Latest / Your Dark Companion Podcast / Mike wont give you his Source but he did say Assimakapolis Right | Lia Assimakapolis | YDC Ep 244

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Mike wont give you his Source but he did say Assimakapolis Right | Lia Assimakapolis | YDC Ep 244 · Your Dark Companion Podcast

• Nobody would have thought that I would be the one. Ryder, sports talk. Baseball. Baseball. Baseball. Baseball. Baseball. With the big mic. Oh, okay. Alright. Yeah. Okay. Now I get it. We got a lightning strike, boys. What happened over there, Grego? We had a little lightning strike right outside the window. Alright. Alright. Here's a tip for all these Americano League teams. Don't do wait. You said tip? Yeah. Tip. Okay. With a p. Keep jamming. The the ticket colon. Nothing but a big gnx jerk off the safe. Is this a cool night or what? I thought somebody would hear that and go, bullshit. I'm back, homages. Oh. That it might not count towards your stuff. And I was like, meh. Meh. So how long did you go? The whole semester. Was, like, the last three weeks that she knew. That my name was Ashley Bullington. That's crazy. Alicia Buffington. Alicia Buffington. I think I might start calling you that. We definitely need to. That's fine. Yeah. Okay. Buffington. Mhmm. Well, here we are. We find ourselves on this, the July 22. It is Wednesday out there. Those lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer are in full force. It is just beat down hot, and here we are inside the nurturing biosphere of the mothership. Where it's nice and cool. Yes. Shoopy is here. Ashley is here. Becca is here. And, today, since it's so hot outside, I figured we would turn a little attention to a sport that is pray played primarily on ice. Generally. Yeah. Yes. Like, we're talking ice hockey here today. Talking the Dallas Stars and all that that implies. And I'm very interested in the person we have in here to talk about it today. She covers the stars for the Dallas Morning News, the greatness that is the Dallas Morning News. Her first name is Leah, and I told her I wanted to try and see how close I get how I come to getting your last name right. Go for it. Alright. I think it is a simulacopoulos. Nailed it. Dude. Look at me. Look at me. Still got his fastball. How are you? I'm great. How are you? I'm doing okay. Better now that I got that. I'm impressed. It's hard to get Alright. The first She covers the stars for The Dallas Morning News, as we said. And you've been on the beat for how long now? I've been on the beat for three years. So this will be my fourth season. Three years. Yes. Alright. Before we get into that, I must know, where are you from? I am from a suburb of Washington DC in Bethesda, Maryland. Oh, Bethesda. Yes. Where they have hospitals and stuff. Don't they? Have hospitals. They have they have schools. They have grocery stores. Yes. They have restaurants? Oh, they have those too. Holy crap. Yeah. What a magical hand. But it's I've always thought of that as a very academic part of the world. Heavy on academics. Sure. So that's where you're from. Where'd you go to college? I went to Northwestern in Chicago. Okay. And then I moved here ten days after I graduated. I've been here ever since. Really? On purpose? On purpose. Okay. To cover high school football. So that's At the Dallas Morning News? At the Dallas Morning News. Yes. And how were how long were you on the high school beat? I was on the high school beat for two years, but I started covering the stars, I think about a year or year and a half in, so they have me doing both. A lot of us kind of juggle multiple beats. So now I juggle stars with college football, mostly SMU, but was doing the high school stars thing for a little while. But yeah, the first year it was all high schools and it's a bit of a culture shock for someone from Maryland. But I loved it. There's nothing like it. And not every part of the country does high school stuff like we do. No, no. My high school played football games at 2PM on Tuesdays. So nobody ever went. Yeah. That's just when they had them. We did not have Friday night lights so What time did school get out on? Like Up there? Yeah. Two right 03:00. Sometimes the games would be before school got out. Was weird. It was really weird. Yeah. I went to one football game, I think, all of high school and it was our homecoming game my senior year because you had to, basically. Yeah. So And I love sports. Just wasn't our thing. What got you into sports? Anything in particular or anyone in particular? Dad. My dad like coached basketball and was a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan and that was like our thing. We'd go to games together and watch games together. And, I, my brother has autism, so couldn't really get into the sports thing with my dad. So he said, well, one of my kids has to do it. So it kind of became me and, I played a lot of sports growing up and through high school. So, I just wanted to keep it a part of my life and this was the only way I could do it because I wasn't good enough to be a professional athlete. So Neither were we. Yeah. So at what point did you get the urge to or the bug to write about sports? When I was in high school, like tenth, eleventh grade, I realized I could do it. And I started writing for my high school newspaper and which printed once a month. So not really great to cover sports when you can only write about them once a month, but it's fine. And, then I got into Northwestern, which has a pretty good journalism school and is in the Big Ten and they just happened to go to two Big Ten championships in my four years there and they will never go to one again, in my opinion, because of the way the conference is set up. So I got really lucky there and, kind of just chased it and, had some internships and got some opportunities and met my boss at the Dallas Morning News at a career fair and a couple months later I get a job. So You met you who was the boss then? So Tommy Moggleson is now our sports editor. He was the high school sports editor at the time. So I met him at like a virtual career fair during COVID my summer after my junior year of college and we kind of just kept in contact and he said, we've got a job opening if you want it. And I applied and I only had to apply for one job and I got it and I was very lucky to not have to freak out about applications after school. And I landed the job in February, got to finish out college and then started in June. That was Wow. Pretty nice situation. I know it does not usually work that way for people. So I got pretty lucky. Well, you did get lucky. Yeah. So how'd you wind up on the stars beat? So that was a bit of a journey. I was a hockey fan growing up, a Washington Capitals fan. The Capitals won the Stanley Cup my senior year of high school. So that was like a great experience to be there for that. But that was kind of my only hockey experience. Northwestern didn't have a hockey team, I had never really covered it. But I think it was like fall of twenty twenty three maybe. Yeah. And then, so our former Starz writer, Matt DeFranks had told the Dawson Moran news that he would be leaving. He moved to St. Louis where he covers the blues still, with his wife who's from there. And it was kind of the it was actually the spring, it was the playoffs of that 2023 year and we kind of were covering the stars by committee. We had Chuck Carlton, who was our former colleges writer. He was mostly doing it and he actually passed away during that playoff run. And then they kind of needed more people to help fill in. So Joe Hoyt who covers the Cowboys for us now, he was filling in and I was kind of his backup. I think I was like the fifth person that they that they went to and they they tried to That's like you're a bear. It's okay. It's okay. God. That is not professional. Be more professional like us. Yeah. And sit up straight. That's the humor of it. Everybody sit up straight in fact. I love that you sat up straight and then you started sinking. I did. It's a comfy chair. Then let me sit up straight again. There you go. So what was the process of getting the Starz gig like for you? Yeah. I would imagine that whenever a beat like that comes open, that there's a little bit of a feeding frenzy. So it was interesting because there really wasn't. Really? Well, yeah. We it was kind of I felt like we were a little bit like we just need someone to do this and they, so it was that playoff run. They had people just kind of helping out and then we didn't really cover the stars into the summer. You know, we wrote a few things here and there, but I was planning on just going back into high school football and then, my editors came to me, was Gary Lovell was the sports editor at the time and said, you interested in covering hockey? You you did a good job in the playoffs. We need someone to do it. Do you want us to do it for this season? And I said, yeah, sure. Professional beat a year into my career. Why not? Yeah. And I was like really probably not ready to do it because I've been covering high school sports and then just immediately it was my first time in a professional locker room and it was overwhelming. I think the first year on a beat is terrifying. And then by the second year, you kind of know what you're doing and by the third year, feel like you've been there forever. So that's kind of how it's gone for me. And yeah, I just kind of got thrown into the fire. And I think, you know, there's diehard hockey fans and people in the state who know a lot about hockey. And I think that, but it's not really a hockey state. So it was kind of an interesting experience of, okay, what how do I approach this beat? What is it like covering a team that obviously isn't the most popular team in this market? And I'm don't have a huge hockey background. So I kind of just got fortunate that it opened and they wanted me to do it and I've learned as I've gone and we're now a couple years in. It's been working out. Do excellent work. Thank you. Always have. You. I appreciate that. Seemed like as I recall anyway, very seamless transition. Thank you. Yeah. From whoever the guy before you to you. Oh, thank you. Appreciate been doing it for a long time. What do you I'm asking you to generalize here a little But it seems like hockey players are very, very would be very, very easy to cover because most of them come from a place where, you know, a lot of them are grew up in small towns and northern climes and stuff like that. And they haven't been around a lot of big media before. But it seems like hockey players more than any others are very appreciative that you are there to talk to them and you are there to cover them. Yeah. And they they're very willing and eager to help you out. Mhmm. I think that totally depends on the market that you're in, but I think in this market a 100%. Yeah. I mean, felt that since the first day that I was there and you feel it especially in the playoffs because the stars beat a small, it's myself, it's Mike Haika who covers the stars for the team, it's a few other independent writers, but we don't have all the TV stations there every day, we don't have a ton of independent bloggers and sites and the athletic doesn't have a writer anymore and all these people. So then you get to playoffs and everyone shows up and if you've been around all year, you can kind of feel like they know who you are and they appreciate that you've been there. I don't know if the players always express it as much, but I think the organization really does. And they know that it's important to get the coverage and this team is so good. I mean, they've been so close to winning so many years in a row. They're probably consistently the best professional team that we have in this market. Know, they should be So, Certainly over the last five years or so. Right, over the last few years for So they deserve the coverage. I mean, they've put the product out there to deserve it. So, yeah, I think, and I do think that you're right, they come from maybe some smaller towns and they're kind of more normal people around here. Like if you're, you know, if you're Dak Prescott or, you know, if you're a seven foot basketball player, like you can't just live a normal life. But like, I think about Colin Blackwell, who's probably like five foot nine and just like a normal dad and he happens to be a hockey player, but like he can kind of just blend in in society here. And yeah, maybe Jason Robertson or Jamie Ben, the more well known guys stick out a little bit, but I I actually ran into a couple of the players at a bar and like no one even noticed them. They were just like living their life. No one was going up asking for pictures. So I think they get a little more of like that normal human side of things even though they are professional athletes. Were you surprised at the way the Jason Robertson thing worked out this week? No. I'm a little bit worried about that. Yeah. I mean, in fact, I still am because the story's not quite over yet. No. It's far from over. I think that this seemed like the way it was gonna go. I mean, Jason Robertson files for arbitration, which means he's gonna get a one year deal. Nobody wants to go to arbitration because basically you're sitting in a room with a bunch of attorneys saying why the other side is bad and doesn't deserve or why Jason Robertson doesn't deserve the money and Jim Nill is not the kind of person that wants to do that. So they both said today, we got to talk to both of them that you know, the goal was to not have to go through that process. I think there was already kind of concern about what could this do for the relationship in the locker room after some difficult negotiation. So why make it worse and go through that? But, know, the one year deal, it takes him to be an unrestricted free agent, which is probably great for him. That's probably what he wants. He can test the market if the stars don't trade him first, or if he doesn't sign a deal first, but for them, for the team, it also gives them the flexibility in terms of the cap, the caps going up almost $10,000,000 next year. And Tyler Sagan, makes almost $10,000,000 his contract will come off the books. He comes back, he'll make, you know, pretty close to a league minimum, maybe 1,000,000 or so. So that's, you know, 8,000,000 plus right there. So I think it it it's kind of what they had to do right now. They clearly couldn't come to any sort of long term agreement. And hopefully, you know, they can do that in January when they can start talking again. Most of the time, I don't really feel sorry for these guys because, you know, they play the games. They know everything that goes with it. Injuries, good years, bad years. You're good. You're not so good. And then all the ups and downs of it. You know, it's just part of it. Mhmm. But I gotta tell you, I felt bad for Tyler Sagan last year. I really hated seeing him seeing him get injured because number one, he was having a good year. Yeah. A really good year. He was playing very well, I thought. Yeah. And number two, he's starting to get along in his career a little bit, and I wanted to see him have one more good blow before that happens. I really felt sorry for him. It's hard not to. I mean, he's just he's dealt with injury after injury. And they're not just injuries. They're like season ending life changing injuries like an Achilles injury, hip surgery, a torn ACL. And ACLs aren't very common injuries in hockey either and that's what he, we got to talk to him at the end of the season and he said, I didn't even know who to go and talk to because there's only a small handful of active players who have come back from an ACL injury could really talk me through that process of when do you get back on the ice? Which what should you be looking for when you're back? So just a total fluke accident, and that just felt like a lot of his injuries. So it's been really tough and you're right, he was playing so well and, you know, he it felt it's felt like all these last couple of seasons, he's been off to a great start and then it just the rug gets ripped out from under him. For whatever reason, for whatever reason. Yeah, so and I mean, I guess they ended up being able to, you know, take the money and do something else with it. But I think in the playoffs, they would have loved to have him and they were without him and Rope Hintz, two of their top six forwards, it could have been a completely different story, especially because goal scoring was their problem. So, yeah, I think that it'll be, you know, they'd hope it'll be a different story when they're healthy heading into the season. They've dealt with a lot of injuries last year and the condensed schedule did not help. But yeah, you hope that he is the last year of his contract, he could be done after this. He and Jamie Ben could, you know, walk out together and retire together next summer. And Mhmm. You know, you hope they can have one full year to kind of give it their all before that happens. What do you think happened to the team down the stretch last year? I think I mean, I I spent the entire year absolutely convinced Mhmm. That I was watching a bonafide Stanley Cup contender. Feels like that every year these last few years. Right? Yeah. It wasn't that different. But Yeah. I felt like for the most part last year, this team was different. This team had a little bit more Mhmm. Than the other teams, and they were very well positioned to make a longer run Right. Than the other teams had. Yeah. But down the stretch, I don't know what it was, but it it just seemed to run out of steam. That's I mean, I don't think this is an answer that people like, but I I just feel like it was not only fatigue from the season, but just fatigue from these last couple of years. I mean, this team's played into late May and early June, year after year after year. And like this season was just such a grueling one. The schedule came out last week for next season and you see there's these four day breaks in between games that just did not exist last season because of the Olympic break. The season's been extended a little bit to 84 games now and they started, they're starting it a little bit earlier, but it's a little bit more normal. They're playing, you know, three games in a week, maybe four, it felt like four or even five games some weeks, it's just that back to backs and travel and then they have the injuries, seven of their guys go to the Olympics, so they don't get any break whatsoever. And then the guys who don't go, they're off the ice for three weeks and then they come back and they deal with injuries and it was a lot of fluke injuries like, you know, people breaking their hands from blocking shots or, you know, Radixxxa has this crazy off ice injury where he tears a ligament because he got cut with a skate. It's just random things like that. It felt like just a lot of bad luck and I think it just started to wear and tear on them. And I also think they played an opponent that you could tell really wanted to win and needed to win and the desperation was there and Yes, it was. We talk about that a lot in the playoffs. It's like really hard to, you know, manufacture that desperation when you're, you know, facing elimination. And it almost felt like Minnesota was facing that in like the grand scheme of their existence. Like they needed to win a first round playoff series with the talent they had and they did it. So And it was quite apparent in that series almost from the start. Yeah. Oh, game one was horrible. Yeah. But they had little bit more juice than the Stars did. A 100%. And I think that this you'd think with the Stars knowing where they're going next season, I mean, Jason Robertson could be gone. It feels like their window is maybe dwindling a little bit to win. They need to do it sooner rather than later. You'd hope after maybe a longer off season if they're healthy that they can feel that same kind of desperation when they potentially make the playoffs. Do you have any feel for what kind of farm team or what's down below the NHL level in the organization? Not as strong as it was a few years ago. It's a bit bizarre because when I first was covering the team, the players that were down there were Logan Stancovan, Maverick Bork, Leanne Bischel and two of those guys aren't in the organization anymore. And Logan just won a Stanley Cup and Maverick's expected to be a top line player in Nashville. So the stars were really hopeful and optimistic about their future. And now it feels a lot more of we got to win with the group that we have. It's not about who's coming up, but you know, they've got some young talent. Justin Ritscovian was great this year and you know, he's had his rookie season and R2Huru is a guy from Finland who played up a couple of games was up in the playoffs, so probably kind of go back and forth. He's probably among the best of the talent that they have down there. Emil Hemming was their first round pick a couple of years ago. He's off in Finland, he'll probably be in the AHL this year and, they're pretty optimistic about him, but yeah, I think they kind of need to rebuild and it's been hard because they've traded so many of their first round picks. They traded two of them to get Mikko Rantanen, they traded another one to go get Cody Sisi and Mikhail Granland who aren't even with the team anymore. So it's, you know, it's kind of hard to build a team when you're just got third, fourth, fifth round picks. They had a second this year, but they kinda need to reload in in that regard. Do you think the Rantanen trade has worked out like they'd hoped? Yeah. There was a lot of chatter around that when Logan Stankow and won the Stanley Cup and I think that, you know, 10 out of 10 times you make that trade, it's it's pretty hard not to it. Logan was a great player, but he was unproven and young and you have the chance to go get 100 potential scorer who could change your franchise. And I think people have a little bit of recency bias and they think Oh, Mika wasn't great in the playoffs. Well, he had a torn MCL. I don't think anyone would be great playing high level hockey with a torn MCL. So he showed what he can do his first season and before the Olympics he was, you know, he was great in Dallas this year. So I think it was the right move and I think Jim Nell would make it time and time again. He would love to keep Logan but can't have everything. I think he's definitely a player to build around and if they can keep Robertson to have that as kind of your one two punch of forwards is a pretty pretty lethal duo that I think not a whole lot of other teams can compete with. Do you think they have the right coach and the right type of coach? Yeah. That's been a big talker. I think I think Glenn was really good for his first year. Like, I don't think that Glenn can be the one to blame for what happened. Sure. Maybe in the playoffs, you would have liked some more tweaks here and there. But I think just his style has fit the group well. Pete, like I loved working with Pete, like we had a good relationship, but he was a more kind of traditional, like what I say goes kind of rougher guy. And I feel like in this era, it's so much more player driven and, you know, the players want to have their say and they don't want to be, you know, yelled at, I guess, per se. And that's just maybe our generation. I think Glenn fits that. They seem to really like him. He's also great on the power play and that worked really well for them this So some little things there, but I'm curious to see, I think he has a lot to prove this year. I don't think he necessarily did anything wrong, but he's he said it himself. Like, we, you know, over delivered in the regular season and under delivered in the playoffs. And frankly here, that's all that really matters is what you do in the playoffs. So he's got to win a series next year. And if not, I think that people are gonna his his seat will be heating up. Alright. A little stars talk for you all today with Leah Asimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News. Did I get that right again? You did. Alright. Two for two on the last Batting a thousand. That's excellent. Alright. If you need to, just relax over there. Alright. You won't have to worry about me because I got the mid show read to do. That's right. The dreaded and feared mid show read. It is scary. You need to be scared. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Alright. When the World Cup comes to Texas, it is dominated by women. Now this swim through held true. Stolen water media's world cup bracket was won by the lovely ladies. Second place with a score of 232 points. Jessica So to, first place with a score of 240 points. Bethany Onanobi. But in third place, we are proud to announce the winner is one of our hosts, Rob Irvin of the clubhouse, giving me another reason to hate him. So, shout out to those guys. Now is this on to another spot here? Yes. Alright. You've heard me talk about the CBD House of Healing for two years now, and you know their salve stick as my go to for little aches and pains. In fact, got it right here. I keep it handy because you never know when these things might crop up. But you've also probably heard that recently, the Texas Supreme Court upheld regulations that go into effect on 07/31/2026. These regulations effectively ban the retail sale of all hemp derived consumable products. However, CBD House of Healing is still your source for topical products such as the Sav Stick, their line of skincare products, and several other products to support your wellness. So swing by and continue your healing at the CBD House of Healing, or maybe they're just a house of healing now. That's probably right. Right? In in either case, they are located at Plano Road and Northwest Highway in the northeast quadrant of that burgeoning intersection. Stop by. Tell em you heard about it from us here on YDC and start your healing at the House of Healing. Is that it? Alright. Nailed it. Alright. Look at me. Yay. You've earned that sip of tea. I think I have. Mhmm. I've worked hard for this. I know. Alright. We are back with Leah Osmocopolis. 33. 33. My god. Do you get tired of that? It's alright. That's a yes. I didn't mean to come in here and beat you down. No. I I get it at the doctor's office. I get it on the you know, and every radio show or TV show I go on, I'm used to it. It's a unique name. I don't blame you. Because it's you, Mike, that is Yeah. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. Alright. So now let's talk a little bit about who's coming back and who's not coming back next year. How do things look for you? Who who do you think is going to be not back next year? So well I know you've mentioned a couple of them already. Yeah. So the big one is Maverick Bork. So Maverick was traded to Nashville, I think the day before or on July, I think on July 1. So basically the situation there is he's a young player, a restricted free agent and due for a big raise and a prime candidate to get an offer sheet from another team where they could basically say, know, here's what we're willing to pay you and the stars had the chance to match it or not. And if they didn't match it, they would get draft pick compensation from the other team. But the with it depends on the certain amount of money that is he's offered and with the range that he was probably gonna be offered, the stars were only gonna get a second round pick in return, which isn't really a great return for a player who scored 20 goals last season. So they knew that was coming and they traded him to Nashville ahead of that knowing that he was probably gonna get an offer sheet from them. So they traded him He was a 20 goal scorer? 20 goal scorer. Wow. Think he scored a hat trick in his last game of the season, so that helped a little bit. But I think 20 goals or 20 goals. 20 goals or 20 goals. Yeah. So they traded in Nashville and they got a second and a third in return, but they also traded Ilya Lebushkin who was someone they kind of needed to get off their cap. He had he signed a three year deal a few summers ago and was just a little overpaid. They're paying him I think 3,250,000 and he only appeared in 50 games for them last season. They needed to create a little space. So it was kind of okay, the the seconds maybe for Maverick, the third is for Lebushkin and you know, then we avoid the the offer sheet. So it worked out for them that way. But yeah, I think Maverick is someone they would love to keep, but I'm pretty sure he signed like a $6,000,000 deal, annually in Nashville, which they just never could have afforded him. Yeah. So he's kind of the big one that's leaving. And if you look at what they've added, the only new player who's actually an old player that they signed this summer was, Yuall Kibiranta, who, is kind of a depth forward for them. He played for the stars, think from like 2019 to 2023, then spent a couple seasons in Colorado. He I think his best season was his first year in Colorado, he scored 16 goals. So at that potential, know, he could kind of replace Maverick, but probably not expected to be a 20 goal scorer, more of a depth guy. So they're gonna have to kind of make up some of that difference somewhere and you know, hope that Justin Ritskovian can take a step forward or you know, you have Roppa Hintz or Ted Tyler Sagan healthy things like that, but the roster is going to look pretty similar. They also lost Alexander Petrovic who signed with Florida. He was a kind of depth defenseman who had been called up in the playoffs a couple of years to help them and then earned his spot on the roster. But they had like nine defensemen on the roster at one point last season and we're kind of just rotating depth guys. And, he made it clear that he wanted to, you know, start somewhere new, go somewhere else. So, I think they kind of understood that and they resigned Kyle Capo Bianco, who kind of can fill a similar role for them. So, and with the way the cap looks right now, they have to send two players down to be under the cap at the start of training camp or the start of the season, but they've got a full roster. So, I think they have the pieces they need and you know, maybe try to make a big move at the deadline. Do they have a couple of guys that in mind does send down the training send down below? Yeah. So I think I think Capo Bianco and Hourou and Artu Hourou are technically, like, on the roster right now, but they are kind of two guys that will probably go up and down. So the probably the first players that will be called up when they have injuries. But I think the way the cap looks, they're going to start with like 13 forwards and six defensemen right now and then just call someone up if they need. But I guess we'll see what happens. I mean, last year in training camp, they didn't expect to have any spots and then Jamie Ben punctures his lung and that's how Justin Ritzkovian ends up on the team and he was on the team the whole season. He wasn't supposed to be. You never know. Think crazier things can happen. They only have four preseason games this year though. So less opportunity for Jamie Ben to get injured in one of those games again. Is he coming back? He is coming back. He's coming back. Yeah. He signed a a league minimum contract with some bonuses obviously, which is I mean, very team friendly deal. And I know it's controversial, a lot of people didn't want him back and thought that he's been holding him back in the playoffs. And he hasn't been great in the playoffs the last couple of years. I think he'll admit that himself, but he scored 16 goals in the regular season after missing 20 games and to get that production for a league minimum deal. I think a lot of teams would take that and you know they they love him like as much as the fans might not. Some fans love him, some fans might not or think that he's holding him back like every single person in the locker room is so gung ho about Jamie Ben like they are, they have nothing but great things to say about his leadership and all that. I think he's gonna go out on his terms. And as long as he wants to play, think there will be a spot for him. Do you go along with the probably the most widely held theory in sports in Dallas Fort Worth these days? That of the four general managers working, Jim Neal is the best. Yeah. Well, the Mavs have a new one. Right? So we don't know too much about him yet. But Incomplete grade. But Yeah. Yeah. He gets in complete. Sure. I mean, definitely better. I I people seem to have no not too many problems with the Rangers general manager, but I think between Jerry and Jim, people feel a certain way. So, I mean, Jim is Jim is a pleasure to work with. And I'm not just saying that because I, you know, I I don't have to say that obviously. He's he's a beloved like person across the league and the organization. I mean, people want to come to Dallas for a number of reasons. Sure. There's, you know, no income tax and we have that discussion all the time. But like, it's a it's a good organization top to bottom and it feels like gymnastics. A lot of golf here too. They like They love their golf. They love it. Jason Robertson's been playing a lot of golf. I don't know if you've seen on his But yeah, Jim is kind of the reason for why a lot of people want to come here and you'll see new players come in and you ask them why and they'll say, I heard Jim Nell was one of the best people to play for and be in an organization with and you just hear stories of players get traded and Jim will drive himself to the airport to pick them up and just take them in. And he's just a class act of a person and also pretty good at his job. I mean, he's found a way to draft and develop players. I mean, look at the core of this team. Most of them are players that he drafted and he makes big moves at the right time. The Miko Rantanen trade is kind of the demonstration of that. So he he deserves the title of best GM in DFW, at least for the time being. He also seems like he's great with people who do what you do too. Oh, yeah. He is. I mean, he's yeah. He it's funny because he's very, you know, he's not the GM that's gonna spill the beans. Know, people Yeah. He'll tell you what he can. He'll tell you what He's like all of them. Yeah. And and you notice that a lot when we're obviously trying to break news and learn about things. The Stars, this is probably the off season that we've seen the most leaks around the Stars organization. I think a lot of that's a product of agents talking and more teens being involved with failed trades and things like that. But Jim Nill and his right hand guys and his organization, like they will say to you, you know, I can't say that because I respect Jim too much. I just can't, like, I can't talk, even if it's off the record, they just won't. You can just kind of feel like he likes to kind of be buttoned up and be respectful of, you know, his players and the information around them and the people around him kind of do the same. So as much as a journalist, yeah, you'd love people who wanna kind of be in your ear and tell you things. I think you also have to kind of respect the respect that people have for him. The off the record thing is pretty sacred among you guys, isn't it? Oh, yeah. I mean, that's pretty no nonsense. Yeah. Somebody tells you it's off the record, it is off the record. Is. What's that? I mean, and if you decide to put it on the record, good luck ever getting anything from them again. You gotta, you know, information is currency. Right? So I I think that yeah. I I if someone tells you something off the record, it's it's off the record. And if it's off the record, do you keep any sort of record of it even being said? Not that it was said by a certain person, but do you even keep a note that said, you know, player thinks this or people think this about this player? Or is it just you keep it in your mind or In my yeah. In my own mind or some I mean, sometimes it may be written down for my own notes but it's never gonna be. Yeah. And it's not gonna necessarily even say who said it or anything like that because No. Yeah. And and I mean, yeah, eventually it might end up on the record and then it's a different maybe a different conversation but, no, it's not, it's nothing reportable and I don't know, I mean, I find that like sometimes it's more valuable for me to have a pulse of what's happening and and know, okay, it seems like it's going this way even if I can't report it, like just for our own planning and our own understanding because sometimes we're just as in the dark. I mean, with a lot of this Jason Roberts and stuff, people would ask me, you know, is he going to sign? Are they going to trade him? I didn't know. You know, don't want people didn't want to tell me and I don't think a lot of people knew and I'm not one of those people who's going to go make up, you know, I think maybe they're leaning this way. I just don't think that's a good use of time and all it does is, you know, get fans spiraling and upset and so I'd rather just report things when I can actually report things. But yeah, for for the most part it's, you know, it's a good conversation to have and you have to have the off the record conversations, but no, you're definitely not gonna report those. That's like the biggest no no out there, so. But it can always, like you said, inform the way that you might present things in an article and Yeah. All that where you're clearly not saying anyone said anything but Sure. You know, can always be more confidently about something or, you know, it can inform you to go call someone else who may be able to tell you something on the record. And I'm not going to say, you know, Oh, someone so told me this, but I could say, you know, I've been hearing this, you know, have you been hearing this? And then maybe they are willing to tell you. So, it can be a tool, but I also think people understand the risk of telling someone something off the record. Like, you know, I've now been around for a couple of years and I've built relationships with people, but you have to be careful who you tell things to because who knows if everyone's gonna, you know, have that same standard. I, you know, I think I work for a pretty good journalism organization that has people might want to disagree with me on Twitter about that, but we have pretty, you know, strict sourcing standards and things like that. So, you know, hopefully people feel like they can trust us like we're gonna, you know, we're not going to go and report things that we aren't super confident and have confirmed in multiple places, but not everybody, you know, has those same standards. Yeah. And especially though, again, going back to Jim Nill, having him as the GM, you know, like it's this is the first off season that I've seen anything, you know, any rumors that actually seem to have some substance to him. Before, it was it's just a been a steel trap in the It is. Fourteen years that he's been Mhmm. The GM. Yeah. And it's Even fourteen years? I think 2013 because it was my first season with Starz. So Oh, thirteen. Gosh. Mhmm. It's crazy. Yeah. Wow. What are we gonna do about this? I don't know. What are we gonna do? I looked at you for this, Shuky. Oh, that's a bad idea. You're younger than me. Man, I don't feel it. You're younger than me, and you're smarter than me. I look to you That is definitely not true. I'll I'll I'll agree that I'm younger, but not on the other thing. So have you ever reported something and then gotten called into the office and said, are you sure about this? Probably not like after I reported it. But, you know, I've I've said I've, you know, I've I've heard things and sometimes we'll have to go get it confirmed by another source. We don't Let me restate that another way. Sure. Have you ever had something that before you wrote it or before you reported it Mhmm. You went in there and told them, look, so and so told me this today. Yeah. Has that ever happened? Oh. Oh. Yeah. Of course. Yeah. For sure. Like we're like we were saying where they get a where my Yeah. Boss questions essentially. Yeah. I don't know. I think that they kind of trust us. Like, I think that they if I tell them so and so said, it's usually I'm going to them if I think that it's if I know it's a reputable source, you know, if it's a high up official within the STARS organization or someone's agent said this. And I think they usually trust that. And in certain situations, it's okay, well, we need to so we covered the STARS, MAVS, split schism a lot. And a lot of times it would be, oh, I heard this from one side. And then it's okay, well, we need to hear this from the other side to make sure it's the whole story. That was probably the best example of, you know, if it's an agent or something like that or a piece of news, I think you can kind of trust those sources a little bit more because there may be a little unbiased or it's just information. But in that situation, it was a lot more opinions of, oh, so and so thought this was happening versus this was happening. So let's get both sides to kind of confirm and come together and make sure we're not just running with a one side thing. So if that makes sense. I know you work hockey side. And I don't know how into the big stars Mavs thing you were. But I don't like it when mommy and daddy fight. No. No one does. Yeah. That's a good way to put it. It was made surprise. All these years, they play in the same building. It's the American Airlines Center. It's the best building for sports we have ever had here. Yeah. And, you know, yeah, it's getting up there a little bit. Maybe it's time to start thinking about something new. But, man, I did not want to or even expect to see all this blow up. Did you have any kind of, idea that that the undertow between those two organizations were was like it apparently is? Yeah. For a few months, kind of before everything really blew up, we were clued into that things weren't so pretty between the two. And we're just trying to find a way to get people to say that because nobody wants to say, oh, we hate each other. So that was fun. And eventually it got so bad that they were going to sue each other and had no choice but to talk about it. Because if they didn't talk about it, it was going be in court documents and we're going to find out there. So it took some time to kind of get some people to actually say that. But yeah, we were we were aware basically, probably since like the spring of twenty twenty five that things were deteriorating and but not to the extent that it really was. And it's felt like since the fall, it's just, I don't think they're on speaking terms at all besides through their lawyers and they share a building, which is, you know, it's crazy. And obviously now they're both going in their separate directions and the Mavs are going to build their own arena and the stars are gonna move to Plano and American Airlines Center is going to just be a concert venue or not nothing at all. I mean, who knows? So it is a sad situation. I don't think anyone on both sides wanted to be that way. I can't really speak a whole lot from the Mav side. I don't talk to them very much, but the stars have said, you know, we wanted to stay there. We wanted to be in Dallas. It just didn't work out for us. It, you know, they obviously played a role in this. They decided to leave. That was a decision they made, but I think that it's a great building. And I mean, I love it. I've spent forty one nights a year, soon to be forty two nights a year there. I live right across the street. I mean, I love the area. So it's a it's a real bummer. And it's kind of hard that they just haven't been able to come to any sort of resolution. It's just there feels like they're drifting further and further apart. Well, it's the way it's going. And I mean, now it seems like all the ships are out of the harbor and out of the ocean, you know. Oh, yeah. There's no getting them back now. No. Yeah. It's the ship has absolutely sailed and the city of Dallas might wanna think, oh, we can still keep the stars. But I find that very hard to believe at this point there. Yeah. It sounds like Dallas didn't really make much of an effort and obviously they essentially sided with the Mavs and the dispute and The city can't make up its mind about anything There's that too. You know? If they would've tried to keep one or the other, then people would have just jumped up their ass about, you know, why are you keeping them and not the other? And and it would have been just an even bigger mess. And and Probably the best resolution for everybody is the way it is. Probably. I just don't I mean, the city, I don't think had the money to fund three stadiums that they needed to fund. Mean, they need to build the wings, need to build the Mavs, they need to build a new star stadium. Where are you gonna put all these stadiums? I mean They gotta figure out city hall and attention to all the Exactly. It's not all about sports. Yeah. They got a city to run to. So it's yeah. Stuff. Yeah. Well, have you enjoyed your time with us? Very much. Much. Have we enjoyed her or not? We have. I have. Yeah. I've been a lot. Thank you. Definitely. Definitely. Would you consider coming back sometime? Absolutely. I would to. Alright. Four for four. Leah Osamakopoulos joined Nailed it. Thank you very much for doing this. I really appreciate it. Really enjoy your work. Thank you so much. And, it's been a pleasure to meet you. You too. Alright. That is YDC for today, kids. What we must do before we go away is tell you one other thing, and that is what we want you to do for us. Look. We're doing this for you. Okay? We are doing this for you. Now you do something for us. I don't think it's too much to ask for you to share us on your social media. That gets us out there. That circulates us among your circles. If you will keep doing that for us, we'll do it for you and it'll work out very, very well for everybody. Anybody got anything further to add here? No. That was awesome. That's great. Alright. Thank you, Shoopy. Thank you, Ashley. Thank you, Becca. Thanks to all of you for watching. Till next time. Bye. Alright. I'm gonna go take your pants off. You're Dark Companion is a stolen water media presentation.