FRI POD @SpenceChecketts on #NBAFinals, Pacers 2-1 Lead, USMNT/RSL, #USOpen + more

All right, let's get at drive time Friday afternoon, nine minutes past the hour or two o'clock. No surprise, it has been a really warm weather cycle, unseasonably warm this week and it continues today. It is ninety two degrees and sunny outside here in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, right outside of our Broadway Media Studios. Happy Friday to you. Congratulations, you made it. It is time for the weekend. Take a big, old deep breath. It is Friday time.

A lot to do.

Spence checkets behind the mic, Porter Larson beyond the glass on this Friday afternoon, producing the show, booking the show, and we have got a ton to get to on this Friday edition of the program. Thank you so much for making us a part of your day, and a

We'll get you ready for the game tonight.

We'll talk a little NBA basketball on the program and get you ready for this big game that is at six thirty Mountain time television coverage on ABC radio coverage right here on your home of the NBA Finals in saut Lake City in the surrounding area ESPN seven hundred, So preview the game, get you ready for a massive, massive matchup, look at it from both sides, and get

That is now closed and has been closed for a while.

Summer transfer window opens up in a month, it's mid July.

I don't know.

If you want to know, you can google it. Hopefully they have some things planned. Pablo needs reinforcements in the worst way, so it gets ready for the RSL match tomorrow. On the program Today US Open rolls on the television coverage I think right now is NBC Dictor Hoblin and Sam Burns. Had a great round today. Several golfers still on the course. We'll give you an update on the leader board and we'll talk a little golf on the program today.

We do have a.

Golf guest as well, so a lot to do, busy show. Good to have you with us. Our first guest right out of the gates will be our guy, Tony Jones, who covers the NBA for the Athletic covers the Utah Jazz as well. We'll get a couple of NBA Finals observations from Tony. But we'll do a lot of draft The NBA draft is twelve days away and the Utah Jazz have number five and number twenty one and then ultimately have a couple of second round picks as well.

Well, what's that going to look like?

We'll see what Tony sources are telling him about the potential movement in the NBA. Dave mcminnimon live in Indianapolis Game Bridge Field House, so Dave will be on location and he'll stop by today to set the scene for

Do you feel like that's the case.

Yeah, I think if Arizona is able to get over coastal Carolina.

Here right and turn on the golf. Dude, like, why are we watching college baseball? Due, Well, we're watching college baseball because I do believe.

Actually, I'll go confirm for you, But the golf is now on Peacock, So.

It's twenty twenty five. Can we get Peacock on our television?

And I know I sound like the old man screaming at a cloud that they're streaming stuff going on in twenty twenty five, but I'll make sure there's golf on the TV for you here the next fifteen or so.

I'll figure it out.

But away from Arizona and Coastal Okay, Okay, it's four to four, so it's close.

Yes, turn it on bottom of the six Indiana.

Ok See does the winner of this game tonight win the NBA Championship?

I think so, And I said last night, right even though right now the odds are in the favor of Oklahoma City. Still, when you have a two to one lead in this type of finals, not necessarily this type of finals, but this late in the playoffs, this much pressure and urgency, I think you're in the driver's seat. I think you hold the keys to the series. And Indiana's at home tonight, so that's a big plus as well.

Yeah, if you go up three.

To one man, there's only one time that has gone south in the NBA Finals, and it included one of the greatest players of all time and included a silly suspension and included some injuries and a whole bunch of other stuff For that to transpire. You go up three to one, and you better, you better win the NBA Finals.

Yep, and the series porter is talking about twenty fifteen. And you know what, Let's get to the opening tip because I actually have some thoughts on that. So our first guest today will be Tony Jones from the Athletic But before TJ stops by on this gorgeous, beautiful summer of Friday afternoon in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, it is time now for your opening tip.

Welcome to the Drive with Spence.

Check its on Utah's number one sports talk Now into the studios of ESPN seven hundred to set the scene for the show. The opening tip of the Drive is brought to you by Prize Picks. Use the code ESPN seven hundred and run your game with Prize Picks.

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All right.

The Finals roll along with a massive, massive game four tonight after the Indiana Pacers were able to take a two to one lead at Gainsbridge Field House over the Oklahoma City Thunder one sixteen one oh seven. You know what's interesting is all three of these games have been pretty unique and different, which is kind of strange when

So in yeah, it did.

In game three as far as covering Shay, there was a bunch of different personnel switch ups and Andrew Nemhart. It's interesting, So Nemhart and Sga are teammates on the Canadian national team.

They know each other really well.

They played against and with each other for a number of different years, and I have to imagine that Rick thought that familiarity would help Nemhart in his individual role trying to corral SGA because he did a really good job. And you know, Nemhar during the Knick series also took on the challenge of Jalen Brunton often and he just gets up in you. He's gonna pick you up ninety four feet. He's gonna let you know that I'm gonna

But it is that dog mentality.

I know it's a little bit corny and cliche, but that's what it is and that's who he is as a player. So we'll see what Dagnall does, because ultimately what Carlisle decided to do is utilize Nemhard is the primary defender on SGA, and then they didn't blitz and hedge on ball screens for Shaye the way the way that they did Games one. In Games two, they actually kind of left the secondary defender, oftentimes it was Halliburton or Nie Smith kind of below the three point line,

These playoffs have been awesome.

Like I know, a lot of people have soured on the NBA for maybe several different reasons. Maybe you've been fooled to believe that your political beliefs don't allow you to watch basketball anymore, which is the dumbest thing, but maybe that's you. Maybe you're disenfranchised with the fact that players don't play during the regular season.

I'll raise my hand.

That's one of the reasons I tap out a lot of regular season basketball. Maybe you're only a Jazz fan, and oftentimes we've had a debate in this market. Are we an NBA market or are we only a Jazz market? And if you're a Jazz fan, of course you're frustrated,

So I understand all that. If you're not watching the playoffs.

If you haven't been, you're really missing out because the competition has been fierce, the basketball has been really high level, and there have been some injuries, certainly, and that always is something that colors the context of how these teams were able to win something special. Is this a Boston OKC matchup of Jason Tatum iss still standing? I mean, the Knicks were about to take a three to one lead, but you get my point. Dame Lillard goes down for Milwaukee.

Was the play of Andrew Nemhart.

Obi Toppin, who, by the way, has been so much better for the Pacers than he ever was for the Knicks. You know, those are the guys Bennedict Matherin who went for twenty seven points on twelve shots in Game three.

How are you?

I think it was my second VI three lap?

Right?

What was the first one?

Alex Jimpson?

Ah, okay, well, two for two, two for two, So let me ask you, what did you.

See, miss I've missed on a lot more than I said. I just got lucky on the last two.

No, we all missed, man, But what did you see from Indiana that led you to make that statement when it didn't feel like anybody else was kind of on that train.

The fact that you know, the landscape of the NBA has changed, and you need ten guys now to win an NBA title win before you could do it with seven, and you could do it with you know, three top three, top evy guys, and you can you know, mix and match around them and use the bandas around them. I mean, if you look at the two thousand and eleven Miami Heat, which is actually a good comparison because Rick Carlisle coached

Okay, so the follow up, Tony is called you did call it?

That is?

You know Indiana was going to have a say here, and they're up to one and if they win tonight. In the history of the NBA Finals, teams that are up three to one are thirty seven and one. The only exception is Lebron and the Cavs in twenty fifteen. Which is one of the most incredible individual performances in a team sport setting that I've ever.

Seen in my entire life.

So I'm going to ask you, even though you said weeks ago you think they can get this done, do you believe that they will? Do you believe they can beat okay see two more times over the next whatever amount of games to get this done.

Shockingly, I'm still going to go okay see and seven okay because I think that that I think the Thunder are going to play their best game of the postseason tonight, and I think they're gonna get one tonight, and I think that's gonna make it the best of three. And if you make it the best of three, then it's hard to expect in the end to win twice at Pingcom Center in Oklahoma City because the Thunder is so so good there. The thing that I think is that

So I don't look.

At this as you know, somebody, you know, I mean, obviously somebody's gonna have to win and somebody's gonna.

Have to lose.

But I look at it as you know, two real giants kind of going at each other. And you know what I thought heading into this series was that this is going to be a six or seven game series. And I still think that this is going to end up the six or seven game series. Even if Indiana wins tonight, I still expect this series to go six because I don't expect Oklahoma City to lose Game five at home.

Okay, so let's see, we were talking about this yesterday. I think it was, oh, it was Howard Beck who stopped and stopped by the show yesterday. And look, I'm not trying to put the cart before the horse here, but next year will kind of be like an off year for the Celtics. Tatum is out probably all year. Every rumor you hear about Boston is they're open for business to trade whoever with a new ownership group that does not want to be in that punitive economic area that they're in right now.

We'll get to the Knicks in a minute.

I don't know if they've contacted you about the coaching job, but what a pathetic display from ownership. But ultimately, there are some good young teams in the East. I think Detroit will take a step. I think Orlando will take a step. You never know what Miami has up their sleeve. But Tony, when you look at the bulk of Indiana's roster outside of TJ. McConnell and Pascal Siakam and Pasco, I was only thirty one.

He's got plenty of good years left. The bulk of their.

We don't know how Passcal is. He's on that surge of Baka train.

I'm gonna let you say that, and I'm gonna back away for the mic.

I'm gonna let you go ahead and say that.

But when you look at tyresee when you look at Matherin, when you look at Nemhard and Nie Smith and the bulk of their roster, the bulk of their rotation between twenty three and twenty seven years old, is there a chance that we are seeing the start of something maybe very special with this look. I know that the current climate of pro basketball is you're not able to keep really good teams together for very long. I know that's by design, But with an Eastern Conference, it's very much

I'm gonna say no, because, like you said, I mean, it's really hard to keep teams.

Like this together.

I mean it's really hard. Like you know, let's say Indiana winsday. The one thing that I learned from covering Denver, from covering Denver in their championship year in the year after that is hard to do it twice because you play so many games and you expend so much energy heading me into trying to win a championship, and you're just gassed the next year. It's one of the reasons why I didn't really think the Celtics were gonna win this year, because it's hard to win twice.

It really is.

And you know, Denver won like quite easily. I think they went like sixteen and four, Like they lost four times on that on that in that championship run, they won sixteen of their twenty games, and they were gassed the next year by January. They were gassed. They had nothing left and and manifested itself in the playoffs when their legs just died in games set in the second half of Game seven to the Minnesota Timberwolves. You saw the Boston Celtics this year. That was a tired basketball

They own everybody's.

Draft picks in the entire league, and you know they're gonna get draft pick after draft pick after draft picks. That's going to allow them to keep kind of flipping over the roster as they have to make tough decisions. Indiana's not in that spot. I mean, obviously, you know their core is young, but they don't have like the assets that okay see has to keep replenishing the guys that they lose. So you know, when Andrew Nemhar comes up,

It's just.

So many guys that are gonna have to get paid, and you know that and turn and dealing with natural attrition is gonna make it really really difficult for any any team to have a long sustained run uh year after year.

Billy Donovan, Quinn Snyder, Emmy Udoka, Chris Finch, Jason Kidd, those are the five we know about.

Uh.

The New York Knicks response to the best season they've had UH since Red Hot Lover Too with the kid and play Fade was playing basketball was to fire a great coach with no contingency put plan in place. This is like comically embarrassing for an owner who has several decisions and moments that have been extremely embarrassing over the course of his twenty seven years owning this basketball team.

I think ultimately, you know, one of my guests. Is gonna be one of Mike Brown, Taylor Jenkins, Michael Malone. There's one other really good coach that's out there is

Of those guys.

To me, and those the fine options, right, Like Taylor Jenkins is a good coach, like Michael Malone for all of his faults, and you know if basically, you know, I plan to max sit they hired Michael Malone because you basically fire tips just to hire Tips. But Michael Malone is a good coach, a really really good coach.

Team can can really just cancel all of this out.

And you know, you're right, this has been embarrassing and no matter where they land at this point, it's been embarrassing. Like you're reaching out to the Chicago Bullsha.

Billy Donald Donaldvan hasn't even been good at.

The NBA levels. He's been made, you know, so I mean at least like you know, reach out and get you know, rejected trying to go after Red r Back or Red Holzman or or Phil Jackson or somebody like that, or Rick Parallel, you know, Eric Foster. You know, goat level coaches don't get rejected by Billy Donovan going after Billy Donovan, Like, that's embarrassing. You know, so at you know,

For sure.

Do believe Red our Back and Red Holsman are both no longer with us. But your point stands. I completely understand what you're saying.

I hope you know that. You know that.

I'm just I'm kidding.

But here's the problem Ton, You you know this, Let's say they hire Taylor Jenkins, just hypothetically speaking, you know, at the opening press conference, when Taylor is addressing the media, Frank Eyes, Solar or whoever is gonna be like, hey, how does it feel being the sixth choice?

Taylor?

Like, no matter who they hire, he's gonna have to deal with that narrative as long as he's the coach.

And Taylor should respond last week I got a paycheck where zero dollars, Like that should be his response. Now that shouldn't be a response. But still the question is going to come up because it's the new York media.

That's the courts.

That's the very first question that's going to come up. So you know, it's it's something that you know should not have played out. It's embarrassingly just publicly the NX, you know, they they you know, go through great lengths to be the gestapo to the media, so you know, don't try to be the gestapo to the media. And you know, you can't keep stuff inside your own house when it when it comes time time to hire a coach,

Going to hire.

They knew they were who they were going to hire, and that person knew he was going to take the job, you know, so that there, you know, Preig Smith when he got dismissed, there wasn't any ambiguity on on who was going to replace him. And I just don't understand, you know, why the Knicks didn't cross their t's and dot their i's in terms in terms of doing that.

Isn't Taylor Jenkins still being paid by the Grizzlies.

He is?

So I'm just, you know, making hypotheticals that are inaccurate.

All good, All right, Before we get to the Jazz, I want to know what your sources indicate about the reports concerning all the potential player movement. I mean, I feel like every time I pull up any of the outlets you guys have the Athletic or ESPN or whatever, there's rumors that Boston is kind of open to trade anybody, including Jalen. They won't trade Tatum, but of course he's out all next year. There's the Durant stuff, which is suddenly feeling very very real.

There's the Yannis stuff.

I mean, there are a lot of rumors concerning big, big name players that could really change the landscape of the league. How real do you think the reported potential chaos in the offseason of pro basketball will actually be?

Well, I'm fairly certain Durant is gonna move. I'm fairly I'm fairly confident that Giannis is not gonna move. But I'm fairly certain that I think that this is going to be a wild off season because for a couple of reasons, the landscape of the NBA is wide open. Anybody can win this thing from year to year. There's no money on the market, so the free agency market, uh is caka, you know. So that leaves the trade

Okay, Tom, since you and I last spoke, Sarah Todd from of the program Friend of Yours, Bill Simmons on his podcast, Zach Lowe on his podcast are three of the media members I've seen either talk about or write about the fact that the Jazz are actively taking phone calls on Lowry Marketing and Walker Kessler. Now, does that mean they will move them? Of course that's not what that means.

And of the one thousand rumors we'll hear over the course of the next few weeks, maybe five of them actually happen. So what is your source and indicate about the Jazz potentially taking phone calls on Walker and Lowry.

I mean they you.

Know, they'll take phone calls on anybody. Nobody's untouchable on the Jazz roster.

You know.

But you know, if you want Lowry marketing, or if you want Walker Kessler, you're gonna have to give the Jazz a lot. And you know that's the way it's always been with them. I mean, listen, our favorite team offered two first round picks for Walker Kessler last year at Draft Knight. They were told now, and that's our favorite team. And you know who I'm talking about. That was Draft Knight last last year. They were told now, you know. So, I mean the bar to get any

So of course, Tony, as you know, and for our listeners perspective, the Jazz on a top eight protected pick that goes to Oklahoma City next year if they're not in the top eight. So with that in mind, do you really believe it's a possibility with all the really good players that could be on the move. The Jazz actually kind of zig when everyone thinks they're zagging, and make moves to add veteran talent to the roster.

Do you think that's on the table.

I think it's possible.

Well, you know, when I talk to when I thought the sources within the Jazz organization, I was told at this point any direction as possible. So if possible that the Jazz try to get older and try to be more competitive, it's also possible that the Jazz keeps stripping the roster down. And they said they go into twenty twenty five to twenty six with the roster that can finish with fifty five or sixty losses. I think that the draft will tell us a lot, and I think,

All Right, before we get to the draft, I'm gonna ask you.

We don't have time to go individual players, so I'm gonna I'm gonna blump them all in and ask you one question about the following group. Isaiah Collier, Kyle Philipowski, Keante, George Taylor, Hendrix, Bryce Senseiba, and Cody Williams. Those six players, I feel like those are the six players that certainly are.

Under contract next year. Is gonna be interesting.

The Jazz actually have some options on some of these guys, and they're all kind of the young group that the Jazz have drafted over the past three years or so. I'll leave Walker out of it because Walker is established. I think we all know what Walker is, but out of those six players, who do you think Ton, based on your conversations, they think is going to be around for the long haul and legitimately part of the future moving forward.

I don't know that any of those guys qualified.

Yeah, yeah, you may not be wrong, man, And.

That that's that's that's the tough thing about where this rebuild is gone. You know, none of those six guys we can say, you know, definitively, yeah, you know, ten years or let's not even say ten years from now, five years from now, this guy will definitively be on the roster, no question. And you know, none of those

I don't think no, no, you covered it because you.

You talked about Isaiah, you talked about Kante, you talked about Taylor and Cody and Field.

No, no, those are the sext.

No, we didn't talk about Cody. Cody had a historically bad rookie season and you know, he's got to uh, he's got to establish himself as an NBA level player there. So this is a real uh, this is a really important off season for him, and next year will be an important season for him. So, you know, I think

All right, before I set you loose, good good breakdown there. Have you changed your opinion on who's best case at five? It's been interesting, Sam Vassini over where you work with the athletic and Givoni. Who's the ESPN dot Com Draft Guy have both indicated con Nipple is rising and rising fast and maybe won't even be there at five. So maybe that shakes up the draft board ton in a

Best case scenario for me.

Is Trey Johnson. I think that he has a chance to be a complete offensive player. I think that he has a chance to to to be an offensive driver in terms of, you know, being the number one guy. I watch him and he reminds.

Me of a young Devin Booker.

I think he has, you know, kind of every skill you want out of the shooting guard. I think he's maybe the.

Best shot in the very best shot.

Maker in the draft.

You know.

I worry about the defense. I worry about the fact that he's about one hundred night. I think you have to put twenty pounds on. But if I'm the Jazz, that's that's who. That's that's who I want to follow me because I think that he's he's the guy outside of the top two. Yeah, right now, I think has the best shot. Along would be to ask him of eventually developing into an all NBA guy.

All right, toll, good stuff today, man, have a great weekend, Thanks for the time.

Happy Friday with chat toon. Hey, Happy Father's Day, oh to you as well. Thank you, sir. Have a great one, okay, fair, I have a good one.

We're back on the Drive with ESPN's Dave mcminnimmon joining us for today's NBA Daily Assist.

Game four NBA Finals tonight, six thirty bout in time. We're about three hours and twenty three minutes away from tip.

It is a massive one.

We go, I believe, we go live to Indianapolis, where we find fan of small Markets, friend of the program, Dave mcminnimon. Right, Dave, you are live in any Annapolis? Is this correct?

Yes?

I am Nastown, USA, and it's been a wonderful couple of days here. And if we had anything like we got in Game three tonight, that I will this will vault up towards one of my favorite admit cities. Because these guys are delivering a great at BA Final so far.

They are they are all right right off the top. If you go out to dinner and you walk into a restaurant, I want you to give me the media member that makes you the most excited and the media member that would motivate you to turn around and walk out the door.

Well, I will name drop here.

I was able to break bread with Charles Barkley last night, dinner arranged by Brian Windhorse. So we had about you know, five or six of us on the ESPN side welcome me in our new colleague, the ESPN and Charles Barkley. So that was very exciting and a wonderful meal. On the other one, I mean, you can take your pick of the Tim mcmahonnormon him, you know, come on, I'll be one to turn around right away.

I saw the IG post and are you familiar with the term thirst trap?

Dave?

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, No.

I mean I'm not saying that's what that was. I just yeah, sure, not the post.

Or Do you feel confident that you showed well enough to save your job moving forward?

Yeah?

Yeah, I think so. You know, I was peppering in the Philly connections, you know, yeah, playing that angle for sure.

Did he know who you were?

Yeah, we've we've had a relationship for about ten years now.

So for sure.

I never had a chance other than at a game to chat with him, so to have a three hour dinner and you hear stories and just everything.

Under the sun.

He is the same guy on cameras off camera, just delightful and entertaining and opinion. And yeah, it was really cool.

See that's what makes him who he is though, right, I mean, I had an opportunity when the knickt retired Ewen's number. We all went back and my son at the time was like one and a half and I was holding my son in my arms and Patrick brought us all over to me Charles, and Charles looked at my son and his nose was running, and he grabbed my son out of my arms, wiped his nose with his hand, and gave him back to me. I mean, it's just like this, and my mom got a picture

But that's what makes him great, wouldn't you say?

Yeah?

For sure?

And you know, we tried to kind of discuss the secret thoughts of the show, just you know as being fans of the show, and he didn't. There's some methods to the man. That's where he and Shack and any like they don't want to talk about the topics ahead of time, Like that's all on ej. Ernie has the traffic in his head and then they'll spring it on those guys when the red camera light is already on,

So I've heard a couple of different things about Ernie. Okay, and let me be clear, with all respect to your bride, who I think is very elite at her job and everyone over there that does a good job that I don't know that that show works without Ernie. Dave, is he making the move too? Has that announcement been made?

Ernie is making the move. He's tremendous. Charles, let us be known. I don't think I'm talking out of school here, because you know, I think he's been very reverent when he talked about Ernie in the past. He is doing this next iteration of the show for two reasons. One because of all of the people behind the scenes that he's developed a relationship with over two decades. You know, the camera ops, the producers, show grip, etc.

Etc.

At craft services, all those folks that he's gotten to know them and their families. A lot of them were really, yeah, very worried about not having a gig if Inside didn't continue. So that's a principal reason why Charles is continuing. But the other one he shared this with us is Ernie.

Well, he also Dave, from my perspective, since you asked, you, didn't he understand He understands those guys, and and that that's a really underrated thing for a studio host who works with complicated personalities to be able to understand them. And that doesn't happen overnight. I mean, I've had different radio co hosts and at the start of the show that we launch him like I don't know what's gonna work, And after a few years we kind of get each

Yeah, he plays the notes that can kind of get each of their engines revving and then play them off of one another as well, which is a great way man cadence is so apt. It's such an apt way to describe it. And you know, obviously he's a host, but it comes down to being a reporter and having journalistic instcts too, is observation skills, and then obviously, I mean he's a top tier human being too, so I think the long hours that are that are required as

That's really cool.

All right, before we get to the finals, Billy Donovan, Quinn Snyder, Emy Udoka, Jason Kidd, Chris Finch. Like the Knick's response to the best season they've had in twenty five years was to fire a really good coach with no contingency plan.

It's like comically embarrassing.

I mean, it is a clown car, a clown busk, a clown playing call whatever you want. I shouldn't be stunned because of that idiot who owns the team and as for twenty seven years, this is just who he is. But what's your reaction to the way they've handled this, and who do you think ultimately they land on and why.

Yeah, so I'll start with the candidates they've reached out about, like this is completely unprecedented. It'll happen where maybe you'll

Well, and whoever they hired Dave, you know, the intro press conference, one of the New York guys, maybe I Sola or whoever is going to like, hey, how does it feel to be the sixth choice?

Man?

Like, you know, that's going to be a narrative to whoever the coaches will have to deal with as long as he's coached that team.

Yeah, and listen, I mean when the Lakers replaced Luke Walt, they offer the job to Toronto Loo, they offered the job to John Howard. Ultimately it went to Frank Frank Vogel, and that felt like, wow, like you're gonna at the third choice here, but yeah, this guy will be the sixth choice or later, which is It's just it's just absurd, and you know, I the teams will push back and say, well, you know what, there's only thirty few jobs and whoever gets it will be happy to take it, you know,

Yeah, well said, all right, before we get to the finals.

What conversations can you share as far as your sourcing goes concerning the rumored drama and player movement this offseason, Giannis Durant. Everyone on the Celtics, apparently outside of Tatum and others. I mean, you hear rumors almost every single day about not just bit pieces, but legitimate star players that could be changing teams, that could move and change the landscape or league. How real are these rumors and do you think we'll see a number of them actually come to fruition.

It is something that's been repeated by a lot of folks that I speak to, and obviously we have the stuff above the surface that we've seen far the reporting by Seams Sharania, especially the Kevin Durant situation. Shams did a report today saying that that that could be coming, you know, even sooner than say Draft night. I think a lot of us were thinking that that would be the first domino to fall. On Wednesday, that's when we

So I do think.

There's some fire to the smoke, and really, yeah, I think it will really just all start to come together with Drank gets moved.

Since we are in Salt Lake City, I'm quite sure the answer will be a very emphatic no. But have you heard anything since you and I last spoke about the as taking phone calls on Lowry Marketing and Walker Kessler.

No.

The only thing you know all that front that you know, and this is I'm sure we've had this conversation to some degree over the last eighteen months that Walker Kessler remains the name that the Lakers are intrigued by whether that would lead to any sort of deal. You know, obviously last year the asking price was too too steep, and obviously the Lakers ended up pivoting those assets that they were considering moving to the Jets to get Kessler

Let me just follow up real quick, what what frame work of a deal would make sense? And do they have draft capital because you know that's what Austin and is going to be asking for.

So they do have a twenty thirty one first round draft pick ticket trade and then a don't connect who had a really good first half of the season and then you know, not so great, looked more like a rookie in the secondlf of the season and really wasn't trusted by JJ Reddick in the high leverage moments in

So you want us to trade our exciting, big white guy for the underwhelming white guy that can shoot it in Saul, late Dave, is that what you're asking us to do?

I mean, yeah, I don't know.

Is that much more exciting than Connect?

Fair? Fair?

He's good and he would play well in Los Angeles, a good player. But we'll move on. Now, we can move on. Hey, before I ask you about the game tonight, you know, I've got my brother and sister in law live in Carmel, Indiana, and a couple of my nephews went to Game three. What's the what's the feel around? And I know I teach you about the small market stuff. It's a great basketball state, it's a great basketball city.

Community, it's been really really cool. And Indie is kind of in one of the cities where you can stay at a hotel downtown and everything's walkable, and because it's kind of compact, every business front has some sort of pacer signage on it, and very similar I would say to okay See. Now, the Indian is bigger than okay See. But you know, you're not necessarily needing to leave the center of the metropolis to you know, experience covering the team while you're down here, and so you feel like

The entire postseason, Dave has been awesome. I talked about it to start the show, and yes, it's been And you know, it's interesting. We'll end on this because I got to set you loose. All three of the games so far have been different, you know, and it's interesting to watch the chess match between.

Two really really good coaches.

So, based off of what you've witnessed over the first three games, what are you anticipating tonight As far as adjustments that dag Nault now has to make after Rick Carlisle made some very savvy adjustments.

Game three, how do you think tonight's going to go?

Yeah, I mean, listen, they got to find a way to try and Shay still put up numbers, but he just seemed to be wearing down a little bit by the end of the game, and to try to alleviate

All right, my friend, appreciate the time, enjoy the game tonight should be a fun and want old chat soon, Dave, Thank you, sir him. Dave mcmannon NBA reporter for ESPN. Get them on social Media at MC ten is where you find him. Tonight's game is three hours away from tip Game four Big One in Indianapolis Game Bridge Field House, and you can hear the game right here on ESPN. Seven hundred Dave stops by today courtesy of our friends at Utah Elite Services. The definition of elite a select

I'm so good? It's US Open League Spencer, it.

Is indeed, I want to start here. What's the hardest golf course? Well, actually, have you played Oakmont? If not, what's the hardest. What's the hardest golf course you've ever played?

Paul, Oh, the ocean course where the PGA Championship has been held twice. There are a couple of shots on that from the tips that just are almost unplayable for mortals, or maybe they are unplayable. It was such a tough course, so there's a lot of fun.

Well, I'll tell you what.

I have never played Oakmont, and it is bringing some of the world's best golfers to their knees. Paul, tell us about this track, Why is it playing so difficult?

It was designed to be difficult. Its conception from the beginning was to be the hardest course in the world, and it has stood up to that for one hundred and twenty years. It was built at the turn of the twentieth century nineteen o three by a steel baron in Pittsburgh named Henry c. Phones. He got a diagnosis that he had a year to live, so he sold out. He sold to Andrew Carnegie and and his mill became

It is a brute So what specifically I mean.

I was listening to the coverage, watching some of the coverage before the first round, and the guys on the Golf channel said, the rough is like five and a half inches.

The greens are rolling at fourteen, Like, that's so dumb.

I can't even imagine that what specifically about the track makes it so challenging.

Paul, Well, it's not just that the greens are rolling at fourteen and they might end up rolling at fifteen by the time we get to Sunday. The green complexes are among the most severe in the world, and taken as a total of eighteen complexes together, they are the most severe green complexes in the world, both in terms of size and slope and undulation. And then you add in the speed that we've already mentioned that the putting of Oakmond is so incredibly difficult. The reugh is a feature,

So a couple of the.

Ways I heard the course described, and certainly some of the elements you just kind of pointed out very well. I felt like, maybe, like when Tony is peaked, Tony, this feels like a course. And look, none of these guys and we'll get to the players that are playing well. But whether it's Scotti or Rory, I mean, some of the best players in the world are just having a difficult time. Tony actually played pretty well today, but it was a seventy six round one followed it with a

I agree with you. I think this is a course that fits Tony's game. Well, Tony is so strong, so powerful, he has such long levers, such good hands. He's a freak athlete with an incredibly great athletic body, which means that he can swing at less than eighty percent. He can swing at sixty percent and get plenty out of his shot making. But he went into this tournament kind of searching in his petting stroke. I think we talked last week about how he hit the Pett Memorial one handed.

Our other two local players will not be playing over the weekend. Zach Blair, who went viral for making like a one hundred and twenty yard putt, which is just like, you know, just ridiculous, but I guess you know that's the course. And then Preston had a rough day to day started in eighty So give me your thoughts on Zach and Preston will not be playing through the weekend.

This course might simply be too big for Zach Blair's game Zach's. Zach's game is built on a superb wedge play. Now, the one thing that I need to look at the numbers and look at the shot link statistics on Zach Zach's first two rounds. But if he was missing the fairways at all, and I mean at all, the course is just too big for the second shot and a five inch rough and the reality is you're not going to hit every fairway at Okemont. Nobody is. So there's

Yeah, and another player who, barring a really fast finish, will not be playing over the weekend, as Rory McElroy. Paul and I believe this marks his third straight tournament since he was able to get that Grand Slam under his belt where he will not be playing over the weekend. But I want to add another layer to the question. He's turned into this like whiny little baby. You know,

Yeah, Oh, I hear you, and I feel you, and I share your view. I'm saddened by it because I think Rory is one of the great people in the game. Clearly a great player, but he's one of the best thinkers in the game. He's one of the best ambassadors of the game. And he has been acting childish since a guest and I don't understand why, but heck, he launched a club a few minutes ago. I might have it up on my auxiliary monitor here at work, and Rory hit a pretty crummy shot and he launched the

It's very disappoint You're a lot kinder than I on I think he's a baby. I just think it's just ridiculous. Let's let's move over and give some flowers where they're due. I mean, Bryson's not playing well, Wyndham's not playing well. Shane Lowry is one of the he's near the bottom of this like it's wild to watch this challenge. Really take it, take it out of the best players in the world. But let's give Sam Burns a little credit

Both of them need to prove that they belong in the conversation as being among the best players in the world. Both of them are on the cusp of being in the conversation of being among the best players in the world. I JJ Spawn, of course, was in He's been getting better statistically over the past few years. He is firmly inside the top twenty in the world right now, but he hasn't yet gotten over the top on a big win. He nearly did it with the Players Championship earlier this spring.

Right, Paul, Before we find out what's on the show tomorrow, history tells us that in a US Open such as this, when it comes to second round behind us, the winner is probably going to come from the group that's within four shots of the lead. So that tells us that obviously Sam and JJ, Victor Hovelin's in that mix. Adam Scott as of now, is in that mix, My guy

Like So that's kind of where we're at right now. What are your thoughts?

I think Scheffler's too far out, but you know, Scheffler shot at seventy one. Today he's at plus four, which is t twenty six. But I'm totally willing to expand it because this is Oakmont. Nobody will go get the winners at Oakmont. It happened once in the history of the game, and that was nineteen seventy three with Utah's own Johnny Miller, when he shot six on Sunday to jump up thirty spots on the on the leaderboard and

All right, Paul, Before I say you, Louise, tell our listeners what's coming up on what should be a fun show for you tomorrow.

Yeah, it's gonna We're going to have fun. We're going to do a lot of Oakmont and US Open stuff. Danny Summer Hayes, he had a T eight, a top ten in the US Open in two thy sixteen when it was last played there. We're going to talk with Danny about his experience playing Oakmont. And we're gonna get Guy yoakum Utah, Golf Hall of Famer from Golf Digest, and we're going to get him on to talk about Johnny Miller's sixty three in nineteen seventy three, the greatest

Paul, thank you, sir. Enjoy the rest of the tournament. We'll chat next week.

Can't wait. Thanks so much.

Hi, there is Paul Pugmyer you Tah Golf Radio Tour Talk with Paul pug Meyer is brought to you today by Camclad.

Choose beyond Today.

Choose Camclad Moore information at camclad dot com, join us live and studio. Jamie Aslett the general manager of Keto's Brewing. Jamie, how are you. Let's get her Mike up just a little bit, Jamie. I'm great, love your brewery. By the way, you guys do an excellent job. So you're just getting back from the North American Brewers Competition and you guys won some events.

There are some medals. Let's hear about it.

We did.

We won two golds in a bronze.

Okay, so which beers won the golds.

My Blondale and a Suki Sake Ricelogger which was a collaboration with Suki Sock.

Okay, tell me about the blondale. What do you want our listeners to know?

Uh, it is a crisp, clean ale which just enough sweetness to showcase a delicate Mault backbone balanced with pine and citrus notes from the usage of cascade and comet hops.

And the second one you said it was your Suki Sake.

So Suki Sake is a local sake producer and we did a collaboration with their sake mix and sushi grade rice to make it a rice lagger saki beer.

I didn't even know that was a thing because I was going to ask you what the differences between cause if you go eat sushi, you usually get sake. I didn't know you can make a saki beer. Very interesting.

You can make a rice lagger. A lot of places have. Those are the differences. We can use the sake, but it has to be made with fifty one percent grain. Okay, so it has to be fifty one percent rice, then sake.

How did you get into this?

So?

How did you develop your love for brewing and making beer? What's the origin store here?

I don't make the beer, I just drink the beer.

You just drink the beer.

I have a great brew staff, and I am super happy that I can just showcase them and support everything that they do.

Are you local? Are you from our market?

I am from Idaho originally.

You're from Idaho originally?

So how did you kind of make your way to running the ship over at Kido's.

It's a hard opportunity to pass up it.

Sure is.

So have you worked in the service restaurant industry for an I.

Have been in customer service industry for.

US summer service. Okay, very nice. Finally, coffee creaml one of bronze. Let's hear about this one.

It is what we call the morning beer. It is what a lot of golfers drink.

Okay, good morning on the golf course.

A little be coffee in it. We use King Peak roast some coffee beans for us, so we use the real coffee beans.

Okay.

So if you're a golfer and you have an early tea time, this is something you could consider.

Breakfast beer.

Breakfast beer. I like it. I like it. Okay. So you guys are celebrating eight.

Years coming up right yep in September.

Right before I set you loose locations website what do you want our listeners to know?

Ketosbrewing dot com. We're at six o' we eight West seven hundred South in Salt Lake. And if you're looking for the freshest beer, we just canned our hazy double IPA about a couple hours ago.

Very nice, and I would imagine your beers are also in state liquor stores right available for people to get there.

Yes, liquor stores, some in the grocery stores, bars and restaurants all over. But we make over fifty different beers and they're available at the taproom.

Okay, some in the grocery store. Finally, goodness, gracious, well, Jamie, nice to meet you, Thanks for coming in. Okay, thanks for having me, Jamie asked Led, general manager of Keto's Brewing. They just wont two gold medals and a bronze at the North American Brewers competition. So some good stuff there, Blondale gold for the Sukisake rice lagger and a bronze for the coffee creamal So definitely check him out, all right,

Ketos means thank you in finish expressing gratitude. Keto's Brewing, a locally born brewery, expresses that gratitude with every pore, from their Great American Beer Fest Gold medal winning Blondale Coffee Cream Ale, the BlackBerry Sour, which is the best selling sour in Utah, to the only true gluten free ale in Utah. There's something for everyone.

Taste for yourself at their taphouse, downtown bars around the city, grocery stores or local liquor stores, or can be found at Keto'sbrewing dot com. I do feel like this song encapsulates what our next guest means to The Drive Live Monday through Friday, two to six. Chris comm live in studio on a Friday. Used to probably like exclusively Fridays, and we got.

You on a Friday.

Well it's it's summertime. Yeah, and my significant other is no longer working public educator.

Yes, so I am. I am free of my constraints. Well, we appreciate you. Rolling in Beach Boys fan Brian Wilson passing this.

Week, huge fan. Yeah, I was listening to Fresh Air and they re aired his last two interviews with Terry gross In nineteen eighty eight, nineteen ninety eight and very fascinating guy, very very sad story like you if you don't know about Brian Wilson, like a very depressing but also enlightening human being, like went through a lot of mental health challenges, sure, but a genius in his own right. And this song is one of my favorites of all

This week, I'll have to check that. I mean, I've seen the documentaries. And then there was a movie made, Love and Mercy, which was excellent.

I lucked out.

When I was ten years old, my uncle Nate played in a beach Boys cover.

Band called Surf's Up.

Naturally, they played a lagoon and I thought he was like a beach boy wow, you know. And so when we moved back East, my uncle Nate, to his credit, yeah, to his ever living credit. Quite frankly, I think he knew this was going to be a difficult move for a ten year old. Sure, he gave me pet sounds on tape. Okay, wow, because I had a walkman at the time, not even a dismand this was nineteen eighty eight. Yeah,

Why haven't we hung out with Uncle Nate? Is he still around?

Oh?

He's around. He's the best.

Why haven't we hung out with Uncle Nate?

He is?

You know, let's do it? Is he?

Is he a namesake for your brother? Don't you have a brother?

Yes?

Yeah, my brother Nate was named after my uncle Nate. No, my uncle Nate lives in Bountiful.

Yeah. I think he has five or six kids, a bunch of grandkids now.

Too, Would Uncle Nate want to hang out with Nate bench?

Yes, and now that's all I want, quite frankly. No, he's the sweetest guy and he very much colored my musical taste as a kid, which I'm very grateful for.

And he so he introduced me to the Beach Boys. Greatest American rock band of all time?

Oh yeah, probably, I think most influential at the time. I mean, like, if the Beatles don't burst out of the scene, I think the Beach Boys ride out the sixties basically dominating that decade. But the Liverpool Invasion changed, dude. But like if we're talking about if we're talking about Beach Boys versus you know, the soft dad rock of the seventies with the Eagles, Doobie Brothers, the yacht we

I think anyone who's listening to you and I knows the deal by now. I would hope so we might get into the top Phillips you more Hoppman movies of all time again we did almost famous. So best American rock band of all time Aerosmith, Eagles, this is Rolling Stones list, Van Halen, The Doors, Metallica, Creedence, Grateful Dead, Tom.

Petty, Creeden's Gotta be up there, r Em.

If you want to get weird, Nirvana, Leonard Skinner, Velvet Underground, Guns N' Roses, Steely Dan, it might be the Beach Boys that might be the answer.

Yeah, I think out of all those bands that you named, I would go Beach Boys, Steely Dan's Gotta be in There and Criminally On and Credence.

Oh yeah, absolutely and CCR r em Fan. I would imagine you a phase at one point. Yeah, you know, not too much and probably not the greatest.

I kind of miss like your like I unfortunately didn't get the ninety one to ninety five grunge.

You know.

Yeah, our guy that we talked about that you forgot passed away like ten years ago, Chris Cornell, like like that, I kind of missed that window due to my age.

And you bring that up by.

The way, I just said, stumbled upon a Chris Cornell cover of Nothing Compares to You, Okay, and I was very impressed. I forgot he died literally a decade Sound Garden, food Fighters, Red Hot, Chilled.

Dow, I would throw red I throw red Hot in the mix, at least for a contemporary point of view for.

Me, Pearl Jam, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and if my dad's listening, I have to include Young. In my house it was Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young because my dad was a huge Neil Young fan.

Well he was the best one.

Well, David Crosby man, yuh okay, I mean Melissa Etheridge chose him as her sperm donor to have a kid because he was such a talented musician. Let's stay and do this for an hour. That's cool, man, It's all I want to do.

I hope to be that guy one day.

You can't be you're that guy today? Okay, not one day? All right, Chris.

Since we're getting weird, let's keep getting weird. Uh my guy poach, my guy poached Tino. Let me start here. Does this change the way we view the job?

Greg did? No?

It does not, No, But I you know I don't like two to my own horn. But do you remember my hottest take before the last World Cup? Well, remind me was that I would not be surprised if we didn't qualify it.

Yes, last week you did warn us, which was accurate.

And we got dangerously close for a second. I mean we missed in eighteen. We got dangerously close in twenty twenty two, and Guitar.

Didn't you call that we would miss eighteen too? No you didn't.

I I that still still too soon. The wounds are too deep, yeah, Trinida. Anyways, it doesn't change the job that Greg did, because Greg didn't do a bad job. And I think that's one thing that the soccer fans in this country are always going to be torn apart of the seams of how do we best utilize the talent that we have? How is this talent pool best deployed?

You sent me an article on the French national team.

Yes, my yeah, like moms getting involved with stuff and like telling players that they shouldn't like tackle their sons in training. Yes, that was I think that was Euro twenty twenty two, when France flamed out after winning the World.

Cup in eighteen.

That's right, But Greg didn't do a bad job. And I and I I think what what What the run of results under Pochettino showed us is that we have to recalibrate our expectations of this team because we're everybody is talking about this landmark once in a generational moment next summer across the US, Mexico and Canada. I mean it is, but I don't know if we're to the point now, Spence, that you're going to bring in people

Involved in soccer.

Now. The people who are involved on the ground level, as fans are, are loving it. No matter what, people will get their Olympic fever type you know, temperature every four years with the World Cup. But I I just I think everybody kind of has to pump the brakes on. This is going to change soccer in this country.

I don't know if it is.

Well, it's it's a fair point. When the last World Cup was here in ninety four, it did spawn the creation of Major League Soccer of MLS, so there was that. But you know, when it comes to the effect of a World Cup in our region on the sport, it's just something that I hear every time. You know, there's I remember when we brought the club here in two thousand and four, Don Garb was saying, this is great

It was the first World Cup I watched. I was like, this is awesome.

Yeah, and we got worked.

We did get worked.

But I think there is a little bit of a initial bump that the sport receives every time there's a World Cup cycle, but it's never fully sustained. I mean, this sport has been a slow grow and a slow burn just to get to where it is. And if it's ever going to get to where it potentially could be. When you watch the way it's played internationally, it's still decades and decades away.

It's not in our DNA man. Like I don't want to sound like a fatalist here, but if you don't like it, you don't love it, you don't like it, and you don't love it like you you're not going to tune in casually to watch a soccer game.

You're just not.

And that bleeds into all of the issues going around the men's national team right now, like you know, who decided to show up for the Gold Cup, who was told not to show up for the Gold Cup, Former players who are often the speakerphone now for you know, being the guys on the lawn shaking their fists in the air. Like I said, we've kind of arrived in a sense like that, it's it's kind of a bleep show.

But he's also a pain in the ass.

But people know that, like when you're once in a generational player, you're gonna put up with a pain in the ass because that's just what you do. Yeah, I don't know where this team goes. Like That's why I say I think we have to recalibrate how we look at next Summer's World Cup as a as a whole. Because it's awesome that it's here. But I mean, we've talked about this before, man, Like we're talking about putting soccer in football stadiums, American football stadiums around the country,

Well, one of the points you made earlier, which is a really good one, because Pochettino said, we are going to be on the front foot, we are going to play with flair, we are going to attack.

That's who he is, man, But that's not who we are. I mean, that's who we want to be, but we aren't there.

But to your point earlier, whenever we've even had a modicum of success, it's like one Nill Landon scores a miracle goal at the death against Algeria or whatever. Right, We've never been the team that's like gonna lose five to four or win three to two. We're always the gritty, defensive club that relies on our keeper. Historically speaking, we

He doesn't. Yeah, this is a backwards team. The strength in this team is in the attacking third, and the weakness in this team is in the defensive third ending goal, which is like you, I don't you probably couldn't say that about a US team going back all the way till the eighties, like honestly, like until really Casey Keller burst on the scene in the mid nineties. Like this is a very hard team to deconstruct from a like a tactical point of view because they don't do a

So part of me believes, whether it was Bob Bradley or Jurgen or Greg or now Pochettino, you gotta find the guy you like and you gotta stick with them. I think. I mean that, that's my opinion. However, when you juxtapose that here to other places, other countries.

That are really good change their managers. So every cycle, right if not.

If yeah, they'll rip them, they'll take them. They'll rip the band aid right off if there's a bad run of form.

So when it comes to how impatient we've been with coaches, is that your status quo or do you think we need to find the guy that we like to ride with them?

No?

I mean, like I would be surprised if Pochettino is the coach after this World Cup. I think he was brought in to try to take this group to new heights. Okay, and you're talking about a nation. You're talking about a national team coach coaching the national team level for the first time. He's been a club He's been a club manager forever. And when you're a club manager, you're around these guys Spence basically more than really any other professional

That's it. That's it.

Otherwise they're they're back training in August and they some of them play all the way through May or June. Yeah, So like I'm talking about like four to six weeks tops. So these coaches, like Pauch is used to having his finger tips on guys at his disposal, like whenever he wants. And now you're talking about a dude who has gotten a few camps together, hasn't had his best strikers have been hurt. Balaguan's been hurt, Pepi's been hurt. Uh, Pulisic

And we don't really have any of those guys. So if we didn't have the auto qualification situation as a result of the World Cup being here, would we be in trouble?

I don't think so, because this is I just have a hard time seeing that happening, but.

It is. It is.

We're at a time now where it's kind of like bleeper, get off the pot in terms of figuring out who's going to be in your starting eleven, who's going to be in your game day roster, how do you want to play, who are you going to play against? Like, you don't we won't know the World Cup drop for a few months now, but like man, I shudder at the idea of what would happen if the US lays another egg on home soil after Copa America, after your favorite tournament, Conka Caffe Nations League.

That is my jam.

Like, the only time this group has shown up weirdly is against Mexico in big tournaments in recent years, but against everybody else when the lights are the brightest, they kind of cower and it's really fascinating.

So what is your opinion on uh Christian polistic h Tyler Adams.

Was hurt right?

Tyler played, Tyler played, Okay Weston, McKinney.

Weston and Tim Ware with Juventus because they're at club where they're playing in this club world for the first time.

Okay, And we had Donny on yesterday and you know, I can name like the top four or five dudes and weren't there. Donny gave me a list of like a eleven or twelve players that he thinks will be on the World Cup roster that are not on the Gold Cup roster, and he said probably seven starters.

Yeah, So.

Let's talk about this dynamic where the Gold Cup, historically speaking, has been an opportunity for some of the players that aren't in the first choice group to showcase their talents. We have examples here before Kyle and Nick were part of the legitimate rotation for a World Cup. They kind of made their name in the Gold Cup. Kyle scored a goal, Nick was one of the starting keepers, played well. Beltran was on a Gold Cup roster.

That's right.

So historically speaking, the Gold Cup is a place for lesser known players to showcase their abilities. Do you have a problem with these players tapping out based on the fact that this Goal Cup is one year away from the World Cup.

I don't.

I think I'm the rare voice or opinion that nobody really cares about outside of we care about you.

We care You're right.

That's one thing that can't be lost here is historically the Gold Cup was a place for people who needed to cut their teeth and impress them manager to try to get on the radar for the next big tournament the following summer or in the years to come. So Christian not playing have no problem with it. The guys at the Club World Cup have no problem with it. You know, Anthony Robinson, who is one of our best players,

And that to me was the main takeaway, Like if we look that bad without our top players, it is a commentary on we just don't.

Have depth, don't have depth and don't know how to play. I mean, like if you, I don't know if you watched the Switzerland match, but like the first.

I got home and turned it on, it was four nil.

Yeah, I mean the first half was basically it was everybody on their own. Nobody knew how to press together, nobody knew how to together, nobody were staying in blocks. The lines were being broken. So I mean, like those goals that they were giving up, man, like that was like embarrassing. It was really really embarrassing. And like couple that with Matt Turner spilling one, and like there he already doesn't have a lot of you know, success in between the pipes in recent years, and you just wonder,

For sure.

It's a great point because I can also remember when we brought RSL here in two thousand and four, the Commissioner Garber and Mark ab and others talking about how we are a generation away from really seeing our national team fly because of all of the resources that have been put in place to develop players who at the time are the players that we're seeing now.

And to be fair, there have been some.

Success stories like Christian and others, but I don't feel like we're any closer than we were twenty years ago to really having a legitimate shod of doing anything other than just getting out of the breath.

And that's okay, And that's what I mean when I say like we have to just everyone needs to take a breather and understand where we sit in the world landscape.

Well, Jurgen Klinsman himself was asked will the US ever win a World Cup? And he was like no, and he got a viscerally lost his job. He's not wrong I know, man, and that's okay. Yeah, there are listen, there are there are football. There are soccer countries in Europe that produce an insane amount of talented players that have trouble getting to the Euros right every four years because of how much talent they have to go up against. So the fact that we're in our geographical footprint, we

We just don't have the horses. And that's okay.

You ever met Alexi Laals I have.

And I've talked to Alexi multiple times he's always he's always been very good to me. He's always given me a lot of you know, interesting insight, especially back when I was on the RSL beat days. But hey man, everybody gets a check, all right.

All right, before we catch a break, just give me a quick RSL thought. So, no Diego, no don Mark, Zuke, no Gozo. Your guy Johnny Russell in the starting eleven coming up against DC on Saturday. DC is coming off a game where they got smoke seven to one.

Not great. I was at home too, it was at home.

Uh not great, Bob, as the kids would say, I don't know who's going to be in the attack because they're Tyler Wolf.

No love for Tyler Wolf. RSL is a developmental club spence.

Not based off the interviews I've gone over the past few weeks. I mean, Peele's gonna be up top? Or what my guy, Big Willie he's coming.

He's coming off a goal recently.

Oh wait, Peel's not with them?

Actually, oh is he not?

So will be Big Willy goals up top and your guy Johnny Russell is starting.

Diego is back in the good graces of Pablo. Can they win on Saturday at least Can they just get three points on Saturday?

Probably not.

They will need Diogo to put together one of his best, if not his best performance in an RSL kit. And uh they need to show some semblance of being able to have an idea in the attacking third and also not give up very stupid goals. That's asking a lot. It is this team right now?

It is all right.

We'll catch a break coming up next. Ck we'll break down house to the NCAA settlement. What's next? How will the funds be distributed? What does it mean for nil? So stay tuned for that. But before we catch a break, well, we welcome in Ryan from the disro Dishbros.

Bottom line.

You guys know the number dial eight oh one four two four dish and you will find a way to save a lot of money, right Ryan, what's going on buddy?

Right?

And you know the offers right now are super good. Plus the internet options, guys, we've been killing it on internet. I think right now I will there's another phone number you can call where we can give you such a variety of internet providers.

We have a half a dozen.

In Salt Lake, more than that outside of this market. But if you want cable. You want fiber, you're looking for satellite internet. We've got that five G products and guys, it's cheap. It's not that expensive. Packages in the twenty dollar ra fifty to fifty five dollars a month. You're gonna be able to di dio stuff up with a

Ryan from the dish professionals more with ck livin Studio coming up on the other side right here on a Friday Drive on ESPN and seven hundred one hundred Chris Camaradi is live in studio for one more big segments. All right, man did little soccer? Last segment's move over to the space of college football. First of all, any exciting athletic teases for the upcoming season. I know you were back east for meetings anything you want.

To know, Jack Meetings do have some some some bigger enterprise stories coming down the pipe. This summer and this fall. Will be on the road for some of the more interesting college football games from a culture perspective, and it'll be fun. So yeah, there there, there are. There are big ones, but nothing I can tease necessarily, But there will be stories that we will definitely be talking about on this radio show.

Will you be covering Bill Belichick and his young girlfriend?

I will not.

We have a great North Carolina based writer named Brendan Marx who cover North Carolina and duke basketball, but with Bill being there, his job is changed.

Kind of an odd story that people seem to be very obsessed with. I'm not one that clutches, pearls, over age, gaps and relationships and why do you think it's captured so many people's imaginations.

Oh, it was all their fault. The CBS sent this. If they don't, if they don't make a stink about the Sunday Morning interview, I think I think that's it. Like you gave people a reason to think anything they want, basically, And and you're talking about like, dude, Sunday Morning, my parents watch CBS, and like you're not getting You're not It's a great I love it, but I'm just saying, like you're not dealing with like hard hitting, like you're

Let's just say yeah, no, for sure, for sure, all right, Chris.

Last Friday, about ten minutes after we signed off air, I got the alart on my phone that the house of the NCAA settlement was actually finally pushed across the line.

Friday News Dump, Friday News.

Dump after the show.

So twenty point five million dollars at the disposal aflect of athletic departments to now pay the young people to play sports and institutions I don't like the term student athlete. The general model seems to be and this is not every institution in P four. It will change based off the variants of what your unique situation is like. Utah does have a gymnastics program that brings a lot of revenue and eyes right, But the general model seems to be seventy five percent of the twenty point five mil

Yeah, based on my conversations with folks at the P four and the Group of five level, they've said, and this was before it got past they were waiting in the world of anywhere from fifty to seventy five going to football. And these are different institutions around the country that have different, you know, points of view, that have

Do you think, and this is an interesting conversation because there are multiple layers here. You just can't debate that the football program is your cash cow. You cannot debate that football generates the most revenue. Next year will mark a decade between NC DOUBLEA appearances for Utah men's basketball, which is wild to think about. If you're a P four basketball program and you are not making the NCUBAA tournament, you are leaving a grip of cash on the table.

I'm glad you came to me because I know that you know that when it comes to investments, yes and markets.

Yes, I'm the guy. How is your portfolio these days?

I would say strong to quite strong.

It's Bolivian wormwood it took seventy two hours. I believe they call it a Hookah. I still say think it's it's Ben Stiller's best move.

I know you disagree it's I still believe that.

Well, it's just because it's a it's an a stagia thing. It's heavyweights for me, and it was a big show, a big show.

Listen.

You can look at it from a multitude of ways. You can look at it by investing in a historically downtrodden program that if it hits, we'll bring more money in if we're talking about Utah for example, or you can you can theoretically go fifty to fifty or or give more. Because if we're talking about Utah women's gymnastics, they are the exception. I don't think you have a lot of non revenue generating sports that are revenue generating sports like Utah gymnastics is around the country like it's

There have been some one offs here and there, but can see it. But honestly, I'm not even sure there's been that in a long time.

So when it comes to investments, you have to you have to pick your pick your spots.

And are you a podhead falker? Sorry, keep going, I'm listening.

Oh man, I was thinking about the poem that he your name was Angela.

You gave me milk like an unstoppable rebel force. Oh so good.

The parallels between the House Settlement and Robert De Niro dialogue is not lost on me.

Anyways.

If we're talking about Utah specifically, Mark and his team have hard questions answered, because you can't leave a program that has made you money and has put butts in the seats at the altar, so to speak, in favor of the one that historically in the last ten years you mentioned it'll be ten years since they've made an NCAA tournament that hasn't really given you much from a revenue generating point of view. So it's it's tough man,

The other element is what was Alex Jensen promised before he left a really good job to take this job. And you also do have to balance. You make a good point about like, well, look, if we're not making the NCAA tournament, do you guys deserve investment? Or if we could make the NCAA tournament consistently, that does provide a lot more revenue than the basketball program is brought in.

Are we talking honestly on the drive?

We only talk on the drive?

Do we know enough? Is there enough empirical data to say whether or not Utah is going to be a potential nc double A tournament team next year? I would say no.

I would agree with you. I think that's a tough ask year one for al.

Tough ask and again I would I would ask all of your listeners to not always drink the kool aid of the folks in this media market who are saying, you know these guys, watch out for these guys. My guy, who is also your guy, tweeted that there's at least going to be one pro player on this upcoming Utah men's basketball roster. Our guy.

He also joined the show and said his sources indicate any direction as possible.

Okay, okay at five okay.

So yes, yeah, and who knows.

Maybe he's right, and maybe he's right, But what I'm saying is that you have to have some sort of foundational data as Alex from Alex as a head coach before you can, in my opinion, go really all in.

You're no, You're right.

And I've said that from the start because I just, you know, I think Al's the right guy. I think it was the right hire. And so I am not going to be over the top about expectations for this roster year one. And if anybody out there is telling you they've been grinding tape on these new players, they're lying, we don't know what it's gonna.

Be Delaware State, I don't I mean, let's be honest. If I think one dude came from like Cincinnati, I don't even know. I'm not schooled on where these guys came from, but they're not coming from. There's an Auburn guy that I think maybe didn't play a lot, and Auburn's been good.

Well in that case, championship.

Yeah, championship, but other than that, let's everyone take a chill pill.

While we're in the space of taking a chill pill, I'm here Vegas over under. Utah football wins seven point five every single you guys at the Athletic two four seven, ESPN, everybody does the whole like, hey, way too early, big twelve look ahead. Utah is pretty Utah football is pretty squarely in the middle. They don't have the the expectations of winning the thing, at least from what I've seen. I think Phil Steele, your guy did pick Utah as one of the top three teams if I saw that correctly.

Expected Devin damp Pier Heisman candidacy.

I haven't seen it yet, but you know.

I means, based on what I've been told by multiple people who watch practice secretly, he's going to be a Heisman Trophy candidate.

I've been told to say I say that in jest, but I don't know if people really get it. Well a few KSL videos with it.

Listen, man, again, beyond basketball, nobody knows what the hell this football team's going to look like offensively next year. So if we're taking chill pills, I implore you all to take a chill pill. Devin damp Pier's tape, his highlights that you watched on Twitter are awesome. I guarantee you didn't watch the twelve interceptions he threw last year. He threw he had like a fifty eight percent completion rate.

You're preaching to the choir, man, I know you are, but.

I'm just saying, like we are, we are venturing into very dangerous territory here.

But that's also but that's not just Utah.

No, I know that. I'm just saying it's it's everywhere.

It's our guys downtown Center.

And it's the guys forty miles down south. I get that. It's everywhere, So it's not it's not specific to the guys off or car away. But will you ta be better next year?

They will? I promise you.

Are they going to change the world offensively? Probably not? Will they be better offensively? God, you have to hope. So because of how terrible they'd be worse, they'll be worse.

They got a.

Couple first round tackles on their roster, got some running backs you've really never heard of, got some receivers you absolutely have never heard of, and the defense should be good. Other than that, Vegas setting it at seven and a half makes sense.

That feels right, That feels right, all right? The other element and you know, you know, actually, let me leave with this. Is there ever going to be an accurate way to really even the playing field in college football?

I don't think so either. There will always be the car dealer in Tuscaloosa. That's fine, paying whatever it is, get over for it man.

Yeah, yeah.

But the reason I bring it up is there is a new College Sports Commission and the CEO is a guy named Brian Seely, who is a former Major League Baseball executive. See I think what a lot of people either don't know or for good is the NCAA was literally told two years ago you are no longer allowed to enforce anything which is a wild, wild format, and

Mad, and runs a lot of stuff at a much higher correct. The stakes are much higher.

They have a lot on their plate, or there's no doubt about that. So how do you think this process is going to work, and do you think it will corral a little bit some of the crazy spending on l And I don't know if it's.

Going to corral the spending. I think it'll hold people more accountable, okay. And I would hope that this commission makes all of this stuff if it's a if it's a public institution, I would hope it'll be made public so people can understand because you're still at the end of the day, you're still asking people to donate, Like nil is not going away. No, like the twenty point five million is is for the benefit of the players

So ultimately, Mark Carlin himself has said they will utilize every penny of the twenty point five million dollars. Brian Santiago, the new athletic director of Brigham Young, has not made that statement. It doesn't mean they're not going to do it. But the money stuff down there is just different.

And I don't know if they need to say anything publicly because they're a private institution.

So how do you think they'll handle it that?

I don't know. I mean, if we're talking about recent history and how much money the basketball program has gotten, and if you're talking about historically the football program has carried the load there, so you would think that they would give most of it. In my opinion, you would think they would give most of it to football, knowing that your high profile donors are still probably going to be giving to Kevin Young and his staff to go

Well, and to your point about the basketball program, the money is already in the bank for this year and Jeff Goodman has reported that AJ is getting seven mil this new Rob right, kid apparently is three Richie is seven figures. If you just do some quick math, nil money for this year's BYU basketball program is in the area of thirteen to fifteen million dollars, right, But that's

Obviously more players.

I would think, So you have to, don't you more players? More depth? I mean, basketball rosters are small man and like they're always going to be front loaded. You have to be able to disperse the correct amount of resources to a football team in order to make them good. Like I understand in the NFL, who gets paid the most quarterbacks one, But like, if you have a really good offensive tackle, you're gonna invest in them. If you have a really good defensive end Miles Garrett or Nick Bosa,

I would hope so. And you know, they just had a really good year. The YA football is coming off a really good season. Do you think that when it Because your points about the payscale based off positions will be interesting to follow. I still believe and if you would have asked me three years ago, I would have told you that we were already in this space and we're not. And so I can't even put a timeframe

I think anyone that lives.

In everybody everything and everybody.

Great, and I think anyone that has a little bit of lived experience in the world knows that, whether it's family, friends, business, whatever it is, when money gets involved, people change and people change their values.

Their are jealousies, there's anger.

It just is inevitable that the women's soccer team of Utah will find out what the starting quarterback is making from the school and say, wait a second, this doesn't feel fair. Inevitably, there has to be collective bargaining. I still believe that I agree, but I don't know when that's going to happen. I do think think we will. We will feel more momentum in that direction starting now now that payer the players are getting paid, now that people can see what the checks look.

Like, now that they're being paid directly by those correct.

Verses correct, and so disgruntled athletes will contact lawyers. A lot of them already have agents, and once those complaints start spilling in, I think everyone's gonna understand that the only way to really make this thing work is for allowing the players to unionize and therefore collectively bargained to come to some sort of agreement.

And I wonder if and when we get to that point, are there going to be individual unions that are NC double A football unions, NC double A basketball unions? Or do they all come together? Do the probably close to millions, I don't know, Do all the Division one athletes across the landscape of this country come together and form a union, because if so, then you're talking about some heft.

Yeah for sure.

And now I think like a football union would have theft. But if you're talking about if you're talking about athletes who play in non revenue revenue generating sports, you would hope that they get to have a piece of the pie. So if there does come a point where there is collective bargaining, you'd have to believe that even the folks like the like the football players, like the basketball players, would would want to bring those folks.

Along with them.

Okay, final thing, and I'll set you loose on this as it pertains to the ongoing UH lawsuits that we see left and right. There was a lawsuit filed by a group of female athletes that say this violates Title nine. There are rumors of other lawsuits being filed, you know,

No, it will. It will not end until Sorry I'm contradicting myself. It will not end unless people finally get their stuff together and get their ducks in a row. And there is a model built that allows universities, coaches, players, agents, everybody to be in lockstep on how things are done. Until then, you're gonna have people filing these lawsuits saying that you know, I deserve this piece of the pie because X, Y and Z, and a lot of times they're right. So that's the reality we face.

Who do you want the Jazz to draft in five?

I've been told and everything's on the table. But if I'm going for do you think they go best player available at five?

They do, okay, because they need everything.

So since they need everything, I'm going to go with the dude from Baylor VJ.

Is he going to be there? Maybe? Okay?

Probably not okay. So then I'm gonna go with not the guy from Duke, not the guy from Duke, or the other.

Guy from Con. Not the Con okay, and not the tall guy from Duke. He won't be there at five.

No, the other tall guy.

Oh, mala. Yeah, he might be there at five. I don't want him either. Okay, fair enough. Great to see you go. Enjoy your weekend, all right, my man.

Wrapping it up, final segments of the day and of the week as we send you in your weekend. Happy Friday to you. Congratulations you made a weekend. Time take a big, old deep breath. Should be scorching hot weather, but nice to be outside and maybe get elevated. I want to say a special Happy Father's Day to everybody out there. Happy Father's Day weekend. Hopefully you're celebrating and

Where are you leaning? Ah Tonight? You gotta lean Okac.

You know you really would have put everything on them responding in Game three a little bit better, So you know, I think that that feeling kind of transfers into Game four. Backs up against the wall though, man, I mean, you go down three to one. We've talked about it all all day long. Lebron ain't walking through that door. So you know, if Oka Se number one doesn't come out with I think a little bit more urgency, but also Spence, it's forty eight minutes. If Indiana comes out and has

Man.

Once you're down to one, anything can really happen in a seven game series. And for that reason, I don't have a great read, but I do think tonight Oka See comes out and responds, and this series could go either way.

Excited for tonight, I think it's gonna be a lot of fun. So we'll send it over to ESPN's coverage. As we say good night Porter, what comes our way On a Monday edition of the radio show.

Monday edition of The Drive, we will catch up with Tom Happerstruck react to the weekend of NBA basketball the NBA Finals, looking ahead to what should be the final few days of the NBA Finals. Richard Smitty Smith stops by, as he does each and every Monday, We'll check in

Yeah, we'll see RSL is a match tomorrow. They're badly in need of a result. Well, let me rephrase that they're badly in need of a win all three points, so we'll have to see how it goes.

We'll say good night for a Friday special.

Thank you today to Tony Jones, Dave mcmahamon, Paul Pugmyer and Chris Comaraddie for the sound you may have missed from the show today. Go to the website which is ESPN seven hundred sports dot com. Make sure to download our mobile app and take us on the go. ESPN seven hundred app available in the App Store the Google play Store for free. And then for what we do in our space every afternoon for four hours. Check out our podcast page. It is called The Drive with Spence.