The Kevin Sheehan Show - Bezos Is Back + Taylor's Farewell Letter

Episode Date: March 23, 2023

Kevin and Thom today with a loaded buffet for free! Plenty of reaction to the latest Commanders' sale news that includes a Fox Business report that Snyder is okay selling to Jeff Bezos. The boys reacted to Taylor Heinicke's farewell letter in The Players Tribune. Kevin weighed in on "Ted Lasso" Season 3 so far. Thom likes Bob Odenkirk's "Lucky Hank". Ed Cooley's Georgetown introductory presser included a National Championship prediction and a Maryland-Georgetown 'wait and see' approach. All of that and more on today's 5-star show!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. All right, I am here. Tommy is with me today. We have a lot to get through today.

I actually always kind of jot down topics for the day, Tommy. I have in front of me 10 different topics, not just items, but potential topics that we could get to. We won't get to all of them. The menu of excellence is always a buffet that has too much on it. I mean, no matter what you're paying, you can't stuff yourself with enough of it. No, you can't. We'll save some of it for another day. But I did want to read this because it's kind of funny,

and you won't know what this person is talking about, but I will explain. Tom McDee sent us a very nice Apple review. because he gave us five stars. But his title was don't tease us. Kevin, love the show, but your latest title was a letdown. I know you're a huge college basketball fan, but I don't follow it at all. Football is all I follow. And Washington has been my team my whole life.

I loved Cooley as a player and have loved him as a commentator as well as on the radio with you and separately with Zabe and Galdi. I wish he was on your podcast more, but most importantly, I was really hoping he'd get a shot at coaching. Your latest title, Cooley to D.C., got me very excited when the notification came across my phone screen. And then I read the episode description and saw it was about college basketball. I should have known because I heard you talking about it on your radio show this morning. But when it comes to you, I always think of Chris, when you play. put Cooley in the title of your show.

So I did title when it was announced that Ed Cooley was going to become the Georgetown coach. I did title the show Cooley to D.C. I would be lying to you if I didn't notice it when I wrote it. I didn't think of it and write it in thinking, oh, this will get them because they'll think it's Chris Cooley coming back to D.C. but when I actually inputted the title into the title and description of the show, which then I actually send off to Aaron,

and Aaron handles the rest of it. I saw it and I'm like, this is going to fool people, but I had already come up with it and I didn't feel like coming up with something else, and I thought, well, come on. Cooley's not coming back to D.C., that Cooley. And Ed Cooley was the story of the day. But here's where it gets better. Yesterday, after the news broke, that we had a new visitor to the Washington Stadium and the Washington facility in Ashburn, Steve Apostolopoulos, I think I got that right.

I titled the show after I read this nice review from Tom McDee. I titled the show, Newest Bitter, Stephen A. Ha, ha, God, you're brutal. And nobody said anything about that. I haven't seen any comments on that, but I knew what I was doing there. And I thought, well, I mean, his name is Steve,

but, you know, his last name is really hard to pronounce. So we'll just call him Steve A. but for the purposes of this title, I'll put it in there as Stephen A. I don't know if that got anybody because I'm sure a lot of people, they weren't necessarily following the news of this guy, you know, this Steve Apostolopoulos, visiting the facility. But maybe somebody said, Stephen A, he's bidding on the team? I'll tell you what, Stephen A's made a lot of money at ESPN, but not that kind of money.

Not that kind of money, no, sir. Thank you, Tom McDee. This review comes from Higley's Hogs on Apple as well. I love listening to Kevin and Tom. They insult the intelligence of some of the Redskins fan base, also known as their listeners, every chance they get, and yet we keep tuning in. As a matter of fact, the more they make fun of us, the more we tune in.

For 20 plus years, Dan Snyder has insulted our intelligence, so I guess we are conditioned to this kind of treatment. Keep up the good work, guys. We are always here for more of it. Just ask the sailing man, Dan. Thank you, Haysley Hogs. And trust me, I don't know if Tommy feels the same way. He'll have to speak for himself.

But trust me, when we do insult, or when I do insult, anybody in the Redskins fan base, it is that very, I think, very tiny fraction that is just very loud on Twitter and on social media. And I think is obnoxiously loud and usually dead wrong. And that's really who I've targeted a little bit here and there in recent years.

You can speak for yourself. You insult the fan base all the time. Yes. I consider it an education process. For them? Tough love. Yes, tough love in the classroom. That's the way I go. Right. So I just consider it an education. You know, I mean, if somebody tells you you're dumb enough times, maybe you'll think, well, how can I change that? Well, we've got some of that to talk about today because Taylor Heineke wrote a very nice farewell. letter to Washington.

And I read it this morning on radio, and I'll read it again here with you. I'm sure you have read it. And some of the responses to me reading it were interesting. And I think some of the responses I got were from that very tiny fraction of what's left of the fan base that believes that Taylor Heineke should be put into the ring of fame. I actually contemplated this morning, Tommy, not seriously, taking calls on whether or not Taylor Heineke should go into the ring of fame. Anyway. Well, Lacey, you know what?

He should have a nameplate somewhere in the stadium. Oh, come on. Jesus Christ. The mediocrity that we, the subpar that we now, you know, settle for and get excited for is ridiculous. How you do I? Let me ask you a question. Yeah. How many players?

how many players his name have been chanted in that stadium and not counting opposing players okay so is that the reason he should go into the ring of fame well you know what no he shouldn't go in the ring of fame but I'm just I'm just pointing out that the only

Washington player in recent memory who fans chanted their name was Taylor Heineke you know Tommy that's probably true and I would suggest to you that if you ask a Notre Dame fan, the all-time memorable chant of a player's name was Rudy. So they made a movie about that guy.

So maybe they'll make a movie about Taylor. They'll probably have to find a high school quarterback to play him, though. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I will read his letter here shortly. So, how are you doing? You okay? I'm doing good.

I'm doing good. I got a big night tonight. What's your night tonight? I'm going to see this show called Aretha. It's about the life of Aretha Franklin up at the hippodrome in Baltimore. Wow. That should be really good. Guess what?

I'm going to a show tonight as well. I'm going down. I'm going down. We're front row guys, you and me. Now, this one is a little bit controversial. with me and my son. He and his girlfriend, they are, they have a pop duo and they're like right now being their latest albums like top 40 on college radio. Anyway, they are playing and opening up for another band down at Union Stage on the Wharf. So they've played at Union Stage before. Union Stage, by the way, the anthem is I think right now the best venue in town. But Union Stage is the small. smaller venue, you know, holds, I don't know, 500 people, something like that, that is right near

the anthem down at the wharf. So I'm going to go down and watch them because they are beginning kind of a tour. But the problem and the reason it's controversial is the Sweet 16s on tonight. This is one, this is actually the next two nights, the four games tonight, the four games tomorrow night, combined with the whole weekend last weekend, are really among my favorite sports weekends of the year. And Tommy, the games tonight are incredible. And I've got a smell test before the end of the show today. I mean, you've got four big-time matchups, Michigan State, Kansas State, Arkansas,

Yukon, Florida Atlantic, Tennessee is the lesser, you know, in terms of brand of a game. But, man, Florida Atlantic's got a really good chance. And then tonight at 945, right around there, from Vegas. Heavyweight title fight. Gonzaga, UCLA. And then tomorrow night's games are really good. But tonight is a big night. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to, you know, I'll record, you know, the two networks that these games are on and I'll come back.

And I'll just make it a late night. Tomorrow's Friday, not a big deal. And I'll end up catching up with everything because I'll go down and watch them. And they probably have about a half an hour, 30 minutes set, something like that. And I won't stay for, you know, the main event, which I don't even know who they're opening up for. I should probably know that. But then I will come back and I'll probably grab a pizza on the way back maybe and get caught up on all the games. There you go.

I love this night. You know, by all rights, neither of us should be going to a show tonight. We should both be in Vegas. Oh, my God. Yeah, but if we were in Vegas, it's not like we'd be going to the games. No. No. But we should be in Vegas tonight. We should be at a sports book in Vegas tonight. I think Aaron... We should have been doing the podcast for Sweet 16 next year in Vegas. I think that's what we need to work on.

I think Aaron is going to the games tonight. I know Tim Murray's going to the games tonight. Oh, okay. And I think he told me that on the podcast yesterday. and yeah, this is a hell of a lineup tonight for, yeah, look, I used to tell people there were, there was a stretch there. I've told you this before. There was a stretch there. And look, I'm not proud of it necessarily. But there was a stretch there when I was in my, you know, late 20s, 30s before kids or when the kids were, you know, really, really young. And I was traveling a lot. And I was on the West Coast a bunch. But I was probably in, Vegas, and this is no exaggeration, 10 to 12 times a year. Now, a lot of those, a lot of those

Vegas weekends were I was in L.A. or I was in San Francisco or I was in Phoenix or, you know, I was in Denver or something. And I would just schedule, you know, the meeting that I would have for a Friday knowing that I could just then go to Vegas, meet friends, hang out, come back on the Red Eye Sunday night. But there was a stretch there where, uh, We, God, I don't know, it was probably like five out of eight years where we went to the Super Bowl every year in Vegas. You know, we went to the, we went to Vegas for the Super Bowl, which was like going to the Super Bowl. And so that was a weekend that we always went out there. And then typically, you know, you know this, you and I did some of these together too.

but we would do one of those big fights that would be in the fall. Not typically this spring, although we did a couple of spring, Kentucky Derby, NHL NBA playoffs, big fight things, but the big fight that they would have in November every year, whatever it was, you know, Pachial versus somebody, you know, Buster Douglas or Lennox Lewis or, you know, somebody, you know, whoever it was, we would go out, Holyfield, we would go out there for that weekend because that was a big weekend

because you had football going on all weekend long and then you had a big fight on Saturday night. That was always fun. And then the tournament was always fun to be out there. The final four is boring. The first two rounds are insane, but it's too crowded. The Sweet 16 is a pretty good weekend to go. It's the best.

Yeah. Absolutely. You know who does that all the time is Zabe. Or he did that for many years, right, with a big group. that he put together through his show. I think he did. That rings a bell. But anyway, so we're both headed to shows tonight.

Aretha, there you go. Yeah, Arisa, speaking of shows, did you watch the TV show Lucky Hank on AMC Sunday night, Bob Oden Kirk's new show? No, I heard about it. I did not see it. Tell me about it. it's pretty funny

is it it's pretty funny it's based on a richard russo novel great writer he wrote the empire falls he wrote nobody's fool where you know Paul Newman's

great movie about that and I think the creators one of them is connected to the office yeah Paul Lieberstein I think Paul Lieberstein yeah okay

who played Toby on the office yeah and was a writer okay so it's it's pretty good. I'd highly recommend Lucky Hank. I mean, talk about it. It's over the top and sarcasm and

snark. It's pretty good. I mean, it really made it. In the first episode, it really was a send-up. He's a college professor. And it really, really made fun of the whole college atmosphere

in 2022. 2020. Like, give me a example of the sarcasm used about the college atmosphere in 2023? Well, you know, there was a student who was reading to him his writing, and basically, you know, Odin Kirk said it was terrible, it was mediocre, and basically called his whole school where he was teaching the mediocre capital of college in America. and then, you know, the student brought him up on charge.

Of course, yeah. You know? Yeah. And there was like a revolt to try to, he's the chairman of the department, the English department, and they tried to get him thrown out. So it's pretty good. I enjoyed it a lot. It's about an hour.

Okay. I highly recommend it. Sunday night. I watch. Well, you can watch it on demand. I watched Ted Lassow episode two of season three. It came out. They're coming out on Wednesdays.

And I have to tell you, it's one of the best episodes of Ted Lassow I've ever seen. And I'll leave it at that because I know a lot of you are watching it because a lot of you have told me that you're watching it. I don't want to do a spoiler alert. I don't want to spoiler alert and have you check out and I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about it. But it was an excellent episode. And so far, season three's first two episodes, already for me much better than season two. Season two was a drop off from season one.

For me, minus the Christmas episode, which was outstanding. And there were a couple of episodes that were really good. But last night, episode two, really well done. Very funny. The writing I thought was sensational. In fact, I want to go back and watch it again. but it was really well done and so far season three is excellent in my opinion. I have no idea how it's being reviewed.

I haven't read any of the reviews so far of the much anticipated Lassso season three, but I've enjoyed it so far. I was just going to mention real quickly before this, before we started recording, you and I were having a difficult time connecting via phone. and I had, you know, I called down to our main desk here and I said, what's going on with the phones? They said nothing. So you tried calling me.

I tried calling you and it just, for whatever reason, wasn't working. So I just decided to unplug the phone and plug it back in. And it's a brand new phone. That's all you have to do most times. It really is. It fixes so many things. It's amazing how many things, just. just unplugging something and plugging it back in how it will get fixed.

I guess it just needs to reboot or restart and it was fine. And by the way, you sound great today. I'm so glad I did this before the show. I want to just real quickly before we get to Taylor Heineke's love letter to the city. I wanted you to listen to Ed Cooley yesterday. This would be Ed Cooley, not Chris Cooley. And Ed is now in D.C. He is the new head coach at Georgetown.

and Ed during his introductory presser yesterday said the following. But Iron Eagle is going to be talking to me at some point really, really soon, when Georgetown wins a national championship. I can really believe. Whoa. I mean, Ed Cooley is predicting a national championship. I love the fact Tommy he got Iron Eagle right because Iron Eagle is taking over for Jim after this year is the voice of college basketball and the lead voice in March Madness starting

next year. Ed Cooley, he's not, he's going for a national champion. By the way, you should go for a national championship. You should say it, but he sounded awfully bold yesterday. He's selling it right now. Yeah, I know that, but aren't you a big proponent of don't oversell? Walk softly, carry a big stick. Yeah, you're, you know, don't. You know, don't. Don't raise expectations. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you know, this organization's oversold and underperformed for years, as I've said many times. And I prefer the underselling and overperforming.

But you know what? In his situation coming here, this program, it feels a little bit dead. Like he's... A little bit dead. He needs to get people fired up about joining. Georgetown basketball again. Yes. To put it kindly, it feels a little bit dead.

It does. Like a character on the walking dead. Yeah. Yeah. Norman, what's his face? You know, I was reading something yesterday after the press conference. And by the way, Ed Cooley, I've always been a big fan of. I think it's a great hire.

he was at the top of my list for Maryland last year. I mean, he was one of the guys that I would have loved for Maryland to have gone after and hired. And they did reach out to Ed Cooley. And Ed Cooley said that he wasn't interested. They're from Providence. He wanted to stay at Providence. Well, a year later, he's taking the Georgetown job. And I said the other day to you, I'm pretty sure, that I didn't really think that there was that much of a difference between Providence and Georgetown.

I recognize Georgetown's national championship and national brand. I understand that Georgetown is a bigger and a more well-known basketball brand. But I didn't think that your chances in 2023 of going to the final four or winning a national championship were any greater at Georgetown than they were at Providence. And you slightly disagreed with me the other day, right? You thought Georgetown was a better job. Yes. You can't remember. I guess I guess I did. I mean, because I really think Georgetown, the program is really, you know,

I mean, hit rock bottom almost. You know, but, you know, even its irrelevancy is, it has more of a profile than Providence's success. How's that? It's a little bit different from your take the other day. I didn't expect you to remember exactly what your take was the other day. You said, you know, Providence, you can win a national championship of Providence, but you just thought that Georgetown's, you know, Georgetown just had a slightly bigger brand. Anyway, I wanted to read a bunch of quotes from Big East coaches who Jeff Goodman,

long time, you know, analyst of college basketball. I don't think he's on air anymore. I think he's got a podcast or I think he does something for something called the Field of 68. Anyway, he reached out to a bunch of Big East coaches to ask whether or not Georgetown was a better job than Providence. Listen to some of these responses, all anonymous. Providence College is at or near the ceiling, not a national recruiting brand, very difficult to beat Yukon for the regional ones. average town, not a huge donor base, average academics, nothing really stands out. Georgetown's one of the most prestigious schools in the country.

The education appeals to almost every kid and family. Also a proven history of getting kids in and making it work for transfers in kids that aren't at the top of their class. Great national brand, national and well-heeled donor base, and then in parentheses, NIL possibilities. in the heart of a terrific talent base, many of which care about the academics. I thought there was a little bit too much emphasis on academics there. I think there is a history of Georgetown getting kids in.

John did that all the time. John was a great believer in giving kids who maybe didn't test well, you know, SAT, ACT, which he was not a big fan of, nor were a lot of people, and got those kids into Georgetown, and it changed their lives in many cases, whether they went on to play professional basketball or not. But Goodman puts like 11 responses out there, and they're all overwhelmingly Georgetown. Quote, this isn't even a discussion.

It's Georgetown there's not a debate, quote, from another coach in the Big East. I can't imagine any coach picking Providence over Georgetown, not even debatable to me. Easy. Georgetown, they've got the largest endowment in the Big East by $2 billion over Villanova, which is second. I would assume that you knew that since you are an academic professor at Georgetown University. Did you know that their endowment was $2 billion larger than any other Big East school? Well, no, because we try to, on the up and up at Georgetown, keep our academics separate from our athletics. No, I was not aware of that. I'm talking about the overall endowment at the university.

You know the answer to this. It's not even close. Recruiting base in D.C., best in the country. Better place to live. Highest upside. Highest upside of any job in the Big East. It just keeps going on and on. You know, historical advantage and reputation, Iverson, Ewing, John Thompson, the history of elite bigs.

D.C. is a much better city than Providence. There's a lot of criticism of just Providence as a city. city and how much better DC is. And it just goes on and on. But the fact that it was so overwhelming, I'm telling you, that's a surprise to me. I just think that, you know, I look at all the big East schools and I'm like, look, you know, DePaul's not necessarily great. But every other spot, including Patino now at St. John's, I think you've got a chance

with the right coach in there to win big. And the big difference between Georgetown and Providence other than the things outlined would be the one big one that doesn't go Georgetown's way. and that is they don't have a massive fan base locally, and they don't have a massive home court advantage. I mean, right? You know, Providence does. Every school in the Big East has a really good home court situation,

except for Georgetown, maybe DePaul. You know, DePaul doesn't have the best either. But the biggest upside program in the Big East, really bigger than Yukon? Bigger than Nova? today in 2023? This is what, okay, first of all, I don't know what you're doing, but I think you have me confused with somebody else

because I never would have said, I think you can win a national championship at Providence. That's not something I just would have fed. Final four. I think we talked about the final four. Okay, okay. I don't even know if I would have said that, but I know I wouldn't have fed the national championship thing.

Yeah, I know. Okay. The second thing is what I said a few minutes earlier. I don't have you confused with anybody else. I never, I never confuse you with anybody else. Georgetown's demise, Georgetown's failures are more high profile than Providence's success. In other words, the story of Georgetown being down is a bigger story than Providence being good. I know what you're saying. I'm just sitting here thinking as to whether or not I agree with it. I mean, to be honest with you, I don't know that outside of this area, people have really paid, they know how bad Georgetown's been, but it's not like you've seen major stories about the demise of the Georgetown program under Patrick Ewing. I didn't sense a strong desire nationally from college basketball people. But you haven't seen any stories.

You haven't seen any national stories about how great Providence is. Well, last year, this was a team that was rolling. They were in the top 10. They got to the Sweet 16. Ed Cooley's actually made a pretty good name for himself at Providence here. I'm talking about in college basketball circles. Right. You know, Providence had a history long before Georgetown had a history with Marvin Barnes and Ernie D. Gregorio.

I remember those days. I grew up then. Yeah, I know. That's why you talked about how you could see them getting back to a final four the other day. No, I didn't do that. Okay. Now I'm going to go find it. Yeah, okay. And play it going out of the segment. I know what you do with your dubbing and your taping and your audio match. your voodoo? I know what you do.

Yeah, right. Let me just tell you, it's very, very hard to recreate your voice. Anyway, you know what? Ed Cooley's a good hire for Georgetown. They'll get, with the transfer portal, with the NIL money, he'll turn it around quickly. I would not be surprised at all if Georgetown is back into the tournament within two years. Like, maybe not next year, but the year after. Maybe even next year, because you can do that in college hoops. And let me also just mention congratulations to Kim English. He's been the George Mason coach, 34 years old. He gets the Providence job.

And maybe that says all you need to say about the difference between the jobs is Georgetown attracted Ed Cooley with an opening and Providence attracted Kim English. But let me just say, Kim English is a really good young coach. When they beat Maryland last year, a lot of the Maryland fans had Kim English on their list of coaches that they'd like, you know, Maryland to pursue last year. And I think, you know, a lot of Maryland fans, I put myself into this category, felt that the job should go to somebody with much more stature and experience than Kim English. But he's, he's a good young coach, and he gets the Providence job. But anyway.

You see one of the things Cooley said, Ed Cooley, let me make clear here, Ed Cooley said was that he was going to get in touch with Kevin Willard about, bringing back to Georgetown Maryland. No, no. I didn't see that. Yes, I think I can let me just make sure I'm not making it up. Since, you know, I seem to like just say stuff that I don't remember. But I'm pretty sure I saw that. Here it is. I got it. You want to read it? Do you have it?

No, you read it. No, you read it. Okay. Ed Cooley. So Willard, so Cooley and Maryland's Kevin Willard. This is from Jeff Irman's story. There's no such rivalry between their new coaches, Cooley and Maryland's Kevin Willard. The first year Terps coaches mentioned Cooley, his former opponent in the Big East,

while at Seton Hall several times this season. Ed Cooley is a really, really good friend of mine. So I watch any time Providence is on TV, Willard said earlier last month. Cooley was asked about scheduling Maryland on Wednesday during his introductory press conference, and he said the following, quote, if it's good for the DMV area, good for the district, but more importantly, it's good for us. If it's good for us, I'm not just playing because you're up the street.

It's got to have a purpose for Georgetown. We'll have a conversation about the possibility to do it. I won't rule it out, closed quote. There's more, sorry. I don't know what our schedule and alliances are here. You know, when you take a job scheduling is one of the first things you talk about. then recruiting, scheduling and recruiting are very, very important. So Kevin and I will have a great conversation.

Okay. By the way, he was prepped. So it's on the table. He was prepped for that answer, no doubt. Uh-huh. He didn't just come out. Either that or he's really aware of this situation. Because if he weren't aware of the situation,

he would have probably said something like, wait a minute. We don't play Maryland every year? Oh, yeah, I'm going to schedule Kevin. But he was prepped for this. got to have a purpose for Georgetown. It's got to be good for Georgetown. By the way, that's fine. But that's something Coach Thompson would say. And then, by the way, the answer to that question would be, no, it really doesn't have a purpose for Georgetown. Thank you, but no thank you. All right. Let's get to the Taylor Heineke-Farewell letter and also latest thoughts on ownership,

including the new name that popped into the picture yesterday. We'll do all of that and more right after these words from a few of our sponsors. I think you can win a national championship at Providence. I know they haven't in Georgetown has. You know, I agree with you. You know, I agree with you. But I do agree with Barry that Georgetown's probably a better job because of the brand. But that brand is hanging on by its fingernails.

Yeah. Okay. I mean, Georgetown, you could always. argue is closer to being a Patriot League team than it is a Big East team. All right, Tommy. Good night, I would imagine tonight at Shelley's with the Sweet 16 going on. Absolutely. A very good night with their eight high-definition TVs, with their comfortable couches, and chairs smoking a quality cigar and drinking some top shelf whiskey. But I tell you what's a better night. Monday, May 24th.

second. What is that? That is the night that this year's D.C. gray cigars and curveballs fundraiser. Oh, you've got the date. You've got the date for it. Okay. May 22nd? May 22nd. Yep.

Yes, Monday. D.C. Grace fundraiser at Shelly's, the owner Bob Matarazzi has been so generous over the years by letting us use Shelly's for our event. And, you know, that's a date that works. good for us. I mean, it's a great event. There's some celebrities like Kevin who show up for it. I wouldn't call me a celebrity, but a friend is showing up to be a part of the evening. And, I mean, it's a lot of fun. You know, it's three cigars and appetizers for a hundred dollar donation to the D.C. Grace, a nonprofit baseball organization in the district. We usually do

a live auction of sports memorabilia, which is always a lot of fun. Last year, we raffled off a jersey signed by members of the 2019 Washington Nationals World Series team. This year will include an autographed jersey by Joe Chacoby, former Redskin great, among the things. So I just wanted to put everybody on alert, put it on your calendar Monday, May 22nd at Shelly's. And again, I mean, any night at Shelly's is worth going to. But this night in particular is a lot of fun.

And people, you know, it's usually like from five to eight. We didn't leave last year until midnight. Okay. So it's usually a lot of good stories, a lot of laughing, and all for a good. cause thanks to shelley's and their generosity. Yeah, it's a great night. It's always been a fun night. And you're going to see a lot of familiar faces down at this event.

So May 22nd, that's not Labor Day, is it? I mean, Memorial Day. You didn't do it on Memorial Day, did you? Okay. I don't think so. You don't think so? May 22nd is a Monday. but I would think that maybe the following Monday is Memorial Day, the 20-night.

That would make more sense. So looking forward to me. Looking forward to May 22nd for Tommy's Cigars and Curve Balls. Always a great event. Shelly's also a great spot for... 1331 F Street, Northwest, in the district. Whether it's Sweet 16 night or Cigars and Curve Balls night. or any night. Right. So there is some breaking news, Tommy, that is just happening. I think it's

breaking news. It's certainly newsworthy of reading from both the athletic and from Fox Business News's Charles Gasperino, who is, you know, we've talked about some of his tweets before. He's been reporting a lot on the potential sale of the commanders. He's clearly close to the Snyder camp, and he just tweeted out. People close to commander's owner Dan Snyder say he isn't opposed to Jeff Bezos placing a bid in for the team and they have communicated that to the Bezos people Fox businesses learn from people with direct knowledge. These people say Snyder's animus to Bezos over coverage issues have been overblown. Bezos has yet to place a bid for the team and the sale if it happens will likely occur after next week's owner's meeting, I am told, also overblown these people say the NFL pressure on Snyder to sell.

It's his decision for a variety of reasons. So before I get to the athletic story, actually I'll read you the athletic story real quickly. Daniel Kaplan from the athletic. The Washington commanders and the team's embattled owner, likely soon to be ex-owner Daniel Snyder, are not formally on the agenda for next week's four-day annual NFL owners meeting, a person who has received the agenda told the athletic. Here's what you need to know. Despite a flood of news and speculation surrounding the commanders,

right now a vote or owner briefing is not scheduled for March 26th through 29th in Arizona. Prospective owners have been touring the commander's facilities and a sales agreement is expected to be reached soon, a deal being ready for owners to bless by the annual meeting next week has always been aggressive. The May meeting, the May meeting in Minneapolis is a more reasonable schedule. So let me just real quickly on the athletics report. Look, the fact that the owners aren't ready and they don't have it on the agenda to vote on it or be briefed on it, I don't think necessarily speaks to whether or not the announcement of a sale could be imminent.

and in fact, Daniel Kaplan writes, prospective owners have been touring the commander's facilities and a sales agreement is expected to be reached soon. So I actually think that, you know, the fact that it's not on the agenda is not that big of a story. Back to the Gasparino tweet, willing to sell or not opposed to selling to Bezos, they've communicated that to Bezos,

that the Bezos animus, you know, from the Snyders towards, you know, Bezos and the Washington Post's cover, is overblown, and the NFL pressure on Snyder to sell is also overblown. It's his decision for a variety of reasons. What's your reaction to that? Well, I think this is Dan Snyder's. This is Dan Snyder speaking out there. Look, there's no way that the animus or the pressure on Snyder to sell from fellow owners is overblown.

when Jim Ursay walks out of an owner's meeting and basically throws Dan Snyder under a bus, like we've never heard an owner throw another one under the bus since the days of Al Davis. I mean, once he walked out and did that, then the pressure was on from fellow owners, no matter how they want to couch it for him to sell the team. I mean, you know, you need to read the room in that case. As far as Bezos, I always thought Bezos was going to be involved, whether it's his decision or the NFL, whether it's Snyder's decision to deal with him or the NFL's decision to make Snyder deal with them, or at least pressure Snyder to deal with them. It'd be difficult to believe that they would like to leave Bezos if he really wanted in, out in the, you know, frozen out of this process. So I think what you're getting is what Dan Snyder wants out there on both counts.

I think, look, is there animus towards Bezos? I think Dan Snyder has probably used the word, use M.F in front of Jeff Bezos so much. You think if it's first as middle name. Okay? Yeah. So I think there's tremendous animus. But this is business. Like Michael Corleone said, it's not personal.

it's business. And I think Bezos has always been in play. Yeah, my reaction to this is Snyder's not getting the number he wants from Harris or anybody else. He wants

$6 billion. They don't think it's worth six. They're coming in in, you know, the $5.6 to $5.7 billion range. So he's trying to get Bezos, make it very clear that Bezos is in play, that he doesn't have a problem accepting a bid from Bezos, whether, by the way, it's to sort of push Harris and anybody else

to place, to increase their bid, or if he now, you know, wants to win so badly with that $6 billion number, he realizes the only person capable of paying it is Bezos. That's first. Second is that the NFL isn't pressuring Snyder to sell is such a, you know, is such a Snyder thing. Like, you know, this isn't their decision. This is my decision. Nobody's forcing me to sell because there's no reason for them to force me to sell. Look, they, they have to sell.

I think financially, I think the family is very much in favor. of selling this team. I think they, you know, at least somebody in that group, probably Tanya or somebody close enough to them, has said, look, it's just not going to work with you here in this market anymore, especially with the prospect of you selling the team in the news and in the, you know, in the water here since November. So the idea of you staying on now is a complete non-starter. I mean, they'll revolt if you were to stay on. So I think this is Snyder leaking through Gasparino. Hey, Bezos is back involved.

Or it's all price driven. He's not getting his number that he really wants. And he wants to walk with $6 billion plus to be able to say, look, I got $6 billion. I don't think he wants a five in front of it. I think he wants a six in front of it. And if Harris and Fertita and the others and Steve, you know, Apostolopolis can't come up with it, well, damn it, I want everybody to know I've never been against Bezos buying the team. Now he isn't because maybe Bezos is the only person that can actually pay him that number.

I think this is all price, you know, related, trying to create more leverage to get a better deal. And if he has to accept a deal from Bezos, he looks like it's been out. there in the, in, in, in, in, in, in discussion that he was never against Bezos. When all of the reporting before was that he had told Bezos, don't even try. You've been excluded from the process. So. Yeah, I mean, this is, this is a, this is Snyder's message getting out there. Uh, and it's, look, I mean, this is a guy, and I pointed out in my column today.

I mean, what's so unpredictable about this guy is how he'll react to any given situation. This is a guy who instructed one of his workers to pour milk into the learner's sleep, so it would sour by the time they came to use it and create a stink because he did like the deal that he did with the learners. So he's capable of anything. You know, so, I mean, it's going to be, I mean, you know, even if a deal is announced until, you know, the papers are signed that everything is proved, it remains a volatile changing situation. We're going to get to the Taylor Heineke letter to the fans here in a moment. I just want to read this quick tweet.

I read this on radio this morning, and I just want to bounce this off you real quickly. So I got this tweet from Val. Kevin, a new bidder on the team, you know, this Steve Apostolopoulos. What's going on? I thought Harris was getting it. Is this going to drag on forever? I don't know if it's going to drag on forever. I don't think it is.

I think even the athletics report that just came out isn't necessarily an indication that we're not going to get an announcement, even if it's not on the docket at the meetings this week in Arizona or early next week in Arizona. But I think it's, look, this news, I still think Harris is currently the frontrunner. And I still believe Harris is going to get the team, even with this Gasparino tweet. I do. He might have to get back to, I don't know. Actually, I'm starting to wonder whether or not Snyder is going to accept anything less than $6 billion.

And it may be that Bezos is the only person they can get there. But let me just tell you in terms of like, as you would say, connecting of the dots situation. The reason I think everybody's been told, a lot of people have been told that Harris is the frontrunner, and I think that, you know, I want to just suggest something and put it out there, not that I know anything with respect to this, but Harris has introduced limited partners. Nobody else has.

Other than Bezos early on, there was discussion about Jay-Z, you know, being in the bid. Harris seems to be proceeding, you know, Mitchell Rails, successful local business person. That's the first thing that leaks out that he's part of the Harris bid. Then we get Magic Johnson, who's part of the Harris bid. Big name, front, you know, perhaps the face of the ownership group. And let's understand the importance of the league wanting diversity in ownership, whether it's a minority or majority, but they definitely want more minority, black diversity in ownership. Magic Johnson's Black, and that comes out. And I think, you know, to me, like maybe the next thing to drop from the Harris group

will be a female limited partner, you know, someone like a Sheila Johnson as an example. Or maybe Tommy a Mary Joe White who's billed the league for more than $2 million over the last year. No, she's not in that ballpark. But, you know, you start doing the watching what's going on with the Harris Group. seems like they're nearing something. And what they're doing is they're putting out there all of the, you know, answers to any kind of critical pushback that might come when they're announced. Like, you know, Mitchell Rails is part of the deal. Magic Johnson's part of the deal. We also have

just like, you know, Condoleezza Rice and Melody Hobson, I think her name was, from the Aerial Investments Group was part of the Denver deal. By the way, I would also suggest they don't need all of this out there, but this is the normal course of setting it up for when the announcement happens, limiting the amount of criticism about the overall investment group. Now, the irony with this situation is no ownership group will ever have an easier stroll into the ownership box than whomever the ownership group is taking over for Dan Snyder because everybody's going to love them because they're not. him. They're not Dan Snyder. But this is, I think, you know, what could be coming next. I don't know that,

but I'm just taking a guess on that. The overall lead, Josh Harrison, then all of these limited partners that kind of, you know, for the lack of a better description, check boxes, local businessman, Magic Johnson, female, we've got diversity in our ownership group. We're untouchable. This is a strong group and a strong bid. and I just think that we haven't seen that with Fertita. We haven't seen that with Bezos. We haven't seen that with Apostolopolis at this point. And I also think, Tommy, and you've said this many times in the past, about, you know, the story being right in the moment,

perhaps, you know, wrong down the road. But, you know, the story of this Canadian billionaire bidding on the team, by the way. That was not reported, that he didn't bid on the team. He visited the stadium in the facilities. And I wonder what you think with your experience about Schaefter and Windhorst discussing this, reporting this about this Canadian billionaire. By the way, Jack Kent Cook was a Canadian too.

That if they're on time with this, or if they're chasing the story, meaning we didn't get a date on when this guy visited the stadium or visited the facilities. We didn't get that he actually had bid on the team. We know that people passed on this deal thinking it was too expensive. This could have happened a month ago and they just got wind of it. Brian Winhorst, Windy and Shefty. God, people were annoyed by that. So my, it's what Greeny calls him, Wendy and Shefty.

But it's like there's, for all we know, this story. story has advanced to a point in which maybe we'll hear about what's happening today two weeks from now. You know what I mean? Yes. Yes. That said, if I found out that, I don't know, that you had toured the facilities last month because you were interested in looking at you to purchase the team, I'd report it. In other words, there's nothing wrong with their report. Right. I mean, you know, the timing may be lagging, but any name that you can confirm that has

shown interest in purchasing this team, until the team is purchased or until there's a definitive final list of bidders that's official, it's in play as far as being a reporter. Personally, on the report of this new guy, I think it would have been helpful. to say when he visited this stadium and the facility, rather than not mention it at all? Well, maybe they had limited information. Right. All right.

Let's get to the Taylor Heineke letter. So I'm not going to read through the whole thing because it'll take a while, but it was a very heartfelt message from Taylor Heineke to Washington titled, Thank you, Washington, written in the Players Tribune. It starts off by saying, before I got the call to come to Washington a few years ago, I thought I was pretty much done playing football. COVID was just starting to take hold. I was in the XFL with no real job prospects bubbling up in the NFL.

So in my mind, it was like, you know what, this might be it for you. I was actually trying to become a coach at that point because I didn't know what else I do after retiring from football. I knew the OC in Washington at the time, Scott Turner. He was someone who had believed in me from the beginning of my career. So I called him up and asked him if he knew of any coaching opportunities. He talked to me about finishing my degree and what steps I need to take to go the coaching route. And then right before we got off the phone, he paused for a second and said, listen, man, maybe don't hang up the cleats just yet. COVID is changing everything.

And you never know in this league. And then, you know, he goes back to talking about being at his sisters and getting the call from Rivera. and then ultimately starting in the playoff game against Brady and his memories from that game. And he said, you know, honestly, during my time in Washington, that was one of the main things that I kept coming back to again and again, how fortunate I was to land on a team with a fan base like this one in a city that loves football, loves football as much as you all.

He said, look, I'm not going to lie. It's heartbreaking to be leaving. I'm getting emotional just sitting here thinking about it, the team and the people of Washington. I just cannot thank you guys enough for the support and encouragement you've showed me. He talks about the Dallas game, somebody holding up a sign saying thank you, Taylor, and it was really emotional to read that. And then he writes the following. So I felt like it wouldn't be right to leave without telling you all how much you've meant to me.

I'm truly grateful for everything this fan base has given me these last few years. years. Thank you for embracing me and supporting me while I live out my dream. And I do want to give a special thanks to Coach Rivera. Obviously, the end of the road for me in Washington was a little bit rocky with how it all went down, but I want everyone to know that there's no hard feelings. I'm very grateful for the opportunities Coach Rivera gave me over the years for him trusting me and believing in me again and again. And the fact that he and the coaching staff and my teammates and the fans and everyone else in Washington accepted me with open arms. That means the world to me, because that stuff wasn't a given by any stretch of the imagination. And then it ends this way.

Nothing is ever a given when you're talking about someone like me. I know who I am. I don't have the strongest arm. I throw a decent amount of picks. I do some dumb stuff sometimes out there. I cop to all of that. It's true. But I also fight like hell. And I know how to get Ws. So at the end of the day, I hope that I still gave you all something to cheer for. And if you look at the team over the last couple of years, I hope that in my own way, I still left my mark. I think you saw a group that was out there doing what I always want to be doing, battling and grinding. Whether it was going up to Philly on a Monday night and taking down an undefeated team, or going toe to toe to with Brady in that playoff game, or scratching and clawing to try to get into the playoffs, we were a group

that never stopped fighting and never settled or threw in the towel. I'm proud of that. All of that stuff matter to me. And when people look back on my time in Washington, I hope that's what they remember most. Taylor Heineke number four. So what did you think of the letter? Well, I mean, I thought it was, I thought it was a nice thing for him to do. I think he feels obviously for a guy who was out of the league to have to be cheered at Ghost Town Field like he's. he was and to become a fan favorite was something he probably never could have predicted. So he must obviously have a special place for fans in this community. And it's locker room.

I think he was extremely tight with his teammates in the locker room. I mean, they loved him. Okay. So, I mean, I think it was a nice thing to say. What is it you're looking for? Who said I was looking for anything? Well, you must be looking for something. Well, what am I going to say?

It sounds like you're... It sounds like you're expecting that I was looking for something from you. What do you think... You always are. What do you think I'm expecting from you? You're expecting to go back and say, you see? You see, he went out of his way to thank Ron and for the opportunity and all that. And it's not going to change my mind.

Here's what I think likely could happen, have happened at this point, particularly now that he signed a big contract, well, for him, a big contract with the Falcons, is that time has healed that wound. Oh, all that time has healed that wound? Well, I think a contract that's healed it as well. Okay. All right. You could have just gotten to that point without having to say, what are you expecting for me when you knew exactly what?

what I was expecting from you. I, so, look, I think that this is absolutely the right answer to anything involving Rivera and what happened at the end of the year, no matter how awful it was or how minor it was. Because I don't know, you seem to think you know how much he felt betrayed and how angry he was and how it completely, you know, eviscerated any kind of relationship he had with Rivera. That's fine. But if that's true, this was 100% the right path to take. This is the high road. And this is what I kind of suggested to you from the beginning that if it were me advising him and he was really pissed and he was like, I was betrayed. They screwed me by taking that job away

from me with the biggest game in the season on the line against Cleveland. I would have said, that's fine, and that's the competitive nature of you, and I understand that. But at the same time, publicly, these are the people that gave you a chance to be mad about something like this, because nobody else, including your XFL team, was willing to even give you a chance to play. And these guys gave you the chance to play. And by the way, gave you a chance at an income level for several years.

that is far beyond what you would have ever earned going from O.D.U. Online classes, and I know that they were very difficult classes to whatever job you would have gone into. And I think, you know, I'm not saying that you're wrong. I don't know. I would bet that it's a little bit overdone by his former coach at Old Dominion or the high school coach or whichever one was on with Galdi that said that this was a real deal breaker and that he was never coming back after this happened. the high school coach. Which coach was it? The Old Dominion coach or the high school coach? Tell me which one it was. I don't know who it was. I know you told me the high school coach or Sabah told me the high school coach was on with him too at some point. I told you it was the old Dominion coach and his close friend.

His close friend and the old Dominion coach. Gene Wilder. Gene Wilder. Taylor alluded to this in his interview with Pat. McAfee. Okay? But he's always going to be a high road kind of guy. And you're right.

It's a smart thing to do. Right. Of course. You know, to say the things that he said. But he felt betrayed. Well, he should also feel... He may be over it? He should also feel grateful.

And that's been my point all along. I guess you can. You absolutely can. You can feel betrayed at the episode of the of the Cleveland week and what followed it, and you can also be grateful for the overall time and the opportunity that was given. And ultimately, that's the only point that I was always trying to make to you. Haven't you had people give you an opportunity at some point and then screw you later on?

No doubt. And I said that. You can be given the opportunity and be grateful for the opportunity and recognize what that opportunity meant for you and your financial situation and your future family situation, but also it can end in an ugly fashion. I said that to you that day. You push back on saying he shouldn't feel grateful at all. You said he felt betrayed. I said he should be grateful. The truth is he can feel both. And maybe we've just come up to find. You know what? If you dig long enough and hard enough, you know what you find, Tommy? You find a friend. Common ground. common ground.

So, but here's what, the, the big takeaway for me, okay, is this is very nice. And, you know, it's classy. It's all of those things. And I love how, by the way, self-aware he was. And I love how he took the high road on Rivera. If there was a need to take a high road, let's just assume that there was a need to take a kind of a high road. But it, but for me,

As someone who has lived through the years in which they were actually great and this franchise was great, I'm just blown away at the reaction of a guy who was certainly, yeah, they chanted his name. Okay, they chanted Taylor Heineke's name. That's all you need to know about the state of the organization. You know, at the end of a season that ended with, you know, an 8, 8 and 1 record and threatened maybe the seven. seed in the postseason, which would have been one of the best seasons this organization's had in years. But it's like, I got, I want to find this one, Rich from Rich. Nice job reading Taylor's thank you message. I read it on radio this morning. I didn't think you'd do that. Your takes on him

in recent years have been so off the mark. He's the most popular player this franchise has had in a long time. You more than anybody else should recognize it. You're a team historian for crying out loud. That was the nicest thing that Rich said. I don't think that I'm a historian, but that was very nice. The letter was great. His departure hurts. You've missed on this one big time. Oh, oh. Yeah, I think that the Heineke... I think Rich feels, I think Rich feels betrayed. I think he does feel betrayed. He does. And yet he should feel grateful for me

being the long-time historian. But the, I wasn't, I read this letter this morning and I read it last night and I was like, this is very nice. But the people, you know, that are buzzing around in the Heineke

hive, they're so sensitive. And it's like, people, come on. I mean, what are we talking about here? This is nice. But can you imagine in a real franchise, a backup quarterback that maybe

had a six or seven game stretch of playing really well, wrote a farewell message that just captured the city, captured the fans of Taylor Heineke? I mean, this was Sabah. I mean, I love you, Sabah, but look at how emotional

she got. She DMed me, Kevin, that Taylor Heineke letter makes me cry. How is it this team who no one wants to play for, especially quarterbacks, discards him like they did Kirk. The difference, Kirk did not love this team like

Taylor did, and no one has ever written a love letter back. Dang, we will all, including you, miss him. I'm not going to miss him, people. I'm not. I can't make up the emotion of this. Here's what you're

missing. What am I missing? Here's what you are missing, though. You're missing the need to feel good about something. This is always your go-to in these situations. I'm not saying you're wrong, but go ahead. I mean, you know, I mean, people felt good about Taylor Heineke emotionally, okay?

Maybe not analytically as a football player, but emotionally, people felt good that he was playing for their team. I mean, I mean, what, people don't feel good. about this team. It's hard to feel good about this team. It's hard to think that there's something good that's coming at something good. I don't want to use the word pure, but good. When I mean good, I don't mean talented good. I mean spiritually good, whatever kind of good you come up with. You can't ever get, find that on this team anywhere. And people felt that about this guy. So he's a crumb. You know?

He's a crumb. A crumb? For starving fan base. No, he's not a crumb. Okay. Well, he's a little bit more than a crumb. Okay. He's a clever of a cake.

He's a half a sandwich? I know what you're saying. I get it. Whatever's left of the fan base is hanging on. They've been beaten down. They've been insulted for so long. And here comes, at least if we're not going to win, let's have a nice little story to get excited.

about. And that's what he was, because you weren't going to win anything starting Taylor Heinecke for a lot of games. And I think what's going to happen here is the performance of Taylor Heineke is going to grow in mythology. You know, 10 years from now, people are going to be talking about the throw that he made to Curtis Samuel on fourth down in the Meadowlands in a big Washington late season win when the game was actually. a tie. They'll be talking about how he beat the goat in a playoff game, you know, during COVID. No, he didn't, but he did play very well in that game. He really did. It may have been his best game. I'm not going to be able to do that. That's all. I love the story. I love the kid. That's not sarcasm or condescension. These are the kinds of, you know, players that I've always enjoyed,

overachievers. But I think just like what happened last summer and last off season with Carson Wentz where a certain percentage, I'm not saying that they're the same people with Taylor Heinecke. I actually think there's a big difference in the group

that really supported Heineckee because at least you were supporting something that had a lot of positive to it. But there's just, you know, the Carson Wentz people where they were telling you to get on board or get out. Like, you know, the people

with in the Heineke hive. How are you going to do better than, you can win with Taylor Heineke? Just let's keep him. You know, you don't have to pay him a lot. Let's build around him. No, that's not going anywhere. He's a backup quarterback. And there is a certain segment of, you know, the fan base, or as I like to refer to it,

what's left of the fan base, that really is hell bent on Taylor Heineke being much more than he was. and look, I kind of understand that, except it's apples and oranges with cousins. You know, because I was all over cousins and don't let cousins go, and you can absolutely win with cousins. He's a top half of the league quarterback. Now you've got to get a defense, and you can win 11 games and get to the postseason with him. Cousins, though, has proven clearly to be a legitimate, you know, upper half, upper third of the quarterbacks in the league. Yes, he has.

Yes, he has. It's not even on the same planet. No, it's not. There are some that would like to make, though. But you know what? Here's the, in summary, it was a very nice letter. And I like Taylor Heineke. And like I've done with Cousins root for him in Minnesota.

I will totally understand the sentiment for many of you who are really rooting for him in Atlanta. You're going to be rooting for him to beat out Desmond Ritter, be the starter in Atlanta and have the Falcons win the NFC South with Taylor Heineke as the starting quarterback. I totally get that because when cousins, as pissed off as I was about the whole thing, I wanted him to continue to play well and by the way, prove me right, just like those of you in the Heineke high will want to be proven right about Heineke. But I also kind of wanted it for him because of just how dismissed he was by the dumbasses that were here in the organization. You know, all of them.

You know, from Bruce offering him $45 million less than what the market said, to not trading him when you knew that you didn't want to keep him and then you weren't going to pay him. And so I really wanted in many ways them to feel the brunt of what they had fucked up on. But anyway, and I'll get the people. that it will root for Heineke. And Washington does play Atlanta next year. They get the Falcons, right? We looked at that up recently.

I think they play the Falcons in Atlanta. So can you imagine if they were playing here and Desmond Ritter had to hear the Taylor Heineke chance when Atlanta had the ball. Hey, remember, the one thing the Washington fan base still does is they travel well. You know, they have more. More fans on the road.

And tickets are easy to come by, probably, in Atlanta Falcon games. Tommy, that's a great point. At Atlanta next year. And there will be a strong contingent of Washington fans because there always are, especially like Carolina and Atlanta on the Eastern Seaboard. And when Desmond Ritter is out there for the home team and he's throwing picks, the opponent's fans are going to start chanting, we want Taylor. But be careful because if you really believe in him, you don't want him because he'll come in and he'll be better than rhetoric and I'll end up beating the team that you're actually there to root for, I would hope.

It's like an isosceles triangle. It is. I want to ask you about someone who you were very fond of who passed away the other day. And I'll have a smell test on the Sweet 16 games to finish up the show when we come back right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Kevin looks where the John Q public is putting their cash and does the opposite. It's time for the smell test. All right, the first night of the Sweet 16 smell test picks are brought to you by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie.

Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. And MyBooky will give you a chance to make a deposit, wager that deposit amount one time, and cash out. As I've been mentioning, it is perfect for the Sweet 16 for March Madness. Sweet 16 moving forward, obviously, but for March Madness, if you just want to bet the rest of the tournament, by the way, they've got a $50,000 tournament bracket challenge at MyBooky. And by the way, I'm looking at the MyBooky lines for tonight. And interesting lines right now. They're starting to move a little bit in some of these games.

But anyway, go to MyBooky.ag. Use my promo code, Kevin, DC, to take advantage of what MyBooky has to offer. So the smell test did really, really well last weekend. 12 and 8 overall, but a 7 and 2 Saturday, Sunday second round. I was 5 and 0 on Saturday. And I will tell you that if I didn't say this on Monday, if I had given out everything I liked, I would have gone like 8 and 0. It was one of the biggest days, by the way,

sports books have ever had in the NCAA tournament. The Action Network and various other gambling networks, said that it was one of the worst public betting days in recent memory. And that's why the smell test was 5 and 0 on Saturday. It was 2 and 2 on Sunday, but 12 and 8 overall, so 60% so far for the tournament. So there are a bunch of games tonight that totally fit kind of the smell test philosophy, which is anti-public and then sharp money on the anti-public team. And it starts with Michigan State, who personally, in evaluating this game, I don't feel good about Michigan State's chances against Kansas State.

I actually think Kansas State has a chance to win the whole thing. But Michigan State's the favored team. They're laying a point in a half. It's down to a point right now at my bookie. So that line's dropping. A little bit concerned about that. I would have preferred to see that number stay where it was at one and a half two. But you're talking about the seven seed who's favored over the three seats.

And I like Kansas State a lot, but in terms of this as a team, but clearly the public lined up on K-State, there was sharp money on Michigan State early in the week. It may be coming back the other way here. So if for whatever reason I decide to cancel out the Michigan State play, I'll tweet it out. If not, Michigan State is a play. Arkansas is a big anti-public dog tonight, four-point dog against Yukon. man, Eric Musselman's group is they're long, they are athletic, so is

Yukon, this should be one hell of a basketball game tonight, give me Arkansas plus the four. And then Florida Atlantic, if you haven't watched them play, they can really spread you out. They are deep, you heard Murray talking about him yesterday. Murray and I both loved Tennessee against Duke. That was as obvious as it gets when it comes to kind of a contrarian handicapping philosophy.

I mean, everybody had Duke on Saturday. And now everybody's on Tennessee tonight against a team that most people who are betting have never heard of and never watched. But Florida Atlantic is good. They're getting five and a half. Florida Atlantic is the play. So three plays tonight. Michigan State laying a point and a half. I gave the point and a half out earlier, so I won't give the point, even though I'd love to lay the point, not the point

and a half with Michigan State. Arkansas plus four and FAU plus five and a half. The game of the night, though, tonight is UCLA Gonzaga. And that is going to be, I mean, that's a rematch of one of the great final four games we've ever seen from two years ago, the 93 to 90 overtime. Gonzaga win. Before, by the way, getting absolutely blown out by Baylor in the final. But this should be a terrific game. Jaime Hockes, after all of these years, if he's not a favorite player, especially for you old school basketball people, this is a guy that's great from the mid range. He's incredible off the dribble. He's so high IQ. He's just so tough. And then Tiger Campbell also seems like he's been there forever. This should be a hell of a game. So Michigan State, Arkansas, Florida Atlantic are the picks. Tommy Willis Reed passed away the other day. at the age of 80 years old. And I know, along with Tom Seaver, these are two of your all-time favorites,

Willis Reed. You loved him as a player. You know, and I posted this on Twitter and Facebook, I was fortunate enough. I've been given what I call many gifts in this business. And one of them was I spent a day with Lois Reed back when he was coaching the Nets. for a profile I did for Sport magazine of him and Wes Unseld,

who would then coached in the bullets. You know, this would be the first time they'd be coaching against each other, you know, based, and, I mean, everyone remembers the wars those two had on the court as players. And I spent a day with Willis, and he was so nice and so gracious. But, and I posted that article on Twitter, on Facebook. I also said, I really can't put in the words or explain how great it was to be a Knicks fan then. I mean, it almost spoiled you for basketball for the rest of your life.

I mean, it was just, it was, it was indescribable, how much fun it was, and how joyous it was to watch them play, and how spiritually uplifting it was to watch him play. in particular, and watch these guys rally around him. His nickname was Captain, you know? And nobody on that team was respected more than Willis Reed. And, I mean, I know we talk about it all the time, but it speaks to him. It speaks to his character that the standard for courage on the field of competition

is still Willis Reed coming out for game seven in 19th. 70, walking out of that locker room, I'm basically one leg, you know, hitting his first two shots in the warm-up while the Lakers stopped their warm-ups and watched him. Did they really just stop their warm-ups and just turn around and watch them? They stopped their warm-ups, turn around, and watched him during the warm-ups. And then hitting the first two shots of the game, the only points he scored in the game, which was a blowout for the next night. Walt Fraser's maybe one of the great seven games of all time, 36 points and 19 assists.

19 assists in that game. 36 and 19. He also had seven rebounds. Yeah. So, I mean, but this one, this may have even hit harder for me than Cever. I was a late bloomer in basketball. I grew up in Brooklyn, but we didn't play basketball in Brooklyn. I know this goes against, you know, the narrative.

Stickball. But we played stickball, punchball, stoop ball. We didn't play any organized sports. So basketball was a leasing to me. And I fell in love with it, more than baseball. And I played it all the time. I watched it all the time. And Willis Reed was the most important person in my life.

He was, like I say, he was the love affair of my life. That's what he was. You posted that story that you wrote for sport? Well, I posted a picture of it. I can't post the actual story. I posted a picture of the article in Sport magazine. Look, in NBA finals, he played two NBA finals. When the next one, two NBA finals, he was the MVP in both of those finals,

including at the end of his career in 73. when his knees were really shot and he outpaid Chamberlain in a five-game series for the Knicks to win their second championship. So, I mean, he,

there'll never be another player for me and they never has been, like Willis Reed. I know. I didn't know if it was Siever or Reed. I knew those were the two, and they both passed away here in the last three years. Do you know how many, I know you know this, I think you know this,

I always assumed that Willis Reed, not that he played game seven and was magnificent when he came out, I knew that he was just an inspiration and that he had only scored four points. But he did play 27 minutes of that game seven, because I pulled up the box score the other day, thinking that I would see, you know, that he played like six minutes and then came out. But he did play 27 minutes in that game. Yeah. And by that, that was Walt Fraser's game. I mean, it was, I mean, the idea of listening to them screen defense, defense at the guard, the crowd, Marv Albert, within his early days,

as a broadcaster, it was magical. You know, it was, it was magical. It'll never be recreated. I love the NBA I love the NBA in the 80s the Bird Magic era I love that I mean I was still a basketball fanatic then even into the 90s with Jordan

and and Shaq and Kobe and Tim Duncan you know but you know I've I've checked out since then you know it's not it's not the same game

for me uh and But I can watch Woolo's Read on YouTube anytime I want, so that's what I'll be doing. Do you know, do you do in Game 6 of that series, the Lakers forced a seventh in deciding game at the forum in the L.A. In L.A. you know, prior to the game 7? Do you know what Wilts Chamberlain did Game 6? Do you have any recollection?

No, you know, Willis didn't play in that game. I know. He didn't play. Will it had 45 points and 27 rebounds. And by the way, missed nine free throws. He was five of 14 from the free throw line. If that guy could have ever shot free throws, he would have averaged 60 a game. Yes.

Yeah, let me give me a little bit of context on that. Willis went out in the second quarter, I think, of game five. Okay. With the knee injury. Okay. And the Lakers were winning. Okay. And the Knicks at the Garden with Dave Stalworth, Dave to Busher, and I'll forget who else.

It might have been Bill Bradley. The three of them, no, Cassie Russell, those three rotated on Chamberlain and gave him fits. I mean, Chamberlain had five inches on all those guys, okay? And the Knicks came back to win that game five in the garden. that's why Wilf exploded in game six because he was embarrassed by what happened in game five I mean he was manhandled by a bunch of

lilyputins in game five yeah I'm looking at the box and actually game five is my favorite game of that whole series I mean because I mean everyone once once it went down everyone thought well that's it

game over series over and so and that's on YouTube as well that game five. That game five is? Come back. Yes, it is. The series was 2-2, game was in the garden, and they were down by seven going into the fourth quarter, outscored him 32 to 18, and you're right. It was by committee. Bradley had 16.7 rebounds. Cassie Russell had 20 points, eight rebounds, and Stalworth had 12.6 rebounds. Willis Reed played eight minutes, got hurt, had seven points in the first eight minutes and then we didn't see him again until game seven at the at the beginning of

that game yeah yeah wow um all right well i'm sorry for the loss because i know how much he meant to you oh he lived he lived a good life and he'll live on for a lot of us last thing on the show i did watch the japan u.s final i watched from the seventh inning on it was great it was really a exciting and for it to come down to Otani versus Trout. By the way, did you see this stat on Trout? This is actually incredible. Hold on for one second. Let me pull it up here. I had it a minute ago. Mike Trout has had three swinging strikes in only 24 of his 6,174 career plate appearances. I mean, so what happened the other night is basically almost impossible and super rare for him. You know, the count was one and one.

All three strikes were swinging and missing strikes, including on the three-two final pitch of the game. But man, that was, man, Otani. It's just, it's amazing what he is. It really is. We've never seen anything like him before. for. No, we haven't. All right, you got anything else? I got nothing else for you today, boss. All right. We'll be back together on Monday of next week. Tommy's got to do Monday, Wednesday of next week. I'll be back tomorrow with Doc Walker. Have a great day. I think we see Willis

coming out. There he comes right now. Six feet 10 from Grambling. The captain of the next, the valuable player, the NBA. Blazier then slows it down. He's picked up by Jerry West of the top of the post Reed. Willis Reed scores the first bucket here tonight. And Reed now is outside. There's his second shot. He is two for two. Willis Reed.