Shownotes Transcript
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There he is, Hollywood insider. Look at him with that background. He looks like Kale. It's real, by the way. Yeah, it's real. Okay, of course. He loves the kale smoothie. He's radiant. He also is a rising star at ESPN. And Jorge Sedano is here to recount the tale that mortifies Zaslo. Zaslo, how would you frame this story of Jorge Sedano at his most rebellious in Miami, irresponsible and not journalistically sound? Well, I don't think George...
thought he was being irresponsible. I think he probably thought he was being responsible by trying to get to the bottom of something that has been talked about. But I get Ajita just thinking about it. Like, it gives me anxiety, the spot that George put himself in with...
At the time, it was a very scary man. Jorge, I don't believe anyone here actually knows the story. I believe they're too young to remember. This was the first moment, I believe, that Jorge Sedano made a national splash, and I believe it might be his worst public moment. Do I have this wrong? I don't know. Maybe. I don't think of it as a bad public moment at all. I actually found it, to Zazzle's point, me asking the question everybody wanted answered to the guy that you needed to ask the question to. So...
Just to give the details, this is 2003-04 season of the NBA. It's Dwayne Wade's rookie year. At that time, I was the Miami Heat...
Pre and post. What was that? That's our very competent executive producer. Doesn't have the job at all because his old man is my best friend. Oh, okay. So I was the Heat pre and post game show host on radio. This is like a playoff game for the Heat. They're playing Indiana, I believe, at the time. This is the second round when Stan Van Gundy and Dwayne Wade and those guys got to the second round. So David Sturt is coming over to be interviewed by me. And
And at the end of the interview, I asked him, I said, you know, Commissioner Stern, fans are very upset about the officiating in this series. They feel like the team, the more veteran team, is getting the benefit of the calls. I know we've had these controversies, obviously, and this is coming off of the Sacramento thing, right? So I mentioned that, and he looks at me, he just kind of looks me up and down, and he says...
You know, George, what you're saying would be illegal in 50 states. Further, I say, if not.
And then I just kind of like kept going back at him because I didn't know any better at 20-something years old a little bit. But, you know, I eased off the gas a little bit, and we just kind of had a discussion about it. He elaborated some about the officiating and, you know, who these guys are and what they go through and the rigorous testing that the league does for them on a game-to-game basis, et cetera, et cetera. And then we're done. I wrap up the segment. He taps.
on the shoulder and goes, good job, George. Like a little kid. He should have just tapped me on the head, to be honest with you, when he walked away. The further I say if not is a great condescension that is just... Oh, no doubt. Oh my God. What does that even mean? Further I say if not? Yeah, I don't know. I thought Mike said it. It means you're an asshole. Put it on the poll at Levittard Show. If you say further I say if not, are you 100% an asshole and also...
- Well, that's a good walk out of your boy. - Good job, Chris. - I know. That was beautiful. Brilliant. Well done. - Dan, I'll say this. I felt both in that situation after it was over, I was both proud of myself for asking the tough question to the scariest man in the world at the time.
sweating bullets still after the fact, but felt good about it, honestly. Because I just think that's what everybody wanted to know at that time. So, George, when the commissioner, Stern, all but patted you on the head and said, good job, George, how much of that was condescending? How much of it was sort of real? And Georgie, did he call you Georgie? Did he condescend you extra? No, no, no. I think
I think it was a combination of both. I think it was condescending. No question about it. I wish I could really explain his tone even when he said it. He took a breath. He buried you. He buried you with public relations. He bullied you publicly because he knew who he was. Sent Mike Bass after you to put you in an anaconda vice. I love Mike Bass. Don't you besmirch Mike Bass. Anyway, but I will say this.
He did kind of give me a smile like, "You know what? I'm kind of proud that you asked the question. Like, you had the balls to ask it." Whereas nobody else seems to want to ask it, I guess, at that time. So it was a combination of both. He was patting me on the head like, "Good job, kid. You know, nice try, but you're not going to get me." His creative muse. Begs the question, George Sedano, is the NBA rigged given what we saw last night? No, it's not rigged. Look, I actually just spoke to somebody who was in the room yesterday.
a media member. So I'm sure you guys maybe have already seen this, but there's 1,001 permutations of four-digit combinations. There's several media members in there, 14 representatives from each team, and then two guys from Ernst & Young. And one guy pulls out the ball, hands it to a guy who's not even looking at the machine, and...
And he says the number, right? And then when they get through the four digits, each team has a booklet that has these four-digit combinations. And this person told me that not only was there an audible gasp as people were looking through the booklet when they realized it was Dallas, there were several media members who absolutely cursed. And you're supposed to be completely silent during all of this. So that's how the reaction was in the room, according to this person. And then...
Then they had to be locked up for another hour and a half because you can't leave the room and you don't have like your phones or anything like that. George, compared to Adam Silver, who will do nothing, how would David Stern have reacted to LeBron James continually referencing that the draft lottery is rigged? He would have been called to Stern's office. There's no question.
I remember when I worked with Mark Jackson, he told us a story about how him and Charles Barkley got into it early in their career about something. And Stern, and again, I'm paraphrasing this, so don't quote me on any of this stuff, but basically, long story short, he invited them over.
to his office and he basically admonished them to the point that like he just told them like hey i know you guys think you're a big deal but uh i run this thing okay so stop acting like you know idiots is basically what he said i don't remember the specifics of the story but that's that's just how he ruled he ruled with an iron fist there's no doubt about it i just want horses
Do you think that this process, though, is ultimately working in the NBA's favor, given that it's not stopping teams from tanking and it's also not stopping fans from just theorizing somewhat recklessly that the league is rigged?
Well, I'll tell you this, Mike. I do think that it works in the league's benefit. At this point, Stern would lean into that stuff in a lot of ways, too. Remember, he was the first commissioner to embrace fans booing him at the draft. I think he handled all that stuff well from a PR standpoint in a way that was almost defiant, right? So I think that the league...
you know, still in a lot of ways, albeit not as vocal as he was, you know, still just lets these things go and let people think whatever the hell they want to think. They don't care. All right. George, I need your help with something because I really first off, first off, would it be a good podcast or segment further? I say, if not the most condescending sports take of all time, I feel like you can throw one of those things.
But I believe that the basketball itself, like I'm getting bothered by the fact you're someone who really loves the nuances of the game, the strategy. You know what a heartbreak that is for Boston last night structurally to their franchise. You know what it means that the Knicks are around now.
you know that the Pacers can beat anybody. So does it bother you at all seeing the sport grow? And we've spent three, four questions about is it rigged in the draft instead of, man, holy shit, the basketball is so fun. - The basketball's been fantastic.
I was in Denver this past weekend for games three and four of that series. And I know people could say, oh, look, that first quarter was dreadful. And it was. It was as wild a thing as I've ever seen live at all. I mean, they were tied for the lowest combined score
in the first quarter on Sunday in NBA playoff history. But the reality is it was still close. And I think that that's what people want. Like, I have friends, Dan, who kind of went away from the NBA over the last five to ten years. And they are locked in, okay? And we haven't had
very many series go long. This is about the individual games being interesting. And yeah, I feel terrible for Jason Tatum. You know, if you're a Boston fan today, you've got to feel awful. Your championship window may be closed because the basketball part of it, he may not
play next year. There's the new ownership change part of it where there's already been talk about them having to shed salary because they're paying $6 billion for this team and it's just not sustainable to keep paying this crazy luxury tax with all these guys. So in essence, that window's probably closed. And now you've got this Indiana team that I heard
Ernie Johnson on your show say, don't sleep on the Pacers. And honestly, no one has been more right about anything in a sport that we know nothing about regarding the results clearly at this stage anymore than Ernie Johnson telling you weeks ago, don't sleep on the Pacers. Not true, Sedano. A year ago, two years ago, excuse me, and then this April I told you,
The Heat need to get out of the playoff. They cannot be in the playoff. They need to be in the draft lottery at 11, and then all of a sudden we see what happens. That only happens once. Yeah, but that's nonsense, Tony. The reality is it's a lottery. If they do that over
over again one more time, it doesn't mean those same four balls are going to come out in the same order. All they needed was one shot, though. They needed one shot. No, no, Tony. It's a lottery. Do you guys not understand how a lottery works? Not know how revisionist history works? Huh? Do you not know how revisionist history works? Well, clearly, that's an easy trope for you guys today. I get it. You ever hear of hindsight in 2020?
Yeah, I've heard of that. You guys get the sense Sedano's on the take now? You know what I mean? Like, he worked his way up. He was there. He was like the young congressman going to Washington. Who's that guy behind you, Sedano? Get that guy. Hey, that guy's on. What's that guy doing? You're hiking right now? I'm on a hiking trip.
Yeah, I was hiking. Well, that's why your Wi-Fi is shit. He's a, well, it's not Wi-Fi out there. It's just 5G. It's 5G, bro. But to Billy's point, you're just a mouthpiece for the league now. Yeah, he's not going to bite the hand that feeds him. Come on, get out of here. His Lakers got Luka, and they knew that was part of the arrangement. My Lakers? Yeah, yeah. Your Lakers. Oh, here we go. George Sedano going out there. Here we go. Got to fix that lottery, George. Here's the deal. Tell the Heat to pick a lane, okay? That's what they need to do.
Kick a lane. Your mouth got in his ears, pal. By the way, I know that historically you've been known as a Heat fan, even though you're a Lakers fan now. So you grew up hating the New York Knicks. And I'm curious what's happening as you're watching this series, because Zaz and I are fully aligned. We're big Knicks guys here. We love rooting for the Knicks, especially against the Boston Celtics, almost exclusively against the Boston Celtics. Silver Lake Sedano. Give us the scoop, Silver Lake Sedano. Tell the people.
What you think from your mountain on high. If you would have told me that in the year 20, if you would have told me in the year 2000, that in the year 2025, I would find the Knicks to be an endearing story that I would be enthralled by and following with every bated breath. I would have told you, you're out of your mind. Go bleep yourself and kick you in the face. I'll tell you that I have, I am locked in on them. I, I,
I wouldn't go as far as say I'm rooting for them because I'm not rooting for anybody, but I love a good story. And for me, that's all I'm chasing is a good story every day when I talk about this stuff. And they are as good a story as any in the sport right now. Get better internet further, I say, if not. Thank you, sir. And on your way out.
Thank you, Sedano. He can't be bothered too busy hiking. Old California Sedano. It's disgusting. He used to be Miami. But why doesn't he live in Miami anymore? Because our buildings don't allow us to do shows without bothering us with a fire alarm the entirety of every conversation we're having. It's been a tricky day that way. Yeah.
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The Warriors lost by seven last night in a game they had to win. At home, Jimmy Butler had 14 points. He took nine shots. And it's not like he took nine shots and he had 18 free throws, all right? He took nine shots. He had five free throws. In a game they lost by seven, he was a team worst, minus 30. They lost by seven. He was minus 30 points.
And have you guys seen the discourse on social media about Jimmy? Because...
It's not a good day. He's been praised. He's had a charm existence out in Golden State. It was all working for him. But then one thing that he didn't plan for was a player that was finally better than him on a roster that he was on would get hurt. And now everyone's pointing at him, which I don't suppose is super fair, Zazz. I'm curious. No, but they got him for this. Like,
Not to carry a team to a championship, but they got him and gave him the huge money because, God forbid...
The team leaves the locker room and the camera pans to a Steph Curry who's in street clothes and he's waving. We all saw he's waving to them. See you guys. Like they got him specifically to give the team a stay of execution where maybe Curry will be back game six. They're not going to get out of game five. Like that's why they got Jimmy Butler. 14 points minus 30.
Yesterday was basically an elimination game because if you win that game at home, all right, all of a sudden the series gets extended. You go to six. Steph can come back. Something can happen game seven. It's a miracle. Golden State moves on to the Western Conference Finals. It's inexcusable for Jimmy Butler to make the stink and make the shitstorm that he made in Miami to then go to Golden State to have a great stretch run the end of the season and then put up a nine-shot game. Nine shots is what Buddy Heald takes. Nine shots is what Kevon Looney takes.
Nine shots is what he took when he was actively passive-aggressive and trying to take games while in the lineup for the Miami Heat. In a game the Warriors had to win without Steph Curry, four other players took more shots than Jimmy Butler did. But
Pajemski healed. Draymond took more shots. Unacceptable. And Kaminga off the bench. And by the way, Kaminga, who took more field goal attempts than him, 13 field goals, was also 11-12 from the free throw line. So Kaminga was far more active than Butler. Good little series for him, by the way. Good little series for him. Making a little bit of money back.
maybe? Oh, come on, Zaz. They buried him at the end of the bench when Jimmy Butler got there. They said they didn't want to play him. He didn't play. All of a sudden, 30 points here. I mean, he doesn't do a whole lot else other than score. Zero rebounds last night in 30 minutes. You want him to do everything? I want him to do a little bit of something.
Should it be crashing around him a little bit louder than it is right now in the media? Jimmy or Kaminga? For Jimmy. I mean, given the mess that he made down here in Miami. It's a good question because it doesn't feel like the media. It feels like a social media fan thing right now. I don't feel like it gives him a pass, I think. Not for nine shots. But he shouldn't be getting a pass. He shouldn't be getting a pass because, you know, he's a playoff Jimmy. This is why they got him. It's playoff Jimmy.
And on top of that, it's one thing if he goes out swinging, right? It's one thing if he goes out like playoff Jimmy, if he has a good performance or if he's putting in an effort that is like, all right, at least Jimmy was going for it, neck first to the cup, trying to draw fouls. But you're going out the way that you did when you were milking the clock over here in Miami. That's not what this was about. That's not the standard that everyone holds you to now in the playoffs that you established. They're questioning on the broadcast. And look, we saw this –
plenty of times here. And this would happen every now and then. It was like this in game three also, where it's like, why isn't he shooting that? Why isn't he being more aggressive? But even the broadcast was openly questioning last night where he'll drive to the basket and it seems like, you know, he's got a floater or he's got an eight-foot shot and instead he passes to the corner to Gary Payton III. It's like...
Why didn't he shoot? They were questioning on the broadcast. Why aren't you shooting? There was something that kind of happened in that Nugget series where you could see he lost confidence in his own shot in the NBA Finals after being on an absolute tear. And I know he had isolated moments here and there afterwards. But there was something that happened in that series where they were daring him to be the guy. And it wasn't until they were facing elimination did he have the confidence to even put it up. I think he's pretty self-aware about his limitations now.
Despite the bravado, despite what he did to the Miami Heat, which probably might actually make it worse because his intentions were, let me get the money now because I know I'm never going to be at that level. But I do think for a player that was getting all sorts of praise adorned on him by the national media, and rightfully so, Miami people down here were burned by the entire experience, wondering why the coverage was so favorable. And he was looking like he was coming out a winner for the plan to be solely dependent.
on Steph Curry's body and for you to not give them one of those moments. Right. One of those moments that they acquired you for. Not just to take the pressure off of Steph, but in the event that something happens to Steph, you can win us our game. For him not to do that, it's worth...
Worth coming down on. He was doing the Jimmy stuff the last night of, we're still in this. We're winning this series. You could say that if you take 22 shots and you got 36 points and you lost by 7. That game was 20 out of reach for the entirety of the second half until they start making a run with like 3 minutes left where all the starters were out. But if you're Jimmy, this is how you age. We knew this was going to happen, right? You can't throw yourself at the cup every single time. Which I guess you're also saying this is exactly why he held Miami hostage and only cared about getting the money right now. But if I may, like...
Counterpoint, he's top five in free throw attempts in the postseason in these NBA playoffs. Sure. So he's shown in these NBA playoffs that he can be that guy. Now, I know he took a tough spill a couple games ago, and he's been dealing with that. A glue injury, right? But you got to. You have to. You have to play the game that gets you easy points at the stripe when Steph Curry is out out of respect for that franchise and the team that gave you that contract. For the team that gave you the money. At least validate it where it's like, okay,
If we're going to lose, we're going to lose with me taking 20 shots. The other thing is, to the point that I was making is...
You can't, if you know your body is not ready or not able at this point in the season to go and take 18 free throws and you have to rely on your jump shot that you've kind of had a shaky situation with the last couple of years, it's like, how do you not at least try? Nine attempts is nothing. Nine attempts is laughable. And, you know, I'll get stuff on social media where it's like, you know, what was happening there? Why wasn't Jimmy shooting? I'm like, we would get this every now and then in the playoffs with the Heats. It's like,
I don't know. He just has games like that. He loses confidence in his shot. It's apparent because he doesn't attempt shots that he would be. And it's pump fake, pump fake, pump fake. And sometimes it's pump fake, go up for a layup when you probably should have passed out of it, or not take the easy layup, pump fake, nobody, get yourself injured. This is the end of his career. It's a guy that played his entire career one way, very aggressively, a lot of minutes on that body. He doesn't necessarily trust his shot, and he certainly doesn't trust his body anymore.
Zaz, on the flip side of that, looking at the Wolves, though, Wolves are looking good. Julius Reynolds kind of is that missing piece of that big that can score outside of Nas Reed. We know Gobert is going to be kind of a defensive stalwart. Anthony Edwards finally putting things together. He hasn't really had good first halves, but he's had really good second halves of these games. And it feels like could they be healthy enough to compete against whoever's coming out of the slugfest on the other side? I need to see it from the Wolves first.
Because, you know, the reality is right now with Minnesota, all right, they're beating up a Warrior team that is a very big man down. And then the Laker team they beat in the first round. Incomplete. Like, they may not have been that good, the Lakers. We may have been wrong about the Lakers. So do we...
I'm down on the wolves for the way they handled game one. Like, this series should be over. It should have been a sweep. It should have been done with. It was like such an unprofessional effort from them where they couldn't win that first game when Steph Curry leaves. So they shouldn't lose another game this series. I don't think they're going to lose another game this series.
They're getting like their first real test in the conference finals when the reality of it is whichever team they wind up playing, the Thunder or the Nuggets, they're already going to have been tested. I mean, the Nuggets won a seven game series in the first round. If the Thunder get past Denver here, they had to come back from a 2-1 deficit at one point. I'm not in on the Wolves.
They're going to have to earn it in the Western Conference Finals. Why is the NBA like this now? We've had a five-year run here, kind of dating back to COVID, where just the finals and who makes deep runs in the playoffs is kind of screwy. It used to be predictable, this sport. It was always wrong. What happened? What changed? You have teams a couple years removed from the finals, not making the playoffs at all. Hell, you have one team that was Western Conference champions. I understand they made the trade. They didn't make the playoffs.
Phoenix fell off the map after they made the NBA Finals. Look what happened to Milwaukee. A disaster, pretty much, since they won the championship. Yeah, the Heat. Two random appearances. Actually, one of the more consistent teams of this sample size that I'm referring to right there. Boston's been in that mix making deep runs. You could point to them and say, look, even Golden State, they've been helter-skelter. In the middle of that, they have one random championship. They fall off.
Denver and Boston have been consistent, right? Other than that, it's been crazy. I mean, how about this, guys? They just fired their coach, though, Denver. They fired Mike Malone. It's all over the place. You want to talk about something we've never seen before in the NBA playoffs. This second round of the playoffs, the road team's 11-4.
It's insane. Like, we've never seen that. So this could be an outlier, but I'm looking at an entire sample here of five years. And this is, I think we can say justifiably, you can confirm and did. This is the most random this sport's ever been. Oh!
Can you think about... We're backing up the tow truck right now. Oh, I love that. Is that the new NBA now? I mean, you guys watch way more than me. Is this what the NBA is? I can't speak to the last five years, but I think over the last couple of years, I do think this is the new NBA. I do think, and we're going to see with the Boston Celtics, where...
the way you build a roster and the way you're able to keep or not keep a team together. This is today's NBA with how the CBA works. There's going to be a lot more parody and look, we're, we're, we're going to have now Boston's done. I'm reporting that by the way, Boston's done. Wow. I'm reporting that they are done. We're going to have for the seventh consecutive year, a new champion. That that's like, it's never happened before. So this is the new NBA. And I, I,
Again, I can't speak to the last five years, but the last couple years, like, yeah, teams are getting used to this. This is how you have to build rosters now. I want to ask you guys about something that is really bothering me. Wait, if I may. I know that you said seven seasons, different champion. You may. Do you need to approach? Are you okay there? Well, like, let's really inspect these last five NBA finals. Mm-hmm.
Lakers heat. Lakers kind of fell off being a title threat after they won that one in the bubble. They won an IST. Maybe they had a couple of times where their fan base would feel frisky, but not a real title threat. I think they got to the West Finals two years ago. But again, a random occurrence because they kind of fell off, tried to build themselves back up. Heat. Okay. Bubble. Bubble.
Weird. They got swept the bury next year in the first round of the playoffs by the Bucs, who played the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals. Suns kind of fell off right after that. They were a one-hit wonder also, yeah. And they should have won that series. Then you had Heat Nuggets. We can circle that as like, that was pretty much, well, the Heat making ECF after that.
Before that, in 22, the Heat made the East Finals and 23, NBA Finals. Didn't the following year after they made it to the NBA Finals, the Strews, was that before or after? That was 22. That was in the East Finals. They lost Game 7. Yeah, so they made it all the way to the Finals. Yeah, next year. And they lose to the Celtics, who play the Golden State Warriors. Right.
who throughout this time weren't even in the conversation. They were like a champion from yesteryear and they end up winning that. Then the Celtics, okay, I guess we can piece together. The Celtics during this five-year stretch are probably the most consistent team. And they play the Mavs. Consistently losing. Who's...
I mean, what are the Mavs? They just won the NBA lottery. This was several months ago. So is this a good thing? Everything you're saying, isn't this good for the NBA? I don't know. I don't know because at the same time, simultaneously, you have such a change of the playing style, which might actually be the root cause of why everything is so random.
But I don't know because people make a lot about their TV ratings going down, whether that's a good faith argument or not. Playoff numbers are way up. Whether that's a good faith argument or not is to be determined. But the NBA was at its strongest when you can kind of count on the story arcs of certain teams. Yeah.
The Bulls were always there. Who was going to knock off the Bulls? You were very familiar with the Knicks story arc. You were very familiar with the Pacers. When the Pistons have their run multiple times, you know the pieces, the players, and those stories actually carried over for the better part of a decade helped this league. We're in the most random territory in NBA history right now while everybody is saying there are things wrong with this sport.
I'm trying to figure out, is what's wrong with the sport, the teams at the end of it, fighting it over? Or is it a larger issue that is probably contributing to these very random finals? Just waiting to get Minnesota versus Indy in the NBA finals. Feels like the top teams are not as good. I don't think that what contributes to either ratings overall being down, which again, they're way up in the playoffs, but
ratings overall being down, lack of interest, what have you. I don't think it has to do with there not being this dynasty or consistent team winning. It has to be what has drawn me so
slightly away from the game, which is the style of play. The style of play, players not playing. I mean, the NBA player loves two things more than anything else. That's complaining and not playing, all right? And that stuff is a turnoff to me. And the style of play, all the three-point shooting, the Celtics being the biggest example, that's my biggest problem with today's NBA. And I think a lot of fans would echo the same sentiment.
I should correct myself. You know, the new leaf that I turned over is when I'm wrong, I'll admit it. Yeah, yeah.
I did say that it kind of feels like you tune into these games in the first quarter. There's a 20-point deficit, and you can kind of write that game off. There has been five comebacks of 20 points or more so far this postseason. Yeah, you don't panic. If we go back to the late 90s, early 2000s, you're down by 20 in a play. You shut the game off. Yeah, so shout out to that Twitter person that mentioned that to me. I would also like another study being done on how many of those 20-point games become 40-point games. A lot of them have. It kind of feels like the—
The reason why I'm coming away feeling that way when I'm watching games is a lot of times when I do watch a game that's a 20-point deficit early on, it grows to a 40-point deficit, and there's no reason to watch this. And there are very few things in sports worse than when you build up all the drama, all the anticipation for an NBA playoff game, and it's a
Dot of a blowout. Sure, but it's a numbers game, right? Because then you have those games that are really, really great, and that shows why the NBA playoff ratings are up. Because it's like, oh, yes, this is what I've been searching for. I don't see the NBA playoffs up because the New York market's making a deeper run, because the Boston market's there, because the Bay Area market is there. I mean, we're only in the second round. I understand, but there are some big-time TV markets that were in these playoffs. Sure, but the play has been great. The play has been great. I mean, it's certainly been better than the years that I've highlighted, I think. If I could, like...
disassociate myself from my Heat fandom. Like, this has been a fun NBA playoffs because there have been really dramatic games. And I tell you, and I said this last year, like, I understand why Dan turns us into WFAT. Like, they got a juice to them. Their fan base has a juice to them. They get people talking. I do... I was always...
The heat homer in me was always bucking at the notion that the NBA is healthier when the Knicks are good. Because I had lived most of my life with the NBA being perfectly fine and the Knicks not being good at all. But now in this moment, where the seas are a little bit more turbulent, it's helping. It's helping. So, I went to both Panther games this weekend. Game 3 and Game 4. Thank you. Not enough is being said about how you helped the team get back to 2-2. I had to pull up. I had to pull up. And...
Something really bothers me about, and I can tell Chris it bothers him too. Say it, please. I saw Chris at both games this weekend. He had to pull up also. We parked next to each other. The big parking lot, Zaz parked right next to me. I literally pulled up right next to him. Say it. I know where you're going with this. Please say it. It needs to be said. This has been bothering me for a couple of years, but it's really bad now. The boom guys? Yeah.
So they brought it. Look, the Panthers won the games. They did a good job. And by the way, Keith Yandel, shout out. Excellent job as well. Banging the drum. That's back. Now we're back. AJ, big boom. Big justice. Yandel, this is much better than last round. Does everyone sign the drum? I saw some people sign the drum. So like did Dan sign the drum as well? I think he did, yeah. So during the national anthem over the last several years,
The crowd always chants red and the Rockets red glare. All right, that's the team's color. Okay. It's a hockey thing. Okay, fine. Also, for the last several years, they chant night for Spencer Knight when that lyric comes across.
They're still doing it. Not only did he not play at all this season, like he was technically on our roster, like in our organization to start the year. No, he played plenty this year. He did. That's true. He did, but whatever, okay? Because they've been chanting Knight for years, including years where he literally was not on the active roster
That kind of felt more like support because he was taking that mental break too. And it's Mental Health Awareness Month. What are we doing here? Look, there were reasons. Look, he was still on the roster, but now he's not on the roster. We traded him mid-season. He's not a legend. So we don't care. So now what happens, Billy, is you get to that part of the national anthem and there's still people shouting night. Not as many, but it's still loud.
It's audible. It's enough to hear, and then you always hear the murmuring after of the fans being like, why are we doing this? So game three, Friday night, I'm wondering, and my kids are looking at me because my boys know I hate it. I mean, going back to the Stanley Cup finals in 2023, we're
We're playing the Knights up! And the fans are yelling Knights during the National Anthem! Their fans do that. We were in unison. It was the loudest part of the Anthem. It's a disgrace! So my boys are looking at me, they're like, it's coming, Gad, it's coming, and they know I hate it. And of course, you got the dopes who yell Knights. And then afterward, there was some booing. Like, fans were not happy about it on Friday. But then Sunday, Game 4 ruled around...
And the night chant was even louder. Terrible. They knew you were in the building. That's why. We've got to be better than this. We're all as fans. It's part of the culture now. As a fan base here, we're already behind the eight ball. It's a bad look for us. Because we've had lousy attendance forever until the last few years. All right. Now we've got great support. We're a Sunbelt team. We don't know hockey down here. We ain't got no history. We're already behind it.
And the dopey fans who are still yelling Knight. Obviously you're embarrassing yourself. That goes without saying. But you're embarrassing me too! You're embarrassing everyone in the building! Do we need to, should they put something up before, hey, don't yell Knight. It's that bad. Are these rabble rousers? Are they dumb? Are they trolling us? Or do they not know he's gone?
Because Bob's had a pretty consistent string of players. Like literally Spencer Knight did not contribute to them winning a Stanley Cup. That's a fact. He had no contribution. I wonder if it is fans who don't know why they yell Knight. They went to a game a few years ago. They remember Knight. So they're just like, we're going to yell it. And it's coming from the upper deck.
It is. Really? Yeah, because I'm always turning my head looking up there. Because I sit in the upper deck for Panther games. I sit front row in the upper deck. You've got to handle your business up there. You've got to get them in line. I look around. When that happens, they know better. If I worked for the Panthers, I would literally be having a team meeting with all the ticket vendors around. When someone walks by you, you tell every person that walks in this door, don't yell no. I think you tell the ushers, you see one of these, they've got to go. Every person that walks by you, don't say no. Maybe a sign. Isn't that how you stop it? You kick people out. That's going to stop. Don't make me do a PSA before.
Don't make Goldie go up there and embarrass himself. And just so you know, we traded away Spencer Knight. We got Seth Jones. He scored a goal the other day. That's actually what they should do. Those little intermission Goldie little updates. Just be like, hey, by the way, guys, don't yell Knight. Yeah, you like that Seth Jones assist? Well, we have Seth Jones because we traded away Spencer Knight, who you insist on invoking his name during the national anthem despite no real contributions to this franchise over the last few years. I'd rather them yell Jones instead of Knight.
Instead of like, that would at least make, I would be like, all right, we're a smart fan base. But I also love the anthem and I don't want to disrespect the anthem because you don't want to say, you don't want to say Jones when night is a lyric. Which bothers you more, yelling of night during the national anthem or the USA chants at the end of the game? They're coded. Yeah.
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