Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / Terminello's Take on The Final Four , Opening Week of Baseball and NHL Playoff Picture 4-4-24

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Terminello's Take on The Final Four , Opening Week of Baseball and NHL Playoff Picture 4-4-24 · OneLegUpAlex Media

0:02
Here's your host, Alex deren Well following up that great conversation with Jake Coosak
0:10
of the Bronze Zoo. Hope to see him opening weekend at Yankee Stadium.
0:13
By the way, is another great in the media world, lou Terminello for
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his Terminello's take, Lou, We're getting some big hits on this podcast.
0:22
And I got to remind people that sometimes I post this on two different channels,
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so I gotta remember to always post on the sports outlet because that's where
0:31
people find you. But yes, we are on the one leg Up feature
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as well. We're getting the brand out there. Louis Urminello's take, Alex,
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that's great, thanks for having me on this. Let's say it.
0:41
This rainy Wednesday, what a rainy weakness has been. I mean, Steve
0:46
Cohens, I know it's been raining, but I thought they could play a
0:49
little bit. He's not just trying to stall losing again, is he?
0:52
I hate the bust that your chops there with that, but absolutely not.
0:57
The first of all, last night, that game should have been ancel that
1:00
about five o'clock instead of at nine to twenty last night. They did the
1:04
smart thing today and they canceled that at you know, just say after one
1:08
o'clock. It was really it's ridiculous having watch four or five thousand fans freeze
1:14
their butts off and get wet and very please Gary Cohen. They caught him
1:19
off my off camera. I don't know if you saw that, but they
1:23
caught him as he was leaving the airwaves and then he rolled his eyes.
1:26
It was just Gary Cohen became a meme and we we love the guy.
1:30
But I thought that was fascinating that he was a meme overnight. I did
1:34
not see that, but well, he just had this face of like why
1:38
am I still here? Type of the yeah, and I get it.
1:41
I mean I get it, you know. So, I mean that game
1:46
should have been called way before, and I don't know nowadays with the way
1:53
it used to be during the season, the home team controlled if the game
1:59
was played or not. When you played your team's in your division three times,
2:04
they would come in, except the last time they come in, the
2:07
umpires controlled if the game it was going to be postponed. Now with all
2:12
these dumb interleague games, and they are absolutely dumb, with Detroit coming in
2:17
for just three games, the only three times the Mets will play Detroit this
2:21
year. I don't know if it's in the umpire's hands or in the home
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team's ends, I don't know, but whatever it is, it's just been
2:29
They've got to get in tomorrow. We know that because that's the last time
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Detroit comes in to the Mets. Anyway. They'll probably they'll obviously come to
2:37
see the Yankees, but then that moment any sense, So they gotta get
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done tomorrow with a I think single emission doubleheader. So we'll have to see.
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We'll get back to their slow start, very slow start in a minute.
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But I gotta tell you, lou my final four bracket is busted,
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and I'll tell you thank God it's Ukon because they're the ones I've picked to
2:55
win at all. But I mean, Tennessee and Marquette were in my bracket.
3:00
Maybe someone say, why do you pick those guys. I'll look,
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Purdue is defying odds because they normally get knocked out around that, you know
3:08
before the final four, Well, Alex, I mean the fact that you
3:13
picked Tennessee and Marquette. You know they didn't win. Those were two fine
3:16
picks. I was so disappointed in Marquette. The nine they got eliminated.
3:23
They were never in the game against NC State, and NC State had to
3:28
control again the entire way. And Marquette has a very good team. That
3:31
and again in this one game scenario, if everything, if you're off just
3:37
a little bit, season's over. But and Tennessee obviously Dalton connect at thirty
3:44
seven points against Purdue. The rest of his supporting cast came up very,
3:49
very small, and they were in it all the way. But Zach Edy
3:53
had a spectacular, a spectacular game, and he is redeeming himself for being
4:01
a missing an action person last year against Bairleid against the university and the year
4:06
before that against Saint Peter's a university. So they have they're trying to make
4:12
they're trying to make amends for those last two years. And I you know,
4:15
I think they will. I think they will get to the championship game
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and uh play Yukon. Now again, you know, I'm not a predictor,
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but this is just in the natural. Those two teams should be playing
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for the championship. Anything can happen in one game. Villanova in eighty five
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beat Georgetown. It was like David against Goliath. But David one n c
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State in nineteen eighty three against Houston. Nobody gave NC State a chance.
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They beat They beat the University of Uston win the championship. We can go
4:51
down through the years with situations like that, but for State, think about
5:01
this Alex They five games in five days in the ACC Tournament. They had
5:06
to win the ACC Tournament to get in. They were on the eleven line,
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so they were probably the last team and even with the even though they
5:17
got the automatic bid, they were probably the last seed that got in from
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one of the power conferences. They beat you twice in two weeks. They're
5:28
on their head. Coach Kevin Keats seventy five, certain he was gonna get
5:34
fired. Now he has his team in the Final four and he has a
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chance to win the national championship. It is a remarkable story and just goes
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to show you if you get into the tournament, if you get into the
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playoffs, whether it's baseball, football, basketball, or hockey. Look at
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the Diamondbacks last year, eighty four wins and they got into the World Series.
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The Texas Rangers won the World Series, they were to fifth seed.
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The the Diamondbacks were succeed So with these teams battling against the eighth spile or
6:04
seventh spot in these leagues. Once you get in really anything can happen.
6:11
But I think NC State is going to run into a different animal on on
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Saturday Night. I do. I mean this, DJ Burns has been a
6:23
revelation. He's a big, beefy kid, got great footwork, He's an
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excellent passer. But going against Eadie could be a different a whole different story.
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And again Edie Burns, whoever stays out of foul trouble is going to
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uh that's gonna be a difference maker. But you know, I I like
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for doing I like for doing that game. But NC has good size,
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so they can they can, they can match up with the with the Purdue
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big guy. But we'll see they want. I want to say this,
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I want to put on record with you, Louis. My bracket did beat
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Charles Barkley. So I did beat Sir Charles after all. So I gotta
7:15
say that, and I'm pretty proud of that. I mean, I guess
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I want to pick the winner now. But you know, to beat a
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a analyst on TV and a Legends Charles Barkley is is pretty cool. I
7:28
gotta say you had fifty two points, I had sixty five to end you
7:32
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you routed him, Alex. That's
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great. You know, obviously I want to see Connecticut win it all,
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and I picked them just because they're momentum and the way they looked in the
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Big East Tournament. By the way, these tournaments now, I think need
7:48
a little more respect on them, especially if a team like NC State wins
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that first round. I think, okay, so it's the first round,
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but when they beat Virginia, then you knew something was okay. When they
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beat Virginia the way they did, I think that was a telltale sign they
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were on the move. Well, I agree, I agree with you.
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I mean, they need like a couple of miracle shots to advance in that
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game. And uh then to beat Duke and North Carolina back to back.
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You know, that was five games in five days. Is a remarkable achievement.
8:22
And hats hats off to the Wolfpack. H I mean, this game
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against Purdue on on Saturday night, I mean I just can't I just can't
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see them really hanging in there. But again, anything can happen. The
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other thing is the three point shot. If if you have your three point
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game going that night. That that makes a lot, makes a lot of
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difference. U. You know, the the Purdue back court of Brandon Smith
8:58
and Fletcher Hoyer there their veteran, they're good, they've been They've taken hits,
9:07
as we said last year against FTU, the year be four against Saint
9:13
Peter's. So they are driven not to let that happen again. But we'll
9:18
see. I like to do in the game. I do. I like
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for doing the game well and to I want to now go to the other
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side of the bracket. But real fast, the fact that with all the
9:31
complaining, and I know was one letter about how certain teams cadn't make the
9:35
tournament from the Big East, but U val Ackerman might actually get the biggest
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reward, which is in another biggiest championship at this time through Yukon. I
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mean, would a win like that sort of vindicate all the disappointment if you
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will, not only three teams made it. From a conference perspective, I
9:56
would say so. I think they knew that going in to selection Sunday,
10:01
before the teams were selected, that Yukon was had a good chance of winning
10:05
the championship. And again they haven't won anything yet. They got to win
10:09
two more games, and again it's a one game situation. If this was
10:13
two out of three, three out of five, Yukon is definitely winning.
10:16
They are and we talked about it. They're the best coach team. Bobby
10:22
Hurley is the best coach in college basketball by a good margin. They have
10:28
a great balanced team. They can they can play any way their opponents want
10:35
to play. They can play a half court game, they can play an
10:37
up tempo game, they can play they can play a physical game. And
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you know, they they they have a great chance to become the first team
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to win back to back n C Double A men's basketball titles since the two
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thousand and six two thousand and seven champion Florida Gators. Lou I gotta say
10:58
this, on that bracket, you know, Alabama and Clemson. No,
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that wasn't an SEC title game for the end for football. That was actually
11:07
Alabama basketball versus Clemson. And I think we all realized, at least I
11:13
did. Joe Girard is you know on the Clemson team now on Clemson now,
11:18
which was sort of a shock because you know, the transfer portal,
11:22
it's so fast. These guys just end up you know wherever and boom Gerard's
11:28
there in Clemson. What an addition for them? Well, well he was
11:31
a great addition. And you talk about the transfer portal, and this is
11:33
something that fran Furzella was talking about last night on the Seaton Hall game against
11:39
Georgia and the NIT semifinals, about how the NCAA has to get control of
11:46
the transfer portal. There's over eighteen hundred plays in the transfer portal right now
11:52
since it opened up two weeks ago. That's ridiculous, it really is.
11:58
I mean, we've talked about the transfer port world. We've talked about an
12:01
I L. They got, they gotta get. They gotta get control over
12:07
the situation. They really do. So we'll we'll see what happens. But
12:15
look at look at you come. Look what they did to Illinoy to a
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real, real good Illinois team the other day it was twenty three to twenty
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three. I said, oh, they're in trouble. They're in a little
12:26
bit of trouble. Then they go on reaching the uh the end of the
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first half and the second half going on a thirty to oher run in an
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Elite eight game. What destruction I mean in the National Regional semi final between
12:46
two highly seeded teams. You talk about you talk about putting the hammer down.
12:52
They really did. Klingon is getting better and better, especially defensively,
12:58
which makes you even more difficult to defeat. My opinion, Tristan Newton six
13:05
foot five, defensive dynamo and uh, his offensive game is improving. The
13:13
Freshman of the Year Stephen Castle six foot three, is probably going to be
13:16
declared for the NBA draft. Another another good defensive guard, ca Al Caravan,
13:26
a very very productive strong forward. I mean, they're they're they're a
13:33
good team. I think this, and I know I'm in the minority on
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this one. I know some people said that last year US Yukon's team was
13:41
better. I'm not so sure. I think this might be the best Yukon
13:45
team ever. Combination of offense, defense, and the chemistry that they have
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on the court, and as we talked about a couple of weeks ago,
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the chemistry that they have with your coach. There's no disconnection between the players
13:56
on the court during the game and their coach on the sideline. And and
14:03
and Danny Hurley makes it known. Uh, you know that he has his
14:07
guys back but also that he wants them to. He pushes them even when
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they're up by thirty, he pushes them to, you know, get to
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that three point line and whatnot. He's not letting him slack, that's for
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sure. No, no, no, no, you can't slack with Danny.
14:20
You can't slack with Danny Hurley. You can He's such a basketball name.
14:26
Did you ever get to meet any of the Hurley boys, because that
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is the Hurley name is such an institution when it comes to the Tri State
14:31
area basketball. I think anyway, the only the only Hurley I met was
14:39
Bobby Hurley s because when I was with the NETS, we did high school
14:43
games before NETS games, and uh we had Saint Anthony's in for a tournament
14:52
champions event and they played before a couple of a couple of NETS games.
14:58
But that was my only interaction. Very easy to talk to. Spoke to
15:01
him on the phone as we tried to do some things. He's he's what
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you say I mean, he's he was the real the only he's a high
15:09
school basketball coach. He's a member of the of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
15:11
Think about that. Never coach in college, never was an NBA assistant
15:16
or an NBA head coach, never was a college assistant, just an outstanding
15:20
Hall of Fame high school basketball coach. And and his son is picking right
15:26
up. I mean, Danny Hurley is, Yes, he's he gets repped
15:31
up. He's a tremendous coach, and it's almost like you can't bet against
15:37
him. But I gotta say it's it seems like Purdue is just on this
15:41
mission to show the world, Hey, we're going to uh upend everybody.
15:46
I think that momentum is going to be very interesting if they happen to clash
15:50
in the title game, which all intents and purposes, if you look at
15:54
it on paper, it should be Purdue, you come. But that's why
15:56
they played the game. That's why they play the game. Alabama makes eleven
16:00
three pointers a game. They're gonna play Connecticut on you know, on Saturday.
16:07
It looks like, you know, in the natural, there's no way
16:11
Alabama could stay with Connecticut. But if they hit eleven three points, the
16:15
eleven three point is a game, or twelve or eight or nine that could
16:19
mean the difference. That's their only hope in my opinion, against Yukon.
16:23
They have to make their threes to have a chance. Their defense is better
16:27
in a tournament that it wasn't a regular season. I mean they're in a
16:32
regular season. There were number two in offensive efficiency, but defensive efficiency they're
16:37
around one hundred and twenty five hundred and thirty. Can't do that against Yukon.
16:40
You can't play that kind of defense against Yukon. The size, the
16:44
guard size with Tristan Newton and Castle, I think might bother the Alabama guard
16:52
size, even though Mark Sears is a terfect player. You know, he's
16:56
six foot you know, he's six foot two. And Astrata the kid from
17:00
Saint Peter's then Hostra than Alabama talk about the transfer portal. You know,
17:06
he's another six foot one guard. But but Alabama lives and dies by the
17:12
three point shots. So you know, we'll we'll see what happens. But
17:15
again that's why they play the game, especially in the NCAA tournament. Anything
17:21
can happen in one game. History has shown that. Oh yeah, now,
17:26
Lou, I want to because you're a financial guy. Also, you
17:29
look at the finances. I never really knew this. Maybe the fan base
17:32
does or doesn't do These teams win any actual money for advancing on to each
17:37
round er. Yes, they do not they do for each each around they
17:44
advance, the conference gets more money and it's split up among the conference members.
17:52
So that is definitely a factor with these teams win and that's why val
18:02
Lacoman wants Yukon Men's and Yukon's women to keep going. And they're both in
18:07
the Final four, as is North Carolina State's women. So that happens in
18:12
two thousand and four or something where two of the where the men and women's
18:17
teams have not have been in the same final four, you know, in
18:19
the same year. That is just something I want to get to that because
18:23
I really I was really pulling for LSU women last year. I thought they
18:29
had a great run. But it's not even about the Washington Post article,
18:33
lou it's their reaction to it. It's their chip on their shoulder all about
18:38
me mentality following that article. I mean Kim MULKINI she was very beloved last
18:45
year. Now she's just kind of become hated and whatnot. And it's that's
18:49
pretty sad because she did lead a great team to victory last year. It's
18:53
all fallen apart for them this year. I just didn't like the way they
18:56
reacted to the article, did you, Well, Kim Maulty was a great
19:02
point guard in her day, and I don't think it's bad to have a
19:07
chip on your shoulder. If people are writing stuff about you that you don't
19:12
feel is accurate and condamnage the character of you or your team, she has
19:18
every right to complain. I am not a huge follower of the women's college
19:26
basketball just because there's only so many things you can follow, but Caitlin Clark's
19:34
performance the other night was historic in a lot of ways. That game on
19:42
ESPN threw twelve point three million, highest in the history of the women's game.
19:49
It peaked at sixteen point nine. And Caitlyn Clark, besides being the
19:57
best player in college basketball, she's going to be a number one draft pick
20:00
in the w n B A and I guess it's the Indiana Fever that won
20:04
the lottery, and apparently they've already sold out season tickets for the upcoming year.
20:11
She is transforming the w NBA, which was which was seemed to be
20:15
on the rise a little bit last year and the year before anyway, but
20:18
she's going to take it to another level. She is transforming all of women's
20:22
sports, whether it's the new Premier Women's Hockey League, whether it's the uh
20:27
the National Women's Soccer League, which was which was on the upswing. She
20:33
will rocket that because because of her ability, uh and her notoriety as as
20:40
a women's basketball player. She's humble. I don't think the LSU team seemed
20:47
to be very humble. Again, I don't know, uh, the the
20:52
stains and outs of the LSU situation, why they think everybody, you know,
20:57
everybody's after them, But uh, that's they were not. They were
21:03
not focus heading into that game, I know that much. They just they
21:07
looked sloppy. They had turnover turnover. I mean, although Andrew angel Rees
21:11
had some incredible turnover and steals too. But the point is they just were
21:17
more about showing, oh, we're gonna dominate, We're gonna do this.
21:21
Is that just playing the game. I felt like they were more about trying
21:25
to show themselves off rather than playing the game. Well. I think that's
21:27
a product of what happened after the championship game last year, with Angel Reeves
21:33
really bringing attention to herself. And I'm not I'm not downgrading her in any
21:38
way she's a fantastic player. But with you know, with that, and
21:44
you know that incident towards the end of the game. Again, it's no
21:48
big deal. It's sports. That's what happens in sports. You talk trash.
21:52
Trash talking has been going on for one hundred and fifty years in baseball.
21:56
Baseball was the original trash talking bench job sport. So to me,
22:03
it's no big big deal. To me. You do anything you can within
22:07
the rules to win the game, to advance. And if you put in
22:11
your mind that everybody's against us, if that's gonna help you win, I
22:15
hope all the teams I root for adopt that, uh, that philosophy.
22:21
But Caitlin Clark is not good, not great. She's spectacular in every way.
22:29
All right, Well, then that leads me to listening. She might
22:33
she won't say it, but she might have a chip on her shoulder,
22:36
knowing that she's gonna face the guy that apparently wouldn't even bother looking at her
22:41
in high school. Now, Gino Arima is a legend. He's had those
22:45
undefeated teams and they had that incredible streak. Uh. But is this a
22:49
rare miss? Uh? In Geno Arima's career that everybody's gonna talk about.
22:53
Now again, I got I need more research. I did hear that story
22:57
that he didn't really recruiter, you didn't go to see her, which is
23:00
almost hard to believe, but you got to hear it from Gino. Why
23:07
what happened there? Now, I didn't know this. I didn't realize until
23:11
last night that Caitlin Clark was originally going to go to Notre Dame and then
23:17
changed hermiah into Iowa. So that was something I did not know. But
23:22
yeah, I was surprised that you think Gino Oriema would have been all over
23:26
the recruitment of Caitlin Clark and he wasn't for whatever reason. Now again,
23:32
here's a here's a Hall of fame coach who was recruited so many Hall of
23:37
Fame players to the Yukon women's basketball program. I don't think you could.
23:44
You could not get But I just don't know really why he didn't go after
23:48
her. Was it scholarship a scholarship issue where he didn't have any more scholarships?
23:53
Did he Was it a roster issue? Who knows? You got he
23:57
also really wanted to go to un Apparently she had a picture above her bed
24:02
any Yukon jersey that whole thing. Sure, but it's it. And of
24:06
course when you're a kid growing up and you see women's college basketball being dominated
24:11
by Yukon, I guess that's the natural field to want to join all that,
24:15
you know, but real fastball we putting a button on button on the
24:18
college basketball scene. You know, LSU had an incredible year. They had
24:25
women's team, and they had baseball and schemes. Skien is what what was
24:30
the first pick of the MLB draft. I mean, LSU sports has been
24:33
on the rise. I think maybe a little bit before Burrow, But Joe
24:37
Burrow said a standard there, didn't he Wellberrow obviously kind of brought him back.
24:41
But if you go you go to the history of LSU sports, whether
24:47
it's football and back to the Pete Maravich days. Yeah, No, l
24:52
s U is an icon you know, it was an iconic brand, and
24:55
it's an iconic as an iconic sec history and and also which spreads to national
25:02
prominence. And it's not and it's not ending anytime soon, that's for sure.
25:07
And I guess both schemes will be in the major leagues this year.
25:11
Sometime this year he'll be brought up by that. And by the way that
25:15
team is like five and oh to start the year. We might as well
25:18
go into baseball now because obviously Yanks are no longer undefeated. I mean,
25:22
we're in a time where the Tigers and Pirates, two legendary franchises, are
25:29
on the up and up. And you know what, as someone who's a
25:30
baseball historian or loves the history of baseball, seeing the Pirates and Tigers do
25:36
pretty goods good for baseball, isn't it. You're one hundred percent correct to
25:42
see these teams play well. Now, remember the Pirates, it was either
25:48
last year or the year before. We're about ten games old, live one
25:52
hundred, you know, at the end of May or early June, and
25:56
totally totally fell apart and couldn't a game basically for the last four months of
26:00
the season. So again, overreaction in the first week of baseball, both
26:06
positive and negative, is just something that fans, media people just can't get
26:14
out of your head. Sure, you want to win a game. You
26:17
don't want to be oh and seven like the Miami Marlins, oh and four
26:21
like the Mets. When when it happens in the middle of the season,
26:23
you seven in a row. Say, if you're like thirty one and twenty
26:27
four and then you lose seven in a row, it's different than when you
26:30
start out oh and seven or oh and four. But uh, you know,
26:36
you gotta, you gotta, you know, put put the foot on
26:40
the brake and and see what happens. As you know, I was not
26:42
optimistic about the Mets team coming into the season, but I'm certainly not going
26:47
to overreact on the fact that that they were oh and four, the fact
26:51
that they scored eight runs in four games. Yeah, that that's an issue.
26:53
But the Yankees are five and oh well, excuse me. The Yankees
26:57
are are five and one, and they and five of their main guys are
27:02
batting under one eighty. So they're five and one. Look what they have
27:04
to look forward to. So I mean, does that mean the answer going
27:10
one hundred and five games one hundred and six games, I don't know.
27:12
But you know, Rizzo under one eighty, Judge under one eighty, Laboraturus
27:21
under one eighty, a couple of other guys who I saw there were under
27:26
one eighty. You know, you got Soto, who's the real deal.
27:30
He got four seventeen and Volpi is there five hundred. But again we know
27:36
Voge Judge in his first homer as we were talking, just in his first
27:38
homer in Arizona as we're talking, So who Aaron Judge? Yes, sir,
27:44
first homer. And you know what's funny about that is Twitter? And
27:48
I don't even know why I go into these rabs holes on Twitter. It's
27:51
kind of nonsensical. But some guys were like, we should trade them,
27:55
we should bench them. I mean well, I mean again, these people,
28:00
these people just I mean, it's like it's just like the gas these
28:04
gas bag shows on ESPN and Fox Sports one, Alex I just won't watch
28:11
them. They're they're they're mindless. I'm not going to name the shows.
28:15
You know what they are. You know who the hosts are, the same
28:18
old crap I saw it today. Uh you know who? You know?
28:22
Are the Texans now? Uh? A threat to the Chiefs. The trade
28:26
was made for Stefan Diggs three hours ago. We're already trying. We all
28:29
know what these teams are gonna look like on the field. It's all overreaction
28:36
these guys, and most of these guys don't know, they don't know football
28:38
from a hockey puck. No, it's true, although I will tell you
28:44
they played a clip of Boomer and I know he uh, he's had a
28:47
pretty ledgement of vote. I'm like, here's a football guy that knows his
28:49
baseball two which was uh? Which was? I love when when a player
28:55
can play one sport but be diverse and knowing the other sports you have to
28:57
be to be a host. Well, you was talking about Boomer Sizon.
29:00
Yeah, Boomer side, Boomer Sison works at his craft. I mean not
29:06
all of these not all of these guys are gas bags, but most of
29:10
them are. And I'm not gonna boom Boomer's fine. Boomer understand. Boomer
29:14
understands the business sport. He understands obviously, he knows the game of hockey.
29:18
He plays hockey. Uh. He was an NFL MVP, so obviously
29:23
he knows the NFL. No, he he knows sports, there's no doubt
29:29
about it. But some of these guys don't. Oh Lou. I want
29:33
to say though, one thing, which my town atlandish to you and other
29:36
met fans, it just doesn't feel coincidental. You remove Carlos Mendoza from that
29:42
Yankee locker room and into the Mets, and it's almost like he's a difference
29:48
one way or the other in the sense of, Okay, it's first year
29:52
managing gets suspended the first weekend of baseball. But I'm wondering he was there
29:56
for a few years. The Yanks weren't a successful with him? Is the
30:00
bench I mean bench coach? I mean, there's gotta be But did they
30:04
get the Alcs two years ago? Yeah, they did, that's true.
30:11
But it just seems like with the shakeup in the coaching roster for the Yankees,
30:17
that's made a difference. Maybe I'm seeing it wrong, but I just
30:18
it's way it's too early. It's way too early. It's way too early
30:23
to make any judgment on anybody. I know nothing about Carlos Mendoza, nothing,
30:30
And like I said, I don't know why the Mets has taken a
30:33
strategy to take a step back in twenty twenty four. I'm not. I
30:40
don't think you can do that in New York. I just don't think you
30:41
can. And if Steve Cohen thinks you can do that, come June,
30:48
when the Mets are under five hundred and the Yankees might be ahead of the
30:53
Orioles and twenty games, OER five hundred and the people on the on ESPN
31:00
and WFAN are going to be critical of him. Let's see how he likes
31:08
it then. I mean the fact that they did nothing to boost the pitching
31:12
staff except getting a bunch of three and four numbers of three and four type
31:18
starters. Sony. I know it's only one year, but giving a stiff
31:22
like Louis Severino thirteen million dollars is a joke that Adrian Hauser. I have
31:29
no idea what to expect from him. I don't understand it. I agree
31:33
we're in an era right now where you don't want to give pictures ridiculous term
31:40
of seven or eight years because and thirty thirty two, thirty three, twenty
31:45
eight million dollars a year because they're pitching five in the third innings. I
31:49
get that, but I don't understand the met strategy right now. And I
31:55
hope David Sterns knows what the heck he's doing right now. We'll see.
32:01
I have never been and this is and I told you this before the season
32:05
began. I have never been less enthusiastic for the beginning of the baseball season.
32:12
And I love all sports but if you told me to pick one,
32:14
I probably would pick baseball. I love hockey, I love them all,
32:17
and I was in the NBA for twenty eight years, so you know I
32:22
love all sports. But this baseball season has been going into this baseball season
32:30
no enthusiasm, no buzz Alex, no buzz, no buzz. Not only
32:35
for the Mets, no buzz for Baseball. No buzz that's on Baseball's marketing
32:42
team, that's on Manford. That's what they can't get it right. Opening
32:45
they should be a huge event like it was when I was young. Yes,
32:50
I know other sports have come up and have now challenged Baseball, but
32:53
still opening they should be special. It was still special fifteen years ago.
32:59
Doesn't see special right now? We start the season with two regular season games
33:02
ten days before the real opening day. In the old days, the Cincinnati
33:07
Reds would start on the Monday, the Monday of opening week, and most
33:13
of the times they were a standalone game the parade in Cincinnati because they were
33:16
the first team in the National League that the only remaining team from the charter
33:22
teams when the National League started in eighteen seventy six, eleven years after the
33:27
Civil War. Think about that Alex and baseball, the sport built on tradition,
33:34
has totally blown up tradition, these dumb interleague games, the free runner
33:38
at second base, I mean, no creative ingenuity to make the sport more
33:47
attractive in competition with the other sports. It's I'm very disappointed the way Major
33:57
League Baseball is is marketed right now, or not marketed, I know.
34:05
And they thought going to Soul Korea was going to be the answer, and
34:08
of course he couldn't really watch him now. The other storyline going into all
34:14
of this was whether Otani was going to do this, that and the other,
34:17
and it was as you say, though, I feel like those stories
34:22
are only attracting a certain base. It's not like a nationwide thing. I
34:28
mean, the Sarai thing was a big deal in ninety eight. But I'm
34:30
just saying all these things with baseball seemed to be very limited to you and
34:34
I and every other baseball fan. That's pretty much it, right, I
34:37
mean, if that was another sport, that would be front center. This
34:40
o'kani thing with his agent and Alex, all right, he might have a
34:45
lot of money, but boy, I know if I was making if if
34:49
somebody took four point five million dollars out of my bank account. I think
34:52
I would know it. I mean, really, I don't care how much
34:58
money you're worth. It's something there. I don't know if Facebook's going to
35:01
sweep it under the rud. I'm not saying on baseball or anything like that.
35:06
It just seems like something. I don't know, something's missing there.
35:08
So we'll say we'll keep a close eye it as baseball fans. But I
35:13
how do you how would you if you were in the Commissioner's office right now
35:16
and and talking to him face to face, how would you market it?
35:21
I think they're trying with the younger kids to be on their social media platforms,
35:24
but I don't know. It's it seems to be hit or miss.
35:29
The content from MLB itself is kind of wild now. It's it's very weird
35:34
compared to what it used to be. And by the way, they don't
35:36
even do like the top member mill Allen used to do that Saturday show every
35:40
week this week in basebool. That was a fantastic show. That's that's that.
35:46
That was a great marketing tool for baseball. And you know this is
35:52
if I was in a room Manford, we just talked about Otani again.
35:58
I know we've talked about this before. He's the number one face in baseball
36:01
right now, but really, how many people really know him? The common
36:07
the casual fan, that's what That's what makes the other sports different right now,
36:13
the twelve point three that watch on cable Caitlin Clark the other night,
36:21
that's what baseball doesn't do. They made that, They made that an event,
36:27
the Otanni signing. We've stayed a hundred times. It shouldn't have been
36:30
announced on a Saturday afternoon at four o'clock in December. That should have been
36:37
an event. Hey, uh, Otani's people should well, Manfred's people should
36:44
have said, when you're ready to sign, let us know, and we
36:47
will. We will have a huge press conference. We will make it an
36:50
event. They didn't. They don't do that. Here. They got Aaron
36:57
Judge. I mean, everybody likes runs and again, yeah he's okay,
37:05
Yeah he might. His jersey might be the number one selling jersey in the
37:07
sport. But it's different than Lebron James or the late Kobe Bryant or Patrick
37:15
Mahomes. It just it's just different the way the way these sports do it.
37:24
Having you know, and again major League Baseball just like the other sports,
37:30
but especially well football can get away with it, but we'll put football.
37:32
Won't even talk about football, major League Baseball selling out to these cable
37:39
companies just for a couple more dollars. Really, again, I might be
37:45
old, getting old, let's put that way. And the days when NL
37:50
and AL Championship Series were on NBC or ABC and the World Series was on
37:57
ABC or NBC. Now it's, uh, you know some games of the
38:01
of the of the Championship series, you know, altern at year from americanly
38:05
to the nationally, A couple of games on Fox, the Restaurant on Fox
38:08
Sports one because they're trying to build a Fox Sports one. Uh, the
38:13
NL on on TBS. Really, what does TBS do for you? TBS
38:17
does nothing. There is nothing on TBS, nothing but reruns of Friends.
38:22
You know, who cares? I mean, there's gotta be a little cachet,
38:30
a little a little prestige. There's no prestige with TBS. There's no
38:36
prestige with Fox Sports One, none, none. What for a couple of
38:42
million extra dollars? Are you kidding? All right? Lou Well, I'll
38:45
give you one highlight, which opening Day weekend. I went on Saturday,
38:52
and you know, that was the first time Diaz came back since his devastating
38:55
injury. It was first time about a year and chain and that was cool.
39:01
But the bunting outside City Field, I mean, I had done a
39:07
comparing contrast of Ebitts Field. It just felt like an old timey kind of
39:10
thing. And I love that bunting wherever I can find it on an opening
39:15
day. It just part of the sport, you know. So there was
39:17
a little bright spot that at least the ballparks are keeping tradition alive. I
39:23
just wish. And you know, the other thing is we gotta say because
39:28
there's not been a winner here. Yeah, fifteen years for the Yankees,
39:31
but really since the nineties with the Yankees, it's been less interest and the
39:38
fact that the Mets, you know, give everybody hope and then they take.
39:42
I mean, something's got to change. I just think it's the struggles
39:45
of the New York teams that are making it a little more desolate feeling.
39:50
I don't know that's my thought overall. Well, I think locally it does,
39:53
but nationally it doesn't. Look what the Yankees drew in Arizona these last
39:59
couple of games. Shure, it's another big it's another big crowd today in
40:01
Phoenix. So the Yankees are still a national brand. And the Yankees have
40:07
two of the top four three or four top five players in baseball and Sodo
40:12
and Judge and this summer, if they both are cooking at the same time,
40:17
it's gonna be it's gonna be not I don't I don't want to say
40:21
must C TV, but it's gonna peak peak a lot of interest locally.
40:24
I don't know how it's gonna be done nationally, but definitely locally I know,
40:31
Well, we'll have to see how it goes. By the way,
40:34
the Yanks went to Mexico and not really another thing that not many people knew
40:37
about unless you watch social media. One really knew those games were happening.
40:40
So, yeah, the marketing could be better. I know, you're The
40:45
London series kind of drives you nuts because he won everything on the home field,
40:49
you know, here in the US. But hey, there's no problem
40:54
in growing the game. And they're doing the London Series for the third straight
40:58
Yeah, they're doing it in the middle of this sason. That's fine,
41:00
but to start ten days before are these guys really ready to play a game
41:06
that's going to count in the standings on March twentieth. I guess they are,
41:10
but I don't know. And again, the games were at if you
41:17
lived in Los Angeles or San Diego, you have to you have to get
41:21
up at three o'clock in the morning to watch those games. I mean,
41:24
that's ridiculous. The low At least they save the motor. They they saved
41:31
the Yama motor start I think for Dodgers same. I don't think he pitched
41:36
over there, but you know that the two acquisitions really made waves. And
41:40
yet uh that that's the young thing that Dodgers are always great to start out
41:45
the year and then by the time the postseason comes, I don't know what
41:49
happens. They just they fall apart. I think even Dodger fans wont some
41:53
consistency from this team. Well, you're right, and the pressure in baseball
42:00
as we go into the season is on the Dodgers, not what they do
42:04
in the regular season, but when they hit the playoffs, they the pressure.
42:07
Number one pressure of all the teams in Major League Baseball going into the
42:10
playoffs will be the Los Angeles Dodgers. At this time, and we'll talk
42:14
about Obviously there's five and a half months to go in the season. I
42:20
don't know any other team that has that kind of pressure that will be going
42:22
into the postseason. I mean, I really don't. I mean even the
42:27
Orioles, they're still young. They had no pressure on it. The Yankees,
42:30
I don't know. We'll see the Astros, I don't think so.
42:35
Maybe the Braves a little bit, but we'll get as we get, as
42:37
we get to October, which is a long way away, we'll see.
42:40
But right now I can tell you, right now here on April third,
42:45
the uh, the pressure is on the Los Angeles Dodgers, no doubt about
42:51
it. Well, we'll have to see, lou how that all shapes out.
42:55
You know, I did mention the NFL, and I will say I
43:00
slammed the desk at at the radio station when I heard the news. Now,
43:04
I think it's not a surprise because Stefan Diggs was complaining very vocally,
43:08
he wasn't getting enough routes, he wasn't getting enough targets, this, that
43:13
and the other. So him being traded isn't a complete shock, but at
43:16
the same time, it is a major shakeup it's a major shakeup. I
43:22
don't know what his problem was. He played four He played four years in
43:25
Buffalo after he complained about in Minnesota and got traded from Minnesota, who replaced
43:31
him with a better player than he was in Justin Jefferson. But if he's
43:36
complaining about targets, I don't know untill he's talking about, because in the
43:38
four years he played in Buffalo, he caught between one hundred and three and
43:43
one hundred and twenty seven balls every year. He caught over one hundred balls
43:46
each year. So I don't know what he's talking about. But maybe if
43:50
he had caught that ball in the playoff game against Kansas City, Buffalo might
43:54
have gotten in the super Bowl instead of Kansas City. So again you've been
44:00
hearing this is an addition by subtraction. I'm not so sure. They lost
44:05
Gabriel Davis, their number two receiver, to Jackson Villain free agency. They
44:08
don't have digs. They have a tremendous quarterback. And is there the Bills
44:16
rebuilding? Are they retooling? They only got a they only got a twenty
44:23
five second round pick. I think the Bills have their own pick. They
44:29
have a second round pick. I don't think they have a number A third
44:30
round pick. So this hurts the Bills, make no mistake about that.
44:37
It does, and you know, it shakes up the AFC East. I
44:43
mean, I think the Jets have a better roster than the Bills here before
44:49
the draft and for any additional free agency. If the season started today,
44:53
would have to favor the Jets to win the division if Rogers is healthy,
44:58
and I assume he is is but there's still a lot to go. We'll
45:02
see what happens in the draft. But the Bills have traded a lot of
45:06
their core players. Not only you know they traded they got rid of a
45:13
safety, and they got rid of the most the one of their key offensive
45:17
linemens. So they're a good organization. I guess they know what they're doing.
45:23
But yeah, this is a big loss for them. But I'm short
45:28
they'll draft a receiver in the first round, oil, They'll look somewhere.
45:31
But this shakes up the AFC and the AFC is shakes up the AFC because
45:37
now you look at a team like the Houston Texans that when two games two
45:42
years ago, made the playoffs last year in a week division, and the
45:45
division is still weak the AFC South, but a couple of weeks ago they
45:52
signed Joe Mixon, they resigned Alton Schultz. They got Nico Collins, a
45:57
fine wide receiver. Tank Dell another fine receiver, got hurt, you know
46:02
with about game twelve, game thirteen. He's going to be back. And
46:07
they added Stefan Diggs. He might be a pain in the butt, but
46:12
he's a terrific player. So they're going for it, Alex. The Houston
46:16
Texans aren't going for it. And you talk about a fast turnaround from two
46:21
years ago. Wow, yep, I know there's it's gonna be fun.
46:28
And I'll tell you this. Uh, the fact that the NFL is never
46:31
in the out of the news cycle is another reason why baseball needs to up
46:37
its game. There's no reason why. And I would even say then a
46:43
Doeld should do a better job. There's no reason why the Rangers should not
46:45
even be on the back page sometimes with all this stuff they're doing. I
46:49
mean, it's just the overlooking drives me crazy loud. To be honest with
46:52
you, well, you are one hundred percent correct. I mean, here's
46:58
if the Ranger season, if the Mets or Yankees or the Giants or Jets.
47:01
We're having a type of season that the New York Ranges were happening.
47:05
Yeah, they be plasted all the time on the back page of the newspapers.
47:09
You're right, and the Rangers are having a tremendous season. They have
47:15
a chance to win a President's Trophy, and they have a chance to win
47:16
as we said many times at Stanley Cup. And when we get when we
47:21
talk about the NHL playoffs in a couple of weeks, we're going to talk
47:24
about teams with pressure going into the playoffs. And in the East, it's
47:30
the Boston Bruins, It's the New York Rangers, and it's the Carolina Panthers.
47:35
Right off the top of my head, Toronto's still a little bit.
47:38
There's always pressure on Toronto, but those teams will have the pressure. Any
47:45
any elimination before getting to the finals will be a failure for the Rangers,
47:52
the Carolina Hurricanes, or the or the Boston Bruins. A friend of mine
47:57
told me today they benched Cooley and I'm wondering why because Cooley has been a
48:01
big asset to that Ranger team. What's Lobby led doing there? Are you?
48:05
Are you following it that closely. Well, again, I would assume
48:07
that you miss assignment defensively or he didn't battle for a pulp the way uh
48:14
Laval at the compete level might not have been. I really don't know what
48:20
the what the reason reason for his benching, but it happens all the time.
48:25
I mean Patrick Wad's bench guys and his you know, in this two
48:29
months as Island coach. You know, Tortorella does it all the time.
48:35
You know, so they see guys who don't heed his captain and took heap
48:37
from it. Although what I love about Tortrella is he takes heat and gives
48:40
it right back to the reporters. That's the best part of him. It's
48:45
after the game with the Islanders the other night, a game that they were
48:47
lucky to get a point in, and that point might course the Islanders a
48:52
playoff spot when they they got the you know, the Flyers got the loosest
48:58
point on Honda night. But in the post game press, what what what
49:00
about your team tonight? We were soft, We didn't compete, we went
49:07
we weren't winning the board battles, and that's why guys get binged. Yeah,
49:15
well, we'll have to see how that all shakes out. I just
49:19
know that Yanks are five and five and one as of this recording, and
49:24
yet if something happened with the Jets or Giants tomorrow, they would be on
49:29
the back page over and they're not even playing right now. That's how it's.
49:32
Uh it's and you know the media, where did it turn to?
49:37
Where the the the baseball, even the hockey. I mean, hockey used
49:40
to be a pristine sport, like a prestigious sport because of the history,
49:45
was an original sixteen the Rangers. Where the media changed that all up and
49:50
say we're not going to cover them as closely or highlight them as much as
49:53
as you know what's going on in MetLife stadium. Well, football is just
50:00
at another levels. That's just what it is, because of betting, because
50:05
of fantasy sports, because of its once a week type of event, type
50:08
of situation. And it doesn't matter if the jetso Giants are good, Yes
50:15
it's better. But while baseball has once was a national sport, has become
50:23
a regional type sport, a niche sport like the like hockey more so than
50:30
a national sport. Football's national sport. I mean we're talking about Stefan Diggs
50:34
and the Houston Texans and the Buffalo Bills. I mean, if Stefan Diggs
50:38
was created in baseball, we probably wouldn't be talking about it, or they
50:45
wouldn't be talking about it. But as soon as I was out out and
50:49
about this morning, as soon as I got in the car, it turned
50:52
on Series XM, and I didn't go to the NFL channel. I just
50:54
went to a regular talk show channel and six calls in a row and Texan
51:00
straight, you know, And that's that's a baseball problem. They have to
51:05
get their hands around that and create and create some kind of attention, uh
51:12
for you know, for their sport, and it's it's the great sport.
51:15
And New York is, in my opinion, everybody still saying who is the
51:19
best baseball town in Americas? I don't know, I disagree. I'd still
51:24
I put New York right up there with them. Nor New York is a
51:30
great sports town no matter what. And by the way, scream Nork.
51:36
We should talk about Seni Hall in the next episode, depending on what they
51:37
do with the n I T that's a big deal too, because imagine the
51:42
Big East who complain and complain of an n I T champion and in the
51:45
NCAA Tournament champion. I mean that's that is a really good scenario I think
51:51
for the Big East in my view. Yeah, no, I I totally
51:53
agree. And uh, Ironically, the two teams that probably got screwed the
52:00
most on selection Sunday Indiana State, which had a net of twenty eight.
52:06
No team with a net as good as twenty eight has ever missed the NCAAA
52:09
tournament. I think the lowest before that was thirty three. There were twenty
52:15
eight and they didn't get in and Seaton Hall, who should have gotten in.
52:20
They beat you, They beat Yukon, they beat Saint John's twice,
52:23
they beat Marquette, they went to triple overtime with Greaton. You know,
52:30
they didn't get in and they according to the NCAAA selection committee, they were
52:36
the second one out. So it's ironically those two teams are gonna be playing
52:39
for the NIT Chile tomorrow night. And I'm sure you're gonna hear it.
52:46
I'll try and log into the varsity app and well we'll take it from there,
52:52
lou. But for now, Wow, we haven't been on a little
52:53
bit, so I figured why not go an hour and then just lay it
52:55
all out there for our listeners. Right, I love it. I can
53:00
go another hour, outs, I can go another hour, Well I could
53:04
too. This is this is this is something that you are trying to I
53:08
wouldn't say resurrect, but preserve the beauty that is baseball through your passion.
53:14
And there's gotta be more out there that feel the same way like that.
53:16
There's gotta be And you know, I always kind of baseball is the best,
53:22
is the best game. The business of baseball is the worst. The
53:28
way they the way they the relationship between a play association and the commissioner's off
53:35
as terrible. But the game itself is the best game, uh that has
53:43
been invented in my opinion. And then there's Scott Boris because and I mentioned
53:47
him because Alonso his walk years start out slow. He'll probably come around and
53:54
hit maybe thirty five forty homers, I would think, but uh, this
53:59
is the pressure year for him because obviously they didn't sign him to go to
54:04
the end of the season. There's that, and then there's the idea they're
54:08
off to a slow start. And I was looking at the pressure on the
54:12
Mets because he may not want to be here. If they're off to such
54:14
a bad you know they're not going to be that well at the end of
54:16
the year. Would you agree, Yeah, we have to see you look,
54:21
we have to see how it plays out. If if there's a lot
54:24
of money slagging guys get picked off and he might sign elsewhere. Scott Borrows,
54:34
I don't think those baseball any favors by having his guys sign, you
54:38
know, like Lake Snell and those guys still unsigned, you know, two
54:42
weeks before the season begins. He thinks he's mister Baseball. I think he's
54:49
a detriment to baseball. Yeah, he gets he makes his percentage on these
54:52
contracts, and he gets his guys some money. But I mean the fact
54:59
that he holds his guys out right to the end not good. So right,
55:07
I mean right to the literal opening day. It's the most ridiculous thing
55:13
I saw. And of course Yankee fans were crushed that Snow wasn't coming here,
55:16
especially because uh they you know, they lost coal and whatnot. But
55:25
the friend one last thing I see, Tehran. I always thought Tron was
55:34
on the Mets to begin with, and now he's back. Is that what's
55:36
going on? Well? He never pictured the Mets. He pitched for the
55:38
Braves and he was an excellent pitcher. Then he got hurt and then he
55:43
was out of baseball for a couple of years. Then he's he was somebody
55:47
last year, and on the top of my head, I can't remember who
55:52
was not successful, and I guess, uh, in this era of everybody
55:58
needing pitching, they're going to give a shot. I don't know much about
56:00
it because I just saw the alert as you did, and so I don't
56:05
know what the deal is with Julio Toron. I did see him picture one
56:08
a one hit shoutout against the nets back like in twenty sixteen of twenty seventeen
56:14
on Father's Day, for whatever that's worth. Well, Lou Tibot's coming with
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the stories in the next week or so. More guests around the corner.
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We're in a new new season of spring. We covered winter fairly while I
56:27
thought in February with Kenny Albert and the like and Greg Picker. Now we
56:30
gotta keep it going in the spring, looking forward to it. That was
56:36
Terminelo's take on the Alex Garrett podcast Network