Local Hour: Left to Right on Your Radio Dial
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What does Zinn give you? Not just smoke-free nicotine satisfaction, but real freedom. Freedom to do what you love and choose your rewards. With Zinn Rewards, you can redeem points for premium tech, outdoor gear, and gift cards to your favorite retailers. Find your Zinn and keep finding rewards that fit your lifestyle at zinn.com slash rewards.

Warning. This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. This is the Dan Levitar Show with the Stugatz Podcast. Happy Friday. NBA Finals wasted no time getting going. Road Team won immediately, so let's not waste time. Jonathan Zaslow. Yo. Tony.

In the shipping container. Roy. In the shipping container. Chris Cody. Roll call. In the shipping container. An unbelievable start to the NBA Finals. Unbelievable start to the NBA Finals. Tyrese Halliburton is now 13 of 15 in shots in the final two minutes to either tie or go ahead. That is insane. There is a million insane stats. Another improbable victory by the Indiana Pacers. I am falling in love with this team. Hmm.

I think OKC, I know a lot of people are going to be like, don't be hyperbolic. It's the NBA Finals. These things happen. But if you want to pick any stat that might be damning, it would be that Indiana had 17 more turnovers in this game, 16 fewer shots in this game, and they won it at OKC. Izzy, I know you were listening. Zaz, I know you were driving down and you were listening to the game on the radio. I'm curious your perspective there.

But is this sustainable for the Indiana Pacers? Do we legitimately have a series or was that a fluke? Well, game one's always the tough one. You don't really know what it was, especially after some of that off time for OKC. But I will say in the first half, you're watching that game and saying like, yeah, OKC does play good defense, but it was a good defense.

But it was just terrible offense. It was just... And I blame the Knicks for this, or credit the Knicks, however you want to say this. Indiana had such an easy time. Tyrese Halliburton could have 15 assists and no turnovers, just jumping in the air and then deciding where to pass it to. Against this team, every pass is contested, and they just seem to not recognize that early on. And then you look at the scoreboard, it's like...

It's a 12-point game. OKC should be up 30. Do not mess with this team. And then by the end, you look at the stats, and they shot 46% from three, the Pacers did. And so, yeah, you stay in close enough. You get, and this is the other part when I knew something was up, when Nembhardt in one play turned into Allen Iverson and just went whack, whack, whack between the legs, step back three. I was like, they're definitely coming back now. How fun is that guy? He's just so aggressive all the time, becoming a superstar. Zazz. Former Gator. Halliburton.

Burton had a really difficult time. This game was played within a 12-point spread for the entirety. In fact, the Indiana Pacers only led for three-tenths of a second in that game. It's the final three-tenths of a second. And the Thunder's biggest lead was in the fourth quarter as well, 15th. But Indiana seemed to have an answer, and it wasn't choking the game away. We were talking about this before. Indiana just made the shots down the stretch. Yeah, it felt similar to me, like when Indiana did the thing to New York in Game 1.

New York didn't blow that game. Two missed free throws. But it wasn't like Cleveland in that game two, I think it was, where they never crossed half court in the final minute of the game. They're throwing the ball away. No, I mean, like the Knicks, they missed shots and the Pacers made shots. And the same thing last night. The Thunder, they missed some shots and the Pacers, they made all their shots. It was a 32 to 16 run.

After it was 94-79 with like eight minutes left, it was the biggest lead of the game by 15. And yeah, I was listening to the game. By the way,

When's the last time you listened to an entire game? Basketball, football, baseball. Mike Inglis says. The entire game. It was the Miami no-kneel against Georgia Tech. I was listening to Joe Z because I was in the car and I could, for whatever reason, ESPN Plus. The last quarter. You got to do it there. I'm talking about the whole. I listened to the whole game last night. When's the last time? I know exactly the last time. In your 20, 25 hour lord. When is the last time you listened to the whole game?

Game 7, the 1997 World Series. The 90s. I was driving back to the previous century. You didn't see Renteria? Dave Van Horn. I was driving back to college, to the University of Florida. I think you went there, Zaz. I did. No, he went to Santa Fe. Nope, I did not do that.

Izzy, did you have to change stations as you got north? Constantly. It was a crackle all the time. Right, right. And so when we got to the bottom— On that drive to Gainesville, you get radio stations from New York and Cleveland. Yeah. That's 80.9. And then I got to a certain point, because there was two people in the car with me. They didn't give a shit about baseball. Two people in the car with me, and it was starting to get really bad. So I was like, I'm sorry. I'm pulling over here to listen to the bottom of this inning. And it was the Renteria hit. That's hardcore. That's hardcore.

So I listened to the whole game last night. I drove back all day yesterday from North Carolina. We can get to the reason why coming up if you want. But literally every time, you know, you look at the screen in your car and it always has the score now. The entire game. The Thunder Up 11. The entire game. Yeah. On your radio dial, were they going left to right? Left to right on your radio dial? Yeah, I don't think it's a thing.

a thing that they say anymore. I was listening to ESPN radio. Zagaki always does. Kessie didn't say it? No, Kessie was not having me go left to right. Go left to right on your radio dial. I need to know where they're going. I always need to know. You mentioned that they went down 15. The Indiana Pacers are 5-3 this postseason when they go down 15. That's insane. It's the most

comebacks of that variety in NBA history. It's funny because with like three minutes left, it was a seven point game or a nine point game. And Marques de Scher, voice of the NBA on ESPN Radio, was fantastic. He makes the note, this is the time of the game where I have to tell you that the Pacers have come back X amount of times down by seven with under three minutes play. I'm like, all right, this is the Thunderbirds.

But to answer your question, Mike, if it's sustainable, if they can keep doing this, I don't really see why not. Because as the game went along, you would imagine the defense would maybe get better. The defense would lock in. The Pacers offense got better. The Pacers seemed like the team that early on were a little bit sort of off because of the NBA finals, felt some of the pressure. You don't want to do that where they're nervous, but it seemed like they were nervous. Halliburton was also in the torture chamber.

He was. I mean, he was clearly affected, but I didn't think that Indiana had the type of supporting cast to help Tyrese Halliburton. Well, then T.J. McConnell checked in the game, you know. That guy always does something. You mentioned you were listening to the radio call. You probably had the wrong language because the Korean radio call of that game-winning shot, which there's a still.

Obi Toppin would have really increased the value of my top shot. There were so many wide open Indiana pacers, but Tyrese Halliburton was not letting anybody else take this shot. And this is what it sounded like in Korea. Wow!

There's a stat. Those Koreans know how to call basketball. Teams trailing by seven, which I don't believe this stat. Teams leading by seven in the final three minutes were 121-0.

In what, finals games? In the postseason. I don't believe that just because I feel like I've seen the Indiana Pacers come back from that deficit multiple times. Yeah, well, they're now the one in the 1-121 stat. Unbelievable team. This team...

For an underdog team, they play into all those tropes. Never quit, never stop fighting. The win probabilities that they've come back from, we're talking not just single digits, we're talking percentage points. It's unbelievable what Indiana has done. Rick Carlisle, if he gets this one done,

We're talking one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, I think. And he would be at the helm of two of the largest NBA finals upsets in NBA history. We got to start looking at him different if he holds on to this one. Can the win probability be 1% if I've seen it happen five times in the last three weeks? Win probability is the most useless thing. It's just like such a made up thing. This is 99.99. It's like, well, I've seen it happen three times in the last two weeks. It's a dude called Elias. Like, what was the win probability on that?

It feels like a 30 percenter. Yeah, it really is just someone in a room and say, what do you think the probability is? 98.6. It's just setting up the possibility that it could be a good finish. That's it. It's just a random number. Oh, wow, 99% of the teams have won here. Okay, something different might happen. Mike, can you go back to the start of the show? You ratted off a couple of stats. You said 17. What were those stats? Do you have them off the top of your head again? Not off the top of my head. This is courtesy of Ryan Cortez. Indiana had...

By way of Andrew Grief. Is it Grafe or Grief? I think it's Grafe. Indiana had 17 more turnovers than OKC and 16 fewer field goal attempts and won. And to me, that is the single biggest stat in terms of an indicator in this NBA Finals projecting the rest of the way. One thing you guys haven't said out of that. So 17-16, the Pacers also out-rebounded Oklahoma City by 17.

So if you look at that, you look across and say, wait a second, how did they do this? They're turning over the ball 30 times in a game, 19 in the first half. They ended up with, I think, six or seven in the second half. They're not taking as many shots. Where is the offense coming from? Oh, they out-rebounded them by 17. You know what helped in the out-

rebounding them at 17? Chet playing 23 minutes and Hartenstein playing 17 minutes. And is that a Rick Carlisle thing? That's a Dagonall thing. A Dagonall thing where he started off with Case and Wallace? That's the first sign where I was just like, wait a second, man. Why were they adjusting to Indiana? You are the dominant 60-something win team. You've got the MVP. They're 80-something and 18.

What are you doing changing your starting lineup? You change your lineup to us. We're not changing our lineup to you. Exactly. That's the first sign where I was like, that is kind of strange. But then look at Chet Holmgren's minutes. Look at his line. Look at Jalen Williams' line. And it's like...

Those two shouldn't be allowed to wear the same clothes in that commercial anymore. Like they need to re-edit that commercial because they are not on the same page. That is not a big three. That is a big solo artist with a couple of helpers there. And Chet, I owe Cat an apology because I thought that in this series, Chet would be the version of Cat that we all wanted to see in that series. No wasted stuff, just catch and shoot. Maybe be some sort of a deterrent at the rim. And instead, he gives you nothing.

Well, the issue is nobody was at the rim for him to guard, right? Like, that's, I think, the issue where Dagonal's looking across and saying, okay, Myles Turner doesn't play like a traditional big. He's a post guy from, like, the elbow down. He made some big shots for that pull-up. And then he's got the pick and pop game. So you're going to have Chet basically out at the three-point line. There's going to be no rim protector. They've got Siakam, who's kind of floating everywhere else. There's no traditional big or a guy like a Jaden McDaniels, like a guy who you can

leave on an island and be like, all right, shoot threes. I don't care. Indiana has everybody that can shoot from one to five. Chet had that first drive against miles. And I said out loud in the living room, miles can't guard him. They should be able to do that all day long. He didn't have to, he didn't finish again. I don't think he finished again, trying to drive past him. Yeah. But he didn't get the opportunities. I'm really fascinated by how Rick Carlisle uses miles Turner. Um, it,

The rotations are very interesting, and it'll be curious to see the chess match between the coaches. And you were talking about Indiana maybe looked a little nervous, NBA Finals. But keep in mind, OKC is also trying to get over that hump. This is a first-time NBA Finals appearance for Dagonall. And Carlisle's been here before. He's a veteran. He's learned from his mistakes. It's curious, considering how Indiana choked so many games away against the Boston Celtics in the playoffs, and now they're on the opposite side of it.

having these improbable victories, being this team that you just cannot put away. They're a zombie team, Zaz. Yeah, and I would also say, you know, the idea that it's the finals and, you know, these things can happen. I don't think so. Like, I think what we saw last night, just think about...

How many times in recent memory in the finals does something crazy happen? It's not that common. Like last year, Celtics-Mavs, nothing crazy happened. The year before, Heat-Nuggets, nothing crazy happened. Like maybe you go back to 2022, that game four, right? Steph Curry kind of saved the Warriors against the Celtics in the second half. Like that was kind of crazy. Maybe you didn't expect that. I mean, then before that, Heat-Lakers in 2020. The Suns-Bucks final was weird.

uh like the final game in game six where yannis had the 51 you know the whole season that's weird that's like the most bastardized nba season people want to make fun of the bubble like right right you're after the bubble started in like december that was way more affected way more affected by covid but otherwise like what we saw last night that doesn't happen in the finals the

Finals are normally rather predictable games. - Yeah, well, basketball used to be predictable. Just in finals matchups. We never in our lives had to scan our brains like, what was the NBA finals matchup there? Because it usually was like a handful of teams. - Yeah, that was an all-timer last night. - Think about game six, Heat-Spurs 2013.

How over the game felt? Down five. Like you're down five with 30 seconds left. The Pacers could win by 10 if they're down five with 30 seconds left. 28.2. Sorry, 28.2, my mistake. We're going to have Amin Elhassan join us a little bit later. He was there, right? We're going to have him join us and set the table for us at what that looked like and perhaps preview what game two might look like because I actually think

I am going to knee jerk to this. I am going to be hyperbolic. That turnover stat was wild because that disparity between the teams and turnovers, I don't think that's going to be the case going forward in this series. And they just flat out, I don't want to say they stole the game because they earned this one, but they shocked everybody. And I think we definitely have a series. I mean, no question they stole home court advantage. And this is going to be a good one. Well, it started. Oh, get out of here. Look, worst case scenario. You don't like that? That cliche? No. Why?

It's the second worst cliche that the series hasn't started yet until the road team wins the game. The worst cliche is when a team goes up 2-0 and the series is over. That's the absolute worst. Get ready to learn that, pal, on Lord Stanley. Series hasn't started. Look, we obviously have a series because worst case scenario now.

You know, the Thunder win game two and game three. Worst case scenario, you're going to game four with the home team a win away from making it 2-2. And then you know you're locked into a long series, potentially seven. Like, this is a very, very juicy series. Can I ask Tony a question? Yes. No. All right, never mind. Let's move on. Damn. Hold the umbrella. Tony, when did the push-off become a move? Yeah.

Like, I was watching this one clip of SGA, and it was on the baseline, and it was, look how much separation SGA gets with this step back. The answer is Tatum.

Well, no. Is that when it happened? No, Michael Jordan. No, well... No, but it was so odd when Jordan did it. Everyone pointed it out. It's like, whoa, look what he did right there. He cheated. That one was even more of a push-off because it was, you know, here, take your hand. It was like a push-by almost. Right. But it wasn't a move. He was using the inertia and the momentum to cheat. What people have done... It's like judo. Yeah. Like, I'm going to use your...

It's like a Steven Seagal. You've seen that clip of Steven Seagal kicking all those people's asses, and he's not even really moving. You're like, hey, is this Reg? No, he just knows how to manipulate inertia. It used to be where...

the extension gets you the call. Full extension. Full extension gets you the call. But now, guys have just gotten so good at getting that thrust without the extension and really just pushing off and then creating the space. And to me, that's not a move. That is still an offensive foul. You're just using your own strength to push the guy off even if you don't extend all the way. It's the same thing. The same thing happens to

to Caruso when he had the and one, he clearly, I don't know if it was miles Turner, if it was Siakam or somebody else, he clearly went into it. The shoulder got bumped back and then made the end one. I'm going to answer that question by this is the same. The time that the push off became an absolute, you know, amazing move is the same time where you can do a travel with two steps. The step through is the other thing that's ruining basketball. Step back, turn three steps. So you go back. What? Where are you? What?

Howdy, folks. It's Mike Ryan. Now, if you've been listening to the show a lot lately, you've heard so much playoff talk. Playoff hoops down here in South Florida were especially enamored with playoff hockey. It's not just limited to the playoffs. Motorsports, tennis, golf. It's truly one of the best times ever.

in the sporting calendar. And with the weather outside warming up, it's just perfect to hop in a pool, maybe grill up some food, but most certainly crack open some Miller Lights. I just described a pretty perfect day, didn't I? And it culminates with Miller time. There's something about a perfect grilling day. The sun's out, friends show up, and that

Miller Lite.

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Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. Dan Levatard. I've never stepped foot on that campus. If you told me right now your life depends on it, go to Santa Fe University and just take a picture. Stugatz. I would die. I don't know where it is. This is the Dan Levatard Show with the Stugatz. Stugatz.

We're going to talk more NBA Finals with Amin in a little bit. We have an abbreviated show here. And, Roy, you got a big watch party tonight for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. Yeah. So I want to talk about this game and how nervous everybody is. But first, get your promo off. All right. The Hockey Show is hosting a live watch along at the Dead Flamingo. If you are in the area, you guys can come by and support us and watch the game with us. If you are not in the area, you can watch us.

online with us live. That's game two of the Stanley Cup final between the Panthers and the Oilers tonight at 8 o'clock. Chris Coding, hold your hand out. Let me see if it's shaking. You still? A little bit. It is shaking a little bit. It is shaking. I mean, I don't want it to be shaking. I feel like the Panthers have been here. I feel like the fan base is way more nervous about this than the players are. So that makes me feel better. You see this playoff beard? Yeah. You see this thick, luscious playoff beard on my chin? Yeah.

It's not going away. It's not going to go away if they go down 2-0. We've been here before. Oh, if we go down 2-0, I'm going to be soiling myself. The only time this thing leaves is if we go down 3-0, because then we're pulling the reverse move of what Edmonton failed to do last. At least we'll have that in our back pocket. If we were to go down 3-0 of, hey, maybe we'll just do what they did. I don't like how you're talking. 1-0 is nothing. I don't like how you're talking. Look, man, I want to put on a brave face right now, but...

Edmonton looks good. So do we. We win tonight, I'll be back. But right now, I'm a little scared. I'm going to be honest. Zaz, make me feel better. If their biggest issue is the

the Panthers looked kind of tired in the third period in overtime, they'll be fine. They'll get over that. They're not going to be tired. I just worry that we wasted, of these first two games, in my mind, it was going to be, hopefully we steal one, we probably get blown out one. And I'm fearing that we blew our chance at the close game and that this one, Zaz, make me feel better. Yeah, I don't see it that way at all.

I like when the Panthers start the series on the road. Which, by the way, these last three postseasons, almost every series they play, they start on the road. Well, not last year. Two out of three. Right, but the year before that, all of them, and in this year, also all of them. So I love when they start the series on the road. Because the way that I look at it is, do I think this Panther team can win one of the first three games?

And certainly I think they can win one out of three. And if that's the case, then okay. Then you have a game four at home with a chance to tie the game. That's right. I instantly feel a little better. I don't need to win one to three. Thank you for shifting the paradigm. But I'm talking about a Stanley Cup champion that only has to win one out of three for me to go into game four. Obvious pressure cooker. But at least I have confidence in my team in that spot. So I'm not getting crazy after the one loss. I will say...

That shit was devastating the other night. Like, I was... I was devastated. We had him. I was in North Carolina. I had been in North Carolina. You guys know...

God's country. I've been in North Carolina this past week, all right? I didn't think that my team needed me to start this series. So I'm watching the game on Wednesday night in the cabin in North Carolina. I felt good. They lose. I wanted to kick a hole in the television. But then I remembered, okay, I don't own this cabin. That's going to be costly. I shouldn't do that. But what happened was I ended the vacation early.

Nice. Power move. I ended the vacation early. That's right. The next day, which was yesterday, we were supposed to drive to Charleston, South Carolina. We had activities. We had excursions. Cancel them. We were going to stay overnight last night. We were supposed to come back today.

We got up in the morning. I said to my family, I said, we're going straight home today. And my wife's like, oh, what about Charleston? And my boy's like, oh, what about we're going to go see a dog? I go, what about the Panthers? What about the Panthers? And they saw the look in my eyes and they knew that.

All right, he's leading us. And they got in the car with me. We drove straight home. We didn't even stop. You have to pee. One stop. No bathroom. No stopping. One tank of gas. No stopping. I told my son, yeah, the gas tank, it's utilized a little bit. They want you to get more gas. You can drive straight through it. I told my 16-year-old son. He said he has to go to the bathroom. I said, you got an empty water bottle, right? What?

Yeah, that's right. He learned how to do that. We've all done it before. He learned how to do that in the backseat of the car. We drove... Never with the rest of the family in the car. Well, that was an experience. We drove... My younger son, after my older one peed in the bottom, my younger one looked at me, what the f***? Anyway, we drove straight through. We drove all the way home because... Why? Your team needed you. Because my team needed me. So I'm back, baby. All right, we're winning. We're winning. Roy, I haven't seen any...

possible adjustments. I don't know the lines. I haven't checked out daily face-off. Any adjustments from Paul Maurice here for game two? I know a lot of people are upset just because of the mistake the fourth line made. I gotta believe so. Um...

I haven't seen any lineup adjustments or anything like that. They haven't had more than Skate yet, so we'll see once they get on the ice. I can't imagine they would change anything. Like, calling for Nosek to not be in the lineup, come on. The fourth line's been very good. He made a bad mistake. I don't even know who you would place him. If you're going to place him with Greer or Sam Miskevich, those aren't centers. Or I guess Sturm, but Sturm's been bad in the playoffs. No, I think that's a misnomer. He's one of just a couple minuses on the team. Yeah, but he's often penalty-killing.

No, but you don't get plus or minus on special teams. Oh, really? No. No, no, no. Oh, really? Don't you feel like if it wasn't... You're not an idiot. I didn't know that. For real. Why wouldn't you?

Because it's not fair. Extra man. Okay. It's like in baseball. Sacrifice. It shouldn't count against you. All right. I get that. I did miss Kevin Stenland because Kevin Stenland would never shoot that puck. Yeah. He would give him one of these and one of those and he would never give them one of those dumb ass penalties over there. There's nothing to change. You don't think so? No. I mean, we have a pretty talented winger that's not dressing.

Yeah, but clearly the coach sees that he's not ready for this. He felt he wasn't ready for this in round one. This is Stanley Cup Finals now. What about Mackey for Jesper? I mean, isn't he one game away from having a great fill-in game for Reinhardt a couple games away? Yeah, but Jesper wasn't good in game one. I don't... He had a chance in overtime. I mean, there's a reason Sam Miscavige has not gotten in yet. That's how I feel. Is it defensive? There's a reason.

defensive. Also, he's young and you want to go in with experienced guys. But he's such a talent. The double rebound in the first goal, right? And then he had the one where he was screened a little by Sam. He still should have hung on to that one. To me, Bob has the typical game that he's got in this postseason. He was still really good. He was. But he could have been spectacular. But Skinner was better. Skinner was unbelievable. That second goal, the second goal, though, to me, which made it 3-2, that was the biggest moment of the game because

It literally gave us no time to just bludgeon them with a two-goal lead. If you got a two-goal lead for a few minutes here, we get into our game, we're doing our thing, maybe it becomes a three-goal lead. We had zero time to sit on that two-goal lead. All of a sudden, it's back to one goal. Edmonton's got all the momentum, and then they get out of the period, and we saw what happened in the third. That second goal was an absolute killer.

Boys, I want to put my hand up and say it's my fault. Oh, no. Obviously, you guys know my streak. If I'm watching the game, not good things happen. If I leave to go do something else, good things happen, right?

I was at my in-laws house overtime starting and I'm like, babe, we should go home. Baby's starting to get it's late. And so at that point, it's almost midnight. I'm like, baby's asleep. We should just go home. The Panthers will win if we leave now. She's like, no, I want to watch the game. My father-in-law, who's not aware of what happens when I leave. He's like, oh, why don't you just stay and watch the game? And I'm like, all right, baby's sleeping. OK, I'll watch the game. I'll stay and watch the game. That's fine.

All of a sudden, goal goes in. I looked across the room and I said, I told you guys. If I would have left, we would have been fine. But I stayed. So I'm going to put my hand up. I blame Jenny. I mean, I got in a car. I drove 12 hours straight. One tank. That's what I'm saying. Multiple states. So tonight, if things get hairy, I'm going to step outside. Maybe go for a walk. See how the neighbors are doing. Come back. Pan.

Your kids have to hate the Panthers, right? They're costing them vacation days just because you want to sit there because you're not going to play. They ended up being totally okay with it. Keep going, right guys? Yeah, let's power through. They were actually good with it.

How much of this is too much rest? We saw that coming off of the Tampa series going into Toronto. They had plenty of rest. We can't do Russ versus Russ when they had the same break. I had to. When they had the same break. They had a lead. They had to rest and then they were tired. Right. It can't be both. They started the game with a 2-1 lead.

Yes, absolutely. They only had a one-day advantage on Edmonton. Edmonton also won in five. I don't buy that. I was a little confused as to why Florida looked so tired given the break, and then I realized, oh, they've played more games than anybody over the last three years. Maybe that has something to do with it. Also, that team is really...

really difficult i don't know that's awfully coincidental that all of a sudden they look tired by the way coming off of a week rest but all of a sudden they finally look tired while they oh also happen to be playing the best other team and they flew out late it's a little coincidental flew out late yeah well i mean who's coming up with these why are they doing that well that's like their thing is day before travel day like they have their routine through all this well i mean so if it's routine then it can't be why is gusaf worsling not as good anymore

That is the most baffling part of this. Every time he touches the puck, he gives it away. That first pair...

in game one was truly awful. Ekblad and Forsling, they did not do well at all in that game. I mean, if Florida loses in the postseason, typically you can point your finger at number five, but he's not the worst defenseman on that pairing. The worst blue liner is Gustav Forsling, and I do not recognize what I've seen out of him. This guy was not just shut down. He was, this was a guy that could have won the cons might last season. This guy was one of our MVPs in that series.

against Conor McDavid's Edmonton Oilers because he would have to, on those own entries, he'd have to either fight through Lundell or Barkov. But then if he went through all that, the last safety valve, Gustav Forsling would force him to an offside. He would just be in his hip pocket the entire game, the way that he was with Kucherov. In the first series of this postseason, Forsling was unbelievable. He was dynamite. So he's either due to recover and have a good finish to this series or he laid off the PEDs. Yes. Well, I don't know about all that. Before getting cut.

But I like it. Well, no, that is a forest sling. Although... You don't think he's sharing with his linemen? Come on! He does have the best body, so I've heard, on the team. Gustav Forestling. He's put together. This team... Not to use a Zazz line, but go on. Look... I'm glad Amin's not here. Look, this team has been through so many adverse situations over the last years. I get it that the Panther fan is a...

I'm going to be on the verge of projectile vomit the entire 60 minutes tonight. So I'm not exempt from this. I'm good. I understand the Panther fan being super nervous based on what they saw. You think this shit's going to be easy? No. It's a Stanley Cup Finals against a really good team and against the best player in the world. That's right. That's a good correction. No, but I'm telling you, hockey people say finals. Like, you watch Spittin' Chick- I know it's final. But it's final.

I always thought it's a thing. Like, Roy, our whole hockey life, you say finals, he's like, it's final. It's final. Like, spitting chiclets. Like, they're always just, like, saying final. Are you sure they're not talking about multiple Stanley Cup finals? No. I think it's just one of those things where it just makes sense to put the S there. I just... After... And that was a...

I'm the one who said it was a devastating loss the other night. It was devastating on several fronts. Obviously, you felt like you were going to win that game, but they were 29-0. That streak is over with a lead after any period in the postseason these last three years. That streak's over. It also happened on a two-goal lead, and the comeback came in the third period where the Panthers have been known to punish you. So it was a—and—

losing in overtime in the Stanley Cup playoffs where it's literally, it feels like sudden death. It's the worst feeling there is. What would you have slept like if they won that game versus how you slept after losing? Would you still be in Carolina? Oh my gosh. Would you be in Charleston? Maybe. Your wife would be happy. But let's not look back. We're only looking forward, all right? And I'm here. I decided I got to get back here. I slept so poorly. I guess you'd call them... Yeah, I was...

I had what you call nightmares, alright? That's right, because I had dreams about the Panthers. I had nightmares. I had terrible, terrible sleep. I was miserable yesterday. But now, you gotta pick yourself up, alright? You're allowed to be sad. You're allowed to be upset about it. You're allowed to be hurt. I was hurt yesterday! I was hurt, dog! You're allowed to be hurt for one day. You wake up this morning, butch, butch! I'm back. This is hard! You think it's gonna be easy?!

It was easy. Anybody would do it. Journalist baseball. We're going to be joined by Amin Elhassan in a few minutes, but there was a pretty big story yesterday. Tony, don't look now. Oh, my God. It's time for a new game. Don't look now. Eyes closed, everyone. Got my own from home. Oh, nice, Izzy.

I can't see it, but... Not the only one who's got sheets and giggles. Whoa. Relax, buddy. You're relaxed. Scrub that. Scrub that. Scrub that. Supercharge that maze. All right, Chris, you've got something to read. Ah, Don't Look Now, presented by Smirnoff, the world's number one vodka. Please drink responsibly. Mike, I'm glad that you mentioned the biggest news of yesterday because... Wait, in sports or outside? I saw some tweets. No, no, in sports. In sports. Okay. It was a family show. Sports, whatnot. All right.

Russell Wilson says he's not just a mentor for Jackson Dart. He's a mentor for all Giants quarterbacks. I'm not going to lie, Mike. This is one of the odder ways I've seen someone cover their eyes. Why are you looking? Do you ever see a pants labyrinth? Are you like Batman? You look like Batman. First off, how do you know? How the hell do you know what he's doing? What are you talking about? Roy, are you looking? I'm looking at something else. Roy, do not look. That's the whole point. I apologize. Sorry. Thank you. In other news, quarterback news that is,

Colts QB Anthony Richardson sidelined with a shoulder injury. I would say. Anthony Richardson hurt? Can you be sidelined in the summer? Speaking of sidelining in the summer, Lions wide receiver

Tony, I got to be honest. I'm really confused at the order of your Don't Look Nows. Why? There's big news. We're building down. Did I not give you huge news? Russell Wilson is not just a mentor to Jackson Dart. Mentor to all, Mike. Mentor to all quarterbacks. What about Russell Wilson's replacement?

Russell Wilson's replacement. In Denver? No. Bo Nix? Pittsburgh. Anthony Richardson. Sideline with a shoulder injury. Yeah, I got that one. Big QB news, right? Mason Rudolph. Oh, I see where you're going. Okay, Aaron Rodgers signs with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Don't look now. All right, you can look now. All right, so I have thoughts about this, and I know a lot of people have Aaron Rodgers fatigue.

Do you think this was Pittsburgh saying, this is when we strike with this news dump right here. We were waiting for this moment. And it's during the, you know, he's on the Epstein files. All that stuff was going on. Or do you think Aaron Rodgers was like,

this is a perfect time for me to take the spotlight. Everyone's thinking about what's going on on that social media platform. No, let's talk about Aaron Rodgers because it was the biggest indicator that people are over this guy's act is that I know there was a lot of stuff going on in the world at that time. I don't see opinions. I don't see people really caring. I saw Colin Cowherd interrupted his vacation. And he's like, there's

They're third place in the division. That's your take? You're going to interrupt your vacation for a third place take? He was interrupting his vacation to show Aaron Rodgers how little he mattered. Was he on a beach? What was the setting? He was on a beach chair. He was on a beach chair. It was weird. He's like, I'm going to interrupt my vacation to show you how little this guy means to me.

But the clicks, though. So as a recovering Browns fan, as a former Browns fan, Pittsburgh was always a model of consistency. They've had three head coaches in their entire time. It's embarrassing for the Steelers. They had Ben Roethlisberger, and while Ben Roethlisberger was there, you had literally a billion different Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks. But since 2021, since Ben Roethlisberger left, this is the seventh starting quarterback.

for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It's just hugely uncommon. Well, and next year it'll be eight because he's only signing a one-year deal. I think three of them are Mason Rudolph. Like, I don't understand how Mason Rudolph is... Did he ever leave? He's just always in Pittsburgh? From a football standpoint, this is probably the best name, certainly the most famous name, but this is probably the best quarterback that they've had try to replace Ben Roethlisberger.

If you look at Russell Wilson's stats and you take into account the – because everybody was on this show, Stu Gatz was touting how Aaron Rodgers closed the season. Look at that. He was playing garbage games, meaningless games against defenses that had already checked out. Meanwhile, Russell Wilson was playing meaningful games against tough defenses, and their numbers were incredibly comparable. So I don't – while I assume this is going to be an upgrade –

I'm not exactly sure, and I'm kind of with the vacationing Colin Coward, which is like this is a lot to make of a team that's going to finish third in the division. Which one do you think is more likely? That Aaron Rodgers comes in, figures things out quickly, creates a chemistry with this team, vibes with Mike Tomlin, and goes deep into the playoffs...

Or Aaron Rodgers does the opposite of all those things, doesn't really vibe with his teammates, doesn't really vibe with Tomlin, retires before training camp is over. Well, he's not going to retire before... Or before the season starts. No, he's not going to retire before the season starts. So which one is more likely? Weak one against the Jets. Give us that. Otherwise, what you said, I agree with up until the point of he retires before the season starts. I just...

It's more likely than him going on a deep playoff run. The arrogance of him to be able to come in here after what he just showed off. And if he does pull off an impressive run with this Steelers team, I would argue it has more to do with the organization in itself because the Jets were a shit show and you obviously saw what happened when he was there. But Pittsburgh is going to have its stuff together. If he can fall in line, they'll be OK. But I think it's more of a statement on the organization than him.

I mean, from a personnel standpoint, what he had with the Jets last year, I know their defense kind of fell off a cliff. And we always talk about a defense-to-defense year-over-year metrics are not always the most safe bets. He had a lot of talent on offense. On offense, they had incredible talent, right? They got Devontae Adams halfway through the season. They've got a dynamic running back. Two running backs that are really good. They got dynamic receivers.

You're looking at the personnel here in Pittsburgh. You've got DK. Jalen Warren at running back, who, again, is good. Smaller guy, could get hurt. You've got DK. Then your second and third wide receivers are Robert Woods and Calvin Austin III. Bobby Trees. Bobby Trees. But you're looking at that and saying, okay, we've got DK and not much else. Robert Woods is still out here doing it. I think he's a Texan. Here's my sneaky take. I think that this is a good move for them, and he is –

very quietly uber conservative, not politically speaking, in how he approaches the game. And all Mike Tomlin needs is a quarterback that's just going to move the ball a little bit, maybe make one deep shot and not turn the ball over. And I think Aaron Rodgers is totally capable of that. I think this is an upgrade for a team that's still going to finish third in the division.

All right, y'all. The Super Bowl is in the rearview mirror. The draft has come and gone. So now what? Now it's time to get the crew together. You keep the fandom energy going. It doesn't stop when the Super Bowl's gone. We gather. Exactly. And look, just because the pads are off doesn't mean game day stops. Around here, we do game days, even in the offseason. And what better way to do that than with a cold drink?

♪♪

It's all coming, folks. And listen, if you're going to sip something while plotting your team's comeback, Smirnoff's got you. It's the perfect vodka for crafting cocktails that are easy and tasty for anyone 21 and up. Smirnoff isn't just a vodka. It's the number one vodka in the world and the official partner of the NFL. Grab a bottle of Smirnoff at your local retailer and head to Smirnoff.com to find recipes of delicious cocktails perfect for you.

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