PMS 2.0 1529 - Final Four Recap, National Championship Preview, Jim Nantz, Shaquille O'Neal LIVE From The ThunderDome, Coach K, Darius Butler, & AJ Hawk

18:52Pat McAfee:Lauren Betts is a problem. Yeah. We need to get her to a fever. Speaking of women's basketball, huge trade this morning on the docket. Angel Reese, no longer a member of the Chicago Sky. What? Traded the Atlanta Dream. Wow. Congratulations, Atlanta. That's huge. That was number three team in WNBA last year behind Minnesota and the Aces. Yeah. Okay, so Atlanta Dream's right on the doorstep of knocking down the dynasty of Las Vegas Aces. But look out. I heard Kaitlin Clark's back in Indiana. What? We didn't trade her, right? Do we have any? No, no, no. Taylor Rook's breaking. Angel Reese is headed to the Atlanta Dream.

19:26Pat McAfee:Sources tell me the Atlanta Dream and Chicago Sky have agreed to a trade. Okay, April 6, 2026 is trade season for the WNBA. Let's remember that. Angel Reese goes from a Chicago Sky team that was, you know. You're kind of on the bubble of going to the playoffs. In a rivalry with Indiana because of Dan Clark. To Atlanta, a real championship contender. Now, let's also acknowledge another basketball thing that happened this weekend. What? Oh. A college basketball team won a tournament in April. Auburn. What? Yeah, they won the NIT. Right. We're not talking about the not-name tournament. Good work, Pearl.

19:57Pat McAfee:We're not talking about the no, I don't think so tournament. Sure. Sure. We're talking about the fucking crown right now. Oh. Boo! Honor Huff, baby! Now, West Virginia won$300 ,000. That's good. We should put that directly to an NIL to keep this guy on the team. He won$300 ,000? Kind of. Kind of, yeah. I mean, I don't know where the money's going to go, but I will say Honor Huff in the semifinals had to make three consecutive threes at the end of regulation to send it to overtime in which he went crazy. And then he goes, yeah, absurd in the championship. and I'll tell you what, he's got it all.

20:38Pat McAfee:This guy is unbelievable. We got also like a 6 '100 guy and number 55. I don't know enough about him. Obviously, it's been a few months since our basketball season ended and now we're winning another tournament, which I appreciate. But the boys are good. The boys are great, and I'm incredibly proud of them getting a dub. Worry is transfer portal star Samara. Yeah. And Honor Huff just certainly showcased to the world who he is. Yeah, he did. Honor, we love you, Mountaineers. Let's go win a real one next year. That's right. We like a husky to me. I'll just aim letting him out the door. Yeah, Ross Hodge has his teeth in.

21:11We got 300 ,000 bucks

21:13Pat McAfee:in Vegas yesterday. We got three. I thought it was a lot more money than that. I was going to say, I'll cover about a fourth or what it's going to cost to keep him around. But what about the other guys, too? Well, those guys are going to be just fine. Yeah. It's on our Huff's team. It certainly is on our Huff's team. And I'll tell you what, we'll put him up against anybody. Especially now that the Big 12 doesn't even have anybody representing in the national championship. We can conference. These Big 12 are kind of wide open right now. Maybe if they don't put those LED boards all over. Maybe you don't put the LED boards all over.

21:43Pat McAfee:West Virginia didn't want to win that tournament because of the LED boards. The women did. Our women won. The West Virginia men just didn't. Congrats on winning the crown and potentially us losing out to all our good players. Lynch. That's what the crown is for now that we know. Honor Huff's a senior. That was his last game. Alright, Honor, good luck in the NBA. This guy's a senior. I've missed a lot of good basketball. Yeah. Oh, man. Way to go out. Might have a grad year. He is from Brooklyn. That makes sense. The way he plays is electrifying. He'll be back. He's throwback. He's throwback. I don't know.

22:17Pat McAfee:I think he'll have played five years now. I heard there was an executive board. Yeah, brand new. Yeah. So we watched the roundtable on college sports. It was on like X or something. I forget what it was on. A couple weeks back. Everybody remembers this. Coach Saban was invited. The commissioners were all invited. The head of the Yankees. Yeah, Randy Levine, yep. He did a lot of talking. Certainly did. Then a couple members, politicians, center, I don't know what the fuck they are. Yeah, a little bit of everybody. All the ones they all talk. Basically, what we didn't know this roundtable discussion was inevitably going to be was a lobby for the SCORE Act to be passed.

22:54Pat McAfee:The SCORE Act was something that was already created to hopefully put on guardrails to college sports where it has like capped NIL, market comps, like everything like that. Like, literally, everybody in this roundtable discussion that spoke was like, the SCORE Act has all the answers. The SCORE Act has all the answers. SCORE Act was not approved by a judge. Okay, so it went through all this. It goes. It doesn't get approved by a judge. It gets kicked down the road. So this thing became basically a lobby for the SCORE Act. He signs executive order that is basically what the SCORE Act was. That was kind of pieced together by a lot of different parties.

23:25Pat McAfee:Okay, I think a lot of different political parties were in on this as well. There was just a couple people that were maybe way out on it that didn't get it passed. And in that roundtable discussion, I believe it ended with President Trump saying, well, all right, so I'll sign an executive order and then we'll get sued and then we'll see how it goes in the courts. That was basically what he said at the end of that thing. Feels like he took the first step of that here with this. And will there be guardrails outlined from the SCORE Act going forward? We shall see. But we all understand that college sports are amazing, especially this weekend.

23:52Pat McAfee:I mean, this is the best Indianapolis has looked in. Incredible. Long time. Winds out the energy, the positive vibes, too. Yeah, it's all positive. College sports are amazing. Obviously, being able to conserve it forever will be great, but let's also not ruin this thing. Let's not ruin this entire thing. Now, speaking of ruining something, we thought maybe a misprint on a t-shirt might ruin some stuff. But I want to let you know, if you go back the last five games of the MLB season, the best team in baseball, the Pittsburgh Pirates. And they're hoisted. Yeah, baby. Yeah. It's going to be in the baseball.

24:28Hoist the Cubs.

24:31Pat McAfee:A t-shirt that was completely wrong That is now taking on a life of its own And has maybe brought a city back to baseball We're hoisting the ground in Pittsburgh Hoist the Cone Five and over the last five And guess what, we got a 19 year old From Mississippi Who is an absolute sensation But it's not just the Buccos Although we should certainly talk about them They might be the hottest and best team in the game With the best gimmick In the game Hoist the Cone Now just wait until they

25:02Pat McAfee:Very early in the baseball season. There's a lot of things you can do with this. Obviously, you can hold one hand, do the whoop-de-woos. You can do the whole whoop-de-howl. And then a lift-de-howl. And then a lift-de-howl. So, Tone, baseball is bringing it. And mostly because of the Pirates. But can you please tell me about baseball being awesome right now, especially for us? So there's a cone in the dugout. There's also a cone in the bullpen. And that's the bullpen catcher out there. He's hoisting the cone. Cones are everywhere around the city. It's awesome right now. That's because the city's always under construction and never gets your job done.

25:30Yes, Bucco's winning five in a row. Everyone in the city's got Bucco fever. Connor Griffin obviously getting called up, getting an extension. It hasn't become official yet, but we're waiting on that. He hits the RBI double to the Connor corner in his first at bat. 333 on-base percentage. He absolutely is hitting. He's got wheels, and in the field he's been amazing. The Pirates, it's been awesome. Everyone's hitting. O 'Neal Cruz is hitting bombs. Ryan O 'Hearn's hitting bombs. Brandon Lyle, who they brought over, is hitting bombs. The Pirates are on a roll right now, okay? Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

26:03Pat McAfee:Okay, that's good for baseball. Very good. It's going really, really well. So there's six and three. There's three teams that are seven and two right now. They have the best records in baseball. They are Ty's New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are the reigning World Series champions, and Milwaukee Brewers, who, you know, also a very, very good baseball team last year. So all the teams that they thought were going to be good are going to be good as far as those three teams that are seven and two. in baseball right now. And then we had something happen this weekend in baseball that will surely never happen again.

26:34Angels right fielder Joe Adele, okay? He robbed. Not one. Is this Cal Rawley? Yeah, it is. He needed this. He needed this. This is top one. It's like, okay, you rob a homer, top one. That one was awesome, kind of right at him. But he feels for the wall, feels a warning track, makes an incredible play. This is top eight, okay? 1-0 game. Does it basically the exact same play at the wall, which was awesome. Okay, that's two in a game.

27:01Pat McAfee:No way. Two in a game? That's crazy. Top nine down the right field line, 350 feet down the line. Joe Adele over the wall. Filthy. Does that count? Yes. Three robbed home runs. They're getting Adele. This dude's a monster. Lady took the photo right behind him. Phenomenal photo. Also, I like the moxie on Adele. He understands the situation. The second one, you saw him celebrate a little bit like, yeah, this one he had to feel like an absolute baseball god. Robbing home runs, I know it happens every once in a while. It's a huge part of the game. You even practice that as a kid whenever you're on something.

27:36Pat McAfee:I'm going to rob a home run. Even in football, I think we even relate to it. Three in a game, never been done before, never will happen again? No, definitely not. So just for context, they tried to come up with what the odds would be to rob three homers in the same game, and they said it was considered to be in the realm of one in 190 million. So, like, for context with that, hitting four homers in a game is also, like, something that it's only been done 21 times in the history of baseball. The odds for that are one in 1.2 million if you're just, like, an average hitter. And, like, you know, for guys like Judge, Otani, Schwarber, they'd say it'd be one in about 160 ,000.

28:12So, one in 190 million chance that you would rob three homers in a single game, it will never happen again. It definitely, in our lifetimes, may be in the history of baseball.

28:22Pat McAfee:How about how athletic old buddy is now? The outfielders have to be fast. Is that what we're learning? Yeah. Outfielders have to be fast and have a host. Yeah. That's what you have to have. You have to have an incredible throw, and you have to be able to get everywhere. Yeah. Best athletes in the outfield? Center field. So it depends. Usually the best athlete on the field is probably playing shortstop. But you have to be fast, but also being able to track a fly ball while you're running at full speed and then still knowing you'll see these guys putting their hands out to find the wall. Like, you just have to be very in tune with what's going on around you in the outfield.

28:55So, yeah, I mean, like, this is just absolutely incredible. And like you said, I mean, just dejecting. A guy like Cal Raleigh, like, that could be the thing that completely changes his season in the first inning. Instead, he gets robbed of a homer and goes hitless for the rest of the night.

29:08Pat McAfee:There was a picture coming out of the Mariners' clubhouse for their strategy for the next game, and it literally just said, don't hit towards a delve. Yeah. That was it. It's like, I'm learning that these guys can aim when they're hitting it. I think this guy should be a no-fly zone for a little bit if you can keep it out of there. What a stud. Congrats to him. Angels certainly outclassed in L.A. by the Dodgers team. Maybe Adele takes a trip over there like Shohei did a couple years ago. He could. The Angels actually have – No offense to the Angels. Jesus, I just said get your guy out of there, but you understand.

29:37Pat McAfee:Well, they've been halfway decent this year because of the reemergence of Mike Trout. He's had a tough time being injured a bunch. He got hit on the hand over the weekend. X-rays were negative, though, so he doesn't have any broken bones. He should be back. But, yeah, the Angels, one of those teams where it's kind of you're just waiting for their season to be over. It hasn't really been the case like that thus far. Yeah, and then one of the other cool stories from this weekend, the Chicago White Sox, who actually swept the Blue Jays. This is Tristan Peters. He used to play on the Savannah Bananas.

30:04Hits a walk. Easy for you. Bananas. Hit a walk-off yesterday, which was – I didn't even know this existed. I didn't know Tristan Peters was a Savannah Banana. I didn't know he was in the MLB. But learning about this this weekend was awesome. All of it truly is B-A-N-A-N-A-N-A-N.

30:20Pat McAfee:So you're in the middle of spelling it and saying it at the same time. Congrats to him and the Savannah Bananas. I think this obviously brings a lot of legitimacy, but it's very clear that they're good at baseball. Yeah. You know, like the Savannah Bananas. There's only so many people that can make it to the bigs. I assume they got a lot of minor league guys in there. I assume they got a lot of college guys in there. Getting a look after having a big Savannah Banana nasty night, though, right to the big leagues is certainly a pipeline. We learned that. Let's go to the number two headline we see of the weekend.

30:45The unstoppable UConn beats the immovable Michigan.

30:50Pat McAfee:Dusty May, Dan Hurley, battle to the death tonight at Lucas Oil Stadium. Michigan favored by six and a half. This team has been certainly dominant. I mean, it has been a blowout fest when the Michigan Wolverines are playing basketball throughout this tournament. They're obviously representing the Big Ten in a big way. The Big Ten, best conference in hoops all year, they say. We'll find out if they're able to topple the Big East and Dan Hurley's UConn. Now, UConn women's basketball team obviously in the headlines for something a little bit different right now. But the UConn men's hoops team, fun to watch.

31:27Pat McAfee:They're a gritty group. So gritty that Dan Hurley is actually 18-1. He's on an 18-1 against Fred Ron in tournament. So they're always going to be in it. Six and a half points feels like a lot of points for a Dan Hurley team, but the sportsbooks know that he's been 18-1 against them as well. They still like it. Why is that, D-Butt? This Michigan team is just so damn dominant that they can't help but give away so many points. Yeah, I believe you said it earlier in the A block, average margin of victory this year. I think 18 points, which is insane. Just put belt to ass to Arizona. So, yeah, we knew whoever came out of that Arizona-Michigan game was probably still going to be favored over UConn, which is nuts to me.

32:01But on paper, they're more talented. I think on the court, when you see the actions that we have offensively, you see how tenacious we are, especially with Big Reed down in the middle. And then we have the veteran leadership with AK out there. So Solo as well, who dealing with a foot injury, but I think he'll go out there and play and give it a go. So it'll be, look, on paper, Michigan, they got all the things. This could be the greatest Michigan team of all time if they get it done tonight. But I trust Dan and the guys on the biggest stage, 6-0 in national championships. He's 2-0 himself. I think he gets number three tonight.

32:30Pat McAfee:I can't wait to see the atmosphere, to feel the environment of a national championship down there at Lucas Oil Stadium. Conman, who you betting on? Six and a half, too many points to give away against Dan Hurley? Yeah, way too rich for my blood. I'd take the six and a half all day, but I don't know if I've ever seen a performance like we did on Saturday from Michigan. There are multiple points throughout the entire game where it's like, okay, boys, Arizona, we all bet on them. This is where they go. And then Michigan would hit like a step back three. So that performance they put on makes me think there is a chance they can run away with it.

32:59But, you know, Dan Hurley, you know what this UConn program's made out of. Mones in his hometown. He finally got hot in the last game. Caravan looking for his 19th tournament win. That is ridiculous when you think about a player's career. But, yeah, I can still see Michigan absolutely rolling. But 6.5 is a lot.

33:18Pat McAfee:6.5, a lot of points. Was 7.5, drops down to 6.5 this morning. Still at a point where the stats, Hembo stats, say that a team is favored by 6.5 or more. It is, like, undefeated in these types of games. Like, if the books think they're going to win by that much, they normally at least win. Will they cover? We shall see. Number one story coming out of the weekend. You guessed it. Randy Orton saving the business. Yeah. at WrestleMania. You know, it was a fun time on Friday night letting the world know that, yeah, you remember when Randy Orton came on the show at the Combine? Then you remember shortly after that, I say, I thought the business passed me by.

33:52Pat McAfee:And then all of a sudden, Randy's on the phone with somebody, motivating, dominating everybody. Oh, yeah, maybe it was me telling them, hey, bud, my daughter is about to turn three years old. I would like her to be a wrestling fan, but I would like wrestling to be what wrestling's supposed to be, especially at the top of the card six foot five 275 pounds of perfection from the wrestling gods has been sitting here this whole time and is he on tv all day every day absolutely not he was actually sent home for about six months recently it's like what how is this guy being sent home so we're saving the business when randy wins his 15th world title at mania in the future of the business is going to be led by what the wrestling gods deemed perfection in randy orton now it was a blast people got loud yeah i was just asking i was just asking hey why are we doing this when randy orton is around it's a good question it's a lot of question anything that doesn't involve randy in my eyes shite yeah sure agreed if randy orton's involved good yeah somehow okay randy orton's going to be there somehow tickets are still available for wrestlemania just know that we got some things cooking and you're going to want to be in las vegas it's going to be spectacular it's going to be special in future wrestling generation fans will have to look back on the night that was in las vegas and say that was the moment that that goat saved the entire business by becoming 15 time world champion shout out to randy orton thank him i thank you randy for doing Thank you.

35:28Pat McAfee:Love you, Randy. Thank you, Randy. I was asking the wrestling fans this weekend, hey, did you thank Randy Orton yet for what he's going to do at WrestleMania for the future of wrestling? And you know, these IWC dipshits, they have no idea. This is for the good of them. Bingo. They have no idea what they've been missing. They have no idea what it's supposed to look like. Now we change it. Hell yeah. Who's the IWC? Huh? That's the internet wrestling community. They're not the biggest fans of what happened. They're pretty upset about it, you know? But they are part of the problem. They're the ones that said, yeah, this is what it's supposed to be, all this stuff.

35:55Pat McAfee:It's like, nah, let us show you what it's supposed to be. Hell yeah. Whenever Randy Orton is at the top of the marquee. You know, it's a special thing to be seen, especially whenever you're in there. That arena was electric. And then did you see Ford and Adam Pearce in there trying to break it all up? Oh, yeah. Hey, bud, back up, pal. Back up. So it was an exciting, electrifying time in St. Louis, obviously. But I think it's a pivotal and very important moment in the history of the business. Agreed. On Friday night in St. Louis. Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, that's what he said. Are we trying to save the business or not?

36:26If you're a big-time wrestling fan, do you want to be able to continue to watch wrestling? Do you want to be able to continue to love the product? If you do, then strap in and enjoy the ride. You're welcome. Exactly. And if you don't, then guess what? Maybe you're going to be watching something else on Monday and Friday nights.

36:39Pat McAfee:Speaking of enjoying the ride, Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby just did something that nobody in the history of hockey has done. He has averaged a point per game for 21 straight seasons. Wow. This is fresh off the just-missed top five storylines. Sidney Crosby, living legend. The Pittsburgh Penguins might actually do some stuff. And it was a sick, filthy goal. Top Chad Hite, don't keep moving. Sidney Crosby, point per game for 21 seasons, becomes legit. And the Florida Panthers just get absolutely smacked as Sidney Crosby's also bodying Matthew Kachuk into the boards. It was a special day, and the Penguins actually hot.

37:14Pat McAfee:Cannot wait to watch them make the playoffs. And shout out to Sidney Crosby, a man who's done so much for our hometown, doing what he's still doing at this stage. Just absolutely insane. And I think Wayne had 19 straight points per game seasons, so he's the closest. And then not to be missed, Nick, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe Geno just secured 16 straight points per game seasons. Geno Malkin, his cohort on the pen. So, yeah, watch out for the boys in the playoffs. Yeah, we should have won more Stanley Cups if I know we were averaging 16 and 21 points per game seasons. But we're back in the saddle going to do it again.

37:43Pat McAfee:And then the last thing that we missed, ladies and gentlemen, it's Masters week. Hell, yeah. Yes, it is. Come on. Joining us now is the man who's had to wait there through the last two segs there. and we apologize for that. It has to be the worst thing his eyes or ears have ever cast upon. Ladies and gentlemen, the voice of the Masters, the voice of the NFL, the voice of everything. So smooth, so buttery, so perfect. Ladies and gentlemen, Jim Nance. Yeah, Jim. How you doing, buddy? Hello, friends. That's the greatest introduction I've ever had. It's also, listen, great to be on with all you guys.

38:20I'm super stoked to be on the show for the first time. It's the first time I've ever had to pivot from wrestling to Augusta. And I'm a fan of both, but only you can pull that off, man, for all seasons.

38:34Pat McAfee:Well, thank you, Mr. Nance. And I had to slide hockey in there in between, you know, get the puck and the action back down on the ground to get to you. I was potentially going straight to you, but we went to the puck. Randy Orton's saving the business, Jim. That's all you need to know. Maybe at the Masters, remind people of that this weekend. if somebody gets a good birdie save boom chips in good birdie save oh good save they're not as good as randy orton saving the business at wrestlemania something to think about jim i'll see if i can get randy orton on the broadcast at some point over the next four days i love you but our best shot all right all right we've i've been talking about too much stuff that isn't worthy of conversation especially when we have jim nance on for the first time so let's dive into it when you think about the masters obviously you've been a part of so many other things and i know you live uh on a whole design from like you love everything about golf but you're in nfl you're in every other sport when you think about the masters your name has become synonymous with it how is that kind of preparing for it knowing that this week is kind of your week in the sports world and masters is obviously something that takes over everything well you're you're kind to say that as we make the little drive down Magnolia Lane right here.

39:42I like this B-roll. All of it is a dream. The truth is, when I was a little boy, anyone that's still around that remembers, all I talked about was one day when I grew up, I wanted to work for CBS Sports. Since I was 11 years old, because I wanted to broadcast the Masters Tournament, and I wanted to broadcast the NFL. I love the way they presented both of those properties. This will be my 41st time at Augusta. 40-year anniversary since Jack Nicklaus won in my what was my debut my maiden voyage I was scared out of my wits and I'm thrilled to go back again I mean it gets sweeter every year okay so tell me

40:21Pat McAfee:about your golf knowledge you said you wanted to do obviously the masters you wanted to do the NFL it feels like you never miss a beat and over the last 41 years how much have you seen golf coverage evolve like what we see now is just banger banger banger you're smooth transition into everything You're throwing to the course. You have somebody in the booth with you. You're going to a break. You're coming out of a break. Let's go back to. Let's keep track. Let's do it. Like, how is it all just in the moment live for 41 years of experience? Or how do you kind of prepare for it all? It is all extemporaneous.

40:50It's observe and tell people what you see. Plus, you have cataloged in your head, compartmentalized all these background stories on the subjects that you're covering. So I really pretty much go without a note in front of me for golf. I like to say I call it from right here. I call it from the heart. Now, when I'm calling football games, I have all kinds of spotting boards. You've seen them, Pat. You work on them all week long, setting up your depth charts and your stats and all the anecdotal things you might have. I have them all color-coded. But the Masters, you're spare to begin with. You've got that Augusta melody as an undercurrent, and you let it breathe, and you let your heart speak for you.

41:34That's the way I approach it.

41:36Pat McAfee:Okay, so let's talk about the birds are chirping, obviously, but then that's the beginning. Let's talk about the end. Do you think of bars for when somebody wins something? Like, hey, let's say Rory wins. Do you have a line in mind? Or the night before, do you think because of the story? Or are those lines, legendary, memorable, moments in time in the history of sport, are those coming to you live in real time? Because if you're freestyling this shit, Jim, what a legend. What a legend. Absolute legend. Most of it is coming freelance. Like you're watching Rory last year, and I believe I said something in the moment like the long journey is over.

42:16McElroy has his masterpiece. So it was a little bit of alliteration. I didn't know what I was going to say there. The one that I did truly plan out was in 1997 when Tiger won for the first time. He had a gigantic league going into Sunday, and I knew that the next day was going to be this day that truly transcended the sport. He was going to be the youngest champion. He was going to win by the most shots. He was going to set the scoring record. He had all the social significance of Tiger winning this tournament. And I knew that clip of him holding out on the 72nd green was going to be played back forever.

42:52It was going to outlive all of us. When they come on the air 200 years from now with the Masters Tournament, they have that opening montage, that's going to be on there. So the narrative kind of comes with it. It just drags into history as part of that video. And I thought about it a long time the night before. I obsessed over it. I felt all these legends of broadcasters from my youth, the Summeralls, the McKays, the Whittakers, the Shankles, the Enbergs. I felt their presence, truly. I felt nervousness. I knew they would be watching the next day, and I thought it better be something succinct and it fits the moment, and I did choreograph that one, and it was simple.

43:31It's a win for the ages. And other than that, pretty much you just feel it at the time. I want to say this, by the way, because football, you're not scripted. You have all these boards. But I was trying to look it up, Pat. Help me out. I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time. I almost ran into you at the Greenbrier a few years ago. You were playing in the Pro-Am. You were in the ballroom. I was hosting the Pro-Am party. You were there with John Daly. And I was really wanting to go over and say hello and tell you how much I admired the way you're getting into the broadcasting business, but we had a Thursday night game on CBS down at Houston.

44:11And you had what had to be the greatest performance I've ever seen by a special teams player in one game. I don't know if you remember it, but you had a couple of punts down inside the five. Of course, you were doing the kickoff, the kickoff specialist too. You had an onside kick. You chased down a breakaway return another time. I mean, you did it all, and I don't know if you know this, but I was working with Phil Simms at the time. It was before my boy Tony. And we extolled to high heaven the performance that you had that game. Do you remember the game I'm talking about? Yeah, I remember the game.

44:47Pat McAfee:I've not gone back and listened. To be clear, I did not know at this time, Houston, I did not know at this time that Jim Nance is on the call there. I should certainly be pulling those clips and running it on repeat on my Spotify playlist whenever I go. But thank you for, first of all, remembering that and let me relive that. Yeah, I forgot about the tackle in there. Yeah, because I think it was a block. I think it was a block field goal, maybe. Block field goal, then I maybe make tackle on guy that's about to go out, I think, if I'm not mistaken. You mauled a guy who was breaking away. Yeah. Here's the deal.

45:20The next time, as I invite myself, the next time I come on the show, I want the whole clip package put together, including the commentary with all the high praise sound yeah i would like that too by the way i forgot it was

45:34Pat McAfee:jim nance and chris sims is daddy you know now that i know that it's fantastic you mentioned tony romo there he came on the show thank you by the way for all that for your contribution to sport first of all but for being so kind and i hope you do know that because your voice is on it like i do hold it in higher regard so thank you for doing that and being so incredible tell me about Tony Romo a little bit. So we obviously have experienced the Tony Romo arc. You know, he came in, everybody loved him. He's predicting plays. He's got energy. He's shooting from the hip. Here we go. We're living. Then people were like, this guy's not even prepared to kind of get mad at him because he's seemingly living in the moment.

46:07Pat McAfee:Then he stays so authentically to himself. Oh, wait a minute. We kind of like what's going on here with Tony Romo. He's still doing it. It feels like it's a cycle. I assume that happens for all commentators. You would know better than me. But then he came on this show in the way he was answering questions. You're so clean in the way you pivot to the next subject it's so obvious to me but on that note and then he starts answering questions like he was dissecting me as a human while I was interviewing him and I'm like wow this guy's genius I think this guy is very very very bright can you tell me about Tony Romo and maybe where people get it wrong with him whenever they're judging him a bit I first off he is unique and you don't want everyone out there to be the same and he has a different perspective he's fun he is incredibly knowledgeable about what's happening and the X's and O's of what's going on in a football play.

46:55I love this appearance, by the way, on the show a couple of months ago. We've been together for nine years. It's been a joy ride. I know there's a lot of noise out there and sometimes the noise just feeds more noise. But Tony doesn't pay any attention to it. I don't paying attention to it. There are a lot of people that love him. The great majority do. I love him. It's been a thrill working with him. I loved working with Phil Simms while I met him. I want to just throw that in there. And I've been very fortunate to work with both of them. But Tony, we're going into season 10 this year. And, you know, we should celebrate the fact that he's different.

47:34He's got this oversized personality and he acts like a big kid in the booth. And by what makes him fun it's authentic it's who he is and uh i like his from shooting from the the hip kind of off the cuff uh reactionary noises and all this stuff i remember you asked him about that it's who he is this is what it sounds like when you're when you're at the dinner table and he's telling a story so um i i've really enjoyed i've considered myself fortunate to have had him as a

48:09Pat McAfee:partner for a long long time now no i was told you hated him so i'm just gonna remember that that's what i was told that you hated his guts and oh yeah right no no no yeah that's what i was told i read it online i read it online and then uh also you know phil sims i don't know if you hated him too but i'm happy you put him in there as well but i want to let you know tony can do that because of you it's like when i was commentating for wrestling michael cole was there so michael cole goat right so i can do whatever and he can save me you know from wherever i'm at if i'm heading down the wrong road or if we're doing something that's not supposed to be like he can save me because he has all the history you guys are a great team i'm happy you guys have been together for 10 years excited for the next 10.

48:49thank you we are too and listen people are entitled to their opinions some people have agendas out there i mean i it's pretty obvious and in some cases one case in particular if somebody wrote there's a dynamic about us that sounds like an uncle and a nephew. You know, again, you want that. That used to be celebrated, have a guy playing it straight with a guy that is kind of offbeat and you don't know where he's going. Take Summerall and Madden. I mean, Pat was the absolute definition of a guy that played it right down the middle and John kind of did his thing. So, yeah, we're, listen, I can't, my next big thing after Augusta, and this to me is as big as it gets.

49:35We have our fourth Super Bowl together. It will be the year after next. But I can't wait for the scheduled release. Now, I get really geeked out. It sounds crazy. If you call it a sporting event, it's one of my favorite events of the year. I love to see how the league assesses these teams and puts them in marquee positions. Usually by now, if you notice, they didn't release anything from the owners meeting last week. Usually they've already kind of told us who's playing in the opening Thursday game. This year's going to be a Wednesday game. Who's playing on the opening Sunday night game. They released these games.

50:11For whatever reason, it's been held up by a couple of weeks. I'm sure it's complicated with the many different broadcasters that the league's doing business with. But yeah, I can't wait to see where we're headed this year starting week one.

50:23Pat McAfee:Jim, I'm going to start looking at the schedule release a little bit differently now because of the game you just gave me. Hey, this is the league guessing here. This is because they don't want dry spells. Remember two years ago we had like a five-week dry spell prime prime prime prime was like a dry spell because injuries came in and a couple other teams went crazy it's like the nfl wants nothing like that especially with the new money coming in not the cbs hasn't been an incredible partner but whenever you have youtube coming in amazon coming in uh netflix coming in they gotta try to make everybody happy good luck schedule maker man what's his name there's a name to that guy oh well you know it's been a whole of sort it's a whole team of people used to be howard cats through the years, and then it went on to, you know.

51:05No, no, good guy. Let's not try to guess all these names. Mike North is involved in this, and, you know, it goes on and on. Our team that works on it all year long, the Dan Weinbergs, David Burson, our president, they're on this all the time. It's something that they're right in the thick of right now. Though they're in Indianapolis, the CBS team is actually using the Pat McAfee suite over at the stadium. Oh, nice. They've got your suite for some reason. Gene sent a video from the suite. Yeah, Sterator was in there.

51:34Pat McAfee:Yeah, I pay for that now. I pay for that. Tell them I do pay for that. They wrapped it. The Colts did. Very kind of that. I don't think they own the building, actually. I think the city potentially wrapped it with the Colts alongside of it. We love that place. I'll tell you what, the suite we were watching the Final Four in, vastly different than the suite that we have for that. Tell the CBS people we appreciate what they've done with our city. Let's talk about the Masters a little bit here. Tone has a question for you. Yeah, Jim, when you look at the odds and you look at the favorites, it's a dream scenario, I believe, in your eyes, probably if it turns out like this.

52:02Obviously, it's Scotty, Rom, Rory, and Bryson, and you have two Liv and you have two PGA, and it's kind of the guys that started that whole situation. If it comes down to that, is the Liv and PGA still a story in your mind that you would talk about on the broadcast? And are those four at the end, obviously, the dream scenario for you on Sunday? Well, that would be, I mean, sure, it would be like 86 When Jack, when you had all the biggest names were right there at the top, I thought, just looking at those odds, I thought Roaring was a little too low. Everybody's kind of whatever dismissed him. I know he's had a back issue in the month of March, but he gets to go play totally free now for the first time ever.

52:43He's already won his career Grand Slam. I mean, just go out and play. He's on house money. And then you got Bryce, and I really like Bryce's chance. I was on a press conference call last week, and a lot of people took exception to something I made, a statement I made about how Bryson, I haven't watched a shot so far this year. Of course, he's been winning on the Live Tour. He's won a couple of starts. And I just want to say that was extracted from a quote where I had him as the favorite behind Scotty, number one. And then Bryson, I happen to mention, I've had a long relationship with Bryson. He's been to my home.

53:17My son was almost named after him. I mean, there's a great friendship and respect there. And I think he's going to, and I said this too, I think he's going to win Augusta. Maybe it's this year. He's certainly coming in hot. I was just trying to make a point. And I've got my own stuff going on. We're broadcasting. I read, the point is, I read everything. I don't have to sit down and watch the DP World Tour to be prepared for those players or the live golf. But I give them their due. And I expect that John Rahm's coming in and playing well too. I expect both John and Bryson will be right there. Both great guys, and I would love to have them on the leaderboard.

53:55Pat McAfee:Wait, Jim, you're telling me your quotes get taken out of context as well? Because that seemingly happens to us. Pretty regular base. I didn't know it also happened to you. I thought there was an agenda against us as a whole. You got all these bots, and Liv has a pretty strong force of a social media team, from what I hear, because I'm not on social media. But if you say anything that can be loosely interpreted as negative, they come after you. and that's fine. I stood by my comments. I wasn't trying to take a shot at Bryson. I have, like I said, I have a great regard for him. I consider him a friend and I consider him a favorite this week.

54:31Pat McAfee:Yeah, we all saw him chipping over his house. You know, we get it. We understand what's going on. He's driving it a long way. He's going to look really cool. He fell into the sand, remember, in that one tournament he won a couple weeks ago? Yeah, we've seen it. We've seen it. We watched it. We're excited. Love Bryson. DeChambeau in that par 5 14th? 13th? I forget which one it is. 13 yeah 13 there it is 13 and 15 13 and 15 or far five sorry my brain just started saw the score card you know i just ran through so have you have you been to augusta to watch it as a fan no no i have not no i'm not there's a chance i've been invited this weekend because everything that happened you know because i came out and said they've said no to me three times and obviously they still have a standard and then i said they basically told us to go to hell you Because they've turned us down three times.

55:18Pat McAfee:Then that obviously got quoted out of context. What you were saying, because I was saying they still have a standard. What Jason Kelsey going is a good thing, not a bad thing. They'll still hold it to high regards. So we respect it. We understand we have not been approved to go down there. We're just telling people that they're still the masters. We're still there. Quote taken out of context. Pat says Augusta told him to go to hell. Bop, bang, bang, boom, and pow. And I'm like, whoa. Then I get some green jacket text messages. Okay. I don't know. Hey, we're just wondering if we can meet, have a conversation.

55:45Pat McAfee:We didn't really. and I'm like, ah. I go, why don't you come down? Why don't you come on down? You should come on down. Have a good time. It's like, ah. Okay. So you're telling me you might be on property this weekend? Well, see, man, there's some powerful people texting me saying stuff. I don't know if I just want to necessarily go into their backyard, but I did feel like they were potentially saying, like, hey, come check it out. We'd love to have you here, which would be very cool. And obviously, that's a dream come true for any sports fan to go watch a Masters. So the fact that I'm even invited, I'm pumped.

56:11Pat McAfee:But yeah, there's a chance I might be down there this weekend. Chance. I hope our paths will cross if that happens. Okay, but I don't have a phone, right? So I don't know how that's going to work. I'm going Amish. I'm Amish on Sunday. Like, how does this... We'll figure it out. It's an honor. We'll figure it out. We'll go offline and figure it out. Well, we're going to go offline down there. But I heard there is something some people aren't offline. Oh. Yeah, I've heard you've got to find those people. You know, I've been doing my own research from friends that have gone down. They're like, hey, I don't think I can survive just completely off the grid.

56:40Do I have to pack, like, snacks and stuff? It is, well, I was going to say something silly, like it is a tradition unlike any.

56:55Pat McAfee:You're right, you're right, you're right. I'm going, I'm going, I'm going. The fact that I was even invited is absurd. It is a sporting event that no one has ever said the words, it was great, but it didn't live up to expectations. It was good, but I thought it was going to be better. I've never in 40 years heard anyone ever say anything other than it exceeded. And it was the best event they've ever been to. I would like to say, shout out Burke Magnus then. Because Burke was the liaison for it all, making it happen. So we'll be down there. I'm going to go experience a tradition. Unlike any other.

57:33Pat McAfee:I stepped on the last one. We're going to piece those two together so we have that. We're going to try to get there. You get it. Yeah, you know the game. D-Bot has a question for you, Jim. Yeah, speaking of it, it's Sunday. What has been over your 40 years? I actually want to ask you the last 20 years because 40 years, I don't want to age you too much. It's a long time, older than a lot of us in here. But the last 20 years, what's been your most unpredictable, most surprising Sunday that you've seen unfold? Well, I think there are two. The first would be Tiger in 2019, when everyone had given up on Tiger ever winning again.

58:07And, I mean, it was a magical day. You guys, I'm sure you remember it well. And even going into Sunday, people didn't think he was going to win. But the whole field kind of collapsed down at Amen Corner, down at the 12-hole. Fienau, Poulter, like four guys, Francesco Molinari, all hit into the water at 12. Tiger, as he always did, had a better mental game than anyone else, and he prevailed. I mean, I was working with Nick Fowler. He called it the greatest moment in the history of the sport. So that was unpredictable. And then I would say last year. I would say Rory's win last year was so sweet.

58:47A lot of people wanted to see him get that sixth green jacket. I can call it one more time. This for the career grand slam. And the long journey is over. McIlroy has his masterpiece. Oh, God. Yes. Wow. But, you know, he won it and lost it three or four different times in that final round. He had a terrible shot at the 13th into the creek. It almost looked like a shank, but somehow recovered a couple of holes later at 15. He hit a swooping seven iron around some trees and got the whole round righted and had the win in a playoff against Justin Rose, who was pure class. I think if Rosie could win this week, I want to throw that name out there.

59:29If Justin Rose could win, it would be a lot of people very happy to see that. Look, there he is with the embrace. No sour grapes. This is the second time he had lost in a playoff. He had lost in 2017 to Sergio. And now here he was. It's all right. Embodiment of what a sportsman is all about in that.

59:49Pat McAfee:Congrats, dude. Cheers, lad. You know, because inside, this has always been my thing with golf. I appreciate, now that I'm 38 years old and I'm an adult, when I was younger, maybe not as much, that golf just always has the moment afterwards of, like, congratulations. I think Tiger got, like, upset, I think, the first time. Like, genuinely felt like he wanted to win more than anybody. Like, in the NFL, they talk about, like, your competitive stamina and your competitive edge and everything that these guys have and girls have. But it's like Vinatieri once said to me, if we're playing chess and I'm about to lose to you, I'm flipping the board so we find out.

1:00:27Pat McAfee:We never find out. Like, you know, like that type of stuff. The golf thing always just being so, how you doing? And then like walking off the course completely content. Because we know deep down inside there is a full on massive frustration, disappointment level at all. It's why golf is so beautiful. Honestly, it's genuinely just a part of the sport. It's like this is a part of the culture, and it's a beautiful one. Hockey, they still fight. Hockey, they still fight to kind of clear up some differences. Golf, there's always the chivalry, it feels like. Well, but then you have in your game, you know, guys are walking off the field in the NFL now exchanging jerseys.

1:01:03It's a love fest.

1:01:04Pat McAfee:Okay. Guys meet midfield. Jim, we got a hard out coming. We're not getting into this. We're not getting into this. Hockey, they still do the lines. End of the playoff series, though. Okay. That's not like every game. Well, I mean, it's the end of the Masters. Yeah, you're right. The Masters of Golf this weekend with this man on the call, doing his 41st Masters tournament. The birds will be chirping, a tradition unlike any other. A masterpiece will be the soundtrack to this year's Masters, and this man will be leading the symphony. You're the man. We appreciate the hell out of you, goat. Hey, it was a thrill being on the show.

1:01:42Let's do it again. we got to bring back the clips of mcafee at houston october 2015 on a thursday night game no no we don't have time we don't have time we don't have time oh you've already got it we don't have time we have a hard out you're the man ladies and gentlemen jim dan all right we're back on the

1:01:58Pat McAfee:other side with shack what be your friend tell a friend something nice might change your life

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1:04:03Pat McAfee:Sports! We're the greatest. We're so incredibly lucky that we get a chance to chat about them every single day. Thank you for allowing us to do this for a living. We can't believe that you watch, but we're certainly grateful that you do. We're going to be joined here in the Thunderdome by Shaq Diesel, I do believe, in just a matter of moments. Obviously, everybody in town for the Final Four for tonight's national championship as UConn will take on Michigan. Michigan favored by 6.5 points. Stats in the history have said if a team is favored by 6.5 or more, they're going to win the game. Will they cover?

1:04:32Pat McAfee:We shall see. UConn, Dan Hurley, 18-1 against the spread over his last 19 tournament games. A record that is sports gamblers saying, thank you for the crown, Mr. Dan Hurley. DraftKings is saying, oh, what's this guy's problem? What's going on with this guy? What his problem is, he's got a bunch of dogs, always. Michigan, they have a bunch of killers. This team has dominated and put their foot on necks throughout the entirety of the tournament. Who wins? We shall find out tonight. 8-50. Yeah, you're reading that, right? And it ain't tipping. It ain't tipping. It ain't 50. We're looking at 9.06, 9.10.

1:05:12You got a pregame performer? I would assume so. Probably. Who is it?

1:05:16Pat McAfee:Rest in peace to Haggard. Not going to be Haggard. Sure. I wish. Who talks to the table at Boston Corner, at Ty Schmidt. They already used chain smokers at the Final Four. I think they might run them back. They should. They should. The fastball. Yeah. I got it. What's that song? I forget. Roses. Get it all over. Oh, DJ Diesel. Yeah. There you go. We might have a little inside scoop, maybe. I do know Shaq will be making a massive announcement tonight on TNT. We're told from his people, hey, Shaq would like to potentially talk about talking about something tonight. Okay. I can't wait for that. Nine-year NFL vet, Darius J.

1:05:54Pat McAfee:Butler is here. Good to see you, D. Butler. Congrats to your UConn team. It's a celebration of the Huskies, obviously, around Indianapolis. But this Michigan team has been taking no prisoners. They've been beating everybody's ass. How do you feel about Dan Hurley taking on the matchup? And how do you feel about the head-to-head in the press conference? It's kind of becoming a thing now. I know. I kind of feel like Dusty May was kind of bowing down, almost kissing a ring right there. So I feel great about that. I do love Dusty May. He's an absolute great coach. But, yeah, this meme has obviously been going around with some great quote tweets on the Internet.

1:06:23but I would much rather have Dan Hurley on my sideline than the opposing sideline. So, look, I am jubilant. Now, I wish the women would have got it done so we would have had the back-to-back, you know, with the guys. Well, G.O. R.E.M. is potting. Yeah, like a baby. It didn't get done, but the men get it done tonight. G.O. is potting out there. Yeah. Brutal. And he's lying, too. What do you mean? He's lying on Don Staley's name. He said that, you know, she never walked over pregame. That's what he was all, you know, pissed off about. She didn't walk over pregame and shake my hand. That is basically a common courtesy we do before every single game, Division I, basketball coaches, Division II, III.

1:07:01It doesn't matter. You do that. And then there's video of her and her entire staff shaking all of the hands of UConn staff pregame. I don't want to bring it up. Was that Sherman and Baker?

1:07:12Pat McAfee:Remember the dap up at the coin toss? Yep. There was like a full like, hey, normally captains like dap each other. I forget who said what about who, but they had an entire interaction. and then the video was run back and it was clear yeah very yeah yeah we did call it gap gate we tried to get to i think we had sherm on and i think we also had baker on i think if i'm not 100 i don't know if baker came on but i think we got quote from baker's team in that entire thing because there was a statement of disrespect happening to somebody like didn't even dap me up and then the clip was like certainly clearly tried to but so many things are happening in there so many things happen in the game maybe get lost in a moment and just feel disrespected by somebody because something happened.

1:07:52Pat McAfee:Geno, legend in the game, he knows that whenever he starts potting after a game, that's going to be the conversation. Some people say he did it on purpose. Some people say he did it on purpose. I can see that. I didn't talk about the ass beating that happened by South Carolina. I guess it was a pretty big beating that the South Carolina team put on to Geno Ariema's. And Agenland got their asses beat. So, ipso facto, Lauren Betts and that UCLA team, potentially to Geno's team, he might have been potting after that one too, Dude, this UCLA team's unbelievable. They are. They are. Lauren Betts, 6 '7", out of Spain.

1:08:25Pat McAfee:Yeah. Moved to America in third grade. She's unbelievable. It's hard not to watch her highlights and go. She feels like she's burning. That one, that lady right there feels like she's burning everybody. She's coming to the fever. Don't worry about it. I mean, that's Big Ten basketball, baby. You know, and I think that's why you maybe got to like Michigan a little tonight because that's just Big Ten basketball, you know. Oh, my God. I got UCLA. Hey, listen, I don't make the rules. I don't make the rules. That's just the way it is. That's Big Ten basketball. Oh, my God. And there's a handball stat to back you up.

1:08:58Pat McAfee:Big Ten in-title game. Last eight instances. Yeah, they've lost a lot. They've lost a lot. Oh, wait. So that's not the same thing. They've lost a lot. But, yeah, UCLA is part of the Big Ten now. Michigan looks great. I think one thing that people aren't accounting for with Geno is, sure, you got diehard fans of UConn who were pissed at him because he acted like a jackass after the game. He's potting like a baby, all that kind of stuff. You got South Carolina fans that hate him. You also got everyone in New England hating him because they were kind of, you know, relying on going out and buying new furniture.

1:09:27There was that promo, hey, if both the men and the women's team take home the title this year, your furniture is free. So you got all these people going out buying nice new sectionals, you know, new bedroom set. Well, guess what? You got to pay that in full now. Yeah, what happens is you try to sell it to, like, Renna Center or something?

1:09:44Pat McAfee:I don't know how you get rid of shit that you've already forepaid, before it got for free, and then it ends up not being for free. Because I saw some people got some nice sectionals. Oh, yeah, beautiful. I'm talking like six-wide sectionals with the chaise. Yeah, the cooler inside. The chaise at the end. All the USB plug-in. Oh, yeah, with the recline and the... Yeah, exactly. People are like, give me two of those. Give me Gino's going to... We got this. I get one from Dan Hurley. I get one from Gino. And oh, yeah, give me the... What's that soft bean bag thing? The love sack? Oh, the love sack.

1:10:17Pat McAfee:I want the lovesack big one. I want to be able to come jump into that thing and really live. And Gino, I think that's maybe why he was potting so hard. It could be. He might have gone a multi-fucking sectional out there. We really, we'll never know. No. No, we won't. And that's Gino. Yeah. Joining us now is, man, it probably has the answer. I can't believe this guy's live in the Thunderdome. I'll tell you what, when he walks in, you go, oh, that's him. Literally. Mm-hmm. The largest athlete of all time. the most dominant basketball player in the history of hoops. A four-time champion. A 15-time All-Star.

1:10:54Pat McAfee:A business legend. TV icon. Yeah, not a bad spot, huh? Ladies and gentlemen, Shaquille O 'Neal. Yeah, Shaq! What do you think, Shaq? What do you think, brother? Not a bad little spot, huh? Yeah. He just grabbed a bunch of shit from the front row. I like that. I appreciate that. Miami Heat legend. Yeah. What's up, man? He's got the shackalicious gummies in tow, too. How could you not? The bell buckle. Okay, thank you. Yeah. What's this one? I read it. I've seen it. 2019 Hashtag Sports Awards. That's a good one. Here we go. Seven years late. Congratulations. Thank you so much. The lacrosse donation.

1:11:33Pat McAfee:Nice. The lacrosse players. This is my favorite one right here. A business a guy was trying to start for college football. Not bad. To put on my cowboy hat that I do not know. Road to Jane Sandy. And you're breaking the rules. Why? Why am I a fan of your show? I don't know. Because you wear... Tank tops. Yeah. Nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're right, you're right. What is this? Yeah, yeah, I understand. Yeah, I understand. I get it, Shaq. I mean, I truly do. I mean, I've never... I'm never on this good step more, maybe. You know? What's up, man? How are you? That one's nice. Oh, looking nice. Yeah, yeah.

1:12:12Pat McAfee:A little science here. A little science. Looking like Dolph Lundgren. That's a hell of a compliment. Is it? Is Dolph one of the porn stars? No, Ivan Drago, Rocky IV. Yeah, I'll be Drago, Rocky IV. So this is the Thunderdome, huh? Here we go. Welcome to the Thunderdome, Shaq. Thank you. This is awesome. Thank you so much for coming. Thanks for having me. Really appreciate that. We obviously respect the shit out of how you played hoops. I mean, you're unstoppable. You're unguardable. You're the most dominant basketball player of all time. But the way you have reshaped what an athlete can be, both business-wise, entertainment-wise, music-wise, you name it, massive respect.

1:12:51Pat McAfee:We appreciate the hell out of you. Hell yeah. Thank you for bringing the award from 2019 that we won. And thank you for showing up. Let's chit-chat a little bit. How do you feel about tonight's matchup? How do you feel about UConn? How do you feel about Michigan? They've been kicking everybody's ass. I think that's a trait that is good when you can go foot on neck like Michigan's been able to do. What are your thoughts? I thought Michigan was going to have problems with Arizona, but they manhandled Arizona. Very physical on the inside. Shoot the ball very well. I think it's going to be a tough matchup.

1:13:18I think – I have a question. Yeah. Did Coach Hurley headbutt that referee? Yeah, yeah.

1:13:24Pat McAfee:Oh, yeah. It looked like it. All right, so what do you think happened if the ref would have called the tech? Oh, do you think they make the shots or no? Do you think they make the free throws? I mean, that's the question. I don't know. Because in your guys' game, right, they just get to select who's shooting at. Right. Right, so that's the best free throw shooter? Mm-hmm. Oh, in the Final Four? Oh. 0.3 seconds, it's over. Oh. Can't make that call. No, but one thing I know about Coach Hurley, he's going to have his guys ready to compete. And I think it's going to be a close game. I don't think Michigan's going to manhandle UConn like they did Arizona.

1:13:57Pat McAfee:How do you feel about the stadium, Lucasville Stadium? The boys and I were there. We were in a suite pretty far away. But obviously, the stadium conversation immediately comes with the shooting sites and all that shit with the eyes. Michigan seemingly didn't care at all. They shot at the big house. Did you hear about this? They went to the big house and shot at their football stadium in Michigan the week beforehand. Do you think that's a real conversation or no? My favorite movie is Hoosiers. Hell yeah. When Gene Heckman said, hey, the length is the same, the height of the rim is the same, everything is the same.

1:14:26I never worried about that. I think one time we played a game in the Superdome. It was nice, but it didn't mess up my focus or anything.

1:14:34Pat McAfee:Okay. And we're going to break that rim in place. How many do you have? I don't know, 10, 11, 12. When was the first one? On an army base in 1988. How old were you? About 16, 17. That was whenever you were playing hoops over in Germany? No, this one happened in San Antonio, Texas, Fort Sam Houston. I watched your documentary. It was so cool. Just you trying to find people to play hoops against. And then all of a sudden, everybody on a base is like, hey, this one might be the fucking one here. I couldn't even imagine those people seeing you play hoops just as a teenager, just being like, is this the greatest of all time?

1:15:12Pat McAfee:Yeah, might actually be. Go ahead, D-Bud. Yeah, I mean, you bring me down memory lane right now talking about Hoosiers. First of all, talk to me in the black voice. Don't talk to me in the black voice. Homeboy. Going back. Blue Chips. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blue Chips. I got an older brother, six years older than me. He had me watching Blue Chips, man. My favorite basketball movie of all time. What's some of the things, I guess, behind the scenes that we didn't see some great stories from that movie? So my favorite story about Blue Check, because I'm a guy I don't pay attention to competition. I had no idea who Penny Hardaway was.

1:15:46Never heard of him. Seriously, true story. So it was in my contract that they built us something like this so I could work out. Because, you know, Shaq's doing too much. He's moving, he's repping. So we put it in my contract. Before I started shooting, let me work out from 10 to 12, 10 to 1. So they kept putting this guy on my team. little lanky kid and he was a great passer so finally I go to the guy who was setting up the games I was like hey man who is this actor because I think he's really good enough to be in the NBA yo man you don't know who that is that's Penny Hardaway I said who? Memphis so then I called my agent and said hey this is Penny Hardaway they said yeah he's good but he'll probably have the third pick but I can remember in the back of my head my good friend Dennis Scott said you got to go upstairs and you got to take over.

1:16:34You got to tell people what you want or you're going to leave. So I tried it. I said, listen, I've been playing with this kid, Penny Hardaway. You heard of him? He said, yeah, we heard of him. We'll never get him. I said, well, you need to get him. When the first pick comes, I know you think about C-Web, and I love C-Web, no disrespect to C-Web, but we don't need two bigs on this team. I need somebody that can get me the ball and I need somebody that can play. I've been playing with this kid all summer, and I was thinking Magic and Kareem. I was thinking the new Magic and Kareem because, you know, a lot of these youngster don't realize that Penny Hardaway was Kobe before Kobe.

1:17:06A lot of kids don't, you know, realize that. So I went upstairs. I told them that. I waited. They drafted C-Wed. So now I'm pissed. I'm breaking windows in my house, breaking trophies. And then I watched, and then they said, the Golden State Warriors have traded Penny Hardaway to Orlando, and I knew we had something special. So that was my favorite story from Blue Chip.

1:17:26Pat McAfee:Hell, yes. That is a great story from Blue Chip, it sounds like. Because I had no idea who he was, for real. Okay, so you said it was Kobe before Kobe. Obviously, you played with Kobe, played with LeBron. There's a lot to be made about all of it. You played, obviously, with AI. You and Michael Jordan, one-on-one at the All-Star Game, is obviously a clip that runs forever. When people are having a conversation about best player of all time, I think I've asked you this before. Is it unfair because of how much the game has changed? Like, if we're playing different sports at this point, is that an accurate thing?

1:17:51Yes, it's unfair because, you know, the errors were different. You know, try to put me up against a will. His error versus my error. me personally I think I would have completely dominated him so I would like to I like to break it down by errors but you know when you're talking about that GOAT conversation I would like to hear all the names and I'm about to add one more name because he's unbelievable rather than just going Mike and LeBron which is fine, it's your choice gotta put Kobe in there just put him in the conversation and now I'm standing here on the Pat McAfee show gotta put Steph Curry in there

1:18:28Pat McAfee:Hell yeah. He's back last night. The only thing Steph Curry has not done, those other guys have done, is the finishing dunk. Think about what I'm saying. Like all the other guys, they have a finishing dunk play, but Steph Curry behind that line, the impact is similar to a finishing dunk. But you definitely got to put him as one of the greatest players of all time. So that's your Mount Rushmore right there. Yeah. Sounds like. Yeah. Kobe, Mike, LeBron, Steph. Yep, and you got to ask Steph. And how pissed off do you get whenever you're not a part of that conversation? because can anybody stop you?

1:18:58I don't because, you know, when I was coming in, like watching all these other players and, you know, like, for example, Christian Laettner was a better player than me in college. I didn't want to go for the best player title. I wanted people to fear me, so I wanted to go for the most dominant. Like my first play, every time I get the ball, elbows up. I'm trying to knock the people. No, seriously. So, you know, that's just how it was. I wanted to be. Who was your biggest problem? Little guys. because they can get under and, you know, the referees let them get away with stuff. But nobody really played me one-on-one.

1:19:31Pat McAfee:You're the best, Shaq. I'm just trying to be the most dominant. I want these motherfuckers to know when I walk on this floor that it's about to be a long night. It's about to be a long night. You are the most dominant. You got your own fucking thunder down. I like that. And we got you in here. And on that note, hey, these are good. Top notch. Thank you. I mean, I've never really, you can see, I speak like, I guess, a white person, but my skin is more so of like a red. I would never put these colors on my body ever. No, you look good, dude. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. But on that note, the brand that I put on here, really good.

1:20:02Pat McAfee:I'm not a sugar candy guy either. So what you've been able to do here is phenomenal. But it's not just Shackalicious XL Gummies hosting a big event with Shaq and Lefkoe and many others, I think in like an hour and a half or something like that downtown. How'd you get into this game? And how's the company doing? I think we talked to you the first day it launched. I assume you're doing very well. We're doing excellent. and the second Slam is the official gummy of the Final Four. That's a huge check that you had to write. So that means company's doing very good. Yeah, we're doing very well. And you know, listen, oh, my favorite thing that's happening today, Onyx is coming out to perform Slam.

1:20:38Pat McAfee:Okay, so let's talk about what's going on here, because tonight the tip-off's like 8.50 or something. 8.50? It's late. Yeah, exactly. That's what we said too. So it has to be a bunch of shit all day, I guess, going on? Well, I'm doing your show. Boom. I'm doing a podcast, and I'm going to go eat at the soul food spot, and I'm going to go get ready for the game. Country kitchen? I bet you I can hit a three-pointer before you. Whoa. You're doing that right now? No fucking chance. Stop it. I can beat you in golf. You him? I don't know. In potting? I don't know. Okay. Okay. And then what about him?

1:21:13Pat McAfee:What do you got around here? Football? We can throw a football into that net over there. All right. Deal. Okay. All right. Okay, so are we doing the Shaq Olympics right now? Are we doing the Shaq Olympics right now? Which one would you like to start with? Would you like to start with golf? Whatever you want to do. Yeah, let's start with golf. Okay, Ty, let's get the handheld things on there. Come on, Ty. Because I'm tired of you looking at me. The Shaq Thunderdome Olympics here is about to take place. We have a left-handed blade up there. Oh. Okay.

1:21:42Pat McAfee:Do we have a left-handed? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Thunderdome Shaq Olympics. Bix now. Shaq is the founder of the Shaqalicious Gummies. I have a confession. We both have the same Sasquatch statue. Out front, yeah. As soon as I saw it was available, I had to get it. I like it. Is it bigger than you or smaller than you? Same size. What is your exact dims at this exact moment? Probably, yeah. Demographics? Yeah, okay. Your demographic and your dims dimensions. Oh, it's dims. Demos as well. Who do you hit the biggest home run with on a regular basis? And what are your dims? 7 '1", 371.

1:22:17Jesus Yeah

1:22:23Pat McAfee:You doing science? No science I'm on a lot of science You should think about it You know, especially Shaq, we got a putter actually for you here Oh boy This is one of those big ones Okay? Perfect for you Looks normal Alright Shaq, here's what we'll do Okay? We'll do five putts each of you And We'll go from here down to that one Actually, actually We'll go down here We'll go this way so we can see you from the front. Actually, which one is better, Foxy? This works right here. Okay, this works right here. You'll be putting this way from this area over here. You'll take five putts on. You can do them back to back to back so you can get a groove.

1:23:00Pat McAfee:You play golf much, Shaq? Not at all. Yeah, not a single second of golf for Shaq. I don't think they make clubs for a man who's 7-1. A little soft there. I feel like you have good touch, though, Shaq. Okay, Shaq, here's the deal. You have three putts left. That one's definitely not going in. Aim a little left. If you make more putts than Ty Schmidt, we will double your putts, first of all. We'll donate. Might it bounce in? Oh. Okay, you got two more putts here, Shaq. If you beat Ty, we'll double the amount of mix that you have versus Ty. Everyone's going right, Shaq. Fix the putt. Aim left. Aim left, Shaq.

1:23:35Pat McAfee:Jeez. Ladies and gentlemen, Shaquille O 'Neal, if he makes this, we will count it as two. Same miss every time. I'll tell you. I did not expect that from professional action. Try it out. And you picked up a ball in the putter. You picked up a ball in the putter. Okay, Ty, all you got to do is make one putt here, and you beat Shaquille O 'Neal in golf. The Shaq Olympics going not great here. What's he doing? Yeah, you're trying to block him a little bit. Shaq, what size shoe again do you have here? 22. Okay, you're back with Reebok, right? Hey, hey, hey, back up. Yes, I am back with Reebok. So if he makes one putt, if he makes one putt, you will be completely defeated in the Thunderdome Shaq Olympics.

1:24:11You're right.

1:24:12Pat McAfee:I don't like that. I want you to come here and win, Shaq. I want you to feel comfortable here. I'm going to be him, though. I'm not going to worry about it. D-butt? Did he use proper... Never mind. Oh, no touch, Shaq. Early thoughts on Ty Schmidt's golfing ability? He hits the balls a little hard. A little stiff on the balls. Yes, very stiff on the balls. Favorite movie you've ever been in? Any Adam Sandler movie. He's the greatest, isn't he? Sandman's the goat. Yeah, we all understand that. Okay, we're 0 for 2 here, maybe 0 for 3, not 100 % sure. Maybe no made putts, then everybody's a big-time loser.

1:24:51Pat McAfee:Shaq, favorite NBA team this year? San Antonio Spurs. Is that because Wemby? Do you have respect for him? Ty, 0 for 4. Super respect. He's playing great. Okay, defense aside, he's a weapon. Should he be the MVP? I don't know what the criteria for the MVP is anymore. You hate the MVP? Is this like first ballot Hall of Famer when Bill Belichick doesn't get in? What do you mean for criteria of MVP? The criteria is all over the place. I thought it was the baddest player in the league. Now it's the stats and team stats and this and that. This is his last putt. No, it was five. No, I think it was four.

1:25:25Pat McAfee:I think it was four. If he makes his putt, we're going to donate money. There's a guy in the back, the country guy. Oh, that's Tony Diggs. He's from Pittsburgh, actually. He watched Kevin Costner as a cowboy and turned into one. Okay, got it. Mad respect. I'm probably going to turn into Shaq after today. Shaq, a lot of movie appearances, a lot of businesses. 390-some businesses you're involved with. Is that an accurate number? You guys suck at golf. This is disgusting. Okay, 0-0. Okay, so 0-0. You are still undefeated. You are still undefeated. Shaquille O 'Neal, this is an NBA 3 here now. As I disappear behind you as if it is a solar eclipse.

1:25:57Pat McAfee:How many would you like to shoot? Just the first one to make a 3, 5 attempts. Well, that doesn't count. That's two different sets of rules. Is it going to be the first one to make a 3, 5 attempts? Max? The first one to make a three, but we get five total attempts. So if we don't do it in five, then it's a tie. You're definitely going to make it in five, Shaq. I've seen you on the internet. People mock your shot. Yeah, right. Uh-oh. Okay. All right. That range finder. Okay. Shaquille O 'Neal getting a feel for it. That'll be the first shot. Darius J. Butler now, nine-year NFL vet, will be shooting from a very comfortable gym.

1:26:29Pat McAfee:He shoots in here every day, Shaq. It's all right. Oh, he got a nice shot. Okay. And it's over. And it's over. Okay, now Darius J. Butler. I don't like it. I don't like that it happened, but I do appreciate how it went. He shouldn't have called the black guy out for a three-four. That was very interesting. Yeah, I thought that was very interesting. I for sure thought you were going to call it the long-haired guy. Okay, now we're doing football throw into the net over here above the trash can. You could hit top left or top right. For glory. This is Connor. Yeah, from over here. I think you got to throw it here.

1:27:03Pat McAfee:More straight on, Shaq. Okay, so Darius J. Butler on this national championship Monday knocks down the first NBA three. Shaq, have you thrown a football before? All state. All state?

1:27:15Pat McAfee:Okay, con man. Now, can we get those balls? What's that? No, it did not go. It went under the net, Shaq. We're not going to be changing the rules. San Antonio Spurs, how about in the east? Boston Celtics? I'm going to go with the New York Knicks. Oh. Really? How come? Because I'm about to get on Cat's ass, and he's about to start playing at another level. Big Cat. I watched Cat here in Indiana whenever we had a series with them last year. Him running back and forth. I don't know how you big guys do it. Lumbering. How do you feel about the amount of games and all that shit? It feels like there's real conversations about it, especially with the 65 thing with the awards.

1:27:50Pat McAfee:How do you feel about the state of NBA when it comes to that? Don't change it. If we did it, you can do it. You're making way more money, so you need to be doing more. I love how OG old head you are. Okay, Con, man, you got two balls here. Connor, he just lost a D-butt in here. Oh, no. Okay, a little high. A little outside. Could be a tie. And you lose again, Shaq. Damn. That's right. On your head. Yeah. Yeah. Con, how's that feel? Oh, it feels so good, yo. Shaquille O 'Neal, suck it. No, that's not right. That's not right. That is not how that should have went. Now, Shaq, the boys are in here every day.

1:28:29Pat McAfee:You know, we kind of know the altitude around here. We know the games. We know the holes. We know the hoop. Can I tell them the secret? Yeah. Pat told me to let you guys win. That would never happen. This is a meritocracy, so we know that's a lie. Yeah, Shaq, thank you for being such a hero there for the boys. Always, always. Shaq, we have this graphic we made, mostly because we just want to kind of put you over a bit for what you've done. The big empire. You've called yourself that before, I assume? Yes, I have. Okay, as you should. Are you currently the president of Reebok basketball again? Yes, I am.

1:28:57Pat McAfee:Okay, are we getting back in a big way? When do we get shoe deals? Whenever you want. Okay, we would love to negotiate a nice Reebok design. Reebok back in a huge way. Congrats. I'll tell you what, I could make it happen right now. I've got my girl Amanda. She can come in here and get it done. Yeah. Darius Haycov Jr. They just signed in from Arkansas. He's a weapon. You brought AI back, too, I saw in the photo. I like what you're doing there. Those new age of Reese's, no bullshit, clean. And also, now she's a member of Atlanta. Probably going to do a little bit more numbers because they're a better team.

1:29:24Pat McAfee:Okay, so we're getting a Reebok deal today. That is so cool. Look at us. Congratulations. Hey, thank you. DeChambeau. Amanda, come on out here. No, not right now. There's going to be some stuff to figure out. There are some comps out there. But 370 businesses. You're in. Founded Shaquille O 'Neal XLG. Obviously, we see that in JCPenney. I wore some of your clothes on TV this year. I appreciate you doing that because I can look thinner. Platinum hip-hop album. People forget. People forget. You're getting back into music as a DJ, but I also saw you spitting like two weeks ago. What is it? Are you just always around music?

1:29:55I mean, you know, I just like having fun. You know, as a kid, certain days I wanted to be L.O. cool jay all the days i wanted to be dr j so it's not about you know doing certain things just about you know fulfilling my like if i can just get out there with like my favorite artists and you know just spend time with them in the studio that's actually more important than you know selling

1:30:12Pat McAfee:albums to me how about whenever you're djing in the entire place you go you look like you're having the time of your life you're wearing some uh pajama pants ass shit and then you got hilarious shoes on and then there's thousands of people in front of you and your big ass is the largest dj of all time but it feels like you're very invested in that i remember a time on social is like you practicing at your house, like really trying to buy into it, still doing DJ Diesel? Yeah, I just had a show at the Spear, but, you know. Spear? Spear, are you guys athletes? Because I don't want to disrespect you.

1:30:40No. Okay, so. Yeah, JV, three years. Us three know how it feels to come in an arena at 16 ,000, 17 ,000. It gives you a certain adrenaline rush that you don't get in real life. So when I stopped playing, I didn't have that. So when I went to a DJ event one time, I think Tiesto was DJ. there was like a half a million people out there when I was on stage with him. And I just felt that, you know, I felt that, you know, finals, game seven rush. I didn't have. And then you get your Jack Milwaukee shit out going, you're way too big for doing that.

1:31:12Pat McAfee:There's no reason that a human body can do all that shit. And then as we wrap up the big empire, the shackalicious slams and the shackalicious XL gummies. The official gummy of the NCAA final four. Congrats, man. Bang. It's good, too. as somebody that doesn't eat, I'm a chocolate guy. I eat chocolate, okay? I like chocolate. The sugar candy's not really my thing. Nerds had a run with me. Sure. Nerds had a run with me. You got a Nerds thing that's unbelievable. Maybe the Twizzler rope thing. The pork peels. Yeah, the fruit by the foot. Yep. Maybe had a run in my life. I'm 38 years old, though. These are all like two-month runs.

1:31:46Pat McAfee:Always back to chocolate. These are really good, man. I don't know how you crack the coat, but congratulations. Thank you. Appreciate you. Thanks for having me. And you too, I'll let you win. That's not true. You want to go back? You want to do that? Absolutely. I beat your ass once. I can do it again. How about you do a three-point shooting contest with him? One shot each. All right, deal. $100 ,000 donation. $100 ,000 donation. $50 ,000. All right, deal. That's a good deal. Fine. That's a good idea. We'll match. I'm matching you, though, right? We're doing$100 ,000? Let's do it. Okay, so$50 ,000 each.

1:32:13Pat McAfee:Shaq, you're the man. Go, come in. Shaq, we're happy you're on ESPN television, by the way. Allstate! Yeah, got it. We got TV over there. Careful. I'm just showing you. I'm just messing around. All right. One three for each of you. Shaq, after this, you got to go rock a crowd like you normally do. We appreciate you. Oh, no. Oh, no. He threw that away from you on purpose. That was gamesmanship, Shaq. Shaquille O 'Neal. Oh, no. Con man. Con man. Oh, no. First to make five shots,$50 ,000 donation. Oh, no. Oh, no. Come on, Connor. What if neither of them make it? Hey, Shaq can end this day just telling you to...

1:33:03Pat McAfee:Yeah, I got it. Oh, so close. That's 0 for 3 for Shaq, 0 for 2 for Connor. Oh! That's a$50 ,000 donation from Shaquille O 'Neal. Potentially he's wearing the Tyrese Halliburton shoes. Oh, no, Shaq. Oh, no, Shaq. Shaq's got Toms on. You got the Hallys on. Obviously, that's the difference. Shaq, we appreciate you, man. Hell, yeah. We'll see you tonight. Good afternoon. Thank you, Shaq. Have a nice year, Shaq. Thanks, man. Appreciate you, Shaq. Appreciate you, Shaq. Thank you, everybody. How you doing? Good job. That's awesome. Shaq. Good luck tonight. All right, Shaq. Yep. You know what to do with it.

1:33:52Pat McAfee:In the middle one. Boom. Hey, that's – and maybe you make that on the way out right there. Yeah. I'll donate to a charity if you choose it. All right. All right. That's Thunderdome hoops.

1:34:10Pat McAfee:That's 13. Yeah. That had a good run. Add it. That thing had a good run. We didn't get it on camera, asshole. We could have got it on camera. He just broke our hoop there. Foxy, can you turn the jawbone around and zoom in on that hoop? Where is it? Right down there at lower right. You see that hoop down there? In the middle. In the hallway. Yeah, just ripped that off. Obviously, right above there. Go ahead and zoom out now, Foxy. You can show where it was. Boom. Right on that. He just grabbed it, ripped it, smiked it, kept it moving. He's dominant. You can feel when he shows up there He's ever-present Congratulations Huge 2019 These are in a front office up there Things of the past I appreciate him just snagging them up I'm going to take them out there These are really good I appreciate it Quick time out Some breakfast intel you want to know about Kodiak Frozen Power Waffles And Flapjacks are built for busy mornings Heat it, eat it, and you're out the door.

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1:36:20Pat McAfee:Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is another basketball goat, college hoops goat, friend of the program, a man who's obviously won multiple national championships at Lucas Oil Stadium, where they will be deciding who is the next world champion of college hoops tonight as UConn takes on Michigan. Who else would have a better thought on how it should go than Coach K? Yeah, Coach! Don't you see this? You looked so small next to him. What do you mean, Coach K? I thought you were a bigger guy. Coach K, I'm 6 '1 and a half. Put cowboy boots on 6 '3. I love what the Southerns have done with the cowboy boots.

1:36:58Pat McAfee:It's a good idea. You can dress it up, you can dress it down. He's 7 '1, Coach. Okay, I'm sure you've been next to Shaq as a gold medal winner alongside of him. Your sport is crazy how tall people can be. That's almost like a decider on whether or not you can make it, right? Isn't that kind of a thing you've got to scout whenever you're trying to recruit for Duke? Yeah, there's a 7-3 guy playing tonight who's pretty good. Yeah, pretty good, I'd say. Let's talk about these teams tonight. Michigan has just beat everybody's ass. I should have done more research. I should know. Have any of your Duke teams just dominating throughout the entire tournament?

1:37:32Pat McAfee:You almost were worried about running into something at the title game? Or how do you feel about this Michigan run that they've had through March as we enter April? Yeah, I think it's as dominant as anybody's ever had. We've never had where you're winning every game by high double digits. And they looked like a machine on Saturday, how fast they get it down the court. and uh you know playing arizona arizona was a team that did everything in the paint and all of a sudden you have a 7-3 guy there and two 6-9 guys uh for michigan they are a big big basketball team and uh yeah connecticut you know i think is as tough as anybody and i think if they can control tempo, not let it be an up and down game because Michigan's bench is a little bit better.

1:38:30But tempo, I think, is a big factor in this game.

1:38:33Pat McAfee:Okay, riddle me this, Coach K. Dan Hurley, 18-1 against the spread over his last 19 tournament games. They were underdogs against Illinois. They had beat Illinois by 13 points. The reason why I know that is because Dan Hurley said that in the postgame. Is there just some coaches in some teams that are always going to battle, I guess? And is this UConn team and a Dan Hurley-led team kind of the epitome of what that looks like, basically? Well, there's, you know, the word grit. And you guys say dogs, you know? Like, they got them, you know? And they're going to fight you for 40 minutes. And, yeah, the fact that they show up and do that every day, every game is a testimony to how he practices with them.

1:39:22His practices are really difficult. And so in a lot of respects, the games are easier. And he's a cheerleader for his team during the game. But in practice, he's not a cheerleader. He's a taskmaster. And it's paid off. He's very much like his father. His father's one of the great coaches at any level. And, you know, it's the Hurley mystique. And God bless him. You know, Danny and I are very good friends. And I'm very proud of the guy he's become and the great coach that he's become.

1:40:00Pat McAfee:Yeah, he is certainly a trigger for headlines, the way he acts, you know, the way he operates on the floor. I think he takes on a character, you know. How about his walk? He's not that way all. Yeah, he's got all the – what you just said. Yes, exactly. He's the best. No, he does it. And, well, that's part of being really good. You know, being in character, you know, he's there for the entire game. You know, he's never sitting down. He's orchestrating what's going on on the court, the emotion of an arena. I mean, he's got his fingers on a whole bunch of things during the game, not just the X's and O's.

1:40:46Pat McAfee:It's a special show. I'm excited for tonight, especially at Lucas Oil Stadium. A lot of people, 50 ,000 plus, I guess, watching the Final Four. Who knows what tonight looks like? I was looking for some, you know, closer tickets. Those are all very expensive. Now, Seeky can give you 30 bucks off. You're not going to realize it. I don't think with where the tickets are, but that's how special it is. Speaking of being special, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back live from Manatic in Ohio. College football national champion, Super Bowl champion, Ryder Cup winner. AJ Hawk. Yeah, Hawk. Hawk has a question.

1:41:14It's how long time you showed up. Yeah. I appreciate it. I was enjoying Shaq actually letting all the boys win and all the Shaq Olympics that they had going on. So that was fun. But, Coach, as far as tonight, I guess, what do you say to a team? I know we've talked about it before. There's no big rah-rah speeches. You don't have to motivate guys when you're on the biggest stage. But what do you say to them pregame, and what are you looking for early from both teams? Well, it's one of those sets of three words that we talked about a couple of weeks ago. You know, first of all, I think, you know, have fun.

1:41:47You know, don't be tight. You know, fun is a big thing. Fight is another. And then forever. So there are three F's. And forever, if you do those first two things you're going to be remembered forever you're going to be a national champion let's go and kick ass and you know something like that something short and sweet and but also to sense the mood of the team if they're ready something like that is good is really good short and sweet and then get them all together and let's go

1:42:29Pat McAfee:Did you guys back in the day You should smack guys in the face You know way back in the day You know they talk about nuns with rulers right Back in the day in school You know hug them a little bit Hug them But never a slap By the way Shaq gave you all that stuff I don't have that many gifts I know I know I feel that I'm going to Send you I love what this relationship has become I don't know if you saw, AJ. I'm getting wood. I'm getting wood from Coach. You're getting wood. Hey, are you an extra or double X? I'm a large. Thanks, Coach. Did you not see? Oh, you killed. Okay. You haven't seen it.

1:43:12Pat McAfee:You haven't seen the science transition. You got the science for the hair. I'm taking the science to get rid of the gut. But on that note. These things shrink a little bit. So I'm going to. I got to send them at least. Maybe some of those USA basketball jackets. I'll send you a double X for AJ. Okay, that's smart. That's where AJ's at, fresh off a vacation of eating and working out. That's all he's been doing for the last week. USA basketball shirts. Yeah, I love a couple of those. So cool. I'm repping U.S. today. Yeah, smart. I don't have those. Make a call. I'm a retired U.S. basketball coach.

1:43:50Pat McAfee:You did a lot of great things for Team USA, and we're certainly thankful for that. But USA does win today because we have the national championship tonight. Go ahead, D-Butt. Yeah, some big-time players dealing with some injuries coming into this game. As a coach, do you have kind of like, I guess, an initial game plan and then a backup game plan if one of the big-time players for either side goes down? Yeah, well, you know, Michigan has shown that without their big guy, he only played 14 minutes, Lindenburg, and they didn't miss a beat. I'm hoping that solo place tonight I don't know what the word out today is because boy he was balling on Saturday I thought he was he gives them when you look at solo ball you say is he an NFL cornerback he is tight and good what a good looking guy he is what a good looking athlete and he plays with a verve.

1:44:50You know, I thought he was as important as anybody for Connecticut. And you're facing that guy. If he doesn't play, they're in a lot of trouble, I think. What's a verve? What's a verve? Yeah. Verve. Like, what the hell? You know what a goddamn verve. No, I don't.

1:45:11Pat McAfee:I was trying to use context clues, but I could mean so many different things. Oh, you know, moxie. You don't know about it. Oh, Verve. I'm going to drop that one into my world. Verve refers to great energy, vitality, enthusiasm, or artistic spirit. Often described as a lively sparkle in performance or creative work. It embodies vigor, dash, and panache. Frequently used to describe lively writing music or personality. Ah, yeah. Welcome to my Rolodex, Verve. That's incredible news. Thank you for that, Coach. He is that. No, I've used that. That doesn't make me old school, does it? No, it makes you innovative.

1:45:46Pat McAfee:Because I never, I didn't know that word existed. Thank you. Yeah, you olders, I wasn't going to say olds. That would have been very rude of me. You olders have been around a lot longer. You've seen generations of words come and go, you know. So any of these ones that you have from the, some of them probably not. Not that you would say ever, but you know. But ones like that. That verve though is a good one. Let's go ahead and bring those, let's bring those all the way back. So I'm very grateful for that. And I did not know what verve means, but that is a good way to describe old buddy. He is an absolute sensation.

1:46:16Pat McAfee:Now let's talk about this Michigan team and how great they were in the Final Four shooting. Go ahead, Tone. Yeah, Coach, last time you were on, we kind of talked about the shooting sites, the sight lines in these big stadiums, and you said it's not too bad in Lucas Oil. Dusty May decided to have his team go out onto the field of the big house and shoot on a portable hoop there. Have you ever done anything like this? Do you think that's a good idea? Now that all the teams have played or both teams have played a game in Lucas Oil, So you think that's less of a factor? Yeah, it is less of a factor.

1:46:50No, I never did anything. When I grew up in the city of Chicago, he played outside. So, you know, it's a windy city. You have to adjust for that. I don't know how Dusty did that. I don't know if he expects some, you know, wind currents in Lucas Oil. But, you know, I think more than practice, it was to loosen his team up. you know that's got to be a lot of fun so again making sure you're loose i don't i don't think that did much for their uh their shooting percentage oh my god i love that you heard

1:47:24Pat McAfee:this you're like that's cute is there wind out there or is this like a stadium do they have a dome on that place i i appreciate you saying good idea dusty i like what we're doing for the boys but it was being reported as if it fixed their sight lines yeah they were they were actually shooting that way and you read that and you puked it sounds like you said yeah right this is nowhere near the same. I don't know. We can be too... I don't know about fixing sight lines. Go ahead, AJ. Go ahead, AJ. We're going too far here. Trying to be the best. Let's get back to the basketball. You got it. Go ahead, AJ.

1:48:00With that being said, Coach, we saw Coach Hurley with the infamous kind of... I don't know if you call it a headbutt. They're just kind of putting his head together with the referee. What's your thoughts on that? Have you ever become physical with the referee in your long time as a coach? AJ, welcome back. No, I wanted to. Oh, never did? Actually, you want to give, yeah, you get angry with them. He wasn't angry there. And I think, I'm not sure he actually headbutted him. I think from that point of view, it looks that way. But if it's a side, I'm not sure that he actually did that. I thought Roger Ayers was really good about that.

1:48:42It's a moment. The game is over. They just have a fraction of a second. Actually, it's pretty funny. Danny looked like he was coming from a bachelor party.

1:48:59Pat McAfee:Yeah, he certainly had jackets halfway off, obviously just had a time of his life. What a shot, a moment that will live on forever for March Madness from the freshman from Indiana. Allegedly, reports were they couldn't hear the ref. So he was trying to go in, and he was in his zone of we just won. Couldn't hear the ref, so he was just trying to get down in there. He was euphoric, man. That's another word for you, you know? I know true euphoria. That one we know. I felt that. AJ, you've seen it. You've seen it happen a couple times. We've witnessed that a few times. Yes, we have. And people have told us that this is what true euphoria feels like.

1:49:34Pat McAfee:And we weren't feeling it with him, but it was certainly mentally we could feel it. It was a gift, you know, like there's no way at that point that you expect that you're going to win. You know, with us having the ball and bounding, you hope. And so when that happens, you're going to go crazy on that. like boom and then caravan makes one of the great passes of all time yeah you love the caravan pass you said uh you thought he was a coach on the floor to give it back to the freshmen such a huge deal we talked to mullins uh obviously right before that and he said well there's four seconds when i passed it so i guess i only got two like what yeah i guess i'm putting this thing in he seemingly had no idea how big the moment was got a bunch of studs on that particular team cannot wait for tonight who's going to be remembered and etched in history forever now let's move to some other college hoops conversations even in Carolina.

1:50:31Pat McAfee:Go ahead, Ty. Yeah, coach, last time you were on, we asked about the UNC job opening, and I think it was maybe last night. A lot of reports have come out that have said like, hey, they're really kind of centered in on Billy Donovan, and that seemed, they're kind of waiting for him to say no, I guess. I believe he was on your staff for a period of time with Team USA. If that is the case, what do you think, how well do you think he would do at UNC? I know he was very successful in college for a long time, but how difficult do you think that transition from the NBA back to college would be considering how much the game has changed since he was last coach?

1:51:08He wasn't on my staff, but he's a great friend. He's one of the really great guys and great coaches. He's just inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame a year ago. you know he was a great player you talk about bopping the wood he did that as a player yeah he did I think I think it's much more difficult to go from pro to college than college to pro as a coach when you go from college to pro you have an organization around you that understands the environment and has been in it for years. When you go to college, there's so many nitpicky things. And also, you're dealing with, although now it's older, but you're dealing with guys who necessarily haven't proven themselves yet or in the pros.

1:52:14you're going to be like me coaching the U.S. team. Yeah. In some respects, that was easier for me because, yeah, they were accomplished, mature. It's a matter of putting them in a system and getting them, you know, one one form of belief in one another. But, you know, their skills were already there. and then how do you maximize by putting those skills together with college, you're developing skills. And, but the things around, you know, the NCAA rules, you know, NIL, transfer port, like there's a much more BS to put up with.

1:53:01Pat McAfee:I would say so on that note, it's happening in football too. You know, it's happening. Yeah, no, there's, you know and it's bureaucratic you know bureaucratic bs oh yeah which is the worst bs in the world do you think because we come from sports we feel that way because sports are a meritocracy i do believe so whenever we run into bureaucratic bullshit we are immediately turned off by it do you think that is because we're from sports yeah i i think uh a bureau yeah bureaucracy see they they say you can't do it because it hasn't been done or it costs too much money if you're an athlete a coach you say i can do that and i'll be willing to do whatever i can to do it it's more i can get it done instead here the here are a couple reasons why we're not even going to try to get it done and uh you're like stuck in mud and bureaucratic mud thank you for explaining how I feel.

1:53:58Pat McAfee:It just feels like you. It felt like I was talking to a therapist right there. Like, hey, the reason why you don't like this is because this is basically what this says. You have been taught your entire life this is how this goes. So it's just a natural clash. You can't. You're as an athlete, you're instinctive. You seize on opportunities. If you're a bureaucrat, you put the brakes on and say, whoa, let me figure this out. why you know so i'd rather be on the side of the athlete yeah me too amen i'll tell you that speaking of athlete one that's taking over we have about a minute and a half before a hard out so while you're giving your answer to connor's question i might cut you off or though you see a countdown on the bottom of the screen you should utilize the countdown as your own and send people off espn as we continue digitally go the show is still live after the thing hits zero you you just we'll have to address that we're no longer on ESPN.

1:54:56Pat McAfee:You've been on the show six, seven times now. This should not be a problem for you, Coach. You're a professional on TV. Go ahead, Connor. Yeah, Coach, over the weekend, the player passed talking about Cooper Flagg, former Duke Blue Devil. It feels like he is on this meteoric rise right now, and he's kind of understanding how the NBA is working as his first season comes to a close. What are you seeing out of him? And is this one of those things where you finish the first season, your rookie year, and you kind of know, like, okay, this guy's going to be all NBA within the next few years, possibly one of the faces of the league?

1:55:28No, he is going to be one of the faces of the league. He's the real deal. And Jason Kidd, the Mavericks coach, has done a terrific job of putting him in positions where he can use his talent, has played him a lot of minutes, and has really, he's been their leader.

1:55:49Pat McAfee:Oh, no, it broke you. The countdown broke you. Let's break some news here. You'll continue about Cooper flagging the state of basketball on the other side on digital, on YouTube, on ESPN +, Disney +, and TikTok Live. Mike Malone, formerly of the Nuggets, is going to be hired to Carolina. Wow. Pete Damm will just kind of report that as we roll through. We continue. We'll see you tomorrow with a new national champion. Goodbye. Okay, Coach K. You had a lot of time. Yeah, we had a lot of time there. Malone getting hired, though, fresh out of. Obviously, he gets pushed out of the Nuggets right before the playoffs last year, right?

1:56:21Pat McAfee:Yes. After winning a title. Is that true? It was reported by Schefter, which people are not going to be happy about. And, no, he said it was Pete Thammer. That's true. North Carolina intends to hire longtime NBA coach Michael Malone as the school's next basketball coach. He's an NBA championship coach with the Denver Nuggets from 2022 to 2023. Has won 510 games as an NBA coach. Okay, we know Mike Malone. We assume you do as well. Has great moxie and character in Verve. I think that could be good for college hoops. Do you agree with that? And how do you feel about the signing? Is North Carolina?

1:56:55Pat McAfee:Why? Is North Carolina about to come back and start smacking Duke around? Uh-oh. Uh-oh, Coach K. NBA champions coming to town. UNC loves Hearn. Well, they had an NFL champion hired as a coach and Duke beat Carolina in football this year. That doesn't mean Coach Belichick isn't a great coach. Okay, okay. There is time for adjustment. That's why I said it takes longer if you ever get adjusted for coming from the pros to college. And Mike is a terrific coach and a terrific guy. There's a learning curve. And if that is true, So whatever the reasoning is, maybe they're changing. They have now two pro coaches coaching in college.

1:57:54The infrastructure of their athletic department is now going to become more of a pro organization, which I think if that's true, I think everybody should be doing that. and the fact that he knows how to do that, and so does Coach Belichick. Maybe that's a sign that they're moving in that direction organizationally.

1:58:22Pat McAfee:We shall see what the right move is for everybody in the future. We're obviously in an ever-changing time of college sports. There was an executive order signed this weekend for the SCORE Act, basically, which I think is what has been worked on. Is that accurate? I don't know if it's exactly that, but the thing about the executive order, you know, it says that a kid can only transfer once. And if you, well, if he transfers a second time, you'd have to sit out a year. The thing about that executive order, it hasn't gone to court, you know, with a kid that wants to transfer more than once and doesn't want to sit out.

1:59:03And I would think that that would be hard to rule against that young man since a normal student can transfer as many times as he or she wants to. I was a little bit surprised about that aspect of it because it will be challenged. Labor laws too, right? Won't labor laws come into play because you're taking away potential money? There's no way. Also, you're hurting right now. A college athlete has shown the ability to make money and make a living during his or her four years in college. And to go to the best place for it, you'll be taking away that right for them to look for their best. I just think legally that's going to be a tough thing to hold up to.

1:59:57Pat McAfee:Good luck out there. good luck

2:00:09Pat McAfee:you lost your pen yeah I dropped it gotta hang on to that you had a big moment against Shaq earlier today though we should never forget that huge dude hey he beat Shaq in basketball football and basketball yeah I don't know coach I don't know maybe you're making us all a little bit better because there's no way that should happen I don't think still got eligibility of Shire needs me. Yeah, something to think about. Five years in total, you know, that's part of that whole rule, too. And he won't transfer. Five years, the five years total. I'm, you know, I'm supportive of. And I'm not saying I'm not supportive of the other.

2:00:41I just don't see how it, I don't think.

2:00:45Pat McAfee:You're living in reality is what you're saying. These are things where there's like fantasy things that are mentioned. Like, I wish we should have this. And it's like, there's no way that's going to happen though. So like in reality, what do we need to happen? I learned about that during the first CBA negotiations. Whereas like, I was a young buck and I think I'm like, we should just get this. We should do this. Get rid of THC testing. What are we even doing? It's like, okay, now let's go to reality because they also have opinions on that side as well on how this all should go. It's like, oh, so we got to get the best deal that we can get done done is basically what it is, which I think you're alluding to.

2:01:17Pat McAfee:It's like, hey, the transfer thing sounds good, but we don't think that's going to hold up the deal probably. That is probably going to be a part that is going to hold up the entirety. So maybe they'll continue to try to tinker with that and get this whole thing done because we love college sports, especially here in Indianapolis. This place was abuzz the last four days. Everybody's here, Coach. We obviously wish you would have been able to make it, but you've got a chance to feel it. Now, it all comes to a head tonight. D-Bott has a question for you, Coach. Yeah, I got to ask one of the greatest basketball minds ever.

2:01:46Who wins tonight? Is UConn getting number seven or Michigan getting number two tonight? Well, I'd like to know the injury report on, you know, Landon Bork and solo ball. I think it'd be tough for Connecticut to win if Solo's not playing. They're not as deep. I think Michigan is favored, and probably rightfully so. It'll come down to tempo. And, you know, it can – the thing about – I think Michigan's deeper. and I love Mara. I don't think there's anybody, well, there isn't anybody like him. He's 7 '3". He's even taller than Shaq. The thing that'll be interesting tonight for me is Michigan defending Connecticut.

2:02:47Danny and his team run these sets like, wow, they're unbelievable sets and they're running all the time. They're moving all the time. does that negate some of the bigness, the fact that Michigan is bigger? In other words, you've got 7-3 and 2-6-9 guys at the front line for Michigan. Two of those guys are going to have to guard Perimeter and Caravan, who is like a perimeter. And how they defend that, I don't know how much zone they've played. and uh and remember connecticut is uh one of the slowest tempo teams in the united states and and they've been that doesn't mean they're slow they're just slower so if they can reduce the number of possessions like that but in controlling tempo not holding the ball but making michigan play defense you know running running their butts through all these sets i I think that that'll be the key to the game and how that's done.

2:03:57And? And I still think Michigan should win. But Danny's been in so many games where somebody should have, and they did. And so this is going to be a very –

2:04:15Pat McAfee:So who are you taking? It sounds like you're thinking maybe UConn because you just remember Dan Hurley. You're like, wait a minute. Yeah, the thing is, I remember a couple weeks ago, I said Big Ten hasn't won in 26 years a national championship. And I don't know if by saying that, I've kind of messed around with the basketball gods. And they say, maybe they're going to have pity on you. I don't know. Because you were kind of crying when I was saying that. No, I was just like, you know. You were pontificating. I'm just telling you about the North. And I'll tell you what, you olders from the South, you know, ACC and the SEC, Nick Saban, yourself, you guys just don't really understand because back in your day, you're never a thought, never even a thought.

2:05:05Pat McAfee:Nowadays, though, who just won the women's national championship? That's a big turn. The North. The North over there in Los Angeles. The North over there in Los Angeles. Who won the crown? Big 12, the north over there in the Appalachian over there. Who won that? By the way, I'm not from the south. Chicago, I get it. He's a big guy at heart. You understand. You see what's going on. The north side of Chicago, so just so you know that. What baseball team is that? There's only one baseball team in Chicago, the Cubs. Go Cubs, go. Go, go, go. Hey, Chicago Did you watch Lovable Reunion? Did you watch Lovable Reunion?

2:05:49Pat McAfee:Sorry. Lovable Reunion with Grandpa Rossi and Anthony Rizzo. They're doing like a full reunion podcast because it was 10 years ago. No, I haven't seen that. Yeah, why would you? You'll love it. You will enjoy it. We live in the past. Yeah, we haven't won very much. But when we do, we celebrate it for years and years. instead of winning another one where we could celebrate for you. I love that. Coach, you've been amazing for us. We appreciate it. Hopefully we'll get a chance to catch up with you maybe tomorrow, you know, post-national championship run. If not, we just want to let you know you crushed it for us.

2:06:26Pat McAfee:You were so incredibly kind to us. We are very, very grateful for that. Thank you for the wood. Thank you for the cheap-ass T-shirt that you're sending that said, I want you to wash it. It will shrink two sizes. I appreciate everything, Coach. All right. I've loved being with you guys. You have quite a team. And boy, what a show you had today. You get people. You got some really great people today. Not that you don't on other shows, but to have Jim Nance and Shaq and Green. Coach freaking K. And Coach K. Coach K on there. You only made us better, brother, and make us better. We're very, very grateful.

2:07:03All right. Well, thank you, guys.

2:07:05Pat McAfee:And your hair has remained the same color the whole time. Sides are looking a little gray, but yep. Jeez. Jeez. You deserve that. Ladies and gentlemen, living legend, coaching icon, friend of the program, Coach K. Thank you, buddy. Hey, Coach. Hey, Jay, how you doing, pal? I'm doing great, man. Miss you guys. But, yeah, it's good to be back. It was actually very fun sitting there watching Shaq compete against the boys. Yeah, you know, obviously we knew that was coming, just kind of hijacking the whole thing, just kind of do Thunderdome Olympics with Shaq. I'm just happy you didn't rip the big hoops down.

2:07:37Yeah.

2:07:37Pat McAfee:Because I don't know how these brick walls would have done, Age. You know what I'm saying? He would have taken that thing right. Even like a little basic dunk of shacks would have taken that thing right off the wall. So I'm happy we kept him kind of distracted away from those. Yeah, smart. He took down the office one, like the room one that was above the walkway out there because obviously he's the only one that could just grab it like that because he's 7 '1". That thing was ripped off. I think we kind of have to keep that there now somehow in the way, but I think we do have to kind of keep it there.

2:08:06Pat McAfee:There's only 12 others. Put some ropes around it. Like, you know, when people wall off their logo in the middle of the locker room. Yeah, that's what it should be. And it should be the poles in between the ropes will just be shocked standing like this. Don't touch this. Give me that fucking thing. I fucking ripped it off. Didn't have it on camera. You should be filming me. That's what he was saying. Yeah. Literally, my only thing. It wasn't on fucking keys. I don't give a fuck. That's on you. Not on me. How many Emmys has this guy got? All of them? so many probably all of them emmys platinum rap album we forgot about that we brought that up today it's like jesus christ this guy was on it still is 370 businesses that money's so long for shaq beast unbelievable he does talk a lot of shit you know about the modern generation we did it so he said right here one right into it make more money you guys get they almost wanted to fly private planes, eat nice food.

2:09:04Pat McAfee:You got sleep doctors, nutritionists, and we did it. Nice hotels. They're always going to view it that way. That is how all the old heads are going to view. That's why AJ gets so pumped when he sees the Guardians out there. That's right. Yeah. Right, Edge? No, I wouldn't say that's the case, but this is something that's been going on forever. Don't you think the previous generations always, like, since sports have been a thing, I would imagine this has been going on. I mean, Jackie Moon in the tropics were on that bus. That's true. And now, you know, that's the way it goes. That's why the minor leaguers have been talking and shit about the major leaguers who didn't do the bus trips and shit.

2:09:35Pat McAfee:Paul Skeens said, just do better there. Paul said, you do better. You don't have to do that. It's kind of the thing. He did it for like a couple months. Speaking of doing better, how about the best of all time? You got some good heat. There's some good heat there. It's good healing. I'll tell you what. Just the truth. Somebody told me they were going to kill my kid. Sweet. Very nice to have you this weekend. It's like, okay, that even more so makes me believe. Got to do this for the future of the business. You know what I mean? for the future of the business. Cody could kind of hear something.

2:10:03Pat McAfee:I think there was some rumbling. Shout out to St. Louis, by the way. I know it's a tough time right now with your sports and everything like that. And I said some things that you might not like, but these are all just facts. But yeah, I mean, Randy and I obviously got a chance to chat at the combine. Some other things started taking place and I'm motivating, you know. And let's see where this all goes, huh? Let's see what happens, huh? Let's see how this rolls out here. Who knows? You think we're just... Oh, you think we just... You don't think there's multiple layers to this shit? like an onion brother okay exactly we don't have a lot of time obviously until mania just a few weeks away from 15 world titles being secured by randy orton and the business being saved saturday night wrestlemania i think we got off to a pretty good little start yeah i think we got off 20 years of history between cody rhodes and randy orton and randy orton is the greatest this guy's six 65275, AJ.

2:11:00Pat McAfee:He walks in a room, everybody goes, holy shit, that's what a WWE superstar is. That's what a sports entertainer is. So I've just been confused on why we're not... Huh? Yeah. There's tickets still available. Why aren't we fucking... This is the one. Yeah. This is the... What are we doing here? So I'm happy that I got a chance to be you know, in the year a couple times telling you, hey, now's the time. Killer. Now we go save the business. You know, Was that the only one? Geez. Was that the only one? You know that I was thinking about this? I don't know. We'll see. Was there ever a script, I wonder?

2:11:38Pat McAfee:No. This is real, cuz. Bang, bang. Fun times. Randy Orton's about to win 15. And what we're going to do is make sure my daughter, who's about to turn three, is going to have a WWE to be a fan of. Yeah, a respectful one. Thank God. Respectable one. A good one. Yeah. Now the 5 '5 guys I've heard aren't necessarily thrilled And I appreciate their services Oh that scumbag Adam Cole said something? No he's not in WWE Come on Tony He was at one point And he's not tall And I'd like to say to Adam Cole Adam Cole is a guy that I would watch Yeah I'm just saying now Anything that isn't Randy Orton Chompa was pissed?

2:12:22Pat McAfee:He's not in the WWE anymore I don't know. I don't know. Let's catch up on the roster here, Tony. What I'm saying is, Tony, catch up. Okay, please. Jeez. Sorry. This guy hasn't been watching because it – This guy used to be a fan. Perfect example. There's so many people that used to be a fan. He stopped watching. It's like this – We love these guys. What I'm saying, though, is anything that isn't Randy Orton right now, why are we doing it? Yeah. Like, what are we even – I said at the combine, I said, you look like a WWE superstar. A lot of these guys don't. Zach, this is – we got it. Looking at you, Sammy Zane.

2:12:51Okay. See, there's no reason for that.

2:12:54Pat McAfee:Sammy obviously does a lot for the business. We appreciate that. But we all understand the top of the card needs to look like the WWE. Exactly. Bang. And then all of a sudden, whenever this thing, this specimen directly from the wrestling gods is on the top of the marquee, everything else starts changing a little bit. Everything else starts moving a little different. So that's why I'm lucky enough to be in the year. of Randy Orton? Am I the only one? We'll find out. I'll tell you what, that's a tough ball shot there, Cody. Leg still got it. I'm in pretty good shape right now. And I appreciate Cody and what he said and responded back to.

2:13:37Pat McAfee:He knows long-term this is what is good. Deep down, he knows. He knows everything we said. Real. Let's save this thing. You're welcome. A lot of people said, why did Randy Orton say there's more than one role family in wrestling it's like do you think somebody may be reminding them of that you think somebody said why do we always care about somebody else's family yeah why is this one why how come not the man who's about to be 15 time world champions family who's fodder and fodder's fodder bled blood around this world for the business and they created the greatest of all time randy orton so you know there's a lot of different things but i'm not the only one that feels this way.

2:14:20Pat McAfee:I'm going to let people know on the internet. That's right. I'm not the only one that feels this way. We'll see how it all goes, Edge. We'll see how it all goes. But we're certainly on the road to WrestleMania. And it is fantastic. You should come watch AJ. Tickets still available. You can certainly get a deal with our friends at SeatGeek, I would assume. $30 off. But this is going to be a night that you're going to want to be at. Yeah. This is going to be a night that is talked about 20, 30 years from now. So I'm excited to be there. Pumped to be a part of it. And Randy Orton is a very easy sell.

2:14:49Pat McAfee:For me and any human with a brain. Yeah. AJ. Oh, yeah. How did it feel to be back in there? It's been a little bit. It was good to be back, you know. It was just good to be back and alive. But honestly, I feel like we're really doing a mission here. I feel like we're really doing a mission here. You're doing a service for wrestling, right? You're doing a service for the industry. For my daughter. Yeah. You know? And baby Bambino that's currently on the way. It's like, I would like them to be wrestling fans. Wrestling is life. Okay? Wrestling is actually life. that is how much I'm a fan of the business wrestling is like you view life differently if you're a wrestling fan but what it has become with who is it it's just I would like you know at a certain point enough is enough yeah let's go we got a 6 '5 275 guy here let's make sure everybody knows that whenever they see WWE this is WWE right super humans in actual human form like let's uh let's make sure we know that not that there's everybody shite but if you're taking up TV time over Randy Orton.

2:15:49Pat McAfee:It's going to be hard for me to like it. And that's for shoot, brother. Thank you, D-Buck. Were you pumped to hop in that car and get on the road to wrestling? Yeah. Fuck, shouldn't he? Bones been fucking bumping him. Yeah, he brought snacks. I hope there's multiple cars I'm not riding with that guy. I will. I'll ride shotgun. Bones? Bones got this new hair. His hair looks great. What happened? What'd he do? He's in the middle stage right now trying to grow it out. He quit the business. He was the biggest mark we knew, for sure. He quit the business whenever everything went down with old John Cena.

2:16:24Pat McAfee:He said, you know what? I'm back. I said, you know what? Thank you for that honor. Just know the next few weeks are going to be biblical. We're going to do it. Because it's what he's going to do.

2:16:42Pat McAfee:Maybe even you, AJ, you got some shit to say. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. I'll tell you what I did. I'm sorry. I did watch Jelly. I watched Jelly's YouTube. He's got a great YouTube channel going. Jelly behind the scenes, getting ready, stretching. Like, it was fun to see. It's cool to see Jelly's little transformation through the wrestling world and how he's working at it. Jelly Roll took an RKO from Randy. He just kind of got caught in the middle there. I don't think he made the right decision to kind of place himself there. I love Jelly Roll. Obviously, I was there whenever he got inducted into Grand Ole Opry.

2:17:09Pat McAfee:Lucky to be there. Thankful to be there. He obviously, multiple-time Grammy award winner, his concerts, I mean, sellout stadiums alongside Post are doing it again. I love Jelly Roll. He just made a flat-out strategic error trying to get in there and do that. And did he know that, you know, Randy was on an absolute kill spree? You know, because it's much bigger than just right now. This is for future generations. Also 15 world titles, but also, like, let's do this whole thing. Jelly Roll didn't know that. Maybe she should have told him that. Hey, listen, now's not the time to be getting in between Randy and Randy.

2:17:42Pat McAfee:Yeah, maybe. Mm-hmm. But Jelly should know. You really should know now, I think. Randy's a beast. He'll learn. What a monster. I did feel alive in there, though. I'm going to let you know. It was nice to be back. Felt like we were doing something special, H. How could you not? All right. We'll be back tomorrow. Fucking new national champion. Are you guys going now? Who's winning? What time are you guys going now? Let's pick the game. Yeah, you're right. We got to do that. Are you going now? Go call, H. Yeah. Yeah, I'm definitely doing that. 8.50 start time. Got to leave about 3.50 to get down there.

2:18:12Pat McAfee:Oh, one shiny moment. are you going to be there? you're going? I have to you're in the suite? bring your binocs it's not that bring your binocs but maybe bring some binocs it is a zoomed out photo I'm at a job, I'll move around if I need to alright, I'm telling you it's going to be tough to move around but I I trust your process Do they curtain off part of the stadium? No. No, it was pretty huge, dude. I mean, a basketball court is tiny. When you think of a football field compared to a basketball court, that looks tiny. It actually doesn't look that tiny in the stadium. It really doesn't. But it's, I mean, there are a lot of people in there.

2:18:59A lot of people.

2:19:00Pat McAfee:And there's a lot of roads shut down downtown. Yes. I think people that got into downtown to start the Final Four celebrations have had the time of their life. Because everything has just been perfect because you're in there. Getting in, much like anything that's great, going to be difficult. Once you're in, I've heard, it is fantastic. Certainly. But, boy, it has, I guess, you know, especially if you don't live downtown. I'm not a downtown boy. You know what I'm saying? That's a little difficult to get there. It is tough no matter what. Yeah, getting into Indy, especially with events. Shut down the city for these events, which is why it's such a good host.

2:19:32Pat McAfee:Yes. Like, willing to do whatever to make people feel comfortable and have a good time, which is why Indianapolis is such a good host. tonight the national championship will be decided downtown indy lucas oil stadium yukon takes on michigan michigan has been bta all the way since the first round yukon the little engine that could just a little tiny engine that oh no ah the biggies a real chip on the shoulder mentality Dogs who have obviously a buzzer beater in a massive moment. And maybe the basketball gods on their side because Coach Hurley wears the same suit for every single basketball college tournament game.

2:20:18Pat McAfee:He also wears the same underwear. So maybe the basketball gods say, you know what? We respect that. They do. This guy's sacrificing a lot of things right now. Probably smells like shit. Yeah. because I think those types of things, even if you clean them, I think they're like the next day beers, magic beers, where like once you have a beer or two, you're right back into what the night was before. I think once he sweats a little bit, it activates all of the sweat from all of the ears. I think, I'm pretty sure. And I believe his wife had to run back and get his rosary beads. So he has those on. I mean, the basketball gods might, yeah, thank you, Mr.

2:20:57Pat McAfee:Shirley. The basketball gods might literally be like, this psycho deserves it. That's what it's all about. I mean, this is the one. This psycho deserves it. But on the other side, Michigan seemingly blessed by the basketball gods as well. Not a lot of speed bumps. Not a lot of adversity. It's been a lot of we kick your ass, you just show up here. On that note, let's pick this game. Let's go to the talks at the table. I have Boston Conner, I have Ty Schmidt. Con man, six and a half point spread. Who do you like? How do you like it? Yeah, I'll take UConn plus six and a half. That's way too much.

2:21:25I don't know if they're going to win the game completely, but Dan Hurley's not going to – like I can't really envision UConn or Dan Hurley being down 10 with, you know, 15 seconds to go. I could see them being down 10 with two minutes and then bang, bang, bang, they're in the game just like against Duke. But six and a half points against a guy who's, what, 11-0 was the record correct in the final four in Sweet 16 and on against the spread. I don't know. I know it was 18-1 overall completely, but at the most important times, he's covering spreads six and a half i mean that is ridiculous they're one and a half point dogs and they won by 11 so i feel pretty good about uconn plus six and a half okay and records say

2:22:05Pat McAfee:you should feel good about dan hurley if you're putting money on a game especially with our friends at draft kings we're trying to get to crown yeah he has got a lot of crowns for a lot of people ty who are you taking a crown with yeah i mean it's the big 10 through and through you know we kind of said that it was the big 10's title to lose this year you know maybe should have had two Big Ten teams in the title game. UConn's very good. They are. I mean, that first game was an unbelievable watch on Saturday, but then if you stuck around and you heard everyone saying that Michigan-Arizona was basically the de facto national championship and how good Arizona was, Michigan beat the dog shit out of them.

2:22:42Just ran right through them. I don't think they're going to beat the shit out of UConn, but I do like them to win and cover tonight. It's the Big Ten's year. UCLA just won a title. Michigan's going to win a title tonight, and then the The Big Ten, once again, will be the best football conference, and it will also be the best basketball conference.

2:22:57Pat McAfee:And America still has hockey. Let's remember that. Anytime we're talking about clean sweeps of things, we need to make sure we are reminding everybody that hockey is our sport. I don't know if Michigan won that, but I do know. Wisconsin, Big Ten. Boom. Wisconsin woman. I think the men are still going. Somebody. We've got a bunch of Big Ten teams. Big Ten doing a lot of stuff. Only thing they might not have, the Big Ten, is rifle, and that's because of the Western game. Sure. Oh, and that's not even to mention baseball. Well, UCLA has won like 24 games in a row, and they're in the Big Ten as well.

2:23:25It looks like men's Frozen Four is Michigan versus Denver and Wisconsin versus North Dakota. It looks, I think, we could have an all-Big Ten final.

2:23:34Pat McAfee:Oh, that'd be crazy. Wow. Big Ten's got a lot of money to invest in a lot of things. Sports are certainly one of them. Tone, one half of the hammer. Duh. Cowboys. Who do you like? How do you like it? I'm in the same boat as Connor, and he took UConn plus the points in that situation. I also am a Big Ten guy, so, you know, hoping for Michigan. Big Ten guy? Yeah. Yeah, they're popping up these days. Yeah. They sure are. What else would that be? I just can't argue with Hurley's against the spread stats, though. And I'm also a numbers guy, so I will go with UConn to cover, Michigan to win it in a great game.

2:24:12Pat McAfee:Wow. I like that we're going to hit the double there. Connor. Yeah, the exacto. Connor's corner there. I like your splitting up rights on that. Darius J. Butler, I know fair and biased. Your thoughts? Nah, you know where I stand. UConn Husky through and through. I'm going to take this straight up. No points needed. I'm going to take them straight up. I believe on the crown is plus 230. Last time I looked. So, yeah, I'm going to lock that in. As soon as we get off air, we get number seven. And Hurley, that suit, the rosary, the draws, they all go in the Basketball Hall of Fame. A.J. Hawk, are all those things headed to the Hall of Fame after a national championship for UConn?

2:24:47Pat McAfee:Are they keeping it close? or does the Big Tens, team from up north, do their thing in the national championship in Indianapolis? I tell you what, Dusty May and his Michigan squad, they are an absolute juggernaut. And Coach K, listening to him talk about it, it feels like he's leaning Michigan. He didn't really want to give us exactly what he was thinking. I'm taking UConn plus six and a half and UConn to win on this one. Did he say Michigan? Did I hear that? He said Michigan. That came after my time. That came after my time when they started doing that. I thought you were on vacation still and your brain just forgot that that's what you said.

2:25:21Pat McAfee:You're saying that's not our thing. That's a new thing. I don't like it. It's new-ish, yes. So, yeah. New-ish. So, you guys did do it. You just say that it's old. No, I mean, they didn't do it when I was there, when I was playing. I was in college a long time ago, Pat. I'm 42 years old. We respect that. Happy birthday, too. We missed a few. You're telling me the general Bob Carpenter didn't say Michigan more like Ishigan. Am I right? Just not one time when you guys were back there? Don't say that! Maybe now he's saying it a little bit, but not back then. Rest in peace to the icon. Nick Mangold didn't say, hey, during Michigan, will you call me Nick Angold and also we're calling that Michigan?

2:25:57No, I cannot recall if that happened or not. Probably not.

2:26:01Pat McAfee:Rest in peace. What a legend. That was crazy that that happened. And it is a nice reminder that we need to enjoy the hell out of all of this. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be back tomorrow with a new national champion. And you are picking. What are you doing? Come on, man. Crown is yours You've been carrying Big Ten's water too Like you're not a fucking Big East guy I am a Big East guy Big East all academic team First year Yeah That was when I went to class That's a good point Buzzi Yeah Alright give me Yukon Fuck Plus six and a half though Yeah Plus six and a half Plus six and a half Dusty May is good It's gonna be a good game I feel like it's gonna be a fun game to watch though If you can stay awake Fucking better be staying up that goddamn late.

2:26:48Are you going? No. Is anybody going? I did my deal on Saturday night. Sounds like... I will be there. Foxy Gump.

2:26:55Pat McAfee:Okay, well, actually, one half of the hammer, down Cowboys, Bubba Gumpino. You've watched the most college basketball out of any human that I know. Congrats on another great season. I saw the D3 boys had an electrifying finish in their national championship. How do you feel this one goes tonight, Gumps? And how do you think the season was as a whole? Unbelievable season as far as tonight. It's a Dan Hurley masterclass, folks. Yukon outright. Wow. Outright. There you go. Man, the crown is ours. That's what Gump just said. Yeah, plus 230. I heard it. I'm taking plus six. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, me too.

2:27:29Pat McAfee:D3 came down to this. Emery, Mary Washington. He's got it. He shoots it. He tips it. Conning. Game. They win. Mary Washington becomes the D3 champion. I believe there was a deep three made on the other side by Emery, too, to potentially tie that up. Then they come down and answer with that shit. Unbelievable. What a moment. And that's what their one shining moment was. It's March. What would tonight's one shining moment be? I'll tell you what. I never really liked the song, but I do appreciate the moment. What? So I'll sing the shit out of that thing tonight. I will. Have to. I'll celebrate what March Madness was.

2:28:08Pat McAfee:I'll celebrate March Madness strictly because this was post-NFL, post-combine sports life for us. It'll be nice to relive it. It'll be nice to go back through those magical moments whenever we had that space rented out, air-conditioned, watching those games, people getting ridiculously intoxicated. Talk is going lights out at the beer pong table. Yep, with his lights out. And his just all the time? Yeah. I don't think so. He's a weapon. It's a good New England lad. And that's what March Madness has been for us. Electric. We'll be back tomorrow. Be your friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life.

2:28:45Pat McAfee:We're in this thing together. Randy Orton saving the business at Mania. Tickets are somehow still available. I have no idea how that's possible. It's crazy. Isn't that crazy? That is nuts. Not for long. Not for long is right. Get them now. That's right. AJ, welcome back. Good to be here. I hope that one of the surprises may be Bob Backlund. Maybe Fandango. You never know. Tune in. You never know. Tune in. AJ, you looked much tanner before the vacation than after the vacation. Yeah, I do. I agree with that. I think my spray, it peaked when I came on the show right before I left for the trip. I think that's why my tan peaked.

2:29:23Pat McAfee:So we got to maybe time it better up next time. I thought you did great. It looked like a blast. It's great to have you back. We'll see you tomorrow. Be a friend. Tell your friends. Have a nice and might change your life. We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye. From 30 for 30 podcasts.

2:29:41He's on fire! Did you think I'm on that shot? Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami. Gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian. Boy, he's ripping. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with someone. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. Being placed under arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now. Hey, sports fans. The ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network in service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional cause.

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