S E34: The Sports Thing Podcast w/Holmberg, Hellestrae And Nash - Episode 34 - 05-07-26

Summary

The Sports Thing Podcast w/Holmberg, Hellestrae & Nash

Episode 34 | May 11, 2026
Host: John Holmberg
Co-Hosts: Dale Hellestrae, Dave Nash

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Episode Overview

In this lively episode, Holmberg, Hellestrae, and Nash dive into a broad mix of sports talk with their trademark mix of sharp wit, friendly ribbing, and big opinions. The show ranges from a wild discussion on mind-reading technology and its possible impact on daily life and sports, deep dives into current baseball and NBA happenings, and some signature Arizona sports angst. The trio also debates the expansion of the NCAA tournament, challenges of modern sports fandom, the blurred lines between technology and privacy, mental health in sports, the ever-present role of gambling, and closes with Nash’s classic "Five Minutes With a Madman" conspiracy-flavored take on current events.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mind-Reading “Beanie” and the End of Privacy

• [03:57] The guys open on a high-tech note: a “beanie” that can read thoughts and display them on a screen. Discussion ranges from privacy, relationships, government overreach, and the absolute havoc this could wreak in both daily life and sports.

  • Holmberg: “That's the end of us.” (04:18)
  • Nash: Claims he doesn’t care about hiding his thoughts, boasts of total honesty, and is oddly excited.
  • Hellestrae & Holmberg: More skeptical, imagining marital and workplace disasters.

• [05:47] Hellestrae calls Nash “a unicorn” for his supposed lack of filter, prompting plenty of laughs.

• [06:12] Hellestrae: "You're asking the square peg when we need a round hole. ...He's a unicorn."

• Memorable Quotes:

  • Holmberg: “Your wife cannot have you in a what's Dave thinking? Beanie.” (04:31)
  • Hellestrae: “If I'm reading, you don't have to boo anymore.” (10:50)
  • Nash: “Most people want to be lied to. That’s the problem in our society.” (09:00)

2. Baseball – The Beauty of the Pitcher's Duel & Modern Fan Crisis

• [16:17] Holmberg recounts witnessing Paul Skenes pitch, celebrating the return of short, thrilling games: “This game was 2 hours and 10 minutes long, which is unreal for baseball.”

  • Laments that new fans see 1-0 games as boring, even though purists cherish them.

• Hellestrae: Observes that the pitch clock and rapid pace appeal to different generations, but risks alienating both purists and new fans.

  • “Baseball's got this identity crisis... What I saw last night I'd pay double to see again.” (21:00)

• [18:59] Nash: “Baseball, you’re going to have those 1-0 games, then you’re going to have those 15-13 games and everything in between.”

3. NBA Load Management, Fan Disenchantment & Arizona Suns Purgatory

• [22:20] Discussion shifts to the NBA’s “load management”—missing out seeing stars like SGA due to scheduled rests, and the impact on average fans who can’t afford frequent trips to see teams.

  • Hellestrae: "I always try to put myself in the normal person... they got four games they can—or two games—and all of a sudden SGA is sitting out..." (22:34)
  • Holmberg: “NBA playoffs are not fun. NHL playoffs, though, are as always, as advertised.” (29:03)

• [30:27] On the Phoenix Suns

  • Holmberg and Hellestrae bemoan Suns owner Ishbia saying he’ll never trade Devin Booker, which signals satisfaction with mediocrity.
  • Hellestrae: "They're in purgatory... they're in middling purgatory. And it's a rough thing to watch." (33:12)

4. NCAA Tournament Expansion & “Too Many Teams”

• [38:01] The panel tackles the NCAA basketball tournament’s expansion to 76 teams.

  • Nash supports more mid-major bids, wants more parity and opportunity.
  • Hellestrae and Holmberg are skeptical, fearing a watered-down first round, fewer upsets, and a loss of excitement.
  • Nash: “It’s all about money… They deserve to have a place at the table.” (40:21)
  • Hellestrae: "I'm just not gonna tune in for... I don't watch the play-in games..." (43:09)

• Discussion veers into what makes tournaments exciting, and whether anyone truly cares about the NIT.

5. Mental Health in Sports (Victor Hedman and More)

• [45:18] Nash raises questions about Tampa Bay Lightning’s Victor Hedman missing games for mental health reasons, drawing skepticism.
  • Holmberg and Hellestrae explain the seriousness of mental health and why dismissing it is dangerous.
  • Memorable exchange:
    • Nash: “It seems like mental health issues come up for people that are really wealthy.” (46:01)
    • Holmberg: "It's a very big problem, you know. Well, in poorer communities especially. ...Men 40 to 57...will kill themselves. The majority never told anybody they were even sad." (46:56)

6. NFL, Cardinals, and Aaron Rodgers Rumors

• [51:01] Rodgers rumors: Nash and the gang break down the implausibility of Rodgers to Arizona, with Holmberg summarizing: “That would be a Cardinal move... their player said, 'we like him.'” (52:24)
• [54:50] Brief Steelers segment—Holmberg reluctantly praises strategy but worries about the age and health of new QBs.

7. Gambling in Sports: Technology, Temptation, and Scandal

• [57:28] The crew discusses the scandal involving a top QB prospect, gambling, and the ever-growing influence of betting apps.

  • Hellestrae: “It’s a matter of time before 30 or 40 more of these pop up.” (59:54)

• Vivid anecdote from Hellestrae about a teammate’s gambling nearly pushing him to the brink: “After a missed free throw, I walked up to my room... threw up, wanted to kill myself.” (59:26)

8. Horse Racing Magic

• [60:33] An electrifying recount of the Kentucky Derby: last-place horse comes from nowhere to win, prompting nostalgia and praise (including the historic first female trainer win).

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Holmberg, on mind-reading hats:
  "This company, Savvy, has invented Ski cap. A beanie...that is technologically able to not only read thoughts but put them on a screen." (03:57)

• Nash, unfiltered:
  "Most people want to be lied to. That's the problem in our society." (09:00)

• Hellestrae, on modern baseball fans:
  "The 70, 80, 90 year old dudes...those guys are dying off and now you’re getting these new wave fans...everything is fast." (19:05)

• Holmberg, on LeBron:
  "I've always had a theory that if old guys are really good in a sport, something's wrong with the sport, not the other way around." (24:44)

• On NCAA Expansion:
  "I'm just done getting worked up over what is too much because again, it's my choice… whether I'm gonna pay money for a ticket." – Hellestrae (44:52)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 03:57–14:49: Mind-reading beanie discussion (privacy, relationships, society)
• 16:17–21:07: Paul Skenes and the “perfect” baseball game experience
• 21:07–23:11: Fan experiences: NBA load management vs. baseball’s reliability
• 29:03–34:46: NBA playoffs woes, Suns stuck in purgatory, Booker debate
• 38:01–44:36: NCAA Tournament expansion, mid-major representation, NIT
• 45:18–50:59: Mental health in sports, Victor Hedman case, male suicide stats
• 51:01–54:56: NFL QB chaos: Rodgers rumors, Cardinals options
• 57:28–61:42: Gambling in sports (college/NFL), athlete temptation, Kentucky Derby magic
• 63:25–70:59: Five Minutes with a Madman – Trump assassination attempt skepticism, conspiracy chat, virus theories

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Five Minutes With a Madman (63:25–70:59)

• Nash gives his take on the recent “Trump assassination attempt," dissecting the response logistics and suggesting it was “choreographed to boost numbers.”
  • Hellestrae and Holmberg join in with skepticism about security arrangements and odd media coverage.
• Brief detour into news about a cruise ship Hanatavirus outbreak, connecting it to themes of manipulated crises and the pandemic.

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Tone, Style & Banter

The show is marked by fast-paced, sometimes raucous debate, loaded with sarcasm, pointed barbs (especially at Nash for his contrarian takes), and Arizona sports exasperation. There's a throughline of nostalgia for “how things used to be”—whether that's baseball games with friends, NBA stars playing every night, or less technological intrusion into daily life.

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Final Thoughts

The Sports Thing Podcast remains essential for fans who want smart, irreverent, sometimes provocative takes on current sporting events—especially with an Arizona angle. Episode 34 is a perfect sampler of their range: equal parts stand-up, old-school barroom argument, and sincere reflection on what really matters in sports, fandom, and life.

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For full context and the sharpest punchlines, listen to the full episode. For those short on time, this summary should keep you square in the action—minus the ads, of course.

Transcript

[John Holmberg]

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[Dave Nash]

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[John Holmberg]

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[Dave Nash]

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[Dale Hellestray]

All right, we're ready to go.

[John Holmberg]

Hey everybody, it's John Holmberg here. And welcome to another edition of the John Holmberg creation known as the sports thing.

[Dave Nash]

That's BS Part of.

[Dale Hellestray]

Please.

[John Holmberg]

I'm introducing the show that's part of the John Humbert podcast empire that includes this show and so many others and the successful [e-mail] if you're interested in a show we do here in Phoenix, Arizona. Along with me are my invited guests. That is Dave Nash, the Angry Patriot. He sits right next to Dale Hellestray, three time world champion and co host of his sports show as well.

[Dave Nash]

I'm three time Mid American Conference champ. Are you? Yeah. At what in a row? Baseball.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, all right.

[Dale Hellestray]

Well, good for you.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

So we're both three time champions.

[John Holmberg]

I've asked him a hundred times, how do we introduce you? I don't care.

[Dale Hellestray]

I don't want anything, but every time

[Dave Nash]

I do it wrong.

[John Holmberg]

I just told you, he pipes up. Every time. Yeah. Dale is the three time world champion from the Dallas Cowboys and also the host of the main event with Steve McCollum. Guys, this show is fun. I enjoy doing it. I really like the. The banter and the fun and all that stuff, but it's. We're done. Dale knows about this Dave, you're about to be introduced.

[Dave Nash]

I can't wait.

[John Holmberg]

This Dave does a show called the Real Matrix. And it's just this out of hand belief that every like Jose Canseco was never wrong kind of thing. And that I do believe is the first time I ever thought, well, listen to the craziest guy in the room for a second because in about 10 years he's gonna probably be right. Jose was the first one that they tried to bash down and then turned out everything he said was true and they made him crazy. So anybody they're trying to make crazy probably on to something. So Dave does his show, but it's not going to matter anymore. There's a company called Sabi or Savvy. They've developed. It's a new invention that's supposed to be ready by Christmas this year. Dave, I want your first thoughts. I already got. Dale's on the show on kupd. I'll get yours first. And Dale and I'll.

[Dale Hellestray]

Don't look it up.

[John Holmberg]

He's going to tell your phone down. You have a brain. Use your brain. Put your phone.

[Dave Nash]

I'm not doing well.

[John Holmberg]

You're doing Instagram. You cut your. Are you influencing. Geez, put your phone down.

[Dale Hellestray]

He is this.

[John Holmberg]

Put your phone down. Oh, he's clocking us.

[Dave Nash]

Yes. I always. I want to make sure I know when we're kind of. And I want to know where we're at. You just go on and on. You got your show on the radio. You got it all figured out. I finish it whenever I want. I like to have an idea.

[John Holmberg]

You have an idea.

[Dave Nash]

I have an idea.

[John Holmberg]

Now it's not going to that clock, by the way. Does not matter.

[Dave Nash]

I. I know, but it gives me an idea.

[John Holmberg]

The fact that it's running is going to make me do more.

[Dave Nash]

That's what dude, knock yourself out.

[John Holmberg]

You're going to be here for three.

[Dave Nash]

At least I'll have an idea.

[John Holmberg]

At least three hour show. Now they will leave and at least

[Dave Nash]

I'll have an idea how irresponsible you are. Wildly.

[John Holmberg]

But here's the thing. And it's not going to matter. Once again, it's not going to matter. I tell you about this because this company, Savvy has invented Ski cap. A beanie.

[Dave Nash]

Right?

[John Holmberg]

Beanie. You probably have sports logos on it. You're a Giants guy or whatever team you got. Yeah. San Francisco. I'm not sure. Cardinals. I don't know what terrible teams you support, but it is technologically able to not only read thoughts, but Put them on a screen.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

That's the end of us.

[Dale Hellestray]

So, David, 30 words.

[John Holmberg]

It can produce 30 words that you thought and did not say accurately on a screen. First thoughts.

[Dave Nash]

They've been telling us they're doing it.

[John Holmberg]

They're reading our minds and. But, but, but. They is not who I'm talking about. She is who I'm talking about. Your wife cannot have you in a what's Dave thinking? Beanie. And have it show up on the

[Dale Hellestray]

TV what we're saying.

[John Holmberg]

I don't mind. You don't mind?

[Dale Hellestray]

I don't mind.

[John Holmberg]

There is no way you can.

[Dave Nash]

I don't have to say, listen, I'm ready to. I'm up for some sex. I don't even have to say it so she can just read it on the screen.

[John Holmberg]

What about all the times that she says, do you think this makes me look fat?

[Dave Nash]

I have no problem her reading my mind. You have.

[John Holmberg]

Everyone has a problem reading their notes.

[Dave Nash]

Not my wife. Me telling her.

[John Holmberg]

Now your brain is thinking, I don't

[Dave Nash]

need to lie to her.

[John Holmberg]

It's not lying.

[Dave Nash]

Hideous. That's what I feel about her.

[John Holmberg]

While you're sleeping, she pops that cap on your head.

[Dave Nash]

That's fine.

[John Holmberg]

No, it is not.

[Dave Nash]

I am not listening. Satanist. You don't want people to know what you're thinking. I want to know. I'm open and honest with the way I feel.

[John Holmberg]

This person who is.

[Dave Nash]

You can put that cap on me. And you're going to be scared when I'm thinking about you.

[John Holmberg]

Government control, all this other stuff. You want North Korea in your head the whole time. No, that's the same thing as North Korea.

[Dave Nash]

Listen, I'm not for it. But when you say we can't do it because my wife is going to know what I'm doing.

[John Holmberg]

Any woman.

[Dave Nash]

Listen.

[John Holmberg]

They're not going to like it. You're going to destroy your life.

[Dave Nash]

Relationships might be a little different than mine.

[John Holmberg]

Go ahead.

[Dale Hellestray]

Okay. Well, again, you're asking the wrong. The idiot. I'm asking the demonstrator. You're asking the square peg when we need a round hole. That's exactly right. He's a unicorn.

[John Holmberg]

He thinks he's a unicorn.

[Dave Nash]

I don't think anything.

[John Holmberg]

You're a horse with a broomstick.

[Dave Nash]

I do not think anything.

[John Holmberg]

I believe that.

[Dave Nash]

There you go. That sets you up on a tee.

[Dale Hellestray]

That'd be good. Just blank. Blank. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

[John Holmberg]

Advertisement available.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah, that's what it would say the whole way across.

[John Holmberg]

You do not have. All your thoughts aren't so great. That when you see w. She looks a little today or she. Oh, that's no good.

[Dave Nash]

There, there.

[John Holmberg]

I hate when she does that.

[Dave Nash]

Every guy. You don't know me very well, but what you should know of me is I tell you exactly how I feel. Of course, I'm not hiding anything too well, so I. If. If she bothers me about something, I'm probably going to tell her before she even can read it on the screen. That's just the way it is. That's the way. If. If. If she pisses me off or does something crazy, I'm gonna tell her right away. But. But honestly, that is. That is a rare, rare occurrence when you fan size.

[John Holmberg]

It's always her. Nope.

[Dave Nash]

I'll tell you this.

[Dale Hellestray]

Do we have a Brady on our hands?

[Dave Nash]

See other views. And I'll say, I need to put my wife in that situation with me in the.

[John Holmberg]

Okay, so you fantasize that, and then you think, I need to get my wife this. And then she's going to see those thoughts. As technology progresses, say, who's that? Maybe your thoughts will slide someone else in that. You know, a neighbor, a friend. Whoops. How did she get there? But it's not going to be a. How did she get there when the hat puts it up on the screen? Because we have that technology now.

[Dave Nash]

Hey, you think that.

[John Holmberg]

What.

[Dave Nash]

What's the Seinfeld episode where George says, hey, let's have a threesome, and he wants to get out of the relationship? Hey, I'm into it.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

I don't know. I. I don't know. I really had that discussed with my wife. I don't know.

[John Holmberg]

There you go.

[Dave Nash]

I don't know.

[John Holmberg]

But you might think of a threesome of whatever, and she's gonna go, what are you doing here?

[Dave Nash]

And whatever.

[Dale Hellestray]

The thing is, the difference between Dave and most people is that most people are cognizant of somebody else's thoughts.

[John Holmberg]

Yes.

[Dale Hellestray]

And you're gonna try and be polite. You're not just gonna say you're tactful, you're an idiot, and I can't stand you. Dave will say that.

[Dave Nash]

I mean, you know what? I used to be embarrassed about the fact that. That I could offend someone.

[John Holmberg]

Sure.

[Dave Nash]

By what I said, what I was doing. And then I have a friend that is probably even more worse. Not worse.

[John Holmberg]

Worse.

[Dave Nash]

I think now better, because I love being around this guy. Because there's no. There's no guessing what he thinks, what he says. But that's true. There's. There's no. You know, most people want to be lied to. And that's the problem in our society.

[John Holmberg]

There's truth to that.

[Dave Nash]

Most people want to be lied to. They want to be told how good they are and how great things are and. And they. They don't want to know the truth about lying.

[John Holmberg]

And I don't think it's about truth. I think it's about whatever invasively odd thoughts everyone has every once in a while without like, like pro even. Sometimes your thoughts be like, what the hell was that?

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[Dave Nash]

Okay. I'm not embarrassed by it.

[John Holmberg]

All right?

[Dave Nash]

I'm not embarrassed by it. 0.0.

[Dale Hellestray]

Wrong guy to ask because he does not care.

[John Holmberg]

True.

[Dale Hellestray]

I tell like it. And I've been told that many times. But I'm tactful.

[Dave Nash]

Oh, you're very. You're too tactful. We know you're beating around the bush.

[Dale Hellestray]

He is not tactful.

[John Holmberg]

No.

[Dale Hellestray]

And so, you know, you meet a guy and. And you're looking. Well, he's a. He's a dummy.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

Or whatever. And you're going to talk to him for two minutes and you're planning getting out of the situation.

[Dave Nash]

It's really hard for me to actually meet someone and they look like a dummy and it's not going to be on my face.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[Dave Nash]

This guy looks like.

[John Holmberg]

You wear dummy on your face.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, you can ID a Jag off easily. You don't need a hat for that.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

But sometimes the Jag off needs to be treated with respect for whatever reason.

[Dave Nash]

I'm not coming out and saying you probably can read it in my face. I'm not a really good hider of my.

[Dale Hellestray]

Now what happens if Kung Hoon Jim is in your mind telling you to think things, say things if they can read your mind.

[John Holmberg]

Kim Jong Un.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah, Kim Jong Un. Whatever.

[John Holmberg]

He said it backwards.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah. Did I? It's okay. All of a sudden he's in your mind telling you things.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah. Yes. What about you're being manipulated by anything. This. This technology.

[Dave Nash]

I'm gonna smack him in the face.

[John Holmberg]

Oh my God.

[Dave Nash]

I'm not gonna get affected by.

[Dale Hellestray]

Oh, my God.

[Dave Nash]

Now, now I'll tell you that when. When you say this.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

This is sports show. Right?

[John Holmberg]

I know, but this is sports. Won't matter when the. When the mind reading beanies are out.

[Dale Hellestray]

If I'm reading, you don't have to boo anymore.

[John Holmberg]

You won't have to do a thing.

[Dave Nash]

We don't have to worry. Put it on the general manager and we say, who. Who are you going to draft? We don't. We don't have to go through the lies and the BS right everywhere. This guy's going to make a mistake in round one and two and three.

[Dale Hellestray]

NFL draft just be over. Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

You know, you don't even have to announce your pick. Just read your pick.

[John Holmberg]

Second, most people have access to this. It's going to be that thing. Girls always ask those weird questions, like, if I was burned in a fire, would you stay with me? And you kind of go, of course I would. It has nothing to do with how you look. Most of us are looking for an out. Am I wrong?

[Dave Nash]

You're satanic.

[John Holmberg]

Why is that satanic?

[Dave Nash]

Oh, it's just. You don't care about anyone else. I don't care about you.

[John Holmberg]

You're the one who doesn't care. You just said. You spent the entire five minutes saying, I don't care about anyone else's feelings.

[Dave Nash]

Ill will on people, but you don't

[John Holmberg]

care about their feelings.

[Dave Nash]

It's just feelings.

[Dale Hellestray]

That might be the weirdest sound that'll ever come out of 260 pound body. When Scooby Doo started running. Ye. I can't even make that sound.

[John Holmberg]

No one can because we're not lying to ourselves so loudly our mouth quits on us anyway. So you. I'm gonna get you the hat first.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah, I'll take it.

[John Holmberg]

One of your horrible thoughts comes out. Puka nakua, and starts screaming about this.

[Dale Hellestray]

That.

[Dave Nash]

Listen, you can watch the real Matrix and you can. You can see exactly what I.

[John Holmberg]

True. That is true. All right, we'll get into sports. For whatever reason, even though the world is going to end after the hat thing comes because everybody's going to be fighting with each other. And even Dave, who says he's pure of thought, still fighting over that.

[Dave Nash]

You should not be afraid. I'm not afraid of the truth.

[John Holmberg]

I'm afraid of the things that are weird that I'm like, that's in my head.

[Dave Nash]

I will tell you as listeners, as much as I know John. John deals in half truths.

[John Holmberg]

Not true.

[Dave Nash]

Half truth. Everything's a half truth.

[John Holmberg]

Do you hear. Do you ever hear the thing that says, oops, I use my inside voice outside.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah, that's.

[John Holmberg]

That's your thoughts leaking out when they shouldn't have. Oh. Sometimes you got to process those.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah, that's it. That's another way of saying I'm lying.

[John Holmberg]

No, it's. Yeah, that's exactly what that is. Not educated enough or smart enough to recognize the nuance in that. It's not about.

[Dale Hellestray]

Dave has been hearing since he was Five years old. Dave, use your inside voice.

[John Holmberg]

Use your inside voice.

[Dale Hellestray]

He's now 62. Yeah. And he still has.

[John Holmberg]

It makes less sense than ever. I'm Satan that doesn't care about anybody.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

On the heels of him going, I don't care about anybody.

[Dave Nash]

It's just you. I'm not worried about the feelings. Okay. You're not worth that. Not really.

[John Holmberg]

The problem with us caring about anyone.

[Dave Nash]

That's a problem with our society. Everyone's you. You can't say anything to anyone else anymore.

[John Holmberg]

Well, you can. Attackfully.

[Dave Nash]

No. No. And. And that's why the crazies are running the world.

[John Holmberg]

Because we're too tactful.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

I don't disagree. There needs to be a little bit more of an iron fist in situations.

[Dave Nash]

Yes.

[John Holmberg]

But nuance and tact are very smart in strategies.

[Dave Nash]

Yes. It's a. It's bs. It's BS at its highest degree.

[Dale Hellestray]

All I know is this. When I call Dave at his office. Yeah. He's got office voice.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, yes.

[Dale Hellestray]

That's completely.

[John Holmberg]

I've been in his office.

[Dale Hellestray]

Than this.

[John Holmberg]

This jackass. This true careless jackass.

[Dave Nash]

100.

[John Holmberg]

Okay.

[Dale Hellestray]

So that's what I'm saying.

[Dave Nash]

Because that's. That's my job.

[John Holmberg]

That's right.

[Dave Nash]

And so you have to turn it

[John Holmberg]

on and off sometimes.

[Dave Nash]

I'm there for a job.

[John Holmberg]

The hat ruins that.

[Dave Nash]

Not in my personal life.

[Dale Hellestray]

It would ruin your personal life. We're talking about the whole time. So you're say you don't own your own company and you're working for somebody and your thoughts about this guy's decisions are being broadcast even though you're not saying you're dummy. It's in your mind. So it's going out over the beam.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

I probably don't want it on while I'm at work.

[Dale Hellestray]

Exactly.

[John Holmberg]

Because you're lying the whole time.

[Dave Nash]

No, I'm not lying.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, here we go.

[Dave Nash]

No, here's the thing. I. There are time. There are times. We're in a men's health clinic.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

Someone has erectile dysfunction.

[John Holmberg]

Yes.

[Dave Nash]

They call us.

[John Holmberg]

You can't just start spouting that.

[Dave Nash]

We guarantee to help. Yeah. We do it inexpensively, cheaply. Our staff experience is second to none.

[John Holmberg]

Summit.

[Dave Nash]

You would think they need the help.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

And they go, well, let me think about it.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[Dave Nash]

The first thing I think about right away. Sorry.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

Is these guys shouldn't even want. I don't know who's going to be wanting with them if they're that wishy washy. I'm sorry.

[Dale Hellestray]

They're not even.

[Dave Nash]

So I just said it right now. But. But I probably can't say that to them. Probably while they're call.

[John Holmberg]

And also HEA violations to start saying whatever you think about somebody's medical condition.

[Dave Nash]

I wouldn't say that to anyone.

[John Holmberg]

You would if you had the hat.

[Dave Nash]

I wouldn't say the hat. I'm not. I got too many things going on to worry about what this guy's medical record says and what this guy's.

[John Holmberg]

That's right.

[Dave Nash]

Care less.

[John Holmberg]

All right, let's be the first one down.

[Dave Nash]

Our medical staff deals with that.

[John Holmberg]

Exactly. Because they don't trust you. It's a beautiful thing. Let's talk about sports, for God's sakes. Even though Dave has ruined that. I went to a baseball game last night and watched something spectacular. Paul Skeens pitching for the Pirates. The second year I've seen This game was 2 hours and 10 minutes long, which is unreal for baseball. Even with the clock. That is the way it's supposed to look.

[Dave Nash]

Correct.

[John Holmberg]

And it was absolutely perfect. A home run in the first inning, you get a one nothing lead. And then they had to protect and try to claw back. That's the way baseball's supposed to look. It's not supposed to be 15 to 11. It's just not entertaining when you're walking guys or you got runs all over the board. It's fun to watch hits. It's fun to get some offense in spurts. But what I really like to watch is a pitcher commanding and players having to be the best to beat the best. And Paul Skeens has that. Question is. Oh, I even said this to a friend of mine. If I have. I have it mapped in my calendar when the Dodgers play the Pirates this year in LA and in Pittsburgh. Because I will drop everything if it lines up that Ohtani and Skeens are going against each other.

[Dale Hellestray]

Okay.

[John Holmberg]

That's Babe Ruth, Cy Young. That is something that they need to market.

[Dale Hellestray]

That.

[John Holmberg]

That needs to be. That needs to line up on.

[Dale Hellestray]

Well, I will tell you this. The one thing that. Again, I'm more of a. Let's look at where we are as a society. Yeah. And. And that's where the pitch clock comes in. Things move a little bit. You're not looking at your phone. Hopefully the whole game, because it's moving. You know, you barely sit down. You can't. You don't have time to go get a beer because the inning started.

[John Holmberg]

You got to watch the game.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yes. And. And so. But when it comes down to 1 0, you know, 21 pitchers duels. That only goes to a certain segment of the society and the mostly baseball purists. I enjoy seeing it too. When you see masterful, perfect like that, I don't want to see it every night. I don't want to see it every night.

[John Holmberg]

I don't want to see. I don't somewhere in the middle can have. I definitely. That's what makes it special.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

That's why a 1/8 2 hour game with Greg Maddox used to, I mean Vince Gulley used to say that all the time. It's like, you know, you can have dinner after because it'll still be open. This game is going to end at nine, right? It was seven to nine. He had two hour games almost all the time. And he could, he could work a lineup like nobody's business. And so Paul Skeens has that too. Ohtani's got that. But I mean that was unreal. And it's not because the Diamondbacks were, you know, just having an off night. They were getting destroyed by his choice of pitch. He was on point, everything's great. He might be in person the best pitcher I've ever watched. And I mean like just mechanically everything's perfect. The way the ball moves, the choices. It was so good. And baseball's got that problem that it doesn't have a guy because I don't think it like what we said, I don't think it's got a vibe to be. What is it? Do you, do they want the game to be 15 to 10? I think kind of they do. That's why they put the DH in there for everybody. Or do they want these smart games that baseball fans actually will like?

[Dave Nash]

Thing is baseball, you're going to have those one nothing games, then you're going to have those 15, 13 games and everything in between. And that's really the benefit of baseball. You don't know what you're going to get when you get there and you're not going to get the same thing every time.

[John Holmberg]

But I think unfortunately for new fans, they, they've been taught that a one nothing game's boring.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yes.

[John Holmberg]

And that's not right.

[Dale Hellestray]

And understand and here's the thing where I think baseball has been the latest to the party. We can talk about NBA, they have their own issues. Oh but the thing about baseball is that the 70, 80, 90 year old dudes who grew up bringing a score book to the game and keeping score and loving to see a 2 1, 3 2, very defensive ball game, those guys are dying off and now you're getting these new wave fans coming in who everything is fast. Yeah, everything's fast. And so they're kind of stuck in that middle right now, I believe. I think they've done a great job with the pitch clock.

[John Holmberg]

Speeding up the game is one thing, but like selling me what happened last night.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yes.

[John Holmberg]

As this is the best this game can be. Instead of. Paul Skeens is great, he's a great player. That was a great game last night. The pitcher for the Diamondbacks, so called Sirocco. Yeah. Equally as good. Made one mistake really. And then with some great defense behind him, I mean that's the way the game's supposed to look. And like you said, everybody's wanting it sped up. There it is, two hours, 10 minutes. And sometimes in a game like that you're going to get, you know, three to two. So it's even more exciting because these guys are getting to the. So you get a two and a half hour game.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[Dave Nash]

Not everyone is dying off who keep score at games. My wife still does.

[Dale Hellestray]

She. Right.

[John Holmberg]

But the average, the average age, how good is that? The average age of a baseball fan right now is, I think it was 58.

[Dale Hellestray]

Okay.

[John Holmberg]

That's way too old for a demographic trying to sell to the. It's just not hitting the youth at all.

[Dave Nash]

My young son thinks baseball is the best game because. Because now with the rules of it's moving faster, you don't really know what to expect.

[John Holmberg]

He didn't have like we did growing up where baseball was every day, you batting ball out in the cul de sac. It's. It would be tough, I would imagine to be a 13 year old, 14 year old kid trying to get a game together in the neighborhood. Oh, and it used to be the easiest thing in the world, probably any

[Dale Hellestray]

sport, but yeah, that's probably true too.

[John Holmberg]

I mean it's, it's so baseball to me has got this identity crisis because what I saw last night I'd pay double to see again.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

It was just spectacular sport and that's, you know, those are those things. And is there any player that you guys would like drop everything for and just go watch?

[Dale Hellestray]

Well, I don't know if I'd fly to Pittsburgh to watch Ohtani and I'd watch it on, I'd sit out and watch it.

[John Holmberg]

It's kind of a must see sporting event. The stadium in Pittsburgh's another thing. That's beautiful.

[Dave Nash]

I don't know about baseball today, but in my day I would, I would, I would do everything I could to see Nolan Ryan pitch.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, yeah. Oh, that's one. I would have loved to have seen that. Yeah. And that's those. Those moments when you get a player. And I think baseball's unique to that basketball to a certain degree too. Like I've seen Wembayama play. Not since he got good. Like his rookie year when it was. He was good, but it wasn't what you're not. And I've seen SGA play for Oklahoma City and he's amazing Jordan in his day. You get to see those things. Those are special moments that you're like, oh, I was at blah blah, blah.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

And you actually were.

[Dale Hellestray]

But guess what? Back in the day, if you had tickets to the Suns Bulls regular season game, guess who's playing.

[John Holmberg]

Michael Jordan. And Michael Jordan.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yep. And guess what?

[Dave Nash]

Nowadays they're not taking the day off.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

With load management and all that, you don't know.

[John Holmberg]

I've skipped several Oklahoma City games because SJ is not playing.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

And you know, they come to last three years, I'm like, I think he's

[Dale Hellestray]

again, I always try and put myself in the normal person who family of four. They can go to two games a year. They can't afford season.

[John Holmberg]

You got to pick your guy. Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

And then they got, they got four games they can. Or two games they go to the four people and all of a sudden, you know, all of a sudden SGA sitting out or whoever.

[John Holmberg]

And it's not an injury, it's just a day off.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

It's just unfair. Yeah. I completely agree with that. Although they have wound up the players so tight that if they tried to play 82 games, there's no way they get through it. Because you're losing a hamstring and Achilles and knee. Something's going to happen to them. I mean, Anthony Davis went out because his finger bent backwards. He missed a whole season. Tape it up well. But that's the old way. You don't do that anymore because you're trying to prolong your career to make as much money as possible.

[Dave Nash]

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[John Holmberg]

vacation rental that's loved for all the right reasons.

[Dale Hellestray]

Ugh.

[John Holmberg]

I love my VRBO for the location.

[Dave Nash]

Good reason.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, and for the pool. Cause pools are cool.

[Dave Nash]

I feel the love book of vrbo that's loved by guests. If you know you've erbo.

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[John Holmberg]

Unless you're LeBron James. And I am not a LeBron James fan, but what I'm watching with him in basketball right now, he carried that team through a series.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

And everybody said he was all done and couldn't do that anymore.

[Dale Hellestray]

41. 41.

[John Holmberg]

42 years old and this guy's averaging 22 points a game.

[Dale Hellestray]

And it's like facilitating.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah. I've always had a theory that if old guys are really good in a sport, something's wrong with the sport, not the other way around. When Tom Brady won the super bowl, it was because something was wrong with football. When Phil Mickelson won that was it the. The British or whatever. He won something. Pga. That's right. Something was wrong with golf that year. You should not have people that boxing. When George Foreman came back at 40.

[Dave Nash]

That's not the case.

[John Holmberg]

100 what.

[Dave Nash]

What the case is is I know when I was into my later years, I used to be able to do the things I used to do when I was younger. I just not as often and I would break down much faster.

[John Holmberg]

You're not as good, right?

[Dave Nash]

No. You can't be as good if your body doesn't break. Your body couldn't take the punishment and you'd have the aches and the pains and the this and that. You couldn't be able to do it as consistently as you used to. But on any. What's that? Your big country guy. The Toby Keith song.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

I'm not as good as I once

[Dale Hellestray]

was, but I'm good. I'm as good once as I ever was.

[John Holmberg]

Right. That means you're not as good, but

[Dale Hellestray]

you can you can recall something. Here's what I said.

[John Holmberg]

It never leaves. But you can't play as well because you can't consistently. Right. That's. That's being less.

[Dale Hellestray]

And that's. When you see LeBron do it over

[John Holmberg]

a series, it's amazing.

[Dale Hellestray]

Things like that. A boxing match, I think, hey, for one night, maybe every. You're feeling great and everything's perfect and all the stars align. But when you do it over series, when you do it over four days in the golf tournament, I was telling this story to my buddies at Palm Springs. We were just talking about growing up and older, and they asked me a question about football. I said, I know I play toss.

[Dave Nash]

40.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

And I know when I started working out in the off seasons, when I got into my mid to late 30s. Yeah. I would always start with just strides. Our condition test was 18, 1 10. And so I. But I didn't need to be in that shape until July. But I start off with strides. Yeah. And now some. I'm 38 and I'm 39, and I'm at the local high school just striding. Probably 60%.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

Oh, it was like. I didn't know I had a muscle there. You know, all of a sudden, things start tweaking the thing. So to see LeBron now, I didn't spend a million dollars a year on my body and nutrition, but it's still breaking down.

[John Holmberg]

He's still not as good as he was, no doubt, but it's amazing that he's doing what he's doing, and it's more mental than.

[Dale Hellestray]

What I hate about the thing is that anytime he does anything is that, well, he's not as good as Jordan. Whether he is. Whether he isn't, what he's doing right now is miraculous.

[John Holmberg]

Well, I think that's his fault, too, because he's often said I'm the greatest there ever was.

[Dale Hellestray]

And that's one thing I would never have done if I let somebody else say it.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, exactly. But it's pretty remarkable that he's doing what he's doing. And. And that Laker team is going to get bounced by Oklahoma City. That's the best team in basketball. You talked about it on my show this morning. They've got five more years of draft picks that are unbelievable, where they're going to land, and they're just. They're managing the money perfectly, and they can move pieces and get players, but it's. It's amazing. So then you start looking at the other teams, the spurs, who are way ahead of the game as far as youth getting to where now they're the second best team in the West. And then, you know, the Nuggets are kind of falling off. Minnesota's there. The fall off gets pretty drastic after like the 4th or 15.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

The records may be the same, but when it comes down to crunch time, it's like you don't want any part of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

[Dale Hellestray]

No.

[John Holmberg]

No. Not even a little bit. But the NBA's problem is that the playoffs have been so bad with what the Knicks did to Atlanta. Like that game, I turned it on. It was 60 to 19. That shouldn't happen ever. And then the next night or the next game they played was against Philadelphia. Who knocked off the number one seed? And you turn two already. That's right, they did. Number two seed. That's right. Because Detroit's one. The knocked off the number two seed. Didn't expect that. And then they go out and get beat by 29, 30. It's just. This is not entertaining at all to watch this year. It's bad.

[Dale Hellestray]

There have been. There have been one or two.

[John Holmberg]

You'll get them.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

Terrible games.

[Dale Hellestray]

I mean, and I agree with you again, I think the NBA has quite a few issues.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

Whether it's the bottom six, seven, eight teams that tank.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

Whether it's disparity in talent at the top. Everything in the middle is a mishmash.

[John Holmberg]

Throw it into too much, and then there's a couple teams that are just walking away with it while everybody else kind of mashes in the middle. Yeah. NBA playoffs are not fun. NHL playoffs, though, are, as always, as advertised, one thing after another game. Sevens popping here and there. You got this already happening. It's so evenly matched. And it's not evenly matched because it's been watered down. It's evenly matched because these guys are actually all about as good as they get. And you're. Every team's got a superstar and every team's got their support players. And it seems to just balance out in hockey so well. It's all on the goalie at this point.

[Dave Nash]

You can't just live off a superstar. Really. The best teams are the deepest teams. And some wise person who played in the NHL told me once that you're only as good as your worst player.

[John Holmberg]

It's true. Because they got to play. And that's, you know, that's the crazy part. Now we talking about all that hockey is the fun thing to watch. You get back into what we're here to do. And you said exactly that. You're only as good as your worst player. And you can't live off a superstar. But when you don't have a superstar and you're pretending you have a superstar,

[Dale Hellestray]

Phoenix Suns, kind of wonder where you're going with that.

[John Holmberg]

What do you do?

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

Because you've got a pip and you don't have a Jordan.

[Dave Nash]

Well, I'm not a big fan, but I heard what Ishby has said about Devin Booker.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

And I think Devin Booker will play here until he's 75 and they'll. They'll bury him at center court. So that's not changing.

[John Holmberg]

Mike Tomlinson, the Steelers went eight, eight one year. And afterwards he and Kevin Colbert, the GM at the time, sat and did their end of the year press conference. They're like, is there anybody on the team that's, you know, off limits? And he goes, We're 8 and 8. Is there isn't anybody on that team that isn't 8 and 8? This is a team. I'll trade the whole thing.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

To get a team that isn't 8 and 8.

[Dale Hellestray]

We can hover around 500 with or without some of these.

[John Holmberg]

Mike Tomlin basically said there's no. And Ben Roethlisberger was on the team. They're like, does that include Ben? He goes, well, that's an 8 and 8 team.

[Dave Nash]

When he said it's an. When someone asked him it's an eight and a team, did someone say, does that go with coaches too? Maybe it's a better team that's being coached by an 8 and 8 coach.

[John Holmberg]

He actually said that at one point. He goes, we're on the hook every. The 8 and 8 team, everybody. Nobody's off limits. And I do like that. That's the message. What is beer did when he went on there and said, nobody's touching this guy. Is send a message that we're satisfied?

[Dale Hellestray]

Well, not only that, it was. And again, we could go round and round around whether trading Devin Booker. I don't even know what you get for at this point. You know, I don't. It's not going to be a blockbuster. A couple players two years ago when

[John Holmberg]

I was yelling about this, I think you could have gotten about seven picks.

[Dale Hellestray]

You could have gotten along. There were people who liked him. But now. But I think I was equally as alarmed when HBS said, we like this team. We're not going to make any changes.

[John Holmberg]

Yes.

[Dale Hellestray]

Now that to me is perplexing because as the season went on, it became very apparent that they were too small, that they had Too many guys that did the same thing. You know, you take out Grayson Allen, bring in Royce o'. Neill. Yeah, kind of do the same thing. Everybody, threes are limited defensively, so.

[Dave Nash]

So inform the guy here that really doesn't watch or care much about him. And the point is, how many draft picks do they have that they can even get better? How much money do they have in regards to their salary cap that they can actually go out and get anyone? They can't. So. So to me, the only thing I just heard was we're just trying to pump up the fans and everyone else here because we can't make them any better. So we're happy with what we got.

[John Holmberg]

Here's the scary part of the press conference that no one was talking about was in the middle of it or towards the end, I guess they brought up the fact that they're in the top 10 metrics in every single financial category of the NBA player teams. So fans, tickets, merchandise, food, all the things that make Matt Ishbia the businessman say, this is good, right? Might blind you to say, I'm not changing a thing.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right?

[John Holmberg]

Because if we're a 20 win team next year trying to get draft picks and trading away Devin Booker, and we sold this many Devin Booker jerseys and this many Devin Booker T shirts, I'm not messing with that till we get something better. It's like you're swinging on a vine. You don't want to let go till you're holding another one.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right?

[John Holmberg]

They're in that category now and it could backfire bad.

[Dale Hellestray]

They're in purgatory.

[John Holmberg]

They're in middling purgatory. And it's a rough thing to watch because as a local, you're like everyone said this close.

[Dave Nash]

Indiana Paces were in purgatory. And they were always a Midland just getting the playoff team. You know what? What? A couple years ago they went.

[John Holmberg]

They were in the finals last year and.

[Dave Nash]

And if. What's it, Hal doesn't blow his leg out.

[John Holmberg]

Well, that dude proved that he's a superstar. And Pascal Siakam and that dude, they brought in those guys that you're like, oh, this is. They went, messed around with some moves and got themselves a Jordan and a pippin and ended up in the NBA Finals. That. That was a team where you just found out about it.

[Dave Nash]

You can be in purgatory and get out of it. But after 11 years, if you make the right decision, because the. I'll tell you what the right decision isn't, and that is going after a Kevin Durant well, that's hindsight. Who is a franchise killer.

[John Holmberg]

That's hindsight at this point though because I know people said that they, that you know, everybody that jumped on the hole, it's going to stink. Thing is standing on top of a mountain, it didn't stink that bad. They just couldn't get the first. The first year was not that bad.

[Dale Hellestray]

No, it was not that bad.

[John Holmberg]

They played pretty well for what they were. They were not hitting expectations. And I think that has a lot to do with the booker thing too.

[Dave Nash]

I had a big bet with your buddy, your old radio colleague saying there's. He said sons are going to win the world championship now. I said they're as long as Kevin Durant is alive, they won't. When, when the jinx them that badly, there's no chance.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

No chance.

[John Holmberg]

We all stand on that same thing. Watching, watching the NBA, it's like the games are tough to watch. You start thinking about your team and what they can do next. You saw the 60 point loss in the playoffs. It's just like they've got a lot of issues right now.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

And you just don't know where to go with it. Especially when Charles Barkley and Shaq are saying this is unwatchable.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

And they're honest. You want to talk about guys who don't need the hat, they're honest. They're just going to go up and just tell everybody. It's like this is I turn it, turn it. I would if I was you. And it's, that's what people respect and like about it. And they don't. Again, I'm in this marketing brain. They don't do well with hockey. I know the ratings can be up compared to before, but that, that sport should be ahead of basketball at this point for entertainment.

[Dave Nash]

No one grows up with it so no one understands it.

[John Holmberg]

So there you go to play.

[Dave Nash]

But, but for me and the reason why I love it is it is a blue collar American American value sport where you don't have to be the best team out there, but if you work the hardest you. You usually come out on top.

[John Holmberg]

Are you calling hockey an American sport?

[Dave Nash]

American values.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, oh.

[Dave Nash]

American value.

[John Holmberg]

True American values of Canadian values that we now call American values.

[Dave Nash]

They're definitely Canadian values. Definitely Canadian values. And I'm trying to steal them.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah. What a very American thing would do is you're. You're co opting 100 their entire.

[Dale Hellestray]

Well, you also got to remember when's the last time a Canadian team won?

[John Holmberg]

The last time a team 94 north of Atlanta won the damn thing. It's like, it's crazy how many teams down south or where the Florida teams are so good.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right?

[John Holmberg]

So, yeah, hockey. Hockey's got a marketing issue to me because, well, the thing is striking. They've got so many good.

[Dale Hellestray]

Think about growing up out here. You grew up out here. I grew up out here. You grew up in Michigan, so that's different. But growing up here, you need one basketball to get a pickup game going. Eight bucks. You need a bat, a couple balls, and everybody has a mitt. Play baseball, you can go play seven on seven Football, you just need the ball.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, but hockey is not that.

[Dale Hellestray]

No, no. You need the equipment.

[John Holmberg]

But people still managed. Golf, people still managed. You know, the ice is different. People still. And when I was growing up here, we didn't have a hockey team, but we all wanted to play hockey. And the thing that did it was Sega the game system, okay. Because we were going nuts playing hockey in my friend's basement. The next thing you know, we've got sticks and street pucks and we're trying to play hockey. And it was impossible, right. The Coyotes, best thing they ever did in this city was build the youth hockey system. It was unreal what they do. But it's hard because it's not on TV, you know, and when it is, it's 10 in the morning on a Saturday and it's the Rangers and the Hurricanes, they don't marquee match things. They try to appease, you know, the fans they already have. Plus, markets that never get really national attention. Nobody's going to watch that.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[Dave Nash]

I think there's almost a marquee player on everything.

[John Holmberg]

There is, there's. And we're talking like posters on a kid's wall. Player for each team. Sure. And it's just frustrating because it's so great to watch the Stanley Cup. And again, I rival only the Stanley cup playoffs with the NCAA March Madness transitioning to that. Are they going to ruin this thing? No, they're going to ruin. No, they're 76 teams. Just moved that up to 76 teams.

[Dave Nash]

It's the. It's finally. It's CAA is waking up. Listen, how many teams. I speak from a place where I went to a smaller school, I didn't go to a Power 4 school. And these schools that you name a conference, Big west or this or that or whatever, Those teams get one team in the tournament, right. And 500 club or teams that are under 500 in the SEC, the ACC, blah, blah, they get in. I, I just say B.S. i would rather see the second team out of the Western Conference or the Mid American Conference or the All American Conference or whatever damn conference. I would rather see that and see how they stack up.

[John Holmberg]

They won't make it. So it's so top heavy. Adding 14 more teams is actually just a bigger way.

[Dave Nash]

No, cut it down. If anything, they're going into that 64 team tournament or 68 team tournament, whatever you want to call it right now. Yeah, you got generally 10 teams that might be able to win it and that's it. So why don't we just cut it down to 10 teams? Okay, but that's not as exciting.

[Dale Hellestray]

Here's my argument. Yeah, it's the same thing with the bull system in college football. It's a too many bowl games. Yeah, well, it's your choice if you're going to watch it. Yeah, you don't have to watch it.

[John Holmberg]

But they were making money off the sponsorships. They didn't care if you watch, right?

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah. And they didn't have much. But guess what? As a guy who played in bowl games. Yeah, some nondescript bowl games, sun bowl and whatever. But it was still a bowl game. You got to kind of celebrate a season now. I don't agree with celebrating six and six.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, they're not doing that.

[Dale Hellestray]

You have a choice. 76 teams. Whatever the first round is going to look like now, you have to watch it.

[Dave Nash]

And, and what you had, it was actually this year. That proves the point. We had a team get in that was undefeated and people were questioning if they should be in the field.

[John Holmberg]

Right.

[Dave Nash]

You're undefeated. What else can you do?

[John Holmberg]

They won the national championship. We all realized how. Oh, wait.

[Dave Nash]

Well, of course, whether they are undefeated or lose a handful of games, they're probably not going to win the championship. No, but they deserve to have a place at the table. Hey, listen, bother you then forget about the first week of the tournament, second week that wait until it gets down to the final eight or whatever the hell it is starting now. Then you can start watching. We as regular fans would rather watch it leading up to that.

[John Holmberg]

What year is it, by the way?

[Dave Nash]

1920.

[Dale Hellestray]

Okay.

[John Holmberg]

Because you're talking about the awesome tournament of 2007 when Nil didn't exist. And the top heavy nature of this just destroyed those teams that are playing lesser talent and going 31 and oh, and you're like, okay, now you just go in and just create bloodbaths. I don't like watching a boxing match.

[Dave Nash]

Not a bloodbath if you're in.

[John Holmberg]

You know, it is a bloodbath if the class level is so different.

[Dave Nash]

And as a matter of fact, Miamuhile, the undefeated team.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

They won their first game.

[John Holmberg]

Right. Because they got put in there in a spot that they didn't get right.

[Dave Nash]

So it's not a bloodbath. Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

But they didn't get put right.

[Dave Nash]

So then let's not. Let's not have the 16 play seats. Play the ones.

[John Holmberg]

All right. It would be like, what is it, 20 have to play the one. That's just ridiculous.

[Dave Nash]

It sure sounds like with 76.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

You're going to have those teams get a buy. All the first round seeds get a buy. That's what's going to happen.

[John Holmberg]

Manipulate it to where teams are a little.

[Dave Nash]

How do you do a round robin with 76 teams? What's wrong with you? There is a.

[John Holmberg]

An nil.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

There is a thing that's going to change how all those small schools operate. And now they're added into this big mess. Also you've got that silly tournament that goes on on the side for the other the also rants. Make that bigger.

[Dave Nash]

You don't have to have a big program to be able to do well in either football or basketball now because of nil. If you're going to change to where it's. Let's say Elon Musk.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

Graduated from Northern Iowa, then that school

[John Holmberg]

is going to leap.

[Dave Nash]

Yes.

[John Holmberg]

Just the way Oklahoma.

[Dave Nash]

It's all about money.

[John Holmberg]

Oklahoma State was nothing until they got a billionaire that bought T. Boom Pickens. T. Boone Pickens. Changed the whole thing.

[Dave Nash]

Correct.

[John Holmberg]

They weren't anything special for years.

[Dave Nash]

So really the NIL is. Is widening the field of competitiveness.

[John Holmberg]

Billionaires buying colleges.

[Dave Nash]

You know what that is? That is sports today. And it has always been sports. And it was in sports yesterday. It was just under. Under the.

[Dale Hellestray]

The carpet.

[Dave Nash]

Yes. Hey, ask this guy. He played at smu.

[John Holmberg]

I know. They've been cheating forever.

[Dave Nash]

Correct.

[John Holmberg]

Understood that.

[Dave Nash]

Now it's just out there.

[John Holmberg]

They didn't even win a national champion championship because they couldn't get past Arkansas.

[Dave Nash]

How come I feel like I'm yelling more.

[John Holmberg]

You are yelling. And it's okay.

[Dale Hellestray]

I. I agree with too many teams.

[John Holmberg]

Way too many.

[Dale Hellestray]

But I also agree with that. I'm just not gonna tune in for. I don't watch the playing games. You know, it's 68. I don't watch the playing games.

[Dave Nash]

And it's all about the.

[John Holmberg]

The brackets and everything else. And that's going to make It. And I'm fine with the thing being a little bit more. But that other tournament. No one watches.

[Dave Nash]

Put them in this because no one cares about that Stick the terrible crap

[John Holmberg]

teams that you're clogging into this thing over there. Who won the NIT this year? Nobody knows.

[Dave Nash]

Nobody.

[John Holmberg]

But it's a tournament that runs. They got their recognition. That's all you're saying they deserve something.

[Dave Nash]

Here's what I would rather that that

[John Holmberg]

tournament be the nit.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah. This way. I would rather say every team that is not a power for conference team.

[John Holmberg]

Okay. That's a good one.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

I like that.

[Dave Nash]

Then. Then you're not the. The.

[Dale Hellestray]

The.

[Dave Nash]

The best of the. The people that are. Are not.

[John Holmberg]

And would you be interested in the winner of the NIT playing the winner of the ncaa?

[Dave Nash]

That's probably not going to work out.

[John Holmberg]

Terrible idea.

[Dave Nash]

But you're all.

[John Holmberg]

For a team that, like, comes from that crud conference that plays.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

Michigan.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

That's terrible.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

It's like going.

[Dale Hellestray]

It is.

[John Holmberg]

It's going to a boxing match. Going. The class level isn't even close. And this guy's just bludgeoning his opponent. And the only difference is you can't stop the game.

[Dave Nash]

Well, there comes a time in these smaller conferences where there's two or three teams that are capable.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

And you. And you throw them in a hat.

[Dale Hellestray]

And you.

[Dave Nash]

And you. You pull them out and they're all the same. But one of them's gonna get a view. The other two are going home and they're going to be doing this.

[John Holmberg]

All right, maybe that is fun to see. Watch that on tv. If they did that every once in a while in the games, be like, hey, this is interesting.

[Dale Hellestray]

I just.

[Dave Nash]

They were throwing dildos on them. I know. They're.

[John Holmberg]

You got to see it because it's unwatchable.

[Dale Hellestray]

I'm just done getting worked up over what is too much because again, it's my choice. Well, I'm going to watch it or whether I'm going to pay money for a ticket.

[John Holmberg]

But it's kind of a thing where you're kind of watering down the first week. And the first week is a blast. It really is. And it isn't about upsets. It's about all the games.

[Dave Nash]

It's about the upsets.

[John Holmberg]

There aren't about the upsets. There are not going to be as many. You said something about hockey you wanted to get into or just bounce around, but hockey had that. Yeah. The headman thing.

[Dave Nash]

Oh, yeah.

[John Holmberg]

And.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah. Yeah. You can speak. I'll let you take the floor on this?

[John Holmberg]

No, you go. You said you want to talk about it.

[Dave Nash]

No. Well, let's listen. I don't understand how the captain of the team, Victor Headman, defense, player, all star all and in cocky. He's one of their best players and he missed the final 22 games of the season and all of the playoffs. And the excuse was he needed to work on his mental health. Yeah, I'm just, you know, I. I don't think a lot of people who come from a poor background or a tough background, they got to work all the way up. I don't think when they're working their way up, they go, you know, I gotta take a break because mental health is a little tough for me.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

It seems like mental health issues come up for people that are really wealthy.

[John Holmberg]

It's not true.

[Dave Nash]

Okay.

[John Holmberg]

It's a very big problem, you know. Well, in poorer communities especially. Well, where suicides. Are you through the roof?

[Dave Nash]

Well, okay.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

That kind of stuff is where you're like. And I don't know his story.

[Dave Nash]

I have.

[John Holmberg]

I literally within the last two weeks, had a nervous breakdown where my. It's a medical thing where your nerves actually shut your body down. I couldn't stay conscious three, three times in one day and I couldn't figure it out. And that's a mental thing. Your stress.

[Dave Nash]

Did it take you 22 games?

[John Holmberg]

Huh?

[Dave Nash]

Did that take you?

[John Holmberg]

They wanted to keep me for 30 days. I couldn't do it because I wanted

[Dale Hellestray]

to go to work.

[Dave Nash]

Well, the way you're talking here, I think we ought to send you back.

[John Holmberg]

I would love to.

[Dave Nash]

You don't make any sense.

[John Holmberg]

It was very interesting. But if you, if, but you get into those things, you start talking to people who are like, no. And it's, It's a real problem, especially for men, that that attitude that you've got is keeping people who would talk to someone else from talking.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

And then they end up 8 to 1 over women, men 40 to 57 or something like that will kill themselves. Oh, 100%. The majority of them never told anybody they were even sad. And I don't know that that's his deal. If it's sad, if it's a wife thing, if it's a family situation, if there's an illness and he's not dealing

[Dale Hellestray]

well with something, maybe he's had too

[John Holmberg]

many concussions, maybe he's got that going on. But that is a very real thing. Now, I do agree that sometimes it gets abused and it gets the tag that it, that deserves very well when somebody takes advantage of it. I think that in the Olympics a few years ago when the one girl that the superstar Simone Biles got the spinnies right and she just had vertigo basically and she's like, no, I got to take care of my mental health. And it's like, no, you. That sounds to me like something that you are the, you are the captain of the Olympics. There's five slots here and you're going to keep your slop, but you're just not going to participate. Well, and an alternative, an alternate went into play. Now, I'm not like coming down on her for having problems, but when she said, oh, I just got dizzy, that's not mental health. Vertigo and things that is where you get into like what you were saying. It's like, oh, your feelings, you can't get past them. I think it gets abused and I think that there's very real things. And I don't know about his condition or what he's doing, but if it's a 30 day off thing, something bad has happened.

[Dale Hellestray]

Well, it's, it to me it's much, much beyond.

[John Holmberg]

I'm just sad and can't work.

[Dale Hellestray]

What always is interesting when it comes to sports and mental health.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

Is coaches.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

They see an X ray, it's broke. Yeah. You can't play. I, I see it on an X ray. Yeah. You tell me that, that my wrist hurts a little bit, but there's no broken bones and you can't play. Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

No.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah. If I can see and with mental health, you, you can physical reaction. I mean again, I, I've never done twirls and right. And, and flips on a, on a

[John Holmberg]

bar thing on a 4 inch.

[Dale Hellestray]

But if I got the spinnies, I would have a feeling that, that probably pretty hard. Oh yeah.

[John Holmberg]

You're not going to do it when you've got that. But also when you say, you know, those are those moments where like you said, the spinnies confused us all because it's like, what's this? Oh, it happens in gymnastics sometimes it sounds like vertigo.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

And that can be treated or, or overcome or she just says, I have to quit, I've got vertigo.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

And I'm. And she kind of did that, but she took the slot and knowing that this was a thing.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

Mental health is a very odd situation. I don't know that guy's story, but if he's have, if there's something going on with his upbringing, maybe there's trauma from the past and it just Attacked him. Who knows? There's a book called the. The Body Keeps Score. It's really weird how many people have, like, something that happens to him they didn't even know. And it just goes, hey, remember me? And it floors them. So I'm not a huge advocate of, like, you got to stop everything. Every time you feel something, it isn't about your feelings. A lot of times about your body just shutting down.

[Dale Hellestray]

Did you ever feel anything like this before? Even. Even a part of it or close to it or.

[John Holmberg]

I have. I have racing thoughts all the time.

[Dave Nash]

Do you live by 5G towers?

[John Holmberg]

I do. I do have one in my yard. I'm just gonna to put it there for service. It works.

[Dave Nash]

That's perfect. But no, it sure does work.

[John Holmberg]

Tony Soprano, if you watch the Sopranos, they had the panic attacks. That was the first time it was ever really dealt with on tv. And people like what' went on. And it was seen as, you're too strong as a man or as a person. Say anything that you're weak if you have this. And I'm not one of those people that goes, well, I applaud him for taking that time. Just take care of yourself. It's the same as. It's. But a mental. And you know, Dale, the CTE stuff that you got with people in the. In the NFL, you're seeing.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

That they're physically not so bad, but something's wrong. Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

Who will say, I know something's wrong. I don't know what it is.

[John Holmberg]

And that's what it is. And they're. And you'll sit in a dark room with your thoughts racing.

[Dale Hellestray]

Dark. Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

A creative mind can be creative, fun. And an equally creative mind will go, hey, we're having a bad day. Let's be creative with that too. And it takes you roads you can't imagine when it decides to go dark. Yeah, it's weird.

[Dale Hellestray]

I'm not. I'm not really weird. I'm not gonna mess with that mental health because thank God I've never had any of it.

[John Holmberg]

But it's weird, and I've only had it a couple times. But panic attacks come out of nowhere. You feel like everything's fine. And then I have.

[Dave Nash]

When I come here to do this show.

[John Holmberg]

Give them to us when you come here.

[Dave Nash]

Touche.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah. It's very true. While we were doing this show, Aaron Rodgers decided to say, I'm a Pittsburgh Steeler.

[Dave Nash]

Wow.

[Dale Hellestray]

Now, I. I saw something where he signed it for, like, 13, 14, 15 million.

[John Holmberg]

He was what? It was like seven or eight. Last year he had a real friendly deal. And the 1314. Because the.

[Dale Hellestray]

I think it was.

[John Holmberg]

I forget who was. The jets may have still been paying him. Or he had some sort of a deal where he got a bonus and it was like, I can take this minimum thing. I'll give you a friendly deal. He's doing it again, right? 13 million. So it's probably incentive laden, like if he gets it. And based on what he did last year, which was a pretty decent statistical season.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

3,200 yards, 24 touchdowns, seven.

[Dave Nash]

Did you hear the rumors that he might be interested in the Cardinals?

[John Holmberg]

Yeah. Well, you know what started that? And this is all Instagram. A receiver for the Cardinals said, really trying to get him here. There was no, like, validity to that. It didn't make any sense. That was like, oh, he's going to be a card like the receivers now that's how bad the Cardinals are. Is that a receiver says, that guy's available. And the GMs like, I'll be right back. He didn't know. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. So that guy puts to bed. I think yesterday even Adam Schefter's like, there's no legs to this at all.

[Dale Hellestray]

It's a player. But when it came out, we talked about it on the main event. Knowing the Cardinals history, knowing the ridiculous decisions they've made, knowing the way they've run the franchise, knowing all this boom, boom, boom, boom. Wouldn't that be very Cardinal?

[John Holmberg]

Like, it's incredible Cardinal. And when I saw it, I'm like, they're going to end up with Aaron Rodgers. They're going to screw this thing up so bad that they're going to have Jacoby Brissette and Aaron Rodgers fighting with everyone. A Gardner Minshew.

[Dave Nash]

And there was no chance he was going to come because he wants to play for winner. And Aaron's going like, hey, Cardinals, yeah, they need a quarterback. Well, let me look at this. They got the Rams in their conference. Seattle, the 49ers. Well, hey, you want to, you want to unhook my phone? And anything, any block, any call from Arizona.

[John Holmberg]

Had it been healthy last year, the AFC North, Lamar was out for a lot. Joe Burrow missed the whole season. There's the Browns, the Cardinals of that division. But you pretty much were looking at a similar situation. Had that. Had those teams stayed healthy. You had two 11 win teams, probably a nine win team. And then the Browns and the Browns were a tough out. That defense was legit. So it didn't surprise me. I'm with Dale on this one. I'm like, if there's anything that you start with, well, that would be stupid. You look up in the Cardinals, hands in there, we'll do it. It just feels like that would be a Cardinal move, that one of their players said, we like him.

[Dale Hellestray]

Ooh, Right.

[John Holmberg]

Aaron Rodgers might sell some jerseys and they've done this before. They got lucky with Kurt Warner one time that he wasn't as washed.

[Dale Hellestray]

Well. And Palmer.

[John Holmberg]

Carson Palmer told the Bengals, I don't want to play here anymore. And Carson Palmer showed, and that was based off Kurt Warner, that he might not make great decisions because what he did was real smart. And since he said, I'm either going to retire. You're going to.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

And they did to the Raiders. Raiders first. Right. Which wasn't a great move in the first place. And then he chooses to come to the Cardinals. I'm like, this guy hasn't read anything about the history of the NFL. But yeah, it would have been a Cardinal move. But Aaron Rodgers looks like he's going to, you know, pen it up with the Steelers and it'll be fine.

[Dale Hellestray]

And as a Steelers die hard, ridiculous dummy fan. Yeah. Happy. Sad.

[John Holmberg]

No, I would have been without him because the options are zero. I don't want Mason Rudolph on the field ever. Unless, I mean, is he still on the team? I don't know that he will be, but that'll be after camp and with Mike McCarthy kind of judging Will Howard and Drew Aller. But then you got two guys who've never set foot on an NFL field as your backups.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

So no one.

[Dale Hellestray]

And a 40 year old quarterback.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

I'm not thrilled.

[Dave Nash]

43.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, he's going to be 43. This like November, December. And that is. That's old. That's asking for a lot from that. So.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah, that's. And by the way, he doesn't eat avocado ice cream and. And things like that. Like Tom Brady did. No, no.

[John Holmberg]

Maybe he goes to darkness, retreats, and has his mental health tested every once in a while as well. Also in football. You brought it up. I do think this is a good thing, and I hate saying it. The Ravens signed two guys who didn't get drafted. Diego Pavia, who is. I'll say it. What a dick this guy's turning out to be. Like, every time he opens his mouth. That's why he didn't get drafted.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

Somebody would have taken a chance on him had he not gone nuts.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

Like at the end of the year with. And that. The Heisman thing, when he mouthed off about who won and he was a

[Dave Nash]

runner up to the Heisman.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, but, I mean, he. He was mouthy and like he'd earned something. I. I kind of was on the Shador Sanders train with him. Like, you did this to yourself.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

Like, and I don't know that Shador did it as bad as Dion did. That was a punishment to his dad last year, but that was a good move by the Ravens to pick him up. And the other guy from Massachusetts. Yes. That guy who has insane numbers, didn't get drafted.

[Dave Nash]

That's Joe Fagnano.

[John Holmberg]

That's the real Steel. The Ravens walked away.

[Dave Nash]

That's what I think. Although he doesn't fit the Ravens offense. Yeah, they got. They got a. They got a mobile quarterback, Lamar Jackson. Oh, when he goes down, we're gonna have a guy that's a statue back there.

[John Holmberg]

They had Cooper Rush as their backup.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah. I don't.

[John Holmberg]

I don't understand doing that.

[Dave Nash]

That's the best thing you have going for you as a Steeler fan.

[John Holmberg]

Well, they're 7 and 3 against Lamar. Steelers kind of have Lamar's number. And when they've lost, they've lost ugly. But when they've beaten them, it's been a little Lamar team, so I think that's a pretty good number.

[Dave Nash]

Well, we were Talking about the NCAA maybe expanding 70. They officially expanded.

[John Holmberg]

It's. It's official now.

[Dave Nash]

That's what I got here.

[John Holmberg]

Well, I get the first week off then. We used to have parties on that week.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah, there you go.

[John Holmberg]

I'm still doing 64 in my brain.

[Dave Nash]

Good for your mental health.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, it might be, because this is too much.

[Dale Hellestray]

That's what I will lose. Spacious. As if now brackets come out with 76.

[John Holmberg]

Am I going to do this?

[Dale Hellestray]

No.

[John Holmberg]

I don't even know what that is.

[Dale Hellestray]

The first round, there'll be nine schools

[John Holmberg]

in there I've never heard of.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yes.

[John Holmberg]

There's always three or four. Yeah, it's silly. Yeah. Anyway, and the last thing I wanted to talk about was, like, you said it with the gambling that has hit America in your palm of your hand. You have gambling constantly, all the time.

[Dale Hellestray]

Real quick. You know what's so weird about that? So we were in Palm Springs last week with me and my buddies, and a lot of them have placed bets, like on the golf tournament or on something, and they're like, I can't find out whether I won or not in California.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, that's right.

[Dale Hellestray]

Because you can't gamble, you can't find anything.

[John Holmberg]

That's right.

[Dale Hellestray]

And wow. So anyway.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, no, you got that. But then you got Brendan Sorsby who

[Dale Hellestray]

is high priced quarterback going to Texas

[John Holmberg]

Tech, the number one Cincinnati transfer. He's being looked at as a top five pick if all things go next year in a very heavy quarterback draft as it is now. And I remember they said that last year too with the assumption Arch Manning was going to be a little bit better than he was and come out early would have changed the quarterback. Then they thought Simpson was going to be better. I think they were looking at a couple other guys that really didn't pan. Drew Aller was one.

[Dave Nash]

Hey, no. So what's, what's the NFL rules? Let's say he gets suspended and gets. He loses his eligibility. He can't play.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

Can he sign as a free agent

[Dale Hellestray]

with any team or they, they do have a supplemental draft.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, that's true. Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

So we could enter the.

[John Holmberg]

He's got legal standing to say A, it's legal where I am, B, I'm of age and the rules are like the old Pete Rose. If I'm not betting on my own team, it doesn't matter.

[Dave Nash]

He did.

[John Holmberg]

I know they caught him. I caught him on that. But I mean yeah, the legal standing would be what did you do that would influence the game versus you know, if it's a point spread thing. He's done.

[Dale Hellestray]

You're playing Cincinnati, you're playing Arizona State.

[Dave Nash]

He wasn't cheering as hard as he

[John Holmberg]

should have been probably. Yeah. Had a couple bucks going one way or the other. But I looked at that and I'm

[Dave Nash]

like, I don't think anyone would bet against their team.

[John Holmberg]

He's so good though that this isn't going to matter. Like the NFL's like I don't know about that. We'll get past this if. Unless he goes Archleester and keeps doing it.

[Dave Nash]

I don't know.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, you know, because he got caught doing it.

[Dale Hellestray]

I play with our sleeves.

[John Holmberg]

Oh you did.

[Dale Hellestray]

Boy, he was after, after Indianapolis drafted him. Yeah. Top five pick or whatever out of Ohio State. Got cut. Got cut again. Then he tried out in Buffalo and boy he was. And then he said he had himself cleaned up and then like three years later I hear that he was telling me the story. Get this, this is how bad he got this, this mid-80s, you know, he got a big signing bonus for being top five big. Said I'm sitting in my parents house and I bet 25 grand on. He said like A Cleveland Cavalier.

[John Holmberg]

Just a middle.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah. It's just two pointless games. Yes.

[John Holmberg]

Yes.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

He said and the point spread was ever three. The team I bet on, they were at the line. They make two free throws. I win. They. They miss one, I lose. And the guy missed the first one and said I walked up to to my room upstairs, threw up, wanted to kill myself and you know wow, that's different than place a ten dollar bet

[John Holmberg]

on and I don't know how much swordsby was doing that that it was

[Dave Nash]

a lot of of small dollar bets

[John Holmberg]

but I A lot of it's a matter of time before like 30 or 40 more of these pop up. Yeah. Because I mean you're asking 19 year olds and I guess 21 in some spots like go be responsible with this here go nuts. And it's like oh it's going to be tough because all my friends are and also now I can turn to you I don't need a bookie and go hey put this in for me like you don't need to do it on your phone. He got sloppy. Very And I'm sure it's going on

[Dale Hellestray]

all over the place.

[Dave Nash]

It already has and NFL players have been suspended for the year for doing it. Yeah I forgot their names but there's a handful of guys that's why I

[John Holmberg]

like horse racing and boxing hard horses

[Dale Hellestray]

can't bend on themselves.

[John Holmberg]

Well you can throw it still if the jockey.

[Dave Nash]

Yes you can.

[John Holmberg]

I mean it's. That's what the Italians got involved in horse racing and ruined it and made it in the 50s like this is going to be who we say wins when they win.

[Dale Hellestray]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

It wasn't a legitimate fair fight. I still believe that they've done enough to curb it but this these phones with all this gambling on it. I watched that the replay of the Kentucky Derby and that was absolute pure euphoric joy to watch those people win that race the way they want it. Especially you got the how about that

[Dave Nash]

run unreal last place on the last unreal.

[John Holmberg]

But that's what I love about sports and that one's always been unapologet unapologetically about gambling first horse racing's never been about best horse on it's always we're

[Dave Nash]

talking about this for again you was talking. You're not explaining anything to anyone. So for those listeners that that didn't watch the what did I just say?

[John Holmberg]

It was in last place coming around and it won the race.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

What more do you need for that?

[Dave Nash]

He wasn't even in the TV Shot.

[John Holmberg]

He was in last place, last film place.

[Dave Nash]

And down the stretch. There's not a lot of time for that. They put a rocket right up his rear end and he took off. It was unbelievable to watch. If you haven't seen it and you get a chance to, it's worth watching

[John Holmberg]

the last quarter of the race because it's just unbelievable to see where he comes from.

[Dave Nash]

It's, you know, and it's a horse. So how do you bet? But it was inspiring. Like, how does this happen?

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah. But the best thing about it, Dave, you don't know the best thing about it. The best thing about that horse winning.

[Dave Nash]

You had money on it.

[John Holmberg]

No.

[Dale Hellestray]

First female trainer ever to win the Kentucky Derby.

[Dave Nash]

Good for her. Good for her.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

You know what? I have no problem with that. I'm reading John's. He's got that hat on. I said that.

[John Holmberg]

I always think. Think it shouldn't be a big deal. No, if it's.

[Dale Hellestray]

If it's female, it shouldn't be anymore. It's like the first female NBA ref. Okay, it's done. Talk about it for a minute and then move on because I'm going to

[John Holmberg]

go with Dave on this one. And the most famous woman to be the first to do anything, they still hold her up as a hero is Amelia Earhart. I mean, they wanted to put her on money. I don't know what she did outside of the big thing.

[Dave Nash]

Well, she got lost somewhere.

[John Holmberg]

Oh, she got very lost. We still can't find her. No, she's out there somewhere. Yeah, that pretty much covers our end of it. We've got five minutes with a madman right now. And he's on a. He's on one today.

[Dave Nash]

I'm sorry for all the yelling.

[John Holmberg]

No, that's fine.

[Dave Nash]

I really like your parents. I don't know.

[John Holmberg]

That's passion more than his noise, but it is likable.

[Dave Nash]

I agree.

[John Holmberg]

100.

[Dale Hellestray]

I think his ears are plugged up.

[John Holmberg]

Maybe it is. He's still sick from all that ivermectin.

[Dave Nash]

I don't even know where to. I got a couple things. I'll try to do it real quick.

[John Holmberg]

Impossible.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

Do you want to. You want to get us here first?

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

Are you from.

[John Holmberg]

We gotta go.

[Dale Hellestray]

Hold on, baby foot. No, I'm just saying before.

[John Holmberg]

Oh. Oh, yeah, that's right. My name's John Holmerg from 98 KUPD. That's Dale Hellistrate, three time world champion, co host of the main event with Steve McCollum. And here's five minutes with a madman

[Dave Nash]

did you get a load of the Trump assassination at the hotel? Any of that sound fishy to you?

[John Holmberg]

Whole thing.

[Dave Nash]

Okay.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, I just wondered the entire thing, you know. What was fishy?

[Dave Nash]

Name a bunch of stuff.

[John Holmberg]

The main lobster and chateaubriand that got thrown out.

[Dave Nash]

What? Every.

[John Holmberg]

That's the first thing I thought because I've been to all those galas and things. Where's all the chicken? I assumed it was chicken. They're always chicken. I'm like, what happened to the food? And then I thought, you can't. When I found out it was Maine lobster and Chateaubriand, I'm like, you can't give that to the homeless. It's too rich. They'll all get sick.

[Dave Nash]

If I was homeless, I'd take a shot at it.

[John Holmberg]

You'd eat it, and you'd take a big dump on the ground. And it would be the richest dump ever because something's going gastrointestinal. You cannot just feed someone lobster who hasn't.

[Dale Hellestray]

Your tummy is used to it.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah. You I'm not worried about. The only thing you do is cut fingers off of gloves and go stand in line and wait for your plate.

[Dave Nash]

That sounds like a good idea.

[John Holmberg]

That's. And champagne and wine at every table was open.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yes.

[John Holmberg]

All gone. Millions of dollars in food and drink.

[Dave Nash]

What?

[Dale Hellestray]

Well, not only that, but did you see some of the politicians grabbing bottles? They weren't all open because some of them were grabbing bottles.

[John Holmberg]

Three or four at each table, but they had open. And they're not. They're not doing Brute. No, these are the high end. Dom Perignon, like six, 700 bottles. Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

And you know it's the difference between a ten dollar bottle and a champagne. Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah. I can't. Champagne.

[Dave Nash]

Well, I know you've. I know you've had the difference, right?

[John Holmberg]

I don't have a palette. I just know one tastes like crap. And one tastes pretty good.

[Dave Nash]

Okay.

[John Holmberg]

One tastes like a sugar bomb and one.

[Dave Nash]

I like sugar bombs.

[John Holmberg]

I don't mind it until it's in my head.

[Dale Hellestray]

Here's the thing, though. The food and drinks, whatever. The. The me thing, when Brooke and I are watching it, saw it and that guy came running through.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dale Hellestray]

And one of the security guards is facing away from the door. What the hell are you doing facing away from the door?

[John Holmberg]

The bigger thing to me was.

[Dale Hellestray]

No, hold on, let me finish. Okay. If he's facing the door, that dude's running. How fast he's running ain't supposed to be.

[John Holmberg]

All it takes is a shoulder, you think?

[Dale Hellestray]

And he's gonna go flying. But it just, it just blew my mind that people were paying attention.

[Dave Nash]

But I didn't understand. He, he had a gun. He allegedly shot a, a secret service guy. Now I've, I've seen these police videos where someone pulls out a gun, they start shooting and the officers empty their weapons.

[John Holmberg]

Locked them up.

[Dave Nash]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

That did not occur.

[Dave Nash]

This guy, not one shot.

[John Holmberg]

No.

[Dave Nash]

And they just tackled.

[John Holmberg]

No one got hurt.

[Dave Nash]

Right.

[John Holmberg]

I, I felt the same way. What's going on to me, what it screams is that all security is performative. All those metal detectors and all that stuff that we deal with. And you're at a place where this guy. It just is a show to make you think. Because all that dude was, was ambition. And go. He hit the hole and ran as fast as he could. And everybody kind of got to. You're still human beings.

[Dave Nash]

So did you, did you see the beginning? Did you see the video of him before he ran through and he, he just walked by a guard dog.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

He, you had, there's a, there's a clock on the screen. He, he went through a door.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

And I've seen clips where he went through the, where he went through is the, the row of elevators. It's not like a closet. It's not like a room where you could put a gun or whatever. You see him walk in. I don't see a gun on him.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

He's gone 11 seconds.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

In an area that is just a bunch of elevators. And the cop with the dog is like either looking through the door, talking with him, talking to himself, talking to the dog, whatever. But he's, his attention's there. And 11 seconds after he walks in there, he runs out with a gun. And no one's. Listen, I don't get any of it. I mean, maybe, maybe this was all on the up and up as assassination. They decided not to shoot him and

[John Holmberg]

they just tackled him of all things, at a presidential dinner with all those dignitaries there.

[Dave Nash]

Yeah.

[John Holmberg]

Those weapons would have, they had the

[Dale Hellestray]

whole Oval Office there, basically.

[John Holmberg]

I think my theory run with this.

[Dave Nash]

Okay.

[John Holmberg]

Is that it was, it was definitely choreographed to boost numbers.

[Dave Nash]

I, I, I personally, I can't argue

[John Holmberg]

with that for a second because every time there's been an attempt.

[Dave Nash]

Yes.

[John Holmberg]

There's been a heroic.

[Dave Nash]

Which then brings into play the butler.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

Issue with Trump and the assassination. And he was shot in the ear. And how does that happen? And, and, and if you see the videos of that a, I think a secret Service guy ushers in three photographers while this is going on and they're taking pictures.

[John Holmberg]

I mean, it seems.

[Dave Nash]

What is that?

[John Holmberg]

It seems very clumsy. At the very least, we can call it odd.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

So for me. And that's the show I do the real mate. I'm not saying it was fake. I'm not saying that the butler thing was. I'm just saying I've got questions and no one's answering me.

[John Holmberg]

There's skepticism because it does look awfully like. You know, don't you normally just light a dude up who pulls a gun if you've got 40 shoots?

[Dale Hellestray]

Right?

[Dave Nash]

Allegedly. The story I've heard. Who knows what story is? Because I think everything we hear in the media is a lie. But the story was he shot a secret service guy in the chest, but he had a bulletproof vest on, so he's okay. You start shooting a certain secret. And. And other guys are gonna go, I'm Put my gun away. We're attacking.

[John Holmberg]

Unless they were.

[Dave Nash]

And they said he tripped, but whatever.

[John Holmberg]

Unless what?

[Dave Nash]

He tripped and the gun went flying.

[John Holmberg]

Is like gonna shoot each other if they start shooting. And that just means they've poorly planned security. It's just weird, the whole thing. I'm with you on this one.

[Dave Nash]

That's just so whack on this one.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah. Nothing right about that one. See, he's weird. Not off his rocker, completely on that one. Just ask questions. That's it.

[Dave Nash]

Hey, real quickly.

[Dale Hellestray]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

The other thing I was gonna mention, you know, you hear about the. The. The cruise ship with the hunter virus. All right, so another thing I don't get. Okay, okay.

[John Holmberg]

Because listen, remember what he said real quickly. This is a second story.

[Dave Nash]

No, go hunt a virus is. Is. You get that from rodent, rat poop or whatever. Okay, I could see where the fit. The ship has a bunch of that. But. But now they're. The. The story is. Look out. People are catching this from contact. Yeah, I. I didn't know that could happen.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah, I know it can be that way because when it was on a reservation here, Arizona, a while ago, they were worried that once. How long ago? It was about 30 years ago.

[Dave Nash]

Okay. But you got to remember, I've. Someone has said in the past that create the problem, offer the solution. So they're creating the problem of a. A hun. Of virus that is. All of a sudden now you can socially just catch it over the world. World. Right.

[John Holmberg]

They put them on planes and everybody flew home.

[Dave Nash]

Similar to the thing we just went through six years ago in Covet.

[John Holmberg]

Yeah.

[Dave Nash]

And now it's gonna just be. You catch it in the wind, and, oh, I'm pretty sure they're gonna come out with a hunt of virus vaccine. Be aware of that. Yeah, that's probably coming. I just. You know what?

[Dale Hellestray]

Well, and they're also flying these people

[John Holmberg]

off the ship all over the place, everywhere. London, France, Australia, United States, Canada. Everybody had somebody leave and come home on a plane. So if it's. If it's floating through the air and people were exposed.

[Dale Hellestray]

Here we go, Dave.

[John Holmberg]

Here we go again, Dave.

[Dave Nash]

Right. So again, the point is, they tried to kill us during COVID They tried. They're trying to kill us with the vaccines that didn't work. Here comes the next one. Be aware.

[John Holmberg]

Be aware. That's the best thing.

[Dale Hellestray]

We're done.

[John Holmberg]

Let's get out of here.