PMS 2.0 1315 - Sweet 16 Preview, MLB Opening Day, Koa Peat Makes His College Commitment, Seth Greenberg, NCAA Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Wyatt Hendrickson, & Jeff Passan

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Pat McAfee Show – PMS 2.0 1315

Release Date: March 27, 2025
Episode Title: Sweet 16 Preview, MLB Opening Day, Koa Peat Makes His College Commitment, Seth Greenberg, NCAA Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Wyatt Hendrickson, & Jeff Passan
Host: Pat McAfee
Guests: AJ Hawk, the Toxic Table, Tone Digs, Seth Greenberg, Wyatt Hendrickson, Jeff Passan

---

I. LeBron Versation and Public Perception

Overview:
Pat McAfee opens the episode discussing a recent conversation with LeBron James that aimed to humanize the basketball superstar beyond his public persona. The discussion delves into LeBron's ability to remain grounded despite his fame and success.

Key Points:

• LeBron's Humanity: Despite 22 years in the NBA and immense public scrutiny, LeBron maintains a relatable and normal demeanor.
• Public Reaction: The conversation sparked debates about LeBron's authenticity and his portrayal in the media.
• Wendy's Role: AJ Hawk and Pat discuss Wendy, who has extensively covered LeBron's career, questioning the depth of their relationship.

Notable Quotes:

• Pat McAfee [00:00]: "LeBron is a human... somehow he's remained a guy who could sit down in a room of people he does not know and have a normal conversation..."
• Pat McAfee [31:12]: "There are opportunities you have to keep pushing and that's what you got to do."

---

II. MLB Opening Day: Focus on the Pittsburgh Pirates

Overview:
The conversation shifts to Major League Baseball's Opening Day, with a spotlight on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pat and AJ Hawk discuss the team's prospects, focusing on pitcher Paul Skeens and the overall pitching staff.

Key Points:

• Paul Skeens' Start: Skeens is highlighted as the ace for the Pirates, bringing hope for the team's resurgence.
• Pitching Staff: Discussion on the strength and depth of the pitching lineup, including prospects like Bubba Chandler.
• Team Outlook: Optimism about the Pirates' chances to compete in the season, contrasting past performances.

Notable Quotes:

• Pat McAfee [07:55]: "This is what we live for, really, you know, to wake up on this morning and just realize anybody can win the World Series..."
• Bruce Brown [10:14]: "If you, you have to see that after eight weeks, teams can evolve, toning themselves up and playing better..."

---

III. Koa Peat's College Commitment to Arizona

Overview:
Pat introduces Koa Peat, a highly decorated high school basketball player who has committed to the University of Arizona. The discussion emphasizes Koa's impressive background and the impact of his commitment on Arizona's basketball program.

Key Points:

• Achievements: Koa is a four-time Arizona state high school champion, three-time Gatorade player of the year, and has a strong athletic lineage with family members in the NFL.
• Commitment Process: Insights into Koa's decision-making process, influenced by family and coaching staff.
• Team Impact: Koa's addition is expected to bolster Arizona's performance in the Sweet 16 tournament.

Notable Quotes:

• Pat McAfee [15:06]: "I'm going to be going to the University of Arizona... excited to come down and play in Mikhail."
• Koa Peat [15:27]: "Thank you to my coaches, Coach Duane and Coach Harwig, for making me the player I am today."

---

IV. Sweet 16 Basketball Preview with Coach Seth Greenberg

Overview:
ESPN's college basketball analyst, Coach Seth Greenberg, joins the show to provide insights into the Sweet 16 tournament matchups. The discussion covers team performances, key players, and potential outcomes.

Key Points:

• Florida vs. Maryland: Analysis of Florida's strong performance and Maryland's challenges, including coaching changes.
• Duke vs. Arizona: Expectations for Duke's defensive prowess against Arizona's improving team.
• Other Matchups: BYU vs. Alabama and Arkansas vs. Texas Tech are highlighted as crucial games with tight spreads.

Notable Quotes:

• Seth Greenberg [70:02]: "I think it's gonna be a fun weekend. Forget about Cinderella. We got real games. We got big boy games."
• Pat McAfee [73:52]: "He thinks the SEC is going to have a run here. I’m going to give you a couple of games on that."

---

V. NCAA Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Wyatt Hendrickson's Triumph

Overview:
Wyatt Hendrickson, a second lieutenant in the Air Force, shares his journey to becoming the NCAA Heavyweight Wrestling Champion by defeating Gable Steveson. His story highlights the balance between military service and athletic excellence.

Key Points:

• Background: Wyatt transferred to Oklahoma State from the Air Force to pursue graduate-level wrestling, complying with military regulations.
• Championship Match: Detailed account of Wyatt's focus and strategy during his match against Steveson, emphasizing mental preparation.
• Future Plans: Wyatt discusses his aspirations to compete in the 2028 Olympics while continuing his military career.

Notable Quotes:

• Wyatt Hendrickson [101:54]: "Leading up to that day... I was ready. I was confident in my training."
• Pat McAfee [102:27]: "That was such a sweet entrance. And I like the fact that the Matt Madness folks appreciate this part of the spectacle."

---

VI. MLB Insider Jeff Passan on Opening Day and Pirates' Prospects

Overview:
Jeff Passan provides an insider's perspective on MLB Opening Day, focusing on the Pittsburgh Pirates. The discussion revolves around the team's strengths, weaknesses, and expectations for the season.

Key Points:

• Pirates' Lineup: Examination of the Pirates' offensive capabilities versus their pitching depth.
• Key Players: Analysis of Paul Skeens, Bubba Chandler, and the impact of potential injuries.
• Team Strategy: Concerns about the team's ability to compete without a strong offensive lineup despite a solid pitching staff.

Notable Quotes:

• Jeff Passan [125:05]: "If you're a Pirates fan, it's frustrating to see the team not investing enough despite having potential stars like Paul Skeens."
• Pat McAfee [125:53]: "The Pirates haven't been shit, you know, really. In the conversation of it all."

---

VII. Social Media's Impact on Athlete Public Perception

Overview:
The hosts discuss the pervasive influence of social media on athletes' images, highlighting both positive and negative aspects. The conversation underscores how instant communication shapes public opinion and athlete behavior.

Key Points:

• Amplified Narratives: Social media allows for constant scrutiny and the rapid spread of both praise and criticism.
• Athlete's Struggle: Maintaining authenticity and humanity in the age of relentless online commentary.
• Changing Dynamics: Comparison between past media exposure and the current, more interactive social media landscape.

Notable Quotes:

• Pat McAfee [26:06]: "LeBron's at the top, so he needs to understand negative shit's coming, too."
• Pat McAfee [29:12]: "A lot of the players are dealing with the instant reactions and narratives being formed on social media."

---

VIII. Conclusion

Overview:
Pat McAfee wraps up the episode by summarizing the key discussions, emphasizing the interconnectedness of various sports narratives, and expressing excitement for upcoming events like the Sweet 16 and MLB season.

Key Points:

• Interconnected Sports World: Highlights how different sports events and athlete stories influence each other.
• Upcoming Events: Anticipation for the Sweet 16 games, MLB Opening Day, and future episodes featuring key sports figures.
• Community Engagement: Encouragement for listeners to stay connected and participate in live events and discussions.

Notable Quotes:

• Pat McAfee [172:30]: "We can't thank him enough. That was fun."
• Pat McAfee [171:43]: "Congratulations to you."

---

Summary

In this episode, Pat McAfee and his co-hosts delve into a multifaceted discussion covering high-profile sports topics. They begin by humanizing LeBron James through a revealing conversation, explore the hopeful prospects of the Pittsburgh Pirates on MLB Opening Day, and celebrate Koa Peat's significant college commitment to Arizona's basketball program. The episode also features insightful analysis from Coach Seth Greenberg on the Sweet 16 tournament, highlights Wyatt Hendrickson's remarkable NCAA wrestling championship victory, and includes insider perspectives from MLB expert Jeff Passan. Additionally, the hosts reflect on the profound impact of social media on athletes' public personas, emphasizing the challenges of maintaining authenticity in a digitally driven world. Throughout the episode, notable moments and quotes underscore the dynamic interplay between athletic performance, personal narratives, and media influence.

---

Note: The timestamps provided correspond to the segments within the transcript to aid in locating specific quotes and discussions.

Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to our humble abode, the Thunderdome, on this Sweet 16. Thursday, March 27, 2025. This program starts now. Sports are happening all around us, and obviously yesterday we had a LeBron Versation that caused conversation around the entire sports world. And we are incredibly lucky to be the ones that were able to, you know, seemingly showcase a side of LeBron that not a lot of people have ever seen, ourselves included. There's been a lot of reaction. You know, I think a lot of people have said, Holy hell, LeBron is a human. What about the. I think never really. But he seems to be a normal dude Somehow after having 22 years in the NBA, let alone more than half of his life being publicized for every single moment he's made. Somehow he's remained a guy who could sit down in a room of people he does not know and have a normal conversation and react in ways that any one of us or any of our friends would be able to. Now, there is a difference. He's six foot nine. Sure. He's £215. He's one of the most successful sports stars in the history of the world. He's one of the most popular humans in the history of the world. He's one of the most successful humans, definitely, in the history of the world, for sure. Came from section 8 housing all the way to this. One of the biggest American dream stories in the history of the world.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Knowing everything he does is going to be chatted about and reacted to. Literally everything he does. How he eats, how he reads, how he sees, how he speaks, how he operates, how he wins games. Yeah, well, he passed the ball to Luka before he had the game winner. Immediate reaction by people. Literally everything he does is chit chat. Tyrese Halliburton makes a massive shot. The Pacers are going to beat the Lakers. A massive comeback in the beautiful city of Indianapolis, Indiana. The Lakers have one more shot. LeBron passed it to Luka. Did he get that in? Yes, he did. That thing falls. Even helps up his teammate while he's celebrating a game winner on a day in which everything he had said previously was being debuted to the world. And the reaction was absurd. Debone and Mitt are in that crowd cheering on LeBron because of what he did for our particular show in our business, which is incredibly kind. Halliburton goes, of course this guy. Of course this guy. It was a great night for the NBA, and I think yesterday was a great day for the NBA. As we learned even more about the superstar that has carried that league for so damn long. So I'd like to say one more time. Hey, shout out to the king. Thanks for coming by. Now there's people saying, you woulda.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And there's other people going, yeah, why? I do. Why wouldn't he? And we would like to let everybody know when it happened, we all had the same Wendy. We even pulled up the. We even pulled up the. The roster, the high school roster with Wendy on it, like. And I think the reason why it was potentially set is because this is what we thought of Wendy and LeBron's relationship just as people that are kind of outside. I think just yesterday on first take, maybe Russo shout out mad Dog. He gave a. He said, it's a good kick. You know, it's a good kick. Get LeBron for over an hour. I couldn't do that. Maybe Wendy could do that. Because I think that's how Russo viewed Wendy's relationship with LeBron. And then everybody was saying, Wendy never said he was friends with LeBron. Like, a lot of people sticking up for Wendy, which, once again, we are. We like Wendy.

[AJ Hawk]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

And all the people sticking up for Wendy probably like Wendy as well. We understand that. But there definitely was a narrative that, like, Wendy is basically LeBron. He wrote four books about him. He wrote four books about LeBron James. He covered him in high school. He said his mom taught him in high school. He watches first game whenever he was 14 in Demon of the God. He's been covering him throughout the entirety. I think all of us assumed that's why he put him on the photo. And that's why Mad Dog Russo yesterday said Wendy could probably get him on there. We all assumed that that was a thing. And then, you know, LeBron kind of for the first time ever, just is like, it's been kind of weird, this guy. And it's like, we did not expect that.

[AJ Hawk]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

And to Wendy, I don't think Wendy. Well, maybe Wendy did. I don't know. You know, how does that relationship actually operate? One that we've seen for 20 plus years now? How is it. Because you have to see each other. Got four books about you. Okay. You would see each other. You would assume. We hope they too. You know, just like we hope Stephen A. And brought. Which I said immediately afterwards. I hope they get a chance to do that. But it was incredible to listen to him talk about all the other shit too, that wasn't drama worthy. Like the way he goes about operating his business, his warmup routine, his commitment, how he goes about being who he is. What are his thoughts on it? Shouting out his mom like there was so much in there that maybe didn't capture or capture, captivate the headlines and the drama because there was a lot of that potentially still being stirred up and at all. So we're going to show some stuff that I think should have got a little bit more love out of the lebronversation here in a bit. We got a commitment coming in the college basketball world out of co opiete. He's a three time Gatorade player of the year, state player of the year in Arizona. He four time state champion. Okay, so gets to high school, he just wins. We're winning all of it. Okay. This kid's older brother, offensive lineman, currently for the Raiders, six foot seven offensive line. This guy's dad, six foot eight offensive lineman in the NFL. Six foot two, Sorry. Six foot two offensive lineman in the NFL. He is a six foot eight monster. And do we follow high school hoops that closely? No. But I will say as soon as I was introduced to this guy's highlights and then his family lineage, it's like this is a dog. And he's down his final five schools. There you see Texas, Baylor, Houston, Arizona, Arizona State, Arizona kid. The reason why he's in Arizona is because his dad played for the Phoenix team. Phoenix out there. So his like, he's built for it. He's a, he's a guy. And now where's he gonna play hoops next year? We shall see. Speaking of college hoops, sweet 16 tips off this evening. Can't wait for the next round of March Madness. This round sometimes has big time blowouts because Cinderella teams for the first weekend get into the next weekend and somehow the magic doesn't carry. And then the good teams are awaiting and it's boom this year because there hasn't been a Cinderella story this year because there hasn't been as much madness as we thought. Arkansas led by Calipari is kind of the Cinderella conversation. I think that should line up for some great games this weekend starting tonight. And then obviously tomorrow Lucas Oil Stadium is hosting some of them here in Indy. That should be a blast. But we'll talk to Greenberg, Coach Greenberg in a little bit here about what we should look for tonight and how these teams do that. He thought going to do good. He has Florida, they were in a dog fight with UConn, but he also liked UConn. So we'll get his takes on it all. And then Wyatt Hendrickson, the wrestling heavyweight champion of the ncaa, as of last weekend, will be joining us. Second lieutenant in the air force transfers to Oklahoma State because the air force and military academies do not allow grad competitive sports or whatever. So he transfers to Oklahoma State for his grad year and then he becomes national champion. He's second lieutenant in the air force. What's next for shall see. We'll chat with them. And also the amount of respect that Gable Steveson gave to him. I assume that this dude is well respected by his peers. He's a champion. It was a great moment. Can't wait to catch up with him. And once again, that Matt madness is electrifying. They need to move it. Maybe in between these. Yeah, you know, maybe in between the first round in the Sweet 16 or before the March Madness lead up because it would be a great kickoff into March Madness. Nonetheless, it happens directly on the same day as day two of our day three of March madness. So not a people get to see it. It is electrifying. Can't wait to catch up with Wyatt. The boys are here at the toxic table at Bruce Brown and at Ty Schmidt. You guys are all Yankee up. I forgot it's opening day.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's right.

[AJ Hawk]

Is what we play for. This is what we live for, really, you know, to wake up on this morning and just realize anybody can win the world series, you know, and. And it's a. It's a marathon. It's not a sprint, you know. So are you going to get super invested in day one of the season? Should you? Maybe not. But I'll tell you what. I know. I'm going to be living and dying on every pitch that is thrown this year for the Yankees because that's what you got to do if you're a baseball fan. And for the first time in a long time, you're going to be doing the same thing with the Pirates.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you're damn right I am going to be paying attention to the Pirates. You know, Paul Skeen's on the bump today.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Happy Paul Skeen's bump day just so happens to be opening day. He is the ace for the Pittsburgh Pirates. One half of the hammer done. Cowboys AP Tonus here. Pittsburgh Pirates actually in the conversation until they're not. But right now it feels like they have an actual shot at this thing, which I love. And it's all because this absolute legend who has this humble confidence about himself, understanding what he can be and who he currently is getting his first opening day start for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Is he going to be enough to be able to lift an organization that was once a very proud organization. Back into the lights of October, maybe even September. Baseball mattering in this entire thing. Tone is a lifelong Pittsburgh Pirates fan. Yep. Really pay attention to the Pens as much. Even though the Pens were winning in Pittsburgh, sure, Pirates were losing in Pittsburgh, but you're a part of a number one high school baseball team. Yeah, me neither. I can't skate. Didn't play baseball either. And the Pirates stunk, but now feels like they're back. Tone. And this is what opening day is all about. Just like in the NFL, before the season starts, everybody thinks their team has a chance. Baseball has that same feeling. And opening day is more like a celebration. I feel like everyone.

[Bruce Brown]

It is, it is. Opening day in a lot of places is a huge celebration. Obviously, Cincinnati gets a lot of love for their opening day. St. Louis has a huge opening day. Big opening days around the country. Pittsburgh has a huge opening day celebration as well. They are down in Miami today facing the Marlins. And yeah, there is a lot more hope this year because skiings will be up there all year. And if you, if he pitches every fifth day or so, he should get 30 wins, you know, 30, no, probably is what I'm thinking. So you do you book the buckos for 30. And now if the other, the pitching staff is good, when they get Jarrod Jones back, the other hundo boy, when he gets back, hopefully they get some wins. Mitch Keller is a good, a good pitcher. They got a new hundo boy coming up, Bubba Chandler. I don't, I don't know if when he's going to come up is going to be awesome, but yeah, they could get some runs. Okay. They get someone some runs for skiing.

[Pat McAfee]

Someone to get some runs.

[AJ Hawk]

Bingo.

[Bruce Brown]

O'Neal Cruz, you know, he's the guy. But hopefully they get, they get skiings 1 or 2 an outing. 30 and 0 at least for skins. Get a sigh, Young. He's the best pitcher in the league. No argument there.

[Pat McAfee]

Shout out, baseball.

[AJ Hawk]

Shout out.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's about those.

[Bruce Brown]

Oh, no.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you see the Yankees duo here? See the. On the left there? Bruce Ghostal, elitist.

[Ty Schmidt]

Think satin starter jacket from 1998, went.

[Pat McAfee]

On to write their tie names. But I think because the whole. They love baseball.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Their captain, Derek Jeter was supposed to come on the show today. We marketed it and we said we don't like doing that. Good reason, because if we come out and say Derek Jeter's coming on the show on an opening day and everybody goes, wow, that is so cool that that's happening. Myself included. You guys, look. You guys woke up this morning, couldn't sleep last night, Got pulled the old jacket out.

[Ty Schmidt]

Pulled the old jacket out. The lucky jacket.

[Pat McAfee]

Couldn't wait. I knew you were gonna put your glove on. You're gonna say, hey, cap won't throw.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, exactly. I have a catch, maybe.

[Pat McAfee]

How many years he played for the Yankees? 20 straight.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes. The guy, arguably the greatest Yankee of all time.

[Pat McAfee]

You were so excited.

[AJ Hawk]

Maybe more excited for that than I was to sit, sit down with LeBron.

[Pat McAfee]

No way. Don't you ever say that. I mean, that's one of the biggest combos we've ever had.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I know, I know.

[Pat McAfee]

That's the biggest.

[AJ Hawk]

That's a little hyperbole, you know, and he's not in here, but. So I was over the moon.

[Pat McAfee]

Derek Jer Don show today.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Bruce Brown]

What?

[Pat McAfee]

Not Derek Jeter's fault, actually. Got a personal phone call from Derek Jeter.

[Bruce Brown]

He's classic.

[Pat McAfee]

There's broadcast stuff, you know, networks are doing the thing. I'm not happy about it.

[Bruce Brown]

What network does he work for?

[Pat McAfee]

Fox.

[AJ Hawk]

Those greedy corporate fat cats?

[Pat McAfee]

No, there's. Hey, there's a lot of history between. There's a lot of history between networks.

[AJ Hawk]

Yankees are actually playing on ESPN today as well, so.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, so, I mean, there, you know, there's a lot of history there. So we'd just like to let everybody at Fox know we get it. Hey, we understand completely. And to our captain, your captain down the road, bud, thank you for everything. We were bummed out, though. Yeah, there was a bummed out.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

And that's why we should never market anything.

[AJ Hawk]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

Now granted, last night I put out a post and the post was about a huge moment in somebody else's life that we've never met before. Okay? So I was. When the opportunity was presented, I was so incredibly excited and thankful for it because whenever I made my decision to go to college, I know that's like a day that I'll remember, you know, forever. This is a huge moment, not only for the player, the whole family, the school. And anytime we get asked to be a part of something like that, we can't help but be honored and full of gratitude. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who's a four time, four time, four time, four Time, Arizona state high school champion. He's a three time, three time, three time Arizona Gatorade player of the year. He's a three time gold medalist. He's a one time USA men's basketball man of the year. He's six foot eight. And there's five schools that he is considering, ladies and gentlemen, to make his college decision. A guy whose dad played in the NFL, older brother played in the NFL. His whole family is basically collegiate or professional athletes. A man who's about to transform a program. Go, Pete. How you doing, man? I'm doing good. How are you? I want to let you know, being introduced to you here recently, watching your highlights. You're an absolute. Hey, you are an absolute dog, dude, and I appreciate it. No problem. Obviously, the family is a massive piece of that. I think. Like, to get to this point and to have this mindset, the amount of work that you've had to put in and commit to, you should be incredibly proud of yourself. And if that. I don't know who that is. Over your left shoulder, but they should be proud of. Is that Mom? Yeah, mom used to be incredibly proud. Mom. Hell yeah. Okay, Toa, obviously you're highly sought after. I just read off your entire resume of success, and you're a five star. And in the world that we're in right now, you are the exact person that every college basketball team is trying to get there. How did you get to your final Five? And inevitably, where are you headed to go continue your basketball career? How I got to my final five? You know, just having serious talks with.

[Connor]

My parents and cutting down my list throughout my process.

[Pat McAfee]

But there's only one school you can.

[Connor]

Pick, so first and foremost, I would.

[Pat McAfee]

Like to thank God. Without him, none of this is possible. I want to give a special thanks to my family for the unwavering support. Thank you to Perry for an amazing four years. Thank you to my principal, Ms. Patterson, and my athletic director, Ms. Burks. A special shout out to my coaches, Coach Duane and Coach Harwig, for making me the player I am today.

[Connor]

Thank you to my athletic trainers, Allison.

[Pat McAfee]

And Olivia, for everything special shout out to my teammates. I know y'all boys out there watching right now. Shout out y'all boys, boys, boys, boys, boys Champions.

[Connor]

Also, I'd like to give a special thanks to my.

[Pat McAfee]

My trainers, Coach Kenny and Chuck, for the countless hours you spend in the gym.

[Connor]

Also, I would like to give a.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank to all the coaches that have recruited me throughout this process. But I can only pick one school. So with that being said, I'll be going to the University of Arizona. Okay. Congratulations to Arizona. Congrats to you, mom. Congratulations. And what you just did there, thanking all the people that have got you to this point, is the exact reason why I was so honored that you Even thought about doing this on our program, obviously. Arizona, I believe, has Bryce James headed there as well. I saw a lot of the reaction last night from the people of Arizona. Either scared to death that you were going to leave the state or if you were going to stay, you were going to go to the other Arizona school. Why did you end up picking Arizona and how hard of a decision was it over Arizona State or some of the others? I mean, it was a super hard decision. Like I said, me and my parents had really serious talks about it, but I just felt like Arizona was the right situation for me. Coach Tommy is a great coach. They have great assistant coaches over there for my development, and they're a winning program. So I'm just excited to come down and play in Mikhail. All right, well, congratulations to you and your entire family. Arizona plays tonight. Sweet Sixteen taking on Duke 9:39 on CBS. And I feel like the entire fan base and team even is going to be lifted because they get an absolute dog coming. We appreciate the hell out of you, man. Ladies and gentlemen, Co Op here. I appreciate you having me on the show.

[Connor]

It means a lot.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, come back next year when you're doing your thing. Come back on. Yes, sir. Let's do it. For sure. Let's make it happen. Okay. Good luck, ladies and gentlemen. KO P. I didn't expect the entire. That was cool. Yeah, Yeah. I mean, that's like a cool moment.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Ray's right. Kid gets it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And who's with you? Is it your agents and everything or. No, just mom.

[AJ Hawk]

Just his mom.

[Pat McAfee]

Just Mom. We're just hanging out here. Hey, how you doing? Yeah, part of the entire thing. There's professional and collegiate athletes. Athletes throughout that entire family. Oh, yeah. And we talk about it in the NFL whenever a second generation player is up, like Shador, for instance, like, there's a natural reaction from everybody that's in the sport to be like, okay, at least this person has seen it before. You know, LeBron was talking about it a lot in the conversation about, like, inspiration and people to watch and like, who. Whose path can you kind of mimic or at least learn about in the entirety? And he talked about Lang and then he said, then once we got pretty good laying, started hating on us. And it's like, that's going to happen through it all. But whenever you have like a family member who's done it, you literally, like OSA talked about it with his older brother playing, you get a chance to see, like, what it takes to be great. Like. And even though football is different than basketball, making your body as good as it possibly can be to give you every chance. And obviously he's 6 foot 8. So in LeBron mentioned, like, I have God given talents here. There's a couple. Yeah. 6, 9, 6, 10.

[AJ Hawk]

Right.

[Pat McAfee]

And I can run very fast and I got great dexterity. Like, that's God given thing. But like, what it takes to be a pro, what it takes to like be great. You assume that all the. The sons or daughters of professional athletes, because they got to live it and experience it, they would understand, like the amount of commitment, the amount of time, what you should focus on, what you shouldn't focus on. That's quite a head start over like.

[Bruce Brown]

Everybody else to that point. As a high school senior, like when he was thanking everybody, I was like, all right, so he's got two athletic trainers. He's got two basketball trainers. He's got all these, like, that's like, he's already a professional. Like just coming out of high school. He already. Because of his.

[Pat McAfee]

That's like a retirement speech there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which is.

[Bruce Brown]

He's already got a full team.

[Pat McAfee]

Nailed it. Absolutely.

[Ty Schmidt]

Thank everybody.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And shout out to Ms. Patterson to the. The principal.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

She gets it. Ms. Patterson understands, like sometimes. I got. Hey, I got 100 free throws. I got to. Okay.

[AJ Hawk]

I'll be late. For sale.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, sorry I was late the first period. I. To be honest, I'm more mad than you are. Okay. Took me about 20 minutes to hit the amount of shots that normally takes me 15 minutes. So everything's backed up. I apologize. Oh, so you were working. Yes. Here's a note. See you later. Is that what Ms. Patterson's doing over there at Perry High School?

[AJ Hawk]

Sounds like it.

[Pat McAfee]

And she's like, listen, you win four straight state championships for her.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

We're okay with you getting the last one. We're okay with that. I assume he's a great student.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Just the way that entire thing goes. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

For sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Just going to be able to handle the moment. Arizona now has Bryce James over there. They have obviously KOA going over there. And it's like I watched Bryce on Instagram. I think he won a state championship as well.

[AJ Hawk]

He did.

[Pat McAfee]

I. I think he can. Really? Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah, right.

[Pat McAfee]

Like he's. Because he. He had a big growth spurt. So I think like this was going to be the thing, and then instead he. And when you talk about knowing what it looks like, he has pretty good idea of what it takes in that whole thing. What about Arizona going forward? Hold the phone. Are we college basketball people too, all of a sudden? Calipari, Izzo, Patino. Coach Greenberg's coming on now. Co opiz, come on. The college basketball community has been very nice to us and we are very, very thankful for that.

[AJ Hawk]

Derek Queen the other day.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Oh, shit, I forgot about Derek early last year.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[AJ Hawk]

It's kind of crazy though, I think, like, because when, when we first started doing this and anytime like not, not this exact scenario would get proposed, but like during the tournament, big oh, do you want to have so and so on? Like a lot of times those kids were just not the best interviews because they're still college kids and they're, they're kind of immature and don't really know how to do it yet. These kids now, everything they have to go through, like, like he, he was ready for that moment. You know what I mean? It's like they, they go through so much more than kids had to seven to 10 years ago. Like, they almost already are like seasoned professionals by the time they're committing to wherever they're going to go to college as a senior in high school. And that was just, that was never the case before.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Derek Queen was like a 35 year old talking to him.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

And he dropped a. I don't know if he was asked about LeBron James talking about his play in the conversation. And he said, she, I wish he was. I'm like, yeah, we like this. Yeah, yeah, we, we enjoy this guy. The Sweet 16 obviously tips off tonight. Arizona, which is the next home for co opiete. We playing Duke at 9:39 on CBS. Duke favored by nine and a half. Florida favored by six and a half over Darrick Queen in Maryland. A lot of storylines around there with coach Willard. Oh, yeah, just talking about Coach Willard. Coach Willard a week ago. I forget when he said that. You know, there's been some interesting dynamics with the Maryland.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Treatment of the basketball program.

[AJ Hawk]

Correct.

[Bruce Brown]

An extra night in the hotel.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, that, that was like a big part of it is, I think they were in New York for a tournament around Christmas and he wanted to stay an extra night with his team, like let them celebrate Christmas in New York together and everything. And the school was basically like, we don't have the money for that. Like, get your ass on a plane and get back to campus. And he was kind of just saying, like the way the landscape has changed, like, we all understand what it takes and we're in the Sweet 16 right now. Or, you know, it was before the tournament, but it's like, we have a great team, but if I'm not allowed to do what I need to do to kind of continue to be successful, like, I don't know how far this can go.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he was kind of alluding to it. So then as soon as you hear that, you think to yourself, and then Maryland, I know they're in the Big Ten, but going on a run here. Maryland also a story, you know, a storyline in this entire thing. These allegedly now going to Villanueva. Yeah. So allegedly.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, it's.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah. I got pretty loud.

[Bruce Brown]

It's almost more than a legend.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And a lot of Maryland people are not happy about that. Sure. But if you listen to way Derek Queen talks about Willard, I don't think that's going to affect them.

[Bruce Brown]

And if he's not going the NBA, he might be able to build a uniform next year.

[Pat McAfee]

He really likes Willard. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes, he does.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But he's 6 foot 10, can move, can shoot, and he's on a sweet 16 run. We assume there's going to be options for the NBA for him. Yeah. But if I think these teams are just like kind of groups, you know, Like, I know they're representing Maryland, but I think the way he talks about Willard, in the way Willard talks about them, it's like in the way we're watching coaches go places and every team just basically, yeah, go. It's like you're almost just signing up for this. Hey, this is coming. We can add some pieces, but this is what it's going to be. So I don't think it affects the team on the court, personally. The whole. Which I think a lot of Maryland fans are like, this is going to distract. This is a great opportunity. And the only thing the players are going to think of is him leaving or whatever. I don't think that's going to be the game, personally.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, with McNeese. Yeah, yeah, McNeese, you know, they. They were one of the biggest upsets in the first round of the tournament. It was announced before their game that their head coach had already taken the NC State job. And like, he was very honest with them. He was like, hey, this was the goal all along. We're trying to get to a Power 5 conference and if I go, like, I'm trying to bring a couple of you guys with me. And so they already knew that. And they went out and they upset. I can't remember who they played, but they had an upset in the first round as a 12 seed.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, that's exactly what. Because he said I was, hey, I told my guys, like, hey, we're trying to get back to the Power 5 or Power 4 or whatever it is, because he came from LSU, goes McNe State now at NC State. And he told his guys, like, hey, this is. This is our audition to give back to the power four whatever he would, as long as you're very open with them. I think the kids these days, they.

[Ty Schmidt]

Get it, and the boombox guys come with them, so.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, that's true as well. His name's Aura Amir Khan.

[Pat McAfee]

Amir Aura.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Con.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, he got it. Yeah, he's going in, so he stayed with him.

[Pat McAfee]

Six. Six figures. Buffalo Wild Wings couldn't wait to get on him.

[AJ Hawk]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

You remember whenever the super fan for the Chargers, Marianteau, Marian Doe. You know who got on that board? Buffalo.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Amir Ora Khan comes walking out. There's somebody at B Dubs. I think we know him actually. You probably talked to him a couple times. Yeah, we need to be in there next.

[Bruce Brown]

I like that.

[Pat McAfee]

How much money is it going to take? Well, we're getting some, you know, beatbox, boombox. They're telling us we can get 99,000. 100,000. Yeah. Amir Oron's like, thank you. It's a pretty good deal.

[AJ Hawk]

Not bad.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, Coach Wade. All they want is just right here on my boom box. Not gonna really change anything.

[Bruce Brown]

He got a lot of hate. I didn't love that.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, anytime you're super successful out of nowhere, I mean, you're gonna get. Yeah, you're making 100,000 bucks. Allegedly. I mean, there should be people that are like this. That's always gonna happen.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

That people just need to understand. True. And I. I think Aura should just understand that that's going to happen. You know, whenever it was being announced that you were going to make six figures carrying a boombox, walking out in front of. There's a chance that people are not going to love that. Like, that. That is human nature.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's what aura is all about.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Your aura is going to bring both positive vibes. And immediately, because you have aura, there is going to be some. That's going to come. And then. Now, did they get creative?

[Bruce Brown]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Sure. That is the modern world, which I do think is different than back in the day, that maybe not everybody understands. Back in the day. I heard them talking about today. Like, you don't think blah, blah, blah was critiqued or didn't have any critics or people say anything negative about him. It's like nowadays, you hear and see what everybody is saying, and the people that are on tv, we're a part of this, too. And, like, we gotta really make sure we watch that. But we. Not to all other viewers, obviously. There's a lot of people that have their own brains and their own thoughts and their own opinions, and they watch us to disagree with us or potentially hear what our thoughts are as with what their opinions are. But everything's forming opinions. So whenever opinions are being said that are all the same, you know, for a long time now, Stephen A said 95% of the stuff is positive on LeBron. Okay, all right. But once again, LeBron's at the top, so he needs to understand negative shit's coming, too. That's that. That whole aura thing. But, like, you can shape people's thoughts and narratives with what you say, especially if it's all they're digesting. And then nowadays, they have the opportunity to say those things, and they feel a lot more comfortable saying those things. So, yes, we believe that people back in the day were certainly criticized, but it's nowhere near what it is now. And people are like, well, stay off the phone then. Well, like, people in stands. I know back in the day used to be, like, pretty crazy places, but, like, everywhere you go, you're being monitored and be like, everything in your life is being hammered about. So I think it is massively different. Just like Amir Oricon, like, he's seeing a lot more of the hate that he would get, but people would have hated. Just wouldn't have had the ability to let him know that they hated that. They have now this, in any era, you know, like, in LeBron, in any era, would have got hate in any era, just like Michael Jordan got hate in his era. But now it's just so prevalent, and it is, like, so loud, and it's everybody, you know, and people are taking lines from people, and they're using it as, like, their entire reasoning to hate people. It's just a matter of fact. That's just like how the world. Not just sports, that's politics. Obviously, we all see something happen, and then people go. And then they come back, and it's like, now we have our. Now we have our sports. Something happens. People go, okay, now they come back. This is how it is always been like that. But now it's just, like, constant, and it's like, everywhere. And I. I don't know what it was like in the 70s, and I don't know what it was like in the 80s, but I feel like social media certainly made the world A smaller place. And that's good for connecting with people. That's good for getting to know people, the real people. But it's also good for people to be able to talk their shit. And people are really good at talking. Yeah, people are really, really good at talking shit these days. So I think it's just a different atmosphere. Weird. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Because I assume back then it was mostly either print journalism or, like, nightly news. So, like, if you weren't local or regional to whatever was going on, like, I don't even know how. Like, if. If you lived in Iowa and there was a story about, like, Magic Johnson and they were killing him. Like, I don't know how you would get like, an LA Times in the 70s. Like, you. There just. There'd be, like, no way that you could read what the criticism was because on the nightly news, they're not covering that either. And obviously sports media as a whole has just exploded in, like, the last 20 years. So, like you said, I mean, back then, if you're getting on, if it's. If it's on the other side of the country, you'd never hear about it, ever. There'd be, like, no way you could. And now it's like, you know, every single corner of the globe, people are taking their best shots at you. And I assume that was never the.

[Pat McAfee]

Case or is in the middle of it. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, he's gonna be stronger because of this going forward.

[AJ Hawk]

He's laughing his way to the bank.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think he is. I don't. I don't know if he's a normal human, you know, if he's a normal human. Your first round of getting murdered is tough.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, but that is like the. Yeah. Like, it's not in. When you get knocked down. It's how many times you get back up, like, after you get. Absolutely. Because he was getting loved, obviously. Oh, yeah, he's getting loved by McNee State, I assume. Love this guy. Student section, love this guy. I think a lot of people, everybody in the program loves this guy because they're actually like, promoting this dude as, like, a hilarious piece of it. Obviously, the coach loves this guy. So he was probably beloved for this gimmick since the beginning of it. Yeah. Then you fly too close to the sun and listen. Or I want to let you know I understand what you're going through, brother. Okay. Your gimmick, much cooler than our gimmick, but fly too close to the sun. And then once you get introduced to new people, that you're going to get now, you need to strap that fucker right back on your shoulders. And you need to walk out next week, next year with NC State. And you need to be just as comfortable, brother. There's a reason you're called Aura, but there's going to be a lot of shit said to you and you're just going to have to keep on going. That's. That's your life now. That is your life now. Until you just disappear from public eye. That is kind of what your life's going to be. Yeah, but we think you got it. Yeah, we know you got it. He does for sure. Proud of you.

[Bruce Brown]

You're the born with. Or you're not. Like, he's not gonna lose his Aura.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I think you can't.

[AJ Hawk]

I think what pass aid is. There's a chance.

[Bruce Brown]

Not this guy.

[Pat McAfee]

I agree. I'm on your side. I think Aura is going to be good. But I'll tell you, these people on the Internet are talented with their words.

[AJ Hawk]

They are.

[Pat McAfee]

And boy, some of the things that get said to. I mean, just me, I couldn't even imagine what Aura's getting.

[AJ Hawk]

Also. There's no. There hasn't been like a gradual, like, okay, we're starting to kind of get sick of this guy. As you go from like one day, everybody loves you to like one day everyone's like, this guy. I'm sick and tired of seeing him. Like, that's. That's got to be pretty.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So he's profiting off. Okay, it was cute for a second. Now this guy's making more money and I'm making in three years to do this. This guy. It's like, hey, that's just a natural human instinct. Natural human reaction to a conversation is, hey, let's find, you know, the gems. Let's find the gems in these things. I think some of the gems from the LeBron versation weren't talked about as much as I think they potentially should have been, because it was an hour and 15 minutes. An hour and 10 minutes. And obviously there's going to be a few moments. There's ice cream. Tighty White is going to talk about.

[Bruce Brown]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Super weird.

[AJ Hawk]

It's going to get talked about.

[Pat McAfee]

That's going to get talked about. Yeah.

[Connor]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Lottery. I understood the assignment. That's gonna get talked about. Okay. Obviously for good reason. Those are all very. But there's a lot of other gems that I think we could have taken away from this to make us think, you know what, LeBron James, maybe. Maybe this guy is just A human. Not just a name, not just a. An object that has been placed in our lives, in the world of basketball for the last like 25 years. If you go back to his high school promotion as well, it's like, maybe we can learn some things from a guy that went from Section eight to the top of the world and has navigated rather well, has certainly made some mistakes, made it yesterday, admitted two days ago in the conversation yesterday, whenever it aired. But I think there's a lot of things you can learn from somebody that is going to be considered the greatest of all time in some convos and never in other convos, because they listen to an hour and 15 of them and say, I don't want to hear it. That's the same bullshit. And it's like, okay, you know, you just didn't even want to hear it. Then it sounds like, here's some takeaways from the LeBron vasation that we think should have more conversation. Coming from nothing to everything, being in the public eye at some point, that is going to collapse a human.

[Connor]

Yeah, for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

For you, it feels like it hasn't. And there's been a lot of things said. There's been a lot of fires that you've been put into, either you walked into yourself or thrown into. Why do you think that is the case? Do you think it's because your mom. Do you think it's because.

[Connor]

Well, I mean, obviously I give her a. A lot of credit for the way she raised me, the way she taught me, the things that she was able to instill in me. It was also me also just looking at her, the way she moved and the way, how, how determined she was to be able to make my life better, even with the circumstances that we were growing up in. So I give her a lot of credit. I have some little league coaches too, that, you know, taught me about not only just, you know, playing the game and teaching me the game of basketball, but also being a young man, you know, throughout my small adolescent years. And then just like, to be completely honest, like, I didn't want to my opportunity up. Like I. I knew that the statistics for an inner city black kid to be able to be in a position that I was in, especially from my hometown, it. It never, ever happens.

[Pat McAfee]

Never.

[Connor]

It never, never works out either. It never happens. And if it does happen, it never works out, you know, and you know, it was a man I don't like. I want to throw him under the bus. But the only inspiration like we had was like Jerome Lane, the Guy who, like, dunked and shattered the backboard that played for Pittsburgh. He was from Akron, Ohio. Like, we saw that and we was like, oh, shit. That's the inspiration. And then I went through high school, and all my boys know this too. Like, I went through high school and we was playing against the inner city kids. Cause we went to an all Catholic high school. And fucking Jerome Lang was like, hating on us. I was like, oh, this motherfucker. He's back in Akron hating on us, going against us. And I'm like, oh, shit. He was our only inspiration. We looked up to you. And I was like, you know what? I can't fuck this opportunity up, man. If I get the opportunity to make it, I gotta do what I have to do to put my city on to represent. My last name on my back, man. My family, my friends. And also, it's sport. Sport has given us so much. I mean, I look around here, I mean, baseballs and NFL helmets and basketball jerseys and like, like, seriously, like a putt. A putt putt. Like, seriously, like, it's given us so much. So, like, I. I couldn't. I couldn't mess the opportunity up.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, you've done. Hey, I think you figured it out. You've done good.

[Connor]

For me to go down to Miami. Man 1. It was a terrifying experience for me. You got to think. I don't know. A lot of people know. It's the first time I ever left my Hometown. I was 25 years old. You got mad. My first seven years, even though I played for Cleveland, I still lived in that crew, Akron, you know. So for 25 straight years, I was.

[Pat McAfee]

Awesome house. You had an awesome house. We've seen that.

[Connor]

Yeah. So I'm comfortable. That is my comfort. My comfortability is being in Akron, Ohio. You know, I drive, you know, 30 minutes to Cleveland, I play my games, and then I shoot right back down to Akron, and I'm good. So for the first time, it's like, I've always used the analogy. Like, I felt like this was my college moment. You know, I didn't have to go to college. So, like, going to Miami was my.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Connor]

You know, a moment to basically get out the house with my parents. You know, I was going off to college, and I learned a lot, man. And two championships. Four. Four finals appearances, you know, two more MVPs, you know, and things that I can just. I can always look back on. Say it was a hell of an experience.

[AJ Hawk]

You mentioned you did wait.

[Pat McAfee]

And I forget which one of them.

[Connor]

It was, but they told A story.

[Pat McAfee]

About Pat Riley fucking with your cookie? Yes.

[Seth Greenberg]

Is that a true story?

[Connor]

Is that a real story? No, it's a true story. Okay. It's a true story. Now, like, Ralph wasn't like. It wasn't like Ralph's was on the plane and I was about to get my cookies and Ralph snatched them out of my hand. You know. You know how stories can become a little bit. They kind of build to sasquatch at some point. But I mean, I was, you know, there was a time where everyone knows I love fucking love chocolate chip cookies. It's like my.

[Pat McAfee]

Who knows which.

[Connor]

Like my biggest vice. No, it was literally the plane that we were getting on. The ladies on the plane were making chocolate chip cookies.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, shit.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

So they knew.

[Connor]

Yeah. So they were making them and bringing them. Cause we had with the same ladies all the time. You know, it was a party of six. You know, they were rotating every time. They knew I loved chocolate chip cookie. So they would get on and I would, hey, soft, soft, soft. With a little crispy edge.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah, perfect.

[Connor]

Yeah, perfect. And I would get on and they already knew. They'd bring me two cookies and I'll get to gambling with the guys. And I got my cookies and we good. And then one flight I got on, I looked at em and they looked at me and I'm like, oh, those. That look didn't look familiar. And I asked him, I was like, do you. We got the. He was like, no, we're not allowed to. No more cookies on these flights.

[Pat McAfee]

What?

[Connor]

And we all know where it came from. I looked at D. Wade, D. Wade looked at me. He was like. Basically, without even saying, he was like, fucking Ralph's done it again. Ralph strikes again. I was like, damn.

[Pat McAfee]

Six, nine.

[Connor]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's say you're two. You look very thin right now.

[Connor]

Yeah, yeah, I feel good.

[Pat McAfee]

So 215, 6, 9, 2, 20. Could easily get to 260 though. I think that would play in a lot of different areas.

[Connor]

Yeah, yeah, come on. I could play just like, I would be able to play in any area. It's funny, you hear some of them older guys like LeBron James couldn't play in this era.

[AJ Hawk]

Never been fouled by Bill Lambert before.

[Connor]

Yeah, I think I've seen like Dennis Rodman say that one time. He was like, didn't LeBron James not skilled enough. Yeah, not big enough. He's not. Nah. Doesn't weigh enough. He's not strong enough.

[Pat McAfee]

Can't handle it.

[Connor]

Nah. I'm like, okay, you probably lost A.

[Pat McAfee]

Lot of trust in media, I would assume, because of the things that happened. Not just what was said on tv, but what it led other people to probably think they should say.

[Connor]

Yeah, for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Connor]

I mean, it all started with the decision. It all started with the decision. The decision really, like, had me, like, sit back and, like. Because people literally, like, I give a. I give a moment. So the decision, you know, it was brought to me to be able to, you know, do something cool on tv. You know, do a kind of college style. Like I said, never had went to college. I was like, you know, this would be pretty cool. Put a hat on. Make the decision. Put the hat on. But also, you know, raise $2.5 million for a great cause, you know, and also be able to, you know, make it. Make it cool. And the funniest thing is from that moment, it was December 2, 2010, was my first game back to. To Cleveland. So I stay at the hotel, stay at the Ritz downtown in Cleveland. And this one, I knew that it was. People did not even really care or didn't even understand the situation. They just wanted to be a part of the nonsense. I hit the elevator to go downstairs to the bus, catch the bus to go over to. I think it was the queue, the Quicken Loans arena.

[Pat McAfee]

Then.

[Connor]

And the elevator opens, and it's two guys, random guys on the elevator.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't.

[Connor]

You guys can always pull this up. They used to have these F, U, K, L, B, J, T shirts.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay?

[Connor]

Black T shirts, red letters. And I see the two guys, they see me, they say, oh, my fucking God. Oh, no. Listen, this is. Man, we love you so much, man. We're just here. We're just here for the spectacle, man. We're just here for the spectacle. Like, seriously, we love you, man. And have a good. And the door in the elevator, door closed. I was like, oh, those are two.

[Pat McAfee]

White dudes, by the way. Yeah.

[Connor]

Oh, for sure. I didn't want to say that. I didn't want to say it because we're outnumbered right now.

[Pat McAfee]

We're all together.

[Connor]

It was like, oh, my God, man.

[Pat McAfee]

We fucking love you, man.

[Connor]

Like, oh, shit.

[Pat McAfee]

Don't.

[Connor]

In the elevator closed. I was like, you know what? This is all part of the spectacle. And it's about to go. It's about to get haywire.

[Pat McAfee]

So the decision, you think is whenever the conversation kind of changed a little bit about you.

[Connor]

Yeah. Because they just needed something. They needed something. Everything was so positive, you know, And I gave them no reason to make it negative. It wasn't fucking up, but they needed anything. You know, I'm doing everything I need to do on the court. I'm not out on the streets. I'm not doing. I'm not being caught in all the bullshit that doesn't respect the game and respect my craft. It was like, oh, you decided to go on TV and make a decision for your career, and we got you. We got it. We finally got it. We finally made a little chink in the armor.

[Pat McAfee]

We got something.

[Connor]

We got something. It's selfish, selfish, selfish mother.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And then that caught a little bit of fire, right? Because a lot of people don't like seeing people that are successful in anything, especially if somebody is taking happiness from them and their team, which you were doing, obviously, with the Cavs. And then that's just. You're saying from that moment.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Connor]

Listen, man, during the ball drop, you know, during the lottery drop, Cleveland got the number one pick. That's. I just don't think that was.

[Pat McAfee]

Whoa.

[Connor]

What do you think?

[Pat McAfee]

What a coincidence, don't you think? Wemby with the spurs, oh, my God.

[Connor]

Let'S keep LeBron home. You know what? Patrick Ewing to the Knicks, you know, Derrick Rose to the Bulls. But I understand the assignment, guys. I'm, you know, so, you know, it's. I had to make sure that, you know, I had to do my part. I didn't want to be a up. I just didn't want to be a up, man. Like, like I said earlier in the show, like, no one gets this opportunity, man. It's zero to none. And I couldn't be a fuck up. So that's what came with it.

[Pat McAfee]

Talk about you flopping all over the place. That's why people get mad.

[Connor]

Yeah, I know. Yeah, I know.

[Pat McAfee]

Now, why do you do that? Patrick Mahomes does the same thing. He's greatest of all time for us in a conversation. The greatest of all time. The rules indicate in the conversation that. That if you're to hit him, he gets 15. No doubt. Is that same thing for you?

[Connor]

I wish. I wish. Because I am, like, literally over, like, the last five, six years. Why Everybody's been claiming I flop all the time. I'm not gonna. Bottom half of free throw attempts per game.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, they won't give you the whistle. You don't get the whistle. No superstar treatment.

[Connor]

You know, the funny thing is, I have a lot of teammates that be like, they come to the Lakers and they be like, man, when I used to play against you, I used to think you got every Goddamn call. And I hated it.

[AJ Hawk]

It.

[Connor]

And now that I'm your teammate, it's like, oh, my goodness. You don't get any calls. I'm like, hey, you know, don't worry about it.

[Pat McAfee]

Just.

[Connor]

Just keep playing.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I'll just wait till you see me in the third quarter. I got good flop. I practiced on this one last night because there's a video from the last dance where I think the ref says to Michael Jordan. He goes, I didn't see it. Michael, I am so sorry. I would never, never do it to you and walk away. Yeah, I believe you, Michael. Yeah, that's the. The clip.

[Connor]

Oh, yeah, I saw that. I saw that. And Michael's like, I want. Y'all saw that.

[Pat McAfee]

There was that. Say what you got. You spent, like, a million bucks on your body or something, man.

[Connor]

I don't know where the hell. That.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a very fair assessment.

[Connor]

Yeah, I don't know where that came from. But, I mean, listen, I do take care of my body, but I don't. I have no idea where the amount of money came from. But I do invest in my body, for sure. You know, trying to do a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Obviously, a lot of soft tissue work, a lot of massages, a lot of hyperbaric chambers, ice tubs, ice. Ice baths. Whatever I can do to continue to play at this level, man, I'll continue to do what I'm planning. Seeing Saquon, like, out there, and I got guys, like, wearing my shoes now, you know, when Saquon did that move where he, like, turned backwards and did a pirouette backwards and jumped up in the air and, like, he had my kicks on. I was like, oh, my goodness.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't know those were yours. They were sick.

[Connor]

Yeah, he had my. He had the LeBron Retro Fours on. And a spike when he did that, like, spin move.

[Pat McAfee]

Nasty.

[Connor]

Oh, my goodness.

[Pat McAfee]

Those are in the bronze.

[Connor]

Yes. Yeah, I was, like, super. Like, I was going crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

I was like, I couldn't believe it. You know, I didn't even know that.

[Connor]

So. Yeah, I love it.

[Pat McAfee]

Taco Tuesday. You saw that? Is that real?

[Connor]

It's today. Tuesday.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it is.

[Connor]

Oh, today is Tuesday. Oh, my goodness.

[Pat McAfee]

That was part of the situation. That's quite a situation. Barbershop. Another one.

[Connor]

Oh, yeah, man. The shop. Oh, yeah. I grew up in it. That was easy. That was easy. That was another easy one, man. It was like too many conversations that's going on right now. That's not. That's not the essence it's not the essence, man. I remember getting dropped off as a five year old. Mom drop you off. She go do what the hell she had to go do, make her errands. She talked to the guy that's coming here. How, how many? He's behind about three or four. Okay, about. About three hours. Shit. Been there about three hours. And I gotta wait there and sit there and wait my turn. And in that moment, that's when you hear everything. You start hearing about the best MC that's going on right now. The best hair product, the best beard oil, the best people in sports. You know, your music, it's. It is everything, Drama. Everything.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Connor]

Every single thing goes on in a barbershop. So, you know, for us to be able to create that platform to shop, to be able to be able to bring on all the beautiful minds that we've. We've brought onto the shop, men and women, has been. It's been a pleasure. It's been an honor. And we keeping that thing going, man, because it's like, it's a comfort place. You know, I went to the barbershop from when I was like five all the way through high school. And, you know, to be able to have that sense of, like, truth. Truth, it's the one place of truth where you can go out there and be like, this is who I like. All right, that's who you like. And we gonna fight to the battle about it, you know, and it'd be a new topic the next day. And, you know, I think it's pretty cool.

[Pat McAfee]

You guys did a couple watch alongs too, for Thursday Night Football. Yeah, man.

[Connor]

Oh, that was dope. I mean, y'all. I mean, you guys know my love for the sport of football, so to be able to do that, you wouldn't.

[Pat McAfee]

Be able to take a shot, though, remember? Yeah. Yeah. Six foot nine, £250. Wouldn't be able to handle the Olympics. You saw your eyes blink sideways. What was that all about? What was that? What the. Was it. Hey, I need to know what happened. Is that always happen? Your eyes always blink like that? Or is that just at the Olympics?

[Connor]

I don't know. That was probably like my Michael Jackson Thriller video moment, you know, when he went from, like, you know, he kind of turned into that to that beast of his. I don't know, man. It was. I saw that. It kind of freaked me out too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Okay.

[Connor]

I missed that. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah. Okay. So you.

[Connor]

You also saw.

[Pat McAfee]

Terrific. You also saw it and. And thought the same thing everybody else did. Okay. Yeah.

[Connor]

There was people like, oh, my God, he's actually there in Paris, and he may be at his home in California at the same time.

[Pat McAfee]

This guy's not a human.

[Connor]

Yeah, this guy's not human.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's real.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a real conversation that was happening.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And I watched it a couple times. I was like, hold on. I'll tell you what.

[Connor]

I mean, the eyes aren't.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Connor]

I can't sit here and say that it was not real. Was not. Okay, just leave it at that. Okay, Just leave it at that.

[AJ Hawk]

You don't read those books before the games, right?

[Pat McAfee]

All those books, you open it to the first page, and then you don't.

[AJ Hawk]

Read those books ever again.

[Pat McAfee]

I.

[Connor]

Listen, listen. I actually have finished those books. Oh, hold on.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, if you were to hold this. Hold on.

[Connor]

No, no.

[Pat McAfee]

People say you would say you're ready.

[Connor]

This is how.

[Pat McAfee]

That's the art of winning. Someone take a photo or.

[Connor]

Take the photo, please. Pat, take the photo.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we got it. I think from this angle, probably Rich's book.

[Ty Schmidt]

We got the first page.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow. Holy braun. Read it and then. That's it.

[Connor]

That's it. I didn't even talk to you guys this whole time I was up here. All I did was read the whole book. That's it. That's it. Meteor.

[Seth Greenberg]

Everybody might not know that movie, but.

[Connor]

A classic, by the way. It's a classic.

[Pat McAfee]

We can't thank him enough. That was fun.

[AJ Hawk]

Thank you, LeBron.

[Pat McAfee]

That was fun stuff. The book thing is interesting, isn't it? Yeah. Because what if he did? Because we heard Wendy break down his spatial awareness, his memory and everything this morning on First Take. That was interesting. Listening to the. The dialogue afterwards. And I guess there are some things that have been said that you know, I mean, what a wild time. What a wild time. And just like I said yesterday with the big one, the big conversation afterwards with Steve, I hope one day just get to move along. Yeah, I don't know.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know if that's coming soon.

[Bruce Brown]

I don't know.

[Pat McAfee]

But then also the answer, you know, hey, hope you guys can figure it out. You guys figured out. And also thank you to LeBron one more time. Okay, we got some NFL news. Big news, actually. The NFL competition committee will be doing its new rules conversation. There's some new review rules that are happening. Challenging rules. Whenever there is a. Only whenever there is a flag on the field, penalty would have to be called. If there's no penalty called, there's nothing that they can really stop and go back and say, hey, that should have been. But I believe they're just going to be adding in the review or the, the quick replay conversation much quicker into more broader things. The NFL, you know, it is like a, it is a slow moving ship. You know, it's very large, very powerful. And the people that run it at the end of the day are 30 billionaires or 31 billionaires. And they obviously have competition committees and other people that are pitching things. And Roger Goodell obviously does a job of having to manage all aspects of it from meteorites, deal sponsorship deals, strategy, planning, relationships, future relationships, and everything else we're going to do. But for something to happen, it takes a while. You know, normally they like plant a seed. You plant a seed and then they kind of watch the reaction publicly probably to the seed. And then if it's okay, it's like, all right, we'll hang on to this. Then they'll institute it a little bit somewhere and then they'll test, Then they'll test it a little bit. It's like everything is always like a slow moving thing. And then if they don't like it, we're getting away from this instant replay. For the past, interference was something that had been talked about for a while, and then a big situation happened. They kind of had to do it. Then they got rid of it because they didn't like what it was. This new kickoff thing was a conversation for a while, conversation for a while, conversation for a while. Now they institute it, make a massive change to the game, and then now they want to keep it because they saw some positives. How do we make it even better? Well, this was like the initial pitch. The initial pitch was that a touchback would go all the way out to 35 instead of to the 30. And the reason why 35 is so much different than the 30 is because the touchback before this rule will change would bring it out to the 25. So to the 30s. Only five yards. People are giving up five yards on first down basically every single time. So who cares? To 35, that'd be a first down after a touchback, which whenever you know the percentages of when do you score and when do teams put any points on the board at all? 35 yard drive start versus a 30 yard drive start is a bit different on when points happen. So I think the 35 was going to scare teams out of just kicking touchbacks. The 30 did not. Early in the season when guys could kick touchbacks, they were just kicking it out and it looked Like a weird ass kickoff look like, why is there no line of scrimmage? Is football. There's supposed to be a line of scrimmage. There's two lines of scrimmage. Okay. And the kickers are going to be standing back there on a little island. We want a little spotlight on, spotlight on this guy. And everybody else is down here. And then they can't move into the ball. That's a weird thing. So the ball is snapped, nobody can move until there is some other thing that happens. Then everybody just has to assume when they can move. If they move too early, that's penalty. And if they move too late, they're cut. So there is. It was a lot at the beginning. Then we realized once these returns started happening it was like, okay, can kind of deal with the awkward view. Yeah, I think that would be kind of an awkward kind of view to start. Especially with what a kickoff has been for so long. And now they want to create more of that magic. They want to scare teams out of kicking more touchbacks. It was the original rule proposal. They put it in a little bit. Then he found out, okay, we do probably need to do that. I think that's going to be a thing. And I like those kickoffs. Turpin, I think open everybody's eyes for Dallas, whenever the ball bobbled, he had a spin move and bang, bang, bang instead of crib. And then there was some in the playoffs. It's like they're trying to get that back in the game. And if this is the way to do it and moving it to 35, I think we all think. And the special teams world will definitely make more returnable balls. I like what they're doing. Add in more explosive plays to the game.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah. I'll never forget I was right around this time last year when we were at the owners meetings when we, when they. We originally were told, hey, it's probably going to be the 35. And then it ended up being the 30. And you said, I don't know if that's going to be enough or whatever. You and I are old enough. I remember when touchback was came out to the 20.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Okay.

[Bruce Brown]

And now 15 yards is a ginormous difference. So yeah, you would assume this is going to make a big difference in guys, not or not just kicking it out of the back of the end zone like they did in basically the super bowl when it really mattered the most because that you good at the 35. One catch, you're at midfield.

[Pat McAfee]

Also another rule that is going to be Changed. Better not have a runny nose.

[Bruce Brown]

No, you better not.

[Ty Schmidt]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. And if you got a runny nose, you need to figure out how to rub it politely.

[AJ Hawk]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Cannot be aggressively. Cannot. No more. No more intense wiping of the noses. Okay? It's over. Stop it. No guns. No fake guns, right? No. Do I have a gun? Don't even point. That might look like a gun. Even a little point. That looks like the cricket from Men in Black. We don't need any potential guns being on the screen during any time. And everybody was like, all right, that makes sense. Actually, that one college kid went out with a bang. He actually. Not only him. The kid that lifted up his shirt.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Pulled one out, pulled the other out and was like, just make sure everybody knows this is what it is. It's two of them. And then shot a guy that left. I think everybody was cool with that. I think that was good play.

[Seth Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I think it was good play for the future. I think we all like that. That nose wipe is an interesting, interesting addition to the you can't do that rules whenever it comes to celebrating, and we'll see. CD Lamb's gonna have to figure it out down there, and we assume he will. What if he just does, like, a casual.

[Bruce Brown]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, that was white and first down.

[AJ Hawk]

I think that's okay.

[Pat McAfee]

So if he does, like, a three. A one of these, like, an itchy.

[Bruce Brown]

Nose versus a, like, wiping the snot.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. What if it is just, like, a cocaine?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Could be.

[Bruce Brown]

This could be the final fallout of COVID Okay, we don't. We don't need to be spreading germs. Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

This is probably what you're saying. Keep your fingers away from yours. Yeah. You got a runny nose. Don't touch it. Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

Use your slit. Use your elbow.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah. Those are good times.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep. Crook of the elbow.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You know what I like? When we used to go tip of shoe to tip of shoe.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, go see.

[AJ Hawk]

Had to.

[Bruce Brown]

Just a tip.

[Pat McAfee]

Just a tip. Especially on opening day. We would have been. That would have been like, a really exciting.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Handshake, foot shake. You remember when they did the. Remember the.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Go to the foot.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Not the. Those are wild times.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That was around the same time when we were on a Look at each other. Is that right?

[AJ Hawk]

Correct.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

People were getting it through the contact.

[Seth Greenberg]

Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

And cardboard box.

[Ty Schmidt]

Remember those goggles?

[Pat McAfee]

Everybody was ordering everything. The shipping world, the buy online, arrive at your front door business. Just want insane. It all came in cardboard boxes, though. And then all of a sudden, one day, don't even think about the cardboard boxes. Let them sit outside and sterilize for four to five days. So everybody just started having stacks outside.

[AJ Hawk]

Even getting groceries and just having to spray the bags down with like, stuff that's probably going to kill you regardless. Later, it's like you got fresh fruit and you're just hitting it with like.

[Pat McAfee]

An aerosol, like, hey, we survived.

[AJ Hawk]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

We made it. We made it. That was a wild time. A lot of people passed away. That was not good. No, but we survived and we lived through that time. We should always remember that. Recipes, obviously. That was. That was very. I came through like a Facebook post.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Italy. Just wait is what the person from Italy said. We were covering it. We were live every single day. Every single day during this thing.

[Bruce Brown]

Front page news.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a wild time. We made it.

[AJ Hawk]

We made it.

[Pat McAfee]

It's opening day. We made it.

[AJ Hawk]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Sweet 16. We made it.

[AJ Hawk]

Hell yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Football stories. We made it. Yeah. Day after LeBron Versation. We made. Race the rudders. Race the sails. Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger, wait.

[Seth Greenberg]

Is that an enterprise sales solution?

[Bruce Brown]

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

[Pat McAfee]

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

[Bruce Brown]

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

[Pat McAfee]

TaxAct knows filing your taxes can be complicated.

[Jeff Passan]

And that's why we have live experts.

[Pat McAfee]

To help you with any questions.

[Seth Greenberg]

They can hold your hand through the.

[Pat McAfee]

Process, beginning to end, metaphorically, of course.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, they can't actually hold your hand in person.

[Seth Greenberg]

I suppose you could hold your computer.

[Jeff Passan]

Mouse while you chat with the expert.

[Pat McAfee]

About capital games or whatever, which is sort of like holding hands. Sorry.

[Seth Greenberg]

Point is, our tax experts can make filing easier.

[Pat McAfee]

Tax act, let's get them over with. Are happening all around us. The Sweet 16 tips off this evening. We hope you are having a fantastic afternoon, morning or evening, wherever the hell you're watching. But tonight, college basketball is back in the spotlight and we think these games are going to be magnificent, magnetic and magical. We'll be talking to coach Seth Greenberg in about 10 minutes or so. BYU Bama, Maryland, with Derrick Queen and coach Willard for now. And the boys taking on a Florida team that a lot of people think could win the entire thing. Arizona, who just learned of KOA Pete's commitment to their program. Number nine ranked player in the country. I don't know. I watch his highlights. I'm going to say this guy's top five. Top five.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Four time high school state champion, three time Gatorade player of the year, three time GO medalist, former USA men's basketball man of the year co op, committed to Arizona on the show earlier today. They're taking on Duke and I'll tell you, this Duke team favored by nine and a half, that's hard not to jump on. Watching the boys operate for the Blue Devils down there is something like, you know, I don't think I've seen a long time for a Duke team. Plus, they'll even have their shirts untucked every once in a while. Okay. Because they're like getting after it dogs across the board down there for the Duke Blue Devils and what Cooper flag does. Obviously we'll talk more about it with Coach Greenberg, but like their entire team is loaded in the head coach. After learning his story, it's like he's a dog as well. They. They just passed the torch there from Coach K to somebody who is doing it in his own way. And with a team that is kind of building their own era but also continuing a tradition of greatness, I. That's been a fun storyline to follow. I much like how LeBron kind of worded it, you know, enjoyed watching duke. I love J.J. redick. I liked him. I like watching J.J. redick do his thing, but also wasn't really relatable with Duke. Like, it wasn't really. Then I go down to Duke for college game day and I think, wow, this place is so nice. But I was looking around like, yeah, this probably isn't a place that I'm supposed to be at, but it was very, very nice. So I'm not complimenting how or not saying anything bad about, but it wasn't a place like, somebody like me would be a big fan. This team I find myself a massive fan of. Oh, yeah, like the way they play, the way they operate, their story. Like, everything about it is fun to watch. And I think that's why people love them. They're holding it down for the ACC as the rest of the ACC trying to figure it out in this new SEC world. So Duke is on tonight, taking on Arizona and then Arkansas and Coach Calipari. The Cinderella story of this particular tournament take on Texas Tech, who's favored by five and a half. That thing tips off at 10:09, man. Nine, 39, one even.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Strap in. Strap in.

[Pat McAfee]

Can't wait to watch Derek Queen of Bush.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Can't wait to do the thing talks at tables here at Bruce Brown and at Ty Schmidt. Send your love to Boston. Conner and talk. Obviously traveled back home for a few days. They'll be back next week. Tonight's a big one. Let's go to one half of the Hammer done. Cowboys AP Tone Hammer done. Obviously sports gambling show that comes out of this particular Thunderdome every single, single day that we're live. What are the big bets for the night? Are there any trends that we need to know about this particular sweet sixteen.

[Bruce Brown]

Evening as coming out of the first round? The biggest trend was that there was, you know, no Cinderella. Cinderella was. Was not the only princess that got murdered this week in the Disney universe.

[AJ Hawk]

But Tony.

[Ty Schmidt]

Tony.

[Pat McAfee]

What he's been saying how. Yeah, he's been sitting on that.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah. Maybe all week.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

I thought they murdered the door.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, first, I think. And that was kind of the thing that started it all. I learned a lot about the people that were in that movie over the last couple days. Have we all.

[Bruce Brown]

Oh, yes, we have.

[AJ Hawk]

Crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

I did not know any of those people were in that movie. Like before, like the lead. I did not know a lot about.

[AJ Hawk]

Now I do.

[Pat McAfee]

I know I don't love that. Good luck though. On the other side, I guess. It did not and then do great. The Dwarves. I'm not a big grow up Disney movie guy. Sure didn't watch really any of them. Instead like Mighty Ducks. I didn't watch any of the. The animated cartoon ones. Never got into them. I apologize. I'm doing it with my daughter now. Feels like they should have been movies I maybe watch every once in a while. But I appreciate Sally and Tim being like, yeah, you don't have the attention Spade. You can get the out of here. You don't have to watch yourself. I'm going through it all, but I think like the dwarves were a part of it, weren't they? Kind of.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

In the title. Snow White in the Seven Dwarfs.

[Pat McAfee]

And then obviously there was a decision made because people were offended. Well, a person was offended, but I assume representing numerous groups of people. And then there's other people in same community that are like, hey, like, you.

[AJ Hawk]

Know, I could get this job. You know, there's not a whole lot of jobs out there usually.

[Pat McAfee]

And that's the interesting thing. And we're just sports people. Okay. Looking from the outside in. But if it makes it into my algorithm, probably means it's gotten really loud in your guys's world. Seemingly. What happens in that world more often than not when it makes it into My algo is just that the one side doesn't understand that the other side exists. You know, like, that is like. So when the one side is representing the other side and it's like, that's when things get real loud. That's when things get real loud. And with that being said, I think the next movie they make around this one, the people that would potentially be playing the Dwarves if they were to redo this guys, are in a good spot. You're needed. Yeah. You guys leverage wise?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yes, big time.

[Pat McAfee]

Good. I think you got a good negotiation potential there, you know? So, yeah, I learned a lot about that whole thing. That was a wild time. Didn't even think about it. Didn't know any of these people. And then all of a sudden, in a matter of like three days on the Internet, I. I feel like I know a lot about a lot of people. All of a sudden it's like, good luck, Snow White. That. So she's with the animals. Yes, yeah, the animals. So this will be remade again. Wait.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, this one's. This one's not doing great. I don't.

[Pat McAfee]

But you don't think they'll try to save the.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, maybe, but I think.

[Pat McAfee]

You think they are. You think Snow White's dead and gone? Dead and gone.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know about that. Maybe they reboot the. The animated one because the original Snow White, I think, came out in like 1939. Like, it's like.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I heard that. 1937.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, it's like the oldest Disney.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a big part of it.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. So maybe they redo it and. And do the animated version. I think. I mean, something like this. I mean, what do we. What the hell are we doing? What are we doing here?

[Pat McAfee]

So I think they're gonna try. They're gonna have to. The animal one like, that is a huge, like, just as somebody that lives with a lady who loves it, my daughter, I think, is gonna love it. Like the animal princess. They're gonna. Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

Forest creatures.

[Pat McAfee]

They're gonna have to figure that out. I can't wait for the next swing. Good luck in there.

[Bruce Brown]

Good luck.

[AJ Hawk]

Good luck, indeed.

[Pat McAfee]

Good luck indeed. It's gonna take some time.

[AJ Hawk]

It is, it is.

[Pat McAfee]

I think. I think time is the biggest healer of all wounds. I think that should certainly be something. What were you gonna say, Bruce?

[Ty Schmidt]

And that's why there are no Cinderellas left in the sweet 16.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, sorry for that.

[Ty Schmidt]

No nil. And everything. What they did to Snow White, that's why we didn't see that he's good run.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Anyways, you were sitting on that for a while. Congratulations. Congratulations to you.

[Bruce Brown]

It just popped in my head but against the spread favorites were 28 and 24. So as while they dominated on the money line against the spread it wasn't. And this like this is the shortest or shortest spreads that I've seen in a sweet 16 a long time. Now the nine and a half for Arizona Duke is. Is not super short. I mean but it's not double digits. There is no double digit favorites in this entire sweet six sixteen round. Nine and a half is the biggest spread in both days and those started at like seven and a half and were bet up because they, they like the teams. They obviously like Duke and the other teams. So I think they're going to be close games. It's just exciting. I think more dogs are going to win in this round obviously just because of how close the lines are. It's gonna. It's gonna be very, very exciting. And the under was also slightly ahead in the first round. 28 and 24 as well tomorrow.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that Lucas Oil Stadium? Yes. Okay. So that Purdue playing there is fascinating. Eight and a half Purdue a home game. Just something to think about in a stadium.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, that's always.

[Pat McAfee]

That's the big thing in a stadium too. Like the big ones I think about you know like Michigan here in Indianapolis. Like that's going to be pretty big. Go ahead.

[Ty Schmidt]

Michigan. I don't.

[AJ Hawk]

Atlanta, Kentucky, Tennessee I believe is in bang as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay so but the four and a half and how you like that. But it big a bigger spread especially like that is. That's an interesting. That's an interesting line you kind of.

[Bruce Brown]

Referenced that the unders are always something to look forward or look for in those stadium games as well. Just because the backdrop is so not what the players are used to shooting at.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw some people pissed off about it being in the stadium as our Lucas are in game. If it's at Gainbridge, look for the first half under. It is tough to shoot in that bar and when it's set up for basketball at the next compared to being at Cambridge. You're saying Lucas Oil. Lucas Oil.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You're saying if it's at Lucas Oil look for the unders at least first half until they adjust. Yeah. Because they get a shoot around. I think they get a shoot around but there's no. That's nowhere near. I think we even have our suite there. So like there's a suite that's going to be. Right.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Like that's an interesting. Just all of it in the depth behind how deep it is, as opposed to what an arena is. It does always optically. It's like whenever they played, weren't they playing on a Air Force aircraft? Playing on aircraft. Oh, yeah. And they shot terribly.

[Ty Schmidt]

The wind.

[Pat McAfee]

It's not just the wind in like the movement that could happen because you're on water, but the visuals. It's like you can't deal. Yeah. Empty. And if you guys remember the bubble. The bubble was basically in a small gym, high school gym, nothing behind it. And that's why those guys made every single three pointer this shot. And maybe that's why every NBA guy that comes in here just.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Yes, for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Just snipes this place. Steve Nash included. Do people know that Steve Nash can just walk onto a court right now and just go 20 for 20? Does that. Does everybody know that?

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, I would assume so. It's kind of like even after.

[Pat McAfee]

I think he had some wine. Yeah. Yeah, I think he had a little.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. But it's like you always say with like, you know, people who grow up in Indiana, like, once you learn how to shoot, like, you can, you can get older and be like fat and out of shape and you'll still kind of always have that like, form of a jump shot and be able to. To get one up like this guy did. I mean, he won two MVPs. You know, he's. He's a hall. He's a Hall of Famer.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, you enjoy watching it. I mean, Fox are on the other side of it.

[AJ Hawk]

It was awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

As it was happening, me and Fox were like, this is kind of cool. Watch this. It was awesome.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, he like let out a yell and then it just hit the rim and still went in. It was just the only first switch to hit the rim.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I mean, he, he's.

[Bruce Brown]

For his career shot over 40, 42 from 3.

[AJ Hawk]

That's pretty darn good in game.

[Pat McAfee]

I haven't shot in 11 years. He's. I don't know. I don't know. Let me. No, seriously. Yeah, I haven't. I play a lot of tennis. He said a lot of tennis. He plays soccer. He played in that tst. We're saying he doesn't play pickup Steve. He's playing tennis. He played in tst. That means he's playing a little bit of soccer. I, I assume there's a pickup game happening somewhere around Steve Nash. But anyways, he told us he hadn't shot.

[AJ Hawk]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

In a decade or so. That first one, I think it was 20 for 20 nothing. But that's unbelievable. It was insane. I wonder what Bron would have done in here. You know, he had. He literally. I mean, in between things, he was so kind and so cool. Did not shoot in here, though. Kind of didn't want to, because what happened with Tyrese. Sure, sure. You know, after Tyrese leaves here. And how that first quarter and first half went for LeBron.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Wasn't necessarily as. Oh, no. Double double with a game winner. That's just all that needs to be said.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

But what Steve Nash did. Unbelievable. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who probably knows more about hoops than anybody else is talking on TV right now. College hoops. At least now there's going to be college pundits that are obviously pissed off about me saying that.

[AJ Hawk]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

But with that being said, every time he's come on our particular program, he's seemingly been right and also explained exactly how things were going to go. I don't want to say he predicted chalk talk, but he certainly said the SEC is going to have a run here. This is the best conference he's ever seen. Seven of the teams in the Sweet 16 are from the Southeastern Conference, including the Florida team that he absolutely loves. They got by dan Hurley and UConn. And obviously the refs helped him, if you ask Dan Hurley. But where do we lie now? Let's ask this man. Ladies and gentlemen, from espn, coach Seth Greenberg.

[Seth Greenberg]

What's up, boys? What's up, boys? I tell you what, I think it's gonna be a fun weekend. Forget about Cinderella. We got real games. We got big boy games. Put on your big boy pants because there's gonna be no joke. There are no Rocket chair games left in this tournament.

[Pat McAfee]

You're saying heavyweight matchup. We got big time brands battling it out. That means we're gonna have great games. We just went through the spread. There's no spread larger than 10. There is a lot of tight spreads through the entirety of this sweet 16. What are some of the storylines we need to be looking at? Derrick Queen and Willard, allegedly, he's off to Villanova. Will that affect them? They're taking on your team. Florida, byu, obviously. Great story that you chatted about. That would be great in this entire thing. Duke, unbelievably dominant, learning their stories. Cool. And Calipari is the Cinderella. What is the thing you're looking at tonight, Coach?

[Seth Greenberg]

I think you know, the Florida Maryland game, with everything that's going on in. In Maryland right now, with you know, obviously Kevin Willard potentially or probably going to Villanova. That's good. That's a storyline, but the game is the bigger storyline. I mean Derrick Queen to think about how they got to this point to the Sweet 16, getting him to ball in the middle of the floor, a little step back right there. I mean that's just a sick contested shot. Get your 611 guy, the ball in the middle floor, have him put it on the floor with a kind of Dirk Niti type step back. That was sick. It was absolutely incredible. But the plays back to back the skip pass for the three and then on the other hand, obviously this shot now Kevin Willard, the play before, he had a foul against. He had a foul to give and didn't give a foul. But you know, lot of questions, a.

[Pat McAfee]

Lot of questions from coach Greenberg, a lot of questions there.

[Seth Greenberg]

My, my, my head was percolating while I was watching that game.

[Pat McAfee]

Anyways, him going to Villanova, we talked about this at the beginning of the show. You know, McNe State with coach Wade had something similar. How do you think like the modern college experience for college hoops is either good or devastating for the situation that's going on in Maryland with Willard?

[Seth Greenberg]

I would have said devastating except they have four of their five guys or seniors that are going to be at the door anyway. So he's going out the door with them. I mean Derrick Queen's going to be one and done. Reese is eligibility is done. Shelton Miguel's eligibility and so Jacoby Gillespie. So like those guys just want to go win games like at that at this point that's just what it's all about. McNe got beat by a team that could pass and catch and make shots and attacked. All that switching. Maryland on the other hand, they got to deal with the most explosive team in a tournament. They got to deal with a team that's going to run Derek Queen up and down the floor, put him in ball screen, screen the hell out of him and make him defend and probably get him in foul trouble is my gut feeling. If I, if I'm the Florida coaching staff and obviously Todd Goldman's done a great job. You make Queen defend every single possession. The matchup that's interesting to watch is Gillespie and Walter Clayton. That's kind of, that's a big time matchup. Two guys that can really play, two guys that came from mid majors that are NBA players. So that's going to be a fun matchup to watch.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you love this Florida team coming in. You love the SEC as a whole. And we watched Florida take on UConn. I don't think I've gotten. I don't think we've gotten to ask you about coach Dan Hurley afterwards, and then the entire UConn response. But, like, that game was awesome to watch. And because Florida was running early, I mean, they were running. It was like 11, two or something. I think at the beginning, they were just wide open. And then watch them get the offensive rebounds and the way they operate, or I guess it wasn't. But they were moving early. They looked very dominant against UConn. And then. And Dan Hurley and the boys come back, and then Florida ends up winning it at the end. That was a great college basketball game, but this Florida team was electrifying to watch. Has that been how they've been all year? And is that why you like them so much?

[Seth Greenberg]

100%. Like, I got a chance to watch them practice this. This winter, and you watch them practice, the energy that they play, the pace they play with, the freedom they play with the force they play with the collective responsibility. Like those dudes like each other.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, it's.

[Seth Greenberg]

It's interesting. We go there for game day, and usually we go to practice during game day, and you watch practices and practice is over and players are out the door. You talk to the coaches, you talk to the assistant coaches. Practice was over. Every one of those kids came by and they wanted to talk. I mean, they're not spoiled by the situation, and they're all being taken care of. I mean, they're all obviously excited about where they are, what they're accomplishing. But, you know, whether it's Walter Clayton, who I think is going to be a lottery pick, he's sitting there and, coach, appreciate you coming to practice. I'm having this conversation with him, whether it's Denzel Aberdeen who comes off the bench. He's the only guy, like, kind of the freshman that comes and plays, a local kid of Florida kid. So they've got a good perspective on where they are, what they're doing. And UConn pushed them right to the limit. UConn's game plan was freaking phenomenal. It was absolutely ridiculous. Look, you can't turn it over down to stretch. You got to get free throw, block out. You got. You can't give up extra possession. That's why I say special situations for basketball. Free throw, block out, coming out of timeouts, first play, to have first play in the game. Those things you got to be good at if you're going to pull off an upset. And you know that was the difference in the game. But Florida answered the bell. I don't know about football, but basketball, to get to a championship game, you're going to play one of those games. When the game was on the line, Walter Clayton was an absolute monster. Those two threes. He hit off the bounce and elevated and jumped up and knocked those shots down. They were sick.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Helps them get calloused a little bit. You know, for the moment, a tight win like that against the reigning back to back national champions is good for a team's confidence. And let's talk about Duke, obviously representing the acc, a team that you love and you obviously have given massive credit to coach Shire and Cooper flag. They're taking on Arizona. Arizona gets Co A Pete to commit to them today early in our particular show. But what should we be looking for this game? And Duke is dominant. I mean they are a dominating basketball team.

[Seth Greenberg]

They are dominating. Where they dominate the game is on the defensive end. With their size, their length, they switch 1 through 5. So when they switch 1 through 5, they got a guy like Malawatch, he can switch on a guard and stay off him and still contest the shot. They can put in a ball screen, they can trap. Those guys behind him are so connected. And then Tyrus Proctor shoots the ball the way he shoot it now. And the confidence that he's playing with. To compliment, to compliment, obviously Cooper to compliment Moloch to compliment the guys coming off the bench, that's absolutely huge. They're playing with so much confidence and it starts on the defensive end. I mean their length and they're going to get Malik Brown back. It looks like the kid who's been hurt with the shoulder injury and he's like a sick defender and a terrific passer and an experienced player. So they're adding some experience. They've been terrific in the tournament. Look, their path hasn't been as difficult maybe as others, but they've done what they needed to do. This Arizona team's good. And Caleb Love goes off. Caleb Love, you know he's had games against Duke. Now Coach Case, Senior night. I don't even remember. Cameron Indoor 22 Coach K's last game NCAA tournament semifinals 28. Caleb Love can happen and he can go off. And this is a much better Arizona team than they were when they played Duke early in the season. I mean they started the season Arizona 4 and 5. Then they kind of got their stuff together. They're playing much better basketball. And Caleb Love is a tough matchup. But Duke, I don't. I think Duke I think Arizona covers. I don't, I don't think it's going to be more than 9.5 points. I just, I can't see it. Arizona's playing well enough to at least make it a game.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, I like that news. Thank you for the intel on that. We will certainly heed your advice. And for byu, Alabama in Arkansas, Texas Tech, what should we be looking for?

[Seth Greenberg]

Yeah, byu. That game is going to be fun. That's going to be like an NBA game. I mean, I mean, that game. I would, I would lean to the over on that game if I'm not a man of chance. But if I was using my cranium and looking at that game, the pace of the play, I didn't know we.

[Pat McAfee]

Were getting picks right now. I love that we giving picks right now.

[AJ Hawk]

Love it.

[Pat McAfee]

I want to let you know that we are very, very.

[Seth Greenberg]

I'm doing the best I can.

[Pat McAfee]

You know what I mean?

[Seth Greenberg]

Boys, I'm making my way through life.

[Pat McAfee]

I got.

[Seth Greenberg]

Look, I'm talking on TV all day. I mean, if I can hang out with you guys and maybe get a couple shots up like Nash, I wouldn't make my shots, but I'm going to give it a shot at least.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, we appreciate that. We appreciate.

[Seth Greenberg]

Ridiculous. People think Steph Curry is the biggest defense recruiting mistake. I mean, I took my team at Long Beach State to play the junior national team in the Canadian Junior national team and we put. Steve was on that team and we kicked the crap out of him. I mean, like, he would come and shoot with our team. He was like, you know, 17 years old. I mean, we destroyed those dudes. And at the end of that series against you national, the dude wanted to come to Long Beach State. And like I said, I don't know, I had my backcourt coming back. I mean, you know, we just, you know, we just beat the crap out of him. Major mistake.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah.

[Seth Greenberg]

Big.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Seth Greenberg]

That way that was bigger than Pretty Woman mistake. You know what I mean?

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, I really. Coach Green Bear. We got our back. We're coming back. Canadian white dude. We just beat the shit out of. Steve probably remembers that, by the way. He did.

[Seth Greenberg]

We were in the same region with him in the NCAA tournament. When you get to the podium, he goes, you know those guys in the other half of the draw, I wanted to go to Long Beach. I said, thanks, Steve. I appreciate my reputation.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, he remembers that forever. That's how those elite, you know, dogs are. And you think about how athletic he was. I mean, just soccer, he could have Went probably. We were talking to him literally the other day. He probably could have went in soccer. Basketball was obviously it. And then you listen to him on Tuesday, April 1st. Mind the game with LeBron and Steve Nash is going to come out. We got a chance to listen to it a little bit. His IQ for basketball is just unbelievable.

[Seth Greenberg]

It's, it's, it's crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

But he was explaining. I don't want to give anything away. He was explaining and I want to give it away. Yeah, I think he created like there was a move like there is a run that he created and like keeping.

[Seth Greenberg]

The dribble underneath and keep your dribble live to wait for the cutters to come and, and come around.

[Pat McAfee]

There it is. Yes, exactly. And he like explained it and then he was like explaining what he was looking at while he was doing that. And it was just like. Yeah, it was like boom, boom, boom. He was literally like the Queen gambit on there. It was the brain. The mind is a crazy thing. Anyways, you that one up. But what should we with byu Obama? We're going over on that one and.

[Seth Greenberg]

Then we're going over on that. That'd be an interesting game. Now Cal's game is interesting. The Arkansas game. You get to do Theo back and how much are you going to play him? He's a better matchup for Texas Tech because they have kid named J.T. toppin and you might want to downsize against Texas Tech. I like this Arkansas team and I'll tell they have had different guys the last game. Billy Richmond and Carter Knox. I mean he can or not leaves him in scoring. I mean one day it's DJ Wagner, one day it's O Jonas to do now like Texas Tech's ridiculously well coached. They're physical as hell. They can really have a lot of different guys that great matchup problems. But there's something about this run that Cal's on. Like it's one of those things Cal to the Elite Eight that would just totally mess people's minds up. And he has that kind of rare ability one yet once you back him into a corner, he just kind of figures stuff out. They were 05 in the SEC.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Zero percent chance to make the tournament. Zero percent.

[Seth Greenberg]

He talks and he'll let you know that too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he did. That's how I know it. That is literally how I know. They gave us 0% pat and then he did the. The coffin thing, which is very real. They actually did that to his team first year over there. And the way it ended At Kentucky, too. This guy's lost it. He goes to Arkansas into tough SEC. They're 0 and 5. They were coming for him, too. Him taking his team, and now he's. He was wearing a shirt when he goes in there. He said you could. He's celebrating and enjoying the moment with these guys, too.

[Seth Greenberg]

It feels 100%.

[Pat McAfee]

And I think he has a 14 and three lifetime record in the sweet 16. I think it's insane. I think that is his record in the sweet 16. It's like some of these older coaches are older coaches for a reason. Yeah. Hey, these same people have been around. Yeah. Because they're fucking good. That is, they stay.

[Seth Greenberg]

They don't get fired games.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, exactly. And Calipari, five and a half points. Okay. And he's got a dude coming back. He talked about that the other day. Fascinating night. Okay, the boys have some questions for you, Coach. Go ahead, Todd.

[Seth Greenberg]

Let's do it.

[AJ Hawk]

Coach. We just heard Tom Izzo recently get pretty pissed about the question about, you know, dealing with the transfer portal because it just opened. While also, you know, preparing your team for a sweet 16 or a tournament game. But I'm curious to get your take on this. With the current climate of college basketball, how difficult do you think that is for these coaches to prepare for a tournament game while they also know that there's a good chance that, you know, two or three guys that they might rely on four minutes are already kind of looking at where they might be going in the portal next? Yeah.

[Seth Greenberg]

It's brutal. By the way, great Yankee gear, by the way. It's only about one team. Love. Absolutely love the Yankee. Having said. Having said that, like, I'm 100% with Tom. And here's the portal's open 12 months a year, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. All right. Like you saw the kid from. That's going to St. John's from Arizona State. I mean, the portal opened Monday. You committed Tuesday. The portal's open seven days a week, 12 months a year, 24 hours there. Having said that, the day of selection Sunday to the end of the tournament should be a dead period. 100% should be that we have dead periods in recruiting calendar throughout the year. Why would you put coaches and players and everyone else in a situation where you're getting ready to play the biggest game of your career as a player, as a coach? All right? You've had this unbelievable journey to get to this point. It's a sweet 16 and Justin Pittman is putting his name in the portal. And he plays for Michigan and they're in the Sweet sixteen. Why, why, why would we be in that moment? It's so easy to say, you know what? Brackets come out. Boom, dead, period. The Wednesday after the championship game, it gets live again. And then we eliminate all of this conversation. It just makes common sense. You're putting players in a bad place. And then like, even the coaches, like, you don't know who's in the portal and who's not in the portal because like these teams that are playing, you don't have those conversations after. But the agents, the agents are running recruiting. You don't need the parents. Yeah, but it's the agents that are totally running. Like guys are in the portal and guys are being, are talked about in terms of being shopped. They don't even know they're being shopped. These are agents and they're not even agents. The more the old school runners, Remember the old school runners, like you have a guy on campus and be working a guy. These guys are behind a lot of sleep. Oh, big. Yeah, big. And these guys are legitimately making calls around and they're setting the market. Now here's what the coaches got to do. The coaches, One, if we got to fix that. The second thing is like they're throwing out two million dollars. Like it's a twenty dollar bill. Oh yeah, my guy's worth two million dollars. Some of these coaches got to call their bluffs. Say, you know, like, you want $2 million? Good, let them go. Take $2 million. Because there's very few players, like I'm going to give you an example, Indiana, they spent a ton of money in the portal, didn't they? Yes, ton of money. Well, did they play in the NCAA tournament?

[Pat McAfee]

No, but they will. You know, they had to spend all that money to get to this point to get deep. You know, they get the new coach, that's fine.

[Seth Greenberg]

Look, I'm, I'm big de guy, but I mean, like, if you go around the teams that spent all that money.

[Pat McAfee]

They'Re not playing now.

[Seth Greenberg]

They're not playing now. I mean, look, K State paid, paid Coleman Hawkins $2 million. Not in the tournament. I can go, I can go. I can go through the list of all the guys that overspent, overpaid, got great. Osenberg went to Washington. Not in the tournament. Like, you got to get the right dudes. Like, and like, if an agent is just trying to get the bottom line and, and look, I understand their jobs, but to me the coaches have got to say this is like, this Is pro sport.

[Pat McAfee]

We're having the same. It is pro SP sports, but in pro sports, at least there's a market and there's, you know, a calendar and a schedule and guidelines and a cap and, you know, so that is the difference. And I think in football, we've had this conversation a lot about how there's going to be guardrails coming soon. We hope there's a ruling that has. Should have. I know that has to be happening relatively okay, so it's been moved to July 1. So that ruling is coming. Then there's salary cap, then there's a rev share and then there is a panel that has to approve every nil deal to say, yeah, so now there's like allegedly going to be a market out there. But how can you tell what the market is? Because the market is whatever somebody's willing to pay you. I don't know how they figure that whole thing out, but I do think that there is a time coming for some guardrails. Let's get back to that transfer portal being in the middle of the tournament. That's actual ineptitude, right? Because the reason why they do these transfer portals is because they say the square schooling system. The schooling system, they have to be able to transfer into the next school before the next semester. But football doesn't have their transfer portal, their spring one, until April. So that could easily have been moved till after the tournament because there's no school implications. Like it's happened during the College Football Playoff where teams were in the College Football Playoff and some of their players felt obligated to get into the transfer portal because the portal opened in the middle of it and they thought they would miss the time. And we said, why don't you just move that till after the thing? They said, well, they have to be able to transfer in before the next semester starts. So schooling is kind of the thing. So then the answer is like, we'll take that one out of the fall, keep the one in April, whenever, you know, the season's over, OTAs and spring's over, you guys should do the same thing. Why do these decisions get made up front? They should see the train wreck that is coming. You would think they should be able to do that. But we can correct it. I think. I think we can correct this shit, don't you?

[Seth Greenberg]

We have to correct it. I mean, like, there's no answer to this is no brainer. I'll tell you why. Because the people that make the rules a lot of times aren't the coaches. The People that make rules are, you know, athletic advisors, presidents, and they're not living it. And so they don't, they can't look at it through a prism of what they're looking at bottom lines. They're looking at whatever. They're not looking at the prism of the actual full experience. I mean, like to me, how the NCAA doesn't have people on board and, and quite honestly, the NABC represents the coaches has got to be more involved in this thing. Like the Football Coaches association is very, very involved. Our association has got to be more involved and more powerful to have a voice that is heard and be a, basically a sounding board of the coaches.

[Pat McAfee]

You need to be in the room.

[Seth Greenberg]

Where people on those committees need to.

[Pat McAfee]

Be in a room where it happens.

[Seth Greenberg]

Hamilton, here we go.

[Pat McAfee]

Bingo. I'm cultured. Okay, if you're, you're in a room where it happened, then you can obviously have say if you're not in a room, you're waiting on what everybody else is saying.

[Seth Greenberg]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

And that's not just sports either. That goes in. We need the right people in the rooms, you know, we need the right people in the rooms, proper voices at least being representative, and hopefully we'll be able to figure that out in all stages. But college sports needs to happen quick. College sports needs to happen quick because there's a lot of shit that happened Covid happened. Now we get an extra two free years. Guys are allowed to sit out six years. Now it's like, do we still have the four years of eligibility rule that's being phased out now we get nil. Now we got the, it's like everything needs quickly because it's continuing to go like this and the product is not sustainable. Yeah, but the product is more like now than maybe ever. You know, you look at like college football, I assume college basketball is going to be the same thing. It's like, like, let's make sure we preserve this great thing that we have. I think we're all on the same page. A.P. tone has a question for you about the Sweet Sixteen.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, Coach, we, we talked to coach Kyle earlier this week and he was saying how, you know, each weekend is a four team tournament. So with that being said, can you as a coach in a team carry over momentum from week, from the first weekend? Or is it just, hey, this is a reset where this is a brand new weekend? Or can you like, can Duke, who was just so dominant in the first weekend, can they, can they just keep riding that wave?

[Seth Greenberg]

Yeah, I think they can. I think momentum's a big thing. But you got to think all 16 teams have momentum because they survive their, their quad. But yeah, I think that. Look, look, let's face it, you want your team to be confident. You want them to play with confidence and poise and force and trust. And yeah, I think you win two games especially like I look at Arkansas, you beat Bill Self and you beat Rick Patino. You beat the number two seed and you're the ten seed. Yeah, that's momentum. Duke, how they won for sure. On the other hand now Auburn has not played as well as we expected him to play and they had some injuries at the end of that game. Like I have some concerns about Auburn. Chad Baker Mazzara had that little hip pointer at the end of the game the other day. He couldn't finish out the game. How healthy is he going to be? They haven't played with the same confidence they have been as a dominating offensively and defensively. So I got a little bit of concern for Auburn in that case. But they do have this guy to hide. Bedford. And that dude is Kenny Anderson. That's a young Kenny Anderson. This left hander right here. This dude is a little bit different. Little runner, shoots the three, has no fear. Jersey City guy. I mean he's, he, he's dangerous. But like Auburn doesn't have the momentum. Say that an Arkansas has them, they can regain it or an Ole Miss has. And Chris, Chris has got his team play well. A BYU has right now those teams have a lot of momentum going in because not only winning but how they played. Like, you know, like winning is winning. But if you played really well, you're thinking like I'm a swinger. Now you try to figure that without Pat.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, a swinger, there's a lot of different.

[Seth Greenberg]

You're like, okay, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. Okay. Yeah. All right.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Seth Greenberg]

If I get, if I see something that goes over your head, I'm really struggling.

[Pat McAfee]

No, no, it went into my head and there was just too much, there was too much going on. I was like, whoa, okay. We didn't know. I didn't know enough about Coach Greenberg. I thought immediately there now I learned a lot. But you're right. Yes, you're right 100%. Bruce has a question for you about the big swingers in this particular one.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Coach. So some of the, the long shots remaining. I, I know you like Arkansas, but you know, Michigan, Maryland, which one of those do you think has the best chance and who might be the most gettable one seed? I know Florida and Duke are Kind of a cut above. But maybe tomorrow night.

[Seth Greenberg]

Yeah, I think Auburn's gettable and I think Michigan's an interesting team. Now look, now you know Michigan's got those two seven footers and those two seven footers, they play post to post basketball. Danny Wolf is a freak. I mean he's 6 foot 11 and he's basically a point guard. He can handle it, he can shoot it. They run their offense through them and, and a lot of stuff. Golden is a load in the low block. So like those two guys are a problem. Now it goes back to my conspiracy thing. You know, you got the, you got the Donaldson, Katie. He played at Auburn last year so he understands what he's about to compete against. I think they match up well. Look, the key, key things in that game will be they got to take care of the basketball. That's the big Achilles heel for Michigan. They turned over about 19% of their possessions a lot because the bigs are handling it all the over the floor and they got to rebound the basketball. But I like this matchup because style of play. Dusty May plays fast, he plays ahead of the defense. Those two guys create matchup problems. They've got enough depth and they also going to pull Janar Broom and make him defend. They don't have to double him because golden plays room man to man. Then all those inside out kickouts he gets are a problem because you're going to take that away. So now you can wall up and just force broom to play over the top of you. Which is a really big thing in terms of a matchup. Because if you double broom, all of a sudden they go swing, swing.

[Pat McAfee]

They get the more reverse.

[Seth Greenberg]

They're knocking down jumpers and that's a problem. Michigan for sure to cover this game.

[Pat McAfee]

That Wolf guy's got a Steve Nash.

[AJ Hawk]

He does.

[Pat McAfee]

That's what Steve Nash looked like in here. If you want to know what the shot looked like 20 straight times, that was exactly what it looked like. And not once did he just even crack or say anything. Just walked right to the next spot. No big deal. I think he clapped in his own partner's face. Connor missed his first two shots and then Steve claps in Connor's face and Connor goes, what are you doing Splash coaching. He's coaching. We appreciate you man. We genuinely appreciate the time and this is a blast.

[Seth Greenberg]

I enjoy this.

[Pat McAfee]

You've been crushing it on tv, brother.

[Seth Greenberg]

I'm faking my way through life. Just, you know, stay down on those shot fakes.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah, that's a big Deal.

[Seth Greenberg]

I got a question, Steve Nash, one question for you. If someone laid it down right now at the. At the 35 yard line, could you knock it right through?

[Pat McAfee]

Kick. Yeah, kick.

[Seth Greenberg]

I mean, punting, kicking makes no difference. I mean, you're.

[Pat McAfee]

You're pro for me. You're talking about me or Steve Nash?

[Seth Greenberg]

No, you, Steve Nash. You probably do, too. I mean, a soccer guy.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, what's happening? Is there like a reason I'm doing it or is it just happening for no reason?

[Seth Greenberg]

No, it would have to be for money. I mean, I know money, death, a.

[Pat McAfee]

Family member or something like that. Yeah, the ball is going. Ball is going to go through. Yeah. Yeah. I think would like proper footing, but if I got to wear cowboy boots or something else, I could still try to make it happen. Especially if there's going to be a death of a family member. So. Yeah, I think no problem there.

[Seth Greenberg]

I think that's a made for charity event right there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You know, the issue is the last time I kicked a ball. Oh, boy. Exited the stadium and I ripped my hip flexor. That was at. That was at TST last year, the soccer tournament down in Cary, North Carolina. And I'll tell you what, I. I jogged off that field and I said, that's why the.

[Seth Greenberg]

I think your gig right now is pretty good, though. I think you're in good shape.

[Pat McAfee]

How about this? Hey, who's gonna win the national championship, you think?

[Seth Greenberg]

The games.

[Pat McAfee]

If this goes in, you're right.

[Seth Greenberg]

Oh, we're gonna see this.

[Pat McAfee]

We're gonna see.

[Seth Greenberg]

I like this.

[Pat McAfee]

Sorry about it.

[Seth Greenberg]

Todd golden not happy with you.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, second one fell. That was for Arkansas. There we go. That was for Cal. Ladies and gentlemen, coach Katharine Burke. Thank you, buddy.

[Seth Greenberg]

Thanks, Cash.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, no problem, no problem. He's at Gatis.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

That was pretty quick. Gatis. I almost didn't hear what he said.

[AJ Hawk]

Gatis.

[Pat McAfee]

I was like, I think he said Florida.

[Bruce Brown]

He's had some gators.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm happy he said that. I haven't made one of those in a little bit. I don't know if you've seen out here, we got a new contraption set up on the court. This is thunder buckets. You know, this is garbage can beer pong, basically, where you shoot with basketballs, but it's a full court shot, you see, and there is defense involved. It has really captivated the Thunderdome here in the last 24 hours. We played this at Pin's Mechanical. Whenever we rented that place out for the first day of March Madness, that Place was awesome. That place was absolutely awesome. If you come through Indianapolis, I assume that'd be a great place for you to stop by. Definitely. If you have a big group, feels like the perfect place to go through. But they had, like, a version of this type of game. Then obviously we brought in here. This one's going to get aggressive, I think. I think there's going to be a lot of this. Yeah, this is definitely going to take over the office. Everyone has different strategies. The best strategy, just shoot a jumper. You know, some guys like doing chess passes or runners. It's not working so far. Yeah, you're embarrassing yourself and ruining the game.

[Bruce Brown]

I didn't understand the runner.

[Pat McAfee]

Not one runner. He did it the entire game. Yeah. It was the only thing he did. And then he moved himself to the corner opposite the runner's side, too, so he's making his. It was almost like a hook shot at times. We.

[Ty Schmidt]

We were originally playing where you're shooting from the free throw line, and we moved it back to basically LeBron settings where we're shooting from, you know, basically the block right. Right under the basket. And that's just to benefit you two sharpshooters making your living on the outside. We make our money on the inside. We like a nice little shorter shot. So we move it up to the free throw line. Maybe I could nail my jump shot right in there. We back it up there. It's righty runners all day making it rain.

[Pat McAfee]

Luca, you got D bone outlet passing. Oh, that.

[Ty Schmidt]

It is ridiculous.

[Pat McAfee]

Ridiculous.

[Ty Schmidt]

The outlet pass is a tough look.

[Pat McAfee]

Basketball's taking over kind of here, you know? Definitely. I mean, this is the most. I think the basketball community has been incredibly kind. I mean, that was absurd. Absolutely absurd. But not just him, like, Tyrese as well. These coaches coming through, the players coming through. It's like. And at this moment, it's like the NBA game last night was awesome.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

It's basketball season.

[Pat McAfee]

It is basketball season, and it's also baseball season.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes, it is.

[Pat McAfee]

Ty, what time do these games start? And is this normally, like, everything gets delayed? How's the weather around the country?

[AJ Hawk]

That is the big thing. And that's why a lot of people about opening day being this early, because, like, the weather actually in New York today, I think, is pretty nice. Yankees are the first game at 305 Eastern, and then there's another Blue Jays and Orioles right after that. And then I believe there are nine games that go on between, like, 405 and 415. But, yeah, that was always the big thing. Is like you would have have either like Chicago or the Yankees or the Mets or whoever. Like you're playing in New York at the end of March. Sometimes you'd get like 25 to like 35 degree weather and snow on the ground. And it's like these guys just get done from playing in like Arizona and Florida for spring training and they're kind of, you know, acclimated to that. That's obviously what you're playing in most of the summer. And then you have to go up and like pitchers have to throw in 35 degree weather so they're not throwing as hard. The. The overall product kind of suffers. But like today in New York, I believe it's like 52 degrees and sunny, which, you know, doesn't typically happen.

[Pat McAfee]

And on that note, MLB weather report, Zito just pulled up. There's only three games that are in jeopardy of delays today. A lot of games. Weather impact doubtful. New York, Toronto, Texas, Washington, Chicago, Houston, San Diego, Miami, la, Seattle and Arizona all ago. Paul Skeens will be on the bump against Miami. Okay. They don't have any cold front that they had coming through during the College Football Playoff. Kansas city, Cincinnati and St. Louis. Potentially problematic. That's the Midwest, though. Easy come, easy go in these cities. You know, that could be. And then it very much could be the complete opposite. Could be like great weather and then likely delay a rain out none. That's great news. Shout out to the weather. You've been a pain in the ass.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Shout out to the weather on this particular ocean.

[AJ Hawk]

Shout out.

[Bruce Brown]

I would say. Yeah, I just looked at all those. At least those potential rain outs or whatever. Potential rain. They're all in the 60s, so like, it's not like there's a lot of times where we're getting like 35 today. It's real tough.

[AJ Hawk]

Guys wearing like sweatshirts and like fleece, like underneath their, you know, uniforms, which isn't typically conducive to playing a baseball game.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Stings in the hand. Oh, yes, Big time. Good luck to the baseball people.

[Bruce Brown]

Good luck.

[Pat McAfee]

Good luck.

[AJ Hawk]

Go get him.

[Pat McAfee]

Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a NCAA champion, a man who is a second lieutenant in the Air Force. And obviously we all learned of his story last weekend whenever he beat Gable Steveson and what people are calling the biggest upset in NCAA history. Ladies and gentlemen, from the Air Force and Oklahoma State, second lieutenant Wyatt Hendrickson. What's up, boss?

[Wyatt Hendrickson]

How you guys doing today?

[Pat McAfee]

Great, buddy. How are you doing, brother? How's life as the champ.

[AJ Hawk]

Man?

[Wyatt Hendrickson]

It's Been awesome. I mean, Stillwater has just been so supportive. As soon as we got off the plane, the town was here to greet us. We were going to the softball games, you know, going to baseball games. And I mean, just having a town like this, it just shows how deep the legacy runs here at Oklahoma State. I mean, we've got fans from, you know, the past 40, 50 years have been supporters of Oklahoma State University, and, I mean, that's still running rich. And, you know, I think Oklahoma State's on to, you know, we're picking up something special again. You know, obviously, Magic Man's in town. You know, this is just the first year, but we got high goals going forward.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. I love to hear that. And every time I watch Matt Madness, I think about how electrifying the environment is. What was it like in the building there in Philly? And you guys were billed as the main event. You know, you guys won on last, especially because of everything that Gable has accomplished. I think he's become must watch television. Whether it's because people are massive supporters or he has people that are pulling against him at this point because of how much success he has had. What was the day like leading up to and what was the arena like as you were out there? What a moment for you and your family. Obviously, congratulations on it all.

[Wyatt Hendrickson]

Thank you very much. Yeah, it's been a long time coming. I've been wrestling for 19 years, so having a moment like that, celebrating with my family, it was awesome. But leading up to that day, even during the tournament, I don't like watching the tournament. I like to kind of stay in the back and focus on myself. And I was zoned in that day, you know, leading all the way from, you know, the morning of until, you know, five minutes before the match. I was ready. I was confident in my training. I was ready to go put on display, you know, the hard work I've been putting in the last six, seven months. Because you don't decide the day of the tournament, you want to be a national champion, you need to decide that months in advance because that. That's going to guide your training. That's going to depend how you train, and you know, it's going to show on the mat when you go compete. So, you know, as soon as I walked out there, I actually, I have such good. You know, I've done this a lot, so my tunnel vision was amazing. All I saw was that center mat. I didn't even see. Gable was standing in the center with his arms open. You know, he was kind of guarding the mat, like, hey, you're coming to big papa. You know, you're taking on the champion. I was just so focused. I mean, he was saying stuff to me, but I didn't, you know, I was just so zoned in.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't.

[Wyatt Hendrickson]

I wasn't listening to anything. So, you know, the one. The one moment I do remember it started to sink in was as soon as I got that takedown. I mean, you talk about feeling the environment, I could just. Everything in my body was fully flexed. I was holding on to him. I could feel the place just erupting. But it wasn't over yet. There was still 20 seconds left in that match. So it was, you know, probably one of the longest 20 seconds of my life. But I think it helped it. I think Gable was a little bit stunned. He was almost, I'd even say in disbelief that he just got taken down. I mean, you see him look up at his coach, look at the clock, and he's like, I didn't think this was going to happen. What do I do now? So, you know, that was a really exciting match. But I also just want to say that Gable's still a great wrestler. You know, he's obviously been in the sport for a long time. He's done so much for the great sport of wrestling, you know, even bringing us Olympic gold medal, and he's, you know, multiple time national champion, and he might still be in the game. So this is no time to let up. Obviously, you know, just right before this, we had the actual watching the show. It was up in the wrestling room while I was in there getting some work in. And, you know, I'm just excited for what the future holds. So I'm not slowing down. I'm excited to go get, you know, a gold medal of my own here when LA 2028 comes around.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so that is the question, because we know, we looked into it a little bit and you might be able to correct us if our research is wrong. And congrats. I mean, that is so sweet to watch the family, especially with how grueling and hard wrestling is and the amount of commitment that takes for your entire life. You know, you guys not only beat the out of your ears like we see, but your bodies and everything. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And that is like, you know, it's a grueling sport. It is very difficult. A lot of discipline, a lot of accountability, a lot of hard work. So watching your families go crazy after the win, it's part of the matte madness magic. That entrance that you had there with that American flag coming out and then behind you with the fire. I mean, what a moment. You said you were zoned in, but that is a piece of content that I hope you and your family watch forever. Because that is fucking filthy, to be honest. That is such a sweet entrance. And I like the fact that the Matt Madness folks appreciate this part of the spectacle and make it a show. But that American flag obviously means a lot to you, not only because you're a great American, but also you're a second lieutenant in the Air Force. We think what we read was you had to transfer to Oklahoma State to continue your wrestling career because the military academies don't have graduate competitors in their sports. Is that accurate? And what is next for you? Do you have to go to Air force? You said 2028. You're focusing on what is next for somebody in your position. Because I don't think we fully understand it all. And thank you for your service.

[Wyatt Hendrickson]

Absolutely, yes. Well, thank you very much for your support. This is a kind of a unique program, I would say. But so, yes, the academy only has its official a four year. You know, there's no graduate program there. So, you know, about 20% of the graduating class actually goes to grad school because, you know, it's getting a master's is something that we need to obtain sometime along the line. But I was actually able to get in the WCAT program, which is the world class athlete program, of course, through the Air Force. And I brought up to their attention, I said, hey, I can maybe get some schooling done. And you know, I could also use my last year of eligibility because I do have that because of the COVID year. And you know, it just. They were on board with it. They supported me in that. And the WCAT program will last. I'm going to be in it for four years. So pretty much my main job is going to be representing the Air Force on the wrestling map. So I'm really grateful to be in this position to where I get to, you know, serve, serve this great country while wrestling on the wrestling map. But of course, after those four years, I'll still be able to go be in the Air Force for a minimum of five. So my long term goal has been to make the military a career. I love this country. I think the best thing for me to do, to give back is to be serving. And you know, we talk about running out with that American flag. You know, I'm serving under that flag. I love this country. I got in the service for a reason. So I think, you know, bringing that to the attention of everyone, I don't feel bad for that at all. You know, I think some people are like, I mean, it's most common to see that when you're a world champ or Olympic champion. And I was a U23 world champion, so I've known what it felt like to carry that flag. And, you know, I think even though we're doing it in other countries and world, I was like, let's, why don't we bring that back? You know, Pat, Gloria did it a couple of years ago. You know, all the feedback on that was great. And I was like, hey, you should.

[Pat McAfee]

Not feel bad about it at all, brother. You should not. If you heard feedback, okay with us. We were actually, we're telling you how awesome it is in the world class athlete program. Obviously, that's for the next four years, you're just going to be preparing for Olympics. There is that, is that goal in representing the Air Force in the Olympics and getting a gold medal for the Air Force in the Olympics, that'd be a big deal. That's, that's mindset now.

[AJ Hawk]

Absolutely.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Wyatt Hendrickson]

I mean, obviously it feels great to, you know, fly that flag here, but, you know, Even, I mean, L. A 2020, that's also going to be here, so that'll be exciting. You know, I mean, in that moment, I can only imagine comparing the clips years from now when I'm, you know, in L. A and I got that American flag around my back once again. And it's just, that's going to be, that's the ultimate goal right now.

[Pat McAfee]

On that note, you had a couple people in the building for you. And, you know, the, the alleged rumor is maybe commander in chief wasn't supposed to stay the entire time and leave, but he heard you were at the end. He said, one of my guys is at the end. Tone has a question for you. Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

Why did you know President Trump was going to be there and was there any extra pressure knowing he was going to be there for that, for that final match?

[Wyatt Hendrickson]

Yeah, I did actually hear that he would be coming to that. And that's obviously super exciting. And I think I've, you know, I've got enough grasp on the sport that I'm able to kind of take myself out of the situation and wrestle for, you know, myself, my family and my team. So, you know, if you ask me that five years ago, I would have been out there freaking out like, oh, my gosh, like, you know, my boss is watching me. But, you know, I was just really blessed to go out there and wrestle freely. So it was a, it was, it was a, it was a pretty exciting moment when after that match, I walked over there and I showed him my respects because, I mean, that's my boss man, the commander in chief, President Trump is just the fact that he was there supporting the great sport of wrestling is just an attribute to how awesome of a sport this is. And it's growing. And I think a lot of people that originally wouldn't have watched the sport are now maybe looking in a little bit like, oh, what's going on here? But one thing I didn't know, I didn't know that Elon Musk was there. So that was a surprise. As soon as I went back, I was shaking his hand. I'm like, oh. I'm like, sup, Elon? Like, good to see you here too. So that kind of caught me off guard. I'm like, that's pretty cool.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so you had a post match behind the scenes in a locker room convo with Elon and the President and everything, or did everything happen out in front of everybody?

[Wyatt Hendrickson]

Yeah, no, that was after the awards ceremony. Just right to the awards ceremony. We were able to go over there, get a quick picture, talk to him again for a brief second before we head to the back.

[Pat McAfee]

Good for you, man. You represent your country well and we can't wait to see what you do next. Appreciate your service both in the past and in the future. And right now representing for the Air Force. Good luck with everything. Okay, Bubba?

[Wyatt Hendrickson]

Absolutely. Thank you guys so much. And always remember, God bless America, God bless our troops and God bless the Cowboys. Thank you, guys.

[Pat McAfee]

Ladies and gentlemen, Wyatt Hendrickson. Congratulations, man. That's awesome.

[Bruce Brown]

What a breath of fresh air.

[Pat McAfee]

That's my boss over there. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I was in the Air Force, second lieutenant. Okay. We do the whole thing and then the way he, he. I mean, it was. Oh yeah. You know, all the ex military people, they judge the out of people people, you know, that's a stolen valor. That's not a real salute. No way. They said that. That became a thing there for a while.

[AJ Hawk]

Big time.

[Pat McAfee]

People are just buying fake. Oh yeah. Going around getting exposed. Him have it. He said minimum of five years after he'll be back in the Air Force.

[AJ Hawk]

But wants to make a career out of it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Let's go. We got. Hey, it's Hit Rose out there.

[AJ Hawk]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm happy to. Wrestling, that's a sport where you need it. Oh, yeah, that's for you. Gotta be tough. All right. We'll be back tomorrow out here on ESPN covering what happened in Sweet 16. And who knows who might stop by? You never know.

[AJ Hawk]

I still tease.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, we never know. But it should be okay. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice if I change their life. We'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye. Felt good about it.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. College wrestling. College basketball.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Football?

[AJ Hawk]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

NBA? Tennis. I mentioned it because Steve Nash.

[AJ Hawk]

Right.

[Pat McAfee]

Thunder buckets.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Baseball. Sports. Sports.

[Ty Schmidt]

Ever had your deposit blocked by your bank right before a big bet? Ever needed cash at 2am for another shot at the tables but hit your ATM limit? Edge boost has your back. Edge Boost is the first ever bank account built for bettors. With Edge Boost, all your gambling related transactions will always be approved. No more headaches for you high rollers. You can move up to $250,000 a day on your Edgeboost Visa debit card with unlimited withdrawals. This works 24,7 for instant deposits. Never wait for a wire to clear again. It gets better every time you deposit into a qualified gambling account, you earn cash back rewards up to 0.5%. All this for no usage fees and no minimum balance. This is a bank account, not a credit card, so there is no approval required or credit checks. Finally, Edge Boost has a suite of responsible gambling tools to help you manage your bankroll and make informed decisions. What are you waiting for? Go to edgeboost Bet. That's edgeboost Bet. If you want tools that stand the test of time without testing your wallet, Harbor Freight is the place for you. Expert engineers design and rigorously test Harbor Freight tools to bring you top quality. Whether your next project is big or small. Harbor Freight carries a wide selection from hand tools to power tools to automotive tools and welding equipment. And with prices lower than other top brands, but with the same top quality, you're getting more for your money at Harbor Freight. There are over 1,500 Harbor Freight stores in the U.S. so come see for yourself. Whatever you do, do it for less at Harbor Freight.

[Pat McAfee]

Sports are fantastic. We're lucky to talk about them. The Sweet 16 tips off this evening. Major League Baseball starts its season officially today, even though they had a couple games in Japan a few weeks back and the storylines are endless around the NFL. And we'll get to a couple of those that we haven't chatted about thus far today because it's been a lot of basketball, it's been a lot of college wrestling, it's been a lot of the toxic table Being disappointed Disappointed by their captain that's at Bruce Brown and that's at Ty Schmidt. Derek Jeter was going to stop by the program today. He was told he was not allowed to, even though he wanted to. He made a personal call to say, I am so sorry about the confusion. Maybe sometime down the road. Did that jinx the New York Yankees for the season? Something like that could potentially affect baseball long term at Ty Schmidt and Bruce Brown?

[AJ Hawk]

No, not at all. Because you mentioned it. Jeets is a standup guy. And he said, you know what?

[Pat McAfee]

I got to.

[AJ Hawk]

I got to call him and let him know, make this right. You know, he could have just been like, you know what? These guys, I'll just.

[Pat McAfee]

We have no relationship with them.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly, Exactly. I have never had Jeets on the show. Have never really had any kind of communication with Jeets. He could have at 11:45, you know, send. Hey, you know, one of his minions tell him, I'm not doing it, period. He said, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna call Pat, let him know, hey, this is out of my control. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.

[Pat McAfee]

But he's being a teammate.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm a teammate. I'm the consummate teammate. I'm the captain, so I can't do it. I think that bodes well for the Yankees, if anything.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, you think because he took us. If he would have came on the show, maybe not good.

[AJ Hawk]

No, I think that would have been great as well. I think. I think when you're talking about Jeets, it's kind of a win, win, no lose situation.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. All right. I like that. 305. The Yankees start the season officially. Good luck to your team this year. Because people are saying it's the Mets city now. Right. You know what they're saying? Saying?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, they're.

[Pat McAfee]

They're wrong.

[Ty Schmidt]

The Mets added some rinky dink. I think they're having a piece of pizza, a Empire State building, a subway car, and something else. Race around the. The warning track.

[Pat McAfee]

I like that.

[Ty Schmidt]

In the seventh inning stretch. That's the kind of. That you'll never see at Yankee State.

[Pat McAfee]

What are you talking about? What about the pierogi race out there in Pittsburgh? Tr.

[AJ Hawk]

That's different. That's. That's something.

[Pat McAfee]

You're talking about cycling. I saw.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's good American.

[AJ Hawk]

That's part of baseball. What about the Bronx?

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Bruce Brown]

What about the Bronx running?

[AJ Hawk]

All of that. That's part of baseball. That's. That's Americano.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but you guys said Mickey Mouse right there. Just because of it. You know, it's.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's not something Big Brother would do.

[Pat McAfee]

I would say, Zito just told me in my ear or somebody in the back. Maybe Foxy. Foxy was like, hey, remind this toxic table that he's slammed toward the pinstripes right now. That all the baseball people on ESPN said Yankees aren't going to make the playoffs. Every single one of them. Is that what they said? No, I saw. No. Didn't I see Jeff passing Jet pass and was saying they're not going to make. Mendoza had them.

[AJ Hawk]

Jet pass and also said that last year in the Yankees made the World Series. So, I mean, I don't know if that means anything. Jets very skewed. Jet is a Yankee hater. That's fine. He's a Kansas City guy. He's a Royals fan at heart. And the Yankees have routine. Just done a number on the rules. But yes, Jess Mendoza, that was. That was the best segment on get up in maybe the last two years.

[Pat McAfee]

What? Get up has had a lot of great segments.

[AJ Hawk]

I know.

[Pat McAfee]

I just would like Greeny to know that that is not a. Okay. Granny's had a lot of great segments on there. But Mendoza was taking this back.

[AJ Hawk]

She was hitting those helmets so hard with that. It was awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

Table Chef start. Yeah, you can see the table. Schefter starts, I think with D. Wood wasn't in studio, so they had to do. It was. No, I think it was an actual hits. The. The little baseball helmet thing fought back, like, didn't break. Then Mr. Passion. Same thing. And then Mendoza comes in with this bat and she was, I mean, rattling the table. The helmets were exploding. First time I saw. No.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah, she. I mean, she's a dog.

[Pat McAfee]

Love that. Yeah, they need to institute that going forward. If you get an eye problem when you're smashing football helmets. Charges to the game.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who had a front row seat to that. And man, that Ty Schmidt says is a New York Yankees hater. He is senior insider for the MLB for espn. Ladies and gentlemen, Jet passing. Jet.

[Jeff Passan]

How you doing, gentlemen? Ty, why are you being such a bitch?

[Pat McAfee]

I'm not.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm not.

[Wyatt Hendrickson]

Honestly.

[Jeff Passan]

You are just so soft. So incredibly soft.

[AJ Hawk]

No, Jet, what I was doing is saying, hey, mister, I know everything about baseball. Yankees aren't gonna make the playoffs. Last year you said it. You came on our show and said it. They went to the World Series. So I'm just saying, hey, everything that comes out of Jet's mouth Isn't gospel. That's all I'm saying.

[Jeff Passan]

That's correct. By the way. I'm not gonna see anyone hit anything harder today than Jess Mendoza did. Those helmets, bro. It was unbelievable in person. Like, one of the producers came over after that segment and said there was shrapnel 30ft away. Like, it was all over the studio.

[Pat McAfee]

And the first.

[Jeff Passan]

Like, it was embarrassing. I had hit one with a hammer. Like, didn't. Didn't. Yeah, didn't hit.

[AJ Hawk]

Talk about being a.

[Jeff Passan]

You know what?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, touche.

[Bruce Brown]

I got nothing about that.

[Jeff Passan]

But seriously, it was. And I was worried, too, because, like, those little helmets, you see them explode. These were like. They were like the ones that you put ice cream in at the ballpark. And we weren't sure if they were going to work. And Jess just.

[Pat McAfee]

Here it is. We actually have the clip here. Now we're going to run it. And you saw the tail end of her exploding something. What you didn't see is Jet and Shefty not be able to break one of these with a hammer. And then she saw that. I think it was, like, not never gonna be me. That is not how this is gonna go. And she was taking this boom. I mean, these things were exploding.

[Jeff Passan]

Do you see how far back I am there? Like, I was hiding because I was worried I was gonna get one to the jugular.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But then she brought you back up and you said, I trust you. I trust you. It was like, it's not her you're trusting here. It's the bat in physics that you need to be trusted now.

[Jeff Passan]

That's exactly right. And let's not forget, like, she's an Olympian. So, like, there's. There's. There's barrel control there, there's skills. Like, she knows what she's doing.

[Pat McAfee]

It was awesome. And I'm appreciative of her laying it in. You know, like, there was no half ass in that. No, it was.

[Jeff Passan]

No, it was.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. That was awesome. She let.

[Jeff Passan]

She let it eat. Like, that was. That was a great opening day performance.

[Pat McAfee]

I was.

[Jeff Passan]

I was appreciative of what she did.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk about opening day really quickly here. We know you're probably very busy, so thank you for taking a cold call here. Only three of these games, Kansas City being one of them, have any weather delay type implications. Everything else is a go. This feels like one of the cleanest opening days we've had in a few years. And what are some of the storylines you think that we need to be paying attention to? Obviously, Paul Skeens starts the World Series trek for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Miami Marlins today. Anything else we need to pay attention to?

[Jeff Passan]

It's not just Paul Skeens starting the Pirates, but it's who he's going up against. Sandy Alcantara, former Cy Young winner, coming back off of Tommy John surgery. Like, it's, it's going to be the best starting pitching matchup today. I'm at Yankee Stadium. I, you know, I am genuinely curious, guys to see what the Yankees are this year. And Ty, like, like, for real, do you think they're going to be good? Like, are you on this team?

[AJ Hawk]

No, no, I mean, Jet, like, I would agree with you because it's weird because their bullp kind of the strength, but I don't know if their offense is good enough. Like, I don't know if they're going to be able to score enough runs where it matters. And also, like, I really. The starting pitching is a huge question mark now with Cole going down and Luis, he'll being out for as long as he's going to be out. So I'm, I'm, I'm interested to see how it shakes out.

[Pat McAfee]

Not just pinstripes or question marks too, aren't there?

[AJ Hawk]

It's the Yankees. It's the Yankees. I still think they're going to make the playoffs. I just don't know if they'll win the division.

[Jeff Passan]

Here's, here's the truth, guys like Tyler at the end of the day is probably right here. Like, the American League is so wide open. Thirteen teams are contending in the AL this year at least believe they have, like, some form of contention going on. And when you've got that in this band of teams that's going to end up with somewhere between like 83 and 87 wins, it's going to be a coin flip. And so I'm not suggesting, like, the Yankees are going to be garbage this year. No, they're not there. It's just after the Cole injury, after the Stanton injury, after the heel injury, after all these injuries that they're dealing with, it can be tough to come back from that. And so they have to do what they did last year when Garrett Cole missed the first few months of the season and doing so without quite the same starting pitching, that's where I think it could be problematic.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, and riddle me this. And I know Ty and Bruce are going to have questions the same with tone, about everything happening today. Giancarlo Stanton's too strong. Is that what I'm hearing? John Carlos Stanton. Stanton's too jacked. I just learned the other day from Yankees fans, they tell him not even to run full speed whenever he's running the bases because they don't want him get injured and like his hands, I guess, and his arms are too jacked right now. He's not. He's almost. He's too strong. Is that what is the. What is the Giancarlo. Because with the loss of old buddy going to the Mets. Soda Soto. Right. That's a big deal, especially with Aaron Judge and everything that happens in the end. And Giancarlo's gonna have to be a guy for you guys, right? At some point.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, at some point. But they, they have no idea if he's going to be able to play or when he's going to come back or anything like that.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, no question marks all over the place for the pinstripe.

[Jeff Passan]

It's not. Look, it's, it's not great. And, and that's what the Dodgers have. And I hate to bring up the Dodgers here because everybody hates the Dodgers now.

[Pat McAfee]

I love the Dodgers. I love Shohei. I like his dog. I like the rest of the team. I like. I like everything. I like everything about them. Babe Ruth, Next paper.

[Jeff Passan]

The reason that people hate the Dodgers is because they have these stars. In truth, one of the reasons if you're going to hate the Dodgers is because they have so much depth. That's what makes them dangerous, that they can lose guys. And after they lose guys, they just have another guy to come in and plug right into that.

[Pat McAfee]

They paid more money. Didn't they pay more money than everybody? The Dodgers, they're more invested. Is that an accurate take or no?

[Jeff Passan]

Yeah, I mean, they have the highest payroll in baseball this year. Absolutely. So they're going to be spending half a billion dollars on salaries, and, you know, some of that's going to be deferred, but they have to pay a majority of that deferred money like into an account right now. So the deferrals are not really the thing. It is the total payroll, Pat. And yeah, their payroll is higher than everyone's. But the Mets are going to be there. The Yankees are $300 million team, the Phillies, the Cubs, like there are teams that spend a lot of money still. And so the idea that the Dodgers are alone there. No, they're just the ones who are highest right now. And that's why I think so many people are having a hard time with the idea that there's no salary cap in baseball right now, whereas to suggest, like a salary cap would solve these problems, that's where I'm not on board.

[Pat McAfee]

What was the big story going in the playoffs? Was it Cleveland or Detroit? I remember. Was it both? Cleveland and Detroit didn't spend a lot of money. Right. Going into the playoffs. That was the ordeal. And as a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, you see something like that, you, like, kind of get hopeful. Now, it didn't end up making in the end, the Dodgers beat the Yankees. Like, that is the biggest money spend and everything like that. But like a team like the Pirates or a team that isn't able to spend that amount of money because of ownership or choose not to spend that amount of money for ownership, do they have a shot at this thing this year? Like, what team are the Pirates? The team that could potentially be under or paid, I guess, and make a run? No.

[Bruce Brown]

Okay, say it.

[Pat McAfee]

Chat. All right, Say the pitching staff's the.

[Bruce Brown]

Best in the league.

[Jeff Passan]

If, if Jared Jones were healthy, I would be a lot more on board with this. He has, yeah, six weeks for now, but then he's got to build back up and it's going to be a while before he. Before he throws a baseball or a competitive pitch for the Pirates.

[AJ Hawk]

Hell, yeah.

[Jeff Passan]

They got Bubba Chandler. I love Bubba Chandler, man. Bubba Chandler. Bubba Chandler is my National League pick.

[Pat McAfee]

I think he's back to back.

[Jeff Passan]

I think he is a dude and, and him and Skeens together. And if Jones stays healthy with Mitch Keller, they got the pitching Pat. But I, I'm sorry, I just don't see the lineup being enough and that, that's where the Pirates have been for so long now. And it's, it's why it's so frustrating. If you're a Pirates fan.

[Pat McAfee]

It's.

[Jeff Passan]

It's been kind of stunning to me to see. No, I'm serious. To see some of the Pirates fans I mentioned a couple days ago, we was asked about salary cap, and Pirates fans have been like, the loudest in favor of a salary cap. And I'm just wondering with Pirates fans, at what point are you going to look at your owner and ask him why he's not spending rather than give him the gift that a salary cap would be to Major League Baseball ownership.

[Pat McAfee]

So Pittsburgh Pirates fans have already asked that question for years, and now they're at the point where this guy's never going to change or sell the team. So we need to somehow figure out how to make this. We need people to come down to us.

[Bruce Brown]

We're MacGyver in it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we're we're trying to that they've given up hope because Seven Springs didn't even have its best winner whenever he decided to sell it. So the amount of money this guy has is just nowhere near what the Dodgers guy is willing to spend and definitely not as much as Cohen's willing to when to spend up there. And the Steinbrenner family always going to pay. And it's like Paul Skins is the reason why Pirates fans are so hopeful. And I think Paul and I don't want to, I, I don't want to speak for him because obviously I don't. But like the things he's saying. The he wore the jello bones, crossbow, Jolly Roger. Like the Jolly Roger Pirates tie today. He's shouting out the city of Pittsburgh today. It's like Pittsburgh, let's go.

[Bruce Brown]

Like he gets it.

[Pat McAfee]

He wants to. I think he's trying to put, put pressure on ownership to be like, hey, let's take advantage of what we have here. Like, I think he is publicly trying to apply a little bit of pressure. Like I would like to win as well. Let's do this. And maybe ownership listens because this guy is what, once in a generation type talent.

[Jeff Passan]

Pat, here's the thing about Paul Skeens that I don't understand what the Pirates are doing. We saw with Garrett Cole and we've seen so many other times that if they feel like they're not going to be able to resign someone, they're going to trade. Trade. Right. Like that's just what they do. Other organizations do that too. The Rays do that, the brewers do that. It's not like an uncommon thing among small market teams. But if you're the Pittsburgh Pirates and you know you have Paul Skins for at least three years, which is around the point at which guys like that typically get traded, aren't you doing everything you can to win over these next three years? So maybe, just maybe you can convince them to want to stick around and sign a long term deal. It's the only shot you got at doing that and to not try and maximize those Paul Skin's years when he is very likely to be the best pitcher in Major League Baseball. I just don't. That's the part that bothers me the most about the way the Pirates operate. You know, I think you're right. And it's a sad state of affairs in Major League Baseball when the team that has the guy who's one of the biggest stars in the game and is the biggest star on the mound doesn't Care enough to go out and win. That is a damning indictment on the sport and something that, frankly, if the owner is not willing to do that, then the owner should change. And truth is, Pat, I'm not just saying that because I believe it. There are other owners in Major League Baseball who want to get rid of the bad owners, too. And I'll be very curious to see over the next couple of years, as the collective bargaining agreement comes around and the landscape in baseball changes, whether those owners are willing to say that sort of thing out loud publicly, because ownership is so imperative in sports. We see it in football, we see it in basketball, we see it in baseball. We see it everywhere. If you get good owners in sport, that sport is going to benefit greatly because of it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes, I concur completely. In a city like Pittsburgh, who could be a great baseball melting potential loses out on generations of fans because of it. It's like putting out a bad quality. Bad quality product is not good for obviously your team. Now, the bottom line, you're still making money because I think that's how a lot of the contracts work. But for the good of the sport and for the league as a whole, not good. You know, and it's like the Pittsburgh Pirate pee hat is like the most famous one outside of the Yankee one. The P is everywhere. And it's like the Pirates haven't been shit, you know, really. In the conversation of it all. I like the jets said that. Hey, Joe. We appreciate you, brother. Thank you, Jeff. We appreciate the hell out of you, brother.

[Ty Schmidt]

Going to Monument Park. Where you going?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, are you?

[AJ Hawk]

He's in the bowels right now.

[Pat McAfee]

He can't.

[AJ Hawk]

Deep in the bows.

[Jeff Passan]

I'm getting back. I'm getting back into the right wi fi zone.

[Pat McAfee]

No, it's all right. Enjoy the hell out of your opening day, brother. What?

[Jeff Passan]

Thank you, boys.

[Pat McAfee]

No problem. Good man. Laser job of Jeff Pas. I wonder if he was catching up to what I said before that, like if the.

[AJ Hawk]

It went super fast.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah, that was. That's the technology. A little bit of a glitch. He just did a full cooking there. Yeah. Of old buddy who the issues.

[Bruce Brown]

Goddamn ballpark's too beautiful. So people still go to it.

[Ty Schmidt]

It really is.

[Pat McAfee]

And the colors and the uniform.

[Bruce Brown]

It was a ballpark and a team and nobody went. Then maybe some change, but nope. Crowds still.

[AJ Hawk]

Which is basically what happened. Happened with the A's.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Because they played in a hole, their team sucked and they didn't spend anything and they got what they wanted all along, which was Basically for him to move the team to Vegas. But like, it is like, I think it just came out like the top 30 ballparks in the MLB is voted by, I want to say, like fans and players or something. And the Pirates are in the top five in like every single one.

[Pat McAfee]

So it's same Zambeli fireworks and something to do.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And you can get cheap tickets in there. So like that place with the views, with the experience with the event and no expectations of a win, that was the thing. Like whenever we would go to a Pirate game, even the most die hard yinzers, like, they're not showing up thinking Pirates are going to win here. We're having a good time and if the Pirates win, we'll enjoy the Zambeli fireworks with a dub. But if they lose, we're enjoying the Zambeli fireworks after this game anyway. So it's like, it's almost like a full culture of like, yeah, we'll see with the Pirates. Then a Paul Skeens gets in there and I think you see like a lot of Pittsburgh people be like, hey, we fucking got. We got a guy now. And I think they want it. And sounds like Jeff is talking about other ownership wanting it and Jeff going that hard at it. It feels like this is a real convo that has potentially taken place. Maybe we get new ownership in Pittsburgh, Nick. Maybe that is something that happens.

[Ty Schmidt]

Fat chance, Pat. Those are pipe dreams that'll never happen. Yet you know as well as anybody this guy's making making money hand over fist. He's got no incentive to sell.

[Pat McAfee]

He's got no reason to sell.

[Ty Schmidt]

Why would he sell?

[Pat McAfee]

We had great players in the past.

[Ty Schmidt]

We had Koch come through and win.

[Pat McAfee]

An NL MVP, what, 10 years ago.

[Ty Schmidt]

And they still didn't spend the money. They didn't invest. To your point, such a beautiful ballpark. People go, imagine going expecting to win.

[Pat McAfee]

That place would be filled every night.

[Ty Schmidt]

You're still making money.

[AJ Hawk]

A lot of money.

[Pat McAfee]

More money.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

You're making more money money. I don't understand. Those tickets can get more expensive and then you make more money, buddy. So if you're money driven, having a winner is how you get more money.

[AJ Hawk]

That is just like all the hype around skiings. Like, I don't know what it is, but I would imagine like they're probably selling out every game that he's starting. And I would imagine that the ticket prices for those games compared to like some of the games in the past are probably like 10x, you know, like.

[Pat McAfee]

It'S not he did that here for the Indianapolis Indians. Exactly. Oh, yeah. And he's here. Literally, tickets were 10x the price of what they were. Whenever he was pitching, people were just filing in onto the hill to kind of watch it. He is awesome to watch. Like, he is. He's a fun watch because he's got enough moxie to keep it entertaining. He's got enough talent for you to be like, holy hell. And it feels like even the batters. And he has like consummate respect.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

He's like, he does everything like the perfect way almost. And it's.

[Bruce Brown]

He's a big dog.

[Pat McAfee]

Hope he doesn't get wasted in Pittsburgh and that Pirates organization.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

But it does feel like he's trying to apply a little public pressure, which.

[Ty Schmidt]

Is awesome because, like, why let yourself be kind of a tree falling in the woods where every five days you're just throwing an absolute gem and it's just like, oh, who cares? It's great that he's putting that public heat on it because it, it is a joke. And like, what if the new cba, then they institute a salary cap? Then what's your fucking excuse to not, not spend up to it, you know?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Unless they put a floor in there. And then what happens with all the record or all the salary cap salaries that have already been agreed to for like 10 years? I, I don't know.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, and that's what Jet implied, that he thinks there's a chance the owners would lock the players out because that would probably be a massive, like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Like I signed a 10 year deal with, you know, worth X amount of money. And now all that stuff needs to get renegotiated or however, however it gets, you know, distributed. Yeah, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

And then like we had that happen where old CBA, old, old CBA. The first five picks were making more money than 15 year vets. Like, that's what they were signing for. Then negotiation comes and that gets cut into like 1/6 of it all. And it was like, wow, sucks for this group. But the group class that literally got drafted the year before, like they were the last one that got like broken off, you know, and it's like potentially something for baseball is going to happen the same way. That is a tough deal to get done though. Anytime you're taking away money from people, people, especially professional athletes, there's going to be a lot of parties that are not happy about it. Agents, players, lawyers. Not saying agents and lawyers aren't the same, but not always. And then, you know, like, yeah, the history of the game. The future of the game. Next generation of the game. Like, that gets real soiled.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That gets real dirty.

[AJ Hawk]

They had massive issues trying to, like, come to an agreement for the COVID shortened season because they want. Yeah, they wanted players to take like, a third of what their salary. He was supposed to be over the year. And like, all the players were like, fuck that. I'm not doing that. No way. Like, I still have a chance to get hurt and everything. And like, that season almost didn't get played because of how dirty it got.

[Pat McAfee]

But it was good for the league, I think, to have that season without a doubt, you know, like, that's.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, they played 60 or whatever.

[Pat McAfee]

I hope they all get it. 62 or something. I forget what the. It was an interesting number. Still, a lot of games. The. So many games. The. The league has moments, you know, for sure. And with Shohei and Paul, playoff baseball.

[AJ Hawk]

Still, like, if Skeens could get there, like, it. It's incredible. It's right up there with, you know, like, other sports.

[Pat McAfee]

Playoffs can have those moments. Yeah. You know, hopefully they do. This is the year. Good luck, baseball. Congratulations to J.J. watt. He's now the number two booth at CBS. Danielson retires now. J.J. watt will be alongside Ian Eagle, and obviously the Ian Eagle Eagle family is obviously synonymous with calling games in a great way. I think he's a talented broadcaster. I think J.J. watt will do very well at this. I think he got a chance to try it with Netflix, you know, on Christmas Day, whenever he was talking about the Steelers game. This has been a dream, I believe, of his. There's some athletes, some players that get into the media world who really want to call games. And I think the reason why they want to call games is because when they watch games back that they played in, they thought there was a lot of things that were potentially missing, not only for them, but for their teammates. That's why whenever you see Greg Olson get in there, he calls the game his way. Tom Brady calls the game his way. Troy Aikman calls the game his way. Collinsworth calls the game his way. I'm excited to see what angle J.J. watt takes. Obviously, you have to cover the quarterback. You have to cover the prime positions that are taking place. But what does he see that maybe nobody else would see coming from a Hall of Famer's perspective? He wants to do it. I think this has been a dream of his and him getting the opportunity to do it. We're incredibly pumped and proud of him. I think he's gonna Be great on cbs.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I would assume so. And not having the. The pressure of. Not that they're not going to still get great games, but, like, that's what always happened with Tom this last year. And Romo, you know, you immediately get that game where everyone's watching. So, like, not that people aren't still gonna nitpick and take shots at him regardless, but it's not the. The marquee game every single week. Week where people are just like, you know, because it's different. Like, I don't like this guy. Like, this is different than what it's been the last ten years or so. Like, I. I don't enjoy this and hopefully he doesn't run into any of that.

[Pat McAfee]

So if. Is he calling all the games here?

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, I believe he's. He's there. He's their number two team because Gary Danielson's retiring. It was him and Vern, and I think Charles Davis is going to where Gary was, And I think JJ's taking Charles Davis's spot in the NFL, if I'm correct.

[Pat McAfee]

You better hold that football. So. So that's a lot of travel now for the boy.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, because he was doing cbs, like, I don't know what it ended up being. Probably like eight weeks.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, like a couple weeks on, a couple weeks off.

[Pat McAfee]

Nine, maybe eight. Nine weekend appearances. Then had the Super Bowl. So obviously he also has Burnley and he has many other business ventures and everything that he's a part of. Obviously family growing and all that type of stuff. So this is a lot. I'll be excited to see his thoughts on his schedule, you know, and is he going to go out for practices on Friday and then we got meetings on Saturday, then game on Sunday, then flying back on Sunday night. I think that is kind of the convo around the commentary teams is like. It's a lot of commit, a lot of. A lot of travel, a lot of travel, a lot of staying in other cities. You're back basically in the football grind.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You got meetings during the week, you got film during the week, then you got travel, you got practice, Then he got your meetings again in person. Then you have obviously production meeting, then you have pre meeting, then it's then showtime. It's like. I'll be excited to see how he handles all that because I think Al Michaels does zooms now instead of traveling to him, but he's been doing it for 50 years or whatever it is, so I'm excited to see how they approach it all.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. And Tom had all the stuff with like the, oh, can he go to these meetings? Can he be in these other facilities? So he could kind of of skirt around it already. You'd assume that. I mean I, I would assume they want JJ there with it being his first year. Being like, hey, you got to come to everything every production meeting. Like we need you kind of on the same page as iron every single week. So yeah, that will be because I mean that's, that's what a four day work week. Boom, instantly for one game.

[Pat McAfee]

I think, I think he's going to do good. You think he's going to be good? Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

I liked him on Christmas.

[Ty Schmidt]

Were you guys just questioning if JJ loves the grind, mind?

[Pat McAfee]

How dare you.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's gonna be there at every meeting, taking notes, listening to his Fort miner, just enjoying the hell out of life and the process.

[Pat McAfee]

We know it's a lot of time.

[AJ Hawk]

On the road, especially when you've been out of it for a couple years.

[Pat McAfee]

Especially for those Burnley boys are back in the Premier League. Are they gonna be.

[Ty Schmidt]

They're gonna be closer and they're probably.

[Pat McAfee]

Going to be in the playoff right now, which is electrified. Okay, so they're gonna make it into the play. When does playoff start over there for that league? Oh, great question. How's Concave about be coming out tomorrow morning? Okay, that's what we're talking about. Oh yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

Hope you guys addressed what's going on with usmnt.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, Jeff Cameron is pissed.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Jeff Cameron, former men's national team member. He also played in the Premier League. He's also a part of Concave Soccer club. He's one of the hosts of the Concave pod alongside Breck Shea and old Gumpy back there. It is our soccer authority. It is where we go to to learn learn about what's going on in the soccer world. If they don't talk about it, we don't know about it. If they talk about it, we assume we're supposed to know about it. If they talk about something we're not interested in, we do tell them. We have told them. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

I hope they're calling for the coach's job. On the next episode.

[Ty Schmidt]

You don't need a new gaffe.

[Pat McAfee]

The World cup is on our turf.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

We need to figure it out. Boys that are willing to fight out there. What happened? We lost to Canada. You lost to Panama. And Canada. Canada. Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

Boys don't care about the press on their chest. They're too worried about the names on their back.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, I thought that's what this guy was about. I thought this guy was all about.

[Bruce Brown]

Hey, he just got here. He'll get a turnaround.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so we are saying he hasn't put his culture in yet. He's just getting a chance to experience the previous culture. And what's happening now is we're losing to Panama and Canada. Yes.

[Ty Schmidt]

We got to get Gio. Reina's just got to get his legs back underneath him. For some reason, his conditioning isn't where it needs to be. So he's been out.

[Pat McAfee]

He does not play. Anywhere he goes anymore is an issue. Why doesn't he play? What are we talking? I don't know. Maybe he's just.

[Ty Schmidt]

Nobody knows.

[Pat McAfee]

What do you mean? He's not that good. I seen him play. He's good. I think what has happened here is the media has labeled these guys as the golden generation. And I fear that besides Pulisic, they might not be. What the goal is really good. The goalie is. Matt Turner has been shite because he went to England and he's not playing anymore either. So what's happened is these guys that are playing on these MLS teams, when they play, Diego Luna played the other night, probably the best player on the pitch, but these guys are going to.

[Bruce Brown]

Europe and they're not playing.

[Ty Schmidt]

So, yes, they got the move to.

[Pat McAfee]

Europe, but they're not playing. This is a chess play by Europe. They saw us getting good.

[Connor]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

And then now they sign. Are you American? Come and play. Congratulations. Not knowing that the MLS has the balloon door. Yeah, okay. The MLS is the best league in the fucking world. And now all our guys still think it's 10 years ago before once again, the best player in the world's playing. So they think going to Europe's a big deal, which would have been. That is a huge deal. When Clint Dempsey goes over there, it was a massive ordeal. Tim Howard went over and played over there. It was a big deal. We got an American playing in the Premier League. This is huge. This is a massive ordeal. Christian politic going over there and growing up through the system was a big deal. Now it's like Dan LS is the leak.

[Bruce Brown]

Like those guys.

[Ty Schmidt]

Those guys are starting every.

[Pat McAfee]

Like Tim Howard.

[Ty Schmidt]

Clint Dempsey started every game.

[Pat McAfee]

Pulisic starts every game for AC Milan. Matt Turner's like third string on Arsenal. He's getting loaned out. He ain't doing. Come back to MLS start, Zach. I'm playing for the Pittsburgh River Hounds if you need to.

[Bruce Brown]

Bingo.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell, yeah. Let's get ready for what matters the World cup on our turf board.

[AJ Hawk]

I'M worried.

[Bruce Brown]

Me too.

[AJ Hawk]

Unless, you know, Lionel Messi changes. Changes his name to Lou Messi and plays with us next World Cup. I don't think a MLS all star team's gonna win the World Cup.

[Pat McAfee]

So my worries are that he's never gonna be Lou Messi.

[Bruce Brown]

They might.

[Pat McAfee]

What would he have to do? He'd have to get his name changed. He would have to go down a staple center. Right. Get a passport.

[AJ Hawk]

Correct.

[Pat McAfee]

And he's now an American.

[AJ Hawk]

He's an American.

[Pat McAfee]

We need him. Take that citizen test.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Or we have someone from FC Miami or whatever the their name is. And we have. We have them enter Miami. We have. We have them take the test for him.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe. Classic SAT situation.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm Lou Messy. Give me the test.

[Pat McAfee]

Inter Miami is basically Team Argentina and Spade at this point as well. Exactly.

[AJ Hawk]

We need all those guys saying they're American.

[Bruce Brown]

I don't think we can keep his last name as messy. These be like Lou.

[AJ Hawk]

Lou Messino.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Cats needs to immediately become butch.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Walk in there. Walk in there and say you're Lou Messy and just do two soccer moves. It's just one of those. Gotta have the calf tat.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

The shin. Calf tat.

[AJ Hawk]

Pretty simple.

[Pat McAfee]

We do need those guys to play for the United States of America in the next World Cup. There's time to figure it out. Gold cup this summer. I think if that goes shite, then maybe you start judging Potch a bit. But I think.

[Ty Schmidt]

Think just give him a little bit.

[Pat McAfee]

I think Gold cup, they'll do well. He doesn't speak the best English. What was he saying? He's from Argentina. Okay, so do our players speak English? Because I know whenever we had the German gaffer, they all spoke German.

[AJ Hawk]

Jurgen Klinsmann.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Do they. Do these guys speak English or. How's the communication between he and the players? So Poch coached at Tottenham, took them to a Champions League.

[Ty Schmidt]

Coached at psg.

[Pat McAfee]

Speaks French as well. He's. He's been everywhere. Good luck out there. We need you.

[Bruce Brown]

He's called.

[Pat McAfee]

It's on our turf and we have to qualify because it is.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, we automatically qualify, but it's just making out of the group. We need a favorable group draw. Maybe you have Qatar in there still for no reason.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, Qatar because they hosted it, right? Yes.

[Bruce Brown]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that how people talk about us? No, probably not.

[Bruce Brown]

Not yet.

[AJ Hawk]

But we're losing the Panama.

[Pat McAfee]

I assume they do.

[AJ Hawk]

I think they're laughing.

[Bruce Brown]

What are you talking about? They have a canal.

[Pat McAfee]

No, we're. We're Gonna get our hopes up like we do every single World cup up. And we're all going to be hyped up and then they're going to the bed and then we're all going to be like, what the. You're not going to cheer for America, Ty?

[AJ Hawk]

I'm not doing it.

[Pat McAfee]

I agree with what Foxy just said.

[AJ Hawk]

No, I'm not going to watch the World Cup. I'm going to put a moratorium on it. I'm not doing it.

[Pat McAfee]

You're not going to watch the World cup in the United States of America?

[AJ Hawk]

Nope.

[Pat McAfee]

It's going to be on our time. Like prime time. Normally we had to do the entire math. It was at a different time. It's set up for us to watch it now. It's on our grass.

[AJ Hawk]

I get it. But unless Lou Messi leaves the boys out. Yeah, Lou. Lou Messino. Excuse me. Leads the boys out with a pencil thin mustache, you know, would Americanize him a little bit.

[Bruce Brown]

Muscleman. Lou Muscleman.

[AJ Hawk]

Lou Muscleman. I like that. That's good.

[Pat McAfee]

Luigi Eric Son.

[AJ Hawk]

Luigi Musselman. Lou Musselman. Any of these names will work for Lionel Messi. Until we do that, I'm not gonna let myself get to the point where I get excited for the World cup and we go 1, 2 and 1 and don't make it out of the groups.

[Pat McAfee]

And we're going to say we will decide whether or not this team should be representing our entire country or not.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Cuz we do a lot of Aces for America.

[AJ Hawk]

Right.

[Pat McAfee]

On this particular program.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

And then we're losing to Canada with everything going on. You know, did that in hockey too.

[Bruce Brown]

We need Wyatt Hendrickson playing center back.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, we do.

[AJ Hawk]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Boom. And LeBron.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, he probably play goal bingo. Big ole mitts.

[Pat McAfee]

And then we need politic to play his best ball.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh yeah, he will.

[Pat McAfee]

We need Steve Nash.

[Bruce Brown]

Steve Nash.

[AJ Hawk]

He's Canadian.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, he's doing what Leo Messi is doing as well.

[AJ Hawk]

And he could keep his name, Steve Nash, which is huge.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And to look.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he does.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Yeah. He very much looks like standard American dad.

[AJ Hawk]

He does.

[Pat McAfee]

He lives in America.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

So he's got. Already got the man mailing address.

[AJ Hawk]

He's actually probably at this point an American citizen. I would guess.

[Pat McAfee]

He probably took the test.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Gump, have you been preparing for that test that's coming right around the corner starting every night, brother. No shot. That's a tough test.

[Ty Schmidt]

Swatch Hamilton a couple times. You'll be fine.

[Pat McAfee]

Still got like five more years that's for one era. Seven more years. No, I'm not. I was talking about Hamilton. Oh, Hamilton is just one era. But you would, you would learn a lot about it, you know, and historically accurate. I mean for me I saw. I mean.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, the King was singing. You're right before the start of the revolution.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean maybe with the way he was talking, the way they've made him appear. Awesome. He was electrifying. Awesome character wasn't great obviously, but I see it.

[AJ Hawk]

Time to Disney plus if you want to watch it.

[Pat McAfee]

Hamilton is I believe so the original cast.

[AJ Hawk]

I think it's the original caster. It's the whatever. Yeah, it had to have been. And then they filmed it to be a movie.

[Ty Schmidt]

There he is. George.

[Pat McAfee]

What a time. I know they weren't supposed to baby face him, but whenever the king shows up. Good heel presence. Yes, it is a good, good pop in there.

[AJ Hawk]

The guy from mine, Hunter. Yeah, it is.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Jonathan Gruff.

[Pat McAfee]

He kind of stole the show. He's good actor. The, the Broadway folks are wild. Like very, very wild talent. Yeah. So much wife and I used to go to a bunch of those whenever we were traveling out to New York. And I just like watching people do their thing. Like people that practice, people that are prepared, people that have spent a lot of hours on something. I like watching them do their whatever the is. Some I'm more into than other. But watching people have to to perform and execute. Like I in front of others with pressure on. I enjoy those Broadway people. They're doing like three shows a day, like four days straight, five days straight. They're singing, jumping, dancing, remember and acting. I mean it was. I think the first one I saw was in the middle of like the talent show era or like the singing contest era. And I'm watching these people, I'm like American Idol. This is going to be the next big star. And I go to this Broadway show and there's 20 people that can sing just as good and they're sprinting, jumping, running, dancing and they got comedic timing. And I'm like how come why don't they just do a talent show of everybody that's in these Broadway. But that's like I think they're a more committed artist. Is the Broadway people like that is kind of the viewpoint of that whole thing. So much talent over there.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Full commitment of their lives.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, that's what like a lot of these like big time actors like cut their teeth teeth in the theater beforehand. You know, I think like Bradley Cooper told us like when he was on that. He. He was in London for like seven years doing that one thing. But I bet he was doing a bunch of like, you know, whatever there. I can't remember what their version of Broadway is, but like, that's very popular as well. I think, like a lot of the big time actors, like Denzel is on Broadway right now with Jake Gyllenhaal, like, they're doing a show on Broadway. So it's like. And that's.

[Ty Schmidt]

Sharpen your tools. James Franco did Of Mice and Men, similar deal. Walter White was LBJ in a play.

[Pat McAfee]

Book of Mormon introduced me to the whole thing. Yeah, it is with the microphones here, too. Like, the way they get through. You really crushed that, Bruce. The. The microphones on their foreheads, that was a whole different ball game too. So what. Have you ever seen that?

[Bruce Brown]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

So they like tape their mics, like, to their head almost. We should do that. They do this and it's like. It's an interesting thing. Thing. And I think it's because it's.

[AJ Hawk]

They have to change the quick change. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

So that just kind of goes through, like their hair. It's like supposed to be a piece of their hair, like in their hair. And then every once in a while, some of them have it a little bit closer down here. And it's like, why do you all have something taped to your forehead? Why do you all have someone on there? There it is. Yeah. Yeah. You see it? It's all in the.

[Ty Schmidt]

Right On Lynn Stone.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Once again. Probably on a few milligrams whenever I'm in there at these shows.

[AJ Hawk]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Why are they all.

[AJ Hawk]

He's got a bug on his forehead.

[Pat McAfee]

Everybody got the same. And some of them a little bit looser than the others. You know, it kind of gets down there a little bit. This is obviously Hamilton, not Book of Mormon. That Book of Mormon one, I think, became a billion dollar entity. Oh, yeah. Just traveling. Was that all accurate?

[AJ Hawk]

Pretty close.

[Bruce Brown]

Did it have them being absolute? Just.

[Pat McAfee]

You're talking about primal.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I haven't watched that yet. I heard it's pretty wild.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, it's good.

[Pat McAfee]

Gruesome.

[Bruce Brown]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Jim Ursay's in it. Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

Yes, he is.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Steals the show.

[Pat McAfee]

Peter Berg creation.

[AJ Hawk]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

I bet you that's gonna be amazing. I'll check it out. All right. Russ Wilson had a press conference with the New York Giants. Congrats to New York Giants. Felt professional.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Felt professional. Ten and a half million guaranteed. Up to 21 million for incentives. A one year deal. For Russell Wilson to be a member of the New York Giants. You know, he got his welcome to the city and manager Madison Square Garden. Very similar to what Aaron Rodgers had a few years back. All the Giants fans go crazy. Russell Wilson spins at his first completion as a Giant. Obviously at Madison Square Garden he said go big blue. So that is what I guess all Giants fans and we all need to understand that that is what we are rolling with or riding with if we should consider it a little bit better this season for the Giants win total goes from three and a half to five and a half though post fresh. How do you feel about that, Bruce Brown? And how did day one basically of Russell Wilson is your quarterback?

[Ty Schmidt]

It was amazing. You know, it was just welcoming Russ home. He looked right at home at MetLife Stadium, looked right at home at Madison Square Garden.

[Pat McAfee]

The go big Blue.

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't, I don't know.

[Bruce Brown]

That's what you guys say.

[Wyatt Hendrickson]

I've.

[Ty Schmidt]

I've. I've never really heard much.

[Pat McAfee]

What if it's a Go big blue crew and you guys say go BBC.

[AJ Hawk]

I like that sword. Now we're talking.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, now we're talking.

[Bruce Brown]

You say it.

[Ty Schmidt]

What if you guys say that Go Big Blue crew.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And then. But for sure like. Yeah.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean I guess we're in kind of a workshop stage of what the. The chant would be. But yeah, yeah, go big Blue man. That's what we're doing. And we're. Our win totals bumping just because of pictures, promos, pressers and I throw a massive square garden. We gotta like that. That.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, yeah. You gotta love it. And I, I do think five and a half is probably an appropriate number now. You can probably think about that under.

[Bruce Brown]

He said three and a half was appropriate yesterday.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, it was, it was. But now it's five and a half and.

[Pat McAfee]

And oh, they're giving me two. Okay.

[Ty Schmidt]

No, I mean things are, things are looking up. We, we have a professional quarterback that you know, can, can read the defense and throw the ball down the field and that'll be a nice shot at your quarterback.

[Bruce Brown]

They said this is a good sign. Danny Dimes would have his pants and checked it down to Sierra in the front row.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Everybody needs relaxed, open competition with Anthony.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, he's more of a, of a New York Rangers guy. You know, they got, you know, mostly khakis and, and all that in attendance and. And they don't do the ball throwing display.

[Pat McAfee]

Speaking of superstars, Russell Wilson and Sierra obviously took a photo together. There was rumors that New York was a desirable destination for Russ Sierra and their family. A couple years back, he ends up with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now he's with the New York Giants. Tone Diggs. Obviously, Russ brought some exciting times to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a good portion of the season. It did not end well. And then the other day you said, we do not want him back as a Pittsburgh Steeler. Why is that? And what do you say to New York Giants fans?

[Bruce Brown]

He did, he did come in. He took the offense from 21st to, to 12th. When he came in, when he took over for Fields and like those first six games, like it was, it was awesome. He was, he was slinging it all around. And we had that Bengals game where he put up 45 points. And then ever since then there was, it was a bit of a downfall. Lost the last five, obviously. I don't know, it just seemed like he didn't. I don't know if he didn't get along with the locker room or what happened, if he didn't get along with Arthur Smith. Those are the reports. But it, it didn't feel like the Steelers wanted him back because it was never reported off offer. It was reported that the. Russell wanted to go back to the Steelers, but I assume if, if he wanted to go back and if there was an offer, he would have taken it. So it just kind of fell to the Giants. It felt like at this point the Steelers want Aaron or they are okay with Mace Dog and potentially drafting someone. But that's kind of, kind of like where we're at right now.

[Pat McAfee]

And the Aaron story is an interesting one.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Because there's obviously Kwesi Adolfa Mensah, which is a Ghana name. Ghana heritage name, even though from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Because whenever we see him speak, we go, this guy looks so young. Like we forgot how young he looks. He spoke about, you know, the entire quarterback room and his situation. In a way a lot of people are reading into it is he didn't close the door on Aaron Rodgers. And he even alluded to like, ideally, basically JJ McCarthy would be the starter. But no doors have been closed, although there has been a lot of alluding to JJ's time. Then also there's been a lot of chatter about Kevin oconnell's relationship with Aaron Rodgers and is Aaron Rodgers waiting to see if the Minnesota Vikings want to make a play for Aaron? Or is Aaron potentially contemplating not playing at all? Or what is he doing with the Pittsburgh Steelers and is he just buying or waiting trying to figure it all out and trying to see what's best option, option for him. But I guess as the Vikings conversation remains, which it is, it is still there's people that say, I don't think so. Whenever they read some of the quotes or hear some of the quotes. Then there's some people that are saying hasn't said no either. Then you look at the team and you think about what Aaron can do and what Aaron does best. Accuracy and reading a defense, that is kind of what Aaron Rodgers does. The Kevin O'Connell offense, what do you need, need to be able to read a defense. Defense, you need to be accurate because you're gonna have to make tight window throws, but you're gonna have to know that you're gonna make those tight window throws. So that's reading the defense. He has both those things at his age. That team is loaded. They're playing for the number one seed in the NFC on Week 18 against the Detroit Lions. So obviously they lose. Quick exit out of the playoffs. Nobody wanted that for the Vikings. But from a team perspective, with B flow leading that defense and Kevin OConnell's offense with the amount of weapons they have, if you're Aaron Rodgers and you're hearing that there's still a chance you could potentially go there once you want to know if that is true or not before deciding anything for the first time in your free agency period. That's kind of where we stand seemingly with the Aaron Rodgers saga that. Seemingly where we're at. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

And it makes sense. I mean, why would he rush to make a decision now if he thinks that that door is even open, like 5% of the way? Like, I think a lot of people would assume that, that he deep down, or like just when you look at the situation as a whole, that he would maybe prefer to play for the Vikings as opposed to the Steelers. Although the Steelers kind of seems like the slam dunk option right now. But this just, you know, it's like we, we've, we've talked time and time again how this is going to be the last decision he makes in terms of what team he's going to play for for his entire career. Or, or yeah. Or he's going to just be done one of the two. So it's like if that's the case and you think that this is even a slightest, like the slit, the least bit of an option and you kind of want to go there, then like, he's definitely, he's going to continue to take his time.

[Pat McAfee]

We are just speaking as people that are Watching it all unfold publicly, as all of you are. We have no extra information. AJ Hawk will be back next week. He's on spring break with his kids this week. We're hoping they're having a great time. We'll try to pressure him into letting us know if he's been told anything. He won't say a damn word. Nope. And does it last in an ex? You know, like, there's so many. Yes. I think we all kind of are wondering the same thing, but I think the conversation that's missing from some people is like, huge decision for Aaron Rogers. This is a huge, huge. For his life.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

For his future, for his leg. Like every. There's a lot on the line here. Whenever it comes to making this particular good.

[Bruce Brown]

I feel like the good part for. If you're a Steelers fan and like, you're like, all right, come on, make a decision. At this point, I don't think it matters, like, if Aaron comes and plays on the Steelers, it's most likely a one year deal. It shouldn't affect their draft situation this year. Like, if they're going to draft a quarterback this year, I don't think if Aaron's there or not should affect it or, or whatever because it's going to be either they're. They're going to sit behind Aaron and learn a ton or they're going to compete with Mason and be a starter potentially. But I mean, it could be till Midsummer's night that at this point that we're going to get to the city.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. Well. And also it could be midsummer's night or maybe the orange blossom moon in your eyes. But honestly, I mean, it could be whenever. I wouldn't. I would. The Giants said they're done. Yeah, basically.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

They either got intel that they were no longer in or they said, we need a decision before the draft, obviously, because there's a lot that hinges upon it and maybe said it wasn't able to do that. We don't know. Once again, we do not know. But that is clearly what happened in the Giants building. It's like for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they signed Mason Rudolph. Let's assume that they have interest in somebody in this draft at quarterback position potentially. And yet now they move. Good luck, Aaron. We're pulling for you, buddy.

[Bruce Brown]

At this point, I kind of want him to wait till after OTAs because I don't want to hear the about, you know, he's got to go to Gaza or the pyramids or whatever and check those out. Ms. Otas or whatever.

[AJ Hawk]

He likes to travel.

[Bruce Brown]

I don't think he's going to. I meant geese. M. Pyramid.

[Connor]

Giza.

[AJ Hawk]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. Yes. It's our first flight to Gaza.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

That name is out there.

[Bruce Brown]

Me, Giza.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. We don't know a lot about the world, but what's going on with his pyramids? Has he checked them out since we found out?

[AJ Hawk]

I would assume he's got a couple shovels and he's heading over there soon and he's going to just dig and find.

[Pat McAfee]

What an interesting development. Just out of nowhere too. But like, oh, yeah, these things that everybody's wondered about forever. Let's add a little bit more to that. Yeah. It's what year? 2025. Did you know we just found there's what, hundreds of feet of.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Coils.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's actually two miles deep. And there's a whole structure down there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Never knew that before. How. How did we not know? Have we not checked this thing out? In, inside and out. Has there not been. This is a modern marvel. What the fuck have we not been looking into? How do we just now find out? Yeah. I don't think any of us could have expected what's down there. Well, what's down there? A lot. It's like, well, where'd that come from? We have no idea. So. All right, good. Happy we're all learning. Happy we're all learning. And then once you read about that, then you scroll the next one. Some billionaire has a escape room, a hideaway room that's like 30,000 square foot underground. It's like, well, what he's getting ready for? Well, you know, the people of the past, they dug underneath there. They thought someone was like, well, all right, I'm just going to continue to be a land animal here.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Got any sports on right now?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he's there. Algorithm Golf Shop, tgl. Tgl. I know I said no TGL before, but. No, I need TGO back. It does get like this announcement. Oh, what do I gotta do? I gotta go into the search and give this thing some new directions. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

For real.

[Pat McAfee]

That's how you talk to it, I think. Bob, enough. I don't need to see somebody getting Curb stomped at 7:30.

[AJ Hawk]

Please.

[Bruce Brown]

The death videos are coming back.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. Yeah, I've had to. I think it was because the oosklahoma drill.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So the guy that runs the Oklahoma draw, this, that's in Australia. I guess so. He added me in a video and I watch his video. I guess they're doing that like once a month. They do those. And I started seeing more videos come out of that. There's some real collisions happening. There's some real. So I think because the oosklahoma drill got into my algo, the algo was like, oh, you like that?

[Wyatt Hendrickson]

Wait till you see this taste of violence.

[Pat McAfee]

There's nothing with sports involved, but we got some other collisions that are coming on. And it's like, no, I don't want to see that. That. So you got to go back into the search and tell them no death.

[Bruce Brown]

There should be a no death option.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah, there was. There was for a long time.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, that's kind of a.

[Pat McAfee]

There was a long, long time.

[Bruce Brown]

A kind of a handshake agreement between us and.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah, I wish Debo was here. Diva took a certification class on AI yesterday. Yeah. Throughout the day. Walk over, he's in the middle, he's in his computer. I look over and there's a big question across here is his number one question. Can my computer think for me? And I'm like, what the are you doing? What are you doing right now? And he goes, I'm taking an IBM class, 10 minutes. It says, I'm gonna learn about AI. I said, you're dropping into a class right now? He goes, absolutely. I go, if you could keep me updated, that'd be great. In that 10 minute class, I think turned into. He wanted a 201 and I got into 301. By the end of the day, I think he had a certificate, a certificate on AI information.

[Bruce Brown]

Taking good notes.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he was full notes, full notebook through this yesterday on AI. Thank God he's a part of our group. Yeah. Can. Can a computer really think this was the start of it yesterday? Can a computer really think that was. That was first page. His big takeaway yesterday was that these can never have a conversation. You know, they don't understand context. So what we got them in is. Okay. Always going to need at this point. Point. Always. Yeah. That's me wondering what the is going on here. You're taking a class right now. Absolutely. That notebook right in front of him filled it out completely. It was awesome. Once he told me what he was doing, I was like, God, you're such a better human than I am. That is such a good play to be able to do that. He had to pass a test yesterday. I think he was really stressing out the test at the end of the day.

[AJ Hawk]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Because he had stuff that he had learned at 8:00am, you know, over in that room. He was taking a test over here. There was a thing. I think he did good, though.

[Bruce Brown]

He does love. He's always trying to learn something.

[Pat McAfee]

Always investment stuff. AI stuff. Yeah. He makes the most of his time. It's very awesome to watch the whole. I look at his screen. Can a computer really think I go, D butt? Let's not be done. Then he says, no, complete opposite. I'm taking a full classic course here. He's gonna have a certificate. I think he's like, we just put that thing up.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

We start stacking those certificates.

[AJ Hawk]

It's not a bad idea.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe we should start doing that. Maybe we get better today. Do you think we did?

[Bruce Brown]

I did.

[AJ Hawk]

I think, yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

We get better 1% every day.

[Pat McAfee]

Thunder buckets. I'm gonna get better today.

[AJ Hawk]

There you go.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, boys, it's been a great week thus far. Shout out to all our guests today. Taking time, Second lieutenant in the Air Force, Wyatt Hendrickson. Congrats on your championship and also being a guy that I think all of us are going to rally behind for the 2028 Olympics. Good luck on your quest for that and good luck in your service in the Air Force. Whenever you complete that, shout out to Pete Co opit. Sorry, KOA that was at the beginning of the show. KOA was awesome.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

No nil deals around him. No, we kind of talked about that during the break.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

No door, dash, bag, nothing. Just all business.

[Pat McAfee]

Just him and his mom just like, hey, here's what I want to do. Thanked every person that got him to the place. Absolute professional, obviously. Older brother, currently offensive lineman for the Raiders. His dad was in the NFL. I think his bunch of his older brothers. He's one of seven. A couple of his older brothers played college hoops, sister played college. Our college football. His sister played college hoops. It was like this guy made for it. Congrats, Arizona. Congrats, Arizona. Seth Greenberg, obviously Great chatter. Sweet 16 tonight. Let's enjoy it and hope you win all your bets. You know, Seth Greenberg likes Arizona plus 9 1/2 y. He likes BYU, Alabama over y. He said, this is an NBA game happening here in these two. So Seth's giving out a couple bets. What's that?

[Ty Schmidt]

Did he like Coach Cow's Razorbacks as well?

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah, he did like Coach Cow's Razorbacks. And then I said, thank you for giving out picks. And I know he goes, I got to do something. I'm talking all day. So he just started seeing. No, he saw those numbers up there. Yeah. All right. Yep. Here we go. I am going to let it ride.

[Bruce Brown]

Over for Alabama. BYU, just over one knows is 175 and a half. Which in a college basketball game is insane, absurd.

[Pat McAfee]

Did he know it was 175 and a half?

[Ty Schmidt]

Probably not.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't think so. That's a lot of points.

[Pat McAfee]

They can shoot it now. 9090.

[Bruce Brown]

They can shoot it.

[Ty Schmidt]

They said it was going to be an NBA game.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, legit.

[Ty Schmidt]

They just bombed. Threes bomb threes.

[Pat McAfee]

90 to 90. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

It'S the Book of Mormon.

[Pat McAfee]

Are they playing 20, 25 college basketball? Yep. Good question.

[AJ Hawk]

Basketball stadium or center?

[Bruce Brown]

Prudential Center.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, okay. Okay.

[Bruce Brown]

Well, New York, Newark, New Jersey. Yeah, that's where the devil's.

[Connor]

All right.

[Ty Schmidt]

Maybe they'll flatten the ball out a little bit.

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly. 90, 90. Near. Damn near. The game has to be somewhere around there.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, what. The Wisconsin BYU game. Game was super high scoring. So, I mean, it could get there, but I just. You worry about them being maybe just a tiny bit tight.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Sweet 16. I watched, what, 48, 46 the other day. BYU averages 82, allows 72. But Alabama can fill. Is a high, very high total. But they. If it goes, it's gonna go.

[Ty Schmidt]

It is hard to envision after watching Arkansas and St. John's just foul each other every possession for two hours straight. Great to imagine a 99 a game, but maybe we're getting that tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, I'm riding with you, Seth, just because of how ridiculous it feels. Bama averages 90.8 a game.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. And how much BYU said? 82. 82. That's 172.

[AJ Hawk]

Still a couple short.

[Pat McAfee]

We're doing it. And those are. How's Alabama's defense? Not great. Let me get that. Because you said BYU gives up 72.

[Ty Schmidt]

72.

[Pat McAfee]

That feels like a lot of points. Points at college hoops.

[Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Now we wait. Is Al Alabama smack the wood or not their opponent?

[Bruce Brown]

They are ranked 346 in opponent points per game, so.

[AJ Hawk]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So the overs happen.

[AJ Hawk]

They do not smack the wood.

[Pat McAfee]

They.

[Connor]

They are.

[Bruce Brown]

They are number one in points per game. 346 an opponent. They gave up 81 a game.

[Ty Schmidt]

They're an over machine.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, so let's assume this one goes out. Okay. If you don't ride with us, we understand, though.

[AJ Hawk]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Because, boy, I don't like it. That's a lot of points.

[AJ Hawk]

My God.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's fill up the bucket tonight, boys. Okay. Let's start this sweet 16 in electrifying fashion. Let's do some offense. All right. Be a friend. Tell a Friend something nice. It might change their life wearing this thing together. Okay. We appreciate you all so much. Tick Tock Live Crew. Tick Tock people, thank you for rocking with us to the ESPN + people and Disney+ people, thank you for allowing us to be a part. Part of your life into the OG YouTube crew. Hell yeah. You guys knew it was uncensored over here. The entirety. Oh, yeah. A lot of people watching the ESPN version of it going, why's the audio keep getting muted? LeBron's team doesn't want them to get a beep because it sounds bad, so they mute them. It's like, no, we do that every time. Because I think the beep is obnoxious. I think that is. It makes it sound like you're saying something terrible. So the mute was the decision that was made by me coming on to espn. Did not know it was going to be as long of a beep, though. I thought it had a little bit more agility. I thought the beep had a little bit more agility. But that is a safe nail there. Uncensored in its entirety. Currently living on YouTube and was uncensored in its entirety on YouTube. Shout out to the YouTube people. I can't wait to see some of you YouTube people and some of you people that that allow this to happen every single day at PPG paints arena on April 9th, Wednesday night we will be streaming it live on YouTube, TikTok live and X. And obviously in the arena is going to be hopefully electrifying. All signs are pointing that we might open up a couple more tickets. Oh, might open up a few more tickets. Now there's going to be some tickets that are going to be in some of the giveaway zones. Okay. Everybody that's already purchased a ticket is in a giveaway zone. But then there were some seats that didn't get into the giveaway zone, but also were potentially going to be like for cameras that we've been able to reconfigure and find more tickets for sale. So there are a few seats, individual seats that are available in giveaway zones. Okay. Then we opened up some more with the pretense that are going to be like, this is a non giveaway section, so probably be 15 bucks instead of 20 bucks. It'll probably be even cheaper. But there will be another section or two being opened up that is not in a giveaway zone, which is going to be a big part of the show. I think there's going to be more than a handful of winners. Okay. So it's not going to be like thousands of winners. There's going to be more than a handful of winners. There's going to be tickets that are going to be available that you definitely will not be. But there'll be a lot of people in the arena that are not winners. But there will be people in there that are massive winners.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

And those people all be in the game except for the non giveaway zone tickets that will be available.

[AJ Hawk]

But those will be cheap.

[Pat McAfee]

Those will be cheaper than the actual tickets because you're not in the giveaway zone. Right. But there will be individual tickets that were in the giveaway zones that have become available as well that we're going to put up for sale. So I think look for that in the next few days, another wave of ticket sales. You can get in the building. Have a good time with us. And then if you're coming alone or didn't think about coming alone, know that if you do and you get that ticket, you're gonna feel at home. Whenever you walk in there, it is not gonna matter. That thing is gonna be a vibe inside with all parties. So we appreciate the hell out of everybody and we'll be back tomorrow. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three, Team. Goodbye.

[Connor]

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.

[Pat McAfee]

He doesn't seek guidance or mentorship.

[Connor]

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.

[Pat McAfee]

Always pushing to one up himself. He is accomplished, but far from satisfied.

[Connor]

He embodies what it means to have.

[Pat McAfee]

An unstoppable drive and are shaking up.

[Connor]

The status quo in their community and beyond.

[Pat McAfee]

And Damian Lillard drives a Toyota.

[Connor]

A new generation of Toyota drivers are here and they want you to know one thing.

[Pat McAfee]

You.

[Connor]

You can't stop my drive.

[Ty Schmidt]

Alright, let me ask you something. Ever feel like you're juggling at all work, family responsibilities and still trying to keep your eye on the ball? Yeah. You're an ander. And National University gets the hustle. That's why they have flexible online classes and support services for folks who are balancing jobs and kids and everything in between. If you're ready to take the next step, National University can help you level up your education and score your goals. Check them out at Nu Edu to learn more.