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- [00:01]
Ryan McGee
Are all batteries the same?
- [00:04]
Jonathan Zaslow
That's like asking if all soccer players are the same. Take Messi, the most decorated player ever. Is there any other player who has achieved that? No, just him. Now take Duracell. Is there any other battery with powerboost ingredients inside? No, just Duracell.
- [00:22]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Remember, goats only trust goats because they're built different.
- [00:26]
Jonathan Zaslow
And Messi only trusts Duracell. This is Matt and Myron, the podcast.
- [00:36]
Matt Myron
It is Matt Myron here on ESPN Radio. Jonathan Zaslow filling in for Myron. Do you know who the singer is, by the way?
- [00:43]
James Steele
Zaz?
- [00:45]
Matt Myron
Nah, I just, they cannot put me with someone who knows Tyler Childers. It's just like, it's like, it's like, Must be a rule. You can't have that. You cannot have people. Two people who, who know it is. To tune in for baseball tonight, Phillies host the Mets, presented by Progressive Insurance. Coverage begins at 6:30 Eastern on ESPN radio and the ESPN app. I bet you Ryan McGee, the Marty McGee Co host who's covering the College World Series in Omaha. I would think Ryan, you know Tyler Childers, am I correct?
- [01:16]
Ryan McGee
Yes. And I, and I know him because he sings actual country music as opposed to, you know, a dance song that people claim is country music.
- [01:27]
Matt Myron
See, I've had this conversation with your guy Marty, and he gets mad because Marty tries to act like the country music now is real country music. And that kind of annoys me because you and I both know it's not.
- [01:37]
Ryan McGee
Yeah, well, the only, the only reason I'm, I mean, I, I, I would. There's no one on planet Earth I would rather be than Omaha today. But, but I was a little bummed that Chris Stapleton was playing in Charlotte last night. I didn't get to go because that right there, that's, that's country music.
- [01:53]
Matt Myron
But what's the common denominator of both those guys? Tyler Childers and, and Chris David, where are they from?
- [01:59]
Ryan McGee
Yeah, America is where they're from.
- [02:02]
Matt Myron
Kentucky specifically is where they are from. All right. You are at the College World Series. I feel like, Ryan, that over the last five years, the College World Series has grown in popularity in general. And I feel like I've heard more talk about it in the last five years than I have before. But this year specifically, that feels like that hasn't been true. And I wonder if it's NBA and NHL Finals being good. The World Cup. I know you're there, but have you felt like, for whatever reason, this one just hasn't connected quite as much?
- [02:37]
Ryan McGee
No. Everyone here feels actually completely Opposite of that, really. It's fine. I'm reacting. Really surprised to hear you say that, because I get it. The World cup is going on. I get it. All that. But. But the, the general. The. The ratings have been through the roof.
- [02:50]
Matt Myron
Have they?
- [02:51]
Ryan McGee
Attendance has been through the roof. You know, this is the fact that we've had in the last. North Carolina is the only repeat customer in the last three years. So we've had 23 out of 24 teams or have been new to the College World Series over the last three years. And it's. It, you know, and it's easily one of the most competitive tournaments we've ever had. I wrote a column about it last week about, you know, hey, while we're trying to. While we're so breathlessly trying to create parity and manufacture drama in the College Football Playoff and we're. We're screwing with the NCAA Basketball tournament, I said, leave college baseball alone. Because, I mean, we had West Virginia, who'd never been here and owned this city the entire time they were here. You know, we had Troy, who'd never been here. And the people of Omaha, now I see them, I want to dinner last night. Just random Omaha people wearing Troy stuff. And, and, you know, St. John's UC Santa Barbara. I mean, all these teams were competing and wrestling to the ground, all these superpowers. And we got Oklahoma, who's not, all due respect to him, that's not a big college baseball brand, but they got a chance to win a national champion today. So within the industry right now, everybody's really, really like, everybody thinks the momentum is. Is really going in the right direction. Now Major League Baseball is trying to screw with that because of this idiotic thing they talked about this week, but I don't think the Player association is going to let that pass.
- [04:22]
Jonathan Zaslow
Yeah, Ryan, you mentioned Oklahoma, and what a great story they are. How do you go from finishing 11th in the SEC to a win away from winning the College World Series?
- [04:32]
Ryan McGee
It's the most remarkable. We were having this. I had dinner last night with David Deluci and Todd Walker, and I was talking to those guys about it, and we were trying to come up with, like, other teams that were barely made it into the tournament. I mean, Arkansas had. Excuse me, Oklahoma had a losing record in the sec. They had a losing conference record, and they only hit four, like, 43 home runs or whatever it was over the first, like, three quarters of the season. And they've hit more than that in the last 21 games. And so it's just it doesn't happen often, but I think about ole miss in 2022. That was the last team, the 64th team admitted into a 6014 tournament, and they beat Oklahoma to win the championship. And I think about Fresno State in 2008. They had to win their conference tournament to even make it into the NCAA tournament. And they ended up winning the whole national championship. And it's just when it's rolling, it's rolling. And I give credit to Skip Johnson, you know, the head coach at Oklahoma, because his mentor was Augie Garrido and who in my opinion is the greatest coach in the history of college baseball. And what Augie would always preach was, don't let your ego get in the way of momentum. And what we've seen with Skip Johnson is he's just. He knows he's playing. He knows who the hot hands are. It's like a race in a Talladegger Daytona understanding what line is going faster than the other line. And he's. He's pitched all freshmen. He started all freshmen in Omaha. A lot of those kids didn't pitch throughout most of the season. He put a damn pitcher in the game last night in the middle of the game, a national championship game that hadn't pitched in a month, and he put him in for three innings in the middle of the game. It's just right now they're just. They can do no wrong. And you keep waiting on that to end, and it does not end.
- [06:22]
Matt Myron
Why do you think college baseball in general? Because you mentioned 23 of 24 teams in the last three years. You know, West Virginia there, Troy, Kentucky a couple of years ago, was there. We've not been good my entire lifetime. It feels like anybody can do it in college baseball. Why do you think that's true now when in other sports it becomes. It seems like the, the. It's harder for the Cinderella. Why can it happen so easily in college baseball?
- [06:50]
Ryan McGee
Well, they finally loosened up. They finally got rid of the stupidest rule in collegiate athletics, which is no small accomplishment, but it was just three years ago and forever the number of scholarships that a college baseball program had was 11.8 scholarships. Like, I'm not making that up. That's the number. And so you only a couple of guys on the team that could get a full scholarship, and now you can go shopping. And they expanded the roster. And it used to be you were limited to 25 guys now, or excuse me, you had 30. 35, 40 guys on the team in Texas could stockpile guys that were never going to play and now everybody has the same number. You know, it's a 25 man roster. And so now you can go shopping and you can give guys stuff, and Nil has definitely helped. But in baseball, it's funny, I was just looking at my friends@d1baseball.com that's Kyle Peterson's website. I was looking at this morning, how the rosters were put together, and it's this complete mix. You know, Troy has a bunch of, you know, Division 1 transfers. Oklahoma has like twice as many junior college transfers as any team that was here. And then you have teams like North Carolina, where pretty much it's just built the old school way of recruiting. So it's just. They kind of got it figured out and you can do it in a lot of different ways. And, and if I'm UC Santa Barbara, what I can pitch is. I mean, first of all, you get to live in Santa Barbara. But second of all, you know, you can play right now. You know, if you go to lsu, you probably going to have to wait a couple of years, you know, and it's just, it's. It's this kind of perfect chemistry mix and which of course, as you guys know, means that somebody's probably going to screw it up in the next couple of years.
- [08:29]
Jonathan Zaslow
Ryan, what's Omaha like for those who've never been for this tournament?
- [08:33]
Ryan McGee
It is. I get asked this all the time why I love it so much. It is. There's just a vibe, man. There's just a feeling. My favorite sporting events are the ones that you can't imagine the town without the event and the event without the town. You know, it's the Kentucky Derby, it's the Indy 500, it's the Masters. That's the feel that this place has. They have held this event in this city since 1950. And the city doesn't really care what teams come into town. They love them all. And the goal, you know, you go to all these college campuses, and I go into all these clubhouses and all these locker rooms and all these ballparks, and no one says we're trying to make it to the College World Series. They don't talk about the road to the College World Series. They talk about the road to Omaha. The goal is to get to Omaha, and that's the field. And, you know, I still call it the new ballpark, but we've been in the downtown ballpark for 15 years now. And now the neighborhood around it has grown up. I mean, this is adult summer camp. And it's why everyone at ESPN fights over the assignment. And it's why, once I got this assignment a long time ago, I defend that sucker like I'm defending my lead in Daytona 500. They're not going to get around me. It's just old school, new school. It's just. It's everything that you love about college sports that, that they're ruining everywhere else
- [09:52]
Matt Myron
I have been and I went when my team wasn't even playing. And, Ryan, I oddly think it's more fun when you don't know the teams that, if you have a nervous rooting interest, you know.
- [10:04]
Ryan McGee
Yep. No, the funny thing is, is, like, so lsu, they didn't make the NCLA tournament this year. And I've seen so many LSU fans, and I mean, the best food I've ever had in my life is in the parking lot of the ballpark. These guys were at Rosenblatt 20 years ago, and they still come every single year. Once you get here, you want to be here all the time. So you're exactly right. And the cool thing is, like, literally, I'm looking out the window of my room at the ballpark, and they have this baseball village. And my favorite thing to do, I'll do it here as soon as I hang out with you guys, is to go to that baseball village, and there's a guy that sells vintage college wool series gear, and you can find a T shirt with the citadel here in 1990. People wear that stuff everywhere. And so it's just. It's. It's just a vibe to it. And I always tell everybody it should be a bucket list event. And whether your team is here or not and get here the first weekend when there's eight teams playing, or like this weekend when it's Father's Day, I mean, there's. There's way worse places to be, and there's nowhere else I'd rather be.
- [11:06]
Matt Myron
Ryan McGee, you should. Honestly, he should be, first of all, the nicest person at espn. James, am I wrong about that? Nicest person.
- [11:17]
Jonathan Zaslow
I totally agree.
- [11:19]
Matt Myron
Without question, for those of you listening at home, like, he's as nice as he seems. And secondly, he should be on the tourism board for the events he likes. When he comes on and does Bristol or Talladega or Indianapolis or the. Or the College World Series, you. He makes you want to go. Ryan, thank you very much.
- [11:39]
Jonathan Zaslow
Thanks, Ryan.
- [11:40]
Ryan McGee
Hey, well, I appreciate you saying. I feel the same way about you guys. And it's. I just. Just. It's. You have to remind yourself sometimes, because work is work and you get frustrated man, we got a good gig and I want everybody else to feel like they're going with us. So. So I appreciate you.
- [11:55]
Matt Myron
The only problem, the only drawback to ride is he's a Tennessee fan. That's the only one. Besides that, everything else is great.
- [12:03]
Ryan McGee
Yeah. Now you sound like, you sound like me when I'm on the road in the SEC all fall. Man, we really like you. Except for that place you got your diploma from.
- [12:10]
Matt Myron
I know, but I mean, you know how Tennessee fans are. Okay, let's be honest, I'm not paying the bills, Bo. That's right. Ryan, thank you very much. You continue.
- [12:19]
Ryan McGee
Thank you. Have a great follows, everybody.
- [12:21]
Jonathan Zaslow
Thanks. Thank you.
- [12:22]
Matt Myron
Tune in 2026 NBA Draft on Tuesday and Wednesday. Coverage begins at 7:30 Eastern on ESPN Radio and the ESPN app. We'll give you back to the world of sports next here on Matt, Myra, Matt and Myron the podcast.
- [12:41]
Jonathan Zaslow
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Matt Myron
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Ryan McGee
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Jonathan Zaslow
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Ryan McGee
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Jonathan Zaslow
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- [13:28]
Matt Myron
on here on ESPN radio. The world cup games have begun. Spain has scored. Jamal they let him start this game. Gets a goal 1 oh early over Saudi Arabia in Atlanta. Spain had been a little bit of a disappointment early but get quickly get a goal to start it off. Are you besides the United States as are you, is there a team that catches your fancy? Are you supporting soccer jerseys? Generally speaking, I don't think people should wear soccer jerseys unless they're young because they rarely flatter anybody that is not in really good shape. But is there one that you're sort of using around Miami?
- [14:08]
James Steele
No.
- [14:09]
Jonathan Zaslow
I mean I don't, I don't wear soccer jerseys. But if we're asking for what other countries I'll, I'll, I'll give some kind of support outside the United States. I'd like to see Canada do well. My, my mother's side of them of my family is Canadian. I have dual citizenship, so I like for Canada.
- [14:26]
Matt Myron
Wait a minute, you're partially a Canuck?
- [14:28]
Jonathan Zaslow
I have dual citizenship, yes. So I like for Canada to do well. I mean, this tournament they got their first ever point and then of course their first ever win. So they're in a great spot right now. And. And we also root for Argentina. My wife's family is Argentinian and you know, obviously we love Messi, so we like Argentina as well.
- [14:48]
Matt Myron
Do you ever get to use the Canadian part of your citizenship for anything?
- [14:52]
Jonathan Zaslow
I've never had to. I mean, there'd be no reason for me to. To have to use it, but yeah. So.
- [15:01]
Matt Myron
Well, they. I think the Canadian story has been interesting. You know, get their first win the buy. If they can win the group, they get to stay in Canada through the. Through the Sweet 16, which would be great. Argentina, obvious with a huge support. We were talking during the break about, about games and it's fascinating to me with how expensive these ticket prices are. How are these people? How is everyone going? Like, they're. You're in Miami. There are games where the get in price coming up with like Brazil and Scotland and then Colombia and Portugal. There are games in Miami where the get in price is in the thousands of dollars. Who are these people that are all going to the games?
- [15:45]
Jonathan Zaslow
Yeah, like, like we. Okay, so we have a game here today, Uruguay and Capo Verde. And I can't see how much the tickets are. It must be sold out because it's not showing me. But you go to, for instance, like you said next weekend is Colombia, Portugal. I mean, you got to be kidding me. Cheapest ticket to get in right now is $4200. So that's amazing. Yeah. And like my boys.
- [16:06]
Matt Myron
A group stage game.
- [16:07]
Jonathan Zaslow
Yeah. And like a year ago, my boys or like, hey, are we going to go to any World cup games? Like, I don't think so, man. You know, the. The are going to be crazy. So we're obviously not going. I just told you what the tickets are like. And my boys will watch. Like, how do those people, you know, afford to go? You know, you see, it's like a family of four there. You know, how do they afford to go? And the obvious answer is crippling credit card debt. Like, that's.
- [16:31]
Matt Myron
That's the only obvious answer?
- [16:33]
Jonathan Zaslow
Yeah, that is the obvious. Yeah. Like a random family can afford $16,000 to go to a soccer match. No, it's crippling credit card debt in all of these stadiums. The Only answer. Like, I like how.
- [16:48]
Matt Myron
That's the only answer. That's the only thing it can be, is crippling credit card debt.
- [16:54]
Jonathan Zaslow
It's crazy. How can a family afford to go? You can't. You can't take your family. Who is your.
- [17:00]
Matt Myron
Who is your early favorite? Has there been a game or a player that struck your eye? Like the Curacao goalkeeper, whose name, I believe is Eloy Room. Yes. Which is a great name. He tied the record set by USA's Tim Howard for most saves.
- [17:14]
Jonathan Zaslow
Crazy.
- [17:15]
Matt Myron
He and the Cape Verde goalkeeper have both had, like, amazing performances in 00 games or 1.1 game in the Curacao case. Is there. Are any of those stories, things that you have particularly, you know, appealed to
- [17:32]
Jonathan Zaslow
you, by the way? Two nothing now. Spain in the 22nd minute. Spain all over. Saudi Arabia here. So two nothing Spain in Cal Oyarzabal.
- [17:44]
Matt Myron
I'm sure that's not how you pronounce that, but we'll just say it is. Go ahead.
- [17:48]
Jonathan Zaslow
That's a good effort.
- [17:50]
James Steele
Yeah.
- [17:50]
Jonathan Zaslow
I mean, look, I love what Balagun has done so far for the U.S. two goals in the first game. And I know he doesn't get credit for the first goal the other day against Australia because they counted it as an own goal, but it came off his foot, which, by the way, I got a beef, all right? Like, in hockey, pucks go off the defenders all the time. It's not an own goal. The last guy to touch it, he gets credit for the goal. Why don't we do that in soccer? Well, why does it have to be an own goal?
- [18:17]
Matt Myron
Know what the rules are? Because sometimes they do give you credit for own goals. Sometimes they. Yeah, sometimes they did. Not in that game. But, like, we had an own goal against Paraguay, and they gave Baligan credit for it.
- [18:29]
Jonathan Zaslow
So I don't like the Australian. The Australian defender.
- [18:32]
Ryan McGee
It was both.
- [18:33]
Matt Myron
They were.
- [18:34]
Ryan McGee
It was credited as an own goal.
- [18:36]
Jonathan Zaslow
It was.
- [18:37]
Matt Myron
See? All right, first of all, don't. Don't interrupt this show with facts, okay? I. I was on a rant.
- [18:42]
Jonathan Zaslow
Especially when Matt's, you know, in the wrong.
- [18:44]
Matt Myron
It's Renee. It's a rant. And so, like, don't let. Are you trying to have facts get in the way of these rants?
- [18:51]
Ryan McGee
A little bit.
- [18:51]
Matt Myron
Okay? All right, so. But make your point. You don't like that. They just give it to the person that scores.
- [18:56]
Jonathan Zaslow
Like, that should be a goal for Baligun. You know, he. He was the one. He put the ball there. He set up the. The defender for. For Australia in This case, it's not like he stopped, put the ball down and kicked it into the back of his own. Like he tried to kick it away. It ricocheted off his shin. If he didn't touch it, the, the other defender, the winger was streaking at the net, would have scored it, I don't know, stop at the own goals, credit it to someone. So anyway, yeah, so I, I love what's going on there and also, you know, there's, I always love the stories when you see the countries where they got their first ever point in a World Cup.
- [19:31]
Matt Myron
So you're, you're like the expanded, like
- [19:33]
Jonathan Zaslow
three nothing Spain, by the way. Three nothing Spain.
- [19:36]
Matt Myron
Well, you are keeping us up to date. Did you like the expanded format? I mean people were worried this was going to lead to a lot of Sharks vs. Minnows games. I actually think it's been exciting because a lot of these teams are energized from being here for the first time. Yeah.
- [19:51]
Jonathan Zaslow
And my guess is also because it's around a 32 knockout round and not just around a 16, I would imagine that, you know, going into the third group play games next week, more teams will be eligible to like, will still be alive with a chance to get into.
- [20:06]
Matt Myron
No, you're gonna, you're gon have. But then there are people who do the counter and say, well, losing doesn't really bother any of these teams because you only really need to win one game.
- [20:14]
Jonathan Zaslow
I think, I think, I think as many games as possible that have stakes is a good thing for everybody.
- [20:21]
Matt Myron
I actually agree with that. By the way, it was Mikel oh Yarzabal again who got the goal probably because we gave him the shout out. I'm going to go to the Reds Yankees game here momentarily. You're going to finish this up. But before I go, how far does the US End up going in the World Cup?
- [20:41]
Jonathan Zaslow
Oh, man. I mean I want them to win the whole thing. Am I going to sit here and say they're going to win the World Cup? I think they get, I'm going to do like this. I think they win at least a couple of knockout round games. How about that? They win at least two.
- [20:56]
Matt Myron
I think they get to the round of 16, put up a valiant fight and probably go down to Belgium in that one. But if not and get to Spain game, you could have maybe the biggest soccer game in the history of the United States. Zaz, thank you very much. I appreciate you finishing. I will be back next week. Your favorite sports memories with your dad on father's day. That's next. Matt and Myron the Podcast.
- [21:31]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
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- [23:21]
Jonathan Zaslow
a Father's day route Spain up three nothing already on Saudi Arabia. Matt Myron here on ESPN radio the ESPN app SiriusXM channel 80. We are presented by Progressive Insurance. No Myron, no more Matt. I'm Jonathan Zaslow. Good to have you aboard here on this Father's Day. I am in for Myron today and Matt, Matt's guy he had skedaddle. He's in New York and he is on his way now to watch the Yankees and the Reds. So I will hang with you here taking you up until the top of the hour and this is Your opportunity. Opportunity. If you want to take part in the show, eight at eight, say ESPN 888-729-3776. It is Father's Day today. And it had me thinking, you know, at this point in my life, I like reminiscing about these kind of things. I have two boys, I have two teenage boys and I like thinking back. All right, let's, let's incorporate, you know, Father's Day and sports here. Favorite sports memories you've had with your father. So if you want to get top of board here, eight at eight, say espn, favorite sports memory you had with your father? For me, it's easy, okay? I've been able to create an incredible amount of sports great sports memories over the last few years with my boys and with my father. So we're talking three generations of Zaslow men. And I've been able to do that with my favorite hockey team, the Florida Panthers, winning back to back Stanley Cups in 24 and 25 and specifically in 2024. That one there is by far my favorite sports memory with my father. Where for game seven of the Stanley cup final, it was, it was us watching in the Zaslow mansion family room. Game seven, Panthers, Oilers, me, my two boys and my father. And so for the first time ever, it was three generations of Zaslows watching their team win a championship. I mean, the previous time that one of our teams won a championship was the Miami heat back in 2013. And my boys were way too young and I didn't see that with my father because I was, back then I was part of the Miami Heat radio broadcast team. So I'm at the game there. I actually didn't get to experience it with any family, which is fine. Okay. But this was the first time ever two years ago that it was three generations of Zaslow's watching our team win a championship. So for me it's easy. Watching that game, having that moment with my father is. And my boys is my favorite sports memory with my dad. Eight at eight, say ESPN 888-729-3776. Your favorite sports memory with your father today on Father's Day. Let's go out to Raleigh. This is Bob. Bob, you're on Matt Myron on ESPN Radio. Go ahead, Bob.
- [26:15]
Ryan McGee
Hey, how you doing? Thanks for taking the call. My favorite and best memory was back in the early 70s, I think the Cleveland Browns would have preseason doubleheader games. And my father, my uncle, my grandfather took me to the last one they had where I think at one o', clock, the Steelers Played the Jets and then after that there's like an hour break and then the Browns played the Packers. And that's something that I won't forget because like you, I got to do that with a few generations of my family who are all gone now. So good memory.
- [26:52]
Jonathan Zaslow
Thanks for the call, Bob. So if, if I'm understanding correct, so when he first said that they had doubleheader preseason games, I thought he was saying like, hold on a second. Like you, the team played a double header. But the way he says it, it made it sound like, okay, there was, yeah, you had two teams and then. And there's another two teams that played right afterward because otherwise that have been crazy. Excellent job there by Bob. Let's go out to Denver. This is Brian. Brian, favorite sports memory with your father. Today being Father's Day. Go ahead, Brian.
- [27:22]
Ryan McGee
All right, so growing up in South Florida, Matt. Mad respect to you, Zaslow, for showing up on Father's Day for work. Growing up in South Florida, back In the late 70s, early 80s, we had no baseball team. So my dad was a huge Braves fan, decided to load my brother and I up in the car to drive to Atlanta for a three game series against the Dodgers. And I was a huge Dale Murphy fan at that point. I got shunned for an autograph by Dale Murphy. But Pedro, Pedro Guerrero, Fernando Valenzuela, and Steve Sachs all gave me their, their, their, their autographs. And I left that town a Dodger fan. And I've never looked back.
- [28:02]
Jonathan Zaslow
Good job, Brian. So dad, packing the kids into the car for the road trip to go see the Braves ends with you being a Dodger fan. That's always like, you're afraid of that, right? When you're younger, where if, you know, you know the old saying, right? You don't want to meet your heroes. And I, I think most of the times you wind up meeting your, your sports hero and, and it winds up, I, I'd like to believe it usually winds up being a good experience, but like right there, you know, they wanted to get an autograph from Dale Murphy and, and look, maybe Dale Murphy's not a jerk. You may have caught him in a bad spot. You know, you never know what anyone's going through on any given time. But that's the whole, you never want to meet your heroes. Let's go out to Texas. This is Tracy. Tracy, you're up on Matt Myron on ESPN Radio. Go ahead, Tracy.
- [28:48]
Ryan McGee
Thanks so much, Zaz. Love everything you do. So I'm originally from Iowa. My father was a Farmer grew up a Yankee fan. Strangely enough, a Mickey Mantle fan back in the 50s and 60s taught me to be a Yankee fan. And we were able to go to the first ever Feel the Dreams game in Iowa together. They lost the White Sox, but me and my dad got to jump up and down. It was just a fantastic experience.
- [29:14]
Jonathan Zaslow
That's good stuff. Thanks, Tracy. I appreciate the call. Wow. Imagine you go to the Field of Dreams game. Boy, I. Every time you put on Field of Dreams, I mean, it's waterworks every single time. You know the scenes coming. It doesn't matter. Spain right now. Quick World cup update here. Spain leading Saudi Arabia in the 37th minute, three to nothing. It's just constant runs to the box for Spain and they are peppering this goal. It's got, it's got a stink for Saudi Arabia. It's three nothing in the first half and you're going to be running around getting cardio, you know, for another 60 minutes here, knowing you got no shot. Like, I guess it just comes down to, hey, can we. So far, Spain has 15 shot attempts not on goal. They have 15 shot attempts to one for Saudi Arabia. 5 to 0 shots on goal in favor of Spain. But it's like your entire MO for Saudi now just has to be like, can we possibly score a goal against Spain?
- [30:13]
Matt Myron
It's unfortunate that they are catching the beating of a lifetime, just a beating
- [30:18]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
because of what Spain went through against
- [30:20]
Jonathan Zaslow
Verde the other day. Right, right. That was, that was the biggest upset. Even though there wasn't a. An actual loser. That was the biggest upset so far with Spain. Not only a draw against Cape Verde, but a nil, nil draw. And so now they're. They're getting it all out of their system. And it began with Lamina Mall scoring just like eight or nine minutes into the game. So it's three nothing there. Constant control for Spain. Constant runs at the box, constant shot attempts. Brutal game. This is going to wind up being for Saudi Arabia, who. Because the. The. The first games in their group in group H all ended with a draw. This is going to be brutal for Saudi Arabia, but they're likely going to go into their third game with a chance to advance depending on what winds up happening tonight in, in the rest of their group play. Let's go out to Rex. He is in Orlando. Rex, go ahead. You're on Matt and Myron on ESPN Radio. Hey.
- [31:15]
Ryan McGee
Yeah. One of my best memories growing up. My grandfather was the most positive male role model I had growing up. And one of my best memories is the first baseball game that I can remember going to, it was a Phillies game at Veterans Stadium and Steve Carlton was pitching. And so, like now, it's just inspiration for me to pass on, just the nostalgia, just the experience of going to baseball games with my next generation. I have two daughters and a son, so it's just inspiration to pass that love for the game down to them.
- [31:45]
Jonathan Zaslow
That's the best. You know, you realize that. Thank you for the call. That's the best. When you get to a certain age and you could see it with a different perspective, you know, sports. You go with your father when you're a kid, okay, great is my dad, of course he's going to take me to sporting events. And then when you get a little bit older and you have your own kids and you're doing the same thing and you're experiencing it with them, you realize how cool some of that stuff was. Let's go out to, let's go to Scott in Virginia. Scott, favorite Father's Day moments with your father on Matt Myron here on ESPN Radio. Go ahead, Scott.
- [32:21]
Ryan McGee
Hey there. The favorite moment was growing up as a Yankees fan because of my father. He used to take us to Memorial Stadium in Baltimore when I was a kid, every time the Yankees played the Orioles. And he always said if the Yankees ever made the Subway Series against the Mets, he would take us, being my brother. And so we went to game one in 2000. It was absolutely amazing. And I've got, if you recall that game one, Dexter Innings, I've got a picture of me, my dad, my Brother, at like 1:15 in the morning with the scoreboard behind us. It was like the best experience ever.
- [33:13]
Jonathan Zaslow
If I can ask Scott, like, do you, do you have any recollection what the ticket price was?
- [33:20]
Ryan McGee
Oh, I could tell you what we paid. Yeah, we got it from a scalper. We, we bought four tickets. You'd pay five times this. Now, we bought four tickets for $2,000 and sold one for 500. So we, so we paid 500 a piece. Yeah, 500 dad paid for. But $500 for a subway series game one?
- [33:48]
Jonathan Zaslow
Yeah.
- [33:49]
Ryan McGee
Pretty good.
- [33:49]
Jonathan Zaslow
Thanks for the call, Scott. And I imagine back then to $500 a ticket, even though it's World Series. $500 ticket. Those were probably really good seats because 500 back in 2000, even though it's a World Series. That sounds like a lot of money. All right. We know a lot of you guys want to get in here. Best sports memories with your father today. Of course, Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out. Just let us, just let us do what we want today. That's all we want, right? Your wife, she comes, says, hey, what do you want to do on Father's Day? I just want to do what I want. That's it. I want to just hang out. I want to watch some soccer. Maybe we bring in some great food for lunch. Maybe some bring in some great food for dinner. That's what we're doing in the Zaslow Mansion tonight. Got my father coming over. We're going to bring in some food here. We're going to relax, we're gonna watch some soccer. Your favorite sports memory with your father. Eight at eight say ESPN more your phone calls plus take your pick. Next Matt Myron on ESPN Radio.
- [34:44]
Matt Myron
Matt and Myron the podcast.
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- [36:32]
Jonathan Zaslow
Cup action underway today, the first of four games. Spain. They are in stoppage time in the first half. Spain all over Saudi Arabia three nothing coming up 3pm Eastern Belgium and Iran, 6pm Eastern Uruguay and COP Verde and at 9pm Eastern. New Zealand and Egypt. And for those, I guess technically it was today as well, if you stayed up for it. Japan was a 4 nothing winner. Very, very early in the morning was a 4 nothing winner over Tunisia. So the, the managerial change after the opening loss for Tunisia did not quite work as they get shut out in this one. 4 nil. We're taking your phone calls here. Your best sports memories with your father here, Matt Myron on ESPN Radio, presented by Progressive Insurance. In for the guys, I'm Jonathan Zaslow. Let's go out to Vegas. This is James. Hello, James. You're up on Matt and Myron on ESPN Radio. Go ahead, James.
- [37:30]
Ryan McGee
Not James. It's Champ, the Golden Knights mascot. Okay, but so best memory of my father. I was actually born on Father's Day, and every seven years it falls on my birthday and pole position. We love to race. They had an unlimited, unlimited race, Father's Day special. And me and my dad literally raced until our arms fell off and got into the top 100 to ever race, though. All right, that's, that's something I'll never forget for the rest of my life. All right. Amazing day.
- [38:02]
Jonathan Zaslow
There you go. All right, let's give Johnny a chance. He is in Utah. Go ahead, Johnny. You're on Matt Myron on ESPN Radio.
- [38:11]
Ryan McGee
Yeah. You know, my love for golf and Tiger woods started when I was 11 years old at 97 when my dad turned on the TV and essentially forced me to watch that final round and said, johnny, you're watching history. Well, Fast forward to 2019. The stars aligned. I ended up with two tickets to
- [38:32]
Jonathan Zaslow
the final round of the Masters.
- [38:33]
Ryan McGee
So my first and only call was to my pops and said, you know what, dad, you got to go with me to watch the final round of the Master as well.
- [38:41]
Jonathan Zaslow
How about that?
- [38:42]
Ryan McGee
As we all know. As we all know, Tiger pulled it off. And I remember sitting there, just me and my dad on the 16th hole and Tiger makes that birdie putt. And I'm looking at him and I'm there at Augusta and Tiger's winning it, who we're all huge fans of. And I just started crying and doesn't get better than that, man.
- [38:59]
Jonathan Zaslow
Sometimes dads know. Thanks for the call, Johnny. Sometimes dads know, you know where, where his father says, hey, you're watching history. Make sure you understand this. Like, I remember, as you know, when it was, when it was Game 6 in 2013 of the NBA Finals, which everybody knows now was the Ray Allen shots. My older son was 4 years old. He's not gonna remember anything. But I told my wife, I got them two tickets to go to the game. I was, I was working the game. I was on the broadcast and I got my wife two tickets. I said, you're gonna come, you're gonna bring him. He's only four years old. He's not gonna remember it, but he's gonna be able to say he was there because it's a big deal. And ended up being the biggest deal because while he doesn't remember it, he's able to tell people he was at the Ray Allen game. Some sometimes dads know. Anyway, let's get to take your pick.
- [39:47]
Ryan McGee
Take your pick.
- [39:48]
Matt Myron
You take your pick. It's time to take your pick with Matt and Myron.
- [39:54]
Jonathan Zaslow
All right, James Steele, what do we got here today?
- [39:57]
James Steele
Yeah. Let's start with the College world series. Game two is today. You can watch it on ABC television 2:30pm Eastern. North Carolina and Oklahoma. North Carolina are the favorites today. Minus one to 54 on DraftKings. Who you got in game two today, Zaz?
- [40:14]
Jonathan Zaslow
Yeah, how about you?
- [40:15]
Ryan McGee
You know what?
- [40:15]
Jonathan Zaslow
I'm going to go with North Carolina forcing the game three here today. Why not, right? It's been an incredible run for Oklahoma. They're a win away, inexplicable run. They're a win away from winning the College World Series. But let's go with Unc forcing another game.
- [40:33]
James Steele
All right, so to Major League Baseball, we have the Reds at the Yankees. The game that Matt left us to go watch today just, just left. We have Chase Burns on the mound for the Reds. Elmer Rodriguez on the mound for the Yankees. Yankees are a slight favorite. Who you got today?
- [40:53]
Jonathan Zaslow
Let's go with the home team in this one. All right, Yankees. You know, a little afternoon baseball on Father's Day, you know, to do it, do it for all the dads out there. Let's go with the Yankees.
- [41:07]
James Steele
All right, up next, sticking with Major League Baseball, we got the brewers at the Braves. A couple of first place teams in their respective divisions. Robert Gasser on the mound for the Brewers. Bryce Elder on the mound for the Braves. Braves are a favorite on DraftKings at minus 122. Who you got here?
- [41:23]
Jonathan Zaslow
Zaz Gasser throwing that gas. See what I did there? I see.
- [41:27]
James Steele
That's a good one. Yep.
- [41:28]
Jonathan Zaslow
See what I did there? Yeah. I'll go with the home team here. I'm feeling the home teams. All right. On Father's Day, you got, you got a bunch of fathers. They're taking their sons to, to the game on Father's Day. The home team doesn't want to let you down. So I'm going with the home team again here.
- [41:43]
James Steele
Another pretty big time game today. A couple surprising teams, the Rays and the Nationals. Nationals on the road here. Rays are a favorite. Nationals have Andrew Alvarez on the mound. Rays have Nick Martinez. Who you got here?
- [41:58]
Jonathan Zaslow
Yeah, I'm, I'm going against my words there because there isn't much of a home field advantage. The fathers are not bringing their sons to the game. This is the rubber match, of course, between the Rays, the Nationals. We're going to go with the Nationals here to make it two straight over Tampa.
- [42:15]
James Steele
One more from Major League Baseball. Sunday night baseball. You can hear it right here on ESPN radio at 6:30pm Eastern. We got the Mets and the Phillies. Phillies crushed the Mets yesterday. Schwarmer hit three home runs. Bryce Harper hit for the cycle by the fourth inning. David Peterson on the mound for the Mets. Zach Wheeler on the mound for the Phillies. Phillies heavy favorite. Who you got here tonight?
- [42:38]
Jonathan Zaslow
Yeah, looking to make it two series victories in a row. They win the series previously against Miami and now you got the Mets who it's been struggle city for most of the season. Boy, they stink. So yeah, we'll go with the Phillies keeping it rolling here after scoring 15 yesterday, 19 in the first two games of this series. We'll stick with the Phillies.
- [42:56]
James Steele
Have the final round of the U.S. open today. Wyndham Clark leads by six strokes. He's at seven under. You have Scheffler, Thigala, Kim Stevens, all one under. Those are the guys who are closest to them. They tee off at 230.
- [43:12]
Jonathan Zaslow
Yeah.
- [43:13]
James Steele
Zaz, who you got here?
- [43:14]
Jonathan Zaslow
Yeah. Disappointing, obviously on a Father's Day. I mean there's a lot of us fathers who would like nothing more than just sit on the couch and watch the final round of the US Open. But you may be doing that, but it's not gonna be very thrilling. Clark is up six strokes going into this final round. So it really feels like just a matter of how many strokes he winds up winning by he Clark. Wyndham Clark winds up hanging on. Will be the, will be the guest here.
- [43:40]
James Steele
Think, think Scotty makes it close here.
- [43:43]
Jonathan Zaslow
Six strokes a lot. I don't think so.
- [43:46]
James Steele
All right, one more for you. NBA Draft. It's on ESPN Radio. Tuesday and Wednesday coverage begins at 7:30pm Eastern. On Tuesday we have going number one.
- [43:57]
Jonathan Zaslow
Well, this promises to be a very, a very eventful draft. Not just because you got four big time players that are going to go in the top four picks, you don't really know the order, but you also got all the extracurricular stuff, including Giannis Antetokounmpa, who look could be traded any moment now. All right, so we're dialed into that here in South Florida where of course I am. But as far as the number one overall pick is concerned, I think it's DeBonsa. This is a player who we've been talking about for essentially a year and a half now as the number number one overall pick in the draft. Feels like the safest big time pick here. I know Darren Peterson, he's only working out for Washington trying to make his case as being the number one overall pick. I don't think it's going to work, but it'll be interesting if that is the case. If they were to to want to go with Peterson, you would figure Washington trade out of that spot. You don't take Peterson number one. You let Utah move up to number one to take DebonSA. If Peterson is your guy at number two, I think the move though, I think the pick is DeBonsa. I think he'll go number one and and there you go. And likely some combination of Peterson and Boozer with picks number two and three.
- [45:09]
Matt Myron
Thanks for listening to Matt and Myron the Podcast. You can listen to the show live every Sunday morning at 10am Eastern on
- [45:16]
Jonathan Zaslow
ESPN radio, the ESPN app and on
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Sirius XM channel 80.
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Matt Myron
Matt and myron the podcast.
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Jonathan Zaslow
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