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Speaker 1: The iHeartMedia Christmas Party continues. Meanwhile, we're getting closer to

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Speaker 1: the skyline Chile Crosstown shootout UC versus Xavier at the

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Speaker 1: Cintas Center. Also tonight, NKU opens up Horizon League play

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Speaker 1: with a tilt against Cleveland State. That is on Fox

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Speaker 1: Sports thirteen sixty. Here as he is every Wednesday to

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Speaker 1: talk Xavier and NKU basketball, the color analysts on Norris broadcasts,

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Speaker 1: and the owner improprietor of Musketeer Report dot com, Rick Browing.

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Speaker 2: Hi, Rick, what's up?

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Speaker 1: Mal? I'm just getting ready for this game on Friday

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Speaker 1: night and tonight. How about yourself?

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Speaker 2: Likewise, I'm equally excited for both.

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Speaker 3: Let's talk about Friday first.

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Speaker 1: I feel like back when the college basketball season began,

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Speaker 1: this was you know what, The Musketeers are starting from scratch.

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Speaker 1: Wes Miller has a team that has more talent. He's

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Speaker 1: in his fifth season. This is the year where U

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Speaker 1: see wins at the Cintas Center. I don't think anybody

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Speaker 1: feels that way anymore. They don't feel like it's a

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Speaker 1: sure thing anymore. Maybe a fifty to fifty part of

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Speaker 1: that has to do with the Bearcats. That has to

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Speaker 1: do with the improvement we've seen from the Musketeers, and

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Speaker 1: I feel like there's more of an identity with Richard

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Speaker 1: Patino's team right now than Wes Miller's. Speak to that

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Speaker 1: from a Xavier perspective, Yeah, it's.

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Speaker 2: Really amazing how that has turned around so quickly, Mo,

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Speaker 2: because you know, we talked before the season started and

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Speaker 2: I told you about how I felt about bagers chances

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Speaker 2: in that game, and then a few games into the

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Speaker 2: season it was even worse, especially after they had suffered

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Speaker 2: back to back nineteen point losses to Santa Clara and Iowa.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, at that point, I was I was thinking

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Speaker 2: that this was going to be the year that DUC

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Speaker 2: finally got it done at the Centa Center almost no

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Speaker 2: matter what, regardless of how they played, just because of

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Speaker 2: the difference in talent. But the way you see has

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Speaker 2: struggled on the offensive end, and the way Richard Patino

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Speaker 2: and his staff have kind of turned this around by

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Speaker 2: changing their playing style on offense is really impressive. And

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Speaker 2: so now we find ourselves, look at the Crosstown shootout going,

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Speaker 2: who knows what's going to happen.

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Speaker 1: How about Big East play, because it's a league that

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Speaker 1: does far, maybe beyond Yukon. I don't think anybody's impressed

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Speaker 1: by anybody.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's fair. I've heard some people say,

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Speaker 2: you know, it might be Zavier saving grace this year

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Speaker 2: that the Big East is weak. I think most people

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Speaker 2: when they say the Big East is week, they think

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Speaker 2: about it from a top end perspective and how many

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Speaker 2: teams are going to get an nca tournament perspective. The

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Speaker 2: issue Xavier might have is there aren't the bottom feeders

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Speaker 2: that are really struggling this year that we've seen in

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Speaker 2: years past. You know, to Paul three years ago was

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Speaker 2: ranked outside the top three hundred. Georgetown was ranked low

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Speaker 2: two hundreds that year. Last season, Seaton Hall was outside

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Speaker 2: the top two hundred. They were, you know, only won

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Speaker 2: two games in Big East play. It felt like an

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Speaker 2: easy win.

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Speaker 3: This year. You don't have anyone really.

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Speaker 2: Playing that way. I mean, you know, yes, Xavier is

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Speaker 2: not the lowest ranked team. You've got to Paul and

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Speaker 2: Georgetown ranked behind them in Kenpom right now, but all

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Speaker 2: like one fifteen and ken pum they're not outside the

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Speaker 2: top two hundred. So you know, it's a little bit

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Speaker 2: Vigger could be in every game in Biggi's play this

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Speaker 2: year outside of maybe the Yukon and Saint John's matchups.

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Speaker 2: But on the other hand, you might be looking at yourself.

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Speaker 2: Where going yet a soft conference? But everybody is pretty

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Speaker 2: similar and this Viager team is still going to struggle

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Speaker 2: to win games potentially, So I'm not sure exactly how

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Speaker 2: it's going to shake out for him, to be quite honest,

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Speaker 2: I think it's still going to be a big challenge

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Speaker 2: for them to win a lot of games in the

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Speaker 2: Big East.

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Speaker 3: We have had with both schools.

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Speaker 1: We have had coaches come from other places and they

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Speaker 1: get their first dose to the shootout.

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Speaker 3: And the portal era is not new, but it was.

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Speaker 1: It was striking to me listening to Richard Patino today

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Speaker 1: thinking about having a team where literally nobody has played

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Speaker 1: in this game before. From your perspective, what's that like?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think it's it's different. I think

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Speaker 2: they can say all they want that they understand the

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Speaker 2: importance and they understand the gravity of the game, But

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Speaker 2: at the end of the day, more they don't live

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Speaker 2: in this area for the most part. You know, Isaiah

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Speaker 2: Walker obviously has a little bit of family history with

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Speaker 2: the game. Is dad Tyrese having played in it. So

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Speaker 2: it's a little bit different for a guy like him maybe,

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Speaker 2: but for everybody else. They're not from this area, they

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Speaker 2: didn't grow up with the rivalry. They don't now have

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Speaker 2: storylines built in from years past to go off of.

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Speaker 2: So to try to act like these guys care about

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Speaker 2: as much about the Crosstown shootout and it means as

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Speaker 2: much to them as it has to you know, the

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Speaker 2: Yancey Gates and Too Holloway teams for instance, it is just,

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Speaker 2: I mean, it's crazy to think that now, can there

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Speaker 2: still be fireworks? Can it still be a competitive game?

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Speaker 2: Because they take on the personality of the fans a

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Speaker 2: little bit and they understand it means a lot of

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Speaker 2: the fans store. But I definitely think with all the

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Speaker 2: newcomers and with Richard Patino not having that built in

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Speaker 2: history that a guy like a Chris Mack or a

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Speaker 2: Travis Steeler Sean Miller did that, I think it's just

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Speaker 2: a little bit different. And not to say it's law,

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Speaker 2: it's luster, which I'm sure we'll see that column here

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Speaker 2: in the next day or you yeah, but I do think,

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Speaker 2: you know, it's silly to act like these players care

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Speaker 2: as much about the rivalry as players in years past.

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Speaker 1: I don't think it's lost its luster. I do think

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Speaker 1: it's fair to say that it's not quite the same.

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Speaker 1: That doesn't mean it's bad. Rick Browing, Musketeer Report dot Com,

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Speaker 1: NKU Radio. The Norris tonight against Cleveland State at seven

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Speaker 1: o'clock NKU, opening up Horizon League play. On the strength

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Speaker 1: of a five game winning streak, including a road win

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Speaker 1: a blowout road win against Central Michigan. They have won

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Speaker 1: three consecutive games at home they start Horizon League Play.

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Speaker 1: What have you learned about the Norris during the non

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Speaker 1: conference portion of their schedule.

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Speaker 2: Well, there's a couple of things that we've seen with

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Speaker 2: Darreon Horn's teams in the past, and that is one

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Speaker 2: they almost always get better on the defensive end as

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Speaker 2: the season goes, and that's partly because that style of

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Speaker 2: the matchup zone that's just kind of a so pressurized

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Speaker 2: and it relies on so much chemistry and communication that

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Speaker 2: it takes a little while to feel it out and

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Speaker 2: see how your teammates are going to play around you

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Speaker 2: within it. And so the fact that they're already seemingly

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Speaker 2: ahead of schedule there and playing pretty well defensively and

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Speaker 2: we know it's likely to get better because it does

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Speaker 2: every single year with Darren Horn's teams. That's a really

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Speaker 2: encouraging sign. The other is, I think we can at

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Speaker 2: this point pretty much safely say this is the most

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Speaker 2: offensive firepower Darren Horn has ever had since he's been

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Speaker 2: the head.

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Speaker 3: Coach at NKU.

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Speaker 2: Yes, he coached the school's all time leading scorer in

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Speaker 2: Mark west Warwick, but so many times those teams were

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Speaker 2: trying to get to fifty five sixty points with Mark

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Speaker 2: west Work scoring thirty of them, and you know everything

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Speaker 2: was running through one guy. This year, you have two

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Speaker 2: guards averaging around eighteen points per game, and Dan Grezger

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Speaker 2: and Donovan Oday, and they have other weapons around them too.

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Speaker 2: A guy like Cale Robinson can go off for twenty

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Speaker 2: on at any given night.

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Speaker 3: LJ.

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Speaker 2: Wells is an experienced player within the league who was

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Speaker 2: picked All Horizon League and many people expect him to

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Speaker 2: be a double double threat and could have been nk's

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Speaker 2: leading school are coming into the season had the guard

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Speaker 2: not gotten off to such a great start. So I

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Speaker 2: think there's there's a lot of weapons on the offensive

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Speaker 2: end to this team too, and that's been exciting.

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Speaker 3: I'm coming at the game tonight.

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Speaker 2: That that's exciting.

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Speaker 1: Well, the last time I was at a game that

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Speaker 1: you were at was at a Xavier game and I

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Speaker 1: said right in front of you, and you kind of

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Speaker 1: acted like you didn't know me.

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Speaker 3: And I can't blame you. A lot of people do that.

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Speaker 1: Will the same dynamic being played tonight if I come

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Speaker 1: over and say hi, No.

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Speaker 2: That's first of all, that is a gross mixed characterization

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Speaker 2: of what I own at the Xavier game. It's not

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Speaker 2: taken into account how the media's space is set up there.

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Speaker 2: Tom iSER does a terrible job of separating us and

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Speaker 2: not making it easy to talk. So let's uh, let's

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Speaker 2: let's be careful about that. That is not how I

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Speaker 2: acted at all. That is not true.

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Speaker 1: Again, nobody could blame you, but there were others there

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Speaker 1: who are asking, like, man, you and Rick got beef,

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Speaker 1: and I said, no, it's rich a little awkward around me.

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Speaker 1: We'll see if there's a similar dynamic in play tonight.

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Speaker 1: We'll see you then, and i'll see you much later

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Speaker 1: this evening as well.

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Speaker 2: Look, I'm just trying not to annoy you with lots

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Speaker 2: of stupid things that I want to say and thoughts

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Speaker 2: I listen to your show all the time, so I

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Speaker 2: don't want to like get in person and just pepper

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Speaker 2: you with like a bunch of questions without your job.

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Speaker 3: So that's that's all it is, all right, we'll see

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Speaker 3: it man, Thanks so much. All right, we'll talk soon,

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Speaker 3: four o'clock on ESPN fifteen thirty