Dead concert.

[Rothenberg]

Well, it sounds like the Microbus had a lot going on.

[Rosenberg]

That's right.

[Don Hahn]

I'm sure.

[Rothenberg]

I love these people. Sounds like somebody. You know what?

[Caller/Listener]

Tell.

[Rothenberg]

What Tell your wife to listen to this show because she's got a lot in common with the people that listen to.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi. You guys know.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Rothenberg]

And it all started on some day in 1987. Went to a microbus and fell in love.

[Don Hahn]

Started micro dosing.

[Rothenberg]

Yeah. Well, I don't.

[Don Hahn]

Probably not micro.

[Rosenberg]

I think they called it the Magic Bus.

[Don Hahn]

Puff the Magic Dragon you're talking about.

[Rothenberg]

Yeah, it looked like he has different memories of the Meadowlands than I do. Sure, but memories are memories.

[Rosenberg]

Thanks for listening to Badan Han and Rooster Rosenberg podcast.

[Don Hahn]

I don't want to know how the

[Rosenberg]

sausage is made, but I just want to know. It's good. Hear more of Don Allen and Peter

[Don Hahn]

Weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8

[Rosenberg]

80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses. Setup required. Compatibility and availability various 18.