On Sports Talk seven ninety. It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety. Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think when we are getting off our show, idiot. The kids are playing or trail off.
The countries are screwing it up.
Gold play Inner Murals, Brother, gold play Inner Murals. They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not. Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding me?
Now?
Here's Nick Coffee? All right? Are we ready to get it started? Here on a Thursday afternoon? Welcome in? Ready or not, We're gonna do it. It's coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety, Nick Coffee. That is me the travel Chief, Austin Montgomery, alongside today and today's today, the second week into the NCAA tournament getting started in just about four hours roughly, and that that's exciting. And I'm going to complain about something, not
about the Sweet sixteen. The sweet sixteen is great, but my four year old son, who plays t ball, he has practiced tonight at seven fifteen, and you know, I gotta.
Be that oddly clustered time schedule there.
Yeah, I mean, look, it's I got a lot I could say about it.
But what is a first day of baseball?
You know, technically it is, which I should have mentioned it with before we got to the two minute mark. One with three oh one forty five seconds, we will spend all day talking about Opening Day. It's around with major League Baseball. Let's go in all seriousness. I don't I know that, like I don't. I don't consume any baseball anything, like I don't keep up with Major League baseball.
You could bring five of the most popular best players in Major League Baseball in the studio and tell me that you know that they're random strangers, and I wouldn't know what to believe because I just don't follow it. Now again, I don't like it, but clearly baseball's doing fine without me being a fan. At least it seems they are. But I don't know if I've ever had Opening Day for Major League Baseball appear, and like I
haven't heard a single person bring it up. The only reason I know is because somebody in my group chat when my buddies was talking about how they live in Cincinnati and therefore, I mean Cincinnati, that's really what opening day is. They just party. I mean, I don't know if that's like that everywhere where baseball when baseball season starts, but sports towns, yes, they go crazy for it. So it's a party. And you know, but we got the Sweet Sixteen, like can't I mean, isn't that a bigger deal?
It is still kind of overshadowing it, I'd think.
Yeah, And you're also getting it introduced in the betting world, so you're gonna start seeing it a little bit everywhere with like promotions the next couple of days, like whenever you open up your app. The one shocked me if college basketball is kind of buried under.
That well, and I wouldn't be. I mean, I would love to know. And it's it's it's there's you know, they're with the Sweet Sixteen. There's eight games over two days, so I mean, it's hard to really look at the numbers and get get an accurate, you know, comparison, because there's you know, how many baseball games gonna be played today, A ton of them. So like, I just to me,
it seems like nine out of ten people. If you're into sports right now, you care way more about the Sweet sixteen than you do about Major League Baseball's opening day. But I could be like way wrong, like I have no clue because I'm so disconnected from the sport of baseball in every way, like anytime it comes up in any way. Just so you guys know, and I'm sure you're well aware, I am talking out of my ass
like I know nothing about baseball. And look, I'll just just to be clear because my wife and I've been going back and forth because I'm like, does he really need to go to practice? And I've been complaining about
how he's got I mean, look again, hear me out. Parents, I want you to to listen to this, and you tell me, you know, I'm not asking for phone calls on the whole thing, but like I can use the text line to get, you know, to get to gay if you guys think what I'm trying to do here is to use the audience to hopefully have them side with me to where I can tell my wife like, see, I'm right, you're wrong. My listeners they agree with me.
But I feel like more often than not, when I do this, it ends up working out where they agree with her and not me. But anyways, he's four years old. They don't keep scoring T ball, at least they don't consistently, and it's not really like all they do is everybody gets a turn to hit and then they let the other team hit. And when you're in the outfield, I mean one or two kids at most are into it as far as like you know, being on defense out in the field. So I mean it's not really I mean,
I guess it's productive. And he's you know, like when he and I play baseball in the backyard, like he doesn't use a t I just you know, underhand throw it to him and he can make contact. So if it was basketball, I would still say, like do we really need to do because he's four years old and I know, you know, starting them early and getting them into it like that, that'll go a long way. Like he's already played baseball, basketball, and football and he's four.
I didn't play any organized sport until I was five, so you know, clearly it's gonna be good for him long term. But I just I think it's very excessive for a four year old bas T ball team to have two practices a week for an hour when again, like we don't really keep score, Like they're not really playing baseball, and it's fifty degrees outside, it's seven o'clo. And he starts to practice. It's seven fifteen, like seven fifteen to eight fifteen, and he's four. Like it just
seems like overkill. But you know, who am I to be a jerk and act like, you know, we need to stop, you know, giving these kids opportunities to be on a team and have fun and all that kind of stuff. But like it just seems it seems a little much. But that's just me, and I'm you know,
I'm selfish. I'm complaining because now instead of watching the Sweet sixteen get started tonight, I'm gonna miss the first half of the first two games and some more probably just because you know, I gotta go do dad stuff, which is talking about practice. Nick, Yeah, exactly. Love being a dad and it's the best thing. I can't even imagine life practice without being a dad. But like, we don't need two times a week to have T ball practice. I mean, it's just not to have seen.
The Soto contract. Man. You gotta get him started early.
I mean, if that works out for us, then as a family with him, you know, being something, being a star in baseball, then you know, I'll celebrate it. And who knows, like maybe he is great at baseball. I have no clue. But my wife is of the opinion that I'm just I'm just anti practice at seven fifteen twice a week because it's baseball. And I'm here to tell her it could be baseball, it could be basketball, it could be football, it could be whatever. I just think that's a little too much because.
You know again, and yeah, just because the sun's out now at seven doesn't mean that makes me even more motivated.
If we had perfect weather.
But I'm not a dad.
Would we need two times? I mean, I just it's it's a lot of moving, it's a lot a lot going on for T ball it is, Yes, I would agree now to be fair. If there weren't week sixteen games going on tonight, oh yeah, then I would. Then I would absolutely probably not even be thinking about it.
Can I say as a former athlete all the way up until the junior year at my high school, I kind of wish that baseball was It's something I would have participated in.
It seems like it would have been fun.
I feel like I would have been decent at it, and I don't know, I was just lazy back in.
The day baseball. I don't think baseball playing would be boring at all, Like I think, you.
Know, no, it seems like it'd be fun.
Yeah, I mean I don't think. I think the game itself, it could be you know, in fact, as somebody who you know knows nothing about baseball don't really care to follow it at all. Like I could be wrong here, but I believe being able to hit a baseball that is being thrown at you, you know, one hundred miles an hour. Like to me, maybe it's just because I have no baseball experience, never played at all. Like I feel like that's one of the hardest things for anybody
to do any in any sport, at any level. Like it's like scientific, like being able to hit a baseball that is thrown by somebody that is in the major leagues. I just feel like if you can do that, like you can if you make contact, I feel like you can kind of get by by calling yourself a professional athlete.
I mean, probably not getting a hit off a major league pitcher is probably one of the hardest things that you can do. Yeah, you're not experienced the timing and the speed of that.
It's ridiculous.
It's a conversation we've had a few times over the years on the show when it comes to the average Joe. And I don't mean like you know, but somebody who is in like decent shape, you know, not a great athlete in any any particular sport. But like, if there's one thing you could do, or maybe the best way to look at it, I guess would be the hardest thing, nearly impossible to do. I mean obviously, like tackling a running back in the NFL. If you're just some average
Joe like that would be very difficult to do. The reality is none of us will ever be able to do. Like there may be things that you see somebody do, You're like, that's not that difficult. I could do it. Good chances you could never do it. I mean, didn't they get rid of that show called pros Versus Joe's because like, yes, I love that people were getting killed out there. I mean not literally, but I mean it's it's not I mean I would never had.
Jerry Rice out there cooking like a mall salesman.
And that is like there are there are people out there that I'm I'm trying to think. There's a few people that I know personally, and then there's like Billy Rutledge, good example, I love our man Billy. You know, he's you know, I don't know where he is as far as athleticism, but he's he's a really good golfer. You know, I would assume I would just give him the average or better as far as being an athlete. I could be way wrong, but like Billy, Billy, Billy was dead serious.
Whenever he claimed like he could run, he could beat a former Kentucky receiver in a race. I don't remember which receiver it was, not even trip they ever actually did it. But like, but like that was a guy that I wouldn't have I would, you know, I guess Billy does have a lot of low key confidence. Definitely a big time believer in himself, which I think that's
a that's that's a quality admirable. Yeah. But but you know, overall, no matter if you are an athlete at the you know, let's say you're still great shape and you consider yourself to be like a really good basketball player in your thirties because you play all the time you're competitive, you know, even if you could like still dunk doing that against like you know, college players fresh out of Division one or NBA players. I mean, I mean, it's just it's
a different world. But anyways, baseball practice tonight to go along with the Sweet sixteen getting started out of sports and it's and it's a beautiful thing. And then I got tomorrow's show and then I'm out of here. That's right, I'm out of here.
So that always feels like when you're going on vacation, like it always feels like everything's a cram in.
Is that just me?
Or do you feel in that too? Absolutely, it doesn't matter how much you prepare for it. You could have started Monday, but you know you're gonna spend these next couple of days just jamming as much and as you possibly can, just living.
With that thought of you know, you're gonna forget something. Yeah, there's gonna be something that you knew you needed to get. It's not even with me. My wife packs like everything other than you know, like I'll bring a backpack with you know, like my laptop and that kind of stuff. Yeah, but like my wife really packs for the whole family because she's she's great. So for me, it's more about I know there was something or some things that I needed to make sure I got done before I left town.
And I mean more often than not, actually don't. I mean, that's that's what sucks, is that you end up like worrying and have an anxiety. And it's really just because you know, I mean, I get what's called pre travel anxiety. Sure, I've talked about it on the show of the Years, and it's you know, it's not like a real, like you know, serious thing. But anytime I'm about to go on like a trip, if it's like a weekend trip,
it's a different thing. But if I'm going to be traveling, especially if it's far away or if it's for you know, more than just a few days, I get this build up of like anxiousness and then like right before it's about time to go, I'm like, yeah, I'm not going. I'm not gonna do it, which you know, when you when you purchase airline tickets and that kind of stuff, like you can't just change your mind. That I've never I've never had it to where I just don't go.
But I don't know what it is. I wish I could, because I get excited about traveling, and I'm excited about being on vacation next week, spring break with the family and friends and all that. It'll be great, but you know, like the lead up to it is kind of the worst part. And of course also get it, like getting back from vacation and like unpacking your bag. Oh my god, oh.
Yeah, things left over.
That's a bad place to be when you realize, Hey, you were thinking about man, I got another month of work. I got it, three weeks of work. I got two weeks, and then I'm out of here. And then you get back and you unpack and your and then you got to you know, you get that Sunday scary setting in, got.
More stuff thrown on your desk as possible when yeah, and see I thought it was only me.
No, it's uh, I mean, I think a lot of us out there deal with that kind of stuff. So anyways, I'll stop complaining about, you know, things that aren't really something I should complain about. But my overall point is this last thing I'm gonna say. If this was like because I'm I think he could play up from what he's playing now, Like I think he could like he this will be his third time playing t ball because I think he's in a two year age range for t ball, but he played one year. He did both
fall ball before we can play football. He did baseball in the spring in the fall. So you know, it's just this he's this is now the third time he's done it. And I mean again, like they don't keep score and and you know he usually just kind of stands out there in the outfield when he's not when his team's not on offense, they do they call it that, by the way, offense and defense, Like that is that
the correct terminology in baseball? Like I'm not kidding you, I'm not doing this for effect, because all of it do is make me look and sound more stupid. I'm not even sure what the correct terminology is. But whenever his team's out in the outfield, you know, he's probably one of a few kids that are at least not you know, laying on the ground eating grass. It's just you know, that's that's that's what it is. So anyways, I'll quit complaining.
Again.
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five oh two four three eight ninety seventy three. That's the LLNN Federal Credit Union text line. So we'll spend a lot of time today, of course, getting set for these games. Tonight, and just for those that haven't been paying close attention, we've got some really good ones this evening. I mean, I'm interested in all four of these games, not only just because you know, I'm going to bet on it and hope that I win money and I'm a college basketball nerd, but I just think we've got
some really good matchups. Tonight again, Duke in Arizona at nine thirty nine, that's a nine and a half points bread. Obviously Duke is favored. I mean game, I'm looking forward to the most y that like Duke may end up covering and they may win by you know, twenty, who knows. I doubt that happens, but you know, Duke is really really elite when it comes to talent, and they're playing
really well right now. But like, I think that could end up being a pretty good game, and I believe the others like Arkansas Texas Tech that's the late night game that should be a great game. I mean, I'm starting to get closer to just thinking, like you know what, Col's got better players right like, his guys are playing really well. They've got more confidence now than they've had in any point in the year, which good time to have it right, win or go home. So I just
I can't take Texas Tech. I'm sorry, I can't take Arkansas money line. But like I'm not, I'm not going to be looking at anybody funny if they choose to do it, because again, Arkansas is in the position to where they shouldn't be here. They lucky they got in the tournament, to be honest, but they turned it on at the right time and they're rolling right now. And
then of course b YU Alabama. No, I'm still excited for that one, but I'm starting to believe that it's just going to come down to Alabama having dudes that BYU doesn't, and Alabama has dudes that a lot of teams doing. Alabama's one of the best teams in the country. The only thing that would make me less confident in Alabama, well, I mean, I'm confident in them in this game tonight, although I do I think it could be competitive. As we talked about throughout the week, BYU is just one
of the hottest teams in the country right now. They really turned it on in the last six weeks or so, and they've got a high powered offense. Man they can score it so it should be entertaining when it comes to that. But I just feel like when BYU ends up, you know, dipping their toe in the water to try to play the same type of game Bama wants to. I just feel like there aren't many teams that would be able to beat Bama at their game. What do you mean, Hey, what are you doing? Huh? Oh sorry sorry,
sorry you scared me. He scared me.
Uh.
Anyways, So BYU they just they just don't They just don't have the same Again, it's not just it's not to say BYU is some you know, they're to me, they're not like this, h They're not Cinderella. It's just Alabama. They're They're good enough to win this whole thing. They just haven't been consistent. I think what's happened with Alabama and this is something that could keep them from advancing tonight.
They really brought back like the same team that went to a Final four last year, and you think that they would be hungry and you know, driven to know that we gotta like this is it like, if we're gonna win it? Because this is the truth. If Bama's gonna win a national championship in basketball, this is the year to do it. I mean, it's gonna be tough to do because you got some other really good teams
that you got to get through. But like Bama, I don't think they're gonna be slowing down in a major way because Natoates is a really good coach and they're gonna do really well in the portal. But even though it was in the different world, because we are in a different world now than we were back then. But in twenty twenty twelve, Louisville went to the final four, right and they weren't supposed to be there. They had some crazy run and ended up losing to Kentucky in
the final four. And then next year you brought back like that whole team outside of Kyle Kurrick and Chris Smith. So you kind of felt like, hey, like if we were gonna win a national championship, this would be the year to do it. And fortunately they were able to actually go do that. Bama I feel like should be in that position, but at times they just seem to, I don't know, play the level of their competition. They
don't really have any losses against like bad teams. But anyways, Bama's a team that I don't doubt they're talent in any way, certainly don't doubt their coach. I've just seen them at times look as if they're kind of going through the motions. And you do that at this point, I mean, it'll it'll bite you because b why use a quality team. But I'm starting to lean more Alabama minus four and a half and then the Maryland Florida game.
I mean, in the last twenty four hours, We've talked about it here and there throughout the week, the Kevin Willard situation. I believe as somebody who does try to, you know, keep my ear to the ground, and you know, I mean I'm following along as everybody's covering college basketball at a higher level right now than they ever have,
meaning there's more tension on it. I think in the last twenty four hours, specifically, the Kevin Willard stuff has turned into the biggest storyline in the tournament right now, because it is it's not crazy for a coach to be coaching a team knowing that another job is open and they want him and he's just trying to, you know, coach his team Like that's not uncommon. That happens pretty
often to be honest with you. But Kevin Willard, he's just operating and handling this entire thing in a different way than I think we've ever seen a coach in this spot, and I find it to be honestly entertaining. And I can't really like Kevin Willard is catching a lot of people off guard. People are kind of, you know, taken aback by this whole situation. But I think if you really consider what he said, what we know, there's a lot of stuff we probably don't know, right, I mean,
let's be real, there's a lot we don't know. I'm sure as far as the behind the behind the scenes stuff who he's talking to about a contract negotiation and all that kind of stuff. But what I'm getting at is I think he's just not giving you in any way, like he's just being real. He's not doing coach speak. He's not giving you canned answers that coaches give when they just feel like, hey, this is what I'm supposed to say. And I can not only can I appreciate that,
I wish we had more of that. I really do. So I can't imagine that this has been good for Maryland's prep with this being such a big distraction. But there's also the other side of the coin when it comes to that, which is if everything's out in the open and everybody you know, knows what's going on, there's full transparency that can honestly be a positive in the situation.
Like if Kevin Willer was out here lying and acting like he doesn't know what people are talking about Philanova, never heard of her, Like he's he's he's at least, you know, I mean, he's kind of bee a smartass about it, and I think in every way he's answered questions and handle it, you could tell like, yeah, he wants to stay at Maryland, but like they gotta do what they gotta do to make him, you know, to make it right with him, and it sounds like they
still haven't done that yet, and he's not making a decision on Villanova until his season's over at Maryland because you know, he wants to focus on continuing to win in the tournament, which is all that, to be honest with you, is one thousand percent reasonable. It's just not the way coaches usually go about it. So anyways, We've got a lot, a lot of good games this evening, and I am looking forward to a lot of other
things we'll get into throughout the day. I mean, I feel like we got to at least talk a little bit about the Stephen A. Smith, Lebron James stuff, because you know, again as I talked about yesterday, as much as it is professional wrestling a soap opera, I mean, it is the most talked about thing in sports right now. Now you have other athletes getting in on it. I mean, it's it's a circus. It is certainly that. Also when it comes to Kentucky's matchup with Tennessee, Kentucky's gonna beat him,
aren't they? Austin, It's happening, isn't it. I feel like it's gonna happen. I don't want it to happen, God knows I want it to happen, but it just feels like it's going to happen. Yeah, I think So, there's some numbers that really really make should make you confident in Kentucky to win this game if you want to go in that direction. And then also ze KaiA Ziggler is at his name Ziegler. Ze Kai Ziegler is a double Z.
I think it is.
Yeah, Okay, I don't know why. I don't know why I'm second guessing this guy who's played college basketball for twenty years, but he did something I think it's pretty stupid that, you know, I don't know if it'll have an impact in the game, but like I wouldn't want to poke the bear when you already zero to two against Kentucky this year. And Tom Misso said something that I thought was funny, which rarely do we get tom Izzo making us laugh. But speaking of making us laugh,
how about Jeremy Pruett, former Tennessee coach. Everybody's suing the NCAA and winning right now, right like you, you can take him to court over anything. They're gonna lose. Well, former UT coach Prewitt, he's deciding to do that and try to get rich because he's suing the NCAA for one hundred million dollars claiming they conspired, you know, to make him the sacrificial lamb, whatever the hell that means.
So good for him.
We're loaded the rest of the way. Stick with us. It's Coffee and Company. Feel about Thorton's on Sports Talk seven ninety Now back to Coffee and Company. Fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day. That's right, Coffee and company fuel about Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety five two five seventy nine hundred is the number if you want to give us a call. You can also text in on the Ellen and Federal Credit Union text Lin five O two four three eight ninety seventy three.
I asked yesterday for folks if they had any good tips for me as far as passing time in the uh, in the car and a long car ride with kids, and UH, there were a handful of people that did recommend some things, so thank you for that. Uh. And then somebody sent in a good a good tip when it comes to helping pass the time in a long car ride with a special needs child with with autism, which which my daughter has. And it's something that you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna try. I hadn't thought about it
at all, So thank you. That's not only appreciative, that's somebody you know understanding. You know, I guess the car rides that we go on for trips, it really wouldn't be as as much of a of a of a challenge at times if it wasn't for you know, my daughter's special needs, her condition, so you know, it's it's life,
it's you know, it's part of it. But yesterday when I was talking about you know, long car rides with kids like it probably just made it sound like, you know, my kids are just terribly terrible in the car and they, you know, have no patience. I mean a lot of people will and you know most people who do you know, hey, just just leave at night, or you know, give them a tablet and they'll sleep, and and and all those things are great, but you know, my situation is a
little bit different. And I try not to, you know, mention that every segment of the show. But it was somebody listening who I think could just tell, you know, they were able. They've listened long enough to understand that. That was really where I was coming from. It wasn't just the fact that we had a long car ride. It was because it's just a little bit of a different type of challenge for the Coffee family. But hey,
it's uh, it's all good. Well, Uh, I'm not sure I'm gonna if I'm gonna win the battle about stopping halfway or not. I'm starting to think I won't. But whatever, I don't win many battles when it comes to you know, me and the wife, and that's that's probably the way it should be. I kind of feel like at times I'm her third kid. She kind of takes care of all of us. In fact, she does, so thank you
for that, honey. Appreciate that. All right. So I want to give some advice to folks out there who are so uh, just over everything about Steven A. Smith and the Lebron James back and forth, because my advice would be, don't not only don't take it too serious, don't take it serious at all, right, like Lebron, I mean, he's I still think the most unusual thing of this entire situation is that Lebron decided to go to an hour
with Pat McAfee. That's not even like like that. If you'd have told me two weeks ago that that was gonna happen, I'm like, what seems.
Like someone that Lebron wouldn't even like.
It's insanely random, and it's insanely forced. And it was because he clearly wants to, you know, casually, or at least he wants to appear like it's a casual thing. No, he went on Pat McAfee to talk reckless about Steve A. Smith, Like that's what he did. You know, Steven A. Smith is a loud mouth who is on every platform ESPN has right right in front of your face. You can't avoid him no matter what I mean. Steve Eney Smith used to just be a basketball guy, you know what
I mean, Like it usedter just be the NBA. Now he's given opinions on everything, and you know, some people love him, some people hate him. I am someone that just I don't take him serious at all. And I don't say that as like a sign of disrespect, like I think he's a terrible person or that he's a big idiot. I just years now have have been well
aware of what this is. He is a character playing a role, and now you've got him playing this role at a at an insanely exaggerated level, and you've got the biggest star in professional sports playing along like this is a soap opera. This is professional wrestling. So for people to get worked up about it, I mean, why even give it any of your energy? Like, just don't
like whatever they're saying. Like yesterday, Stephen A said something that I feel like, you know, it really gave me the reminder that I should remind people what all this is because he said that if Lebron would have like touched him whenever that he confronted him at court side at the Lakers game a couple of weeks ago, that steven A would have punched him, and like that that's that's the thing that of all the things that stephen A Smith says that are just ridiculous, Like wait he
said that, Yeah, you didn't hear this. No, yeah, he said he would have punched him. So like that's a crazy thing to say. But again, that's what that's what is, That's that's the role here, Like that's what this is. I mean, I don't think steven A Smith would ever
punch anybody. I mean that would never happen. But you know, saying that is a sensational I mean it's sensationalizing the whole story itself, and of all the things that that we've had in the last twenty four to forty eight hours with this entire steven A Lebron thing, steven A claiming he would punch Lebron, I feel like it is the one that really got this thing being talked about at the level it's being talked about right now, because that's that's a crazy thing to say, right So, so
like imagine, like who's the Who's A again, I don't I don't even know who I would compare stephen A Smith too, because again, like a very opinionated, very you know, energetic, very loud, very tell you what he thinks, hold nothing back. That is like stephen A is Shannon Sharp, but you know what else, Shannon Sharp is a performer profession a former professional athlete who was elite at what he does.
So like it's a different like when he's talking, when he's talking shop, not even just in me, in basketball too, Like he didn't play basketball, he's a football guy. But like there's a level of conversation, a level of dialogue and a level of respect that he's gonna get from professional athletes that Steven A will never get and stephen A, I think knows that. But like he's gonna mean he's paid the big bucks to do exactly what he is doing.
Because this whole story is getting ESPN exactly what they want.
It's what they do when they bring on somebody huge and sign them a big contract. You got to get that push, you know, get a push.
I mean, so again, if you just take it for what it is, I believe you would live a happier life and not let it bother you. Now again, if you're just tired of turning on ESPN at any point and seeing Steven A. Smith and hearing him yell doing the screaming a stuff, like, I get it, but like that's not That's again, you don't have to like you can you can avoid it, I guess, although if you do, just keep your channel on ESPN. It's basically the Steven
a Spid Network. It's not so. I just again I encourage people to to to not only don't used to say, well, look, don't take it so serious. Don't take it serious at all, because it's not Steve Andy Smith saying he would punch Lebron James. That's that's the ultimate proof that like this is all a joke. And I don't mean like that they're deep down joking, but they're also not really that serious because like you know, this is just I don't want to say it's staged because I don't believe that
it is. But if it was, I wouldn't be shocked. But everybody out there, Like, did you hear Stephen's He's ridiculous? He said he would punch Lebron. Lebron James would kill him. Everybody knows that, but like he would never do that. We know it, Like, it's just it's it's absolutely professional wrestling slash soap opera, which I guess don't people say it's kind of the same thing, yea, like wrestling as a soap opera.
So he said, this isn't like leading to a match, because like, where is this going. It's not going to be a stupid celebrity boxing match, Like I'm pretty sure it's going to be recorded whenever they meet up again, or it's at some sort of award ceremony or whether it's on like a court or something that's forcing them to both be in the same room together. It's going to be awkward and it's going to be filmed. But it's like, no one's gonna swing at anybody.
I will. I would at least hope, and I wouldn't.
You know, Lebron's hopefully professional enough to know that you know this, this guy's just a journalist.
And that's well he's not though that that's that's that's the thing to him. I would think that those guys at that's but I'm not.
At the end of the day, that's what it is to them.
And I didn't mean to I didn't mean to say that you were wrong, because you're not wrong. You are correct. Stephen A. Smith is a well, I mean well accomplished journalism who used to write. I mean he used to be a columnist too. Was great, That's how I got a start. And then you know, he just became the loudmouth guy that commentates and entertains. Like I don't think any of his analysis I've ever at any point, but like, you know what, that's a really good point.
Man.
You really got me thinking here, stephen A. He he's just so again just take it for what it is, and I think you won't. You know, it might make you sad because you'll realize, like this is where we are when it comes to like sports media and what gets the most attention. But I mean, Lebron he really, I mean he claimed that stephen A was doing the Taylor Swift type tour right now, out there doing this and that, which I don't really feel like. I mean, again,
I'm not paying super close attention to it. But like steven A has been directly in our face for years now, I feel like it everywhere you turn, you know, I don't feel like this is you. But of course him being confronted by Lebron, that became a big story. Stephen A talked about it, and I guess Lebron wanted to
talk about it. But what Lebron has to know, as much as he lacks self awareness, lives in his own world the most unrelatable human maybe in sports, just because he's been Lebron James, I mean since birth obviously, but you know, like he he has no normal life experience in any way, especially as you know, certainly as an adult, and that you know, part of that's not really his fault, it's just the way it is. But there's also others that you know that have a little bit I think
of more awareness. But Lebron doing all this and talking about stephen A like he's he's helping stephen A more than he probably knows, and he's helping ESPN he I mean, so Lebron can't be that you know, disconnected from reality to not understand that if he really has a like if he's really anti stephen A, he should just ignore
it and never talk, you know what I mean. Like now, maybe because he didn't like something he said about his son, that makes it to where it's harder for Lebron to just say, you know, I'm gonna ignore this guy and act like I don't know he exists. And I could understand that because you know, he is a dad and family stuff is a little bit of a different level. But you also chose to bring you know, you forced
your son into this spot. Nobody else would have done and had had had you not, you know, pulled some strings and leveraged what you can do as the face of basketball. Right Like so if I've never heard anybody in a prominent role with a network that has you know, I've never heard anybody on the TNT crew as far as like inside the NBA, and I've never heard anybody on ESPN, like anybody who has a relationship with the I've never heard anybody say anything offensive over the line
even close to that about Bronnie James. In fact, they've they've they've danced around it like they've they've resisted from acknowledging that this is you know, that this is just Lebron using the fact that he's Lebron James and he wants to play in the NBA with his son. So I feel like they've they've had the you know, they've they've tiptoed around it instead of just calling it what
it is directly. Like what I'm getting at is, imagine if somebody actually did say something, you know, very strong about Again, you could find idiots on the internet saying whatever I'm talking about. The people that Lebron James would know who they are, know that they have a voice, know that they're heard by a lot of people when it comes to basketball. I've yet to hear anybody say anything that can be viewed as okay, you cross the line.
But with Lebron, the line's different because again, we're not talking about a teammate that he met this year who they drafted from college. They're talking about his son, who also shares the same name as him. So the line is different, and that's a tough thing to to, you know,
to balance. But you know what, all of this is your doing, Lebron, So like both sides, Like, you know, I think both of these guys, for the most part, I feel like are kind of unpopular, you know what, I mean, like, Lebron has certainly a humongous amount of fans, and I'm a fan of Lebron as a basketball player, you know, when it comes to everything else that comes with it, you know, you know, that's why I have the saying, come on, Lebron, I want to be able
to say, you know, you're not a clown at times when it comes to just your lack of self awareness and just you know, having no optics that kind of stuff and not being able to read the room. But he's made it for years now hard to defend, so I've heard people go back and forth on it. I actually think Lebron is still the one who created this entire thing by approaching stephen A. Smith at a game when he wasn't even working. He was just you know,
showing up court side. And I could actually like when Steven A has somebody video him showing up to the arena for an NBA game, like he's a player walking to the locker room. I'm not hitting you. I think that's funny, Like I like that, Like to me, that's like, that's that's comedy because I actually think deep down, stephen
A knows what he's doing. He knows that, like, he's not an NBA player and people are gonna act like he's you know, so he's got people playing into his hand whenever people are losing their mind and reacting to him saying he would he would he would have punched Lebron James had he put hands on him or you know, I don't even know. I don't know exactly, and I'm certainly not going to play the sound on the show.
But he was asked something along the lines of when Lebron confronted him, had he you know, gotten closer, maybe touched him, steven A said he would have hit him. We all know that's not true, but again, like consider it. Just when you think of Lebron and steven A moving forward, just imagine it as not being professional sports media commentators that are, you know, debating about serious things and being
mature and professional. Consider it. Just view it with the lens of the w WE and Vince McMahon in like the Attitude era, because that's really what this is. And the quicker you realize that's all this is. It'll stop bothering you. It'll just be one ear out the other. Like you remember, people used to get so upset about LeVar Ball about this, about this clown who just says nonsensical things. And because he's such a character, he's all over FS one, he's on ESPN, you know, he's he's everywhere.
They need to just shut this clown up. Sure, well again, like labar Ball didn't believe anything he said, like he was just playing a role, being a character. And if you see that for what it is, like, you know,
it won't bother you as much. But this has turned into something I would have never imagined, right, I mean, And if you are somebody thinking like I don't even know what the hell that's talking about, well, then good for you because you're you're you know, you're you're paying attention to things that you know you want to pay attention to. You're not being distracted by And again it's I mean, I don't even think like to me, it's
not like I mean, am I wrong here, Austin. You do a pretty good job of keeping your you know, I mean, you're all over Twitter, like I am right, Like this is the most talked about thing in sports right now?
Yeah, that's up there. I mean, it definitely is.
And it's it's if we just all viewed it as funny like that would be one thing, but people are bothered by it, and I just think take that element out of it, don't take anything in any way from steven A Smith serious at all, and I think, you know, you'll be a happier person for that.
This sort of lead into a fight or something that'd be awesome, like him versus Lebron or him versus I mean, I don't know, maybe this leads up to some sort of huge ESPN like debate between them both and they just hash it out.
And what Lebron has right, what Lebron has to know is that he has given stephen A a level of I don't want to say credibility, validity. Yeah, that's it. I mean as as somebody who cause again, I don't I've yet to see anybody provide anything stephen A Smith said that everybody else isn't saying. In fact, what steven A has said about Lebron's son being in the NBA just because of Lebron. Everybody like, that's common that's common knowledge.
That's not like a hot take, that's not offensive, that's just the facts that I don't any anybody trying to live in a world of delusion that that's not the why he's in the NBA, like you need, you need to get yourself checked out, like as you're not with us on planet Earth. So him going to these going to this length to to you know, I guess, try to dunk on stephen A. All he's done is made stephen A even more relevant to people who follow sports. And also Lebron's gonna be asked about stephen A for
months now. Like you think, I mean, Lebron last night hit a game winner, he gets my pacers to beat him at the Buzzer had a tip in you think there's more people right now that know that than there is people who know that he's in a public feud with screaming a Smith like that, that tells you where we are. All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Wrap at three o'clock hour. It's cough.
Now back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
As we wrap up the first hour today, some football news to get to recruiting news. I should say, I know basketball of course is obviously getting a lot of attention as we got the Sweet sixteen getting started today, but Jeff Bron picked up a four star recruit earlier today, Peyton Cook, who's listed as an athlete as far as position,
I guess that means he's got some options. But he is a top one fifty player in the twenty twenty six class pick Louisville over Michigan, Tennessee, Miami, Wisconsin, Kentucky, among others. So high school recruiting, you know, clearly just doesn't get the same attention as far as like coverage as it used to. I mean, it does get coverage, it's just not follow like fans who used to just eat, sleep,
and breathe recruiting. They still follow it, but man, the portal is more important on a year by year basis, and it's more juicy. It's free agency, right, It's guys that you've seen play that are available for your coach to go get, not high school kids. So you really just never know. But high school recruiting is always going to be really important, and Louisville earned that last year. I mean they had two of the best freshman running backs in the country on the same team. And those
two guys coming back, Duke Watson and Nasac Brown. I mean that's one of the reasons why Louisville has some momentum and I think is going to get a lot of attention heading in the next season. So it does, you know, and I'm not bothered that it's not something that I feel like we need to spend a ton of time talking about because I just, you know, I know that the people who love it love it and
they realize how important it is. But you know, to do a radio show and reach an audience that's much wider than those that just you know, get deep into the weeds and recruiting, that's kind of what I'm supposed to do. So you know, all that, With all that said, this is a good enough recruit, big enough name that it's worth mentioning. And can't help but think that maybe I don't know, maybe I'm maybe I'm just looking at a picture and putting two and two together when it
doesn't doesn't add up. But to see Dion Branch posted in the picture with this young man as he made it official and posted the graphic with him committing to Louisville, you know, Dean Branch is somebody that when he was playing for the Patriots and he was winning the Super Bowl MVP. A lot of these players, no joke, weren't a live I mean, crazy to say, but what year was that when Dion won it?
So at two thousand in the two was in two thousand and three?
Four he won the Super Bowl MVP in two thousand and two, So yeah, I mean that was twenty three years ago, that ye Eagles game. So so these players on his team weren't alive to see it. But you see the video. I mean again, I would assume even if they didn't remember him playing like they would at least know who he is. But even if they don't, I mean the video that U of L Football put out there after he was announced to be a real you know, he's actually added to the staff as the
wide receivers coach. When he was previously just I think the director of player relations or something like that, he had a different title. But now, when Lonnie Galloway left to go to North Carolina to coach for Belichick, they moved up Dion, which I think makes total sense. And the video that they shared when announcing him being hired, I mean it's got Tom Brady, you know, saying congratulations
to him, talking about him as a player. I mean many other greats, not even NFL guys that like played with them to the Patriots, but like NFL guys who you know, I guess he's with who he's you know,
considers to be you know, close with. Like it was a great what I'm saying is was a great pr thing for like the players who didn't know who dehum Branch was or is and how good he was and the you know, the kind of love he gets from you know, professional football, like that was a really good eye opener for those who didn't realize just because it's
it's you know, it's wild. Like John Shier, the Duke basketball coach, was was talking about something the other day and I just, you know, it's another one of those reminders that you're getting older and a lot of time has passed. But you know, there are players playing for him right now that are veterans that don't remember him
at Duke because they were so young. And there was some kind of a question that came up in the press conference where he had to say, YEA, occasionally I'll have to I'll have to let him know, you know who I was, because he was really good and he came up in Chicago I think he went to like a private school, and I don't know his background, but he was one of those guys that in the inner city of Chicago. I'm pretty sure they just referred to him as white John because, like, don't let the looks
fool you. He had the he still has the clean cut, pretty boy look, but he could he could go, and he had a lot of respect in the basketball world coming up and still does now obviously, But it was just him kind of making the joke about yeah, every now and then, I do have to kind of remind them in a certain way without being over the top, that you know, there's a reason you should trust what I'm saying. And I'm thinking, well, of course they know.
They remember John Shire at Duke. I mean, first of all, he's one of the all time Dukies, not necessarily as far as his career, but like, man, when you think about going in a laboratory and creating a prototypical Dukie white guy, I mean, is it not John Shire? I mean it is, and he's the coach. And as I said yesterday, I mean I'm gonna be anti Duke forever. Why not? Although I don't hate Duke the way a lot of people do. But clearly, you know, they're one
of those teams. If you're not a Duke fan, you probably find yourself not liking them. And I guess that's where I'm at. But I do think, even if I don't want it to happen, I think John Shire is gonna be really good at this. I think he is.
He's kind of c into his own whenever. What he you know, what he brings to the table is more valuable than it's ever been, right, like relatability young, but also you know, having the ability to say, look, I played in the NBA not that long ago, like you know, so he can get all he can get after his guys in a way to where they're gonna really you know, they're gonna they're gonna respect it. Not that other coaches you know can't do that. But I just think Shire
is going to be super successful moving forward. As Austin said yesterday, like the cast was already built for him. He just gotta you know, he just gotta lead, and so far he's done a good job at that. All right, let's get to a h a break. We got two hours left, so stick around. It's coffee and company and we are fueled bout Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety