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Terminello's Take on the Upcoming NBA , NHL Postseasons - John Sterling's Retirement 4-19-24 · OneLegUpAlex Media

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Here's your host, Alex Darren. It's a Friday, which means postseason's coming
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up. It means a bit of a sports spotlight recap with Lou Turminelo.
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Who can I say it? You had a birthday this week, Lou,
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Happy, belated, Thank you, Alex, most appreciated and good to be
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with you as always. You had a birthday of the day, John Sterling
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retired. I mean April fifteenth is becoming a thing. I mean your birthday,
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John Sterling, my dad's pass. It's all happened on one day,
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April fifteenth. That's tax day above all, right, it's tax day.
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You know some other things that throughout history had happened on April fifteenth, some
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of them infamous. Abraham Lincoln died at seven twenty two on April fifteenth.
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The Titanic went under at at two thirty on April fifteen to thirty am,
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of course, eleven years go with the tragedy at the Boston Marathon was on
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April fifteenth. Oh yeah, some things that some infamous things. So Lou,
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you're the bright spot then on April fifteenth, how about that you are
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the right that is that is right? Well, there's a lot of bright
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spots to look forward to because the garden is going to be lit up again
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with Rangers and Knicks playoffs, and you know, can you take me through
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how it is the Knicks are going to face the sixers. The play in
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situation confused me a little bit because even if someone lost, they were just
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ranked lower, not out of the play How did that work this week?
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Okay, so a couple of years ago, as the NBA is trying to
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beef up the regular season, have more interest in the regular season, and
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really the regular seasons the last couple of years have been terrible and they're trying
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again. That's why they had that in season tournament. And now what they
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did was they expanded the potential of two teams coming. Instead of just cutting
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it off at eight, they were giving the ninth and tenth team a chance.
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So basically it works as follows. If you finished seventh and eighth during
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the regular season in the conference, you have two chances to win one game.
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If you win one game out of those two chances, you advanced to
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the playoffs. If you win the first game. If you win the seven
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versus eight seed, which is the first game, you automatically advanced to the
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playoffs, you don't have to play the second game, like what happened with
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the Sixers. The Sixers beating Miami the other night, they automatically became the
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seventh seed. If they had lost, even though they were the seventh seed
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during the regular season and Miami had one and they were the eighth seed,
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they would have been the seventh seed. They would have played the Knicks.
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But it went according to form. The Sixers won at home. But Miami
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now has even though they lost, they have a chance to win against the
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Bulls tonight at seven o'clock. If Miami wins, they will be playing the
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Boston Celtics. If the Bulls win, they'll be playing the Bosson. So
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I would like by NET to get into the pubseason right because I considered the
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play in the postseason and NET. But but the Warriors were out on Night
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one just because they lost Night one? Is that how that happened? The
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Warriors and the Warriors and Sacramento. The Warriors were eight, Sacramento was seven,
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and they had excuse me, the Warriors were ten and Sacramento was nine,
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And by losing, you don't get a second chance at nine ten because
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you have to win two games if you're in that nine ten slot. So
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Sacramento won against the Golden State the other night and today they'll be Tonight they'll
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be playing at New Orleans. And Sacramento loses, they're out New Orleans,
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which show was in the top eight. If they win their one game they
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lost the other night at home to the Lakers, they become the eighth seed.
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Just a couple of more TV highballs, a little more interest for the
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fans. I don't think it's great, but I know that they were talking
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about the NHL doing it and Gary Bettman has resisted. You know, the
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only about the the NBA nd season tournament is the caveats still not there to
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win. I guess it's a lot of money. But if they guarantee the
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first, if they guarantee a postseason spot, would that either cause outrage or
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would it make sense if they If they guarantee that once, you can't do
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that in December, you just can't. I mean, the NBA regular season
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is problematic as it is. It's really not interesting the last couple of years,
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and it's because guys don't play every game. I'm gonna give you an
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example going into their game on on Monday night. The Islanders had played eighty
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games. Nine of the Key Islanders, four of them played seventy nine out
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of the eighty games, and five others played all eighty games. You never
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see that in the NBA, and the NHL is a much more physical league,
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much more tougher league than the Marn NBA. And I think we talked
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about it last week where the Stan Van Gunny said that the college game is
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more physical than the Marn NBA game. So, I mean, I'm gonna
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be honest with you. I was in the league for twenty eight years.
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I wouldn't buy a ticket to a regular season game. I wouldn't. You
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don't know who's gonna show up. You know, you don't know how hard
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they're gonna play. I'm a little bit down, as you know on the
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NBA. It maybe I was there during the golden years of when the league
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was at its peak. But well, let me ask you about that,
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because obviously that there was rumors that the Cavaliers sat there big players and started
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in the fourth quarter last week for a lower player playoff seed. I mean,
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is that where the league's gone to that they're letting these guys just sit,
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you know, an entire quarter loo. That's ridiculous. Yeah, I
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uh, you know, I saw that, and it's I'm telling you it's
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it's it's not good for the league. But uh, what they did was
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I mean, they had the home that I guess they had the home court
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advantage already locked in. But again, so they played the Magic. They
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have the home court advantage in the first round. They beat the Magic,
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and I think they played the Celtics Miami winner or a Chicago winner, whoever
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wins tonight's game. I'm telling you, With Jimmy Butler out for a month,
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Miami is going to go away quickly. He has great a coach,
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as as Eric Spolsters, and as great a culture as he'd like to say
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they have. They're not going to be long for the playoffront this year.
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They might win tonight at home against Chicago, but Boston, Boston has easy
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pickings in the first round, all right. It's being a big injuries howard.
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The Knicks able to secure a second seed, which person I don't remember
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that happening for a while in Knicks franchise history here, So this is a
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big deal. But they did it without Julius Randall, one of their stalwarts,
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and they did it with a very shakily healthy and unhealthy Obie. I
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mean, you know he's in now and then, but is it Randal?
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Is he the reason why they got the second seed, and he's got the
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sporting cast around him too, doesn't he Well, again, you never want
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a guy injured, but in this case, maybe that was addition by subtraction.
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Obviously it's all been Jail and Brunson. He's the key Nick. He's
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the guy who if I had an MVP vote, he would be I would
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vote for Nicola Jokic. First, he's the best, the most valuable player
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in the league by far. He should be winning his fourth straight MVP.
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He got screwed last year. There was no way on Beach the won it.
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But Jalen Brunson is the second most valuable player in the NBA, and
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he's definitely the most valuable player in the Eastern Conference. So if the Knicks
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had lost him, they would have been done. They again, they might
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be more effective with the ball movement though without Randall. Yes, Randall kind
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of adapted to the UH to the Knicks system this year and they do need
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him so I'm not trying to pool and say they don't need them, but
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they could. They can be Philadelphia. The Knicks have better much Street in
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Philadelphia. Yes, Philadelphia has Mbid and they have Maxie and they have Obias
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Harris. But they've been a jumbled mess all year. Yes, in losing
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Embiid for those four to six weeks where you can't make up a guy like
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Embiid. The pressures on the Sixers. We heard for years about the process,
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the process, the process. Well, we'll have the Sixers done in
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postseason nothing. The pressure is on the Sixers in the series. The Knicks,
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in my opinion, should get through this series. The Knicks play hard.
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I think they're ready. If the Knicks, by some chance lose this
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series and it's a pick'em series, I wouldn't say that the season has been
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a failure. I would say it's just a disappointing first round loss. But
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the pressure is on the Sixers in my opinion. I mean I think that,
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yeah, because the whole, the whole tel of the tale is during
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the Doc River years. Oh, they can't get past this round or this
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round or that round. I mean, of course, yeah, Joel and
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b and that's been a reason why there's so much pressure. How are you
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losing with him? B right, that's been a big what were online in
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Killy, Plus the fact that they tanked it for a couple of years to
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draft uh, you know, in the top three every year. So the
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pressures on Philadelphia, the Philadelphia media will not be kind to them. Like
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I said, I don't. I don't think if the Knicks lose this series,
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and again, like I said, in my opinion is fifty to fifty,
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it'll be a disappointment for Knicks, for Knicks people, for Knicks fans,
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but it won't be a failure. Not this year, maybe next year
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if the Knicks are back to where they were this year. Who knows.
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Bibbs too lives as a coach who you know, can only get a team
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so far in the playoffs. And well there's a little pressure on Tibbs.
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You know that. Everybody Alex, these people say they you know, I
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don't listen to the noise. They listened to most of the noise. He
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knows what's going on. He knows when he was at Minnesota and they were
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pretty good teams, they he couldn't get them to that next level. For
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whatever reason. And is he making you a proud of Italian right now the
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way he's racking up. Well, I knew he was good, and I
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knew he would be a contributing NBA player, But he was on four teams
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in four years, just like his college championship teammate Heart. But and he
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was on four teams in five years. So the Knicks, Yeah, I
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give him credit. Either these guys just matured in their game, both on
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and off the court, or it's you know, they they just got lucky
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with them. But would all these complimentary plays. The Knicks have McBride and
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Heart and Dante deevenschen Zo Hartenstein, Mitchell Robinson, They've all formed a team
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that's very good, led by a guy that nobody who is going to be
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this good in Jalen Bronson. I would put Jalen Brunson now and say he's
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a superstar. I'd put them halfway between star and superstar. But the one
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thing he is is difference maker, and that's very, very important for any
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sports team. So this will be an interesting series. Like I said,
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toss up, But I think the pressure's on the Sixers. What about the
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Celtics, They're sitting up there at one once again and obviously like a automatic
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one for them. It feels like them and the Bruins always get that top
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seed, except for this year when the Rangers of the President's Trophy, But
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for the most part, they always sit up there at the one. Isn't
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there pressure on Boston also? I mean we're talking about the Nicks and Sixers,
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but for the Celtics to keep that one and to be strong there Are
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they a lock to get through to the conference and beyond or are they not
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a locked? This year? They're on paper in the natural the Celtics should
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breeze through and get to the final. I mean, okay, last year
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they lost to the Heat, but they added Porzingis, they had added Holiday.
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They're deep. The coach has has now gone through one long term playoff
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series, so Tatum has gone through it. Jalen Brown's gone through it.
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The road is paved for the Celtics to get to the to the finals.
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And that of all, there's only one team in the East besides Philadelphia because
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of the Philadelphia Pass that has pressure on them, and they have the most
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pressure on and that's the Bosston Celtics. Anything short of getting to the finals
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is a massive, massive disappointment, Like I said, in Milwaukee staying in
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the East, because you know, I think Milwaukee and Minnesota are the two
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teams that have a lot of pressure. Of course, the Nuggets because they're
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trying to repea and what not. But but I look at the Bucks and
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I say, Okay, Doc Rivers, here he is again in the postseason.
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He's got Giannis, but he's also inherited sort of this this, I
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would say, it seemed like, you know, a this, what's the
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word I'm looking for? The Bucks are dysfunctional. Dysfunctional. Yes, they
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look like a family right now, and Gianness is not going to be around
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for the first couple of games of the at least of Game one against a
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very up and coming Indiana team. Indiana could win that series. Milwaukee has
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been really inconsistent all year. I mean, three weeks ago they lost consecutive
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not three two and a half weeks ago, they lost consecutive games when they're
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trying to secure a seed. They lost to the Grizzlies, were pathetic,
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to the Raptors, who were pathetic, and to the Wizards who are pathetic.
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So I don't know where Milwaukee's going but uh, there's more pressure on
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Doc Rivers than the Bucks franchise. Milwaukees won that championship. They won that
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championship, even though I don't I think if I've said this before, if
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Kyrie and Harden didn't get hurt when the Nets were up two games to none
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and went behind the line, we can all say that to right. So
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again, but that's that's what happens in sports. So it's the path in
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the in the NBA Eastern Conference is wide open for the Celtics. They shouldn't
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be picked off. If somebody gets hurt, that's a different story. But
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going in to the playoffs step begin tomorrow and over the weekend, they should
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not. They should not have any speed bumps get into the NBA Final.
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All right, let's talk about the West now, because as I mentioned the
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Nuggets, but I also think that the Timberwolves had one of the best years
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in the franchise history. I mean, remember how it used to be really
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lowly to be on the Timberwolve. Now they're with Kat and that whole record
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setting sixty point plus. But I'm looking at it as all right, well,
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now that they've secured that top seed. I mean there is pressure on
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Minnesota that no one's talking about. Right well, they'll be playing Phoenix in
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the first round. The pressure, the pressure in this series is on Phoenix
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because of the trade they made with the Nets at the trade deadline for Durant
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and Durant, Durant Devin Booker and they got Bradley deal. They can't lose
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this series. Now. The best player on the court is probably still Durant,
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even at his age of thirty five. But the Edwards is probably the
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best player on the Minnesota Timberwolves. We think of Karl Anthony Towns, but
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it's it's uh, it's it's it's probably Anthony Edwards. The Minnesota Timberwolves do
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something that a lot of NBA teams don't do during the regular season anymore.
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They play, They play strong defense, and that that could be that could
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that could be the difference in the series. But uh, pressures on Phoenix.
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The pressures on Phoenix. I mean, Oklahoma City is going to play
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the winner of the playing game tonight. It should be Sacramento. Williamson is
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not playing for New Orleans. Even though New Orleans is at home, they
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might be able to to squeak it out. But Oklahoma City has all that
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young talent, and uh, they should. They should win that next series
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against either Sacramento or or New Orleans. Of course the most interesting. There's
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a couple of interesting matchups really in the West. All the matchups seem to
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be interesting. You got number two Denver, the defending champion, with the
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best player in the league by far, Nicola Jokicic. They don't have the
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depth that they had last year. They're losing Jeff Green, who was a
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great off the nets bench a couple of years ago, Bruce Brown, who
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was great off the net's bench. They lost those guys, So they're not
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they're not as deep as they were, and they're going to be playing the
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Lakers. The Lakers have played very well down the stretch. They have Lebron,
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they have Anthony Davis, d Angelo Russell is inconsistent in his game,
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but the other night he was terrific. He's and if he's on that that
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Laker Denver series, Denver should win. But that justin this is a big
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thing with Lebron, right, So everybody's like, with Lebron is going to
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retire this year? Is he's not going to retire, And of course I
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think the NBA loves this Lebron versus Nicola Jos the first that is a that's
18:56
a good way to start the playoffs. And you know, if I'm not
19:03
mistaken, Lou the only one he's won with the Lakers is in the Bubble
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Series. So this is almost like the Dodgers, where we don't see it.
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You know, we haven't seen them win right well season unlike unlike the
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Dodgers only played sixty games, they played seventy two games. You know,
19:18
in that Bubble Series, the Bubble I had. The Bubble Series to me,
19:22
is legitimate the Bubble Championship the Dodgers, the Dodgers Championship, I don't
19:27
think is. I don't think it's legitimate. I mean they basically they played
19:33
basically a full NBA season. They actually had regular season games in before the
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playoffs started. So the Lakers Lebron has won a legitimate championship. It just
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it was just played in front of nobody because of the of the COVID nineteen
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situation. But I'm not saying that the Lakers are going to beat Denver.
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But this is a very interesting series. It's a re reason why the game
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is on ABC tomorrow night and not ESPN. They want as many eyeballs to
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look at you knows as possible. Lou, We gotta talk about momentum because
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I always feel like, especially in the NFL and the playoffs, momentum matters.
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I mean, the week the wild card teams that win that first week
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are probably gonna do a little more because they always seem to have a momentum
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hanging the next eight week against a first round by team. But in the
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NBA and NHL, is momentum as important or as this like a whole new
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series type of thing. I mean, every posting is that. But I
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also feel like there's no momentum. So let's say the playing teams, do
20:41
they momentum going into these series because they've just played a couple of nights ago.
20:45
Well, look at Miami, they were a playing team last night.
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I got to the NBA finals. The thing about the NBA, the key
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thing. Even now the game is different than what it used to be,
21:00
but it's still a game of matchups. So you can go into that next
21:03
series with momentum and you can get picked off. I mean, I'll go
21:08
back to my personal experience when I was with the Nets and we we got
21:14
to the finals in the first time. Yeah, we had momentum. We
21:18
had great momentum after we won games three, four, four, or five
21:23
and six against the Celtics after were down two games to one. But then
21:27
we ran into Shack and it's a game of matchups. We could not match
21:32
match up with Shack. If the Lakers had let's say, another center that
21:36
wasn't the behemoth that Shaq was, Yeah, they still had Kobe, but
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you could match up with Kobe. We couldn't match up with Shaq. He
21:44
was too powerful. He was in the height of his physical abilities and we
21:48
couldn't handle or we couldn't handle Shack. So momentum, Yeah, it depends
21:52
on the sport, It depends on the matchup. All right, Well,
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the NHL. I wanted to just put a bowl on the NHL because it's
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the Capitals and of course the Rangers and the Capitols have got a playoff history
22:07
before we know that. We've seen that. And Obi has he lost his
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step gifield. I guess I feel like he didn't get his the gold total.
22:15
Maybe he was looking for end of the season. Is that about right?
22:18
Well, he had thirty two goals, and for most players that's considered
22:21
terrific. He had thirty two goals. He's going to break the record either
22:25
next year or the year after eight of eight ninety four. Hell By Gretsky
22:30
once thought unbreakable, and he's going to break it. He had a very
22:34
good second half of the year after a very very docile first half of the
22:41
year. I think still he's close to the top of his game. But
22:45
this is a series where the Rangers should The Ranger should win this fairly easily.
22:53
They're better in every way than the Capitals. The play and their penalty
23:00
killer both in the top three to four of the league. You don't want
23:03
to take a penalty against the Rangers. He had the Rangers five on five
23:07
or middle of the pack team, and that's their weakness. But Washington is
23:11
a is a middle of the pack five on five team. The Rangers have
23:15
the best goaltender in Esercin. Ryan Lindgren's brother, Charlie Lindgren is going to
23:22
be in nets for the Uh. Yeah, they're not talking to each other
23:26
the whole series. I heard right about that, so we'll assume what that's
23:30
about. You know much Akin though, is he should have, and I
23:33
think he has finally welcomed the mentorship of Jonathan Quick. Maybe he was all
23:38
imtendated by quick success early on the season, but I feel like the two
23:44
mess really well. And having Jonathan Quick on that bench, having been a
23:48
Stanley Cup champion against the Rangers ten years ago, that's a boost for the
23:52
Rangers as far as I'm concerned, well, having two goaltenders in the players,
23:56
especially if you're going to play a grinding two wants to win the Stanley
24:00
Cup. Uh, You're gonna probably need a Johnson Quick in there sometime over
24:07
the next two months. Again, if by some chance the Rangers get picked
24:11
off, which would be a monumental upset. And as I said before,
24:17
anything short of the Rangers winning the Eastern Conference championship is a failure, unlike
24:22
the Knicks, where it would be just disappointing if they lose, it would
24:27
be a colossal failure if the if the Rangers don't win championship, I think
24:33
the Capos. I think of bad boy Tom Wilson, and I think of
24:36
oh my god, imagine Remp versus Wilson. Everybody would love to see that,
24:40
right, the kid going up against Wilson, who has been a thorn
24:42
and you know, beat down against the Rangers over the years. I mean,
24:47
for God's sake, they they brawled like the Rangers and Devils that right
24:49
right in the beginning of that game a few years ago. It looked like
24:52
a boxing match at the garden. But well, Tom Wilson. Tom Wilson's
24:59
a dirty in my opinion, He's done dirty things. And I don't come
25:03
back every year. I don't understand it. But my main question here is,
25:07
Lou when you teach Loveolett's gotta impart in the kid. Hey, you
25:12
need more discipline. It's the playoffs. Not that Remby doesn't know that,
25:15
but maybe he needs a little word of advice. You might see Rempy in
25:21
a lineup tomorrow or by some chance. I would be surprised if he's not
25:26
in the lineup for Game one, but I would not expect to see him
25:30
a lot. And he's Stanley Cup playoffs. I just I mean, they're
25:33
not going to uh take a roster spot of a skilled player and put in
25:41
They're just not tomorrow. I think, oh, Sunday, I know it's
25:44
Sunday. I think he'll be in for Game one. Just because of what
25:47
you said. We remember how Wilson ran roughshod against the Rangers and really Ragdall
25:57
Panarin, which was just racefall and which led to the firing of the general,
26:03
managed the firing of the president. You know. They also were physically
26:08
beat up by the Islanders that year. So that mine Wilson, the Rangers
26:14
made the you know, start making their their changes to their operations management team,
26:22
you know. So I think you'll see REMP beyond Sunday. The thing
26:26
about the thing about Tom Wilson is for all his over the line dirtiness,
26:34
he's a he's an effective hockey player. Rempy hasn't shown that. He's just
26:40
shown that he's you know, I mean, the guy's played seventeen games and
26:42
he's had five fights he's had and he's had a four game suspension in seventeen
26:48
in seventeen games. But I think you'll see him on Sunday, all right.
26:52
And one of the guy I'm thinking of that's not been on the radar,
26:56
which is always a fun thing to me, is he's under the radar
26:57
guys before me is cool Cooley. Because I've been watching some of these Ranger
27:02
games and Cooley has these clutch goals. So imagine that line. He's going
27:06
to play a role alongside the Penerens and of course theavana Jads and the Rempees
27:11
and the Criders, I mean Chris Crider. This to me feels like a
27:17
Cooley is going to make me a factor. And buh Pryer, this is
27:22
his series, this is his playoffs. I think that this is the moment
27:25
he wants to win the Cup. Wouldn't you agree? Well, they all
27:27
want to win a cup. But the thing about prior is you got it.
27:30
The guy scored eighteen or nineteen power play goals year and the Rangers power
27:34
plays so devastating, so teams want to stay at the box. They can't
27:38
take any unnecessary penalties against the Rangers. Cryder in front of the net is
27:45
one of the best tipping guys in the league. He's a big, strong
27:48
guy, He's fast for his size. He's a complete hockey player. But
27:56
the guy who has pressure on him and the Rangers have astronomer as a team.
28:00
After blowing a to nothing lead against a Young Devil's team last year,
28:07
young talented Devil's team, but they they came up. So they came up
28:11
small and as great a season as Panarin had. Now he has to do
28:15
in the playoffs because he was nowhere in that first round loss last year.
28:22
So uh, Like I said, I think I think the Rangers this is
28:27
going to be an easy series for them. They'll play I believe they played
28:32
the Carolina Islanders winner year. Everybody wants the Arranger Islander a playoff series well
28:38
as much as I. You know, I like my I like my Islanders.
28:42
They're not getting by They're not getting by the carol not getting by the
28:45
Carolina area. That would be an upset. That's David and Goliath to me.
28:51
Yeah. No, I mean the Islanders have have a couple of things
28:56
that add up to the playoff failure. Five on five, they're decent,
29:02
but their penalty kill is near historically poor levels and their power plays inconsistent.
29:08
They do have in this series, they have the advantage in goal, but
29:12
Carolina is offensively deep, and they when they got Jake Gensol to add to
29:18
that already deep offensive league team, that just made them tougher. They got
29:22
a great defensive corps. Their goaltending is shaky, but I think you're going
29:27
to see Carolina and the Rangers in the second round, so that would be
29:33
a well it will. And one other thing happening this weekend which we got
29:37
to cover, is a week after Doc Goodin's numbers retired by the Mets,
29:42
another New York sports icon is announcing his retirement tomorrow from the booth. John
29:48
Sterling. I mean, what a week it's been honoring him, and you
29:53
know, to me, I love his calls, but when it came to
29:57
play by play he was it was a step and I'm not afraid to say
30:00
that on this podcast. Well, John Sterling has always been unique. I
30:07
mean I first heard John Sterling back in nineteen seventy two when he came to
30:11
New York from Baltimore. Even though he was New York City born and raised.
30:18
He was the play by play man for the then Baltimore Bullets now the
30:23
Washington Wizards for a seventy one seventy two season. Then he got the call
30:29
to New York and he did a sports show in an alex There were no
30:34
sports talk shows in New York in nineteen seventy two, none, So he
30:41
came to WMCA, our beloved WMCA, and he did the sports talk show
30:45
every day Monday to Friday. And then eventually, when WMCA got the broadcast
30:52
rights to the then ABA New York Nets and the expansion New York Islanders,
31:00
he did the Islander game for three three seasons. He was the broadcast voice
31:06
for Islander hockey on WMCA, and he did he did Nets. When the
31:11
Nets came to New Jersey from Nassau and Roy Bo sold them to Joe Talb
31:18
and the other New Jersey owners, he had a choice to either stay with
31:25
the Islanders or come to the Nets, and he stayed and he came to
31:29
the Nets. Now, in hindsight, by doing that, he missed.
31:33
He missed at least a couple of Stanley Cup championship years for the for the
31:38
Islanders, and he teas talked about that. But Kevin Lockery, he was
31:42
a dear friend of his. Kevin Lockery was the longtime coach of the Nets,
31:47
an excellent coach, and I guess maybe that had something to do with
31:49
it. I don't know. But then after a while he went down to
31:52
Atlanta was the Hawks did a TV on TBS for the whole he was part
32:00
of the TBS broadcast team and I remember in those days TBS went coast to
32:05
coats. It was a superstation, so he got a lot of notoriety,
32:08
which led to him becoming the Yankee radio announcer in nineteen eighty nine. And
32:15
he was there for basically every game up until a couple of weeks ago.
32:22
He missed. You cut over three thousand games in a row. He's done
32:27
over fifty six hundred Yankee games regular season and postseason. He called all those
32:32
World Series games. I do think, like you said, he has lost
32:38
he lost a step. But again, he's going to be eighty six years
32:40
old on the fourth of July. I heard him the other day. He
32:45
was talking to he was on some talk show. His voice is strong,
32:50
his memory is strong. Do I think he was the best fundamental play by
32:54
play announcer? I don't. And he did a couple of games for the
32:59
NETS when I was there as a fill in for Ian and uh uh he
33:06
you know that he is unique. He's a little weird, but uh he
33:15
did love he did love this game of baseball. And he was, as
33:16
they say, in baseball more than any other sport. He was a character
33:21
of the game. Rizzuto was a character of the game. Uh, Carrie
33:28
was a character of the game. So and he's He's beloved in Chicago.
33:36
So there's been a lot of announcers, especially in baseball like that. The
33:42
relationship, the romance between baseball and their radio announcer, more so than even
33:49
TV announcer, is different than just about any other sport. And I do
33:54
believe Alex that uh John Stirling will get the call for the Hall of Fame
34:01
in the next year or two, without a doubt. He is a staple
34:07
and he will be missed on the radio. Now, what do you think?
34:10
And I mean I guess Brendan Burke was maybe doing a sign off and
34:14
John Sterling style causing you know, Jim mcdonald'll be like, what's going rather
34:20
to say you know, where are you going next? I mean he's not
34:22
who's going to take over? Is there going to be a permanent you think?
34:24
Or will they rotate or justin chackle? Who's the guy? Well,
34:28
I assume, I don't know. I don't think they're going announced the permanent
34:30
guy this year. I don't think w FAN is going to announce the permanent
34:35
guy this year. Yes, w w f AN has first DIBs on the
34:40
announce on the announcer, but the Yankees have to approve h and I was
34:46
listening to the I was watching the game on Monday night. On the last
34:51
Islander goal, which put him up four to one, John had a signature
34:54
signature call on the radio. He did Islander hockey goal, Islanders goal,
35:00
Islander's goal. And on the fourth goal, Burke did that right away.
35:05
I knew why he did it. A couple of seconds later he said that
35:08
was out of his respect for John Stirling, who announced his retirement on earlier
35:15
that day. And then Butch Goren says, I hope we're not going to
35:20
lose you. And Thomas Sicky, who's between the glass, said the same
35:25
thing. And do you know something we don't know now? Burke has been
35:30
has has been rumored for being a candidate for the job. He did games
35:36
last year after the hockey season was over for the Yankees when John, you
35:44
know, took those west trip west coast trips off. Now we'll see,
35:51
but I'm sure Justin Shackle has done a very good job. Emmanuel Barberry,
35:55
who was only is only twenty four years old, he's been in there too.
35:59
But everybody's going to be everybody's going to be killing to get to get
36:02
that job. Now. I don't think I could be wrong. I don't
36:06
don't know anything about this. I don't think they're going to hire just one
36:09
guy. Sterling did all nine innings, which most baseball announcers don't do.
36:16
So once, you know, once Michael Kay went to television, Sterling did
36:21
all basically all nine in That is very true, you know. And and
36:25
the funny thing about after Michael Kay, it was Charlie Steiner, And of
36:30
course who got the game winning call on the Boon home run was Charlie Steiner.
36:36
And I often think Sterling was a bit upset at that, to be
36:38
honest with you, Well, that's just luck that, you know, they
36:43
they all once you get the extra innings, you alternate innings, you know,
36:46
and that that was just the way it fell. But I think the
36:52
going to hire two play by play announcers. One lead guy won as the
36:55
second guy, and I took my application and then Louis let's do it.
37:00
Let's go to the broadcast book together. But yeah, absolutely, there's going
37:02
to be a lot of guys pining for that job, that's for sure,
37:07
and it's going to be you know, the Yanks have to yangs to approve
37:12
it. Some people have asked me who was he hired by the Yankees.
37:15
And I always to believe it was George Simoner's blessing that put him and Michael
37:20
Kay together on the air, well Michael Kay. And I know I knew
37:24
Michael Kay because he used to cover the nets when I was with the nets
37:28
for the Daily News, and so I knew him pretty well, and he's
37:32
a good guy. And then all of a sudden he leaves print journalism,
37:37
which was a smart move, and becomes the play by play broadcaster for Yankee
37:45
Radio, and he does have an excellent job and he continues to on YES.
37:52
So, by the way, happy birthday John Philip Pelly, the architect
37:55
really of YES network. And when you were listening to Sterling on radio,
38:00
you might have seen him on a Yank geography or Yankees classics. I mean,
38:02
John Philipelody's architecture of the YES network has made it stand for twenty two
38:08
years. We believe that and s and why it's going to be in two
38:12
thousand and six was their first year, so I know it seems like it
38:15
was just yesterday that these networks started. I know well, And of course
38:22
the MSG days were fun and what I love about Yankee classics real fast is
38:29
they alter between the radio and the TV feed sometimes so you can get both
38:35
both actors in there. Whether it's the Mets ones are always Gary Keithan wrong.
38:38
They seem to be on every broadcast and right, you know, that's
38:44
just a lot movement, a lot of moving parts of this week, Louis,
38:45
I feel like with our sports world this week, no doubt about it.
38:51
I agree. And this is a nice time of the year. And
38:55
you know, we didn't talk much about baseball on the field. But again,
39:00
a couple of weeks ago when it Mets for oh and five, everybody
39:02
was getting ready to jump off the bridge and this is not a great Mets
39:07
team. But since I and five and I said, everybody's overreacting, and
39:12
they are, and they do, and we do that as fans. They're
39:16
ten and thirteen. Since that time, they've won ten out of thirteen,
39:22
so they were over five hundred. Like I said, this is not a
39:24
great a great net team. But again my point is, God, just
39:30
take I love Harrison Bader. He goes to do a public appearance the day
39:35
of his first big hit on the Sunday and then he gets continuing that that
39:40
vibe from the fans, I guess. And he kept hitting this week,
39:43
So that's a that's a major plus. You know, I want to see
39:45
the guy succeed. I loved him as a Yankee. I want to see
39:49
him to see it in met pin shipes now. So we'll have to We'll
39:52
have to see how that goes. All right, one last thing, and
39:54
you were right, you were right off there. Haitlin Clark despite getting a
40:00
very in mind be very very putrid contract with three hundred and thirty eight thousand
40:05
dollars, she shows started at five hundred grand after the draft, but you
40:08
are right. Endorsements are kicking in now for her for Nike. Did you
40:13
hear about that? Well, I mean it's a minimum of ten million dollars
40:16
that she's getting from Nike. And you know, going back to her contract,
40:22
it's all because of the salary cap and the fact that the WNBA revenues
40:30
uh don't match a five hundred thousand dollars salary. She's worth five million dollars
40:36
to the WNBA. I mean, we'll see. I just look look at
40:43
Monday night. Monday Night for the WNBA draft, they got just under two
40:50
point five million people watching. Last year, they had five hundred and five
40:55
thousand watching. And the thing is she was picked at eight O five,
41:02
eight ten, and really most of the years people want to watch the rest
41:07
of the draft, but they did. It's not like she was picked at
41:10
nine thirty. She five times the amount that normally watch the WNBA Draft watched
41:19
it on Monday night. She's going to be on National TV thirty six and
41:25
maybe I'll even add the last four thirty six out of the forty Indiana Fever
41:31
game. These teams on the road are moving games to the bigger facilities,
41:38
like the Las Vegas team is moving it from I guess they play in a
41:45
ten eleven thousand seed arena. That's moving it to the arena where the Vegas
41:49
Golden Knights play because the demand for when Caitlin Clark comes in is huge.
41:54
And I don't know if her impact on the college game is going to translate
42:01
to the w n b A because there's more games. It's played in the
42:05
summertime where people have other things that that they want to do, go to
42:10
the beach, going vacation. But I mean, anybody's being critical of this
42:15
kid. I saw some you know, some things about some players in the
42:17
league, being critical, being jealous of her. Come on, man,
42:22
that is just that is weak. She is going to make money for every
42:25
player in the w n b A, every player. They should be kissing
42:30
her feet. I mean, it's really disappointed when you see you see some
42:37
some other shot she's taking from some of these morons and to that reporter in
42:43
the Indianapolis start, she's not that. She's a person. So you know,
42:46
I just the thing that these are saying about her to her, I
42:51
know, I mean, I'm sorry about Antonio Brown. What an a hole?
42:58
And like I said, some things from the players that play in the
43:00
league. Shut the heck up. She's going to make you money. And
43:05
remember, in the last collective bargaining agreement, salaries in the salary cap salaries
43:12
in the WNBA were raised fifty three percent. Bring in more revenue, you'll
43:17
get you'll get more money in your and in the next collective bargain agreement and
43:22
approach, who's going to do that? Are people like Caitlin Clark. I
43:25
mean, yeah, I know that he doesn't know he's not in the garden,
43:29
but imagine they moved the liberty to the garden for just one of those
43:31
games. No, they can't. They can't do that, Alex, they
43:35
can't be They can't do that. They got to play at Barkley, they
43:37
can't. They play at the Liberty, play at the Garden all those years
43:42
and Massive Square Garden did not want the Liberty in the Garden. That's why
43:46
they moved them to Westchester. That will never happen. That never happened.
43:53
Well, I'm sure they didn't foresee this moment. So there's that going on
43:57
too. Now. Well, the thing is, Alex, could the popularity
44:01
of WNBA down the road lead to a second team in New York may then
44:06
maybe the Garden might get back in the business. But I know a lot
44:08
of guys at the Garden, and I'm going to tell you this, and
44:10
this is right from the horse's mouth that we're hoping. This is going back
44:15
ten twelve years who said to me to my face that that WNBA is a
44:21
waste of time and should be disbanded. So and that's a fact. Now
44:28
they were wrong, and I thought they were wrong. And now look where
44:32
the WNBA has a chance to become. They just gotta, you know,
44:38
treat their players properly, is how I see it. And that means you
44:42
gotta get more revenue. You got to bring more revenue. The reason that
44:45
Damian Lillard is making sixty two million dollars this year, which is absolutely ridiculous,
44:51
is going to make sixty two million dollars next year, great player,
44:54
Just think about that sixty two million is because the revenue stream in the NBA
45:00
is ridiculously off the charts. And when they sign a new meteor Rightes deal
45:06
with TBS with ABC, they said that NBC might be back in the mix.
45:10
There'll be a streaming partner, and the media rights are gonna go with
45:15
seventy five million. The players are locked in. They're gonna get a piece
45:17
of that. There's gonna be a player making eighty five million dollars a year,
45:22
and we're not talking about Lebron James in his prime. We're going to
45:27
talk about a guy who's who's a very very good player, but not a
45:30
Michael Jordan Lebron James type of player. That's why I know you've had yoursons
45:36
with the NBA cap, which we'll get to again down the road. But
45:38
one last thing, I do believe Angel Reese and Kaitlin Clark. I don't
45:44
think Ange reach had a much malice to wh I think it was just a
45:46
game day thing. And then off the court, I think they're you know,
45:50
they'll probably get along. That's just how I feel about it. You
45:52
know that. Well, I have no idea if they like each other hate
45:55
each other, I have no idea. And actually player rivalries are good,
46:06
you know, Bird Magic, Jordan and Isaiah, but again, and Reese
46:13
Clark can definitely be mentioned now, so we'll have to see. We'll see
46:16
how it translates now there, now that they're in the WNBA. And you
46:22
know what, I would say, the way the media is going to be
46:24
looked at is how they were looked at when we talked about him on media
46:28
row about the Travis Kelce Taylor thing. I mean, these women are focused
46:31
on the game, not some crap shoot that you want to ask them.
46:35
You know that Travis was focusing on the game. He wasn't focused on Taylor
46:37
in that regard. I mean, it's just it's amazing the idiocy we get
46:40
out of the media when these things happen. Rightnd percent right, But again,
46:45
the Tailor Kelsey thing has been good for both of them, and I
46:52
see where I guess it's going to be on Amazon that Travis Kelsey is going
46:58
to be a game show host. Oh my gosh, I think he's doing
47:04
the sixth grade Are Smiling? Sixth Grader kind of show. I remember that
47:07
with Jeff Fox at the back in the day, So that'll be good.
47:13
And he, you know, Jason has personality Travis. I think Jason has
47:15
more of a personality than Travis, though I gotta say Jason is just he's
47:20
all over the place, but so so the talk show the game show host
47:24
is Travis, right, not Jason? Well, let me check here,
47:28
I think it is. It's one of the Kelsey's. I think you're right
47:30
about that. I think it's Travis, though they would have made it a
47:34
big they're making a big deal because of that. Right, Well, I
47:37
think I saw it was Travis. But but Jason's definitely got the personality of
47:42
the two of them. I feel like, because he's so and here'll be
47:44
onload of shows, on one of the football pre game shows on ESPN,
47:47
He'll be on one of those shoulder programming type shows. And are you smartlan
47:52
in fifth Grader is the show? So I can't wait to see that.
47:55
Of course, he's been on SNL before, Travis Kelsey was last year,
48:00
so he's got personality too. And they were both raised right by their mom.
48:05
I gotta say that they were both raised right, so it's a it's
48:08
interesting to see them succeed and thrive. And they're bull Shot Bowl champions.
48:12
No one seems to remember that, and they're both going to be and if
48:15
they're both going to be in a ProFootball Hall of Fame, well we all
48:19
know the Hall of Fame game halftime show it's gonna be. That's it.
48:23
You got it, all right, lou This has been fun and uh,
48:27
we will do this again next week, but I want to catch you before
48:30
the busy weekend hits. I know that Yankee fans are about eighty bucks a
48:35
ticket to go see the retirement tomorrow, so I know will be up there.
48:37
I'm sure it's gonna be a sold out crowd nonetheless for them, because
48:40
people pay for that kind of thing. So it'll be fun. It'll be
48:44
a busy weekend in New York and the two teams I mean, I love
48:46
when the Rangers and the Knicks are at home for the playoffs. It makes
48:50
it It adds to the excitement of the city. I think so Yeah,
48:54
well we'll see what happens. Like I said, the Rangers should this should
48:59
be the Arrange should get by this way out too much difficulty the Knicks.
49:02
It's a fifty to fifty thing, but the Knicks have it would be more
49:06
disappointing than a failure for the Rangers. Anything short of the Eastern Conference Championship
49:10
is a failure. On that note, terminals take this week on April nineteen.
49:16
Thanks so much, Louke Alex the Great, always a pleasure. Thank you.