Hour 1: That's What's Best For Business

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Speaker 10 This is the Dan Labatar Show with the Stu Gats Podcast.

Speaker 12 Hey, Taylor, welcome to God Bless March Madness. Oh, it's so exciting.
It's presented by Priceline. Dreaming about that trip? Book it and go to your happy price with Priceline.

Speaker 13 Lucy, what I think happened is they looked into the shipping container. They saw Chris Cody, Mike Ryan, Billy Gill, and Jeremy Tashay looking back at them.

Speaker 13 I was like, anybody else, can anybody else talk college basketball? Dan doesn't know that I'm doing this. And I want to start off by saying huge win for Carolina.

Speaker 13 First off, Joe Lennardy, Seth Davis, Seth Greenberg, John Fanta, John Rothstein, and every West Virginia government official dead to me. Lucy, it's been a brutal couple of days for West Virginia.

Speaker 12 Yeah, they're not having a particularly good time. So it started Selection Sunday.

Speaker 12 I guess you could say it started in the Big 12 tournament, but Selection Sunday, West Virginia is left out in favor of Carolina, or at least that's the team they're kind of focusing on, the one that they were like, we deserve to be here more than Carolina does.

Speaker 12 So West Virginia is all levels of bad. And despite that, there were probably a lot more serious problems happening in that state.
The governor was like, nope, this is not allowed. You have done it.

Speaker 12 You have waged war with the state of West Virginia. And so he comes out and is like, NCAA, it's coming for you.
Good luck. Hope you're ready for it.
We're going to destroy the selection committee.

Speaker 12 All of that is happening and they have all their focus on destroying the NCAA that they have no idea that their head coach is out interviewing for other jobs as they speak.

Speaker 12 As they are taking down the NCAA, Darian DeVries is at Iowa, is at Indiana having these conversations.

Speaker 12 Unfortunately, he picked wrong, chose the wrong choice, excuse me, and decides to sign with Indiana and leaves. So West Virginia now has waged war with the NCAA.
They're coachless.

Speaker 12 They're not in the NCAA tournament. They're not in the NIT.
They declined the invite. So now

Speaker 12 things are bad. And just like a little cherry on top, the team that they focused on, that they were like, we're better than, Carolina.

Speaker 12 Carolina in the first four beats the literal crap out of San Diego State to the point where I had to turn it off because it felt excessive. I said, I don't want to watch this.

Speaker 12 Not safe for young viewers. It was such a beatdown.

Speaker 13 Yeah, they cut it to 30 and it almost didn't tell the full story of how bad that game actually was. But West Virginia watching from home like everybody else.

Speaker 13 And I actually have a first round game I'm most excited to watch. I'm going first game of the tournament, the 8-9 matchup.
It is Louisville and Creighton.

Speaker 13 I can't figure out the disrespect the committee gave to louisville because in the final ap i think you're pronouncing it wrong i think i was wrong louisville you kind of just have to yeah louisville

Speaker 13 was an ap top 10 team the final poll before the tournament the committee gives them an eight seed implying that there's 28 teams better than them mike mally was showing me this conspiracy on twitter that he thinks people got Louisville and Memphis confused and they switched their seeds because Memphis is a five and all the metrics kind of support the opposite.

Speaker 13 But this Louisville team, really fun. They brought in Pat Kelsey from the College of Charleston.
They have the Sunbelts.

Speaker 12 He's weird.

Speaker 15 I like him.

Speaker 13 He's got

Speaker 13 weird energy. And he brought in the Sun Belt Player of the Year, Terrence Edwards Jr.
from that James Madison team that pulled off the 512 upset of Wisconsin last year.

Speaker 13 Speaking of that Wisconsin team, they also brought in Chucky Hepburn from that Wisconsin team, who was a first-team all-ACC ACC defensive player of the year.

Speaker 13 And

Speaker 13 Stu Gots always tells you when you get to March, it's all about experience guard play.

Speaker 14 Louisville, Louisville.

Speaker 13 Nobody has more experience guard play than Louisville. But that Creighton Louisville game, great way to kick off the tournament with two teams that have a legit case for feeling underseated.

Speaker 13 With the women's tournament, what can you tell us about the drama that they had with the unveiling of their bracket?

Speaker 12 I don't know if there's ever been a tournament release where so many coaches have been upset about one seats, which i know it's only two out of the four but that's a high number that it's happened twice usually people are pretty pleased to be a one seed so it started with ucla getting the number one overall seed um they only have what two losses on the year to usc both times and then south carolina got the second overall seed so dawn saley was super super upset saying that south carolina deserved the number one overall seed i test she's absolutely right correct what south carolina did after that uconn loss which was awful it was a terrible loss i haven't seen south carolina lose like that in a very long time they've completely turned it around they are playing like the best team in the country and then you saw that in the sec championship where texas like didn't stand a chance it was all south carolina the entire time so dawn staley comes out and she's like we should be the number one overall seed like this is this is messed up and then she kind of pulled like a little bit what alabama did when they were left out of the playoff and was like we're not going to schedule tough teams anymore if we're not going to be rewarded for that which i was like okay and I do agree that South Carolina is the best team in this field they probably should have been the number one overall seed however UCLA was number one overall seed UCLA has a head-to-head win over South Carolina and when they have a head-to-head win over like a team you're like girl I think you're right but they do have a head-to-head win over you and it's hard to argue with that and so I do think it's totally valid I think they're the best team in the tournament I think they're going to win the whole thing this year especially because I think that Dawn Saley definitely believes her team is the best overall team in this field.

Speaker 12 I think she's doing a little bit of the Kirby Smart thing. You know, everybody's doubting you.
They didn't even think you were the best team in the country.

Speaker 12 No one believes in you, South Carolina women's basketball. And so now that there's like somewhat of a chip on the shoulder for South Carolina, I think it's pretty much over for everybody else.

Speaker 12 At the same time, USC, the other one, the one in California, they were like, we don't like our number one seed.

Speaker 12 I think this one's a little bit more valid, especially because USC leads the series against UCLA two to one.

Speaker 12 And the first two times they played, USC was really dominant over UCLA in a way that's made me kind of nervous about UCLA's tournament chances.

Speaker 12 And so USC got the fourth overall highest seed, which just doesn't really sit right when they have those head-to-head wins over UCLA.

Speaker 12 I understand that UCLA beat them in the Big Ten Championship game, but that game was dominated by USC for a large chunk of it. Like UCLA just came back and kind of had one of those moments.

Speaker 12 And so what's really upsetting is that USC got UConn as the two seed in their in their region. And nobody like every two seed is good, but UConn is a particularly good two seed.

Speaker 12 As we talked about just a little bit ago, UConn beat the breaks off South Carolina. Like, this is not your average two seed.

Speaker 12 And so the fans are super upset because it's like, Juju Page is a matchup you get in the Final Four, not the Elite Eight. So USC USC is unhappy about their seating.

Speaker 12 The other USC is unhappy about their seating. Texas and UCLA are pretty quiet.
They seem to be pleased with everything.

Speaker 13 Someone in my ear just said that Dan found out about this and he wants me out of the studio immediately. So I'll leave with one final stat.

Speaker 13 In the first 13 NCAA men's basketball tournaments that have featured the first four, at least one first four team has survived until the round of 32 in all but one of those seasons.

Speaker 13 So if you're looking for that first four team that will will most likely advance past Thursday and Friday, all by Sicily, it's got to be North Carolina.

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Speaker 3 Don Lebatard.

Speaker 15 It's a three. The crowd goes into a delusion.
Winning in the playoffs, not an illusion.

Speaker 15 It's a heat check, he's on fire.

Speaker 16 Stugats!

Speaker 15 Harry us, Jalen Bronson.

Speaker 15 Thumbs up clutch, that's why we want.

Speaker 15 New York knows you are the best.

Speaker 3 Not the joke no more.

Speaker 16 This is the Dan Labatar Show with the Stugats.

Speaker 10 This episode of the Dan Lepatard show with Stugats is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown is yours.

Speaker 3 Les Taylor.

Speaker 3 Just les.

Speaker 19 He killed it. More.

Speaker 3 The show?

Speaker 5 He's been right about a lot, and he knows ball.

Speaker 21 Everyone knows that about Taylor.

Speaker 4 And

Speaker 22 this is March last I checked.

Speaker 9 Taylor!

Speaker 23 They told us the SEC was 10 bits better than the ACC.

Speaker 2 Why do they keep doing this?

Speaker 13 Who could have seen Texas, the team that was 8-13 since January 1st losing? Who could have possibly seen that coming?

Speaker 2 Fuck your shit, Taylor!

Speaker 3 6-12 in the conference, Texas was.

Speaker 22 Give him that stat. No, no, no.
Give him that stat that you gave me.

Speaker 19 I have to get my phone out.

Speaker 24 Dance call for me.

Speaker 21 I love Mike claiming UNC

Speaker 25 as a

Speaker 25 for Miami, seemingly.

Speaker 5 Oh, no, ACC.

Speaker 2 They do this every year. And sometimes it's Miami carrying them, sometimes it's NCC, it's the bad teams that carry them.

Speaker 3 You can catch Zaslow on ESPN radio. And something that I've noticed, I noticed it this morning when I was gone downstairs

Speaker 3 that on ESPN, one of the anchors on ESPN I did not recognize. That happens a lot to me, but looked extraordinarily young to me.
And the thing that I wanted to talk to you guys about

Speaker 3 is if the highlight show is endangered and if the sports anchor is endangered because we have sports that we consume through highlights.

Speaker 3 The casual fan observes through highlights, the NBA chief among them. But observing it on highlights on your phone or through your social media is different than having to go to your television.

Speaker 3 And I assume,

Speaker 3 I don't assume, I actually know that throughout the industry, everyone's being asked to take pay cuts because media is shrinking, media is in trouble, and there are fewer jobs in general than there used to be.

Speaker 3 And as a practice, ESPN makes sure that the four letters are the thing that matters the most and that other parts are interchangeable or disposable.

Speaker 3 I think, I think, Scott Van Pelt is so popular that ESPN will continue to pay him.

Speaker 3 But I also know that if ESPN lost Scott Van Pelt, it wouldn't be some sort of seismic thing just because in general, the sports anchor is less valuable throughout

Speaker 3 everywhere in television than he or she has been almost the entirety of my lifetime. Well, that part is...

Speaker 10 Go ahead. I'm sorry, Roy.

Speaker 21 Well, I don't think we're losing the highlight show.

Speaker 7 I mean, Sports Center is getting expanded out to Disney Plus with Gary Streiski and Randy Scott.

Speaker 10 Those are the best two doing it. In terms of chemistry with each other right now, I know like Linda Cohn's still doing it, and there are still like the news.

Speaker 21 No, they're the new guys.

Speaker 10 They are the new.

Speaker 16 They're together. They're amazing.

Speaker 10 They're the new big show, you know, instead of Dan Patrick and Keith Alberman, it's Gary Streisky and Randy Scott, and they're fantastic.

Speaker 10 But I feel like one of the big complaints that fans, that viewers have with ESPN television these days is that they want more Sports Center. They want more highlight shows that they miss that part.

Speaker 10 You know, the same way that, you know, you get older people say, MTV, oh, why don't they have videos anymore? I feel like we're in that place with ESPN where they want more Sports Center.

Speaker 10 And Scott Van Pel, by the way, I think you're wrong about that part because that show is pretty damn important.

Speaker 10 He gets amazing guests after all the big games, be it, you know, if it's college football game or if it's NBA or even if it's, you know, for the next year, Major League Baseball.

Speaker 10 He gets the great guests on the field, on the court right after the game. That show's pretty popular.

Speaker 5 I think you're wrong about the sports no and it fixed their ratings issue with the uh that time slot sports center i read a think piece that actually said stop thinking of him as a sports anchor start thinking of him as a late night talk show host because his ratings kind of command that a little bit you need to start yeah well that is good spin from the agent trying to get incredible spin no this is my price range i'm more like jon stewart price range than you know randy scott price range but that you should absolutely think of him as a nighttime host because he's emceeing an evening talk show.

Speaker 13 I actually found that stat.

Speaker 14 Oh, good. Thank God.

Speaker 13 Since 2015 in the NCAA tournament, wins above seed expectation, the ACC, 21.1, the most of any conference, SEC, minus 4.6.

Speaker 3 Overrated. Jeremy just whispered to me, is this what it feels like when I talk?

Speaker 10 Is it that bad?

Speaker 26 You're less nervous.

Speaker 3 But you don't have the accompanying visual aid of popping out from under Mike Rhyme.

Speaker 9 That is endearing.

Speaker 3 The Scott Van Pelt thing, just to clarify, okay, because I want to make sure people understand this, I mean it as no indictment of Scott Van Pelt. He's as good as anyone who has ever done that.

Speaker 3 I'm just saying the construct of what it is these things are,

Speaker 3 it makes it so that that kind of personality is less

Speaker 27 important

Speaker 3 than he or she has ever been. And the movement throughout the industry seems to be that it doesn't matter who the anchors are.

Speaker 3 You guys are telling me that there's a new big show because Dan Patrick and Keith Oberman changed television, but they were also at the center of bucking up against ESPN.

Speaker 3 On ESPN, they wanted them to change television, but wanted ESPN to get the credit for changing television.

Speaker 3 Not any individual to have the personal power to be able to do anything that harms those letters if they leave.

Speaker 3 In fact,

Speaker 3 I would say that one of the chief forms of leadership at ESPN has been simply to make sure that no one else establishes the precedent of being more important than the other folks on the network.

Speaker 14 We experience that.

Speaker 3 Yeah, well, I mean, I would say that just in general, it's not even a bad thing to do as a business because it's one way to keep costs down. So I like that late show.

Speaker 3 I like Scott Van Pelt as a personality, but I don't believe that if I suddenly took Scott Van Pelt off of that and did a form of the same show, that the larger entity of ESPN would be harmed any more than it's already harmed by whatever it is that you think the defections or the loss of quality is.

Speaker 5 You're getting buy-in from Chris here, but the ratings speak for themselves. Like when he took over, he saved that show that was in free fall, and he's built an audience.
So

Speaker 5 I guess in the hypothetical, I would agree with you, but I have real-life examples and data that backs up that he matters.

Speaker 10 I think it's on the crawl right now on ESPN. Dan Lebetard says Scott Van Pelt, not important.

Speaker 3 Not what I said, not what I would ever say.

Speaker 3 I would say that if ESPN chooses to make its midnight flagship something that it's pouring all of its resources in, because one of the things you guys just said is, oh, he's got the greatest guests.

Speaker 3 That has nothing to do with Scott Van Pelt.

Speaker 10 Partnerships with leagues.

Speaker 3 Like that Scott Van Pelt is being put in a good position to have maximum support and resources and do that better than most people have ever done it.

Speaker 10 But the way that he's created moments in these interviews and relationships with the people that he's interviewing makes it so that the people who are being interviewed actually want to participate.

Speaker 10 Because we've seen, I mean, we see it on regional sports broadcasts. We see it during games.

Speaker 8 Yeah, it's not just, hey, nobody wants to talk.

Speaker 10 With so-and-so. It's like, oh, all right, I'm going on with Scott Van Pelt.
It's Scott Van Pelt, and that matters. And I don't know that there, Stephen A.

Speaker 10 included, I don't know that there's another personality at ESPN that could be hosting that particular show at that particular time that would be able to have the viewership.

Speaker 10 comfort with the athletes and ability to be serious and joke around the way that SVP does. He's a singular talent at that network right now.

Speaker 3 Wow, that's something to say there, even as I admire all of his.

Speaker 10 Why did he show my fist bomb?

Speaker 9 He made a good point.

Speaker 5 That's an excellent point because

Speaker 5 he can be humorous, but like, say there was something tragic, God forbid, something tragic happens in sports.

Speaker 9 ESPN's point of view. He's a trusted guy now.

Speaker 22 They're bringing in SVP, and he's going to anchor that coverage.

Speaker 21 Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 3 Got a couple of top five lists for you here on college basketball-related content. What are you shrugging your shoulders about here?

Speaker 17 I'm saying finally, Dan, we got 47 games in the next two days. We've talked zero zilch.

Speaker 10 I thought you wanted mine. I got one, too.

Speaker 3 We did a Sunday show that was not zero zilch. We did

Speaker 3 three hours on Sunday

Speaker 3 about the tournament. I saw.

Speaker 23 Is Sunday last week?

Speaker 10 Is Sunday night last week?

Speaker 21 It starts the week, right? It starts the week. To me, it was last week.

Speaker 1 But it is also the... But it ends the week.

Speaker 5 It's called the seventh day, but I don't know.

Speaker 3 No, Sunday is the end of last week.

Speaker 8 Sunday is the last time. It's the beginning of Zilche.
No, no, that's how it's going to be. It's technically the beginning of a week.

Speaker 9 The calendar week,

Speaker 21 seventh day, and all that stuff. But no, it starts biblically, maybe.

Speaker 9 New weeks start on Sunday.

Speaker 3 Put Put it on the poll, Juju. Is Sunday the end of last week or the beginning of this week at Lebatar Shaw?

Speaker 8 Or both.

Speaker 5 This one's going to be hotly contested, even though there is a legitimate right answer.

Speaker 28 I think

Speaker 3 you say the calendar, and I'm saying what's going to come back on this poll is that Sunday was last week, that Monday is the beginning of the week, that when your work week starts, that's the beginning of the week.

Speaker 3 I don't care what the calendar says. Your boss says get to work.

Speaker 3 Monday's the beginning of the week. Your boss overtakes the calendar and all of time history to say that Monday is the beginning of the week.
Thank God.

Speaker 5 That's generally the sentiment during these times.

Speaker 22 I don't care what the fact is.

Speaker 9 I'm going off the gut.

Speaker 26 No, I'm polling is what I'm asking.

Speaker 29 No, no, I'm going off the boss.

Speaker 3 I'm making it a democracy on the internet. That's what I'm asking you.
And I'm just asking, that's a good polled question. And wait till you get shocked.
Like, everyone's going to say Monday.

Speaker 3 Everyone's going to get this one wrong, even though you say the fact is this. Everyone's going to go with not the fact.

Speaker 3 Let's go first to chris's top five list what is your top five list what is the subject matter i am ranking sports thursdays top five thursdays on the sports calendar all right any olis here or just no olis all right so just i are there five great sports thursdays zaslow i don't think that that's why there are no oli's because

Speaker 9 i could think of i think there are some you think i think you can yeah you think you can come up with six well should i give a few right off the top of my head no you can't ruin his list

Speaker 29 there are only five

Speaker 29 And I don't know.

Speaker 3 I'm not totally sure how he's going to get to five.

Speaker 16 You better not leave any of mine off.

Speaker 3 Well, I don't think there are six, so let's see what his number five is.

Speaker 10 Number five is Thanksgiving.

Speaker 21 Nine.

Speaker 10 Football, three football games.

Speaker 26 You got four better than that.

Speaker 9 I do.

Speaker 31 Number four,

Speaker 10 opening night, NFL, week one.

Speaker 10 So it's the last few years, it's been Thursday night. All of the game? Number three, NFL draft, round one.

Speaker 24 So it's all

Speaker 10 Thursday night. You got that better than the first game of the NFL season.

Speaker 9 Something about the draft.

Speaker 10 Yeah, because my team's usually not playing. It's like Bills, Chiefs.
Like, I like it. But the draft, everyone's got hope.

Speaker 5 Your team is never playing because it's a defending champion. It's kicking off.

Speaker 21 But, you know, actually, not true.

Speaker 5 They got to play another team than the Culpepper.

Speaker 10 It's never the Dolphins, though.

Speaker 8 Yeah.

Speaker 6 Number two, today, March Madness Thursday.

Speaker 10 12:15, Creighton, Louisville.

Speaker 8 I think I know number one. Yeah, we all all do.

Speaker 14 Number one, Master's Thursday.

Speaker 10 It was pretty easy what he just did. That was like nothing.

Speaker 19 Yeah.

Speaker 3 Do you have a sixth one?

Speaker 10 No. No.

Speaker 10 I probably would have had trouble coming up with five because I would not have had the NFL draft there. Jeremy tried to make the argument for MLB opening day.

Speaker 9 Regular.

Speaker 14 It falls on a Thursday.

Speaker 21 Regular opening day.

Speaker 29 No.

Speaker 3 It fell on at 6 a.m. on a Thursday.

Speaker 26 Well, it's

Speaker 10 technically next Thursday.

Speaker 23 Sandy versus Skeens Dan.

Speaker 3 Next Thursday. Okay.
So not the fake opening day, the real opening day. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Okay. And Tony's top five list is just five players to watch.

Speaker 21 No, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 9 Don't do that too.

Speaker 17 Don't diminish what we're doing here. Okay.
The NCAA tournament. Everybody on the planet will be watching this.
Maybe not everybody, but a lot of people on the planet will be watching this video.

Speaker 5 Building out a DK lineup. I'm watching this one.

Speaker 10 And Tony's top five right here is sponsored by Jimmy Johns. They're finally here and they're hot.
Try the new toasted sandwiches at Jimmy John's. Order one today.

Speaker 17 So, Dan, what we're going to be doing is the top five guys you need to be watching during this NCAA tournament, right?

Speaker 3 Which is different from what I said.

Speaker 17 Yes, completely different from what you said. I don't know what you said, but I didn't like it.

Speaker 3 Okay, it didn't sound like you liked it.

Speaker 3 And not everyone is going to be watching the tournament, not even most people. And you say a lot of people are going to be watching, but when it comes to Earth, it's not even a lot of people.

Speaker 3 But go continue.

Speaker 17 The gamblers will be watching. That's what's most important.
The gamblers will be watching and taking note of, again, these top fives.

Speaker 3 Well, there isn't, like, I've saw, um,

Speaker 3 I saw John Oliver do a piece last week on sports betting, and one of the things that he did was point out, among other things, that people are betting on ping pong and betting on ping pong in Poland.

Speaker 3 Right now, what we're talking about today and college basketball, there's nothing quite like this when it comes to gambling, which is a whole lot of people gambling on something that they know very little about while doing it because it's just sports is happening and on my television what I'm tuning in for is just action with my money.

Speaker 3 It's not necessarily that I care about St. Mary's or Virginia Commonwealth or know anything about the participants.

Speaker 10 It's the most reckless you could possibly be with money. That's NCAA tournaments and gambling on it, right?

Speaker 3 I don't think it's the most reckless you could possibly be.

Speaker 29 There's a lot of other life you could possibly be.

Speaker 10 You're gambling your money on something you know nothing about.

Speaker 3 It is often the case. It's not the case for everybody, but in terms of concentrated, I don't think there's anything like

Speaker 3 these two rounds here at the beginning where you're just inundated with action all over the place.

Speaker 5 It's just what Olympics were pretty good.

Speaker 9 Olympics were too that was a rush.

Speaker 3 See, now I don't think of that as the gambling event that this is.

Speaker 5 It never was until this year because the coverage is so much better now today than it's ever been that you can legitimately follow everything and the Olympics, while you have your niche sports that I would readily admit, I know nothing about, it's also like the second best international women's soccer competition and you get to actually watch all these games and there's action going on literally all day.

Speaker 1 That was a sports betting.

Speaker 5 equinox that I hadn't quite experienced and it's on a par with March Madness.

Speaker 3 Do any of you feel some of the dirty that you feel at the NFL Sundays at the end of the day where you've just been in your house watching something on the couch or in a bunch of people?

Speaker 31 Dirty because you're a sloth?

Speaker 3 Yeah, just

Speaker 3 too much. That 10 hours.

Speaker 16 It's not too much, but yeah.

Speaker 3 Well, if you feel dirty, it's probably because it is too much.

Speaker 10 No, no, I feel dirty, but it's not too much. Like, the dirt's worth it.
I feel gross. I've been sitting on my couch all day.

Speaker 10 The food, the drinking, but at the end, I may feel like a sloth, but I'm like, this was a great day. I like I enjoyed the whole day, and you know what? I'm gonna do it again when I wake up tomorrow.

Speaker 3 I have not been to Vegas on Super Bowl Sunday, so I don't know if there's anything that compares to what is presently going to happen in Vegas as soon as this thing kicks off.

Speaker 3 But in terms of a sports thing, the two things that I have felt that are strongest in Vegas is heavyweight fight when that mattered, and you had a heavyweight champion that people cared about, and what this week is in the sports books, because it's just 9 a.m.

Speaker 9 over there. Oh, it's insane.

Speaker 10 You know how time zones work? It's 9 a.m. there.

Speaker 5 I wasn't there for the first round, but I was there for a Sweet 16 once and that was as electric as I've ever been in.

Speaker 10 Even though it's just one game at a time by the Sweet 16, right?

Speaker 4 It's still like there is so

Speaker 4 much action.

Speaker 5 It is a palpable buzz that you feel in the sports book on Sweet 16 Day.

Speaker 3 OLI Tony.

Speaker 17 By the way, putting this out there, Tony Brackett's maybe live from Vegas for the first day of the tourney next year. Okay, Tony Brackett.

Speaker 26 I'm sure he's out there. All right, cool, perfect.

Speaker 21 All right, Dan,

Speaker 17 top five guys you need to be watching in the tournament. And again, it's a list of all guards because guards rule march.
That's what we do here with Tony Bracketts. We're going to start in the OLI.

Speaker 17 Two OLIs that you need to be watching. Number one, from the big sky, the Grizzlies of Montana, Money Williams.

Speaker 17 Great name. We want him to be great just based on his name.

Speaker 3 That's not a real name.

Speaker 17 His name is Money Williams, Dan. And he had a 30-burger against Tennessee earlier this season, had 36 against Portland State to open up March.
Montana lost both games.

Speaker 25 That's not the point.

Speaker 3 Is his name actually Money? It's got to be a nickname. Did his parents name him money?

Speaker 30 You don't know. His mama called him money.
I'm going to call him Money.

Speaker 3 I'm not sure his mama calls him money, but okay.

Speaker 8 Mike looked that up for you. I'm building out my DK later.
Oh, okay, perfect.

Speaker 21 All right.

Speaker 17 Second OLI.

Speaker 31 This name, you may have heard.

Speaker 17 Jace Richardson from Michigan State. Lefty guard combo, a little undersized, but the son of Jason Richardson.
Wow. Good crafty guard.
Has a nice little shot.

Speaker 17 Really came on in the second half of the year. Tom Izzo always has the boys ready in March.
Jace Richardson, a name you need to be watching.

Speaker 21 He's a check this guy? No.

Speaker 10 He has a chance to shoot up draft boards, too, with this March Madness, because he's one of the top prospects. But late in the season, he's really gotten a lot of buzz.

Speaker 17 Starting to play a lot more now in the back half of the season. Izzo gave him the reins to the Sparties, and they've been playing really well.
All right, starting off, number five.

Speaker 3 I don't think anyone calls him the Sparties.

Speaker 9 Sparties?

Speaker 3 I think you're doing that, and my father.

Speaker 21 It's a Cuban thing, yeah.

Speaker 31 Sorry.

Speaker 21 Number five, Con Canupel.

Speaker 20 That's a good name.

Speaker 17 Do you know where Con Canupel plays?

Speaker 3 I like saying that name, Con Canupel.

Speaker 9 Brother, I know ball.

Speaker 6 Jace Richardson went to Columbus.

Speaker 21 He was a Columbus guy. Jay Richards' son.
He was a Columbus guy.

Speaker 19 Oh.

Speaker 7 Money Williams' dad is named Money, and one of his sisters is named Monet.

Speaker 4 There's a phosphophone in there. Great contribution.

Speaker 3 That is good. That's excellent work.

Speaker 3 I remember one of, I remember somebody at Sports Illustrated, there was a wide receiver named, I think, Marte Jenkins, and he was saying that the difference between Marty and Marte is the difference between a party and a parte.

Speaker 5 Is there an apostrophe in there?

Speaker 21 Go ahead, Tony.

Speaker 17 Con Canupel, the other white guy, a Duke, for those of you not following along in the NCAA,

Speaker 17 He's a freshman, five-star guy who's now

Speaker 17 starting to come into lottery draft boards as a guy who could be maybe a top 10 pick.

Speaker 17 Very tough inside, got a good shot, but another white guy, Duke, this Duke team is really good, by the way. So watch out for Khan Kanupel.

Speaker 5 And as we established yesterday, the magic secret sauce of March Madness.

Speaker 21 White guys. Backdoor cuts.

Speaker 3 How many? Okay, but we already did Con Canupel.

Speaker 9 Where are we? No, no, I know.

Speaker 21 I'm just kidding. He's a white guy.
He's giving you a paragraph. He was highlighting part of the season.

Speaker 3 Wait a minute. Chris isn't supporting what's happening here because I just Chris muttered, I don't think this was on the air.
I think it was just to be

Speaker 3 well. He didn't just roll his eyes.
What I heard in my ears is him saying, Great, a stat on every guy.

Speaker 10 We're getting like full box scores on all eyes.

Speaker 25 I mean, excuse me.

Speaker 5 We got the Money Monet thing. That was a great contribution.
That doesn't exist without this incredible top five.

Speaker 17 Number four, John Tanjay.

Speaker 17 Wisconsin Guard averages almost 20 points a game, scored 25 points or more in eight games this season, can light it up, scored 41 against Arizona. Good little shot, can create his own Zazzler.

Speaker 17 I know you like guards that can do that.

Speaker 10 I'm big on being able to create your own junk.

Speaker 25 It's super important.

Speaker 10 You always have been.

Speaker 31 Yeah. Number three.

Speaker 10 It's one of the things I'm known for.

Speaker 8 Can you create your own shot? Not anymore.

Speaker 3 I did an intermural with those Terry Claw shorts.

Speaker 24 I know.

Speaker 3 You should have seen me crossing people over.

Speaker 9 Old Terry Claw.

Speaker 17 Number three, Chas Lanier.

Speaker 17 Tennessee Guard transferred from North Florida, 18 points a game. SEC newcomer of the year, taking the same path as Dalton Connect last year.
Small school got up to Tennessee.

Speaker 17 Coach Rick Barnes and them boys. All of a sudden, Chas Lanier, the next evolution of that guard that can light it up.
Hopefully, Tennessee can make a run.

Speaker 17 Mike can have the podcast with Coach on, you know, on Gearhead podcast.

Speaker 9 Born in rubber.

Speaker 10 That's how North Florida should always be said.

Speaker 9 North Florida.

Speaker 3 One of the reasons that I like Florida in this tournament so much, I think against Auburn, Alabama, and Tennessee, they were 5-1. Like that team, I don't know how you feel about this.

Speaker 9 I'm excited, you know.

Speaker 3 Because

Speaker 3 how do you guys feel about this? Because Zaslow, like Eudonis Haslam,

Speaker 3 identifies as a Miami guy.

Speaker 10 That's one of the many things we have in common.

Speaker 3 But has a certain allegiance to Florida when Florida starts.

Speaker 5 I thought you went to Santa Fe.

Speaker 12 Oh, stop it.

Speaker 9 What an embarrassment you would say that.

Speaker 10 I went to a university. university.
No offense to anyone who went to Santa Fe, but it's a community college, all right? And for someone who went to a university, and I have a degree, all right?

Speaker 10 I have a degree from the University of Florida in journalism to say that I went to community college. I'm sorry, you're offending me.

Speaker 21 Business decision. I went to community college.

Speaker 16 Okay, good for you.

Speaker 10 Good for you.

Speaker 10 But I have a degree from a university.

Speaker 6 So do I.

Speaker 24 All right. So do I.

Speaker 5 But you went there for your BA after you went for your AA at Santa Fe.

Speaker 10 No, I went to the University of Florida. I started at the University of Central Florida and then I go nice and transferred, all right, to the University of Florida.

Speaker 9 Why would you do that?

Speaker 22 Let's listen.

Speaker 10 Oh, we're getting into my backstory.

Speaker 8 Number two.

Speaker 17 Speaking of the Florida Gators, Walter Clayton Jr.

Speaker 17 Incredible guard can get his own shot like Daslow mentioned.

Speaker 3 He's going to be a good pro.

Speaker 17 He's an incredible shot maker, has a great three-ball, leading probably one of the best teams in the country, Walter Clayton Jr.

Speaker 10 I get very excited about the Gators when their basketball team is good.

Speaker 3 Well, I noticed this, and you made it about railing against community college.

Speaker 14 I didn't bring it up.

Speaker 10 He did.

Speaker 6 Dismissed it, though. No, but the thing that you...

Speaker 10 I think you did it to aggravate me.

Speaker 3 The thing that you did is that you deflected from me saying that you're a Miami fan, Miami through and through, right up until the Gators are good at something, and then all of a sudden you're orange and blue.

Speaker 10 Well, I'm allowed to. It's my school.

Speaker 25 But when it comes to football, much like Adonis Haslam, that is

Speaker 4 go Kanes.

Speaker 10 Yes, Kanes, because that's what's best for business. I do a podcast called Zazzlow Show 2.0.
No one who's listening to Zazzlow Show 2.0, a very, very minute

Speaker 10 number of the millions of listeners care about the Florida Gators. A lot of them care about the Miami hurricanes.
And I do a podcast in Miami, not Gainesville. So I need the hurricanes to do well.

Speaker 10 That's what's best for business.

Speaker 3 Again, though, you identify as a Miami person, and to me, it feels wrong to identify as a Miami person and then have this undercurrent of traitorous orange and blue but you say I identify as if like I'm choosing no I am a Miami person I'm not it's not a choice it's not something I identify with I am a Miami person you publicly you publicly published my whole life as as as you are Miami first yeah and I don't know that these two things are allowed to coexist why not I'm I'm I'm from Miami I've lived here my whole life except when I went to school at the University of Florida because Miami people hate University of Florida people.

Speaker 3 That's how that one works. And so you and Eudonis Haslam are the rare few that I point to, and I'm like, those are mixed allegiances.

Speaker 10 Be careful what you say about Buck.

Speaker 5 As someone that is a Hurricane fan that didn't go to this school, too, I have the utmost respect for people that went to other schools.

Speaker 29 Yeah, how about that?

Speaker 23 I'm an amazing Miami Hurricanes fan.

Speaker 10 I went to UF and I still root for the Hurricanes.

Speaker 5 What I don't like is that you still root for UF when convenient. It's my school.

Speaker 5 I know plenty of people that went to FSU that are like, they don't root for FSU at all in anything in their canes through and through.

Speaker 10 Well, when my school is good, I show out.

Speaker 3 Okay, but that's what I'm objecting to. What I'm objecting to is how bandwagon that is.
That's okay.

Speaker 17 Number one, Cam Jones from Marquette.

Speaker 17 Probably the number one bucket getter of the tournament, Koozi Award finalist, left-handed.

Speaker 17 And you know, when you get that left-handed bucket-getter, you can get some different angles, finishing at the hoop, getting different angles in the paint.

Speaker 17 He does everything for Marquette, leads him in points, assists, second in rebounds, and a guy who can get hot at the right time and carry a team. Kind of like Kevin Walker did back in the day.

Speaker 17 Cam Jones for Marquette. Shock of smarting them boys.

Speaker 10 Santa Fe community collars really make me angry, man.

Speaker 21 It's insulting. That's all I'm saying, man.

Speaker 21 I could have sworn you went there.

Speaker 10 I'm picturing a player that gets hot at the wrong time. It's like he's at home.
He's like, shit.

Speaker 8 Why'd I get hot here?

Speaker 10 That guy gets hot at the right time.

Speaker 10 It's like, oh, we're in a game right now. Perfect.

Speaker 3 I wanted to ask you guys, I do not watch and have never watched any reality television.

Speaker 3 I'm going to have a hard time saying to you guys in my entire history or in the history of reality television, I'll be

Speaker 3 someone who has trouble naming

Speaker 3 reality shows. No, I never got into any of that stuff.

Speaker 3 However, I am interested in something that I feel like the grand majority of people are not interested in, at least in part because they find the subject unlikable.

Speaker 3 The Alec Baldwin reality show on Max, where they're showing you the innards of his life when his wife presents as Hispanic, but isn't Hispanic. They have seven kids and six animals, and he's OCD.

Speaker 3 So, about cleanliness and stuff? That's a bit of a nightmare to have seven kids, six animals, and be OCD about cleanliness.

Speaker 3 But they're also in his life as all of this stuff happens around him where he's killed somebody and is headed to trial because on the set a gun went off and he was holding the gun.

Speaker 3 I have found, I'm only a couple of episodes in and I found it interesting, but I think that a lot of people really don't like Alec Baldwin for reasons ranging from arrogance to politics to behavior with the paparazzi and stuff, doesn't seem to like being famous at this point.

Speaker 3 But to me, being in that man's life at that time, like really in his life, is interesting viewing. Where are you guys on this? Because I don't think many people are watching it.

Speaker 3 And when I've brought it up before, no one's interested in talking about it, and I'm not sure why.

Speaker 10 Well, I have zero sympathy for the guy that doesn't enjoy being particularly famous when he's doing this reality show right now.

Speaker 10 Like, you're going to have to miss me on the I don't like all the fame that's surrounding me. But as someone who doesn't do reality TV, why is this the one that you're picking for?

Speaker 3 I'm interested in Alec Baldwin. I've been interested in Alec Baldwin.
I'll tell you why. I read a long profile on him many years ago

Speaker 3 when I thought of him as a very accomplished actor and a bit of a movie star. And he was saying in the article with uncommon vulnerability and self-awareness, I failed as a movie star.

Speaker 10 Yeah, because he's not a leading man, right?

Speaker 3 Hankazaria would say that after

Speaker 3 Birdcage,

Speaker 3 what famous people get who have a hit movie or show like Jeremy Piven or whatever is you get three chances.

Speaker 3 They'll give you three movies, and Hankazaria chose Mystery Alaska and Godzilla and something else.

Speaker 3 And then never got to be like the star principal again. Jeremy Piven got this after Entourage, where he got a couple of chances and then didn't get more chances after that.

Speaker 3 Alec Baldwin was talking about himself as a failure, and the awareness of it made him someone I'm interested in. I bought his biography,

Speaker 3 and his wild arrogance is also something I'm interested in. But the rest of you just find him not likable.
This Aaron Rodgers is running into this.

Speaker 3 These reports yesterday about Aaron Rodgers is having all sorts of trouble getting any media jobs as a possibility as a fallback to retiring because the executives being quoted are calling him insufferable.

Speaker 3 Like there's a likability factor that you kind of need if you want people. This is what Scott Van Pelt has where you're talking about, I enjoy spending time with this person.

Speaker 3 They have a personality that is likable.

Speaker 17 So you say she's not Hispanic but pretends to be Hispanic?

Speaker 3 Yeah, she's got an accent and everything. She speaks Spanish.
But in Hispanic face, I don't get it. She's not.

Speaker 3 She's not Hispanic.

Speaker 26 I don't like that.

Speaker 26 I don't like that.

Speaker 3 I mean, it's it's not something you see every day.

Speaker 3 It's not very common to have someone speaking in a Spanish accent when they're not Hispanic. Like.

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Speaker 6 Folks, the leaves are turning.

Speaker 5 The weather's getting a little chillier.

Speaker 1 That means the football games are more important.

Speaker 9 That means football time should be Miller time.

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