Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 6/16/17
Two black officers honored at Congressional Baseball Game
1:35 PMI’ll be hosting The Right Time again Friday afternoon, filling in for Bomani Jones again on #TheRightTime. We’re getting into that time of year where the sports calendar is pretty bare. Summer Camp Radio!
When you haven't checked Twitter in an hour. pic.twitter.com/Tl3JCSgoBy
— Danforth France (@danforthfrance) June 15, 2017
So, it looks like President Donald Trump is under investigation after all. After all that nonsense in which he awkwardly yelled at NBC’s Lester Holt about the whole matter and started the whirlwind that has had Washington in a mess ever since. It’s about his potential involvement with Russia, which is a bizarre web that also involves Attorney General Jeff Sessions. What the president believes himself versus what is actually true, who knows, but Trump says that what he’s under investigation for is firing FBI chief James Comey.
So, Amazon just bought Whole Foods. Sure, it sounds a little weird off the top, but think about it. If you were going to take over the world, what would you do? You’d probably buy a major globally branded newspaper, right? Then, to find a proper distribution model for everything else you push, you’d snap up one of the most popular high-end grocery store chains in the country, right? Well, lucky for Jeff Bezos, he has that kind of money, and that’s exactly what he did. All hail the new king.
If you didn’t know, Rep. Steve Scalise’s life was saved by two black people. When a guy decided to open fire on a Congressional Baseball Game practice, elected officials were sent running for cover and had only their security to protect them. One of those Capitol Police officers was a woman named Crystal Griner. She is a lesbian. It was she and a colleague, David Bailey, who engaged in the firefight that killed the man who was ready to mow down a lot more people. Oh, it should be noted: Scalise is not an ally of the LGBTQ community. At all.
The closer we get to the NBA draft, the more LaVar Ball’s name comes up. You know who that’s good for? Lonzo Ball. After he popped off on his dad in a Foot Locker commercial, he’s got his fellow soon-to-be draftees going after LaVar, too. Now, De’Aaron Fox has joined the chorus of people who can’t stand the man who started Big Baller Brand, which is sort of hilarious to me. Why on earth would you get involved in this man’s drama if you didn’t have to? Fox is not here for Ball’s games, which means that draft night should be prettttty interesting.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Look, there’s a whole lot of new music out right now, so you need to understand that this weekend is about to be lit on multiple levels. Young Thug has a new album out, and it’s summery and amazing. Dej Loaf just dropped some new heat, too. And 2 Chainz is out here, in addition. I’M VERY READY FOR SUMMER, Y’ALL.
Snack Time: Getting props from Barack Obama will never not be cool. In this case, he congratulated Jay Z on making the Songwriters Hall of Fame. These two and their bromance will only grow.
Obama congratulates Hov for being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame pic.twitter.com/Va2PrftU8h
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) June 16, 2017
Dessert: Rest in peace, Jim Graham.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 6/15/17
There will be no slander of ‘The Color Purple’
12:51 PMI’ll be filling in Thursday afternoon on #TheRightTime with Bomani Jones on ESPN Radio from 4-7 p.m. EST. Tune in to that if you want to hear me yelling about random things.
today is as good a time to remind people… pic.twitter.com/V4cLyKOjow
— Brandon Caldwell (@_brandoc) June 15, 2017
The game will go on Thursday night at Nationals Park. Despite the fact that a gunman tried to kill elected officials while they were practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game. If you don’t know, that’s a game played by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle every year that raises money for charity. And although the world of many members of Congress was turned upside down, I imagine Thursday night will be a very celebratory scene. On the real, however, Rep. Steve Scalise is still in the hospital. By the way, here are the two officers who prevented a massacre.
Elizabeth Banks, we need to have a talk. If you’re going to be calling people out, please get your facts straight. She said to a crowd that Steven Spielberg has never cast a movie with a female lead. Even though she was corrected, at the time, and told that The Color Purple is actually a thing that exists, she basically ignored that. Because it’s real easy to ignore black people when our stories don’t center on white people. Meanwhile, people are trying to say that movie was a flop. Which is, of course, completely insane considering how much of a cultural marker that film is.
It’s been quite the offseason for Richard Sherman. There were rumors that he wanted out of Seattle, and there were stories about how the locker room might be at odds because of an overall lack of respect for Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Now, he’s opening up about his relationship with Wilson, which at this point feels like it’s basically the entire fulcrum of this team’s emotional balance. I gotta say, I’m fascinated by what this team is going to be in the upcoming season. They’ve easily got the most interesting locker room in the NFL.
Welp, it looks like things just got worse for Rick Pitino. The NCAA has ruled that the sex scandal that rocked the Louisville men’s basketball program will not only cost Pitino, the team’s head coach, a five-game suspension, but they’ll also have to vacate wins from 2010-14. You might recall that they won a little something called the 2013 national championship. Of course, who knows what vacating wins really means, because it’s not like you can unplay the games and undo the actual moments of victory.
Free Food
Coffee Break: There are certain goals in soccer that, no matter what, I will remember for the rest of my life. There are also certain guys who will be forever remembered for said strikes. Roberto Carlos is precisely that guy, and 20 years ago is when he made that mark. Check out this look back at one of the best goals, ever.
Snack Time: With Twitter getting a redesign and all this other nonsense going on, don’t let any of this distract you from the fact that DuckTales released its new title sequence.
Dessert: If you watch reality TV, this is worth your time.
All Day Podcast
All Day Podcast: 6/14/17
‘Bachelor in Paradise’ gets canceled, and a sci-fi series looks to get off the ground
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What’s up, gang? This week found us moving away from the sports world in quite a few ways. With the summer coming up, we’ll be doing a lot more exploring of the rest of the globe since the sports calendar slows down tremendously until NFL training camps start back.
First, I sat down with ESPN anchor, attorney and friend of the show Adrienne Lawrence about the legal ramifications surrounding the production shutdown of Bachelor In Paradise this week. There have been lawsuits and speculation about sexual misconduct, which overall is a very difficult topic to discuss, considering the overall premise of that program. People get sent to an island to potentially hook up and are plied with booze while they do it. It’s stunning that we haven’t had more incidents like this on that show, to be honest.
Meet Milan, the rising star who's bringing #LittleApple from paper to a screen near you: https://t.co/XyWudclJaw pic.twitter.com/0CumPsj3N7
— Little Apple (@LilAppleSeries) June 13, 2017
Then, I got on the phone with Riley S. Wilson and Lisa Cortes, executive producers of the Little Apple series, which is described as “a live-action sci/fi drama following a 9-year-old claircognizant (all-knowing) little black girl growing up in a new Harlem.” Yes, it’s quite the show in the making, and the two talked about how using that character came to be important to them in a larger discussion about what’s happening in many urban landscapes across America.
Lastly, I dropped a quick take about Lonzo Ball’s newest commercial in which he absolutely roasts his own dad, LaVar. It’s genuinely one of the funniest things I’ve seen in sports in a really long time, and I hope it’s an indicator of exactly what we’re going to get from the UCLA point guard once he gets drafted next week, wherever he may go. Unfortunately, we had to cut it because the audio wasn’t cleared for use, but it’s worth seeing.
Enjoy the show!
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The Breakfast Club
Michael Bennett speaks to ‘The Breakfast Club’
Seahawks defensive lineman covers a wide range of topics on sports and politics
You know Michael Bennett. He’s the Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman who wears dashikis on TV, has pulled out of NFL events because of his personal beliefs and generally speaks up about what he feels is right and wrong in America. He’s a smart dude and also knows when not to take himself too seriously. Overall, a good dude.
You also know The Breakfast Club, the radio show based in New York City featuring Charlamagne Tha God, who recently penned a book called Black Privilege. Well-known for stirring up controversy, the sit-down with Bennett was guaranteed to be solid. It was.
It was a wide-ranging conversation in which Bennett touched on all sorts of topics, from Colin Kaepernick to 21 Savage.
“Of course I think Kaepernick’s being blackballed,” Bennett said when asked about the former 49ers quarterback. “Obviously, all the stuff to do with the issues, nobody likes race and politics in sports. I think that’s one of the things that nobody really wants to talk about. For him to bring [it] up, I think it struck a lot of people in the wrong way. I mean, the people that really watch football, it’s middle America. … And for him to bring that into that crowd was one thing that people felt like shouldn’t have been there.”
Overall, he’s just a guy doing all this because it feels right and he wants to set a good example for the people who matter most to him: his family.
“I don’t want my daughters to look back and be like, ‘Where were you when they were talking about Black Lives Matter?’ ” Bennett said. ” ‘Where were you when they were talking about women’s equality?’ I want my daughter to be like, ‘Daddy, thank you for being a man that stood up at the time when it was time to stand up.’
“You can’t really care about the Nikes, the brands that are behind you. Because those brands, they’re going to outlive you. That’s just how it is. Your legacy in your community is what’s going to live on, and that’s important for you to always think about.”
Oh, and he’s writing a book called Things That Make White People Uncomfortable. Welp.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 6/14/17
Gunman who shot a congressman at baseball practice killed
1:53 PMWhat a day. The president spoke to the nation, and it was probably the best public speaking appearance of his life.
WHO BEAT TRUMP INTO SUBMISSION BEFORE THIS ADDRESS? This is… what you'd expect to hear from a president.
— Linda Tirado (@KillerMartinis) June 14, 2017
Every year, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle get together to have fun. It comes in the form of America’s onetime pastime: baseball. It’s a great tradition that fosters a good environment and allows the people we elect to show off a little of who they are outside of the Capitol. All their staffers attend when the game happens, and it’s a good time and solid baseball. That’s because they practice. On Wednesday, someone broke the sanctity of that space and opened fire, wounding five, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana. His name is James T. Hodgkinson, and he was killed in a gunfight with Capitol Police.
Poetry is magical. Linguistic entertainment in the purest way isn’t easy to do. As someone who writes words for a living, often the hardest part is not writing too much. Paring that down to something meaningful is the reason that we have, well, poets. The best ones are recognized every year by the Library of Congress, and the Poet Laureate award basically makes you the best poet on earth. This year, Tracy K. Smith, a black woman, won it. If you’re not familiar with her work, get right. She is tremendous.
Sen. Kamala Harris showed out again Tuesday, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifying in open session during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. He answered her questions seemingly as best as he could but clearly was not ready for any level of intense scrutiny. She was dogged, fair and straightforward, but Sessions was completely flummoxed and said as much. He also interrupted her, which was only to be expected, on some level. But Sessions did himself no favors in helping his own case about any potential ties to Russia.
Once again, we learn that LaVar Ball is about his money. When it comes to pushing everything about his Big Baller Brand, dude pulls no punches when it comes to publicity. Now he’s moved into a different realm, and it seems like kind of a weird bit. He’s got a deal to sell, for $60, trading cards that have his autograph and random sayings that he’s concocted. On top of that, he’s pushing them on eBay. Why anyone would want to buy that I have no idea, but, hey, smoke ’em if you got ’em, I guess.
Free Food
Coffee Break: If I’m being honest, I use Uber all the time. As a concept, it’s a service that is invaluable for people whom cabs don’t often stop for on the street. But the company itself has had major issues. The working environment appears to be awful. It’ll be really hard for people to ditch it.
Snack Time: While we’re not huge on media business news, sometimes it’s interesting. And the story around how SiriusXM managed to acquire Pandora is sort of fascinating.
Dessert: Take some time today to appreciate a very important moment in American television history.
Thirty years ago today, Kramer was hit by the 'magic loogie' https://t.co/S9AKgsniW8 pic.twitter.com/Wdv0qNd5E6
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 14, 2017
NCAA
Athletes forced to make a choice: sports or their passion
The NCAA is not interested in well-rounded individuals
2:41 PMIt’s a well-known fact that the NCAA is ruthless when it comes to shutting down any potential extra money its student-athletes might be making outside of their athletic endeavors. They’ve bastardized the concept of amateurism to the point of no return, creating a matrix of morality that allows them to penalize a student-athlete for daring to dream beyond the concept of a roster spot.
In the past week, two cases have highlighted this completely unfair setup.
You might already be familiar with Dylan and Dakota Gonzalez. The twins started their basketball careers at Kansas, transferred together to the University of Nevada Las Vegas and are singers. Because of what they look like, and the fact that Dylan used to date New Orleans Pelicans center Anthony Davis, the two are popular on the Instagram-adjacent sports media blog circuit.
They decided to skip playing basketball during their senior years to pursue their music careers, which, for my money, are legit. Internet fame aside, these two are certainly talented enough to make an attempt at doing music for a living, no doubt about it. But the NCAA intoned that they were somehow using their “platform” as student-athletes to promote their endeavors. … Quick, name the last team to win the women’s college basketball Mountain West Conference title. Exactly. (It was Boise State, btw.)
The two recently did an interview with Slam magazine about what their lives are like now. It’s a very real look into how controlled you can feel as a student-athlete by the governing body, for doing nothing that would be considered illegal by any stretch. But God forbid we don’t protect the oh-so-important integrity of NCAA amateurism. What’s particularly disheartening is to hear about how the NCAA has effectively killed their love of basketball to an extent.
Moving down south to Orlando, Florida, there’s the case of Donald De La Haye. He’s the University of Central Florida’s kicker with his own YouTube channel. The content of his blog is quite literally videos of him doing things that are required of him as a member of the football team. He’s managed to make the mundane life of being a college kicker rather interesting, while also allowing himself a creative outlet. Now he’s under pressure to close the account because the NCAA told him, according to Deadspin, it “make[s] it obvious that I’m a student-athlete.”
That logic is so laughably ridiculous it’s almost bizarre. So you can’t do activities that are outside of the scope of your athletic scholarship, but you also can’t highlight the fact that you are a student-athlete? What are they supposed to do, just sit in a dark room until it’s time to practice and play?
According to the NCAA core values, as listed on its website, part of its goal is to create “an inclusive culture that fosters equitable participation for student-athletes and career opportunities for coaches and administrators from diverse backgrounds.”
In short, as evidenced by the cases of the Gonzalez twins and De La Haye — that’s a lie.
Daily Dose
Daily Dose: 6/13/17
Ice Cube honored on Hollywood Walk of Fame
12:31 PMMina Kimes dropped by The Undefeated office yesterday and we went to Starbucks. We ordered. Then: 👀👀👀 — wired. Those nitro cold brews are so potent that you can’t even serve them in the venti size because it’s too much caffeine.
me after trying nitro cold brew for the first time with @clintonyates pic.twitter.com/UPeE2utY8K
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) June 12, 2017
Now that the Golden State Warriors are NBA champions, let the victory lap begin. They did not blow a 3-1 lead, so we can put that aside. Kevin Durant did win Finals MVP, so you can’t honestly say that he rode anyone else’s coattails on the way there. If they didn’t have Durant, they probably would have lost. You can save your competitive balance drama for your mama, because the Warriors are a tremendous team. Period. And LeBron James still managed to dominate the series statistically. We’ll see if they go to the White House to celebrate.
Before the East Coast/West Coast rap beef tore apart the industry, Ice Cube and Chuck D teamed up with Big Daddy Kane to drop a song that I’ll never forget when I first saw the video. Titled “Burn, Hollywood Burn,” it’s a look at how racist and stereotypical portrayals of black people in television and film contribute to our poor treatment by authorities and the population in general. Now, nearly 30 years later, it’s Cube himself who’s getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He’s done his part to make this better. Good for him.
In my life, I’ve been lucky enough to dodge surgery. They always say that a routine procedure really just means any procedure that isn’t being executed on you. I have had many friends and family members who’ve gone through these kinds of things, and the fear factor is always high. Basically, you just never know. When you get out on the other side, it’s time to celebrate, fam. Which is why this video of a young man who just underwent successful heart surgery nearly brought me to tears. The encouraging words of his mother are incredible.
16-year-old dances to celebrate his successful heart transplant after waiting months for a new heart. https://t.co/O0pXTKVqV6 pic.twitter.com/lCEj8QGBJQ
— ABC News (@ABC) June 12, 2017
I have no idea why Dennis Rodman is so obsessed with North Korea. I’m going to presume it’s because he somehow keeps finding paychecks out of that nation, but these basketball diplomacy visits have become a bit ridiculous. He’s now there again, claiming he wants to open a door for President Donald Trump, whom he formerly worked for on the television show The Celebrity Apprentice. Again, television programs are not necessarily real life, and this is definitely the case when it comes to a despotic leader who has zero interest in world peace.
Free Food
Coffee Break: Remember when we found out that Kevin Durant used to date The Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay? Well, as it turns out, she was at the game Monday night with a friend and definitely shared the fun with folks on social media. Let’s just hope her new fiancé wasn’t with her, as that would be a tad awk.
Snack Time: It was only a matter of time before Facebook got into the business of original content programming. Now, former MTV star Nicole Byer might be getting her old show revived as part of their new push. That’s cool.
Dessert: If you loved John Saunders as much as I did, you need to read this story about his posthumous memoir.
Daily Dose: 6/12/17
DeMario’s disastrous year on camera continues
12:53 PMThe Morning Roast was exciting this week, with Mina Kimes back on the East Coast for some family stuff. But I’ll also be filling in for Bomani Jones on The Right Time on Thursday and Friday, so if you’re into solo Yates, set your alarms.
Mansplaining mansplained pic.twitter.com/lbB478Hjor
— Kris (@Verwonderster) June 12, 2017
Another week in Washington that we can expect to get hectic. Ivanka Trump was on Fox and Friends this morning, saying that she didn’t expect D.C. to be so vicious in terms of how people acted. Yeah, this is the big leagues. Speaking of, as it turns out, one of President Donald Trump’s insiders is trying to get involved with the FBI building contract, which is clearly a conflict on so many levels. Also, Maryland and D.C.’s attorneys general are suing Trump. Meanwhile, the notion of firing special counsel Robert Mueller is seriously under consideration.
So, things are getting very dicey in Bachelor Nation. One of the spinoff shows, Bachelor in Paradise, has had production halted amid allegations of sexual misconduct. First off, this is really disheartening. After all, it was the most fun show in the franchise, and to think that it’s spiraled out of control to the point of making people unsafe is really sad. Secondly, the story is no joke. I won’t wildly spread rumors, but what I’ve heard makes it seem like that show, and possibly the franchise, might end up being done forever. Details are extremely bad for DeMario.
While last weekend was Pride, there were also graduations to be had. (It is also the one-year anniversary of the Pulse shootings in Orlando, Florida. Condolences.) And for one student in Washington, D.C., since the two things fell in the same window, he gave the crowd a little extra on that commencement stage, and it was absolutely glorious. Every time I see one of these, it makes me wish I had done something ridiculous when I walked at 18 just to be able to say I did. I would hire this kid instantly.
The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup Sunday night on the Nashville Predators’ home ice. It was a decent skate, but it was marred by a really bad call that took a goal off the boards for the Preds, which would have opened the scoring and given them the lead. Instead, it was called back because of a random whistle, which is such an awful rule. On top of that, it can actually be reviewed and corrected, and the league chose not to do that. I can’t even imagine how angry I’d be if I were a Preds fan. They got jobbed. It was a good run, though, for sure.
Free Food
Coffee Break: When I was a kid, you either held planes in your hand and acted like you were flying them or you let someone else do the flying of whatever super mechanical toy you had and let them handle the hard part. But one guy (an engineer) put together a model Lego Space Shuttle and made it fly, which is tremendous.
Snack Time: In its rush to sign more talent, Amazon decided that it was going to sign a bunch of Indian comics. Alas, none were women. Not one among the 14. So Netflix went out and got Aditi Mittal. Well played, and smart.
Dessert: On this day in 1990, Mariah Carey dropped her eponymous first album. The rest is history.
Black Panther
‘Black Panther’ teaser trailer is serving looks
Marvel blessed us during the NBA Finals, and it’s visually stunning
We were sitting around a table, casually discussing whatever we had to catch up as a group of friends. We weren’t all facing the television, so one person said, “Shut up, the Black Panther teaser is on.” Another friend continued, not realizing that this wasn’t just the first time he’d seen it, but the first time anyone had. “Look, I’ll address that after this ends,” he was told again. We all stared.
I don’t really remember if it was between the first two quarters of the game or somewhere in the second, because it felt like time stopped. At the point where Chadwick Boseman is executing whatever midair flip in slow motion he was doing, my body naturally stood up from the table and gravitated toward the television that was hanging on a wall in the bar. By the time it was done I turned around to look at the squad, and we all had the same looks on our faces.
“Holy s—, that was incredible.”
that black panther trailer just SNATCHED MY ENTIRE SOUL
— Fungo Velo (@clintonyates) June 10, 2017
Black Panther was real and happening, and it looked amazing. The game instantly became a secondary conversation to what we’d just witnessed from the Marvel Universe. What I enjoyed so much about it was that it appealed to everyone, off the break. Of course, there are serious megafans of the comics who will have various things to deconstruct and dislike, but coming out of the gate, the clear distinctions were great.
For one, Wakanda is clearly not some Third World wasteland. Its technological advancements are clearly on par with most things in that universe, which is dope. This is the capital city, and vibranium, the mineral that the nation has major reserves of, allows it to stay on the cusp of what’s modern. Also, look. At. That. Ship. The last thing we wanted was a bunch of souped-up tribesmen to further create disastrous stereotypes in the superhero world.
Here are some of our favorite still shots.
Wait till y’all see me at the function next spring rocking this joint until Future’s “Mask Off” comes on. Then I’m turning all the way up.
This is a look goal if I’ve ever seen one. Lupita Nyong’o, no stranger to action movies, is not here for your nonsense.
When you’re trying to address the congregation but someone’s phone keeps going off.
Oh, that’s my phone? Do something. That’s what I thought.
When you waited all weekend to get fly for your little friend at school and they were home sick that day.
Meanwhile, the shade being thrown is predictable and, in many cases, very funny. What folks act like when this movie comes out is going to be serious. Nobody in America is ready for the squad cosplay that the film could bring to the theaters and premieres. It’ll be the blackest big-budget superhero movie. Not to mention it’s actually about a fictional African place. Believe that folks will be deep at the box office. And it comes out during Black History Month? Sheeeeeeee … just kidding. That doesn’t matter at all.
I can tell I'm already going to have to go watch Black Panther in the suburbs because y'all ALREADY acting a fool over a trailer
— Bougiean Emissary to Wakanda (@HarlemJ11) June 11, 2017
Black Panther trailer drops…
Everybody: pic.twitter.com/jWHb50NGwa
— WorstHeroEver🇵🇷 (@WorstHeroEver07) June 11, 2017
In all seriousness, that moment Friday night was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. My phone was blowing up with texts, and my whole TL was taken over by Wakanda jokes and the like. We don’t need that Coming to America remake. Black Panther, from the looks of it, will do just fine. This is dope, though.
oh my god this is amazing, I want it blown up and framed. #BlackPanther via @TPiperMedia pic.twitter.com/w60UyFm1j4
— Brandon Caldwell (@_brandoc) June 11, 2017
This is a full shot-by-shot breakdown of the teaser trailer with story analysis. It’s with director Ryan Coogler and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.
The Morning Roast
The Morning Roast: 6/11/17
Will the NBA Finals end Monday?
9:57 AMWhen I walked into the studio Sunday, Domonique Foxworth was halfway done with his venti iced coffee already and we still had a half-hour until the show. I knew it was going to be a wild one because he was yelling at me already and it wasn’t even close to go time, ha ha. And Mina Kimes was on the East Coast? Yeah, it was dope.
Hour 1
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In the first hour, we broke down what happened in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, which the Cleveland Cavaliers won, sending the series back to Oakland, which would allow the Golden State Warriors to win the series on their home floor. But Friday night in Cleveland was a strange one, in a game that included a bunch of technicals and an appearance from Khloe Kardashian, which Jeff Van Gundy appreciated. He came to her and her family’s defense over the matter of their so-called “kurse,” which was classy of him.
Also, I defended my love of 3-on-3 basketball — which is not streetball, by the way – and its addition to the 2020 Olympics, while Mina called it every name in the book other than trash. In all seriousness though, being the only one who’s ever watched it with any regularity, I’m looking forward to it becoming a medal sport, personally. Some people think it might require NBA stars to be important, but I don’t know.
Hour 2
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There’s a question as to whether LeBron James might actually leave the Cavaliers to go somewhere else at this point in his career, but there is also the question about what happens if the Warriors manage to blow this. Let’s not forget that they had a 3-1 lead last year and got beat three straight games. We all know this. But this year is a tad different because they were up 3-0, first. In general though, this leads to a larger question about what the Warriors’ legacy is going to be since they weren’t perfect through the playoffs.
Outside of the hoops world, there was a soccer game last night, and a men’s World Cup qualifier at that. The United States traveled to Mexico to take on El Tri at Azteca Stadium, which is always an adventure. We discussed it with ESPN FC’s Sebastian Salazar ahead of the game, who also talked about what effect Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic is going to have on the national team now that he’s made his mark and broken through to the starting lineup.
Lastly, as a result of Domonique not being a fan of Ray Charles’ hit “Hit the Road, Jack” as the go-to arena song when players are ejected from games, we decided to workshop it. The results were glorious. We broke down the Top 5 songs for ejections we’d love to hear. It ranged from Sarah McLachlan to Ludacris. Loved this segment.
Hour 3
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The third hour began with a convo with Kyle Wagner of FiveThirtyEight.com (aka the Math Boys) about the NBA Finals. The numbers surrounding each team at its best are fascinating, and in general, the use of their model is always interesting to learn about. He basically said their prediction is it’s impossible for the Cavs to come back, save one factor: LeBron. Exactly.
Of course, we had to talk The Bachelorette, which means we got to hear the return of Christian Yates, who was just returning from the opera the previous night. We learned of his dinner selection and the wine pairing, too. In reality though, pardon the pun, the whole scenario surrounding that show has taken a slimy hit, and Domonique learned about just how awkward the whole thing is going to be going forward regarding Lee and his bigoted tweets and how that will affect the house. All this before we learned about the Bachelor in Paradise news, which is a real mess.
Basketball, soccer and dating. Enjoy!