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Episode 6: USA Baseball Plays Top Gun + March Madness Has Arrived!!!
16 Plays2 months ago
The boys fill out their brackets! Vibes vs. stats, the approaches may differ but the insight is unmatched into how to build the most mediocre March Madness bracket on Earth. No #1 seed champions to be found here! The boys also breakdown all things WBC. How did USA not know to take Italy seriously? How did they manage to bounce back and take down DR? What does the final hold against Venezuela and what does the future hold for the WBC as a tournament?
Also, a short update on free agency, a discussion of the Titans rebrand, and a nod to USA Men's Sled Hockey securing gold over Canada and completing the first ever trifecta for in Olympic Hockey history!
Join our March Madness Bracket Challenge: https://fantasy.espn.com/tc/sharer?challengeId=277&from=espn&context=GROUP_INVITE&edition=espn-en&groupId=cb148437-71d6-4678-b662-4c28e3d5656e&joinKey=ee552d50-9959-3389-93a1-d93c38d6c15b
Password: 2026Rad!
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts Background
00:00:01
Cody Atkinson
Hello and welcome to the Coastal Launch Sports Talk. I'm Cody coming to you from the bayous of Houston, Texas.
00:00:08
justin_daulton
and i'm justin coming to you from the magic of orlando florida
00:00:12
Cody Atkinson
We are your premier destination for the sports stories that move the needle. From the national stage to the grid of the southeast, we're bridging the gap between our two space cities and bringing you the sports stories that matter
Team USA's International Success
00:00:24
Cody Atkinson
most to you. And today we get to celebrate national pride for the second time and in six episodes as Team USA advances to the WBC finals. What a run. on the international stage for USA lately. But not to be overshadowed, and probably more importantly for me, it's it's bracket season, and we're here to give you the lowdown on how to fill out a perfectly mediocre bracket, as we both have a long history of doing. So with our trajectory set, it's time to sit back, lock in, and get started with the rundown. This is the Coastal Launch, and we are ready for liftoff here on episode six.
00:01:00
justin_daulton
Episode six, man. Crazy, crazy, crazy that we've been doing this for a month now. um But ready to roll with this rundown. We're going go through this quick so we can get to March Madness as quickly as we can. But I want to talk to you real quick about the trifecta in Olympic hockey.
00:01:14
justin_daulton
um Men's and women's, obviously, we talked about that at length. A couple weeks ago, but what's been going on the last two weeks is the Paralympics have been going on and the US men's sled hockey team wins gold over Canada.
00:01:27
justin_daulton
So we've now collected Canadian tiers three times in hockey, once in baseball, and then we'll talk about a little bit later. But just some quick here thoughts from you, man. Very proud of those guys. But what do you got from you on men's sled hockey?
00:01:39
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, incredible. um First country ever to complete the trifecta. I i never would have guessed that. So what an accomplishment worth celebrating. um Jack Wallace has a hat trick in the finale, three goals and and one assist. And I mean, I watched a few of the games. I did watch the finals.
00:01:58
Cody Atkinson
I watched a few of the pool play games as well. And Declan Farmer, Shout out to Declan Farmer. Led the tournament with 26 total points across what I think was only four or five games.
00:02:09
Cody Atkinson
ah One goal and one assist in the gold medal match. Just an incredible performance. A ton of fun to watch too. And and just shout out to men's hockey, women's hockey, is sled hockey for pulling off the trifecta and doing all three against Canada. What what what ah what an experience.
00:02:26
justin_daulton
what ah What a year Canadian sports has gone on, man. Losing the World Series, losing the Stanley Cup, losing in hockey three times, losing to debate in baseball. They got nothing. What a what a run for Canadian sports.
00:02:39
justin_daulton
um
00:02:39
Cody Atkinson
It's been rough. Yeah.
00:02:40
justin_daulton
Rough for them, but not for us.
Tennessee Titans Rebranding Controversy
00:02:43
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:02:43
justin_daulton
um
00:02:44
justin_daulton
Next thing I got for you, man, something that hits a little a little close to home. um In the NFL, there's been a lot of talk around the Tennessee Titans rebranding this offseason. Obviously, for you and I, the Texans rebranded a couple offseasons ago with a full uniform switchover, color change, all this stuff.
00:03:00
justin_daulton
So everyone was definitely waiting to see what the Titans were going to come up with. And they completely and disgustingly pulled the Houston Oilers color scheme, basically can complete ripoff of the Houston Oilers color scheme.
00:03:12
justin_daulton
I understand the Bud Adams family, they own the organization, they own the colors. I understand that. But there is something to this that just is a slap in the face to the to the city of Houston. And the fact that they stole these colors, once again, super proud that the Texans still have a ah little lovely me blue in their jersey. But for me, this is just, you and I talked about earlier this week, just a low-class move from a low-class organization.
00:03:35
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, it's it's an utter slap in the face. It's a clear response to the city of Houston slowly encroaching on the color scheme. ah U of H had basketball so had football uniforms that used the love you blue.
00:03:47
Cody Atkinson
ah Rice did the same thing. They both got hit with cease and desist letters and said, no, we're going to keep going. um Obviously, Houston rebranding and doing everything they could to try to get an aspect of that color into the alternate uniforms.
00:04:01
Cody Atkinson
um ah the The city of Houston has been on a mission to try to get that color back. And this, this rebrand and in entirety is clearly just an attempt at them to use the color scheme so that they can have claim over it because that was one of the biggest,
00:04:16
Cody Atkinson
um things that was being used to try to get the color back because they're not using it anyways. um And so this is is clearly just a response to that. They want to keep the color because they're still mad at the city Houston for running them out of town. It's disgusting. The old logo was way cooler.
00:04:31
Cody Atkinson
The old uniforms were cooler than what they're bringing out. they They are using the best color scheme in sports and they and they made it look stupid because they don't know what they're doing and they're going to have a mediocre product that looks mediocre on the field. So I guess enjoy ah that and there's no need to throw back anymore. So maybe they'll stop wearing the Oilers jerseys since it's going to look basically the same, but with a different logo.
00:04:58
justin_daulton
I will say, ever since they started using the alternates, they've lost every single time against the Texans. So I guess it just want to permanently continue to lose the Texans, which I'm very happy with.
00:05:03
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:05:08
justin_daulton
Which sucks because I do like Cam Ward.
00:05:08
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I'm happy with that.
00:05:09
justin_daulton
and I do think Cam Ward's one hell of a player, and I just feel bad that he's on a or a part of a disastrous organization over there in Tennessee.
00:05:18
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, he can enjoy watching aggressively mediocre free agent moves for the rest of his career. Gross.
00:05:23
justin_daulton
That's what they got this year. What a great segue, though, man.
NFL Free Agency Updates
00:05:26
justin_daulton
NFL free agency update. Just a quick update for you guys. Obviously, we did a big, big, big deep dive into NFL free agency last week.
00:05:35
justin_daulton
um But something that we ended up last week's conversation with is, will the Texans actually sign a left guard in the center? And it's sure for most of last week did not look like the Texans were going to do either of those.
00:05:47
justin_daulton
Something that I don't think we got last week was Braden Smith. I don't remember if that signing happened or not before the podcast last week. but that
00:05:54
Cody Atkinson
and Yeah, you're right. I don't think it had.
00:05:56
justin_daulton
So Braden Smith coming in, looking like he'll seemingly be the starting right tackle. um coming from the indian Indianapolis c Colts. So he'll definitely be there with Trent Brown being the backhoe guy, which is great. We need depth at the tackle position. That was something that we dealt with a lot last year with issues there.
00:06:13
justin_daulton
But the Texas sign of left guard, Evan Brown, formerly of the Arizona Cardinals, i not an illustrious signing, but none of these trenches ones were going to be unless it was going to be, you know, a Lindenbaum or a Cade Mays.
00:06:26
justin_daulton
But happy to see that we actually are going to get an actual starting left guard and not someone who's a platoon guy or someone that played in a rotation. So I'm happy with the with the signing. Once again, i still think we're going to go draft. Go ahead and get you some depth of the guard position, which is great.
00:06:41
justin_daulton
It does seemingly see seem that Jared Patterson or we're going to the draft for a center, one of the two, which honestly, not really happy with either. But if you're going to do it, I'd much rather have Jared Patterson go out there. At least he has a rapport.
00:06:55
justin_daulton
with CJ and then maybe you dropped someone to be to back up and you do move up in the draft get a center well I don't know but you know what are your thoughts real quick on the Texans before we move into the second part of NFL free agency
00:06:55
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:07:08
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, and ah the the Evan Brown signing doesn't move the needle for me one way or the other. he' i think his max value is three and a half million. So that kind of tells you he's he's a project. Maybe he'll work out. Maybe he won't. um I think for me, the one thing it does, it makes me a little nervous that we're going to try to piecemeal an offensive line together of rehabilitation projects like we did last year.
00:07:31
Cody Atkinson
um I know they hit on some of those. And so the offensive line was improved. But i'm I'm a little worried we're going to do that again. So I think you still have to go out and go left guard in the first or yeah I won't tighten it that much. But I think you still have to go out and you have to go offensive line early and often in the draft. and And you have to build this for the future. So it doesn't move the needle for me other than make me a little nervous that we're just we're going to bargain bin hunt and and and try to piece it together, um which is what I what I don't want to see.
00:08:01
justin_daulton
Yeah, and we'll see what how it pans out. right I got a lot of faith in Cole Popovich there, the offensive line coach.
00:08:06
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:08:06
justin_daulton
um Obviously, he did a lot with Ed Ingram last year, which led to Ed Ingram obviously getting paid this offseason. Obviously getting some some production out of Trent Brown, who a lot of people didn't think we were going get production out of Trent Brown.
00:08:17
justin_daulton
Obviously being you know a little bit older, especially on the offensive line. So maybe he can, you know, someone that's established with Evan Brown, obviously right tackle old now with Braden Smith. Maybe Cole Popovich gets her hands on these guys and really gets a little bit more oomph out of those guys. But looking at stats yeah that I saw last week, Braden Smith pretty much top 50%, honestly, in offensive line and run blocking and pass pro, which is already an improvement of what we had last year.
00:08:43
justin_daulton
And then Evan Brown, Aaron Ph.D.: of bottom third, but more on the higher end of that bottom third for both categories, but I wonder that was this more of a product of playing for the Arizona Cardinals more than it was himself so.
00:08:56
Cody Atkinson
I think it was also his first is that this first and only year at left guard. So there's some transition stuff there too. He was a center before. um I like the Braden Smith signing.
00:09:02
justin_daulton
yeah.
00:09:04
Cody Atkinson
Evan Brown, I don't really have a lot of thoughts on that.
00:09:08
justin_daulton
Sure. That's fair. Last couple of pieces to kind of follow up on some topics that we had last week. You were looking for Kyler where he was going to land and ends up in Minnesota. Looks he's going to compete for the job with JJ over there in Minneapolis. So we'll see how that kind of shakes out over there.
00:09:28
justin_daulton
doesn't really do a whole lot i think he's high for a pretty below average deal so obviously you prove a deal um i still think that jj's your guy until he's not and i think this is kind of the same mentality that i had with tua that i thought too was gonna end up in like a new york or wherever it may be to to on a proven deal to see if he can take a starting job from someone else obviously he ends in atlanta behind pennix so same time same type of situation that you and i were both looking at but what thoughts do you have on kyler real quick
00:09:33
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:09:55
Cody Atkinson
No, I think it's the the best landing spot that he could have hoped for. um If somebody is going to fix Kyler, I think it's it's ah Kevin O'Connell in the And then Minnesota Vikings, um i will say Kyler not known for his work ethic and studious nature. So in that sense, maybe he ends up not being the best fit and doesn't learn as much as he could. But I hope he learns from the Arizona situation um and commits himself to it a little bit more and and can kind of revamp his career. It's just fun to follow these guys around since the second contract rebound quarterback is like the new it thing. um It's fun to keep an eye where they land. I think a good spot for him. And um I think you're about to mention it to Justin Fields to Casey. Very interesting spot. Just guys that met maybe they learned something about and, you know, have a Sam Darnold, Geno Smith type bounce back later.
00:10:52
justin_daulton
Yeah, I think the Justin Fields one is more interesting to me than Kyler one because Justin very clearly is going to be the starter week one while Patrick Bowman still deals with the the ACL rehab because he's probably not going to be ready until month two or three of the regular season.
00:11:04
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:11:08
justin_daulton
And by then, like, Is there a change in the guard? I don't think so. But is there a potential that you know Fields has the hot hand and he continues through? Who knows? you know What does Andy Reid get out of him in in Kansas City?
00:11:19
justin_daulton
But um Kyler obviously has to take the starting job from J.J. McCarthy, where Justin Fields is coming into a situation where he is the starting quarterback until Patrick Ruggles gets back.
00:11:30
justin_daulton
So it'll be interesting to see what what happens in Kansas City for sure.
00:11:31
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:11:33
justin_daulton
But they're stuck calling some weapons there, man. Obviously, Travis Kelsey's back. They got Kenneth Walker. um I saw a deal. There was another offensive weapon that just signed with them yesterday, I think.
00:11:44
justin_daulton
So definitely Kansas City is trying to reload and be ready for this ah this season, which obviously we talked a whole lot about last week, right? ah you know Teams that are getting better around the Texans when we also need to make sure that we are also getting better because they're teams that are going to be in the AFC playoffs once again.
00:11:56
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:11:58
justin_daulton
Yeah. Um, last big one for, for NFL free agency for you.
00:12:00
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, absolutely.
00:12:05
justin_daulton
Um, something that happened literally the next day after the podcast, uh, debut or went out last week, the Max Crosby deal gets rescinded due to some drama in Baltimore where Baltimore says that Max Crosby quote unquote failed a physical, um, uh,
00:12:22
justin_daulton
And then the immediate, like, hey, where there's smoke, there's fire type situation here. Immediately, they signed Trey Hendrickson
March Madness Predictions
00:12:31
justin_daulton
for not losing any of their draft picks. They cheaper contract than what they would have had with Max Crosby.
00:12:36
justin_daulton
And now Max Crosby's back in Vegas. Doesn't seem likely that he's going to move right now. Sounds like from everything I'm hearing, it's going to more closer to so right before training camp and preseason.
00:12:47
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:12:48
justin_daulton
If he does get moved, yeah. What a wild week. Obviously, we're a little behind just because of when the podcast records. But in you and I texted pretty much all last week when this was going down that um there's a lot going on here, right? Baltimore looking like complete idiots, honestly, through this whole process. A lot of...
00:13:06
justin_daulton
um Agencies and players, agents and everything basically saying that they're not going to work with Baltimore going forward and because of this, because it was mishandled. Baltimore is saying that he was not on track when Vegas was saying he was on track with his recovery.
00:13:21
justin_daulton
it's It's been a mess, obviously, you know. more the you know the The issue here being that Trey Henderson comes right into the building the same day that apparently Max Crosby was there failing his physical.
00:13:33
justin_daulton
So just a big blunder in terms of Baltimore, which has always seemed to be a pretty player-friendly team to go to, always kind of was willing to do what they could get those bodies in the building.
00:13:44
justin_daulton
And now it's just a mess. So what are your quick thoughts on it? just I know that we talked a lot this week about it, but what are your thoughts
00:13:51
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I threw it on the rundown here just mainly because this is what i flagged as like the biggest surprise, I think, in the last episode. um So just a little update here that even more a surprise that's been rescinded.
00:14:05
Cody Atkinson
It certainly feels like a very convenient ah failed physical. So i'm I'm of the opinion that there was some buyer's remorse here when they realized they could get Trey Hendrickson for free and get their ah two picks back, which...
00:14:18
Cody Atkinson
From a football standpoint, I can't blame them. We both thought they were the losers of that trade. So like, yeah, if you can undo it, that makes sense. But from every other standpoint, like awful, awful decision. We'll see what the fallout actually is. I think the bark is bigger than the bite lot of times in the NFL. So like how many teams will actually stop doing deals with them and what will the fallout be? We'll see, or or, will it just blow over?
00:14:42
Cody Atkinson
Um, but it does create a lot of ah intrigue on the Raiders side because they spent that money already. So, um you know, we'll see what they're able to do to get Crosby off the books or to restructure contracts to make it all fit.
00:14:56
Cody Atkinson
and If they can make it work, well, it feels like a win for them a little bit to add him to what they already went and bought. But um yeah, just awful move by the Ravens, typically a ah kind of a gold star front office type place.
00:15:03
justin_daulton
Yeah, correct.
00:15:10
Cody Atkinson
And so not really where you expect to see it from, but, Yeah, just just slimy as all get out, and um it creates a lot more intrigue.
00:15:19
justin_daulton
I guess we'll know soon because Lamar is looking for his second contract now too, or his, because I think he signed a team friendly deal.
00:15:25
Cody Atkinson
Is next, yeah.
00:15:26
justin_daulton
Yeah. His neck, whatever his next one is. Um, so we'll know soon on what the fallout is because if they can't get Lamar on a, on a longterm deal, then we'll know that there is fallout from, from this whole situation.
00:15:38
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. Yeah. We'll see. it'll It'll be interesting to see. I imagine it'll be overstated because there's only so many places to play in the NFL.
00:15:46
justin_daulton
And so many places that are actually having a winning culture. So there's that too.
00:15:49
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:15:51
justin_daulton
All right, Well, moving into the wrap up um real quick for me, lightning going one and two this week, another rough week. I mean, before we went live today talking about that, I'm my, my panic alarm is starting to go off a little bit, right? That the lightning just had that look like themselves since the international break.
00:16:08
justin_daulton
So I'm definitely getting a little worried. I'm not ready to hit the, I'm not ready to break the glass quite yet. um to a couple of players interviews this week has said that, they just got do what they need to do to to to get the momentum going they need to change up the routines a little bit you know get some get some energy going you know i talked about on the solo episode this isn't from a lack of scoring we're scoring it's just the defense and vazzy have not looked the same so obviously vazzy having a little bit of rust from that from that two and a half weeks off you know victor hemmick trying to get back from from injury so it's just it's it's looked rough on the on the back end of the ice so definitely need to see some energy come back into the building
00:16:32
Cody Atkinson
Right,
00:16:45
justin_daulton
Obviously, John Cooper was gone for a little bit due to some family things where had some grievances are ah to to grieve um with his dad passing away.
00:16:51
Cody Atkinson
right.
00:16:54
justin_daulton
So maybe that you know that sparks some energy into the building. But definitely the the alarms are starting to go off, but I'm not ready to break the glass yet. Obviously, still very much in the playoffs. As long as we play decent hockey down the stretch, we should be there.
00:17:08
justin_daulton
But tough to see the Lightning being a favorite right now with the way that we're playing on hockey.
00:17:13
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, yeah, tough to see. um On the A&M side of things, that's the only sports that I have a ah rooting interest in that are going on right now. A&M baseball, first SEC series of the season last weekend, they went to ah Oklahoma.
00:17:30
Cody Atkinson
All three games were winnable. You were up by four and then again by three on Friday. ah Lost that one in nail-biting fashion. Came back to win on Saturday. Sunday, they played in wind gusts up to 47 miles an hour. It's just the most ridiculous, most absurd game I've ever seen.
00:17:49
Cody Atkinson
ah Why there wasn't a doubleheader on Saturday, only Oklahoma can tell you. But A&M goes one and two on the weekend. Looks good. But the biggest issue is Josh Stewart, ah one of the biggest pieces in the bullpen, went down with an injury on Friday. I don't still think we don't have word on what it is, but it did not look good, and that could really challenge the bullpen depth. um the Going one and two, not an issue, but losing Josh Stewart could ah could prove to be one if if others don't step up. And then on the basketball side, A&M played in the SEC tournament. um Technically this week, what they did was show up and lose by 20 to Oklahoma. It looked like a team that didn't really care to be there. ah It was a team fighting for its life against a team that was already in the tournament. But luckily that didn't matter. We clinched a 10 seed and we'll play St. Mary's in the, in the tournament coming up. And unless you have anything you want to add to that, that might be the perfect transition to, to the madness.
00:18:51
justin_daulton
No, I'll let you take it away, man. Let's get into the madness of it
00:18:54
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, let's get into the madness. So what we're going to do here is we Justin's got his bracket open. I've got mine and we're just going to go game by game, round by round. And we're just going to pick our bracket um and y'all can listen along and and hopefully take something away. So we'll we'll just dive right into it because I don't think i can I can wait much longer. Normally I filled it out yesterday, so I had to save it for today. So let's dive in, man. Duke versus Siena. So we're starting with the East region.
00:19:22
Cody Atkinson
upper left of the bracket, if you're looking at it on ah on a paper.
00:19:25
justin_daulton
Yep.
00:19:26
Cody Atkinson
One seed Duke versus 16 seed Siena. I don't think we need to spend much time on this unless you're going crazy.
00:19:33
justin_daulton
No, man. Number one overall seed in the in the tournament, right? Top left is usually number one overall seed.
00:19:37
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:19:37
justin_daulton
Yep. Yeah. Duke.
00:19:38
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:19:39
justin_daulton
Got it.
00:19:40
Cody Atkinson
Yep, Duke over Siena. So first first matchup that matters, Ohio State, TCU. ah Two teams that are playing very hot right now, Ohio State 4-1 in its last five. ah But TCU has won nine of their last 11, and I think the Big 12 is the toughest conference in college basketball right now. So I'm going to give the nod to TCU, a little 9-over-8 upset there.
00:20:02
justin_daulton
I'm rolling with you, too, man. The vibes in Fort Worth has been good. I'm going TCU.
00:20:07
Cody Atkinson
That's right. So that you'll catch on as we go, but this is this is stats versus vibes right here. um is St. John's, Northern Iowa. What do you got for me there? What are the vibes saying?
00:20:19
justin_daulton
Vibes are saying St. John's, obviously. I mean, both both are mid-majors, but Northern Iowa just seems like they have the right energy going into it all. So I'm going Northern Iowa for my first actual upset of the tournament.
00:20:32
Cody Atkinson
They have the right energy. That's right, man. I'm i'm sticking with St. John's on this one. um when i When I go for upsets, right or wrong, I go for the team that plays with insane tempo and pace. UNI is a team that that slows it down. 362nd in possessions per game. So they want to slow you down. They don't want to give you a lot of shots. And that's just not typically the kind of upset I pick. So I'm going with St. John's.
00:20:57
Cody Atkinson
I also really like the St. John's team. So I'm going i'm going with it. for that. Kansas, four seed Kansas versus 13 Cal Baptist. I believe this is being played in San Diego.
00:21:08
Cody Atkinson
So a little home game for Cal Baptist. um I've got Kansas as a team that I think could get eliminated early, but i'm not I'm not saying that Cal Baptist is the one that's going to do it. I think Kansas defense is too good.
00:21:21
justin_daulton
Yeah, home court advantage doesn't matter. Vibes are good with Kansas.
00:21:24
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, you're Kansas guy. Oh, you're a Kansas State guy. You're a Kansas State guy.
00:21:27
justin_daulton
Kansas, they got, but I do have respect for the Rock Chalk over there, man.
00:21:30
Cody Atkinson
There you go. And here's here's one that's close to home for you. Louisville versus South Florida. A little Tampa action there. Not in the game, not in Tampa, but South Florida in Tampa.
00:21:39
justin_daulton
Yeah, i'm not going to matter, man. Louisville and and and and over there, it just going steamroll. going good game, but it's going to pull away in the end.
00:21:48
Cody Atkinson
All right. I'm picking the upset on this one. um you got it You got to take the upsets where you can find them.
00:21:51
justin_daulton
Oh, yeah.
00:21:54
Cody Atkinson
there's Last year was a pretty chalky bracket, so there's not a lot of confidence in the upsets. um Louisville off chance. They'll be without ah their best player. Mike, Mike Hill Brown.
00:22:06
Cody Atkinson
um I imagine he will play. They're saying he will play, but you never know going into bracket season, who's telling the truth and who's not. So I want pick a little sneak, a little cheeky upset. Here's South Florida over Louisville doing it for Tampa too. We went to this campus when I visited you for the first time.
00:22:23
justin_daulton
Beautiful campus. Beautiful campus.
00:22:24
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. And then three seed Michigan State versus 14 seed North Dakota State. What are you thinking?
00:22:33
justin_daulton
North Dakota State's going to sleepwalk this game. Michigan State's got it.
00:22:37
Cody Atkinson
All Yeah, I don't even think I wrote down a note on this one for myself. I think Michigan State is a really good team, much better than North Dakota State. Michigan State, not the kind of team I expect to get knocked out early this year.
00:22:50
Cody Atkinson
ah But now also close to home, we've got a little UCLA versus UCF here. For this one, I'm going to go with UCLA. ah UCLA is also hot. They're coming off of a big, a deep Big Ten run where they actually beat Michigan State um in the Big Ten run and fell to Purdue, who ultimately won the Big Ten. So I think UCLA is playing real good basketball right now. um I guess that's the favorite in this, so maybe I didn't need to explain it that deep. But I think they're playing real good basketball right now. I've got UCLA over UCF.
00:23:20
justin_daulton
Yeah, the battle of the Disney theme parks, right? LA and in Orlando.
00:23:24
Cody Atkinson
Oh, it is, isn't it?
00:23:25
justin_daulton
Yeah, um I'm going to go UCF, but in a very close game.
00:23:30
Cody Atkinson
There you go. So you're you're you're picking Disney Florida, huh?
00:23:34
justin_daulton
Yep, Disney World wins over Disneyland.
00:23:36
Cody Atkinson
There you Yukon Furman, do we need to say anything about a 215?
00:23:40
justin_daulton
Nah, UConn. UConn's got it.
00:23:43
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, Yukon over Furman. and And if we cut to the next one, shout out Prairie View A&M for making the first four. ah But we got Florida versus the first four winner of Prairie View A&M and Lehigh.
00:23:56
Cody Atkinson
ah I'm going Florida.
00:23:59
justin_daulton
Yeah, yeah. and Florida looks at the best team in the bracket, so Florida all way.
00:24:03
Cody Atkinson
All right. Clemson, Iowa. This is actually going to be, I think we're both actually going vibes here. Clemson doesn't get eliminated in the first round, in my mind. There was like a year a year or two ago where they them and Alabama met in like the Sweet 16 or the Elite Eight or something. And it was the the college footballization of college basketball. And that just sits in my head. So I believe Clemson to be better than they are, which means they're way better than Iowa in my mind.
00:24:33
justin_daulton
Yeah, two teams that are normally college football teams and not college basketball teams. and So just for that, i'm going
00:24:40
Cody Atkinson
All right. ah Vanderbilt, McNeese State. um How are the vibes on McNeese State, Justin? Are they are they upset vibes?
00:24:50
justin_daulton
I could be convinced Vandy, obviously, you know much more of ah of a basketball school than they are football, but football started around. For that, they lost money, so McNeese State wins.
00:25:01
Cody Atkinson
The money from basketball went to football, so McNeese Tate wins. All right.
00:25:04
justin_daulton
Yep.
00:25:06
Cody Atkinson
I'm going Vandy on this. McNeese has played two teams this season that are in the tournament right now. That's Santa Clara and michigan either Michigan or Gonzaga.
00:25:17
Cody Atkinson
i am not I think it's Michigan, but it's slipping me at the moment. They got absolutely pantsed by both of them. so um Give me Vandy. and ah Four seed Nebraska versus 13 seed Troy.
00:25:31
Cody Atkinson
I'm calling the upset on this one. This is where I'm going with the upset. Nebraska was one of the last teams to lose a game this season. There was an incredible um start to the season, but they've come down to earth a lot lately. And Nebraska as a university has never won a March Madness game. There's going to be a lot of pressure on this team.
00:25:51
Cody Atkinson
ah Give me Troy. Give me the Sunbelt winners.
00:25:55
justin_daulton
Honestly, you just convinced me to go the opposite way. Nebraska's number one on March Madness game. They're going to do it now.
00:26:02
Cody Atkinson
There you go. There you go. ah And you're going against the Sunbelt winner who we who we shouted out on the last show.
00:26:09
justin_daulton
Yeah, yeah. It sucks, but then um I prefer the the story over the over the tournament.
00:26:16
Cody Atkinson
There you go. I like it. Six seed North Carolina, 11 seed VCU. VCU always and forever a trendy upset pick. what do are you thinking?
00:26:26
justin_daulton
Yeah, I'm going VCU. I'm not a big fan of the the Tar Heels, never really have been. um So give me a VCU.
00:26:33
Cody Atkinson
All right. i We're just order we're just have opposite brackets here. It was just a lot of fun. I'm i'm going with North Carolina. They've been without their freshman sensation, Caleb Wilson, for a long time now.
00:26:45
Cody Atkinson
But I believe in this last month, despite missing him, they've they've been five and three. They do not shoot the free throw well. So I think this is definitely a spot where VCU can pull the upset. Yeah.
00:26:58
Cody Atkinson
I'm just, I just think North Carolina is going to get you one and then, and then they're going to get taken out early, but I would absolutely not be surprised to see VCU get the upside here. Three seed Illinois versus 14 seed Penn, what you got?
00:27:14
justin_daulton
I'm going to talk just Illinois coming in. They they look there they look good.
00:27:19
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, absolutely. a Crazy efficient offense is what I wrote. Keaton Wagler, another freshman sensation. a lot of Europeans on this team. um Penn upset Yale to get the Ivy League spot.
00:27:33
Cody Atkinson
um and And Penn's just, Penn doesn't scare you there. Yale might've scared somebody. pen Penn doesn't do it for me. ah and Moving on, biggest matchup for us, seven St. Mary's versus 10, your Texas A&M Aggies. What you got?
00:27:47
justin_daulton
um My heart of hearts, I can never pi pick against Texas A&M, so Texas A&M wins.
00:27:50
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. Yeah, that's what I did as well. um I will say from in from a data standpoint, St. Mary's has a significant size advantage over A&M. That's kind of been our kryptonite this year.
00:28:02
Cody Atkinson
um And we have not been able to overcome that many games. So this is a bad this could be a bad spot for A&M, but i'm not I'm not picking against them. ah to so
00:28:12
justin_daulton
Hey, bucky but bucky Bucky came out today and said, we're going out there one in two games, and we're coming back home to talk about the Dames V16.
00:28:17
Cody Atkinson
There you go.
00:28:19
justin_daulton
So the vibes are high.
00:28:19
Cody Atkinson
Did he really? Dude, that's the ultimate vibes quote. I like it. and I hadn't heard his any of his quotes from today. That's sick. This season is already a success for Bucky in my mind, so it's it's house money.
00:28:31
justin_daulton
Yeah, agreed.
00:28:32
Cody Atkinson
um Two seed Houston, 15 seed Idaho.
00:28:36
justin_daulton
Houston's going to a team that I think you're going me talk a lot about, man. I like the Cougars to make a deep run.
00:28:42
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, ah yeah not not much to say there from a stat perspective. Houston is, in fact, better than Idaho, as the rankings would indicate. So I'm going to Houston as well. um Arizona versus number 16, Long Island, a ah a darling of the media. I believe they have a fan that yells fins up and does a little clap like that. And everyone's loving Long Island. um But give me Arizona.
00:29:06
justin_daulton
Give me Arizona, but I'm going put them on upset watch. I think if there is a number one seed that falls, it's Arizona.
00:29:09
Cody Atkinson
Ooh. Hey, look at that. um nine seed or sorry Eight seed Villanova versus nine seed Utah State um here's my Here's my one fact Villanova 0-5 against the top 25 teams ah Utah State 0-0 Matt says that's less losses Against the top 25 So give me Utah State
00:29:34
justin_daulton
I'm thinking Villanova, man. Utah State ain't got it.
00:29:37
Cody Atkinson
yeah That's the other Aggies though, man. You gotta, you gotta give a shout out. um Let's see. Number five, Wisconsin at number 12, high point. What are you what are the vibes telling you here?
00:29:48
justin_daulton
Man, the vibes are high for high point. let me And that's not even meant to be funny. like I don't know if you saw when they won their conference tournament, the student broadcast of it was electric.
00:30:00
justin_daulton
ESPN put a whole article out on them. So I do think that Wisconsin needs to be careful here. But I think Wisconsin still wins, but it's going to be a lot closer than a lot of people think it is.
00:30:11
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, absolutely. um High point is, i think I picked them last year to upset Purdue. Maybe it was Purdue. um They weren't able to pull it off. Everything in me wants to pick them this year, but stylistically they played too similar of a style to Wisconsin. So I don't think they're going to be able to surprise them.
00:30:29
Cody Atkinson
In which case I'm going to, going to stick with Wisconsin here, but I want so badly to pick a high point and I will be rooting. for high point in this matchup. I need a 12-5 upset this year.
00:30:40
Cody Atkinson
um a Four seed Arkansas versus 13 seed Hawaii. i can't imagine the vibes in Hawaii are bad.
00:30:45
justin_daulton
Arkansas is going to...
00:30:49
justin_daulton
No, i mean, the vibes are always good in Hawaii. and you're playing You're living in Hawaii. But no, Arkansas, we talked a lot about it during A&M's run in the SEC. Arkansas just looks like a dominant force in this tournament, so there's no reason why Hawaii loser doesn't get even a run in this game. It's Arkansas all the way.
00:31:06
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, it's Arkansas all the way. Arkansas sensation Darius Acuff ah might be – he's one of, if not the best, a guard in in college basketball right now. He's going up against a Hawaii team that dares you to play one-on-one.
00:31:22
Cody Atkinson
ah They like the one-on-one defensively, and that's a bad matchup when you're playing one of the best players in college basketball. So give me Arkansas. BYU versus the winner of Texas and NC State.
00:31:38
Cody Atkinson
What do we think?
00:31:38
justin_daulton
um' I'm not even going to acknowledge the fact that it's that there's a team that could be in that game.
00:31:44
justin_daulton
Horns down, uu
00:31:46
Cody Atkinson
What's down BYU? I believe that's what I wrote as well. I said I'm not picking a spot. that I'm not picking ah an option that could end up being Texas. so I also went with BYU, but also DeBansa, probably the number. He's going a top five pick in the draft, so he will be the best player on that court ah for that game. So just give me the team that has the best player on the court in BYU.
00:32:09
Cody Atkinson
ah Number three, Gonzaga versus number 14, Kennesaw State. I don't have notes for this one ah so because I'm going Gonzaga over Kennesaw State ah just pretty clearly.
00:32:22
justin_daulton
Everything in me wants to go Kennesaw State, but this game is at 10 p.m. Eastern, um and that's just to me The vibes immediately take a hit for a vibe scene like Kennesaw, so I'm going Gonzaga.
00:32:34
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I mean, talk about time zone difference there too. Kennesaw, obviously in Georgia, Gonzaga in Washington. that's ah That's a seven o'clock body clock for Gonzaga. That's a 10 o'clock body clock for Kennesaw State.
00:32:48
Cody Atkinson
7 seed Miami versus 10 seed Missouri. um Here's what I've got for you. Missouri trending in the wrong direction. Lucky to get a 10 seed in my opinion. They thought they were on the bubble potential first 14. Very high seeding, but they ever since they beat A&M, I think they have like one win in the last couple weeks. Give me Miami.
00:33:10
justin_daulton
Yeah, Miami, ah my my ACC school, so I got Miami.
00:33:14
Cody Atkinson
There you go. Purdue versus Queens. Quick note. Purdue only gets embarrassed by New Jersey schools. Farley, Dickinson, New Jersey. That was a 15 seed over a two seed, I believe. And then St. Peter's, also from New Jersey, was a... No, Farley, Dickinson was 16 over one.
00:33:35
Cody Atkinson
St. Peter's was either 15 over two or 14 over three. Purdue gets embarrassed by New Jersey teams. This Queens is in Charlotte, North Carolina. Give me Purdue.
00:33:43
justin_daulton
Yeah, Purdue. No notes.
00:33:46
Cody Atkinson
ah Michigan versus the winner of UMBC and Howard. Now, if you remember UMBC, they were the first ever 16 seed to take out a one seed in Virginia.
00:33:57
Cody Atkinson
Not, but I don't know. It feels like not that long ago. It's probably like a hundred years ago by now, but it was like five or six years ago. So never, never doubt UMBC, man. What are the vibes telling you?
00:34:09
justin_daulton
I mean, Vibes are high for a team that's pulled off this type of upset before, but Michigan's a buzzsaw, man. Yeah, I got Michigan.
00:34:15
Cody Atkinson
yeah Yeah, I got Michigan as well. I want to take UMBC. Shout out the Retrievers. I had a co-worker who went there. um it's It's University of Maryland, Baltimore County, but it's it's known as University of Maryland Backup College.
00:34:28
Cody Atkinson
So so a shout out to shoutout to the Retrievers. Rooting for them, not picking them. um Eight seed Georgia versus nine seed St. Louis. What are you thinking?
00:34:41
justin_daulton
I'm going SEC on this one. Georgia looks good. Georgia wins.
00:34:44
Cody Atkinson
I'm going St. Louis on this one. Are you familiar with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?
00:34:49
justin_daulton
I have heard of this. Yes, the vibes.
00:34:51
Cody Atkinson
Robbie Avila?
00:34:51
justin_daulton
like it Yeah, yeahp I have heard of it. I did see this earlier today. The vibes are high, but Georgia just looks like a looks like a beast that can't be stopped in this type of matchup.
00:35:01
Cody Atkinson
There you go. I'm going with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because March Madness needs somebody like that this year. And so I think they're getting somebody like that this year. ah Five seed Texas Tech, 12 seed Akron. I'm going upset here. I'm taking Akron, Texas Tech star player, JT Toppin. They've been without him for a while now.
00:35:20
Cody Atkinson
But if you recall, the big 12 tourney was getting played on glass courts for most of that tournament up until one Christian Anderson of Texas Tech got injured. And then they switched back to wood courts. He's expected to be available for the tournament. But again, this is lying season. So maybe they will be with him. Maybe they'll be without him. But Texas Tech without two players, maybe I'm going to take Akron. This seems like a fun spot.
00:35:44
justin_daulton
I've already taken 112 over 5. I'm not doing it again. Texas Tech wins.
00:35:48
Cody Atkinson
What about four-seed Alabama, 13-seed Hofstra? You got more um yeah any any more guts there for the upset?
00:35:57
justin_daulton
No, I'm going pretty chalk, I think, on the side of the bracket.
00:35:58
Cody Atkinson
it
00:35:59
justin_daulton
I think Alabama takes it.
00:36:01
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I'm going to take Alabama over Hofstra. Although Alabama has a player today. that was arrested for possession of one pound of marijuana. And if I think it was failure to affix a tax stamp, which I think has to do with um something to do with with guns or something like that. So potentially he doesn't play, but also this is Alabama who played a player who was being investigated for providing the gun to a murder.
00:36:28
Cody Atkinson
ah He played in the NCAA tournament and they've been playing a G League player for half the year. So he shouldn't play. He's probably going to play because that's what Alabama does. I'm taking Alabama.
00:36:37
justin_daulton
The NCAA is fake, man. Alabama wins.
00:36:39
Cody Atkinson
tennis Yeah. Let's see. ah Six seed Tennessee versus 11 seed. These are your boys, Miami of Ohio or SMU winner of that game.
00:36:49
justin_daulton
I like the upset here, either which way. I think Miami, Ohio, obviously, you know, you at the end of the day, man, yeah, you lost your conference tournament. But, man, what ah what a chip to put on your shoulder going into the tournament, whether or not it's you or SMU.
00:37:03
justin_daulton
um And I also just like the vibes in SMU, the only team in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that I will ever acknowledge. So I like either of them to pull off upset against Tennessee.
00:37:11
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, i'm I'm taking the upset as well. This is an A&M pick. SMU played A&M. We went to... to ah We went to overtime, lost in overtime 13.
00:37:22
Cody Atkinson
How you managed to do that is beyond me. But that was when SMU was at full strength. We also played Tennessee to, I believe, double overtime. um So I think these teams are evenly matched when healthy. SMU hasn't been healthy, and they're getting healthy, which is why their seat is so low. Give me SMU to take out Miami of Ohio and then pull off a little cheeky upset for the world there.
00:37:43
justin_daulton
ah like it
00:37:44
Cody Atkinson
um Yeah, dude. we got We got to go for some upsets in this bracket. ah Three seed Virginia versus 14 seed Wright State. what do What you got?
00:37:54
justin_daulton
Virginia got it. The vibes are in right stages aren't there for this one too too much of a hill to climb.
00:38:00
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, i've got I've got Virginia on this one as well. Virginia used to be a team that I picked to lose early and often in the tournament, but I've got a better feeling about Virginia this year. So I don't have them losing in the first round. 7th seed Kentucky versus 10th seed Santa Clara. um I don't have a reason for this other than I've watched Kentucky play pretty decently regularly and have usually left relatively unimpressed. So I'm going to go with Santa Clara upset Kentucky here. 10th seed over the south
00:38:30
justin_daulton
Not so fast, my friend. um Time zone difference, man. Santa Clara coming east to play Kentucky. Kentucky only going a very small way. um This game is at 1215 in the afternoon, and that's going to be a major difference for a team that used to be sleeping at that time of the day.
00:38:47
justin_daulton
So give me Kentucky.
00:38:47
Cody Atkinson
yeah Another body clock game. I like it. I like it. Iowa State, two seed. Tennessee State, 15 seed. Are we going crazy, or are or is is every two seed and one seed making it past week or day one?
00:39:01
justin_daulton
ah in in the vein of the Houston Texans being Iowa State South, give me the Cyclones to be with the rest of the guys that are Houston Texans now.
00:39:10
Cody Atkinson
There you go. I'm going Cyclones as well. I don't have the guts for ah for a 15 seed upset this year. um So back to the top of the bracket, round of 32. I'll name the the matchup that I have, but obviously yours will be different. um I have Duke TCU here.
00:39:27
Cody Atkinson
um I did want to note that Duke potentially playing without two players in this tournament, Patrick Ngongba and Caleb Foster. No, not clear exactly when they'll be coming back, but I still don't see them losing in the first two weeks. I've got Duke over TCU.
00:39:45
justin_daulton
Yeah, they're going close out weekend one. I also have Duke TCU, and I just don't think TCU has enough firepower to get past the a preloaded Duke roster.
00:39:53
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, and no no shame on that because getting past the Duke roster is very hard to do. um ah So I've got five seed St. John's, four seed Kansas. I'm going St. John's in this one.
00:40:06
Cody Atkinson
um Kansas is a team I really like, but they've been having a lot of issues. i don't know if you've tracked their star player, Darren Peterson, who does and doesn't play so frequently. There just seems like a lot of chaos and turmoil around the program, so give me the stability of St. John's to make it to the Sweet 16.
00:40:24
justin_daulton
I have Kansas versus Northern Iowa, the darling of my bracket there. one of my i think my my my one of my two 12 seeds to move on. um Not enough to get past Kansas, so Kansas moves on.
00:40:37
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, that seems reasonable. So I've got 11 seed South Florida versus three seed Michigan State. Give me the Spartans. um I like the upset of South Florida over Louisville. I don't see them doing it again in the second round. I think this is a really, really good Michigan State team.
00:40:56
justin_daulton
Yeah, I got Michigan State versus Louisville, and I'm right there with you. The the Michigan State team is just too good. um My brain have originally wanted to go Louisville, but I just can't. I don't see it happening.
00:41:07
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, it's it's it's going to be hard to find those dream runs in this in this field, I feel like. um Seven seed UCLA versus two seed UConn is what I have here. Give me the upset, man. I said UCLA has been hot.
00:41:20
Cody Atkinson
um And I think this UConn team is overrated. I think it's a lot. I don't think it's the same level of team. um that ah Dan Hurley has been putting out when he was back-to-back champions. like i don't think they I don't think they have it.
00:41:37
Cody Atkinson
um Give me UCLA a nice little run from Disney World, is it?
00:41:44
justin_daulton
No, UCLA would be Disneyland.
00:41:44
Cody Atkinson
Or are they Land?
00:41:46
justin_daulton
Disneyland, yes.
00:41:46
Cody Atkinson
Disneyland, there you go.
00:41:48
justin_daulton
um I'm also going upset. um UCF pulls off the upset against number two UConn. I just think the UCF team is going to ride the high off of beating UCLA and rolling right into it and and having a lot of fun against the number two UConn team.
00:42:03
Cody Atkinson
There you go. ah Moving on to the South ah Division. i've got one seed Florida, eight seed Clemson. Like I said, Clemson does not lose in March Madness except against Florida. Give me Florida.
00:42:16
justin_daulton
Yeah, Florida, no notes. They got it.
00:42:19
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, yeah. Florida over Clemson. I've got five seed Vanderbilt over 13 seed Troy. ah Vanderbilt is one of my favorite plays in this tournament, just the way that they handled the SEC tournament and just who they've been all year. They were like a top five seed in the country at one point earlier in the season. Give me Vandy over Troy.
00:42:40
justin_daulton
I've got number of four Nebraska against number 12 McNee. um If you were to ask me if there was a team that could make a run, it is McNee, and I think they do because of the conference tournament experience.
00:42:52
Cody Atkinson
Oh, you think they do?
00:42:53
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:42:54
Cody Atkinson
Oh, okay. So McNeese State over ah Nebraska.
00:42:58
justin_daulton
Number four, number number four, in Nebraska.
00:42:59
Cody Atkinson
i I was certain you were going to go Nebraska for the story. They've never won one before. Now they've got two. I thought you were doing it. um I've got – yeah,
00:43:08
justin_daulton
Could have almost there, but this that experience, man, it helps.
00:43:11
Cody Atkinson
I feel you. I feel you. McNeese State ah in the tournament last year, so it's two years in a row for them. I've got a six-seat North Carolina at three-seat Illinois.
00:43:22
Cody Atkinson
um The difference maker here is that Illinois' star freshman is still playing, and North Carolina's is not. Give me Illinois.
00:43:31
justin_daulton
Yeah, I have number three, vc or number three, Illinois versus number 11, VCU. VCU bows out, Illinois moves on.
00:43:39
Cody Atkinson
All right. And then I think in this one, we both have number 10 seed Texas A&M and number two seed Houston. This is where my my heart and my fandom have to go to die because I'm not picking A&M to be two seed Houston. I've got Houston moving on.
00:43:51
justin_daulton
Yeah, I've got Houston moving it on too, man. Just too good of a team to for A&M to beat. But what a what a run to get to the round 32 in the first year of Bucky McMillan's tenure at A&M.
00:44:01
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, that would be unbelievable success for for Bucky McMillan and the Aggies there. I i think that could be a good game. It could also be a blowout. But ah yeah, Houston over AMM. Moving on to the West region, we've got number one seed Arizona versus number nine seed Utah State is what I have. I think you have Villanova there. i'm going i'm going to I'm going to take Arizona. i don't think I don't see Utah State pulling off the upset.
00:44:27
justin_daulton
Yeah, I like Nova, but I don't like them enough to go over Arizona. Arizona moves on to the speed of 16.
00:44:33
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, this Arizona team is is incredible. They also have a freshman phenom in Coa Pete. um And beyond him, they had I would get the names wrong, so I'm not going to say them here, but they have a couple other guards that are ah phenomenal. One's first name and last name, but start with a B. Very cool, but i it's slipping me at the moment.
00:44:51
Cody Atkinson
So give me Arizona. ah Four seed Arkansas, five seed Wisconsin. ah Same answer as the first round. Give me Darius Acuff. Every tournament I look for who's my who's my Kemba Walker.
00:45:05
Cody Atkinson
The very first bracket I ever filled out was I watched the Big East tournament. um it was I was in college. I watched the Big East tournament because it was on at noon every day. and I was watching UConn every day. and This kid, Kemba Walker, the point guard, was hitting shot after shot after shot. was like, this guy's unstoppable. I just picked them to win the whole tournament.
00:45:24
Cody Atkinson
Because that was the only basketball I'd watched that year. They went on to win the whole tournament. I think if anybody's going to do that this year, have a little Kemba Walker take the tournament for themselves. It's going to be Darius Acuff at Arkansas. So it's going to be Arkansas.
00:45:37
justin_daulton
Yeah, I got the same matchup. I just think Arkansas is just a much better team. So give me Arkansas.
00:45:42
Cody Atkinson
There you go. I've got three seed Gonzaga, six seed BYU. I think you have the same thing there. um ah Two teams that I'm generally not overly impressed with. um But BYU's been in a little bit of a death spiral.
00:45:57
Cody Atkinson
um Lately, they're just not playing up to their so up to their abilities. And so I'm going to go with what feels like a little more stability here in Gonzaga.
00:46:06
justin_daulton
Give me the newest member of the Pac-12 and get Gonzaga to move on. No, I'm
00:46:10
Cody Atkinson
Oh, there you go. I forgot about that. ah seven see i have So I have seven seed Miami at two seed Purdue. i want to – you go first because I might have to lull this one over for a second.
00:46:24
justin_daulton
going to go ahead and pull the trigger on what you were mulling over. Give me Miami DB Purdue.
00:46:29
Cody Atkinson
Dude, I'm going to do it too. Every year i feel like there's got to be the year of somebody. You know what mean? Where there's like there's that team – that's just a wakes up and is good at every sport, like never, not winning any of them, but it's good at all of them. It was, think it was the NC state like two years ago where they were in the final four for multiple sports and won none of them. might if It's Miami this year. Miami is that team after their football performance and they're going to do it here on the hardwood as well. You mean Miami upsetting Purdue final region, the Midwest region, I've got Michigan, St. Louis. I think you've got Michigan, Georgia. What are you thinking?
00:47:03
justin_daulton
Michigan, once' again, just a buzzsaw of a team. Georgia's a run-ins here.
00:47:08
Cody Atkinson
Yep. St. Louis' is run ends here for me. I'm i'm taking Michigan. Sorry, Kareem. it was It was fun while it lasted, but we only got one weekend from you. I've got 12-seed Akron versus 4-seed Alabama.
00:47:22
Cody Atkinson
I'm not picking the 12-seed to win two in a row. ah Give me give me Alabama.
00:47:29
justin_daulton
So I have number four Alabama against number five, Texas Tech. I think Alabama is off the court issues. Come back to get them. I got Tech winning this.
00:47:36
Cody Atkinson
There you go. ah So I think in this one, we're the same. we both have three seed Virginia versus the 11 seed representing Miami of Ohio or SMU.
00:47:46
Cody Atkinson
um I don't have logic or reason behind this other than i just believe this Virginia team to be incredibly underrated. um So I'm going to take Virginia.
00:47:56
justin_daulton
Yeah, I think it's a magical run of ah of either a Miami, Ohio, or SMU in tiered Virginia.
00:48:01
Cody Atkinson
Yep. Yep. And then I've got Iowa State, Santa Clara. Give me Iowa State. Just a very, very, ah not flashy, but dependable ah program. I like Iowa State to to go on a run here for, i think, what would be one of the first times for them.
00:48:18
justin_daulton
Yeah, I like the Cyclones, man. Good vibes.
00:48:21
Cody Atkinson
Good vibes. ah Back to the top. On to the Sweet 16 now. East region, we've got I've got Duke versus St. John's. Who do you have in this one? You have Duke, Kansas, right?
00:48:35
justin_daulton
Yeah, i've got Duke, Kansas. um I think ultimately the roster compensation in Duke just outweigh what Kansas has. So I got Duke moving on.
00:48:48
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I'm going back and forth on this one in my head right now. i i want to pick Duke to lose early, but I don't think I can do it St. John's is a team that I love in March Madness every year, those Rick Pitino teams. And lately I feel like they lose a round before I expect them to. So going to take Duke to beat St. John's here.
00:49:08
Cody Atkinson
michigan i've got So I've got three seed Michigan State, seven seed UCLA. I think you've got Michigan State UCF here, right?
00:49:15
justin_daulton
Yeah, I do. Yeah.
00:49:16
Cody Atkinson
does the Does the run continue?
00:49:19
justin_daulton
Now the run ends, man, Michigan State's just too good of a team. UCF just runs into this a power imbalance, honestly.
00:49:27
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, i've I've got the same thing. um I've got Michigan State over UCLA. Love the run, but um I like this Michigan State team. I don't think they win at all, but um I think they've got a good a good run in them, and and I think Duke-Michigan State would be a really fun outcome for everybody.
00:49:42
Cody Atkinson
um South region here. I've got one seed Florida, five seed Vanderbilt. These teams just finished playing each other in the SEC tournament and Vanderbilt routed Florida.
00:49:55
Cody Atkinson
I think they're going to do it again. Give me Vanderbilt with the upset. um i it Vanderbilt's got the juice.
00:50:02
justin_daulton
Vanderbilt's got the juice. That's the quote of the year right there.
00:50:05
Cody Atkinson
yeah
00:50:06
justin_daulton
I got number one, Florida versus number 12, McNeil, the magical run of McNeil in tier four to lose on.
00:50:11
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, that seems that seems reasonable. this this one This one I think is a tough one here. Three seed Illinois versus two seed Houston, both with stud freshmen, both with a lot to offer. I'm going to let you go first on this one.
00:50:27
justin_daulton
I'm going to keep saying it, man. team that was the number one overall team for a little bit there. I'm going to go Houston over Illinois.
00:50:35
Cody Atkinson
i don't know if I could be any more back and forth on this pick. um We're really running into the picks that are difficult now. I, going to go, I'm going to go Houston. I was thinking about switching it. I'm going to go Houston. I, I don't think they can, I don't think they win at all, but I think this is a really good Houston team.
00:50:53
Cody Atkinson
Um, West region. I've got one seed Arizona versus four seed Arkansas. What do you have here?
00:50:59
justin_daulton
I got seed to Arizona versus number four seed to Arkansas. I think the way my head goes is that I agree with you. This Arizona team is very underrated, especially for being a one seed.
00:51:10
justin_daulton
um And I think it shows here. But I think ultimately what happens is that Arkansas pulls away at the end.
00:51:17
Cody Atkinson
So you've got Arkansas.
00:51:19
justin_daulton
Yeah, I got my first number one seed falling there.
00:51:22
Cody Atkinson
There you go. i I'm back and forth on this one as well. Um, I, Arkansas is one of the darlings that I really want to believe in but ah part of me thinks they're getting too popular because they won the sec tournament. I think they might be too popular of a darling pick. So I, I'm going to, going to say Arizona knocks, knocks Arkansas out. It was a good run.
00:51:43
Cody Atkinson
Um, Arkansas too popular for me to put put put too much stake in him here.
00:51:51
Cody Atkinson
um Yeah, Calipari's going to Calipari. Arky's going to Arky. um I really don't feel good about that. I think it could go either way. Three seed Gonzaga versus seven seed Miami is what I've got. you've got the same Do you have the same thing there?
00:51:51
justin_daulton
Ultimately, Arky's going to Arky, you know?
00:52:06
justin_daulton
the same way, man. Yep.
00:52:09
Cody Atkinson
All right. im
00:52:12
Cody Atkinson
what What are the vibes telling you?
00:52:14
justin_daulton
I'm just saying that Miami has a chance here. Gonzaga ultimately a basketball school to its core. Obviously getting a three seed is really good at where they have been in last couple of years.
00:52:25
justin_daulton
Miami's just on a good run, man. and I got Miami moving on.
00:52:29
Cody Atkinson
Very cool. um I am literally thinking it through as we go. I'm going to say Gonzaga moves on here. i like Miami a lot, but I just, I feel like that that might be too much of a run for for them to go on for me. So I'm going to Gonzaga.
00:52:48
Cody Atkinson
ah Midwest region.
00:52:49
justin_daulton
It'll be a close game.
00:52:49
Cody Atkinson
ah
00:52:50
justin_daulton
I will say that that that'll be one of the closest games in terms of it doesn't have a one or two associated next to their names.
00:52:57
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
00:52:58
justin_daulton
It'll be a really close game.
00:52:59
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, that it would certainly be it be a really fun one. Michigan. so I've got one seed Michigan versus four seed Alabama. Alabama went and got Charles. ive It's been so long, I forget his name, but I believe was Charles Bediaco from the G League to help with their rebounding because they were so struggling at rebounding.
00:53:21
Cody Atkinson
And Michigan is great at rebounding. i Give me Michigan.
00:53:26
justin_daulton
Yeah, Michigan, I've been saying it for my first couple of picks, Michigan is just that good of a team. um I have number one Michigan gets number five Texas Tech in the run for the Red Raiders in the same way it did in the college football playoff, ends very abruptly as well.
00:53:31
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
00:53:39
Cody Atkinson
Three seed Virginia, two seed Iowa State. This is ah might be like the underrated matchup of the century. Just two teams not getting a lot of love or exposure this year. I am, so my original pick is Iowa State. Do I want to flip it is the question. i'm going to stick with Iowa State. I'm sticking with my gut. I like Iowa State to go on a run here.
00:53:59
Cody Atkinson
um Give me Iowa State.
00:54:02
justin_daulton
I like the vibes, man. Go Cyclones.
00:54:05
Cody Atkinson
Go Cyclones, baby. That brings us to the Elite Eight. We are flying through this thing. If you want in-depth analysis, there are plenty of places to get it. We're a lives and fun podcast.
00:54:14
justin_daulton
I
00:54:16
Cody Atkinson
We're trying to help you build a mediocre bracket, so this is what you're getting. I've got one seed Duke versus three seed Michigan State. do You have to ceo have the same thing here, right?
00:54:26
justin_daulton
have the same thing, and I think you and I are thinking the same thing on this one.
00:54:29
Cody Atkinson
What are we thinking, Justin? Tell me.
00:54:31
justin_daulton
i thinkme michigan I think Michigan State takes out Duke.
00:54:34
Cody Atkinson
That's what I think too. um I don't know. I don't feel good about it, but I'm going to take Michigan State over Duke as well. What the reason?
00:54:42
justin_daulton
I think it's
00:54:42
Cody Atkinson
I don't know, but Duke didn't. Duke had Cooper Flagg Con Knipple on last year's roster. They might be co-rookies of the year in the and NBA this year, and they didn't win at all.
00:54:56
Cody Atkinson
This is a really good team, but like if they couldn't do it last year, I have no problem picking against them this year, Michigan State.
00:55:04
justin_daulton
I think Michigan State just on an an unbelievable run, just looking at where they come from in this in this whole scenario, Duke's kind of had it easy. So I've got Michigan State with a team that's going to battle-tested going into this matchup.
00:55:16
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I think there's something to be said about battle tested when you look at a Big Ten basketball schedule versus an ACC basketball schedule as well. a Michigan State, certainly battle tested. Duke, you know, maybe a little more debatably battle tested. So I like fou i like the vibes logic there.
00:55:34
Cody Atkinson
I've got, in the South region, I've got five seed Vanderbilt versus two seed Houston. And Duke, who do you have here?
00:55:41
justin_daulton
I have one seed Florida versus two seed Houston.
00:55:44
Cody Atkinson
There you go I'm going upset. I'm going upset here as well. I'm going five-seat Vanderbilt. um I really like this Houston team. i don't think it's on the same level as the Houston teams that – man, it ke Kelvin Sampson.
00:56:01
Cody Atkinson
I was losing his name there. I don't think it's on the same level that he's had the last few years and he's relying on a freshman to run the team. I think you maybe you run into some freshman mistakes against ah a really tried-and-true Vanderbilt team. Give me Vanderbilt.
00:56:19
justin_daulton
Man, everything in me wants to go Houston here, but Florida is...
00:56:23
Cody Atkinson
I mean, that's the national championship rematch, is it not?
00:56:27
justin_daulton
I believe so, yeah.
00:56:27
Cody Atkinson
Florida-Houston?
00:56:28
justin_daulton
Yeah, it's it's going to be one hell of a matchup. um I just have Florida barely by the skin of their teeth.
00:56:37
Cody Atkinson
I'm going to be honest. i thought you were you I thought Houston was your national championship the way that you were setting them up earlier.
00:56:42
justin_daulton
It was close, man. It's close.
00:56:44
Cody Atkinson
All right. So West Region. I've got one seed Arizona, three seed Gonzaga. Just give me Arizona to keep going on a run here.
00:56:53
justin_daulton
Yeah, I got four seed Arkansas against number seven Miami. This is where Miami's run ends. I got Arkansas moving on.
00:57:01
Cody Atkinson
Arkansas moving on over Miami. I like it. That's some that's some chaos right there.
00:57:06
Cody Atkinson
Midwest region. I think we're both the same on this one. Michigan, Iowa State. I'm going to go Michigan here. i think Iowa State's run comes to an end. I think this Michigan team is just – I think they're just too elite in that sense. And I think Iowa State's just a step below. So give me give me Michigan over Iowa State.
00:57:28
justin_daulton
Yeah, I got the same notes for you, man. Iowa State, a darling in this run, right? great the great year for them. But ah eventually, when you run into a powerhouse, you you just and you don't have it you don't have enough to make that final run. I got Michigan going on to the final four.
00:57:43
Cody Atkinson
There you go. So ah on the east-south side, I've got ah Michigan State Vanderbilt in the final four. i don't know if you're catching a theme here. i so every I'll say every year I fill up a couple brackets because I don't like picking one seeds in my bracket.
00:58:01
Cody Atkinson
um It's not fun, but it's usually what happens. So I'll pick my my more fun bracket and then I'll pick my one seed bracket. We're gonna have a little more fun with this one. I've got Vanderbilt over Michigan State. I've got a five seed headed to Indianapolis for the national championship game
00:58:18
justin_daulton
I would love to find the stat on the last time a five seed made it to the national championship game. um I've got one seed.
00:58:23
Cody Atkinson
game. Let me see what I can find for you.
00:58:25
justin_daulton
I got one seed Florida against number three seed Michigan state. um I really like this Florida team, obviously in national championship last year. Correct. dont If I'm, if I'm right there,
00:58:35
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, they they are defending national champions.
00:58:38
justin_daulton
Defending national champions. um I like the route that Michigan State gets to go on for this. Obviously, I had them beating Duke, taking the number one seed. I think they do it again, and I think they take out the national champion. They have Michigan State moving on.
00:58:53
Cody Atkinson
Oh, man, I like it. So I'm looking up this stat for you here. This is AI, so we'll see if it's right. A number five seed has never won the championship. While five seeds have reached the final four, the last time a five seed advanced to the national championship game was in 2000, the Florida Gators.
00:59:10
justin_daulton
All
00:59:10
Cody Atkinson
That does not bode well for my bracket.
00:59:13
justin_daulton
right.
00:59:14
Cody Atkinson
But you know what? That was 26 years ago, 26th anniversary Vanderbilt's going to the national championship. ah bottoms Bottom side, we've got Arizona, Michigan.
00:59:20
justin_daulton
there
00:59:24
Cody Atkinson
um This is my for fun bracket. And to make it work, I i can't have Michigan in the final because I don't see them losing the final. So give me Arizona.
00:59:34
justin_daulton
I've got number one seed Michigan. I guess number four seed Arkansas. Arkansas has magical run comes in, and this is Michigan's game.
00:59:42
Cody Atkinson
All right, so so so set up your final for me. Who do you have again? ah floor is this Oh, you have Michigan State, Michigan.
00:59:46
justin_daulton
so my fun So my final rivalry game in my championship game, I've got Michigan versus Michigan State.
00:59:52
Cody Atkinson
Oh, boy.
00:59:53
justin_daulton
Yeah.
00:59:54
Cody Atkinson
right, well, let me know who who's who's coming away with the hard work.
00:59:58
justin_daulton
coming with the hardware I mean I've been talking about through every single pick man Michigan's a buzzsaw of a team ah Michigan State going on a much more battle tested run takes down two number one seeds so the stage is set for the take down a third number one seed and their rival um I mean once again I'm the vibes guy here man I have no analytics to back up I got no stats I got no minutes watched on this tournament to back up any of my claims but man I like the spartans to take out the third number one seat on the run i've got michigan state winning it all
01:00:29
Cody Atkinson
Oh, big time. That would be so much fun if it happened, certainly. ah I you really thought you were setting it up for the other side. Talking about how big of a buzzsaw Michigan was. I really thought you were setting it up. That a nice fake out there.
01:00:44
Cody Atkinson
I've got five seed Vanderbilt, one seed Arizona, as I already alluded to. I'm having some fun with this bracket because I don't like picking one seed. So give me Vanderbilt, the first five seed ever to win the national championship. You heard it here first, folks. This is how you make the most mediocre bracket of all time. It's you listen to us cherry pick stats and vibes to come up with other nonsense.
01:01:09
Cody Atkinson
Most likely one of Duke, Arizona, Michigan, or whoever the other number one is that I knocked out Florida. Most likely one of them is coming away with this, but that's no fun. So if you want to win, i don't know, I guess go pretty chalky. If you want to have fun, maybe a little Michigan State, maybe a little Vanderbilt, maybe a little Arkansas going on a run.
01:01:29
Cody Atkinson
um That's what we did. I've got Vandy, you've got Michigan State, and that is your March Madness preview.
01:01:37
justin_daulton
Man, exciting stuff, man. I love March Madness, man. It's one of the best times of the year. And can I say March starts an electric run in sports because we also have the Masters in a couple of weeks.
01:01:49
justin_daulton
We also have opening day in a couple of weeks.
01:01:49
Cody Atkinson
We do.
01:01:52
justin_daulton
We are on an electric run in sports.
01:01:52
Cody Atkinson
No, a week and a half.
01:01:54
Cody Atkinson
March madness is march marchsh Madness is all day Thursday and Friday, and next week we get all day Thursday baseball for opening week.
01:01:54
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:01:55
justin_daulton
Like we are.
01:02:01
justin_daulton
Yeah. what ah What a run. And then we next month we have NHL playoffs, NBA playoffs. like We're right into it.
01:02:09
Cody Atkinson
We've got wrestling coming up.
01:02:09
justin_daulton
and then I got WrestleMania in a month. like do We are on electric side of baseball or and a sports fan. But we have one thing that we need to talk about, you and I, man.
01:02:19
justin_daulton
And that's the World Baseball Classic. If anyone has been listening, we said that we weren't going to World Baseball Classic this week. We were actually going start doing Major League Baseball pre primers.
World Baseball Classic Recap
01:02:29
justin_daulton
But this past week in the World Baseball Classic has been way too electric for us to not talk about it here, man.
01:02:35
justin_daulton
And so real quick, let me recap everyone before we really start to deep dive what's happened. As we recorded last week, we were watching the U.S. versus Mexico. We pretty much already knew that we were going to move on, but it will lock closer again than I think either one of us.
01:02:49
justin_daulton
would have cared to admit in that Mexico game. Five to three, um vibes were immaculate. I saw so many videos, so many videos of the standing room only crowd out there.
01:02:56
Cody Atkinson
Oh, absolutely.
01:03:00
justin_daulton
Obviously the US pulls it off. um And then immediately, start the the Twitter fingers coming off of this matchup of Mark DeRosa coming out and saying that the U.S.
01:03:08
Cody Atkinson
I
01:03:11
justin_daulton
has already punched their ticket to to the to the quarterfinals.
01:03:15
Cody Atkinson
fired him.
01:03:15
justin_daulton
And man, you and i tore this man apart. Do not let our text messages leak.
01:03:19
Cody Atkinson
so do
01:03:21
justin_daulton
it It would not be pretty if our text messages leaked out there.
01:03:22
Cody Atkinson
i fire him
01:03:25
justin_daulton
Yeah, I think that was the direct quote is that we should fire this guy. i don't know how you fire someone from an exhibition tournament, but if there was anyone that needed to be fired, this is the guy that should have been fired.
01:03:31
Cody Atkinson
There's way.
01:03:34
justin_daulton
um And because of that, homie puts out the backup squad. No shade to this backup squad. You're still throwing out there a Gunnar Henderson. you know um ah Give me the other name.
01:03:46
justin_daulton
ah
01:03:46
Cody Atkinson
think that I think the most egregious is he had Paul Goldschmidt at first base instead of Bryce Harper.
01:03:50
justin_daulton
Paul Goldsman at first base.
01:03:51
Cody Atkinson
And in the eighth inning, he was warming up Clayton Kershaw, who was who was really just there to to to soak in his last baseball game as a professional.
01:03:52
justin_daulton
Yep.
01:04:00
Cody Atkinson
ah ah won We don't need to get started on that yet. Those are some names for you. Keep going.
01:04:05
justin_daulton
Yeah, um so ultimately we end up winning eight or we lose eight to six to Italy. Sorry, Italy or they're just chasing down espresso shots the entire time miles as we played Sabrina Carpenter in the dugout as much espresso as they were drinking. um move on um italy saves us by remaining undefeated and beating mexico as we move on to the quarterfinals stomp them like it was it wasn't pretty um and italy going into the post conference basically saying you're welcome us um and basically just putting them down the entire time um deservingly so because we looked like idiots on the main stage and the in the national headlines
01:04:27
Cody Atkinson
Stomp them. Mm-hmm.
01:04:45
justin_daulton
Um, that's my quick recap over before we really, oh sorry I got a couple more. Um, Canada runs through, uh, we both talked, we talked about it last week that we thought Canada was dead and dead in the waters.
01:04:56
justin_daulton
Turns out they weren't, um, goes on an incredible run after the podcast comes out last week. Um, and Canada moves on, um, as we're beating Puerto Rico and Cuba, um, which neither one of us had.
01:05:06
justin_daulton
Um, so your final, yes.
01:05:07
Cody Atkinson
I said they could beat Cuba, but I literally said they have to beat Cuba and hope Cuba loses to Puerto Rico because I had already chalked up Puerto Rico as a loss. So shout out to Canada for proving us both wrong.
01:05:21
justin_daulton
Yeah, so your quarterfinal matchups was Canada, Puerto Rico, Italy, US, s Japan, Korea.
01:05:28
Cody Atkinson
Well, that's right.
01:05:28
justin_daulton
Well, not the matchups, right? The ones that move on from their pools.
01:05:30
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, the matchups. That's just who moved on, yeah.
01:05:32
justin_daulton
Yeah. Canada, Puerto Rico, Italy, USA, Japan, Korea, DR in Venezuela. Um, uh, and then obviously we have now had the quarter final matchups.
01:05:42
justin_daulton
Um, obviously as we are recording right now, of Venezuela, Italy is going on and has gone final.
01:05:46
Cody Atkinson
ah It's final. It's final.
01:05:47
justin_daulton
Yeah. Has gone final four to two Venezuela and moves on. Um, so was run through the quarterfinals real quick. um u.s over canada um u.s collects canadian tiers once again um which is a really bad year really bad time for canada in sports um and then it was dr over i'm losing it who do they be dr over korea venezuela or
01:06:09
Cody Atkinson
DR over Korea. yeah Venezuela over Japan and Italy over Puerto Rico.
01:06:17
justin_daulton
Yes. um To set up your semifinal matchup was Venezuela over it beats from Italy 4-2 and then U.S. last night beating DR 2-1.
01:06:29
justin_daulton
um Obviously, we will now deep dive.
01:06:31
Cody Atkinson
What a final.
01:06:32
justin_daulton
Yeah, we will now just go, you know, and just kind of dissect this DR game um because it has been the talk of the town the last 24 hours. This is DR-US game. Do you have any thoughts before we get there? Just kind of take a pause and just reflect over the quarterfinals and semifinals and everything.
01:06:46
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:06:49
Cody Atkinson
Well, yeah, so I think we kind of discussed, are we do we want it all or are we saving anything for a post-tourney recap? Because if we're if we're doing it all, I've got to go back a little ways back to that Italy thought. but Or we can savor that for for the full recap.
01:07:07
justin_daulton
I, I honestly, the way I'm seeing it man, this is kind of the post-mortem. I think we just got to kind of run through it and,
01:07:11
Cody Atkinson
Okay.
01:07:14
justin_daulton
Hopefully next Monday we're sitting here talking about U.S. winning over Venezuela.
01:07:19
Cody Atkinson
All right, so I'm going to go back a little bit to the Italy. You you covered it. um Rumors of the team staying out too late celebrating. ah Mark DeRosa goes on and MLB Network talking about the guys are dragging. I got to get them off their feet. They've put they had played four games, and or this would have been their fourth game in five days.
01:07:40
Cody Atkinson
um If you're dragging after that, you are not ready for 162. Most of them had already gotten a day off because he threw out a similar lineup against Great Britain.
01:07:47
justin_daulton
Thank you.
01:07:49
Cody Atkinson
So you're talking about third game in five days. ah The team shouldn't have been dragging other than just not really efforting it. And throwing out, saying that you advanced, throwing um a rookie...
01:08:03
Cody Atkinson
Nolan McLean in the game, um got Paul Goldschmidt at first over Bryce Harper, who admittedly is having such a bad tournament that maybe that wasn't as crazy as it seems. ah Warming up Clayton Kershaw in the in the eighth tells me I don't think he knew that they were eliminated and the tiebreaker rules until the ninth inning of the game, which is utter chaos. um Yeah, dude, I was – I'm trying to keep the same energy I had then because obviously it's gone – completely differently since then. I'm trying to keep the same energy I had. I was ready to emergency pod on Thursday if we got eliminated. was going text you and be like, I'm going so well.
01:08:44
Cody Atkinson
Don't worry about it. i have some thoughts to get out if we got eliminated because that would have been the most um That would have been the most ridiculous thing ever. um I got, so I was about as heated as you can get. um And I think they deserved all of the heat. They didn't know the rules of the tournament. They thought they had advanced. They didn't take Italy seriously, even though Italy is is a roster of entirely major leaguers. mostly U S born Italians from New Jersey. Like this, this team, this was a team that needed to be taken seriously. Like, and, and we, we previewed it. I said, Italy, I picked Italy italy as my sleeper. I said, I don't think they make it out over Mexico, but if they do, they can go on a run.
01:09:24
Cody Atkinson
And they did. Um, yeah Michael Lorenzen, the pitcher, like that dude has a, a no hitter in the big leagues. Jack Keglione was an sec monster um already up in the majors. There's so many young Royals on that team who you know, up and down kind of thing, but a very good team.
01:09:48
Cody Atkinson
um Yeah, dude, I was heated that they didn't take this seriously and that they weren't showing any heart. We were sending around the quotes. We were doing all of that. Like, They're not taking it seriously. Bryce Harper doesn't think it's the Olympics, blah, blah, blah, blah. blah A vibe switch. So Canada, US, s I got the chance to go to.
01:10:07
Cody Atkinson
i did not experience a vibe shift. ah We felt like we were lucky to get out of Canada. we Some of those runs were unearned, um you know getting walks home on singles, but like that was not a dominant win over Canada. I did not feel better.
01:10:22
Cody Atkinson
Going into it. We said we sent our predictions around. You had U.S. winning at all. I had D.R. winning at all. I did not think we stood a chance except number 30, Paul Skeens warming up the Top Gun because it was after Canada came out that I learned that Paul Skeens warmed up the Top Gun.
01:10:35
justin_daulton
Mm-hmm.
01:10:40
Cody Atkinson
It was after the Canada game that I realized and remembered that Paul Skeens is pitching on the mound against the Dominican Republic. And it is now that we have Aaron Judge coming out and saying things like the atmospheres of these games are more intense than the World Series. I think the U.S. fans and In that sense, I think the Mexico fans and the DR fans, because these Latin American fans are incredible.
01:11:05
justin_daulton
Mm-hmm.
01:11:05
Cody Atkinson
Shout out to them. More energy than U.S. fans even. ah The Puerto Rico fans on Saturday at at a now Daikin. Incredible performance by all of them. I think they woke up the U.S. to realize that this is actually really fun and this matters.
01:11:22
Cody Atkinson
um And now you've got Aaron Judge making similar statements to what – to what we've been hearing from DR. And so I'll pause there because that was a rant of of rants, but there was a vibe shift going into the DR game. I still didn't think we had the juice going into it, but you did.
01:11:39
justin_daulton
Yeah, I mean, ultimately, I mean, I'm a homer, right? I mean, National Pride, I'm always going to try to side on that. I mean, we're going to preview World Cup to the best of our ability here in a couple of months, and sure I'm sure both of us, we could talk about how you know the U.S.
01:11:50
Cody Atkinson
I picked the U.S. one at all.
01:11:55
justin_daulton
could win that off the whole thing. Not really, but we'll do it we'll do our damnedest to figure that out. um Yeah, I mean, i i think't get to I didn't get to sit down and watch um the pool games like you did, just because of just timing and everything on my end.
01:12:09
justin_daulton
But just kind of watching everything and watching everything unfold over the last week and a half and just kind of seeing that the U.S. fans not showing up, not really, you know, going to bat for these guys. And then the players just looking like they're playing flat.
01:12:23
justin_daulton
Right. There's not any energy. There wasn't any, you know, there wasn't any momentum to really make me think that there was going to be a team that was going to wake up all of a sudden and keep going. Yeah.
01:12:34
justin_daulton
And that's just the realistic part of me, right? The the realistic sports fan in all this, right? You know, you got notes in here. We found out that collectively that we had a a baseball analyst cosplaying as a bench coach, basically.
01:12:46
Cody Atkinson
I did. I did type that.
01:12:47
justin_daulton
um and And it's completely fair, right?
01:12:47
Cody Atkinson
I told you I was trying to keep the same energy I had back home
01:12:52
justin_daulton
When you sit there and you you sit there and you're going to tell me that you have Mark DeRosa, who has never coached a day in his life. that To my knowledge, he's never coached a day his life. Maybe his son's, you know little league team.
01:13:01
Cody Atkinson
then. Wikipedia didn't say it.
01:13:03
justin_daulton
yeah so i mean at the end of the day like why are we rolling out mark de rosa when there's a kevin cash that's a that's you know an established mlb manager you know why ah you know why are you not getting actual mlb manager stuff you've been doing this like instead of you know you got on the other end right we're going to talk about dr here in a second you have albert pools at least how we're pulls doesn't play the game of baseball knows how to manage a game of baseball right he's been around the game for
01:13:27
Cody Atkinson
Well, he's actively trying to become an MLB manager too.
01:13:29
justin_daulton
Right. I mean, you got a guy who's probably been around the game for 40 plus years, his entire life, right? Knows how the game of baseball works. And you got an analyst who you're just trying to figure out actually how to run a game with the best roster ever constructed, right? and In the U.S., right? The only one that can rival, and we talked about that in our breakdowns.
01:13:50
justin_daulton
was the DR. So this roster that was constructed to beat Japan was rivaled only by DR. And you know you rolling through this being like, we're just going sleepwalk our way through. We're going to beat Mexico, no problem. We're going to beat Canada, no problem. We're going to beat all these teams, no problem.
01:14:05
justin_daulton
And then you run into an Italy team that is nothing but American players but are somehow connected to Italy. And like I said earlier, just chugging down Espresso and just belt to ask the US roster.
01:14:18
justin_daulton
like At the end of the day, like you when when we're talking about these these tournaments right whether it's olympics in 2028 or you know world baseball classic four nations whatever it is you've got to put the best team out there to win every single game while i understand that stamina and fatigue right now isn't the greatest for for these these guys are still getting ready for opening day But at the end of the day, man, like you're you've been playing baseball your entire life.
01:14:44
justin_daulton
Get out there and play this game. Like you've got a moment that, and I love Skiing's approach. Skiing's has been on the record saying that this is the best jersey he's ever worn. You know, the best thing he's ever done was to to represent his country and do these things for for for Team USA.
01:14:58
justin_daulton
And I just need everyone else to come up with that same energy. and You know, we we we talked about the judge comments at the beginning where they, you know, they took inspiration from the Olympic teams going out there winning gold. you know But it it just didn't seem like the rest of the locker room fell in line. right We have Scoobal who was ready to get the first plane ride out after his his pitching performance in Great Britain.
01:15:19
justin_daulton
like Where's the lock-in? like Go ahead and I'm here. Let's ride. Let's do these things. And it just it never felt that way. And then you and I texting back and forth. You know you went to the the Canada quarterfinal game, and it just didn't happen there either.
01:15:33
justin_daulton
And it wasn't – I think you and I talked about it last week.
01:15:35
Cody Atkinson
atmosphere was incredible.
01:15:37
justin_daulton
Right. And I think you and I talked about it is that if this team gets to Miami, is that when it turns on?
01:15:39
Cody Atkinson
But...
01:15:44
justin_daulton
And that's something that I said is that I hope that it does. And I think I said that it it will when they get to Miami, they'll turn on because that's when they were. over That's what they were waiting for. They were waiting for that semifinal, that championship matchup.
01:15:55
justin_daulton
That's what this team was built for. um And as we get closer and closer to talking about this DR game from last night, and that seems to be what the wake up moment was.
01:16:06
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I mean, I think so. So one thing I'll say, you you mentioned Scooball. He was back with the team yesterday in Jersey in the dugout. So um I think ah Well, we can touch on it at the end, but I think that speaks to what this tournament can become because he's a guy who came into this with the expectation that it was an exhibition game.
01:16:22
justin_daulton
Thank you.
01:16:29
Cody Atkinson
And I think is in about as much of a mental pretzel as you could be that he's not that he didn't stick with the team the whole time. Like he wants to pitch again for Team USA. um He just didn't know what he was getting himself into. and And I think that speaks to what this can be in the future. Because if he's back on the team in the future, he's not just pitching one game next time.
01:16:49
Cody Atkinson
um And so that I think is cool. But I think you're right. i think there was a – I guess ah probe I'll pose it as a question almost because in my mind, I'm still left with a little bit of a question of was a switch flipped or – did we just start Paul Skeens? Because part of why I thought that we would get trounced by Dominican Republic is because I was like, there's not a pitching staff in the world that can hold that lineup back. But our lineup's holding itself back like there's no tomorrow. And at the end of the day, we went out there and we we scored two runs on two solo shots and we got out hit by the Dominican Republic. I texted you today, you you sent... um
01:17:33
Cody Atkinson
I don't remember the player, but there was a player who was like, we showed you who the better team was. The score just didn't reflect it. Yeah.
01:17:39
justin_daulton
It was Soto. Yeah.
01:17:40
Cody Atkinson
yeah So no, I disagree with that. I thought we outplayed them. Absolutely. For pitching, hitting everything. Like I thought, I thought we outplayed them, but at the end of the day we scored two runs on two solo shots. And um so, yeah,
01:17:52
Cody Atkinson
I think the vibes have turned. I feel really good going into U.S. Venezuela tomorrow, but I'm left with a little bit of the same question because we don't have Paul Skeens on the bump tomorrow. We have probably Nolan McLean, who is responsible for the one loss that we have so far.
01:18:08
Cody Atkinson
If we don't get an elite performance, is the lineup going to wake up? I mean, it's Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony with the shots. Like, Still not seeing a ton out of Aaron Judge, zero out of Bryce Harper. Cal Rowley got benched because he doesn't have a hit in the tournament yet still. like I don't know. what Yeah, I'll just let you go from there. but What are you thinking?
01:18:30
justin_daulton
Yeah, I think to go back to your to your question right that you posed, did they wake up or is it Paul Skeens? And I think the answer can be both in this type of scenario.
01:18:38
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:18:40
justin_daulton
that What I saw last night was a team that wanted to go out there and and win, right regardless of what Skeens was going to do out there or not. right I saw a team that...
01:18:52
justin_daulton
Went out there and like I saw Aaron judge make one of the best defensive players. I think i've ever seen in my life, right? I've seen you know, I saw ah Will Smith catching the one of the game of his life out there, right? And i've seen Will Smith catch many a game against the Astros and the race, right?
01:19:09
justin_daulton
um I saw it. You know, I mean I saw bednar came out there and shut down this roster the heart of this lineup right the in DR
01:19:16
Cody Atkinson
Dude, he's a heart attack, but he's so fun.
01:19:19
justin_daulton
like I mean, I saw a team that was possessed almost in a way that like this was the team that was meant to to do it right. On the other end, the DR's pitching staff is probably just as good, and that's a reason why this lineup got held to two runs.
01:19:33
justin_daulton
um For all intents and purposes, Julio Rodriguez should not have caught that ball from Aaron Judge in center field.
01:19:37
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, that was a great play.
01:19:40
justin_daulton
So, like... You're talking about that. could have It could have been 3-1. It could have been there was a couple of other scoring scenarios where this probably could have been 5-1 and not really been that close in the bottom of the ninth inning.
01:19:51
justin_daulton
So, I mean, at the end of the day, like.
01:19:51
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:19:54
justin_daulton
Go ahead.
01:19:56
Cody Atkinson
was going to say, I think you're right. um I, in prepping this, I wanted to highlight the defensive intensity of Team USA. And I think I just like, I, we started talking Italy.
01:20:08
Cody Atkinson
I got heated again and I just forgot. um But yeah, I, one of the things that, that I wanted to highlight was the defense. I mean, Aaron judge guns out. I think it was taught he's at third base.
01:20:18
justin_daulton
At least, yeah.
01:20:19
Cody Atkinson
um The Dominican was scared to take an extra 90 for the rest of the game and probably stayed the game. I think there was, Another instance where a player either, i think, didn't go first to third on a single because they were scared of the arm.
01:20:35
Cody Atkinson
And then there was a moment where they didn't try to steal a run at home. That was the Bednar inning. second and third is one out. They could, they could have challenged and ran home. They didn't want to, they were scared of the arm. ah Like you said, Will Smith catching a really good game. Bobby Witt jr. The best defensive shortstop possibly I've ever seen. um Yeah, I think you're right. I think the intensity was there and that was a really good, really good game pitching by the D.R.
01:21:00
justin_daulton
Yeah, i was talking to I was talking to a couple of my guys over here, and they were you know everyone over here was like, it's DR, DR, DR, right? Very Floridian, right? that Over here, right? But I said that the difference maker going into this game is Paul Skeens.
01:21:13
justin_daulton
I was like, regardless of of what you put out there, Paul Skeens in clutch moments, you can go back all way to LSU. You put Paul Skeens on the mound, you um you have a 99% chance of winning as long as you can put one or two runs on the board.
01:21:27
justin_daulton
And that's what we got here, right? That Paul Skeens was a difference maker. Obviously, he gave you just short of five innings of work. You know, i think going into it, you probably wanted to see him go six. i think that's something you and I talked about, that if you get Skeens to go six,
01:21:40
Cody Atkinson
five.
01:21:41
justin_daulton
Yeah, if you can get Skeens go six innings, you feel good about hitting that ball up to the bullpen as long as they don't fall apart down the stretch. um So to round off your question, is it you know one way or the other?
01:21:49
Cody Atkinson
business.
01:21:53
justin_daulton
I think the answer is both, right? That you put Skeens on the mound. You probably, you know, if you're Durosa, you hope that Skeens goes championship matchup, but ultimately you need it to beat By that point, we already knew that Japan was out. So the best remaining roster was DR. So you had to throw schemes out there for DR and hope that you could almost basically do a bullpen game to beat whoever comes out of Italy, Venezuela.
01:22:18
justin_daulton
And ultimately, yes, now you're going to, you know, looking forward towards Venezuela. you have to feel somewhat okay with going out McLean in the bullpen against the Venezuelan roster. No shade to Venezuela, but they're not DR. r They're not Japan. Their roster is very beatable as long as you got there and play your brand of baseball. And for all intents purposes, the brand of baseball that we're seeing from Team USA is defense.
01:22:40
justin_daulton
So as long as you can get one or two runs on the board, you have to feel good about it. But that's on the heels of what you got from Skeens through this DR game.
01:22:50
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. Yeah. A lot of it's going to come down to, to Nolan McLean tomorrow. um You do have the advantage of an extra day off the Venezuela doesn't have. So I'm looking at it right now. Venezuela through one, two, three, four,
01:23:17
Cody Atkinson
aren't available tomorrow. And I think that works to your advantage where everyone we threw has had a day off. So I think Skeens is the only person not available. I think that that benefits us that we can try to go Nolan McLean and maybe to the same guys. I mean, Bednar was awesome. Griffin Jacks was incredible.
01:23:33
Cody Atkinson
ah Garrett Whitlock was ah amazing. and And Mason Miller might be my favorite pitcher outside of Paul Skeens in baseball right now that just draws absolute gas. And you know It's such a shame for the game to have ended on the pitch that it did.
01:23:47
Cody Atkinson
um you know ABS changes that to a ball and and we get Miller versus Tatis, but also that pitch was filthy. I think everyone's losing their mind that that that like you can't call that.
01:23:56
justin_daulton
I mean, yeah
01:23:59
Cody Atkinson
This is one of the worst ever. I'm like, was it the worst? because For 90% of that pitch, I also thought that was going to be a strike. And it just dropped off at the last second. And, like, so you fool a batter, you can fool an up too.
01:24:09
Cody Atkinson
i I'm just saying I understand the mistake the up made. That pitch was utterly filthy. I can't believe Perdomo didn't swing at it.
01:24:17
justin_daulton
I mean, of the the frame job from Will Smith is what sold it, right?
01:24:20
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, frame drop too.
01:24:21
justin_daulton
that ah That's why, that's i think and that's the major difference, right? I think that's where DeRosa is going to get a lot of a lot of praise. It's that you start a defensive catcher on Will Smith over an offensive catcher in Cal Riley, and you get this type of performance from Will Smith, right?
01:24:36
Cody Atkinson
Oh,
01:24:38
justin_daulton
He has one wild pitch. it doesn't go on his record. you know He has the throw out at first right on the on the drop third strike. that um Was it Machado?
01:24:49
justin_daulton
Who was on the drop? I forget who was.
01:24:50
Cody Atkinson
oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you think of the person who tried to draw interference?
01:24:54
justin_daulton
but Yeah, where he he he swings out a little bit and tries to break up the throw.
01:24:58
Cody Atkinson
He's trying to magnet the ball.
01:25:00
justin_daulton
yeah so like there's a lot there so i mean you know when you have a defensive catcher on on you know behind the plate you're gonna get that type of frame job and but that's what will smith has done his entire career and will continue to do
Controversial Umpire Call Discussion
01:25:13
justin_daulton
um i would imagine you still put out will smith in the game against venezuela um
01:25:20
Cody Atkinson
I think so.
01:25:21
justin_daulton
I think you've got the the better catcher at that point Cal Riley. Obviously, the bat isn't there. And for some reason, unless Cal Riley wakes up tomorrow morning and tells DeRosa that he's ready to go, i think the hot hand goes to Will Smith.
01:25:33
justin_daulton
um And that's just the word that I would go as the if I was the manager. um But yeah, i mean, this this game and was insane. Like, yeah, I hate that game ends on controversy. But at the end of the day, baseball is a game of inches.
01:25:46
justin_daulton
And, you know, as someone who played the game for, you know, 16, 17 years of my life, you're taught from a very year early on, very young age that that ball is close you swing to bat.
01:25:46
Cody Atkinson
Hmm.
01:25:56
justin_daulton
so that's more on on podoma to to get out there and and swing the back kick the bat off your shoulders yeah you're trying to draw that walk but at least go put some contact ball maybe you tip it and then maybe you get walked on the next pitch right like that's that's the game of baseball and that's how it kind of crumbles and mason miller and will smith played one hell of a of a three outs there in the ninth inning
01:25:57
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:26:08
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:26:19
justin_daulton
Would I like to see a gun to Tatis and see what happens when the there's some runners on base and everything? yeah absolutely. That would have been electric. But the of the day, to the Juan Soto, yeah, to to to cut to piggyback off the Juan Soto quote, the better team did win the game.
01:26:27
Cody Atkinson
Take the W.
01:26:34
justin_daulton
Like we outplayed it.
01:26:35
Cody Atkinson
e Yeah, i think i think I think I said it would be like, I think if you played 10 times, it might it might be five and five.
01:26:35
justin_daulton
You and I were talking about today. You know, if this game is played 10 times, I think the U.S. wins probably eight or nine times, you know, in this type of scenario where it's probably a little bit more even split.
01:26:46
justin_daulton
But I think if you roll it through with,
01:26:54
Cody Atkinson
I think the teams were that evenly matched.
01:26:56
justin_daulton
They were evenly matched, but you put out skeins each time, like the one elevated pitch to Camarino is the only reason why it's a 2-1 game.
01:27:00
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:27:07
justin_daulton
so But yeah, i mean ultimately, that's that's my thoughts on the game.
01:27:07
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:27:09
justin_daulton
But yeah, no ABS. I do wonder if in three years there is ABS in in the World Baseball Classic.
01:27:14
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, almost certainly.
01:27:16
justin_daulton
um But yeah, man, electric game. The game that had on the edge of my seat the entire time, locked in the entire time. That is... Classic baseball right there, man. It reminds me why i love the World Baseball Classic.
01:27:29
justin_daulton
um I hadn't seen up until that point besides VR just having a ah ton of fun through the pool play. But man, what ah what a great game it was. Sad that this wasn't the championship game because, man, what added stakes to it would have been if it was for the championship.
01:27:46
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, I mean, this was my predicted championship and I was like when we did our preview and I was severely disappointed to realize that this was a game that would happen in the semifinals and not the not the championship. um I yeah, I think this is what we deserve for a championship. But at the end of day, if if Japan took care of business, that would have been an elite championship as well. And I think I think USA Venezuela is going to be incredible. I mean, this is the Venezuela team that just took out Samurai Japan. And also, he's the only team that's beaten Italy so far. So um don't sleep on Venezuela. They could give us the same, if not, you know, like it's probably not better because that was about as good as it gets. But, like, they can give us the same the same level of of intensity.
01:28:30
Cody Atkinson
um ah do I do want to see – this is going to be a bit, basically, but um who are you – are you picking USA to beat Venezuela in the finals tomorrow? Yeah.
01:28:41
justin_daulton
one hundred percent
01:28:43
Cody Atkinson
right I'm picking Venezuela because at this point when I pick against USA, they win. So i have to I have to do my patriotic duty and pick against them so that they find a way to win and we can go we can come on here next week and say we're 4-0 international gold medal play.
01:28:59
justin_daulton
i do have a question for you. You know, you you touched on it, a day of rest, right, between the the semifinals and the championship game. If it comes down to it and you need the eighth inning, do you put schemes out for the eighth inning?
01:29:12
Cody Atkinson
Would would i if he was willing to?
01:29:14
justin_daulton
Yeah. you did
01:29:14
Cody Atkinson
Absolutely. But it's not going to happen because the Pirates won't let it happen. Like Martha Rose is still having to work, unfortunately, because this is happening during previous spring training, he's still having to work with the teams to make sure that he's not do, at least this is my belief, that he's making sure that he doesn't do anything outside of what they're comfortable with so that in four years he can get players from them again.
01:29:40
Cody Atkinson
when we need to field a team. So do I think it's a realistic option? Absolutely not. would i Would I pee my pants if it happened in excitement? Absolutely, I would. It would be the coolest thing that's ever happened.
01:29:52
justin_daulton
I counter and the owners I asked that because it happened three years ago with Shohei. Because on short, ah sure, sure.
01:29:58
Cody Atkinson
Japan's different though, man. Yamamoto did it in the World Series. You don't see any, and no American's done it since Bumgarner.
01:30:06
justin_daulton
Correct. So, i mean, and that's the only reason why I asked that question. Obviously, the type of innings that Skeen's throws is way is is way harder than probably what a Yamamoto or even a Shohei throws, right?
01:30:13
Cody Atkinson
yeah
01:30:20
justin_daulton
So, I mean, when you're throwing 99 102 every single pitch, basically even your cutters are going at that high velocity. Obviously, Skeen's arm, you know, we talked about it with Skubo last week.
01:30:31
justin_daulton
So, i mean, there's there's a lot to it, but... i wonder if de rosa is asking the pirates that hey if i need three outs can i throw skins for three outs like you can't i mean realistically at the end of the day is that you know 15 20 pitches at the most you never there was only one anywhere he threw more than 12 pitches so
01:30:39
Cody Atkinson
I mean, I hope he is.
01:30:50
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. I mean, I hope he is and I would love to see this be a tournament where we do stuff like that. I want the World Baseball Classic to matter to the point that we are willing to risk the MLB season in order to win the World Baseball Classic. That's what I want.
01:31:07
Cody Atkinson
Because like,
01:31:07
justin_daulton
it should it should come down to the players i understand there's contracts there's insurance all stuff but it should come down to the players
01:31:13
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, absolutely. it should. I i think Skeens is a guy that would do it because he played for the Air Force, was going into the Air Force before LSU recruited him off of their baseball team onto to theirs.
01:31:24
Cody Atkinson
um and He has friends in the Air Force serving the country. like this This matters to him more than the average person for reasons beyond him just being a patriotic person. He was literally going to become a fighter pilot and ended up being the the best fastball pitcher in and baseball.
01:31:38
justin_daulton
Yeah.
01:31:42
Cody Atkinson
and um So I would love to see it. He strikes me as the guy that would do it. i hope I hope it's allowed because how electric would that be? Because you've got to play Top Gun if he does it.
01:31:53
Cody Atkinson
And then you're just going Paul Skeens in between the seventh and the eighth inning or whatever running out to Top Gun. um And just I mean, that would that would certainly make The gold medal, if that happens, I think the World Baseball Classic gold medal would at that point carry legitimately the same vibes as the Olympic men's hockey gold medal, which right now the World Baseball Classic can't compete with because it's hard to compete with 46 years of waiting and winning a sport that you just naturally are not dominant at.
01:32:25
Cody Atkinson
Like it's not, it's not going to feel the same because there's an expectation of victory that wasn't there. But if you get Paul Skeets running out in the eighth inning, the top gun after pitching four and a third, two days before it's going to, it's going hit as hard, if not harder than a Jack, a Jack Hughes overtime winner.
01:32:43
justin_daulton
Yeah, in my head, the way that I see it going is that you get five out of McLean, and then in the sixth, you Griffin-Jacks, probably, and then seventh inning, you go Bednar to get through the seventh. Eighth, you go Paul Skeens for three, and then you hand the ball to Mason Miller for the close.
01:33:01
Cody Atkinson
I will say, in that case, I think I'm going Whitlock over Bednar just because Bednar, I don't know that I need to check my heart medication to make sure I still have some left. Because he he turns it he turns it on when a runner hits third, and that's terrifying.
01:33:17
justin_daulton
Hey, I mean, if it if we gives if it gives you results, I will never argue how you get the result.
01:33:17
Cody Atkinson
and And Whitlock was filthy.
01:33:22
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:33:23
justin_daulton
But in my head...
01:33:24
Cody Atkinson
I'm not going to argue it, but I think Whitlock needs a little love. That was a filthy eighth inning.
01:33:28
justin_daulton
Oh, I mean, yeah, for sure. I mean, and to go through and, you know, what, Miller faced the 6-7-8 right part of the lineup, and it it and unfortunately did turn over and get back around.
01:33:41
justin_daulton
right there but at the end of the day man like if it comes down to it and you have skiing stone against the middle part of that of that lineup to hand the ball back over to mason miller for 789 man i would take that in the in a heartbeat and i can't imagine the pirates being too mad about an extra 12 to 15 pitches to get gold for usa i mean they may they may
01:33:55
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:34:00
Cody Atkinson
Well, Pirates aren't actually trying to win either. Like Pirates aren and aren't winning anything this year, and they're probably trading skeins in a year or two anyway. So just let us have our fun, and then we'll give them back to you.
01:34:08
justin_daulton
I mean, you got yeah, you're not going to get, yeah, you're definitely not going to get schemes on a second contract. So, you know, schemes.
01:34:14
Cody Atkinson
and So why not let him throw three pitches or three batters against Venezuela and up his price a little bit?
01:34:20
justin_daulton
Correct. So, i mean, a gold, a gold medal behind your player's name has to get you, get you some more draft picks, I would imagine.
01:34:26
Cody Atkinson
I think so.
01:34:27
justin_daulton
Before, before he lets us all down and goes to the fire or before he goes to the Dodgers and makes $500 million dollars a year.
01:34:35
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. And yeah, yeah, absolutely. ah That would be, i hadn't even considered that as an option. That would be quite possibly the coolest thing ever if Skeens pitches release. And it i I want to ask this question before we wrap up.
01:34:51
Cody Atkinson
And I think if Skeens comes out in the eighth, answers the question. But like what – In your mind, what is the future of this event?
Future of World Baseball Classic
01:35:01
Cody Atkinson
Because I think the way that this has all panned out has been unreal for the promotion of the WBC. The amount of attention that this tournament got after the USA collapsed on itself and needed Italy to save it.
01:35:16
Cody Atkinson
And then the just the quality of the game against the DR. Even the controversial ending gives you some more eyes on it. like I think this is huge.
01:35:27
Cody Atkinson
And I think the next time it's played, it's going to be bigger because you've got the Dominican Republic. I don't I think it was Julio Rodriguez, maybe somebody else saying I'd rather win this than the World Series. It would mean more. You've got Aaron Judge saying the crowds at this are better than the crowds at the World Series because the Yankees don't go to the World Series. But like, you know, he's saying that um you've got Tarek Skugel saying, like, I kind of wish I knew how big of an event this was so that I would have structured my life better to be a part of it more.
01:35:56
Cody Atkinson
You've got Skeens, just being Paul Skeens and being a former almost fire pilot. um I don't think it needs to get bigger in other countries because I think it's already that big with the other with the other teams.
01:36:12
Cody Atkinson
um I don't know. I feel like you have less holdouts in the future because people are starting to realize that like this is actually an honor to participate in and way more fun than spring training.
01:36:24
justin_daulton
I think and you touched on a lot of different things there, right? Of like the direction of the WBC in terms of like what we're going to do going forward with this thing. um Ultimately, you need to shift this interview every four years.
01:36:38
justin_daulton
That's something that needs to be done. This whole three-year jump just doesn't make sense. No other international event.
01:36:44
Cody Atkinson
I think it's supposed to be four. I don't know.
01:36:47
justin_daulton
And I don't know.
01:36:48
Cody Atkinson
I don't remember why it's three this time, but I think it's usually four.
01:36:48
justin_daulton
I don't know. I would have to, it was three the last time because it was three years since the last one and it was three years before that in 20, what that would have been, 2019?
01:36:59
Cody Atkinson
Well, no, I think it was six years before that because COVID covid got canceled.
01:37:00
justin_daulton
because it would have been 2019 because we played it in 23, right? Okay.
01:37:07
Cody Atkinson
Well, I think we played it in 2017. And then COVID canceled it in either 2020 or 2021. twenty twenty or twenty twenty one I'm not sure. And now I think it's it's been a little messed up since then, which is why I think maybe why they did it three, but you're right.
01:37:16
justin_daulton
okay
01:37:20
Cody Atkinson
It's got to be four.
01:37:22
justin_daulton
It's got to go to four. um And I think you need to you need to figure out a move this to the middle of the baseball season.
01:37:29
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:37:29
justin_daulton
Like, whatever that looks like with MLB and the players, you've got to find a way to get this to be in late June, early July, and take it in place of the All-Star break um and just figure out a rule change in those years that you don't have the All-Star game deciding the home field advantage of the playoffs.
01:37:40
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:37:48
justin_daulton
Or in the World Series, sorry. But yeah, I agree with you. I think I would love to sit down and have a quick conversation about roster composition between the last three.
01:38:01
justin_daulton
Because from the one that we won 17 to now, there is way more star power involved now. And that's because of the last one. right where you saw a Mike Trout, a Trey Turner, an Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper.
01:38:10
Cody Atkinson
Mm-hmm.
01:38:15
justin_daulton
You saw those things come out three years ago. Now we're sitting here talking about a Bobby Witt, a Pete Crow Armstrong, Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw came out of retirement for this thing. You know you know you don't have a Trout, right but even outside of the U.S., you still have a Shohei who was basically told that you shouldn't play and then found a way to just be able to go out there and hit and still look like prime Shohei Watani.
01:38:38
justin_daulton
without even pitching, which is scary for this MLB season. um
01:38:42
Cody Atkinson
truly
01:38:42
justin_daulton
But you have the rosters that are being made up and in in Italy of predominantly MLB players. i mean, we're talking about Aaron Nola, who is one of the best pitchers in baseball, is playing for a Team Italy.
01:38:52
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:38:54
justin_daulton
Like, yes, I think ultimately, I think the teams you have it in, whatever the structure is to allow relegation, all that, because I heard there was some relegation in terms of the teams that went like 0-4 in pole play.
01:39:03
Cody Atkinson
There will We'll have to re-qualify, I believe.
01:39:04
justin_daulton
So... so Yeah, so whatever that looks like going forward, um obviously with us being Team USA fans, we're not going to know too much about that because I don't see a world in which Team USA ever gets relegated from this type of competition.
01:39:16
Cody Atkinson
Careful now.
01:39:17
justin_daulton
um Yeah, I could quote it on that for 10 15 years from now.
01:39:17
Cody Atkinson
okay
01:39:22
justin_daulton
Um, by ultimately, man, like, yeah, I agree. I think this, this only gets bigger. Um, and i think it only gets better because of it. Right. And if you find a way to put this in the middle of the major league baseball season in in four years, I think you're talking about, talking about a completely different, um, tournament and it's completely like, cause you're not talking about pitchers only throwing 30 pitches or three innings or whatever, whatever pitch count they were on.
01:39:46
Cody Atkinson
Yeah.
01:39:48
justin_daulton
Right. You're talking about, can we talk about a Paul Skeen's going to complete game and how electric that'd be if Paul Skeen's doing a, through a complete game and in the world baseball classic.
01:39:54
Cody Atkinson
yeah
01:39:58
justin_daulton
And then your next game up, you will have three school will coming out there throwing another six innings of electric work. Right. So like I think you got to find a way to make this tournament make sense in the baseball schedule. Right. So playing, playing this game,
01:40:13
justin_daulton
at the beginning of March does not make sense to me. So you've got to find a way to get this to be mid-summer. In the same way that we talked about Four Nations for for the NHL, right? That's in the middle of season. You're not talking about guys that are going to be, you know, you're not talking about holdouts. You're not talking about minor leaders.
01:40:28
justin_daulton
You're talking about actual professionals and all-stars that are playing these games. So you've got to find a way to get this to be in the middle of the season every four years so that way don't even have conversations around insurance and and contract and ah negotiations.
01:40:43
justin_daulton
you're legitimately taking an internet an international break. And then I think you have one of the best tournaments outside of maybe the Olympics um for a game that you and I care so deeply about.
01:40:57
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, absolutely. i was doing some research on whether it's going to be three or four years away for the next one, so I didn't hear all of what you were saying. But the fans did. um it ah It seems unclear, ah but the three years was ah was to make up for a lost tournament in the COVID year. But eventually it seems like it'll get back to four, and it'll be on a cycle where it's – you know If they get back in the Olympics, which this thing I was reading was assuming, then it would be like Olympics off year, WBC off year, Olympics off year.
01:41:28
Cody Atkinson
But yeah, I think it has to, if you want, the one thing you you to do to improve it, I think is you have to move it to the all-star break a la Four Nations. um there's ah There's a uniqueness to the amount of pitchers you get to see that I think is kind of cool.
01:41:44
Cody Atkinson
Right now, we're like, oh, the starter only went three innings. So, like, I got to see five relievers. I think that's cool for the players and it's cool for exposure to the game. um but yeah But what's cooler than that is seeing Paul Skeens go nine innings, i seeing Tarek Skubal go seven, eight innings.
01:42:01
Cody Atkinson
um I think you have to move it. One, it's it's better for injuries. It's better for insurance because you insure the second half of the season. Um, it gives you just a nice international break, which other sports already have, and they've already figured out.
01:42:16
Cody Atkinson
Um, and and it'll just give you a better product that more resembles baseball in its true form baseball in its best form. Um, in the, In the playoffs, you do see pitchers go shorter outings, but that's not because they can't go long. It's because the game matters too much for them to go long. So even if you ended up back there, that's I'd rather see a pitcher go short because you're nervous that they're getting to him than then like he's got a pitch limit because you've got to work with his team to make sure he's not throwing too much and yada, yada, yada. um
01:42:51
Cody Atkinson
That's the only thing i would improve. On the last pod, we said the only thing that is missing is the upsets. And then immediately Italy and Canada started pulling off upsets. The only thing missing in this tournament is for everyone to be in midseason form.
01:43:04
Cody Atkinson
um I would love to see them do that. I hope they do that. But even if it stays in spring training, this is incredible. And I think it's only going to get better. So like if you're not on the wagon, jump on it and and enjoy international baseball.
01:43:17
justin_daulton
Yeah, my my last thought on this, right, if you move this to the to the summer, right, imagine a championship matchup, U.S. s versus Japan, Paul Skeens versus Shohei Watani on the mound.
01:43:29
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. yeah um ah and And then both having the ability to go a hundred pitches if they want to.
01:43:35
justin_daulton
Correct. Like, just that's that to me is a way better scenario than a Nolan McLean against whoever Venezuela is going to throw out there tomorrow.
01:43:42
Cody Atkinson
Yeah. I mean, granted the issue with Nolan McLean starting the final isn't timing of the tournament as much as it was, you needed Paul schemes to beat the DR, but, but it's more likely that instead of McLean, you have Joe Ryan actually joining the team or Tarek Scoople pitching all of his games.
01:43:52
justin_daulton
Yeah, 100%. Yeah. Right. Yeah, 100%.
01:44:01
Cody Atkinson
Cause he's not worried about the games, messing up his spring training in the biggest contract year of his life. You know, it's it's more likely that you're throwing
01:44:08
justin_daulton
Right. Yeah. one hundred percent
01:44:11
Cody Atkinson
USA's number two, not USA's up and comer. Although by next world baseball classic, if Nolan McLean is who people say he is, it might be Nolan McLean.
01:44:22
justin_daulton
Absolutely, man.
01:44:22
Cody Atkinson
That's all I've got, man.
01:44:23
justin_daulton
But i yeah, that's all I got, man. If you want to, you want to take us home.
01:44:26
Cody Atkinson
Yeah, that can round it up. Obviously, like we said, we pushed off the AL primer for this because we had to talk World Baseball Classic. We definitely will wrap up the final ah next next next pod. It's tomorrow, so it'll be six days all about the time we do it. Probably won't spend a lot of time on it, but we'll definitely wrap it up and and we're going to get people ready for the baseball season. We've got March Madness starting.
01:44:46
Cody Atkinson
Thursday, Friday, two of the best days on the sports calendar. And then next Thursday is MLB opening day. As far as I'm concerned, the next two Thursdays are holidays. So get your PTO in. um And we hope you enjoyed the show. Let us know. Leave a like, comment, review. Let us know how we're doing. And let us know if there's anything else you want to talk about. But as far as we're concerned, get ready to be primed for MLB opening day next Monday.
01:45:10
Cody Atkinson
This has been the Coastal Launch. I've been Cody.
01:45:13
justin_daulton
Have been Justin.
01:45:15
Cody Atkinson
And we'll see you next time. Peace.
01:45:17
justin_daulton
Peace.