Speaker 1: I feel like we've accomplished something today, because sometimes you know,
Speaker 1: when it's July and it's ninety two degrees out and
Speaker 1: it's good gearless biking weather, we can get ck to
Speaker 1: pop up.
Speaker 2: It has what, it has a gear, It has a gear.
Speaker 1: It has a single gear, but it has one. So
Speaker 1: I guess saying gearless is single.
Speaker 2: Speed is what we call them in the in the
Speaker 2: parlance of our hipster biking community.
Speaker 1: I thought the hipster bike has zero gears. You need
Speaker 1: a gear, You need a gear. Okay, so one gear,
Speaker 1: single speed, a single speed bike. Okay. Anyway, I always
Speaker 1: thought it was a gearless bike.
Speaker 2: Fixed gear is the one is the hips iss Okay.
Speaker 1: See, I'm learning. I need to learn because I'm old
Speaker 1: and I'm not hit. But I think I feel like
Speaker 1: it's an upset to get you out of the house
Speaker 1: in January.
Speaker 2: Well it's not January, it's late October.
Speaker 1: Feels like it. Yeah, it's nice, it's still win or break.
Speaker 2: My wife is home and as you know, the the
Speaker 2: little gremlin, it takes up a lot of time. So
Speaker 2: usually if I have the free time, I tell Port.
Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, let's get in. Well, I appreciate
Speaker 2: chop it up. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: We were talking about your New Year's Eve experience and
Speaker 1: you were in bedter early because you were working.
Speaker 2: I mean I technically wasn't working on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 2: I was working New Year's Day, but I was in
Speaker 2: southern California earlier this week for the Rose Bowl. I
Speaker 2: was in charge of covering Organ's playoff run, which was
Speaker 2: extremely short lived. It was, but luckily I was able
Speaker 2: to go to the Lakers Cavs game in l a
Speaker 2: first time at the at the Crypt is what they
Speaker 2: call it the Crypt now Staple Center, but it's now
Speaker 2: it's Crypto something arena, but it's the Crypt. Got to see, uh,
Speaker 2: the Kobe statue, which was really cool, the other statues
Speaker 2: as well. It's a really nice place. It's a really
Speaker 2: nice and I know, like the Delta Center is nice
Speaker 2: as well. But I grew up going to kind of
Speaker 2: crappy arenas, like going up to growing up going to
Speaker 2: the the Oracle in Oakland, which is now a crypt
Speaker 2: and that the Center was nice, but you know, it
Speaker 2: kind of felt on hard times. But since it's been
Speaker 2: redone in the last five years, it's it's up to par.
Speaker 1: Uh. But it was.
Speaker 2: It was an interesting experience. Cool seeing Lebron you know,
Speaker 2: ran into my guy Donovan, dapped him up a little bit.
Speaker 1: You saw you saw a guy, Donnie. I saw him
Speaker 1: from a very far fair enough, fair enough, but you
Speaker 1: did You didn't approach him to say what's happening? No, No,
Speaker 1: I don't think he would remember me. Yeah, fair enough.
Speaker 1: Quinn Snyder in town on Tuesday, the Atlanta Hawks, y? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: Hawks in town on Tuesday. Let me ask you, but
Speaker 1: we're gonna do mostly football, but do it that has
Speaker 1: That was kind of your first NBA in arena experience
Speaker 1: in a minute.
Speaker 2: The only NBA minutes I've watched this year, even on television.
Speaker 1: How was like I was talking about this last week.
Speaker 1: We had a topic like the best in person sporting
Speaker 1: experience For me, it's an NFL game. Like NFL, they
Speaker 1: just do it right. What was the in arena NBA
Speaker 1: experience like for you? It was nice?
Speaker 2: I mean I think it helped that there was a
Speaker 2: little bit of buzz because it was New Year's Eve,
Speaker 2: big game, two great. I mean, the best team in
Speaker 2: the NBA. Lebron played, Bronni didn't play, which is a
Speaker 2: huge bummer. For me, but it was a decently close
Speaker 2: game off and on, but Cleveland's too good. And the
Speaker 2: the in person experience was cool because anytime you're watching
Speaker 2: a legend like Lebron, people kind of get juiced. So
Speaker 2: anytime he did something, people would just go out of
Speaker 2: their mind. And he had a good game. And I
Speaker 2: think it was his first game after turning forty as well.
Speaker 2: They him they saying happy birthday on the on the JumboTron,
Speaker 2: and he did the heart heart sign to the fans
Speaker 2: and then did I Love La all the all the typical.
Speaker 1: Stuff you would do, and as in late thirties, I
Speaker 1: just pulled my back, sleeping guy. What he's doing at
Speaker 1: forty is unequivocally impressive.
Speaker 2: I mean, yes, as as somebody who is in his
Speaker 2: age arena, but not in the competitive arena. It is
Speaker 2: it is not out of the realm of possibility to think.
Speaker 2: I think he said recently that he thinks he could
Speaker 2: play till like forty seven or forty eight. I mean,
Speaker 2: if he can avoid injury. Sure, I mean, the dude
Speaker 2: is still like throwing down dunks and he looks like
Speaker 2: he's in better shape at forty maybe I mean less
Speaker 2: bulk and maybe that makes sense to avoid injury. But
Speaker 2: he looks like he's in better overall shape at forty
Speaker 2: than he was at like twenty five.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's something about Lebron that is entirely on authentic
Speaker 1: and corny, you know, like he's wrapping Kendrick Lamar at
Speaker 1: his birthday party and sending that out or whatever. But
Speaker 1: he really has taught this generation on as far as habits,
Speaker 1: to take care of yourself and take care of your body.
Speaker 2: He spends and your mentals too, Yeah, I mean, like, yes,
Speaker 2: I agree with you.
Speaker 1: Spend's a tremendous amount of money on his physical health
Speaker 1: and the old saying a healthy man wants a million things,
Speaker 1: a sick man only wants one.
Speaker 2: Well, I was at the game with Bill oorm Our, buddy,
Speaker 2: he used to shut up. Bill work at the Tribune
Speaker 2: and it is now the calmness at the Oregonian. He
Speaker 2: was in town obviously for the Rose Bowl as well,
Speaker 2: but spent a number of the years covering the Lakers.
Speaker 2: And I said, Bill, why does Lebron always sit? He
Speaker 2: sits on like a higher he has like a thing.
Speaker 2: And Bill's like, I don't know, and I'm like Dude,
Speaker 2: you covered this guy for like five years and you
Speaker 2: never asked him why he sits on like this old
Speaker 2: man pad failure by Bill, I said, I assume it
Speaker 2: has to do with some sort of backing, sure, or
Speaker 2: I mean you got the back as you know, if
Speaker 2: it's out, yeah you're out. You're out of commission for
Speaker 2: a long Yes time.
Speaker 1: It is.
Speaker 2: I think objectively, it is the scariest body part to
Speaker 2: injure as you get older.
Speaker 1: Pat Riley's old saying was back problems change your personality.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, because they do rib injury. I'm dealing with
Speaker 1: a torn rotator cuff telling you, man, you just wait.
Speaker 1: You know you're getting there. Yeah, but that's cool you
Speaker 1: had that experience, all right. So Oregon's playoff run was
Speaker 1: short lived. That's just I don't know, man, that felt really.
Speaker 1: If I'm an organ fan, I feel hard done because
Speaker 1: I won my conference. I won every game, and I
Speaker 1: heard I mean, you know, me grinding on tape. But honestly,
Speaker 1: and I was talked about this yesterday. Because everything in
Speaker 1: college athletics is so new, I've kind of leaned into
Speaker 1: the whole like diagnostic approach on the radio instead of
Speaker 1: like prognosticating because it's hard to know what this is
Speaker 1: going to look like. We're all going through it for
Speaker 1: the first time, and it just feels like Ohio State
Speaker 1: all year long was talked about as a team that
Speaker 1: when they're playing at their best, they're the best team
Speaker 1: in the country. And I understand the way that the
Speaker 1: conferences went out in Ohio State with a horrible home
Speaker 1: loss to Michigan. The seating is what it is. But
Speaker 1: if you're Oregon, you're a fan, and our reward is
Speaker 1: Ohio State. The first time we have a chance to play,
Speaker 1: you feel a little hard done, don't you. You do?
Speaker 2: But you also have to realize that there is always
Speaker 2: going to be a plethora of wartz in this system
Speaker 2: because it's impossible to figure out. Somebody is always going
Speaker 2: to have a gripe and it's a bummer, but it
Speaker 2: is what it is. Man Like, I sat on press
Speaker 2: row with a bunch of people who are a lot
Speaker 2: smarter than me, sat next to Bruce Feldman, Ari Wasserman,
Speaker 2: my good buddy was down the way, and this was
Speaker 2: just a topic of conversation for most of the day.
Speaker 2: And Cam tig Robinson, who actually covers Ohio State for
Speaker 2: the Athletic brought up a great point. He's like, the
Speaker 2: one thing that could have fixed this is if Penn
Speaker 2: State in Ohio State were the other seed, Oregon should
Speaker 2: have been playing potentially Penn State and not Ohio State.
Speaker 1: For sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I understand that Penn State made the Big Ten
Speaker 2: title game. I understand the way things shake out. They
Speaker 2: just have to figure out by they the committee has
Speaker 2: to figure out a way to not necessarily overload a
Speaker 2: side of the bracket, which they unfortunately did this year.
Speaker 2: And like we talked about a few weeks ago, I mean,
Speaker 2: Oregon got the Group of Death. Even if they would
Speaker 2: have won, You're going to Arlington to play Dallas. And
Speaker 2: to your point, I mean, Ohio State's the best team
Speaker 2: in the country, the deepest team in the country, easy,
Speaker 2: hands down. It's not even close. We talk about rivalry
Speaker 2: games and what they can bring out of you the
Speaker 2: best of the worst. Michigan has not brought out the
Speaker 2: best in Ohio State the last four years. They're on
Speaker 2: a four games, kid, but that doesn't like take away
Speaker 2: from the fact that they're the deepest team in the country.
Speaker 2: And it's corny, man, but like you want to be
Speaker 2: playing your best football at this time of year, especially
Speaker 2: as the as the season can be as long as
Speaker 2: seventeen games, as it will be the case for Ohio
Speaker 2: State this year. And I'm of the mind that the
Speaker 2: way the game played out, I think Oregon has a
Speaker 2: gripe but like when you get your breaks, you know,
Speaker 2: beat off the way they did, like it's I mean,
Speaker 2: it was thirty four to nothing in the second quarter, Spence.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they did settle in. I don't know how
Speaker 1: much of that as Ohio State going this is over,
Speaker 1: but honestly, watching the way Ohio State overwhelmed Oregon, I
Speaker 1: wondered if any other team in the country could have
Speaker 1: even made it as close as Oregon did. The rest
Speaker 1: of the way just felt like such an unfair fight,
Speaker 1: and Oregon was really impressive all year. I guess that
Speaker 1: just speaks to Ohio State. It does.
Speaker 2: But I think one thing that maybe a lot of
Speaker 2: us overlooked is the fact that every good team Oregon
Speaker 2: played this year they barely beat them. They still beat them,
Speaker 2: barely beat Boise State at home, barely beat.
Speaker 1: Ohio State at home.
Speaker 2: If Will Howard doesn't awkwardly side and lose track of time,
Speaker 2: you don't know how that game ends. Yea, and barely
Speaker 2: be Penn State in the Big Ten title game and
Speaker 2: gave up five hundred and sixty yards of total offense
Speaker 2: to a decently talented Penn State team, but not like
Speaker 2: a world beater by any means. So I do think
Speaker 2: there were some alarm bells along the way, but they
Speaker 2: won every game, so Ohio State made them look pedestrian
Speaker 2: at best, to say the least. And listen, man, I
Speaker 2: mean they had the best player in the field, who's
Speaker 2: an eighteen year old kid. I mean it was, and
Speaker 2: like they have Chip Kelly calling their offense. I'm not
Speaker 2: saying you have a guy who a much maligned head
Speaker 2: coach and Ryan Day, who the fan base is very
Speaker 2: upset at because he's lost four games in a row
Speaker 2: against their arch rival. I get it, but this the
Speaker 2: record is still insane. It's like sixty six and seven
Speaker 2: or something or whatever. You might be able to it
Speaker 2: up and then you hire Chip Kelly and you have
Speaker 2: all these offensive weapons.
Speaker 1: Sixty eight and ten sixty and.
Speaker 2: Four of those losses have been to Michigan. I get it,
Speaker 2: and Michigan won last year. But it's like, listen man,
Speaker 2: there's a reason why everybody was kind of up in
Speaker 2: arms when they figured out the number that Ohio State
Speaker 2: was able to spend on money wise on this team.
Speaker 2: And you think of players like Jeremiah Smith, Cale Downs,
Speaker 2: the kid they got from Alabama. A lot of people
Speaker 2: were skeptical about Will Howard coming from Kansas State, and
Speaker 2: he's had his best two games of the year at
Speaker 2: the most important point of the year. So I just
Speaker 2: don't know if we're ever going to have a playoff
Speaker 2: where somebody's not feeling betrayed in some sense.
Speaker 1: So at some point, maybe I've already reached the point
Speaker 1: of no return. I'm sure people are going to be
Speaker 1: so tired of be leading into the same narrative. I
Speaker 1: just don't know of an issue that plagues college football
Speaker 1: that can't be solved with a professional model. Nobody belly
Speaker 1: aches about the way the NFL crowns their chant, right,
Speaker 1: So you know, it's conferences, it's divisions. Now, some people
Speaker 1: at times don't love the division things. So you win
Speaker 1: eight games, you win a crappy division and you get
Speaker 1: a home field or you know.
Speaker 2: The NFC South. This year, the Buccaneers will win and
Speaker 2: they'll get a home game.
Speaker 1: Yea, but you don't hear the same amount of belly aching.
Speaker 1: So Joel Klatt, his whole idea is to lean into that.
Speaker 1: You know, we'll just use the SEC in the Big
Speaker 1: Ten and they'll invite whoever they want to invite, and
Speaker 1: hopefully it's our local schools. And then there are two
Speaker 1: conferences and divisions, and then you follow the pro model,
Speaker 1: a playoff model, and Clatt's ideas to make the Rose
Speaker 1: Bowl the super Bowl of college football. Do you think
Speaker 1: there's any meat on that bone.
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know. He would know better than me.
Speaker 2: I think it makes sense to have every championship game there.
Speaker 2: There's no reason why, I guess. I will say there
Speaker 2: are other cities around the country that really, I would
Speaker 2: assume provide a lot of tax breaks to, you know,
Speaker 2: people who want to come and really descend on the city.
Speaker 2: I mean, you think in places like Atlanta, Miami Fiend
Speaker 2: and Glendale area like these are all places that pretty
Speaker 2: much also managed to host like NCAA Men's and women's final.
Speaker 1: Fours as well.
Speaker 2: I would like I would always like the Rose Bowl
Speaker 2: to be the last game of the year. It was
Speaker 2: my second time there. It just makes sense. It's an
Speaker 2: old stadium, but it's perfect. It's like the scene is unreal.
Speaker 2: People are there at like six am, and whoever is
Speaker 2: in that theoretical title game, people will show up and
Speaker 2: show out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and look, there are several issues here because as
Speaker 1: you're talking through cities not wanting to give up those games.
Speaker 1: Also this, and maybe you have some insight here. I
Speaker 1: believe every specific bowl is its own business entity and
Speaker 1: employees a lot of different people. Correct, So the Orange
Speaker 1: Bowl employees are good. Wait like, wait a second, now
Speaker 1: I don't have a job.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's it's hard. In my opinion, an ideal format,
Speaker 2: at least from a schedule standpoint, is next year that
Speaker 2: got to have the quarters be at home sites.
Speaker 1: I totally agree college football should be played on campus.
Speaker 2: I think I think semis and final. You can make
Speaker 2: an argument that it's at a neutral site because that
Speaker 2: way you can satisfy all the major bowls. If you
Speaker 2: just sugar, Orange, Rose, so on and so forth of cotton,
Speaker 2: you can find a way to satisfy those folks. But
Speaker 2: it's it. I feel like it would make for better games.
Speaker 2: I feel like it would make for a better atmosphere.
Speaker 2: I mean, everybody that I talked to that were at
Speaker 2: the first round game said it was insane. They said, like,
Speaker 2: South Bend was awesome, you know, State College was awesome.
Speaker 2: You got to and you have to give those those
Speaker 2: guys that earn those seeds a chance to Like, I
Speaker 2: would make the argument that having a home game, even
Speaker 2: if it's against in Ohio State, is maybe better than
Speaker 2: potentially drawing a theoretically less impressive opponent, because you're never
Speaker 2: going to figure out who, like the committee's never going
Speaker 2: to satisfy everyone's issue.
Speaker 1: Is that right? Right?
Speaker 2: But if you can, home field advantage is generally in
Speaker 2: college football, the most ideal home field advantage for somebody
Speaker 2: who's earned it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree with that, And I also just think
Speaker 1: college football should be played on campuses whenever possible. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's one of the things that make it make it great.
Speaker 1: One of the other things that make it great and unique,
Speaker 1: even juxtaposed to pro football, is every weekend is urgent,
Speaker 1: every weekend is intense, Every weekend is paramount. I mean,
Speaker 1: you can stub your toe once, maybe twice, and then
Speaker 1: after that you're cooked. And what we have now are
Speaker 1: four teams left. None of whom won their conference. None
Speaker 1: of them had a first round by and it's interesting
Speaker 1: that you were in Pasadena. Like I mean, Bruce Feldman
Speaker 1: is as in my opinion, as good as it gets
Speaker 1: in covering the sport. I'd love to get already on
Speaker 1: the show. We've had Bruce a couple of times. I
Speaker 1: wonder what the conversation is about whether or not we
Speaker 1: have diluted the regular season, whether or not these auto
Speaker 1: you know the first round byes are the right way
Speaker 1: to go, And do you think there are gonna be
Speaker 1: changes coming after all the complaining. I don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean, like I said, those folks are way more
Speaker 2: plugged in and a lot smarter than I am. I
Speaker 2: think the committee will have to put their heads together
Speaker 2: and take notes, Like you'll have to do an exit survey,
Speaker 2: though maybe I'll have to call your guy Raye.
Speaker 1: Get a qualtric survey.
Speaker 2: Going to figure out what worked in the minds of
Speaker 2: people who participated this year and who didn't. It's tricky
Speaker 2: with twelve man. I think with eight it could be
Speaker 2: pretty easy to figure out, but you add four more
Speaker 2: teams in the mix, I think it's difficult. They have
Speaker 2: to figure out, Like it's a bummer that all our
Speaker 2: West Coast teams lost in the quarters man because then
Speaker 2: it plays into the narrative of it just means more,
Speaker 2: and ball means more in places that everywhere else in
Speaker 2: the country says it means more. I get it, But
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of people that say Arizona
Speaker 2: State and Boise State didn't deserve a first round by
Speaker 2: and some of those arguments have merit, but I think
Speaker 2: I don't know. This goes back to our conversations about
Speaker 2: nil and everything. It's like, if you just had the
Speaker 2: right people in place to like take information, absorb it
Speaker 2: and apply it and have it be functional, it seems
Speaker 2: like it would make sense. But college football and the
Speaker 2: NCAA is incapable of doing so well.
Speaker 1: They're gonna have to Well. It's funny because I do
Speaker 1: think at some point, you know, the right people central leadership,
Speaker 1: and I honestly believe it will follow private equity money.
Speaker 1: I think it's going to follow venture capitalist money. I
Speaker 1: think we're going to see powerful rich people get involved,
Speaker 1: and then it's going to be up to the public
Speaker 1: if you want to follow this like neoliberal capitalism that's
Speaker 1: going to permeate in the sports that you've loved because
Speaker 1: it hasn't been involved before. But that's where it is
Speaker 1: now because the players are getting paid, and once those
Speaker 1: powerful rich people get involved in college sports, they will
Speaker 1: not stand for a broken business model. So I think
Speaker 1: we'll get central leadership in place at that point, and
Speaker 1: that brings in the conversation about a tram amount of
Speaker 1: red tape and issues because I know administrators don't want
Speaker 1: the athletes to be employees. I know the Taylor Randalls
Speaker 1: of the world don't want to deal with that because
Speaker 1: that adds a tremendous amount of headache. But at some point,
Speaker 1: I do think the coaches are going to be the
Speaker 1: ones that will kind of push this movement because once
Speaker 1: you can collectively bargain, come up with, you know, a
Speaker 1: players terms and agreement, and then guardrails and the ability
Speaker 1: to do actually, you know, put rules in a place,
Speaker 1: things like having to rebuild every year will go out
Speaker 1: the window because then you can sign contracts. Now, there's
Speaker 1: a bunch of stuff with the new labor board under
Speaker 1: Donald Trump that I'm not educated enough to kind of
Speaker 1: walk through, but a lot of the really smart football
Speaker 1: people that I've heard in the past say the pro
Speaker 1: model is inevitable. Now are a little bit more skeptical.
Speaker 1: Do you have any insight into that?
Speaker 2: I don't, but I'm just thinking of an analogy or
Speaker 2: an example from today. Like Organs, one of Oregon's quarterbacks
Speaker 2: that they just signed in their December class that went
Speaker 2: to the Rose Bowl and was part of bullprep and everything,
Speaker 2: just jumped in the portal after being with the program
Speaker 2: for like two weeks. Yeah, and told ESPN that he
Speaker 2: didn't feel like he was a priority at the school. Well,
Speaker 2: they were preparing for a quarter final of the CFP. Now,
Speaker 2: I'm not belittling this guy. Like everyone has a reason
Speaker 2: for doing what they want to do. But I'm with you.
Speaker 2: It just makes sense to be able to hold people
Speaker 2: in right spots by contractual terms and figure out things
Speaker 2: from there.
Speaker 1: Yeah. All right, Coming up next, we'll lean into some
Speaker 1: of the local stuff and Chris comarad he's going to
Speaker 1: join us for one more segment. Tony Parks rolls by later,
Speaker 1: so does JB. Long, the voice of the Rams. Do
Speaker 1: you get us ready for the final week slash weekend
Speaker 1: of pro football? I want to tell you about my
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Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, It's all I'm saying. More was Ck
Speaker 1: coming up next right here on ESPN seven hundred. All right,
Speaker 1: Chris Camaraddie Latin Studio. We got one more big segment
Speaker 1: with our guys Ck from the Athletic Rock and Roll
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame induction. I still don't know if the
Speaker 1: ceremony was on Sunday, but the television presentation with Sunday
Speaker 1: Evening Little Dave n Tribe in the same class. So
Speaker 1: your boy was happy, share too, Share Little Mary J. Blige. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if you're of a certain age, you have a little
Speaker 1: Mary J. And share you went with Foreigner of the List.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it feels like the most rock and roll hall.
Speaker 2: I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Speaker 2: when I was in Cleveland a few years ago, and
Speaker 2: it's cool place. I mean Cleveland. The rock and Roll
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame is Cleveland.
Speaker 1: Yeah, take it or leave it. Yeah, if you go
Speaker 1: to Cleveland, you better do the Rock and Roll Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame because there are not a lot of options.
Speaker 1: Chris camraaddi Liven Studio went to the Laker game where
Speaker 1: they played the Cavs. A our guy, don He's going
Speaker 1: to be I think, potentially the first player in the
Speaker 1: history of this organization. The Jazz of course obviously didn't
Speaker 1: play for RSL to leave and be awesome somewhere for
Speaker 1: a long time. We're not used to this. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you think about it, a lot of our really
Speaker 1: really good players Heyward got hurt, Darren never kind of
Speaker 1: recaptured the form he had when he was here. Booze
Speaker 1: couldn't stay healthy. Because I've watched plenty of Caves basketball
Speaker 1: this year, Donovan has started to mature. Now, look, he's
Speaker 1: gonna have to answer questions come spring. But if you
Speaker 1: think about the history of the Jazz organization, Karl went
Speaker 1: to the Lakers, but he was done. Millsap's a good one,
Speaker 1: but it's the same level. But Millsap also played better
Speaker 1: after he left here. He made All Star teams in
Speaker 1: Atlanta and such. But Donovan, I'm starting to get the
Speaker 1: feeling he's kind of figuring out where that I wasn't.
Speaker 1: Well for now, he doesn't have a choice. I mean,
Speaker 1: I got such a kid, Like so the Nick signed
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson and they're awesome, and they get mckel bridges.
Speaker 1: There was no space for Donovan in New York to
Speaker 1: play for the Knicks the Nets after they had to
Speaker 1: blow up the Durant Harden Kyrie thing went full rebuild.
Speaker 1: There was no place for Donovan and Brooklyn. So he's like, oh,
Speaker 1: I love Cleveland, Like whatever, dude, you have no choice
Speaker 1: he has for now. There's nowhere for him to go. Now.
Speaker 1: I've always heard two things from people that know Donovan
Speaker 1: better than I do, that he actually would really love
Speaker 1: Miami and he would love Los Angeles in a way
Speaker 1: that I didn't know about it. But that's not a surprise.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be stuck. He's got two years left on
Speaker 1: the deal. After this deal, I wouldn't be stunn if
Speaker 1: he's remember the Heat of the Lakers.
Speaker 2: I guess if you're just looking at it from a
Speaker 2: roster building point of view, is there a team in
Speaker 2: the NBA right now that is built to win for
Speaker 2: the next five years?
Speaker 1: Okay? See okay, see maybe Boston?
Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, so three three teams one other team, unfortunately
Speaker 2: as a team that just won the title and is
Speaker 2: in your same division. But I mean, shoot, man, and
Speaker 2: maybe the Lake, the Lakers and Heat can rebuild in
Speaker 2: the blink of an eye, as we've seen several decades.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it was cool.
Speaker 2: It was funny being there, man, And I'm just always
Speaker 2: this is always a trip. Like I told some of
Speaker 2: these other guys that were there with Bill, and I like, like,
Speaker 2: Bill and I covered that kid and they were like
Speaker 2: which one. I was like, Oh, the kid and the
Speaker 2: white kid in the corner who shoot the three, like
Speaker 2: Sam Merrill Sam. Yeah, it's it's so cool because, like
Speaker 2: Sam was one of those kids that was really enjoyable
Speaker 2: to cover as a as a prep athlete. He was
Speaker 2: part of that wave of like the Lone Peak three,
Speaker 2: Bricott Chapman, a lot of talented young kids coming up
Speaker 2: of that age.
Speaker 1: Jalen Moore at Skyview shout up, Bountiful Braves. That's right, yeah,
Speaker 1: my guy.
Speaker 2: And you know, it's just I never really saw him.
Speaker 2: Hell of a player, great shooter, and it's awesome to
Speaker 2: see him stick and him getting a chance in that
Speaker 2: rotation on a really good team.
Speaker 1: I truly thought he was not going to be able
Speaker 1: to get a shot off. In fact, my producer at
Speaker 1: the time was an Aggie. He's like, do you think
Speaker 1: Sam's a pro? And I said, if he could ever
Speaker 1: get he is such a pure he is such a
Speaker 1: pure shooter. He has such a beautiful stroke. But this
Speaker 1: was for Thatt's issue. He could not simply could not
Speaker 1: get a shot off in the pros, and I was
Speaker 1: concerned that Sam was gonna run in the same problem.
Speaker 1: But he's worked his tailoff and he needs no space.
Speaker 1: You're right, It's been fun to watch him grow up.
Speaker 2: And I think this sounds super corny too, but like
Speaker 2: Sam's like a legit six ' four jimmers like a
Speaker 2: legit six.
Speaker 1: Sure, yes, yes, it's true. All right, back to football.
Speaker 1: Let's do some local stuff here, since we've covered kind
Speaker 1: of the national topics. The utes locked in Justin Stevenson
Speaker 1: today wide receiver. That's a huge git from Wyoming. Do
Speaker 1: you know the stat line? No, dude, I don't know about.
Speaker 1: What are you talking about? Just heard of him ten
Speaker 1: minutes ago. I don't know the stat orders and there
Speaker 1: laughing at me. Listen you.
Speaker 2: I mean I googled it like any reasonably logical responsible
Speaker 2: media members should do.
Speaker 1: The guy had felt like a shot.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to The guy had like two hundred
Speaker 2: receiving yards last year and like two touchdowns, so he's due.
Speaker 1: I mean, listen, If.
Speaker 2: If Utah is able to recruit the most hidden gems
Speaker 2: at the Mountain West Conference level and bring them to
Speaker 2: the Big twelve and help them show out with Jason
Speaker 2: Beck and Devin dampierret good on them. But man, I'm
Speaker 2: I'm approaching this next year with a whole hell of
Speaker 2: a lot of skepticism.
Speaker 1: I don't know how you can approach it any other
Speaker 1: way unless you are simply red goggles period, end of story,
Speaker 1: Because they're going to be, by my count, twenty five
Speaker 1: incoming freshman. I think Justin and his two touchdowns. I
Speaker 1: think that's the sixth teenth transfer portal addition. I didn't
Speaker 1: know that was a stat line. It's just you know,
Speaker 1: the same old people that report and they're like, hey,
Speaker 1: this is exciting. That's what I saw. I believe it's
Speaker 1: forty one or forty two new players next fall. I
Speaker 1: don't know how you do that. I have no idea.
Speaker 1: Unless you are unless you have Ohio State's payroll, unless
Speaker 1: you're bringing in dudes like that left and right now.
Speaker 1: The transfer portal ranking according to two four seven is
Speaker 1: twenty five ish or whatever. I just don't know what's
Speaker 1: reasonable to expect. Don't believe those rankings, man, when you
Speaker 1: turn it over like this in one year, I have
Speaker 1: no idea.
Speaker 2: So this is for our guy, John Paul shout out.
Speaker 2: This is the success of whether or not Utah's offense
Speaker 2: can establish itself in this new system. Is totally going
Speaker 2: to rely on fit and scheme. That's it. Because you're
Speaker 2: bringing in a guy who's going to do a lot
Speaker 2: of different things compared to Andy Ludwig. You're bringing in
Speaker 2: a quarterback that probably wouldn't have played under Andy Ludwig.
Speaker 2: You're bringing in a bunch of receivers who have had
Speaker 2: slow to decent careers at much smaller level schools than
Speaker 2: what Utah is and who they'll be playing next year.
Speaker 2: You brought in a talented running back out of the portal. Weirdly.
Speaker 2: You know which helps Utah a ton is that their
Speaker 2: offensive line was able to stay intact and they should
Speaker 2: be good. But listen, man, I mean everybody should take
Speaker 2: off the red tinted goggles when it comes to a
Speaker 2: lot of these additions because they are not proven commodities.
Speaker 2: They're the furthest thing from when you're seeing these Twitter
Speaker 2: graphics being created for players that are transferring from Texas
Speaker 2: A and M to LSU, or from Auburn to Florida,
Speaker 2: or from Florida State to Ohio State.
Speaker 1: These are different caliber players.
Speaker 2: And I'm not saying that the players at Utah is
Speaker 2: getting I'm not saying that players at Utah are getting
Speaker 2: right now are not going to be at players. But
Speaker 2: they are behind, man, they are behind, and they fell
Speaker 2: behind in such a drastic way in such a short
Speaker 2: amount of time, which is kind of like the perfect
Speaker 2: if you want to like utilize one program, kind of
Speaker 2: the perfect encapsulation of how things can go sideways for
Speaker 2: a program that was in the Rose Bowl just two
Speaker 2: years ago.
Speaker 1: So if we could circle back, Justin Stevenson three touchdown,
Speaker 1: three touchdown, sorry, two hundred and forty yards. Also, he
Speaker 1: competed in the triple jump in high school, so let's
Speaker 1: not just throw that out like it's nothing.
Speaker 2: Football coaches love track athletes, especially in the University of
Speaker 2: Utah football coaches.
Speaker 1: Indeed, sophomore jump numbers of forty two six and forty
Speaker 1: two to two in the triple and an eighteen to
Speaker 1: seven long. How tall is he? He is six to one, So.
Speaker 2: That's probably like the talle sky they've added.
Speaker 1: So far as far as the receiver goes.
Speaker 2: They've added short, They've added some koby wanabes, I think,
Speaker 2: which is great.
Speaker 1: You know, maybe that's part of the approach. Maybe they're
Speaker 1: zigging when everyone's zagging there you go, yeah, I look
Speaker 1: you I said this last segment diagnostic not prognostication, because
Speaker 1: it's impossible to analyze how these kids are going to
Speaker 1: fit into a system that we've never seen before. I
Speaker 1: honestly don't know what's reasonable to expect. And there are
Speaker 1: two sides of this thing, right, because obviously last year
Speaker 1: was not nearly good enough, and so yeah, you want
Speaker 1: an influx of talent, you want to change the roster
Speaker 1: over because it wasn't good enough a year ago. And yes,
Speaker 1: we could always lean back on the whole cam wasn't
Speaker 1: healthy thing. But I do think this is a fan
Speaker 1: base that isn't necessarily opposed to this one year rebuild
Speaker 1: because of what they just experienced. Now to your point,
Speaker 1: and it's not just the Rose Bowl like two years ago,
Speaker 1: that team that Kyle was able to coach the eight wins,
Speaker 1: That was a remarkable season, but then prior to that
Speaker 1: back to back Rose bul it's like it feels like,
Speaker 1: even though we're only a couple of years removed from
Speaker 1: very exciting, successful uh of Utah football, you know era
Speaker 1: that maybe is coming to a bit of an end.
Speaker 1: This is a fan base that's ready for something different.
Speaker 1: So I think people are kind of latching on to
Speaker 1: these new players with a lot of hope because of
Speaker 1: what they just experienced.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I mean, I gave Kyle and Morgan. I'm
Speaker 2: giving both of them credit because they both decided on
Speaker 2: this hire. The fact that they hired Jason Beck and
Speaker 2: were able to get Devin Dampier. And I mean, as
Speaker 2: soon as you saw those two additions, you knew that
Speaker 2: this was going to be a totally different offense going forward.
Speaker 2: And I assume that when they were doing interviews, Jason said,
Speaker 2: I want to run my offense, and that's going to
Speaker 2: be that. You know, at least I would have hoped that.
Speaker 2: But listen, I don't disagree with you at all. Things
Speaker 2: have not been good enough for a while. It got stagnant.
Speaker 2: When it was working three or four years ago. It
Speaker 2: was working because Utah had like five running backs that
Speaker 2: like ran for like five hundred yards and a couple
Speaker 2: of them ran for eight hundred yards and one ran for.
Speaker 1: A thousand yards.
Speaker 2: They had a couple, you know, NFL caliber tight ends,
Speaker 2: one that went on to be a first round pick,
Speaker 2: the other one that just unfortunately got hurt too often.
Speaker 2: But they became so predictable from like an opponent's point
Speaker 2: of view, it was pretty painful, man. I mean, and
Speaker 2: like you think about the Colorado game, and it's always
Speaker 2: easy to compare like a similar opponent that two teams
Speaker 2: had in common, And I not saying Byu is anywhere
Speaker 2: close to where Utah was this year. They were the
Speaker 2: superior team on basically every facet of the ball, but offensively,
Speaker 2: Utah against Colorado, like Isaac had some had some chunk plays,
Speaker 2: had some stats, but man BYU and Aaron like just
Speaker 2: basically had those guys running around with like chickens with
Speaker 2: their heads coff. They had no idea what Byu was doing,
Speaker 2: and Colorado felt like they knew what Utah was going
Speaker 2: to do on every single down. Run on the first down,
Speaker 2: run on the second down, play action, on third down, sack.
Speaker 1: And that's what it was for most of the year.
Speaker 2: So I can understand why fans are approaching this season
Speaker 2: with a healthy amount of optimism, because what other points
Speaker 2: do they have at this point?
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I used to say this oftentimes about by
Speaker 1: You and the Independent years, and it wasn't a knock
Speaker 1: on the program. It was the reality of what they
Speaker 1: dealt with as it in dependent that typically as soon
Speaker 1: as you lose your first game, it's the Hawaii Bull
Speaker 1: or whatever it go spend New Years in a while.
Speaker 1: Who there's nothing wrong with that, nothing, But it seemed
Speaker 1: like back then, the most exciting time to be a
Speaker 1: fan of Brigham Young football was the off season because
Speaker 1: you had all this hope. Then the season comes and
Speaker 1: you don't have a conference to play for, you stub
Speaker 1: your toe, and it kind of feels like right now
Speaker 1: for a ute fan, the only thing to get excited
Speaker 1: about is the potential of this new coaching staff and
Speaker 1: the new talent added. So we'll see, but let's move
Speaker 1: Let's move over to a player that Utah lost. And
Speaker 1: since you and I last spoke, this story has kind
Speaker 1: of gained some traction. So Keanutanavas is a really good
Speaker 1: player and seems like a good kid. I've interviewed him.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know him personally, but he elects
Speaker 1: to leave Utah and head down to BYU and a
Speaker 1: lot of you fans in their feelings about this, as
Speaker 1: I say, you can always not tweet, that's an option
Speaker 1: that you have. But let me start here. Does the
Speaker 1: money change the level of criticism that these athletes are
Speaker 1: going to get? Because you know, there was like this
Speaker 1: unwritten rule for years and years and years, whether it's
Speaker 1: meteor fans like, layoff the kids, man, stop cracking on
Speaker 1: the kids. These are unpaid young kids. They don't get
Speaker 1: paid for what they do, so stop criticizing them. Now
Speaker 1: that some of these players are making seven figures. I
Speaker 1: don't know what Keanu got, but now that the money
Speaker 1: is not just there but it's real, does that change
Speaker 1: the level of criticism they'll receive.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I don't think that's right though, but I think
Speaker 2: that's the world that we live in. I don't know
Speaker 2: if Keanu left Utah because he wanted to get paid
Speaker 2: more money. I was kind of siloed due to the
Speaker 2: holidays and being focused on Oregon during their playoff runs,
Speaker 2: so I saw some stuff tangentially. I know there was,
Speaker 2: you know, some religious affiliated posts and you know, God's plan,
Speaker 2: like every other kid who goes into the portal says
Speaker 2: it's God's plan. I think it's particularly hurtful for Utah
Speaker 2: because they lost them to BYU. I mean, I just
Speaker 2: if he would have gone to Texas or Washington or wherever.
Speaker 1: M Calhoun goes to. Bamay.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like we're people up in arms that cam
Speaker 2: Calhoun left for Alabama. Not at the same level and
Speaker 2: I understand that Keanu like trolled him at one point
Speaker 2: on social media and so on and so forth, but listen, man,
Speaker 2: we are living in a lawless state of college football.
Speaker 2: Everybody is up for grabs, and people can say there's tampering,
Speaker 2: there's tampering always like that is just the reality that
Speaker 2: we live in. Utah is frustrated because they lost one
Speaker 2: of their best defensive players to their rival down South,
Speaker 2: who had their best year in a very, very long time.
Speaker 2: I think it's disingenuous to act like this is particularly unique.
Speaker 2: Players transfer between both of these schools all the time.
Speaker 2: I mean, one of the Fano brothers started out at
Speaker 2: B and I'm sure BYU fans were upset when he
Speaker 2: decided to leave.
Speaker 1: But the list is incredibly long, man.
Speaker 2: I mean, it is absurd the amount of people that
Speaker 2: have changed schools in the last twenty years since college
Speaker 2: football has entered this kind of era. And I mean,
Speaker 2: they're all just popping in my head. It is what
Speaker 2: it is, man. You kind of just got a grin
Speaker 2: and Barrett.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know, people wouldn't be upset if he
Speaker 1: wasn't awesome. That's the thing. Like, nobody was pissed when
Speaker 1: like Makai Pittman's in the transfer port, like, all right, whatever,
Speaker 1: but Keano's really good and you lose them to your rival.
Speaker 1: I will follow up, though, because I do find this
Speaker 1: interesting and I don't want to paint this as only
Speaker 1: one person, but Keanu and his family, the people around
Speaker 1: him have been very vocal, okay as far as his motivation,
Speaker 1: and his father tweets out when the heavens speak, our
Speaker 1: family strives to follow quickly. Keanu decided to send a
Speaker 1: scripture as far as his announcement that he's leaving, and
Speaker 1: you know, the religiosity of the entire thing is something
Speaker 1: I've never been fully comfortable with. But I know people
Speaker 1: need their beliefs, and I know beliefs are important to people,
Speaker 1: and I'm not I want to tell anybody how they
Speaker 1: should praise their God or worship their God or practice
Speaker 1: their religion. But it does seem at times, something that
Speaker 1: these players throw out there is like, now, okay, now
Speaker 1: I'm beyond reproach because I told you, God came to
Speaker 1: me last night to say I should go to BYU,
Speaker 1: and I don't love that. You know, if you're just
Speaker 1: kind of throwing that out there because that is something
Speaker 1: that you throw out there is like a guardrail. Now
Speaker 1: you cannot tell me or question what I've decided to
Speaker 1: do exactly when we know you got to check. But
Speaker 1: you know, if you want to say that God told
Speaker 1: you go to Provo, I guess that's the deal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I guess I would say it would be
Speaker 2: an easier sell if the two most important people in
Speaker 2: the program up up the hill here weren't members of
Speaker 2: the same religion. And maybe even I assume Jason beck
Speaker 2: is as well because he went to BYU.
Speaker 1: But like, listen, yeah, that.
Speaker 2: If you're talking about like Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen
Speaker 2: and these guys who were in CHAN, it's a totally
Speaker 2: different story, right, I don't know. Man, Like it's become
Speaker 2: kind of a meme in the sports media world. It's
Speaker 2: like anytime a kid goes in the portal, it's like
Speaker 2: and they're referencing God, Like God decided to point me
Speaker 2: in this direction. I mean, maybe maybe God did, and
Speaker 2: if he and if they did, whatever, good for you.
Speaker 1: Man, that's awesome.
Speaker 2: But the reality is we're living in a time where
Speaker 2: people can move freely and without like any sort of
Speaker 2: I mean, nobody's gonna get in trouble because there are
Speaker 2: no rules. And yeah, it sucks for Utah that they
Speaker 2: lost one of their best players, but you know who
Speaker 2: else loses some of their best players every other team,
Speaker 2: in every team, it's just about how you replace them
Speaker 2: at this point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, that's the issue comes back down to
Speaker 1: the NCAA's literal inability to hand down any sort of punishment.
Speaker 1: They're not allowed to. They were told, like, you cannot
Speaker 1: regulate this stuff anymore. So you have to figure out
Speaker 1: a way to traverse it while it's you know, off
Speaker 1: the rails and tell it's corralled, and you know, ultimately,
Speaker 1: if you don't find a way to exist in the space,
Speaker 1: it is adapt or die. Until you actually understand what
Speaker 1: the rules are going to be. While there are no rules,
Speaker 1: you kind of have to be a little ruthless, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. I mean, that's it feels like
Speaker 1: that's kind of the only way to do this stuff.
Speaker 2: You can find a way to be irrelevant really quickly,
Speaker 2: for sure, if you don't think ahead. Really, I mean,
Speaker 2: and I don't want to say Utah is in that
Speaker 2: space yet, but we're going to learn a lot about
Speaker 2: the state of the.
Speaker 1: Program this next year. What does it look and sound
Speaker 1: like next year? If it's more or less the same
Speaker 1: for the uthes, what does that look in sound like
Speaker 1: from the fan base? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Oh, I mean if it's much of the same, I
Speaker 2: think the fan base will just say that it's Morgan's time,
Speaker 2: the same way a lot of people say that it's
Speaker 2: Morgan's time this year.
Speaker 1: I think there are a lot of people that feel
Speaker 1: that way. Now I agree.
Speaker 2: Yeah, But like I've said before, if you want to
Speaker 2: go off results and statistical analysis, seventeen out of twenty
Speaker 2: is like eighty eight percent, seventeen winning years out of
Speaker 2: twenty a lot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a lot, and sure it is.
Speaker 2: And it would be one thing again if like you
Speaker 2: had a guy busting down the door who has a
Speaker 2: bunch of big game experience, like this is not a
Speaker 2: knock on Morgan, but he's never done it before. Right, So,
Speaker 2: if you really think that a first time head coach
Speaker 2: will be able to change things so dramatically in such
Speaker 2: a short amount of time, good for you. But we
Speaker 2: don't have any we don't have any data to back
Speaker 2: that up yet.
Speaker 1: When it comes to BYU's case to be included in
Speaker 1: the twelve team CFP. I feel like the timing of
Speaker 1: their losses ultimately is what did them in because during
Speaker 1: the course of the past the final couple of iterations
Speaker 1: of the rankings, they really weren't even the conversation, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, you would listen to people analyze, Okay, tonight
Speaker 1: it's the rankings release and BYU wasn't even in consideration.
Speaker 1: Now again diagnosing, not prognosticating. They beat SMU, who was
Speaker 1: a playoff team, they lose ASU, who was a playoff team.
Speaker 1: Their strength of schedule, their strength and strength of record,
Speaker 1: their quality wins indicate that they did have a case.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like that's legitimate, that b why you
Speaker 1: had a case to be included in the twelve team CFP?
Speaker 1: I do.
Speaker 2: And the one person from a media point of view
Speaker 2: that's been, you know, flying this flag as John Wilner. Yes, yes,
Speaker 2: he's done. He's been very upfront about how the committee
Speaker 2: basically left by you out in the cold. I think
Speaker 2: if the Kansas game is the one that killed them,
Speaker 2: Like if if they win that game, they're in the
Speaker 2: they're in the Big Twelve Championship, and and and and
Speaker 2: if you lose to Arizona State again. I mean then
Speaker 2: they probably are in even as like as as an
Speaker 2: eleven or twelve, maybe they should have been at least But.
Speaker 1: I agree with you.
Speaker 2: It's the timing of the losses. It's were those back
Speaker 2: to back.
Speaker 1: Game yeah, yeah, so you killed them?
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then you you end the year with a
Speaker 2: with a win over a bad Houston team, like you
Speaker 2: have nothing to recently remind the committee who you are,
Speaker 2: what you've done. I mean, they reminded everybody who they
Speaker 2: were against Colorado late by that it's too late by then.
Speaker 2: But again, man, like everybody is going to find a
Speaker 2: way to feel hard done or be pissed off. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that is the reality, no matter. I mean, I guess
Speaker 2: we could get to sixty four teams like basketball and
Speaker 2: just make these guys play forever.
Speaker 1: That's that's that's the only way.
Speaker 2: I do think Culturally, it's weird, like this is a
Speaker 2: little bit of a tangent. Why are we so obsessed
Speaker 2: with the underdogs in basketball doing well, but in football
Speaker 2: we feel like it's the people who have quote unquote
Speaker 2: earned it.
Speaker 1: I think it's fair. I will say that I think
Speaker 1: people love the upsets early on in the Tournament, the
Speaker 1: Cinderella people.
Speaker 2: Wanted Butler, Yeah, George Mason. I mean people were going like, like.
Speaker 1: Did people want TCU when they made the playoff and
Speaker 1: they got who they play? Georgia? You had the Georgia
Speaker 1: they got. Yeah, yeah, I don't. It's a fair, fair question.
Speaker 2: But it's an interesting, like I'm thinking of it just
Speaker 2: through like the psychological standpoint of a sports fan through
Speaker 2: that lens, Like I understand we do like them early on,
Speaker 2: but I still think people if they can keep.
Speaker 1: It going, people love it. Man.
Speaker 2: And then like in football, it's like now who's earned
Speaker 2: it the most. It's just an interesting kind of dichotomy
Speaker 2: in my mind.
Speaker 1: So with the SEC, clearly shout out to Danny Cannell
Speaker 1: who was on this hill all year long. And obviously
Speaker 1: the results bear out that the conference was overrated from
Speaker 1: an on field standpoint, but they still are the pre
Speaker 1: eminent college football conference in the country. They the revenue
Speaker 1: speaks for itself. All those schools, you know, per school,
Speaker 1: as far as you know, bull payouts, television contracts, they
Speaker 1: are making money hand over fist in a way, even
Speaker 1: the Big Ten is and the Big Ten is in
Speaker 1: their cult to sack but they're not there. You think
Speaker 1: the way this stuff unfolded will motivate the power brokers
Speaker 1: to Jerrymanner college football to simply be more in their favor.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it feels like that's always the deal, right, absolutely.
Speaker 2: I mean, in a weird way, you should almost be
Speaker 2: thankful that one of the fake SEC teams is still
Speaker 2: in it, like with Texas, because otherwise if they would
Speaker 2: be shut out with these final four, I feel like
Speaker 2: be even more so overcorrecting. But yeah, I agree, And
Speaker 2: I know a lot of people were trolling the Alabama
Speaker 2: fans and the SEC homers after a couple of these
Speaker 2: losses and saying, like, you know, when the Alabama lost
Speaker 2: in their bowl game to whoever, I forgot who they
Speaker 2: lost to Michigan. I think, like you can't eat the
Speaker 2: revisionist history part of it is to me is so exhausting.
Speaker 2: It's so annoying, Like you kind of just have to
Speaker 2: like understand that you are existing in a flawed space
Speaker 2: and it's a flawed universe and it will be forever,
Speaker 2: so you kind of just have to appreciate what it
Speaker 2: is for what it is and just kind of roll
Speaker 2: with it. I mean I almost swore Like, dude, like
Speaker 2: do you remember the BCS for crying out loud?
Speaker 1: Yeah, this like.
Speaker 2: Fake computer algorithm that like Elon Musk probably like created
Speaker 2: like twenty five Like are you kidding me? Like we're
Speaker 2: here now with like Boise State wasn't was a first
Speaker 2: round by team in a playoff like Arizona State, like
Speaker 2: a team that historically could have had a chance but
Speaker 2: was the like the worst team in the PAC twelve
Speaker 2: last year, took text to the brink, should.
Speaker 1: Have won that game.
Speaker 2: These are games that we never would have seen in
Speaker 2: previous years. So I understand why the powers that be
Speaker 2: are shaking their fists at the sky because they've always
Speaker 2: been used to having it their way. But everyone else
Speaker 2: that would just caution to say, calm down and just enjoy.
Speaker 1: It for what it is. Yeah, and that's good advice,
Speaker 1: but you know, ultimately that's not able to take my advice. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's good advice, but that's unfortunately that's not
Speaker 1: the way fans behave and I think media members for
Speaker 1: you know, further agendas and narratives that are best for
Speaker 1: their business. But yes, try to enjoy the games. And
Speaker 1: most of the games have been good there have been blowouts,
Speaker 1: but there were blowouts in the four team, there were
Speaker 1: blowouts in the BCS. Since that's the deal. But let
Speaker 1: me move over here with a couple of minutes we
Speaker 1: have remaining. It feels like right now BYU's collective isn't
Speaker 1: a good place. The number I've been told is they
Speaker 1: have nine seven figure donors. It feels like Utah's collective
Speaker 1: has some work to do to catch up. If we're
Speaker 1: talking about kind of the arms race locally, I've been
Speaker 1: told that Utah right now has two seven figure donors.
Speaker 1: It's not hard to figure out who they are. So
Speaker 1: I'm not breaking any news. Any thoughts on kind of
Speaker 1: what feels like it's turned into be and look, I
Speaker 1: talk to you about this as soon as NIL became
Speaker 1: a reality, I said, this is good news for them
Speaker 1: down south. It felt like this was cater made for
Speaker 1: tech bros and MLM bros that had a lot of
Speaker 1: money and loved by athletics to kind of step in
Speaker 1: and help BUYU get back to the relevance that they
Speaker 1: were in the nineties and the eighties and the seventies.
Speaker 1: Because it's really just simply been a long time. Yes,
Speaker 1: COVID year, what have you? And I think that has
Speaker 1: turned out to be kind of the case. I think
Speaker 1: it took a little bit of time, but aj debansa
Speaker 1: seven mil for five months of basketball, Kevin Young, his staff,
Speaker 1: they're all ex pros, so they're being paid a lot
Speaker 1: of money. And now we're seeing the football team certainly
Speaker 1: I think breed some of the same results that we've
Speaker 1: seen on the basketball side of things. So kind of
Speaker 1: your thoughts on what appears to be a little bit
Speaker 1: of a gap as far as BYU right now being
Speaker 1: the team and the school that's figured things out in
Speaker 1: a way that Utah hasn't necessarily on they have. I mean,
Speaker 1: look the BYU, excuse me, the Utah basketball team. Man,
Speaker 1: I cheer for Craig. He's the best, dude. I watched
Speaker 1: the first game of the Big twelve Baylor. They're not
Speaker 1: even close. So the results simply indicate there is a
Speaker 1: little bit of a gap. And these things are cyclical
Speaker 1: and they're fleeting. But what are your what are your thoughts?
Speaker 2: I guess, starting locally with the nil component, it makes
Speaker 2: sense that BYU is ahead of Utah because of its
Speaker 2: alumni base, larger spirt, like it has a a net
Speaker 2: that is cast much larger throughout local, national, and international scene.
Speaker 1: So I'm not surprised by that at all.
Speaker 2: I think Utah is just an interesting case study and
Speaker 2: it could potentially be you know, if it continues to struggle,
Speaker 2: like how a recruit and develop program like Utah could
Speaker 2: potentially nosedive in this in the era of nil like
Speaker 2: Utah historically wouldn't lose the same number of players that
Speaker 2: they've lost in the last couple of years, Guys that
Speaker 2: are difference makers, Guys that will go on to be pros,
Speaker 2: guys like Keanu and Cam Calhoun by US football, those Spence, Like,
Speaker 2: I think they're still like in this point where a
Speaker 2: lot of these guys are recruiting and developed guys at
Speaker 2: Kilani and those that staff put together too. So like
Speaker 2: I think they they could potentially avoid a potential like pitfall,
Speaker 2: so to speak. But like if I'm just thinking off
Speaker 2: the top of my head, like the offensive line, you
Speaker 2: know had some had some departures in the last couple
Speaker 2: of years, but you have a lot of legacy kids.
Speaker 2: Jake was a guy that nobody was going to take
Speaker 2: away for on that Aaron did. The linebacker group, you
Speaker 2: have a local kid. You have two local kids, one
Speaker 2: that came from Oregon, one recruiter from high school, one
Speaker 2: came from Weaver State, totally totally normal defensive line like
Speaker 2: you know, homegrown kids for the most part. Secondary there
Speaker 2: have been some transfer ads, but like you're not talking
Speaker 2: about a program that's going out and ending five hundred
Speaker 2: thousand dollars on the defensive back like these are. These
Speaker 2: are recruit and develop guys. So I don't want to
Speaker 2: like belittle what Kloni and his staff have been able
Speaker 2: to do. Like I think them being good and then
Speaker 2: having an nil in fusion will help them retain players.
Speaker 2: But they've just done a hell of a job in
Speaker 2: the last couple of years piecing that roster together and
Speaker 2: keeping it intact. So I think ultimately when we look
Speaker 2: at kind of the grand scheme of the state of
Speaker 2: both rosters, I just think BYU has done a better
Speaker 2: job and you just see kind of the the fruit
Speaker 2: that is borne out of that this year. Considering how
Speaker 2: good they were and they were pretty deep too, especially
Speaker 2: when they had guys go down. They they they didn't
Speaker 2: have that type of like starter goes down all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, We're throwing in you know the former.
Speaker 1: Bountiful Brave, their fourth stringer named Dallen A White kids
Speaker 1: A L L Y and I end exactly do you
Speaker 1: believe in New Year's Resolutions? I like it? Or intentions?
Speaker 1: What's the younger generation like?
Speaker 2: Like that show? Like the movie Role Models? I don't
Speaker 2: know if you've seen it. When he asked him if
Speaker 2: he likes Coca Cola, he's like, I like the idea
Speaker 2: of it.
Speaker 1: I actually yeah, yeah, so I like the idea.
Speaker 2: Of New Year's resolutions more than I actually like them,
Speaker 2: But I don't dislike them.
Speaker 1: Did you set an either year you want to share
Speaker 1: with our audience? I didn't. Can I set one now? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Please go ahead?
Speaker 2: Oh man, no pressure. I don't want to hurt my
Speaker 2: back anymore.
Speaker 1: That's an excellent one. As you age, take care of
Speaker 1: your body. Now, that's great. Well, look, man, always great
Speaker 1: to see it. To get you out of the house
Speaker 1: is an upset too. Yeah. Yeah, it's a good start.
Speaker 1: It's a great start to the year. And as long
Speaker 1: as it's fifty degrees, we'll be all right. I love it.
Speaker 2: I love it when it's October and January.
Speaker 1: I'm with you, man, good to see Okay,