Takes

Michigan was definitively the better team in the National Championship and it never felt like UConn was in danger of winning.

Michigan was the better team. We all saw it. It never felt like [the game] was in danger. Like the only moment that I was like, oh, UConn might have a chance, was when there was like maybe five and a half minutes left and Mullens missed that three to cut it to four.

Gary Woodland winning the Masters would be the best emotional story in golf following his brain surgery.

Number three I got Gary Woodland winning. Obviously I think this is the one that would be the most emotional. I'm sure you guys followed the whole journey... with the brain surgery and PTSD. He's second on the PGA tour in driving distance this year at the age of 41... I feel good story in my list.

My 12th place finish last year was more impressive than my 3rd place finish because I was playing terribly coming in

My third was awesome but last year I was playing like dog nuts coming into it and I played awful here. But I like definitely to answer your question, think I like learned where to leave it and learned certain golf shots. Last year's 12th was significantly more shocking than the year before's third.

Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza will be best friends on the Raiders

I can't think of a better pairing than Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza... they're gonna be best friends. They're just like brothers. They're the same guy.

UConn will win the Women's National Championship

I trust Geno [Auriemma] in this scenario. I think Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd are that good and I believe they cut the nets down.

I will not mindlessly scroll on my phone unless I am walking on a treadmill pad

The rule I came up for myself with is: if I'm scrolling, I'm strolling. So I'm not gonna let myself just mindlessly scroll through my phone unless I'm on the walking pad. I feel like that's gonna make my steps... easy 12,000 a day.

Duke losing has the highest universal approval rating of anything in sports

Duke losing is number one on that list across the board. I think Duke losing is number one.

Rick Barnes is currently a very underrated coach in college basketball

I actually think that Rick Barnes is, he's proven that he's a great, great coach... I think Rick Barnes, he's, I think he's actually, he's gotten to the point where he's a very underrated coach in college basketball.

Dusty May is going to be coveted by major programs after going to the Final Four with two different teams

Dusty May has gone to the Final Four with two teams in the last two different teams in the last four years. Pretty damn impressive. If any other big jobs open up, I feel like he's a guy that you'd call.

Iowa fans are the happiest fan base of any team that lost in the Elite Eight

If you're an Iowa fan, Iowa's gotta be the the happiest fan base that lost in Elite Eight. Right. Of of course. Yeah. 'cause that's a, that's a team that did not have a ton of talent. And Ben McCollum got 'em so far.

The Washington Nationals might not be as terrible as originally thought

The Washington Nationals might not be as terrible as I thought that they might be. There you go... I'm gonna overreact a little bit, but I still think they're not gonna be very good. But it's good having young players that are playing well.

I knew Illinois was a special team after we scrimmaged Florida

We scrimmaged Florida and, and I, I, I knew right then, I said, okay, we can be, we can be pretty good. Because I knew we had something then in Keaton [Knueppel] that I didn't know before being a freshman... I always thought we had a chance to be pretty good.

Rory McIlroy's Masters Champions Dinner menu is worse than Scottie Scheffler's

I thought that Scotty's was way better... I feel like on, that's a normal thing to talk about. What was on Rory's? He had like a bunch of fish. He had a, a tiny filet... desserts were nowhere near as like the, the warm skillet cookie that Scotty had... Rory's... looks like it's trying too hard.

Hating Duke will never fall out of style

Duke needs to be hateable forever. Who is the Athletic? This is bullshit. Don't who wrote this? You want them to be forever. It will never not be cool. It's always been cool.

UNC is one of the true blue blood jobs in college basketball

This is a job that doesn't come open very often. And it is a true blue blood job... It is the logo of a team that's won a ton of national titles and a ton of Final Fours. It is literally one of the blue bloods.

Being the designated TV remote guy at a bar is a 10 out of 10 job

Had dinner at a local establishment last night and was informed that someone on staff was the designated TV remote guy to switch between games. No bartending, no waiting tables, just ball. 10 out of 10 job. You don't do this job without immense pride. It's the best job ever.

Great players want to be coached and pushed because they want to be the best

What I don't think people realize, and Magic [Johnson] said this to me once: great players want to be coached and pushed because great players want to be the best players. So they do. You know, it just sometimes in the high school level now, nobody does that because kids will leave.

Every major college coaching opening should start by calling Brad Stevens and making him say no

You gotta make him say no. You gotta call Brad Stevens and make him say no. I will personally never stop saying that. He probably wakes up every morning and says no. Voicemail just says, 'Thank you so much for the consideration, but it's gonna be a no.' It would be shocking if he ever took another college job.

Wisconsin women's ice hockey winning 5 out of 7 national titles is a dynasty

Women's ice hockey because the Wisconsin Badgers won another national title, five in seven years. Dynasty. Five and seven years is crazy. That's a dynasty.

Never bet an under in a Hawaii game

If Jake's listening, do not bet on any under in a Hawaii game.

South Carolina and Texas are safe bets to reach the Women's Final Four

If you want an easy parlay, South Carolina and Texas to go to the Final Four. It's like minus one 15. But those two teams got easy tracks.

The St. John's vs. Northern Iowa first-round matchup will be ugly as shit

You and I, they will suck the life of out of you. They've got the second best defense in the entire tournament. They, they are just kind of a pain in the ass to watch snails pace. This game feels like it's gonna be ugly as shit.

Houston will easily cover against Idaho and kill them in the first round

Houston, Idaho. I had nothing other than Houston's gonna kill him. I'm gonna take Houston first half and full game.

Betting Houston -13.5 in the first half against Idaho

I'm gonna go Houston first half minus 13 and a half.

Betting Arkansas team total under 87.5

I'm gonna go Arkansas team total under 87 and a half.

Betting Michigan State -16.5

I'm gonna go Michigan State minus 16 and a half.

The selection committee did a great job and correctly left out Oklahoma and Auburn

The selection committee has done their job, by the way, credits to selection committee. There was really no issues whatsoever... the first two out were Oklahoma and Auburn and they deserve to be out. Yeah, the bubble, the bubble sucked this year. Maybe an all time bad bubble.

A 'Civil Conflict' second-round matchup between UCF and UConn is a real possibility

If [UCLA] doesn't come back and UCF wins and UConn wins, we got a civil conflict. We got a civil conflict in the second round. That's what I'm looking at.

Wisconsin will beat High Point because High Point hasn't played anyone and has a poor defense

Wisconsin going up against High Point. I was initially nervous and I've calmed down... they have literally played not a, they didn't play a single quad one team. They played two quad, two teams. They lost to both of them. And their defense isn't very good... I trust my guys.

My Early Final Four: Duke, Arizona, Houston, and Virginia

I'm gonna go with Duke, Arizona, Houston, Virginia. Duke obviously winning the whole thing.

The Paris Gentle Mates Call of Duty event will be the biggest in history

Paris La Defense Arena. So it's got 45,000 seats. So they're, it's gonna be the biggest event in Call of Duty history... 45,000 seats. I that's pretty cool.

The West Region is the 'Region of Floor Generals'

The west region is the region of floor generals. And look at the point guards in this region. Jayden Bradley at Arizona, John Blackwell and Nick Boyd... Darius Acuff at Arkansas... Braden Smith at Purdue.

Trey McKenney will be an NBA player

McKenney is a kid we're gonna see playing the NBA. That's really not much of a comedown when you think of it. He's one of those superstars.

America needs a 'Husbands for Guys' service to handle car mechanics and home repairs

Why there should be a service just guy for hire that he's not a mechanic, but he knows everything about cars. He takes your car into the mechanic shop and just makes sure you don't get banged. We could call it husbands for guys. You keep your pride as a human being and as a man intact.

The NFL's two-day 'legal tampering' window is a dangerous gift for GMs with buyer's remorse

This two day period is so weird because something like this can happen and then nothing that has been reported over the last day actually has to happen. Right. Nothing's final yet.

If your relationship is built on the Chili's Triple Dipper, you will make it

If the foundation of your relationship is the Chili's Triple Dipper or bottomless chips and salsa, you're gonna make it. They're not thinking prenups or joint bachelorette parties.

A veteran center like Tyler Linderbaum is the perfect move for a rookie quarterback

I actually really like the Linderbaum Raiders signing... when you have a center that's seen those looks, that knows how to go into a game plan, knows how to communicate, not only just calms the quarterback down, it calms the entire offensive line and offense down. It takes so much off the quarterback's plate... Now I don't have to worry about who the Mike is.

Maxx Crosby to the Ravens is a great move that makes their defense scary

Congrats to the Ravens. Congrats to Jesse Minter. This is a good, a great move. Their defense is gonna be scary. I love the transition from Maxx Crosby was always meant to be playing in a badass uniform. Raiders to Ravens, it's like, okay.

The Bears' stadium threats are just an anchoring tactic for negotiations

It's kinda like the Bears Stadium situation, which I've been saying all along. Like when they first said Arlington Heights, everyone's like, you can't move the Bears outta Chicago. Then they're like, what about Indiana? No, you can't move 'em outta state. Okay, what about Arlington Heights? Oh, that's sick. They're basically saying, Hey Carson Wentz. No, we can't have Carson Wentz. Okay, what about Gino Smith? Oh, actually that's pretty good compared to Carson Wentz. Smart.

The Celtics are completely back with Jayson Tatum returning to form

He looks so good. The Celtics looks so good. They're, they're so back. Missoula is such a good coach. And he's not forcing it and like trying to take over. 'cause when your team's already second on the east, you don't need to come back and be a superstar.

The 8/9 seed line is the worst possible spot in the NCAA tournament bracket

I saw someone saying that like it was novel and being like, wow, I've, I've just found this crazy thing. You don't wanna be on the eight nine line. No you don't. Nine line eight line is terrible.

Max Crosby would instantly make the Bears a really good defense

I would be pumped if it was [Max Crosby] to the Bears, I'd be very, very pumped. Yeah. He's amazing. Really, really good at football and would be instantly make the Bears a really, really good defense.

Drew Dalman's retirement is a massive blow to the Bears' offensive line

The first instant reaction was fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Then you have to be a human about it and realize like, hey, the guy's able to walk away while he still feels healthy. That's awesome for Drew Dalman. And then it's right back to fuck, fuck, fuck. Because... the offensive line was a significant strength... and now they go into the draft and it's like, fuck.

Directing animation is much harder than directing live action

I will tell you, having directed live action and having directed animation... it is a lot harder to do the second one. ... animation itself has not gotten any easier. It's, it, it still requires the human brain to make a judgment call every few frames with regard to what's right for the moment.

Winter is officially over and next week will be golf weather

I think it's the official end of winter. Winter's done. Next week it's gonna be 60. Get the golf shoes out, get the shorts out. We made it another year of winter in Chicago.

College basketball has five absolutely dominant teams this year

We have five, you could even maybe go to six, just absolutely dominant teams. Michigan, UConn, Duke, Arizona, and Florida that are playing at such an insane level.

JJ McCarthy should want to play for Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota

JJ McCarthy should want to play for Kevin O'Connell. He should do like the Chet Powers thing and just disguise himself as somebody else and then be like, 'Hey, can you fix me Kevin O'Connell?'

Tyler Reddick is the first driver in NASCAR history to start a season 3-0.

Tyler Reddick... he did win today. But he's won of the previous two won races as well. So he is the first driver in history to start the season three and oh. He goes three and oh after going winless last year. First guy to do the first three races of the year.

Great defense will usually beat great offense

I feel like all—there's a lot of like Super Bowls and big games in the past where I feel like the defense... I feel like the defenses have probably won more. [Great defense is gonna beat great offense].

I hope Pardon My Take is the only job I have for the rest of my life.

It's the best job ever. I always tell people that if I had told like a guidance counselor when I was in college or high school what I wanted to do when I grow up, I would've said something very similar to what this job is right now. Longest job I've ever had, by far. And I honestly want this to be the only job that I have for the rest of my life.