After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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Hyundai, there's joy in every journey. Good morning to you. It's a Tuesday and we are finally back together. And I know it's been a weird couple of days.

I wasn't with you on Thursday night into Friday morning last week because I was hosting Friday afternoon. People freaked out. Where's Amy? Why is she not doing her show? I tried kindly as a consideration to post on social where you could listen to me and said on Friday.

Then people freaked out even more. I must be changing my mind. I was just filling in because the network asked me to.

Then we changed names and what does that mean? Where can I find you? Where are you going? Where have you been? Why are you moving? I mean these are so many questions and I do not have the answers to these.

I'd like to stick to things I know and these are way above my pay grade and outside my wheelhouse. I have no idea. I just know that they've told me we have a new name. We're being rebranded so that's the deal. Nothing else has changed.

Infinity Sports Network and beyond. It's actually kind of fun if you think about it. But I know I wasn't with you for a couple of shows and so maybe that fed into your paranoia. But I'm here and I'm not changing anytime soon. I'm the same me. We just have a new last name. So a new last name of my personal life and a new last name for the show.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Infinity Sports Network. I'm the same Twitter at ALawRadio. Facebook page is the same though we're still playing around with the photos. We've got some pixelization. Wait, pixelation? J help.

I'm not cool. It actually might sound better that way. We've got some pixelating to do.

We're going to fix some pictures with off pixels. Oh no. Don't get me started.

I could go on this forever. I'm here on the campus of Syracuse University again because I was teaching my students on Monday night about the art of research and prep. Research and show prep and then the art of the interview and that really comes under the larger umbrella of the art of sports talk radio which is the class that I pitched. I designed and pitched and it's kind of fun to teach them but something I learned the hard way on Monday night is you're going to laugh at me and that's okay. Twelve students is more than nine. I had nine last year and we were able to get to everyone. They would present all their assignments in class.

That's something that matters to me. They need to be presenting and doing their assignments in class for critique and for constructive criticism and just to practice talking about these things in front of other students in front of their peers. But I didn't save enough time and so I did a poor time budgeting and we were over five minutes and there were a few of them that were antsy. One guy actually raised his hand and said I'm just asking I'm not saying I'm going to leave but once I present can I leave. By the way this is a guy who just missed class last week and really didn't have an explanation.

So that was rich. But anyway they were kind enough to give me an extra six minutes. So class ran over. I tell you what when I was a college student I'm not sure I would have stuck around for an extra six minutes but they were great.

We only have four classes so I told them next week I would let them out six minutes early so they can make up that time. So back in Syracuse and then headed home to New Jersey the New York City area on Tuesday morning. But we've been away from home since Saturday packed a whole lot of everything into the last weekend. This long weekend spent a great couple days in Buffalo.

The weather was beautiful. Yes love the wings went to anchor bar debate amongst yourselves. That's last hour of the show I guess the second hour of the show if you want to know why I picked anchor bar why we picked anchor bar for our wings but also had the opportunity to go to Niagara Falls on Monday and it was a perfect day.

Picture perfect gorgeous. The place was nearly deserted. There was hardly anybody there. When we arrived at ten thirty I mean we parked right next to the visitor center and then as we went through the course of the next few hours more people showed up. But we waited in line for nothing. We had no trouble getting spots on the rail on the made of the mist the first time the boat showed up we didn't really have to wait for anything. And I suspect it's because the place was so inundated with visitors last week they actually opened up early.

They generally do not open this early in the season because of the weather but they opened up early to accommodate the eclipse. And the fact that there were you know a million plus people who were in western New York for that occasion. And so everyone I talked to said it was insane. It was nuts. It was nonstop. It was wall to wall bodies. And I'm really glad that we didn't accidentally book our trip last weekend not realizing what was coming but I would move to Buffalo.

I'm telling you right now I'll fess up. I would move to Buffalo. I liked the area that much. I love the water like being not just on the lakes but having access to Niagara Falls and being that close I'd be there all the time. But because of the snow my husband is not down with that.

Also for now I still have a job that requires me to be in a different part of New York. So there's that. So find us on Twitter at a law radio our new show Twitter only because I had to change the name at Amy after hours our Facebook page and our YouTube channel remain the same no changes there. I know some of you have asked me how do I find the listen live link right now. There's a there's a lot of kinks that they're working out. I'll just be honest and so all the different social media handles that they're not uniform.

They're very different across the board so I don't even know them all. I'm giving you hours and hopefully then by using my Twitter you can find our show Twitter as well as the new network Twitter which is in. No I take it back but they don't want us to say in it is in fact in.

It's in fact in fact they know exactly who's coming. Okay I feel like we could have named it something different but again these decisions are made may way above my pay grade. It's the INF sports net.

I think and then there's INF sports network and then there's infinity network there's so many different handles across the board on Twitter though the network Twitter. I have the link on my own so just please go check it out. I can't my head hurts just thinking about it.

Our phone number is the same eight five five two one two four two two seven eight five five two one two four two two seven. Kaitlyn Clark was the story on Monday so forget NBA playoffs that begin on this Tuesday night Tuesday and Wednesday with the playing games the end of the NHL regular season. My gosh even what is generally an excitement after Sunday at the Masters Nana Kaitlyn Clark is still the biggest story in sports. With the first pick in the twenty twenty four WNBA draft the Indiana Fever select Kaitlyn Clark University of Iowa. I got a little anxious there before the pick but I think more than anything just grateful and lucky to have my family here my friends over there coaches up here. So I think just enjoying the moment I've dreamed of this moment since I was in second grade and it's taken a lot of hard work a lot ups and downs but more than anything just trying to soak it in. So Kaitlyn ends up getting drafted number one overall not a big surprise but admits to a few jitters before the pick was announced. I think just the culmination of a dream you're there you made it you know there's still so much work ahead and yet it's okay to stop and survey where you are maybe look back to where you've been as she talked about being a little kid. And this was her dream going way back and remember she loved Maya Moore that was the icon that she fell in love with it made her want to play basketball like Maya. So then she does the interview with Holly Rowe and she's the number one overall pick and Holly asks her about her approach in the WNBA and how things might change.

You got to buy your tickets now I know it'll be a hot ticket but I think the biggest thing is just do me have fun smile I've loved playing basketball since I was a young girl and that's not going to change. I think it's so many reasons why we are attracted to Kaitlyn Clark sure it's the game it's the flash it's the same reason we were attracted to Steph Curry when he was coming out of Davidson. Skinny kid you wouldn't have looked at him regardless of his pedigree and his dad being an NBA player you would never have looked at him and said oh yeah he's destined for greatness in the league. Go back and look at the pictures or the videos of Steph Curry when he was a sophomore at Davidson. Unlikeliest NBA superstar ever but he set the world on fire I mean we fell in love with this skinny kid who could shoot the lights out from anywhere in the arena. And he propelled Davidson to the Elite Eight that year as a sophomore returns for his junior year he's all the rage he's got the spotlight on him we're watching everything he does. And he gets them again into the NCAA tournament and he's a little bit bigger he's a little bit stronger he's a little bit better he gets drafted by the Golden State Warriors and it's been a love affair with Steph Curry ever since. Now you may get tired of hearing about him you may hate the Warriors and Steph Curry but I tell you all the time sports hate is essentially just jealousy with a different name.

Oh see there we're talking about names again. We have been captivated by Steph's game since he was a sophomore at Davidson. It's very similar with Kaitlyn Clark she can shoot from pretty much anywhere logo thing or logo threes are her thing as she talks about. And so we were first initially introduced to her game when she is a in her case I mean she was technically a sophomore I suppose but because of the COVID year you know it's her third year in school. And so we're captivated as they run to the national championship game they take out the South Carolina Gamecocks the defending champions and then you know buttheads with LSU. But because we discover her because the love affair begins there we're able to follow her through another year of school and you all know by now the record viewership the ticket sales that are already through the roof not just for Indiana Fever games but for games that they play on the road. So the ticket sales for the teams that are hosting the Fever this season have not only nearly doubled in price but are also a really hot ticket so to speak and the jersey sales.

Even before Kaitlyn was drafted you know people wanted the jerseys but once it became official the Indiana Fever released them and those jerseys have been selling in fact they're probably gone now and they're going to have to make more. I mean this is historic for so many reasons but for the Indiana Fever specifically and for the GM Lynn Dunn it's a chance to turn their franchise around they've been irrelevant they average just barely more than 4000 fans per home game last year. It's among the worst in the NBA it's worse than the Oakland A's for heaven sakes and so we're you know we're we're talking about them going Aliyah Boston in 2023 Kaitlyn Clark in 2024 can they similar to what the Warriors did while we're talking about the parallels. The Warriors draft Steph and Klay and Dre and that core completely changed their franchise.

I know you all some of you bulk when I talk about the Houston Astros but how about their years of utility the consecutive seasons with 100 losses but they draft Jose Altuve and they bring in Alex Bregman and they get Carlos Correa and those are the pieces. That they're able to bring up and form a championship core the Astros did it the Warriors did it can the fever do it and in the WNBA there are fewer teams so theoretically it's not as difficult to climb. They've got an opportunity here and the general manager she recognizes this is the chance it's almost the golden goose and the chance for them to completely change the trajectory of their franchise in the league. For some time now we've had our her penciled in as our number one pick but we didn't want to let the cat out of the box or the whatever the mouse out of the trapper but we didn't want to let anybody know we want to build up some excitement and now we've it's official Kaitlyn Clark is coming to Indianapolis going to have a huge impact not only on our city but our franchise to she's going to be an integral part of the Indiana fever and I can't wait to see Boston and Mitchell and Clark. Wow and Smith on to all of them on top of that right so again you've got some good young players they've earned it the hard way but Kaitlyn Clark and Aliyah Boston now Aliyah she was part of the ESPN slash ABC coverage of the Final Four. She was part of that South Carolina team that ran into Kaitlyn Clark in the national semis in 2023 and she was drafted then by the fever last year and so now Kaitlyn has the chance to instead of competing against her to run with her. There's so much you can say about her rookie of the year in my eyes one of the best players in the league and like I said like as a point guard like my biggest job is like I'm just feeding the lead of the ball every single game.

That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to go in there and be like hey go make a layup. She's going to make my life easy but she's incredible but the thing about I love about her is like she's just a great person like she loves the game. She knows the game. She sports the game and she has a smile that affects a lot of people and brings a lot of joy to people when they watch her so I can't wait to be her teammate again again again again again.

There are so many reasons that we we like Kaitlyn the more we get to know about her. It's not just the game right Steph Curry same thing you do you have interviews your see interviews or people conduct interviews with Steph Curry. He's personable. He's I mean, he's obviously got an ego of course, but he doesn't come across as an arrogant prick, right? He's a guy who incorporates his teammates talks about his teammates.

He's knowledgeable about the game. In fact, wait till you hear his tie to the number two overall pick in the WNBA draft, but Kaitlyn's the same way. It's not all about Kaitlyn. She talks about her teammates. She loves her coach that relationship with Lisa Bluder. You'll hear about that before the end of the hour, but she raves about Lisa and the fact that the two of them believe this and this was their vision. She already knows about her teammate Aliyah Boston. She done her homework, right?

She recognizes the opportunity. And yes, while she's been the driving force behind the skyrocketing interest in women's basketball. She doesn't believe it's all about her. And if she does she's smart enough not to say it, but I don't think that she could hide that really. She's not self-centered. She's gracious and she's humble and she's thrilled to be playing basketball for a living and that joy comes across and and whether it's on the court or it's off the court with the myriad of interviews and commercials and endorsements and opportunities and demands on her time. It's been exhausting. No doubt. I mean she talked about the last couple of weeks and what they've been like and yet there she is still smiling still happy.

I mean think about what she's gone through since they lost in the national championship to South Carolina. Went home for a couple days. I got off the plane when we landed in Iowa City. I drove directly back home had my mom cook me a meal and then I drove back to Iowa City the next day.

We had our celebration and then I flew to LA flew to New York and now I'm here sitting at the stage. But I think the biggest thing is like I'm just very lucky to be in this moment and all these opportunities and these things they're once in a lifetime. And when things might get you know tiring or you know, you have to do stuff. I think it's the biggest thing is look at is just like an opportunity. This isn't something everybody gets to do.

It's once in a lifetime and just trying to soak in every single experience because I know how quick of a turnaround it is and I have a lot of people helping me. She's got to be exhausted. I if I could talk to Caitlin Clark personally, I would ask her the same thing that people ask me. When do you sleep? When are you sleeping training camp is on the horizon. They they flip pretty quickly a month from her draft night, which was last night. She'll be playing in a regular season game in the WNBA if she's healthy and if she's ready to go and that's how quickly they do it. It's not strung out like the NBA where they draft in June and training camps are until October.

It's not like that at all. She's done nothing but basketball and endorsements and interviews and all the time that she's had on camera. It doesn't leave a whole lot of time for Caitlin to just be what a 22 year old doesn't leave a whole lot of time for sleep or for rest or recovery. So thankfully she's healthy and she's in a good spot. But yeah, that's a it's a lot to ask of her and yet she's carried it so graciously and I love that Dawn Staley noted at the Final Four.

I'm grateful to her because she is carrying a heavy load. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on Infinity Sports Network just to get to quickly a couple of the other WNBA storylines. Even as we're asking you on social media once the first pick was announced and the crowd goes wild there inside that theater in Brooklyn. You can imagine that the WNBA wishes they'd known and could have hosted it at a larger venue and sold more tickets.

But they're in Brooklyn. The number one pick is announced. Caitlin does her interview on stage. How much did you watch after that? I'll just be honest. It's the first time in my career I've ever led a show with the WNBA draft.

It's the first time in my career I've ever broken down the first round of the WNBA draft. How many of you watched past Caitlin or was it Caitlin and then you turned it off. So there's a poll up on Twitter at Amy after hours or my Twitter and then also on our Facebook page and the gift that producer Jay uses is pretty cool. So you definitely want to see that if you're a fan of Caitlin Clark. She's pretty recognizable by name or by face these days. But how about this would be a much bigger story if not for Caitlin the number two overall pick and I don't know how many people know the name Cameron Brink but the Curry family does. She has as her godmother Steph Curry's mom. So Steph's mom and Cameron Brink's mom out of their college teammates or their best friends now though. And so Sonia Curry was there at the draft and apparently they had an opportunity to talk to the rest of the Curry family.

It's actually funny. Right before I came here I FaceTimed Steph with Sonia my godmother and my mom and she was saying all these encouraging words laughing with me and then we FaceTimed Steph and he hangs up immediately. That's just how he is.

He can't handle his emotions. No I love him so much both of them they've just been such great sounding boys for me they mean the world to me and they've been through this so they know what it's like. So that's funny apparently Seth didn't have time for a FaceTime even from the WNBA draft but as always Steph loves being a girl dad. He's so complimentary of his mom and the impact that she had on him. He's well versed in women's basketball he's got a relationship with Sabrina Ionescu and a few others and now Kaitlyn Clark and Cameron Brink and he will promote them and he will support them whether there's a personal relationship there or not so I think that's really cool. Good for Steph. Lebron James does the same thing and it's awesome that two of the biggest names in the sport I mean they transcend their sport they're worldwide and global phenomenon right I mean they're so popular anywhere they go but they will take the time to support women's basketball and to me that speaks volumes. So I hope that you enjoyed the draft it was cool to see Kaitlyn in a different element right dressed up and looking all girly girl and having fun being the belle of the ball but she was the queen of college basketball and now she is a rookie starting over in the WNBA. On Twitter a law radio on our Facebook page too if you missed my story about Niagara Falls lots of surprises there even though I'd been there before it was it was a perfect day.

There are videos and photos up on both of our social media if you'd like to check it out but thanks for all your recommendations for wings. I cannot believe how mad you are at me some of you for our selection it's after hours. Call from mom. Answer it.

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You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. This is in as Kentucky inbounds. They get it in. The throw to the front. Reeves three point jumper. No good. Golke down with the rebound. Maybe now they know where Oakland is. There are the history books. An 80 to 76 upset victory over Kentucky.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. And that was the last we knew of John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats. 15 years into Lexington and Blue Bloods and drafting freshmen and even winning a national championship. But the formula and the relationship with the athletic department changed a bit.

And it was time for a new voice as John Calipari told us but also time for a change from the Kentucky side as well. Now a lot of people surprised when it was Mark Pope who was hired. And there are plenty of people who would tell you this wasn't their first choice. There are plenty of people who tell you he was fifth choice maybe. Because they couldn't get Dan Hurley and they couldn't get Scott Drew and they couldn't get Rick Pitino.

I don't know. Maybe they would never consider welcoming him back. But that Mark Pope is the best they could do because they swung and missed at a bunch of other higher profile hires. Now I would only say this. I went through this situation myself and have been in this situation myself in my own career where I've been passed over for jobs.

And I kept waiting, kept working, kept doing what was right in front of me. And there are also situations where you felt like you're kind of invisible, right? You're maybe never going to get the chance. Mark Pope was coaching. BYU is a completely different animal. I know that they lost a couple times early in the tournament.

And so they weren't able to capitalize on being I think a six seed was where they were when they lost in the first round to Duquesne. But he's a Kentucky alum. He won a championship there.

He was a captain there. So he's part of the family. And I've also run into a situation too where I wasn't first choice, maybe wasn't second choice, wasn't third choice. I don't care.

And he shouldn't either. It doesn't matter how many other guys didn't take the job. I have the job. So now I can prove to you that I should have been your first choice and you can know that this was, maybe you backed into it.

Maybe you thought you could do better somewhere else. But boy, were you flat out wrong. So I love that. I love that he's not going to dwell on that. I appreciate that he is ready to go and he's all gusto and he's excited about what's to come now moving forward.

And so, yeah, Mark Pope introduced by Kentucky as their brand new head coach. Listen, that's the job, guys. That is the job.

Like we're not ducking it. That is the assignment. We know the assignment.

That's what it is, right? And frankly, if you're too cautious or too worried to take on that challenge, don't come to Kentucky because there's nothing else that's acceptable. I like that. Mark Pope understands the expectations. He understands the demands.

He understands that there is very little patience for losing. And that one of the reasons a change was required is because Kentucky hadn't gotten past the first round, but in what, five years. So Mark Pope tells the crowd gathered there in Lexington, he's here to win in March, that everything else is built up to that. I'm here to win in the month of March.

March Madness is synonymous with Kentucky basketball. And he also puts a pretty lofty goal on year number one. That's a trophy. I would try and temper expectations, but that ain't happening. Like you guys are not allowing that.

So why try, right? We're trying to go win. Our goal is to win every single game we play. That's what we're shooting for.

We're trying to go win. Again, he can speak to it. It's not just blowing smoke because he won a championship there in the mid 90s. He also was a captain on that team. So he was part of that Blue Blood tradition.

He's part of the family. So whether or not it's a splash hire, there is something to be said for someone who knows the expectations and is going into it with eyes open, if that makes sense. Alright, on Twitter, at ALawRadio, that's not changing. On our Facebook page, it's still After Hours with Amy Lawrence, so that's not changing.

My location will change and now and then the hours may be different simply because the company moves us around every now and then. People take vacations. People get sick. People need a day off.

What's the big fat airy deal? But I'm back with you in studio coming up for the hump show on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and then should settle in for, let's see, two weeks until I'm off for two weeks. And no, I'm not sorry. It's not even a sorry, not sorry.

I'm not sorry. We cannot wait. Counting down the days now to the trip to Hawaii that is on the horizon. You could spend the weekend doing the same old whatever or you could conquer the weekend in the all new Hyundai Santa Fe. Visit HyundaiUSA.com for more details.

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You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Sloky hands it off to Clark, turns, fires a three, left wing, good and one! Kaitlyn Clark hit the three and she went down hard. Slow getting up, but she'll go to the line for four.

Clark goes behind her back, step back three, top of the key, got it. Vintage Kaitlyn Clark, fifty six fifty one Iowa, eight fifty eight to go. I want to personally thank Kaitlyn Clark for lifting up our sport. She carried a she carried a heavy load for our sport.

And it just is not going to stop here on the collegiate tour. But when she is the number one pick in the WNBA draft, she's going to she's going to lift that league up as well. So Kaitlyn Clark, if you're out there, you are one of the goats of our games that we appreciate you.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. As if I could love Dawn Staley anymore when she said that in the midst of a trophy presentation and a championship celebration at I love how she says Kaitlyn Clark, if you're out there, as if as if anyone was not paying attention at that moment. But she not only congratulates her, but singles her out and acknowledges that she has carried a very heavy load over the past year, specifically as she's lifted the game of college basketball, women's college basketball, and believes she will now do the same for the WNBA. Though there is a debate.

How do they capitalize? How does this this fervor last now that she's a member of the fever? And I think a big thing is the product has to be good, right? We as Americans, as sports fans, if we're dazzled, we'll keep watching. If the skills, the talents, the abilities, which will translate into the WNBA, if if she's healthy and she's out there doing the same thing that she's been doing for the last two, three years.

Well, of course, we're going to watch now. The fever also need to get on board and capitalize and become a winning product because that's their side of this as their responsibility. If the fever aren't winning, it's going to be a lot harder to sustain this excitement and this fear over Caitlin being a pro now because there will be other teams and there are other awesome young rookies and young players in the WNBA that are more than happy. And actually the veterans to write the older guys, women, the older women who I use guys for everything.

I call my family. Hey, guys, my nieces. Hey, guys, it's it's now going to be a challenge for Caitlin because she's going to get the best of everyone else in the WNBA.

The fever. They're going to get the best of everybody else because there are veterans out there similar to a grizzled linebacker who greets a young rookie quarterback in the NFL. As in welcome to the league, buddy. That's what they want to do. They want to put her in her place and let her know that it's not going to be easy. Number one, number two, that she may have been the queen in the college ranks, but she's going to have to pay her dues when she gets to the pros.

So there's that element as well. She's not had a break. She's not really taken a rest for a year now when it comes to carrying this mantle. So I do appreciate that Dawn Staley on ABC was willing to single her out before that. You hear the call on the Westwood one NCAA radio network. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on Infinity Sports Network.

I'm still getting used to it. I know you are as well. I was talking about this earlier, but the relationship that she had with has with Lisa Bluder, but had when she was playing there at Iowa, so critical. And I was thinking about some of the relationships between superstar players and coaches in which they've had the same vision or they've aligned their visions. They believe that it could be done. They work together with teammates, of course, with people around them, but they really set the tone and there was leadership there. And there's an element of we know we can do this and we're going to believe it.

We're going to pursue it even if it sounds crazy, even if nobody else thinks that this is possible. And when she had the opportunity post that number one draft pick, I love what she had to say about Lisa Bluder. I vividly remember Coach Bluder coming and doing my home visit in my house during my recruiting.

It was at the end of my junior year, I believe, or maybe the beginning of my junior year, around sometime in my junior year. And I think the biggest thing is like we talked about this moment, we dreamed of this moment, but she also believed I would be here and she coached me really hard to get to this moment. There was a lot of ups and downs and something I really appreciate about Coach Bluder is like no matter what awards or success or wins we ever had or I had is like she never stopped coaching me. She never stopped holding me accountable. She always thought there was ways for me to get better and she still thinks that and I still think that and that's one of the things I just love about her.

How about that? And I instantly thought as she was talking about that relationship where Lisa Bluder doesn't treat her differently but holds her accountable, maybe I actually believe that to whom much is given, much is required. Kaitlyn has got the skills. She's got the ability to shoot the lights out. She's led the NCAA in assists. She's a two-time wooden award winner.

She's been given so much so that means there's more that is required of her. She's the one carrying the mantle now and there's a long debate about why Kaitlyn. I had three students in here to start the show, three of my students in my radio class here at Syracuse and they were talking about why Kaitlyn Clark. And one of the young men, he's a guy from Memphis, knows Penny Hardaway, he's big into the NBA and started talking about almost sarcastically she's the one, she's the chosen one and giving me a bunch of reasons why if she played anywhere else but Iowa this wouldn't happen.

And I said to him, how do you know? And he kind of looked at me for a second and he's a little bit flustered and started to kind of stutter around it, well if she was at UConn this, if she was at LSU this, no but you don't know that. Fact is Kaitlyn Clark went to Iowa and that adds to the story because she's a native but you don't know this wouldn't have happened anywhere and everywhere else. And he mentioned UConn and Gino Ariemma not wanting her and blah, blah, blah, his personal perspective on things but it worked out exactly the way that it was supposed to and they caught lightning in a bottle and I guess now we could say that maybe it wouldn't have worked out quite the same way anywhere else because Lisa Bluder wouldn't have been anywhere else. That's a huge deal though that the two of them formed the core of that success like Bill Belichick and Tom Brady and I know that Brady, people reported that Brady balked at being treated like everybody else, he's the best quarterback to ever play the game and yet Bill Belichick would chew him out. Except that is part of their relationship is that Brady was willing to be coached maybe earlier in his career more than later in his career but believe what you want. He was willing to be coached, he was willing to be held accountable, he had the expectations for himself that were just as high or even higher than what Bill Belichick had for him and that sets a tone for the rest of the team.

I cut my teeth on late 80s, early 90s NBA. Larry Bird is the reason I fell in love with the Boston Celtics and with the NBA and there are stories that are notorious about how he's the first one there, he was the last one to leave, he was shooting long before everybody else was gone, he was there early running laps around the arena. When you have a superstar that works that damn hard, how can everybody else on the team not follow that lead? You don't want to be the one weak link and then have a coach and a player who have a relationship that sets a tone like Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.

That's the type of relationship that not only raises accountability but also causes everyone else to buy in because if those two guys can do it, well then we can do it too and also we better do it if we want to keep up and not get left behind. So yeah, Kaitlyn Clark, congratulations, she's worked so hard, it's the culmination of a dream and now she's got a real task and a real tough job in front of her because they're all going to be coming at her but that's okay. She's also going to run into the Chicago Sky in two familiar faces, Angel Reese and Camila Cardoso end up getting drafted by the Chicago Sky, both of them, which is kind of neat. So Angel, of course, from LSU, she was drafted No. 7 overall and the Chicago Sky traded to get her.

Camila was drafted No. 3 overall from the national champion South Carolina Gamecocks and the two of them now have the chance to play together, which I think is really neat and potentially could be fun moving forward. And then, this was pretty unexpected, which I think is amazing, the teammates for Kaitlyn Clark never got as much notoriety, though we got more familiar with them as we watched the run of the Hawkeyes over these past couple of years, or really this past year. And Kaitlyn had one of her fellow seniors, Kate Martin, who was there in Brooklyn to support her. So she had her family, she had coaches, she had teammates. Kate was not there because she thought she might get drafted and would you believe that she ends up getting selected in the second round, No.

18 overall. I just think this is really cool, the fact that she was there to support her teammate and instead gets drafted, and it's kind of a surprise. And so we don't have any audio from her, I haven't been able to see specific video or specific interview with her, but I just think that's such a neat little wrinkle. She gets drafted by the Las Vegas Aces, again in the second round when she's just kind of there hanging out for her teammate and supporting her friend, her sister, Kaitlyn Clark. And so they get drafted on what has got to be one of the best nights ever for Iowa women's basketball, right up there with the back to back runs to the national championship.

So really neat for Kait Martin as well. And I think she probably played her way into a draft pick with the way that she was the perfect complement to Kaitlyn. In the NCAA tournament she played some of her best basketball at the end of her career. And as for Kaitlyn, Kaitlyn is the highest drafted Hawkeye since Keegan Murray in the 22 NBA draft and only the second No.

1 pick in school history. So there's a lot of, not just history, but milestones and memories, and Kaitlyn's at the center of them. Actually Jay, I just found the video so I'm like thinking about it, not thinking about it, I'm watching it or searching for it and then watching it while I'm here.

If you want to go to the, you could actually share this on our show Twitter, at Amy After Hours, new name, same account. It's Aaliyah Fun and there's a camera, or she shares the video of Kait getting surprised and getting drafted by the Las Vegas Aces in the second round which is really cool. She's in the stands. She's not even down in the area where the top draft picks and their families are sitting. She gets surprised. She hears her name. She's up in the balcony of the theater which is pretty cool. So I hope she makes the roster.

Doesn't necessarily guarantee her anything, but it does guarantee her an opportunity and an invite to training camp at the very least. Alright, it's great to hang out with you guys. It's good to be back. I know a lot of you were wondering what the heck is going on. Now there's a new name.

Why? Why all these changes? I don't do well with change. I need to go back to my regular routine. Well, nothing's changed except for the name. I just took a day off and, you know, hosted a different show. It doesn't mean I'm leaving the network or I'm changing times.

Let's not yet anyway. So find me on Twitter at ALawRadio. There's photos from Niagara Falls. There's video there as well, two of them actually. Also on our Facebook page, there's a reel and there's some photos there too. Thank you, Anchor Bar. Thank you, Buffalo. Thank you, Niagara Falls.

I guess the debate can continue. Back with you tonight from studio. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Infinity Sports Network. Boom! This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

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