Scott Van Pelt

Rory McIlroy's Masters win was primarily 100% relief

It was almost all relief. And the thing that Andy North described to me... you feel so much more relief than joy... it was so obvious that sure there's joy in there... but clearly it was like, just thank God I did it.

Now that he's won the Masters, Rory McIlroy could stack three or four more majors

This is the damn burst that now frees them up to be truly like, fuck it. I'm gonna go do like... he's got a ton of runway in front of him. He could stack three or four more of these.

Maryland needs Florida's Clayton to sprain an ankle to win the Sweet 16 matchup

I think we need Clayton to sprain his ankle. Not badly, not bad. I'm not rooting for it and I'm not rooting for an injury like that guy's got such big balls... Maryland needs to play its best, the best be the best version of itself and I think they can win the game.

Annual free agency in college sports is detrimental

I'm pro players getting money, I'm anti-free agency every single year. 'Cause that's just stupid. It doesn't exist in any other sport. So I don't know, there's a lot that's going on, but... I think it's just kind of the new reality.

LeBron James is one of the best and most gracious interview subjects

I'd say him [LeBron], I appreciate the times that we talk where I think he gives you more than just the, the garden variety. When they [LeBron, Tiger, Jeter] seem like they're invested and actually present in a way that they're—I don't wanna say into it, but that it isn't a chore. That's the best you can hope for.

Scottie Scheffler's dominance is sustainable because he has no vices and a strong perspective on life

The genius of Scottie is he's like, 'I'm real good with whatever this is and I'm not trying to change any of it.' ... Presuming he stays healthy, I think he'll just keep just obliterating people... he just doesn't seem to have vices or things that that could get in the way of any of it.

Fans do not care about the LIV vs. PGA Tour drama anymore and the game just needs to be unified

No one gives a shit about this LIV stuff at this point. Golf just needs to get back together... I think everyone kind of just understands that it's better when everyone plays. It's fun to see [Rahm] and Brooks and Bryson and Cam Smith... you wanna see 'em all play together 'cause that means the best in the world are together.

Brooks Koepka is officially back as a top-tier golfer

Is Brooks officially back? Is he back? Yes. A hundred percent. It was good to talk to him Friday... he's healthy and if he's healthy he's rom strong. Brooks is strong too, man. Unequivocally Brooks Koepka back.

The chicken salad on wheat is the high-key veteran move at the Augusta media center

Chicken salad on wheat. Chicken salad on wheat is low-key, high-key the go-to. The vets know that. So go chicken salad on the Honey wheat... that's the one you want.

Bryson DeChambeau struggled at the Masters because he lacked specific yardage books

Augusta National, they don't provide [yardage books]... I almost wonder if it kind of jams up [Bryson DeChambeau's] airspace, so to speak, because you've got to sort it out completely on your own, and I think that's why you hear people talk so much about local knowledge and about playing here for years.

Winning the Masters will eventually be worth over $1 billion to Hideki Matsuyama

Andy North kept saying to me, you cannot comprehend the amount of pressure that's on this young man's shoulders... He's like, this is worth a billion dollars to him... This guy's 29 years old. He's got to have, you know, give him 40 years of being able to be, I'm the Masters champion in Japan. He's like, you could be a nine figure a year guy... David Duval... told me this morning, he goes, look, that's not, that's not crazy at all. He said, it might be conservative.

The chicken salad on brioche is the best new food item at Augusta National.

That's not the play, though, by the way, fellas. That's not the play. Chicken salad on the brioche. That was new for 2021. I ate about 11 of those today.

Wisconsin basketball fans are delusional because they think their team never fouls.

You guys [Wisconsin fans] think you've never fouled anybody because you coach not to foul. And then if someone calls a foul, the entire building acts like an outrageous crime against humanity has taken place.

MLB players are right to stand by their collectively bargained contracts

I don't expect you to have pity for the players. This isn't about pity, but it's still about right and wrong. And if we have a contract and the contract has been collectively bargained... All right. Well, I already gave you half of it back [for games not played], and now I'm going to go honor my contract, and you want me to take half less again. Well, that's bullshit.

Baseball faces a lack of interest if the 2020 season is canceled

If they stare each other down and nobody blinks and then the whole season dissolves in the midst of this... Like people are just going to say to baseball, hey, man, no one cares. We had nothing. You guys could have filled the void. You didn't because you fought about money. Now we've got all this other stuff. Have fun being over there and us not caring about it.

Fans will hate watching sports with no crowds after just two days

Two days into baseball and stadiums... with no fans in the stands and guys sitting like eight seats apart in the bleachers people going to go like this blows. I don't like this everyone hates everything. No one's gonna like it.

The virtual NFL Draft is a recipe for disaster and will be hacked

The idea of the NFL going 'Hey, we're going to do virtual draft' which by the way, that's it. That's the recipe for disaster. Oh, yeah people people are a thousand percent going to hack it and you're going to be like Andy Reid's going to be on an iPad trying to figure out what's going on in someone's going to send him a porn link or something.

Maryland would have made a Final Four run in the 2020 tournament

I do honestly believe that [Maryland] were one of those 15 20 teams that could have made a final four run... you're probably always going to think the most positive outcome was what would have happened because who sits around goes, 'you know, we probably lost to Akron in the first round.'

Aside from quarterback, the edge rusher is the most important position on a football team

The second most important guy you can get besides a quarterback is someone that can tackle the quarterback.

Tiger Woods beating the athlete golfers he inspired (Koepka, DJ) is his most impressive feat

There's a whole wave of guys that he created, right? The guys that look like Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka that could be athletes in any sport... And they all kind of wanted to be him. And he beat all of them... when it's over, he wins.

Francesco Molinari's Sunday collapse will be forgotten because Tiger Woods won

[Molinari] is the one guy that's going to walk away from this the most gutted because if he doesn't make a couple mistakes, then maybe it's him. [Big Cat: I think he's the luckiest guy... no one will remember it because it's Tiger]. SVP: I hadn't even considered that... that actually makes a ton of sense.

Freezing Reese's Peanut Butter Cups is the best way to eat them

Reese's, put them in the freezer, kids. That's the next level stuff. Everyone knows that.

Gambling Twitter is in the VIP section of the worst parts of Twitter

Gambling Twitter is in VIP of the worst Twitter. It's definitely... I don't know if they're in this Uber VIP up top where Jay-Z is... but they're in VIP. Twitter trolls are definitely in the VIP of the club of Twitter.

I am never betting on Kansas again

Kansas, you are off the list. After last week, no more. [I am never taking them again].

Maryland football will become a contender in the Big Ten if DJ Durkin stays

I think if DJ Durkin stays, that there'll be a time not too far from now when not just the Minnesotas of the world that you beat, maybe you can step up. I'm telling you.

I will never do another show with Ryen Russillo

I don't think we're ever going to do a show again. [SVP and Russillo]

Michael Jordan is the GOAT

Michael Jordan. The GOAT.

LeBron James is still fighting his inevitable baldness but will eventually have to give in

See, [LeBron] is fighting it. He's really still fighting it. Eventually, he'll come home, but he's putting up the good fight.

The Pimento Cheese sandwich at Augusta is overrated

I'm on record as saying it's not my thing. I tried it because it's like, hey, when in Rome, but when I... I'm a consistency person, and if I don't like the consistency then I'm just not going to be able to get with it, and pimento and cheese just doesn't work for me.

Tiger Woods will never win the Masters again

Do I think he's going to win this tournament again? I don't. No, I don't think he's going to.

The 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.

Sports 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.

Joe Flacco is elite because he has a Super Bowl ring

Is Joe Flacco elite? Duh. Obviously. He won a Super Bowl. Hello.

Joe Flacco is definitely an elite quarterback

Is Joe Flacco elite? Duh. Obviously. He won the Super Bowl. Hello.

Mighty Mighty Boss Tones songs sound happy, but the lyrics are actually quite grim

The boss tones are pretty, you know, it's like happy sounding music. The lyrics can get kind of grim.

Tiger Woods will likely never win another major championship

Gun to my head, Tiger wins another major? Probably not. I mean, I don't know. He hadn't played golf all year. Also, there was a gun to my head.

SportsCenter highlights of twins games are obsolete in the mobile era

If you just rolled tape from one of [Dan and Keith's] shows and watched it now, you'd say, man, that Twins highlight was pretty long. You just can't do a minute 30 of a Twins highlight that people have already seen on their phones.

It is incredibly difficult for media personalities to leave ESPN and find the same level of success

There's a pretty strong track record that leaving, you know, it's hard to go out there and take on, as Dan Patrick labeled it long ago, the mothership and win. ... People are lazy, man. ... If you make me memorize a new number [on the cable box], I hate you a little bit more.

Bill Simmons struggled on TV because he is a writer competing against trained performers like John Oliver and Marc Maron

Mars [Marc Maron], the other guy they compare to him... you're a stand-up comic for that many years, you have balls the size of pumpkins because you talk for a living. ... He's a performer. ... Bill is a brilliant guy on a lot of fronts and TV is still a relatively new thing for him.

LeBron James's post-Finals interview in 2016 was one of the most authentic athlete moments in years

LeBron after the finals was really cool because our show was the post-show, and it was him after an iconic thing that happened in sports. ... He was human and he was honest. ... memorable with a guy who's as big a deal as there is in sports after doing something that had never been done in sports before.