[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign the following program is brought to.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: You in living color on elliot gazette.com or wherever you get your podcast. The Daily Gazette Company presents the parting Shots podcast. Now here's your host, Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shot.
[00:00:26] Speaker C: On the road to Victor right goes by scoring punch down 1, 2, 3 it'll low it'll hide and watch our Eagles fly fly, Eagles fly on the road to victory B A T L E S Eagles.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: Yes. Yes. We did it. The Eagles are Super bowl champions. I knew they were going to do it. I predicted 41, 21. It was a 4022 final. Wasn't even that close. Unbelievable Sunday in the Shot household.
It was unbelievable. Yes. By the way, welcome to the Parting Shots podcast.
We're available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today and thanks for joining me from the Super Bowl Champion Parting Shots podcast studio. I am Ken Schott, the sports editor of the Daily Gazette. Devout Philadelphia sports fan, and just an incredible Sunday watching the Eagles just destroy the Kansas City Chiefs. No chance of a three peat whatsoever. They just dominated that game from the opening kickoff and it was just wonderful to see. The defense was awesome. They kept pressure on Patrick Mahomes all game long. They didn't let up. They treated. They just went for the jugular every time. And they got him. They forced him into doing unlike Patrick Mahomes stuff. I mean, he's just. He was rattled. I've never seen him rattled the way he was on Sunday down there in the Superdome in New Orleans. And Jalen hurts. What can you say? And the guy has been criticized, maybe unfairly by Philadelphia sports fans and talk show host, but he delivered a performance for the ages. Ended up with being the game's most valuable player. And the pass he made to Devonta Smith after the Eagles stopped the Chiefs on a fourth and three that basically put the game away. And I've. This is my. This is my seventh Philadelphia sports championship. I've had two at the Flyers. It's been a long time since they've won one. 1974 and 75. Two Phillies World Series titles in 1980 and 2008 and just one six title for me. Although in my lifetime the Sixers have won two NBA titles. I was only three years old in 1967 when they won over the San Francisco warriors, as they were known back then. But really. So 83 is the only 60 team I can recognize as the championship. I won't take credit for 67 now for the Eagles. Two Super Bowls.
Just, just unimaginable. It's just incredible. It was incredible watching that game. And, you know, you sit there Sunday all day. We had the Sixers, Milwaukee Bucks game on and we didn't bother watching much any of the pregame stuff until well, about an hour, hour and a half before the game. And it was just, there was a calm. I was nervous and my son was probably nervous, but he was relaxed. He's been a lot more relaxed over the last few years watching the Eagles. And I think this, this season was incredible. We were very few stressful games.
And then as the Eagles just, you know, took control of that game, up 24 nothing in halftime, you just hope that they continued to pressure Mahomes and they did. They did not let up. And it was just an incredible sight. And it was 34 nothing. And at that point, you just knew that there was no chance for the Chiefs to come back.
Patrick Mahomes throws a touchdown there late in the game, which I thought, why not put Carson Wentz in At that point, the Eagles put Kenny Pickett in to mop up. But I guess Mahomes was too stubborn and too proud to give Carson Wentz a chance to play in a Super Bowl. Carson Wentz did not get a chance to play for the Eagles in their super bowl victory in 2018 because he had torn up his knee in a game against the Rams during the season. Of course, Nick Foles became a folk hero in leading the Eagles to their first super bowl title back then. So it's going to be a party in Philadelphia on Friday. Unfortunately, I can't make it down. A lot of work commitments, right? Especially what's happening Friday. And we'll discuss that. One of our segments here. Obviously, we always preview the Union hockey men's and women's weekend. And this weekend the men take on Quinnipiac and Princeton. And Quinnipiac in first place, three points ahead of third place Union in the ECAC hockey standings. Colgate's right there in second place. So a lot's got to go right for Union to maybe tie Quinnipiac for either first or second place. Union has not beaten Quinnipiac in the last 10 meetings.
It's a 10 game winless streak, including nine straight losses.
But the sidebar to Friday night is the return of former Union head coach Rick Bennett, who guided the team to the national title in 2014, won four regular season titles, three ECAC hockey tournament titles, and of course, left under a unfortunate situation in late January of 2022. An incident happened in the Clark center locker room a couple weeks prior to his resignation, which investigation proved whatever was Bennett was accused of. So Bennett resigned from that and he moved on. He was a coach with the Savannah Ghost Pirates for a year and a half before being relieved of his duties, and late last summer he was officially announced as a Quinnipiac assistant coach under Rand Pecknold. So I'll tell you right now, I did reach out to Rick Monday. Of course I had to tease him about the Eagles because he's a big Cowboys fan. So I had to tease him about the Eagles winning the super bowl and I asked about if he's willing to talk and he said no and he's played about it. So but you'll hear from couple of Union players who were freshmen at the time when Rick Bennett played Cullen Ferguson and Kaden Villegas. They spoke Tuesday and not only previewing, but I had a chance to ask him about what it was like, the whole situation. I'm playing for Rick Bennett. Brandon Burr will also be on the interview as well. Of course that was part of the Tuesday's media availability. And then the women will talk. Basically the same people we talked last week with head coach Tony Macy and players Sophie Matsoukas, Stephanie Bourque and Matty Souter. We'll talk about they're wrapping up the regular season this weekend with games at Princeton and Quinnipiac. Unfortunately for Union, they lost a pair of 21 games to Colgate and Cornell last weekend and that cost them a shot at playing one more game of S Rink in the first round of the ECAC Hockey tournament. So Union will open on the road next weekend, had an opponent to be determined following Saturday's games. Right now Union in ninth place in in the standings. It could be they could end up facing Brown next week, but like I said, we'll see what happens this weekend with the games. And also as we do every year around the NBA All Star break, we have our NBA Roundtable. Mark Katjis are the voice of the NBA on ESPN Radio and Tim Reynolds who covers the NBA for the Associate Press course Capital Region natives, We'll talk. We talked a lot about the state of the league and some of the big trades, including the Luka Doncic stunner that's being traded from the Mavericks to the Lakers. And we talked about the state of the league and the retirement of longtime coach broadcaster Hubie Brown. He his last game this past Sunday between the Sixers and the Milwaukee Bucks. So a lot of great stuff here on this podcast. And of course I can't help but keep bragging about my Philadelphia what a season. Super bowl champions for the second time and just loving life right now. So coming up, we'll preview the Union Hockey Men's and Women's weekend. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
Explore the benefits of subscribing to the Daily Gazette like our convenient E Edition app, personalized newsletters and unique reader rewards. When you join, start your membership today. Offers redeemable at www.dailygazette.com hi, this is.
[00:09:07] Speaker A: Joe Watson, two time Stanley cup champion with the Philadelphia Flyers. You're listening to Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor and Upstate New York's number one Flyer fan, Ken Shot. Make sure you tune in.
[00:09:22] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast and it's now our time to preview the Union Hockey men's and Women's weekend. The men coming off another five point weekend, this time on the road at Colgate and Cornell. They played to a 22 tie at Colgate last Friday and then won the shootout. Thomas Richter scoring in the fourth round of the shootout after neither team scored in the first three rounds.
You heard Josh Algae talk about that using Richter, who had just played his second game of the season that night. So big doings for him then getting that game winner in the shootout and then an impressive 41 win with Brandon Burr getting the hat trick, his second hat trick of the season, both coming on the road. So as we said during the open of this podcast, a big weekend. Union has a chance. They're just three points behind Quinnipiac for first place. Colgate's right in the middle there. So if Colgate wins Friday and Union beats Quinnipiac, Union and Quinnipiac will be tied for second place.
So I think Colgate has a is a point behind Quinnipiac. So a lot at stake Friday night, of course, and on Saturday, Union takes on Princeton at 6:00, weather permitting. We don't know what the situation is if, if there's any chance they would postpone that game to Sunday. Usually if the teams are in town and the officials are in town, I probably won't do it unless it's a really a major emergency snow emergency declared by the State of New York. But you know, so just stay tuned, you know, look out for my tweets and if there's any news on that.
But and also On Saturday, the first Division 1 team 199192 squad and the first Frozen Four team, the 2011-12 squad, will be honored at the game on Saturday.
So here's of course there's Rick Bennett's coming back Friday night for the Game against Quinnipiac. Assistant coach for, you know, after, you know, serving with distinction at Union. Yeah, like I said, unfortunate ending to his career at Union, but. So it'd be interesting to see Rick and see what he has to say. If he talks, maybe he'll say hi. I don't know. But let's hear from the players. You, of course, you heard from Josh Hauge on Wednesday here.
Two of the players who were part of that team when Rick Bennett was in his last season as the head coach, Defensive Cullen Ferguson and forward Kaden Viegas. They're a freshman at the time. Of course, they're now seniors. They talked about that as well, as well as previewing this weekend's games. And also Brandon Burr was there, the reigning ECAC hockey forward of the week. So here's what they had to say.
Guys, you're on a roll right now. Unbeaten in six. And now you really face this. A big test coming up Friday against Quinnipiac, a team that this program has been winless in 10, including nine straight losses. Cullen, we'll start with you. How big of a test and how important of a game is this on Friday? I know you probably don't want to. You know, I know you still have games left, but to be able to beat Quinnipiac and what would that say for this team?
[00:12:29] Speaker D: Yeah, it means a lot. We've talked about it in the dressing room. We've established how much this means to us.
We haven't. That's the one team in this conference I haven't beat. So it would mean a lot for sure. And in the standings, you know, we want those points.
[00:12:44] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, super important game. But right now, it's not really about the team. It's about just taking that next game one. One game at a time. And obviously they're a good opponent, but we're playing good hockey right now. And I was just worried about each practice, every day getting better and just going into that game and good mindset and knowing where we can take it to them.
[00:13:02] Speaker B: Brandon?
[00:13:03] Speaker C: Yeah, I think they've set it pretty much perfectly. It's obviously an important game, and we just need to go into it confidently.
[00:13:08] Speaker B: What is it about Quinnipiac that gives you guys fit? Skull?
[00:13:12] Speaker D: They're a good team. They.
They have good structures. They have good systems. They play hard. They never give up.
So we just need to focus on ourselves and not worry about them. I think our D zones come a long way, so make sure we hone in on those details for that. And I think we'll Be fine, Brandon.
[00:13:32] Speaker C: Yeah, pretty much the first set as well. Like, they're a good team. Like, they know how to win. So.
[00:13:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Colin. Just to have the opportunity to play the team at the top of the standings and only be three points behind them, wherever you win, you can tie them, obviously, depending on what Colgate does. Just what does it mean to this team to have that kind of an opportunity to go into a weekend where, you know, you could come out of it the top of the standings?
[00:13:54] Speaker D: Yeah, it's super exciting. I mean, Vegas and I have. Kaden and I have talked about this a lot when we came in as freshmen. If you would have told us that we'd be fighting for first place at some point, like, we would have told you, you're nuts. So it's nice to see that the program is taking steps in the right direction, but at the same time, you know, we haven't done anything yet. There's six games left. We just. Our goal is to finish in the top four, so getting a win this weekend would be huge. I mean, I don't think we're really thinking about first place. We're really just taking it one game at a time.
[00:14:26] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, whether it's for first or keep a top four spot, whatever it may be, I don't think we care too much. It's three points, what's on the line, and we stack them up each game, as many as we can get, and hopefully in the end of the season we're in a good spot, so we put ourselves in a good place for playoffs. But, yeah, I mean, there's three points on the line and can't really worry about what other teams do. But, yeah, obviously we're chasing Q pack and it'd be good to get up there with them.
[00:14:53] Speaker A: So what do you guys feel like has been kind of the biggest key for you guys over this. This stretch that you guys have been playing?
[00:14:59] Speaker F: So what kind of things do you.
[00:15:00] Speaker C: Think you guys do particularly well?
[00:15:01] Speaker D: I mean, definitely helps when your goaltender is playing. Unbelievable. We have a lot of confidence in them back there. I think our special team's been great. Power plays clicking. PK has been stepping up big when we need him to, and all the guys just trust each other right now. I think our D zone's come a long way. Our communication's been great with that. So, you know, I think we're just in that flow state where we show up ready to work. We know we only have a few games left. You don't take them for granted. And, yeah, you make the most of every game. Try and get those three points.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Brandon, you see the confidence of this team growing as this on beam streak continues.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: Definitely. I think every time we win a.
[00:15:39] Speaker C: Game, we get more confident. We believe in ourselves even more.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: Colin and Kaden, I gotta ask you, you were freshmen when Rick Bennett was the head coach. Of course, he went through that scenario where he resigned and John Ronan took over. Rick's making his first return to Mesa this weekend with Quinnipiac.
What was it like playing for him when you were there, Colin? Sorry, you.
[00:16:04] Speaker D: It was. I mean, I enjoyed it. He brought me in.
He's a hard coach. He's old school.
I respond well to that, though.
So, I mean, yeah, it'll be interesting. I hope he beat him on Friday.
[00:16:19] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, we were here with him for, like four or five months, whatever that was. But, yeah, he was a tough coach and we had a good time while we were here. But, yeah, I mean, it'll be fun to play against him again, obviously, getting him back in the building. But, yeah, hope we beat him as well.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: What was that whole situation like? I mean, obviously being freshmen and with what happened, I mean. I mean, we still don't really know what the heck happened there up at Clarkson, but what do you remember about that and what did you learn? Any lessons from that?
[00:16:56] Speaker D: I mean, freshman year, you're learning a lot. So. I had never had a coach for more than one year, so I was honestly just kind of used to. There he goes. And it comes a new one. So it's actually been nice to have Houj for three years now.
I mean, yeah, we were losing in Clarkson, and I don't really entirely remember everything, but I don't know, that's not really in my concern right now. I'm just focused on beating him on Friday.
[00:17:28] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, like, I'll say kind of what he said. It's like we had a coach for a little bit, but, I mean, it's out of your control. You can't do anything about whatever happens. And at that point, we were. We were kind of leaning on Junior, and he took us to a good spot there. We rallied behind him a lot, so we playing good hockey after that. But at the same time, we were focused on our development as freshmen. You know, we were just focused on ourselves and trying to get better any way we could.
But, yeah, as he said, it's been great to have Houj here, and he's taken this program to another level from where we started our freshman year. So, yeah, it's Been a blast and we're super excited to be able to finish it on a high note and go as far as we can.
[00:18:11] Speaker B: Did you guys ever consider entering Portal?
[00:18:14] Speaker E: No.
[00:18:16] Speaker D: I was. Yeah. Like, obviously I've been asked. My parents, like, want to talk. Talk to me about it, but it just wasn't really. I love Union. It's the only place I want to play hockey. I love the school. That was just what it always came back to. And I know this team can be a top team every single year, and I think now we're finally starting to see that.
[00:18:35] Speaker B: So really no ill will toward Rick at all?
[00:18:37] Speaker D: No, no, not at all. I mean, he brought me to college hockey, so I have a lot of respect for. For them and. Yeah, I just hope we beat them.
[00:18:45] Speaker E: Exactly.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Moving over to the Union women's team. Their chances of playing a home game in the ECAC Hockey Tournament first round ended last weekend with a pair of 21 losses to Colgate and Cornell. And Union was up in both of those games, but this could not get the job done. Tough way to end their career at mess Rancor. So they'll be going to the Mohawk Harbor Events center in September. They'll open the arena late September with a game. The Garner Chargers close out the regular season this weekend going to Princeton and Quinnipiac, two teams they lost to back earlier this season. So what's in store for Union this weekend? What do they want to do? Let's find out from head coach Tony Macy and players Sophie Matsukis, Matty Souter and Stephanie Bourque.
Hey, guys. Last two games of the regular season to Tony. What's the mindset and the goals this weekend?
[00:19:44] Speaker F: Same as they have been.
[00:19:45] Speaker C: Right.
[00:19:46] Speaker F: We're trying to prepare for playoffs here.
We gotta try and pick up some points here to get some separation and get further away from the teams behind us. Right. So RPI is within striking distance. So we just gotta take care of things on our end and try and get as many points to keep that separation.
[00:20:04] Speaker B: Matty, how important is it to stay in ninth place? That would be the highest finish for this team.
[00:20:08] Speaker G: Yeah, no, it's definitely extremely important. As we've seen in the past, like those last few spots can really make a difference in the playoffs. But I think whoever we get to play like, I think we'll have a good chance at beating them. And I know this weekend upcoming, we didn't play our like ourselves last time we faced both Princeton and qpac. So we're excited to rebound.
[00:20:28] Speaker H: Yeah, no, I agree. I think it'll definitely be important to, to prepare us for playoff hockey as Tony mentioned, and just to be able to like play our structure and stuff and get comfortable playing really tough opponents because they're all going to be hard games and that's what we're all are going to face from now on.
[00:20:46] Speaker B: So does it feel like Sofia feel like now its playoffs are actually starting this weekend?
[00:20:52] Speaker I: Yeah, I think for us they've started like a month ago. I think we've been playing playoff hockey for months and just knowing that all the games are going to be one goal games and we've been seeing that for the past couple weekends and how we're all fighting to get some separation or get some, some wins and, and prove our spot, I guess.
[00:21:10] Speaker A: Tony, you talked about preparing for playoff hockey. Obviously playing some of these tougher teams isn't necessarily great for standings, but just how much does it help to have this kind of gauntlet going into the playoffs? And you know, you played these, these past two teams very close and now you have the opportunity to do it again with Quinnipiac and Princeton.
[00:21:27] Speaker F: Yeah, I think it's, it's good to prepare for those types of teams.
[00:21:30] Speaker B: Right.
[00:21:31] Speaker F: We're coming off of even coming from the Mayors cup where you get to play for a championship. Those types of things that put you in that playoff type mentality and you know that's what these teams are going to be doing as well. You know, they're fighting for spots as well. They're trying to move up into those basically 4, 5, 6 range if they can. And you know they're going to give us their best effort too because they're, they're still fighting for that. So it definitely sets us up for the playoff side of things because you know that it's going to be a tough game and everybody's scrapping for, you know, every little thing that they can get.
[00:22:07] Speaker B: You guys had Leeds this past weekend against Colgan and Cornell weren't able to hold on. How important will it be going on the road, especially with these two teams, teams that did have trouble with early in the season. How important will it be if you get out to the lead to protect it and not just sit on it, but attack?
[00:22:25] Speaker F: Yeah, I think that's one thing that we're learning as a group here. You know, it's part of our learning process. We talk about it, you know, it's how you get into those lead situations. You don't want to get into a shell and make sure that you're trying not to lose. Right. We want to make it so that say we're going to continue doing. We're doing doing because it's been working. And keep playing the game that got us the. The lead in the first place. And then whatever happens, happens. You know, they might score. And now you gotta continue doing the same thing, Matty.
[00:22:54] Speaker G: Yeah, Tony said it. Like, our.
Like, I think playing these two games, even this weekend, like, I know we lost and we weren't able to hold on to those, and we do have to find a way. But I think that, you know, if we take a step back and look like those are the two top teams in our league, and we were right there with them the whole time. So I think that that also just built our confidence Going into this weekend and going into the playoffs.
[00:23:16] Speaker H: So, yeah, I think, like, this past weekend was a good learning curt, like, opportunity for us to see what we did and learn from it. So I think it'll just be important when we get into this weekend Just to, like, play our structure and continue to attack and not. Not hold back. Not hold anything back.
[00:23:36] Speaker B: Tony, how happy are you for marin to win the main schwartz award?
[00:23:40] Speaker F: Oh, it's amazing. Like, that's. That's one of the. To me, is like, the biggest student athlete award that you can get. You know, a lot of it is based on how hard she does on the ice.
[00:23:51] Speaker A: Right.
[00:23:52] Speaker F: But then it also shows how much she's doing off the ice. Super proud of her. I know the team was. We. We kept it a surprise on purpose, but because of how big it was, and then, you know, the reaction that she gave as well as the. The team gave, Was awesome to see, you know, very well deserving. She probably could have won it three years in a row. Right. Just by how big of a student athlete she is and what she's done for our program as well as for the school.
[00:24:18] Speaker B: Believe she's the first major union women's winner.
[00:24:22] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:24:23] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. I mean, what does that mean to have myron being at first to accomplish that?
[00:24:28] Speaker F: Well, it's great. You know, again, it just shows to the type of person that she is, the type of people that we have here. You know, we have a lot of people as well that, you know, may not have been able to be up for the award, but have done a huge part in building this program and kind of putting us where we are right now. So it also gives us some. Some good hardware to put up in the new rink.
[00:24:50] Speaker B: We down the line here, Maddie.
[00:24:54] Speaker G: Yeah, no, I've. I mean, seeing marin over my four years, like, Both being seniors and just seeing how hard she works on the ice, in the gym, in the classroom, like, it's really someone you look up to. Really just you look to her to, you know, see if you. To see the example, to see the right thing. You look to Marin. So I'm just so proud of her. Really happy that she was recognized for that. I know, like, some of the other girls, like, who up for the award, too, but just so happy for Marin. Yeah.
[00:25:24] Speaker I: Yeah.
[00:25:24] Speaker H: I mean, it was so well deserved. I know we were all really, really happy. And we're all so proud of her because she does work so hard and, like, coming in as a freshman, like, she, like, she painted, like, the picture for me, like, when I didn't really know what to expect. Like, I just looked beside. And I looked at Marin and I knew that, like, that's how I want to be. That's how, like, I want my teammates to be is. Is like. And so she's very well deserving of that award.
[00:25:48] Speaker B: Sophie.
[00:25:49] Speaker I: I think it's huge. I think she's also gotten our hardest worker award on our team for the past couple years. And I think that just shows that she's the hardest worker on and off the ice. And it's someone that everyone can look up to. And I think that people told her she wasn't able to get that award. So it's nice to prove people wrong and prove that she can do whatever she wants to do and she can get it if she sets her heart to it. So it was awesome.
[00:26:11] Speaker B: Union senior defenseman Marin Friday was not at Tuesday's media availability because she was in class. That's more important than talking to the media. That's probably one of the reasons why she is the winner of the ECAC hockey's Mandy Schwartz scholar athlete of the year award. The first union player in the division I era to win an ECAC hockey major award. This award is presented every year in memory of Mandy Schwartz, a Yale women's hockey player who passed away in 2011 after battling acute myeloid leukemia for two years. The award is presented to a student athlete who embodies Mandy Schwartz's excellence and leadership on the ice, in the classroom and community. Nominees, who are selected by the school's administration and coaching staff, must have at least a cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale through the fall term semester and must participate in a minimum of 50% of their team's games. Mandy Martin. Friday's done that. A 4.0 GPA.
Just an incredible Person nice is one of the nicest people you can ever meet. So congratulations to her. And I did have a chance to talk with her later on Tuesday during a zoom call to ask her about what it was like to win the award. And so here's what Martin Friday had to say.
Well, Marin, talk about winning the Manny Schwartz Award. How honored are you to win this award and be the. And being the First Union Division 1 women's hockey player to win an ECAC hockey award like this.
[00:27:39] Speaker J: Yeah, obviously it's an incredible honor and was incredibly surprised when that got announced at senior day. That made an amazing and memorable day even better. So, you know, I'm just incredibly grateful for all the support my teammates, coaches and union faculty has given me because I think I wouldn't have been able to kind of achieve what I have without their support and help through these years.
[00:28:08] Speaker B: I mean, how do you manage to maintain a perfect 4.0 grade point average with balancing hockey and outside activities besides hockey?
[00:28:17] Speaker J: Yeah, you know, I think it comes down to just time management. And you know, even if I have just 15 minutes where I'm bouncing back and forth between the rink or class, you know, using that time to kind of be productive. And I think that just dedication to kind of get things done on time in a timely manner and always be communicating with either coaches or faculty has kind of allowed me to always stay on top of schoolwork with. While juggling other things and hockey.
[00:28:52] Speaker B: Talk about this project, your mechanical engineering honors individual project investigating the dielectric properties of a graphic oxide membranes and so forth and so on.
[00:29:05] Speaker J: Yes, yes.
Well, yeah, so I got into that sophomore year working with Professor Stella here at Union, and it kind of allowed me to just get into a lab environment and work in nanotechnology, which kind of was super interesting to me just to work at a smaller scale than normal in the mechanical engineering field. And so I really liked getting into something where I'm doing hands on material testing and kind of working through data independently, which you don't normally get to do during classwork. And so I think that was why I was so excited to get into that. And I've kind of kept going with it and I'm actually in the lab now. But you know, I think it's a privilege to be able to kind of work that closely with a professor and be able to have the facilities in order to do such research. So, you know, I'm just grateful that I got the opportunity to kind of do that extra work outside of class.
[00:30:10] Speaker B: What do you want to do Once your hockey career is done?
[00:30:14] Speaker J: Well, I wish I knew.
You know, I think for me, I want to continue doing something design and research based.
I think I've kind of drifted maybe away from more traditional engineering or mechanical engineering pathways. But right now I'm looking into kind of biotechnology and medical device research. But see, I want to end up around the Boston area. So I've been kind of reaching out to companies there and we'll see.
[00:30:48] Speaker B: Looking back on your career, I mean just your hockey career just. I mean, this team now is probably at its best it's ever been in the program history with overall wins, conference wins. I mean, how do you look back on. What do you look back on your career and what are you most proud of?
[00:31:05] Speaker J: I'd say what I'm most proud of is probably just the work ethic I've put into every single day and also just the relationships I've made while at Union. I think being able to kind of pull people with you and inspire them is something I'm proud of.
You know, leaving this program in a better place is obviously a great achievement that I'm very proud of. And I think, you know, every single team member has contributed to that and the people who, you know, have come before me have contributed that. So I think just being able to be a part of something kind of bigger than myself has been amazing.
[00:31:44] Speaker B: Is this program on the right path now with Tony Macy running it?
[00:31:50] Speaker J: Oh, definitely. I think he's definitely picked up kind of where we left off and just kept improving things and kept building our culture. And I think he's always going to push us in the right direction. And I'm encouraging, incredibly grateful that, you know, I got one year with him and got to, you know, get coached by him and it's obviously been a great season for us. So.
[00:32:13] Speaker B: Coming up, we're going to talk NBA. It's the All Star break and it's our annual roundtable at the All Star break with Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press and Mark Keshe, the voice of the NBA on ESPN Radio, both Capital Region natives. We had a long time fun talk. So stay tuned for that. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:32:41] Speaker H: Speed, Skill, Physicality. Home to college hockey's elite teams, coaches and student athletes.
[00:32:48] Speaker B: ECAC hockey.
[00:32:50] Speaker H: Twelve programs competing at the highest level. A league where champions are born and.
[00:32:55] Speaker J: World class professionals are trained.
[00:32:58] Speaker H: Where history is abundant and a commitment.
[00:33:00] Speaker A: To the cutting edge is unrivaled.
[00:33:02] Speaker H: The best facilities, the fiercest competition.
[00:33:06] Speaker A: ECAC hockey.
[00:33:07] Speaker H: There's no experience like it.
[00:33:12] Speaker C: Hi this is Greg Floyd, Emmy award winning. They made me say that. News anchor at CBS 6 in Schenectady. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with my friend, Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
[00:33:30] Speaker B: If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your head. Well, if you're Scott McKenzie and you're gonna wear flowers in your hair when you're going to San Francisco, make sure you wear them at the NBA All Star game. This weekend we have our annual NBA roundtable with our two great guests from the capital region. He is the voice of ESPN Radio's NBA coverage, Mark Kesser, and he covers the NBA for the Associate Press at. Tim Reynolds. Gentlemen, are you going to be wearing flowers in your hair this weekend?
[00:34:09] Speaker C: Tim's the only one who's eligible to do such things. I haven't had Harrisons, I think the eighth grade basketball tournament at Gilderland.
[00:34:16] Speaker B: Although I. Well, I did see a picture of you a couple of years ago. I was cleaning out my desk. The Albany County Yankees meet the media members and you were there with a full head of hair and a mustache.
[00:34:28] Speaker C: That's right, the mustache. I could have had a couple of flowers in that Magnum style mustache, but those days are long gone.
[00:34:37] Speaker A: It is Valentine's Day weekend. But no, I will be.
I am not planning on any flower follicle accoutrement this weekend.
[00:34:51] Speaker B: Well, let's get to our discussion here. I guess the big news which took place a couple Saturdays ago, the trade of Luka Johncic by the Mavericks to the Lakers. Luka made his debut the Lakers on Monday night. How shocked were you? Because usually you hear rumors this might happen, that might happen. There was nothing. I mean it was a. It was a Woj bomb. If Woj was still covering the NBA.
[00:35:16] Speaker C: Tim probably had had a heads up on this one. All I know is I had the Lakers, Knicks game that Saturday night. We talked to JJ Redick before the game. I think we saw them on their way out of the building. I'm still trying to figure out if he actually knew at that point. I think he did. And if he did, he's got a great poker face because I walked back to our hotel, two blocks for Madison Square Garden, two slices of 99 cent pizza in my hand and almost dropped him to the floor when I saw Sean's tweet.
[00:35:48] Speaker A: So I would bet that J.J. knew leaving the Garden when you got him pregame. I'm willing to bet he did not.
I will take that. I'll take the under on That I don't mind confessing, even though this is a family program, that Mr. Reynolds had had two glasses of cabernet and was 45 minutes removed from a couple of unisom to get some much needed shut eye before the real fun of trade deadline week. I expected to pick up on Sunday and yeah, I wasn't quite asleep yet and I think I got to bed around 3, 4 after getting the word around midnight.
Some of the phone calls that you make in the first 10 minutes after a story like that hits is they're comical.
One person hung up on me and said, are you drunk and hung up.
[00:36:49] Speaker B: You getting a chance to say yes right there?
[00:36:52] Speaker A: Fair question, fair question. At that point, when, when, when I was able to get it confirmed was about 1225, 1230 by somebody who absolutely would have had direct knowledge. So I could, I could go with the story.
The text I got was, yes, it's real. Yes, it's happening. And then I see the bubbles and I'm waiting for the guy to finish texting the person I should say, oops, the person to finish texting me.
And I'm waiting for whatever they're gonna say because I see them typing and they say, do you believe this?
No, I don't.
Absolutely stunned. The fallout in Dallas continues.
It's.
I don't know how this story ends.
Things tend to end well for the Lakers. I don't know how they're going to end for Nico Harrison and the Mavs. It's a fan base that is not, not singed, not upset. They are earned and they're not calming down. Two weeks into this, and that's kind of you expected by now there would at least be acceptance. There would be, okay, we move on. We still have a pretty good team here. We're not seeing that. So the initial shock of the trade is enormous. But the reactions as we are in week two now of this new Luka Doncic world, they're not as surprising as the trade, but they're pretty surprising to me in that nobody's really calmed down yet.
[00:38:40] Speaker B: And. Well, I can, I can, I can understand that. Mavericks fans, especially Anthony Davis makes his debut on Saturday and gets hurt and he's out for a few weeks?
[00:38:48] Speaker A: Yeah, that's what I was going to.
[00:38:49] Speaker C: Follow up with Ken and Tim. Is that the, the best possible scenario in what in my estimation at best is a short term play, you know, the next few years with Anthony Davis, it happened on Saturday afternoon. That guy came out. I haven't seen Anthony Davis having a great year that was the best I've seen him, you know, I can't remember when. And then he goes out and then we get word that, you know, he'll be fine and then we get word later that this is going to be a weeks long injury, plural. And now it's the worst possible thing that could have happened in this trade. And then fast forward a couple more days and Luka making his debut with the Lakers. And if he's not a motivated player, there'll never be another time when he could try to, you know, bring in more motivation to, you know, play as well as he's played in his career and maybe take this as an opportunity to, you know, take that fork in the road, maybe to take his conditioning a little more seriously or whatever. But I just couldn't imagine how that story could have got worse for the Mavericks. And then we all saw it in real time on Saturday afternoon.
[00:39:57] Speaker A: I mean, yeah, to follow up with what Mark was saying, Ken, I mean, it was, if I, if I remember it correctly, 14 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, which was, you know, a first quarter that, you know, we have not seen. We've only seen three of those in the last 25 years. I mean, he was absolutely dominant and he has that, you know, the viral moment of yelling at the Mavs fans, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here. You know, as you know. And there was actual joy in Dallas for a few, for a few minutes there. And then of course after the game he leaves early and he's injured. And this is even before the news comes out that it's, it's an adductor strain, which is absolutely frightening because, I mean, Paolo Bancaro was 37 games with one of these this season. Like, it's really bad for Dallas. And there's no, there's no room for error in the Western Conference, particularly when you're the Mavs right now. They could be without him for a long time. Someone grabbed the clip of him saying, I'm here, I'm here, and put it on X and said, this dude lied. Which I know it's not.
[00:41:07] Speaker C: It's not.
[00:41:08] Speaker A: It's never funny when a guy gets hurt, particularly Anthony Davis, who gets so much criticism for the injuries that he takes. But it sort of sums up the moment for Dallas. This dude lied. You feel badly for the fans in Dallas, feel really badly for Anthony Davis. It's. You don't strain an abductor by being.
You are the recipient of bad luck. When that happens, that's it. And, and that once again, when rain falls, it's usually destined to fall on A.D. it seems like. And it has again.
[00:41:39] Speaker B: Well, and we saw Monday night the fans really reacting and a lot of fans were thrown out of the game on Monday. Jason Kidd, Marius coach did not have a hold his postgame press conference would probably get fined for that. Just, it's. Of course the, the Cowboys has stunk up the joint, which I was happy about this year. So bad times. I mean, Dallas right now may have to hang their hat on the Dallas Stars NHL team the way things are going down there.
[00:42:05] Speaker C: And it's, it's unfortunate because this has been for the Mavericks, this has been season long. I mean, it started. It started with Luca in the preseason and, and then on Christmas Day with, you know, all that hope against, you know, Minnesota and he grabs the, you know, the calf and the injury that puts him out until Monday. So it's just. They just have not been able to get anything started. And we detailed the Anthony Davis part of it. Derek Lively too, you know, and then Daniel Gafford even has been, you know, knocked around a whole bunch. So anything that could go wrong has gone wrong for them. And I think Nico Harrison, you know, very presciently mentioned in many of his comments after the trade is that, you know, you got to be bold. I'm not. I'm paraphrasing here. And we're all going to be gone in probably, you know, three or four years anyway. Maybe that timeline just got moved up a little bit.
[00:42:59] Speaker B: Yeah. So going to ask of me, our heads going to roll if the Mavericks don't even make the, the playing game?
[00:43:06] Speaker A: I don't think. But that's the funny part of this, Ken, is that I don't think Nico's had roles. I mean, you, I mean, we do know that the Mavs ownership signed off on this like he didn't go rogue. This wasn't done without anyone else in the world knowing.
Very clearly. The new owners of the Mavericks felt that Luka Doncic was not worth a $345 million extension like he would be expected to be offered this coming summer.
So they signed off on it. I would think that if this team doesn't make the playoffs, it won't be Nico that they look at. It will be Jason Kidd who took the team to the NBA finals eight months ago. It was on. It was on ESPN radio. Mark Kissinger was on the call. I was.
[00:44:01] Speaker B: And you were covering.
[00:44:02] Speaker C: I vaguely remember.
[00:44:03] Speaker A: I think I vaguely remember. It does not feel like eight months ago. My Goodness, this league has no chill ever. But it's just a bad situation all the way. If it doesn't, I should say, if it doesn't work, it's a bad situation because what if you lose Jason Kidd, who by all accounts has done a very, I mean, has done a wonderful job there. What if Klay Thompson feels betrayed and asked to be moved after having Luka as a teammate for about five minutes?
Kyrie has a history of when things aren't to his liking, he tends to look for a different landing spot. I mean, this could be.
This could have the ripple effect for Dallas this coming summer could be enormous if this team doesn't even make the play in or doesn't get out of the play in tournament. And the safest guy in the organization is probably Nico. And that doesn't make a lot of sense to a lot of people. It just doesn't. Like, I understand if you don't want to pay the guy $350 million, I get it. But there's like two rules in the league and the other one is don't trade a generational superstar who's 25. Yeah, you just don't do it.
It's just, it's very cool thing, the long relationship between Nico and Rob Pelinka that has people wondering, you know, what was really said. It's all just so.
Look, Mark and I live in this NBA space and we see stories that are, wow, that's really weird, like every day. But this is one of the weirdest ones in a long time.
And I would like to remind you all, I just endured a two month breakup between Pat Riley and Jimmy Butler. And that was, that was a box of Junior Mints compared to this thing in Dallas. So it's.
Yeah, it's. It's not Nico that goes. It's J kid, I think is what would probably happen. And I don't think that's right.
[00:46:08] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you mentioned Jimmy. Jimmy Butler there, Tim, you around that situation.
How did it get so bad?
[00:46:19] Speaker A: Two. Two things happened. Well, three things. One, one, your boy Kelly Oubre landed on Jimmy and hurt his knee in the playing field. Philadelphia. And really Kelly Oubre is to blame for all of us. That's what I'm going with. It's an unusual approach, but I'm going with that.
So Jimmy got hurt, couldn't play in the first round series against Boston. Let's be honest, it wouldn't have mattered much.
I think we can all agree Boston was going to win that series.
Jimmy went to a Formula one race in Miami last May, and Jimmy was being Jimmy. And by the way, Jimmy's bark is far worse than his. Jimmy, I. There's some guys who, when they leave the team, you cover. You know, you drop to a knee and thank the good Lord that he has blessed you with a new locker room.
Jimmy's not really that guy. Like, I enjoy Jimmy. Jimmy was a challenge. Jimmy was a pain in the, you know, the family podcast. I won't say it, but Jimmy was tough to cover. But I liked. I liked the challenge of him because he was entertaining and he gave good answers when he wanted to and all that. So. So someone put a microphone in front of Jimmy and he gave one of those good answers. He said, you know, if I wasn't hurt, the Celtics would be home and the Knicks would be home. And Pat didn't like that. You know, Pat Riley didn't like that answer and said at his season ending press conference two days after Jimmy made that off the cuff comment, if you're not in the playoffs, you can't talk about the Celtics, you can't talk about the Knicks. Jimmy took that as a public criticism, if you will, public admonishment from. From Coach Riley. He didn't like that. Fast forward to June 30, or whenever the actual date was. Jimmy becomes eligible for a two year, $113 million extension that the Heat had no intention of giving him last summer because Jimmy's missed one out of every four games that he played in Miami, and you can't give a guy $60 million when he's going to play 75% of the time. That was their approach. So it was like, jimmy, come. Come to camp this year and show us. Come and show us. And then something happened in December. A lot of people point to it was a Heat Phoenix Suns game. Phoenix is one of the teams that we all know wanted Jimmy. It was Jimmy's preferred destination. Did something get said? Did something get promised?
Was there. Was there gambling in this establishment? Did someone break an NBA rule by talking to a player who was under contract? We'll never know. But something happened around that Heat Suns game in early December and Jimmy just became very unhappy and basically put the Heat in the position of, you can either live with me being a really dark cloud over the locker room, or you can give me half of what I want and trade me. If you're not gonna give me the extension, that's fine, trade me so I can go get it somewhere else. And that's how we got here. Guys.
[00:49:32] Speaker C: This is fascinating to me. Because first of all, and Tim would know way better than I do. Nobody seems like nobody of, you know, Jimmy Butler stature would ever, has ever stood up, you know, to the Pat Riley, Eric Spoelstra, Miami Heat in the way that he did. And with all this money that is now coming in to the league via the media television deal that will start next year and in a league that within, Tim, correct me if I'm Wrong, within maybe three years will have the first guy making $100 million per season that the owners maybe have finally hit this number where if the personality isn't right and if it's not a guy that is going to work within the system, that the way I feel as a billionaire businessman, that we're going to be moving some of these parts because that's not what we're used to in, in sports here in North America and probably around the world, maybe less around the world where superstars move, it appears more often. But getting back to Luca, you know, a generational talent that we never ever, ever could have imagined would be moved. Now all of a sudden because of economics or whatever other reason guys are getting moved, I find it a fascinating time to see where we are.
[00:50:56] Speaker A: Well, a couple things about the, the $100 million. So we are, it's more than three years on that we are, I believe it's 3233 that are 3132 where Shay Gilgis Alexander would be in line to be the first player making a million dollars a game.
He'd be just over 82 at the end of the deal that he's likely to get. And of course it will be a supermax and I don't think OKC is going to have any problem giving that to him.
The Luca deal, he's not supermax eligible with the Lakers or anybody else now. So he's lost about 120 million. If somebody offers him a five year extension this summer, he loses about $120 million over what he would have made in Texas.
If it's the Lakers or the Kings or the warriors or the Clippers because of California tax, he would lose about another 40 million over the life of that deal. So now we're up to about 160 million in earnings that Luca has lost via this trade. And there's an argument to make that Luca will only take a three year deal this summer, which means by the end of that deal versus what he could have gotten had he not been traded, Luka Doncic will miss $200 million in earnings, which is crazy to think about. Dwayne Wade made 208 million in his career. Pre tax, of course, but he made 208 in his career. This deal could have cost Luka everything Dwyane Wade made as an NBA player. Which is why Wild. And one more point, Kusty. There are two guys.
Maybe not like, definitely not to this level. There are two guys who stood up to Pat and got their way out of Miami. One was Shaquille O'Neal, who mended the fences well enough that his number is retired in Miami. And he and Pat and the Erison family who own the Heat, they're all. They're all great now, but Pat. But Shaq did force his way, ironically, to Phoenix in the 2008 trade. The other one was Dwayne. Dwayne could not believe that they were only going to offer him $43 million for two years, one of his extensions later on in his career. Chicago could offer him more because Miami literally offered him every. Every dollar that was available. They had no more.
There was no mechanism to give Dwayne more money. Chicago gave him more. It was less with the tax, but Dwayne ended up taking that. And it took two or three years for that frostiness, the thaw between Dwayne and the heat. And look, LeBron is the best player ever played for the Heat, but Dwayne is the greatest player to ever play for the Heat because of the longevity and what he meant. And for it to get that bad, it's. It's kind of crazy that Jimmy did Shaq and Dwayne one better, but he did. He absolutely did.
[00:54:04] Speaker B: Any other trades that stood out?
[00:54:08] Speaker C: I think, you know, for me, I think Cleveland's acquisition of DeAndre Hunter, you know, was a piece that they probably needed, especially if you're looking ahead and it ends up being Cleveland and Boston in the Eastern Conference finals. Another guy to cover those big wings with, the two Js with the Celtics. That one, you know, sticks out to me for, you know, a real need. And I. I don't know if maybe I was just so down on Jimmy because we really hadn't seen him in a while. And I know it's a very short sample size, and I don't know if Golden State has a real, you know, chance to contend outside of, you know, maybe getting to the six seed or, you know, getting out of that playing, but, you know, perhaps that brings, you know, a little something to Steph Curry, get the juices flowing and maybe one more run.
[00:55:01] Speaker A: I totally agree that the Warriors Got a huge shot in the arm just from doing something. And, and look Jimmy, Jimmy had a 35, 19 and 10 game in December. I mean yes, he's 35 years old, but when he wants to rev it up, he still can. And I think it's a great fit personality wise.
Everyone wants to play with Steph.
Jimmy understands it is Stephen Curry's team. There won't be any issue with that in Golden State. That is the team that if healthy, I do not want to see coming in a seven game series. Get them into play and if you can, I don't want to. I watched Stephen Curry beat France in France in what was basically game seven on the road.
Do not let him get close to another Larry O'Brien. That would be my advice to the Western Conference. The one that jumped out to me was one that ultimately didn't end up happening.
And it speaks to where we are financially in the league now, that teams aren't going to risk anything if they don't have to anymore. And that's the Dalton Connect. Mark Williams trade between the Lakers and the Hornets. The Lakers need a big Mark Williams would have been an unbelievable fit for them. He's quick off the ground, he's a lob threat. Great hands, great footwork. Evidently a very bad back and did not get through the physical. You know, Charlotte I think is trying to absolutely no avail to get this trade, you know, done.
Pondering any recourse that they have to get the Lakers to un veto the veto. But again with the money being so big and the tax implications being so big now for these teams that are in the tax every year, the repeater tax is so expensive.
It's that to me speaks to how to where it's going when you're paying guys $70 million before too long. Like Mark said a couple minutes ago, it's, you know, you're not going to risk anything ever. So seeing a trade vetoed of that magnitude, especially with a team like the Lakers and we all know what Mark Williams could have meant to that team. Just a really good big for LeBron and Luka to get every, you know, to have, get every rebound for them, that, that one shocked me that it didn't happen just because the teams know what they're getting into and then it never crossed the finish line.
[00:57:28] Speaker B: Well guys, let's take a break. We'll talk more NBA as we get ready for the All Star Game this weekend and San Francisco. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:57:52] Speaker C: I love playing sports, especially for my school and that's because school sports are special. It's where it's safe. To fail is where we're taught resilience, where our fear becomes confidence, is where we learn to get back up after every fall. School Sports are where 7.8 million students go from I can't to I can.
[00:58:14] Speaker A: This message presented by NISFA and the New York State Athletic Administrators Association.
[00:58:23] Speaker C: Hi, this is Andrew Catalan of CBS Sports and formerly of News Channel 13, WNYT.
[00:58:29] Speaker A: You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shiman.
[00:58:36] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast. Our NBA roundtable at the All Star break with ESPN Raiders Mark Kessiser and the Associated Press's Tim Reynolds. I want to ask you guys about my Sixers and specifically Joel Embiid. Is it time for the Sixers to shut him down or maybe part ways with him? And I honestly think had he not played in the Olympics, he probably wouldn't have these knee issues.
[00:59:01] Speaker C: Yeah, you're probably right.
And, you know, in the first segment, we talked, you know, a little bit about, you know, signing guys to big contracts, you know, wondering the value and health and all that. And, you know, here was a decision to, you know, go over $200 million and, you know, I guess, kind of hope that, you know, Joel would be able to live up to it, and, you know, probably not the best of decisions over the summer, even though, you know, at the time, you know, you want to be a part of something special. And we'll never know if that was, you know, the reason why. But it's just the whole thing's unfortunate, you know, between the Paul George signing and, you know, Joel Embiid being unavailable, that that's got to be the greatest disappointment in the league this year. And, you know, for the fans like yourself, as great as it's been this week, being an Eagles fan, and I'm sure it has been. Yeah, just, you know, terrible from the 76ers side, having to go through, you know, the whole rigmarole of breaking it down and rebuilding it up and never, ever living up to that promise. You know, it's just incredibly unfortunate. And I don't know, it sounds like there's a good possibility that there may be a shutdown and there may be a surgical procedure coming up, and that would just.
[01:00:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, the Sixers aren't going anywhere. I mean, I'd be a waste of time to go, you know, get in the playing game. And I just think you're better off just shutting him down and just getting him Right. Just. I want to see him. I mean, I want to see him play at least 75, 76 games a year. I don't want. I mean, this load management crap. I'm. I mean, it's not the NBA. I grew up with, you know, players played and there was no such thing as load management. And just to me, I think. I also think MB's got to get himself in better shape.
[01:00:58] Speaker A: I don't. I don't think you're going to see him play 76 games ever.
Back to backs, travel, it's. And again, the guys are making so much money that teams are very hesitant now to risk it. When a guy says I can't go, it's. It's sad and it's.
I don't know. I mean, I was there. I don't know if the Olympics helped or hurt him. He didn't really do much at the Olympics. I don't think the Olympics exacerbated his problem.
I don't think the Olympics made it worse. I think it's just bad and it might be time to go see. Go to another surgeon. See what's what. Get it fixed. Take a shot at salvaging your career. Because, guys, what's stopping Tyrese Maxey now from saying, yeah, we can't win without the big guy.
I want out. What's stopping that from happening? The Sixers are not on the precipice of missing the playoffs this year. The Sixers are on the precipice of another process potentially starting. Yeah, if this thing goes that sideways and Maxi says, I want out.
Paul George, great player, great guy.
Widely perceived as not the best move this summer that any team could have made.
You have to shut. If I'm Daryl Morey, I shut Joel down. I get it fixed or try to get the knee fixed. Figure out how long it's going to take to get him right for real and see if I can hold this thing together. Or else you're going to lose everybody, and then you're perpetually starting over.
[01:02:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:02:57] Speaker A: And that doesn't work in Philly.
[01:02:59] Speaker B: Yep. Especially now they're going to be getting a new building. I don't know where they're going to put the new building in South Philly. Of course, they were threatening to go downtown Philadelphia, which I think was a big mistake. Begin with, because really, it's unfortunately hurt the Chinatown area. And just. It was just. There's really no parking downtown Philadelphia. As a. As a Philadelphia resident, I know it's tough to get around downtown. There's but Just it seems as like Josh Harris and now more focused on his Washington commanders than he is the Philadelphia 76ers.
[01:03:33] Speaker C: Hey, Tim and I are getting set to embark on. They built a beautiful palace in. I'm not calling it downtown San Francisco because it's, it's over near the water, past the baseball stadium, and there is no parking there. I mean, they, they, they make it happen on a nightly basis. And the warriors in the city of San Francisco have been trying to get more public transportation to get there, but those are, those are real issues. And I guess fortunate, you know, from a arena standpoint that it's only, you know, 18 to 20,000, as opposed to, you know, building a football stadium in the middle of downtown like they had talked about in Los Angeles before. They ended up building out by the airport. So those are issues. South Philly is kind of a perfect spot for all those sports buildings except for getting out of that parking lot when like two of those teams are playing at the same time. I don't know Philly well enough as well as you can to know, but I will trust you to say if downtown is not the spot to be, let's hope they don't build it.
[01:04:32] Speaker B: I mean, I mean, there's. Go ahead, Jim. Go ahead.
[01:04:35] Speaker A: You know, I was gonna say in Miami, you know, I still almost call it American Airlines Arena. That's like four names ago. But Cassia center is really difficult to get in and out of. That's why, I mean, look, Miami is a late arriving town. I know everybody knows that, everybody sees it on tv. But a lot of that is traffic. A lot of that is just the city just has too many people for the amount of roads that we have that lead to important areas. And traffic is really bad here in all directions at all times of the day. But Miami actually does have transportation that is very effective and nobody uses it. It's the weirdest thing. So you can get around. Okay, like coming from. I live northwest of downtown, so it's not really convenient for me. But I mean, I have friends, friends of mine who have jobs at the University of Miami. They live on Brickell, a very nice section of Miami just, just south of where the Heat play. They don't own cars. They take the train or the Metro rail. We call it Metro Mover. There's now a high speed rail connecting Miami and Orlando. Finally, they take the train everywhere. And they're two of the least stressed people. I know those of us who drive. I'm very gray now, guys. And it's. I'm convinced it's because of driving.
There's really nothing. I have nothing else to get upset about in life other than traffic. So what's the rule about real estate? Location, location, location.
I'm with you, Ken. I don't know where they're gonna put this new arena, but all the places that you think they're gonna put it, I don't really like any of them.
[01:06:18] Speaker B: To me, I think. I would think that it would be where the vet used to be, because right now it's a parking lot. So I can see going across Patterson Avenue there to put the new building. I can see that down there. And then you knock down Wells Fargo and then. And then you have more parking there. Of course, there's also been talk about Jeffrey Lurie building a dome stadium in Philly maybe somewhere. I don't know if that's going to come to pass. But I mean, as far as the transportation in Philly, at least with the teams down in South Philly had the Broad street subway going right to the sports complex. They built that extension in 1973.
But there is transportation in Philly downtown, if you take the market, Frankfurt L, or the commuter trains. But it's just.
It's just really. I think it's just. It's an inconvenience. I don't think many, many people are going to take public transportation downtown to see the Sixers play. So, I mean, I'm glad it's going to be in South Phil. I think the Sixers were more inclined, wanted more of a say in, in the building, because they really don't have much to say in Wells Fargo center right now. Because. Because you know that some, some of the.
They don't. They. They don't mention Wells Fargo in a lot of their advertising. Just call it the center. And I know there's the logos on the, on the floor, but they don't. Because Wells Fargo center doesn't advertise with the Sixers.
[01:07:41] Speaker C: It's always interesting to me, and the same with the sale of the Boston Celtics. It's got to be one of the most valued franchises in all of sport. But I didn't. I don't pay enough attention to who owns what building, but I became aware in the last couple of years that the Celtics do not own the TV garden. And so in valuation, that is a little bit of a drag on them. But it's interesting to. To see all the. The talk of buildings. Obviously, the specter of getting Final Fours and Super Bowls is certainly a motivation to put a dome on it. And I had forgotten until I watched the Buffalo Bills.
I don't know if it was a postseason game or sometime late in the regular season. There was an aerial shot and I'm like, they're not putting a dome on that stadium in Orchard Park.
[01:08:25] Speaker B: Nope.
They love the elements there. That's Bill's mafia. So. Well, let's talk about this.
[01:08:31] Speaker C: I've ever been is in that stadium. And of course, this is from a guy who's soft going to football games at Syracuse University.
[01:08:38] Speaker B: What about the All Star Game for something different this year? Not east versus West. They trying to bring excitement back to the game.
[01:08:46] Speaker C: You know, I'll throw my two cents in. I, you know, I kind of enjoyed the, the Rising Stars format on Friday. It's quick, there's a target score. But you've also got young, motivated guys, you know, who, you know, want to stand out. And I thought in Chicago, I think that was what, 2020, right before the pandemic, when they put in the target score.
Maybe that helped get us some competition. Maybe it was just the fact that we had a close game in the fourth quarter, which is what you hope for for every All Star Game. But when, when I looked up at the field house in Indianapolis last year and it was sitting on 199 points and then realizing that the 1 doesn't go to 2 and they actually, I don't know if anyone noticed, they actually dropped a black drape over the side scoreboards. I think in anticipation of realizing the scoreboard wasn't capable of going to 200 and a team scored 211 points, that something had to change. And I don't know if having a mini tournament and playing to a shorter score will get that competition, but if you're only asking guys to get out there and, you know, play for 20, 25 minutes or whatever, hopefully we can bring back that kind of competition. So I'm always open to it.
You know, I love east versus West. I love five starters versus five starters that the fans voted on. And we're getting none of that this year. So let's see if, if the new format can take hold.
[01:10:14] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm, I'm not loving it at all.
Like, for example, there's three NBA teams and then the Rising Stars team in this four team tournament. So we have at minimum 15 starters because we don't know if the two teams that advance will have the same starters for the final and we only gain 10 people starters.
Like this whole thing just seemed off. We didn't change the voting format. But we wholesale changed the format and the rules of the game.
You know, like Mark said about 2020, it was a perfect storm of terrible. We had the target score and the Kobe tribute. So guys took it very, very seriously because Kobe took the game very, very seriously. And I think that was the ultimate, one of many, many ultimate thank yous for. What Kobe meant to the league was guys played the way Kobe would have three years ago.
The game in New York, we had neither team led by nine, led by more than nine the whole way. We had a bunch of ties, bunch of lead changes. It was competitive. We had a target score. LeBron makes a shot at the end, they went 163 to 160. I was fine with that. Not a lot of defense, of course, but it was competitive. It went down to the wire.
The ratings have not suggested that fans are loving seeing 200 points or, you know, we only saw that the one time. But it's. Fans want to see something different. So I give Adam Silver credit. Look, when, when he added the play in tournament, you know, everyone was, it's not going to work. When he added the in season tournament, RR is not going to work. By the way. I was one of those guys going RR to the in season. I thought it was going to be a disaster.
He's two for two. I mean, so maybe this will work. And asking guys to play short spurts is one thing. My question, if I'm. If I can take over as host for one moment.
[01:12:18] Speaker B: Good.
[01:12:18] Speaker A: My question to my good friend Mark Kester is we've got three games to 40 and three and a half hours to fill, and we might only have about 30 minutes of basketball. How much rain delay material do you have, sir, lined up for Sunday night?
[01:12:33] Speaker C: That is a great question and one that I have asked my bosses. There's a big meeting going on in San Francisco between the league and Turner and to a much lesser degree, ESPN Radio to see exactly how this will be filled out. In my mind, I think of halftime, right. Of the traditional All Star Game. And, you know, there's always a musical act and like the entire court is taken over by people. I don't know who these people are. They're special people that are able to, you know, stand on the court and get close to the stage. Are we going to do that like twice after games?
[01:13:08] Speaker A: I can tell you something.
[01:13:13] Speaker C: I can tell you some information here. Let's get some hints.
[01:13:17] Speaker B: Breaking news.
[01:13:18] Speaker A: So there is. There won't be a halftime to these games, but around the midpoint of the Championship game.
My understanding is there will be a break and expect something special.
[01:13:38] Speaker B: Maybe Drake.
[01:13:39] Speaker C: Maybe.
[01:13:39] Speaker B: Maybe.
[01:13:39] Speaker C: Maybe material going.
[01:13:41] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe. Drake comes in and counters Kendrick Lamar. Drake.
[01:13:46] Speaker A: Drake. Drake is in Australia because he picked the furthest place on earth to be from that super bowl halftime show.
Ken, I don't want to be remiss here, but I can. I wanted to. While we're talking about NBA All Star games and what Mark's going to do for three and a half hours, I just wanted to say I did not expect to get emotional on Sunday.
Those five and a half minutes that Mike Breen and Hubie Brown spent signing off.
[01:14:21] Speaker B: Oh, I do want to ask you guys about that, because that was one of my.
[01:14:25] Speaker A: I could not. It was hard to watch. I cried. I absolutely cried. I was texting Doris Burke saying, I'm crying right now. And she said, I'm losing it. And it was. God bless that man. We have.
We are going to miss Hubie because he's one of one. He's no PJ Carlissimo, but he's not bad. He's one of one.
While we're talking about broadcasters and filling air, I just felt like this is a good time to say no. He has been so lucky.
[01:14:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Caste, what about you? Because you had. You had to work with him, right?
[01:14:58] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. I did three finals and three conference finals with Hubie, and I don't know how it happened, but sometime about 10 years ago, you know, I got asked to do a television game and it happened to be QB Brown, and I think it was in Salt Lake City, Utah, and it was a. It was a Mavericks Jazz game. And Terry Stotts was the assistant coach of the Dallas Mavericks, who I knew from the Albany Patroons days. And I remember, you know, back then when I was actually trying to keep in shape and I would, you know, go to the gym in the morning and he goes, do you want to meet Rick Carlisle? And I was like, yeah, I'd love to meet Rick Carlisle. And so went up, you know, to say hi to Rick. I'm getting ready to call this game. And of course, Rick famously goes, you know, I played for the Patroons, too. And I was like, you know what? I think I was in college during those times, and I'm going to look this up. Anyway, it's a long way to say that it was a very memorable night for me, you know, to. To work with Hubie. And I actually did a game with him in Memphis shortly thereafter. That when they celebrated his coach of the year with The Grizzlies and the team, I think they'd won 50 games that year. And so in all these pictures that were shown on Sunday during that great broadcast, there was actually one that I think I was sitting next to him, and it reminded me of the first finals I did, and I literally felt I was going to have a heart attack. You know, I mean, why am I calling the finals? I don't think I deserve this spot. I was the studio host that threw to the guy who called the finals, and now they're gonna throw to me. And I just remember Hubie looking at me and sensing that I was, you know, a little out of my game. And he just said, kid, I've been here. When you've called games before, it's just another game. When the ball goes up, it's just another game. But look around this arena and look at all these people and just take it all in for these moments. And then as soon as they throw it to you, it's just another game. And, you know, to get that kind of advice from him and just to be in his circle was amazing. But I'm like you, Tim. I had the game on my iPad, sitting on my couch. I just gotten back from New York. We did Nick Celtics, and my wife and daughter were watching something else on tv, and I didn't want to force them to watch, you know, the Bucks game. So I had that airplane moment where you've got your earplugs in and you're watching something and maybe a sad movie, and you start to cry, and the guy next to you at 36E is like, what's wrong with this guy? But it was. It was a good cry. And that guy's a special guy. And I'm glad he had that moment, you know, and accepted the love, because we all know Hubie is all about the game, and he doesn't like it to be about him. And I think, you know, he even sensed the moment that he really needed to accept his love. And he did. And it was. It was really fun to watch.
[01:17:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[01:17:53] Speaker A: What's funny is that you go back and watch that game, and he was.
He was great about talking about the game. He sounded like you, the guy at the end talking about himself, accepting the love, which we all sort of wondered if he would or not. He became a different guy, and that just showed you how much it meant to him.
[01:18:13] Speaker B: Yeah, it was very. He was very quiet when he was talking about himself there. I mean, he's just.
I think he was trying to hold back tears Because I think he finally grasped at the moment that all these fans, all these people that came on board came on the broadcast, like Mike Tirico, Mark Jones, just express their admiration for him.
It was a great television moment.
[01:18:41] Speaker C: It was. And it was perfect to have Mike Breen, who we know how much Hubie means to Mike and, and how much basketball history means to Mike and to realize this moment. And also, you know, we've all been living with Hubie, those who know him, and I don't purport to know him, but I know him enough that it affected us, you know, that his wife passed away after her battle with dementia. And then his son, who we all knew from Nick circles, had been working on Nick's broadcast up until a couple of years ago. And for him to pass away at a young age, you know, our, our age, he's a contemporary of our, the three of us, was sad in its own right. And for all that to happen in a calendar year and you know, to, on some level, I mean, he's so sharp at 91, you just figure he's going to live forever. And I think there's a, you know, you, you see your own mortality and you know, I know getting to games was the biggest issue for him. He would love to keep calling games, but it was an incredible hardship, you know, to get from his home in Atlanta to wherever he was going to call a game. And even in the hotel, he always had, you know, one of his daughters or a friend. Somebody was always there with him the last couple of years, you know, just to help him get ready and just the little things we don't think about. And so I think, you know, you put all that together and that, you know, made it for an even more emotional moment, I'm sure for him.
[01:20:07] Speaker B: Well, let's wrap this up with your thoughts on the state of the league right now. Ratings that seem to be down. Obviously there'll be a new TV contract coming next season. The inside the NBA was saved.
Just what are you, what's, what's the state of the league right now?
[01:20:25] Speaker C: I think for me, I hear the ratings issues. I hear the, there's too much three point shooting issues and you know, many of that on some nights might be accurate, but I've, you know, never seen the game played at such a higher skill level.
I think we're at this point again that we seem to come to, you know, every half generation where there's a baton toss from the guys who've carried it, you know, for 15 years in Kevin Durant's case and 20 plus years in LeBron James case and you hand off to that next level of superstar that we're seeing in the shade, Gil. Just Alexander types in Oklahoma City and the Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown in Boston and other points across the league, Anthony Edwards coming up in Minnesota. And to me, that's, that's exciting, you know, and we may even get a little taste of that in these playoffs. You know, Boston has the ability, you know, to have the 18 banners above head and the classic uniforms regardless of who's in them, and they're the established team. But the Cleveland's of the world, the young Memphis Grizzlies of the world, it's probably too soon for Houston, but you know, they showed us in the first half of the season, that's another team that's on the come. So, you know, I tend to be, as you guys know, always very optimistic and I feel the game's in a great place and hopefully, you know, we'll just get an incredibly exciting finish to the year and some great series, you know, coming in the postseason when we get there.
[01:22:03] Speaker A: Well, I'll, I'll try not to just repeat word for word what Mark said, but it's, you know, we've been on for nearly an hour and we have not said the words Victor Wembanyama.
[01:22:13] Speaker B: Yeah, that's right.
[01:22:15] Speaker A: The league's in a really good place because it's got Victor Wembanyama in it. I'm on top of all of the young teams and the teams that are on the rise, like Mark said. And a lot of these teams are what we call these middle, these mid market teams, these, you know, these small market teams, it's, you know, San Antonio is not a small market. San Antonio is. But when you add Austin, where they're playing a couple of games coming out of the break, including Kevin Durant going back to the University of Texas, which will be incredible theater.
When you add Austin to San Antonio, they're not small market. When you add Nashville to Memphis, they're not small market. Houston is obviously not a small market. And these are some of the teams that are on the rise.
Oklahoma City is a small market. The state of Oklahoma is not.
And they own the state. They own the state. They have, you know, Sooners are not the Sooners anymore. They own the state.
There's two teams in Oklahoma you can count on being good for the next five years soon. Three teams, Sooner Gymnastics, Sooner softball, and the Oklahoma City Thunder. So. And they're going to be good for A really long time on the ratings issue. And Ken, you understand this better than. Well, certainly better than I do. Probably not. You and Mark are in this world. I'm just a print hack.
You know, ratings are down for everything. Cable ratings are down everywhere. We still use a very antiquated system that, you know, the Nielsen household days are not. There's no accurate measure. I can just tell you the interest in stories and storylines is as good as it has ever been because people are watching more on their phones. Can't track that really. The streaming. When, when, when Amazon and Netflix take a bigger footprint within the league next year.
Everybody seems to know what's happening in the NBA. Everybody. The NBA held its own with the NFL on Super bowl week because of our wacky crazy trade deadline and all of the noise that came with that. I think the game's in a wonderful place. If it wasn't in a wonderful place, really smart people wouldn't commit $80 billion over the, over the next 11 years to be able to broadcast and stream these games. It's in a great place because of great young talent. You're going to hear more in the next couple of months about the NBA's plans to expand its footprint in Europe.
I don't know if there's going to be a league, but there's going to be some NBA backed something in Europe. The game is going to become even more global. The world's going to get a little bit smaller. This is all great for whatever's coming next and a lot of it is because of Victor Wembanyama. And I know there's probably not a lot of spurs fans in the Capital region.
If you get the chance to watch a Spurs game and you have not watched 48 minutes of victory yet, do it. It's. He's, he's phenomenal. He's a wonderful kid. He's in a great place. He's on a great team. I love where the league is. I just, I just love where the league is right now. I don't care about the ratings numbers. Everything is trending the right way from where I sit. If that's Pollyanna, then I'm probably.
[01:25:32] Speaker B: Well, gentlemen, as always, I appreciate you guys doing this. As we get set for the All Star game, enjoy San Francisco. Hopefully you guys pick a good place to eat.
[01:25:41] Speaker C: We always love the Pacific time zone when everyone else here in the east is going to be, you know, going to bed after this is over. We still have a few extra hours to get out there and Mr. Carlosimo will lead the way. So I just. I just follow his coattails, and next thing I know, there's food going down. The old trap.
[01:26:00] Speaker A: And the second. The best part of. For me on these big events is I get to hear the next day where PJ and Mark got to go eat because I'm not cool enough. I'm not cool enough to get a seat at that table.
[01:26:14] Speaker C: We're gonna do all the rain delay theater during the actual event. You gotta actually document it for the rest of us.
[01:26:20] Speaker B: Yeah, because. Yeah, because, Tim, you have to still stay around. Right? Mark and pj, once the game's over, they're done, they can drop their headphones and head to the restaurant.
[01:26:30] Speaker A: It's a sad existence for me, but it's a wonderful existence for them. And I don't mind living vicariously through my good friends.
[01:26:36] Speaker C: Well, one of these days, the three of us will get together and have a nice meal sometime. How about that?
[01:26:42] Speaker B: Is that me or PJ you're talking about?
[01:26:46] Speaker C: That would include you.
[01:26:47] Speaker B: Okay, thank you. Thank you.
[01:26:48] Speaker A: I'll tell you guys. A free plug on Kensho Podcast677 is where I'm having my hall of Fame dinner in April. I love that place. So next time we're all in Aldi together, we gotta go there.
[01:26:58] Speaker B: All right, that's it. Let's mark it down then.
[01:27:02] Speaker C: Nice. And congratulations again, Tim. I hope.
[01:27:05] Speaker A: Thank you.
[01:27:05] Speaker C: I would love to happen to be in the area. Maybe. Some would be nice.
[01:27:08] Speaker A: Market Market's the last day of the season. You're not off. Neither am I.
[01:27:13] Speaker C: You gotta love it. Timing's everything.
[01:27:15] Speaker A: Right?
[01:27:16] Speaker B: Gentlemen, again, gentlemen, again, thank you very much. And. And like I said, enjoy the games this weekend and enjoy the. The Bay. Bay area.
All right, that's Mark Hesser and Tim Reynolds. I'll be back to wrap. I'll be back to wrap up the podcast. And I let the final winners in. The Daily Gazettes, you pick them. Football contest in just a moment.
You guys just didn't want it bad enough. That should have been an easy win.
[01:28:02] Speaker C: What were you doing out there?
[01:28:03] Speaker B: You gotta hustle. You could have made that play if you'd been open.
[01:28:08] Speaker I: On the car ride home after the game, when you think you're helping by telling me what I did wrong and what I need to work on.
All I hear is that I'm not good enough, that I'm supposed to be perfect, that it's not okay to lose on the car ride home. All I need to hear is how much you love me and enjoy watching me play. That my worth isn't determined by my performance, that even on my worst day I am worthy. That you see me learning, growing and doing my best.
And that is enough.
[01:28:50] Speaker C: This message presented by NISFA and the.
[01:28:53] Speaker A: New York State Athletic Administrators association hey.
[01:28:57] Speaker C: Everybody, this is Freddie Coleman of ESPN Radio's Freddie and Harry 3p-7pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. Friday, you're listening to the Party Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken.
[01:29:06] Speaker B: Shot Back to wrap up the podcast. The week 22 winner in the Delegatest U Pick'em Football Contest was Cindy LaBelle of Boston Lake. Cindy wins a 100 Hannaford gift card. Congratulations Cindy. The VIP winner was John Keller of Catio, Burns and me. That helped me clinch the VIP and overall titles with 22022 points. Pat Bogazuci of Schenectady had 221 points to finish in the overall category. Finish officially finished first. I mean, I can't be part of the overall category, I guess so. As for the VIPs, I said of course I won. Scott Hudson of Emericks had 218 points. Jim DeMarco of Tory Morris Ford at 213. Former Daily Gazette writer Adam Schinder had 209 points. Adam Crowns of Glenville Beverage at 208. Dwayne Leach of All Season Equipment had 205 points. Nick Platel of Grand Premier Tires had 201 points. John Keller of Katy Burns 199 points, as did Matt Margulatta of SG Roofing and Scott Lucher of Kappeland GMC had 192 points. I want to thank everybody for participating this season in the U Pickham Football contest and we'll do it again in 2025. It'll be here before you know it.
The NASCAR season kicks off Sunday with the Daytona 500, and that means the Daily Gazette's auto racing contest is back. You pick the drivers who will finish in the top five and the winner gets a $50 gift card to play. Go to dailygazette.com Just because COVID 19 mandates are easing, that does not mean you should relax. Be vigilant. If you have not gotten vaccinated or received a booster shot, please do so. Do it for yourself, do it for your family and do it for your friends. Don't forget to download the Daily Gazette app and sign up for our E Edition so you never miss a headline. Subscribe today at www.dailygazette.com. we have a lot of great specials going on when credibility matters. Trust the Daily Gazette that wraps up another edition of the Parting Shots podcast. I want to thank members of the union men's and women's hockey teams, Mark Kaser and Tim Reynolds for being a part of the show. Coming up at the end of the month, Dave Simms, the new radio play by play voice of the New York Yankees and like me, a Philadelphia native, will be on to talk about his new role. So that'll be a lot of fun to talk with Dave. And of course, we'll probably have some Eagle chat as well. If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email them to me at shot that's s c h o dash t
[email protected] following X threads and bluesky at Slap Shots the views expressed in the Parting Shots podcast are not necessarily those of the Daily Gazette Company. The Parting Shots podcast is a production of the Daily Gazette Company. I'm Daily Gazette Sports Editor Ken Schatz. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Parting Shots Podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day, good sports and fly Eagles fly. We are super bowl champions.
[01:32:32] Speaker C: And watch our Eagles fly.
Eagles fly on the road to victory B A T L E S Eagles.
