World Cup Predictions and Closing

This is an IiHart podcast Guaranteed human. The official language of football is trash talkal, late night group chats, memes, and unbelievable highlight clips. That's why BoostMobile brings you our new global connection plan, the first plan ever made for WhatsApp. Get unlimited data, talk and text, international roaming and calls to over one hundred countries for do forty dollarars a month.ty dollar price includes five dollar a month auto pay discount. After forty gigabytes of premium high speed data speeds will be lowered, coverage not available everywhere Visit store or boostmobile. com for details Hi, it's Colin Coward from the Colin Coward podcast. Every goal starts with insist As official partners of U.S soccer, this team is ready to deliver Sensidine, dentist recommended defense of your sent of teeth. Centrum fueling your day with science back nutrients. 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Visit optimum dot com or stop by your local optimum store today Famously Fast Fiber for thirty dollars a month for five years. You can't beat it Terms apply, see optimum. com for details Summer is a gift The gift of days that last a little longer, a brighter state of mind So giveift yourself a new Kia at the KIia Summer Sticker sales event. Epecially tacked vehicles including the Sernto, Sportage, Carnival, as well as the Nuro Hybrid. All backed by a ten year one hundred thousand mile limited powertrain warranty. So the gift of summer can keep on giving for summers to come. Kia Movement that inspires. Call eight hundred thirty three four K for Details hostoaree event and seven hundred six twenty six to deala for warranty details What up everybody. This past Saturday, I was down at Hard Rock Casino in South Florida. Meting up with Colin Cowherard and he and I did podcast together from the H Rock Bet partarty bus where we touched on the World Cup and NBA free agency and the Yonest trade and whether or not LeBron was going to go back to the Lakers all of that. So by the time you're hearing this, you know, some of those World Cup games have been played and, you know, LeBronz obviously now announced officially is leaving the Lakers and Kawi is a raptor now. but I just wanted to make sure now that we have the ability to post it that we put it on the feed because it's not very often that Colin and I get to sit down in person for an hour. So here is the podcast with me and Colin Cowherard from this past Saturday All right, we're live in Hollywood, Florida. U Thanks for the hardard Rock B and Nick and I are doing the most unique Yeah podcast we will ever do in our respective careers. We are in a hard Rock bet What would you call? party busoss? Party buss. a party busoss. Both Colin and I, you know, listen I don't I know where I think Colin is in the sports media ecosystem. I, you know, there' conflicting opinions on where I am. but At our core, what Colin and I both are is old school radio guys And when we were alerted about this event. He and I both separately without talking to each other thought we were going to be on a stage at a DJ booth in a bar with just like folks ordering drinks. I even tweeted like because there's a bar up the street called Mickey Byurns. that is live streaming this and thanks to them. But you and I both thought it was going to be like back when we were doing training camp coverage and local radio like we're at a bar hanging out. This is a little more swanky but very nice And we are just this Either this area is overreresented by Colombian fans or this stadium tonight is going to be eighty five percent Columbian fans against Port So So a hard rock bet. it is This is what hard rock B looks like. It's all yellow shirts. Oh yeah. the whole casino. Yes, one hundred percent the o the yes, the casino the guuitar casino has been that's what I'm saying. So either the portrait and I'm not sure. It might be like that they're Hollywood Florida is over Colombian stronghold and there'st Portuguese stronghold elsewhere in the South Florida area I have seen I saw Zero Cristiano Ronaldo or Portugal jerseys. casino. I've seen zero here it really seems like Columbia is going to have a home field advantage tonight in the game. And if that informs my bet, I have not bet the game y. I've thought about it. I don't know which way I'm leaning, but I feel like we're we're almost in we' are almost It's almost mandatory to go with Colombia at this point. It is You know, I was thinking about this as I was flying down today. h by the way, commercial U As I was flying not a good for you. manan of the people. So I was flying down in Rad twenty eight and I and I was thinking about as I was doing it that When was the last time that I turned on a sporting event and was what I was watching So the first half against Paraguay, the first fifteen minutes Gress stunning. I think it's the best half of football. any United States soccer team has ever played national team. And I was thinking, when's the last time you turned on a game I will say this when when Indiana started taking Alabama to the woodshed it was like, whoa, the sport has changed. You know, that's one of those, but one of the thing, one of the things about the World Cup that it's always been hard to gauge We before the friendlies with U Senegogal in Germany. We had been on about a nine month drought. We had played terribly in Policaad and scored in a year And even with AC Milan he'd had nagging injuries. And I remember saying to one of the executives at Fox. I've got horrible vibes about this. I said we better have a plan for how we're going to talk World Cup not about the US mennational team. I was like, we got to I understand we're all rooting for a deep run. But three weeks before the World Cup, I was like, hey guys, on the show, we really we had a meeting. we were like, hey We can all we' all rooting for the US. but we need to put stakes in the ground on other countries that are actually going to be playing in the big games. Yeah because the US looked Like it was in total disarray Instead correct. It's been magical Mexico's good. Yes. England All the stars are scoring. Y. All the strikers young and old there's been just enough upsets And We've gotten Almost universally permitting weather Philadelphia had an ugly guess for O day. Yeah. But I mean, you look at the heat wave France is going through Crect. We have been so lucky J enough controversy. the hydration braaks are kind of, you know People are overwrought with that. my take is They really started those things in like twenty or twenty twenty twenty two had to do it Well twenty fourteen in Brazil Yeah there was an element of it. twenty eighteen. It was in Russia, right? But twenty'm not twenty twenty twenty two in Qatar, you had to have abbsolutely. I don't care about that, to be totally honest. I lovecer I'm around a purist. I don't care about. But to your point, though, and then we get to the US Men's National team about this World Cup setting up The storylines, the stars and the best teams. One of your longt timee merch mad mistakes is upsets or fun, but it makes the tournament worse ten groups have been decided. We are ten for ten on the favorite winning the group. Every single favorite has one its group And then we'll see what happens in the final two groups of which a lot of these Colombian fans are hoping the favorite doesn't win because Portugal's one of them, and then England obviously is the other favorite You have You have no great teams that have been sent home. Check one, cheheck two is Every single one of the huge stars has not only scored had a multi goal game Even Christian Ronald, who's forty one and might be wheeled into the arena has to at a multi goal game. Messi's been unbelievable. Messy retired from World Cups in twenty fifteen since then he's played in three or four and one one one and might win another. So that's happening And it is like the bracket is set up to where We're staring at France, Germany in the round of sixteen We're staring at. Argentina, potentially Portugal in the round of eight. Mexico hosting England Oh that's hge in Mexico City in the round of sixteen. That's before we even get to the semis before you even talk about what you know, if it again If the seating holds, so to speak We could get Brazil, Argentina in the World Cup semis on one side of the bracket. And France Spain, or maybe the US in the semes on the other side of the bracket. And on top of all that The U. S. has played I don't know, of my lifetime. Four of the six best halves of soccer they've ever played and I'm forty years old Well, and I said this the otherday is that the great thing about tournaments in Illinois is a great example of this. You can get to the final four the eliteite having played one good team. They played Houston. Y. And it's the reality is you get to the knockout stage and you're like, Oh, I don't want to play them boom they lose Um yellow cards, red cards, injuries. I mean, the reality is Great teams get a little tight just like March Madness. S. right And unlike basketball where tight means you score seventy two not eighty two, Titan soccer means one goal not three. And you can see sometimes when you get to these later stages that the heavy favorite who by the way is getting clobered by their country's media, right. I mean, I this is why Turkey A when they beat us unlike guys. they had to win. I mean, it was like The coach is going to get fired. I was so overjoyed with our effort You know, you and I have talked about this People were so disappointed with the outcome and I said time out Go one second before the kick You would have said Our reserves Tide Crect, a desperate team So the kick can't make me think bad outing So I agree with you. I also if we want to go glass really half full You know, it probably good for the team to not get a little too full of itself. That's right. All that I It's the World Cup. We had an opportunity to, you know, contin do what Mexico did. Hey, it's a meaningless game. We're going to go undefeated anyway. And I was prepared mentally for a draw or even a loss before the game. when they scored two minutes in. I'm like, oh my God. I think you tweeted like I'm not used to the US being the best team in the world Um, but they I of my My expectations going into this tournament for the US team were very simple if If somehow they don't get out of the group, then you have to burn the whole thing to the ground. Right. They not only got out of the group, they won the group. We have had for my entire life well for everybody here entire life side from the opening tournament in nineteen thirty pretty hard ceiling of the round of sixteen. We've made the quarters once. it was in zero two. goal was to make the quarters again and see what the hell happens. And they are now well positioned to do that. They get they have Bosnia in the first round and then Belgium probably Proably Belgium They're off there. Belgium has not been good. and I'm not just saying that because I had my father's day ruined by betting Belgium and they scored zero goals. But they were you know, back in twenty eighteen They finish third. Yes and and since twenty fourteen, they've made every big European tournament But they're not the same. There No a lotess players age out correct. got new young players. They're not as dynamic. And Lakaku is not as good as he once was, But dooku will be the best player on the field in that game, but so be it, likeike well homefield advantage And of all the teams you could play in the round of sixteen, they're not they haven't played that great. They're not one of the best ones. I to your I want to circle back to your first point, which is I have always felt World Cup time. All right, what's the US. plan Hold the other team to zero and hope you score on a set piece. It's just been like if you're playing a good team and you're the US that's the only way to win. It's like you sure shit better get shut them out And you know, get a little lucky or something, you know, one as they say moment of magic That's not this team at all at all. This team it's probablyably going to need to score three because you might give up a few but know w but only one. Right, but you they can score. Oh yeah. it's and let's I have Dob We talk a lot about how much cooaching matters in the NFL versus the NBA. Yeah It seems to me, man like I guess they call it managing, but managing in soccer might be on level with coaching in the NFL as far as the importance and setting a instilling belief all Pucciino hass been unbelievable. Hes you know, I always said this when Weenby came into the NBA, he was us Yes. he wanted to do win everything He very domestic. Janis wasn't Yo youo katch can't get home fast enough. Webey's like I'm going to do the monk thing for a couple of weeks, but I'm going to come back and start train and I want to win the NBA all star game MVP I can be a villain, all throw elbows, none of this nonsense about well, yeah, I'm going to slowly integrate into the American system And I think Poatino, his greatest asset has been Okay guys, I've done this Um We' We're skilled. We're at home Many of the good teams are young or a little old You can I be I use the Seahawks as a comparison. Our thirteen best players are all in their prime correct or going into it. That is that was whatit was Seattle was last year. The Rams were good But they had holes, you know, right? And the rams were a little creaky at certain spots. Seattle, everyvery spot you're like, Oh, he's in this prime two That's rare in sports. That was the early chiefs with Mahomes when Kelsey was getting a little old but was still late prime. You're like Every one of their best players is in their prime. Right. The only young guy was Mahomes and it is the only guy wasn't supposed to be in his prime yet was the quarterback, but he got to his prime immediately. The Yes, the US, it is a real question of like, man How many guys on this team will be around in twenty twenty six. likeike it's the the core will. Yeah, I think I I think three of the four best players will, but in general, my point is this is If you would have said ten years ago Here, you know, Look in the future. hereere's the twenty five guys they' going to be on your next three worldld cup teams. What's the one where you're going to have the best combination of them aging being at their peak. We just said twenty twenty six. So all the fact that we are now going in the knockout rounds because we clinched early. we don't have to worry about any of the yellow card accumulation, all those guys set Polistic Wh How do I put this seems to be a little fragile seemems like he doesn't necessarily play needs to be one hundred percent to want to go. Yeah. I'm not, you know, I really hope he doesn't get God forbid kicked in the calf again and have to miss ten days in the World Cup He's healthy And I think they feel great. I thought Bucciino was so funny when he was scolding the media. when he was like, you guys are acting like we go home in Turkey advances. Like we won the group We didn't need to win this game. And they're going to get even more confidence, I would imagine. because I think they'll beat Bosnia handily and then we'll see I had it in front of me before. I'm going to pull it up again. It's we play Belgium but Belgium's got to win. And so I want to see who the other team is. I don't think it's totally set yet, but I'll pull it up. But yeah, I think they're going to make the quarters And I think we're going to have The United States playing Spain in a World Cup quarter fiveine. And I think we match up fine with Spain. I don't think anybody matches up with France Yeah, I mean, France looks really, really good. So I was saying this You know, Every week I do that call and right call and wrong. And I don't mind being wrong, but I like being right more than wrong. And I said losing the Turkey proves a twenty year point I've had. So any time the American soccer team loses, you got to blame Jurggan Klintsman, Bruce Arena, Greg Berhal. It's always the coach. Correct. And it's like, but why do all of our coaches before Poatino play the same counter attacking style? Heavy on set pieces. That's right. because we can't attack persononel.s it's the same thing if you b if you have a bad secondary You got to be very careful about bringing extra people in the pastroock. Y, right? Straight corners jail break. brring everybody. Okaykay So suddenly Last, Pchatino' hyper aggressive. So it's not a scheme thing He didn't have any tactical blunders. We played our backups and couldn't dominate possession sloppy. it's like It proves my point It's not a coaching thing Our scheme did not change. We went hyper aggressive All sports are d. Andy Reid makes Mahome better. Mahom would be fine without it. He may not get the rings, butd he'd be great. Sure. And Belichck deserves a lot of credit But in the end, we have really good players. Now we're fit on the back end. so is England, so is Norway.. When you watch us play, it was so To me, it was so instructive. to watch how aggressive we were with our reserves, still winning possession, sloppy But it was but it proved the the value of that, which is you cannot play that well and just have a couple great moments and get two goals out of it as opposed to the previous philosophy which seemed to be we have to be perfect tactically because we can't give up a goal and then we hope to have a moment It's also a hell of a lot more fun to watch. Oh yeah. I did look it up. I couldn't remember So if in order for, you know, assuming we beat Bosnia Yes, it might be Belgium, but Belgium's most likely opponent there is Cyngal Senegal absolutely compete Belgium and we're not we've played Senegal before we played them in the warm upp. Yeah. likeike we we're not going to feel It'll be the first time if we're in the round of sixteen where We might be favored. and if we're not favored, we're all going to feel like, oh, well, that's a coin flip. L we definitely can win that game. And it does seem like historically and it's felt this way this tournament that there is no event in sports where homefield advantage has a bigger impact than the World Cup. It does just feel like the the It's impossible for the officials not to somewhat get caught up in The emotion of the crowd and fifty fifty calls go the home team's way and the other team gets a little more rattled by in what's supposed to be a neutral site tournament their games being, you know, as raucous and rowdy of a hostile fan base as they're going to experience Yeah, it's u, I mean, it's just there's so many things to be excited about And I've said this before, off course I root for Fox. I root for hard rock Bed. I work for my corporate sponsors and my partners. But it could not work out better. The weather Messy, Ronaldo, Harry Kane, And it's interesting. someome people were worried that it would dilute the field when they added teams, but most I mean, some of these African nations, I don't know anything about their teams, but Dude they've been So I'm I'm veryly competitive B in a hard rack bet I have a I am All in on DR Congo tonight. All in. The African nations have been underrated. Congo advances with a win Uzbekistan. I'm not going to act like I've scouted Uzbekistan, but I've watched their games. they don't seem to be good and Congo and they're only minus one hundred forty. Like so the I'm going to Portugal, Colombia. I have no, you know insight on that The African nations have I think been pretty undervalued by the odds makers and they have been really competitive and to your point about no pressure and tons of motivation correct to come back. And but your point about I saw your O colleague, but a guy's been on your podcast a couple of times. Michael Molobill will say, if the U S B gt If they were to make a World Cup final W the same type of rating domestically as the NFC championship game. He said fifty to sixty million people, isn't that crazy W would watch it E if the US, you know, let's just say the U S gets doesn't make it pass quarters, which is, you know, really where it's projected If the bracket holds, This is what we are looking at in the quarterfinals France playing either Netherlands or Morocco. Netherlands is my dark horse to went. Well they if they can get past Morocco in round of thirty two, they got a great chance the bottom left part of the bracket quarter final in LA, july tenth. Spain US. seemeems like a pretty cool game. Wow The quarterfal here in Miami, july eleventh Um that would be Brazil against England. or Mexico if Mexico upsets them either way, Brazil, England would be sick And then the other quarterfinal in Kansas City july eleventh What I would imagine will be the highest rated non World Cup final in world history. Again if the bracket holds, Argentina, Portugal. Messi Ronaldo for an opportunity to go to the semifinal. and I understand that's just going with the chalk, but this has been while an exciting tournament. as I said All ten groups have been won by the favorites. This has been a ch chalk is tournament. is because the star has been so good. I'm just I'm super excited about it and do think there is now an element of and you need a moment like this. And the other big thing about the Nestic World Cup is the time zones. You need the games not at three AM. just like the Olympics. Correct. It's like It's less important that the game is in the United States and more that it's in this hemiset. I The last World Cup that I was this into was twenty fourteen Brazil because Brazil is the on the same time zonone as us. I wasn't going into the games anyway. So why did I care? Yeah I do think this will create more interest domestically in the MLS in the English Premier League and in following these stars throughout their regular seasons. Today's show is brought to you by our friends and our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet Florida sports book. Listen the world's biggest soccer tournament is here. Everybody, seen the ratings Everybody's watching. National Pride on the line, suuperstars chasing immortality. And for the next month, every match feels like a final. If you haven't tried Hard Rock Bet yet, this is the time. Hard Rock Bet is a top bnded sports book app. The best built to Viva La Copa. 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Kia Movement that inspires Call eight hundred thir three three four K for Details hosoaree event and seven hundred six twenty six to deala for warranty details you're going to laugh at me for saying this, but I think one of the things that helps us is There has been a capitalization geopolitical growth from the United States for the last ten years that is separated from Europe I just read a story in the Atlantic flying down. I have a subscription to the Atlantic is whyy did Britain get poore than Mississippi And it's a big, it's a big discussion about Jamie Diamond and all these, you know, financiers in New York. we have separated from Europe plays to our strength because a lot of these soccer stars to get into the MLS to get Ken Griffin a financier of Citadel He's the one that paid for Poatino. Yes.'s So the reality is Rich guys like to be part of good momentum and cool stuff. And if we can get to a final eight I can see a world in which we're like, we're going to go over there and we're going to make big bids try to get some better players because Falleron remember was only F Falleron Balligan is only Oh yeah on our team eligible because his flight attendant flight attendant said mom too pregnant to fly. That lady get that lady should get a we find her and get her a ticket to the next U and increasingly in the World Cup You're not necessarily born in the country or of the country. So there's a lot of gray area there and my take is our explosion of capital in the United States and in the Americas to be a big advantage going forward. That's why momentum here could really be a huge part for. It's also why and where we put the cart a little before the horse here and I know you want to get to other stuff. It's also why Game against Bosnia is the biggest game in the history of the US men's National team. And I know that sounds crazy because it's around the thirty two game. We once played a round of eight game against South Korea. I get that team that team to get to the round of eight had won one game in regulation. They had a win, a draw, a loss and then a penalty kicks win This Every As long as they beat Bosnia This will feel like such a massive domestic success for soccer. There will be no shame if they lose in the round of sixteen. I think they'd be able to beat Belgium or Senegal or Korea. anybody they play there, but there would be no shame in it But if you do all of this, And then it's and then all of a sudden because we have oddly thanks to the Turkey a game lost thirteen straight games against European teams And there's a little fluke to that this But then if all of a sudden, Bosnia clips us as the sixty third ranked team in the world It will feel like it was for naught But you win that game and they should win that game. They're huge favorites to win that game thenen You start to, you know, you start to believe crazier things can happen. againgain Korea made the semifinals when they hosted this tournament. There are Six of the host nations in history theirir single best World Cup appearance or you know, best World Cup The furthest they've ever gone in the World Cup in their nation's history is when they hosted it This is an opportunity for the US to do So there was a massive move this week in the NBA. It just happened to be in Miami, which is Um I'm a believer in it, although. I think they're old. They need to play creator, a shot creator. Wig this now I get it This is why you're so hot you you knew we had this event coming I didn't. You're like, oh, I'm going to get Nick on the record that he thinks this is You're making me sound as calculated as LeBron. that Nick thinks this is a bad trade. while I C G think it's a good trade. And then we're going to do a live show in Miami where he has to defend it. Go ahead, sorry. Well, first of all, I think Bam and Yanis are the second and third best defensive bigigs in the league after Wemby. So I think and I do think in the easastern conference you can be completely flawed. Detroit had no number two score Tobias Harris Duran. It's like in the regular season in the East, you go in a lot of games. There's a lot of bad in the middle bottom. There isn't in the west But what's interesting is the story this week where Mario Chalmers, who was always really drove LeBron crazy when they were here. Sure. I came and watched a couple of Heelles games and LeBron and Mario Chalmers would argue incessantly during timeout. It was such a story when they won the title. President Obama made fun of them about it. They're like, you blame Mario for everything. Like yeah, that was definitely a thing. but what did he say? So basically Mario said If you went to LeBron and said Well we need bench and athleticism, we'll take Bronie And LeBron would be the play initiator, not share the ball and have to pretend he's not Austin Reeves which is kind of an insult but understandable at his age. But in Los Angeles, LeBron has to pretend He's not better than us.'s the third option Miami goes. Yeah, we have size We have no play initiators. You've never like to be around the basket defensively. you want to be at the fast breakout at at the free throw on extended will' take Bronnie, which by the way, he will play in Miami. Yeah And I'm LeBron and I'm like thirteen percent state tax to zero. My son plays could start if Mitchell has any injury. I mean, they really don't have a point guard of note Sure. No, So my my take is and I don't think I think the Lakers what they want to do. I think they're negotiating for Walker Kessler. They're just trying to get the number to be thirty three and not thirty eight because it traps them going forward, although I like Walker Kessler. But my take is then they go to LeBron and go listen, we want you back And there's no room. You got to take fifteen what they don't what they don't want to do is have Rich Paul dictate terms because they do need a big. there. I mean, if you look at now Oklahoma City is going to do Hartenstein, Chet and Mar Mara. Yeah, they dressed three. Yes. So it's like, sorry guys You have to have a b And Luke, it's what Luca wants. It's just the way the Western confference works So and now you have Bam and Janis over in the East. So my take is LeBrona Miami, you say, well, it left on bad terms Dan Gilbert and LeBron let it was torched correct. It was inconceivable that they could come back So If you are asking me Would my feelings about the Heaps ability to contend this year change if they added LeBron James? Yes, they would. What do I want that to happen? Absolutely. So here's I'm not sure how much LeBron's family loved Miami. I don't know if that is, you know, it's not like returning to Cleveland where you're from. It also is if his daughter doesn't, you know, if there if it seems like it's just a one year thing and his family is going to stay in L.A, that is obviously way further than Golden State. So there are some what I would call logistical complications to it But from a basketball standpoint Everything you said, I agree with one hundred percent because My concern about Miami as presently constituted is Janis is such a great player assuming that The health issues he's had the last few years, he can get over He is he gives you a floor to your offense, but the ceiling does not exist if you do not have shooting and shot creation outside of him. That's right. And right now they don't have it. They don't have And they are you know, they're staring at having to lose Norman Powell, their best three point shooter. Wiggins to me is declining. Daveian Mitchells a great defender, but iss not a good offensive player I you know, bam. I know eighty three points not with Sand thirty two percent he's more d often. Correct. No, no. And so Miami is presently constituted will be one of the best defenses in basketball, but I think flatly not have enough offense to win three let alone four rounds in the playoffs If they Yes, would LeBron solve all of that? Yes. a hell of a lot of it because it's not only his offense, but what we saw from him in the first round of the playoffs this year as As soon as he goes back to H on the controls ense initiator mode, everyone's three point percentage goes up a percent or two because he's such a good passer. He understands getting other guys involved. I like Basketball fit, I like all of that And there are not a lot of basketball fits Let me rephrase it. As far as let's just say LeBron is leaving the Lakers, which again, I don't think is the most likely outcome even though the Lakers have been wanting him to leave even though he's been Yes their most reliable players since he's been there The basketball fits are mostly places couldn't see him going. like He would fit He would make Houston a snap contender and fit perfect. No question. He's not going to Houston now He would make Detroit a snap contender and fit with them instantly. He's not going to Detroit. Denver would be it would be great there and his buddy kind of owns the team. So maybe that's the possibility I don't think it's likely Golden state be fun Yeah, but they can't win unless they also somehow find a way to get Anthony Davis. They are just not going to be a good enough defensive team Cleveland. he's in the exact same pro position he's in with the Lagers, which is well I am marked so you have Donvan Mitchells your number one fia That's Lua Then you have this James Harden guy. Here's the thing about me and James Harden wayay better than him, right. justust like he is with Austin. Those guys are only can only play with the ball in their hands. So I have to play this Swiss Army knife role which kind of a bummer and as a Lebron fan. I don't want to see him finishing his career as a third option like when he's still this good So for all those reasons, Miami checks a lot of boxes. He has a history there They could absolutely win the title. They need him. He would have the ball in his hands. So I love the idea of it I just don't think he's coming back to the East Coast. I would love it if he did God, I would love it if he did. It would be sick. You would have to maybe get what you know, you have you have properties somewhere in Florida. I don't want to reveal it. You would maybe have to add some down here. No, it's I I love Florida Texas, I don't get. It's flat There's no water, Florida, I totally get. justust a Texas drive by. And I've said this before. I'm a huge college football fan. Anybody that listens to the show knows I love college football. And my take has always been there are three programs in college footb. but it's mostly a rural sport. It's, you know, Tuscaloosa, it's Ann Arbor. There are three semi professional college programs USC Miami and Texas. They're good sports great. Yeah, of course. And so if USC and I think they'll be good because they have pro guys on the offensive line first time since Pete Carroll days. So theyll they'll be able to, you know, play big ten football. I am so happy when I see a guy wearing a Miami hurricane shirt because Anybody my age knows football used to be. there used to be this, it was pretend We do not pay the players. This is above board And we all knew Southern teams paid them through the church. It we all understand. And Miami did on boats. right? Like we all understood it and USC had bags of money too. We all got it College football now is like not only do we pay them, we pay sophomores in high school. It's like college football grew up It's like we all knew it was happening. Now you can just When you go out on your booster's yacht, everybody knows it's just not for scrambled eggs toast and signigning day. It is for money And I think my take has always been with college football. canan we stop this veneer that it's called it's like the Olympics. It's for pros. You say Bolts are making ten million a year The fact that Miami and not nothing against Gainesville and Tallahassee M' Florida Gator fan right there. taking a new job. Miami needs to be good for the sport to feel big. Well it also listen, there is there are not There is a you're talking about when, you know, I'm little bit younger than you, but they had so they had the Jimmy Johnson era of Yes the you Snellenberger Erison and Jimmy they all won even Butch Davis won. Well, that's that's and then they had You know, when I was graduating high school Thereabouts like late nineties, early two thousands someome of the most outrageous teams and depth charts in the history of the sport. They want a title. They also had another title stolen from them on the call, but you like the zero two, I don't know if it waszero one orzero two Miami hurricanes where it's like they have five pros at running back. They have three pros at tight in. there Th those teams were probably second most talented to that Joe Buro team. seeee literally had nineteen Those Miami teams were. I think they were they so that and so there is an element of When we talk about the biggest brands in college football. I'm forty years old Notre Dame has never hadad team Like The Reggie Bush USC teams. Those Miami teams I just mentioned. You just mentioned an LSU team, the Vince Young Texas team like there are a lot of programs that in My get my whole life have had higher more holy ceilings than Notre Dame and Notre Dame like kind of, I think still kind reputationally thinks it's in that class againgain, for almost a half century, it hasn't been. It hasn't even had those highest high moments Yeah. And I am curious if Dob the new age of college football like you're saying where the it's not corruption anymore. It's just legalized paying the players Yeah if that Does that even the playing field or does it temporarily the playing field? And then the big the biggest historical powers are just if everyone's going to pay be able to pay guys then I think will the kids be like, well, I'd rather play for a school that has a history like M. hereere's what's happen. Here's what's really happened with NIL. A lot of the teams that were good are still good But it is called College football When Alabama was dominating or George' and a lot of the schools that were dominating, nothing against Ohio State, but you didn't think of academics. You thought of football not the college partark The NIL, what you want is rich boosters. Well Vanderbilt The average, the median income of a Vanderbilt grad is double Georgia So now suddenly all these guys at Vanderbilt make it, I mean, I live in a neighborhood up in Chicago where Matt Ishba, Vanderbilt grad, has a house that's bigger than the last ski lodge I was at He's bought the white socks. he's bought So he's a Vanderilt guy. Hold not Isfia own. There's Mat' There's Matt. There's two of them. Oh, okay. okay. So I know I went to a cubs game the other day was it was sitting right behind us. So nice guy I mean, like down to earth, great guy. But the point being is Indiana is an academic the school of business. Vanderbil acemic. Miami's got a great academic reputation. So the college in college football now suddenly matters with NIL. It's a lot of the schools that have good football programs but are known. Miami's known for its law school and its academics. But is that ab the idea it's just a money grab. It's like No it's the schools. and by the way, college kids are now staying in college longer That's not bad Well, that to me is the most the most interest that last part is the most interesting We haven't yet seen it how it plays out. impact of NIL, which is Are we going to all of a sudden? Let's like let's take running backs. Yeah as a for instance, where Most years, this year may be a bit of an outlier your Num one running back in the draft might be projected to go mid secondcond round. That's right and where College a guy who's like the number three running back in the class and because of that is projected to be a third round pick stays in school not to improve his drap position because he can make more money. No question being a star college running back. Yep than a rookie pay scalle third round pick NFL running back. That's a great point because running back is the last position in pro football offensively. You can hit him anywhere anyt timee. they come through the line, knneees, shoulder, helmet hit receivers tight ends like that So it is the one it's the most putitive position to play. So it kind of stinks T be a running back. And to your point Guys are going to stay in college and say I'm going to make four to be the number one running back at Ohio State or six hundred thousand to go to the Jaguar. Correct. And so I do so I it's a way of paying the running back. Yes, but it's going to be not on the on the NFLs time. I think there's a lot of things that people are. So that's one thing about and how that impacts o. Well that actually because one of the reasons running backs don't get paid is because it's like, oh, well They're just so easy to come by. likeike you just drapp from the fifth round Well, if some of that supply is now staying in college, got to the NFL guys guys more and all of a sudden do the NFL running backs get a boost in pay And then does are we seeing Are we starting down a road where Every draft seeven of the twenty five best players are wide receivers because it seems like three the last four dps like I got eight wide receivers in round one. I got seven then are we coming to a place where what happened to running back salary wise happens to receivers, which is teams are like, Yeah, I Unless you are Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, JSN, if you are it's a bubble. It's a wide reiver bubble. If you're Michael Pittman U caliber guy Yeah, I'm not paying you eighteen million dollars Everybody can just draft away. I mean there's there's ten new ones coming in the league every year. Yeah, it's football iss the coaching sport and therefore it's very cyclical on who matters. safeties now are hugely important. Tight ends didn't used to matter. Tight ends now were gigant Sehn McVeigh I mean, tight ends because of kiddle and Gonk emerged as a more important position. I can remember Travis Kelsey in there. Travis Kelsey. Yes. whenny Reed in Philadelphia started throwing on third and two. Yeah It was like the league changed. Yeah And he he and I talked about that years ago he started listening to the show. and I'm like, there's a guy in Philadelphia, which is kind of a blue color tough toown. They throw on third and two. The league changing And then now with McVeigh going to personnel whereere. I mean, they have like five tied inss and You notice this year how many tight ends went and it was a mediocre tight end class. So football tends to be like anything else, like housing in the market. It's very, very cyclical because coaching matters so much. My favorite part about sports is not the tradition. It's not the rear view mirror It's the windshield These leagues constantly change like Minnesota fascinating Minnesota' like We're going to get rid of Nas Read and Julius Randall because I think they look at Oklahoma City and Weemby And they're like The only way we can beat them now is shooters and athletes. So they get the kid from Chicago at the trade deadline. They draft the kid Isaiah from Duke top of the second round They go get Lamello Bolt. So you can tell what Minnesota iss doing. They figured it out at the trade deadline. We can't Weemby's eating playing go bear off the court We're going to go speed. That's the only way to take bigigs out. So that that's constant the constant change culturally in football and basketball, baseball now It's just That's what I love about sports constant like we're seeing it in soccer. We're seeing it in everything. So I can we stay with the Lameello trade for a second Yeah Yeah. So because Tim Connolly, right? Tim Connolly built the nugget smmart He then got hired to build the Timberwolves Yeah and he built a team specifically to beat the nuggets Right And he did it. They beat them they when the Nuggets were defending champs, the Timberwolves beat them seven The Timber Rules this year played again in the first round. they were all banged up. They beat them anyw. Unfortunately for him think he realized shit. The team I built my team to beat is no longer the team to beat. like And so now San Antonio is he thinks potentially the team to beat So we got to build a team that can counteract Wimby Speed it up W that said, unless thenen the next phase of his plan is and so now When the spurs come to Minnesota on these icy roads, maybe Lameelo can get in a biger bender with Windy and not I don't I do not I am I understand pivoting. I understand them saying we've got to remake this that Julius Randall is not a playoff performer you know, as beloved as Nas Reid is, we feel like we can replace him. I get all of that Do not understand for the life of me Why if you're trying to play championship level basketball, you would say Lameello ball. We want you to be a part of that. I don't I don't I do not do not think there is a level of Maturity and being an adult is requisite if you are going to be a best or second best player, which he needs to be second best guy on a championship team And I have no reason to believe that he can do that. And here's the other thing I will say. be very concerning for me If a team Drafts a guy number two sees him every day He is coming off his healthiest year, your team's best year, his best year Yeah. And that's when they're like We better get out of this now. Well, feels a little like like front running a stock you know is going to crash. So not every stock is a core holding. Sometimes you have game stop And you wait for game stop to go up and you're like, I'm selling that shit making money and getting out. It's not a core holding. It's not Intel, Microsoft, whatever, Amazon So the question is He just made Lameelo a core holding. Charlotte looked at him like Game stop Charlotte's like This get a year ago. he had no market. Now he's got a hot one. Let's get. So I get Charlotte The reason I think it works kindind of in Minnesota. I think Finch is a top five coach. I think they have a real culture andnt is still the star Um And there's enough Part of me thinks Conley's like, okay, you got A Rod's an owner It's going to be really They were good last year, but they underachieved. they weren't terribly entertaining despite having Ant. And my take is they're a bad watch with a great player That makes them wildly interesting. Oh it does make them interesting And it will the highlights will be crazy. And there will be moments where the offense looks unbelievable And also Isaiah Evans and the Chicago kid can both catch and shoot athletes. The bottom line is Lameelo is they think he's got the hand' a great handle. Yeah. He'll get the ball to shooter They think he's going to be an offensive engine for him and if you were going to build a team deal with Lameello's J doesn't give a damn defense A who's a great defender. Jaden McDaniels an awesome underbelievable Rudy go Bears like they have the Terrence Shanways out there. They have the right personnel to deal with and Lamels at least long, his defensive liabilities But my concerns would be these two. While we've never seen Lameelo in the playoffs We have seen him in the play in three times. Yeah. And in the history of the play, Three of the four biggest blowouts Lameella Ball was the center of. He has played awfully in all those games. So it's like is he a playoff guy? I don't know. he's six years and has many in the playoffs, but the playoff adjacent stuff hasn't been good. The other concern I have is this Are we sure Lameello Ball doesn't think he's still the best player on the team he's on He's the same draft class as Ant well He won rookie of the year when Aunt was there. He's been the best player on every team. The only time he's ever had a teammate that he thought was better than was his big brother. Does he and like if he totally accepts Yeah, I'm the number two. This is Anthony Ewards team then maybe, but I don't know if that's his personality. Well, is he humbled because Charlotte moved on. I mean, ye I guess I think all the concerns are legitimate. I heard Ryan Rusillo was like, I hate the move. I get that. between the coach, between Ant, between the shooters. I thought they were a bad watch clunky off their pace in the playoffs was pretty good. I think that to combat the size of Weby and the size of OKC and we're going to be fast and athletic can shoot And we're going to shoot our way to win because we can't mean Julius Randalold takes the ball to And he kills Half courourt set. he's a ball stopper se mobile. Proving you don't have to overpay for great wireless. unlock the savings of twenty five dollars a month forever unlimited plan peranent price with no contracts and no price hikes. and you keep your phone and your number, but you save up six hundred dollars hundred a year compared to the major carrier. stop overpaying. Switch to a fair price at boostmobile dot com today based on average annual single line payment of AT and T Verizon and TMobile customers compared to twelve months on the BoostMobile unlimited plan As of january twenty twenty six for full offer details, visit BoostMobile Dot Tom. He's dribling the ball with everything on the line. He's driving down the pitch. He's facing price hikes and cuts past him. cararrier contracts, drives the block him Oh he leaves him in the dust. He's at the edge of the box. He cuts past the nonstop group chat trash talk. he clears on goal, he shoots Whit your local Boost mobile store today too get unlimited data with a price that never changes. Boost moobile. After thirty GB, customers may experience lower speeds, customers will pay twenty five dollars a month as long as they remain active on the boost twenty five dollars unlimited plan Summer is a gift, the gift of days that last a little longer, a brighter state of mind So giveift yourself a new Kia at the KIA Summer Sticker sales event, Eespecially taged vehicles including the Sornto, Sportage, Carnival, as well as the Nuro Hybrid. all backed by a ten year one hundred thousand mile limited powertrain warranty. So the gift of summer can keep on giving for summers to come. KA Movement that inspires. Call eight hundred three three threety four K for Details host Jafree event and seven hundred six twenty six to dealer for warranty details let's pivot back to why we're here? hardard rock bet Thanks for all the support And the world cu Once again established, you will be at the game tonight. You said you have not b it yet I' not no. So here's the deal. I'll just be honest with the folks here on how this is gone So Hey I have tried this World Cup to stay like be very disciplined and sharp with what I'm doing And I see and I'm doing this in the midst of everyone else in the world All the marks, all the marks are like, Hey, you know what? my plan is? All the best players are going to score multiple goals and I'm ap part like that shit together and I'm like, you Rubes. that'll never hit and it hit every time. E time watching these children make these bets and they're like, o, that's great. And then and I'm like, well, you know what, I I'm on a I'm on England to to just to win the game against Ghana is zero, zero drop How about getting How about open the World Cup? Spain. You're going to beat Cape Verde, right? No, no, zero zero droll. So I so I'm digging myself out. You try to be this I tried to beistically exactly right. I'm like, Ohh, yeah it's listen, minus four hundred sounds bad, but I mean you do you do smoke. so you've got some you know that's I'm a retired smoker But yes, all that's true So With that said I really like I so Algeria, Austria today Teams advance with a draw Both teams go home if they lose. which says to me Man, this is going to be a game a keep away. They're both fine with a zero zero draw So I'm sitting there Croatia is playing Ghana today Ghana has already advanced Croatia advances with a draw or a win goes home with a loss and there is not and Ga might actually prefer path they get if they lose and they're the third place team' the second place team So I like Croatia. I already explained why I like DiR Congo Portugal Colombia is Tricky to because canan't figure out with respect to the Colombian fans here And I think Columbia is a dangerous team and they've been awesome in this tournament. awwesome Portugal in theory is supposed to be the better side. They are the sixth ranked team in the world. They are the favorites for a reason. But we also have seen them play twice in this tournament. Once against a legitimate opponent and it looked like the team hated their all time legend and the coach was scared. That wasn't good. And then one game againgst was it Uzbekistan? Yeah, it was against Uzbekistan. They put up five goals and people like, okay, everything's fine Does Portugal truly have Christiano Ronaldo problem in that. He is the not only the aging all time legend, but the aging all time legend who there is some Rentment amongst the teammates because he's not producing the way he on was For him and all of a sudden, new insecurity of can't like It's one thing for Eba and Holland and Vinny Jr. to be doing this But Messy who is my A one rival and age contemporary, is crushing. So I think that has put extra pressure on him. So I say all that to say this I think the best chance Colombia has to win today is Cristiano Ronaldo making the game about himself. Yeah. because I think Portugal's overall midfield talent and overall talent should be enough to win a game. They need to get or they want to get but not if Ronaldo does what he did in the first game. So that's my stance on it. I still haven't bet it yet. I also kind of feel like I want to bet it when I'm in the stadium. Yes and and have a better sense of who I'm sitting with is rooting for. because I don't want to be rooting if if I'm really in my head, it's a coin flip. I kind of want to just go with, you know, the vibe of the section I'm in. That feels like the right thing It' like if I'm sitting with these people I'm gonna to bet Columbia. I'll tell you that much right now You know what's one of the things I've really Bill Marr talked about this last night. It's so great to see all these people into America and they love ranch dressing. Oh they nachos ranch dressing I don't know if nachos are Americans invations. I don't know that we get those, but yes, there are there is an element there I have really enjoyedco. I yes I have enjoyed there has been a great and that's what the World Cup is man. There has been a great Blending and melding of you know, obviously people from all over the world, but people experiencing uniquely American things that we maybe take for granted a bit. while I imagine a ton of the people are, you know, these games you know, where in the Colbia Jergers or whatever are American who live here that are just Colombian either heritage or just Colombian fans, but there's clearly a ton. I mean, the Kansas City got taken over my hometown by the Dutch this week. Yeah there's not a well not a huge Dutch strongholding in Kansas City outside of the World Cup I just got back I went with my son. He had to do some stuff overseas. So I went to Madrid for four days and one of the things when I go The minute I get on a plane and I'm flying overseas, I immediately into I just want to be European for six days. Yeah. I'm just going everything shy of smoking and sleeping in my dress socks. Yeah I'm going to be totally European. I'm going to drink all day Three hour lunches, drink all day twelve miles use public transportation And so I went to Madrid and I'm like, God, this is a great life. I mean, they open up the wine shops early. Yeah. And I think what is happening is There are some I ran into a German lady the other day at my gym and a very strong German accent. and I said, you live here? Chicago? she says, Yes. I said, do you miss Germany? She goes, Yes. I said, what do you prefer And she goes, I prefer Chicago because she says sometimes Europe can be inflexible and a lot of regulations She goes, Pe really celebrate winning here and they're not shy and they're kind of obnoxious. And she says That's okay She says sometimes American you the media here makes Americans feel bad for going, We're good And we have ice in our cocktails and air conditioning. We you know it very funny. So I I Every time I go my wife and I every August, take We usually go with her grandparents actually who God bless them are still with us ninety six and ninety three. Where do you take your beautiful wife? Well, that's so every year we take her I take her and grandparents somewhere in Europe for eight days And so like last year we did Monaco to roll dice at Casino Monte Carlo andrope didn't do Sandropeay but Denise Monaco into Milan And this year we' not her grandparents aren't coming and This year I finally had the courage to ring up the old bosses at FSN and be like, Hey I'm approaching ten years of the network. That's right I'm not saying I need the Colin Coward vacation plan. However If I could get two weeks in August instead of one after we're grinding in the World Cup. likeike where I'm usually on vacation right now post finals, not And so I think that's so I think that's happening. So it's funny. you said Madrid because I think we're going to start in Madrid and we always runnt a car and just kind of drive through Public transportation in Madrid is amazing. It's a little bit like LA cleaner version and they and you walk everywhere. So here's public transportation unbelievable. So here's the I don't mind the public transportation at all within the cities, but the people be like, o, take, you know, get the euro passass and you know no city city like that Those people have not traveled with my lovely wife sitting right there who We will take on this trip with us four suitcases One of them will be empty