the ending polling show got a glass of this everything we got they can they're gonna come with everything they got I'll start on by saying I'm bored I'm broke and I'm back the ending polling show on ESPN 630 starts right now three hours to roll with today Tony's out lot to talk about especially NBA the Lakers and the heat or game away from moving on after wins last night.
Ron James amazing just just amazing at the age of 38 to play almost 43 minutes last night 27 points nine rebounds six assists he gets it done and it's it's really remarkable how good he is at this age and it's gonna lead to further questions about what's going to happen with Bronnie.
I mean, Ronnie sort of becomes more and more irrelevant as this moves on because and I assume they're gonna follow through with this you hear oh well Ronnie may like USC wants to stay no no no he's he's there for one year and they're gonna follow through on this idea of father and son playing in the NBA for the first time ever.
And since they are a package deal how much value does Ronnie have coming out next year. Again if he's like a 10 12 point a game score you know pretty good college player.
Would he be worthy of a high lottery pick if you know you're getting LeBron for two years and the way the NBA works.
Let's move around two years is good. Look at what the Brooklyn Nets had hoped to achieve and all three of them gone all gone after assembling a team that many thought would be a super team with the hardened Durant and the problem child who moves from team the team.
We'll get to that we'll talk about the NBA but I want to begin with this Rex Minter is here and he's a young man how many brothers do you have two two and were you and or your brothers required to cut the lawn at your house.
Yes I actually kind of was on the back end of it I only had to do it for a little bit and then they got service.
Oh you have a lawn service now. How come how come you are not you're living at home. Yeah are you required to pay rent there you're not. No you're living rent free and you're an able-bodied young man you just told me that you worked out and played basketball yesterday so certainly you can push a lawnmower back and forth but your parents got a lawn service.
Yeah they did okay well and that's their choice I cut my own lawn I live in a townhouse now I don't have to cut the grass but we lived in a house in Rockville for 18 years and we lived well we lived seven years before that in another house in Rockville and then I had a really big lawn when I lived in New York for
a long time I lived there four years and that was like three quarters of an acre that was a big lawn took me out like two hours to cut that especially if I was bagging it and I've always done it whenever I had a lawn I cut the lawn and I had a very good tour
lawnmower that lasted like 30 years really impressed with that mower and I always did it and apparently Jim Harbaugh who makes ten million dollars a year at Michigan cuts his own lawn he's doing an interview with Pat 40 the other day and 40 asked him a question what you know if you hadn't coached what would you have done and he said I would be a lawnsman that's what I would do mowing the lawn is one of the great feelings I have in life it accomplishes three things I'm clearing my mind or
thinking of new plays I feel good about what I accomplish and I either make money or I save money relative to what he makes what's he saving what does it cost to cut the lawn 40 bucks you know if you have a lawn service man they add in a bunch of extras like the seating and the air rating and all that all that
cause a ride but but he cuts his own lawn and I felt this too when I cut my own lawn I did my own thinking now you say Andy don't you have a son who's almost 32 yes I do did you make him cut the lawn no I did not and the reason was because I kind of like doing it one and two he was a really good kid if I needed some discipline I might have might have forced him to do that but I remember having to discipline him so I cut the lawn and he went out and played sport
and he kept out of trouble and everything was all good so Harbaugh though is is is kind of depressed about this he says he frequently encountered residents namely children mowing their lawns when he first took the Michigan job as long as he's been there's been there what ten years now
he probably left the Niners in like 2015 yeah so it's less than 10 years he said yeah when he first got there so the cutting lawn and he says it makes me sad sometimes when I drive around Ann Arbor it used to be kids mowing the lawns I was that kid out mowing lawns earning some money now it's a truck and a crew at every house and that's what's happened at the minterns house one of the boys still living at home still able bodied but the parents had no we're going to hire a lawn service
that's cool to be fair for the past four years yeah but but you came home for for for the summer right you spent summers at home and that's when the grass needs to be cut it doesn't doesn't usually get cut in January when you're in school so I had to cut the lawn when I was a kid we lived a house that had this big hill in the front and I think my father was afraid I was going to cut off my foot with a gas mower so he got me an electric mower which was very light and easy to to maneuver on the hill but
I had a tendency to cut the cord once in a while and that that was a pain and he fortunately he would he would fix the cord for me and you know get out the electrical tape and put everything together and get the cord back together but that was a problem with that but
it's a changing world and I wonder what the impact is on companies like Toro because not everybody one of the biggest problems about mowing your own lawn is not the actual mowing it's the maintaining of the mower that's that's a problem and you got you don't mind maybe you want to keep gas around in your garage you know and you got the oil and all that other schmutz that goes along with it so
maybe that's why if you were in fewer people at least in the Ann Arbor area are cutting the lawn and by the way what's the lawn growing season in Ann Arbor three months maybe right
you know it gets you know stays cold late and gets cold early so you know maybe like only the three summer months June July and August maybe some in September yeah not much not much lawn cutting to do
things changed said commentary I I did not stay up to see the Lakers last night I watched the heat beat the next Jimmy Butler is just unbelievable I mean during the season who's talking about Jimmy Butler nobody right nobody's talking about Jimmy Butler
once the playoffs start to new guy it's like Superman coming out of the phone booth and last night he had 27 points as Miami beat the Knicks and Julius Randall questioning his teammates excuse me but you know unless you put up 50 points in that game I don't think you have any room to talk there so there's there's maybe a little bit of a
and they're in and Miami looks to be the better team they look to be the better team in the series and I believe they're going to
To move on as far as the Lakers go
Again, you know LeBron unbelievable Anthony Davis, and I just seen the highlights and read about it
Davis great in the first half second half. I'm not really asking for the ball. Not really you know demanding shots
He was playing good defense. Yeah. Yeah much on all that. Yeah. They said he did a good job on on on the guards now
Clay Thompson and this is this is really what has to happen for Golden State
They have to have the splash brothers both playing well curry game a great night. He was 12 of 30
Only had three three pointers, so he's three of 14 from three and Thompson was three of 19
So between the two of them what six for 23 that's not that's not too good, but
Curry had 31 points clay Thompson only nine you can't you can't have nine points out of clay Thompson in this game and
With the Lakers not only did you have LeBron with 27? You had Davis with 23
Reeves gave him a good night with 21
But Lonnie Walker the fourth now again
I didn't stay up for this but he plays 27 minutes, which is about four minutes over his average for the season
Six of nine from the field and finishes with 15 points. It was all in the fourth quarter
So yeah, so where did this come from and and this this also tells you about coaching that that clearly
Darben ham saw something there and
Because who would think to do that role player and you put him in in crunch time in the fourth quarter
So they put him in last game at the end of the game and he he played well, but it was a
Meaningless game time, right, but he guys he saw something in the matchups and and this is why these guys spend end of the
Hours watching tape and all that to come up with these ideas on matchups and so forth
So this was the take last night from the TNT crew
you got the defending champs now down three games to one and
Or they are going back to Golden State, but again the Lakers with what three chances to win a game
It would seem that they are in the driver's seat, but
But not necessarily this is the question that Ernie Johnson posed to the crew last night. What are their chances? Oh
it's still
great
Their chances are great. Yes, chances are great and Chuck wouldn't notice you know they're giggling laughing, but
You're going to be against the champs you gotta put the champs away champs ain't gonna lay down the same Memphis
This champ ain't gonna let out Steph Curry the greatest shooter in my game missed those last two shots
You don't think he's he's gonna be pissed off
And he's a dog when dogs get pissed off. They come ready to play the next game
They're probably what they're saying, you know what?
Remember when we had them three to one they came back now. It's our chance to get LeBron back
They still have a chance they have to go home. They have to play well and they will play well in the Lakers
You know even though they're three and one they've still been up and down
You know we talked about how great AD has to be you only have four points in the second half if it wasn't for the lolly walk on the fourth
It would probably be time but perhaps I should have rephrased that for I mean chances to win the series not
I mean obviously chances in game five when you go back home. I'm with you. You have to put the champs away
They're not gonna lay down like that. You even thought it down three one day. I'm not worried
Kenny knows this I would have to agree in this respect with Jack
But you gotta put them on because you're not you're not going on the road for game five
You're coming back with the recipe of success meaning you
Charles said it you said it they said oh we gonna play the we're gonna run the Lakers
We're gonna put in we're gonna insert even Chenzo. We're gonna insert Gary Payton a second in the in the starting lineup
We're gonna go smaller and and and we're gonna make our older guys Drey mine
Clay and Steph
Basically be on a track when you running straight on a track. It's much easier than stop go
Hesitate they're just running straight up and down Steph Curry them so they got there's a different energy
And I do think that they had a recipe it said I'm not gonna be surprised when we to see a game six now
Now now AD you know all alternating games
We'll see you. I don't know if that's is that a good game one game six or is that a bad game one game?
Odd numbers are his best ones. Okay, they're cooked cooked doesn't get this series is over in two
Well then five or six so five or six this over. I think the Lakers did a fabulous job of
Making clay and Steph work they attacking them because they know that's the two guys
They got to worry about they attacked them every single time in the half court their pole because the the words are switching everything
I
Personally thought clay and Steph got tired in the game because I love the way the Lakers is like we not let those guys go
Run up and down the court and just shoot they run a pick and roll every time look and they're trying to guard LeBron
He's going at clay. He's going at Steph and I think when the game was on the line a guy named Lonnie Walker had his way
real also
Reeves reeep he'd like so they're doing a fabulous job of attacking clay and Steph and there's two percent just show that
You know when you think about basketball and and this time of year. It's all about the stars
Oh, well of course
Golden State is this far with Steph Curry of course the Lakers are this far with LeBron James
but
What isn't talked about is when you could find a guy like Lonnie Walker who nobody's talking about
Through the first four games of the series or three games of the series and then in game four
He's an enormous factor. It's it's more like this in baseball. This always happens like in the postseason baseball
There's some guy who was an unsung player during the season who just has a great series and and you know
You see that basketball
It's all about the superstars and last night it was all about Lonnie Walker the fourth a role player who who didn't even play in a bunch
Of games this year when he did play average like 23 minutes averaged
27 last night and scored
15 points the the follow-up on this is really been remarkable
John Kine the other night put out a story on ESPN analyzing the quarterbacking situation
For the commanders that they're going full steam ahead with Jacobi Bursett as the backup to Sam
How that they did not draft a quarterback
they so far have not signed any veterans of note to compete for the job besides Bursett and
He just kind of threw in there as they've been searching for quarterbacks over the years
And nobody's played more quarterbacks in the last ten years than the commanders. I think the numbers 12 something like that
That they had contacted
Andrew Luck about playing against just one line in the story and then Jim air say the owner of the Colts
He jumped on that
He made his feelings known Sunday when he tweeted out if any NFL team attempted to contact Andrew Luck or any
Associate of him to play for their franchise. It would be a clear violation of the league's tampering policy
Now the Washington Post did some reporting on this and they say that
Nobody from the commanders reached out to luck to his father or to his uncle who also acts as his agent
The question is you know
How far did they go in trying to find out if Andrew Luck wants to play for them?
And so now the Colts have requested that the NFL look into the possibility of improper conduct
I don't think this is gonna go anywhere
But the fact that it's ramped up from one line in a John Kime story that really had little to do with what he was writing about to
this
Investigation it is really surprising to me
I was kicked around yesterday on PTI by Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon
Is Colts owner Jim Erse right to make a fuss about the commanders?
I hate that name
Reportedly sniffing around Andrew Luck last offseason
Tony you know what?
Whenever Jimmy Erse is in the news
You know my instinct is to just sort of make fun of him
But I'm sorry if he is I'm gonna use this word carefully property of the Indianapolis Colts
Even though he's like four years in the retirement and other teams can't do this because that's tampering then he's within his rights
I mean it may seem cheesy and it's may seem very Jimmy Erse like and petty and all that but but but if
Other teams are supposed to have to get permission by rule to talk to anyone still
under control of
Jimmy Erse and the Colts then yes, he's within his rights
Yeah, it's self-congratulatory, but it is tampering
There's no question that it's tampering if you make a contact with a guy who's still under contract for whatever reason now
Jimmy Erse has a chance to run his mouth and Mike
He's got a chance to run his mouth against the still owner of the Washington football team Dan Snyder
Who we as already publicly said should be voted out of the league so I know that makes him happy
The story here to me is they went after Andrew Luck
Like they were so desperate they went after a guy who was out of the league for four years and then settled with the same team by
Training for Carson Wentz who didn't even you know isn't any good for them
I mean if you're Mike if your move is to go after Andrew Luck what's your next move to go after Joe Montana
I mean come on well first of all it was only three years
second of all Luck is only for last year was only 32 years old and
In retrospect even if it didn't work out at all with Luck if you were willing to play
It would have been better than Carson Wentz and as they say nothing ventured nothing gained and
What kind said yesterday? I heard him on radio yesterday say look
This was out there last year that they had contacted every team in the league
About quarterbacks including Patrick Mahomes
They were interested in anybody just you know what what chance do we have to land they were desperate?
They were trying now
I said yesterday that this also has Dan Snyder's fingerprints on it that that this is something that he would do
Because he was so desperate last year
He thought he could save himself by getting a quarterback and getting everybody excited about the team and I would not have shocked me
If he on his own reached out to probably not to Andrew Luck
But but to somebody close to him they're just to just to find out and and if it works out a lot of teams were on the league
Now they would have to compensate the Colts
You know and they were willing to do that
You know it would have been better than what they gave up for Carson Wentz that's for sure and so
Whether this goes anywhere or not we'll see this is Jeremy Fowler reporter for ESPN talking here on ESPN
630 yesterday about this story
I don't know how deeply the commanders looked into it
You know I think they were just sort of scouring the earth and
Doing their research and you know
We'll see the depths of it and whether they were actually making phone calls directly to him
Which is where it could get interesting you know the whole tampering situation is fascinating to me because a couple weeks ago
Jonathan Ganon the new Cardinals head coach and the Cardinals got popped for tampering
With Ganon while he was still with the Eagles during Super Bowl week and breaking those rules well the league let the Eagles handle that
Essentially directly with the Cardinals and they worked our compensation on their own
So if it comes to a point where tampering was clear
Would the Colts try to work directly with Washington to create some sort of reward?
Or penalty for for them chasing down Andrew Luck if they did
That to me will be interesting or does the league handle it at their own discretion with Commissioner Roger Goodell of all the things that
are on the plate of Goodell
Including the impending sale of the commanders is this something that's he's going to pursue
It doesn't seem like a big deal at all
But Air says decided to make it a deal and a lot of people are running with it partially because there's not a hell of a lot
Else going on in the NFL right now. All right coming up Scott McClellan former GM of the then Redskins with Algaldi yesterday
a couple of interesting things
Including what he thinks of the commander's pick a manual Forbes will get to that and more as we continue
It's the Andy Poland show ESPN 630
The Andy Poland show we got to go after this with everything we got they're gonna come with everything they got I'll start
I'm by saying I'm bored. I'm broke and I'm back the Andy Poland show on ESPN 630 starts
Right now continues right now starts at nine rolls through the 10 o'clock hour every day and sometimes through the 11 o'clock hour
Like today when we sit in for Tony most Tuesdays we talked to Max Kellerman
We'll talk to Max today at 10 20 about what we were just kicking around here if you're just jumping in your car
but the idea of
Braun and
Bronnie or I don't call him Braun but LeBron and Bronnie
Playing together first-time father and son duo in the NBA and and what do you do if you're sitting at the top of the draft and
Bronnie has declared knowing that if you get him you also get dad and dad is still performing at a high level as he did last
Night putting in almost 43 minutes in the Lakers win over Golden State with 27 points nine rebounds six assists and a block
in in the Lakers going up three games to one in that series and
And as I said to
To Rex during the break
Cream played until he was 42 at 41. He was still good. He's still that good now cream played that long
Because he made some really bad business investments. You know he needed the money
It's not the case for LeBron here. He's could be a billionaire. Who knows?
This isn't about money. This is about legacy and this is about continuing to play at this level and
He's able to do it because a he's a great talent one of the greatest talents to ever come along in sports
Not just the NBA
But I've read where he said he spends two million dollars a year on his body just just making sure that it's in tip-top shape
People didn't used to do that. You know a Korean kept himself in shape. Obviously. He was always very thin
But I don't think he had an army of people to make sure that you know
Everything he ate was was right and and all the all the stretching that he did was perfect and all the workouts that he did
It's just different different time. So
LeBron at 38 could he play till he's 41 42? Yeah, he probably could it would be as good as he is now
I don't know. I mean Kareem fell off the table pretty quickly by the time he did retire. It was time to retire
but I don't know I think somebody would reach for him and I I know a
certain owner who also owns a hockey team and a TV network here that that might be interested because
Remember it was Ted who delivered Michael Jordan to a Poland. He wanted that to happen
I don't know if he thought I guess he thought there was a possibility that he would play
But the aura around Jordan was so strong at that time
That people thought oh if he just shows up he can produce winners well as we found out
Air Jordan is a lot better than desk Jordan desk Jordan pretty much a disaster air Jordan
Great great is and then even here really good good enough to fill the arena every night and and to win 37 games
Both years that he played he did create some excitement. It ended terribly
a Poland basically threw him out the door, but but it was a it was a
It was an interesting couple of years and and for
But at that time the capital one arena which was which was new it didn't open until
1997 December of 1997 so the early 2000s
It was not necessarily a destination place for caps fans
who had gotten used to going to the capital center and he breathed life into that into that arena at that time and
LeBron coming here, which is a dead place or Lando, you know someplace like that
Yeah, might might really make a difference. Okay. Let's get to football here
Scott McCloughan was the general manager of the Redskins for a couple of years and
this made a lot of sense because
Bruce Allen running the draft and running player personnel was not a good idea
So they thought okay, let's let's bring this guy in now
He had had problems with alcohol in the past that talked about it openly
Had said that he was controlling his alcohol problem with beer, which okay that that raised some eyebrows, but
You know he had never been in any kind of real trouble
Because of it he'd been a part of Seattle
Helping to build a Super Bowl team there. He had been in San Francisco
Building a team that went to a Super Bowl and he built the team here and did a really good job picking up street-free agents that year in
2015 I believe the 2015 season when they made the playoffs with Kirk Cousins and
I thought he did a really good job
He lasted one more year and then we started hearing some things that were leaking out and who knows who they were leaked by
But I have a good suspect in Bruce Allen that oh, yeah his drinking is really a problem
He's showing up at the facility drunk and they they totally embarrassed him by not letting him go to the combine
they they made up some cockamamie story about his hundred-year-old grandmother dying and she had died like a month before and
He and he was in so much grief
He couldn't go to the combine because of that and and then they tried to cover it out by giving Jay Gruden a contract extension
That same weekend like let's deflect the news, you know typical
Commanders Tom Foolery they were not even the commanders then they were still the Redskins and
McLuhan to his credit has never ripped the organization. He did sue for his money
I don't believe he got it. I think they were able to determine that he was fired with cause
Because of the alleged drinking that took place, but he's he's still in the business
He he advised his teams on scouting
I think he was an excellent scout and and I think by and large did a very good job here
But you know, that's how it never really ends well here
That's that's really the lesson of the the 24 years of dance night or ownership
It it may start well it never ends well and it didn't end well for Scott McLuhan, but he is again
Never ripped the organization. So on Algaldy's podcast. He was on yesterday and and one of the things that Mcluhan has said that he learned from his mentor Ron
Wolf who was the general manager of the Packers when they got Brett Favre and a trade from Atlanta is
That you always take a quarterback in the draft
You don't get through the draft without drafting a quarter of a week
You may take him in the seventh round
But you take one and you develop him and if he's good
He could become your starting quarterback or you trade him away you trade him away for draft capital you and you know
What quarterbacks are worth that investment is like, you know, growing money
So Matt Hasselback was taken by the Packers
He went on to a great career in the NFL
Mark Brunel was taken by the Packers when they had far they developed him and they traded him away for draft capital and
I believe in that philosophy 100%
this this team during the late 90s was decent only because
Charlie Casserly the general manager of the team after drafting Heath Schuler
Which proved to be one of the biggest busts in NFL history?
He was taken number three overall in the seventh round. They took Gus Farat Gus Farat wasn't great
but he was a pro ball alternate one year and
And and kept this team
Respectable when he when he played here for a few years and had a you know a journeyman career in the NFL played 11 12 years
And it turned out to be a great pick. I again would have taken a quarterback
So Goli asked Mclew and yesterday
Did they make a mistake because you know they could have taken one in the second round one of the one of the top quarterbacks?
And and chose not to take one at all
Did they make a mistake doing that?
Deciding to stay with Sam how he discussed that plus what he thought of the selection of a manual Forbes in the first round
Personally, I'll take quarterback. Yes, but early no if they're really happy with Sam
Yeah, and that's really cool for them because that's that's a tough spot to find you know position wise
And if you feel good with the young guy with the contract you have on hand
More they took him power to you because you got success ahead of you hopefully
I
Last year asked you about Sam Howell you said that you liked them if Sam had been in this year's draft
Where would you have had him ranked among the quarterbacks in the draft?
You know what probably up there if the tier one guys, you know because I really liked it from standpoint of just
The person just the competitor the football player the toughness he had you know now
He saw in the senior year or his last year college that you know
He ran twice as much as he ran a year before and of course
He had the better receivers here before and had the better running back here before but still he showed what he can do
With the talent around him, you know and had success and had a really good, you know
Success two years ago when he was in college his last year
It was just he was on the run, you know and he proved that he would compete and not back now
And I think that shows what you want in a franchise quarterback just from the mindset
And now let's see how we do go forward because he's still really young
Sam Howell of course is only played at one NFL regular season game
Although he did do pretty well in that game
Can you see Sam doing well as the commander starting quarterback this coming season? I
Can again because you know the talents the talents, you know, and there's a lot of core facts to control the ball
Run do all the kinds of stuff, but it's the intangibles that take you from being average to good good degree great to special
And I think he has it now. I don't know personally and I wish I did so I can really answer that question
But I think he has that it's factor that he can take the next step. That's all you're looking for. That's all you're looking for
All right, so to the commander's picks in the 2023 draft the team in taking a manual Forbes with that number 16 overall pick
Clearly had him as at worst the number two corner in the draft given that only one other corner had been taken
Illinois corner debited with her spoon at number five by the Seattle Seahawks the commanders
Liking Forbes more than they liked Oregon corner Kristen Gonzalez who was taken at 17 by the New England Patriots
And who had been widely viewed as at worst the number two corner in the draft
Do you agree with the commanders in liking Forbes over again solace?
100% just on the standpoint of all skills. I was taught very young my career that you know DB's are DB's
Safety's corners, whatever, you know cover corners press corners physical corners. That's all that's all great
Ball skills change the game
Every every game if you're if you're the lockdown corner
They're gonna come at you one or two times if for some reason yet 13 picks was six touchdowns in his college career
I've scouted almost 30 years. I'm never thinking like it
You know and we'd have to Richard Sherman when I was in that a Seattle and because we love his ball skills
Love his link love this, you know the fact that
He can add them not out 10 times. He's gonna catch the ball himself, you know, so I think with Forbes you have that
Which is excellent, but you have to worry about your ability you have to and he's not that he back down from contact
He doesn't want to it's just physically can you hold up? It's 17 games. Hopefully 19 20 games, you know, and that's a long season and
He's just not physically
Built to last but doesn't mean he can't you know, I mean he's got pick and choose when must be physical
But he has excellent cover skills excellent athlete excellent ball skills. That's a game changer
I think it's a really good pick. Okay, so he likes that at at number at the first round and he's he's sort of on board with
How but again, I I agree with the philosophy of taking a quarterback every year in the draft
And if you don't have room for him you trade him away and you you'd beef him up a little bit with the play in the preseason
Get other teams interested in him. I think that makes the most sense. Anyway, uh with all of that
This is the Mclew and forecast for the commanders and what they will do this year
I think they're a wild card team this year because I think they could be pretty thing good now
It's a tough division
But I last few years. I really like their drafts now like the personnel people have a love that coach
I mean, just you know, I think players will play for him and I know people interviewed him before for a head job
And just so what a special guy, you know, give you you pull something you want him to win because he says a good guy for the players
That's tough. It's tough to get that relationship and I think he has that I think it's gonna be a good year
I'm telling you I think it's
Look out. God boys. Look at how it goes
You know now a hundred percent is gonna depend on Sam a hundred percent
I get it, you know, and there's gonna be good days and bad days for you on quarterback. No matter what and I just I've seen them I lived through
Um, you know with Brad with Alex new type stuff and it's just you got a little bit now
What he showed in the one game he did play and
Incidentally that he could produce and then I'm school. It makes really nice throws down the field which is excellent
It's just it's gonna make him now. You just hope it takes next step. I think his
In fact you're in his body and his mind. He'll do that. I really do
Scott mccluen a former gm of the red skins still in the scouting business. I guess if you hate the organization
You're better off predicting that they're going to do well
Rather than they're going to stink because you put a little bit more pressure on not that you know people are parading around
Scott mccluen's picks, but uh, he was treated very badly by the organization very badly
And uh, I wish him well. He seemed like uh seemed like a decent guy doing a good job. All right, um
This is uh, this is something you had to be concerned about
The way that the gambling has entered sports
And it's uh, it's starting to to rear its ugly head. We had the alabama baseball coach
Brad bohannon who was fired last week. There was suspicious betting on a game last month against lsu
And there was a reason to believe that he was actually talking to the person who had made a large bet that was flagged
Now the university of iowa has announced that
26 athletes across five sports baseball football men's basketball men's track and field and wrestling and one full-time employee of the athletic department are
suspected of wagering on sports iowa state
Acknowledged that 15 of its athletes across three sports football wrestling track and field are suspected of violating gambling rules
nc. double a rules prohibit athletes coaches and staff from betting on amateur collegiate and professional sports in which the nc
double a
Conduction championship athletes cannot bet on nfl games even if state laws
Would legally allow them to do so if they weren't competing under nc double a rule
So it's you know, it's kind of fuzzy and I can understand if you're a college kid and you're bombarded
With draft kings commercials and and other betting sites saying come one come all get in
You know, your your your bed is free if one team makes a three point shot you win
Yeah, I mean that's that's kind of natural that and it's easy to do on your phone. Why wouldn't you do it?
And you don't really you know, i'm sure they're told by their coaches by their administrators
Oh, you can't do it, but they're gonna do it and this is this is something that's gonna be a big problem for the nc double a
It's gonna cause legalize gambling go away. Hell no. No, this is a money train
But it's gonna be too bad for a lot of athletes who are gonna I think lose eligibility
Um because of this and I don't really know what you do about it, but for years
The nc double a treated gambling like the third rail. Oh, oh no
No
And now oh there's cash wait a minute wait a minute and and you can you can bet on college baseball games
Well, it's it's you know, it's it's a little bit different than the nc double a especially now with with nil
You'd have to give significant money for basketball players to shave points not that you couldn't do it
But but the amount that you can now bet legally with these sites
Doesn't really allow you to to make a big enough wager to make it worth your while
to uh to to
Although you I guess you could make multiple bets in multiple places, but it doesn't it doesn't really lend itself the way
It did with illegal gambling like if you read about the point shaving scandals that took place not just in the 1950s at ccn
Why but boston college had one where a couple of players went to jail because that um if you look at those those situations
Uh, they they were really vulnerable and they still are but the legalization of it at least
Allows these things to be flagged so when they happen they can see it the problem is for these athletes and they're you know
All these college baseball players then we're gonna make any money playing baseball
They may get a shot in the minor leagues, but the majority of them will never see any money at all
And to make a few dollars with uh with you know, whatever they have to do to shave runs
I guess in this in this situation
It's uh, it's it's a dangerous thing
Iowa is among the 33 states that launched legal betting markets the past five years
Since a decision from the supreme court struck down the federal statute that had restricted
Regulated sports gambling primarily in nivata so it's it's legal there
It's all legal there, but if you're an athlete at one of the state schools, Iowa, Iowa state
You can't do it and if you get caught that could be the end of your college career too bad
Talk to uh max kelerman coming up about i want to talk to him about the labron brani situation as we continue
But max kelerman is next on the anti-pollage show espian 630
The
Andy poland show on esp n 630 the sports capital
Your max kelerman every morning here on esp n 630 kj m and you see him every afternoon on espian as uh, he does
He does his show this just in on television
And uh, I believe max we're in week three of elevator hell right the elevator is still out in the building
They fixed it. Oh, they actually fixed it. They somehow did it
But listen to this had this solution not worked. You know what I was told it was going to be
15 weeks
Wow, it was as it was a couple of weeks right but 15 weeks
Do you think god that's all I could say do you have a tenants association in that building?
No, not exactly. It's a condo. I don't make me go into the details
If I should say it will not be 15 weeks. I am taking the elevator again
I was just going to say I mean you're a well-known media personality
And if you if you wanted to make this a thing with other residents in the building you you probably could have
Correct. Yeah, I
Matter fact I started to do it on the radio and guess what I guess what I got
I got a key in j pushing back against me supporting the
The building manager. Oh the big jocks that that oh you can handle eight flights of steps right? Oh, yeah
Yeah, no, no, no, mainly it's just to make my life miserable. I see that's the main thing
They saw I was unhappy and they were the you know wanted to keep it that way. Okay
Issue number two before we get to the NBA
Jim Harbaugh yesterday bemoaned the fact that he doesn't see kids in his neighborhood cutting their lawns
And he with a $10 million a year salary cuts his own lawn. It occurs to me
I know you lived in LA for a while, but you're mainly a city kid. Have you ever cut a lawn?
I barely know what a lawn is
I know I I I have cut a lawn
When I was a kid my grandmother my mother's mother
lived in
Uh, Bethel, Connecticut my grandparents. Yeah, so I have helped out there at times and thought it was a lot of fun
Actually as a kid. Yeah, but uh never as an adult
And uh, you know, look at a problem. I'm a very busy man. You know, you are no no
And I have a fan that and even if you had a lawn with with your schedule with a television and a radio show every day
I would not expect you to cut the lawn and and your exposure to lawn cutting was it was a once in a while fun thing
For those of us who grew up in the suburbs. It was it was a chore, but uh, I
Can tell you yeah, I've lived I have had houses with lawns right in LA
I have a house on Long Island for like, you know summers and stuff like that
And and I can tell you that I do not cut those lawns
But even moving into a house when you grew up in New York City and apartment building
There are all kinds of stuff you have no idea
Gutters and things and leaks and you got no idea basement who knew yeah
Well, some some people don't even have cars. They do what do you mean change the oil? What's what's that all about? Yeah, so cars
You know what I knew had a car growing up really is that right?
Huh
So I grew up I grew up in the city. No one had a car
So so whenever like outside the city I knew some people but none of my friends had like cars, you know
Right, but uh like for example when I was a kid if you if you had a baseball game or football game somebody
Father would drive and we'd all jump in the car you guys would what all get on the subway or the bus to go where you
Okay. Yeah, you get on the train you get on the subway and and uh
And if you if you got a few dollars you could take a cab or you get a bus sometimes depending on if the subway couldn't get you there
But even leaving the burrows leaving if you went to from in hat and you go to queens or brooklyn or the brocks
That's a little bit of an excursion. Almost no one ever went to statin island
And if you went to jersey, it was like, you know a whole uh weekend
This would make a good podcast city kid versus suburban kid all the things we learn about each other's culture
That's good. All right, uh, let's get to this this LeBron story
I'm sure you've spent a lot of time on it and uh and we're talking about as well brawny is going to go to usc
And let's say brawny is pretty good. Let's say he's a 12 to 15 point of game scorer
He declares for the nba draft and knowing that you're going to get lebron for at least one year
Maybe two years. How high would you jump up to take him?
Well, it depends on my situation but and depends on what lebron's playing like at the time
But you know as high as me be if lebron is still let's look going into these playoffs
Lebron had come back to the pack but it was unclear to me
That he maybe he was still the best player in the world who knows and by best player in the world
I mean you everyone's available who you're taking it's playoff time. Who do you want on your team? Right?
And you could still argue lebron, are they supposed to be up three one on the warriors and having already
Gone through men without even men just taking them the distance, you know, so
If lebron is still some version of this where during the regular season he's a top 10 player
And which doesn't matter to me almost then once the playoffs start in other words once the actual games the count start
He's maybe the best player in the world if he's even 80 90 percent of that
Would I jump way up and take brawny? Of course?
Absolutely would say nothing of the fact that
Bronnie's pretty good. You know who knows how good he's gonna turn out to be pretty good
Yeah, he's pretty good
He's not though even the the top recruit in his class at usc and is not you know one of the top point guards in the country
But he's eating you're right he's good
And the question is about how good is lebron because that's really what's going to determine how high you take him not necessarily unless you know
Bronnie has an incredible breakout year. That's really going to determine how high you take brawny how good is lebron?
But it's also like what really makes lebron incredible
Basically, obviously six feet he's basically crawl Malone, but with
Inking guard five positions or at least once could and can still by way playing good defense when he's needed to in this series
And and you know has has everything you want in a player
But what separates him really is the basketball IQ
When you put that basketball IQ in a hard worker with all those forget about it
So even if brawny doesn't have the physical attributes the IQ alone could make him an excellent nda player
Like we can't I don't think you can
Overlook the pedigree here. So uh, yeah, I would depending on how brawny develops if he's nda worthy and lebron can still play
I would jump all the way up to get him sure. Yeah, I would too
I you know and and because even you know the top pick in the draft is still
Something of a crapshoot. We've seen plenty of boss including the one we had here in quamie brown
You know, what's what's the big risk? What what is it?
You may be passing up a sure thing, but you you may not there's no as far as we know
There's no victor wombe and yama coming out next year, right or maybe somebody will emerge like that
The other thing is I was in dc for the quamie for quamie, right?
Like I was there in 2000. What was that? I guess two or three one two thousand one. Yeah
Right, but then he was still there in two thousand two or three exactly with jordan
Right and and I was in the locker room a lot that you went to a lot of games a lot of home games and
jordan had a deleterious effect on quamie the trajectory of quamie's career in my opinion
He was very like jordan was probably the wrong guy for quamie to go to you know horses for courses
So even a guy like quamie who is considered a bust you put him in the right situation
Who knows by the way he had a productive career afterwards
Just wasn't the number one pick in the draft level productive, right?
But when he got out of that situation it got better. So I you know now you take a guy like brawny who
um
As I said the pet agree the what you would have presumed would be the iq especially by then
And you put him in the right situation, which one would assume he would be if labrong was there and who knows?
Yeah, I I 100 agree and and I know that also there's the the level of waking up a dead franchise
Uh, which michael jordan did here even though he wasn't the same michael jordan when he played and you know
I was saying like let's say or elando has the number one pick you get labrong for two years
That that's going to put you franchise on the map which has been nowhere since shacked right there
Yeah, minimize his risk you're right unless there's an obvious
He's going to be an excellent mva player guy available to you right you know for a fact
You're going to get at least a year of an excellent mva player in labrong plus the upside of bran
So so depending on where you're picking and who's available it may make just an act a lot of sense
You know rationally in terms of the basketball of it all to do it
Talking to max kelerman you hear him every morning on esp n 630 every afternoon
He's on tv on this just in and uh, he has said that he has given up a lot of his nix
Because of his distaste for james dolan but
Uh the nix right now are still in the playoffs and they're kind of on the brink after losing last night
What did you make of of julius randal calling out his teammates for effort after the loss last night
J j will really hated it on the air this morning. I felt like that's julie
I didn't hate it. I felt like that was julius randal's way of saying look
You know, we all have to look in the mirror
If they're outmanned really if they're dealing with guys who you know of the pleated roster
And they're still beating us like this. Maybe they want it more than us. We have to ask ourselves
I don't mind because he's including himself in that group
And and what else could it be?
Right like he's he's going to the thing that's kind of hardest to admit it doesn't bother me that he said that um
the nix
You might sit say they're underachieving except the he just did this to the box
Maybe if I hadn't seen it against the box it would look bad
Because the nix looked like they were maybe a little better than the heat considering the injuries to the heat
but um
They're playing a team that might wind up in the finals for the second time in four years by the way
Yeah, you know
And I don't think anyone looked at this mix team like yes, this is the finals team
So the nix had a very very good season by the standards of the jimp jim dolan era, which has been a disaster
You know 20 years now. This is an incredible season for the nix and happily for the franchise
They're in a position where they still have some there're gonna be some forks in the road
They have to make the right decisions. Maybe get a little lucky
But they're in a healthier position than they've been going forward in probably a decade or two
You know this this calling out goes both ways if they come back and they win the series he's a hero
Oh, yeah, he got his his teammates going by rallying him if they lose the series
Some will say oh look at the dissension look at what what randal exposed there by by questioning the efforts of his teammates
And I think it's all determined at least with my opinion. It's determined whether or not they win the series
Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing
It doesn't seem to me to be Julius's team though. It seems to me to be jaylin bronson's sure and he was great
I think yeah, he's the best player. He's the leader
He's the positive influence in the locker room. You saw what happened when he left dallas. He's he's the guy
so I you know, I
I think Julius randal saying that is a veteran
um
One of the top veteran players on a team, but it's a little different
I don't think it's his team. That's so even if you disagree with the kind of methods
I don't think it means quite as much as if it had come from someone like from jaylin bronson. Okay. Yeah, and I I would agree
That the other thing is is about this series and and really the the playoffs as a whole
Is the stark difference between the regular season and the post season and the poster child for that is jimmy butler
I mean, it is is he worthy of any criticism for not performing at this level in the regular season or
Is it just that he's got that ability to step it up to another level and should be patted on the back for taking it to a higher level
on the playoffs
No, he's got another gear and it's not like he doesn't put a lot of effort in normally he does jimmy butler is the rarest of
Of athletes who's able to elevate under pressure from an already high level. I I once did like a dante's inferno
Of clutch hell right like from the top to the bottom
The the top most category the most clutchiest kind of person you could be is
Michael jordan or mariano ruevera like mariano ruevera has the the all-time leader in whip walks and hits the innings pitch
For all pitchers who ever had over a thousand innings pitch in major league history
He he's but he has the lowest whip he's the best
And he did it as the kind of a skinny
Guy in an era of steroids and in hitters parks and the al east that whole thing right amazing
Um
Like I think it no sorry it was adjusted era adjusted era
And in the playoffs in 140 innings
His adjusted era is or era is one third of what it was in the regular season
Right. Well, the clutchiest you can be is you're the best ever clearly and under pressure
You somehow get significantly better jordan was the same way right then you can go down a level to
You're maybe the greatest ever and you just stay the same in the under pressure
I would think darik jeter tom brady coby brian basically were that they were always excellent and under pressure
They remained excellent and people can confuse that for the top level for the jordan ruevera level because it seems like they're incredible in the clutch
Because they're always incredible
But it's not like they actually get better in the clutch
And then there's a level I think that jimmy butler's on which is like the kurt chilling for nendo valance wellah level
This guy is excellent. He's an all star. They're better players than him, but he's normally excellent
But under pressure he becomes an all-time great. That's jimmy butler. Yeah, you can't you can't knock a guy for that. It's incredible
You know for all ola bronze greatness
That would be the one thing that he has been criticized for that and at times not all the time
But at times he has shrunk from the moment and and these guys what you're talking about they step
The ruevera thing is really incredible in that he was known as the hammer of god for the regular season too
So to take it to another level in the playoffs is unbelievable
You know jordan did the same thing jordan's p.m. Is the greatest of all all the end lit if everything pop jordan
Regular season best step in the playoffs. He's demonstrably statistically better from now
Right. I was that don mattingly about this
When he was manager of the dodgers because I watched him when he was on the Yankees of the kid
And I said, you know you got to the playoffs once and tore it up
You know what I've heard people say, you know, I just stay the same under pressure
But that doesn't explain. Well how you got better? How did you get better?
He said he said he thinks it does explain it and that while he stayed the same
He recognized that the pitcher might not right defense may not and you can exploit that
Yeah, I think that's true
And I think yeah as as much as butler steps it up the pressure is greater on those who are guarding him
So that's why the numbers are somewhat like they are that there's so much better in the postseason
That's a great point. Hey, uh, I'm glad you got your elevator back and uh and we'll talk next week
Thanks, Andy. Thank you. That's uh max kelerman. You have every morning here on esp had 630 and uh good good
So that stuff on revera's is incredible and that it also includes the one time that at least I can remember him failing
Was in that incredibly dramatic game seven in 2001 the 9 11 year where he gave up the game winning hit in game seven
Against the arizona diamondbacks as uh as the diamondbacks were able to uh to win that series
That's uh, that's that's good stuff. All right, uh, oh we do have more commercials here at the end than I thought so oh, we'll wrap this up now
Uh, tony is back tomorrow and thursday will be in for him on friday
Thanks to rex mintern for running the show thanks to max kelerman for being on as he is most tuesday's
Enjoy the rest of the day and I will see you back here tomorrow morning at 9am