Finals Fever

June 1st, 2026 

Standing room only for a Finals game costs how much? That ticket-price gut punch turns into a bigger conversation about what championship pressure feels like when your team is actually there, and why the quiet days before Game 1 can be the most nerve-racking part of the whole run.

We bounce through the biggest headlines first, because the NFL decided to hijack June 1st. We react to the Rams going full “win now” with the Miles Garrett move, what it signals about roster building, and why teams like LA treat draft picks like poker chips. Then we dig into the AJ Brown trade to the Patriots, what New England is really buying for Drake May, and why the NFC East still feels like a weekly coin flip depending on which offense shows up.

From there it is Finals mode on two fronts. We break down the Stanley Cup Finals matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes: who faced the tougher road, where the physical edge shows up, why goaltending and shot blocking can flip a series, and what Vegas needs to steal on the road. On the NBA side, we talk Spurs vs Thunder Game 7, how Shai Gilgeous-Alexander navigates contact, what happens when a team’s No 2 disappears, and why Victor Wembanyama changes the entire geometry of a series. Plus, we debate the viral sports betting story of the $2,500 parlay that turns into a $1.7 million sweat and the cash-out decision everyone argues about.

If you’re riding with the Knights, the Knicks, or you just want smart sports talk with real fan energy, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a quick review telling us who you’ve got in both Finals.

#baldguysonthebench #graboneandcrackone #stanleycupfinals #nbafinals #nyknicks #spurs #vegasknights #carolinahurricanes 

Transcript

Weekend Check And Finals Anticipation

Graham and Scott 0:00

Welcome to another episode of the Bald Guys on the Bench podcast with your hosts Graham Cohen and Scott Wasco. What's up everyone? Welcome back to another episode of the Bald Guys on the Bench. Scotty Waugh, it is finally here. The Stanley Club finals are here. How excited are you? Well, I'm excited, nervous, don't know what to say, you know. But you know what time it is. Before we even get going, let's grab one, let's crack one. Let's go. Let's do it. So before we even get into any of that mess, uh, how was your weekend? I don't know. I'm just like waiting, dude, for tomorrow night at 8.15. I forget how nerve-wracking this shit was back in 23 when we got that dub. I mean, and that wasn't even a close series. I mean, we won that four to one. Right. You know. I mean, we'll get into it. Well, what did you do this weekend? What's cracking? Uh, weekend was chill. Just uh worked and then relaxed, uh, watched Spurs and OKC Game 7, which to be honest. Saturday night, yeah. Yeah, so Saturday night. And then yesterday was uh just kind of chill. Just relaxed, chatted with you for a little while, flip the channels. Uh I mean, look, we're at that point right now where it's just like all that excitement of May, you know, all those games every single day. Now it's the finals in both the NBA and now hockey. So it's just like we have those two, three days we're just like doo doo doo doo doo, twiddling our thumbs, just waiting for the excitement to start. So as excited and nervous as you are, I'm right in the same boat with you. So that was my weekend. What about you, brother? Yeah. Weekend was good, dude. Played a little G. Played Saturday with my dad and Boyd and uh Reinhart, you know, one of our guests from it was cool to get out there, tee it up with him. Uh, I your boy played pretty good. I mean, irons are starting to feel good. Your boy's starting to hit it, you know. Little 71 with a three-putt bogey on the last hole. What? Yeah, dude. But, you know, hey, it was a good round of golf. That's all that matters. The night after we recorded our last episode, you know, knights were up three games of nothing. We won the next next game, got the brooms out against Colorado, and then we waited for Carolina to eventually win. I think wasn't there they clinched Friday night. Yeah. Friday night. Wasn't even a game. I mean, it was over 15 minutes into it. Um, so just kind of sitting around, Ava had her prom Saturday night, and that was that. Yesterday, watched some golf and work today, and just waiting on tomorrow at eight o'clock. And all, you know, like I was telling you, all, you know, obviously my club's in North Carolina, all of a sudden, all these Canes fans are coming out of the woodwork trying to talk trash to me. I'm like, bro. Who exactly? I'm like, how many games did you watch during the regular season? And not only that, but can you tell me, can you tell me where the hurricanes came from? Like, where were they before in Raleigh? And if you can't tell me that, you're not allowed to talk shit. So nobody's allowed to talk shit except for one or two people. Uh but my assistant Kyle, you know, he's from Vegas and is a Knights fan and actually has a Wild Bill jersey. Oh, wow. And, you know, I have one. So tomorrow we're sporting them around the club, baby. Let's go. Oh, right. Yeah, asking for that shit talking. Let's

NFL Chaos Miles Garrett To Rams

Speaker 3:48

go. But uh, you know, we were gonna start the show off just basically Stanley Cup Finals, NBA finals, and then uh the madness in the uh NFL happened today with the June 1st deadline, and you know, the trade that I texted you literally when I saw it was holy uh uh bro is you know Miles Garrett going to the Rams. I remember specifically last year before the season started, or you know, around this time, coming on the airwaves here and saying this. I could not remember the last time the crazy moves that have happened in this league, like all the crazy moves that are happening, and then what did we wake up to today? Like, yeah, there's been speculation in years past with Miles Garrett that he's gonna move, you know. They want to do something, you know. Look, there was speculation that they want to even pay him, you know, and then they did, and then they restructured it, and that's why the that's why the Rams made the deal. Well, of course. So here's my question before we even get into that. Yeah. If you're Aaron Donald, do you pick up the phone? Why get another one, bro? He's already considered the second best defensive player. Like, he's top five defensive player, top two defensive lineman of all time. He has his chip. He it doesn't matter. There's nothing to gain for him. Come back week 10. Could you imagine that offensive line if he came back? Or I'm sorry, smack myself. Defensive line. But the crazy thing is once again, the Rams just go back to their old theme. Remember the t-shirts they had made? F those picks. I uh dude, not only they send Verse, who's been in the league for two years, his rookie season, defensive rookie of the year. They send him packing to Cleveland. Poor kid. I mean, you go from LA and now you're going to Cleveland. It's your third year in the league, and all you've done is produce. Yeah. I mean, gone to the NFC Championship games two games. Yeah, I I I just dude, just think, just think about this, okay? Since 2016, the Rams have only had three first round picks. In 16, they took golf, then traded him for Matthew Stafford. In 24, they took Verse, eventually traded for Miles Garrett. In 26 this year, they got Simpson. And and in my opinion, I was talking to you about this earlier. I think that pick of Simpson in the first round had a lot to do with this. Because we all know next year's what? A quarterback heavy draft. And the Rams were like, you know what? Let's go get this kid. We can trade next year's one for something big, get Stafford something. What did everybody every Rams fan do? Complained about their first round pick because they didn't get somebody to what help out this team in Stafford's maybe last year. So now you got Stafford, you got your quarterback of the future, you get Miles Garrett, you get Simpson that gets to learn under Stafford. And you got a GM walking around like this, F those picks. Yeah, I you know, there's a lot of things to unpack there, but I I think the first part of it is I mean, think about this. You have the defensive player of the year and the MVP on your team now. Yeah. But you also said that, oh, the fans are like, well, what are they gonna add to help Stafford? Um, you know they were a few plays away of going to the Super Bowl, right? I mean, it's not like the team they're bringing back is drastically different. You know, that's most that's all they they have all the key guys. They picked up the cornerbacks from Kansas City, like they're dude. If they're they were pretty close to the betting favorite prior to Miles Garrett today. I mean, now what are they plus 200? Like there's 600 to win, but here's they're plus they're minus 500 to make the playoffs. When I when I made that parlay with that free $50 bet, yeah, I was looking at it because I had the Rams in it. They were and I was like, I wonder what I just got that at. They were minus 225. Yeah, I mean, but look, how much more of an upgrade is Miles Garrett over Verse? He's a game wrecker, dude. I'm not saying he's not. Hey, as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, am I glad to not see Miles Garrett? Duh. Duh. Duh. So I mean, it's uh look, as we like to say, that's a pro move. I look, it's traded for Ramsey. Got Ramsey. They've done all these things, dude. I I mean look. They don't care, they go for it. They got their ring, they got their ring. Should have lost. Should have lost. It's it's a fair deal. I mean, look, to get Miles Garrett and to only give away one first round pick, and then there's some other supplemental stuff that they'll get, like, you have to give away a piece. Verse is gonna be a like that's a huge piece. And look, and he's still in a rookie deal. That's my point, right? First round deal, young as shit, and it's going into his third year, right? And this is year nine for Miles Garrett. Yeah, year nine. So he's at the top, he's peaking right now. I get that. How much longer can he sustain that? I mean, it's look, it's win now. We already said that, and it it look, he'll still be good the next year, two years. Like he's he's not falling off a cliff, but you know, it's it's just crazy to think. Look, that money's not gonna be the same because those California taxes, but as we said Miles Garrett, he now has a chance to what? Oh, yeah, he's the happiest dude on earth right now. Are you kidding me right now? And then the saddest dude on earth is his first. When I was talking to you earlier, I was like, that poor kid. I mean, but here's the thing, though. Cleveland, the defense was good. The they gave the offense weapons, like they have potential. That's the problem. It's just Cleveland just has the curse of being Cleveland. That's the problem. So it's just like if they can get out of their own way. I mean, look, if the Browns figured it out, it's kind of I mean, I don't want to make the comparison where it's just like, you know, the league's good when the Knicks are good, but it's just like if the Browns ever figured it out, I mean, there's a few teams, like, if they figured it out, you're just like, oh wow, this is a more well well-rounded league. You know what I mean? And it's just like, dude, dude, if the Browns figured it out, every team in our division, like I'm so glad when I saw that trade happen today. The first thing I thought was text you, and then my next thought was I'm so glad we're not in the San Diego League right now because Dan would be running around with the chubby and text him. His Spurs are in the finals. This happens. You know, he's running around with a chubby the size of a Vienna sausage. Sorry. Not sorry. Not really. I hope whoever in our old league listens to this repeats that because don't

AJ Brown Trade And NFC East Talk

Speaker 11:50

care. Um, anyhow, the other news that we knew was gonna go down today because they were waiting for the June 1st deadline was the Eagles trading AJ Brown to the Patriots. We knew what was gonna happen. The crazy thing to me though was the Eagles, the rumors were what they were trying to get for him. They didn't get, dude. A first rounder in 2028, and a fifth round in 27. What? They were talking earlier, they wanted two firsts, they wanted this, they wanted that. They didn't they got a first in 28. Yeah, that's not next year, that's the following year. Right. And a fifth in 27. Granted, the Patriots gotta eat that money, but Drake May finally has his true number one. You know? I thought I thought they were gonna. I don't know. I thought people were gonna have to give up more than that. Hey, I still think a hot take is Patriots ain't making the playoffs this year. I know, you said it a couple weeks ago. Yeah, I did. I don't I mean the schedule's gonna be harder, obviously. Uh Bills finally got their true number one. You know? Who knows? We'll see. I I just I don't know. I I was just shocked when I saw the trade details. I was like, what? Everything I kept hearing was two first. But you know how old is he now? I don't know. I'm not sure. But also, what's he gonna do in New England? Is he gonna bitch and moan like he did in Philly? No. Is he gonna be Oh no, that was somebody else? Uh I I just I don't know. Do they do the Patriots have a Saquon Barkley? No. Do they have like they got they got the stud second year running back from Ohio State? What's his name? Hendrickson? No, Henderson, yeah. Henderson, yeah. Yeah. I I like he look the way the Eagles run their offense comparative to what they're gonna do in in New England, it's different. He'll be f like he'll be the number one, he'll be the guy, you know, he'll get the looks. I just I think he'll be more appreciated there. Absolutely. It's not a one first offense. Yeah, that's what he wants. You don't have Hertz, you know, running it. You don't have Saquon being the centerpiece. It helps. What's the other receiver's name in in Philly? I can't think of it. Not the rookie, though. Devonta Smith. Yes. Fantasy watch. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, didn't he uh didn't he win the Heisman? Did he? I don't know. I think he did. I don't know why for some I could be wrong. I don't know. It might have. Look it up. I don't know. I'll just say this. The NFC East, can we disagree? It's wide the F open. Is there anything that says like, oh, it's gonna be this or that? I mean, it could be a crap shoot. It it could. I mean, Eagles are obviously gonna be the the favorite because of that defense. But offense is the key for the Eagles. I mean, look at the Cowboys. Don't I mean, as much as I like to joke on the Cowboys, don't sell them short. Right. And and also don't sell the Giants short. I mean, you got a coach coming in, you got a quarterback in the second year, studs on the defensive line, made some right moves, and I saw a video of neighbors, you know, that awful injury you had last year against the Chargers. Could barely walk. But what'd the Giants go out and do? Sign some dudes. I mean, fucking Juju signed with the Giants. Sign Juju, homeboys back, yeah. He made the greatest catch in Giants history. OBJ! How much does he have left in the tank? I don't know. I mean What is he playing? 15 snaps a game? Like if. Don't forget, let's see if he makes the team. Yeah. I mean, it's one of those things I like. Okay, this is one of his 15 plays that he's out here. All right, defense, where are they gonna go? Is he a decoy? Is he not a decoy? Like what, you know? Right. And don't forget, they got a homeboy from Baltimore tied in. Yeah. Likely. Yeah. I forgot about that. Yeah. Dude, we've been talking so much hockey and basketball that it's just like we almost need to get that football. You know, you know, fantasy season is around the corner. It's like, you know, we gotta go over our subject. It's it's gonna be about that time. I mean, it's June 1st. I know, I know. Still early, but you know, it is, it is. The people that take it real serious, they're doing research. Yeah. And speaking of doing research, your boy just did, and I will pat myself on the back. Yes, Devonta Smith did win the 2020 Heisman. See, like he went to Bama, right? Yeah, yeah. All right. So before we turn the page, it's quiz time.

Random Trivia And Masters Lottery Reminder

Speaker 17:26

Oh on the ball guys on the bench. Son of a pants. I had a bunch, dude. The algorithm on my Instagram. You look at one, and now I'm just getting flooded with them. It's awesome. Uh okay. You you should get this one. We need to make this. Oh, you know what? Did I already do this one? I don't know. Maybe not. The hockey one? Yeah. Oh, damn it. Well, that's why I thought you had new ones. I don't know. No, it was that one. The hockey one with the colors. Yeah. Yeah, I did that one. Okay. All right. Never mind. It's not quiz time. Actually, you know what? It is. It's not going to be a sports quiz. TP busted me with this one last night. Uh, this is insane, dude. Oh, please let me get this. There's no chance. Uh what is the country with the most glaciers? What with the most glaciers? Uh Greenland. That's the number two overall. Son of a that was my second guess. My first guess was Canada. Yeah, okay. Those were the top two responses. Oh, um, Siberia? Nope. I've no idea. You're never gonna get it. I mean, whatever. It's just fun facts with the bald guys on the bench. Uh Pakistan. 7,000 glaciers. Yeah, when you think of Pakistan, you think of desert and the heat. Yeah. Three huge mountain ranges. Yeah. TP. Yeah, dude. I mean. F off TP. Hey, fun facts, dude. It's fun. Not only do we entertain, we educate mother. So I mean it's like inside the NBA, we need to do have like a little theme song where it's like the Nito stat of the. That Nito stat of the league. Dan Dan Patrick show in the morning. Stat of the day, stat of the day. Stat of the day, stat. They're not as good as ours. Um anyhow. Uh before we jump in real quick to the Stanley Cup Finals, uh, today is June 1st. All my golf people out there, what does June 1st mean to you? It means I hope you all forget to get in the master's lottery so Graham and I can win. So don't do it. Forget totally about it and cry about it in July when you don't get the rejection email. So yeah. Do what I did last year. Think you signed up for it and then realize you didn't. Yeah. It's hard to get a rejection letter when you don't apply. But uh anyhow, you got till June 20th. Masters.org, get on there, try it out. You got probably a better chance of getting struck by lightning than getting in, but who knows? And if you do win, and it's because we reminded you, you know, shoot us an email. Maybe uh maybe we can swap some tickets and go from there. Yeah, I mean, obviously I get in because of the PGA membership, but it's not cool if I mean it's cool, but it's better when you're with a friend. A hundred percent. Or I want to do that again, dude. But I gotta tell you this, this is great. Two of my members that I love, I texted them both tonight and I was like, hey, master's lottery open today. Don't forget to do it. One of the members was like, responded, Hey, I already applied. I'm like, perfect. He goes, Some of us mortals don't get free tickets like you. And I was like, Yeah, well, golf pros don't get to retire at age 55 with millions in the bank like you. Mic drop, I'm out. What did he say to that? The other guy just said, out. Yeah. He's like, trade you. Yeah. And then he was like, Yeah, well, we were beaten down for a lot of years. I'm like, you've obviously never been a golf pro. Sheesh. So uh, anyhow, don't forget to do that or forget and Give us a better opportunity. Right? Um, anyhow, I can't believe, dude, I already did that quiz. I don't have anything good to ask you. Um I'm well prepared, too. I know. You wrote down all your football teams. And did I ask you, did I do the one which Power 4? There's Power Four schools that have the same name as uh NFL teams? No. Which there's actually more than four. I called, I I blasted them on Instagram because there's more than four. So we'll do it together. Okay. Oklahoma State Cowboys, Dallas Cowboys. Okay. Boise State Broncos. I was just gonna say the Broncos. Denver Broncos. Uh Pitt Panthers, Carolina Panthers. Yeah. Um, what were the other ones? Damn it. Uh they totally the Raiders counted. Oh. Red Raiders. You got Red Raiders. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I didn't like that one at all. Um, what else? Shit, I forget what else it was. Um, I can't damn it. I didn't screenshot it. There was more. Damn it. This is where I need those screenshot things. You mean the screenshot the other 10,000 things that are in your messages? Yeah, 7 million of them. But anyhow, let's jump in, dude. Yeah, let's get it.

Stanley Cup Finals Knights Vs Canes

Speaker 23:32

Now that we've gotten the maskers out of the way and hoping everybody forgets to do the lottery, it's time, bro. Stanley Cup Finals. This is it. It is finally here. The anxiety, the excitement, the pressure. Dude, I just want to go back to before the playoff preview show with Navarro and TP. And think about what I was talking to you about when we fired Cassidy. It's over. We're not even making the playoffs. Right? We were done. I mean, we only won 39 games, and we talked about this in the playoff preview show. There's teams in the Eastern Conference that won more games than us, didn't even make the playoffs. Yeah. But I just gotta say, the coaching change, putting Carter Hart in between the pipes has paid off, bro. Yeah. And I was the biggest doubter. You know, I was talking about it on here. Like, why do you fire a coach with eight games left? And then we're trying to be like the devils and fire their coach with eight games left and win the cup. But we broke out the brooms, bro, against the Avalanche. Yeah. And game one, we didn't look too good. But we won. Game two, we got the dub. And Colorado. Game three, we're down three to nothing. Yeah. Dude, we only allowed 12 goals. Or no. Uh whatever. In four games against them. And game four, yeah, the final score was two to one. That shit wasn't that close. We beat the holy shit out of them. Yeah. And they were confused blocking shots. We were the more physical team. Carter Hart, he wasn't even going to be one of the three stars of that game, even if he got a shutout. He didn't have to do shit. He didn't have to block shots. I mean, I don't know. It's the Stanley Cup Finals. We're playing against the Canes. And I'm just going to talk about a couple things before we even get into it. Carolina went 12-1 in the playoffs, swept the first two series, lost game one against Montreal after having like 13-14 days off. You know, what can you say? They're hot, right? You think? Duh. And everybody, oh, nice, nice, nice. Dude, going in the playoffs, all I heard, the mammoth were gonna give us fits. Beat the mammoth in six. Then the ducks are gonna be way too fast for us. Beat them in six. And then no chance against Colorado. How'd that go? And then now all I'm hearing is from Canes fans. Oh, the Knights didn't play anybody to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. Okay, but your Canes did. Because let me remind all you Canes fans, and I don't dislike the Canes. I just they're fans coming out of the woodwork that, you know, whatever. Don't even know where they originated from. Yeah. They played a wild card team in round one and two three seeds. Okay? The Knights? Yeah. Wildcard team in round one. A three-seed in the Ducks, and a one-seed. Wasn't they the number one overall seed? Yeah. So don't talk to me about not playing people. Okay? It is what it is. It's gonna be an amazing series. Both teams have advantages on different sides, obviously, right? Goaltendings, even. But we're the bigger team. We're more physical. Without a doubt. We have the advantage of what? We were there three years ago. Yeah. You got Stone, you got ICL, you got all these boys that have been there. But then you got the Canes. They haven't lost a road game in the playoffs. Obviously, you only lost one game. I mean Yeah, right. And it's gonna be a great series. I can see it going back and forth. I can make an argument. The Canes are gonna win, I can make an argument. The Knights are gonna win. That's why if you look at the betting lines, it's what? Pretty damn close, right? I mean it's Canes are like minus 150, knights are plus 130. Yeah. You know, it's not the series the world wants to see. You know, but guess what? Who? Something I've been reading about hockey, that hockey needs a villain. Okay. And the knights have become that team. They've become the villain. But how though? Because Bill Foley doesn't give a shit. Kelly McCerman doesn't give a shit. McPhee doesn't give a shit. They trade a first ballot Hall of Famer in Flurry. At the end of his career. To make moves. Yeah. They do whatever it takes to get where they want to go. They fire the head coach with eight games left. Yeah, and they better rehire him next season. They're not hiring Cassidy. No, I'm no no. Torts. Torts. Yeah. I mean, they don't care, dude. I mean this is our third trip, bro, to the Stanley Cup Finals. Yeah. Third. In nine years. It's not bad. Third. We've missed the playoffs once. Hey. At least one of the teams I pull for, you know, does this shit. Hey, you'll make the playoffs this year, the Chargers. Could make something happen. I I I mean, look. It's I'm a spoiled fan of hockey. I said it year one, and I told everybody, if we win the cup year one, my first time ever having a dog in the fight, I'm done. I'm never watching hockey again. Obviously, that was not wouldn't ever have been true. But dude. Yeah. Yeah. But also you made that statement knowing as a first-year team, like there's no way you're like making the playoffs would be a pat on that. No, no, no, no. I said it before the cup. Oh, okay, okay. Yeah. But dude, game one tomorrow

Ticket Prices Fan Energy And Predictions

Speaker 30:31

night. I mean, like I said, I am pumped that arena tomorrow night in Raleigh is gonna be on fire. Oh. They haven't they haven't hosted a Stanley Cup game in years, since 2000, whatever. It's gonna be on fire. Yeah. And I'm three hours away and can't go. I mean, yeah, if you didn't want to make a mortgage payment, just go to a game. Dude, it's ridiculous. I mean, it's so much. I mean, I single game tickets went on sale Saturday. I got on, I was like number 9,000 in the queue. Nope. Not happening. Night single game tickets go on tomorrow at noon your time. Uh but dude, it's I don't know. I I love it. It's gonna be awesome. It's gonna be a great series. It's gonna be back and forth. I can see it. My prediction the other night, gut feeling, nights and six. Yeah? Nights and six. We're gonna have to win, we're gonna have to win one on the road, either Tuesday or Thursdays. Now, would game six be here in Vegas? Yes. Alright. Yes, yes. But if it comes down to it, and I was talking about this, if there's no way I would do it, I would tell my dad to spend that kind of money. If I was guaranteed that I got to see the Knights win in game seven, guaranteed, I'd spend the money to watch the boys roll roll around the ring with the car. Oh, yeah. But dude, those tickets, I mean, I mean Do they got standing room? Yeah, and I was looking at it earlier. Standing room only is $8.50. Jesus. Yeah. And they and they gouged up the ticket or parking prices in the Eastern Conference Finals from $35 to $75. Yeah. I mean, it's just I mean, right now I'm looking at SeatGeek right now. Two tickets. Yeah, standing room only, $8.11. Each or total? No, each. Oh, just making sure. Yeah. Yeah. I just, that's it's ridiculous. You know, coming from someone, I mean, you longer than I, you know, being a season ticket holder for a franchise, there is, I mean, look. There the excitement of rooting for your team in the environment, in that atmosphere for the playoffs, especially for a championship. Like, I I mean, look, once in a lifetime type. And that's another thing. I don't want to be on the road. Yeah. I don't want to be there. I would rather be in Vegas to see an L, you know, with the crowd, with the homeboys. Yeah. I don't want to be in a sea of red bandwagon dudes, you know, that pull for NC State, you know. I mean, look, to spend that money to go to the game and then if and then to lose would be the worst. Yeah, you're experiencing it, but you also would want to experience it with someone else, like another fan as well. You know what I mean? So it's just like, what do you make a new friend, make new Knights fans, friends? Game one in Vegas. Cheapest is 12 Hundo. Yeah, that sounds about right. Yeah, but that party outside the stadium is gonna be for easy. Like my boy Dave said, we were talking, I talked to him before I got on. He's a Knights fan. He was, I was like, all right, what's our limit? And he goes, I don't know, dude. Just let me know when you're in the queue and let me know what's available. And then obviously nothing. And then we were talking, he goes, dude, for the prices they're charging, we could fly to Vegas, go hang out at the T-Mobile, whatever they call it, or go to Circa. Yeah. Get a get a room. I can get rooms from Lich and fly back. Yeah. But I mean, I'm still down for that option. Yeah, I bet you are. But I don't know, man. It's gonna be a great series. I don't know. I'm not trying to be a homer by picking the knights. It might sound like it. I just think beware of the team that's hot. And the knights are hot. I mean, look, both of the teams are hot. I mean, and look, they both have had almost an equal amount of time off. You know, they're gonna be rested, ready to go. The fireworks of game one and what's gonna happen. Yeah, both teams failing each other out. I I just I don't know if game one's gonna be a representative of what the series is gonna be, but it's I think the Knights could surprise them, like you said, with their physicality in the beginning and just kind of see how it works. And look, as you said before, especially within hockey, it all comes down to you know how good's the goalie gonna be. So well, not only that, dude, but our defense blocking shots with the boys in the back. Yeah. And something that's understated, and I think it was a huge reason we beat Colorado is Wild Bill. Wild Bill, dude, throughout his career has just literally been like flies on dog shit with Nathan McKinnon. You want to talk about frustrating the shit out of somebody. Yeah. That's wild bill, dude. And TP said it last night when we were talking about it, he thinks the over's gonna hit a lot. I think that benefits Carolina. The under and our defense, we need low-scoring two to one games to benefit us. But the Knights breakaway goals. Carolina allows a lot of them. That's what we need. That's what we need. But what do you think? I mean, I know who you're rooting for. Hey, who are you rooting for? You know, it's it's crazy. I, you know, uh during this past month, I was watching a lot of the hockey games. You know, I did watch more, I mean, I definitely watched more Carolina games than I would have ever watched. So I yeah, they are fast. I I don't know. It's just like the way the Knights have been playing, especially in these last couple series, I I agree with you. I mean, I I would say Knights and six, I mean, but you know, it's in hockey, like anything could happen. And plus, think about it this way say Carolina goes out crazy in the first game, or not even crazy, like say they get game one. Game two, you know, the knights will learn from what whatever I don't want to say mistakes, but they'll learn from game one and then attack. It's just like, look, they have to split. Like, that's really what it comes down to. I I mean, I'm not saying it's over if they don't. No. No. You have to split. And if they go up 2-0, then I mean, I'm not saying it's over, but I mean When I was thinking about this earlier, the only time the Knights trailed in a series was against Utah. We're down two to one. Yeah. Obviously one, three straight. Then we were tied with the Ducks one, two straight. Dude, the Knights haven't lost a game since May 10th. Yeah. Six in a row. Just listening to the interviews and like how you know I'm Stone were talking. It's just like I mean, not to jinx it, but they just feel like they're in the zone right now. And they've been there. They did it three years ago. Yeah. Three years ago. You got Marner. Folks, we're not trying to sound like homers here, but it's just Hey, I'm just well, whatever. We are sweet golden nights, go nights, go. I mean, Homer D's, you know. I mean, tell me where the Canes came from, and then you can talk shit. Do you know where they came from? I have no idea. They were the Hartford Whalers. Oh, uh, damn it. Well, you th you threw me off. You're like, oh, you know, that city before. I was like, I'm like, I don't think they were another team in Carolina. Yeah. I knew that fuck, I knew they were from damn it. Yeah, whatever, it's fine. Uh let's move on. Uh so we got game one Tuesday, game two Thursday. First game in Vegas is Saturday, then the second game in Vegas is Tuesday. They actually take two days off. Wow. Yeah, and then we'll see what happens. Um NBA

NBA Playoffs Game 7 And Ref Talk

Speaker 39:52

finals. I mean, that was actually pretty good. I mean, the one series. Hey, the OKC Spurs series was amazing. I look, a couple of points. Game seven was worth everything that I thought it was gonna be. Um look, after our last episode, what did we rant about? I mean, just not really the I mean, yes, the officiating, but just like the style of play and which OKC was doing, especially SGA with the you know, I wouldn't say flopping specifically, but just faking a shot, get catching the dude in the air and jumping in. Like, but look, so many people were complaining about it that I felt like the refs listened and they were a lot more diligent with making their calls. I mean, there was a lot of times where SGA made those type of moves and he didn't get the call just because he shouldn't have got the call because nothing happened. Um I will say he played his ass off in game seven. He hey, kudos to him. He definitely did. And look, the Spurs, they went on the heaters, they made the three-point shots they needed to make. Wemby played amazing. There's a reason why he won uh MVP of the wet of the Western Conference series. I get it. Um look, SGA and and the Thunder Lake, they were right there, but you can't win a series with just your number one. You need the help from the rest of your team. And when their second best player, Chet, was basically MIA. You know, he he was there in spe like he was there in body, but not in mind. When you didn't take a shot in the second half, you score four points for for the total game. What? In game seven? Yeah, he only had four points. He didn't make a shot attempt in the second half. Chet Holmgren, yeah. Wow. Dude, all the memes after it was over, they because he because he looks like McLovin, they put McLovin's face on his body. Wow. I I mean, you know, and then not having Williams, their, you know, their point guard, their third best guy. Uh look, they fought. I mean, it was a close game. And you know, the funny thing about it is, especially that game and a little bit of game six, one of the bigger stories that we were talking about, and what a lot of people were talking about, especially from the betting world, was how about the guy on DraftKings with his bet? God,

The 2,500 Parlay That Hit 1.7M

Speaker 42:30

I meant to say, bring that up. I totally spaced. But Bro, refresh us on the bet. Dude, it now makes sense, though. Oh, don't give me this. He's a he's this big time professional gambler. Okay, okay. I thought it was just a regular dude like you and I. That changes everything in my mind. The bet was $2,500, and he had a parlay. Where is it? United States hockey to win the gold, Michigan to win the basketball championship, the Knicks Eastern Conference, and the Spurs Western Conference. 2,500 to win 1.7 milli. Going into game five, tied two to two, he was offered a cash out. I think it was around 500. Yeah. One. And then Spurs lose. And then the next cash out was like 293. Yeah. Obviously, Spurs boat race him. Going into game seven, what was it? 690 something? I don't think it was that much. It was in the sixes, like 650, maybe. And the dude's like, no, I'm not taking it. I'm not taking it. And he he said he he didn't hedge it. Yeah, okay. I don't believe that. You know, if you believe that, I'm from the IRS and I'm here to help. Yeah, no chance. But Uh, didn't cash out, ended up getting the dub. But I guess his name is like did you see it? No. What is it? Oh, dude. It's like Parlay Prince or something like that. Oh my god. Yeah. So it started to make more sense about, you know, stuff like that. Why he didn't cash out. Because I'm sitting there telling you I'm cashing out going into game five. Yeah. You know, two to two, five ninety cash out. Any investor out there that does investing, you turn 2,500 bucks into what? Yeah. You're done. Then you lose game five. Yeah. You're one L away. Ugh. You know. I mean, but like I feel confident with the Spurs at home. I mean, they ended up blowing them out. So then it goes to game seven, and look, they won the first game in Oklahoma City, but then they lost the other games there. I mean, it at that point, it's a crapshoot. I mean, it's 50-50 at that point. And look, we were talking during the game because we watched it together. There was a few points. I mean, look, they were up, and by they I mean the Spurs. The Spurs got up early, then you know OKC came back. The Spurs went up again, then OKC comes back. I mean, if you're the better, how tight is your sphincter in that fourth quarter? When they're I I mean, I I just dude, the last 10 minutes of the game. I know. I know. I mean, at that point, like I'm looking at the parlay, it's just like, yo, is there is there in-game cash-out opportunity? Like, if if you're up 15 in the fourth, like, do you take it at 1.4? Or do you take it at 1.2? Like I keep telling you, you're in this situation, you can't walk away with nothing. No, he walked away with 1.7. But I mean, the stress. And look, it came down to it with what was it, with like uh a couple minutes left in the game. The backup center comes in and does and does like a rundown block that really changed the momentum of that at the end of the fourth quarter. I mean, just that momentum of getting that stop. Because, dude, that if they would have scored that bucket, it would have got them down to like four points. They get the block and they take it back down the court and score. Like, that's a four-point swing just right there. I mean, what what are you thinking? I mean, United States wins the gold in overtime. Michigan wins the Natty. The fact that he picked the Knicks to win the East. I sometimes people have that inner feeling, you know, they got that intuition where it's just like God's speaking to them and like, hey, this is your time. Can I get that on a parlay once? Yeah, God bless. I I mean, but also would I have cashed out most likely? Dude, don't say most likely. You would have been, I would have flown to Vegas and made you hit that button. That'd be worth it. And then we'd be in game at game one tomorrow night. Facts. But once, like I said, once it all started coming out, like this dude's a professional gambler and this and that, I was just like, okay. Whatever. But still. I'd still roll on the dice. Yeah. Remember that old meme with Dan Campbell going for two with his balls in a wheelbarrow? Yeah. Well, multiply homeboys' balls by two and throw them in that wheelbarrow, and that's him. Anyhow, uh, NBA finals.

NBA Finals Knicks Vs Spurs Preview

Speaker 48:17

I got the Knicks. I mean, I'm rooting for the Knicks. Let's go. Let's go, Knicks. All I can say is I'm rooting for him. Like, it's a great story. It's great for the league if they win. I mean, it's a good story with Wemby. I mean, look, dude, he's a second-year player. They're all young. They're all brand new players on that team. Like, all those guys, they're gonna be good for years to come. Um I mean, it's a great story for the Knicks. I mean, it's a great story. You know, Brunson took a pay cut, you know, essentially to bring in the other guys. I I just it's I'm rooting for the Knicks. Look, the Spurs are a juggernaut of a team. Wemby is a unique, amazing player. How they're gonna play him. And by unique, you mean six or six foot, whatever, bringing the ball down the court and just throwing up threes. Uh six. How about seven, sorry, seven, sorry, sorry, sorry, yeah. It's like seven, three, yeah. Like, I just it's fun to watch. It is, it's fun to watch. It's gonna be a series. I mean, dude, Madison Square Garden's gonna be, as the kids say, Liddy. Crazy. It's yeah, please, please, Nyx, please. I mean, the betting's pretty close. I mean, they're Spurs are still favored, but I mean they should be. They should be, but it's one of those like I don't want to touch it just because I don't want to touch it. You know what I mean? And by touch it is folks, obviously I'm talking about betting. I I I I if I was gonna bet, I would bet the Spurs, but why would I bet a team that I'm rooting against? Yeah. So game one is Wednesday. Yeah. Game two is Friday. Okay. Opposite days of the Stanley Cup. Three is Monday. Okay. I forget. What is this? What is this series price? Obviously, we mean and and Spurs have home court, right? Yes. Well, the Knicks are plus 200, I think. Well, plus 170 now. Spurs are minus 205. Yeah. I mean what is what game line? What's the first game? I mean, the the line's gotta be, yeah, four and a half, Spurs are four and a half. I don't know. See, that's another one of those game ones, like, feel them out. Because like they don't play each other that often during the regular season. And but also the Knicks weren't playing the style of ball that they are right now back then, anyway. So it's just like it's gonna be two teams that are just feeling each other out. So who knows? I mean, who knows if the if the big stage, the big lights, gets to San Antonio? We'll see. Yeah. Anyhow, uh, I do know this. Next Monday when we chat, or Sunday, no, we'll either on Sunday night or Monday night. No hockey on NBA. We'll probably be playing if we do it Monday night. Doesn't matter to me

Memorial Tournament Picks And Closing

Speaker 51:31

when we do it. Memorial, Jack's place this week. Yeah. I'm I'm sticking with what I said a couple weeks ago after missing the cut. Let's go, Fowler. Let's go. Let's do it. Played well there. Home of the best milkshakes, they say. Jack's place at the memorial. Everybody always talks about how good the milkshakes are there in the in the locker room. So now I want a milkshake, damn it. I love missing milkshakes, bro. On that note, Graham, get us out of here. Uh, another fun episode, and let the stress start tomorrow. Hey, I'm super excited. It's finally here. I'm looking at it this way. It could be an exciting stress. Could be. I'm looking at it this way, and I actually said it to Andy the other night when we were chatting. I'm pumped that the Knights are in the finals. Obviously. Yeah. Duh. Am I gonna be bummed if we lose? Of course. But I'm more excited that we're there. Because when I was in Pittsburgh and we went to the Knights Penguins game, and we lost five to nothing. Stone was injured. I was like, hockey's over. Yeah. And here I am on June 1st talking about the final. Yeah. I agree. Like I said to Romano's brother, the heats on them. They're supposed to be in the final. The golden misfits are not supposed to. And with that being said, Marner, Con Smythe, Graham, get us out of here. I love you. Go Knights Go. If you don't like the Knights, I'm not even gonna tell you where you can go. Ha ha ha. Scotty Wall, it's always a pleasure doing the podcast with you. And hey, as the best homie always says, Baobae. Sweet golden nights. Suck my if you are a Canes fan. Especially the dude talking shit to my son on his birthday. I was gonna pommel you, but I didn't. Let's go, knights. Good night, friends. I love you all. Boom!