Takes

I chose the Rams over meetings with Denver and Baltimore

The Rams was the first one. And after kind of spending the day there, I knew that was where I wanted to be, so I kind of just shut it down and got it done... I had a meeting with Denver and then Baltimore were the next two.

Skip Bayless won by getting the Virginia Cavaliers to talk about him after the title game

Anytime a championship team talks about an analyst, a troll analyst, they won. Mission accomplished. No matter who it is, no matter what it is that's giving Stephen A. Smith attention, Stephen A. is basking in it.

Aaron Rodgers isn't a malicious teammate, just passive-aggressive

I don't think that Aaron Rodgers is as bad as the article might have made him out to be. I don't think he is a maliciously bad teammate. I think he is very passive-aggressive and will cut someone off probably pretty quickly.

Antonio Brown is actually nuts and the Steelers will benefit by moving on

The bottom line is both Aaron Rodgers and Antonio Brown are a couple of messy bitches who love drama... It's come out that [AB] is basically like... yeah, he is insane... I could see an addition by subtraction.

The Raiders should trade Antonio Brown right now while his trade value is at its peak.

The Raiders should trade him. They actually should trade him because it's going to blow up. It's already happening. Just trade him before. He's got the highest amount of—you can get the most for him right now.

Auburn's loss to Virginia is the worst possible way to lose a Final Four game

Auburn, I would say that might be the worst possible way to lose a Final Four game of all time... hitting three free throws in that situation, that's the shit you do in your backyard, and you miss two out of three, and you're like, all right, redo. He was money on all three. And Auburn, I would say that might be the worst possible way to lose a Final Four game of all time.

Kyle Guy is making a strong case for the Jim Nance Tie Player of the Year

He is making a hard case for the Jim Nance tie player of the year. I think if it's not Kyle Guy, I think even if UVA loses the national championship, Jim Nance is going to find a way to get him that tie.

You can't play the 'sliding doors' game with officiating mistakes in a loss

Auburn has a terrible loss but at the end of the day it's like that's kind of how it goes. Like you can't play sliding doors, you can't be like, well this call should have gone another way and it would have changed everything.

Kirk Cousins is an average quarterback who doesn't motivate anyone

Kirk Cousins also gave the pregame speech which is perfectly Kirk Cousins. It was, it didn't motivate a single person and I honestly don't think like Michigan State like didn't lose the game as much as Texas Tech was just so fucking good.

Texas Tech will win the National Championship

I think Texas Tech is going to win... I think Texas Tech is going to win, and that's because I drank my strawberry banana [Body Armor] right when I woke up, so my brain is firing on all cylinders.

Paul Pierce is making himself look overrated by actively claiming he's better than Dwyane Wade

Paul Pierce made the ultimate error where Paul Pierce is the perfect guy that if he just kind of stays under the radar, everyone will say, hey, you know who's better than people give him credit for? Paul Pierce. But when he says he's like actively says he's better than someone, people will roast him... now you've done the reverse. And everyone's like, Paul Pierce was overrated.

Country Trap is back and here to stay

Country Trap is back and it's going to stay around for a while... All I'm saying is we talked about it on the show and now [Lil Nas X] is number one and number three on the charts.

The NBL is a legitimate professional league and its players could hold their own in the NBA

Don't slack on the NBL. I think them guys are professionals... there are some guys that can go out there and probably hold their own in the NBA with no problems at all.

The 'Seven Seconds or Less' Suns actually played good defense but were overshadowed by their scoring

We did play defense. That's the sad [part]. It got overshadowed because we were scoring so much... I think especially some guys play horrible individual defenders but great team defenders.

The 2006 Suns were better than the 2007 team that everyone thinks should have won the title

Everybody speculates thinking [2007] was the year we should have won the championship... I don't. [The year before that] was better... I was physically, mentally drained because I was going from Sam Cassell to Elden Brand and Chris Kaman. From Kobe to Lamar to Ron Artest... Then I had to go against Dirk. My body was shut. I was tired. I was dead tired.

I was the best shooter in the NBA and my form didn't need fixing because I bust everybody's ass

I would beat the shit out of everybody. You know what I'm saying? I mean, I would bust everybody ass... [Coaches] couldn't shoot either. What the fuck are you going to tell me what to do?

Dirk Nowitzki was actually a great defender during the Mavericks' 2011 championship run

Dirk was actually a great defender for us in the championship run. People like, you know, I ain't, but like I said, it's not all about individual defense, but team defense. He was amazing.

LeBron James isn't a bad teammate, but he does show his teammates up too much on the court

He's not a bad teammate... but I'm just going to be real candid and honest, though. I think he shows his teammates up a little bit too much on the court. You know, and, you know, that's just part of him.

LeBron James shows his teammates up too much on the court

I think he shows his teammates up a little bit too much on the court. You know, and, you know, that's just part of him. I mean, you know, he kind of feel like he earned that. And I mean, that's him... but that's one of the things I don't like he does.

The Jets should release new, shittier uniforms every year to match the state of the franchise

The Jets should almost come out with new shittier versions of their uniform every year because that goes right along with the state of the franchise. And it's probably if you can get the people talking about how bad your uniforms are, that's a great distraction for the Jets.

The Steelers will be better without Antonio Brown due to addition by subtraction

I'm at the point where I'm going full-on addition by subtraction. The Steelers are going to be better without Antonio Brown.

Virginia will beat Auburn by a lot

I like Bruce [Pearl]. I think that they're going to get beat by UVA. By a lot, I think. I think that UVA is a very, very, very, very, very good team with a fan base that I really don't want to see win the national championship. But I think they're a much better team, so I think it's going to be UVA.

Texas Tech will beat Michigan State because Tom Izzo is overrated

I am going to go with Texas Tech... Based on Tom Izzo being overrated. So I'm taking Texas Tech. Also, their defense is really, really good. Admittedly, I've watched one of their conference tournament games, and then I've watched them every game in the NCAA tournament, and their defense is fucking awesome.

The Cleveland Browns are going to the Super Bowl and they will win

When they got Odell, I called every one of my friends and said, we're going to the Super Bowl. There's no doubt... They're going to the Super Bowl and they will win. I am not dangerous. I woke up this morning and I felt dangerous, just like Baker Mayfield does every day.

Freddie Kitchens and Baker Mayfield have a special chemistry that will make the Browns a winning team

I look at Baker Mayfield, his chemistry with Kitchens... now that [Kitchens] has the reins, I think he's going to be able to do it. I really do.

The 2018 Evolution event was the best WWE pay-per-view of the year

This year we had our first ever all women's pay-per-view Evolution, which I think stands as the best pay-per-view we've had all year... it blew the roof off the place.

The Undertaker is the most intimidating person in the world

Undertaker is the most intimidating person. There is nothing more intimidating. When he steps in that ring, it's just magical. He's literally a dead man walking.

Referees and umpires are more entertaining when they stand up for themselves

I like umps that stand up for themselves. I think that we've done umps a disservice recently... I like it when they stand up for themselves, when they have a thing like Country Joe West. It's kind of fun knowing that there's a guy out there who's absolutely not what people paid to watch that thinks that he's what people paid to watch.

I am officially panicking about the Cubs in the first week of April

I've already taken the panic button out of my closet for the Cubs. It's April. I know. I don't care... If I have to watch Yu Darvish pitch more fucking walks and Jason Hayward hit into more double plays, I will smash the fuck out of that panic button.

The AAF was a Fire Fest run by people with no plan

It is hilarious to just imagine Bill Polian as being Billy McFarland. Like, drinking like rock stars, fucking like porn stars speech. I guarantee you Bill has said that at some point... Instead of cocaine and tequila on a private island, it was like tortilla chips and a nice beer, just hanging out watching tape.

Lying to your doctor is a universal human experience despite being dangerous

Doctors are the one profession that we should not lie to, but we lie to them the most. All the time... whenever you have to fill out a form, whenever anyone has to ask you, like, hey, give us the honest truth about your health. Yeah, I don't really want to do that.

The podcast industry will eventually die like magazines

Everything's going to die. Listen, whatever project you're working on, that thing is not going to exist in 100 years. I don't care who you are. So yeah, everything's going to die.

There are many number one tight ends in the NFL, but Rob Gronkowski and Tony Gonzalez are the standard

Man, I think there's a lot of number one tight ends right now... I'm going to keep going now. It's working for me so far... [Who's the best?] Gronk and Tony [Gonzalez].

The AAF died exactly like the XFL did

This is what we warned you about. This is exactly what happened with the XFL. It just died. And we all got excited. And then it died.

Tom Dundon only bought the AAF to acquire its gambling technology

Albert Breer said that the speculation was that [Tom] Dundon bought the league just to get access to their gambling app that they were building. So $70 million for a gambling app seems like a shrewd investment.

The Alliance of American Football failed because they didn't have an 'L' for League in their name

That was the biggest, actually, problem, is they didn't have an L. Yeah. And you know what? Two vowels at the start of your league? Yes. Listen, these are things that we could have solved.

The AAF was like the cold pizza served at the end of a wedding when the party is already over

I think it was actually the cold pizza that they buy like 50 pizzas at the end of a wedding when the music stops and everyone's sweaty and drunk... That's what the AAF was. The party was over.

Once the 2020 football season starts, football will never stop again

After next football season, we have more football. Once we start football again, football will never stop. Kind of. This is the spring league [XFL] that's going to get it right.

John Calipari's lifetime contract actually proves he was on the hot seat

This also, I think, proves that we were right all along by saying Cal's on the hot seat because you don't give a lifetime deal if a guy's not on a hot seat. You know what I mean? You just let it ride out because you're like, it's fine... To do this drastic deal for life, that feels like they're trying to get in front of the hot seat that probably was very, very hot.

John Calipari will be the UCLA or an NBA coach in three years

They signed him to a lifetime contract. That's just from Kentucky's standpoint. Right. Like Cal's going to be the UCLA coach in like three years. He's going to the NBA. He's still going to chase that dragon.

Tom Izzo is overrated until he wins a second title

Tom Izzo himself is on board the Tom Izzo is overrated bandwagon. He said that he needs another title to validate his time there as a head coach. Okay, so I'm going to consider that a win for myself. And if he wins this year, then guess what? I'm taking him off my overrated list.

LeBron James drinks enough wine to equal 70 cigarettes a week

LeBron James because a study just came out that a weekly bottle of wine is as bad as smoking 10 cigarettes. And for LeBron, that's like 70 cigarettes because he drinks a bottle every night.

Gar Foreman and John Paxson are the idiots in the room now that Ernie Grunfeld is fired

Gar Foreman and John Paxson because now they are the idiots in the room. So it's like you never want to be the last to leave a party. They are the dum-dums. And you could always say, well, it's not Ernie Grunfeld. Well, guess what? Now Ernie Grunfeld's gone, so you are on the hot seat.

The Bears won the Jay Cutler trade

I think we can all look back and say that was a great success. I think the Bears won that trade. I remember vividly... thinking the Bears are probably going to win two Super Bowls from Jay Cutler.

Upperclassmen leadership is the difference in the NCAA tournament

Sometimes you run across a Michigan State team that's as physical and have maybe a little more junior and senior leadership than we had. And that makes a huge difference in the tournament if you have some upperclassmen that give you some experience.

The one-and-done era has watered down both college and NBA basketball

And it's watered down the game a little bit. And then everyone leaving early for the NBA, I think, waters down the NBA a little bit. But it's hard to stop kids from pursuing their dream.

Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were the first guards to have guard skills at 6'9"

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were the first guys I ever saw six nine six ten bringing the ball up having guard skills so to be on a team with them was just awesome.

There is no such thing as a clutch gene

Is the clutch gene real? No, not real at all.

The NFL draft hats are just a way for Roger Goodell to sell more junk

This is what Roger Goodell is really, really good at, and that's just finding a one-off occasion and then selling a bunch of shit on top of it. So they designed all 32 teams brand-new hats.

The NFL released draft hats just to flex on the dying AAF

Basically, they put a big piece of cheese out in the middle of the floor... Snap. You're talking about the NFL in the middle of April. This is the nail in the coffin for the AAF. It's a flex.