PMS 2.0 1308 - NCAA Conference Tournaments in Full Swing, Ian Rapoport, Shams Charania, & AJ Hawk

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Pat McAfee Show – PMS 2.0 1308

Episode Overview Date Released: March 14, 2025
Title: PMS 2.0 1308 - NCAA Conference Tournaments in Full Swing, Ian Rapoport, Shams Charania, & AJ Hawk
Hosts: Pat McAfee, AJ Hawk, Boston Connor, Ty Schmidt, and Tone Digs
Guest: Ian Rapoport
Additional Guest: Shams Charania

In this episode of The Pat McAfee Show, host Pat McAfee and his co-hosts delve into the buzzing world of sports as the NCAA Conference Tournaments intensify. The discussion spans NFL free agency, college basketball’s March Madness, golf events, hockey culture, eye health anecdotes, and NBA updates. Featuring insights from NFL insider Ian Rapoport and NBA expert Shams Charania, the episode delivers a comprehensive roundup of current sports narratives with engaging banter and expert analysis.

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March Madness and College Basketball Highlights

Pat McAfee [00:00 – 02:09]:
Pat sets the stage for the weekend’s sports excitement, emphasizing the magic of March Madness and the array of sporting events unfolding. He mentions the NCAA Conference Tournaments, promising an exhilarating discussion ahead.

Boston Connor [02:09 – 06:00]:
Boston shares a humorous anecdote about receiving the wrong DoorDash order, reflecting the show's relatable and lighthearted tone. He transitions into college basketball excitement, particularly betting on Rick Pitino’s team, the Johnny's Red Storm.

Notable Quote:
"I believe you, Seth. Especially for Pitino." – Pat McAfee [03:28]

Discussion Points:

• Rick Pitino’s Legacy:
  Boston and Pat discuss Rick Pitino’s controversial yet impactful coaching career, betting on his ability to lead Iona and St. John's deep into the tournament.

• West Virginia’s Tournament Run:
  The hosts highlight West Virginia's performance, discussing their seeding and potential in the tournament.
  Pat McAfee: "They’re still trending down, but they’re still."

AJ Hawk [10:06 – 11:15]:
AJ shifts focus to golf, discussing top golfers like Minwoo Lee, Rory McIlroy, and Scottie Scheffler. He highlights Rory’s recent performance, expressing optimism about his potential success despite past challenges.

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NFL Free Agency Insights

Ian Rapoport Join-In [13:05 – 29:30]:
NFL insider Ian Rapoport joins the show to discuss the staggering numbers in free agency, citing over $4.5 billion in contracts within the first five days. He emphasizes the trend of teams overpaying mid-tier players, benefiting the overall market.

Notable Quotes:

• "The money is staggering." – Ian Rapoport [13:29]
• "Over $4.5 billion in contracts. Whoa." – Pat McAfee [00:00]

Discussion Points:

• Cooper Kupp’s Free Agency:
  Ian provides updates on Cooper Kupp’s free agency, indicating interest from multiple teams, including the Seahawks and Saints.
  Pat McAfee: "Pull for you, Coop. Let’s go, Coop." [07:37]

• Aaron Rodgers’ Potential Move:
  The conversation pivots to Aaron Rodgers, with speculation about his future and potential retirement. Pat expresses eagerness for Rodgers to join a top-tier team like the Chiefs or Bills.
  Pat McAfee: "You can always change that." [09:15]

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Golf Updates and Highlights

AJ Hawk [10:06 – 11:15]:
AJ discusses the current golf season, highlighting players like Minwoo Lee, Rory McIlroy, and Tommy Fleetwood. He notes Rory's consistency and potential for a major win, while also mentioning upcoming tournaments like the Augusta Palmer Invitational.

Notable Quote:
"He’s up five strokes on Scotty in second, one behind Minwoo." – AJ Hawk [12:26]

Discussion Points:

• Top Golfers’ Performances:
  Analysis of recent tournaments, player form, and upcoming events.
  Pat McAfee: "Beautiful shot. And then he rolls his putt in and it's like par." [10:17]

• Rory McIlroy’s Journey:
  Despite past setbacks, Rory's current form suggests a strong contender for upcoming majors.

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Hockey Culture and Playoffs

Pat McAfee and Co-Hosts [47:38 – 56:28]:
The hosts delve into the unique culture of hockey, emphasizing the sport’s physicality and player interactions. They highlight Tom Wilson's aggressive playstyle and the importance of fighting in the NHL.

Notable Quotes:

• "Hockey’s culture is second to none." – Pat McAfee [46:51]
• "They still fight people over there." – Pat McAfee [46:20]

Discussion Points:

• Tom Wilson’s Impact:
  Discussion on Tom Wilson’s role as a physical enforcer in the NHL and his interactions with players and referees.
  Pat McAfee: "He is a hilarious human being after watching that give and take." [48:32]

• NHL Playoffs Excitement:
  Anticipation of the upcoming NHL playoffs, focusing on the fast-paced and intense nature of the games.

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Eye Health and Personal Stories

Pat McAfee, Ty Schmidt, and AJ Hawk [56:28 – 73:38]:
A lighthearted segment where the hosts discuss eye health, the necessity of glasses, and personal experiences with vision correction. Pat shares his journey with Lasik surgery and the importance of maintaining good eyesight.

Notable Quotes:

• "You're not too cool for glasses." – Pat McAfee [65:30]
• "Life is much better whenever you can see." – Pat McAfee [65:06]

Discussion Points:

• Personal Anecdotes:
  The co-hosts exchange stories about wearing glasses and contacts, emphasizing the practical benefits over aesthetic concerns.

• Lasik Surgery:
  Pat recounts his decision to undergo Lasik surgery, highlighting the improvement in his quality of life post-operation.

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NBA Developments and Stories

Shams Charania Join-In [78:26 – 94:35]:
NBA insider Shams Charania discusses Zion Williamson’s performance, the impact of injuries on his career, and the importance of commitment and dedication for professional athletes.

Notable Quotes:

• "A devoted, committed, healthy Zion Williamson is a problem for the NBA." – Shams Charania [82:03]
• "He has to be on time all of the time." – Diana Rossini [82:03]

Discussion Points:

• Zion Williamson’s Future:
  Analysis of Zion's health issues, his potential for greatness, and the necessity for him to maintain commitment to stay at the elite level.

• NBA Team Strategies:
  Insights into how teams like the Warriors, Nuggets, and Lakers are positioning themselves for the playoffs, including player acquisitions and health concerns.

• LeBron James and Lakers Updates:
  Updates on LeBron’s health, the Lakers’ strategies to keep key players like Jackson, Hayes, and Rui Hachimura healthy, and the overall team dynamics.

Notable Quote:
"They’ve bonded so much, and that’s what's really going to drive that engine in Golden State." – Shams Charania [93:38]

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Conclusion and Wrap-Up

Final Discussions [113:00 – 131:10]:
The episode wraps up with humorous exchanges about coach Fran McCaffrey’s dismissal from Iowa’s basketball program and reflections on Tiger Woods’ injuries. The hosts emphasize the importance of resilience and dedication in sports.

Notable Quotes:

• "Way to go, Fran." – Boston Connor [121:59]
• "I hope he goes to the Champions Tour where he can get it in a cart." – Pat McAfee [116:56]

Discussion Points:

• Fran McCaffrey’s Departure:
  Reflection on Fran McCaffrey’s legacy at Iowa, his coaching achievements, and the impact of his dismissal after 15 seasons.

• Tiger Woods’ Injuries:
  Conversations about Tiger Woods’ recent Achilles tear, his legendary status, and the challenges he faces in his comeback.

• Future Sporting Events:
  Pat encourages listeners to enjoy the upcoming sports events, including golf, basketball, and hockey, expressing excitement for future episodes.

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Closing Remarks

Pat McAfee concludes the episode by thanking the guests and listeners, promoting upcoming shows, and reiterating the excitement for the weekend’s sports events. The hosts share personal updates and maintain their signature blend of humor and sports enthusiasm, leaving listeners eager for the next episode.

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Key Takeaways:

• Free Agency Frenzy:
  The NFL’s free agency period is breaking records with over $4.5 billion in contracts, impacting team dynamics and player careers.

• March Madness Magic:
  College basketball is in full swing with thrilling upsets and standout performances, setting the stage for an unpredictable NCAA tournament.

• Player Health and Commitment:
  The discussion underscores the critical role of player health and dedication in maintaining elite performance across NFL and NBA.

• Hockey’s Unique Culture:
  The NHL’s enduring culture of physicality and camaraderie remains a focal point as playoffs approach.

• Personal Health Matters:
  The segment on eye health highlights the importance of addressing personal well-being to enhance overall quality of life.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• “The money is staggering.” – Ian Rapoport [13:29]
• “You can't stop my drive.” – Voiceover [131:10]
• “You're not too cool for glasses.” – Pat McAfee [65:30]
• “A devoted, committed, healthy Zion Williamson is a problem for the NBA.” – Shams Charania [82:03]
• “Way to go, Fran.” – Boston Connor [121:59]

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This episode of The Pat McAfee Show offers a vibrant mix of expert analysis, personal stories, and engaging conversations, making it a must-listen for sports enthusiasts seeking comprehensive coverage of current events across multiple sports disciplines.

Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to our humble abode, the Thunderdome. On this Feel Good Friday, March 14, 2025. This program starts now. Sports are fantastic and obviously we're incredibly lucky that we get to talk about them every single day. On this Feel Good Friday, our job is to do one thing that is to thrust you into a weekend of March Madness magic that is going to be stupendous and one weekend that's going to be better than the others. You know why? Because it's the next weekend. The term Friday is one that is supposed to be celebrated. It's the end of a long work week. Now to the service industry. I know it's just getting started for you guys. We appreciate everything you're about to do. But for all of us, let's understand that today is supposed to be a great day, especially with the weather being like 71 degrees here in middle of America with two days ahead of us of great sports, including golf that's about to show up. Hockey is going to be out there, basketball, college and in the NBA. And if you look on ESPN News during the day, during the weekend, you might see something like tire wrestling or dodgeball. You might be able to go out and get some fresh air, touch some grass. Let's go and have the greatest weekend of all time. And today we're going to try to make sure that is an easier thing to do. We have Ian Rapoport joining us in about nine minutes for the weekly wrap up with Rap Sheet and Friends. Us being the friends, he being Rap Sheet, we cannot wait to chit chat with him. The numbers have been out on how much money has been spent on this first five days of the free agency period. Spoiler. It's over $4.5 billion in contracts. Whoa. That is so much money. Now, a lot of these contracts, the big number is all fugues because potentially in there you gotta sol a world's mystery. And what is an or? You have to do all those things. You have to get to the bottom of it to get any of those money. But the guaranteed money too. Bigger this year than it's ever been. And it's only going up. Congrats to the league. Congrats to all of the guys that signed these deals and changed their entire lives. And then in the next hour, we'll have Sham Sharania join us. We have a couple requests out to some legendary college ball folks. We'll see if they respond in time before the show ends. And it's going to be a good one. The talks and Tables here at Boston Connor and at Ty Schmidt, con man. Looking a lot of pizzazz today. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Thank you. This is a pizzazz, Jackie. You know, the color is a little off. It's more so the Grinch. But, you know, I had such an amazing morning. You know, my doordash got here. It was the wrong doordash. Hold on, boys. It was the right doordash. It was Zonus. I don't know if there's a Zona out there.

[Pat McAfee]

Zona C, to be specific.

[Boston Connor]

Zona C, to be specific. Your order from First Watch is delightful. Let me just say that the salad. I'm not a salad guy, but with this salad and the chicken and bacon in the sauce that you have in there, delicious. And then the potatoes with cheese and. And bacon on top of the potatoes. I've never even had that mixture of something in a meal, and it was delightful. I. I could not be more happy with the wrong door dash order. I don't know if that ever happens. And also, I know Zona is probably, you know, kicking rocks because my door dash order, I've learned, sucks. Yeah, I. I learned today my doordash order from that place blows. But hers or his was fantastic. And then, of course, you know, just as you kind of get into college basketball, especially these last couple days, it is getting me pretty pumped up for next week with the March Madness.

[Pat McAfee]

Little zaniness.

[Boston Connor]

Little zaniness. We actually all, I believe, maybe not all. Me and you, however, did place a pretty large wager on the Johnny's the Godfather of New York, Rick Pitino, kind of. Kind of making his way all the way to the final.

[Pat McAfee]

I heard they're a tough team. I heard they cheat. Seth Greenberg said they foul on every possession. But they actually change what the definition of a foul is whenever you're playing them, because that's how they play. That's Pitino ball. And he said he got the boys rolling. I said, you know what? I believe you, Seth. Especially for Pitino. What a good story. Yeah. Come on. Everything that happened at Louisville, okay? We learned, we experienced, we read about, and we all said, wow. I don't know how that even is possible in a modern day, but, hey, Patino's doing. Patina's living his life. So then he goes to Iona, then He goes to St. John's and all of a sudden, now they're all the way back in it. And, yeah, we put a pretty large, little hefty wager on them to go first bet. Long time for me, and I couldn't be More proud of who? What py'zon I'm betting on.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Let's go Johnny's. You know, the Red Storm, they got six dudes. I've been kind of ingratiated in the Rick Pitino, Saint John system since about 2016. Okay. So it's not like I'm just showing up at the front door, you know, as they're getting good. You know, a roommate of mine in college, he has season ticket to the Johnny's. We've been following him since. Since then. Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

So I don't think Patino was there, though.

[Boston Connor]

No, but Patino was the head coach of the Boston Celtics. All right, Let me tell you about that time. It was. It was tough, you know, very tough. But some people stuck by and I was one of those people. Okay. You know, Louisville, a lot of things did happen. You know what else happened? He won a national championship. So it's.

[Pat McAfee]

Nobody talks about that.

[Boston Connor]

It's not like it was all bad. It was terrible, but it wasn't all bad. Okay. He brought a lot of happiness to that, you know, town as well over there in Kentucky. And yeah, I think with New York, with the way the basketball is going in New York, the Knicks players kind of hate their coach asking, hey, can you stop playing us a little bit?

[Pat McAfee]

And that kind of the problem every single year. Every single year. I'm not really a basketball person, but I remember when they played the Pacers, everybody thought, well, they're not going to be able to just continue to go because they're all either dinged up, hurt or tired, physically exhausted because they were only running. Like, I think they had one man. Six man was basically all it was. And I think the people in the basketball world were like, they're not going to be able. At some point this is going to end for them. And it did. Yeah, I think it was because they were exhausted. So going into this year, I think the convo was maybe the Tibbs won't do that. They're going to change the way they play. I guess they're doing it even worse this year than they did last year. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Doing the exact same thing. And funny enough, which.

[Pat McAfee]

We like people playing. Yeah, yeah, we like people playing. But this is a marathon here now. There's a lot of games. There's a sweet spot, and it's. Yeah. Like opting out. People don't love.

[Ty Schmidt]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Running people to death. Love it if you're not a fan of the team. But if you're a fan of the team, you have to think These guys aren't going to be able to survive the length of this season, especially whenever. The only thing that matters is at the very end of 82 games whenever you go forward. But he's got a plan. He knows his boys better than anybody else.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, I don't think he does. Because the guy that actually said, hey, can you stop playing it so much is the guy who's played the most consecutive basketball games in the history of the NBA, Mikel Bridges. He is basically the journeyman of all journeymen.

[AJ Hawk]

Cal Ripkin with the NBA.

[Boston Connor]

He's a Cal Ripken of the NBA, sure. I'm not a baseball guy. I don't know what Cal Ripkin did, but it was probably something like play a bunch of games straight.

[Ty Schmidt]

So 3,000 straight.

[Boston Connor]

3,000 straight. That is basically the pace that Bridges is on. And unfortunately, Tibbs pretty durable. Yeah, he's a hell of a player for Tibs, though, is running them into the ground. But that's why Patino, he's going to swoop in. Hey, New York City, this is a basketball city. Hop on the Johnny's train. The Red storm's coming, baby.

[Pat McAfee]

This is what March is all about. Us finding some school that certainly we paid no attention to all basketball season. But now, because there's magic in the air, we're going to watch and we're going to root for him. And I'll tell you what, if they lose, I'll go right to another team. That's March Madness. And West Virginia's in. Look out. From what I've been told, West Virginia is in the turn. From what I've been.

[Ty Schmidt]

According to Joe Lunardi, they are an 11 seed right now. They're trending down, but they're still.

[Pat McAfee]

They're still in trending down. I don't know. We don't have any more games. We're not gonna be able to stop that train if they.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, no, that's what I think. They were probably at, like, maybe like a 9 or a 10 seed. And since they lost in the first round, they've slid down. So now if you look next to their name, they have a little red arrow down indicating. Yeah, they have bumped down a couple spots on the Sea line.

[Pat McAfee]

That's right where Western basketball was. The hoops want to be. And it's been up and down. You had some injuries, obviously, some very key players got injured and. But once we get into the tournament, it's going to be hell. And everybody knows that it's going to be hell. With that being said, if it's on West Virginia, like on your forehead right there. I am pulling for the. Johnny.

[Boston Connor]

Let's go, Johnny.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go, Johnny.

[Boston Connor]

Come on.

[Pat McAfee]

And maybe the Bonnie's too, you know, because Woj is over there. GM and are they going to be in. They'll be in a tournament.

[Boston Connor]

They're down by 8 right now to VC.

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't think so. They got to win the conference.

[AJ Hawk]

They got to win the 18.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Woj ain't making a tournament.

[Ty Schmidt]

Nah, I don't think so. He's worried a little bit too much about selling those phones and trying to bring in more nil money than, you know, making sure that they got a spot in the big dance.

[Pat McAfee]

I did see that. We never got a chance to chat about that. That was very interesting. Can you certify any of that thing? Or is it just.

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't know. And I think didn't they come in right away and they're like, yeah, you can't fucking do that. We're not letting you do that. I don't think so. So that was kind of just the end of that. But he was trying to sell.

[Pat McAfee]

But how would that he would have to take a photo with said phone at the same exact time that the news is broken. So then people know just from watching Pawn Stars. This is just for me, watching Pawn Stars. Having to legitimize it is always the problem. That's why they go to all his buddies down the road. You know, he got an expert on this. Got an expert on Civil War. Got an expert on World War II. Got an expert on maybe cars. Literally. That is kind of the thing. Can you legitimize this is whatever they say it is. And then sometimes, yeah, it's 100% real. You got a $400,000 item right here. It's gonna sit on shelf. Obviously got some dings in it. Small demographic niche group of people buy this. I can give you guess what. 22 grand. Oh, God. That was Pawn Stars.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

That was Pawn Stars football right there. That was literally what it was. But if it wasn't legitimized, then it was basically like, I'll give you four bucks for this.

[Ty Schmidt]

This thing's junker.

[Pat McAfee]

This thing is absolutely nothing. Might as well take this to a scrap yard and try to get a few pennies from this thing for being metal. So I don't know. When I saw this one up for sale, I was always wondering, like, how can you legitimize that? Those are the moments. And maybe just takes them to a museum of Sports.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe takes them to a museum, Maybe a Hall of Fame or something.

[Ty Schmidt]

Basketball hall of Fame.

[Pat McAfee]

That's right.

[Boston Connor]

They're a mess.

[Pat McAfee]

And granted, now maybe Sean should think about retiring the Lucaphone. Yeah. You know, and we'll talk to him in the next hour. And maybe he should take a. He should try to figure out how we can make sure that's the case. Basketball is awesome. Whenever we're forced to watch it.

[Boston Connor]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, the NBA's doing it. Oh, yeah. I think the NBA is doing it right now. College will obviously do it over the next few weeks here with everything that's about to pop off. Conference tournaments happening now, March Madness happening here in a matter of weeks. And I think it's going to get going. I think we're going to become big fans of that, at least act like we are. So we hope you all will enjoy the ride with us. We have some money on the Saint John Johnny's, but they won't be the last team we bet on this particular tournament. 1/2 of the Hammer Cowboys. AP tone there. Great sweatshirt. The players also this week.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Cannot wait to watch some real golf on Sunday and Saturday.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, the top 10's looking pretty good right now. Minwu Lee is your leader, but I.

[Pat McAfee]

Saw him grind out a par.

[AJ Hawk]

People love Minwoo.

[Pat McAfee]

He hit one under a tree like, we shanked the drive. Then he hit one under a tree that, like, rolled onto the green like a beautiful shot. And then he rolls his putt in and it's like par. Like, obviously these golfers are so much better than us, but you got to have the golf gods on your side a little bit.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, you do. But the top 10 right now looks. Looks pretty good. I mean, Rory's in. In second. Our guy Akshay sitting there in fault.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Calling more Kawas at T5. Ricky Fowler, Billy Horschel, Scotty Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood. Those can't lay. Those are. That's your top 10. It's looking pretty good right now. So. Yeah, hopefully Saturday and Sunday you get to that 17th island green, and there's a lot on the line because, like, this is basically the start of the golf season for a lot of people is once we get here.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's what I was about to say. This is the first big one, right?

[AJ Hawk]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

This is the first one where everybody's at it.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, well, like the. The Arnie. The Arnie Palmer Invitational was last week. Not everyone is obviously there because it's an invitation, but this one. What were they calling them? Signature events. I mean, this is the first signature event, you know, of the season.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, is. And Scotty still Scotty.

[AJ Hawk]

Scotty's still Scotty.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so Scotty wins.

[Boston Connor]

Well, that's the thing. I just looked at those odds, and I was like, plus 650 for Scoot Scheffler. What the hell is going on?

[Pat McAfee]

I was confused by that as well. Minwu Lee currently in the lead, so I guess that's why they have him above him. Rory at +160. Okay, is that. Is this Rory's ear? Is it about to be Rory's ear? What? That's awesome.

[Boston Connor]

I thought he was freaking out in the practice round.

[Pat McAfee]

Rory's kid brought up the Masters drive. I looked into what AJ was talking about. You remember Masters? I think on 10, he had the lead as a young lad, and he. Worst shank in the history and obviously ended up ruining. Some college golfer was on the tee box at 11 at the players and said, hey, don't do what you did at the Master, like, right next to him. And there wasn't a lot of people. So that was the person. He went up. I think he grabbed his phone and just walked away with it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Correct.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And then that guy got removed from the premise. I don't know if he got his phone back. I don't know what all happened with the phone. But yeah, Rory was in some. Was in a little bit, and it feels like. Okay, is this gonna be Rory's year again? Good. Congrats, Roy. That's what the odds makers are saying. Right. Right now.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, he's. He's up. What is he up? Five strokes on Scotty in second, one behind Minwu. So, like, if you are normally one of the best golfers in the world at that time, and you are in the lead or close to the lead, you're gonna be the favorite.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, good luck to Rory. What if you have a history of choking away that lead every single time? That's what that college golfer was saying. But the.

[AJ Hawk]

The wing is.

[Pat McAfee]

You can always change that. Remember, he was guy. Yeah. Then he kind of rattled a little bit. He can come back to being a guy for sure. Yeah, 100%. He will give us a big number, though. At some point. It'll probably be tomorrow, and then Sunday he'll be right back in it. Yeah. And then Scotty is going to be lurking the entire time, and then obviously he's going to do what he does. Let's pivot away from golf and from basketball. Let's get back to the NFL Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the weekly wrap up with Rap Sheet and Friends. Us being the friends, he being Rap Sheet. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Ian Rapaport.

[Ty Schmidt]

Wow.

[Pat McAfee]

Man, that felt good to. That's first I'm saying that in a few years. Let's wrap up the week. That was with our friend Rap. Yeah. Did we just saw a post from Adam Schefter. And I believe we did the math with Spotrac as well. Over 4.8 billion or something in contracts this last week. Did you expect it to be this active? And what's the big takeaway in your mind from free agency this week?

[Ian Rapoport]

All right, well, first of all, the money is staggering. I didn't do the calculations. I would imagine some. Well, not like, exactly my thing. Like when, like, Max has to have me help him with his math homework, I say ask mama. Like, it's not exactly my deal. I have someone else do that and Ivy League, so I don't know if that's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Where'd you go? You went to that Columbia.

[Ian Rapoport]

Yeah, yeah, but like the math. I mean, I did take math, but it was like Surfaces and Knots or something I think was my math class.

[Pat McAfee]

How old's math, which is.

[Ian Rapoport]

Max is 11.

[Pat McAfee]

You can't do 11 year old. What is that, fifth grade? Fourth grade?

[Ian Rapoport]

Six times sixth grade. It's algebra. You think I can do algebra?

[Pat McAfee]

What is algebra? Multiple division, three?

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't know, minus four equals 18 and X equals six or whatever.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, my God. You.

[Ian Rapoport]

That's basic.

[Pat McAfee]

This is basic rap sheet.

[Ian Rapoport]

Very confusing. I'm not even kidding.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, don't they have the key right there, X. What is X equal? Like, they do the entire.

[Ian Rapoport]

There's parentheses and there's different, like, letters.

[Pat McAfee]

What are we even talking about? You hit the parentheses first. I haven't done this since, what, sixth grade? This is my first time hearing about this. Are you kidding me?

[Ian Rapoport]

I'm gonna set.

[Ty Schmidt]

Cool.

[Ian Rapoport]

I will.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't know Columbia just. Was it pass fail operation there at Columbia as well?

[Ian Rapoport]

I did have to pass fail math class. Yes, but not that one. Or is that what you meant? I may not be what you meant.

[Pat McAfee]

No. Are all classes pass fail Columbia? Because I know, like, at Brown, I had a teammate that was at Brown and everything was pass fail. And I'm like, what? So you just gotta pass the class?

[AJ Hawk]

They do let anybody in. My first football letter was from Columbia.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think they would have accepted.

[Ian Rapoport]

Hey, let's go.

[Pat McAfee]

That was them just snooping around. How many people from Plum High School are going, getting accepted to Columbia. Tony Dick. I don't, I don't think so. I don't think so. I do wonder if. You know what? Congrats to you. Tony takes me to trailblazer.

[AJ Hawk]

I think my parents have it.

[Pat McAfee]

We need more. We need more out of Plum. Not just Tony Diggs getting accepted to Columbia. I expect that is right around the corner. 4.8 billion plus is what we're being told. Even though you're too lazy to figure it out. And you would have to exit as numbers. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ian Rapoport]

I mean someone, someone did. But here's the thing. To me, it's like I started this, you know, really started digging in on free agency probably three weeks ago and everyone kind of said the same thing. Quality of players isn't great. It's the worst quality we've seen in a while and I'm sort of like one. I feel like we hear that every year because if you're, you know, there are some very good players, you get a free agency. But usually great, great, great players who have zero questions. Usually they get locked up by their teams. Right? So I feel like that's just something teams say. It's like, ah, the quality is a great, like in the end free agent prices are still free agent prices. And once you get there, like you really can cash in. Like the money has been astounding. Everyone has overpaid. I think that's the way it is every year. It's great for business, great for business because it drives up the prices for everyone else and it's also very fun for us. And if you're the guys who get the bag and there's been an unbelievable amount of them, not just like the, you know, Milton Williams of the world. I mean like, you know, mid players are getting huge numbers and I'm like, that is great for everyone because everyone gets paid.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's life changing shit for a lot of people. And it's been fun to watch. Even dk, who got that massive deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, him talking about, you know, his fiance and like how happy he was. It's like you could see you work your entire life for these moments and you're dreaming of getting this type of paycheck and obviously a lot of people did. Now there's a couple people that are still outstanding in the conversation. Connor has a question for you.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Ravshi, where do we stand with Cooper Cup? It was reported overnight the Cowboys have kind of made a push and then there are multiple teams still involved. Is it still at that 12 + team marker. Has it been whittled down to, you know, five plus teams that are now kind of in a bidding war for Cooper cup and what's the number going to be at?

[Ian Rapoport]

Yeah, I mean, I would say there were a lot of teams interested. The market was. I thought it'd be pretty hot. It was pretty hot. A lot of teams interested. You know, sort of the problem now, not that there's a problem because he's going to do. He's going to do really fine, but the problem is a lot of teams have spent a lot of their money. So like, this is the reason why people like to get free before free agency is because like let's say he was free a week ago. Let's say he was free like Devonte Adams a week ago. Might have he been able to get that 20 plus contract? Maybe, but that's just not the way it worked. And it was. He was cut when he was cut just because of some contractual things and, and whatever. He's gonna do fine. I believe the list is getting narrowed down. I believe we'll have a decision today and I think there's, you know, some really good teams interested. You know, the Seahawks have been a team that's been interested. The Saints have been in the mix. You'd mentioned the Cowboys. I don't get the sense they're in it now, but I believe they checked in at some point. There's been several teams and I think, you know, Cooper cup, like he's 31, right. Obviously the numbers over the last couple years are the numbers, but he is still a very, very good receiver. Seems to be to me more like the final piece for a championship caliber team now as opposed to like the key cog that he was like eight years ago. But I think he's going to do very well.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so very well. Is that like 12, 13, 14, 15, 10? What is very.

[Ian Rapoport]

It sounds like probably more than 12 and I mean maybe up to 15. Yeah, I mean, I don't actually know the firm numbers, but you say to me like what teams have been discussing. I think that's probably in the ballpark.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, interesting, because you did say in your answer that he could have got more than 20 if he was released earlier. Obviously that was during the trade stuff that was allegedly happening behind the scenes for Cooper Cup. Now he's a free agent. I'm excited to see who signs him and if it is a team for cheaper than that that has a Super bowl quality run. Like if the Chiefs sign Cooper Cup Everybody will go, of course. You know, I don't even know how the Chiefs would be able to do it, but everybody would say, of course the Kansas City Chiefs do this, or the Buffalo Bills or somebody. Like, if one of these teams that are at the very top, sign him and get a deal done. You're going to see so many other people go, like, well, why couldn't we do it? And then the question would be, can Cooper cup stay healthy? And if he can, he's a dog. Pull him for your cup. Pull for you, Coop. Let's go, Coop. All right, let's talk about some other outstanding stories happening, especially one that has you insiders a little bit perturbed. We'll say this is AP Tones question for you.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he's referencing Aaron Rodgers. He does feel like he has you guys a little perturbed because you're just. Just sitting there and you have to wait to see what Aaron's gonna do. There are reports that Aaron's team said that a decision is coming soon. I guess he potentially. His team told the Steelers and Giants that, or whatever it is. What do you guys think, you know, or think you're hearing? What's the latest, you know, on Aaron Rodgers?

[Ian Rapoport]

All right, so I'm not perturbed. I. I never, you know, I don't mind talking about Aaron Rodgers. I've done it for the last, like, five years, forever. Just like, if someone's like, like, would you talk about the Cowboys? I'm like, of course I would talk about the Cowboys. Like, these people keep us in business. Like, I. I'm good with Aaron Rodgers. I also, like, you know, would I like everything wrapped up in a nice little bow? Someone sends me the scoop, I tweet it, and that's the end. Like, that would be the ideal situation for me. Like, let's try to make that happen.

[Pat McAfee]

Otherwise, though, let's try to make that happen. Okay, that's. You still campaigning. Let's. If we could get that to happen, that would be no really cool thing.

[Ian Rapoport]

He's what, like Aaron Rodgers a friend of the program? If he's watching this now, he might be like, you know what? I'm gonna send it to him, and then that would really be great for me.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so you're openly campaigning for the story, so you're not perturbed, but you certainly are eager, you know, and that's the.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You're not the only one, though. All of Pittsburgh is seemingly getting eager as well. And it's like, Aaron has never played for the Steelers. There's no clue if Aaron wants to play. Like, granted, we all assume Aaron's gonna play again. I think everybody's assuming, are us included? But that's not. I don't think that's been officialized.

[Boston Connor]

Nope.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think anything's been talked about.

[Ian Rapoport]

Like, you know, I wanted to say something about that because you said that to me a couple days ago. You're like, well, are you saying he's playing? And I was kind of like, yeah, yeah. But, like, I. I'm also kind of not 100% sure. Right. Like, if he. I think these are some decent. Pretty good options. I could make a case for the Giants. I can make a case for the Steelers. You know, I know we've talked about that. He likes Minnesota, if that. I don't know about that one. But if he. If that ends up being the one, I could certainly make that case. But if he doesn't like them, if he's not 100% committed, then he should definitely not do it. And so, like, to me, retirement should still be a consideration. I just. I don't know that anything has been ruled out now. And so to me, you asked me, like, what's the latest? Those are great.

[Shams Charania]

Different.

[Ian Rapoport]

Why did you pick those expressions for each of those teams?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that was Debone. I mean, this is a Debone picture here. You can kind of tell. You can kind of tell that Debone's a part of it. It gets the story done, but it has its shit in it. You know, that's what you do when you deal with an artist. Yeah, that's kind of what you got to do.

[Diana Rossini]

Very good.

[Pat McAfee]

D. Bone's real deal over there. He's got ideas, a lot of them. And we appreciate you. We do like that. We like that he hops right in that batter's box. You know, you can tell him the exact pitch that's coming. And he goes, no, I don't think so. And then, you know, he'll take a big hack at it. It's like, okay. And then he'll get right back in here, and that's Debo. Hey, Deebo. Love you, Deebo. Love you, Deebone. The entire graphics department is really. I mean, it's gone up the wind, but you're right. Interesting photos. But with that being said, I think he's doing that because everybody in here that is belonging to the Pittsburgh Steelers are like, let's go. Let's just get you the Steelers, and let's get this thing rolling. I think that's what Pittsburgh's Feeling too, you know, Pittsburgh's like, hey, you have an opportunity to play for the Pittsburgh. This isn't like. This isn't like a begging Aaron Rodgers, come play for the Steelers. Steelers fans are like, you get to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers as opposed to it. And it's interesting how all of a sudden a probably, I mean, massive decision that Aaron Rodgers has either been putting off for a few years or has been waiting to make. He's a free agent for the first time ever. So, like, there's so much he's potentially contemplating. And if he wants to retire. Mount Rushmore player, Hall of Famer, richest guy to ever play in the NFL. So it's like, there's a lot of shit that's probably bouncing around in a guy who is a deep thinkers.

[Ian Rapoport]

Are those wires? I thought it was AirPods. Are those not AirPods?

[Pat McAfee]

He would never use AirPods. You think he's gonna let these Bluetooth waves get to his brain? You're out of your mind, dude.

[Ty Schmidt]

Come on.

[Pat McAfee]

What, Ian, what do you know? You know nothing.

[Boston Connor]

You haven't covered him.

[Ian Rapoport]

You know that he was not an AirPod guy. People knew this.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah, dude. Oh, yeah, dude. Come on, man.

[Ian Rapoport]

No one has told me this.

[Pat McAfee]

Should have told you this.

[Boston Connor]

That's terrible.

[Pat McAfee]

Your eyes. Should have told you this. Anytime you guys are talking about whatever he's doing or however he's walking, you just look. Just look at.

[Ian Rapoport]

Yeah, it's fair.

[Pat McAfee]

And it'll be.

[Ian Rapoport]

That's on me. That's on me.

[Ty Schmidt]

Plugged in.

[Pat McAfee]

That's the issue with you journalists, okay? You guys think you have it all figured out. Just look. Just look. You know, Just. Just look. It's right there. But he has openly talked about on this show how. Yeah, I'm not letting those Bluetooth waves.

[Ty Schmidt]

Kind of go 5G waves.

[Pat McAfee]

You guys are just calling for this to go there. And also, old reliable. I know it's gonna work, you know, and he's right. It does work. A little bit annoying, you know. Sure.

[Boston Connor]

No doubt.

[Pat McAfee]

Certainly a lot. The AirPods, they evolved the convenience of it all.

[Boston Connor]

They get caught.

[Pat McAfee]

Lose them a lot, though.

[Ian Rapoport]

I lose noise canceling, though. Noise canceling. AirPods are pretty great.

[Pat McAfee]

I agree. Very good.

[Ian Rapoport]

Especially on planes.

[Pat McAfee]

I lose them a lot, though. Do you lose them? That little thing's tough to keep.

[Ian Rapoport]

No, I have a ridiculous blue case.

[AJ Hawk]

That's cool, man.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, nice, dude.

[Pat McAfee]

Nice. Is that prime? Is that a prime one?

[Boston Connor]

That's cute.

[AJ Hawk]

They pay you for that?

[Ian Rapoport]

They did not. They did send it to me in the Mail. Along with a Halloween costume one year, so.

[Pat McAfee]

Which I was dressed up like a prime bottle. Yeah.

[Ian Rapoport]

It was awful because I was all blown up. I looked like the Kool Aid guy. And then like, you can't actually walk because there's, like, air on your feet, so you're like, wobbling around. It was ridiculous.

[Pat McAfee]

I think it was speed. And speed was in a bottle, right? In a prime bottle. I don't think it was that bottle, though.

[Ian Rapoport]

Annoying.

[Ty Schmidt]

He could move.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. By so clean. Speed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But he got rko, I think.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

On the table. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

That's cool.

[Ian Rapoport]

Great pull right there.

[Pat McAfee]

Good work, Z.

[Boston Connor]

When you guys go trick or treating, like noon.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ian Rapoport]

No, you go at like 4:30 or 5.

[Pat McAfee]

That's booze in your left hand.

[Diana Rossini]

What?

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. All right.

[AJ Hawk]

Rap.

[Pat McAfee]

Next question. Booze bag. Ty has a question.

[AJ Hawk]

Right.

[Ty Schmidt]

Rap sheet. I know you said that the Giants are still potentially an option for Rogers, but it seems like that's kind of been eliminated. Although they are one of the teams that's basically like, Bet begging him to come there. We heard Kirk Cousins said he does want to be a starter next year, but Atlanta might not get rid of him. With the Giant situation and Dable and Shane absolutely needing to win next year, what are the odds that they go after a guy like Cousins if they don't get Rogers? Or are they just going to roll the dice with a rookie quarterback and hope that they win, you know, nine games to save their jobs next year?

[Ian Rapoport]

Well, first of all, I don't believe the Giants have been ruled out. Like, I. I've heard different rumors over the course of the week, but I haven't heard enough to say, like, the Giants are not getting. I'm like, to me, at least to me, it feels like they're in the mix. They had Joe Flacco visit nice yesterday recently. So my sense is if it's not Rogers, Flacco's would. Flacco would be a strong possibility. And then maybe they do draft one, they have number two. If the. Or they have number three, I should say so. The Browns visited Russell Wilson yesterday. If the Browns decide to sign Russell Wilson, that would give them two veterans. That would make me think that maybe they don't draft a quarterback. They could but make me think maybe they don't. And maybe the next quarterback goes to the Giants. So maybe it's a veteran like Flacco and then they draft. So there are still options. I mean, the Giants draft three. Like, they can get a. A top quarterback. I just think Aaron Rodgers Would make it easier for them.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so let's move to the draft here. Titan's going to take quarterback. Brown's going to take quarterback. Giants can take quarterback. What are your like Browns with Russell Wilson. How real is that? If they. Even if they sign Russell Wilson, are they going to draft a qb? Because it's been like reported that the Browns are definitely taking a quarterback Giants. If they end up without Aaron Rodgers, maybe they sign Flacco. Does it matter? Are they still drafting a quarterback there? What are your kind of leans on what the draft will be for these quarterbacks and does it matter what the veteran signings are?

[Ian Rapoport]

Well, I think let's start with the Titans. Like I think it does matter because the Titans have not signed a A or even look. Or even looked right? So to me like that at least means the Titans are. You can always trade for someone, but at least means the Titans are pretty firmly like considering maybe it's Cam Ward at number one. I think if the Browns do sign another veteran quarterback, that would make me think that they may not draft him, which would then mean maybe they're the team that trades out. Right? Because if you're not taking one, maybe you trade out, maybe you go to three, maybe you go to six, seven, maybe you go to nine. Right? I mean these are all possibilities. Now if the Browns are not taking a rookie quarterback and are open for business, I do think the Giants will probably take one. What I don't know is like it does seem that Cam Ward as of right now is probably, you know, the most likely number one. But I don't know where that number two slots in. I know teams are sort of all over the map, but I don't know where he slots in.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, we appreciate your rap. We know you got to do some TV here in about 30 seconds. Thank you for taking time to do the weekly wrap up with Rap Sheet and Friends. Us being the friends, he being Rap Sheet. You're the man.

[Ian Rapoport]

You're the man. Thank you. Guys.

[Pat McAfee]

Stop boozing while you're walking around with the kids.

[Boston Connor]

Be a father.

[Ian Rapoport]

Once I was very tired from.

[Pat McAfee]

From a long day of texting with people. Yeah, got it.

[Ian Rapoport]

The only thing, coffee is the only thing that goes in here. Where is it?

[Boston Connor]

See, the only thing, it was a solo cup.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Your coffee is the Irish coffee though. We understand that. Ladies and gentlemen, Ian rapping for. Oh, he's got a good buzz go here. My coffee just go a little Bailey.

[Boston Connor]

Stay loose, stay loose.

[Pat McAfee]

You put cream in your coffee. Of course you got Bailey's, sir. 6:00am I know, right? That's what I'm saying. D. Ah, rap's a dog, dude. He's an absolute maniac. Yeah, he is. Cam Ward, number one, seemingly the thing. Yeah, to the Titans, remember that was like the big conversation whenever GM down there named Borgonzi.

[Boston Connor]

Mike Borgonzi, Jim.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But the president of Chad Spiker.

[Ty Schmidt]

Brinker.

[Pat McAfee]

Brinker. There it is. Chad Brinker, sorry, Mr. Brinker and Mr. Spiker back in West Virginia. That is 100% on me. You don't pass on a generational player or a once in generation player is what he said basically. And that led off for everybody going, oh, Abdul Carter is a once in a generation player. Travis Hunter, actually once in a generation type player, especially in college, being able to play the amount of plays in both sides of the ball that he had. And then everybody was like, well this quarterback class, it doesn't really have a once in a generation guy. And then you listen to Orlovsky talk after watching the film Cam Ward and he's like, Cam Ward's a guy. And then you start hearing everybody talking, they're like, Cam Ward, Cam Ward's a guy. The more people talk to Cam Ward, he's a leader. Obviously Crystal Ball said that coming out of Miami, Dan Orlovsky broke down the fact that over the middle he's confident throwing the ball. So a lot of these young quarterbacks scared to death go in here, you know, a lot of traffic in here. Go on the outside. You know, there's only one person, hopefully I can throw it out there. If I miss, it's not a pick and I could just kind of throw it up and let my wide receiver do their thing. The timing routes across the middle where if you miss by a foot, that thing's getting taken cribbed either by safety or a linebacker. Have to have enough touch to get it over somebody and then get it in between the linebacker and the safety. So that's a very difficult throw. The ones in the middle, let alone with your eyes not being able to see because you got six foot six offensive linemen standing in front of you. So the middle of the field is sometimes people's biggest weakness. Now there's some quarterbacks that are great middle of the field. Brock Purdy has been eating in the middle of the field since he got in there, which is why their offense and Debo was able to do the slant God type of shit. But there's some quarterbacks that do not do well in the middle. Dan said that Cam Ward over the middle is very good, and the ball comes out very strong. It's on time. It's in the right spot. He obviously has enough arm for the deep ball on the outside, the touch and the finesse. It's like Cam Ward might be the guy. And maybe it's because of the entire class not being great. Great that he isn't being talked about as much. And maybe it's because Miami didn't go on a run. You know, they lose to Syracuse last year, last week of the season, kind of derail everything after the Magic was behind him. But every time you hear anybody talk about this draft, it's like, Cam Ward's going number one. So congrats to him, you know, Earned it, buddy. Incarnate word to Washington State, Miami, and now number one, probably overall, good for him.

[AJ Hawk]

I think a lot of it has to do with, like, when you. When you get the. These big hype guys. It's guys that have been not known for years, but have been. Been high draft picks for years. Like, Cam went to Miami because I believe he put his name into the draft last year, but he didn't get the. The grade that he liked coming back. So he's like, screw it, I'll go to Miami, make some nil. And then he has this unbelievable year down in Miami. So now I think it's like scouts, coaches, GMs, they're. They're getting into this Miami tape, and now they're talking to people, and now they're like, oh, like he should have probably been and up our boards a lot earlier than he just this year.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And I enjoy. I love. And I, I mentioned it a lot. I love the way him and Shador bicker. Like, I really. I enjoy that.

[Boston Connor]

The talk.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I enjoy it a lot. Now Miami has a new quarterback.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's going through a lot right now.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Alleged. We're not getting into it.

[Ty Schmidt]

A lot of.

[Pat McAfee]

We are not getting into this. We are not. A lot of what?

[Ty Schmidt]

Huh?

[Pat McAfee]

Because people.

[Ty Schmidt]

A lot of what?

[Pat McAfee]

People that are not on the Internet are going to automatically get mad at us for talking about this. But this is a massive story.

[Ty Schmidt]

He got a couple cars stolen, too. It's not just overnight.

[AJ Hawk]

That's what we were talking about.

[Pat McAfee]

Hers were found, his were not.

[Ty Schmidt]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a whole nother story.

[Ty Schmidt]

Right?

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, there's a lot going on. Since Carson has got to Miami, a lot has happened. He's gotten paid a lot of money, too. Hopefully crystal ball and the boys are able to bring it back. Pivoting away from football. College football at least. Let's talk about college basketball, you know. Hell yeah. Let's talk about the time of the year that we are in right now. Let's talk about the special stuff that happens during these couple weeks that we don't really appreciate or see all year. It's time for some March Madness magic. Oh, Jamie was insane. It Champion was awesome.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Holy. Yeah, I think we kind of forget.

[AJ Hawk]

That was seeds, bro.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, it was.

[Pat McAfee]

This is. This particular video is not in March, but it was madness. And it was was magic. And we have some March Madness magic. Let's start in high school, shall we? Norris High school to be exact. Barrett Bosiger after just getting the ball thrown to him, pretty much. Boom. Let me have that. Thank you. 4949 semifinal Nebraska State tourney Bucket from the other side of the court. Obviously the boys are excited. Being on the bottom of that powder has to suck. But it is March Madness magic in the high school. Now let's go to some college stuff, shall we? Louisville, Stanford acc. 73. 73. Buzzer Beater by Chucky Hepburn. Drop the elbow. That's the quarterfinal of the ACC tournament. The Cards advance on a last second mid range jumper from old Chucky Hepburn. Get it. Find it. Drop it. Let's move along. Let's have a night down In Louisville at 4th Street Live, I believe is what they call now. Let's go to the Mid Eastern Conference tournament. NC Central gets a massive win over Delaware State. Isaac Parson. Buzzer bader. The boys are moving on. What a win for NC Central. North Carolina Central. Get the baseline. Swoop de woo. Woop de woo. Get the bucket. That's what we're talking about. Isaac Parson. Let's go to the sec, shall we? Ole Miss with a coach that just wins ball games. Wins with a Sean Pedula bucket. What a shot by Sean Padula. They didn't even think that that guy was going to make that shot. From Arkansas. Now Ole Miss and coach Beard moves along down there in the great state of Mississippi. SEC tournament in Nashville. Hopefully everybody can handle Broadway. There's been a lot of celebrating down there for good reason. Let's stay in the SEC tournament. Kentucky, Oklahoma, Ortega O way, who was at Oklahoma last year gets the baseline and the layup to get a massive win in the second round of the SEC tournament. That's just in the last two days. Yeah, yeah. High school thing. Two days ago. That yesterday. This is all just from yesterday. Buzzer beaters. Magical basketball taking Place in huge wins and story lines already developing. Congrats to college hoops. Incredible.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, it's only going to get better, too. Like, some of the games yesterday, obviously, Iowa, you know, they did go down, but they. They put up 94 points, you know, like, the entire thing they had.

[Ty Schmidt]

Incredible.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I think college ball is about to be magical this morning.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, we talk about, like, you know, Duke and Auburn and. And, you know, Seth Greenberg said yesterday, Florida, too. But in terms of, like, parody, it really does feel like there we. We could see. This could be one of those years where you never know. Like, we could get a lot of chalk in the first round. Or it could be one of those things where if you're going to bet all the underdogs, like, you might stand to actually make a lot of money. I don't think outside of maybe two to three teams, there's anyone who's really, like, head and shoulders better than everyone else. Like, we could see a lot of upsets.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, just like what happened in football, you know, nil can make some teams.

[Ty Schmidt]

Right.

[Pat McAfee]

Especially in basketball.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

If you invest some pieces, you know, some money, you can change your entire program, change your entire franchise. And Greg Sankey put out a tweet yesterday about some graphs about how many SEC teams have made the tournament. It was like, two, four, I think six was the most that they've ever had. And then once Covid hits it, like, kind of changes. Now they're going to have eight, probably in this year, and then they're probably only going to grow up. And then all the responses to him are like, you guys are putting money into it. He's like, yeah, that's what everybody's doing. SEC is investing in basketball. I think a lot of schools are, though, especially in the nil, you get two, three pieces, they get hot. During March Madness, you can go on a real run here. It should be electrifying. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Last year we did the bet every underdog money line just blindly. And I believe after the first entire weekend, you were up money. But wasn't it also last year where the Big Ten had a bunch of teams and then they all shit the bed? Like, you talk about how the Big Ten best conference. No, but that's the SEC this year. Like, we're talking about how the SEC is the best conference, but then when it gets to March, they might all shit the bed.

[Pat McAfee]

We'll see.

[Boston Connor]

Because it's madness, baby. This is March.

[Pat McAfee]

It's magic, too.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, it is incredible.

[Pat McAfee]

It is March Madness magic. How'd I would do last night in the Big Ten turning?

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, they, they, they're out one of their, their best player, right? Their second best player. He, he got hurt for the season. Had to have season ending surgery a couple weeks ago. So, you know, they, hey, they gave him everything they got. You know, Peyton Sanford, who is one of the greatest hawks of all time, homegrown kid, you know, scored 30 last night. They just, that's the thing with Iowa is they, they scored the second most, most points in Big Ten play this year. Unbelievable offense. They can't guard anybody. They don't play any defense. So they scored 94 points, but they gave up 106. And you're not going to win a whole lot of basketball games, especially college basketball games, giving up 106 points.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a lot. Illinois gets a massive win. Yeah, I mean that is another one of those team that Greenberg told us right at the beginning of season. Had a bunch of dudes, dudes got hurt, dudes got sick. Now they're all getting healthy, still got.

[Ty Schmidt]

The dudes, big physical. They out rebounded Iowa by about 30 dirty. So, you know, again, tough when you're getting, you know, just chewed up on the glass to be competitive, I guess.

[Pat McAfee]

Zito just told me Iowa's coach got ejected. You guys get a little fired up last night?

[Ty Schmidt]

He did. Fran's fiery. He's a fiery son of a. He always has been. And then there's a lot of discourse going around that he's been at Iowa for like 15 years. They think he might, that might have been his last game, so. Says he ever won, well, national championship.

[Pat McAfee]

Just.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's won a couple Big ten tournaments. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Has he?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

How they doing? How they doing the March Madness thing? Pretty good.

[Ty Schmidt]

No, they typically choke in March, you.

[Pat McAfee]

Know, just because that's so Iowa football just kind of. Iowa football and basketball just, just. Do they mirror each other or.

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't think so. I don't think so. I mean, I think a lot of, A lot of places would kill to have Iowa success. It. For being as small of a state it is basketball and in football. Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, like. Yeah. Are they going to compete for national championships? Probably not, but every once in a while, you know, every 10 years, like you'll have a team that, you know, I mean, they were, they were a two seed a couple years ago and again they, they got beat by Oregon in the second round. But like they're, you know, they're consistently good. But it is what it is, you know, I mean, there's no. There's no pro team. So that's why, you know, people live and die with them. Like, I didn't really watch much of them this year because they weren't. Weren't great. But, like, you know, I was. I was hanging on for every second last night and would have loved to.

[Pat McAfee]

See him, Fran and Kirk just kind of running the sports over there. And then Lisa Bluder, she moves along. Her assistant becomes the head coach. How's the Iowa women's team?

[Ty Schmidt]

Pretty solid again. Like, I think after you lose Caitlin Clark, it's like a different game. Yeah, for sure. But they got.

[Pat McAfee]

She's like, the best player in the wnba. Yeah, I know. Vegas. Asia Wilson. Aja Wilson. Asia or AA Asia?

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't know.

[Pat McAfee]

I think it's Asia.

[Boston Connor]

Asia.

[Pat McAfee]

She's a great player. I'm not saying she's not a great player. She has a completely different skill set than Caitlyn. Obviously. She's taller and everything like that, but in, what, four years, five years, Caitlyn's going to be considered the best in the WNBA as well.

[Ty Schmidt]

And people are already talking about, like, what she did this offseason, like, putting on, like, muscle and stuff, so she can actually, like, handle how it's a little more physical, but.

[Pat McAfee]

So it might be harder to win whenever you lose that particular player, for sure.

[Ty Schmidt]

But they're going to make the tournament. They got a transfer from Villanova who's, like, a great score. And her effect already, though, like, they're getting girls, like, top five girls in the nation from, like, California who are, like, you know, wanting to come play at Iowa, which would have never happened before her.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, we'll obviously follow along with all the basketball. Oh, yeah. Especially the Johnnies.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, especially the Johnnies. And also, I mean, if we're talking about Iowa in March, Matt Madness, you know, coming up here in a little bit for the wrestling, like, that's.

[Pat McAfee]

They need to do that when March Madness isn't happening. Happening. They need to figure out how to slide that thing right before March Madness. And maybe it is already and I just missed a couple of the days, and they probably have to do it. But Matt Madness, the college wrestling thing. Worth a watch.

[Boston Connor]

Should lead into mania.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe. Maybe. Should lead into mania. I mean, it is electrifying. They packed that fucker out, and it is. We're talking full entrances. We're talking about real. I mean, it was. I think it was last year. Was it last year or two years ago?

[Ty Schmidt]

Last year, I think, is when you.

[Pat McAfee]

First saw like the last year, I'm watching one of these March Madness games, one of these basketball games, or an entire window of March Madness games. All blowouts, which is the worst case scenario for sure, because it's the only thing on TV and you know nothing about any of these teams. And then they're all blowouts. It's like, okay, this is kind of a tough. Then I saw Matt Madness on and I went over there and clicked it. It was like, holy shit, Penn State's better than everybody. But also, this is awesome. More people need to watch this. Go ahead.

[AJ Hawk]

It does run basically, basically lateral to the basketball tournament. I just looked. But the, the Midwest Regional, which I believe is what the Final Four lead eight is here at Lucas Oil Stadium.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. But if it's right in the middle of March Madness, it's going to be tough for anybody else to really pay attention.

[AJ Hawk]

28Th, 29th and 30th of March, which I believe is Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

[Pat McAfee]

I know. They run concurrently to basketball, too. It's a winter sport. Yada, yada yada. They got to find a way to.

[Boston Connor]

Even if they just did it early in the week.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, like that would be perfect because there's no March Mac Madness then. And that would be so awesome just to be able to focus on that because it really is like a spectacle and so few people know how great it is. And then once you are like you were just mentioning, once you turn it on, it's like, holy, this is an incredible sport. It's. It's similar to, you know, West Virginia's rifle team.

[AJ Hawk]

Sure.

[Boston Connor]

Going at it today.

[Pat McAfee]

Come on. National championship today down there in Kentucky. Yeah, West Virginia's in it. They put a tweet out and said, yeah, you know, the stage is shit. And just like Tone said whenever we saw the photo, West Virginia wouldn't mind a 30, 40 mile an hour winds.

[AJ Hawk]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, but the fact they're doing it inside, I guess we just gotta kind of make it easier for everybody else. And West Virginia will certainly abide by the rules and. Yeah, we're talking snipers out here.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. We're talking snipers out here. Good luck to everybody. Let's go to the NHL now, shall we? The NHL is magical for a lot, lot of reasons. The sport is mesmerizing. They're flying around on blades on ice like, I don't know, 30, 40, 50 miles, whatever it is, you know, with the way we're tracking humans running now, obviously you would just assume that it's Quite an advancement of speed whenever they're on ice, especially with how these. They're like figure sk. They have the ability of figure skaters while also wearing full pads, dangling a puck with a wooden stick, and then there's a chance at any given moment they could just get absolutely annihilated, just demolished, and then they just pick themselves up and do it again. Never any bitching, never any complaining. The skills, skill set required is obviously absurd that not a lot of people have. And we're about to get to playoff time, and it's the fastest, most electrifying thing that you could watch the NHL playoffs. But the best thing about it is it's culture. They still fight people over there. They still fight people over there. They still handle business with a. Oh, is that right? You think you can hit our guy like that? Well, why don't you go ahead and drop the gloves, bud? Why don't you go ahead and do it? And they do it. And it's encouraged by everybody, coaches, players, fans, even refs. One of the biggest dogs in the history of the NHL's name is Tom Wilson, okay? He has been a menace in the NHL for a long, long time. Listen to him and Strollmer, who's not a fighter or a tough guy, have a moment and then listen to the ref chirp in the middle of this entire thing in the middle of an actual NHL game. Game.

[AJ Hawk]

All right, guys, take that out.

[Pat McAfee]

And I'm speeding up ice. I think it's a toe pick, but I'm hot this year. Most. Most goal scorers get those balls. Throw me. Oh, come on. Come on, Tommy, if you want to go center ice. I've been waiting my whole career for one. See that one? Yeah, I'd like to see it right now. Hey, you got to put one hand behind your back. Not that.

[AJ Hawk]

That stupid.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a hilarious. That is just a hilarious give and take. And then how about the ref going, oh, I'd fucking love it, boys. I love to watch it. Hockey's culture is second to none. I believe in. The toughness is real. And the characters in the sport, we don't get to learn about it much because they very rarely do any media. Like, I think what Spit and Chicklets is doing is great for the sport and for the league and for everything. But the more clips that come out that just showcase what they are and who they are as a sport, I think the better for the sport as a whole.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, no doubt about it. And, like, the amount of games, it's one of those sports where it's like, oh, there's so many games kind of like the NBA where, you know, it starts to matter, like right now. But some of the things they've done to make the game better, like the. The Winter Classic, I feel like, has been one of those things in the outdoor games, like at the Horseshoe. Things like that are. Obviously grow the game, but it would be great if we could get more like, players just talking because it is such a team, you know, culture, you know, take care of your own business, don't say anything type of environment. But then when you do get the mic'd ups, when you get the, you know, clips of behind the scenes about how much these guys care. Like McDavid last year when, you know, the Oilers lost Game 7, there's that highlight of, you know, him in the. In the locker room, like, super emotional and everything. And seeing stuff like that behind the seasons is awesome. Even though they hate to actually show everything about it. Yeah, we're great people.

[Pat McAfee]

Hockey hates everything about it. Hockey is just such a. Did it for the lads, you know, for the team. And yeah, we're trying really hard. We got to execute. And then like the most boring interview, head down every time. Yeah, whenever. Especially the in between period stuff. Like, I appreciate the commentators and the analysts trying to get stuff. There's nothing ever coming. No, not. Not. Not one time. You know, it's just like the right before kickoff interviews that the NFL was trying to do. But, like, you know, I think Jameis gave something good. There's been a few, like, personalities that are. Have delivered a little bit in that moment in hockey. There's nothing coming out of any of those because they feel like they're a distraction to their team or they're like a me guy. And since they're like little tiny kids literally waking up at 4am Just skating the ice or being told, this ain't about you, this is about everybody else. So it's. I think that's a detriment to hockey, but also, I think people just need to know that the people in hockey are fucking awesome. They are awesome dudes.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Every hockey player, the best comparison would be every hockey player is an offensive lineman and none of them say anything. And when they do get asked questions, it's almost like an insult that they're getting asked a question about themselves and not the entire hockey unit.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Str there going, I've been waiting on my whole career for one. And I believe, you know, Stromer's brother plays with Tom Wilson, and obviously I believe they Played together in the past. And nobody that isn't a fighter is signing up to fight Tom Wilson. Just for you that don't know Tom Wilson. You know, I'm Penguins fan. Was. Have been Penguins fan.

[Boston Connor]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

For a long time. I am, I am, I am. I hope they say. What was that word? I hope they do good. But at the time, I definitely was. And he was a problem, you know, but it's not just us. He's problem everybody he plays against, which is why I think the boys love him on the team. But I. I assume he is a hilarious human being after watching that give and take right there. I assume when Tom Wilson is done, he's gonna have a podcast or he's gonna do shows and the stories are gonna be hilariously absurd. Nick, is that accurate with Tom? Yeah. He's a guy who's built for. And like, you know, you say this, he's got the face to match. He's that. Got that rugged handsomeness. This. If you see pictures of him. So, like, he's definitely built for an after playing media career. And he's a guy who, you know, not to throw this back to the Canada USA thing, but he didn't make that team Canada. He probably will next year for the Olympics. And you might see a situation where you got the Chucks going against Tom Wilson on international ice. Well, we'll see how the national anthems are handled, you know, at. Set event. All the. All of them.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

That's because we had a new standard, right? Yeah. Is Russia playing the Olympic athletes from Russia?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Oar in the Olympics in the past. But I think we need to look into every single competitor's country's political stuff, because that is now how national anthems are being judged at sporting events, remember?

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah. I hope Iraq doesn't have a team, tell you that much.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think they're playing hockey. I don't know if Iraq has a. I don't know if they have a winter Olympic team, but if they. If they do, I hope we support the athletes, you know, doing their thing, living their dreams. But I guess, you know that I'm not getting into it. I'm not getting.

[AJ Hawk]

Not on a Friday.

[Pat McAfee]

Not on a Friday. I like to have a good weekend.

[Boston Connor]

The reason we didn't do a couple segments today, because it's Friday, I would.

[Pat McAfee]

Like to just have a good weekend.

[AJ Hawk]

It's beautiful outside.

[Pat McAfee]

I would just like to be able to sleep and not have to feel like I need to respond with some context, you know, which has become a very normal thing in this sports talk world for us, not everybody else. It seems like a lot of other people say a lot of things that are. Yeah, just kind of much worse.

[Boston Connor]

Very bad words.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, very. Yeah, very.

[Boston Connor]

Holy shit.

[Pat McAfee]

And it just keeps on moving. It's like, okay, all right. Yeah, we get it. Feels targeted nonetheless. Evan Ingram, former tight end for the Jacksonville Jaguars, he came out and said, I appreciated my time in Jacksonville, but they just let a dog off a leash. He was excited to get to somewhere new. And Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos was excited to get a player in his camp that is a joker position that he can do everything with. He saw that with Evan Ingram. And the only reason why we know that is because Evan Ingram announced his signing to the Denver Broncos as the joker, you know, hanging out of a police car from a dark night. So whenever you think about this, Sean Payton led Denver Broncos. They were much better than anybody could have imagined. Okay. Much better than anybody could imagine with the amount of dead cap that they had. Not just Russell Wilson. Everything else they had going on with what the Denver Broncos had been over the past few years, just a mess. They got a rookie quarterback in, Bo Nix. He was good at the beginning of the year, got great at the end of the year. Sean Payton's culture seemingly settling in, and now he's got a dog in somebody that he's viewing as a joker, just like he was with Taysom Hill whenever he was down there in New Orleans in the way he operated his offense. It's like, what are the Broncos? Are the Broncos going to be real? They're in a tough division, but I think the Broncos are on a. A green arrow up and Sean Payton only wins. I. I think that's all I've ever really known him to do. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

So obviously everything was a down year last year in Jacksonville, but two years ago, two seasons ago, he had 114 catches for the Jaguars, which is just absurd. He is a dynamic tight end, but like, you pair him with Cortland Sutton, and then in Mims and Vale, they have two really good young wide receivers. They, they need to probably get a running back like, but with Sean Payton and Bo Nix, like, the. They're only going to go up, they're only going to get better. So, yeah, the Broncos are going to be a problem potentially.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's stay in the AFC West. The Chiefs have signed Gardner Minshew. Wow. Congratulations to Gardner Minshew getting a one year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. We watched Gardner two years ago here in Indianapolis, just do it. Okay. Went to the Pro bowl. Inevitably now he was like fourth alternate or something like that. Fifth alternate. Whatever the case, he was one play away from leading the Indianapolis Colts to an AFC south championship. That is real. That is not a makeup at all. Gardner Minshew under Shane Steichen's leadership in offense was great for us. He then signs like a $30 million deal with the Raiders. It does not work out. They are still looking for a quarterback. Andy Reid says, let's get you over here. We know you got a big brain. We know you're a good moxie guy. We know you're a good energy guy. Come on over. He's not the only one. Zip on the ball. Zappy also signed a one year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. There's competition brewing for that QB2 spot in Kansas City behind Patrick Mahomes. DK Metcalf will be wearing number four for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He addressed that in a press conference. You know, hey, GP's been here longer than I have been. Obviously he has created a legacy with the number 14. I will wear four. He looked giddy to be a Pittsburgh Steeler tone.

[AJ Hawk]

Dude, it was awesome. He was smiling the whole time. He was talking, talking positively the whole time. Obviously he just got engaged two days ago, so he's in a good mood. You gotta pay $30 million in a good mood. Got number four, looks great. In a good mood. Vibes are high.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I didn't. That looked like a different DK than I have ever seen, you know, and maybe we don't pay attention enough. He was happy, jovial, super pumped to be a Pittsburgh Steeler and I think Pittsburgh people are excited for it as well. Sam Darnold spoke to the media. He chit chatted about the last two games. Now that he's joined the Seattle Seahawks, said he's going to treat it as a learning lesson. John Schneider, general manager of the Seattle Seahawks came out and said, we made an offer, very good offer to Geno and it felt like that was going to be over. So a lot of people talking right now about the decisions being made and Sean McVay and Andrew Whitworth are moving weight at 6am at the Village that we just learned about from Andrew Whitworth. Have this safety squat bar, squat rack. This is at 6:00am they're doing this. This is Whitworth. Obviously he's got a probably a Cardillo late belt on if I had to guess so many plates. Obviously he said he's staying in shape as if it Was still football season. Working out every morning at 5am or 6am and the guy's dumper is still real. Yeah. You know, whenever you're judging offensive lineman, defensive lineman, you're looking for some explosion. How do you do it? A lot of people say like, well, what's the. They got a. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

How big is his ass?

[Pat McAfee]

Got a big ass caboose. Whitworth's ass is obviously gigantic. I literally sent him a text immediately. Actually, I called him immediately after seeing this video and I'm like, yo, I need to be doing whatever you're doing because you still got all. The explosion is very evident with how you're doing it. He's not the only one. McVeigh's moving weight in here as well. McVay's getting under the bar, squatting. Not as many weights as Andrew Whitworth, but still a shit ton for a coach in the NFL. At 6am at the Village, the boys are getting after it. Ryan Sorensen, I do believe is the trainer in there, so I love seeing it. Lane Johnson also did posted some massive squatting video yesterday with him using a safety rack as well. It feels like this is the thing and I have not gotten under a squat bar since I've been forced to do it back when I was playing because I didn't want to put the bar on my spine. I just don't. I know. It's. Sorry I'm not as tough as everybody else. This thing seems like the thing.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

So we got one of those on the way. Don't you worry about it.

[Boston Connor]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I see everybody doing it. It's like you guys be. You guys are more jacked than I am. You got to be doing it for a reason. Let's go ahead and check it out. Love the guys getting after it. Love the team mindset and I love guys sticking with it.

[AJ Hawk]

What's that say you're going to get some no bull lifting shoes too.

[Pat McAfee]

I do love the no Bulls.

[Boston Connor]

That's no Bull, baby.

[Pat McAfee]

I'll get that car. Deal a weight belt. All right, hour one wrapping up here on this Feel Good Friday, March 14, 2025. Hour two will be on the other side. Once again, thank you all so much. Whoever bought Big Night tickets, it's going to be a blast on April 9th. Can't wait to see you in Pittsburgh. Who will the quarterback be for the Steelers by then? Maybe we find out, maybe we don't.

[Voiceover]

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[Pat McAfee]

Sports are fantastic. We're incredibly lucky that we get to talk about them every single day. We it's not just I obviously. It's also the toxic table at Boston Connor and at Ty Schmidt. Sweet glasses.

[Ty Schmidt]

Thank you very much. Yeah, I got a new pair of glasses, a new prescription. I I'm sick and tired of squinting at that every single day and then just having the worst headache ever going home. So I said you know what? I got my glasses I'm gonna wear.

[Pat McAfee]

I think they look good.

[Ty Schmidt]

Thank you.

[AJ Hawk]

I like them.

[Ty Schmidt]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

I glass on the other day. I don't believe you were here. It was on Monday. I wore glasses cuz I had a little thing going on with my eye. Sure. And I'm like well I don't Want that to be obviously a distraction for what I'm talking. So I put these glasses on, the blue light glasses. And I feel like I was really taking care of myself and also covering up some of those happening. Then I woke up the next day, just stopped doing it. So I was like, all right, yeah, we're not wearing glasses anymore, and I'm just gonna act like didn't happen. You know, why was my eye doing that for that long? Don't know. But also not even gonna care about it. I think you look good. I think glasses are a good look. I think. I think it's a good. I think it's. I think it's a good thing.

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, I. I've worn them quite a bit in the past, and then I kind of just. My prescription was sold. I was like, well, I'm not gonna wear these, because they're basically like blue light glasses. But then they just give me a really bad headache. So I said, you know what? I'm gonna go to the optometrist. And sure enough.

[Boston Connor]

Wow.

[Ty Schmidt]

You know, if you have bad eyes, you can't wait 15 years to go get your eyes checked again, you know, because you. They will get worse, Anya.

[Pat McAfee]

So your eyes got worse?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, they did. They did. But no, got. Got a new prescription. And.

[Pat McAfee]

Can we see the screen?

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah. You kidding me? I mean, you can actually read what's going on up there. Don't have to.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a good day. Yeah. Let's put up. Let's put up a graphic. Let's put up the idol. Can we put up the. I think it was the Big 12 basketball tournament graphic. Oh, that one. I deleted that, unfortunately. Okay. That was a terrible graphic. Big 12. Really? That was good. Whoever in there was like, you know what? This is a good idea. We'll put out a white graphic with white boxes on top of it with maybe even white font. I mean, that was. Here it is. Oh, this is not the same one. This is a random. This is just an Excel spreadsheet that was created to probably make. Make fun of the Big 12 one. You could read that, though, right?

[Ty Schmidt]

For the most part. I mean, that's still very small, you know, very small.

[Pat McAfee]

But you can't see the bottom row at the eye doctor's test right now.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, no, I. I mean, I can, but it's still, you know, I mean, you got Texas Tech up there. I can. I can. I can make it playing. Texas Tech is playing Arizona.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, what. What is the rank of Arizona?

[Boston Connor]

Oh, man, I can't I can't even.

[Pat McAfee]

That.

[Ty Schmidt]

I can't. I. I couldn't tell you.

[Pat McAfee]

But if you had to guess, if you had to guess, what would it be?

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, I think I'm guessing Texas Tech is near the top. I'd say Arizona is maybe like a seven seed.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Arizona is a three seed.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Texas Tech is a seven. No, sorry. Texas Tech is a two.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

So twos look like sevens and threes look like eights, you know, especially if you're from far away. Sure.

[Ty Schmidt]

But let me just do like. Like, that is. I. I can't see anything.

[Pat McAfee]

That's just a white screen.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, pretty much. Just with like a little. Little bit of, like, smears on there. When I go like this, I can at least beast. I mean, like, the. The bottom line right now. The bottom bar like that, you know, you can. I mean, I can see it, you know, because it's bold, but when. I mean, I can read every. I can read everything.

[Pat McAfee]

God. Welcome to a whole new world.

[Ty Schmidt]

Driving. Driving is really. Is where it really, you know, nice.

[Pat McAfee]

Being able to see well. Yeah. You and Foxy are a liability. My.

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't think my eyes are as bad as Foxy's, but it's. When you. When you get a new prescription, you put them on, it's like, Jesus Christ. I probably should have been driving with.

[AJ Hawk]

Glasses for a while.

[Ty Schmidt]

Not great.

[Pat McAfee]

So this is a message to everybody. If you can't see, they make things that make you to be able to see things crazy. And it's much better when you can see stuff. I have some friends that have, like, I'm not wearing glasses. I'm like, glasses aren't that bad of a look. And also, speaking of looking, you're going to be able to see stuff. That's probably a good, good life you could have. I'm not going to become a glasses guy. I'm like, well, then do context. I'm not dealing with those every single day. It's like, yeah, you can't see anything.

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, what are you. You can. You can easily get this fixed. As somebody that was fucking blind for a long time and had contacts that I didn't want to change, I just left in my eyes for years and years and years once you can see things, actually, because even those contacts, to your point, they're way behind. Yeah. So I couldn't really see much. And I used to walk into physicals where they would have the eye test. The Colts would have, like, an eye test every year. Obviously, I'm walking by the thing and I'M reading that bottom line and I'm memorizing the letters and then I'm sitting down and just battling off. All right, good. And then you're just rolling along. Don't have to do that. You can actually see the world and it's a beautiful one if you're able to get it. So foxy. I go to the eye doctor every single year and they say what? You should not be in public with how bad your eyes are. They gave me contacts, they give me glasses and send me on my way. It makes no sense. That's why I. I'm going to get the Lasik done. I would have absolutely no chance to reading that screen. I think about you every single day when I pop stuff up and I'm like, how is he reading this? So I got the Lasik. You know, Lasik is. It's a it. You felt like. I felt like I became a superhero overnight. I felt like I have two good eyes now. I can like actually see everything. They say that I'm going to have to redo it at some point because I got it done rather young. Right. But yeah, it is, it is cool to be able to see stuff. That's what I'm saying, though. It's on the way. It's on the way. Wait.

[AJ Hawk]

I just learned that you do get contacts and glasses though. So you still can't see with your contacts and glasses at night.

[Pat McAfee]

Contacts are tough. Cuz lights, it's the rays. The rays of the light are brutal. Name for it. I always forget what it is, though. Say like, this was a light. Say this was a. What's it called? Stigmatism, maybe. I don't know. That doesn't sound like that.

[Ty Schmidt]

I believe that is your eyes are.

[Diana Rossini]

Shaped like footballs instead of round.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Shout out to football. By the way, America happy we did that. But say this is the light. Okay. This is what you see when you have context. That light is. It is like this big.

[AJ Hawk]

I could do that if I squint my eyes and make it happen.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So that's what it is all the time. So like, if there's lights next to each other, what's that? That's just a big blob. That's why like the indoor facility that went to the Colts, they have lights all over the ceiling. I had never been able to see the ceiling because it was just all lights over on top of each other. And then whenever I got the, the Lasik done, I'm like, wow. This is really. Wow. It's like taking a jump from like the. The box televisions to like 1080. Not even like 8k or 4k or whatever the case is. So. I'm happy you're doing that. I think it's a good look, Ty.

[Ty Schmidt]

I appreciate it.

[Pat McAfee]

And this is a message, everybody. You're not too cool for glasses. Like, no, Life is much better whenever you can see.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. I mean, I couldn't give two shits what people think.

[Pat McAfee]

I think you look cool right now.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, and I think, like, I. I think I kind of am a glass glasses guy. I mean, I started wearing them when I was in, like, seventh grade. So, you know, if you don't care, then you sure shouldn't care when, you know, you're 34 years old. So, I mean, it's, you know, hey, like you said, it's better off to. To be able to see things and kind of be able to experience the world around you. Yeah. Than be worried about how other people think you look with glasses on.

[Pat McAfee]

Here's Zito. Found a picture. This is kind of what lights do. Yes, that is. That is kind of what lights do. Whenever you have contacts. That is like, what a contact. So that I don't know about. Whenever you're just blind. Because I just always had contacts in my face whenever, from what I remember. But that is literally what it is. And that can carry, too. That can drag, too. Yeah. And so when it's raining and it's wet out, it's reflecting on everything. So, yeah, that's what contacts are. If you have bad eyes. I don't know about, like, average eyes with contacts.

[Boston Connor]

They're good.

[Pat McAfee]

But like, bad eyes with contacts, it's. That is life right there.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. That's what I have. I have average eyes with contacts. And it's not that bad. I mean, it sucks. Like, it becomes like that if you wear them. Like, say I sleep in them and I don't wake up and change them. I'm just like, screw it. Let's just roll. We'll see how the day goes. By the time the night comes, then it's just, like, terrible. Yeah. And typically those. Typically those. Day goes by pretty terribly.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know. Being honest, you really forced that one.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, well, the first one I stuck by and I need to get another, but it is.

[Pat McAfee]

You got green.

[Boston Connor]

I did. Well, it's a green jacket.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, that's just.

[Boston Connor]

That's what's going to happen when you're wearing a jacket like this and, you know, maybe you look like. No, but it's nice having. Having contacts it's much better life.

[Pat McAfee]

Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a guy who has had Hawkeye since he was a child.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Been able to see everything. What a gifted man this man is. He's a college football national champion, a Super bowl champion, Ryder cup Winner, father of 10, ladies and gentlemen, A.J. hawk. Mazel, A.J. mazel Shalom. How are you? You have you. You've always had 2010 eyes, perfect vision.

[Shams Charania]

Yeah, I've been lucky. My eyes have been good. My left eye is my, you know, my non dominant eye. That one. It's always been like, pretty apparent. My right eye is better, but my left eye is still, still legit. So I don't have any issues.

[Pat McAfee]

I was walking around seventh, eighth grade, I think maybe even ninth grade, just like this, everywhere.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Teachers are like, you should get glasses or contacts. I don't have time. Okay. I buy. I'm a. Okay. And then you get contacts. They get contacts and you like, see stuff. You're like, yeah, it's nice that I don't have to have my face scrunched up like this to see everything. That is a nice little thing though. Scrunch your eyes a little bit. Yeah. Shout out to human. The human body being able to do that. Aj, What's Aaron doing, bro? I'm sick of it.

[AJ Hawk]

Come on, man.

[Shams Charania]

What's going on? I don't know. Like, what's the deadline? Is he gonna wait till the big night out and he's gonna be a big, big surprise and say, hey, I'm coming home, guys, here I am. He comes out like in a jersey in Pittsburgh.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, my God, could you imagine that? April 9th. How many days?

[Voiceover]

Gotta way to go.

[Shams Charania]

Ways to go.

[Pat McAfee]

How many days? How many days is that until April 9th? Steelers will be okay with that, right? Just wait until April 9th, maybe.

[AJ Hawk]

Shockingly, the fan base would.

[Pat McAfee]

What's that?

[AJ Hawk]

I saw a pull. Now, listen, if you. Obviously NFL fans are going to think this is wild, okay? Pittsburgh fans are super, super happy to have Mason back and potentially to have Mason as a starting quarterback. I saw a pool this morning. Who do you want as your starting quarterback? It had Mason and Aaron and Russ and someone else. Mason was like 6. Mason was like 60%. Raj was like 25%. Something like that. So, yeah, it's wild.

[Pat McAfee]

Isn't it amazing, like how you can shape, like how people feel about something, like legitimately. Now granted, it has been reported that the Steelers are waiting on Aaron Rodgers. That it was reported he's looking for $90 million. Then it was Reported like, yeah, basically he's just holding people hostage right now. Like whenever you know those things in there at some fan base, it's like, I don't want to deal with this guy. And it's like easy to think like that because it's kind of true, you know, kinda is happening if you look at it it that way. But like, not even a thought of like, hey, this guy maybe has a lot going. Like, this is a pretty big decision in this entire thing. This is. He has to weigh a lot of different options at this moment, including retirement. Have we ruled out aj? Has there been a ruling out of retirement yet in your conversations with him?

[Shams Charania]

No, I guess there, there has not. Like, we've never officially ruled it out, but that would, that would definitely surprise me. But yeah, nothing would shock me, you know, nothing. Nothing would be shocking. But that is something that we don't talk about, right? Is anyone saying, like, do we know if he's going to come back and play?

[Pat McAfee]

No. The only conversation is this son of a bitch won't answer which team he wants to play for. It's like, I have not talked to him. I don't know how much AJ has talked to him, but the last time we talked to him, he's like, there's a lot of things that have to be decided here because he is, in the last two years have not been fun. A lot of people think like he just, you know, enjoyed seeing the jets fail. Like, that is not an accurate depiction of how he views that. That at all. He wanted to go back because how shitty it was no matter what the situation was. And there's gonna be some people that'll never believe that because of how they feel about Aaron Rodgers. Because, you know, he was immunized for a little bit and everything of that nature. But it's like, I think he's got a lot of shit that he's weighing on him right now. And you could tell that in the picture whenever he's waltzing around the beach. I saw some guy in my comments whenever we posted this Reel Can't Wait and he said, it's a stage photo. It's like, okay, you think this is what Aaron would stage a photo, but he actually believes that that guy actually believes that that is the case. And it's like, it's amazing how you can shape your opinion about somebody if enough shit is said and you read it and don't even look into it. And it's like some of it's true based in truth, but the way it has Been kind of like, this guy's an asshole kind of angle on it has set up for all these things that are happening around the league right now.

[AJ Hawk]

To be honest, I think the one team that Aaron. Aaron is, is not. He's not holding any team hostage. But the least hostage would be the Pittsburgh Steelers because, you know, they signed Mason Rudolph. Russell Wilson is not coming back.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay?

[AJ Hawk]

You cannot walk back into the locker room after they are waiting for Aaron's answer. They sign Mason Rudolph. Like Russ can't walk into that locker room. I don't think, personally, I think he's either going to the Browns or Giants, whatever. They're not going to sign Joe Flacco to play over Mesa or whatever. So I think the. I think the Steelers organization is fine waiting on Aaron at this point, to be honest.

[Pat McAfee]

Our source says have told us that Aaron walks the beach at sunset every night. It's part of the reason why he has that house, California. The sun rises in the east, it sets in the west. That is the last place that the sun is seen in the United States of America over there. And also our source says, says every night is a thinking session about what life is supposed to or whatever.

[AJ Hawk]

That's all the source said?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's all the source said.

[AJ Hawk]

Son of a. Tony, come on.

[Pat McAfee]

Done.

[Ty Schmidt]

Tony, I thought you just said it was okay.

[Diana Rossini]

No worries, no rush.

[Pat McAfee]

Real quick, let him know. I've been sending a lot of messages. Okay. This has been a one way street here. I've been sending a lot of messages because a lot of things are being said that I don't think he knows. I don't think he has any idea.

[Shams Charania]

I don't think he cares that much.

[Pat McAfee]

Agree that's kind of how he is, but I don't think he has any idea about some of the things that are being said. You know, I. I don't think he knows that, like Pittsburgh people now are at the point where, like, we don't fucking want them. Like, if you don't want to be there, like, not what they're saying.

[AJ Hawk]

If Aaron's watching. That's not what they're saying. They want him to definitely not watch.

[Pat McAfee]

It because he would have known this through the entirety. So I like sent a message like, yo, this is what's being said, this is what's being reported. Just so you know, like, what's going on? Never get a response. But I'm just hopefully that cracked into his world so he understands that this is kind of happening. And then I sent him the reel of the. You Know, the. The beach walk thing. And then that was the response. That was response. I do that every single night, you know, so this is kind of probably.

[Shams Charania]

A lot more people taking pictures than tonight, I guess is what.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And I think you should probably take a week off, stay on the patio, different route.

[AJ Hawk]

Maybe walk the shores of the Mon or the Allegheny tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

And with where he lives, the. I mean, the. The lens seemed.

[Shams Charania]

Got to be such a big lens. Has to.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But somebody. I mean, this guy. I don't know who he was. I should look into. I should find his name. He has like 60,000 followers. Seems to be legit. Seems to be legit.

[Shams Charania]

Oh, the guy who posted this took a picture.

[Pat McAfee]

No, who put the comment that he did this on purpose? Like, this was a staged photo. I've never been like, for what reason?

[Shams Charania]

What would the stage would it do?

[Pat McAfee]

I have no idea. Like, I don't know why Aaron would want. Want that to be the stage.

[Shams Charania]

He's out there with like a. If he's out there and he has a, you know, bench press out there and he's benching and throwing a football and squatting, then I would say, yeah, this is fake.

[Pat McAfee]

But I think people just think that about Aaron immediately. And if you're told enough things about a guy, I assume inevitably, it is easy to fall into that conversation.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, that's what he has to do. Now to AJ's point, he's put out a bench. He needs to bring a football. He needs. He needs to get a tire and hanging from a tree. And he's just start throwing four football through it all night tonight till the sun sets. Because could you imagine the photos of him in the dark doing this type of stuff?

[Pat McAfee]

I want helmet on. Yeah, Shoulder pads. I want a helmet on.

[Boston Connor]

I mean, put the pants on.

[Pat McAfee]

Just no shoes. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Barefoot, huh? Bingo.

[Pat McAfee]

Full pants.

[Boston Connor]

Doing that on the. On the beach.

[Pat McAfee]

He puts one of his old packers helmets on, the whole world will be like, wait a minute.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's going back.

[Pat McAfee]

Is he gonna be a backup? Is he gonna be a bad.

[Boston Connor]

Throws it into the ocean, swims out there in his pads, gets the ball, comes back.

[Pat McAfee]

Should maybe tape, like Steelers logo on one side.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Vikings logo on the other side, Giants logo on the back. Something right off retirement, right on the forehead. And then, like, throw the ball up, see which way it bounces each time.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, my gosh. Or four different helmets. And he sees if he makes it in any of the helmets.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, this one matters. Garbage cans. Garbage cans. Logos on garbage can.

[Ty Schmidt]

Throwing.

[Pat McAfee]

Trying to put it in garbage.

[Boston Connor]

Did he go on the Steel Steelers?

[Pat McAfee]

Well, go ahead, knock that one out. He walks down with his wired in, knocks over the bucket, walks all the way back.

[Boston Connor]

Universe is trying to eyes closed while he's throwing it. So it's just universe balls over and over and over.

[Pat McAfee]

Blood moon balls. Even better. Bloody ball.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Throwing that type of thing. That's what he needs to do. All right, I'll send that. Sorry.

[Shams Charania]

What if he jumped in there? Like, it'd be some good pictures if he jumped in the ocean. He's swimming full patch. Next. Next thing you know, he's holding two fins. He's riding dolphins throughout the.

[Pat McAfee]

The.

[Shams Charania]

The wild ocean. Not even the trained dolphin.

[Boston Connor]

Well, that's what happens if he doesn't make any of them.

[Pat McAfee]

You need to go out there in full pads and start spinning it into trash cans.

[Shams Charania]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Into trash cans.

[Shams Charania]

Maybe some flaming loops, some big old circles that are. That are on fire. Make it sweet.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah, you're right. We want smoke and team logos and pyro cast.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's actually not a bad idea. Is like do it like the Pope. He could just do black smoke every day from his house. And then when he smoke. Exactly. When he makes smoke, boom. You get yellow smoke for the Steelers.

[Pat McAfee]

What if. What if he does and this will be the last time we hypothesize about what he should be doing at sunset on the beach. That he lives a house. Sure. This will be the last time we talk about it. He should come out in a full Pittsburgh Steelers uniform, do a throwing session, see how he does.

[AJ Hawk]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Next night, come out. Okay. Full Giants uniform throwing session, see how he does, then put the Vikings one on, see how. And then let that be the judge. Are you your best you in those colors? He can find out on the beach. Yeah. Tonight at sunset.

[Boston Connor]

And then the retirement one. He can just come out, like butt naked with like a paintbrush and something and draw something. And if it's like a great painting.

[Pat McAfee]

No, he'll wear one of those geese. Sure. The ghee.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, he can wear his jersey. Jordan Poyer ayahuasca jersey. Yeah. Yeah, he can wear that one out.

[Pat McAfee]

And we need. We need.

[Shams Charania]

Oh, headband.

[Boston Connor]

The necklace. You got the necklace over.

[Pat McAfee]

I think the vibes necklace.

[Boston Connor]

I think it might be by the. For the brand. Helmet in the corner. But yeah, that.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, it is actually. Good eye.

[Boston Connor]

Now that would be something that would play.

[AJ Hawk]

Connor wears it on the weekends and puts it back.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, that's the reason I knew it was over there.

[Pat McAfee]

There are the tassels yeah, he comes out like this with a headband on here. Maybe an acoustic. Sure. That entire thing. Yeah, maybe that's the play.

[Boston Connor]

Sage burning.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, just let us know what you're doing. Sunset tonight, bub. Or tomorrow night.

[Boston Connor]

We'll see it on the photos.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we'll see from the creepy paparazzi that you're setting up, Bob. That's what people are believing, weirdo. Race the rudders. Raise the sails.

[Boston Connor]

Raise the sails.

[Diana Rossini]

Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching, Over.

[Pat McAfee]

Roger. Wait.

[Boston Connor]

Is that an enterprise sales solution?

[Pat McAfee]

Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the.

[Voiceover]

Right people by industry, job title and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit.

[Pat McAfee]

On your next campaign.

[Voiceover]

Get started today at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply.

[Pat McAfee]

You don't wake up dreaming of McDonald's fries. You wake up dreaming of McDonald's hash browns. McDonald's breakfast comes first. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a senior insider for ESPN for the NBA. Friend of the program gonna break it all down for us, ladies and gentlemen, Sham Sharanya.

[Diana Rossini]

The boys. Yo, congrats on the sell art, by the way. Is that how you say sell art?

[Pat McAfee]

So, yeah, you're close. You're close. I mean, he forced it a little bit, but I appreciate your attempt at that. I. I really do. You sent me a photo the other day of a five year anniversary. Was that the first time you're on a program?

[Diana Rossini]

That was the first, yeah. March 12th, I think that was the day after the Rudy Gobert positive test for Covid and, and yeah, his whole incident and the world shutting down, the leaks shutting down. At that point, suspending. So that started, you know, a good, a good so far, five year run, great relationship here. So, you know, I appreciate you guys.

[Pat McAfee]

Nah, we're very lucky and thankful for you, buddy. You've been our NBA guy and then obviously you getting the senior insider gig at espn. We've been nothing short of proud of you. Now, with that being said, let's start talking a little bit of ball from me. I got one question, one question alone. Zion Williamson, triple double the other night, has 22 assists. Guy had 22 assets. Whenever he's playing, he's a, a triple double machine. The conversation has always been, will the Pelicans let him play tonight? Is he in better shape now? Is he more healthy now? Why is he on the court and when can we get him to another team to do this? Whenever it matters in the playoffs.

[Diana Rossini]

So, yeah, I mean, he's at two triple Doubles. In the last couple weeks, we know when Zion Williamson's on the floor and when he's healthy, all you get from him is elite play. And you know, the last, last few weeks, he's averaged 24 points, Pat, in 28 minutes. So you're talking about a point a minute. And so for him, I think you're going into this off season, it's going to be a big one. I think him, the Pelicans, they have to sit down, they have to figure out what is the path forward here, what is this franchise looking into, what's the level of commitment and, and Pat, that I, I agree. Like, there have been points where they have to like, let him go and let him play, but it goes both ways, right? He got suspended a little while ago for being late to a team plane. It was a pattern hardiness that, that he had. You know, for Z Wilson, the next step for him is, is showing that commitment, showing that devotion, continuing to grow as a professional. And that's a part of that is, is being on time all of the time. Because listen, one thing we know.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, really?

[Diana Rossini]

Everyone in the NBA knows this. A devoted, committed, healthy Zion Williamson is a problem for the NBA, for every team in the league. And we. He hasn't gotten to that point. Clearly, from a health perspective, he's been hurt at different points in the year and that's unfortunate for basketball fans and everyone.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I agree. And hopefully, you know, Zion will lock in. You talk about being on time. Okay, so now we're hearing some more stuff. You know, these are like more pieces of information that we didn't necessarily have for a long time because all we had known is that the Pelicans just don't want to play him because they think he's going to get hurt. So they're trying to conserve him. They're trying to conserve him. It's like, well, how long are we just going to conserve a guy that says he can play and inevitably a career just going to be wasted conserving a guy. Because he has been playing like this since we've seen him on the Internet.

[Diana Rossini]

Unreal. And, and look at him. Look at him. I haven't seen him look this good since his rookie year slash his Duke year. Like, I'm watching these, like, he hasn't been doing this since his rookie season in the NBA. The way he looks too. And I mean, he's definitely hovering around like sub 280. He's listed at £284. I can say he's. He, he's he's lower than that now.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go.

[Diana Rossini]

He is physically. I think the Pelicans are as thrilled with him as they've ever been. But again, Pat, you guys know it from a professional athlete perspective. Greatness and, and that super stardom level, that elite, all NBA, all world level of play, that comes with commitment. That comes with devotion.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes.

[Diana Rossini]

And clearly from a, from a health perspective, he's had some bad luck. Puck the hamstring over and over again. But part of that is preparation too. And if he can put all of that together and yeah, he was suspended. This is public information. He was suspended. I broke it. He was suspended. He was late to a team flight. I want to say a month and a half, two months ago. Ish. And. And he was suspended a game. And that was the first time the Pelicans reprimanded him for tardiness. And that goes on throughout the NBA. But it was eye opening to see and, and he needs to be on time. He has to be committed, he has to be devoted. All that comes into play. Because if he can get there, Pat, we're looking at a player that has the chance to be a top three to five player in the NBA.

[Pat McAfee]

Come to Indiana Pacers too. We're ready and excited for you here. You'll love it.

[Diana Rossini]

He'll be on time in India. He'll be. He might. He might end up being on time to everything in Indy.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. City tour. There's a lot, a lot of good people, a lot of good times in Naruto, I think is the name of the tattoo he got around his belly. He could do this out here in Indiana. No problem at all. AJ has a question for you. Shums.

[Shams Charania]

Shums, what's going on with tanking in the NBA right now? I know Utah got fined 100k or something because marketing, they're. They're trying to hide him and say he's not healthy. I know some other teams, they're sniffing around like they may be doing similar things. Is this a problem? And how are they going to fix all this?

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah, the. The NBA is keeping a very close eye on this. Larry Markham was being sat a few games. The league determined as a star player, there's a player participation policy and, and when there's a star player that's healthy enough to play that their doctors deem and the team withholds them, you get fined $100,000. It goes up in. In escalation as far as a fine with every game and every potential situation. So if the Jazz get hit again with a fine, you're looking at $250,000. And it keeps going up and up and up. You know, the Mavericks were fined a couple years ago for, I think it was 500, $700,000, almost a million dollars for essentially openly. I don't know if taking is the right word. I don't know if people would be happy if I use that.

[Pat McAfee]

But are they gonna get that today? Are they gonna get that this year?

[Diana Rossini]

Draft pick, the Mavericks? No, I don't. I don't think the Mavericks.

[Pat McAfee]

Everybody will just say, listen, shitty moves doesn't mean you're trying to lose like this guy thought.

[Diana Rossini]

Actually, everyone is legitimately so hurt in Dallas right now. You have Anthony Davis, this Derek Lively ii, Daniel Gafford. They've had PJ Washington, Kyrie Irving, Tornado. He's going to be out pointing, you know, at points into next year. So, yeah, I don't know about the basketball. The basketball guys, they might be looking at Dallas in a few different ways. But I will say, going back to Your question, though, A.J. the NBA is looking at a couple other teams. I'm told the Philadelphia 76 are another team the NBA has started investigation on and looked into just based on. You've had Tyrese Maxey miss time. Joe, you know, we know. We know Paul George has missed time, but I think with Philadelphia, it looks a little. A little bit more legitimate, maybe, because you think about Tyrese Maxi, he's been banged up all year. And Paul George, he's been playing the. The five games before the All Star break in February. Guys, until Paul George was playing with painkilling injection. He had to get injected for essentially for painkilling for five straight games just to play, you know, with groin injuries, knee injury, a finger tendon injury. And so Paul George, I'm told he's gonna visit with doctors in the coming days and potentially need a procedure which obviously would then sideline him, you know, likely for the rest of the season. So. And Joel Embiid's already shut down. We know how that went. So, you know, they've looked into Philadelphia a little bit and seen, you know, are they potentially. They're also in a position. They've got a top six protected pick that Oakland that could go to Oklahoma City if they don't keep it. So this is something that the NBA is definitely keeping an eye on.

[Pat McAfee]

I appreciate the NBA looking into this stuff, because that became a lot of the conversation at the end of every NBA season is like, this team is openly trying to Lose so that they can gain maybe, what, 4% chance in the lottery to get a better pick. It was like, not a guarantee.

[Diana Rossini]

That 4% could go a long way, though. That 4% could go a long way.

[Pat McAfee]

I agree. I say that the blackjack table every time and the craps table and all that, but that was like, literally what teams were doing. And then we get to the draft lottery and the team, wouldn't they get like the fourth overall pick or something like that instead of the first overall pick? And it's like, okay, so you just pissed off all your fans and put out shit product for the last half of the season pretty much, and it didn't work out for you? It felt like that was kind of becoming an NBA routine conversation that we were having. When did they decide to start cracking down on this? You might have said it in your answer, and I might have missed it there, but did Adam Silver say, we're not. This can't be what our league's known for? And how did it kind of come about?

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah, Adam Silver, the NBA, the board of governors, NBA teams, GMs, like, they all came up with a strategy and the player participation policy in particular for star players, for players resting, things of that sort. There's. It's a wide range of things that fall into that policy, and that has allowed. Like the. For the Sixers in particular, their season started with an investigation, Pat, like they had investigation at the start of the year around the health and the player participation policy of Joel Embiid. And what the league found is there was no violation. He had a legitimate knee injury. Well, the violation was, is the team saying publicly that he's fine, that there's nothing going on with him. And so if you are saying that publicly, but if the player, the league, their doctors determine this player is dealing with an injury, so it goes a bunch of different ways. And it gives the league a lot of latitude to look into these teams and players and, and. And who's openly, you know, sitting a guy that could be healthy and not.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm going to need two doctors saying, this guy's hurt. I'm bus. So this guy's the highest paid guy, the best guy, and he's not playing. Who's making that decision? Well, we all talk. I'm going to need two doctors. Need them in an X ray. Get him in an X ray and then they show it back. Pow. Guy's got a hairline fracture in his knee. All right, we were wrong. Okay. No, no, no penalty. And I just keep it moving that's how. How it's going. Shout out to the NBA trying to crack down on that. Going to need to see the X rays, going to see the scans. Right now, we aren't doing that. I appreciate that they're trying to, you know, fix or correct maybe some narratives that are about their league. But if you talk to Tyrese, Tyrese played through like a strained groin for a while. Paul George playing five games while getting shot up with vitamin T. Is that Toradol that they were using there? Did you know?

[Diana Rossini]

I can't confirm what it was, but. But Paul George needed five consecutive games of pain killing injections just to play.

[Ty Schmidt]

And that's what goes to.

[Diana Rossini]

From an injury perspective. They have been so beat up from Joel to Tyrese Maxey to Paul George. These guys are just, I mean, for him that need painkilling injections for five straight games, that goes to show Paul George obviously was trying to make himself as available as possible. He signed a massive max contract last offseason and that's an extreme length to go and try to be available for your team.

[Pat McAfee]

Agree. Painkiller is not normally how you would describe Tordal, though Toradol does do that, so maybe it was something even stronger than that. And obviously that's not what we're looking for, you know, in professional sports. But hopefully they're able to get healthy and shout out to the NBA saying, you ain't gonna suck on purpose anymore. Okay. League sucks enough. Yeah, we don't need you trying to suck anymore. We got some good momentum going right now.

[Diana Rossini]

There's a lot of. There's a lot of stuff going on right now. The Cavaliers.

[Pat McAfee]

Hold on, hold on, hold on. We'll ask you about it. Okay? We will. We will dive into. Because the boys have these questions for you. But there is a lot of momentum for the NBA right now. And I want to say finding a team for trying to suck, I think that adds to the momentum of the league as a whole. I like this. I don't hate this. Now let's talk about some of those stories. Connor has a question for you.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Sad state of affairs. Just because, you know, going into the season, I don't know if you guys remember, Shams was on here, like, hey, Connor, you worried about the Sixers? Like, no, this is what happens with Philly. It's sad, but, you know, this is just the reality of a Chomsky. You kind of look like an idiot, but I don't like it. I don't like it for you, Shams. Not one bit because, you know, it is what it is. It sounds like you're the best, but.

[Diana Rossini]

You know, in that way, BC your bias definitely helped you a lot in that projection sixer season. So I'm just crediting your bias. I'm not crediting you.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, typically it does. It is what it is, Sean. I'm sorry. This, this trophy's here for a reason. Looking at the west, though, the warriors now are unbelievable. I think they've won, you know, nine of the last 10. Not sure if it's now 10 of the last 11. After Steph goes like, you scared the warriors bc they're in the West, I don't worry about them. I just worry about getting to the finals. But with Steph hitting his 4,000th three, obviously, hell of a year for him going all the way back to the Olympics. He's, you know, now being considered in the goat conversation that's being brought up. It feels like every day, which is definitely, rightfully so. How do you feel about the warriors now? And has Jimmy Butler's camp been able to reach out to you and apologize? Because obviously you were getting killed during all those, you know, trade rumors. And then, of course, per usual, you were a thousand percent right. These celebration videos are awesome. It's cool to see, you know, Steph with another sweet achievement. But how are the warriors as a whole? And do you see them making a massive run now?

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah. I'll start with we need to get at Community Notes. You know, I'm a big X fan. Community Notes. We gotta go back to that tweet I had about Jimmy Butler and the trade saga. Community Notes really needs to go and fix that asap. We need to get that handled. When there was some denial, we should call it. Yeah. Speaking of the war, I mean, they're 13 and one with Jimmy Butler in the lineup. This team is totally different with him there. And last night, BC Jonathan Kamingo got back in the lineup and he had a great game. His ability to slash and, and play in the dunker spot. He came in and he, he, he, he. He averaged 21 points a game in his last 1012 games before his, his ankle injury in January. And, and I think he has the ability to make this team an X factor, make them even more dangerous. But I, I think the Jimmy Butler entrance to this organization has changed everything. You know, the question that I kept getting around the league was, like, him and Draymond Green are going to get into fights, like that relationship. You're talking about two Alphas. How are they going to get along. How are they going to coexist, exist and everything? I hear they're as tight as ever. They. They've bonded so much, and that's as tight of a relationship. And that's what's really going to drive that engine in Golden State. And here's a good story for you guys. So Stephen Curry, he had a birthday party.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, I like good stories. The.

[Diana Rossini]

The entire team was there, from what I'm told. And. And, you know, the party went pretty late into the night, you know, 2, 3am the last three people there. Can you guys guess who those people were?

[Pat McAfee]

Steph Draymond, Jimmy Butler.

[Diana Rossini]

Draymond and Jimmy Butler spending time, they're vibing, they're talking, getting their camaraderie. They're playing cards to end the night. And I think you're seeing how that looks right on the floor. You're seeing these guys smiling. You're seeing them laughing. You're seeing. You're seeing them really come together as a group, and it's translated onto the court. And what word did Jimmy Butler use when he was trying to get out of Miami? He's using the word joy. I think his joy is back now in my. In Golden State State. And I think the warriors are playing like they thoroughly love each other. So when I look at the West, Oklahoma City, definite contender for a championship. The Denver Nuggets, definite contender for a championship. You look at that standing, I think Memphis, you have to. You have to put them in there. What can they do? Look, what do they look like with a fully healthy John Morant going into the. This playoff run? The Lakers, before their recent injury run, they were up there as well. And now you have to put Golden State State into that mix. I. I think this team is serious. I think they're legit. I think they have a real chance to make a deep run in this, in this playoffs.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so obviously the Luca trade to LA was talked about. Jimmy Butler trade to Golden State, huge. Huge. For all the storyline, especially because they've been healthy. And let's talk about the Los Angeles Lakers and what you just chatted about there. I got some Hembo stats here. The Lakers are 8 and 3 in games in which LeBron and Luka both play. They combined average 51, 18 and 14 in those games. Okay? So obviously that's great news whenever they're on the court together. LeBron, we had rich Paul on the show earlier this week and he said, like, you know, LeBron knows his body better than everybody, better than anybody. So, you know, we're kind of taking it at his pace. I don't know exactly what that meant, but I think it means like LeBron is a very durable person and he is obviously transformed his body a couple different times. He pays attention to it a lot. He invest a lot of money into his body. He'll know when he's available to come back. What is the story with this Lakers team, you think, and when does, you know the magical duo come back?

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah. So let's start with the team itself. Anytime you're without LeBron James, Jackson, Hayes, Rui Hachimura, those are three starters in the NBA. If you have three of your starters out like that, it's very, very, very hard to win games. Especially when you're talking about LeBron James, who has been dominant on both ends of the floor. He was on pace to make an all NBA. If he gets back in time to qualify for all NBA, has to play seven more games, he's gonna be on an all NBA team. He might even make an all defensive team. At 40 years old in year 22, that's impressive. They need him back bad, but they also can't rush it. So you hope you're going to get Jackson, Hayes, Rui Hachimura back in the coming days. Those guys are more day to day than I think LeBron James is. I still expect. You know, I reported last weekend on Sunday that he's gonna miss one to two weeks at least. So this Sunday or this Saturday? Sunday makes it one week.

[Pat McAfee]

He.

[Diana Rossini]

He's not expected to play Sunday on ABC against the Phoenix Suns. From what I'm told, I would expect him to still miss another week. So that would put him at about two weeks. And yeah, I mean, LeBron James knows his body better than anyone else in the NBA might know theirs.

[Pat McAfee]

I would hope, I don't even know. I would hope everybody knows about it more than anybody.

[Diana Rossini]

I. I don't know if anyone can probably diagnosed themselves as much as LeBron can, but he also had this injury already. He had a straight A bad strained groin. He had a torn groin muscle in 2018 that he missed about a month and a half for, then came back and struggled a little bit, if you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Want to call it.

[Diana Rossini]

And then he had to get shut down for that season. And So I think LeBron James knows exactly how to handle this. This is not as severe, this is not as bad. I would expect to take another week, which would put him at about two weeks and we'll see how much longer than that.

[Pat McAfee]

I know not everybody loves this. That's deep in the NBA world. And I'm not just talking about Charles, who we love. We love Chuck. We love the TNT team. Shaq was on yesterday. That beatbox was pretty alcoholic.

[Diana Rossini]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I'd say there's a lot of alcohol in that thing.

[Boston Connor]

Tastes great.

[Pat McAfee]

Chugged one of them.

[Diana Rossini]

Shaq's in Vegas doing shows every now.

[Pat McAfee]

And then, you know, 130 shows a year, brother. 130 shows a year. Yeah. DJ Diesel's doing his thing.

[Boston Connor]

Hard worker, spinning.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I mean, I don't think he watched the. The OKC Celtics. Yeah, no, we know he actually said he wasn't going to watch it, which was wild, which is the entire thing. But, like, Barkley was trying to stick up for the whole league and trying to stick up for, like, the storylines that are already awesome in the NBA that don't involve, like, the big markets or the Los angeles Lakers and LeBron. So I respect where he was coming from. But like, us as football people with the Lakers resurgence there with that massive trade that you broke where you said your palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms were heavy, whenever you put that tweet out, I heard. I think and it interview. But nonetheless, as soon as that happens, a lot of the casuals like us were like, oh, let's see how this goes. And then the way it was going was awesome. So if the NBA obviously can continue to have that with the SGA led OKC table. I watched them get to Celtics the other night. They are so good.

[Boston Connor]

They're great.

[Pat McAfee]

They are so, so good. Hey. Hey. What do you say? SGA all the way, potentially mvp maybe? Could it be? Oh, we'll see. Okay. Bars from Sham Sharani. I love everything about it, but this guy, fun to watch. And his braids are always twisted real tight. I mean, it is some of the best hair that we've seen in professional sport in a long, long time. I don't know if he's getting that twisted every single day, but it does.

[Diana Rossini]

Feel like he must be. He must be getting it right because that. That does not impact his game. It doesn't come in his. It doesn't come in. It's tight.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, it is.

[Diana Rossini]

Doesn't impact anything. Doesn't swirl anywhere. Like, he's locked.

[Pat McAfee]

It never looks loose. It is. He has great hair. He's seemingly very charming. I mean. Yeah, affable, everybody. Like, I mean, seemingly in all of the aspects. SGA is a superstar. He's not the only one on that OKC team. Ty has a question for you.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's right, Sean's OKC got back there, 7 foot 1, 105 pound phenom. Mr. Mr. Skeletor himself, Chet Holmgren, he's back. How much does this change everyone's perception of Oklahoma City moving forward? Save one of his skinny little legs, snaps in half like a toothpick.

[Diana Rossini]

I mean him and Jalen Williams, AKA J Dub, those guys are stars as well. And Jalen Williams got named to the All Star team. If CH Holmgren was healthy this season, he would have been an All Star in all likelihood as well. So they would have had three All Stars in the All Star game. And this is a perennial team. This is a team that's potentially set to be together for years and years and years to come. And that starts with SGA though, right? Like the way they developed him. They traded for him after one year with the Clippers. I think SGA learned a lot from Lou Williams and the Clippers, but he learned even more and he really developed with the Oklahoma City Thunder in that regime. They gave him a max contract when no one really knew is he a max player? But they believed in him and they got him. And I really look back when I think about this from a business perspective. All of this with Oklahoma City though started last season when they, when they were home growing Josh Giddey and they were able to trade him for Alex Caruso. You know, like that's a young player that you have built in your system and you're able to have the value and go get Caruso. And then they made a trade at the deadline. They got Gordon Hayward last year at the deadline, $30 million that they sent out dollars in, in future salary and they got Gordon Hayward. And I think there's a lot of criticism, why did they make this trade? And there's some back and forth. Gordon Hayward didn't really understand why he was there and Sam Presti was like, I don't know if this was why though. They made that because they were able to open up a 30 million dollar slot that they gave to Isaiah Hartenstein, who was a big part of this team too. This is a team and I think it starts with sga, starts with Chet Holmgren as well as Jalen Williams, AKA J Dub. But, but they're eight, nine deep. And I think this is a team in the playoffs where if, if some of those guys can step up to the challenges. I mean they're one of the favorites as well, along with Cleveland.

[Pat McAfee]

Hartenstein's got a mask on too, I believe, right? He has a nose. I Think I saw him in the Batmobile the other day.

[Diana Rossini]

He's, he's got a nice, you know, nasal fracture, I. I believe or some nasal injury. But he's, he's been, he's been balling, he's been doing his thing. Obviously missed in New York, but he is, he's going to have a big role on this team. Team. Having him finish games with Chet Holmgren, you know, who is much more than 105. But as our guy Ty is referring to, he's, you know, he's, he's on the, he's on the slender side. He's still growing into his body. These guys are young guy.

[Pat McAfee]

He had a little beard the other night, I think when I was watching hair.

[Ty Schmidt]

He was sick hair.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, he was stroking from.

[Diana Rossini]

He's. He's a monster. Just think about it. If they had him healthy all season season, could this team have won 65, 68, 70 games?

[Pat McAfee]

I think it's gonna be, you know, and I know Kevin Durant, who's 6 foot 11, doesn't want to say he's a 7 footer, but in Wemby is same as. I think if you're able to keep somebody that's built like that, obviously a weapon in basketball healthy for the entire season, that's. That seems to be a modern marvel as well. Like, I, I think at okc, they're assuming that Chet's gonna miss some games because of just. I mean, how, how can you be that tall in your joints? Like, there has to be something that's gonna. That's just my natural thoughts, you know. And that goes for anybody, I think that's ever been overly, I don't want to say overly sized, but overgrown tall like Andre.

[Diana Rossini]

That's always your.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Diana Rossini]

Anytime you're dealing with foot injuries, you're always dealing with something and that's always the worry. And thankfully, Victor woman Yama hasn't had anything severe. Obviously has the blood clot in his shoulder now. You know, we wish him the speedy recovery. Chet Holmgren had a freak fall on his hip. Fractured his hip. Like those are things thankfully. Like these are freak situations. It's not like he's had a foot injury that's, you know, continues to linger year after year after his, you know, rookie year.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but you talk about Wemby there. His family like knew about all the foot and the ankle stuff. Allegedly through high school they were like training his feet and his ankles, ankles and like trying to make the things that are going to take a much bigger beating than they would with most other humans. Be as healthy as possible. It's a real thing you got to think about. That's why Kevin Durant, with how much he's been able to just move. Now, granted he has had injuries, obviously injuries are going to happen, but with how long he's been playing, with how he's been able to move and he's built, it's like what an absolute.

[Diana Rossini]

Well, how about the. How about like the. The return from Achilles? I don't think we're ever going to see a return from Achilles to that level of Kevin Durant. He had the achilles injury at 30 years old old. Usually after you have an Achilles tear, your career goes on the decline or you're steady at best. He's been playing his best basketball and he's now with 36 years old. No one has played at this level after an Achilles tear, that's for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Hopefully Wemby's able to just do it. Hopefully Wemby's the. Because he's special. He's fun to watch. He is. It's like you're watching a. Like a movie. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

And he's the guy on San Antonio. Like Homegren's awesome, but like SGA obviously scoring 30, 40 points a night.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, SGA is the guy.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, exactly. And OKC could be the team to turn the tide on the Celtics. As far as the Celtics being, you know, kind of baby faces all of a sudden because a lot of people feel the way Ty feels about Holmgren and then sga, the style play, SGA plays that if there's more, if there's more eyes on it, people might start.

[Diana Rossini]

BC scared of okc.

[Pat McAfee]

I want.

[Boston Connor]

Okay, I want to play okc. They're so young.

[Pat McAfee]

You played them the other night. It did not end up well for Boston, but obviously regular season having to win in a series is vastly different, especially if it was in the Finals. But let's stay in the East. Big storyline coming out or coming. Once again, that kind of ended last year's season as the storyline in the Garden in New York. AP Tone has a question for you. Sh.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Shams, you talked about Hartenstein and the Knicks, missing them. It feels like they're missing anyone who can play 40, 40, 45 minutes a night. You know, the Knicks, they were worn down in the playoffs. They had a lot of injuries at the in the playoffs last season. It's coming up again. Mikel Bridges and Tom Thibodeau potentially are not just not agreeing on, on playing time and minutes and stuff like that Thibodeau has been like this everywhere he's been. How do you see that going in New York?

[Diana Rossini]

I think these are healthy conversations. That if I'm looking at Mikhail Bridges, he has clearly felt this way for a while and for him to say it publicly, I'm sure this is stuff that he's tried to get across privately as well. Well, and, and I think for him this is more of a resort of like, listen, I, I probably try to say things privately and now like if we're going to try to get this right and turn this season and try to be at that level and get that trust in our bench, like we have to challenge and we need to have these conversations. I think it is healthy, I think it's productive. And I, it sounds like from my understanding him and him and Tom, they would have had productive conversations in the aftermath of all this. So now you move forward and we won't know how this stuff is all going to get impacted until we see the return of Jalen Brunson. How does Mitchell Robinson get utilized come playoff time? And at the end of the day, will the starters get worn down? Will those players not be able to finish the season at a high level? One thing about Tom Thibodeau, he always has his team play at elite levels, especially in the regular season. And they've always been there in the playoffs too. I mean just from the Bulls teams to the Minnesota team. Like, like he always gets his teams to overachieve in the regular season and then in the playoffs you have. Things have to break right. And unfortunately some of his teams have had a lot of bad luck. Like the year Derrick Rose towards acl, they were a favorite to win the championship. You can't really, you know, it's hard when you, when you have a torn acl, that could be a free thing, could be a wear and tear, whatever. So I, I think it is healthy to have those conversations. I mean from a professional athlete perspective, like you guys know, like you, you have to have these moments and challenging each other.

[Pat McAfee]

And that's what I was going to bring up is like when Chip Kelly came to the NFL, everybody was like, this guy's going to change the NFL because he's going to bring this up pace. High speed offense. From Oregon to the Philadelphia Eagles, they got LeSean McCoy who can play running back. They got all the pieces and the boys. Once we started, I think everybody around the NFL, and I don't want to speak for AJ in the packers locker room, but everybody in our locker room whenever we were watching them like the first five, six weeks with how many plays they were running and how ups it was. Like, they're not going to be able to survive. Like, these dudes are not going to be able to survive how long the NFL season is, let alone at the end of the season. That's when the most important football is. And that was the same exact convo that was happening with NBA guys that we were talking to, retired NBA guys and guys that were currently in the league. They're like, this Knicks team has to break at some point. Like, there's no way a human body can go. Go as hard as they have gone. And then it happened against the Pacers. Like, you, you saw it happen. I think Jalen got hurt in that og, like, and it was like, things like, I, I don't. Acls, I think can happen to anybody. Achilles can happen to anybody, but it'd be like a muscle strain or something happened that is like wear and tear, exhaustion kind of thing. And it was almost like the convo about the Knicks end of their year and then going into the season. And I'm a doofus, obviously, but I do remember that happening because it was like the Pacers benefited from that conversation. I was like, is Tibbs gonna, is he gonna change the way? Are they gonna not play as much disappear? That was at the beginning of the season. And then now it's like a talk again. It's like, no, yeah, they're running that back. Literally. They are, they are.

[Diana Rossini]

Well, the season's, the season was like. I remember at the, at the first month of the season, what I was hearing from other team execs were like, other scouts and people at these games, like, have you seen the Knicks rotations lately? And I'm like, yeah, I've seen the boxers. Like, have you noticed, like, their starters are literally playing like 38 to 40 minutes. It's like a seven man rotation the first month of the season. And I'm like, yeah, that's pretty crazy to think about, you know, early start, early part of the season. Like, you know, you have eight, nine, ten man rotations. But I will say that's kind of shifted a little bit ever since that first month of the year. And I think for, for the Knicks, it's all gonna, we're gonna see answers in the playoffs. And I do think these conversations are healthy. And it sounds like they, they've handled it the right way in the aftermath.

[Pat McAfee]

Two, keeping people healthy. Like, we want people to play. I think that's why everybody wants the NBA to play. But it's like if you literally. What just happened last year was the re felt like that was literally the only reason it was being talked about, why the Pacers beat the Knicks. Right. Wasn't that the story that you guys. Knicks fans were saying, Bruce, wasn't that kind of thing?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, I mean, Julius Randle fell and.

[Pat McAfee]

Dislocated his shoulder, Jalen Bronson broke his.

[Boston Connor]

Hand, and OG Anunoby with the hamstring strain was probably the only injury that.

[Pat McAfee]

You could point to and say that.

[Boston Connor]

Was too many minutes this season. Precious.

[Pat McAfee]

Achua was injured to start the year, so we didn't have much depth.

[Ty Schmidt]

But we do need to play Deuce.

[Pat McAfee]

McBride more like he's a great backup guard.

[Boston Connor]

And Tibbs just. He's one of those coaches. It's not so much like he just.

[Pat McAfee]

Wants to play the starters 48 minutes a night.

[Boston Connor]

He just won't watch bad basketball. So if you come in, turn the.

[Pat McAfee]

Ball over and don't play good defense, he's putting Brunson and the boys back out there, you know, as soon as he can. I love that. I hope they end up winning, you know, I do. I hope they end up winning and I hope there is like a marathon ability from these guys. But everybody that's in the basketball world says that that's potentially an issue. We'll find out. They could be built different. I also love the Tibbs. Like, I ain't watching it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. This sucks. Get these fuckers off the court. They're not representing my team. I can't take it anymore. I respect that. I appreciate that. Seams what we've not brought up that we should whenever it comes to NBA storylines. Yeah.

[Diana Rossini]

Cavs going for their 16th in a row.

[Pat McAfee]

Congratulations.

[Diana Rossini]

I think against Memphis, they've been, you know, you think about in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs, the Celtics, the. You. I mean, you have to throw the bucks in there. Pacers, could they make a run? New York, can they make a run? You know, so I think think the Eastern Conference, you, you know, if you're looking at the Cavs and the Celtics, if you're looking at this. This standings right here, and we end up with the Cavs, Celtics, conference finals, like, that's going to be a bloodbath. That's going to be an amazing series. Another guy we haven't given much love to, obviously, Donald Mitchell. We, you know, gets a lot of love everywhere. Darius Garland, all star guard Evan Mobley. Like, you think about those types of bigs, you think about Chet Holmgren Victor Laminama. Evan Mobley is in that category as well. The guy that second defensively on offense, he's dynamic. Play making. He's dynamic. He's had a few almost triple doubles this year as well. And he's, he's played at an elite level from a big man perspective. He's what, 7, 7, 1 so, or 6, 11, 7 foot one so he's, he's also a beast inside.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. We appreciate it all. I know you have ESPN NBA full court press Saturday. Yeah. NBA Countdown with, with Shams Kendrick, Malika, Stephen A. And Bob Myers. That starts at 8pm on ABC. And then obviously Nixon warriors with Mike Breen, Dorsberg, Richard Jefferson and Lisa Salters on the call at 8:30. We can't wait to watch. Choms, are you at the desk now? We got you at the desk.

[Diana Rossini]

You know, here and there. You know, I, I play the role. You know, I play.

[Pat McAfee]

It sounds like a no. Let's keep working.

[Diana Rossini]

Choms ready when we're ready. When we're ready to deliver information. I'm ready, baby.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe you get another Luca biggest trade tweet of all time out there and maybe you'll get an opportunity to speak. Okay, let's head down. Keep grinding like we, like you were five years ago whenever we first saw you on March.

[Diana Rossini]

Hey, I was in like a spaceship five years ago. So, you know, I think, I think we've come, we've come a long way.

[Boston Connor]

Wow.

[Pat McAfee]

We have. Look at that.

[Diana Rossini]

Look at you.

[Pat McAfee]

Simple mobile hotline, that is. Think about whoever was selling mojo.

[Diana Rossini]

Young Pat, though. That's a, that's a young Pat. That's. I, I, I don't know if you've got some, some, you've got a little bit more hair.

[Pat McAfee]

I was probably 285 more refined. I was probably 285 in this. 275. 285 right after the 2019 season. That was a tough one for us.

[Boston Connor]

Is that the same watch too, or.

[Pat McAfee]

Nope, different watch.

[Boston Connor]

That's.

[Diana Rossini]

That was probably you and Zion both, Both, both at the lowest weight of your careers.

[Pat McAfee]

Interesting. I'm probably 255 right now. I know I played at like 230.

[Boston Connor]

So well in the soccer photo.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I was not well, I'm sure.

[Diana Rossini]

But I'm saying for your career. This career.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, this career. This is probably the lightest I've been in it. No, no, no. I got real light for NXT with Adam Cole, definitely. I got real life with WrestleMania for Austin Theory.

[Diana Rossini]

But those are reasons you got light for that? That we're talking, like, for real, for life, for living.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we're living here just like you. We'll watch you this weekend, and we appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen, Sean Charani. Thank you. A big weekend of basketball, A.J. obviously, we got the NBA full court press Saturday on ESPN. Should be great. College ball conference championships happen all weekend. Golf happening, hockey happening. Have a great weekend. We'll see you Monday. I hope it's the best weekend ever.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Get in there.

[Shams Charania]

Should be.

[Boston Connor]

I'm so pumped for the golf.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. It's real golf.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. This is like, the first home where it's like, okay, so you can get behind.

[Pat McAfee]

Speaking of Tiger woods hurt, he's in potential happy place personally. That's what the Internet's saying. We're not gonna talk about it because who knows? Somebody will try to sue us out of the entirety of it. Her attacker's got a new light, but also love it. Achilles. That is a. I don't think we've talked about it on this particular program. Program. Tiger woods tore his Achilles. Yes. That is a. That is brutal. That's a great way to describe that, especially after all the injuries and all the things that have happened. For him to have to fight back. The amount of times that he has. That car crash was crazy. We thought he's potentially dead, right? That was being talked about there. Instead, it was just massively damaged to his body, his lower body, his back and everything. And then now an Achilles tear. And we know Tiger woods will do the Tiger woods thing. You know, he'll do the Achilles. He'll commit fully to the recovery. He'll come back and be super Jack act, you know, try to golf and get through it all again. That's like, Tiger Woods's mentality. I think it always has been. But that sucks. That sucks, right? Especially with, you know, TGL happening so much.

[Shams Charania]

That dude has so, like, I just think of him as a human trying to walk around and live like, a normal life. Like, he already is very. Like, we know he almost snapped his leg in half. And he has those crazy back injuries, too. When you have a. Like, we know, like, if your back hurts, everything sucks in life. It's impossible to do anything. That dude has a. Doesn't he have his back fused? And he's had multiple surgeries now with the Achilles leg snapped in half. Like, he has just absolute massive amount of things to his body. Like, I feel bad for the dude when it comes to that.

[Pat McAfee]

Me, too. We appreciate. And obviously, he's Been paid very, very well for everything he's done. So we're not saying that he, you know, is living a tough life compared to other folks, but he has given us so many years of entertainment, and obviously his body has taken a beating through it all. The Achilles. Achilles is the most recent. But you think about that like, so when he comes back. Back issues. Anytime you see somebody with a back issue, the way they walk is very obvious. But he can't walk certain ways because how up his legs are. So now his back is potentially gonna get up because how he's gonna have to walk with the Achilles, let alone the leg. I mean, it's just everything kind of feeds into the other. You know what? Why won't he walk? Fucking 18 holes. It's like, all right, the fact that this guy's still walking, I think we should all be pretty pump for. And then on the other side of this Achilles, I can't wait to see him win his next major. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. I hope.

[Ty Schmidt]

Why you guys, this might be. I hope he goes to the Champions Tour, because I think he's just like, he is. He's too jacked, for one. Like, he needs. I think he needs to lose. Like, he just. He can't be that jacked with how old he is. It's just. His body just breaks down. So when he does come back, like, is he going to have to change how he plays? Like, I don't want to see Tiger going out there, getting. Getting out, driven by three fourths of the field. Like, these guys are just getting too really good. Yeah, exactly. And it's like, it's so. It's just not the same. And granted, like, when he.

[Pat McAfee]

Bhatia right now, who dropped out of, like, high school to try to become a professional golfer, is now, like, top five at the players. He's a stud.

[Ty Schmidt]

He is in, like, it's a next generation. Like, I like Akshay, but, like, I don't. I don't want to watch Akshay beating Tiger. Because then for me, that's like. You know what I mean? Like, if Scotty beats Tiger, if Rory beats Tiger.

[Pat McAfee]

Sure. Not ruining the gimmick, brother.

[Ty Schmidt]

Exactly. But, like, if he's going out there and. And it's kind of like what it is right now. Like, you just. It's not fun watching Tiger at the Masters when you hope he goes out and shoots like a 68 the first day, and then you see him kind of start to break down the second way day, and either makes a cut and then has to, like, Withdraw on the third day because he just can't do it. Or he shoots like an 83 on the second day and misses the cut. Like, that's just not the Tiger. I want to remember when we, we all saw him with how dominant he was. So I hope he goes to the Champions Tour where he can get it in a cart and then he's playing, you know, Freddy boom boom couples and he can, he's kind of that guy again.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Or. Or he goes to, you know, he joins Turkey, the crown prince. God bless him.

[Pat McAfee]

God bless.

[Boston Connor]

You know, and then. Yeah, it kind of just goes that route. Maybe unites live in pga being the final guy to be like, hey, it's time. It's time to just screw all this. Like thinking about the players. It's awesome watching the players. So, so happy about it. It would be better with Bryson and Brooks and those guys who are over there. DJ Cup. It would be awesome if all those guys are playing the players and if Tiger were to be that final piece, to be like, hey, my final kind of contribution. Contribution to the game of golf. Exactly. Is I'm going to be the one that just says enough of this. You guys are now the same league. We're doing this. The live tournaments that are, you know, in the United, the United States, those are just going to be a part of the PGA now. And if there's one in, you know, London, that's just a normal PGA event, not a major or anything like that, like we're going to do that as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And you could turn some of these tournaments into live style of golf.

[Boston Connor]

Exactly. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, some of these PGA off weekend ones, you know, in those pga like that. What's that? What happened?

[Shams Charania]

What do you mean? Like a year ago, two years ago, they said they came to an agreement.

[Pat McAfee]

Like where did that three, four different times now, Remember? Yes. There was a coffee meeting in Italy. That was the first one. Whenever the president of the pga, who was.

[Boston Connor]

Monahan.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, J. Monahan. Remember he came out early and was just high horsing to hell on all the golfers that were getting multi generational wealth laid in their lap for the first time ever in the golf room, we learned a lot about the life of a PGA golfer, about what's guaranteed, what's not guaranteed. Everything is not guaranteed. We will certainly make money off of you this week and you not necessarily will make any money, no matter how great you are or how big your name is. So there were some holes in the professional golf world that were certainly taken advantage of. By a big money partner. But said big money partner was obviously cast aside and said, we're never doing business with this person. If you do business with person, you are the devil. Actually, you are the worst person on earth. You can't. You shouldn't be able to sleep at night, let alone hit a go golf ball if you do this. And then what? Like a year later, maybe 13 months later, there was a secret meeting between the crown prince and the director of sports for Saudi Arabia and Jay Monahan. He comes back, he goes and takes a leave. He leaves because they, like, kick him out, basically. Because there was a lot of PGA golfers that were offered 80, 90, $100 million to go join LIV. And they said no because they were riding with the pga. And then the PGA artificer sudden is going like, well, wait, how much money do you have? We will potentially take that. So that was like a big. That was a big thing. And then there was the government trying to get involved with a monopoly. There was a lot of. A lot of stuff that was kind of happening. But, yeah, two to three different times it has been in our world, what we have seen and talked about. They've had an agreement where they've come together and we're all pumped. We're like, okay, so now the PGA is getting access to, like, everything is gonna great, everything's gonna get better, and all the best golfers are gonna be there. And, yeah, I don't know if anything's ever really come of it and what it means.

[Shams Charania]

You know, it's always, how long are these live deals? Like, I know Brooks recently said he has for life. He still has to fulfill his obligation, right? Like, for his contract with liv. And then after that, he doesn't know what's going to happen. But are we going to see some of these guys not renew with LIV and come back to the pga?

[Pat McAfee]

I think allegedly. I read something that D. Shambo contract is up too soon with live. Maybe this is last season or something. Read that as well. I don't know the details, though. I guess there was an amount of money that he asked for, and he.

[Ty Schmidt]

Said that was not true.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so he said that's not true. Okay. So, yeah, these contracts, I guess, are coming up.

[Shams Charania]

You just come right back to the PGA and get their card and every.

[Boston Connor]

Like.

[Shams Charania]

Like, they never left. Will that work?

[Pat McAfee]

No, because remember, at one point it was said, if you do this, you're never welcome back.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, you're banned.

[Pat McAfee]

And then the Masters were like. All the majors were like, we're Startling. Going to let them. Yeah, yeah, we're going to let them play.

[Boston Connor]

We don't care.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You pj, your guys, you want to.

[Boston Connor]

See the stuff that we're doing, doing behind the scenes.

[Pat McAfee]

We don't.

[Boston Connor]

You want, you want to dive into the history of Augusta real quick? You want to do that?

[Pat McAfee]

No. What a beautiful place, obviously. Beautiful place. New trees every day. Somehow the, the, the whole, the whole, the whole golf world has obviously been shaken up a bit over the last couple years. TGL was the most recent attempt to kind of make golf different form and enjoyable.

[Ty Schmidt]

Playoffs coming up. I'm sure those guys really care. Golfers are getting testy going on stuff like.

[Pat McAfee]

Like that too. What you say?

[Shams Charania]

H. Sorry, Ty. The golfer's getting testy with the media. Is he calling? Morikawa said he doesn't owe anything to the. To these people.

[Boston Connor]

Like Rocco.

[Shams Charania]

It's getting weird, man. Yeah, Rocco came right back at Rocco.

[Pat McAfee]

Western Pennsylvania guy.

[Shams Charania]

He's the man.

[Pat McAfee]

The photo that I saw of his quote had him with a stogie.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, me too.

[Pat McAfee]

A gray beard, backwards hat. He looked like a G. Shades like an absolute G. I saw that. Arnold would have ran his ass.

[AJ Hawk]

Speaking of what, Tiger won that one with a Tornacio or whatever.

[Pat McAfee]

We have some breaking news out of the college basketball world. Pete Thammel is reporting that Iowa is dismissing basketball coach Fran McCaffrey after 15 seasons. We literally just talked about this. We literally just talked about this about an hour ago. He reached seven NCAA attorneys in his 15 years and is the school's all time leader in wins with 200. Iowa finished 17, 16 this year. Obviously they lose Illinois last night and he got ejected during the game. In his last game as head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes, he got kicked out. Pretty gangster. Way to go out, Fran.

[Boston Connor]

Hell yeah, Fran.

[Pat McAfee]

Way to go. Coach. I asked the question, I was like, okay, so does the basketball team like me or the football team like, good, but never really going to go because Fran's been there a long time. Kirk's been there a long time. Is that just kind of what it is? Ty, you actually said like, this is kind of what the Iowa basketball team is. You've said they've choked a couple times. They've had a couple good teams. What are your thoughts immediately here? Upon hearing the friends on his way out of the men's basketball program?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, I mean, I think I definitely knew it was coming, so I'm not really surprised. I love Fran McCaffrey. A lot of people don't like him because he, he is like there, I guess people within Iowa, I think, like him. A lot of people outside don't like him because he is. He's fiery, he's a psycho. But he's always got his guys back. Back. But when like you meet him, like, he's the most, like, he's one of the most level headed, you know, like, just good to people, you know. He's not from Iowa. Yeah. Like, like this is awesome. Like, and he used to do stuff like this all the time, so he's just a great guy. And then like off the court, like, good, good. Just a good dude to everybody. And like Steve Alford, who people in Indiana, like, a lot of like Iowa fans, like, he was a prick to everybody off the court as well, you know, like Iowa was winning at the time and people liked him. But like, he was a very well noted, like, this guy's an. This guy sucks. Fran wasn't that way. But it's one of those things with like Iowa football, like, they have the, they have the NFL success. Like, they get guys into the NFL. So, like, the recruiting footprint is much different. It's a lot different with Iowa basketball because, like, they get, you know, they'll get good dudes, but like, Iowa State is kind of like that and you know, like, they, Tyrese, you know, and guys like that, like, they get transfers in, so they don't really send a bunch of guys to the pros. So they kind of have to like their whole model is, hey, yeah, we might get, you know, a good dude from St. Louis or a dude from Illinois. But most of the people who are playing basketball for Iowa are kids from Iowa, white kids from Iowa. I mean, that's, you know, a lot of people make that joke too. Like, you watch a Big Ten game, you're not seeing a whole lot of Big Ten teams trotting five white, white dudes out there who, you know. But Iowa has just. Well, I mean, it's just, it's just the truth.

[Pat McAfee]

Iowa exciting whites every single year.

[Ty Schmidt]

It is what it is. And it's like, so they, they do what they can. Like, if they're. They've always been one of those teams where if they shoot really well, they can beat anybody because they shoot a shitload of threes. But that's what happens in the tournament. You. You go cold and you end up getting beat by 20 because you can't shoot it all. So it kind of. It had run its course. Like, he coached two of his kids all the way through there. There he had another kid who's a senior in high school right now, and he didn't commit to Iowa. So I think a lot of people saw that and were like, the end's probably near. I mean, it's just one. It's just. It's. It's a little bit different than football. I think they'll stay with Kirk forever because he's won a couple BCS Bulls. Like, he's kind of entitled to that, I think. Basketball, it's just like. And I don't know if nil and stuff like that. Like, the football team is always going to be like. I don't know how much. Much. The facilities are nice and everything, but I don't know how much. Boosters around the state of Iowa, like, they care. But if. If it's a pecking order, like, money and resources and funds are always going to go to the football team and.

[Pat McAfee]

Women'S basketball and wrestling.

[Ty Schmidt]

Now. Now for sure. Wrestling. Yeah. Wrestling just got a new deal. So it's like. It's one of those things where.

[Pat McAfee]

That's crazy to think about.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Like, if. And if they won, that would probably change a little bit. But I think it is one of those things, like, they've. They've had it. Couple of these teams, and they just haven't had the success in the postseason.

[Pat McAfee]

So him staring at that ref, not saying a thing. You proud of yourself?

[Shams Charania]

Got his play. His player comes to tap him, to try to pull him away. Nah, don't even think about it.

[Pat McAfee]

Not now. Thanks. I got to let this know with my look that I will not appreciate the way he's doing. Whatever the.

[Shams Charania]

So awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

You feel good?

[Shams Charania]

That looks like she. The ref kind of looks like shfty.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And the ref steps forward, too. I appreciate it, cuz. Look, the ref will move up, too. Yep. What?

[Shams Charania]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

What? Frank goes. Don't you stay. You stepping me, motherfucker. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Get off the court.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm just kind of waltzing over. I can't believe you. That's what he's saying with his whole body right there. Can't eject me. I'm not going to say anything, but I just want you to know I'm not happy with what you're doing.

[Shams Charania]

I love this part here.

[Pat McAfee]

Come on.

[Shams Charania]

Here we go, Coach.

[Voiceover]

Come on.

[Shams Charania]

Here we go.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I'll be here. Hold on one second. What? What if he were to hit the ball at himself? Oh, that would ball out of the hand. Hell of a run for it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. His credit, too. He got. He got hired my freshman year of college and Iowa or After the basketball season my freshman year, Iowa sucked before he got there. Todd Licklider, who used to be the coach at Butler small school, you know, took him on like a couple runs. He came in, he went like, I think he won nine games his first year and like eight games his second year. Like Iowa basketball was in a really bad spot. And Fran, you know, I mean leaving the all time wins leader took him to seven NCAA tournaments. Like, you know, I think a lot of people will look very fondly on his time in Iowa City.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, well that's good. You know, good thing they're in program all.

[Boston Connor]

Hell yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Got a great weekend ahead. Conference basketball games are on right now.

[Boston Connor]

Pumped.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot of things are happening. Diane Rossini is reporting some scoopage from scoop time scooped out. She now granted news changes every day, I think with teams and everything like that. So what information is being said today is maybe not the same as it was two days ago or maybe even this morning. You know, as things continue to evolve, allegedly what she is now reporting is that the Minnesota Vikings are trying to figure out what they want to do with Aaron Rodgers or J.J. mcCarthy or what they want to do with their team. So Aaron's given them time to make their decision and now the Vikings have yet to make a decision. So we all wait. Okay, so bunch of nothing seems to be what's going on right now. Is that real? Possibly, maybe. I mean Diane Rossini has a lot of inside sources. Is that real right now? Maybe. Will that change tomorrow?

[Ty Schmidt]

Good.

[Pat McAfee]

And yesterday, was it maybe. Who knows? Who knows what's happening behind closed doors in all these buildings. Who knows what text messages are being sent, who knows what emails are being kind of passed back and forth. Who knows what agents are saying to different teams. I mean it's pretty, pretty chaotic business, the NFL and free agency as a whole, let alone whenever you got a guy who's a Mount Rushmore player, first ballot hall of Famer, potentially making a decision for the last time of his football life and what jersey he's going to wear, which is obviously a big moment for him and if he will play football again. That's right. But what we do know is there's a chance there's going to be a sunset walk because source says have told us that that's the mo. Get a blanket. It's a little chilly out here.

[Shams Charania]

He's got to set it up. He's got to make it, make it a good one. He's got to really do something for them.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Because Aaron's like When the sun goes down, I'll be moving down the beach sometime. That's what he's doing. Just contemplating things.

[AJ Hawk]

Bet you it's beautiful.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, I don't. We saw the Zillow.

[Boston Connor]

That's pretty beautiful.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a part of it, though. That whole. Exactly. Staged it. Staged the photo. Walking on his beach with his wired headphones with that blanket wrapped around him. That's what he wanted. Backwards hat. Once people think he's cool, it's crazy. All right, let's get to a break. We'll see you on Monday. Thank you all so much for allowing us to do this for a living. Remember, big night on April 9th will be a great time. Are we streaming that show? Ooh, we shall see. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. On that note, boys in the back. Great work.

[AJ Hawk]

Great work, boys.

[Pat McAfee]

Great work, boys. Graphic boys. Great work.

[Diana Rossini]

Great, boys.

[Pat McAfee]

Mitt, you fucked up a podcast upload, but everything else you did great. That's on. That's on everybody else for having you do that. Just want to let you know I did not know that was the case until maybe 12 hours later. So that's not on you. That's more so on me. But say, see also group decision there, Matt. You're doing great, Mitt. Doing great. Streak some more water, Mitt. Aj Great work this week.

[Shams Charania]

Thank you. Does Mitt not drink water or what?

[Pat McAfee]

This morning he was just sitting there. He's 26 years old and just sad about a coughing that kill him. And then after it was done, he just sat there, took it, and then just kept working. Didn't even look for a water. Eyes running at that point, obviously, because he was choked. Didn't even think about, like, getting a water or drinking. Just kept on working. Foxy actually had to get up, get him a water. Dry you. Yeah, this helps. Sick of hearing him cough. Yeah, no, thanks. Man drinks. It obviously stopped. It's like, all right, what would Mick be doing if you didn't work here?

[Ty Schmidt]

Probably be dead.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

I hope not.

[Diana Rossini]

Come on.

[Pat McAfee]

I hope not. And that was all.

[Shams Charania]

Came out of the car.

[Pat McAfee]

Out of cars. Keeping a lot of things. Let's also keep out of uploading podcasts. Okay. Let's make sure that's the case. We learned that maybe next year, maybe next year we'll get into that stage of life and, you know, it's been a great week this week. We appreciate you all for allowing us to do it for a living. Thank you to all of our guests that stopped by. And thank you to everybody that bought tickets for big night Out. All right, we're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three, team.

[Voiceover]

In case you didn't know, these young men are driven. They are prodigies, the savants, the ones we've been waiting for. Like Damian Lillard, for instance. He doesn't seek guidance or mentorship. He's a leader. He isn't waiting for the baton to be passed to him. He's taking it for himself. He's relentless in a pursuit of greatness, always pushing to one up himself. He is accomplished, but far from satisfied. He embodies what it means to have an unstoppable drive and are shaking up the status quo in their community and beyond. And Damian Lillard drives a Toyota. A new generation of Toyota drivers are here, and they want you to know one thing. You can't stop my drive.