6-9-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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Find out more at tmobile.com slash C-Y. That's S-E-E-W-H-Y. The smoke blows in, the smoke blows out, the week blows in, the week blows out. I'm trying to keep that perspective on my life right now.

It blows in, it blows out. You go with the flow. But I do feel a little bit more of a eek when it comes to the end of the week.

I really do. So I try to be relatively calm, cool, collected, but not when it comes to the weekends. Not when it comes to the weekends. And it does feel like the weekend, at least in my neighborhood. Now you all have to tell me, the rest of you who are in the states where there have been air quality alerts, you'll have to tell me whether or not you still have the smokiness yourself. But at least for now, it feels like the smoke is clearing up in the New York City metro.

I live in northern New Jersey. It still smelled smoky, a little bit, faint. It was a faint smell, not quite so acrid. And it definitely was clearer, though still darker and hazier, but not that yellow-green colored sky that I had on Wednesday in my neighborhood.

And it was not as orange in New York City either, according to the pictures and the photos that I saw online. So I think it is moving out, at least of this part of the Northeast, and I'm hoping that is the case wherever you are, though I did see that the New York Giants canceled a practice outside because they didn't want to be breathing in the smoke. I know that my sister-in-law and my nieces, they were texting me about how they could smell the smoke and could see the haze, and my sister-in-law on Thursday decided not to run outside.

She said the family convinced her she was going to for some reason, and the family convinced her not to. And so maybe it's moving out. What will really help is rain. Rain. I might have to start doing a rain dance in between segments here on the show because we are desperately needing rain in the Northeast, but we have I think made it through the worst of this particular round of smoke from these Canadian wildfires. And now I'm hoping, praying that the fires are put out in eastern Canada before too much longer or at least contained because if it was that bad here, I can only imagine how challenging it is to actually be in Quebec and Nova Scotia where these fires are raging.

I know we have a lot of listeners north of the border, so thinking of you, even as you have to deal with this on a day in and day out basis for now. But yeah, lots of parts of the United States, the Northeast, the upper Midwest, so hopefully it's clearing out now and rain is on the way. Regardless of how quickly the smoke blows out though, it's nearly time for the week to blow out. Get the heck out work week. So we are a few hours from the weekend. Excited about that.

Plenty to do, as in plenty to do. Everything from, I was going to say a new champion, but not a new champion, just a champion in women's college softball. So the women's college world series came to an end a few hours ago. To what we're looking forward to in Paris, where Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, number one player in the world, will duel in the semifinals at the French Open. That's mere hours from now, about six hours from now, they will take the court in Paris. And in our final hour, we will have a live guest to help us preview that match and look at what else is happening at the French Open. And on through some of the next big events coming up, which include Wimbledon, of course no more Roger Federer, no more Rafael Nadal.

It's different. I was thinking about tennis today and I was thinking that it's similar to golf in the wake of Tiger Woods no longer being a contender. We'll see if Novak Djokovic can continue to rack up the Grand Slams and ultimately, maybe he not only becomes the men's all-time leader in Grand Slam singles titles, but he becomes the leader in tennis, passing Margaret Court and passing Serena Williams. So that remains to be seen. He's mid-30s, still in great shape, but there are some younger and extremely talented athletic challengers to his throne.

And it would be his throne only because of the experience and the wisdom that he has and the fact that he's been the guy, right? He's been the guy really in the wake of Rafa and Roger and them not worrying, but working through different injuries over the last couple of years. It's a really big storyline coming out of Paris on the men's side and then we've been talking about golf. There are some developments with the Liv Tour. It's not going away.

That's your major development. According to Liv, sorry Rory McIlroy, it's not going away. What did Rory tell us on Wednesday? I hate Liv. Like I really hate Liv, that's what he said. And he wants it to go away. And he believes that it will go away sometime in the next couple of months, he thought.

Maybe they finish out their schedule this year. But that's not what Liv Golf is putting out there in a statement. I hate Liv. Like I really hate Liv. Like I hate Liv.

I hope it goes away. And so Liv Golf officials are responding to Rory McIlroy and they're saying the big picture, Liv is not going anywhere. And Greg Norman did speak for the first time with his actual voice.

He had tweeted before now, but he did speak with his actual voice in a phone call to various reporters on Wednesday. And he said he was kept in the dark, the same as most members of the tennis world were. But that Liv is continuing to move forward. And that actually Liv is the baby, so to speak, the brainchild of Yasser Al-Ramayan, who's in charge of the Saudi money. The piff, as we call it. It's the piff.

Yasser's baby is Liv Golf. And it's not going away. So yeah, there are developments all around in some of the more niche sports. And then obviously in the Big Four, there's plenty to talk about always. The third game of the Stanley Cup Final taking place on Thursday in Sunrise, Florida.

We had just talked to our friend Jose Pineda of the Miami Heat, oh gosh, not even 24 hours ago. And we were talking about the excitement in South Florida over the sports and clearly the Heat. Now at that point, they had just lost game three.

Here are the Panthers who've won game three. And so both of the South Florida teams, both eight seeds, both seeking titles, right, getting close as kind of these dark horses. Both of them trailing 2-1 and yet there is hope and there is excitement.

What did Jose tell us? It's exhausting. As a South Florida sports fan right now, it's exhausting.

Because every night practically, it's another game. Well, this game, three of the Stanley Cup Finals certainly did nothing to help Florida Panthers fans or South Florida sports fans relax. Absolutely not. It did the opposite.

And so yes, heart palpitations for at least a couple more weeks or you know what, at least one more week. Then we'll see what happens and whether or not there is a ticker tape parade or two ticker tape parades. Plus the Marlins he wanted us to focus on and Messi. The Marlins are Messi. Messi and the Marlins plus the two winter teams.

It's kind of funny to think about it. Really, basketball and hockey, they actually occupy three different seasons from fall to winter and then on into the spring. And they just barely miss the summertime. They're just urban sprawl. Our pro sports, they have urban sprawl. So we got a lot to get to on the ice as well as on the baseball diamond.

The Atlanta Braves, they are using the Mets to build momentum. And then we've got football, which is fantastic. I want to play something for you because it's funny in a vacuum. It's actually funny even if you know what he's talking about, but it's funny in a vacuum as well. When I play this particular soundbite for you, I want you to tell me what it means. Tell me what he's referring to.

Mike McDaniel. Well, it was a bit of a riff for him. He was asked a particular question, but I'm not going to tell you the subject.

I want you to let me know what you think he's talking about because, well, it took him a while to land the plane. I'll just be honest. March 3rd, 1983. The day I was born. Right? Now we take a closer look at that date. And that, in fact, was not yesterday. People that are on, people are rumored to be tall, short, people that are rumored to be, you know, that's, you're not going to get this guy.

I'm year two. Okay? What? As in, what, what? If I had no idea what he was talking about, I would think he was a little bit like a Dan Campbell. I'm just rambling. I don't know what I'm saying.

What in the world? He feels as though he was intentionally set up that a particular question was meant to trick him, to dupe him. But he, Mike McDaniel, being as smart as he is, he felt like he sidestepped it effectively and efficiently. But it is kind of funny to hear him ramble, ramble, ramble, ramble, ramble.

Like I said, a little bit like a Dan Campbell. I'm just rambling right now. I don't know. I don't know what the hell I'm saying. Mike McDaniel, I'll give you some time to think about it.

You can apply it to anything you want. What is Mike McDaniel talking about? I don't know what it says. Oh, goodness. Do you think at some point these coaches get tired of doing off-season press conferences? I know that it's been increasing incrementally in the off-season, more and more events in the NFL, more and more moments where reporters have access. But I swear to you, and I've been doing this a long time. I know sometimes my years blend together. If you ask me to remember right now, five years ago, who was in the Super Bowl or who made the playoffs, it would take me a minute because there's so much information stuffed in my head.

I have more recency bias. But I swear to you that five years ago, we did not have access to NFL coaches every 10 minutes in the off-season. It has become a thing where they are doing press conferences every single day while they're practicing. And when they're not practicing, guess what they're doing? They're showing up at league meetings or at the draft or they're taking place in the combine.

Every single week, I would say five days a week, every single week of the off-season, we have heard from NFL coaches and players. It never stops. And you got to wonder at some point if they are just done with it, please give me a break from this microphone. I'm here too. Okay.

I'm not going to fall for it. It's become almost goofy now. And they're getting asked the same questions over and over and over again. And honestly, I feel for Kyle Shanahan when he tells us that he just needs to survive press conferences to get to the regular season.

If he could just get through them. Well, we don't really like playing the game. We would like some new information, but you don't get a lot of new information. Because we have nothing better to do. Clearly, the NFL thinks you don't have anything better to do either. It's crazy, isn't it?

It's mid-June. Why are we hearing from NFL coaches? I actually feel badly for them. But if you're going to trot them out there every single day, well then of course reporters have to show up. It's their jobs. Rather than making up stuff to talk about, they actually have the source right in front of them.

But it's kind of nutso that these guys never get a break. And there really isn't any new information this time of the year. Or, let me take that back.

There is very limited new information. In Panthers country, not Florida Panthers. Oh no, that's going to trip you up tonight. Florida Panthers and Carolina Panthers are making news. For the Panthers, there is actually news. But come on.

I'll dial it back. 98% of what we're getting from NFL coaches and players right now is fluffy. As in marshmallow fluffy. Or, I actually feel kind of bad for the dog that lives next door.

There is a dog that lives next door. It's a white little thing. It's a boy. The kids named him Fluffy.

Oh no. I actually tell, because I'm friends with his mom, but also their mom. And I say to her all the time, poor Fluffy. She's like, why? Well, he's a boy and his name is Fluffy. Oh, he likes it, she says.

No, he doesn't. Anyway, so yes, it's fluffy. It's marshmallow fluff or it's a dog named Fluffy. That's what we get right now from the NFL.

The majority of it. Every now and then there's a nugget. Every now and then there's a piece of information that actually carries some heat. Now see what I did? I wanted both basketball teams to be involved there.

It took Jay about 10 seconds before he got it. So I think that these poor coaches, I'm going to actually be on the side of Kyle Shanahan and Mike McDaniel now. Stop it.

You can't possibly trip me up. That covered it. This is ridiculous.

It's getting more ridiculous by the day, but the NFL makes them do this. Enough is enough. We don't have time for that. Enough is enough. No more fluff. Oh yeah.

Boom. And on that note, we're off and running. So we are headed to Paris later in the show. Until then, love for you to find me on Twitter, ALawRadio, and also on our Facebook page. After Hours with Amy Lawrence just got this tweet from William who is in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

And he says thank you for your well wishes with the Canadian wildfires listening to After Hours on CBS Sports Radio here in Halifax. Yeah, we're thinking of you and really can't imagine after just a couple of days what you all are dealing with on what has been now a day-to-day basis for weeks. I know that I've had my house closed up for three days and that's not typical of me this time of the year. The temps are no more than 65, 66 each day and at night they're in the 40s.

And I would love to be able to open up my house, but I don't want my dog to be breathing in all the smoke. Alright, coming up. Florida Panthers on the verge of going down 0-3 in a Stanley Cup final again. Their second trip. Were they about to go down 0-3 again?

Well, they sure were on the cusp of it. And we'll hear from the Oklahoma Sooners, once again champions of women's college softball as they sweep Florida State in the women's college world series. We've got so much to get to. Can't wait to hear from you. I was going to say why don't we do a facepalm Friday, but instead in honor of William who just told us where he's listening and how he's listening.

I'd love to hear from you. Where and how are you listening to this edition of After Hours? We're happy to retweet those or share those as we head into, gosh, one of the last weekends of spring. What? What?

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Roll that. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. Off to the near boards. It's Kachuck. Tried to settle in toward the net. It took a bounce off White Cloud. Back behind the goal. Hage there for Vegas. Gave it away.

Out to the right point. Long shot and Montouris' attempt is wide. Here on the near boards.

It's Kachuck. Back in. Montouris.

Some room. A shot. He scores.

Top shelf. Brandon Montour from the top of the left circle and the Panthers strike first. Four minutes, eight seconds into the action. Brandon Montour upstairs. May have been tipped on the way. The Panthers take a 1-0 lead.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The Florida Panthers got on the board first, but that's actually not strange for them or for Vegas. How many times have we seen the Vegas Golden Knights fall behind in these playoffs and rally?

And rally they did. Marsha So. Straight on. To the right circle.

Theodore. Near the dot. Looking. Looking. Passes left.

Marsha So. Score! Mark Stone in front. Got a piece and the Knights have tied it. Stone who digs in behind.

Thanks to the cross to the right. Eichel stumbled a bit. Gets the puck down the boards. Eichel. Right goal line centered. Marsha So. He scores!

Laser precision. Eichel to Marsha So. Power play goal and the Knights take a 2-1 lead. 5-0-1 to go second period. Jonathan Marsha So barely inside the left post on a cross crease pass from Jack Eichel. That is the call with Dan Duva on Golden Knights Radio.

So yes. In Sunrise, Florida they take a 2-1 lead on a pair of power play goals. So there were 11 power plays in this game. The Knights were 2 of 6.

So their two goals come with the man advantage. While Florida was over 5 on the power play and had to kill 4 of them. Or was trying to kill 6. Didn't quite do it.

But did kill 4 of them against the Golden Knights. Stone. Marsha So. Obviously spearheading Eichel. They're so powerful.

They have so many different options. And time was running out on the Florida Panthers late in the third period staring at an 0-3 deficit. It's kind of funny that the Florida Panthers and the Miami Heat both ate seeds of course from the same region of the country. Both in championship series and both have this uncanny ability to respond and to react and to dig themselves out of a hole. Now does it mean they always win?

No. Sometimes they don't. The Miami Heat did not win even though they put together a furious rally in games 1 and 3. They fell short against the Denver Nuggets in both of those games. And remember the Nuggets are learning as they go as well. They haven't faced a team quite like the Miami Heat to this point.

Well this is the Florida Panthers. They are never out of the fight similar to the Heat. And I love that those two teams from that region of the country that they share that quality and they share an expectation that until it's done it's not done. And they both have one particular player that spearheads that resiliency, that toughness, that tenacity and that never out of the fight mentality. And for the Heat we know it's Jimmy Butler. He talks about it all the time.

I'm the one who sets the tone. He's the one that brings the unwavering confidence. And for the Panthers it's Matthew Kuchuk. We had a writer from the South Florida Sun Sentinel Dave Hyde who joined us, oh gosh not last week but the week before, talking about both of these teams and what it was like to be in South Florida these days and we got some great info from him. And one of the things that he said is that Matthew Kuchuk and Jimmy Butler are essentially the same guy playing the same role for these two teams.

And what did you know? It's Matthew Kuchuk again when the Panthers have to have it. His 11th goal of this playoff run and they send him into sudden death overtime.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. I know it wasn't just me. I'm sure that even if you have no rooting interest you get to this point in the hockey season. Sudden death, well it's that tension in your gut.

It's the heart palpitations. It's just watching it and know that at any point every shot on goal is an opportunity. Really every possession is an opportunity because anything can happen in sudden death. Verhage nearly was able to take that away. Tried to nudge it out in front of the net but the Golden Knights move it forward. Now it's Bennett back in. Bennett up the near side, looks across Verhage, high slide shot. He scores! Connor Verhage the overtime winner here in game 3. The Panthers take it 3 to the final. Hanging around, hanging around. Connor Verhage flops a nut straight.

Pay that man his money. Overtime winner for Connor Verhage. And the Panthers cut the series deficit in half.

They take it 3-2 in overtime and now they'll have a chance on home ice to even the series on Saturday night in game 4. That's the call with Doug Plagans and company on the Florida Panthers radio network and it's Carter Verhage who actually nets his fourth career playoff overtime goal so he's no stranger to that moment and is a former Stanley Cup champion so they do have some experience of course on their roster as well. This is about 6 feet inside the blue line so we're talking about straight away, up top, great angle. Because I was watching softball too, it kind of reminded me a bit of a rise ball in softball because it kind of gathered elevation as it went and it goes right over the wrist, right over the arm glove of Aidan Hill and kind of clangs off the inside of the post so it's one of those great angles and you know me because I'm always thinking and looking for comparisons.

In addition to thinking about softball and a rise ball I also thought about how in football it just depends at what angle you hit the upright. So it's the difference between the puck clanging off the post or the puck smashing into the back of the net which is what it did. It kind of got over Aidan Hill's arm and over his glove and into the goal but the way that it hit off the post it deflected into the back of the net so it was going at quite a clip too obviously because it came from pretty far out, pretty far up top. So Carter Verhage, he's been in these situations before but of course it needed or the Panthers needed Matthew Kuchuk to put them into sudden death. It was a huge goal, the tying goal and we've been so good in overtime and I think Matthew made a great play, I mean just got open and he's so good around the net and just trying to get the puck to him there and made a great play and yeah I mean to win an overtime in front of our home fans it gives us a little bit of momentum and we saw it right from the start in the first period I think we fed off our home crowd a little bit and we love playing at home. I think it's just a resilient group and they obviously got a lot of top end talent, obviously a big goal by Chucky I believe there to tie it and obviously a big goal by Carter to finish it. We play the right way, we stay above them, we make it tough for them, you know it's obviously tough when you let up 5-7 goals and we had a bunch to clean up in the first and second game and I thought we came tonight and did a good job.

That's Brandon Montore and yeah if you think about the Heat and the Panthers what they share is that resilience, mental toughness to be sure because it's not been easy the road that they've taken and the Panthers they barely got into the playoffs too. For them this is kind of cool, first ever Stanley Cup final win so they had been in the final before but had been swept and so here they finally in 7th game of their Stanley Cup final history they're able to log their first win but similar to the Heat they never take the easy road. The Panthers just don't do anything easy, I know they swept in the Eastern Conference Finals but you look big picture and for the most part they don't make it easy on themselves, it's been a tough road for them and now they have the opportunity to even the series in game 4 that comes up in a couple of days. I think for the Golden Knights a couple of things that stand out, I still think that if they play their game they are more than capable of winning this series they just have so many ways they can beat you and Aidan Hill's been playing tremendously well in goal but one of the things that stood out about this game is the wasted opportunities. They started sudden death with a power play and couldn't get a goal into or behind Sergei Bobrovsky and really they didn't generate a ton of shots so credit Florida for limiting the amount of good looks that they had. Bobrovsky I say only but 25 saves is not a lot for a hockey game that goes into overtime but really the Panthers are trying to use that physical play and their size and that advantage that they feel like they have to limit the chances and limit the quality looks for the Golden Knights. Because of the number of ways that they can beat you it takes an all out effort on defense and Bobrovsky did speak about that after the game he said we really played much better defense it wasn't just about me right there was we had a definite game plan we executed it. Although he had some pretty impressive saves too one with like a arm just kind of flail your arm out there and hope you get lucky.

Oh no it's skill it's absolutely skill so yeah one of the things that happened I felt like with the with the Golden Knights is that they didn't take advantage of the opportunities and and they didn't have nearly as many in this game in Florida. I hope it leaves a sour taste in your mouth at least for the night, I mean you know we had a chance to put the game away talk about winning hockey. Closing out hockey games how important it is this time of the year so I hope they're upset with certain things that transpire that's okay it's an emotional game but not tomorrow can't be tomorrow get your night's rest and you know be ready to as I said get better tomorrow.

That's been our goal all year be better in the next game turn the page so we will. Bruce Cassidy as the head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights lots of experience for him too it's after hours on CBS Sports Radio already getting your responses on Twitter I don't think we put the post up on Facebook yet I'll do that as soon as we get to the end of the segment here and into our update. But we are checking the pulse of our audience as we usher in a new weekend where are you listening and how and I recognize there are lots of different ways to listen. So whether it's a station whether it's streaming whether it's an app it could be satellite happy almost Friday happy almost weekend and we are getting some responses already not this always encourages me. I know that people are listening all over the country and and internationally as well but I like to see it so we got this one in Calvert County Maryland getting up for work that's Raphael. Coach Waitley is an Idaho CBS radio on the Odyssey app another tweet from Colorado Springs AM 1300 every night love your show. Yeah good to hear from you well dot the landscape around the US and I told you already had a tweet from Halifax Nova Scotia too.

So on Twitter a law radio and then our Facebook page coming up a three Pete. Can you imagine the expectations these are college students and yet the expectations are high because not only do the coaches believe but these players they recognize the potential. OSU softball is now becoming a lot like where UConn basketball was for years you are listening to the after hours podcast. The undercard redesigns for that field Lions crouches in. Here's the pitch off speed high fly ball left field budgets back on the track at the wall leaping up and it's gone.

The Lions leave the yard. Oklahoma has gone back to back and the Sooners have a two to one lead first it was Sydney Sanders. Now it's Grace Lyons and the Sooners have gone in front two to one Oklahoma top of the fifth inning.

This is after hours with Amy Lawrence. We use the word pressure a lot in sports we really do pressure on the shoulders of athletes on the shoulders of coaches. Maybe it's pressure on GMs and in professional sports you get paid for that in professional sports it's your job. We don't talk as much about pressure when it comes to college sports now certainly big time college football or the best teams in college basketball when it comes to March Madness well then there's the pressure but still they're college kids. And yet every now and then there is one particular team in a particular sport that does what might seem impossible may never happen in a lifetime again, but is a different kind of pressure, and it only gets the attention. When it becomes as big as OU softball is right now, or women's college basketball for UConn and the streak that they had going on. It's funny because a lot of times, college students, college athletes remain relatively anonymous, even if they're on TV.

I mean there are some college events that are on TV various channels that you can find or watching on the web, but for the most part, college athletes, the teams the stories remain relatively unknown until something extraordinary happens. And that's the case with Oklahoma softball and Patty Gaso who is a coach that I know personally my experience with her when I worked in Oklahoma when I lived in Oklahoma in fact lived in the or worked in the town of Norman lived near the town of Norman which is where the campus is located. I was embedded with the team for a while writing articles and she and her husband and her family they were so good to me.

They accepted me like one of their own as long as I was there in Oklahoma. She is as class as class can get. She is high character. She is tough, but she has high expectations because she believes in the young women that she recruits and because she believes in their system.

She believes in their culture. We were talking about heat culture last night. And again in the college ranks, you don't talk about it as much until there's such a consistent pattern of winning and there's some history that it becomes noteworthy outside of those college circles. Again, UConn women's basketball Duke men's basketball for sure.

There are a few programs that break through. Well if you didn't know the name Patty Gaso and you never paid attention to Oklahoma softball. Now is the time. Ball checks the wristband for the song. She's ready. Now the wind up the two to pitch to the plate swing and a miss strike three. It's over. It's a three p for Oklahoma in 2023, but sooner sweep Florida State, and for a third consecutive year, the Oklahoma Sooners are women's college World Series champions. That's Ryan Radke on Westwood one with the calls 53 wins in a row. That's already a national record in women's college softball. Best season in college softball history results in the seventh championship for Oklahoma at the women's college World Series. The Sooners 61 and one this season 61 and one third straight title but seventh under Patty Gaso and as I say, she's very honest. She's very open and after they hoist the trophy for their third in a row. She was also very emotional about this moment and what it feels like.

I don't know how to explain it. I just can tell you the way I feel right now is free because the expectation is overwhelming. The pressure is overwhelming, and they all have each other to laugh with.

I'm standing here by myself. So that's why you hear my voice do this. I'm, I know what they're feeling I know what I'm feeling, and it's very difficult. It's extremely rewarding. But, like, I just want to go to Costco and shop, and no one care that I'm there, and they feel the same, you know, it's just, it's, it's so crazy to see how our lives have changed. And then the fans in Oklahoma are absolutely fantastic, but it starts to feel like you're getting smothered a little bit because everybody wants something and everybody and I heard them talking about it's for all of us it's, it's different. It's not something I just want to coach, you know, I want to just be a regular and then just all of a sudden your life isn't regular anymore.

Well, to whom much is given much is required. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. People sometimes will will use the F word when it comes to me, as in famous, which makes me laugh out loud. It's not even remotely true or celebrity, which also isn't even remotely true and if I am, I'm a z list celebrity. But there is a reason why I'm okay with not being the richest, not being the most famous, not having the most notoriety as a radio host. I don't really want to give up my lifestyle and the fact that I can leave this radio studio, and for the most part, operate in relative anonymity. Now, there are people that recognize my voice in various places and yes when I go on the road for events. I'm happy to meet people.

But I don't really want to give up my privacy. And I've lived in Oklahoma, so I know what Patty is talking about. In Norman, it's a small town. And even if you don't live in Norman, you live in Oklahoma City, her face is plastered everywhere now and she is as close to a celebrity as Oklahoma's got at this moment. Because that team just set a record for wins, a record for winning percentage, a record for wins in a row, and they capped it with a seventh title. In Norman, Oklahoma, in the state of Oklahoma, that's about as big as it gets.

After hours here on CBS Sports Radio. I know that Russell Westbrook had spoken about this before when he was living in Oklahoma. You really can't go a lot of places without being recognized. Oklahoma's, it's not a small state or anything, but when it comes to the sports, there's only so many teams, right?

There's only so many places that you can go. You're going to get recognized everywhere. And yeah, the players feel it too. Grace Lyons had one of the huge home runs that helped the Sooners win their third title in a row. Something that we talked about early on in the fall is the expectations from the outside of what people expect of us, what fans, but even like opposition, what they expect of us and what they're trying to kind of make us think or see on social media. And the message off the bat was eyes are on our circle. We're going to keep focusing on what we do every single day.

It doesn't matter what the outside has to say. We're going to do the little things. We're going to keep grinding, as these players are saying.

It's a grind. And we worked so hard to create a cohesive circle to where the outside wasn't that big of an impact on us and our mindset. And I think from day one, we had to do that and we had to continue that until now. And even hearing some things now of people trying to get in our circle.

The focus is eyes on each other and eyes up to keep it as simple as possible. And I think that allowed us to have so much fun just celebrating each other's wins, the little things because just this team is so unique, but so awesome and so great to be part of. Grace Lyons is a senior, so she's graduating. What a moment for her to go out as the three-time champion. But OU keeps five All-Americans, five of them. So there's a real good chance they'll be in contention again next year. But I think the fact that you're listening to a college student talk about that, about pressure, about extraordinary expectations, about eyes up and eyes on each other, think about the mental toughness you have to have to be in that fishbowl and that spotlight. But congratulations, Oklahoma. It's after hours CBS Sports Radio.