After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

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$10 minimum per order. Additional terms apply. As we head into Valentine's Day, February 14, 2024, I will readily admit this year's Valentine's Day looks and feels a whole lot different. Kind of blows me away that this time last year, Bob and I hadn't even had our first date. We knew each other. We'd been introduced about five months beforehand and we were communicating. But we were long distance and had not even had an official date. In fact, I don't think he'd even asked me out on the date yet. So he deluded to it, but he hadn't officially asked. And so yes, this Valentine's Day looks and feels a whole lot different.

Also, goofy hubs. He stashed a card in my bag when I wasn't looking and I just found it a couple minutes ago. It says on the envelope, do not open until after midnight. And this is the guy who told me that Valentine's Day was a sham and a contrived event, which is true, but it doesn't mean you can't celebrate it or you can't mark Valentine's Day. So I have to tell you that as I was driving into work after I sliced my thumb and my knuckles are bleeding and I'm running late and my windshield wipers broken, I thought, as I'm trying to get my mind right, it's still a job that I love. So if you ask me what I love about sports, it's the opportunity to talk about them for a living. Now, I love radio more than I love sports. If I had to give up one or the other, I would give up sports before I would give up radio. Radio is my calling. Radio is my passion. It just so happens that I can blend the two, my appreciation and my love for sports with the joy and love I have in doing radio. But it's always a reminder to me when I get frustrated or the hours are tough or overnights are hard, because they are, I can still remind myself that I get to do a job every single night that I absolutely love. And when the microphone goes on, that joy kicks in and a lot of the other stuff kind of melts away. It doesn't mean life is perfect or there aren't hard things or I don't have a slice right down the middle of my thumb. But it does mean that in these these hours, when I get to do a job that I love, there is some great joy in it that tends to dwarf pretty much anything else.

I hope that you can find that space. As we ask you, what do you love about sports? Why are you committed to the roller coaster ride, to the ups, the downs, the ins, the outs, the backs, the fourths? The good, but far more bad when it comes to results, right? Because even when your team is a dynasty, like the Patriots were, got a shorter one for the Chiefs, still big picture. You look at the history, the Chiefs went 50 years without winning a Super Bowl. The Patriots were terrible for decades before Bob Kraft bought the team and hired Bill Belichick. And even then, when they drafted Tom Brady, they didn't know what they had until Drew Bledsoe got hurt. Talk about the Packers, I know they've had a lot of success going back to Brett Favre and then Aaron Rodgers. And look, now Jordan Love in his first year as a starter, but they were brutal for decades before that.

It's a series of ebbs and flows. And if you're a well-run franchise and you've got committed ownership, well, then you can be on the positive side more than the negative. But it's not like anybody's team wins every year. Now, there's certainly a modicum of success for teams like the Chiefs where, hey, if they don't win the Super Bowl next year, it doesn't hurt nearly as badly, right? Because they've got three in the last five years, and that's great for them.

But again, they were not a team that was relevant for years. The Lions, becoming a sentimental favorite, of course, so much sweeter their success this year, but also just as painful losing that big lead in the NFC Championship. So the emotions are heightened. The more we're invested, the more we feel it.

And generally, there's going to be more pain and angst than there is. The love, the positivity, the joy when it comes to sports. But on this edition of the show, our hump show, After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio, we're focusing on why we love sports and what do we love about sports. And I'm already seeing some of your posts come in again on Twitter. After Hours, CBS, you can also send your questions for Ask Amy Anything.

That's about 90 minutes from now. And then our Facebook page, too. And so you'll see not just the hump show post, but also the post where you can tell us what you love about sports. 855-212-4227.

That's 855-212-4CBS. Also, in the next three hours, I found this article online that I thought was actually kind of funny. And since Jay is out the rest of the way, I'm going to work it into this edition of the show. Are you ready for this?

According to etiquette experts, Jay, the 11 rudest things you can do in someone else's house. Oh, my gosh, I'm so interested in this. Me, too.

I love this. And here's the funny thing. My dog sitter, who I believe she loves the dogs more than she loves actual people. And that's OK. That makes her a really good dog sitter. But I've told you before, my house is a disaster when she comes back. She actually said to me on the phone this week, you know, I was getting ready to leave your house. I was cleaning up and stuff, and I had to be really careful not to laugh out loud because her version of cleaning up. Her version of cleaning up actually makes a bigger mess. But anyway, I was thinking about my dog sitter and thinking about some of the major snafus that she has made in visiting someone else's house.

So this appeals to me. But also, I knew you and I would enjoy going through this list. OK, so we'll get to that next hour. On top of next hour, the 11 rudest things you can do in someone else's house. That's tremendous. I'm going to make you guess a couple first before we do it.

It's going to be so fun. So get your thinking cap on when you go visit your friends. Now, it's different maybe with like college friends or bros because guys don't care as much. We're talking about adults visiting other adults. And there's a view on here that I do not agree with.

But also, I think it depends upon the level of friendship probably. It's after hours on our Facebook page, on Twitter, and our phone number 855-212-4227. Let's talk to Paul who's in Michigan. Paul, welcome to the show. Hi, Amy. Hi. I had a couple of things to say. I'm a little nervous because I'm so impressed with you.

I'm still just a person, don't you worry. I want to say I listen to sports radio all the time. And I work early in the morning and about two years ago I stumbled onto your show. And at first I thought, oh my gosh, this lady's loud, crazy, turned it off.

Nice. But then I kept listening. And you are an amazing person.

Oh. You not only are so knowledgeable about sports and teach me a lot about sports and make me want to watch more sports because you are so knowledgeable about it. But you are such a down to earth person.

I told you, just a normal girl. You bring your life into everyone's life. It's like I'm sitting on the couch with you every night and talking to you.

I like it. You are just so laid back and you are phenomenal at your job. Oh, I appreciate that. And if I can sound like I'm laid back, that's good because that's not really my personality.

But if it comes across in the show, then that's tremendous. And on a quick note, off of Facebook, I'm the guy who bugs you all the time for your chewy oatmeal. Oh, you know what's really funny? I actually had shared that recipe in the past and I keep meaning to do it. So if you put another post up, maybe on Ask Amy Anything, I swear to you I'll get it.

Because I have the screenshots on my phone. All I have to do is just post. So I swear I'll do it.

But I really wanted to call and talk. I'm a Lions fan. We've been doing it for 30 years and all these bad years and seasons. And this year we finally have a really good season.

I'd just like to say to all these other teams and cities that get so down on their teams when they lose and fire a coach, fire a new quarterback, all this stuff. I was down at the game when they had the watch party for the NFC. Oh, were you? Yeah, because I couldn't afford the playoff tickets. So I called that the poor man's playoff.

So we went down to the watch party and the atmosphere was electrifying. And here we are at halftime thinking, oh my gosh, we're 30 minutes away. And then a perfect storm of errors came, you know, and we lose the game. And yeah, you were sad and you were torn up, but it was just a bunch of mistakes.

And I think a lot of that is because of, you know, it was all new to them. And so many of our players are rookies and haven't been there on that stage. But I can't be more proud of our team and what they did. And they'll be back next year because they just keep getting better. Dan Campbell is an excellent coach. And I just want to say to all these other teams, be grateful for what you have. I know you get depressed right away, it's sad, because believe me, I don't think I talked for a day and a half to anybody. I didn't even listen to sports radio because I just didn't want to hear it.

Just didn't want to hear it. But be grateful for what you have because, man, as a starving Lions fan here in Michigan, we really enjoy what we have now. I would say that is a great perspective, though obviously it's going to take a little longer to get there because of how close you were and Lions fans were.

And yet if you compare NFC Championship to the futility of the last several decades, you're right. This is the closest the Lions and their fans have come, and it's only the beginning. It really is only the beginning.

We're definitely hoping because it's pretty exciting. We're really proud of our team. Good. I'm so glad.

Well, you keep that because hope springs eternal and the Lions will be a team to beat next year. All right, Amy, you take care of yourself. You're an awesome, amazing person. Oh, thank you, Paul. I'm glad we convinced you that I'm not just loud and obnoxious.

Well, wait a minute. You are loud and obnoxious. Well, sometimes. That's what makes you who you are. You're phenomenal. Thank you, Paul. I appreciate those compliments.

Have a great day. I mean, loud, true. I don't know about obnoxious. I can be obnoxious. I swear I'm not obnoxious all the time. I swear it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

Let's go with Lawrence, who's in Kansas. Lawrence, welcome to After Hours. Good morning, Amy. How are you today? I'm good, sir.

Thank you. Outstanding. Hey, you know, the craziest thing about the Super Bowl was it was a shame anybody lost. Both teams played great.

They did. Well, I mean, it was it was a struggle. The defense has played extremely well. Now, there wasn't a ton of offense to go around, but I love how the defense has shined.

Well, you're exactly right, because that was the whole thing. It was a defensive game. The whole thing was like they fought and fought and fought. And it was like it wasn't fair.

Anybody lost. It was like, I mean, to be honest with you, while I'm living in Kansas now, I'm from South Carolina, but I'm a raider. So, you know, I feel about. Oh, gosh.

Yeah. And I was glad we kicked their ass here. Excuse my French.

I'm sorry. I kicked their behinds in Kansas City. But, you know, they are a good ball team.

But you know what? The 49ers are actually very good. And again, it was it was a shame that anybody lost the game. Yeah, I would agree with you, and those are the best championships, the ones where both teams have put their best feet forward and collective feet forward, and both teams have an opportunity to win.

But although along with that comes the angst of having been so close and falling short for one of the teams, what I like to point out that that crazy dichotomy of the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat and the two things that lined up next to each other kind of give us the extreme emotions of every sports fan. Well, exactly. I mean, that was the whole thing. When you watch the game, it was like you're glued to the TV. Yes.

Awesome. It's like, Jesus, this is out of hand. And it was like, OK, whatever. Somebody's got to win.

But you know what? Glory to the Chiefs and, you know, but the 49ers have nothing to hang their heads about. They did good. They did. They came close, though. Right now, you can understand it's pretty painful. Yeah, exactly.

But that's OK. They got a lot to build on. You know, they got a good ball game and they'll be back.

They're going to be very tough next year for whoever they play. So that that's what it is. But anyway, you have a blessed day when, by the way, congratulations on your marriage. Thank you. I appreciate that, Lawrence. Have a great Wednesday yourself.

Thank you. I think the point that I want to keep making about the Niners, too, is that they finally have the quarterback position settled. We know they have one of the best running backs in the NFL. We know that they've got a defense that's full of superstars, even though some of them were injured. Gosh, did you hear about Eric Armstead?

So we'll let you hear from a few more of the players in their exit interviews. But they have a quarterback finally for the first time in Kyle Shanahan's tenure. They've got one guy who went all the way through the season. And that's huge because that did not happen when Jimmy Garoppolo started, when they went out to get Trey Lance. It didn't happen before they traded for Garoppolo. They went through various iterations, lots of different trial and error at the quarterback position, even when they thought they'd found the right guy.

It was a temporary fix, a temporary situation until now. That to me is a major piece the Niners were missing before under Kyle Shanahan. And that's another reason why they got closer this year than they have. Now, going back to 19, of course, they had the 10-point lead in the fourth quarter. Jimmy Garoppolo was their quarterback. But still, it's been one step forward, two steps back at that position. They've got Brock Purdy.

Kyle Shanahan is thrilled with what he got from his young quarterback this season. But he's not backing down, even though people want to pin it on Brock. Everyone has plays in a game, every single person, that you want to take back. But Brock not turning the ball over in that game, making a number of plays, taking us down there to take the lead earlier on. I mean, at the very end of the game to take us down to take the lead, I thought, you know, we didn't get it done.

So none of us, all of us obviously could have done another thing. But I was real happy with Brock played and real happy with how he played this year. And I thought Brock was unbelievable. One of the most impressive seasons I've been around for a football player and a quarterback. And he was just a stud through it all. The high praise from Kyle Shanahan. They finally found their quarterback. And we did see Brock with the pressure ratcheted up in the game against the Packers where they had to rally and he led them on that game winning drive. Now that, of course, is after a dismal first half when he'd be the first to tell you that he was not playing well, but did come through at the end. And then, of course, the NFC Championship.

And what can you say? The second half against the Lions, the offense was terrific. The defense was even better to climb out of that hole. So we've seen what Brock Purdy can do. And again, that's the major difference for me with this Niners team moving forward. They do finally have a quarterback, which, by the way, Brock Purdy says he knew the overtime rules. He asked before they kicked off an OT.

On Twitter, A Law Radio, our show Twitter After Hours, CBS. I tell people, if you are just discovering the show, you're new to the show, give me two weeks and you'll be hooked. It may be like our caller. Was it Paul?

Paul from Michigan who said he didn't want to like us, but he turned out that he kind of understood the value and the appreciation grew for the show. Or it may be that you really hate the show, but you have to keep tuning in just to fuel your anger and your obsession. Either way, I don't care. I'm just glad you're listening. Give us two weeks.

You'll be hooked. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Okay. You are listening to the After Hours podcast.

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If anyone needs anything, they can just redirect their questions to that one perfect coworker of yours. OK, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever, or I can hop into my all new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road with available H-TRAC all wheel drive and three row seating. My whole family can head deep into the wild, conquer the weekend in the all new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai, there's joy in every journey.

2024 Santa Fe available early 2024. I got to be better in terms of leading the guys and just think of how I handle things in the huddle and telling them what to expect. Stuff like that. But yeah, at the end of the day, I think we have the team, the offense to score touchdowns and I think I failed to put our team in a position to do that. I thought he did great. I think you go look at the self-inflicted wounds we had and we just beat ourselves. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey, the dynamic duo in the backfield for the San Francisco 49ers and that's in the wake of the loss on Sunday, accepting responsibility and Christian even more so still stewing over the mistakes that he made or what he didn't do well or didn't do enough of as the Niners met the media on Tuesday. I think you're always hungry. That's the feeling you always want.

I think when you get there, you now know what the deal is. I think it definitely makes you more hungry and it definitely hurts worse. Right now that hunger, that pain is keeping him up.

He's not sleeping. There's so many things to look back on on that game that you just want back. Obviously for me, I think just putting the ball on the ground is something I keep replaying in my head, just can't do it. There's a lot of different plays that we could have made and we didn't and we fell up short and I think it hurts, but that's life.

He does come back to that. That's life. And it's true, life is very often marked with failure, disappointment, coming up short, not doing what you want to do, not performing the way you want to perform, maybe saying or doing the opposite of what you really wanted to say and do in the moment. And for me anyway, and it sounds like for Christian McCaffrey, but also would say for a lot of athletes because they have such a high standard and high expectations for themselves. That's why they get to where they are in pro sports and among the best of the best. They're perfectionists and that's me too. I as an athlete, but also now as a radio host, gosh, as a wife, as an auntie, as a sister, as a daughter and granddaughter in every walk, in every area of my life, I am so much harder on myself than anybody else could be. And I will often stew over the mistakes and beat myself up over the mistakes far more than I would ever celebrate the victories. And I can understand what Christian McCaffrey is saying is he's going back over it and replaying it. This didn't go well.

And what if I had done this? And it's a tough game to play as a human. At some point he will face forward and he will continue to pursue this dream because they did come so close and because they do want it more now than they ever did.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Yeah, George Kittle echoed that same sentiment, the fact that it's painful because it was within their grasp. What I enjoyed most, I really enjoyed, you know, we won a lot of games. We worked really hard. Guys had great mindsets every single day. I would say also, you know, there wasn't a single guy in the locker room that I didn't like. The linebackers got annoying sometimes, you know, but that's just them and I applaud them for that. So I just thoroughly enjoyed everyone's friendship, you know, I enjoyed sitting in the sauna with everybody and having conversations about random stuff, you know, just learning about people. I just thought we genuinely had a very, very high character team and it was just fun to build relationships with everybody.

So for that reason, and I appreciate this about George, he's trying to look at it from a positive, which is what we want to do with you. Yeah, the losses stink and a lot of times we almost feel like we're never going to get over them. That was always going to sting and sure, there will be a few that stick with you. I could think of a couple of losses as a sports fan in my life that I'm not sure I'll ever get over, though time is a great healer.

It tends to dull our sense of loss and grief just because the world keeps spinning and we move on and the emotions aren't nearly as acute. In the case of sports, which isn't always the case in life, there is next season, next game, next opportunity, next snap, right? That's the beauty of sports, again, that doesn't always happen in real life. Sometimes a loss of failure is actually the end and you don't get another chance. But in sports, this is what I love about sports. They just keep going and there's always another season and there's always another chance. It's one of the things I love about sports. What do you love about sports? As we head into Valentine's Day, that's what I want to know.

There's a post up on our Twitter after our CBS or my Twitter, ALawRadio, and then also on our Facebook page named after the show, easy to find. I am looking at some of your answers right now on Twitter and they're great. So I mentioned earlier Timothy says fantasy football, that's what he loves about sports. Another response, the exhilaration of winning is real with millions of people who care about the same thing.

That connection is something guys typically do not have otherwise. He says on the other hand, the grief of losing doesn't really matter compared to our other problems. Just hope for next year. Laura, watching Steph Curry play with fierce joy. And then she says I also love a day game to enjoy Oracle Park and the Giants. David says what I love about sports, the challenge and the underdog having a chance to win. So you're saying there's a chance. That's awesome.

I do like that response. And then on our Facebook page, some of you weighing in as well, again, easy to find. The first post on our Facebook page right now, Eric says the passion and experience that there will always be tomorrow. The passion for sure. Is there anything in the world that unites us like sports?

I don't think so. And to take that even further, I said this on our last show, as we're looking at the numbers from the Super Bowl, that 202 million people, nearly two thirds of all Americans watched some or all of the Super Bowl. Are you kidding me? Two thirds of our nation?

Just think about that. Wherever you were watching the Super Bowl, however you were experiencing Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday, there were 200 other Americans doing roughly the same thing. 200, 200 million, that's not very many, 200 million other Americans doing exactly the same thing.

That blows me away. Two thirds of our nation. Again, we agree on zero in this country, except football, except the Super Bowl. Jim says what I love about sports, it's a family event that takes us away from our problems, at least for a short time, yes.

Mark says sheer competition and strategy. Jean says there's no way of predicting the outcome. Oh, see, there's a woman after my own heart. You can guess all you want. Nobody really knows how these games are going to go, and if we did, we wouldn't watch. Randy says you can watch a game with elderly parents or toddlers. It's exciting and fun and heartbreaking all at the same time. And then Randy says people love events.

That's true. We are appointment peeps. We love to show up for a big event. So what do you love about sports? We're focusing on the love. We're focusing on the positive. Too often as sports fans, we're such negative nellies, nasty, negative nancies and nellies. Pat Boyle is one of those people.

He likes to focus on the negative when it comes to sports. I kind of feel like your show, sometimes you're yelling about all the bad things. OK, I think I yell in general. I yell about good things.

I yell how exciting they are. But I mean, let's be honest, negativity does sell. And you know, it's good for business.

I agree with you. But what do you love about sports? What keeps you coming back? I would say for football and I'd say, you know, for most sports that I watch, basketball, baseball, it's the beauty of those sports. For example, watching a quarterback make a back shoulder throw perfectly timed at the back of the end zone in basketball. It's seeing the ball move around the poetry of the game and then a beautiful three pointer that hits nothing but net. But then also, like, I mean, let's be honest, a lot of us love violence, the violence of the game, the violence of football in general, the violence of baseball, watching 100 miles come in and come out at the same speed, 400 feet into the air.

I think to sum it up as concisely as I could, beauty and violence. All right. Well, I'm glad you explained that.

But yes, you're right. There is a violence to the sport, whether you're talking about ball and bat, whether you're talking about a collision on the football field. But to know that you've got the best of the best who are going at it, I mean, that's the yeah, the sheer will that that is colliding as well is always really impressive. I just can't well, I didn't just come up with it, but I just as you were talking about it and reminded the baseball, the bat, all that. Another thing that I love about sports is what it sounds like. Yeah. There are some noises, some sounds that you can identify instantly because of sports.

And one of those is the crack of a bat when it's hit square. Yeah, it's good. Yeah. Good.

And yeah, whatever the ASMR in our brain as humans, we love things that sound cool and that sound good and that we can identify instantly. Yep. Forget name that tune.

We can name that sport in one note. The Swish. Did I get that right? By the way? Is it ASMR? Is that the correct abbreviation? I have no idea what you're talking about.

But Jay's giving a thumbs up. I rarely go on TikTok, but when I do, I feel like that is like sometimes 80% of people's algorithms. It's just things that sound cool.

Like, you know, you see a video of a girl just putting her nails on different things and people are like, Ooh, ah, that was very popular. Okay. So what does ASMR sound like?

What does it stand for? Automated. Oh, God. Sensory message response. I don't like that. Oh my gosh.

It's basically just the way... You guys are AI. Cool sounding things on your brain and how you're attracted and like, you know, drawn to that. So not blowing your nose then? No. Maybe for some people. Some people might like that? Not my trigger.

Not nails on a chalkboard. No. No, that would be negative.

Negative ASMR. Interesting. That draws you away. That makes you not want to listen. I'm going to have to Google it. Okay. That's neat.

Yes. I love what sports sound like. As we head into Valentine's Day, what do you love about sports?

We're only accentuating the positive and the reasons why we keep coming back. What do you love? On Twitter, ALawRadio, on our Facebook page, send your questions for Ask Amy Anything. It's about an hour from now. Oh, and top of the hour, Jay and I are going to go through this list. The 11 rudest things you can do in someone else's house. I can't wait. I can think of a few. It's After Hours, CBS Sports Radio.

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See site for details. Here on After Hours, we like you as much as you like us. Hey, what's going on? I love the show. Thanks for having me on. Hey, I'm enjoying your show, Amy. I'm normally not up to hear you, but you've got a hell of a show.

Thank you. Hi, Amy. I remember talking with you when you very first started on CBS. You're such a superstar. Amy, thank you for taking my call. First time calling, looking at your show every morning as I travel into Boston. First time taller than any sports show ever, so you are kind of taking my sports show virginity right now. Okay. Well, that's not creepy at all.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. What just happened? Oh, no. What just happened? Did our equipment from 1972 finally and completely crap out? No, I think that was a user error, but I just didn't know that would happen.

What did you do? I tried to hit a recording so I could roll on something that you're about to say, and it just turned everything off. That wasn't supposed to happen. It is a complete crap. It is complete crap.

No, it is a complete crap. Wow. Jay admitting operator error. But you know what Jay normally does when he makes a mistake? He uses what we call a dump button so that he can cover his mistake. But he couldn't this time because I started talking too quickly, and so there was no way to dump the mistake and not also dump the host. Not allowed to do that. Got caught there. Got caught there.

Operator error, he says. Just after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You're getting into the spirit now. We're asking you, what do you love about sports?

And you are game. On Twitter, after hours, CBS, enjoy seeing some of your responses now. Chase says, regardless of how last year went, there's always fresh hope and optimism on opening day.

Yes, that is amazing. Tony finally getting some joy from our Texans. Good things coming up ahead.

But yeah, that's the thing, fresh start, new look, a rebuild that pays dividends before it was supposed to, a great new coach, a young quarterback, a brand new draft pick that infuses energy like Victor Wambunyama and the Spurs. There's always a reason to think positive, even when the times are bleakest or the losses are most painful. And again, that's the beauty of sports. It just keeps going. It's like time, right? Just keeps going. And time does heal many wounds, not all wounds, but does heal many wounds.

855-212-4227, again on Twitter or on Facebook. Bob says, where a loss can be a great learning experience. Another thing to love about sports, a loss can be a great learning experience. Brent is listening in Seattle. Brent, welcome to the show. Hey, Amy.

Well, I love the regionality of college football. And so it's about love loss when we're losing it. And then I have a very personal story about, it's kind of about sports and about love. Well, when I was in preschool, there was a girl and my parents said we'd get married someday. I wasn't ready to date her. And so I like, I never was all the way through high school and went to a related school together and I wasn't ready to date her. But after she graduated from Cal and graduated Columbia and I went to the University of Washington, I was ready to date her.

I tried. We had a few kisses. She'd married somebody else.

But I signed the Jewish wedding contract, et cetera. So she is such a good friend that I invited her to the Washington Cal game whenever Washington plays Cal in football. She brings her husband, she brings her kids, and then the basketball games. Her husband has let me go to basketball games alone with her, as you trust me. And there will be no more Washington Cal games for me to take her to.

It makes me very sad. Oh, yeah, that's true. The Pac-12 did in fact dash the hopes and dreams and break the hearts of many people. Yeah. Washington will win the Big Ten in football once out every 25 years.

If they had no USC and no UCLA in the Pac-12, they could win it five out of every 10 years. I'm absolutely crushed. Oh. Wait, we're supposed to be talking about what we love about sports, though. Well, what I love about sports is the regionality of college football.

We're losing it. Well, in some ways. I mean, your team still does occupy a particular region. And I have a feeling that a lot of these rivalries will resurface and be reborn simply because the fans want them, simply because at some point there will be an option for non-conference games and non-conference scheduling. And I do think, again, because they're so popular, because the fans really get into them, you will see some of these athletic directors and conferences go ahead and kind of cross over to reinstall or reinstate those rivalries.

Well, I have a couple of examples. Washington's men's basketball coach is going to get fired at the end of the year unless they finish 11 and 9 in conference play, which they're not going to do. Right now they're 5 and 8, is Mike Hopkins. And he said, we will offer to play Washington State every year in Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena. And of course, Washington State's going to say no.

Whoever the new coach is, is probably going to make a similar offer. Washington State's going to say no. Now we have in Oregon State is also their second longest rival next to Washington State, and they're probably not going to play them either. It makes me very sad. They're probably not going to play them in men's basketball either.

And they're certainly not going to play them in football. Right now. I don't know what will happen down the road. Yeah. Things could change in 20 years.

Well, I don't even know that it will take 20 years. Brent, you're kind of a downer right now. We're supposed to be focusing on- Sorry, I love the regionality of college football. I love the regionality of college sports. I like the bands.

I like the cheerleaders. There you go. All right. Good. I like that. Let's end right there for now. Thank you. Okay.

No, thank you, Brent. I certainly understand the angst over the Pac-12. I'm not making light of it, only that this is supposed to be a show about what we love about sports. But my point to Brent is that these rivalries, because especially when they have to do with geographic proximity, these rivalries very often are reinstated, even with the changing of the conferences and even with more of these kind of refurbished power power conferences and the way that we're seeing the landscape change for college football, which often drives the bus and college basketball affected as well, not to mention all the other non-revenue producing sports in college. It is frustrating, I think initially, but what we're seeing now, even with the realignment is that the individual schools and the fan bases, the alumni bases, they so desperately miss those rivalries that in non-conference play, the athletic directors are bringing them back. So one of the great examples of this, and I know Texas and Texas A&M fans are thrilled, they're renewing their rivalry, right? Because Texas is moving into the SEC. So now you've got the Longhorns and the Aggies who are set to clash on the 2024 schedule. Five years since they last matched up and it was supposed to be the death of that rivalry. But now you're going to have it again on the schedule in 2024, right? And there's so many different iterations and variations of the schedules for these mega conferences, because it's impossible to play every other team in the conference every year, you don't have that many games.

And so there'll be a bunch of different rotations and the way this kind of plays out. But for Aggie and Longhorns fans who adored that rivalry and have missed it desperately, it's back on the schedule. And so that's a conference example. I do think again, you're going to have athletic directors look at their non-conference options and say, okay, we need to reinstate this rivalry. We need to bring it back for our fans because it matters to our history, to our traditions. All hope is not completely lost.

Though I know it can be frustrating at this stage, Brent. On our Facebook page, Frank says, I like the memories I've made with my grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, and nieces through sports. Oh, I love that one. Ben on Facebook, the camaraderie of fellowship with fans of the same team.

Oh yes, nothing else connects us to strangers like sports. He says the ebbs and flows of each game are like a symphony. Oh, that's music to my ears. We're halfway through. It's our hump show. Send your questions for ask Amy anything.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS sports radio. Okay, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever, or I can hop into my all new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road with available H-track all wheel drive and three row seating. My whole family can head deep into the wild, conquer the weekend in the all new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai, there's joy in every journey. 2024 Santa Fe available early 2024.

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