- 1 hour ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Last night, Iowa not only dethroned the Gators, they dethroned the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 77-71.
00:06They were slight dogs, plus one and a half, and they only led toward the end of the game,
00:10but now the lowest-seeded Big Ten team to make it to the Elite Eight since it began back in
00:151979.
00:16That's crazy.
00:17Bennett Sturtz had 20 points, four assists, and Iowa will see if they can get to the final four.
00:23Seems like for the first time in a really long time.
00:25Here's Ben McCollum on his team's winning, and certainly Fred Hoiberg had a nice season for Nebraska,
00:31but says they came up just short.
00:33We weren't fantastic to start.
00:34They had an elite game plan to start.
00:36They played with elite pace.
00:38They adjusted their defense quite a bit.
00:41You know, I think a lot of people will talk about a rivalry.
00:45I was around it when I was in Iowa, you know, and grew up in Iowa and understand the rivalry
00:50and whatnot.
00:51You know, it's nice to have, I guess, if you would call it a rival that runs such a class
00:58program.
00:59You know, I think Coach Hoiberg, they've got great kids.
01:03They completely turned everything around from the previous season,
01:08and they have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about or anything.
01:13I have the utmost respect for them.
01:15First of all, hats off to Iowa.
01:17They played great, especially down the stretch, and they deserve the win.
01:22It stings.
01:23This one hurts about as bad as any I've been a part of just because of what this group is
01:29all about,
01:30and we don't get to lace them up anymore together as a group.
01:35And, you know, they've been all about the right things.
01:37You know, these guys will be a part of the history of Nebraska basketball forever
01:42for winning the first NCAA tournament game, getting to the Sweet 16,
01:46most wins in the history of the program, highest ranking.
01:51They just did so many things to elevate our program, and I'm really proud of them.
01:56You know, when the sting does wear off, which it will at some point, maybe,
01:59but, you know, these guys deserve a lot of credit for what they've done for Nebraska basketball.
02:06Another two seed, by the way, goes down in the tournament.
02:09It was Houston last night.
02:11Some folks thought they had a chance to win it all.
02:1355 points.
02:14That's not going to get it done.
02:15Illinois wins 65-55 in the game.
02:18David Merkovich had 14 points and 10 rebounds,
02:22but the win naturally very big for Illinois and Brad Underwood,
02:25who talked after the game about his big win over Houston.
02:28Well, my hat's off to Houston and Kelvin and the season they had.
02:34We beat a great basketball team, a team I've got so much respect for
02:39and a coach I've got tremendous respect for.
02:43I thought our defense was outstanding, both halves.
02:48I thought we set a really good precedent early, contesting shots, not giving up paint twos.
02:59I thought it was huge.
03:00I thought that we made shots hard for them, which we had to do.
03:07We didn't make shots.
03:09We got some good looks early.
03:11That first half probably set basketball back a few years in terms of the excitement level
03:17and the shooting, but excited to be moving on.
03:21That's what we came here to try to do.
03:24Very fortunate we beat a great team tonight and get a move on.
03:26I love coming in every day and getting them through practice.
03:32As much as coach gets on their ass, I'm always there for them, just telling them that he's doing this
03:40because he loves y'all.
03:42He's trying to make y'all better.
03:44I know what it's like to beat him because I was there at one point, thinking that he's just getting
03:49on me
03:49just to get on me, but it's for a reason.
03:52I just try to do the same things Jamal did for me.
04:00It's just, I love everybody that's been through here.
04:04I love coach.
04:05But I'm hard.
04:11An emotional loss for Houston, as you can see there.
04:14Game of the night, without a doubt, Purdue beating Texas.
04:1679-77 Texas covered, but Trey Kaufman-Wren hit the game-winning tip as time expired
04:23off a missed three by Braden Smith, so they will move on.
04:27Purdue, a stranger to the Elite Eight at this point.
04:30They keep losing in the early rounds, but they got it done finally this time.
04:34All right, so let's hear from Trey Kaufman-Wren.
04:36Here he is on the game-winning tip.
04:37In case you missed it, he walks us through it.
04:40When you saw the shot wasn't going in, did you realize that Trey was going to be right there
04:44to tip in?
04:44What was also going through your mind at that moment?
04:48No, I mean, I think, you know, when you give the ball to Braden, I think he can, you know,
04:52go by anybody in the country.
04:54You know, we have plays designed for him to do that, and so I thought he got a good shot.
04:58And then, you know, coach always says that, you know, it's not the, sometimes, or a lot
05:03of times, it's not the first shot that goes.
05:05It's those tip-ins at the end of games.
05:07Like he said that, you know, my four years here, so it's kind of cool to, you know,
05:11actually experience that.
05:12So, no, I just tried to get myself in position to get a rebound or, you know, a post if,
05:17you know, his defender cut him off.
05:19It feels really good to be a part of what we did.
05:22That's one thing that I would say.
05:24I remember being in Maui over Thanksgiving and having gone there a number of times.
05:29You know, it's an amazing trip and experience, playing three games in three days on national
05:35television in this wonderful, beautiful place, and we went there this year, I remember thinking
05:41on the trip, like, God, nobody knows each other.
05:43Like, we just, it's just the circumstances of being so new.
05:48And that was our starting point, but these guys, they kept working together.
05:54I think we definitely grew closer together.
05:57And obviously, getting to this round is not easy.
06:01I think it's an accomplishment of itself.
06:03Sean Miller with a great season in Texas, no question.
06:06Good run for them also.
06:07Arizona's moving on, by the way, to the Elite Eight.
06:09They beat Arkansas handily.
06:11109-88 covered that eight and a half point spread, despite Darius Acuff, who was so good
06:15for the Hogs.
06:16He had 28 points in the loss.
06:18Also, Will Wade is leaving North Carolina State.
06:20He's going back to LSU.
06:22He was fired back in 2002 over some allegations, level one and level two violations in college
06:28basketball.
06:29All right, in Major League Baseball yesterday, for the first time ever.
06:33We saw the ABS system, automated balls and strike system, posted across baseball stadiums.
06:38And here's how it went.
06:40Hitters went 9 of 15 in terms of challenges.
06:42Catchers went 10 of 14.
06:44Pitchers, who should never challenge, by the way, they always think they're right.
06:47They went 0 for 1.
06:48Overall, higher percentage than what we generally see on a daily basis, 19 of 30.
06:53I believe this number will be closer to 50% over the course of the season.
06:57Okay, first start for Paul Skeens yesterday.
07:01Since the World Baseball Classic, it did not go as planned.
07:04He did not get out of the first inning.
07:06He gave up five earned runs in two-thirds of an inning.
07:10He was failed by his defense and wasn't happy, certainly, to see O'Neal Cruz struggling in
07:18center field.
07:18If you see the box score, that really didn't tell the story.
07:21Freddy Peralta, seven strikeouts, five innings pitched.
07:24And a lot of rookies homered yesterday, by the way.
07:26Carson Bench ended up hitting a home run in his Major League Baseball debut.
07:30The Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks last night on opening night, 8-2.
07:33Yoshinobu Yamamoto, six innings pitched, six strikeouts.
07:36Andy Pah has hit a home run.
07:38Also, the Tigers behind Kevin McGonigal, another rookie, as I mentioned, four hits in his Major
07:43League Baseball debut.
07:44Tariq Skulba won 8-2, the final there.
07:47The Red Sox blanked the Reds.
07:48Garrett Crochet, six shutout innings.
07:50And Jacob Mizorowski pitched well for the Brewers as well.
07:53All right, Sam Aquila is with us from Legal Sports Report.
07:56Sam, enjoying all of the better weather and also the great sports going on right now.
08:00It is a great time for live sports and entertainment, that is for sure.
08:04He joins us now here, and we asked some questions about sports here because, you know, we did
08:09go through a period last year of a year where we were thinking to ourselves with all of the
08:13stuff happening with the Cleveland Guardians and in the NBA, is there a chance that we
08:17could lose the opportunity as sports bettors to bet on, to lose betting on prop bets?
08:23And it seems like the state of Colorado is stepping in here, Sam, and saying, hey, look,
08:29there are so many different options that you have out there.
08:31Why have to bet on these individual props?
08:34Is this something you think that goes through their legislature and comes to reality?
08:39Yeah, it's an unfortunate reality right now that we're dealing with states that legalized
08:45sports betting pretty easily in the past.
08:47Now, coming back to the drawing board, which when you think about what lawmakers, how they
08:50treat laws, usually once they get something like sports betting over and done with, they
08:55want to move over on to the next thing.
08:56But it hasn't been the case with all these scandals recently.
08:58You mentioned the Cleveland Guardians.
09:00There was a bunch of NBA college scandals recently as well.
09:04That doesn't even count the football and the stuff before that that already kind of feels
09:09like it was so long ago.
09:11But the fact of the matter is you have a bunch of these recent scandals popping up, a lot
09:15of them involving prop bets.
09:17And Colorado is one of those states that's saying, hey, maybe we should just get rid of prop bets
09:20altogether.
09:21That's certainly what this bill that a couple lawmakers are pushing would do.
09:25Not only would it ban prop bets so you can bet on things like a player's points in the
09:31game or rebounds or passing yards, but it would also limit how many deposits a sports
09:35better can make in one day to five and restrict the kind of ads that sports betting brands push
09:42out in the state, which would probably be pretty hard to enforce.
09:45But it goes to show that the prop bet thing isn't just about getting rid of those bet types.
09:51Lawmakers are thinking about how do we make gambling safer in general.
09:55And that's when you get to kind of this crossroads between the industry and then lawmakers trying
10:00to help their constituents and make sure that bad things don't happen gambling-wise in the
10:07state.
10:07So if prop bets were lost, though, it would cost companies like DraftKings maybe 45%, 50%
10:15of their revenue, because not only does that kill a huge portion of the bets they take,
10:20it also kind of makes same-game parlays and parlays in general.
10:23It really limits them or neuters them.
10:26I'm not sure, Craig, if you've ever tried to place a same-game parlay in a state on a
10:31college game where there's no props.
10:33It's really, you can't really bet on much.
10:35It's pretty much the total, the spread, and maybe one or two other things.
10:39But it would just really hurt those kind of bets.
10:42So it's being proposed right now in Colorado.
10:45You certainly have a lot of the industry there pushing back on it as best they can.
10:50But again, it comes at a time when the sports betting industry has a lot else on its plate.
10:54It's split over this prediction market stuff right now.
10:57It's trying to get iGaming passed in other states.
11:00It's fighting against sweepstakes, casinos, and a host of other issues, let alone trying
11:05to get other states to legalize sports betting.
11:07So I kind of wonder, maybe is there a chance that something crazy like this does pass in
11:11a state at a time when the sports betting industry is so occupied?
11:14I really hope it doesn't because, you know, it would really just push a lot of the activity
11:19offshore and, you know, would be kind of one of those bills where it might look good on
11:24the surface, but in practice, it might make things even worse in the sports betting environment.
11:29And of course, other states pick up what other states do.
11:31So you hope it doesn't spread there.
11:33But yeah, I hope the industry comes out really hard against this.
11:36I'm sure they'll continue to.
11:37But right now, Bill's still alive and well in Colorado.
11:40We'll be watching until the end of session, which is in May.
11:43So it could take some crazy turns, but we'll keep following and seeing how it goes.
11:47Speaking of crazy turns, Minnesota has had their crazy turns for like three, four years.
11:52It felt like there was a chance that at least the state was going to get going with some
11:56sort of form of legalized sports betting.
11:58But every time they inch closer, it seems like there was no progress made.
12:01And a story that you have posted over a legal sports report seemingly saying the same
12:05thing, making some progress.
12:06But then all of a sudden, the legislature pushing this back, but maybe for the first
12:10time in a while, we take another inch closer in Minnesota, Sam.
12:15Yeah, it's really been a tug of war in Minnesota, not even just this year, but the past couple
12:19of years when you talk about sports betting.
12:21It's obviously one of those states that hasn't legalized yet.
12:24And it has more of a chance to than the others.
12:27There's no huge religious opposition in Minnesota.
12:30There's no huge anti-gambling groups in Minnesota.
12:33For Minnesota, the battle to get sports betting done hasn't been should we legalize it.
12:38It's been about who gets control in the state.
12:41For years, the Democrats have wanted to give exclusivity to the tribes in the state.
12:47There's about 11 which would get control over sports betting under this proposal, which is
12:52still alive in the legislature this week.
12:54And the Republicans, meanwhile, want to cut charitable gaming groups in on the deal.
12:59They want them to get some benefit out of it.
13:01So it's not this monopoly model, which we've seen other states adopt.
13:04So that's really been the tension here.
13:06There's been this bill that kind of was revival of the same bill we had last year in Minnesota.
13:11There was an attempt to move it over to another committee this past week, which would have
13:15effectively killed it and slowed down the progress and just kind of made it impossible
13:20to really get done before the legislation ends on May 18th.
13:24So the clock is ticking, but the bill was not moved over to that committee, which means
13:28it's still alive.
13:29There's still this kind of bipartisan agreement that the Republicans and Democrats have together,
13:34which would give the tribal the groups exclusivity, which is what the Dems want.
13:39But it would also give a lot of the tax revenue from sports betting, a 22 percent tax over to
13:44charitable gaming proceeds.
13:45So while they wouldn't those groups wouldn't be included in controlling sports betting, they
13:50would benefit from it in some way.
13:52So it is kind of refreshing to see lawmakers coming to some sort of compromise here in
13:57Minnesota.
13:57But just because they've come to this compromise does not mean it will get passed again.
14:02Minnesota, as you mentioned, Craig, we've been talking about for years, has not got done.
14:05And it's kind of been the same story over and over.
14:07They've inched closer, inched back.
14:09There's been a tug of war.
14:10But this could be the best chance they have in a very, very long time to get it done.
14:15So a lot of time before May, we'll see what else gets inserted into the bill.
14:18Other efforts that try to kill it, don't try to kill it.
14:20But you've got to hold out some hope here that this is a good chance in Minnesota, about
14:26as close as they've been in a long, long time.
14:28So it could be when all is said and done, one of the only states we're talking about
14:32next year is going online with sports betting.
14:34And speaking of things that are in and out in terms of the landscape of not just sports
14:39betting, but casino betting as well, the state of Maryland, which just seems to be ahead
14:44of, by the way, a lot of these other states with prediction markets and everything else,
14:47have declared that there's got to be some sort of deadline here, I guess, Sam, as to figuring
14:52out whether or not the sweepstakes casinos will continue or not.
14:56I mean, I guess what goes into this specifically, Sam?
14:59Like, how do they make these decisions?
15:00Because I feel like Maryland is one of those states that as soon as they feel like something's
15:05going a little bit sideways, try to get out in front of it and maybe even get rid of it.
15:09Is this the case here, too?
15:12Yeah, well, I wish I knew what made lawmakers and regulators good at their jobs in some states
15:17and not so good in other states.
15:19I think when you talk about Maryland, you also have to remember that this is a state that
15:22once they legalized sports betting, it took like almost three years for them to actually
15:26go online with it.
15:27So they haven't always been super quick and super fast with gaming changes and, you know,
15:33making changes in the state that kind of help out people.
15:35But they are taking, as you mentioned, Craig, a really aggressive stance against what they
15:40see as illegal forms of gaming, which have been operating under these kind of regulatory
15:44loopholes.
15:45You mentioned prediction markets is one of them.
15:47They're suing to stop those.
15:48And there's also these two bills that are circulating in the state right now, which would target
15:52sweepstakes casinos and sweepstakes sportsbooks.
15:55These are platforms that operate just like casinos, just like sportsbooks.
16:00But because they allow you to write in and get some sort of free play credit, that is kind
16:05of a loophole which allows them to not pay gaming taxes, to not follow the state laws.
16:09So it is kind of percolating in the state.
16:12They've really been aggressive around enforcement.
16:14And if we legalize sports betting, we might as well go out and try to crack down on the other
16:20forms of sports betting going on, which are illegal and not following the law.
16:24So this is a state that spent a lot of money building out its regulated model, consumer
16:28protections, collecting tax revenue, issuing licenses to people in the state.
16:33It's it's or operators, rather.
16:35It's handed down a lot of fees over the past couple of years.
16:38So, you know, it's good to see lawmakers kind of come together and try to get rid of,
16:42you know, the black market industry or the illicit industry.
16:44But I would say Maryland has a pretty good chance of passing this bill and just having
16:49another kind of safeguard against these forms of illegal gambling in the state.
16:53And we'll see how the prediction market stuff all ends up.
16:55I'm sure that's a topic for another day.
16:57Make sure you read all of Sam's work over at LegalSportsReport.com.
17:01Sam, thanks again for coming on the show.
17:02Have a great weekend.
17:03We'll catch up next week.
17:04Yeah, thanks, Craig.
17:05You too.
Comments