PMT DB
PMT DB
Scott Van Pelt and Stanford Steve on SportsCenter and Super Bowl Chokes
Big Cat and PFT Commenter are transmitting from deep inside the mothership in Bristol, Connecticut. After a surreal appearance on the midnight edition of SportsCenter, the guys are joined by the host himself, Scott Van Pelt, and his right-hand man, Stanford Steve. The energy is high, partly from the adrenaline of being on live cable and partly because the guys spent a good chunk of their visit exploring the ESPN cafeteria and peeing in famous toilets.
Before the guests sit down, Hank is back from Houston with a gravelly voice and a championship hangover. The crew tries to make sense of Super Bowl 51, specifically how the Falcons managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Hank isn't holding back on his own team's opponent.
HankThe Falcons choked the Super Bowl away to the Patriots
I think the Falcons choked it away pretty hard. I didn't realize how bad the choke was until I saw the Patriots should have lost in four different wins.
Big Cat pointed the finger directly at the Falcons' offensive coordinator, suggesting that overthinking the game plan was the ultimate downfall in Atlanta.
Big CatThe Falcons lost the Super Bowl because Kyle Shanahan got 'too smart' and stopped running the ball
I don't know why they stopped running. Kyle Shanahan... Got a little too smart. You know what would have been funny is if they had just pulled his offer [to coach the 49ers]. Actually, you know what? The 49ers would probably kill half their homeless population just to get to a Super Bowl.
Naturally, the conversation shifted to how many more rings Tom Brady can actually fit on his hands. While the world thinks he's immortal, PFT is looking for signs of "creeping death" in every underthrown pass. Big Cat is slightly more optimistic about the longevity of the TB12 method.
Big CatTom Brady will win one more Super Bowl to finish with six
I think that Brady's going to win one more Super Bowl. I think we'll get two. I think he'll win six.
Hot Seat, Cool Throne
Hot Seat belongs to Nick Saban, mostly because he can't seem to keep a coordinator for more than ten minutes. PFT thinks the addition of Chip Kelly to the Alabama staff is a recipe for a Shakespearean betrayal.
PFT CommenterChip Kelly will try to steal someone's job as a behind-the-scenes villain at Alabama
If there's somebody who's able to undermine and sneak around and steal somebody's job, it's definitely Chip. Chip is a behind-the-scenes Shakespearean villain. He's going to be doing everything that he can to make sure he gets that job.
PFT CommenterAlabama could win 10 games with my dick as offensive coordinator
At the very least, Chip's going to win 10 games at Alabama because Alabama could win 10 games with my dick at offensive coordinator.
Cool Throne goes to Phil Jackson, who continues to be the ultimate finesse artist in New York. Big Cat finds it hard not to respect the hustle of a man who found the perfect mark in James Dolan.
Big CatPhil Jackson is only at the Knicks because James Dolan is a sucker
I respect [Phil Jackson] for spotting the sucker in the room and basically saying, oh, James Dolan wants me to come and work for him, and I don't have to move, and I don't have to do anything, and he's going to pay me millions of dollars. What's the worst going to happen?
SVP and Stanford Steve
The interview with Scott Van Pelt and Stanford Steve gets into the weeds of how SportsCenter with SVP is built every night. It’s basically just a high-budget version of guys hanging out in a sportsbook, watching every game simultaneously. SVP admits that while he keeps it professional, watching his Maryland Terrapins lose makes him a nightmare to be around.
The conversation also turned to the Capitals and their perennial status as the team that should have won it all by now. SVP is still holding out hope for the President's Cup winners.
Scott Van PeltThe Washington Capitals are too good to never win a Stanley Cup
They're too good to never win one. But, I mean, they were the Presidents' Cup trophy winners last year... They have the most points in the league.
They also discussed the integration of gambling talk into the mainstream broadcast. SVP and Steve have been pioneers in making "Bad Beats" a staple, and they agree that the landscape of sports media would look a lot different without the betting element.
PFT CommenterSports TV ratings would be considerably lower if there was no sports gambling
The ratings in general for places like ESPN and all the networks that are airing sports would be considerably lower if there was no sports gambling at all.
Scott Van PeltSports gambling will be legal everywhere in the next 10 years
When do you think it's going to be legalized? ... I don't know, 10 years? I mean, how many states right now can you buy weed legally? ... It's going to be legal in some period of time. I don't know what the time frame is.
LeBron Blames and PR 101
A new segment makes its debut: LeBron Blames. LeBron is currently blaming everyone from the media to Charles Barkley for his problems, but the guys think it's time to check the hierarchy in Cleveland.
PFT CommenterThe Cavaliers are now Kyrie Irving's team, not LeBron James'
Kyrie hit the big shot. You know why? So now here's the question. This is Kyrie's team.
In PR 101, the Boston Bruins get a massive shoutout for the most cynical and effective coaching fire in sports history. They managed to dump Claude Julien right as the city was distracted by millions of people celebrating the Patriots.
Big CatThe Bruins firing Claude Julien during the Patriots parade is the greatest PR 101 move ever
The Boston Bruins who fired Claude Julien... The morning of the New England Patriots parade and held a press conference during the parade. That is the greatest PR 101 story of all time.
The guys also roasted Mark Wahlberg for his questionable exit from the Super Bowl. While Mark claims he left because of a sick kid, the PMT crew smells a convenient excuse for a fan who didn't want to watch his team get blown out.
PFT CommenterMark Wahlberg used his sick kid as an excuse to leave the Super Bowl early
That is an unbelievable story, the fact that he got exposed for leaving early and then threw his kid out there. ... The blame aspect is really strong in that.
Big CatOne of the only benefits of having children is being able to use them as an excuse to avoid events
That is like one of the only pluses to having children... is to basically be able to blame. I can't go to this because my kid is sick or I can't go to this. I got to put the kid down. It's like getting a dog. ... I got to walk my dog. I can't be over here.
To wrap things up, the show introduced a new recurring question for future guests: What was the first boob you ever saw? Hank and PFT both pointed toward a 1980s comedy classic that definitely over-delivered on its rating.
PFT CommenterThe movie 'Airplane!' is likely the source of most people's 'first boob' because of its PG rating
I think that Airplane! has got to be up there because it's comedy. It's a PG, and you get people like our age that liked it when we were kids. They let their kids see it, and they forget that there's a boob in it. But there's two boobs, the same woman.
If you see a guy in a Hawaiian shirt doing butt-scoots on the ESPN lobby rug, mind your business.
