- 22 hours ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00When I was younger, I would have felt the itch to somehow long to play Augusta National someday.
00:09Not really ever taking seriously the idea that I would, but it would have excited me to dream about.
00:15No longer. Except, I would love to play this number 12.
00:22150 yards, water, bunker in the front.
00:27Today the pin, the Friday pin's like right down the middle.
00:30Very little room to go pin-seeking on that shot, but the last guy we just watched did it.
00:34Howell, tap in birdie.
00:36McIlroy's in that group. He's close.
00:38I was never serious enough about golf when I was younger to have had the thought.
00:45I remember one year, it was a long time ago, Mark Gaughan, long-time Bills beat guy with the Buffalo
00:51News,
00:51won the media lottery or whatever.
00:54I remember he stayed behind and played on Monday, I think is how that works.
00:58And I thought that was really cool, but I really never thought like, boy, I'd love to do that.
01:03Because I've only now gotten to the point where I feel like I'm even competent.
01:09And every time, every year, looking at this golf course, the once a year we get to look at it,
01:16there's always a camera angle somewhere, like yesterday or today, where I just see the change in terrain,
01:24even on a green, and just think, nope.
01:27You don't want to walk up those hills?
01:29I don't want to walk up those hills.
01:31I don't want to putt on those greens.
01:33Oh, that'd be so much fun.
01:34How often do you see, I mean, guys that are the best players in the world,
01:38and I saw like three or four guys today hit putts, and it's like, man, that was awful.
01:46I wonder if I could break 100 if you put me at the edge of every green.
01:50Brian, what would you shoot if we put you in regulation on the farthest part away of the green from
01:59the hole,
02:00but you're there in regulation, so two putt every hole you shoot 72, what would you shoot?
02:08I mean, Brian's a better golfer than I am.
02:09Maybe you too.
02:10Way better than me.
02:12So I'm allowed to start on the farthest point away on the green from the pin.
02:17Is that what you're saying?
02:17Yeah, I feel like if you did that, three-putting every green would be good.
02:21So if I could average a three-putt, I mean, that essentially means I'd be what?
02:26You'd shoot 90.
02:28Yeah, I mean, that would win the tournament.
02:31You'd shoot 90.
02:32If you count the strokes to have gotten it.
02:35Oh, I understand.
02:35I thought you were letting me take stroke one from there.
02:39I'm thinking, like, I think I could pull this off with some hesitation.
02:42Here's the question.
02:43Because I'm thinking there's going to be some pulls that I put it off,
02:46and I'll five-putt or six-putt.
02:48It goes into a creek or something, right?
02:49That's right.
02:50Yeah, right.
02:51You'd do that at least once.
02:52Right, for sure.
02:53If you – all right, so maybe this is the question for we amateurs.
02:56Not – again, Brian, I think, is a cut above.
02:59But you're on the very edge of the green, far away from the hole,
03:03every hole in regulation.
03:04Would you break 100?
03:06Would you be able to three-putt every green to shoot 90?
03:09Or would you have a couple blow-ups and then – I mean,
03:12if you putt it into Ray's Creek, you have to play it from there.
03:16You don't get to play it from the edge of the green.
03:17Again, you've got to chip on.
03:18Right, yeah.
03:19You can't not bring your wedge.
03:21I don't think I would – I think I would easily go over 100.
03:27Man, I'd like to think that – am I – is this the first time I get to ever putt
03:33on these holes?
03:34Sure.
03:34Is there no practice in front of it?
03:35How easy do you need me to make this for you?
03:37Right?
03:38Man.
03:38We're already getting you on every green in regulation.
03:41Right.
03:41I think I would probably – oh, man.
03:44Could I – yeah, I think –
03:46I think you could – I think you could do it.
03:49You know why I think you could do it?
03:50Because even if you did get in trouble,
03:52the reason I think I would easily go over 100 is because as soon as I am in the creek
03:57and I've got to pull that wedge out, that could be five more strokes for me.
04:01Right.
04:01Whereas you, Brian, I think, you know, you're good enough.
04:04Not that you couldn't have had a bad shot, but you would be able to get that close
04:08and probably get down in two more putts.
04:11Whereas I might be in another hazard on the other side of the green now.
04:16And I just think, you know, even being there in regulation,
04:21the scores of 10 are not out of the question for me, I think, is what I'd have to admit.
04:2510s.
04:27You're totally right, though, Chris, from being there in person.
04:29I will say that the areas around the greens are just ridiculous.
04:34These complexes of the undulation, the – I mean, the bunkers,
04:40they look innocent because they're all pretty looking and raked perfectly,
04:43but they're not.
04:44I mean, they're so challenging.
04:45And some of these greens, if you literally – you miss it one –
04:48if you're off by, like, one yard, it can roll all the way off
04:52or all the way to the one side or the other.
04:53I mean, that's why I think precision with your irons are just so important
04:57on approach shots here.
04:59I would love to figure out, like, okay, how far back of a yardage
05:03would I have to play here, I mean, I don't know, to win?
05:06Could I do it from 100 in?
05:08Could I do it from the edge of the green?
05:10I don't know.
05:10But you'd have to still end up – what, a winning score in this tournament
05:13is still usually, what, 10, 12 under par?
05:16So, I mean, I'd still have to make Burt.
05:19Even if you let me start, you know, right on the green,
05:21I still have to make putts, which I – I'd probably be putting so tentatively
05:26for – it would take me – by the time I actually got used to it,
05:29I would be out of holes, you know.
05:31Yeah, yeah, yeah, right.
05:32I like that you're putting this in a framework where it's, like,
05:34actually winning the Masters.
05:35I respect that.
05:36Right?
05:37I'm just trying to pick 100.
05:38Oh, I want the jacket if I'm there, you know.
05:41Play for the jacket.
05:42Somewhere, Matthew Collar is out there in the world listening
05:45to this being, like, Shope, you bleeping idiot.
05:49Because Matt always wants to tell you that you could never take a point
05:52off Serena Williams.
05:53You could never score a basket in a real basketball game.
05:56Like, he loves to make that point, and I love him for that.
05:59This is a little different because nobody's blocking your putts.
06:02There's no elite, world-class athlete in your way.
06:04No.
06:05There's just a golf course.
06:05I'm not trying to beat Rory McIlroy.
06:07I just want to know if I could break 100 if you put me on the edge
06:10of the green in regulation on every hole.
06:12That's all I want to know.
06:13And, Bulldog, you said you could play first for the Red Sox for an inning,
06:17right?
06:17You said that.
06:18Oh!
06:19That's a throwback.
06:2020 years ago, I said that.
06:23See, I remember.
06:24But I could still, yes.
06:25Right.
06:26I thought, obviously, I'm not going to be able to hit.
06:30Just for everyone out there that doesn't remember, 20 years ago,
06:33I'm going to go out there.
06:34I'm going to stand there.
06:35And I'm telling you, like, you know, I know a line drive could come at my face
06:40and I could die because my reflexes are going to be so slow.
06:43You're saying, I think I could get through an inning running to first base
06:46and turning around to catch the ball coming over from third.
06:48You know what's funny about that, though, now, 20 years later, is, oh,
06:52it seems that Parker is holding the runner on at first,
06:55which is interesting because there's no runner at first.
06:57Right.
06:58Why is he guarding the line at the bag?
07:00Why is he guarding the line?
07:01He doesn't want to have to run those 10 feet.
07:03And that all, it's so incredible to me, Brian,
07:06that you remember me talking about that.
07:08I now realize how absolutely absurd it was even then.
07:14I could have been in the best shape of my life.
07:16And I think I would stick out like a sore thumb.
07:19I'd be getting to the bag and that ball coming from third
07:22would be hitting me in the back of the head
07:24because I wouldn't be there and turned around yet.
07:26I just would be too slow.
07:27You have to guard the line.
07:28I'd have to stay very near the bag.
07:31Brian, could you go two months without starting
07:34and make a 37 save shutout like Colton Ellis last night?
07:38Would that be something you think you could do?
07:40I know.
07:40Sorry.
07:41No.
07:41But how about that?
07:42I would not put that high on my list.
07:43How about that?
07:44That was incredible.
07:45What a scene last night.
07:47For those that, I don't know what the TV showed at the end
07:50because obviously I'm watching it from the press box,
07:52but like the scene of Tuck and Malenstein and I think Benson,
07:58there was four savers by the head.
08:00Donne, I think, was there.
08:01Donne, and they're banging their stick for the curtain call
08:04for Ellis to come back out to take another little bow to the crowd.
08:07I mean, how cool was that?
08:10Lucanen, I thought, was going to fall off the bench
08:13when Ellis made a save with about three minutes to go
08:15and he held on and the crowd went crazy.
08:17He's literally like diving over the boards,
08:19banging his waffle on the wall, like firing him up
08:23and like, let's go.
08:24And the whole bench was into it.
08:26They wanted that shutout for Colton Ellis.
08:29I mean, they've been talking about what a great teammate he is
08:32and how likable he is and how hard he works
08:33and Lindy said all that, you know, as the third goalie,
08:36how he's handled it so perfectly.
08:38Man, if there was that willpower to get him that shutout last night,
08:42like blocking shots as if the Stanley Cup game seven
08:45is on the line there, like that's how it felt last night
08:47in that third period.
08:48Yeah, that's absolutely how it looked for sure.
08:51And yeah, just further evidence of what we have been hearing about
08:54for months, how tight this group is
08:58and how much they care for one another.
09:00I mean, yeah, there's the third string goalie.
09:03And, you know, not knowing, like we're not privy to all this
09:07maybe ahead of time.
09:08I mean, I didn't think they didn't like the guy,
09:11but we were talking yesterday about UPL, whether, you know,
09:15we're still in a race for the division, what are we doing here
09:18and like how does the team even feel about it?
09:20And to go out and help him get that,
09:24but really for him to backstop them like he did with 37 saves.
09:29In a game that was 1-0 for, you know, most of the time of the game.
09:33You know, the Sabres scored early enough to get the lead
09:35and then it was just hold on until, what, like 12 minutes left in the third
09:40and was when Doan scores, I think, that second goal.
09:43So they really are, like the evidence is irrefutable.
09:47Like if they're dug in for the third string goalie like that,
09:50this is a special group, I think.
09:53Yeah, I agree.
09:54I think that they're going to go to bat for each other
09:56when it comes to the things that need to be successful in that area
10:00in the playoffs, like it's there.
10:02I feel like they've gotten a little bit of their mojo back this week.
10:06Lindy said about them playing Tampa that, hey, that maybe was what we needed
10:10to kind of just remind us of the intensity and the energy that we need to play at
10:15because there was a little slip of it a little bit, I would say,
10:18for about maybe a week and a half to a two-week period there
10:21as we entered April or late March.
10:24But they've gotten it back.
10:26Their third periods this week have been money.
10:29Like the 41-game stretch where they were so historically great
10:33and we compared them to some of the best ever,
10:35part of that was how great they were in third periods,
10:38either finding a way to hold on to a lead or finding a way to get the lead.
10:43This week, no goals against in all three periods in the games against the Tampa,
10:48the Rangers, and of course yesterday,
10:50and one shot against against the Rangers in that game.
10:53So they really, last night they shut it down.
10:55And then, of course, as soon as they got that second goal,
10:58Columbus kind of had to open things up a little.
11:00And then you could tell, like, okay, now Buffalo can get what they want to do offensively.
11:03And that was where the offense exploded.
11:05So, yeah, Doan and Benson and Krebs, I mean, all these hardworking players
11:10all doing their thing and on display all within the game last night.
11:15Yeah, they've got themselves in a really, really good spot now thinking,
11:18hey, now we're playing exactly how we want to going into the postseason.
11:22Brian, try this on.
11:24I said earlier that the Doan play that led to the second goal might be my favorite play.
11:33It might be most emblematic of their season so far,
11:37because I think what has most notably changed about them is how hard they work to defend.
11:44And that play was Doan chasing down a puck carrier in the neutral zone
11:50and just stripping it from him and going in, you know, basically on a breakaway
11:55and just gunning it home, beating the goalie clean.
11:57But the first part of that act is the thing that I think makes the Sabres so dangerous,
12:05is that, you know, the most annoying guy you can ever play hockey against
12:09isn't, in my opinion, the most talented guy necessarily.
12:13Yeah, they can embarrass you and make you look stupid by skating around you
12:17and whatever, right, making great moves on you.
12:20The guy that never gives up is the most annoying guy to play against.
12:24I already stick-handled by you once.
12:26Why are you back again?
12:28And that quintessentially to me is Doan, and that was that play last night.
12:33Yeah, I would agree.
12:35I feel like this team, even when they're beat, they have got each other's back.
12:41They're helping each other out.
12:42They're back-checking.
12:43They're making those steals.
12:44That play that Doan makes right there, I mean, just to come in, spin around to turn his,
12:48what looked like, you know, him skating away from the play, going to one end,
12:52and now turning around and then coming back and stealing the puck
12:55and then turning it right into offense instantly.
12:57And that shot was beautiful to beat Greaves, who I thought was very good in the game,
13:01really up until that point.
13:03I mean, Greaves has been in his three starts coming in.
13:05He had excellent numbers against the Sabres, so I thought, like, geez, you know,
13:08even though Columbus, in terms of shot attempts and shots,
13:11they were definitely ahead of Buffalo through the first 40 minutes,
13:14I wasn't upset with maybe what some of the looks Buffalo was getting,
13:17and Greaves was good, but that was a great play from Doan.
13:20That obviously opened it up.
13:21That gave him the two-goal lead, and it was on from there.
13:24I feel like Tuck last night had a couple of plays like that.
13:28Power did, where they're just, even when a guy gets beat
13:31or makes a mistake, like, it literally, a half a second later,
13:34there's a Sabre jersey there to make up for it or to get the puck right back.
13:38It's good team hockey for sure.
13:40They've scored so many of these goals almost the same way,
13:44where it's just like a quick wrist shot from the high slot,
13:47goalie's just maybe slightly off his spot through the arm
13:51or just in that, you know, that perfect spot there above the stick glove
13:55or below a stick glove above the pad.
13:56A lot of these goals have been, even from either side, similar looking.
14:01With Brian Koziel, Brian, last thing for me on the Sabres,
14:05do you think they've got it?
14:06So it's 106 with two left, Chicago and Dallas.
14:11Montreal has 104 with three left, Columbus tomorrow,
14:17and then I just forgot, two games.
14:20And then Tampa 102 at Boston, Detroit, and the Rangers.
14:24The Canadiens are, it's back-to-back.
14:27Maybe they're at the Islanders and Flyers.
14:29That's it.
14:29So it's Columbus at home tomorrow night, at the Island Sunday,
14:34then at Philadelphia maybe Tuesday.
14:37And the Sabres have the Canadiens on ties.
14:40Do you think they've got it?
14:42You want to say that?
14:44Yeah, I feel like they do.
14:46I mean, playing a team that's eliminated,
14:48I guess you could say you could label them dangerous,
14:50but Chicago seems to be just totally done for the season.
14:53They've been going backwards for the last two weeks.
14:56So I feel like, you know, as long as Buffalo does what they want to do
14:58right away to get a lead, I think Chicago will go away.
15:02Dallas may have nothing to play for.
15:04They came back last night in the third to beat Minnesota.
15:07So that gave them a four-point gap.
15:09So if they can maintain that four-point gap going into the Sabre game,
15:12the last one, then they're bulletproof.
15:14Dallas has some players, too.
15:16That could benefit them.
15:17Sorry to jump in.
15:18And I think if Dallas beats the Rangers in Dallas tomorrow,
15:22they'll be locked in as the two.
15:25Yeah, they have the regulation win tiebreaker.
15:27All they have to do is win against the Rangers in Dallas tomorrow at 5.
15:31They can't catch the Fs.
15:33So then they're done in the standings.
15:35I was trying to talk out a scenario last night on the air on postgame
15:38about could Buffalo clinch it on Monday if these weekend games
15:44all go regulation losses.
15:46They could, right?
15:47Sure.
15:47By Monday, the Canadians will have one game left.
15:52They could lose twice.
15:54And Tampa obviously could lose to Boston tomorrow.
15:56If they lose once, well, it won't be over.
15:58But, yes, that's right.
16:00And Tampa will have two games left, but they're four points behind.
16:03So, yeah, that's possible, I think.
16:05Yeah, so there is a scenario where they could go into Monday.
16:08Thinking, hey, we win, we win the division.
16:10And we talked yesterday so much why maybe getting a wildcard team in Boston
16:15could be a big advantage.
16:17But Montreal and Tampa last night, I had my iPad with the game on
16:23because I actually was the opening segment of postgame.
16:26I was trying to be as eloquent as I could about Colton Ellis' night.
16:29At the same time, I'm watching Tampa score.
16:31I'm like, oh, my, what's going on?
16:33And then 30 seconds later, Montreal scored.
16:35And I was very much on air, for those that were listening,
16:38definitely distracted by things it was going on.
16:41I'm, like, doing play-by-play of Montreal-Tampa trying to tell you how great
16:44Ellis was to open up postgame.
16:46If those two could play, and then, you know, arguably, obviously,
16:50you're knocking one out, but maybe it's such a physical battle that the second
16:55round, if you want to actually look ahead to that, I guess,
16:58that could benefit Buffalo, I guess, in some capacity.
17:00I know I'm looking way ahead here, which is probably not the right thing to do.
17:03But if those two could match up, I mean, in the entire conference,
17:08I know, you know, they don't reseed, which, again, is a stupid thing.
17:11But other than Carolina, like, the teams that I would want to avoid,
17:16like, if they could play each other in the first round with Montreal and Tampa,
17:19like, I think that's obviously the most beneficial for the Sabres.
17:22Yeah, everybody has a problem with Tampa, including the Canadians.
17:25I know.
17:25I want to say, like, a month ago or whenever, before the 8-7 game, right?
17:30I'm like, you know, I was talking about them sort of almost with a reverence.
17:34Like, they're going to come in here and probably try to push you around
17:37because I've seen them do this with Florida, and this is how they do it,
17:41and sort of it's respectable.
17:44I think they've devolved into, like, a clown show watching the highlights
17:48of last night's game in Montreal.
17:49The stuff with Perry and Lane Hudson, I mean, dude, like, what?
17:54I just, I think it's embarrassing at this point, I think,
17:59how they're handling themselves on the ice.
18:02I just, it has shifted.
18:05This is, you know, obviously the bias of the Sabres being in contention with them
18:09and whatever.
18:10It's emotional now.
18:11I just think they look like a bunch of bozos.
18:13Oh, bozos.
18:15I love that word.
18:17Let's, I don't disagree.
18:19Let's get the Masters in the last few minutes here.
18:22In terms of the tournament.
18:24Are we talking about whether one of us could win the tournament
18:26or break 100 from being on the great, wasn't talking about the Masters?
18:30Sorry.
18:31That's fair.
18:31I wasn't talking about bozos either.
18:35Rory McIlroy in front, 7 under.
18:38Patrick Reed, minus 6.
18:39Rose Burns, Jason Day, minus 5.
18:43What's the story of the tournament so far?
18:45It's probably either DeChambeau and Rahm kind of blowing it.
18:49But McIlroy being in the lead again, Brian, trying to defend.
18:53Yeah, we know it has only happened three other times.
18:57Very tough to go back to back.
18:58And he's got himself in position to do that.
19:00I mean, it looks like because he's got some more scorable holes coming up here
19:05that there's going to be a very good chance that he'll be in the final pair
19:09going into tomorrow, which gives us that storyline.
19:13I think it would be great if Rose and McIlroy were together
19:17because it's the rematch of last year's playoff, essentially, too.
19:20And they're so close, and they're such good friends.
19:22There's a little dynamic there.
19:24Although Reed is the evil villain.
19:26And if you remember Reed and McIlroy, when they played the singles match
19:30in the Ryder Cup from years ago, they had gotten it to the point of
19:35almost insane levels with the crowd and their interaction there.
19:38So that could be interesting as well if those two end up being paired together.
19:42Not that it's a match play or anything like that,
19:44but there's some good storylines in there, too.
19:47Rose just, to me, is so steady.
19:49I still want to think if there's any real threat to McIlroy, it's right there.
19:54Roy's been a little less accurate today with some shots into the green,
19:58but he's still putting outstanding.
19:59Anytime it looks as though there's an opportunity for him to maybe drop a shot,
20:02he's making these clutch putts for pars to kind of keep it alive.
20:06So I like the way he's playing.
20:08Hatton had a really good stat today, who's up to minus four now.
20:1218 of 18, greens and regulation.
20:15That's very, very impressive.
20:17Only the third golfer since 1997 to play a round,
20:21were 18 for 18 in terms of green and regulation.
20:24And that's what the three of us just did in our scenario.
20:27That's 18 for 18.
20:28That's right.
20:29McIlroy, no one, in my opinion, is more popular than McIlroy.
20:33Reed went to college in Augusta.
20:34He's won the tournament.
20:36American.
20:36I mean, it's not a raucous crowd or anything, but I don't know.
20:40McIlroy will still be the, I think, the fan's favorite.
20:43Everybody loves Rose, too, but Rory's tough to beat in that area.
20:47Yeah, I mean, if you just look at the top 10, if you said, like, who's the crowd favorite,
20:51I think it has to be Rory.
20:53I don't see anybody else there that's getting past him, even though, you know, like you said,
20:58are there American golfers in there?
21:00I don't think Burns is doing that or Wyndham Clark or anything along those lines.
21:05No one in the whole field, I might say.
21:08Fleetwood last year was very, very much a good story that fans rallied behind,
21:14because, remember, he was trying to get his first PGA Tour win,
21:16and then he had a couple of, well, I mean, let's just face it, chokes.
21:19And he was emotional about it, and eventually he came through,
21:23and then he won the FedEx Cup, and that was a really nice way for him to end the season.
21:27And now he's up to six under.
21:28I just saw he just made an eagle.
21:30So he now is in contention.
21:32So I guess, you know, for our bet, Tommy Fleetwood is going to be my fan favorite rooting interest.
21:38We were worried about him two hours ago, but, yeah, I mean, that's to be taken seriously for sure.
21:45All right, tomorrow morning, Brian, right?
21:47Seven?
21:48Yep, seven to nine tomorrow, two hours.
21:50And we'll be at Pendleton Creek tomorrow, so we're looking forward to that.
21:53And you got to play a little bit today before the rain came in?
21:56Yeah, I went over there after I did a segment with Sal from around 11 o'clock and walked nine
22:01holes.
22:01It's nice to go and walk.
22:03I feel like every year I say, I'm like, I should walk more playing.
22:08And the carts that are available, and I just grab them, and I go, and I'm like, I should.
22:12When I walked today, I was just like, I should walk a lot more.
22:14So please hold me to that if we're playing together.
22:17You got to come out and play with us on whatever, any day at Delaware, and you can walk.
22:22I love walking now.
22:25I think I play better because I think there's that time in between.
22:28Yes.
22:28You're not, like, rushing up to the shot.
22:31You're driving.
22:32I know you're not rushing.
22:32And there's less confusion tracking your ball, right?
22:37What happens to me when I'm playing, you know, whoever I'm playing with, if I go right and
22:41they go left, we're going to go to the one on the left, and now I sort of lost the
22:45line
22:45on where mine was, and you're driving around in circles.
22:48Whereas you're walking, you know where your ball went, and you walk towards where your
22:51ball should be.
22:52You don't always find it, but usually you do.
22:55It's just easier to keep track of everything, I find.
22:57There's probably also less beer.
22:59Way less beer.
23:00When you're walking.
23:01Like, none.
23:01I never bring beer with me when I'm walking.
23:03All right, Brian, let's catch up on Monday.
23:06Hockey game, and then we'll wrap this tournament up.
23:09Sounds great.
23:10Thanks, guys.
23:10Thanks, guys.
23:10Thanks, guys.
Comments