Latest / Views from 400 / Thunder Boom Past Timberwolves In Game 1, Tush Push Is Here To Stay + French Open Preview

Transcript

Thunder Boom Past Timberwolves In Game 1, Tush Push Is Here To Stay + French Open Preview · Views from 400

0:10
And just like that, the boys are back. Fusion
0:12
section 400. We got a little midweek show here.
0:16
Playoff recap real quick. We'll talk about the
0:19
NBA NHL. Winners and losers of the week, we'll
0:22
jump into that. And we got a very special guest,
0:25
Mr. Steve, coming on to talk some French Open
0:27
that starts this Saturday. We'll talk winners,
0:30
losers, who's got a chance, who doesn't have
0:34
a chance. We're talking clay court. why the Americans
0:37
don't have a chance. We'll get into all that
0:39
at the end of the show. The American men. The
0:42
American men. A lot, yeah. I should have been
0:44
specific. Brian, let it be a teaser, man. We'll
0:47
let the fucking guy. We'll go and talk about
0:50
some French Open with Steve. Brian will drop
0:52
his Twitter and or his ex and do a proper introduction
0:55
for him when we get to that in just a bit. Make
0:59
sure you hit the subscribe button below. We're
1:01
almost at 200 subscribers. We're trying to get
1:03
to a thousand. You guys are the way we get there.
1:06
Please. It means so much. Hit that subscribe
1:08
button below. Let's get a quick word from SeatGeek.
1:11
We finally. Made it through winter spring is
1:16
here summer is coming and the best place to get
1:18
tickets to all the baseball games all your summer
1:20
concerts or anything else is SeatGeek. SeatGeek
1:23
is the official sponsor of views from section
1:25
400. First time purchasers can use our code views
1:29
from 400 at checkout for $20 off any tickets
1:32
whether you go to a baseball game watching the
1:34
Mets watching the Phillies you want to see a
1:36
country concert on a lawn and wherever venue
1:38
you want to go to SeatGeek is the place to go
1:41
super easy to get any ticket. They have a one
1:43
-of -a -kind system, shows you the best deal
1:45
for your buck, and the best part, you get $20
1:48
off your first purchase with code VIEWSFROM400
1:51
at checkout. We love SeaGeek. Thank you to them
1:54
again, and here's the rest of the show. All right.
1:57
Are we ready for a talk? Yeah. Jack, are you
2:01
drinking Angry Orchard? Bro, Jack's getting blacked
2:05
out right now. It's Wednesday. Yeah. It's Wednesday,
2:10
my dudes. I've never seen someone drink an angry
2:12
orchard. What's wrong with an angry orchard?
2:14
I don't use a drink story yesterday. Is that
2:18
the one with apple in it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No
2:22
free promo. No free promo. Never seen one in
2:27
the wild. Dude, they're fire. Yeah, man. I picked
2:30
up a six pack of the orchards and a six pack
2:32
of summer candy. I'm ready for the beach this
2:36
weekend, Memorial Day weekend. I'm pumped, man.
2:39
I'm a huge summer summer shandy guy. It's another
2:43
for a foreign 400 before the summer really kicks
2:46
off summer beers. Yeah Got it down right that
2:51
down bride put that down ASAP Yeah, we got to
2:55
get that before the summer really goes Because
2:58
there's a lot of good summer beers out there.
2:59
They just brought push light Apple back the baffles.
3:03
I had some of those last weekend, which are very
3:05
similar. I think to that the angry orchard I
3:09
don't know if I've ever had a battle before really.
3:12
It's I mean, it's Jack Terry used to have the
3:15
battles on deck beer that tastes like Apple.
3:19
So Bush guy. I don't know. Yeah, the Apple occasionally
3:24
like autumn drink Yeah, I had it is more autumn
3:29
II than it is summary, but you can you can it
3:31
is nice in the summer I had a I was having them
3:34
at the Phillies tailgate last last weekend. It
3:36
was definitely very electric All right. Speaking
3:41
of electric, the Thunder killed the Timberwolves.
3:47
Yeah, I mean, they did. Is that who we're talking
3:50
about here? Because. Did I say this? I said,
3:55
if Anthony Edwards doesn't have the juice, who's
3:58
going to carry? And I know Julius Randall had
4:00
a nice night. But it's not enough. It's not enough.
4:04
Julius Randall, 28 points. Anthony Edwards kind
4:06
of laid a dud for his standards, for his expectations.
4:10
They lose by what? 30 points, 25 points. It was
4:15
not competitive. I think it was competitive in
4:17
the first half and then the Thunder ran away
4:19
with it. Like they do, which seems like every
4:21
game. Well, that was the thing. Randall started
4:23
five for six and the Timberwolves were struggling
4:26
to keep a lead. Yeah. Yeah, no, Matt, you're
4:30
so right. I mean, Anthony Edwards, as much as
4:32
we expect from him, that's kind of been the knock
4:35
to his game so far. It's the inconsistency because
4:38
he does go out there and drop 40 points for you.
4:41
But then there's some nights where he's dropping
4:42
18 and he needs to be the leading scorer for
4:45
your team. A lot of credit to Randall. But this
4:49
this was about Anthony Edwards not being at his
4:51
best and. how big the disparity in this series
4:55
is going to be if he's not playing at his best.
4:57
Because the Thunder, they played the way that
4:59
they have been, you know, consistent. They played
5:02
good defense. SGA led the charge offensively,
5:06
get into the free throw line a million times.
5:08
I really don't want to have to go down that rabbit
5:10
hole. I'm so pissed off watching him, but he
5:13
did his thing. Jalen Williams came in and did
5:15
his thing, being the supporting number two that
5:17
he needed to be. And they played lockdown defense.
5:19
I mean, that's been the Thunder's MO. winning
5:22
60 plus games this season. They did it to a tee
5:25
in this one and Minnesota didn't have the defense
5:28
or the offense to keep up with them. Yeah, the
5:31
Thunder defense is so good. It's suffocating.
5:33
Jack, you said it on the last show that they
5:36
might have trouble because they keep on blowing
5:39
out teams and they haven't played in close games.
5:41
But if this defense keeps doing what they're
5:43
doing, they're going to have the other team starting
5:45
the buses in the third quarter every game. It's
5:47
not going to matter. If you have that kind of
5:51
defense with SGA doing his thing, and as long
5:54
as Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren or Lou Dort
5:57
or Alex Caruso are doing something, this team
6:01
is going to win it all. And there's a reason
6:03
they're favored to win it all with four teams
6:04
left. Yeah, they're deep. As you just said right
6:07
there, you wouldn't stop naming names. They're
6:09
deep and they're going to look. We said Matt
6:13
said it in the beginning of this segment. We
6:15
were we were all talking about it on the last
6:17
show. They meaning the Minnesota Timberwolves,
6:21
they need Ant to be 40 points. They need Julius
6:24
Randall to be 25, 30. That's the only way that
6:27
they can keep up with the Thunder. Because SGA,
6:31
if they're gonna keep on giving him those calls
6:33
and letting him get to the line, this is gonna
6:35
be a very quick series. I mean, Isaiah Joe almost
6:39
had a double -double in 12 minutes. I mean, if
6:43
he's doing that as the ninth, tenth man on the
6:46
Thunder, you're caught. You're good back up and
6:49
go home. I feel like you need a guy with two
6:52
first names in basketball to win a title at this
6:55
point He did 12 minutes. He had like eight point
6:57
seven rebounds. That's ridiculous. I Don't like
7:01
and it probably was in garbage time, too But
7:03
a couple things shout out Luca Garza got two
7:06
minutes in this game Iowa legend had to give
7:08
a shout out to the big fella Yeah, I also with
7:13
the with the Timberwolves and I'll end off with
7:15
the little thing on on the OKC Thunder I think
7:18
I was hyping up Rudy Gobert, two points in 21
7:20
minutes, three rebounds. So, sorry that you guys
7:24
haven't listened to me rant about him last week.
7:27
He's officially not going to do anything. And
7:30
again, just to really bring it all back together.
7:32
And Edwards definitely, we keep saying he's got
7:35
to be the 40 point guy. I think the Tim Hums
7:38
are cooked to be quite honest with the OKC looks
7:41
like the team to get to the finals. They're the
7:43
one seed I think for a reason. And Look SGA is
7:48
the guy now for OKC. Like I said, you have your
7:51
10th man almost putting up a double double. That's
7:53
what you're going to do. They had three guys
7:55
scoring the teens. Hartenstein with 12, Holmgren
7:58
with 15 and Jalen Williams with 19. It was nice
8:01
to see him come back alive. I think he's been
8:03
struggling a little bit these last couple games,
8:06
playoff rounds, whatever again. Last guy on the
8:09
bench, essentially, Isaiah Joe or last guy off
8:12
the bench, almost a double double in 1213 minutes.
8:16
If you got that going on, good frickin luck trying
8:19
to stop that final thing. I don't know if you
8:21
guys saw, we can react to it a little bit. The
8:23
winner of that Denver series did in fact win
8:25
the MVP because SGA is announced the MVP of the
8:29
National Basketball League. I think we can react
8:31
to that quickly. I know Jack and I wanted Jokic
8:33
because of the numbers. Brian wanted SGA, he
8:35
gets his wish. I did want SGA, but Bryce Cotton
8:38
is the MVP of the National Basketball League.
8:41
I just wanna put that out there. I knew you were
8:43
gonna fucking do that. It ruins it, dude. It
8:47
ruins it. It just ruins it. It ruins it, dude.
8:51
It ruins it. Any chance I have to shout out Bryce
8:54
Cotton, I'm gonna do it. It ruins the whole segment,
8:56
dude. No, dude, I'm looking at you, I'm like,
8:58
don't, I see you purr, I'm like, don't do it.
9:04
Goddamn, man. Yeah, go ahead. Let the segment
9:07
be a segment, holy shit. price cut price consul
9:10
LeBron James of the NBL but SGA deserved the
9:14
NBA MVP He deserved it because he was the best
9:17
player on the best team and he's gonna win the
9:19
NBA finals because of that So that's why he deserved
9:22
it. I know you could have won it a 30 -point
9:24
triple double He was Leokic was the best player
9:28
on not the best team, which is why it's going
9:32
SGA They won the game. They won the series head
9:35
-to -head. I get it He had a lot more help, let's
9:38
call that. Exhibit A, Exhibit B. Listen, we know,
9:43
like, if they... Just let me say this. You continue
9:46
after. This is the last thing I'm going to say
9:47
on SGA. Exhibit B is the free throw line. All
9:52
right. Well, we've seen your tweets. We've had
9:54
enough of this. But if they gave the MVP... I've
9:57
had enough of this. If they gave the MVP who
10:00
should have won the MVP award, LeBron James would
10:03
have won eight MVPs in a row because his team
10:05
sucked. and he continuously took him to the NBA
10:07
finals. But that's not what it is. It's the best
10:09
player on the best team. And that's what SGA
10:11
was. Fair enough. Let's head over to the ice,
10:15
guys. The Panthers get a big game one win on
10:19
the road. Steal home ice early five to they look
10:23
like the team. Brad Marchand is such an electric
10:25
player, man. Huge in that game. Seven came up
10:29
big again against the the the Hurricanes. I don't
10:32
see anybody stopping them, Brian. You can keep
10:34
this. Parade and rank going about how the Panthers
10:38
this are gonna lose that what Brad March had
10:41
man Just be an electric the team's electric.
10:44
They're they're almost better than they were
10:45
last year Panthers got this thing. They might
10:49
sweep would not be surprised They sweep gentlemen
10:52
sweep is probably where I see this But I think
10:54
this is a tougher series and the leaf series
10:56
for him or an easier series than the leaf series
10:58
for him Well, Matt, you're absolutely right.
11:01
March and was a huge midseason acquisition for
11:04
these Florida Panthers team. It was at a time
11:07
when they were struggling with a lot of injuries.
11:10
So for everything to come together now and they
11:14
are games away from making the Stanley Cup. I
11:17
mean, I'm happy. You know me, I've been rooting
11:19
for the Panthers for two years now, two years
11:23
straight. I've been rooting for the Panthers
11:25
and it's been awesome. I'm happy for them. Game
11:29
started a little slow, you know, we were recording
11:30
the show Sunday night, zero, zero at the end
11:33
of the first. And then next thing you know, it's,
11:35
it's three, nothing Panthers. I was electric
11:37
looking at that. And then, uh, I mean, it just
11:40
really never stopped. So shout out March and,
11:43
uh, but the whole team is, is, is awesome. Yeah.
11:46
I know we're getting the winners and losers in
11:48
the next segment, but just an honorary winner,
11:50
the Boston Bruins, their pick goes from the second
11:53
round of the first round now, right? Because
11:55
the Panthers made it far with March. I don't
11:59
know, I don't know the deal that they had worked
12:01
out. Uh, is that what that works? Or I don't
12:05
know how that works out, but, um, I do know in,
12:10
in these major leagues or, or, you know, the,
12:13
the core four, they call it in America, there
12:16
are, what it'd be, it can bear with me on it.
12:20
I'll just say a comp pick, uh, especially in
12:24
football, they do it, but You know, is it a comp
12:28
pick from the league or did the Panthers have
12:30
to give up some kind of stipulation? It was originally
12:33
a second round pick that the Bruins acquired.
12:37
And the stipulation was if the Panthers won at
12:39
least two rounds in the playoffs and Marchin
12:43
plays at least 50 percent of their games, which
12:45
he has, it would be a first round pick. And that's
12:48
a twenty twenty seven pick. OK, so that makes
12:51
sense. So the Bruins. Rebuild starts now. Yeah,
12:57
rebuilt person. I'm surprised we don't see more
13:00
of that across other leagues I mean we do don't
13:03
get me wrong, but it's the NFL we do it's it's
13:06
yeah, but but even the NFL it's things like I
13:10
Remember it was Calvin Ridley when we when the
13:12
Jaguars acquired Calvin Ridley from the Falcons
13:15
I think we got him for a third round pick and
13:18
if he played 70 % of the games it became a second
13:21
round pick if he played like 70, if you played
13:24
like 80 % of games and had X amount of yards,
13:28
it became like a first round pick. Like there
13:29
was all these stipulations on how awesome this
13:33
pick could end up being. Um, but I don't, I feel
13:36
like I don't see that enough in the other leagues.
13:38
You could get really creative with those. I think
13:40
there is a lot of money stipulations with them.
13:44
Um, at least in baseball, I want to say it was
13:46
Scherzer with the Mets when they traded them
13:49
to the Rangers, if he pitched a certain amount
13:51
of innings. the Rangers would eat more money
13:53
and he ended up pitching like five innings. So
13:55
the Mets had to eat all the money, but they do
13:59
it a lot with like the money wise, but I don't
14:01
see a lot of, I don't think you were able to
14:03
trade draft picks in baseball until last year.
14:06
So maybe that's why with baseball, I don't know.
14:08
Baseball has always been more about the cash
14:10
anyway. The Eagles traded Carson Wentz, got a
14:14
second round. It turned into a first round because
14:17
he played 75 % of the games and then they used
14:20
that pick to flip. up and go up in the draft
14:23
and draft Jalen Carter. And now the NFC has to
14:26
deal with Jalen Carter for the next 20 years.
14:29
So you can thank you can thank that whole thing
14:32
that went down, Brian. That's how the Eagles
14:34
got Carter. That's all you got for that. All
14:38
right. Well, with that being said, I think we
14:40
should jump into winners and losers as Brian
14:43
kind of alluded to here. Yeah, I don't know who
14:49
wants to kick it off first I guess I will after
14:51
the huge news that dropped today the tush push
14:55
lives on it a Overwhelming sweeping vote right
15:00
every there was a lot of rumors headlines Rumors
15:05
really would be the best way to put it that this
15:06
was going to be close tight maybe even overturned
15:10
and It wasn't it wasn't close 22 to 10. I mean
15:15
didn't even get near the 75 % number that they
15:17
needed It will continue and the biggest thing
15:21
is the Packers and Bills can go cry in a hole
15:24
and that's all I need to hear I mean they were
15:26
the two that were Complaining about it. They
15:29
were the two who didn't want to hear like I think
15:32
that really the Packers the most but Bills to
15:35
both can go cry in a hole They tried to claim
15:38
players safety When there were no injuries that
15:42
have ever happened from the play, they tried
15:44
to say it was a player safety thing. You want
15:46
to try and push the rugby narrative, fine. But
15:49
if you want to push the rugby narrative, ban
15:51
laterals. You can defeat it every way. Go cry
15:58
in a hole if you had a problem with it. There's
16:00
no injuries from it. Keep crying. Keep pushing.
16:06
Push on. I think the quote was push on. Either
16:09
way if they tweeted that against the packers
16:12
the the graphic was against the packers a little
16:14
bit Yeah, we'll be happy you want to fucking
16:16
create a rule that says we can't do what we're
16:19
successful as we'll come right back at you Also
16:22
twice last year losers matt you mentioned the
16:25
vote was 22 to 10 the score of the playoff game
16:29
was 22 I was there boots on the ground The packers
16:35
I saw some backers discourse about how the league
16:38
was trying to pressure them into bring it up
16:41
because the league wants to get a band and the
16:43
Packers don't have an owner so no other owner
16:46
could get mad at the Packers. I kind of buy it.
16:49
I don't think I don't think it was the Packers
16:51
idea. I think the league's trying to ban this
16:54
play. Who do we blame at that point? Matt Loeffler?
16:59
The whole state of Wisconsin. I mean, Loeffler
17:02
was not pleased. He had a lot of Words to say
17:08
against the play that that seemed like it was
17:11
more than the league Implanting a rule change
17:16
This the whole discourse over this is stupid
17:20
Everyone can do it with the best so they want
17:23
to bend like it shouldn't be that hard to understand
17:27
but That's all it is. It's it's alive and well
17:31
and we will see it all next year and i don't
17:33
know is there some kind of like hey they just
17:35
voted on it so there's got to be like a four
17:37
year you can't vote on this since we just voted
17:40
on it or can i just get voted on again next year
17:42
they can probably just change like three words
17:46
in the proposal for the ban and vote on it again
17:49
yeah I'm sure they can be between now and the
17:53
time we have this conversation again next year.
17:56
I'm sure they're going to find some new argument
17:58
to use, or maybe a couple players do get injured
18:01
and they start using, you know, revisiting that
18:03
argument with new evidence, as I guess you would
18:06
call it. So I don't know, Matt. I wouldn't think
18:09
that this is anywhere near over, but at least
18:13
you're going to have it for 2025. Fair enough.
18:16
All right, Brian, your winner of the week. Yeah,
18:19
I'm happy you went to me because this is a fantastic
18:21
transition. Football fans are my winner of the
18:23
week because they will get to watch, specifically
18:25
NFC East fans, because they will get to watch
18:28
the touch push on HBO during the season. The
18:32
NFC East has the in -season hard knocks this
18:35
year and I am absolutely terrified because the
18:37
last time the Giants were on hard knocks, they
18:39
completely ruined the organization's image. So
18:41
that should be fun. What happened that they were
18:43
on the image? No, you know what happened. No,
18:47
I don't remember. Would you mind recalling? You're
18:51
going to make me say it? I mean, it would only
18:53
be right so everybody can know. I'll say it for
18:55
the two listeners we have that don't know. This
18:58
happened years ago, right? No, it was last year.
19:02
It was? Last year. I may have said something
19:06
on the show about Saquon Barkley. If he goes
19:09
to the Philadelphia Eagles, I won't watch NFL
19:11
Week 1. And then on the offseason hard knocks,
19:14
John Marra may have gone to dear Shmoe and said,
19:16
don't let Saquon Barkley go to the Eagles. And
19:18
a couple days later, Saquon Barkley went to the
19:20
Eagles. And it all happened live on camera. That's
19:23
what happens. And then the Eagles won the Super
19:26
Bowl. It's just you can't write a better story
19:33
if you want to just make it up yourself. Oh my
19:36
god. That's when Joshmo's son, who's like legit
19:42
14, told him to draft Jaden Daniels and he was
19:46
like... I don't think we can get him, bud. I
19:50
don't blame him for that. I mean, Jayden Daniels
19:53
would have been a great pick, but like for what
19:55
it looks like, Malik Neighbors is a really good
19:58
player. He's just on a really bad team. Yeah,
20:01
not even that. It's like you would have had to,
20:03
I don't think the commanders would have traded
20:04
out. They knew Jayden Daniels was going to be
20:07
him, as the kids say. Yeah, like the kid knew
20:11
he was going to be him. Like I said, look, sophomore
20:14
slumps are a real thing. So let's pump the brakes
20:17
there, Brian. But Mr. Jack, your winner of the
20:20
week here, sir. Yeah. Look, I really want to
20:25
say one more comment on that. Go, go. I'm not
20:28
going to not say it. How sure are you that the
20:31
commanders knew that Jane Daniels was going to
20:33
be, as you said, him when he didn't even go first
20:37
overall? The Bears had the choice and they went
20:40
cable. It sounds like from what the commander's
20:43
brass have said, they like Jaden Daniels better.
20:46
OK, obviously they're going to say that because
20:48
that's who they were left with. But but the Bears,
20:52
who had the choice to take Jaden Daniels, pass
20:54
on it for Caleb Williams. That's also true. I
20:57
think it's also Caleb Williams could have been
21:01
as good as Jaden Daniels. There's a huge Jaden
21:04
Daniels watching VR at LSU and with Washington
21:08
studying film week to week. and the Bears made
21:10
Caleb Williams watch film alone and he still
21:12
doesn't know how to watch film. So I think there's
21:14
a huge gap in the way these two organizations
21:16
actually are developing these quarterbacks, but
21:20
Jayden Daniels is still pretty damn good. Fair
21:23
enough. All right, I'll get into my winner. We
21:27
touched on him earlier and I was really scared
21:29
someone was going to come through with this stat.
21:31
What? Oh my God, dude, you're the worst. I'm
21:42
really glad no one talked about this stat even
21:46
though we talked about Brad Marsh and he is the
21:51
first NHL player to go five and oh against the
21:54
franchise in a winner take all you know winner
21:58
winner go home kind of game he is five and oh
22:01
against the Toronto Maple Leafs in those elimination
22:04
games and now obviously most of them are with
22:06
the Bruins but adding one to the to the tech
22:09
to the. to the cap with the Panthers fifth time
22:13
sets an NHL record. He's my winner of the week.
22:16
Go cats. You just got a belief. Belief in March
22:22
and that he's going to interview. No. Oh my God.
22:27
After the game, they're like talking about it
22:29
and like March ends like, you know, all the guys,
22:33
we all had a lot of belief and then like wait
22:36
that the camera and everybody lost it. I love
22:39
that. That was so good, dude. Look it up if you
22:42
haven't seen it. It was so good. Yeah, dude,
22:45
it was so good. If you haven't seen it, go check
22:47
it out. It was really good. I thought for sure
22:49
you guys saw that, but it would have made the
22:52
joke funnier. You guys are looking at me like
22:54
I have three heads. So sounds good. I love it.
22:57
I love it. I'm going to check it out later. Yeah,
22:59
it's a good one there. But no, I mean, that's
23:03
an unbelievable stat, unbelievable record. March
23:07
on March had owns the Leafs. I think if you ever
23:10
tried to get traded there, like if they said
23:12
you're getting traded to the Leafs, he said now
23:13
he would say I'm retiring. Yeah, that's like
23:16
the one team. The one team. It's not happening.
23:21
Not good stuff, Brian. Any reaction or do you
23:23
want to hit us with the loser of the week? I.
23:27
Oh, it's against the Leafs, so you're rattled.
23:30
Yeah, I want to talk about the Florida Panthers
23:31
is as possible as possible. All right, man, you're
23:38
loser of the week after that loser pond. Quick
23:43
shout out for winner of the week, Brett Beaty.
23:45
He's good at baseball, RBI single against Garrett
23:47
Crochet. My loser of the week is Darryl Hoosh
23:51
Doucet and the rest of the people on the American
23:55
flag football team. There was a ruling today
23:58
by the NFL that they will allow their players
24:01
to compete in the 2028 Olympics for flag football.
24:04
And this is a little foreshadowing from the interview
24:07
we did with Steve Jack. Travis Hunter needs to
24:09
play on this team and he needs to dominate this
24:12
Olympics. Maybe. We'll see. We'll see if he's
24:16
interested. You play both sides of the ball.
24:18
This is the perfect tournament for Travis Hunter.
24:21
We'll see. We might. He might not even be a Jaguar
24:23
by the time this tournament comes around. He
24:25
might be tired after playing through February
24:28
and all that. So give me a break. We'll see,
24:31
right? Even if he does play through February,
24:33
he's got March, April, May, June, and most of
24:36
July, he'll be fine. You can do it. You can do
24:38
it now. Thinking about if the Olympics were middle
24:41
of July or beginning of July. I think it's July
24:44
into August is where. Yeah. So I said most of
24:47
July. So I got there. It's just my brain had
24:49
to get there. Well, Brian, it's funny that you
24:52
made this your loser of the week. I was thinking
24:54
about making this my loser of the week, too,
24:56
because, you know, It's awesome that they're
24:58
bringing football to the Olympics. I'm a fan
25:00
of that, but I saw so many. I don't want to say
25:04
players because it was really just everybody
25:06
on Twitter or X or whatever, but so many people
25:09
were saying like, oh, these guys like why would
25:12
you play in this Olympic tournament when you
25:14
got the season coming up? Like you know you're
25:17
going to risk all that kind of money. You know
25:19
same reason guys opt out of bowl games in college
25:22
before they go to the NFL. You could get injured
25:25
in that game, lose out on all that contract money.
25:29
I hate that, man. You're playing for a gold medal
25:31
for your country. I think Justin Jefferson said
25:36
it best. He was like, this has been a dream of
25:37
mine to win a gold medal. It doesn't matter what
25:40
sport you're playing in. As a kid, if you're
25:43
athletic and you're playing sports, you would
25:45
love to go to the Olympics, win a gold medal
25:48
for your country. That's peak, right? It just
25:53
seems like some of these guys are not in on it
25:55
and some of them care about the money too much.
25:58
I think it's it's going to be all wide receivers
26:00
and defensive backs. And of course, maybe quarterback
26:03
might see Jane Daniels, maybe Lamar Jackson go
26:05
out there. But I don't know the guys that have
26:09
to worry about getting injured. You're athletic
26:11
enough. I don't think a wide receiver is going
26:13
to. Yeah, someone's gonna get injured and it's
26:16
gonna be a huge scene and the NFL guys will never
26:19
be back again Someone's gonna tear their ACL
26:21
for sure and then they'll never be back I want
26:24
every single Philadelphia Eagle to stay as far
26:27
away as possible from this entire event I don't
26:29
know if they'll have anyone by the time I mean
26:31
maybe but like Saquon will be what 32 Jalen hurts
26:34
isn't gonna play flight football. Is that when
26:37
they do that? Oh, it's not this upcoming. It's
26:40
2020 2028 Is there an age gap or is it anybody
26:47
can play? No, but the older guys aren't going
26:50
to want to play. I was going to say, I also can't
26:53
see anybody on the Eagles interested in playing.
26:57
Maybe somebody in the defensive backroom like
26:59
Cooper, but I don't think many Eagles would be
27:03
interested. Cooper Dijon might play. He'd be
27:06
good for this. I didn't realize that it was in
27:09
2028. Still a little little ways down. So whatever
27:15
nothing to worry about just yet Really likely
27:20
we'll get jayden daniels with the lsu receivers
27:24
travis hunter and Then I think you need five
27:29
so and then a couple alternates. So Jamiro gibbs,
27:34
maybe there's five then a couple That'd be interesting
27:39
to see who they end up with. It's hard to project.
27:44
Yeah, it really is, because you don't know which
27:46
way they're going to go. I wonder who's going
27:47
to be the head coach. Will they pull an NFL head
27:49
coach? No, they'll let the flag head coaches
27:53
keep their job. They're already getting rid of
27:56
the players. I guess, yeah, you get five NFL
27:58
players, then the alternates are the black football
28:00
players. So there you go. Yeah. So there you
28:02
go. So everybody's happy in some capacity. Well,
28:06
not Darryl Doucet. whatever. Yeah, well, it is
28:10
what it is, right? Jack, you got a loser of the
28:13
week for us here. Yeah. Like I said, I was thinking
28:17
about making what Brian did, but I'm going to
28:19
make it related to the Red Sox. Walker Buehler,
28:22
after not pitching for a while, finally made
28:25
his return yesterday and got ejected in the third
28:28
inning. That was terrible. Yeah, yeah, he got
28:33
ejected over arguing, you know, balls and strike
28:35
calls, which is a good reason to get ejected.
28:38
And any pitcher who's ever played the game of
28:40
baseball has done so nobody's, you know, scot
28:43
-free there, but argued enough where he got ejected.
28:47
Alex Cora, the manager got ejected and yeah,
28:50
Walker Buehler after all that time off two and
28:53
a third innings pitch. I mean, it's hilarious.
28:56
So yeah, he's a loser of the week. So is Cora,
28:58
but so are the umpires from just being Stupid
29:01
I've been texting with our guy Nick throughout
29:05
the series because he's of course a Red Sox fan
29:08
Most 90 % of text messages been this these umpires
29:11
are terrible. That was a strike. That was a ball
29:14
It's been all year. I'm up. It's like these umpires
29:17
are waiting or they're trying to speed up the
29:20
process to get robos robots into the game and
29:24
Just it's like they want to be fired Ryan you
29:28
could be onto something here Maybe, but I don't
29:31
know. And also with Bueller. If they get fired,
29:35
they're probably going to get a massive payout.
29:38
That's true. Maybe we do. They are unionized.
29:44
Geez, Louise. Look at that. I mean, look, you
29:47
start making enough bad calls to the point where
29:50
the fans start asking for the robo technology.
29:53
That's a huge technological investment. and obviously
29:58
you're changing the game of baseball at its core
30:00
when you do that and you take the umps out. So
30:03
a lot of change gonna be happening there. At
30:06
its core, exactly, yep. I'm on a roll tonight.
30:11
Oh yeah. I'm trying to get through my point.
30:13
Now I got distracted. My point is these umpires
30:17
could be being told, like Nico Harrison and Adam
30:20
Silver, right? They could be being told if you
30:23
start messing up these calls, It'll work out
30:27
for you in the long run right you trade Luca
30:29
now. It'll work out for you in the long run.
30:31
We'll give you We'll give you a Cooper flag.
30:35
I don't think Rob Manfred is smart enough to
30:38
Make it or very orchestrated fraud. I don't think
30:43
Rob Manfred has that in him I Know you hate him,
30:47
but you hate out Adam Silver just as much so
30:50
you know I definitely hate Manfred more than
30:52
Adam Silver Adam Silver smart. He's just an idiot
30:55
Rob Manfred's a moron and it is. I agree with
30:59
that. All right. I guess my loser of the week.
31:03
Yeah, you can be an idiot and not and not be
31:06
dumb. You can't be smart. And not be an idiot.
31:12
No, never mind. You can be an idiot and be smart.
31:16
That's what you tried. Matt, what's your what's
31:18
your loser of the week? Now I'm going to keep
31:19
it on the baseball diamond as well. It's going
31:22
to be Yaseo Puig, a guy we haven't heard of in
31:24
a while. He's been let go by the Kawoom heroes
31:27
of the KBO, was batting 213 with the heroes and
31:32
285 on base percentage. He will be returning
31:36
to the USA per social media post. Puig, 34 years
31:41
old, baseball career could be over. That's a
31:46
league with a lot of offense too. Not good to
31:48
be hitting 213. Horrible. And only get on base
31:51
at a 285 clip. Some of those guys have like over
31:55
400 on base percentages. Yeah. Maybe even 500.
31:59
You're in 213 in the MLB. People are like, man,
32:04
like, you know, if you're, if you're headed 30,
32:07
30 to 35 home runs with 213, I think you're staying
32:12
in the MLB. Really? Yeah. I guess MLB. If you're
32:18
at 30 plus, you're, you're staying in the MLB
32:21
on some team. I guess that, yeah, I guess batting
32:24
average doesn't matter as much anymore, but as
32:27
far as, you know, baseball that I know you need
32:30
to be hitting two 60 to be, you know, considered,
32:34
all right, we're going to, we kind of want to
32:35
keep you around, uh, two 13 in, in the MLB isn't
32:39
good to 13 in Korean baseball brother. is atrocious.
32:44
It's like probably batting under 100 in the MLB,
32:46
to be honest with you. Less. Yeah, less. I doubt
32:49
he would be hitting 100 in the MLB. It's not
32:53
that bad of a league, but it's not like there
32:55
is a fall off. There is a fall off and it's a
32:58
significant fall off. He's only 34 years old.
33:01
To put it in perspective, what's Bryce Harper?
33:03
33? Yeah. So like, I mean, this is a guy who
33:09
in that league should still be able to do something.
33:12
Yeah, also another 30 something that's banned
33:15
basically from MLB. Trevor Bauer has like the
33:18
fourth highest DRA in the NPB right now. What's
33:22
that, the Japanese league? Yes. Was he really
33:27
just like blackballed from the MLB because of
33:29
those allegations that ended up being false and
33:32
like he's just never had the opportunity to come
33:34
back? Pretty much. That's terrible. He's not
33:39
sure I'm sure now if he had like a sub one ERA
33:44
someone would give him a tryout because it's
33:46
been so long, but like From where it was like
33:49
turned out to being false to then like his ERA
33:53
started the skyrocket It just like the storm
33:55
didn't line up where like it made sense for him
33:58
to even get a shot With all the baggage and cameras
34:02
and headlines that he would bring it's not even
34:04
even if he has a high ERA It's not even worth
34:07
it It's almost like a Kaepernick. At this point,
34:13
it doesn't really matter. Even Kaepernick had
34:15
a longer sustained success. Bauer had 20 -20
34:19
in the short season where he won the Cy Young.
34:21
The year after, he was good, but not great. And
34:24
then everything happened. Before that, he was
34:27
just like a mediocre pitcher. I was going to
34:28
say, I didn't even know he has a Cy Young. He
34:32
started like 10 games in the Mickey Mouse year.
34:37
Was that for the Dodgers game season with the
34:40
Reds? Did he play for the Dodgers or no? Yeah,
34:43
he played like a half year with the Dodgers and
34:45
then he got suspended and then he got suspended.
34:47
That's right Yeah, you signed a big deal with
34:49
them, right? Yeah after the Sion year, so he
34:52
got a little bit of guaranteed money Yeah I was
34:58
gonna say I don't know what gets voided when
35:00
you have it Yeah, he gets some of the signing
35:07
bonus Well, he got the whole signing bonus, which
35:11
was Probably what? 10 million has enough. Yeah,
35:15
I don't know really into the fancy watches and
35:18
cars. So I don't know how much he's actually
35:20
spent. I Don't know either way fun way to end
35:23
the show on do you see a plague and Trevor Bauer.
35:27
We still got an interview with Steve coming up.
35:30
Yeah, we do. It's not quite the end interview
35:32
with Steve on the French Open coming up next.
35:37
All right. We now welcome on a very special guest.
35:39
It's our views from Section 400 Tennis Insider.
35:42
Mr. Steve also goes by average tennis fan on
35:45
Twitter. You can follow him at all tennis picks.
35:49
Steve. We thank you so much for coming on. We
35:51
really need some help with this tennis and we
35:53
look forward to a great French Open. How you
35:55
doing? Thank you. Thank you for having me on.
35:57
It's great to see all y 'all. All right. So Steve,
35:59
we want to get into all the favorites, all the
36:01
underdog stories. Who can actually win this tournament?
36:05
But first, you know me. I want an American to
36:09
really do well. An American hasn't really done
36:11
well, at least on the men's side, in a long time.
36:14
But Tommy Paul did make it to the quarterfinals
36:17
of the Italian Open last week. so is is he or
36:20
maybe another american maybe ben sheldon maybe
36:24
maybe taylor fritz can do something is there
36:27
a chance an american gets to the quarterfinals
36:30
or maybe it's a chance to win this thing the
36:32
the hardest part for these americans brand is
36:35
just that they don't grow up playing this red
36:39
clay they play on this green clay hard true slash
36:42
rubico rubico type stuff and it's just it plays
36:46
just like hard chords except you can slide on
36:48
it like it's nothing like these slow chords that
36:51
these South Americans and Europeans are just
36:54
so adapted to they played on their whole lives
36:57
and maybe if it was best two out of three maybe
37:01
these guys can split something in but in the
37:03
best three out of five it's just hard for me
37:06
to see any American like you see Shelton he's
37:08
been in he's been in Europe since Monte Carlo
37:11
started about what Three four weeks ago, and
37:13
he's lost about first round every single time
37:16
except going to Munich Playing there will be
37:19
finaled there, but lost is Vera who I don't think
37:22
is that great either Yeah, Ben Shelton annoys
37:27
me so much because he can look like the best
37:29
tennis player of all time and then he'll get
37:31
broken on like Two breakpoints in a row and it's
37:34
just like I mean he has so much potential he's
37:37
like 23, 24 years old, he started playing at
37:40
16. He was playing basketball his whole life
37:42
and then was like, I'll play tennis. It's really
37:45
good. Maybe one day. I just think when you're
37:49
an athlete, you can cross over. You see great
37:52
athletes, right? And they can cross over. Look
37:54
at Cooper Dejean for a reason, someone I like.
37:57
I mean, that guy was dunking on people in high
37:58
school. You could shake your head, but that's
38:00
what it was. Not that you asked me, Brian, but
38:03
just, just to Be straight with you. If you're
38:06
looking for an American to do well here, I think
38:08
you should sit this tournament out. I think that's
38:11
a I think that's a good call. Do we even have
38:13
Tiaffo in the qualifiers for this? Is he going
38:16
to be in? No, he's he's in the main draw. He's
38:19
he's already in because he's he's top 100. I
38:22
think he's still top 50, so he's good, but it's
38:24
just. These guys can make a run, but once it
38:28
gets to like the big dogs, it's it's over. It's
38:31
like they don't train for this like. They've
38:34
been playing on probably hard chords coming up
38:36
to this back home and then fly into this like,
38:38
oh, it's a grand slam. A lot of points, a lot
38:41
of money. I'll show up. Yeah. Well, at least
38:43
we have guys. We have some guys I could root
38:45
for. Maybe it sounds like just the first couple
38:47
of rounds. There's always going to be guys you
38:50
can root for, dude. The American Tennis Foundation,
38:54
it's getting a lot better from the last 20 years
38:57
for the men's side. We've lost because we were
39:00
on top of the world. We had Agassi, Sampras.
39:03
all that stuff. McEnroe, we were on top of the
39:06
world and now it's all the Europeans and South
39:08
Americans taking everything. But I really do
39:10
think we have a good foundation in America for
39:13
these future stars to start taking forward. I
39:16
mean, I love Alex Nicholson. He's 19, 20 years
39:19
old out of... He's on my shit list right now.
39:26
That's unfortunate. Don't bet on Nemo Gorgeous.
39:30
That guy's on my... I got a question for Steve,
39:34
if we wanted to start there. Yeah, that works.
39:37
Go for it. All right. Well, Steve, when Brian
39:40
first asked you if there was an American who
39:42
had a shot in this, you said no, but you said
39:44
no because of the court type. Are you trying
39:47
to tell me that we really shouldn't be looking
39:49
forward to seeing any Americans win any of these
39:51
tournaments unless it's on US soil? I mean, Americans
39:55
have really good shots on anything hardcore.
39:59
I mean, there's a lot of European tournaments
40:01
that have hard courts. We're just in the unfortunate
40:04
two and a half, three month season of clay season
40:07
where these American guys, they just get absolutely
40:11
screwed because they don't play this all year.
40:14
They don't have a training facility with red
40:16
clay. The closest thing they get to this is the
40:19
green clay that I've played on and it's faster
40:22
than anything. you'll see over there in Europe.
40:26
Yeah I think you said too like with the clay
40:29
and it doesn't stop there either right like we
40:32
go to grass next with Wimbledon next month so
40:35
it could be tough for the Americans. I think
40:38
the grass will play better for the Americans
40:40
but definitely with the clay. I have zero expectations
40:44
for any Americans this weekend. I agree. And
40:48
Wimbledon, they do a lot better because the grass
40:51
makes the ball go a little bit faster. The Americans
40:53
usually have stronger serves than mostly anyone
40:57
on the tour. But when it slows down on the court,
41:01
like clay, it just, your 150 mile per hour serve,
41:04
it hits the clay. It's 120 now. Yeah. Well Steve,
41:09
I only have one last question for you when it
41:12
pertains to tennis I'm not a huge tennis guy,
41:14
but you know I am familiar with the goats in
41:17
the sport the Djokovic the Federer's the Nadal's
41:21
who's still around and who's retired at this
41:24
point um Federer's been done for for a bit and
41:28
the doll retired last year at the French Right
41:32
after the Olympics in the French. He retired
41:35
he was done Um, Djokovic is still around. He
41:38
hasn't won anything this year. Uh, last thing
41:42
he's won was that Olympic gold, which was played
41:45
in Roland Garros, which is where he's at this
41:49
year. So, I mean, you can never count the one
41:52
of the three goats out Djokovic. Like he's, he's
41:54
always going to do well in any, any major you
41:56
give him a draw, he's going to play well. Yeah.
41:58
He's what? Plus 1500 to win this. Yeah, it was.
42:03
It was wild to me because he's on the hunt for
42:06
his 100th tour title. So he's in Geneva right
42:11
now. I don't expect him to really care too much
42:15
and stay there. He just won his first match,
42:18
but I expect him to lose in the next round or
42:22
two. Go to Paris and go ahead and start training
42:26
on that clay. No reason to be in altitude clay
42:28
when you're not going to be playing in altitude
42:30
in Paris, France. Was gonna say I was watching
42:33
the match today. I think he played Fusovic and
42:36
just to your altitude point the backdrops in
42:38
Geneva Switzerland looked unbelievable. That's
42:42
got to be a bucket list Tour location for anybody
42:45
playing playing tennis there. So I didn't even
42:48
know he won I watched a little bit at lunch and
42:50
He's like, oh Joe finishes on he's oh, he's the
42:52
guy like, you know for for You know guys for
42:56
Brian and Jack who might not know it's like,
42:58
you know once a Kwan Barkley's playing when Shohei
43:01
Otani's up at bat You stop and you watch him
43:03
play out of set. He's that type of player Do
43:06
they do a graphic on the broadcast of how many
43:08
more matches until Djokovic is up? They don't
43:13
get that crazy. I don't think I'm sure they have
43:16
something that'll annoy you to that extent, but
43:19
now the Otani stuff is nuts Yeah, the the one
43:24
last tennis guy I wanted to ask you about Steve
43:27
a guy that Brits want to know it as one of the
43:30
new goats Jack Draper We saw it in the Italian
43:33
Open in the quarterfinal They were hyping up
43:35
the match against Alcaraz is like the biggest
43:38
tennis match of the year lost in straight sets
43:40
Does Draper have a chance to win on clay or can
43:43
I root for his downfall and he might lose in
43:44
the first round? I really do think Draper is
43:48
up and coming. I mean he's he's top five now
43:51
as much as I hate to say it too. I didn't think
43:55
he was going to be much about two years ago and
43:57
then I keep seeing him play. He keeps improving.
44:01
His fitness was his main concern. He can never
44:04
finish out matches or he'd always get hurt or
44:06
something. Now you look at him, he's absolutely
44:09
jacked. He's conditioned. He can play best three
44:12
out of five matches like it's no problem. I really
44:16
do think Jack Draper does have a solid shot to
44:18
win Roland Garros and. possibly a slam sometime
44:21
this year, if not this one. If he's going to
44:26
win one, it better be this one or Wimbledon and
44:28
not the U .S. Open. That's all I'm going to say.
44:31
The main reason is because left handers just
44:33
have a natural advantage on people, especially
44:36
on the clay court, because clay, it's not a flat
44:40
surface. It's got a little bit of divots on each
44:43
little. Every time the ball hits, it creates
44:46
a little divot and that lefty Unnatural swing
44:50
and spin that you're not used to hits those divots.
44:53
It's it's crazy Hitting knuckleballs that was
44:57
basically it's basically what he's doing. Yeah
44:59
on the clay courts It's a knuckleball, but it's
45:02
like 20 times faster So it's really that much
45:05
to more difficult to react and a prime example
45:09
and and to you know Fuel to Steve's point here,
45:12
you know, it's why Rafael Nadal is won here 14
45:15
times and is you know the master of the clay
45:19
courts it's because of that left -handed the
45:21
way they swing it comes off differently and it's
45:24
it's just too hard man it's too tough to control
45:26
so i uh kind of pissed brian brought up jack
45:29
draper he was my men's pick to win it all and
45:32
uh that's usually our trend here is uh you know
45:35
brian has never heard you ever heard a draper
45:38
until today no i've been i've been hate betting
45:41
against them for like a year now Yeah, so You
45:48
hit all the nails on the head on why I like Draper
45:51
the lefty he's back in shape He's playing really
45:55
well that usually bodes momentum wise. I talked
45:58
about it in golf it is Exactly how it how it
46:01
goes in majors for tennis, you know, they always
46:04
play the pre -tournaments leading up I think
46:05
he's been playing well going into now Roland
46:08
Garros as we've we've been saying I absolutely
46:11
love the Draper pick. And sure, let him get it
46:14
here so it's not in New York. I agree. All right,
46:20
yeah, I guess we should all make picks before
46:21
we get to the other side of the draw here with
46:23
the women, where maybe an American stands a chance.
46:26
I'm going to throw out Ben Shelton. He's due.
46:29
He's going to win one. He's not getting it. He
46:34
just got the girlfriend, dude. Was he dating
46:37
something? The Rodman shit? Yeah, Rod on the
46:43
US national team. Yeah, so he's pretty sure she
46:47
just flew out to Paris to go watch him. Yeah,
46:50
that's no way. You may have to do an updated
46:53
foreign 400 of the the most athletic sports babies.
46:58
They would that could definitely be one. I don't
47:01
know. I love Draper at plus 2500. I'm not going
47:05
to give you Alcaraz who would, if I had to put
47:08
like my life on it, I would pick him, but I'll
47:11
go, I'll go with Draper for the value. Jack,
47:14
you want to give out one before Steve finishes
47:16
it? Yeah. Let me give you the Italian stallion.
47:19
I'm going with Sinner. The cheater. I mean, he's
47:23
been, he hasn't missed a step. He came back after
47:29
three months and this last two weeks he hasn't
47:32
missed a step, but. I'm gonna have to go chalk
47:35
I'm gonna go with the guy who Who won Rome one
47:40
Monte Carlo finaled in Barcelona this year? As
47:43
one has lost one match on clay so far this season
47:46
has a what? 96 and 19 record on clay. I'm gonna
47:50
go with Carlo soccer out to to win it all this
47:54
year. He's gonna be Jack is not mr. Chalk for
48:00
once on this show It's close, I mean what, Alcaraz
48:03
plus 125, Sinner plus 175? Yeah. It's there.
48:12
It's hard to go against Alcaraz, I agree with
48:14
you Steve, he's so good. That's what I said,
48:17
my life depended on it, it would be Alcaraz all
48:20
the way. If I had to choose a little long shot
48:23
on the... Yeah, what are your long shots? I like
48:26
Holger Runa, he's been playing really well, he's...
48:30
Trained under the Rafa Nadal Academy. He knows
48:33
this clay. He beat Alcaraz in Barcelona this
48:38
year, so I don't see why if he's he can just
48:42
avoid his fitness issues, stay healthy and win
48:45
matches pretty easily and not go to five sets
48:47
back to back to back matches. I think he's got
48:50
a shot and even Daniel Medvedev. He's he's at
48:52
plus 12 ,000 odds. Former top tenor is. Been
48:58
to the quarters of the French Open. He's won
49:00
the US Open. I like those two shots at plus 55
49:04
and plus 12 ,000. Yeah, maybe that big hardcore
49:08
guy big. Alright, yeah, that's great value there.
49:14
Oh, that's what we love. We love the great value
49:16
up. Yeah, I might sprinkle that. I didn't realize
49:19
he was that long. It's insane. I opened up handle
49:22
and I was like where where is he? I just kept
49:24
scrolling kept scrolling. That's insane. Five
49:27
dollars, I'll take my chances on the Russian
49:29
all day long. You'll have plenty of hedge chances,
49:32
don't worry. Oh yeah. Alright Steve, over to
49:36
the women. Coco Goff, who is also apparently
49:39
named Cory, found that out a couple days ago.
49:42
Cory Dion Goff. Can she win this? Cory Dion?
49:46
Cory Dion Goff. Oh, she can definitely win this
49:49
then. Tell me why. I think she could win this
49:53
without a doubt. I mean, I think she's like the
49:55
third favorite right now at plus plus 600 plus
49:58
650 somewhere around there But she's she's been
50:02
playing insane tennis this past few weeks, especially
50:05
in Europe on the red clay Everyone's been hating
50:09
on her and they don't realize she's 21 years
50:12
old. She just turned 21 in March Yeah, so this
50:17
girl has All the aspects of both the Williams
50:21
sisters, in my opinion, I think she could be
50:22
great. She, she semi -finaled in or finaled in
50:27
the French open a few years ago. She loves the
50:30
red clay. She's not afraid of it. She hits hard.
50:33
I don't see why Coco golf does not have a chance
50:35
to win the French open this year, especially
50:37
with, uh, you know, the favorite, in my opinion,
50:40
who should be the favorite, you guys, Fionta
50:42
just been playing horrible tennis this year.
50:45
Yeah. Danielle Rose Collins, who I'm going to
50:47
throw some money on just Because of the namesake
50:50
took her out in the last tournament. Exactly.
50:52
It was wild. Almost bagel her. I'm pretty sure
50:55
like it was the most insane thing ever. Yeah,
50:59
ego was on like to compare it to the men's like
51:01
she was like, oh my gosh, is this the new Alcaraz
51:04
of the woman? Right. Like she was just winning
51:06
at a record pace. Seemed like she was going to
51:08
rumble through or storm through. And it was at
51:12
a time where Sabalenka hasn't taken that step
51:15
yet. where it was like, you know, you were like,
51:17
all right, she got this on lock. And like you
51:19
said, Steve, the last even not even this year,
51:22
I feel like it's been like the last like year
51:23
and a half, maybe almost two years. It's just
51:25
like, was there like some fitness issues? Was
51:29
she sick, injury, some weird stuff going on there?
51:32
Maybe fired the trainer, the coach. There was
51:35
a lot of weird stuff going on, mate. Was there
51:37
a PD thing with her? Yeah, she did have this
51:40
PD situation that kind of just thrown under the
51:44
bus, just kind of swept under the rug. It was
51:47
kind of fishy. And since then, she hasn't been
51:50
the same player. It's been weird because around
51:54
this time last year, she was about 1 ,500, 2
51:59
,000 points ahead of Irina Sabalenka in points
52:01
as the number one overall player. Now she's number
52:04
five in the world at around 6 ,000 points. It's
52:09
crazy. Her downfall has been insane. She's won
52:12
the French Open last three years in a row. Last
52:15
four out of five years, but I don't know. Maybe
52:19
maybe the drugs is what's been helping her play
52:21
like an absolute man like. Steve, I gotta I gotta
52:26
follow up question. Speaking of historic downfalls,
52:29
what is the deal with Naomi Osaka? No, I know
52:35
there was a lot of stuff. She was dealing with
52:37
a bunch of depression. I know that mental. Health
52:40
can be very, very tough for athletes. I don't
52:44
think her boyfriend at the time, YBN Cordae,
52:48
was really helping. Her new husband right now,
52:52
she's been great. She's a new mother now, just
52:55
back on the tour after her pregnancy. She's been
52:58
playing great. She won her first clay court title.
53:01
It wasn't a major WTA 250 or 500. It was a challenger
53:06
tour title, but still. that brings so much more
53:09
confidence for her game. And she's been her new
53:12
coach, Patrick Mordegalu. I believe he is based
53:16
in Italy. Can't really remember Italian. But
53:20
his entire Tennis Academy over there has got
53:25
hardcore. It's got red clay court. She's been
53:27
training there for the last six months now. She's
53:31
been playing really good. The only thing she's
53:32
got to do well is keep herself in a positive
53:35
mindset. That's her biggest downfall is she puts
53:38
herself in a hole and then she keeps digging
53:40
the deeper hole when she can't get out like it.
53:43
It's tough for herself. It's gotta be tough for
53:45
anybody in tennis as a solo sport. But OK, I
53:49
mean that makes a bit more sense. I didn't realize
53:51
she was going through all that stuff and she
53:53
had a kid too. So I mean that that'll definitely
53:56
take you off the court and away from the spotlight.
53:58
So you know, I'm seeing on here. She's right
54:01
in the middle of the pack. As far as odds goes,
54:03
I see plus 5000 along with a lot of other people.
54:08
We feeling good about that. Is she on the come
54:11
up? Is she there yet or not yet? I just Clay's
54:15
never been her her specialty. I just I think
54:18
she can make a run. She's got the talent to go
54:21
to the final, but she loves slapping the ball.
54:25
Her her report is really on the hard court. She
54:28
loves. Courts that go super fast. She doesn't
54:31
like extended rally. She wants to finish the
54:33
point early. It's and that clay courts just don't
54:36
really allow that. Hold on, just just to backtrack
54:40
a little bit here. You said she won a clay tournament.
54:43
Was it a ITF futures event? Uh, I want to say
54:47
it was a challenger. It wasn't an ITF because
54:51
it was an ITF. That's just embarrassing. I don't
54:53
think I don't think it was ITF. Let me just check.
54:56
Those are like. Up -and -coming teenagers like
55:00
rank. Oh, yeah, it was a challenger 100. So it
55:03
wasn't quite Yes, I'm not great. Yeah, I tip
55:09
is like bottom of the barrel like that and like
55:12
celebrating that then that's From ranked 100s
55:17
to 200 so it's Yeah, ITFs are like a thousand
55:24
Like those are insane. I saw what I see. Those
55:29
courts are horrible. Horrible. It's like playing
55:32
in a CYO wreck gym. Literally, I saw one play
55:35
court. It looked like a beach out there. I'm
55:37
like, man, this is the newest court that the
55:41
sand court like it's crazy. Yeah, I definitely
55:45
think I think we need to talk about again. Another
55:49
hardcore specialist, but somebody who's gonna
55:51
be there to compete for the title here. It's
55:54
Savileka I mean nobody's had the year that she's
55:57
had she's been the number one player Well, even
56:00
if ego was on I think Savileka still would be
56:03
the best player just what your thoughts on kind
56:06
of where she's been at that maybe the last couple
56:08
weeks or a couple months and You know is she?
56:12
The chalk bet here like Alcares would be is is
56:16
it like, you know Everyone's like Alcares, they
56:19
want to be surprised. Sabalenka, like same kind
56:21
of deal or is it still maybe a little tricky
56:23
for the woman's side? I think on the woman's
56:26
side, it's just a little bit more open. There's
56:28
a lot more parity still left. Like you said,
56:31
Sabalenka, she loves the hard courts, but I think
56:34
her best result here is a semifinal in 23. Last
56:40
year, she lost in the quarters to an unranked
56:43
Mira Andriva. She's currently top 10 now, so.
56:46
Who knew? But she's never just really performed
56:51
great here in Paris. It hasn't been her forte.
56:56
I really don't see why she's the favorite besides
57:01
just being the number one ranked player in the
57:02
world. She won a few matches. I think she won
57:06
one tournament this past few weeks. But she just
57:11
lost early in Rome, and I think this little break
57:13
will help her. I just it's hard for me to see
57:16
arena go far far in the French Yeah again two
57:20
for two on on the on the picks here Mira adriva
57:23
is definitely my pick to win here some more value
57:26
as well the 18 year old coming off the Indian
57:30
Wells, you know Again, it's so tough on the clay
57:34
man It you know, it's hard because it's a little
57:37
more wide open and you got to go with the clay
57:39
Specialists and you can't go with the players
57:41
that you know are the better player But I just
57:45
like the way Andriva is playing right now. I
57:47
think she's still hungry, only 18 years old and
57:49
playing with the best of them. So at plus 700,
57:52
I think there's value there to take her. We'll
57:56
get everybody's picks, but your thoughts on the
57:58
Andriva pick? I think it's a great pick. She
58:01
plays so carefree. She's not really ever that
58:05
tight on the court. But it has been interesting
58:09
to see her defend her points and I agree, and...
58:38
I think she she recently turned 18. She won Indian
58:42
Wells, which is as as the tennis fan knows like
58:46
the unspoken fifth major as a as a minor. She
58:51
was 17 to one Indian Wells. I mean, that's unbelievable.
58:54
A minor. A freaking minor, dude. It's absolutely
58:59
out of control. Oh, and I just I see videos of
59:02
her behind the scenes, too. She's just like.
59:05
Carefree little girl like I love watching her.
59:08
She's she's so fun to watch play. She hits the
59:11
ball really, really hard. I think she's got a
59:13
good chance in this French open. Sounds like
59:16
the Travis Hunter of women's golf or women's
59:19
tennis. Give me a break. How how do you? How
59:24
do you be Travis Hunter in tennis? No, just just
59:27
with the with the West. You know, I have a feeling
59:34
we're going to talk about Travis Hunter earlier
59:36
in this show, so we don't have to talk about
59:39
him. Saw some interesting videos of him coming
59:43
up in rookie camp. We'll definitely get to that.
59:46
Yeah, we're going to have Travis Hunter will
59:48
be a topic of conversation. We'll break those
59:50
videos down. I'm taking Paulini as my pick. She's
59:55
a short queen firecracker bundle of energy runner
59:58
up at Wimbledon last year, I think. I'll run
1:00:01
her up here last year. Yeah, run her up here
1:00:03
last year as well. Oh yeah, I like it even more.
1:00:06
She was insane last year. She's 5 '3". She's
1:00:09
literally a firecracker and hits the ball what
1:00:13
it feels like 100 miles an hour, but she just
1:00:16
won Rome, first Italian woman to do so. Coco,
1:00:21
right? Like 30 years. Yeah, just beat Coco. She's
1:00:25
got a good chance. She loves playing here too.
1:00:28
Like you said, finaled here last year. I don't
1:00:31
see why she doesn't have a good chance as well.
1:00:34
I'm taking Coco. I'll do it. Take the American
1:00:37
from the a shout out Atlanta. Yeah, Coco golf.
1:00:43
Bing, bing, bing. I'm going to have to go with
1:00:45
Jack. Corey Dion golf. I think she's going to
1:00:50
win. She's 21 years old. I think she's about
1:00:54
to get her second major. She finaled here before
1:00:58
It wasn't last year, but in the previous I think
1:01:01
23 she finaled here I don't see why she can't
1:01:04
get it done. It's the weakest. I think this French
1:01:07
open draw has ever been It's the most open. I
1:01:10
don't see why an American can't lift this on
1:01:13
the woman side Yeah, I mean She's always been
1:01:20
one to just come up too short, right? I mean
1:01:22
every every major so we'll see we'll see what
1:01:26
it is here i want to take it one step further
1:01:29
before we wrap this segment up we've talked about
1:01:31
who's gonna win there's a lot of favorites on
1:01:35
the men's and women's side i don't maybe jack
1:01:38
and brian can take a pick but i think the people
1:01:40
are going to want your insight especially uh
1:01:43
a favorite or a lot or uh you know maybe out
1:01:47
of the five favorites on each side Who falters
1:01:50
out early in the first or second round? We see
1:01:53
it every major where somebody with short odds
1:01:56
fumbles and loses early. We're going to see it
1:02:00
this year. We just don't know who who might one
1:02:03
of those picks be Steve. Oh, who are you fading?
1:02:06
I should say. I mean. I not Alexander has been
1:02:14
playing very great recently. I think he's world
1:02:16
number. two or three right now, I think three.
1:02:19
He has been playing great. Stefano Sitsipas,
1:02:23
he's been changing rackets every tournament the
1:02:26
last three weeks. It's insane. He went from Wilson
1:02:29
to the Babylon and then now he's back to Wilson.
1:02:33
He just needs to retire, go take Paula Badosa
1:02:37
and literally just never play tennis again. Yeah,
1:02:40
dude, I'm just gonna be stole my girl. What?
1:02:44
But I think those two guys is very I've just
1:02:47
lost in Hamburg literally today to Alexander
1:02:51
Mueller As a that's an ugly loss. Yeah, plus
1:02:55
Possibly but Louise Mary Alice you're thinking
1:03:01
of maybe Thomas Thomas Mueller is who I'm thinking
1:03:06
of All over the place on the woman's side I think
1:03:13
to pair with Stefano Sitsipas, I think Badosa
1:03:18
can also go down early. She's been withdrawing
1:03:21
first round the last two out of three tournaments.
1:03:25
She's just playing her first tournament in like,
1:03:27
I think three, four weeks. I don't think she's
1:03:30
got the match practice and just consistency in
1:03:34
the last few weeks to be able to last long here
1:03:36
in the French. I got you, yeah. Why has she been
1:03:40
withdrawing from her past tournaments? She's
1:03:42
been having a back spasm. Thank you for that
1:03:52
very unfiltered and unrefined answer. I'm going
1:03:56
to go back to our doctor here, Dr. Steve. I know
1:04:01
she's been dealing with a lot of back spasms,
1:04:04
back tightness. Maybe Stefanos has been you know
1:04:09
been a little too rough on her, but um She's
1:04:14
been withdrawing. I don't see her. She's she's
1:04:16
top ten. I don't see her going crazy And even
1:04:20
Egos fiontech she's been losing Insanely, so
1:04:23
I think if there's good value on fading both
1:04:26
those players in the woman's side It's very of
1:04:29
insidious on the men's side. I Like it I think
1:04:33
I think you're there I think I think you're there
1:04:37
with Zara as ever ever whatever the hell the
1:04:39
fucking German guy's name is I Don't hate that
1:04:43
at all. He's always a guy who you know, we talked
1:04:46
about way back Osaka another guy who could be
1:04:50
a little bit of a mental nutcase if if he lets
1:04:52
it get to him so something to watch there, especially
1:04:55
if he drops early starts getting nuts and Something
1:04:59
to see there, but I'm excited man Major tennis
1:05:01
is back. We haven't had it since January with
1:05:04
the Australian Open. So we got a nice run here
1:05:07
with the French, wibbled it in June and then
1:05:09
wrap it up with the US Open at the end of the
1:05:13
summer. So I'm pumped. It's finally back. The
1:05:16
sports that not everybody loves, but I do. And
1:05:19
clearly you do too, Steve. So respect. The best
1:05:21
sport in the world. Dude, I got somebody else
1:05:23
with me, man. Brian and Jack give me shit for
1:05:25
it all the time, but I'm glad we could get a
1:05:28
full segment in. But thank you so much for having
1:05:31
me on. I really appreciate y 'all. This was really
1:05:34
really fun Love breaking down the French Open
1:05:36
with y 'all And hopefully I can be back for Wimbledon.
1:05:40
I was gonna say we'll see you back in Wimbledon,
1:05:42
man Definitely. We need somebody to talk tennis
1:05:44
Brian. Yeah, what he's talking about I know I
1:05:48
know Matt does sound like he knows what he's
1:05:50
talking about when it comes to tennis So kudos
1:05:51
to you Matt, but I sure got it. We'll need it
1:05:54
We'll need our insider once again Steve. Thanks
1:05:56
for joining us, man. I appreciate y 'all having
1:05:58
me. Thank y 'all so much That's gonna wrap us
1:06:02
up here good interview with Steve. They're talking
1:06:04
some fresh open Let me know what you guys are
1:06:06
picking down in the comments below. Don't forget
1:06:09
to leave a subscribe as well Got a fun Memorial
1:06:13
Day weekend coming up big horse racing for the
1:06:17
Preakness. We got the Indy 500 Am I missing anything
1:06:22
Freakness was last week. What's Belmont this
1:06:25
weekend next weekend? So what horse races this
1:06:29
weekend? Oh, I thought there's a good one this
1:06:32
weekend. Maybe there isn't. All right, whatever.
1:06:34
Screw me. Yeah, either way. No, no, I don't want
1:06:39
to be wrong. Yep. Double check. Here we go. The
1:06:43
win. Dang. Where's race? Is Google so bad now?
1:06:53
When and where is the Belmont Stakes? June 4th.
1:06:56
So next weekend. In Belmont, New York. Well,
1:07:00
I know where but I'm asking when I went and where
1:07:03
because that's the first fucking thing that popped
1:07:05
up on the search bar Yeah, Brian Anyway We're
1:07:11
at the show up we thank Steve for coming on big
1:07:14
Memorial Day weekend citizens Memorial Day weekend
1:07:16
I think a lot of the boys will be traveling to
1:07:18
the beach going home doing what everybody's gonna
1:07:20
be doing so a Little bit of a weird schedule.
1:07:24
I don't think we'll have a recording Sunday night
1:07:27
If we have brain cells left from the weekend,
1:07:30
potentially a recording on Monday night for a
1:07:32
show on Tuesday night. Mr. Jack heading on vacation.
1:07:35
I think it's going to be a two man show Monday
1:07:37
night is the plan right now before the weekend.
1:07:41
We'll see what happens over the weekend. That's
1:07:47
the plan. If I have enough brain cells to put
1:07:50
myself together, then yes, new show Tuesday.
1:07:54
That's all I got. Brian Jack Matt, it's for you
1:07:57
from section 400 leave a like subscribe below.
1:07:59
See you next time. Peace Have a fun vacation
1:08:03
Jack