The Kevin Sheehan Show - Brooks Is Out

Episode Date: June 16, 2021

Today's show includes Scott Linn with Kevin to open the show talking NBA, Washington Football Team, some reminiscing about 980 and Scott's new venture.At 1:29:45 the 'Scott Brooks is out' news broke when Kevin was talking to Steve Sands/Golf Channel-NBC about many things including Kirk Cousins, the US Open, and then Brooks. 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. The show today is brought to you by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. And you'll get your first deposit matched halfway up to $1,000. Let them know that we sent you. You've got to do that by using my promo code, Kevin, DC. And you'll get that deposit matched halfway up to $1,000. NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs. You can start looking at all the NFL props. And if you're going to bet the NBA playoffs, some devastating news, just as I am beginning this podcast. And I'm going to begin the show today with my good friend Scott Lynn. The team 980 for, I don't know, 25 years. We will go through the life and career of one, Scott Lynn. And more importantly, we will be talking about what he's working on currently, but I wanted Scott to join us on the show today, and we can

talk about the news that just broke. It's devastating. You just told me about it. I hadn't even seen it yet. Kauai Leonard expected to not only miss tonight's game, but could be out for the remainder of the series against the Utah Jazz with a knee injury, which he suffered at the end of game four and sat for the final two and a half minutes. Scott, you may not know this. He is, I think for me and has been for several years, you know, three, four, five years, my favorite team sport athlete. I just love everything about him. I think he's the debatably the best two-way player in the league. I think he's one of the best clutch performers in the NBA or in any team sport. And I have been staying up late to watch all of these games rooting for him. And you just hit me

with the news that Ramona Shelburne and Brian Winters from ESPN broke. God, what a blow that is. They obviously cannot win without him. Obviously not. And, you know, the way the first couple of games in this series started and just how important he's been for them to climb back in it. You know, I want to get back to your man crush on Kauai. Yeah.

Do you also love him because he seems to carry himself? Not seems to. He carries himself in such a, you can tell he's having. fun internally, Kevin, but the fact that he carries himself in such a business assassin like manner all the time. And he's just, you know, I think that's part of the draw for him. He's the anti-star. Like in a sport where there is so much look at me, he's the anti-star. Yeah, that's a big part of it. Of course, people of our age tend to like people who aren't so self-absorbed, who aren't so consumed with themselves on social media, who aren't sensitive

to social media, and just go out and basically build their reputation on action. Yeah, that's a big part of it. But it's also, I love the way he plays, Scott. He's got this incredible patience about him, the way he goes to work. It's a very quiet 37 when he gets 37. you're like, really, he's got 37? And then the fact that he does it on both ends, now my one criticism of Kauai, as it's been about a lot of the players in the NBA, I don't like the load management stuff. I'm not a big load management guy. And I've said for the last couple of years, look, if you're going to take games off and he takes a lot of them off during the regular season. Now, he was hurt a little bit here and there during the regular season this year,

but you better do it in the postseason. Like, you know, don't, don't, don't, take all these games off telling me that you're going to be there and you're going to deliver when the games matter and then not. But he's always done it. Now, he didn't do it in the bubble last year, but we know what he did with Toronto two years ago. And what he had already been doing in this postseason, he's got a couple of the true brilliant performances of the postseason. We'll get to the Durant show last night. But that's devastating news for really, I'm curious as to what you think. I did one of those, you know, I'm required to do one of these Twitter polls every day, you know, where you've got to come up with a Twitter poll every day. Right. So what should I

have for breakfast? Something soft or something. Yeah, but it's got to, you know, it's got to be sports, you know, radio show related. And so. Yeah, but it's sponsored by our good friends at Window Nation. And so I've got to come up with an idea for Twitter poll every day. And it's not easy to come up with something compelling every day. Today it wasn't great. But I just said off of the Duran performance last night. I said so far the NBA playoffs have been, dot, dot, dot, your favorite continuation. And I gave four options. Brilliant, thrilling, better than I thought, barely watchable or unwatchable. I think these playoffs have been phenomenal. I think the individual performances, we've never seen a postseason with this many individual all-time great performances.

And we'll get to Durant here in a moment. I think they've been great. But losing Kauai Leonard will lessen that for me, especially if they end up losing this series because he can't play in it anymore. Yeah, and, I mean, again, because you're watching him, you're watching them. I would say not even a silver lining because you know that Utah is now going to look across and go, oh, wait, the other guy's not there. Suddenly our job is easier, despite the fact that George has really started to up his game. Once he's involved, it's great. But till he gets involved and involved on a consistent basis, like he has started to show,

but now without that other main option, that silent killer, you know, I mean, going back to Kauai for a second, just as a viewer, whenever you see him, you have this great couch benefit of sitting there, and he slow-moes it for you, because you can almost get behind his eyes and go, you know what, I think he might try to do it. Yep, he's doing it. And it's, you know, he has this amazing ability. to seemingly slow it down for us, and we still, you know, he's taking us for a piggyback ride down the court, and it's a comfortable piggyback ride. It's not a roller coaster, if you will.

There's always a method to his madness. Yeah, I think that run two years ago with Toronto was an all-time, you know, jump on my back, we're going to win an NBA title run by any player. Now, they got the benefit of Golden State losing Durant, you know, in the finals. Quai is a two-time MVP finals. The truth is the first MVP with the Spurs, you could have given it to another two or three players. He was brilliant in the series, don't get me wrong. I think people always forget that Golden State's first title

came via a Western Conference final win over the Spurs when Kauai got injured in that game one when he stepped on the foot of, oh God, what was the player on the Warriors? it was on the bench. The big, I think he's Greek. I can't remember his name. But he, remember he off of a made shot from the corner,

ended up landing on his foot, and he was out for the series. Right. Yes. That was the, he was well on his way as the Spurs were. He was the best player in those playoffs. And I think that they probably would have prevented. Petulian, who he stepped on, right? Who was it?

Wasn't it Zaza Petulia? Yes, Petulia. Thank you. Yeah. And I think they would have. have gone on to win the title that year, and that would have been another big run for him. Well, that's a big blow. But let's talk about last night.

And for those that listened to the podcast yesterday, I'll eat some crow here. I, Scott, after watching Sunday, and then the news yesterday at this time is that both Kyrie and Hardin were not going to play. Now, that changed during the course of the day yesterday, and Hardin was going to give it a try, and Hardin ended up playing. But I said if neither one of those two players play, the bucks are going to win the game. And one of the reasons is Durant is not the facilitator that the other great players in the league are. Look, he's one of the two or three best players in the NBA, period.

I understand that. He's great. And I don't dislike Kevin Durant for those of you who have said, why are you so down on Durant? I don't like Durant the sensitive, you know, little soul that he is off the court with, you know, Twitter accounts. I can't stand that about him, but I love him on the court. He's a unicorn. I mean, seven feet, the way he plays, he's always been that. But I didn't think that he would be able to make his teammates better without another superstar on the floor. And so I said that, of course, he ends up with one of the all-time great performances in NBA postseason history.

But the truth is, okay, I was, he was great last night. He was great in every aspect you can be great. He was 16 of 23, so he was efficient as a 49-point scorer. He had 17 rebounds. He had 10 assists, and he played 48 minutes. He never sat down. And yes, James Hardin played. So technically, it wasn't what I described Kevin Durant to be if both of those players were out because Hardin played. Hardin was terrible. He wasn't ready. With that said, though, Millwall. Milwaukee treated Hardin like he was Hardin last night, which did. And Durant admitted this afterwards, that having Hardin back and having Hardin be able to handle the ball and take some of the focus of Milwaukee's defense was a big benefit for him. So I still maintain that if Durant had played that game last night by himself, that I don't think the results would have been what they were.

They were down 17. And Milwaukee's a dumb-ass team, by the way. By the way, Scott, I didn't start watching this until you know this because you've had the early, we're not complaining about the hours, okay? Nobody cares what time we got up this morning. Nobody, you know. Hey, the waiter, Scott does not need to know your name.

I didn't start watching this game until 3.30, 345 this morning. I just, I literally conked out at about 845 last night. It was one of those days because I had been up late the night before watching the Clippers. And so I didn't watch it live and I knew the score, which I hate. I hate doing that. But anyway, that's how I watched it. He was brilliant. I thought Milwaukee was a dumbass team last night.

I thought they should have been up 25 at halftime. I think Boondholzer stinks. But Durant was everything people are saying about him today. He deserved it. It was a phenomenal performance. Did you watch the whole thing live? I tuned in a little late. I was at a kid's baseball playoff game in the early evening,

and by the time I got home and had a late dinner, I turned it on. I was like, oh, my God, what's going on here? And I had understood by that time that, you know, the net that whittled away of what was a 17-point hole. And you mentioned just the way to approach Harden. The fact that he dresses and you as a student of the coaching game, I mean, what do you want the buck to do?

And I realize there's technique in the way of handling. But he was over in the first half. He was sloppy. He was all over the place. He finished up the game with four turnovers. But, you know, did he get to be completely ignored? And the answers, no. Finished up one for ten.

But, you know, the additive here was Jeff Green being almost perfect from three. You're seven for eight. He couldn't miss. Except for that one time. So that was huge for them. Otherwise, basically, it is Durant alone. Is Jeff Green able to do that every single night? he's able to chip in, but he ain't going to go seven for eight, see?

That was huge. There needed to be, you know, the Nets and their two losses had not gotten anybody else to step up. I mean, Joe Harris has been shooting very poorly, you know, since game two in this series, and they needed somebody to step up. And I mentioned yesterday they need a big game from Joe Harris tonight if they're going to do it without Hardin and Kyrie. And I didn't like their chances without either one of those players. And it was green. Green was brilliant.

I mean, Uncle Jeff had 27 off the bench. He was seven for eight, and none of the seven he made even came close to even Knicking the rim. They were all perfect. He was phenomenal. You know, here's a question. What do you do with Hardin in game six now that you're up three, two? Do you rest him and say, let's get him completely ready for game seven, or do you play him in

game six? I would play him in game six, but feel free to play it by ear. If things aren't looking good and he's not looking good, because here's my, and I'll be prepared to eat crow if you want to text to, I think he'll be fine in game number six. I think he needed to do this, feel this, and, I mean, good God, he was one for the night, yeah, he's one for ten. And you add in Harris, by the way, the guy that also needs to be a hero,

they were combined three for 21, one for 15. one for 15 from deep. They were both atrocious. I think Hardin will be fine. I think you have to play him. Yeah. I think, if he's healthy, I don't even know what Kyrie's status is.

I don't know if it's possible that he's back for any one of these games. That was a bad roll of the ankle and probably resulted in one of those high ankle sprains that are really sometimes worse than breaking your ankle. The only other thing that I wanted to say about the game in terms of Boudinholzer, who I just think, you know, I don't think Nash does much. Boodenholzer, for whatever reason, played Brooke Lopez for 36 minutes. And, again, my perspective is always a little bit different when I know the final score.

But I couldn't believe how they kept switching and allowing Lopez to guard Duran. Durant did not. Yes, I saw that too. I don't, you know, at some point, like, you either have to go small with the guy Portis, who played for the Wizards, who I really like and did. not play a minute last night in the game, and you put Janus at the five, or you stop switching the screens. They didn't guard Durant the way they guarded him Sunday without Harden on the floor because they were doubling him every single time. And they wore him out physically,

which makes Durant's performance last night 48 hours later playing all 48 minutes, even more incredible. But I didn't get it. I didn't get it. I thought the Bucks, in watching it, again, not live. I thought they should have been up by 25 at halftime. They were up by 16. And then defensively, I don't know what they were thinking at times in the second half. By the way, Scott, I mentioned this before, this postseason with Durant's 49 last night in that game, this postseason has now produced 16 individual performances of 40 or more points in a game. 16 were not even done with the second round. The last two years, in the entirety of the playoffs, you had 13 and 11. This is an historic postseason in terms of just individual brilliance. And I think last night, you know,

somebody tweeted me and said, it was last night the performance of the postseason. It probably was because nobody's ever gone for 45 plus, 15 plus, and 10 plus in a game. It probably was, especially given the 48 minutes, but there have been so many of them. I mean, Lillard's 55 were amazing. The disappointing part about that is he didn't take a shot in the final three minutes of the second overtime. I thought he could have had 65. I think Kauai's game six against Dallas to keep them alive when he went for 45 is up there. Luca had a couple great games.

Bookers had a couple of great. It's amazing. Somebody called this morning, Scott, and said, I think this era of NBA individual greatness is sneaking up on us as one of the best collection of great players we've ever seen in the game. I think that might be right. You mentioned Lucas performance. The one name that I was waiting for you to sort of tick down the list was, and maybe it's just that we're used to it, or maybe because obviously they went out relatively quickly, pardon me, especially by the sweep against the sun.

And that was Nicole Eauken. Oh, yeah. And, you know, his 30s, 20s, 10, 38, 10, 11, whatever, whatever. And you're like, this is, you know, for him, that's a normal night's work. The guy that we're missing, and I know that obviously it's the playoffs, people are not available. If Murray was available, you may have seen another couple of 40s, you know, go by the wayside with guys just getting their stroke on for the nuggets. And they probably would still be around as great as Paul, who we, you know, briefly mentioned with the COVID exposure. Obviously, he's up in the air for the next series whenever it starts.

Maybe his absence is shorter because, again, two-two series. So he's sitting, waiting, and biding his time and hoping he could pass through protocols. But as great as he's been, if Murray's there, it's probably a different series, or at least they're still playing, Kevin. Yeah, I mean, like I'm going down the list. There's a really good website that keeps track of all of the post-season and the individual best performances by point. points. All right. So this particular offseason, we've had Lillard, who had 55. Tatum had a game where he went for 50. Tatum also had a game where he went for 40 in their short series against Brooklyn. Durant 49. Booker and John Morant each had 47 point performances. Donchich had 46. Kauai and Donovan Mitchell of each had 45. Donchich had 44. Donchich had 42.

Durant's had 42, Lillard had 42, Hardin had 41, Kauai had 41, and then Embeded had 40, and Tatum had 40. There's the list of the 16 40-plus-point performances, but to your point, Yokic has on this list 238-point performances and a 36er, and in 236s, not to mention all the rebounds and the assists. It's been incredible. It's so funny, because you and I, you and I, you know, You know, we have friends that are in common, and we talk a lot of sports with various people as well as other things. But I've mentioned this many times, like to my friends that say, oh, you know, I'm not watching the NBA playoffs. You know, and whatever the reasons are, whether it's the political thing or whether it's, you know, the load management or, you know, it's just shooting threes or whatever it is. You know, like, they're too good for the NBA.

And I'm like, no, no, no, no. if you're a sports fan, especially if you're a basketball fan, this has been three weeks now. Did it start three weeks ago? Every single night you're seeing a game or a performance that gets described the next day in the form of an Elias tweet or an ESPN sports and information tweet. That's how memorable or, you know, unprecedented it is. I think it's been great.

I must be the only one, though. You're not the only one, not in the least. There are, obviously, there are loads of people watching this. There are loads of people who, you know, are at first thing in the morning, I check Twitter, oh, my gosh, did you stay up and watch that? Oh, my gosh, obviously, these folks and you and I tend to follow a lot of the same people and a lot of the same NBA, you know, a fan, sports fan. You're not alone, sir.

I think what we're, because of our age group, we take, we take, note, bigger note, almost like a mental highlighter of those who are complaining about this. How could you complain about this? There's a lot of people who are staying up late to watch this stuff, and it's been great. By the way, can I get your take on Embed for a second? I know there, you know, it's been an interesting series. It's been a frustrating series to watch, and I'm pro-Bin-simmons, so we can leave that for another day.

I am, too. Watching Embedd frustrates me. you know, the cross check that he didn't get called for, and then he winds up with a flop, and they call it on Capella, and he's dinged again. I know he plays a certain way. I also realize fully in respect. He's playing through injury. There's no doubt about that.

But it's a frustrating thing to watch a gentleman that size take an offer in the second half. First of all, let me just let everybody know. Scott, even though he's lived here for, I don't know, quarter century, more than that? 35 years. Scott is born and raised in Philadelphia and is a fan of all of the Philadelphia team, so he's rooting.

Not just, not wait, the Eagles, yes, but, and then I sort of swim, but that's it. No longer the Flyers haven't been on my radar. What about the Sixers? The Sixers, I mean, you know, we could, I'll take up eight hours, your podcast with talking about Julius and Mo Cheeks and Andrew Tony. Those were my guys. I liked Charles, and then I moved, and then, you know, of course, I liked Allen and I liked

Kempbe while I was here, but they also haven't given us tons, given Philadelphia, tons to cheer about through the years. So, because they are on the radar, yeah, I, you know, I lean towards them, of course, I'm pulling for them against Atlanta, but I have, it's been, it's been decades since I have been a die-hard Sixers fan. Just read that into the record. On Embed, I love Joel M. Beed's game. I did not watch. I mentioned to Tommy yesterday.

I was out at dinner two nights ago, so I did not see any of the game the other night when he went 0 for 12 in the second half, which would have been the worst performance. I love M. Bid as a player. I think he's definitely special. I think he is, you know, a future MVP, you know, he's already been an MVP candidate, but hopefully, potentially an MVP

winner. By the way, I love Ben Simmons too, even though his game is totally unique. It's hard to compare him to anybody that's ever played, but I love his game. The, I love Embed. You know, one of the things not to make this about the Wizards, and Bradley Beale, by the way, made the all-NBA third team. I'm happy for him. I think he did. Third team. I think he does. I think he He deserves better. No, that's what he deserved. Okay. I think that's what he deserved.

I personally, if you said, give me your top 15 players in the NBA, I'm not sure Beal would be on my list. It'd be close to 15-ish, but I thought his season definitely deserved all NBA honors, and I'm glad he got it. I did not think Westbrook's season deserved it. as many people did.

To be honest with you, I'm shocked that Jason Tatum didn't make it over. Butler, I thought he deserved to make it over Butler. And if he had been on there and Beale hadn't been, I would not have had a major problem with it. But I'm glad Beale made it. Anyway, the Wizards of the teams that made the playoffs, the actual playoffs, you know, the Final 16, not the playing stuff, they were the worst team.

Like, it's so obvious that they were the worst team. I mean, Joel Embed didn't even play in game five, and they got run out of the building. You know, and so, and then Atlanta beats Joe Embed in game one when he went for, what, 39 or whatever. Like, I remember after that fifth and final game when they lost by 17 or whatever it was, I forget what the final score was now. I just said the next day, I'm like, that's just, you know, this is why you've got to figure out a new solution, because if you can't beat the 76ers without Joelle Embed or you can't be competitive against them, you stink.

Every other team in the postseason would have beaten Philadelphia that night. And the Wizards got blown out, which, by the way, just leads to this. They've got to make a decision on Brooks and Beal. They're never going to contend for a title with Beal as their best player. They just aren't, in my view. What do you think? I'm with you in that I think he should be moved

and moved as soon as whatever makes the most sense. It's not going to work, and I know that you were not a fan of Westbrook's season getting huge amounts of accolades. I still love him. I will always love him. He is a competitor. I know that's cliche, and I know that's overused. I love him for the same reason. But you just, you watch him, you build around, and this has nothing to do with Bradley Beal's game or who he is or what he means to the community.

it's just it's you look around at everybody's NBA roster and I know that you do he is a he is a fit guy and it's not that he doesn't fit with Westbrook but at this time at this spot at this juncture if you can get other fit pieces and build then you do so and you should yeah I love Westbrook too if Westbrook's one of your two best players you're never going to win or contend for a title And I say that with all the love in the world because he's always been one of my favorite players to watch because nobody tries harder in sports, team sports than he does. But I think what we've learned is when the game slows down in the postseason,

he's a wreck. He's a mess. And I think, you know, I think if you're saying, give me the top 15 players in the game, Beale, it's really tough to say Beale or Westbrook are on that list. I think Beal is very close, but you can't contend for an NBA title. without having a top five-ish kind of player.

You can't win an NBA title based on the last 16 years without a top-five player. Maybe this year will be different, potentially, but no one's done it since Chauncey Billups was the best player on Detroit's 2014. Right, and then taking a just real quick ad on, you know, for what Bradley gives you, and he gives you a lot. You know that the NBA, we all know, that the NBA is a game of money. and salary slots and salary cap and how much you pay in for this, you can get what Bradley brings for a lot less money these days.

You just can. And I know that a lot of people have hit the lottery, and I don't mean that in any sort of pun way, but guys pan out, guys pour it on, and they're making considerably less than he is. And maybe that's too broad a brush to paint with, but you look at salaries, you go, wait, this guy, this guy, this guy put in comp numbers or brought, you know, potentially, not potentially better results

across the board, look around and just do it differently. And if you can break him into pieces that fit better, do so. All right. Scott Lynn is with us. And I do want to talk about Scott and I want to talk about what he's working on here. Steve Sands is going to be on the show shortly as well from Torrey Pines, where the U.S. Open starts tomorrow. real quickly on the football team. You know, you've been able to sit back not as a fan and be a part of, you know, the media

and view the fan base over the last 25 to 35 years. And I think that there is like an increased level of optimism among fans. You know, I don't know that it's all justified. But I think, you know, Rivera gives people some confidence that there's competence on the sideline. I think the defensive talent. I think some of the offensive talent. I think the addition of Fitzpatrick has people thinking, you know, this might be the best season in a long time coming up. I did this thing earlier on the radio show where I'm like, there haven't been many seasons for this franchise where you went into it being optimistic, you know, during the Dan Snyder era.

There are only a few. 2000 was one of those years when they had signed Bruce Smith and Dion Sanders and Mark Carrier and Jeff George of the fantasy football year. Snyder was basically... Right, the Fortune 500. Yeah, and he was really in his first year as a full owner because he had joined the club just before the season in 1999, but they were coming off a division title.

That's the last time, Scott, that legitimately they were thought of as a Super Bowl contender. Literally, the last time it happened was 2000, because they really were. They were going into that 2000 season, one of the favorites in the NFC to win the NFC championship. There hasn't been any other season since where they've been among the top three, four, five favorites to get to the Super Bowl out of the NFC.

But I remember that season. I remember after 2005, Joe Gibbs, I think he found his footing a little bit in that second year and there was some excitement about 2006. You know, they had won a playoff game in 2000, the last time they won a playoff game at Tampa. I definitely feel like there was some excitement going into year two of RG3, even though he'd come off that serious injury.

I think there was a ton of excitement then and optimism. I think after 2015, even though you knew it was a bad defensive team, I think the offense and winning a division and having maybe the answer at the time at quarterback, people were optimistic. And then I think there's this year. To me, 2000 actually isn't really debatable because they were a legitimate top two or three pick to make it to the Super Bowl, and we didn't know what Snyder was at that point. You've watched all of this from afar over the years, and you know, you have at times certainly in your office as I fell asleep on your couch mocked the fan base a little bit to a certain degree. With respect, of course, yes.

What do you think? What do you think about the team? What do you think the fan base thinks right now? Are you sensing that they're ahead of their skis or not? I think that because they have learned about the owner and about how things have worked in the past tense throughout the last, you know, 15, 20 years, I think that they are a little heavier than cautiously optimistic. The optimism is there. The optimism is also well-founded because of the reasons you mentioned, whether it's,

Fitzpatrick for as long as he keeps the magic alive, whether it's Samuel and McCorn, whether it is, you know, the offensive line coming back to health and being retooled and, you know, adding depth, you know, more from the running backs, Gibson et all, certainly on the defensive side. Rivera is just that kind of guy where people, you know, incredibly likable for the most part. and he is, because of his background and his character, he's a guy that people want to like and want to, you know, work for and fall in behind and root for. And his, you know, his public battle with his health scare last year.

I mean, you know, the guy has seemingly, aside from a couple fibs here and there when dealing with Haskins, which I thought were at the time a brutal misstep, though an overreaction on my own. I like guys who tell you the truth. as opposed to, you know, guys who double talk, and then you have quotes, and you present them with quotes, and then they walk back and they go, you know, and they get all snippy about it.

It was just, it was hand-handed, and it was stupid, and I honestly thought that he was way better than that. In the end, whatever, everybody's moved on for the most part. But you also look around the division. Philadelphia is in a world of stuff, and they'll figure it out eventually, or they won't. There's still questions about Sequin's health, about Daniel Jones, about what they got going on in New York.

Dallas has a guy coming off of a pretty serious injury. Last time I checked. And there are other questions with their defense. They got weapons. They got talent. There's no doubt about that. But I think that in a division where, I mean, just like every division, the most stable organization, and that's not a word that I know I would use around the

Burgundy and gold, and I know you wouldn't use it lightly. are they not the most stable that they've been in years? Yeah, for the moment, yes. But we've had moments like these before. I think we had a moment like this with Shanahan. I think we had a moment or three with Gibbs like this. We certainly had a moment with Schottenheimer where everything, you know, the arrow pointed upward.

But then, you know, it immediately turned because of just a wretched, horrible ownership situation. So I'm not naive enough, I guess what I'm saying, to think that it'll continue. But for the moment, yeah, I'm relatively optimistic compared to where we were the last couple of years. You know, and I think you should be. Yeah, there are good players who have already proven a little bit of something, and can they put it all together? You know, I mean, there's certainly reason. And, you know, I talk to a bunch of friends who they live and breathe and live and die.

this organization. They are as excited as they can be, and as they have been in years. And again, for, I'm not going, you guys are crazy. This is just crazy talk. No, it's legit. Can they handle it? I mean, there's difference between handling your headlines and, you know, as our purely departed friend, mentor, co-worker, John Thompson, you know, don't read

your clippins and start smelling yourself. There's a difference between June headlines and the, you know, sporting news and the Appalon preview where, hey, things are looking up. Everybody runs, gets their magazines, goes to the beach. Oh, my gosh, they're going to win the Super Bowl. Somebody picked them to, you know, be in the conference final. Awesome, great, make the championship game. That's wonderful.

That stuff doesn't mean anything. It's just like you and I sitting right here. They do have to put it all together. Can they? Will they? You know, I mean, I remember sitting with you several decades worth of conversations in the summertime as they approached camp. And we looked at each other and we're like, yeah, if they do this, do this.

And then week three comes up and they lose the game they should have never lost. And you're laughing, borderline, crying. How could they have mishandled this? This was an easy call. Why didn't they stick with the run? Why did he do this? You know, stuff pops up. But I think they're in a really good place, comparatively speaking.

You know, I think I said this on the podcast a couple weeks ago. maybe it was last week, that this is the time of year when back in the day, you know, I'd go into, you know, CVS or write aid or, you know, wherever, and I'd get, you know, or peoples and get Street and Smith and sporting news and Athlon and all of them as I was on my way to the beach and I'd just sit there and I'd read through them. And, you know, after a while, I realized how completely and utterly ridiculous the predictions were. And for several years, I would take like at the end of the NFL season and I'd,

go back and I'd have the magazines and I'd say these were the predictions. The NFL is just impossible. It's just always impossible to predict. It's so week to week and it's so hard to get it in advance because of all the things we've talked about, can't predict injuries and it's sort of a fine line league to begin with. Anyway, so I actually, I've got one more question because Tommy and I debated this yesterday. Who's a better coach, Ron Rivera or Mike McCarthy? Right now, if you could have either coach, who would you take?

Can I ask what the other answers were first? So I can, I just want to go a context here. What do you mean? What our answers were? Why do you care what our answers were? I'm not a McCarthy fan. I would take Ron. Yeah, me too.

Tommy hit me with, Tommy hit me with records, and McCarthy, you know, has a, you know, he's won a Super Bowl. He's got, you know, he's got more winning seasons. And I just said, okay, all of that's true. And you know what Ron Rivera didn't have for all those years? Brett Far and Aaron Rogers. But apparently, you know, that didn't matter to him.

Yeah, I think I've always felt Rivera's a guy that gets more out of less. And McCarthy's always been the guy that's gotten less out of more. That's sort of the way I view it. Scott's going to stick around with us. Steve Sands will join us a little bit later on in the show. but Scott's going to stick around because we're going to talk about our years together at 980. We'll reminisce a little bit and we'll find out what Scott's doing right now professionally. I'm very excited about it and I want you to hear about it.

That's next right after this word from one of our sponsors. Scott Lynn is with us and I do want to talk about what you're working on right now. But before we get to that, I just want everybody listening to the podcast and 98% of you, of course, know Scott and are familiar with Scott. But, you know, for many, many years, all of us sort of work together. And I've gone down this path before over the last couple of months because of the changes at the radio station and how it really altered the station in a way that it had never been altered before, losing Doc and losing Scott and losing CJ and losing Zabe and all the different things that happened. It just sucked. And it's not the same station anymore. It's

different and I'm a part of it and I'm certainly doing my best and rooting for it, but it's just different. And Scott, I remember, you know, I think Tommy and I were doing the podcast that day. And for those that don't know or don't remember me saying this, I'll just say it to Scott's face. Scott is truly a close friend and more importantly was one of all of our favorite people ever to work with. He was incredibly versatile professionally, for starters, but personally, he's just one of the greatest dudes of all time, one of the funniest people of all time. And it was, it was always, I just missed the days of being all together. And for me, many of those days would include Scott and I, you know, over my last three years there when I was doing the show with Cooley, and he was doing the early

morning show with Zabe. We were always in the building together, never in the same studio, but when we would get done, Scott had the big office. He had the big decked-out office, and he had a couch in his office, and I think, you know, there were many, many days, mornings when we were both done preparing for whatever was coming next in the day, and we would just sit in your office and just, you know, solve all of the company's problems and all of the world's problems. And I miss those days a lot. But Scott was the best. It was a really crappy job of solving everybody's problems because one of us was here and one of us still there.

No, we did a great job. I think you're overestimating the size. Did I have an office yet that have a window where we could look out? You had a window, I didn't. That was awesome. It was a chair and a half because I think a couch would have been more gross. I know, my legs came off the end of it, but it was comfy. But yeah, but the chair and a half was killer in the ottoman.

and you could sleep on by itself. It was great, and that was a, I hand me down from somebody else, maybe it was Abe. I don't know. It was, it was, you know, people used it, people sat in it while I sat there and returned calls and, you know, worked on the football team's radio network stuff and made schedules, and we just sat there and be asked for hours, but your words are very, very kind. And, you know, I mean, I tweeted about it. I was just beyond lucky to do something that I loved and still love to do,

because I do a podcast with Sali, who Patreon, and we appear with Dave, like every week, every other week when he's not in Milwaukee for two-week trips or whatever. So we still keep our toes in the water for that stuff,

but, you know, the times with you just hanging out, not eating were fun. The times with you eating were much fun, and I just would, you know, you would make me laugh, and, you know,

I'll pay the compliment right back, Kevin, and this is your show, so I'm not paid to come on here. It's just, you know, our relationship is a special one, and I owe you mega debts of gratitude for support and humor and words of advice and all that stuff. So, yes, I will always consider you one of my dearest friends, and you are a good human being, and thank you for the nice stuff. Enough for that. This is about you.

But I will say that I would bet that 80% of our conversations that would start at, let's just call it 10 a.m., 1030 after shows had wrapped up or 11, whatever it was, I can't even remember the hours of the various shows. It would start with, what are you doing for lunch? What are we going to eat? And Scott is a, Scott's definitely a foodie. And a lot of the conversations were always about, you know, really? this place, where is it as good? And I would try many of those places over the years, and I would say that you hit on more than you missed on.

I'm glad. Tell everybody what you're doing right now, because I think this is going to be perfect, and I think it's going to be successful, but tell everybody what you're working on and how they reach you. Very cool. So during my downtime, you know, did a lot of networking, a lot of talking to Kevin, a lot of talking to friends,

and then friends of friends, and then now friends and connections that I didn't know I had. And one of the nicest guys, and I'll give them a shout out because I always love to. His name is Chris Talley. Chris was a longtime chief communications officer for USAA, and our past crossed, Kevin, because of USAA's relationship with the Army Navy game. Chris would listen to the Zab Show through Fox Sports Radio and then later through Yahoo and sporting news, and he would stream us locally, even though Chris is a Baylor family and was in Texas. But he loved us, and he was very fond of me and still is, and I thank him endlessly. He hooked me up with a lot of people in the communications and PR space,

and I talked to a great many of them just about ideas and about possibilities and picking their brain and just opened lots of doors for really cool Zoom calls with people that, you know, like you said, I prefer to go in and have an IPA and some ribs and talk to you. I'm not all that comfortable doing the networking thing, not like our dear friend Doc Walker, who's a chief promoter. Anyway, long story short, a lot of people said, how do you meld your world of radio and broadcasting to ours? How do you marry that?

And so out of that was born ScotlandPR Podcasts.com. And you can go to the website. It's basically me talking to you, a business owner, about your business. Nobody knows your business better than you. If you want to call them unscripted commercials, if you want to talk about message promotion, I can do long-form podcast, if you want to release them, and I can sort of be your moderator, recorder, and I can do all the N. I've got gear. What's been very popular at the start, and this is pretty awesome. So many people, because you know what attention span is like this, it is like these days for adults and kids and consumers alike. We want to just be told about something in 45 seconds. So I talk to, you know, go to the website, check out the videos. People are like, look, just ask me a question, ask, you know, or come with your own question. And I do. And we get 40 to 50 seconds snippets. And the folks use them.

social worker, lawyer, financial guy, general manager at a car dealership. They put them on LinkedIn or their own website, and it's 45 seconds of humanity, and you get to hear how this person would deal with clients or patients or customers. So it just adds a little voice and in some cases a little face. You know, again, humanity to your business's website. So it's scotlandprpodcast.com. Like I said, it's got really cool taglines, and I had a blast building it, and the feedback's been very good so far.

So it's your message, my microphone, our conversation. Check it out, will you? Yeah, I think, you know, because Scott has been keeping me posted as he's been developing this business, for business owners and for people in companies where you're looking for a new way to communicate, not only internally but with your customers, this is phenomenal. But here's the thing that I will be the testimonial for.

Scott is truly the ultimate pro, the ultimate in accountability responsibility. You as the customer are going to be the most important thing, and he's going to get it right for you, period. And that's, you know, I've always told Scott this over the years. Scott's incredibly bright, totally capable of doing almost anything. And probably, you know, if he had not gone into radio and broadcasting would have been mega successful in something that probably would have generated more revenue over the years. Like competitive eating. Yeah, because you're so capable and you're so smart.

So for anybody out there looking for sort of the latest way and the smartest way and the most direct way to communicate, go to Scott Lynn PRPodcast.com and reach out to Scott. He can really help you, and he'll understand what you want to do, and he'll develop something around that. But a lot of people are using voice and using podcasts to communicate rather than inner office memos or websites. It's a much better way. And by the way, it's more fun to communicate that way.

And you end up having a guy that can do it this way, who can host it this way and can get the best out of you. So this will be successful. And part of the gig is, and you know, you're listening to Kevin and I talk and pre-talk for days. We could do Woodstock podcast, basically. You know, part of my job and my experience is to just make you feel comfortable. A lot of people grab a microphone and you want to do your own podcast. God bless you.

I'm there to just facilitate to make you comfortable. You know, if you have a newsletter or an audio blog, a couple of minutes. Shoot it out to your customers via email. Put it on your website. Like Kevin said, a lot of people are, ah, I'm not writing. I don't feel like writing. Don't write. I'll help you with that, too.

So, yeah, lots of different ideas. Check out the services page, ScotlandP.R. Podcasts with an S on the End.com. And thank you. Thank you for letting me pimp this, she, and I appreciate it. The last performer in late August of 1969 in Woodstock, New York, was? It's an easy one. It is an easy one. Was it Hendricks? Yeah, it was Hendricks. Hendricks was first, wasn't he? I think he was first, no, I think he was last. I'm pretty sure he was last.

Okay. Ben Hendricks is my answer. Was LaVarro there? I could be wrong about that. For whatever reason, it's always, I think he was on that last, on that very last day. You might be right. I'm going to look it up right now. No, look that up while I'm vamping for a second. So I, and you're of this age, and I'm sure a lot of your listeners are too, and I talked about this with Sully on the Lynn Murray Sali show over at Patreon. The album, Crosby Stills'Nash, Deja Vu, and Young, Apologies, celebrated its 52nd anniversary recently. The 50th was sort of during the pandemic. So they, CBS Sunday morning did a whole like seven-minute feature on it, and the gent who was

the reporter talked to Stephen Stills and talked to David Crosby, talk to Graham Nash. Neil Young not available. David Crosby doesn't talk to Neil Young because he said bad stuff about Neil Young's girlfriend back in the day. Stills and Graham Nash and Neil talk frequently and text and are in contact. But Nash doesn't talk to Crosby either. Anyway, the reason I brought this up was so they released this album and they knew how great it was going to be because you check out the track listings for that with almost cut my hair and Woodstock and carry on and teach your children and helpless. I mean, it's amazing. So there's too long of a story already. They asked David Crosby. They're like, so you had a tour plan for this. And he said,

yeah, I think the second gig to support the album was Woodstock. It was just sort of like, oh, this is the stage we get to unveil this amazing stuff on wild, just out. Just out. absolutely wild. All right. So here's what I have. All right. Hendricks was on the final day, but he was not the final performer. This was the day where you had thunderstorms interrupting. By the way, Crosby-Stills, Nash and Young performed on that final day as well, which was a Sunday through Monday event. Actually, my fault. Hendricks is last. He's the 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday, August 18, 19, 16, Crosby Stills Nash and Young performed from 3 a.m. to 4.14 a.m. on that early Monday morning.

But Neil Young skipped most of the set. He was probably impacted, I'm guessing. Well, he was impacted. They also said that when, you know, and this is David Crosby's direct quote that I'll paraphrase. He says, when Neil Young joins your band, he really doesn't join your band. He plays stuff in his home studio. You get the tracks. And then he sort of collaborates. rates with you from a bar. So it's not really a surprise. And I know that he's obviously a listener and performer and these guys have their own stuff with him. But it's just interesting to hear a six minute behind the music. On that final day or two days combined, the band played. And I was recently listening. And I don't know if it was a recent interview with Elton John

and Howard Stern, but they were running it last week. And I don't know when it was. I don't know, it could have been from last week. I couldn't tell. It was a phenomenal interview and elton john started talking about how much the band influenced his early work and and then um he referenced a new piece of music that's out or it's it's called elton john's jewel box in it which i um have listened to now for the last i don't know four out of the last six days are um actual recorded versions acoustic versions piano only of some of the songs that he recorded before he recorded them like burn down the mission madman across the water razor face it's amazing to hear those i know what i'm doing today yeah um and uh tony god i need to remind myself to tell tommy about

that because tommy and i both agree to tumbleweed connections one of the great albums of all time and underrated and his best album anyway um this was fun uh i love ammarina i just love amarina yeah a great song phenomenal song And by the way, I think that's another one. That is. That's part of like the four to five song, acoustic only early recording before they ever got into the studio songs. You should go find that. I will.

Okay. Thanks. Good luck with everything. And we'll come back soon. You're the absolute best. And this didn't feel like it was six hours with me because it was just barely once. But, you know, I'm honored and quite pleased. Well, you can go home and get your nap before you have to be back later on the Saturday.

I need to get that. And I'm sorry that Stern was first on this show. He tells way better stories and he's got Tony. So ideal. That was actually so much fun, too, because it's really the two of you. I think probably you and Mark are the two people that I, over the 17 years at the station, I spent the most time with. Well, Tommy.

Tommy for sure. Yeah, Tommy as well. But Tommy was there, and then he would leave most of the time. And he was very aloof in that shrine that he had built to himself, which was his office. Oh, my God, that office was amazing. That office formerly my office.

Yes. Years ago, I was more than happy. You know, it's like when the team gets a veteran, you offer your jersey number, you offer your workspace. I forgot about that. And now all of his awards through the years, and the trophies and the pictures in which he had a better afro than a lot of the athletes that he was covering. Just such a handsome, handsome man.

And then I adore him. But I think what we should do at some point is, you know, do like a podcast in a park or anybody's house now, which is fine. And I'll gear up and we can submit it. It'll be me. It can be you. Tommy DeSterno. Well, Zayb would like to do it from his Zabcast. You know, Winnebago.

Yeah, the mystery machine with Scooby-Doo. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, exactly. All right, that was fun. Thanks. Appreciate it. You're the best. All right.

Thank you. Be well. Steve Sands from the Golf Channel and NBC right after these words from a few of our sponsors. The U.S. Open begins tomorrow. One of my favorite weekends of certainly the summer sports calendar. And it's at Torrey Pines. And Steve Sands will be a big part of the golf channel. and NBC's coverage of it all weekend long, and he joins us from beautiful, beautiful Torrey Pines

and one of the more beautiful areas in the country where you are right now. Before we get to this, I just am curious if you've been watching the NBA playoffs at all, because my sense of it is in our conversations that you're not massively into it. Oh, no, I'm definitely into it. Oh, you are. Okay. I'm a sports stud, man. I can't stop watching everything. I heard your conversation with JP the other day about the ratings and the NBA and then they get David on as well.

I'll drink. You know, I'm totally into it. Absolutely. 100%. Kawhi's out. I've got a rooting interest. But, yeah. We just found out this morning, and maybe you saw the news as well.

Kauai is out for tonight's game and maybe out for the series and maybe out. even longer, which for me is devastating because I love watching them play. And then Chris Paul is into NBA COVID-19 protocol as well. So kind of crazy. I saw that. Kauai is your favorite guy. I heard you said the other day was interesting. That Kauai is your favorite player.

He's my favorite team sport athlete right now. Amazing. I heard that the other day. I couldn't believe that. He has been for several years. And many people, by the way, heard me say that and say bullshit, it's cousins. No, it's not. I root for Kirk, and I'm happy for Kirk when he plays well, and I'd like to see his career

continue to grow so that, you know, my belief in him, I think I've already won that argument over the years. Initially it was, he's not a starting quarterback in the NFL, but he turned out to be. Stop with your belief in. But give me a break. That passed across the middle against the Giants didn't end your relationship with Kirk Cous. No, no. What really upset me about that particular day was a giant team that had no interest in winning rush for 150 yards in the first half against our defense.

That's what really pissed me off. They tried to lose that game. That game, Kevin, is the reason that all my friends that give me crap about us winning the division. And all my friends from Philly who say that, you know, we laid down for you in that last game. I don't want to hear it. The Giants laid down in that game at FedEx Field, and the skin still couldn't win the game. So I don't want to hear that people were not trying to win the football game.

Those guys are still professional football players, but let me tell you, I love you, Kevin. Your dear friend, your Kirk Cousins argument doesn't sit well with me, man. Which one? The Giant Game or in general? No, in general. I mean, the Giant Game. I know you're not a Kirk guy.

But I'm not against it. But I'm not against Kirk. But, yeah, he's a starting quarterback in the NFL, and my goodness, he made a fortune playing professional football. Good for him. Seems like a nice guy, I guess. I have no idea. But he can't win with number eight.

You can't win at all with number eight. And there's no reason to roll yourself out there if you don't think you can really win and win big. I don't think Kurt Cousins is a guy who's going to win big, and they shouldn't assign him in Minneapolis. and they know they can't win it all with the Kirk Cousins, and that's the way it is. You're certainly entitled to your opinion, and I'm not so sure that they'll ever win it all with him either, and I've never described him.

I've never described him as an elite quarterback or a great quarterback. No, you're not. My argument from 2015 on was this guy's a top half of the league's starting quarterback, and you have to have one of those if you even want to have a chance. Oh, I don't know about top. Oh, yeah, come on. Of course he is. Of course he is.

He's in the top. He's in the top. He's in the top. He's in the top. I think PFF, which I don't call as as Bible, I don't at all. But I think they recently had him as eight or nine.

And I don't have him that high. I would say that I'm going to call Chris Collinsworth right after we're done. Well, I mean, the guy Sam Monson, who I've had on the podcast a few times, who's their lead analyst, and Sam does a great job. He thinks, and has said many times, he thinks cousins, people just don't get it.

And on him. And I tend to agree with that. They had a, maybe the worst defense in the league last year. They had the worst kicker in the league. He's had some bad circumstances on some teams that were horrific defensively. But at the same time, the reason he's not elite is that he's not good at creating off-schedual. It's always been his weakness. And to your point, there are moments where the game is on the line and he has not delivered. But to suggest that he's never delivered

with the game on the line would be absolutely inaccurate. I totally agree with you. I never said. I think that when you look at Kirk Cousin, he's a nice NFL quarterback. And by the way, not everybody can be an elite NFL quarterback. You have to have 30 of them to be able to have starting quarterbacks in the NFL. I understand that.

But to put him in a category that he is not in, the reason he's not in that next category, that next level, is because of what you just said, Kevin. In professional sports, you have to have the clutch gene. At some point, you've got to be able to get it to the house. And yes, he's won for the big games, but for the most part, in big spots, he's come up time. Yeah, and it just isn't that he, see, it's really actually interesting, and this was not the intent of the conversation.

Kauai Leonard is my favorite team sport, not on one of my favorite teams, okay, is my favorite team sport athlete for all the reasons that actually Scott Lynn and I just talked about moments ago. But the reason that I found it fascinating how polarizing cousins has been in both of the cities he's played in, and with NFL fans in general. And obviously it's the contract and it's the money and it's the back-to-back franchise tags and it's the mistakes that Washington made in handling his situation. And, you know, the big numbers he's put up and yet, you know, not enough winning over the years and some soul-crushing moments at the end of games, no doubt. But everything about him gets exaggerated on the positive side and on the negative side.

because he's absolutely delivered in clutch moments many, many times during his career. You know, I think he led in 2016 or 2017 the league in game-winning drives, or was like second or third in the league in game-winning drives. And nobody will forget the performance he put on in the Superdome in the postseason two years ago, where he led him in the overtime drive with big throw after big throw. But he's also had some bad moments. He's a top half of the league starter. It's hard to find him.

I would put him higher than 16 or 15, but he's probably in that 10 to 14 range. I think that's fair. To put him much higher than that is certainly he hasn't proven that. There are 10 guys that I would take before him in the NFL. At the same time, if they can put a defense on the field, they've got a chance to be a pretty good football team, and they have focused on the defense this year.

they could actually be a good team this year, and he could have a big year. He had a big year last year after the start to the season. But anyway, whatever. He's going to have big numbers, and he's going to have a big year. Kyle Rudolph pushed off, by the way. That was not a touchdown pass. All right, that's the first thing. The second thing is, yeah, he's won some games.

There's no question about it. But he's just not the kind of guy who's going to take you anywhere. And I love you, man. To me, the Kirk Cousins' blobber fest is a little much. No, it's fine. Whatever. We all have our, we're all flawed. Yeah, I'm with you on Kauai, though.

We're all flawed. Kauai is now. Now Kauai suffers from something right now that he's fine. Well, right now he's not doing well. But the Paul George thing is bizarre. Paul George is like Kirk Cousin to me. I mean, talented. You know, it's got some stuff around him, but my goodness.

Paul George can't do anything. in the clutch. And Kauai Leonard is nothing but clutch. I love Kauai Leonard. I'm with you on him. He's not my favorite, but he is one of my favorite professional athletes to watch in team sports. He is a fabulous player. Fabulous. I feel the same way about Paul George. Actually, I think he's much more talented than Kirk is. Oh, yeah. And in comparison, I think Kirk's football IQ is off the charts. I think that's why he'll be a starting quarterback forever. I think George has low basketball IQ when I

watch him, but he did play well. But high talent. Oh, ridiculous talent. All right, let's talk golf because the last time we had a major championship at Kiowa, we had an incredible all-time moment with Phil Mickelson winning

as the oldest winner ever. Does he have a chance to play well on a course that he's so familiar with this weekend? He does. I don't think it's going to happen for him. He's coming second six times in the U.S. Open. The only major he hasn't won, Kevin.

You know that? You know, he's won a 20-plines three times. He's a terrific player on this golf course before it was redesigned. When it got redesigned by Reese Jones in the mid-2000s, in order to get the U.S. Open here for the first time in 2008, the year Tiger won on that Monday playoff with Rocco Mediate. He has not performed well. in his golf course. It just doesn't suit him. It doesn't fit his eye. Now, he's going to play it

differently this week than he has in the past because he learned something at Kewa trying to, you know, be more of a tactician than a power player, even though he can still muscle it out there quite a bit. I just, it's so hard to win majors back-to-back in golf, he turned 51 years old today. Today's his birthday, Kevin. I just, I just can't imagine that he's able to put himself in contention two consecutive majors, but literally, I used to say this about Tiger, you can't count Phil out, man. You just can't count him out, but I would be shocked if he puts himself in contention over the weekend for another run at this thing. You know, I was with our boy yesterday, actually, yesterday or two days ago, Scott, and we were just

talking about this. And he just, he made a comment to me that I don't think he's ever said to me, and I don't know if you've said it either. But he said, you know, in trying to to identify the best golf courses, you just look at who's won there. You know, like the winner last week, this guy that's on a roll, what's his name, the guy that won at Palmetto, who just won last week? Well, Garrick Higgo did. Patrick Canley won two weeks ago. Right, right. Higgo, the winner.

And who was in contention? Bow-Van Pelt was in contention, right? And that's, you know, when you see courses. No relation. No relation. No relation. When you see courses like that and you see players like that in contention or even winning, and I know that the winner actually has won a bunch on the European tour recently,

but that aside, it's like the best courses are won by the true great players. Is that what Tori Pines is, one of the great courses, so we're going to see a great player win it? Yeah, I think so. But the U.S. Open has a way of identifying the best player that, weak, but not necessarily like the all-time great. You know, like our good friend Andy Norton, Lee Janssen's won twice.

There are a lot of U.S. Open winners who you would not consider in the Tiger, Jack, you know, Arnie, you know, type of echelon in the game. That does not discount anything, by the way, of any of those players

who've ever won the U.S. Open. But the U.S. Open tends to allow winners like that come in. And I think that Tori Pines is one for one. They have an epic Monday finish, Tiger Woods won. But over the years here, at the Farmers Insurance Open, they've had some great, great winners. Different golf course in January than it is in June. But if you get another epic win this week, a Rory, a Bryson, a Brooks, a Dustin Johnson, a Nicholson making a run, then you've got to put Tori Pines in that category, it's got alluded to that, look, if you're going to go Tiger and then one of

these all-time greats as well, then sure. I think that golf courses can definitely be identified by who's one of them. All right. So let's talk about the golf course first and then the players you think have a chance to win this weekend. How, you know, juiced up will it be from a green speed and a rough standpoint? What's the USGA done with Tori Pines? Yeah, they haven't messed with it too much. They've grown the rough. I was talking to a guy out yesterday when I was walking the golf course. There's Mark Leashman, who I think has a very good chance this week. He was saying that what he thought was interesting was that the sight lines are still the same,

and the fairway widths are relatively the same. They haven't, you know, skinnyed up the fairways too much. What they've done is they've grown the rough a little bit, and greens are firmer and faster this time of year, condition-wise, than they would be in January. So it's going to be a firmer, faster golf course. It's going to be hard. It's par 70.

And, you know, it's going to be a classic U.S. Open look and feel, and somewhere around even par is going to be the winner. Even par the winner. By the way, I love West Coast U.S. Opens. There's just nothing better than being able to watch golf at 10 o'clock at night. And the golf channel's coverage begins tomorrow. A lot of coverage, I think, is on the Peacock Network as well early in the mornings, but Steve will be a part of the coverage, 1230 on Thursday and Friday,

and then NBC, I think on the first two days picks it up from 7 to 10, something like that, and then all weekend long coverage. All right, give me the players that you think have a legitimate chance. Give me a couple of sleepers like you usually do. I think if you're going to go to horsepower, John Rom had that unfortunate incident with COVID-19, having to withdraw with a six-shot lead two Saturdays to go

at the Memorial. He's playing fabulous golf is well-rested now, and he's won here before. He won here a few years ago was his first ever win on the PGA tour. Came here at Torrey Pines,

and he's playing probably the best golf of his life. He is ripe to win his first major championship. Price and DeCambeau will implement the same game plan here that he did last fall, late summer last fall,

at Wingfoot, just kind of bomb and gals couch, and if he puts well, I think Bryson also has a chance to wing back to back U.S. Office. And I think Rory Macquarie, the way he drives the ball here, will be a fact

he's got to be in the fairway. And he's not a great wedge player, Kevin. So wedges are the weakness of his game. There's not a lot of wedges here. You have a lot of six iron, seven irons, eight iron. But you don't have a lot of wedges. He can drive the golf ball

as far as you want, and if he's accurate, in the fairway, he's still not going to have a lot of wedges. So I think for Rory, he's not going to get out wedged here. He wedges it to 12, 15 feet. The other guys wedge it to 5 to 9 feet, and then he gets beat sometimes. I don't think that's going to be a factor here. So I think Rory has a chance for those three guys, big worldwide names. And then, like I said, off the board a little bit, if you want to take a 50 to 80 to one-shot kind of guy,

I think Mark Leashman, who has one year before, plays well in. major championships. Is the kind of guy, Kevin, if he only knew how great he actually was, he'd be better. And I think that he is going to play well this week. And I think Leishman has a good chance to win a major championship for the first time in his career. He's come close at majors before, has not won one. And I think that Jason Cochrak is another guy who's going to perform well. I'm not a huge statistics guy.

I'm just not an analytics guy. I'm not a huge stats guy. but one stat you've got to have this week is you've got to be in the fairway, and you have to have distance. So if you combine, because this is a long golf course, if you combine Kevin length on the PGA tour statistically with accuracy statistically on the PGA tour, the guy who has the best combined number of those two stats,

which are huge this week, is Jason Cochran. He just won a colonial memory. He took down Jordan's feet. He also won late last year for his first. first-ever PGA tour wins. He's clearly playing well, and those two stats to me are huge, and he's number one combined. So Jason Cochrak could be an interesting choice from off the board as well. You've done really well with Bryson. I know you've already talked about him, but you've done really well with him on the radio show before the Masters and the PGA, you know, talking about the lack of

rough, not being able to keep the ball in play. You predicted that, that he wouldn't play well in Augusta. So here, if he's longer than anybody, if he plays his normal style, is he going to be able to hit it out of the rough when he's not in the fairway? Yes, it's just like Wingfoot. Same exact thing. I think that he needs to change his game plan at a go, listen to me, I can't break 90, but he needs to change his game plan at Augusta or else it's not going to happen for him.

at the Masters. At the U.S. Open, at a traditional PGA that's not a Keel or a seaside course, I think he has an excellent chance to pile up measures because he can hit it so far, and he has that strength out of the rough. The rough will catch his golf ball, and I think that the rough is nastier around the greens here than it is surrounding the fairly, and I think that bodes well for him, and I think that he has a good chance. if he putts well. He putted so well. He wedged it and putt it so well, Wingsford, Kevin. He was fabulous that week, and I think that if his short game is on again, if his putting is strong again, I think he's going to have the same exact game play play in that he had at Winkfoot,

and I think he'll have an excellent chance. And if at this time, then at this time, you never know golf how that works, but I think he's going to play well this week, and he'd be someone I'd be high on. I wouldn't say Bryson this week. I want to make sure everybody's clear on that. The reason that Steve faded Bryson Deschambeau at the Masters and the PGA, the Masters in particular, and I remember him saying that right before you said, Bryson's not going to win this and he's not going to play well, is that because he hits it so long and there isn't any rough at Augusta, it was going to run through fairways, and he was going to have difficulty with that, whereas the rough will catch the ball, and even though

you may be thinking, well, you don't want to be in the heavy rough. Well, he's able to get out of it and hit it. And it's better for him to be there and for the rough to catch some of his ridiculously long drives. A couple of players that I wanted to ask you about. First of all, what is Kepka's health and what are his chances here this weekend? His health is fine. It's not 100% but he's a gamer. I expect him to play well this week, just like I thought. thought he would play well at Kiowa. I didn't think he was going to win. I think he was going to be the final group.

But he's the kind of guy, Kevin, who can fight through some of these injuries. He's a tough, tough customer. And I think that he's a little healthier now than he was a couple of weeks ago. And I think he's ready to go. He's also one of those guys, Kevin. He just steps up in big spots. Big spots. Now, what's interesting, Kevin, is one of those four majors.

His last two times, Harding Park on Kalamara-Kello one, Keowa, when he eventually had a one-shot lead after the two-shot swing on the first hole on Sunday, so it was 17 holes to play. He had a one-shot lead. He's not played well the last two times he's been in contention at a major. But I think he'll put himself in position again to give himself a chance. And again, if it's his time, it's his time. But I don't think he's going to play poorly this weekend.

I think he's going to play well. And I think he'll be a factor on the weekend. What about Justin? Thomas or Rose, Thomas? Yeah, Justin Thomas. I'm sorry, Justin Thomas. That's okay. Justin Thomas, there's no reason, Kevin, that he doesn't play well this week.

He's a fabulous player. It's just hard to win these majors and get yourself up four times a year for them. He's kind of been a non-factor here recently, hadn't he? I mean, have we heard anything about him lately? No. I don't know why. He's such a great player. you know, when you win one of these majors, you automatically think, well, here we go.

You know, it's going to open the door. Well, David Duvall won. Davis Love, won. Fred Couples, won. Justin Thomas still has one. Jason Day only has one, not only, but has one. Justin Leonard, never won again after winning one. It's hard to win these things.

But Justin Thomas, when he's playing well, is one of the two or three best players on the planet. And this golf course should suit him well, like Rory McElroy, if he drives the ball well, meaning accuracy, you know the distance is there. There's no reason that Justin Thomas doesn't put himself in contention this weekend. You mentioned Cochrak and Leashman as sort of, you know, sleeper picks, not among the heavyweights. They're both, you know, Leachman's older and Cochran, I think, is a little bit older. You can correct me if I'm wrong on that one. Yep, he is.

Of the super young guy, Zalotaurus, who played very well. at Augusta, and a guy that every time I watch him, I'm like, this guy's going to win a major at some point, Victor Hovland. And maybe I'm missing somebody else, but of the super young guys that are really talented and people are predicting great things, do you think any of them will play well and have a chance this weekend? Yeah, the third guy in that group with Hovland and Colin Morcalo would be Matt Wolfe. He was in the final group at Wingfoot. Remember him with the funky swing at Wingfoot? He was open with Bryce in the Shambell. Matt is not playing. He was not playing well.

It hasn't been a factor on the world stage in quite some time. But he's a fabulous player and he's going to have a long career. Hovland can play, Kevin. Man, and he's a great kid. Like Kalamoraka, has all the skills, all the talent, totally gets it. There's no question Victor Hovlin to be a factor this week. I think Victor's going to play well. Not quite sure at his time just yet, but I think Victor will win a major championship.

maybe even multiple majors, and I think it could happen this week. There's no question that Victor Hovlin has the game and the moxie to get it done in a major championship, and why not this week? This golf course suits it perfectly well. He's such a nice guy. You've ever around him, Kevin, he's like one of the nicest guys he's ever met.

When he plays golf, he plays golf with a chip on a shoulder, and he's kind of a mean competitor. I love that. You need to have a little bit of, you know, that in you to be great and Victor does have that, and he wants it. And I love that about him. The good young players in the sport right now who are going to carry the torch here for the next 20 years,

this sport's in good hands with these guys, on and off the golf course. They're great players. All right. Get to work. Enjoy a morning in La Jolla. I know it's gorgeous out there. Thanks for doing this.

It's a pretty place, too. Yeah, it's not bad. Gracious this place is. Well, you got, I mean, you know, Scott was telling me, I love Kiowa, and he was staying at the sanctuary. I know you weren't staying there, but he was like, oh, my God, this place is just gorgeous. You guys really do have a pretty good gig when you're going from, you know, golf tournament to golf tournament.

And you're, I mean, where does this place rank in terms of tour favorites for the players? Oh, the players love it. This tournament in January has been in a sweet spot forever. It is the buy week between the championship games and the NFPA. and the Super Bowl. And it's a great golf course, beautiful place to be. And it has always been a highly rated

on television tournament and also a highly attended tournament by the world's best players. You know, Tigers won here a million times and won the U.S. Open here. It's a great, great place. And everybody loves coming here. Man, I mean, Kevin,

if you and I didn't have family back home in D.C. or on the East Coast, if you had to pick a place to live in the United States, if you've got a couple of dollars in your pocket, it is real hard to beat this place. This place is gorgeous, man. Whether it's perfect. It's a beautiful place. There is something for East Coast people,

especially if you're a golf fan. And even if you're not, if you're just a sports fan, there's something about, you know, the January, Hawaii run, and then, you know, and then getting to California for Torrey Pines and then Super Bowl Week, you know, in Scottsdale. There's something that I love.

love about it's frigid, it's cold, it's dark outside, and then you get this, oh my God, wouldn't it be lovely to be at Capulua or to be in La Jolla? All of those places, you know, during January on the East Coast in particular, it's always been that way. I think it's one of the attractions actually of the sport for a lot of people who aren't necessarily even golf fans. Oh, yeah. I mean, look at the run they have here. Okay, so when we go to Coppola, Louis, obviously Coppaloo is gorgeous. Wildlife Country Club and Hawaii? Phenomenal. Then you go to the California

Desert. If anybody's ever been to Palm Springs, it's a joke, how beautiful it is. And the weather is absolutely perfect. The mountains and everything is gorgeous. Meanwhile, the country's in a deep freeze while you're at those three weeks. Then you fly over to La Jolla, the cliffs, the Torrey Pines, the hang gliders, the Pacific Ocean,

the most beautiful place you've ever seen your life. And then you go to Scottsdale, it's a party, it's a circus. The desert looks gorgeous, the mountains surrounding it. Everybody's still in a deep freeze watching the Super Bowl. Then the next week you go to Pebble Beach. That's a joke. How pretty that is.

And then the following week you go to Pacific Palisades and Riviera. Yeah. And you're like, wow, this is like the prettiest seven-week stretch of the history of sports. While everybody is watching Wild Card weekend, Divisional Weekend, championship weekend, taking a break, and then going to watch a little college juice, maybe it's an NBA in the NHL, and then the following week watching the Super Bowl, being with all these beautiful golf tournaments on the periphery of the sports landscape, are in the most beautiful places you've ever seen.

So, yeah, it's spectacular. We're very lucky in this sport. Steve Sands is not only a friend. He is phenomenal at what he does. He really is, and he's not into analytics and not into social media. God bless him. Thank you for getting up.

I leave that nine things. I don't know how you do this. I have to do it. I hate it, too. I hate it too. I've got a poll question. I got time. I know.

I'm a poll question. All that stuff. Like, you know, you two guys talk at social media, I'm like, come on. I want you guys, you know what I do like? I do like when you bust his chops that you, what do you call it, when you tag his columns, or when you move his columns, when you forward his columns, when I retweet them, when I retweet them. Yeah, yeah. I love when you guys go back and forth on that because I get the feeling I've never met Tom.

I love listening to him. I just love the fact that there's no way he's a social media guy, right? Yeah. Oh, my God. Tommy, Tommy is so. in love with social media. Are you kidding me? Legitimately. Tommy is very much as old and crotchety and miserable as he can be at times. And I say that lovingly. Tommy also, that's why I figured he's not a social media. No, no, no. Tommy was on Twitter before any of us at the station were on Twitter. Swear

to God, including the young people who were there. By the way, breaking news for the second time in this show, breaking news. Scott Brooks. is out as Washington Wizards coach. This according to Wojo, Wojnerowski reporting, the two sides failed to come to an agreement on a new deal, which would be an indication that they were interested in a new deal with Scott Brooks. And I bet you anything.

Yeah, and I don't know anything. Actually, Stan Van Gundy got fired. I love Stan Van Gundy as a coach. I think he's a good coach. Yeah. Good coach, I agree. But what's interesting about that is that I thought that if they kept him, it would be on a very short-term deal.

And I bet you that that's where he and his group got hung up. So now what happened? Russell Westbrook was so happy here. So now what? Russell Westbrook was his guy and Brooks. I mean, Russell loves Scott Brooks. Yeah, well, he doesn't really have much of a choice. He's under contract here.

But, yeah, I think the reason that a lot of people thought he would be back is because Russ wanted him back. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, of course. Here's the other thing. So let's go to work. You're going to love it. The Leontas, right?

Yeah. So the wizards actually have a touch of momentum for the first time in a long time. They actually have a little bit of interest in the community for the first time in a long time and now he can't come to grips with the coach. Does that sound familiar? Yeah, I think there's this guy, his name's Barry, I think, is his first name, who, by the way, is in the final four again with his new team, which would be the Islanders. The Leonis and coaching thing is extremely bothersome to those of us who grew up in the area and love our teams.

Now, this one is not. Let's address this. No, I know. It's not the same because this will be cheered by the team. This is not the same because this will be cheered by the majority of the fan base. And I know that, but you, how about you? You like it or not? Well, look, I've gotten to know Scott a little bit, not a lot, but I've had conversations with him on the air and one or two off the air. I really understand why players like him.

He's really a quality guy, and I can see where the part of an NBA coach where the players need to like you and respect you and you need to understand them and how to manage them. I think he really does that part well. But going back to Oklahoma City, I've always been critical of Scott Brooks as an ex as an O's coach. I just don't think that is his strength. I think there are guys that are much better. And by the way, I think Stan Van Gundy is one of them. It'd be interesting. I'm sure Ted and Zach would love to make a statement with the first female head coach in NBA history and, you know, trying to appeal to some sort of demo that they think they have to have. And by the way, I'm not suggesting that she's not qualified. I've always thought

that Stan Van Gundy can coach. He's out. He got fired today after just one year in New Orleans. Why that happened? I don't know. Maybe he didn't get along with Zion. And maybe that's what you have to do there. But he would make them defend. I can tell you that. Yeah, they would defend the ball would move. They would defend, and the ball would actually move a little bit. Yeah, a little bit. They might have an inbounds play, too, against pressure. That would be nice. But then again, there you go.

That ain't breaking news. Yeah. I will have more on that on tomorrow's show, more likely than not with Tommy. Thanks. Go enjoy the day, and I will be watching. We'll all be watching all weekend long. All right, I'm looking forward to, but take care. Steve Sands, everybody, one of my favorites.

Man, this is Scott Brooks news is huge. Obviously, I would have led the show with it today. A couple of other just quick thoughts on it. I would say, number one, if the reporting is they couldn't work out a deal, that there was interest in bringing them back on a short-term deal. That's number one.

Number two, in terms of what's next, in addition to a guy like Stan Van Gundy, who I've always been a fan of, you got to think Sam Cassell, you know, will Sam Cassell finally get an opportunity to be a head coach? You know, he was here obviously as an assistant. He's very familiar with Bradley Biel. And I think that Bradley Beale would certainly be a guy that would endorse Sam Cassell. I've always felt that Sam Cassell had as a player and as a coach just an incredible, you know, basketball IQ. So I would love to see him get an opportunity.

I can't tell you I know enough about Becky Hammond other than the fact that let's face it, if Popovich gives his blessing, he's not doing it willy-nilly. And he believes in Becky Hammond, the assistant with San Antonio on Popovich's staff. You know, on Scott Brooks, look, the bottom line is that Scott Brooks, you know, was a guy that I don't think was among the best coaches in the league when it came to an X's and O's thing. But, you know, there's a lot more that falls on the head coach. I thought Randy Whitman was an exceptional X's and O's head coach. I did. and I was hopeful that they would hire a guy like Fibito when they ran Whitman

because Whitman wasn't getting along with the best players. They wanted to change, and that's a big part of the coaching there. But I do, I'm totally okay with this. I would love to see a head coach where offensively there's going to be more structure. and with Westbrook, maybe there can't be. You know, that may have been part of the challenge. With Wall, maybe there couldn't have been. Maybe if Scott Brooks had a chance to coach with a point guard that was a little bit more in need of structure,

which I think both of them were, but maybe more receptive to it, maybe it would be better. I'd love to see more structure. I'd love to see more organization offensively. I would love to see, you know, the ability to throw an in-bounds pass against pressure, and not have it turn over. I would definitely like to see a coach that would emphasize in coach defense better. So, there. Not a shock.

I know that there was some reporting recently that Brooks was going to stay as the head coach. And apparently, at least according to Wojnerowski, they had discussions about an extension, but they could not come to an agreement on that. Anyway, there you go. More on this tomorrow. But again, the story is that Brooks is out as Wizards head coach, but only after, according to Wojnerowski at ESPN, the two sides failed to come to an agreement on a new deal.

We'll have more information. Again, my guess would be that Brooks wanted something longer term and Washington wasn't willing to give it to him. That would be my guess. more on this coming up tomorrow. Thanks to Steve for joining us on the show today. Thanks to Scott Lynn for joining us on the show today. Tommy will be with me tomorrow.

And again, more on the Scott Brooks being out as Wizards coach and a lot more on the show tomorrow. Have a great day.