Happy Father's Day!

[00:00:00] I will better take projection Welcome everybody to Takin On Sports, I am TD, that is Greg. Greg, how you doing man? I'm pretty good, how you doing man? I'm good, happy Fathers Day man Thanks for the suit Thank you sir Big day Big day, although I think we even titled the episode after this last year, but once again No NBA Finals on Fathers Day

[00:00:29] No Yeah No Stanley Cup I mean we got College World Series, but I mean come on College World Series, yeah I mean you would think they at least gave us one Yeah, but I mean the NBA forever, it seemed like the NBA was a Father's Day staple I know, right? Yeah In the last two or three years it hasn't been on They have it on Monday for whatever reason, I don't get it Who knows, yeah I guess it's you know the U.S. Open rules the day

[00:01:00] And then you get, I don't know if you're supposed to chill out at night or whatever they think But Yeah, I don't know Yeah, but anyway, let's talk about those NBA Finals 2-2 after the Thunder tied it up What was that, that was Friday night? Yeah Friday night, yeah Yeah, they kind of took that game over in the fourth quarter Just kind of a few areas it looked like the Pacers For a long stretch of the game it looked like they were Yeah, they were going to go 3-1

[00:01:30] Yeah, going to get out of there But OKC behind SGA just really That in that fourth quarter just turned it on to another level Yeah Yeah Yeah, I know they were kind of comparing his fourth quarter performance To Kobe's performance in 2000 in the NBA Finals Where he took over in the fourth quarter to I think it was game And in game four there too Shaq fouled out, right? Shaq, yeah Yeah

[00:02:00] And Kobe took over and then that kind of sealed the series So we'll see what it does for SGA But that was a big game for him though Because he had kind of struggled up to that point really And you know, really looked like the Pacers were Man, and that would have been tough Pacers up 3-1 That would have been tough to come back from Because, man Yeah, absolutely Of course now that, you know It being even, best 2-3 right now OKC has that home court advantage Yeah

[00:02:29] That's a bit No, I'm just going to say I've seen a few people Here and there saying that it's over And a lot of people I think now think that OKC is just going to take over I don't know At least next two games Yeah, I don't know You can't count this Indiana team out It's just dumb to do that It seems like every time But it seems like that Every time the Thunder win a game We hear, oh, it's over Yeah, right I mean, you know They were supposed to take over After, you know, game two

[00:02:58] And then it didn't happen in game three And then I mean, the Pacers Are the I mean, the Pacers find ways to win games I mean They're not going anywhere I mean Honestly, I'd be shocked If this doesn't go full seven Just because I just You know, the Pacers They're a tough team to beat If you're going to beat them It's not going to be easy So I actually would be shocked If we don't see seven at this point Now that we're 2-2 Honestly You know, honestly I feel the same way

[00:03:28] I think OKC does take the next game In Oklahoma City But then I just don't see this Pacers team Losing in a desperation At home Yeah, at home Yeah And that atmosphere And just how they've been all This whole playoff season And anytime it seems like they're done They find a way Yeah, now We might get that OKC special Where it goes to game seven But then game seven They just beat the shit out of them But I mean, that's a possibility

[00:03:58] That's definitely a possibility But Yeah, but I'd be shocked If we don't see seven Yeah, just because How this thing is going I mean And it's also good You know, the last Two games have actually been pretty You know, back and forth You know, the first game was kind of a I mean Well, the first game I mean, we had the I mean, the first game Of course The buzzer beater But for 90% of that game You know, it was The Thunder

[00:04:28] Were in control So it laid that fourth And then Game two The Thunder really Dominated Pacer You know, but the last two games Have really been You know, decent Back and forth Really I've been A lot of people Are complaining Say it's been boring again But man I don't know I thought the last two games Were great Yeah, no I haven't been bored At all this series Man It's been It's been a fun

[00:04:57] Fun series so far And man You know But yeah I mean That OKC team At home Tomorrow night Yeah, it's gonna be hard To beat them I mean That That atmosphere At OKC Yeah, man It's a Kind of a college-like atmosphere More than a You know Professional atmosphere So it's really Just hyped in there You know They Probably the only place That actually Everybody wears The shirt that they're given You know For their free shirt Or whatever Everybody was in the blue

[00:05:26] The other night And Man It's a tough place To go in and win there So Yeah, it's not a A house for the meek No, yeah I'm with you We get Game 5 What, Monday? Yeah, tomorrow night Yeah, Monday night And Yeah, I'm with you I think It's going 7 I think we're gonna see 3 Or at least 2 You know Who knows I don't even know It could be one of those things

[00:05:55] Where OKC wins big Tomorrow night Then Indiana wins big Get back home And then Yeah OKC wins big again I hope not Yeah, but Yeah, I at least want to see One more Well, you know At least one more Last second type of Yeah And I think both of these teams Are just too good To Get blown out At this stage In the series Yeah They're just They're furious You know They're gonna come back At the very least Absolutely

[00:06:24] They're gonna make it Seem like it was a close game You know Right Yeah Absolutely I mean But really I mean I would probably say though Man I've been really impressed And You probably didn't get Near enough hype But Jalen Williams Is turning into a star Absolutely No He is I mean He is Man I mean If he was anywhere else

[00:06:54] I mean Everybody knows who he is But You know He's kind of the SGA's Robin But man He is He is definitely Turning into a star I mean But I mean It kind of fits him though I mean He came from Out of Santa Clara Now in OKC You know Not really Places to get a lot of You know Hype I guess you would say So I mean So I mean This kind of fits him But Man He's had a Hell of a Hell of a finals

[00:07:25] But You know The But that's what makes The Pacers tough too Is You know You don't know Who's going to score for them No Because I mean Honestly I mean Halliburton Hasn't exactly had The best of series But You know Other people As we've seen Throughout the playoffs You know Step up Huge games There are big moments I mean We've seen

[00:07:55] You know TJ McConnell Off the bench Have some big Some big things And You know In that game Game three I mean Was it game two or three When Manchurian dropped 28 I was like Where did this come from Yeah That's just Yeah It seems their offense The way it's styled Is just for any given night 27 Yeah He dropped 27 In game two

[00:08:24] In only 22 minutes I mean Yeah right Just insane Just on a heater Coming in Yeah No yeah It's insane how many Like we mentioned it Before the series But it's insane How deep These teams are Both of them With good players Not just like Oh yeah That guy can come in And give you Okay A solid 10 minutes Or whatever No They got guys That can come in And make a difference Off the bench No absolutely Absolutely Absolutely And that's what That's the difference Between why the

[00:08:54] Pacers beat the Knicks I mean The Knicks don't have A bench Exactly And then the Pacers Can go Can go Legitimately both These teams Can go 9 Just cause How this Series Is gone And then Of course What else In the NBA

[00:09:23] They had a Big trade today We did The The Grizzlies Excuse me I was searching for Yeah The team They Desmond Bain Yeah Traded away Desmond Bain To the Magic And it really Seems like the Magic Had their eye On him Cause that Is a That's a big Haul Man It's Traded them For Yeah KPC Or KCP Excuse me You know Contavious Caldwell Pope Cole Anthony And four

[00:09:53] First round Picks In a swap And at First glance You know At first glance I saw this I was like This is insane What are the Magic doing Like Desmond Bain's a Really good Player But Is he worth That many First round Picks But then you Think about it If this is Really their Guy And they Think that He is the Last piece That will make Them Yeah Their picks Are going to Be late round Picks Yeah You know That pick Swap Might not

[00:10:22] Even Do anything And the only Pick in there Would be that 26 first round They get swap Rights from Phoenix or Washington So those Those echo That could be Big That could be Big And that could Be a big One I still think It's a bit Crazy Like maybe You throw One or a Swap in there Along with KCP A four is a lot Yeah it's a lot Man I mean four Is a lot I mean Desmond Bain Is a good Player But wow They must Really Have a lot Of confidence In it

[00:10:52] And obviously They've been You know With something Like that Obviously This is something They've been Thinking about For a while This obviously Wasn't a Fly by night They've been This is clearly Something they've Been thinking about Since they probably Got eliminated From the playoffs What do we need And I mean They have a lot Of young talent There So I mean He fits I mean yeah Apollo Banquero Jalen Suggs Franz Wagner Like they get You know Those guys The oldest one Is Suggs

[00:11:22] At 24 There And you know There's a chance For them In the east Now you know Boston's gonna Who knows What they're Gonna do You know You're hearing All kinds Of wild things You know That Tatum's Gonna miss Next year Because his Injury Obviously He won't Come back Until very late There's rumors Jalen Brown Trades Of them Kind of Blowing it Up for At least Resetting For a year To kind Of build Back For 2026

[00:11:51] And that Seems That sounds Seems crazy Too Because I mean You just won The finals Last year Right Yeah I don't Understand that I know They got Some There's some Salary cap Stuff with Them Which Might force Their hand To do Something But I Don't know How much You want To do But yeah You got You know Who knows Cleveland You know If this Loss In this Year's Playoffs If that Changes Them If they Overreact Or if

[00:12:21] They get Crushed Or if They're Back to You know Another 50 You know 58 60 5-1 Team Wherever Yeah I would Hope Cleveland Kind of Just Stays The course Because I Think They have A decent I think They have A good Team Obviously They work Well Together They just You know Ran into An Indiana Team That's Really Good Simple As that Yeah But there There's Definitely A shot There for Them to Do Something Yeah And step

[00:12:51] Up Man You're You're Mortgaging Because even If they Are late First round Picks Man You know Hey You've Gotten A lot Of Bench Yeah You never Know Yeah You never Know What it could Be

[00:13:21] Yeah Yeah So yeah I mean This is Big I mean They put A lot Of Faith In What Memphis Has Been You know The last Couple years So Yeah That pretty Much leaves John Morant

[00:13:51] And I mean Him and Jared Jackson Kind of The team Yeah And who Knows What happens There Yeah Is Memphis Blowing this Up Are they Going to Trade Jackson Or you Know Even dare Say Morant You know What are They going To do There You know They do Have Scotty Pittman Jr. On the Team They now Have You know KCP As a Veteran And then You got Cole Anthony Still A young Guy Still Potential To be At least You know Every

[00:14:21] Game Starter In the League And Someone Who Couldn't Run To your Offense For you Right But yeah I thought I was real Shocked When I saw The hall For it And You just Have to Wait And see Yeah It's a heavy Hall But obviously They feel Really good About it So I mean They know Themselves More than What I Would Know The magic I mean Can't Say I Watch a lot Of magic Basketball You know You catch Highlights But I mean They're not A team That gets A lot

[00:14:51] Of play You know Not a lot Of height So I mean Obviously They know The team Better than Us But man We hope It works Out or They at Least get You know To Eastern Conference Finals And then Next year To At least Show Hey It was Worth The Run There So we'll See What they're Doing Yeah And You know Of course Speaking Speaking Of Trade You know It's Come Out

[00:15:19] that sources have said that Kevin Durant would like out of Phoenix, and he prefers either Miami, San Antonio, or Houston as a destination. So who knows there? You know, I would have to think, though, I would have to think, but if I'm Houston or I'm San Antonio, I don't know if I – I don't know.

[00:15:47] I might stay away from that because you have a young – you have a lot of young pieces, and I don't know. They seem to be doing it the right way. I don't know if I'm bringing KD in or not. I mean, he's a hell of a player, but, you know, at times, man, that locker room – he hasn't always matched in every locker room. And things don't go well, you know. He's had minutes where he gets uninterested. I don't know. It's such a hard – it's such a weird thing to say about, you know,

[00:16:16] one of the greatest offensive players in the league's history. But, yeah, you really do have to pause and go, man, I don't know. Is he – yeah. It's so weird. You're right. Does he mess up the dynamic? Is it worth getting him and chasing a title in, what, the two years you have him, maybe three at this point? Yeah, the window's so short. Or do you – And he's had his injuries.

[00:16:46] Yeah, because you know it's going to – pick two's going to have to be involved there. Oh, yeah. So, is it worth it giving away, which, you know, you presume it's Ace Bailey there. Or not Ace Bailey. Dylan Harper is actually, I think. And he's a guy that's a future. But you already have De'Aaron Fox there. You got – is Chris Paul going to come back there? Is he – Well, I don't know what his deal is. Yeah. But you got – you got Castle.

[00:17:15] You know, you got young guys there. Yeah, I mean, you kind of – I mean, obviously, I think if you get KD, you're probably losing Castle. Mm-hmm. Because I'm thinking they probably won the first round – the first round pick, Castle, and something else. Because obviously, they're going to get the most they can for KD. Yeah, it's –

[00:17:39] Even though that time in Phoenix hasn't been as great as people thought it could have been. But – Yeah, no, it's – It's a tough one, yeah. Yeah, it's a – But it's getting – Yeah, I don't know. You know, as soon as the finals are done, of course, this will, you know, ratchet up full speed ahead. Oh, yeah. Oh, absolutely. Free agency and the draft coming and all that. So, really. And – Yeah. And the NBA, man, the last couple years are really –

[00:18:09] They know how to win when – When all – When they have their moments, man, they've had some – They know how to win with the trades. Trade. Mm-hmm. That offseason. They know how to do it well. So – I'm telling you, yeah, they took a page out of soccer's book and just – People just put out the craziest rumors. They'll just say anything. Yeah. And, you know, teams realize that it's half the process is just building the right roster. Yeah. It's fun. I love it, you know. It'll be –

[00:18:39] Yeah. I mean, it's good and great. It's a great theater, if anything. But we'll see. I mean, obviously, KD did, like you said, one of the most electric offensive players of all time. But you just don't want to have a throw off your young dynamic with Houston or, you know, San Antonio. Because, obviously, they're – You know, you think they have the pieces. I mean, obviously, Houston able to get that two seed.

[00:19:06] But they're young, so, you know, they're – With more experience, you know, hopefully you'll see if they can build off that for next year and become more of a threat in the playoffs. And then, you know, San Antonio, they haven't really reached that level, but injuries and different things. But they seem to have all the right star power to become a contender in the next couple years. Yes, absolutely, yeah.

[00:19:32] And Wimby playing a full season in Castle and, you know, Aaron Fox. And with Miami, yeah, it seems like any big name is – Miami's going to get thrown out there. Yeah, because they're looking for the next big guy. Because, I mean, obviously, you know, playoff Jimmy was that guy for a while, but, of course, he's gone. Yeah. You know, he rolls a good player, but I don't think you – No, he's not that level. He's a Batman.

[00:20:01] I mean, he's a Robin, excuse me. He needs a – Yeah. He needs a Batman, yeah. And what's his face? Yeah, he's a Batman. And Bam is not that guy. Another really good player, but not – No. No, he's not an elite. You're not your number one. He's going to give you great defensive moments. So, he can score at times there, but, yeah, you don't –

[00:20:26] If you're depending on those two to carry the team, yeah, no. Yeah, no, unless you have just a really outstanding roster around it, I don't – Right. Yeah, I don't think so. And plus, that's not Miami style. Miami, you know, they're one of those cities, the big free agent market. They're, you know, they want a star on their team. They like that splash. I love that splash. Exactly. They're kind of the Lakers mentality, you know. Yeah.

[00:20:54] And honestly, I mean, that – And that fan base is tough because they – Man, they wanted that splash because they don't show up without it. Yeah, yeah. You better have star power to get them in the building. Yeah. Because that's one thing. At least the Lakers, good or bad, they might show up late, but they still come to games. Miami, they're really not interested unless it's – Unless this is a reason to come. Yeah. Yeah, so –

[00:21:23] I mean, we've even seen them where they don't even – They can barely fill out for the NBA finals. I would say we've seen it in the infamous Ray Allen shot in what, the 2013 finals? Yeah. Yeah. What, like a quarter of the arena was already gone when he hit it? Yeah. There were people – I remember one of the funniest things was people trying to get back in and security wasn't letting them and they're like, come on, it's going overtime. They're like, you shouldn't have left. And you see all these Miami fans locked out of the arena.

[00:21:53] Yeah, but it's like – Regular season, I get it, but the NBA finals, what? Why would you leave anyway? Yeah. Yeah, right? Stay away. Because no matter what, do you – Rich or not, you've spent a bold load of money on that ticket. Mm-hmm. You get the full experience. You're going to get stuck in traffic either way, man. Like, you have to leave, like, in the third quarter to avoid traffic in a big city. Plus, it's Miami. It's traffic.

[00:22:24] I mean – Yeah. I've never understood that this beat the traffic. I've never been that guy. Like, I – Yeah, I'm not really into leaving games. No. Yeah. Ever. Even when it's super bad. I mean, I don't know. It's not really my thing. No, I hate leaving games early. Yeah, it's not going to catch me doing that.

[00:22:52] We mentioned the Stanley Cup finals. No Stanley Cup on tonight, Father's Day night either. That was last night, Saturday night. The Panthers took a 3-2 lead, won game five. It's been a back and forth series. Not every game has been great. We've had a blowout or two, but back and forth. That – Was it the – The Thursday night game was excellent. Yeah, yeah. Game four was great. Game two was great. Game one.

[00:23:22] Florida's had two blowouts, you know, 6-1 and 5-2 here. So, game six comes back at you Tuesday night from Edmonton. So, the Oilers need to – Florida trying to – Yeah. Florida trying to repeat. Florida trying to get back to back. The Oilers, again, trying to win their first title since the 80s and Canada's first title since 1993. I mean, still insane. That's wild to think about.

[00:23:48] Stanley Cup has not lived in Canada for 30-something years now. And that just shows you how global the game really is going. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Let's see. The Men's College World Series going on right now, too. Not too long ago, Coastal Carolina wrapped up another victory this time. Went at the 25 straight wins. 25 straight wins.

[00:24:15] The dude pitching tonight at one point sat down like 16 guys in a row, I think. Dude, he was dealing. Dealing. This is after, of course, they won their opener on Friday against Arizona. Yeah. Oregon State beat Louisville in that game. Earlier this afternoon, Louisville beat Arizona in an elimination game with a big six-run eighth inning. Man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Arizona really fell apart late. That bottom of the eighth was terrible for them.

[00:24:43] They had all type of fielding errors and just melted down. It was bad. It was crazy. It was bad. Somebody had complete control. Yeah. They were cruising. And then just, ooh, man. Just wild. Yeah. Yeah. Now they found themselves in the elimination game against, or no, now they found themselves eliminated. Excuse me. Yeah. Eliminated. Yeah. They're done. Yeah. Louisville moves on to another, yeah, elimination game Tuesday against Oregon State.

[00:25:14] On Tuesday afternoon against Oregon State. Oh, nice. Coastal Carolina will play the winner of that one on Wednesday. And the other side of the bracket. Saturday, UCLA beat Murray State. LSU beat Arkansas. Murray State and Arkansas will play their elimination game tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow. Tomorrow afternoon. It's going to be a hot one. Yeah. And then UCLA and LSU playing the winner's game. Tomorrow night. Yeah. Tomorrow night. Yeah.

[00:25:44] They are. Their elimination game is Tuesday as well. Yeah. Yeah. That atmosphere for that LSU-Arkansas game was electric, though. Yeah. No. Yeah. Electric last night. Just to... Man. But that... And that pit... The LSU... With Anderson, man. He was dealing last night. But that...

[00:26:06] The guy that came in for Arkansas, after their starter got blitzed in the second inning, he came in and had a hell of a game himself. It was a pitching duel. Yeah. It's been some really good baseball. But the LSU team was tough. Interesting enough, you know, they show like...

[00:26:31] Going in your first two games, 70% of the time, you see that team in the... In the... At least the three-game finals. So... That's crazy. Yeah. That's huge. You win in that second game. So, Coastal Carolina, that's a big... That's important. So... Be interesting to see if they can get their second championships in the last decade. Because they won it all in 16 and first time back again. But...

[00:27:01] So far, so good. 2-0. 25 straight wins. And they... Um... Kind of dominated Oregon State tonight. So... Solid win for them. Yeah. Um... On the pro side of the diamond, a big trade of the Major League Baseball's own today. Raphael Devers going from Boston to San Francisco. Interesting. Interesting. In return, the Giants sent a pitcher. I'm trying to see.

[00:27:30] They sent over left-hand pitcher Kyle Harrison, right-hand pitcher Jordan Hicks, and a couple prospects. Um... You know, obviously great trade for the Dodger... Or the Giants. Ooh. Sorry. For Giants fans. They get... You know, a great player in Raphael Devers. A good player. Absolutely. Hit a home run today. Yeah, he had his 15th of the season and a win over the Yankees. Obviously, Boston not having the year they wanted.

[00:28:03] But... I mean, it's not... I mean, it's not terrible. I mean, they're still above 500. I mean... Yeah, above 500. That one's a mid zone. Yeah. Yeah. So, it's interesting to see, yeah, this trade. Uh... Grin, you know, they need some pitching. Um... I don't know. You know, it doesn't really give Red Sox fans... I would think... A lot of hope. Yeah, confidence that they think they're gunning for the playoffs. Plus, you know, they sit six and a half back of the Yankees in the East right now.

[00:28:33] And they're... Even though they won five or six last weekend, they... Yeah, they won eight of their last ten. Yeah. Five straight. I know they beat us two out of three last weekend. Swept us this weekend for the first time since 23. So, I mean, they've been playing good balls of late. I mean, obviously... They're only a half a game back in the wild card race. So, you gotta think that Red Sox management...

[00:29:00] Grin, they've done some really weird shit, you know, in the past some years. But, uh... They... It's... You know, there's some set of Devers won it out. Who may be? Yeah, I don't... You know, who do they do to replace his bat? I don't know who... Yeah. Does that? Maybe they just wanted some... You know, another talented pitcher. Right. I don't know. It's really weird. Yeah, it's...

[00:29:30] But, yeah, I think... Some people say he won it out. I did read that. But, I mean, man, that's a... That's a big name to move, man. Especially since you're not... You haven't bottomed out. You're mid-June. Like you said, you're barely out of the wild card. Who knows how... Well, you know what the rest of the summer holds for you. And, I don't know. It's almost like, man, kind of throwing it in there. But, we'll see. Yeah, so that kind of starts trade season in baseball now. Yeah. A little early.

[00:30:00] You know, still got a month and a half to... The deadline. But, you know... We'll see. That's a big name right there. Yeah, it is a big name. Yeah, it's just... Yeah, it came out of nowhere today. I was really surprised to see that one. Yeah. Like I said from the team. But, like you said, if he's disgruntled and he doesn't... And he wants out, then, you know... Maybe that's... Sometimes it's better to get him out sooner.

[00:30:29] I was going to say, it could make it even better for the Giants. Because then you get... Maybe you get him happy and then he really... Yeah. Cranks it up a notch there. And, you know... Be what you need. Yeah. For sure. Exactly. Because, you know, they're having a good year over there. I think they're... They are. I mean... They're in... Two games... Yeah, they're two games back at the Dodgers in the West. And... I think they're leaving the wild card, if I'm not wrong. Yeah.

[00:30:59] Yeah, they're... And realistically, I mean... I mean, they got a big name. And realistically, what did they really... I mean, it's not... It's... They didn't give away everything. I mean, it's not like they... No, and they have other arms. You know, they're not giving up an ace for a... Yeah. A bat. You know, they got a good rotation there. They got a good pin. That's a... It's a good move by then. I think that they really won the... I mean, they definitely win in trade for them. Because, I mean, it's not...

[00:31:27] They have a chance of getting a big reward without much risk, really. I'd say. Mm-hmm. You know. Because, I mean, they gave away kind of a lot of unknowns. I mean... Mm-hmm. You know, someone could be great, but... Eh. You never know. You know? So, I mean... So, I mean... You take the... Kyle, you know, for sure is good. And, you know, go from there. So, be interested to see what that does for both... Both seasons going forward. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

[00:31:59] Let's see. Elsewhere in baseball, you know, not much big going on. Everything keeps turning. I have no... You know, the Braves made some other interesting kind of history. Or, I don't know, history. But, just, you know, Grant Holmes, 15 strikeouts today through, like, five and a third. Or, five and two-thirds. And the Braves get blown out. And he lost. Somehow. Yeah. He only gave up two runs in the bullpen. Right. As a team that sorely needs multiple bullpen players. Because, I've seen a lot of people talking about the bats not performing.

[00:32:29] But, that's not where you need to focus on. They're losing games because of the bullpen right now. Or... Yeah. It's not too many times someone has 15 strikeouts and he holds 10-1. Yeah. See? It's insane. It's not a... That's insane. That's wild. Yeah. That's tough. I think the only silver lining for me, personally, is that I do have him on my fantasy team. So, great day. Hey. So, that's all. Yeah. One mean matchup today, but it's crazy.

[00:32:58] That's insane. 15 strikeouts. That's wild. Yeah. Let's see. Elsewhere in the world of sports, JJ Spahn wins the U.S. Open. Crazy. Like, 60... Some 64-foot putt to clinch it. Congrats to him. The U.S. men's soccer team finally broke their losing streak. Finally won again. Yeah. Beat the ever-looking shit out of Trinidad-Tobago today. 5-0.

[00:33:27] They needed that badly. Yeah. Yeah. Because it's a mess right now. A year away from hosting the World Cup. And you got your star players sitting out the Gold Cup. You got former players talking. You got the guys clapping back. Now you got manager, you know... Mike Good. ...Ponch. He... Yeah. He's coming out and saying that, you know, Pulisic needs to humble himself. It's... Man, it's... Oof.

[00:33:54] Not what you want to see less than a year away from... Basically a year away from hosting the World Cup. I mean... You know, you would hope at this point that everybody would be super excited, wanting to play, looking good. Everybody's united. And it's everything but that. Yeah. Yeah. It's one of those. It's like, what are we doing here, guys? Like, everybody just chill. Because it seemed like everything was going the right direction. And then, man, this last...

[00:34:23] Man, it's been a rocky run there. So, you know, hopefully we, you know, make a good... A good showing in the Gold Cup there. Yeah. Because we definitely need some positive momentum here because it has not been pretty. But definitely a winnable group. I mean, Saudi Arabia, Haiti, and Trinidad. I mean, there's no reason why this team shouldn't... Yeah.

[00:34:51] Even without a couple of your best players, there is no reason that you shouldn't win every game in that group, honestly. Absolutely. Yeah. There should be no last second. Yeah. No. It should be an easy run to the knockout run. For sure. Yeah. Elsewhere, you know, that's it. I have in my notes. For what's happened, I'm trying to think.

[00:35:20] And Nick still don't have a coach. He still don't have a coach. It's crazy. Nothing... Yeah, nothing really major. I'm trying to think if I miss anything this week. If we're missing something. But I can't think of anything right now that... Not a whole lot. I mean, of course, in the college football world, they're still talking about the what's the name, the whole... It came out at the end of last...

[00:35:50] Before last week's show about, you know... But that's been a big talk on the college... College football side is... You know how it works with this 21... 21 and a half million dollars everybody has now. The spend. Yeah, the house settlement. The house settlement. Yeah. There's... Yeah, there's been an appeal. There's more legal action. So, you know, that's still got to play out. Yeah. So, we got long... We got a long way to go with that.

[00:36:18] So, it'll be crazy to see what happens with that. Yeah, there's been little things like... Yeah. Go ahead. I mean, Alabama got a big recruit there. The offensive tackle. That was big. Four-star. A couple recruits, you know, commitments recently, or at least guys that have, you know, a lot of those crystal balls from some of those... Yeah. So, I'm good.

[00:36:48] Yeah, it's been kind of a slow start, but, you know, it looks like they're heating up. But, you know, it's this early in the game. Everyone's like, oh, Alabama doesn't... Nick Saban was like this some years, and everyone's like, oh, and then guess what? You know? Boom, boom, boom. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, you see that a lot. I mean... And then on top of that, I mean, with this... You know, with the NIL and all that, and...

[00:37:13] Even if you don't, you know, and with the transfer portal, sometimes you might not get the guy for a year or two, and he ends up with you. So, you know, how big... I mean, recruiting is still a big part of it, of course, but I don't think it's as... Nearly as big as it was. Because, I mean, every year you're going to see guys that you're excited about, and the next year, and shit, they're not even on your team anymore. So... Yeah, and there's...

[00:37:41] Speaking of the portal, you know, there's been talk of proposals to limit it to one window in January, I think like an 11-day window where people can enter the portal. They can commit to a school anytime, and of course, you know, a school's academic calendars would factor into that, but... I mean, another... I think I'm okay with just one window, and you do it in January sometime so that, you know, guys can get on that new school, but also... Right.

[00:38:12] You know, we did see too many guys were opting out on playoff teams this year, and that's crazy to do that. Yeah. Because once you enter it, you can't play anymore. You know, it'd be one thing if there's like free agency or something where you could be like, yeah, after this season, I'm not coming back, but... Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I guess technically you could do that, but who's going to do that? Because at that point, then you're wasting your time because, you know, no one's... I don't know.

[00:38:42] It sets you back a little bit. And you're risking, you know, if you get hurt playing one of those games, and all of a sudden... Yeah. You know, team might not want to take you on. Right. Yeah. Yeah, it's a... I mean, it's always a risk any time you move. But, yeah. I mean, if we could... I mean, you would like to see it, but at the same time, someone mentioned, you know, we

[00:39:07] look at it from the playoff perspective, but then, you know, really, that's what at most right now, 12, and then that only is affecting 12, and at the end, 16 out of 100 and some schools, you know, negatively as far as, you know, the timing of it all. So, I mean, it's a smaller, you know, a smaller percentage. So, you know, I don't think anybody's going to feel 100% bad for a playoff team, you know, having to scramble. But, yeah, I mean, I would like...

[00:39:35] If we could get it after the, you know, after the season. But, I think the most important thing is they need to figure out how to make the season end sooner. Yeah. I think, yeah, maybe starting those... You got to move up some things. So, when we're... Because, really, I mean, honestly, they need to have where your semifinals...

[00:40:05] I mean, it might be okay to have maybe, like, how it's been, how it used to be, where you, like, have your championship game, like, a week after. Mm-hmm. You know, you might have that first Monday after the New Year or whatever, you know. But those games that happen on New Year's, those kind of at least need to be the semifinal games. I about to say... Because that's where you're going. This is the problem with being beholden to the bowls, is that, you know, the Rose Bowl

[00:40:32] and the Sugar Bowl, you know, these that have always played on January 1st, pretty much, are always going to want to be there in tradition and blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. And that's just going to force you to... You're scheduling, really, yeah. It should be... Maybe you take the one week off after championship week for finals. And then you... Yeah. You let the kids, you know, do their finals or whatever. And then you just go right back in. Because what do they have two weeks after the... Yeah. Yeah.

[00:41:02] It was like two weeks after the championship. Because the first round was basically like Christmas. It was like the 20th, the 19th and the 20th with this past year, I believe. It was that Friday and Saturday. Yeah. That first round. Then you got the quarterfinals, the around New Year's, the semifinals. That's a big... And that's the other thing, too. There's those weird gaps, like 10 days instead of just a week, man. Like, I know you don't want to go against the NFL or whatever, but you got to figure something out. You're not going to win.

[00:41:33] Yeah. You're not going to win. You got it. I mean, you got to think about it. Like, I mean, we had some big semifinals games. I mean, we had Notre Dame and, of course, Penn State. We had Texas and Ohio State. And then we got a national title game, two premier programs, Notre Dame, Ohio State. And it just didn't seem big enough because of the gap in games.

[00:41:59] And then on top of that, man, we're getting into the wild card. And, you know, we're... You know, hardcore college fans, we like college more than the NFL. We like the NFL, but, you know, we're going to pick college every time. But that's not the case for most of the rest of the country. You know? Yeah. I mean, ratings... NFL is king. No matter if you like it, you don't. That's just the reality of it. King over everything.

[00:42:28] Any live event, award shows. It doesn't matter. The NFL is winning. It doesn't matter. I mean, the NFL is king in the U.S. There's nothing topping it. Nothing's really even close. College football is as close as you could probably get to a competition. And it's not that close. No. Yeah. But, I mean, you got to figure things out. Maybe week zero should be the start of the season.

[00:42:53] You know, even maybe you got to go the next weekend after the championship weekend. Like, you just keep going. Like, I understand, like, you have the Army-Navy game and, you know, people revere that game. But, man, they got to figure something out because there's too much gap, too much time. And really, you want to be wrapping it up kind of that second week in January. You kind of want to be done. Yeah. Exactly. That's when you want to wrap it up.

[00:43:21] That's when you want to get out the way of the NFL. Yeah. It's still on you. Yeah. It's still on you. Yeah. They got to figure that out. But then that also would help with the transfer portal because if you had that, you know, mid-January, your season's wrapped up. So, all the playoff teams, you know, know who. I mean, there's no problem with them. No one, you know, exactly the roster. No surprises.

[00:43:46] Last second of someone jumping in the portal, that might be a bigger piece of their program. Program, so. No, absolutely. And on the, you know, the other side of things, it would align up better with a lot of schools at the start of their academic semester. Academic, yeah. Yeah, allow guys to get in there. At the very least, it's before the, you know, the add drop period or whatever deadline schools might have for new enrollees, you know, so. Absolutely.

[00:44:13] But I will say that, man, college football is a business now. Let's not act like it's important as is important when someone comes to school. Of course. But, yeah. I mean, but, you know, they like to throw that at the last second. Well, what about them getting into school on time? Come on. Yeah. That can be figured out. That can be figured out. People transfer mid-semester all the time from places, you know. It's just something that has to happen. But we hear that, oh, we got to have them in by this day. No. Come on.

[00:44:44] Yeah. Yeah. There's so many loopholes and ways around that and figure that out. That's the least of the concern, and schools know that. Come on. Let's be realistic with that. But, I mean, I get it. I mean, you know, education is still important because at the end of the day, most of these guys are going to have to go after education at some point because the NFL, we know, not for long, it's a reason why. Because, you know, guys have to get their – I mean,

[00:45:14] it's important to get your education. But let's not act like that's the main reason why these guys are in school. Yeah, for sure. Elsewhere on the off-the-field stuff, you know, there's been a lot of buzz this week about Pac-12 expansion. They still need one more team to get recognition. I don't know if it's conference. Yeah. Texas State has emerged as the favorite now. I saw Texas State and UTSA.

[00:45:43] Yeah, it would be not very specific, but I'm sure they would welcome it. I mean, that doesn't really matter in today's world. I mean, we see the ACC with Pac-12 teams and the Big Ten with Pac-12 teams. I mean, that's not really – and the East Coast teams. So, I mean, it's not – regions really don't matter too much anymore, so that's not really a thing. But you would have to think, though, for a team like Texas State or UTSA,

[00:46:11] I mean, obviously they don't have the same money as, you know, when USC or UCLA goes cross-country. That's going to cost them. You know, that's going to be a tougher toll than, you know, USC going to New Jersey or, you know, UCLA or, you know, a Duke or, you know, I mean, that's a big jump, you know, for UTSA midweek, sending their basketball team to Boise, Idaho.

[00:46:41] So, you know, that's going to take some – that's some – it's tougher for a school like that to make those moves. But overall, I think it's definitely interesting, but what does it do? You know. The relevancy of the Pac-12, I mean, obviously they're probably the premier

[00:47:08] of the mid-major conferences, but you're still not – I mean, they are right now because of that lawsuit thing involved. They still consider it a power conference, but, you know, it's really still the power for – I mean, really they're kind of the leader of the mid-majors, I would say. Oh, absolutely, yeah, and they'd have to be realistic about that, which is why I always thought – I mean, obviously in a perfect world, you know, nobody ever left and you're still the Pac-12 and you get a TV deal done,

[00:47:37] you know, when you needed it done and everyone's still around there and you're just trying to get more of your schools in the playoffs now and you're hoping to just get back. You know, you're hoping the silical nature of college football lends itself to you becoming one of the better conferences again. Absolutely. But, I mean, man, I still don't understand where they were going with the Pac-12 network.

[00:48:03] Like, it's not offered by everything and, like, it's hard to find and that's what y'all – like, it was a horrible plan. There have been a ton of great stories about the demise of the Pac-12 out there, if you can find them. And it's terrible. Like, yeah, it just makes no sense. Like, why did they – it's like they went out of their way to destroy the conference. Yeah, just ungodly mismanagement there, yeah.

[00:48:34] Right, just ridiculous. But it still blows my mind, too, that after, you know, everyone but Oregon State, Washington State left, that they didn't just try some merger with the Mountain West. The Mountain West – yeah, absolutely. The Mountain West and the WAC should have just became a conference. Yeah. Like, certain ones have left the Mountain West to go to the Pac-12.

[00:49:00] And, you know, we've seen boys in them going – like, if everybody just came together and became – I don't know what the differences were with that or why some felt it wasn't good or I don't know what happened there. But, yeah, the Mountain West and the WAC should have just become the next Pac-12. Well, you know, honestly, I think that was all ego in some of this stuff. Yeah. It's – sorry, I'm watching the top ten here. Just this putt that he spawned made to clinch this U.S. Open was just – Wow.

[00:49:30] It just got an amazing putt again. Yeah. But it starts with ego, man. At first, Washington State, Oregon State didn't want to just join the Mountain West. Because if that had been it from the start, the Mountain West absolutely would have taken them geographically. They fit. They have some natural rivalries up in that with, you know, Boise State. Yeah. Absolutely. And some of those – Utah, you know, the Mountain teams. Yeah.

[00:49:56] And then – but they didn't want to give up the Pac – you know, they refused to think of themselves as mid-majors. They didn't want to give up the Pac-12 brand. I get that. The Pac brand or the Pac brand. But then, you know, it goes, okay, next step is, okay, we'll merger with the Mountain West. Well, the Mountain West, and there you go, doesn't want to give up their branding. Doesn't want to just fold into the Pac-12. Right. And that's where – it's a standoff after that. And, you know, so they lose some schools.

[00:50:25] They lose arguably their premier schools too. You know, they lost – Yeah, they lost Boise. Yeah, you lost Boise, lost San Diego State. You lose – Yeah. Who else did they lose initially here? Did they lose UNLV? No, UNLV has stayed. Man, I am trying to – I just had it pulled up here. Who is actually gone?

[00:50:58] Fresno State, San Diego State, Boise State, Colorado State. UNLV and Air Force, they wanted them. UNLV did not happen, and they ended up adding Utah State. They have flirted with Tulane and Memphis, but neither of them wanted to leave the American. Memphis just – I think right now it was the buyout fee is what stopped them. And, of course, you know, also being on the wrong side of the country. I guess that doesn't matter anymore. I guess that doesn't matter anymore.

[00:51:28] But Memphis, you know, I know Memphis is a program that wants to get to a power conference, but – All right. – how that happens, I don't know. Yeah, you know, I don't think you want to go just anywhere. No, yeah, because, again, we talked about this. There's not a – this isn't a power conference yet. No, I don't. Just because it has the old Pac-12 name, you know, I'm sorry.

[00:51:48] That's no disrespect to all these state schools, but if every school in your conference is a state, you know, Oregon State, Washington State, Fresno State, you're not a power conference school. Colorado State. Literally Utah State. Literally every conference in the school or school in the conference is a state. It's a state. And they could get Texas State. Yeah, it's – Texas State could be the next team to add it. But, yeah, I saw that their name was being forwarded there. Yeah. UTSA possibly. I mean, that's great.

[00:52:18] But, yeah, I mean – but how – but, yeah, I mean, the whole mismanagement of the Pac-12 originally is bad enough. But, I mean, you've got to – everybody's got to figure this stuff. Wow. Like – Yeah. Like, I don't think, like – obviously the Pac-12 doesn't hold the weight that it did and really hasn't held the weight for a long time as we see. Yeah.

[00:52:42] So, I mean, you've got to – some of us, you know – but, man, I mean, you lost – the Mountain West, I mean, you was Boise State, San Diego State, I mean, Fresno State. They literally – you know, some of the bigger faces of the conference. I mean, Colorado State's had, you know, some success in different things. So, yeah, I mean, that's tough for the Mountain West. So, we'll see what that –

[00:53:08] Yeah, and if – yeah, and if you're one of these other schools that's hanging around the Mountain West, do you not – are you starting to kick yourself? Because you're like, oh, man – you know, I just think – I honestly think – Yeah. I think it still ends with them merging at some point. Because I think they both are going to realize that, man, we don't have enough. I mean, they need each other at some point because – Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, because the Mountain West is on – sadly, it's on its last legs.

[00:53:35] Yeah, it's losing – they need to – you know, what have they done to – But, man, but think about it. At one time, the Mountain West was a hell of a conference back in the day when they had Utah, BYU, TCU, Boise State. Like, man, it was on the verge of having a power legitimacy.

[00:53:59] Yeah, I mean, but as of right now, you know, you only got Air Force, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico, San Jose State, and Wyoming. Yeah, that's right. You're going to get a Grand Canyon in, you know, every sport but football. Yeah. You're going to get UC Davis in some of those. Yeah. Hawaii's in there, too, obviously.

[00:54:27] And they're going to become a full-time member, I think, soon. They have been just a – and you got UTEPs coming. NIU's going to join for football. You know, that weird one. So weird. Yeah, so there's – Because how does that work? Because, I mean, obviously – So are they staying in the MAAC for the rest of their sports?

[00:54:55] Or do they have to find a new home completely? I think it's the Horizon is where they're going to go with the rest of their sports. Okay, Horizon for the rest of – Let me see that. Yeah, starting in 2026, they're going to go to Horizon. Okay, Horizon. So they're completely out of the MAAC. Yeah. So I don't know. It's just – I think it ends up with them all. There's a MAAC. It only makes sense, too, because, I mean –

[00:55:26] Because, honestly, even all together, it's hard enough. But divided, they're toast. I mean, the Mountain West isn't going to be around for long without coming and just getting with the Pac-12. So I think they'll figure that out eventually. Hopefully it's not too late for them. Yeah, I think the best move for everyone there would just be suck it up. Wake up. Send it and tell NIU to go back to the MAAC.

[00:55:55] Yeah, that's such a weird – that's such a weird thing. Like, what? I don't know. Very weird, but we'll see how that plays out. Yeah, but I think that does it. Again, that's the end of my notes. So, as always, folks, it's time. Greg, do you have anything for done up real good this week? I don't know. You know, just stuff.

[00:56:23] Another Father's Day means a lot, man. Honestly, they said how important it is for a dad to be in their kid's life. But really, I mean, they probably do more for me than what I do for them as far as just the purpose. You know, just, I don't know. I got a motivation.

[00:56:46] Yeah, your motivation, reason to keep doing what you do, and, you know, just some of the simple stuff that, you know, just, you know, you enjoy. So, yeah, that's probably my big thing. How about you? Man, I'll co-sign that and just, yeah, it's another – it's good – it's weird to wake up on Father's Day and be told it still, you know, just two years in the past now. So, yeah, it's newer and newer for you. So, yeah.

[00:57:16] But, no, I absolutely agree. Yeah, the motivation for you to always improve and do better with yourself, yeah. Oh, yeah. And set a good example, yeah. Absolutely. But, yeah, a little programming note. We will be off next week. I'm out of state for work. So, we'll come back at you in two weeks. We'll, of course, talk how the NBA finals wrapped up, how the Stanley Cup final wrapped up. Yeah.

[00:57:42] We'll probably talk some, yeah, trade season, some draft, NBA draft season. Yeah, NBA draft should be right – right – yeah. I would write right before that weekend. Well, in two weeks. Because the NBA draft is, what, like the 25th of June? It'll be right around where we – It'll be right around when we come back, I would think. Yeah, it's the NBA draft this year is on, yeah, Wednesday the 25th. Two weeks will be the 29th.

[00:58:11] Yeah, so we'll be back that – yeah, so we'll be back that Sunday, right? Yeah, so we will definitely be able to talk it then, yeah. Nice. And then, of course, anything else that happens in baseball trades, any – Yeah. Maybe talk a little Gold Cup, see how that goes. Right. See how that's going. Yeah. Yeah, we'll have some good stuff to talk about, you know, and the NBA finals maybe. Yeah. You know, we'll have an NBA champion, an NHL champion to talk about, yeah, the draft and – Yeah, a college World Series champ.

[00:58:41] See how that goes. Yeah. Yeah, so good. That'll be a lot of good stuff to talk about in that time period. Indeed. So, as always, folks, thanks for listening. Give us a subscribe, give us a rating or a like, whatever it is, on whatever podcast platform you listen to us on. Tell your friends about us. Tell your rich friends about us. If you've got a business out there, want to sponsor just a good old sports podcast, holler at us. All right. Check out thealabamatake.com.

[00:59:10] You can find all the Alabama Take family and podcasts on there. Always good stuff. You can also find some writings on there. Keep it done up real good yourselves out there, folks. Once again, we're off next week. We'll see you in two weeks. Thanks, Greg Buddy. Once again, happy Father's Day and I'll see you next time. You as well. Yes, sir.