Takes

The Shohei Ohtani investigation will take a long time to resolve because of federal involvement

I think it's gonna be a long time... This is such a tiny little speck of a much larger investigation that's going on right now into this alleged illegal gambling ring in Southern California.

October baseball is a complete crapshoot

October baseball is a complete crapshoot... What that suggests to teams is October baseball is a complete crapshoot... You don't have to be great, right? You just have to be competitive and get to October and then once October comes, anything really can happen.

The Dodgers will never get over the hump if they don't fix their playoff choking habit

If the Dodgers weren't choking things away in October or the Braves weren't choking things away in October, then the discussion wouldn't quite focus on them the same... you want your postseason to closer represent the regular season.

The Orioles are a better team than the Yankees

I picked the Orioles in the American League East and honestly I still think the Orioles are a better team than the Yankees.

The next 'Moneyball' is figuring out how to keep pitchers healthy

Figuring out how to keep pitchers healthy is the holy grail of Major League baseball. And the first team that can truly figure out how to do it is going to win championships because of it. Now the problem is, I don't know if that's an achievable goal.

Babe Ruth would stink if he played in the MLB today

If you had Babe Ruth playing baseball today right now, he would stink... I think if you gave Babe Ruth this guy with immense physical talent, the ability to adjust, then he would be a really good baseball player. But if you took 1927 Babe Ruth and dropped him into the big leagues today, he'd be down in AAA.

Steroid users like Barry Bonds belong in the Hall of Fame

Barry Bonds is the best hitter I have ever seen. It's honestly, it's not even close... The Hall of Fame especially is not [sacred]. The Hall of Fame is a museum that should celebrate the good, bad, and ugly of the sport.

I'm getting a gambling turtle named Mr. Pear to make picks on the show

I like it done. Mr. Pear. Mr. Pear... we'll stamp the slices of pears with the different logos. Yeah. And that will be, that will be how he picks his games. Which pair Mr. Pear. And we should never discipline him. Never.

DJ Burns is the man and NC State is America's team for beating Duke

DJ Burns is the fucking man. Yes. I love him. Thank everyone in America should thank DJ Burns for beating Duke. Oh. For just being awesome.

The only way to defend DJ Burns is to pull the chair out from under him

The, if you're not a giant, the only way that you can defend him is something that Duke tried to do one time tonight that never went back to it. Where you just back away from him. As he's putting that, he pull the chair, you pull the chair out and then he gets outta control. That's the only way that you can stop him because you can't push back against him.

Zach Edey is legitimately good at basketball despite his game being unenjoyable to watch

Purdue fans should just be like, that's okay because we win. You know what I mean? Like, it's at a point where it's like to quote our good friend Jay Bilis, agree to disagree. Zach Edey is really good at basketball. Most of America doesn't enjoy this experience. It's okay. Thinking otherwise is stupid.

DJ Burns will get in foul trouble immediately against Zach Edey and Purdue

I unfortunately think that DJ Burns probably already got his first foul in the game on Saturday getting off the bus. He's gonna be outta that game so fast. It's gonna suck.

Alabama can beat any team in the country any night if they get hot from three

Alabama, as much as I am not a Nate Oats fan, they're fun to watch when they get going. And they're absolute flame throwers and it's their first Final Four. When they get hot from three they can be the best team in the country. Like that's just a fact.

Alabama football fans would trade a basketball national championship for a win over Georgia

I mean there will be some Alabama basketball fans that will say that we're crazy for this. But I think that if you polled the entire Alabama fan base. Yeah. I mean football just is king there. ... win against Georgia. That might be, but yeah, they just have, there's something about having it all.

If UConn repeats as champions, they must be considered one of the best college basketball teams ever

But if they finish the job this upcoming weekend and Monday, they have to go in the conversation of best college basketball teams of all time. Yeah. It has to be said.

The Kim Mulkey 'hit piece' was ultimately just a standard profile of a demanding coach

The hit piece on Kim Mulkey dropped. It turns out it was just a profile of Kim Mulkey. It was just like she's an asshole. Yeah. Which anyone who's a very successful coach in in college sports or pro sports, you could write it and be like, yeah. It turns out they're kind of an asshole.

South Carolina will win the Women's National Championship over Iowa or LSU

I think South Carolina's gonna beat either of 'em. So yeah, you know what? Iowa get the revenge and get back to the Final Four and it would make the Final Four more fun. 'Cause Caitlin Clark, it'd be good for the sport.

The Mets throwing at Rhys Hoskins was 'unanimous Bush league' behavior

The Mets are already a disaster. They threw at Rhys Hoskins on Saturday after he was already four-for-four and it was total just unanimous Bush league. And we're like, why would you do this after he is four-for-four? I think their manager already got suspended.

The New York Yankees have already won the World Series after their opening sweep of Houston

I'd just like to be the first to congratulate the New York Yankees on winning the World Series. Yeah. Four game sweep in Houston. Congrats. Juan Soto has been incredible. The Yankees have won it all.

Beyonce's 'Jolene' cover is not good and should be skipped

Beyonce's Jolene sucks. That's, she covered it on this album. She did it. And it's a skip. Oh, it's a big skip. It's skip. It's not good. Boy.

The SGA and Chet Holmgren AT&T commercial is horrific and a major mistake

The Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren commercial is horrific. And those are two of the most fun young players in the NBA. and I don't know who told them to do that, but that was a big mistake. 'Cause I hate them now.

Spring football (UFL) will never be relevant because the sports calendar is too crowded

I'm, I've never been more confident in my take that spring football. I just don't care. I, I feel very good about that because I've, every, every few years they try to pop one up and be like, you should care. I respect the sports calendar more than anything. This is March Madness. This is gonna be masters. This is gonna be NBA and NHL playoffs. Football is king. I love football more than anything, but not spring football.

UConn's historic season is undervalued by national media because they aren't a traditional blue blood like Duke or Kentucky

Our season hasn't been covered in my mind and the national media enough. This is a team that's done historic stuff. If we were at Duke or Kentucky or Kansas, they would lead SportsCenter with it and it would be the biggest story in sports. But because we're in Storrs, Connecticut, we're just a little grittier.

Donovan Clingan's priority should be establishing a long NBA career over just being a high draft pick

Moving forward with these guys, if I think they're making a mistake and I think they need more time in college, I'm gonna tell 'em. [Donovan Clingan] knows he's gonna be in the NBA, but I want these guys to be in the NBA for 10, 15 years, not just get drafted and make money.

The Big East representative recusal rule in the tournament committee room is a disadvantage

In that room, there's, you know, with all those committee members, when the, when the representative from your league, when they're talking about teams in your league, that person's not allowed to stay in the room. Yeah. So I guess what you gotta learn the, we have gotta learn the arc of is like, I guess of how to destroy these other conferences when you are in the room.

The Phillies hanging a banner for losing the NLCS is pathetic loser behavior

They didn't even win the division. They were like, they won nothing. They hung like, I don't know what, like... it's the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. I am. I might go, go to Citizen's Bank Park, scale that poll and take it down myself. All right.

The 76ers will not win a playoff series this year

I actually will say it right now. [The 76ers] are not gonna win a playoff series. Big time. This type of loser behavior [hanging flags for losing] is gonna infect the 76ers.

Hubert Davis made a major mistake pulling Armando Bacot for foul trouble against Alabama

Kott was an absolute monster on the boards. And he gets his third foul with like 14 minutes left. Hubert Davis pulls him for four or five minutes... what Kott was doing on the offensive glass, defensive glass, like they could not guard him, pick and roll. It just completely changed the complexion of the game. And I don't know why you don't say, 'Hey look, you're a 10th year senior, you can stay out there and not foul and just do, you know, still be a positive for us.'

Alabama will score 120 points and smoke Clemson in the Elite Eight

I think Alabama's gonna run 'em out of the gym. It was a cute little win that Clemson had. You ran up against a team that couldn't make a three point shot. Alabama's gonna just score 120 points on you.

Terrence Shannon Jr. is the only player who can potentially stop UConn

If there's only one person who could possibly stop UConn, it's the way that Terrence Shannon is playing basketball right now. He's out of, it's like insane.

The MLB will eventually sweep the Shohei Ohtani gambling investigation under the rug

I do think the MLB's just gonna sweep it under the rug. Of course they [will]. It's like, it's almost done. I'm telling you. I think it might be done. They're gonna reinstate Pete Rose and they'll be like under the new rules Shohei did very little wrong.

A first-time World Series winner will be crowned in 2024

I have a future that I put in DraftKings that I liked a lot. First time World Series winner. Okay. So either the Rockies, Brewers, Padres, Mariners or Rays... it's pods and rays.

The Phillies will beat the Orioles in the World Series

Phillies over Orioles. Okay. So Max has the Orioles.

The Yankees will beat the Braves in the World Series

Yankees over Braves. Okay.

The Rangers will beat the Dodgers in the World Series

I'll go Rangers over Dodgers.

I am betting against the Oakland Athletics -1.5 in every game of the 2024 season

Big Cat and I have decided to fade the athletics every single game. Yep. So we're putting a unit on the athletics every time they play 162 times a year, we're betting against them. Wake up. Bet against the athletics, sleep, profit, repeat. Minus one and a half every single game.

Winning the weekend is the key to NCAA tournament success

Then I learned the Mike Krzyzewski rule, you gotta win the weekend. And once you gotta win the weekend, 'cause the game isn't good enough anymore. Nobody cares. If you win one game, then you gotta start preparing ahead of time for the weekend.

Purdue is the hardest team to prepare for in the tournament because of Zach Edey

Purdue would be a different harder team to play for. They got a monster in there. He is not even human. I mean, he's guy, Zach [Edey] is, he's an incredible size, but he's a very good athlete in that. And Matt Painter does such a good job of getting him the ball 9,000 different ways that it's a tough prep.

Kelvin Sampson's Houston teams are the toughest in college basketball

Kelvin is, his teams are, might be the toughest teams in, in college basketball right now... I don't know what he does every day. But it's hard to make teams tougher. 'cause our society is so soft... they used to say we were a football team on hardwood. I always took that as a compliment.

The Golden State Warriors would not have won their championships without Draymond Green

I absolutely love him. He's, he's a versatile player... I don't think as good as Steph [Curry] and Klay [Thompson] and all the other guy, I don't think they would've won the championships without 'em. He just does all the little dirty work that makes a difference in the end.

The majority of players in the transfer portal will end up losing out long-term

At the end of the day, the majority of kids players I think are gonna lose out. Now, there'll be a few that it works out for, but the majority... we're gonna have over 2000 in the portal. And guys are now doing it two and three and even four times. Where are they gonna have to go back to later on? ... I honestly believe that, I think a lot of players are gonna make bad decisions and not learn how to fight through sometimes.

The transfer portal sit-out year was actually beneficial for student-athletes

It is a shame that we're punishing a guy by making him go to school a year and sit out and maybe get stronger, maybe get better, maybe gets smarter... because 96% are never gonna play again. And are we really punishing them by telling 'em they gotta sit out and get better and get smarter and get their academics on track?

Purdue has the best chance to win the title because of the motivation from losing to a 16-seed last year

I think Purdue has the best chance because of what happened to 'em last year. They've got the best rallying point and they've got a player of the year. And to deal with [Zach Edey] on a second day is hard.

UConn is the best overall team in the NCAA tournament right now

UConn right now, from what I've seen, is the best overall team. And it'll be a hell of a battle if it's them and Purdue and then you, you take a Houston, I mean they can beat you different ways.

Flacco the Owl was a slut

Even though I don't, I I I'll still stand with my take that Flacco the owl was a slut. Big time slut. I guess the pigeon herpes might've been because he was eating pigeons. ... I'm sticking with full on slut shaming a flacco. You were a slut. That's how you got the herpes.

Banning the hip drop tackle is a massive mistake for the NFL

Banning that [swivel hip drop tackle] would be a massive, massive mistake. Mistake, mistake... It's such a subjective call because you have to have certain elements that are involved in the speed that the game's played at. You're gonna have referees that are like, 'I think that was a hip drop tackle. I'm not really sure.'

A big NFL game will be decided by a hip drop tackle penalty this year

The first reason in my mind is we have just added a rule that is going to be debated similar to can't land on the quarterback. There will be a big, big game decided by the hip drop. Because what is it, what's the penalty now? Is it 15 yards?

Banning the hip drop tackle makes tight ends even more valuable

I also think this now makes the tight end position even more valuable because a lot of the hip drop tackles are defensive back, smaller guys getting beat a little bit and trying to slow down a bigger guy with a hip drop tackle where he is trying to, you know, don't ride on top of him and let him get a couple extra yards. Try to stop his momentum and bring him backwards. I now that you can't do that, I think tight ends are gonna eat in the flats.

The NFL intentionally made kickoffs unwatchable for years to force fans to accept the new XFL-style rule

What the NFL did was they made kickoffs so shitty for the last couple seasons that now we're welcoming anything that involves a return... The NFL, it was a good job on their part in the long term to make kickoffs unwatchable and so shitty that now they add any sort of element that has return game in it and people are like, 'yeah, this rocks now.'

The perfect answer for onside kicks is replacing them with a fourth-and-20 play for the offense

I do think the perfect answer for onside kicks is you should just have it a be a fourth and 20 play for offense. Yeah. Because everyone would love that.