Speaker 1: It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick coffee.
Speaker 2: All right, let's get the five o'clock hours started here
Speaker 2: on a Wednesday afternoon. Happy hump day, everybody. Hopefully you've
Speaker 2: enjoyed your Wednesday. We've had some fun on the show today.
Speaker 2: I had some fun throughout the day. I did start
Speaker 2: the show complaining about something that I'm sure none of
Speaker 2: you care about, and that is that I've just had
Speaker 2: to accept the fact that I can no longer live
Speaker 2: in denial that I don't need to be medicated for allergies.
Speaker 3: I've lived here in the Ohio Valley my entire life.
Speaker 2: In each year, really in the last three to four years,
Speaker 2: I suppose allergies have impacted me more, and today was
Speaker 2: a day where I just had to accept, Okay, you
Speaker 2: got to do something about this. And some of you've
Speaker 2: given some recommendations on the text line as far as
Speaker 2: what daily allergy pill I can take to kind of
Speaker 2: help me not be, you know, as miserable. But I
Speaker 2: was at the zoo earlier today for a nice field
Speaker 2: trip with my daughter's class, and I think every school
Speaker 2: kid in the state of Kentucky was there. It was
Speaker 2: very busy, a lot of busses from all over the state,
Speaker 2: seemingly bringing kids.
Speaker 3: I do exaggerate, but there were.
Speaker 2: I mean, I feel like the amount of busses that
Speaker 2: were rolling in when I was in the parking lot
Speaker 2: waiting for them to arrive, it just never ended.
Speaker 3: But I was out having a good day at the zoo.
Speaker 2: And man, I got my rear end kicked by these allergies.
Speaker 2: But other than that, the day's been really good. And
Speaker 2: I don't know what the weather looks like outside right now,
Speaker 2: but it was a beautiful day all throughout until I
Speaker 2: arrived here about two thirty or so, so hopefully that's
Speaker 2: still the case. I you know, weather can change pretty quickly,
Speaker 2: and oftentimes over the years I've mentioned weather that you know,
Speaker 2: it's a beautiful day, and then sure enough I realize
Speaker 2: I've been in here for two and a half, for
Speaker 2: maybe even an hour, and you know, it changes. But anyways,
Speaker 2: hopefully you guys have enjoyed your hump day, and hopefully
Speaker 2: you guys have enjoyed yourself throughout these first couple of hours.
Speaker 2: We'll try to finish strong here in the five o'clock hour.
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Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I feel like the Tesla momentum kind of faded off
Speaker 2: a little bit, didn't it. So anyways, we're fuel about Thorntons.
Speaker 2: You knew that, but I like to tell you anyway.
Speaker 2: So this is something we talked about. I believe either
Speaker 2: last week or the week before. I get my week's confused,
Speaker 2: but I know recently it was exciting news that Louisville
Speaker 2: fans received that Louisville and Memphis are going to renew
Speaker 2: their series, their rivalry. I mean, it is a rivalry,
Speaker 2: but obviously I'm jealous because I didn't get to get
Speaker 2: a chance to experience it like those that are a
Speaker 2: little bit older than me. Right, I don't remember the
Speaker 2: Memphis State days and that's when it apparently was at
Speaker 2: its peak. But we now know it's going to be
Speaker 2: a six year series between these two teams. And I
Speaker 2: guess it was the newspaper in Memphis that got some
Speaker 2: more details on it. So in the six year series,
Speaker 2: there'll be two neutral site games with it sounds like those.
Speaker 2: I guess it can change, but I believe right now
Speaker 2: the neutral site games are going to take place in Nashville,
Speaker 2: which I know Louisville fans love making that trip down
Speaker 2: sixty five South to enjoy music city. Nashville is always
Speaker 2: a lot of fun. And I remember they played they
Speaker 2: played Western Kentucky in Nashville. I believe this was in
Speaker 2: like November of twenty nineteen, that year that Louisville was
Speaker 2: really good and then you know, it all came to
Speaker 2: an because of a global pandemic but they played Western
Speaker 2: and I don't know if it was bridget Own Arena or.
Speaker 3: What it was, but it was it it'll be a
Speaker 3: pretty competitive game.
Speaker 2: And I remember afterwards, because of a recent loss to somebody,
Speaker 2: with that win against WKU, it meant that Louisville was
Speaker 2: going to be number one in the country. And then
Speaker 2: they turn around and the next game they played was
Speaker 2: against Michigan and the big in the ACC Big Ten Challenge,
Speaker 2: And I mean that was a moment where Louisville playing
Speaker 2: as the number one team in the country and Chris
Speaker 2: Max's second season that was It seems like a blur,
Speaker 2: but that was that was a lot of fun. There's
Speaker 2: one other thing about that game that I'm curious if
Speaker 2: you guys remember. It's a really random, not relevant fact
Speaker 2: about that game, but I remember it because it was
Speaker 2: one of those things that, like on the show at
Speaker 2: the time, people complained about and there was a lot
Speaker 2: of complaining going on, and it was because that game
Speaker 2: because it was.
Speaker 3: A neutral site.
Speaker 2: But yet there's always even when you play a neutral
Speaker 2: like example, when Louisville plays Memphis and let's say they
Speaker 2: play them twice in Nashville, like the contract currently states
Speaker 2: is going to happen. One of those games, despite it
Speaker 2: being a neutral site, will technically be a game that
Speaker 2: is on Louisville's side, meaning the network coverage, the TV coverage,
Speaker 2: I should say, and then one of them will be
Speaker 2: on Memphis side. So when Louisville was in that series
Speaker 2: with WKU, that happened to be it was a neutral
Speaker 2: site game, but technically it was WKU who had the
Speaker 2: right to broadcast. And I can't even think of the
Speaker 2: network it might have been. And I don't even think
Speaker 2: this is still a thing anymore, But do you remember
Speaker 2: stadium like watch stadium that it wasn't just that for
Speaker 2: some reason that I don't know, And it was probably
Speaker 2: because it was a November on a Saturday, to where
Speaker 2: the actual stadium network, which is really a streaming thing,
Speaker 2: they were all like they didn't they didn't have the
Speaker 2: ability to put this basketball game on because there was
Speaker 2: football going on. So it was a basketball game. This
Speaker 2: will be a great trivia question one day if you
Speaker 2: have want to have a really difficult trivia contest including
Speaker 2: Louisville basketball trivia. That game was played live on Facebook only.
Speaker 2: Do you remember this at all?
Speaker 3: No? Yeah, it was during the holidays.
Speaker 2: It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so I think it
Speaker 2: was pretty actually might have been.
Speaker 3: It was Black Friday.
Speaker 2: It was Black Friday because the next day Louisville played
Speaker 2: Kentucky and football and that was the game where it
Speaker 2: was in Lexington, And that was actually the game when
Speaker 2: SAT started boohooing about ELL's down at midfield. So anyways,
Speaker 2: that game was on Facebook only on the watch Stadium
Speaker 2: or the Stadium Network, whatever it is, whatever it was
Speaker 2: called on that Facebook page.
Speaker 3: How about that trivia for you?
Speaker 4: Remember Stadium It was some weird time.
Speaker 3: Are they still a thing?
Speaker 4: I don't think so.
Speaker 3: I mean, the only thing I.
Speaker 2: Think of when I think of Stadium is Jeff Goodman,
Speaker 2: because he's been one of the biggest and really the
Speaker 2: best when it comes to just breaking stories and breaking
Speaker 2: news and being connected. I'm not saying you gotta like
Speaker 2: the guy, but Jeff Goodman has been one of the
Speaker 2: bigger movers and shakers when it comes to college basketball
Speaker 2: reporting for a long long time. He's worked for Gosh,
Speaker 2: he's worked for Fox, CBS at ESPN in my lifetime,
Speaker 2: and then when he moved on from ESPN, he worked
Speaker 2: for Stadium and that's the only reason I knew they existed,
Speaker 2: and I don't I don't know if they exist anymore.
Speaker 2: But anyways, there's some random information, useless information for you
Speaker 2: that you can do whatever you want with. But nonetheless,
Speaker 2: the Memphis I mean, if Louisville was gonna so some
Speaker 2: would say maybe the uh. By the way, Bally Sports
Speaker 2: Live bought the Stadium network, so there you go. But anyways,
Speaker 2: the if Louisville was gonna play a neutral site game,
Speaker 2: I mean, where would we play it, Like we're a city,
Speaker 2: We're not like, you know, going and playing a Louisville
Speaker 2: neutral site game in Frankfurt would make no sense. Certainly
Speaker 2: you would never do it in Lexington or really any city.
Speaker 2: And so I like the it's kind of a it
Speaker 2: makes And by the way, Nashville and Memphis are nowhere
Speaker 2: near each other, like they're not. I mean, in fact,
Speaker 2: a lot of Memphis is you know, there's like West Memphis.
Speaker 2: I believe that is actually Arkansas. So anyways, that'll be exciting.
Speaker 2: And since bringing this up, somebody on the text line
Speaker 2: has asked if I know what they're going to do
Speaker 2: about the Cincinnati series, because when they play at Freedom Hall,
Speaker 2: that's not going to be a home game for your
Speaker 2: season tickets. And first of all, I don't know, and
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be the one that would ever knows sort
Speaker 2: of how they're going to work that out, But that'll
Speaker 2: probably just be a standalone game.
Speaker 3: To where like you just have to buy tickets.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's not part of it kind of feels
Speaker 2: like it should be season tickets because one it's at home. Technically,
Speaker 2: it's just not the home you've had in a long time.
Speaker 2: It's Freedom Hall, not the Young Center. But having these
Speaker 2: games back on the schedule, Memphis and Cincinnati, I love it,
Speaker 2: I really do. And I hope that you know both
Speaker 2: teams including Louisville. I mean when I say both teams,
Speaker 2: I meant Cincinnati and Memphis. But if you can sort
Speaker 2: of rekindle that old rivalry flame and also play teams
Speaker 2: that in the non conference, if you beat them, you'll
Speaker 2: get some value, and if you lose to them, it's
Speaker 2: not a bad loss. That's that's the best of both worlds.
Speaker 2: So we'll probably get more the Cincinnati series. By the way,
Speaker 2: somehow leaked to John Rostein. It's not I mean, it's
Speaker 2: going to happen, but it's not official. They haven't announced it,
Speaker 2: and that probably means they're still working through it. They're
Speaker 2: still working on it. So anyways, speaking of working on
Speaker 2: things the future of college sports, I think there appears
Speaker 2: to be some light at the end of the tunnel
Speaker 2: right now. When it comes to things being regulated, they're
Speaker 2: actually being rules that people have to follow, because when
Speaker 2: the NCAA confirmed yesterday that they are conceding enforcement, they
Speaker 2: are no longer going to even attempt to try to
Speaker 2: enforce anything because they don't have any power. It's really
Speaker 2: all of their fault and has been because they never
Speaker 2: budge from that archaic, ancient amateurism model, and that's really
Speaker 2: why we're here. But you know that's in the past
Speaker 2: that people working with the NSTAA right now had nothing
Speaker 2: to do with that. So I do think they are
Speaker 2: trying their best to util to do what they can
Speaker 2: to clean things up, but they don't have any power,
Speaker 2: and schools have proven that by hiring lawyers and fighting
Speaker 2: everything in court, and more often than not they're winning.
Speaker 2: So I think what you've probably had happen as school
Speaker 2: presidents and athletic directors probably for months now, have probably
Speaker 2: had conversations realizing the best case scenario for us to
Speaker 2: clean this up is for everybody to agree to a
Speaker 2: certain set of rules and then we sign off on
Speaker 2: it saying that we will follow these rules, and if not,
Speaker 2: you know, you won't be a part of these power
Speaker 2: conferences anymore. You agree to these rules, everybody follows them.
Speaker 2: And also with your agreeing, you're signing off saying that
Speaker 2: you're not going to threaten to sue and take it
Speaker 2: to court because you got in trouble or maybe you're
Speaker 2: just trying to ben the rules. So that is really
Speaker 2: I think what has to be done in order to
Speaker 2: get this thing cleaned up and hope that it will
Speaker 2: get worked out. But one thing that really has has
Speaker 2: hit me in the last twenty four hours is that
Speaker 2: maybe I'm a little naive and thinking that everybody's just
Speaker 2: gonna say, okay, let's do it, because there are schools
Speaker 2: that probably are aware that it's a mess and it's chaotic,
Speaker 2: and I'm sure maybe even you know it's impacted the
Speaker 2: bottom line for them. But with that, they're using money
Speaker 2: to succeed. They're buying players, and they're willing to pay
Speaker 2: way more money for anybody because they know they have
Speaker 2: resources to do that, and with this new world, despite
Speaker 2: being chaotic, maybe some have been more successful because they're
Speaker 2: able to utilize resources that they've always had, but you
Speaker 2: couldn't really utilize because in a previous world you couldn't
Speaker 2: pay to be good. Now you can, you can buy players.
Speaker 2: So I'm hopeful, but it wouldn't shock me if there
Speaker 2: are some schools that are like, yeah, we're not signing that,
Speaker 2: and at that point it comes down to a game
Speaker 2: of chicken. If Tennessee and the SEC, Florida State in
Speaker 2: the ACC, Ohio State.
Speaker 3: In the Big Ten.
Speaker 2: And I'm just thrown out random examples here. I'm not
Speaker 2: saying these are the schools that would in fact fight it,
Speaker 2: but if they did, are those conferences really one able?
Speaker 2: Too willing to say, Okay, well you're out. You no
Speaker 2: longer are a member of this conference. Some schools wouldn't
Speaker 2: risk that. Others probably feel like they can because they
Speaker 2: know their value. Ohio State leaving the Big Ten would
Speaker 2: make the Big Ten. Dare I say, a substantially less
Speaker 2: valuable conference. They'd still be good. But Ohio State runs
Speaker 2: that league, do they not? So we'll see. But the
Speaker 2: latest is that there are meetings going on this week
Speaker 2: in the Big ten where school presidents are going to
Speaker 2: be a part of these meetings, and they're going to
Speaker 2: discuss this affiliation agreement that's out there, that's going to
Speaker 2: be on the agenda. And then next week the SEC
Speaker 2: and the Big twelve are going to meet and it's
Speaker 2: the same situation. They're going to discuss the affiliation agreement.
Speaker 2: And I guess try to get everybody on the same page. Now,
Speaker 2: the ACC just had their spring meetings and presidents were
Speaker 2: not there, and I guess this thing wasn't far enough
Speaker 2: along to where it was even out there to be discussed.
Speaker 2: But it sounds like, according to Ross Tellinger of Yahoo Sports,
Speaker 2: that the AEC presidents are meeting independently this week, and
Speaker 2: I would assume it's to discuss this, and I think
Speaker 2: we'll know with them the next I don't know, a
Speaker 2: week or so if this has got real momentum or
Speaker 2: if in fact, you're going to get some pushback, and
Speaker 2: if and if there is pushback, as far as what
Speaker 2: happens from there, your guess is as good as mine.
Speaker 2: That's the best I can say, all right, real quick.
Speaker 2: I wanted to mention this just because It's really cool
Speaker 2: to be able to say this. It's been a while
Speaker 2: since Louisville basketball had such a highly regarded freshman to
Speaker 2: be joining the program. So Mickel Brown junior one of
Speaker 2: the best recruits that has ever committed and signed to
Speaker 2: play for Louisville, which I'm hopeful he breaks the curse
Speaker 2: because last time we talked about this, I mean, it
Speaker 2: was a reminder that some of the best players as
Speaker 2: far as coming from the high school ranks that committed
Speaker 2: to Louisville either didn't end up playing here or it
Speaker 2: didn't end up coming close to being.
Speaker 3: As good as we expected.
Speaker 2: I'm hopeful that mckail Brown junior will change that and
Speaker 2: all accounts he's got. I feel like he has more
Speaker 2: height than anybody that is signed with Louisville in a
Speaker 2: long time. Again, he's a McDonald's American and he won
Speaker 2: the three point shootout there. He's the number six player
Speaker 2: in the country according to twenty four seven Sports.
Speaker 3: He is. He was a really, really impressive at the
Speaker 3: Nike Hoops Summit. Draft. Express has him as a lottery pick.
Speaker 2: I think it is in next year's draft, so at
Speaker 2: least they did at one point, so regardless of what
Speaker 2: ends up happening. Right now, he's got a lot of
Speaker 2: momentum and that's awesome to see. But he will be
Speaker 2: representing well, I shouldn't say that he's going to be.
Speaker 2: He's been selected to compete for the USA Basketball Men's
Speaker 2: Under nineteen training camp in Colorado next month, So if
Speaker 2: he makes the twelve man team, he'll represent the United
Speaker 2: States in the THEBA Under nineteen Men's World Cup in Switzerland,
Speaker 2: which will take place in late June early July. Which, look,
Speaker 2: if he ends up making that roster, I'd say he's
Speaker 2: got a good chance of doing so. And if he does,
Speaker 2: that'll just get more love for Louisville, which, again, freshmen,
Speaker 2: there's just there's not it's just the new world now, right,
Speaker 2: Like you clearly are going to want to recruit and
Speaker 2: bring in really talented freshmen because you just are. There'll
Speaker 2: never be a scenario where nobody goes to the high
Speaker 2: school ranks at any point, but you just don't have
Speaker 2: to have them now because now you can reload every
Speaker 2: year with players that are coming off their freshman season
Speaker 2: or maybe they've played three years elsewhere, whatever it may be.
Speaker 2: So you know, having really highly regarded freshmen just doesn't
Speaker 2: mean as much as it once did unless you've got
Speaker 2: somebody that is believed to be somebody that could come
Speaker 2: in right away and be one of the best, maybe
Speaker 2: one of the best players in your conference. And I'm
Speaker 2: not saying that for sure Markel Brown Junior is that guy,
Speaker 2: but all signs point to him being potentially one of
Speaker 2: those guys. I mean, he's the number six player in
Speaker 2: the country, you know, when he picked Louisville. I mean
Speaker 2: by that point, I think it was down to a
Speaker 2: few schools, But I mean he's the caliber of a
Speaker 2: player that at any point throughout his recruiting if he
Speaker 2: decided he wanted to go to any school, they would
Speaker 2: have taken him.
Speaker 3: Mean, he's that good.
Speaker 2: So best of luck to him next week next month
Speaker 2: at the training camp in Colorado, and hopefully he can
Speaker 2: represent the United States. That would be I mean, not
Speaker 2: only that would be cool to have the Louisville player
Speaker 2: a part of that, but be cool for him too.
Speaker 2: Or We also talked about the conference finals last night
Speaker 2: getting started with the Thunder going up one to zero,
Speaker 2: and I.
Speaker 3: Don't think it'd be great for the NBA. In fact,
Speaker 3: I know it wouldn't be good for the NBA.
Speaker 2: But I think right now, I'd have a hard time
Speaker 2: seeing anybody beating Oklahoma City. And I think the team
Speaker 2: that maybe had the best chance to do it was
Speaker 2: probably the team that they just beat in the seven
Speaker 2: game series because of Nikola Jokic. So maybe I'm wrong.
Speaker 2: Maybe ant Man and the Wolves get it rolling and
Speaker 2: they can find a way to win this series. I mean,
Speaker 2: they were up early last night and they're still really good.
Speaker 2: I'm not writing them off, but okaysee's really really good.
Speaker 2: And I have a hard time thing and that the NBA.
Speaker 2: When I say the NBA, I guess I mean Adam
Speaker 2: Silver like he'd never say it. But this goes back
Speaker 2: to something we brought up a little earlier earlier this week.
Speaker 2: It's it's common sense that the NBA, if they if
Speaker 2: they could choose for a certain team to win it all,
Speaker 2: which they can't unless you are somebody that believes it's rigged,
Speaker 2: they would never choose the Thunder. And the scenario that
Speaker 2: we get the OKAC Thunder and the Pacers in the finals,
Speaker 2: I'd be excited because hey, I'm a Pacers fan, but
Speaker 2: also that would not be good for the NBA because
Speaker 2: I think it would be a big drop off in
Speaker 2: viewership compared to other teams, and there's nothing you can
Speaker 2: do about it. It's nobody's fault. But I think I
Speaker 2: think we're in a slippery slope here as far as
Speaker 2: those that want to believe that it's rigged, Like I
Speaker 2: think the NBA getting a real dug because it'd be
Speaker 2: a big storyline, right, I mean, it's gonna be a
Speaker 2: storyline regardless of who's there. I mean, viewership in the
Speaker 2: NBA has been a storyline in the NBA this year
Speaker 2: because the product in the regular season is a hard watch.
Speaker 2: I mean unless you're just a diehard fan of a team,
Speaker 2: because they play eighty two games. I mean, they tell
Speaker 2: you directly that it's not that competitive because players just decide, hey,
Speaker 2: load management, we're not gonna play. I mean, I think
Speaker 2: if you say it out loud, you'll realize how ridiculous
Speaker 2: it is. A league, a professional sport league has players
Speaker 2: that just in organizations just decide players aren't going to
Speaker 2: play just because, like you are directly telling your customers,
Speaker 2: your fans that it's not that competitive because yeah, it's
Speaker 2: a Tuesday. This guy's just not going to play just
Speaker 2: because I mean, I don't know how you fix it,
Speaker 2: because you're not going to reduce the amount of games
Speaker 2: because that would reduce money.
Speaker 3: That's just not happening. But I don't know, I don't know.
Speaker 2: If I'm getting more open to believing conspiracy for conspiracies
Speaker 2: or maybe it's just this one. But Shack recently said
Speaker 2: something that you know, and maybe this is just Shack
Speaker 2: being Shack, but he shared a story I guess on
Speaker 2: one of his many platforms might have been a podcast
Speaker 2: he does. I'm not sure what it was, but you know,
Speaker 2: he was the number one pick in the NBA draft
Speaker 2: in what year was it, nineteen nineteen ninety two, So
Speaker 2: he recently said that prior to getting drafted, David Stern
Speaker 2: asked him, do you want to be where it's hot
Speaker 2: or do you want to be where it's cold? And
Speaker 2: he said hot, And then he ended up getting drafted
Speaker 2: by the Magic who won the lottery and the other
Speaker 2: teams that were, you know, potentially in play. The Minnesota
Speaker 2: Timberwolves were the third pick, but there was thought that
Speaker 2: they may you know, they were I think they might
Speaker 2: have been, like I don't know if they were an
Speaker 2: expansion team at that point just yet. But either way,
Speaker 2: I mean, if you wanted to believe that the lottery
Speaker 2: is rigged, I think there's enough evidence for you to
Speaker 2: think that it is. But you know, I'm just I
Speaker 2: guess maybe I'm naive, but I don't want my Pacers
Speaker 2: to make it to the finals and maybe potentially win
Speaker 2: it and it be a storyline. Man, this sucks for
Speaker 2: the NBA. I mean, I would hope that it wouldn't
Speaker 2: rob me of any joy. I don't think that it would,
Speaker 2: but I don't know. I mean, I guess we'll find
Speaker 2: out if we get there, because who knows. Maybe the
Speaker 2: Pacers can't get past the next but I know tonight,
Speaker 2: I'm certainly hopeful that they get past the Knicks in
Speaker 2: Game one and the pace. By the way, I'm trying
Speaker 2: not to be biased here because I'm a Patcerf's fan,
Speaker 2: but like, they've been phenomenal in the postseason.
Speaker 3: Like I know that the Bucks.
Speaker 2: Weren't great this year and the Calves had some injuries,
Speaker 2: but I mean, the Pacers have been rolling in the
Speaker 2: postseason and I wouldn't be shocked if they win big tonight. Now,
Speaker 2: I also respect the Knicks and know that they've got
Speaker 2: a really tough team. They're going to be at home
Speaker 2: and they're gonna have a big time home court advantage.
Speaker 3: But bring it.
Speaker 2: Is Reggie on the call tonight? I need to look
Speaker 2: into that because in fact, is Reggie even doing games anymore?
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's on the call tonight. Be sure it's on TNT.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, but like next year Reggie's joining Yeah he's okay,
Speaker 2: Yeah he's he's still with TNT. But I think his
Speaker 2: contract ends because if you remember, he got he got
Speaker 2: picked up by NBC because the joy like when you
Speaker 2: look at maybe I'm here, but when I looked at
Speaker 2: the NBC lineup for NBA having Michael Jordan, I'm.
Speaker 3: Pretty sure Reggie was a part of that.
Speaker 2: Either way, well, it doesn't matter, it's not relevant. But
Speaker 2: what I need to do is take a quick break.
Speaker 2: We'll come back on the other side. Keep this thing
Speaker 2: rolling along. The tush push for those of you that
Speaker 2: think it's unfair, tough because they did not get enough
Speaker 2: votes to make it illegal in the NFL, So the
Speaker 2: tush push is here to stay. Also, we now know
Speaker 2: who's going to be featured in Hard Knocks after they
Speaker 2: couldn't find an NFL team initially, and then it was
Speaker 2: going to be Belichick until it sounds like his girlfriend
Speaker 2: got on the way.
Speaker 4: Fiance.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm sorry. Apparently apparently apparently she's telling people they're engaged,
Speaker 2: which yikes. All right, quick break, we'll keep it rolling
Speaker 2: along here in the five o'clock hour. It's coffee and company.
Speaker 2: Feel about Thornton's on Sports Talk seven.
Speaker 1: Ninety Now back to coffee and company. Fueled by Thornton's
Speaker 1: on Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: So, a band of the tush push play that the
Speaker 2: Eagles have made very popular did not receive enough votes
Speaker 2: at the spring meetings today that the NFL had.
Speaker 3: Adam Schefter said that the.
Speaker 2: Votes came in excuse me, twenty two to ten on
Speaker 2: the proposal, which.
Speaker 3: Was submitted by the Packers. I guess the Packers were.
Speaker 2: The ones who wanted it to be voted on to
Speaker 2: get rid of, and it needed twenty four votes.
Speaker 3: I guess it got twenty two.
Speaker 2: So just short, and I mean, what I'm curious about
Speaker 2: and maybe Austin you could help me here. Others could
Speaker 2: do this right, I mean, what makes this such a
Speaker 2: doable and successful thing for the Eagles and not anybody else.
Speaker 2: I mean, I keep hearing it's because of Jalen Hurts
Speaker 2: just has such strong legs. But the other there's other
Speaker 2: quarterbacks in the NFL that have strong legs, I would assume.
Speaker 4: I mean, they have like the biggest offensive line. To
Speaker 4: Colin Coward was kind of talking about this before our show.
Speaker 4: They just have a bigger offensive line. The only other
Speaker 4: offensive line just like them is probably like the Lions.
Speaker 4: But Jared Goff's like a tall right, So you got
Speaker 4: Jalen Hurts who's like a short, stocky guy, and I
Speaker 4: guess those two would maybe not them, But the Eagles
Speaker 4: and like the Bills are the only ones that can
Speaker 4: pull it off. So far, it seems like, at least
Speaker 4: at a consistent level, that they're doing it because Josh
Speaker 4: Allen is just this big horse back there and he
Speaker 4: could just get a yard.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm kind of of the belief that if
Speaker 2: they can do it and it's within the rules, then
Speaker 2: you know, people got.
Speaker 3: To figure out a way to stop it.
Speaker 4: I Mean, I don't love the play. It kind of
Speaker 4: gets on my nerves just because like, all right, we
Speaker 4: know what's coming up here. But I mean, it scores
Speaker 4: it's what the NFL likes. The only thing that I'm
Speaker 4: shocked over is they didn't, uh just for the fact that,
Speaker 4: I mean, a player's safety can come into you know,
Speaker 4: because it is just like everyone's going head for first.
Speaker 4: He got Lineman just kind of getting as low as
Speaker 4: they possibly can and and I can only imagine the
Speaker 4: beating that Kelsey has taken when he was doing it.
Speaker 4: So I don't I don't know what what kind of
Speaker 4: a power move that was, Like you said, him just
Speaker 4: showing up to to to Egan Minnesota with uh with
Speaker 4: whoever Howie rose Men and they're like, all right, guy,
Speaker 4: this guy is gonna change your mind. I mean, it.
Speaker 2: Worked, but I just don't like, I mean, what why
Speaker 2: does Jay Like, why would Jason Kelce need to be
Speaker 2: the guy that is because because because he's part of it,
Speaker 2: he was part of like making it popular. I mean,
Speaker 2: maybe he was there to speak if somebody brought up
Speaker 2: players safety, but no offense. Even if he was there
Speaker 2: to do that, he's not a doctor and like he's
Speaker 2: not objective. He's with the Eagles, right, like yeah, I
Speaker 2: just I don't know. It seemed like such a force
Speaker 2: and he's clearly mister popular.
Speaker 3: But it's just basically.
Speaker 4: Personnel is the main reason that that only certain teams
Speaker 4: are able to pull it off like they can and
Speaker 4: I don't.
Speaker 2: And again I probably should know this, and I could
Speaker 2: probably look at up so my fault, but how often
Speaker 2: do they actually do it? I mean, it clearly is
Speaker 2: something that they've got in their bag and it's it's utilized.
Speaker 4: A first down or the goal line.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they had Jason Kelcey in Minneapolis on behalf of
Speaker 2: the Eagles this morning to lobby NFL owners as to
Speaker 2: why they should keep and not ban, But I mean,
Speaker 2: no offense to him.
Speaker 3: Why would why would why would he.
Speaker 2: Need to say anything like because he's Jason Kelsey, Like
Speaker 2: I just I don't know, I don't that to me
Speaker 2: that made me want them to ban it, even though
Speaker 2: I don't really care and I've probably also leaned more
Speaker 2: so why not, you know, just let them do it,
Speaker 2: figure out a way to stop it. It's not against
Speaker 2: the rules. It's just unique and credit to them for
Speaker 2: finding a way to do something that nobody else is doing.
Speaker 3: But like him being there to speak, like, why why
Speaker 3: would we like, what would that do?
Speaker 4: I mean, what's the argument for keeping it. Like what
Speaker 4: is other than like Eagles fans who like really I
Speaker 4: mean really really want it because they're the ones that
Speaker 4: perfected it. And I can only imagine that because their
Speaker 4: fan base is so like, so rugged, sometimes annoying. I
Speaker 4: won't go off the I mean they're kind of savages.
Speaker 4: I mean, they are savages. But my wonderful, wonderful fiance,
Speaker 4: her whole family is is go birds Eagles fans, so don't.
Speaker 4: I don't want to ruffle any feathers here, But like,
Speaker 4: what what is?
Speaker 2: It's not all like that, but you know, right right,
Speaker 2: the reputation is justified.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, they're not gonna attack me just because
Speaker 4: I wear my Vikings jersey over there.
Speaker 2: But what they also they also couldn't lie to you
Speaker 2: if you told them that, like you expected others to
Speaker 2: do it, they would have to be like, yeah, you're
Speaker 2: probably right.
Speaker 4: Yeah exactly. So I'm and I'm wondering, like if this
Speaker 4: was like the Cowboys perfecting and it Dak Prescott is
Speaker 4: the one that's getting one yard over them all the time,
Speaker 4: I can imagine that they would have a problem with it.
Speaker 4: But now they're like, so you guys trying to come
Speaker 4: at us again and just puffing their chest out as
Speaker 4: Eagles fans. So they're the ones like walking away from it.
Speaker 4: I think there's only like nine teams that like voted
Speaker 4: to like keep it, And I don't know, I just
Speaker 4: don't know. There seems to be a lot more talking
Speaker 4: points of why it should be banned rather than rather
Speaker 4: than why it should have been.
Speaker 2: The only one that I've come up is like a
Speaker 2: buzz reason is just people just say player safety. But
Speaker 2: I mean, you can just I mean, and I'm sure
Speaker 2: they do have medical experts that can give you some
Speaker 2: legitimate reasoning behind it, But like I feel like player
Speaker 2: safety some meaning, any any with anything in football that
Speaker 2: you want changed, you can just say player safety. And
Speaker 2: it's a crutch because, let's be honest, football is a
Speaker 2: violent sport that at any moment somebody could die. That's
Speaker 2: not an exaggeration. That's a rare thing obviously, but like
Speaker 2: football is violent. And I say this is something that
Speaker 2: has been said a few times over.
Speaker 3: The years, but I believe this.
Speaker 2: If this sport was introduced to us today, medical professionals
Speaker 2: would tell us that we shouldn't play and it's not safe.
Speaker 2: I'm not advocating that we ever do that, because God,
Speaker 2: I love football. I can't imagine live without it. But
Speaker 2: you know, player safety as much as it is, and
Speaker 2: I give the NFL credit. They have invested insane amount
Speaker 2: of money into continuously evaluating how they can continue to
Speaker 2: operate and exist but also do everything they can to
Speaker 2: keep people safe. But they're they're for a moment. There
Speaker 2: there was a time, and I feel like it's kind
Speaker 2: of died down a little bit. But like this notion
Speaker 2: that football's ever going to not be violent, the only
Speaker 2: way that would happen is if you don't make it
Speaker 2: football anymore. You make it like two hand touch or
Speaker 2: something like. So, I don't know, someone when I hear
Speaker 2: player safety, it's not like I'm like, all who cares
Speaker 2: let them die? I mean, it's not that at all,
Speaker 2: But it's just it's thrown out there all the time,
Speaker 2: and it's just an easy thing to just, you know,
Speaker 2: we got to keep players safe.
Speaker 4: Yeah, look how many other silly rule changes that they
Speaker 4: made just straight for player safety. The way that the
Speaker 4: onside kick is, the way that the regular kick is now,
Speaker 4: you got it, there's like no chance for a return whatsoever.
Speaker 4: H The way that they've made the quarterback rules the
Speaker 4: way that they've made targeting rules, and this is this
Speaker 4: is a play where guys are literally just going in
Speaker 4: head first and just like not even looking at where
Speaker 4: they're going. And it's not like they're they're obviously trying
Speaker 4: to get a yard. You're going up with several you're
Speaker 4: going up with eight other people. That's just like bullying
Speaker 4: their way, trying to get through your guys that's blocking you,
Speaker 4: and they're they're they're just looking at the ground hoping
Speaker 4: to stop you and just head first. So, like, I know,
Speaker 4: concussions and head trauma has been one of their main things.
Speaker 4: So I'm a little bit baffled that this kind of
Speaker 4: state the same. I'm not salty, I'm just baffled.
Speaker 2: The so the when it comes to players safety concerns,
Speaker 2: defensive players are often at risk of lower body injuries
Speaker 2: from being forced backwards in an unnatural position. Again, that
Speaker 2: can happen any moment in football. Again, that's not to
Speaker 2: say that what they're claiming is is uh, it's not true,
Speaker 2: but as far as often at risk for lower body
Speaker 2: body injuries anytime a ball is snapped and you're competing
Speaker 2: in a football game, especially at the NFL level that
Speaker 2: that that's always going to exist to an extent. Now,
Speaker 2: maybe it'll be worse with the push push. But at
Speaker 2: another reason here as far as that was brought up,
Speaker 2: is that it goes against the spirit of the game.
Speaker 2: Traditionalists say the play is too much resembling r be
Speaker 2: more than football, and it undermines the strategic elements of
Speaker 2: the sport.
Speaker 3: Whatever. That's just a bunch of words.
Speaker 2: They also made a change today, well, I guess they
Speaker 2: didn't make the change of the toushbush, but a change
Speaker 2: that was approved is the on side kick rule, allowing
Speaker 2: teams to declare an on side kick anytime while trailing,
Speaker 2: as well as lineup one yard closer to the opponents.
Speaker 2: So previously, teams could only declare on side kicks while
Speaker 2: trailing in the fourth quarter. I will be honest with you,
Speaker 2: I didn't even know that was a thing. I feel
Speaker 2: really stupid saying that, but.
Speaker 4: You know, well, the recovery of on side kicks over
Speaker 4: the last few years has not been No one's recovered.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's very rare.
Speaker 4: And how do you feel about There's a lot at
Speaker 4: least with some podcasts that I listened to, when people
Speaker 4: want to change that rule. There's been the idea floated
Speaker 4: out that I don't know, do like a fourth and
Speaker 4: fifteen or like a fourth and twenty for that play
Speaker 4: rather than a rather than just like an onside kick
Speaker 4: I mean, which I understand on the surface three thousand
Speaker 4: feet view, that sounds pretty good, but I mean it's
Speaker 4: not like it. It shouldn't just be just because you're losing,
Speaker 4: you get a chance just to win, just because you
Speaker 4: can't recover the on side kick. How about don't fall
Speaker 4: down twenty one points in the third quarter and then
Speaker 4: you won't need that. So I'm not for the well,
Speaker 4: you should just give a team fourth and fifteen because
Speaker 4: they're not going to recover the on side kick, so
Speaker 4: just because they're losing, we should give them a shot.
Speaker 3: No that I would I mean that would be I'm
Speaker 3: hell no to that. You and I are on the
Speaker 3: same page.
Speaker 4: But everyone just thinks the excitement of it, it's the
Speaker 4: excitement of that one play trying to get twenty yards
Speaker 4: to where your skill position players are on the field,
Speaker 4: rather than like your gunners on special teams, leaving it
Speaker 4: in the fate of them. I can understand, but don't
Speaker 4: be down and you don't have that problem.
Speaker 3: Yep. So the NFL.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's not the NFL. It's HBO show. But
Speaker 2: Hard Knocks been around for a long time. I'm done
Speaker 2: lying to people. I've done it for years. Why you
Speaker 2: know why I keep lying. If I was ever going
Speaker 2: to really get into Hard Knocks, I would have already
Speaker 2: done it, you know.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's been around for a long time. It's
Speaker 3: really popular.
Speaker 2: The content of what it is is something that is
Speaker 2: usually right up my alley. But I've learned it from me.
Speaker 2: When it comes to behind the scenes, I'm just not
Speaker 2: that interested in NFL players behind the scenes. I love
Speaker 2: the sport, but like, to me, I would be more
Speaker 2: interested in a story about a behind the scenes Hard
Speaker 2: Knocks style show, for like a junior college football team
Speaker 2: like we've seen in last Chanchu.
Speaker 1: Like.
Speaker 2: I love those stories because it's it's it's interesting to me.
Speaker 2: I don't think that behind the scenes in the NFL.
Speaker 2: I'm not like against it, but it just doesn't intrigue
Speaker 2: me enough to wear Like, man, I got to see
Speaker 2: what practice was like this week for the Bills. It's like,
Speaker 2: it doesn't it doesn't. It doesn't do much for me.
Speaker 2: But again it's clearly very popular. So here's what we know.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: The Bills are going to be featured on Hard Knocks
Speaker 2: this summer during training camp only, so it'll premiere August
Speaker 2: the fifth, and uh, it's their first appearance. Yeah, it
Speaker 2: says here that the it's the first their first appearance.
Speaker 2: Buffalo's due to the NFL rules expanding eligible teams by
Speaker 2: removing the playoff opt out clause, which I didn't even
Speaker 2: know that was a thing.
Speaker 4: But yeah, you couldn't have made the playoffs and been
Speaker 4: on on Hard Knocks. You had to be like a
Speaker 4: bomb team.
Speaker 2: It makes it makes total sense because of I mean,
Speaker 2: you would you know. The interesting side of it would
Speaker 2: be a team that's coming together to try to, you know,
Speaker 2: to get better.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're not.
Speaker 2: You're not You're not fat and happy and successful. You're
Speaker 2: trying to compete and get better because you didn't, you know,
Speaker 2: make the playoffs. But they've had to make some changes
Speaker 2: because nobody wanted to be part of it. But says
Speaker 2: the NFC East, including the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys, Commanders, will
Speaker 2: be featured in the end season Hard Knocks starting December
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five, offering a rare division wide look at
Speaker 2: the you know, the dynamics of that division, and that
Speaker 2: I think is probably the way they may go moving
Speaker 2: forward because it sounds like and I saw a little
Speaker 2: bit of it, but last year when they were featuring
Speaker 2: the inn season, uh, the nd season version of it
Speaker 2: on the what what division is.
Speaker 4: The AFC East?
Speaker 2: Yeah, with the with the Bengals, Yeah, and the Bengals
Speaker 2: Ravens the North, right, Yeah, the North the Bengals Ravens,
Speaker 2: Steve and who else was it?
Speaker 3: Who?
Speaker 4: Brown?
Speaker 3: Yeah? The Browns.
Speaker 2: And I mean I checked that out because it was
Speaker 2: a rare. I think I might have showed you this,
Speaker 2: but there was a rare. I didn't even realize they
Speaker 2: were doing that. But I actually went to a Titans
Speaker 2: game when the Bengals and the Titans played because I
Speaker 2: have a cousin who's a big time Bengals fan, and
Speaker 2: we met him in Nashville and had a phenomenal time
Speaker 2: at the game. And they were filming and you could tell,
Speaker 2: I mean by looking at the field that wasn't just
Speaker 2: cameras that's there for coverage of the game. Those were
Speaker 2: like cinema movie cameras and way more production people. And
Speaker 2: then my cousin had sent me a screenshot of the
Speaker 2: trailer promoting or previewing that episode, and there is a
Speaker 2: moment where you can see, right after a big catch
Speaker 2: by Higgins near the goal line, you can see my
Speaker 2: son in the background because we had that good of seats,
Speaker 2: not because of me, because of my cousin.
Speaker 3: He hooked it up. But anyways, I ended up.
Speaker 2: Watching a little bit of that to see if I
Speaker 2: could find that little clip, which I did, and it's little.
Speaker 2: You just have to hit pause and you can see
Speaker 2: his blonde hair and you can see us very we're
Speaker 2: in the background and it's not you can't see as clearly,
Speaker 2: but that's where we were sitting. But anyways, that was
Speaker 2: interesting to me just because I'm like Mike Tomlin in
Speaker 2: that and this isn't a surprise because he's believed to
Speaker 2: be I mean, I think I think a lot of people.
Speaker 2: If you like the Steelers and not you understand why
Speaker 2: players like playing for Mike Tomlin. He's I mean, but
Speaker 2: hearing him in the locker room compared to like other
Speaker 2: coaches that you hear and look, you can't be you
Speaker 2: can't be fake, like you got to be who you
Speaker 2: are I think NFL players, really pros, will sniff it
Speaker 2: out if you're just trying to be somebody that you're not.
Speaker 2: But I think Mike Tomlin's been pretty consistent about who
Speaker 2: he is, and clearly they haven't had as much success
Speaker 2: in recent years. But I get now why the Steelers
Speaker 2: organization feels as if they they're not. They feel like
Speaker 2: they got a coach that represents what they want to do,
Speaker 2: and they'll probably never change that unless you know, they're
Speaker 2: really forced to, meaning that the Steelers kind of fall
Speaker 2: off the cliff, which maybe that's this year because right
Speaker 2: now they're starting quarterbacks, make someon Rudolph is not I
Speaker 2: mean who else they got, I mean, who else do
Speaker 2: they have? I mean it's kind of a dumpster fire. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so maybe that ends up happening. But uh yeah, Knocks
Speaker 2: will be a mixed bag this year. And again I
Speaker 2: probably won't watch it, but I know a lot of
Speaker 2: people do, so hope you enjoy it. Quick break, we'll
Speaker 2: come back on the other side, wrap this thing up
Speaker 2: on Sports Talks seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: That's right, we were wrapping things up here on a
Speaker 2: Wednesday afternoon. Appreciate you guys hanging out with us. Hopefully
Speaker 2: you've enjoyed yourself. If not, come back tomorrow, We'll try again.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's all we can do, right, and I
Speaker 2: don't have any I'm not to the point where I
Speaker 2: can really I mean, I I don't wanna throw stuff
Speaker 2: out there and then it not actually happened. But with
Speaker 2: next week being the last week, I've got some things
Speaker 2: in mind that I'm trying to put together to where
Speaker 2: we can have a fun week that will probably be
Speaker 2: a lot different than what we you know, typically do here.
Speaker 2: But if there's ever a week to do that.
Speaker 3: Wouldn't it be? Wouldn't it be next week? Whenever?
Speaker 2: It's the last week of the show. And for those
Speaker 2: of you that continue to ask what happens here at
Speaker 2: this time, I still don't know, And in fact, since
Speaker 2: last week, I've had no update, and you know they
Speaker 2: won't They're not gonna. I mean, I'm gonna have to
Speaker 2: ask them before they tell me anything. And when I
Speaker 2: can say something about that, I will, But there's really
Speaker 2: nothing I can say because I have no clue what
Speaker 2: they what they will end up doing so, I would
Speaker 2: hope by next Friday maybe I can give you some
Speaker 2: type of insight as to what we'll be here from
Speaker 2: three to six whenever it will no longer be me,
Speaker 2: but a reminder if you still enjoy listening to me
Speaker 2: and you still want to do that, you still can.
Speaker 2: It just won't be here at this time on the station.
Speaker 2: It'll be just just North on your radio dial from
Speaker 2: seven nine zero to eight four zero.
Speaker 3: It'll be a lot earlier.
Speaker 2: And for all of you that you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: it still happens from time to time in the last
Speaker 2: few months to where and I'll talk to somebody who says, man,
Speaker 2: I really miss you in the mornings because that was
Speaker 2: just the easier time for them to listen live, just
Speaker 2: because I guess maybe their schedule or whatever it may be. Well,
Speaker 2: now you will be able to listen in the mornings.
Speaker 2: It'll just be on a different station and it'll be
Speaker 2: a different type of show. But I did feel really
Speaker 2: good about a meeting we had earlier today to where
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm gonna be able to put my own
Speaker 2: flavor on that morning show. It'll be again, It's it's
Speaker 2: a different format, but I think you'll still be able
Speaker 2: to recognize, Hey, I remember this guy, and hopefully you
Speaker 2: wouldn't have forgot about me just by simply changing the station.
Speaker 2: But you know, I'm not leaving leaving, I'm just moving
Speaker 2: down the hall and getting up a lot earlier, which
Speaker 2: I got up today to be here for a sales meeting,
Speaker 2: and I got up a little earlier than I typically do,
Speaker 2: and I was like, man, I'm tired. And then I realized, oh,
Speaker 2: you poor son of a you have no clue. But
Speaker 2: get used to it, man, because I woke up feeling
Speaker 2: tired today and I would have already been on the air.
Speaker 3: For like, you know, two hours at that time. So
Speaker 3: it'll be a US mint for sure.
Speaker 2: But hey, I'm gonna make the most of the time
Speaker 2: we have left here on seven ninety the rest of
Speaker 2: this week and obviously next week. So hopefully you guys
Speaker 2: we'll join in with us in these final shows. All right,
Speaker 2: have a good night, everybody, talk to you tomorrow right
Speaker 2: here on Sports Talk seven ninety