The Pat McAfee Show - PMS 2.0 1135 - Ryan McGee LIVE In The ThunderDome, Shams Charania, Pete Thamel, PK Subban, & AJ Hawk

Episode Date: May 24, 2024

On today’s show, Pat, AJ Hawk, and the boys are joined in the ThunderDome by ESPN writer, college football savant, and Motorsports analyst, Ryan McGee to chat about everything happening around the sports world including all the different intricacies of this incredible race weekend that includes the Indianapolis 500, the Coca-Cola 600, and F1 in Monaco, plus everything else happening around the sports world including all the playoff action from the NBA and NHL. Also joining the show is NBA Insider for The Athletic, Stadium, and FanDuel TV, Shams Charania to chat about the NBA Playoffs, JJ Redick potentially being the LA Lakers next Head Coach, and Tyrese Haliburton’s status going into Game 3 (13:44-39:06). Next, The Authority, Pete Thamel joins the show to chat about the monumental day in college athletics signaling the death of amateurism, with colleges now being able to pay athletes directly, and what it means for college athletics moving forward (41:26-56:37). Later, 3x All-Star, 13 year NHL veteran, and ESPN NHL analyst PK Subban to chat about last night’s overtime thriller in Dallas that saw Connor McDavid score the game winning goal, plus what the Rangers need to do against the Panthers in order to reinject some life into that series (1:15:14-1:31:51). Make sure you subscribe to YouTube.com/thepatmcafeeshow to watch the show. Or watch on ESPN (12-2 EDT), ESPN’s Youtube (12-3 EDT), or ESPN+. We appreciate the hell out of all of you. Enjoy Memorial Day weekend, we’ll see you on Tuesday. Cheers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello beautiful people and welcome to our humble abode, the Thunderdome, on this McGee Feel Good Friday, May 24th, 2024. This program starts now! Speed! Is what I feel through my entire body right now. Not because we're coming upon the greatest race weekend of the entire year. No, no. It's because today, in this particular Thunderdome, on this stage, we have royalty. Racing royalty. Sports royalty. Southern royalty.

And it's not the toxic table at Boston Corner and at Ty Schmidt's. Sweet shirt, though. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Green. Green runs deep. Go Celtics. Sorry.

That was horrible right here. The boys didn't seem to have their juice. They'll be back home, obviously, on Saturday. The Celtics are up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA over the Indiana Pacers. Last night wasn't great for us. And what's going on with Tyrese Halliburton? We'll have Shom Sharani on in about 10 minutes.

Hopefully, he'll have a little bit more information than what we're hearing from the team. Team has to report to league, though, by 5 p.m. today on what that injury is. And I'll tell you, if it is a real one, which could be, there's a chance with how much Tyrese Halliburton has played this year, how great he has played, the injuries that could potentially happen, how awkward it kind of looked as it was taking place last night

in the third quarter. That's going to be tough for the Pacers, but we've got a deep squad. We're a bunch of dogs. We won't complain about injuries because it's professional sports. It's the playoffs. But we will certainly acknowledge that it would suck if Tyrese Halliburton got injured last night and is going to miss some games. We'll find out more, hopefully, from Shamshrani.

It's not because of that, though, on why today is going to be a memorable day for the rest of our lives. It's not because one half of the hammer, done. Cowboys 10 Diggs is here. Hey, nips to see you, pal. Good to see you, too, brother. It's freezing in here. It feels good.

Sweating right now. It feels good. How could you not be sweating? How could you not feel the heat? How could you not feel the heat? How could you not feel the speed? Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is host of Marty McGee. He's host of basically anything Southern that has happened in sports over the last 30 years, I think, for ESPN. Yep.

Ladies and gentlemen, senior writer at ESPN.com. Currently embedded with Kyle Larson as he will be taking on the double on Sunday. Both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. 1,100 miles a race and this man's falling. As he's punching microphones, Ryan McGee. Yeah! How we doing? This is amazing.

This is everything I dreamed it would be i literally walked in the door uh and i you know you see it on tv but you don't actually know that it's an actual dome and like you know i just think about and i walked in y'all had that y'all had that headshot that they use for this network i look like i'm gonna talk to you about your relationship with jesus and here we are in a place where i mean mean, at some point people were getting saved here. No, this is amazing. I'm glad to be here, boys. Yeah, well, we're lucky to have you. And Jesus used to live here.

And I know Jesus is everywhere, especially if you're asking somebody that's dressed like that and looks like that. But he did leave a little extra juice for us. And I'll tell you what, it does feel like the heavens have blessed us with you being in Indianapolis covering the Indy 500, being able to join us live in studio. Texted you five days ago or whatever. And you said in Indianapolis covering the Indy 500, being able to join us live in studio. Texted you, I don't know, five days ago or whatever.

Yeah. And you said, I'll be in Indy. And I said, whoa, is this happening? Yeah. No, dude, it was like a mind-meld thing because I literally was going to text you like Wednesday. Hey, man, going to be in town. And I woke up like Monday morning and I had a text from you. Yeah, yeah.

And all it said was McGee. I'm like, we knew. That's exactly what it was. It's great to be here. In town for the Indy 500, I think it's like my 20th. I have lived through this thing. I started

cover motor sports in the 90s. This thing was the biggest deal in the world and they ripped it apart. They killed the goose looking for golden eggs, which feels very relevant in collegiate athletics right now. We'll talk about that. Pete Tambo joining us at 1230. Pete's not slept in two weeks, by the way. Maybe two years.

He had like four bylines on ESPN.com yesterday. It was nuts. But, yeah, I've seen the race go. What does that mean? A byline is by Ryan McGee, by Pete Tambo. He had four bylines. What does that mean? I've seen a byline is it's by Ryan McGee, by Pete Thamel. So a byline, yeah, all right. He had four bylines. If you write something for something and it says by so-and-so,

that is a line that says it was by you. It is a byline. You're saying Pete Thamel was doing a lot of this. Yeah, so Pete Thamel, by Dan, my colleagues have been very busy, and I was like, I didn't know nothing. I was coming here. I really enjoyed it. So on the phone, when Pete gets rolling, dude, you wake up,

and literally there will be 17 emails. And it's Pete going, getting on a plane, you know, so-and-so strength coach at Northern Arizona is getting sued for whatever. I can't write about it, but I wanted to give you a heads up. Getting on a plane. It's like that will be the end. And then there's responses like 40 emails a day from Pete. But anyhow,. You know, it's like that'll be, and then there's responses, like 40 emails a day from Pete. But anyhow, point is, it's great to be in Indy.

They tore it apart, though. What do you mean by that? They tried to overexpose it? They tried to change the rules, change the cars? Yeah. So you have this massive property, right? The Indy 500. And then you have open-wheel racing, you know, IndyCar racing.

And back in the mid-'90s, they literally split Indy 500. And then you have open-wheel racing, IndyCar racing. And back in the mid-90s, they literally split IndyCar racing into two different series because the two groups didn't agree on how it was being run. But the one thing they were fighting over was the one thing, again, it's kind of like we've seen in collegiate athletics. They're all basically fighting over football money and basketball money. The rest of it is just collateral damage. And that's what's happening at the Speedway. And they're all basically fighting over football money and basketball money. The rest of it is just collateral damage, and that's what's happening at the Speedway. And they're just now, in the last, I would say in the last five or six years, you go down the racetrack, and it feels like it did in the 90s before they tore it apart.

But I've written this column a hundred times. Bylines. Right, bylines. When it comes to motorsports, I wrote it when Texas and Oklahoma were coming to the SEC, when that news broke. I wrote a story about it. Be careful. And I think I said it on the show before, which is there's a cautionary tale in motorsports

because when you're making money and you're selling 350,000 tickets and the TV ratings are through the roof, it's very easy to make stupid decisions. We want more. And you think you're fine. Oh, they'll just show up. And I'm telling you right now, I've witnessed it in Indianapolis. I've witnessed it in NASCAR. They won't just show up.

If the sport doesn't look like the sport they grew up with and the sport doesn't look like what they love and Saturdays don't feel like Saturdays and I don't know who the hell I'm playing this weekend and I don't understand how the postseason works and I don't know who these players are anymore, then suddenly – And these players don't care about my school. That's it.

Yeah, that's the big thing. There's no more passion about the thing that we're passionate about. And in my world, in the southeast where I grew up, you know, we didn't watch the NFL because we didn't have the NFL. We had Redskins that were on TV. Oh, geez. Geez. My line, not anymore.

But nobody paid any attention to the Falcons. Nobody cared. But in the southeast, the reason we love college football like we do is because that's what we had. But when Saturdays start looking like Sunday, we don't watch the NFL really. And so when everything about college football looks like the NFL and it's a great business decision, but it's a terrible look, right? It's a terrible – but you think – what you used to always say in NASCAR was,

I would sit in these meetings. I worked at NASCAR very briefly in the mid-2000s. I'd sit in these meetings, and people that weren't only going to be there a couple years, there was no country music, and you can't say the word moonshine and all that stuff. And they left Darlington Raceway to go to California and all that stuff. And they're like, oh, don't worry. The core fan base, they'll stick around.

And they didn't because they were like, what the hell is this? Turns out, you guys hijacked our thing. So don't assume. Well, hold on now. This goes on to a bigger conversation as well now. I know you've been around ESPN a long time. But there are some decisions, I think, being made at not just ESPN, but a lot of networks that necessarily weren't proud of potentially some of the people

that were maybe watching their network and forgot that they were running it. For instance, when Dude dude wipes became a sponsor first time espn ever let dude wipes be a sponsor of a show because they thought the name was too too bro-y sure like so they didn't want to do business with like dude wipes because they thought it was like too bro-y or whatever it's like who do you you know some bros watch yeah like there is a chance some bros watch sports you know like there's and dumps happen yeah like that there's a case that that takes place so whenever you talk about nascar being like no country music like the how isn't the immediate thought like hey uh you

know like moonshiners and like uh literally in the south like this is how this whole thing started right why would you want to attack so i don't know. There's a lot of decisions. Because people were making decisions that didn't genuinely love the sport. And that's what I worry about. What I worry about is. College football as well? Yeah, exactly. That's what I worry about right now, which is people making decisions based on making money, which it's their job to make money.

And if Texas and Oklahoma call, then you say yes. And if you're the Big Ten and USC and UCLA call, you say come on. Because if you don't do that, you're going to get get fired that's what you're getting judged upon by some people but but what you can't do is you can't get so far away from so what everyone fell in love with it's like being married you know you you you fall in love with the person you fall in love with and if if they they keep changing and changing and changing and you keep changing one day you wake up and you go who the hell is this why am i this isn't, and you keep changing. One day you wake up and you go, who the hell is this? Strangers.

And you don't understand what happened. It's the old frog on the frying pan, right? They talk about you put the frog in the frying pan, and if it's hot immediately, he's going to get out of there. But if you just turn it up a little bit, turn it up a little bit, he's going to cook him before he realizes what happened. And that's what I worry about with college sports. I get the business decisions.

I get where it's all going. But if the damn sport looks like the NFLfl then it's no longer gotta keep the soul gotta keep it's nfl point two and that's not that's not what people want i don't think there are some people i think that are the you know casual college football fans that like football and like some of the teams and watch prime time and watch game day in the morning and that whole thing but after experiencing game day and i've said this numerous times into this microphone um boy there are people that it's a religion obviously jesus christ right but i'm saying like my daddy yeah my daddy's daddy and guess what my daddy's daddy's daddy's daddy all sat in this same exact seat right here and my kid is

gonna sit in this go to this institution go to this school we're gonna support this team and then it's like you do hear the the rumblings who's the guy that wrote the uh that read some wrote some of the stuff for game day right thompson yeah right thompson his first essay last year for college game day whenever we were in north carolina south carolina i i don't hear that until we're live on air. He read the essay, and we're in the middle of a time, and he literally said, but I guess we're going to still just watch, I guess. That's literally what he said in the essay.

And I was like, oh, shit, okay. So then as you go to some of these schools, we got to do some of these simulcasts, and we're on the field and everything, and you start seeing the reaction, the passion. It's like, we can't lose this. You know, like the pageantry and the passion is what college football is. That's why yesterday's ruling by the NCAA. And I think Pete Thamel will be joining us here in a matter of literal moments

or seconds or whatever. It's like at 1230, I mean, like I'll be excited to hear his breakdown on how we got here and how we're not going to kind of trick off the entire pageantry of what college ball is yeah and it's just and there's nothing wrong with change i want to understand that you know like i went to tennessee neil and stadium needs some updating and they're going to do it they're about to spend a ton of money to update the place and you should do that but it still needs to look and feel like neyland Stadium when you go in there. And so, to me, that's the perfect illustration

because you can't get so far away. You can't assume they're just going to show up. You know, I go back to, like, some of these rivalries. I mean, Marshall, West Virginia. I go back to some of these rivalries that everyone lived by, and then they took it away, and then the assumption was, well, one day it'll come back, and when it does, everybody will just jump back on board.

No, they won't. I mean, you can't assume they're going to do it. You hope they're going to do it. And so you have to make sure that change is fine, but there can't be so much change all at once. Agreed. It's frog in a frying pan. I go back to my dad as a college football referee.

And every summer, my dad would be at the swimming pool going through whatever. But they would change a rule. They'd change a couple of rules every other year. And they would do it slow on purpose to let the coaches get, this rule change is coming in two years. All right, now we can coach it up.

We can coach it up in practice, officially get ready for it. But everything moved at that pace for a long time. And now there's just so much change all the time that what you don't want is, you don't want Pete Thamel's five stories to become the only thing anyone was talking about instead of talking about how good

is Georgia going to be I'm talking about how good is Georgia going to be yeah yeah yeah 100% yeah but my dad's the biggest baseball fan in the world he's like I don't know what I'm looking at and it's just you can't change it all at once you just can't but it has to still look like the sport you love got to evolve especially if you want to keep the diehards and the purists, but then obviously the natural reaction goes they'll always stay. And what I think we've all recognized, especially through you pointing it out,

people are in a different era now where they will hold a grudge and they will protest in their own way, which is staying away. I don't think that's going to happen with college ball, but let's not dance with anything that could potentially become that. Let's bounce to the NBA now because last night the Celtics take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals over the Indiana Pacers.

Obviously, there was like a 20-0 run at one point, and the Pacers were able to battle all the way back. And then, you know, it was a good game, good game. Celtics end up covering and winning like everybody thought they were going to do in the first game and maybe throughout the entire series, but the big story is what the hell happened to Tyrese Halliburton? The man who literally, the coach of the Pacers

came on our show a couple days ago and said they built the entire team around. Third quarter, he exits game with potential hamstring, I believe is what Coach Carlyle said afterwards. Could be a knee, could be a lower leg, we have no idea. Joining us to hopefully tell us the information, senior NBA insider at the Athletic Stadium in FanDuel TV,

the ever-handsome Sean Sharanya. Yeah, Sean! Thank you, Sean! Don, Pat, can I get the Shams at least? Can we bring it back? This is my brain. Show me a drone. My name.

Shout out Kelsey Plum, though a drone. Kelsey Plum. Shout out to Kelsey Plum, though. Kelsey Plum. And shout out to the Las Vegas Aces. Las Vegas Aces. Doing it. Hell of a team. They are.

New York Liberty lost. Did you see that? Yeah. Aces. Aces did, too. Aces did, too, to the sun. Well, the Sky beat the Liberty, and I actually put out a post saying, is this team ever going to lose?

I don't think this team's ever going to lose. They did. And I was reminded. Anybody's league right now. I'm in L.A. right now. I'm in L.A. right now. There's a lot of talk about the Sparks and Fever game tonight at Crypto.com Arena. Why is that, you think?

Maybe Kaitlyn Clark. Don't tell Angel Reeves. Cameron Brink. A lot of star power in the house. A lot of star power in the house. Kaitlyn, you know, she's about two weeks away from a triple double happening every single night fever gonna figure it out haven't got a win change the time of the june first game to a noon tip off so get on espn season ticket holders are privy to that type of information like us we've invested in the fever

we hope sean will do the exact sorry shams will do the exact same. Maybe Sean Sharanya covers the W. There you go. Yes. Yes. Sean. I think we might have figured out an alias. All right, let's move along here. We might have figured out an alias. Let's talk about it. Well, you already have NBA Central or whatever.

Okay, so let's talk about what happened last night. Tyrese Halliburton, third quarter, okay? This is not good news for the NBA. It's not good news for the series. And it's certainly terrible news for Indianapolis whenever we see him exit the game, and then Coach Carlisle afterwards says it's a hamstring soreness. What do we know about this as we look ahead, and what are your thoughts on it all? I'm told this morning that he re-aggravated that hamstring strain injury that he had earlier in the season in January. He missed 10 games with it. He actually came back a lot earlier than expected.

Tyrese Halliburton rehabbed the injury quicker than everyone thought he would. And he came back after just missing 10 games and went six and four in those games. But we all know, I mean, he's their engine. They rely on him offensively to set the table for everyone. And they're obviously a lot of concern today. They're an indie. I'm told the Pacers got in at 315 in the morning last night. during Indy. I'm told the Pacers got in at 315 in the morning last night. So it was an early, early morning, I'm sure, for a lot of those players. And they don't practice today. We'll know later today as Tyrese Halberton gets more tests, as he gets more treatment, as he goes through that hamstring injury, as far as how the Pacers are going to list him going into game three. But there's obvious, you know know his status is up in the

air it's the same hamstring that's not an injury that you want to play around with and he even had x-rays i'm told on his chest not his hamstring on his chest at halftime of that game and obviously he got cleared enough from that he felt good enough to try to give it a go in the second half just could not get as much burst on that hamstring as he, as he wanted. And he ended up sitting in the game and recall out, pull the starters, you know, pretty early in that fourth quarter.

And they try to get ready for game three, but that game one demoralizing loss, that was a game you try to have you, if you have the whole 10 of the series is completely different. And now the Pacers are going to go back home and you hope there's some miracle here with Tyrese Halliburton's hamstring. Okay. I don't like the word miracle with his entire injury.

Well, with hamstrings, calves, these things are so tricky. I mean, as McGee did point out, we are in the former house of the Lord. That's right. You know, and Indiana is certainly a place that's looking to the heavens and down on their knees in the morning. So maybe a miracle will happen with Tyrese Halliburton's hamstring. But you're right. Those are fickle injuries, obviously.

Even if he plays, how close to 100% is he going to be? How close to Tyrese Halliburton is he going to be? We know how it affected him during the season. After he missed that time, he went through ups and downs offensively, and then he finally picked it up. We saw what he's done in this series. Game one, just a master class on both ends until the last minute of the game. Like Tyrese Halliburton said that game, 47 minutes, they played beautifully,

and then that last minute. But for the Pacers, a hamstring issue. He's got the chest issue. Obviously, Tyrese Halliburton very banged up on this. And on the other side, Connor's got a question. Yeah, Sean, it's a good time to be in Indiana right now as a Celtics fan. And we didn't get the proof. Oh, shut up!

This is the same place the Knicks were. Hope you understand that. Let's not have too crazy of nostalgia here or forgetfulness. Yeah, same place the Knicks were. And it seems as though the Knicks deterioration has kind of passed on to the Pacers. But, again, that's a conversation for another day, Shams. I won't make those excuses, but I will yell at a ref. You don't want to use it once?

You can use it once. If we lose Tyrese Halliburton, it's a whole different series. Bingo. Oh, man. Yep, Shams. Boston Conner's not buying that. Boston Conner's not buying that. Okay, thanks.

To be completely honest. Just get the information on what the hell's wrong with them, please. We don't need you talking about Lord Miracles and everything. We just need to find out the truth. They have to report by 5 today, right? They do. They have a 5 p.m. injury report. Yes, everyone will see it publicly. All eyes are on the broom closets as well.

They have been unlocked in Boston. The brooms are not out just yet, though. But looking at the Celtics, Shams, they're saying Porzingis could be ready game four. It feels like there's a chance that if the Celtics win game three, there might not be that push to get him back. Is there a thought that Porzingis will just end up resting this entire series and then maybe come back for the finals?

What are you hearing around his front on his injured soleus, I believe, in his calf? Yeah, that's another injury where non-contact you strain it yannis and to the compo miss about four weeks and and he had a press conference four weeks after the injury and said i'm still i'm still not running you know anywhere close to where i need to i'm running 40 i think is what he said so the fact that it's a calf like hamstrings those are tricky injury injuries and i think porzingis is trying to do everything he can. He's doing more on the court. He's doing some stationary work on the bike. I do think the Celtics are optimistic.

For the finals, sure. Assuredly, he's going to be ready to go. But for this series, a lot of it is day-to-day. A lot of it is week-to-week. Game four, I believe, is early next week. You want to make sure he's 100%. And let's say they win game three. Let's say. I know there's going to be. You want to make sure he's 100%. And let's say they win game three.

Let's say. I know there's going to be some upset people. But if they do win game three, you're up 3-0. I think the question in Boston is where's that calf really at? But there's also a thought. If he is good and if he wants to play on a minutes restriction, you play him and then you get him right. And if he's got to play another game in the series, he plays.

He plays on and continues to rev up and ramp up for the finals. That's obviously where they feel like. And no, they need him to win a championship. Hey, just real quick. Do you have in your Rolodex of information when the last time the Pacers lost at home? The last time the Pacers lost at home? Yeah. Did the Bucs beat them in Indy?

No. The Bucs never won in Indy? No. The Bucs never won in Indy. Okay. Yeah. Wow. So it has to be regular season, early April? March 18th, pal. Okay?

It's more like Pain Bridge Fieldhouse whenever you come in there, pal. Yeah. That's what it's like. So you're saying the Celtics win game three, and then maybe Porzingis gets some minutes at the end. Shut up. Do you know the Celtics' road record in the playoffs this year? Huh.

Oh, it's 4-0. They haven't lost on the road yet. They haven't been to Payne Bridge. Feel the pain. Payne Bridge hasn't played without Tyrese since March 18th either. Object first, unstoppable force. The whole base in Indy. Pat, I got my start covering games in Indianapolis with the Pacers

and the Bucs, but the Pacers fans, that arena is very underrated, and those fans get rocking, especially when their team is in the playoffs. I've been in the conference finals games there. I've been in the second round there. They get it right. Former Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

That's what it used to be. It used to be Bankers Life. It was tough not to call it Bankers Life for the first five years it's been Gainbridge. That happens with every stadium. Down in Houston, they had a stadium change every three years. I'm still playing at NRG or something like that, but I think it's Reliant now.

Accresher is Heinz Field for sure. Cincinnati Bengals Stadium is just the team that didn't want to make any money. Paycor. Paycor, there it was. Congrats to them. They're making money. How about Crypto vs. Staples? No one calls it that. Crypt, bro, is pretty sick.

Crypt is pretty sick. They lost all their money getting those ones. No, they sponsored something the other night on one of these NBA games. It was like the Crypto.com dunk of the game. I'm like, I didn't know. This might as well be like Radio Shack's dunk of the game. Bingo. I thought we were done with it, personally. I had no idea, but they probably paid

up front so much because remember how much money they did have. Yeah, they had to pay up front. That Tom Brady, they had the whole kit and caboodle. We want Staples Center straight up. Here's $275 million. We want to dunk it a game for the next five years. Hating crypto. Anyways.

Bowl games. My dad has a closet full. Hating crypto. Anyways. Bowl games. My dad has a closet full. My dad worked 20-something bowl games. My dad has a closet full of bowl games, companies that don't exist anymore. Duke's Mayo Bowl used to be great. Plymouth Holiday Bowl. The Belk Bowl. They don't make Plymouths anymore.

Hey, Belk Bowl. Oh, yeah. Hell yeah. Belk Bowl in Charlotte, where I live, was the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Yes, I'm a champion at Meineke Car Care. George Foreman would show up every year. And yeah, it was the Belke Car Carrier Bowl. Yes, I'm a champion of the Meineke Car Carrier Bowl. George Foreman would show up every year. And, yeah, it was the Belk Bowl.

And the dot-com thing happened in the 90s. That's when it went out of control. GoDaddy.com Bowl? Yeah, the GoDaddy.com Bowl. Danica Patrick, GoDaddy.com. So we've got Dale Jr. Selma here. Yeah, you're damn right. We do.

Shout out Zito by that. Dale Jr. had never been to a college football game. And he drove his race car onto the field for the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. I'm also a Gator Bowl champion, a Monarchy Car Care Bowl champion, Gator Bowl champion. You know what?

A lot of things change, you know, but things need to remain the same. They do. Or everything will go away. Bring back the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Hey, never leave here for show money, looking for mo' money, because you might end up with no money. Let's get to the Western Conference now here. Shams, obviously tonight, game two. Dallas, Minnesota.

Dallas gets the win in the first one. They're up 1-0. Luka dominated late. Kyrie dominated early. I heard that from Wendy that that was a Jason Kidd decision to basically rest up Luka early so that if his knee is bad, at least we'll have good two quarters in the second half of him. What are you planning on this evening?

What do we need to know about injuries, and how should we be viewing this one, especially for maybe gambling on the five-and-a-half-point favorites, the Minnesota Timberwolves? Yeah, I mean, you would expect Anthony Edwards to have a much more efficient game. I mean, the last couple games, you think about game seven, game one of this series, he's 12 of 40, I believe it is, from the field. So you would expect him to figure it out in game two here. He's the one who gave the challenge to Kyrie Irving.

Kyrie Irving stepped up to the task. And honestly, Pat, I just remember coming on this show in 2020 2021 2022 we were talking a lot about Kyrie Irving we're talking about mandates we were talking about drama we were talking about trade requests him going to the Lakers we're talking about Eric Adams

the mayor of New York City like deciding that somehow that they need to have a mandate to where a guy can, like, do everything but can't play in games, and then he ends up coming to the arena. But he's on the court. He's there, but he can't play in the games. It was a crazy time.

But now you see Kyrie Irving, like, how happy it is, how happy he is. And that's the number one thing that I look at with him, the way that him and Luka Doncic embrace after every game. The way that now that we're not talking about mandates. We're not talking about his happiness in a city. We're talking about how much he loves the game, how much he loves his teammates, how he's a leader. There were two moments, Pat, I can shed light on that I think changed everything

between Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. One was training camp. Them all going to Abu Dhabi, spending time with each other. Another moment was Kyrie Irving actually had a spades tournament at his house in late November. The Mavericks were in town for the Lakers-Clippers game. They were there for about a week or so in L.A., and Kyrie Irving invites the entire team,

everyone's family members, to his house in L.A., and they're playing spades against each other, and I think bonding with each other, spending time with Luka's family members to his house in L.A., and they're playing spades against each other, and I think bonding with each other, spending time with Luca's family, Kyrie Irving's family was there as well, and those are the moments where we didn't hear about that a lot in Brooklyn. We didn't hear about that a lot in Cleveland, and now that Kyrie Irving, he's one of the veteran leaders. It's crazy.

You think about the playoff players that are remaining right now. Hal Burton, obviously a young star. Jason Tatum, still trying to get his first string. Minnesota, obviously Anthony Edwards is developing as a face of the league. Luka Doncic is one of the faces of the league. Kyrie Irving has been a champion. He's been an all-star, all-NBA player. He's like the veteran, the seasoned guy that's playing right now in these finals.

He's the OG. He's the vet. Yeah, Jalen Brown, obviously a name you refuse to say for whatever reason. Jalen Brown as well. Shout out Jalen Brown. 40 points last night. Doesn't make it into that. Doesn't make it into Sean's breakdown. He signed the largest contract in NBA history and he wanted to only get better

and he's doing that. He definitely believes he's one of the best 15 players in the league and last night he showed it. I think I enjoy most about this Celtics team, Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum thing is, and I think the conversation was even happening on first take today and probably get up in every other sports thing.

It's like, is Tatum doing enough to help this team? And Jalen Brown, is he the real star of this team? Now, he's got the Max Max contract. So everybody on the team is like, yeah, this guy is one of our stars. Those two pick up for each other whenever they need it it feels like a great tag team they're both saying my team though which is interesting you know because you could use the word our it exists you know pronoun could be our whenever they're utilizing you're talking about motivating the locker room and

everything but they both say my team which i respect and appreciate uh that they're both like in the roles and he got Al Horford, who's 95 years old. He's probably a leader in there as well. Joe Mazzola, he's making adjustments. He obviously can tap out and break the arm of everybody on the team because of his jiu-jitsu training that he does after

games late night in his house. That team feels like they've got a lot of dogs on them. When Tatum plays bad, Brown is picked up for it. And I assume there's going to come a time when Tatum is going to go absolutely apeshit and Brown is probably not going to be as well. And the conversation is going to flip on its head. Is this how it's always been for the Celtics?

I'm just realizing this because they're obviously taking on the Pacers in the Eastern Conference. Has this been the story of the Celtics with these two since they got there? Yeah, I mean, this is the sixth Eastern Conference final that they've been to. They have gone deep in the playoffs. And, you know, when Kyrie came to Boston, one of the problems was when he got hurt, they still went to the Eastern Conference finals. And that's kind of when it became Tatum and Brown's team. And Kyrie, obviously, you know, everything happened with him.

And then he left. And you mentioned the adjustments from Missoula. They dominated the offensive rebounds because they were crashing on the baseline. We kept seeing that with Jalen Brown either mixing it up or Derek White. But yeah, Tatum, I expect a massive road game. A couple years ago when they were down 3-2 against the Bucs, Tatum went for like 45 on the road, win, game seven, win, Eastern Conference Finals again. Those two get along though? Oh yeah, very well. Tatum's been there since he was 18, 19. Jalen's been there since he was 20. Jalen was drafted in

17 or 16. Tatum was the year after. They've legitimately grown up together in Boston. Well, congrats boys. Looks like you got one. Pace is going to be tough in the field of the Cambridge Fieldhouse. You just need to know that's the case. Let's talk about the playoffs in a face that we're used to seeing. Obviously, every time

you come on, we have to bring this name up because you are plugged in. This guy is completely plugged into the whole situation. The Lakers are not in the playoffs. If you listen to a lot of people that talk about the NBA on a regular basis, they say, with the way this Western Conference is set up, it don't matter who's coaching that team.

That team is done for. They are irrelevant. They're not going to make it back. Where are we with the Lakers right now in the coaching search? Where are we in what the future looks like for LeBron who's potentially going to be a free agent? Is that possible? What is the situation currently standing for the Los Angeles

Lakers? And we ask not only because Lakers have needle-moving ability, but because this guy seemingly he's right in the middle of a war room. Shams, what the hell is going on over there in LA right now? Yeah, so let's start with their roster.

The organization definitely believes that they have a roster that should have been able to compete much more in these playoffs than they did. And you think about where they ended up in the playoff rankings. They were the seventh seed. They feel like there was a month or so, a couple weeks of the season where it just did not go the way that they wanted. It obviously affected them in the standings. And LeBron James and this organization, they don't want to be in a position next season where

they're playing in a play-in tournament, where they're fighting for the seven or eight seats. So that's a big point of emphasis is putting an emphasis on the regular season next year, where you're putting yourself, like if the Lakers ended up on the other side of the bracket where it's OKC and Dallas and that whole series where you're playing New they've started their coaching interviews. I'm told last week the Lakers met with J.J. Redick in Chicago at the Draft Combine. They met for an extended period of time to really get to know him and spend time with him. And he was the first candidate to really do a face-to-face meeting. And then they brought in James Borrego in L.A. on Monday, Sam Cassell, David Adelman, Mike Onori, Chris Quinn is going to get an interview as well in L.A. So they're finishing up their first round of interviews this week. Next week, I believe they're going to start their second phase in this process, get more conversations with candidates, get more maybe basketball-centric conversations. And I think a lot of it now was surface level.

more maybe basketball-centric conversations in. I think a lot of it now was surface level, but going into this process and right now, my sense is that J.J. Redick, I mean, he is the guy around the league that everyone believes is the front runner for this job. He's in position. I think there's an infatuation with J.J. Redick right now, just in terms of his ability for right now, but also being a coach that the Lakers can have for years and years to come. That's someone who's obviously young enough in the industry, young enough in the space where you feel like you have a four, five, maybe six-year runway with a guy like J.J. Redick as your head coach, where now you have him command the respect of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But listen, this is Anthony Davis's team moving forward. He's the one who's 31 in the prime of his career. So how can, whether it's JJ Redick

or another coach, dictate how you're going to revolve your game plan around Anthony Davis? I think that's going to be an important part. I think their process is going to continue. LeBron James is going to continue to watch how that goes. He's going to continue to watch how they, even more importantly, how they manage

their roster. He has a player option date, June 29th. He has not made a decision yet. He could opt in, he could opt out, he could extend off an opt-in or sign a new free agent deal. And he's going to see what moves they make come summertime, come next month, as we get closer to draft. That's where a lot of the bigger trades happen. And he's going to keep a very, very close eye.

But from what I understand, they're going to have more interviews right now. But listen. JJ Reddick. The way this process is going, I think a lot of people on the league are connecting some dots in terms of the interview process that's going on right now. And listen, JJ Reddick does have a responsibility. He's calling games in the conference finals, the NBA finals. And so if he does take over, he wouldn't be taking the conference finals the nba finals and so and and

any you know if he does take over he wouldn't be taking over until after the finals anyway so the lakers are able to actually use that as an advantage to really go through all the interviews that they want to and then focus in on jj comparing him to whoever they were thinking about potentially going in coach jj reddick feels like the perfect guy for la too right good personality can talk well there for a while. And if you want to know if he's a smart basketball guy or not, obviously you can go back to his career. But this mind-the-game thing is going to be viewed as a season-long

interview process from LeBron for his next coach. Yep. That is exactly what it's going to be. So now, let's say LeBron opts out but then gets a deal done with L.A. to go back there or opts in to go back to be a Laker. If there comes a time where LeBron's not happy with J.J., we can go back to Episode 3 and say, hey, this is what we all did. We all said we're going to slip under a pick.

We're going to slide to the baseline. Then we're going to do the triangle quarter zip. Then we're going to cut through here. Then there's going to be a whoop-de-woo. Then they're going to do the whole fuckity-bang. What was that? It's the fuckity-bang. How much do you want this to be muted, Chomps? It's not my lingo.

This is basketball shit I'm talking about here. I saw that on Mind the Game, all of it. So if there's any disagreements, it's like we can just go back and see, is JJ wrong or is LeBron wrong? And then if the podcast starts doing bad, does LeBron say, like, hey, I'm going to have to let you go like I let Frank Vogel go, and I'm going to have to bring in someone new?

Well, Frank Vogel's not the only one. No, no, no. But if you don't win with LeBron, you are viewed vastly differently. And J.J. Redick, I hope he has success. I will say this. Whoever they hire is their hire. The Lakers have had it. Yeah, of course. Of course. Of course had it. Yeah, of course, of course, of course.

Yeah, yeah, of course, of course. Last question here, Sean, from Mr. McGee. So, Sean, is there a scenario? I'm a dad, right? I got a daughter in college. Is there a scenario, now that we know LeBron has an exit strategy, if he wants one, where, I mean, I'm looking at bets now, Bronny James being a number one draft pick, certainly a top three draft pick.

I mean, just saying, people are taking bets on it. Is there a universe where LeBron is putting himself into a position to go play ball with his kid? I'm old enough to remember Ken Griffey Jr. and Sr., right? I mean, I think LeBron's waiting. I personally believe he's waiting to play in a league with his kid, whether it's for one game or whether it's for 100 games.

Is there a multiverse scenario where LeBron could end up on a roster with his kid? Yes, there's definitely a scenario where he ends up on the roster with LeBron. LeBron James ends up on the roster with Bronny James. The simple fact is the Lakers, they want to potentially draft

Bronny James. They have the number 55 overall pick in the draft. They have the number 17 pick in the draft as well. And they obviously want to have LeBron James on the roster, and they want to see if they can fulfill his vision. He's been on the record about it. But I think for Bronny James, it is important, whether it's the Lakers or it's another team, to figure out a home where, from a development perspective, from a perspective of your future being solidified. Because I don't think Bronny

James wants to just play a couple years. From what I'm told, LeBron James is going to play up to two more NBA seasons. I don't think Bronny James' vision is to play two NBA seasons and then be done once his dad is done. I think the vision is having a long NBA career, having a runway, and whether that's in L.A., whether that's elsewhere, I'm told he has over 10 NBA invites to work out right now. He had a pro day the other day on Wednesday in Los Angeles. He worked out at the Combine last week.

I think there's obviously teams really looking at the way he shoots, the way he is right now. We know about the cardiac arrest last year, but he looks like he's in good shape. Actually, I talked to some teams. He might have even bulked up just a little bit since the season ended, but he has over 10 NBA invites. I'm told one other team that Bronny James will be working out for

is the Phoenix Suns before the NBA draft. So the Suns have the number 22 overall pick. He's among several players under consideration for that. Come on down to Charlotte. I'm a Hornets guy, right? Come on down to Charlotte. No, no, he said Phoenix. Did you know LeBron James loves Charlotte? And the reason he loves Charlotte is because Bojangles – I'm not Hornets guy, right? Come on down to Charlotte. No, no, he said Phoenix. Did you know LeBron James loves Charlotte?

And the reason he loves Charlotte is because Bojangles, I'm not making this up, Bojangles chicken. I wrote a story about this in ESPN, the magazine. That's a byline? When LeBron James was a rookie, the deal was he would leave games at the Old Hive, and the takeaway food to go get on the plane after a game for the visiting team was a little two-piece box of fried chicken from Bojangles.

You know Bojangles? Yeah. Okay. And so LeBron James became so obsessed with Bojangles, he would own the plane as a rookie, hand out cash, give me your money, and he'd take it all home. And finally, he would send the clubhouse attendant to go buy, like, one of these tailgate packs to take back to Cleveland with him.

So, yeah. Hey, Bronny and LeBron. Mr. McGee, I'm not holding my breath on Charlotte. Come on. You can get all the free Bojangles you want. Come on. I can make that happen. I know people.

I love that you're going to get a Bojangles deal done potentially to close this deal in the Horns. I'm going to keep slapping this microphone unless we get the right guy. All right, Choms. We appreciate the hell out of you. We got to talk college ball because there's a lot of shit going on in the NCAA. You're the man, pal. We appreciate it.

Always appreciate it, boys. Appreciate it. The man who covers the WNBA is Sean, and the NBA is Choms. Choms, true. I might have to start that. I might have to start that. Do it.

Smart, smart, smart, smart. You know Bojangles? You think he's going to win? It's so damn good. It is so good. I'm telling you, LeBron, I wrote that story in ESPN, the magazine, and I remember arguing with the editors who were all based in Manhattan. Like, we can't write this story.

I'm like, yeah, we can. Like, it's delicious fried chicken. Why the hell can't we write this story? I don understand what the problem is yeah it's amazing it's still amazing i had it three days ago it's fine that started in north carolina obviously yeah no in charlotte like literally around the corner i can't wait to get some when i was a kid all the bojangles like the stanley little like damn a little like like riverboats. They had a big wheel on the back and smokestacks and stuff. Are you kidding me? When you're a kid, going to get damn fried chicken?

You grew up in 1910? 1979. Hell yeah. Was Firehouse Subs from North Carolina as well? I don't know. They might be. Not Bojangles. Not Bojangles.

Not Bojangles. They got ran out of town by Bojangles. You guys are, I'll tell you what, that seems like a source of pride out in North Carolina. Oh, yeah. No, no. I'm telling you. I remember them telling me. I thought I had this big scoop.

They said they were going to make it. You guys said, no way. The guys at Hornets were like, hey, man, you don't even understand how much LeBron James loves Bojangles. I'm like, I'm going to write this story. I'm like, I wrote it. I wrote it. The magazine was like, is this the Hornets' secret weapon to finally slow LeBron James? Just fill him up loves Bojangles. I'm like, I'm going to write this story. I'm like, I wrote it. I wrote it. The magazine was like, is this the Hornet's secret weapon to finally slow LeBron James?

Just fill him up with Bojangles. I wrote that in ESPN, the magazine. God bless America. They sent me a paycheck. Did you get a quote? Did you get a quote from LeBron? They sent me a paycheck. Bojangles sent me a big box of stuff.

For those that are wondering right now, as they should, it sounds like they should maybe give you free Bojangles for the rest of your life, LeB that are wondering right now As they should Sounds like they should maybe give you free Bojangles For the rest of your life Little man LeBron He's drinking a Diet Mountain Dew right now I got my Dale Jr. This is my Dale Jr. juice Y'all left me Dale Jr.'s helmet over here

And Dale Jr. juice is Diet Mountain Dew Hell yeah Hey, keep going McGee It's the best When I work with Dale Jr. That's the best part His coolers He's still in the Budweiser deal.

If you're a NASCAR driver that ever drove the Budweiser car, even if you moved on to drive for someone else, you're still in the Budweiser. Kenny Schrader drove the Budweiser car like 30 years ago. He still gets free Budweiser. So Jr. just has. So Jr. just has. He has.

Fridge is full. Fridge is full of Budweiser and Diet Mountain Dew. And God bless America, man. Hell yeah. Joining us now, a man who would be disgusted by that fridge, but a guy who knows everything about college football, which is why we call him the authority. There's a lot

going on in the NCAA and the football world and there's been one man that has not slept for two to three years trying to get to the bottom of it. Ladies and gentlemen, Emmy Award winner from College Game Day, Pete Thamel. Yeah! Hey, Pete!

Hey, how you doing? My sources can confirm that the Bojangles conversation is going to be a lot more interesting than what I'm about to tell you. I disagree. The Bojangles conversation is certainly a nice little factoid that is added into the entire story of the greatness of the state of North Carolina. Way to go, man. Way to go, North Carolina.

But let's talk about what you have been covering and obviously alongside your peers at ESPN.com and other places about this NCAA story. For the first time in NCAA's existence, there has now been an agreement for schools to be able to pay players, which leads to so many more questions. But is that the basis of what took place? And how far into this are we?

And how does this end up? Because McGee did an entire speech literally at the beginning of the show saying, if our Saturdays start looking like our Sundays, then what is even Saturday football? And why am I even a fan of it? Which could potentially be SEC fans that are diehard college and other diehard college football fans thinking that that's their biggest fear. This ruling seems to probably feed that a little bit.

Is that where we are? What are your thoughts? And how did we get here, Pete? I'll kind of give you an open slate to kind of run with it. Well, thanks, Pat. Amateurism is dead is the headline. Schools can now directly pay college athletes, which is a huge, huge development just for college athletics in general.

And we can't overstate how important that is as a moment. Now, where this all goes and the details and who gets what and is Title IX about, there is still, much like most things in college sports, it's convoluted and confusing. But I just think if your listeners or viewers or viewers obviously are going to take one thing away today pat it's that ohio state starting in 2025 uh can now pay travion henderson michigan can now pay uh will johnson whoever now they won't be there in 2025 but you know i mean like the star players in college football and college uh basketball can get paid directly by the school. In the years of sort of indirect payments, we had three years of NIL.

We had many years of duffel bags full of cash. That stuff is over. McDonald's bags. Tennessee. Tennessee, go Vols. Give me a McDonald's bag full of cash, please. Give me a McCheese with double the cheddar. Our playbook's right out of the 1990s.

Saturday football, Bojangles, and a Tennessee bag of cash, it's really Ryan McGee Day today. Every day could be McGee Day. Just like, you know, having a great day here. Hey, put that in a Bojangles bag, and I'm good. I'll take the shit out of that. Okay, so as we're talking about this all, there was a lawsuit that was prompting this, right?

Is that kind of what I read? I was trying to follow as much as I could, but it was very wordy. All of of it was wordy you had four bylaws yesterday on espn.com mcgee said but there was a lawsuit coming that was worth billions of dollars the ncaa had to counter it by passing this rule what was that lawsuit and is pat white going to make money off of west virginia this far uh removed from what he did to that potential university and others like him yeah pat white will not because it's 2016 and on, but Zach Frazier could make some money. And, you know, like Zion Williamson should make a lot of money, right?

Like that guy, you know, folks like that. I think Johnny Manziel would fall within the window if it's 2016 on. Now, how that's actually going to get divided up could be its own podcast miniseries, 30 for 30. They're going to be people a lot smarter than me that are going to have to determine how you take $2.7 plus billion, job it up, the lawyers are going to make a lot of money. That we know, Jeffrey Kessler, who really has had his hand in most of the major, you know, union type battles or labor type battles in professional sports over the past

four or five decades. He and Berman, the other co-counsel in this, are going to walk out with a lot of money. But how that stuff gets divided up hasn't been determined yet, nor, and I think this is the other probably crucial point right now as we look into it, is nor has schools said, OK, with this roughly $20 million, does $10 million go to women's sports because of Title IX, or can we take $18 million and direct that towards football because football, and I think it's a safe estimate, Ryan could disagree with me here,

is about 85% of the revenue at most schools proportional to the TV contracts. So that's just a giant difference if you're operating with an $18 million, which essentially can be a salary cap at a power school, versus $8 million, right? So these are the things that have to be determined. The other very football centric piece of this that isn't determined is there are going to be roster caps. Now, we're going to go in the weeds a little bit with you here. There used to be scholarship limits. So, like, there were weird numbers. Football at 85, that was clean.

But, like, baseball was like 12. 11.8. 9.9. Yeah. So, McGee might know some of those nuanced numbers better than me. He does. He does. I'm not surprised.

You big, dumb, southern hick. You got it. You got it. I'm eating my chicken leg. Go ahead, Pete. Sorry about it. The sort of basic legal tenet of this is that because it's an antitrust suit, they're trying to

eliminate limitations. So instead of telling Clemson they can only have 85 scholarship players in this, or like Ole Miss is a great example, or Mississippi State. They have unbelievable baseball, and they were limited to about 10 baseball scholarships. So now if you want to give out 25 baseball scholarships, you can. There's simply just going to be a roster cap, and you can determine, Maryland may say, you know what, we only want 12 baseball scholarships. But Ole Miss is going to say, hey, we pack five grand a night and everybody sits out in the outfield and jerks and we get a good old time here.

And baseball means a lot to our community and our fan base. We're going to have up to the roster cap as opposed to the scholarship limit. Now, what we don't know yet for football is what the roster cap, we know there are going to be roster cap as opposed to the scholarship limit now what we don't know yet for football is what the roster cap we know there are going to be roster caps we don't know if the roster cap is going to be 95 it's going to be 105 it's going to stay at 85 um and there there is a conversation i don't think we're going to get there ultimately because it's too important to saturday football and i'm a believer in saturday football i've heard the mcgee's pep football, and I'm a believer in Saturday football. I've heard the McGee pep talk speech, and I'm a believer in Saturday football.

Yeah. Walk-ons are a crucial part of Saturday football, correct, Ryan McGee? Absolutely. Good stories, for sure. Who's your favorite walk-on, Ryan McGee? Oh, my favorite walk-on of all time is Baker Mayfield, who walked on like 14 different times. Just got paid, too, again.

Shout out. Your co-host, J.J. Walkon, right? Yep. Hunter Renfro, copping that. So, anyway, I don't think we're going. Owen Schmidt, great walk-on. Great call, Pat. Yeah, thank you.

He was working at a club, actually, as a security guy. That's what he did. I would not have misbehaved in that club. Yeah, the head was coming. It was fucking big. So I think walk-ons are too important part of Saturday football for them to be eliminated. But there's going to have to be some type of mechanism to put them in because scholarships or rosters are going to be capped at a certain number. And they may have to have practice squads

something different so these are some of the changes that are coming we just don't know the final answers yet okay last question for me before the boys have some here um so 20 million dollars is what the school is allowed to give out now are boosters still allowed to do the nil thing and then all of a sudden whenever you talk about scholarships like let's say i want to pay uh boston connor here a hundred thousand bucks but we're going to take 25 000 of that and that's going to allow for your schooling so it's actually a scholarship but it's not actually a scholarship you're actually making 75 you're lucky to be getting a kid thank you i'm very excited thanks for this opportunity you know back in the day when i was there we had to fucking you know get loans out at 47 interest

rate i remember when i had 10 touchdowns this year i won 175 oh we'll talk about that after season i'm sure you'll come in bitching like this entire generation does, and I'll have to re-recruit you and everything, but you're welcome for this. Can that happen as well? Are the boosters money still going to be involved in the NIL entire deal, this entire thing, you think? Because the fundamental tenets of antitrust and settling these things are to avoid future lawsuits, you can't just eliminate NIL.

It doesn't make sense to bring NIL in-house, or at least that's not what people think is going to happen. So in a way, how to manage NIL is probably the biggest issue that administrators have right now. Because essentially, if you have, just say you have your $15 million salary cap for football to use a round number at your run-of-the-mill SEC school, your competitive advantage, potentially in a gray area, right? We're used to those for a few decades in college football, comes from NIL. And when you drill down on it, what they're trying to determine, Pat, is what is real NIL and what is like someone going to a charity event for 20 minutes, shaking a few hands,

and then getting $100,000. Is that indicative? So the NIL deal is such like— You are what they'll pay you. That's right. Yeah, exactly. No, and that's fair. And that's fair.

So, again, NCA enforcement has been just about as impotent over the years as NCA has been in the courtroom. And that's how we got to this point. So having this historic day go forward without an answer for how NIL will be managed and how people are going to oversee it, there's a thought that maybe Judge Wilkin in Northern California has a federal magistrate that creates a bureau to oversee it, just like in the front offices of the NBA and NHL and NFL. There's ways to manage different tampering and things like that. But the NCAA is not...

A Northern California judge is going to be overlooking college ball? Hey, that's ACC territory up there, man. Oh, yeah, you're right. I completely forgot about that. Better get him a Bojangles, right? Yeah, that's exactly right. So it sounds like there's obviously a lot of questions still. There's just an agreement like, yeah, you can pay $20 million at this point.

Just kind of get this lawsuit off their ass. More questions are going to be coming, though. Here's one from McGee. All right, so, Pete, the texts that I'm receiving, and I know you are too, are from administrators at non-autonomous 5, Power 5, Power 4, whatever the hell we're calling it now. But they are taking on a large part of paying off this settlement. are taking on a large part of paying off this settlement.

What is your elevator explanation to people now when they didn't go to Ohio State and Notre Dame, but they went to Ball State or Coastal Carolina, and now they feel like they're having to pay 60% of this as opposed to the guys with the money who were having to pay 40% of it? What's this all about, Pete? So the NCAA is is in by the way buying itself a decade of relevancy by doing this you know they are volunteering to pick up the tab but they're having basically everyone venmo them that would be the the best way to describe

it but instead of venmoing them that ncaa gives an inordinate amount of money to these schools more than i even knew what when i drilled into this last week when everybody started to complain. And rightfully so, by the way, they're not baseless complaints. And so what happens is there's nine different categories that the NCAA pays all these schools in, and six of them are now going to be limited. A lot of that we see manifested through NCAA tournament units, NCAA Tournament Performance Fund, it's called. And essentially, some of that stuff is going to be pared back in order for that to happen. So there's big numbers that the Big East is going to pay $5.5 million to about $7 million per year, which translates down to $500,000 per school. But ultimately, what the NCAA will tell you is, look, if we don't all pick up the

tab here, we're going to lose these lawsuits, fall apart, declare bankruptcy, and have to start all over. How many people are like, that's okay with us? Did anybody say that about the NCAA? I think you'd get a lot of hands raised on your show for that. That would just be complicated and messy. So they're essentially paying billions, Pat, to avoid paying more billions. And risk just sort of a shutdown and restart. And even everyone who's cynical about the NCAA and they've given us plenty of reasons to be, does have to admit, like, whatever is recreated, there would need to be a governing body. Somebody would have to run all the championships but football.

And so in a lot of ways— The biggest issue here, hey, when you're talking about a governing body and recreating all that and all the impossible tasks that have to be completed with actual humans, in theory all this shit sounds good. Just like in theory a player union sounds good. But that is inevitable, right? Players are going to need to have a union at some point with this entire thing,

especially if there's a rev share conversation taking place. And then you're negotiating what can be negotiated, what can't be negotiated. But a union for a turnstile, like you're only there for three, four, five years, whatever it is. So that's going to be a whole different group. So who's going to be the person? Like a union in theory sounds easy to create, but that's going to be impossible as well. There's a lot of shit that has to get figured out before 2025 when this is instituted.

Yes, so kickoff, we're like 100 days from kickoff. I saw the tweets this week, so yeah, we could say 460 days, right? To Pete's point, and people don't get this, the NCAA headquarters,

which are sitting right down the road from where we are. They're the worst. But that has to exist. There has to be some form of that. And what no one understands is, I say this all the time, is that the NCAA, the people who are in that building, their job is to enforce the rules and regulations that were written by the membership. You go to the NCAA website and you look at every committee and its representatives from the schools. The people in this building down here, their only job is to enforce.

In fact, when those committees meet, and my dad was on these committees, when these committees meet, NCAA executives have to sit outside. They're not even allowed to be in the room. So most of what happens in that building, the inmates are running the asylum. So some form of the NCAA will always exist because someone has to peach right. The NCAA is bad at a lot of things. They're really, really good at running championships.

Like I'm going to the College World Series in a few weeks. March Madness is awesome. They're really good at that. Someone needs to do that. Someone needs to take care of the clerical stuff that the colleges, the universities don't want to do. And someone has to be the scapegoat.

You've got to have someone to point to and go, well, that damn guy, the universities don't want to do, and someone has to be the scapegoat. You've got to have someone to point to and go, well, that damn guy is the worst. And there has to be a scarecrow. And so that's why there will always be some form of this, no matter where we have a Super League or whatever. There's always going to be something that looks like the NCAA. Hell yeah, and that's a shame, but it's also maybe a brighter future with what was voted upon yesterday.

Can't be changing college football, though, and that's a shame, but it's also maybe a brighter future with what was voted upon yesterday. Can't be changing college football, though, completely. No. Because what college football is is great, and it's the number two sport in the United States of America. And the authority of it just stopped by with his eyes closed. Thank you for having me. Pete Tamo. Thank you, Tom.

Pete Tamo. Speed! That's what this weekend's all about in this particular city. We'll be you what. I'm praying that the rain holds off on Sunday, and I cannot wait to watch the race. I don't know how I'm going to watch it yet because I am in the blackout zone, but I'll figure it out. Maybe just listen to it. I think the cock, peacock, will have it, but there is a chance we're going to have to figure out a way to put our VIN outside of Indiana. Sure, and I'm not going to do that, so I'm going to have to figure out something else.

Well, we're hoping that the rain doesn't come, too, because all golf courses will be wide open uh-huh it just wide i hadn't even thought about that except for the one inside the racetrack bingo although i'll say cars that are parked that's ryan mcgee yeah can you play brickyard crossing like well you play while is there all the race going on and i've played that course when there's testing going on oh i've played that course when there's testing going on oh yeah you can go like saturday and today yeah not while the race going there's a lot of cars parked yeah there's also the uh the snake pit which the snake pit now is corporatized

and it's awesome like they do the whole corporatized and it's awesome the whole thing but back in the day man oh yeah i've heard photos you if this is your 20th indy 500 that means you definitely were around when the snake bit had its fastball. You saw Guns N' Roses there, right? Yeah. Say again? You saw Guns N' Roses? Yeah, I saw it.

George Thurgood was there today. Oh, man. George Thurgood and the Daryl Lutter damn destroyers. What? Timmy Trumpet's starting the day off on Sunday at 8, 10 a.m. in the snake pit, which is now the new snake pit that got corporatized. The reason why it got corporatized is I do believe there was like 10 to 15 dead bodies in that snake pit back in the day it was something talladega it was something talladega the the infield the talladega super

speedway and then obviously turn three at indy i've seen stuff that i've just gonna keep to myself the talladega they do a thing after every cup race talladega they do the morning they do a um left behind they call it and they just walk around the infield taking pictures and stuff that you just find yeah couches and underwear people humans oh yeah like cars the guy just left the damn car and just i don't want that car anymore and just leave but the snake pit is like that but the snake i brought my wife and daughter to the race in 2017 i I guess it was. And I remember all of the people coming in, and it was, who's the DJ, like, electronic guy? Mark Marshmallow.

They're all wearing the damn Marshmallow things on their head, and none of them knew there was even a race going on. I heard a guy say, is there something else going on here today? Yeah, the damn greatest spectacle in racing. You can't see a car, though, whenever you're in there. You were in the infield in 2017. That was the same year.

Yeah, Marshmallow. I actually saw him from where we were. I've seen Marshmallow's face because he got off his bus. What? No Marshmallow mask. It's off his bus. What? They bring him Marshmallow mask within probably a foot and a half of getting off the bus.

And I eyeball it. I go, oh, I just saw. I just seen Marshmallow. Who does he look like? Who would you say he looks like? Heard of Avicii? Don't you do that. Don't you do that.

DJ Marshmello isn't Tim. I mean, can we confirm that? Can we confirm that the Daft Punk guys aren't Tim? Well, Daft Punk used to really light it. Timmy Trump, it's about the light Indianapolis on fire, but when you're in that sink pit, you can't even see the cars. Was it the Mallow or was it one of his body doubles? Well, that was

what I thought immediately. It was like, that's brilliant. Did he have body doubles? The Mallow? Well, think about Mark. The Mallow? Is that an actual term? We don't know. We're talking from the same angle you are. We don't know Mr. Mallow. It's amazing. I mean, it is. I always go down there i went down

there with connor daly um i think he's a friend of the show i went to connor daly a couple years ago connor's the best and we went down early he's like you don't even believe what we're gonna see it was like 7 30 in the morning oh yeah and i was like this is a little intense but it was it was you're gonna stop by the coke lot while you're here yeah sure you know what the coke lot is oh yeah you should just take a little trip around there kilos on kilos the night before the other night before two nights before they're camping out already probably in the coke lot is oh yeah you should just take a little trip around there kilos on kilos the night before the other night before two nights before they're camping out already probably in the coke lot you should go swing by the coke lot yeah i'll do that yeah you'll see some poles and stuff out there in the middle of well i'm always working i did a live show they are too i mean some people call that

the oldest job two different places this has happened to me live on sports center and one was at the uh the world's largest we're not allowed to call it this, the world's largest outdoor cocktail party. Yeah, that's bullshit. I call it the earth's biggest, you know, alfresco libation soiree. What the hell? I don't know what you call it. Why aren't you allowed to call it the world's largest? Georgia, Florida. They just didn't want to call it that anymore.

Yeah, because the first time I was on Game Day, I just called it that. And then I got a bunch of people telling me you're not allowed to call it that. It's like, says who? It is what it is. But I was doing a live shot on SportsCenter. That's so dumb. Who made that rule? That's so dumb. They did.

Who's they? I don't know. The Georgia-Florida people. I don't know. Florida-Georgia line. The line? Because they're fighting right now, too. I don't know.

That might be why. Because one of them said, hey, we're not calling it. Their bar is closing. Yeah. They don't get any sale. Our pet's heads are falling. That's not my country. Their bar is closing. Yeah, they don't get any sale. Our Pat's heads are full. That's not my country. It's not.

That's a whole other – that's an entire episode of Marty McGee right there. But it happened at that game, and it happened at the Indy 500 doing a live shot. And literally, they're setting up a pole behind me. It happened to me twice, and the producer is like doing this. I'm like, what the hell is she doing? Twisting her hand. I realize. So while we're doing a live shot, I'm literally like – I'm going to the producer is like doing this. I'm like, what the hell is she doing? Twisting her hand. I realize. So while we're doing a live shot, I'm literally like turning like this.

So the background changes because they're back there setting up a disco ball and a pole behind me. So there you go, kids. Enjoy the end of the show. Yeah, but the pole was holding down the grass. Yeah, that's what it was. The Maypole. Yeah, exactly.

It was like Napoleon Dynamite. Is it down volleyball on the pole? And I think it was sort of charitable situation that was what it was. It was a Maypole. Yeah, exactly. It was like a Napoleon Dynamite. It was a damn volleyball on the pole. And I think it was sort of a charitable situation that was about to happen. Joining us now is a man who knows all about this stuff. He does. He's a college football national champion, a Super Bowl champion, a Ryder Cup winner, and a pole king. Ladies and gentlemen, A.J. Hawk.

Yeah, A.J. Hawk. That's what they call you, a pole king. My man. The pole king. You're telling me they're setting up stripper poles and people are selling their body on the infield of the Indy 500? They're not selling their body. I mean, I think they're earning it.

You said the old profession is prostitution. You said the old profession. It's for looking. You can't touch. In the 60s and 70s, it was Sodom and Gomorrah. Now it's a little... Now it's a little... Yeah.

Not the same now. Not in Daga. Daga is the same. No, no, no. Daga never changed. Yeah. Daga never changed. Not Dega. Dega is the same. No, no, no. Dega never changed. Yeah. Dega never changed. Talladega.

Raised up. He's got a bar down in Nashville now. There's chairs on the roof. Do you see that? Yes. Marty Smith has talked about this on Marty McGee. He's an investor in that deal. He says he owns the toilet paper.

Smart. Smart. Nobody wants that chair. He says he owns the toilet paper. Smart. Nobody wants that chair. I believe there's signs at the top of Eric Church's mark that says you're not more than a wallet. Don't even think about it. Don't even think. Nashville, what a city. Unbelievable.

We need to get back down there. Absolutely. It has changed a little over the years. When I was a student at Tennessee, we'd go to Nashville, and it was a little seedier, and now it's corporatized. But it's awesome. Yeah, but it's great. It is awesome. But Tootsies is still too long as again like college football as long as Tootsies is still Tootsies I'm fine they ruined Tootsies mom go AJ how do you feel about the

college football uh world right now obviously we just had Pete Tam on he came on to tell us historic huge day so many questions we got about 460 days to figure it all out before the 2025 season. He also alluded to the fact that the multibillion-dollar lawsuit that was coming down certainly expedited some decisions here from the NCAA. Amateurism was a word that they made up to answer for everything that they thought was bullshit happening under their belt. Now that is gone. What are your thoughts on it, AJ?

Obviously, Ohio State's going to benefit from this somehow right yeah i guess but i still there's there's a million like every new decision that comes up there's a hundred more questions on how you're going to figure it out like what are the logistics and if all these schools are able to pay them yeah that was a great question to pete like what happens to all the nio money all the deal like what are we going to do so just they're going to you're going to make money on top of what the school is paying each player? So I guess each school in that $20 million that's going to be divvied up, what's going to be divvied up into? That's a salary cap, right?

I don't know if it's a salary cap or if that's a salary floor. Now it's like, do you have to give this up? You can't collect this money yourself for your own school, especially if other schools are paying for it. He said that people are putting money up and then also TV rights I think. Yeah, boosters and schools. Can tuition, is tuition a part of that? Is any money the school makes, is that part of the $20 million

that they can pay? I do wonder. Remember, there was a time where they said, they can't afford it. They're not making money. These schools are making money. Now, they just built a $750 million facility. Yeah, and the TV deals just went through the roof. Yeah, but they're not making it. I remember we've got to build up

a laboratory here on the medical campus that has never been seen before. Actually going to send us to the moon again. Nice. For the first time since 1969. We went to the moon, right? Yeah, they were all, and the new moon people,

the Artemis people, they were all at the national championship game. The new moon people? Yeah, the new astronauts. I got on the elevator, and I was like, damn, are y'all the astronauts that are going to the moon? They're like, yeah. I'm like, that's cool. It was awesome.

Did you guys talk? I went to space camp when I was a kid. I love that stuff. There's a plane, I think, in North Carolina that is a zero-gravity plane that you can actually take. Oh, yeah. That's in Carolina, right? Yeah, Vomit Comet. Yes, that is exactly.

I've looked into doing the Vomit Comet, and I think it's in Carolina. Pretty pricey, but seemingly you get a good 45 seconds to a minute floating around. No, you do. It's amazing. Have you done it? Yes. Okay. Did you vomit?

Of course you did. I flew with the Thunderbirds, who are here, by the way. They'll do the Indy 500. USA! USA! I didn't throw up or pass out in the Thunderbirds. That's all that mattered to me. My guy, G Gator was amazing.

The guy flew like 150 sorties over Afghanistan or whatever. It was the greatest. But yeah, it needs to do with the Vomit Comet. No, it's totally awesome. You won't throw up. You're good. They send you a list of things to not do. Like you don't eat within a certain window and you don't eat certain things.

If you just do all that, you're fine. Okay. Plus, you're a family to a professional athlete, dude. You you just do all that, you're fine. Plus, you're a professional athlete. You can do it. No, I'm not. I'm learning that with this soccer tournament training. Last question. Hawk looks like an astronaut. Hawk is still in shape. I did it twice, McGee.

I puked at least eight times. Both times I went up with that, McGee. The Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels. You did both times massively puked. I loved it. Great time, but I puked my life away. It's the greatest thing I ever did was flying with the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels. You did both. I loved it. Great time, but I puked my life away. It's the greatest thing I ever did was fly with the Thunderbirds. Got a daughter in South Carolina.

My wife and daughter are tired of hearing about it. I literally can't go more than a day and a half without bringing it. It was in 2019. I can't go more than a day and a half. Have you ever won an Emmy before? Yeah. Yeah.

Hey, hey, hey. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey. College game day, y'all. How about that? How about that? You're a part of game day, too. That's a big deal.

Hey, you're a part of game day, too. I heard a lot more of your voice this year. Yeah, I was really fortunate this year that I got to write those essays each week. And we had so much fun with those. You did great. I appreciate it. Are you doing it again next year? I hope so. Hell yeah. We won an Emmy. Don't mess with the roster, right? Yeah. You did great. I appreciate it. Are you doing it again next year? I hope so.

Hell yeah. We won an Emmy. Don't mess with the roster, right? Yeah, don't change the recipe. Are y'all listening? They're not. There's a lot of listening that should be done. But now we will listen about some hockey and what's going on. Last night, Connor McDavid had his.

Yup, he's still Connor McDavid night. Not only game winner in double overtime after missing one in the first overtime, after getting a penalty in the first overtime as well, has a nice leadership role that he is. He's found himself in the Edmonton Oilers. Obviously, a lot of people have chatted about this guy for a while, being the next one. This kid is the kid.

Watch him play hockey. You will fall in love with hockey. Last night he has an assist and a game-winning goal, even though the goalie for Dallas stood on his damn head. With a touch like that, you can't help but say to yourself, damn, this guy is a real deal. He might be the next Sidney Crosby, and damn it, if he wins, there will be a lot of weight lifted off his shoulder.

Joining us now is a guy that can tell us a little bit more about the Western Conference Finals and even the Eastern Conference Finals that have Rempe benching in the healthy scratch. Come on. That's his Rangers team. Yeah. Against the physical Florida Cats, ladies and gentlemen, P.K. Subban. Yeah, P.K.

What's behind you there? Tatum. Jake Tatum. Tatum. Hey, with the beef and broccoli, Tatum, kid. Hey, poor Zingas, too, with the beef and broccoli, Tatum, kid. Hey, Porzingis, too, with the Skyhook. He's coming back. Yep, game four, PK.

Get pumped, brother. Come on now. Hey, Pacers haven't lost since what? What day was it? March 18th? That's going to change real quick. Real quick. Okay, PK.

Tatum! Okay, PK. Tatum! Okay, Tatum! You've been doing Tatum better than Tatum's been doing Tatum in this particular series thus far, but I do fear that he's about to go bananas. We've got to call you back, PK. I mean, all your shit talk is muddying the internet. That was the connection.

Just to be clear, too, Tatum had 36 points game one. Okay, but it didn't matter because nobody saw him because all anybody saw was what the Pacers did for the final 10 seconds of that game. And Jalen Brown hitting that corner three with Siakam literally. How's he make that? I have no idea.

I don't know, especially because the Pacers had 390 passes. I understand he didn't want to foul, but let's get an arm up. I think he just double punched right to the chest. Yeah, so it was that. When he first got the ball, he almost pump faked almost. So then Siakam was like, I can't foul him because he has three free throws. And then he didn't shoot it.

And then he reset it. He's like, oh, no, it's four points. Now it's AM1. Yeah, exactly. Game over. Yeah, kind of put him in a little chest, a little mental. Yeah, well, that's what the Celtics do. They make you think one thing, and then, hey, guess what?

Oh, you guys are Shinzu all of a sudden? Shinzu's dead. We're over here. Lay up. Shinzu's dead. Check it out. He's not dead in the Celtics locker room. They read Art of War every day.

Did you know Shinzu died? Yeah. A couple years ago. Really? Yeah. I thought Shinzu, I thought that was like 5,000 years ago. What? Yeah.

Maybe 10. You're thinking of a different Shinzu, brother. We didn't know that. No,,000 years ago. What? Maybe 10. You're thinking of a different Shinzu, brother. We didn't know that. No, you would be right. Yeah. I found out Shinzu was dead, and I was so bummed out. Floored. Shook.

Everybody talks about the art of war. They use it. I mean, Celtics, Joe Mazzola will probably say, you know, you got to think one thing and make them do the other. You know, appear strong when weak, appear weak when strong. Like, the art of war, like, changed every single competitor's mentality. Well know, appear strong when weak, appear weak when strong. The Art of War changed every single competitor's mentality. Well, Pat Riley was the guy, right? Pat Riley was the one that

handed it out and made everybody read it. And they're like, what are we doing? And then they all ended up, you know, now everybody reads it. Well, the guy's dead, though. Yeah. They do actually read Art of War, the entire team. And that is something they implement with their... Hey, Carlisle, listen, I know we don't have a lot of time for the next game.

We need everybody reading Shinzu's Bible. Halliburton, figuring it out. Halliburton knows Shinzu. He needs a left hand. It's a hammy, right? Hammies don't just heal overnight. I feel bad for the dude. I hope he finds a way to make it work. Yeah, I'm not happy about it. Obviously, it's a bummer, but this is professional

sports, and we are very deep into the season. The way the Pacers play, there's a chance that this is going to happen to all teams. We've just got to hope that Field of Pain Bridge is loud and rowdy. I just got a little bit of breaking news. I think Ryan McGee is going to be in Field of Pain Bridge Fieldhouse on Saturday night. Wow. What? Yeah, that's what I heard.

Ryan McGee. That's Market Square Arena, right? That's the name of it? I appreciate your history of Indianapolis being on display. Honestly, I had dinner downtown last night, and the game was on every television, and the arena was literally across the street, and everyone was mad,

and then everybody just started telling old-school Market Square Arena stories because they didn't want to talk about what was happening to their team. Yeah. But, yeah, can I wear that helmet? I'm going to walk in with that helmet. Like Marshmallow. Maybe we get you an actual Marshmallow. That's not a bad idea.

Just to wrap up that whole conversation, as soon as I saw the head getting put on to Mr. Mallow, I did think to myself, wow, what a business. You could have four gigs one night. You just need four people that look and are built similarly. They can do this deal. Yeah, because only one of them needs to be able to actually do it. Push a button.

Everybody else is just marshmallow dancing in the car. What a genius business. That was my first night. It was like 7.30 in the morning. I just woke up. Might have been a little hungover, and I look over, and I see it all unfolding. I'm like, of course.

What a fucking genius. What a a move that's the move but i don't think mellow would let anybody else play his shit no nobody else is representing i think also all right so this is this is me comparing myself to marshmallow the uh when i was when i was in high school my buddy dave and i used to dj like middle school dances and we'd have damn records and shit and you know all the dave and mcgee yeah yeah so what we figured out was was like dude i think i could just make a DJ like middle school dances. We'd have damn records and shit. Dave and McGee? Yeah, yeah. So what we figured out was, I was like, dude, I think I could just make a mixtape and we could just put that in

and act like we're doing records. So that's what we started doing. We just put the dance on the mic. And we're over there, like we're putting needles on records and doing that stuff. Everybody's just dancing. It was just like a solid 90-minute playlist.

Yeah, that's a good play. We're like, isn't this great? No request. No request. Exactly. Like play a slow song. No way, the hell, get out of here. You want that like, isn't this great? No request. No request. Exactly. Like, play a slow song. No way. The hell. Get out of here.

You want that next? That's what marshmallows do. Marshmallow handing out. Just hit this. Put on your helmet. Go hit this phone drive. We're good. And we need a good. There's probably a class or two about what you're allowed to do.

I hope. In a room like this. They're all in front of the mirror. Yeah. They're all doing the whole thing. I just hit the microphone again. Sorry. So this chair is 14 feet high

and this microphone is literally at crotch level. You can move it. The mic is up here, almost in my nose. You can move it. I don't want to mess with y'all's deal. It's your deal.

You can lower the chair, I think, right? I just apologize. I apologize. You can lower the chair, I think, right? But anyway, Jeff, I just apologize. Apologize. I keep hitting the microphone. At this point, they're just expecting it. Other side. Other side. That one. Always on the right side normally. You're almost there. I'll go down with you.

I'll do it to the next break in 40 minutes from now. Same thing. We're good. We're fine. No, no, no. Now you guys are stressed out. I'm staring at it. I'm staring at it. I haven't touched it yet. McGee just cried.

Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now is a man who has ruined our show with his technical bullshit. It's a lot like flying with a Thunderbird right now. There we go. This is Siciliano

here on this beautiful feel-good Friday. Ryan McGee is a buff 4'8", although right now... You've got to raise it, brother. You look so small. You've got to go back up a little. That's a low little guy.

I'm going to keep going. Thank you, sir. I'm joining us now is a guy who, his technical issues, not only with his microphone, but his internet, have tried to ruin our show before. But he's so damn electrifying,

how could you not have him back on? Amen. Hockey expert, P.K. Subed. I got the Wi-Fi going. Oh, it's in the back, yeah. Portrait mode. Where are you right now? I am in New York City.

I am here for now. I'll be up in Bristol later doing the game tonight. Big one tonight at MSG. Okay, let's talk about, so you're in New York and going to leave the games in New York because we've got to get to the studio. We've got to do some good talking.

We appreciate the coverage all year. You boys have been crushing it over there. You boys have been crushing it over there. Moose has become a friend of the program too, which is a big development. We're very pumped about that. Let's talk about this Rangers team. So, Rempe, obviously the big story going into the Florida Panthers.

He hadn't played for a while. But going against the Florida Panthers, a very physical team, you would think you would want the Rempire State Building the Florida Panthers. He hadn't played for a while. But going against the Florida Panthers, a very physical team, you would think you would want the Rampire State Building to be in there. He's a healthy scratch. Did Florida just out-physical this Rangers team? Is this what this is going to be? Are they just out-classing the Rangers team?

And why is Rempe not on the damn ice, PK? Okay, first, to address that with the Rangers, I played for Peter Laviolette for three years in Nashville, and I know for him one of the most frustrating things must have been watching his team start the game and start that series. This is not typical of a Peter Laviolette team because, in my opinion, he's probably the best motivational coach in the league. This guy gets you prepared to play in a way like no other coach.

You want to tear the door off the hinges, froth coming out of your mouth knees bent like that's the way he gets his teams to play every game and i think that's why they won the president's trophy this year is because they were prepared to play every game x's and o's but for me the start of this series had nothing to do with x's and o's the emotion just wasn't there for the Rangers. I don't know why. Maybe it's the time off. Doesn't matter. You knew what type of fight you were getting into with the Florida Panthers.

And I think as far as Rempe goes, I like the move of not playing him the first game. It's up to those guys in the locker room that have been there all year. You know, Matt Rempe is going to be a great player for the New York Rangers, hopefully for a long time. And he brings an element that they will definitely need in this playoffs. There's no doubt about it, but I like the move of giving Hedl and some of the other guys an opportunity to get into the lineup. Now, whether you bring a guy who hasn't played pretty much all playoffs and put him in there, that's another story or not, but I think holding Rempe out and giving some of the older veteran guys an opportunity to set the tone was the right move.

Now you can always go back to him, and we'll see if he's in there tonight. Okay, go ahead, AJ. What about on the other side? What about when you look at the Panthers and you see the stars are coming out? I mean, to Chuck, we watch everything that he does. He's so fun to watch as well as the rest of the team. How do you think they match up for the rest of the series, and what happens if they go up 2-0 on the Rangers? Boom!

Well, I'll tell you, that hit specifically right there, and I had asked a couple fans that I know. You know, we talk hockey all the time, and I said, have you seen Vinny Trocek get hit that many times in one game this season? And everybody, the consensus was no. And I'm going to tell you, the Florida Panthers, they know who the star players are in the Rangers. They abused them all last game. In the first, the first the second and the third and they didn't stop and it

wasn't just on Vinny Trocek it was on Adam Fox as well Truba tried to get his physicality going that's fine uh the Florida Panthers are prepared for that but this is what we knew was going to happen in this series nobody should be if anybody says they're surprised, they're fake surprised. I told you that this series would be one in front of the nets, in the corners, along the boards. I told you the matchups would be important. I don't know if they're going to keep their deep pairings together,

but they might have to shake it up a little bit. It'll be interesting to see because that'll be the story of the series for me, is going to be what Peter Laviolette's going to do with his lineup. He's got so many weapons. I think he's going to juggle them a little bit. I would,

because you definitely have to find a way. We know they're going to come out harder than they did in game one, right? They can't possibly come out flatter than they did in game one. They're going to come out with the energy, but I think matchups are going to be key. Kachuk and Barkov are a problem. They're big,

they're physical and they're skilled. They have experience. They were in the finals last year. The moment isn't going to get too big for these guys, so the Rangers got to take a look in the mirror and elevate their compete level. The emotions got to go way up. Forget the X's and O's for a second. The emotions

got to go way up for the Rangers. Way, way up. Hey, Nick, you know, I know you love the sport of hockey. Hosted at Hockey Talk, World Ball Hockey Champion. Obviously, we grew up in hockey. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, multiple back-to-back Stanley Cup winners throughout our livelihood out there. I mean, you know, all that stuff.

Whenever your star players are getting bombed on, who is normally on the roster to protect them? What is that? Well, Pat, when you have an absolute animal that can throw bombs and throw his body around, maybe you want to get him in the lineup and have him put someone into the glass in the first row. Maybe a little feet. I'm just, I can't skate. Maybe a little jump.

I don't know. Isn't that like what hockey is? Isn't that like an entire role of what it was, especially in a self-'t that like what hockey is? Isn't that like an entire role of what it was, especially in a self-policing sport that it is? You tell me you like the move of letting the vets and not having Rempe out there. It's like Florida Panthers liked it too. They had no fear at all of any repercussions of anything

when they're going after people. Pat, thank God I'm not a coach because if I was the coach of the New York Rangers I would have had these guys Eating nails for breakfast, lunch and dinner All week, getting prepared for this game I would have had them I would have been shooting pucks

Have them blocking shots with their faces I would have been having them just do all out war Dog fights in the corner Because that's what this series is going to be Yes, the Florida Panthers got a lot of skill and talent But you're exactly right. You've got to get physical. You've got to get.

Like for me, you want to be the first to get to them. You don't want to let them. You don't want to be the person reacting. You've got to set the tone. And for me, coming out and punching them right in the face. You knew Florida was going to do that. To me, the Rangers, you can't afford to be on your heels. Eastern Conference Final. I don't care how good your team is,

how deep your team is, every arena in this league gets smaller. The ice gets tighter. There's less time and space out there. So it's not just on Panarin and Vinny Trocek and the stars on the team. The younger guys, Lafreniere, Hedl, if he's in the lineup, Cooley, all these guys, Jimmy Vesey, all their depth players have to bring more energy to that team. And to be honest, I'd love to pick on some guys right now.

There's no one to pick on. It's their whole team. Their whole team's got to get the energy. The brightest, the best player for me on their back end was Schneider. He's the only guy that played with some jump and some pizzazz and some juice. He's trying to be physical. He had the breakaway. He hit the post.

Everybody's got to be pulling on the rope this time of year, and that's the only bright spot for the Rangers is that they can probably take that game, toss it in the trash. They've got to bring the emotions tonight. Tonight is about energy. It's about pride. It's your building.

You can't allow the Florida Panthers to walk in there and smack you around for two games. Can't happen. Yeah, and, you know, the Florida Panthers will. And when you talk about taking a game and throwing it in the trash, Pacers tried to do that for the first game. And then carried it. They had no pizzazz or job. They had no pizzazz in game two. That hat's not big enough for your head.

So I'm okay. Well, I just got a haircut. I'm not ruining it. I just got a tight haircut. Fresh. It is fresh. It is very fresh. You look good.

Crispy. Yeah, yeah, crispy. It's conference finals. Got to. Got to do it. As we stay on the East, McGee's got a question for you. PK, you just mentioned arenas, right? And listen, I understand every arena is an arena and you're home.

But we're sitting here talking about the Pacers this weekend and Payne Bridge Arena and all that stuff. What is MSG like when the games matter? And how important is that for the Rangers? Is it the best in the league, too? Is it amongst the best in the league? It's got to be the best arena in all sports. I mean, just from the history and everything.

In terms of the noise and the sound, I'm a little bit biased. Playing in Montreal at the Bell Center in the playoffs, I've never heard a sports arena that loud. I mean, we're talking about in warm-ups, like pucks vibrating on the ice type of noise and energy, so crazy. But MSG, I mean, it's got to be in the top three of all time. And I'm going to be honest. When I watch the Rangers play, when they're playing great,

it's loud in there. But when Matt Rempe's running around on that ice. You said you liked the move. You said you liked the move and he's not on there. I will let you know as a fan of the sport. No, no, no. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I liked the move for game one because you got the aces page

in your back pocket you got that this series is going 6-7 what are we waiting for where's Truba I thought Truba was a tough guy where's Truba we got time

it's the conference finals they don't care we don't have time they don't want the cup you don't have time. They don't want the cup, do they, PK? They don't want it. You don't want the cup. You don't want the cup. You don't want the cup.

You don't want the cup. That's wild. Everybody wants the damn cup. Come on. Everybody wants the damn cup. You don't want Lourdes? I want the cup. Hey, I got to be honest.

If Rangers win 3-0, their power play gets two goals. They won't. They can get an empty net or whatever. I've got two. The Florida Panthers? We're not talking about Matt Rempe. What happened? The Rangers come out, lay an absolute egg,

and now everybody wants the coach in the GM's head. They want Rempe in the lineup. You know he's going to get in there. Do we? When he gets in there, he's got to play within. He's got to be aware because he may not cross the line and get called. I watched Florida last game impose their will all over the ice on the Rangers for 60 minutes.

And I don't know. They had two penalties. I think they were late in the game. Like, they were very well disciplined. So, Matt Rempe, as much as I want to see him bring that energy, he's got to manage it. And trust me, I will hold the refs and the officiating accountable. If they're calling chintzy calls on him and he's playing within the lines,

I'll say something. But he can't be having chicken wings. He's got to keep his arms down. He's got to play within the rules. Little Bojangles. Little Bojangles. Little Bojangles. Delicious, Frank. Let's got to keep his arms down. He's got to play within the rules. Little Bojangles. Little Bojangles. Let's go to

the West, obviously. I want Rempe running wild, though. I do. I want to see it. I want to see it. Sorry. It didn't sound like your first answer. I want him. I want it. They don't want the cup.

They don't want the cup at all. They just want their khakis. Anyways, let's go to the Western. They got him. I want it. I want it. They don't want the cup. They don't want the cup at all. They just want their khakis. Anyways, let's go to the Western. They got him. Let's go to the Western side of this entire thing. Last night, Connor McDavid, how you doing? Best player in hockey, some people think. How you doing?

Assist, game winner. This is a massive game for Connor McDavid, who was on a little bit of a schneid whenever it came to scoring goals. It was obviously affecting games, and dry saddle kind of made up for him. But last night, Connor McDavid gets a big-time win in double overtime. This is huge.

Now, there's a team down in Texas, the Dallas Stars, who were the odds-on favorite to maybe go on and win this entire thing. Gumpy has a question for you, PK. Yeah, PK, Stu Skin kind of bounced back after being benched. Do you think he can continue this? And how many games do you think the Texas Hockey wins this series in? Well, I said, quote, that I don't care if it's four, five, six, or seven games, the Dallas Stars will end up winning this series.

So I'm not going to retract from that statement because that's how i feel about their team when they're playing their best yesterday they started the game off right and they for some reason they came out in the second period took their foot off the the gas pedal and forgot they're in the the western conference final and they're four wins away from the stanley cup final which you cannot do you can't afford to do not when you have the world's best player across the ice and possibly the second third or fourth best player across the ice as well and leon dry sidle so uh i did preface my my pick with this i said as much as dallas could win in four five six or seven

games if connor mcdavid shows up and elevates his game to not just one level, but two or three levels higher because he has that, if he does that, now it's a coin flip. You don't know what could happen. And we saw that in game one. And by the way, the way he skated and attacked the game yesterday, he hadn't done that all playoffs. Like, I don't know.

I said last series against Vancouver, he had three assists in like six games or something like that, and I said something like, he's got to get going. He's not attacking the defense. He's not attacking goaltenders. He's not attacking the game. It's more passive-aggressive. Well, that wasn't the case last night. He wanted to be the guy last night.

He wanted to be the guy to put his team over the top. And if it wasn't for Jake Ottener, it would have happened a lot earlier in overtime. But Connor McDavid made no doubt about it. This guy's come to play. He knows he's got to get to the Stanley Cup final, and he's playing like it. And if he continues to play like that, they definitely can win this series.

Are you kidding me? 100%. But if the Dallas Stars find their game, if they find their game, which I don't think they can play worse than they did yesterday, as much as everybody might think they played okay, that's not the Dallas Stars team we've seen for the first couple rounds. That's not the team we saw against Vegas. That's not what we're banging a glass.

Uh-uh. Still should have won. No, no. They should have won. Yeah, no jubilation. But let's see how game two goes. I think Dallas has to get it. Definitely, you know, they're banged up a little bit down the middle.

They definitely need to get healthy down the middle and get their guy back there. What's his name? Ruppe. We need Ruppe back. We need Ruppe. Marchman was throwing the body around last night, though. Mason Marchman's a dog.

Ropey hits why this guy's so key. He's so big. He's skilled. And he can skate with a guy like McDavid. When you think about shutting down centermen, having him against a dry sidle or McDavid is huge. It's massive. It's everything.

So you can't lose a guy like that, but they have enough depth. I think Dallas, they've got to get healthy, get their game in order, and figure it out. Jake Ottinger, I thought he shut the door when he needed to. What's Pat doing over there? He's working on his dangies. What do you mean? You ever seen anything like that

before? Probably not. Hot potato, hot potato. Looks like he's got a case of dangleitis. Sorry about it, dude. He's got a man that wants the cup. he's got a case of dangleitis. Yeah, sorry about it, dude. A man that wants the cup. He's got a man that wants the cup. And conditions are dangles. I saw McDavid last night did his thing lefty. I said, you know what? I wouldn't mind deflecting a ball

or two this morning. Can't skate, but the guys can touch. Absolutely not. That's not bad, though. That's not bad. I could use a left-handed defenseman, honestly, in my men's league. Pat, you coming through New York anytime soon? Let's go. Is this ball hockey or are we on ice? Oh, honestly, in my men's league. Pat, you coming through New York anytime soon? Let's go. Is this ball hockey or are we on ice? Oh, yeah, I forgot. You can't skate. Can you skate or no?

No, yeah, I don't do snow. There's a lot of people new to the show that don't think that. This guy's got to be on all the cocaine. I don't do the snow, and I don't do the ice. That isn't my thing. I'm a land animal. I'm a land animal. Or tree animal.

Yeah, land and trees Or tree. Okay. Yeah, land and trees. That's what I'm saying. Land and trees. I love that. Hey, dude. Bob Marley, kid. Hey.

Bob Marley. Whoa. You watch the movie? Oh. Yeah. Was that a weed? Was that a weed thing you had on the other side? I'm not sure what it was.

It could be. I don't know. Was there birds? Was there a tree of them? That's a Canadian logo, I thought. Yeah. Is that a maple leaf? That's the maple leaf. It's the maple leaf, dude.

Let that sleep, Pat. That's the maple leaf. Yeah, absolutely. That's a nice bomboclat hoodie there you got. Rude boy. Alright, have a good one, bro. We're out of here. What? No. Hey, Shata, you're doing a great job. Alright, I want to let you know that. You're doing yeah um hey shata you're doing a great job all right i want to let you know that you're doing a phenomenal job at what you're doing we can't wait to watch

tonight thank you for joining us pal thanks guys love you guys pat you too go pacers what no you meant celtic you went celtic no i meant pacers i bet pac Go Pacers. They're in one. Tatum! Jay Tatum! Jay Tatum! Jay Tatum! Such a good move. Reverse dunk. I don't know if I've ever seen Tatum pull off

a reverse dunk. Does McGee know how good of a basketball player PK is? PK impersonates basketball for the last three weeks now that he found out that the Celtics exist, I guess. Have you ever talked to that guy? You know PK? I don't know him, but I've talked to him. He is electrifying. He's amazing.

He's a man. So I get to write, with my job, I get to write a lot of scripts that I don't voice. Like other people, like opens for shows, like teases and stuff. Really? And so I get to write scripts for Messier and PK. Did you do Messier's the other night? Yeah. That one was unbelievable.

Appreciate it. Holy shit. That's awesome. That's one of my favorites. In my previous life, when I was a TV producer, that's what I would do. I'd write scripts. And so I still get to do that a lot for something. So you know who you're writing for, though, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you're writing in that angle? Yeah, and I did a thing for Casey Aff do that a lot for something. So you know who you're writing for though, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you're writing him that angle? Yeah, and I did a thing for Casey Affleck a couple weeks ago that he just crushed. It was awful. His milk speech? He gave a good milk speech, I think, when he got an award one time. Yeah, yeah.

But I write a lot of these things. AJ, stop. Shut up. We're trying to learn what he actually did. That was Joaquin Phoenix, too. That was Joaquin, my bad. Yeah, he was talking about taking milk from cows. Believe it or not, I did not write Joaquin's Oscar speech.

I know. Shut up. But, yeah. So, it's funny. I know a lot of people in the company that I don't really know because I'll send scripts and we'll go back and forth or whatever else. And so, yeah. He's the man.

He's been great. He's electric. Yeah. Yeah, he really is. and he loves the sport that's the thing too is i hate analysts that act like they don't want to be there you know what i mean like they're getting paid and it's great but it's kind of a hassle and you feel like they're just waiting to get on the plane agreed but those guys are just i mean they're so fired up screen oh 100 as a producer you just drive me crazy i'm like if you don't want to be here you know we're paying you a lot of money we could find plenty of people that will be here

but yeah but but when someone really wants to be in the middle of it you sense that's why game day is a great show because when you're when the game day crew wants to be in the middle of all that you know yeah and it's just that's why that's why it works that's like the football thing i feel like it's like all those people care so much more about football than there are other sports and it goes back to like the legacy of it and like that energy that they bring and then you guys i mean we've almost just dropped an f-bomb but we love football today like 30 this week it's been a real loose week it's been a real loose week this one it's all right it's the only word not allowed to say like but you're in a church like that part i didn't get like i watch the show i'm like whatever say whatever words you want to. But you're in a church. That part I didn't get. I watch a show and I'm like, whatever. Say whatever words you want to say, but you're

in a church and it freaks me out a little bit. It's a thunderdome. See, I'm like, I got PTSD. I grew up Southern Baptist, North Carolina. Yeah, but these words were invented by Jesus Christ. Yeah, he put them on my mind. You're right. Jesus happened to Christ. He said all that. He actually came out at

point guard. Yeah. Thought you had me, bitch. Yeah. Jesus. Fucking. Cool. Jesus.

Yeah. I mean, he would be worthy of the effing is the middle name more than anybody. Oh, for sure. Because when he did that rock. Because when he did the rock. When Jesus hung out with the lepers and the prostitutes and all that stuff, I'm pretty sure he probably said a bad word. I bet he did.

He was just taking notes. Oh, okay. I guess that's where that goes. Yeah. Yeah. He just, yeah. It was. Guess where what goes. That's how the birds

of the bee story. What do you mean? Alright, let's wrap up with some stories that we haven't talked about yet this week. Aaron Rogers was speaking to the media. He basically said, yeah, we suck. I'm fired. Everybody's fired. Here's his quote from the press conference. Earlier, there's pressure on all of us.

All of us, yeah. Why do you say there's pressure on you of us. All of us, yeah. Why do you say there's pressure on you? Well, I think if I don't do what I know I'm capable of doing, we're all probably going to be out of here. So I like that kind of pressure, though. I know there's, you know, it's a tough market to play in. It's not for everybody. I relish that opportunity.

And that's the way the NFL is. It's not for everybody. I relish that opportunity. And that's the way the NFL is. I'm not saying anything monumental as you guys are typing away and putting your tweets out. This is how it is every single year. You might not say it, but as you get older in the league, if you don't perform, they're going to get rid of you or bring in the next guy to take over. It happened in Green Bay.

And I'm a few years older than I was back then. So I expect to play at a high level. I expect us to be productive and competitive and all that stuff to take care of itself. He had no Hooga House hat on. He had the Jets hat on, standard issue. You know, good looking. But he did have the thankful for the love shirt,

just letting people know, hey, we're all about love around here. He is in a point of life where he understands the pressure and he is good with it, it feels like. Has he always been this way, AJ? And did you talk about this at all at the Derby? Of course, you're going to say, no, we didn't bring up football at all, even though he's coming back after only being able to play four plays for a team that entire marketing campaign. The biggest city on earth was about him playing. We didn't talk about it at all, but how does he feel going into the season? Feels like everything is very on the up and up, and this is the type Aaron Rodgers that normally plays very well, right? Isn't this kind of normally the way this goes?

Yeah, kind of like, would you call it like back up against the wall? Like everything kind of rides on this season, everything going on, but what he said was very true i mean it's not always people don't always say it but yeah hey if he stinks the team stinks they're all gone they're gonna get everybody you know they're gonna clear clean house so yeah it's i think though people like him like you know elite performers that are the top of the top they absolutely do their best when their back is against the wall and everyone is doubting them you can stack the chips on your shoulder all of that stuff i think only helps him and helps the team with motivation so we're getting clips too of him at otas and we know otas have started weeks ago but they only officially started just a couple days ago uh there's a no look pass that he had to xavier

gibson with a p it was a beautiful thing he's looking deep down the sideline, right? Nope! What? Nope! Seam ball! What? Chin strap strapped up too. That means it's a serious period. Yeah, absolutely. That chin strap's already off there once that ball was caught.

That thing is quickly in, quickly out. He's been doing no looks obviously for decades in the NFL. Matthew Stafford is a guy that he also gave love to He's been doing no looks, obviously, for decades in the NFL. Matthew Stafford is a guy that he also gave love to being able to do no looks around. We got a guy in Houston, Texas. This C.J. Stroud dude. This thing's a beauty, too. Nonchalant dart, no look.

This dude, I hate him. I hate him. That's tough for you. I've gotten to the point where I'm not. Shouldn't be that easy. He shouldn't be that cool. Shouldn't be that easy. Shouldn't be that easy. Shouldn't be that good of a leader.

Shouldn't have that high of football IQ. Shouldn't have a team around him that is all of a sudden great. I mean, everything just comes so natural. We're talking about a guy who now, Houston, Texas, if they were to go on to win, win, it would be obviously a humongous story in this whole entire thing. But, like, when you draft a guy and hope that you have a guy, it's they got a guy they're one year in and they know that they got a dude it's phenomenal and every video that comes out of cj doing fucking anything yeah it's awesome and it's like i wish i

had that guy as my franchise quarterback well and what's like the most absurd thing is just looking at who they were like nick casario we thought he was a big dumb dipshit and turns out he's like one of the best team builders it feels like in the NFL now. Their turnaround was so much quicker after Deshaun's, it feels like, than any other team that went through something that they did with all the drama with Bill O'Brien and him getting smacked in the teeth. And then they hire Lovey and basically say, like, hey, don't forget, or Dave Coley, excuse me, hey, basically, you're just a stopgap

before Josh McCown gets here. So the things that they have gone through to get to this point and then for it to just happen overnight after drafting CJ at two, all that noise around CJ going into the draft and then kind of making that absurd move back up to three to get Will Anderson. They had a plan, executed the plan, and I don't think anybody – And it sucks. Yeah, I don't know.

Even the people in the Texas building were like, hey, this is going to work out this way. And then what really pisses you off is he's like a really good guy. Yes! At my house, we call that the Jesse Palmer rule, right? I always tell Jesse, you cannot be that good looking, and you can't be starring in 17 television

shows and be a really good football analyst and be this good of a guy. You've got to pick something. And so when you meet these these guys it almost makes you mad when it's like they're that talented and everyone loves them and then you meet him like well the guy's got to be a jackass and and cj stroud is great everything he does and he's just a good dude and that's that the one thing that's changed dramatically about college football in the last 30 years is that you have to be so smart to play the game now. And I'm not, this is a

knock on the way they played the game 30 years ago, but when I was in school, it was a very basic playbook. And now you have to play the game at such an intellectual level, at the highest level, that all these guys are so smart, and they get it. It's that phrase we always use, get it. And CJ gets it. All these guys that have been coming out last year, and they get it. It's that phrase we always use, get it.

And CJ gets it. All these guys that have been coming out last year, they just get it. They just understand. And it just makes you mad because you're like, you can't be this cool and be this good and also be really nice. Pick one. Pick one and be awful at that. I mean, he's funny.

He's a good person. Shit talks well. Everything he does screams franchise quarterback. And you talk about him being so smart because of the defenses in football now in college he he gave a lot of credit to ryan day and how they come out of a huddle and he has to break down defense he has to do this entire thing for his transition greatest rookie year in the history didn't throw his first pick for like eight weeks or nine weeks or something he didn't even get kind of confused by it another thing to add in about the modern world and i think this should be chatted about because it is kind of slammed a lot the nil thing for him having a deal with like mercedes i think he had a g wagon

and had some money having to deal with money too and like people around you whenever you get money before getting into the nfl like you mature that way as well now it's not always going to mature in a good way there's going to be a lot of bad shit that's going to come from that but for like cj it's like it feels like off the field he's had to mature a lot good way. There's going to be a lot of bad shit that's going to come from that. But for like CJ, it feels like off the field he's had to mature a lot because of everything that's going on. Business-wise, he had to mature a lot because he was the first group that NIO was allowed to kind of happen. And then football-wise,

they wanted his ass run out of Ohio. He's like calloused. Yeah, he's the guy. He's in the AMC South. It's great. You also pair that, and when I saw that video I was like, oh, yeah, Robert Woods is like their fifth or sixth weapon on this team behind Nico and Diggs and Tank Dell.

Okay, a lot of weapons, and they got Joe Mixon. Two really good tackles. Yeah. That doesn't scare me, though, remember? Defense is great. That doesn't scare me because the Indianapolis Colts, we got Shane Steichen. We got a lot of weapons.

We got a defense back. And we also got this guy. This video was released by the Colts and it got me excited. Remember, Anthony Richardson is the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts. His rookie campaign was stopped incredibly short, but it was certainly full of electricity.

He's live from the Thunderdome. Monday, June 1st. In that seatst In that seat In that seat A little taller In this seat right here Right, yeah Again, you talk

So we're fortunate with Marty McGee We go to SEC Media Days And we do We spend four days interviewing Every coach in the league In the last couple years They've mixed in players And AR is one of my favorite

Guys we've ever sat down with How come? He's just Again, he gets it He's just smart and he is and he was a lot of the stuff that he said about i'm going to be this i'm going to be that came off in print or on twitter oh no context or something like arrogant right like but that's just there's a there's a fine line between confidence and being arrogant i but but after i've chatted

with him and after i saw him the way he he could play, after I went to practice, he played great in game. Once I saw him practice, I was like, well, he could do this. But he's just, you're going to like him. He's so sharp.

Okay. I liked what I saw. I mean, he had a rushing touchdown every game he played and then he had a couple passing touchdowns. He was breaking rookie records and it all ended five games in.

New clips, though, to A.D. Mitchell as well. Coming out of him just tossing darts to him. Yeah, the throwing motion seems to be all the way. He's always had just the flip of the wrist, you know. It's the issue well, coming out of him, just tossing darts to him. Yeah, the throwing motion seems to be all the way. He's always had just the flip of the wrist, you know. It's the issue is can he survive.

And there was a couple times where he got banged up and then he would clear test a couple days later. Somebody would end that game early. Then the next game he'd come in, he'd take a massive shot somehow. We'd think he was down to get back up. Then he'd throw a touchdown. Inevitably, he gets knocked out while scoring a touchdown against the Houston Texans. Literally just kind of let up and got murdered and hit his head.

It's like he, I think, is going to be able to learn from all that and kind of be a guy this year for us. Because everything I saw when he was on the field was beautiful. And that guy, A.D., has got an ax to grind about not being higher talked about, I think, in the wide receiver draft this year. And then we sign all our veterans back. Joe Flacco's in the quarterback room. I mean, it feels like we're eyeing a potential great season two for AR. Can't wait to ask him that. Yeah, I mean, everyone's talking about Flacco, obviously,

because of what he did last year. But I think it's like you – not that Gardner Minshew wasn't a great mentor, but the amount of stuff that he can learn from Joe Flacco and, like, the scope of an entire offseason, I would assume that that's going to work wonders for how different he's going to be as a quarterback this year. Instead of doing this, let's just try

this out. Maybe it'll keep us safe. Let's do some more rookies and NFL chatter. Marvin Harrison Jr. has officially signed his contract with the Arizona Cardinals. That was released through the Arizona Cardinals social media team. He went in there with Monty. He signed here, initial here.

Didn't look at the contract. Don't love that. But, you know, because that could have been a situation that happened with the Fanatics, but his people did, obviously. He was just coming in there for a celebratorial autograph session. Autographs are obviously a part of the entire thing with him, the NFLPA, and the Fanatics. So it was a beautiful thing. His jerseys are for sale now

because I guess whenever you sign your rookie deal, joining the NFLPA's membership is a part of that, which we can have a conversation at a different time about whether or not that's the right move or not. I don't love it. I don't love it, but I appreciate that that is how it all works out.

I think people should be able to make their own decisions with what's going on with their shit, but especially in a modern world they're in. NFLPA, very important. You guys do great work. You guys do great work. You guys do great work. But the Marvin Harrison Jr. thing is seemingly off and running in Arizona,

and that's obviously good for Kyler Murray and the boys down in the desert. Yeah, of course. Kyler Murray has to be excited, but if you... I don't really like to predict things. What kind of year can you predict? Let's say Marvin stays healthy, plays the majority of the game. Kyler stays healthy as well? Yeah. So they're doing group practice with the Colts this summer. Ooh, nice. I think the Cardinals

and the Colts. I would assume it's here, yeah, because you don't want to be in the desert probably during that time. Is the game here? Is the preseason game here? That's good. We can look for that. That's a good question, because you don't want to be in the desert probably during that time. Is the preseason game here? That's good. We can look for that. That's a good question, actually. We will check that. If Kyler can stay healthy and they can kind of get into their offense, it's here. Okay, so yeah, we will certainly be attempting to do a show there for that particular electricity.

But if Kyler plays and there's some continuity with the offense and a new thing, I think he'll be a guy, I think he's going to be the guy that kyler's going to go to whenever they need it possession receiver and also he can go on people's heads too he didn't run a 40 people say he can't pull away from anybody but his catch radius is gigantic and he's been able to just catch balls since literally stepped foot on ohio state's campus and we've been told his work ethic is absurd. It's ridiculous. So I think he's going to be phenomenal.

McGee, I assume you think the same thing. Yeah, I went up there last year, not in 2024, but 2023, and I spent like a day with those receivers. And Harrison was kind of the junior guy in the room. And even the juniors and seniors were like, he's the guy. Like he was already – and he just – he knows how to carry himself. And there's just – man, there's something to be said for knowing that locker room. I mean, we see it with Mahomes.

It's just knowing how to navigate the life, right? And he does. And also, I love the fact, by the way, that he's coming into Annapolis, you know, in the priesthood, and that's cool. Yeah, very cool. And I also love that he wears Harrison Jr. You know, that's just – it's a nod to his dad. And his dad was very careful

about kind of staying out of the way and not being around a lot publicly when he was in, you know, when he was in Columbus. But when you talk to the dad, the work ethic that he's learned and the routes that he runs, man, are video game routes.

I mean, it's just, he's never a step off. Agreed. And A.J. and the Ohio State Buckeyes got to enjoy that for a few years. They thought maybe he was going to come back. No way. Now he's officially a Cardinal. Have an incredible weekend.

We'll be back on Tuesday. We're watching races. We're watching finals. And we're lucky as hell to do this. We appreciate you. Be a friend, tell a friend something nice. Goodbye. Right on his screws.

Yep. Bang. Nice. Dinger. Did you see that,ogie it was i did see that 53 00 over here oh fire here five seconds difference boom we are still alive on esb plus youtube and tiktok i got you now so marty mcgee we have these weird at the top and bottom of the hours i have these two minute tv only segments and and i'll catch you guys on radio as well we are on radio as well? We're on radio as well. We simulcast SEC Network on ESPN Radio.

Saturday morning, by the way, 7 a.m. But I do a terrible job of knowing when we're not on radio. I go blowing in. We're brought to you by so-and-so and so-and-so. And they go, no, it's TV only. Oh, sorry. And as a former producer, it's embarrassing, but whatever. That's why I'm a former producer. TV, radio is tough. Yeah. Two different clocks. Oh, sorry. As a former producer, it's embarrassing, but whatever. So I'm a former producer.

TV and radio is tough. Yeah. Two different clocks. And the floating brakes don't matter for the TV, but the floating brakes work for radio. We had to do it a little bit, but it was not a desired situation. It's math. And when you introduce math into the deal, McGee struggles.

Well, we just completely eliminated it. Yep. Forget about it. You got one hard out at the first hour. We got one at the second hour. Oh, yeah. Then we're off and running. Only have two a day.

Miss one. Daily. That's tough. Yeah, it's tough. That's why we got stuff on here. You've been awesome. It's been so much fun. It is.

I was a little quiet at first. It is like an out-of-body experience. You guys don't understand. I watch every day. And so being here, it is literally through the looking glass. Like, I'm not looking this way. I'm looking that way. It's just a trip.

It's just a bit of, you know, I love you guys. I always feel like there's kind of been an unofficial kind of DNA connection. Oh, yeah. I'm fond of you. Oh, yeah. And so, yeah, it's been amazing sitting here. Okay, so let's talk about you're embedded with Kyle Larson this weekend. Yeah, and so, yeah, it's been amazing sitting here. Okay, so let's talk about you're embedded with Kyle Larson this weekend. Yeah.

We talked about top of the hour, maybe some new people, but also I would like to dive into it a little bit more. Yeah. So it might rain. Yeah, it's going to rain. It's just a question of – It's going to rain. Yeah.

Indiana weather, though. Well, that's just it. We were talking during the bathroom break. We were talking about the fact that it was 2019, and the forecast was the worst forecast I've ever seen for an Indy 500. It was the most beautiful day we ever had. It was cold and rainy that morning, and by noon, green flag's 1245, by the time we got to it.

The forecast three or four days ago on your iPhone, it shows the bar graph of when it's going to rain. And at 1230, it was like standing at attention. And I was like, damn it. But that's changed now. And so the question for Kyle Larson is there's going to be a window where he's going to have to make a decision. So if this thing, if the rain...

What do you mean here? Because Kyle Larson, for those that don't know, he's racing the Indy 500 in the afternoon and he's traveling to Charlottey 500 in the afternoon. And he's traveling to Charlotte to do the Coca-Cola 600, the NASCAR race. He's doing a double, 1,100 miles. Right. And it's only four guys have ever pulled it off before. The elite great John Andretti did it in 1994.

And then everybody's like, we know what to overdo it again. And then Tony Stewart did it twice. Smoke. Smoke finished all. He's the only one to finish all 1,100 miles. I was with him because I've been around a minute. Robbie Gordon did it a couple times and tried to do it three other times, and the rain screwed it up. And then Kurt Busch did it in 2014.

And so it's only happened a handful of times. The schedule didn't work out for years. Indy moved to start later in Charlotte. But anyway, the point is the rain is going to be the story. And so there's going to be a window where Kyle Larson is going to have to make a decision. Do I stay here because I think they might run this race, or do I bail and go to Charlotte because that's my day job? And his NASCAR boss, Rick Hendrick, and Jeff Gordon, who is also his NASCAR boss,

they'll be here. And so they'll all circle up and they'll make a decision. I personally believe Kyle's going to stay, regardless. He's already won two races, so that means he's clinched a spot in NASCAR's postseason. If he misses a race, he'll have to file paperwork with NASCAR for a waiver.

I don't think NASCAR's going to keep him out of the postseason. They're a big star. This is good for NASCAR, too. Marketing. That's what's changed. Back in the day, Indy didn't want to cooperate with NASCAR. NASCAR didn't want to cooperate. Now everybody understands. F1's the enemy. Now everybody understands that if we

play ball, we can all benefit from this. Can he come back? Yeah. Say he does leave and race his Sunday night. Can he just hop on a plane and come back and race Monday? If it rains, what Kyle's going to want is that if it's raining on Sunday and it's raining until like three or four o'clock, he wants it to just rain and then just rain all night. Because what you don't want, this happened to Robbie Gordon one time when I was with him, Robbie made the call,

Indy goes, hey, I don't think we're going to get this in tonight. So Robbie jumped on a plane and went to Charlotte. And just about the time he got in the car in Charlotte, they restarted the Indy 500. And so that's what you don't want. And Kyle said this to me yesterday. If it starts raining, I just want it to rain because he'll come back on Monday and then run that race. That's the plan?

If it gets canceled on Sunday, it'll be on Monday? Yeah, it'll be on Monday. And the forecast looks a lot better on Monday. Does each team, Indy and NASCAR, have backup drivers ready to go depending on his decision? Yeah. And so Tony Kanaan, Indy legend, one of my favorite athletes I've ever covered in my life,

TK was on hold to be Kyle Larson's sub. He can't do that. Indy car has new rules now. Qualified. So the guy that just missed out on making the race, he'll move into that spot, into the car. But at Charlotte, he has Kevin Hart. In Kyle's car? In Kyle's car, yes. But, he has Kevin Harvards. In the Kyle's car?

In the Kyle's car, yes. That rookie kid's going to get Kyle's car? Well, it's weird. It'll be his car, but it'll have the number. In Charlotte, he's got Kevin Harvards. No, no. Who's getting the car? He would get Kyle's car?

He would take his car? The car that qualified fifth. The car that qualified fifth. The car that qualified fifth. Okay. This rookie's going to get the drive? Yeah, but he won't. That's not going to. They're going to.

I'm telling you, Kyle Larson's going to run both races. They're going to figure out how to do it. Because I really believe that if it gets delayed on Sunday, Kyle's going to stay in Annapolis. I don't think. I think he knows this is the only time he's going to run this race. And he's wanted to run it. He came up through open world racing. This is what he's always wanted to do. Yeah, I guess he was doing some sprint only time he's going to run this race. And he's wanted to run it. He came up through open-world racing.

This is what he's always wanted to do. Yeah, I guess he was doing some sprint car racing. That was his background. Last Tuesday. Yeah. In Indiana. He races two or three nights a week, like, during all year long. Like, he'll race four times a week.

This guy's a dog. I hate that sprint car. He's got to be. He's old school. He's A.J. Foyt, Mario. Yeah. You know, he's Tony Stewart. He jumps from thing to thing.

A little too old. He's got to be great to still be who you can afford to be, obviously. But Kevin Harvick is standing by in Charlotte. So Harvick retired and is in the booth now for Fox. Should be Jeff Gordon standing by. Jeff's like, I'm good.

Jeff's done racing. I want to get back to Kyle Larson with the sprint car, though. They said he was racing down here in southern Indiana. Sprint car's the most dangerous. He flipped it. That's done racing. I want to get back to Kyle Larson with the Sprint car, though. They said he was racing down here in southern Indiana. Sprint car's the most dangerous. He flipped it. Yeah. That's what they said. So Sprint car's the one with like, it's got like a little crunch thing.

You see the, it's got like a little triangle top. Big fat ass back wheel. And they're drifting that thing. That's dirt, right? Dirt racing, yeah. Do they do it on cement, too? They do some on asphalt, but most of it's on. And here where you guys are, if we got in my rental car and drove 15 minutes in any direction, there's a dirt track.

Yes, Anderson has a great one. There's one in southern Indiana that's big. There's southeast Indiana's obviously. Anderson's legendary. Oh, yeah. They race school buses in figure eight races. Well, that's why they love him is because he's old school. He's a throwback.

And that's why. So it was funny. I was talking to some of my friends at work for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A lot of their friends who are dirt track snobs, they don't believe in IndyCar, NASCAR, whatever. They think the real racing is at Anderson, Columbus, and all that. But they're all coming to the race because they love Kyle. And a lot of IndyCar people, there's actually a 330 flight and a 630 flight to Charlotte. And those things are full because race fans are trying to get from Indy to Charlotte

because they want to see Kyle run both races. Has he always been the guy? Is Kyle Larson someone who obviously doesn't follow racing that close? When he was 16 or 17, did people like hey they like this is going to be the guy in racing in the next 10-15 years marty and i were talking about this on our show the other day is is our whole careers we've been hearing about these guys forever oh this is the next guy yeah and it almost never works out i mean just like you know the kid that you hear about in the 11th grade and he's gonna be the next you know aaron rogers and it doesn't work out oh yeah but but

but kyle we started hearing about out of northern california and then he going to be the next Aaron Rodgers and it doesn't work out. But Kyle, we started hearing about out of Northern California and then he came to Midwest and started racing. We started hearing about him when he was 15. And everybody kind of anointed him as the next guy. And he's done it. The team he broke in with in Cup Series racing just wasn't

great. It was okay. He was a chicken assy. They were fine, but he's like, man, if I could just get to a Hendrick Motorsports. And as soon as he got there, he just started winning. He's really, really good. How many chili cups have you got? He's got the Chili Bowl. There it is.

Yeah, the Chili Bowl in Tulsa. He's won it multiple times. That's where the sprint, I think, right? Yeah, that's the one that's indoor in the wintertime. And I've heard it is a... It's crazy. Hey, they get after it.

It's crazy. And you have a headache for two weeks. They get after it. Loud inside. They run it indoors, and between the noise and the carbon monoxide, you have a headache for like a month. And the booze, right? Yeah.

From what I've been told. And that too. Yeah, because there's a lot of sprint car fans here in Indiana, and I've gone to a lot of these. I would in Indiana, and I've gone to a lot of these. I would say like 10. I've gone to 10 of these things. Yeah. Great parties.

Oh, yeah. I mean, great. They are. Just ripping it. Good time. Country fucks now. Yeah. Because they're all building their own engines.

It's a real moonshine. And they all build. Well, it's cool because, and you guys know this about me, my favorite sporting events are like this, College World Series. You know, Marty every year goes to Kentucky Derby. But it's the – I knew Hawk was there. But it's like it's the events that belong to the city. Like you can't imagine the Rose Bowl without Pasadena and vice versa.

You can't imagine, you know, Augusta and the Masters being a part. Omaha and the College World Series. And my favorite part is riding around the neighborhoods because these sporting facilities are just dropped into these neighborhoods because they were built 100 years ago. In Indy, you go through all the streets and you got people who have parked

in these people's yards for 40 years. People put kids through college and it's all these sprint car racers like literally they open their garages up and you'll go through race day i'll drive it through there at 5 15 in the morning and they'll be opening up their garage doors and they'll have sprint cars sitting in the neighborhood that they're working on and then going and racing on the weekends it's like it's so it's it's like indiana with basketball

is indiana basketball but for me as a motorsports fan indiana has always been that which is you know it's all these dirt track yes in between races i mean it's like a full-on they are the mechanic as well for their yeah for their cars yeah yeah and these we're not talking about just like oh go in the garage like you're tim allen we're talking about like the investment that these farmers should put into building their own engines i mean it's a 750 horsepower engine in what's basically a go-kart. You see with Kyle, they're always flipping out of the racetrack. Dangerous.

They love it, man. Again, it's where AJ and Mario and Parnelli Jones and Jeff Gordon and Smoke, all these guys all started doing that. Dale. With Kyle, I think a lot of people,

at least casual race fans, are pretty surprised at how well he qualified. So good. Realistically, what are the chances that he contends to win the 500

if the weather holds up and he is able to race? I saw Tony Stewart a month ago. Tony Stewart's drag racing now. He's in NHRA. I saw Tony... He's racing this thing, actually.

There you go. If you want to see his car. There you go. That's it. The exact model. He stopped by here and gave us – The exact model that he is racing right now. He's also racing go-karts in our parking lot.

Yep. He was really good. He beat us. He's the man. But I asked Tony, I said, be honest with me, and he said he could win – he could definitely win one of the two. And he goes, and with a little bit of luck said he could win he could definitely win one of the two and he goes and with a little bit of luck he could win both i go so he can contend in the indy 500 he's absolutely can he's with a car and aaron mclaren is really good you know they have a full-time pit

crew it's not a bunch of part-time jacks that show up you know that a lot of these guys deal with so he's he could do it has anyone ever done it or would this be like hey this is the biggest thing that a race no one's ever won no one that's attempted the double has ever won both. Someone has won one of them. Yeah, and someone has won, like Tony Stewart finished, he finished all 1,100 miles, and he finished in the top 10 in both races twice. And Kurt Busch had a chance to do it. But a lot of guys have finished in the top ten and won.

Like Robbie Gordon multiple times finished in the top ten at Indy but didn't at Charlotte. Or finished in the top ten at Charlotte but didn't at Indy. Indy, you've got to get lucky. Yeah. Don't you? I mean, you've got to get lucky. You've just got to be in position at the end.

You've got to survive. Yeah, you've got to survive. And the way those races work now, it used to be two guys in contention with 10 laps to go, and now it is like a video game. It's crazy. It's awesome. But if you're in that top 10 with 15 laps to go, you've got a chance. Yeah, but if you're in

the middle, there's a chance you can eat some real shit. That's from the four wide photos that we see. It's like all those guys are in it, and then all of a sudden they're four wide. Those photos are nuts. They're done 200. Yeah, exactly. You can't comprehend how

fast they're going by looking at them when they're all just next to each other to make a pass. And they go from here to 50 yards up the track like that. Well, they also have that push to pass. That's the whole of the deal. That's what's so striking about it,

and that's why Danica Patrick, it took her so long to get used to stock cars, and it's why Jimmy Johnson struggled in Indy cars because when you're going to make a pass in a stock car, NASCAR, you're working on that for three or four laps. All right, you're building momentum, building momentum, make a move. And in Indy car, you just go beep, beep, beep, beep, and you're gone. And so it's just the way – it's days of thunder. Everybody bangs on days of thunder.

But when he says, all right, tires are twice as big and the car's half as small. And in sock cars, car's half as small. Or tires are tiny and the car's big. You can bang an NASCAR, though, a little bit. IndyCar, you can't be banging that much. Yeah, that'll send you to the sky. Yes, it will. I've been to races where guys went into the sky. Scott Dixon, just a few years back. IndyCar, you can't be banging that much. That'll send you to the sky. I've been to races where guys went into the sky. Scott Dixon, just a few years back, he's like

the best ever. He was first turn going into the first turn. The biggest change in motorsports in my career has been when Dixon had his crash, and my family was here, when Dixon had his crash, your first reaction is not that he's dead you know

whereas back in the day though man in the 90s I almost quit because in the night when I started covering motorsports in the 90s I was covering funerals all the damn time all the time and it was just it was Earnhardt right the changes I remember watching his documentary you were a part of that yeah you wrote it right with uh with the neck thing. The strap. The helmet. You did the whole documentary on that. We did the E60 special on it. No one's died since February 18, 2001 in NASCAR. Hell yeah. In an IndyCar last year, a lot of people forget this.

I was at an IndyCar race in Charlotte where a tire went off. It was the stands and killed fans. I was at a race in Michigan where it happened. Last year. Last year. I was talking to some of the folks. Last year, that was the worst I had felt

in my stomach in 20 years because that tire went through the stands and everybody, ha, ha, ha, hit a car in a parking lot. 20 feet that way, 20 feet that way.

Oh, yeah. It's a whole different day. From the angle in which it was flying. Yep. You thought that, I mean, what a, very lucky.

Very. But that happened a lot in the 90s and then they fixed it. And so when it happened, it was so shocking because it just doesn't happen anymore, and they've made changes to fix that too. It's a big race.

You're going to watch F1 in Monaco Sunday morning? Yeah, we'll watch. It's cool because you go – I'll be at the racetrack really early. The cannonball goes off at 6 a.m. I'll be in the media center. We'll do sports center. And then they'll have Monaco on the TVs. So you're not going to be able

to stay for the Pacers game long on Saturday early morning? I will not be staying up late. No. Come on. You can stay until 11. Yeah.

But I will not be going out afterwards just for the record. Oh, yeah. Me neither, buddy. Don't you worry. I may or may not have already received

a text from my house that said, OK, remember, you have to get up in the morning. That's very nice. That's a good reminder. She's looking out for me.

Go ahead, AJ. I've made that point. What are your thoughts on F1? What's everyone around NASCAR and people that you hang out with, what are their thoughts on the F1 situation? It's interesting because I was talking to Kevin Harvick about this. They get a little jealous because the success that F1's had image-wise because of the Netflix show and all

that. The problem is the races are awful. They're the worst. But it's kind of always been this way. The drama from Monday to Saturday is what everybody talks about and the race itself is not ever very good. They're kind of at a peak right now

where they've got to the races have got to get a little bit better and some other people have got to get better in races. How does it get better? Monaco is this wide. Well, Monaco is Monaco. Is there a Super Bowl? Right.

Monaco is like when they play the Major League Baseball game in a cornfield. You just roll. It feels great. That's awesome. It was awesome. It was awesome. It was awesome, but NASCAR raced in North Wilkesboro last weekend. The race was awful, but they're in North Wilkesboro. That place was closed for 30 years.

Monaco's different, but the rest of it they have to figure out a way. Will Vanderstoppen come over and do the Indy 500 at any point or even do like a Coca-Cola 600 or a Dega? Or is he a strictly – He's a strictly F1 guy, and his dad was strictly an F1 guy. I think that Max would run Indy at some point. What Fernando Alonso and somebody, Lewis Hamilton has said he'd love to come run Indy,

but it scares them. Wasn't he here? Yeah. He was here, and he didn't qualify or something. He didn't try to make the race. He just was knocking around. Oh, okay. But it scares them to death

because it's just so different than what the... 240 miles an hour. They actually have to race people, too. And when they hit the wall, they hit hard. And so it scares those guys. But when Fernando Alonso did it, he loved it and told everybody he loved it. And so I think we'll see some of those guys. Will Kyle ever get to race F1?

Ooh. They don't really like Americans. Yeah, any Americans. Are we going to get a team? Isn't there someone trying to race F1? They don't really like Americans. Yeah, any Americans. Are we going to get a team? Isn't there someone trying to get a team? Mario Andretti. Trying to do a team just down the road. Anti-trust lawsuit.

He is filing against them. They just broke ground on the $200 million building down the street from my house. They're trying to do it. I think they will eventually. F1 is owned by an American company, by Liberty Media. Of course we do. You're welcome. We love them.

But at some point, they want the Andretti's in there. But everybody else has to vote for it. They don't really like the history. The history is what it is. They don't really like Americans coming over there. They don't like American teams. They do that a while.

But they'll race here. Yeah, exactly. They don't mind rolling into taking the money. Yeah. Soccer leagues are like that too. You're only allowed a certain amount of Americans on the team. And then when they go over there, they bench them like Pulisic and Chelsea.

Yeah, it's crazy. We're the assholes there, remember? But there is... USA! USA! In Chelsea. Yeah, it's crazy. Worthy assholes there, remember? But there is a real thing. USA. USA. Yeah. I got my Captain America ring and socks on. And I saw your Captain America tag on your backpack.

I love America. How could you not? I heard that ring. Well, there's a lot of people that don't, but God bless it. I love America. But that whole thing, that bias is real. And for Michael, it's personal because Michael Andretti went to Formula 1 for a minute and drove for a McLaren, drove for a big team,

and kind of got put in crappy cars. And he's always believed that he was never given a fair shake. So this is all very, very personal for Michael. And so he wants to make that one. And the Italians, whenever there's like a potential bite, there's a chance. There's Jacques Villeneuve. Yeah, Jacques Villeneuve won both. Jacques Villeneuve won Pablo

Montoya, won the Indy 500 twice, and had a lot of success. He had the Vavoline 28. He did. What's your favorite car? What's it called? The stuff on the car? Like the paint scheme? Yeah, but it's called...

The livery, they call it? Livery. Oh, the greatest looking race car of all time was Richard Petty's 1973 Racer's Edge STP. Need a photo of that now. 1973. It is a beautiful car, but there is one answer here. Sure it's not that guy right there? That's the DuPont 24.

Well, I don't know. It's not the DuPont 24, but the DuPont 24 was an important paint scheme, and it was great. What about the old three? Come on, what about the Intimidator? Oh, the Intimidator was great. You know what Earnhardt did? I don't have a lot of die casts, but I do have –

Earnhardt had a 96 Olympics paint scheme that he ran that was amazing. But I got some die casts at home. But my all-time, STP43. What's a diecast? A diecast is that right there. See that, like that Earnhardt car he's got right there? That's a diecast? You call it a diecast?

Yeah, we just call it, it's a toy car. We call it a diecast. Classic diecast. How would you spell diecast there? D-I-E, cast, C-A-S-T. Just rest in peace to three, obviously. If he was alive, would it still be a die cast still? Oh, no.

Richard Petty made, or excuse me, Del Earnhardt made so much money. So Richard Childress, who owned Richard Petty's, or excuse me, Del Earnhardt's car. I was a Richard Petty fan, by the way. Sounds like it. He's got the best car of all time. But Richard Childress, one time,

he and I were out in Montana at his house that is like a damn cruise ship parked up in the mountains. Love that. And I go, man, how'd you pay for this? He goes, a a little bitty three cars and then the helicopter came to pick us up he goes you know how about that helicopter i said he said a little bitty three cars he goes in the plane we're about to get on i bought that with a little bitty three cars that's what he's talking about well i'm happy we can help yeah they made so much money man back in the 90s in the 2000s that stuff i just watched a um a video showed up in my algorithm about how much

money they were making off of cds back in the 90s oh they're like it was just printing money they're talking about 700 million like the amount of the amount of cds that were just like sold back in the 90s and then everything just kind of flips on its head is merch and everything still a massive piece of the business or not like it was no those. No. Those guys, you're talking about Gordon. That's where Gordon made all of his money was merch. And they just don't make any money off of it anymore. Tony's still wearing a shirt. Yeah, that color scheme.

He was my guy growing up. The Rainbow Warriors. Yeah. And he grew up right around here. He was born in California, but Jeff grew up right around here, north of Indianapolis. Late 90s, early 2000s. Yep.

I didn't know that. Moved here because in California you couldn't race sprint cars until you turned 16. But in Indiana, you could when you were like eight. And so his dad moved him. Indiana said, we don't give a shit. You want to put him in one of those death machines? Go ahead. You want to go fast?

Jeff's out here beating 50-year-old plumbers, and they were getting pissed. I've never been in a driven one because there was one person that offered up, and I couldn't get in driven one because I've there was one person that like offered up and I couldn't get in I was too so when you played but you did you play in Charlotte

in a bowl game did you play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl yeah against North Carolina yeah I remember I was at that game yeah but y'all didn't do the thing

where you went to the Charlotte Motor Speedway oh yeah sat in NASCAR you did the ride along yeah we did that at 730 a.m. after a 330 a.m. night but it was awesome, though, right?

Awesome, yeah. I went from Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s bar, downtown Charlotte. Whiskey River. Whiskey River. Shut it down. We all shut it down. Then we walked across the thing to our hotel. Right.

Because that place was, there was a Howl at the Moon on top. Oh, yeah, yeah. Then there was Whiskey River. Still there. And then there was a bridge that goes right to the hotel we were staying. Yeah. Yeah, so we shut that whole place down, had a blast. And then, yeah, 7.45 a.m., 175 miles an hour.

But it changes the way you look at it, though, doesn't it? What I always say, people that kind of try to say, oh, they're just driving cars. You get a ride-along in a stock car, IndyCar, whatever. You're just like, okay, never mind. Especially an Oval Track, right? Because you're on the passenger side. Yeah whatever, you're just like, okay, never mind. Especially in OvoTrack, right? Because you're on the passenger side. So you're even closer to the wall. I drove a pace car for the Grand Prix here.

Yeah, how was that? I think I hit the line pretty good. Linedyke. Ari Linedyke. He was my coach. He had the fastest time qualifying round in the Indy 500 history. They called him, I think that was his thing, until I think Scott McLaughlin just got it before or whatever.

But yeah, he was my coach. And yeah, I was in the Chevrolet Z16. I forget the whole thing. Well, like 100 and I forget the, I was going. You think a Highline or a Corvette? Yeah, Corvette. It was nice. Z6 probably?

If you don't get in the line, you're hitting the marbles and you can feel yourself hitting the marbles. So you need to be in the line. But that wasn't an oval track. Yeah don't get in the line You're hitting the marbles And you can feel yourself Hitting the marbles So you need to be in the line But that wasn't an oval track Yeah you were in the road course That was a lot of moves Like 13 turns or something I tried to memorize

Overnight or whatever it is But that oval thing Whenever they're Flat And you're just sitting there Right next to the wall I mean it's a And at Charlotte

You're bouncing When all of a sudden It's like this Like you're fucking sideways That's a wild thing Alright so It's a wild thing If I got a second I'll tell you an R.A. of a sudden it's like this, like you're fucking sideways. That's a wild thing. All right, so if I got a second, I'll tell you an Ari Landock story. Absolutely.

Nobody really knows him, but we will know. So Ari won two Indy 500s, should have won four. But Ari in the late 90s, they used to run a series called IROC. It was the International Race of Champions. And it was stock cars. They were all built by the same garage. The idea was these are all identical cars and they would get drivers from all these different series. It would be Al Unser Jr. and Emerson Fittipaldi

versus Dellenhart Sr. and Steve Kinzer. That's genius. The racing champions. They should bring that. The champions. We would like to start that again. It was brilliant. In a park.

They ran the IROC race ahead of the Brickyard 400, which is the NASCAR, you know, the stock car race they run on the oval down here. And Ari had one of the most god-awful crashes I've ever seen. And he got turned coming off a four, and he hit the inside wall, and it literally just ripped this – it was a Pontiac Firebird. It just ripped the car to shreds. I mean, just –. It was horrifying. And so, I

am a field producer for the late great RPM Tonight on ESPN2. And now my job is, I get a camera guy, and we got to go down to the infield care center, the infield hospital. And we're waiting for the ambulance. And the crowd is falling completely silent.

And someone comes over the ambulance and the crowd has fallen completely silent and someone comes over the radio and says it's dead it's dead and one of the local television stations cuts into their local like they're showing you know andy griffith or whatever and they cut it and they go hey uh our line dice been in a terrible crash. We have overheard radio transmission. We believe our line like is dead. Bristol, Connecticut, ESPN News Desk picks this up. So now they call our office

in the infield, our production office, and they say, hey, a local TV station is reporting that our line like is dead. So our boss, the late great Barry Sachs, gets on the radio and he says, McGee, a local TV station is reporting our line like is dead. So our boss, the late great Barry Sacks, gets on the radio and he says, McGee, a local TV station is reporting our Lyondike

is dead. Can you confirm that? And the ambulance backs up, doors open, our Lyondike gets out of the ambulance. And I go, hang on, Barry. I go, Ari, are you dead? And he goes, I am not dead. And he walked past and I go, our Lyondike is not

dead. And the assignment desk at Connecticut goes, are you sure? I go, I am not dead. And he walked past and I go, Ari Lyondyke is not dead. And Simon Destin-Kennedy goes, are you sure? I go, I'm pretty sure. But I thought he was dead. Yeah, but he was not. But Ari's the best, dude. And his son was like the bachelor. He was?

Yeah. So his son, I don't think is good of a – He wasn't, no. Has there been a lot of kids that have followed in the footsteps that have been good racers? Yeah, but it's been a struggle. So Dale Jr. won like 26 cup races. A couple Daytona 500s. He's in the NASCAR Hall of Fame and should be.

But he was never going to be his dad. No. How could he? If he'd have won three championships, he wouldn't have been his dad. So there's a lot of pressure on those guys. But there's a lot of second – like Kyle Petty, my great friend, a broadcaster. Kyle's the son of pressure on those guys. There's a lot of second. Like Kyle Petty, my great friend, broadcaster. Kyle's the son of Richard Petty.

Richard Petty won 200 races and seven championships. He won seven Daytona 500s. If Kyle had won 50 races, he wouldn't have been close to that. And Kyle had a nice run, but Kyle laughs about it. But just the pressure falling on his foot. Talk about Bronny James. I think about that all the time with those guys. Michael Jordan's sons,

Mickey Mantle's boys. Tough breakup. It's a tough way to follow, man. Marcus and Larsa broke up. Oh, did they? Broke off the engagement, unfortunately. I don't know. I have not heard that. Maybe sometimes. Trying to fix things, maybe? What is the level? What is a successful

career? Because you're saying they won 50 races. What is to be considered, maybe? What is the level? Like, what is a successful career? Because you're saying, like, yeah, they won 50 races. Like, what is to be considered, like, hey, that's a great racer, obviously not like a Dale Earnhardt. What is the standard? All right, so Marty and I both are NASCAR Hall of Fame voters. We just did this on Tuesday. We were in the room. And they put too many guys in the Hall of Fame early.

Like, they had these five-person classes run out of people. So now we're having to go through. Right? They are. There's only so many damn guys. Keselowski in? Not yet. He's still driving.

What about KY? Yeah, you have to retire, and you've got five years. Jeez. Right, right. That's where the NFL got it from. Right. So like Carl Edwards, this was his first year eligible, and he got in. Yeah!

I love Carl. I'm so glad you're so excited. I love Carl Edwards. Yeah, he's great. Backflip off the car, are you kidding me? But he's like Barry Sanders. He walked away. Yep, exactly. He almost won a championship and just retired.

From all the backflips. Yeah. On his knees. Yeah, yeah. But anyhow, the point is, I've always said 20 wins is kind of the threshold of you were a great one or you were pretty good. But, you know, it's really really hard to win one race um and so if you win if you win 20 that's that's amazing yeah you know but but

when you start getting into the the 50 range which is where kevin harvick and you know jimmy he'll uh jeff had almost 100 when he retired how many kyle bushka k-y's got what did he say like 300 or something yeah he's got k't know how many cup wins he has. Is that your search phone? Yeah. Sorry, I have two phones. You noticed that, right? Yeah, I did notice that.

Of course, I'm going to notice something like that. He's got 63. Yeah. I got two phones. I do have phones. This is the perfect one. This is the perfect one. Yeah, one for the plugs, one for the look.

Because, yeah. Go team. That's how that works. One for NASCAR. I love my wife. I don't need anybody reading what we text each other. You guys,

well, you guys drink a little guy, do you? She's watching. Take it easy, McGee. Hey, Mama McGee, how we doing? Hope life is okay. I don't need an IT guy

going, hey, your wife's cool. Shut up, man. Shut up. Hey, what's the shirt? Shirt's awesome. Go team. That's what I say all the time.

So I wore that for you guys because we're on the same team. Amen. We're on the same team. Not a lot of people. Did you play team sports growing up? I ran track. There we go. I ran track and played baseball.

But I was a runner. What were we running? I ran the 800. Damn. And the 400. And I tried to walk on at the University of Tennessee. We were talking about walk-ons earlier. And we got a guy named Jose Perea, who was a great friend of Tennessee. We were talking about walk-ons earlier. And we got him Jose Perea, who's a great friend of mine.

And he was trying to help me walk onto the team. And he's like, you can do it, McGee. Let's go. I ran the best 800 of my life, and he was running backwards and talking to me. And I was like, you know what? I think this might not be for me. And he ran in two Olympics. And I was like, you know what?

There's a difference between... There's levels to this shit. There's a reason why. There's levels to this shit. Yeah. There's a difference between them and us. Yeah, but there's a reason why you write scripts, dude. That's right. There's a reason why you write scripts. That brain is a good one. Even though you sound like a big, dumb Southern hick.

That's it. Which we love. We absolutely love it. Love it with my fake accent. You know, Marty and I get accused of having fake accents all the time. By who? The internet. No. All the time, dude.

I don't think so. The internet. The internet. That's what you told me. It's all the time. It's I don't think so. The internet. That's no shit. It's all the time. It's like, you know, there's no way y'all talk like that in real life. I'm like, you should hear these damn guys I went to high school with. You wouldn't even.

North Carolina's got a good accent. Yeah. North Carolina's got a good southern accent. Is it better than all the others? Yes. Because you've got Mississippi's real. Oh, yeah. Real.

Real. And in Tennessee, when I went to school at Tennessee, Tennessee, they have the long eyes. Savannah, Georgia. Georgia's slow, right? Yeah, Georgia's slow. So if you listen to Marty McGee on the radio, at the top of each hour, you hear this woman's voice go, you know, when the rooster's crowing, it's time

for Marty and McGee. That's my mother-in-law who was born, who's from Savannah, Georgia. That's what she said, Marty and McGee. But then I went to school in East Tennessee at Go Vols, and who's from Savannah, Georgia. That's what she said, Marty and McGee. But then I went to school in East Tennessee at Go Vols, and the first time I went on a date with a girl, she's like, Ryan, I've had the nicest time tonight. And that's when I realized they have long eyes in East Tennessee.

So you can tell where people are from by their southern accent? Because I moved to Connecticut. When I lived in the south, I thought everybody had the same accent. When I moved to Connecticut, I would be so excited to hear someone with a southern accent because Because I moved to Connecticut. When I lived in the south, I thought everybody had the same accent. When I moved to Connecticut, I would be so excited to hear someone with a southern accent because I was the only one that I figured out where people were from. Oh, you're Louisiana. Yeah. That's a whole other... Are you from Georgia? How do you know

that, man? Super slow. But even yours is different than Drake Mays. Drake Mays from North Carolina. There's even little dialects. Drake and I also grew up in different tax brackets. My dad read Drake's dad's games when Mark played quarterback at North Carolina. I'm really from eastern North Carolina. We have a very kind of a soft, you know, my grandma said water.

Would you like some water? No, I want dill juice or whatever. That's like Waterboy. Yeah, exactly. Which is Louisiana. Isn't that more Louisiana? That is Louisiana, for sure. And then Florida just said,

we're not doing it. Yeah. How'd that happen? Well, it's because everybody that lives in Florida is not from Florida. They're all running from the law. They're all from Pennsylvania.

And New York. And Boston. All right. That's why Hillbilly Headlines is almost exclusively Floridians. Florida Man. People on the run. Florida Man's the greatest search. Just Florida Man.

Just wait on X anytime you want to. Just type in Florida Man. And the A Florida Man, what's about to come, you have no idea how that happens in real life. And you even think to yourself, is this AI? This has to be a fake thing. Nope, it's Florida, baby. That's right.

That is Florida. They're living down there. Oh, yeah. The whole next Grand Theft Auto is basically based off Florida, man. I'm excited for that. McGee, as we wrap up this, McGee, feel good Friday. And we've got a couple massive playoff games tonight. The NBA has the Mavs and the T-Wolves.

Wolves are favored by 5.5 on TNT at 8.30 and then NHL is tonight on ESPN. 8 p.m. Panthers at Rangers. Rangers favored in that one at home. I'm excited to see how this whole thing turns out. Is Florida about to go bully the New York

Rangers in Madison Square Garden? Yet again, we shall see. And then obviously, SmackDown, live from Saudi Arabia. Let's go. Tonight at 8. That's crazy, man. Crazy. They fly.

None of these fuckers that are over there right now have any sense of what day it is. They have no clue. I'm getting texts from people going, somebody wants to talk to me this morning at like 4.30 a.m. Like, hey, you got a minute. It's like, no. Okay, you guys are on the other side of the earth. Yeah.

They don't know. They have no idea. Yeah, they don't know. The one guy is a Rangers fan, and he had no idea that the Rangers and Panthers even played the other day. He was like, I'm gearing up for that one tonight or whatever. It's like, but they played yesterday. You fucking kidding me?

They're going, what? Are you serious? Yeah, he was so mad. You fucking serious? Are you fucking kidding? Are you serious? Yeah, he was so. You fucking serious? Are you fucking kidding? Are you serious? What do you mean? I don't know what you're saying.

Kit, McAfee, nothing ever comes up. You never know. It's like, no, bud, game's over. You guys lost three. What? I'm not making this up. Yeah, so they go in like a time capsule over there. It's like 16 years.

But the way they get treated in like this wwe experience that they have over there they've spent hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars on this museum over there and like the setup and then where they're staying in hotel wise they're like living they are it's forever to get there i guess like saudi arabia is obviously trying to modernize i think we're all watching it now granted no country has made great decisions throughout its entire history, and obviously I'm not making up for anything that's ever been done anywhere.

But for their people, I think WWE has taken a large sense of pride of being like, hey, this is what is entertaining. This is possible, as they're kind of catching up to it. So I've heard that obviously the trip is forever, but it's a cool experience whenever you get over there because you're living in a different world. The Formula One people all say that. There's a huge chunk of the schedule now.

They begin beginning and end of the season now. They're in the Middle East, and it's Abu Dhabi. They said it's just the craziest thing is you're just flying over sand, sand, sand, sand, and the biggest damn city you've ever seen. The cleanest. Yeah, and it's crazy. Yeah, it's wild. You tell me about growing up in the Carolinas and wrestling.

Come on, baby. Growing up in the Carolinas. We were just in North Carolina last week. Great crowd. Oh, yeah. But growing up in the Carolinas in the 70s and 80s, and you'd always fly to Charlotte. And so if you were leaving on a Thursday, you get on the plane,

and literally you talk about blowing my little damn mind I get on a plane when I'm 10 years old and Nikita Koloff because this is Mid-Atlantic Crockett's NWA so I got Nikita Koloff

and Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA and Sting and Ric Flair and they're all inA. and Sting and Ric Flair, and they're all in first class, and they're all yucking it up. And I'm like, how the hell is this working? You guys were all beating the hell out of each other two days ago on TV. I was at the show. I was at the old Charlotte Coliseum. I saw you guys.

How the hell are you all hanging out? Well, they were able to make up, obviously. But then they'd see. Like, if they saw you, though. Like, I remember Dusty Rhodes saw my brother and I getting on a plane. He just started, shut up, Ric. Like, all of a sudden, one of us didn't understand. Oh, they didn you though like i remember dusty roads saw my brother i get on a plane he just started shut up rick like all of a sudden wanted us to understand oh they didn't really like each other they loved each other no a lot of these guys still live around town no nikita koloff is a preacher now in uh the russian nightmare is now a preacher in concord north

carolina okay amen shout out uh shout out to nikita koloff really spreading the gospel in a good way he was called the Russian Nightmare? The Russian Nightmare. And he was tight with Dusty? Yeah. Who's the American Dream? And now Cody's the American Nightmare? They had the Crockett Cup was the greatest tag team wrestling match of all time

in Greensboro, North Carolina. And Dusty Rhodes' American Dream and Nikita Kolov, the Russian Nightmare, were the superpowers. They got together for one fight only. It was amazing. Well, a dream fights a nightmare. They ended the Cold War. Between them and Rocky fights a nightmare. They ended the Cold War. Between them and Rocky Balboa, they ended the Cold War.

No, making it to the moon was obviously what happened there. Yeah, there you go. And that's his Uncle Ivan. That's Nikita on the left, and that's his Uncle Ivan Koloff. I got my picture taken on my birthday with Ivan Koloff. He was in a Walmart saving souls, handing out. I'm going to text you that picture when I get home, literally. And he was so old, he couldn't old, his hands are all chopped up.

I have a picture of me and Ivan Koloff in the Pineville, North Carolina Walmart on my birthday. I like that. You know that feeling you had whenever he gave you that? And you got that autograph? Yeah. Do you want to deliver that feeling to 25 people on this Feel Good Friday, McGee? Yes. You said you played baseball growing up.

How's the arms? It's all right. It's not bad. Okay. Can you throw a football into that net over there, you think, from the stage? Like a regular – No, like a baby Duke. Baby Duke.

A little smaller. A little smaller. Where am I going? Into that net. That's a bad start. That's a bad start, McGee. No, no, from the stage. From the stage.

From the stage, McGee. Jeez. That's a lob over there, brother. Easy, McGee. Let's restart this entire thing. You dropped the ball. You fell over the stairs. I know what the hell's going on.

No, that's what I'm saying. I do. I know a fist to the app, but I usually quit watching about 30 minutes ago. 30, 40 minutes ago. 30. 40 minutes ago. Whatever the hell it was. 40 minutes ago. Well, to end this beautiful day here,

why don't we have you throw a football into that net right over there from the stage, and if you do, 25 people will win $500. McGee, you can make some dreams come true on this long-extended Memorial Day weekend. Come on, McGee. There's no warm-up.

You just throw. Okay. You want to restart? You want to restart? Any hole into that net right there, that ball ends up. If that baby Duke available now at the shop goes into any of those holes.

Actually, I'd update a newer version. It goes into that hole over there. 25 people win $500, McGee. Come on, McGee. It's been great having you. Go team. Go team. Come on, McGee.

Go team, McGee. Come on, McGee. I won't leave you hanging. I was going to say after you make it. AJ, AJ, you want to give him a fist bump? Bump it up. Bump it up. Bump it up.

Bump it up. That's that Southern hospitality. Bump it up. Bump it up. Bump it up. Bump it up. That's at Southern Hospitality. Bump it up. On the run. Get going. Yes! That's Steve Young. Lefty.

Lefty. Move the hell down. Unbelievable. In the bucket. Unbelievable. That might have been the best throw. That might have been the best throw we've ever had. On the run. On the bucket. That might have been the best throw. That might have been the best throw we've ever had. On the run.

On the run. Caleb Williams. Wow. Flick of the wrist. Okay, 25 people, $500. All you got to do is repost this post. Say something nice to somebody and put the easiest way to pay you. What a beautiful way to wrap up this glorious week.

Hey, and if any of y'all 25 might be having an orthopedist, let me know. Thanks for sacrificing for all of us. Thank you for showing up here to Thunderdome and hanging out with us. Let's have an incredible weekend. Let's enjoy the hell out of this, and let's be nice to each other. The world's filled with enough assholes. We might as well be a friend, tell a friend something nice. It might change their life.

We're in this thing together. We're off on Monday. We'll see you on Tuesday. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye.