PMT DB
PMT DB
Brian Windhorst and Dan Rapaport on the LIV/PGA Merger and NBA Finals
Cash rules everything around us, and never was that more apparent than on Wednesday morning. Big Cat and PFT opened the show in a state of genuine shock following the news that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have officially merged. The betrayal felt by the players who stayed loyal to the Tour is palpable, especially considering the high horse Jay Monahan has been riding for the last two years. Big Cat didn't hold back on the commissioner's sudden about-face regarding the source of LIV's funding.
Big CatJay Monahan is the biggest scumbag in the world
Jay Monahan, the biggest scumbag in the world, the biggest scumbag in the world. He brought in 9/11 families to act as a human shield for what he was doing behind the scenes, which was negotiating with the LIV tour to try to make the PGA tour more money in the long run. While again telling the golfers on the PGA tour, don't do business with these people. They are evil. So yes, he's the biggest piece of shit in the world.
PFT compared the entire saga to a classic sitcom business move. While the PGA Tour spent millions trying to fight off the new league, they eventually realized they couldn't outlast the bottomless pockets of the Public Investment Fund.
PFT CommenterLIV Golf comes out of the merger looking like the Michael Scott Paper Company
The LIV tour, by the way, they come out of this smelling like roses. They're the Michael Scott Paper Company comparably to the PGA tour. They started their own tour. Everybody laughed at 'em. Their ratings were bad. But at some point along the way, the PGA tour needed the LIV tour just as much as the LIV guys needed the PGA tour.
While the moral side of the merger is messy, the financial reality for the players is simple: more money is coming. Big Cat noted that while guys like Will Zalatoris or Hideki Matsuyama might be fuming about the nine-figure checks they turned down, the long-term outlook for the professional golfer's bank account has never been higher.
Big CatIn 10 years, PGA players will realize the LIV merger was the moment they started making a lot more money
It's gotta suck to be a PGA tour player today because they were blindsided. [But] in like 10 years they'll probably look back and be like, yeah, we did make a lot more money. They already are making more money because of the PGA having to compete with LIV. They're probably all gonna make a shitload more money now.
To help make sense of the chaos, Dan Rapaport joined the show to break down the winners and losers of the deal. He highlighted the sheer hypocrisy of the Tour's leadership and how the landscape of sports ownership is changing forever. PFT suggested that this is just the beginning of a trend where the price of sports franchises begins to outpace even the wealthiest American individuals.
PFT CommenterForeign investment funds will eventually buy American sports teams as prices exceed what US billionaires can afford
As the teams get more and more expensive, there's fewer and fewer people who can afford to pay for these teams. At some point, the foreign investment funds are gonna become part of the shrinking pool of available billions that can buy American sports teams. We might be on that slide down there.
Switching gears to the hardwood, Brian Windhorst joined the program from a green room in Miami to talk NBA Finals. After the Nuggets dropped Game 2, Windhorst shared that Michael Malone went scorched earth on his team during film sessions. Despite the Heat's resilience, Windhorst believes the loss might have been exactly what Denver needed to regain their focus.
Brian WindhorstThe Nuggets losing Game 2 of the NBA Finals was a 'good loss' that they needed to wake up
It sounds like what you're saying is... the Nuggets losing [Game 2] was a good loss. It woke them up. They needed something like this. [Windhorst]: That's exactly the way Michael Malone phrased it. You won't see it on television because it had to be bleeped, but... it's exactly what he said. I imagine the bus just pulled up to Jeff Green's house and they had a bonding dinner... and then today they had a film session where Malone showed 'em 17 clips where they screwed up. So they're saying they're gonna do better.
Wendy also gave a scouting report on the most anticipated prospect since LeBron: Victor Wembanyama. Having spent time with Wemby in Paris, Windhorst described a player who defies physics. While his frame might lead to some highlight-reel bloopers early on, his defensive range is unlike anything the NBA has ever seen.
Brian WindhorstVictor Wembanyama can defend the basket and the three-point line at the same time
He can defend the basket and the three point line at the same time. And I tell that to people and they go, you are out of your mind. Why would you even bother saying that? Because I'm telling you, I saw it. He'd be in the protecting the front of the rim. Kick it out to the corner and he would get out there in time to block it.
Before letting him go, the guys touched on some classic Windy lore, including the infamous "What is going on in Utah?" fingers and the time he definitely did NOT fall asleep on live television.
Hot Seat/Cool Throne featured a heavy dose of the paranormal. PFT is convinced that the recent news about recovered alien craft was perfectly timed to be buried by the Taylor Swift news cycle. He even floated the idea that the whistleblower might be a strategic move to keep global rivals on their toes.
PFT CommenterThe alien whistleblower might be a government plant to trick China and Russia into thinking the US has recovered alien technology
This guy might just be making it all up and he's authorized by the government to make it up because that way China and Russia are like, wait, what the fuck? We don't have any alien craft. They know all this technology in the United States that we don't know yet. And then their military starts to panic and they get scared of us cuz we think we got that alien shit.
Hank’s Hot Seat was college baseball, specifically the absolute fun-killers who enforce the pitch clock during the most intense moments of the game. He argued that when the game is on the line, the rules should step aside for the sake of the drama.
HankThe pitch clock should be turned off in high-leverage baseball situations like bases loaded with two outs
It was Penn versus Southern Miss. It was 3-2, bases loaded, two outs. Best, probably one of the funnest situations. Baseball crowds going crazy and the ump called the clock violation and called 'em out. Which is just like... that should be another unwritten [rule] where if that's the count, that's the situation, the clock does not matter. Turn the clock off.
The show wrapped up with some listener-submitted FAQs, including the origin of Big Cat’s name and what the new Chicago studio will look like once it's fully inhabited.
Hopefully, the new studio has enough room for a lottery ball machine and zero moral high grounds.
