- 5 hours ago
Category
đ„
SportsTranscript
00:00Sights and sounds of the NBA postseason have been unreal.
00:04And how about our guy, the great Mike Tirico,
00:06who is absolutely incredible during the Western Conference Finals.
00:10And he was absolutely sensational.
00:12And he is just absolutely one of the best in the business.
00:16Mike, it's great to have you here on Chi-Tai, my friend.
00:19How are you?
00:20Doing great, buddy. How are you?
00:21I am doing incredible. Absolutely sensational.
00:25And look, when you take a look at Victor Wimbanyama
00:29and you take a look at what you witnessed
00:32and you just had the most unbelievable seats for the Wimbany show.
00:38Look, to me, he's Shaq meets Steph Curry meets Paul Bunyan.
00:44How do you describe what you've seen?
00:47Yeah, there's so much. And that's what the difference is, right?
00:50It's the unique skill set altogether.
00:53The ability to play in Game 7, as Jamal Crawford said,
00:58Point Wemby, he brought the ball up at first a couple of possessions
01:02at the start of the game, stepped into those threes that you just showed,
01:06was a presence around the rim.
01:08If they came with an ATO and after timeout play,
01:11so often it was a lob to Wemby at the basket.
01:13It's undefensible for teams.
01:16Credit Oklahoma City.
01:17They threw everything at him, some Alex Caruso, some Lou Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein,
01:23who did a pretty good job on him, Holmgren briefly,
01:26but never really as the primary defender for an extended period of time.
01:30And he had answers for everyone.
01:32And Adam, I think we need to remind ourselves that
01:35Wimbanyama missed significant time in the first couple of years.
01:38So sorting it out, figuring it out.
01:41Young core that's come along with, who has excelled at the same time.
01:45Harper in his second year, Castle in his first year.
01:48Missed Wemby for a significant stretch at the start of the season.
01:51Limit his minutes through the NBA Cup run, all of that.
01:54But once we hit the start of the year, he's pretty much been a full go.
01:58And he's been outstanding.
02:00So the combination of skills is something I don't think we have seen in a player.
02:05And if he can stay healthy, I think we're going to see accomplishments
02:09that are worthy of the conversation we've had about others.
02:12But I always remind people, we're a long way from that.
02:15We can't put him in Springfield just yet.
02:17It's three years, but his first playoff run has truly been something special
02:21because he's been great in big moments when his team needed him.
02:25Yeah, I think that's an amazing perspective.
02:27It's a great take.
02:28And I always pay attention to this because I'm kind of a broadcast geek.
02:31It went noted that you guys, and you were behind the microphone.
02:36Let's go back to the first round of the playoffs.
02:38For San Antonio, Portland, right?
02:41It wasn't about necessarily markets.
02:43It was Mike Tirico was calling a Victor Wemby-Nyama Spurs game.
02:48That mattered to me and kind of showed me from an NBC broadcast perspective
02:53the upside here.
02:55So I'm curious, as we get ready for the NBA Finals and what you've seen
03:00in terms of this team, how have the Spurs developed?
03:03Because you've seen all of it, all the different steps.
03:06We talk about skipping steps in the NBA and if that's possible.
03:09How this team has become truly great in the different layers and levels,
03:15regular season and postseason.
03:18Yeah, Adam, I would add to that a little bit what the organization has been.
03:22I was lucky enough to be there to watch the Spurs, not win in 99,
03:27but when we started with our ESPN ABC coverage in 03, I was the studio host.
03:32So I saw them win 03, 05, 07.
03:3514, I was at the World Cup, so I didn't see that in person.
03:38But certainly, I'd been around the Spurs a lot during that stretch.
03:42And I think there is organizational carry over here.
03:45They understand how to have a big man, build around him,
03:50build a successful team around him.
03:52And also how to, and they use this word, so this is not my word,
03:56how to partner with a player who has the desire to be
03:59one of the best players in the world.
04:02A player who wants to be the face of the league going forward.
04:07And I think there's been a lot of give and take,
04:10a lot of partnership with Mitch Johnson, Spurs leadership,
04:14RC Buford, among those.
04:17I think they've really put together a very strong blueprint based on what
04:23they've learned during the Robinson and Duncan era.
04:25And to Webb and Yama's credit, he is very coachable.
04:29I'll go back too, because in the NBA, it used to be, you know,
04:33the head coach and two assistants.
04:34And then a third assistant,
04:36and then a guy who works with development for younger players.
04:38Now you look at those back benches, there are seven,
04:41eight assistant coaches there.
04:42A lot of them are developmental coaches.
04:45And if you go back to when Wemba and Yama got there,
04:47Mitch Johnson was the coach who was working directly with Wemba.
04:50So even though it is his first full year as a head coach,
04:55second season, from the day he arrived,
04:57Mitch Johnson's been a part of the development.
04:59And I think that's built the trust, the partnership,
05:01and the ability to communicate as we saw so often in that series.
05:05So they've gone about this in a really great way,
05:07that the whole skipping steps thing gets fast forwarded a bit.
05:12Because the culture has championship DNA right around the building.
05:16Hey, Adam, I'm going to throw this in real quick.
05:17When I say championship DNA around the building,
05:20the guys who stay, a lot of guys stay in San Antonio.
05:24David Robinson, Tim Duncan, we see Mondo at a bunch of games.
05:27Bruce Bowen, we'll see at games.
05:29Antonio Daniels, Sean Elliott calls their games on TV with Jacob Tobey.
05:33So there are a lot of guys who have stayed a part of that organization.
05:37You know, if they go work out at the Spurs facility,
05:40there is an alumni locker room.
05:42Those guys have a place.
05:43If they go in to get a sweat, they'll still see they can put up some jump shots.
05:47There's a place where they can go hang and they feel welcomed.
05:51I don't think, I know, that doesn't happen in every NBA city.
05:56So there's a little bit of a collective,
05:58collegiate feel to not just the local support,
06:01but also the solid connection this team maintains.
06:04And I think that contributes to it because you got those guys around on somewhat of a regular basis
06:09to have conversations like this.
06:11I think that's a great anecdote.
06:12That's awesome, Mike.
06:13You don't see that.
06:14And I love that.
06:15Now, I want to get your take on the Thunder because we played the clip.
06:18I responded to it.
06:19SGA called the season a failure.
06:21I respect it.
06:22I don't agree with it.
06:23I think they lost.
06:24I mean, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
06:27Now, we know Giannis is out there and Giannis is Giannis.
06:30But, look, I kind of think that the Thunder should do nothing.
06:35I mean, Chet did not play well.
06:36You were behind the microphone, obviously, game number seven.
06:39They obviously had injuries to deal with.
06:42What's your take on the Thunder and their future?
06:44Yeah, Chet was awful in game seven.
06:46One of two.
06:47And those two shots really came in the first couple of minutes of the game.
06:50I mean, if you are a player who's going to receive a five-year, $250 million contract
06:54and you're healthy, you would expect that player to get more than two shots in a game seven at home.
07:01He did not.
07:02Now, he had had a good seventh game against the Pacers in the NBA Finals.
07:07And he's had other good games in the playoffs.
07:09This was just a disappointing time to have a no-show in this game.
07:14Made a couple of defensive plays.
07:15Don't get me wrong.
07:15It wasn't like he was completely out of it.
07:17But for what you pay him and him being one of the core three guys, you expect more.
07:22And they did not get that.
07:23You know, I don't know what the going-forward answer is.
07:26Sam Presti certainly has enough tools to make the moves, which so many teams don't have.
07:33You've committed to that core of three.
07:35You know, some of the questions I'll have to answer.
07:37Is there more to Jalen Williams' hamstring injuries, right?
07:40Remember, he missed the first part of the season with the other hamstring.
07:44He's coming off a wrist surgery, has the hamstring on one side, then has the other hamstring.
07:49Was that associated to overuse of one side when one side is injured?
07:52We don't know.
07:53We didn't see him for very much this season.
07:56So they'll have to answer for themselves medically.
07:58Do they feel like it's a year?
08:00It's an anomaly.
08:01We can get answers to questions.
08:02We can move on and continue to have J-Dub as a long-term part of this.
08:07And then they know what Holmgren did or didn't do from what their expectations were.
08:12And you also have, I think, a strong analytic group that will consider, okay, if we add a piece like
08:19a Giannis or someone else, how does that complement Shea Gilgis-Alexander?
08:23You have a back-to-back MVP.
08:25You don't want to bring in somebody who's going to make it tougher for him.
08:27You want to make someone come in who's easier for him.
08:30I think what they lost in that game was the ability to ball handle, the ability to have somebody else
08:36take some of the load off of SGA and set him up.
08:39And Mark Digno played, I thought, as many cards as he had.
08:42I think he just ran out of them.
08:43There is no getting past the fact that their second and fourth best scorers missed half this series.
08:50And they still got to game seven within a possession in the fourth quarter, two possessions in the fourth quarter.
08:55So, they're really good.
08:57They just need somebody else in those situations.
09:00Would that have been J-Dub?
09:01It has been in the past.
09:02He had a 40-point game five in the finals against the Pacers.
09:05So, we know he's got it in him.
09:07I think there's a real major decision because you can't realistically put Giannis, Chet, J-Dub, and Shea as a
09:15team financially.
09:16That probably gets you way past second apron and all the other stuff that we all talk about, but very
09:21few of us truly understand.
09:24They know they have to make some decisions because they have big numbers starting to hit their cap here, ASAP.
09:30So, that's where their focus will be.
09:32Do I think this series tells you definitively they have to go get someone?
09:37It doesn't tell me that, but it does tell me definitively that they know exactly what the best in the
09:42West looks like.
09:43And if it's not them, it's the team with a core that's 20, 21, and 22 and just beat them.
09:48And they know what they have to do to build to beat them.
09:51And that includes a guy who can defend Wemby in big games and allow the rest of your team to
09:57go.
09:57That might not be hard and shine.
09:59It might be.
09:59I don't know.
10:00But I think they've learned what the questions are they have to answer going forward.
10:05That's an excellent way to phrase it.
10:06Now, the Knicks are on fire, 11 straight, steamrolled through the East.
10:10What do you think is the biggest reason when you look at them is the best, the biggest reason they're
10:15playing their best basketball now?
10:17And how do they match up?
10:18You're fresh off this Spurs series.
10:20How do they match up with San Antonio?
10:22So, Adam, we had Knicks Hawks when the Knicks were down 2-1.
10:27Yeah.
10:27So, both Reggie and I take full credit for seeing Mike Brown, and they haven't lost since.
10:32So, we'll mark that up to our success.
10:34So, in that game, Mike Brown said, hey, full credit to Quinn Snyder, the Atlanta head coach, and the Hawks,
10:41because they got them to start running some different stuff, which included Cat as the point forward, if you will.
10:48And remember, they only had the two losses to the Hawks by a point, a shot, a shot at the
10:51end of the game by C.J. McCollum.
10:53So, they were right there in those games as well.
10:56But what we saw with the Knicks was the ability to involve all five, and all five getting going.
11:02Remember, when we got to that game, game four of that East series, there was talk about, does Mikael Bridges
11:09stay in the starting lineup?
11:10Can you start him?
11:11Because he was not an offensive threat at all.
11:15He's become one now.
11:17Landry Schammett's come along.
11:19Alvarado's come along for his minutes.
11:20Everyone has found their roles, and they're thriving to the max in their roles.
11:25And that's what it takes to be a champion.
11:27And, you know, Adam, for those who are old enough in New York, you remember that's what the hallmark of
11:32that championship Knicks teams of the early 70s was.
11:35Incredible sharing of the ball.
11:37Incredible teamwork and passing.
11:39And they just did things the right way.
11:41And this Knicks team has the feel of a lot of that as you watch them.
11:45Now, I will say, comfortably, this will be the best defensive team they see in the postseason.
11:52I mean, the Atlanta and Chicago and Cleveland defensive efficiency rankings, and that's not really getting too analytically in the
12:00weeds.
12:01It's a good number.
12:02It represents two numbers that trigger quality teams.
12:06Those teams were 10 and, I think, 14 and 18 or 15 and 18.
12:10Point is, they haven't played an elite defensive team in this playoffs.
12:15I was doing every possession of San Antonio, Oklahoma City.
12:19I watched every Knicks-Cleveland game.
12:22At no point did I feel the defensive intensity from the Cavaliers was anywhere near anything I saw in the
12:28most mundane of possessions in our series.
12:31Like, the first quarter of that series was like game seven defensive effort.
12:35I never saw that for the Cavaliers.
12:37Maybe a little bit in game one, but not really.
12:40So, I think the Knicks will be defensively challenged.
12:42The offense won't come as easy.
12:44That in no way means the Knicks aren't going to win the series or can't compete in the series.
12:48I think they can do both very, very realistically.
12:53I do think they're going to be pushed defensively a little bit more in this series because Castle and Harper
12:58and Carter Bryant,
12:59they are not afraid to get in the face of SGA.
13:02If they're not afraid to get in the face of the two-time MVP and get in front of them
13:06and make them work very hard for shots,
13:08they'll do the same to Brunson and all the other perimeter guys that the Knicks have.
13:14San Antonio is one of the top defensive efficiency teams in the league.
13:17I think the Spurs and the Thunder were one and three in that category.
13:20And I think you'll see that in the Knicks' offense not being as easy and free-flowing as it was
13:26in the last series especially.
13:28You cover so many unbelievable athletes.
13:31Jalen Brunson has become one of the great clutch players in sports.
13:36What makes him so great when it matters the most?
13:39I think the willingness to not just take the big shots but execute the fundamentally out-thinking the opponent shots.
13:47How many Jalen Brunson should not, for his size, get his shot off as often in the paint as he
13:53does?
13:54And he does.
13:55He's got patience and poise.
13:56He'll up-fakey, shot-fakey, wait for that extra step.
13:59It feels like he's always got one more move off his pivot foot to get himself a cleaner look.
14:04He's got a speed and a quickness.
14:06You know, he's a terrific athlete and is in great shape, obviously.
14:12But when LeBron walks through the door or Giannis walks through the door, you're like, wow, these guys.
14:17Kevin Durant.
14:18Most of the guys who've been these superstars in the NBA, they walk through the airport into the building and
14:25you go, oh, my gosh.
14:26Jalen Brunson has a very, when he is wearing non-uniform clothes, you go, oh, okay.
14:31Here's a guy who's in great athletic shape.
14:33And he doesn't have that imposing physical presence, yet he plays with it.
14:38And he plays with that confidence, too.
14:40The quickness that he gets the shots off with as well.
14:43I think he has the mental edge on his teammates of knowledge, angles, quickness, a rhythm that usually you look
14:51at a team and you're like, okay, I figured out what this guy does.
14:55It always seems like he has another card to play.
14:57And I think those are the things that have contributed to his building confidence.
15:01And now what he stands for, which is an elite player, the conversation of where he ranks all-time best
15:06Knicks is wonderful.
15:08I think it changes to a different level when you get to the finals.
15:12I mean, it's hard for me to get past Clyde for what he did over the 70s.
15:16But you have to remember, most of the people who are arguing these debates didn't see these guys play.
15:21So how stupid is that conversation, right?
15:24I mean, you know, it's not like you've gone back for years and years and watched Walt Clyde Frazier on
15:29YouTube.
15:29It was just the start of my basketball life.
15:32And I was a young kid, but still appreciated what Clyde was and what he did and what he meant
15:36to those championship teams and the Knicks.
15:38I mean, we've got people who are 35 years old having this debate about if Clyde or Willis Reed were
15:44the better Knicks over Jalen Bray.
15:45You didn't see him play for a second.
15:46You have no concept of any of that.
15:49I'm not saying that you're wrong.
15:50I'm just saying that you just don't have the evidence that other people have.
15:55And it's why it becomes great debate, but an unanswerable, circular conversation.
16:00They belong in that group of elite Knicks who, at the end of the day, if you put that banner
16:06up, it changes the conversation.
16:08And Jalen's got a great chance with his team to help put another banner up in that spot of the
16:12garden.
16:13But even referencing those teams, Mike, I'm fascinated to get your take on the ambiance in MSG.
16:18I mean, Mike, you've been around in all these venues, special venues for all the games you've called for ABC,
16:27ESPN, and now for NBC.
16:30The finals, especially if the Knicks take one game at least in San Antonio, what do you think that building's
16:37going to be like with a realistic chance?
16:39Are game three in New York with an opportunity for the Knicks to take a lead in the NBA finals?
16:46It'll be great.
16:47If it's 0-2, 2-0, or 1-1, it'll be great.
16:51And I think the why is multiple facets to that, Adam.
16:56First off, it's the only building of its kind left.
17:00Like, the other ones are gone.
17:01The Forum in L.A., the Stadium in Chicago, we understand why.
17:05But everybody who is great in basketball for the last six decades has played under that roof and on that
17:15floor.
17:15The floor itself has changed.
17:17The seating has changed.
17:18It used to be the blue seats at the upper deck of the garden, not the Chase Bridge and all
17:22this stuff.
17:22It has modernized the interior, but it's still above Penn Station.
17:26It's still under that roof.
17:28You still walk up the ramp to get into the building.
17:30And there's something cool to traverse the same steps and play under the same roof that all the guys going
17:38back to Oscar Robertson did and Jerry West.
17:41And these guys played in this version of Madison Square Garden.
17:44So there's some of that.
17:47Secondly, it's basketball has always been a New York game.
17:50You know, talk of Rucker Park, talk of the games played on concrete, behind metal fences, with metal backboards, rims
17:58that don't have baskets, steel chains on the baskets for Nets, right?
18:01Any of us who grew up in New York knows there's a certain authenticity to New York basketball and simplicity
18:08to it.
18:08Shirts and skins and all that stuff.
18:10Before tarps off, it was shirts and skins.
18:13All that stuff is part of the New York culture.
18:16And the Knicks were that team.
18:18Although the Nets had Dr. J, they played on Long Island when they were in the ABA and then New
18:22Jersey, and they were never New York's team.
18:24So it was the city's game.
18:25The Knicks were their only team.
18:26It wasn't like the Yankees and the Mets where they played in a few miles in outer boroughs.
18:30The Knicks have played all their games in that city, and they are New York's team to the core.
18:36So all of that as backdrop, on top of the fact that they had some awful teams, and they tried
18:44to throw so much money at the problem that it screwed them up.
18:47And credit to Leon Rose, World Wide West, and the guys who got in there and helped give the Knicks
18:51the direction that they have found to get to where they are again.
18:55And the fact that those fans came and watched awful basketball for many, many years.
18:59When they were bad, and I have Mike Breen, who is a great friend, and I'm so excited to have
19:03Mike get the opportunity as a lifelong New York basketball guy to get to call finals in the Garden.
19:10We're all happy for him and looking forward to listening.
19:14Mike would always share the anecdote of there'd be terrible teams in there, or terrible right-knick teams.
19:20But when the best players played, the Garden had a buzz to it.
19:23So the buzz comes legitimately.
19:25If the celebrities have changed to Timothee Chalamet now, right, and those folks, but you still have the guys who
19:33were there, like a Ben Stiller, who was back there in the late 90s.
19:37There's a celebrity factor.
19:38There's the lighting effect at the Garden.
19:40They feel like they're on stage at the Garden.
19:43It's hard to see people sitting up in the stands at a Knicks game because of that lighting, the way
19:48that it all kind of works together in a city where the roots of the sport are genuine.
19:54And that adds to it.
19:55And to have Victor Wembenyama play his first finals game in that place, a place where greats like Jordan and
20:02Bird and all those other guys play playoff games, just adds to it.
20:05And just really be a wonderful thing for the NBA and a great thing for basketball globally as a whole.
20:11Without question.
20:12Give me the chills with that response.
20:13Now, before we let you go, obviously, you're the voice of Sunday Night Football on NBC.
20:17So, want to pick your brain quickly on a couple of monster moves in the NFL.
20:23First and foremost, Mike, Miles Garrett to the Rams?
20:27Are you kidding me?
20:29Arguably the best team in the NFL just picks up arguably the best defensive player, Mike, in the league.
20:35Yeah, I'm starting my vacation right about today.
20:39So, I'm just cleaning up in my office.
20:41And I'm watching the Women's World Series, the college softball, because we went to a game in Oklahoma City on
20:47Friday night before Game 7.
20:48And I'm watching, listening to our Syracuse pal Beth Mowens call the game.
20:53And I look at the bottom line and I see that jump up there and go, really?
20:58How unbelievable.
20:59So, it reminded me immediately of Super Bowl 56 season, which ended at SoFi five years ago.
21:05And that Rams team, if you remember, went all in.
21:08That was kind of their theme.
21:09And that was their message.
21:10And here they are going all in again.
21:12Get the defensive player of the year, a sack record setter.
21:15You lose a good young player, but they are all in for the moment.
21:19And we all know Les Snead's approach to draft picks, right?
21:23And how he has colorfully said that you don't need them.
21:27So, interestingly enough, this year, what do you want a draft pick for or draft capital for?
21:32You always want to have it so you can get the next quarterback.
21:36Because if you don't have one, you can't win.
21:39So, this year, they're up there in, well, I think 12 was the spot.
21:43I forget the exact number.
21:44And they take the quarterback of the future.
21:47So, now, you don't have that necessary concern of, can we get the draft capital of the picks to get
21:53that guy who's going to be there eventually to replace Matthew Stafford?
21:56They feel like they have him now in the building.
21:58So, you can take a 27 first-rounder and spin it off with a defensive player who you're replacing, certainly
22:05not like for like.
22:06But if in the years, Myles Garrett has a notch above an expectation, an experience reversed.
22:13And they're giving up a really, really, really good player.
22:15Don't get me wrong.
22:16But you're adding a guy who you know has all that skill that can be the guy to do what
22:22Aaron Donald did the last drive of Super Bowl 56 when he just got to Joe Burrow play after play
22:28after play.
22:29They have that guy now.
22:30So, if everything else is in place, they've got an unquestioned finisher to repeat and rerun what they did five
22:38years ago.
22:38So, brilliant move on their part.
22:39Absolutely brilliant.
22:40And before we let you go, Jerry McNamara, of course, our new coach for Syracuse basketball.
22:45And listen, last time we spoke, you said, Adam, you got to get him on.
22:48I had him on my SiriusXM radio show.
22:50I heard him.
22:51It was, Mike, I'm ready to run through a wall right about now.
22:54And I'm not surprised how great of a move is that for our orange.
22:58I love the orange right there in the background.
23:00It's the orange.
23:00There we go.
23:00Yeah.
23:01And actually, Adam, the frame next to it, I hate to direct you, if you guys take a full screen
23:06of me for a second, the one over it there, that is an original piece of the carrier dome roof.
23:14Wow.
23:14In that frame.
23:15So, there you go with the dome, the days that that roof was up there above before it was no
23:21longer a Teflon roof that you have to use, as you know, hot water hoses and people up there to
23:28try to manually remove snow.
23:29So, the dome didn't deflate a la the Metrodome in Minneapolis, the same kind of dome and same kind of
23:34setup.
23:34And technology has changed the roof structure now.
23:36But, yeah, I mean, very excited, obviously, to have another Syracuse alum there who understands who is there and went
23:45away and really accomplished a lot in two years.
23:48Took Siena from four wins to 14 wins to 24 wins in the NCAA tournament and really gave Duke a
23:54heck of a game.
23:56It's such a different world now.
23:57It really is.
23:58It has changed so much in the last few years.
24:01And, you know, at a different time, we can have a different conversation.
24:03I think college sports is, like, running full speed into a brick wall.
24:07What's happening now in college sports is unsustainable, the cost of football and basketball.
24:14And part of what makes college sports great, two things.
24:17You went to the school.
24:19These guys are representing the school that many people went to.
24:21When you watch your alma mater play, they were in some of the classes.
24:25Maybe they weren't taking all of them, the most robust classes that you took.
24:29But they were part of the student body.
24:30And they knew the things that happened on campus.
24:32Now you've got, you know, mercenaries six-month stops in and out in all these sports.
24:37We've lost that piece of this.
24:38The other part that we've lost as well is the ability to build a program because guys change and change
24:45and change and look for different places.
24:47And I think Jerry, with his signings and NIL usage of his roster, roster construction, he's tried to get guys
24:55who will stay for a couple of years and tried to build something.
24:57It's going to be interesting to see if that can win out over time, over the, you know, everybody's a
25:03free agent.
25:03We'll just spin the wheel and get new guys.
25:05I'm happy Jerry's there.
25:06I'm happy, I think, Syracuse basketball, when it's good, it's better overall for the sport, for the ACC, for the
25:12Northeast as well.
25:14And I really have great confidence that he's going to be able to get this program going back in the
25:19right direction and be talking in March, especially with an expanded tournament field.
25:23So it gives you more teams a chance to get in, and look, that's why it happened, because if you
25:28get more teams in the mix, it allows the folks who are funding the NIL side to have a little
25:34more skin in the game.
25:35Okay, it wasn't a wasted season.
25:37We got to the NCAA tournament.
25:38It's really hard to fund seven, $8 million rosters and teams don't go to the tournament.
25:43It's hard to get all these teams in the ACC and the Big 12 and the other leagues, the Big
25:49East as well, to compete with what the SEC and the Big Ten are doing.
25:52And if we're not careful, we'll separate those teams, and it may be a fun little 40-team league, but
25:58it's not the national footprint.
25:59Because people in Arizona, Arizona State fans, Colorado fans, all across the Big 12 footprint, all across the ACC footprint,
26:07if the SEC and the Big Ten expand out to 20 each and go to 40, you're going to get
26:12like 35 cities that don't give a damn about what's going on in college sports.
26:16And we have semi-pro sports.
26:18We have the G League, which is pro-minor league sports.
26:22We've got other â we don't need that.
26:24College has something special, and what they've done is they've eroded the special.
26:28And if somebody doesn't step up and take control of it, you're not going to have 70, 80 schools and
26:35their alums and their student bodies feel like they're a part of what's going on.
26:39So it's a huge next three to five years of college sports.
26:42I hope Syracuse can remain a significant front-row player, and hires like Jerry McNamara and Fran Brown a couple
26:48years ago is our best effort as a school to try to do that.
26:52Mike, you are the absolute best.
26:54And listen, you and Reggie and Jamal were incredible during the Western Conference Finals.
26:58But also, let's not bury the lead here, enjoy vacation.
27:01I mean, this run for you has been unbelievable with the football season and the Super Bowl and the Olympics
27:07and Team USA Hockey and the NBA back on NBC, which was incredible.
27:12So really, bravo, congratulations.
27:15Unbelievable job.
27:16Just sensational run.
27:17And enjoy every second now of watching the finals and enjoy vacation.
27:22I will.
27:23There's a bunch of golf balls that take practice on it, and they will be having a very in-depth
27:28relationship with my Six Iron over the next couple of weeks.
27:31So I look forward to that.
27:32Thanks, pal.
27:32We'll be listening to you along the way.
27:33Stay great.
27:34You got it.
27:35Mike Tirico, of course.
27:36He is the absolute best from NBC, and that was incredible.
Comments