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Episode 2: USA Hockey + WBC Preview
23 Plays3 months ago
A recap of USA Men's and Women's hockey results through Sunday, February 15th and a preview of the parallel collision courses with Canada in the finals along with previews and predictions for the 20 rosters taking part in the World Baseball Classic beginning March 5.
Also the NBA dunk contest was a dud, college baseball is back, A&M basketball is slumping, and the Seahawks hire their new OC!
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Transcript
Introduction & Episode Overview
00:00:00
Cody Atkinson
Hello and welcome to the Coastal Launch Sports Talk. I'm Cody coming at you from the bayous of Houston, Texas.
00:00:07
justin_daulton
And I'm Justin coming to you from the magic of Orlando, Florida.
00:00:11
Cody Atkinson
We are your premier destination for the sports stories that move the needle. From the bright lights of the national stage to the specific grit of the Southeast, we're bridging the gap between the two space cities and bringing you the sports stories that matter most to you.
00:00:26
Cody Atkinson
And boy, do we have a lot to get through today. From the weekend rundown to dreams of international dominance, we'll be breaking down both Olympic hockey and prepping for the next major international showdown via the World Baseball Classic.
00:00:39
Cody Atkinson
So with the trajectory set, it's time to sit back, lock in and get started. This is the Coastal Launch and we are ready for liftoff here on episode two.
00:00:50
justin_daulton
All right, Cody, let's get this thing started. We got the rundown locked and loaded. We're ready to go. We're going kick off with something that we haven't talked to a whole lot about yet on this show, but we're going to talk NBA for a hot
NBA All-Star Weekend Critique
00:01:01
justin_daulton
second.
00:01:01
justin_daulton
So this weekend, big weekend for the and NBA, All-Star Weekend. um I think I can speak for the majority of sports world where All-Star Weekends have become a dud outside of maybe MLB and Four Nations last year, right?
00:01:12
Cody Atkinson
The hockey, four nations. That's it.
00:01:15
justin_daulton
ah So let's talk about what's something that I think the entire sports world used to look forward to when it comes to the NBA was the dunk contest. I don't know how much of the dunk contest you caught, but I watched probably 50, 70% of it um over the weekend.
00:01:32
justin_daulton
And it was a complete and utter dud. ah No, no profession, like no NBA players. um It was all G League players, no one that you can name off of main rosters.
00:01:44
justin_daulton
It was just a complete nutter, like, crap fest. Dunks were mediocre. Guys were falling, hurting themselves in their dunk processes. ah There was no big, like, acrobatics that you would say back in the day, you know, jumping over cars, mascots.
00:02:00
justin_daulton
There was none of it. So I want to ask you just real quick as we go through this rundown. are we done? Like, should we just bury all-star weekends in general outside of like MLB playing for a home field advantage for nations, obviously being something that's incredible for hockey, but like looking at pro bowl a couple weeks ago and now NBA all-star weekend, like, are we done? Do we need to go take it out back, put two shots in the head and just call it a day?
00:02:24
Cody Atkinson
I mean, I'd be fine with it. Like, I don't, I think baseball does it the best. And I think that's a nature of the sport is you can do you can do baseball at full speed safely.
00:02:36
Cody Atkinson
Because that's ah i mean that's what that's what's killed a lot of these is is the the contracts have gotten so big that you can't risk it. It's hard to blame anybody for skipping baseballs. Uh, on the football side of things, like it's hard to blame anybody for going half speed or, or for skipping.
00:02:50
Cody Atkinson
Um, cause there's just so much on the line. Um, and baseball is like the one that you could really do well without overextending. Like the pitchers are going one inning. You feel pretty good about it. The batters like, you know, other than freak accidents, not a lot's going to happen there. I, I'm personally fine with, with, with, with taking him out back. Cause I, I've never enjoyed him to that level or ah or cared. um So I'd be fine with it from the dunk contest. The only thing, the only thing that I took into account from the dunk contest is, is, is I watched Matt McClellan's videos of what he would have done if he was allowed to, to become the, I think four time champion. I think he's three in a row maybe, and they didn't want him to get four. So I watched his videos and what he would have done.
00:03:37
Cody Atkinson
And that would have been a show, but it sounds like what we got wasn't quite that.
00:03:41
justin_daulton
No, not at all. But I think and think we all pretty much unanimously agree with like what you just said, man. but Take that these All-Star weekends, put two in the back of the head, move on. Let's figure out a different different way to do these things.
00:03:51
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:03:51
justin_daulton
um But
College Baseball & A&M Basketball Insights
00:03:53
justin_daulton
cool. I'm to kick it over to you. You got to do something really cool this weekend that I was super jealous of you. um You got to go to College Station this weekend um and see ah college baseball get kicked off.
00:04:06
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, man, I was back in back in College Station for college baseball this weekend. One of my favorite favorite times of the year. not a Not a lot to say from the A&M perspective. It was ah a sweep a home sweep of Tennessee Tech. they They went out there and just kind of did what You would expect them to do, um you know, Shane said, Sadeo coming back from Tommy John was a starter on Friday, a lot of ups and downs, just a guy coming back, hasn't pitched in two years, looked good, looked rough at times, but you liked what you saw.
00:04:37
Cody Atkinson
and And then pitching on Saturday, Weston Moss, a guy who was in the bullpen last year, so he's learning a new role. Again, you saw some ups and downs. Aiden Sims on on Sunday, um ah dominant. He was the only one who was he was he dominant start to finish. He he was the the only one not outside of his routine, though. I mean, he didn't pitch a lot last year, but he was a starter in spot duty last year, and so he got to maintain that. Offense was incredible.
00:05:03
Cody Atkinson
um I think it was 45 runs over the course of the weekend, 15, 23, and seven. Wind was blowing in on Sunday, so they had to they had to keep the ball down on Sunday, and the shortstop was out with the flu.
00:05:10
justin_daulton
Cheers.
00:05:14
Cody Atkinson
So that that held us to just seven. it was it was a blast. um It's just what you want to see from it from a team. Come in take care of business, take take the chance to get warm.
00:05:24
Cody Atkinson
um most Most everyone in the SEC was able to do that, but not everyone. Florida dropped a game to UAB on Friday. Huge shock. South Carolina dropped one to Northern Kentucky. Georgia dropped one to Wright State.
00:05:36
Cody Atkinson
A shock because of what we expect Georgia to be this year, although Wright State is a great program as far as those mid-major types go. um Alabama dropped one to Washington State. Mizzou drops one to Mount St. Mary's. um that Other than that, it was clean in the SEC. Three teams visited Dallas for the Globe Life ah round robin this weekend. Went to combine six and three. OU, the big winner out of those teams going three and O. That was Vandy, Arkansas, and OU. Vandy, the big loser, one and two.
00:06:08
Cody Atkinson
Arkansas, two and one. OU, the big winner. I would have thought they would be fourth out of the six teams in there. Big, big winner this weekend.
00:06:18
justin_daulton
Very cool to hear. I got three things, three questions to ask just real quick off of it before we move on to the next topic. um Bubbles. Did we get any bubbles this weekend?
00:06:27
Cody Atkinson
ah so many bubbles the the bubbles are the bubbles are staying that's that's been going on for for i don't know how long now but that is that is definitely here to stay it's passed from a class already like the class that started bubbles is gone that's we've had them around that long i think um and so it's they're here to stay we're getting bubbles every year and 45 runs we had a lot of bubbles this weekend
00:06:48
justin_daulton
Very good, very good. Any ball five chance?
00:06:52
Cody Atkinson
um Plenty. I think the highest we got was ball seven, which was a great opportunity from ball six to ball seven for the kid behind me to yell six, seven as long as possible. I thought it was dead, but it's it's not quite yet. But yeah, we we got to ball seven, several ball fives, but i don't I don't think we got higher than ball seven. We might've had one other.
00:07:12
justin_daulton
Cool. Um, and then the only real baseball clip that I got to see this weekend, cause I had just had a busy day at the office this weekend, um, was the Indiana clip. Did you see what happened in Indiana?
00:07:22
Cody Atkinson
No, no, I didn't. But I heard the the second baseman fielded it and threw it to first in a way that the ball ended up further from first than it started.
00:07:31
justin_daulton
Yeah. it um
00:07:31
Cody Atkinson
That was how it was described to me.
00:07:33
justin_daulton
I think, I think your explanation is just completely wrong. He didn't even throw the ball to first base. Um, uh,
00:07:39
Cody Atkinson
Well, yeah, that's what I think it he was aiming straight and I think it went left. Is that the...
00:07:42
justin_daulton
Yeah, yeah it went it went completely.
00:07:42
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:45
justin_daulton
Honestly, the the the dude's arm looked like it just died. So like I don't know what happened, but blew a four-run lead in the in the bottom of the ninth inning. um And honestly, it's a bad beat because if you had any money on Indiana baseball to kick off their season, I feel real bad for you.
00:08:01
justin_daulton
So just wanted to see if you'd seen it or not.
00:08:02
Cody Atkinson
Well, if you. Yeah, I'll say if you had money on Indiana over North Carolina in opening weekend, you should probably cut your account because that was that was not a smart decision to begin with.
00:08:05
justin_daulton
ah
00:08:10
justin_daulton
Correct.
00:08:15
Cody Atkinson
I'll just say that.
00:08:17
justin_daulton
um Cool. um Well, excited that baseball is back, man, even if it is a non-conference and everything but kicking off. But I'm excited, as especially as we you know get started with World Baseball Classic later on in this episode and obviously spring training and getting started. So I'm very excited have baseball back. But going to kick it back to you real quick just for a quick A&M basketball and SEC basketball update. So what you got over there?
00:08:40
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, man, it's good to have baseball back because basketball is leaving in us. it's um Yeah, so the last time we talked, the... the response was we we played our worst game at Florida, but it's okay. We just need to rebound against Missouri and and everything's back on track. we We did not rebound against Missouri. We gave up 56 points in the paint um and we lost by one, missed a buzzer beater, but um that was the loss that we we could not afford. We lost to Mizzou on Wednesday and then lost to Vandy on Saturday. So the
00:09:15
Cody Atkinson
Losing streaks up to four games and all of the wiggle room that you gave yourself by starting conference play seven and one is is out the window. Six games to go um to feel really good about making the tournament. You you really need to go four and two in these last six games. It's doable.
00:09:32
Cody Atkinson
Ole Miss at home, Texas at home, at Oklahoma, at LSU. Very, very winnable games, but you can't. You can't drop one of those. Otherwise, you need to try to beat Arkansas on the road or Kentucky at home, both of which are are tough tasks. So A&M basketball, a little bit in the dumps right now. Just got to be there for the boys bounce back.
00:09:50
Cody Atkinson
um the shoot Shooting's gone cold. Expect that to turn around. But the issues with the height is creating a lot of issues with offensive rebounding and points in the paint. That's going to be the hardest to overcome. Hopefully, they find a way, drive that full-court press defense, and and force some turnovers to make up the difference. But Yeah, I've seen better times. You really need to go 2-0 this week to to feel good about about where you're at in the tourney.
00:10:16
justin_daulton
Is there any hope for, obviously because we're we're I think we're widely considered a bubble team at this point right now with the with the losses we picked up. Is there any hope in maybe winning the SEC tournament? Obviously Florida still being in a behemoth over there, but potentially pulling an upset in the SEC tournament.
00:10:32
Cody Atkinson
I mean, I wouldn't say so because you do have Florida at the top who beat you on your home court by 20. I think it was something like Vandy, you just went to and lost by 19. I think the top of the SEC, there's still a gap.
00:10:46
Cody Atkinson
I think it at the peak of this team, you could be a third, fourth team in the SEC, which is, I think, what we were running for the last you know month or for the first month of conference play. That's kind of what we were running is like,
00:11:00
Cody Atkinson
realistically playing like the third or fourth best team in the conference. And so I think that's the the ceiling. I think if you go four and two, you get 11 conference wins. You feel good about the tournament. Anything under that, you're sweating out the bubble. But right now we are still on the right side of the bubble. We just can't afford a lot of losses or we'll end up on the wrong side. I think Bracketology will come out tomorrow. I think we're probably a 10 seed right now.
00:11:24
justin_daulton
right. Well, hate to hear that, but we'll see where the rus are the end where we go for the rest of the end of the season and then obviously into the tournament because you know we can make a statement in the tournament that pushes the resume enough to push ourselves in there if we're still in that bubble range.
00:11:37
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, for sure.
00:11:38
justin_daulton
Oh, yeah.
00:11:39
Cody Atkinson
And to be clear, we're we're still feeling Bucky. We're still feeling Bucky, Bucky ball.
00:11:42
justin_daulton
oh yeah
00:11:43
Cody Atkinson
Love what this team's done. They just exceeded expectations for a full month and made us forget what the expectations were. Now they're kind of back down to overperforming what we thought they could be, but to a lesser extent.
00:11:56
Cody Atkinson
So still, still feeling the future of the program. Just, just rough times.
00:12:00
justin_daulton
and I think we talked about a couple weeks ago. It's, we were looking at the ceiling, right. Of A&M basketball. And this may be it just for year one with a team that is literally held together with hopes and dreams.
00:12:07
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:12:12
justin_daulton
ah So you know we'll we'll see where, where the, like I said, where last couple weeks go and then ICC tournament. And then obviously into, to March madness itself. But we're going to kick over to MLB real quick in this rundown.
00:12:20
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:12:24
justin_daulton
um I wanted to recap some stuff with you before, know, the The game started later
MLB's New Rules & Impact
00:12:30
justin_daulton
this week. So theyre the final rule changes have come through for this coming MLB season.
00:12:35
justin_daulton
um So I want to get some opinions from you. Some of these, I don't anticipate having a ton of conversation around. We're going to lead off with, I think, the biggest one that has been tested now for a couple of years. it Balls and Strikes challenges will be a thing officially this year.
00:12:50
justin_daulton
ah Pitchers, catchers, and hitters only. So nothing from the dugout, nothing from position players. That was definitely a big rule as well, that if a position player is pitching, they are not allowed to challenge balls and strikes. So at that point, it would still only be catchers and hitters.
00:13:04
justin_daulton
I think this is a big thing that's been needed for in baseball for a while. ah This is the Angel Hernandez rule, if you ask me.
00:13:11
Cody Atkinson
Basically.
00:13:12
justin_daulton
So just quick thoughts on that from you. i think this is great a great thing for the game. We've needed it for a while.
00:13:18
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I think it's a great thing. I think it's a great balance. um I don't want to lose the human element of the game in search of perfection. Like I don't want to lose the human element. I don't want to lose pitch framing. I don't want to lose um teasing the corners and trying to get a little bit more of the edge over the, I mean, Dallas Keuchel was like one of the greatest at that, you know, start right at the edge, drift ah out slowly and and you end up with a bigger strike zone. I don't want to lose that part of the game.
00:13:45
Cody Atkinson
um So I think this is a a great balance of not going full electronic, but getting rid of the blatant mistakes. I can think of at least five games last season that ended on a strike call on a ball that was, you know, felt like a foot outside. And getting rid of that is huge while maintaining um the history of the game with the human element.
00:14:10
justin_daulton
Yeah, I agree. I think there's definitely something to be said of, I don't want robot umpires. That was a topic of a conversation, what, two years ago, three years ago, whatever it was.
00:14:18
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:14:19
justin_daulton
And then i was say I was adamantly against that. was like, I do not want robot umpires. That is not the spirit of baseball. So I'm really happy with this. I think it's three orts two challenges for each team.
00:14:30
justin_daulton
And if you win it, of course, then you're good. And then you can you save another one and you can challenge again later on. So I think this is great for the game, the same way the challenges which i came which came in That 2017, 18 range, when they got challenges in there, ah helped out the game dramatically. So I'm i'm a big proponent of it.
00:14:51
justin_daulton
Next we'll change and I want to talk about is base coaches must remain in boxes to avoid pitch tipping.
00:14:52
Cody Atkinson
Absolutely. Yep.
00:14:57
Cody Atkinson
Hmm.
00:14:58
justin_daulton
So they are allowed between pitches to go and talk to their to their runners. But once the pitch sequence starts, they must be in their boxes ah to avoid pitch tipping.
00:15:10
justin_daulton
where This is going to be a topic for a while. Both of us Houston fans, we're going to be talking about that we are Astro fans. The pitch tipping is a thing within Houston. um So obviously this I think is a big proponent. What do you think about the pitch tipping and MLB trying to get away from pitch tipping?
00:15:30
Cody Atkinson
Well, is it is it pitch tipping or is it more so sign stealing? Like, are they trying to get an angle of the pitcher's grip are they trying to get an angle of like the catcher's sign?
00:15:42
Cody Atkinson
Well, I guess signs aren't going down anymore. So it's probably, they're using the pitch call now.
00:15:46
justin_daulton
Yeah, I think it's more of they're looking at the grip.
00:15:46
Cody Atkinson
So probably Yeah.
00:15:49
justin_daulton
So they're trying to, you know, from a from a strategic standpoint, right, if if he's gripping it for a fastball, you're not going to have your player steal the still second.
00:15:58
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:15:58
justin_daulton
So you're looking for an off-speed grip, any way that you can tip and relay into the into your to your dugout to get it to get a heads up.
00:16:05
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:16:06
justin_daulton
um But I think that's kind of the the heart of the world change is trying to get away from the pitches being tipped towards runners and and hitters.
00:16:15
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I mean, i'm I'm fine with it. I think pitch tipping is a part of the game. Finding pitch tipping is a part of the game. If you're doing it with your own eyes, that's, you know, I support it. um But getting several feet outside of the box that's painted on the field to do so, it's been ridiculous for a while anyways. Like why i was trying to explain it to to Amanda a little bit this weekend because we were watching the A&M game and the, you know,
00:16:43
Cody Atkinson
Cliff's a third base coach is is two feet behind the box on the field. And she's like, why is there a box there? And I'm like, I don't i don't really know anymore. Like, it used to it used to matter. And now it's just like, that's what the field looks like. So we keep painting it, even though, like, nobody – Nobody like stays there. So I think it's good. it is one of those things that I feel like they just let go over time and and needed to be reined in. see get Stand in the box. If you stand in the box and if you can see it from the box, great. If you have to get three feet outside of the box to see it, it wasn't meant for you to see.
00:17:16
justin_daulton
Yeah, I agree. Last rule change to talk about ah something that honestly, I am surprised was still a rule. Runners cannot deliberately initiate contact for obstruction rule.
00:17:31
Cody Atkinson
Good.
00:17:31
justin_daulton
i Weird.
00:17:32
Cody Atkinson
Sure. Yeah.
00:17:33
justin_daulton
Yeah, I don't think there's a lot to be said.
00:17:33
Cody Atkinson
sure
00:17:35
justin_daulton
Just weird that this was still something that was being talked about that runners were we're doing this. Obviously, we got rid of it at second base and third base would would ah with sliding to the intention of breaking up plays for player safety.
00:17:46
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:17:47
justin_daulton
So this is another one. Player safety important, especially in a day and age where we're playing 162 games plus a lot of ah lot of playoff games now with the with the extra wildcard round.
00:17:58
justin_daulton
So the big, big, big improvement for player safety.
00:18:02
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. Player safety and just nonsense too. um If you're like, you're either making a baseball player, or you're not. And if you're not, it's super obvious and it's nonsense and like, don't waste my time with that.
00:18:12
Cody Atkinson
Like, yeah, I'm, I'm here to watch baseball. I'm not here to watch us exploit rules. Like I get it, but you know, just,
00:18:19
justin_daulton
Yeah, if i wanted know if I wanted to watch a UFC fight, I would have gone to a UFC fight.
00:18:22
Cody Atkinson
yeah. Yeah. And and it's, that I think that's my take on pitch tipping. That's my take on, obstruction and all of it like just play the game and if if if you need to step that far outside of the box or the baseline to make something happen and then like that wasn't within the game get back to where you're supposed to be and and take the l like it's fine
00:18:45
justin_daulton
Yeah. Remember, this is a game for kids. We're adults that play the game for kids.
00:18:49
Cody Atkinson
yeah yeah yeah we lose our minds on the edges man
00:18:49
justin_daulton
Like, that's what that's what it is at the heart. All right.
00:18:54
justin_daulton
Oh, for sure. Last topic for the rundown, something to kind of close the loop on something we talked about last week. We talked a lot about um can the Seahawks repeat as NFC champions, as Super Bowl champions, with the loss of Clint Kubiak from that system as the offensive coordinator.
00:19:12
justin_daulton
Both of us pretty much unanimously agreed that it made the most sense to hire within that system and bring up passing game coordinator, quarterback coach, receiver coach, whatever whoever you want to bring up.
00:19:24
justin_daulton
It made the most sense. Breaking news last night. The Seahawks do not hire from within. They hire the passing game coordinator from the San Francisco 49ers, and it's Brian Fleury.
00:19:38
justin_daulton
First-time play caller comes from the Shanahan tree, so it's the same system that Kubiak called. But it's weird to me that you don't hire someone in that knows the culture of what you have going on in that building, doesn't know Sam Darnold, doesn't know what they have going on there.
00:19:52
justin_daulton
So to me, this is a ah weird hire, especially, you know, we look at Bobby Sloick in Houston and then we look at Nick Kaley in Houston, both first-time play callers. And then so you're plugging them into a system and hope that it works. And it obviously did not work with Bobby Sloick in Houston.
00:20:08
justin_daulton
a lot of times, you know, spots of brilliance with Nick Kaley this year. So just a weird hire to me. i don't know what your thoughts are. um This is a good replacement for Kubiak. Obviously Kubiak, probably the best offensive coordinator in the game last year.
00:20:21
justin_daulton
So already was gonna so hard to replace him. But what's your initial thoughts?
00:20:23
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. and It's hard to have thoughts because the first time I heard Brian Flurry's name was when the anneette when it was announced yesterday. look i don't I'm not going to pretend to know this guy much. I i do know that he he was in San Francisco when Sam Darnold was backing up Purdy, I believe.
00:20:43
Cody Atkinson
So he does have some experience with Darnold, but that was pre-Minnesota, pre-last year with Seattle. So maybe there's an aspect there where where Darnold vouched for him or or something along those lines. If that's the case, I get it. But McDonald is a two OC hire. I guess this will be his third OC hire in his third year at Seattle.
00:21:07
Cody Atkinson
First one, Ryan Grubb didn't work out. um Second one, Clint Kubiak works out. Third one, Brian Fleury, the one that's worked out was the most obvious choice of all time. Everyone knew Kubiak was the best OC on the market. Everyone knew he was the head coach sooner than later.
00:21:26
Cody Atkinson
So i'm i'm I'm hesitant to give McDonald the benefit of the doubt. When hiring the not obvious candidate, um I think I would have preferred to see either within or a name that makes you say, wow, you know, ah Brian Dable, former head coach, Mike McDaniel, former head coach.
00:21:47
Cody Atkinson
There was one other that I had thought of earlier today, but if he had done something like that, I'd be like, I see why they went outside of the system. i i don't I don't see it on this, but I don't have a lot of background on it. so maybe maybe there's something there that we that we just don't know from this far away.
00:22:04
justin_daulton
Maybe something works out. Maybe Kingsbury might have been a good name to throw and into the into the mix there, who is the in Arizona now as a like a specialist, not even on offensive coordinator um in Arizona.
00:22:15
justin_daulton
So...
00:22:15
Cody Atkinson
he's not a He's not in Washington anymore?
00:22:17
justin_daulton
No, they mutually parted ways.
00:22:18
Cody Atkinson
Oh, wow.
00:22:19
justin_daulton
And he's with Arizona.
00:22:20
Cody Atkinson
I didn't know that.
00:22:21
justin_daulton
When is he? He's like a passing game specialist or something like that. He took like a senior coordinator type of role. They didn't want to move on.
00:22:27
Cody Atkinson
Interesting.
00:22:27
justin_daulton
They didn't want to move on from their OC there. um Not super plugged in on what's going on in Arizona, but I do know that's where Kingsbury ended up. i was a hoping that, you know, the Texans would have pulled the trigger on Kingsbury to match him up with That would have been an electric move, but hey.
00:22:42
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:22:43
justin_daulton
I'm not Nick Casario. I'm not connected to the New England Patriots system, unfortunately.
NFL Coaching Changes
00:22:47
justin_daulton
um So, um well, man, that wraps up the rundown.
00:22:47
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:22:51
justin_daulton
Exciting week in sports. You know, we talked last week that it didn't seem like it was going a very exciting week, but I think it ended up being an exciting week. And that's because of the Olympics.
00:23:01
justin_daulton
I got a lot of notes to it.
00:23:02
Cody Atkinson
The Olympics are on fire.
00:23:04
justin_daulton
Dude, it's insane. um So I want to talk about some some lower, ah probably mid-tier competitions before we dive into the very obvious topics of men's and women's hockey.
00:23:16
justin_daulton
So just a quick recap of where we're at as of last night.
00:23:16
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:23:19
justin_daulton
So I don't have today's medal counts in here. And I do know that we took another gold today. So I think we're at more than six golds right now. um Eight silvers, floor four bronze as of about 24 hours ago.
00:23:30
justin_daulton
And third overall in the medal counts. ah so right where we need to be as we start getting to some of these team competitions wrapping up here in the last week of the Olympics. um But I want to point to a couple of things that I think every four years, the world locks into curling.
00:23:47
justin_daulton
It is amazing.
00:23:47
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:23:48
justin_daulton
electric it is it is an insane atmosphere every four years when we all remember that curling is a sport uh so it's it's awesome uh right now u.s men's curling as of yesterday once again uh you uh four and two with four matches left um and then the top four teams um move on to the knockout stage uh u.s i believe when i wrote it down was in uh second or third so right where we need to be to move on to the knockout rounds And then women's curling four and one with five matches left.
00:24:16
justin_daulton
Also top four move on. and I believe they were second as of me writing that last night. um So right in the mix in the in the thick about of it all. But I think the big thing to talk about when it comes to curling this week is what happened with Canada and Sweden ah with these cheating allegations.
00:24:36
justin_daulton
And Canada being what is supposed to be the nicest country in the world, um telling ah telling Sweden to fuck off.
00:24:39
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:24:43
justin_daulton
ah direct quote because of these cheating allegations of these double touching the stone. Did you get to see the video clip ah afterwards after everything happened?
00:24:53
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, yeah. i I saw the clip after, i guess I saw the, I've seen bits and pieces of clips, so I don't know what I've seen and what I've missed, but I think it's pretty obvious he was doing what he was being accused of doing. like is He was I would never do that. I would never cheat. And it's like he's letting go and then he's touching the the stone itself as it crosses the hog line, as they call it.
00:25:14
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:25:14
Cody Atkinson
ah
00:25:15
justin_daulton
well
00:25:15
Cody Atkinson
But just what ah what an incredible... um what an incredible reaction the the nicest country on earth just taking what what many would have thought was the nicest sport on earth and just hurling expletives at at at your opponent just an incredible display and then and then the the reaction they have to say um it to to gaslight Sweden and just be like well they had a private investigator taking videos and you're like okay but did you do it because like kid you did it and you're not like don't it was a what a wild story and now i don't know if you saw this but the women's teams being accused of the same thing today official women's wild
00:25:53
justin_daulton
Same thing. Yeah, same thing literally the next day. Yeah, insane, man. and like i To go into even more in the gaslighting, being Sweden being like, I'll show you a video when we're done here.
00:26:04
Cody Atkinson
yeah yeah is i'll show you a video yeah
00:26:04
justin_daulton
ah and being like i Sweden standing on on principle and being like, I know what I saw.
00:26:09
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:26:10
justin_daulton
I think the biggest thing here is that the the IOC not coming down with any sort of punishment for Canada afterwards and just letting it ride. ah just Just kind of crazy to me.
00:26:19
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, very odd.
00:26:21
justin_daulton
um especially when we're talking about, you know, we're going to get into hockey here in a little bit. And we saw our first fight of the the tournament, right, with with in hockey. And the IOC has been very clear since the beginning, no fighting allowed.
00:26:30
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:26:32
justin_daulton
You're going to get ah you're going to get kicked out of the game if you if you fight and potentially not be in the tournament for the rest of the run. ah So very weird to me for the IOC to not come down with any sort of,
00:26:43
justin_daulton
punishment for the men's or the women's in Canada. Uh, but I, had to highlight it here as we, as we started to our bigger, our bigger topic here, the Olympics, but insane, um, for a sport day quite literally looks like it's a sport that was made by, by drunk, drunk
Olympic Curling Controversy & Records
00:26:58
justin_daulton
Americans that were just throwing stones down a, down ah a block of ice.
00:26:58
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:27:02
justin_daulton
Uh, but,
00:27:02
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, it's just the the, again, like it felt like the most relaxed sport of all time. Like it only matters every four years, but every four years it matters a ton and it matters a ton because all you're doing is sweeping ice and it just makes no sense.
00:27:14
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:27:16
Cody Atkinson
But like, it's also really difficult somehow. um And and for the for curling to be the center of controversy is is insane ah for there to be no um judgment brought down is is wild and and it truthfully from what i can gather it seems like part of the issue is nobody really knew the rules like the the i guess well for one i guess there was no there's no ump or ref watching the line to make sure you don't touch it which
00:27:46
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:27:49
Cody Atkinson
baffles me that this is a thing you can do to cheat and there's nobody watching to make sure you don't do it. Just put a guide there. And then they're they Sweden's complaining to the refs that are there and they're kind of like, I don't know, is that but is is that allowed we're not really sure either and then the i of the ioc has to come down like a day later and say like yes you can't do that but also we're not going to do anything about the fact that you very clearly did do it because we just have a hard and fast we don't go backwards rules it's just all sorts of it's all sorts of of a mess that can only happen in a sport as unorganized and unimportant for four years is currently like
00:28:33
Cody Atkinson
You know, it's like every four years, they're like, oh, yeah, we're the biggest thing in the world. And then the other four years, they just take a nap because nobody cares. and And they forget to put the systems in place to be the biggest sport in the world for two weeks.
00:28:46
Cody Atkinson
so And it's a blast, dude. I've been watching it crazy.
00:28:49
justin_daulton
I love it.
00:28:50
Cody Atkinson
We'll continue to watch it. if If there was a curling bar in Houston, I'd be down there right now, like scrubbing away. i i Yeah, dude.
00:28:57
justin_daulton
We gotta go, we gotta go.
00:28:59
Cody Atkinson
I'd be sweeping
00:29:00
justin_daulton
Yeah, for sure. It's it's crazy to me. like Just do VAR. It works for FIFA. Just throw VAR into a situation like this.
00:29:05
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:29:08
justin_daulton
ah's it's just It's just crazy to me. ah But moving on from curling, so we can you know kind of get towards ah to to the bigger topics of the Olympics. um Just real quick, Jordan Stolls, speed skater for the U.S. This dude is a beast. Have you been following what he's been doing this run?
00:29:27
Cody Atkinson
Dude, I haven't at all. I missed so much Olympics this weekend, just being at the out of town and at the games. I i know he's a speed skater because I looked his name up based off of the the the episode sheet here. I don't know anything about what's going on. You're going to have to fill me in.
00:29:44
justin_daulton
Yeah, I caught notice of him. It was the first weekend. He was in ah like a 200 or 300 speed skate race, so a very small track um race.
00:29:55
justin_daulton
And he set the Olympic record on weekend one for that for that competition. And then two days ago, yeah, Saturday, um broke another Olympic record for 500 meters.
00:30:08
justin_daulton
And then I believe took home another gold of medal today, which I think was the one that referring to that we were at five and now we're at six. um And has now been dubbed the fastest skater in the world. um So crazy, crazy moniker to have on your name.
00:30:19
Cody Atkinson
okay
00:30:23
justin_daulton
um But dude's a beast for the people watching, listening, just go look up what he's been able to do. um And it's not like he's, sweeping away the competition, they're tight races.
00:30:35
justin_daulton
These people are with him every step of the way.
00:30:36
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:30:38
justin_daulton
So it's it's a hot competition and speed skating. i didn't think I didn't think going into this Olympics that I was going to be locked in on speed skating. But Jordan Stoles, man, dude's a beast. It's going to fun to see him finish off this Olympic run and then obviously in four years in France to see what he's going to do there. Maybe we're talking world records.
00:30:58
justin_daulton
in four years which would be insane that we're talking about the fastest skater being an American not anyone that's international not Canada or or a place that actually spends their whole life on skates
00:31:05
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:31:09
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, no, that would be incredible. it's It's amazing how much you forget it coming into the Winter Olympics that you're about to just become the biggest fan of like seven sports you've never heard of.
00:31:19
Cody Atkinson
but It's like clockwork, dude.
00:31:21
justin_daulton
yeah
00:31:22
Cody Atkinson
And it's just like you go in, you're like, ah, it's the like. At least for me, like I don't get super, super jazzed right before the Olympics started. I'm like, oh, that's the Olympics. Like I'll check it out have some fun. And then, you know, give it two to three days and you're locked in on curling and speed skating.
00:31:37
Cody Atkinson
don't know if you caught these moguls that this mogul racing that they're doing. That's horrifying.
00:31:42
justin_daulton
is it Is that the is that the the the one and two man luge racing?
00:31:47
Cody Atkinson
No, the mo, you know, you know, moguls, right? Like when you're skiing like a black diamond and they have like the mobile section.
00:31:53
justin_daulton
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I did see that. I did see that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:31:55
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. So you're, you're racing through these moguls, just dashing back and forth. And then you have to jump off a, uh, ramp and do like a flip. And then you got race through more and then got jump off another one and do it.
00:32:07
Cody Atkinson
And some dude landed backwards. Like he like fell and landed backwards and finished the, finished the course going backwards.
00:32:10
justin_daulton
I saw that, yeah.
00:32:14
Cody Atkinson
And you're just like, this is the most insane. I'd never heard of that. I think it's an Olympic debut this time. And that's just crazy, dude. These people's knees and backs have to be just gone by the time they're back.
00:32:25
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:32:25
Cody Atkinson
You just got to watch them just bobbing. It's crazy.
00:32:28
justin_daulton
The only other one before we move into into hockey that that caught my attention, obviously everyone knows bobsledding. Jamaicans made it super popular back in the 90s. Cool running is an amazing movie. a Great story there for for the Jamaican team.
00:32:42
justin_daulton
um But downhill luge or even skeleton, i think it's caught on to, it's crazy, right?
00:32:46
Cody Atkinson
Skeleton's crazy.
00:32:49
justin_daulton
um So when I was on at lunch, for those you who don't know, work at Universal.
00:32:49
Cody Atkinson
Just dragon.
00:32:53
justin_daulton
So NBC Universal is my parent company. So like Olympics is on every single TV back at house at work right now. um So it's, I got to watch a relay race of downhill luge of you alternate between one and two man.
00:33:11
justin_daulton
Didn't even know that you made a two man sled for lugeing. And it was insane.
00:33:16
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, that's is a really awkward one, right?
00:33:18
justin_daulton
yes it's very awkward um but i you want to talk about some of the most exciting drama i've ever seen in a sport probably ever watching these people have to push off get things going uh but then also remember to pop up and hit a relay button at the end of the course uh it's insane um it's electric uh the the us team i brought home bronze that day when i was watching it uh but ah exciting racing man it's
00:33:19
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:33:32
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:33:39
Cody Atkinson
Oh, nice.
00:33:43
justin_daulton
ah Winter Olympics, I think, catches a lot of flack of just being the least entertaining one um between the summer because there's but it's so much fun.
00:33:47
Cody Atkinson
Dude, it's so fun.
00:33:50
justin_daulton
It's it's incredible to see. So excited to lock back in and in a couple of years to Winter Olympics. Obviously, we have Summer Olympics in two years here in L.A. So it'll be it'll be fun to watch. But I am now going to kick it over to you to talk about
U.S. Men's & Women's Hockey at Olympics
00:34:07
justin_daulton
U.S. hockey.
00:34:08
Cody Atkinson
yeah We're going to start with U.S. men's hockey. There's two forms of U.S. hockey to discuss and they both deserve discussion. We're to start with U.S. men's hockey because the last time we talked, the U.S.
00:34:18
justin_daulton
Right.
00:34:21
Cody Atkinson
men's hockey had not started yet.
00:34:23
justin_daulton
right
00:34:23
Cody Atkinson
So since we last talked, the U.S. has played three games, all in group play, um a five to one over Latvia, six to three over Denmark, five to one over Germany.
00:34:36
Cody Atkinson
As we dive into this, I'm just going to, I'm going to toss it. hat Do we want to, do we want to go game by game? Do you, do you have game by game thoughts or, or are your thoughts big picture? Cause we can, we can do, we can do either.
00:34:48
Cody Atkinson
Okay.
00:34:48
justin_daulton
I think I'm more big picture sure just because of the nature of how last week went for me when at work.
00:34:50
Cody Atkinson
Okay.
00:34:54
justin_daulton
I'm not locked into game by game, but I do have overall thoughts.
00:34:57
Cody Atkinson
Okay, so we i'll I'll start a little bit my thoughts game by game a little bit, but we'll try we'll stick to big picture um for our discussion. So five to one over Latvia.
00:35:11
Cody Atkinson
um I think the biggest takeaway from U.S. Latvia was ah a little bit of a slow start. um After I would I.
00:35:21
Cody Atkinson
In my opinion, the slow start was about 10 minutes in. 10 minutes in, it was ah one to one um and shots were tied, I think, about 6-6.
00:35:34
Cody Atkinson
Now, this did include um two disallowed goals. I don't remember fully if both were in the first 10 minutes, but they were both in the first period.
00:35:45
Cody Atkinson
um Two disallowed goals, the first ah hair off sides. um The second, a really ticky tack goalie interference call. I think that one really comes down to the difference between NHL officiating and international officiating. I think in the and NHL, that's ah that's an incidental.
00:36:01
Cody Atkinson
um contact goals allowed in the international play like we've seen in the Olympics. If the goalie is touched, um it's pretty much going to get disallowed. So it could have been a hot start.
00:36:14
Cody Atkinson
But with the two disallowed goals, I think for the main thing for me is for the first 10 minutes, there just wasn't dominant puck control or dominant shots on on that I grew up in Texas. I don't know hockey at at at a deep, deep, deep level. So those are the kind of the two things I look for. Like, you know, if I'm watching the game, do we are we in the attacking zone?
00:36:33
Cody Atkinson
um And what's the shot difference? That's kind of as I get more into hockey, that's kind of like where my knowledge is at right now. So its slow start, but ultimately runs away with the win over Latvia. I have in the notes another slow start at Denmark. I don't think that is actually that...
00:36:52
Cody Atkinson
accurate. I don't think the the start at Denmark was that bad. um The two goals that Denmark hit, one, Swayman's in net, not Hellebuck. So you're kind of giving the backup a shot.
00:37:06
Cody Atkinson
I don't think both of those goals get in if Hellebuck's in net. The first one is a blocked shot, rebounds off of the lower leg pads into the skate of the U.S. defenseman, which ricochets at five hole.
00:37:23
Cody Atkinson
Unfortunate. um Again, i does does that happen if Hellebuck's in net? Maybe not. And then the other ones are just a slap shot from the red line. um I think it it got a little high. So you're trying to track the puck through the crowd.
00:37:39
Cody Atkinson
You know, it's not, you don't have that white backdrop. you have the crowd. um and And he just lost it. And he just kind of stood there and was like i hope it hits me. And it didn't. um And so I, I don't really think that that one was the same slow start. I think that was just kind of like a mix of not the best goaltending and, um,
00:38:00
Cody Atkinson
Not the best goaltending and a little bit of bad luck um in the first, but they were dominating. The U.S. was dominating the puck in the shots um and and eventually ran away with it 6-3.
00:38:12
Cody Atkinson
so So not much I'm seeing there. 5-1 over Germany. I didn't put notes on this because it was just start to finish dominant. It was a great game. I was worried about this one. Leon Dreisaitl plays for Germany.
00:38:24
Cody Atkinson
um And so I thought this one could be a tougher task. But Hellebuck back in net. Only one goal again. So two goals in two games for Hellebuck. He's playing super well. And just a dominant game from puck control and... ah and shot so um i think on a game by game basis that's what i'm looking at i i started to think us s is starting slow in every game and then picking it up and i'm starting to change my mind to the us started s slow against latvia but with a little better luck every single one of these games could have been a bigger blowout so um what are your thoughts you got some overall thoughts on how the us played in in group play are you and what are your thoughts compared to that i guess
00:38:59
justin_daulton
Mm-hmm.
00:39:08
justin_daulton
Yeah, I think going in our initial thoughts when we talked about this last week, right, that it was a group stage that we we knew that the U.S. was going to run away with. So for me, it was going to be, can we establish the dominance?
00:39:22
justin_daulton
Coming off of Four Nations last year with the with the upset ah loss, honestly, to to Canada at the end there. So it's like, what can we can we show that we deserve to be here, that we deserve to be one of the best teams in the world?
00:39:37
justin_daulton
So I wanted to see us show that very early on. ah Very concerning to see the the the goals that we gave up to Denmark. ah But then when I got to see that it wasn't hella fucking goal, I was like, OK, I get it.
00:39:49
justin_daulton
But we are on the world stage. We need to have best on best. This isn't you know a back-to-back game in the NHL where you need a bench or a starter because it's you're on a back-to-back on the road.
00:40:00
justin_daulton
No, you need to play your starter. You need to get out there. You need to to establish the dominance. You need to show that you're ready to face Canada. And I think we're going to talk about it, that we are on a collision course with Canada as long as we handle our business along the way with the other pool of the the group stages moving on.
00:40:15
justin_daulton
But on the flip side of just kind of a little letdown that I wish we would have just completely blown away, that blew away the competition. Obviously, the the end results will show that. But the slower starts, the penalty minutes that we took, not enough shots on goal, um this just the slower starts in general, I think will come back to bite us if we don't get going.
00:40:36
justin_daulton
in the quarterfinals and semifinals and then eventually the medal games. ah But on the flip side of all of that, seeing the offensive throughput, especially from the Kachuk brothers, um'm I'm a Lightning fan.
00:40:47
justin_daulton
I do not like Kachuk at all down there in Florida.
00:40:49
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:40:50
justin_daulton
But you know once a year, every four years, I'm locked in on the Kachuk brothers. So good to see them. Obviously, the chemistry is there. They've been playing they've been playing hockey together their entire lives.
00:41:01
justin_daulton
So they understand each other. And the I got to watch a lot of highlights throughout the week of just kind of watching just the puck movement on that top line is beautiful. Some of the best puck movement I think I've ever watched in my entire life.
00:41:14
justin_daulton
And i I'm a lightning fan. I watched the triplets line have the chemistry from Syracuse back in the day. This tops that too, man. that these guys are These guys know.
00:41:21
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:41:24
justin_daulton
It's like they know exactly where they're at on the ice at all times. So good to see them come up. The defense obviously doing what they do best. I agree with you. that i think the goals in Denmark aren't, you know, contributed to the defense um or even goaltending.
00:41:37
justin_daulton
um But you need to have Hellebuck in there. At this point on every game, it's Hellebuck. That defense is is great. They have nothing but NHL top line defense on there. um So you need to play your guys for the rest of the run.
00:41:49
justin_daulton
You're going to get the toughest competition going forward now. And you're two wins away from playing Canada. um in the finals you're you're one and two canada the top seed going into the quarterfinals us number two seed in the quarterfinals at this point you you're two wins away from playing canada and getting your revenge so it's at this point it's it's best on the ice at all times limit your power play minutes and and let hellebuck stand that goal and let him stand on his head
00:42:16
Cody Atkinson
yeah and i think that's what you're gonna see i think um and i I probably should have looked more at what other teams were doing to see if it's similar, but I think there's an aspect early on and just seeing what you have with who you have. And so, you know, um getting, getting Hellebuck in there and making sure that he's on his game, making sure that you feel like you can rely on him for the run, but then you also want to get a look at the,
00:42:43
Cody Atkinson
You want to get a look at the backup just to see, can I count on him if we have to go to him? If Hellebuck's having a bad game, what is what does he look like right now? um And is he ready to go? Let him see some action. So I think that's i think that's what you saw there is just like, hey, we don't want to throw you in cold if we need you.
00:42:59
Cody Atkinson
So get get some minutes, um get some confidence, and you know if if we if we need you, we'll see you.
00:43:00
justin_daulton
Sure.
00:43:07
Cody Atkinson
But I think it's Hellebuck from this point forward, and I have a lot of confidence in that approach because, like I said, Hellebuck, two goals in two games, playing really, really well.
00:43:19
Cody Atkinson
um We don't know the full bracket yet, so from what I can gather, we will – um Sweden and... Oh, man, I should have written this one down. We'll play the winner of Sweden in somebody, I think.
00:43:37
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, don't have the bracket. Did you send me the bracket? Did you text me the bracket? All right, I'm going to pull that up.
00:43:40
justin_daulton
Yeah, I texted you to the bracket if you want to pull that up.
00:43:44
Cody Atkinson
I'm going stall for just a second and pull that because it's going to bother me that I don't know. Sweden and Latvia. Yeah. um which Obviously, Latvia, we've already played 5-1. We will play the winner of Sweden and Latvia, and then after that, it gets reseeded. So plenty of of opportunity for what that would be. that they Chalk would be Slovakia. So um I think in in every sense of the way, I think Canada and the US are are ah shoulders above the competition. So what we should expect to see anything other than this would be a complete and utter ah shock.
00:44:26
Cody Atkinson
as we should see U.S. versus Canada in the final. I feel really good about the U.S. team where they're at to make sure they get to that point. Like I said, I came into it with similar thoughts as you. It's like, we got to start faster. We got to be tighter. And then I went back and and watched some of the games because obviously said i didn't see them live since I was in College Station. So I watched Denmark yesterday, Germany today, and and I just feel really good about where this team's at and how they're playing.
00:44:52
Cody Atkinson
um But Canada is a different that's a different beast than than what we've been talking about.
00:44:57
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:45:00
Cody Atkinson
So ive we've got a couple questions here. We'll just start it off. I'll tee it up to you. How do we feel about the U.S. versus Canada matchup? like what What's your gut say about that?
00:45:13
justin_daulton
Yeah, I was talking to to one of my guys over here about it last week. ah The Canada national team and the U.S. s national team are almost inverse of each other. And I didn't realize until he pointed out to me, the Canada team is much stronger on their forwards, where the U.S. is stronger with their what their defensemen and the and the goalie situation.
00:45:33
justin_daulton
um So it's going to be an insane matchup once we get to U.S. and Canada. And that that, to me, it's... a It's the conversation of, you know, immovable objects against the the insurmountable force when it comes down to it that, you know, who's going really step up and own that moment.
00:45:52
justin_daulton
To me, and this is, once again, I'm i'm like you, my my knowledge comes from NHL only. I'm not an IOC. i'm not a I'm not an Olympics person through and through. But for me, goaltending wins games and the defense wins games. You need those attributes because when it comes down to it and you watch with NHL playoffs recently, these games are 0-0, 1-0 down the stretch. There are no 5-1s, 6-3s, 5-1s that we've seen in group play.
00:46:19
justin_daulton
That Canada-US matchup is going to be 0-0, maybe even two one going into the third period. And the difference is going to be who can really make those third period adjustments to really come out in that third period and and just take over the game.
00:46:38
justin_daulton
So it could it could come down to face-offs like we saw in the last Olympics four years ago. um Obviously no NHL players involved at that point, ah but you see it in the in the World Juniors, you see it in Four Nations that these games go ah to penalties, these games go to overtime.
00:46:53
justin_daulton
So... I think that's where we're heading. um It's going to be very electric to watch happen when we get to that point. But yeah, I mean, the chalk way, I mean, you're probably going to see Sweden in the quarterfinals, if I had to guess.
00:47:08
justin_daulton
And so, I mean, at that point, you're facing Victor Hepburn. um And a couple other a couple other smaller NHL players, not a lot of superstar power outside of Victor Hedman there with the big suite from Tampa.
00:47:19
justin_daulton
um And even then, he wasn't super healthy going into the Olympic season. So, I mean, you're talking about, man, you're, you know, you talked about dry sidle for Germany, right? Germany probably not going to make a run in this in in all and all of it. So it's going to come down to Canada. And, man, the NHL,
00:47:36
justin_daulton
top to bottom, that that that roster scares me. I don't know how you attack that that team, that that top to bottom. there They're an amazing team, but if there's any team that could do it, it's Team USA, and I and i fully believe in that. i you know i Just so before I could read you that, that's my prediction. I think U.S. runs it.
00:47:53
justin_daulton
And it's going to come down to I have more faith in Hellebuck. I have more faith in the defense. Hellebuck, obviously, I consider him to be a top five goalie in the NHL. um So it's I don't see why that changes going into to the gold medal match.
00:48:10
Cody Atkinson
yeah absolutely um i am think i accidentally looked up women talking i'm sure i'm trying to pull up um there's So I don't have the same confidence as you in the U.S. versus Canada. I feel really, really confident in the U.S.'s ability to get to Canada.
00:48:30
Cody Atkinson
i don't like i I don't see a slip up here. I don't see um i don't see a slip up to um the Swedens of the world, the Slovakias of the world.
00:48:46
Cody Atkinson
But this Canada team, and I'm trying to pull it up because there's Some of the, the ah um like just the box scores are insane.
00:48:57
Cody Atkinson
And there was one in particular that I'm trying to find um where it's like, it's like Connor McDavid scores assisted by Nathan McKinnon and Sidney Crosby or something ridiculous like this.
00:49:14
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:49:15
Cody Atkinson
And I thought it was here in the French game. And I might be off on it being in that one. But when I and i look at the... So I agree with you 100%. I think Canada's stronger at the forward.
00:49:28
Cody Atkinson
um I think the U.S.'s best players are defensive. Hellebuck, Eichel, some of these guys. But... Canada's forwards, Connor McDavid, Mitch Marner, Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand, Nathan McKinnon, Macklin Celebrini, Sam Bennett. I'm skipping guys. like
00:49:50
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:49:51
Cody Atkinson
That's unreal. And the craziest thing about but just reading off these is they left Connor Bedard at home.
00:50:02
Cody Atkinson
and And they they fielded a team that in my, you know, from from my position looks head and shoulder above everyone else. And they left Connor Bedard at home.
00:50:15
Cody Atkinson
Um, ah my personal opinion, and this may be fully weighted by the fact that Canada won 10 to two against France and that's ridiculous. And it might be weighted by the fact that I can read all of these names and watch Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini skate on the same line.
00:50:37
Cody Atkinson
And just think to myself, that's impossible to stop. um But I don't,
00:50:42
justin_daulton
ah john Don't forget John Cooper is the bench coach or the manager for that team too.
00:50:47
Cody Atkinson
So this is where, this is where I don't know as much as you, because I, I'm not as in on like coaches and stuff because there's no, we don't have hockey in Houston. So I don't have a team who is John Cooper.
00:50:59
justin_daulton
John Cooper is the coach of the San Valle Lightning.
00:51:02
Cody Atkinson
Oh, is he really very cool.
00:51:03
justin_daulton
Yep.
00:51:03
Cody Atkinson
I see Peter DeBoer on here as the assistant coach. He was a sharks coach back in lunch when I, when I first, when I first got into hockey, um, that's awesome.
00:51:07
justin_daulton
Back in the day, yeah.
00:51:11
justin_daulton
So obviously, i mean I mean, John Cooper was the coach of the Four Nations team last year, coach of the Lightning team. for their two Stanley Cup ah run our championships, and then obviously all the runs that they've had since 2016, all the success in Syracuse with the team down there as well.
00:51:19
Cody Atkinson
Okay.
00:51:27
justin_daulton
ah So, I mean, pedigree of winning when it comes to Canadian hockey, right?
00:51:30
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:51:32
justin_daulton
And it's only going to continue you to happen. mean, you list it off. You're putting together literally an all-NHL team when it comes to it.
00:51:40
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
00:51:42
justin_daulton
But,
00:51:43
Cody Atkinson
And leaving nothing for the rest. like
00:51:45
justin_daulton
yeah, you're all.
00:51:45
Cody Atkinson
but so So here's what I'll say. I think if they played this game 10 times, right? I think i go I'll go miracle on Iceland. If they played this game 10 times, they might win nine.
00:51:58
Cody Atkinson
Canada might win nine. They might win 10.
00:52:00
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:52:00
Cody Atkinson
But but on one game, if Hellebuck stands on his head, if the defense is lights out, if you get just that performance from, if you if you get just a a performance from the forwards that can keep up with the the Canadian forwards, there's a path, right? There's obviously, there's a path. And on any given day, anything can happen. I think If I recall correctly, I think we beat Canada early in the four nations and then lost to rematch in the finals. So, you know, this can be done.
00:52:36
Cody Atkinson
What I'll say, and I think this is where we were probably where we differ is ira my memory of the four nation finals is Jordan Binnington being the one who stood on his head and won it for Canada.
00:52:46
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:52:47
Cody Atkinson
And i so if it comes down to goaltender, I think the goaltender is a toss-up. I think Bennington can stand on his head or Hellebuck can stand on his head.
00:52:58
Cody Atkinson
And with those forwards, that's a lot of standing on your head. except but So i i love I like this U.S.
00:53:05
justin_daulton
yeah
00:53:08
Cody Atkinson
team. i believe I obviously believe in the path to the finals. I hope we can get... the performance that we need but if you're asking me to predict i just think the forwards of canada are stronger i think that's a that's a stronger unit than the the defense of usa being its best unit
00:53:30
justin_daulton
I think just through the conversation, I think no matter what, we're in for one hell of a game.
00:53:34
Cody Atkinson
absolutely
00:53:34
justin_daulton
when when we When we get to that point, right, I mean, i don't I don't see anyone giving competition to either team. On the way, it's been U.S. and Canada since Four Nations last year.
00:53:45
justin_daulton
So it's only going to be U.S. and Canada through these through the last week, right, of the Olympics with the gold medal game being, ah want to say it's Sunday. i think it's what the schedule said that I sent over to you.
00:53:56
Cody Atkinson
All
00:53:57
justin_daulton
So, I mean, we're, like I said, two wins away as the last group stage games finish off tomorrow. Tomorrow, Wednesday, I believe is the last of those games.
00:54:07
Cody Atkinson
right, now, group stage is is done. You're getting the quarter of the plan bracket thing is tomorrow, yeah.
00:54:12
justin_daulton
The quarterfinal games. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, thank you for having me there. So, yeah, I mean, we're we're we're in the thick of it, but, man, it's – it's going to be one hell of a matchup.
00:54:22
justin_daulton
I'm sad that we don't get to talk about the full preview um before the gold medal match happens, but um yeah no matter what, it's good.
00:54:27
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, it's hard it's hard to full full preview with two games in the way. you're like i'm like yeah I'm not trying to jinx nothing.
00:54:31
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:54:33
Cody Atkinson
like
00:54:34
justin_daulton
no and No, no, no, no, no. But obviously, obviously next, next week will be a great episode when we get to talk about the U S holding up that gold medal at the end of it all.
00:54:36
Cody Atkinson
I ain't previewing nothing.
00:54:43
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, yeah we get that we get the quick recap, so that'll be nice.
00:54:44
justin_daulton
So
00:54:47
justin_daulton
yeah.
00:54:48
Cody Atkinson
and
00:54:48
justin_daulton
Um,
00:54:48
Cody Atkinson
and i'll Go for it. you got so Anything else you want to say on the U.S.
00:54:51
justin_daulton
yeah No, no i was going to say last last thoughts.
00:54:52
Cody Atkinson
men's hockey?
00:54:54
justin_daulton
I mean, just for me, it's can we just get hot when it matters the most, I think is what it's going to come down to.
00:54:59
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:55:00
justin_daulton
So that's that's my last thought on it. I'm going to stick with U.S. winning over Canada.
00:55:05
Cody Atkinson
My, my last thought, and, and I think this might be a good topic for the recap episode to dive into it. So next week, the Canada left Connor Bedard at home, the number one pick in the NHL draft this year, it's probably going to be Gavin McKenna, who is Canadian.
00:55:17
justin_daulton
Mm-hmm.
00:55:24
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:55:25
Cody Atkinson
This, we might need to win it this year because it's not going to get any easier. you an older Yeah, but I'm just saying, they might be putting distance, is all I'm saying.
00:55:29
justin_daulton
I mean, it's ever it's never going to be easy, right, with Canada. So... Sure. is it
00:55:37
Cody Atkinson
Like, Macklin Celebreni, a couple of years older, Conor Bedard on the roster, a young Gavin McKenna. I'm just...
00:55:49
Cody Atkinson
I think Canada is only getting better. And so I really want to see him take it this year. But I think that might be something fun to dive into in the future is just where is Canada headed? Where's the U S headed the future of hockey? but We don't know it well enough to, to, to be that detailed on it, but off the top of my head, those are two really good names to add to a roster next time they play.
00:56:09
justin_daulton
Yeah, i can't I can't dispute that one bit.
00:56:13
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. And, and, and beyond that, uh, U S women's hockey, um, Probably the biggest wagon in sports right now. um
00:56:22
justin_daulton
Dude, it's electric.
00:56:23
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. So I didn't get to double check. So since we last talked, ah we we said we'll learn i said, I said, and I quote, we'll learn a lot about this team when they play Canada.
00:56:34
Cody Atkinson
They beat Canada five to zero the next day after we talked.
00:56:37
justin_daulton
Today. that Well, and then, yeah, and then today.
00:56:39
Cody Atkinson
No, no, that's the Canada one. They played Sweden today.
00:56:41
justin_daulton
Okay. Sweden today.
00:56:43
Cody Atkinson
So 5-0 over Canada.
00:56:43
justin_daulton
And then the Canada, the gold medal match, yeah.
00:56:46
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, 5-0 over Canada to finish our group play. 6-0 quarterfinal win over Italy. Earlier today, 5-0 semifinal win over Sweden.
00:57:00
Cody Atkinson
You said something in a text that I hadn't noticed, but the U.S. women's team has not allowed a goal yet this tournament.
00:57:07
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:57:08
Cody Atkinson
I could have sworn they did. I haven't looked back at their first three games to double check, but that's... insane i mean the last three in canada italy sweden uh no goals um sweden was four and oh coming into this game i originally thought this game was tomorrow and on the write-up my thought my right was going to be is sweden a tougher hurdle than we all are like thinking um they were not five to zero light light work Collision course with Canada is set. I don't actually know when this game is, but later this week, um Canada, a two to one over Switzerland. So gold medal match set.
00:57:52
Cody Atkinson
mar Marie Philip Poulin is Canada's captain who missed the first match.
00:57:53
justin_daulton
Nope.
00:57:58
Cody Atkinson
So we will get a more healthy Canada team in the finals than we originally faced.
00:58:04
justin_daulton
Sure.
00:58:06
Cody Atkinson
um I have some questions here. I don't, I don't know how in like how locked in on this team you are, so I don't know that i how in-depth we want to get, but um what do what do you think about this matchup? So we got U.S.-Canada again. Where do you lie on that?
00:58:24
Cody Atkinson
I ah have some questions that are probably too to in-depth. Where do we think the advantage lies? Where do we think? I don't i don't know how how locked in you are, but thoughts.
00:58:34
justin_daulton
Yeah, I mean, not as locked in on as as we are, I think, on the men's side that we actually can name players. i don't think I can name you one player from the women's hockey team, unfortunately. um But I can tell you that when you sit there and tell me that goalie has not given up a single goal in, what, six games, five games, whatever it's been now, and on a closing course with Canada, it's hard to not bet on a goalie that hasn't given up a goal.
00:58:59
justin_daulton
And I think that's the advantage at this point. You know, when you when you sit down and you talk about the hot hand, right? We just talked about with the men's side. Can we get hot and stay hot? And can we score goals when it matters the most?
00:59:11
justin_daulton
At this point, man, the women's are – they're winning and they're winning convincingly against the best in the world. So to me, it's going – whether or not you have your captain or not – You go in there you play your brand of hockey with the women's side and you walk out with a gold medal.
00:59:28
justin_daulton
And it's you have a potential to, and think but within the same text message I sent you earlier, you have the potential to become the greatest international team in any sport at that point.
00:59:39
Cody Atkinson
Pretty much.
00:59:39
justin_daulton
And it's and and obviously we would need to look at other dominant ones in there, right? You you talk about dream team on the on the basketball side um from the eighty s and 90s.
00:59:47
Cody Atkinson
Well, might talk about it on the baseball side too.
00:59:50
justin_daulton
Baseball side, right, we have a lot to talk about there.
00:59:50
Cody Atkinson
it
00:59:52
justin_daulton
But I mean, you're talking about one of the most dominant runs in any international world setting ever. When you talk about that, they are going to potentially be the only team to never give up a single goal.
01:00:00
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:00:05
justin_daulton
And we'll fact check this on the back end to make sure that there isn't anything comparable to that. But it's hard to not have that conversation around this team if they can if they can do this against Canada.
01:00:14
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I mean, definitely. And when you talk about like not giving up a single goal, these aren't 1-0, 2-0 games either. These are 5-0, 6-0. Not only are they not giving up goals, but they're scoring at will.
01:00:27
Cody Atkinson
I've watched – I didn't get to watch today's. i was i thought it was at 2 o'clock and it was the morning game, so I – mixed it up. But I watched some of the previous games, includ including the Italy game, and they like the Italian goalie stood on her head for a period in the first period. And then in the second period, just she couldn't do it anymore. There's too much too much peppering.
01:00:50
Cody Atkinson
I want to say, maybe it was that game, I want to say the shot the shot disadvantage if... so if the U.S. goalie had only stopped one shot the whole game, had only one save the whole game, we we'll move on from this here pretty quickly because I i don't think we have a whole a whole lot to say.
01:01:07
justin_daulton
That's a crazy stat. My God.
01:01:17
Cody Atkinson
um But i think that the difference here, what we're going to see is My understanding is Canada brought a much older roster to the Olympics than the U.S.
01:01:27
justin_daulton
Mm-hmm.
01:01:28
Cody Atkinson
s did. The U.S. went youth and speed. Canada went with the experience. So going into a gold medal match, Canada has the experience where the U.S. is the us doesn't have as much on their side.
01:01:40
Cody Atkinson
But this late in a tournament, U.S. has youth and fresh legs. um Canada at older is going to probably be a little more susceptible to the wear and tear. um Even with the captain coming back, I think this really favors the U.S. They skated circles around Canada, and i and I hope to see them do it again. So um I think that's about um all I have say on U.S. women's hockey. I can't wait to watch it. a gold medal in hockey.
01:02:07
Cody Atkinson
a Huge fan of the idea. And so with that, we'll turn it over to the to the next major international competition heading our way with the World Baseball Classic.
World Baseball Classic Team Analysis
01:02:20
Cody Atkinson
I know we are both locked into this because we have the pleasure of having, ah for me, fully local, for you, semi-local opportunity to see this. um What we did here, so we're we're coming off the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
01:02:34
Cody Atkinson
um If you remember that, that was the iconic Otani Strikes Out. It was a strikeout, right?
01:02:40
justin_daulton
Trout.
01:02:41
Cody Atkinson
Strikes out Mike Trout to get the gold.
01:02:42
justin_daulton
Strikes out trout, yeah.
01:02:43
Cody Atkinson
incorre Even as a US fan, I couldn't help a clap at that. I was like, that's just that's textbook. It's picturesque. um but
01:02:49
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:02:51
Cody Atkinson
the So it was Japan gold, US silver. um i don't think they actually play the consolation game from what I can tell, but Mexico got third and Cuba was fourth.
01:03:04
Cody Atkinson
So that's that's the breakdown of what what we're coming off of.
01:03:04
justin_daulton
Okay.
01:03:07
Cody Atkinson
This is going to be broken into four pools Pool A playing in puer Puerto Rico. Pool B playing in Houston. Pool C is Tokyo. And then Pool D is Miami. What we did was we split these in half. So I've got Pool A and B since those are the two teams that will be coming to play quarterfinals here in Houston. Justin, you've got Pool C and D. And we're just going to do do a little high level run through. We're not going to do, we're not goingnna deep dive every team, but the teams that we think um are the ones necessary to highlight, we're going to highlight. And then we can kind of regroup here at the end.
01:03:46
Cody Atkinson
um This is going to be, this is going to wordy from the two of us, Justin. So we just got, we just got to have a system here.
01:03:50
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:03:52
Cody Atkinson
Just a little hand up or something. if If you want to interject, cause like I'm going to get rolling on my pool A and B teams and I'm just going to roll. until I'm done. So if you want to interject, just throw the hand up, we'll pause, we'll we'll do some back and forth and I'll do that for you just ah just to make sure we're not getting too bogged down.
01:04:12
justin_daulton
If you want it, let' you go a then I go C, then you go B, then I go D. That way we can kind of break up the break up the flow a little bit.
01:04:16
Cody Atkinson
Oh yeah, that's better. Yeah, let's do that.
01:04:19
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, yeah, no, that's good. Let's do that.
01:04:19
justin_daulton
So, yeah, if you want to lead if you want to if you want to lead us off with the
01:04:23
justin_daulton
the puerto rico ah
01:04:24
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:04:26
justin_daulton
one
01:04:26
Cody Atkinson
No, i so i'm the I'm excited for this breakdown because i i was deep diving today and I was like, oh my gosh, I can't wait for this tournament. um I really expected it to be a clear cut.
01:04:38
Cody Atkinson
There's going to be two teams that I'm going to dive into and the other three I'm throw away. I didn't get that in my two pools. We got some competition here. Pool A, playing in San Juan, Puerto Rico. we have Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama, and Puerto Rico. Canada...
01:04:53
Cody Atkinson
Sneaky talented roster. I didn't know this. ah No Freddie Freeman this year. Freddie Freeman has been playing for Canada in past World Cups. He is not playing this year.
01:05:04
Cody Atkinson
The day of an outfield of Denzel Clark, if you remember the highlights of this man robbing home runs for the A's early in the season.
01:05:12
justin_daulton
Yep, I sure do.
01:05:12
Cody Atkinson
um They have Owen Cassie from the Cubs and Tyler O'Neal. That's their outfit. That's a legit MLB outfield. Their infield includes the Naylor bros, Josh Naylor and Bo Naylor.
01:05:25
Cody Atkinson
um And they have a rotation. I didn't write tell first names on this one because I didn't. I decided to make it more difficult for myself, but and maybe maybe you'll recognize all these names too, but Michael Soroka, Jameson Taillon, James Paxton, and Cal Quantrill all pitching for Canada.
01:05:43
Cody Atkinson
um I don't think they can compete with the big dogs, but this is a team that can definitely come out of Pule with Puerto Rico. um There's a lot more to Team Canada than I thought there was.
01:05:59
Cody Atkinson
Columbia, you'll recognize a few names here. Julio Teran, Jose Quintana, and Gio Urshula all playing for Columbia. um im Not going to deep dive much into that. Don't expect them to have the the depth to compete in this bracket, but some fun names.
01:06:16
Cody Atkinson
on, on Columbia. The other competitor with Canada to come out of pool A is Cuba. As we noted earlier, coming off of a fourth place finish in 2023, roster headlined on the MLB side by Yohan Mankata um on the WBC side.
01:06:35
Cody Atkinson
I don't know these names, but these guys have major contributions to the 2023 run Alfredo, the Spain, the spawn. Yeah. and eris bell a rub arena i'm doing my best
01:06:49
justin_daulton
Real quick. No, real quick. just just just ah Just to help you out real quick. Despania, I saw a clip today. ah Last season in the Cuban Leagues. This guy's never played Major League Baseball ever.
01:07:01
Cody Atkinson
yeah that's a good fact
01:07:01
justin_daulton
He's only played in Cuba. ah Broke the single season home run record in Cuba last year. um and um And the other fun fact for you on the WBC side, holds the most home runs in WBC history with seven and is playing again this year. So has a chance to extend his lead in the home run category. So that's my fun fact that have for you for Cuba.
01:07:25
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, and those were two names I did not expect to highlight coming into this, but I was trying to look into what what did they retain from the 2023 run, and those were two major contributors. they They will be missing Luis Robert Jr. and Yuenes Cespedes, although Cespedes didn't really appear to be a major factor.
01:07:45
Cody Atkinson
So I think the question for Cuba is, is did they lose too much um or were they able to retain enough to make another run? But definitely going to be a competitive team in Puey.
01:08:00
Cody Atkinson
Panama, my note here is happy to be here. That's what i know for for Panama names. You might know Jose, Jose Caballero. Does that ring a bell? Christian, that Christian Betancourt hasn't played in the MLB in a couple of years.
01:08:09
justin_daulton
Yep, sure does.
01:08:12
justin_daulton
Okay.
01:08:14
Cody Atkinson
And then, Ruben Tejada hasn't played in the MLB for quite some time.
01:08:19
Cody Atkinson
i'm Happy to be here. Happy to be here, Panama. Puerto Rico, favorite to win the pool. This is where we can dive into insurance, but they're going to be missing Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa due to insurance issues.
01:08:19
justin_daulton
Okay.
01:08:35
Cody Atkinson
Javi Baez also had insurance issues, but also is banned from the tournament this year for a testing positive for weed in 2023.
01:08:42
justin_daulton
Oh.
01:08:43
Cody Atkinson
Um, so insurance regardless, he would not have, have been competing still very stacked, uh, Christian Vasquez and Martine Maldonado for the two catchers, um, two catchers very familiar with city of Houston. Um, Nolan Aranato at first base, uh, Edwin Diaz is the closer, uh, Seth Lugo, one of the, the starting pitching names. Um, still, still a very good team. Uh, the team that, that I expect to take this pool, um,
01:09:11
Cody Atkinson
But the insurance issues, I think, are going to be the difference between them and the elite tier of teams that we'll see in the other three pools. yeah But before I move on from Puerto Rico, the the biggest story, Puerto Rico, obviously insurance, keeping out star players.
01:09:29
Cody Atkinson
Anything you want to add to that? You got the thoughts on that? Are you going to leave that one on the table?
01:09:33
justin_daulton
No, I mean, obviously you hate to see the insurance issues plaguing you know into something that's amazing, like the World Baseball Classic. So, I mean, at the end of it all, I still think Puerto Rico comes out on top. I don't see any way that any of the other ones – do enough against a roster that's cornerstone by Nolan Arnauto and Edwin Diaz.
01:09:55
justin_daulton
Like, I mean, you're talking about two two guys that are the top of their positions in the in Major League Baseball. So i don't see I don't see any way that anyone tops that roster.
01:10:05
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. In pooling that is.
01:10:08
justin_daulton
In pool A, yeah, for sure.
01:10:09
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:10:09
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:10:09
justin_daulton
I think that we'll ah we'll definitely hit on some other ones that are way more favored as we as we continue through.
01:10:12
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:10:17
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, so my prediction for this pool, um Puerto Rico wins. And I'm going Canada to upset Cuba and take the second seed out of this out of this pool.
01:10:27
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:10:28
Cody Atkinson
i This might be, I hand up, this might be MLB bias. i did The names on Canada are just names that I know and names that I like. And obviously some of the major contributors for Cuba, guys I'm not familiar with their game.
01:10:44
Cody Atkinson
Obviously they did it in 2023, they could do it again this year, but I like what Canada has. So I'm going to go with the upset, Puerto Rico and Canada advance out of full A. I hate to see it on the insurance side, but money is money in sports. The money's too big.
01:10:57
Cody Atkinson
It's going it's going to happen. Hopefully we can get this worked out and we can avoid this in future because we need stars in the world baseball classic. Make it great. and It needs, it needs the stars to be great.
01:11:07
Cody Atkinson
So I hope we can figure it out, but that that's pool. Hey man, you want to, you want to kick us off with Tokyo pool C exciting, exciting pool.
01:11:14
justin_daulton
Tokyo. Yeah, I think going into my deep dive, I was expecting, i think my my pool C here in Tokyo was kind of similar to you with pool A, that there was going to be the top two, and then the rush word is going to be kind of throwaways. But ultimately, ended up being really surprised by some of the the research that I did coming into it.
01:11:35
justin_daulton
um So just to kind of recap, in this pool, you have Australia, Chinese Taipei, Shakya, Japan and Korea. um Obviously we know 2023 Japan gold medal Shohei Otani. There's not much else that we really need to say about team in Japan. You got MLB players stacked on that roster. You got Yoshida in there. So, I mean, you got, you got players everywhere. You got the the Japan league.
01:12:01
justin_daulton
Everyone's in there. So, mean, there's not a whole lot that we need to say when it comes to Japan as a whole. I fully expect that. I don't think there's anyone. Yeah. Yeah.
01:12:08
Cody Atkinson
I just want to say ah real shame Atani's not pitching and missing Rokki, were you going to go there?
01:12:14
justin_daulton
Pitching, yeah.
01:12:16
Cody Atkinson
i might Am I cutting you?
01:12:18
justin_daulton
No, you're good. You're good. You're good.
01:12:19
Cody Atkinson
was going to say Rokki Sasaki not there and Tatsuya Imae not there. A little disappointing from Astro's perspective.
01:12:24
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:12:25
Cody Atkinson
I'm glad Tatsuya is saving his elbow.
01:12:28
justin_daulton
Yeah. I mean, obviously we, we, we talked a lot about insurance issues, and even with Otani just hitting dudes probably the best hitter in baseball and and on the global level.
01:12:36
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:12:38
justin_daulton
So just getting to see him play on the global side, I'm good with it. So I'm glad that there was some sort of insurance that I'll still allow Shohei Otani to play baseball and the world baseball classic. But, uh, ah The only other name that I wanted to highlight was Jin Ryu for the Toronto Blue Jays. Dude is a stud. bull pin Guy closed out games for the the Blue Jays all last season.
01:13:00
justin_daulton
um So, I mean, it's back to him expect to see. Sorry, that I'm bleeding into Korea. My apologies.
01:13:06
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, as I was gonna say that's Korea, I think.
01:13:06
justin_daulton
I'll just roll right into Korea then. Yeah.
01:13:09
Cody Atkinson
Go for it.
01:13:10
justin_daulton
Yep. So as I just said, Jen Ryu, out of the pen, dude's going to close out every game for Korea. um Only other name for that I wanted to mention to you because you have been in the inside track on Houston, Shea Whitcomb.
01:13:23
justin_daulton
i
01:13:24
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, random.
01:13:25
justin_daulton
Random guy playing for Korea. I don't know if you know anything about him. It looks like he got a couple games up on the big last year, but playing for Team Korea.
01:13:32
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. Yeah. Wick home is a, he's one of those quad a type guys. He, he rakes in triple a, um, when he gets to the majors, it's, he's never really, he's just never really cemented himself there.
01:13:45
Cody Atkinson
Um, he's, he's seen action in Houston. I think most Astros fans are, are very familiar with this game. a guy that you really root for, but it's never really, never really turns it on. He's a that dead classic kind of quality type player.
01:14:01
justin_daulton
there
01:14:02
Cody Atkinson
Um, have no idea how he's playing for Korea.
01:14:06
justin_daulton
um But yeah, i kind of looking ahead, Korea is probably the only team that I really see with the star power that they do have on the team, the roster that they do have. They're the really main competitor against Japan.
01:14:21
justin_daulton
um But as i'll as we move into these other ones, there is some other competition that i kind of snuck up on me that I didn't expect. And I'm going to talk about the next one in Chinese Taipei. um I really wasn't expecting them to have a roster worth noting until I pulled up their roster and MLB players out the wazoo, man. I mean, there's, you have players um like Stuart Fairchild for Cleveland, Lyle Lynn for the athletics, Uman Lynn for Arizona. These are all guys that are starting or will be starting this year for their respective teams and major league baseball.
01:14:58
justin_daulton
So it's, it's going to be insane, but you're also talking about the teams in Korea play baseball, very similar to teams in Japan. They play a very similar style. Um, they're going to pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch. Um, and then eventually this wear you down to the point to where, um they are going to win the game just because they've worn you down to the point to where you can't even get runners on base.
01:15:19
justin_daulton
Um, so it's, it's going to be, it's going to be fun to watch Korea, um, go up against Japan in group stage. I don't think they beat Japan in the long run. Um, but it's going to be fun to watch them with Korea, Chinese Taipei.
01:15:33
justin_daulton
It's going to be a great team to watch. um I see you highlighting a name. I was going to Australia next. Oh,
01:15:40
Cody Atkinson
Oh, I didn't forgot you can see that. I was making sure I remembered. i was making sure I had a fact about him correct because I was going to raise my hand when you got to him.
01:15:50
justin_daulton
Yeah, ah not much to say about Australia. I think we can see the parallels to Panama. Just happy to be here. Just happy to be playing in baseball in ah and a country that primarily just plays cricket. um But Travis Bazana, thank you,
01:16:04
Cody Atkinson
Bizarre.
01:16:05
justin_daulton
baana thank you ah a major league baseball prospect right now for the Cleveland guardians. But everything that I've read and saw leading up to WBC um is this guy is going to be a stud in in major league baseball in the, in the probably the next year or two.
01:16:23
justin_daulton
And will be the only reason why Australia probably wins baseball games if they win any games in group stage.
01:16:29
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, Travis Bazzana, Oregon State legend. um Loved watching him play. I'm a college baseball head, so locked in on Travis Bazzana. was him, Jack Caglione, Charlie Condon. There a couple of guys like that that ah came out a couple years ago, a very college-heavy top of the draft. Travis, I want to say he was like the fourth pick, or he might have actually been higher. He might have been the one that got taken number one by Cleveland as a little bit of a cost saving.
01:17:00
Cody Atkinson
hugh Very excited to watch Travis Bazzana play in the World Baseball Classic against some higher level competition.
01:17:07
justin_daulton
Yeah. um And then I'll close the loop on this one with Czechia. um Not a whole lot going on here. um Only MLB presence that I wrote down was Taren Vivara for Baltimore.
01:17:22
justin_daulton
um Not a whole lot to really say about this team. um I think just because it's an international team, you're going to see them in that collection of that Korea, Japan, Reign, Chinese Taipei playing very similar styles of baseball.
01:17:36
justin_daulton
um So they're going to give each other runs for their money. But I think eventually just the star power in the the rest of the group is going to outshine. the Czechia is the Australia's of it all.
01:17:47
justin_daulton
um So my predictions in order was Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei, Australia, then Czechia. So obviously Japan and Korea, the ones that move on to the quarterfinals over here in Miami.
01:17:58
Cody Atkinson
Absolutely. And that now going to have some fun. Pool B playing in Houston at the artist formerly known Minute Maid Park. um We have the juice box, now the ice box, Daikin Park.
01:18:07
justin_daulton
The juice box.
01:18:13
Cody Atkinson
Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, USA. This is going to be a fun, and fun pool.
01:18:20
justin_daulton
Jeez.
01:18:22
Cody Atkinson
um A couple of fun facts about Brazil. um I learned this one from from Ben Verlander. in his podcast, 6'4", Joseph Contreras, is 17 years old, throws 99, and will probably be the ace for Brazil.
01:18:41
Cody Atkinson
that's so that's That's a fun one right there.
01:18:42
justin_daulton
geez
01:18:43
Cody Atkinson
Son of former big leaguer Jose Contreras, 17 years old, throws 99, I now want to see what what what the career path for this kid is because that's a name I feel like you want to circle um as long as that arm holds up. Also of note, Dante Bichette Jr., older brother of Bo Bichette, plays for per Brazil. Bo Bichette has played for Brazil in the past, is now playing in the World Cup this year. So a couple of couple of names on Brazil.
01:19:11
Cody Atkinson
i'm Happy to be here. Great Britain. i Also happy to be here. Reportedly is going to have better uniforms than last time, if you remember those things. um Big names for great yeah the Times New Roman that I think was falling off on a couple of guys.
01:19:23
justin_daulton
The time's new Roman.
01:19:27
Cody Atkinson
There letters hanging off. um Jazz Chisholm.
01:19:29
justin_daulton
Yep.
01:19:31
Cody Atkinson
Jazz Chisholm is going to be the second baseman. And Harry Ford is the catcher, former first-round pick. um harry ford so couple of names there but brazil great britain are kind of the two that you don't expect a ton from in this bracket but the competition and the other three uh italy i wrote the same thing i wrote for canada sneaky sneaky talented roster
01:19:53
justin_daulton
Mm-hmm. a
01:19:54
Cody Atkinson
Check this out. Michael Lorenzen, if you're familiar with that. I believe he has a no-hitter in the big leagues. Aaron Nola of the Phillies. Adam Ottavino, bullpen specialist.
01:20:05
Cody Atkinson
um Kyle Teal, another young up-and-coming catcher for the White Sox. Zach DiCenzo, not a huge name, but he does play for the Astros, so I threw that one in there.
01:20:17
Cody Atkinson
um Miles Mastroboni, Vinny Pascantino, Jack Caglione, Jacob Marcy. um that's a talented roster. i know I only know Jacob Marcy from when the Astros played the Marlins. And I said, who's that guy in center field? And why can't we get a hit in the center field today? but He was tracking everything down. This guy's a just a speed demon out there. So I'm excited to see what he does. Jack Caglione, again, i mentioned him when talking about Travis Pazana, stud at Florida, already in the big leagues.
01:20:48
Cody Atkinson
um Two-way player at Florida would love if he got the opportunity to pitch. That would be a lot of fun. Vinny Pascantino, i mean, we see what the Royals are kind of doing with their young their young talent. A lot to like on this team. A lot to like on this Italy team.
01:21:04
Cody Atkinson
They're going to be competing pretty heavily with Mexico for for this, to make it out of this. Bracket Mexico, again, third place finish in 2023. um Some names to know, Javier Asad, Taj Bradley, a name you'll know, Daniel daniel Duarte, T1 Walker,
01:21:23
Cody Atkinson
Alejandro Kirk, Jaron Duran, and Randy Rosarena. Now, if you remember 2023 closely, super closely Mexico in 2023 was the Randy Rosarena show.
01:21:37
Cody Atkinson
He was a monster in 2023.
01:21:37
justin_daulton
Sure was.
01:21:40
Cody Atkinson
Big question. Can he repeat that performance? They are missing Alex Verdugo off of that 2023 team and Isak Paredes. So that's a lot to be missing.
01:21:52
Cody Atkinson
But Alejandro Kirk missed 2023 for some reason. He was named. to the roster didn't play so I'm guessing he got hurt or something and Jaron Duran was kind of a fourth outfielder on that roster he's come into his own since then a little bit more I would say the the question between Mexico and Italy to me is is going to be does Mexico have the pitching to get through Italy because I I think there's more names to me for Italy's pitching.
01:22:22
Cody Atkinson
When you think of Aaron Nola and Michael Lorenzen and Adam Modavino in the bullpen, there's a little bit more there to me. When I look at Mexico, I don't know a ton about Javier Assad.
01:22:34
Cody Atkinson
He pitched well in 2023, but Taj Bradley feels like the big name for them.
01:22:39
justin_daulton
Mm-hmm.
01:22:39
Cody Atkinson
And is is that enough to overcome, um so overcome Italy? So we'll get to that after the U S and, USA might be the best roster ever assembled.
01:22:51
Cody Atkinson
that is Simply put.
USA's World Baseball Classic Strategy
01:22:53
Cody Atkinson
In 2023, you had the bats. You didn't have the arms because because the arms didn't pitch in the WBC. You have the arms now. You have Paul Skeens and Tarek Skubal headlining the rotation.
01:23:06
Cody Atkinson
i do wish that Hunter Brown was the third. in this rotation. i think it's a real shame that he's not playing, but you do also have Nolan McLean who ah emerged for the Mets this year. You have Joe Ryan who might be one of the more underrated starters in the league.
01:23:23
Cody Atkinson
And you have Logan Webb, a bullpen, Mason Miller, David Bednar, Griffin Jacks, just to name a few. um i It wasn't, it's Todd Bradley and Griffin Jacks. Was that the trade?
01:23:37
justin_daulton
Yes, it was, it sure was.
01:23:37
Cody Atkinson
This offseason. That was the trade, right?
01:23:39
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:23:39
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. Just fun fact for you there. And look at this potential lineup. Catcher Cal Raleigh. First baseman Bryce Harper. Second baseman, I think it's Bryson Terang.
01:23:54
Cody Atkinson
Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Third base Alex Bregman. Outfield Aaron Judge. Byron Buxton. Pete Crow Armstrong. Kyle Schwarber at DH. Yeah.
01:24:06
Cody Atkinson
it's
01:24:06
justin_daulton
Yep.
01:24:09
Cody Atkinson
That's unreal. You have two of the of the all time of the very few all-time 60-plus home run hitters in this lineup. um And you have Paul Skeens, Tarek Skubal, Nolan McLean, Joe Ryan, and Logan Webb in their rotation.
01:24:26
Cody Atkinson
if If you don't win it all this year, we need to have a talk. That's all I can say on that.
01:24:33
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:24:33
Cody Atkinson
So, true team.
01:24:35
justin_daulton
there's not i don't I don't think there's anything else that, I don't think there's anything to be said about this USA roster. um It's assembled with one goal in mind, and it is to get revenge against Japan.
01:24:47
justin_daulton
like that is
01:24:47
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:24:48
justin_daulton
That is why this roster is assembled. why you, as the as the as Team USA, go out and get Paul Skeens, go out and get Tariq Skubal to come out here and pitch and be your one-two.
01:25:00
justin_daulton
um It's i don't There's nothing else to be said. call Cal Riley, Aaron Judge, probably conversation for a different day as we get close to the MLB season kicking up. Cal Riley probably should have won MVP last year over Aaron Judge.
01:25:13
justin_daulton
um But, I mean, it's it's stacked. only we even and You're not even touching on the bench players that are in there for Team USA.
01:25:20
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, the coach players, more bullpen players I didn't list.
01:25:21
justin_daulton
i mean, it's – yeah, yeah.
01:25:24
Cody Atkinson
It's insane.
01:25:26
justin_daulton
But yeah, there's there's one goal in mind. the only other note that I have in terms of pull B, um I think you touched on it with Mexico, right? Can Randy Orozarena, former Tampa Bay Rave, but now obviously with Seattle, um you know, obviously rejuvenated his career up there in Seattle.
01:25:41
justin_daulton
Can he continue on what he's doing up there? He had a big season for Seattle last year with Kyle Riley, i obviously overshadowed by a big dumper up there. um But yeah, it's going to be it's gonna fun to watch that one over there in Houston for sure.
01:25:56
Cody Atkinson
Absolutely. and In formal prediction, I'm going to say U.S. and Mexico make it out. um i ah don't have the guts to to say Canada over Cuba and Italy over Mexico.
01:26:08
Cody Atkinson
So I'm going to go with Mexico here.
01:26:09
justin_daulton
Mm-hmm.
01:26:12
Cody Atkinson
um I just think they find it i think they find enough pitching. And yeah, so we'll kick it over to pool deep.
01:26:20
justin_daulton
Yeah, there's just a lot of parallels, honestly, in this topic. Our poll A and C and now B and D very similar to each other. um This is the Miami um regional, whatever we want to call these early group stage games. um This is Dominican Republic, Israel, Netherlands, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
01:26:37
justin_daulton
um This group play is stacked. did not realize how stacked it was until I did my research here. um I'm going to save the beast of it all to the end DR and touch on one that we'll we'll start from bottom to top. we'll but We'll go with my predictions.
01:26:56
justin_daulton
So my last place team is the Netherlands. Just ah ultimately, yeah.
01:26:59
Cody Atkinson
Whoa, Netherlands last.
01:27:02
justin_daulton
and i'll And I'll explain as we get through it. um not i don't For me with the Nethers, they have the MLB talent, but they don't i don't think they have enough. um And then really what it comes down to, and I'll list out some names for you, Andrew Jones is the manager. Obviously, big thorn in the side of Houston Astro fans in the 90s.
01:27:20
justin_daulton
um The team is low-key stacked with MLB talent. You have Kenley Jansen, Ozzy Alves, Xander Bogarts, Dede Gregorius, Jeremy Profar, and Jerickson Profar. Their offense is stacked.
01:27:31
justin_daulton
The issue is they don't have pitching.
01:27:33
Cody Atkinson
Okay.
01:27:33
Cody Atkinson
and okay
01:27:33
justin_daulton
So, and that's going to be their downfall for me.
01:27:36
justin_daulton
And that's the reason why i'm picking them to be last is they just don't, obviously I don't know every single player on this team. But when you look at the star power of pitchers for the rest of these teams, I'm all on board that I think that the Netherlands can do enough on the offensive side, but I just don't think they're going to to be able to shut down a team.
01:27:55
justin_daulton
on You're probably talking about games that can end up being 10 to 8, 12 to 9 type of type of type of scores um And it's just because they can't keep the other team off the bases. um My next team is Nicaragua.
01:28:09
justin_daulton
Another eml or Houston shout out for you, Dusty Baker, manager of this of this team. um
01:28:14
Cody Atkinson
That's right.
01:28:15
justin_daulton
Not the most impressive roster, but what has happened in the last two months? I don't know how much you've been watching international baseball or kept a pulse on international baseball. This Nicaragua team has been playing in all these South American, Central America like leagues, and even the the islands down here, south of Florida.
01:28:34
justin_daulton
They've been playing all these league teams, and international teams, and blowing them out. I'm talking about it's not even close. I'm talking 15-2, 12-0, like blowout wins. So they may not be the prettiest or flashiest team out there, but what they have is the fundamentals, and ultimately fundamentals win this baseball games.
01:28:55
justin_daulton
We're going to talk a lot about it throughout the season, you know, me being a Rays fan, you being an Astros fan. both teams that play analytical baseball, play fundamentals, you know, hit the ball for average. Don't, you don't have to worry about power and when, and you don't need power, you know, that's what this Nicaragua team is going to do They're going to play small ball. They're going to get runs on the board and they're going to see the unions kind of keep up. And that's just the the way they've been playing baseball.
01:29:17
justin_daulton
So it's going fun to watch them. i just don't think there's going to be enough um when it comes to what I consider to be the top three um and my sleeper, best what could be not best team but upper echelon, top half team in Israel.
01:29:33
justin_daulton
And I didn't think Israel had it until I kind of did some research on who they had. I'm going to highlight Brad Ausmus is the manager there. Kevin Ucullis is the bench coach.
01:29:45
justin_daulton
um And then you have brothers CJ Stubbs and Garrett Stubbs on that team. Obviously some Houston connections there. um And then Harrison Bader being the focal point of this team, um they're going to be a sleeper, man.
01:29:52
Cody Atkinson
Absolutely.
01:29:59
justin_daulton
it's This roster is constructed in a way that they're not going to be a team that wants to go up there and hit nukes all day long. It's going be very similar to Nicaragua.
01:30:09
justin_daulton
They're going to pitch. They're going to pitch well. Harrison Bader obviously is a beast. We all know that. um The Stubbs brothers may not be the most glamorous ones up there, but once again, really good like rotational guys, platoon guys that are going to go out there and do what they need to do.
01:30:24
justin_daulton
But I think just because of where you know Nicaragua not having enough star power, Netherlands obviously have the offense, but no pitching. i think Israel is just more kind of a ah ah culmination of both of those teams to where they are more well-rounded than those bottom two teams for me. So that's honestly the bottom three shaping up here.
01:30:44
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:30:45
Cody Atkinson
you missed You missed a name on this Israel roster.
01:30:48
justin_daulton
Did I, well, which one did I miss?
01:30:49
Cody Atkinson
there's If you look at the pictures, there's a name that I don't think you recognized when you looked at it because there's not a picture next to it.
01:30:57
justin_daulton
Oh, which one was it?
01:30:57
Cody Atkinson
a recent recent Recent Texas A&M legend Ryan Prager is pitching for Israel.
01:31:03
justin_daulton
Okay.
01:31:04
Cody Atkinson
So Friday night starter for the last two seasons for A&M, Ryan Prager, fun shout out, is one of the pitchers on this Israel team. So a definite reason to be rooting for Israel there, at least for us. Huge fan of of Prager.
01:31:23
Cody Atkinson
Recent drafted in last year's MLB draft. So love that.
01:31:26
justin_daulton
All right. Yeah. miss Missed him on my, on my research, but obviously when you're looking at 10 different teams, rosters, you're, you're bound to miss it.
01:31:33
Cody Atkinson
Oh, yeah.
01:31:34
justin_daulton
You're bound to miss some people. Um,
01:31:35
Cody Atkinson
Oh, certainly. And he he only stands out to to us. Everyone else is like, who's that?
01:31:42
justin_daulton
ah So my second place team in this one, and there's not a lot to talk about just because of just name alone. But my my second place team in this pool is Venezuela.
01:31:53
justin_daulton
um Just stacked. I don't need to list it out for you. um Literally, you name them, they're on that team. The only big notes to really go into, obviously no Altuve and no Miguel Rojas, both due to insurance reasons.
01:32:08
justin_daulton
um So obviously Altuve down here in Florida getting ready for the season with Houston. um Sad to see those guys not playing for the Venezuelan national team. um But I mean, they got enough star power.
01:32:20
justin_daulton
yeah Yeah, you're missing a second baseman there in Altuve and probably one of the best second basements in the world. ah But they'll be just fine. um now let's talk about the the beast of this one um and it's going to be the dominican republic um i think leading up to this i if you would have put a gun to my head and asked me is there is there any team outside of u.s or canada or japan that can win this whole thing i would tell you that it's the dominican republic and even through my my research the dominican republic is still a team that can do that um my only
01:32:50
Cody Atkinson
ah More so after your research, I would think.
01:32:53
justin_daulton
Yeah, even more so after my research, and we'll well i'll dig or we'll we'll dig a little deeper into it here in a second. um My only question is is the roster too old to make the run? um As we talked about with the the Olympics, with the with the hockey side of things, um these guys, while they are relying very heavily on star power and these big names, they're A lot of them are getting old. So let's dive into some of these names.
01:33:17
justin_daulton
um So you're maybe the best outfield in the World Baseball Classic. Let's just rip that band-aid off right now. You have O'Neal Cruz Jr. in the outfield, Julio Rodriguez, Juan Soto, and your platoon guy is is Fernando Tatis Jr.
01:33:33
Cody Atkinson
read
01:33:34
justin_daulton
That's your outfield. Like it's insane. Albert Polis is your manager, keeping an eye on junior Kemmerino from the Rays as a guy that can, that debuted last year for the Rays and as could potentially step up and, and, and be a stud for the Rays going into this season.
01:33:52
justin_daulton
um So those are the younger guys, but man, it's, this team is stacked. I mean, I didn't, I didn't even have all the names written down for you, but there's the, let me pull that roster back up for Cause I don't want to, I want to make sure i give you every single name.
01:34:04
justin_daulton
Um,
01:34:04
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, i'll I'll rattle a couple while you while you get that pulled up. um Noted Dominican Austin Wells catcher was supposed to be Yiner Diaz. That was another insurance issue. that The team would have been even better with that.
01:34:22
Cody Atkinson
um So what I can recall is Camonero, what is what whatd is his position? Is he a third baseman?
01:34:29
justin_daulton
ah me Yeah, he's an infielder naturally on the left side of the of the infield. So bounces between short and third.
01:34:35
Cody Atkinson
Okay.
01:34:37
justin_daulton
But I have the roster now for you whenever you're whenever you're whenever you're done.
01:34:38
Cody Atkinson
So you're...
01:34:41
Cody Atkinson
Okay, I'll... Yeah, I'll let you rattle it first and then I'll say what I was going to say because it it just is off of that roster.
01:34:46
justin_daulton
So, yeah, so your pitchers, Albert Abreu, Cindy Alcantara, Elvis Alvarado, ah Gregory Soto, Sir Anthony Dominguez, Wandi Peralta, Christopher Sanchez, Edwin Yusata,
01:35:04
justin_daulton
i Abner, Yubre, catchers, you're going to Augustine Ramirez, Austin Wells for catcher. um As you already noted, infielders, Junior Camarano, Vladimir Guerrero, Junior, Manny Machado, Quetel Marte, Carlos Santana, Ahmad Rosario, Jeremy Pena, Geraldo Promato.
01:35:24
justin_daulton
ah We already talked about the outfield, but I mean, this team is, it's stacked, dude. it the the The age worries me. The Machados are getting older. Um,
01:35:35
justin_daulton
even your pitching staff, right? You're Albert Abreu, who's not really young anymore in terms of the upper echelon of pitching. And obviously we've seen that recently with, with older arms kind of getting to the end of their career, um just not being as dominant, especially in an international setting where you're playing very young rosters and other, and other teams.
01:35:53
justin_daulton
ah But man, it's tough to sit back and tell me that the Dominican Republic can't make a run.
01:35:53
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:35:59
justin_daulton
Um, coming up and kind of going through all this. Um, I just, guess it's going to be the draw of it all as they kind of move on through the tournament, but I can very well see them competing with the U S they have a roster that's that can rival the U S. Um, obviously we're all chasing the the mountain. That is the the Japan national team, um, which is honey, um, being the cornerstone there, but,
01:36:19
justin_daulton
Man, it's ah it's a team that it's terrifying. how are you going to stack up a team against a team that is going to hit for power, is going to run? They've got a fast roster. That outfield is insane.
01:36:31
justin_daulton
um With Julio Rodriguez, Fernando Tatis when he's in there, like I mean, those guys in the outfield alone, like you've got cannons for arms, speed in the outfield. It's it's a difficult roster, man.
01:36:42
Cody Atkinson
yeah yeah you're looking at an infield where there's a really there's a there's a world where manny machado and jeremy pena are your bench in that infield like you because you're talking vladi at first marty at second um geraldo perdoma is every bit as good as jeremy pena like he's lesser known but but every bit is good um camonero a third you your your bench has all-star appearances um unreal um
01:36:53
justin_daulton
Yeah. Yeah.
01:37:15
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, unreal. do you ah oh So you you went in reverse order there. So you've kind of given us your predictions for that poll.
01:37:22
justin_daulton
Yeah, so my prediction, yeah myd predict pretty pretty cut and dry there, man.
01:37:22
Cody Atkinson
Do you want to rattle that?
01:37:28
justin_daulton
It's it's going to be DR in Venezuela. um it's It's the top two in the rest of the group play there, honestly.
01:37:37
Cody Atkinson
All right. So I want to rattle off. So I know we we probably should get this wrapped up here here pretty soon. that's a I would say a pretty detailed breakdown of the of the pools, but I want to see if we can rapid fire of a few ah few questions here as we wrap this up. um Best lineup in the WBC, who do you think you give the nod to there?
01:37:59
justin_daulton
1A, US with DR.
01:38:05
justin_daulton
being d r
01:38:08
Cody Atkinson
ah So I'm the i'm the i the slight opposite. I'm going to go ahead and give the nod to DR. um with U.S. s as the 1B there. Those are... I didn't think there was going to be another lineup that rivaled the U.S. s and And I think the DR r is right there with them.
01:38:23
Cody Atkinson
Best rotation.
01:38:26
justin_daulton
Another one, tough to not say U.S. When you when you're when you're number one guy, where you're one and two is Skeens and Scoble.
01:38:28
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:38:32
justin_daulton
um Both of them Cy Young, contender Scoble, obviously winning it this year. Skeens not winning it last year, right, to my knowledge?
01:38:40
Cody Atkinson
I think schemes did win it.
01:38:40
justin_daulton
Someone else won Did he win it? Okay, so i mean you're talking both Cy Young winners from last year. Yeah.
01:38:46
Cody Atkinson
I'm 90% sure he won it.
01:38:46
justin_daulton
ah you I mean, you you highlighted it, right? 60-plus home run guys with with Cal Riley and Aaron Judge. um It's tough to sit back and say that you don't have that in the rotation. I think there's some sneaky rotations. You highlighted it with Italy.
01:39:03
justin_daulton
um you you touched our you You have the Japan rotation, obviously, um with Yoshi in there. um So you have some in there that rival it, but I think top-to-bottom rotation, you've got to go U.S.
01:39:16
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, Skeens was NL, so you do have the AL and the NL Cy Young winner 1-2.
01:39:19
justin_daulton
Okay.
01:39:22
Cody Atkinson
Also, I think U.S. is an easy, easy answer. With a nod, I think it would be more difficult if Japan was full strength. If you had Shohei pitching, if you had Roki Sasaki, and if you had Tatsuya Imai in their rotation, I think it's a ah much more difficult conversation, but um they don't, so i think it's easy nod U.S.
01:39:41
Cody Atkinson
um top four, are you top four if you had to say one, two, three, four, how do you see this little playing out?
01:39:53
justin_daulton
Oh, um, once.
01:39:55
Cody Atkinson
And we'll just, I don't really fully know how the bracket is gonna with reseeding and stuff. So I'm just gonna kind of list the top four and hope to hope that that's statistically possible.
01:40:02
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:40:05
justin_daulton
Yeah. I mean, I'll just go top four just being number one and two. Number number one and two is chalk. us Japan one and two. Um, it's easy. I mean, outside of receding to say that those are going to be the the gold medal game.
01:40:20
justin_daulton
Um, 3 and 4 get a little bit more difficult. I'm going to go... I'm im going to say Mexico and DR. That's my 3 and 4.
01:40:38
Cody Atkinson
Is that in order? Are saying Mexico three, DR four?
01:40:40
justin_daulton
No, DR 3, Mexico 4.
01:40:42
Cody Atkinson
Okay.
01:40:42
justin_daulton
one step down for Mexico.
01:40:42
Cody Atkinson
I see a U.S. gold, Japan silver, DR bronze, Mexico four.
01:40:46
justin_daulton
Mm-hmm.
01:40:49
Cody Atkinson
Okay.
01:40:50
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:40:51
Cody Atkinson
So I'll i'll go. and again, this is where I don't, um I guess this might not be possible cause I'm going to pull three from your side. So, um, I'm going to go S gold. Um, I'm going to say DR silver and that lineup's just insane.
01:41:07
Cody Atkinson
Um, Japan bronze, uh, Venezuela four. Um, if the seating works out that that's not technically possible, I would go Mexico as well from the AB side as my, uh, actually I would say i was still lean Puerto Rico over Mexico, so I would go Puerto Rico for if it's impossible for Venezuela to get into that three four matchup.
01:41:29
Cody Atkinson
um But I do think the the four best teams, I do think, are personally are U.S., DR, Japan, and Venezuela.
01:41:38
justin_daulton
Yeah, i think I think it's a clear cut. Those are your top four. And then maybe a caveat to five of Mexico slash Puerto Rico at five. But I think it's four and then everyone else and in terms of where we're at with the World Baseball Classic.
01:41:51
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. And then let's say just one sleeper. Who's your sleeper? Like, probably not going to win at all, but maybe that's, and maybe the answer's, maybe you already said the answer is Mexico, but like, this is your sleeper of like, nobody
Surprise Teams in World Baseball Classic
01:42:03
justin_daulton
I'll go Media Darling. I'm not going to go sleeper. I'm going to go Media Darling. A team that I think will just be fun and just kind of capture the hearts of everyone. Probably won't get out of group play.
01:42:03
Cody Atkinson
would know that they could technically make a ring.
01:42:17
justin_daulton
um But, man, I could see that Israel team in Pool D.
01:42:21
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:42:22
justin_daulton
having a lot of fun. um Like, like I said, in my, in my rundown of them, they're not stacked top to bottom, but they got some fun guys on the team, fun coaches to play with. Like I can see them just being a fun squad and they're, they're out there playing the game the right way and having fun. So I think that'll be my media darling sleeper pick of the, of the run.
01:42:45
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, no, I think that's ah that's a good one. from From my side of the bracket, i I'm going to lean Italy. um I know I picked Canada to make it out of group, and I did not pick Italy to make it out of group, but I think Italy's the team that if they do sneak out, they've got the better chance to make a run just with their...
01:43:03
Cody Atkinson
with their pitching staff. And there's just a lot of youth on that team. So if you just get there, they got the juice to if they get hot, you don't want to see them. So Italy and Israel sleeper teams there.
01:43:16
Cody Atkinson
I think that probably about wraps it up. Is there anything else that you wanted to add on that before we sign off?
01:43:21
justin_daulton
No, I think, yeah, I think we, I think we did a lot for me from a primer, you know, kind of kickoff of it all.
01:43:21
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:43:27
justin_daulton
Obviously we're two and a half weeks out from recording right now until, until first pitch in Japan. Japan is the, the Tokyo one is starting us off out there. um I'm just excited to get to real meaningful baseball for the first time since, since late October.
01:43:40
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I know, I'm excited.
01:43:43
justin_daulton
So stoked for that. um It's going to fun, man. World Baseball Classic is so much fun. Something we can talk about as we get closer to MLB season with Manfred trying to get MLB players into the Olympics in 2028. So, I mean, international baseball is great for the sport.
01:43:59
justin_daulton
So just excited for it to be here.
01:44:01
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, absolutely. If you're not fired up for the World Baseball Classic, then maybe just rewind 30 minutes and listen to it again because you must have zoned out. But that's going to be all from us today. you have We have been the Coastal Launch Sports Talk. You've been with us for for a good bit now. Thank you for watching. If you liked it, subscribe. Leave a five-star review.
01:44:25
Cody Atkinson
um And let us know if there's anything else you talk about. But other than that, I've been Cody.
01:44:31
justin_daulton
I've been Justin.
01:44:32
Cody Atkinson
And we'll see you next time. Peace.
01:44:35
justin_daulton
Peace.