The Kevin Sheehan Show - DC Sports Rock Bottom

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

Kevin and Thom today with a wide variety of topics including a discussion about whether or not the state of DC Sports has hit rock bottom. Old NBA talk, Wizards, Commanders' latest contract extension, Bryce Harper and the WBC, plus Miami(OH)'s fun win in last night's "First 4" were all a part of the show.   For all your football betting needs: DCRELOAD at MyBookie for a 50% Deposit Match Our listeners get the Harry’s Plus Trial Set for only $10 at https://www.Harrys.com/[INSERT CODE]  #Harryspod 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 Sheehan Show. He is Kevin. Tommy's here. I am here. The show's presenting sponsor, as always,

Window Nation, 86690 Nation, windownation.com if you need new windows. I'm going to give my smell test picks out for today's NCAA tournament games here in the opening segment. But I have already tweeted them out. So follow me at Kevin Shee in DC on X to get the picks because many of you won't get this show until long after the games are either in progress and have started or maybe have been completed. But I will tweet the picks out. And obviously Tommy and I are recording this shortly after my radio show. So games have already started.

And we won't be talking a lot about day one games. I do want to start, though, with an email from Ted in D.C. I had Jimmy Patsos, Tommy, on the show yesterday. One of my favorite people. Absolutely. And Ted and D.C. writes, Kevin, Jimmy Patsos is hands-down my favorite guest that you have on the show. He's really gotten the most you can get out of a coaching career that is mostly known for him being an assistant to Gary Williams at Maryland. I love the anecdote about Sean Tui at Tennessee State.

He's always got great stories from after the games he's coached in. Yes, Ted, no doubt. Jimmy's gotten the most out of everything. It's just who he is. The Sean Tui story, they were playing a game against Tennessee State in Nashville, and Sean Tui Jr., Sean Tui was the son. of the father who was married to the woman who adopted Michael Ower, and that became the movie The Blind Side.

The little kid, the brother of, you know, eventually the half-brother, stepbrother, not half-brother, or whatever, the adoptive brother of Michael Ower, with Sean Tewy Jr. He's an athletic director. Currently, he's at Louisiana Monroe, but he was at Tennessee State. at the time. And, you know, it seems like the ages are getting a little bit out of hand here. Like he had already become, you know, an athletic director.

But anyway, after the game, after they beat Tennessee State, because they don't travel charter, they travel commercial, you know, they stay over because there's not a plane waiting for them to take them home. And Jimmy always felt like that was a great benefit. It's like, hey, we get to stay up. in this city for the night. He would look for anything, Tommy. You know, just like you do the same thing

when you're in cities and it's like, what museums are here, what famous bridges are here, you know, to go see and Jimmy would do the same thing. But that night he's like, I'm taking my team to the palm in Nashville. And I'm going to get Sean Tui to pick up half of it from Tennessee State, the athletic director. And I'm going to get my AD to pick up half of it. and somehow he worked it. He's always got great stories.

I've known Jimmy forever, going back to third edition days. And then, you know, Jimmy and I were in a wedding with a mutual friend together many years ago. And, you know, during his time coaching at Maryland with Gary, I mean, Jimmy was, you know, Gary's the legend, but Jimmy was a big part of Gary's success, as was Billy Hahn and others that came during the course. but Jimmy ended up having a good Dickerson too, right? And Dave Dickerson and, you know, Perry early on. And I mean, through the years gig, Gary had a lot of it. I mean, Chuck Drezel was an assistant on Gary's staff.

But Jimmy's coaching career, when he got that gig at Loyola, I mean, he was at Loyola for 10 years coaching, ended up with a winning record, took that one team to the tournament. You had to win that conference tournament to advance. and he was the best soundbite of the entire first round of coaches leading up to the game against Ohio State that they played. And then he coached at Sienna for five years. And yeah, I agree. And you've gotten to know Jimmy as well over the years. He's just, he is exhausting because there is a little bit of, you know, bouncing around to, you know,

14 different topics within a three-minute period. But he's, he's, he's, fun to talk to. You know, he's one of my favorite people for purely selfish reasons. He tells a story about basically he kind of like just discovered me. You know, one time he picked, he used to pick up

the Times once in a while and he started reading the Times religiously because he liked me and then he told Gary about me. And you know, I don't run into that many people who organically discover me. You know? Right.

Yes. And he was one. That's because Jimmy is, and I think this is so important, kids, write this one down. Be interested. Be curious. You know, as Ted Lassau said, be curious, not judgmental. It's probably a better way to go, and it's more, you know, it's more healthy and developmental. But he is definitely always interested, and he's got his hands in everything.

You know, Under Armour, monumental sports. He's a very good analyst. You know, I kind of feel for those guys that have been doing the Wizards post-game analysis for the last few years. Because I can't imagine the audience size is very large, but starting next year, it could get pretty big. It could get bigger. No, it could get big. Bigger. I'll tell you what.

Not big. My thought, as you know, for as long as I've known you and even before, was that is the true sleeping giant in our city in terms of sports teams. The Washington Wizards that if they ever became, and they haven't been since 1979, 47 years, they haven't been. but if they ever became a legitimate, you know, perennial contender to win the NBA championship, that would be a big effing deal in our city, big. I get that. I understand that, but if you haven't learned anything from this football team, learn this, long-term damage takes a while to overcome, no matter how big your success is.

Yeah, the wizard's damage is different, though, than the skins damage. The skins... I think it's worse. Oh, I don't. It's longer. I don't. I understand it's longer, but it's the damage that Dan Snyder did to the number one sports team in town by miles. Maybe not repairable.

I mean, we know that, and the numbers, that I've given out over the years are numbers that I got from people in the know, you know, in the organization at the time, that literally two-thirds of their hardcore fan base, you know, evaporated, you know, by the time we got into the 2020s. I mean, gone. And the loss of the names certainly isn't going to help it come back. Those two-thirds come back. A lot of that two-thirds that left, they are gone.

And I know you're going to tell me about generation after generation. but the number is much bigger in terms of the damage done. I don't know. You can't get much worse than bottom of the NBA when it comes to attendance, and that's where the wizards have basically been perennially. I'm always surprised that they draw what they draw, actually, with what they put out there. But that... Oh, it's the NBA has an inherent audience to it and visiting. teams are on the watch sometimes.

Where are the wizards in attendance right now? I'm looking it up just to see. I want to see where they are. They are next to last right now for this season. I want to see where they finished last year. And I'll bet you their arena capacity is at the bottom. Where were they in 2017 when they last had a really good team? Or 2016.

Those were the times when they were. they didn't sell out the playoff games. I know. They averaged, in 2016, they averaged 17,693. That was 16th in the league. So 2016, 2017, I think 2017 was a step back because that's actually the 2017, 2018 season. So the last time they were, you know, legitimately decent, they finished 16th in the league.

And you're right. They did not sell out all of the last time. their playoff games during that era of Wall, Beal, et cetera. And I was always surprised by that. But they also were not a legitimate NBA championship contender. What I'm talking about is you win 50-something games, you finish second or third in the east, and you've got a legitimate chance to get to the NBA finals in June. That should be the goal.

That should be the goal. In other words, if the wizards come around, make the playoffs, get to the first round, maybe get by the first round. We've seen that show. That's an illusion until they accomplish what you just said. Yeah, until they get to that point, you know, of being perceived as, wow, they're one of the best teams in the NBA. They can win a title. I don't know that I'll have my answer to them being the clear cut.

I mean, there would be distance between them at number two. and whoever is three after the skins. If they made it to an Eastern Conference final, I would say mission accomplished, let alone an NBA final. Well, they were very close to doing that on a couple of occasions. I know they were. Yeah. Well, next year, I mean, Anthony Davis, the shooting of Trey Young, by the way,

I don't know if you know this, he's shooting 59.5% from the field since joining the woods. Actually, it's over 60% my fault, after the act. acquisition, and he's at 55% from behind the arc. I don't know if you knew that. Must have been those rims in Atlanta. It wasn't the rims. It was just that he played a lot more and shot a lot more because he had to.

But I am actually, in terms of sports stories in town, I think the wizard story is one to watch for sure, because the turnaround could be quick. if they get the right player in the draft, even if they don't, they're going to be a much more competitive team. I mean, you know, I'm relying on Anthony Davis being healthy, and that's obviously not something you should rely on. That's a short list, Kevin. List of stories to watch in this town. It's the commanders. And then if you want to include the wizards, and they are a curiosity, given the trades that they made, certainly,

curiosity. You know, the caps are doing their fade. And once Ovechkin's gone, which could be this year, then who knows what will happen, man, and the nationals are like a generation away. I mean, right now, I don't know that I've thought about this, but five and 12, the football team. Maryland, Georgetown, the college basketball scene is dead. I mean, good luck Howard.

I mean, they won a game the other night. Yes, they did. Congratulations. The caps are likely to miss the playoffs. The Wizards are right now the second worst team in the NBA. And the Nats are projected to be the second worst team in baseball. Wow. Yeah.

This is rock bottom. I haven't given that much thought. But right now, it's rock bottom of all time, isn't it? Because usually there's at least the caps that are a playoff team. or Maryland and or Georgetown, Maryland in particular, at least playing games in March. This is, this is the... I wouldn't say it's rock bottom of all time. It's pretty bad.

And it may be rock bottom in maybe this century, but at least there's four professional sports teams in town. Barely. I mean, you know, so my point is, you know, my saying is always... then the next best thing to playing and win and is playing and losing. We do have four teams. There was a time where you didn't have four professional sports teams in town. Yeah, I understand that. That's not really what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about if you just say that the top six teams in town, right, are the skins, the gnats, caps, wizards, Maryland basketball, Georgetown basketball, right? That's the top six. Anything that you want to talk about, you know, whether it's the MLS team or Washington Spirit, the women team. Whatever. That all comes in whatever the next tier is. I mean, it's like the skins and then you got these other five teams that basically have to win to draw and draw big,

but they have, you know, legitimate fan bases in the DMV. And so those are the six. I don't know that those six have ever been this bad all simultaneously at the same time. I mean, Maryland and Georgetown sucked this year. The skins were bad. The wizards are terrible. The Nats are projected to be terrible. And the caps aren't going to make the playoffs more likely than not.

After they're encouraging playoff. last year where they won the first round, got the second round. Yeah. You know, people were looking forward. I know. Spencer Cardbury. I mean, here come the caps. Ovechkin, another year, you know, set the record, won a series for the first time.

This is where we need a Dan Steinberg or a Scott Allen to write that article that says we are at rock bottom. Because I kind of feel like I think it's rock bottom. In terms of the aggregate records of the. six major sports franchises in this town. That's what I would say. What's the argument? What did you say? It's quite the argument.

I'm sure everybody is saying, oh, boy, I'm glad we tuned into the podcast today. But it could really turn around next year. I mean, college basketball, you can turn it around quickly, and I can tell you this, Maryland's going to spend some money. Buzz is going to have an opportunity to spend some money here in the portal. Not to mention they've got a top recruiting class coming in, and they've got a couple of players that they could bring back that could really help them. Georgetown was an underachiever.

I don't know what they're supposed to be next year. Obviously, the skins could turn it around very easily because they have a player in which all of the planets revolve around. The Wizards could certainly. this is what started this conversation, could certainly turn it around quickly if Anthony Davis is healthy. I think there are a 45 plus win team

and a playoff team next year if Anthony Davis and Trey Young play together for 65 games. I know that's a lot. I don't think the Nats are close to turning it around. And the caps, it's hockey. Anything could happen. So, yeah, it could be completely turned around.

One year from today, we could be talking about, you know, championship city. Probably not. though. Probably not. You tweeted out something yesterday that I wanted to talk about, but real quickly, here are the smell test picks

for today's first round of the NCAA tournament. I'm one and no. I had Howard in the first four game the other night. Nebraska minus 13 against Troy, a lot of public action on Troy. Arkansas

minus 15 and a half. Tons of public action on Hawaii. Sharp Action on Arkansas. Idaho plus 23 and a half against Houston and the over in the St. Louis Georgia game over 168 and a half. A couple of you tweeted me and said, you're definitely going to have Louisville and North Carolina today, aren't you? Yeah, I like them, but there's sharp money with the public money on both of those games. And you can tell when you look at the Louisville number, it opened at seven, it's down to four and a half. Yes, there's overwhelming public action on South Florida, but there's a ton of sharp money on South Florida as well. That's why it's not included in the

smell test. If you're going to bet March Madness, the place to do it is MyBooky. Go to mybooky.com. or my bookie.ag and use my promo code to get a 50% cash bonus, 50% cash bonus, even if you're betting somewhere else, you should sign up at MyBooky or return to MyBooky and make a deposit to get the free money. They'll take whatever your deposit amount is, 50% of that and add it to your account. So if you deposit $400, they'll add another $200 into your account. Your account balance will be $600. That's the way to do it, but you've got to use my promo code, DC Reload. They've got everything you need for March Madness.

So go to mybooky.com or mybooky. com or mybooky.orgie. You tweeted something out yesterday, I think it was. I've never seen anything like this before. Never. Everybody sent me this tweet saying, you know, old man's at it again on Twitter. I get that about you all the time. And you tweeted out, for all you children who think they know what a goat is in the NBA,

you tweeted out that on March 18, 1968, Wilk Chamberlain in a game had 53 points, 32 rebounds. Now, that's not anywhere near, you know, startling in terms of wilt. I mean, that was a Tuesday night for Wilt, 53 and 32. He had 14 assists, but then came the blot-busters. He had 24 block shots in a game and 11 steals. That's the part of it that was mind-boggling to me. Now, let me qualify this.

Okay. They did not keep an official stat on steals and blocks then. I know they did. Those were the numbers compiled by the very respected 76ers stack guy, Harvey Pollack. Okay. And so I give them credibility because he has a lot of credibility. But they are not in the official record book. That's still, I mean, that's one of those where you nailed the tweet.

You nailed it because nobody looked, if anybody looked at, if anybody looked at, at that and just said, oh, it's Tommy being an old, you know, old man screaming, get off my lawn. You didn't read the entire stat line because it's the 24 block shots in the 11 steals that steal the show, literally, a center, a 7 foot two center had 11 steals in the game. I've never, is 24 block shots in a game would have to be an NBA record. I know it wasn't an official stat, but is that, what is the record for block shots in a game? Do you know? No, I don't.

Well, I'm going to tell you what it is. I don't know. I thought Elmore Smith had it from the Buffalo. 17 block shots in a single game, Elmore Smith. Good job. Get go, baby. Nice job. Well done.

Wow. So, Wilts 24 is not registered as official because it wasn't an official stat. He did that against the Lakers team that that night did not have Elgin Baylor or Jerry West in the game for some reason. Oh, okay. Well, still, I mean, okay, whatever. Just pointing that out. Do you know who's second on the list with 15 block shots in a game? Minute bowl.

And he did it twice for the bullets. in 86 and he did it again in 87. What's Victor Wembeñama's best at this point? Because I could certainly... Now, I've got to tell you, I love watching that kid play. Oh, my God. Absolutely. He may be the biggest outlying freak in team sports right now.

Like, it's just insane to watch him play. Let me just see what his block. He's a sharp guy. Oh, yeah. I mean, he really is very well spoken in his comments and stuff. Oh, yeah. He understands the history of the game. He's very sharp.

Nine is his best this year twice. Last year, he had 10 block shots in a game. Yeah. And then let's see what he did. The thing about Will, like I texted you last night, no, Billy Cunningham, a hallfamer, was his teammate. He said the NBA record book was Wilts diary.

Yeah, that's funny. You know, that's the best way to describe what Wilk. They changed so many rules because of him. Because Walt Chamberlain came in the game. They said offensive goaltending was illegal because of Wilts Chamberlain. I'm looking to see what was Wilts' best rebound because 32 rebounds. I know he averaged 50 and 25. but 32 rebounds in a game.

I'm sure it's not his record, but it's still got to be way up there. Huh? I mean, like I said, look, there was the famous playoff game where Willis Reed had 36 points and 36 rebounds. So I'm sure Wilf has done more than 32 in a game.

Tommy, Wilts' rebound in a game record was 55 in 50. He had 55 rebounds in a game. How does that happen? And for everybody who says he is playing against plumbers and taxi drivers, I did this research meticulously. Will played against 14 Hall of Fame centers during his career. 55 rebounds in a basketball game.

That's just insane. But that topped him. his already existing record at the time of 45 rebounds in a game. I think... There's so many stories about Wilt and, you know, the story that Larry Brown told when he was like about 44 and they were playing pickup basketball with Magic Johnson's team in L.A. And at one point, Wilk got pissed off.

And he said there'll be no more points scored at this basket and there weren't because he blocked every shot that they took. Jesus. Yeah, it's, if you ever, you know, those of you out there, if you ever have like one of those, you know, deep dive opportunities, just deep dive at basketball reference.com Wilt's, you know, overview. It's just, it's nothing compares to it in team sports. history. Nothing does.

I just, there's nothing in the, in the history of the NFL that compares to it. I don't think of the NHL or, or Major League Baseball. There's just, there's certain things that are just never, ever going to be touched. I mean, the man averaged 50.4 points per game and 25.7 rebounds per game in a season. And he wasn't that far off the next year at 44.8 and 24.3. He played all the time. Yeah, he played all the time. He rarely sat town.

He usually played 48 minutes. You know who else did that? Yeah, the year Tommy that he went 50 and 25, he averaged 48.5 minutes per game, which tells you that he played a lot of 48-plus overtime minute games in that season. Yes. It's, you know, the other guy that was... And he did this like somebody pointed out to...

me on social media. He did this wearing Converse All-Stars. No, yeah, they were, they were not the leather Converse All-Stars. They were the Chucks. Right. Yes. Chuck Taylor. The other guy that was an all-time Iron Man, and I know I talk about him a lot and have over the years, but Elvin Hayes was an absolute Iron Man, man, man. He barely, I mean, and this was post, you know, this was after Wilp, this is into the 70s where you didn't play at 48 minutes a night. And Elvin Hayes didn't miss games. I'm looking it up right now. I want to see how many games he actually missed.

In a 16-year career, Tommy, he missed one, two, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine games in a 16-year career. Nine games is all he missed. He played... I have a season for today's NBA start. He played all 82, 45, 6, 7, 8 times out of his 16 years, and he played 81, another 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 times. The fewest games he played in a season was 80 out of 82. I just always think that people never really talk about Elvin Hayes when they talk about the greatest. And I know he's on the lists.

He's on the greatest 75. he's on the greatest 100. He was on the greatest 50 list. And so was Wes Unseld. But I always feel like so many other players, especially when they talk about the power forward position, get mentioned before Elvin Hayes. And I know what the reason is.

I know what the reason is. He just never was great in the postseason. He just never had the playoff games that he had during the regular season. He did battle. I'm going to pull it up right now. in the 74-75 season, which was the second in Washington, Tommy, and it was the first year that they went to the finals in Washington. That was the year that they got swept by Rick Berry and Golden State.

But he played a game, and I'm going to find it here, against Bob McAdoo and the Buffalo Braves in the playoffs, where I think they both went for 50 in the same game. Elvin Hayes against Buffalo. Okay, they beat Buffalo. He had 46 in a game, and in that game, okay, Macadoo in that series had 50. My fault.

In that game, he had 46, McAdoo had 34. By the way, talk about two, you know, forwards going head to head in a great series. Wow. Elvin Hayes against... What a scoring matchup that was. Yeah, against a young Bob McAdoo. Insane. He had, I think, certainly one of the greatest individual playoff games in franchise history was game 7 and 79 against the Hawks.

And in that particular game, I think it was 39, like 15 and 6 or something like that. And he carried them. But that was really his signature playoff game. Because, you know, in game 7 of 78, when they beat Seattle to win the title, he fouled out. and didn't have a lot of points in that game. In the 79 game 7 against Atlanta, 39 points, 15 rebounds, three block shots. But he was incredible in that game. But if you go back to 1978 in game 7, here's what he did in game 7.

The biggest game of his career, a seventh in deciding game, he had not won the title, You know, bullets were looking for their first in D.C. He was, he had 12 points and eight rebounds and fouled out playing just 30 minutes in the game. In game seven. It was Bobby Dandridge who really carried them. And Wes Unseld had a really good game seven as well. Wes Unseld was the NBA MVP of the finals, the finals MVP. not Elvin Hayes and not Bobby Dandrich in that series.

Wes Unseld was. All right. What are we doing here? I want to ask you about the World Baseball Classic and Bryce Harper's two-run Homer and what you thought of what was a dramatic game against Venezuela the other night. We'll do that after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, how about a barbershop quality shave from the convaleship from the comfort of your own home. That's the Harry's Plus experience, and I've been experiencing it for over

a year now. My old razor's dulled too fast, irritated my neck. That experience was the furthest thing from the close, smooth, Harris Plus shave I enjoy now. Harry's Plus has an advanced pivoting system that reaches every corner of your face. The refined blade and the weighted metal handle provide added control and comfort. The blade spacing is optimized to glide smoothly and avoid clogging. Drugstore blades clog so fast. And maybe the best part about Harry's Plus is how affordable it is. Harry's owns their own world-class blade factory in Germany, no outsourcing, no middleman.

That same facility has been perfecting blade making for over 100 years. and because they control the entire process from steel to shelf, they keep costs low. Why pay $30 for refills when Harries gives you better blades for a fraction of that? For a limited time, my listeners can get the Harry's Plus trial set for only $10 at harries.com slash Sheen. This set includes the all-new Harry's Plus Razor, one refined five-blade cartridge, a two-ounce foaming shave gel, and a travel cover to protect your blades on the go. Just head to harries.com slash sheen to claim this offer. And after you purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them.

Please support this show and tell them that I sent you. Did you know that fast-growing trees is America's largest and most trusted online nursery with thousands of trees and plants and over 2 million happy customers? They have all the plants your yard and home needs, including fruit trees, privacy trees, flowering trees, shrubs, and house plants, all grown with care and guaranteed to arrive healthy. It's like your local nursery, but anywhere you live, but with more plants than you'll find anywhere else.

Whatever you're looking for, fast-growing trees helps you find options that actually work for your climate, space, and lifestyle. Fast-growing trees makes it easy to get your dream yard. Just click, order, grow, and get healthy, thriving plants delivered to your door. They're alive and thrive guarantee promises that your plants arrive happy and healthy. No green thumb required, just quality plants you can count on. Plus, get ongoing support from trained plant experts who can help plan your landscape, choose the right plants, and learn how to care for them every step of the way.

The perennials this time a year, like the Goldstrom Black-Eyed Sousins that we had sent, are just absolutely spectacular. They arrived in great shape. Fast-growing trees has over 1,600-plus varieties of trees and plants. So much to choose from more than you'll find anywhere else, including rare and unique varieties. Plants for every growing zone and every climate. And right now they've got great deals on spring planting essentials, up to half off on select plants. Listeners to this show get 20% off their first purchase when using the code Sheehan at checkout.

That's an additional 20% off, better plants and better growing at fastgrowingtrees.com using the code Sheehan at checkout. Fastgrowingtrees.com code Sheean. Now's the perfect time to plant. Let's grow together. Use Sheean, S-H-E-H-A-N to save today. Offer is valid for a limited time, terms and conditions may apply. Pichato's 1-0 pitch. Harper.

on a deep center field. Ben Bryce Harper has tied the championship. That was Bryce Harper's two-run Homer to tie the World Baseball Classic final the other night at 2-2. The U.S. lost in the ninth inning to Venezuela, three to two. But Harper had the moment of the night. Tommy wrote a column about it, so tell me what you thought of, you know, the overall World Baseball Classic and Harper's moment in particular. Well, I mean, baseball is on such a role right now.

In case you forgot last year's postseason was a huge success, a huge exciting event. The World Series was fabulous. And now you have the World Baseball Classic. In March, when no one's paying attention to baseball, you know, it was on the front page. people were talking about it on the radio. That's a huge win for baseball. I mean, to dominate headlines in the same month where you have March Madness taking place is found money.

And, you know, not only that, but in today's business of sports, globalization is really the goal to what the NFL is trying to do with hosting all those games. the NBA wants to open a league in Europe. I mean, what baseball had going for it with all these countries playing and getting international attention is something that the other leads could look at and envy. It was that kind of an event.

I mean, from a business-wise, from a perspective-wise, it was a huge win for baseball because it was exciting baseball. It was passionate baseball. all the Latin players livened up every game that they played. And then you had the dramatic championship game where, you know, Venezuela's leading two nothing in the eighth, and Bryce Harper delivers the two-run, home run to tie it

in the bottom of the eighth, only to lose it again in the ninth inning three to two. What's remarkable is next year, baseball may have headlines again in March, but they'll be about a work stopping. that's just unbelievable I mean the game has never had so many things going for it right now

and they're heading for possible work stoppage because of the payroll disparities and the dispute about salaries and a salary cap but as far as an event it was fun to watch and you know it should baseball has a lot of great young stars now

I mean it's playing the thing with Phil with stars. You know, Joey O'Tonnie, Ronald Acuna, you know, on the United States team, Judge and Harper, it was just, it was, you know, Juan Soto. And they all took it so seriously. Juan Soto was pissed

when they lost to the United States. You know, that call third strike then the game fall. Yeah. Yeah. But Juan Soto said after the game, we know who the real, the best team was, and it was us, basically. But that shows you to kind of, of passion that you got for an, let's point out, this is an exhibition event, okay?

This really doesn't mean anything in terms of what they do, you know, like in terms of their record books, in terms of their income. But to create that kind of passion for an exhibition event, that's got to be the envy. Baseball has to be the envy of all the major sports for what happened here. I think it's interesting just how the world baseball class are just, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but it just has become this event that the players have embraced and fans have embraced seemingly overnight. And I know it's been around for a while, but in terms of the intensity and the attention, you know, it's kind of like that, you know, Four Nations last year in hockey. It's like you're getting these events and the intensity and the, the, the, the intentsia, the intents.

level is actually much higher than the regular seasons of those sports to begin with. I do wonder, and I read a lot, I did not watch the game, I saw the highlights, and I read about Mark DeRosa's managerial, you know, strategic, you know, question marks, if not errors in the game. One of them was that he didn't use his best closer, Mason Miller, because the Padres only He wanted Mason Miller to be used in a true save situation. But that is the high leverage situation. I mean, when you go in as the home team to the bottom to the top of the ninth in a two-two game, more times than not, the manager will use the closer there.

He didn't use the closer. So is there a better time for this event? Because the result may have been impacted by his inability or unwillingness to use Mason Miller in that spot. Again, what's the result you're looking for? Are you looking for the best outcome on the field or are looking for what's the best thing for my business? Okay.

Because I, and there's a big movement to move this thing to the middle of the season. Right, the All-Star break. Right. And, you know, that's, that's, baseball is already on our minds. And I think there was a, there was a vacuum that they think. found that they can fill and get attention when really I mean there's no NFL going on

no NFL in the middle of the baseball season either but I think I think I would just assume keep it where it is where basically you've got the headlines and you've got the sports discussions at a time when that wouldn't happen there's not much

there's not many headlines or sports discussions in the middle of July as it is so baseball automatically gets it anyway because of its All-Star game and things like that. So if your result is to try to have the best outcome on the field, maybe there's a better time. I think business-wise, this is the perfect time for the event. I want to talk about Bryce Harper for a moment, because I read this column yesterday that Ken Rosenthal wrote in The Athletic about him.

I read that too. And great guy, by the way. He got tortured on social media because some guy from Barstool, Big Cat, I don't know, I don't pay much attention to Barstool. Just called him a horrible human being. Called who, a horrible human being? Kenny. Ken Rosenthal?

Yeah. Why? I don't know this. Something that happened on the field with a cameraman in a game last year. And Kenny's one of the princes of baseball, of writers. And one of the best guys in the business. So it's so funny. But I read that column too.

Yeah, well, I mean, you can tell that the players and managers really like Kenny Rosenthal because you've seen it over the years with how they sort of treat him. But I'm going to read just briefly for those of you who haven't read it. But the story was titled, Bryce Harper met the moment at the World Baseball Classic, but a title again proved elusive because he's not won a World Baseball Classic. He hasn't won a World Series. And he writes, Team Venezuela deserved to win the World Baseball Classic.

Bryce Harper deserved better. Harper's ability to meet the moment warrants a championship, whether it's in the WBC World Series of the 2028 Olympics. The brash kid who rankled Major League Baseball early in his career is now a husband, father of four, four, and one of the best representatives the sport has to offer. By the way, he's 33 years old right now. And let's not forget that Bryce Harper,

is one of those prodigies that's literally been, right Tommy? In the spotlight. Rosenthal writes he's been in the spotlight ever since he was seven years old when he played with older kids and still was expected to be the best player on the field. But at 16, he famously made the cover of Sports Illustrated as baseball's chosen one. God, that's 17 years ago now, 33 years old and four kids. But anyway, Rosenthal wrote about his pre-game. address to Team USA, which there were a lot of comments about. Apparently he delivered an

incredible pregame speech. From USA hitting coach, Sean Casey, Harp gave an unbelievable talk before the game. He was just pumping us up about our country, everything you think a leader would say. It was a great message to us. Let's go out and make this happen. Kyle Schwerber, his teammate in Philadelphia. Harp's message, was quote from the heart, from the heart. And from Pete Crow Armstrong, it was effing great. He said he's got a very nice calming presence when he decides to speak. His talk was just about making this our game. We've done some really cool stuff. Fall back on that tonight. Just remember our style of baseball is what we need to go play. I love that he decided to get up.

It was a while before the game, but he kind of picked the perfect time whenever everybody was in there. It's always important, always nice when somebody who has those kinds of moments backs it up with, you know, what happens on the field in which, by the way, I didn't realize this until I read this. He did not have a good world baseball classic. No, no, he did not. Yeah, I think he was four for 24 entering that game. But I have thought this for a while now, and I know we've talked about it before but I think in the last you know so 16 years old

19 I think is when he got called up for the first time in 2012 right as a national I think he's been one of the best clutch performing players of his era in team sports I mean even if you go back to that series they lost to San Francisco in he was the only one that actually provided

any offense. Yeah, he was. And then, you know, he was the one that got the Phillies, you know, past the Padres and into the World Series. I know that he did not perform well last year in the postseason. I think it was his worst postseason. But I've always been a fan of his. And I love this story that Rosenthal wrote.

And it's just amazing when somebody's in that spotlight from such a young age, man, He's lived a different life than a lot of the people that he's actually playing with and competing against. You know, he's taken a while, though, to get to this point. He's at a level of maturity, and I'm sure four kids will help you mature where he's not the same guy he was when he was in Washington. Yeah. He was not beloved in the Nationals Clubhouse. No. He was tolerated and sometimes dislikes.

disliked severely, okay, because he was pretty self-centered in those days. But he's matured into this. He's always been a smart guy, and I think he recognizes his place in baseball. And it's funny because back then, I think he, like, I used to call him the minister of fun because he said, I'm going to bring fun to the game of baseball. You know, he has to make those proclamations anymore. He realizes the stage is bigger than him. He is not the stage.

And he did it. He's done it early enough where, you know, the end of his career, he can enjoy this part where not only he is still one of the top players in the game, but also one of the best representatives of the game of baseball. You know, Mickey Mantle always used to say, I learned how to say hello when I was saying goodbye. You know, because Mickey Mantle was not a nice person to be around. Now, he was an alcoholic, different story. But Bryce Harper has learned to basically embrace his role, not as the stage, but a key member on the stage.

baseball. When you mentioned that he was not necessarily the most popular, you know, we've been told a few stories I know together, but one in particular was, I think it was Jason Worth and Ian Desmond. I may be wrong about the two players, but they essentially were... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, don't tell this story. I can't tell this story. No, can't tell that story. Okay.

I've never told that story to anyone publicly. That's such a good story. I know it is. All right. Well, let's just say that people in the organization occasionally had to defend Bryce Harper from players who were not thrilled with the brashness of the young kid. But the young kid was the one that, more times than not,

had the highest batting average, highest on-base percentage, best slugging percentage, and was headed towards an MVP. Yeah. But you know what? This winter, this general manager, Dave Dombrowski.

Yes. He's not elite anymore. That's crazy. Well, he didn't play at an elite level. No, he didn't. He didn't. Yeah. Yeah.

And he really, he really didn't for the first time in the postseason. He did, I'm looking at it right now. He had, he was three for 15. who did they they played that they played a wild card game and then played the Dodgers I think right

I think that's what it was uh but he hit yeah he hit 200 he was three for 15 without an rBI first post season that he didn't have at least one rbi i mean that year in 2022 that first year that they went to the world series and he was the nLCS MVP um he had 13 rbis in in the post season uh Six home runs. I mean, so many of them were just huge late game home runs. And this home run, as dramatic and as clutch as it was, it'll be forgotten. No one remembers who tied the game. Right.

Unless you win it. I don't know. Maybe, I think that's probably true, but God, that was quite the moment. And what a bat flip, too. All right, we got a few other things to finish up the show with. We'll get to those after these words from a few. of our sponsors. Thrive Markets, it's a product that I've been using.

I think you should use it too. Thrive is a membership-based grocery service where you can shop from wherever you are, simply just hop on their app. The membership breaks down to just $5 a month, and it gives members access to weekly sales, personalized shopping with filters, auto-ship-and-save,

free gifts, and peace of mind knowing there's no junk in any of the products they carry. Thrive Market makes it easy with thousands of healthier swaps from brands like Goodles, Mac and Cheese, simple mills, poppy, and so many more, all vetted before they hit the site. The membership gives me access to brands flavors. I never get to see in my local store. I've discovered so many new favorites. You're paying a small monthly fee to offload the stress, research, and decision fatigue of eating healthy, and you can try it risk-free. Ready to make some healthy swaps and become a member?

Join Thrive Market with my link, Thrivemarket.com slash Sheehan, for 30% off your first order, plus a free $60 gift. All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelly. Well, Shelly's backroom at 1331 S Street, Northwest in the district. If you're watching NCAA basketball today, I've already told you on Tuesday, that's the place to go to really enjoy the game with a nice smoke, a nice drink, and a great meal off of their menu of excellence. We always talk about their custom blend beef that they use, you know,

specially made for Shelly's for their excellent hamburgers. So if it's Thursday, though, that means it's time for Shelly's custom blend cigar facts. And here's my newest cigar fact. And it has to do with Cuba, which has kind of been in the news a little bit. It has been, you're right. Yes. Yes. Before signing the embargo against Cuba in 1962, JFK instructed Press Secretary Pierre Salinger

to buy as many of his favorite Cuban cigars as possible. Salinger came back with 1,200 boxes of H. Upman petite coronas, after which Kennedy signed the train bed, cutting off all legal access to Cuban cigars in America. What year was that? 1962. He got his 12 hundred... Was that before the 13 days in October or not?

The Cuban Missile Crisis or not? Because that's 62. Right. I don't have the exact date. I just have the year. I think there could be some interest... It could be an interesting story around that. Yes.

You know what? Sounds like something Jimmy Patzos can track down for us. You know, this reminds me of when I went to Cuba in 99 to cover the Orioles, when they played a Cuban national team. Right. You were allowed to bring back legally $100 worth of Cuban cigars. Wow. And one of the cigars, boxes of cigars I bought back was an H. Uppman,

just like the ones that Kennedy wanted brought back. Okay. Shelly's Backroom. You can find out more at shelley's backroom.com. So there is some news related to our football team. Ben Standing just tweeted out, Jeremy Reeves is getting an extension. And that's good news.

He's been a really good player, obviously on special teams. But, man, Steve Souter loves him. on the field as a safety. He has really been one of those great stories of the last few years. Jeremy Reeves signs and extension. I don't have the details of it. So the NCAA tournament's first four last night concluded with Miami of Ohio, Tommy, beating SMU 89 to 79.

Did you watch any of the game last night? I'm just curious. No, I did not. Okay. It was basketball, offensive beauty. You would have loved it with one exception. They shot 41, three-pointers. But the ball moved among the five players in such a beautiful, rhythmic way.

It was phenomenal to watch. Miami of Ohio, do you know their story? They went undefeated this year, 31 and Yeah. And then they lost in the Mid-American Conference tournament in the quarterfinal round to UMass. And, you know, there was a little bit of a debate as to whether or not they would make it as a 31-1 team. But I really think the debate was more about are they going to play in the main draw or are they going to have to play a first four game? Well, they played a first four game last night against SMU in Dayton.

It was by far and away from my memory the most incredible atmosphere for one of those first four games that we've ever. seen. I mean, the crowd was incredible. The students that showed up for the game from Miami of Ohio. At one point, SMU was shooting free throws in the second half and about 20 Miami of Ohio students run down the aisle right behind the basket, all guys in the skimpiest speedo bathing suits you've ever seen. They were hammered, you could tell. And they were having the time of their life. And Miami of Ohio won the game with just beautiful offensive basketball for this day and age, because you don't see a lot of five-man basketball consistently. And you would have hated it because of the number of three-pointers,

but it was really the only way they could win the game. You know, they don't have size. SMU had size. And they had seven dudes that could just flat out shoot it, dribble it, and pass it. And it was fun to watch. They certainly earned their place last night into the main draw. And they're going to play Tennessee. They're an 11-point underdog on Friday.

I can tell you now, that's almost a lock to be a smell test pick, Tennessee laying the points, because everybody's on Miami of Ohio. But there was something interesting, another interesting aspect of the game. The head coach of SMU is Andy Enfield. Remember him of Florida Gulf Coast fame? Yes. Oh, yes. When they played Georgetown. Right. Yeah. So when the field was announced, yeah, they made it to the Sweet 16 in 2013.

Andy Enfield. I know I've shared a story about him previously, and I'll do it to end the show here in a moment. But they told the committee before the committee unveiled the field. that a player on their team who was third and scoring second and assists who had missed the last five games due to injury, and they had lost four of those five games without them. They told the committee that he was going to be healthy and he was going to play in the tournament. And the committee chair, Keith Gill, who if I didn't say this on Monday show, he was excellent. Like, we've seen so many of these committee chair, you know, ADs get up and just butcher the communication of whether it's the college football play. off or the March Madness Brackett unveiling.

This guy was really good. He's the commissioner of the Sunbelt Conference. But he did essentially say that SMU's injury news that this particular player was going to be available was a factor in them getting essentially the last bid into the field. And if that player had been ruled out by the team, they probably would have missed the tournament and Oklahoma would have been the last team in the field. Well, this player did not play last night. Andy Enfield said the plan was for him to play,

but he didn't play because right before the game, he said he didn't think he felt good enough to go. But he told us that if we win, I'll be good to go on Friday. So there were a lot of questions about whether or not they misled the committee. I don't know if they did or didn't. But that is one of those things. That would seem to create a very interesting betting opportunity, wouldn't it? Betting opportunity in terms of SMU making the field or not making the field or the game last night.

Yeah, the game last night. Yeah. And the line did come down a little bit. This wasn't like a superstar player. His name was B.J. Edwards. But he was the third leading score and the number two assist guy. and they had not played well without him, you know, down the stretch. Look, that's one of those situations, though.

The money at stake by making the tournament versus missing the tournament, if you've got a player that's 50-50, aren't you going to say, yeah, we expect him to play when asked by the committee. I mean, it's one thing you can't get away with the guys, you know, on crutches and he's not going to be, you know, playing basketball until June. but if it's truly like, you know, game time 50-50, you're going to tell people, you know, we expect them to play. So, I mean, that information is critical to a selection committee

when you're considering those last few at large berths and even when you're considering seating. But Miami of Ohio, man, wow, that was fun to watch them play basketball last night. I watched a couple of their games down the stretch when, you know, they were in close games against mid. American Conference teams on their way to 31 and 0. They were down in several games down the stretch. They came back in one.

But you want to talk about, you know, five, six, seven guys that can all shoot it, can all get it off quickly. And the ball just moves. The spacing is so good. They played five out consistently. And then when they got, you know, pressured and forced off their spot, you got backdoor cuts. You got dribble and kick.

I mean, it was really tough to defend. Now, Rick Barnes is a great coach at Tennessee, great defensive coach. So I would expect that that would be a different match. By the way, my Andy Enfield, I know I've told this story, I'm pretty sure before. But Andy Enfield, the current SMU coach, who coached Florida Gulf Coast to a suite 16 in 2013. I mean, a commuter school in Florida. and they beat Georgetown in the first round, and they did not look like a low major or a mid-major.

They were super athletic. I remember that team, and I remember saying, this is not your normal 15-seed or 14-seed or whatever they were that year. But his success at Florida Gulf Coast got him the job at USC, and he was there for, I think, 10 or 11 years, got one of those teams that he coached at USC to the elite eight. And then for the last, I think, two seasons he's been at SMU in Dallas. But his journey is such an interesting journey because he was a Division III college basketball player, Tommy, at Johns Hopkins,

where I think he holds the record career shooting percentage from the free throw line or the three point line. I think he holds one of those records. He was an outstanding Division III shooter at Johns Hopkins. Well, he was a guy that after Hopkins, he bounced around a little bit. I can't remember specifically what job he had, but he was either a stockbroker in Bethesda or he was with a software company, a startup in Bethesda somewhere. But I got to know him because he played pickup basketball during those years, 90s, I want to say 90s, early 2000s, but he played a lot of pickup basketball at Bethesda Sport and Health.

I was up there, you know, three, four times a week in the 90s and in the 2000s. And so, anyway, he left whatever business he was in, and I think I have this right. He went to either, I think it was the Milwaukee Bucks or the Orlando Magic and was like a film guy. He wanted to become a coach. He had played D3 college basketball, and eventually he turned like the assistant film, you know, AV guy at the Milwaukee Bucks or the Orlando Magic, I forget which team it was, into an eventual head coaching job at Florida Gulf Coast in college, which got him the USC job when they had a ton of success. So a real kind of interesting journey, Division III player decided to get into the private, you know, sector. business software company, stockbroker. I can't remember specifically what he was during those days.

But a lot of us that played a lot of pickup basketball at Bethesda Sport and Health for during that time, you know, we all knew who he was. He was a really, really good shooter. And a decent guy. It's not like I got to know him well, but I certainly knew him from that setting. Well, anyway, fast forward to the 2013 Final Four. I'm down in Atlanta for the show, doing a Final Four show on Radio Row. You were not with me.

I remember I went solo. No, I was not. Yeah, with a producer, and I'm forgetting who went. Or an engineer. But on Radio Row, somebody comes by and says, do you want the Florida Gulf Coast coach, Andy Enfield? I said, yeah. I mean, they were fun to watch. And I don't know why I didn't know this before, because they had been in the news,

and he had been in the news, but I guess I just never really looked at him closely. He sits down at the table, looks at me, and he just goes, I know you. And I go, yeah, what are you doing here? He goes, well, they told me to come over here that I was going to be on with you. And I said, yeah, I'm waiting.

And I was like, wait a minute, you're the Florida Gulf Coast coach? I had no clue, but he was a good interview. I remember we talked about the Bethesda Sport and Health pick up basketball days when he was on with me. But he's had quite the career. I mean, from essentially a private sector job to one day, you know, I'm assuming he was in his late 20s, 30 years old,

something like that, just saying, you know, I want to be a basketball coach. And he chased it and he got there and he's, been a pretty good one and a successful one, and he certainly made a lot of money over the last, I don't know, 15 or so years as a head coach. All right. You know, Andy Hedensfield had a gorgeous one. Oh, my God.

Yeah. Smoking hot. In fact, she was there on Radio Row with him. I'm like, yeah, that's, you out kicked your coverage, brother. Way out kicked your coverage. All right. That's it for today. You got anything else?

I got nothing for you, boss. Enjoy the basketball. Are you going to watch it out wherever you are in the state of Washington? Yes, I will be. All right. Enjoy the hoops. Back tomorrow.