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Speaker 1: Hey, Alexa, who's gonna win it all?

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Speaker 2: Getting ESPN fifteen thirty from iHeartRadio, maybe the Bearcats hurting

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Speaker 2: away from four o'clock. This is the ESPN tit I

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Speaker 2: say that with straight face.

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Speaker 1: What's that?

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Speaker 3: Hut?

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Speaker 1: You couldn't say to say that was a straight face.

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Speaker 1: I wish you was streaming live.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's why I said, we're gonna, We're gonna, We're

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Speaker 2: gonna stream live the last two hours today.

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Speaker 1: Yes, huh, well that's why I said that.

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Speaker 2: Now, you know, if if if they win the rest

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Speaker 2: of their games, ten more regular season games, run through

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Speaker 2: the Big Twelve tournament, then win all six in the

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Speaker 2: NCAA Tournament, they will be given the National Championship Trophy.

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Speaker 2: I can't even say that. I can't even say that

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Speaker 2: without like slurring the words. Chad Rendel's here Bearcat journal

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Speaker 2: dot com on Twitter at Chad Rendall.

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Speaker 3: Hid Chad, there's this thing in your subconscious that does

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Speaker 3: that to you when you're trying to lie to yourself.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yes, here's what's not a lie. And here's here's why.

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Speaker 2: Here's why I'm frustrated. Here's why I'm frustrating. There's lots

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Speaker 2: of reasons to be frustrated with the season, but this,

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Speaker 2: this is at the root of the root of it

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Speaker 2: for me.

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Speaker 1: This team's good defensively, yes at times, Okay.

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Speaker 3: I think I think the thing that's been interesting for

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Speaker 3: me this year is it's much different than we've seen

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Speaker 3: UCB defensively over the past thirty five years. Like it

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Speaker 3: is a lot more. They have been great defensively over

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Speaker 3: the years because their team defense, the communication, the assignment,

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Speaker 3: the scouting report, whatever, has been awesome under Mick under

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Speaker 3: Hugs at times. You know, most of Wess run. The

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Speaker 3: defenses have been really good this year. It feels like

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Speaker 3: there's more elite individual talent defensively, but not as much

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Speaker 3: of that cohesion. So that's why you see the breakdowns

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Speaker 3: against Arizona State, you know, the second half against Arizona

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Speaker 3: it doesn't feel like they're is connected at times, but

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Speaker 3: there's more individual like Bobob's been outstanding defensively. Buck Harris

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Speaker 3: is really good defensively. Dayda is really good defensively. Like

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Speaker 3: they've got really good individual defenders. It feels like, and

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Speaker 3: maybe this is just a nature of college basketball in

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Speaker 3: twenty twenty six. These guys haven't played together for a

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Speaker 3: long time, So some of that communication and the natural

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Speaker 3: like understanding of where your teammate is going to be

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Speaker 3: has dipped a little, but the individual talent defensively has

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Speaker 3: been oft.

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Speaker 1: Do they have a prayer on Saturday in Houston?

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Speaker 3: No. They had their chance against Houston and they missed it.

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Speaker 3: That's generally how this goes, right, Like when you play

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Speaker 3: one of these elite teams, and especially when you play

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Speaker 3: him twice, they're not gonna let you get a second

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Speaker 3: bite of the apple. Cincinnati was up ten down the

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Speaker 3: stretch against Houston and they didn't get across the finish line,

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Speaker 3: especially going down there. I don't have a lot of

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Speaker 3: faith in them, you know, making this a great game

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Speaker 3: down to the wire type situation, because the same thing

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Speaker 3: we I mean, I just don't think they're good enough

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Speaker 3: offensively against Houston to sustain that for a second time

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Speaker 3: and play like they did back at the beginning of January.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you know, stranger things have happened, but that one.

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Speaker 3: Usually you get one shot when you're in a position

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Speaker 3: like Cincinnati in the fifties sixties in the metrics, you

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Speaker 3: get that one shot to take that team down the

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Speaker 3: second time around. Usually reality sets back.

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Speaker 2: In I feared that was the answer, but I agree

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Speaker 2: when you have played twenty one games and like now,

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Speaker 2: you know, attrition continues to be an issue.

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Speaker 1: Sean Aabayev.

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Speaker 2: That didn't look like an injury that's gonna have him

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Speaker 2: miss just a game or two just watching him on

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Speaker 2: the bench in a boot and needing crutches, and so

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Speaker 2: I'll assume that at least in the short term, the

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Speaker 2: fix isn't gonna come with you know, him going through

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Speaker 2: an offensive a period of growth offensively that they can

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Speaker 2: benefit from. You've played twenty one games, your offensive issues

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Speaker 2: have been well established. You want to go on a

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Speaker 2: run here post Houston because they play some teams that

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Speaker 2: are beatable, including one they had on the ropes in

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Speaker 2: UCF Who comes here next weekend for to go on

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Speaker 2: a run, They're going to have to achieve a level

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Speaker 2: of offensive efficiency that they haven't yet all season long,

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Speaker 2: in the absence of some dude coming in that maybe

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Speaker 2: played for the Chicago Bulls last year or something.

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Speaker 1: How does that happen?

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Speaker 3: The problem is what we've talked about for a long

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Speaker 3: time with these guards. No, you know there are times

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Speaker 3: Gessel James and Dade Thomas. You feel like, hey, we've

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Speaker 3: had a lot of Big twelve games with these two,

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Speaker 3: but ultimately they're inefficient players. They don't get to the rim,

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Speaker 3: they don't take a lot of layups, they don't take

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Speaker 3: a lot of shots at the rim, they don't get

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Speaker 3: to the free throw line, and they shoot a lot

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Speaker 3: of long mid range jumpers, long twos, and like the

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Speaker 3: analytics have become popular for a reason. That reason is

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Speaker 3: because they're usually statistically correct. That's how analytics work. When

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Speaker 3: you're not getting to the line and you're not taking

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Speaker 3: a bigger number of shots at the rim, and instead

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Speaker 3: you're replacing them with seventeen to twenty foot two point attempts,

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Speaker 3: like the odds are eventually going to catch up to you.

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Speaker 3: And it feels like that's why over the last three years,

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Speaker 3: we have not seen this team be able to string

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Speaker 3: together a four to five game run right where they

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Speaker 3: go four and one or you know, five and zero

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Speaker 3: and really gain some momentum in the Big Twelve. It's

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Speaker 3: a lot of play well for two or three games

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Speaker 3: and then dip for two or three games, then play

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Speaker 3: well for two or three games, and then dip for

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Speaker 3: three or four games and A lot of that is

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Speaker 3: because offensively, they're just not efficient. The brand of offense

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Speaker 3: is not up to par up to snuff in the

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Speaker 3: modern era. They do a lot of things that you know,

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Speaker 3: the smart basketball minds of twenty twenty six are no

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Speaker 3: longer doing and that's not changing this year, and that's

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Speaker 3: going to make it hard to get on any sort

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Speaker 3: of extended run to make it feel like there is

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Speaker 3: a chance for this team to turn a corner.

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Speaker 2: Got time for a football question, Sure, how well have

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Speaker 2: they done in the portal?

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Speaker 3: I think they've done pretty well. I mean, obviously a

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Speaker 3: lot of that is going to come down to did

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Speaker 3: they hit on quarterback? But in terms of you know,

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Speaker 3: I thought that the number one thing outside of replacing

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Speaker 3: Brendan Soresby, was giving the defense more life, more size,

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Speaker 3: more speed, more length for whoever the new defensive coordinator

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Speaker 3: was to work with. And I think they did a

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Speaker 3: lot of that. I think they got three safeties that

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Speaker 3: I really liked. They got a couple of corners that

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Speaker 3: look promising. I'm still a little concerned on the defensive line.

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Speaker 3: If I had a major concern for this team, it

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Speaker 3: would be can they turn the corner on the defensive

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Speaker 3: front because that there was the worst defensive line in

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Speaker 3: the Big Twelve analytically last year. They got to get up,

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Speaker 3: you know, middle of the pact and higher to really

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Speaker 3: give this defensive chance to be decent. But overall, I

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Speaker 3: think I like what they did at wide receiver. You know,

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Speaker 3: I think the defense at least has a chance to

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Speaker 3: be better because of the pieces that they've added. So

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Speaker 3: I'm positive about it. But another part of that is

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Speaker 3: I also give Jack Zach Griff Zach Grant the benefit

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Speaker 3: of the doubt more often than not, because I think

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Speaker 3: he's really good at figuring out what the plan is,

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Speaker 3: what the coaching stats asking for, and then being able

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Speaker 3: to go out and find it. So I think there's

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Speaker 3: a chance they can be pretty good.

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Speaker 2: J C.

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Speaker 1: French going to be the starting quarterback?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that you know, that's how this goes well. The

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Speaker 3: guy that you bring in like the first quarterback that

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Speaker 3: steps on campus. Now, was there another quarterback they wanted

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Speaker 3: that ended up somewhere else, Yes, but J C. French

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Speaker 3: was the pivot from that got him on campus, got

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Speaker 3: him committed before he left. That's your starting quarterback, So

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Speaker 3: will there be competition if he's bad? Yeah, I'm sure

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Speaker 3: there will be, but I think all expectations Thanks spring

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Speaker 3: balls like five weeks away, four and a half, five

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Speaker 3: weeks away, I think all expectations are the JC French.

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Speaker 3: We'll step into that QB one role when camp begins.

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Speaker 2: Awesome as always, man, thanks so much, Thanks mate, That's

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Speaker 2: our guy. Chad Brendle bearkad journal dot com. Follow him

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Speaker 2: on Twitter at Chad Breundle. Well ask a question about

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Speaker 2: Dan Pitcher coming up at four to twenty. But first,

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Speaker 2: let's stop making something that's not important seem important. I'll

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Speaker 2: explain on ESPN fifteen thirty

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Speaker 1: You wont stop for advertising call