The Kevin Sheehan Show - Caps, Wizards, & SVP on Phil

Episode Date: May 24, 2021

Kevin opened the show with the Caps' 3rd straight exit from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the first round. He talked a bunch about the Wizards' Game 1 loss in Philly too. Scott Van Pelt was back from Kiawah to talk about the incredible win by Phil Mickelson at the PGA. Kevin closed with some WFT OTA discussion and the recent WFT business hire.  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 Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Lars Eller on the feed. Snapshot coming to the front door, deflected away in the Boston Bruins.

Advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Second round with a four-one win over Washington. Three straight years out in the first round, the Washington Capitals are that Stanley Cup was back in 28. now. It was a magical run, but it ended with lots of celebration, and then 11 days later, the coach responsible for leading that group to a Stanley Cup title. The franchise's first was gone because the owner and his son or anybody else decided that they didn't want to pay him the money. Now it's three straight losses, including two straight losses in the first round by five games.

last year in the bubble to the Islanders in five, and this year to the Bruins in five. The podcast today presented by MyBooky, go to MyBooky.orgie. Use my promo code Kevin, D.C., and they will match your first deposit all the way up to $1,000. Let them know that I sent you, be very specific by using my promo code, Kevin, D.C., to get that free deposit bonus. You can play everything at MyBooky. They've got every online casino game imaginable. I mean, you can play online blackjack, online craps, online poker, lots of video games, including video poker, jackpot slot machine opportunities as well.

And there are blackjack tournaments where you can win up to $50,000. Plenty in the sports book as well. Obviously, the NHL and the NBA playoffs right now, Major League Baseball, soccer, MMA, more golf coming up next. month with the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and plenty of NFL to bet if you want. You can already bet a ton of NFL prop bets and you can even bet week one of the NFL where Washington right now is a one and a half point underdog at MyBooky to the Los Angeles Chargers. MyBooky, mybooky, my bookie.com.combe.combe.combe.combe. Scott Van Pelt's going to be on the show. We will talk to Scott about Phil Mickelson's win.

to Kiowa Ocean Course, becoming the oldest player in history to win a major at 50 years old and 11 months. Scott was the lead host, lead play-by-play guy on ESPN's coverage all week long and for the morning hours on ESPN's coverage over the weekend. So Scott will be with us. We'll talk to him about the golf. I will do a little bit on the golf here shortly, but I'll start with the Capitals. look, that series started last week with the three straight overtime games, and Tommy and I sat here and said, this is a series that's sort of a coin flip series. I said that anyway, that these games could go either way. I think Tommy really like the Caps chances. The Caps lost that heartbreaking double overtime game in game three in Boston, where they gave up the bad goal Samsonoff did in overtime with that miscommunication. And it was all downhill after that. Friday night, they got absolutely housed, 4 to 1.

They were really outplayed, pretty much start to finish in that game. I thought last night's game, they gave effort to try to stave off elimination and keep this series going. They outshot the Bruins 41 to 19. I don't know how many of them you would say were great scoring chances, but I thought they played with desperation in the third when they were down two nothing and they made it a two one game very early in the third on the Connor Sherry goal 11 seconds into the third period. And then they seem to have, you know, the ice tilted, as they say. I don't know how many great opportunities they had. They weren't hitting posts or crossbars like they were at the end of regulation in game three.

But they had chances. bottom line is they were three for 20 in this series on the power play, 0 for 4 last night. It's just not good enough. You know, they needed to capitalize on the power play. They had plenty of opportunities in five games, an average of 4 per game. They were 0 for 4 last night, 3 for 20 for the series.

And I would say that the bottom line takeaway is their star players, Bergeron, Marchan, Pasternak, who had a phenomenal goal, That first goal last night where he went between his legs and came in on the other side against Samsonoff. Their star players played better than the Capps star players. You know, Vetchkin and Kuznetsov, who had that goalie interference in the third period when it was three to one, I thought that was a good call. I didn't think that that was a bad call. And for those saying, oh, it's a bad call or what a stupid play, well, if he doesn't make that play,

Rask is probably in position to stop the shot that ended up scoring anyway. I thought Manta played well throughout this series, even though the total goals and assists may not reflect it. What you have to wonder now is what's next. The verdict is in, excuse me, on Barry Trots. That verdict is in. Ownership screwed up. Okay, if he had in his contract some sort of escalation,

if he won the cup. And he agreed to that contract, that's fine. But they won the cup, and he wasn't happy with what the bonus was and what the contract escalation was. You pay him. And they didn't, and they thought Reardon was more responsible for the Stanley Cup win in 2018. Anyway, how many times did we hear that Reards was the X's and O's guy? Well, that was a disaster.

They lose the Carolina Hurricanes and a seventh in deciding game. home as defending champs last year in the bubble in Toronto. They get absolutely clobbered by Barry Trotts' Islanders team. And then this year, you know, even those first three games, all of them could have gone either way. And it could have been just as easily that the caps could have been up three nothing instead of down two one. Bottom line is they're out in the first round again. And as far as what's next, I'll leave that up to the hockey people. I know that there is definite, a definite feeling that Coosie's going to be gone, that he was a pain in the ass, that he can't be trusted to be eligible, to be mature, and as gifted as he is.

You know, ultimately, he landed on the COVID-19 protocol list twice. It cost him 13 games this year. The caps were fined by some of Covey's antics, and they didn't have one of their best players, you know, playing at his best level. They were injury riddled for sure, and Lars Eller got injured in this series, even though he played. But what's next? I don't know.

I can't imagine Ovechkin not getting an extension in staying here to finish out his career, but I know some of the hockey people believe that, you know, between him and Kuznetsov and maybe a few others, they could go to the KHL. They could go back to Russia and finish up their career. I can't imagine that. I think OV will be extended and they'll stay.

The goaltender issue, is certainly an issue. You know, is Samsonoff the right guy? Is V-Tec the right guy? I wonder if there was any consideration to come back to Anderson, although goaltending wasn't necessarily the issue, with the exception of the end of the game three. Anyway, back to the spring ritual of the caps being eliminated

before they should have been eliminated. Because they, since winning the cup, they have been eliminated in the first round as the higher-seated team. That's what they used to do. And then you had the Cup, thankfully, and you had that win. And remember, they were in deep, deep trouble in that first round against Columbus, having lost two games at home.

And then in an overtime in game three, on the verge of going down three-nothing in that series. But once again, with the exception of the Stanley Cup win, the Alex Ovechkin era, hasn't produced a season in which, they've gone past the second round. And for the last three years, they've been out in the first round. Rough ending, I know a lot of you are diehards, and I'm sure you're hurting, and I'm sure you've got a lot of answers and a lot of suggestions. I would go to Ted's take.

I'm sure at some point there will be a blog on the ending of the season, and you can weigh in there. I want to talk about the Wizards, and I will do that right after this word from one of our sponsors. Kudos to the Nationals for a really good weekend, considering the rough weekend for the Caps and for the Wizards, which I'm going to get to here momentarily. But three good wins for the Nats in a row. 4-2 Friday night, Strasbourg pitched five and a third, allowed just one hit, no earned runs in his return. Ryan Zimmerman had a three-run homer on Saturday, which was a huge home run that broke a season. 6-6 tie, gave Washington a 9-6 lead. They went on to win the game 12 to 9. Schwerber had his 8th

homer of the year yesterday in a 6-5 win over the Orioles. Nats win three from Baltimore, big for them. They're just two and a half out, even though they're in last place, but, you know, a bunched-up National League East. I think the Mets actually have the worst record of any division leader right now. They're just two games over 500. So good job by the Nats. I know Robles was banged up over the weekend, and I think he went on the 10-day. They now open up a stretch against Cincinnati at home. They get Milwaukee. So the next six at home for the Nats, but that's a productive weekend for them,

and really the only local team that had a productive weekend. Although the Maryland lacrosse team got a win over Notre Dame in overtime, 14, 13 to advance to the final four. I want to spend this segment before we bring Scott Van Pelt onto the show talking about the Wizards game one loss to the 76ers yesterday, 125 to 118. I told you on Friday that I thought the most important thing in this series if the Wizards were going to have any chance at all at having a competitive series, maybe not winning it because I don't think their chances of winning it are very good. But I thought for them to be competitive in this series, pace was everything. If the game was played at an uptempo pace, the series was played at an uptempo place. They were going to have a chance in some of these games.

And if it wasn't, they were going to have no chance. Look, they lost yesterday for two key reasons, but they had a chance for a major key reason. that I just mentioned, which was Pace. But let me start with why they lost. Number one, they're not as good as the 76ers. They don't have Joelle Embed. They don't have a player like Ben Simmons on their roster.

They don't play defense like Philadelphia does. They're not as good as Philadelphia. But number two, they couldn't execute winning plays with the game on the line in the fourth quarter. And they got to a fourth quarter with big possessions with the game on the line. And in fact, in the fourth quarter, their two best players. players or their two star players made too many losing plays with the game on the line. That's why they lost. They're not as good, and they couldn't execute with the game on the line,

especially over the final couple of minutes in half-court sets when they had a chance to cut into a four-point lead at one point and then a five-point lead later in the game. There were some positives. The one positive is they played roughly, I'm just guessing, 60% maybe more of this game at a pace that favored them. That's why they were close. That's why they had a halftime lead of 62 to 61. They had 14 fast break points in the first half.

It's funny, they didn't start off that way with Russell Westbrook in the game. Ish Smith came into the game and really provided the spark, understanding that they were at their best when they were pushing tempo even after made shots. The 76ers helped out. They missed 14-3-point attempts, which allowed the Wizards to get out on the fast break a little bit more. But once Isch Smith came into the game, the tempo of the game changed. It changed to their favor, and it gave them a chance. You know, they had a halftime lead.

They were close, you know, at times in the fourth quarter. I would say, you know, for 60, 65 percent of this game, the game was played at a pace that favored them that gave them a chance a chance to win or steal game one. A game one in which, keep in mind, Philadelphia had been off for a week. They may have been a little bit rusty. The Wizards had played two games recently. Maybe a little bit more without rust.

But you also had Joelle and Bede getting three fouls in the first half and playing just 10 minutes in the first half. That was huge. And the 76ers missed 10 free throws. Like if you were going to get them, if you were going to steal one, This was the one to steal. That was the unfortunate part. They had the pace where they wanted it.

Philadelphia may have been a little bit rusty. Their best player got in foul trouble. They missed 10 free throws in the game, led by Ben Simmons, who was 0 for 6 from the free throw line. He cannot shoot, although he is a very good player and an incredible defender. But they had a chance. It's weird because I'm watching this game and I'm thinking to myself early. What is Russ doing walking the ball up the court?

Dennis Smith comes in the game. I'm like, that's the pace they can get back into it. And they did. And then Westbrook followed. He's like, oh, that's how we have to play. Like he had forgotten from the regular season. Now, Russ could not hit a shot. He, I think, had four shots in the first half that did not hit the rim.

His decision making was poor throughout. The turnovers were bad. Several of them unforced, including the last one, which we will get to here in momentarily, but they got the pace going. And then in the third quarter, even though Philly got super hot, you know, from downtown. And by the way, Tobias Harris kept them in the game in the first half with 28 with Embed on the bench. And then in the third quarter, when Philly really started to heat up, you know, Harris knocked down some threes. Seth Curry all of a sudden got hot. And all of a sudden, they're knocking, Danny Green knocked down a couple threes. And all of a sudden, they've extended, you know,

out to a nine, you know, 10-point lead, Bradley Beals keeping a minute, man. He was sensational in the third quarter. Even in their half-court sets, when they go primarily ISO ball, you know, he was making plays and scoring for them. I think he had 15 in the third quarter. And then he sat at the beginning of the fourth. And when he came back in in the fourth quarter, he was a disaster and the other star player, Russell Westbrook, was a disaster.

They combined for four fourth quarter turnovers, four made shots in the fourth quarter. The four turnovers could have easily been six. Beale clearly traveled with about 50 seconds to go on that one possession they had down 121, 116, or the first of the possessions down 121, 116. He clearly traveled on that one. Simmons' defense was outstanding. Don't get me wrong. I've said this before about, you know, these,

crucial possessions where they're not able to get out on the break and get something easy. You know, their bench played exceptionally well. Bertons, Gafford, Ishm, Gafford's been spectacular. And, you know, you get down and you get into the fourth quarter and in the playoffs, the game slows down a little bit. You're there. You've got a chance down five. They were down four at one point, down 110, 10, 10, 10.

10 had a possession. Beale was very sloppy with the basketball. Simmons was making it very difficult for him in the fourth quarter. Same for Westbrook. Just bad decisions, bad turnovers. Again, four turnovers could have easily been five or six if they had called the game properly. And you just don't have any sort of structure or plan in the half court on those possessions. That's on Scott Brooks. It is. Now, he might say, injected with truth serum, you don't know my team, you don't know my players. I have players that are just better in ISO situations, better in a two-man game, better coming off just sort of simple, you know, downscreens or flare screens, because that's essentially the only stuff they really run. actually that's probably totally unfair.

If any of their coaches, including Scott, you know, heard me say that, they'd say you're out of your mind. We have much more than a couple of downscreens and a couple of flare screens, and I understand that. And by the way, I would also say I understand that a lot of the league, a lot of the league relies on a lot of ISO possessions and a lot of two-man basketball and a lot of simplistic stuff that just gets their playmakers,

gets their best players, the ball, and then relies on those players to make shots and to make plays. And that's what the league is. It's a completely different game than the game at lower levels. But this particular group with Westbrook and Bradley Beale, I just personally find it painful to watch their key possessions against a set defense and watch Westbrook pound the shit out of the ball for 18 seconds and then try to throw up a bank shot that doesn't hit anything or try to make a play that lands, you know, ends in turnover. Or to watch Bradley Beale against a really good defender in a playoff game, Ben Simmons, and to watch a defense understand that there's nothing to what they're doing right now

other than Bradley Beale is being asked to make a play as the shot clock is winding down. And then they crowd them or they double them. and then to watch Beal sort of fumble the ball or, you know, get into trouble and turn it over or make a pass to a player that shouldn't be shooting. You know, I just get frustrated watching that. And they're not the only team. And for a lot of you that really love basketball and understand it, you know what I'm talking about. And at the same time, I don't want to make it out that, like any of us, know more than them.

I'm just telling you, for me watching it, it's so predictable. It is so predictable watching this team. If they're not scoring in transition, in up-tempo, and they're playing a good team defensively, and there are possessions at the end of the game that matter, they are going to go with Beale or Westbrook, and they're going to go with primarily ISO or 2-Man, and maybe they might run Beale.

off of a down screen or a flare screen. And by the way, some of the flare screens that they run, where Westbrook is essentially passing two passes away, are really dangerous passes. My God, I mean, they are really dangerous. What I'm describing is you'll see Beale, and he'll get a screen on the wing from, say, Gafford or even Bertons. It's better if it's from Bertons and a shooter.

And he'll come off that screen, moving to the wing, to the left wing, with Westbrook sort of on that right wing. And Westbrook makes a pass that is two passes away, meaning Bertons would be one pass away after the screen. Beals now two guys away or two spots away. It's a very dangerous pass. And I don't know how it works as much as it does. Anyway, they're playing a great defensive team, and they had some horrible possessions when they needed buckets. And we're not going to see anything different. Do they throw it to the post with Lopez in the game every once in a while? Yeah, they do. It's not a bad way. Go inside out.

I think Beale and Westbrook going inside out and starting on the post would be better. Certainly Westbrook because of the kind of passer he is. They don't have great forward play, although I really do like Hachamura. And I thought he was a little bit tight early, but I thought he played a really good fourth quarter. But anyway, if you go to the final minute and 11, it was really painful to watch. You know, you're in a 121-116 basketball game. I mean, you got a shot. You got a shot to steal one.

You know, Philadelphia hasn't played great. They've had stretches. But, you know, they had the foul trouble. They had all the miss free throws. They were three for 17 from behind. arc in the first half and your lead was only one. But that final minute and 11 was so painful. Embed misses a shot. There's a turnover. The Wizards get the ball. And if you watch that one possession, Beal travels against Simmons, who is just making life miserable for him. He throws it back to

Bertons, who misses a contested three-pointer. And then you foul Ben Simmons. which was the right strategy. They did that in a regular season game against Simmons, too. He misses both. He was 0 for six from the free throw line. And then you get Russell Westbrook stepping out of bounds. Now, I'm not sure his heel touched. But is that really the point? Like, why was he over there trying to do a balancing act when they still had two timeouts left? I would have called a timeout after the second miss, advance the ball, and tried to get something quick at 121-118, get a three-pointer quick. to cut it to two. You know, you're in a game there with about 30-something seconds left where you're

looking for two possessions offensively. So by not calling a time out after the miss free throw, now you're going to burn too much clock bringing the ball up court and then, of course, you get Westbrook over there. I didn't think there was enough to overturn the call on the court, to be honest with you. But call time out, Russ. I mean, good God, that was embarrassing. You know, coming off the possession before where Beale was lucky not to get called for a travel. So right there, you basically had back-to-back terrible possessions. And then Philadelphia, for some inexplicable reason, up five, decides they're going to try to score with 11 seconds still left on the shot clock and Embed dribbles it off his leg,

giving the Wizards a chance again. And then they didn't have anything that was that great. the spacing was terrible with Beale having the ball. Bertons was in the area. Gafford was in the area trying to set a screen, and then Beale has to chuck it to Westbrook in the corner. He throws up a three. Do you think that's really what they wanted, Westbrook shooting a three at 121, 116? The whole thing, the whole final minute and 11 was pathetic. The two best players or the two star players on the team were just awful in the fourth quarter. I mean, they wouldn't have been there without Beale's third quarter. Trust me.

I realize that. God damn, can he make some plays? He can really score. And I love how aggressive he is, and I love the way he finishes around the rim. I love the way he creates space for the step back. He's such a really good shooter. Inconsistent from the three-point line,

but still, even when he's missing, do you ever think it's not going in the way he squares up and shoots it? They were down six at the end of the third quarter, and the Sixers were red hot. They scored 38 points in the third quarter. The Wizards are a terrible defensive team. By the way, in the first half, if I were Philadelphia, I mean, anybody could have gotten to the rim whenever they wanted to get to the rim.

I mean, whenever they wanted to get to the rim, they could get to the rim. And they decided not to, you know, consistently go to the rim. They didn't have him beat in the game because of the foul trouble. They shot 17 threes in the first half and missed 14 of them, which was, you know, one of the ways you can start running against a team. Long rebound into Westbrook's hands. Let's get the fast break going. Isch was the one that started it. Ish Smith started it even against, I'm sorry, even after makes, Isch Smith was forcing tempo. And then Westbrook did the same thing.

But the fourth quarter from Beal and Westbrook and the plan in some of those key possessions, just not good enough. You know, in a game that was winnable because Philadelphia wasn't sharp, Philadelphia had foul trouble, Philadelphia was rusty, Philadelphia missed 10 free throws. You had a, Philadelphia allowed the Wizards. I guarantee you Doc Rivers is the number one on that whiteboard in practice today or in a meeting. Transition defense. That team is really good if they get out on the fast break. They're going to shoot a high percentage.

They're going to get a lot of possessions, and you don't turn them over as much if they're running. Then you get Bertons, who definitely excels more in an open court game as the recipient of Westbrook and Beale and Isch Smith and others pushing it and kicking it out or being a kick out to Beal and then a pass to Bertons who's open. And if you think back to the wall teams, it was the same way that they played their best basketball back then.

get out on the break, let John find you, whether it was Beale spotting up or Trevor spotting up or Pierce spotting up or whomever the shooters were on those teams. They really benefited from that. And they're not that much different now in watching them. They have to be up-tempo to be successful. They scored 118 points. They scored 118 points. You know, they probably have to score about 125 to win games in this series. But Philadelphia let them run for 60% of the game.

I don't know if they're going to let them run as much. You'll see a better job of them getting back on defense. You'll see better shot selection on offense. They had a lot of offensive rebounds, which kept the Wizards running especially early in the game, and Ben Simmons was phenomenal on the offensive glass. What a unique player he is, right? He can't shoot, but he had 15 rebounds and 15 assists and 6 points.

He was 0 for 6 from the free throw. line. They're going to have to employ if there's another close game the hack of Ben Simmons strategy, especially if Embed's on the floor, because the Wizards give up way too much that's just too easy. They're just not very good defensively. I thought that if Smith had a good game, I thought Gafford continues to show what a force he could become for this team. I thought Bertons did what he needs to keep doing, which is shooting. That's what he does. That's what he does. That's what he's there for. He's going to benefit more from an open court, you know, up and down game. He can catch and transition and fire. He can be open on the secondary

break in fire. Half court sets, the plays they run for him. I don't mind it. To be honest with you, I'd have him, he shot eight threes. I'd have him averaging 10 three-point attempts a game. He can't guard, but either can really anybody else, Hachamuriken a little bit. Hutchinson, Kenon. He didn't even play. Gil Cannon, he didn't even play. I'll tell you what, I've heard a lot of you people tell me what a great defender Netto is, because he's got all these steals. He's a good off-the-ball anticipation guy. They're attacking him as an on-ball defender. Everybody has been recently. He's just too small. He can't hold up physically against some of the guys that he's guarding as an on-ball defender. He's really good off-the-ball, though.

at anticipating and getting into passing lanes, but they're attacking him. They're singling him out as a guy that they can beat with bigger, stronger. I like Netto's game. Don't get me wrong. He played 22 minutes yesterday. By the way, I thought Alex Len was decent despite the ugly free throws. But I'm worried that yesterday may have been their best shot to win a game. They had their tempo for 60% of it. Philadelphia off, maybe rusty, missing a ton of free throws, and they still lost by seven because they could not execute in the fourth quarter. And they couldn't. And they couldn't execute in part because they're two best players just weren't good enough. They made plenty of winning plays through the first three quarters and several, several big time losing plays

in the fourth quarter. That's what you've gotten from Russ in a lot of the recent playoff years, whether it was OKC or Houston. You get a lot of good and a lot of bad. And, you know, the truth is with Bradley, it's sort of the same thing. Now, you get much more good with Brad than bad. I mean, they don't have a chance without Brad. And they wouldn't be in this position right now without Russ during the regular season. But we're talking about the postseason now. And the game changes a little bit. And you're seeing some real superstar kind of play, fourth quarter play. through the first eight games. And even in the playing game Friday night where I thought John Morant was just spectacular

in his second year. He was my favorite player of the weekend. Bradley's got to be more dialed in defensively all the time. He can definitely zone out. We've seen that before. His concentration defensively isn't always there. You know, he's arguing a lot. There was one particular offensive possession in the fourth quarter where he didn't even

come into frame until there were about eight seconds left on the shot clock. I would presume that it was because he was arguing a call on the other end. Defensively, same thing happens to him every once in a while. He's got to be much more focused and concentrated and dialed in defensively. None of their players defensively are solid defensive players. Now, Gafford's a rim protector. I like the way Lopez throws his body around. I think Len can be decent as a rim protector.

Everybody else has to just be, I don't know, Hutchinson, Hutchinson to me is more of a natural defender, Gil the same. They didn't play yesterday. Maybe they'll play more Wednesday night. I don't feel good about their chances. I didn't Friday. I don't feel any better about them today. Like yesterday was the game to steal.

I think they'll get routed Wednesday night, and then I think they'll come home. home and hopefully, you know, play the game at their tempo like they did yesterday. I would be surprised if Wednesday night they have as much in transition as they had yesterday. Again, I think it'll be the number one priority for Doc Rivers. But I just don't see this series going past five games. Philadelphia is just better and the Wizards just aren't good enough when it matters. You know, that brings up a whole other big picture, where is this going, conversation that we can have it another time. Maybe I'll have it with Tommy tomorrow. Phil Mickelson won the PGA

championship at Kiowa yesterday. It was so exciting. I thought the whole weekend, and I talked to Scott about this earlier this morning, and he's going to jump on the podcast here, I thought the whole weekend was a special weekend in sports. Like Mickelson winning, the crowds, you know, in South Carolina, the crowd at Madison Square Garden last night in the game between the Knicks and the Hawks. What a spectacular game that was. Now, I'm flipping back and forth. I watch mostly the caps, but I had TNT sort of recording to go back and watch during the commercials. And man, talk about playmakers and big-time performers with the game on the line. How about Trey Young? My God. How about for the Knicks, you know, the talent they have and the playmaking, Alec Burks had, I think he had 27 off the bench or 29

off the bench. Just big shots, big dunks, athletes. My God, is Collins a leaper, the kid from Wake Forest. I mean, just one massive dunk after another. That was an exciting game. I thought John Morant was just incredible Friday night. I'm all for the play-in despite Golden State not making it. Adam Silver seems to be for it too. But anyway, let's bring in Scott Van Pelt to talk about the PGA. Back from Kiowa. in South Carolina. He got back late last night after a week's worth of work and excellent work. I mean, I'm not objective when it comes to you, but I thought it was an outstanding couple of days, Thursday and Friday, obviously, for the better part of the entire day. And on Saturday and Sunday

morning, all the way up until CBS's coverage. How did you think it went? Well, thank you. We have fun. Like, it's really, the one, the one of my of bragging I'll do on our group is we don't do it. Like, we do one a year. And as we all joke amongst ourselves, it doesn't allow us to work together so much that we all hate each other. But, I mean, think about it. If you're CBS or NBC or the Golf Channel,

and like you're doing it week after week, you get an opportunity to develop a rhythm and a chemistry and whatever, but we show up and don't work together covering golf. other than the PGA Championship Week and the last two years that we've done it, the reaction from people's been has been overwhelmingly positive and we're grateful for that.

And I mean, I've kidded around in these different podcasts or whatever that I've done that golf Twitter is difficult to please except it's not if you just show golf. All they want is to show golf. And the thing that nobody really gets, and I just want to say this,

is like everyone likes the red zone, because, oh, you just get to see game after game. Well, much of it you don't see live because they show you the touchdown from the Panthers and the Falcons game that happened three minutes ago or two minutes ago. They're shown as quickly as it can, but it's probably not live. So when there's taped golf, it's because there are 18 holes being played simultaneously with T-shots, approach shots, and putts. So they're trying to televise an event where there are 18 different games in a sense happening at once.

And to do it in a way that is coherent and to get a lot of it live is a real challenge. But we have a guy named Mike McQuay who is my guy here in D.C. He moved down to D.C. with me to be the guy that runs the show on our show. He's a guy that does it and he's fantastic. And our group likes each other and we have fun. We laugh a lot. and we mess around each other a lot. And we show a shit-tend of golf shots.

And I think that's what people mostly want. And so we, I don't know, it was a fun week. I thought the venue was amazing. I think it should be in the PGA of America's rotation as much as it could be like make it there Pebble Beach, go there every five years or ten years, whatever you can do. And then obviously the filthor, which I'm sure we'll talk about,

you know, you just can't dream of something like that. Oh, the venue was incredible. I mean, I love that place. But, you know, like, this was not the intent of the conversation, but I know you guys don't do it a lot. But if you think back to the, you know, when Jim McKay, okay, this is for people older, I understand, but we're two of them, when Jim McKay would host ABC's golf coverage of the U.S. Open and the British Open,

because the Masters was always on CBS, and most of the golf was on CBS. They only did it like two times a year as well. And you're the lead host of the golf on ESPN. Now, I understand that, you know, it's CBS taking over on Saturdays and Sundays. But, you know, I've known you forever. And I don't know that even when you were at the Golf Channel, I would have ever thought, okay, you're going to be the lead play-by-play host

of major championship golf. Right, no, it's idiotic. Of course, I mean, trust me, it's not lost on me. I just shake my head and think, you know, it's preposterous. Every now and then I'll hear like there's some montage of calls from the past. It's somebody like Chris Schenkel or something like, oh, my God, I'm doing what Chris Schenkel did. Like, how does that? It doesn't, it just none of it makes sense.

But, like, I look at our group much more, like an ensemble thing, and we treat it that way. But, I mean, you are the guy that, you know, comes on and greets people and whatever. But, I mean, I've been lucky because, as I assume listeners know, or if they don't, like, I started in this business doing golf at the Golf Channel, and I got a chance to be around it a lot. But it's not like I was trained to do this or anything. I just sort of fell into it, whatever. So we, we, but, again, it's the group. and it's fun. They're long days.

I mean, like, you come on at 7 in the morning, and you're on. Like, the first night we were on until it was, like, 8 o'clock at night. I literally saw the sunrise and set from where I was sitting on 18. And so, but it was gorgeous place to watch it. The venue so hard. And I said at one point on the air, like, if you're a good player, hold on.

Say you're a single-digit. Like you're a five, and you're thinking, I wonder if I could break 90. I bet I could break 90. I'll bet you all the money in the world that you couldn't because it was so hard. The wind was blowing into people's, like, the 14 through 18, like people like Brooks Kepka had like 220 in to the 18 toll. Now, granted, it goes downwind and it's, you know, a lop wedge. But the difference between into and downwind was astounding. But the venue is just, it's gorgeous, it's challenging, and, you know, the elements make it more challenging.

I just think it's a tremendous place to do to host a major championship. Well, what you just said is the story that gets repeated and it got repeated all weekend long in my house because two of my three boys and I have been down. Actually, all four of us have been down there a lot over the last eight, nine years. And the last time Corbyn Ryan and I were down there together was three years ago, because we didn't go last year. Two years ago, the ocean course was closed because they had started renovations. Three years ago, we were down there.

It was the two of us, the three of us, a caddy, and a fourth joined us, and the fourth was a scratch player. And I swear to God, he said, I hope you guys don't mind. I'm going to play this course from the tips. and the caddy said, I wouldn't recommend that. He goes, well, I'm a scratch golfer, and he said, I know that, but I wouldn't recommend that. And then as he was walking back to the tips, the caddy who I'd gotten to know from playing there a couple of rounds at a couple of the other places the year before, just said,

no chance he breaks 95. And I said, 95, really? within six holes he was up hitting from our T's. It was impossible, and that's a scratch. It really, it's just too much. The visual intimidation of it is just like the fourth T, like when we walked the golf course, that's one of the fun things about getting there early.

Obviously, the downside of spending a week at a place as your kids are like, my little guy is just like, when are you coming home? And it's just every time he asks me where I am. And, you know, that's a bummer. The good part about being there is you get to really, you know, immerse yourself in the event. And when you're, you know, at a seaside golf course like that,

it's beautiful weather. It's such a blast. But you start walking it and you get to, like, the tee on, like, four, and you're hitting across, you know, 240 yards of carry over a marsh. And, I mean, like, I know people listening. There's people that can play. But, like, you know the guy that you play with at your club or at your local muni that says,

I hit my drive 300 yards. Right. Guess what they don't? No, you didn't. No, you didn't. And if you did, you hit a sprinkler head or whatever. Now I know this are people that can hit it big or whatever. But trust me, when I tell you, like,

that the visual intimidation of, like, 2.40 carry into the wind is a lot. And when we got to that force, like, I don't know what you're supposed to do. And then you get to, like, the 13th T, and you turn and walk back over this bridge to this backward. little spot where, again, it's all just carry, and most of the week that was downwind. So that changes it a bit. But anyway, I mean, it's super golf specific, but the venue, I think, is really interesting. It's such a spectacular place. And as well known as it is, and it's regularly, for those that don't know, at the top or near the top of the list of the most

difficult courses in the country. And by the way, they're no fun to play. Like, They're fun to walk because it's beautiful. But after one round there, if you're a typical mid or high handicap or it's time to move on to the easier courses and actually have some fun playing golf. But it's a beautiful walk. But I was thinking as well known as the ocean course and as Kiowa is, yesterday it became even more famous because of Phil Mickelson. And because of something that I think we'll see when the ratings come out was being followed and watched by a lot of people. So what was it like to be there for Phil winning? It was just tremendous.

The fact that there were people there, and I mean, lots and lots of people created a tremendous environment. And you and I were talking about this off-air. This weekend, it felt like sports were back. Because not only did you have that, you had the guard. just being the garden. I did one big thing on Sports Center a while back about how, like, they're going to play meaningful basketball in the garden for the first time and a long time.

And there are a few things in sports that are more fun than the garden when it's like that. And it was awesome yesterday. And you've got arenas around the NHL that are filled like Nashville as mania. And there were 10,000, how many thousand people there were at Kiowa, there sounded like five times more because this, The sun's out, the wind's blowing, and people are just wrecked. Yeah, I can imagine.

People are in a house, hooting and hollering, which, I mean, look, I think we all kind of roll our eyes a little bit at the, you know, at some of the golf chatter that goes on. Maybe we didn't miss the players were saying, you know, we missed the fans, dot, dot, dot, most of them. But the fact that the fact that Mickelson was playing with Kepka, who's a guy that in the younger demo is massively popular. because it's just sort of how he carries himself, you know, how much he's won. And he's, you know, he's friendly with the, you know, the guys that do like Barstool podcast and whatever. So I think that that demo is huge. Kepka fans, and you're there playing together.

And so it's a 50-year-old guy, very nearly 51, trying to stand up in the face of a guy who's become the best major championship player of the last three or four years. And he did it. and he did it not by like kind of nickel-diamond his way around. Like when Phil got to the end and, you know, that the big lead was down to a couple, he hit the longest drive of the week on the 16th hole, a 360-6-year-old drive. I mean, like, if he's kind of just, if he's sort of just nickel-dine, like throwing it like 80 miles an hour and getting you to hit Graham ball out, you're like, oh, God, I hope he can hold on.

No, he's thrown 100, you know. He's got all the power. anyone else has, and then he's got the short game stuff that, you know, but because he's Phil, you keep waiting for the wheels to fall off, so he hits it in the water on 13. You're like, oh, God, here we go. And, you know, then he's got to deal with 17. He's able to survive that and make a bogey, and, you know, he made the smart play on 18, and then it got, you know, it got wild on 18.

Like, I joked on Twitter, like, they lost contained, right? Like a joke about, like, defense lost containment. But, I mean, there are people, like, grabbing it, Phil, and Kevka was complaining afterwards that he's Like my knee got not. Yeah, he did complain. Maybe a bit too much. Well, I would disagree with that. Okay.

Like, I was standing there when it happened. Like, people, like, it was, it was, and listen. I'm not saying he didn't have a legitimate reason to complain. What I'm saying is he shouldn't have said it. I think you're pissed off because you didn't play as well as you hope to, but you're also pissed off when, like, 5,000 people go running by you and don't give a crap that you're there. Like, that's just, I think the people whose job it was to keep people out of the fairway,

just, like, there was nothing you were going to do. Because, like, however many thousand people that were, was, if they decide they're coming, there's no stopping, and there wasn't. And they didn't have any concern for the fact that Kepka's in the middle of that. And this isn't me shaking my finger and being, get off my long guy. I'm saying, by all means, like, hey, man, let's come celebrate this moment. But let's try not to trample the people who are actually in the arena. But no one cared about that in that moment.

No. I mean, you know, that wrapped up the... It was Eastlake with Tiger from a few years back. It was a scene like you used to see with the British Open when they would hit the last shot when Jack or Watson would hit the last shot. And they'd be start with it was really incredible. By the way, observationally, not one mask. Couldn't find one person with a mask. Were there any rules?

I'm just curious as to the... No. No, but here's the thing. Here's the thing. And I don't want this to get... Because there are people that are still very sensitive to this. You're outside. And the CDC has said, if you've been vaccinated and you're outside, you're good.

and I don't know if everyone was vaccinated. I don't know if they weren't. There was no one there asking, you know, kind of honor system stuff. But when you got to the hotel and we stayed on property there, there's a sign that said if you've been vaccinated, per CDC guidelines, you do not need to wear a mask. So when I walked into the hotel, I did not wear a mask because I've been vaccinated. And because that's what they said.

So we've been asked to sort of follow the signs. and we have and we've worn masks who are going and all this. But now the people who are in charge of telling us what we're supposed to do are saying if you got your shot you're good. So no, it was it was a place where for the majority of the week when I was

when I was outside walking the golfers, I was not wearing a mask because that's what they've people in charge are saying. But no there weren't. And you know, I tweeted out this picture with of all those people. And it turned into this finger wagging about COVID and people yelling.

I'm just, I can't do this anymore with that. Like, I get it. And here's what I'd say. Like, we're on the back end of this. We see the direction. Things have gone. And if things, if you're troubled or worried and you don't want to go to places, then don't. And if you want to continue, like, I mean, I'll continue wearing masks.

any place I'm supposed to, but based on what, like, I just was following what the CDC said. And I guess everyone else was, or they just didn't care and none of them have shots. I have no idea. But it was interesting. Yeah, I sort of have a simple theory on the outdoor thing. If you are worried about people not wearing masks, just make sure you're vaccinated. If you're vaccinated, then don't get worked up about people who aren't wearing masks. I don't know why it's that hard outside when the CDC said,

I said it's fine. Anyway, I thought it was an incredible scene, and I was curious as to what the rules were there, because they weren't stated. And I was surprised, actually, at least, I was looking for some sort of outrage on Twitter, because literally the shots of 18 after Mickelson hit the nine iron into the green, and they were all over him, and certainly nobody was distanced. I couldn't find one, I know it's South Carolina. God bless him. And I could not find one person with a mask. I want to get more into Mickelson real quickly. You know, he's 50 years old, and I think he finished 16th in driving distance.

Isn't that as big of a reason as any other as to why he contended and then won? Well, I don't think the distance is as much as how statistically proficient he was. I mean, like, you know, shots game, T to Green and whatever else. He was in the very top of that all week long, because length is certainly an important factor. I'm not dismissing it, but I don't think it's the most important one out there. I think just Tita Green, he was great. He had the going into yesterday, he had the second-most birdies in the field. And he was able to do that because he hit greens to the proper spot.

He, more than anything, you saw him talk about, and I think you saw him exercise this patience. Randall Shambly had a great line as I watched the golf. off channel on, I think it was Saturday night. He said he's focusing on focusing, and he's trying not to try. And I thought, yep, that looks like what it is. And, I mean, obviously, he's not trying, he's not trying, he's not trying really hard, but he's trying not to try too hard. Just he's focusing on being in the president, being in the moment.

Phil talked about how he was playing, like, 36 and 45 holes a day, just so he could try to make 18 be, feel like nothing so that his focus could remain. And that's hard to do in golf. I mean, you think about like hockey or an NBA playoff game, and it's like, you know, here comes Trey Young and like, you have no time to think. Like, we're just playing. Well, golf hit a shot, stand there and think for six hours. And those rounds went on forever down there.

And so you saw him have an ability to stay present. And then to your point, when he stepped up, and as Phil talks about hitting bombs, he hit bombs. But then he hit greens, Kevin. and he hit greens to the proper place, and he putted fairly well. It was wild. Guys told me before the week they thought the greens were the best they'd seen all year, and then guys putted really badly.

I think they just couldn't read breaks, or they read more into it than was there. It was wild how many guys putted really pretty poorly by their standards. But it was great, man. I mean, he's 50, and I think all respected Julius Boros, who I didn't see play, but he was really good. He was like, look, don't like, he was a really good. really good player. I understand that.

I just think for the game to have Phil is now the oldest guy. It is just cool for the game. And, I mean, Tiger's 19 win will always be kind of its own thing because it was Tiger. And Jack's win will be his, you know, a standalone because it was Jack. But, like, I think this will always have,

is it the greatest event in golf? It didn't feel that way. But it felt like it was right there among the Alzheimer's because it is. He's the oldest to ever do. I guess it's just because of how he plays. He doesn't feel like some old guy. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, and I think I brought up the distance because I think, you know, when you think of an older person winning, you think of them winning with guile. You think of them winning. And fill one with

power too. And that power means he can do it again. I would agree with that. My point is like if there was some pitcher that used to have power and then turned into a knuckleballer, and he's there tricking him, then you feel like, oh, like, you just tricked him. No, he's still, like, he still got the, he can throw a hundred. That's what I meant. Like, he still isn't, it's not guile, it's not smoking mirrors. He's not, you know, hold it together with tape and a, you know, a rubber band. Like, it's just, it's still, and he said, he felt like he had this breakthrough and whatever, and, like, Phil's a, you know, people roll their eyes to a degree with Phil, because he's always trying some thing, and it's coffee or it's this gum, whatever. Well, it's CBD gum, right?

I understand that. Like, whatever it is that he's trying, I think he'll be a guy. Like, don't reach a point where he'll be the guy that he's got like the golf channel devices that he's bought. At the end, he'll be a 63 years old, and he'll have something he saw on an infomercial that he'll try. Because he's just, he's always going to be trying to figure out a way to play. But right now, he didn't have to figure out a trick because he's still got it. And you know, what the cool thing, Kevin, is now he gets to go to the U.S. Open. He was going to play on a special exemption there.

Right. And now he gets to play there for the next five years because he's earned the right to compete with that PGA championship win. But I thought, and I'm rambling now, but I do think what he said afterwards was interesting. He said, look, this is probably my last win. Like, he said, but the way I played here makes me think it might not be. But I think just the ability to be present in that moment and recognize. Like, look, this was something truly. special and maybe it's a one-off. Maybe this is the one week that

you know, Dustin Johnson plays poorly and he's not here for the weekend and you know, some other good players didn't make it and tigers injured or whatever and, you know, I managed to do it, but like he played with Brooks Kepka in the final group and he was the last man standing. So I don't know, it gives me the belief that he's, that he's not done. It actually, when he was talking about Kepka in the initial interview with Amanda, or maybe it was his comments, before I forget when it was.

I had this sense, and you would know more than I, I had this sense that this was a showdown in his own mind with the guy. I mean, we know Dustin and we know, you know, all the big hitters and JT and Spieth, but Kepka's the clutch guy. Kepka's the guy that's been delivering over and over, with the exception of the Masters of Tiger won, you know, in majors. And by the way, was hurt coming in and nobody gave a chance to, but was a heavy favorite at the beginning of yesterday,

as we both would have guessed over Phil. I mean, I talked to you, we were texting back and forth or we talked, I forget, on Saturday morning or Friday night. And I said, Phil doesn't have a chance. And you said, of course not. I mean, you know, he doesn't have a chance to play four rounds this way. But I got this sense that it being against Kepka, one of the real clutch deliverers of,

big championship golf performances over the last five years, that it was really kind of, it was a showdown that people were expecting Brooks Kepka to win. For sure. And like the point on Ken Phil Wynn, David Duvall was great. He was asked Saturday morning by Sean McDonough on the air, do you expect him to play well? And David said, no. He said, I don't.

He said, but let me be clear. If he does, it won't surprise me. But, like, no, I don't expect the 50-year-old to play well and win this weekend on this golf course. And to your point, Kevin, Louis Luce-Lasins, as an excellent player, he's on a major. He's finished runner-up now five times of majors. But playing with him, who's a very affable, kind of, you know, always got this little live smile. And, you know, he's gorgeous golf swing. He's not a big imposing dude is a way different deal than playing against baseball.

Brooks Kepka, who has this, I kept saying he's like, stares through your soul. Like, he's just, it's almost like he's a bully. But the stat that was mind-boggling that we showed, at one of the times who were on TV, we were on for a lot, I don't know what day it was, I guess it was yesterday. Kepka since 2017 in the majors, collectively, was 84 under par. You know what the next best guy over that same span was? 25 under. So he was more than three times better in the majors in the last three and a half years than anyone

else. Like almost 60 shots clear in a sport where it's fractions, a quarter shot a day, a shot or two a week. He was 59 shots better in majors collectively than anybody else. So of course, Mickelson is looking at this guy like, well, I'm in the arena with Tyson. Like it is in the late 80s. This is Tyson. He's that guy. And, you know, in the very first hole, he goes Bertie Bogie and you're behind.

I thought it was over. I honestly thought, I'm like, it's over. But then Kepka hits a tree on two. He makes a double. And then it's a three-shot swing on the second. Like Andy North said last night, like it's been his life in the game. He said, I have never in my life seen a round at a major on a Sunday where there were such drastic swings so often. There were like five different holes with two-shot swings. So it was astounding.

Just how many times it was like, you know, no, no, no. It's like the check at the end of a deal. No, no, no, no. I couldn't let you pay. Only it was the opposite. It was like they kept pushing this check back and forth because nobody wanted to take it. And then finally, Mickleson, you know, he grabbed a hold of it.

And it was really something. It was quite a week. We had a ball down there, and we had an amazing story to cover for sure. You know, the other thing, too, about, I mean, the back and forth, it was so dramatic early on. There's no doubt. But Phil, who, by the way, obviously really gives his brother and has a lot of credit. Obviously, his brother's been on his bag since, you know, what, what I've refreshed my memory as to why Bones-McKye was not on his bag. Didn't he go to another player?

Did he go to JT? I forget what... It was like, it was like those guys just were together for long enough. Like they had an incredibly profitable and lucrative and successful relationship, and then it just got to a point, which happens on tour with almost everyone. Right. Their relationship lasted longer than basically any during the time that I'd been there, but then they just reached a point where it was, you know,

know, they decided to go to different ways, and he started working with his brother. And, you know, that was, he lauded him yesterday. But then there was the interesting sort of side stories I read about how his brother shared that, you know, Phil had this epiphany just breaks through recently where he said. He told him, like, I'm going to win soon. And again, Phil's, you know, I think he'll believe that always. But whatever was. Before Quail Hollow was like a shocking round, and that was only three weeks ago or two weeks ago. He finished seven over.

I know. He went from 700, Day 1 to seven over. So, like, that's why to me, when you and I are texting, I'm thinking Quail Hollow. I'm thinking, all right? Yeah, me too. I was too. I mean, he's at a point now where he's certainly got that round in it, maybe two. But four?

Come on. Seventy two holes out here? As far as that course is playing? I mean, you saw it. My God, like, by the end of the day, I mean, like, one under was a good score. I was telling my friends that they were going to put a dollar or two down. I don't know what the over under for winning score is for the week. But like I said, I mean, people are asking about 10 under or something.

I said, bet a bet over that. Like, there's, I don't see any way that people get that low out here. It was just, it was just too difficult, a golf course. Last one on this. I mean, it was, I think it's the best sporting event of 2021. It's one of the best sporting events we've seen in a while. I mean, the scene on 18 was crazy. Imagine if he had made the –

if we kept thinking, if he makes the putt on 18, are they going to storm the green? You know? I was wondering, yeah, I was wondering if they're going to carry him off like Gladiator. I mean, somebody grabbed a hold of his shoulders. I mean, he said it was unnerving, but exceptionally cool or something like that. But, yeah, no, he didn't – yeah, I felt the same way. Where do most people rank Phil Mickelson on, like, the list of greatest golfers of all time?

Is he a top 10 golfer of all time? That's the spot where it gets hard. Is it 10 or 15? Like, you know, asking Andy, and it's like, I mean, it's around there. It's around there. And my question, Andy, at the end of the Sports Center, was when you talk about someone's legacy, which I always define it as whatever you are when you're done, I mean, legacy is something you leave behind when you're no longer doing it.

And so he still is. He was already a Hall of Famer with five. Of course. Now to do, now to add it, think about this, he's the last amateur to win a PGA tour as a teenager. And now he's one of these, the guy that's one of the oldest guy that's won a major in 50, like, still got it. So how does your legacy change when you add that to the pile? I mean, he's right there, you know, and on the list, because you go through it and, like, you got it. it gets super, like, golfy with, you know, Jones and Hogan.

I was just curious as to where in the general area, because my boys were asking me, and I think... 10 to 15 is what everybody thinks to say. Because there's too many black and white guys that I'm talking about, like a Bob Jones. There's too many guys from that era that I wouldn't understand how to properly rank. And then there's so many, like, Trevino types that you're like, well, that guy was a badass. and, you know, Watson and Palmer and Nicholas and Woods. I mean, there's a lot that are involved in the conversation. So very comfortably in the 10 to 15 range, but then it's just sort of personal preference.

But, you know, this just, I want to say solidifies because it wasn't up for debate to begin with. But it just, it strengthens anyway. Well, and if you were to win at Tori Pines and win the, you know, and have the grand slam. Well, now you, well, for sure, because now he's in, now he's, all right, there's five. You become one of six to have the slam if you do that. So, I mean, that's a whole, one is seven, six. It's five or six. I always get that one confused.

Well, he's got six now. He's got the three. He would be either the six. I want to say he'd be the sixth to win the career ramps down. Oh, God. Yeah. And it would make, you know, it would make his seventh. And he's got all the runner-ups in there already.

But, like, I mean, look, that's a pretty big ask, too, to think he'll go out there and play this well again. I mean, the thing about golf, as we see, is from day to day, it's tough to maintain. Like from this week to another week in June and another type of course, I mean, the thought that he'd show up and play well there is a whole lot to ask. But, you know, it was something. This is going to sound, this might be a weird question, but I just, I was thinking about this earlier. Would he be as popular as he is if he were a right-handed golfer?

No. So you agree with that. Yeah. I do. I do. Okay. Because, here's, I understand, I understand. I understand it does seem weird, but I agree with you.

Because it's just something about the fact that he's lefty. And there's something about the fact that just visually, he looks different. Yes. I've always said, I've always said, like, lefties just look better doing anything. Like Ken Griffey Jr. swing is most graceful, beautiful swing. Like a righty doesn't look the same. I agree. And maybe people are listening to let's go, what are you talking about? Why would he be? Why?

Because it's so unique looking. He has, we think of him in the way, first of all, it's his risk-taking, it's his, it's his, you know, go bigger, go home over the years. It's a big part of it. But I think there have been a lot of players like that, but he's different because of the way the swing looks, which, by the way, somebody, said, it was Brandl-Chambley. I was watching Golf Channel Saturday night. And he basically said, you know, Mickelson doesn't have a great golf swing. He's got, like, technically, he's got a rhythmic golf swing. And he said, everybody knows that. I never knew that. I think it looks like a phenomenal golf swing. No, it's way too long. And just for technically, it's not considered, like, it's not considered textbook. But here's the thing about golf. And people the play.

Lots of ways to do it. Yes, but more importantly, it's his. He knows that it belongs to him. Like, he's not looking for anything. Right. It's a swing. It's a repeatable. I know what my swing is, swing, and it's just, it opens the door to trouble.

But it was locked up, bleep in down there, man. And, you know, but what a, just what a weekend across sports. And all week long, like, I would, I'd go to the golf course. I'd come back to the room, and it was like the Lakers Warriors game, killed me early in the week because it went so late. And then, you know, the Warriors' Grizzlies game, you know, it goes forever. But just the ability to kind of pop around and see, you know,

see games with fans. And the most exciting game I watched all weekend. And I don't know if anyone around here probably somebody did. I hope somebody saw Coach Tillman's guys from Maryland beat Notre Dame in the quarters of the lacrosse tournament because it was unbelievable. They were down three goals in the fourth. three goals in like 45 seconds. It ended up winning in overtime to make the Final Four again.

So shout to the Maryland lacrosse team for one of the really exciting games I watched in a week full of them. God, there was just so much going on yesterday, and I did get a text from somebody. I had Tillman on the radio show Friday. He was great, and they came back to win. But my favorite player of the entire weekend, I mean, my favorite moment is the film moment, but my favorite player of the entire weekend, and it's not even close, is John Moran. What he did on Friday night in that playing game against Golden State, which, by the way, I'm still in favor of the play-in. I thought it was great, and I know the league is just, you know, everybody wanted Steph, and I wanted Steph in the postseason.

But the shots and the big shots he hit on Friday night, especially at the end of regulation, were incredible. And then again, he did it last night in game one against Utah. he is really going to be a spectacular player. I agree. He's got a fearlessness about him, and it's a confidence that's just evident. He's tremendous. And like that team, if you look at, like, it's funny to me,

because I've always, in the time I've been doing what I've been doing, Memphis has always had this kind of identity as a city. It's like the grind house, and it's, you know, rugged and grind. it's not elegant, it's not beautiful, we're not a free agent place or whatever. Look at their team. Look at that roster composition. Look at those dudes. They're all a bunch of young 20 guys that they drafted, and, you know, they got

jaw, and he's the clear leader. And he's interesting to me, Kevin, because, like, his shot, I'm letting you shoot, okay? Like, go ahead and take it. I'd rather you take that than drive on me. And now he starts making those things. Starting to make him now. And now it's like, oh, shit. what are we going to do with this guy?

What are we going to do with him? Because if he does that, like forget it. There's no answer. All right. That was fun. You did a great job all week long. I appreciate it. I'll talk to you later.

Right on. Thanks for the stuff. Scott Van Pelt, everybody. Back with a couple more thoughts to finish up the show right after this word from one of our sponsors. Well, the real off season for the Washington football team starts tomorrow. OTAs tomorrow. I don't know how many people will be there. They're voluntary.

There are a lot of teams that are basically passing on the OTAs, but it's the three-day voluntary OTA sessions. There's a mini-camp next month, I think in the middle of the month, that is mandatory. But we know even before the last year and a half or last year plus that, you know, occasionally, like Trent Williams rarely showed or posted for all of the OTA days. but it could be tomorrow the first opportunity to see Ryan Fitzpatrick out there, you know, with Terry McLorn and with Cam Sims and with Curtis Samuel and with Adam Humphreys and with Diommy Brown. That could be kind of interesting. It'll be the first opportunity to talk to a lot of the guys for the people on the beat, you know, the veteran players in particular first time in a while.

I'm sure we will start to get some answers on things like the offense. line. Like if they line up with starters, did Sam Cosmy go in at right tackle? You know, was Leno there at left tackle? What does it look like now that Morgan Moses and Jaron Christian are gone? But we get that process started with the OTAs. I think the, look, this time of year, it'll just be interesting to read between the lines when the head coach specifically speaks. You know, I think that's the thing this time. a year that I look forward to. I don't think you're learning anything watching them other than they had such and such in there with the second unit or the first unit. But listening to the coach

and I think obviously one of the things that will develop here over the next couple of months is my guess is it will become very obvious if it isn't already that Ryan Fitzpatrick is going to be the starting quarterback. That Fitzpatrick's going to be the starting quarterback of the Washington football team in 2021. I just don't see Taylor Heineckee or Kyle Allen pushing him. I don't see a press conference after mini-camp or after a week of training camp where Ron Rivera said, you know, it's gotten really close. Ryan's struggling a little bit. Taylor's look great. Kyle's look great. In our preseason game on Friday night, Kyle's going to get the start with the starters. He's been working with the ones splitting time with Ryan Fitzpatrick the last week.

He'll get the first quarter. Ryan will get the second quarter and Taylor will get the second half. And then I think next week, you know, it's been really close. We'll get Taylor start. Rinal, unless we start to hear that, I think it's going to be how impressed they are with the leadership, with the decision-making, with the, you know, acclamation to the Scott Turner offense. I think we're going to hear a lot of that when it comes to Ryan Fitzpatrick. That would be the biggest shocker between now and opening day is Ron.

Fitzpatrick not being the starting quarterback when we get there. By the way, Washington hired a new business person. You know, when we've done this stuff before, I know a lot of you just roll your eyes and say, I don't really know who that is. I don't really care. The only reason I bring it up is they put a release out that the Washington football team is named Zahir Benjamin, the vice president of business intelligence and analytics. And the subheading of this press release is, with experience at Real Madrid in some of the world's most popular sporting teams, Zahir will oversee development and implementation of the team's business data and analytics.

I'll be honest with you. In reading through this, I don't know if it's more of a business thing for Jason Wright, which I think it is, or if it's a football analytics thing. I think it's a business analytics thing. But this guy worked with the Real Madrid, was with the Chelsea Football Club, with the Real Madrid Club. He was also with the Phoenix Suns at one point. He's an MIT guy. He was an MIT grad school guy and got his undergrad from Princeton. Smart guy, obviously, into the organization.

But this guy, Jason Wright, man, he loves soccer. He loves soccer. He loves putting into this press release. Real Madrid or the Chelsea Club. I think Washington Football Club or Washington Football Team, I don't know. I think it's got a really good chance of sticking. I really do. One last thing before we run, OTA Day Number 1 in Green Bay, and Aaron Rogers did not report, according to the latest reports here over the last 30 minutes.

Also, guess what? Julio Jones is still being considered as a guy that Atlanta's willing to trade. I know the contract is bad. I don't know, man, if Julio was really available, and I saw Barnwell and others suggesting a second or a third, I know they added Curtis Samuel, I know they drafted Diami Brown. I'd still be in it. I'd be in it to win it, man.

Throw him into the mix with Terry McLoran and Curtis Samuel and Ryan Fitzpatrick. I'd much rather go for Aaron Rogers, obviously. But if all it took, it was like, you know, a third and a fourth, are you kidding me? He's got a big contract, but he's also under contract. All right, back tomorrow with Tommy.