Spurs Win Game 7, Knicks and Finals With Mike Breen, SCF With Keith Yandle Plus Who’s Back Of The Week

14:22PFT Commenter:A lot. Injuries happen. No, no, no. Injuries happen. But when I say a lot, I mean anyone who's like, you got to blow. They didn't lose this game because of injuries. They lost this game because of Chet Holmgren. Well, they lost this series because they blew game one. That's a game they should have won. And they let Wemby, you know, like that was a game they basically had. yes Chet Holmgren but if they had their full roster I think the Spurs probably would have been a year away but it doesn't matter because that's part of winning the NBA title is that you have to deal with injuries like every team has to deal with this shit and you like there's it's shitty to say but luck comes into to play when you're trying to win a title and a lot of times it's like hey we had our guys they were 100 % they didn't so I'm more saying for the future of the Thunder like blow it up I don't think you can't you just won the title then you went to game 7 against the Spurs you're right there, you gotta figure out how to stop Wemby but I wouldn't be freaking out if I was a Thunder fan being like this team can never beat the Spurs no, it was 7 games yeah, you do have to be a little concerned that this was probably the worst the Spurs will ever be and that's what we said last year about the Thunder are we gonna get an even taller guy?

15:38PFT Commenter:well here's the thing and I don't know when we're going to have our guy Caruso back on, but with the way he played, game seven wasn't his best game, but he played great in the series. I think taking the Spurs and Wemby, maybe the future GOAT, to seven, I might give Caruso a half a ring for that. So he's now up to two full wrists.

15:58Big Cat:So the more championships that Wemby ends up winning, the more impressive going to seven games in this postseason becomes. Like, this could actually be more impressive than beating – it was the Pacers. Yeah. They beat the Pacers in the NBA Finals last year. Tyrese Halliburton, that's luck.

16:14PFT Commenter:That goes the other way. You can't – if you're a Thunder fan, you can't be like, oh, it's bullshit that we're injured. Tyrese Halliburton gets injured to start game seven. Like, that's just what happens in sports.

16:24Big Cat:So this is actually – circling back on our old take, we were right when we said that that was the worst – this Thunder team better than last year's team. 100%. And losing to the Spurs in seven is way more impressive than beating the Pacers. and seven in the NBA finals.

16:37PFT Commenter:I would be a little, yeah. If I were a Thunder fan sitting there today, I'd be like, the one thing that's got to make you a little nervous is that is the young, like the Spurs, again, what we said at the beginning, no team should be doing, like teams don't do this on their first crack at it. So you just lost to the first crack. The Spurs are going to get better, savvier, more like, you know, ready for the big moments, even though they were so ready for game seven.

17:04Big Cat:I love how much Wimby cares too I love how much this means to him That he was crying after the game That he was so emotional Like some people would say Hey Wimby you got an entire Another series that you have to compete in I love it We want our athletes to care this much about it And for somebody that's given all the physical tools That Wimby has been blessed with since birth For him to then go on and care that much About becoming great at basketball Is awesome That's everything that we should want from a superstar and it's fun to watch his intensity. He's still figuring it out a little bit. He'll make some missteps.

17:38Big Cat:We didn't talk to the media the other night. We clowned him for that. But overall, this is what we want a guy to be. Yeah, he's learned how to flop a little bit. This is what we want our guys to be. What's up, Hank?

17:48PFT Commenter:Texas Texas hit a home run. Oh, Mia Williams. Shout out to Jason. Unreal. Another dinger? Unreal, dude. She's so good. No, I completely agree. That moment where Wemby is teary and his entire team gives him a big hug and the emotion, the outpouring of emotion, love every second of it. And I know that we live in a cynical world where people are like, oh, it's lame. They haven't won the title. I don't care. That was cool. I want your athletes to be authentic and show to everyone they care. He clearly cares. He said, I want to win so bad. It's like my life depends on it. And you can feel that from it.

18:30Big Cat:And he did say, like, I might be addicted now to going to the finals. Chris Paul, he kind of stole that from him. Be careful, yeah. But he's like, maybe I'll have to be careful about it. I actually believe it when he says it. Yeah. Because he does seem like he's a psychopath.

18:41PFT Commenter:Yeah, he said he was addicted to the feeling, the adrenaline rush when the final buzzer, you know, sounded.

18:47Big Cat:Also kind of a cool little side tangent. Mitch Johnson, the coach of the Spurs, his dad was Seattle Sonic. Yep. NBA champion Seattle Sonic. He's from Seattle. I saw a picture of him rocking a T-shirt with Jimi Hendrix wearing a Sonics jersey on it. So this guy could not be any more Seattle than he is. And then to beat the Thunder, to then go to the finals. That's kind of cool on behalf of the city of Seattle.

19:12PFT Commenter:Also on the Spurs coaching staff, I think he's their shooting coach. Do you know who it is, Hank? Jimmy Barron, brother of Billy Barron. Wow. Circle of trust. Wow. Yeah. Jimmy Barron. You want some crazy stats? Yeah. Okay. 23-year-old Tim Duncan, second playoff run. Beat the Blazers, beat the T-Wolves, vanquished the biggest big man rival, Shaq, won a championship over New York. 22-year-old Victor Wemimiyama's first playoff run, beat the Blazers, beat the T-Wolves, vanquishes biggest big man rival, Chet, now plays the Knicks. That's a pretty wild one. Here's another one. This one's real whoa. Harrison Barnes, who he, Harrison Barnes consummate, like, you know, if you look at the Spurs season, Mitch Johnson making the move to put Champagny into the starting lineup, who he was incredible in this series and in Game 7.

20:09PFT Commenter:Where did he come? He came from where?

20:12Big Cat:Philly.

20:13PFT Commenter:Oh.

20:13Big Cat:Yeah, so when they brought Mack McClung up, because remember Mack McClung, he had to be on the 76th roster. We've told this story 10 times on the show. Some people were listening to the first ever episode of Pardon My Team. So this is for them. And we're also in the educational program, so we want to make sure that they learn their history.

20:29PFT Commenter:Well, we can't confirm that you remember things that are said on past shows. That's true. He might have a little bit of dimension.

20:36Big Cat:So I'm running it back so that I can prove that I still got it. I'm just making sure. This is actually him doing. He's making sure.

20:42PFT Commenter:It's my exercises.

20:43Big Cat:Yeah, we've started a new program for him. He's got to repeat something so he can remember it. It's called CTE Cometor. Okay, so in this case, Mack McClung, he got brought up to the 76ers because he was going to compete in the dunk contest. He's a really good dunker. And to make room for him, they had to send Champagny. They had to release him. Yeah. And so then the Spurs get him. Also, I believe identical twin to a guy on the Wizards named Champagny as well.

21:09PFT Commenter:And he went six for ten from three in game seven. Was awesome. Every big moment. But I brought up Harrison Barnes because here's your wow stat of the day. Harrison Barnes, May 30th is his birthday. May 30th, 2016, Harrison Barnes beats the Thunder by eight in game seven of the Western Conference final when he was on the Warriors. May 30th, 2026, Harrison Barnes beats the Thunder by eight in game seven of the Western Conference final. Ten years apart. That's wild. Eight, literally the same. Harrison Barnes on different teams. beats the Thunder by eight in both of them. That's magical. That's wild.

21:51PFT Commenter:Yep. That's wild. Wild stuff. Fucking wild. Great sats. Also, the Spurs, I did like that they threw in that last dunk. Yeah, yeah. It's true bad blood. I want them to play every year. They really... It was also a good dunk. Yeah. The best thing that happened in this series, outside of all the discourse and all the bullshit, is that we basically put two teams in a microwave of hate, and they feel like they have played each other for a million years, which is something that usually takes years and years to naturally get to. They did it in seven games.

22:21Big Cat:Yeah, you get all the side narratives that go along with it, all the mini rivalries that go along with the rivalry. I enjoy this matchup. I hope that Chet, like if you're Chet in this offseason, what do you do to try to step? I feel like maybe just try to put on weight. Isn't there the surgery you can get where you can make yourself taller? Break your legs? I looked into that. The recovery time is probably too long for that.

22:42PFT Commenter:Yeah, I don't know. Again, I wonder what he said in the locker room.

22:45Big Cat:I would work out. If I were him, come back 30 pounds heavier, maybe even 40.

22:51PFT Commenter:Good season, guys. Is there like an alternative monk thing?

22:58Big Cat:What would the rival to a monk be? Like become a samurai?

23:04PFT Commenter:I don't know.

23:05Big Cat:That's what he's got to look into. Maybe go on an ayahuasca journey, like the South American version of it.

23:11PFT Commenter:He needs to do something because I've never seen someone so scared. It was shocking to watch that he just – he did not want any piece of that game whatsoever.

23:21Big Cat:No. Memes, how do you feel about the Spurs facing off against the Knicks? I know that you said that you've got the Wimby stopper in Mitch Robinson, and he's going to be okay with his finger.

23:34PFT Commenter:And he hurt his finger how?

23:36Big Cat:We don't know. But I did see – I saw an interesting stat. I did not fact check it. But, Memes, maybe you can tell me this sounds true. This is from Caitlin Cooper. Since Wimby was drafted, there are 20 players who have defended him for at least 100 half-court matchups. The player who he has tallied the fewest points per 100 matchups against as his primary assignment is O.G. Ananobi. So historically, I don't know how many minutes they've played. I don't know how many times they've battled in a half-court matchup. But according to this tweet that I saw, O.G. Ananobi is the most effective defender against him.

24:11Big Cat:Have you seen that, Memes? I did see that this morning Do we think that's true? I do think it's true I think that's going to be what you're going to see a lot of

24:20PFT Commenter:You're going to see OG Maybe funneling into Mitch when he's on there On the court Yeah, it's going to be a lot of OG on him Josh Hart's going to be on him

24:28Big Cat:They're just going to cycle through

24:29PFT Commenter:How are you guys feeling overall? It's actually I'll say this I'm getting more and more confident the Knicks are going to win this series I don't know if that's crazy But I was thinking about it what? Well, you guys are talking, right? Max is saying the unanimous defender.

24:45Big Cat:We just let him say that OG's the best defender in the league when Wemby is also on this. We just let him say that. Yeah, but Wemby doesn't have to

24:55PFT Commenter:guard Wemby. Correct. But if we were all that size, we'd be the best defender in the league. Right, right. So OG does.

25:00Big Cat:So you're saying like pound for pound, OG's the best.

25:03PFT Commenter:Yeah, that's fair.

25:03Big Cat:If Wemby had to guard Wemby, we don't know what would happen. Or maybe like arm for arm. Yeah. Over seven feet excluded.

25:10PFT Commenter:Yeah.

25:11Big Cat:Okay. You know what? We might want to think about banning huge people from playing basketball. Limit his minutes. It's not really fair. He did during the regular season. Yeah. You know how they banned Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from dunking in college? We got to take a look at what the hell is going on in San Antonio because 7-5 and playing like that, it's kind of ridiculous.

25:32PFT Commenter:Oh, I did see this. This doesn't for the Knicks. The Knicks in their history, they had to play. So in the finals, they've played Wemby, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Hakeem, Wilt, Wilt, Wilt, George Mikan, George Mikan. It's literally the biggest big guys of all time. Just like, yeah, that's it. It's the Mikan drill. They named a drill after him. But I so I'm I think the Knicks are gonna win this series. I really do. I was thinking about it last night. The Thunder, the Knicks are maybe, they haven't done it like the Thunder have. SGA, back-to-back to MVP. But the Thunder at the end of that game and in Game 7 and most of the series, they just didn't have a ton of scoring options.

26:25PFT Commenter:You know what I mean? It was a limited, whereas the Knicks are completely different in the fact that it feels like everyone can score with the Knicks right now as they're going. They can put out a lineup where everyone can shoot to some extent. There's no Lou Dort. Josh Hart has, I mean, you're feeling good about Josh Hart. Like, everyone can shoot. So, I think the Knicks caused some problems for the Spurs in that respect. Like, you can't just say, hey, we're going to ignore this one guy and let Wemby play free safety unless Mitch Robinson is in the game.

26:55Big Cat:Yeah, I'm way too fired up about this because every single thing in the playoffs has broken the Knicks way, and this also broke the Knicks way. You wanted to play the Spurs? Yes. Okay. Just after watching last night, I kept coming back to, like, who do I want to play? And SGA is just so good right now. And the foul-baiting stuff. Like, Kat's the most important player in the finals. That he could beat him. He set a big track. He would have fouled out every single game. Yeah, even fast. It would have been so annoying to watch. Now it just feels like we just have two really good teams and the best team, and we'll see who the best team will win.

27:30Big Cat:I think it's a coin flip. Wow. Well said. Yeah, that wasn't even a sentence.

27:35PFT Commenter:You were doing great, and then you just... We have two really good teams, and the best team will win. Sick, dude. Unless it's the Cavs, because the Cavs did say they were better than the Knicks. Yeah, every team says that loses to the Knicks.

27:53Big Cat:Yeah, are you worried about coming out flat in game one? You've had a lot of time to rest.

28:02slightly but i they'll be fine have you allowed yourself to think like what if new york sports

28:07Big Cat:never loses i have thought about that just don't don't have you looked at the met season so far what if what if the mets come back i did bet on the mets memes you reminded me to do that

28:17PFT Commenter:the yankees did score 13 runs in an inning today the mets play really good when the

28:23Big Cat:next close out of series what if the jets just keep winning start winning and then keep winning that would be so sick you'd like that if the Jets kept winning or if the Jets won in general how many Super Bowls would you trade how many NBA championships for the Knicks would you trade for one Jets Super Bowl what's the conversion rate

28:47Big Cat:oh I don't have either so we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there okay I don't know

28:56PFT Commenter:I just want to win one BFD. Yeah. Max, you want a stat that you'll like? Sure. He's worried. Half the starters in the NBA finals played in the Big East. Great stat. Pretty good stat. Very good stat. And not even counting Tyler Kolick. You never know where he might hear. Memes love Tyler Kolick. Yeah.

29:20Big Cat:He balled out in the NBA Cup Championship. Big Cat, you want to hear a wild stat? You'll like this one. Did you know that since 2009, that's 18 years, every single NBA finals has featured at least one former member of the Washington Wizards?

29:36PFT Commenter:Whoa. How wild is that? I feel like you didn't say that in the correct voice. How crazy is that? Yeah, you got to do the... Hey, what's up, Wizards? Since 2009 is 18 years, am I just bad at adding years? I guess I am.

29:48Big Cat:I think if you include 2009 and 2026.

29:51PFT Commenter:Got it.

29:52Big Cat:Yeah.

29:52PFT Commenter:I'm so bad. Whenever someone says that shit, I'm like, I don't know if that was 9 years, 10 years, 11 years ago.

29:57Big Cat:I think that stat was a lot cooler maybe until last year because you could say it was like 10 or 12 years that a team that won the NBA Finals had a former member of the Wizards. Now it's just like, okay, yeah, a lot of teams have a lot of players from a lot of teams.

30:13PFT Commenter:Yeah. I'm so excited for these finals. This might be the most excited I've been for a Finals. Probably since like maybe Cavs Warriors. It's really good. like this 2016? It is really good. Didn't go well, but it's so... I mean, Wemby's the best. The Knicks are a fun team. You get rid of the SGA. They would have been just exhausting the two weeks of it, and we just get to watch some ball. Wemby is the best. Did you guys also see that SGA said that there's no place in the country he'd rather be than with the Thunder? That's cool.

30:52Big Cat:Huh. What do you mean? What do you mean by that?

30:57PFT Commenter:He said there's no place in the country he'd rather be. Hmm. He's going to go outside the country? He's from Canada. Oh. Huh. So he'd like to be traded to the Raptors. Hmm. Huh. He could easily have said world. He said country. That's interesting. There's only one team outside the country in the NBA.

31:14Big Cat:Well, maybe in LeBron's new basketball league that he's going to start up.

31:18PFT Commenter:Hmm. Just interesting. Just thought that was a little interesting. Could easily say world, right? Yeah. Ah, man. This is going to be fun. This is going to be fun. This is going to be fun. I hope it goes seven. We need seven. I need to really just milk every last second out of this. Zach, you don't want seven. I understand why you wouldn't want seven. You're scared of seven.

31:44Big Cat:I mean, why do seven if you don't have to do seven? Zach, what are you thinking about? Where's your head at with this matchup? My confidence sliders are uncomfortably slid in the direction of confident. Okay. That's what I was asking, yeah. That's a totally normal way to answer that question. They're kind of maxed out right now, which isn't good, which is never good. All right. I'm not entirely a high-confidence guy, but I feel good about it. I like us going up against the Spurs. Now that it's over, I will say that I was terrified of SGA, just because it feels like he plays uncontested basketball even when he's the most contested.

32:15Big Cat:It doesn't really make much sense. Yeah, he had guys just all over him.

32:19PFT Commenter:he was still making shots.

32:20Big Cat:It's unbelievable, but... That one shot that he jumped into, that was a little much, even for him. I don't have... That's been happening forever.

32:28PFT Commenter:Guys, if you pump fake a guy in the air, Dwayne Wade made a career off of it. Him more than most. That doesn't bother me as much. The flopping I get, but...

32:40Big Cat:When he jumps sideways on a three-point shot.

32:42PFT Commenter:I just feel like that happens in every... Every NBA player does that. I know that the I'm not talking about the flopping But like the When you get a guy in the air And you You basically like I'm gonna go to the free throw line It feels like That's just what guys do

32:57Big Cat:Well yeah It's a smart play

32:58PFT Commenter:I just didn't

32:59Big Cat:When I see that

33:00PFT Commenter:I'm not like God damn it I can't fucking believe this guy

33:03Big Cat:But this Where he jumps to the side I know that a lot of players do it He does it more than most But a lot of players do it And he's very good at it

33:10PFT Commenter:He's out of the playoffs We don't even need to talk about it anymore

33:12Big Cat:I just didn't like it Noted I didn't like it The beautiful thing about this country and the First Amendment, as a member of the press, I get to say that's bullshit. Maybe not in Canada, SGA. But in the United States of America, we don't play soccer. All right, buddy? We play basketball.

33:29PFT Commenter:Did you have anything to say about Wimby's flops? He did learn in this series. In the course of this series, it was actually like... Un-American. It was almost like he got infected.

33:38Big Cat:It's the most French thing that he does. I don't like it. You just can't make me think that a man Wimby's size is getting knocked off his feet ever.

33:46PFT Commenter:What he had over the middle. But that one, again, I don't really. Again, it all goes back to my take has been the same from the beginning. It's the refs' faults. The refs have to do better. The refs have to get it out of the league. Players are going to do it if they think they can get an advantage. The refs, Adam Silver, fix it. Refs, fix it. That's how we have to fix it.

34:05Big Cat:We did ask. I think it was the first time Adam Silver came on PMT. I asked him why don't you make it so that flops you can review them between games and you can assess technicals and fines after games over and he's like well it is reviewable during a game and they just kind of moved on from it just stop calling all the like don't call as many fouls and guys will

34:23PFT Commenter:stop flopping because it's a disadvantage when you fall on the ground I don't know why we're doing this right now we don't need to do this it's a conversation I but it's been like and not by us I'm saying but like by the entire NBA ecosystem has been just I was

34:38Big Cat:just trying to Look, SGA had some sick plays in that game yesterday. You can't find a highlight of his on Twitter right now. That's what I'm saying.

34:46PFT Commenter:That's my original point all the way back to a week and a half ago that got me pegged as a Thunder Glazer. I was just scrolling for like two minutes. I was like, it's just all about him flopping. It became like a bot farm thing where people were like, I'm going to get my Twitter paycheck this week by just posting the SGA clips. He was awesome in the game, in game seven. But yeah, you can't find. it's just all that you know who the winner of that is? Chet anytime we're not talking about Chet what do you think he's doing right this second? probably gaming you think so?

35:22Big Cat:is he a gamer? he strikes me as a gamer I would agree with that he just got the gamer vibe to him

35:27PFT Commenter:do you think he's sitting there practicing a move in the mirror being like oh I should have hit him with this

35:33Big Cat:I looked it up if he's going to train in the offseason to try to counteract Wimby I looked up the biggest enemies of Tibetan monks okay it's really all from within ignorance craving and hatred that's

35:47PFT Commenter:what I'm saying he needs to become

35:49Big Cat:way more ignorant yeah there's

35:51PFT Commenter:that famous tweet that's like fuck what was it it's something about like screw you know vertical and shot making I'm drafting a team with just all guys who aren't going to be bitches and like that was said afterwards because he just was not good for him at all and yeah he's got to hate Wemby as much as Wemby hates him right now he's the dog at the dog park who's getting growled at and he's just not giving eye contact because he's so

36:22Big Cat:scared he's hiding under his legs yeah

36:26PFT Commenter:we gotta get that dog

36:27Big Cat:you're big Chet doesn't know how big he is that's his problem

36:30PFT Commenter:that's true you know what you need to do with Chet like hang out with me no go or i was gonna say go to like a south american country yeah like go to peru right is that i feel like it's the higher you get up or the altitude yeah um well that's

36:44Big Cat:the ayahuasca thing you can you can elect to become an ayahuasca savant and what's the shortest country in the world there's a lot of like i think i this is gonna sound ignorant if i'm wrong i feel like honduras might have a lot of short people yeah yeah so i'm saying yeah south america

36:59PFT Commenter:maybe some parts of Asia what's Max you find us the shortest country in the world that's you're right you're exactly right Chet needs to remind himself you're not a fucking Chihuahua dude yeah you're a great Dane right go out there and be a great day Leroy had this problem for a long time

37:14Big Cat:when he would get he would get bullied by small dogs because he didn't know and so every now and again you got to gas your boy up and be like dude Chet you're big man you're you're seven feet so big. Like, oh, you know what? I want to blindfold him and then walk him through a lot of doors and have him hit his head on stuff.

37:31PFT Commenter:Maybe we need to just have a bunch of people like old grandmothers just being like, you're a growing boy. Just keep saying that to him. He's like, you know what? I am growing. How is it this hard to find the shortest country? It's Timor-Leste. I got it, yeah. Why didn't do shit for us? Give us a real country.

37:45Big Cat:Laos.

37:46PFT Commenter:Guatemala. You said that when I, this has been up for like 45 seconds. Guatemala. Madagascar, Guatemala, Philippines, Nepal, Yemen.

37:53Big Cat:we kind of nailed it

37:55PFT Commenter:South America Little Asia

37:57Big Cat:Guatemala's 4 yeah Madagascar India Vietnam I kind of want to go hang out in these places now

38:04PFT Commenter:yeah go with Chet

38:05Big Cat:5-2 you'd be a fucking normal

38:09PFT Commenter:go to Madagascar and put all the rims at 7 feet I'm going to start the Madagascar and the NBA that would be so sick yeah okay let's What? What are you going to say?

38:25Big Cat:Never mind. What?

38:26PFT Commenter:You found East Timor?

38:27Big Cat:No, I just want to go up to Chaps and ask him this question tomorrow so that he knows how it feels when he asks us these stupid geography questions that nobody knows. You're getting mad because you got stumped before.

38:40PFT Commenter:Because you didn't know what Missouri looked like.

38:42Big Cat:That's not it. No, he asks like. There are tough ones. There are tough ones. It was like, which country grows the most corn in the world? And it's like, how am I supposed to know that? Iowa. He loves history. Actually, I think it's secondly Nebraska. Country? Yeah.

38:56PFT Commenter:It's got to be the United States.

38:57Big Cat:We're myese.

38:58PFT Commenter:We're bigger than everyone.

38:59Big Cat:I just made that, yeah. I don't know why that was the first thing that came to my head. We're fucking...

39:05PFT Commenter:Yeah.

39:05Big Cat:But what country has the most swimming pools per capita? Also us. Yeah. Florida. I think it was Iceland per capita.

39:13PFT Commenter:Oh, because they got like no people?

39:15Big Cat:That's where it gets... The per capita at the end of all these questions is where it just throws you for the biggest loop and it's like... Yeah. You can't per capita us every time.

39:21PFT Commenter:Yeah. Wait, what was the corn one? Who has the most corn? It was U.S. Oh, okay. So there we go. We could still do something right. All right. DraftKings, the final round of the basketball season is here. Two teams left, one trophy on the line, and only DraftKings has you covered every step of the way. The DraftKings Sportsbook app is now available in all 50 states and includes all markets, bringing each game straight to your fingertips wherever you are. From New York to San Antonio to L.A., you're in on the excitement at the speed of sports. follow every possession, every fourth quarter swing, every clutch shot that decides the series.

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40:46PFT Commenter:Did you guys watch any of the Champions League? I saw the shootout. I watched it. I had no idea, and maybe an AWL can explain this to me. I had no idea how much everyone hates Arsenal. Like, it is. Zach, you're a little bit of a soccer guy. Why does everyone... And also, is the Champions of Europe, you'll never sing that. Is that only for Arsenal?

41:11Big Cat:I don't have the backstory on why everyone hates them, but I'm happy to say fuck Arsenal.

41:14PFT Commenter:Okay, but everyone hates them.

41:16Big Cat:Yeah, majority hated, yeah.

41:18PFT Commenter:Like, they had a guy on the broadcast who flew from Kenya to Budapest. He was a Chelsea fan. He was just coming to hate watch. He's like, I came just to watch Arsenal lose.

41:30Big Cat:You guys are a hero.

41:31PFT Commenter:So why does everyone hate Arsenal so much? Fuck them. Okay. That's fine. Okay. But is there any specific reason? Do they win a lot? Well, no. Not a lot. No. Champions. They were all chanting that. Champions of Europe. You'll never sing that. You'll never sing that. I think that's not of Europe.

41:50Big Cat:Imagine having that be a chant that just everyone sings and knows. They won the EPL, and then the last time they won it was, what, like 25, 30 years ago? Yeah. Something like that. So they don't win a lot. They're just, I think every year.

42:03PFT Commenter:They did have the perfect season.

42:04Big Cat:Every year they think that they're going to win. The, fuck, what was the name of them?

42:08PFT Commenter:They're the Gooners. No, no, no. There was a name for their perfect season. I can't remember it. Oh, well. You know who's a gooner is Joel Embiid. Really? Big gooner. Yeah. Did you guys also see that? Oh, the Invincibles. It's a pretty cool name. 26 games, drew 12. 126, drew 12. Because of the World Cup starting in like a week and a half or whatever it is, two weeks, and Champions League, the schedule and everything, Arsenal went to Budapest. They lost in the Champions League. the biggest trophy for any club in the world. And then they went back to England. Where's Arsenal? Manchester? They're Birmingham.

42:55PFT Commenter:Birmingham. They went back to Birmingham and they did a parade for their EPL victory. Right. 12 hours after losing the Champions League. Yeah, it was tough.

43:05Big Cat:That is as brutal as brutal gets. I do like the EPL trophy. Yeah. The EPL trophy is pretty cool. You can put your own ribbons on it and shit and decorate it the way that you want it to. But yeah, then having to go out Play in what many would call A much more important tournament Or like a bigger tournament And then losing that And then having to go back home and be like Remember we're still good though Remember how happy you guys were with us just 48 hours ago That was sick Yeah, please just remember that

43:32PFT Commenter:So Meme said that his buddy who watches a lot of soccer Says they play terrorist ball It was brutal to watch Because they scored too fast They scored six minutes into the game and then they just played like absolute cowards the rest of the game. They parked the bus. And the guy who missed the penalty kick is apparently the worst person. Oh. And everyone hates him. Dude, I would never have missed like that. I would have just shot it on goal. And he just hit a moon ball into the crowd. What's the guy's name?

43:57Big Cat:You got to put that on frame.

43:58PFT Commenter:Gabriel. Gabriel? Is that just his full name? Yeah, it's like Oprah. It's like a Brazilian? Put it on frame, Gabriel. Dude, they hate. Oh, man. But yeah, look at. Max you see that They did a parade today That's so brutal

44:15Big Cat:So PSG Paris Saint Germain They won Back to back First time it's been done in a long time I read It's a big thing

44:25PFT Commenter:I can't definitively fact check that

44:29Big Cat:I think that there's only like two other teams That have ever won back to back I think

44:35PFT Commenter:I'm going to look it up I want to say Real Madrid won back to back Black League champions. You know who's not going to be on the list? Real Madrid was a three-peat.

44:45Big Cat:16, 17, and 18. Who did? Real Madrid was a three-peat. So 2016, 2017, 2018. Real Madrid?

44:51PFT Commenter:Real Madrid. Real Madrid, my bad. Real Madrid. So somewhat, well, back-to-back for the first time in five or six years. It was PSG yesterday. So, hey, listen, just a little warm-up. A little warm-up for the World Cup. Just seeing some grass. Yeah, just seeing some grass. Seeing a pitch. Mm-hmm. Okay, what else we got? Do we got other sports stuff? We have Keith Yendo coming up talking some Stanley Cup final and Mike Breen. Hank, did you see – I don't want to take your who's back, but – are you going to use AI in your golf game? Oh, yeah. That's your who's back? I was going to be my who's back.

45:33PFT Commenter:I did this. What is this? I just saw Bryson being like, yeah, talk to AI.

45:38Big Cat:I mean, it's truly like if, you know, it's relatable in the fact that and it makes probably bad golfers feel better in the fact that Bryson said he wasn't feeling good about his swing. He was mad on the range. And then when he went back, he was just, you know, uploading his pictures and videos of his swing to AI to try and figure out the issues. And did AI help? Which is when you know, well, he finished in third. Like he got hot Sunday. So AI Saturday night, swing tip, fixed on Sunday. I think it's just about thinking anything different. Like if your game feels broken, just watch any video. It doesn't have to be like an AI breakdown of your own swing.

46:17Big Cat:It could be any golf video that you see online. And just think about what you saw in that one video and things will change.

46:22PFT Commenter:Bryce is going to try to marry a computer, right?

46:25Big Cat:Yeah. He's going to be the first. He's going to be early, early, early chip inside of him.

46:31PFT Commenter:whenever they roll that out

46:34Big Cat:in the next couple years he will be maybe the first person

46:37PFT Commenter:why am I not allowed to play in the Masters

46:39Big Cat:my prediction is he's going to have Neuralink implanted into his brain somewhere he'll volunteer himself to be like a guinea pig for that or he might get the contacts when you can read a green and you can see where the downhills are

46:55PFT Commenter:he's going to get Neuralink and then he's going to play the Masters the first ever Masters in your brain yeah like he's not actually gonna play the masters he's just gonna do a live stream of

47:05Big Cat:his brain playing the master his eyes are gonna glaze over yeah like when uh that guy from game of thrones looked into the future brand he's gonna be bryce in the broken yeah uh hank do you pay for

47:19PFT Commenter:the full uh live pass video pass don't every shot every now i never did oh so you're part of the

47:27Big Cat:problem damn so you're just a you're you're pirating streams i found a guy who's uh watch

47:34PFT Commenter:on watch on fox watch on youtube i found a guy who's a bigger live fan than you who's also a cuck for live because he pro golf critic said uh he got the message that live golf was suspending the any shot anytime group feed that people paid 27 for and he said dear live golf i appreciate the offer but i don't want a refund i believe in the product so much consider this my investment in the league it's not much money and it's negligible to the bottom line but symbolism matters i'll i call on all live golf fans to do the same that's respect so are you i mean i might i might buy it now yeah but i probably can't buy it now no but you gotta buy it right now i do have the live golf try to buy it right now considering i follow pro golf critics lead considering all the free

48:21Big Cat:entertainment that you've gotten from live it's the least you could do would be to pay for a

48:25PFT Commenter:service that no longer exists yeah shout out to the range goats by the way sent me a great care

48:29Big Cat:package symbolism matters hank who's on the range goats you can no longer purchase purchase this

48:34PFT Commenter:service on the live golf app hank donate 27 to saudi arabia right now i love this guy though making like a bold proclamation hey listen i'm not gonna ask for the refund can you name the range goats yes bubble watson he's that's one he's looking it up right now he's literally got it he just pulled it up who else why he bubble watson yep and i mean i'm the lefty guy so he's

49:01Big Cat:the only lefty on the team you know you don't you know how i operate i know at least one of the other guys on the team because he's a former four ace is it there's actually no former four aces

49:11PFT Commenter:it's just once a four ace always a four like the marines yeah the brotherhood he's looking

49:18Big Cat:It's Duke basketball. I am looking it up. Peter Uline.

49:21PFT Commenter:Oh. It's right in front of your face. It's also. I pulled it up. Matthew Wolfe. Great swing.

49:27Big Cat:Ben Campbell. Never heard of him. Great guy. Okay. Shout out to the goats. Great guy. Never heard of him. Great guy. How many people do you think out there actually think that we get paid by Liv for the amount that we talk about it? I mean, I don't think Liv's paying anybody now. Yeah. They don't have. We talk about Liv. Well, no.

49:44PFT Commenter:They got 27 extra bucks. Sure. We'll take that. That's what they said. For a golf critic, thanks, bro. Yeah, they probably think that we're...

49:52Big Cat:It's a national sports podcast, Max. Shut up.

49:55PFT Commenter:Yeah, shut up, Max.

49:56Big Cat:We're talking about Ben Campbell. Go get married again, Max. I'm going to. Yeah, he's an international sports guy. Who?

50:05PFT Commenter:Ben Campbell. Oh, yeah. Big time. He won the Hong Kong Open, dude. That's one of the biggest opens they've got, I would assume. Right?

50:15Big Cat:Yeah. Yeah, and 2024, he won the International Series Morocco.

50:19PFT Commenter:Wow. This guy is crazy. Shut me up. Yeah. All right, let's do Who's Back of the Week. Okay, Who's Back of the Week is brought to you by our friends at Twisted Tea. Summer's right around the corner, and Twisted Tea is coming in clutch to turn our day drinking up a notch. Their new summer party pack has a brand-new Twisted Lemonade, and I want to go on the record saying this will be the drink of the summer. It's got a refreshing taste with a little kick and no carbonation. Grit Week is the official kickoff of preseason football that we've all been waiting for, and we know that Twisted Tea is a staple during football season.

50:51PFT Commenter:I'm excited about getting on the grill, maybe by a pool, maybe on a beach, maybe going on some ball games. It's summer, but I'm going to be on that grill with a Twisted Tea in my hand, so I'm ready, and I'm going to get that Twisted Lemonade. So grab a refreshing Twisted Tea today and get involved in the summer. Okay, Hank, your Who's Back of the Week.

51:11Big Cat:was AI. I guess it's also, I don't know if it's Mike Greenberg's dumb rules, Mike Greenberg's dumb rearrangements, but

51:22PFT Commenter:this John Calpari, did you see this? No, you hear about this one? He wants to do the SEC basketball tournament

51:30Big Cat:to start the year. And then you don't, that way you don't have a serious tournament leading into the NCAA tournament. Okay. Okay. Which, we've talked about, the NCAA tournament, I mean, basically going to be ruined from here on out. It's going to be 72 teams or whatever it is, and it's just going to keep getting more and more. By the way, you can't say that. The conference tournaments, why not? What if it was played overseas? Why can't I say that? Why can't I say that?

51:58PFT Commenter:Because I feel like you're going to use that as an excuse being like, this week doesn't matter. It's golf season already. They ruined the tournament. You can't say that. No, it's usually the weather's not nice. You can't say that. I can say you can't say that. I mean, it's true. I can speak the truth. Yes, but I know what you're going to end up doing. You're going to be like, oh, it's ruined anyway. What do we care?

52:19Big Cat:No, I would much rather it be 64 teams. Like, that's crazy. I don't want it to be the way it is, but I'm not going to say that it's as good as it was. It is. So he wants this before the season?

52:31PFT Commenter:It makes sense now where it's like if everyone's basically going to get in, why not have the tournament start the year? It could be fun.

52:38Big Cat:I don't hate the idea. So the winner would get an automatic bid, and then for the rest of the season, they'd know that any team that didn't win that tournament, they have to prove themselves. See, I like the idea better with football, where you have week zero as the bowl games. That, to me, makes more sense.

52:59PFT Commenter:They've kind of ruined everything now that I'm thinking about it.

53:02Big Cat:There was one coach that, I think it was Neuheisel, floated that out last year to start the season with some of these crazy out-of-conference matchups. But what if you win the bowl game? It doesn't mean anything. It makes the bowl games mean a little bit where now the bowl games don't mean anything. How do you qualify for the bowl games? I don't know. They do the invites? I'm not sure. I'm not sure how that part would work out. But it's similar to where Calipari is promoting, except I don't know. I don't like it because I feel like the teams, what you see at the end of the season, they're so much different than what they would be at the very start of the year.

53:42PFT Commenter:Yeah, I can't wrap my head around this one. Part of me is like, that would be awesome, but nah, you need it at the end of the year.

53:50Big Cat:It wouldn't feel the same at all.

53:52PFT Commenter:No, no, it definitely wouldn't feel the same. I'm just thinking about the fact Hank was right. They have already ruined the tournament, so why not just... Let's ruin everything else. Yeah, just throw the conference tournament at the beginning of the season. What do you say, Max? Wouldn't it be weird if a team won it and then you're just already in it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I'll say this. It would give teams. That's an incentive to win it, though. It would definitely flatten. It would give bad teams a better chance because there's no tape on you. And it's like, you know, the beginning of the year, we always have that where a team will just be hot at the beginning of the year and non-conference then they'll get to conference play and they suck would be interesting yeah I don't like it I'm out on it no I don't like it I'm just I like that he's uh he's thinking I think what Cal is doing here is is is basically shining a light on how they're ruining everything else by throwing out a crazy rule yeah because I think a lot of people probably are gonna have the same reaction to me of like that's stupid and then they take a step back and say well they did kind of fuck up the tournament already so So why not fuck up everything?

54:59PFT Commenter:So good job, Cal. You got me. You got me thinking about it.

55:02Big Cat:Yeah. It's like the worse the ideas get, then the less bad the other really bad ideas. Correct.

55:09PFT Commenter:Correct.

55:09Big Cat:Kind of a genius move.

55:11PFT Commenter:Right. We're all we're just hanging out with all bad ideas. Kind of the story. Part of my take. So now they become good ideas. Yeah.

55:17Big Cat:Yeah.

55:18PFT Commenter:Hmm. All right. It's actually a perfect. All right. Green. What the Bears are doing right now where they're just like, hey, here's a bad idea. we moved to indiana or we moved to arlington heights out of the city and everyone's like no that's crazy like how about we move to indiana like no that's a really bad idea hey that that arlington heights thing's a good idea that to me sounds like that's chicago yeah that's awesome i don't even want to fucking i don't know where indiana it's indiana there's just meetings going on with paul anytime we have politicians like when i find out the names of politicians we've gone too far yeah that's when when i can start picking out people because they're walking out

55:54Big Cat:of meetings and talking to the press you've you've ruined everything let me tell you when i saw the bears contingent down at lost marsh is that the name of the golf course yeah when i saw them there they were wearing really nice suits like they were trying to impress the indiana people and um they looked like they meant business so far i can't even wear such a fucking oh my god all right uh good who's back good who's back thanks uh my who's back of the week is the u.s men's national soccer team nice because uh we beat the africa cup co-champions kind of senegal today in a friendly three to two based on my own personal expected goals percentage we actually it was more like 6.1 to 1.3 nice so like utter domination we mean kind of what do you mean do we win or not no we did we won three to two i was referring to senegal as being kind of the co-champions of the africa cup they weren't there was a whole thing where they like pulled their players off the field and then they got into a fight with i think morocco so nobody really knows who were what are they ranked tell me what they're i think they're ahead of us i think max give us the rankings i want to say senegal might be top 15 fifa rank in the world was the field in good enough condition uh not really it was the carolina panthers field is that a concern for no because there are no games at that stadium for the World Cup.

57:14PFT Commenter:How many more friendlies do we have?

57:16Big Cat:We're playing Germany in a friendly in Chicago. It wasn't Portugal.

57:21PFT Commenter:I looked up Sen. Oh. This only gives me top ten. No, load more, dude. You can click more. Show full standings. 14th. 14th, all right. You have 16.

57:31Big Cat:Who are we playing? So we play Germany on, I believe, this upcoming Friday. Are teams trying in this? Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's like experimenting with what your starting lineup's going to be. so in the first half there it was like 90 of our starting lineup um it's tune-up and they look and they look preseason they look good and pulisic looked awesome in the first half he scored a goal had an assist um our entire offense like our strikers and attacking midfielders look really really good this this as as bad as the headlines have been for the u.s men's national team for the last like couple months this should make you at least a little bit optimistic about what the team could look like.

58:10PFT Commenter:I'm very optimistic.

58:12Big Cat:So, and then we'll find out more after this game against Germany, who's a much better team than Senegal. But yeah, we look pretty good. I would give us a B+. Why'd you look up Neymar? I just don't know any players anymore. I just want to know. Zach's telling me Neymar's old news. Yeah, he's old news. Yeah, he's very old news. In fact, I think he might have just faked an injury because he got put on the Brazilian national team this year and he's so old that I think he was kind of like, I kind of shouldn't play. So So, ow, I think my leg hurts. There is one new soccer player that you guys should all know, though.

58:45Big Cat:Have you heard about the guy from New Zealand? No. So a bunch of people online, they got together, and they tried to figure out who the least well-known player in the World Cup was just to give this guy his own fandom. And they found a guy in New Zealand, and his name is Tim Payne. And I think he had like 3 ,000 followers online. I like this. And then if you look him up now, I want to say he's got like 8 million followers just because people decided that Tim Payne, he was going to be the guy for anyone that didn't have a favorite soccer player. Okay. So he's this dude from New Zealand. He plays for the Wellington Phoenix and he's on the New Zealand national team right now.

59:25Big Cat:And I think he's about at 3 million followers where he was like at 3 ,000. Hell yes. Four days ago. So shout out Tim Payne. Tim Payne is like the new. This could also go sideways real fast. Oh, yeah. Like if Tim Payne is a jerk and you give him all this power down like three, four million all over again, like four million followers, he might actually just like destroy his team. Yeah. So we'll find out more about Tim Payne. But Tim Payne seems to be the people's soccer player.

59:52PFT Commenter:Okay. My who's back the week is I'm going to go with PCA because now the Cubs are going to lose two out of three of the Cardinals, but that's irrelevant Saturday night. And if you guys saw the clip, but the Cardinals, which is I'll give the Cardinals fans credit. It looks like a blast out there in right field. They have the tarps off section, which we had in college football as well. So the tarps off section, bunch of dudes, tarps off, going crazy. They were chanting overrated when PCA was up. PCA then hit a nuke into the tarps off section. And after that, a guy, a Cardinals fan, picked up the ball.

1:00:30PFT Commenter:Everyone told him to throw it back. I don't think that guy had ever thrown a baseball in his life. And that was a brutal look for him. He's a reverse rookie of the year. He couldn't get it out of the stance. He hit a Cubs fan in the front row. I love that. Like I said, getting called up to the big league rookie.

1:00:45Big Cat:He just gets fired from his normal job. Just brutal.

1:00:49PFT Commenter:Like you can't. You got to hand that to a friend. Because you know it deep down that you can't throw that. Yeah. Like his throwing motion. Max, Judge's throwing motion. That guy's. I think he's right-handed. And he threw lefty? Yeah. It's the only thing that makes sense. Right. Look at it.

1:01:05Big Cat:Hank, you're an expert. What do you think?

1:01:09PFT Commenter:He's got it. All right. He's got it. No. No, dude. He's never played baseball or throw. I think he's left. I think he's right hand.

1:01:15Big Cat:No, because he just kind of has a natural like he's trying to throw it.

1:01:19PFT Commenter:He's like flicking it.

1:01:20Big Cat:Yeah. He didn't go all the way back. He also held it up with his left hand. Yeah. He's a lefty. That's. Yeah. You got to hand that to a friend.

1:01:28PFT Commenter:Right. You can't. Yep. You can't. So this is the. Yeah. Look, the tarp's off right there. It's the tarp's off session. Yeah, I mean, it looks like a good time. I wish the Cubs had won on Sunday night, but yeah. You start Jordan Wicks. He's a tomato can. All right. Zach.

1:01:48Big Cat:My who's back this week is going to be the Iceman, Caleb Williams. Hometown favorite here because they leaked the Madden cover for this year. Madden 27. Caleb Williams on the cover. I guess it could be, depending on how you look at it, some guys believe in the Madden curse, some don't. I was curious if you guys did.

1:02:03PFT Commenter:I thought it was not a thing recently. Yeah, who broke it? It was for a long time.

1:02:10Big Cat:I know they had Saquon last year. He played okay.

1:02:14PFT Commenter:No. It happened at Gronk. Let's see. I don't believe in it. The cover did not almost retire. Peyton Hillis. The cover, if that's what it looks like, is sick.

1:02:28Big Cat:Yeah, the cover looks fantastic. I mean, the snow's coming down and everything. It's a sick cover.

1:02:32PFT Commenter:It's awesome.

1:02:33Big Cat:Now, how much stock can we put in this being an actual league? Okay, let's see.

1:02:38PFT Commenter:Let's see. It looks pretty real. All right. So it's Josh Allen won the... Did he win the MVP the year after he was on the cover there? He won the MVP in 25, correct? Yep. Yeah. So that would say probably not. John Madden was on the cover. He died. Was he on the cover after he died? Yeah, no, it wasn't. It's on the year after. Yeah. Yeah, Mahomes on the cover. He won a couple Super Bowls. He's been on the cover a couple times. Yeah, Mahomes and Brady both won right after. Antonio Brown, that's a tough one. That feels like that didn't go well after that. Oh, no, he won a Super Bowl. If he was on the cover in 19, he won a Super Bowl with the Bucs, right?

1:03:22PFT Commenter:Did he? Yeah. Didn't he?

1:03:26Big Cat:When would we be arguing the year of, though, not the next year?

1:03:29PFT Commenter:Antonio Brown won a Super Bowl with the Bucs. Am I misremembering that?

1:03:33Big Cat:The year, you're getting the math wrong.

1:03:36PFT Commenter:No, I understand that. I'm just saying he won. Yeah, he had a touchdown.

1:03:40Big Cat:But the curse is the year that you are on the cover. Okay.

1:03:44PFT Commenter:So these years are the year. Explain it to me like I'm two.

1:03:51Big Cat:Saquon was the. Like if Caleb Williams has a bad year this year. I'm just reading the numbers. That's Madden curse.

1:03:55PFT Commenter:And it's a year ahead. I got it. I got it. It's a year ahead.

1:03:58Big Cat:No, it's the year. So last year was Saquon 26 Got it

1:04:06PFT Commenter:Right? That would be Yes But that was the 25 season

1:04:09Big Cat:25-26 It ends in 26 Yes Right

1:04:12PFT Commenter:That's what I'm saying It was a 25 season Yeah Yes

1:04:17Big Cat:Yes Yes That's why See I'm not that crazy Why is memes looking Yes memes That's correct Yes That's correct It's like when you buy a car Football seasons I know Football seasons are bullshit Thank you Football seasons are confusing If you're shopping for a car in November, you buy, like, last year you would have bought a 2027 model, maybe. Right. And it's like, wait, but we're not even there yet.

1:04:40PFT Commenter:Yeah, football seasons are bullshit like this. Okay, either way, I don't know. Just ask. Let's see. It's a good-looking cover. Yeah. Listen, am I a little nervous that all the hype and then the fact that we have like eight standalone games? Yes, of course. But it's also pretty cool that a Bears quarterback is on the cover of Madden.

1:05:01Big Cat:Will this be the last year in Chicago? Or is that even if it happens? It takes a few years to build the stadium.

1:05:07PFT Commenter:Hey, do you think the stadium's ever fucking getting built? I don't know.

1:05:10Big Cat:They bought Arlington Heights like five years ago. I thought that was real. I thought nine was going to be on the cover. Yeah.

1:05:17PFT Commenter:All right.

1:05:17Big Cat:Probably should be.

1:05:18PFT Commenter:He should. Every year. All right. This says that Madden Kirsten is still a thing. Fuck. Okay. AI? Yeah. Fuck. That's not great. Yeah. That's not great. Mahomes won a Super Bowl when he was on it. Okay. So there we go. So therefore, no more Kirsten. Something good has happened at some point. You got any other who's backs?

1:05:40Big Cat:I guess another one would be Arsenal did to piggyback off Arsenal losing Champions League. Me and about 12 million other people online today on the Everything app were convinced that KSI left a sideman. Did you guys see that? I did. Sidemen. They put out a statement. They put out a statement, real official. It's got all the verbiage on there. They've been around for about 13 years. Big part of a lot of guys' childhoods, a lot of guys' upbringings. Like I was joy early on in life. And they're saying, KSI left. It may be a punishment for Arsenal losing. So I'm holding out hope personally. So me and Big Cat understood everything that you just said.

1:06:16Big Cat:But there might be listeners that don't get it. So do you want to say it again, but in a way that if they didn't really. It would be like today if the part of my take account posted a very official notes app looking statement that said. PFC commenter and part of my take have left ways. It's all love. Is that because everybody... But we're going to continue to do everything. We're just not going to be together anymore. Okay. And that was it. But it's also fake. No, it'd be like the part where I take an account posting it. Wait, but it's... So this is real? This actually happened? Like the fans, if you...

1:06:53PFT Commenter:The fans, you know, saw that and had... Because it was from the official account and stuff, obviously were like, this is real. I thought it was real. I still do. Is it not? I think it could be real. Wait, we're splitting up?

1:07:04Big Cat:I'm just kind of coping that it's not, and hopefully, I'm just telling myself it could be an arsenal of punishment. But I thought it was real. A lot of people online thought it was real. They presented it as so. But it might not be real. Yeah, I'm coping, yeah. It might not be real. Got it. So this is you hoping that, because they're such a big part of kids' childhoods. Yeah, a lot of guys who are, I mean, adults now even. I watch every Sunday, yeah.

1:07:26PFT Commenter:Yeah, I was just saying, you're not childhood anymore.

1:07:28Big Cat:No, I'm a grown man. I was when I started watching them. Now I'm an adult, still watching every Sunday. I mean, Sidemen Sunday, if you guys ever have like a slow Sunday. definitely something to check out. I think you'd enjoy it. What do they do? They do variety videos, all sorts of stuff. Most recently, they got in their bag of$100 vacation versus$100 ,000 vacation. It's pretty fun. Which one's better? I think you should watch PMTV vlogs. We put out four in the past couple weeks, so you should probably go to that. Watch our stuff.

1:07:54PFT Commenter:PMT Sundays.

1:07:56Big Cat:Yes, of course.

1:07:58PFT Commenter:Have you done any concrete pours? They must be back.

1:08:02Big Cat:They did their big first pour of the year, yeah. a truck driver drove on the form when they were trying to pour. They had a rookie driver.

1:08:07PFT Commenter:That was a bummer. Do we think that was fake? No, it was super real. Ryan was pissed. Okay, he was. Well, Ryan does get, he's the hothead. A little bit, but you, I mean, you got to run a business a certain kind of way. You know, you got to come with a little bit of energy.

1:08:19Big Cat:No, I get it. I get it for sure. But like, why did this guy, like, that's rule number one. I would have to think of concrete pours is like, don't drive on it. Yeah, he hit the form. And also like, this guy was spinning his wheels on the mesh too, which is like, what are we doing? You're messing up the rebar. Not cool. But they'll move past it. Poor looked good. They got it all broomed and everything. It was awesome. I can't wait for the season. Season just got started, boys. Have you ever done a poor, Zach? We did a small poor with some umbrellas in my backyard. Okay. That was cool. I would like to see you do a poor.

1:08:47Big Cat:Yeah, let's get you up with these guys. These guys are in Wisconsin. That would be a good video. Get you pouring. I'll lay some foundation for you, PFT. You're a big porn guy. Yeah, big porn guy. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Big porn guy. You love porn. Yeah. Yep. Always have. Are you a gooner? Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Just a gooner that loves porn. Yep, gooner loves porn. Yep. Yep.

1:09:08PFT Commenter:Love that for you, Zach. All right, let's get to our interviews.

1:09:11Big Cat:We got Mike Breen and then Keith Yandel. We'll get to Mike Breen in a second. He's brought to you by our great friends over at Simply Safe. Traditional security locks you into long-term multi-year contracts with huge cancellation fees. Simply Safe changed the game. They've got 24-7 professional monitoring. It's affordable. No long-term contracts. It is the best bet in the security business. The setup is so easy, it's fully customizable, and it's backed by SimpliSafe's 24-7 professional monitoring agents who dispatch emergency help whenever you need it. Over 5 million people value and trust SimpliSafe with their home security every day.

1:09:44Big Cat:I don't put my name behind many brands. I do trust SimpliSafe. My listeners get 50 % off a new system when you sign up for professional monitoring. That first month, it's free by visiting simplisafe.com slash PMT. That's half off at simplisafe.com slash PMT. There's no safe like simply safe And Mike Breen is also brought to you by Our great friends over at Jose Cuervo Make every moment matter with Jose Cuervo We all know the Cuervo moments Everybody reacts like you just got the same text at the same time You find yourself in the center of that dance floor And you can't help but stand up and high-five those around you You stop checking the time Suddenly small talk escalates to laughing so hard That you can barely catch your breath That is the Cuervo effect It's a signal that everybody understands, a moment that anyone can join, and a good time that just grows.

1:10:35Big Cat:All you have to do is keep it Cuervo. And now, here is Mike Breen.

1:10:40PFT Commenter:Okay, we now welcome on a very, very, very, very, very special guest. He's a recurring guest. He is the voice of the New York Knicks and the voice of the NBA. I'll just say in general, but you will hear him for the NBA Finals. It is the incomparable Mike Breen. and Mike, thank you for joining us. I actually wanted to start. How do you think I did with the incomparable? Because I tried to be like, hey, I need a big word for Mike Breen. Did I do it? Did I pull it off? That was great. The recurring part bothered me because it's been a long time since I was on. I got the feeling maybe you didn't like the last appearance.

1:11:17PFT Commenter:No, listen. Recurring, all you have to do is just one time and then you're recurring for life. And that means when we call you, you come on. But I actually had a really dumb question to start. We're going to talk about the NBA finals. We're so excited. My dumb question was, I was thinking about this because I was like, I'm going to try to say incomparable to introduce Mike Breen. How many words do you think you know?

1:11:42PFT Commenter:That is a dumb question. Yeah, I know. Thank you. I agree. I have no idea. It's less than most. I'll say it that way. Okay, here's a better question off of that. How often do you add new words and what's like a recent new word that you've added that you're like, oh man, I'm crushing this? You know, I actually, because I work with Clyde Frazier on MSG network broadcasts and he's always coming up with new words. So I'm actually starting to use more words than, than I used to because of him. I got to try and keep up. Like, for example, and I'm going to use this during the finals as a tribute to Clyde, but he calls like a really aggressive, fearless rookie, he calls them a precocious neophyte.

1:12:30PFT Commenter:Ooh, I like that. I like that. I love that. So I'm going to use that for somebody in the finals this week.

1:12:36Big Cat:Yeah, Dylan Harper. Now, has there been a... There you go. Yeah. Has there been a word that you've tried that you've thought this is going to knock people's socks off? And then you try it, and you're like, mm, didn't really work. didn't didn't jive with the flow so we're gonna take that one out multiple times what about when

1:12:52PFT Commenter:you have you have you said a word that you you're like practice it because that would happen that's what happens to me i say a word i practice it and then when when the lights turn on they're too bright for me and i screw it up and i'll say it incorrectly i'd be like i really fucked that up there there are certain ones um that you try and avoid and you know it's pivotal i've met i've stumbled over pivotal like i almost have to raise my pivotal to say it correctly otherwise it comes i said it wrong like two weeks ago and i'm like i'm never going to use it again and then i use it

1:13:22Big Cat:again yeah do you uh do you find yourself that that you have to stop yourself from swearing in your day-to-day life if it's uh if it's around a an important broadcast or do you or do you have the ability to sit down at a desk and then just hit that button in your brain and you're like okay i'm in fcc mode right now and so so you're insinuating that i swear i i didn't know if you did or not and it might be the case that you don't swear no no i i i i've never slipped up uh i mispronounced my my own name once it came out brun for some i don't know why it came out brun okay um but um you guys know who pj colisimo is right of course yeah we actually listened to game

1:14:01PFT Commenter:one of the western conference finals in the car because we were on a big road trip and he was great great coach great broadcaster great friend one of my favorite people in the world but he has achieved the greatest achievement in all of sports casting in that he has never once dropped an F bomb on the air because there's no human being who uses that word more than PJ yet. He's never, ever mistakenly dropped one on the air. I think that's the greatest achievement in sports broadcast. I'd agree. If you're, if you're someone who routinely uses it and then be able to turn it off, that's, that's infinitely more impressive than everyone else who's, you know, maybe touch on it every now and then, but it's like hey i don't use it in my usual lexicon yeah right you'd think once it would slip i mean he junior soprano remember junior soprano soprano is how we would like combine all different curse words together to make that's pj yeah and it's and it's never slipped yeah yeah

1:14:55Big Cat:i mean we've got a a morning show that we do here on fs1 and it starts at 7 a.m and so sometimes we get new guys to join the show we tell them right before they go on hey no cussing and then every single time usually within the first block first block they'll let one slip so for pj to last that long is it is very impressive and for you this is a this is a huge finals for you huge i read that article in the athletic about you growing up a diehard knicks fan uh your whole family you know it was it was a big thing when when you were a kid you would watch all the games growing up and now you finally you get to call them you've never called them in the finals before um how are you going to handle that responsibility?

1:15:34Big Cat:Are you going to try to sound neutral? Because we know that in the back of your head, there's no chance that you can be neutral in these finals. Well, I'm not going to lie. Obviously, I'm a Knick fan, so I always want them to do well. And in my lifetime, I would like to see them win a title. But I will be neutral in terms of how I call the game. I've done a lot of Knick games over the years. Back when I was at NBC, I did a bunch and then done it for ESPN. And you're not going to win. There are going to be fans who think that I'm not being neutral and I'm favoring the Knicks. But every single finals I've ever done, and I mean every single one, it doesn't matter who played.

1:16:11If it's the Lakers and the Celtics, the Celtic fans think I hate them and I'm rooting for the Lakers. The Laker fans think I'm rooting for the Celtics. So you can't win in those situations.

1:16:20PFT Commenter:Can I give you a tip? And we'll help you here, okay? So we're willing to carry a little water for you. going into these finals because I I think you're a consummate pro I don't think it actually is like weighing on your there we go that's a good word yeah yeah I'm bringing it right now the uh you you are someone that everyone respects and I don't you know of course people are always Joe Buck always gets it like everyone always gets it it's just fans being fans which I totally understand but I would imagine there's well let me ask it this way is it is it weighing on you just a little bit where it's like this is such a big moment i've my whole life i wanted to see the knicks you know in the finals again uh it's been 25 years this team is playing incredible basketball and now i have to be right down the middle and i wish maybe i was sitting on my couch and having a beer and watching with my family no it really isn't and that i'm not just saying i mean we've done each games in each of the first three series and you know obviously it's not a finals it's not going to end in a championship.

1:17:22And I don't know how I'm going to feel if they win, but I know if the Spurs win and they're playing great, I'm going to be screaming my full head off for the great plays that they do. Part of it, what makes it easy, is my love of basketball. So if I see somebody do something exceptional, and we know Wambanyama's going to do countless exceptional things, I'm going to go crazy for him. You mentioned Dylan Harper before. I'm blown away by this kid and how he's biggest games of his career. And it's like he's been there over and over again. So I can't wait for a great – I just hope it's a great series, close games, and whatever happens, happens.

1:18:02I'll deal with the emotions then.

1:18:04PFT Commenter:Okay, so here's my offer to you because when it comes to how social media works, if you can put some numbers behind something in a nice screenshot, it doesn't even have to be correct. People will just jump on it. You know what I mean? They'll be like, look at this. This is how many times this. This was called. That was called. I think you've got to go into this finals with a concerted effort. Here we go. Listen, the Spurs have to outbang the Knicks, and we will keep track. And when people are saying Mike Breen's rooting for the Knicks, we're going to be like, no, no, no, no. The Spurs have had 15 bangs.

1:18:40PFT Commenter:The Knicks have only had six. It's right here, black and white. And then you're free to say whatever you want. You could be rooting for the Knicks on the broadcast, but if you give the Spurs more bangs, people can't argue with that. You know, it's not a bad idea, but it's really out of my control. Although, if, say, the Knicks start getting ahead, I'll just start saying bang on Spurs free throws. Right. That's what I'm saying. It's 100 % of your control. Just hit a bang on the first shot for the Spurs. Or the opening tip.

1:19:11Big Cat:I don't think Wimby's lost an opening tip. Yeah. Yeah,

1:19:15PFT Commenter:you just got to lay a base level of bangs. Like, yeah, you can actually do all of these bangs in the first five minutes of game one. So that way you stay ahead for the entire series. And we'll just keep tweeting out being like anyone who says Mike Breen is being biased. He's clearly got more bangs. You would do that for me? You would tweet that out for me? Absolutely. We will be the bang-o-meter for the entire finals. I'll take it under consideration. Speaking of, how do we feel about the bang that almost left your throat and then you pulled it back in game one? I love that moment because I do think that broadcasting, you don't want a broadcaster to be perfect all the time.

1:19:53PFT Commenter:The human emotion should play into it. It makes the moments better when there are a little like, oh, the ball almost went down. It deserved that sound. Sam Merrill shot, and when they did the close-up of it, half the ball was under the cylinder. Half of it. I still don't know how it came out. Now, you clearly want to have a clean call, but I'm okay with that. It's not the first time. I think I've done that two other times too, where it looks in, you're excited, you want to make a big call, and oh, no, didn't go. There was a broadcaster, one I loved, I so admired, Jim Gordon, was a New York sportscaster.

1:20:30He did the Rangers, he did the Giants, he did some Knicks as well, and he did New York Giant football for years on the radio and he would several times a game he would call you know phil sims throwing downfield to macaque and go sims throws complete no incomplete he would do it several times and i loved it because he thought it was complete he was fired up that they made a great pass play and then oh no it didn't happen so yeah it happens and in that play it did look

1:20:55Big Cat:it added i think to the moment because we all felt that alongside you as you said it um i'm curious to know because you've seen so much Knicks basketball over the years and we talked about this a little bit on on this show uh last week but if the Knicks do win a championship where does that put Jalen Brunson in terms of all-time Knicks for you um he's in the conversation as one of the greats can I put him ahead of Clyde or Patrick Ewing I think that might be early even though he wins the title but when you look at it all right 53 years say they win it 53 years and he's the one that leads them to a title.

1:21:33Not only that, but when he arrived, they were on one of the darkest stretches that the franchise has ever been on. They were one of the worst teams in NBA. And he's the number one reason why he's changed the direction and perception of the franchise. So it's not just winning a title. It's where he started and where he brought them to. So he's absolutely in the conversation. He's one of the most amazing players and 30-plus years of covering the NBA, when you look at his size, his athleticism, the fact that he's not tall, that he's not fast, yet he gets pretty much anywhere he wants to go to get off a quality shot, and he does it with such humility, not interested in the attention.

1:22:16He's an amazing special player.

1:22:18Big Cat:Yeah. How much credit can the University of Villanova take for this championship if the Knicks win? Jay Wright. All three guys, Bridges, Hart, and Brunson, will all tell you that the things that he installed in them, both as players in terms of technical stuff, both in terms of mental approach to the game, work ethic, they all credit him for so much of the success. And they constantly quote about different things that he did. So every Knick fan, whether they win the championship or not, every Knick fan, if they see Jay Wright, should go over, shake his hand and say thank you.

1:22:52PFT Commenter:Yeah. I'd have to imagine walking around in New York City right now, it's got quite a buzz, because New York is one of those cities that it's a basketball city. There's a lot of other teams, and there's Giants and Jets and Split and Yankees and Mets. The Knicks are the team. Can you just feel it in the air when you're going into MSG to call the Eastern Conference Final and day-to-day stuff, like people just buzzing about it? Yeah, I've never seen it like this. Now, part of it has to do with the last time they were in the finals, 99, there wasn't social media. Now you have social media and everybody is, you're seeing all the different celebrations and things, the way they're going about rooting for their team.

1:23:33So it's a little more pronounced in terms of being out in the public. But the electricity is phenomenal. The building during the playoffs, that game went against the Cavs when they came back from 22 down with seven and a half to go. That's one of the loudest, maybe the loudest I've ever heard the building, that stretch run there. And it's because, again, what we said earlier, the fans never left, even the dark years. They never left. They stayed with it. So now they're being rewarded. So this unfiltered joy is everywhere. And it's really cool to see. I mean, I've lived in New York my whole life.

1:24:08So to see the fans get rewarded with a team that gives them a shot at winning a title is pretty cool to watch.

1:24:15PFT Commenter:Yeah. Was there a moment this season, you know, because you're calling the Knicks all year. you're seeing them up and down. Was there a moment where you could be like, hey, I think this might be a team that could do this? Because I'm not saying that I watched every Knicks game, and I'm not familiar with the team in the regular season, but what they've done in the playoffs, they're playing perfect basketball ever since being down 2-1 to the Hawks. You know what? The interesting thing, guys, is that during the regular season, it was really uneven. They had stretches where you thought they can beat anybody, And they also had a number of stretches to be like, I don't know if this team's as good as last year.

1:24:53Again, the coaching change switched a lot of things. Mike Brown, who is, he's the most collaborative coach I've ever watched in covering the NBA. He's so open to suggestions and not just from assistant coaches, from the players. And not only is he open to suggestions, he's not afraid to install them and try them. and if he installs them and he tries them all of a sudden he's not saying is my my idea he's giving credit to everybody else but when things go wrong he's the first one to say you know what i need to be better at this so the changes with mike brown there were a lot of growing pains during the course of the season and it took a while so they had some stretches where yep they can beat anybody and they had some stretches where you were worried so the regular season was a little funky that way Yeah.

1:25:40Big Cat:Yeah. So going into these finals, you're obviously more familiar with the Knicks, but you've watched a lot of Spurs basketball over the years. You've seen them kind of how they've developed as a team, especially in the last few years. Where do you see this matchup being a problem for the Knicks? I know that obviously Wimby is the unsolvable riddle, but the Knicks are going to try. But outside of that specifically, where do you see the Knicks having to come up with something new that they haven't done to figure out how to defend the Spurs? Well, the thing is, during the regular season, Wemby missed a bunch of games.

1:26:13And they went one stretch where they won 11 of 14 games without him. They're as great as this player is, and he could be one of the greats of all time. They are so much more than just Victor Wemanyama. They've got a lot of terrific players, and especially defensive Hawks. And that's going to be a problem the Knicks are not to deal with. Because you have Castle and Harper, and those guys are so tenacious defensively. They put a lot of pressure on the opposing point guards, opposing shooting guards. So the Knicks are going to have to deal with that because the first three teams they played, although they were all good teams, none of them play at this level defensively that the Spurs play.

1:26:52So that's going to be the biggest adjustment.

1:26:55Big Cat:Yeah. Have you looked up new words to describe Wimby? Because I feel like that's a guy that you would run out of words for. Yeah. And this is his third year. I remember doing like, how can you describe him? Right now I'm calling him a force of nature, but I'm sure everybody else has used that too. It's hard to do because he's one of those guys that he's so unique. We've never seen anybody like him that you have to try and focus on one thing at a time, like whether it's his ball handling. But for a guy that's 7 '4 or 5 or whatever he is now, to be able to handle a ball like that, to be able to shoot so effortlessly from three, there's another word I shouldn't say on the air, effortlessly from three.

1:27:39And then, but his whole thing is the way he impacts defense, that's his number one strength. He's the great discourager. For crying out loud, guys driving the paint, they want no business of putting up a shot. And there are very few players who have that impact.

1:27:53Big Cat:That's great. The great discourager is a fantastic nickname. I was just looking up synonyms for him to see if I could toss you one. Have you thought about preternatural? Say it again? Preternatural. It's like supernatural, but P-R-E. It kind of implies like maybe he's an alien because it sounds like supernatural, but just means like extraordinary. I feel like that might be a good one. Yeah, that's not bad. Aliens have been used so much, and I don't particularly, I don't know if he likes it, but I've got a couple of days. I'll see what if I can come up. I'm going to try saying yours out loud so I get used to it until it comes out in a flow.

1:28:31PFT Commenter:Mike, I've seen you've done some different media because this is obviously a big moment in your career, big moment for the Knicks. And the thing you did with the New York Times is great, the athletic. Has anyone, though, like we're a little different. Has anyone given you a prep about the possibility of the shot when Mitch Johnson is on the sidelines in San Antonio coming up? All right, where are you leading me on this one? There have just been four gigantic breasts behind him every single time. So I don't know if you want – I just want you to be prepared. I want you to be ready. I don't know.

1:29:06PFT Commenter:Maybe just don't even talk about it. I guess don't talk about it would probably be the way to do it. That's good advice. Yeah, that's my advice. Great advice. But now you know so that when the camera in front of you shows, you're like, okay, I'm not going to talk about that. I'm so touched by how you're looking out for me. Yes. I can't even – I'm going to get emotional. Thank you. That would be funny if just like a bang, you're just like, boobs. Bang, bang, bang, bang. Or 10 minutes of broadcast. All the time, you know, when you do TV, you obviously have to constantly look at the monitor because you want to be looking at the same thing the viewers at home.

1:29:44And there's stuff that comes up every once in a while that you do say, all right, should I make mention of that or not? Right, right. Yeah, that's a tough job to do. Because everybody at home is seeing the same thing. Right.

1:29:58Big Cat:You see them and maybe you just say, two teams on a quest to get to the top of that mountain. Yeah. In the NBA Finals. Just like a little something for the fans at home.

1:30:08PFT Commenter:I'm just hoping now when game one starts and you see the monitor, you think of us, and that would be nice. It feels like we're at the NBA Finals too.

1:30:16Big Cat:Don't slip up, and if, like, Cat's having a huge game, don't say nipple-double because that would be bad. We will jump all over you for that one. Well, maybe the finals tickets are very expensive, so maybe they'll be different people. I don't know.

1:30:30PFT Commenter:They were there for every single game in the Western Conference Final. It was quite something. They just kept on showing up. I think they put a lot of work into their body.

1:30:38Big Cat:I think they might have some money lying around. Yeah, they're ready to go. Yeah, they're good.

1:30:41PFT Commenter:All right, so let's talk about the other celebrity row in New York. Is Chalamet, like, he's 1-1 now, right? And I'm not saying 1-1 like Ben Stiller's been there forever. There's other guys who've been there forever. But in terms of aura, like it feels like he has eclipsed everyone where the camera always finds him, and he's just kind of effortlessly cool in being a diehard Knicks fan. Yeah, he gets great when they put him up on the big screen. It's just a roar. But I'll say this about him and Ben Stiller and a lot of the other ones. They're at games in February when the Knicks are playing the Wizards.

1:31:22they're not they're real fans they're not there to be on camera and they're not cheering or going crazy because they want to be on camera they really love the team they care deeply about the team and and that's what i love about the celebrity nick fans is most of them um they're going to games all season long regardless of the opponent regardless of the night and uh and now they're being rewarded because because they're seeing the big games it's great is it's gonna be a rivalry

1:31:48Big Cat:to keep your eye on though, by the way. Trey Young, they don't like Trey Young at Madison Square Garden. Now he's a wizard. If I'm buying stock in rivalries, that's 1A for me. The Wizards. With Trey Young, yeah. He's taking over. Tyrese Halliburton, who, by the way, is just a great dude. A great dude. He, because of the choke sign last year, he's up there in terms of public enemies for Knicks fans.

1:32:12PFT Commenter:Yeah. Is there a chance that Charles Oakley comes back? I don't know. That one, I have no idea. Could you imagine the pop, though? It feels like this is the moment where you – I don't know if sides can be mended here. And, you know, Oak is obviously a different cat in that. If he feels disrespected, he might not want to. And you don't know if James – but it would be an incredible moment if you can have him be part of that whole crew under the hoop that is like the alumni of the New York Knicks. Well, forgiveness is a powerful thing to have. So let's hope for forgiveness. Oh, it'd be so great.

1:32:51Big Cat:So you're a Knicks fan, you're a Mets fan. Are you a Giants or Jets? Giants. Giants, okay. And then Rangers? Rangers, yeah. So in terms of those four teams, where would a Knicks championship rank? And what would it mean to the city? Like if you were to put in order in those four teams? Yeah, I think it would be number one. I mean, for the city or for myself? I guess you can do both, but yeah, I suspect that's probably the same answer. For the city, you know, like you guys said, it's such a basketball town. And they really are so crazy Knicks. And to think that it's been 53 years since they won it all, that would just be over the top.

1:33:30And again, because of this particular team, the way they play, the way they carry themselves, you know, they feel like they're New Yorkers. A guy like Josh Hart, they feel like he's a New Yorker his whole life. And he's one of those guys that he could have played with the Ewing group back in the 90s. He could have played with the championship group. He's that type of guy that can do a little bit of everything, a great team player. So there's a special affinity for the particular players on this team. So I think it would be number one.

1:34:02PFT Commenter:Yeah, yeah. So you have called the Knicks in the finals, just not on TV, on radio. Right. Radio in 94. I heard the story in 94. You almost screwed up that call if John Starks had hit that shot. Can you explain that? Because it's unbelievable to think about if that shot goes in and the Knicks win that title. Go ahead, because it's an incredible story. It could have been a career-ending call. So back then, it's 21 years since they won a title, and we're thinking, oh, that's a long time. And it's game six, and Starks with the Knicks down two, has a shot in the corner, a three-pointer in the final seconds, that if it goes in, if it's a three-pointer, they win the championship.

1:34:45If it goes in and it's a two-pointer, it's a tie game, we're going to go to overtime. My broadcast location is down the other side of the floor. I'm right next to the Knick bench, and they're shooting way down the other end, and I'm on the near side where Starks is on. So you can't, there's so many things in between them and starks i can't tell if his feet when he gets set to shoot it are behind the three-point mark now that happens sometimes because fans stand up so um normally now with tv you look at the monitor and that tells you but there's no monitor we don't have a monitor so then you look at the referees because the referee has the hand up to signal three-point attempt but all three referees at this particular time are blocked i can't see them now this is all going on in seconds so the shot is up that could potentially win the championship for the Knicks and the 21 year drought.

1:35:37And I have no idea if it's a two or a three point.

1:35:40PFT Commenter:So what was your plan? My plan would have been, I probably would have screamed. It's good. It's good. It's good. As many times as I needed to, or bang as many times as I needed to until they put the score up on the scoreboard. That, that was the plan. But I mean, there was such potential to completely destroy would have been one of the great moments in the history of New York sports. Yeah, because it would have been such an incredible moment for a buzzer beater for their first title in 20 years. You just got to bang your way out of that situation.

1:36:10Big Cat:Just keep saying bang until you get a definitive answer. Meanwhile, everybody's at home listening to the radio like, what is it? What is it? Stop saying bang, Mike. From a broadcasting perspective, just like in terms of your prep for every game, how much sleep do you try to get before a big game? Oh, the usual. I mean, at my age, if I get seven hours, I'm thrilled. So I try and get as much as I can. Maybe take the player afternoon nap is always important. You take a little nap before? What about like a pregame meal? Like, do you eat the same thing on game days? No, but I eat before. Like, when I get to the arena, I like to have a big meal then.

1:36:49I can't call a game on an empty stomach.

1:36:51Big Cat:I can't do it. Are there certain foods that you have to stay away from? I think I would probably stay away from anything spicy or anything that's going to give me, like the acid reflux? Right. Like you can't have a milkshake because that's the worst thing. You could. Why is a milkshake the worst thing? I feel like that. Not because it's all the dairy. It's just it's not good for the throw. Yeah. Green tea is my key. I have some green tea before every game. And then what about during the game? What is just standard water? Water. Just water. That's it.

1:37:20PFT Commenter:How much going into this NBA Finals do you take into account the NBA Cup Final? Because it is a rematch. First time ever. I love the NBA Cup, but its impact on this series is nil. Oh, wow. We have some Knicks fans that aren't going to agree with that. We have one Knicks fan in this office specifically who's been talking about how the NBA Cup, the Knicks learned how to beat the Spurs in it. Well, I mean, you could – I suppose individual players can gain confidence saying, okay, I figured out a way – Jalen Brunswick said, I figured out a way to get away from Castle. but both teams are so dramatically different.

1:37:58I mean, that's way, that's many months ago. The Knicks are so much better, but so are the Spurs, so much better. And again, the way the schedule works, there's so many other intangibles that go into it that rarely has any regular season game, even an NBA Cup game, I thought had an impact on a potential playoff matchup.

1:38:18Big Cat:Yeah, it's the one time that they played when they've tried to empty the tank and tried to beat each other. I put a lot of stock into that. A lot of stock. The courts are different. Knicks did play them well. But how many times have we seen a team, they go 0-4 against a team in a regular season, and then they get swept in the playoffs. There's no rhyme or reason to it. There's no carryover, in my opinion.

1:38:41PFT Commenter:Yeah. We have two diehard Knicks fans in our booth, Memes and Zach. Actually, let's go with Memes, because, Zach, I'll do the roadback question with you. Memes, do you have any questions for Mike Breen or questions about the Knicks? He's not ready. Memes has been very excited. He's been talking about the Knicks nonstop. I actually had to – last week I had to say I'm not having conversations with him anymore because I would be like a simple thing like, what do you want to get for dinner? And he'd be like, how about the Knicks? I'm like, all right, I can't – we can't even converse right now. But you can't – how can you fault him for that?

1:39:13PFT Commenter:No, I don't. I don't fault him. I had to take that measure because I didn't want to get to a point where I got frustrated that he would only talk about the Knicks. So I was like, you know what? I won't come to you for anything in these next couple of weeks. This is Knicks time. That's a good friend. Yeah. That's a good friend. Memes, do you have one? No, he doesn't. All right, Zach, let's go to you. Oh, what's going on, Mike? How are you today, my man? Good, Zach. Oh, my man. My man.

1:39:38Big Cat:To a guy like Mike Brees? Mike, if that was overstepping in the beginning of this relationship, I'll step all the way back. I'll never say that again. Don't even think twice about it, Zach. That's awesome. You're looking great today, by the way, Mike. Thank you. It's kind of you. I was curious, just maybe a little bit off topic. Would you be willing to maybe hop in a time machine with me real quick? Where are we going? All right, we're going to go to January 24, 2014. A game I believe you were on the call for. Okay, keep going. So it's Knicks-Bobcats, and a former member of the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony, decides to put up 62 points that game.

1:40:14Big Cat:single player record garden record was there a moment in that where like the entire garden knew that he was up to something special or were more so you guys just all along for the ride how was that those games because they now they put the how many points each guy has up on the scored throughout so people were just waiting for him to get there and so it was it was and if anybody on the team at that time was going to set the record he was the guy certainly but it was one of those nights where it was crazy um not against a good team but the building was it was electric that's the thing about nick fans zach even like games like that in the middle of the season when they're not particularly one of the better teams the place is still off the charts in terms of electricity on something like that especially on something like that but that was a special night

1:41:00PFT Commenter:yeah zach has carmel anthony ranked ahead of lebron james all time okay i uh i respect the opinion i respect you as well you got a follow-up zach

1:41:14Big Cat:quick follow-up question is there a world where the knicks never lose again zach are you reading off your phone or is this off the top of your head i i i read off the phone sometimes yes i do i do uh you're a professional i'm an amateur i'm trying to get like you but you i appreciate you i did see something uh there was a world where like maybe early on in your career you thought about like, hey, I don't know if I could do this. I don't know if the bills are getting paid. I might just go pipe fitters union. Have you you ever think back and look at like what life could have been like if you didn't stick stick with it and kind of just give it your all and maybe just go to the union?

1:41:48Yeah, I have my dad to thank for that because when I first started going into the to the business, when I told him after I graduated college, I wanted to go into it. He didn't think it was a good idea because It was so hard to get a job. So he had some of his friends and other businesses trying to set me up. Hey, I can help you here. I can get your job here. Because he was worried. He was worried I was going to be unemployed. But then once I got going, he saw how much I liked it. And I had told him I was going to give it five years. And two and a half years in, I'm thinking, nah, this is going nowhere.

1:42:16I'm not making enough money to pay my rent. I had to borrow from my parents. And he's like, hey, didn't you tell me five years? I said, yeah. He goes, well, why don't you stick with it a little bit longer? So instead of giving me the steam fitters union, which he worked for, he was a steam fitter. I kept going. And fortunately, a couple of things started happening after that.

1:42:34Big Cat:Do you ever think like maybe you would have been the best steam fitter of all time, though? Maybe the world lost a great steam fitter. I think I would have been an awful steam fitter. Awful. My father was great, but I would have been awful. It's funny. Like everybody has stories. I'm sure you guys have them too. Like the job that you don't get, how that turns out. Like I was working at Sports Channel America, which there was trying to compete with ESPN and the New Jersey Nets. They've been New Jersey Nets job. Their TV job came open and it was me and Spencer Ross that were the final two candidates.

1:43:06And I'm thinking this is my ticket. I'm going to get to the NBA. And I thought for sure I was going to get it because the guy that was interviewing me gave me feelings that I was going to get it. And they decided to go with the veteran. Spencer Ross is a legendary New York sportscaster. and they gave it to Spencer Ross. And then a couple of years later, I got the Knick job. So what happens if I get the New Jersey Nets job? I mean, my life goes in a different path. It's crazy how stuff like that happens. And you know what? You just deal with it, you move on, and it turned out to be good for me.

1:43:39Big Cat:Yeah, yeah. That's awesome. Memes, I'm going to give you one last shot. You now have a question. He's ready. For Mr. Mike Breen. How you doing, Mr. Mike Breen? Hey, Memes. Have you thought about what the game winning, the game, the series clinching call would be for the Knicks at all? No, no, not yet. Once, once this finals gets going for both teams, you kind of set a plan for once you, what's going to happen if team A wins or team B wins in terms of what you want to say at the end. And I usually wait for a couple of games before I kind of hone in on it because you want to see, get a little feel for the, for the finals first.

1:44:17But that's something you should like some some play by play voices will tell you that they don't think about it. They want it to be completely spontaneous. I don't believe that. I think you should have an idea. I don't think you should rehearse it and have it written out, particularly what you want to say. But I think you should have an idea of how you frame what this means for this team or this particular player.

1:44:41PFT Commenter:Yeah, I feel like you have to get a little bit of something in your head because otherwise, if I recall last night, I would have been like, well, that was fucking awesome by the Spurs. That was a possibility a couple of years ago when Boston was. That was something I thought of.

1:44:56Big Cat:Is there a name on either one of these teams that gives you fits that you get the yips for? Ooh. Well, it took actually the first season with Wembeniano was not easy because it was. Atene Kupo was like that. It took a couple of years before it just kind of rolled off the tongue. But, no, everybody else is pretty basic.

1:45:19PFT Commenter:Yeah. Yeah. All right, Mike, this is so awesome that you were able to join us. We love having you on. I got one last question. Roback question. R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com. Promo code TAKE. 20 % off your first purchase. Q-Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com. Promo code TAKE. You obviously have seen a ton of basketball, been in the league. You love basketball. is there part of you have you have you started to think about uh history and going into these finals the fact that we are year two of a phenom in san antonio now going up against the new york knicks which is basically a replica of the 1999 finals even though this next team is different but it feels like wow we could be if this goes the spurs way we could be just walking into another set of years and years of domination by a Wemby-Tim Duncan kind of correlation.

1:46:10No, that's exactly what you think going in, you know, when you want to kind of frame what it is. It's one team trying to end a 53-year championship drought against another team that might be on the verge of a dynasty. I mean, it's like the perfect scenario. It's such a compelling storyline for these two teams in terms of where they are. And now you never know. I mean, we thought, remember in 2012, OKC, when they had Durant, Westbrook and Harden and went to the finals. I think I even said on the air, we'll probably see them in the finals a lot in the coming years. And it just didn't happen. So you don't know.

1:46:46But that potential for them to start this as the number one and what they did in this last series to win game seven on the road the way they did it. That's a possibility. And for the Knicks to end this unbelievable. It's over a half century drought. so to me that's that's the whole storyline to start and then we'll see where it takes it is

1:47:05PFT Commenter:pretty amazing knowing like we went through the you know the heat with lebron and then and then the warriors and calves playing each other every single year and i think this is i saw the stat i think it's the seventh or eighth year where we have two new teams in the finals you know consecutive years it's crazy the parody it's the eighth year uh we'll have a new champion but the last previous four finals it's eight different teams right there has not been a single same team over the last four finals and that's crazy it really is yeah yeah with it with the knicks there was uh

1:47:36Big Cat:that the other time in these playoffs where they had a big period of rest before they started a new series they came out flat the first three quarters against the cavaliers it looked like they were getting their teeth kicked in um do you expect a similar thing to happen or is this something that you think that the team's addressed uh going forward into the finals i think they probably learn from that. But it is hard. You can't simulate the intensity of a playoff game. And again, what I said earlier, I think the biggest thing that they have to acclimate to is the tenacity on this team defensively.

1:48:08They haven't seen a team that's this good defensively since the regular season. Not that Cleveland, Philly, and Atlanta were bad defensively. Atlanta probably the best of the three of them. But they're not at San Antonio's level defensively. So that's something that they have to acclimate to pretty quickly.

1:48:24PFT Commenter:All right. Well, Mike, thank you so much. We really appreciate you joining us and get ahead of those bangs. Just rip a few and then we'll carry you the rest of the way. You guys are the best. I always have fun. Thank you. All right. Thanks so much, Mike.

1:48:41Big Cat:Mike Breen was brought to you by Microsoft 365 Copilot. Before we get back to more chaos, we got to tell you about something that helps people focus on what's most important. and that is Microsoft 365 Copilot. What if you can add an AI assistant to your work without leaving your workflow? Well, it's built right into Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook. Copilot works where you work. It helps you do more in the apps that you already use. In Word, Copilot helps turn scattered notes into a very first draft. In Excel, it generates insights from all your data. And in Outlook, it cuts through the noise to help you get up to speed faster.

1:49:15Big Cat:The apps that you know go further with Copilot And you can learn more at m365copilot.com slash work. That's m365copilot.com slash work. And Keith DeAndle is going to be brought to you by Reese's. Everything happens for Reese's. Nothing beats summer break when you were a kid. It was time off from school and sad school lunches. But you don't get summer break as a grown-up. That's a huge bummer. But the good news is you can at least take a break from sad work lunches this summer with Reese's limited edition cups and the return of Reese's strawberry PB &J, plus the all-new Reese's marshmallow cup, which is delicious.

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1:50:07PFT Commenter:Okay, we now welcome on a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very. He's lost count. He can't count. You're going to have to take off your shoes. It is Keith Yandel, a very special guest, talking Stanley Cup final. Yans, we're here. We're ready. How are you feeling? 1-10. How do you feel about this matchup? Because we didn't have the best conference finals. Well, let's just be honest. They weren't the best conference finals. Not the best, right? We get a sweep, and then we get a five-game series. You want to see those go a little longer. I have been really down on Carolina, but they have totally switched my tune on them.

1:50:48The way that they play, you know, I once said I wouldn't watch them if they were playing in my backyard. But I'm kind of I'm kind of in on them now. The way that they play, the way that they've galvanized each other, came together as a group. Their coach is unreal. Rod the bod. Fun group to watch just because they all play the same way. They're like a true old school hockey team that everyone, you know, the saying everyone ropes, everybody rides, nobody rides for free. That's that's them to a T. They just go out there and play their game. They do it every single game. They got away from it one time in the in the playoffs this year.

1:51:24And it was the first game against Montreal. And, you know, they lost that game. It's the only game they've lost. And then Vegas is one of those teams, man. Like, I think I heard you guys saying it when you were talking to Osh, like they wouldn't even made the playoffs. if they were in the East. So it's one of those things that you get in. They remind us a lot of the LA Kings, and I think it was 13, like kind of just barely get in and then roll their way to a Stanley Cup championship. So it's going to be a fun series. You got North Carolina, a sleepy town, and then you got Vegas where you go to have fun.

1:52:01So it's kind of got a little bit of everything, and I'm excited for it to start on Tuesday.

1:52:06Big Cat:Was there an instant where you saw Carolina and you were like, okay, I think I kind of like him now? Because I agreed with you for a very long time. And for me, it was probably more personal, just like watching them kick our teeth in in the playoffs. It's just like I get this team out of my face. But from your standpoint, like was there a moment where you watched me and you're like, this is actually like a different type of hockey than they play in the past? Well, I think it was the first two series, like the Ottawa series. looking back now I'm putting it more on the other teams that they played you know Ottawa was brutal like couldn't get anything going and and Carolina's one of those teams if they don't have to do anything crazy they don't they just play their game so it was it was honestly it was game one uh and then bled into game two in the Montreal series because Montreal played a different style little high tempo uh off the rush trying to trying to you know score goals and stuff like that that way as opposed to the way Carolina plays and then Carolina showed me a little bit that they can play high flying their deer are getting up in the play I really like their decor Keandre Miller came over from New York he's been awesome just a guy up in the play so I think it was game one and game two of the uh the Montreal series that kind of you know flipped my switch with them and I'm uh I'm actually I'm really excited to watch them to watch them go to battle with Vegas what what is it about

1:53:29PFT Commenter:Carolina that people don't genuinely like them because I everything that is described to me they just stay on your ass which is kind of fun like they're just got guys who just they're going to always forecheck they're always going to be in your zone just pressure pressure pressure it's almost like a basketball team going full court press those are fun teams to watch yeah but it's like you watch that for two weeks in March Madness and you're like oh my god that's too much I can't handle that but if the team's doing it for 82 games you're like what are we doing here let's let the guys have a little fun but the the majority of why you ask most nhl players why they don't like carolina it's because shitty actually there's a good hotel there now the umstead's nice that a lot of teams stay up but it was a shitty hotel the locker room was shit the visitors room um it's the it's the chain food capital of the world that's not bad that's not bad hey listen when you're in the nhl you want a little farm to table or a uh a nice sushi spot you ain't getting it in carolina but guys love playing there i know everyone that i know that has played there loves it great place to raise a family and all that and um yeah it's it's just one of those things where i don't think nhl guys like like the wind tunnel you hear a lot of the wind tunnel when you're walking out the wind is coming as you're walking out onto the ice which is a you know little nuanced things but guys like to stand out there a little bit before a game get ready and then you can't get ready because you're getting cold standing in the wind tunnel so little things like that but I truly do like just how they're a team and they play as a team and you know it really looks like they love each other too.

1:55:10Big Cat:The owner is also the owner of the Portland Trailblazers in the NBA. Dundon. So yeah Dundon people don't like him in the NBA they think he's cheap I don't know if he's got that same reputation around hockey but he didn't know like a lot of the rules for like flying certain guys out to a play-in game things like that so people in the NBA got very upset with him but I didn't know what the reputation was around around hockey I honestly I haven't heard much about I know maybe when he first started with Carolina I know he he was talking about getting rid of scar not paying for scouts to go and watch team like younger like college or junior games because he thought you could scout from watching on your computer on tv so he was trying to make cut uh cut and cost that way i had heard i don't know if they ever did it like not paying their cell phone bills but i think when it comes out in the media and you got you know jerks like you guys and us uh that make it a big deal you probably have to switch your tune a little bit and and you know there's stuff in the cba that doesn't allow things like that so usually the players aren't getting it too bad maybe what was it in the nba he wasn't he wasn't letting like the media people get late checkout

1:56:20PFT Commenter:Yeah, he also just like, he went down a spreadsheet and fired half the team behind the scenes people. Like, he was like, oh, you make this, you're gone.

1:56:29Big Cat:He fired some PR people, and the PR people are always the ones, you know, that have like the most connections in the media. So if you fire a good PR person, then you get everybody in the media to be like, oh, this guy sucks. Also, those guys usually have a lot of dirt on the players. If the guy's ever getting some shit or whatever, they're usually the ones who are sweeping things under the rug. you know so you got to be careful firing those guys you almost got to promote them if anything

1:56:55PFT Commenter:yeah yeah yeah uh we actually don't know explain how that works what was the situation where something got swept under the rug yans well this one night we were no i got nothing i was i was a boring guy um you mentioned keandre miller i saw a stat it's pretty insane this This postseason, five-on-five with Keandre Miller on the ice, Carolina has 128 shots to 69. They have 133 scoring chances to 72, and they have 15 goals to three. It's like, is that just – what is he doing? It basically just says every time he's on the ice full strength, the other team is doing like half the output or even less when it comes to actual goals.

1:57:38Yeah, I mean, him and Jacob Slavin, they're human erasers. They erase everything on the defensive side. You know, you can't get into the zone on these guys. They're big. They're long. Their reaches are unreal. They're not like crazy, overly physical. But, you know, I don't think any of their DR really, maybe Chatfield a little bit. But they just get in the way and they piss. You know, if you're a skilled player playing against a guy who's just always in the way and breaking pucks up, it makes it frustrating. You see these high-end skilled guys get frustrated. And then for him on the offensive side, he's an unbelievable skater.

1:58:15I believe he was a forward until he was probably like 16, 17 years old. Or whatever he was in college. Yeah, 17. Then made the switch to D. So you know he's got the offensive skill too. And I think you're seeing it a little more now in Carolina. Because they play a man-on-man type game in the D zone. So it's basically whoever, if you get beat, then there's probably going to be an opportunity. and those guys don't get beat because they're so big and they can skate so well.

1:58:42PFT Commenter:Question about that. How many guys – how often is it that a guy switches from offensive defense? We know Biz did. Were you always defense, like even at a young age? I was actually a goalie. I was a goalie until I was 12. I used to do both. So I would play the first half goalie and then go on the bench and then they'd take my pads off. the coaches would take my pads off and i'd put i wore a regular skates uh and then i'd go and play d for the rest but that's crazy yeah it was it's mostly forward switching um or d switching to forward because not a lot of forwards can play d just because of the whole skating backwards and all that uh because it's a lot tougher than skating forwards obviously so it majority of the time it's it's a d-man switching to forward like you remember bufflin used to do it a little bit in chicago So there's been guys, even a guy like Brent Burns, who's still playing.

1:59:38He played forward a little bit when he was in Minnesota. So to go from forward to D is a lot tougher just because of the whole skating backwards. But he's an incredible skater, and it hasn't hindered him at all.

1:59:51PFT Commenter:Are there dudes that just can't skate backwards? Yeah, all the forwards. It drives me insane. Watch on a power play if a D is – if a forward has the cover for the D or a lot of teams – actually, every team does four forwards and one D. So if a forward's getting caught skating backwards, they usually get toast. I remember an unreal – Jonathan Hubert, one of my all-time favorite players, he's – we're on the power play. It's a two-on-two, so a guy coming on him and then a guy coming on me. So you're kind of just worried about the guys in front of you. We'll clip that. And then I look at my guy, and then I look over at Hubie to make sure he's gapped up all right.

2:00:32I look back, the guy's going in to score, and Hubie, they don't know how to pivot as good. Like, they just, I don't know if they're not used to it. Their hips don't move the way that ours do. But it's really bad. But, you know, obviously, D can skate forward just as well.

2:00:48Big Cat:Why did you stop playing goalie? Too expensive. Just the pads? Yeah, the equipment, the pads, all that stuff. So I had an older brother that played. My dad was like, yeah, you can just use his hand-me-down equipment, and I'm not buying you any real stuff. Were you good? Because I've always heard that people that gravitate towards playing goalie are, like, crazy, that are insane. And I've never gotten, like, crazy vibes from you, but maybe I'm just way off. Yeah, I was a little bit of a loose cannon when I was probably, you know, from 8 to 16, 17. Then I slowed down a little bit. So you're happy it's not the way it used to be.

2:01:29I used to be a skateboarder guy like you, wearing the JNCOs and all that.

2:01:32Big Cat:Yeah, that's kind of sick that you thought I was a skateboarder. I appreciate that.

2:01:35PFT Commenter:Wait, so who's the best goalie in this series? I think they're the only two that haven't been pulled. I think they've both played every minute of every game unless I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm right on that. So I think it's Carter Hart. I mean, Freddie Anderson's been unbelievable. He's been just a rock salt. He's such a calm tempered guy. Like you look at him during the game and it doesn't even look like he's really trying because he's that good. He's just he's a big man just gets in the way of pucks. He's really good at stopping pucks behind the game. behind the net on rims and Carolina does a really good job at the blue lines to make them have bad dumps and when a goalie can come out and stop it make a pass to the forwards and you can get out of your own end that's a huge advantage it's just less time in your own end uh I think Hartsey's probably the better goalie maybe overall I think if you were starting a team you might take Hartsey but Freddie's been unreal man like the knock on him is he's had some injuries you know the last few years in playoffs or during the regular season but he's been healthy he's been kicking he's an unbelievable guy too you know easy guy to root for but if you had to pick a guy you'd go with um you'd go with heartsy hey can you explain we we talked about it a little bit on friday probably did a bad job but everyone complaining about the night's expansion draft and how they basically got rules that no one else got and that's why they're so good but I like I said at the time everyone was like this the expansion draft they suck like everyone said they did a bad job in the expansion draft then they ended up being really good so it feels like revisionist history but what is it that everyone's pissed about with with the Golden Knights and how they've been able to they've only missed the playoff one time they've been to the cup final three times out of nine years it's nuts how good they are as an organization yeah I mean there's that famous clip like wit had this year against you know saying that buffalo had 0.000 percent chance of getting in the playoffs and i believe wit said something about vegas that they were going to be the doormat of the league or something like that and um i don't think even when it was happening you weren't like oh my god these this team's going to be absolutely stacked like how many guys i think riley smith might be who's or theodore is still there there's not many guys still from that original team so it's not like you know they got handed all these superstars they did a great job like you had to i can't remember exactly the rules it was like you had to you could protect 12 guys and then obviously guys on entry level the younger guys couldn't couldn't get picked up by vegas so they just took advantage of uh of of the rules and i don't think they did anything shady um you know i could be wrong it is vegas they are very very cutthroat and they've proven that but listen if If you're a fan of that team, you get in the playoffs every year, except for one year in your third Stanley cup in nine years, like what's not to be excited for.

2:04:33And if you want to listen to other people, bitch and complain about it, you're just laughing, watching games.

2:04:38Big Cat:What do you mean by that? That they're a cutthroat, that they're known as being a cutthroat organization. Well, the whole like Mark Andre Fleury, he was, yeah, he was probably the biggest name I think to go there during the expansion.

2:04:52PFT Commenter:Like they, they fired their coach two months ago. They fired their coach with seven games left. Yeah, Tort's been there since, I think it was the very end of March. Yeah, yeah. And we just had on their old coach, Bruce Cassidy, who rightfully so wasn't very happy about it, obviously, would have liked to have seen it out and be with the team that he started in the beginning of the year. But yeah, they're one of those teams. If you're not producing for it, they'll get rid of you. Jonathan Marcheseau won the consmite for them. I think he's their all-time leading goal scorer. And, you know, they don't think that you're going to produce for them.

2:05:30They let you go. And he's in Nashville now. You know, there's been guys that have came in there and they'll get rid of you. And then if you're drafted by them, you might as well not even get the jersey because you're getting traded or, you know, they're trading all their draft picks because they want to win. They want to win now. And I don't see it stopping. I just see the way that they are able to reload every year. Like even going out and getting a guy like Carter Hart this year, like, you know, he had some issues off the ice, you know, obviously found not guilty. But he he's one of those guys a lot of teams didn't want to take the chance on.

2:06:04And I played with Harty. He's an unbelievable guy. You know, I'm rooting for him this this this series. But, you know, a lot of teams didn't want to take a chance on him. And then he he came in and he's been unbelievable. And he's been towards his guy towards has been riding him the entire playoffs. And I just think that they're an organization that wants to win. And if you're a fan of that team, you know, you're not worried every summer, like, oh, we're going to be all right. Like, they're going to be good every year.

2:06:30Big Cat:What about Mitch Marner? What's the discourse around the NHL been about Mitch? Like, are people rooting for Mitch now? I think everybody in hockey, except for Toronto people, are rooting for Mitch. I think it'll be outstanding. And, like, the best part about it is if he wins the Cup, like, he's from Toronto. you get your day with the cup that's going to be in Toronto like I literally might try everything in my power to get invited to that party just to see people because you know how like he was playing in his hometown team he was making a lot of money he was unbelievable he had some struggles in playoffs whatever it is their whole team did he's been unbelievable so I think with the abuse that he's taken in the media um I think he's a guy you want you want to see him win that cup just because of you know as a player as a former player like when you're getting it from the media and you know people are telling you how bad you are and all this shit like it must have been a lot on him and he just looks like he's playing with he's playing free he's playing with the house's money right now and he's just having fun and he's playing really well too so I uh I I really

2:07:38PFT Commenter:hope he gets it um well you said Bruce Cassidy was on the show what is did he see this coming Like, what did he have? It's like one of those tough situations because you can't, if you're Bruce Cassidy, you can't say that like, oh, yeah, I would have been in the Stanley Cup final. Clearly, they needed some type of change. But he was like, what was his take on the whole thing? It's got to be so weird. Yeah, it is. I mean, they went on a good run with Torts. They might have went like seven and two with him there. You could double check that. But they had a great run. And if Bruce was still there, maybe they don't win those games.

2:08:13They don't get in the playoffs. They miss by a point or two. So it wasn't an automatic lock that they were in the playoffs. So I think for them, they had to make some sort of change. It was after the deadline. So you can't get rid of any players. You know, maybe you could send some younger guys down, but like a big splash that could turn up your group and bring it in a guy like Tor to, you know, he's had the reputation of being hard on his guys, you know, and you know, his, maybe his message runs, you know, know, thin after a little while, but I think it's the perfect sample size for him being there.

2:08:45He's been there for two weeks before the playoffs start, and then you get right into it. And, you know, he's a guy that he demands a lot out of his players and blocking shots and finishing checks and playing the right way. But I think guys realize now, like, if you want to win, you're going to have to play that way. And I'm sure they're excited to have him. And I also think, too, like Torrance went over to it with the Four Nations team, Team USA and then at Olympics. And he was an assistant coach. So, you know, the assistant coaches have to be more buddy buddy with the players. And I think he it looks anyways, outside looking in that he's got a little more of the assistant coach in him where he's patting guys on the back.

2:09:25He's smiling on the bench where before you saw him in Columbus or Philly, he was grumpy all the time, looked pissed off. But now he looks like, hey, listen, I'm coming in here. I got a handful of games to end the season, and my team goes on a run, and I win a Stanley Cup. Like, how good is that? And, I mean, I don't know exactly how old he is, but, like, how much longer does he even want to do that? He was good on ESPN. He did a great job. And then it's like, eh, you know, if I come in there, win a Stanley Cup, he might not even come back. He might just be like, you know what, I'll go out on top.

2:09:58PFT Commenter:Yeah, he was – yeah, they were 7-0-1 down the stretch when Torts took over. And so, yeah, they might not. I mean, they probably still would have made the playoffs, but it's for a team that wasn't lighting it up. Right. It's clear of the change, and now they've just been dummying teams down in the playoffs. Like, they're just on a roll. What most important question, I don't know if you've broken down this entire matchup, have you sided one way or the other on who's going to win the crank-off? Oh, I mean, with Liam Blutman? I'm just saying, these are the only two teams in the NHL that crank the siren.

2:10:37PFT Commenter:It's the first ever crank off in the Stanley Cup final. See, I feel like Carolina's is too small. Like, why wouldn't you have it obnoxiously big? Listen. The little crank, like make it even if it isn't even. But don't chicks say that? Like, it doesn't matter? The size doesn't matter? I feel like Tom Dundon just cheaped out on the side of the track. Yeah. He got the team who won. Yeah. But yeah, chicks say it all the time. They're like, oh, no, that's fine. Yeah, they are. and that's what we tell ourselves. Yeah, I don't know. That's a great question. Great question. Thank you. The crank-off, I mean, people are going to be talking about the crank-off.

2:11:11I think obviously Vegas is going to have more star power with the cranking off than Carolina. Like who would be Carolina's famous person? Petey Pablo would be a nice poll.

2:11:27PFT Commenter:I feel like you just have to go with the best Panthers.

2:11:30Big Cat:If you look up the history of people from Raleigh, I believe Brandy Love is from North Carolina. She's got good experience cranking. Who's that? Yeah, it's nice. Very classy move. Is your wife on the other side of this computer? That was smart. You know Brandy Love. I don't. I don't. You know who I've seen do the crank off? And I actually was with him last night is Ric Flair. I was at the Kid Rock concert last night and was hanging with Ric Flair. What an absolute gentleman, this guy. How is he still kicking? I don't know. I'm shocked that, like, gentleman would not be the first. But, yes, you're right.

2:12:06Big Cat:He's a classy gentleman. Dude, he was awesome. He was a great guy.

2:12:12PFT Commenter:I just looked on, like, notable crankers for the Hurricanes. Luke Keekly, Kara Lawson, Scott McCreary, Chancellor Howell. That's the NC State Chancellor. They're going to have to dig deep for this. You know who they should do? Who is the big fella on North Carolina basketball? DJ Burns. Yeah, DJ Burns. They should have him do it.

2:12:35Big Cat:That'd be good. Get him involved. You have to make Michael Jordan say no.

2:12:41PFT Commenter:Absolutely.

2:12:41Big Cat:You have to make him say no.

2:12:43PFT Commenter:Got to make Brad Stevens say no.

2:12:44Big Cat:Yep, make everybody say no. Why not? I don't know who the hell they could get. There's got to be some country singers.

2:12:51PFT Commenter:Ric Flair's a good one.

2:12:52Big Cat:Also, I believe that this is – since Paul Bissnack came on this show and referred to Colorado as being the South, I think that this will make for, what, seven Stanley Cup champions in a row that are located at least at Colorado latitude or below? So, like, Biz was just early. What is it about the South? Why is the South dominating hockey now? I think it's got to the point where, like, guys don't want to be in these big time markets where you're getting harassed like a Mitch Marner for example like he's in Toronto like the big thing and like when when I was coming in the league it's like dude if you play in Toronto if you play in Montreal you get all these card deals you get a free car you get you can make a ton of money off the ice but nowadays with guys having you know their Instagrams or TikToks like you can make your money elsewhere if you need to from any city.

2:13:48So I think the draw of playing in those big cities has came down a little bit. And guys want to live in nice weather. Guys' wives want to live in nice weather. The kids want to live in nice weather. So I think just having the nice weather, having less media attention. You can go on a five-game skid where you're not hearing about it. If you're going to pick up a coffee at Starbucks or grabbing a Stella Blue with the boys, Nice. So, yeah, so it's one of those things where I think guys enjoy just kind of not having to be on 24-7. You can kind of live your life and, you know, you can't do that in a place like Toronto, you know, Calgary, Edmonton.

2:14:29But if you're in Tampa or Fort Lauderdale or Vegas or even more South Colorado, like those guys, they can live their lives and also enjoy the fruits and labor of being in the NHL.

2:14:44PFT Commenter:Yeah, yeah. All right, Yans, last question, Roback question, R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com, promo code TAKE, 20 % off your first purchase, Q-Zips, Polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts, Roback.com, promo code TAKE. I'm not going to make you ask a question, Zach, unless you have one.

2:14:59Big Cat:What's up, Yans? How are we? Zach, are you from Lando Lakes? I'm not from Lando Lakes. That's about an hour and a half from me. Is that the butter? Is that the real place? Like the butter? I was just there, and that's where I just came from. and I thought when I saw the sign on the exit I thought you were from there.

2:15:16PFT Commenter:It's from Lake Linn Lake Linn, yes sir. Lando Lake's a beautiful area. Is there just butter everywhere?

2:15:24Big Cat:A little bit. Some lake, some butter, so some dairy, some water and the next town over is like Zephyr Hills, you know that the worst water in America. Zephyr Hills used to be a spring but it's not, I think the spring has dried up and they're just still putting spring water on the bottles so not cool misinformation on the waterfront from Zephyr Hills I think I could be wrong I'll redact that allegedly

2:15:47PFT Commenter:do you have a question?

2:15:49Big Cat:it has been a lot of fun talking finals final people get mad about that so we'll pivot we'll talk finals do you have an early prediction on the New York Knicks and the Spurs series you know what being a guy from Boston I'm gonna ride with the Knicks here mostly because I don't want memes to fly down here and beat up my whole family. Very, very scared of that man, as you should be. But I'm rooting for the Knicks. My good buddy John in the neighborhood, he's a big Knicks fan, so we'll watch some of the games. And, yeah, I don't know. Can they do it? Is San Antonio this good? Yeah, they can definitely do it.

2:16:32They can win?

2:16:33PFT Commenter:How many nights a week is John over your house? Actually, it's been a little bit, man, because I've been having to dial in. I've been having to dial in on the hockey. But now hopefully they won't play on the same nights and we can just do every other night. Yeah. Because I feel like it was you guys I heard. If Oklahoma City won, there was no chance the Knicks were winning? No, no. I thought the Knicks can beat either of these teams. It's going to be an awesome finals. It's basically a dream for the NBA. You have the number one rising star, future face this league, and the Knicks. This is going to be sick.

2:17:12PFT Commenter:What's your prediction for the Stanley Cup final? I'm going Vegas in six. I hope it goes seven. I'm going Vegas in six. I think they got the mojo going right now. At the end of the day, man, can you root against your guy, Liam Blutman? I was going to ask a follow-up. If you take Liam Blutman out of this series, Pretend he just doesn't exist. Is it still Vegas in six? Maybe Vegas in seven. Okay. Okay. So he's worth a game. Oh, 100%. I love that. And I'd be shocked if they don't bring him out there.

2:17:50Big Cat:That's some good analytics. At least. Keith, we also went through this last year with the NBA where they didn't put the Larry O 'Brien trophy on the court for the NBA finals. And then I saw that the NHL hasn't had the Stanley Cup logo on the ice since 2020. Is that something that we should be bullying Gary Bettman about? because Adam Silver got bullied and this year he put it back. So we could do that for the NHL if you wanted us to. What do you mean on the ice? Like the image of where it says like Stanley Cup playoffs with the Stanley Cup trophy right below the blue line. They used to have that on the ice.

2:18:22Yeah, well now they don't do anything on the ice because it's all like AI or however they put it in, right? Yep, AI. Because I used to hate when it was like the playoffs, they'd have like sign and write. I hated it on there. So it's way better now when the ice is clean. There's no markings on the ice, obviously, except for at center ice with the team logo. But I'm sure they won't have anything. I don't know. I've never thought of it. That's a crazy thing to even think about.

2:18:49Big Cat:No, it is crazy. But this is the stuff that we think about watching sports on TV. And the fact that they don't have the trophy on the ice. I think it would look nice if the trophy was on the ice. That's all I'm saying. Put the trophy on the ice. It's a sharp-looking trophy, too. It's a really nice-looking trophy. How about how nice and they don't – I feel bad for them. the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference trophy. I think it's the King Clancy and the – what's the other one? Clearly, I never won one. But those are beautiful too, and they don't get enough love. They'd be better than every other trophy in the major sports.

2:19:22PFT Commenter:Yeah, hockey does trophies better than everyone. That's a fact.

2:19:24Big Cat:The Prince of Wales trophy. Prince of Wales, yeah. That's right, and the Clarence Campbell Bowl for the Western. People don't like them because you don't touch them. You're not allowed to touch them before it's like bad luck. You can touch them. You can touch them. But some people don't. I think both teams didn't touch it this year, which I like it when one team does and one team doesn't. Because I was very superstitious where I would be thinking about that if I was playing. I'd be like, oh, my God, we fucking touched it. They didn't. If they go up, well, God, we're done. But I like how they both didn't – or this year they both didn't touch it.

2:19:56So we'll see what happens.

2:19:58PFT Commenter:Yeah, I'm looking at pictures right now. They both did not touch it. Smart. Smart. What's Meatball Max doing? Meatball Max is... He's hanging out. He's just doing... What's up, Max? He got married again this weekend. I got married for the first time this weekend. Congratulations. Guys getting married like six times. Twice. I'm getting married twice. We've had two bachelor parties, three weddings. No. Same girl.

2:20:26Big Cat:I'm getting married outside of the country. Can't legally get married outside of the country. so I did. Are you wearing a ring right now? That's why I got married outside the country.

2:20:36PFT Commenter:Oh, so you're not even married. There you go. Yeah. Where are you getting married if it's obviously Italy, but No, it's not Italy. Honeymoon is Italy, though. Honeymoon is Italy. North Philly. North Italy, yeah. No, in the Caribbean. Oh, nice. Where? St. Martin. Oh, nice. I got married in St. John. Hell yeah. Look at us. Look at you guys. Just a couple Italians.

2:21:06Big Cat:Yeah, is that outside the country? No. That's a U.S. U.S. territory. But I had to get on a plane. That's outside the country. That's actually really close to Epstein Island. Is it? Oh, that's a good thing. Who's Brandy Love? What's Epstein Island? Got it. Wow. Loud and clear.

2:21:26PFT Commenter:Oh, man. Alright, Yans, you're the best. We're going to enjoy the hell out of this hockey. Go Knights, I think. Yeah, I think it's got to be VGK.

2:21:35Big Cat:It's definitely go Knights. Who's everybody got? I got VGK in seven. I got Knights in six. Boys in the studio? I guess I'll take Hurricanes because everyone's taking the Knights. You're actually a piece of shit. It's Liam Bluntman, dude. Like the guy bleeds red. Wait, you guys know his name is Blutman, right? Biz does not. Biz 100 % doesn't. Okay, that's fine. I don't want it to change, so don't tell Biz otherwise.

2:22:06PFT Commenter:Biz definitely thinks that Blutman smokes a shitload of weed, and Blutman is his nickname. Yeah, yeah. Yes. Dude, I was FaceTiming with Liam the other night, and it was him and – what's his brother's name? Luke. Luke, yeah. It was him and Luke. Luke's laying on the ground, not even looking at the TV. They're in their living room, and I'm like, do you guys tell each other you love each other and he's like no never said it once never like never said it once i was like what about to your parents he was like no never said it once do you love them oh yeah yeah i love them but just doesn't say it no it's not about ball so why would you why would you be talking about that all right booth go real quick memes i think the hurricanes are gonna win but i'm rooting for blunt man okay so that was a non-answer?

2:22:55Yeah. Am I taking back my Knicks thing?

2:22:59PFT Commenter:You're right. Go Knights. Okay, there we go. Max? Knights in four. Knights in four? Yeah. Nice. VGK? I'll retweet Knights in four. Okay. Nice. All right, so Hank.

2:23:11Big Cat:Hank's going to win. Hank's going to win. Yeah, and then everyone's going to be sad.

2:23:15PFT Commenter:Yeah, if you put up the graphic, this is the death graphic. No, Hank got one. What? The death graphic is if everyone picks the same side.

2:23:24Big Cat:Yeah, it's not death. Oh, yeah. We got Hank as the outlier. Yeah, that was actually big. We needed someone to do that. But he's going to also be right. Soggy sorrows if you lose Hank? It's hurricanes.

2:23:33PFT Commenter:I don't think so. No. All right, Yans, you're the best. Thank you as always. Get some burgers in you. Love you, boys. All right, see ya. Okay, good show, boys. We got the finals starting Tuesday and Wednesday. Can't wait. Get excited. And then we're two weeks away from Rushmore season, which we got to figure that out. Damn. best time of year right Hank we should do something what we should do something fun I agree with you there I'm saying we got to figure out I agree I don't think I think we should make the punishment something fun that we can have fun with

2:24:10Big Cat:frosted tips was cool

2:24:11PFT Commenter:frosted tips was fun

2:24:12Big Cat:just go more orange next time I kind of want to get him again yeah

2:24:17PFT Commenter:but we have to figure out what the teams are whatever what the format

2:24:21Big Cat:yeah we should figure it out. I think we gotta go solo again. Six of us? Solos. Solos a lot.

2:24:31PFT Commenter:Six would take hours to do.

2:24:34Big Cat:What are you gonna say, Hank?

2:24:35PFT Commenter:Nothing.

2:24:36Big Cat:What? Yeah, we should figure it out. What's wrong?

2:24:40PFT Commenter:We should figure it out. What if we did like...

2:24:43Big Cat:Something's wrong. I have thoughts, but I don't want to say thoughts. Say thoughts.

2:24:46PFT Commenter:I know, that's why I'm laughing at you. Starting this conversation on air.

2:24:51Big Cat:What if we did eight? And then be like, we shouldn't talk about this.

2:24:54PFT Commenter:I didn't start this conversation. No, but you came on the same.

2:24:57Big Cat:Yeah, I kind of did. No, you did.

2:24:58PFT Commenter:That's a fucking lie. Big Cat said, we got to figure this out.

2:25:02Big Cat:Yeah, but then you started the conversation about it.

2:25:04PFT Commenter:That's him starting the conversation. You guys don't fucking listen. No, I don't think so, dude. I think he might have started.

2:25:12Big Cat:44. What are you thinking, Max? What are you thinking about? I don't actually know who started, so I don't want to be.

2:25:18PFT Commenter:You started. I continued it. I just said Mount Rushmore season is coming up. And we got to figure it out. Yes, that's you.

2:25:24Big Cat:But then you started talking about figuring it out. You started the conversation. I think both of you guys started the conversation. Max, you got to finish the conversation. You know what? Now I'm saying nothing about the conversation. I don't know why I got so angry. And that's that. That's a good way to end a conversation. That was crazy, dude. That was an unnecessary yell. You know what, though? That was your first blow up as a married man.

2:25:48PFT Commenter:Feels good. Yep. Still got it. He still got it. You just tested out the ring. I don't know why I yelled. I shouldn't have yelled. That was a crazy yell. A lot of times your yells make sense because we're antagonizing you. That was...

2:26:02Big Cat:Well, Hank does his stupid little fucking faces. Yeah, that's true.

2:26:06PFT Commenter:No, Max, we did this. We did this already. You just did a PFT. What? We talked about the faces already. We did that two weeks ago. Yeah, we have... On the show. We talked about Hank's faces.

2:26:18Big Cat:You guys do this all... all the time. Do what? Just try to get me fucking mad. No. Yeah. Every episode. You can't. This one was on me. This one was on me. Zero try.

2:26:32PFT Commenter:This one was on me. You were match-matching.

2:26:34Big Cat:This one was on me. This one was on me. Hand up.

2:26:37PFT Commenter:There's zero attempted that. 15. Go 11.

2:26:43Big Cat:26.

2:26:44PFT Commenter:Happy belated birthday to Mike Breen.

2:26:45Big Cat:21.

2:26:46PFT Commenter:Last week. 56. 17. Very guy.

2:26:49Big Cat:Very belated. Yeah. He's on the show. Every birthday to Mincy. It's today. But by the time this episode comes out, it won't be his birthday anymore. But I figured that guy needs as much credit as he can get. Yep. 72. 44.

2:27:19PFT Commenter:75. 75. Anyone? Anyone? Anyone? 75.

2:27:26PFT Commenter:Same number. Jacob, do you think anyone else is going to ever get this? Jacob, do you think anyone else is going to get this? I'm going to say yes. Thank God.

2:27:35Big Cat:That's a good guy.

2:27:42PFT Commenter:38.

2:27:45Big Cat:38. 38. Nothing? Nothing. 37, 36. All right. Happy birthday to Santana Moss. And happy birthday to Swaggy P, Nick Young. Happy birthday to Nate Robinson. And happy birthday on Wednesday. I know it's a show day. And we can wait for Wednesdays. We'll wait for Wednesday. Happy birthday. A special one on Wednesday? Yeah, a barstool one on Wednesday. You know what? I'll say it so we can buy our presents. Happy birthday to Kate on Wednesday. Tuesday, happy birthday to Eddie Lacy. Go get some China food, buddy.

2:28:19PFT Commenter:Listen, when the Packers had a running back that was a little too fat, that was a good problem.

2:28:26Big Cat:Good problem to have. Yeah. Yep. Boy, it really makes you miss those days. Love you guys.

2:28:52Thank you.

2:29:20Thank you.

2:29:50Thank you.

2:30:23Thank you.