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Apr 14, 2025
Best of A Numbers Game | April 14, 2025
Best of A Numbers Game | April 14, 2025
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Transcript
0:01
The numbers tell the story, they always do. So are those idiots who believe in analytics? This is the Numbers Game with Gil Alexander on VSiN. Good Monday morning to you.
0:10
This is Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network, VSiN.com, Game Plus, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV, and of course SiriusXM channel 158. It's Gil Alexander, it's my little buddy Kelly Tilghman, everybody.
0:22
Losing weight- Hey... before our eyes. What a glorious Monday morning it is, Kelly. It is. It is. Uh, Wes Reynolds will join us to talk, uh, Masters and perhaps PGA moving forward.
0:33
Also, uh, whatever else is on his mind sports betting-wise. Paul Spohrer on Major League Baseball, and Carl Sack with the NBA, uh, playoffs.
0:40
Now we're on the cusp of the play-in games, specifically Tuesday and Wednesday, also Friday as well, before we head into the real playoffs beginning this weekend.
0:50
Uh, he'll have projected series prices, what he would have had the numbers at, what they are currently in the three, six, and four, five series that are already set. Uh, does he have any plays in the play-in games?
0:59
We'll get into all that. Kelly's thoughts on those as well. I made a couple bets. Already? Yeah. Okay. I made some bets, yep. All right. We'll get into that. Uh, some NFL draft stuff as well.
1:07
I don't know if you know this, special Numbers Game investigation reveals that the NFL draft is 10 days away. 10. Can you believe that? And s- nobody has any idea where Shedeur Sanders will be drafted. Nobody.
1:18
Nobody has any clue. It's a little earlier this year than normal. It's usually, like, you know, the 28th or the 29th. I thought the same thing. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Creeping up a little.
1:26
It's in Green Bay in 10 days. Okay, but first, oh, [laughs] what a weekend it was. The 89th Masters, Rory McIlroy, your winner. Yeah. A, uh, birdie on the playoff hole, the 18th hole. Uh, playoff against Justin Rose.
1:41
I'm sorry to, uh, the JB Ts of the world who had Justin Rose at 100 to one. I know our buddy Brady Cannon, the founder of, uh, the Long Shots podcast, had him at 115 to one.
1:51
I did not realize, until, like, until, like, the last few holes, I didn't realize how many people were on Justin Rose for this tournament. Oh, there's a bunch. Um, for us, Kelly, though, it ends up being fantastic.
2:03
Let's go. Especially you, man, with double downing on Friday and stuff. [laughs] Yeah, it's easy.
2:09
You know, it's funny, that's one of those things also that on a Monday morning when people find out you had Rory and then you doubled down on Friday, it's very easy to sort of be like, "Oh, yeah, well, Rory, I mean, he's great.
2:17
Of course you did." But Friday morning, um, I came in here, we talked about this on the Numbers Game. So I had him plus 750 and plus 725 pre-flop.
2:26
And then Friday morning, I just remember he was coming off the even, the 72 even par first round, where he, where he just absolutely crapped the bed in, on 15 and 17. Yep. I believe that's the technical term.
2:40
And he was, at that point, he was what? Six strokes behind Justin Rose, if I'm not mistaken. Sounds right. Yeah, six strokes behind Justin Rose.
2:47
Although it feels [laughs] this weekend was a marathon, I don't remember anything- Yeah... that far back, Gil.
2:52
But I came in here, I'm like, I'm not, I'm not gonna let those two, like, there's the narrative that this tournament is in his head, he's tried 10 times to win the career slam. He's not done it.
3:00
There it is, 15 and 17, and I just, I was like, "I'm, I'm betting him again." 14 to one, plus 1255 were a couple bets, and I also bet him for low round in round two at plus 1850.
3:12
By the way, I also bet him for low round in round three at 16 to one. That was a dead heat with Zach Johnson. He won the round two low round, uh, outright. This ends up being the biggest golf tournament of my life.
3:23
Dude, it was awesome. Period. I wanted to give, I wanted to give you props. I mean, it was, it was, look, I was on Rory. That was awesome. There's one thing to be on Rory. We walked in here Friday.
3:32
There's one thing to be on Rory and not count him out. I wasn't counting him out after what, what, what happened at the end of Thursday.
3:39
There was also, though, my Twitter timeline full of tweets of, "How could you possibly back this guy at Augusta? This is what he's going to do. He's going to lose it at the end."
3:50
And Gil walks in [laughs] here on Friday, where nobody else had eyed seen this, and it was low round of the day, and I'm going back in with another outright bet. Yeah. So props to you, man. That was, that was awesome.
3:59
Thank you, sir. Thank you. It was weirdly well done. I mean, uh, first of all, let me just quote Will Hill yesterday. We were at, obviously, on a group text exchange. Seven shots back. Thanks, Dave Ross.
4:07
Seven shots back, uh, after, uh, after Thursday. Um, and Will said it best. He goes, "Imag-" After yesterday, "Imagine not liking sports." This was incredible yesterday. What drama. What a final round.
4:21
Uh, Rory ends up, after, after shooting a 66, 6 under 66 both on Friday and Saturday, he comes into the final round thr- uh, two up on Bryson, uh, DeChambeau, and he double bogeys.
4:37
Rory comes right out and he double bogeys the par four first after getting in the fairway bunker. Uh, and right at, right there he's tied with Bryson after one hole.
4:45
Then Bryson birdies the par five second while Rory has a, uh, messy par. DeChambeau's up one, literally two holes in. That's it. Turn of events. So it wasn't feeling that good right at that moment.
4:59
But then it was the first change in the rollercoaster because on the par four three, Rory birdies it while Bryson bogeys it, a right to left putt for birdie, uh, missed long. Rory's up one again.
5:12
And then on the fourth hole, Bryson bogeys after a tee shot goes wide left. Rory birdies it. Rory's up three after four. So he comes in up two, he's down a stroke after two holes, he's back up three after four.
5:25
Fast-forward to the ninth. Rory's still up three. Uh, the approach on the par four ninth puts both almost equidistant from the hole. Rory birdies it, Bryson bogeys it.
5:34
Rory's up four on not only Bryson DeChambeau, but also Ludvig Åberg and Justin Rose, and that's when Jim Nantz on the turn says, "Is it nine holes to glory for Rory?" Uh, I thought, uh- The first Nantz-ism of the day.
5:49
Yeah, I also thought that one, though, was a, uh, look, maybe, no, it don't, it's not just being a bettor with a ticket 'cause obviously we s- we saw it played out. I was not counting my money yet, Gil.
5:59
Are you kidding me? With those names that were right behind? Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. No one was counting yet But after the, uh-- let's go to the 11th. Rory's still up four on Rose, five on Bryson.
6:08
Bryson is kind of-- th-this is where Bryson begs out right here on the 11th. Rory's a few inches away from being wet on the par four 11th. Remember that one that's, was trickling towards the water and stopped?
6:18
And then Bryson goes right into the water. Rory ends up bogeying it, but Bryson double bogeys it, so Rory's up four on Rose, and Bryson's kind of done. So his, his competitive portion of the day was over, Bryson's.
6:30
But Rory's still up four even after the near miss, and that, by the way, that's one of those holes where it doesn't go in the water, you're like, "It's just his day," right? It's gonna be Rory.
6:38
Um, so after Rory has a stress-free par on a par f- on the par four 12th, he's up four on Rose and Oberer.
6:46
Then he's up three on Rose, 'cause Rose all of a sudden quietly in the background, not pictured on your screen, is starting a birdie fest. So they go to the 13th, the par five 13th. Again, Rory's up three, comfortable,
7:00
and he lays it up 'cause now he's in conservative mode, right? He's like, "Ah, I got a three-stroke lead." He took a peek at the scoreboard.
7:08
He puts it into the creek on his third shot out of nowhere, and if he ends up losing this tournament, that's the shot they show in perpetuity forever.
7:18
He ends up double bogeying, and Rose, after he birdies 16, which is the fifth birdie for him in six holes, it is tied just like that. Just like that. Rory's got five holes to play.
7:32
Par four 14th, Rory bogeys it after going in the straw when his putt stops on the lip. Rose, great chip onto the green on 17, then he goes wide left on the three-footer.
7:41
Remember, that's where Rose could have taken the lead, but he missed a little p- a little gimme putt. So it was a three-way tie at this point at, at 10 under, Rory, Rose, and Oberer.
7:52
Did you think Ludvig was gonna take it at this point? You have an inkling that he might do this? Oh, yeah, I wasn't counting him out. So they're tied at 10 under.
8:00
Rose is through 17, Oberer through 15, Rory through 14, then Oberer ends up parring 16. Actually, let me rephrase. I thought he was a much bigger threat than Justin Rose at that point.
8:10
So we go to the 15th, the par five 15th, and this is the beginning of the how many great shots is Rory gonna hit, and then how many putts is he gonna blow? Par, so we're, we're, it w- it's a three-way tie.
8:22
Rory's second shot, seven iron over the water on the par five 15th, giving him an eagle opportunity. Remember, he did the same thing with a six iron on Saturday.
8:30
Nantz proclaims, "Shot of a lifetime," which I like when Nantz does actually do stuff off the cuff. Um, and then he misses the eagle opportunity, settles for birdie, but he gets the lead, right?
8:40
He's up one on Rose with three to play for him. He's up two on Oberer, 'cause Oberer bogeyed 17, and then Oberer would go on and make a mess of 18, so that was the end of him. But Rory's up one, three holes to play.
8:52
Tremendous tee shot on the par three 16th, but then Rose hits that long birdie putt on 18th out of nowhere to tie it at 11 under, and you're like, "Oh, my God, I thought Rory was gonna do this."
9:05
Rory can't make the birdie putt on 16. He pars. We're tied at 11 under with two holes left for Rory. Rose is in the clubhouse, two-stroke lead over the rest of the field.
9:16
17, Rory approach on 17, an even bigger shot of a lifetime with Rory egging the ball on to get over the trap and onto the green. Go, go. Birdies it. Rory's up one, one hole to play.
9:28
Rory McIlroy's about to get the career Grand Slam. Incredible shot. 18, he hits the approach into the bunker. You're like, okay, well, it's not the worst chip. Chips it to about seven feet from the pin.
9:40
The putt for the tournament misses left. We're going to a playoff. Ah. Both at 11 under. Oh, my God. They play- I edged off a bit. I know you didn't. Nope. Good on you, but- Nope. 18, 10- It cost... 18, 10, 18, 10.
9:54
That's what you do in a playoff at Augusta. Sudden death, all of them. They go to 18. They both hit great tee shots. Rose, f- spectacular approach onto the green. Rory, an even better approach to within feet of the pin.
10:09
Rose's putt just wide right, just pushed it wide. Rory to finish it off. Good. McIlroy wins the Masters. Here's Mike Tirico on the call. Okay, maybe not. Yeah, we're not. I thought we had Mike Tirico on the call.
10:24
All right. Um, unbelievable. Jim Nantz's call, "The long journey is over. The, the long journey is over. McIlroy has his masterpiece."
10:35
Now, Jim Nantz will tell you that that was off the cuff, but he had masterpiece ready to go. Get it? Master, piece, piece of the, of the Career Slam? [laughs] Oh, he's so good, so clever. Mm. But canned and planned.
10:48
Unbelievable. Just an unbelievable rollercoaster of a, of a round of golf, and I get back to what Will said, which is i- if, you know, imagine not liking sports.
10:57
Forget if you had a bet on it, and then Rory breaks down emotional. Do you get a little misty on it all? Oh, yeah. I did. It was awes- Little bit... it was awesome to see. Come on.
11:06
This guy's been chasing this for 11 years. Incredible. Authentic reaction. Just an authentic reaction, just the pouring out of emotions.
11:12
He has his Career Slam, and as we move forward to Quail Hollow and the PGA, where he's won four times, ought he be the short shot? Yeah, him and, uh, Scotty both five to one right now at DraftKings.
11:25
Uh, we'll have to see how the next few weeks play out, but man, wouldn't shock me, yo. Wouldn't shock me. [laughs] It's three wins this year.
11:35
There's a couple other takeaway from the Masters we have to get to, things we need to file away for next year and years beyond. We'll get to that, and the NBA playoff series projected numbers next.
11:45
[upbeat music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network. Take your betting to the next level with First Bet, whether it's Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park, or the road to the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
12:02
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12:14
Don't miss out. Bet smarter today at firstbet.com. We get tweets at Beating The Book, always appreciate the, uh, feedback. Kevin Ryan, Grasshopper Gilly You now know the full meaning of a golf sweat.
12:26
Oh, trust me, I've played golf before. I'm quite aware. But that was a- that was one of a kind yesterday That was one of a kind...
12:33
Brandon K- He won and lost the tournament like 16 times over Saturday and Sunday It, it was amazing.
12:38
Yeah, that's exactly right I've never, I've never seen so many great shots and so many terrible shots from one golfer in a big-time moment His approaches at fif- I hope I get this right, 15, 17, and the playoff
12:52
were the three shots of his life And, and then in- And in between he would mess up the putts On the other hand, the, the th- uh, what was it? 13- 13 into the water... par five were- Worst thing ever...
13:03
where he lays up to play safe- Yes... and then into the water- Into the creek... with one of the worst shots I've ever seen Rory McIlroy hit As, as we described in the opening segment.
13:11
Like, if, if he loses the tournament, that's the shot they show forever. Brandon Kyles, "Underrated moment, Rory sticking with driver on the third after just missing the fairway on one and two." Yes.
13:21
"Could have easily conceded and hit three wood after Bryson found the fairway with his, but instead bombed the driver and birdied while Bryson bogeyed." Yes.
13:29
Uh, Rory at that point was one back after two, you know, two holes before that to, to start- Yeah... the round, he was up two holes.
13:36
Uh, Rules for Society, "Nick, can you help me out with how the Liv guys qualify for majors? Fantastic weekend. Thanks." Uh, it's a combination of factors, one of which is if they won before there, right, Kelly?
13:47
Yeah, Master- I mean, if you ever won a Masters, you're invited back forever.
13:51
Um, and this is where when the Liv PGA Tour kinda separation occurred, the, the, you know, the majors all tried to, like, play it down the middle, right? They didn't wanna get involved.
14:00
Uh, so yeah, uh, for, for, for these guys it's a number of different ways.
14:03
You could be top twi- uh, top 50 world golf rankings, but remember Liv is not picking up world golf rankings, so more of these guys will fall out of it, and you're gonna see less and less as we go on.
14:12
But yeah, it's, it's past performance and past majors, Masters, that kind of stuff get, that are getting these guys in. Roger Jones, "Well done, guys, on your Masters plays.
14:20
I never could have played Rory as I said I wouldn't be sucked in by the experts talking about how well he was playing going in. I thought the pressure was too great and doubling down at better odds. Classic."
14:29
And ScottyB726, "Is Scotty not saying a word after putting, after putting the green jacket on Rory the way it always has go- It's always been... it always goes, or no low amateur either?"
14:39
So what he's referring to is in the Butler Cabin. First they do the Butler Cabin thing, which is for the television audience, right? Yeah. Where Nance sits there and he's like, "And now..." Right.
14:48
The, my favorite one was when Fred Couples won and then [laughs] Fred- he said to Fred Couples, "You, who went to the University of Houston, me, who broadcasted at the University of Houston."
14:56
And Couples is like, "Yeah, whatever, Jim." [laughs] Um, but so yeah, in the, in the Butler Cabin, yeah, there was no low amateur, which is weird. I, I- I, I don't know what that story was...
15:05
and then Scotty was just like, "Here you go, man." It's such an awkward item It's awkward 'cause it's made for TV.
15:11
The one that they didn't show yesterday, I don't think, which is the real one, is when they do it outside. Yes. So they do it all over again, which is for the patrons there at Augusta, and that went much better.
15:24
I don't know. So- I, I'm, I'm, I'm kinda du- over the Butler Cabin. [laughs] Like, it's, fe- feel like it should've been retired in 1978 or something. You, a Houston graduate, me, an announcer at Houston.
15:35
Well, especially yesterday too, it's like the, it's, it's the...
15:38
Like, I, I, I hate forced sportsmanship in sports where, like, they, you know, we make all these kids, like, shake hands after games, after we, uh, want them to beat the crap out of each other on a football field or something in high school, right?
15:49
Like, Scottie Scheffler, he's gotta s- "I gotta sit there and give this jacket to this guy?" Yeah. Well- Like, "I just played my ass off for four days trying to beat him." No, it's Augusta.
15:57
You gonna do what we tell you to do. [laughs] Uh, ladies and gentlemen, let's talk some Major League Baseball. Paul Spor joins us now, @Spor on Twitter, courtesy of the Progressive Guest Line. How you doing, Paulie?
16:08
I'm doing well. How are you, Gil? I'm good. Did you, do you watch the Masters? Do you bet on the Masters? Do you do any of that? I don't. I, I used to watch it a lot more.
16:15
Um, my dad was a big golf fan, so I would, I would kinda keep up with it, and I usually have a general idea of what's going on, but I was not dialed in this week. A general idea.
16:23
A g- Let me ask you a couple things about it. Let me go to the bottom of baseball. Let's start with the Rockies. The Rockies not only get swept by the Padres, they don't score a run.
16:32
This is the first time since 2017 a s- a team has failed to score a run in a series. Uh, they're 3 and 12 are the Rockies. It matches their worst start over 15 games in franchise history.
16:44
They have a minus 44 run differential, which if you projected it out, would be the worst run differential in the history of baseball. Um, they've scored thri- let me just say this.
16:56
They've scored 40 runs, and 19 of them have come in two games. I could go on, you understand. Worst whiff rate, uh, the fewest batted balls.
17:06
I guess my question is this: have we fi- have we determined whi- in the, in the, in the off-season debate of who will be the worst team, White Sox, Marlins, or Rockies, have we landed on the worst team here?
17:18
Yeah, I think, I think we have. Um, you know, the Marlins are actually playing some inspired ball. They had the, uh, walk-off wins against Pittsburgh. They're a game over 500.
17:26
I still don't, you know, I don't think that they're any good or anything, and I've maintained that I think the White Sox will be regular bad this year, which is to say, like, a low 60s win team at the most.
17:36
They'll get better as the season goes. I think the White Sox will because of the prospects that they should be able to add.
17:41
The Rockies, I mean, there's a reason that my colleague, uh, and I believe your colleague, I believe he has a visa in show, Jeff Erickson- Yes...
17:47
called them the pace eaters, and I picked that up from him, and I've always used it because it's so accurate. They don't know what the heck they're doing.
17:55
You got 29 teams, and you got someone in the corner eating pace, and that's the Rockies. [laughs] Get it together from the top down, man. They don't do anything right. They got a great stadium.
18:07
They have some nice loyal fans, and I feel bad for those fans in that stadium. Like I said, that place rules. Coors is awesome. Got to watch a couple games there a few years ago. Great place to watch ball. They suck.
18:20
I mean, th- th- I cannot think of anything positive to go for, uh, with them. Even with the Marlins, I can at least come up with some positive things. You know, they got a Max Meyer coming.
18:30
They got Sandy, at least for now, but it, they'll get trade capital for him What can you say positively about the Rockies? I, you know, Chase Dolander's coming up. I guess that's the one thing, he and Veen.
18:41
But why didn't Veen break camp? Now, would, would that have made them score a run this weekend? Probably not. But it's indicative of the constant failure of that organization.
18:51
At every turn, they seem to make the wrong move. And again, that starts at the top, and the, and with ownership, not just with GM regime.
19:02
And until that team is sold, I think the Rockies are gonna continue to kind of face that. Uh, uphill battle is an understatement. What, what, what's way worse than an uphill battle?
19:11
It's Sisyphus pushing up, like, five rocks up the hill. It sucks to be a Rockies fan, I'm sure. Excellent Greek mythology, uh, reference, also, uh, coupled with eating paste in the corner. Well done. Okay.
19:23
Um, let me talk about a team. Okay, so I do these monthlies, right? I just started doing them last year. We had-- we won in June on 25 to 1 and the 17 to 1 on the Astros. We came on out, away from hitting a 65 to 1.
19:36
This is the seventh go at it we've had. So we had the six months last year, so this is March, April, and I had the Twins. This is the worst of all my seven tries at this, right? The Twins are 5 and 11.
19:47
5 and 11, not too good, in the words of, uh, Steve Spurrier famously. Um, they have a minus 13 run differential. Maybe they shouldn't be as bad as 5 and 11, but what's wrong with them? How have they sucked so bad early?
20:01
I'm a bit stunned on this one, because I thought this was gonna be a ball club that... You know, they had the collapse last year, and they didn't do a whole lot in the off-season, but I understood with them.
20:10
There were some teams that I didn't quite understand why they had a, a muted off-season. With the, with the Twins, I understood it. I think they were still one of the best teams in this division.
20:19
They're bringing back most of their talent. They've got good starting pitching with some depth. I'm a big David Festa and Zebby Matthews fan.
20:26
I think both should be in the rotation right now over Chris Paddock and Simeon Woods Richardson, and of course Pablo Lopez getting hurt brought Festa up. So then kick out one of the other guys and put Zebby there.
20:36
But the offense has been anemic, and that's been a bit of a surprise to me too, is that they're, they're just not hitting.
20:41
They're just not playing well, and I don't know if there's some sort of malaise that has carried over from last year, and it's really hard to say that. You had a whole off-season, uh, winter, and spring.
20:51
I, I, I don't know why that would be the case. I just don't think that they're playing particularly well right now, and I don't have a lot of answers for them. Yeah.
20:58
I look at this team, and there is still a lot of talent. You know, Royce Lewis got hurt again, but you got Buxton healthy. You got Edward Julian actually playing some solid ball.
21:06
I'm a big fan of his, so I'm kind of excited that he's, um, you know, back up and playing. Walner, Correa, Castro, Warnock, they've got talent.
21:15
It's not, like, the deepest lineup or anything, but one to nine, they put out competent players there, and they're just playing like crap. Now,
21:23
if they didn't have the collapse last year, and obviously your, uh, self-interest there with the, with the bet, would we necessarily be making such a deal out of 5 and 11, even though it is a bad start for them?
21:33
Probably not. But when you pair it with last year, it really does start to look bad, and I, I, I don't have great answers for them.
21:40
They got a tough series against the Mets coming up, and I don't wanna say it's must-win, 'cause it's not. It, it's definitely not.
21:45
But they gotta be feeling like, "Hey, we gotta get this ball rolling," because here's the thing.
21:50
Tigers, Royals, and Guardians, they, they're not playing the greatest ball right now, but they're all 500 or better, and they're not gonna let up.
21:57
So they can ill afford to fall too much further behind here, the Twins, and I think we might see some drastic moves soon if they don't turn this around relatively quickly here in the next, you know, three, four series.
22:08
Padres right now with 13 wins, two-game lead in terms of the win column for March, April betters. Padres were 28 to 1 pre-flop, 28 to 1, uh, to win March, April. So congratulations at least right now.
22:22
Still a long way to go. 16 more days of baseball, 17 more, uh, before that is settled. Paul, thank you as always. Appreciate it. Thanks, Gil. Take care. Paul Spohn @Spohn. We'll come back.
22:32
Wes Reynolds, his thoughts on the Masters and the majors moving forward. [upbeat music] The numbers tell the story. They always do. It's one of those idiots who believe in analytics.
22:46
This is a Numbers Game with Gil Alexander on VSiN. Hour number two of a Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network, vsin.com, Game Plus, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV, and of course, SiriusXM channel 158.
22:59
It's Gil Alexander. It's Kelly Midlin. Hello. Producer, producer number nine, so much more than a producer, alongside, live from Circle Resort Casino, downtown Las Vegas.
23:07
Uh, still to come this hour, this hour alone, Wes Reynolds standing by. We'll talk NFL draft as well. The NFL draft, 10 days away. 10 days away. Unbelievable. Sorry, I'm looking up WrestleMania ticket prices.
23:20
This is insane, Gil. [laughs] We gotta get to that momentarily with Wes. Uh, we had tweets @BeatingTheBook. James Sott, "Any fun futures for Stuttgart and/or Barcelona?" Said- Stuttgart... said, uh, Castiano.
23:33
Also not a golf fan, but watching Rory walking through the crowd after he won was pretty emotional. Great hit, guys. Thank you. Um, yeah, Igo's plus money at a tournament that she has won multiple times, give me that.
23:47
I saw a plus 140, but I'm told there's a plus 175 out there on her somewhere. MGM? J-Rod was all over it, but I'll, I'll be on Igo in Stuttgart.
23:57
Uh, JasonH11, "Hey, Kelly, be careful when criticizing the traditions of the Masters Tournament. They can take away your viewing rights if you say anything negative." Yeah, my app's not working all of a sudden. Weird.
24:07
[laughs] Kevin Ryan, "Gil," oh, this is the reason, "Gil, no ama- no amateur made the cut, hence no presentation." Chance Copperpot, "Masters almost felt like Super Bowl 49."
24:19
That's the one where, uh, Malcolm Butler picks off Russell Wilson at the goal line. The Seahawks decide to pass the football.
24:25
He says, "Only difference is Rory threw it out of the back of the end zone instead of right at Butler. He lived to fight another down and won the Masters." Well, there's a comparison. And Jeff Holdorf, uh, backs it up.
24:34
He says, "In order for the low amateur to get to the Butler Cabin ceremony, they were required to make the cut. All five amateurs failed to make the cut, so no soup for Justin Hastings."
24:44
Seems odd though, low amateur is still the low amateur, he says. I, yeah. I'm with you, Jeff. I, I agree. Like, that you're still the low amateur. Yeah. Um- That doesn't make any sense. S.
24:55
Enwright, Steven Enwright, "As a southern man, your southern man imitation is getting better with each passing- [laughs]... each passing Masters, a tradition like no other. Um, Kelly called Ro- Yeah.
25:05
Kelly called Rory first on the air. Oh. Well, f- or you heard it first, but yeah. Yeah, yeah. Oh, okay. All right. Good for you. Um, and then, uh- It was on Rory all week, yeah...
25:16
Jeff Holdorf, Rory on the great reset after missing the putt on 18 to go to the playoff. His caddy and dear friend Harry says to Rory as they hop on the cart, "Well, we would've definitely taken this position on Monday."
25:27
The perfect words. That's right, he did say that. Absolutely right.
25:30
Uh, Wes Reynolds joins us now, the glue that holds this whole operation together, Long Shots co-host, and a man who has authored many a golf future, uh, for cashing, joins us now courtesy of the Progressive guest line.
25:41
How you doing, Wes? I'm doing well, Gil. How are you? I'm doing very well. First things first. Before we get to golf, Kelly just brought it up, WrestleMania. I know this is near and dear to your heart.
25:51
Are you pay- what's, what is the cost of this now for, for- I just looked up for what a single ticket, 'cause it is here in Las Vegas this weekend, Saturday night.
25:59
Uh, $471 is the che- cheapest ticket I could find on, uh, Ticketmaster right now. $471. You can sit upper deck for $1,000. Oh, sweet. Uh, they do know it's fake, right? They aware of that? You gotta be careful, man.
26:15
I tell you, one of the first things I learned in sport- sports radio- Yeah... is how many dudes who work in sports radio are obsessed with wrestling. Speaking of one, Wes Reynolds.
26:24
Wes, are you pumped for WrestleMania or not so much?
26:27
I am actually not all that pumped for WrestleMania because of what you mentioned, the, the ticket prices being exorbitant, and, uh, I really don't think the build has been, been all that great for the card.
26:38
And now WrestleMania, it's not just one night, it's now two nights, where you have full cards and you have full pre-shows, and y- d- it's a, it's a long night.
26:48
Like, it i- it is a long night of, uh, of, uh, sports entertainment or, uh, pro wrestlin'. I'm not a sports entertainment guy. I'm a wrestlin' fan, Gil. There you, there you go. You know?
26:57
That, hell with all this new nomenclature and this corporate BS. A- and Wes, who's currently the most entertaining wrestler out there?
27:05
Like, if we, if, if I was just checking in on, on, on, on the WWE, are we still in the WWE or WWF? If I was just checking in for the first time, who's the most entertaining guy out there?
27:16
Well, the, the guy that's in the main event, the guy that's the champion is, uh, one Cody Rhodes, who is the son of the American Dream, the late, great American Dream, Dusty Rhodes.
27:26
And, uh, that was the whole allure of last year's card. He's gotta finish the story, you know, and finally win the championship.
27:33
Well, well, well now he has it, and it's like the storylines just aren't as fresh this year. So, you know, there's gonna be a lot of people here, though.
27:40
I'll be interested to see what the final numbers are if travel, it has been reportedly been slightly down, at least in Las Vegas, to start the year. So, uh, uh, we shall see, but there'll be stuff everywhere.
27:50
There'll be shows around town. There'll be conventions all over town. You can do meet and greets and pay a lot of money to get autographs. I do not do that.
28:00
So, uh, I don't, I don't know what my WrestleMania plan is gonna be. Maybe I'll wait and see if those ticket prices drop. When I was a kid, there was this g- there was this guy, ST Jones.
28:09
Are you familiar with this fella? Nope. ST Jones was this, uh, wrestler, and, uh, his, his fights would always follow the same script.
28:16
He would be getting c- crushed, and then he would mount this unbelievable comeback, and I'd be going crazy watching it. We had it, like, Saturday mornings on TV, and then he would get crushed at the end. Oh.
28:25
It was the same thing, and I f- got snookered into it every time. Special Delivery Jones. Yes. [laughs] Yes. Uh, he w- he was like, uh, uh, what they call a higher level, the term jobber or enhancement talent. Ah.
28:37
And what that means is the guy that goes out there and loses and puts over, like, the, the big stars on the show. I was devastated every time. Is The Undertaker still wrestling?
28:46
'Cause I feel like he's been wrestling for, like, 40 years. He's the only one I feel like I still know. He is not.
28:51
He is now officially retired, but I'm sure he will, uh, be in town, uh, in, in full, uh, in full Undertaker gear at some point. All right, Wes, give me, give me just, for- forget betting for a second.
29:02
Give me your historical perspective on this round yesterday. As far as final rounds of masters and majors in general go, where does that rank for you in terms of drama?
29:14
It, well, it, it, it's gonna be hard to be topped, uh, uh, with what we saw yesterday.
29:19
Uh, just, and, and we knew when w- if and when Rory finally accomplished this, if and when he finally won the Career Grand Slam, we knew it wasn't gonna be boring.
29:29
We knew it wasn't gonna be like, okay, he's just gonna run away with it, because I think at one point in the round he got up five shots, and people were doing the Vince Carter GIFs. It's over, you know?
29:39
Like he did in the dunk contest. I was like, "No, it's not. Something's going to happen." I have been down this road before. We have all been down this road before. So something was gonna happen.
29:49
What happened was he did a practical thing and laid up on 13 and then hit one of the worst wedges that you ever saw- [laughs]... uh, right into the wa- right into the water.
29:57
So I, I think this has to be up there certainly with the, uh, with the, uh, with the 1986 when Jack won at age 46 and the Vern Lundquist, "Yes, sir," call- Yes... where he, where he hits that putt on 16.
30:10
And, and the 2019, of course, Tiger emerging from that large pack. I, I believe, I, I, I think we actually watched that together, if I recall, one year, Gil- Yes... at a sportsbook here in town where- That's right...
30:22
Tiger came in, Molinari hits it in the creek, and the floodgates opened. And then there's Tiger Woods there at the end.
30:29
So yeah, that, that, that certainly had a lot of drama, and then you would, and you, you look at Watson and Sink at Turnberry for the Open when, uh, when Watson was 60 years old, and we thought he was actually gonna win the Open championship.
30:42
Uh, did not happen. But this is certainly at least top five for me. And you, so, so if we can get a window into the mind of Wes Reynolds, you did not, correct me if I'm wrong here, you did not have Rory pre-flop.
30:54
But you got in on him live Thursday and Friday. What was it for you- Well, f- I, I believe you did Thursday and Friday.
31:03
W- Friday we get it, but if you did it Thursday, what was it about Thursday where you were like, "I'm taking this now"? Yeah, I guess I have the distinction of having the worst number on Rory McIlroy at the network, Gil.
31:12
I did not get what you guys got because I was waiting to see what kind of start he got off to, because that's what's held Rory back at the Masters.
31:20
I had a top 10 going in and I was like, "Yeah, I'm gonna have some kind of piece of him.
31:24
I just wanna know when to time it right," and I timed it totally wrong because I played it at, after the back nine, or the front nine rather, on Thursday, where he got up to a three under start.
31:34
It's like, okay, this is what he's been waiting for.
31:36
Because if you go back since 2019, he was seven back of the leader, then the next year he was 10 back of the leader, then he was 11 back of the leader, then he was six back, then he was seven back, then he was six back, and this is of the first round leader.
31:51
So it's like he gets three under and then he's four under in the fairway on the 15th. It's like, okay, just get it up and down. He's gonna birdie, he's gonna be five under, and who knows how he's gonna finish the round.
32:02
Then that chip goes in the water. He ends up making two double bogeys and what do you know, he's seven back again of, of the first round leader in this case, which was Justin Rose. So I did not add more on Friday.
32:13
I was just like, "You know what? Here we go again. I don't wanna add necessarily, uh, any more."
32:18
But Rory at the Masters has been kind of like me sometimes, and maybe other bettors as well, on a college football Saturday or a big college basketball Saturday, where you lose a couple in that early window and you start out like 0 and 2 or 0 and 3, and then you gotta play catch up over the week, the rest of the card, and that's what Rory has had to do at the Masters.
32:37
And sure enough, he fi- he finally did it here.
32:40
So, uh, yeah, I only got in at, at 4 to 1 on Thursday, but you know, sometimes you, sometimes you lose with the best of the number and sometimes you win with the worst of it, and I was the latter with Rory.
32:50
Yeah, when if he doesn't do that on 15 and 17 in round one, I go from, you know, I, I, I just win the one bet before the tournament. And then because he does that, it turns out to be a monster tournament, right?
33:01
'Cause the opportunity, uh, for me anyway, gives it, because it just creates these opportunities that wouldn't have existed otherwise.
33:07
Does this now, 'cause now everybody's brain sort of toggles to, okay, the monkey's off his back with the Masters. He's got the career slam on his 11th try.
33:16
Now he's got Quail Hollow for the PGA, where he's won multiple times, four times. He's got Br- he's got the Open Championship in his backyard. Is this a two or three major kind of year for him?
33:28
It could very well be, because we, we know, I think, like time is on his side. Uh, he's only 35. He's still in relatively good health.
33:36
Because I remember years ago when Brooks won his fifth major, you're like, "Can he win 10 majors?"
33:41
And I lean toward the no just because of the amount of other players out there and plus injuries, and we didn't even know LIV was gonna be created at that point.
33:49
But look, I think he can, but the big- the biggest battle he's gotta fight besides the injuries is complacency. You know, now he's finally done it. He's been trying to do this for 11 years.
34:01
Now he's finally won the career Grand Slam. He can sit at the table with Jack and Tiger and Gary Player and Hogan, the whole nine yards. Can he fight that complacency? Does he have that drive to say, "You know what?
34:12
I want more. I wanna get 10 majors. I wanna be one of only four players to ever do it." So it very well could be, but it just, does the complacency set in?
34:21
I hear Jim Nantz in my ear saying, "And Gene Sarazen as well, Wes," so. [laughs] Gene Sarazen, yes. Right. Don't wanna forget Gene. More with Wes on the other side.
34:28
It's a numbers game at VSiN, the sports betting network. [upbeat music]
A Numbers Game
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