PMS 2.0 1352 - Indiana Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle, Jeff Passan, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Pat McAfee Show – PMS 2.0 1352

Release Date: June 2, 2025
Guests: Indiana Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle, Jeff Passan, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk

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1. Indiana Pacers' Historic NBA Finals Bid

The episode kicks off with Pat McAfee expressing immense excitement about the Indiana Pacers making it to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000. The city of Indianapolis is abuzz following the Pacers' decisive victory over the New York Knicks in game six, securing their spot to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Pat McAfee [00:45]: "The Indiana Pacers were just a damn good basketball team. And everybody all season... the Pacers just became inevitable."

McAfee highlights key players such as Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, and Thomas Bryant, emphasizing their pivotal roles in the Pacers' success. The discussion underscores the team's improved performance compared to the previous season, where they were swept by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Pat McAfee [03:04]: "The Pacers have good lead, then they just kind of choke it away. So nobody even talked about the Pacers being the Eastern Conference finalist last year."

2. Team Dynamics and Strengths

The conversation delves into the Pacers' team dynamics, focusing on their unselfish play, conditioning, and depth. Miles Turner’s leadership and Coach Rick Carlisle's strategic acumen are highlighted as fundamental to the team's cohesive performance.

Jeff Passan [03:28]: "You know who got no love through the beginning of the damn playoffs? They're playing an ion network somehow. That's right."

3. Interview with Coach Rick Carlisle

A significant portion of the episode features an interview with Rick Carlisle, the Indiana Pacers' head coach. Carlisle discusses the team's culture of humility, authenticity, and collective effort. He attributes the team's success to the front office's strategic acquisitions and the players' dedication to unselfish, hard-nosed basketball.

Rick Carlisle [17:02]: "Our team has been built in a different way. It's built on balance, it's built on togetherness, it's built on skill, and it's built on tenacity."

Carlisle also touches upon the physical demands of their playing style and the importance of conditioning, which has been a cornerstone of their playoff performance.

Rick Carlisle [18:10]: "We played Oklahoma twice this year. We had a close game at home... but during the playoffs, they've been number one in points off turnovers."

4. Upcoming NBA Finals Showdown

The anticipation builds around the upcoming NBA Finals matchup between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. McAfee and his co-hosts analyze the strengths and strategies of both teams, predicting a competitive seven-game series.

Pat McAfee [04:00]: "The two best teams in the NBA are battling in the NBA Finals and we're lucky that our city is being represented."

5. Broader Sports Highlights

Beyond basketball, the show covers notable events in other sports:

• Baseball: McAfee and co-hosts discuss the Yankees vs. Dodgers series, highlighting standout performances from Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. They also touch upon the excitement of college baseball, including upsets like Vanderbilt and Texas being eliminated early in the tournament.

  Darius Butler [38:08]: "Ohtani has more or less dictated what he does because there is no playbook, there is no script."

• College Women's Softball: The conversation covers dramatic moments in the Tennessee vs. UCLA game, emphasizing Megan Grant's crucial home runs and the intense celebrations that followed.

  Darius Butler [43:33]: "The Tennessee fans are going ape shit for baseball... it's a beautiful win over Kentucky."

• Golf: Scotty Scheffler's impressive performance at the Memorial Tournament in Columbus, Ohio, is lauded. The hosts discuss his dominance and the positive remarks from Jack Nicklaus about Scheffler's game.

  Pat McAfee [50:21]: "Scotty is playing like boring golf. That's what they're all doing, isn't it? That's why this is championship week."

• Hockey: The NHL Stanley Cup Finals are briefly mentioned, with a focus on stars like Connor McDavid and the Oilers' odds favoring victory.

6. NFL Update: Frank Ragnow's Retirement

The show addresses the unexpected retirement of Frank Ragnow, a standout center for the Detroit Lions. Ragnow's dedication and resilience are celebrated, highlighting his contributions both on and off the field.

Frank Ragnow [62:51]: "I am thankful and grateful for Frank Ragnow did for us. And I'm just glad he got to see success."

7. Major League Baseball Players Association Investigation

Jeff Passan introduces a breaking story about an FBI investigation into the financial dealings of the MLBPA, NFLPA, and One Team Partners. The discussion emphasizes the gravity of the investigation and its potential implications for the players and associations involved.

Darius Butler [75:06]: "There is an FBI investigation right now into the financial dealings of the Major League Baseball Players association, the NFLPA, and this company that they created called One Team Partners."

8. Closing Remarks and Upcoming Events

The episode concludes with discussions about upcoming sporting events, including the NCAA Soccer Tournament (TST) and continued excitement around the NBA Finals. Pat McAfee announces his attendance at a memorial service before heading to Tulsa for WWE Raw, expressing gratitude towards guests and co-hosts for their engaging discussions.

Pat McAfee [135:17]: "This is a monumental day. Thoughts and prayers for Frank and his family."

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Notable Quotes:

• Pat McAfee [00:45]: "The Indiana Pacers were just a damn good basketball team. And everybody all season... the Pacers just became inevitable."

• Rick Carlisle [17:02]: "Our team has been built in a different way. It's built on balance, it's built on togetherness, it's built on skill, and it's built on tenacity."

• Darius Butler [75:06]: "There is an FBI investigation right now into the financial dealings of the Major League Baseball Players association, the NFLPA, and this company that they created called One Team Partners."

• Frank Ragnow [62:51]: "I am thankful and grateful for Frank Ragnow did for us. And I'm just glad he got to see success."

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Conclusion

This episode of The Pat McAfee Show provides an in-depth look at the Indiana Pacers' journey to the NBA Finals, offering expert analysis from Coach Rick Carlisle and co-hosts. Additionally, the show touches upon significant events across various sports, highlighting standout performances and major news stories. Listeners are treated to a comprehensive sports roundup, enriched with engaging discussions and insightful commentary.

Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello beautiful people and welcome to our humble abode, the Thunderdome on this overreaction. Monday, June 2, 2025. This program begins now. Sports are awesome, especially here in Indianapolis, Indiana as the Indiana Pacers have made it to the NBA Finals for the first time since the year 2000. The city is alive. And obviously in game six, whenever the Pacers beat the hell out of the New York Knicks, they punch their ticket to the NBA Finals to take on a very dominant Oklahoma City Thunder team. That'll begin on Thursday night at 8:30 Eastern on ABC. It'll be ESPN broadcast throughout the entirety of the NBA Finals as Tyrese Haliburton and Larry Bird trophy winner, the MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals, Pascal Ciacam take on Shay Jalen and a squad of Oklahoma City Thunder boys that are obviously scrappy, gritty and have a home court advantage. But don't look now, Indiana is alive. The cities was abuzz after the New York Knicks get sent back to New York being Eastern Conference finalists. Congrats to the Knicks. Congrats to the Knicks. Had a chance to be there was not sitting courtside. I think those tickets were like 50, 60 grand a pop or something like that. And I do love the Pacers. Not that much, but I do love goog the Pacers up in a suite with the boys watching as it went down. And you know, as the fourth quarter kind of unfolded, it all got kind of obvious that the Pacers were going to be going to the finals. And it's not just because Tyrese and Pasco. Obie Toppin is absolutely beloved in this city of Indianapolis. There was numerous ob Toppin chants as he hits his head off the rim every single time he seemingly goes to the rack. Thomas Bryant, former Indiana Hoosier, was with the Lakers. Now he's back with the Pacers. He dropped a couple threes to place one apeshit. Tyrese Halliburton turned it on in the fourth quarter. Pascal Siakam is damn near unguardable. He's so fast, so long, long, long, huge. And his Pacers team is in better shape than you are. TB there bringing the juice. He's been doing that for the entirety of the playoffs on the bench. Now he's getting a chance to shine. Nemhard was playing some nem hard defense on Jalen Brunson. Actually, Jalen Brunson headbutted Nemhard at one point. Obviously there was no call because number 39, the ref wearing number 39, little white guy about this big. He really wanted the Knicks to be in It I was watching him, he seemed to be having an. Now I don't want to throw out any, you know, conspiracy fodder. Number 39, the little white. If he's refing any of the games the Pacers are taking on Oklahoma City. I don't know if he's anti Pacers. I don't know if he's anti Coach Carlisle. I don't know if he was pro New York, whatever the case was, that thing was going the opposite direction for like a four or five minute period for the Knicks. And it was just. It got to the point where it was too big to rig. The Indiana Pacers were just a damn good basketball team. And everybody all season. I was talking about how nobody was talking about Oklahoma City enough. This team's dominant.

[Ty Schmidt]

I agree.

[Pat McAfee]

Oklahoma City fans all year have been saying, hey, our team's a real deal. The NBA people who are the super NBA people are like Oklahoma City. This team is the real deal. And in the Eastern Conference, nobody's talking about the Cleveland Cavaliers. They need to give the Cleveland Cavaliers more love. Need to give the Cleveland Cavaliers more love. Everybody's talking about these small markets. The Oklahoma City team and the Cleveland team not getting enough love. You know who got no love throughout the entirety of the season?

[Ty Schmidt]

Who?

[Pat McAfee]

You know who got no love through the beginning of the damn playoffs? They're playing an ion network somehow. That's right. Whenever they had their first couple playoff series? The Indiana Pacers. Nobody talked about them last year. They get to the Eastern Conference finals, they get swept by the Boston Celtics. Now the Boston Celtics would inevitably go win the title, but they get swept 4:03 of those four games. Pacers have good lead, then they just kind of choke it away. So nobody even talked about the Pacers being the Eastern Conference finalist last year. Nobody talked about the Pacers having the best record since post all star break in the entire NBA alongside Oklahoma City. Nobody wanted to see the Pacers on tv. And the Pacers just became inevitable. The Pacers just became a team that was unflappable. They were in better shape than you and this city and this team learned from what happened last year. And now we're ready to take on the NBA Finals atmosphere and environment and the NBA Finals spotlight. This Pacers team might not have been given a spotlight all year, but this Pacers team is ready for the spotlight. They got dogs all over the court. Miles Turner, who's been here for 10 years, cuts a promo afterwards about the city, about the team, about everything he believes in. He's Seen a lot of transition with this squad. And Coach Carlisle, who will be joining us in about 10 minutes or so, is a guy that's basically just been shooed out everywhere he's gone. It's an island of misfit toys basically here for the Indiana Pacers, who have come together and they will run your ass out of the gym. Now, will they be able to do that to Oklahoma City? We shall see. The two best teams in the NBA are battling in the NBA Finals and we're lucky that our city is being represented. And good luck to the Oklahoma City Thunder, nine and a half point favorites on Thursday. The disrespect continues for the Indiana Pacer team. But first game, I think they're going to be trying to feel each other out. Who knows how this first one goes. They could. Thunder could win by 20 in this first one. That would not scare me. Pacers could win by 15, 20, and that would not scare the Oklahoma City team. Best of seven series. Going to have to feel each other out. Think this one is going to go to a full seven regardless. And I can't wait to watch it. What an exciting and electrifying time here in the great state of Indiana. The talks and tables here at Boston Connor and at Ty Schmidt. Baseball happened this weekend as well. Ty. We will certainly dive into that in a little bit. 1/2 of the Hammer Cowboys. AP Tony's here. Great shirt. See you representing for the Pacers?

[Boston Connor]

Yes, sir.

[Darius Butler]

Is brother.

[Boston Connor]

I mean, I've been a Hoosier now for what, eight, nine years and I. Pittsburgh doesn't have a basketball team, so why wouldn't I root for the Indiana Pacers, the best team in the NBA since January 1st? Well, second record wise, but you get it. I'm allowed to say that because I'm a Serge fan. A little bit biased, but. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, T.J. mcConnell. There's a Yinzer on the team.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Dane, I. Oh, wait till you see the TJ. Wait till you see what I got from TJ McConnell.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Boston Connor]

Later this week. That's batiste.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I like to hear that. We can be purchased without a doubt. And Tone. Tone, certainly somebody that can be purchased. D.J. mcConnell starts filling, you know, Tone Diggs his locker with a bunch of merch. He's certainly gonna wear him. Look at the shirt he's wearing right now. I mean, he is. I bought this myself. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yeah, sure you did. It's a beautiful time and it's a fun team to be a fan of. If you're not an NBA Fan, like, from Pittsburgh. There's no NBA team. There's a lot of people that maybe don't have NBA teams. I think a lot of people have potentially picked up the Pacers because of either our program or because Tyrese. Tyler Burton joining us. But it's also a good story because literally nobody has wanted them to win. Like none of the people have wanted them to win. I mean, you go on, get up. Who's going to win the series? Across the bottom?

[Ty Schmidt]

Knicks.

[Pat McAfee]

Who's going to win the series? Bucks. Who's going to win the series? Cavs. They've been calling for the Pacers to. Every person on TV has been calling for the Pacers to lose every single series. I don't think there's been one person that has gone out and been like, I think Pacers are going to do it this time. I think you could potentially get kicked off television. You know how some of those people operate. There's a chance you get kicked off a tv if you were to say that. So it's a wonderful team to be a fan of. Consummate underdog, consummate overlooked, Consummate underrated. Yeah, overrate that. Tyrese Haliburton, 20 plus points. Double. Double in game ceiling game six or series ceiling game six. Pasco Siakam goes. I mean, it's just a fun team and they're all dogs and none of them care. None of them care about who gets the credit. And the way they play is they play hard as hell. And this city is going to be electrifying. Come join us if you want to come to a game.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

The Siakam story, I think is incredible too. Like was in Toronto, wins the championship. He was the G League mvp, like really did kind of come up through the ranks. I think he went to New Mexico or New Mexico State like a small school kid. They talked about. I think he talked about his press conference like, hey, yeah, I moved from Cameroon and completely committed myself to basketball. And that's just kind of been my life. And then he gets traded, you know, from Toronto after they fall off a cliff and finds a home in Indy. And last year when he got traded there, that was a huge deal for them. That kind of got them back into kind of that top tier talent team. And then of course, with the way the season ended with the Celtics sweeping them, there was no celebration. You've talked about it. When a team gets to the Eastern Conference finals, like the Pacers, who weren't being talked about as one of those top teams, you expect to Celebrate some sort of success like that. But because they got swept, there was nothing. And then this offseason, a bunch of clips have been coming out. Miles Turner posted something about him like, hey, we think we can surpass last year Siakam talked about too. Like, you think this is going to happen every year? I went to the finals and then I never sniffed the finals. So the fact that, you know, we were able to get to the conference finals last year was incredible. Now they're going to the finals. There's a stat of, you know, both these teams, Gumpy shared it with us. They both average, you know, OKC, 100 possessions a game. The Pacers 99 possessions a game. And stuff like, this is why the small markets are sweet. Like, they really do care more about basketball in Indiana. That's a real thing. Oklahoma City, I've never been there. I'm sure it's a wonderful place.

[Pat McAfee]

We've seen it on tv. That is special.

[AJ Hawk]

It is incredible. It's one of the best atmospheres in sports. And the jersey, the shirts, they do, of course, is cool, but they're on their feet. And that's what happened in the Pacers game, Game six that I noticed like four or five minutes left. Nobody was sitting down.

[Pat McAfee]

You could sense it. Connor, obviously from Boston, how many titles the Celtics have?

[AJ Hawk]

18. Most of the NBA history.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, obviously, you're welcome. I just gave you that one.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, hey, hey, by the way, current, if it's got to go anywhere, at least it stays in here, right?

[Pat McAfee]

Thank God. And you'll be shipping that, obviously, whenever it gets some team potentially getting the four wins.

[AJ Hawk]

Hey, look, if sga, if SGA wants to reach out for it, maybe.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But on that note. Whoa. All right, listen. We don't know if it's going to hit.

[AJ Hawk]

That's what you're saying.

[Pat McAfee]

No. Yeah. But on that note, there's like five minutes left in the fourth quarter. Connor looks over, he goes, oh, you can feel it. Pacers are going to the finals. And I like, look around and you could, because the game got kind of ugly. Pacers started making shots. Knicks subbed out before the Knicks even did a full line change and basically just tapped out and put the white flag up. The entire arena was standing and it was just like a buzz. It was like everybody in their own little groups was like, holy shit, Pacers are going to the finals. The Pacers are going to the NBA Finals right now. And it was a cool moment where you were like, you could feel, you could sense it right now because you know, obviously Celtics fans are like, you guys don't get this a lot.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, well.

[Pat McAfee]

But this is what the feeling is. This is what we're trying to bottle in experience. Nine year NFL vet Darius J. Butler is here. D Butts, great to see you. Look incredibly cool.

[Gumpy]

Great to be here.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. The atmosphere was electric in there. And that's that moment that he's chit chatting about. That was when Tyrese goes from the logo. That was whenever, you know, Thomas Bryant started going crazy from the side. It was like that fourth quarter moment is why you pay the amount of money that you pay to be in that building.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Thank you for that.

[Pat McAfee]

In this city. Yeah, no problem.

[AJ Hawk]

No, I appreciate that.

[Pat McAfee]

No problem.

[AJ Hawk]

Much, much more fun this year for you, I think.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Last year was the worst viewing experience I've ever had in my life.

[AJ Hawk]

Sorry, that's on me.

[Pat McAfee]

It was on him. Two of his Celtics friends were there and I said, never in my life am I doing that again. Especially at the price that I just paid for this su. I'm not going to watch people just dance in my face the entire time. I'm going to try to enjoy this. We certainly did that, but it was a beautiful thing and it's amazing what sports can do.

[Gumpy]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Like this city. You know, I'm not saying that last year after the Eastern Conference finals, the city was bummed out about the Pacers, but they certainly were. They were bummed out about how the season ended because how proud they were of the Pacers team. Nobody thought they were going to be able to make it as far as they did. They do then. Can't even talk about it now. It's like we all kind of understand what the team is. The team represents city well. And it's, you know, the vibes are amazing. Immense. The vibes are so high. It's a spectacular.

[Gumpy]

You guys were there in the building. You can feel that energy even watching it through the tv. Like watching through the tv, hearing the chance, hearing the crowd, regardless of what the score was, the crowd was fully in. You heard even the chance for Thomas, and obviously he's. He's a Hoosier as well. But you talked about this state just being a basketball state in general. So for them to be in the finals for the first time and they have a real chance to win it. I forget who it was that was on here. Talking about, you know, the team and the makeup of the Pacers and how they play and with their pace, like they can run you to the ground and they almost generate Another superstar with those extra 20, 30 points that they just get in pace. Moving out. Saw some breakdown even against the Knicks with like, some. I think a lot of people going after Cat or going after the big. Just not getting back down the court. As soon as they give them a bucket, boom, they're out, they're leaking. Tyrese is kicking it out. And that is a bitch for anybody that has ever played basketball on any level. Like, it doesn't matter. Like, okay, you got SGAs or the hardens or whoever who can ISO and take it. But when you can play as a team like that, you know, possession into possession out, that is tough.

[Pat McAfee]

I like what you said there. It's like an added super. Their pace is an added superstar. It is the sixth man on the court is how conditioned. Last year during the playoffs, they kept saying, well, the Pacers are just playing against hurt teams. Hurt teams. It's hurt teams. It's like they might be the ones causing the other team. Yeah, their sixth superstar, which is their pace and their conditioning and their cardio might be making people be hurt. And I saw the quote notes about people getting upset about Cat, allegedly in his effort on defense. It's like, that was my big takeaway from watching that game. Courtside was like, Cat is too big to be running the amount that they're. Because Pasco Siakam, he is tall, long, and he can run. He just run. He's run. He was running. I mean, he was going. Obi. They all. They all got pace. Miles is the only guy now he's been here for 10 years, doesn't have the pace, but he still knows that he's going to have to run up and down. It's like when you get dropped in to play against his Pacers team, it's like it's a track meet. Like, it is about to be a track meet. After how long this season has been, after how long the playoffs are, do you have enough guys that are going to be able to keep up with the pace of play that the Pacers are going to have? And it's like nobody really has been able to do that yet. This Oklahoma City team, though, they're saying can because the depth, because the way they go about playing and they kind of do the same thing, which is why it should be a very good. Should be a great series, is kind of how everybody's eyeing it.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, it's going to be incredible. And Miles Turner, too.

[Pat McAfee]

He.

[AJ Hawk]

He's one of those guys that could, you know, be a little upset, want more shots but he knows his role, like for Karl Anthony Towns, they're going to be pissed at him if he's not taking 20, 25 shots. So he has to be in the game like Miles Turner. Sure, he can hit threes, he can, you know, score in the post, he can do everything. But he's not going to be upset if he only has 10 shots because Siakam in Obi in Tyrese and, you know, Mathurin coming off the bench and I always get his name wrong. I'm sorry, but.

[Pat McAfee]

But he's Matheran.

[AJ Hawk]

Matheran. Yeah. Even he's a dog. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Absolute dog.

[AJ Hawk]

So it's like they have all these different pieces and nobody has an ego. And I think it starts and ends with Rick Carlisle because Rick Carlisle's been around for so long, he knows how rare it is.

[Pat McAfee]

Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a top 10 statistical coach of all time in the playoffs, an NBA champion, a guy who's been to the finals six times, and now he's leading the Indiana Pacers for the first time in 25 years to the NBA Finals. Gave a great promo after the game where he said, In 49 other states, it's just basketball. But this is Indiana. Huge pop. Also had the wherewithal to thank Ernie in TNT after the biggest night of this particular Pacers team's lives, to give them a thank you for everything that TNT has done for the NBA and their show. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now, Guy I punch right in the shoulder, Coach Carlisle. I gave you a little something something there, Coach. Congratulations.

[Jet Passan]

Yeah, yeah. What's up, guys?

[Pat McAfee]

Hey. So we got to get this out of the way. Just for my own personal reasons, I do that promo where I talk on, you know, to everybody in the fourth quarter. Let's turn this shit up. I'm going to give the microphone back. You're right there. I punch you right in the shoulder. No sell out of you. I don't even think you glanced at me. Did you feel the shot? Was there a thought while I was talking or you locked in in a zone there? Don't even know what's going on with me. It's more so just basketball.

[Jet Passan]

Yeah. I woke up with a bruise the next day and had forgotten what happened. But now listen, we appreciate you, Pat. We appreciate you getting us going. When you. When you sit courtside, it's awesome. And I don't care what other people think. It's good.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay? Hey, I needed that. That makes me feel good. Coach, we just chit chatted there about the depth of Your team. And we talked about Miles Turner, how he's been there for 10 years. He gave a great speech afterwards talking about the state and the city. He doesn't care. If he's not the one putting up 30. Feels like Tyrese doesn't care. Pascal doesn't care. Thomas Bryant comes in, puts up some major points. It's like, what about your team do you think makes them so unselfish? Is that kind of what it is? And how do you find guys that are like that in 2025, in 2026, going forward?

[Jet Passan]

Well, our front office has done a great job of getting great people. And then, you know, your culture starts with your best players. So Tyrese and Pascal are both high, high level players that are great people. They're highly unselfish. They put winning above everything else. And, you know, they're both connectors on the court. So, you know, that's got to be the starting point for us. We're constructed a little differently. You know, things are changing in the NBA. It's, you know, the top heavy rosters of superstars, you know, are. Are kind of a thing of the past, you know, somewhat. And so, you know, our team has been built in a different way. It's built on balance, it's built on togetherness, it's built on skill, and it's built on tenacity. And the style we play is not an easy style. It's very physically demanding. But we have great guys. And, you know, they. They've really. They've really leaned into everything that's going on in this run, and obviously we want to keep it going.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they represent. You, represent our city well. So I think that's why you see such good buy in from the fan base. That place was electrifying. You talk about it being physically tasking, the style of play that you have. I did not grow up in the basketball world. I watch basketball, but I don't know the ins and outs. But I do know that last year during the playoff run, all they kept talking about was the Pacers. They're just playing against hurt teams. They're playing against hurt teams. They're playing against hurt teams. Then this year, well, they didn't get their best. They didn't get their best. I think it's because the pace that you guys play at, I think that is an added weapon. I think you actually run to people out of gyms. I know that's not necessarily the thought, but whenever you think about your team being able to run at the speed and the pace that they're able to have. Does that go back to like training camp? Do they know that what they're signing up for or how does it kind of be instituted that we're going to be the better shape team as opposed to the other teams?

[Jet Passan]

Well, it's training camp, but really it's. You know, when we did exit meetings last year after the season, we talked about the importance of a great summer of conditioning. And look, this is one of the reasons that Tyrese had a slow start to the, you know, he was coming off the injury last year in the conference finals to Boston. He got. He got healthy basically just in time to start practicing with team USA with the Olympics. And then once the game started, you know, he. He wasn't playing much and then he got dinged up in I think the second to last game. And then he was not really healthy until about two or three days before actual training camp started. So. So he missed out on a summer of conditioning and base building, you know, from a conditioning standpoint. And it's one of the big reasons that the start to his season this year was slow. And so it's a commitment. And it's not just, you know, you don't just come into training camp to get in shape. Nowadays in this NBA, you've got to do your conditioning stuff during the summer and you've got to come in really tuned up.

[Pat McAfee]

I think you guys are the most conditioned team that I've ever seen in basketball. I mean, like Chip Kelly came into the NFL, he was going to try to run hurry up, and we're going to run more plays. And with an 18 G17 game season, 16 game season, guys bodies just kind of fell off. It feels like you guys do that to other teams just from watching. Like I was watching poor Carlo Anthony Towns have to run back and forth, back and forth, and I'm like, that's a weapon. But how does your team stay in shape? It's like your guys are just ready for it. Now let's talk about your big brain. Okay, I know you don't want to do that. You're always deflecting to others. There was a moment caught on camera, though. Go ahead, con man.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, coach. Early on, you guys ran a pick and roll with against Jalen Brunson and kind of abused him in the post, if you will. And after, I believe, Neesmith. Yeah. Here lays it in. The boys on the bench went right over to you and basically pat you on the head and back like, coach, you're a genius. How do you do it? What was the adjustments you guys made throughout the series and how important is that during a seven game series to kind of show one thing early on and then maybe change it in the biggest moment, like game six, the closeout on Saturday.

[Jet Passan]

Well, the opening play was from one of my coaching staff. And you know, one thing that I got from Terry Staats, who was one of my former assistants who went on to Portland, and he did this in Portland. He was the head coach there for nine years and very successful. Whoever had the scout of that particular game had the opportunity to draw up the first play. And so I've been doing this now for seven or eight years. And it's great because it gives your assistance. Most of whom have very fertile minds and have really studied the opponent, the opportunity to draw something up where they think there may be a vulnerability or something. So the staff drew it up. I happened to draw it up on the board and we, and I was the one that presented it, you know, in our prep before the game, which is not the normal thing, but for time reasons, that's kind of how it went. So, yeah, there's this thing. So, you know, I mean, Lloyd Pierce works with Myles Turner and he works with Aaron, you know, and some of our other coaches work with, you know, the other guys, obviously. So if somebody draws up the first play and it works, you know, McConnell always gets up and he's, he's always saying, oh, wow, what a great play. You know, he's always. That was really, you know, and they, and they do this big thing. Miles Turner, you know, makes a, makes a post move and scores. You know, first play of the game, he'll run up to Lloyd Pierce, he'll say, hey, hey, Lloyd, was that the step through? Was that the Bill Walton or was that the Robert Paris? You know, and so there's this fun stuff going on, you know, so it's kind of, it's kind of not serious, but it's also, you know, just part of the character of our team. And it's a fun loving group and the guys love to compete and they love, loves to compete together and they have fun with it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I love that TJ McConnell's just shit talking at all times. Oh, super genius. What a play, what a play. You know, good Yinzer guy bringing it all together. I saw James Johnson put a fire out immediately with a New York Knicks fan that was heckling the bench. It feels like you have the perfect combination of players in there to have great vibes. Which leads to D. Butt's question for you coach, coach.

[Gumpy]

You know, professional sports. Egos are always the thing. You mentioned, you know, some of your leaders earlier on with Halliburton, Burton, and Siakam. What did you learn how to manage egos when it comes to running these types of teams? Because watching the team from afar, it seems very selfless. The ball moves and finds the open shot. But what did you learn in your career? How to manage different egos, different players, especially when you having success?

[Jet Passan]

Well, I've been humbled just about every way possible that you can be in coaching and as a player. And I've learned that humility and authenticity are the keys. You know, know, players today, you know, they. They don't want to be bullshitted. You know, they. They really. They can tell, you know, if you're not being straight with them. So, look, we. We try to bring the truth to our guys. We try to let them know that we really care about them. You know, it's important that they know that we are busting our butts as much as we can to help them succeed, not only. Not only as a team, but individually in their careers and that so that they can. They can play longer, they can play more years, they can play better, they can get good contracts and stuff like that. But we make it clear that our thing here is about culture, and it's about what we can do together. And we don't accept situations where people put themselves before the team. And it starts with Tyrese and Pascal and Miles, really. And the buck stops with those three guys, and those three guys walk the talk.

[Pat McAfee]

I love what your team's about, man. Yeah, I do. So good for our city.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah, you can feel it, right?

[Gumpy]

Team to root for.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, easy team root. But you could feel the city, like. I don't want to say like your team embodies a city, because that seems like a bit cliche, but it's very real. Like, it feels like you're. Your team embodies what we are here. And I think that's why you've seen how much this city has been excited about this. I mean, it was upside down on set, crazy. I mean, it was upside down on Saturday night. We're expecting the same thing throughout the rest of the finals and then hopefully into a very celebratory filled off season. Now, on that note, you're meeting a team that also has a great fan base. Go ahead, Tone.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Coach. During the NFL playoffs, we talk a lot about, you know, away teams having to use silent count and not being able to hear each other. In the huddle and stuff like that. When you go into an atmosphere like OKC that seems like it is incredible, is that something that you have to, to prepare for or is it similar to series that you have faced already in the NBA playoffs?

[Jet Passan]

We don't call plays anyway, so it doesn't matter. That's one thing. But to what Pat just said, when I went to Detroit for my first head coaching job in 2001, we looked at the team, we looked at the city that we were in and you want to try to come up with an identity for the team that somehow mirrors the fan base. And so at that time, you know, we had Ben Wallace, Cliff Robinson, Mike Curry, some really tough minded guys. And so Detroit was a hard working, you know, Auto City, all that, a lot of industry there. And so going to work became kind of the moniker when I came back here. You know, this Indiana is so much about the purity and sanctity of the game and playing the right way and those kinds of things that, you know, we built the team, we built, you know, our talking points within our culture on selfishness, building skill, being in great shape and doing the things that, you know, that Indiana basketball is really all about. I think it's an interesting series. You know, Oklahoma's historically great. They won 68 games. Their defense is historically great. But it's two teams that have been built similarly and built on the same pillars and the same things of importance, hard, unselfish play, skill, all those kinds of things. So we're looking forward. It's going to be a great challenge. This is going to be first game. I think we're already at a ten point underdog, nine and a half.

[Pat McAfee]

Coach.

[Jet Passan]

Yeah, yeah, you know, so but that's, that's all right. You just got to love the challenge. And so we've got a couple of days to prepare here before we get on the plane and we have great respect for them and we'll, we're going to look forward to the challenge.

[Pat McAfee]

Coach, how often do you use those types of things as motivation? You knowing that it's a nine and a half, ten point spread for the first game and then I assume you saw whenever Tyrese was voted the first most overrated guy in the NBA by the Athletics poll of his peers, do you use that stuff as motivation? What is your messaging to the team on that? That type of stuff?

[Jet Passan]

You know, it's the stuff with, the stuff with betting and point spreads is so prevalent now, you don't really need to talk to the team about it. It's all out there. People are talking about it in real time during the broadcast.

[Gumpy]

You know.

[Jet Passan]

I just sense today's players just have an awareness for a lot of things to begin with. I think they realize our guys realize the level of the challenge. We played Oklahoma twice this year. We had a close game at home. We had a chance to be right there and we just were unable to hit a couple shots and it became a make miss thing. And then later in the year we went to Oklahoma and we, we didn't play well and you know, I think we took a 20 or 22 point hit or something like that. I mean they're great. They've got the mvp, they've got Jalen Williams who's a, who's, you know, who's a second star. They've got Chad Holmgren who's a really third star. And then they've got a supporting cast that's really, really good. And, and they really defend. You know, Caruso and Dorset, Williams and Gilgamesh Alexander. These guys are all elite defenders and not only do they defend well, but they take the ball from the opponent. And so I believe during the playoffs they've been number one in points off turnovers. So a lot of this for us, we're going to have to do a good job with ball security. I know that's a, that's a football term too. We're going to have to take care of it on the one hand, but we're going to have to play fast and we're going to have to move it around a lot and we're going to have to rebound it because the possession stats in every sport really do carry the day.

[Pat McAfee]

100 to 99 average, I guess on the possessions between you guys in Oklahoma City, you just talked about them playing defense. That great. Ty has a question for you.

[H]

Yeah, speaking of that coach, there's a stat floating around that and you guys last eight playoff wins, you've scored 110 plus. And obviously you know, throughout the course of the series you're going to score points. But do you think at some point in this series you guys are going to have to win at least one defensive battle with. And you know, shots aren't necessarily falling or whatever the case may be. Or is it one of those things where, hey, we already know what the formula is for us to win? We're just going to stick with that.

[Jet Passan]

I do believe that you're right. And you know the really, the wonderful thing about NBA playoffs is like you get into a series every single game Is different. I mean, you look at the New York series, every single game, game one was played one way, it went to overtime. Game two was different. Game three was, you know, every, every game is a new chapter. Some are high scoring, some are lower scoring. The lower scoring games are tough games to win. I mean, they're, they're, they're slugfest and they're, you know, they're won and lost on the front lines, you know, in the trenches, you know, as you guys say in football. So look, we don't know, we don't know what game one's going to look like. I know how intense it's going to be. You know, the finals stage is a different world. You know, you go to the NBA Finals and now your media, things are different. You've got, you know, hundreds of media people from all over the world instead of, you know, 50 or 60 in the conference finals, your practices during the finals, you know, 30 minutes of your, the beginning of your practice, the media is in the practice, you know, and so the stage is different, it feels different. But we've got to normalize things as much as possible. We've got to lean into the things that have, that have helped make us successful, which is hard, fast, unselfish, solid play. And we've got to do a good job in the possession areas. And you know, you just, you don't know how often you're going to get to the NBA Finals. I mean, I mean, you can have a great young team, it can seem like you have this Runway and you just never know. So we've got to really embrace this opportunity and come out guns blazing.

[Pat McAfee]

When was the time you noticed that this team couldn't go on a run? Was there a time this year where you were like, because post all star break, your guys record is top two in the league or whatever. You know, you guys were the hottest team, one of the hottest teams in the league going into the playoffs. Was there a time where you're like, you know what? This team has a chance. Maybe we, maybe we do take a real run at this because last year you guys make it to the Eastern Conference finals, nobody was expecting it. Get swept by the Boston Celtics, nobody celebrates. The fact that you guys got to the Eastern Conference kind of just gets forgotten about this year. Start a little slow. You talk about Tyrese being injured, not maybe showing up to the season in the greatest physical shape that he could be in because of what he was dealing with in the offseason. Then you guys get hot. Was there a time during the Season where you thought to yourself, okay, this is the team that we thought we could be after last year.

[Jet Passan]

Well, I felt coming into the season that the NBA is kind of structurally changing a little bit. There's been amazing parity the last several years. I believe the last seven champions have been. It's been a different champion each year. And so kind of the way the league is going was heading that direction. We liked our pieces. You know, we felt, you know, getting Matheran back was going to be a positive for us because he missed the entire playoffs last year. But again, you never know. And you get humbled early with a tough schedule. You know, the Paris trip was challenging because it was a great trip.

[Ty Schmidt]

And we.

[Jet Passan]

And we split with a team that's going to be a great team in this league and is building toward that direction right now. But that was two games in nine or 10 days. And so it put compression at the beginning of the schedule and a little bit toward the end. And so we had to deal with that. So, you know, you try to problem solve your way through it. You certainly have to lean on your veterans and your leaders in tough times to, you know, to keep everybody's vibe up and for those guys to stay positive, which they did. And then, you know, you try to give your best yourselves the best chance that you can. And January was key for us because there were no back to backs. We became healthier. I think we had the best record in the league that month, and then we were able to keep it going a little bit, you know, as the year went on.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it was fun to watch. We appreciate you so much. I got a chance to meet your wife on Saturday night. We shared an elevator alongside my wife as we were heading up. Her vibes were immaculate. You know, it was. I thanked her for what, you know, her and you have done for our city and keep rolling, Coach, we appreciate the hell out of you.

[Jet Passan]

We'll punch her in the. Punch her in the arm when you see her next time.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, Jesus. I know we're trying to make a tough team out here, but maybe not now. Good luck the rest of the way. We appreciate you.

[AJ Hawk]

All right.

[Jet Passan]

Appreciate you guys. Be well. Take care.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, respect. Respect, man. Ladies and gentlemen, NBA champion Coach Carlisle. You already gave us one of those.

[H]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. I gave it to you last time.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm not doing that again.

[Gumpy]

I'm a little worried. You didn't give it back.

[Pat McAfee]

No. Well, it's not the end of the season.

[H]

That might be a good thing.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[H]

Yeah. Last year they didn't win last year.

[AJ Hawk]

They got slapped when he did it.

[Gumpy]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

And that's probably why he doesn't dish it out anymore.

[Pat McAfee]

It's like when Connor McDavid, you know, didn't touch.

[Boston Connor]

Sure.

[H]

Charles Robinson, Clarence Campbell. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, the whole thing. And then he touched it this year. One change up to Mojo. Coach Carlisle smiling at the end of that series was wild.

[H]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, he's not a big smiler.

[AJ Hawk]

He is a locked in even right there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Super locked in. Yeah. As he was, him listening to the questions, like every word. I want to listen to this, make sure we get a good answer out here. He's an intense guy. Been to the final six times. You know, he's been there, done that. And I think the boys have a respect for that. Like, hey, if he says it, it's going to work, we assume it's going to work. I don't think he's friends with the players either. I think it's a vastly different relationship. I think he's coach, they are player. We're going to keep rolling. Obviously, they have respect for each other. And congrats to Herb Simon, the owner of the Pacers. There was a tweet about his last 12 months. Basically what the Pacers ownership group has been able to accomplish over the last 12 months, obviously the All Star Game. Caitlin Clark has come to town. The Pacers have reached conference finals now back to back years. Now they're make me reaching the Finals. He goes into the hall of Fame and longest tenured owner and then he'll host the WNBA All Star Game and his family. Will I get a chance to meet him after his first time, getting a chance to meet him. Just, you know, such a jolly, just so kind. So that trophy's heavy, though. They put this trophy in this guy's hands and he's supposed to just hold it out. Like he's like some sort of cruel and unusual punishment. He's like, get this thing the hell. Way too heavy.

[H]

90 years old.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, it's the weight of the world is in here, but it actually is like 40 pounds, I think, or 35 pounds or something like that. Their trophy. So it was. Everybody was kind of dragging it around, you know, not just doing a big ball dance. Congrats to the Pacers. We're thankful for them doing it here in Indy and can't wait to watch the finals. Congrats to Oklahoma City. Cannot wait to see how you guys play. Now. There was other sports that took place over the weekend. Baseball had a big one I don't know if you know this, but the Yankees and the Dodgers had a three game series Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Dodgers won the series two to one. But there was some magic that took place over the weekend. Ty.

[H]

Yeah, absolutely. If you're just a fan of baseball in general, you're starting to get into it. We've talked about this time and time again and kind of why baseball's been awesome so far this year. The best players are performing Friday night. Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge in the top half of the first inning. Aaron Judge hits a 450 plus foot homer to center field to start the series. And then in the bottom half of the inning. Yeah, you can see, I mean just a monster shot from Judge there. And then answering right away, Shohei in the bottom of the first off, Max Freed, who is the Yankees ace. Yeah, he goes yard.

[Pat McAfee]

That's exactly what the MLB wants, right?

[H]

Without a doubt. And because we talked about a bunch, you know, when people were bitching like, hey, this type of game shouldn't be on Apple tv. It should be on, you know, ESPN or Fox or whatever. You know, people act like no one has Apple tv, which is kind of a joke. But that's, you know, neither here nor there. But it was also a 1010 start time and you also had other stuff going on other sports. So it did kind of get buried a little bit. But the weekend as a whole, they couldn't have asked for a better showcase. Ohtani hits two homers in that Friday night game against the Yankees. Judge hits one. And then on Saturday the Dodgers beat the hell out of the Yankees. But Judge hits two homers. And then last night on Sunday night baseball, the, I mean it was just a great game game, very entertaining back and forth. Both Shohei and Aaron Judge go hit list last night. And it was kind of the supporting cast who, who came in and you know, did their damage. But overall a lot of people saying, hey, this is a potential World Series preview of this upcoming year. It was obviously the World Series last year. And I think overall, just for the state of baseball, you could have done a lot worse. You know, I mean they, all the stars were there, all the stars played, which is huge. And for the most part outside of that Saturday game, that was kind of a punt, you know, you Yankees gave up nine runs in like the first inning and obviously show, hey, he's got, he's got a new baby at home. So he's very, very sleepy obviously.

[Pat McAfee]

18 to 2.

[H]

Yeah, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Can we, and can we end this Game. Is there not some mercy rule in this entire thing?

[H]

Exactly. So, like, if you take that out, which is kind of just a throwaway, overall, this, this is exactly what baseball needed. Now, it would have been nice if that Friday night game was a 710 first pitch. And not 10 10, but overall, all three games on national TV, it was great.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so not just professional baseball, obviously, having their stars. College baseball is happening right now. Okay. And there's big news, historic news. The number one and number two overall seeds. Right? Is this the first time. Long time.

[H]

Yeah. So it's the first time since 1999 when they introduced like national seeding, that the first overall seed, who was Vanderbilt this year, got eliminated. Great highlight here. You can see a pop fly to end the game from Wright State, who not, not a bad team. But again, these SEC teams, we've talked about it after Covid, you know, with the Beers going crazy like they pack out these stadiums. Vanderbilt, first number one nationally ranked seed to not make it to the super regionals ever. So, like they're supposed to win. You know, it's at Vanderbilt, it's at their home stadium. They're supposed to win. They don't write state. Upstates upsets them. And then later, Texas, the number two overall seed, they get eliminated by Texas. San Antonio, the Roadrunners making their meat. Yeah, meet me. Making their first ever appearance in the super regional. So this is just the first round. We still have another, you know, after the super regionals, we'll get the teams who are going to Omaha. But if you're just kind of like an ancillary fan of baseball this time of the year, watching college baseball, it is incredible.

[Pat McAfee]

On that note, West Virginia baseball.

[H]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Kentucky. Where are they from? What conference?

[H]

They're in the SEC.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, really?

[Gumpy]

Best one, right?

[Pat McAfee]

Well, well, well. West Virginia. Don 12:8 in the eighth inning, Gavin Kelly hits a single to make it 12:10. Oh, no, the boys are back in town. Bottom of the eighth, nine innings, obviously in baseball. But all of a sudden the bottom of the eighth, it gets a little sketchy. 128 now it's 1210 now because of Ben Lomsden, he hits a single to make it 1212. And the West Virginia faithful are going ape shit for baseball. Now it's a tie game, bottom of the eighth. They can't continue to. Yes, they can. Armani Guzman, he gets a single to make it 13 12. Scoreless 9th inning for both teams. West Virginia knocks out Kentucky in a double elimination first round battle. And West Virginia has a five run eighth inning. To come back from being down to take the lead in the Mountaineers march on Vandy gone. Texas gone. Kentucky gone. West Virginia. Virginia rolling. Shout out to college baseball.

[H]

Huge for West Virginia too, because I believe they were slated to play Texas in the super regional if Texas would have advanced. So now they're going to be going, you know, they have UTSA instead. There is a very good chance that West Virginia makes College World Series.

[Pat McAfee]

They need to figure out how to celebrate. That was some of the shittiest celebrations.

[Gumpy]

They weren't ready.

[Pat McAfee]

The boys were jacked. It was 12:18. They thought this was over. They weren't ready to do the entire thing. You have a five run inning. I didn't know that was two outs.

[H]

Whole rally was with two outs.

[Pat McAfee]

I had no idea that was possible in baseball. Love that. I, I was not watching the game live. Should have been, obviously. I was just seeing WVU baseball tweets that are popping up in my algorithm. Yeah, there's a couple people that fall. They, I mean, good joy. Good joy here. Should have just ended it. Should have just ended it.

[H]

Probably good thing too, because in the grand scheme of things, they really haven't won. You know, this is more where they're trying to go.

[Pat McAfee]

Look at them carrying the Gatorade in the water.

[Ty Schmidt]

Power. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Nobody gets it.

[AJ Hawk]

Nobody.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And we just dump it on the ground.

[H]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That's awesome. What do you want? We had five runs in the eighth inning with two outs. We've already done our magic. We don't be dumping Pirate on anybody. Save that for the next round. Huge win, though, over Kentucky. And it's not just college baseball that's electrifying. It's also college women's softball season. We need to be watching.

[H]

Yeah, without a doubt. We talked about Oklahoma a little bit on, I think it was Friday. Another, you know, just, just packed weekend of college softball action. The, the biggest kind of takeaway was the Tennessee and UCLA drama. A little bit of drama. Who is, who is this again?

[AJ Hawk]

Megan Grant.

[H]

Yeah. So Megan Grant hits a two run blast. She's one of the big boppers for UCLA. She was 0 for 9 in the tournament. Coming in, she hits two run homer. Okay. Late to tie this thing up in first pitch. Yeah. First pitch in the last inning. They need this. Otherwise they're done. Done. She rounds the bases and gets jacked up, celebrates with her teammates. But oh, no, she didn't step on home plate.

[Pat McAfee]

What? Yeah, yeah, she was excited. Both feet could have technically touched it because she did like a little skippity step in there. Back foot could have touched it, front foot could have touched it somehow. Both cleats do not touch home plate.

[H]

Correct.

[Pat McAfee]

And. But they celebrate big, celebrate big. And I don't know, one thing led to a. Another. They ran up reviewing this to see if this should count or not.

[H]

Yeah, they, they showed Tennessee's dugout because they immediately were like, yeah, she definitely didn't touch home plate. And long story short, there's a, there's a review basically where if someone on base set, Spanx, that's smacks spanks on.

[Pat McAfee]

The, on the field. Holy hell, that's called playoff spank.

[Boston Connor]

He's got the same fit on and.

[Pat McAfee]

He'S potentially blocking an angle. So he needs to watch his. Maybe get out of the way, Spanx. He ain't about.

[H]

You might be a UCLA fan. We don't know exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Anyways, they go back for the review.

[H]

They review it and there is a rule where like basically another runner you can see here who was on base guides her to home plate to make sure she touches it so it's not an automatic out. They review it and the umpire says, hey, she did miss home plate. But this actually isn't a reviewable call. So the, the, the runs will stand for four. We're going to extras.

[Pat McAfee]

Appendix G actually states that this is not reviewable even though they do review it. And the promo from the ump after the review, something special because he goes and says the call is upheld or whatever. So the UCLA people go crazy. And then he goes, after review, we noticed that she did not touch home plate. She was guided back to home plate. Now the Tennessee fans are like, then he says, but we found out through appendix G not reviewable actually. So everything we just did, waste of time.

[H]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

But with that being said, count it. We're going to extra innings. Tennessee would go on to win.

[H]

Yeah, Tennessee walks them off in extras. And so now we're down to the double elimination round. Oklahoma still alive. They have one loss though. They play Texas Tech today, I believe. So they have to beat Texas Tech twice. Who D. But I know Texas Tech's got an absolute dog out there.

[Gumpy]

Kennedy. They're a pitcher. Million dollar woman actually got a million dollar dollars in nil transfer from Stanford. She had, I believe, gentleman gave up four hits, seven strikeouts. Also hit a double, so she's a weapon. Texas Tech, their first win in the World Series history. So ever. This is the first time they're ever going to the semifinals. And like you said, double elimination. So it got to be Oklahoma Or Oklahoma has a chance to beat them if they lose to them.

[H]

Right? Yeah, Oklahoma's gonna have to. They. I don't. I don't believe they've lost yet. So Oklahoma has to at least beat them twice.

[Pat McAfee]

So we respect and appreciate college ball and stick sports in this time carrying us whenever there isn't a playoff game at night. The NHL Stanley cup finals begins on Wednesday night.

[AJ Hawk]

First rematch since Penguins, Red Wings, I believe a lot of people are saying, you know, Crosby, very similar. He played against the Red wings in the second year is when he won his first Cup. So they're saying McDavid, it might be his time now. But yeah, very jacked up for this. And everyone, everyone's going back to last year where Chucky said, hey, we'll see you next season, baby. And this is it. And now we go.

[Boston Connor]

You see the Oilers up there? They're minus 125. That is for game one and also the series. They are minus 125.

[Pat McAfee]

Really?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Connor McDavid is the favorite at minus 115 to win the cons month, which is the playoffs. MVP Bob is second favorite at plus 250 to win the Con. Smythe.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go to golf. Scotty Scheffler racks up another tournament. Win the Memorial over there in Ohio. Ohio. And obviously Scotty, if he's on a court, we are on a course, we assume he's going to win. It was a muddy track all weekend. It had a nice Sunday. Scottie Scheffler ends up winning. Oh, Ben Griffin, who. Or Blake Griffin, who held the lead going into the weekend. He finishes second. Congrats to him. Straka, Taylor and Henley round up the top five. Here's Jack talking about Scottie Scheffler's big win in Jack's tournament in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio. Now, looking at the leaderboard today, he didn't. He didn't have. I mean, Ben Griffin's a nice player. Stick scrappers, Sep Stock is a nice player. Nick Taylor is a nice player. Those are all the guys who were there basically coming down the stretch and. But he knows that those guys, you know, are not in his league now. FIDA had, had. I don't know who else it might have been, but somebody else at the top. Xander or somebody like that would have been there. He might have said, well, that might be a little tougher. I might have to do something. He didn't have to. Okay. And I think I've always was just asked Scotty if he watched the leaderboard. He says, yeah, I do. I said, well, I did too. I always watched the leaderboard and found out what my competition was. And I always felt like what level I had to play took to fight that competition off. And sometimes you'd have to fight it off because you knew they'd self destruct, you see? And so, you know, so you just. You just don't make dumb mistakes and play solid golf and. And you win. Jack Nicklaus is saying Scotty Scheffler definitely won. Okay? I'm not. Not saying he didn't win, but for the tournament that I put together and I host here, it would have been nice to have a couple bigger. Strock is a good boy. He's a sweet boy, but he sucks 10. That's not what Jack said.

[AJ Hawk]

That's what it. That's what I took.

[Pat McAfee]

He said, he's a good ball player. He's a good ball player. But, you know, some of these guys are going to self destruct. Scotty Scheffler knows that. So maybe Scotty doesn't have to be as aggressive. Now, Scotty Scheffler is known to be aggressive, though. He'll be up six, and he's still going for the green, going for the pin. And I think what Jack was saying was there was real. No, Scotty never had a moment where he was like, oh, no, there might be somebody to come run up on me in this thing. Now, he didn't mention Rory's name. Right. Rory did not come to the memorial. It was an elevated event, Jack's event. So a lot of people are like, Rory and Jack maybe have a little bit of heat, but I think Jack was talking to the bigger story about where golf is currently with the run that Scotty's having, because I think Jack doesn't want it to be tarnished. I think Jack doesn't want people to hold over Scottie's head. Scotty, you're not playing against a full field any of these weeks because I think he has massive respect for Scottie. But Scotty hasn't had the opportunity to have to dominate everybody in the world.

[Ty Schmidt]

World.

[Pat McAfee]

Because of his current state of golf.

[Gumpy]

Yeah, obviously Jack, you know, Bear can say whatever the hell he wants to say, and he will. And he's been holding this tournament for a long, long time. But he also mentioned that Scotty is playing, you know, even better than Jack played during his time because of the competition that's out there weekend and week out. And, you know, maybe it is some things with Rory not showing up and not being there, whatnot. But I mean, Scotty, rather, he. To me, he plays like boring golf. And his. His version of boring golf is still elite. He's an elite ball striker off the tee, obviously, going into the greens, and then when he's putting decent, he's going to win by a handful of strokes. So he's incredible. But I love. I do love what Jack said, and it's just kind of like what we say every time we have an extended conversation about golf is we want to see the best players playing against each other as often as possible. And some of those best players are in, you know, live right now, and hopefully we can get them all together at some point. But, I mean, Scotty, what he's doing is unbelievable. A long, long way to go to catch Tiger, but he is unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. Win 55 of 109 events. Now I had to win 56 of 110. He already knocked one off of 109. And, you know, like, elevated PGA events to catch Tiger.

[Gumpy]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Insane. The elevated PGA events were supposed to be like, the majors of the PGA Tour. So, like, Rory not playing in the. That is an interesting conversation. I hope Rory's okay. Like, I. I hope Rory's all right mentally, physically. I hope everything like that. But I think Jack is getting a little bit worried. Like, hey, we put up a massive purse here.

[Boston Connor]

20 million.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we put up a lot of. 4 million is what Scotty won. There was a lot more money out there for everybody else. This was supposed to be the elevated events, so everybody in a pga, you would think, was supposed to be there. So Jack, probably a little bit like, hey, come on. Like, this is what we're trying to. Trying to do in this entire thing. Because if not for the elevated events, the only thing we can really look forward to for Scotty to take on all the greats is the majors. And it's like the majors are where the live players are also at, but also all the big time PGA players are at. So I think there's a lot of combo right now, and I don't care, because if I see Scheffler on the leaderboard, I'm gonna watch. Okay? I'm gonna watch. I'm gonna have it on at least in the background, and I'm gonna hear people talk about something incredible that Scotty does. So it's certainly good for golf. But I do like that the old head in golfer, like, hey, boys, what do we do? We drove in RVs. Yeah. From tournament to just, like every sports OG's. Back in my day.

[Gumpy]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Back in My day, back in my day. I love the golf. Really has a back in my day situation right now because, oh, it would have been nice if Phil Mickelson would have went and played in some other tournament. Tiger could say so then I don't even have to worry about him. And it's like, Scotty's still winning these tournaments in my eyes.

[Jet Passan]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

If everybody here. But we'll never know. I guess that's what Jackson. We'll never know.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly. And I. I guess maybe we don't. But even if we're always there, even if everyone is there, you assume Scotty plays even better. But you need.

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly. That's how I view it.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Like. Like he's still gonna, you know, kind of raise his level of play to everyone else. But even just Rory's not enough. Obviously you want him there. He's a big name. He just won the Masters. But you need more than that. And you need people like Jack to come out and say, like, hey, they.

[Pat McAfee]

This is.

[AJ Hawk]

This is basically like, this isn't the competition that we've been used to forever. Now we have the guy, which it felt like there. There wasn't in that little in between period with Tiger. But now there is the guy, the clear number one. But he doesn't. There's no clear, you know, number two. Number three, especially when, you know, Rory's not showing up. Yeah. Just.

[Pat McAfee]

It's bobbling over there.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, go ahead.

[Boston Connor]

But no, I. I think. I mean, it could have been a little bit shot at Rory because literally every single person, everyone else on the PGA Tour was there. Like, Xander was there, Colin Morco was there, Cantlay was there, Oberg was there. They just didn't play well. So when that happens, you know, those are the times that you kind of miss. Oh, if Bryce or Ron was there, that gives you just more.

[Pat McAfee]

Brooks probably going to run.

[Boston Connor]

It just gives you more chances to compete with Scotty because right now, I mean, he's on a absolutely different level.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Need to watch him, though. Should watch him. Oh, if you're just a fan of sport, what you're watching right now is a great in his prime.

[Boston Connor]

He doesn't make mistakes.

[Pat McAfee]

And it is. Even when he does, he figures out a way to get around it. It's. It's unbelievable.

[I]

They said this about Tiger back in the day, too. They said the competition wasn't good. So Scotty's just going to keep winning and everyone's going to keep saying, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, that's what happens when you're at the top of the mountain, I guess, is when it's the breezy. And Scotty is certainly up there. I also like that he's got a little bit of moxie. Yes, I like Scotty's got a little bit more moxie. And I think his baby had a big old dump, too. So congrats. The entire Scheffler family kind of getting it all out to. That's a beautiful, beautiful thing. Speaking of greats in their prime, did you guys hear what happened to Magnus Carlsen?

[H]

No.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, what?

[Pat McAfee]

He's the number one super grand master chess player. Yeah, he's world number one. He got beat by Gkash.

[Boston Connor]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Good cash running close Sicilian. And Magnus Carlsen punches the table, flips a couple of the pieces. It walks off as a loser. Is good cash. Maybe I'm the grand king now. Maybe I'm the super duper king of this thing now. Okay, even Magnus Carlsen can't take my shit. So if he loses once, he's no longer the greatest. Is that how it works or.

[Ty Schmidt]

Nope.

[AJ Hawk]

This is.

[H]

I believe this.

[Boston Connor]

That was disrespectful.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I know he's Magnus.

[Gumpy]

I love how he called himself. Then he got to shake his hand.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, good sportsmanship.

[AJ Hawk]

Lets out a cat. Oh, my God. Right there as well. Incredible scene.

[Pat McAfee]

I did hear the. Oh, my God. Magnus, we want to let you know we appreciate all that you did for chess as the world number one. You really represent. Done it well. And we appreciate your passion, but I think it's good cash time, bro. That's what I think. And I've been calling it since I seen good cash sit down. For the first time.

[H]

You did say that. You said, hey, we got a future grandmaster here, boys. Open your eyes up.

[Pat McAfee]

I was watching Queen's Gambit, and they just popped in on good cash out there in a park. I've seen a guy move into things better than everybody else, and I'm like, if Magnus Carlson's got to run into googesh when good cash is having a good night, there might be a new king of chess who's the best goo chess in all of chess. I mean, that is the way it works. Guest. 19 years old.

[H]

Yeah, exep prodigy. I don't love that they have him playing with the peasants. They should be in some sort of, like, arena in the center, I think, you know, because, I mean, you probably think Carlson is like, what, are we playing in the park? Or, you know, am I taking on a future grandmaster? This should be in front of 50 to 100,000 people.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, congrats. Also congrats to Mark Caboli had a big scoop on TJ Watt. Contract offer is available for tj. TJ obviously has not agreed to it or he would have signed it, but allegedly negotiations are ongoing. That is Steelers correspondent for the Pat McAfee Show. Also contributor to WWE.com Mark Caboli. Shout out to Caboli and Mack breaking that news and I am going to go pay my respects to a friend that passed away and left a legacy of greatness. AJ Hawk will be on the other side. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. I'll see you tonight at least. Raw Goodbye.

[I]

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[I]

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[I]

This message is brought to you by Abercrombie and Fitch.

[Pat McAfee]

I've been ready for summer for a.

[Boston Connor]

While and now it's finally time for summer outfits.

[Ty Schmidt]

With a trip coming up, the A and F Vacation Shop has me covered.

[Darius Butler]

Abercrombie really knows how to do a lightweight outfit.

[Boston Connor]

Their tees, sweater, polos and linen blend shorts never miss. I wear Abercrombie D denim year round. Their shorts are no different and have.

[Darius Butler]

The comfort I need for summer.

[Pat McAfee]

Prep for your next trip with the.

[Ty Schmidt]

A Vacation Shop, get their newest arrivals.

[Boston Connor]

In store, online and in the app.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's what we do here boys. Pat unfortunately had to take off. He's going to the memorial slash funeral service. I'm not exactly sure exactly what is happening with it, but Jim Mercenary A huge huge loss in the NFL community. So, you know, thoughts to he and his whole family and everyone that will be attending that today. Pat had to take off and go to that before he heads to Tulsa for Monday night Raw tonight. That should be an exciting night, boys. It really should. Beautiful first hour by you guys. We. We enjoyed it. I got to see a lot of it here. You know what? You guys are really doing it.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank you.

[Ty Schmidt]

You really are, Ty. You guys are doing great as a toxic table. Tychman, how are you doing today, buddy?

[H]

Doing great, Hogger, you know, great Monday. Hey, what a way to start the week. You know, it's. It's always a nice little surprise when you get to come in the studio. And like you said, usually, you know, we don't get to chop it up for a little bit like that. So I'm excited. Great weekend of sports, really, you know, what's there to complain about? Nothing.

[Ty Schmidt]

Nothing. Nothing to complain. Obviously. You guys documented it very much in the first hour. How? Well, the Indiana Pacers. I mean, come on. Oh, yeah, this place is buzzing. I. I pulled into town today. This place is out absolutely buzzing. I see. I see Mitt back here still talking about it there. Some boys went to the celebration right Saturday night after the game. I see people spill into the streets. Is this like, Is Indiana a basketball town now for life again? I know it's. It's always has been a basketball town, but now we're rejuvenated.

[AJ Hawk]

It's the state of basketball, brother. Okay, so this ain't a basketball town. It's a basketball stage, man. And yes, it was very cool leaving the game. You know, there's a hotel right across the street. It was flooded and it was like this for a long time.

[Ty Schmidt]

Were they trying to get this crowd? I heard they were trying to get people out of here and they said, nah, we're gonna. We're here all night.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't think they were trying to get people out. They have. You can see up there where the cop cars are. That's not. That's normal. Rather. Usually they will, no matter what, block off the street just because there's so many people leaving the games. But obviously in this situation, everyone was, you know, sticking around, hanging out outside. It's. It's a nice little area with bars and stuff right there. So people started going everywhere. The Tin Whistle was, you know, packed to the gills per year.

[Ty Schmidt]

What was that again? What's it called?

[AJ Hawk]

The Tin Whistle. If you.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's one of the local establishments, one.

[AJ Hawk]

Of the local watering holes. Daniel Jones Frequents there. Some others as well. But no, it was a wonderful celebration. Cool to just kind of witness it, you know. Personally, I've never been at a game where it's been like a close out of a series or to go to the finals or something along those lines. So it was very sweet. But, you know, you're playing a little injured today, Hawker.

[Ty Schmidt]

What do you mean?

[AJ Hawk]

Everyone's saying, you know, you're bad.

[Ty Schmidt]

No, I got. I would probably stand the majority of this time standing city. You know, sometimes every once in a while, your back just decides to lock up and something happens and you can't really move or bend over or stand up or sit down or lay down. But you know what? Driving here today, it felt better than. Than I thought. I thought that might be a little bit. Tone. Tone Diggs.

[H]

How are you?

[Ty Schmidt]

You tell me. I know you've had some back injuries in the past. You're a huge athlete. You were an athlete. I watched you go through the blaster at Indianapolis Colts training camp last year. Very explosive movement. I'm sure you feel good, but you've had some back injuries in the past.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, I have, but I have a. I have an app now. It reminds you to stretch every single night.

[Pat McAfee]

So.

[Boston Connor]

I do.

[Ty Schmidt]

What? Nothing. I. I believe you. I actually believe that. You do?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. At nine o' clock every night, pops.

[Ty Schmidt]

Up, says, hey, Tone, stretch.

[Boston Connor]

Yes, exactly nine o' clock every single night. It pops up and then I go through my stretching routine. So it's really helped. If you want me to show you it, show you some exercise, stuff like that. I can.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, maybe later in the first hour. I know we have Jet passing joining us here in about 12, 13 minutes. I think.

[H]

He will, he will.

[Ty Schmidt]

He'll. He'll. Actually, maybe when jets here, you can come out here and stretch for Cat Camel. I know we saw, we saw Tony. Tony Roman doing some Cat and Camel on the side of a green at a US Open Open qualifier, I believe last year. But boys, we've had some news that I got to talk to somebody here in the back room. He might be. I think it's a tough day for some Detroit Lions fans. Foxy. So Frank Ragnow, all pro, unbelievable. Center for the Detroit Lions. A centerpiece for what this team is and how he sets the tone for everybody. Just an absolute road grader. He decides today comes out. We hear that he is officially retiring after seven years in the NFL. Foxy, why don't you tell the people that aren't as die hard Lions fans as you are. What this guy meant to the team and what his production on the field, also what he brings off the field.

[I]

Yeah. Frank Ragnow is the definition of Detroit football. He's gritty, he's tough, great teammate. Fans loved him. He played through injury, I'm pretty sure. One year he had a broken throat. Last year he had a torn pec. Most guys would have been out for weeks. He played right through it, didn't miss a single game. The guy was everything you want, not only in a football player, but in the trenches. And Detroit fans love him, especially because he was there when we sucked. Okay. He was there when this team couldn't find ways to win. He was there when we were the same old Lions and he helped us go from that. And mcdc gets hired and he builds the brand new Lions. I am thankful and grateful for Frank Ragnow did for us. And I'm just glad he got to see success. I'm glad he got to see what Detroit was like.

[Pat McAfee]

Like.

[I]

And the fans are like before and after how good we got. So thank you, Frank. This is a bummer. Only 29 years old, so. And we drafted a guy in the second round this year, Tate Ridge out of Georgia. He has the mullet. I'm sure you've seen him on the Internet.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[I]

He's going to be the guy that might come in and fill in for center. So we'll see if he can do that. But yeah, we're going to miss Frank Ragnow a lot.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, the NFL is obviously going to miss Ragnow. Old school, throw back type player, road grader, the kind of offensive lineman you want. Now, Ratlage, though, Tone, I've been hearing he's been taking first team reps at center throughout OTA so far for this Lions team.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, I mean, obviously he anchored that Georgia offensive line that was very, very good for a long time. And then he had a great combine not only with the mullet flowing, but also like testing off the charts. So he went in the second round and you know, there's a lot of great second round centers, but as far as like odds are concerned, it hasn't changed anything for the Lions just yet. They, they're still favorites to win the NFC North. They're second in the NFC to win the NFC behind the Eagles. They're over. Under is ten and a half. So even with.

[Ty Schmidt]

What are you taking, Taking over, under.

[Boston Connor]

I haven't looked at the schedule yet, to be honest.

[I]

It's very tough.

[Boston Connor]

See, I haven't.

[I]

Incredibly tough.

[Boston Connor]

I haven't dove into it yet. But there's been a. A lot of turnover. Not only, you know, on the offensive line, but now, you know, both coordinators are gone. Aaron Glenn.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's the question.

[Boston Connor]

And what's his name? Chicago Johnson. Thank you very much. So, like, with that turnover, I mean, it could be a step back. I mean, they're still favored or not favored. They're still. The overwinter was 10 and a half games. They don't think they're going to be the old Lions, but there's definitely some change up in Detroit. But as long as mcdc is under.

[I]

Amen.

[Boston Connor]

Under the helm, they're going to be good to go.

[H]

I suppose they may have seen this coming because they. Yeah, you know, drafted ratage, but Foxy, like, for. For you. Like, is this kind. Is this out of nowhere? Did you have any idea that this might become.

[I]

So Frank wasn't at camp and everyone thought. Thought it was a contract thing, so they all thought he wanted more money. One of the best centers in the league, deservedly so. And then when this news comes out that he retires, everyone's like, okay, it had nothing to do with that. And then also in years past, because of his injury history, there has been some talks of him retiring early. Did I expect it to happen this year when this team is so good and can win a Super Bowl? Absolutely not. But in his Instagram post, he talks about how he wishes he could play. He just literally has to. To listen to his body, prioritize his health, and he just can't do it. So it must be pretty, pretty bad.

[Ty Schmidt]

And the fact that he says in the very first line of that these past couple of months have been very trying for him. So he. He didn't go into the offseason, I'm sure planning on retiring, but he probably thought, okay, I need to find a way to get this. I don't know exactly what the injury was that put him over the top where he wasn't unable to play. Do we. I mean, when you say. When you look at his list of injuries and says fractured throat, so many injuries.

[Pat McAfee]

Come on now. That.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's unbelievable.

[H]

Well, he said in the thing too, he's like, I'd like to say that I like my body feels okay, but it doesn't, you know, like. So he must. He just must be like, you know, hurting everywhere.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

The fact that he thought he could kind of fight through it or rehab through all this stuff, I guess it probably. So many things that just add up on top of each other, like, okay, if I fix this if I get my knee feeling good, doesn't matter. My back sucks. If I get my back fixed, my throat, I got a fractured throat. He's still trying to rehab, I would imagine.

[Boston Connor]

You still. Do you still think the lines should be the favorites in the NFC North?

[Ty Schmidt]

Are they the favorites in NFC North?

[Boston Connor]

They are. The, the sportsbooks have them there and obviously they have the questions at the corner positions. The Vikings have a new quarterback question. The, you know, the Bears have a new coach question. The.

[Ty Schmidt]

The packers. What's the probably question?

[Boston Connor]

With the least amount of questions, I.

[H]

Assume receivers still probably. I mean, that was like the bit. I mean, I know they added Matthew golden, but that was kind of the whole thing last year. Their receivers kind of underperformed and then, you know, Love still needs to like, he needs to make that next step and kind of perform like a $55 million a year quarterback.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, the biggest question for me, Tom, would be the fact that the Lions replace both their coordinators. I mean, that's what happens to great, especially teams that go from not good to becoming like a stable team that you can count on most likely making the playoffs and making a run like you're getting. They're going to pilfer your roster, they're going to take your coaches and they're going to take some free agents away from you that are going to sign with other teams. So. So how do you find a way to have consistent success?

[AJ Hawk]

Well, and like, I mean, I don't know about the defensive side. Obviously they've drafted very well, but, like, are we sure Hutch is completely back too? You know, that's a McNeil as well.

[I]

McNeil tore his ACL late in the season. That's gonna be a problem.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

But even with acl, I feel like the ACL has become more of a common thing to the point where, you know, you can come back and basically be what you were. Like that leg was so bad. I. I feel like I at least forgot about it till, you know, he came back and had that little sprint workout thing. And then you kind of saw the clips coming back of when it really happened. That was terrible. Have you ever played with anyone who's had an injury like that where, I mean, I guess when you were playing, there's a chance that would actually career. Yeah, it feels like, you know, the Dak injury was just as bad and same field, but not a cramp as well. But it does feel as though if Hutch. It doesn't come back 100% and then maybe JJ McCarthy is great. Then the Vikings are kind of in the front seat of the north, but with him, to Tony's point, you know, mcdc.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Is still there. And mcdc kind of starts and finishes that culture and they, you know, right now is unbelievable. He's. Penny Sewell is still the best lineman on that old line, so I feel like he knows, matter what, the Lions are still kind of that team to beat. But that's damn near the best division in the entire NFL.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, we're going to be watching early on, I think, in the season to see, hey, what does this offense look like without Ben Johnson at the helmer, you know, calling the plays? What's the defense look like? What? Kelvin Shepard gets named defensive coordinator. Are they still the same team? But yeah, like you're a product of your success. You're good. They're going to take your coaches. That's what they do.

[I]

Do I expect them to go 15 and two again? Absolutely not. The schedule is much more difficult, but new offensive coordinator Johnny Morton basically said, I'm not changing anything here. I might add a couple wrinkles, but the offense is going to look the same. And at the end of the day, as long as that O line's blocking and you can pound the rock, we'll be just fine.

[AJ Hawk]

For shepherd, he's in house. Is Johnny Moe in house?

[I]

No, but he has history with mcdc. I believe Johnny Moe came from the Broncos last year.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah. There it is. How much easier is it for Detroit because they just hired shepherd, who is backers coach, I think.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Who's already inside the building.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. He's a good player himself as well.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, it works. It can work all different ways. It cannot work all different ways, whether you're hiring in house or not. But for the players on that team, I think when you hire from within and you don't have to change the scheme, it definitely cuts out some of the garbage of a new guy coming. Coming in with new terminology. It's always terminology. Everything is everything. Everyone kind of runs similar things. I'm sure you've heard it. But it's like. It's like learning a different language where another playbook comes in. Okay. We used to call this Bama. Now it's called Tulsa. Like, things like that. Just one word. Little situations like that.

[H]

You would assume at the very least, too, that they. They won't get snake bit by injuries defensively like they did last year. I mean, like that, you know. You know, you'd hope.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, sometimes 15, 16.

[H]

Yeah. But that's what I'm saying. Like this year you would expect that to kind of go the other direction. I mean, I suppose it's possible it happens again, but I don't think that they're going to be losing, you know, eight starters.

[I]

I believe it was 21 guys on IR. Yeah, just on the defensive side.

[Ty Schmidt]

So what is that? I'm sure they sit there and have like a self scout and they study. Like what made this year so different, so many dudes get hurt. You think it was maybe not too hard, maybe not enough up downs.

[H]

I don't know.

[Ty Schmidt]

They don't want to hear that. Any Lions player don't want to hear that right now. You know, they're pissed. They're pissed at me probably. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Probably a nightmare. Maybe Aaron Glenn, you know, he's so confusing. They. They were.

[Boston Connor]

Well, A.J. would blame Aaron Glenn. You were, you were saying that earlier you were just so mad at Aaron Glenn for not meeting with Aaron Rodgers for longer.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah, man.

[Ty Schmidt]

That was funny when Aaron brought that up on the show the other. When he was on a couple, what, a month or two ago? Yeah, I guess. You fly all the way out there.

[Boston Connor]

What's he doing?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, he talks.

[Ty Schmidt]

What is there, you know, what is it?

[Boston Connor]

You tell us.

[Ty Schmidt]

I know you guys do like to come at me and think I have any information on Aaron Rodgers.

[AJ Hawk]

You're the only one with his phone number.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay, that's false. You guys all, I'm sure are in contact with him all the time.

[AJ Hawk]

No.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, you are. Ty was. Ty's been singing Mike Stud all day long. Aaron. Mike Stud have been. They have a five day tour.

[AJ Hawk]

First of all, it's just Mike. Yeah, okay.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's changing. Stud's gone.

[H]

Get it right or pay the price.

[AJ Hawk]

Amen.

[H]

Salute your shorts.

[Ty Schmidt]

You're right. I thought there was some Mike. I'm sorry. Mike. He and Mike have been on this five, six day tour where they talk. They do like open podcast. Right. Q and A, it looks like. Tell us they put on concerts. I wasn't. I haven't been there in person. I'm not sure what's happened. But if he does play football, I would imagine Aaron would play for the Steelers. Right? That seems like the only gig open.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, I'm pretty sure more people from Pittsburgh want him from the podcast. Right? Isn't that.

[Ty Schmidt]

What do you mean?

[Boston Connor]

You mean after after? Yeah, yeah, after Aaron was on stage answering those questions. Well, I don't. They. There's been a. A bit of a ground swell over the last few days for Aaron to, to sign now.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, what happened?

[Boston Connor]

Nothing. Nothing specific. Just people really want a certain group of people now want Aaron more than they did a week ago.

[Ty Schmidt]

A certain group.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, this, that feels like breaking news.

[Ty Schmidt]

Is that break. I mean, tones from. You're, you're, you have your ear to the streets in Pittsburgh.

[Boston Connor]

I am from Pittsburgh. I, I, I've seen Twitter activity.

[Ty Schmidt]

What exactly happened to spur this action?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I thought Mason was kind of getting Mason standing up for steel workers.

[Ty Schmidt]

Right.

[Boston Connor]

Well, so there's a certain group that is now pushing Mason harder, and there's a certain group that's now pushing Aaron harder.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, okay. And is, is it because of Aaron's actions or Mason's actions? Mason's actions because he was standing up for a steel worker saying, hey, I'm with you. This is, this is what built America. Correct.

[AJ Hawk]

So who, who is against that?

[Ty Schmidt]

Who's against him?

[AJ Hawk]

That's a good question in the Bert.

[Boston Connor]

That's a good question. Couldn't be me.

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't know. This is all confusing. I mean, good thing for us, guys, we have a great guest that's waiting right now. He's hanging out on the line. He's sitting there. He probably knows what you're talking about, Tone. But let's let this guy come on. Great friend of the program, works for espn. He's actually the insider of all insiders when it comes to anything baseball. This is who we go to. Please welcome Mr. Jet Passer. Yeah, baby.

[Pat McAfee]

Jet.

[Darius Butler]

God, I love this. I dressed up for you, A.J. like, this is a monumental day.

[Ty Schmidt]

It is a monumental day, Jet. Now, I know you've been a bit cagey. I'm gonna get. We're have to get right to it. You're a bit cagey on your tweets and everything you're doing on X. What's going on with the FBI's looking into stuff with the MLBPA. The NFLPA. What happened? What's going on? Any new information you have on this story, A.J.

[Darius Butler]

We'Re still trying to figure out exactly what's going on. What we do know for sure is that there is an FBI investigation right now into the financial dealings of the Major League Baseball Players association, the nflpa, and this company that they created called One Team Partners, that essentially serves to license the nil for all of the players and try to make money. And they've done a phenomenal job of doing that so far. One of their original partners was named Redbird Capital, and Redford Capital had a 40% stake in One Team Partners that it sold in 2022 at a 1.9 billion dollar valuation. So this is big money that we're dealing with right now. And while we don't know the full scope of the investigation, anytime the FBI comes around asking questions of players, you know, it's a big deal. And so this is a story that's unfolding right now. And we will keep digging in, myself and Don Bernarda and to try, try and get down to what the true facts really are.

[Ty Schmidt]

So, Jet, you say the players are obviously not the targets of this investigation. Who are the targets? Can you name them? Like, do we know how many people are targeted?

[Darius Butler]

I do not know at this point who these specific targets are, and I don't want to speculate on that right now.

[Ty Schmidt]

You can speculate, yeah, I'm probably not.

[Darius Butler]

Going to do that. That might be slander. It could be a defamation. Defamation lawsuit. You know, we, we've, we've dealt with, with defamation lawsuits on this program before, I believe. So I would prefer not to get you guys in trouble myself. I, I don't care about that. But you guys, I don't want to do that to you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay, I appreciate that, Jet. Now, Ty Schmidt has a question for you.

[H]

Yeah, Jet, what's the, the news going around about Orlando potentially wanting or potentially getting a new MLB team because of how many tourists go through that area and everything? But then if I'm not mistaken, the MLB basically doesn't want a third team in Florida. Is that correct? And how likely or probable is this whole situation?

[Darius Butler]

It's a really interesting question, Ty, and I was not expecting that one.

[H]

We'll get to the other later.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, we can. You know what? Why don't we answer? Come on, get. Just give it to me now. It's like you're buttering me up.

[Ty Schmidt]

No.

[Darius Butler]

In to trying, right? No, no, no. Just rip off the band aid. Let's hear it, Ty.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, listen, teasing them, Jet?

[H]

Yeah, okay, fine, fine.

[Ty Schmidt]

We'll.

[H]

We'll go back to Orlando in a little bit because I actually am very interested about that whole situation. But everyone knows, or at least I personally think you're a bit of a Yankee hater because you're from Kansas City. I know you're a big Royals guy, but not a big Royals guy. Well, either you were at one time, maybe. No, actually, never was. Yeah, you're a Cleveland guy. Never mind. Excuse me, but the, that whole series, how good? What. I mean, outside of the Saturday blowout game, which is kind of a dud throwaway in your eyes, and like, for the overall good of baseball. How important was this weekend series with the Yankees and the Dodgers?

[Darius Butler]

I just love it when two really good teams get after it, man. And that's what this weekend was. And I appreciate it very much that the Yankees got absolutely lambasted on Saturday and then came back against the Dodgers best pitcher, the guy, you know, who beat him in game two of the World Series last year. We can go on and on about what Yoshinobu. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been. What he was not is a New York Yankee, which Ty Schmidt once reported. But that being the case, they went after him and they hit him and they hit him hard. Ben Rice's home run to center field, I know it was a hanging splitter, but he hit the absolute snot out of that ball. And the Yankees show they are a very, very good team. And the Dodgers, I think, showed in spite of their injuries and the fact that they're behind the Cubs and behind the Mets and, you know, this isn't a team that's going to like, win 120 games like some people thought. They're still really good and I would argue they're still probably the favorite to win the World Series at this point.

[Ty Schmidt]

We're going to see him pitch anytime soon, Jet.

[Darius Butler]

I hope so. Man, he's throwing. Shohei Otani's who we're talking about. He's throwing bullpens right now. He's just, man, he's so good offensively. I just love watching every swing that he takes because he takes these swings with intent and with purpose to punish baseballs. He wants to hit the seams out of them. And at his, his size and with his skill and all of the ability he has, I could watch Shohei Ohtani hit only for the rest of his career and be perfectly satisfied as a baseball fan. But the fact that he's back on the mound throwing bullpens at this point, trying to, trying to ramp back up so that he can be ready for those important games come September and October. I, I think he's going to get there, but it's. We got to remember this is so much different. Different than the typical pitcher who's trying to come back from major reconstructive elbow surgery. Those pitchers get to rehab just throwing, get to go down to the minor leagues and have 30 days to get their stuff together against live hitters in live situations with crowds. Ohtani has none of that. And so what the Dodgers have to do here is be extremely judicious and not push him too Far and hopefully have him ramping up in the games. You know, first start maybe 50 pitches and then after that 60 and then after that 70 slowly. Because what he's trying to do here, it's uncharted territory.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, it is. But do we know is Shohei pushing, Is he pushing the Dodgers to try to get out there earlier? Like does he want like badly to go out there and pitch?

[Darius Butler]

I think he's being smart about it. And the interesting thing about Shohei Otanie just is that throughout the course of his career he has more or less dictated what he does because there is no playbook, there is no script. Nobody knows how to handle two way players and how to keep them healthy. And clearly that hasn't happened when it comes to his elbow. So I think going to the Dodgers in part, in addition to joining with Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman and this machine of player development that they have, part of it was that the Dodgers have really smart people in that organization now. Now they still haven't been able to keep all of their pitchers healthy. So it's not like the Dodgers have it cracked and figured out. But at least I think Shohei Ohtani knows when they bring him information, it's not just going to be guess, it's not just going to be speculation. Like there will be logic behind the ideals that they have.

[Ty Schmidt]

Jet, I know Ty was teasing you earlier, but what about the Orlando situation? Possibly getting another Major League Baseball team? Is that on the horizon?

[Darius Butler]

I can more or less promise that there will not be three teams in Florida because right now they have two teams and neither of them is really drawing. You know, the Rays, granted are playing at Steinbrenner Field right now after hurricane tore the roof off of Tropicana Field. But even when they were at the Trop, they weren't really drawing in the Marlins. They have a new ballpark. They built it and they did not come and yet. But you look at the situation with the Rays guys and they don't really have a Stadium beyond 2026 at this point. The hope is that the Trop is going to be rebuilt in time to open the 2026 season and that they could play there. But if that's not the case, they're kind of homeless and they're sort of just floating in the wind right now. And a lot of people believe that Stuart Sternberg, the owner of the Rays after the stadium deal collapse, there is is going to sell the team eventually and perhaps there would be a buyer in Orlando at that point. Who could bring the Rays over from the Tampa Bay area to Orlando? It's an hour drive. It's nearby. You know, obviously the Magic have been successful there, but, you know, in terms of getting a third team in Florida, not going to happen.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay. Boston Cup.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. I mean, Jay, you should tell them they could come up to Indianapolis, Indiana as well. You know, there.

[Pat McAfee]

I would love it.

[AJ Hawk]

Very nice baseball stadium here. Even though I'm sure it would be a nightmare to play. And with all that being said, Jet, you know, baseball aside, you had quite the night last night. And I know as we've been talking here, you've just been sitting waiting to address what you did. What the hell was this about? I. I mean, are you going to get some sued for defamation for this guy? Because boy, oh boy, you took him out to pasture. And I don't know if we have the next two as well, but Barry responded to your tweet and you went at it again. So what was this about? And was this one of your favorite Twitter interactions you've ever had? Because your bio says you bomb atomically and it truly is something you do, because this was fantastic. Internet, first off.

[Darius Butler]

Thank you. That's a big compliment coming from you, and I sincerely appreciate that. Do you guys know who Barry is? Like, have you gotten Barry before?

[H]

Is that McCockiner?

[Darius Butler]

Oh, that's him.

[AJ Hawk]

Okay.

[Darius Butler]

Same guy. Yeah, same guy. Just a new name. And look, if you can out troll the ultimate troll, you gotta take the opportunity to do so. And I have. I. I had developed a reputation on X for being somebody who takes no prisoners, and I would like to continue to do that because, you know, when people come at you like, the Internet's a tough place, man. Like, it is an unforgiving place. And, you know, it's like in the wire, you just got to protect your corners.

[Ty Schmidt]

I get true. I get Tone Diggs. With that being said, you got stuff.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Speaking of protecting your corners, I'm not sure if you've seen, but Don Kelly has got the Buckos playing salty ball.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Bubba Chandler's gonna be up soon, so look for a Buckoes run soon. But team that's not going to make a run, the 9 and 50 Colorado Rockies. Is there a rule? Do they have to. Do they have to play all 162 or is there a chance that they, you know, the teams that are have to play them in the second half season, just get an off day?

[Darius Butler]

I mean, they kind of do, right?

[Boston Connor]

They got to show up to the park.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, they do have to show up to the park. It's. I just look at what's going on in Colorado right now and it makes me sad. You talk with executives around baseball guys and they look at the Colorado Rockies job as being something that they would like to do when they're in like their frisky age of executives, like when they can go in there and just try and run experiments because it's like you're playing on the moon when you're in Colorado. We ran a story on ESPN.com Coorsfield turned 30 years old this year. And we went and looked back and talked with players who had been there, pitchers, managers, hitters, opponents, everyone, and just got this collection of stories about how it's not like real base baseball there. And so the things that you might be able to do if you are a curious and interested and thoughtful executive are manifold. And yet the Rockies, what they have is the disease of complacency. They have done nothing different. They have not changed things. They are not one of the clubs that's toward the top, the middle. They're right at the bottom when it comes to innovation. Dick Moffert, their owner, has talked about the idea, if there's not going to be a salary cap in baseball, of having a cap to spend on technology and other things of that ill, which is just, it's wild. And I think it speaks to how the Rockies have been run for all this time. They're just an organization that's a decade plus behind right now. And some of that goes back to ownership, some of that goes back to front office. But there's a reason that they are where they are right now. And it's fascinating to see. I mean, you know, we see records like this in the NBA every so often. Like if a team is really, really bad, they'll get to 50 losses before they get to double digit wins. We've never seen this in baseball before. And considering that this is happening the year after the Chicago White Sox set the new record for futility, that we could potentially see that again, it's just a shame what's going on with the Rockies right now. And yet, and yet they are drawing 30,000 people to that ballpark every day because it is a gorgeous park. And people in Denver just like having a good time and watching a baseball game. And I love them for that.

[Ty Schmidt]

What technology would he be talking about? Like a jumbotron? Like, we don't want to have to upgrade this. Like, I don't get it. What is that about?

[Darius Butler]

We're looking more like Analytical models.

[Ty Schmidt]

And he's saying we need to spend less on that. He wants to spend less or more.

[Darius Butler]

He wants everybody to be at like the same baseline.

[Pat McAfee]

He.

[Darius Butler]

He doesn't want the teams that have more money to go out. And for example, there's. There's this pitching machine called the Trajectory. And what the traject machine does is it takes all of the data that gets captured by the cameras around the ballpark and determines the spin on a ball and the spin axis and the velocity down to a tenth of a mile per hour. It inputs all of this data into this machine and this machine, through all the things inside, not only can replicate every pitch that was thrown in Major League baseball this year, like to an exacting degree, but it also has an image on the front of the machine of that pitcher himself and his delivery sounds right.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's amazing.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah. So you can essentially take batting practice against the guy who you are going to be facing that night. There are some organizations that have multiple trajects. There are some organizations that have multiple none. And I think the idea that Dick Mofford has is to level that playing field so everyone's the same. But I mean, at what point do you stifle innovation by doing that? At what point is everything too similar? And I think it's a fair thing to say that this is a real problem in baseball where if we're not encouraging teams to go after out and be the absolute best that they can be at all times, what's the point of even playing the games? What's the point?

[H]

Ty Jet, the artist formerly known as Jack Tawny when he was at Florida. Jack Caglion is getting called up by the Royals. I. I don't know, maybe for like casual fans this is kind of like whatever. But you look at his numbers and what he's been doing in Double A and aaa, do you think he's the type of guy of guy who's going to come in and make like an immediate impact and be like one of those future superstars in the next couple years? Because obviously if you watch him play like he is absolutely electric. Like, do you see him as being one of those really marketable, marketable guys who we'll talk about in like this, maybe not the same sentence, but like up there with the judges and the Otanis of the mlb?

[Darius Butler]

Ty, I know you said that this is the kind of guy that maybe the cat casual fan doesn't really know about. They should, and I think they're going to because let's put it this way. This is what Jack Caglion is. He is a guy who has the kind of power that Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani have. And there are very, very few guys in baseball who can say that. And even more, he has really good bat to ball skills. So he doesn't strike out a whole lot. The problem is Jack Caglion will go out of the zone and swing at pitches that are chases far more often than either you like to see or far more often really than any productive or like MVP level major league baseball player does right now. And the reason that the Royals hadn't called him up at this point is because he was adjusting to a new position out field and they wanted to see improvement in the chase. The guy is so skilled though, 6 foot 5, 250 pounds, like absolute unit. And even if he does not tie, get off to like an incredible start, he's going to hit a ball 450, 475ft just like that. That you're going to see and say, oh my God, how does a human being do that? That and when you have him and Bobby Witt Jr. In the same lineup together, if Jack Haglion is what evaluators believe he's going to be, the Royals are going to have perennial MVP candidates hitting back to back in that lineup.

[Ty Schmidt]

Chad, isn't that kind of like a, I don't know, like you a reps thing to where you're, you're going to, as you get older, as you get more reps, you're going to stop chasing balls out of the zone. Like isn't that kind of a normal progression for a young player?

[Darius Butler]

Not always. It's a really fair question and you would think that that would be something that every player, right, once they see more pitches at the big league level would improve on. But it tends to be that chase stays the same unless guys really spend a lot of time and energy and effort working on it. And in Jack Aglione's case, it's really the only ding against him at this point. But it's about swing decisions and pitch recognition. AJ and that's the sort of thing that as you get older, maybe it improves a little bit, but you don't tend to see those huge leaps where guys who swung a tongue earlier in their career all of a sudden get much more judicious as they get older. It's kind of like, you know, tiger and stripes, like you are the hitter that you are and there can be some incremental improvements, but I don't Think we're going to see the guy, like, turn turning into Juan Soto, who's swinging at only 15% of the pitches outside of the zone, as opposed to caglion, who's at 35 or so.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay. All right. Boston.

[Pat McAfee]

Connor.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Caglion. Absolute weapon. I feel like I, as a casual, learned about him at the College World Series. Jed. And now, you know, this past weekend, college baseball had a hell of a time. Is there a star of this tournament you kind of expect to really shine, to really go to put himself, himself on the map like Skeens esque? I'm sure he's already on the map for the baseball people. But for the Casuals, is there anybody that we should be looking at to perform very well, or did a lot of those guys get eliminated with all the upsets this weekend?

[Darius Butler]

I was going to say we saw the number one team in the country, Vanderbilt, get bounced. We saw the number two team in the country, Texas, get bounced. LSU with Kate Anderson, who I think might be the guy to answer that question. LSU lost a game against a team that nobody thought they were going to lose against. And this, to me is like baseball in a nutshell. It's just the kind of game where a team can come out of nowhere and go and knock off one of the big boys. And it's what I appreciate about the sport. Like, you don't have to be the most talented. You don't have to throw the hard, you don't have to hit the farthest, you don't have to run the fastest. You can still win baseball games against more talented teams. And it's the beauty of this tournament. I'm not going to say, like, it's, you know, it's June madness that we're dealing with here, but it's got some of those same elements to it. And it's not, you know, last year, the number one team in the country and number one seed in the tournament ran the table. Clearly, that's not going to happen this year. And are we going to end up in a situation where there's another Coastal Carolina? Like, it's the beauty of what's going on right now in college baseball. And when, you know, just looking forward to the draft in July, like, there's no clear number one overall pick like Skeens was. Well, I guess Skeens wasn't even a clear number one overall pick because Dylan Cruz was in that draft as, as well. And there were questions about that. But there's no obvious top guy who's going to ascend to the top of prospect list. The favorite at this point actually to go is Ethan Holiday, who is Jackson Holiday, the Baltimore Orioles second baseman's brother and the son of, I believe nine time all star Matt Holliday, who if Ethan goes number one, he and his wife Leslie will now have two children. Children who went number one overall in the MLB draft.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's amazing. Last thing we have here for you, Jet. Juan Soto. This guy's been on a pretty good run these last, what, two, three, four games? Do you expect this to continue everything that he has been doing?

[Darius Butler]

Well, it helps when you're facing the Rockies. That's true, it does. Like, it helps when you're facing a team that's nine and 50. They're easier to hit off of. Not a novel connection, but I have not lost faith in Juan Soto. He has been too good throughout his career and is still young enough where it's not like he's going to be losing any of the things that brought him to this point. When you get the largest contract in North American professional sports history, guys, there are things that come along with that, things that are unexpected and it's very easy for us to look past those human parts of it. It because the Guy's getting paid $765 million and because you know, like, hey guy, deal with it. That's what the money's for, like Don Draper said. But I think Juan Soto at the end of the day and at the end of this season is going to be a very positive and contributing member of a New York Mets team that's going to go into the postseason with legitimate World Series aspirations.

[Ty Schmidt]

I lied about last question. Boston. Connor has one last thing.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, sorry, Jed, I have to ask. Red Sox land, Everyone just wants these prospects to get called up to the majors. What's going to happen there? Are we going to see these top prospects? Because I believe they got, you know, two or three of the top 10 in all of the MLB to kind of be those next dudes. Are these guys going to get a chance here soon? I think Mayer was playing third base the other day, of course, but no, not John Mayer, Marcelo May. But will these other guys get called up soon or what do you think happens there?

[Darius Butler]

Christian Campbell's up already and he had an awesome April and an absolutely abhorrent May. Marcelo Meyer, not related to John Mayer, is now filling it at third base with Alex Bregman on the injured list. The one everyone in Boston wants, though, is Roman Anthony. And Roman Anthony is the best of the bunch. He is the number one prospect, Connor, in all of baseball. And as the Red Sox struggle, I know you got him, but. But he's still not there. And I talked with Craig Breslow, the chief baseball officer for the Red Sox last week, and, you know, he brought up some points that are understandable. Like the Red Sox, despite just being like, mid right now, dude, they have a lot of good individual players at this point. You're not going to move Jaron Durant out of left field. Saddam Rafael is the best defensive center fielder in baseball this year. Will you. Abreu has been, you know, the third best hitter on this Red Sox team behind Alex Gregman and Rafael Des. And so where are you finding it backs for Roman Anthony? That's the question. But it's one that if you move Rafael to the infield, you know, he plays second base, he plays short side. You move him to the infield and all of a sudden you have a spot in the outfield for Roman Anthony. Rafael Devers being a designated hitter really sort of hinders things, but maybe he winds up shifting to first base at some point this season. And that just opens up all sorts of options and possibilities. So I, I don't know if the Red Sox in 2025, guys are going to be all right. I do believe that the Red Sox in 2026 and beyond are going to be an absolute force to be reckoned with in the American League east and that this team is set up extremely well for the future.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, appreciate that, Jet. That's awesome. Actually, another quick one. I know I told you, last one a long time. Don't worry about Jet. You're giving us too much good info. This is. We're entering into the baseball like the prime time of baseball. It's June 2nd. Between now and let's say, August 2nd, what's the biggest thing that's going to be going on with this Major League Baseball? What are you looking at? Like, what's going to be a big story? Who's going to make a push to become the next big squad that we want to watch?

[Darius Butler]

It's a great question and AJ you are catching me in the midst of actually, actually writing about that right now. I believe, I believe to. I believe tomorrow we're gonna have our first trade deadline preview on ESPN.com where I go over all 30 teams, what they have, what their objective is and what we can expect from them between now and the July 31 deadline. So cross alert Cincinnati. No, I don't. I have the Reds right now in. I have A category called cleaners. Because we do not know if they are going. We don't know if they are going to buy. We don't know if they are going to sell.

[Boston Connor]

We.

[Darius Butler]

We don't know what they're going to do right now. The Reds pitching has been incredible this year. Andrew Abbott has a one something era. Hunter Green's been great. Nick Lodolo, they could trade Brady Singer or Nick Martinez or maybe they go out and add some offense because beyond Ellie De La Cruz and Austin Hayes, they're just has not been a whole lot from that Cincinnati lineup, which is really disappointing because we have a lot of young players who I think they came into this season believing we're going to hit.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, another team that was really believing was the Buckos, I'm sure. Maybe, maybe they are believing again. The Skins trade stuff that's kind of died down, right Jed? Is that kind of.

[Darius Butler]

Well, okay. I'm glad you brought this up because I feel like we started something. Last time I was on this show I was merely suggesting that being open to the possibility of a Paul Skeens trade is something that I think smart teams would do. Now I understood this pissed off people in Pittsburgh because finally they have someone that they can root for. Finally they have something they can look forward to every five days. And here's this turd wearing a tie coming in and suggesting that they get rid of that guy. I get the anger from the Pittsburgh side and just to be clear, the Pirates have no intention of trading Paul schemes at this point. And I think part of that guys is because when we've seen, you know, pitchers of or near his caliber get traded in the past, it's usually been with like two seasons before they can reach free agency. Paul Skins does not reach free agency for another five years. So trying to value that properly. I was talking with the general manager yesterday about this. I was like, what would you give up for Skeens? And he said, you know, I think that if I were the Pirates I would want 10 players coming back. And that's just not something that we're willing to do for anyone, let alone a guy who throws 100 miles per hour and has the inherent arm injury risks that Paul Skeens does because he.

[H]

Throws so hard, he doesn't have any.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, just because other people hurt their arm doesn't mean he's gonna hurt his arm. Jet. Like why do you have to.

[Boston Connor]

Also you guys weren't paying attention ever since Don Kelly took over there playing Salty Ball and they got robbed on Friday night of a win. Okay.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay. Okay.

[Darius Butler]

You know what? I, I, I gotta say, I am a huge Don Kelly fan.

[Boston Connor]

Thank you.

[Darius Butler]

And I love, I love the fire. I think he's a smart, smart guy. I think he has great feel in the clubhouse. Players are going to love him. He's put in the time, put in the effort, put in the work. I just hope that everything that surrounds him in Pittsburgh all the way up to ownership is as good as he is.

[Ty Schmidt]

All right, well, Jet, we really appreciate, you know, I kept you a few minutes longer than I expected, but we're looking forward to that piece on ESPN.com. cannot wait to read about your insight into this book, baseball Game. Obviously, we're pretty early on into a very, very long season, almost halfway through. We get it.

[AJ Hawk]

But.

[Ty Schmidt]

Ladies and gentlemen, Jet, pass in.

[AJ Hawk]

Thank you, jet.

[Darius Butler]

Great job, A.J. thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

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[Ty Schmidt]

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[Pat McAfee]

Hand tools to power tools to automotive.

[Ty Schmidt]

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. Thank you, Jet. Killing it as always, Cam. I'll be reading that piece tomorrow.

[H]

Yeah, I have to.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's just been.com.

[Pat McAfee]

Have to.

[Boston Connor]

Well, actually, he already. He already gave you. Kind of gave me.

[Ty Schmidt]

Felt like it was a setup. Like, like he, he briefed me before the show. Like, hey, ask me about this.

[Boston Connor]

You already know the Reds are tweeners. He doesn't know if there's any buyers or sellers at the break, which means.

[Ty Schmidt]

We'Re in a great spot.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Means that's where you want to be in baseball.

[Ty Schmidt]

Great. Unbelievable pitching, from what I hear.

[H]

Yep.

[Ty Schmidt]

Led up Cruz. The next Next Big Thing in Baseball already is the Next big thing in baseball.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Terry Francona Manager. What about Ellie?

[AJ Hawk]

Ellie's sister passed away tragically and then he kept playing or he ended up playing the game and hit a home run. Actually, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

One of the.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's one of those dudes. When you watch him, like, how do you. How would you root against that guy? He's always so juiced. Like. So when guys just have. Some guys have a certain aura about him where it's easy to be a fan. Like, this dude looks like he having so much fun playing baseball. You think of any other players like that, any other guys think of any sport, any dudes were like, man, why is the guy. He's a super high performer, but also seems like one of the best dudes that loves what he does, is a great teammate. Tyrese is a similar guy, right, Gron? Yeah, Gronk definitely has. I guess you say they're like, they're joyous. They're. You can see the joy on their face and in their body when they're playing.

[AJ Hawk]

Jovial, if you will.

[Ty Schmidt]

Jovial. Yeah. I guess that's part men playing a kid's game. That's what. And that was for Kings Ransom. That's what they're all doing, isn't it? That's why this is championship week. Right, Tone, what do we have coming up? What days of the week? We got basketball. We got Panthers at Oilers. We got Pacers at Thunder. When do these games all kick off?

[Boston Connor]

So Wednesday. We start with the NHL Stanley cup, and the Oilers are the favorites in that one. Minus 125, I believe. Panthers are plus 105 right there. You see it on the graphic in the series.

[AJ Hawk]

Series.

[Boston Connor]

So that one kicks us off on Wednesday. And then Thursday we. We kick off the basketball with the Pacers traveling to okc where they are minus nine and a half in game one. And they are. The Thunder are minus. The Thunder are -700 to win the series. And if you remember correctly, if you remember back when the Pacers started the Cav Series, I believe game one in Cleveland was also minus nine and a half. And the series price was basically the same. Same. And that one turned out with the Pacers winning. So whether the. Whether Vegas thinks that should be the line or not, you never know what you're going to get.

[Ty Schmidt]

Do you guys have an issue with Siakam winning the Eastern Conference finals MVP over Tyrese?

[Boston Connor]

It was. It was. It surprised me, but I don't think I have an issue.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, Tyrese just wants the trophy. He wants the main trophy. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Surprised by who was voting? Sure.

[Ty Schmidt]

Certainly who all does vote on that?

[AJ Hawk]

There's a list.

[Ty Schmidt]

They showed a list, right.

[AJ Hawk]

But they, they both had such a good series. I think, I think the, the crowning moment of the series felt more so like the Tyrese halberton Triple double, 15 assists, no turnovers like that. Felt as if it was the biggest, you know, best performing game. But then when you look at the, you know, the box score, of course Yakim had three 30 point games. I mean he was the first half, damn near first three quarter offense for Indy in game six. A closeout game, but no stuff to. It doesn't really matter. This is what happened with the Celtics last year where Tatum widely regarded as the best player on the team, same with Halliburton and Indy, but Jaylen Brown won the Larry Bird Conference Finals award and the NBA Finals mvp. My worry here is that the, the Thunder are the Celtics of last year and they are just an unstoppable machine of a team. And we live in Indiana so we, we're trying to block that out, out of our heads because we, we want to know and believe in the Pacers, which I do. Especially with Carlisle and the Thunder having a super young coach, it feels like that is a massive part of this. And you know the Pacers were in the conference finals last year. They know how rare it is to get back here, all of those things. But yeah, the Thunder have just been a well oiled machine all season long. And now that they are, you know, in the front finals here, we might see you kind of that next step like you guys have talked about in the NBA or excuse me, in the NFL playoffs where like each round it just gets better. It's a. Yeah, better and better, faster and faster, more physical. And then when you get to the super bowl it's like hey, we're laying it all, all out there on the line. And it feels like that with the NBA now too. Like if the Thunder, can they get better? I don't know because they've been so dominant but you know, they've had a lot of rest. So maybe it's a rest versus rust conversation. Game one. But the Pacers just gotta steal one. I just gotta get one.

[H]

Yeah. And I just, I just hope it's a good. I mean obviously you know, we want the Pacers to win, but like that, that series against the T. Wolves sucked. It was terrible. It wasn't entertaining at all. Like the, the Pacers outclassed the Knicks and they were the better team. But damn near every single one of those games was still Incredibly entertaining and like, you know, you want wanted to watch the last five minutes because anything could happen. Like the, the Thunder just beat the hell out of the T Wolves for the most part.

[AJ Hawk]

And it's like suffocating defense too.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's the thing. Like, it's. It's almost like you take their heart in the, in the second half, second quarter. Almost like, okay, this one. Good luck winning this one, fellas.

[H]

Yeah. And I feel like the, the Pacers will at least be able to punch back a little bit because they do play, you know, somewhat similar style.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's why it's going to be fun. Like how they run Okie DJC's defense that they play is just. They just showed Caruso coming in for a steal. Like, it would be so annoying to play the Oklahoma City Thunder with how hard they play in defense. They pick you up. Like there's never, like you can just never have a second to relax. And I think the Pacers how, how they play as well, how fast they play. Like, you make a shot, you don't even have a second to watch it go in the hoop. Like, you got to get back instantly because these dudes are going, they're catching. I mean, McConnell's throwing full court passes as the dudes like OB topping somewhere. Catching, catching. Oops, Dunking on people. Like, I think it's going to be a great series. I. I think even if you don't care about either of these two teams, you don't have any personal vested interest. It's going to be fun basketball.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[H]

Very, very entertaining. And I think with the Pacers, like the, the three is the great equalizer. Like if they shoot incredibly well like they have been, they're not going to be getting blown out. Like they're going to have opportunities. You shoot 40% from three with, with how many threes they shoot in today's NBA. Like, but they don't even.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's a good thing. They don't have to. Don't have to sometimes have to shoot a very high Percentage 3 to. To win the game. Like we've seen that happen in the NCAA Tournament sometimes in college where a team is heavy heavily relied on the three all year long. They get in a game and all of a sudden they get. They get upset because you hit a cold night. Like everyone has a cold night. We know that.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Even teams defensively, to your point, that are, you know, one some of the better teams defensively in March Madness and then they play a team that just can't miss the, The Cool thing I think too with this series is like the Thunder's three best players are 26, 22 and 21. 26, 22 and 23 or something with Holmgren, SGA and Jalen Williams. Like we did this entire thing with the Celtics last year. Like this could be the start of a dynasty. A crazy run and you know, Tatum gets hurt, Brown has a tour meniscus and they don't get it done. But the, the Thunder conversation is the same exact one. They got a very young coach who's going to be there for a while. SGA is about to get a massive contract. Like they'll be able to pay a lot of their players this offseason because of the fact that, you know, most of them aren't that too or not too high on the salary cap. Like I think they also are.

[H]

They're in the bottom 10 as well.

[AJ Hawk]

Bottom 10? Yeah. As far as, you know, total money being spent. So it, the, the Thunder could go on a massive, you know, multi year dynasty esque run if they can win. So it's going to be awesome no matter what to tie's point. Just keep these games close, please. We just can't be having massive blowouts. I mean The Celtics won 41 last year. For me it was seven games but yeah, it wasn't great. You know, as far as just the casual basketball fan just want to watch a game. The hockey going to be unbelievable. I think that is, that is kind of the saving grace there with you know, McDavid going after his first cup and the Panthers going for a back.

[Ty Schmidt]

Who you think wins the hockey? Who you think? I, I'm.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm on Team McDavid this year. I think the. I want Marshy to win it, you know, because I would like to see Marshan hoist the cup and I like Chuck and them but I. It just feels like it might be McDavid's year. Yeah, that is.

[Ty Schmidt]

I read something. Who was breaking that? Just that One clip of McDavid. The crossover overs and how many strides he took was something like nobody else does. Like how he can move what he does. Yeah. So if you're fast on skates, are you fast on land? Can you take the skates off? Does he run a good 40?

[AJ Hawk]

I mean Wayne Gretzky had absolute wheels.

[Ty Schmidt]

Did he really 4 3.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know if you've ever seen that race he beat on track.

[Ty Schmidt]

I did see that when they back in the day when they were like a bunch of sports stars were racing. Right? Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

And he Toasted all.

[Ty Schmidt]

He did toast a lot. That was back like wild words.

[Boston Connor]

I would have seen sports. I would have assume he's quick.

[Ty Schmidt]

Would you?

[Boston Connor]

I would assume he could run.

[Ty Schmidt]

They used to do that where they. Athletes from all different sports would get together and. And race and do different kind. You can pop that actually back up. I'd like to see that. Here we go. Look at this graphic. Con Smyth odds. What? That's MVP of the finals of the playoffs. The whole playoffs. On cultured like Bob. I like Sergey Boski getting some love up here.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, absolutely. McDavid won it last year after they lost. Remember there's a lot of Dr. Drama with that. He didn't come out to get it. He was already.

[Ty Schmidt]

I wouldn't want it either. Would you want to go out and get it?

[AJ Hawk]

Absolutely not.

[Ty Schmidt]

What do you make of him touching the trophy?

[AJ Hawk]

I love it. I think last year.

[Boston Connor]

Switch it up.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Last year you don't touch it, you lose. I think that son of a.

[Ty Schmidt]

Up. I agree. And hockey is different. Hockey. We all know like hockey players have routines, they have superstitions. They. They have all this stuff. So we all know like this doesn't have any effect on the game. Like whether you touch the trophy or not.

[Jet Passan]

Not.

[Ty Schmidt]

I understand.

[Boston Connor]

Maybe. I guess that's why if it didn't, he would.

[Pat McAfee]

He wouldn't have touched it again.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's why sports are cool. That's why sports are cool because we have these like irrational thoughts about things like this. Hey, if you touch a trophy. That's why you guys lost because you touched the trophy.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm with you.

[H]

He's the best player in the world. You know, it's like if you can't win a Stanley cup because you. You touch the trophy, then guess what? You probably don't. You probably aren't ever gonna win.

[Ty Schmidt]

We beat the Madden curse.

[Boston Connor]

What about the ghost of Gordie Howe?

[H]

Well, that's a different story.

[Ty Schmidt]

Gordy's not gonna. He's not haunting it.

[Boston Connor]

Unless he was the one that started not touching the Call Cole.

[AJ Hawk]

The cold Colburn Trucker Yellowstone Championship.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yep.

[AJ Hawk]

I do feel like the. The Oilers will get it done. But another kind of different one of those summer sports. French Open. We're also in the quarterfinals.

[Boston Connor]

We're lieutenant season. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

We're in the tennis season. And this is one of the first majors or the. The.

[Ty Schmidt]

When's Wimbledon coming up?

[Pat McAfee]

July.

[Boston Connor]

July 1st. Two weeks of July.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. So that will.

[Boston Connor]

It's the first fortnight in July.

[Ty Schmidt]

The French Open's a different Deal. Because you got to play on that. That clay and you got a slide and everything. I'm thinking, well, I'm. I'm picturing the doll sliding.

[Boston Connor]

He won like 20 every single one.

[AJ Hawk]

They put his signature on the court. They did a dedication to him. They put.

[Ty Schmidt]

You guys ever put on. On clay tennis?

[Boston Connor]

No.

[H]

Before. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Tone, I bet you're a big tennis guy.

[Boston Connor]

I mean, I could knock it around a bit. I wouldn't say I'm a big tennis guy.

[Ty Schmidt]

Tennis took a big hit when the pickleball craze. Pickleball still a thing? People still doing it?

[H]

Oh, yeah.

[Boston Connor]

AQ Shipley was at some massive tournament this week.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, I heard he got his rating up to like 4.9.

[Boston Connor]

He's. I mean, he's working hard.

[AJ Hawk]

He was with the goat Mcduffie, right? Mcduffie.

[Ty Schmidt]

He was not Peter Mcduffie. He played with Peter Mcduffie.

[H]

He's a 5.2.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's 5.3.

[H]

It is Mcduffie.

[AJ Hawk]

Mcduffie. Mcduffie.

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't know.

[AJ Hawk]

He was with Tyson.

[H]

Mcguffin.

[AJ Hawk]

Mcguffin. There it is.

[Ty Schmidt]

Who. Who gives the ratings on pickleball? It's not like a golf handicap where you enter your score.

[AJ Hawk]

Gary, maybe.

[Darius Butler]

Wpf.

[Ty Schmidt]

You're right. I forgot. Gary Vee does he gives you everyone their pictures.

[Darius Butler]

You don't know that.

[Boston Connor]

It's not like a handicap.

[Ty Schmidt]

It might be. I don't know. That's what I'm trying to ask you guys. You guys were pickleball connoisseurs.

[Boston Connor]

So were you played just as long as we did?

[Ty Schmidt]

Either way, Tony. Hey.

[Darius Butler]

Tomorrow.

[Ty Schmidt]

Pat will be back in studio tonight. He is live and Tulsa for WWE Raw. See you tomorrow, Parker. We didn't get to the ESPN plus and Tik Tok live and all that situation, but yeah, it kind of popped up on us.

[AJ Hawk]

It. It stays.

[Ty Schmidt]

We're just having fun. That happens when you're dinking, dinking and dunking. You're right.

[H]

Yep.

[AJ Hawk]

Pickleball terms?

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, dinking. Yeah, I played pickleball for three or four days straight with you guys, and that was the last time I played.

[Boston Connor]

Well, then we. Then we played for like a couple more weeks.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah. You guys had still.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah, we had a good.

[Boston Connor]

It was awesome. It was a great workout.

[AJ Hawk]

But then, you know, got two series come and go.

[Boston Connor]

It's a lot of things. Do they. They come and go?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, yeah, I guess. I mean, pickle ball is fun. I get it.

[Boston Connor]

It's fun.

[Ty Schmidt]

I just don't play.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm Surprised your knees didn't explode while we were playing.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, that's. That's part of it. That's part of it. Three days in a row. You know, Ty was my partner. Tied me. I think you got to really talk yourself up.

[Boston Connor]

Theory, too, is we switched to singles, which is a much different.

[H]

Yeah, too much pickleball is cool.

[Ty Schmidt]

To where you can make it as hard as you want. You could get as much out of it, like, physically as you want. If you want to play super hard and die for those loose balls and run around, you can get a great cardio work, which.

[Boston Connor]

Which you should.

[Ty Schmidt]

But you can also post up and try to be an assassin.

[H]

Exactly. See, that's what I've always. It's like, if you want to, like, have a really strenuous workout and be like, running and diving, doing like that, then, like, I'll play tennis.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[H]

You know, it's like, I won't do that on a pickleball court.

[Pat McAfee]

I see.

[Ty Schmidt]

Dion just got into tennis, and now he posted a video. He's working with a tennis prime. He was saying, like, just give me a minute. I'm. It's about to be my thing. I was watching. He looked pretty good hitting the ball back. Pretty sure it was Dion. Not 100, but. Okay.

[AJ Hawk]

You should double check your source.

[H]

I was gonna say that the source.

[Ty Schmidt]

Was me watching a video that Dion put up.

[H]

Interesting. I don't know how much time he has to dedicate to tennis. You know, he's a. College football.

[Ty Schmidt]

They all work out. It's his workout, bro.

[H]

Yeah, sure.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's what he does for his workout. Didn't you see Ryan Day plays tennis every day? I guess.

[Boston Connor]

Seriously?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. He goes over it when he had. Really?

[H]

Because he was just golfing the other day. Did he miss tennis that day?

[Ty Schmidt]

He probably did. Yeah. He was abused at the. The Memorial Pro am event. Of course, that Scotty wins back to back. Another four mil. Another quick $4 million.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Jet Passan]

Pretty.

[AJ Hawk]

Pretty sweet. I mean, Scoots, it was elevated events. He's golfing against me. Ty digs and you. But he's the goat.

[Boston Connor]

That's not true.

[Ty Schmidt]

True. Jack did not have water. Jack. Nicholas. Yeah, I know you guys played in the first hour, I believe, man. He. Jack talked about if you have it Z back there, if you want to run it quick. Just Jack describing Scotty going into the final day here at the Memorial.

[Pat McAfee]

Now, looking at the leaderboard today, he didn't. He didn't have. I mean, Ben Gribbin's a nice player. Stick. Scott Stock is a nice player. Player. Nick Taylor's a nice player. Those are all the guys that were there basically coming down the stretch and. But he knows that those guys, you know, are not in his league.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's because he's the best.

[Pat McAfee]

Now, if he'd have had. I don't know who else it might have been, but somebody else at the, the top, Xander or something like that would have been there. He might have said, well, that might be a little tougher. I might have to do something. He didn't have to. And I think I always was just asked Scotty if he watched the leaderboard. He says, yeah, I do. I said, well, I did too. I always watched the leaderboard and found out what my competition was. And I always felt like what level I had to play to fight that competition off. And sometimes you'd have to fight it off because you knew they'd self destruct. And so, you know, so you just, you just don't make dumb mistakes and play solid golf and you win.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, I guess. I don't know. I wouldn't ever. You can't ever go into. Around counting on them to self destruct, right?

[AJ Hawk]

No, but there are. I feel like there are guys who. Oh, yeah, can you imagine?

[I]

Kind of happened yesterday. I don't know if you guys watched the end of that thing. Griffin was within two strokes. He had just eagled. He had just birdied. And then what does he do with two holes left within two of the lead? He Double bogeys.

[H]

Yeah.

[I]

So it does happen.

[Ty Schmidt]

Kind of happens all the time.

[I]

It just doesn't happen to Scott.

[Ty Schmidt]

Scotty, though, you got to be Bill Belichick. Just let them make the mistakes. You don't make the mistake.

[H]

Well, I also, like, I don't think, you know, if we had all these guys from like live playing, like, yeah, it'd be sweet, but like, Scotty is in a league of his own. Like, Bryson coming in. It's not like, oh, Bryson's gonna win now. You know, like, it's if Scotty, if Scotty plays 90 of like his best golf, like, he's still the best guy out there. So, like, I don't think, like, yeah, he didn't really have to do anything yesterday. But like, you know, Diggs mentioned this earlier, and I think, you know, Jack said it like, Xander was still in the field, speed still in the field. Like, there's still a bunch of speech.

[Ty Schmidt]

Was making a run early.

[H]

Yeah. And then he melted as he.

[Boston Connor]

Everyone used to do it was literally everyone but Rory what's going on with Rory? I don't know.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's. He's healthy physically, mentally. We all know that. He just, I think because of his US Open prep, he didn't come to the tournament. Yeah, there's only, I think there was only 72 players. Players in the event, something like that. When there's normally 140.

[I]

I think that's all elevated events.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's amazing. I did. I guess I didn't realize the elevated events, how the, the fields.

[Boston Connor]

We don't need the Mickey Mouse guys there.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, they all made the cut. I mean, look, I like Speed. Speed hasn't won.

[I]

Agreed.

[Boston Connor]

His scorecards are hilarious.

[AJ Hawk]

So. So I, I agree. Like, absolutely. Scott, he's winning no matter what. And I do think that. And Bryson's guy who's down his leg in the past. When you're thinking of, about, you know, looking and knowing that other guys on the leaderboard would be, you know, you don't have to worry about them because they're going to screw up. Just having them there is the biggest deal. Like when it is Scotty and then a bunch of guys that, you know, go like foxy knows most of these guys who are going digs. But I'm not watching golf every single weekend. So when I turn it on and I just see Scheffler by two strokes, you know, I know it's over. There's no. That. That might as well be a 15 point game with, you know, three minutes left. Like.

[I]

Oh, yeah. To your point, the entire tournament yesterday, there was no chance Scotty was losing that. No, absolutely not.

[H]

When you look at those guys who are like supposed to be good, like Justin Thomas shot an 80 in the first round.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[H]

It's like so, you know, like. And he, and he does this a lot. Yeah. And then he comes back and shoots 67 and 69. But it's like you like Max Homa, same deal. He goes low on Thursday and then completely self destruct. Like, Scotty's just not doing that. He's not so like it. I don't know. I. It. Yeah, it'd be awesome if Rahm and those guys were playing just so the featured groups would maybe be like a little bit more interesting. But at the end of the day, it's like, you know, Scotty's just in a class of his own.

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't know how you guys. Scotty has like that. I'm not saying he's on a Tiger esque run, but he kind of is. He has that Tiger aura to where he. I saw like, you're watching the term. I live five minutes from this course. I know I didn't go out to the tournament this year, but my son went out Wednesday to get. Try to get Steph's autograph and Peyton Manning. All those guys went on to rob.

[Boston Connor]

All the drunk people of their money.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, well, Zen's. Next year. We're definitely selling Zins next year. We're buying. We're buying a bunch of couple logs. Yeah, a couple logs. Yeah, it's gonna be great. Get those guys that are really stumbling out. They'll buy a whole log for like $400. But whenever I feel like anyone. Whenever you. If Scotty's even on the leaderboard anywhere, if he's in the top 15 going, like, on, say, going into Saturday, like, okay, Scotty's winning the tournament. I feel like, at least for me, and I was around to watch a lot of Tigers run to where. If Tigers in the tournament, you legit. Felt like I would take Tiger over the field.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

I think at least for me, I watch Scotty if he's not. If. If he's within 12 strokes of the lead after day one, I'm like, oh, he can. He's going to win this one. Probably. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

And. And this isn't the first time like, this has happened either. I feel like last year was very similar where he was. He was damn near like, what? What is it? Minus. He was like minus 110 to win.

[Ty Schmidt]

Which is unheard of in Gol. That's the thing with no one's other than Tiger, like Foxy. Has anyone ever been on a run like this?

[Pat McAfee]

No.

[I]

In my lifetime. I said it this morning. I think Scotty's got to be the second most dominant player ever behind Tiger. And in two weeks at the US Open, I'd be more shocked if he lost. Thank you. Than if, you know. Or. Yeah, I'd be more shocked if he lost than anything else, which is insane.

[Boston Connor]

We weren't alive for Jock or Hogan, Sara.

[AJ Hawk]

And that's what sucks for Scott, because no matter what for Scotty going forward, people will say, like, well, he didn't play against the entire field like all those other guys did. If. If they really want to fix it, guys like Jack have to keep talking. You know, hey, this is. We need to figure this out, or Scotty needs to be like, I'm. I'm going to. To live.

[Ty Schmidt]

The thing about it is, like, I was reading something like, Liv doesn't have anything that the PGA needs.

[H]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Like that they Want like they, they call it onboarding in the article or whatever I read thinking like the PGA doesn't like other than the players, other than Brooks and the guys that went like there's nothing that they need to take from the live. There's no event, there's music. How are they ever going to figure it out?

[AJ Hawk]

How are they ever both they both feel like that though. Like I assume the pga Liv would.

[Pat McAfee]

Love to have Scotty.

[H]

Yeah. That love to have all the players and yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

No and the PG and the viewers.

[Ty Schmidt]

Like and the viewers in the tournaments.

[AJ Hawk]

I guess the courses live saying like well we don't need the pga. I, I, I, but do they I, I don't know. I, I would assume no if there's just still going. I read Bubba.

[H]

I read the same article you did like when they break it down like that in term but I think the difference is like the LIV doesn't give a about the business or like the money aspect of it. But it was basically saying like, like the pg, the live isn't bringing any new sponsors. They're not bringing like a new TV deal. They're not bringing any of that stuff. And that's why the PGA has basically just been like we're not, we're not negotiating with you guys. You offer nothing to us. Whereas you know, I mean other than yeah we'd love to have Bryson and Rom.

[Ty Schmidt]

They might get him anyway because aren't there con. Don't we hear conflicting reports that their contracts are up that live coming up.

[Boston Connor]

Also at this point it's really just Bryson wrong.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, it is 100.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep.

[Ty Schmidt]

Are any young kids like coming out of college signing with LIV or anything like that?

[Boston Connor]

I know of.

[H]

Well I think wasn't that part of the thing with the contracts running out is like hey, we're not, we're not doing the big up, up up front money deals anymore.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Then you're not going to get.

[H]

Yeah, exactly.

[Ty Schmidt]

I heard Bubba though sit here. When Pat said like hundreds of millions of dollars, Bubba act like it was way less than what was reported that he got. Was he just being humble?

[H]

I don't know because he wasn't at the height of his career when he was went, you know but he was.

[Ty Schmidt]

Still a giant name with, you know, multiple green jackets.

[AJ Hawk]

Well and the way he talks about it like they aren't looking at this as a five year deal. They're looking at it as a much longer term investment.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's the whole equity thing like he gets to own his team. Right. That's how they present it to these golfers. So he's yard goats. So what is that he. So the range goat. Do they want like some billionaire to come buy the range goat votes and then you have equity in that team or how.

[AJ Hawk]

Because I thought offered PGA a billion dollars just to get like in bed with them. I thought that was the entire thing. And then what the P. The P. Yeah. And then the PIF guy wanted a board seat. Right. And then they told him no. Yeah. And that. But we thought it was pretty standard operating procedure.

[Ty Schmidt]

What the hell's gonna happen? What are we gonna do? Are we just gonna keep playing two? There's just gonna be two.

[I]

Probably.

[H]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Just in circles. And the majors are going to be the only.

[Ty Schmidt]

But is Liv going to get a new golfer? So that's. They have to continue.

[I]

I don't think it's going to matter. I don't know if it's going to matter if they get new golfers. They need to end on Sunday at 6 o' clock, 5 o' clock, just like the PGA. And there needs to be more drama. And the other thing Liv will never have that the PGA has is let's say yesterday when Scotty's in the lead and there's a guy that's never won a tournament in his life and he has a chance to do it like that's awesome. That's life changing moment for him. All the live guys are made men. So there's never going to be like that underdog or a guy that's like, wow, I'm going to go get my first tournament ever. And so like that's a part of it too when there's not as many big names in the leaderboard. So there's just a lot of things. But ending at Sunday at 5 o' clock. I can't stress enough is so important because everyone watches that.

[H]

Can't do the shotgun start either. That's so Mickey Mouse.

[Ty Schmidt]

Nope. So they shotgun start even on their final day?

[H]

I believe so. I think everything shotgun start.

[Ty Schmidt]

How many players on the live roster.

[Boston Connor]

Do we have any idea like contracts up soon too?

[AJ Hawk]

I thought 50.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay. They'll bring him over 50 maybe.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. I thought it was 50 because you can get relegated or 48 or something.

[I]

Yeah, it's like 48 going to the shotgun start. And I could be wrong about this, but I leave it's like the last three groups, they all kind of play like you would a PGA style. So it's not like they're starting on different holes. And so at least, least like they're expecting those three groups to have the winner in there. And so it ends with a little more drama. But I could be wrong on that. But I believe that's how it goes.

[Ty Schmidt]

Have you guys ever been to a live event? I know dbut is laid in Pro Ams. Annie's maybe, I think.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, just bud.

[Ty Schmidt]

But Bubba did invite us to play in the Pro Am in August.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I thought you were going.

[H]

You're going.

[Ty Schmidt]

If he. If the offer is out there, I'll go play.

[AJ Hawk]

If the offer's out there. You were actually.

[H]

You committed to it.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, I mean, if he remembers, you know, he's being nice. He's on camera, like, hey, of course you guys can come, but I would love to.

[Boston Connor]

I saw him. He put it in his Palm Pilot.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, the Gordon.

[Ty Schmidt]

Did he have a stylist? He pulled out and left handed.

[Boston Connor]

How would you use a Palm Pilot if you didn't have a stylist?

[Ty Schmidt]

You want to explain what a Palm Pilot is to the younger generation?

[Boston Connor]

Okay. I assumed everybody knew what a Palm Pilot was.

[Ty Schmidt]

It looks like your iPhone.

[Boston Connor]

It was a mini computer that, you know, you kept track of your calendar.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's all right. We don't have to get into it. That's. Did you have one? One.

[H]

A Palm Pilot. I own one, but yes, I'm well aware. You guys probably had black Palm Pilot.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, the Pearl.

[H]

I was around. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

I never had a BlackBerry.

[Boston Connor]

Really?

[Ty Schmidt]

Never had a black loser.

[Boston Connor]

Would you have a Sidekick?

[AJ Hawk]

Flip, where you at?

[Ty Schmidt]

I did not have. I did not have a church. Yeah, I had the old razor. Old school race.

[Boston Connor]

Wow.

[H]

Me too. Great phone.

[Ty Schmidt]

Back in the day. Verizon. Verizon was big onto that.

[Boston Connor]

Everyone had a razor.

[H]

Do you have a Nokia?

[Ty Schmidt]

No.

[H]

No one thinks, what can you play Snake on there?

[Darius Butler]

Brick Breaker?

[Ty Schmidt]

No, no, no. I never got into like phone games. Still. Not because you're playing. I'm older. Older generation, you know, like Jim Merce, God bless his soul, man. Remember he said, I don't care about a new phone. I want to fly to Mars. Right. I want to go. Like, I'm. I'm trying to go someplace. I agree. I'm with you. I'm in that same generation, right? Yeah.

[H]

Ty, so you were thinking that like when you were 18, when you got your first cell phone, like, I want this thing. I will go drive the floor.

[Jet Passan]

Florida.

[Ty Schmidt]

I want to experience the world, right?

[Boston Connor]

Oh, sure.

[Ty Schmidt]

Anything happening tonight, sports wise, that we can watch, tone or we can bet baseball's on?

[H]

Yep.

[Ty Schmidt]

Any big prime time matchups That's a good question. That's pretty sweet how the Dodgers, Yankee situation at least started off.

[AJ Hawk]

It was awesome.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's cool.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

It was the final score of that.

[H]

Game, I believe, 8 to 5.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay, which game was 18 2.

[H]

That was the second game Saturday.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, Padres and Giants is. Is. Oh, and then Mets, Dodgers.

[AJ Hawk]

Those are good one.

[Boston Connor]

But they both start at 10 o' clock because they're on the West Coast. So other than that, not super.

[AJ Hawk]

Any college baseball?

[H]

Yeah, a bunch.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, definitely college baseball.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Women's World Series going on right now. Right now. Those girls that pitch that I. There's no way I would ever even make contact.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, they're throwing 100.

[Ty Schmidt]

How far is it? 48ft away.

[H]

I think it's like 45.

[Ty Schmidt]

Jesus, that's nasty. But what's so weird is because there are motions. Motion, that's like a natural movement, right? They can pitch every day.

[H]

Yeah, yeah. They said that the girl who starts for Tennessee has thrown like the fastest recorded pitch, I think, in like, the history of, like, softball or maybe it's not that, but like, she throws gas. And they were saying, I think she threw like 79 or 80. And they said it's the MLB equivalent of like 115 miles an hour.

[Boston Connor]

But I've seen her on the mound literally every single game.

[H]

Yes.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, it seems like it. Right?

[AJ Hawk]

Carlin Pickens. Yeah, they throw like risers.

[Ty Schmidt]

They throw sinkers.

[H]

They went to extras in that. That game against Oklahoma. I think it said she threw. She threw like 115, 120 some pitches and then had to, you know, pitch the next day.

[Ty Schmidt]

No guy has ever tried to do that and make a career in baseball from 60ft 6 inches, Paul.

[Boston Connor]

You mean underhand?

[H]

Yeah, that'd be tough. Ball's not quite big enough to, you know, be able to maneuver quite like that.

[Ty Schmidt]

Like, what if.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, why don't you try it? They do the.

[Ty Schmidt]

No, I can't even do it. I can't. Submarine good at. I'm not flexible. I don't know if Shoulder flexibility.

[H]

Try it.

[Boston Connor]

No, get out there and slide stuff.

[Ty Schmidt]

I can make that thing. Yeah. So I can make a dance. You're right. Never mind. I got it. I can still do it. Be a lot easier on my shoulder. I had some shoulder elbow injuries like in fifth grade from pitching. We just know one speed fastball and they say you got to throw a change up. I said, if I throw one change up and this dude hits it out of the park or hits it hard, I'm never throwing Another change up again. And I threw a couple change ups and guys made solid contacts and that was the last change up I ever threw.

[AJ Hawk]

Mango just took you deep, Nick.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Nick could play. He could definitely play. He's a good first baseman as well. We played on a softball team in college. Intramural softball. Love it. Nick was. Nick was a great first baseman, outfielder. He could hit the ball. Or are you playing center? I'm not playing third and not playing short, especially in softball.

[Boston Connor]

You don't want the corner?

[Ty Schmidt]

No, I don't want. I would. I never. I played short growing up. I never wanted to play third though. I don't. No one directly off my face.

[Pat McAfee]

Sure.

[Ty Schmidt]

And I wasn't gonna wear a cup.

[H]

Use your mitt.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Okay. You ever seen some of these dudes hit?

[H]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

We're using metal bats. Not then too.

[H]

Not an intramural coed softball in college.

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't know. I know there's some guys that were probably on the, you know, probably on the Buckeyes baseball team, but they, you know, torn acl, torn Achilles. Something happened. Right, sure. Yeah.

[H]

Yeah. No, I get it.

[AJ Hawk]

So it goes.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Texas did beat Tennessee. Huh? Did.

[AJ Hawk]

Didn't they all.

[Ty Schmidt]

Did they? Texas beat Tennessee to advance to its third championship series in program history. So when does that start then? We know, a couple days.

[H]

It depends because I think Oklahoma still has to like, if. If they beat Texas Tech, they need to beat him again.

[Ty Schmidt]

The blue bloods stay the blue bloods. It feels like in women's softball.

[H]

Yeah, I think that's a safe assumption. That's a. That's a good way to phrase it.

[Ty Schmidt]

That was The Oklahoma Squad 2. Pat went down here. He got to hit with them.

[H]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

She got a statue outside.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's pretty awesome.

[H]

Eight national championships or something like that.

[AJ Hawk]

Fourth Street.

[Ty Schmidt]

So Pat will be back tomorrow, Correct. After he does Raw in Tulsa tonight.

[AJ Hawk]

Bingo.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's awesome. Wrestling is on a run, man. It's. It's fun. I. I see different clips pop up and people ask me like, when I'm out and about different kids games, they ask me about different wrestling story lines going on. It's pretty fun. It's a fun world to. To. To dive into that I didn't pay as much attention to before. Pat's been so deep into it. Just a fun. A fun, fun world. Those people were awesome. What a weird, like cool family environment they all create that we don't know about. You wouldn't know. But I'm saying for being lucky enough to see the inside and see how they, how they operate. Like everyone's awesome. Yeah. They're all so cool. They shouldn't be.

[H]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. And Netflix has been great, it feels like so far.

[Ty Schmidt]

So Tulsa's gonna be UFC going Netflix?

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's a possibility.

[AJ Hawk]

They said no doubt about it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, well, I mean, they're up. I think their deal is up.

[H]

Yeah, I don't think it's gonna be on ESPN anymore, that's for sure. They're starting to pull a bunch of stuff off of ESPN plus I saw already. So it sounds like. Yeah, either Amazon or someone like that.

[Ty Schmidt]

Would be weird for. For the UFC to go to that, but that's where everything is going to happen.

[AJ Hawk]

And WWE and Right.

[Ty Schmidt]

Ufc. WWE made a very seamless transition to. To Netflix.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes.

[Ty Schmidt]

Seems like it's been great. Yeah. They can handle it.

[AJ Hawk]

I think so.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay, good. And then Gumpy, what's going on later this week, pal? What do we got going on, huh?

[Pat McAfee]

TST starts Wednesday. The boys got practice at 3:00 today.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay, explain TST to someone that may be first time listener ever.

[Boston Connor]

It's maybe the greatest soccer tournament of all time. Winner gets a million dollars. There's 32 teams, maybe more. Our roster absolutely loaded. We play. We play Bournemouth first game Wednesday, 10am That'll be on ESPN plus and ESPNU.

[Pat McAfee]

Boom.

[Ty Schmidt]

Do you know anything? You guys have a scouting report? Like, have you. Do you have any idea how these other teams are?

[Boston Connor]

Bournemouth should be pretty good. They got a team in the Premier League, so they got some good guys. But every other team in our group, I think will shouldn't be a problem.

[AJ Hawk]

Just worry about your own camp. Don't. Don't have to worry. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's about. Not about concave.

[Pat McAfee]

Be nice to get off to a.

[Boston Connor]

Heart start after how we started last year.

[Ty Schmidt]

Do you get like seated after your first couple game or like first game or two or how's that work?

[Boston Connor]

So you got your group. So you have three games in your group. And then the top two teams in every group go through and then the third and a couple teams go through as well.

[Ty Schmidt]

So you got to win at least two of your first three to move on.

[Boston Connor]

You think we won two last year.

[Darius Butler]

And got through okay.

[AJ Hawk]

You need to win two.

[Darius Butler]

Yeah, yeah, you.

[Ty Schmidt]

You need to win that first one.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

And you got. Guys lost the first game.

[H]

The first one.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, you lost the first. I'm saying you put. You really put the pressure on yourselves. But that's how you guys. That's how you Respond.

[AJ Hawk]

Pressure makes diamonds.

[Boston Connor]

That's concave.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's what they say.

[H]

Either that or you need to beat the piss out of a couple teams like they did last year, because what was the Reggae Rovers.

[Boston Connor]

Rovers walked us.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[H]

Yeah. And we.

[Boston Connor]

We had. We didn't really have a game plan yet.

[H]

Right. But then you beat the. Out of FC Cincinnati. I think it was like, later that night. Johnson, he was like, the coach or something.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[H]

He can actually play.

[AJ Hawk]

He can play.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

They talked a lot of.

[Pat McAfee]

That was funny, Chad.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay. Whoa. Was it Gump?

[Pat McAfee]

It was.

[Ty Schmidt]

Because you guys beat him.

[H]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

It's funny when they were eating their words, Chad.

[H]

Eating the pitch.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

I tell you what, Chad Johnson, I respect that dude so much. I. He had a. He had a professional boxing match a couple years ago and looked good. Yeah, looked good.

[Boston Connor]

Guy's an athlete.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's not. And can play soccer. Yeah. That's a different kind of type athlete, too. You can do everything if you can play soccer, basketball, football. Soccer is a whole new world.

[I]

We'll also be live from TST on Wednesday and Thursday. This program.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes.

[Ty Schmidt]

Beautiful. Wednesday, Thursday, normal time. We get the stage set up. Probably same spot we were last year. Fox.

[Pat McAfee]

Yep.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's gonna be sweet. Fans can kind of hang around and that's a beautiful complex down there. Weather's supposed to be North Carolina. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

The pitches look incredible from what I'm seeing.

[Ty Schmidt]

Is it. Is there any. Is you guys playing field? Turf down there is all grass.

[Boston Connor]

All grass.

[Ty Schmidt]

Soccer players. You guys. You guys demand that, right?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, but, like, back in Canada, we always played on turf.

[Pat McAfee]

That's all there was.

[Ty Schmidt]

But those pros, like, won't play on turf now, will they?

[Boston Connor]

Messi did for, like, the first time he played in Atlanta on turf.

[Ty Schmidt]

What's the reasoning? They. They know that they tear ACLs and Achilles and other things much quicker than they do on grass.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Grass is everywhere in the world.

[Pat McAfee]

Might as well use this.

[Ty Schmidt]

We'll see what happens in the NFL. Think they're going to get rid of field turf? Nope. No, no, no, you can't. You can do too much. With that being said, guys, I think we're going to wrap this thing up. Con man, what do you think?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I mean, now I'm. Now I'm starting to think about tsd.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's going to be fun, man. We know what time you play, Gump. What time the squad's going to be going.

[Boston Connor]

10 o' clock's first game.

[Ty Schmidt]

10 o' clock Wednesday, first game. So before the show for the program, That'll be awesome. We'll get to watch. Hopefully a big victory as the show is getting started. You guys are going to be celebrating coming over. Maybe sit in the ice tub again. I think Growler did last year and.

[Boston Connor]

Then 6:30 that night as well on the show.

[H]

Hey, who's Growler?

[Ty Schmidt]

That's what I call him.

[H]

I call him Jordan spe caddy.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, Grell.

[Ty Schmidt]

He was. Is he still Jordan's caddy?

[H]

I think so.

[Ty Schmidt]

I heard he's a stick. He can play.

[H]

His name is also, I believe, Michael Greller.

[Ty Schmidt]

So. Yeah, I know I call Greller Greller. Yeah, he's st.

[AJ Hawk]

I remember you yelled out you were doing that.

[H]

My apology.

[Ty Schmidt]

You guys get it. With that being said, appreciate it boys. And back. Good job. Thank you. Mitt. Great to see you as always wherever you are. Cruising around here. Debone. Good work. Gertie Z everyone. Boys, appreciate you guys. Obviously I love coming in here and seeing you guys. It's been a long time, I think since I've been in studio. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Since Bania I wasn't in here. Those.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's been a minute. It really has. It's good. It's good to see you boys. Good to, to see everything going on, obviously. RIP Jim Urson, everything going on there with his memorial service. People from everywhere. Oh my God.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Talking about how what this guy has done, what he means, all the behind the scenes stuff that he has done, just. It's crazy, man. It's. I wish he would have been around to see a lot of the love he is getting right now. But yeah, thoughts and prayers with him. Everyone going through that situation, his family. I'm sure he had a gigantic impact on the NFL and everyone around him. That'll be, that'll be it for me today. Pat will be here tomorrow. He'll be back on on set. Wednesday, Thursday show from Cary, NC Concave for Soccer clubs looking to really gas him up. Coach Gump is on fire. I saw him practice a little footwork here to get the boys ready during warmups. Cannot wait to get down there and see him. Everybody here appreciates you guys. And here we go. Let's bring it up.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

There you go. You ready? Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three.

[AJ Hawk]

Team.

[Ty Schmidt]

See ya.