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This is the Player's Lounge, broadcasting live from Dallas Cowboys World headquarters.
At the Star.
Now your hosts Barry Church, Danny McCrae, Heckma Harrison, and NEWI scrugs.
Yo, here we are.
It is that time.
It's Monday, Players Lounge on the Eclipse day, before the eclipse happens, we do our thing right here.
Kid has been acting a little weird too. Man.
I think the eclipse, you know, you look at it and be like, I don't know why you're acting like that is the adults.
Two.
Watch your pets. Your pets have a very pets are very keen about things. When I lived in California before the earthquake hit, my dogs would feel it.
They would know it, so like walking around like next thing.
You know.
Yeah, man, so pet pet, pet's knows. Danny m kraig, good to see it. Heck Maherrison, good to see it. He's very just last here, I'm new Struggs. Aristocrat Gaming is your new sponsor of the Players Line. Yes, yes, yes, drafts coming up later on this month. I've told myself, I'm not gonna watch. I don't watch those debate shows anyway, but I try not now to watch the clips because the clips that I get on social media real wild. Ceedee Lamb is currently looking for a contract and des
Bryant wade in on Michael Parson's cod pending contract situation. Uh, what is your concern level, gentlemen about Ceedee Lamb and the Cowboys with the contract extension.
I think I'm less worried about that one than Dak's. I think you go into it that they know they know what the guy did last year.
You haven't made any moves in free agency.
There is no way in that you are not going to have Cde Lamb out here or disgruntled worrying about if he's gonna be a training camp, ota is any of that stuff. So I think, if anything, that's the one where I'm like, they gonna make sure they get that one done. If you ask, if you ask anybody that saw Ceedee Lamb last year, I think he proved to you why you took him where you did and why he has the respect amongst the Cowboys organization. And I think he proved it to himself that he could
be that number one. Everybody here has always been a Maria Cooper Marik Cooper since he left.
You know, he's a Hall of Famer now because he left, But.
Is I think Ceedee Lamb showed you that he could be that playmaker. He can well five games into the season that if you throw him the ball, he can be a guy that can you know, get touchdowns for you. He's a big play threat and other defenses had to respect him as that playmaker. I think for CD, honestly, for him to even ascend to higher heights, he needs to have a compadre with him somebody else. And I
know we're gonna get into that portion. But the deal is you're gonna whether it's market setting or not, you're gonna have to pay him. I think around twenty million dollars is what we talked about last week.
And that's that at least, right And.
So as the salary cap goes up, these guys are not gonna acquiesce sydy Oh you want to be a cowboy for like they want to get see that money right now. And so I don't blame Ceedee Lamb for being like that, but I think at the end of the day being disgruntled or holding out or doing any of the that's that's that's up to him. But I think at the end of the day, that would be a self sabotage in his cast. And one thing we saw what he looked like, what the disconnect between him
and back in the last game. We don't want to disgruntle nothing. We want to focus straight up eighty eight. That's going into the game ready to play.
No, it's a deal that has to be done.
Like y'all all said, he's the number one offensive threat in my opinion for this Cowboys team offensively.
But I'm kind of worried.
I'm kind of worried that, you know, it might not get done because when I look at it, the Cowboys, they never really seem to be in a rush to get things done. When you talk about guys at are home grown and they've you know, they've gone through the whole gauntlet, adoring their whole you know, five years whatever, four years after the first round pick. They don't seem to be rushed to get this job done. And they seemed to be like it's kind of kicking the can
down the road. We've seen it happen plenty of times with Dak Prescott being franchised.
A couple of times.
So to me that this is a deal that has to get done because I believe he is your offense. I mean right now, you know, no disrespect to Rico Dowell, but we don't have really, you know, a great running game you know to speak of. We know the options on the outside without Michael Gallup. You got a coach and you got Ferguson. Ferguson is the real deal at.
Tight end Cooks.
To me, he's just an aging star, but he still can get you know, he still can give you some yards out there on the outside. But you've got to get this thing done with him with a CD lamb. And to me, I don't know, man, I just I can't see him not touching the field without a contract, like I can't. I just can't see that. I can't see that happening, knowing the type of guy he is. So I don't know, man, it's gonna be.
It's gonna come down to the wire.
And that's that's the part about it that I'm I'm dreading. But because I kind of I got that same feeling that if there's not a deal done before camp. He's not showing up the camp I can see, and that isn't going to do anything muddy waters. That's already murky when you talk about the other contracts that arelluming. So look, I don't I think we talked about how much time the Cowboys actually have to get deals done, and it's not to get it done now kind of situation. But
the draft is in what how many days? Six seventeen days? The draft is in seventeen days. If they can get it done before or immediately after, what makes sense to me not let this date, don't drag your feet and let this thing last all the way through the summer.
I'm not worried, but I go back into something you just said, Barry when you were Hey, they seem to drag their feet.
This is their strategy.
Stevens talked before. He says deadlines make deals.
So their strategy in negotiating these deals is they clearly like waiting and taking this thing to the point they're comfortable with and then signing deals. So I don't expect that to necessarily change. So come Ota time, I don't expect to see them eighty eight. Here we saw it was Zack Martin before Travis Frederick before we're going to see it was that's white. We're gonna see this again where Okay, they're going to take their time, they're going
to get a deal. But number one he knows the offense, so I to worry about that. Number two was all pro last year and his worth is there. They'll figure it out. Heck, here comes the big question, where are you willing to go? I looked up Devonte Adams five years, one forty averages twenty eight million dollars a year. He was guaranteed sixty five point five million dollars Tyreek Kill four year, one hundred twenty million dollar deal with Miami
averaging thirty million dollars. He was guaranteed seventy two million dollars of as signing bonus of fifty two point five.
You have to.
Decide, now is it twenty eight or thirty million that you're going to have an average for CD LAMB and so it's basically it's gonna be a thirty million dollar receiver. So you're talking a thirty million dollar receiver and a quarterback making averaging about sixty million dollars. So this is where you're at potentially as a franchise right now are how we feel it about that guys.
This is like when you put the names up there and you say that these guys are making that amount of money. I'm looking at CD Lambs last year and I'm saying he deserves it. Like It's like I can't argue against him making what DeVante Adams and Tyree Hiller making because when I watched him last year, especially five weeks into the season, the guys showed up and we were.
Here sitting here saying, what thirteen hundred yards?
They probably he probably not, but man, he blew that out of the water and showed that he was a top receiver in the league, if not the best, going into the end of the season.
So it's hard to argue against it.
That's a lot of mulaih and mar The market is the market. You know you hit the time right, you know you're gonna get paid. But when I'm thinking about a thirty million dollar receiver, I'm looking at Tyreek Hill.
It don't matter who you got next to Tyree.
He did have waddle, but I feel like he can come into an office and just his speed alone will will generate port. I feel like he's once he steps on the field, he's at least fourteen points, you know on that. When I look at CD, I mean he's don't get me wrong, he is a complete dog.
He's a complete dog. Would you disrespect but this?
Would you put him up there with a tyree for this team and what he did on this team last year one.
Look at a dog. Were talking about what Brandon Cooks wasn't doing.
We was talking about what Michael Gallop wasn't doing, talking about what Tony Poullack wasn't doing. You're talking about Fergus and the CD twelve and five.
It's just I mean, when you look at the Vante, so I think he's I think he's probably better than Advante right now because Vante went from your car to all and his numbers dropped crazy. But when you put you know, Tyreek Pat Mahomes numbers is crazy. You throw them with a you know, to a tuge about lower his numbers are crazy. When Pat Mahomes went down and he was out there playing with I forget who the backup was, but he was still was putting up crazy numbers.
Because you can just launch it up to this man. CD is a dog, don't get me wrong, but I don't know.
No, I just think that also when you look at those two players, you look at the quarterbacks are throwing the guys are throwing them the ball, and where they are with their deals too, is still in a rookie deal. I mean, just go to Houston and some of the moves that they're making, they're able to make those moves because their quarterback is.
Still in his rookie deal. So I think you can't play.
You cannot pay everybody, but you cannot unload your stars.
And if it's twenty eight, if it's thirty.
That's why I was saying, acquiesce to the pressure of saying, oh, I'll take less just to be a cowboy. Guys are not doing that no more, you know, and you want to be paid your worth and market value dictates. I was saying twenty million, nuie, thanks you, thank you for
correcting it. It's thirty it's thirty million. And if you're gonna do that, and whether it's funny money or not, now we're talking thirty one million, because I'm sure he wants to pay on this just and say I'm the highest paid wide receiver we sit here and say, well, based off of conventional wisdom.
Are you Tarika?
He'll ish, are you Devonte Adams?
Is just because it seems like we may be forgetting just a little bit.
Okay, one hundred and thirty five catches last year one in the league, seventeen hundred and forty second in the league, and we're talking about not coming on until five games into the season.
You know, it's hot.
First in the league in reception, second in the league in yards was up.
There, he's third, and touchdowns he was first.
Team All Pro, and I want to say, I want to say he was one vote off for being unanimous in terms of the wide receiver spot. So as we look and say Jerry all in, and people are frustrated saying there's been no all in. If you know you have to pay thirty million to your receiver and sixty million to your quarterback, how all in can you really be in terms of trying to fill out other spot. These two guys are going to take up a lot of money. So it almost becomes a Jerry Buss Lakers
type mentality. When the late Jerry Buss owned the Lakers, he was about stars. I'm paying stars, pay this guy. That means other people don't get paid. That means you have to be very judicious about who else gets what. So when you're looking, say well, hey they let this person out of the door, that person out the door upstairs.
They're pretty smart.
Jerry Jones, very good businessman.
If I'm paying these guys, If I have to pay Lamb, I have to pay Dak, I eventually have to pay with Michael Parsons.
That means other goods. I can't pay Tom's Armstrong.
I can't pay Tyler Biattish, So they get to walk out of the door. So in order to pay these gentlemen, I've got to find dudes who can fit in here. Draft well, get some bargain basement guys after the draft. You know this is to me, that's why I'm not worried about the CD LAMB deal. Based on their history and what they're doing. He's getting the money. Questions becomes, who else is in the receiver room? Where else do we feel our offensive line positions and our front seven
on defense? To me, that's your real conversation. Paying CD Lamb is really not a oversations going to happen.
That's happening. That's happening.
It's now, okay, I Ceedee Lamb is my one. Got Brandon Cooks is my two. Right now, I've got Jalen Tolbert is my three. I'm going to have to figure out how I get more out of Cavante Turpin.
That's my four. Got ferg in there so and.
I just get my my wide receiver spot top four right now?
Are you comfortable with those? Will those being the top four? Yeah? I'm okay, You're good. You're good. Yeah.
I mean it's not star study, but I mean we we've seen all well, we seen Brandon Cooks and Seedee Lamb come on at a certain part of the season, and then you got a young Ferguson who you say, Okay, going into this next year, he's gotta be better than he was last year, and last year was a damn good year for it.
You're one of that office.
So you're one of that office, hepener, Well.
That's where you serve up the argument to Barry about your quarterback and him needing talent around him to obviously exceed expectations and get to the NFC Championship. You're gonna have to have it. And if you look around league, at the teams that are competing for those every year, they have stars at the wide receiver position. Look no further than for the forty nine ers, Look no further than the Philadelphia's. They have talent at those positions because look,
they've drafted well. But they've also had to go to the mantra of we can't sign certain guys. Look, if you're not one of the star guys, you're not going to get paid. And by the way, your star guys know the offense well enough that your quarterback can actively, you know, make all of these guys successful in it. We have to come back to arrive to the point that once defenses take away CD, who else is there and can you rely on Dak to make a B level, C level guy an A level guy when it counts
the most. We're not coming up with that, and that argument has already worked itself out, and we saw that in the biggest game. We were were talking about prior to the season last year Cede Lambs contract situation. Could he have got paid last year? So your timing goals, we had an opportunity to depend where people were projecting them have thirteen hundred yards and this was the catches
and be whatever top top ten in the league. So we waited, and now he was number one receptions, number two in yards, first team All Pro almost unanimous, And now now the price went up.
Think about that with Trayvon Diggs.
Trayvon Diggs, we only escaped that with him, Well, you had to pay him because he was a number two draft pick and you can't extend him out.
You have to get his deal done.
So Heckma, I think what you hit on right there is you were going to have one of these two guys you were gonna have to try to pay.
You wanted them both. You wanted the receiver, you wanted the corner.
You went for the guy.
Okay, let's get him right now, because and luckily for him he got his bag before getting hurt. It was gonna cost you what was gonna cost you either way. So now we look at Diggs and say, okay, for the corner market all right, we're good there. You didn't save on both, but you saved on one, and in today's NFL.
Can't really argue.
When we come back, I want to talk about just based on what Hecma said, maybe I make you feel better just a little bit better about the four receivers that the Cowboys have you, Okay, maybe a little bit, I don't know.
I don't know that.
And also Brooklyn the running back to make me feel players.
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Gaming Fairy Church. Her listen took the head off. It was getting little hot, sweat, letting the air out a little bit. I knew you get right right, I need sweat. I had to get hair out a little bit.
Hey, for history's purpose, let me just tell this, bro. I think it was our second year in the league. Maybe his thirst.
We were sitting there this the man be sweating.
I'm telling you, no, bro, We got on the bus to go to the game.
Listen, and I'm sitting right in front of them. He's going to Washington. He's going to Washington. I'm talking about drink it coal on the bus too. He drinks and the team walking the bus, he said, what's wrong with I don't know what was that? Was that rookie? It was rookie, one of.
Them I'm talking about. You would have thought he was about to have a heart attack. Like he was like spreading the suit and everything.
Great. Yeah, he knew. He gave me a town. That was my first game.
Actually, like suiting up the first couple of games, I was on the sideline. You know, this is my first game suiting up. I was nervous, one of the two, but I was sweat.
He gotta he gotta, you know, he got Jack Black need lit it all sweat spray all that ain't work.
That the great case State wildcat Ters throwing.
Your best feeding the game and he was cold. Man.
So we're talking about the Cowboys wide receiver position of ceed Lamb one. Brandon Cooks too, Jay October three and come on take herpened four. Last year, the Detroit Lions had Excellenciason came here, gave the Cowboys all they wanted, lost in overtime, went out to San Francisco.
Darnia won that football game, and so many people believe should have gotten that game.
Their receivers Amar Ros Saint Brown, they go, good football.
Player, definitely one.
Then you go Jamison Williams and Josh Reynolds as your number two and three guy. Really, Sam Laporta there tight end is is a really good player. Allah, Jake ferguson it. So I bring that up to you to say, get yourself one dude and some some possibles around here. You're okay, and and I'm just you know so so for me when I look at that, you can win with this. We don't have to have all pros or Pro two spots.
You can win with this.
And I believe that the Cowboys.
If I line up these this crew versus the Cowboys crew right now, I can roll with the Cowboy crew.
To huge two very big differences. Okay, Gibbs and Montgomery made the difference.
Why you can trot those guys out there, because you have the opportunity to make the defenses have to respect the run as much as they did against the Lions.
Which we don't have.
So when you say you try those guys out there, you trying them out there with the defense, we stopping those guys because we don't have to focus on the run.
So look, you're walking into the Spiders, well go first, But then what you said, you walking right into spiders web gun.
No.
I mean there's a fundamental difference between those two teams, and obviously it's the running game. And I think you know, when you talk about those players like Jameson went Williams, here's a first round draft pick. Here is a guy coming off of an ACL injury out of college, but also a big time playmaker. But like you said, Laporta is the one to a to Amorad Saint Brown in
that offense. And so I think when you look at that from a roster depth chart standpoint, I think they do kind of match up with what the Dallas Cowboys have. But the fundamental difference is the running game and where you have to respect them in that aspect, and I think their whole philosophy as a team is built on running the ball because they don't want to go into any game saying, oh, we're gonna Amoras Saint Brown as I end all the v' all like the Cowboys are with Ceed Lamb.
So thank you very much, gentlemen, because my next point, what I've got written is the running back situation. We've already talked last week about the need to fulfill the Cowboys offensive line and the front seven defensively. My next thing for the Cowboys is that running back situation where go draft. To me, you need to use a Day two pick on a running back because if you don't get a running back in the third round, you'll have a fourth round. You probably going to the fifth round.
You could possibly do, You could possibly do. But I'm going to draft a running back and I'm going to sign a veteran running back. There are going to be running backs out there, especially after the draft. Who gets cut or whatnot? What Detroit did now they use the first.
Rounder it Gibbs.
The Cowboys won't. I don't anticipate them doing that, but they're going to get themselves. They get yourself a good running back, a young running back, and go find a veteran running back.
And they made that work. Oh, by the way, that great offensive line. But what they're doing, what they're doing works. But ultimately, to me, I got.
To build my football team to beat the forty nine. Right now, I can't stop the run, I can't run the ball. If I do these things, then maybe I got a shot. But right now until to me, it is just my opinion. Everybody, shoot it down. Feel free to shoot it down until you figure out how to stop the run and run the football with your offensive line. I don't think the Cowboys are going to be doing anything other than what we've seen the past two years, leaving us disappointing.
Yeah, go ahead, shoot me down.
And you know, I'm right there with you, because you got to build a team to be you know, San Francisco, we all understand that. And to me, it comes down to which which side of the football are you going to rely on this year, because there's just too many holes on both sides to fix both, you know, both problems. Also, you're coming in with a new defensive coordinator, which I think it's going to hurt this defense a little bit
at least at the beginning. I mean, we understood what dan Quinny came in here, and not only did he come in here, he had what eleven some draft picks to go ahead and get his tools and make sure his defense was where it's at and they were able to be out there and be explosive this year. You don't have as many draft picks. You got as many
holes offensively as you do defensively. So to me, you got to figure out which side of the ball is going to be the shoulder, the lean on which side of the ball is going to be more productive and offensively, you know, you got the quarterback of Dack Prescott. You might not have a run game, but you got a number one receiver on the outside of Ceed Lamb got,
you got Ferd. So to me, I think you gotta lean offensively to make sure you get that as powerful as it can be, and hopefully that defense can ramp up at least towards the end of the middle of the season to kind of match the the offensive firepower.
Because we saw it last year when these two guys defensive started out great historical defense.
They started slowing down a little bit, but the offensively, Dak Prescott and those guys were able to catch up. To me, it's gonna be harder to get that balance this year because you lost one of the best defensive coordinators in the game and a lot of players as well.
We understand the holes on both sides.
So to me, you gotta lean on offensively being explosive as you can this year to match at least the forty nine ers and those of those heavy hitters in the NFC shoot holes.
And what I said, heck come away.
I mean you have the most continuity on your offense as far as your play caller and your quarterback and the experience from your receivers. I think you can lean on your offensive line and the guys that you've had that have been starters. But newly, I think it's dangerous in a lot of ways. And you know this going back to those old Chicago Bulls teams that could not get over the hump of beating the Detroit bad Boys every time they got to the Eastern Conference finals.
Detroit was waiting on them and they played bully ball.
And it wasn't until they got guys like Dennis Ropman to come in and play that could match that intensity, that knew the culture in which how you beat guys like that, You know it'd be a different thing. If last year we got beat by San Francisco forty nineers in the playoffs, No, we got beat by Green Bay and it was a complete it.
It was an attitude.
Was the reason why we got shocked at home and everybody was like, that ain't the team that I saw all season long. To me, it's like I would expect maybe a little bit of a pull back as far as the defense because of him. And that's that's a great point that you make, But I expect for this offense to hit the ground running and be able to
carry that until you can play that complimentary football. Right now, I think it would be a dangerous thing to try and say we're gonna build this because we were building to beat Philadelphia Eagles, now we're building to beat a San Francisco forty nine ers. Build around the pieces that you have, bring playmakers in so you could beat whoever. Because even when you get past that, you get to the next level. Man, you're not Kansas.
City waiting on you. So how do you get over that?
Hum?
Right?
So, look, I think your point and how you build a championship squad is gonna be in the front also in the running game. But man, at the same time, you have so many pieces still here that you can build around. Man, Look if I'm going, if I'm going all in and knowing the resources we don't have and what we can't do, I'm putting everything on the defense because to me, I'm looking at the game and I'm saying, look at the Pittsburgh Steelers last year, all right.
Can't run the ball, can't throw the ball. What kept them in the games? Defense?
Right, defense kept them close enough to be able to make the players that they needed to play. We're better at quarterback, we're better at receiver, so we should be able to one carry it until we at least get to those type of games. Hey, man, can our defense keep us in the game to where our offense can win a seventeen to sixteen game, Like, if we can get there, then I think we have a chance to
beat those teams in San Francisco's the Kansas City's. If we can't play defense, we don't have enough on offense to getting a shootout with nobody. We like, we don't have a running game right now. We got CD, were still trying to figure out Cooks and all that. But for what Cooks has been he didn't put up the numbers that we had usually been able to see him
put up. So to me, it's like, hey man, push it all in, make sure we can play some really good defense to keep us in those games, and then lean on your sixty million dollar quarterback and your potentially thirty million dollar receiver to make sure that you can make those big plays when you need to make them.
Cincinnati's the same way. Since as good as Joe Burrow was, as good as Jamar Chase is, when you look at the team that went to the Super Bowl, their defense kept them in a lot of games and allowed Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase to make big plays when they matter, not necessarily a lot of shootouts. So me, I'm like,
hey man, front seven, we got to get it. We got our secondary coverage if Treymon Diz comes back as healthy as we expect them to, but your front seven has to be the ones to help you one, stop them run because we could have stopped and run against Green Bay and just stop that bleeding, then we may have been able to get back in the game, but we weren't able to do that. So me, I'm just, hey man, all in everything, Zimmer. You got one year, Tell me what you need, Mike. We didn't get a
lot of years. Okay, you know That's what I'm saying that it's all in almost zimple to say, hey man, what do you need. We're going into the draft.
What do you need?
You got free agents out there that used to play for you, and you think these guys will come in on the one year. Hey man, bring that guy in. That's the same thing dan Quinn dan Quinn did. That's how Kurset gets here because there's guys that he trusted to be in. Then Cincinnati is a great comp because that defense is unheralded. A lot of people don't even make talk about Cincinnati's defense and the way that they have, you know, held things in the road, even when when
Joe Burrow struggled. But when I think about them, all I think about is Joe Burrow and how damn good he is and the way that he creates even when Jamar Chase is good, their second receivers and their team see, it's pretty good.
And oh, by the way, they got a running game.
Now when Joe Burrow went out, did we why don't can't remember the backup name?
Watch there winning games, Jay Brown because of.
Defense, because the defenses out there making big time plays, and we watched him, were sitting.
Back with these dudes might come back in make the playoffs because the defense was able to keep them in the game.
So I can't name one guy that's on the defensive I'm serious, Like Henderson Hendrickson there, you.
Get me what it used to be here. He just got paid. He just got paid. Unbelievable. Eli was there back when they when they.
I mean, you're right there, their defensive course at Amarillo or something like that, got a lot of interviews, didn't get a job, but he's done a very good job. But yes, we talk about the offense because this is the thing's all built around fantasy football now, fantasy football gambling, and so your offensive guys are going to get.
The credit there. They're they're very, very good defensively.
Going back to what you said, and I look back to our previous Players Lounge podcast when you talked about what to do arounds one, two, and three. You went round one defensive tackle, round two offensive line, in.
Round three linebacker.
So you're talking about addressing these needs that the Cowboys have here in nineteen eighty one.
You guys weren't around he, but you and I were.
Bill Wats of San Francisco forty nine er team was terrible in the defensive backfield and they use their first three picks on on feeling those knees.
Ronnie Lott was one of them and it was pretty good.
Yeah yeah, yeah, so it was another player, but that's where he went. He went heavy there.
So if you're the Cowboys, I don't have an issue as long as everything has to be in front seven. It's got to be on the O line right now. You've got to fix those spots, especially if I'm going to be paying sixty million for a quarterback, thirty million for a receiver, potentially thirty million dollars for a defensive piece in Michael Parsons. I've got to fill these spots somewhere. You do not have a center, Guys, you cannot play this game without a center.
I can't do that.
And right now, is anybody comfortable with no, don't even say his name.
Yeah no, That's why I said. I think where I went on my list was offensive line, first, defensive line.
Somewhere ye at all, he went offensive tackle, then you went defensive line and then you went running back.
Yeah, and I think I went center. I think it was center. The powers for Morgan is the guy that I'm thinking about either way. Either way, it's got to happen. It's one of the things that we are going to struggle mightily if we don't get the middle of our offensive line fix.
And when you're trying to beat the forty nine is you gotta be ware that defensive line is they're pretty good. All right, let's get our final break here players. That is brought to you by Aristocrat Gaming right here on Dallas Cowboys dot com Radio.
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See you there, players Lounge.
You got Barry Church, Maharrison, Danny craw Newy Scrugs.
Did everybody check out the National Championship game?
Yeah, in South Carolina and Iowa. Rematch of last year's Final four game in Dallas.
Yeah. That's a good game, real good game. It's a good game. Caitlin Clark is the real deal. Shout out to Don Staley.
Was it?
I can't even pronounce the big girl name, Cardo.
Cardole from Brazil. They had, They had no shot getting them boards. She was swatting everything.
They just came in. They was ready to play with Shout out to both of them. It's a great game.
I have not watched that much since last year, but you know, I usually don't watch basketball like that, especially not men's. But the women's basketballs game I'm in. I'm locked in.
I was watching since the Sweet Sixteen. Talent all over the and.
The and the storylines I think were more intriguing than anything. I mean, the media did a good and bad job of trying to play up teams, even from the l s U matchup with Iowa. Uh but I love to see South Carolina's guard. Last year she got waved off by Yeah, but boy she was you talk about delivering on defense. Had to make sure I say that, I mean she she had a hell of a you know, second third, fourth, you know, acquard the end of the first half and complete the second second half and you
just see the skill level. And you know, last year, I think three years ago, there was those complaints about look at the conditions that the women's game is in their locker room, all those things, and I think even now when you go back and you look at the eyeballs that are on the game, is you know, I don't know, based off of tonight's championship game, but does it supersede exceed what the men's game is getting as
far as the eyeballs on it? And so so the attention and the money, that's what it's all about, needs to also be put in the same place for the women's for the women's game. But shout out to Don Staley, man, I think, you know, her testimony is amazing because she was a phenomenal player and to be a phenomenal coach as well, just says a lot about her. And we've seen a lot of players men, you know, men do the same thing. They were great players and then end up,
you know, being great coaches. It's a tough thing to do.
I know this.
We'll see what the numbers are. But talking about ods being on the game, I know they said like twelve point three million watch the LSU versus All game.
At two o'clock.
Yeah, at two o'clock. So I can like you, it's just growing and they could Angel Reese, Kaitln Clark, floats, all those all those girls that played last year in the championship and then how they took out South Carolina and dun State, like all those people who were involved in taking it to where it is, they all deserve some credits, like I said, because I don't know how many people is watching women's basketball like they watch it now Before last.
Year, Yeah, once you had, and I don't think it was spoken about enough.
And I'm so blessed that last year I was able to go to the Final four in Dallas, because what we saw in Dallas last year ended up going into this season and ultimately culinating in Cleveland. Last year's final four in Dallas. Everybody forgets Virginia Tech was there, but it was Iowa there. That's when a lot of people first, Okay, here's Caitlyn Clark. South Carolina was the number one seed in last year's Final four. They were there with Don Staley. And then you had LSU and Kim Moulkis I hear
it is year two. The woman who built Baylor's now built this here at LSU. So the excitement for all that was there, and then it lived up to it because Iowa upset undefeated South Carolina to get to the championship game. And then here's LSU. They get to the championship game. And then it's Clark against Angel Reese. You had a fantastic finish, she wins it. Well, they're all back, the coaches are all back, the players.
Are all back.
And then LSU did their part great all year long. Here's South Carolina coming back from that disappointment, undefeated, great all year long. Their matchups against LSU were epic matchups in the regular season and in the SEC Championship.
And then Iowa continue to.
Play great and for all the spotlight put on, all three teams lived up to it.
And got back to the final four. So now what do we have.
We have familiarity and with all due respect to the men, and I'm not beating them up. If those are men and they have that year they had the final, they're all leaving, nobody's coming back. But in the women's game, they all came back. And then the every household names got all the spotlight, lived up to every single ls.
She was great all year long. South Carolina great all year long. I were great all and we got them.
In the final four.
And it doesn't happen all the time where you get those matchups, and we were treated to those matchups again, and so I bring back.
To you you do don't remember, but this was a keem Elijah on and Patrick come on. It was that those those great Georgetown and Houston. T Oh, here they're back again. It's Carolina with Sam Perkins and Jay they're back.
You got to know who they were.
You don't know these guys in men's basketball they were because they're leaving. And if you don't leave people looking.
At you, what's wrong with you?
Right?
I came back and play the second year, it must be something wrong with it. When the NBA does look at some of these. I mean, really, the NBA values dudes with one year or some Europeans. They haven't seen you play enough, man, the.
Second round, you've been around to if you're not the high school kid going to the G League or doing something like that, they don't know your name. You don't become a household name. But I mean you make a great point, especially with you, and you see the skill level. I had a problem all last week, man. I didn't tweet about it like my man Danny did, but the Angel rees hate Man.
It made me sick, you know, to see that.
But I have to give her, Man, you got to give her her flowers for coming back, for trying to be a repeat champion. And so I mean the media and the way that they attacked her. Man, I didn't, I had, I had, I didn't like it. It's crazy because you know, I'm an LSU guy.
I love Angel Reese, but.
I'm also I'm also just just how I felt about somebody saying something about TJ Wy. I feel the same way about to Kaitlyn Clark because it went from love on Kaitlyn Clark to oh she getting too much love?
Oh what about us?
The same thing like all of a sudden, you see Angel Reese's love, Kaitlyn Clark is loved last year, and then Angel Reese wins, and then it goes into Angel Ree's hate. Then Kaitlyn Clark get all the love. Everybody's watching all the hour games they number one, and then I was like, oh, wait, hold on, wait, oh now
they cheam for her. They're doing this nothing positive. The girl dropping forty one on LSU, dropping thirty at eighteen in the first quarter, and it's all it's finally, Oh look how she pushed off.
On so and so I'm like, bro, watch the game. It's the rest. You gotta do it.
They playing great basketball here what we're doing. So man, listen, I love them both. I love them both. I'm I'm going to watch w NBA basketball now.
In the draft. I want to go see crazy. Yeah, it's great.
Well, hopefully where we live here, the Dallas Wings can end up getting some getting some better crowds at UTA where they played at the College Park Center.
Uh I thought.
Diana Tarazi had a very interesting comment on ESPN where she said the records something like the reckoning is coming or just just it's going to be an adjustment.
Like so when she was bawling, what's she playing against them? Same eighteen year olds?
When she was sitting the records, she come out het Kayler Clark, gonna play against who's playing against up? By the way she broke all the records, she broke them off. She didn't looked like she hated on the broadcast.
Exactly Brianna Stewart of Yukon saying that you can't be the goat without a national championship.
They just hate. I don't understand that the girl was good. They could she dropted.
I laughed at that one from this standpoint. And Brianne Stewart was a great player. You come on championships. He went to, you come all the great players. I'm sorry nobody was watching Hawkeye basketball when the Final Four came to Dallas.
I did not know about Iowa basketball women's basket.
I didn't know.
Ended up going out to the shoot around, which is one of the great things you could do to go to the practice of the before the Final four game because all the fan bases come out.
Man, that was great. It was l shu folks was there.
You know, they were having a good time. Iowa fans showed up.
They got on those overalls and the black and goal, and South Carolina had fair Don Day treating Don State like Obama out there.
You don't sign this.
I mean it was it was, it was you could do.
The fan bases were great, and so ended up sooking around watching watching. I were reading about like, oh okay, this Kate lecclark, and was watching her just some warm ups like Steph curt Oh she's different.
And then you saw it. Then you saw like, oh, oh my lord, I mean South Carolina was under You didn't so you knew.
And then of course going to the press conference and you see like as you walk as they walk, she got I called the Steve Nash treatment where she walked by the oh okay, she's six foot because the first time you see Steve Nash, if you've never seen you just watching on team, oh, that's what called Steve Nash. Oh, I wasn't familiar with your in person. In person, she had that height on it and it was a couple of other girls from I would have had it.
Uh So.
I just looked at her and I thought Don Staley, by the way, which you go a class personify did a great job when she said, thank you Kaln Clark.
She's accepting the trophy.
She thanks her for what they did, what she did for the sport. Because to me, this is the test. How many of you all going to watch women's college basketball next year?
How how in tune will you be?
Because Cardoza from South Carolina's gone and she's built. She has a freshman who played really well. South cal would be good again, but you know it was Iowa do man. They don't have another Kaitlin Clark coming, and the Stoky girl was a good player, but you know you're not going to get the same l She will be good because Kim Mok is Kim Moky.
She's going to go get more players. Poor Haley Man drag you will drag that.
Already apologized to her because Kitler Clark was doing and the it's.
Good bron that was coaching. Two days later, I'm I'm out. I'm looking at like anybody else want any of that I'm talking about. They could have helped them who want who want the assign get out? They I mean, you got doubled the dump for that lift. Since there she didn't.
The clips, she was just like, I can't she dead that social media account to like the other girl that got there.
They said, set the screen and she's like, you know, she quit hers.
But that's gonna be The key is while there's this excitement and talking about it, now, what do you you do next year?
Because now you're going to Okay, who else plays on these teams?
So just when you think there's not another one, they well it comes, here comes another one.
But you had that. Sometimes you get a perfect storm.
It's Magic and Bird, the perfect storm that they had in seventy nine when it's Indiana State against Michigan State. That's what the w NBA just I mean, they're about to get They're about to get that. Let's see if they can elevate the sport the way those those.
Two players did.
That's a crazy it's a crazy comp But at the same time, that Magic Bird game was the highest NCAA game that had ever been played.
And the reason I say that is because those two players going to the draft and then not only that, their pro careers do the same thing. So if there's that going to be the same thing with rece you Noah.
If you're the w NBA, that should be your hope that you could take it, help elevate it to another level. That's what you would hope we'll see. It's obviously it's the it's an unbelievable come because they saved the NBA. Yeah, can these two ladies, well, well that group, this group, because it's it's more than just those two, but can they help save this league and take it to another level?
That'll be fun.
I watched because especially all the stuff that the Vet's been talking, I want to see, you know, can they shut down? Okay?
I don't know.
I mean, well, have you ever been a Wings game? Have you been a Wings? Guess you been a Wings game?
Okay, so two of us here have gone, and if four of us go, then we are truly seeing impact.
And it's not just us, it's other people.
We saw the different folks from social media weighing in about this who were watching. So that's gonna be the beauty of to me to see what happens.
Start soon, right, Yeah? Is that draft?
The draft is coming up? This book the draft is so so yeah, that'll be fun.
That'll be fun.
And then to see how do they replenish it? And that's so then it gets to the point it takes while we go to The NFL.
Started in nineteen twenty.
Do you guys know the first thirty years of the league they went through No, the first ten years, think they went through thirty franchises, shutting up, op and down, shutting up. It took a minute before the NFL became what the NFL is. It takes leagues a while to get rolling. People just have this assumption and no, no, it's hard because now we're trying to change people's minds.
But they've better capitalize on this because you probably won't get another opportunity for the perfect storm. As you say, you won't see I know, you probably won't see another Caitlan Clark, Like you won't see another Steph Curry like that for it, Like it's just it's just different. Ten years from now you might see, oh man, she's round me a Kaitland Clark. But right now that girl's that girls standing forty one on us.
I gotta go. It was a team, It was a team effort.
Bear weren't leave it a yes, no question. Back to the draft. I take sweat the d W I over the weekend. A good player Outland Trophy Award winner who could fit the Cowboys defensive line help based on that, Yes or no?
Would you take him off your draft board?
Oh? Yes, no, yeah, yeah no. Would I take him off? Yes?
No.
Is he subject to a discipline from the league. Probably. If it's happening now, it's gonna happen now.
I'm not gonna take him Cowboys, babe. He went from the first round grade to a second round grade. Yeah, a second son.
Yeah, but I saw it happen like oh this this seems to be the kind of person that past history shows.
It's kind of there's a spot for here's a forgiveness.
There's a forgiveness, grace, there's there is grace, rap for the Cowboys. We can reform it apro grade.
Church Daddy crag. Thanks to Jazz who kept it rolling here players Lounge. We'll talk to you next week.
Come up, Chris.
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