(upbeat music) - All right, well, we've still got a lot to get to in this show. Are you ready for rapid fire? - I think rapid fire is just like an extension of all the good stuff we've talked about so far. - You're just ready to kind of keep it going, huh? - All right, well, we've got a lot still to come. So here we go, new Notre Dame offensive coordinator, Mike Denbrock chatted with us a little bit after practice this morning. And he said back at the end of the spring that Riley Leonard's summer would be very important after he missed a big chunk of the spring with his injury. So I asked him today, Denbrock today, if Leonard got everything in that he needed to get in this summer, and here's what he said. Everything, I'm not sure, but you can see there's clear progress as far as his understanding and knowledge of what we're doing. And we purposefully have set the summer up and really fall camp here to try to help catch him up from some of the things that he missed in the spring, if that makes sense. So we've tried to kind of help him with that process, but he did a great job himself over the summer of developing that himself and filling in some of the blank spots. - So still kind of catching up. I think it's to be expected because again, he was injured for a good chunk of the spring. Does that give you any more concern? Like, are you more concerned about his health or Leonard being up to speed with the offense by the time the season opens? - I'd be more concerned about his health. The guy's, he went to Duke, he's now at Notre Dame. He was a starter at Duke. He's gonna be a starter at Notre Dame. You know, the catching up and the ability to absorb and you know, that sort of like retain information go above and beyond. It's all gonna take care of itself rather than just needs to continuously focus on staying healthy, being able to be cognizant of his body, you know what I mean? Like, you gotta realize that there's probably times if you're not feeling right to just kind of sit back and take it a little bit more easy back rather than finally, rather than, you know, thinking you need to give 110% at every practice and every practice is, you know, like, I think he thinks every practice, he can't miss anything, right? But when you have this sort of stuff going on that he does, you have to be able to step back and say, okay, my body is feeling a little, you know, this or that today. How can I reel this back and make sure I'm doing things to proactively stay healthy the entire season? It's not enough to be, you know, healthy the first month, the second month, we need him the entire season but this thing is gonna go as far as, you know, us as fans want it to go. - Yeah, and I mean, the good news through the first couple of days is he has looked really good in terms of the health. Now, we started off talking about all these reps that everybody is getting and I think, like you said, because Dan Brock also talked about the competitiveness that Riley Leonard has and Leonard has talked about that a little bit before as well. And I think that that can be sort of a double-edged sword because of the stuff that you're talking about. You've got to know when you're coming off something like this, you know, like rep number 45 on day three of fall training camp doesn't mean nearly as much as any rep that you're gonna take in that season opener or any game this season. So you just, he's got to kind of know that line and, you know, and know when to dial it down from time to time, but, you know, again, like, he started off a little bit rusty yesterday and everything that we've seen since then, he just looks a heck of a lot more consistent. So I think that's a really good sign for both him and for Notre Dame. So you're arguing about the Cubs again over there. - Not arguing, just stating that I, Michael asked, am I proud of their division record? And I said, no, it's the most frustrating part 'cause if they had a good record against the division, they're probably a playoff team right now. - Yeah, that's very true. Been pretty pathetic. All right, more football. Jordan Faison, Jaden Greathouse, Jaden Harrison. They're all three slot wide receivers. They had Faison playing outside a bit yesterday. He did more today, Greathouse as well. Was at the boundary at least once. So Dan Brock asked about being positionally versatile, how willing he is at being positionally versatile with those receivers. Now strap in because he's gonna go into some detail here about this and I want you to listen to this, what he has to say and then we'll talk about it. - I think what you guys will see is we will have personnel packages within our game plan that move those guys all over the place. So if we're in 11 Charlie personnel, this is the field number one, this is the field number two, this is the boundary number one with me. And then we may have 11 Quantico, which completely flips all three of those guys to different spots. So what we've done a good job of and really the way this is built, especially in the passing game is trying to teach these guys the concept of what we're doing so that they understand no matter whether I'm normally a slot receiver to the field or the number two to the field, if they line me up at one, if I understand the concept, I can execute that job. So it allows us to be multiple in how we play those guys and move them around. So if like phase out like you're speaking of right, play it a little bit. We know he can play the field slot receiver, right? And there'll be things that we do against Texas A&M where he's the field slot receiver. But we also want to get him some experience at the field number one if we want to happen to have a bigger body in the slot or we got something specific we're doing with that position. Those other guys have to know how to do that as well. So everybody's trying, we're trying to cross train as many of those guys as we can at multiple positions. So we then in turn offensively can give multiple looks and be more multiple. - There's a lot there, a lot of great detail for Mike Denbrock on that. - I don't know where to start with this 'cause there's so many layers to it. - I told you you had to pay attention. - I was taking notes as I went. - I told you you had to pay attention. 11 Charlie, 11 Quantico, what are we gonna go with here? What do you think? - Football season may be over, but the action on the floor is heating up. Whether it's tournament season or the fight for playoff home court, there's no shortage of high stakes basketball moments this time of year. Get in on the excitement with prize picks. America's number one fantasy sports app where you can turn your hoops knowledge into some serious cash. Prize picks is the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America. We are the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. It's just you against the numbers. 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Download the app today and use code IRISH for a first deposit match up to a hundred dollars. Again, download the app today and use code IRISH for a first deposit match up to a hundred dollars. Prize picks, pick more, pick less, it's that easy. So, where do I start? So, the students sound all too foreign to everyone because this is how Al Goldin feels about his linebackers on the defensive side of the ball, right? He wants all of his linebackers to play all three spots. And he does that because if you can play all three spots, you have an understanding of the offense and it's not a singular focus of, okay, it's not a singular focus of, okay, I'm in this, this is, I play slot and I'm running this route. You have an idea or an understanding of the entire concept and why you're running this route or why you need to break off at 10 yards or 12 yards because it's gonna allow maybe the field wide receiver to get open. And so, I guess that's the first thing that stuck out is the wide receivers can't have a singular focus of, this is a position I play, this is what I'm gonna do. You need to be able to play all three positions because it allows you to, you know, essentially kind of one, understand that the entire, you know, concept of the offense and two, like what if something happens, right? Where someone gets hurt naturally. Right. It creates depth naturally. So if someone gets hurt, it's not a complete panic of, oh my gosh, we don't have a field wide receiver here. What are we gonna do? It's okay, well, we know Faison, for example, knows how to play, you know, this, you know, knows these routes for this specific package, we can now sub him in there. So that was kind of the first thing that I picked up. And then he talked about, you know, being multiple. And I think another thing that comes out of being multiple or, you know, being able to play these different positions is you don't become predictable as an offense, right? So teams are watching film and they see Jordan Faison lines up in the slot. They have a general idea of what sort of play or concept is gonna be coming out of that, right? But if you can play him at all different positions, there's no trends or predictability to catch up on and say, okay, well, we know when both Collins is in the boundary and, you know, this sort of formation, we can expect this sort of route, you can throw off teams by playing all these wide receivers at different positions and allowing them to do, you know, essentially everything. So I really enjoyed it for those reasons. And you can also, to me, this signals that you're going to get your three best receivers on the field, you know, like, all this talk about, well, Jaden Greathouse is number one in the slot, Faison's number two, how's Faison gonna play? That's not a concern at all. Those two are going to play together quite a bit and in whatever other mix with Bo Collins and Chris Mitchell and Jaden Harrison, you know, like think about the speed opportunities when you've got Faison, Chris Mitchell, and Jaden Harrison all out there together. - Right, so now you're going to have more speed packages or size packages. It's not, we need this guy, this guy, this guy's only a slot. Now it's like, okay, let's say we want to get a blazer package on the field, right? And have Faison, Mitchell, and Harrison all at the field at the same time, well, technically they can't do that after all playing slot. But if you can have them learn these different positions, then now it's okay, we can have a speed package. Maybe we can have a size package, right? Where you want more bigger body wide receivers on third and short or, you know, second and short, that sort of stuff. So the ability to mix and match pieces allows you to get different kind of personnel packages on the field depending on what you're trying to accomplish. - Right, and like, like Dan Brock, like you heard him say there, again, part of it was like, if they need a bigger body at the slot, well, you've got Jaden Greathouse. You can stick in the slot, but then you can also put Faison potentially out to the field or the bound or whatever you want to do. To me, it's just very exciting 'cause I think we've already seen, you know, these glimpses of how different it looks in this wide receiver room just through the first couple of days and the opportunity to get these different guys in combination out there together. And then-- - And that's what's gonna be fun. We're not sticking to a cookie cutter type. - Right. - You know, you need to be in, this type of wide receiver needs to be in for this or this or this, it's more, it's more or less now. Okay, let's take the skills of our entire six to seven wide receivers and figure out how we can mix and match them together to accomplish kind of different things depending on, you know, down distance and et cetera. - And then you go back and you throw against like Jeremiah Love and Jadarion Price into the mix. And it just, it creates even more. - That's what I mean, like imagine Jeremiah Love Faison, Chris Mitchell and like Jaden Greathouse all in a set together on the field at the same time, right? Like that's, as fans, that's something we should be excited about because their name is now in the business of putting their best players on the field, finding ways for their best players to get on the field and touch the ball. - And then you can just do what beef eaters talking about. Teach Faison to learn to play the back type, pipes and lead the football and lacrosse team. I know it's done well with it. - I mean, the guys got some versatility. - He does, I don't know if we'll ever see a football player with the bagpipes leading the team out of the tone. - So I saw something today that said, this is someone who's around nerding football as well. And they said, coming out of practice today, you would never believe the state of the wide receiver room last season compared to what they've kind of already shown these first couple practices. So like, again, people who were very concerned about the wide receiver room, the wide receiver recruiting going forward, Mike Dembrock's offense, that sort of stuff. Hearing that, hearing that, I think just solidify some of the stuff we were talking about. If this wide receiver room can make a drastic turnaround this season, everything else is gonna take care of itself in terms of production, wins, losses and the recruiting that's gonna follow in the upcoming years. - Correct. So Dembrock has also been very vocal throughout practice so far. He was asked if the offense's intensity level has been where he wants it to be. And I thought that this was a pretty funny answer. - I think they believe they're playing really hard. (indistinct chatter) - Did that answer your question? - Yeah, that's not right. - And listen, there's nothing to do with effort or try hard. It's, I mean, anything worth getting really good or anything that's gonna develop into something really good is gonna be hard. And we're, camp is designed to make it as hard on these guys as humanly possible. And from a coaching standpoint, to consistently demand that they live to the standard. That, in my opinion, when times get hard in games that's where the difference comes from. That's where that mental makeup and that mental toughness that everybody talks about, it's gotta be hard, right? I mean, nothing worth having didn't come without any hard work. So that's what we're after, right? And it's kind of my job to constantly remind them that listen, if this is below the line and below the standard of what you guys have said, this is what the standard is. And you've said it by your actions and by the way you put it on paper, this is what we wanna be. All right, well, then I'm gonna hold you to that standard. And if I don't think it's where it needs to be, or I feel like they need a gentle nudge in a positive direction, then I'm gonna make sure they get it. - I mean, Marcus Freeman has always talked about choose hard and all that kind of stuff. What do you think about Denbrock's definition of intensity there? - Yeah, I love that he started with, I think they're playing, right? - I think they think they're playing hard. - Yeah, I think they think they're playing hard. And so to me, that's kind of tees up what, why Mike Denbrock is so vocal and why he feels the need to be vocal is because if you think you are playing very hard and no one's saying anything, then how are you supposed to kind of know the difference of, okay, I need to give more or this is good enough or et cetera. So by him saying, okay, they think that they're playing hard. I'm there to kind of remind them that you're not going hard enough that it's not quite where it needs to be. And it's his job to sort of remind them that, okay, you can go to that next level or we can make this look better. This is a little bit sloppy. This is not the standard that we have set. And so that's the way Mike Denbrock goes about it is being super loud and super vocal, but he's doing that to match intensity, right? Because who is going to listen to a guy that's whispering that you need to go harder, right? Or you need to up your game essentially, right? So he is matching, I believe, the intensity or exceeding the intensity because that's what he wants his players to match or kind of live up to at the end of the day. - Absolutely. And the kind of talking that he's doing, Brian and I were talking yesterday about how there is a lot more talking at practice, whether it's players, whether it's coaches. And so it's already a little bit noisier than kind of what we've heard before. And it's not like bad talk, trash talking, any of that kind of stuff. It's the kind of stuff that Denbrock's talking about. But like the voice that stood out the most yesterday was Denbrock's. The voice actually that stood out a little bit more today. And again, we weren't there during the live period. So we didn't get to hear, you know what? Like I'm sure Denbrock was pretty much the same 'cause you could hear that his voice was rasping a little bit and he kind of talks naturally loud anyway. But the voice that stood out today is, you know, to be quite honest, Joe Rudolph was kind of doing his Harry Eastan impersonation out there today, you know, with some of the colorful stuff that he was talking about, getting on the offensive lineman. But again, it's about a standard and you've got to carry that out day in and day out at practice. And I think that it's a great standard that Mike Denbrock has set because, you know, you are seeing it just the way they carry themselves. But it's just simple stuff. Get on the field, get off the field fast. Run on, run off with your helmet on, you know, those kind of things, just simple stuff. But ultimately, I think that it's going to carry a lot of weight as they continue to work forward. So we talked a little bit about the corner's cornerbacks earlier in the show. And Marcus Freeman asked if they have to get one of the freshman corners, whether it's Leonard Moore or Carson Hobbs ready to go for Texas A&M, as kind of a Benjamin Morrison insurance policy. - Dude, I think we're going to need one of those two freshmen to step up and to be ready to go early in the season this year. If they're not ready, then we have enough versatility in the back end to move somebody else to corner. But I think right now our plan to say, okay, we know who the top three, four guys are at corner. Let's really try to develop these young guys to see who can be somebody that can help us. - So, scale of one to 10, Jess, how concerned would you be if they do have to use a freshman cornerback extensively in the opener against A&M? - To me, this has to be a five out of 10, ultimately kind of like a 50/50 toss up, right? Because-- - Engine your bets. - Yeah, like I think that, you know, what is the prior track record when looking at coach Mickens' development of these young defensive backs? Benjamin Morrison was excellent, Christian Gray was excellent, Jayden Mickey has been excellent. And so, do I have all the confidence in the world that they would prepare them how they're supposed to? And if it came down to it, I think it would be a 50/50 because at the end of the day, they still are, you know, a true freshman on the road and arguably the biggest game of the season. But again, the flip side of that is I believe in the Notre Dame coaching staff to prepare the player, you know, as much as possible, right? So I'm not saying that it would be detrimental and I think that there is a lot of experience amongst the Notre Dame defense, especially in the secondary, that there would be guys kind of out there helping them as well, right? Like they wouldn't just be on an island by themselves. They would do stuff defensively to I think kind of, you know, give more cushion or aid to that freshman cornerback. - You know, Marcus Freeman was talking about consistency and they have to have the consistency and trust, you know, trust that they can put them on the field. Here's it, my concern level would be around, was it concern level that I asked or confidence? - Concern. - I wanna make sure, concern level. So like John was saying, his concern level would be a 10. I don't think it would be that high. But I would put it, I think around a six, did the defensive coordinator and I think he has based on the way he called games last year. But did he learn his lesson from two years ago on the road at Ohio State when he put Jade Mickey on an island out there and the, you know, ultimate game deciding touchdown was scored with a true freshman in coverage as they sent both safeties and didn't get either one of them home. You know, like that would be my concern. Are you gonna put a true freshman in a road environment in that kind of situation? Again, that would be my biggest concern. But like we've seen great things from Leonard more so far, it's two days of practice and you've gotta see that, you know, kind of continue to build and he's gotta do it, you know, he's gonna be tested by these receivers assuming he's gonna get to, you know, kind of match up with some of these more veteran receivers. I think it'll be a good test for him during fall camp. But like that would be sort of my biggest concern. Road environment, night game, all those different things and then have to, you know, turn to a freshman that would give me a little bit concerned. This has been my concern with this cornerback unit the whole time and it'll continue to be is just the depth that they have and the depth of experience. You know, like you said, Mike Dickens has a track record of getting these freshmen ready to go. So I'm confident that he's gonna be get, you know, get them ready to go to a certain point but specific to the season opener on the road. That would be a pretty fair concern, I think, going into that environment with the true freshman. - Let me flip the question back on you because - Ann. - Not only did he say, you know, he basically he said there will be an opportunity for a true freshman corner. They have to earn the trust, you know, and all that stuff. But he also did say if, you know, neither of those guys can step up that they would probably have to find a way to maybe, you know, rotate in a more experienced defensive back into the corner position. Does that give you any sort of confidence as well? Just kind of knowing that, you know, they're not just gonna throw a freshman out there to throw a freshman out there. If it comes down to it, there would probably be, you know, a backup to the backup plan essentially. And I guess I started to think about like who that would ultimately be if it wasn't one of those freshmen at the cornerback position. - Yeah, I know. Because, you know, like you do, you know, again, like you have experience out there with Mickey and Christian Gray, both experience and good skill set, but the roster is very thin, you know, like you've got Chance Tucker, for example. Like we saw Marty Hour, you know, a walk on guy, you know, getting, getting some, no, I'm not saying they were high in reps, but like, that's where the depth chart is, you know, he's one of the next guys in line. So, I mean, so that's, is that kind of your question? You know, like if not one of these freshmen who are freshmen, but talented, where else are you gonna turn? Is that kind of what you're saying? - Yeah, I mean, are you gonna turn to, you know, maybe a, I don't know, a safety by trade? Like, I think ultimately what I'm getting at is this is where you miss Clarence Lewis the most. - Right, right. But Clarence Lewis essentially had to move along because I think we were talking about it on Tuesday, right? Because ultimately all he was going to be is a depth piece right here. And, you know, Andrew makes a good point. You do still have Jordan Clark, you know, depending on-- - Yeah, like maybe Rod Heard-- - And you do still have Rod Heard as well. Both of those guys have played corner. - That's where I think ultimately it would go is you would ask one of those older, you know, maybe grad transfer type players to kind of, you know, start, start practicing that corner here a little bit. If it became a concern. - Yeah, and so like in DK's ask it, if Michael Bell should have stayed and again, like I think the thing with him is, was he just gonna get passed up by Leonard Moore, potentially, and/or Carson Hobbs? Probably like, I'm sure that that was the writing on the wall that sent Michael Bell into the transfer portal. So, you know, like, like with me, I just always worry about freshmen because they're unproven until they're proven. - Well, the hardest part as a freshman, and I think this is anytime someone makes their college football debut is nothing out there that can simulate what's actually gonna happen when Texas A&M lines up across from you, your at Kyle field, and it's, you know what I mean? Like the crowd is going crazy, your adrenaline is through the roof, you can feel your heartbeat pounding through your chest pads or your shoulder pads. Like, there's nothing to simulate, you can think you're all good and everything's gonna be fine, but until you get out there, and again, and a live play is actually run by Texas A&M, it's a completely different story. - Well, 'cause look, you know, like with the quarterbacks yesterday, I kind of think that maybe just day one of camp and some of the adrenaline and juice, you know, kind of got to them a little bit. That's just day one of fall camp. There's, you know, like, there's no real crowd, there's no stadium environment and all that stuff. So, like, if it can get to them a little bit on day one, what's it like for a true freshman going into a road environment? - Exactly. - Like a Texas A&M or a Ohio state or wherever it happens to be. It's gotta be 20 times that, if not 50 times that. - And there's nothing that can replicate it. I guess is what I'm getting at. - Exactly, exactly. Yeah, like Andrew says, thank goodness Morrison looks ready to go. And hopefully he will be. He looks, you know, assuming no setbacks or anything, knock on wood, he should be. We talked a little bit yesterday, though, about the heat and humidity the Irish were practicing in. It was still somewhat humid out there today, but a little bit, you know, it was like cloud cover, didn't have the hot sun beaming down and there was a breeze out there. But in terms of the opener at Texas A&M, which do you think will be a bigger factor for the Irish? The heat in college station or the Kyle Field Stadium environment? - I think it's gotta be the Kyle Field environment because at the end of the day, I remember my freshman year and maybe even my sophomore year, we were, we opened games just on the road in tremendous heat, like really, really hot. And I just remember, you know, our coach was trying to practice in the hottest parts of the day because it was gonna replicate it, right? Like we wanted to do whatever we could. And his biggest, his biggest thing when it came to heat, he always says, you know, heat kills bacteria, essentially, he kills the weak, right? Like, and so-- - Doesn't heat actually grow bacteria as a scientist? - Yeah, it was quite controversial. But at the end of the day, I guess what I'm getting at is if you practice in the heat, it really just comes down to a mindset at the end of the day. The heat isn't gonna necessarily bother you, right? Like, the only way heat gets to use if you're not hydrated and your body starts cramping and those sort of things. Like, you're always hot as a football player, playing out in the sun, you got a lot of equipment on, it's, you know, you're gonna be sweaty, all of those things. And then by the time you go to the sideline, they have wet towels, people are dumping water on. Like, that's all gonna be fine. - Well, for that matter, they can give them all IVs the day. - Exactly. - Like, we're even at halftime, right? And so like, there's things that can combat what's gonna come off the heat. And I think you can do more in terms of preparation, right? You can't do anything in terms of preparation for how loud that stadium is gonna be. Your offensive line, trying to communicate, you know, the quarterback trying to get its cadence in. Maybe you go to a silent cadence at some point. Like, that has to be stuff that Marcus Freeman is thinking about, we need to probably have a silent cadence if it gets too loud in that stadium, right? And then we also talked about, I mean, and they even said, I'm pretty sure in the new college football game, Kyle Stadium is the most, like the loudest, most rowdy stadium in the entire college football game. So it's an environment unlike any other, right? And so, and I've talked about it too before, the fans on the first game of the season, they're all gonna be going crazy because it's a new season. There's new expectations. - New head coach. - There's new head coach. - The whole thing. - You're just starting over. You kind of get rid of everything that's happened in the past. It's kind of a fresh start. And they're just gonna cheer, you know, it's gonna be a fan really as loud as possible. So it's hard to simulate that sort of stuff. It's easier to get your body ready to practice in the heat, to get in the right mental mindset of playing in the heat. - I think so too. I think that both teams are gonna be playing in the heat. Now, there is a little bit of an advantage for Texas A&M because they obviously live there and they'll be practicing in that extreme heat, you know, and all that kind of stuff. But look, there's gonna be a plan. There'll be extra hydration all week long. You know, it's a much deeper roster than what they've had the last few years, both, you know, on both sides of the line of scrimmage really. And then when it comes to the skill positions and stuff like that as well, you know, really the place where they lack the most depth is just the corners, you know. So like if you flipped it back that, with that conversation, ultimately though, I think they'll be okay with the heat. You know, I think that that is something that you can prepare for. The biggest thing is going to be until Notre Dame kind of knocks A&M back on its heels and gets some points on the board. I think it's gonna be that Kyle Field environment that's gonna be the bigger factor, you know, that they're gonna have to prepare for basically. - Yeah, and like who was, did one of the coaches a few years ago or they just like blaring music or noises inside the stadium because they were trying to prepare for, I can't remember what game. - All different kinds of stuff. They've used music in the past. They've used like actual crowd noise in the past, piped over the speakers and stuff like that. They've been using an interesting clap count at practice the last couple of days so far. So like we're using a clap count that doesn't tend to travel very well. It seems like they're gonna have to do something more silent count, I think, than a clap count. - And I think, you know, Andrew brings up a good point here. Let me get this Scotch IV off the screen. That's why you get Leonard, three-year starter. He's experienced of trying to figure out, you know, how to combat a very loud and rowdy road environment. I feel a hundred times better that he would be the starter and not Steve and Jelly having to deal something, something like that and also be his first time starting in a regular season game. - I concurp. Yep, that's exactly right. I don't think you can, I don't think you can overestimate that veteran presence that a quarterback like that is gonna be able to give you in that road environment in game one, especially, you know, like with all the other factors that we've already outlined. - Fill in the blank, Chicago Bears, Houston Texans, Hall of Fame game tonight, first NFL exhibition game of the season in Canton, Ohio means blank. - It means nothing because Caleb Williams isn't even playing at quarterback, right? Like I had interest in this game if Caleb Williams are gonna play a quarterback, but at the end of the day, he isn't. And that's the only thing I was intrigued to see about between those two teams. And I think that the Bears are doing us a disservice by not letting him get like at least one offensive series out there, two offensive series, right? Like, I don't care about the backups of the backups. I wanna see Caleb Williams, this new offensive line and these wide receivers that you just went out and got. Like give me something, you know? Like, and I'm not even a Bears fan at the end of the day. So I can't even imagine how fans of those teams feel. - I'm gonna give you two things. Okay, one, it means that starting tonight, every Thursday from now through February, there will be football. So for you, it was like, we have the gun. - Yes, so there's football tonight and every Thursday from now through February. So that's a good thing. And the other thing that tonight's game will bring, like, you know, I might only watch 30 seconds of the game, but we've got the new kickoff rule. - That's right. - Like start the game. That interests me. - Pre-seizing game that works good to see the new rules that are gonna be implemented. Yes, yes. So that's, you know, again, it's an exhibition game. It's generally meaningless. And, you know, like you said, the Bears aren't even gonna play their guys now. Remember, the Bears are gonna be doing the hard knocks in season, so we'll, you know, get some kind of behind the scenes glimpses of that over the next few weeks on hard knocks, but we won't get to see Caleb Williams in action tonight, which does stink. How, I'm curious, Olympics going on. I don't think we talked about the Olympics the other day. Are you, like, where does your interest in the basketball lie compared to the other sports? - Honestly, I'm more excited about the other sports because I don't get to, you know, maybe not I don't get to, but, you know, I watch the NBA. That's the best of the best in terms of professional basketball. I don't get to see swimming, gymnastics, track and field, more of these Olympic sports, kind of year round, right? And so I feel like, and especially with the US dominance, and maybe that's my arrogance also showing at the same time, like the US shouldn't lose. And so really the only time you kind of take notice of the basketball team, in my opinion, is when they're not playing how they're supposed to, right? So I'm more interested in seeing the sports that I don't typically get to see. And I think that they are more Olympic than basketball. I know that kind of maybe sounds weird as well, but like when I think of Olympics, I think of track and field, swimming, gymnastics, that sort of stuff. I don't really think of basketball, but, you know, kind of speaking of basketball, I don't know if you've seen this, but the men's and women's 3B3 teams are like, oh and seven in the Olympics right now. - Hell, it was like, I saw Hailey Van Lith scored all these points or something, but they lost to Germany right away. And they won the gold at the last Olympics in the three on three. So I was pretty surprised to see that. Andrew said he's got big interest in talking about Durant going off against Serbia. I just, you know, like you said, the NBA, these are all NBA players. The NBA has its season, and I am much more interested in, you know, like the swimming and the gymnastics and all these other sports and for, you know, for me, I'm like, I'm interested in the wrestling. Joe said, we haven't even talked about women's boxing. I'll be honest, I didn't realize they had women's boxing in the Olympics. I guess it shouldn't be that surprising since they have women's wrestling in there. And we've actually got a local. - Joe tricked you with that one. There was some women's boxing dilemma today, but that's-- - Oh, was there? - You don't touch that one with a 10-foot pole. Just stay away from that one. And you were busy today. - All right. - Joe, try to sneak one in on you. - It's best that I don't know anything about-- - It's best that you just kind of stay away from women's boxing right now. - Okay, I'll do that. I'll do that. One final question for you. What word or phrase would you like to see eliminated? - So there's a couple for me. I think phrase I would go with money can't buy happiness because money solves a lot of problems. And I know that I would love to have a lot of money because I mean, who won it, right? So that one's one I would like to eliminate. I think the other two are there like, I don't know if you classify them as a phrase or a word because they're so short. I don't like the one I know because like, when people are like saying, like you say something and then people will be like, oh, I know. - Oh, I know, oh, I know. - And it's like, okay, if you do. - I probably would say that too much. - No, but like, I think I get into it a lot at work 'cause like people will ask for help and then I get to tell them, I'm like, oh, I know that. Oh, I knew that. - Yeah. - Okay, you didn't really know that because you wouldn't have asked, right? Another one that kind of annoys me is when you see guys go like, my bad, like, it's like, okay, we all like, we know. Like, you know, like when you drop a pass across the middle of the field and you tap your chest, you say, my bad. It's like, okay, yeah, we all know it's your bad. Like it just, there's really no reason to say it. - Right. Joe says he hates that one, the right. Mine is the, especially when it's used as in place of a question is the talk about. Like, talk about it. Can you talk about instead of just asking a question about what, this is kind of a sports reporter crutch. And I think that everyone who's been in a, you know, press conference setting has probably fallen prey to it at least some point I know I have as well. Like you kind of find yourself maybe kind of start to ask a question and then you just fall into that crutch. But I definitely, definitely try to push it farther away. But that is, that is probably mine that I would like to see go away. The talk about because like when I, the first thing I hear when I hear someone say talk about, I think there's a, there's a song in old 80s pop music that's talk about pop music. That's the first thing that comes to my head when I hear talk about the next thing that comes into my head is pop music. So the talk about has got to go. - I think this question is fun because you're seeing a multitude of different answers and what like really rubs people the wrong way. - Yeah, DK says could care less. And I don't know which way you're going with this DK. The irony is that the proper phrasing is actually couldn't care less. Like I could not care less. - I'm guilty of this one's a lot at work. Know what I mean? Because I feel like I'm constantly, like people will come to me and ask for help or ask how to do stuff. And like you're going so fast. And then I'm always like, okay, does that make sense? Or, oh, do you know what I mean? You know what I mean? And so it's just like, it's just to me kind of like a check-in just to make sure that like before I continue to ramble on about a bunch of other different stuff, like are you at least following me up until this point? But I know I'm constantly saying, you know what I mean? Does that make sense? - I hear you. Yeah, if that makes sense, do you know what I mean? Yes. Oh, those little ones, Tony, must be nice. It's another one. All right, well, I think that's gonna do it for today. Now that we got all that off our chest. Another day of exciting practice for you tomorrow. And that's how I always feel afterwards. I'm always so guilty that they think I'm like calling them an idiot by asking, do you get this? - Do you know what I mean? - Do you know what I'm saying? - You see what I mean? - Do you know what I mean? Or are you just an idiot? That's how it always feels like it's coming on. - All right, well, we will wrap it up with all of us idiots with that one. Hit the like button before you leave. One more morning practice tomorrow, and then I believe we're gonna get to some more interviews afterwards as well. So no more Friday shows, by the way, in case we didn't like for us anyway. Brian, we'll still have his Friday shows and all that kind of stuff, but we won't have the evening Friday shows because training camp is now here. We'll be gearing up for the season, and we will soon be doing the countdown to kick off pre-game shows. So that is in the not too distant. We're like less than a month away on the start of the season now. So we got that gets all gonna start rolling now, baby. All right, so hit that like button before you leave. Appreciate you being here tonight. Have a good one, and we will talk to you later on Ivy Nation Sports Talk. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
