Episode 52: Robbie Hummel On His Time At Purdue, Matt Painter, And Becoming A Broadcaster

Barstool Sports

Mark Titus | The Mark Titus Show

Transcript

00:00:00 Today's episode of the Mark Titus show TJ's here TJ moved to Chicago. The whole gang is here

00:00:04 We don't have the new office yet. Still. I'm gonna keep bringing that up because I don't know

00:00:08 I just hope like someone

00:00:10 One of the suits at barstool listens to the show and someone's got to put their feet to the fire TJ

00:00:15 So we're not at the new office yet, but TJ is here and I'm very excited about that

00:00:20 I'm gonna talk to him later about how his move went my move to Chicago went horribly

00:00:24 and I hope that he was taking notes and

00:00:27 Made sure that his move to Chicago did not go as poorly as mine did

00:00:30 We'll talk to him later. First up. Robbie Hummel is joining us today. Robbie Hummel is a

00:00:37 Guy I've known forever a year younger than me grew up in Valparaiso, Indiana

00:00:43 Which is not close to Indianapolis per se but it is in Indiana

00:00:46 And so Robbie and I have kind of known each other sort of like we played against each other

00:00:52 I think a few times he and I like went back and like

00:00:54 recounted

00:00:57 Through the years we've like talked about like a you tournaments. I think we were at and all that sort of thing

00:01:01 But when he got to Purdue and I was at Ohio State, he got to Purdue a year after I'd gone to Ohio State

00:01:07 and

00:01:09 You know

00:01:10 He was just a guy that like I had always known and he had kind of always known me and we we would always talk

00:01:15 When we play each other and then he got into

00:01:17 Broadcasting obviously and now he is he is blown up into being and I kind of said it to him in the interview

00:01:24 But he does not do well with compliments. So I held back a little bit and I'm gonna say now that he's not here

00:01:29 He's the voice of college basketball to me man. Like he's really positioning himself

00:01:34 To be that guy moving forward now. I still love Jay Billis

00:01:38 I think Billis is is you know, the the Billis family might have have a problem with me saying that about Hummel

00:01:45 but I think Hummel is in a position to

00:01:47 Really be the voice of college basketball moving forward. He's the best color commentator working right now and I

00:01:53 Freaking love him as a human being as well. He's a great interview. We had a great discussion about life

00:01:58 Liberty in the produce pursuit of a final four, I guess

00:02:02 That's that's basically what we talked about

00:02:05 but no, I could I could have talked to Robbie for for hours and hours and hours and I

00:02:11 Would love to have him back on the show at some point. He does he does do a podcast

00:02:15 I didn't plug it on the during the interview. I should plug it now

00:02:18 He does a podcast with with Jeff Goodman who I think

00:02:22 Is not exactly well liked and Bart. How do we feel TJ? What is the standing with Goodman now?

00:02:28 Dave doesn't like him

00:02:30 He was invited to come on to the live show in Houston, right and he declined because he didn't want to say anything

00:02:36 He didn't mean on a live

00:02:38 That's what good but told me to oh, I

00:02:41 Don't I don't I never know though like with these beefs like how is it just like a that was just for the final four

00:02:47 Weekend or is it like now? I don't think it's a good man for yeah

00:02:50 I think if Goodman came up in conversation Dave might be like fuck that guy, but I don't think it's like a nuclear

00:02:55 Champagne and grave name level beef. No, I don't think Dave's not losing sleep over Jeff Goodman these days, right? Yeah

00:03:01 Anyway, Robbie does it does a show with Jeff and you know, a lot of people end up doing shows

00:03:07 There's a there are a lot of shows out there

00:03:09 Where one guy is very very likable and everybody tunes in to see him and then there's just a doofus of a partner with that guy

00:03:18 And you know if Robbie and if Hummel and Goodman is that show for some people then so be it

00:03:23 In unrelated news mostly sports with myself and Brandon Walker coming

00:03:28 No, we talked to Robbie Hummel, he's the best I will have him back on the show he's in Chicago

00:03:35 We're obviously in Chicago. So I'm gonna have Robbie on a lot. Hopefully and I hope you enjoy a Robbie Hummel

00:03:42 Alright, Robbie Hummel is here Purdue legend

00:03:46 It are you pretty like you are you are based on your how good you were?

00:03:50 But are when you go back to West Lafayette, do you feel like a legend?

00:03:52 No

00:03:53 But I don't think I I don't think I am like a Purdue legend would be like it this is going back in time

00:03:58 But like John Wooden is on that Rick Mount is on that Big Dog is on that

00:04:02 You could probably make the case for some of the guys that are older as well

00:04:07 But I don't when people say that like Joshua Perry, I do a lot of the rally stuff in the summer

00:04:11 He always says that in it. I cringe so hard

00:04:14 Yeah, you're always you always downplay it but I that's why I can never really because you are a very humble guy

00:04:19 But also like I'm not blind to like what your career was at Purdue. You were an incredible but not it's not like

00:04:24 We're not patronizing. We're not like no and I don't take it like that. I really don't but I just

00:04:29 Cuz every so often someone will call me an Ohio State legend

00:04:33 I'm like, I know what you're trying to do, but like this is actually kind of insulting, you know

00:04:37 And I wouldn't when we do that for you

00:04:39 It's not insulting like I legitimately if I was to ask people like name one Purdue basketball player

00:04:44 Maybe Edie is now so I mean yeah

00:04:46 He's he's gonna be a pretty legend like he's the national player of the year

00:04:49 He could be back-to-back national player but before him if you would have said name of Purdue basketball player the Matt Painter area

00:04:55 You're you're the first name. You're one of the first three names. It's one more

00:04:58 I mean, I'm Biggie Swann again not to take away from those guys. I just think that like we've got a lot of good players

00:05:03 Yeah, we have a lot of good players, but you were uh, you were like all Big Ten as a freshman

00:05:07 I don't know where right? Yeah, but I will I will preface that and being first team all league is something that's really hard to do

00:05:13 I would say it was a pretty

00:05:15 Substantial down year in the big but think we lose Greg. We lose my con we lose all the Ohio State guys

00:05:23 Illinois had lost D Brown and James Augustine. I think it might have been two years removed or maybe no that was two years removed

00:05:31 But still a lot of really high-end talent had left the league

00:05:35 So it was I think only four teams made the NCAA tournament that year four or five big ten teams made the NCAA tournament

00:05:42 That season. Yeah, it was a pretty yeah, cuz that was I mean, I'll take it. We don't take being first team all league

00:05:48 But your freshman year we didn't make it you guys

00:05:50 Yeah, yeah, but you beat us that in a game that cost us the Big Ten championship. Oh, really?

00:05:56 You don't remember I don't remember. No, I don't because Jamar Butler was murdering people in the second half

00:06:02 It was it was in Columbus in Columbus the shot clock stopped working at halftime

00:06:06 So there was like a substantial pause in the game

00:06:10 Say we cheated Mackie

00:06:11 This is questionable because you guys the shot clocks stop working and we had all this big weight

00:06:17 And then we ended up losing in overtime and it cost us winning the Big Ten

00:06:21 Yeah, cuz I think after that game after we won that the locker room was like we did it

00:06:26 We're in the NCAA tournament now and I was like

00:06:28 We got a ways to go. I like pushed our record to like 16 and 14

00:06:32 I don't think it's gonna work that way. So you don't feel the love when you I mean like no

00:06:37 I totally do Purdue fans are phenomenal

00:06:40 You know, I've had nothing but good experiences. It's more of just a thing where I just kind of cringe Purdue

00:06:47 doesn't feel like a program either that

00:06:50 Like when I saw that recently you went back to like a Purdue alumni basketball

00:06:57 Yeah, like I saw I think was on your Instagram. Yeah, yeah of all the old heads there. Yeah

00:07:00 The the Purdue players you guys and I'm just stereotyping

00:07:06 But it doesn't feel like you're a group of guys that have like a ton of egos to where it becomes a dick measuring contest

00:07:11 When you get all the old heads together, I think that's totally fair

00:07:14 And I think we're also really fortunate that at Purdue and Michigan State has this as well

00:07:18 We have had two head coaches in the last 40 years

00:07:22 Yeah, so when you have Katie and you have Matt Painter and paint played for coach Katie

00:07:26 Yeah, much like time is oh coached under Judd Heathcoat

00:07:29 It's a different kind of vibe and I think Chris Holtman does a phenomenal job of making

00:07:35 Guys, he didn't coach make feel welcome

00:07:38 But there's a lot of programs where that carryover is not there

00:07:42 Yeah, and guys don't feel comfortable maybe not coming back

00:07:45 but they don't feel the same when it's not their guy that they played for and

00:07:49 I think that's that's a good way to put it. It doesn't become you know a big ego fest with that

00:07:55 But it was also crazy. We had 10,000 people at the game. That's crazy. And the team is going to scrimmage

00:08:03 Afterwards no, they were there to see you. No. Well, they saw a hungover 12-point performance is what they saw

00:08:09 It was it was not I missed a couple layups. I missed a dunk

00:08:12 Better second half but tough start to the game

00:08:16 I think maybe that's why you you you feel weird about

00:08:19 Like it Purdue doesn't feel like a program where that's the selling point is like come here

00:08:23 And you'll be a Purdue legend because it just feels like I say this respectfully

00:08:27 But it feels like you're almost like a cog in the machine of pretty bad. Oh, yeah

00:08:30 And that's a credit to Matt Painter as well because he's just recruited guys that fit him

00:08:35 Yeah, and guys that are going to get better and he develops them and I think that's that's not that's not a knock on

00:08:43 the program no, it's

00:08:44 Honestly, I think it's it's a it's a gold star on the program

00:08:48 It's also why guys like Jade and Ivy when they come along and they're wearing a Purdue jersey

00:08:53 It's like shocking to see because you're like, whoa, this doesn't feel like it or Glenn Robinson back

00:08:57 No, those guys are just next-level at and Glenn Robinson is one of the elite players that's ever played college basketball

00:09:03 scored a thousand points a season

00:09:06 but now you've got a kid like it like a Myles Colvin and he's Roosevelt Colvin son and

00:09:10 You see him athletically and he is he's like a Jade and Ivy. He really is that's alright. So let's just talk about it

00:09:18 Let's talk about the elephant in the room that your alma mater kind of stinks right now

00:09:21 But not really and that's why it's so fascinating is because they don't stink. They're dominating the Big Ten

00:09:25 They're going to win the Big Ten this year. You can book it. It's going to happen

00:09:29 Are you saying that is like the gink? No, it's not a chase. It's not a G. It's like

00:09:34 Zack Eaddy's not gonna get any worse or any smaller

00:09:36 Well, he's also like a Chico because not only is he 7-3 and when I there's not many people that I've ever seen

00:09:42 I would say like to Kemehmet umbo and and Yao Ming from afar

00:09:46 But there's not many people where I see them. I'm 6 8 inch shoes combine 6 7 3/4

00:09:53 6 8 and a half inches and when I'm looking at this dude

00:09:56 And I've had to interview him and I'm like the Statue of Liberty holding this thing up

00:10:00 That's it's incredible his size

00:10:02 But then on top of that the way that he moves with his size and like he moves well

00:10:07 He rebounds outside his area. He can run the floor

00:10:09 Decently the question for him professionally will be Kenny guard pick and roll, but he moves so

00:10:16 Impressively for someone that's his so that that drove me crazy because I was put in a position last year where I would have to defend

00:10:23 a Purdue player when people would criticize like you'd be like, you know, like there was a

00:10:27 I don't know how much you you deal in like real media. I deal in like the bullshit internet troll

00:10:32 Sounds like a fun place. I deal with narratives like Zack Eadie is not good. He's just tall

00:10:38 He's just a big man. You hear that but you know what that means to me if someone says that it means you don't know

00:10:42 You don't know shit

00:10:43 So put me in a position where I was like, I can't believe I have to do this

00:10:46 But now I'm like sitting down in front of this microphone like defending a pretty good averaging like 24 and 16

00:10:51 Just donates the game. But uh, but yeah, so I I do think produce gonna win the bit and I'm not that's not a J

00:10:57 It's just like they the roster and having a guy like that

00:11:00 But your focal point is just like the mark of consistency

00:11:03 You know that even if I mean last year I you swept them and it still was like never in doubt that they were gonna

00:11:07 Win the Big Ten. So even if you have hiccups along the way you're like, yeah, but

00:11:10 There's never gonna be like the bottoms not falling out per se in terms of like an overall Big Ten season

00:11:16 So with that being said, I think produce gonna win the Big Ten

00:11:19 Obviously the big question is the March Madness. Yeah situation. No, and that's that's a legitimate

00:11:24 I think criticism and yeah concern for for Purdue when you look at the last three years and the teams that they've lost to from

00:11:31 North Texas to

00:11:33 St. Peter's and now Farley Dickinson and I watched the Farley Dickinson game actually with Jason Bonetti in a random

00:11:40 What was this restaurant called? It was like it was kind of like, you know, Charlie's of

00:11:46 Des Moines, Iowa we went to with our Westwood one producer

00:11:50 We were doing the games there and I just it felt like a slow-motion car wreck. Yeah watching the game

00:11:56 I'm like in the first half. This is it felt like we were gonna lose and I was just like how?

00:12:02 Because we should physically impose our will but that's been kind of the story

00:12:06 For Purdue and all these NCAA tournament losses is that these teams are small. They're athletic

00:12:12 they turn Purdue over produce shoots the ball terribly and

00:12:15 Purdue can't make these teams pay on the glass and the st

00:12:18 Peter's game was a great example

00:12:20 When you look at the way Purdue played them and then you look at the way Carolina play, right and Carolina just big dogs

00:12:26 I'm like like they out rebound on by 25

00:12:28 Bacot is getting whatever he wants and that's kind of what I think we all thought Purdue would do to them

00:12:33 But I've heard Matt painter talk about this this summer that it's been the same

00:12:37 Recipe for them to lose and I think he feels good about the way they've addressed some of their issues. Yeah with

00:12:43 Miles Colvin coming as a freshman really good athlete. Yep. You get Lance Jones from Southern, Illinois

00:12:49 They feel like he's a guy that can handle the ball against pressure. He can guard he can make an open shot

00:12:54 You get your guards to be a year older

00:12:57 so now you look at Fletcher lawyer and you look at Brayden Smith those guys go from freshmen to sophomores and hopefully take that jump and

00:13:04 You know Camden Heidi is a kid that redshirt last year and if you watch him in layup lines now granted the play

00:13:09 But this dude's doing dunks where you're like damn

00:13:12 This dude is windmilling and he's really good athlete

00:13:17 So I think some of the maybe concerns from an athleticism standpoint have been addressed by freshmen a redshirt freshman in the transfer

00:13:24 Yeah, I mean that that was the the knock last year

00:13:26 Which is why I was saying it all year pretty fans thought I was just trolling but I wasn't like I used to having to

00:13:31 I've been to freshmen guards who are not projected to be NBA players, right?

00:13:35 You can't overcome that no matter how good I think at some point

00:13:39 The wall is a real thing. Yeah, like the freshman wall of just being physically exhausted

00:13:45 I felt like I experienced it as a freshman and if you look at the numbers that I had my last like five or six

00:13:51 Games I was just dog shit. Yeah, I mean you look

00:13:53 You look up and at the end of February like we still have how many games you know, like this is this season has gone on

00:13:59 forever, holy hell

00:14:01 But yeah, how much of it do you think within the program is a psychological thing? How much of it do you think is?

00:14:08 Yeah that I mean for a lot of the people outside of the Purdue program, you know again

00:14:13 I'm not trying to twist the knife, but Purdue and it's a term it's kind of you will it's kind of but I will I'm

00:14:18 Not trying to but if I do it it happens

00:14:20 But Purdue kind of is a punchline of a joke in the NCAA tournament at this point for people, you know

00:14:24 I is that something that bleeds in the locker?

00:14:25 I don't know if it's psychological but I'm guessing that they will feel some pressure this March now

00:14:30 They're gonna have a really good team and I have to think that experience can be beneficial

00:14:36 But yeah

00:14:37 That's gonna be the elephant in the room and the sad thing is for this year's team and honestly for last year's team

00:14:42 That team was picked probably six or seven

00:14:44 Yeah in the Big Ten by the you know, the media panel or whatever that they have at the start of the year

00:14:49 They win the Big Ten. They win the Big Ten tournament and it's a terrible. It's a fair

00:14:54 It's a failure and that that's a credit to Matt Painter for the job that he's done and kind of building this thing

00:14:59 But that would be the case this year to you know, even I think if they got to an elite eight

00:15:05 There's a lot of Purdue fans that would say well

00:15:07 What a crappy season and that's that's really unfair

00:15:10 But I think that's where the expectations are gonna lie and I will see throughout the year

00:15:14 How did they handle that? But is that something that you felt when you were at Purdue?

00:15:18 this idea that

00:15:20 You know, it's been X number of years

00:15:23 You know, they were in the elite eight in 2000 with Brian yeah on those guys. So it

00:15:28 1980s a long time from there because we were our best team or our best chance. I thought was in that. Oh 9 10. Yeah season

00:15:34 but I

00:15:37 Never felt now we did like close every huddle that we ever left final four

00:15:42 Like that's what we were we were about that was in Indianapolis that year

00:15:46 But I didn't think we felt pressure in that regard now

00:15:48 We also hadn't got to the NCAA tournament, but I got hurt in February

00:15:51 So that that's when you got to make hay and that's when the pressures at its most

00:15:55 So but I I never felt that with our teams. That's that was so sad. That was that was I

00:16:01 Can't believe well, you're welcome for your big 10 title. We would have swept

00:16:05 well, I mean like when I look back when I look back on like some of the more regretful like

00:16:10 Things I've thought in my life

00:16:13 I think when we got the news on the team bus that you had gone down at Minnesota

00:16:17 I don't want to like we weren't popping champagne. I don't want to say it was that

00:16:21 Evan was popping the bottles out there for more looking back on it. We probably celebrated your devastating knee injury

00:16:28 It really means something yeah, I think even with conference expansion, I hope at least I hope it will still mean something because

00:16:39 When you look at teams that have won the league think about how many?

00:16:44 Really really good players did not win the big 10. Yeah

00:16:47 No, so I I put a ton of stock into that and I think that at times fans

00:16:52 have lost track of that and I hope that expansion does not take that away because UCLA and USC and Oregon and

00:16:59 Washington been playing in the Pac-12 for all these years. It mean anything for them to win the big 10

00:17:04 It should yeah, it is gonna be insane

00:17:07 But I I put a lot into it

00:17:10 So I get it the old heads will tell you that the imbalance schedule is already kind of thrown

00:17:14 No, and I I hear that because it makes it hard, you know

00:17:18 If you want it when we were playing you it felt yeah

00:17:21 I want it because the schedule and that's that's a part of growing the league and that's a part of expansion and it just is

00:17:27 What it is, but I remember when we we beat my freshman year

00:17:31 Wisconsin and us were one - yes

00:17:33 Yeah, the Alondo Tucker and we

00:17:36 Conley it's a floater at home last and one of the last games of the season like 47 46. Yeah

00:17:41 big 10, baby

00:17:44 Disgusting big 10 basketball game

00:17:47 And we won the big so we win the big 10 and I remember that night like my mom getting emotional just being like you're

00:17:52 Big 10 champion. Yeah, my mom

00:17:54 I'm a big 10 and all that I was like, you know, like I did this whole season

00:17:58 We've been talking like within our locker room

00:18:01 We have been talking about like we're trying to win a national championship trying to go to Final Four or whatever

00:18:04 Yeah, that's a pretty big fucking deal

00:18:06 I'm like seeing like my mom who had kind of been through it and her own way and she's like I can't believe you're a

00:18:10 Big 10 champion. She's like you're gonna be that for the rest of your life. I was like, is that a big deal? No

00:18:14 No, it's kind of just like set in a little and I we felt that way not to bring this up to you

00:18:20 Yes at the big 10 tournament when we beat you guys in the championship game and just I mean getting to cut down the nets

00:18:26 in

00:18:28 What was can say go Fieldhouse and then it was you know?

00:18:31 Bankers life and then it's Gainbridge or whatever it is to me. It's can say go

00:18:35 Well, we when we won that game you cut down the nets in a building that the state championship is played in in our home state

00:18:40 of Indiana I

00:18:42 Was like dude, I get a ring. Yeah, I get to hang up a banner and we have won the Big Ten

00:18:48 That's such an amazing feeling and I don't think that maybe

00:18:50 Fans these days and even Purdue fans because of the the NCAA tournament, you know

00:18:57 Unfortunate games that we've had I don't think they appreciate the fact that dude produce swept that last but I think that might be why

00:19:03 you are

00:19:04 Beyond like you just being an awesome basketball player for the years. We were there

00:19:08 I think what what helps your legacy so to speak is

00:19:12 The fact that you you guys in 2010 we're going to go and the proof in his mind

00:19:17 We were going to win the national championship Robbie Hummel got hurt

00:19:20 So in their mind, they're like that guy was are good enough to carry us

00:19:26 It's like the legend grows because

00:19:29 We could have lost to a 16 seat now

00:19:33 I don't think we would have we were 20 and three when it happened and we'd beaten you guys on the road

00:19:38 We'd be we'd won at Michigan State. We crushed West Virginia. It was a Final Four team. We beat Tennessee in a neutral floor

00:19:43 So we had four top ten wins that were really good

00:19:46 But you never know what's gonna happen and because it didn't happen

00:19:51 It's like that just grows and grows and that that's why I think some of that has gotten to you talked about like a legend status

00:19:58 Because I wasn't able to play

00:20:00 You can fill you can you can fill in that blank space however you want I could have played like Michael Jordan right a tournament

00:20:08 No one knows

00:20:10 We will never know man your teams were we're gonna cut this part from the show

00:20:15 So I'll just say that I'll still tell you I get asked a lot

00:20:19 Like why do I hate produce so much like Mike because my mom is her face is literally in back

00:20:23 How can you hate produce so much and

00:20:29 The answer I say off-air and again, we're going to cut this so this will not make the show

00:20:34 Is that I think like the four years I was there

00:20:36 I was just jealous of your guys's team like like we were we were good

00:20:39 Like I don't mean I was jealous of the success

00:20:41 but like I vividly remember 2009 you guys beating us in the Big Ten championship and

00:20:45 I was like those guys look so fucking fun

00:20:48 And like I would love to be like I didn't we had such a good group of guys

00:20:51 Not that you guys didn't because I I didn't want to not be on

00:20:54 And I don't feel like that because I I think the way that Ohio State and most of those dudes live in Columbus and hang out

00:21:00 Yeah, summertime is amazing and Columbus is a city where you know, West Lafayette. It's Purdue is going on

00:21:06 Columbus has a lot of other things going on. So I think from a

00:21:09 Guys that played college basketball type deal. It's probably more. I think there was city. They want to live in

00:21:15 I think I think I was just fascinated with it because there's like a part of me

00:21:19 When I would I grew up in Indiana fan

00:21:21 Obviously and when I would watch IU when we would play IU or I would go back to assembly hall at no point

00:21:26 Was I like man, you know and if things would have gone differently in my life

00:21:29 I could I could be on the other bench there right now, right and for some reason I just like every time we would play

00:21:34 Each other I'd be like god I would fit in so fucking with those guys, but I would fit in so well with the whole with Indiana

00:21:40 Some of their their history has been so fractured since Bobby Knight

00:21:44 I know and it is made for us. I don't want to say weird, but a

00:21:48 Different and at times maybe strange dynamic amongst the players that played early for night late for night Mike Davis

00:21:57 You know, then you had the the Tom Creen stuff and it's just there's a lot there's a lot of head coaches

00:22:02 yeah, and I think it's kind of made for a

00:22:04 weird dynamic at times

00:22:07 They were I think Woodson's doing a great job, but I think that's why he was such a good hire for

00:22:12 What you know forget the wins and losses

00:22:15 He was a good hire for the cultural part of it of like he is a night guy

00:22:19 But he's also got the NBA ties. So you like kind of even though he's an older dude

00:22:22 He's kind of got more of an understanding of like the future of where

00:22:25 You know like like the idea that like World Wide West being connected with him is a good thing

00:22:30 Yeah, you know there's also I think a large there's dynamic of the Indiana fan base that is stuck with Bobby right?

00:22:36 But that's so anytime a head coaching vacancy would come up if you like pulled the fans

00:22:40 The gray hairs are like we got to get a night to say yeah call Steve offered or call him right now bring back Bobby

00:22:46 No, just bring it back. Yeah, like younger kids that like aren't even from Indiana and are probably like students at IU from like, New York

00:22:53 or something

00:22:55 Why don't we hire Rick Pitino?

00:22:57 You know

00:22:59 We should and and and then obviously there's the Brad

00:23:02 But it is every Brad Stevens P and it's just everybody was pulled in a bunch of different directions

00:23:06 I think Woodson did a good job of like getting everything under the umbrella

00:23:09 Are you do you share the opinion that I do that the Indiana Purdue rivalry?

00:23:13 Right this second is in a position to where it's not going to supplant Carolina Duke

00:23:18 It's gonna take a ton to do that. But like if you forecast

00:23:23 Just kind of the next five years like it's in a great spot

00:23:26 I agree the IU for right where it might be the best in college basketball these next five years

00:23:29 I just think that for so long when Indiana was good pretty was not and when Purdue was good

00:23:35 Indiana was not and now I think you've got two guys for alums of their schools and Matt painter and Mike Woodson and

00:23:41 The talent for both of those teams now, Indiana has some question marks in the backcourt this year. Yeah, especially from a debt

00:23:48 perspective but

00:23:51 Yes, he's getting players

00:23:53 There is for Purdue when we would go into Assembly Hall

00:23:57 It's unbelievable. It really is like it is a different feeling for the game

00:24:02 And I think Indiana has that same deal when they come to Mackey to me

00:24:06 Assembly Hall and Mackey Arena are two of the best four or five venues in college basketball

00:24:11 So you've got that you've got alums who are coaching their teams and you have talent

00:24:14 Yeah, and that that I think puts the rivalry in a place to be in

00:24:19 One of the top two or three rivalries in college basketball over the next I think all it's missing is obviously like one of ideally both

00:24:27 For the rivalry sake we got to have some deep tournament runs

00:24:30 So we got no I think you gotta go to the final four

00:24:32 But it but I think the most important part and that's a part of it, but it's just having great classic games

00:24:37 Yeah, you still see like, you know, I think it was Chad Austin or yeah Chad Austin's game winner

00:24:42 Yeah, that's that's an incredible ending to that game where you look at some of the Indiana wins

00:24:45 The games were really good. Yeah on top of that you had two coaches that were probably crazy

00:24:53 Bobby Knights getting three texts from Teddy Valentine Jean Katie's throwing his jacket in the stands that that makes for good TV and good watching

00:25:00 - Jean Katie

00:25:01 Is so lucky that Bob Knight existed in the state like Jean Katie is

00:25:06 Outside of his fucking mind and somehow got away with it because Bob Knight was even but he's here

00:25:10 You know, like I got a lot of coaches were afraid of Bobby Knight and rightfully so he's like six five

00:25:16 Yeah, Tim and yeah, you know, I remember when he was calling games for ESPN

00:25:19 We'd see him when he was teamed up, but I think it was Musburger for a lot of those games and it was like

00:25:23 Yeah, and he's terrifying. Yeah

00:25:27 The funny thing about Jean Katie is is that when you actually get to know him? Yeah, dude is hilarious

00:25:33 Yeah, he he is a great guy, but you'd see him throwing his jacket. You'd see the refs

00:25:39 You'd see him ripping the players and there's some some legendary stories about Jean Katie, but he is a great dude

00:25:45 That's it's crazy to think that that was like what was a good coach back then

00:25:49 It's crazy to think that that's like what like like the idea of being like like Tony Bennett trying to coach

00:25:55 You get like I guess

00:25:57 I guess like Dean Smith is

00:26:00 You know, he was he was not exactly a hothead, but it just feels like

00:26:04 Did you feel that growing up in the state of Indiana?

00:26:07 With the coaches that you have because I felt that in a big way where maybe I just give us unlucky where every single coach

00:26:13 I had thought they were Bob Neider

00:26:16 We we had a coach and it was one of our

00:26:19 One of my teammates from high school's dads and he was a phenomenal coach

00:26:25 But he would he would rip us apart like to the point where there was a couple of times where I was like dang

00:26:31 Like yeah, he got after us and but it was never it was never personal

00:26:35 But he expected us to play like like we were high school kids and we were in sixth grade

00:26:40 I know he's ripping our ass and I mean he wasn't afraid to get in your face

00:26:45 But but I I was a good player because of that dude. Yeah, he made me a really good basketball player

00:26:52 Well, that's a complicated part of night's legacy. Is that

00:26:56 All the players not all of them, but there are so many players that are like I owe everything to this man

00:27:03 Sure, this man being a total asshole to me is the reason I'm the man I am today or the reason and that's super confusing

00:27:09 to people that don't

00:27:11 Understand that dynamic cuz you're like, how can the guy that was choking players and fucking head-butting his players and you know

00:27:18 Punning basketballs and like how was that guy your role model? It's like I don't know

00:27:22 It's complicated because I think that like there was well, this is not to that level by any means

00:27:27 We always give coach painter a hard time about being too nice to the players now

00:27:32 And that's like every former players thing is man when we played we touch the top of Mackey a hundred times in practice

00:27:38 We always give him a hard time though, because you know, he's maybe not as vocal and not as big of a yeller

00:27:45 But in fairness to him, he was trying to build a program

00:27:48 He was trying to establish himself and when you're a first-time head coach and you're at Purdue and you've come from Southern, Illinois

00:27:55 If you don't win this opportunity might never come back, right?

00:27:59 So you have to win there right now. Yeah, and I understand that pressure and I

00:28:04 Appreciate the way that he coached us because he coached us hard

00:28:08 But with that being said there are some times where coach painter really got into guys and we ran a ton

00:28:13 A little bit of Gene Katie and I think he's really found a good mixture of that of being demanding

00:28:19 But now probably being more of a players coach

00:28:21 But there were times where man he he could light you up now, too, and I don't think that's seen today

00:28:27 But he he like it couldn't work today. No, I

00:28:30 Portal it's I mean I look at it as he's gotten older. He's gotten wiser the portal. You really can't do that anymore

00:28:37 The game has totally changed

00:28:39 But it's it's funny to look back at stuff like that now with that being said I didn't go to Purdue

00:28:44 Because I wanted to be best friends with my college coach

00:28:48 Yeah, I went because I thought he'd make me a better player and I'm very thankful that on top of that him making me a better

00:28:54 Player he is my friend. Yeah, that's been a really cool thing, too

00:28:57 But you know, I think if you're going for the right reasons you want to be coached and he coached us

00:29:02 Yeah, that's that's do you do as you've gotten older and you kind of hinted at about the current players. Do you have?

00:29:08 Do you have moments where you're like damn I'm an old man now

00:29:12 I could like yeah, if you do like what are the what are the moments where you're like, let's see

00:29:16 I mean, I just wake up. Well one five now. I look at the players and I'm like some of these kids look like they're

00:29:22 Yeah, they're playing college basketball. That's one of the things

00:29:25 You know the funny story about Purdue and this is this isn't so much me being old a little bit

00:29:32 but I

00:29:33 Did the Bahamas my first ESPN event was the battle for Atlantis, which is insane my first ESPN game

00:29:40 I did it with Carl Ravitz. That's the first game. You're first ESPN. I'd done two games. How do you get that assignment?

00:29:45 the Phil Knight Invitational

00:29:47 They had all these games out in Portland and they sent all the the people that were probably gonna be at the Atlantis

00:29:55 Went out there, but there was three crews

00:29:57 It was myself. I think dick dick Vitale for sure was out there and I think Jimmy Dykes

00:30:04 Those were the three crews they had out there and that that's my first game and I'm at shoot arounds

00:30:10 Just kind of you know, watch it and the field is loaded

00:30:12 You got Tennessee who was really good Purdue was really good

00:30:14 Arizona was supposed to be awesome with DeAndre eight and they went on three. That's right. That was out there

00:30:18 so it was it was a really good field and

00:30:22 Purdue comes out for shoot around and they bring a boombox and they're bumping this music and I'm like what the hell

00:30:28 We could never have gotten away with this. Well Purdue loses their first two games and since I've not seen a boombox

00:30:35 But that's how I felt like how did we not get this and why are why are the players now getting this right here?

00:30:42 But I haven't seen a boombox since they lost those two games and coach Payne said nope not doing that

00:30:47 Evan Turner who you know well was sitting in that chair a couple weeks ago on the show and we didn't get to it

00:30:53 We talked forever, but you know, we'll have so much time I did to wrap it up. But um

00:30:58 That man more than anyone else will like I sometimes think he might hate current

00:31:04 Oh, how every current Ohio State like everybody that's put on the jersey after he left. Yes

00:31:07 because there's an attitude and maybe you feel this a little bit that the attitude of like

00:31:13 because I kind of understand now where the the

00:31:16 old heads in the NBA

00:31:18 Get this point of view from where there's the attitude of like we built this and now you guys

00:31:23 You guys get the spoils when you did nothing to especially like the younger guys

00:31:27 I come in and now they're you know with NIL and all that stuff

00:31:31 I mean you I know how much some of these dudes are making and look I am all for the players making money

00:31:35 But I would be lying my ass off if I didn't say damn. I wish we had an I know

00:31:40 I thought it was we got the check for the video game

00:31:43 Although I will say if they had asked 20 year old Robbie Hummel, would you take?

00:31:48 $2,000 or would you rather just be in this video game?

00:31:52 I'm gonna edit my stats and I'm gonna ball out against all these teams in the video game

00:31:58 I would have done that every day of the week. You got the

00:32:00 Class action thing - yeah. Yeah, I did. Yeah. Did you tell your teammates? Yeah, I did

00:32:06 I guess I shouldn't have I could have gotten

00:32:09 No, I I've heard you got hurt and then

00:32:12 6,000 richer you had an extra year cuz you would have been

00:32:18 8,000 richer I remember when I got put on scholarship at Ohio State I

00:32:24 our checks were for

00:32:26 $1,100 a month and the reason I remember them being for $1,100 a month is because instead of

00:32:30 Instead of using it on rent or like food the first check I got for $1,100

00:32:36 I went and bought a huge TV and a PlayStation 3 probably PlayStation 2 at the time something like that

00:32:41 and then when I set up my

00:32:43 You know, it was it was a my first gaming system where you play online or whatever

00:32:48 You have to set up like the online profile and I remember I made my username 1100

00:32:52 That was like my gamer tag for a long time was 1100 because how much was $1,100?

00:32:58 How much of those do you think went to things like that or George?

00:33:01 Dude

00:33:03 None of that shit, but yeah Evan there are I

00:33:08 Won't name names but through the years

00:33:11 They're just guys where he's like this guy thinks that he fucking won the Big Ten and he's the guy that want you know

00:33:18 Yeah

00:33:18 it was on your final four and

00:33:20 And I sort of like it's it's different for me because I actually did do nothing

00:33:24 So like it's it'd be really messed up if I was like you had the same feelings

00:33:28 Yeah, if I was going back and I was like you guys didn't earn the final four like I did, you know

00:33:32 But the thing about Evan is that he he was in elite college players

00:33:36 Well, we talked about I wouldn't say he's to the level of like big dog, but he's not far behind dude

00:33:41 He was he was some of the things he was doing in games. We had no answer for Evan

00:33:46 I mean we would everyone would get a crack Chris Kramer would get a crack Keaton Grant would get a crack

00:33:50 I mean the Lewis Jackson me each one more. I mean we would try everybody just

00:33:56 In that game that was I've gone back to look for it because I think it is hilarious that he did this

00:34:01 I'm I'm switched on to Evan Turner and I had known Evan from the the World University games

00:34:06 We roomed together in Serbia for it seemed like three freaking months Bo Ryan coach the team

00:34:11 It was it was chaotic to say the least but the next year we're playing this game at Mac

00:34:16 He's the first time we played you guys I get switched on to him. He's on the left left wing

00:34:21 Drives baseline I do as good of a job as I and look I was not known for like my on-ball defensive prowess

00:34:26 Like I was great coming over to take charges. Yeah. Yeah good help side defender

00:34:30 Guarding him and Turner is not something that I'm gonna probably excel at move my feet guard him great

00:34:35 He can't get a shot off. He goes up and I'm like right there to contest

00:34:39 He takes the ball over his head and throws it as hard as he can off the side of the backboard

00:34:46 If I turn to see where the ball is going hits the side comes back to him pure from 15 feet

00:34:53 I'm like what the fuck

00:34:55 He'd be like yo, I meant to do that

00:34:58 It's incorrect I've gone back to watch it it is an incredible play and it's probably a fluke

00:35:06 But those I mean he was such a confident dude and then the second half

00:35:09 We had nobody that could check him. I mean he just

00:35:14 He was a beast man. He was a load to guard and boy does pain me to twist that I keep saying

00:35:19 I don't want to do it Robbie, but like here I am

00:35:20 I just keep being in a put in a position to twist the knife if you haven't watched the the 2010 Purdue, Ohio State

00:35:27 Game and Mac Urena. No, I suggest everybody. I hate that we lost

00:35:31 I hear Robbie Hummel fan just turn off at halftime. You had one of the great all-time

00:35:35 You know, it sucks so bad and this happened to me a lot in college when I bawled we lost

00:35:43 Kansas

00:35:44 Like if I'm playing really really at a high level. We probably that was your last game

00:35:47 It was the same thing. I I was and I was like this even playing professionally when I would get hot

00:35:54 I would be hot but it was

00:35:56 The consistency wasn't always there not that I wasn't a good shooter cuz I was

00:36:01 But like when it would really get going it would have a I would have moments of like I am NBA Jam

00:36:07 Nets are on fire type shit

00:36:09 I I just now remember my dad pointing out after the game that uh

00:36:12 Such an old man thing to point out. He said that I there was a point where you were red-hot

00:36:19 You're making everything and you never celebrated. You never did anything and I think I

00:36:23 Kind of think it was you I think it was this game

00:36:26 I think one of the one of the last shots you hit on that little streak you went on

00:36:30 you kind of like winked at the bench or like you kind of like

00:36:33 Cuz you were never a guy that was like Sam Cassell big balls now the court or anything

00:36:38 But like you were he said cuz after the game I I was laughing so hard

00:36:42 My dad was like GC GC Hummel and I was like, what do you mean?

00:36:45 He's like, you know, he wasn't doing anything all as he was hitting all those shots

00:36:48 He's gonna act like you bet and then he hit he hit the sixth in a row and you saw what he did, right?

00:36:51 And I forget what I don't know if you you didn't pimp it too much, but you did something

00:36:55 Mr. Titus started smiling. He's weak. Yeah

00:36:59 He started smiling. He's like and he didn't really hit much after that. No, but you know what?

00:37:04 I don't think it was so much that is the fact that it's fucking David

00:37:08 Who's still playing professionally and I Dave Leidy is one of the most underrated big ten players

00:37:14 I think yeah, and I would throw each one more in there as well

00:37:16 Even though each one had a great 11 year NBA career, but I would take David Leidy on my team

00:37:22 He was a of the week. He was he made elite defender can make a shot just a good basketball

00:37:28 He was coach modest favorite by far. No, no question about he was he used to like when Dave was like a sophomore

00:37:34 He would he would yell at the rest of the team

00:37:36 It was really awkward for Dave

00:37:38 I imagine cuz he would yell at all of us and he'd be like Dave you're a good boy and I kind of pat him on

00:37:42 The rest of you motherfuckers and then he would be like they're gonna build a fucking statue for this guy

00:37:46 They're gonna build a statue for him you motherfuckers are gonna you know

00:37:50 tbt-champion, I

00:37:53 Always like thought like man, it's gonna be awkward for Dave

00:37:55 No, he's teacher

00:37:59 When he would guard me I love when you guys are in the one through one stay in there

00:38:03 But with David Leidy chasing you around man, and you know, who else always killed us was William Buford

00:38:07 William Buford was a killer. I love will I play with in my rookie year?

00:38:11 He's the reason I got through playing in Spain because he was the best teammate wills

00:38:15 Sophomore freshman year. He was wearing my shoes in Macchi arena. I think I told the story on the podcast before he showed up

00:38:20 Mackey didn't have a shoes. He's like, he's like listen mark. So here's the deal. I forgot my shit and then you know, well

00:38:27 He's a smile. He's like I forgot my shoes that he starts

00:38:31 So, why don't you go ahead give me those shoes I was like damn he played pretty well didn't it? Yeah, he played

00:38:36 Well, he always played against us. He was like, right?

00:38:38 Why broadcasting? Why aren't you interested in coaching? Why aren't you I am interested in coaching

00:38:44 I think that it would have to be the right situation and I think that with NIL and the portal it

00:38:49 It just has kind of scared the shit out of me. Yeah

00:38:52 But those things and I've seen just how hard I've got a couple friends that are like coaches at the mid-major level

00:38:59 Yeah, and to work your way up now

00:39:01 It is so hard because if you have guys that play well, they get poached. Yeah, I have an eye

00:39:06 Well, you can't hold on to your good players. You can't really develop guys

00:39:09 You have to go in the portal yourself and try to find guys from there

00:39:12 Either coming down from the high major or coming up from the low

00:39:14 So that that certainly has given me pause. I

00:39:18 Just I came off playing I played my last year in Russia and I hated it

00:39:23 I hated every day like and I actually played pretty well

00:39:26 I shot like 45 from 3 and both Euro Cup and the Russian League. I

00:39:31 Just couldn't go back like I had an offer to go to Tel Aviv or

00:39:35 Jerusalem yeah, I was like no to your deal can't do it. I cannot go back. Yeah, I just can't I

00:39:41 Your mind or mind? Okay. My body was good. I just I didn't want to go

00:39:46 I didn't want to be away from my friends and family. I didn't want to be there from August to maybe June

00:39:51 It snowed my last day in Moscow June. I was like, I hate this place so much

00:39:56 But every day in Russia, I would have something happen where I'd say

00:39:59 This is totally insane. Yeah, like it's the most insane and look if you're playing in Spain

00:40:06 Or I played for George Armani's team in Italy and Milan

00:40:08 Those places are not as chaotic but in Moscow, we all had drivers the Western players

00:40:14 So the Americans there was a French player and there was a Serbian player

00:40:17 We all had drivers because they didn't trust the Russian police to not shake us down

00:40:21 Well, you got pulled over by a Russian cop. So my driver's name was Roman Roman spoke. No English. He was like

00:40:28 26 his dad was like an executive with the team and he was into street racing cars

00:40:33 so we would be going down like the medians of Moscow because traffic is insane and he'd be going like

00:40:40 80 miles an hour down the median and I have to get on Google Translate and be like Roman

00:40:44 Slow down. I don't care if we make it to practice

00:40:48 Like just it was it was so wild and you have a bunch of things from a bribery standpoint

00:40:53 yeah with like ownership and it just

00:40:56 Russia was hard. So I I had but when I got out of playing there I had

00:41:01 Basically, I auditioned for ESPN and it went really well

00:41:04 And I I really had an offer standing from big to network to do TV. So it was just kind of an easy

00:41:09 So it wasn't necessarily conscious thing at the time or was it? No, I mean it was just kind of it was presented and with the

00:41:17 Offer to do ESPN and Miles Simon had just left ESPN to go into coaching

00:41:22 Okay, so I was gonna do big 12 games from the start along with some big 10

00:41:25 So I was doing it wasn't like I was gonna work my way up from not no offense to the Mac

00:41:30 But I was gonna be doing the league I played in and right high level games

00:41:33 So it was kind of a natural progression to just go from that and I done

00:41:38 I did the NBA sportscaster you program when I was in Minnesota, okay

00:41:41 And I wouldn't say I was like amazing at it, but I wasn't bad and I really liked doing it

00:41:46 So that was it was at Syracuse was a crash course and all things broadcasting. Our class was hilarious. It was like Danny Granger

00:41:53 Randy Foy

00:41:55 Matt Bonner who's doing TV Kalena as a bookie?

00:41:58 Amari Stoudemire who wore a hat the whole time just wouldn't take they're like Amari

00:42:03 You might want to take the hat off in case you want to send this tape to ESPN or somebody's like I'm good

00:42:11 So I had done that and I did the second version at the University of Virginia where you call games at the NBA top 1 100

00:42:18 camp

00:42:19 And I like doing that. Oh, so I'd done some and then I got hurt in Italy

00:42:23 I tore my shoulder up blocking out and

00:42:25 I came home and had surgery and I'd done like 10 studio for BTN. So I'd done TV

00:42:30 Yeah, and then when I was done in Russia, I was like, you know what this is

00:42:34 It's not a nine-to-five and it pays pretty good

00:42:36 You made it sound like you made it sound like you were just like pulled off the street. No

00:42:40 I was not it was it was good and not that I when I did the sportscast for you

00:42:44 I didn't know if I would do it, but I figured no, I'd like to try it

00:42:49 Do you make you uncomfortable because I want to compliment you. Do you think that?

00:42:53 You being so good at broadcasting and now being put in a position where you are one of the like preeminent voices of college basketball

00:43:00 broadcasting

00:43:01 And you climb that ladder so quickly that is now a hindrance to

00:43:06 Any desire you might have to coach because you're like I've I'm kind of if not at the top of the ladder

00:43:11 I'm very close to it. Yeah, I'm gonna go coach. I'm gonna have to go be an assistant at right

00:43:15 And that's why I think it would have to be a situation that I really liked. Yeah, I'm not sure how many of those exist

00:43:21 Yeah, yeah, I could think of one that I know of but I'm not saying I don't even know if I would do it

00:43:25 If it was offered, yeah

00:43:27 It's I've thought about it

00:43:29 Roger Paul, call me up, baby. I was a ball boy for five years

00:43:35 No, I I don't know. I love doing TV. You sit courtside for high-level college basketball games. I love the Big Ten

00:43:42 I loved watching Big Ten basketball as a kid. I get to watch it as an adult

00:43:45 It's it's a pretty sweet gig but there is a competitive aspect I think

00:43:51 where

00:43:52 Everyone says this in broadcasting. I always laugh at this

00:43:55 They're like the best thing about broadcasting is you never lose again, and I'm like, yeah, but you never win either

00:43:59 Yeah, I can feel like I have a good broadcast

00:44:01 But you know this the feeling of a huge win

00:44:04 You went on the road like when we would come in and beat you guys at Ohio State

00:44:08 Or we would win somewhere at Michigan State Indiana you win in those places

00:44:11 The feeling you have and maybe it's different as a coach because you're literally just worrying about the next game

00:44:17 Yeah, I don't know how long those guys whereas the players are like, yeah, we're definitely gonna join it for tonight

00:44:21 Like and then we'll move on and start working on the next game. The coaches have to get the scout ready. So

00:44:26 it's different but that feeling is

00:44:30 Here irreplaceable. I think also the locker room. That's that's what I it's it's not unique to me

00:44:36 A lot of guys feel this way, but that is my number one thing when people say do you miss basketball?

00:44:40 Yeah, I honest to God at this age and I'm at I do not miss playing the game. I

00:44:44 Get my fix just putting shots up. I'll just go to an empty gym. Sure some shots up. Oh my that's good

00:44:48 I'm not trying to get in runs or whatever

00:44:50 The one thing I miss now and I will miss for the rest of my life is just like being on a team bus

00:44:55 Yeah

00:44:56 Fucking messing around and I think that that's changed a lot kind of with some of these teams because of you know

00:45:01 Social media and technology, but there's nothing better than like playing cards on a road

00:45:05 Yeah

00:45:06 or just messing around the locker room and laughing at everybody and hearing some of the the clowns and the jokesters that are are on

00:45:13 All these teams. I I miss that all the time and that's something that you can never

00:45:17 Replicate will be for just to come play cards with all the white guys and then rob us

00:45:24 Every time we would get all our per diem money. We'd be playing cards

00:45:28 he would lose like all the monies in the middle and he would just kind of like look around and be like I

00:45:31 Will always be thankful that dude because a he's the best teammate but

00:45:38 The stuff that he and I had to do in Spain as rookies was insane

00:45:42 We shared the gym with an indoor soccer team

00:45:45 Which is the most JV shit you've ever heard and we would practice in the morning and then they would practice in the afternoon

00:45:50 We would practice at night

00:45:51 So after the morning practice will and I were literally taking the baskets down and then putting them back up at night

00:45:58 Because the indoor soccer team the feet the field which is a court was longer than so the basketball floor was used

00:46:05 But the baskets couldn't be in the way. So we were like

00:46:08 Damn near maintenance staff putting up and down the baskets did our own practice laundry

00:46:14 Which shit Thomas Jefferson Middle School was watching our practice

00:46:18 I'd never done that. I mean some of the stuff, you know, our jerseys were mercury. I'm like mercury is a boat engine

00:46:23 It's not an apparel company. Yeah, and the thing is you're coming from Ohio State and Purdue. It's Nike everything

00:46:31 You're definitely not putting them. I mean in Ohio State you guys had that practice facility

00:46:35 We were we were building one. We had one my last year

00:46:37 So it was it was really good for us probably but I think that's a lot of the times why you see more

00:46:44 Mid-major and even low major players that work their way up to that level and it doesn't bother them one bit

00:46:49 Yeah, we are spoiled as shit

00:46:51 Yeah in the big ten and at the high major level

00:46:54 Whereas those dudes that are that are grinding away and they finally make it to that level at the ACB

00:46:59 They're like bring this on this doesn't faze me one bit. Yeah, that's uh

00:47:03 that's I

00:47:06 Yeah, that's a great. That's a great point because I think some of the struggles if you want to call them that like having not

00:47:12 having the the fucked up thing about I think like the the NILs like just the where we're at with college sports is like I

00:47:18 look back on some of the struggles and some of the situations that people are put in where they I

00:47:23 don't want to say because I don't want people to take it the wrong way, but

00:47:26 the weird thing about

00:47:29 It's being put in some of the situations where you don't have enough money

00:47:32 Like when you're a college athlete, like I should we're all like kind of in this together and all that sort of thing

00:47:37 Those are some of like the strongest bonds you have and some and that's what like is very

00:47:41 weird because like some of my fondest memories are

00:47:44 I'm just hearing you talk about like playing with will and and

00:47:48 Having to put up these baskets, but you're talking about it like in a fond

00:47:52 I'm stumbling over my words because I understand how insane that is

00:48:00 Like I'm not I'm not advocating for a system where we artificially hold people down, right?

00:48:04 But when you personally look back on your journey

00:48:07 It's it's kind of surprising how often you look back on like the times where you're like this was really fucking hard in Russia

00:48:13 But a boy do I have these stories?

00:48:15 I have great stories and I think from a college standpoint

00:48:18 Not that they don't do it now because I believe they do but when I played at Purdue

00:48:22 I fully believe that our team wanted to win for

00:48:25 Selfishly ourselves our teammates our coach our school. Like I really felt that way

00:48:32 I I wanted to win for Purdue University

00:48:34 And now you have guys that are on like four schools in five years and with Kovat. It's made it possible

00:48:40 It's kind of changed the game. I hope that it hasn't been lost on some of these players. I love that

00:48:47 How do you how do you stay true to your point of view?

00:48:51 But at the same time not come off as a crouchy old man. No, that's your broadcasting, you know

00:48:56 Well, I am for the players being able to make money off their name image and likeness like Mark Titus should have able to

00:49:01 Have the mark Titus basketball Ohio State if he still wanted to back

00:49:05 But if you want to do it you should have been able to do it

00:49:11 You know, I don't see a problem with a kid if you can get a car deal great. Yeah

00:49:15 What why is that hurting does that is anyone watching the game and like when let's say football starting up man Blake Coram from Michigan?

00:49:22 Has a car deal. I hate watching

00:49:24 Can't do it anymore

00:49:28 But some of the recruiting aspects of it, I don't love that

00:49:32 I don't love the fact that Nigel Pack basically got bought by a booster to go to Miami

00:49:36 I don't think that's good for the game. I don't think it's realistic

00:49:39 I don't even know if it's realistic for this dude's company anymore because it sounds like he's running

00:49:43 Some problems. So but if you're telling me that Trace Jackson Davis is gonna make a million dollars, Indiana good. He's bald

00:49:51 He should yeah, Zack. He's making a million good

00:49:54 He's bald out like he has earned that but I don't necessarily love the the recruiting aspect of it

00:50:00 But I am for the players make it. Yeah. Yeah, I

00:50:02 I'm okay. It's just like my the point of view. I try to have is just like it's not I don't dislike it

00:50:09 I just this isn't the game that I know or like this isn't so it's just kind of like weird - no

00:50:13 It's just different. I felt like we were fortunate to get training table. Yeah, I was like damn it's hype that they they're getting our books

00:50:21 Yeah

00:50:23 School is free and that's and I think that you have to keep sight of that

00:50:27 School is a benefit. Yeah, how many people do you know that have student loans?

00:50:32 Yeah

00:50:32 And have had to work them off over the course of their career leaving school

00:50:36 Like I I try to keep that in my mind saying I went to school for free. Yeah, I had an unbelievable experience

00:50:42 Yeah, but what I've liked to have made right, but you also thousand a year if I if that was possible

00:50:47 Yes, you all know that is true

00:50:49 But you also were probably weren't compensated to the extent that you should have been based on no skills

00:50:53 Which probably not yeah, and that's just you know, it's how I play through and through with Canyon Barry

00:50:58 Can you imagine what Rick Barry feels like Rick Barry would be a 500 million dollar player?

00:51:02 Oh my god, and he he's the guy that you talked about building the league. I know

00:51:06 So it happens and I'm glad that we're evolving but it does sting a little bit for you know

00:51:14 Guys like us that could have gotten paid or even for you

00:51:17 You could have got you could have made money like off your blog and stuff do writing a book. Don't get me started

00:51:22 No, I know because but that would have really really held back student-athlete. I

00:51:26 Can't imagine if I would have gotten a lot of money my well you might have been doing dumbass shit

00:51:34 I would have been so much Ohio State bars

00:51:36 But I when I was a senior I was I actually got my scholarship pulled which I never

00:51:46 Yeah, the story here this is but this is what I didn't realize the system was fucked I

00:51:50 Got put on scholarship when I got there not because I deserved it

00:51:56 It was cuz like they looked at the roster numbers

00:51:58 They had free scholarships and the way the system worked was like we burn these

00:52:02 I don't know why well if they haven't if they don't have a player then they reward the walk-ons

00:52:06 Yeah, so they were they they usually reward the they probably held that they probably held that in case of transfer, right?

00:52:12 And then they looked up in October. They had like 11 scholarship players and then we had to walk-ons now

00:52:18 I was a freshman. So usually the walk-on gets a scholarship like their senior year their junior or whatever

00:52:22 I was Greg Oden's friend. So I guess I jumped the line. We didn't really have any other walk-on

00:52:26 So they they gave me a scholarship. I was like, this is insane

00:52:29 I never I went from not thinking out from thinking I wasn't gonna play basketball now

00:52:32 I'm on scholarship for the number one team of the country

00:52:35 The big come up. It's a good thing to be Greg Oden's friend

00:52:38 So I was on scholarship for two years and then we had so many guys go

00:52:43 We were on the quarter system at Ohio State. So we were not

00:52:46 we

00:52:49 Yeah, yes, we were on like the quarter system instead of the semester. So

00:52:52 One of our terms academically would I don't know how to explain it was really confusing

00:52:59 But basically like the withdrawal date

00:53:01 Of when you have to withdraw from that class before it's called like a flunk class

00:53:06 Was after like when the NCAA tournament and the NIT was played and all that sort of thing

00:53:11 so basically like a guy like a BJ Mullen or a Costa Coovis was the example and

00:53:15 When he was on the NIT team, he had to stay enrolled in school to stay eligible through the NIT

00:53:21 The NIT ends he starts getting ready for the draft. He's like I'm done going to class

00:53:26 He leaves but at that point he had bypassed like the withdrawal thing

00:53:31 So Ohio State flunked him as a school this happened with zero point zero

00:53:37 When Greg and Mike declared for the draft like coach mod had to go like beg them like, please just like can you please go?

00:53:44 To school when from an APR standpoint, that's where they would be like you have all these players failing when really they're just going pro

00:53:49 So we had Costa we had Greg we had Mike we had day Quan cook

00:53:53 I'll be one and done's all of them like we're like, we can't I'm not going Ohio State's APR record low for the NCAA

00:53:59 Low Robbie guess what happens we get scholarship

00:54:02 That's insane Mata goes listen, I we got to pull scholarships like

00:54:11 Come on, and I was like coach I get it like I don't I never deserve

00:54:15 I don't like this place, but I get it

00:54:17 But it's kind of fucked up like we're getting punished for academics and you're pulling the scholarship of the kid with the best GPA

00:54:26 You know what probably more about the on-the-court performance unfortunately, so then my senior year when my blog was popping off

00:54:33 I I remember like losing my mind where I was like, I I'm not even getting the scholarship

00:54:40 Like I have to pay my own way to school, but then I also can't make money on the side

00:54:43 Well, and it's like okay

00:54:46 Let's say if you were a great violin player or a trumpet player and you could make money

00:54:50 So it's like who cares I feel like

00:54:54 The part of the frustration too is anytime a coach or a media person or anything else says anything other than just like let the player

00:55:01 like anytime someone like points out the drawbacks, which are there they are legitimate, which is like

00:55:06 You know the transfer portal isn't always

00:55:09 Everyone says like the kids should be able to do what's best for them and and not every kid is doing what's best for them

00:55:15 As it turns out they're totally not they're not a lot of kids are making massive

00:55:18 Well, I think that there is real value at times and every situation is different

00:55:23 But to go through things where you struggle, yeah, and you have a hard time

00:55:26 Yeah, maybe it doesn't click for you right away, but you stay with it. And at the end of the day you're better for it

00:55:30 Again, every situation is different. But if a coach yells at you and you're like, that's it portal

00:55:35 Yeah, that that's not what you want. You know, I think that I

00:55:39 Believe was Matt Painter who said this but no that's he proposed where you have to stay till your sophomore year

00:55:46 I'm I think that's okay as long as you could leave if your coach leaves

00:55:52 Yeah, if there's a coaching change, you're good to go. You went to play for that, dude

00:55:56 You can leave but I think that there is some value in sticking it out and seeing it through to the second year

00:56:03 Painter and Izzo both have gotten killed for just kind of saying the wrong thing. So like I

00:56:09 Know Joe Eastern was the great example

00:56:12 I remember when he transferred from Purdue and I think paint was like publicly like this is a bad idea

00:56:17 Yeah, it's not the best thing. It's not the best thing for him and look at what happened to his college career

00:56:21 Yeah, I really like I really like no jail, but he went to Michigan and I don't think in school

00:56:26 I went to Howard and yeah, I don't even think he played but nobody has gone back and been like, you know painter

00:56:31 When we killed you when we were like, oh, you're just saying that cuz you're fucking you're bitter that your guys

00:56:36 You're mad. You're mad. He's leaving your program. He was like, I'm not mad

00:56:38 I want what's best for this kid and this is not what's best for and look at it from a graduation standpoint

00:56:43 Yeah, you get to go away from college basketball with a degree. Yeah, it's worth

00:56:50 So that I that that's what sucked about it is is there were just times where people point and I still think I don't think

00:56:56 The conversation is is done because I think there's good the horror stories are gonna start bubbling up

00:57:00 But I'm in IL stuff of guys signed massive deals to go play at schools

00:57:03 They did not want to go to then they get there and where's the money?

00:57:06 Guys that haven't necessarily gotten paid

00:57:09 Verbal agreement so there there's a lot to unwrap still and will continue to to be

00:57:19 An issue for that for the sport. So you you are you overall like optimistic about college?

00:57:24 Like where do you stand? I'm not like in the doomsday. Yeah, some people are like this is totally yeah

00:57:30 Yeah, exactly. I don't think that I just think the game is gonna continue to continue to evolve and

00:57:36 I don't think that this model is necessarily sustainable like just throwing the money at these dudes the way that some of these schools have

00:57:45 but I do think that water will find its level and I think that the beauty of college sports is that I

00:57:50 Am going to always root for Purdue because I have a degree from there, right?

00:57:53 You are always gonna root for Ohio State regardless who the players are regardless who the coaches we have affiliation to that school and they pump out

00:58:00 How many 15,000 graduates a year?

00:58:03 Yeah

00:58:03 So that that is a pipeline of fandom that they will always have now there's gonna be some people that are turned off by

00:58:09 NIL or the portal. Yeah, probably but I

00:58:13 The the brands are so big. I just don't I don't think that will go away when the NBA holes

00:58:20 Try to point out that like the college players stink

00:58:23 I have to remind everybody that I don't watch college basketball and the level play is not nearly as good

00:58:28 Yeah, but I was never debating that

00:58:30 Yeah

00:58:30 I watch it because the atmosphere is sweet and my school is playing if if third graders are wearing Ohio State jerseys and they were

00:58:36 Playing other third graders wearing Purdue or Michigan or India India? Yeah, I'm going to watch the game

00:58:40 I appreciate the NBA for the level of play that they bring because it is I mean, yes

00:58:45 It's big-time shot making and college can be a bit of a brick fest

00:58:49 But I mean you go into Purdue or Indiana or Illinois like you're gonna feel part of the environment

00:58:54 That's it's do you are you optimistic for the Big Ten as a whole with you know?

00:58:59 We kind of started out talking about like produce struggles and it's a tournament really it's like kind of a yeah

00:59:05 I mean conference state the only team yeah second weekend last year. I know

00:59:09 but just even the national title drought since 2000 I

00:59:12 Carry a lot of water for the league and I just like point out that like we've sent how many programs to the national

00:59:19 Time no doubt. I mean some of its luck. Yeah, and you've run into some great teams

00:59:23 Your Ohio State team's a great example. That's that's an awesome team

00:59:26 But Florida is a more awesome

00:59:30 Like we were we were a national title team. It's just Florida cheated and brought back five starters, which does I mean?

00:59:37 Everybody comes back to run it back and you've got a team in Horford Noah Corey Brewer

00:59:42 But that team is awesome

00:59:43 But then I so I look at each individual thing and I'm like alright so listen

00:59:46 Indiana in 2002 when they lost to Maryland like come on Maryland was a better like that wasn't that that doesn't mean the Big Ten

00:59:52 Sucked like why does anybody know and getting to the final four?

00:59:55 In oh five you know like Sean Mays fat ass was in Illinois

01:00:01 They had no answer for Sean May yeah, Michigan's teams that was it Nova?

01:00:07 Yeah, I mean there we've been right there. I think that

01:00:11 There's been some some

01:00:14 Disappointing flame-outs that you know Purdue is a great example and that that gets brought up the narrative of the Big Ten. I

01:00:20 Do think at times guard play in other leagues for a multitude of reasons?

01:00:26 Is the difference in the tournament and I don't necessarily think the Big Ten always has the most dynamic

01:00:33 Yeah, Oh guards, and I think that has hurt the league at times. Yeah, everyone says like the officiating come on, dude

01:00:39 I'm watching let's say Kip Kissinger ref a big game on Tuesday

01:00:44 ACC on Wednesday big 12 on third they ref the same games those dudes are reffing the high-level games

01:00:49 And it's John Higgins, and it's it's all those dudes. They're there. It's a collection of probably

01:00:54 25 guys that are reffing the best games in college basketball

01:00:58 So I don't I don't really buy into that

01:01:00 I think that the the dynamic high-level guards have not always been in the Big Ten and

01:01:05 That has been a problem for the league come March because the end of the game look at Michigan State

01:01:10 I mean there they went the furthest last year out of the league and they had probably the most dynamic guards in the conference

01:01:15 That's uh, yeah as much as I want to say

01:01:17 It's like each individual instance might be um, you know

01:01:20 You're unlucky or the ball did like Wisconsin was right there against Duke in 2015 and like god

01:01:24 it's just right and that's a great team, but then like you you

01:01:28 Put them all together next to each other and you're like, all right. Well, you can't be unlucky for 20. No, I mean

01:01:34 There's something to be said there and I think yeah, it's a shame because I love the Big Ten

01:01:39 And I think it's a great league, but would you would you celebrate a big ten?

01:01:43 I would I want you I want the Big Ten did any part of you

01:01:47 I got it. We got to talk about so my my producer who is moving to Chicago today

01:01:53 And he's he's absolutely torn up that he couldn't be here because he's a Rutgers. Oh

01:01:57 super night

01:01:59 Super fan diehard Rutgers fan and I told him Robbie Hummel's coming on the show

01:02:03 And this is the only this is the only interview he's ever missed in the history of the show

01:02:05 Because he's so sad

01:02:08 But obviously Rutgers beating Purdue on multiple time. I'm always calling the game. So that's what I mean

01:02:14 I was like you're calling the games be honest Robbie because we'll cut that

01:02:18 You know, we don't have to put this in the in the interview

01:02:22 When Purdue gets ranked number one for the first time in the history of the program Harper makes a half-court shot and

01:02:28 You know deep down

01:02:30 Robbie that when they got ranked number one that you Robbie Hummel were like our

01:02:34 2010 team would fucking smoke the thing that sucks is that we would have been ranked number one had I not blown my knee

01:02:39 Yeah, because we were so those two teams ahead of us

01:02:41 We're third those two teams ahead of us had lost and if we just had swept her false

01:02:45 there was like one I owed of a percentage that was like

01:02:48 I'm I don't hate it

01:02:53 I didn't want us to lose I did. I don't want us to lose but

01:02:56 Do you stack do you stack like?

01:03:00 Do you I mean you're probably too old at that, you know, like enough time has passed

01:03:04 But like it was there ever any of that sort of?

01:03:07 How do these assholes gonna be number one?

01:03:10 You know better than that not so much that but I I do hate the fact that our team kind of gets lost in maybe

01:03:15 That time period of the yeah and for getting the credit that we probably did

01:03:19 But again, we we only made the sweet 16

01:03:22 And that that's not gonna be getting you with those, Michigan State teams or your Ohio State team

01:03:28 But I I do hate the fact that we didn't get the chance to be in that conversation that that's what I hate the most

01:03:34 You know in terms of calling that game. I was with Brandon Godden. It was a great game and

01:03:40 The good thing is for the analyst is that I don't have to react

01:03:44 I can just it's the play-by-play guys show and Brandon knocked it out of the park and I just have to shut the hell up

01:03:51 Because it's probably a good thing because I had to just think to myself

01:03:54 God damn it

01:03:57 How could this happen? We get to be number one for the first time in Ron Harper jr

01:04:01 Euro step half-court to win the game. I mean that you weren't calling the game this year at Mackey

01:04:07 I think I were you calling I yeah, I've seen like every Rutgers

01:04:11 Game I've had them all because I asked you TJ said he couldn't be here and I go

01:04:15 Do you want me to send a message to Robbie? And I think he said something like our boys have sent that message twice

01:04:21 That would be an elite answer right there

01:04:26 It was it was unbelievable and honestly that atmosphere was was phenomenal

01:04:31 But yeah

01:04:32 That was I'm glad that Brandon Godden just had to do all of it and I could just sit there and watch and the funny

01:04:37 Thing is his announcer and I remember thinking this

01:04:39 You've got to like raise your level to the level of your partner and I'm like having to like psych myself

01:04:46 Rutgers

01:04:48 What a shot by Ron Harper, you know in your mind. You're like this

01:04:52 So how much yeah

01:04:56 How hard is that for you and how like when you were growing up and playing and all that sort of thing? How much?

01:05:01 Were you a fan of basketball and a fan of college basketball and like have?

01:05:07 You know like the

01:05:09 Indiana rivalry means something extra to you because you hated them or did it not because you kind of like them or like

01:05:14 Indiana or otherwise

01:05:16 It was this something now that you're in broadcasting that you had to like

01:05:19 Unlearn almost of like I have a boy. I hate it. No, I hate these team. I love these teams

01:05:25 I I wasn't really a fan of any Big Ten team growing up because I was a diehard Valpo fan

01:05:30 I was a ball boy for Homer for four or five years at the right time. No doubt

01:05:34 I mean I was in third grade when Bryce made the shot and I could tell you who I was standing next to what I

01:05:38 Was holding well, you know I could it feels like that happened yesterday for me and Bryce Bryce

01:05:45 My two favorite players were Bryce drew and Michael Jordan, which is a wide range of player but living in Valpo

01:05:51 You know, you're 55 minutes from Chicago. So MJ is at the top of his game

01:05:55 You've got Bryce making the sweet 16 at Valpo. I was the kid that would check CBS Sportsline comm

01:06:02 Tie up my parents internet, which was connected to our phone which kids now are like what?

01:06:06 It would tie up the phone line and I would go through the RPI

01:06:10 Every day and I look at the RPI and I didn't understand what it was

01:06:13 But I would be like we swept UMKC and all Roberts last week and we went down not

01:06:20 Understanding the strength of schedule was a part right and I'd be like beside myself

01:06:23 How could we drop we went to and oh, but I went we went to all the games

01:06:27 I listened to the radio because it wasn't on TV

01:06:30 Todd Icah was the the voice of the Valpo Crusaders and I I was obsessed

01:06:35 I filled out a million brackets every I watched so much college basketball and NBA. Yeah, I loved basketball

01:06:41 I just and I think that's what's kind of suited me

01:06:44 Well for this post career is that a lot of guys that end up being really good don't necessarily love to play

01:06:49 They're just right at it, but I I would be watching these games even if I wasn't calling them

01:06:54 so it's it's I think it's it served me well in that regard, but I

01:06:58 I came from a place in Valpo that was like perfect place perfect time to kind of

01:07:04 Fall in love with the game. Yeah, and Indiana is different, you know, I and you understand that you played at Brownsburg

01:07:10 My last high school game I played in front of 8,500 people

01:07:13 Yeah, how many people can say that? Yeah, and that's not even the state championship. That was the regional final

01:07:18 Yeah, not even in the semi state yet

01:07:19 But you're playing at Michigan City and you're playing against each one more and the crazy thing is is that I lost it

01:07:25 So each Chicago beat us they were loaded. They had each one

01:07:27 They wouldn't say they're they did they yeah, they beat each one or they had each one. They had k1 short

01:07:33 They'd angel Garcia angel ended up going to Memphis be 6-11 guard and we end up losing and at the time

01:07:39 I was like man, what a terrible loss then you look back and k1 plays

01:07:43 10 years in the NFL and a 2012 year NFL player and angel is still playing

01:07:48 overseas so it

01:07:50 You're just you're seeing a different level of player a different level of coaching and a totally different atmosphere than most

01:07:56 It's like Texas football. Yeah, Texas high school football is a great comparison. I mean it comes through

01:08:00 in your broadcast and I think that's something that like I

01:08:04 Don't think it's an accident that you're so successful like being stepping in and just you know

01:08:08 for me

01:08:10 Listening to you call games. It is that it's like you're obviously there's an affection for the game of basketball

01:08:15 For the stories that you're that are unfolding in front of us all that sort of thing

01:08:20 and yeah, I

01:08:21 You can't really fake that and that's something that I I think is interesting because there are a lot of players

01:08:26 That you almost get like siloed like sometimes great players like aren't fans. Yes. Well, it's like I just they're just good

01:08:32 I just want to play basketball

01:08:33 Yeah, basketball, but I didn't really like, you know

01:08:36 But I even a lot of the guys in our college team we would watch the other big ten games

01:08:40 Yeah, and I always am so curious as to the players today and even the teams that we put against are they watching?

01:08:46 I don't know. Yeah, but we would watch and I always took a really weird interest in who was calling our games

01:08:52 Yeah

01:08:52 The fact that yeah burger was around so much when we were in college

01:08:55 I think that's awesome or Gus John you had like a respect for that of like

01:08:59 Oh, yeah, that's Gus and when I said out the year I set out

01:09:01 I remember I think we were at Virginia Tech and

01:09:04 Brent was calling the game for the big Tennessee challenge. They were playing the team that had Malcolm Delaney. They were they were really good and

01:09:10 Brent was nice enough to come over and talk to me because I was obviously wasn't playing and

01:09:15 He just told me stories about you know, covering the Bulls and I would just ask him questions and he was so cool

01:09:22 Yeah, Brent was so awesome and you had lab and Aaron Andrews and you had all these people covering our games that were like

01:09:27 big-time people wrath

01:09:30 Vern Lundquist, you know, I every time I saw Vern I wanted to be like, oh no who the hell is happy

01:09:34 But I love the fact he was calling the game and I would always pay attention to who it was and I

01:09:41 Think that's kind of another reason why this has kind of been the perfect job for me

01:09:45 Yeah, I always not outwardly but kind of closet Lee liked the announcing aspect of it. Yeah, dude

01:09:50 I mean you're an absolute natural and I'm not just saying that because I know you personally and want to blow smoke over your ass

01:09:55 Like you I mean, I think I speak on behalf of all I mean, it's this it's this simple Robbie that Indiana fans like you

01:10:02 Like I will say this

01:10:04 I was blown away that there were people at Assembly Hall asking to take photos with me

01:10:09 Yeah, this is because the first time I called a game at Assembly Hall. This is hilarious

01:10:13 I am sitting on the side of the floor where the announcer at the table and I'm doing the game of Brandon God

01:10:19 It's Northwestern at Indiana Romeo Lankford's freshman year

01:10:23 Yeah

01:10:23 and I'm I'm sitting there and I always am kind of like reading over my notes that I have just so they're fresh in my

01:10:29 mind before the game and

01:10:31 there's

01:10:32 This like 80 year old dude that walks behind me and kind of tasked me on the shoulder

01:10:36 And he looks at me and so sincerely goes. I just want you to know

01:10:40 It's a tragedy that they're gonna let you call a game on this floor and I like

01:10:46 I thought it was kidding. I thought he was joking and

01:10:49 He literally I think my response was something like well, I'm just here to do

01:10:55 I'm just here to do the game and he looks the top of Assembly Hall. I'll never forget this

01:10:58 He points the top and he goes they should make you sit up there

01:11:01 And walked away my god, like holy shit

01:11:04 Like that is welcome back Rob. Not that they ever treated me. Well when I played there and look I didn't want him to

01:11:11 It's not a good rivalry

01:11:14 when you walk in there, I

01:11:16 Fully embraced the fact that they hated us and we hated them and that's what makes it good

01:11:21 Yeah, but when you're coming back and you're like man first time back in Assembly Hall and that's the response you get 80 year old

01:11:26 Dude, he just totally checked me and I was like, you know, welcome back

01:11:30 I'm back to Assembly Hall since then you've benefited from the voice the Indiana voice that does National College basketball media being Dan Dockage

01:11:38 I think

01:11:40 I you people would stack you up against him and they'd be like, you know what?

01:11:43 I hate to say it but like I would rather home will be called honestly. I thought Dan did a great job

01:11:47 Yeah, I mean Dan was awesome. That's what that's why everybody is so sad about Dan now

01:11:51 There's good like Dan was he was he was great at calling game. He was he

01:11:54 Was no longer interested in doing that. He was interested in whatever the fuck he's doing

01:11:59 He was really really good at calling games, um, I don't know I think we hit everything this was great

01:12:06 We got to have you more and more often now. You're Chicago. I live right down the street

01:12:09 Do you identify more with the Chicago or Indianapolis? I always thought about Chicago. I mean the time change

01:12:14 Valpo's on

01:12:16 We got Chicago news my dad worked out. Yeah, so like so it like if I catch myself in a debate with someone about like

01:12:24 Indiana high school basketball versus Chicago high school. No, I'd wrap in the end of the fullest

01:12:28 Yeah, cuz I it is I have a respect for Chicago. I mean, yeah, Kevin Garnett D Rose. There's some players

01:12:37 If you're gonna count Kevin Farragut would claim cage we got to start count all the La Lamire kids that are coming through India

01:12:44 I cannot fathom that La Lamire just because I played basketball and even tennis around, you know

01:12:50 Well, there was Michigan City Marquette or Michigan City High School. I'd never heard a La Lamire and now they're like a powerhouse

01:12:55 I I honestly think that might be

01:12:57 The thing that breaks me more more so than you I think I might get broken by high school

01:13:02 Basketball more than anything that changes in college. Yeah, I think

01:13:06 Well this year broke me cuz cannon cat jeans who's going committed to Purdue Brownsburg high school kid

01:13:12 He's welcome. Welcome cannon. He's not he's not going to you don't you don't feel good about him

01:13:17 You know, he just transferred to yeah, so not even transfer whatever the hell we're gonna go. He's playing an overtime elite now

01:13:23 That's that's fascinating down there

01:13:25 It's just that that that is going to break me more than anything else is like these like Bishop

01:13:29 Sheik sick of more type but think about think about when you were in high school and I I know this for myself

01:13:35 I had like three goals. I wanted to play for Bob punter who was the high school coach at Bopple High School

01:13:40 I wanted to be an Indiana all-star and I wanted to win a state title

01:13:43 Those are then on top of that I wanted to play in the NCAA tournament. Yeah at some point

01:13:46 That's it

01:13:47 But I I had been playing with those dudes and they're still my but some of my best friends of this day

01:13:52 We go on a golf trip every year a couple live in Valpo throughout, North, Indiana. I can never imagine leaving those guys

01:13:58 Yeah, whether it's - I think it's so weird when the kids reclassify and like just to give up your senior year

01:14:04 My senior high school was awesome. Yeah, and and playing wise it was amazing and

01:14:08 I don't get kids that just leave their sophomore junior year, but I don't know. I don't think it's the same

01:14:14 I don't think that you go up playing with that

01:14:16 Systematically when this is the new system, I think I don't think it's a coincidence that there are more people

01:14:21 There's a feeling in the NBA or wherever else in basketball where there

01:14:25 There are guys that don't love basketball as much as they use. I think I don't think that's a coincidence

01:14:30 I do think as the money has gotten bigger in the NBA

01:14:33 It's like kids are getting forced into something. They don't necessarily love

01:14:37 Yeah

01:14:37 but they're just so good and the

01:14:39 Rewards are so high and there there have always been players that didn't love it and just played for the purse

01:14:44 Yeah, whether it was the popularity or the money at the pro level like that's not a new thing to this generation

01:14:49 But the money is so high now

01:14:52 I mean you're talking about guys in the league making 60 million dollars

01:14:54 It is a it is kind of a new thing in the NBA to like see guys

01:14:57 Kind of quit and play off games and kind of like just not really get like I don't know like the the hardens of the world

01:15:03 And the vids like there are there's enough of a pattern where you're like

01:15:06 This is kind of bizarre to think of like but the money is not going down. It's not going

01:15:10 Like the TV money is astronomical and the salaries, you know

01:15:14 You're making if you think of like a modern you take a kid now who's at 10 years old

01:15:18 showing promise of being a future NBA player in

01:15:21 1995 that kid would just like grow up in his town. He would play against kids in other towns

01:15:27 Maybe like by the time gets a high school. He dabbles in a you sure goes to college, whatever

01:15:31 Now it's like that kid gets like plucked out of his community. We're gonna move you to like

01:15:36 Florida, you know, it's like going to Academy you're going to I go to one of those schools down

01:15:41 um

01:15:41 so no shit that when that kid grows up and he's like been putting this basketball factory from the age of 10 and now he's

01:15:47 Like 28 in the NBA and he's signed like two max contracts. He's just like

01:15:51 What's funny - I don't care about

01:15:54 You know, no, I totally get that

01:15:56 it's funny because I remember my a you coach being so mad at me and Scott Martin for

01:16:01 Thinking about going to post prom we went to prom

01:16:04 It was the Indiana State a you tournament and we actually ended up losing to Juwan Johnson and Matt Howard and Ben Botts and Zach

01:16:12 Han and the state's championship game and boy what a difference that's made in my life not being a you stay

01:16:18 But the the prom was on like a Friday night and we had to play Saturday morning

01:16:25 I can't believe we did this but we didn't go to post prom and my mom drove Scott and I down after prom and we

01:16:31 Got to Indianapolis at like 4 a.m. I'm like, you know, just to be Riverside a you program by 40 points

01:16:38 We had like five top 150 kid, right? We can't play these dudes with somebody else

01:16:44 I will say though I our a you coach gave us the greatest speech of all time and this team we lost to

01:16:51 Those guys are all good. Like Matt Howard's a great college. Yeah, Jawan Johnson's an NBA player

01:16:55 Zach Han had a great career Butler Ben Botts a good player at Ball State or IPFW

01:17:01 And they had other guys too

01:17:02 But after we lost I remember he took us into the corner of this gym and gave us the speech where he got like

01:17:08 Progressively crescendo louder and at the end he goes you guys lost to them

01:17:13 The whole gym could hear and everybody we're looking at them

01:17:18 They're looking at us and I'm like Jesus you want Johnson's like a top 40 player like but that's that's the way it went down

01:17:24 Dude, we could do this for hours

01:17:27 Open door policy. Oh, thank you. You can come back whenever you want cuz like yeah, I mean this is

01:17:32 Why I appreciate the invitation. It was good good to be we'll have a better studio - we're setting up the fantasy factor

01:17:38 What's loop? Yeah, Michael Jordan signed things pretty cool. I don't know what half the shit on the real

01:17:43 There's no way that's real

01:17:46 If that was real

01:17:48 No, we're gonna have a full court basketball sweet and then the office

01:17:55 Get some J's play that dollar challenge that I see

01:18:02 Robbie Hummel, thank you so much, dude. No problem. Thanks for having me. All right. Thank you to Robbie

01:18:09 Like I said, he's the absolute best

01:18:12 An incredible basketball player - he downplays it. He's very modest

01:18:16 and

01:18:18 Then you know, he doesn't he doesn't do well with people gassing him up directly to his face. I don't either so I get the sentiment but

01:18:25 He was he poor he was an incredible basketball player. He was so freaking good. Also, I

01:18:31 Called my dad. So I we talked to Robbie a couple days ago and

01:18:36 After I interviewed Robbie, I called my dad immediately because I was like dad. I was telling Robbie about the time

01:18:43 We played in Macarena and he had an incredible first half and then he he you had mentioned that he didn't celebrate

01:18:49 after he had made

01:18:52 The threes and then suddenly he you know, he celebrated and then he didn't make a shot the rest of the guy

01:18:57 I was like, what was it that Robbie Dix?

01:18:58 I couldn't remember was he blowing on his hand cuz he was hot. Did he wink at the bench?

01:19:01 Like what was it and my dad said all he did was fist pump

01:19:05 He goes he goes I remember it well because Robbie was such a robot

01:19:08 In a good way. He was just so locked in and he was hitting every single shot

01:19:12 That game he hits five threes in the first half

01:19:15 Then he hit it doesn't do he hits the shot just immediately runs back on defense doesn't even acknowledge that it went in almost

01:19:22 Then he hit his sixth

01:19:24 when he was in the zone he hits the sixth and he pumps his fist and my dad like made note of that and then

01:19:30 Apparently like Robbie didn't make another three the rest of the game

01:19:33 And I just thought that was that was a perfect old man

01:19:37 I was a perfect coach Titus note to have because it seems insane on the surface, but then also

01:19:42 You know, he's I guess he was right, you know

01:19:46 Like he Robbie didn't celebrate and then he pumped his just one simple

01:19:50 Was enough to get him out of the zone, I guess in my dad's eyes. So

01:19:54 That was the clarification. I brought this story up in the interview with Robbie and there you go

01:19:58 Dad says it was simply a fist pump one fist pump. He was hot-dogging Robbie Hummel hot-dogging with the fist pump

01:20:05 So, um TJ you moved to Chicago. Hey

01:20:08 How was the move? It was pretty good. I didn't realize so in my last apartment

01:20:14 I was living with a roommate who had most of the furniture

01:20:17 That's expensive

01:20:19 Like the move is like not even as expensive

01:20:21 I spent like $800 just buying like knives and yeah a trash can and like random stuff around the apartment

01:20:29 I didn't realize that I didn't have yeah, that sucks. That's the part that yeah, that'll get you and and

01:20:34 and really when you when you reach that age where you feel like you have to

01:20:38 Get like the side tables next to your bed

01:20:42 Like, you know cuz you got to get that you got to get the couch in the bed and and all that's in a table

01:20:46 To eat off of and all that

01:20:48 But that that's really the kick in the dick when you get to the point where you're like

01:20:51 We don't even have a side lamp. Yeah in our guest room, you know, and you're like, why am I now spending a Saturday?

01:20:57 walking through home good stores

01:21:01 Trying to find a lamp for a room that three people this calendar year will ever step foot

01:21:06 Yeah, also like I want to I want to have cool stuff. Yeah, I also want to have all of the stuff tomorrow

01:21:12 So like right wearing stuff where I could wait and get better stuff if I went to a store

01:21:17 But I definitely don't want to like put that effort in I just want to get delivered things right now the other hard part

01:21:23 for guys your age there at least when I think back on when I was when I was in that stage of my life was

01:21:30 Nothing's ever really like permanent so you don't want to get furniture you get like furniture that fits that room

01:21:35 Yeah, but then you're also like I might be living in a new apartment next year and this couch will look stupid in that space

01:21:41 So that becomes so you got to like buy a couch

01:21:44 That's kind of versatile or maybe you don't so like maybe the couch that fit perfectly in the last place

01:21:48 You're like, I don't want to buy a new couch

01:21:49 So you're taking this couch to the new place and it doesn't really fit right and it looks stupid

01:21:53 And yeah, it sucks moving does suck. I don't know if I don't know if we've done. Yeah, I

01:21:58 Don't know if we've done a good enough job on this show of highlighting that I did

01:22:02 Yeah

01:22:02 I didn't have as much of a nightmare scenario as you did my movers were like taking photos of like the view from my apartment

01:22:07 which I guess indicates that I got a pretty good spot, but

01:22:10 Yeah, I'm happy to be here. I want to I've been like anticipating this like two years and now we're just here

01:22:16 Yeah, no, it's I mean it's been it's been something that uh, you know since since we I signed on here

01:22:22 And you know, I met each other for the first time

01:22:23 I was like, all right once you get to Chicago once we get the Chicago and look at us

01:22:26 Look at us now who would have thought we're here. Um, you're living in like a dorm with all the yeah

01:22:31 Are you in the KB dorm?

01:22:32 Everybody's calling it the dorm because there's like nine barstool employees living in three buildings that are on the same block

01:22:39 Basically without doxing too hard like five of us are in one building two are on the building next door three are in the building

01:22:45 around the corner

01:22:47 So like we could all carpool in like a big van together

01:22:49 I guess we're on bus if we wanted to but uh, yes

01:22:53 I'm in these buildings which are way nicer than I thought I was gonna be able to afford when I moved to Chicago

01:22:57 I'll be honest Chicago's affordable man. Yeah, it's excited. How are you?

01:23:00 How are the emotions leaving Jersey for the first time not as bad as I thought there would be honestly

01:23:04 Like I thought my mom was gonna be a wreck, but she held it together. She's a champ. That's good

01:23:10 It's not that far. My dad said by the night before he's like, I'm not gonna wake up in time. So

01:23:14 He's like I'll see you when I do you think do you think your dad was doing that as a defense mechanism?

01:23:20 Was he doing it cuz he thought like he might cry if he you know says goodbye to you

01:23:25 So he's just he's being a tough guy. Yeah, he's got to play the good cop bad cop roll. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, you'll see him plenty

01:23:31 It's not that far. It's uh, they're gonna come out here a couple weekends

01:23:34 Yeah, once we figure out what our lives look like there you go. I'm really sad you missed the Hummel interview

01:23:40 I mentioned it in the interview

01:23:42 but yeah, I

01:23:45 Yeah, I have a feeling you would have had a lot to say to him about Rutgers

01:23:49 Not what it what more is there to say to a pretty head? He had funny

01:23:53 Uh, I I guess I don't need to tell you cuz everybody listening just just heard him say it

01:23:57 But yeah, he I thought he had funny comments about the heart Harper shot and just kind of like processing trying to call the game

01:24:03 Well, also, yeah being a very famous Purdue basketball

01:24:06 Pretty was just ranked number like that is I

01:24:10 Listen I I can make Purdue jokes till I'm blue in the face. Like it's not hard. I could do that all day

01:24:19 but some jokes just write themselves when Purdue basketball gets ranked number one for the first time ever and the guy who

01:24:25 represents

01:24:27 This era of Purdue basketball more than basically any other person like he you know

01:24:32 I said to him Zack Edie is probably supplanted him at this point

01:24:35 But before that shot like it was Robbie Hummel is the guy

01:24:39 You know the Matt Painter era of Purdue basketball

01:24:43 That's the guy that's on the call for the very first game that Purdue was ranked number one in the country

01:24:47 And they lose on a half-court shot at the buzzer

01:24:49 It's it's incredible. It's like Michael Jordan calling a North Carolina game. Yeah

01:24:53 good times and then Rutgers it's a

01:24:57 That's great. Um, well, yeah, man, we're excited to have you in Chicago

01:25:02 is there anything in particular you're most excited about with Chicago the food the

01:25:06 people the

01:25:08 I see the bean

01:25:11 Lake Michigan that they shut the bean down as soon as we got here from what I understand

01:25:16 It's a construction site, which is I guess I know I don't know if I was gonna see that

01:25:19 Anyway, I don't know. I think I would say the summer but I kind of fucked that timing up at 65 degrees

01:25:24 Yeah, which I like like it's football weather, but yeah

01:25:27 Yeah, probably that I want to go see a Cubs game before the season ends. We'll go to cut you want to come to the game

01:25:33 I'm taking Cody - sure. Yeah, we'll just do it. We'll do a show date

01:25:38 yeah, we'll go we'll go to a an afternoon game and sit in the bleachers and

01:25:42 Before before gets too cold

01:25:44 Yeah, all right, man, well good to have you a college football season is is around the corner

01:25:50 It's starting this weekend. I guess Brandon it's already started but Brandon said week zero didn't count

01:25:54 Notre Dame looked very good. What I love about what I love about college football

01:25:59 This is why this sports the best is that there's so few games

01:26:03 that

01:26:05 Arguing is really the sport. I mean the sport is arguing the the with basketball

01:26:09 It becomes you still argue fans still argue

01:26:12 But you have more data points and there's more non-conference games and there's more

01:26:16 Like if you're trying to decide if Duke or Michigan State is better one

01:26:22 They probably have already played each other

01:26:23 But two if they haven't like they they probably have like four common opponents that you can point to

01:26:28 And you know, you're still gonna argue over it

01:26:31 But it's a little like clear based on transitive property type stuff with football

01:26:38 You don't have that quite as much because there are fewer games and not teams aren't typically playing big non-conference games

01:26:45 And you know, um, and the reason I bring this up is that

01:26:47 watching the the Notre Dame which we knew was going to happen, but watching Notre Dame Navy and

01:26:52 somehow like Notre Dame is is

01:26:57 The best team ever but also Navy is complete dogshit and they're like basically

01:27:02 If they were a high school team, they wouldn't even be ranked in their state's poll

01:27:06 but also Notre Dame's the best but then and I'm just like watching this like we have

01:27:11 We have no data on either one of these teams

01:27:14 Like all I know for sure after that game is Notre Dame is much better than Navy

01:27:17 I don't know like Navy might be the third best team in the country and Notre Dame's the first

01:27:22 I'm obviously exaggerating but that that always cracks me up is like

01:27:27 Uh, obviously Navy is bad. You're like, well, why is Navy bad? You're like cuz they just got blown out by Notre Dame

01:27:31 And you're like, well, I thought Notre Dame's goods like isn't that yeah, but I mean Notre Dame is good

01:27:35 But then like what are we I don't know that was cracking me up. And that's what that's what college football is

01:27:40 That's what it especially early in the season when you have Connor Griffin who works here

01:27:45 Who's a Penn State guy? He's gonna be working on the new show with Brandon mostly sports

01:27:50 September 12th subscribe go follow everything. Uh, he's a big Penn State guy. He tells me in the office

01:27:57 yesterday TJ

01:27:58 I

01:27:59 Had seen him make this video where he did like a Penn State preview and I'd mentioned it to I was like Connor

01:28:03 That was really good

01:28:04 We should have you on my show to talk about Penn State football at some point

01:28:07 I was you know, I didn't realize he wanted to get into broadcasting all that sounds like dude. Good job Penn State

01:28:12 I said you seem pretty high on him. He goes. Oh, yeah, I'm very high on this Penn State team

01:28:16 He goes I am also very very very confident about the Ohio State game

01:28:21 I am I have a hundred percent confidence in Penn State for the Ohio State game this year

01:28:26 and listen, man, like I'm not I'm not one that I

01:28:29 I I

01:28:32 Try not to talk too much shit cuz like I don't I

01:28:35 I'm not like an Ohio State fan that puffs his chest out too much

01:28:39 Which is to say that like I have a pretty realistic

01:28:41 Like even Notre Dame game like we beat Notre Dame all the time. We're playing Notre Dame in a few weeks

01:28:46 I just watched Notre Dame be named

01:28:47 Like I'm I would be an idiot to sit down in this chair and be like big F would probably be just be like fuck

01:28:52 No, we're gonna crush them. We're gonna cry. I don't know if we're gonna cry

01:28:55 I haven't seen us play but the point was I said to Connor I was like, how can you have a hundred percent confidence?

01:29:00 He's like cuz I love our team

01:29:01 I was like Connor Penn State is not taking a snap of football this year

01:29:04 Ohio State is not taking a snap of football goes doesn't matter and I was like

01:29:07 Pissed he doesn't beat Ohio State in seven years

01:29:10 We haven't seen one snap of football from either one of these teams and you are supremely confident

01:29:15 That a game that will be played in like three months since he's going to win

01:29:19 And then I realized like I'm the I'm the weirdo, you know

01:29:23 Cuz that's what I because I think there are way more Connor Griffin's out there than there are these, you know

01:29:27 There are way more people that are like, I don't need to see it

01:29:30 I believe it in my loins and that's all that matters

01:29:32 I think college football is this the sport with the highest percentage of delusional fans? Yeah. Oh, I cross the board like oh, yeah

01:29:40 and every pro sport there's delusional fans for every team, but in college because there's like a

01:29:44 historical like like reasoning why you're a fan of a team whether it's because you went there your

01:29:50 Grandfather went right like there's delusion that's built in months and months in advance. We're like where I'm guilty of it

01:29:57 I'm already looking at a 2025 final four

01:30:00 It's it like book my tickets for that cuz I'm like hell-bent on going to that like that's that's college sports

01:30:06 And that's why that's the best. I think too that with college

01:30:09 there there are stereotypes that become kind of validated over the years where

01:30:15 You you you can talk yourself into like oh

01:30:19 Hi, like like if you went to like an Auburn fan and you're like you got a big game against Wisconsin coming up

01:30:25 What how do you feel Auburn fans gonna be like?

01:30:28 Again, without even knowing who's on either roster like we haven't seen either team take a single snap

01:30:34 Auburn fans would be like they don't have SEC speed Wisconsin has slow players. We're faster than them. We have better athletes

01:30:41 We're gonna be fine

01:30:41 and the reason they're saying that is because through the years that is what Wisconsin football has been and all but you know and

01:30:47 And you get that reinforced to where that's where I think the delusion comes from is like if you're an Ohio State person

01:30:54 You're like we're tougher than

01:30:56 These other teams or if you're you know like the West Coast is they're soft

01:30:59 You know like in and that's that's why fans delude themselves in a way that like pro sports

01:31:04 I think there's some part of you that realizes that's if you're like a fan of the Indianapolis Colts

01:31:09 Because Peyton Manning played there. There's nothing like inherent about that uniform right the only people that are this way are the Boston people

01:31:16 right

01:31:18 Like as Hank told as Hank has demonstrated is like no if you put on the Patriots uniform

01:31:23 You're obviously a better player than everyone else

01:31:25 I'm like, I don't I don't know but like people in Ohio think that if you grow up playing football in Ohio

01:31:31 You're a little bit better than everybody else

01:31:33 So if you grow up, that's what Texas fans probably think about Texas and Florida fans think about so I think there's that too TJ

01:31:39 We're like there's there's like a superiority with that where it's like less about

01:31:44 You know these specific teams and it's more about like the culture of what our school is and our people are better than your people

01:31:50 and pro tries to capture that but also we all realize that like

01:31:53 You know because the Steelers were good back in the day and like played this style of football

01:31:58 They have like all new coaches. They have all new players. That doesn't mean that a Jack Lambert playing on the Steelers means nothing about

01:32:04 This Steelers team there are still people that do it though, you know, but this is not I think that's why college is so bad

01:32:10 Yeah, even like teams that haven't been good like Nebraska fans

01:32:14 I think they're super guilty of like

01:32:16 Thinking that they're going to all of a sudden be a 10 11 win team every year again

01:32:21 And they just like haven't been that and don't seem like they're going to be they just had like a

01:32:24 former five-star transfer get arrested for like armed robbery like breaking into house it like their

01:32:30 Team culture is not the team culture that one of those championships, but they're

01:32:35 Nebraska every year they come into it with that expectation

01:32:38 But you always can tap back into it and this yeah, Indiana basketball is the same way

01:32:41 And I mean, that's that that's the that's that's the thing about the delusion is that it's definitely a delusion

01:32:47 But it's also not a hundred percent of delusion

01:32:50 And that's why it's so fascinating is because if you are an Indiana basketball fan

01:32:55 You're like listen

01:32:56 We as bad as our program has been or is like not a lead as we

01:33:00 Expect it to be or whatever at the end of the day every single year coming out of the state of Indiana

01:33:05 We have five stars we have recruits that every other school wants

01:33:08 If we could just keep those guys or if we could you know if we could just you know like the culture of the state

01:33:13 Is good so if we could just harness that we could have and I feel like that's just goes on with every program

01:33:18 It's like Nebraska is doing the same thing if we could just get back to like getting our guys in here

01:33:23 We could just we could just

01:33:25 I love it. I love college football, so I'm so excited to talk about with Brandon every week

01:33:30 And I want to do more on this show. I want to get more like college football

01:33:34 People in here and just riff on on shit that I'm seeing because I'm really fired up about it Thursday Thursday

01:33:40 Yeah, the show's coming out Thursday, Florida, Utah games gonna be a lot of fun

01:33:44 That'll be great

01:33:47 What other game is Thursday to answer your question to about Chicago?

01:33:51 I think like

01:33:52 Seeing people in their like school colors being in like a big big ten city is going to be different than how New York was

01:33:57 Yeah, because New York did have fans of every team

01:34:00 that's a famous tweet that some Barstool fans will know it's New York City best place to watch college football fans of every day, but uh

01:34:06 Chicago like breathes like big ten. Oh, yeah the atmosphere like people are going to their college bars

01:34:12 Which I don't think there's a Rutgers bar in the city, but I might have to make that you can make there's a half Rutgers

01:34:18 Bar, I looked it up. I think it's like a half

01:34:20 Iowa half Rutgers bar there is when they're not playing

01:34:25 It's a Rutgers there is a dive bar that I have fallen in love with around the corner. I'm kind of I mean

01:34:30 I've told everybody live in Roscoe Village. I'm an I'm an open, but I don't want to tell people my address

01:34:34 Yeah, don't leave your spot. I'm not gonna leak the spot, but

01:34:37 Miller's tap is the name of the dive bar. I don't I want to give them some shit. No, I don't

01:34:42 That's out there. I just

01:34:44 Mean I want to give him shine, but I don't want people to overwhelm this this cozy little dive bar that I love

01:34:49 But I also I don't have a I don't have that kind of reach anyway TJ. So I think we're fine

01:34:55 but

01:34:56 They those people I I've fallen in love with this bar right around the corner of my place TJ

01:35:00 And I think we can if you will if you want we I'm sure we could talk to them and just be like will you throw?

01:35:05 The Rutgers games on yeah, and we can make them the Rutgers bar be the change you want to see in the world I say

01:35:09 What's your point when like my dad or my brother or some friends will come visit?

01:35:14 That's what I've I've gotten in the habit of like giving them that little game to play

01:35:20 I'm like over the weekend that you're here see if you can see a bumper sticker a flag a t-shirt a hat

01:35:26 every single Big Ten school like just go through the

01:35:29 The checklist and I guarantee by the end of the week and you'll have seen one of each school

01:35:34 So yeah, it'll be awesome football season is going to be awesome

01:35:37 Minnesota Nebraska play Thursday they play tonight on Fox and I think Florida

01:35:43 Utah is the ESPN game so and she stayed also a place tonight cuz quakes

01:35:49 Yeah, they play UConn right yes. Yes. Yeah, they play UConn which is a

01:35:53 UConn football is like such a fascinating yeah idea Jack Jack Mack who's a massive UConn fan

01:36:00 openly shits on Rutgers at every opportunity because in 2014 or 13 they

01:36:06 Thought they should have gotten the Big Ten invite yeah, and we got the Big Ten invite

01:36:11 So they're like we used to go at each other in the Big East so they hate us more than

01:36:16 Most teams hate most teams if but he's very confident in UConn this year potentially winning up to eight games if you can

01:36:23 Wanted to be in the Big Ten. They should have tried being in

01:36:26 New York City just like yeah, the State University of New Jersey, correct

01:36:30 You're not wrong there. That's when you're right. You're right

01:36:34 Every like big - Rutgers gets added to the Big Ten and everyone's like yeah, it's for the New York market

01:36:41 I mean like nobody knows what Rutgers is in the Midwest, so they're just like okay. Yeah cool

01:36:45 We got a New York team and then you turn on like the first football or basketball game

01:36:48 And you see a New Jersey outline on the helmets like in the court like what?

01:36:51 It's like when they call like MetLife Stadium like yeah, we're hosting the World Cup in in New York slash, New Jersey

01:37:00 No, it's only in New Jersey. It's only, New Jersey

01:37:03 Yeah, you can't football fascinates me so to Syracuse you kind of Syracuse you like the two programs that are like

01:37:11 Just the idea of them is funny to me. I don't know like

01:37:15 There's something there, but it's also there's not I guess Rutgers was in that yeah, but Rutgers is now in the Big Ten

01:37:20 So they've kind of

01:37:21 Syracuse football used to be really good. Yeah, they're not anymore

01:37:24 No, did Greg Paulus put an end to that when Greg Paulus became the quarterback at Syracuse was that like the the beginning of the end?

01:37:32 for Syracuse

01:37:34 Jim Brown went there Donovan McNabb went there. They have they have some legends to the play in a dome. They're playing a dome

01:37:43 All right any shoutouts before we go anything else

01:37:45 No, I wanted to talk college football. That was it. Yeah, I'm excited man. I'm a

01:37:51 Ohio State players, Indiana. It's the Titus Bowl. I'm I guess I'll say this before I before we go

01:37:57 They're playing in Bloomington. I've gotten to the habit through the years Kovac kind of ruined it

01:38:02 But my brother and I my brother was an Indian alum

01:38:06 He and I used to go to every single house state, Indiana football game

01:38:10 just because it was like an excuse for both of us to kind of go back to our our alma mater's and

01:38:14 Have some play. He actually my brother lives in Columbus funny enough. So

01:38:18 He yeah, the Ohio State when Indiana played Ohio State. It's he's like, yeah, I'll go to the game. Of course

01:38:24 We are not going this year TJ because one of our cousins is getting married on the on Saturday. Mm-hmm and I

01:38:33 I want to go to the game

01:38:36 I'm not I'm going to the wedding and this be this comes up every fall and people like have a very hard stance about like

01:38:42 Don't ever have a fall wedding and you know watch football and don't go to weddings and and all that sort of thing. I

01:38:48 I don't know if it's it's I don't know. I don't I I

01:38:53 Don't think this makes me better than everybody else TJ

01:38:56 But I've gotten to the point in my life where I'm like, that's kind of insane

01:38:58 I think you got to go to the weddings. I think like if it's if it's if

01:39:02 You want to skip the like I don't know

01:39:04 I think there's just like a line in the sand that gets drawn where it's like if

01:39:07 You're someone that wants to watch the football game during the ceremony and you're on your phone watching a football game during a ceremony

01:39:13 You're probably not friends with this person. You're probably not or this is a family member. You truly don't care about

01:39:18 So like why did you go to this wedding in the first place?

01:39:21 I I and I say this is a guy who in my 20s. I went to many weddings

01:39:26 watching football while I was there and I just look back on that and I

01:39:31 Hate that about myself. So I just I don't know

01:39:33 I don't mean to say that everybody has to see the world the way I see it

01:39:36 but that is my life lesson to the younger people is like if

01:39:39 You're someone if like there's a big football game on a wedding Saturday and like your buddy's getting married

01:39:44 you have to make a decision and you can't don't do both because that is

01:39:48 looking back like that is

01:39:51 Very regrettable behavior for me that like I went to a friend's wedding with I remember one of my friends got married

01:39:57 Ohio State fans will remember this game the Joe Bowser min game at Nebraska when he was like just bombing the foot

01:40:02 He was scared to like play quarterback and he would just throw the football into like the third row

01:40:06 He would throw the ball away every single time. He's like not even getting pressured. You drop back his first looks not open

01:40:11 He's like third row. It was just throw it away

01:40:13 and and I was I was watching that game like on my phone at the reception and I just look back on that and I'm

01:40:19 like

01:40:20 What an asshole, you know, like this was someone's special day and like I'm obviously take I don't know

01:40:25 So I will not be watching Ohio State's first game to open the season

01:40:29 I I'm not expecting it to be much of a game. Anyway, Indiana hasn't beat us. I think like I

01:40:34 Think it's like since the 80s. I think it's literally since the 80s

01:40:37 And it has not beat Ohio State but uh, I don't know

01:40:40 I have I have one of those dilemmas out of the gate TJ week one. I'm already dealing with the wedding football

01:40:45 One is tough week one is tough

01:40:48 My cousin is a football guy. I don't know, you know, but I'm guessing the why I've not met the the fiance the the wife

01:40:55 I don't I've not met her. It's a distant cousin a little bit like I don't know

01:40:58 I like to I like him a lot, but I don't exactly keeping close contact with him

01:41:02 I want to see the rest of the family though, you know, it's grandma's birthday. The wedding falls on grandma's birthday

01:41:08 So I gotta go see grandma. We're gonna you know, grandpa's gonna be there. We got to see him

01:41:12 Some new babies have been born. I got to see that, you know, and I guess like that's all I want to say

01:41:18 I just I'm not telling you what you have to decide those of you watching those of you do whatever you want with your life

01:41:23 I just I think that a decision has to be made and if you try to do both you ultimately end up doing neither one

01:41:29 Really or actually kind of ultimately just end up picking the football game anyway

01:41:33 So if you're gonna pick the football game just pick the football game is what I would say

01:41:36 What do you think TJ? Is that unreasonable?

01:41:38 Um, I think as you get older you probably realize that right now if I were going to a wedding I'd probably be throwing the game

01:41:43 I know you're gonna be a super unimportant Rutgers. I know

01:41:46 Nebraska week three or something like that

01:41:50 14 to 13 rushing loss

01:41:52 I think I think what happens is as you as you get older you realize the games you thought were like massive

01:41:58 Yeah, games aren't they aren't there's there's maybe one a year. That's actually can't miss

01:42:02 But you think that every single game is like what what Ohio State what we're playing Purdue

01:42:09 We're only a 21 and a half point favorite. I can't miss this game. I gotta watch it, you know

01:42:13 You know, you don't have to watch it

01:42:16 You can you can or if you do have to watch it just don't go to the wedding is what I said

01:42:20 I think I don't know but no one's gonna listen. Everybody's gonna do what they want, but I just I

01:42:24 I will not be watching the I will not be watching the game, but I will I will be following it after the fact

01:42:32 I will see all the highlights. We'll put it that way but go Bucs

01:42:35 The only other thing I thought of was the Eagles cut their punter yesterday and don't have a punter on the roster now

01:42:41 Oh, really? I had two suggestions Adam Corsak is punting in the Canadian Football League or let's call Cora Carly Lloyd up

01:42:48 She's she

01:42:50 She at one point said that she was getting contacted by NFL teams to attempt to kick her punt

01:42:55 She's like banged a couple like 55 plus yard field goals. I think that she could punt I think

01:43:02 Give her a chance. You don't have a yeah. Yeah, that's pretty crazy. They don't have a pot

01:43:06 So they're just gonna not punt. This is gonna be one of those deals. I think that their kicker

01:43:10 Has punted in games like when the the punter gets injured or something

01:43:15 But there are punters out there and they don't have one

01:43:18 I think football is prime for being solved in the way that like basketball and it probably already has

01:43:24 I just don't pay enough attention to it. But I

01:43:26 Think there's a revolution on the horizon with football. That's PFT is like a lateral thing, right?

01:43:32 like PFT big on that like a lot of lateral maybe it's just like

01:43:37 Actually using a roster spot on a punter is not worth it

01:43:40 And what if we use that roster spot on something else and we sacrifice 20 yards per punt?

01:43:44 Hmm, you know my concept is always what about lining two quarterbacks up out under center on every play?

01:43:52 And then you don't know where they're hiking it

01:43:54 yes, so you could hike it left to the like the like the pocket passer or hike it right to like the

01:43:59 dual threat and

01:44:02 Then you started getting laterals like run two quarterbacks at the same time have them both line up under the center

01:44:06 I think Ohio State tried that and the year after we won the national championship and we had like Braxton Miller and Cardale Jones and

01:44:13 JT Barrett all in the roster and we were like, what do we do with all these guys? Yeah, and I think that was

01:44:17 Those are the plays I was drawing up. I was like line up all three in the field

01:44:21 Block for each other let them all we won a national championship with our third string quarterback and then all three of them came back

01:44:29 Yeah, we're like what do we do? I mean come here to play school

01:44:33 Shout out to United States whooping Jordan's ass Jordan is not my goat couldn't be

01:44:39 Jordan no not for me Jordan stinks of basketball as it turns out

01:44:44 surprise surprise

01:44:47 USA is rolling. I tried to get everybody gassed up about this USA World Cup run, but it's hard to win

01:44:54 We got a great draw, but unfortunately like we got a great draw

01:44:58 So we're gonna beat the hell out of everybody we play until we get to the final four

01:45:01 And we still will probably beat the hell out of everybody. But uh, yeah, we're still cruising. That's awesome

01:45:06 I think that might be it. I don't know. I don't have anything else. Nothing else. Shout out

01:45:10 No, no Lyle's by the way, I I I was I that was kind of a wild controversy

01:45:16 I don't think that reflects great on NBA guys how sensitive they got about that. You know, I'm talking about the

01:45:21 the the track guy that said

01:45:24 The I don't know why the NBA caught the track. Oh, yes the world championship

01:45:31 The track and field had their world championships. He said

01:45:33 These are the real world championships. I don't know why the NBA I'm paraphrasing obviously, I don't know why the NBA

01:45:39 Calls their champion world champions when they're really just America champions. These are actually world championships and then NBA people were like

01:45:47 Like the NBA players lost their minds over it. We're like, we're obviously the best in the world

01:45:52 That's why we're world champions. I don't I never I didn't have a problem with that

01:45:56 I thought I thought it was like a fair comment and he's obviously like trying to just garner interest in

01:46:01 In his sport and what's going on, which is a world championship and he and by the way, he's not wrong. Like he's not

01:46:08 Well, I we don't need to be

01:46:11 Explained I don't think the NBA really does that anymore

01:46:13 Anyway, it's been a long time since I remember like an NBA and NBA champion puffing their chest and saying we're world champions

01:46:20 But that was definitely a thing back in the day. I remember that being like a thing in the 90s you yeah

01:46:25 You'd win a world championship. Um, the Raptors could yeah the Raptors. Yeah, there you go. That's right. That's right

01:46:31 Everyone point points to the Raptors and says we have one team that's not in America. So therefore it should count

01:46:38 I don't know if it seems fair to me that

01:46:40 It's not a world championship

01:46:42 It's an NBA championship and some would argue that that's better than a world championship or not

01:46:45 I don't know. I wonder if there will be a day where NBA teams will play

01:46:49 Other if they would have to like dissolve the NBA for that to happen, right? Like yeah a lot of eSports

01:46:55 Do like a global system where there's like a Brazilian division and yeah

01:47:00 And an American and then they win that and then go on to world

01:47:04 So that's what I mean

01:47:05 Like the NBA is so obviously trying to go global

01:47:07 It's a very this is part of their initiative as they want to go global and it's been working and that's why there's so many

01:47:12 Foreign basketball players in the league that are so good

01:47:17 But with that you think at some point they're gonna want to go global with the teams right or maybe not maybe that's insane

01:47:22 I don't know but and if L's I mean apparent like looking like they're trying to do that, but I just don't think that the

01:47:29 That would be the logistics of it

01:47:31 We talked about Oregon have like having to travel to Piscataway for a softball game on a Tuesday night

01:47:37 Like yeah, what are we gonna send the Golden State Warriors to?

01:47:40 Well, I think Zealand to play the break. Yeah

01:47:43 The way I would do it is I think if they're not gonna do it this way

01:47:47 But in my fantasy world, I would do it like

01:47:49 Instead of like trickling in some foreign teams

01:47:53 You'd almost have to dive in which is why I can't do it that way

01:47:55 Because I the way they're gonna do it is they're gonna put a team in London and then right if that goes well

01:48:01 Mexico City, yeah, then we'll kind of slowly

01:48:03 Ideally, I think you just like snap your fingers and there's a team in Paris. There's a team in London

01:48:09 There's a team in Barcelona. There's a team in Rome. There's a team, you know, yeah

01:48:13 And they're all NBA teams and then you set up a system that's like American League National League

01:48:20 Where like you don't have to worry about the Warriors playing in Paris because they literally never do this is it's like American League

01:48:26 National League in like the 70s. We're like you just literally never play each other

01:48:30 There's like two separate leagues going on and then the champions play each other in the World Championships

01:48:36 Yeah, I think that or even if they short like if they short session tested it over like a summer or something

01:48:42 Instead of doing summer league if they just said okay this summer the jazz are

01:48:48 The Milan jazz. Yeah, and they had them like located over there and maybe they added like some

01:48:55 international players into the pool that you could like draft from for those teams and

01:49:00 Did it like that to see if it was something that people would even care about?

01:49:04 It's like some of the scenes from like the European basketball leagues

01:49:07 Where there's people in the crowd with flares and smoke and like bandit like it looks crazy

01:49:12 But it's like the fan bases are there you're telling me my guy Kyle guy just got he just signed with the Greek team

01:49:18 I think it's the the Rick Pitino team that Rick Pitino used to coach and that's the team that that's the Greek team that like

01:49:24 God, I get to do my research better, but that's the team where they they

01:49:28 There when they play the rival it looks like a war zone in the the blue

01:49:32 I want to go I want to so badly go to one of these games with Donnie and do a do a European basketball tour

01:49:38 Video series with Donnie and go to like these Greek games where we might die. Yeah, we're doing

01:49:45 But uh, yeah my idea wouldn't work my idea wouldn't work because if you did it that way you're gonna you're gonna have like

01:49:52 20 expansion teams in Europe

01:49:54 No one in America is gonna give a shit about any of those teams

01:49:57 Yeah, nobody's gonna care and that's just kind of defeats the purpose

01:50:01 so you'd have to you'd have to do it in a way that like you pluck like

01:50:04 Giannis and Luca and

01:50:07 Jokic and you throw them on those teams

01:50:10 We're like or maybe more man. I don't know. It's not gonna work

01:50:13 The point is it's not gonna work, but also like if if one of the let's say a European League team right now

01:50:20 From a hung like the Hungary League or the Spain League or something played straight up against an NBA team with full rosters

01:50:29 What would the spread on a game like that be?

01:50:31 What would the the nuggets beat a team like that by a hundred or no?

01:50:35 Would it be close? I don't really have like a car how much better NBA players?

01:50:40 Yeah, it's like G League players are great

01:50:42 But so many of them going to the NBA and they're just nothing and that's where that skill gap is

01:50:47 Like what's the difference with like a random?

01:50:49 Well, that's that's why I made people lost their minds

01:50:51 It's like we're obviously the best league and they are and every NBA team would smoke all these other teams

01:50:55 But I don't think it would be

01:50:58 Basketball is more variable than like it's weird that we all watch March Madness. You all watch like a tiny-ass school

01:51:05 You all watch fairly Dickinson beat at Purdue

01:51:07 But then whenever there's like debates that come up about like could the Spanish champion beat could you know?

01:51:15 Could the Latvian national team beat the United States team and I was like fuck no

01:51:20 They could they have no chin. You're like, well, of course they have a champ every

01:51:23 basketball like you you know, I

01:51:26 Understand the scent that was that was always funny to me the 2015 year when Kentucky was so good and had had like a roster

01:51:32 of like 12 future NBA players and the Sixers were tanking and that was like the

01:51:37 When there's nothing to talk about during the basketball season

01:51:39 Yeah, everyone just be like could Kentucky beat the Sixers or always can the Browns be down? Yeah. Yeah

01:51:45 and

01:51:47 Basketball the answer is yes

01:51:49 They could it's like the debate starts with it's like how many times could they if they played a hundred times like how many you?

01:51:55 Know then it's like yeah, if you're saying more than 20, you're probably a little crazy

01:52:00 But yeah one time of course, of course a basketball team could beat another basket of the basketball team with

01:52:06 Carl Towns and you know, all those guys could be but anything could happen one night. That's my caveat

01:52:12 I would set the spread of like we're talking like a top-flight European team versus like

01:52:17 What like a mid-tier NBA team or like the Nuggets?

01:52:22 Yeah the champion versus champion, yes. Yeah say the champion of I think it's a lot versus the champion

01:52:28 It's it's it's it's it's probably close to 20 points. Yeah. Yeah, it's probably close to 20

01:52:34 Yeah, that's closer than I thought it would be to be yeah, it's probably close to I mean depending on the league

01:52:38 obviously Latvia is probably not that it's probably way higher. Yeah, but like the yeah the

01:52:42 The Spanish champion the Spanish the Real Madrid right Spain team. They're they're losing by 20 to the Nuggets probably

01:52:50 That's probably something like that. But but we've got to play it. That's the point

01:52:54 It's like you got a you let's see it if you want to call yourself world champion. Let's see it

01:52:57 I didn't have a problem with the comments

01:52:59 I also like I do consider the Denver Nuggets to be the best professional basketball team in the world

01:53:04 Yeah, but I don't know. I just thought it was like a very stupid. It's a very late August controversy in sports

01:53:10 Yeah, like a very like we got nothing

01:53:12 The football anticipation

01:53:16 People are making nothing like ever like the

01:53:18 One of the Giants receivers was like his he had a zero stat line not even a trillion. He had a zero

01:53:25 Yeah, no attempted like catches no targets

01:53:28 like he didn't get a target a ball was thrown like 20 yards over his head and the replays been shown like 500 times like

01:53:34 Holy shit, Jalen Hyland like he destroyed the Jets

01:53:37 Cornerback on this route like he's he up next like he didn't even he didn't catch it. Is he him?

01:53:43 It wasn't even close to catching it

01:53:45 We did like America just needs football to start

01:53:47 And it started college football

01:53:50 Even though it's officially already started Brian Walker told us that doesn't count so week one starts tonight actually tonight

01:53:57 Enjoy the college football enjoy Labor Day. We're going to a programming note

01:54:01 We're pushing next week shows back a day because we usually record we put them out Tuesday Thursday

01:54:08 We usually record on Monday and Wednesday so we can put them out the first thing Tuesday Thursday Monday being Labor Day

01:54:15 I take care of my guys

01:54:17 You know I there was a vote around the office and most people like we should just come into work

01:54:21 And I stood up in the office, and I said guys guys we can't do this don't clip this

01:54:25 No

01:54:34 We're taking Labor Day off

01:54:36 So I we're not gonna do this we're not gonna record the show on on the Monday

01:54:41 So therefore we cannot put it out on the Tuesday so long story short

01:54:43 We're gonna record on Tuesday and Thursday. We're going to put them out on Wednesday and Friday

01:54:47 We will still get a thousand messages from people on Tuesday. Where's the show no show today? What's going on?

01:54:53 I understand that that's part of the business

01:54:55 But I for those of you who listen to through every show you now know so you're please don't tweet at me

01:55:02 We will have shows to you on Wednesday and Friday next week, and then we'll go back to Tuesday and Thursday

01:55:07 Have a great holiday weekend everybody enjoy the football. We'll see you next week

01:55:10 (whooshing)

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