It is time to get up with the first must win of the season. We will show you why a Cowboys loss would mean the D in big D stands for done. Meanwhile, in the division, Philly banged up, but we'll tell you why their biggest problem may not actually be all those injuries, you'll hear what it is, and then sneaky, huge news. The inevitable has happened in collegiate sports as we have known them will never, ever be the same, all that and more. It is time to get up with you starting right now on a football game. Someone found Chanae shoes. I saw you out of the corner of Iowa, you were barefoot. I never wear shoes on. I never wear shoes until I get in the studio. I was at the humble, you guys. You know, eventually. We appreciate it. Wow. Actually, you were special eating. Oh. Just like a girl. Okay. We got lots of football. We got, we got, I genuinely believe we can call tonight a must win for the Dallas Cowboys. And we will get to that in a moment, but we begin with a must win last night for Caitlin Clark and the Indiana fever, their season on the line, the sun looking to close out this best of three, Chanae fever, trying to stay alive right in the first quarter, Caitlin Clark and to want a bonner, get into it. What do we see here? They've been chippy all game long, but what we saw there was just two athletes competing. That's a tough match up, but they kept their heads focused and the game was good following this. And to the fourth quarter, it was really good. The sun have a six point lead and what a night for Alyssa Thomas. My goodness. A lot of times you see her point. You're like, oh, how much does she do? She does everything. One of the most strong players in WBA. She is a queen. She's a bully in the best way. She had 19 and 13. And it looked like the fever were going to fall apart, but it was Caitlin Clark who kept them in. That was a top shot time after time. You see the blitz. Caitlin Clark has the most blitz player in the WBA and she's still able to pull out plays like that. She got them the lead. And now we're under two minutes left. Sun down by two and it's bonner with a big shot. We think big shot bonner, whether it's Mayberry or Bonner, they hit timely threes and unfortunately Kelsey Mitchell, a couple of hurts were short. Those could have been separators for Indiana. And you speak of Mayberry, she had 17 points. Yeah, she's huge. I mean, she was an acquisition midway through the season and I call her the answer. Anytime someone hits the three, she has the answer right back at them. Look at the emotion. Couple seconds, fever down by six, desperation time, that would be Caitlin Clark's last shot of the season. She would score 25, nine assists, but the sun win, they eliminate the fever. And after Caitlin Clark on the year that was. I feel like the basketball has really consumed my life for a year. So I feel like it'll be good for me to kind of reflect back on everything that's happened. Like I feel like I didn't even have time to really reflect on my college career because it ended so fast and then I came here and was trying to give everything I could to this team. And it was special. It was, there was a lot of things that this group accomplished that, you know, a lot of people probably didn't think was possible. Candidly, it feels like a whirlwind to me. I can only imagine what it must feel like for her a year ago, she's getting ready to start her final year at Iowa. How do we contextualize what this year has been for her and candidly for women's basketball as we know it? She came into the WNBA with great expectations. We witnessed her become the most impactful player that we've seen in a generation. And it's a combination of both on and off the court, off the court, attendance, viewership on the court, her prolific scoring and also assist. Guess what? At the end of her rookie campaign, we can say the same damn thing, y'all, about what she has accomplished. It's amazing. She averaged 19 and eight as a rookie. I averaged 12, I think, as a rookie of the year. That is not an easy feat in the WNBA. Host also breaks. She averaged 23, 9 and 5. That break was great for her. More importantly, she continued to make history. Single season assist record, that's hers. Only rookie to have a triple double. She has two. It's wild. But most importantly, this is the number that blows my mind. I believe by the end of the year, she generated the most points in the WNBA, which is wild. Last night, I think she accounted for 45 points. But what she has done, being cool, calm, collected, even though she wears her emotions on her sleeve, has just captivated not only just women's basketball, but the world of women's sports, she delivered and she deserves some rest. I hope she -- coming off of the last season, Iowa season going into the WNBA, it's not easy. But she held it with grace. Look, I mean, for all the talk about her not being on the Olympic team, from a basketball perspective, it was the best thing that happened to her. She played so much better after she got a little bit of rest. And now she'll get the summer or the winter off. We'll talk much more about this as we go. We have a lot more two games last night, WNBA playoffs continue. We will continue with Channing in a moment. But the NFL weekend kicks off tonight. Critical games all weekend long. Let's do a week four watch, JMac Sunday night. What are you watching for? Bills versus Ravens. Derrick Henry, was that just a fluke or is this who this Baltimore Ravens offense is? Can they give him the ball off enough where he can go dominate a football game and allow Lamar Jackson to be Lamar Jackson. Eagles and Buck stand our lives in two banged up football teams. What are you watching for in that game? Jalen Carter. Jalen Carter was the reason why the Eagles beat the New Orleans Saints. Can he be the reason why the Eagles beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers pass protection. Bottom three, bottom four in the NFL. Right now Jalen Carter can dominate and take over this football game and lead this team to a win at defensive tackle in the NFL. He's going to need to because they have no one playing offense for that team. Right now that came on, Cowboys giants have met life tonight. What are you watching? The unit that Micah keeps talking about, the time for talk is over. Micah's talked about everything and I'm wondering if guys are listening, this defense, it's the Giants offense but at the same time the Cowboys defense has not shown up in a big way this season, we need to see it. So listen, I have at times been accused of being prone to hyperbole. You? But I do not think it is overstating it to say the Cowboys season is on the line tonight. Look at their schedule after this game. They go to Pittsburgh, they get the Lions, they go to San Francisco, they go to Atlanta. You tell me they're going to win more than two of those four games. You lose tonight, you can lose six or seven in a row. That's what I'm saying Danny, I mean I believe they could get buried tonight. I think if you can have a must win game week four I think this is a must win game for the Cowboys. Oh there's no question about it and we've talked so much about the Cowboys defense this season, no offense sets their quarterback up for failure more than the Cowboys do right now with Dak Prescott. They set him up to play poorly. The couple things that you want to do, one run the football they can't, two play action the football, no team gets their star receiver, less involved in the Cowboys. CD Lam at the bottom of the screen, safety drops down to the middle, throw it to CD, look at his body language. Why am I not getting the football? This is the one that drives me crazy. On the left half, CD is up top by himself. He's running in a straight line, he's open but they don't throw it to him. No way that they would just have the ball on the left hash and put CD up top by himself, standing still and just run a straight route again, right? No, no, no, they don't throw him the ball again and then there's no way that he would go again and just have him run a straight line. They don't get him the football in Dallas, that's the biggest problem right now. Again, I'll go back to this. The easiest ways to help quarterbacks, I don't care who they are to play well, one run the football, they don't incant, two use motion, they don't incant, three use play action, they don't incant, four run screen passes, they don't, I mean look, they're bottom five in some of these categories, no team sets their quarterback up to play poorly more than Dallas does a doubt. I want to go back to that tape because you know I'm fascinated by the every CD Lam last year was the most targeted receiver in the NFL. You know where he is right now? Way lower on that list. Is that a, I mean, I don't think- Or the first. Or the first. Okay, there you have it. And there were only 32 teams. So my question to you is this, is that a function in any way of all the time he missed? Like he wasn't there, training camp wasn't there, preseason comes in late with a contract all that. I think so. He's on the field. Hey, he's on the field. So then what is it? Why are they, last year they forced Fed in the ball? I mean, Granny, the answer is the offense is boring. The offense, that'd be more exciting if they threw the ball to see it. You know, so that's why I wanted the tape to show it's on the left hash. Yeah. When the ball's on the left hash and you put him all the way out there by himself, it feels like they're disconnected from the play more often than that. Especially when they're fully extended, you know that it's a long throw for the quarterback. If you think about what teams Houston does with Nico Collins, the Kansas City Chiefs do with Rishi Rice, the Vikings do with Justin Jefferson, those guys are so much closer to the football in different splits than CD is. It's more of a scheme thing than him missing time. What's so amazing to me is as you show that he is split all the way out there, you show the safety on the opposite hash, sometimes you would think maybe they put him out there to try to see and dictate what the defense is going to do. Because if you're playing the Cowboys, you want a safety over top of CD lamb. They're not doing that. Right. So once you put him out there, if they're not going to send extra help, you're wasting him out there. You have to throw the ball to him. It's just why you-- Motion him do something. Which is why you saw CD lamb being frustrated on the sidelines because throw me the ball. And I don't--when I looked at the Cowboys, you talk about Greenie, you said they're just they're boring. Dan, you said the offense is boring. We weren't saying it was boring with Kellen Moore. We weren't saying it was boring before. I don't-- and here's the thing. Dak also talked about after their last game, guys have to run the right-- run the route properly. Yeah. They need to be-- and a lot of ears perked up like what is he-- who is he referencing? So the time this might be-- I'm completely confused by what you're telling me. Are you telling me-- because I work with Randy Moss and I want Sundays. And Randy Moss always tells me, man, the top receivers doesn't matter what the defense is, doesn't matter what the coverage is, doesn't matter-- getting off the bus you're double covering me, I'm going to find a way to get my catches. Yes. And CD lamb falls in that category. So you're telling me, they themselves are scheming him out of their offense. Absolutely. Paying him all that money. It doesn't make sense. Absolutely. Especially early on in football games, especially to start games, Greenie. The second thing is this, almost half of his routes are just straight lines. They're just go routes or stop routes. There's very little lateral or horizontal movement. Yeah, it's not that-- I don't think there's this intentional phasing him out, but there's a not intentional phasing him in. I was going to say to how much of the offense is when you go out there, is it on certain plays you're moving receivers in certain spots? So a guy like CD lamb typically could be an off-the-wall receiver, but when we run this route, we want him into the boundary. Does that go on play after play? Absolutely. Watch tonight with the other team. We'll get into that with Malik, they're going to move. If you watch when I was with the Lions and we had Calvin Johnson, we would always put Calvin Johnson into the short side of the field of the boundary, more often than not. Because one, it's the shorter throw, two, then that really forces a defense because then they have to play over the top and it creates options in space for other people. So they're basically saying CD, you are just an ex part of the one of eleven rather than the focal point of the offense. I'm completely, I'm baffled by this, we're going to talk about it more as we go because it seems to me if there's one thing I'm doing if I'm the Cowboys, considering the rest of their offense is so pedestrian, it's getting the ball to hand as much as I possibly can. It's 2024. They don't run the ball, they don't use play action, they don't use motion, they don't use screen game. So what are you saying? Something's wrong with that? The offense is stuck in 1984 and it has been for years. Mike McCarthy is the one in charge there and they're all in. I would like to you to share in the notes last night, the question was put to you. What happens in the event that the Cowboys lose tonight? What is your answer? Panic at the disco baby, it's week four and we are talking about is this a must win for the Cowboys against the Giants, we should not be here, not with that talent, not after we spent all obviously Dak had an MVP type of season last year, CD lamb, most reception, most targets, all of that, they paid both of them and now we're looking around, where's this offense? As the morning continues, we're going to tell you exactly why this is not an easy game for the Cowboys tonight. Much more on an early season crisis, the D in Dallas has gone missing, as Steve and I would say they are the Alice Cowboys, is it time for Micah to put up or finally shut up? Plus Dan is here, we have quarterback questions, tailing in the Eagles, bro, is he just an average Joe? We're just getting started, it's get up on ESPN. 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I'm tired of all the excuses for Joe Burrow, all the defense led Joe Burrow, no Joe Burrow led Joe Burrow down, Joe Burrow led the offense down, Joe Burrow led the team down. Great stats, great stat line, oh it's amazing, he's had all of these touchdowns, no interceptions, but what did you do when the game was in the balance, what did you do when the game was on the line, you know the answer is it's not enough, you know how I know it's not enough, it's because your team doesn't have a win and you're going into week four. The damn Carolina Panthers got a win before the Cincinnati Bengals did, let that sink in. All right, so I would, I make a motion to rename this segment, what the fudge? Yeah, what is fudge? That's Dan's expression, Dan, you heard it, what the fudge? Chris, there are three plays away from being three and oh, yeah, literally three plays away from being three and oh, week one, Mike Kaseki's fumble down in the red zone, week two, the pass interference against the Chiefs and then week three, the perfect throw from Jayden Daniels to scary Terry to win the game. Just take a deep breath with blaming Owen three on Joe Burrow, okay? They got the worst pass defense in football over the last 20 or something games, okay? Now that being said, so Chris, that's a ridiculous thing to say, absolutely ridiculous. That being said, if they lose this weekend, hear me out, lose this weekend, you fall to Owen for your season blouses, it's probably time to start talking about trading one of those receivers. Oh, now I'm listening. Oh, green. You got green up. You got green up. You're not signing both of them long term. So at Owen for you're not making the playoffs, you might as well try to trade one of those receivers sooner rather than later to make sure you can get the maximum amount of value from them. 100% agree. I think the question is which receiver are you trying to trade though? I think it's easy to start, right? You would rather trade T Higgins is what you're saying. You'd rather keep Jamal. Yeah, see so. Yeah. 100%. But then you start to talk about which guy can you get under contract because they've tried with both guys. They tried with T Higgins a season ago, off season. That didn't happen. We saw Jamar Chase not practicing throughout training camp. They didn't get a deal done with him. So at the end of the day, if you decide to trade away T Higgins and then you can't get a deal done with Jamar Chase, now you're just there with Agon in your face. That's a double problem, yeah. But can you imagine, we are a couple seasons removed from them being in a Super Bowl. Yeah, right. And now we're discussing the possibility of moving on from Jamar Chase and would it make sense to move him, you could get more, if I'm Joe Burrow, I'm lost because listening to Chris and everything he said, like at one point the Bengals were down 31-20 in that game. They lost, what did they lose? 30 to 33. So it's not like Joe Burrow is just out there just chilling, like he is actually trying to put his team in a position to win. We have talked about this defense and Luanna Rumo is too good of a coach for this defense to look like that. That to me is the most scary thing in this situation. But the wide receivers, like what Joe Burrow had offensively was those receivers. And to talk about getting rid of one of them is just wild. I agree. Trust me, no bigger fan than Joe Burrow of Joe Burrow than mine. But if you're 0 and 4, you're not keeping them both. Get something for them. And why not the team that they just lost to? Like if you go Washington commanders and they've followed 0 and 4 Cincinnati, you've got a call. I mean, what is T Higgins cost? The way that you've watched Jaden Daniels play, like it's not unrealistic to think. We got a shot this year. Could you imagine Terry McClellan and Jaden Daniels with T Higgins? The reason that it makes sense for Washington is because the Cowboys have looked so on inspiring and then we get to the Eagles. Tampa is our next stop. Jalen Hertz and the short-handed Eagles will meet up against a Bucks team that illuminated them from the playoffs last season. Hertz was MVP runner-up and took the Eagles to the Super Bowl the year before, but he has not maintained that level of play. Look at these numbers. 2022 was touchdown to interception ratio, was over 3.5, which was third in the NFL since then it's dropped by over two points. And since the start of last year in 20 games, Hertz has 26 turnovers, which is three more than any other player in the NFL over that span. So rather than just saying what the fudge, I will ask you a question, Danny, that came up on the radio show yesterday. Have we seen the best of Jalen Hertz? He looked like he was on a rocket ship to the moon. He's clearly a good player. No one's questioned that. But is it possible that- Yes. I think we've seen the best of Jalen Hertz, yes. I think that's fair to say. Can you say yes, the version that led them to the Super Bowl or the version after that? I think the version that led them to the Super Bowl, that 2022 season and playoff stretch, that's the high. Yeah. I don't think we're going to recapture that. One, because the style of the offense, two, because we saw this just rocket-like improvement. And really, since that Super Bowl, and it is absolutely accurate to say, in that Super Bowl, we outperformed everybody on the field. Unbelievable. But there hasn't been the improvements since then. It's not hard to do, but there hasn't been. My biggest thing with this offense right now, specifically to Jalen, is it's so slow. The operation is so slow, and I sit there and I go, "Well, how is Jalen under pressure so much?" But the offensive line is so good at aspiratation, you know? What is the answer to that? He's holding on to the football for such a long time, and that's a problem at quarterback. When you hold it in this league, it usually spells poor players. You brought up one important thing. Everyone talks about all the things he has. Right now they're all hurt, but all the receivers, they're running back here. What's the one thing he's lost? Shane Steichen. And that's the question that I keep asking people around the league. Is it Jalen? Is it just Sir Yani? What is happening there? And I asked them, "Was Shane Steichen just great at scheme? Was his gift scheme? Or was it in the locker room with players?" And the answer I get is both. You know, I'm curious if Steichen was that magic sauce for that burger that they had, you know? The Super Bowl, everything Dan is talking about, who was there in the mix with Jalen, you know? And so, I just wonder if that is part of it, I'm not excusing Jalen at all. But when you start plucking pieces and coordinators, there is an effect on that. And we see all of the big time quarterbacks, it happens to all of them. The offensive coordinators lead because a lot of times they become coaching. They get head coaching jobs. And Jalen Hurts, and to your point, you talk about the Super Bowl line, was that just kind of the outlier of that type of season for Jalen Hurts? And what we've seen since, the turnovers, the fumbles, the bad decisions, is that really who he is? Because other than, if you remove that season from Jalen Hurts, he doesn't get that contract. We're not talking about him in the light in which we are. We all love the quotes, the leadership that he brings, but we haven't seen that consistent play that we saw on that championship run to get there in NFC. So that's my question. You're just like, all right, we know that's the peak, but can he even scratch the surface of where he was that year? The decision making is the biggest issue. The turnovers, we've talked about turnovers, they're not all equal. They don't all matter the same. And then the highs aren't as high as they were in that 22 season. I specifically, to Kimberly's point, go back to the fake, push, push the other day against the Saints. Yeah, end of the half. If that was the Shane Steich in 2022 Eagles, they would have been in the shotgun. They would have motioned a receiver down like an AJ Brown or a Goddard, and they would have ran one of those cool zone read RPOs. And Jalen Hurts would have kicked the ball to the flat or handed it off to the sake, wanted to carry it himself. And now I'm like, he's turning around and just handing off a lateral handoff. Or just kick the field goal. Yeah. You just had a fire. That's real. Started on a seven-yard line, you had three third down conversions. And it's just like, now you walk into the half. We have no points. You have to do so. Pick the guy. That's a good point. Take a look here on our screen. I mean, look, the Eagles are the-- they should-- that instead of the Eagle, we should have like a Red Cross underneath there. They're so completely banked up. Both teams have injuries. That's why I like Tampa this week. As we continue, back to Caitlyn Clark after a whirlwind year. She can finally take a break. We'll zero in on her impact and what is next for her record setting season, plus much more on a suddenly huge Thursday night game for the Cowboys. Will Dak dominate? Or does Dallas have a giant problem on their hand? We'll answer that question next. Get up on ESPN. You're welcome. Just kick off. It is the bottom of the hour you're watching. Get up a little eye candy. Ladies and gentlemen, all rise. And orange. Go. Go. That's his fourth straight game with a home run. It says 57th of the year. The Orioles again prevent the Yankees from clinching the division by holding on for a 9/7 victory. That's really the bigger picture story here. But the larger view is that judges become now the fourth player ever to have multiple seasons of 57 home runs. The others are Sammy Sosa, Mark Maguire and Babe Ruth. Otherwise put, Aaron Judge and Babe Ruth are the only players ever to do it without major question marks about the way they got there. Islanders hit a home run in four straight games. He would need to hit three in the final four games to reach the 60 home run plateau for the second time in his career. All right, it's time for more or less, which is brought to you by ESPN Bet where you can find all these specials and more. Dan, I'll start with you. Big game tonight. Cowboys and Giants. Dak, total passing and rushing yards combined, 276 and a half. You go more or less. I'm going to say more. I do think that Dak has a good night tonight now. Which Giants defensive line can ruin this football game. And I do think this back end wise, they can play some man coverage. But it's a must win. Like we've talked about for the first 31 minutes of this show and usually Dak in these situations steps up. Steps up. I'm going to say more. We also have talked about how they've been under-utilizing CD Lam. So, Jamie, I'll talk to you. Combined rushing and receiving yards for CD Lam, the total tonight's 84 and a half more or less. I'm going more. Mike McCarthy is sitting in his office and he's been watching Dan Orlowski talk about the use of CD Lam all morning long. He's going to put him in the right places on top of that. No Adore Jackson, no Drew Phillips in the secondary for the Giants. More than that. Well, I'm glad you said that. Because mine is about Malik neighbors. And the total on him is six and a half receptions tonight. More or less. And I'm going to go more and I'm going to tell you one. Because I was sitting in my office watching Dan Orlowski and you, Jay Mac, and the rest of the crew on NFL Live yesterday talking about the way the Giants are utilizing him who, with all due respect to Jayden Daniels, right this minute the offensive rookie of the year is Malik neighbors. He has been flat out spec-tacular and I would love you for those who didn't get a chance to see NFL Live yesterday and are getting ready to watch Cowboys and Giants tonight. Give everyone exactly what they should be looking for tonight with Malik. You're Daniel Jones. Okay. I'm Daniel Jones. My neighbors is on Daniel Jones's left, he's getting football. They're just going to line him up on the left. And if that's Trayvon Diggs, if that's Trayvon Diggs, they're either going to run him away from Trayvon Diggs all the way across the field or give him one-on-one matchups and they trust him. It's not like he's just a one-trick pony route wise. Now when he's through the right of Daniel Jones, they don't throw him the ball nearly as much. But when he's through the left, he's getting all his yards, he's getting all his touches, he's getting all his touchdowns. That's the number one thing to look at when the Giants have to football. Look at the numbers. When he lines up on the left, he's almost 200 yards for all three of his touchdowns. Almost 15 yards a catch. The bottom left corner is most in the NFL. So we're talking about a rookie that when he's on, no, I don't know the exact reason why that is the case for the Giants, but when he's on the left, that's where he does his damage. And it's an important point. And you, again, and it's appropriate that you would be the one to make it. That's where Trayvon Diggs plays for the Cowboys. So that little mono a mono matchup tonight figures to go a long way towards the side. Yeah, we always talk about it with the best cornerbacks. Are they going to follow the receivers? Are they going to go all over the field? What Dan just said, hey, Malik neighbors does all of his damage on that. Trayvon Diggs doesn't have to move. And this is a matchup that I think may decide this game because for the Giants, their pass runs, they're going to do their thing. But on that side of the ball, then being able to match up with Malik neighbors. The one thing we know, Daniel Jones is in the huddle when he says break is where the hell is Malik neighbors? And that's why I'm going with the football. Yeah, here's an example of this, Dan, what you're talking about on that left side. Yeah, so he's got left there. That's one on one versus Emerson. That's a double move. Now he's still the right there, but he was in the slot. That's like one of, I want to say four catches this year that he has to the right. That's a red zone move where he just wins. That's an unbelievable catch. This is another red zone. So this is a team that scored four touchdowns in the red zone this year in Malik has three. Just to put into context, okay, the impact it's OBJ like, okay, Malik neighbors impact is OBJ like 40% of the team's targets. That leads the NFL, 56% of the yarders that they have against man coverage. That's most in the NFL, 45% of the yards. That's the most in the NFL. The reality of him being their offense right now through three games is a fact. The giant season looks a lot better in retrospect than it did in the moment. That game against Minnesota suddenly doesn't look the way it felt at the time. If they dress a kicker, week two, they probably beat Washington who looks a lot better and now they beat Cleveland. And the converse of that, when we came in, when the season started and I covered Cowboys and Brown's, everybody was saying, oh, Cowboys won, they look great and being there, it was clear that they were not, this team did not look right either on offense and they were playing to Sean Watson, they were able to confuse him. When you look at Dallas, all we did was talk about how they don't exploit that CD land matchup. Whereas the Giants do the complete opposite, and now you're the Cowboys who come into this game where you can't stop the run, you can't run the wall. Well, hey, you know that's the guy, Devin Singletary should not run all over you. And then can I play one more thing for you guys because with the Cowboys, clearly the defense has been the story. And if you want someone to talk about it, just find Michael Parsons because he always seems to be willing to talk about anything. And this is the latest from him now on the team's struggles on defense. You know, I feel like as a competitor at some point you've got to be prideful enough to say, hey, I'm not going to allow this to happen to me. Like, I just feel like some people are just allowing them to keep getting smacked in the face, like, when are you going to stand up? Like, that is so, we are in week four. Why is it troubling? Is troubling the way you're going for it? Yes, because we've heard them talking last year about effort, intensity, discipline. Now we're coming into the season talking about the same things. I do wonder, I think Mike is clearly is right because this is his team, he's in that locker room. And that man is frustrated and tired and he keeps talking about the same things. But what I wonder is, each week Mike is talking, is everybody tired of Mike, is anybody listening? Because Mike is saying at some point, you're getting tired, you should be tired of getting smacked in the face. At some point, stand up and it's not happening yet. And that game this past week, Nelson Aguilar makes a catch on his sideline. He takes off and on the play, you're watching cowboy defenders walking towards him and then they start to speed up as they see that the tackle wasn't made. And I think that's more of the issue, what's going on and why we keep hearing Mike and say this, but it's at some point for Mike is like, you got to go out there and dominate a game and show these guys that, hey, this is the type of effort and energy it's going to take for us to win. And stop talking about it. I think you're at the point, if you're in a Dallas Cowboys locker room and the media comes up to you, it's just like, hey, it's all about tonight, we just got to go win the game. If the Cowboys don't win and their defense looks as bad as it has this season, it is going to get very ugly, both in that locker room and in their post game press conferences. Yes. Listen, tonight, I agree, I think tonight is, I don't think it's overstating it to say it is their season that is on the line, much more football as we go. But let's go back now to where we began the program. The WNBA and Caitlyn Clark's magic carpet ride of a rookie season comes to an end last night. We couldn't have possibly imagined the height she would climb to back in May. She and the fever got off to an awful start. Team was one in eight. Caitlyn Clark was shooting under 38% from the floor, but the season really turned around and picked up after the Olympic break. And now you talk about that a little bit at the beginning of the show. Clark was left off the team, that was controversial, but that month to rest may really have been the best thing for her. When she came back, she averaged 23 points a game, which was third in the league. We've never seen a rookie take the WNBA storm, but likes to buy storm, excuse me, like Clark has. She said rookie records for total points, assists, three pointers and minutes played, all while becoming the first rookie ever to average 15, five and five. So today, I've known you a long time and I can see the pride that you, as someone who cares so much about this league, takes not just in the season that Caitlyn Clark had, but in the season that Angel Reese had. And other rookies who came in this year, Cameron Brake, who got injured, the transformation that they brought to this league is something that we may look back on someday and say, this was the year everything changed forever. Absolutely. You know, last year, based off of the ACEs becoming back-to-back champions, there was real momentum. I said last year was the year of the super teams, Las Vegas, ACEs, New York, Liberty. This is the year of the super rookies and my goodness, they delivered. And if we think about history, it really repeats itself. Because if you go to the NBA, it took about 30 years until the guys, by the name of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, stormed onto the scene, they were stars in college that represented different aspects of society that took the NBA off of Take Delay and elevated it to the modern day NBA that we know right now. These two women that you see on your screen did exactly that. In a similar fashion, the WNBA is 28 years old, or should I say young? And if you see the history, first of all, it was at rivalry in college. If you watch their match up, the sky and the fever, it was there and they had big moments. What they were able to do in completely different ways, again, our country is captivated by achievement, by sports. That's why we all come together and watch these games. And seeing all those great storylines come to fruition from college now to the pros, but at times, based off of what they represent, you can see the crevices of society. Nonetheless, these women with all of that pressure, they delivered. Angel Reese, what, 15 consecutive double doubles set the WNBA single season rebounding mark until Angel Reese took that over for the last season, last games of the season. I mean, we can't say enough about Caitlin Clark and her scoring and all two assists. Those things, those accomplishments, rebounds, assists, points generated, those are not easy feats, and they did that in year one. When all the eyeballs were on them, yes, this was the year, 2024, where the game changed not just for women's basketball, but I believe for women's sports because the WNBA has an ability to opt out of their CBA soon. We'll see with this momentum and the leverage they have if they can sort of put everything on the map. Listen, we are a star-driven culture, and there's nothing more valuable you can have in a sports league or anything else than legitimate stars. Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and a few of the others have become legitimate stars in our culture. That's the best news a league could possibly have. By the way, they may have said goodbye to one of their greatest players ever last night. Let's go through it. Mercury and Lynx, Diana Tarasi could be her final game, Nefisa Collier completely stole the show. What a performance. Let me tell you right now, Nefisa Collier might be the hottest player right now in the WNBA. I think Fence finished second in MVP voting. Y'all, you can't give her looks like this. It's too easy. She was spectacular online and the Lynx would pull away and never look back up by as many as 18 there now. It's a 12-point game. At the rim, from 3, one of the most efficient players we're seeing, I would not want to face her at this time with 42 points for Nefisa Collier tied for the most points in a playoff game in WNBA history. And there you see Diana Tarasi walking off for what might have been the last time. If so, what are the right things to say about her career this morning? Look, I'll just say it with this, Diana Tarasi. Her bark is worse than her bite. Everyone that has known her, whether it's from you calling out to the Phoenix Mercury, know that. A lot of people hear her sound bites and they're like, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe she's saying that." Let me tell you the real, and I'll give you a little example on this story. My first game in the WNBA, one of the first ones I played against the Phoenix Mercury. Nefa used to help me. She used to give me the scouting report on every team and every player because she wanted me to be great as someone in this league. And she said, "Nay, when you set a screen, Diana's physical, she's going to punch you." And I was like, "What?" And so I went into the game knowing that I was like, "You know what? I'm not going to back down." So I went and then set the screen. She punched me. But I hit her first. Like, threw her back. Now, unfortunately, you know, the ball stops, the possession stops. So there was a free throw. Now, mind you, Diana should have been in the back court because she's a point guy. But instead, she turns, looks at me, it comes from me, stands next to me. If we can go on the wide shot, on the free throw line, and I was nervous, I was sweating. And she turns, and she passed me, was like, "Welcome to the league. I see you, you're not backing down." And then after the game, she said, "Hey, that's how you compete. You know the scouting report, but you actually step up to the challenge." And to me, that's everything about DT. She'll go out there. She'll be fierce. She's someone that, you know, Kobe gave the moniker "White Mamba" for a reason. All-time leading scorer in WNBA history, if this is it, she did it right, and she uplifted so many others. And yes, she might have been physical, but it was worth it because she brought out that greatness in you. That's a great story. Look, I mean, the legendarily, Kobe ran right through Pagosau's chest in the Olympics. That's the way it goes. China, you're the best. Can you handle that? No, definitely. I can't handle it now. Sneaky, huge news. The inevitable has happened, and college sports, as we've known them, are never going to be the same. You need to hear this story next. Come on, get up. The place where legends are made. This is a huge game to the end of the song, touchdown! George Obama, Saturday night, biggest game of the year so far, but from the world of college football, this might be the biggest story. If you haven't heard it, I'm going to explain it to you because I think it could be the beginning of an entirely new normal for all of us who follow sports. UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka has decided to sit out the rest of this season because of a dispute over a $100,000 NIL payment that his agent says was promised by an assistant coach over the phone in January, but never paid. The NIL collective that works with UNLV athletes said there was no signed agreement between them and Sluka who joined the team in August as a transfer after completing his degree from Holy Cross. Sluka's agent said the quarterback was offered $3,000 a month in a phone call last week and quote, "At that point, I think Matthew felt lied to leading to the decision to sit." In a statement, UNLV said quote, "Matthew Sluka's representatives made financial demands upon the university and its NIL collective in order to continue playing." UNLV athletics interpreted these demands as a violation of the NCAA pay for play rules as well as Nevada state law. So why is this significant? This is not necessarily a player that you knew a lot about, although they are having a very good season and he is playing very well, but the reality is this could be described as the tip of an iceberg we're all going to have to get used to sailing into if that is the right way to put it. Paul Feynbaum, I'll let you start the conversation here. What is your reaction to this? Really, the most surprising thing is that this isn't even surprising. We've expected something like this to happen and before we all go into a panic mode, this is just, as you said, the beginning of it. You can't tell someone something in this new age of college athletics and not follow up. I don't blame the player one bit. From a legal standpoint, he probably doesn't have a claim, but this isn't about legality in Nevada. This is about promises made that weren't fulfilled and I'm sure a lot of other players right now are looking around going, "Am I going to be the next one to jump in?" Danny, what's your take on all this? Good for the kid. NCAA, wake up. This is hopefully a wake up call. There's a verse in the Bible, it's 1 Timothy 610 that says, "For the love of money is the root of all evil." This is what happens when you, as an NCAA, just free reign this. For the context of this, and I 100% agree with the young man in his decision, he played football at Holy Cross. This wasn't a big thing. He's playing football because he loves football, transfers, and now, fundamentally, he quits on his team because of money. That's where college football is right now. NCAA, are you happy with what you've built? Are you happy with what you've overseen? There is a young man who's a quarterback who played at Holy Cross who's quitting on his team as their three and all because of money. That's ridiculous. Can I tell you whose fault it is? It is the NCAA's fault, but not now. It was the NCAA's fault for all those years and decades that they could have made reasonable changes to the rules that governed collegiate sports and because they were unwilling to give an inch, the Supreme Court of the United States laughed at them and all of a sudden just threw the doors open to this world we live in now where it is the Wild Wild West and there are no rules and the NCAA has been proven to be completely-- Incompetent? --lacking of-- They have no power. Yes. It's not incompetent. They have no authority. No one has to pay attention to anything they say because the Supreme Court said, "Oh, actually, you guys are a joke. This system you've been running all these years, that you told us it had to be built this way?" That was actually completely untrue all this time and the people who had the power were just holding on to it and more importantly, the people who had the money were just holding on to it. So now, they've lost complete control of the situation and they're never getting it back again. And that's the issue. We're asking these 20-year-old, 21-year-old young men to make decisions that older people are not making. The ones that you're trying to say, "You are responsible with this kid's future to make sure it goes as planned." For this young kid, Matthew, you're looking at a situation where, to our point, it's not about the legal issues. They told you to come here and play and they were going to pay you this amount of money. When it doesn't happen, we're seeing the same thing in the NFL. When training camp starts, guys are not showing up because they're not getting the money that they believe they deserve. This is far worse because not only do you deserve it, they've told you that they're going to give it to you and then decided not to. I can't even say he quit on his team. The university, they quit on him by not coming through with the things that they promised them. Jay Mac, imagine if this was Notre Dame, Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia. This would be a way bigger deal. I think it's kind of garnered some attention. But if the quarterback for one of those schools did this, this would be a massive thing. The smaller schools, we're making these promises, trying to compete with the bigger schools. When it comes down to it, we don't have the money to pay these players the same way that you mentioned those Alabama's and teams like that. To be clear, the NCAA had a rule in which that there were certain meals at which players were allowed to be served bagels with butter, but not with peanut butter because it would have changed the meat that they were being served. You guys live those rules. That's why we are where we are now. Paul, I'll give you the final word. Yeah, and frankly what Jay Mac said is correct, and it's not the NCAA's fault. That train left, it is Vegas' fault. We're talking about $100,000, and I realize that is a lot of money to most people watching right now, but at Alabama, Georgia, Texas, that's a backup. That's not even a legitimate player, let alone the most important player on your team. That's how ridiculous this is, and I think for players, I hope they get opportunities, but know what you're doing when you deal with some of these smaller schools, because the big schools will pay you, I promise you. UNLV interpreted these demands as a violation of the NCAA pay for play rules. Did someone write that with a straight face? Yeah, that sounds like something a joke writer would actually write. It's like a mad libs. Paul, you're outstanding. Thank you. We will talk to you tomorrow. Alabama, Georgia. Obviously this weekend is the monster game. We also have a big game tomorrow night. You want to see a quarterback who's going to go early in the draft? Cam Ward, Miami hosting Virginia Tech on ESPN in the app, and then Saturday night it's the monster game of the SEC. You know what by now, Georgia, Bama, and Tuscaloosa has covered 730 Eastern on ABC. Coming up, it's the first must win of the season. We'll show you why a Cowboys loss would mean the D in big D stands for done. That's next. (upbeat music) (upbeat rock music)
