It is the JR Sportbree show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to everybody tuned in and locked in all over North America. I hope you are having a tremendous Friday. I hope you are enjoying all of the basketball and all of the places wherever you might be. I'll be hanging out with you for the next three hours. This show gets started at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific.
I'm in Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to our producer Ryan Botcher in New York City. Of course, we're talking basketball. Hey, thank you so much to our guests last hour. Scott Doctorman for joining us courtesy of The Athletic. We talked about everything. Colorado State, they're upset, moving on into the tournament, knocking off Memphis. We talked about the beat down that Duke gave Mount St. Mary's. We talked about North Carolina.
Yeah, they were in the first four. North Carolina is now out. We talked about coaching. We got into a lot. I'll give you some of the scores in a second. We got Florida, who's currently underway against Norfolk State.
We got a lot to get into. And this is going to be a fun conversation because next hour, the team that decided to go out there and knock off Clemson, we're going to be joined by Jim Gazola. He has covered McNeese for the past 15 years for the American press down in Lake Charles, Louisiana. And I want to get his thoughts on everything going on. A superstar manager, the head coach who's going to leave. Just there's a lot to look into as McNeese gets ready to take on Purdue. Some great matchups over the weekend as well. We talked about it.
Calipari versus Patino is just, there's a lot. You want to be a part of the show? You can. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. In a few minutes, I do want to get into some football. Deion Sanders not happy with what's going on with the draft process regarding his son, Aaron Rodgers.
He decided to make a stop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to see whether or not there was a potential fit for him with the Steelers. So there's a lot going on, a lot that we'll discuss as the show continues on. And of course, March Madness and Ryan, you, man, we just talked about this before the break. You take a look at Florida, you take a look at Norfolk State, and you go, okay, what is this score going to look like?
Well, they just started. Florida already leads 13-2. Maybe we're too generous on the Norfolk side. We should have cut it down to like, I don't know, 40.
So 60. And maybe, maybe Florida, maybe the Gators, maybe they will implement their own mercy rule. Maybe, right? There should be a mercy rule for the early rounds. If the one's up like 40 points, they can, they should have a running clock or something. 40 points? So 40 points is the marker?
Well, what's the, I'm assuming like the biggest comebacks in the 20s. So I say like 30, 35 running clock. After that, just call it a wrap, huh? Yeah.
I'm with you. Florida has now extended the lead 16-3. If there's anything nice about this, about five minutes have gone by in the first half.
So you know what it is? This time, maybe it won't reach 90. They'll call off the dogs or the Gators. We'll see what happens. Thank you to everybody listening on the free Odyssey app, your local Infinity Sports Network affiliate, Sirius XM375, and a smart speaker.
There's so much to get into. Yeah, let's think about some of the matchups. If you're just tuning in, if you're just getting your fix on all the college basketball action, here are some of the scores from earlier today. Baylor knocks off Mississippi State 75 to 72. Mississippi State had an opportunity to tie the game on a three at the end and it hit absolutely nothing but air. Nothing.
Air ball. It stinks if you're a college student because that's going to be something that you will remember for your entire career. Baylor is now going to move forward and take on Duke.
It may not end up good for them. And St. Mary's knocks off Vanderbilt and another close one. The final score there between St. Mary's and Vanderbilt, 59 to 56. St. Mary's, next up for them, they have Alabama. Alabama, they held off Robert Morris.
Unfortunately, it was closer than it should have been. Alabama beat them 90 to 81. We just talked about Ole Miss knocking off North Carolina. Those tar heels, a lot of conversations about Hubert Davis and whether or not his squad even deserved to be here.
They lose to the Rebels. Next up for the Rebels, they got Iowa State. Iowa State handled business against Lipscomb, 82 to 55.
That was certainly a beat down. I told you about Duke beating down Mount St. Mary's, 93 to 49. Colorado State knocking off Memphis. Maryland, we got a final there.
Maryland knocks off Grand Canyon, 81 to 49. There was never going to be really any dispute about what was going to go ahead and take place there as the Terps move ahead to take on Colorado State. So we'll keep you up to date on more of the games as they continue on. We just talked about Florida and Norfolk State getting underway. We're minutes away from the start of Kentucky and Troy. Later on as the evening continues on, we have Marquette, New Mexico, Arizona and Akron.
Later tonight, we talked about this because the guys are a pain in the ass. We have UConn led by Coach Hurley taking on Oklahoma. We have Illinois taking on Xavier. And man, there's so much basketball, damn. Michigan State versus Bryant.
And then in the final tip of the night, which will be about three hours and change from now, we have Oregon and Liberty. Damn, it's a lot of basketball and a lot of gambling and a lot of money, I guess, exchanging hands and being made and a lot of money lost in the same regards, right? There's people out here losing money, which is an interesting transition to a topic that I saw not last night because I was hanging out here with you on the air, but I ultimately did see it earlier in the day. And speaking of losing money, Deion Sanders, as far as I know, I think maybe at one point in time, not recently, this man had to worry about money, but not anymore. This guy's the head coach of the Buffaloes, the Sun is getting ready to be drafted into the NFL, but we don't know where the Chador is going to be drafted. We don't know who is going to draft Chador. You know, is he going to be taken at number two by the Cleveland Browns? Is there another team a little bit further in the draft that will take him? Will it be the New York Giants at three?
You know, will it be the Raiders at number six? We have no idea where Chador is going to go. And we've heard a lot of talks, a lot of conversations, a lot of comments over the past, over the past month, especially during the NFL combine when Chador did not work out, that he didn't take his meeting seriously.
He was basically chopped down. People were, were in the business of character assassination. And as we've discussed, when it comes down to the draft, there's always outside manipulators. They're always agents who might be bigging up their own clients and leaking rumors to boost their draft stock. You know, there might be teams that actually want a player that are putting out bad and negative information in hopes that that player drops to them.
It is and can be a very nasty business. You know, when we had our chat about college basketball with Scott Doctorman last hour, we talked about how the transfer portal has really changed college athletics, the player's ability to just say, I'm out of here, I'm going, I'm just going to take my talents to the highest bidder. Well, in the NFL, at least for the draft process, Deion Sanders and his son Chador, they, they have some, they have some control over where they go. They can put out stories.
They can be very direct. My son is not going to play here. We don't want to play here. Don't draft us.
It's going to be a wasted pick. Well, they can utilize their power to manipulate where Chador goes. Now, having said that, it's not a guarantee. We saw what Eli Manning did or his dad did and helping to steer Eli to the New York Giants and not the Chargers. We saw what John Elway did and his family, his dad back in the eighties, like you got to be of a certain caliber and Deion Sanders, he has certainly has the cache to help steer where his dad goes. And I think that there are some teams who know, Hey, we best not take him. Otherwise we have to deal with that.
And you know what, if you can wield and yield that power, I don't see anything wrong with that. But what Deion Sanders did not appreciate last night as he was on the NFL network, he did not appreciate the character assassination. A matter of fact, Deion Sanders was asked about some of these negative stories that we've received about Chador and Deion says he knows the team that's leaking these negative stories. Deion says he hopes that they stop and quit with the negative stories. Otherwise he's going to start snitching.
Listen to this conversation that he had. We like to call this stuff out. I know who it is. You're going to make me call him out. You know what team? Yeah.
Yeah. We don't, we don't understand it. I don't get petty. Don't make me pull behind the courage to step in that thing on the high road, but I don't know the address. Deion wants to keep it on the high road, but he, he doesn't know the address.
Hmm. What, what, what team, what team could it be like? Well, who could be out there out there trashing Chador? And for what reason?
Like what's the benefit? Because from all considerations and everything that we've ever heard, anything that we've ever seen, Cam Ward is the number one prospect to be taken in the NFL draft. Is he going to the Tennessee Titans? I guess maybe the Cleveland Browns, they maybe they want, I have no idea, but I could see the Titans taking Ward and Chador being there for the Browns. If they should want him, like with the New York giants, are they in such a desperate mode?
Would they be screaming with Joe Douglas and Joe Shane? Would, would they be out here trying to lower Chador standards draft stock? The Patriots don't need him. They got a quarterback in Drake May. Jaguars don't need them. They have a quarterback that they pay $55 million to.
Okay. The Raiders. Why, why would they do it run by Tom Brady?
What's the purpose? The jets. I don't know about that. Got a new GM. I just, it's just a lot going on.
I'm going to get botchers thoughts about this in a second. But in the meantime, Deion Sanders continued on and he said, now forget the noise, forget everything that you hear. He says, my son is a winner. This guy has been bred to be a winner.
Listen to this on NFL network. Chador is a winner. Chador is a very intelligent, very understanding. Like when we used to travel, when they were kids going to the airport to we in the, the admirals club or whatever, relaxing, we were on the board, man. I was writing defenses up on the board and they were trying to figure out how to beat me.
He and Shiloh. So we've always been a football minded family. And we always understood what was next. We always rose to the occasion and we always exceeded expectation and we could have a prayer. We applied pressure. We didn't receive pressure.
We applied it. But that young man, I can't wait to see where he goes. I can't wait to, to see what he does. I know what he's going to do.
And I can't wait to see him shallow at the next level. Yeah. Well, I don't know what Shiloh, somebody going to draft them, right? There's somebody else who got some negative press and words around the shrine bowl.
It's just, it's crazy. Ryan, who do you think would be out here talking crap about Chador? Like, is there anybody out there that wants to hope that he falls to them?
Is anybody that desperate? It has to be a New York franchise. Either one, the Giants want a quarterback to fall to three because you don't know what the Browns are going to do.
Yeah. So maybe the Giants just trying to be desperate to get any type of franchise quarterback or the Jets. You've seen the mess they've been in the last year with all their leaks and Aaron Rodgers and Pat McAfee, all that stuff. So I wouldn't be surprised if there's more rats in the Jets facility and they spilt out that, I don't know, Chador didn't like us in our interview process and they want to get revenge.
Wow. Well, I mean, if you think from the Jets perspective, they did just sign Justin Fields, a two year deal, $40 million. We know there's not a damn thing, you know, a certain in that if it doesn't work out for Justin Fields, the New York Jets will just, they'll move on.
This is a brand new regime. They're going to get at least, I don't know, maybe three, maybe four cracks at bringing in a quarterback. And on the opposite end, the team that they share a stadium with, the New York Giants, they're at the end of the rope.
Like Douglas and Shane, of course, and GM. If things don't improve some type of way, they're going to get the boot. And I mean, that's that's saying a whole hell of a lot to think that they would put their last stand on a rookie quarterback. I don't know.
Maybe it would go out there and buy them some time to go upstairs and say, hey, listen, I know what took place the past few years. I know what happened with the contract. I know about Saquon. And I get all of that.
I know. But we got a rookie QB. We got him. We're developing him. And regardless of how the year ends up, if you're the owner of the New York Giants, if you had John Mara, people will look at you one way and go, well, man, you should have fired them already.
And then you let him stay. And now you're letting them develop another quarterback after a year. Or maybe Joe Shane and Joe Douglas have already said, you know what? Screw it. I'm going to throw my hands up in the air.
I'm going to draft the quarterback. I'm going to roll the dice. We've we've had our chances. We've had our opportunities. They're going to fire us. If it doesn't work or they'll keep us. Maybe they're rolling the dice.
I, Ryan, I think you have a very good point. There's no other there's no other reason for another team to be putting out negative stories about the guy. None. It could be a Raiders inside job.
I don't know. But there's such a relation. It would have to be all coordinated and acted out. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if that did happen. Dion and the Raiders and everybody like that. They're all in cahoots to put out the bad stuff.
Yeah, I think so. It either have to be the New York Giants or the Giants or the Raiders. There's no need for the Titans or the Browns. They're they're in a pole position to select and draft the QB. Patriots don't need one. Jags don't need one. That only leads us to the Raiders and the Jets. Listen, we've had we've had worse acting jobs.
We've seen and heard worse. And so let's see what happens with Chidor. We know Cam will be selected before him, unless there's some massive shakeup when it comes down to the draft. What a what a wild world. We're in a good time of the year. We got all this basketball going on. We got the NFL draft, which is next week. Well, not next week, but next month.
You're thinking about changing around some of these rules. It is just a a wild, wild space at this moment, this second right now. The Florida Gators lead Norfolk State 32 to 11. It's about nine minutes to go here in the first half in Norfolk State. Let's just say I hope they pack light. It's going to be a quick trip back to seven cities.
It sucks for them. 888-710-4ISN. That's 888-710-4ISN. We're going to take a break when we come back. I'll give you another update on the basketball scores. And speaking of a famous Suns, amongst all of the basketball action that took place yesterday on the college side, there was a professional player who decided to go out last night against the Milwaukee Bucks and have the best game of his career. He might be starting to turn heads. His name? Brawny James, the son of LeBron. I'll tell you what Brawny James did last night to Giannis Atetokounmpo.
We'll get into that. Talk some more college basketball. I told you next hour, we got Jim Gazzolo joining us, who covers all things McNeese. I want to ask him.
I think they're the most interesting team in the entire tournament. We have so much more to do. You're locked in to the JR Sport Brief Show Coast to Coast on the Infinity Sports Network. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief. It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. 888-710-4ISN. That's 888-710-4ISN. This is very important for you to know. No matter of fact, don't know it, do it. Think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all of your car care needs.
Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. We got another game that is just getting underway here in March Madness. Number three, Kentucky versus number 14, Troy. Kentucky off to, well, I can't say any start. The game is only two minutes old. Kentucky leads five to three. Also, the beat down continues on.
Oh my God, they're pouring it on now, Ryan. 42 to 14, the Florida Gators lead Norfolk State. It's six and a half minutes to go here in the first half.
And I think you might be right. This game might reach 90 and it may not be 60. 40? No, 90 to 35. They're on pace for 100 at this point.
They'll slow down. I'm thinking about what Norfolk State might put up. They ain't getting a 60. A 48. That's reasonable.
90 to 48. Okay. Must be better than Clemson. Okay. Oh yeah. We'll have that chat with McNeese State next hour.
Jim Gazzolo, who covers them for the American press in Lake Charles. Yeah. Well, let's see what this game looks like. We'll keep you up to date on all the basketball action as it continues on. Right before we went to break, we talked about Deion Sanders, you know, showing up for his son, Chidor. He's sick and tired of teams and individuals putting out false statements and information just to try to manipulate the draft process. And this is a part of the draft process. And when he responds and how he responds or they respond is also a part of the game.
And to a certain degree, we don't know to what degree or end that Deion Sanders is playing a game. You know, internally, they're not going to say it out loud to us publicly. Why would they? They know where they want Chidor to go.
Okay. They know what teams are interested, what teams are not. There might be a wild card here or two, but they know the deal. A little bit different than LeBron James, right? A little bit different than LeBron and his son because LeBron James didn't just dictate what happened. He helped prime the pump. He helped get his son a new contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. Damn it, Bronny got a four year contract making seven million dollars.
He's he's making cash as a fifty fifth pick. And we know about the controversy. Why did Bronny get selected there? You got the deal. It's not fair. It's whatever. Okay. Los Angeles Lakers wanted LeBron back.
They brought in his son. Big deal. Okay. I'm not all that concerned about it. I think it's a bigger issue about how LeBron James hyped it up that didn't help things. And so whether his son had a medical issue or not with his heart at USC, you know, saying that my son is better than a lot of the guys in the league is I don't want to say that was the smartest thing to do.
And so you can't necessarily have it both ways. But this is the time of the season where guys are tired. Guys are hurt.
They're beat up. They're just waiting on the playoffs. Los Angeles Lakers. Well, when you got a 40 year old basketball player running up and down the court, we know that he had a groin issue a few weeks ago. LeBron James is on vacation.
Okay. We can wake him up when as we get closer to the playoffs. Luca Doncic dealing with an ankle issue. Austin Reeves ankle.
Rui Hachimura a knee. And so last night, the Los Angeles Lakers, they had to play a basketball game and they did so against the Milwaukee Bucks. Not necessarily the best of opponents when your team is running out backups. And so as a result, Bronny James was thrown to the wolves or the Bucks. And he played 30 minutes last night. Bronny James in 30 minutes had 17 points, five assists, three rebounds. He had four turnovers. He had four personal fouls.
But there they are worse. Bronny James played himself and had the game of his career. In total for this entire season, he has 50 total points. And for the season, Bronny is still averaging only two points a game. Whoopty freaking do. He had 17 last night and the Lakers still lost 118 to 89.
No deal. There was no expectation that they would go out there and win. At one point in time, Bronny James actually stood in front of Giannis Dettacumpo. And he successfully crossed him up. And in order to prevent the basket, the layup, Giannis grabbed and fouled him. Bronny James did not get the call, but hey, chalk it up to being a rookie.
That's just how it goes. His dad was excited. Everybody was excited. I mean, even after the game, J.J. Rettick was excited and happy for Bronny's development, having played in the G League and now come back up. And, you know, J.J. Rettick was asked about his development. And J.J. Rettick, he decided to praise LeBron and his wife Savannah.
Listen to this. Since day one, I've just been impressed with the person that he is and to deal with, frankly, bullsh** because of who his dad is and just keep a level head about it and be a class act. Says a lot about him, says a lot about that family and the way LeBron and Savannah have raised him.
Yeah, well, what else are you going to do? He was been kissing LeBron's backside for a while now. They did that podcast. He got the Lakers job. It's not so bad for J.J. Rettick to go out there and kiss LeBron's backside. Good on him. Like Bronny's not going anywhere.
So a good job to know where your bread is buttered. Now, Bronny, on the other hand, all the criticism that he's received for months now, and we know about the whole issue between his dad and Stephen A. Smith, Bronny, he spoke after the game and Bronny said, you know what? It helped me being down at the G League. I was able to get comfortable. My coaches have they've instilled confidence in me. I'm a better player.
Listen to him. I've gained my confidence and gave my comfortability over just reps and, you know, getting out there and taking advantage of my opportunity if it's given. So just, you know, being ready at all times. I think that's the biggest thing for me, saying, you know, staying in that stay ready games and practice and stuff like that and taking advantage like I did tonight. So, yeah, it's been good for me so far.
Yeah, good, good. The only development that we could see from Bronny the rest of the way is that he has a decent appearances. He doesn't have to score five or 10 points a game.
It would be nice if they put him out there. But the only reason why he played last night is because everybody worth anything for the Los Angeles Lakers. They were hurt last night. Not the not the greatest or best of showings, but Bronny James are certainly stepping things up. And then unfortunately, on the other end of the spectrum, this was not not good at all.
It was actually rather painful to watch. The Warriors ended up beating the Raptors in the Bay 117 to 114. But Steph Curry took a fall on the way to the basket, fell on his back. Steph Curry is out with a bruised pelvis.
Not what you want to hear. The guy fell on his back and his pelvis is bruised. Now, I'm not a doctor. I thought your pelvis was more towards your front. But what the hell do I know? After the game, Steve Kerr spoke to the media and he said Steve Kerr is out here getting an MRI.
Leave him alone. Getting an MRI right now. I just kind of fell pelvic, tailbone area. So he was he was trying to come back. He thought he might be able to come back.
And we just decided not to risk anything. And so hopefully it's not bad. But he's getting imaging right now. He's getting imaging. Well, we've we got the imaging. He has a pelvic contusion.
There is no structural damage. If you were real interested, there's no structural damage to Steph Curry's pelvis. But the Warriors and we discussed this two nights ago. Yeah, two nights ago, we're ahead of the curve here. The Golden State Warriors are going to beat the Raptors. The Golden State Warriors are going to be on the road crazy, crisscrossing the country, specifically the southeast, making their way through the Texas and Memphis all their way back to California. They're going to be gone for like two weeks. Their first stop on their road trip was to be tomorrow or still is tomorrow here in Atlanta, Georgia. I've seen Steph Curry play in person.
I've enjoyed it every time I've seen him. Steph Curry's not going to be here in Atlanta. There's going to be a lot of disappointed young women and families and young men and kids. There's going to be a lot of sad people who spent their money on a Saturday night to watch Steph Curry play.
What are you going to do? Injuries happen. I knew from the minute that the guy fell, I'm like, well, Steph Curry won't be here tomorrow.
And it is. It's confirmed he's going to miss the start of the Warriors six game road trip, which is going to take place over the course of two damn weeks. He's 37 years old. And I don't care how old you are with the older you get, the harder you fall and the more it hurts.
Falling on your tailbone is is not fun. All the best to Steph Curry and his recovery. The Golden State Warriors have been ridiculously hot since acquiring Jimmy Butler. Their record right now has to be at approximately 16 and two since bringing them on.
I don't know if they're big enough to compete in the West and actually legitimately win a title, but it should be a fun run. Hopefully, Steph, he can rest his legs as he, I don't know, recovers from his bruised pelvis. All the best to him. It's the J.R. Sportbree show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. You know what? Speaking of old athletes, we'll get to Aaron Rodgers and what he was doing today in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
And then you know what? On the other side of the break as well, I want to talk to you about another great shooter because Steph Curry, his career, for what it's worth, it's winding down. There's another shooter.
Her career is winding up and you should get used to seeing a whole hell of a lot more of her this upcoming year. It's the J.R. Sportbree show on the Infinity Sports Network right now. Time for a newsflash. What's going on in basketball and beyond with Rich Ackerman. You're listening to the J.R. Sportbree.
It is the J.R. Sportbree show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We got three games rolling and in action right now. The beatdown. Florida is smacking Norfolk State 53 to 32. Norfolk State, they put some points up on the board.
How about that? It might be a 90 to 60 game. Kentucky leads Troy right now. Right now, 19 to 17. Meanwhile, New Mexico beating Shaka Smart's team right now. Beating Marquette 19 to 12.
We'll keep you up to date as these games continue to roll on. We'll see that Troy is playing Kentucky close right now. Only about eight minutes to go here in the first half. That shouldn't be a close one. Let's see if Kentucky eventually goes on a run.
19 to 17. Kentucky leads Troy. There's still plenty of time to go. Absolutely in this game. They are just getting warmed up.
They're just getting started. I need to let you know that this portion of the show is brought to you by Ethos Life. The easy way to get life insurance in 10 minutes. Up to two million dollars in coverage with no medical exam.
Just a few health questions. You can get your free quote at check Ethos dot com. Not available in all states. Amongst everything that's going on. The ladies are about to play basketball, too.
Yeah. Women's March Madness. We can't forget the women. We cannot forget the women. Now, I do have to tell you. One woman who we will not see.
There is no. There's no there's no Kaitlyn Clark, of course, because Kaitlyn Clark is now playing at the professional level. We saw the entire circus that was her first year from going from Iowa and then moving on and not getting selected to Team USA and getting drafted by the Indiana Fever.
We knew what was going to be the case there. And then just, you know, she caught a lot of flack from everybody. People want to see all of us and not just her. But she's the one moving the needle. She helped get everybody on board.
The private air. She got everybody the increase in television ratings like it's all due to Kaitlyn Clark. It's her.
Well, the people want to accept it or not. And so she was beat down this past year. And all she did is play basketball.
She never responded to anything. And people were fouling her hard and she just went out there and played. And all things considered, as the year went on, she got better. I mean, to conclude the season, the last month of the season, Kaitlyn Clark, as a rookie, averaged twenty five points, nine assists, six rebounds and one steal. That's how she ended the season.
That's a rookie. And how she started the season, turning the ball over and doing too much, not trusting the teammates. She eventually, she eventually got it together. And she's she's absolutely amazing. And the Indiana Fever, what happens when you're good? You attract other talents.
This is pretty amazing. How about somebody like DeJuana Bonner? DeJuana Bonner is a three time WNBA champion. She's a two time all WNBA selection. And she was asked about teaming up with Kaitlyn Clark. And it was like a no brainer for her.
Listen to this. She's just a smart player. You already see what she's done in her rookie season. And I think she gets the ball to people in the right positions to help them be successful.
So that's huge. And I'm hoping that I can give her a little bit more leadership and knowledge for her to understand this league a little bit better. And like I said, when playoffs hit, she'll be ready.
And be ready from the Indiana Fever, their YouTube and outside of their YouTube, the Indiana Fever, they're going to garner a lot of attention as the year goes on, because we're going to see more. You thought you saw a lot of Kaitlyn Clark in the tournament. You thought you saw a lot of her last year. She's going to be on national television. She's going to be in primetime.
How about this? For the Indiana Fever in her rookie season back last year, 2024. 41 of Indiana's 44 games. Well, this year after her rookie season, 41 of their 44 games are going to be nationally televised.
They even have two games on CBS in primetime. That's the Kaitlyn Clark effect. And so everybody else in the WNBA, they could all run around and scream about how, and that includes Angel Reese. People tuned in to see us too.
That might be true, but not to the degree of Kaitlyn Clark. Kaitlyn Clark came here to Atlanta last year. Indiana Fever took on the Atlanta Dream. That game took place at State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks, where typically the game would take place in a smaller arena down by the airport. Like they move the game like they're moving many games to accommodate the crowds and the demand. But guess who?
Kaitlyn Clark. And there's a direct economic impact on that. You put the game in the arena, you want to know who gets paid?
The parking lot goes on. Like attendance, the ushers, the security folks, like you, you can look around and say, oh, everybody here is getting paid because of her, because people want to watch her, man. They were Iowa fans, people in there with Iowa jerseys.
There were people who you knew traveled from far and wide and everything in between just to see Kaitlyn Clark dribble and shoot a basketball. And a couple of these primetime games. Well, it'll be against Angel Reese.
And why the hell not? And so, yeah, things continue to change. There might be a dip in viewership when it comes down to Kaitlyn Clark and not being in the NCAA tournament. And where's Angel Reese? Well, now they were in the pros.
Let's see what somebody like like Juju Watkins does with USC. But on the WNBA side. And Kaitlyn Clark is continuing to make moves. I mean, she's going to be broadcast on ION. By the way, I still don't I can find ION. I can find true TV better than I can find ION.
Hey, Ron, do you know what you know what ION is? Where do I find a lot of Hawaii five on that channel that comes on via the antenna, right? Yeah, it's cable. I'm pretty sure cable. I thought this is national TV. It's a broadcast station. Well, I don't know. I maybe it's it's hidden by like USA sci fi around there. That's where ION is. ION. OK.
It's been a while since I've been flipping around. OK. It started as PAX TV and I remember PAX TV. Wow.
Focus primarily on family oriented programing. Wow. A lot of a lot of cop shows like NCIS, Hawaii Five-0. And now Kaitlyn Clark, too. Yep. Good for her. All for the family.
All for the. Well, you know what? They're speaking of a television ratings and numbers. Major League Baseball to the shock of nobody. They did absolutely amazing in Japan.
Think about this. We know the Dodgers and the Cubs went out there. They played two games. They played against the Japanese teams out there as well.
But when it comes to the two regular season games that they play on Tuesday and Wednesday. Twenty five million viewers in Japan. Tuned in for Game one of Dodgers and Cubs. Twenty five million people. Here in the United States of America. Sure, it was six p.m. in the morning on the East Coast. It was three in the morning on the West Coast. Only eight hundred and thirty people tuned in. But in Japan, twenty five million. The second game with Shohei Ohtani hit that home run. Twenty three million people tuned in in Japan.
In Japan. We had three hundred and fifty tune in here in America, that game was also on FS1. And then between both games and all the games, they had a combined attendance of two hundred and fifty three thousand. The Dodgers, I mean, God bless them. I feel like the Dodgers might as well they might as well start their own entire baseball league. They just take all the players from Japan and create another league and just go back and forth from Japan in California, because if the Dodgers don't win the World Series this year, the only way they don't win the World Series is because they just have a rash of injuries and nobody's hoping for that. You know, Freddie Freeman would have to go down and Mookie Betts would have to go down and Shohei would have to go down. They just they got too much. Nobody even talks about bringing in a multiple time Cy Young Award winner like Blake Snell, like the Dodgers just like Sasaki's available.
Sure. Let's give them a deal. Meanwhile, we got teams out here that just they suck to the shock of nobody. Japan is a huge market, especially for the Dodgers and Major League Baseball. Like why would they send the Pirates, huh?
No disrespect to the Pirates. It's the J.R. Sportbree show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Hey, how about this? Coming up next hour, this hour, we're going to have a chat with Jim Gazzolo. He's going to join us. Covers all things McNeese for the American press in St. Charles, Louisiana. I want to ask him about Coach Will Wade. I want to ask him about Amir Khan, who has the aura.
This guy has an NIL deal. And how realistic can McNeese go on a run? We'll have that chat with Jim Gazzolo in this upcoming hour, and then we'll give you an update on some of these other scores. And I told you Aaron Rodgers was busy today. He was in Pittsburgh. Did he sign a deal? Not yet. We'll get into it. It's the J.R. Sportbree show. Don't move.
