Is Bill Belichick Being Disrespected (Hour 2)

Alrighty, and away we go, our number two of our radio program, and this is that Gelb show coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. It is a Tuesday, so as we do each and every Tuesday, all throughout the year, we have some questions in the NFL and college football, and we do a little overreaction or proper reaction, and we get to that.

But sometimes a game can be so bad, it's almost good, you know what I'm saying? No. He's 6'5", he's 245 pounds, he's probably a Popeye's biscuit away from being a tight end. Zach lets you know in this week's edition of overreaction or proper reaction. Maybe someone didn't upload it until this was posted, but anyway, it's all good. Botcher, don't kick yourself on this one, it's really not a big deal. It's a difference of two words at most.

You got 100 days until it's in season again. Yeah, that's true. No, but you like really get down on yourself when something doesn't like go right. Because Botcher, do you have OCD, Botcher, just wondering?

No, I hope not. Undiagnosed maybe. Gotcha, because you're very, you got to get every detail right, you're very detail oriented, I respect it. I like your work ethic, that's why I enjoy working with you, especially at all hours of the day. Ryan Botcher's here and Ryan Botcher's going, you know, as crazy as he can, giving back to this network. But anyway, Stu, you got some questions for me, let's see if I'm going to give you an overreaction or proper reaction. Alright, so as we wait for Aaron Rodgers decision, over the weekend ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported that Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins is quote, at the very least on the Steelers radar, end of quote. Well, fast forward to today as the Falcons held their first practice of OTAs and Kirk Cousins was not present. So overreaction or proper reaction, the Steelers would be better off at this point just trading for Kirk Cousins.

I would say actually proper reaction, as I was explaining a little bit at the end of last hour, there would just be less drama with Kirk Cousins. Like sure, if Aaron Rodgers is rocking and rolling, Aaron Rodgers, right, is a better quarterback than Kirk Cousins. But Aaron Rodgers hasn't been rocking and rolling for the last three years. And at this rate, I know the Steelers are on board with what's going on, but they really have no other choice. Because what's your option if it's not Aaron Rodgers, oh Mason Rudolph, I know someone's going to say, oh it's Kirk Cousins, you're talking about it, sure. But you still got to trade for Kirk Cousins and then you got to figure out the salary and all that jazz. Now I'm sure that Kirk Cousins would probably do whatever it takes to get himself to Pittsburgh because he'll do whatever it takes to just get out of Atlanta.

But it's more difficult there I will say because you then got to give something up, but still, you're not giving up much to go get Kirk Cousins. You know, honestly, you know what would be the best thing for the Steelers? It wouldn't be to trade for Kirk Cousins or even sign Aaron Rodgers. It would just be trot Mason Rudolph out there and be as bad as possible and then you go get a quarterback in the top ten of the draft next year. And you could actually try to get someone to replace Big Ben because ever since Big Ben has left, they never had a guy that was really the guy. Kenny Pickett didn't work, Russell Wilson was never going to work, Justin Fields was never going to work long term, and now you're just trying to patch it up for another year.

So you need to advance this thing forward and they haven't been in a position to do that. So I would prefer them actually just go with actually Mason Rudolph, ugh that would be disgusting, and just lose as many games as possible. But I would actually say at this point, they're better off with Kirk Cousins and Rodgers because I think Kirk will just be more level-headed, be more consistent. Where Aaron, there will be some games where he looks like he's finding the fountain of youth, but in most games, I think you're going to see Aaron Rodgers just be very frustrated on the field because the timing's not down with the teammates, the chemistry's not there, and also Aaron Rodgers hasn't been great for the last three years and he's washed up.

So I think that's a proper reaction, the Steelers would be better off at this point just training for Kirk Cousins, I'd say they'd be slightly better off, is how I would answer it. Alright, we talked a lot about last week about how flag football will be included at the Olympic Games, and how NFL players could very well be involved. Well, Daryl Doucette, the quarterback of the USA national flag football team, has spoken out, telling the Washington Post quote, this is a sport that we've played for a long time, and we feel like we are the best at it, and we don't need other guys, end of quote.

Of course, referring to NFL players. Why'd you say this guy's name was? Daryl Doucette.

Daryl Doucette? Is that what we're calling him now? Yeah, I guess so. Oh my god, this guy thinks he's better than Mahomes, right? Based on the quote. Wasn't this the same guy? He had a quote before this, I remember it was like, oh, I'm the best quarterback on the planet when it comes to flag football. No one could do what I do on a flag football field.

Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jayden Daniels, Joe Burrow, they'd all be bums compared to you, Daryl. Doucette or Doucette? Douche? Douce? I'm sorry, I don't know what the name is. What's the question? Overreaction or proper reaction, the U.S. Olympic flag football team would be better off if they only included professional flag football players, so no NFL players.

Well, football fans may actually like this better if it was just the flag football players, because then their NFL players wouldn't be getting hurt, one per team could potentially go. You know, the U.F.L. was on yesterday. I was at a family... I was at a family function. I don't think my father has ever watched the U.F.L. until yesterday because he didn't really want to be at the family function.

And it was all in the background, he's like, oh, look at him go! And I go, wow, this is how little you want to be at this family function right now. But I feel like if they just did the flag football players, it'd basically be the U.F.L., it'd be like a bunch of... who cares? So, overreaction or proper reaction, the U.S. Olympic flag football team would be better off if they only included professional flag football players. That's an overreaction.

You're telling me you wouldn't want Jamar Chase, you wouldn't want Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, Jamar, you know, Justin Jefferson? You know, come on, what are we doing here? Of course you'd be better off putting some NFL players in flag football. They're the best football players on the planet, not the flag football players.

Like, what are we doing? Yeah, so that's a great overreaction. Do you agree with this guy? Let me be respectful. Daryl Doucette, do you agree with him?

I don't. I think the NFL player is the top, top, top football player. You know, as good as some of these flag football players are, I'm sure they're good.

Yeah, I know that. I'm sure they're phenomenal players. They're not NFL players. And I'm sure some of them probably tried to be an NFL at some point, right? Like, they played probably regular football in high school, maybe even college, and they probably just weren't good enough to be NFL players, not big enough, whatever the case is. So, I don't know.

I just think I'd rather have NFL players. Now, this isn't a reliable source because it's Wikipedia. Okay. But they call him Daryl Hoosh Doucette. And that is for, he is nicknamed Hoosh for his resemblance of NFL player T.J. Hooshmanzada.

All right. Oh, boy. That's how you know you're really cooking when you resemble T.J. Hooshmanzada. No offense that Who's Ya Mama commercial was great back in the day, but it's not like T.J. Hooshmanzada is one of the all-time great NFL players of all time. It's a respectable player, very good player.

But geez Louise, what are we doing here? Daryl Doucette says, NFL players won't make the Olympic squad without a fight. The flag guys deserve their opportunity.

They deserve an opportunity. But Daryl, let's go put 10 evaluators out there with you and let's say like Lamar Jackson's probably must flag a football quarterback-y probably that the NFL has. I think so. Him or Jaden Daniels?

Yeah. Let's go put Lamar, even Josh Allen, Jaden Daniels and Daryl Doucette. And let's see how we rank those one through four if we just about it.

I'm open minded, but let's just see what you rank on that. I'm going to go on a limb and say that you're four. Four is pretty good. I only forget how loud that is, but four is not terrible.

I'd say 144. But anyway, give me the next question. Alright, the Bills were one of many teams that reported to the OTAs today. However, two big names for Buffalo were not there. According to head coach Ron McDermott, newly signed Ed Rudger, Joey Bosa wasn't there because of a pulled calf. He's already hurt? He's already hurt. And running back James Cook was absent as he is seeking a new contract. Overreaction or proper reaction, James Cook will hold out and it will last into the regular season. He will hold out.

I don't know if it will last into the regular season. So like James Cook is good. He's their second best offensive player.

Well, hmm. Third best offensive player. I would say Josh Allen's one, Deion Dawkins, the snowman is two, and then James Cook is three. So if you eliminate the offensive lineman, he's the second best player on the offense.

And if you eliminate the offensive lineman and the quarterback, he would then be their best skill position player, I guess is the way to say it. Because Dalton Kincaid has really been disappointing so far. Dawson Knox is fine. You look around at the rest of that team, wide receiving wise, they've had so many guys go in and out.

Kalisha Keir is pretty good. He's solid. But James Cook is their best skill position player. So there is some leverage, but it's not like James Cook is the slam dunk that he's definitely going to get some crazy contract. Like he deserves to get a pay bump, but you're still on a rookie contract. I don't think it behooves you to miss game checks.

That's just me. So James Cook will hold out and it will last into the regular season. He will hold out. I don't think it's going to last into the regular season though, so I will go overreaction there. After being selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, Matthew Golden is already making a strong impression with the Packers. Quarterback Jordan Love said over the weekend that Golden quote, looks like a stud in a very polished receiver, end of quote. Overreaction or proper reaction, Matthew Golden will be Green Bay's number one wide receiver by the end of the season. He needs to be.

Proper reaction. You've got Jaden Reedus-Salah, Christian Watson is usually hurt, you've got Duntavian Wicks, you've got Romeo Dobbs, and then also the aforementioned Matthew Golden. Used a first round pick on him for the first time since what, like 2006 it was or 2005? Maybe no, it was 02.

It was 02, I believe. It was the last time that the Packers had a first round pick on a wide receiver. So it doesn't mean that Matthew Golden is going to go on to be a star, but it's not as if any of those names are bona fide number one wide receivers. So it is set up for speed to kill and for Matthew Golden to be the number one wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers. So Matthew Golden will be Green Bay's number one wide receiver by the end of the season.

I will go proper reaction. Earlier today, Circa Sports released their over-under win totals for the teams in power four conferences. Both Ohio State and Oregon are at ten and a half wins. Notre Dame and Penn State are each at ten.

And Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, and Texas are each at nine and a half. Over reaction, at least two of these eight teams will miss the college ball playoffs. I would say Ohio State makes.

I would say Oregon makes. I would say Notre Dame, it's set up for them to make. Penn State right now, a lot of people view them as the best team in the country. Clemson I would say is in. Texas I would say is in. And I would have to guess that one of Alabama or Georgia if not both get in. So I would say maybe at most one of those teams don't make it so at least two of those eight teams will miss the college football playoffs.

I am going to say over reaction. Now speaking of the college ball playoffs, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian made some interesting comments today. He said, quote, I don't know if we'll ever see an undefeated national champion again.

It's so difficult to stay healthy for so long. The idea that someone is going to go 6-0 in college football, if so, put a statue up, end of quote. Over reaction or proper reaction, we will have an undefeated national champion college football within the next three seasons. I think it could happen again within the next three seasons, especially when we're right in the heart of parody of college football.

And everyone's reacting to NIL and the transfer portal, and it's as level of a playing field as it's been for a long time. And Saban's no longer in the sport too. I'm going to say over reaction that we will have an undefeated national champion within the next three seasons. Even look at last year. Ohio State won the whole thing. They lost to Oregon by one. They lost to Michigan at the end of the year. And going into the post season, most people were in Ohio State because they had the most talent. They ended up winning the entire thing and Chip Kelly and Ryan Day got out of their own way. And they said, okay, we don't need to try to win a certain way like they were trying to win up against Michigan.

And they approached football how football should be approached. So I'm not saying it's impossible for a team to go on out and build this crazy roster and spend all this money and go undefeated. But you look at this year, is anyone telling you Penn State, like Penn State, Texas, Clemson, I think are three of the teams that are expected to be the best this year. Do I believe Penn State is going undefeated? Absolutely not.

James Franklin can't win a big game. Do I think Texas is going undefeated? First two years, Arch Manning is a starter?

No. And Dabo Swinney, I think Clemson is going to be damn good this year. Am I going to say they are undefeated?

No, I don't think so either. So I would say for the interim, we're not going to have undefeated national champs just because you have so many now, just in the SEC and the Big Ten. So many teams in those conferences. There's so many good teams. I don't know how many great teams there are in college football anymore, so I do not believe that we will have an undefeated national champ in the next three years.

All right, last one. CBS Sports released its annual College Football Head Coach Rankings last week for coaches that ended outside of their top 25. And coming in at number 54 is legendary NFL head coach Bill Belichick, now at North Carolina.

He's behind the likes of Purdue's Barry Odom, Michigan State's Jonathan Smith, Texas Tech's Joey Maguire, and Houston's Willy Fritz. Overreaction or proper reaction, Belichick is one of the best 25 college football coaches right now. So Belichick's at 54? 54.

You didn't stutter there, right? I did not, and it's not a misprint. It's 54. So is Barry Odom in the top 25 when you write this?

He's not. So they didn't release the top 25 yet? They just released 26 through 68? No, no, they did. They did. They did, because we talked about the top 25 on Friday when you were out. Oh, okay.

But he wasn't in that, so yeah. The one I read was 26 through 68, and he was 54. Well, it's actually funny that you say that, because when I clicked on it, Stu, I couldn't find the top 25. And then it was in a different article where they released the top 25. But either way, you can't tell me there's 25 better coaches in college football than Bill Belichick. Because we did a segment on Friday how underwhelming the top 10 was in college football. Like, Matt Campbell's a fine coach. Is he the 10th best coach in college football?

James Franklin I think was 7. You know, James Franklin hasn't won a big game in his entire life. So do I think that there's 25 coaches in college football before Bill Belichick ever coaches a college football game better than him?

No, I do not. I think he has to be in the top 25. So Bill Belichick is one of the 25 best college football coaches right away?

Yes, that's a proper reaction from me. Alrighty, this is that Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. We will take a break. When we do come on back, what is better for college football? There's a 16-team college football format being proposed and there's two different views of it. We'll take a look at that and tell you which one we prefer when the Zach Gelb show continues in five minutes.

You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. So this list by CBS, top 25 college football coaches. Here were the top 25. Mike Norvell at Florida State was 25th. Eli Drinkowitz was 24th from Missouri. 23, Brett Bielma. 22, Rhett Lashley, SMU.

21, Kurt Zignetti, Indiana. 20, Mario Cristobal, Miami. 19, Kirk Ferentz, Iowa. 18, Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State. 17, Jeff Brom, Louisville. 16, Josh Heiple, Tennessee. 15, Lance Leipold, Kansas. 14, Chris Kleiman, Kansas State.

13, Stinkin' Lincoln, Lincoln Riley at USC. 12, Ole Miss, Lane Kiffinen at 12. 12, Kyle Whittingham at Utah, 11. 13, Matt Campbell, 10.

14, Kalen DeBoer, 9. 15, Brian Kelly, 8. 16, James Franklin from Penn State, 7. 17, Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame in at 6. 18, Dan Lanning, Oregon, Quack Quack in at number 5. 19, Sark of Texas in at 4. 20, Davos Sweeney, 3. 21, Ryan Day, 2.

22, and Kirby Smart, 1. If you think all those coaches I just said are better than Bill Belichick, even before he coaches one college football game, I just can't agree with that. Now, there's some where you're like, okay, this guy's won a national championship, right, Belichick hasn't in college, so we'll give the edge to that guy.

Okay, I can live with that. But you can't tell me all 25 of those coaches' schools, if you took Jordan Hudson out of the conversation, that all 25 of those coaches, their schools would rather have their coach over the great Bill Belichick. Anyway, a lot's been talking about this potential 16-team college football playoff format and how it's going to be structured. Greg Sankey, he is always very, I don't know if confrontational is the right word, but he is very snobby and he knows that he's got a ton of power because him and Tony Petitti, they run the two biggest conferences in college football in the SEC and the Big Ten. So Greg Sankey, he did take shots at other conferences, in particular the Big 12 in the ACC, when asked if he's responsible for looking out for the good of the game in college football. I don't need lectures from others about the good of the game.

I don't lecture others about the good of the game. And, okay, you can issue your press statement, but I'm actually looking for ideas to move us forward. We didn't need a 12-team college football playoff, thought it was good for the game. I was involved in that.

Others held it up. If you want to go inside what it's like to sit in this role, I think about the responsibility I have here, I think about the responsibility more broadly all the time. And when I go back to the college football playoff, I'm open to ideas. There's just not a lot of incoming. My phone's not ringing off the hook with, hey, here's another way to look at it. And so we'll continue to be thoughtful.

We'll continue to try to provide perspective and information to our members and help them guide the decision. I know people get fed up with Sankey and I know people get fed up with the SEC. That's what happens when you're king, right? And the last two years, has the Big Ten been better than the SEC?

Yes. Michigan won a national championship. Ohio State won a national championship. The Big Ten and the SEC, they have been on even ground the last few seasons. Doesn't mean that it's always going to be the Big Ten's going to win the national championship. There's going to be many years and many more years where the SEC wins a national championship. But entering this season, we know who the two power conferences are. It's the Big Ten. It's the SEC with the slight edge of the Big Ten right now being better than the SEC. So when you talk about adding teams to the college football playoff, I for one thought it was ridiculous that we went from four to 12. It worked in year one because there was chaos and then more chaos and absolute mayhem in the regular season. Do I think 12 is necessary? No, I don't. If you want to tell me, OK, we needed more than four teams.

All right, I could listen to it. Most of the years that we didn't need four teams. And then one year, right, people think that Florida State got screwed.

OK, that's what really pushes the ball over the goal line. Right. That was the big.

But I know what's happened anyway before that. But OK, that's why it's really justified, I guess, is the word of going to 12. I'd be fine with just eight.

I really would be. But once you went from four to 12, that's a drastic jump. We used to go from a computer deciding who's going to be one and two and who's going to play in the national championship game to then, OK, we'll go to four. We used to have polls determine who was going to win it all. So for polls determining who's going to win it all to then a computer telling us, all right, one and two, who's going to play for the championship game, then OK, we'll give you four teams. When you make the jump from that to 12, I said at the time, that's just the beginning of more and more and more and more and more teams getting added. Do we need 16 teams at a college football playoff? No, we don't. Like, let's be honest, but let's just go college football rankings last year. And we told you, right?

Well, let me just look at I know it doesn't always work this way. I'll give you 16 to let's go 16 to 20 in the college football playoff rankings last year. This was the final ranking before you had the playoff. So 16 was Clemson. They got in because they won the ACC. Then after that was BYU, Iowa State, Missouri and Illinois. That was 17 through 20. Now, did anyone need to see those teams?

And I'll take it a step further. Who were the first two teams out of the college football playoff last year? Alabama and Miami. After Miami gagged that game up against Syracuse and Alabama, who subbed their toe multiple times last year, and I love Kaitlyn DeBoer. But after Alabama stubbed their toe numerous times last year, we still had an opportunity to get in and still got an opportunity and they lost to Oklahoma.

Did anyone need to see more of Alabama? And that's just talking about maybe going to 14 because those two teams would have got in if it was 14. But now you want to throw 16 out there. And quite frankly, I'm sick and tired about debating about my disgust of going to 16 because I know I'm fighting something that there's nothing worth fighting for anymore. Like I could sit here and I could yell into this microphone and be like, it's a waste to go to 16. And it's pointless to go to 16. It's about money. That's why they go to 16.

I know they're going to 16. It's the worst kept secret America. It's obviously been talked about. So let's do this for the better good of the show, right? We're talking about what's great for college football. You know, what is Sankey going to do for the better part of college football?

What is Zach Gelb going to do for the better part of the show? So even though I do not want to see this go to 16, I didn't want to see it go to 12. I know that it's going to 16. So when it goes to 16, what's the better format? And what you get into now, and Ross Dellinger put this out there, Greg Sankey is speaking to reporters a day before the SEC spring meetings begin on the college football playoff format.

We are not committed to any particular format. He says the ADs have interest in several models. As reported, it's a 4-4-2-2-1. That's one model, which I know you're saying right now, Zach, that doesn't add up to 16.

I'll tell you in a second. And then the five automatic qualifiers, 11 at large spots, are the two primary models. So in the 4-4-2-2-1 format, that would be four teams would be guaranteed to the SEC, four teams would be guaranteed to the Big Ten, two would be guaranteed to the ACC, two would be guaranteed to the Big Twelve, and then one non-Power Four conference champ. So that's 8, 10, 12, 13 teams, 13 guaranteed spots, and then there would be three wildcard spots, like three at large spots, whatever, it doesn't matter. The other format is the five automatic qualifiers, which would then be ACC, Big Ten, SEC, and the Big Twelve, and then the highest ranked non-Power Four conference champ, and then 11 at large spots.

If you're going to 16, that's the format I would prefer. You win the Big Ten, you're definitely in. You win the Big Twelve, you're definitely in. You win the ACC, you're definitely in. You know, you win the SEC, you're definitely in. And then let's say if you're the Boise State of the World, right, that year was the highest ranked conference champ, you're definitely in, and then it's 11 best teams in the country, they get into the 11 next best teams in the country that get in.

That format works for me, but I'm not a dummy. That's not going to be the format that ends up happening. That's the format that Zach Gelb would prefer in the format of Zach Gelb not wanting it to be a 16-team college football playoff.

But let's not be stupid, folks. Who are the two premier conferences in college football? SEC, Big Ten.

Do you think Tony Patini and do you think Greg Sankey are going to say yeah? You know, we're good. We only want one guaranteed spot in the college football playoff. We win the SEC, right?

Whoever wins the SEC, whether it's Texas, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, whoever, they get in and then we'll just rely on the committee and we'll rely on the college football playoff committee to give us enough spots. Remember, this is the same SEC that was bitching and complaining that Alabama didn't get in this year when Alabama didn't deserve to go. Now, you can tell me all you want that, oh, Alabama's better than SMU or Alabama's better than Indiana. Well, then Alabama should have lost to Vanderbilt. Alabama should have lost to Oklahoma. And I know Tennessee made the college football playoff and Tennessee was a good team, but maybe Jalen Milro could figure out the difference between his elbow and his ass in the game up against Tennessee and find like a little bit of a middle ground and not just be all or nothing, which was the demise of Jalen Milro at Alabama. And if he was just average that game, they'd probably win that game.

He was horrific. They had three losses in the regular season, a three loss team going to college football. But no, you may think you're better, but you don't deserve to go. So think about the outcry when Alabama didn't get in this year from the SEC or South Carolina, who was a trendy team at the end of the year. And I like what Beamer's done there. And I think Lenora Sellers is going to be a heck of a quarterback. So when they were complaining the SEC about South Carolina and Alabama not getting in an Ole Miss, right, the tears from Lane Kiffin.

Give me a break. When they were complaining about not getting in, you think that conference is going to allow, yeah, five automatic qualifiers, only one guaranteed to the SEC, and then the 11 at-large spots. If the SEC allows that it's arrogance and it's the SEC just assuming, oh, well, we'll get all the spots, us in the Big Ten will just get all the spots, which they may be right about. But I think the SEC is going to want a guaranteed amount of teams because what drives the train in college football?

Cash, which comes from whom? Most of the times, the SEC and then also the Big Ten. Are there different schools that provide a lot to college football?

Yes. Notre Dame, they're not in a conference. So I look at the 4-4-2-2-1 format, I don't think it's a better format. As a football fan, I'd rather see, okay, five automatic qualifiers and who the 11 best teams are.

But I'm not a dummy. There is no way Tony Petitti and also Greg Sankey without some backdoor deal are ever going to allow that format to happen. They're going to want guaranteed spots. And those spots guaranteed, and yes, the SEC and Big Ten should be guaranteed more spots in the Big 12 and the ACC. But it's going to be 4-4-2-2-1, where it's going to be four to the SEC, four to the Big Ten, two big players in college football, two to the ACC, two to the Big 12. Which, quite frankly, that's a deal that's good for the ACC and the Big 12 because I know the ACC sent two teams last year. That was an anomaly in the 12-team format. So you get guaranteed two in a 16 format, two as well in a 16 format for the Big 12 and the ACC, and then one which is for the highest ranked non-power four conference.

And that leaves three spots there forever. The next three best teams are in the country. So you figure one is basically safe for Notre Dame with their two losses or less, and then probably in all likelihood, those two last spots would be a fifth Big Ten team and a fifth SEC team.

So let me be clear. Since this is a fight that I know I'm not going to win, I do not want to see them go to 16. I know they're going to 16. Yes, I would prefer five automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large teams, but I don't think that's going to happen. Probably this 4-4, 2-2-1, and then three at-large spots, that's probably what's going to end up shaping the college football playoff when they inevitably expand to 16 teams. All right, this is Zach Gelb on the Infinity Sports Network. Should the NBA get rid of teams potentially fouling up three? And what about players constantly asking for challenges, as those are two insufferable things in the NBA, but we will get to them on the other side.

But first, here is a great update. Crystal Presti probably doesn't sit there and twirl his finger around. You were a big baseball player, right?

I was, yeah. If there were challenges back when you played, would you sit there and beg your manager to challenge everything? No, not after every play. I think you've got to pick your spots. You get one per game.

I mean, you can't be doing it every time. There's a remotely close play. Van Gundy on Sunday was great. Stan Van Gundy. Well, that game was on TNT anyway. But he goes, the player on the Pacers is asking his coach to challenge. He fouled the guy three different times.

Yeah, it's definitely an emotional reaction. So I think the coach needs to just ignore that and rely on their coaching staff and the little tablets that they run to to look at the replays. Now that booth when it was Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy was awesome. But Jeff Van Gundy would be the one that would sometimes get under your skin sometimes.

Just because he'd sometimes be a little prickish. Okay. I think sometimes that's...

I think it's actually good now. Necessary. Someone's got to play that role a little bit.

Sometimes he'd be a little bit too whiny. But I miss that booth with what they throw out there now with Doris Burke and Richard Jefferson. And obviously Mike Breen is the constant. But that TNT booth, when you have Harlan, you have Stan Van Gundy. Reggie Miller. Reggie Miller.

Thank you. Stan Van Gundy. It's funny. There are a lot of times where I'm like, oh, I can't stand this guy when he's talking basketball. But I thought he was exceptional on Sunday. I thought that was his best broadcasting performance. I've enjoyed it, honestly. And I know, look, in New York, the Nick fans are butthurt that Reggie's calling this series. Eh, so what?

This is 1936? Yeah, and you might hear it here and there, but I've paid close enough attention that I don't think it's been anything over the top. I think he's been pretty fair. If you love him, Mike Breen does the games. When it's on ESPN, ABC, you can't bitch them when Reggie Miller does the games.

It is a little different, though, for a couple of reasons. One, obviously, Reggie's paid to give an opinion. He's the analyst. And Breen's giving you the play-by-play. And Breen's also a professional broadcaster. A consummate professional. He is.

Very much down the middle. That is definitely for sure. Alrighty, this is Zach Gelb's show on the Infinity Sports Network. We will talk about players twirling their fingers next, pretty much, on the show.

Update time first. Here is Selah. You're listening to The Zach Gelb Show. Alrighty, this portion of the show is brought to you by Ethos Life, the easy way to get life insurance in 10 minutes, up to $2 million in coverage, no medical exam, just a few health questions. Get your free quote at checkethos.com.

Not available in all states. You know, I gotta ask you guys a question here. So, Friday night, a buddy of mine invited me over to watch the Knicks game. So I was like, okay, you know, I'm gonna go. You know, to just be fully honest, last week I had to blow off the plans, because I had something come up, so I was like, alright, I'll come over.

So they got like a few pizzas, they got some salad, it was me, my buddy Mike, his girlfriend, and then my buddy Corey. And, right, him and his girlfriend just moved in, so they wanted us to come over, see the place, all that stuff. So, we're getting ready to watch the game. They have a 75-inch TV, and they have a TV underneath. So, I'm assuming, right, the Knicks are gonna be on the 75-inch TV, right?

You invited me over to watch the Knicks game. So, they split-screened the 75-inch TV, which, by the way, YouTube TV, when you split-screen the 75-inch TV, you lose about half your TV. Because it's just, horizontally, you have the two shots of the game, and I feel like when you're split-screening it, you lose about 5 to 10 inches up and down on the actual TV.

So, it's a smaller kind of watch. So, he's a crazy hockey fan. He split-screened it with Oilers and Stars, and the Knicks and the Pacers. So, then you're like, oh, there's another TV. Well, his girlfriend wanted to watch the Yankees. The Yankees have played the Rockies.

Who gives a rat's ass about that? So, I had to watch Game 2 of the Knicks in the Conference Finals on a split-screen. And the game was getting late, and I go, you know, big moment in the game. Maybe we expand the TV the whole way. You know, I was trying to be polite. It wasn't my home. But, man, like, I will never watch a big game at their apartment again.

Unless if it's guaranteed to, I just assumed, and folks, this is why you don't assume you make an ass out of you and me, I just assumed that the Knicks would be on a big TV. I had to, like, stand up. Let me get my magnifying glass out. So, I could see the game, for crying out loud.

I could get it to 75-inch TV, but when you do YouTube TV on that split-screen, you lose, like, half your TV, pretty much. Did they at least put the volume on for the basketball game? Yes.

Okay, thank goodness for that. When I realized that it was going south here, and I realized that this was not going to be on the big-screen TV or it was going to be split-screen, I said, we are getting the volume right in the Knicks, right? He said, yeah, yeah, and then he looks at me and goes, it's no problem if we split up the TV, right? The hockey and the band. I go, sure.

What was I going to do? Tell his girlfriend in her house, no, we're taking the Yankees off and we'll put the hockey on the bottom, right? Or you guys figure it out if you want to watch the hockey, if you want to watch the baseball, you know, third round of the hockey.

I would think the hockey plays more important than some irrelevant Yankee game. And you got the Knicks in the second round. Like, I walked out of the apartment, I was like, not only did the Knicks lose, I had to watch the game on a split-screen. So tonight, you know what I'm doing? I'm watching a game by myself.

I'm sitting on my couch, I have two TVs, I have the hockey on one, I have the basketball on the big-screen TV. After the show ends, I'm going to the store, I'm going to get a nice onion, maybe get some string beans or even a, maybe broccoli. I don't know what I'm getting for the vegetable. You thought that was weird, I just said onion. I thought you brought a single onion. I need, well, we're going to get the, I don't want to chop the onions myself, so I'll get the diced onions, I'm going to get either broccoli or string beans, I'm going to get some rice. I'm going to, I have chicken sausage, I'm going to cut up some chicken sausage, throw those in the air fryer, you know, cook up the broccoli, the string bean.

I haven't figured out which one I want yet, because last week, last week I went to the store, and last week ended up being that Zach Gelb had to go out more than Zach Gelb thought he was going out. So early in the week, on Tuesday, I got my chicken sausage, and one was game one of the Knicks. That was on Wednesday. So Tuesday I got my chicken sausage, right, I got my onions and my string beans, had a nice little healthy dinner on Tuesday, then Wednesday was in a suite at the Knicks, fatso night. Then Thursday, Josh Brody was in town, oh let's go to Mineta Tavern, fatso night, and then Friday I had, you know, I went to my buddy's apartment. So I had like all these string beans and onions, and then I looked at them and I'm like, oh they're like a week old.

So I was like, it was right on the expiration date, so I probably could have gotten another night out of them. Then I opened the string beans and I go, ugh, these smell. So I threw them out this morning, and I set off, I'm throwing out the string beans, I'm going to throw out the onions, so I've got to go get an onion tonight after the show, Batcher.

Or the diced onions, the chop, because I don't want to sit there and chop myself, and I've got to figure out what vegetable do I want to throw on string beans or do I want broccoli. So I'm trying to have a healthy meal, especially after Memorial Day weekend. Did you have barbecue yesterday still?

Yes, yes. What is this Stuart Kovacs barbecue like? Oh, so the one I went to had burgers, steaks, hot dogs, sausages, pretty much everything. I ate way too much yesterday.

A little antipast? No, none of that actually, but a lot of chips as well, a lot of beers, just everything. Yeah, it was a fattening week and it was a fattening weekend, and I mean a real fattening weekend. So now I've got to eat something healthy tonight, and I'm trying to think what I've got the rest of the week. I think Wednesday, oh no, Wednesday, go to Luxury Box the Bar for the Mets. That's a fattening night. Then Thursday I'll be healthy, Friday I'll try to be a good boy, and then Saturday I'll try to be a good boy.

So I've got to get to the store tonight, pretty much. Anyway, get into the NBA. What do you think about teams not being able to intentionally foul up three? So when you're up three, like last night at the ending of the Thunder and the Timberwolves game, three-point game, two trips down, the Timberwolves were never able to get off a three-point shot because the Thunder were intentionally fouling. And today everyone's like, oh, you've got to get rid of that.

I don't think you should. This is why I don't get in sports. Why do we always try to penalize the team that's winning?

That team did the work to put themselves in position to get up by three. So now all of a sudden we're supposed to take away their ability to foul at the end of the game? I don't agree with that. Now, you could sit there and say, oh, well, if you off-balled, intentionally fouled, right, it's free throws, and then you get the ball back under two minutes, so like that's different.

So, all right, if you want to say that, fine. But I now need to, you know, take away from the Thunder getting the three-point lead and penalize them for being in a situation to win if they don't want the three-point shot to get off there in that spot. Be better in the other 47 minutes and change in that game.

That's what I would say. Now, the thing that does annoy me, and Nick Wright, I saw this at FS1, every time now there's a challenge or a player doesn't like a call, you twirl the finger. And I don't know what's more insufferable, flopping or twirling of the finger or just bitching about the calls. I think the twirling of the finger is the most insufferable.

You know why? When I've gone to Nick's games this year, and I've sat right behind the bench, you will have some little bratty kid, some like six or seven or eight-year-old punk. This is when I realized the twirling of the finger, who will look at the bench and be like, twirl the finger, let's go, review it. Some six to eight-year-old punk, some little kid that doesn't even know what's going on, he sees all the players twirling the finger, so I got to twirl the finger. He goes, dad, why is everyone twirling the finger? What are they saying?

You want a lollipop or you want some kind of, oh no, they want you to challenge. That's when I realized that became insufferable. But everything now, you don't even have a challenge to twirl the finger. So Nick Wright said if a player twirls the finger, it has to be a challenge. And then if you have a challenge, it's like Chris Webber up, you've used too many timeouts, you don't have any more, so then you get hit with the penalty. That I'm actually fine with, because I can't watch. If I have to see another NBA player so confidently twirl a finger and just be so confident and then so wrong, I can't watch that. It's insufferable. Now there are times where players will twirl the fingers and you get a guy that actually has some integrity, and I'll be like, no, no, no. That was actually a foul that I did not commit. Not only can we go to the extreme of Nick Wright, but Adam Silver, if he had a bone, a spine at all, he'd tell the players, let's stop twirling the fingers here. Watch the game tonight. I'm not going to advise you to play a drinking game, because if you took a shot for every time a player twirled a finger, you wouldn't make it through the first three minutes, you'd be dead on the floor, you'd be drunk as a skunk. But oh my goodness gracious, I cannot watch the twirling of a finger anymore.

It's insufferable. Alrighty, we'll take a break. We're 100 days out to the start of the NFL season. What are the 10 biggest NFL questions entering this NFL season? We'll get to that on the other side.