
Loading summary
Big Cat
Hey, pardon my take, listeners. You can find every episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Okay, guys, it's grit week. This is the part of the football calendar where nobody's watching, but everything gets built. Early mornings, pads back on conditioning, film reps. Spring training in football is all about putting in the work when nobody's cheering yet. And and honestly, that's the same mindset behind the Chevy Silverado. This is a truck that is the definition of grit. Long days, dirty work, and showing up day after day, no matter the conditions. Strong, dependable, and built for the grind. Because grit isn't about being flashy. It's about being ready when it's time to go. Check out the current offers and build your silverado@chevy.com that's Silverado. All grit, no quit. And you can build your silverado@chevy.com today on today's part of my take presented by DraftKings. We've got a twofer for the people. We're getting ready for the finals in both hockey and basketball. We have Mike Breen, voice of the NBA Finals, voice of the Knicks, recurring guest. Great interview with him talking about the Knicks incredible run. What he's looking forward to most, this NBA Finals plea by us for or an idea by us for him to stay impartial. And then we also have our good friend Keith Yandel. On the show, Yan's talks about the Vegas Knights versus the Carolina Hurricane. Starting on Tuesday night, we're gonna talk game seven. We got who's back of the week, A great Monday show for you. And it's all brought to you by our friends at Mountain Dew. Summer's coming and I can't wait to get in the backyard, do some grilling with some Mountain Dew. Because nothing goes better with some hamburgers, some hot dogs, some sausages, everything on the grill and hanging with your friends. And the refreshing citrus kick of Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew was proudly born in the foothills of Tennessee. And enjoy the refreshing citrus kick of Mountain Dew and American original. So much so I'm holding the new can right now. American Dew. It is such an awesome can. I'm going to crack it open. Oh, look at this.
Meme
It's going to red, white, blue. So good at Camp Barstool this year.
Big Cat
American Dew. That is delicious.
Meme
After day playing kickball out in the sun, maybe doing that volleyball or like jumping off that float you remember? You remember that giant float that they had?
Big Cat
You say kickball.
Meme
We did not play kickball.
Big Cat
We did not play kickball. And I never want to play kickball.
Hank
I'll play some kickball.
Mike Breen
Yeah.
Meme
What's wrong with. Nothing's wrong with kickball.
Big Cat
Kick softball better than kickball.
Meme
Agreed.
Big Cat
But do it all with Mountain Dew. American Dew. Grab a Dew. Tasting great since 48 with Mountain Dew. Okay, let's go. Hey, football guy.
Meme
Patino, Awm.
Big Cat
Martin, Mike. Yeah.
Meme
Martin, Mike Tay. Yeah. Martin, Mike Tay.
Big Cat
Welcome to part of my take presented by DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Monday, June 1st, and the San Antonio spurs have arrived. They won game seven on Saturday night and we have an Adam Silver wet dream of an NBA finals.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
The New York Knicks going up against Wemby and the future face of this league. It's gonna be incredible.
Meme
Wimby is the future.
Big Cat
He is the future, I think the
Meme
current, maybe even current face of this.
Big Cat
He's everything.
Meme
I feel like this is viral marketing for the Age of Disclosure movie that's coming out. Having Wimby in the finals in New York. I, I was again. I love watching the spurs play. That was a fun game seven.
Big Cat
It was.
Meme
I wanted that series to keep going on because I love the bad blood. I love the back and forth fighting. I love how it seemed to be personal for both teams and both fan bases. That's what you like to see. But now we get to see like the spurs kind of. They break convention. They're so young. They haven't lost in the playoffs really before. They a team, they haven't been in the playoffs. They won't be, they won't be able to build teams like the spurs in the same way anymore because the rules have changed in terms of like getting top picks in the NBA draft. So it's kind of crazy that they, they are so young to like buck all the convention and get it done against a battle tested team returning champion like the Thunder in game seven. Like nobody expects that and they just, they just impose their will.
Big Cat
No, they, it was, it was incredible to watch. It does not happen. This team. You're supposed to lose before you win in the NBA. And I, going into game seven, I thought Thunder would win. You thought the Thunder were going to win by a lot.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
And what happened was the spurs just didn't blink. They were unafraid. The shot, the shots they hit in that fourth quarter, I think they had all starters in, in double 10 points or more. They, they just like every time they needed a big shot, they got it. The Luke Cornett block. You can't tell the story of the 2025, 2026 NBA season without Luke Cornett because he had two of the biggest blocks of the year. One, when he blocked all of the young kids being able to see strippers in Atlanta for Magic City Night. And two, when he blocked Isaiah Hartenstein, which was like, I, obviously it doesn't come come down to one play, but it kind of came down to one play because it was, I think, the difference between a four point game and then it went up to eight. And it was incredible.
Meme
It was a four point swing. So he blocks it, then looks down court. I think he found Castle for an easy shot.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Or the ball made its way to Castle for an easy shot. What a block that was, though. That was. I think Wimy called it a winning play. At the end of it, I think
Hank
it's safe to say that kids, from now until the end of time, when they're doing blocked, it'll be like blocked by Cornette.
Meme
I think I'd say, like, that is, that is.
Big Cat
Or when there's like one loser in the group that call, hey, no, we shouldn't go to the strip club tonight. Block by Cor, remember? Yeah.
Meme
I think it's like when you're talking about chase down blocks in the playoffs, it's Luke Cornette, then it's everybody else I gotta take. He just saw that basketball like a giant titty and he was like, no, no, no, no, no, not in front of the kids.
Big Cat
That's a foul. Oh, there we go. On the body talking.
Meme
Look at his, look at his, his
Max
midsection goes right into his dick.
Meme
Max, that's, that's maybe, maybe technically accurate, but also like, that's a foul on the body. No, that's a cop take. You sound like a cop.
Big Cat
I think it's Max, you want me to save your, your, your bad take with the worst take that I was thinking about during the game? Yeah, this is, I don't actually think this, but it popped in my head and I have to share it. There was a moment during the game when they were talking about Wemby's wingspan and standing reach that I had the dumbest take ever that I now will say out loud. I'm not that impressed by Wemby because he's the one guy in the NBA who, if I, if Wemby had my athleticism, he could still dunk. Yeah, no, I, I, I'm not that impressed.
Meme
I think that we're all better at playing nerf basketball maybe than Wimby is at playing real basketball.
Big Cat
It's like, I was just thinking about it, like My exact athleticism in Wemby's body.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
No problem. Doug.
Meme
Can I, can I tell you guys something?
Big Cat
I, I, I looked it up. It's like four inches. You gotta jump four inches.
Meme
Can I confess something?
Big Cat
No problem.
Meme
It's kind of a sad confession.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
I lowered my basketball hoop down to seven feet a couple days ago just to feel like, just to feel like wimby.
Max
That's a very normal.
Big Cat
I think.
Meme
But then I left it down there because I was like, next time I come out and play, I just want to, I want to go back onto my WIMBY simulator.
Big Cat
Wouldn't you have to lure it a little lower than that to feel like one.
Meme
I feel like it's the right height.
Big Cat
Okay.
Meme
Because I can, if I get on my tiptoes, I can like graze the, I can touch the bottom of the rim. So I feel like that's Wimby his.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Max
You're gonna have to do some measurements.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
I thought it felt like it was the WIMBY simulator. Let me tell you what. Basketball is really easy when you can just stand up and touch the rim
Big Cat
when you shoot down.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
It's right. It's really easy.
Big Cat
Yeah. So it was, it was incredible game. Yeah. The spurs are so much fun. They're. They are. I, I have, I have, I have two man crushes in the NBA Finals. One is a pre existing man crush on Cat just because of his zestiness. And I just love the fact that he can just, he can go nuclear from three at any point. And then he can also just score zero points. And I just, I kind of like a guy like that where it's like he's, you just don't know what you're going to get out of him. And then Stefan Castle is, he's just Danny Hurley in basketball, like player form right now. He. I've never seen anyone who just, he, his face never changes from. I'm ready to fight, like fist fight at all times. And I know that there was moments where Caruso was like, either following him or like he hit the ball out of his hands after a timeout. He just wants to fight all the time.
Zach
Yeah.
Big Cat
Dylan Harper made an incredible play to basically bear hug him after Caruso took him down.
Meme
Yep.
Big Cat
To be like, please don't get in a fight, but you need one of those guys. And he plays like that. He, like, he, his defense, his defensive intensity, just the way he holds himself and his demeanor. I just love it. He's just so much fun to watch. And he's just permanently, permanently angry.
Meme
He's a dog.
Big Cat
Yeah. Permanently has everyone on his team being like, please don't fight.
Meme
Permanent, don't fight. And credit to Dylan Harper on that play. When I watch that, I thought because Castle, like, shoved Caruso's foot off him and was ready to chase him down and start something. Dylan Harper assumes bobsled technique with him and just gets behind him, wraps his arms like a back hug. It's like you're not getting up. And at first I was like, he. A man should be able to fight his way out of getting bobsled by another man. But then I thought more about it, and the center of gravity that Harper's got, that's actually the perfect defense against something. Yeah, they should teach that in. In jiu jitsu. He dropped his hips, just bobsled somebody, and there's nothing they can do because you're, like, just a little kid in their lap.
Big Cat
Yep. All right. Should we talk about the Thunder? Can it. So there's one big thing I want to talk about before we do that. Am I allowed to say without being called a Thunder Glazer, that SGA was the best player in game 7? The spurs were the best team. SGH tried. He was phenomenal. He did everything he could possibly do.
Meme
I think he's usually the best player.
Big Cat
Yeah, well, not this. I mean, Wemby was better than him in game one by far. And I think game four. Four, I think, too. Like, he.
Meme
He.
Big Cat
He didn't have the best series, but he was.
Biz
He.
Big Cat
He elevated his game in a game seven and did everything he could possibly do. His. They just didn't have enough guys around him because when you lose your second and third best scoring option, it's going to be hard. And then it leads me so that. That. I just want to say that. And I also think that sga, like, if you saw his quotes afterwards, both after the game and today, no excuses, just was like, yeah, we didn't meet our goal, didn't throw anyone under the bus, was like, I got to play better. I didn't play my best throughout the whole series. I like that Chet Holmgren. He looked like he didn't know how to play basketball. It was. There was a moment where I actually felt bad for him because it was like, multiple possessions where they would pass it to him. He would barely catch the ball. He would do, like, one fake move to show that he's trying something and then immediately kick it out. I've never seen anyone get more, like, emasculated and Scared of the moment than Chad Holmgren in this series and specifically in game seven. I. What do you guys think he says after the game in the locker room? Do you think he's like. Like, does he try to crack a joke, being like, man, he really is 7 5?
Meme
Like, that one's on me. Yeah, I do.
Big Cat
I do. That guy Wemby is tall. You guys are right. He is tall.
Meme
I do sometimes think about what it would be like to be Chet Holgern, because you're seven feet tall, and your entire life, you've been by far the biggest kid. Like, it's never really been close. Even when you were in probably eighth grade, you were taller than most high school seniors. You go to college, you're like the tallest kid in. In NCAA basketball. You go to the NBA, you're a seven footer. The game seems pretty easy. You get a massive contract. And then there's a guy that's 4 or 5 inches taller than you, that's also more athletic. From halfway around the world that shows up. That's kind of been buzzing around you your entire career. Now he's in your backyard, and now you have to go through him every single year. That's got to kind of suck mentally, but also, like, he looked like he turtled away from the moment in Game seven.
Big Cat
Not just buzzing around him. Wemby hates Chet's guts.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
Like, truly, truly hates him. I think if Chad could go back in time, he would give back that under 17 World cup gold medal, because that was the start of the Wemby being like, I am going to destroy Chad Holgren's life. And it's just not reciprocated by Chet whatsoever. Like, that's the biggest thing he's going to have to figure out. Like, hey, that guy across from you despises you and wants to end your career. You have to feel the same way. And I never for one second felt that Chet felt that way. And it was just that, like, you needed. Given the. The. The injuries the Thunder were dealing with, you needed Chet Holmgren to be like, there's no excuses, because Chet Holmgren gets paid a lot of money. He's supposed to be a centerpiece there. He's supposed to be part of their big Three. He needed to step up to the moment, and he was nowhere to be found. I also regret to inform everyone because he is my guy. Lou Dort was brutal. He was brutal.
Meme
Really tough.
Big Cat
I actually think that the Thunder might have won this game if they didn't play Lou Dort because He. The spurs could essentially just not play defense on him. And, and like every Lou Dort shot is. Even if it was wide open, they're like, we'll take that. And they could do whatever they. That like, SGA was getting doubled constantly. And it's because you had non shooters on the court like Lou Dort. Yeah.
Meme
You had all the, all the worst parts of Lou Dort's game and none of the good parts.
Big Cat
Oh, brutal. And he basically got bench. So did Chet Chat. Basically got bench.
Meme
How much of this do you think Thunder fans can look at and be like, we were injured this postseason?
Biz
A lot.
Meme
Are they allowed to say that? Hank says, oh, a lot.
Big Cat
Injuries happen. No, no injuries happen. But I, I, When I say a lot, I mean, anyone who's like, you gotta lose this game because of injuries.
Hank
They lost this game because of Chad Holmgren.
Big Cat
Well, they lost the series because game what? They blew game one. That. That's a game they should have won. And they, they let Wemby, you know, like, that, that was a game they basically. Chad Holmgren. But if they had their full roster, I think the spurs probably would have been a year away. But it doesn't matter, because that's part of winning the NBA title is that you have to deal with injuries. Like, every team has to deal with this shit. And you, like, there's. It's shitty to say, but luck comes into. To play when it, when you're trying to win a title. And a lot of times it's like, hey, we had our guys. They were 100%.
Keith Yandel
They didn't.
Big Cat
So I'm more saying for the future of the Thunder, like, blow it up. I. I don't think you can't. You. You just, you just won the title. Then you went to game seven against the Spurs. You're right there. You got to figure out how to stop Wemby. But I, I wouldn't. I wouldn't be like, freaking out if I was a Thunder fan, being like, this team can never beat the Spurs.
Meme
No, it was game. It was seven games.
Big Cat
Yeah. You do have to be a little concerned that this was probably the worst the spurs will ever be.
Meme
And that's what we said last year about the Thunder. Are we going to get, like, an even taller guy?
Big Cat
Well, here's the thing. And I don't know when we're gonna have our guy Caruso back on, but with the way he played. Game 7 wasn't his best game, but he played great in the series. I think. I think taking the spurs and Wemby maybe the future goat to seven. I might give Crusoe a half a ring for that. So he's now up to two full rings.
Meme
So, like, the more. The more championships that Wimby ends up winning, the more impressive going to seven games in this postseason becomes. Like, this could actually be more impressive than beating. It was the Pacers. Yeah, they beat the Pacers in the NBA Finals last year.
Big Cat
Tyrese Halbert. That's luck. That goes the other way. You can't. If you're a Thunder fan, you can't be like, oh, it's bullshit that we're injured. Tyrese Halberton gets injured to start game seven. Like, that's just what happens in sports.
Meme
So this is actually circling back on our old take. We were right when that was the word. This Thunder team better than last year, 100%. And losing to the spurs in seven is way more impressive than beating the Pacers and seven in the NBA Finals.
Big Cat
I would be a little. Yeah, I. If I were a Thunder fan sitting there today, I'd be like, the one thing that's got to make you a little nervous is that is the young. Like, the spurs again, what we said at the beginning, no team should be doing, like, teams don't do this on their first crack at it. So you just. You just lost to the first crack. The spurs are going to get better. Savvier more like, you know, ready for the big moments, even though they were so ready for Game seven.
Meme
I love how much Wimby cares, too. I. I love how much this means to him, that he was crying after the game, that he was so emotional. Like, some people would say, hey, Wimpy, you got an entire. Another series that you have to compete in. I love it. We want our athletes to care this much about it. And for somebody that's given all the physical tools that. That Wimby has been blessed with since birth, for him to then go on and care that much about becoming great at basketball is awesome. That's everything that we should want from a superstar.
Max
And.
Meme
And it's. It's fun to watch his intensity. He. He's still, like, figuring it out a little bit, like, he'll make some missteps. We didn't talk to the media the other night. We clown him for that. But overall, like, he's a guy to be. Yeah. This is what we want our guys to be. What's up, Hank?
Big Cat
Texas Tech just hit a home run. That's. Oh. Mia Williams. Shout out. Jason.
Meme
Another. Another Dinger.
Big Cat
So good. I completely agree. I that, that moment where Wemby is, is, you know, teary. And his entire team gives him a big hug. And the emotion, the outpouring of emotion. Love every second of it. And I know that we live in a cynical world where people like, oh, it's lame. They haven't won the title. I don't care. I. That was cool. I want my. I want your. You want your athletes to be authentic and show the. To everyone. They care. He clearly cares. He said, I want to win so bad. It's like my life depends on it. And you can feel that from it.
Meme
And he did say, like, I might be addicted now to going to the finals. Chris Paul, he kind of stole that from careful. Yeah. But he's like, maybe I, I'll have to be careful. But I actually believe it when he says it.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Because he does seem like he's a psychopath.
Big Cat
Yeah. He said he was addicted to the, the, the feeling, the. The adrenaline rush when the final buzzer,
Meme
you know, sounded also kind of a cool little side tangent. Mitch Johnson, the coach of, of the spurs, his dad was Seattle Sonic and NBA champion. Seattle Sonic. He's from Seattle. I saw a picture of him rocking a. It was like a T shirt with Jimi Hendrix wearing a Sonic's jersey on it. So like this guy could not be any more Seattle than he is. And then to beat the Thunder to then go to the finals.
Big Cat
Awesome.
Meme
That's kind of cool. On behalf of the city of Seattle,
Big Cat
also on the spurs coaching staff, I think he's their shooting coach. Do you know who it is, Hank? Jimmy Barron, brother of Billy Baron.
Hank
Wow.
Big Cat
Circle of trust.
Hank
Wow.
Keith Yandel
Yeah.
Big Cat
Jimmy Barron. You want some crazy stats?
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
Okay. 23 year old Tim Duncan, second playoff run. Beat the Blazers, beat the T Wolves. Vanquished the biggest big man rival Shaq won a championship over New York. 22 year old Victor Wembanyama's first playoff run beat the Blazers, beat the T Wolves Vanquishes biggest big man rival Chat now plays the Knicks. That's a pretty wild one. Here's another one. This one's real. Whoa. Harrison Barnes. Who he? Harrison Barnes, consummate. Like you know the. If you look at the spurs season, Mitch Johnson making the move to put champagne into the starting lineup. Who? He was incredible in this series in game seven. Where did he come? He came from where?
Meme
Where? Philly.
Big Cat
Oh yeah.
Meme
So when they brought Mac McLung up, because you remember Mac McLung, he. He had to be on the phil on the 76. We've told this dude there's some people
Big Cat
who are listening to the first ever episode of Par.
Meme
So this for them. And we're also in the educational program, so we want. We want to make sure that they learned their history well.
Big Cat
You.
Max
We can't.
Big Cat
Called setting.
Max
We can't confirm that you remember things that are set on passion.
Big Cat
That's true. He might have a little bit of dimension, so I'm.
Meme
I'm running it back so that I can prove that I still got it.
Max
I'm just making sure this is actually him doing.
Meme
Making sure he actually exercises. Yeah.
Big Cat
We started a new program for him. He's got to repeat something so you can remember.
Meme
It's called CTE commentary. Okay. So in this case, Mac McClung, he got brought up to the 76ers because he was going to compete in the dunk contest. He's a really good dunker. And to make room for him, they had to send champagne. They had to release him.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
And so then the spurs get him, and he also, I. I believe identical twin to a guy on the Wizards named as well.
Big Cat
And he went 6 for 10 from 3.
Meme
Yep.
Big Cat
In game 7 was awesome. Every big moment. But I brought up Harrison Barnes because here's. Here's your wow. Stat of the day. Harrison Barnes. May 30th is his birthday. May 30th, 2016, Harrison Barnes beats the Thunder by eight in game seven of the Western Conference final. When he was on the Warriors. May 30, 2026, Harrison Barnes beats the Thunder by eight in Game 7 of the Western Conference Final. Ten years.
Meme
That's wild.
Big Cat
Eight, literally the same exact. Harrison Barnes on different teams beats the Thunder by eight in both of them.
Meme
That's magical.
Big Cat
That's wild.
Meme
Yep.
Big Cat
That's wild.
Meme
Wild stuff.
Big Cat
Wild.
Meme
Great stats.
Big Cat
Also, the Spurs. I did like that they threw in that last dunk.
Meme
Yeah. Yeah.
Big Cat
It's. It's true. Bad blood. I want them to play every year. They really.
Meme
There's also a good dunk. Yeah.
Big Cat
The best thing that happened in this series, outside of all the discourse and all the bullshit, is that we basically put two teams in a microwave of hate, and they feel like they have played each other for a million years, which is something that usually takes years and years to naturally get to. They did it in seven games. Yeah.
Meme
You get all the side narratives that go with it, all the mini rivalries that go along with rivalry. I. I do. I. I enjoy this matchup. I hope that. Chet, like, if you're Chad in this off season, what do you do to try to step. I, I feel like maybe just try to put on weight.
Big Cat
Isn't there the, the, the, the surgery you can get where you can make
Meme
yourself taller, break your legs. I looked into that. The recovery time's probably too long.
Big Cat
Okay. Yeah. I don't know. I, again, I, I wonder what he said in the locker room.
Meme
I would, I would work out if I were him. Check come back 30 pounds heavier, maybe even 40.
Big Cat
Good fat, good season guys.
Hank
Is there like alternative monk thing?
Meme
Oh, like what is it? What would the rival to be? Like become a samurai.
Big Cat
I don't know.
Hank
Because that's what he's got to look into.
Meme
Maybe go on an ayahuasca journey, like the South American version of it.
Big Cat
He needs to do something because I've never seen someone so scared. It was, it was shocking to watch that he just, he did not want any piece of that game whatsoever.
Meme
No memes. How do you feel about the spurs facing off against the Knicks? I know that you said that you got the, you've got the, the Wimby stopper in Mitch Robinson and he's going to be okay with his finger and
Big Cat
he hurt his finger. How?
Biz
We don't know.
Meme
But I did see, I saw an interesting stat. I did not fact check it, but memes, maybe you can tell me this sounds true. This is from Caitlin Cooper. Since Wimby was drafted, there are 20 players who have defended him for at least 100 half court matchups. The player who he has tallied the fewest points per 100 matchups against as his primary assignment is OG Anunoby. So historically, I don't know how many minutes they've played, I don't know how many times they've, they've battled in a half court matchup. But according to this tweet that I saw, OG Anunoby is the most effective defender against him. Have you seen that memes?
Biz
I did see that this morning.
Meme
Okay. Do we think that's true?
Biz
I do think it's true.
Big Cat
I think that OG Yes.
Biz
Defender in the league.
Meme
Okay.
Big Cat
Yeah, I think that's going to be what you're going to see a lot of. You're going to see OG maybe funneling into Mitch when he's on there on the court.
Biz
Yeah, it's going to be a lot of OG on him. Josh Hart's going to be on him. They're just going to, they're just going to cycle through.
Big Cat
How are you guys feeling overall? It's, it's actually, I'll say this, I'm getting more and More confident the Knicks are going to win this series. I don't know if that's crazy, but I was thinking about it. What? Well, you guys, you guys are talking, right?
Biz
Max is saying the unanimous.
Max
I mean, he's just, we just let him say that OG is the best defender in the league when he, When Wemby is also on this.
Meme
That's. Yeah, no, that's. We just say that. Yeah, Wimby is, He is.
Big Cat
Wemby doesn't have to guard Wemby.
Max
Correct.
Biz
But if all that size, we'd be the best.
Big Cat
Right. Right. So OG does.
Max
Yeah.
Meme
So you're saying, like, pound for pound, OG's the best.
Biz
Yeah.
Max
That's fair.
Big Cat
If Wemby had to guard Wemby, we don't know what would happen.
Meme
Or maybe like, arm for arm.
Biz
Yeah. Over seven feet excluded.
Big Cat
Yeah. Okay.
Meme
They should. You know what? We might want to think about banning huge people from playing basketball.
Zach
Limit is minutes.
Meme
It's not really fair.
Big Cat
He did during the regular season.
Meme
Yeah. Like, you know how they, they banned Kareem Abdul Jabbar from dunking in college. We gotta, we gotta take a look at what the hell is going on in San Antonio, because 75 and playing like that is, it's kind of ridiculous.
Big Cat
Oh, I did see this. This doesn't. For the Knicks. The Knicks, in their history, they had to play. So in the finals, they've played wy. David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Hakeem Wilt. Wilt, Wilt. George Mikin. George Mikin.
Meme
Mm.
Big Cat
Literally the biggest big guys of all time. Just like. Yeah, that's it. It's the Mike intro. They named a drill after him. But I, So I'm, I think the Knicks are gonna win this series. I really do. I, I, I was thinking about it last night, like, the Thunder. The Knicks are maybe like, they haven't done it. Like, the Thunder have sga. Mvp. Back to back to mvp. But the Thunder, at the end of that game and in game seven, in most of the series, they just didn't have a ton of scoring options. You know what I mean? It was, it was a limited. Whereas the Knicks are completely different in the fact that it feels like everyone can score with the Knicks right now as they're going. They can put out a lineup where everyone can shoot to some extent. There's no Lou Dort. Josh Hart has. I mean, you're feeling good about Josh Hart. Like, everyone could shoot. So I think the Knicks caused some problems for the spurs in that respect. Like, you can't just say, hey, we're going to ignore this one guy and let Wemby play free safety unless Mitch Robinson is in the game. Yeah.
Biz
I'm way too fired up about this because every single thing in the playoffs has broken the Knicks way. And this also broke the Knicks way.
Big Cat
You wanted to play the Spurs.
Biz
Yes. If you just after watching last night, I kept coming back to like, who do I want to play? And SGA is just so good right now. That and the foul baiting stuff like Cap. Cap's the most important player in the
Big Cat
finals that he could beat him.
Biz
He would have fouled out every single game.
Meme
Yeah.
Biz
So annoying to watch now. Now it just feels like we just have two really good teams and the best team. And we'll see who the best team will win.
Meme
I think it's a coin flip.
Hank
Wow.
Big Cat
I really well said.
Zach
Yeah.
Biz
I just did. That wasn't even.
Big Cat
You didn't really. You were doing well. You're doing great. And then you just. We have two really good teams and the best team will win. Sick dude. Unless it's the Cavs because the Cavs did say they were better than the Knicks.
Biz
Yeah. Every, every team says that that loses. The Knicks.
Meme
Yeah. Are you, are you worried about say that. Are you worried about coming out flat in game one? You've had a lot of time to rest
Biz
slightly. But I, they'll be fine.
Meme
Have you allowed yourself to think like, what if New York sports never loses?
Biz
About that. Just don't.
Big Cat
Have you looked at the Mets season so far?
Meme
What if, what if the Mets come back? I did bet on the Mets memes. You reminded me to do that.
Big Cat
The Yankees did score 13 runs in an inning today.
Biz
The Mets play really good when the Knicks close out of series.
Meme
What if the jets just keep winning? Start winning and then keep winning. That would be so sick.
Biz
You'd like that if the jets kept winning or if the jets won in general.
Meme
How many Super Bowls would you trade?
Big Cat
Yes, I know you'd like that.
Meme
How many NBA championships for the Knicks would you trade for one Jet Super Bowl? What's the conversion rate?
Biz
Oh, I don't have either. So we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there.
Big Cat
Okay.
Biz
I, I, I don't know. I just want to win one. Bfd.
Big Cat
Yeah. Max, you want to stat that you'll like?
Max
Sure.
Big Cat
He's worried.
Max
Yeah.
Big Cat
Half the starters in the NBA Finals played in the Big East.
Max
Great stat.
Big Cat
It's pretty good stat.
Meme
Very good.
Big Cat
And not even counting Tyler Colic. You never know where he.
Max
True.
Big Cat
He might, might hear memes.
Max
Love Tyler Kohlik.
Biz
Yeah, he balled out in the NBA cup championship.
Meme
Big cat, you want to hear a wild stat? You like this one? Did you know that since 2009, that's 18 years, every single NBA finalist has featured at least one former member of the Washington Wizards. Whoa.
Big Cat
How wild.
Hank
I feel like you didn't say that in the correct voice.
Meme
How crazy is that?
Big Cat
You got to do the.
Meme
Hey, what's up?
Big Cat
2009 is 18 years. Am I just bad at adding years?
Meme
I guess. I think if you include 2009 and 20. 26.
Big Cat
Got it.
Max
Yeah.
Big Cat
I'm so bad. I think that whenever someone says that, I'm like, I don't know if that was nine years, 10 years, 11 years ago.
Meme
I think that stat was a lot cooler maybe until last year, because you could say it was like 10 or 12 years that a team that. That won the NBA Finals had a former member of the Wizards. Now it's just like, okay, yeah, a lot of teams have a lot of players from a lot of. A lot of teams.
Big Cat
Yeah. I'm so excited for these. I'm. This might be the most excited for Finals, probably since, like, maybe Cavs, Warriors.
Meme
It's really good.
Big Cat
Like, this 2016.
Meme
It is really good.
Big Cat
Didn't go well. But it's so. I mean, Wemby's the best. The Knicks are a fun team. You get rid of, like, the. The sga, like, they would have been just exhausting the two weeks of it, and we just get to watch some ball. Wemby is the best. Did you guys also see that SGA said that there's no place in the country he'd rather be than with Thunder.
Meme
That's cool.
Big Cat
Huh?
Meme
What do you mean? What do you mean by that?
Big Cat
He said there's no place in the country he'd rather be
Max
outside the country.
Big Cat
He's from Canada. Oh. Huh. So he'd write he'd like to be traded to the Raptors. He could easily have said world. Said country.
Meme
That's interesting.
Big Cat
It's only one team outside the country in the NBA.
Meme
Well, maybe in LeBron's new basketball league that he's going to start up.
Big Cat
Just interesting. Just thought that was. Thought that was a little interesting. Could easily say world, right?
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
Ah, man. This can be fun. This is going to be fun. This is going to be fun. I hope it goes. I hope it goes.
Keith Yandel
Seven.
Big Cat
We need seven. I need to really just milk every last second out of this. Zach, you don't want seven. I understand why you wouldn't want Seven. You're scared of seven?
Zach
I mean, why do seven if you don't have to do seven?
Meme
Zach, what are you thinking about? Like, where's your head at with this matchup?
Zach
My confidence sliders are uncomfortably slid in the direction of confident.
Meme
Okay. That's what I was asking.
Big Cat
Yeah. That's a totally normal way.
Mike Breen
Okay.
Big Cat
That's.
Keith Yandel
They're.
Zach
They're kind of maxed out right now, which isn't good. Which is never good.
Big Cat
All right.
Zach
Because I'm not entirely a high confidence guy, but I feel good about it. I like us going up against the Spurs. Now that it's over, I can. I will say that I was terrified of sga just because, like, it feels like he play. He plays uncontested basketball even when he's the most contested. Doesn't really make much sense.
Big Cat
Yeah, he had like, guys just all over him. He was still making shots.
Zach
It's unbelievable.
Meme
But that, that one shot that he jumped into was. That was a little much even for him.
Big Cat
I don't have. Like, that's been happening forever.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
Guys get. If you get. If you pump fake a guy in the air.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
Like Dwyane Wade made a living like a career off of it. Like there's. I just. That doesn't bother me as much.
Meme
Flopping I get when he jumps sideways on a. On a three point shot. I just feel like this one that
Big Cat
happens in every, every NBA player does that. I know that the. I'm not talking about the flopping, but like the. When you get a guy in the air and you, you basically like, I'm going to go to the free throw line. It feels like that's just what guys do.
Meme
Oh yeah, it's. It's a smart play.
Big Cat
I just didn't. I. When I see that, I'm not like, God damn it, I can't believe this guy.
Meme
But this, where he jumps to the side. I know that a lot of players do it. He does it more than most, but a lot of players do it. And he's very good.
Big Cat
He's out of the playoffs. We don't even need to talk about it anymore.
Meme
I just didn't like it.
Big Cat
Noted.
Meme
I didn't like it. And the beautiful thing about this country and the first amendment, as a member of the press, I get to say that's maybe not in Canada, sga, but in the United States of America. We don't play soccer. All right, buddy?
Big Cat
We play basketball. Did you have anything to say about Wemby's flops? He did learn in this series. In the course of this series, it
Meme
was actually like un American was.
Big Cat
It was almost like he got infected.
Meme
It's the most French thing that he does. I don't like it. You just can't make me think that a man Wimby's size is getting knocked off his feet ever.
Big Cat
What he had over the middle. Yeah, but that one again, I don't really. It's. Again, it all goes back to. My take has been the same from the beginning. It's the ref's faults. The refs have to do better. The refs have to get it out of the league. Players are going to do it if they think they can get an advantage. The refs, Adam Silver fix it. Refs fix it. That's how we have to fix it.
Meme
We did ask. I think it was the first time Adam Silver came on pmt. I asked him, why don't you make it so that flops. You can review them between games and you can assess technicals and fines after a game's over. And he's like, well, it is reviewable during a game. And they just kind of moved on from it.
Big Cat
Just stop calling all the. Like, don't call as many fouls and guys will stop flopping because it's a disadvantage when you fall on the ground. I don't know why we're doing this right now. Now we don't need to do this.
Meme
It's a conversation. I.
Big Cat
But it's been like, not by us, I'm saying, but like by the entire NBA ecosystem has been just.
Max
I was just trying to look. SGA had some sick plays in that game yesterday. You can't. You can't find a highlight of his on. On Twitter right now.
Big Cat
That's what I'm saying. That was just. That's my original point all the way back to a week and a half ago that got me pegged as a Thunder Glazer. It was.
Max
I was just scrolling for like two minutes.
Big Cat
It literally.
Max
I was like, it's just all about him. Flop.
Big Cat
It became like a bot farm thing where people were like, I, I'm going to get my Twitter paycheck this week by just posting the SGA clips. He was awesome in the game in game seven. But yeah, you can't find. You just. It's just all that. You know who the. The winner of that is? Chat anytime. We're not talking about Chad. What do you think he's. What do you think he's doing right this second?
Meme
Probably gaming.
Big Cat
You think so? Is he a gamer?
Meme
He's Probably. He strikes me as a gamer.
Big Cat
I would agree with that.
Meme
He just got the gamer vibe to him.
Big Cat
Like, do you think he's sitting there, like, practicing a move in. In. In the mirror, being like, I should have hit him with this.
Meme
I looked it up. If. If he's going to train in the off season to try to counteract wimby, I looked up the biggest enemies of Tibetan monks.
Big Cat
Okay.
Meme
It's really all from within. Ignorance, craving, and hatred.
Big Cat
That's what I'm saying. He needs to.
Meme
He needs to become way more ignorant.
Big Cat
Yeah. There's that famous tweet that's like. What was it? It's something about, like, screw, you know, vertical and shop making. I'm drafting a team with just all guys who aren't gonna be. And like, that was. That was said afterwards because he. He just. It was not. It was not good for him at all. And yeah, he's gotta. He's gotta. He's gotta hate WBY as much as Wemby hates him right now. He's the dog at the dog park who's getting growled at. And he's just not giving eye contact because he's so scared.
Meme
He's hiding under his owner's legs. Yeah, yeah.
Big Cat
You got. We gotta. We gotta get out there.
Meme
Chad, you're big. Chad doesn't know how big he is. That's his problem.
Big Cat
That's true. You know what you need to do? We chat. Like, maybe hang out with me. No. Go. Or. I was gonna say go to, like, a South American country.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
Like, go to Peru. Right. Is that. I feel like it's the higher you
Meme
get up or the altitude.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Well, that's the ayahuasca thing. You can. You can elect to become an ayahuasca savant.
Big Cat
And what's the shortest country in the world?
Meme
There's a lot of, like. I think I. This is going to sound ignorant if I'm wrong. I feel like Honduras might have a lot of short people.
Big Cat
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
Mike Breen
Yeah.
Big Cat
South America, maybe some parts of Asia. What's max? You find us the shortest country in the world. That's. You're right. You're exactly right. Chet needs to remind himself, you're not a Chihuahua, dude.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
You're a Great Dane.
Meme
Right.
Big Cat
Go out there and be a great day.
Meme
Leroy had this problem for a long time when he would get. He would get bullied by small dogs because he didn't know. And so every now and again, you got to gas your boy up and be like, dude, Chat. You're big, man. You're seven feet so big.
Big Cat
Like, oh, you know what?
Meme
I want to blindfold him and then walk him through a lot of doors and have him hit his head on stuff.
Big Cat
Maybe we need to just have a bunch of people like old grandmothers, just being like, you're a growing boy. Just keep saying that to him. He's like, you know what? I am growing. How is it this hard to find the. The shortest country?
Hank
It's Timor Leste.
Max
I got it.
Big Cat
Yeah, for us. Give us a real country. Laos, Guatemala.
Max
You said that when I. I. This has been up for, like, 45 seconds.
Hank
Madagascar, Guatemala, Philippines, Nepal, Yemen.
Big Cat
We kind of nailed it. Bangladesh, South America. Little Asia.
Meme
Guatemala's four.
Hank
Yeah.
Big Cat
Okay.
Meme
Madagascar, India, Vietnam. I kind of want to go hang out in these places now.
Big Cat
Yeah. Go chat. Five, two.
Hank
You'd be a come back normal.
Big Cat
Go to. Go to Mata. Go to Madagascar and put all the rims at seven feet.
Meme
I'm gonna start the Madagascar in the NBA.
Big Cat
That would be so sick.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
Okay, let's. What. What are you gonna say?
Meme
Never mind.
Big Cat
What. Say you found East Timor?
Max
No, I just want to go up to chaps and ask him this question tomorrow so that he knows how. How it feels when he asks us these stupid geography questions that nobody knows.
Meme
No, you're getting.
Big Cat
You're getting mad.
Meme
You're getting mad because. Because you got stumped before because you
Big Cat
didn't know what Missouri looked like.
Max
That's not it. No.
Meme
He asked like, there are tough ones.
Big Cat
There are tough ones.
Max
It's like. It was like, which country grows the most corn in the world? And it's like, how am I supposed to know that?
Big Cat
Iowa, he loves. Secondly, Nebraska country. Yeah.
Meme
It's got the United States.
Big Cat
We're bigger than everyone.
Max
I just made that. Yeah. I don't know why that was the first thing that came to my head.
Meme
We're. Yeah, but, like, what country has the most swimming pools?
Max
Yes.
Big Cat
Also us.
Mike Breen
Yeah.
Big Cat
Florida.
Meme
I think it was Iceland. Per capita.
Big Cat
Oh. Because they got, like, no people.
Zach
That's where it gets the per capita at the end. All these questions where he just throws you for the biggest loop, and it's
Big Cat
like, yeah, you can't.
Zach
Per capita's every time.
Big Cat
Yeah. Wait, what was the. What was the corn one? Who has the most.
Max
It was us.
Big Cat
Okay, there we go. We could still do something, right? All right. DraftKings. The final round of the basketball season is here. Two teams left, one trophy on the line. And only DraftKings has you covered every step of the way the DraftKings sportsbook app is now available in all 50 states and includes all markets, bringing each game straight to your fingertips wherever you are. From New York to San Antonio to la, you're in on the excitement at the speed of sports. Follow every possession, every fourth quarter swing, every clutch shot that decides the series. Sweat the whole run in real time with a seamless experience built for championship basketball. No matter where you're watching, you're always connected in the game with one app. New DraftKings customers sign up with code TAKE. Spend five bucks to get 200 in rewards within 21 days. That's code TAKE in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours. Bet with DK Sportsbook. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- GAMBLER 1-800- Myreset New York. Call 877-8-HOPE and WHY or text hope and why connecticut. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boothill Casino in Kansas. VetText pass through. May apply in Illinois. 21 and over. Void in Ontario. Event contract trading with DraftKings predictions involves risk of loss. Sportsbook bonus bets expire in seven days. $50 in predictions. Dollars issued weekly for three weeks. Expire in one year. Redeem one non withdrawable reward. Availability varies. Predictions offer void in New York. Ends June 28. Terms at D. Did you guys watch any of the Champions League?
Meme
I saw the shootout.
Big Cat
I watched it. I had no idea. And maybe an awl can explain this to me. I had no idea how much everyone hates Arsenal. Yeah, like it is. Zach, you're a little bit of a soccer guy. Why does everyone. And also is the champions of Europe. You'll never sing that. Is that only for Arsenal?
Zach
I don't have the backstory on why everyone hates him, but I'm happy to say Arsenal.
Big Cat
Okay, but everyone hates them.
Zach
Yeah. Yeah. Majority. Majority hated.
Keith Yandel
Yeah.
Big Cat
Like they had a guy on the broadcast who flew from Kenya to Budapest. He was a Chelsea fan. He was just coming to hate watch. He's like, I came just to watch Arsenal lose.
Zach
Guy's a hero.
Big Cat
So why. Why does everyone hate Arsenal so much?
Keith Yandel
Them.
Meme
Okay, that's fine.
Big Cat
Okay. But is there any specific reason?
Hank
Do they win a lot?
Big Cat
I.
Meme
Well, no, not a lot.
Big Cat
No. Champions. They were all chanting that. Champions of Europe. You'll never sing that. You'll never sing that. I think never won it. Not of Europe. Imagine having that be a chant that
Meme
just everyone sings and knows they won the epl. And then the last time they won it was what, like 25, 30 years ago. Yeah, something like that. So they don't win a lot. They're just all. I think every year they have the perfect season. Every year they think that they're going to win the.
Big Cat
What was the name of them?
Meme
They're the Gooners.
Big Cat
No, no, no. There was a name for their perfect season. I can't remember it.
Meme
Oh, well, you know who's a Gooner is Joel Embiid. Really big gunner.
Big Cat
Yeah, they. Did you guys also see that? Oh, the Invincibles. It's a Pretty cool name. 26 games. Drew 12. 126. Drew 12. Because of the World cup, starting in like a week and a half or whatever it is. Two weeks and Champions League, the schedule and everything. Arsenal went to Budapest. They lost in the Champions League, the biggest trophy for any club in the world. And then they went back to England. Where's Arsenal? Manchester.
Meme
They're Birmingham.
Big Cat
Birmingham. They went back to Birmingham and they did a parade for their EPL victory. Right. 12 hours after losing the Champions League.
Meme
Yeah, it was tough.
Big Cat
That is as brutal as brutal gets.
Meme
I do like the EPL trophy.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
EPL trophy is pretty cool. You can put, like, your own ribbons on it and. And decorate it the way that you want it to, but. Yeah, then having to go out play in what many would call a much more important tournament or like a. A. A bigger tournament, and then losing that and then having to go back home, be like, remember, we're still good, though.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Remember how happy you guys were with us just 48 hours ago?
Big Cat
That was sick.
Meme
Yeah. Please just remember that.
Big Cat
So Meme said that his buddy who watches a lot of soccer says they play terrorist ball. They did. It was brutal to watch because they scored too fast. They scored six minutes into the game, and then they just played like absolute cowards.
Meme
The rest of the parked the bus.
Biz
And the guy who missed the penalty kick is apparently the worst person. Oh, and everyone hates him.
Big Cat
Dude, I would never have missed like that. I would have just shot it on goal.
Biz
And he just hit a moon ball into the car.
Meme
Crowd. What's the guy's name? You got to put that on frame.
Biz
Gabriel.
Meme
Gabriel.
Big Cat
Is that just his full name?
Biz
Yeah, it's like Oprah.
Big Cat
It's like a Brazilian.
Meme
Put it on frame, Gabriel.
Big Cat
Dude, they hate. Oh, man. But, yeah, look at Max. You see that? They. They did a parade today. That's so brutal.
Meme
So psg, Paris Sangerma. They won. Back to back, Back to back. First time it's been done in a long time. I read it's a big thing.
Big Cat
Big deal.
Meme
It's a whole.
Big Cat
I. I can't definitively fact check that.
Meme
I think that there's only like two other teams that have ever won back to back. I think
Big Cat
I'm gonna look it up. Yeah.
Meme
I want to say real.
Big Cat
They were so much back to back league champions. You know who's not gonna be on the list?
Zach
Real Madrid's a three peak. 16, 17, and 18. Who did. Real Madrid has a three, Pete. So 2016, 2017, 2018.
Big Cat
Okay, Rumager. Real Madrid.
Zach
Real Madrid. My bad.
Big Cat
Real Madrid. So somewhat re. Well, back to back for the first time in five or six years. It was PSG yesterday. Hey, listen, just a little warm up. Little warm up for. For the World Cup.
Meme
Just seeing some grass.
Big Cat
Yeah, just seeing some grass.
Meme
Seeing a pitch.
Big Cat
Okay, what else we got? Do we got other sports stuff? We have Kitiano coming up, talking some Stanley Cup Final and Mike Breen. Hank, did you see. I don't want to take your who's back, but are you going to use AI in your golf game? Oh, yeah, that's your who's back.
Hank
It was gonna be my who's back.
Big Cat
I did this. What is this? I just saw Bryson being like, yeah, talk to AI.
Hank
I mean, it's like, it's, it's. It's truly like if, you know, it's relatable in the fact that. And it makes probably bad golfers feel better in the fact that Bryson said he wasn't feeling good about his swing. He was mad on the range. And then when he went back, he was just, you know, uploading his pictures and videos of his swing to AI to try and figure out the issues, which is when, you know, well, he finished in third. Like, he, he got hot Sunday.
Meme
So.
Hank
AI, Saturday night swing tip.
Meme
Huh?
Hank
Fixed on Sunday.
Meme
I think it's just about thinking anything different. Like if you're. If your game feels broken, just watch any video. It doesn't have to be like an AI breakdown of your own swing. It could be any, any golf video that you see online. And just think about what you saw in that one video and things will change.
Big Cat
Bryce is going to try to marry a computer, right?
Meme
Yeah. Oh, he's going to be.
Hank
He's going to be early, early, early chip inside of him. Whenever. Whenever they roll that out. Whenever they roll that out in the next couple years, he will be maybe the first person.
Big Cat
Okay. And then he's going to be like, why am I not allowed to play in the ma.
Keith Yandel
Yeah.
Meme
My prediction is he's going to have neuralink implanted into his brain somewhere. He'll be like in the first. He'll. He'll volunteer himself to be like a. A guinea pig for that. Or he might get like the contacts that when you. You can read a green and you can see like.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Where the downhills are.
Big Cat
He's going to get neuralink and then he's going to play the Masters. The first ever Masters in your brain. Yeah, like he's not actually going to play in the Masters.
Meme
He's.
Big Cat
He's just going to do a live stream of his brain playing the master.
Meme
His eyes are going to glaze over.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Like when that guy from Game of Thrones looked into the future Bran. He's gonna be Bryson the broken. Yeah.
Big Cat
Hank, do you pay for the full live pass video pass?
Hank
Don't every shot.
Big Cat
Never did.
Hank
Every now. I never did.
Meme
I see you're part of the problem.
Big Cat
Damn.
Meme
So you're. You're just a. You're. You're pirating streams.
Big Cat
I found a guy who's watch on.
Hank
Watch on fox watch on YouTube.
Big Cat
I found a guy who's a bigger live fan than you, who's also a cuck for Liv because he pro golf critic said he got the message that LIV Golf was suspending the any shot anytime group feed that people paid $27 for. And he said, dear Live Golf, I appreciate the offer, but I don't want a refund. I believe in the product so much. Consider this my investment in the league. It's not much money and it's negligible to the bottom line, but symbolism matters. I'll. I call on all live golf fans to do the same.
Zach
That's respect.
Big Cat
So are you.
Hank
I mean, I might. I might buy it now.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Hank
Although I probably can't buy it now.
Big Cat
No, but you gotta buy it.
Meme
You should try.
Big Cat
I'm trying to buy it right now.
Hank
I do have the live Golf app.
Big Cat
Try to buy it right now.
Meme
Considering pro golf critics lead, considering all the free entertainment that you've gotten from Liv, it's the least you could do would be to pay for a service that no longer exists.
Max
Yeah.
Hank
Shout out to the Range Goats. By the way, sent me a great care package.
Big Cat
Symbolism matters.
Meme
Hank, who's on the Range Goats?
Max
You can no longer purchase. Purchase this service on the Live Golf app.
Big Cat
Hank, donate $27 to Saudi Arabia right now.
Meme
Can you?
Big Cat
I love this guy, though, making like a bold proclamation. Hey, listen, I'm not going to ask for the refund.
Meme
Can you name the Range Goats?
Hank
Yes. Bubba Watson.
Meme
He's that's one.
Big Cat
He's looking it up right now. He's literally got it. He just pulled it up. Who else? Why he.
Hank
Bubba Watson.
Meme
Yep.
Hank
And, I mean, I'm a lefty guy, so he's the only lefty on the team. You know, you don't. You know how I operate.
Meme
I. I know at least one of the other guys on the team because He's a former four ace.
Big Cat
Is it?
Meme
There's actually no former four aces. It's once a four ace, always a 4s.
Big Cat
Like the Marines.
Meme
Yeah. The brotherhood.
Big Cat
He's looking.
Meme
Duke basketball.
Hank
I am looking it up.
Meme
Peter Uline.
Hank
Oh, right.
Big Cat
It's right in front of your face.
Max
It's also. I pulled it up.
Hank
Matthew Wolf. Great swing. Ben Campbell. Never heard of him. Great guy.
Big Cat
Okay.
Hank
Shout out to the goats.
Meme
Great guy. Never heard of him.
Big Cat
Great.
Max
How many people do you think out there actually think that we get paid by live for the amount that we talk about it?
Meme
I mean, I don't think Liv's paying anybody now. Yeah.
Big Cat
They don't have we talk. Well, no. They got 27 extra bucks.
Meme
Sure. We'll take that.
Big Cat
Golf critic. Thanks, bro. Yeah, they probably. They probably think that we're.
Hank
It's a national sports podcast, Max.
Big Cat
Shut up. Yeah, shut up, Max.
Max
Talking about Ben Campbell.
Meme
Go get married again, Max.
Max
I'm going to.
Meme
He's. He's an.
Big Cat
He's.
Meme
Honestly, that's.
Hank
He's an international sports guy.
Keith Yandel
Who?
Hank
Ben Campbell.
Big Cat
Oh, yeah, big time.
Hank
He won the Hong Kong Open. Dude.
Big Cat
That's one of the biggest opens they've got. Got, I would assume, right?
Hank
Yeah. And 2024. He won the International Series. Morocco.
Meme
Wow.
Big Cat
This guy is crazy.
Meme
Shut me up.
Big Cat
Yeah. All right, let's do who's Back of the Week. Okay. Who's Back of the Week's brought to you by our friends at Twisted Tea. Summer's right around the corner, and Twisted Tea is coming in clutch to turn our day drinking up a notch. Their new summer party pack has a brand new Twisted Lemonade. And I want to go on the record saying this will be the drink of the summer. It's got a refreshing taste with a little kick and no carbonation. Grit Week is the official kickoff of preseason football that we've all been waiting for. And we know that Twisted Tea is a staple during football season. I'm excited about getting on the grill, maybe by a pool, maybe on a beach, maybe go to some ball games. It's summer, but I'm going to be on that grill with a Twisted Tea in my hand. So I'm ready. And I'm going to get that twisted lemonade. So grab a refreshing twisted tea today and get involved in the summer. Okay, Hank, your who's back of the week.
Hank
My who's back was.
Keith Yandel
AI.
Hank
I. I guess it's also. I don't know if it's Mike Greenberg's dumb rul. Mike Greenberg's dumb Mike. Mike Greenberg's dumb rearrangements. But this John Calari. Did you see this?
Meme
No.
Mike Breen
No.
Big Cat
You hear about this one?
Hank
He wants to do the SEC basketball tournament in. To start the year.
Meme
Okay.
Hank
And then you don't. That way you don't have a serious tournament leading into the NCAA tournament.
Meme
Okay.
Big Cat
Which with.
Hank
We've talked about the. The NCAA tournament. I mean, basically gonna be ruined from here on out. 70, 72 teams or whatever it is, and it's just gonna keep getting more and more.
Big Cat
By the way, the conference. You can't say that.
Hank
The conference tournaments.
Mike Breen
Why not?
Meme
What if it was played, like, overseas?
Hank
Why can't I say that? Why can't I say that?
Big Cat
Because I feel like you're gonna use that as an excuse, being like this. This week doesn't matter. It's golf season already. The. They ruined the tournament. You can't say that.
Hank
No, it's usually the weather's not nice.
Big Cat
You can't say that. I could say, you can't say that. I mean, it's true.
Hank
I can speak the truth.
Big Cat
Yes, but I know what you're gonna end up doing. You're like, oh, it's ruined anyway. What do we care?
Hank
No, I want it. I. I would much rather it be 64 teams. Like, that's crazy. I'm not.
Big Cat
I don't want it to be the
Hank
way it is, but I'm not gonna say that. It's like. No, it is as good as it was.
Big Cat
It is. So he wants this before the season.
Hank
It makes sense now where it's like, there's going to be. Everyone's basically going to get in. Why not have the tournament start the year? Could be fun.
Big Cat
I don't hate the idea.
Meme
So the. The winner would get an automatic bid, and then for the rest of the season, they'd know that, like any team that didn't win that tournament, they have to prove themselves. See, I. I like it. I like the idea better with football, where you have, like, week zero as the bowl games. That, to me, makes more sense.
Big Cat
They've kind of ruined everything now that I'm thinking about it.
Meme
There was one coach that. That I think it was new. Heisel floated that out last year to, to start the season with some of these crazy like out of conference matchups.
Hank
But what if you win the bowl game?
Meme
You just doesn't mean anything. It's just like it makes the bowl games mean a little bit where now the bowl games don't mean anything unless.
Hank
How do you qualify for the bowl games?
Big Cat
I don't know.
Biz
They.
Meme
They do the invites. I'm not sure. I'm not sure how that part would work. Would work out, but it's kind of like it's similar to what Calipari is promoting, except I just. I don't know. I. I don't like it because I feel like the teams, what you see at the end of the season, they're so much different than what they would be at the very start of the year.
Big Cat
Yeah, I can't wrap my head around this. One part of me is like, that would be awesome, but nah, you need it at the end of the year.
Meme
It wouldn't feel the same at all.
Big Cat
No, no, it definitely wouldn't feel the same. I'm just thinking about like the fact Hank. Hank was right. Like they have already ruined the tournament,
Meme
so why not just let's ruin everything else?
Big Cat
Yeah, just throw. Throw the. Throw the beginning. The conference tournament at the beginning of the season. We would say, Max, wouldn't it be
Max
weird if a team won it? Won it and then you're just already in it, the rest of it?
Big Cat
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean it would.
Hank
It.
Big Cat
I'll say this. It would give teams.
Hank
It's an incentive to win it though.
Big Cat
It would definitely flatten like it would give bad teams a better chance because there's no tape on you. And it's like, you know, the beginning of the year, we always have that where a team will just be hot in the beginning of the year and non conference, then they'll get to conference play and they suck. Would be interesting.
Meme
Yeah, I don't like it. I'm out on it.
Big Cat
No, I don't like it.
Meme
I'm just.
Big Cat
I like that he's.
Meme
He's thinking.
Big Cat
I think what Cal is doing here is, is, is saying is basically shining a light on how they're ruining everything else by throwing out a crazy rule. Yeah, because it's. I think a lot of people probably are going to have the same reaction to me of like, that's stupid. And then they take a step back and say, well, they did kind of up the tournament already, so why not up everything? So good job, Cal. You got me. You got me thinking about it. Yeah.
Meme
It's like the worse the ideas get, then the less bad the other really bad ideas.
Big Cat
Correct. Correct.
Meme
Kind of a genius move, right?
Mike Breen
We're all.
Big Cat
We're just hanging out with all bad ideas.
Meme
Kind of the story part of my take.
Big Cat
So now they become good ideas.
Meme
Yeah. Yeah.
Big Cat
All right. It's actually a perfect. What the Bears are doing right now where they're just like, hey, here's a bad idea. We moved to Indiana or we moved to Arlington Heights out of the city, and everyone's like, no, that's crazy. Like, how about we move to Indiana? Like, no, that's a really bad idea. Hey, that. That Arlingtonites thing's a good idea.
Meme
That to me, sounds like. That's Chicago.
Zach
Yeah.
Big Cat
That's awesome. I don't even want to.
Hank
I don't know where there's Indiana, it's Indiana.
Big Cat
There's just meetings going on with Polygon. Anytime we have politicians, like, when I find out the names of politicians, we've gone too far. Yeah. That's when. When I can start picking out people because they're walking out of meetings and talking to the press. You've. You've ruined everything.
Meme
Let me tell you. When. When I saw the Bears contingent down at Lost Marsh. Is that the name of the golf course?
Keith Yandel
Yeah.
Meme
When I saw them there, they were wearing really nice suits, like they were trying to impress the Indiana people, and they looked like they meant business.
Big Cat
So I. Kevin.
Meme
Word.
Big Cat
Such a fucking. Oh, my God. All right, good. Who's back?
Meme
Good. Who's back?
Hank
Thanks.
Meme
My. Who's back of the week is the U.S. men's National Soccer team.
Big Cat
Nice.
Meme
Because we beat the Africa cup co champions, kind of Senegal today in a friendly, 3 to 2. Based on my own personal expected goals percentage, we actually. It was more like 6.1 to 1.3.
Big Cat
Nice.
Meme
So, like, utter domination.
Hank
I mean, kind of.
Meme
What do you mean?
Hank
Do we win or not?
Meme
No, we did. We won three to two. I. I was referring to Senegal as being kind of the co. Champions of the Africa.
Big Cat
They were.
Meme
There was a whole thing where they, like, pulled their players off the field and then they got into a fight with, I think, Morocco. So nobody really knows who.
Big Cat
Where are they ranked? Tell me what they're.
Meme
I think they're ahead of us. I think.
Big Cat
Max, give us the rankings.
Meme
I want to say Senegal might be top 15 FIFA rank in the world.
Hank
Was the field in good enough condition?
Meme
Not really. It was the Carolina Panthers field.
Hank
Is that a concern for.
Meme
No, because there are no games at that stadium Cup.
Big Cat
How many more friendlies do we have?
Meme
We're playing Germany and friendly in Chicago.
Big Cat
It wasn't Portugal.
Max
I looked up sen. Oh, this only gives me top 10.
Big Cat
No, load more, dude.
Meme
Click more.
Big Cat
Show full standings. All right, you have 16.
Meme
We playing sort of play Germany on, I believe this upcoming Friday.
Big Cat
Our team's trying here in Chicago.
Hank
Yeah.
Meme
Yeah. I mean, it's like experimenting with what your starting lineup's going to be. So in the first half there, it was like 90 of our starting lineup. It's a tune up. And they look.
Big Cat
And they look pre season.
Meme
They look good. And Pulisic looked awesome in the first half. He scored a goal, had an assist. Our entire offense, like our strikers and attacking midfielders look really, really good. This, this as. As bad as the headlines have been for the U.S. men's National Team for the last, like, couple months, this should make you at least a little bit optimistic about what the team could look like.
Big Cat
I'm very optimistic, so.
Meme
And then we'll find out more after this game against Germany. Who's a much better team than Senegal. But, yeah, we look. We look pretty good. I would give us a B plus.
Big Cat
Why'd you look up Neymar?
Max
I. I just don't know any players anymore. I just want to know. Zach's telling me Neymar's old news.
Meme
And. Yeah, he's old.
Big Cat
Yeah, he's very old news.
Meme
In fact, I think he might have just, like, faked an injury because he got put on the Brazilian national team this year and he's so old that I think he was kind of like, I kind of shouldn't play, so. Ow. I think my leg hurts. There is one new soccer player that you guys should all know, though. Have you heard about the guy from New Zealand?
Big Cat
No.
Meme
So a bunch of people, they, like online, they got together and they tried to figure out who the, like, least well known player in the World cup was just to give this guy, like, his own fandom. And they found a guy in New Zealand and his name's Tim Payne. And I think he had like 3, 000 followers online. And then if you look him up now, I want to say he's got like 8 million followers. It's because people decided that Tim Payne, he was going to be the guy for anyone that didn't have a favorite soccer player. Okay, so he's this dude from New Zealand. He plays for the Wellington Phoenix, and he's on the New Zealand national team right now. And I. I think he's about at 3 million followers. Where he was like at 3,000.
Big Cat
Hell, yeah.
Meme
Four days ago. So shout out Tim Payne. Tim Pain is like the new. This could also go sideways real fast.
Big Cat
Oh, yeah.
Meme
Like, if Tim Pain is a jerk and you give him all this power down, like three all over again, like 4 million followers, he might actually just like destroy his team.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
So we'll find out more about Tim Payne. But Tim Pain seems to be the. The people soccer player.
Big Cat
Okay, my. Who's back the week is. I'm going to go with PCA because now the. The Cubs are going to lose two out of three. The Cardinals, but that's irrelevant Saturday night. And if you guys saw the clip. But the Cardinals, which is. I'll give the Cardinals fans credit. It looks like a blast out there in right field. They have the tarps off section, which we had in college football as well. So the tarps off section. Bunch of dudes tarps off, going crazy. They were chanting overrated when PCA was up. PCA then hit a nuke into the tarps off section. And after that, a guy, a Cardinals fan, picked up the ball. Everyone told him to throw it back. I don't think that guy had ever thrown a baseball in his life. And that was a brutal look for him.
Meme
He's a reverse rookie of the year.
Big Cat
He couldn't get it out of the. The. The stands. He hit a Cubs fan in the front row.
Meme
I love that.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Instead of getting called up to the big league rookie, that he just gets fired from his normal job.
Big Cat
Just brutal. Brutal. Like you can't. You gotta hand that to a friend because you know it deep down that you can't throw that. Yeah, like he. His throwing motion. Max Judge's throwing motion. That guy's. He's.
Max
I think he's right handed and he threw lefty.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Max
It's the only thing that makes sense.
Big Cat
Right.
Meme
So, Hank, you're an expert. What do you think
Big Cat
he's got? All right, he's got it.
Hank
No, no, dude.
Big Cat
He's never played baseball or not.
Mike Breen
I think he's left.
Big Cat
I think he's right handed.
Meme
No, because he just kind of has a natural.
Hank
Like he's trying to throw.
Big Cat
He's like flicking it.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
He didn't go all the way back.
Meme
He also held it up with his left hand.
Big Cat
Yeah, that.
Meme
He's a lefty. That's t. Yeah.
Max
You can't.
Big Cat
You got to hand that to a friend. Right? You can't. Yep. You can't do that.
Meme
So this is the.
Big Cat
Yeah, look, the Tarps off right there.
Meme
It's the tarps off session.
Big Cat
Yeah, yeah. I mean it looks like a good time. I wish. Comes at one on Sunday night, but yeah, you start. Jordan Wicks. He's a tomato can. All right, Zach,
Zach
my who's back this week is going to be the Iceman. Caleb Williams, hometown favorite here because the. They leaked the Madden cover for this year. Madden 27. Caleb's on the COVID I guess. Could be, depending on how you look at it. Some guys believe in the Madden curse, some don't. I was curious if you guys did.
Big Cat
I thought it was. I thought it was not a thing recently.
Meme
Yeah.
Max
Who broke.
Big Cat
It was for a long time.
Zach
I know they had Saquon last year.
Max
He.
Zach
He played. Okay.
Big Cat
No, year by year it happened at Gronk. Let's see. I don't believe it's not Almost Retire Peyton Hellis. The. The COVID if that's what it looks like, is sick.
Zach
Yeah, the COVID looks fantastic. I mean the snow's coming out and everything. It's a sick cover.
Big Cat
It's awesome.
Meme
Now how much stock do we put in this being an actual leak?
Big Cat
Okay, let's see, let's see. I. It looks pretty real. All right, so it's. Josh Allen won the. Did he win the MVP the year after he was on the COVID there. He won the MVP in 25, correct?
Meme
Yep.
Big Cat
Yeah. So that. That would say probably not. John Madden was on the COVID He
Meme
died after he died.
Big Cat
Yeah. No, it was.
Max
It's onto your app.
Big Cat
Yeah. Mahomes. Mahomes on the COVID He won a couple Super Bowls. He's been on the COVID a couple times. Yeah.
Hank
Super Bowls and Brady both won right
Big Cat
after Antonio Brown, but that would be it. That's a tough one. That feels like that didn't go well after that. Oh, no, no. He won a Super bowl if he was on the COVID in 19. He won a Super bowl with the Bucks, right?
Meme
Did he?
Big Cat
Yeah, didn't he?
Zach
Is it. Wouldn't we be arguing the year of though? Not the next year until you're around
Big Cat
one super bowl with the Bucks. Am I misremembering that?
Meme
The year you're.
Max
You're getting the math.
Big Cat
No, I understand that. I'm just saying he won, not the.
Meme
Yeah, yeah, he lived with the curse.
Max
The year that you are on the
Big Cat
COVID Okay, so what is the. These years are the year. Explain to me like I'm two. Saquon was like if Caleb Williams has a bad year this year, I'm just reading the numbers and it's a year ahead. I got it. I got it. It's a year ahead.
Max
Yeah, no, it's the year.
Meme
So last year was Saquon 26. Got it. Right?
Max
That would be.
Big Cat
Yes, but that was the 25 season.
Meme
25, 26. It ends.
Big Cat
Yes, right.
Meme
He played.
Big Cat
That's what I'm saying. It was 25 season.
Meme
Yeah. Yes, yes, yes.
Big Cat
That's why. See, I'm not that crazy looking.
Meme
Yes. Memes. That's correct.
Max
Yes, that's correct.
Meme
It's like when you buy a car, if you go shopping for a car in November, you buy like last year you would have bought a 20, 27 model maybe.
Big Cat
Right.
Meme
It's like, wait, but we're not even there yet.
Big Cat
Yeah, football seasons are, are like this. Okay. Either way. I don't know, just ask. Let's see.
Meme
It's a good looking cover.
Big Cat
Yeah. Listen, I'm. Am I a little nervous that all the hype and then the fact that we have like eight standalone games? Yes, of course. But it's also pretty cool that a Bears quarterback is on the COVID of Madden.
Hank
Will this be the last year in Chicago or is that even if it happens?
Meme
What it takes a few years to build the stadium?
Big Cat
Hey, do you think the stadium's ever getting built?
Max
I don't know.
Big Cat
They bought Arlington Heights like five years ago.
Meme
I thought that was real when I thought 9 was gonna be on the COVID Yeah, all right.
Max
Probably should be.
Meme
He should every year.
Hank
All right.
Big Cat
This says that Madden curse is still a thing. Okay.
Meme
AI.
Big Cat
Yeah. It's not great. Yeah, that's not great. Mahomes won a Super bowl when he was on it. Okay, here we go. So that therefore something, something good has happened at some point. You got any other who's backs?
Zach
I guess another one would be Arsenal did to piggyback off Arsenal losing Champions League. Me and about 12 million other people online today on the Everything app were convinced that KSI left a sidemen. Did you guys see that?
Hank
I did.
Zach
Sidemen put out a statement. They put out a statement. Real official. It's got all the verbiage on there. They've been around for about 13 years. Big part of a lot of guys childhoods, a lot of guys upbringings, a lot of guys joy early on in life. And they're saying KSI left. It may be a punishment for Arsenal losing. So I'm holding up out hope personally.
Meme
So me and Big Cat understood everything that you just said, but there might be listeners that don't get it. So do you want to like say it Again, but in a way that if they didn't really.
Hank
It would be like today if the part of my take account posted a very official notes app looking statement that said PFC commenter and part of my take have leftways. It's all love.
Meme
Is that because everybody.
Hank
But we're gonna continue to do everything. We're just not gonna be together anymore.
Meme
Okay.
Hank
No. And that was it.
Meme
But it's also fake.
Hank
No, if the. It'd be like the part where I take account posting it.
Meme
Like, wait. But it's. So this is real.
Hank
This actually like the fans.
Big Cat
If you.
Hank
The fans, you know, saw that and had. Because it was from the official account and stuff obviously were like, this is real. I thought it was real. I still do.
Big Cat
I did not. I think it was splitting up.
Zach
I'm just kind of coping that it's not. And hopefully I'm just telling myself it could be an arsenal punishment. But I think I thought it was real. A lot of people online thought it was real. They presented it as so.
Meme
But it might not be real.
Zach
Yeah, that's just. That's I'm coping. Yeah. Might not be real.
Meme
Got it. So this is you hoping that because they're such a big part of kids childhoods. Yeah.
Zach
A lot of guys who are, I mean, adults now even I watch every Sunday.
Big Cat
Yeah, you're not childhood anymore.
Max
No, I'm.
Zach
I'm a grown man. I was when I started watching them. Now I'm an adult. Still watching every Sunday. I mean, Simon Sunday, if you guys ever have like slow Sunday. Definitely something to check out. I think you'd enjoy it.
Meme
What do they do?
Zach
Also like variety videos. All sorts of stuff they'll do. Like most recently, they got in their bag of like 100. 100 vacation versus $100,000 vacation. It's pretty fun.
Meme
Which one's better?
Max
I think you should watch PMTV vlogs. We put out four in the past couple weeks, so you should probably go to that.
Big Cat
Watch our stuff.
Max
Yeah.
Big Cat
PMT Sundays.
Zach
Well, yes, of course.
Big Cat
Have you done a concrete pours? They must be back.
Zach
They did their big first pour of the year. Yeah. Truck driver drove on the form when they were trying to pour. They had a rookie driver. Guys, that was a bummer.
Big Cat
Do you think that was fake? No, it was super real.
Zach
Ryan was pissed.
Big Cat
Okay. He was. Yeah. Ryan does get. He's a little hothead a little bit. But you.
Zach
I mean, you got to run a business a certain kind of way. You know, you got to come with a little bit of energy.
Meme
No I get it. I get it for sure. But like, why did this guy. Like, that's rule number one. I would have to think of concrete pores. It's like don't drive on it.
Zach
Yeah, he. He hit the form and also like he. This guy was spinning his wheels on the. On the mesh too, which is like, what are we doing? You're messing up the rebar. Not cool. But they'll move past it.
Keith Yandel
Poor look good.
Zach
They got it all broomed and everything. It was awesome. I can't wait for season. Season just got started, boys.
Meme
Have you ever done a poor Zach?
Zach
We did a small pour with like some umbrellas in my backyard. Okay, that was cool.
Meme
I would like to see you do a pour.
Big Cat
Yeah, let's get you. That sounds like these guys are in Wisconsin.
Meme
That would be a good video. Get you porn.
Zach
I'll lay some foundation for beauty.
Meme
Big porn guy.
Zach
Yeah, Big porn guy. Yeah, yeah, yep. Big porn guy.
Meme
You love porn.
Zach
Yeah, Yep.
Big Cat
Always have.
Meme
Are you a gooner?
Zach
Yeah. Yeah.
Meme
Just a gooner that loves porn.
Zach
Yep. Gooner loves porn.
Meme
Yep.
Zach
Yep.
Big Cat
Love that for you, Zach. All right, let's get to our interviews. We got Mike Breen and then Keith Yandel.
Meme
We'll get to Mike Breen in a second. He's brought to you by our great friends. Or it's Simply Safe. Traditional security locks you into long term multi year contracts with huge cancellation fees. Simply Safe change the game. They've got 24. 7 professional monitoring. It's affordable. No long term contracts. It is the best bet in the security business. The setup's so easy, it's fully customizable and it's backed by Simply Safe's 24. 7 professional monitoring agents who dispatch emergency help whenever you need it. Over 5 million people value and trust Simply Safe with their home security every day. I don't put my name behind many brands. I do trust Simply safe. My listeners get 50 off a new system. When you sign up for professional monitoring. The first month it's free by visiting simplisafe.com pmt that's half off@simplisafe.com pmt. There's no safe like Simply Safe. And Mike Breen is also brought to you by our great friends over at Jose Cuervo. Make every moment matter with Jose Cuervo. We all know the Cuervo moments. Everybody reacts like you got just got the same text at the same time. You find yourself in the center of that dance floor and you can't help but stand up and high five those around you. You Stop checking the time. Suddenly, small talk escalates to laughing so hard that you can barely catch your breath. That is the Cuervo effect. It's a signal that everybody understands. A moment that anyone can join and a good time that just grows. All you have to do is keep it Cuervo. And now, here is Mike Green.
Big Cat
Okay. We now welcome on a very, very, very, very, very special guest. He's a recurring guest. He is the voice of the New York Knicks and the voice of the NBA. I'll just say in general, but you will hear him. For the NBA Finals. It is the incomparable Mike Breen. And, Mike, thank you for joining us. I actually wanted to start. How do you think I did with the incomparable? Because I tried to be like, hey, I need a big word for Mike Breen. Did I do it? Did I pull it off?
Mike Breen
That was great. But it was. The recurring part bothered me because it's been a long time since I was on. I. I got the feeling maybe you didn't like the last appearance.
Big Cat
No, that's. No, listen, recurring. All you have to do is just one time, and then you're recurring for life. And that means when we call you, you come on. But I actually had a really dumb question to start. We're going to talk about the NBA Finals. We're so excited. My dumb question was, I was thinking about this because I was like, I'm going to try to say incomparable to introduce Mike Breen. How. How many words do you think you know?
Meme
I.
Big Cat
That is a dumb question. Yeah, I know. Thank you. I agree.
Mike Breen
I have no idea. It's less than most. I'll. I'll say it that way.
Big Cat
Okay, here. Here's a better question off of that. How often do you add new words? And what's like, a recent new word that you've added that you're like, oh, man, I'm crushing this.
Mike Breen
You know, I actually. Because I work with Clyde Frazier on MSG network broadcasts, and he's always coming up with new words. So I'm actually starting to use more words than I used to because of him. I got to try and keep up. Like, for example. And I'm going to use this during the finals as a tribute to Clyde, but he calls, like, a really aggressive, fearless rookie. He calls them a precocious neophyte.
Big Cat
Ooh, I like that. I like that.
Mike Breen
I love that. So I'm gonna use that for. For somebody in the finals this week.
Big Cat
Yeah. Dylan Harper.
Meme
Now, has there been a.
Mike Breen
There you go.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Has There been a word that you've tried that you've thought this is gonna, it's gonna knock people's socks off. And then you try it. You're like, didn't really work. Didn't, didn't drive with the float. So we're gonna take that one out multiple times.
Big Cat
What about, what do you, have you, have you said a word that you, you're like, practice it? Because I would have. That's what happens to me. I say a word, I practice it, and then when, when the lights turn on, they're too bright for me and I screw it up and I'll say it incorrectly and be like, I really fucked that up.
Mike Breen
There are certain ones that you try and avoid and, you know, it's pivotal. I've met, I've, I've stumbled over pivotal. Like, you almost have to raise my pivotal to say it correctly. Otherwise it comes. I said it wrong like two weeks ago and I'm like, I'm never going to use it again. And then I used it again.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Do you, do you find yourself that you have to stop yourself from swearing in your day to day life if it's, if it's around an broadcast or do you, or do you have the ability to sit down at a desk and then just hit that button in your brain and you're like, okay, I'm in FCC mode right now.
Mike Breen
And so, so you're insinuating that I
Meme
swear I, I didn't know if you did or not and it might be the case that you don't swear.
Mike Breen
No, no. I, I, I, I, I've never slipped up. I mispronounced my, my own name once it came out Brun for some. I don't know why it came out Brun. Okay, but you guys know who P.J. colosimo is, right? Of course.
Big Cat
Yeah. We actually listened to game one of the Western Conference finals in the car because we were on a big road trip and he was great, great coach,
Mike Breen
great broadcaster, great friend, one of my favorite people in the world. But he has achieved the greatest achievement in all of sportscasting in that he has never once dropped an F bomb on the air because there's no human being who uses that word more than pj yet he's never, ever mistakenly dropped one on the air. I think that's the greatest achievement in sports broadcast.
Big Cat
I'd agree. If you're, if you're someone who routinely uses it and then be able to turn it off, that's, that's infinitely more impressive than everyone else who's you know, maybe touch on it every now and then. But it's like, hey, I don't use it in my usual lexicon.
Meme
Yeah, right.
Mike Breen
You'd think once it would slip. I mean he. Junior Soprano. Remember Junior Soprano, Sopranos. How we would like combine all different kinds of curse words together to make. That's pj.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Mike Breen
And it's, and it's never slipped.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Yeah. I mean we've got a morning show that we do here on FS1 and it starts at 7am and so sometimes we get new guys to join the show. We tell them right before they go on, hey, no cussing. And then every single time, usually within the first block, first block, they'll let one slip. So for PJ to last that long is, it is very impressive. And for you, this is a, this is a huge finals for you.
Big Cat
Huge.
Meme
I read that article in the Athletic about you growing up a die hard Knicks fan. Your whole family, you know, it was, it was a big thing when, when you were a kid you would watch all the games growing up and now you finally you get to call them. You've never called them in the finals before. How are you going to handle that responsibility? Are you going to try to sound neutral? Because we know that in the back of your head like you, there's no chance that you can be neutral in these finals.
Mike Breen
Well, I'm not going to lie. Obviously I'm a Nick fan, so I always want them to do well. And in my lifetime I would like to see them win a title. But I will be neutral in terms of how I call the game. I've done a lot of Nick games over the years. Back when I was at NBC, I did a bunch of them and then I've done it for espn. And you're not going to win. They're going to be fans who think that I'm not being neutral and I'm favoring the Knicks. But every single finals I've ever done, and I mean every single one, it doesn't matter who played if it's the Lakers and the Celtics. The Celtic fans think I hate them and I'm root for the Lakers. The Laker fans think I'm rooting for the Celtics. So you can't win in those situations.
Big Cat
Can I give you a tip? And we're, we'll help you here. Okay. So we're willing to, to, to carry a little water for you going into these finals because I, I think you're a consummate pro. I don't think it actually is like weighing on your consumer.
Mike Breen
There you go. That's a good word. Yeah, nice.
Big Cat
I'm bringing it right now. The you. You are someone that everyone respects and I don't. You know, of course people are always. Joe Buck always gets it. Like everyone always gets it. It's just fans being fans, which I totally understand, but I would imagine there's. Well, let me ask this way. Is it. Is it weighing on you just a little bit where it's like, this is such a big moment. I've. My whole life I wanted to see the Knicks, you know, in the finals again. It's been 25 years. This team is playing incredible basketball, and now I have to be right down the middle. And I wish maybe I was sitting on my couch and having a beer and watching with my family.
Mike Breen
No, it really isn't. And that. I'm not just saying. I mean, we've done each other games in each of the first three series and you know, obviously it's not a finals. It's not going to end in a championship. And I don't know how I'm going to feel if they win, but I know if, if the spurs win and they're playing great, I'm going to be screaming my full head off for, for the great plays that they do. Part of it, what makes it easy is my love of basketball. So if I see somebody do something exceptional, and we know when Benyama is going to do countless exceptional things, I'm going to go crazy for him. You know, you mentioned Dylan Harper before that I am. I'm blown away by this kid and how he's. Biggest games of his career, and it's like he's been there over and over again. So I can't wait for a great. I just hope it's a great series, close games, and whatever happens, happens. I'll. I'll deal with the emotions then.
Big Cat
Okay, so here's my offer to you. Because when it comes to how social media works, if you can put some numbers behind something in, in a nice screenshot, it doesn't even have to be correct. People will just jump on it. You know what I mean? They'd be like, look at this. This is how many times this, you know, this was called. That was called. I think you got to go into this finals with a concerted effort to.
Mike Breen
Here we go.
Big Cat
Listen. The spurs have to outbang the Knicks and we will keep track. And when people are saying Mike Breen's rooting for the Knicks, we're going to be like, no, no, no, no, the spurs have had 15 bangs, the Knicks have only had six. It's right here, black and white. And then you're free to say whatever you want. You could be rooting for the Knicks on the broadcast, but if you give the spurs more bangs, people can't argue with that.
Mike Breen
You know, it's. It's not a bad idea, but it's really out of my control. Although if, say, the Knicks start.
Big Cat
If the Knicks start getting.
Mike Breen
If the Knicks start getting the head, I'll just start saying bang on spurs free throws.
Max
Right?
Mike Breen
That's what I'm saying.
Big Cat
It's 100% your control. Just hit a bang on the first shot for the spurs or the opening tip.
Meme
I don't think wimby's lost an opening tip.
Big Cat
Yeah, just, just. You just gotta lay a base level of banks, like. Yeah, you could actually do all of these bangs in the first five minutes of game one. So that way you stay ahead for the entire series. And we'll just keep tweeting out, being like, anyone who says Mike Breen is being biased. He's clearly got more bangs for.
Mike Breen
You would do that for me?
Big Cat
Absolutely. We will be the bang a meter for the entire finals.
Mike Breen
I'll take it under consideration.
Big Cat
Speaking of, how do we feel about the. The bang that almost left your throat and then you, bro, you pulled it back in game one of. I love that moment because I do think that broadcasting, you know, you don't want a broadcaster to be perfect all the time. The human emotion should play into it. It makes the moments better when there are a little, like, oh, it almost went the gate. The ball almost went down. It deserved that, like, sound.
Mike Breen
All right, Sam Merrill shot. And when they did the close up of it, half the ball was under the cylinder, half of it. I still don't know how it came out. Now, you clearly want to have a clean call, but I'm okay with that. It's not the first time. I think I've done that two other times, too, where it looks in, you're excited, you want to make a big call and. Oh, no, didn't go. There was a. There was a broadcaster, one I loved, I so admired. Jim Gordon was a New York sportscaster. He did the Rangers, he did the Giants. He did some Knicks as well. And he did New York Giant football for years on the radio. And he would, several times a game, he would call, you know, Phil Sims throwing downfield to McConkey. He'd go, Sims throws. Complete, no, incomplete. He would do it several times, and I loved it. Because he thought it was complete. He was fired up that they made a great pass play and then oh no, it didn't happen.
Big Cat
So yeah, it happens.
Meme
And in that play it did look, it added, I think to the moment because we all felt that alongside you. As you said it. I'm curious to know because you've seen so much Knicks basketball over the years. We talked about this a little bit on, on this show last week. But if the Knicks do win a championship, where does that put Jalen Brunson in terms of all time Knicks for you?
Mike Breen
He's in the conversation as one of the greats. Can I put him ahead of Clyde or Patrick Ewing? I think that might be early even though he wins the title. But when you look at it 53 years, say they win it 53 years and he's the one that leads him to a title. Not only that, but when he arrived they were on one of the darkest stretches that the franchise has ever been on. They were one of the worst teams in NBA and he's the number one reason why he's changed the direction and perception of the franchise. So it's not just winning a title, it's where he started and where he brought them to. So he's absolutely in the conversation. He's one of the most amazing players in 30 plus years of covering the NBA. When you look at his size, his athleticism, the fact that he's not tall, that he's not fast yet he gets pretty much anywhere he wants to go to get off a quality shot and he does it with such humility, not interested in the attention. He's an amazing, special player.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
How much credit can the University of Villanova take for this championship if the Knicks win?
Mike Breen
Jay Wright, all three guys, Bridges, Hart and Brunson will all tell you that the things that he installed in the both his players in terms of technical stuff, both in terms of mental approach to the game, work ethic, they all credit him for so much of the success and they, they constantly quote about different things that he did. So every Nick fan, whether they win the championship or not, every Nick fan, if they see Jay Wright should go over, shake his hand and say thank you.
Big Cat
Yeah, I'd have to imagine walking around in New York City right now is like it, it's got quite a buzz because that is the, it is New York is one of those cities that it's a basketball city. There's a lot of other teams and there's, you know, Giants and Jets and split Yankees and Mets. The Knicks are The team does it. Can you just feel it in the air when you're, you know, going into MSG to call the Eastern Conference final and day to day stuff, like people just buzzing about it?
Mike Breen
Yeah. I've never seen it like this. Now part of it has to do with, you know, the last time they were in the finals, 99. There wasn't social media. Now you have social media and everybody is. You're seeing all the different celebrations and the things that, the way they're going about rooting for their team. So it's a little more pronounced in terms of being out in the public, but the electricity is phenomenal. The building, during the playoffs, that game won against the Cavs when they came back from 22 down with seven and a half to go. That's one of the loudest, maybe the loudest I've ever heard the building, that stretch run there. And it's because, again, what we said earlier, the fans never left. Even the dark years, they never left. They stayed with it. So now they're being rewarded. So this, this unfiltered joy is everywhere. And it's, it's, it's really cool to see. I mean, I've lived in New York my whole life, so to see the fans get rewarded with a team that, that gives them a shot at winning a title is pretty, Pretty cool to watch.
Big Cat
Yeah. Was there a moment this season, you know, because you're, you're calling the Knicks all year, you're seeing them up and down. Was there a moment where you could be like, hey, I think this might be a team that could, could do this? Because I don't. I'm not saying that I watched every Knicks game, and I don't. I'm not familiar with the team in the regular season, but what they've done in the playoffs, it's. They're playing perfect basketball ever since being down 2:1 to the Hawks.
Mike Breen
You know what the interesting thing, guys, is that during the regular season there, it was really uneven. They had stretches where you thought they can beat anybody, and they also had a number of stretches we like. I don't know if this team's as good as last year. Again, the coaching change switched a lot of things. Mike Brown, who is, he's the most collaborative coach I've ever watched in covering the NBA. He's so open to suggestions, and not just from assistant coaches, from the players. And not only is he open to suggestions, he's not afraid to install them and try them. And if he installs them and he tries them, all of a sudden, he's not saying, it's my idea. He's given credit to everybody else, but when things go wrong, he's the first one to say, you know what? I need to be better at this. So the changes with Mike Brown, there were a lot of growing pains during the course of the season, and it took a while. So they had some stretches where, yep, they can beat anybody, and they had some stretches where you were worried. So the regular season was a little funky that way.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
So going into these Finals, you're obviously more familiar with the Knicks, but you've watched a lot of spurs basketball over the years, and you've seen them kind of how they've developed as a team, especially in the last few years. Where. Where do you see this matchup being a problem for the Knicks? I. I know that obviously Wimby is the unsolvable riddle, but the Knicks are going to try. But outside of that, specifically, where do you see the Knicks having to come up with something new that they haven't done to. To figure out how to defend the Spurs?
Mike Breen
Well, the thing is, during the regular season, Wemby missed a bunch of games, and they went one stretch where they won 11 of 14 games without him. They're as great as this player is, and he could be one of the greats of all time. They are so much more than just Victor Wembanyama. They've got a lot of terrific players and especially defensive hawks, and that's going to be a problem the Knicks are going to have to deal with because you have Castle and Harper, and those guys are so tenacious defensively. They put a lot of pressure on the opposing point guards, opposing shooting guards. So that's. The Knicks are going to have to deal with that because the first three teams they played, although they were all good teams, none of them play at this level defensively that the spurs play. So that's going to be the biggest, biggest adjustment.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Have you. Have you looked up new words to describe Wimby? Because I feel like that's a guy that you would run out of words for.
Mike Breen
Yeah, it's. And it's. This is his third year. I remember doing, like. How can you describe him right now? I'm calling him a force of nature, but I'm sure everybody else has used that, too. It's hard to do because he's one of those guys that. He's so unique. We've never seen anybody like him that you have to try and focus on one thing at a time, like whether it's his ball handling. For a guy that's 7 foot 4 or 5 or whatever he is now, to be able to handle a ball like that, to be able to shoot so effortlessly from three. There's another word I shouldn't say on the air. Effortlessly from three and then. But his whole thing is the way he impacts defense. That's his number one strength. He's the great discourager, for crying out loud. Guys driving the paint, they want no business of putting up a shot. And there are very few players who have that impact.
Meme
That's great. The Great discourager. Fantastic nickname. I was just looking up synonyms for him to see if I could toss you one. Have you thought about preternatural?
Mike Breen
Say it again.
Meme
Preternatural. It's like supernatural, but P, R, E, it kind of implies, like, maybe he's an alien. Because it sounds like supernatural. It just means, like, extraordinary. I feel like that might be a good one.
Mike Breen
Yeah, that's not bad. Aliens. Aliens have been used so much, and I don't particularly. I don't know if he likes it, but I, I've got a couple of days. I'll see. What if I can come up. I'm gonna, I'm gonna try saying yours out loud so I get used to it.
Keith Yandel
Yeah.
Mike Breen
So it comes out flow. It comes out in a flow.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
Mike, I've seen you've done some different media because this is obviously a big moment in your career. Big moment for the Knicks. And the, the thing you did with the New York Times is great. The athletic. Has anyone, though, like, we're a little different. Has anyone given you a prep about the possibility of the shot when Mitch Johnson is on the sidelines in San Antonio coming up? All right.
Mike Breen
Where are you leading me on this one?
Big Cat
There have just been two, four gigantic breasts behind him every single time. So I don't know if you want. I just want you to be prepared. I want you to be ready. I don't, I don't know. Like, maybe just don't even talk about it. I guess don't talk about it would probably be the way to do it.
Meme
Advice.
Big Cat
Yeah. Yeah, that's my advice.
Meme
Great advice.
Big Cat
But now you know, so that when they show, when the camera in front of you shows, you're like, okay, I'm not gonna talk about that.
Mike Breen
I, I, I'm, I'm so touched by how you're looking out for me. Yes, I, I came and I'm gonna get emotional.
Big Cat
Thank you. That would be funny if just like, a bang, you're just like boobs.
Mike Breen
All the time, you know, when you do tv, you obviously have to constantly look at the monitor because you want to. You want to be looking at the same thing, the viewers at home. And there's stuff that comes up every once in a while that you do say, all right, do I. Do. I'm. Should I make mention of that or not?
Meme
Right.
Big Cat
Right. Yeah. That's a tough job to do because
Mike Breen
everybody at home is seeing the same things.
Meme
You see them, and maybe you just say, like, and. And two teams on a quest to get to the top of that mountain.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
And the NBA Finals, just like a little something for the. For the fans at home.
Big Cat
I'm hoping. Now, when. When you. When you. When game one starts and you see the monitor, you think of us, and that would be nice. It feels like we're at the NBA Finals, too.
Meme
Don't slip up. And if, like, cat's having a huge game, don't. Don't say nipple double, because that would be bad. We will jump all over you for that one.
Mike Breen
Well, maybe the finals tickets are very expensive, so maybe they'll. They'll be different people.
Big Cat
I don't know. They were. They were there for every single game in the Western Conference final. It was quite something. They were just kept on showing up.
Meme
I think they put a lot of work into their body. I think they might have some money line.
Big Cat
Yeah, they're ready to go. All right, so. So the. The. Let's talk about the other celebrity row in New York. Is chalamet. Like, he's 11 now, right? And I'm not saying 1 1. Like, Ben Stiller's been there forever. There's other guys who've been there forever. But in terms of aura, like, it feels like he has eclipsed everyone where the camera always finds him, and he just kind of effortlessly cool in being a diehard Knicks fan.
Mike Breen
Yeah, he. He's. He gets great. When they put him up on the big screen, it's just a roar. But I'll say this about him and Ben Stiller and a lot of the other ones. There are games in February when the Knicks are playing the Wizards.
Keith Yandel
They're not.
Mike Breen
They're real fans. They're not there to be on camera, and they're not cheering or going crazy because they want to be on camera. They really love the team. They care deeply about the team. And. And that's what I love about the celebrity Knick fans, is most of them, they're going to games all season long, regardless of the opponent, regardless of the night and. And now they're being rewarded because. Because they're seeing the big games. It's great.
Meme
That's going to be a rivalry to keep your eye on, though. By the way, Trey Young. They don't like Trey Young at Madison Square Garden now. He's a wizard. Like, that's. If I'm buying stock in rivalries, that's 1A for me.
Big Cat
Yeah, yeah.
Mike Breen
He's taken over Tyrese Halliburton, who, by the way, is just a great dude. A great dude. He. Because of the. The. The choke sign last year, he's up there in terms of public enemies and for Nick fans.
Big Cat
Yeah. Is there a chance that Charles Oakley comes back?
Mike Breen
I don't.
Keith Yandel
That one.
Mike Breen
I have no idea.
Big Cat
Could you imagine the pop, though? It feels like this is the moment where you. I don't know if. If sides can be mended here. And, you know, Oak is obviously a different cat in that. If he feels disrespected, he might not want to. And you don't know if James don't. But it would be an incredible moment if you can have him be part of that whole crew under the. Under the hoop that is like the alumni of the. Of the New York Knicks.
Mike Breen
Well, forgiveness is a. Is a powerful thing to have. So let's. Let's hope for forgiveness.
Big Cat
Oh, yeah.
Meme
So. So you're a Knicks fan, You're a Mets fan. Are you a Giants or Jets?
Mike Breen
Giants.
Meme
Giants. Okay. And then Rangers.
Mike Breen
Rangers, yeah.
Meme
So in terms of those four teams, where would a Knicks championship rank and what would it mean to the city? Like, if you were to put in an order in those four. Those four teams?
Mike Breen
Yeah, I think it would be number one. I mean. You mean for the city?
Meme
Yeah.
Mike Breen
Or for myself?
Meme
I guess you can. You can do both, but yeah, for the city.
Mike Breen
You know, like you guys said, it's such a basketball town, and there's. They really are so crazy. Knicks. And to think that it's been 53 years since they won it all, that would just be over the top. And again, because of this particular team, the way they play, the way they carry themselves, you know, they. They feel like they're New Yorkers. Like a guy like Josh Hart, like, they feel like he's a New Yorker his whole life, and he's one of those guys that he could have played with the Ewing group back in the. In the 90s. He could have played with the championship group. He's that type of guy that can do a little bit of everything, a great team player. So there's a special affinity for the particular players on this team. So I think, I think it would be number one.
Meme
Yeah, yeah.
Big Cat
You, you, ha. So you have called the Knicks in the finals. Just not on TV, on radio, radio.
Mike Breen
94.
Big Cat
I heard the story in 94. You almost screwed up that call. If John Starks had hit that shot. Can you explain that? Because it's, it's unbelievable to think about if that shot goes in and the Knicks win that title and you, you go ahead. Yeah, because it's an incredible story.
Mike Breen
It's a career, it could have been a career ending call. So back then it's 21 years since they won a title and we're thinking, oh, that's a long time. And it's game six and Starks with an X down two has a shot in the corner, a three pointer in the final seconds that if it goes in, if it's a three pointer, they win a championship. If it goes in and it's a two pointer, it's a tie game. We're going to go to overtime. My broadcast location is down the other side of the floor. I'm right next to the nick bench and they're shooting way down the other end and I'm on the near side where Starks is on. So you can't. There's so many things in between them and Starks, I can't tell if his feet, when he gets set to shoot it are behind the three point mark. Now that happens sometimes because fans stand up. So normally now with TV you look at the monitor and that tells you. But there's no monitor. We don't have a monitor. So then you look at the referees because the referee has the hand up to signal three point attempt. But all three referees at this particular time are blocked. I can't see them. Now this is all going on in seconds. So the shot is up. That could potentially win the championship for the knicks and the 21 year drought. And I have no idea if it's two or three point.
Big Cat
So what was your plan?
Mike Breen
My plan would have been, I probably would have screamed, it's good, it's good, it's good. As many times as I needed to or bang as many times as I needed to until they put the score up on the scoreboard. That that was the plan. But I mean, there was such potential to completely destroy what have been one of the great moments in the history of New York sports.
Big Cat
Yeah, because it would have been such an incredible moment for a buzzer beater for their first title in 20 years.
Meme
Like you just gotta bang your way out of that situation. Just keep saying bang until, until you get a definitive answer. And meanwhile, everybody's at home listen to radio. Like what? What is it? What is it? Yeah, tell us. Stop saying bang, Mike. From like a broad. A broadcasting perspect terms of your prep for every game. How, how much sleep do you try to get before a big game?
Mike Breen
All the usual. I mean at my age, if I get seven hours, I'm thrilled. So I try and get as much as I can and then take that player afternoon nap is always important.
Meme
You take a little nap before. What about like a pregame meal? Like do you eat the same thing on game days?
Mike Breen
No, but I eat before. Like when I get to the arena, I like to have a big meal. Then I can't, I can't call a game on an empty stomach.
Meme
Are there certain foods that you have to stay away from? Like I, I think I would probably stay away from anything spicy or anything that's going to give me like the acid reflux.
Mike Breen
Right. Like, can't. You can't have a milkshake because that's, that's, that's the worst thing you could.
Meme
Why is a milkshake the worst? I feel like that.
Mike Breen
Not because it's all a dairy.
Big Cat
It's just.
Mike Breen
It's not, it's not good for the throat.
Meme
Yeah.
Mike Breen
So green tea. Green tea is my key. I have. I have a, some green tea before every game.
Meme
And then what about during the game? What is just standard. Water.
Mike Breen
Water. Just water. That's it.
Big Cat
How much going into this NBA Finals do you take into account the NBA cup final? Because it is a rematch. First time ever.
Mike Breen
I love the NBA cup, but its impact on this series is nil. Nothing.
Meme
Oh, wow.
Big Cat
We have some Knicks fans that aren't going to agree with that. We have one Knicks fan in this office specifically who's been talking about how the NBA cup they. The Knicks learned how to beat the spurs in it.
Mike Breen
Well, I mean you could, I suppose individual players can gain confidence saying, okay, I figured out a way. Jalen Brunson said, I figured out a way to get away from Castle. But both teams are so dramatically different. I mean, that's way. That's many months ago. The Knicks are so much better, but so are the Spurs. So much better. And again, with the way the schedule works, there's so many other intangibles that go into it that rarely has any regular season game, even an NBA cup game I thought had an impact on a potential playoff matchup.
Meme
Yeah, it's a one time that they played when they've tried to empty the tank and try to beat each other. I put a lot of stock into that.
Big Cat
A lot of stocks.
Meme
The courts are good.
Mike Breen
Knicks did play them well. The Knicks play them well. But how many times have we seen a team, they go all in, four against a team in a regular season, and then they get swept in the playoffs? It's just, there's no rhyme or reason to it. There's no carryover. In my opinion. In my opinion.
Big Cat
Yeah. We have two diehard Knicks fans in our booth. Memes and Zach. Actually, let's go with Memes. Cause, Zach, I'll do the robot question with you. Memes. Do you have any questions for Mike Breen or questions about the Knicks? He's not ready. He's, he. Memes has been very excited. He's been talking about the Knicks non stop. I actually had to last week. I had to say, I'm not having conversations with them anymore. Because I would be like, a simple thing like, what do you want to get for dinner? And he'd be like, how about the Knicks? I'm like, all right, I can't, we can't even converse right now.
Mike Breen
But you can't fall.
Big Cat
How can you fall? I don't, I don't fault him. I, I, I had to make that, I had to take that measure because I didn't want to get to a point where I got frustrated that he would only talk about the Knicks. So I was like, you know what? I won't come to you for anything in these next couple of weeks. This is Nick's time.
Mike Breen
That's a good friend doing that. That's a good friend.
Big Cat
Memes. You have one. No, he doesn't. All right, Zach, let's go to you.
Zach
What's going on? Mike, how are you today, my man?
Mike Breen
Good, Zach.
Big Cat
Oh, my man.
Meme
My man.
Big Cat
To a guy like Mike Breen, My guy.
Zach
If that, Mike, if that was overstepping in the beginning of this relationship, I'll step all the. Will never say that again.
Mike Breen
Don't even think twice about it, Zach.
Zach
That's awesome. You're looking great today, by the way, Mike.
Mike Breen
Thank you. It's kind of you.
Zach
I was, I was curious, just maybe a little bit off topic. Would you be willing to maybe hop in a time machine with me real quick?
Mike Breen
Where are we going?
Zach
All right, we're going to go to January 24, 2014 game I believe you were on the call for. So it's Knicks, Bobcats and a former Member of the Knicks, Carmel Anthony, decides to put up 62 points that game. Single player record, Garden record. Was there a moment in that where like the entire Garden knew that he was up to something special or more so you guys just all along for the ride.
Big Cat
How was that, those games?
Mike Breen
Because they now they put the, how many points each guy has up on the score throughout. So people were just waiting for him to get there. And so it was, it was. And if anybody on the team at that time was going to set the record, he was the guy.
Big Cat
Certainly.
Mike Breen
But it was one of those nights where it was crazy. Not against a good team, but the building was, it was electric. That's the thing about Nick Van Zack. Even like games like that in the middle of a season when they're not particularly one of the better teams, the place is still off the charts in terms of electricity on something like that. Especially on something like that. But that was a special night.
Big Cat
Yeah. Zach has Carmel Anthony ranked ahead of LeBron James all time.
Mike Breen
Okay, I respect the opinion.
Zach
I respect you as well.
Big Cat
You got to follow up. Zach,
Zach
quick follow up question. Is there a world where the Knicks never lose again?
Meme
Zach, are you reading off your phone
Mike Breen
or is this off the top of your head?
Zach
I, I, I read off the phone sometimes. Yes, I do. I do. You're a professional. I'm an amateur. I'm trying to get like you. But you, I appreciate you. I did see something. There was a world where like, maybe you, early on in your career you thought about, like, hey, I don't know if I could do this. I don't know if the bills are getting paid. I might just go. Pipefitters union. Have you, you ever think back and look at, like, what life could have been like if you didn't stick, stick with it and kind of just give it your all and maybe just go to the union?
Mike Breen
Yeah, I have my dad to thank for that because when I first started going into the, to the business, when I told him after I graduated college I wanted to go into it, he didn't think it was a good idea because it was so hard to get a job. So he had some of his friends and other businesses trying to set me up. Hey, I can help you here. I can get you a job here. Because he was worried, he was worried I was going to be unemployed. But then once I got going, he saw how much I liked it and I had told him I was going to give it five years and two and a half years in. I'm thinking now this is going nowhere. I'm not making enough money to pay my rent. I had to borrow from, from my parents. And he's like, hey, didn't you tell me five years? I said, yeah. He goes, well, why don't you stick with a little bit longer? So instead of giving me the steamfitters union which he worked for, he was a steam fitter. I kept going and fortunately a couple of things started happening after that.
Meme
Yeah. Do you ever think like maybe you would have been the best team fitter of all time though? Like maybe, maybe the world lost a great steam fitter.
Mike Breen
I think I would have been an awful steam fitter. Awful. My father was great, but I would have been awful. It's funny, like everybody has stories. I'm sure you guys have to like the job that you don't get how that turns out. Like I was working at Sports Channel America, which there was trying to compete with ESPN and the new New Jersey Nets. They were New Jersey Nets job. Their TV job came open and it was me and Spencer Ross that were the final two candidates. And I'm thinking, this is my ticket. I'm going to get to the NBA. And I thought for sure I was going to get it because the guy that was interviewing me gave me feelings that I was going to get it. And they decided to go with the veteran. Spencer Ross is a legendary New York sportscaster. And they gave it to Spencer Ross and then a couple years later I got the Knick job. So what happens if I get the New Jersey Nets job? I mean, my life goes in a different path. It's, it's crazy how stuff like that happens. And you know what? You, you just, you deal with it, you move on and it turned out to be good for me.
Meme
Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome memes. I'm going to give you one last shot.
Big Cat
You now have a question.
Meme
He's ready for Mr. Mike Breen.
Biz
How you doing, Mr. Mike Breen? Have you thought about what the game, winning the game, the series clinching call would be for the Knicks at all?
Mike Breen
No, no, not yet. Once, once the finals gets going for both teams, you kind of set a plan for once you. What's going to happen if team A wins or team B wins in terms of what you want to say at the end. And I usually wait for a couple of games before I kind of hone in on it because you want to see get a little feel for the, for the finals first. But that's something you should like. Some, some play by play voices will tell you that they don't think about it. They want it to be completely spontaneous. I don't believe that. I think you should have an idea. I don't think you should rehearse it and have it, you know, written out, particularly what you want to say. But I think you should have an idea of how you frame what this means for this team or this particular player.
Big Cat
Yeah, I feel like you have to get a little bit of something in your head because otherwise, like if I, you know, if I were calling last night, I would have been like, well, that was fucking awesome. By the Spurs.
Mike Breen
Well, that was a possibility a couple of years ago when, when Boston was. That was, that was something I thought,
Meme
is there a name on either one of these teams that gives you fits that you get, you get the yips for?
Biz
Ooh.
Mike Breen
Well, it took. It took. Actually the first season with Wembanyama was not easy because it just, it was atetta kumpo was, was like that. It took a couple of years before it just kind of rolled off the tongue. But no, everybody else is this pretty, pretty basic.
Big Cat
Yeah. Yeah. All right. Mike, this is so awesome that you were able to join us. We love having you on. I got one last question. Roback question. R H O B A C K.com promo code take 20% off your first purchase. Q Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code take. You are obviously have seen a ton of basketball, been in the league. You love basketball. Is there part of you? Have you, have you started to think about history and going into these finals, the fact that we are year two of a phenom in San Antonio now, going up against the New York Knicks, which is basically a replica of the 1999 Finals, even though this next team is different, but it feels like, wow, we could be, if this goes to spurs way, we could be just walking into another set of years and years of domination by a Wemby Tim Duncan kind of correlation?
Mike Breen
No, that's exactly what you think going in. You know, when you want to kind of frame what it is, it's one team trying to end a 53 year championship drought against another team that might be on the verge of a dynasty. I mean that's, it's like the perfect scenario. It's such a compelling storyline for these two teams in terms of where they are. And now you never know. I mean, we thought, remember in 2012, OKC when they had Durant, Westbrook and Harden, they went to the finals. I think I even said on the air, we'll probably See them in the finals a lot in the coming years, and it just didn't happen. So you don't. Don't know. But that potential for them to start this as the number one, and what they did in this last series to win Game 7 on the road, the way they did it, that's a possibility. And for the Knicks to end this, unbelievable. It's a over a half century drought. So to me, that's. That's the whole storyline just to start, and then we'll see where it takes us.
Big Cat
It is pretty amazing knowing, like we went through the, you know, the heat with LeBron and then. And then the warriors in Cavs playing each other every single year. And I think this is. I saw the stat. I think it's the seventh or eighth year where we have two new teams in the finals, you know, consecutive years. It's crazy, the parody.
Mike Breen
It's the eighth year we'll have a new champion, but the last, previous four final. It's eight different teams.
Big Cat
Right.
Mike Breen
There has not been a single same team over the last four finals. And that's crazy.
Big Cat
It really is.
Keith Yandel
Yeah.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
With the, with the Knicks there. Was that the other time in these playoffs where they had a big period of rest before they started a new series? They came out flat the first three quarters against the Cavaliers, it looked like they were getting their teeth kicked in. Do you expect a similar thing to happen, or is this something that you think that the team's addressed going forward into the finals?
Mike Breen
I think they probably learned from that, but it is hard. You can't simulate the intensity of a playoff game. And again, what I said earlier, I think the biggest thing that they have to acclimate to is the tenacity on this team defensively. They haven't seen a team that's this good defensively since the regular season. Not that Cleveland, Philly and Atlanta were bad defensively. Atlanta probably the best of the three of them, but they're not at San Antonio's level defensively, so that's something that they have to acclimate to pretty quickly.
Big Cat
Yeah. All right, well, Mike, thank you so much. We really appreciate you joining us. And get. Get ahead of. Get ahead of those bangs. Get. Just rip a few and then we'll got. We'll carry you the rest of the way.
Mike Breen
You guys are the best. I always have fun.
Big Cat
Thank you. All right, thanks so much, Mike.
Meme
Mike Brain was brought to you by Microsoft 365 copilot before we get back to more chaos, we got to tell you about something that helps people focus on what's most important and that is Microsoft 365 copilot. What if you can add an AI assistant to your work without leaving your workflow? Well, it's built right into Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook. Copilot works where you work work. It helps you do more in the apps that you already use in Word. Copilot helps turn scattered notes into a very first draft in Excel. It generates insights from all your data and an Outlook. It cuts through the noise to help you get up to speed faster. The apps that you know go further with Copilot and you can learn more@m365copilot.com work that's m365copilot.com work and Keith the Angel is going to be brought to you by Reese's. Everything happens. For Reese's, nothing beats summer break. When you were a kid, it was time off from school and sad school lunches. But you don't get summer break as a grown up. That's a huge bummer. But the good news is you can at least take a break from sad work lunches this summer with Reese's limited edition cups and the return of Reese's Strawberry, P.B. and J. Plus the all new Reese's marshmallow cup, which is delicious. Both taste just like your childhood. So grab one before they're gone because they're fleeting just like your youth. Reese's the official candy partner of barstool sports. Get yours@hersheyland.com Reese's okay, we now welcome
Big Cat
on a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very. He's lost count. He can't count.
Keith Yandel
You're gonna have to take off big time.
Big Cat
You're gonna have to take off your shoes. It is Keith Yandel, a very special guest talking Stanley cup final. Yans, we're here. We're ready. How are you feeling? 1 to 10. How do you feel about this matchup? Cause we didn't have the best conference finals. Well, let's just be honest. They weren't the best conference finals.
Keith Yandel
Not the best, right. We got a sweep and then we get a five game series. You want to see those go a little longer? I have been really down on Carolina, but they. I've totally switched my tune on them. The way that they play. You know, I once said I wouldn't watch them if they were playing in my backyard. But I'm kind of. I'm kind of in on them now. The way that they play, the way that they've galvanized each other, came together as a group. Their coach is unreal. Rod.
Big Cat
Rod.
Keith Yandel
The bawd. Fun group to watch. Just because they all play the same way. They're like a true old school hockey team that everyone, you know the saying, everyone ropes, everybody rides. Nobody rides for free. That's. That's them to a T. They just go out there and play their game. They do it every single game. They got away from it one time in the, in the playoffs this year and it was the first game against Montreal and you know, they lost that game. It's the only game they've lost. And then Vegas is one of those teams, man. Like, I think I heard you guys saying it when you were talking to Osh. Like, they wouldn't even have made the playoffs if they were in the East. So it's, it's one of those things that you get in. They remind us a lot of the, the LA Kings. And I think, I think it was 13, like kind of just barely get in and then roll their way to a Stanley cup championship. So it's going to be a fun series. You got North Carolina, sleepy town, and then you got Vegas where, you know, you go to have fun. So it's kind of got a little bit of everything and I'm excited for it to start on Tuesday.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Was there an instant where you saw Carolina and you're like, okay, I think I kind of like him now because I, I agreed with you for a very long time and I'm. For me, it was probably more personal. Just like watching them kick our teeth in, in the playoffs. It's just like I get this team out of my face. But from, from your standpoint, like, was there a moment where you watch me, you're like, this is actually like a different type of hockey than they play in the past?
Keith Yandel
Well, I think it was the first two series, like the Ottawa series. I, looking back now, I'm putting it more on the other teams that they played. You know, Ottawa was brutal, like, couldn't get anything going. And, and Carolina is one of those teams if they don't have to do anything, they just play their game. So it was, it was, honestly, it was Game 1 and then bled into Game 2 in the Montreal series because Montreal played a different style, a little high tempo off the rush, trying to, trying to, you know, score goals and stuff like that that way as opposed to the way Carolina plays. And then Carolina showed me a little bit that they can play high flying their D or getting up in the play. I, I really like their Decor. Keandre Miller came over from New York. He's been, been awesome. Just a guy up in the play. So I think it was game one and game two of the, the Montreal series that kind of, you know, flipped my switch with them. And I'm, I'm actually, I'm really excited to watch them, to watch them go to battle with Vegas.
Big Cat
What, what is it about Carolina that people don't genuinely like them? Because I, everything that is described to me, they just stay on your ass, which is kind of fun. Like they're just got guys who just, they're going to always for check. They're always going to be in your zone. Just pressure, pressure, pressure. It's almost like a, a basketball team going full court press. Those are fun teams to watch.
Keith Yandel
Yeah, but it's like you, you watch that for two weeks in, in March Madness and you're like, oh my God, that's too much. I can't handle that. But if a team's doing it for 82 games, you're like, what are we doing here? Let's let the guys have a little fun. But the, the majority of why you ask most NHL players why they don't like Carolina, it's because shitty, actually. There's a good hotel there now. The Umpstead's nice that a lot of teams stay up, but it was a shitty hotel. The locker room was the visitors room. It's the, it's the chain food capital of the world.
Big Cat
That's bad.
Keith Yandel
Hey, listen, when you're in the NHL, you want a little farm to table or a, a nice sushi spot. You ain't getting it in Carolina, but guys love playing there. I know everyone that I know that has played there loves it. Great place to raise a family and all that. And yeah, it's, it's just one of those things where I don't think NHL guys like, like the wind tunnel. You hear a lot of the wind tunnel when you're walking out. The wind is coming as you're walking out onto the ice, which is a, you know, little nuanced things, but guys like to stand out there a little bit before a game, get ready, and then you can't get ready because you're getting cold standing in the wind tunnel. So little things like that. But I, I, I truly do like just how they're a team and they play as a team and you know, it really looks like they love each other too.
Meme
And the owner is also the owner of the, the Portland Trailblazers in the NBA.
Big Cat
Dundon.
Meme
So yeah, Dundon, people don't like him in the NBA. They think he's cheap. I don't know if he's got that same reputation around hockey, but he didn't know like a lot of the rules for like flying certain guys out to a play in game, things like that. So people in the NBA got very upset with him. But I didn't know what the reputation was around, around hockey.
Keith Yandel
Honestly, I haven't heard much about. I know maybe when he first started with Carolina, I know he, he was talking about getting rid of Scar, not paying for scouts to go and watch team, like younger, like college or junior games because he thought you could scout from watching on your computer or on tv. So he was trying to make cut, cut and cost that way. I had heard. I don't know if they ever did that, like not paying their cell phone bills. But I think when it comes out in the media and you got, you know, jerks like you guys and us that make it a big deal, you probably have to switch your tun a little bit and, and you know, there's stuff in the CBA that doesn't allow things like that. So usually the players aren't getting it too bad. Maybe. What was it in the NBA? He wasn't, he wasn't letting like the media people get late checkup.
Big Cat
Yeah, he also just like he went down a spreadsheet and fired half the, half the like team behind the scenes. People's like, oh, you make this, you're gone.
Meme
He fired some PR people and the PR people are always the ones, you know, that have like the, the most connections in the media. So if you fire a good PR person, then you get everybody in the media to be like, oh, this guy sucks.
Keith Yandel
Also those guys usually have a lot of dirt on the players. If the guys ever get into some or whatever, they're usually the ones who are sweeping things under the rug, you know, so you got to be careful firing those guys. You almost gotta promote them if anything.
Big Cat
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We actually don't know explain how that works. What was the situation where something got swept under the rug? Yance?
Keith Yandel
Well, this one night, we were at night, I got nothing. I was a boring guy.
Big Cat
You mentioned Keandre Miller. I saw a stat. It's pretty insane this postseason. Five on five with KeAndre Miller on the ice. Carolina has 128 shots to 69. They have 133 scoring chances to 72 and they have 15 goals to three. It's like, is that just. What is he doing? That's that those are. It basically just says every time he's on the ice full strength the other team is, is doing like half the output or even less when it comes to actual goals.
Keith Yandel
Yeah, I mean him, him and Jacob Slaven, they're human erasers. They erase everything on the defensive side. You know you can't get in, in the zone on these guys. They're big, they're long, their reaches are unreal. They're not like, like crazy overly physical but you know I don't think any of their doctor really maybe Chatfield a little bit but they just get in the way and they piss. You know, if you're a skilled player playing against the guy who's just always in the way and, and breaking pucks up and it makes it frustrating. You see, you see these high end skill guys get frustrated and then for him on the offensive side he's an unbelievable skater. I believe he was a, he was a forward till he was probably like 16, 17 years old and then or whatever he was in College at 17 then made the switch to D. So you know he's got the offensive skill too. And I think you're seeing it a little more now in Carolina just because the way they play a man on man type game where in the D zone. So it's basically whoever if you get beat then you know there's probably going to be an opportunity and you know those guys don't get beat because they're so big and they can skate so well.
Big Cat
What question about that, how many guys, how often is it that a guy switches from offensive defense? We know Biz did. Were you always defense like even as at a young age?
Keith Yandel
I was actually a goalie. I was a goalie till I was 12. I used to do both. So I would play the first half goalie and then go on the bench and then they'd take my pads off, the coaches would take my pads off and I'd put. I wore a regular skates and then I'd go and play D for the rest. But that's crazy. Yeah, it was is it's mostly forward switching or D switching to forward because not a lot of forwards can play D just because of the whole skating backwards and all that. Because it's a lot tougher than skating forwards obviously. So it majority of the time it's, it's a demand switching to forward. Like you remember Bufflin used to do it a little bit in Chicago. There's been guy, even a guy like Brent Burns who's still playing like he, he Played forward a little bit when he was in Minnesota, so. So to go from forward to D is a lot tougher just because the whole skating backwards. But he's an incredible skater and it hasn't hindered him at all.
Big Cat
Are dudes just like, Are there dudes that just can't skate backwards?
Keith Yandel
Yeah, all the forwards. It drives me insane. Watch, watch like, watch. On a power play, if a D is. If a forward has to cover for the D or a lot of teams, actually every team does four forwards and one D. So if it's that, if a forwards getting caught skating backwards, they usually get toast. Like, I remember an unreal. Jonathan Hubert, one of my all time favorite players.
Zach
He's.
Keith Yandel
We're on the power play. It's a two on two. So a guy coming on him and then a guy coming on me. So you're kind of just worried about the guys in front of you?
Big Cat
Yeah, we'll clip that.
Keith Yandel
And then I turn, I look at my guy and then I look over at Hubie to make sure he's gapped up. All right. I look back, the guy's going in to score and Hubie, they. They don't know how to pivot as good. Like, they just. I don't know if it's. They're not used to it. Their hips don't move the way that ours do, but it's really bad. But you know, obviously Deacons skate forward is just as well.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Why did you stop playing goalie?
Keith Yandel
Too expensive.
Meme
To the pads.
Keith Yandel
Yeah, the equipment, the pads, all that stuff. So my, I had an older brother that played. My dad was like, yeah, you can just use his hand me down equipment. And I'm not buying you any. Any real stuff.
Meme
Were.
Mike Breen
Were you.
Meme
Were you good? Because I've always heard that people that, that gravitate towards playing goalie are like crazy, that are insane. And I've. I've never gotten like crazy vibes from you, but maybe I'm just way off.
Keith Yandel
Yeah, I, I was a little bit of a. Of a loose cannon when I was probably, you know, from 8 to 16, 17. Then I. Then I slowed down a little bit, so I. You're happy. It's not the way it used to be. I used to be a skateboarder guy like you wearing the Janco.
Meme
Yeah, that's. That's kind of sick that you thought I was a skateboarder. I appreciate that.
Big Cat
So who's the best goalie in this series?
Keith Yandel
I think they're the only two that haven't been pulled. They've I think they've both played every minute of every game. Unless. Unless I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm right on that. So I, I think it's Carter heart. I mean Freddie Andersen's been unbelievable. He's been just a rock solid. He's. He's such a calm tempered guy. Like you look at him during the game and it doesn't even look like he's really trying because he's that good. He's just, just. He's a big man. Just gets in the way of pucks. He's really good at, at. At stopping pucks behind the net on rims. And Carolina does a really good job at the blue lines to make them have bad dumps. And when a goalie can come out and stop it, make a pass to the forwards and you can get out of your own end. That's a huge advantage. It's just less time in your own end. I think Heartsy's probably the better goalie maybe. Overall, I think if you were starting a team, you might take Heartsy. But Freddy's been unreal, man. Like the knock on him is he's had some injuries, you know, the last few years in playoffs or during the regular season. But he's been healthy, he's been kicking. He's an unbelievable guy too. You know, easy got a root for. But if you had to pick a guy, you'd go with, you'd go with Heartsey.
Big Cat
Hey, can you explain? We, we talked about it a little bit on Friday. Probably did a bad job. But everyone complaining about the Knights expansion draft and how they basically got rules that no one else got and that's why they're so good. But I, like I said at the time, everyone was like this, the expansion draft. They suck like they. Everyone said they did a bad job in the expansion draft, then they ended up being really good. So it feels like revision is history. But what is it that everyone's pissed about with, with the Gold Knights and how they've been able to. They've only missed the playoff one time. They've been to the cup final three times out of nine years. It's nuts how good they are as an organization.
Keith Yandel
Yeah, I mean there's that famous clip like Whit had this year against, you know, saying that Buffalo had 0.000% chance of getting into the playoffs. And I, I believe Whit said something about Vegas, that they were going to be the doormat of the league or something like that. And I, I don't think Even when it was happening, you weren't like, oh my God, the, these, this team's going to be absolutely stacked. Like how many guys I think Riley Smith might be who's or Theodore is still there? There's not many guys still from that original team. So it's not like, you know, they got handed all these superstars. They did a great job. Like you had to, I can't remember exactly the rules. It was like you had to to you could protect 12 guys and then obviously guys on entry level, the younger guys couldn't, couldn't get picked up by Vegas. So they just took advantage of, of, of the rules. And I don't think they did anything shady. You know, I could be wrong. It is Vegas. They are very, very cutthroat and they've proven that. But listen, if you're a fan of that team, you get in the playoffs every year except for one, you're in your third Stanley cup in nine years. Like, like what's not to be excited for? And if you want to listen to other people and complain about it, you're just laughing watching games.
Meme
What do you mean by that? That they're cutthroat? That they're known as being a cutthroat organization?
Keith Yandel
Well, the whole like Mark Andre flurry, he was, yeah, he was probably the biggest name I think to go there during the expansion.
Big Cat
Like they, they fired their coach two months ago.
Keith Yandel
They fired their coach with what?
Big Cat
Yeah, I mean so it's been there since like, I think it was like the end, the very end of March.
Keith Yandel
Yeah, yeah. And we just had on their old coach Bruce Cassidy, who rightfully so wasn't very happy about it. Obviously would, would have liked to seen it out and be with his, the team that he started in the beginning of the year. But yeah, they're, they're one of those teams like they, if you're not producing for it, they'll get rid of you. Like Jonathan Marcheso won the con smite for them. I think he's their all time leading goal scorer and you know it's. If they don't think that you're going to produce for them, they let you go. And he's in Nashville now that you know there's, there's been guys that have came in there and they'll get rid of you. And then if you're drafted by them, you might as well not even get the jersey because you're getting traded or you know, they're trading all their draft picks because they want to win, they want to Win now. And I don't see it stopping. I just see the way that they are able to reload every year. Like, like even going out and getting a guy like Carter Hart this year, like, you know, he had some issues off the ice, you know, obviously found not guilty, but he, he's one of those guys a lot of teams didn't want to take the chance on. And I played with Hartzie. He's an unbelievable guy. You know, I'm rooting for him this, this, this series. But yeah, a lot of teams didn't want to take a chance on him. And then he, he came in and he's been unbelievable and he's been towards his guy torts has been riding him the entire playoffs and, and I just think that they're an organization that wants to win and if you're a fan of that team, you know, you're not worried every summer, like, oh, we're going to be all right. Like, they're going to be good every year.
Meme
What about, what about Mitch Marner? What's the discourse around the NHL been about Mitch? Like, are people rooting for Mitch now?
Keith Yandel
I think everybody in hockey except for Toronto, people are rooting for Mitch. I think it'll be outstanding. And like, the best part about it is he, he's, if he wins the cup, like he's from Toronto, you get your day with the cup, it's gonna be in Toronto. Like, I literally might try everything in my power to get invited to that party just to see people because you know how like, he was playing in his hometown team, he was making a lot of money. He was unbelievable. He had some struggles in playoffs, whatever it is their whole team did. He's been unbelievable. So I think with the abuse that he's taken in the media, I think he's a guy you want, you want to see him win that cup just because of, you know, as a player, as a former player, like, when you're getting it from the media and you know, people are telling you how bad you are and all this, like, it must have been a lot on him. And he just looks like he's playing with, he's playing free. He's playing with the house's money right now, and he's just having fun and he's playing really well too. So I, I, I, I really hope he gets it it.
Big Cat
You said Bruce Cassie was on the show. What is, did he see this coming? Like, what did he have? It's like one of those tough situations because you can't if you're Bruce Cassie, you can't say that like, oh yeah, I would have been in the Stanley Cup Final. Clearly they needed some type of change. But he was like, what was his take on the whole thing? It's got to be so weird.
Keith Yandel
Yeah, it is because I mean, they went on a good run with Torts. They might have went like 7 and 2 with him there. You could double check that. But he, they had a, they had a great run and if Bruce was still there, maybe they don't win those games, they don't get in the playoffs. They miss by a point or two. So it wasn't an automatic lock that they were in the playoffs. So I think for them they, they had to make some sort of change. It was after the deadline, so you can't get rid of any players. You know, maybe you could send some younger guys down, but like a big splash that could turn up your group. And bringing in a guy like Tor to, you know, he's had the reputation of being hard on his guys, you know, and you know, his, maybe his message runs, you know, thin after a little while. But I think it's the perfect sample size for him being there. He's been there for two weeks before the playoffs start and then you get right into it and you know, he's a guy that he demands a lot out of, out of his players, blocking shots and finishing checks and playing the right way. But I think guys realize now, like, if you want to win, you're going to have to play that way. And, and, and I'm sure they're excited to have him. And I also think too like Torts went over to with the four nations team, Team USA and then at Olympics and he was an assistant coach. So you know, the assistant coaches have to be more buddy, buddy with the players. And I think he, it looks anyways outside looking in that he's got a little more of the assistant coach in him where he's patting guys on the back, he's smiling on the bench, where before you saw him in Columbus or Philly, he was, was, you know, grumpy all the time, looked pissed off. But now he, he, he looks like, hey, listen, I'm coming in here, I got a, you know, handful of games to end the season and my team goes on a run, I win a Stanley cup. Like how good is that? And I mean, I mean, I don't know exactly how old he is, but like, how much longer does he even want to do that? He was right. He was good on espn. He did a great job and then it's like, you know, if I come in there, win a Stanley cup, he might not even come back. He might just be like, you know what? I'll go out on top.
Big Cat
Yeah, he was. Yeah, they were 7, 0 and 1 down the stretch when Torts took over. And so, yeah, they might not. I mean, they probably still would have made the playoffs, but it's for a team that wasn't lighting it up.
Keith Yandel
Right.
Big Cat
It's clear the change. And now they've. They've just been dummying teams down the. In the playoffs, like they're just on a roll. What. Most important question. I don't know if you. You've broken down this entire matchup, have you? You cited one way or the other on who's going to win the crank off. Oh, the.
Keith Yandel
Oh, I mean, with Liam Blutman.
Big Cat
I'm just saying, these are the only two teams in the NHL that have the crank. The siren. It's the first ever crank off in the Stanley Cup Final.
Keith Yandel
See, I feel like Carolina's is too small. Like, why wouldn't you have it obnoxiously big?
Hank
I.
Keith Yandel
Listen the little cr. Like, make it even if it.
Big Cat
But don't Chick say that like it doesn't matter. The size doesn't matter.
Meme
I feel like Tom Dundon just cheaped out on the side of the print.
Keith Yandel
Yeah, he got the teemu one.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
But yeah, chicks say all the time, they're like, oh, no, that's fine.
Keith Yandel
Yeah, they are. And that's what we tell ourselves. Yeah, I don't know. That's a great question. And thank you.
Big Cat
Yeah, the crank off. It's. I mean, people are going to be talking about the crank off.
Keith Yandel
I think. I think obviously Vegas is going to have more star power with the cranking off then, you know, then Carolina, like, who would be Carolina's famous person? Petey Pablo would be a nice.
Big Cat
You just have to go with, like, best. The best Panthers. It's really Smith.
Meme
If you, if you look up the. The history of people from Raleigh, I believe Brandy Love is from North Carolina. She's got good experience cranking.
Keith Yandel
Who's that?
Meme
You.
Biz
Don't you.
Big Cat
Yeah. Nice.
Meme
Very classy move.
Big Cat
Is your wife on the other side of this computer, though?
Meme
You know Brandy Love?
Keith Yandel
Yeah, I don't. I don't. You know who I've seen it. You know who I've seen do the crank off and I actually was with him last night is Ric Flair. I was at the Kid Rock concert last night and was hanging with Ric Flair. What an absolute Gentleman. This guy. How, how is he still kicking?
Meme
I don't know. I, I'm shocked that like Gentleman would not be the first. But yes, you're right. He is a, he's a classy gentleman dude.
Keith Yandel
He was awesome. He was a great guy.
Big Cat
The, the. I, I just looked on like, who. Notable crankers for the Hurricanes, Luke Keakley, Kara Lawson, Scott McCreary, Chancellor Howell. That's the NC state chancellor. They're gonna have to dig deep for this.
Meme
Yeah.
Keith Yandel
You know who they should do is that. Who is the big fella on North Carolina basketball?
Meme
D.J. burns.
Keith Yandel
Yeah, D.J. burns. They should have him do it.
Big Cat
Yeah, that'd be good.
Meme
Get him involved maybe. I mean they should. You have to make Michael Jordan say no.
Big Cat
Absolutely right.
Meme
You have to make him say no.
Big Cat
Gotta make Brad Stevens say no. Yep.
Meme
Make everybody say no.
Keith Yandel
Yeah, I don't know. I don't know who the hell they could get.
Meme
There's gotta be some like. Yeah, Ric Flair's a good one also. I believe that this is. Since Paul Bissnet came on this show and, and referred to Colorado as being the South, I think that this will make for what, seven Stanley cup champions in a row that are located at least at, at Colorado latitude or below. So like biz was just early. What is it about the South? Why is the south dominating hockey now?
Keith Yandel
I think it's, it's got to the point where like guys don't want to be in these big time markets where you're getting like a Mitch Marner for example, like he's in Toronto, like the big thing. And like when, when I was coming in the league, it's like, dude, if you play in Toronto, if you play in Montreal, you get all these card deals, you get a free car, you get, you can make a ton of money off the ice. But nowadays with guys having, you know, their Instagrams or Tik Toks, like you can make your money elsewhere if you need to. So from any city. So I, I think the draw of playing in those big cities is, has came down a little bit. And you know, guys want to live in nice weather. You know, guys wives want to live in nice weather. The kids want to live in nice weather. So, so I think just having the nice weather, having less media attention, you know, you can go on a five game skid where you're not hearing about it. You know, if you're going to pick up a coffee at Starbucks and, or get grabbing a Stella Blue. There we go, boys.
Meme
Nice.
Keith Yandel
So, yeah, so it's one of Those things where I think guys enjoy just kind of not having to be on 24 7, you can kind of live your life. And, you know, you can't do that in a place like Toronto, you know, Calgary, Edmonton, but if you're in Tampa or Fort Lauderdale or Vegas or even more South Colorado like those. Those guys can. They can. They can live their lives and. And also enjoy the. The fruits and labor of being in the NHL.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
Yeah. All right, Yance, last question. Rollback question. R, H, O, B, A, C, K.com promo code. Take 20% off your first purchase. Q, zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code. Take, take. I'm not going to make you ask a question, Zach, unless you have one.
Zach
What's up, Yan's?
Big Cat
How are we?
Keith Yandel
Zach, are you from. Are you from Lando Lakes?
Zach
I'm not from Land o Lakes. That's about an hour and a half for me.
Meme
Place like the Butter.
Keith Yandel
I was just there and I. I was. That's where I just came from, and I thought. When I saw the sign on the exit, I thought you were from there.
Big Cat
He's from Lake.
Keith Yandel
Lakeland Lake. So beautiful area.
Big Cat
Is there just butter everywhere?
Zach
Not, Not. Not a little bit.
Big Cat
Okay.
Zach
Some lakes, some butter, so some dairy, some water.
Big Cat
Okay.
Keith Yandel
And the next town over is like Zephyr Hills. You know that the worst water in America.
Zach
Oh, well, she's ever hills. It used to. Used to be a spring, but it's not. They. I think the spring has dried up and they're just still putting spring water on the bottle. So not cool. Wow, Misinformation on the waterfront from Zephyr Hills. I think I could be wrong. I'll redact that. Allegedly.
Meme
All right.
Big Cat
Do you have a question?
Zach
Yan just has been a lot of fun talking finals. I was curious.
Mike Breen
Final.
Big Cat
People get mad about that.
Zach
All right, so we'll pivot, we'll talk finals. Do you have an early prediction on the New York Knicks and the spurs series?
Keith Yandel
You know what? Even being a guy from Boston, I'm gonna. I'm gonna ride with the Knicks here, mostly because I don't want memes to, you know, fly down here and. And beat up my. My whole family. Very, very scared of that man. As you should be. But I'm. I'm rooting for the. The Knicks. My good buddy John in the neighborhood. He's a big. He's a big Knicks fan. So we'll watch some of the games and. Yeah, I don't know, can they do it? Who is San Antonio definitely do it. They can win.
Big Cat
How many nights a week is John over your house?
Keith Yandel
It's actually, it's been a little bit, man, because I've been having a dial in. I've been having a dial in on the, on the hockey, so. But now hopefully they won't play on the same nights and we can just do every other night. Yeah, yeah, but because I feel like it was you guys, I heard like if Oklahoma City won it, there was no chance the Knicks were winning.
Big Cat
No, no. I thought the Knicks, Knicks can beat either of these teams. It's going to be an awesome finals. Like it's going to be. It's basically a dream for the NBA. You have the number one rising star, future face of this league and the Knicks. So it's going to be sick. All right, so what's your, what's your prediction for this for the Stanley Cup Final Final?
Keith Yandel
I'm going Vegas in six. I hope it goes seven, but I'm going Vegas in six. I, I think they, I think they got the mojo going right now. And at the end of the day, man, can you, can you root against your guy, Liam Blutman?
Big Cat
Well, that was gonna say. I was gonna ask a follow up. If you take Liam Blutman out of this series, pretend he just doesn't exist, is it still Vegas in six?
Keith Yandel
Maybe Vegas in seven.
Big Cat
Okay. Okay. So he's, he's worth the game.
Keith Yandel
He. Oh, 100%. I love it.
Big Cat
Shocked.
Keith Yandel
If they don't bring them out there.
Big Cat
That's some good analytics at least.
Meme
Keith. We also went through this last year with the NBA where they didn't put the, the Larry o' Brien trophy on the court for the NBA Finals. And then I saw that the NHL hasn't had the Stanley cup logo on the ice since 2020. Is that something that we should be bullying Gary Bettman about? Because is Adam Silver got bullied and this year he put it back. So we could do that for the NHL if you wanted us to.
Keith Yandel
What do you mean on the ice?
Meme
Like the, the image of where it says like Stanley cup playoffs with the Stanley cup trophy right below the blue line. They used to have that on the ice.
Keith Yandel
Yeah, well, now they don't do anything on the ice because it's all like AI. However they put it in. Right. Because I used to, I used to hate the, when the, it was like the playoffs, they'd have like signing right away. I hated it on there there. So it's good, it's way better now when the ice is clean. There's no. There's no markings on the ice obvious except for at center ice with the team logo. But I'm sure they would. They won't have anything. I don't know. I've never thought of. That's a crazy thing to even think about.
Meme
No, it is crazy. But this is the stuff that we think about watching sports on TV and the fact that they don't have the trophy on the. I think it would look nice if the trophy was on the ice. That's all I'm saying.
Big Cat
Put the trophy on the ice.
Keith Yandel
It's a sharp looking trophy too.
Big Cat
It's a really nice looking trophy.
Keith Yandel
How about. How nice. And they don't. I feel bad for them. The Eastern Conference Conference. In the Western Conference trophy. I think it's the King Clancy and the. What's the other one? Clearly I never won one. But those are beautiful too. And they don't get enough love. Like they'd be better than every other trophy in. In the. In, you know, the major sports.
Big Cat
Yeah. Hockey does trophies better than everyone. That's a fact.
Meme
The Prince of Wales trophy.
Keith Yandel
Prince of Wales, that's right.
Meme
And the Clarence Campbell bowl for the Western. But yeah, people don't like him because you don't touch them. You're not allowed to touch them before his like, bad luck.
Keith Yandel
You can touch him. You can touch him. But so you. Some people don't. I think both teams didn't. Didn't touch it this year, which I. I like it when one team does and one team doesn't because I was very superstitious. Where I would be thinking about that if I was playing. I'd be like, oh my God, we touched it. They didn't. If they go up, well, God, we're done. But I like how they both didn't. Or this year they. They both didn't touch it. So we'll see what happens.
Big Cat
Yeah, I'm looking at pictures right now. They both did not touch it. Smart. Smart.
Keith Yandel
What's. What's Meatball Max doing?
Big Cat
Meatball Max is hanging out. He's. He's just doing. He, He. He got married again this weekend.
Max
I got married for. For the first time this weekend.
Keith Yandel
Congratulations, guys.
Max
Getting married last year I got a lot.
Zach
Twice.
Max
I'm getting married twice every.
Big Cat
We've had two Bach parties, three weddings. Same girl. Same girl. Yeah. Yeah, you.
Max
I'm getting married over, over, over. I'm getting married outside of the country. Can't legally get married outside of the country. So I did.
Big Cat
Are you wearing a ring right now?
Keith Yandel
That's why I married outside the country.
Big Cat
Oh, so you're not even married? There you go. Yeah.
Keith Yandel
Where are you getting married if. It's obviously Italy. But where.
Max
No, it's not in Italy, honey. Honeymoon is Italy, though. Honeymoon is Italy.
Keith Yandel
North Philly.
Max
North Italy.
Hank
Yeah.
Max
No, in the Caribbean.
Keith Yandel
Oh, nice. Where?
Max
St. Martin.
Keith Yandel
Oh, nice. I got married in St. John.
Big Cat
Hell, yeah. Look at us. Look at you guys.
Meme
Yeah, that's outside the country.
Keith Yandel
No, that's a U. S. That's a US Territory.
Meme
Yeah. Gotcha.
Keith Yandel
But I had to get on a
Big Cat
plane that's outside the country that's actually
Meme
really close to Epstein Island. That's kind of great. Yeah, that's. Oh, that's a good thing.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Yeah.
Big Cat
Is it?
Keith Yandel
Wow.
Meme
What's Epstein Island? Got it. Wow.
Big Cat
Loud and clear. Oh, man. All right. Yeah. And you're the best. We're gonna enjoy the hell out of this Hockey. Go. Go nights, I think. Yeah, I think it's. It's got to be vg. Vg.
Meme
It's definitely go nights.
Hank
Yeah.
Big Cat
Who's every.
Keith Yandel
Who's everybody got?
Big Cat
I. I got VGK in. In seven.
Meme
I got nights in six,
Keith Yandel
Boys in the studio.
Hank
I guess I'll take Hurricanes because everyone's taking the nights.
Keith Yandel
You're actually a piece of. It's Liam Bluntman, dude. Like, the guy bleeds red.
Meme
Wait, you guys know his name's Blutman, right?
Big Cat
Biz does not.
Meme
Okay, that's fine. So don't tell. Don't tell this.
Big Cat
Otherwise, Biz definitely thinks that. That Blutman smokes a shitload of weed and, like, is his nickname. Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Breen
Yes.
Big Cat
Dude.
Keith Yandel
I was faced. I was FaceTiming with Liam the other night, and it was him and. What's his brother's name?
Meme
Luke.
Keith Yandel
Luke Luki. Yeah, it was him. And Luke. Luke's laying on the ground, not even looking at the tv. They're in their living room, and I'm like, do you guys tell each other you love each other? And he's like, no. Never said it once. Never said it one. I was like, what about to your parents? He was like, no, never said it once. Do you love them? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I love them, but just doesn't say it.
Big Cat
No, it's not about ball, so why would you. Why would you be talking about that? All right, Booth, go. Real quick memes.
Biz
I think the Hurricanes are going to win, but I'm rooting for Blunt Man.
Big Cat
Okay, so that was a non answer.
Max
Yeah.
Keith Yandel
Am I taking back my Knicks thing?
Biz
You're right. Go Knights.
Keith Yandel
Okay.
Big Cat
Okay. There we go meet Max. Knights and four. Knights and four. Nice. Vgk.
Zach
I'll retweet. Knights and four.
Big Cat
Okay. Nice. All right, so Hank
Meme
end up winning, and then everyone put up the graphic.
Big Cat
This is the death graphic because Hank got one.
Max
What the death graphic is if. Is if everyone picks the same side.
Meme
Yeah, it's not death.
Big Cat
Oh, yeah.
Max
Yeah. That was actually big.
Big Cat
But he's gonna also be right.
Meme
Soggy sorrows.
Big Cat
If you lose, Hank, it's hurricanes.
Meme
I don't think so. No.
Big Cat
All right, Yans, you're the best. Thank you. As always.
Keith Yandel
Get some burgers in you. Love you, boys.
Big Cat
All right, See ya. Okay. Good show, boys. We got the finals starting Tuesday and Wednesday.
Meme
Can't wait.
Big Cat
Excited. And then we're. We're. We're two weeks away from Rushmore season, which we got to figure that out.
Meme
Damn. Best time of the year, right?
Big Cat
Hank, We.
Max
We should do something.
Big Cat
What? We should.
Max
I don't know. We should do something fun.
Big Cat
I. I agree with you there. I'm saying we got to figure out. I. I agree. I don't think. I think we should make the punishment something fun that we can run with.
Biz
Frosted tips was cool.
Big Cat
Frosted tips is fun.
Biz
Maybe just go more orange next time.
Meme
I kind of want to get them again.
Big Cat
Yeah, we. But we have to figure out what the teams are. Whatever. What the format. What we're.
Max
Yeah, we have the format. Yeah, we should. We should figure it out. We should figure that out.
Meme
I think we got to go solo again.
Big Cat
Six of us. Hey, solos.
Meme
Solo's a lot.
Max
Solo's a lot.
Big Cat
Six with take hours to do. What are you gonna say, Hank?
Max
Nothing.
Big Cat
What? Yeah, we figured out what's wrong.
Meme
We should figure it out.
Max
What if we did? Like, I haven't.
Big Cat
Something's wrong.
Max
I. I have thoughts, but I don't want to say thoughts.
Meme
I don't say thoughts.
Hank
I know. That's why I'm laughing at you starting this conversation on there.
Max
What if we did eight and then,
Big Cat
like, we shouldn't talk about this?
Max
I didn't start this conversation.
Big Cat
No, but you kind of.
Meme
Kind of did.
Hank
No, you did.
Max
Like, that's a lie. Big cat said we gotta figure this out.
Big Cat
Out.
Meme
Yeah, but then you started the conversation about it.
Max
That's him starting the conversation. You guys don't listen.
Big Cat
No, I don't think so, dude.
Biz
I think he might have started 44.
Meme
What are you thinking, Max? What do you think about.
Big Cat
I don't actually know who started, so I don't want to start.
Max
I. I continued It.
Big Cat
Mount Rushmore season is coming up and we got to figure it out. But then you started talking about figuring it out.
Meme
You started the conversation.
Big Cat
I think.
Meme
I think both you guys started the conversation. I. Max, you got to finish the conversation.
Mike Breen
You know what?
Max
Now I'm saying nothing about the conversation. I don't know why I got so angry.
Meme
And that's.
Big Cat
That.
Meme
That's a good way to end a conference.
Max
That was an unnecessary. That was an unnecessary.
Big Cat
You know what, though?
Max
That was an unnecessary.
Big Cat
A married man Feels good.
Max
Yep.
Meme
Still got it.
Big Cat
Still got it. You just tested out the ring.
Max
I don't know why I yelled. I shouldn't have yelled.
Mike Breen
It was great. It was.
Hank
Was.
Max
That was crazy.
Big Cat
A lot of times your yells make sense because agonizing you. That was.
Max
Well, Hank does his stupid little faces.
Meme
Yeah, it was. That's true.
Hank
No, Max, we did this. We did this already. You just did a pfd. Did pft.
Big Cat
What?
Hank
We talked about the faces already. But we did that two weeks ago.
Meme
Yeah, we have talked about Hanks dementia.
Max
You guys do this all. All the time.
Meme
Do what?
Max
Just try to get me mad.
Big Cat
No.
Max
Yeah, we did. Every. Every episode.
Big Cat
Zero try.
Meme
This one was on me. This one you were maximum.
Max
This one. This one was on me.
Big Cat
Hand up. There's zero attempt at that.
Meme
15.
Biz
Go. 11.
Zach
26.
Big Cat
Happy belated birthday to Mike Breen. 21 last week.
Meme
56.
Big Cat
17.
Meme
Great guy. Very belated related. Yeah, he's on the show every birthday to Mincy.
Big Cat
It's today.
Meme
But you know by the time this episode comes out, won't be his birthday anymore. But figured that guy needs as much credit as he can get.
Keith Yandel
Yep.
Big Cat
72. 44. 75. 75. Anyone?
Meme
Anyone? Anyone?
Max
Same number.
Big Cat
Jacob, you think anyone else is gonna ever get this?
Max
Jacob, do you think anyone else is gonna get this?
Keith Yandel
I'm gonna say yes.
Big Cat
He. 38.
Max
38. 38.
Mike Breen
Nothing.
Max
Nothing.
Biz
37. 36.
Meme
Happy birthday to Santana Moss. And happy birthday to Swaggy P. Nick Young. Happy birthday Nate Robinson. And happy birthday on Wednesday. I know. It's a show day. And we can wait for Wednesdays. We'll wait for Wednesday. Happy birthday. Oh, yeah. A barstool one on Wednesday. You know what? I'll say it so we can buy our presents. Happy birthday to Kate on Wednesday. Tuesday. Happy birthday to Eddie Lacy. Go get some china food, buddy.
Big Cat
Listen, that when. When. When the packers had a running back that was a little too fat. That was. That was a good, good problem.
Meme
Good problem to have.
Big Cat
Yeah.
Meme
Yep.
Max
You.
Meme
Boy, it really makes you miss those days. Love you guys.
Max
It.
Date: June 1, 2026
Hosts: Big Cat, PFT Commenter (Meme), Hank, Max, Zach
Guests: Mike Breen (voice of NBA Finals/Knicks), Keith Yandle (NHL), Biz
This episode of Pardon My Take dives deep into the San Antonio Spurs’ stunning Game 7 victory, setting up an NBA Finals matchup with the New York Knicks, and covers the Stanley Cup Finals with ex-NHLer Keith Yandle. The crew also brings on the iconic Mike Breen to talk Knicks, his process, and his famed “bang” calls. The show is loaded with sports-centric banter, fresh stats, and signature PMT irreverence as they revel in both basketball and hockey's epic championship showdowns.
Timestamps: 03:18 – 31:58
“You can’t tell the story of the 2025-2026 NBA season without Luke Kornet… That play was the difference between a four point game and then it went up to eight. Incredible.” – Big Cat (05:25)
Timestamps: 70:41 – 108:41
Timestamps: 110:08 – 143:38
Timestamps: 40:49 – 69:13, 151:12+
| Segment | Timestamp | |----------------------------------------------------|-----------------| | Spurs Game 7 Win, NBA Finals Preview | 03:18–31:58 | | Special Stats, Notable Playoff Facts | 21:11, 29:19 | | Mike Breen full interview | 70:41–108:41 | | Stanley Cup Finals with Keith Yandle | 110:08–143:38 | | Who’s Back of the Week (US Soccer et al) | 51:12, 56:22 | | Mike Breen: How to avoid bias (Bang-o-meter) | 78:28–79:06 | | Wemby talk: Emotion, rivalries, and athleticism | 17:05–18:41 | | Stanley Cup “crank off” | 130:29–131:07 |
Pardon My Take is at its best when oscillating between diehard sports banter, creative nonsense, and satirical, self-referential commentary. This episode blends all three, weaving together in-depth breakdowns of the NBA and NHL’s biggest games, passionate debates about player mentality, and an endless stream of statistics—both meaningful and bizarre. From theorizing about “banning huge people from basketball” to running a “Bang-o-meter” for the Finals, this installment is a comprehensive and entertaining primer for any NBA/NHL fan, especially those looking for both insight and laughs.