It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day, Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think when we
are get off our show, idiot. The kids are crying or turn off
crying. The countries are screwing it up. Gold Play Inner Murals, Brother,
gold Play Inner Murals. They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're
really not. Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you
kidding me? Now here's nick coffee? All right, let's get after it.
Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome in. It is a Tuesday, but for
me it's like a Friday because this is my last show of the weekend.
Then I'm out of here for a few days and I am looking forward to
it. And trust me, I'm not gonna bore you with my travel plans,
as I'm sure many of you don't care. But I know I'm not
the only one that gets pre travel anxiety, and I haven't had it in
a while, but I think it's emerging now for me because, as I've
mentioned yesterday, this is a trip that I've known was gonna happen. It's
it's an important trip, I'm happy to be going and I'm looking forward to
it. But since the plan was put together to make this trip, I
assumed it was in July, and you know, clearly I was wrong.
And I'm glad that we finally started discussing the trip, and I realized,
like, why is my wife continuing to talk about this Like it's like it's
tomorrow, Like we got time. We don't need to be getting things together
now. I know she's the planner and always tries to help me as a
procrastinator, but then, you know, I think, I think the shock
and surprise has me a little little word and I'm gonna you know, I'm
gonna miss the show. It's always nice to get some time off, and
this is the best time of the year to take time off, and I'm
looking forward to it. But I don't know what it is. If you
guys have any tips on ways to you know, not have pre travel trip
anxiety. If you know what I'm talking about. You know what I'm talking
about, right, you've probably experienced it. If not, then you probably
just you know, thinking I've got issues, which you're probably right. But
I think the fact that we're driving is a factor here. You've mentioned before
you're not a driving type of dude for vacation with the kids, and that
makes it. I mean, I'd rather fly than drive anyway, just because
if I'm going somewhere that takes a long time to get there, then you
know, you save a lot of time. This trip makes no sense to
fly. We were always going to drive, but we're even splitting the trip
up on the way there, and I'm still thinking, like, man,
I hope my kids are good, and I'm going to believe in the power
of positivity and hope that they are going to be good, and we're going
to have a great trip. So I'm out of here after today. And
then you'll have the regular rotating guests that join us to phill Well they join
they joined the show to fill in for me. Well I'm gone, Scott
Fitzgerald, and also Tony and Dave, so again you'll be in good hands,
all right. It is Coffee and Company. We are fueled by Thornton's
here on Sports Talk seven ninety nit coffee that is the company. Man,
mister John Alden riding shotgun this morning as we take you up till six o'clock.
Did I say this morning see I'm rattled, I'm off my game,
I'm overthinking it. It's not morning time, geez, I haven't done that
in a long time. It's been a while. It's not morning time,
it is afternoon. I don't know what it is. But thank you for
correcting me. And by the way, when I say stuff like that,
never feel like you can't like chime in and tell me, hey, you
know you're an idiot and that's not what you said. But maybe we get
some kind of like sounder that you just have ready when I say something like
that, like hey, it's a you know, I say the wrong day.
You know, when I, you know, get a name wrong,
which happens pretty often. Yeah, that that'll work for now. But yes,
trust me anything that a big part of this brand that is this show.
And even before it was called The Coffee and Company, when it was
The Red Zone, self deprecation is is a big, big factor. It's
a fabric within whatever you want to call this. A lot of people call
it a radio show, some say programs, some say a train wreck.
But you know, we're here, all right, So this is a good
time of the years I mentioned to not be around because I couldn't I couldn't
get over how disinterested I was in every aspect of the NBA Finals, and
it was clearly a storyline, like it was a talking point. It just
didn't seem to have It didn't move the needle for a lot of people.
And typically when you hear people complaining about a National Championship game, an NBA
Finals matchup, maybe even a Super Bowl matchup, which you rarely, you
rarely hear about that, but the conversation will eventually shift to people that want
to play devil's advocate or just take the other side just to be different,
kind of go against the grain. But that never really seemed to happen here.
So you know, let me give an example. I remember whenever we
got Clemson and Alabama in the National Championship game, what felt like three out
of four years. I don't know if that is accurate, but it felt
like for a good little stretch there, it was those two teams playing for
a national championship, and you know, people claim they wanted something different.
It's the same two teams. And I don't think that that's a crazy thing
to throw out there. However, if you really have no rooting interest,
like if you're not a you know, if you're not a fan of any
of the teams that are in it, or I guess the two teams that
are playing for the championship, and you're not a hater, right, like
you don't like they're not a rival or anything, then I would assume that
you'd want the two best teams playing in the college football National Championship. So
again, there's been there's been complaints out there about us getting to the end
of a season in a specific sport, college or pro, and everybody just
seems to be kind of ho hum about it. But it usually shifts.
It never did with this. I feel like everybody watched all five of these
games in the finals and felt like, man, this sucks. And I
can't disagree because I kind of felt the same. Was it the Patriots and
the Rams that played in the Super Bowl a few years ago and it was
like the worst prop I mean it was, I mean, the Super Bowl
is always going to do big numbers, but the game itself was just really,
really awful. I think it was Trey Wingo, who was still with
ESPN at the time, and he did some kind of very staged, awkward,
corny cringe hot take where he just started yelling about people complaining about the
Super Bowl, telling him if you don't like it, don't watch it.
It was so cringe and uncomfortable, which, by the way, that's exactly
how I would describe Jason Tatum last night after the Boston Celtics won the NBA
Championship. And I don't, you know, I don't dislike Boston, right,
I don't. There's no real hatred that I have for them, although
I do oftentimes find myself more often than not rooting against them. But it's
not like I hate him. There's not a player that played for him or
a team they had over the years that I just really despised. So you
know, I'm not I'm not bothered they want it, but I'm certainly not.
You know, I literally could not find a reason to care one way
or the other about what happened in the NBA Finals. But I will say
this, I'm glad it's over because I don't. I mean, I guess
they're gonna have the celebration at the parade, which will be on Friday in
Boston, which I do love. The greatest city in the world, Boston,
And now we're gonna go to Miami for three days to celebrate winning the
National or the NBA title and not stay in the city that you know,
we reside in where we are employed and the fans are, We're gonna go
to Miami. Like it just seems, you know, I get it,
Like a lot of people would say, hey, let's let's do a celebratory
trip, let's go to let's go to Miami, like it's probably a big
destination for those kind of things. But to hear about best city in the
world, you know, last night, and then here that they're probably already
gone, like they've probably already got on the plane, and they're probably in
Miami drinking, you know, a beverage right now on the beach. So
but Jason Tatum, I think Jason Tatum is a really, really good player.
I think he comes off really, really likable. I don't think he
seems dirty. He doesn't seem too cocky, Like when I watch him play
on the floor, I feel like he carries himself pret well. But I
don't disagree with those that are claiming he might in fact be one of the
corniest players in the history of the NBA. I mean, that's an exaggeration,
that's some recency biased, but you know, for him to be asked
before the game about the NBA Finals MVP, for him to claim that he
doesn't really care and then go on to mention all of the players that did
not win NBA Finals MVP on some of their various trips to the finals.
That is telling us you don't care, but actually telling us you care in
a major way. And by the way, it's normal to care. I
don't. I just I don't know why it would be a problem to say,
yeah, that'd be great. Obviously would be a big accomplishment. You
know, I'm gonna keep trying not to let it get to me, but
play the best I can. I mean, I'm not giving you the actual
pr prepped message that I would, you know that he would be advised to
give, but like, there's something wrong with acknowledging that you would love to
have that as part of your legacy. But there's a forced I don't really
care that makes you look, makes it look like you really it's just a
bad look. And then last night, I mean, the unintentionally being funny
and like not like he did this. I'll let you hear it. You
have to see because visually it's it's really I mean, in fact, if
you are somebody that gets uncomfortable and you get like secondhand embarrassment like I do,
maybe don't watch this, but here's what he had to say last night.
We did it. We did it. Maybe he's possible. God.
So that was Kevin Garnett who did something similar when they won the championship,
what fifteen sixteen years ago, and Tatum it just looks forced and it was
like he practiced in the mirror probably every day during the NBA Finals for that
moment, and it just I was talking about this series with my stepdad over
the weekend, just how we hoping that the series would get extended, just
because you know, if it got to a game seven, that would make
it to where people who were done and checked out would check back in,
right, I would think if you're a basketball fan, an NBA fan,
even to a tiny extent, But Tatum's just not comfortable in that, Like
it just seems like such a force anytime he's in that spotlight. It doesn't
mean he's a bad guy. I don't dislike him, but like I'm now
going to think to myself, like if they ever you know, if I
see somebody sharing clips of him talking to the crowd like at the parade.
I'm gonna I'm gonna scroll right past because I don't want to see it now
because it's gonna make me angry. But there's a level of like uncomfortable.
I don't know, like second hit embarrassment may like be a little bit of
a stretch because maybe others would say, like why would anybody be embarrassed about
that? He just want a national chance, He just want an NBA title,
Like I get it, but it's just it's corny and it just seems
really forced and it I don't know. I just and then like last night,
I don't this audio may not sound good, but this is him is
they were celebrating last night. I don't know if this was at like some
club or if this was if this was I don't know where this is,
but hopefully the audios is. You know, you can hear it. I
know everybody who wonder what would happened if you didn't where I guess, like
that's not controversial, that's not that that may not even sound like it's anything
other than what you would expect someone to say in his position, but it
just like you know, he probably wrote that line out and practiced it and
thought, I don't know, just it's you know, that's something Kanye West
said before, right, yes, yeah, and it's just still well,
okay, so I knew he quoted Kanye West. I didn't know that was
what that was. So thank you for I knew that, you know,
because it's not just me going out of my way to like knock on this
guy, who, by the way, I feel like a always been believed
to be pretty likable in the NBA as a player, but like it just
it seems very just forced and it's almost as if like he's again. I
just think it comes down to him being uncomfortable and I think, you know,
he's he's delivering these I guess soundbites that he thinks are going to be
like legendary, and it just I don't know, it's it's it's a little
much. But you know, he's a hell of a player, and uh,
you know, congrats to the Celtics. He apparently yeah, he looks
like he Also he also quoted Angel Reese. This is I I said,
yeah, this is after Uh, I guess this is post Let me see,
is this what they're gonna say. Now that was after LSU won the
national championship two years ago, and you know what they're gonna say, Now,
what they're gonna say now, it's like he's so unoriginal dry. Yeah,
he's just spooning other things that have been said that were like very like,
that's a very generic thing to say. It's not there's nothing wrong with
saying it, like, it's not a you know, I don't think that's
a controversial thing to say. That doesn't make you unlikable, but yeah,
like what they go, It's like he wanted to make sure he was ready
to deliver these kind of things, and he just copied off other people and
tried to, I guess, put his own, you know, literally,
you go from I mean we're talking three different people that he clearly had in
his back pocket that he was going to I don't want to say steal from,
because he's got to. I don't think he's an idiot. He'd be
a real dummy to think that people wouldn't know that he's he's doing. I
mean, in fact, I think the Kevin Garnett thing was honestly something he
probably thought would be a cool look given the fact that this is the first
title for the Celtics since KG one one whenever. That was two thousand and
eight, two thousand and nine. So but Angel Rees and then Kanye West,
Like, I don't know it just it seems really really forced and less
is more like sometimes you know, just you know, saying, man,
I'm so excited, I'm so happy, and then just give us some fake
tears or something like that'll I mean, I don't know. I mean,
this is somebody who clearly does pay attention to what people say about him,
which, by the way, I think that's one of the biggest lies in
society, that you don't care people think or say about you. I think
there are levels to it. Clearly, there are some that can deal with
people saying whatever about him and handle it better than others. But like this
notion that you don't ever care or listen, like I don't even like I
didn't even know that people thought that of me. I just think that's for
the most part, a big lie, and there's nothing wrong with it.
But whenever you know that, just you know, play it cool, like,
don't try to like win people over. I mean, I guess,
I guess there's no harm in trying, but I think it was a failed
attempt. And anytime I see any of these and the one up of Angel
Reese is the first, you know, that's the first time I've seen the
one that is, you know, him saying exactly what she said. And
there's a chance that like maybe you know, he didn't even realize she had
said it. He just you know, because that's a very generic thing to
say. I mean, that's not like, that's not real original, you
know what I'm saying. But then the way he said it exactly how she
said it, it just seemed a little bit forced. So again, congrats
to the Celtics. Uh, now we wait for you know, now we
wait for the NBA Draft, which I am a big draft guy. Then
again, you know, the NBA draft this year is believed to be one
of the you know, weakest drafts in the history of the sport. But
don't need to do another Coffee and Company draft. Yeah, I we got
to think of some some new new thing to draft. I mean, yeah,
we kind of emptied the bag last summer with a weekly draft, which
was a lot of fun. Maybe we could revisit some of those because who
knows, I'm sure there are people listening now that didn't listen at that time,
and maybe our selections would change over time. But yeah, those that's
always good stuff to do in the summer, the weekly weekly drafts. All
right, So if you guys want to be a part of the show today
you can. I'm going to try to make this as interactive as possible.
We'll let you guys join in in a variety of ways. You can give
us a call f i W two five seven nine hundred. That's the number
again to give us a call. You can text in on the L and
N Federal Credit Union text line five two sixty five three zero seven ninety.
And uh, we're gonna be all over the place today. With it being
my last show of the week, I'm gonna go in a not a different
direction necessarily as far as you know, I'm not going to turn it into
a political talk show. However, Uh, you know, this is one
of those days where nothing's off the table. I mean, I'm not gonna
get myself fired and talk about things that you know would get me fired or
express things that would get me fired. But you know what I mean,
we should just talk forty five the whole time. Donald Trump, Huh,
yeah, could be political forty seven. I said, I'm not going to
turn it into a political talk show. I mean that would be I mean
that actually that would be I don't know, that would be the easiest way
to to I don't know. I feel like you could really hook people in
if you know what I mean, like if you just started saying outlandish things
like just being completely one side or the other, like like what do they
called the radical left and the radical right? They throw the radical on the
front of it, and it means this person's an unhinged Democrat or a you
know, off the rocker Republican, and you know, you just I'm not
gonna do that. I've occasionally kind of dip my toe in those waters,
and I get a little satisfaction in reeling some people in, you know,
who take the bait. But it's not worth it because it could only it
could only hurt me, I think. But anyways, we'll we'll mix it
up throughout the uh, throughout the show today. But one thing I do
want to do before we get to our first break is let you guys know
about my friends over at the Louisville Men's Clinic, because they can help you
fellas in a variety of ways. If it's a rectiutis function, they can
certainly help you there, and they've got a variety of different types of treatment
they can offer to you to help get you back on track. Rectault as
function is a serious thing. It happens to a lot of folks, and
I can't imagine having it in not wanting to address it right because if you
have a partner, I mean that could that could really create some issues and
I would hope that your partner would be there to support you throughout it,
but you you also have to consider it could be something that could impact your
partner make maybe make them feel a certain way about themselves. So ED is
a serious issue across the world, and it's more common than people realize.
It's probably an uncomfortable conversation for most people to have, understandably so. But
the first step in getting it corrected to where you don't have to worry about
it anymore is reaching out to my friends at the louis of Men's Clinic FABO
to four four four four thousand is the number. You can check them out
online at Louisville Men's Clinic dot com. And it's not just DD maybe it's
low testosterone and low testosterone you know, trust me, it is an issue,
but you may not realize it's an issue. Right. You could have
low T and still say that you feel pretty good about where you are as
far as a health standpoint, You feel pretty good about you know, your
workouts and those kind of things. You feel like, you know, age
hasn't hit you like a brick wall, but you could feel better, right,
Because that was me. I didn't feel like I had any crazy issues.
It wasn't like I needed to call my physician because something wasn't right.
I just knew something wasn't adding up right. It wasn't as if I was
in pain or I had any kind of real al man. I just knew,
like, hey, is what's going on here? So I knew a
little bit about what low T was. And then I heard the commercials that
you hear on our family of stations here at Ihart Louisville, and I thought,
you know what, why not go in and get it checked out?
Why not go at least get these levels checked and see if the T is
where it needs to be. And it was not. The tea was low,
but low T no MO because of Louisville Men's Clinic. So give him
a call if f ibo two four four four four thousand, Louisvillemen's Clinic dot
com. All right, let me set the table for you guys today,
just to give you a little bit of a rundown of what I have in
store for us over these next two hours and forty minutes. There's a really
interesting well, there's a list out there that the list existing should not surprise
you, but just to see the age, the ages, I should say,
if some of these dudes still playing college sports is wild. But there's
the annual because it's going to be an annual thing. Now. I can't
believe he's still in college list, so the athletic put it together to take
a look at that. Also, I can't believe I forgot to mention this
yesterday. But how about Bill Belichick? How about my man Bill Belichick,
the Hoodie as Jim Rome has famously called him. Seventy two year old Bill
Belichick is in a serious relationship with a twenty four year old smoke show And
this is probably not that uncommon for dudes in their seventies that are rich as
hell and famous. But man, just trying to, you know, be
a fly on the wall as seventy two year old Bill Belichick of all people,
is conversing with a twenty four year old woman. It's just something I
cannot see. What the hell would they talk about at all? I mean,
look, Bill Belichick seemed more like a human being than I've ever seen
him at the roast of Tom Brady. But still we're talking about, you
know, showing some signs of life and being a real living human and not
a robot. But just some comparisons out there as far as like, I
mean, seventy two and twenty four, that's a forty eight year age gap,
folks. That's insane. And I know some people are like, well,
man, good good for you, But good for you Belichick, my
man. Okay. I mean, look, if that's the way you feel,
that's the way you feel, I'm not afraid to say that's weird as
hell. Like that is weird as hell. Also, this has become an
annual thing that I love, losers of fantasy football leagues. The creativity that
goes into these punishments for coming in last. There's one out there that took
place over the weekend that went viral. I want to take a look at
that. And here's what we're gonna see. I mean, there's I mean,
there's no reports that it's happening, but it's coming. And that is
these college basketball November early December tournaments that are all gonna be about in IL
and bowl games. Maybe bowl games become you know, I mean, people
still watch them, believe it or not. I was gonna say watchable,
but like, people still watch bowl games even though we know that the teams
you're seeing are not the teams that played in twelve games because the majority of
guys for good teams don't play anymore. But people do still watch. But
they'd be even more worth watching if, in fact they were the real teams,
and if NIL becomes a big factor and there's some big paydays on the
line for these guys in college, even if they are going to try to
make it to the NFL, I mean, even if they're out of eligibility
and they know they need to train for the NFL draft, If there's a
legitimate money on the line to participate in these bowl games and you can get
you know, a payment up front just for being in the game, and
then if you win, there's an even bigger incentive that the winning team shares.
I mean money. Look, money talks, right. I mean you'll
probably still see some dudes not play, especially those that can, you know,
opt out and know for sure they're going to be a first round pick.
But bowl games should be awesome, and they've just really stunk over the
years because for the most part, it's a very watered down version of a
team that sometimes isn't even that good, right of a seven and five bowl
team that's missing five of their best players. I mean, who was it
Western Kentucky last year in their bowl game? I mean it's Western Kentucky.
No offense to the Hilltoppers, although it's a fraudulent school because Western Kentucky's actually
not located in Western Kentucky. It's in south central Kentucky. But anyhow,
WKU. They had their quarterback, the kid who apparently transferred a few years
back. I can't think of his name. He was really good, put
up big numbers, but you know, he sat out of the bowl game,
and he was believed to be like a seventh round pick at best,
and I'm not even sure if he ended up getting drafted or not. So
they ended up putting in a guy in the who was it? I wish
I had these names, not that it matters, but there was a kid
from bowling and it was a walk on that was on Western Kentucky's roster,
big six to six kid, and he'd already entered the portal but ended up
going with the team I guess for like emergency situation to this bowl game.
Well, sure enough, he was the starter, played the whole game,
played his ass off, and you know, didn't pull his name out of
the portal, used that performance to end up. I don't know where he
ended up, but either way, my point is this, even those level
of bowl games are having guys just not play because there's no reason for them
to play. They don't even have a chance of getting drafted, but they
just don't want to get hurt and not be able to work out for NFL
teams. Well, if there's money on the line, that changes. And
college football is already a monster, and look now that you're gonna get twelve
teams in the playoff, some of those bowl games are gonna seem even less
relevant. But again, if everybody's playing, or most of the guys are
playing because money's involved, that's the best case scenario, I think, all
right, don't go anywhere. It's coffee and company. We are fueled by
Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven to ninety. All right, let's hit
the LNN Federal Credit Union text line. Members get more at l and N
Federal Credit Union. You can learn more and open your account today at LNFCU
dot com. Five two six five three zero seven ninety is the number if
you want to text in questions, complaints, compliments, insults, whatever you've
got, feel free to send them our way. So I haven't heard this
yet, but I believe this person on the text line who says that.
On one of his other radio interviews, Pat Kelsey's mentioned that the team is
doing a summer trip, which that makes me very excited. I don't know
if there's been any details made public or if he shared them, but man,
I really, really really hope that that is the case, and it's
like a type of trip that fans could maybe go to. I know a
lot of those take place, you know, across in another country. So
I don't know anything as far as other than what you've shared with me on
the text line. But that's perfect for this group because you know, they're
already on campus and they've been going through workouts over the last week or so
and practicing at whatever level they're allowed to practice, which is valuable. But
Louisville has not been on one of these trips in ten years, I think,
or close to it. In fact, the last time Louisville went on
a I guess, I guess they're always out of the country. I don't.
I mean, I guess you could probably do something, you know,
in in the United States. But I feel like all the trips, and
I'm not just talking about Louisville, but the you know, the out of
country trips that you see college basketball programs take. They usually end up in
the Bahamas or in Puerto Rico. That's where Louisville went last time. You
can go across the pond to somewhere in Europe. In fact, Louisville took
one in two thousand and seven. I believe it was to Canada, like
to French Canada, I believe. So don't know where they're going, but
it's really really good to be good for this team to get just more reps
and they'll probably be playing against competition that's not close to the level of what
you'll see night in and night out when you play you know, college basketball,
but just a brand new team getting extra opportunities to one compete together and
get a feel for one another. And you know, even though they're not
real games, it is a game setting, not just a workout or a
practice and spending time together. I mean not to be corny, but you
know those kinds of trips I feel like, or where you really can get
to know one another in bond and you know, conform some team camarade so
very exciting. I would imagine details will be announced here soon, and that's
great for the team. You know, that doesn't mean I'm gonna, you
know, go ahead and start giving expectations of what I think this team is
going to do. I mean I've said since really since they added for I
think Noah Waterman was probably the last edition that really made me feel like,
Okay, this is a team that they can make the tournament. Are they
gonna get in the tournament? I don't know, but I think they have
a tournament caliber roster. And I wouldn't at all expect Pat Kelsey to shy
away from that because I think he knows. We heard enough about how difficult.
It was, and I doubt that Pat Kelsey's doing or thinking anything about
the previous regime here at Louisville. But he's aware of what the message was
from the previous coach around here that we were impatient and it takes time,
he needs us, and you know, the program was broken. I mean,
those are things he said. Well, Pat Kelsey doesn't view it that
way at all, and I think when asked at the press conference, I'm
paraphrasing here as far as what he would say in regards to that whole thing.
Uh, you know, he said, ready, So you know,
I think they're going to be a tournament team now if they end up making
these games available for people to watch, like on a stream, like fans
can tune in and buy a package to watch all these games wherever they end
up playing, or if you know, if they end up you know,
making it to where if it's like a convenient trip and fans go, I
may go if I can make it work. But yeah, I can already
see it happening. Like once we if we get to see just one game
of this team on some you know stream when they're playing in I don't know,
Canada or maybe in Europe somewhere. Uh, they'll they could be playing
guys that have never picked up a basketball before. But just seeing this brand
new team together is going to get me super excited because it's I mean,
we've never been and I can only speak for myself, but I feel like
I'm not alone here. As far as the Louisville fan base, I don't
think we've ever been this starved for a team to watch that gives us something
good to see in, something to believe in, and I think that's what
this team is. So I'm very happy to hear that that that that's in
the works. Don't know any details, but I'm sure they'll be out before
too long. So thank you for sharing that on the text line. All
right, five with two five seven is the number if you want to jump
in and give us a call. And we will now go to the phone
lines and welcome in. David. David, what's happening? Brother? Doing
well? Nick? Always loved the show, and by the way, I
am as excited as you are. And I don't know the it's the feeling
around Louisville basketball has been so tepid. As much as I loved Kenny Payne,
I just can't believe that the things started an end as the way it
did. But I have a question that's completely different, and educate me a
little bit. It was the coach at the Yukon. Is his name Danny
Hurley, Yes, Danny Hurley. His brother's Bobby Hurley, who coaches Arizona
State. Okay, here's here is my question. You know, I love
watch listening to talk radio and of course sports talk television, and Chris Brussard
is you know, one of these mouthpieces, and I know it's all opinion,
but he made the comment that he thought Hurley was making a mistake by
not taking the Lakers job simply because it's like, this is the pinnacle of
success in the sport of basketball. Why wouldn't you take the LA Lakers job,
especially with college basketball being as down as it is and the NBA being
as popular as it is. And then the very next day I see and
hear that the NBA ratings for the finals were in the absolute toilets. And
I'd love to know, really how many people watch the NBA A you know,
being a being a native Loiavillion and a college basketball guy, I just
can't believe that as far as I'm concerned he has a chance to do something
unprecedented since John Wooden. You know, he's I know, he's a Northeastern
guy, and why would you want to go baby slit Lebron? I mean,
hell, Lebron coaches the damn team anyway. So I just want to
see what your thoughts were, right of sart Man, if the NCAA tournament
is as bad as you think it is, and maybe he isn't watching the
same thing I am, and for him to push the NBA to to this,
you know, to the apex of of men's basketball, I you know,
I just had a hard time with it, but love the show.
Just love to know. Thank you, Thanks David. I appreciate It's a
good question. So Chris Broussard, you know, he's an NBA guy,
and I disagree with everything that he said in regards to why would you want
to stay in college basketball when the NBA is on top? Now? The
NBA gets way more attention nationally than college basketball, and I don't really see
that ever changing because the NBA is I mean, it's it's one of the
it's the second most followed professional sport in America. Now there's a humongous gap
between number one and number two. But the NBA is is. I mean,
look, pro sports dominate the the you know, the national coverage they
just do. Now college football is not far behind. In fact, college
football has more viewership when games matter than most NBA games. So here's my
thoughts on the NBA, David, I think the NBA has done a really
good job and I don't even know if it was strategic, but here's what's
happened. There's so much drama in the NBA with players jumping from team to
team forming super teams. Players have all of the power, right they will
sign a lucrative, long term deal, but you know what it'll include after
a year or two, a player option to opt out and then decide what
you want to do. And even if you don't leave your team, you
have the ability to. So there's a lot of anticipation about where's this guy
gonna go? You know, what's he gonna do. In fact, it's
already happening. Now there's NBA players that are apparently, you know, unhappy
with the offer that their team's gonna give them, so they're gonna opt out,
and you know, see what else is out there. So because the
NBA has talked about it all times, it's that helps it in popularity.
They do a really good job of marketing their superstars. I think some of
it's a little bit easier on their end because there's not as many players in
the NBA and you can see them like they're you know what you're looking at
right, football a little different baseball. I don't know how to help them,
but as far as people locking in to consume the product that is the
NBA, it's not what you think it is. Now, maybe we can
pull some numbers because I'm actually interested now to hear or to see what these
numbers are after your call there, David. But the NBA is talked about
a lot a lot more in college basketball, no doubt, But I think
that makes people. Right when you turn on ESPN, I feel like twenty
out of the twenty four hours of the day, there's one of those round
table shows, right, you've got part of the interruption, you've got first
Take, you've got whatever show they have on now in the mornings, and
they're usually talking about the NFL and the NBA, and with the NBA,
you know they have a relationship. ESPN is in bed with the NBA.
They are partners, so they are incentivized to continue to talk about the NBA
and all. In my opinion, what that does, David is it creates
a false sense of actual viewership because you can keep like we consume content differently
now than we did five, ten, twenty years ago. Right, you
can know everything you need to know about the NBA numbers. You can actually
probably spit some facts to people that make it look like you've got League pass
and you're watching all the games. You can do that without watching a second
of it, like you just can. You can do it with highlights.
So viewership of a game when they play eighty two of them, it's just
not as important. Like I just found this number here. ABC drew non
point point six two million viewers in the Game four of the Finals. That's
the second lowest NBA Finals game on record, behind only the Pandemic Playoffs.
Which really, that was just a weird time in the world where despite not
having anything to do because we were locked down, nobody watched sports at least
not to the level that they well, they didn't watch at the level that
they used to watch it at prior to the pandemic, and now, I
mean viewership is crazy for all these other sports. So you know, I
think that's an absurd take by Chris Brossard. But what it comes down to
is like, actually, to give you some more absurdity to what he said,
in college basketball, you are the man. Yeah, players are gonna
make money. And there could be the rare exception to where a college basketball
player might make more money than his coach. That would be a very unusual
circumstance for that to happen. But players come and go in the college game.
If you stick around and you build a dynasty, which by the way,
Dan Hurley's already done, you're made man. And some people don't care
about that, right, they don't do it for themselves. But in the
NBA, how many good teams in the NBA. You can be a casual
NBA fan or maybe like slightly above a casual NBA fan, and there could
be a team that is, you know, four or five seed in the
East or West, and you not know who their coaches. He could walk
into your home, you wouldn't know who he is. Because it's not about
coaches in the NBA, they're expendable. It's quite clear, there's so much
more money invested in these superstar players to where if there's a riff and things
aren't going well, what do you think they're going to do? Trade their
franchise player they've invested a ton of money in, or go find a new
coach. That's why, like I think Dan Hurley, Look, I thought
he was going to go to the Lakers, just because I'm thinking what else
can he what else does he want to prove at the college game? And
he's always wanted to be in the NBA, but maybe he wanted to be
in the NBA when the NBA was different. Now, the NBA is hiring
dudes who've never coached before, because it's about managing egos, personality, and
relatability. That's more than anything. NBA players now seem to really gravitate towards
dudes. They can relate to guys who are who've been in their shoes as
a player, maybe not even that long ago. Like Mosula just won an
NBA title. What's Joe Missoula's coaching resume as far as accomplishments and you know,
experience, He was like a D two assistant coach, got a chance
to join the the Celtic staff courtesy of Brad Stevens as an assistant. Well,
Emi Udoku, he got all horned up, became a perv. Joe
Mossoula gets to sit in the first chair and now he's an NBA champion.
He didn't grind his way up to get to the top. And that's what
the NBA's turned into. And I don't think, you know, maybe it's
just my opinion. I don't think it's good for the league. Like I
actually prefer when the league had coaches that I feel like, Okay, I
know this guy, this coach is going to play this style or whatever.
Like I just I don't know, to me, that's you know, maybe
that's me just being a basketball purist, But no, I think the NBA,
I'm not gonna act like they're in trouble because if you've seen the number
that's been put out there as far as the new media rights deal that they're
about to sign with a couple of different networks, like they're going to be
rolling in the dough. The NBA's got plenty of money. But I think
it's a very It's unique is a league because you can be a super fan,
you can be keeping up with everything going on. You can continuously being
you can continuously talk about whatever is going on in the NBA on your podcast
or on social media or at the water cooler at work. But you can
do all that without watching a single second of the game. And I guess
you could do that this day and age with technology and other leagues, but
you don't see it as often. You know why, because people want to
sit in front of their TV for hours and watch football because football is king.
And with college basketball regular season viewership is not strong. But the event
that is March Madness, the NCAA Tournament, it's one of the best events
in sports. In fact, I think it's the best. I'm a little
biased on my end, but that's why people that's why the viewership of that
is insane. Because people have their brackets, you get a potential Cinderella story.
It's win or go home for everybody that's there. So I'm always gonna
side with college basketball. But I think if you're a coach and you really,
you know, want to feel important, you want to feel like you've
got a real say so in the trajectory of who you know, the program
you're coaching. I think college will be a better route than the NBA,
because you know it can you for didn't somebody got canned halfway into their first
year in the NBA this year. I think, wasn't that the guy who
was coaching the Bucks or some Bucks coach? Yeah? So all right,
thank you for the call, David, appreciate it. Gave us a whole
segment there. Good stuff. All right, we'll keep it rolling along.
It's coffee and company. We are feel about Thornton's right here on Sports Talk
seven ninety. I love this song. I feel like it's the first time
you played this. I think I've played a couple times really for other people,
though. Love it. When did it come out? Does it show
you? I don't know if you have the two thousand and seven. Yeah,
so I was as soon as soon as this song started playing. As
soon as you started playing the song, I thought to myself, man,
I haven't heard this in a while. And then I instantly went to you
know what, it's probably really old. Like I'm thinking this song is like
five or six years old, and then you know it's not. It's seventeen
years old. And that's very sad for me, but still good. It's
timeless. Good stuff. I mean this is you were young when this song
came out. Oh yeah, it was seven ten years old. Good stuff,
all right. So, with very little time left here in the three
o'clock hour, this is something that I thought was interesting that I feel like
a lot of people will have some thoughts on and that is the worst behavior
you can have as a patron a customer at a restaurant. So there is
a new survey here where they asked one thousand Americans about the restaurant customer service
behaviors they find the most unacceptable. So I think I think there's really two
sides to get feedback on this. One is the people who work in the
service industry and also just people who are bothered, you know, because let's
be real, you could be at dinner at any place and if there's a
table next to you that's like obnoxious and you know, rude or whatever like
it. Can you know, I'm sure you've been to a restaurant where you
were near someone that was kind of impacting your experience at said restaurant. Hopefully
nothing crazy. But anyways, the number, let's start with number ten and
work our way up here. Fifty seven percent mentioned flirting with the staff.
I don't see that very often. Yeah, I haven't seen him much either,
And when I do, it's I mean, I'm not going to mention
any names of any establishments, but like I actually find that to be uncomfortable
anyway. Like when I go to a place with my dad for some beers
and some wings, and this place happens to be, you know, where
the waitresses. You know, there's no there's no waiters, only waitresses,
and they their colors orange and they all wear like a certain outfit. You
think everybody knows where I'm talking about. Like, I don't want you to
sit next to my dad and start flirting with him, because it makes me
very uncomfortable because I can tell he's uncomfortable, Like we're not there to get
dinner and you know, check out hot babes. We're there to you know,
have dinner, like father and son. It just it's very uncomfortable for
me. So when I do see guys flirting with waitresses, for the most
part, what I've seen, it's usually pretty you know, harmless, and
it's almost like a give and take and you know they're working on a good
tip. I would say this says occupy a table for extended period of time
during busy hours. I have no problem with that. I mean, if
you're there and you want to stay there and you're giving them business, I
think you can stay there. I mean as long as you want, as
long as they're open, right, as long as you're as long as you're
still you know, partaking in. Like I'm thinking, if you're there to
watch a game and you've already ordered food, and you know you've had a
few beers, and like, if you're there to wait it out and watch
the rest of the game, you don't want to get up and leave the
table. I'd say that's pretty understandable. This one is leave a mess at
the table. I mean that happens. I don't think that's a big deal.
This one says bring outside food or drinks into a restaurant. All right,
let me I need your thoughts on this one, John, meaning you,
I'll give you an example. You go to eat someplace at a sit
down restaurant and your kids are picky eaters, so you bring their happy meal
with them. Yeah, I'd be embarrassed to do that. I was embarrassed
as a kid with my parents would be like, oh, just we'll get
you some Wendy's or something you can bring it in. I never wanted to
do that, thank you. I've never seen it become an issue, but
I just have when I see other people doing that, I'm like, man,
I would like to me it just it's rude, I feel like,
and it's just it's embarrassing. I feel like as well, Yeah, so
this says snap their fingers to get the waiters attention. Yeah, don't do
that. You know people still do that. I feel like that's maybe from
the nineties or something. I I have a friend and she is not rude,
but she just sometimes lacks self awareness and she'll raise her hand at restaurants.
She's also a teacher, so I guess that's just it's programmed in her.
And I'm like, put your hand down, you're embarrassing us. Stay
past the restaurant's closing time. Yeah that's pretty rude, right, I mean,
because they don't want to kick you out, but they're also pissed that
you're still there. Of course. Yeah, of course, debate menu prices
with the staff, and that's an old person thing it is. But also
what people rarely realize is that the person taking your order, has no say
so, no ability at all to change the price or decide what a price
is, you know, And even if you're sending them to go talk to
their manager, it's still like something like you know it just the price is
what it is at a place like that, And if you got to if
you got a hassle about I mean, look, sometimes if there's hidden fees
and whatnot, that's one thing. But if the restaurant lists prices and you
know what it is when you order it, like, don't get it if
it's too expensive, you don't like the price. This is one that my
wife and I have argued about, not as much lately, but we used
to argue about it. Allowing your children to roam freely. This is number
two on the list, So we don't. We don't let that happen.
There is one restaurant we go to that it were kind of regulars, and
we don't let them roam. But like they'll be you know, near,
like they'll they'll stand up near the table for a minute or something like that.
But I've always had the fear that people will see me, my kids
in my family at a restaurant and think like, wow, these kids are
poorly behaved. I mean it's not as if they're throwing food at people,
but like if they're just roaming around getting in people's way. You got people
carrying plates of food in some places you go. You got people coming out
of the kitchen with six meals on each arm. Right, So you don't
want your kids roaming around. And I used to be really strict about that,
Not as much anymore because my kids are getting getting a little bit older.
But you even if you have kids who don't have kids, I'm sure
you've been to a place where that's like, that's it's an issue, like
people just letting their kids run around and places chuck e cheese exactly. And
the last one here say they won't pay for a dish but they ate it.
Like you can't do that, Like that's that's stealing, right if you
ate the entire meal and then you claim you didn't like it after the fact,
you still have to pay for it. Yeah, that's that's also an
old person. It's theft is the right shouldn't have to pay for this?
Yeah I didn't. I wasn't satisfied. Well, then you shouldn't have made
it clearly you were satisfied enough to shove it down your throat. Give me
your debit card bum all right, we're against it. I'm sorry for going
so long here, she said, m M