Mike Greenberg says the Jets should not draft a QB

Mike Greenberg, an all-time legend, a Hall of Famer, is from ESPN, TV star, author. Now I know we're going to talk about Got Your Number. Are you sure you don't want to go back and talk about Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot?

Well, I mean, if we were to jump into a 16-year-old time capsule, I suppose so. I wrote Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot about the period of time in my life when my wife was getting ready to have a baby, and now I literally just landed in Chicago to watch that baby act in a play in college. So that should give you some indication of how long it has been since we wrote that one. Well, let's talk about, and I do want to ask you, I want to talk about Got Your Number, the greatest sports legends and the numbers they own. But we are also going to talk, and you know, you and I share a Jets history.

We are going to talk about your reaction to what I felt were pretty rational comments from Mike Tenenbaum and Damian Woody on Get Up earlier this week. But let's talk about this, because numbers are fascinating to me about sports. There was a time where I knew the uniform number of every player in Major League Baseball, every single one, and uniform numbers to me matter. What is your uniform number? So my uniform number is five, and the reason for that is that my father grew up in the Bronx in the 1930s and early 40s, and Joe DiMaggio was my father's hero on a level that I've never had a sports hero on that level.

I've had many athletes, you know, particularly in my childhood that I admired and revered, but my father, the feelings he had for Joe DiMaggio exceeded anything that I've had. So all through my life, particularly when we were doing Mike and Mike and we would get to go to cities and like throw out the first pitch at games, you know, I didn't have a jersey number. They'd always give Mike his number because that he played. And then they would say to me, what number do you want? And I always wore number five to honor really my dad more than DiMaggio. And then when my kids started playing sports, whenever they had the option of choosing their uniform number, they always chose five in honor of my dad really more than DiMaggio. So that has always been my number.

All right, mine is 18 for Daryl Strawberry. Yeah, that was it for me. What did what inspired the book? Was it that? Was it that particular story that inspired the book? It was not. So here's what happened.

You'll appreciate this. One day after the getup show, we were all sitting around and because we are exactly the kind of sports nerd that you and I are, the subject turns to how many Hall of Fame quarterbacks all wore the number 12. Starting with Namath and then Bradshaw, Staubach, Bob Greasy, Ken Stabler, Jim Kelly, and now eventually Rogers and Brady. And someone in the room said, you know, Greenie. Yeah, they all wore number 12.

But who owns the number 12? Those words just came out of his mouth. Why?

I will never know. But it was as though a light bulb went off over my head. And, you know, I've always wanted to write a sports book. And the reason I didn't is because I never had a good enough idea.

And suddenly in that moment, I had what I thought was a good enough idea. So I called up Hambo, who has been doing my research for 12 years, going back to the Mike and Mike days. And I said, here's what we're going to do. We're going to do a book and we're going to decide who owns every number in sports history from one to one hundred.

You're going to do the research and I'm going to write it. And that's exactly what we did. Now, the first time we sat down in my head, this was just going to be Jersey numbers. Right. And the first time we sat down, I realized I'm about to do a book about the greatest sports legends.

That doesn't include Muhammad Ali and doesn't include Serena Williams. And does it, you know, this doesn't make any sense. So we realized we had to come up with creative ways to include all athletes. And that's what we did. And that was part of the fun. And hopefully that will be part of the interesting part of reading it. But so the book is really two separate things.

Adam, it is Ford's debate because we made some choices and you're going to agree with some and disagree with others. But then even beyond that, it is sports history of reading sports history as a kid. Nothing. You tell me nothing frustrates me more that when I hear a person on a talk show like you or me or anyone else say, well, I don't really know much about that guy. He played before my time.

Well, what the hell is that? Right. I mean, I never hear a political reporter say, well, I don't know much about FDR.

He was president before my time. I don't know why we accept that. So what I promise you is that whether you agree or disagree with the choices we made, you will learn things about sports history from this book because Hembo's research is that good. You chose Tom Brady as your number 12. Why?

I just think you have to. Look, it was a book of my favorite athletes and then Namath would be 12. And if you want to make an argument that Namath's legend exceeds his career, you could easily do that. Namath was the quarterback of what I think is one of the two most important football games of all time and had a legit Hall of Fame career and is one of the most beloved players in the history of his sport and the most beloved player in the history of his franchise. But Tom Brady is from at least in at least one standard of measure, the most accomplished football player in history. And I think it would not be reasonable to say if we are assigning the number 12 to someone, if we're saying someone claims ownership of that number, that it wouldn't be Brady ahead of any of the other legends that I named. What would be interesting is if there had been no Tom Brady, could you have made an argument that Namath's legend was so great and remained such and that that win was so important to the history of pro football? Could you have argued for him ahead of other players who definitively had more accomplished careers? Bradshaw with his four Super Bowls, Staubach with his two plus a Heisman, any of the others?

I think probably not. But clearly I think for me, Brady was one of the easier choices we made. Oh yeah, there's no question. The accomplishments of Brady are absolutely beyond reproach. I agree. I would choose either Bradshaw or Staubach over Namath based on the accomplishments.

But it leads me to this. When Aaron Rodgers is eventually a jet, he's going to wear 12, right? Yeah, I think so. Namath has given his blessing to it and I guess at that point it'll be up to Rodgers. I haven't heard him say, he probably can't say one way or the other. Although I guess knowing him he can say anything he wants. So I haven't heard him, I haven't heard that one way or the other. But I know Namath has said it's okay with him.

All right, let me ask you a couple of questions. Tiger Woods has to be somewhere in this book. What number do you assign to Tiger? Tiger is 97 and here's the reason. That's the year that he won the Masters the first time and that win I think carried so much significance culturally and with regard to the sport.

I thought Nance did a really good job of the final call saying a win for the ages because in so many ways it was. And I think modern golf really can be looked at in two different eras before 97 and after 97. Before he won that event and after it became the Tiger Woods era.

Candidly the sport became Tiger Woods during that weekend, this exact weekend in 1997. So that was the number that we gave to him was 97. All right, I'm guessing that Will Chamberlain is the number 100.

So that's an excellent guess and that is correct. You know people, some people have been tweeting at me because we gave Dan Marino 13 and they haven't read any farther and they're tweeting at me, this is a disgrace. How could you not not give Chamberlain 13?

Here's my response to that. If you ask every single person listening to this sports talk show right now, what is the record for most points scored in an NBA game and who holds it? They would all be able to say Will Chamberlain 100. And then you ask all of them, what number did he wear?

And I bet you almost none of them know. So he is so much more associated with the number 100 than he is with 13. That one was easy. I'll tell you what was tougher than that was 56 because I think DiMaggio is more associated with 56 than he is with five. I think the 56 game hit streak is one of the, at this point, because the home because the home run records have been so largely discredited.

I think the 56 game hitting streak and Cal Ripken's Ironman streak are the two most beloved records in American sports. And I want, so I wanted to give DiMaggio 56, but Lawrence Taylor wore 56 and there's no way not to give him that. So I gave DiMaggio five, even though I really wanted to give him 56. All right, as I transitioned to the, a quick jets conversation, 99 is Mark Gastineau, right?

No, it's not 99. I feel that if your number has been retired across an entire sport, you probably deserve to have it in this book. So Jackie Robinson, Bill Russell and Wayne Gretzky all have their numbers in this book. Gastineau again, will forever be my favorite 99 in New York where I live. That number these days points people in the direction of Aaron Judge. But Gretzky was, Gretzky wasn't no doubt. Okay.

Well, that's, that's disappointing. All right, real quick. We only have a couple more minutes with Mike Greenberg and you probably have to go, because you just got off the plane. I don't have to go anywhere. I have all the time you need. I'm in a car headed into the city.

I have as much time as you need. All right. Let me, let me ask you this. I know it was funny to watch you throw your jacket like Jim Bayhine on the set of Get Up this week. I kind of think that Mike Tannenbaum and Damian Woody, I believe they both suggested that the Jets should draft the quarterback, probably not in the first round, but should draft the quarterback because Aaron Rodgers isn't going to play forever. I kind of thought they were right. That's insane. So here's the thing.

They were saying specifically in the first round with the 13th pick, if the Jets take a quarterback in the sixth round, I suppose I'm fine with that. But here's the thing, Adam, how old are you? I am too old. I am 56. Okay. And I am 55 and neither of us has ever seen this team win the Superbowl or even play in the Superbowl.

Neither of us remember January of 1969. We are all in for this. This is not about the future right this minute is not about who the quarterback is going to be in 2024, 25 or 26 or any other year.

It is about this year. And that pick should be used for one thing and one thing only. And that is to take an offensive tackle, which is what they need, which is what Rogers wants them to take and what they want to take. And that is the reason this trade is taking so long because they do not want to trade that pick to Green Bay and the Packers want it. It's as simple as that.

And the idea beyond the sensitivity factor with Rogers, I think Rogers would be well within his rights to be aggravated saying, look, guys, we all know the deal here. I'm coming as a mercenary to try and win a championship in one year. And you're using this pick to draft the guy who's going to play here someday. I picked you because I think we can win this thing. We are all in it together. We are all in lockstep on the fact that we are trying to win this one championship and nothing else. And so the idea that you would use the most valuable resource, you have this asset, which, which has offensive tackle written all over it on someone who, if everything goes perfectly, will be your quarterback in two or three years.

That strikes me as ridiculous. I would not use a first round pick on a quarterback, but the Jets have two picks in the second round, 42 and 43. Not for long. If the trade isn't executed for another three weeks, they'll have those, they'll have those picks. You can take, you can take a quarterback of the future with one of your second round picks.

All right. So, so I mean, look, we have a developmental quarterback on our roster. No we don't.

Yes we do. He was the second pick on the draft a few years ago. He's not going anywhere. I mean, he's going to be there. Any extra time any extra time and energy and effort is going to be spent trying to rebuild rehabilitate him because of the humiliation on the faces of the men who drafted him.

Second overall, you don't have to live with the fact that your, your name isn't on that pick and neither is mine. They're not going to give up on him that quickly. They're going to keep him there. I really, really, really hope he is not the backup this year.

I hope they go out and I don't know if this guy, they just signed from green Bay boil is going to be that or not, but they need someone else to come in there in the event that Rogers has a sprained ankle for a week and we need someone else to play. That person can't be Zach Wilson. But, but if you're trying to, if you're thinking we want someone on the roster who might be our quarterback in 2025, that person is already on the roster.

I think you and I will disagree. I've seen zero from Zach Wilson that leads me to believe that, that he's going to be an NFL starter of any quality. Uh, but again, me neither, no one has seen that, but my point is he is there. So you've already, he is going to be taking up our roster spot. Um, they're not cutting him.

There are zero. I, I, I will be shocked beyond belief if they just release him and you can't trade him, no one would give you anything for him. Um, so I think he's going to be there and then I think you would eat. So you've got him and then I think you need a backup and then you've got Rogers. I think our cup of quarterback, uh, run us over.

All right. If, uh, needing a backup camp Newton says he would back up Aaron Rogers in New York. What do you think about that quarterback room? Uh, I mean, that's, you know, is he coming in for next to no money? I mean, that just feels crazy to me. I mean, I appreciate the thought and yeah, I mean, I don't know how much better than that you could possibly do. Um, but that it's just the dynamic of that feels weird, you know, like he's no matter how open he may be, it may legitimately be to just being in the background.

He's not in the background. And we were about to become the New York Aaron Rogers is right. That's what's about to happen here. We are all look, I mean, there's sauce Gardner and these guys are burning their cheese heads and all that. We are in for a dime. We are in for a dollar on this thing.

I don't, I don't think you, you need just a classic backup. So let, let Rogers bring someone he likes, just someone who knows in which direction we are trying to move the offense. If he winds up going out there on the field, because immediately that guy is better than Zach is. I'm just thinking about Cam Newton teaching Aaron Rogers, that font and Aaron Rogers teaching Cam Newton about Hiawaska. Uh, that could be, that could be hard knocks right there. That could certainly, I was about to say it's a reality show and then you reminded me there is a reality show. So you're right. That would be, that would set new rates and ratings records for hard look.

The last time the jets were hard knocks material was when Rex was there and we had this big, sexy, exciting team. And you know what? That was fun. We didn't actually get it over the finish line, but it was fun. And it's about to happen again. And I think we should all sit back and enjoy it. I think it has, it's going to be a fascinating ride. It has the potential to end well. It certainly has enormous potential potential to end very badly. I recognize that completely, but I am 100% ready to give it a go. Oh, I don't, we all should be ready for that.

That will be one of the great social experiments of our time. Final thing, the Masters right now is being led by Brooks Koepke. He is four shots ahead of Sam Bennett, an amateur.

He is five shots ahead of the nearest professional in John Rumm. What will be your story on Monday, or actually probably Tuesday now, because it looks like they're going to end up on Monday. Tuesday, if Brooks Koepke wins the Masters. Obviously the live of it all, right.

I mean that's clearly the headline. And you know, someone asked me a good question, like Monday or Tuesday of this week, when that somebody was trying to, you know, sort of put together one of their Masters pools. And he said, you know, with the lesser competition and pressure and atmosphere and everything else that these guys have been playing in, will that impact the live guys? Like, will they not be as sharp as the tour guys are going to be for this event?

And my honest answer was, I really don't know. But I think this will be an interesting telling of that. So this, I guess, is at least some demonstration. And look, we're still a long way away. Brooks Koepke had a chance to win it in 2019. And he hit it in the water, staring at the back of Tiger Woods on the back nine on Sunday. But the, just the mere fact that, that, you know, he was as ready to play upon arrival and some of these other guys too. I know Cam Smith had, I've been traveling, so I don't know.

I'm sure there's a ton I've missed today. I know Cam Smith had a good day yesterday and a few of the other guys, you know, that, that if nothing else is, is an indication that, you know, it hasn't harmed their game, right? I mean, they, they showed up ready to play in this, in this setting. But, but clearly the answer to your question is, what will the story be? The story will be Liv Guy wins jackets.

That is, that will unquestionably be the story. Oh, look, to me, this is one of the most fascinating stories in all of sports in the last five years. The fracture of the PGA Tour, Greg Norman heading up Liv. He was Tiger Woods before Tiger Woods was around and Norman flatly lying to players about what was going to be in the future.

How the PGA Tour would, would bend to the wishes of all of the best players who were simply going to go take money and play on their own tour. And too many of the, of the best players didn't go for it. And Norman was left scrambling here. This is going to be a tragic story for Norman. He's going to go, he's going to go down in history as one of the great villains, because I don't, this is not going to work for them. But Brooks Koepka is a great player. I don't think Koepka is coming back.

I think they're, I think somebody's going to have to go catch him. And with the weather coming in this weekend, I don't see it. Yeah.

I mean, what my pick before the weekend was before the whole thing started was Rom. And, and as I say, I literally just landed it. He teed off yet. Yeah. He's even par through five today. The scores are not great today. Yeah.

Um, I am, I am on my, I'm in a car on my way to a house where I will plant myself in front of a TV and start watching it. Um, so I have not seen much of it yet today, but so Rom has been playing great. Obviously Scheffler has been playing great. And you know, I, you figured if there, if there was someone from live that had a chance, it was Cam Smith and then, uh, Koepka in that order.

And, and so I'm not, I guess, I mean, no one should be that surprised Brooks Koepka is more than capable of doing this. Well, first of all, I wish you incredible success with the book. I know that haven't they already reached out to you for another one. I mean, they had, they would like us to do another one, but like, as I said before, it took me this long to write a sports book because I didn't have a good enough idea. So I need a good enough idea for another one.

I will say this just very quickly. Um, the, the book is doing so much better than anybody expected. Amazon is running a special on it right now. If anyone is interested in it, you can go to amazon.com.

Just look up, got your number. The author is me and you can order it right now. Um, and they're doing a special place on it. The last I checked, we were number three on the entire thing and new releases, which no one saw. I mean, just this little book project idea that we had has turned into something far more than our publisher thought it was going to be, but candidly, I'm taking great glee. And, um, so that's there.

If anyone is interested, I know they're doing a special on it right now on Amazon. You've also made a star out of him. Well, he deserves it. I mean, no, I don't know how well you know him or if at all.

I've never, I've never met him or spoken to him. He is the MVP of ESPN and, and I'm just the one who was smart enough to actually give him this platform, but he has been making everyone at ESPN sound a hell of a lot smarter than any of us actually are for a really long time. He is the best researcher that I've ever come across.

And he is actually, I've many times said if everyone in the world did their job, as well as he does his job, the world would be a lot more efficient place. Um, so he, he did the research he did, and this is exceptional that there was not one chapter so that the book is a hundred very short chapters that reached like two or three pages. I wrote them, he researched them.

There's not, there's not one chapter in which you will not come across something that makes you say, wow, I did not know that no matter how well you think, you know, the particular athlete involved in that is exclusively a credit to the work he did. Did you guys argue over a uniform number? No, I mean, we, we, we, you know, we debated a few weeks.

We kind of went back and forth, but no, there were some really tough decisions. I mean, the toughest one was 21. Like if you have a second, let me just bounce this off you. So 21 is Dion Sanders. It's Tim Duncan. And it's Roberto Clemente. That's who it is for me.

Your book, who were you giving it to? Clemente. Yeah. And that is what we did, but, but, but, but that's a tough, I mean, you know, Dion is, is special and Duncan probably frankly, of the three of them ranked the highest on the all time list of the greatest players of their respective sport. But we decided that the magnitude of, of Clemente's career and life, the fact that baseball's humanitarian award is named in his honor to this day, um, that that superseded whatever small difference there is in their playing careers. But, but there were a few numbers like that, that were really legitimately tough decisions to make. No question about it.

Uh, Mike Greenberg, ESPN legend, got your number, the greatest sports legends and the numbers they own Mike's number is five. Uh, and I appreciate your time. Uh, good luck. Have fun while watching your, uh, uh, your, uh, your, your, the, the play and all of that and have fun in Chicago. Thank you.

Yes. My son, he's, he's got a big part in a, in a play at school and he's an aspiring actor. He, like us, you know, sort of has chosen to dream about a career and sort of an unorthodox, you know, he doesn't want to be a, a lawyer or a doctor or something like that.

Like Mike, like his grandparents would have loved. Um, and, and so, you know, I, I get to sit and watch him tracing after that dream tonight. And I, I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to what's the play.

It is a student written play. Actually it is, it is, uh, at, at, you know, he goes to Northwestern and a student wrote a play and, and you know, they've been rehearsing, he's been rehearsing four hours a day for months, and there were three performances this weekend and I will be at all three of them. So I, I'm really, really excited. Well, have fun. I appreciate your time, sir. We'll talk again soon. Always good to catch up my man. Thanks a million.

You got it. Mike Greenberg from ESPN. Sean McDonough, the voice of hockey on ABC and ESPN is joining us here on the Adam Gold show. Uh, we got a lot of things to talk about, sir, but I think the last time we spoke, it was before the outdoor game. So I want to get your thoughts on what you experienced at Carter Finley stadium against the capitals.

What two months ago now? Yeah, I think probably what everybody else experienced, it was there that night. It was really special.

I thought the hurricanes, the NHL, you know, the NHL, there's one thing I've seen firsthand of the two years that he stands back in the hockey. They really do the big events exceedingly well, the winter classic and the all star game and, uh, the playoffs, you know, so I thought it was a complete home run, you know, just walking in there. The atmosphere that night was tremendous and, uh, it was a great setting for that, that stadium, you know, Carter Finley stadium. It really didn't feel like you were in a huge stadium.

It still felt somewhat intimate if that's possible. Wouldn't you have what, however many 50,000 plus people there. So I thought it was a great experience.

And everybody involved in it should have been really, really proud. And I know the fans had a great time. You do a lot of college football too. And I know you've been to Carter Finley stadium for college football game.

Yeah. I had not been there in a long time. I remember I was telling people, I think the last game I did there, Russell Wilson was the quarterback. So, um, that's how long ago that would have been. I've been Tom O'Brien was the coach.

Yeah, but you've done so much college football. I mean, to me, that was, and I was on the ice. I was right behind, right next to the rink and you could, it felt like a college football game. They were just playing hockey instead.

And I can't imagine a better combination, uh, for something like that. Oh, and it looked great on TV. I mean, it just, from the minute we came on the air, you know, with the drone shots and that really gave you a sense of the scene, you know, it felt like a big event because it was, and, you know, I'm not surprised by the fan reaction, you know, fans really helped make it what it was, but you know, I already experienced that and you have to, when I was there last year, you know, I said several times, that was the liveliest arena that I did a game in last year there in Raleigh.

So I wasn't surprised that that same atmosphere kind of transferred across the parking lot into a football stadium because that's what we come to expect when we go to do a Canes game anyway. Sean McDonough from ESPN and ABC is joining us. He's got the Bruins and the Devils coming up tomorrow night. Obviously those of us here are keenly interested in the outcome of that game. So let me just get your take on the East. Boston is way running away with it. I mean, they, they have clinched, they clinched everything about what, three games ago with like six games mathematically clinched.

That is impossible to do. That's how kind of, what kind of a season they have had, uh, other than Boston. Let's, and we'll get to Boston in a second, but how do you handicap the East?

Well, you know, I think it's really balanced. I mean, I think they're going to be eight really good teams, you know, the top six for sure. And then, you know, the two wildcard teams, if it's Florida and the Islanders right now, you know, they play well lately Pittsburgh's kind of been up and down lately, but, uh, you know, that top six, you know, any of them could win the Stanley cup in my opinion, including Carolina.

So it's going to be fun. You know, it'll be interesting to see how these match-ups shake out. As you said, the hurricane still have some work to do here with a one point lead. They do have a game in hand on New Jersey, as you know, that'll be a big game for New Jersey that we're doing tomorrow night. And, uh, you know, Boston's the prohibitive favorite, but, and, and they're probably going to set the league record for wins in a season that they win tomorrow night, the game we're doing against New Jersey, they'll tie it and they'll still have three more games left against teams that are not going to be in the playoffs. So they're very likely to break it, but, you know, we saw not long ago when one of those teams that won 62 games was Tampa Bay, and then they got swept in the first round by Columbus. So, you know, you never know what's going to happen. Uh, and I think, uh, you know, anything can happen in these playoffs because they're so many really, really good teams, especially in the East.

There's no question. I remember that Tampa team, but I also remember that Columbus team because they had just loaded up at the trade deadline. They didn't trade Mbrovsky. They didn't trade Panarin, uh, Panarin at the deadline. They kept up, even though they knew they were going to lose those guys. And they added players to a team that ultimately, uh, was the second wild card, but they had probably the third best roster in the playoffs in the Eastern conference. They like, not that I'm not giving Tampa a pass for that year. Cause they got swept and they had a three nothing lead at home in the uh, rather yeah, at home in the first period and still lost the game and then got swept. But that Columbus roster was really good and they just ran into the Bruins in the second round.

Sure. And I mean, you look at it, if it ended right now, the Bruins would play the New York Islanders, right? And to your point, they got better at the deadline.

They added more of that. He's been big for them and they have one of the three or four best goalies in the league and broken in their hype. I think he'll probably finish second in the voting.

If I had to guess to Lena Solmark from Boston is clearly going to win it. So, you know, that's the kind of guy who could help you steal a series in the first round. You know, the Islanders would be capable of doing that. They struggle to score, which I think would be their issue if they make the playoffs, no matter who they play.

But, um, yeah, anything can happen. And that's what, you know, the old adage about there's nothing better than the Stanley cup playoffs. You know, I have bias, I guess, in saying that, but I, I believe it profusely, you know, the, I just think the Stanley cup playoffs stand alone. Well, you've been around all, all the major sports at the highest level. Uh, can I put you on the spot for a post-season ranking of, of sports of, of the way the playoffs. I don't think there's anything better than a Stanley cup playoffs.

I really don't. And, and, and I had a renewed appreciation, Adam, for it last year, you know, like we just stand in a booth and talk, but you know, we're going pretty much every day or every other day and we're traveling between, and it's exhausting. Now, admittedly, I'm 60 and most of these players are in their twenties and thirties, but, um, but I remember we were in Tampa. We're in the same hotel as the New York Rangers. They were playing in the Eastern conference final against the lightning.

And I was in the elevator with a couple of the Rangers and they had bandages and ice bags. And I looked at it and they were about to play their 20th game in 40 days. You know, they, they really got hamstrung by the fact that, you know, their series against Carolina won seven games before that they played seven games against Pittsburgh. So there's, there's no rest in between.

You just keep it every other day. And to play at that speed, that intensity, you know, that kind of that kind of physical brand of hockey that you see in the class, I really don't know how they do it. And, um, so it gave me an even greater appreciation for what they do and how they do it. Cause it takes an incredible amount of, uh, physical mental toughness to, to get through it. And, you know, for people who have not, I mean, most of the people listening have at least been to a game, but the closer you sit to the ice, the more you realize, how did these guys not kill each other? They are going so fast, so fast, and it is such a physical game. And they just, they just go to go to the next play.

And I mean, it's incredible. I remember Adam last year when the, uh, the Stanley cup final ended, you know, we're covering the series and talking to the coaches and players and other people who cover the teams. And you hear little snippets about this thing is wrong with that guy, but they're always very protective of not, you know, releasing injury information during the playoffs. But as soon as it ended Tampa Bay, they, you know, I think there was a tweet the next day, you know, they had almost the entire team. This guy has played with a broken leg or this guy had a broken hand, or this guy is going to need knee surgery that, you know, it's, and, and they just keep playing through it because, you know, that's what you do when you're trying to win the Stanley cup. So it's, it's remarkable what they do, you know, by the end of that, everybody is pretty significantly banged up and they're, they're still out there every night or every other night. It is, it really is incredible. I'll leave the player's name out of this, uh, quick anecdote, but I asked a friend of mine who played on the 2009 Hurricanes team, uh, and I said, uh, how did you feel, uh, after the season?

He said, well, it took me about two months to cycle off the meds. Well, I'm sure that's true, right? I mean, you gotta have, you have to get through it, you know, and, uh, I'm sure there's a lot of pain and, uh, that these guys play through, as we mentioned, you know, just about everybody who's playing in the playoffs has something wrong with them, but, uh, but they go out there and they keep doing it. And it's remarkable, especially as you said, to watch it from close up. And as you say, when you're at the games and you're down there close to the ice and you see the speed of it and the, you know, the impact of these collisions, it's, uh, it's remarkable what they do.

Sean McDonough from ESPN and ABC will have the call of the Devils and the Boston Bruins Saturday night, eight o'clock start on, uh, ABC. Let me, uh, let me quick ask, I know you're a golf fan. I know you haven't had a chance to see much cause you've been busy and I know you're, uh, you're traveling today. Uh, but, uh, I know you, you've, you've been to Augusta, you've called it. Uh, what do you miss most about it?

Who do you like? Well, I was actually there Wednesday because I hosted the par three contest for ESPN, which is a great annual treat that I look forward to. I think we've been doing that since 2017, although that year it actually got rained out, which was a huge bummer, but, uh, you know, and it was nice to see that event kind of back in all its glory because, you know, we got lost two years because of COVID, you know, last year they, they played for a few hours and then there were violent thunderstorms that postpone the rest of it. So cancel the rest of it. So, uh, you know, it's a special place.

We set it on the air the other day. A lot of the players who were there for the first time, say the same thing that the patrons would never been there before. It's one of the few things in life where you have ridiculously high expectations and then you get there and they're exceeded. And then that's the case every time you go back. I mean, this year I went back, they had renovated the first five holes of the par three course. And you know, you thought, you know, they don't need to do that. Right.

It's Augusta. It's already incredible. Right. But they always want it.

They always want to get better. I think that's part of the greatness of the event and those five holes are spectacular. And they did it in 99 days. They build a press facility there a couple of years ago that, you know, it's like half the size of the state of Georgia. And, uh, you know, they built that in less than a year, you know, we're wait, still waiting for a little condo in Arizona. That's, you know, a year behind schedule.

These people build these edifices, uh, you know, in the blink of an eye. So, uh, it's a really, really special place and I will be tuned in for a lot of the coverage this afternoon on ESPN. Absolutely. Great plug. You are such a company man, Sean McDonough. I believe it's three o'clock following Welcome to the Masters at one with Scott Van Pelt, a new show this year, two hours of pregame show leading into the golf coverage.

That's better than anything NASCAR could do right there. Sean McDonough, I appreciate your time. It's an honor always to have you on. Thanks Adam. Always a pleasure.