4-4-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. I like to think no one has to lower his standards for me. It's after hours on Facebook, on Twitter as well after hours on CBS that you haven't seen the Miss Doug by Jordan Hawkins. It was really the only moment I think that would mar this run to the national championship and honestly it doesn't even do that. Our thanks to David Cobb who joined us from the championship podium in Houston. Brings back really good memories for me because that's where I attended my only final four.

And turns out that it was a buzzer beater and an iconic moment. And now UConn is on top of the basketball world and we move forward. Yes transfer portal Monday. So you've got championship Sunday for the women, transfer portal Monday for the women's side. And now as the men crown their champion we're going to see all those headlines about the transfer portal for the men too. It really has evened the playing field in college basketball. At the same time I know that there are a lot of questions about how it works and whether or not it's fair and equitable. At this point to me it feels like the wild wild west. I don't even know how the NCAA can get control of it or can monitor it.

That's kind of the thing. But I don't have any issue with the fact that students are allowed to determine their own paths. Now I was able to play college basketball and I wasn't looking to transfer at any point during my career. Mostly because basketball wasn't the most important thing to me. I loved playing basketball but I wasn't going to go pro in basketball. I was there to get an education.

I was pursuing two degrees. And so yes basketball was great but it wasn't ever the reason, the catalyst for why I had picked this particular school. When students feel as though they're either not satisfied with their coach or their playing time. Or maybe they do want to change schools for another reason, for academic reasons.

They shouldn't be punished for it. They should be allowed to be in control of their own academic and athletic path. You only have so many years. You only have a limited window as college students, as college athletes to be able to pursue your dreams. So I like the transfer portal for that reason because it doesn't require a year off anymore when athletes change schools.

Otherwise though it feels like it's so wide open and it's so easy to manipulate. We talked about this with Doug Feinberg on the women's side last night. That it's almost impossible to know if there are violations going on, if there is cheating going on. It's crazy because we used to see the NCAA crack down on all kinds of what I would consider to be minor violations. Now they could accumulate and they would end up being a big mess of these minor violations. But for instance we used to see coaches get fired for improper contact with athletes.

And the fact that they would place too many phone calls in a window where you weren't supposed to be contacting students. We've seen coaches and programs get hammered with restrictions or loss of scholarships or sanctions because there was money that was exchanging hands. And now think about the money that these athletes are earning.

And yes it may come under the headline or under the category of name, image and likeness. But let's call it what it is. In many cases it's pay to play.

We can offer you these NIL deals, some of them seven figures, if you'll come play at the school. So yeah it's out of control. I agree with many of you who think it's out of control. And yet the NCAA shouldn't be able to determine how and when and where a student chooses to play sports. If there's an opening for him or her on a particular roster and a coach who is willing to take him on or her on, then the student should be able to move around. And I do appreciate the fact that the NCAA gave so many of these students, well really anyone who wanted it, but it wasn't an advantage that every student accepted.

But for many of them the extra year because of COVID to not punish them and take a year of eligibility away for something that had nothing to do with them. I also think was the right move for the NCAA. So it certainly opened up college sports in ways that we never envisioned. I don't think a level playing field is bad for college sports.

I don't think parody, that P word that I don't love, only because it's overused, I don't think that's a bad thing for college sports. You look at the ratings and the viewership for the women's game, the championship game specifically. Now the ratings were a jump across the board for the women's tournament, but LSU Iowa shattered, shattered records for the most viewed women's college basketball game on record. Nearly 10 million people tuned in. Now the game was on ABC.

Okay, so this was a first going back to the mid 90s. Right, so LSU and Iowa was aired not just on ESPN but on ABC, which if you don't know ABC Sports essentially is ESPN. They don't have their own sports department anymore.

It's same family and it is all ESPN production. So you've got this game that's on Sunday afternoon in essentially a football window right on ABC TV. First time in nearly 20 years going back to a Yukon Tennessee game. And so of course it stands to reason that the audience would be up, but the audience was up over 100% from South Carolina Yukon a year ago. On Sunday, at one point, the number of people watching this championship game was over 12 and a half million. That's, I just want you to know that's that's better than most NBA playoff games that you're going to see coming up in the next couple months. Definitely higher viewership numbers than Stanley Cup playoff games.

So the record ratings are indicative of how much we as fans appreciate fresh blood, good stories, great competition, personalities. The spread of the story of Kaitlyn Clark and Angel Reese and Kim Mulkey, all of that is good for women's college basketball and the level playing field is good for the men's game as well. Now you could argue that Yukon deserved to be a much higher seed and that had it been a much higher seed, we wouldn't be talking about it as though it was out of nowhere. I don't think if you're paying attention, you can say this Huskies run was out of nowhere, but they definitely peaked at the right time. And as a four seed was the highest seeded team in the final four. It's never happened in all the years of seeding that the highest seed still standing on the final weekend was a four. So again, speaks to the strength of the game and the strength of the sport from top to bottom. It's no longer the haves and the have nots. It's about how you're playing, who you're playing with, the chemistry. It's about style of play and matchups.

It's not just about the name on the front of the jersey anymore, though there are still decidedly blue bloods and Yukon is one of those with its fifth national title in men's college basketball. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're going to hear from Brian Dutcher of San Diego State coming up here momentarily. I want to say that Jim Nance has provided the soundtrack, the voice, the versatility.

I truly believe what I said to David just before the top of the hour. There is no more versatile broadcaster in the entire industry. He can go from calling a national championship in men's college basketball to two days later at the Masters seamlessly.

It will sound very strange jarring this time next year to not have Jim Nance. And so I appreciate him. I'm grateful for him. His ability to take every moment and almost deliver it as though it's a story.

It's another chapter of a story. Definitely a storyteller, but also really incredible on the spot at providing context. Always so well prepared, very rarely, I remember a time that he was ever caught unawares and when he was, when he did see something that we had never seen before, he handled it without missing a beat. He handled it with the proper amount of excitement and energy.

And yet took everything all in stride. So just a manner and a versatility that never seemed to catch him off guard, throw him off his game or bring out any ounce of anything other than professionalism. He was so professional all the time. He set a standard of professionalism for our business and I loved it. And so as he signed off, he was mindful of the hello friends line that he used.

Very appreciative, didn't want to be the center of attention, which I appreciate. But on Saturday, he explained as he was talking to his partner, so you'll hear him kind of address his partners. He explained why it is that he's stepping away from the final four in college basketball now. This gives me a chance to catch my breath and my kids need me more at home and I need to be more at home than I need to call another NCAA tournament. And it's time someone else get a chance to experience this incredible celebration from the seat that I've had. I've always wanted the fan to feel like they had a seat at the table.

It was as simple as that. And this really this touched me so to starting to walk up here on the set and see the four of you and then to see Ron's voice on that piece. I've had no idea, but I'm going to be repping some people this week. I'm carrying them in my heart. My core group when I first started, Bob Dikas, Bob Fishman, who did this for 40 years and came to the town this week to honor me. Mark Wolf, people behind the scenes on and on through 30 something years. Everybody in production to CBS has run through this number one team through the years and I'm proud of them all.

And then there are the voices, the voices that I got to work with. Jim Nance, 37 NCAA tournaments, nearly 40 years as the voice of the tournament. And of course, he was used to calling the battles among the big dogs, haha, but got a bunch of Cinderella's over his time.

And certainly this final four with three first timers was unique. He wanted to clarify, too, he's not retiring. He just needs to be home a little more often.

So not stepping away from broadcasting altogether, just seating this chair and giving up this responsibility. He's got two younger kids. I don't know if you know his story.

He married a younger woman and so he's got two young kids. And it's kind of neat that he chose Houston because he graduated from the University of Houston and that's where he started his broadcasting career. And so a special connection to the city for Jim Nance and he will be missed. It won't be the same. And yet we don't have to mourn him, quote unquote. We're not delivering the man's broadcasting eulogy. He's not going away for good. Just a couple more days and we'll hear him again.

So here is our question to you. In my opinion, Jim Nance is a generational voice in college sports and in pro sports. So I'm glad we're still going to have him in that arena. Again, I believe he's one of the most iconic and recognizable voices in broadcasting. So let's talk about voices specifically. You cannot hear Jim Nance and not know who he is. If you're familiar at all with sports and sports broadcasting, you know exactly who it is.

All you have to hear is hello, friends. Actually, did you know this, Jay? He did liners for our show.

You've never used them. So I don't know if you still have access to them, but he and Bill Rafferty did liners for our show. Going back, it was a surprise, actually, that my former bosses Mark and Eric were able to orchestrate because that's what he does a lot of times during the course of the Final Four. There's an opportunity where if you're a CBS affiliate, you can slip him some liners and he'll read them. Hi, I'm Jim Nance of CBS Sports.

You're listening to After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I didn't even know you knew they were there. I had seen them before and I just remembered. I swear to you I was going to surprise you and come out with that during next break when we came back. Is that the first time you've thought about them in forever? It really is. Okay, well, we need to bring them into the rotation again. Officially.

Too bad we hadn't used them during this tournament, but that was perfect. So yes, Jim Nance voice is recognizable above pretty much any other voice in broadcasting. If you ask me, that's just me.

I would love to hear from you. Who are the most, along with Jim Nance, who are the most iconic voices? Or if you want to say iconic and recognizable voices in broadcasting. And I don't even necessarily mean sports.

You don't have to go straight sports. I would think Paul Harvey. For my generation that's a little older, Paul Harvey.

That's the rest of the story. I mean, Paul Harvey News, Good Day. There's no voice like Paul Harvey. And regardless of your politics, there was no voice like Rush Limbaugh. Which is why he was the most successful broadcaster in the country for decades. If you're a radio junkie, you knew who Rush Limbaugh was. Those are two iconic voices outside of sports. But if you want to stick specifically with sports, I would love to hear your responses.

So we're going to put a post up on our show Twitter after our CBS. Along with Jim Nance, who are the most iconic and recognizable voices in broadcasting. And we're speaking about voices, okay?

So Stiles is something completely different. I'm not telling you that. I'm not asking you to give me every single broadcaster that you love.

That's not it. Voices that are recognizable. Vince Scully is certainly one that was very recognizable. And I'm so, so, so grateful that I had a chance to, because of MLB Network, had a chance to watch because of Sirius XM and the ability to listen to the final few years of his tenure with the Dodgers. So we'll put that post up on Twitter as well as on Facebook. Coming up, we'll hear from San Diego State, Brian Dutcher and Matt Bradley.

Wait until you hear him share a little bit about his story. The 23-year-old senior for the Aztecs. And also Adam Sako, 25-year-old senior. These guys stayed together for this run and came so close.

And yet no reason to hang their heads. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Music Trammell for San Diego State up the floor quickly, end to end. Looks up, sees a 7-foot-2 man in his face, gets rid of the ball to LaDee, who bounces it off the right side of the rim and it drops. And the Aztecs with an 11, 56, 45.

The attack found LaDee right in front of the rim. Here's a lean timeout across the timeline. And now the Aztec fans to our right. Finally with something to cheer about, 8.33 to go. And San Diego State trying to chip away at this one with 17 to shoot. And the ball taken away, Trammell with a steal to the other end of the floor.

Layup is good. LaDee got a six-point game in the national championship, 56-50. The Aztecs climbing right back in.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Kevin Kugler on the Westwood One NCAA Radio Network. San Diego State made this quite a game. After falling behind late in the first half by 16 points, we saw the Aztecs use their defense to turn over UConn. They started to make some shots. They got to the free throw line, which also helped. And despite going 11-plus minutes without a field goal in the first half, they were down by just five points against UConn with five minutes to go.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. What about that comeback, Brian Dutcher? Ultimately, the UConn Huskies were able to pull away with another 9-0 run, but you got to be proud. They've had their way with the entire field this tournament, so I just said when we were down at halftime, I said, let's cut it to six with ten to go. Let's get back in there and let's make them play a close game.

Let's make the margin where it's uncomfortable. And I think we got it to five with six minutes to go, and then it was seven and we missed a one-on-one, and then it kind of ballooned up from there. So I like the grit of my team. I like how hard we fight.

We don't give in. We came from 14 down to the last game, and when we cut it to five, I think there were people in the stands that thought, hey, they're capable of doing it again, and we were. But we ran into too good a team, and we didn't play at our best.

And like I said, they're a reason for that, that we didn't play at our best. This was the first Final Four appearance for a San Diego State, and Brian Dutcher, who was the longtime assistant to Steve Fisher, he was there in the stands in Houston. He likes the state of college hoops at this point. The state of basketball is in good shape right now, you know, and you don't have to have millions of dollars in NIL, and you don't have to get every kid in the portal to be successful.

You just have to have kids that are about the right things, that want to win beyond anything else and are willing to sacrifice to do that, and that's what we have. Matt Bradley and Adam Sako, two seniors who returned to school, stayed at San Diego State for this opportunity, and I was really taken by what Matt had to say following the game, because he talks about a point where he actually thought, nah, it's not worth it. When I entered the portal and came here, you know, I was really, like, during that time with COVID and stuff, I was really ready to just stop playing, you know. I told myself, I was just like, you know what, Matt, it's been tough.

Like, let's just go home and get a job and, you know, call it a day, you'll be all right. But, you know, Coach Dutz, he's one of the most genuine guys I ever met, and the way he just took me in, you know, the brotherhood and these guys and actually having real leadership that I can follow, it just, you know, it changed the directory of my life, for sure, and it's more than just basketball, you know, so I'm crying up here and stuff. But, you know, I'm just really thankful for Coach Dutz and everybody that played a part in my move here going to San Diego State. So, yeah, that's how I feel. I love that for Matt, because as much as they come up short in this game, you may remember San Diego State was a team that likely could have been a top seed. It would have been at least a dark horse to win a title in 2020, if not one of the outright favorites. But because of what happened with COVID and the tournament getting canceled, March Madness getting canceled, they were denied the opportunity to go out there and prove to the world that they were championship worthy. So a lot of these guys stayed, including Matt, after having that moment or maybe moments where he had to dig down deep and decide, what's my priority now?

Is it going to be worth it to stay in school? Maybe I'm done. Man, I'm so glad he did not leave.

He would have missed this, and maybe they wouldn't be in the same situation. Clearly, though, for the Aztecs going toe-to-toe with the Huskies, yeah, UConn was the better team, and yet I think a lot of times these matchups, these moments, still bring out the best. They add extra motivation.

They kind of give you a gauge on where you are and where you still have to go. I'd like to congratulate Coach Danny Hurley and UConn Huskies on a national championship, very deserving. They played an elite level the entire tournament. We battled, battled back to five in the second half, but gave them too much separation, and we weren't at our best tonight, and we had to be at our best to win the game, and a lot of that has to do with UConn. But I'm proud of our guys.

These guys have given me everything they've had, six years, five years, five years, five years. These guys are what it's all about, and it's about college athletics. These guys are good people, and they're good students, and they're really good players, so we can feel good about the things we did. I don't know what happens now for San Diego State. A lot of their guys are done, and so this was lightning in a bottle, and yet I do know what happens when a school reaches the Final Four, what happens when a school even comes up with a huge upset like Furman.

Enrollment skyrockets crazy enough, right, because these schools get all of this TV time, they get all this extra pub, and it actually increases the general population of their student body, not just the attractiveness of the sports programs. Let's talk to Lee, who's in San Diego. Lee, welcome to After Hours, CBS Sports Radio. Hi, Amy. How are you doing tonight? I'm good, sir. Thank you. First of all, I wanted to thank you for representing the Aztecs. I kind of have a heavy heart right now, and I just want to represent my Aztecs, and I wanted to thank you for mentioning them. Well, I can't not mention them.

They were in the national championship game. It's fine. I'm just doing my job.

We always talk about the team that comes up on the losing end as well. I forgot what I was going to say. I'm sorry. First of all, I love your laugh.

Anyone that makes fun of your laugh is just stupid, and we need more laughter in this world right now, and I appreciate your show. Thank you, sir. I want to thank you for your sports takes, and I love the show. All right, Lee.

Well, I'm sorry about your heavy heart, but we're glad to hear from you repping your Aztecs. It's After Hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Marco Bolletti's here in studio. I'm sure he feels the same about my laugh. So, Marco, we're asking people in light of this last Final Four run for Jim Nance, his voice is one that you recognize without even knowing who it is behind the mic.

You don't have to see him. All you got to do is hear a few notes. It's like, name that broadcaster.

It's really easy to do. A few words from Jim, and you know exactly who it is. So along with Jim, so speaking specifically about voices, who are the most iconic and recognizable voices in broadcasting? It doesn't have to be current or past. I mentioned Paul Harvey just as someone who was a news junkie when I was a kid. So current or past, just a voice that immediately you know.

Okay. I mean, if you took it outside of sports, I mean, Walter Cronkite was probably the first one that would probably pop into my mind. In sports, I mean, the first two are John Madden and Pat Summerall. That's the soundtrack for, I think, most of our childhoods. Other guys that are kind of like that, Marv Albert.

Oh, yeah, for sure. Vern Lundquist, Keith Jackson. I was just going to say Keith Jackson, yes. Obviously, these are guys that I grew up listening to, but they've been around forever.

Joe Buck is another one. Vern just retired what, like two years ago? Two, three years? Has it been longer than that? I think it's been a little longer than that, but yeah.

I mean, within five, definitely. I think Joe Buck is, too. I mean, he gets a lot of grief for a lot of things, but if you hear his voice, you know it's a big game. He's great.

That's kind of automatic that you get that feel of. There are some voices that you just know that the game is bigger, it's got a bigger feel to it, and Joe Buck is definitely in that category. I know I'm missing Dick Enberg was a big one for me when I was growing up, Kirk Gowdy. I mean, obviously, I mean, we can't do this without mentioning Vin Scully. Yes, I did mention him.

So, there's a lot. Right. I know I'm missing a bunch of them, but these are the Jack Buck, I mean, Joe Buck's dad. I mean, he was tremendous doing the World Series back in the day. Tim McCarver, who we just lost, he did so many World Series. I remember Vin Scully and Tim McCarver a little bit with Joe Garagiola. I remember that as being like a booth for a long time when I was a kid.

So, those are the ones that are just immediate off the top of my head, but I know I'm missing some. Of course, Kevin Harlan. Absolutely, Kevin Harlan has been doing this a really long time. Mike Breen.

Oh, Mike Breen, right. Voice of the NBA now. One of the things that, you mentioned Joe Buck, one of the things that I love for him is that he's 53 years old and yet has this kind of brand new opportunity with Monday Night Football. And I know he had a great gig with Fox, but it's cool that at 53 years old he's completely changed lanes and is doing something else and being part of what is an iconic product and how cool it is for him, how excited he's been just to have a fresh challenge. Yeah, and I think for him too and Jim Nantz, they started so young with such a big platform that we kind of forget. I mean, you say he's 53. He's been doing this since, on the grand stage since the mid-90s.

96 was his first World Series. I mean, he was basically a child. It's like he was 26. Helps when your dad is... You know, granted, but at the same time... Like Ian Eagle and Noah Eagle.

It helps when your dad is... And you still got to take it and run with it, and obviously he did. And obviously he did. Jim Nantz, I mean, it was in 91 that he started doing the Final Four.

37 Final Fours. And that's play-by-play, because he was doing the studio for it for a good five or six years before that. If memory serves in like the mid-80s, when I was reading up on some of this stuff, I didn't remember it off the top of my head, but...

I don't remember that. I mean, you're talking about, again, in his 20s. I mean, Jim Nantz is not 87 years old. He's like 63. Yeah, but he's got two young kids, though, so he wants to be at home.

Right, and I get all that. I mean, plus you do this for this long, and it's not like he's retiring. I mean, he's no longer going to do the tournament. He's still going to do the NFL every Sunday, and he's still going to do the Masters.

Masters, yep. So it's not like you're not going to hear him on your TV, but this is a big chapter of his career, obviously, that's closing. And, I mean, I think he said it, too. He's like, you know, I'm only going to be on the road now 40 out of the 52 weeks. Like, oh, okay.

Well, and it was a little bit different, because you're not gone for an entire week. Oh, I get it, but still, it's not like, again, it's not like he's walking and he's going to go sit on the couch. No, he's not retiring.

Right, so you're still going to hear his voice, but he's been doing it for so long. The other thing that I didn't know until I saw it recently, the last couple days, he's doing, what did you say, 37 that he did? 37 he's done. You know what the next highest was? No. Six. Stop it. Six. Stop it. And it was a tie.

It was Dick Enberg, and I believe in Brent Musburger. Six. He is the final force. I mean, that's why. Like, we really, there's a generation that have never heard anyone do it but Jim Nance. Yes. An entire generation.

Yeah. So, and again, nobody did it more than six years. And I don't remember anyone before him, even though, you know. I remember the Musburger. We predate that.

I do. I remember the Musburger, and I feel like I remember a little bit of the Dick Enberg at the end. I don't think I remember that. But I could be fibbing that.

I'm not 100 percent. Dick Enberg was one of my favorites, so maybe I just remember it in a different way. So there's a few names, and it obviously depends upon your age and what you grew up listening to or what you listen to now. I mean, we're in the business, so we listen to you a lot more than most people do, but those are a great, that's a great smorgasbord. Great smattering of names.

A bunch of you are responding on Twitter, A Law Radio, or on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Also, I've got the fateful baking story from my date on Friday night. Just so you know, Marco wasn't here. You're welcome to hang out with us after, but my new friend Bob, we're calling him Bob. He asked me on a date, and since we're in two different places, this was a video date, so it was great.

I was really thankful for it because it felt like we were a lot closer together. His idea, me teach him how to bake. So I'm all excited. I love to show off my baking, right? So we get to the baking portion. I pull out all the ingredients. He's gone to the store.

He's got everything on the counter. I realize I don't have the ingredients. So I had to fudge it. I had to, like, change some of the ingredients and hope that it turned out. Well, clearly Bob's not trying it, so I don't have to worry about him deciding I'm not as great a baker as I brag about.

But Jay's going to be my guinea pig. Actually, I have some if you would like to try it too. I'm not going to tell you what the ingredient is.

You can try it and try to figure it out. What are we talking about, a cookie or something? We're talking about a bar. It's an oatmeal chewy bar, but I generally use caramel. I didn't have caramel.

Like a dodo. So... Yeah, I mean, how could you not have caramel in the house? Exactly. Okay, so after the break, will you come back and we'll do a taste test? I usually keep it in my pockets.

I mean, just everywhere. Ew. Okay. Welcome to the After Hours Podcast.

You're listening to After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Let's go with Chef Andrew, who's listening in Ohio. Are you really a chef? Yes.

How are you? Yes. I love food. Chef is the way to my heart.

Tonight's special was grilled Cajun shrimp Philly sandwiches, pot of gold potato wedges, and chopped up kielbasa over a big plate of JoJo fries. Take my breath away. Are you trying to make me jealous?

You're trying, aren't you? I can talk to your producer. We can bring the food truck out to you.

Well, when we go on the road in Cleveland, that would be amazing. Hey, you're my first thought. Take my breath away.

Call Amy at 855-212-4CBS. Take my breath away. We love our food around here. You know, that is the case. And because I'm such a braggart when it comes to my baking, the new man in my life, I can call him that, the new man in my life, we'll call him Bob. His name's Bob. Okay. Okay.

All right. Hi, Bob. Hi, Bob. Marco says hello. Jay says hello. In fact, Bob's already sent well wishes to Jay.

They're becoming BFFs. And so Bob suggested as our first date when we're not in person, God bless video calling, as our first date that we would bake, because I'd spend a fair amount of time bragging about my baking. Also, just to be fair, when I was in Houston, I had baked for my mom, and I snagged a couple of the stacks, and I gave them to Bob on our first date, and so he's already tasted at least one of my recipes. So his idea, cutest idea ever, no one's, I've never done this before, baked with a guy, and we did it over video. So Bob had gone to the store and gotten all of his ingredients, and they were spread out on the counter.

He's very proud of himself. Bob was far more prepared than I was. I had one kind of a hectic week last week and forgot to go to the grocery store. So I'm pulling out the ingredients, I got my special baking drawer, and I'm grabbing everything, and as we're going, and then I realize, my oatmeal caramel chewy bars call for a jar of caramel, and I have no caramel.

Uh oh. So I had in the fridge like maybe an eighth of what I needed, but it wasn't enough. So I'm thinking, what am I going to do? Maybe I'll make them without the caramel, maybe I'll just fudge it and pretend to put them in the oven, and he's not going to know because my oven, sorry Bob, because my oven's not going to go off, and so I'm thinking, shoot, how am I going to fudge this because I don't have it, and then I just said it, you know what, it was a hectic week, he was part of my hectic week, so I don't have the caramel, I don't know what to do. So I start rummaging around, trying to come up with another ingredient that would fit into what are supposed to be oatmeal caramel chewy bars. Speaking of iconic, one of my best recipes, they never fail to blow people away. I make them for parties, I make them for gifts, they travel well, they freeze well, all this stuff. You've had them before, Jay loves them, and so it was an easy recipe, it doesn't require mixing, I blew it.

But I made them anyway with a different ingredient. I haven't told anyone, Bob knows, I haven't told anyone what the ingredient is, and so I'm asking you two to be taste testers, because I can't pass them out, for instance I have family coming this weekend, I cannot pass them out to my family if they're not good. So I need, promise me as my friends, you will give me an honest assessment, it's not going to kill you, I promise it's not like ketchup or anything like that, it's a sweet ingredient, it's just not mustard, it's not horseradish, it's not soy sauce, so you don't have to worry about that, it's not mayo, it's a sweet ingredient, it's just different.

And I can't decide if I like it, because it's so different. So Marco's going to be a taste tester, I just need you to be authentic and real with me as my friends, I promise my feelings will not get hurt, I just need to know if this is something that I can get by with, or if I need to scrap them, throw them away, give them to the dog, or leave them out in the street for the bears to eat, and yes Jay? One thing, just need to know what is in the original recipe normally, so then I can kind of have something in my mind to go off of. Caramel.

That's it, okay, gotcha. Caramel, well everything else is the same. The oatmeal, the brown sugar, the chocolate chips, all of that is the same.

The flour, the only thing that's not the same is this ingredient that normally is the gooey part that keeps it together, and there's no, well there's a goo, but it's not the same goo. Alright? Alright.

That, never a stranger sentence has been spoken, and yet it's so accurate, the goo is not the same goo. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence and friends, here on CBS Sports Radio, and because you're my friends, I'm going to eat one with you, so you know that it's not just me, but if you, brownie points, haha, brownie points if you can guess the ingredient that I put in there. You ready? I'm going to assume that I'm going to not get that, but get it. Okay. Alright, are you waiting for me to go first, because you need some water in case you have to wash your mouth out? I left it in the closet over there.

Alright, well already at the same time, sorry about eating on the air, but the world actually ought to do this. There it goes. Oh goodness. I got you a plate. I'm taking it in.

The plate was clutch. I would have made a mess. Yeah, because it's not caramel, they're not holding together as well, but what do you think of the taste?

Oh no, Marco's face. No, they're good. I know this though.

Do you? I feel like, I could be wrong, I don't know what they're called. It almost feels like the stuff, there's some sort of, it's almost like a cup, and it's like a brown sugar at the bottom of a nut type of cookie. It tastes like that, and those cookies are really good, but I don't know what those cookies are called. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?

I know kind of what you're talking about. It's not that substance, but I can understand, it is that same consistency. Okay.

So this does, this is a darker substance, and it's made from similar ingredients. But I mean, I'll tell you if you guys can't figure it out. I got a guess. Do you? Yeah, I'm just going to cleanse my palate and take one more stab at it. Oh, okay, he's cleansing his palate. So Marco, you like it though. You feel like it's worthy of being passed out, even though it's not the caramel?

I do like it. I feel like it's almost like a... Is it peanut butter? No, it's not peanut butter. It's a little bit sweeter than peanut butter. It is a type of butter though. I was going to say like a, almost like a banana brown sugar combo. That's what I'm tasting.

All right. It's a fruit butter. It's a fruit.

And again, it's got the brown sugar in it. Are you guys ready for me to tell you? Are you still guessing? No, I'm out. That was it. That's all I had. Okay.

Shay, you got half of it right. It is a type of butter, but it's not. It's not peanut butter. Oh, that would have been a good idea.

Why didn't I think of that actually? It had the consistency. That's why the taste wasn't really peanut butter, but like the texture.

All right. It's a spicy pumpkin butter. Really?

Crazy enough. It's a pumpkin butter. I could see that. And so the consistency is not quite as gooey as the caramel. So it doesn't hold together quite as well, which is why it's a little crumbly.

Sorry about that. But it's yeah, it's got a lot of brown sugar in it and it's got this kind of spicy pumpkin, but it's a butter. It's a butter. I was saying banana, but I could see, I could see that. I could now, now you say it, it actually makes sense. Which sounds really gross.

And yet when you taste it, it's not, did you like it? Yeah. All right. I would tell you, you know, I would tell you.

That's true. You would tell me. Okay.

Jay, what do you, what about you? Thumbs up? I approve. I like them. They're good. You approve. Okay, good.

I feel better about myself now, but I'm so sorry to Bob that I completely ruined the baking date because what a bad example I am. What a great improvisation. Thank you, Jay. I appreciate that.

Nice validation from producer Jay. You guys are the best. All right. Phew. I'm Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.