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Speaker 1: This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.

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Speaker 2: What is up? Straight fire fight? It's me Jason McIntyre.

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Speaker 2: Straight Fire for Friday, May this sixteenth. Oh boyd, did

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Speaker 2: we have a good one today? Oh baby, you're gonna

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Speaker 2: love this. So not only do we get Denver forcing

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Speaker 2: a game seven, thank goodness, and we've got NBA action

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Speaker 2: on Sunday that matters. Denver okase game seven Sunday at

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Speaker 2: twelve thirty pm Pacific, So I guess through thirty Eastern

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Speaker 2: we talk about that game. But also, folks, this sneakily

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Speaker 2: is right this weekend. Are you ready the WNBA season starts?

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Speaker 2: And yes, we are actually previewing the WNBA season, although

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Speaker 2: you know, technically it's not the WNBA. We're more previewing

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Speaker 2: Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. They tip off tomorrow

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Speaker 2: against Angel Reese in Chicago. It's almost as if the

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Speaker 2: WNBA is paying attention, saying, oh guys, hey, hey, we

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Speaker 2: got a load up on primetime matchups, big time games,

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Speaker 2: get them on TV, and it should be a good

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Speaker 2: one Saturday. So Ben Pickman will be joining us. He

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Speaker 2: covers the WNBA for The Athletic. Also covers women's college basketball,

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Speaker 2: but we mostly focus on Caitlin Clark and the thing

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Speaker 2: I love. And again, I don't know how much the audience,

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Speaker 2: i e. You guys care about this, but you know

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Speaker 2: everybody loves to talk about ratings. People love to talk

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Speaker 2: about ratings for the NBA, NFL, baseball, blah blah blah.

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Speaker 2: So if you listen into the interview, Ben says, in

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Speaker 2: the off season they were doing they were writing about

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Speaker 2: coaching changes and player movement, and it was setting every

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Speaker 2: record in the book at the athletic people actually cared

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Speaker 2: about the WNBA off season. Folks. That's the first time

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Speaker 2: I ever paid any attention to the WNBA off season.

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Speaker 2: I mean the fever. They only have five players back

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Speaker 2: from last year, totally new team, rebuilt around Caitlin Clark.

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Speaker 2: I'm excited. I'm not gonna lie now. Obviously, this is

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Speaker 2: a busy weekend after Mother's Day weekend. You know that

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Speaker 2: last weekend was for the moms. Now we kind of

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Speaker 2: get back to running around, chasing kids and doing all

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Speaker 2: that fun stuff. Your boy may be playing basketball three

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Speaker 2: days in a row. I don't know if the body

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Speaker 2: will hold up. I'm starting to wear down. I need

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Speaker 2: to go back on CREA team. You know, it's just like, oh, man,

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Speaker 2: bodies really her shoulder me nothing major, but yeah. So

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Speaker 2: I'm hoping to get in a lot of hoops this

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Speaker 2: weekend and then it will pivot to volleyball as the

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Speaker 2: weather warms up. Out of here anyways, So I do

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Speaker 2: want to talk about the NFL story, but we're not

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Speaker 2: gonna do it today. And that's the Caleb Williams didn't

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Speaker 2: want to go to Chicago. I'm sure you guys saw it.

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Speaker 2: It's in a book by Seth Wickersham. Now I've known

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Speaker 2: Seth Wickersham probably for fifteen years, dating way back to

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Speaker 2: the Big Lead. So as soon as the story came

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Speaker 2: out I read it, I was like, oh boy, this

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Speaker 2: is big, Seth, you gotta come on the pod next week.

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Speaker 2: So next week I have Seth wickershamon to talk about

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Speaker 2: Kayleb Williams trying to dodge the Bears. But it goes

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Speaker 2: to a larger picture really, And you know, when you

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Speaker 2: come out of college, if you're coming out of a

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Speaker 2: good school and you're at the top of your class

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Speaker 2: and you have good internships, you get to go wherever

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Speaker 2: you want. You get to go to the best. Okay,

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Speaker 2: in the NFL, you've got to go to the worst,

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Speaker 2: which usually is not just the worst team, but the

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Speaker 2: worst organization, the worst owner. Usually that's how it works.

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Speaker 2: And in this story, Kayleb Williams's dad is like, this

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Speaker 2: is so screwed up. It's messed up. Basically, he not

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Speaker 2: only has to go to the worst team. And the

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Speaker 2: Bears have never done quarterback right in their history. I'm

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Speaker 2: fairly certain they've never had a passer or throw for

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Speaker 2: four thousand yards. They've just never figured out quarterback. Now

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Speaker 2: it could be partially that they play in Chicago, but whatever,

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Speaker 2: here's the weird part. Once you're drafted, you're essentially locked

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Speaker 2: into them for at least seven years, possibly eight given

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Speaker 2: the franchise tag. And people don't think of it like that,

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Speaker 2: but think about this. If you come out and you're

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Speaker 2: twenty one, twenty two, and you're locked in for seven

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Speaker 2: eight years, it's like they got you for your pretty

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Speaker 2: much your prime. Now players are starting to play deeper

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Speaker 2: into their forties or sorry, thirties. Only one guy went

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Speaker 2: in his forties, and maybe there's a world where, hey,

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Speaker 2: these players are going to play better like Steph Curry

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Speaker 2: in the NBA, Lebron, these guys should not be putting

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Speaker 2: up the numbers and doing what they're doing. Now. Tom

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Speaker 2: Brady playing until you know, he's fifty eight years old.

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Speaker 2: Just kidding now, Aaron Rodgers of course is old, but

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Speaker 2: he had the Achilles not the same. Bottom line is

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Speaker 2: like it is kind of messed up that not only

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Speaker 2: do you get drafted there, but you're kind of pigeonholed

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Speaker 2: for a while. And what's interesting is this is why

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Speaker 2: Lebron left the Calves the first time, and all these

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Speaker 2: losers going after Lebron for leaving the Calves. They couldn't

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Speaker 2: build around him. Why should he stay because they because

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Speaker 2: they just happened to win a lottery and draft him.

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Speaker 2: Like I do find it stupid and I kind of

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Speaker 2: sort of side with Caleb Williams of his family. Now

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Speaker 2: I know the counter as well, Hey, what are you

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Speaker 2: gonna do it for a small market. You're never gonna

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Speaker 2: get a good player, Okay, I mean there are some

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Speaker 2: examples of teams not with the star quarterback finding the

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Speaker 2: right pieces elsewhere and making it happen and making deep

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Speaker 2: playoff runs like it can happen. You just gotta work

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Speaker 2: really really hard and have some of these dopey owners

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Speaker 2: get out of the way. So I think it's a

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Speaker 2: larger story. I love to talk about that stuff. You

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Speaker 2: guys know way into building teams, and I guess at

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Speaker 2: this juncture I should mention. Yes, Nakoxas suffered an absolutely

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Speaker 2: brutal loss in the LEGA MX quarterfinals. I literally couldn't

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Speaker 2: talk about it for a couple of days because I

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Speaker 2: was so angry, and behind the scenes there's a lot

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Speaker 2: of stuff happening. So we're it's basically it's a two.

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Speaker 2: It's a home and home and whoever out on top advances.

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Speaker 2: But if you're tied, it just goes to the higher seed,

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Speaker 2: which I think is goofy And we were the five.

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Speaker 2: We were playing the four anyways, first game tied zero zero.

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Speaker 2: We go to their place and it's zero zero and half.

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Speaker 2: They score the first goal. We're down one nothing. So

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Speaker 2: at this point it feels over. We need to get

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Speaker 2: two goals in the final, like forty minutes, I'm like,

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Speaker 2: there's no chance. I mean, they basically have a really

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Speaker 2: good back five. Well, we get an incredible goal. Our

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Speaker 2: horse Jose Paradella aka Patadona. Yes, He's Argentinian, so at

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Speaker 2: one point in his young career they thought, like, I

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Speaker 2: see some Diego Maradona. Anyways, this guy was extraordinary this year,

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Speaker 2: one of the best ten to fifteen players in the league.

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Speaker 2: And he gets an awesome assist and we tie it up. Okay,

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Speaker 2: and then with like I don't know, eight minutes left,

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Speaker 2: ten minutes left, we bring on our sub our big guy.

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Speaker 2: Interesting subplot. So when we went to Seattle to see

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Speaker 2: Nikoxa last summer, they picked you know, they sent the

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Speaker 2: GM come to pick us up and someone else and whatever,

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Speaker 2: and you know, we're talking to them and they're like,

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Speaker 2: oh yeah. I was like, what's the story with Battaloney?

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Speaker 2: He just signed and they're like, he's he just flew

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Speaker 2: in last night. He just joined the team. If you

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Speaker 2: had flown in earlier, like you would have been in

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Speaker 2: the car with him on the on the way to

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Speaker 2: the team hotel. And I was so excited. I was like,

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Speaker 2: oh wow, we got this guy, you know, young guy.

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Speaker 2: He gets an amazing header goal and somehow we take

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Speaker 2: a two to one league with like seven minutes left.

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Speaker 2: At this point, you know, it's Mother's Day. The wife's like, hey,

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Speaker 2: let's play this new game this you know, it's like

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Speaker 2: a card game called Spoons. I'm sure you guys have

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Speaker 2: heard of it. So we're playing Spoons and I have

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Speaker 2: never played, and I win the first round. But there's

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Speaker 2: like ten minutes left to go in the NACOXA game,

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Speaker 2: so I'm tapped out on Spoons and I lose, and

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Speaker 2: I'm like, oh darn, I lost, you know whatever, and

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Speaker 2: we just basically have to hold off for extra time

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Speaker 2: and we win. Now we're in their place, and obviously

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Speaker 2: it's a scene and we're holding them off for holding

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Speaker 2: them off, and they have this free kick from like

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Speaker 2: fifty yards out and they headed in and there's chaos

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Speaker 2: in the box, shoving, kicking, all this chaos, and after

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Speaker 2: like six seconds of just ball bouncing around, it somehow

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Speaker 2: goes in. Initially ruled a goal, and then about a

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Speaker 2: minute later the ref is like, wait, you know, the

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Speaker 2: a linesman has flag up. The line'sman called a foul

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Speaker 2: because this guy who attempted a kick ended up kicking

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Speaker 2: our goalie. Called a foul, So they disregard the goal

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Speaker 2: and I'm like yes, However, the stadium's going crazy, and

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Speaker 2: at this point you could tell the referees like, Okay,

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna go look at the var And I was

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Speaker 2: texting a bunch of people about this, and I'm like,

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Speaker 2: you know, there's just no way on planet Earth that

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Speaker 2: this referee we'll get out of Monterey, Mexico alive if

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Speaker 2: he does not award these guys the goal. You could

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Speaker 2: just see the It was tense, and there really isn't

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Speaker 2: a comparable situation to like the NBA or NFL. Obviously, yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's hot style environments in college and NFL and NBA,

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Speaker 2: but you know, no, people aren't attacking referees in these

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Speaker 2: leagues after the game. Now, they haven't done that in Mexico,

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Speaker 2: but listen, this ain't the USA anyway. So they look

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Speaker 2: at the var. You can see they're reviewing where the

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Speaker 2: guy kicks the goalie literally kicks our goalie and the

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Speaker 2: goalie is down. Then the goalie almost gets the ball,

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Speaker 2: doesn't blah blah blah, And of course they come out

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Speaker 2: and say goal in the stadium like loses its mind.

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Speaker 2: Everybody and our guys were irate. And I'm not going

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Speaker 2: to get into what happened in the days following. If

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Speaker 2: you want to go read it about it online. You can.

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Speaker 2: It was devastating, a major gut punch, and now we

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Speaker 2: had under the off we should be in the semi finals.

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Speaker 2: We had under the off season. But I will say

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Speaker 2: this is so exciting being part of a ownership group.

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Speaker 2: And again we're a very small minority owner. But you know,

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Speaker 2: I'm committed. I love sports. So I'm texting the GM,

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Speaker 2: one of the other owner, I like all the time,

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Speaker 2: what do you think about this guy? Like, I'm way

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Speaker 2: into it. I'm reading and obviously a lot of the

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Speaker 2: stuff covering our team is on websites that are only

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Speaker 2: in Spanish, and so I've got to Google translate all

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Speaker 2: of them, you know, and it's like, I just I

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Speaker 2: love this stuff. Anyways, it was a tough week, but overall,

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Speaker 2: good Listen, it's the deepest run we've had since we

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Speaker 2: took got in the ownership group. And now there's like,

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Speaker 2: all right, how do we go next level here? And

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Speaker 2: it's gonna be a fun offseason. Anyways, let me quickly

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Speaker 2: just talk about Nuggets one nineteen OKC one oh seven.

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Speaker 2: This was the not the Nicola Jokic game, not the

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Speaker 2: Jamal Murray game, not the Christian Brown game. He was

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Speaker 2: very good, career best twenty three playoff points. It was

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Speaker 2: the Julian Strather game. Who the kid from Goozaga off

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Speaker 2: the bench fifteen points all in the second half. He

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Speaker 2: had eight of their ten points in a huge ten

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Speaker 2: oh burst in the third quarter. Hit excuse me, three

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Speaker 2: threes for straw Ther. He's a young kid out of

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Speaker 2: Gonzaga who could shoot it. He just they're just really

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Speaker 2: reluctant to play young guys, and in a series like this,

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Speaker 2: obviously that's tough. But the third quarter was huge, Denver dominated,

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Speaker 2: and then came the fourth and you're like, can they

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Speaker 2: hold him off? Can they hold him off? And they did. However,

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Speaker 2: Aaron Gordon appeared to pull his hamstring in the final

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Speaker 2: like two minutes he reached for it. It's obviously not

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Speaker 2: Steph Curry. Baddy didn't ask to come out of the game.

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Speaker 2: But they get an extra day. This is a crazy stat.

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Speaker 2: The Denver Nuggets have played every other day since April

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Speaker 2: twenty ninth. That's over two weeks of high level playoff basketball.

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Speaker 2: And you know, playoff ain't the regular season. And not

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Speaker 2: only that, this is a team that fired its coach

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Speaker 2: right before the playoffs. They have no GM. They really

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Speaker 2: don't have much of a bench at home. Strather showed out. Okay,

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Speaker 2: they needed seven to take out the Clippers. Now they

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Speaker 2: just pushed the sixty eight win thunder who everybody thinks

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Speaker 2: is the best team, who is the favorite, They pushed

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Speaker 2: them to seven. I mean, this is pretty incredible stuff.

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Speaker 2: I think it's been tremendous drama. Other than that Game

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Speaker 2: two blowout, the Nuggets stole Game one, and Game two

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Speaker 2: they rolled over. Game one, Nuggets won by two. Game three,

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Speaker 2: Nuggets won in overtime by nine, Game four Thunder by

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Speaker 2: five on a on a really good comeback. Game five

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Speaker 2: Thunder by seven. They pulled, they came from behind in

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Speaker 2: the fourth, and then in Game six, Nuggets won by twelve,

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Speaker 2: but it felt closer than that until about five minutes left.

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Speaker 2: I'm just gonna say this has been the best series

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Speaker 2: of the postseason for sure. I just I'm just I

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Speaker 2: obviously were rooting Denver. No, no, I'm not gonna deny that.

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Speaker 2: I'm just gonna say that. This is how it went.

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Speaker 2: Jokic nine of fourteen, twenty nine to fourteen and eight,

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Speaker 2: Murray twenty five points. He was a plus twenty eight

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Speaker 2: which is insane for a guy who was sick. Right,

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Speaker 2: Christian Brown twenty three points, the best playoff game he's

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Speaker 2: ever played. He had twenty three and eleven. Okay for

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Speaker 2: Christian Brown, and then Julius Rather had the best game

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Speaker 2: of his NBA career. That's a lot of bests happening. Okay,

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Speaker 2: I don't know that they can duplicate that, and you

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Speaker 2: could say, well, they don't need to if we can

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Speaker 2: pivot fifteen of those points to yo kids. Yeah he

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Speaker 2: can get forty five. Sure, I mean yeah, okay, Sga

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Speaker 2: played good at thirty two. Interestingly, Jay Dubb, who you

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Speaker 2: wake up and you don't know if he's gonna show

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Speaker 2: out or just poop his pants. Three of sixteen couldn't

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Speaker 2: make a three. Now he gets to go home, and

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Speaker 2: you just wonder, you know, lou Dort did not duplicate

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Speaker 2: the performance he had, but he gets to go home.

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Speaker 2: Jay Dubb goes home. All you need is one of

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Speaker 2: those guys off the bench. Caruso, who's having a good

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Speaker 2: series case on Wallace. Weed's one of those guys. That's

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Speaker 2: all they have to do is play well at home,

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Speaker 2: and you get the strather and you probably get the win.

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Speaker 2: It's essentially the best player jokicch against the best team.

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Speaker 2: And I mean I'm saying that because Jason Tatum has

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Speaker 2: gone you know, okay, see the best team left again.

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Speaker 2: It's about matchups. Though, if Aaron Gordon's fully healthy, you know,

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Speaker 2: I think the Nuggets will have a shot. I don't

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Speaker 2: know if he's gonna be fully healthy. Well, no, but

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Speaker 2: the extra day obviously is huge. This is the first

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Speaker 2: game I think, this is no, no, this is the

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Speaker 2: first Game seven. It might be for the Thunders since

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Speaker 2: the Game seven and twenty sixteen when Korean Clay took

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Speaker 2: down Russ and Kevin Durant in what was the final

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Speaker 2: game of the Kevin Durant era in Okay. See, that

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Speaker 2: was a memorable series. Game six. I still remember Game six.

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Speaker 2: We are packing to move to LA it's late May.

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Speaker 2: I refuse to pack the TVs and cut off cable

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Speaker 2: because I needed to watch the NBA playoffs. And you know,

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Speaker 2: the TV is balancing on top of like moving boxes.

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Speaker 2: The bed is on the ground, just a mattress, and

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Speaker 2: Klay Thompson just goes nuclear with one of the great

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Speaker 2: three point shooting performances ever, and the Warriors win and

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Speaker 2: survive and then win Game seven and get get to

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Speaker 2: the finals. Is a big one for OKC guys. There's

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Speaker 2: a lot hinging on this for the Thunder. Remember Timberwolves

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Speaker 2: had a great year last year, get blasted in the

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Speaker 2: conference finals, and they decide we're moving off Kat. Let's

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Speaker 2: get to Julius Randall. If the Thunder lose this, I mean,

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Speaker 2: I think you can ratchet up any Giannis talk because

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Speaker 2: this would be a disappointment. You don't win sixty eight

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Speaker 2: games and lose in the second round with home court advantage,

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Speaker 2: that would be bad. You can rat I think everybody's

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Speaker 2: in play for Yiannis outside of SGA, right, I mean,

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Speaker 2: I'm moving off j dubbin chet if you want to

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Speaker 2: both take them, give me honest. I can fill role

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Speaker 2: players around SGA and Yannis. You know Kevin Durant. I

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Speaker 2: think that would be spicy. I'm seeing as the reports

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Speaker 2: on Miami Heat are gonna make a play for KD.

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Speaker 2: I don't get that, but going east to Smart ultimately

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Speaker 2: should get good action. I have zero dollars on tonight's

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Speaker 2: Nick Celtics game. I am extremely nervous. My son wants

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Speaker 2: to play pick a ball. I said, m I think

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Speaker 2: I gotta watch this game. This is a big one

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Speaker 2: for the Knicks. I am nervous. I think the Knicks

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Speaker 2: get it. I'm not betting it. Maybe a live bet

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Speaker 2: if the Knicks go down early, because I do think

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Speaker 2: they will show up and get the win at home.

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Speaker 2: But I'm too nervous to bet it because I'm a

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Speaker 2: Knicks fan. All Right, without further ado, let's get to

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Speaker 2: our guest, mister Ben Pickman of the athletic.

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Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in

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Speaker 1: the nation. Catch all of our shows at foxsports Radio

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Speaker 1: dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to

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Speaker 1: listen live. You know, Jason likes to think he knows

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Speaker 1: everything when it comes to sports.

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Speaker 2: I know what sports fans want.

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Speaker 1: But for everything he doesn't, he knows a guy who does.

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Speaker 3: Let's just say I know a guy who knows the

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Speaker 3: guy who knows another guy.

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Speaker 2: All right, let's welcome into straight Fire, a first time

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Speaker 2: guest on the podcast. And we've never done this before,

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Speaker 2: but guys, last year, when kaitlb actually two years ago,

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Speaker 2: and Kaitlyn start to blow up, we did some podcasts

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Speaker 2: on her and the numbers were big, and then last

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Speaker 2: year we brought on some guests to talk Katel Clark

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Speaker 2: and the numbers were big. So we're gonna go back

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Speaker 2: to the well katelen Clark in. The WNBA season begins Saturday,

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Speaker 2: so we're having Ben Pickman on from the Athletic to

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Speaker 2: talk about obviously the WNBA at large, but mostly katelen Clark. Ben,

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Speaker 2: how you doing man.

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Speaker 1: I'm doing well.

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Speaker 2: Thanks lot for having me. Yeah, Dad, thanks for coming on.

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Speaker 2: I'm just curious from your point of view. You know,

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Speaker 2: you've been a journalist for several years now and you've

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Speaker 2: covered a lot of sports. I am just curious if

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Speaker 2: you've seen an uptick in whether it's invites to come

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Speaker 2: on podcasts, your articles getting more clicks, Indiana Fever demand, Like,

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Speaker 2: just tell me what's going on at the ground level there.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, all of the above is the answer to your

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Speaker 3: question there, Jason. I mean, yeah, I think you know,

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Speaker 3: as we have seen with TV ratings skyrocketing, Like I'm

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Speaker 3: not going to say I have proportionately received millions of

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Speaker 3: more requests. I think that's a little bit of an

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Speaker 3: exaggeration there, but yeah, I mean I think there's a

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Speaker 3: lot more interest in terms of readership, listenership of our podcast,

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Speaker 3: people just in casual conversations among friends, among peers, among

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Speaker 3: family members, just people taking a lot more interest in

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Speaker 3: the WNBA and women's college basketball. And this year, certainly,

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Speaker 3: I think is the most you know, it seems like

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Speaker 3: the most anticipated season after last year, which was the

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Speaker 3: most anticipated anticipated season then. So everything continues to really

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Speaker 3: build on each other and it's definitely an exciting time

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Speaker 3: to kind of be covering the sport and you know,

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Speaker 3: a very important moment in the sports history as well.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I am just curious, like historically when you have

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Speaker 2: been around the league, and I mean there was a buzz.

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Speaker 2: Obviously the lead's been around for twenty some odd years,

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Speaker 2: whatever it is, but it feels like, as you said,

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Speaker 2: in the last year or two, things have gone to

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Speaker 2: the stratosphere. I mean, is it the stage where you're

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Speaker 2: like mapping out your season, where you're going to be traveling.

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Speaker 2: I mean, are you with the fever all the time?

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Speaker 2: Is there that appetite to just kind of play the

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Speaker 2: hits and give the beast what it wants to eat,

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Speaker 2: which is a lot of Caitler Clark.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I'm New York based personally, so I'm

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Speaker 3: actually around the Liberty on a pretty daily basis cover

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Speaker 3: the league nationally, but I'm around the Liberty all the time.

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Speaker 3: I will now coming this weekend, I'll be at the

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Speaker 3: Fever's home opener though, and was out there during training

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Speaker 3: camp two and so, you know, I think have some.

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Speaker 2: More trips planned along the way.

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Speaker 3: So it's certainly a lot of Fever and a lot

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Speaker 3: of you know, seeing, monitoring obviously where they are, and

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Speaker 3: we obviously do a ton of Fever coverage too. But yeah,

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Speaker 3: I mean, the appetite really has grown, and it is

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Speaker 3: pretty crazy to just kind of reflect on even two, three,

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Speaker 3: four years ago where this league was compared to where

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Speaker 3: it is now.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw in your Thunder preseason wrap up piece

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Speaker 2: it was like almost breaking down the last roster spot.

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Speaker 2: And I mean, I bet, I'm gonna be honest with you,

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Speaker 2: I couldn't have named twenty players in the WNBA like

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Speaker 2: five years ago, and I'm gonna guess that's the situation

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Speaker 2: at large with sports fans. But now it's like, oh,

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Speaker 2: Fever did a lot of stuff in the off season,

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Speaker 2: only five starters are back. Are you sensing when you

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Speaker 2: write a piece instantly it's like, oh my gosh, look

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Speaker 2: at the no are you tracking how they're doing?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean in terms of metrics are saying or

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Speaker 3: in terms of just the roster spots metrics mostly yeah,

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Speaker 3: I mean we get access to some of that data.

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Speaker 3: And there's certainly an appetite for Indiana fever coverage. I

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Speaker 3: would say again generally like there is increased appetite on

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Speaker 3: every team. And the one thing I will say more

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Speaker 3: than anything else to your kind of starting a question,

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Speaker 3: it is in the off season where we really saw

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Speaker 3: a shift. I would say where, you know, in January

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Speaker 3: free agency was a huge you know time, that's when

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Speaker 3: WNBA freegency is mid January to early February. Huge buzz there,

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Speaker 3: like we have never really seen before people caring about

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Speaker 3: transactions and trades and rumors. This past off season there

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Speaker 3: was a record numbering of firings in the WNBA, and

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Speaker 3: so people were really interested from a coaching hirings and

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Speaker 3: firings carousel standpoint about like why is this happening, Who's

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Speaker 3: getting hired, who's interviewing with whom? Like, people really do

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Speaker 3: are invested in all of that kind of stuff in

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Speaker 3: a way that we have seen traditionally with men's sports,

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Speaker 3: but in a way that the WNBA has has lagged behind.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Now, we had Cindy Brunson on the pod last year,

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Speaker 2: I think, yeah, last year to talk about kind of

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Speaker 2: the Calet Clark impact, and she was pretty blunt in

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Speaker 2: like listen, Jay, there's a lot of players who are

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Speaker 2: kind of annoyed that the media only cares about Caitlin Clark.

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Speaker 2: There's been a lot of great players in the league.

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Speaker 2: There's a ton of them now, and all anybody wants

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Speaker 2: to talk about is Clark. Are you also sensing that

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Speaker 2: or was that like a last year story This year

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Speaker 2: it's not as much of a big deal.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. I don't really think it is a big storyliner,

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Speaker 3: a big talking point among players this year, And honestly,

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Speaker 3: I don't really think that narrative even carried through throughout

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Speaker 3: the end of last year. I think, you know, once

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Speaker 3: the games really got going and you saw just how

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Speaker 3: prolific a player she was, and you know, she's a

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Speaker 3: player who made first team All WNBA as a rookie.

423
00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:53,040
Speaker 3: You know, setting you know, assist records, point records like

424
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:55,240
Speaker 3: rewriting the Rookie record book, and even some kind of

425
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,280
Speaker 3: broader record books, like you kind of have to do

426
00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:00,480
Speaker 3: you couldn't do anything but kind of tip your right

427
00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:03,280
Speaker 3: kind of as a competitor, and so, you know, I

428
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:05,280
Speaker 3: think that's kind of the state of play entering this year.

429
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,920
Speaker 3: Indiana again has made a ton of moves to put

430
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,800
Speaker 3: themselves right into the finals championship conversation, adding a number

431
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,560
Speaker 3: of veterans and so like, they're one of the teams

432
00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:18,280
Speaker 3: that has a lot of expectations, and they're covered and

433
00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:20,639
Speaker 3: talked about, you know, in this quartet of four the

434
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,560
Speaker 3: way other title contenders across other sports are is there.

435
00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,480
Speaker 2: I saw your pick for the championship. Now listen, I am.

436
00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,479
Speaker 2: I'm just sometimes I'll just do gambling for fun. And

437
00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:33,879
Speaker 2: you know, last year I bet the Indiana Fever to

438
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:35,560
Speaker 2: win the title and Caitlin Clark to win the MVP.

439
00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,240
Speaker 2: Obviously long shots didn't happen, but I decided I'll do

440
00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:40,480
Speaker 2: it again this year. The odds have struck considerably. But

441
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:45,680
Speaker 2: I saw you picked Liberty over the Aces. First of all,

442
00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,360
Speaker 2: why do you think Indiana is not quite there yet?

443
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:51,080
Speaker 2: Obviously it's only year two for Clark, But also why

444
00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:52,320
Speaker 2: the Liberty over the Aces?

445
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean to your Indiana question first, and you

446
00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:57,560
Speaker 3: know this from covering other sports and thinking about all

447
00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:00,400
Speaker 3: different kinds of sports, not just professional basketball. So often

448
00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,440
Speaker 3: a team has to go through learning, experience and build

449
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,520
Speaker 3: that kind of postseason scar tissue up together first before

450
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:08,600
Speaker 3: they get over the hump. I mean, we just saw that,

451
00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:10,240
Speaker 3: you know, on Tuesday night in the NBA with the

452
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,520
Speaker 3: Cleveland Cavaliers, right a sixty four win team who number

453
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:15,160
Speaker 3: one seed goes out in the second round the way

454
00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:17,960
Speaker 3: they did. The Indiana Fever have just five returning players,

455
00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,040
Speaker 3: just five from last year. And while three of those

456
00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:24,879
Speaker 3: players are all stars in Kelsey Mitchell, Leah Boston, and

457
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,800
Speaker 3: Caitlyn Clark, the rest of the roster again a lot

458
00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,440
Speaker 3: of new pieces. A head coach who you know had

459
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,639
Speaker 3: previously been the head coach of the Fever and had

460
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:35,360
Speaker 3: had a lot of success in Connecticut named Stephanie White,

461
00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,240
Speaker 3: an experience head coach, but again first year head coach

462
00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:41,399
Speaker 3: coming into coach this new team that again full of

463
00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:44,159
Speaker 3: new players. So I just think it will take a

464
00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:48,159
Speaker 3: little bit of time for this team to gel together.

465
00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,080
Speaker 3: And there's just a lot of questions. There's a lot

466
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:56,160
Speaker 3: of questions about rotations, minutes, roles, a lot to get

467
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,960
Speaker 3: sorted out, and it just seems like a big leap. Again,

468
00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,480
Speaker 3: the Indiana Fever, they haven't had a winning record since

469
00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:03,360
Speaker 3: twenty fifteen. They haven't gotten out of the second round

470
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,400
Speaker 3: of the playoffs since then. So sure, they have Caitlin Clark,

471
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,480
Speaker 3: who's obviously a headliner, and they have a talented roster

472
00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,200
Speaker 3: behind them, but you know, it's a pretty big jump

473
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:16,159
Speaker 3: to go from first round out to WNBA champion.

474
00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,119
Speaker 2: Yeah, that is a quantum leap. Let me ask you

475
00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:22,479
Speaker 2: about White. So you know, in the NBA it's a

476
00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:24,760
Speaker 2: players league where a lot of times they get have

477
00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 2: a say in the coach I'm just curious in your reporting,

478
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,080
Speaker 2: do you did you come across anything that said, you know,

479
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,439
Speaker 2: the Fever kind of ran this by Caitlin Clark to

480
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:36,240
Speaker 2: see what she thought. I'm sure nobody would ever come

481
00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,440
Speaker 2: out and say that openly, but you know, you gotta

482
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,520
Speaker 2: face with the franchise face of the league. I'm just curious.

483
00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:46,119
Speaker 2: Do you get any input or insight into how this

484
00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:47,160
Speaker 2: coaching search went down?

485
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,679
Speaker 3: Sure? I mean what I would say is the Indiana

486
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:52,440
Speaker 3: Fever have a new team president this year, and it

487
00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,040
Speaker 3: starts her name is Kelly Crosskoff, and she has kind

488
00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:57,840
Speaker 3: of been with Pacer Sports and Entertainment, the parent company

489
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 3: of The Fever, for more than in the last two decades.

490
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:05,359
Speaker 3: She was actually the very first employee ever hired to

491
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:07,480
Speaker 3: run the Pacer or to run the Fever, back in

492
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:09,800
Speaker 3: nineteen ninety nine, and so she was their kind of

493
00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,760
Speaker 3: initial president basketball decision maker. And she left in the

494
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:15,560
Speaker 3: mid twenty ten to actually be the Indiana Pacers assistant GM.

495
00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,440
Speaker 3: She returned this past year to again be the Fever

496
00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:23,240
Speaker 3: team president, and so she hires Stephanie White, who she

497
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,760
Speaker 3: has known forever. Stephanie White was a player for the

498
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 3: Indiana Fever, actually one of the very first players that

499
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,760
Speaker 3: Kelly Crosscoff picked in the two thousand WNBA Expansion Draft.

500
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:36,440
Speaker 3: She is a former Miss Indiana you know basketball in

501
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,440
Speaker 3: high school. She went to Purdue won a national championship there.

502
00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,280
Speaker 3: So they have really known each other for more than

503
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,119
Speaker 3: two decades and have built this closeness. Steph White was

504
00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:48,800
Speaker 3: an assistant coach when Indiana the Fever won the WNBA

505
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,159
Speaker 3: championship in twenty twelve. She was then you know, the

506
00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:54,560
Speaker 3: head coach when they were runner up in twenty fifteen.

507
00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:57,440
Speaker 3: So there is a lot of continuity there, and there's

508
00:25:57,480 --> 00:25:59,760
Speaker 3: a lot of connectedness there, and so you know, and

509
00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:01,680
Speaker 3: I have some a feature coming out later this week

510
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:05,560
Speaker 3: that gets into it, like when Kelly crosscoff is deciding

511
00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:08,600
Speaker 3: on who to picks as their next head coach, Like

512
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:13,240
Speaker 3: Stephanie White is a logical choice here because not only

513
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,240
Speaker 3: is she an accomplished coach and a great basketball mind,

514
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,080
Speaker 3: but also like they are very close in terms of

515
00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:22,360
Speaker 3: personal relationships. They speak the same kind of language, they

516
00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:26,159
Speaker 3: know how each other communicates, like in an organization with

517
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,040
Speaker 3: some questions about roster. As I said, like relationship between

518
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 3: front office and coach is not one of the questions

519
00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:35,240
Speaker 3: that the Indiana Fever have this year.

520
00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,720
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in

521
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:42,119
Speaker 1: the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio

522
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:46,359
Speaker 1: dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to

523
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:47,120
Speaker 1: listen live.

524
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,919
Speaker 2: It doesn't sound like that Clark was involved in this

525
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:52,400
Speaker 2: process at all. Yeah.

526
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:54,440
Speaker 3: I mean, what I know about Clark's kind of involvement

527
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:56,919
Speaker 3: big picture, is that she has been involved. She's been

528
00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:00,840
Speaker 3: president in Indiana throughout the off season, and she has

529
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,240
Speaker 3: definitely been involved in you know, uh, free and she

530
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:08,520
Speaker 3: recruiting process, you know, talking her perspective free agents. She's

531
00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:12,480
Speaker 3: involved in little things like what food, uh, you know,

532
00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:14,520
Speaker 3: do you want on the road, that kind of thing.

533
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:17,720
Speaker 3: Her involvement is definitely high in the franchise. But I

534
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,560
Speaker 3: think this was really a it starts with Kelly Crosscoff,

535
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:22,840
Speaker 3: is what I would say about how you know, some

536
00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:24,080
Speaker 3: of these decisions were made.

537
00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:26,280
Speaker 2: So last year, the Fever kind of got a Rod

538
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,119
Speaker 2: deal right right after the draft, the season started. Kaitlin

539
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:31,200
Speaker 2: Clark had just played a long college. It was tough,

540
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 2: and then they started out. They struggled out of the gate,

541
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,199
Speaker 2: but they found their footing and you know, ultimately had

542
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 2: had a positive season. I'm just curious, do you think,

543
00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:41,439
Speaker 2: based on their schedule that the league was like, you

544
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:45,480
Speaker 2: know what, we got to schedule more of these primetime

545
00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:47,840
Speaker 2: TV games for Clark and also, by the way, let's

546
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:49,399
Speaker 2: not wear her down, you know, we kind of need

547
00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:50,760
Speaker 2: Kitlin Clark in the playoffs.

548
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:54,680
Speaker 3: Do I think they scheduled more primetime games for Kaitlin

549
00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:55,800
Speaker 3: Clark this year than last year?

550
00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:57,879
Speaker 2: I mean absolutely.

551
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:00,000
Speaker 3: I mean the data shows that they're on national television

552
00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,199
Speaker 3: and you know, and that includes something on you know,

553
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,119
Speaker 3: NBA TV and other platforms like that. I think forty

554
00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,000
Speaker 3: one of their forty four games this year, that's the

555
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,439
Speaker 3: most of any team in the league. So certainly, you know,

556
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 3: the league has made made its intentions very clear, and

557
00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:17,399
Speaker 3: you know networks have said, like we want those games

558
00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:19,760
Speaker 3: because you look at the ratings of those games and

559
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,480
Speaker 3: the ratings are historically good. I mean, they played in

560
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,960
Speaker 3: a preseason game this year against Brazil. It was on

561
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:27,960
Speaker 3: May fourth, Caitlin Clark and the Fever return to the

562
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,760
Speaker 3: University of Iowa. It averaged I think one point three

563
00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:33,560
Speaker 3: million viewers. Again, this a preseason game against the Brazilian

564
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:38,120
Speaker 3: national team. ESPN said, I think since twenty ten, of

565
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:42,800
Speaker 3: their like fifty seven preseason games in the NBA, only

566
00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:45,760
Speaker 3: two have gotten a better rate than that WNBA game,

567
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:47,719
Speaker 3: and both of those involved Lebron and I think it

568
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:51,200
Speaker 3: was like Lebron's return to Cleveland and you know calvs.

569
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:53,400
Speaker 3: Warriors one year, Like that's what we're talking about in

570
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:56,160
Speaker 3: terms of a preseason rating. So we'll see what the

571
00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:57,600
Speaker 3: regular season then brings.

572
00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,680
Speaker 2: So do you think as a result, and again I'm

573
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,719
Speaker 2: not trying to stir up like an issue, but like

574
00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:06,240
Speaker 2: do other teams and players around the league be like,

575
00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:08,760
Speaker 2: you know, we got the MVP with the defended chis,

576
00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,640
Speaker 2: why are we not on TV that much? Or are

577
00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,080
Speaker 2: you of the impression that hey, people get it. Hey,

578
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:16,560
Speaker 2: Caitlin Clark right now is the bread winner for the league.

579
00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:19,560
Speaker 2: Let's let's let's ride that out. No.

580
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:22,200
Speaker 3: I think there's an understanding. I mean, New York and

581
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:24,600
Speaker 3: Las Vegas aren't that far behind in terms of national

582
00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,080
Speaker 3: TV rights windows, and I think there's an understanding that

583
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:32,200
Speaker 3: like Caitlin Clark in the Indiana Fever are certainly accelerants

584
00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:37,240
Speaker 3: and very important to ratings, merchandise awareness. And we've seen

585
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:39,080
Speaker 3: a lot of teams, you know, benefit in their ticket

586
00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:42,080
Speaker 3: sales when they play the Indiana Fever. So I think

587
00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:45,520
Speaker 3: there's a recognition of, you know, the Clark effect in

588
00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:46,320
Speaker 3: the w Yeah.

589
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:48,480
Speaker 2: My my wife and daughter as soon as the schedule

590
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:50,960
Speaker 2: came out, were like, so, when is Kitlin Clark coming

591
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:53,040
Speaker 2: to play the Sparks? Can we get tickets? We've got

592
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,680
Speaker 2: it circled. I'm trying to make it happen. They're pricey.

593
00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,160
Speaker 2: But let me ask about the season opener against Angel

594
00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:01,880
Speaker 2: Reason Company. Now, Angel Reese has had a bit of

595
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,120
Speaker 2: an offseason where she was like talking about a potential

596
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:07,800
Speaker 2: holdout because they need to get paid more. I'm just curious,

597
00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:12,200
Speaker 2: where are the where's Chicago in the hierarchy heading into

598
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:14,680
Speaker 2: the season and your thoughts on Angel Reese as a player.

599
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,760
Speaker 3: Sure, I mean I would first also clarify, like there's

600
00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:21,120
Speaker 3: an ongoing CBA negotiation right now and kind of Reese's

601
00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:23,960
Speaker 3: comments on her podcast regarding that where that like the

602
00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 3: players have.

603
00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:25,400
Speaker 1: Said that.

604
00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:29,760
Speaker 3: You know, they they want to accept a deal that

605
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:32,800
Speaker 3: is is right for them. They're not just, uh, they're

606
00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:35,880
Speaker 3: not avoiding, they're not hoping for a work stoppage, but

607
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 3: they're saying like we are going to negotiate to kind

608
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:39,560
Speaker 3: of get the deal that we want, and we won't

609
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:41,400
Speaker 3: have more clarity there until the fall. So that's just

610
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,800
Speaker 3: one point of clarity there. In terms of the Chicago

611
00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:46,240
Speaker 3: skuy and Angel Rees, I mean, they have a first

612
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:49,080
Speaker 3: year head coach and Tyler Marsh who has a long

613
00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:51,880
Speaker 3: player development background both with the Las Vegas Aces where

614
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:53,840
Speaker 3: he was an assistant coach and also has some NBA

615
00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:58,760
Speaker 3: and NBA G League ties. They have overhauled some of

616
00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:00,800
Speaker 3: their roster and one of the things that kind of

617
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:02,760
Speaker 3: we would expect this year is she's going to play

618
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:04,440
Speaker 3: a little bit more on the perimeter and just as

619
00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:06,880
Speaker 3: it means to kind of play in space. Tyler Marsh

620
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:09,800
Speaker 3: again came from the Aces where he coached Asia Wilson.

621
00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:11,400
Speaker 3: If you watch her, she does a lot kind of

622
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,560
Speaker 3: at the high post, at the elbow and the sky.

623
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:17,040
Speaker 3: Have two bigs. Camilla Cardoso was you know, their number

624
00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:19,080
Speaker 3: three pick in the twenty twenty four WM draft. She

625
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:21,120
Speaker 3: was a start South Carolina, and so I would kind

626
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:23,160
Speaker 3: of expect a lot of high low, big, big action

627
00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:25,280
Speaker 3: and a lot of action to try and you know,

628
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:27,719
Speaker 3: get Angel going downhill and potentially kicking out to teammates.

629
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,040
Speaker 3: So that's one thing to be aware of. Chicago also

630
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,640
Speaker 3: signed Courtney Vanderslut, who is one of the all time,

631
00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,760
Speaker 3: you know, greatest passers in WNB history. She'd been with

632
00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:38,800
Speaker 3: the franchise for more than a decade, then went to

633
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:41,320
Speaker 3: the New York Liberty for two years. These last two years,

634
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:44,800
Speaker 3: Vandersuit still, you know, even though she's in her mid thirties,

635
00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:49,120
Speaker 3: a very willing and a great passer, and so Reese

636
00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:51,600
Speaker 3: kind of has a true point guard to help set

637
00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,280
Speaker 3: her up and facilitate and that should pay a bunch

638
00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:55,160
Speaker 3: of dividends as well.

639
00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:57,440
Speaker 2: Let me go back to a point you were talking

640
00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,680
Speaker 2: about about the CBA. We see a new team and

641
00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:05,560
Speaker 2: expansion team, Golden State in the WNBA. How are we

642
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:07,200
Speaker 2: supposed to read that? Obviously, this has been in the

643
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,880
Speaker 2: works for years, but the expansion the league kind of

644
00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:13,520
Speaker 2: popping in the last couple of years, the interest in

645
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,800
Speaker 2: the draft, like you said, the offseason. Are you of

646
00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:18,440
Speaker 2: the sense that the league this is just the beginning

647
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,560
Speaker 2: of ANBA expansion and there's more down the pike.

648
00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's already been confirmed with at least two teams.

649
00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:27,680
Speaker 3: So this year the WNBA is expanding to thirteen teams.

650
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:29,800
Speaker 3: They're adding the Golden State Valkyries, as you said, first

651
00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,880
Speaker 3: expansion team since two thousand and eight. Next year there'll

652
00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,280
Speaker 3: be two more expansion teams in the WNBA. Portland and

653
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:38,600
Speaker 3: Toronto are already announced. It will be the Toronto Tempo.

654
00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:41,480
Speaker 3: They've actually already hired a general manager who is a

655
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:45,240
Speaker 3: former player in front office exec. And then there's a

656
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,600
Speaker 3: question about when they will announce a sixteenth team. The

657
00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:50,040
Speaker 3: league has said that they hope to do so by

658
00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:53,120
Speaker 3: at least twenty twenty eight and we have seen already

659
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,760
Speaker 3: with that sixteen team, and we'll see if it's sixteen

660
00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,240
Speaker 3: or you know, because of interest, they go even higher.

661
00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:01,560
Speaker 3: You know, there was a deadline this last January for

662
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:04,600
Speaker 3: perspective groups to submit bids. More than ten groups ended

663
00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:06,959
Speaker 3: up submitting bids, and a lot of those bidders have

664
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,120
Speaker 3: you know NBA ties, So the ownership group of the

665
00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:12,960
Speaker 3: Philadelphia seventy six ers, Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Calves,

666
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:17,520
Speaker 3: Tom Gores, Detroit Pistons, like you know, there were some

667
00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,720
Speaker 3: independent groups who definitely are trying to bid and get

668
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:23,479
Speaker 3: into the league. But we have continued to see or

669
00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:26,640
Speaker 3: we have seen an uptick in NBA owners can wanting

670
00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:28,760
Speaker 3: to be part of the next round of expansion. And

671
00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:31,320
Speaker 3: the Valkyries we should say owned by Joe Lake and

672
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:34,040
Speaker 3: Peter Guber, who are the owners and chairman of the Warriors.

673
00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:37,480
Speaker 2: So I guess we could wrap up. You know, when

674
00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:40,920
Speaker 2: when the well, the NBA expanded in the late eighties

675
00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:43,040
Speaker 2: early nineties, we saw, you know, there's a lot of

676
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,520
Speaker 2: complaints about, oh it's a little water down, there's just

677
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:48,480
Speaker 2: not enough good players. But that was way back in

678
00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:51,720
Speaker 2: now was well thirty years ago for almost forty years ago.

679
00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,960
Speaker 2: I haven't looked at the Golden State Valkyrie's roster. But

680
00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,560
Speaker 2: are you of the sense that, like, hey man, there's

681
00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:01,680
Speaker 2: room for a lot more good players in this league?

682
00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:04,240
Speaker 2: Expansion is a great thing or is this do you

683
00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:06,080
Speaker 2: think maybe gonna water down things a little?

684
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:06,480
Speaker 1: No.

685
00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:08,640
Speaker 3: I think expansion is definitely a good thing, and the

686
00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:10,560
Speaker 3: business seems like it can support it. And I do

687
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:12,560
Speaker 3: think there's enough roster talent. I mean, right now we

688
00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:16,719
Speaker 3: have a very high concentrated there's a very high concentration

689
00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:19,200
Speaker 3: of talent across the league. I mean, so many of

690
00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:21,520
Speaker 3: these teams have two or three stars. And I think

691
00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:24,960
Speaker 3: as a whole, the whole WNBA, you know, I would

692
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,799
Speaker 3: say nine or ten teams got better this offseason, and

693
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,400
Speaker 3: inevitably not all those teams are even gonna make the

694
00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:33,200
Speaker 3: playoffs just because of how competitive the league is. And

695
00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:35,640
Speaker 3: so the other thing that you see, and as we

696
00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:38,919
Speaker 3: tape this, like it's roster cut week, cut down week,

697
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,600
Speaker 3: and so there's a lot of players who have been

698
00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:44,520
Speaker 3: pretty successful in college who will not make teams and

699
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:46,879
Speaker 3: WNBA teams, you know, many of these teams are only

700
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:48,280
Speaker 3: going to roster eleven players.

701
00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:49,359
Speaker 2: To start the year.

702
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,120
Speaker 3: And so it's pretty much the hardest league to make

703
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:54,480
Speaker 3: in the world because of just how tight it is,

704
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,600
Speaker 3: how few roster spots there are. You know, again thirteen

705
00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:00,680
Speaker 3: teams and most teams taken around eleven players because of

706
00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:04,080
Speaker 3: salary cap reasons. And so like you expand you had

707
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,719
Speaker 3: another team this year, two more next year. You know,

708
00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,279
Speaker 3: that's twelve and then thirty six more players who are

709
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:12,319
Speaker 3: getting opportunities that would not otherwise. And so, yeah, I

710
00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:14,320
Speaker 3: think we're gonna see a little bit more dispersal of talent,

711
00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:17,600
Speaker 3: and that's natural in the case of any expansion draft

712
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,800
Speaker 3: and as the league expands. But yeah, there is talent

713
00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:24,359
Speaker 3: and certainly gives players an opportunity to develop, you know,

714
00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:26,480
Speaker 3: just by getting reps in a WNBA context in a

715
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:28,760
Speaker 3: way that they wouldn't if they were not making these rosters.

716
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,399
Speaker 2: I wonder, Ben, if that'll be part of the new CBA. Hey,

717
00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:33,520
Speaker 2: we need to expand rosters. I mean, eleven is not

718
00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:35,960
Speaker 2: a lot of people on a roster. You get three

719
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:37,759
Speaker 2: injuries all of a sudden, you know, it's a foul

720
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:39,640
Speaker 2: trouble in the game. It's dicey. Want do you think

721
00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:41,960
Speaker 2: that'll be part of the new CBA.

722
00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:45,880
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we'll see, because again, as you expand rosters,

723
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:50,280
Speaker 3: there's some you know, kind of contractual effects that take hold.

724
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:54,000
Speaker 3: I mean, I think it has long been a clamoring

725
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,640
Speaker 3: that fans and even some execs have about like roster

726
00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,600
Speaker 3: size versus expansion is always kind of a debate that

727
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,480
Speaker 3: kind of comes up what is kind of better for

728
00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:05,200
Speaker 3: the league at a certain period of time. There isn't

729
00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:09,399
Speaker 3: a you know, WNBA developmental league in the season right

730
00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:11,120
Speaker 3: in the US, the same way that there is in

731
00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:13,680
Speaker 3: the NBA, So you know, the kind of existence of

732
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:15,520
Speaker 3: you know, in the NBA, again you have two way

733
00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:18,319
Speaker 3: contracts here in the W Like a player doesn't make

734
00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:20,840
Speaker 3: a team, they get cut, how are they working on

735
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:23,520
Speaker 3: their game to then the best position to succeed when

736
00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:25,600
Speaker 3: they get back in the W NBA, Like, that's always

737
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:27,920
Speaker 3: a question that kind of people have. You you have

738
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,080
Speaker 3: to train on your own, you know, there are alternatives.

739
00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:33,880
Speaker 3: We see Obviously a lot of players historically play in

740
00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:37,160
Speaker 3: professional leagues overseas in the winter, but again that doesn't

741
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:41,200
Speaker 3: help them continue to develop during the summer. So yeah,

742
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:44,040
Speaker 3: I mean it's definitely a big question about what's the

743
00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:46,319
Speaker 3: right number here again, twelve is the max that you

744
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:49,520
Speaker 3: can have on a roster, but because of cap reasons, yeah,

745
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:52,520
Speaker 3: a lot of teams really only carry eleven. So it

746
00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:55,920
Speaker 3: is certainly a big topic of conversation going forward.

747
00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:58,400
Speaker 2: All right, Ben Pickman, the athletic, great stuff, Hey Man.

748
00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:01,319
Speaker 2: Enjoy the w NBA season. Well, I'm sure we'll be

749
00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:04,120
Speaker 2: reading a lot of your stuff obviously the big debut

750
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:07,600
Speaker 2: on Saturday. And talk to you soon, buddy. Thanks a

751
00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:08,279
Speaker 2: lot for having me