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Mar 25, 2025
Best of A Numbers Game | March 25, 2025
Best of A Numbers Game | March 25, 2025
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59:04
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Transcript
0:00
Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real, and so is the relief from EVLISS. After an initial dosing phase of 16 weeks, about four in 10 people taking EVLISS achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin.
0:14
And most of those people maintained skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.
0:18
EVLISS, librecizumab, LBKZ, a 250 milligram per two milliliter injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds, or 40 kilograms, with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin, or topicals, or who cannot use topical therapies.
0:36
EVLISS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to EVLISS. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur.
0:43
Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with EVLISS. Before starting EVLISS, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.
0:51
Searching for real relief? Ask your doctor about EVLISS and visit evliss.lilly.com or call 1-800-LILLY-RX or 1-800-545-5979. What's up, everyone? Julie Swiercinski here, along with former NHL player Nate Thompson.
1:05
We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go. The name? Energy Line with Nate and JSB. Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey, life. All topics are fair game, right? Exactly.
1:17
And you'll never know who will drop by to join us. Julie is pretty well-connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
1:24
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSB on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Mel Reid, LPGA Tour winner and six-time Ladies European Tour winner.
1:36
And Kira Kay Dixon, NBC Sports reporter and host. And we've got a new podcast, Quiet Please with Mel- And Kira.
1:44
We are bringing you spicy takes on sports and pop culture, some interviews with incredible people who have figured out how to make golf their superpower.
1:51
An iHeartWomen's Sports production, in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by e.l.f.
1:59
Beauty, founding partner of iHeartWomen's Sports. Ever wonder what it would be like to be mentored by today's top business leaders? My podcast, This Is Working, can help with that.
2:10
Here's some advice from Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, on standing out from the leadership crowd. Develop your EQ. A lot of people have plenty of brains, but EQ is do you trust me? Do I communicate well?
2:21
Develop the team, develop the people, and create a system of trust, and it works over time. I'm Dan Roth, LinkedIn's editor-in-chief. On my podcast, This Is Working, leaders share strategies for success.
2:32
Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. [upbeat music] The numbers tell the story. They always do. He's one of those idiots who believe in analytics.
2:42
This is a numbers game with Gil Alexander on VSiN. Good Tuesday morning to Biz and Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network, vsin.com, Gaming+, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV, and of course SiriusXM channel 158.
2:55
Gil Alexander, that is Kelly Bidlin, everybody. Hi, little friend. How's it going? Losing weight, uh, left and right is Kelly.
3:03
Um, but he actually knows the cause of his weight gain, unlike, uh, Mookie Betts, which is a whole nother story. Uh, yes. Yes. [laughs] Yes. Um- Very different, yeah...
3:10
which by the way, until, until the good news of, at least we hope it's good news, that Dave Roberts, uh, the Dodgers manager now, says that Mookie has turned a corner and can actually hold down solid food.
3:21
Until we got that news, it was kind of a harrowing story. I, betw- I mean, between him and Porzingis e- earlier in the, in the month, like, man, weird, weird stories.
3:30
For those who missed it, Mookie l- has lost 18 pounds since right before the trip to Tokyo for the Dodgers, and, uh, they do believe now, though, that he will play in the opener against Tarik Skubal and the Tigers on Thursday.
3:43
But he went down to, he's down to 157 pounds. You see the picture of him with the jersey on? He looked completely skinny. No, I didn't, but I mean- Yeah... I was gonna say, that guy's already skinny enough. Yeah.
3:51
Uh, him losing 18 pounds, that's a, that's a lot. Anyway, so for baseball itself, let alone Dodgers fans, we hope that, uh, Mookie is a go and that, uh, this is behind him.
3:59
Even though it's undiagnosed, they still have no idea what happened. I, I mean, that's- None whatsoever... that would still scare the hell out of me.
4:05
And, like, the, you know these guys are getting the best medical treatment on the planet. I mean, it's- Oh, for sure...
4:10
we've heard t- so many stories over the years of, uh, you know, guy, what was it, Caris LeVert, when he went to the, when he went to the Cavaliers f- and they fi- and they found a, they found like a cancerous tumor.
4:22
The medical, the team doctors, you know? It's, it's- Oh, right... just stuff like that, like they- That's right... you know, they get access to things. If he, if he doesn't get traded, they don't discover it.
4:29
Right, exactly. Yeah. Like, these guys get access to things that the rest of us don't. So it's just, just kind of wild when you hear these stories about they don't know what's going on.
4:36
On the show today, Drew Dincic will join us, in his new time slot, by the way. Yeah. Because Drew's got other things to do now, um, in terms of, uh, his media. So we have him now in the second hour every Tuesday.
4:46
Drew from the Deep Dive and Bet The Edge podcasts, both, to talk NBA and tennis with us a little later on. Paul Spohrer will join us. We're not sure if Paul is joining us for one or two segments.
4:56
Kelly has decided after being inspired by, uh, Maryland coach, uh, Kevin Willard, he has just decided to say to the guests, "Which one of you wants the ball?" [laughs] "Which one of you?"
5:05
And Spohrer's like, "Maybe, we'll see." So we don't know if it's one segment or two. We'll find out. That, that applies to multiple guests today, yeah. [laughs] That's, that's right. That's, that's Paul and Matt Brown.
5:12
Matt Brown. Matt Brown might be the last segment. I don't really know. We don't know if- But- We don't know if he's showing up. Uh, we do know Al Bernstein will show up, though.
5:18
Al Bernstein wants to talk a little bit about George Foreman, so that's always a pleasure.
5:22
And then Will Hill will join us here momentarily, uh, to talk about all of his Sweet 16 plays and anything else he's betting these days. Um, a couple, let's go to a couple just sort of betting case studies here.
5:33
Uh, yesterday we got bounced from our future play in the Miami Open, the second half of the Sunshine Double in tennis, when Naomi Osaka lost to Jasmine Paolini in three sets. Boom. Um, yeah. Boom.
5:48
And this is just a, this is, uh, so this is for the new or newish bettors.
5:52
This is a PSA about being able to sort of handle negative variance and not being able to sort of handle negative variance and, and sort of not being on the other...
6:02
Y- y- you know, being able to process that in a sort of objective way. So when you lose a bet, you're gonna have a section of people who are, uh, they're either haters or they have the bet. They're like, "Ah, you suck.
6:12
You lost," right? There's that, there's that group. You try not to be that group. Um, so yesterday, uh, Naomi Osaka went three for 15 on break points. Now this is not an excuse, by the way.
6:22
This is the other thing about a PSA for betting that w- we should say. Dr. Bob gets a lot of criticism for this too. When he loses bets, he's always telling you, "Well, here's why we lost," and all this. Mm. Okay.
6:31
It's, it... I, I'm, I'll only speak for myself. This is not a... And by the way, Bob doesn't mean it as an excuse either. But what it is is tennis, right?
6:40
Sometimes you are not gonna be the, on the side of positive variance. So she ends up three of 15 on break points. By the way, Paolini was three of five at the same time, uh, while Osaka was going three of 15.
6:51
If Osaka converts just one of those 12 mi- of those 12 missed chances, by the way, three of 15 is a very low perce- percentage on break points in a match.
7:02
F- you, the fact that you have 15 opportunities to break is an incredible thing in a match. Um, but the point I'm trying to make is that's tennis, and sometimes it's not going to go your way.
7:14
It's sort of like the poker, it's sort of like the poker hand where you're all set up mathematically, all you need is for there not to be a queen on the last- Right. Yeah... on the last card- You get rivered...
7:22
that is flipped over, and bam, there's a queen. S- it's still, even if the handicap is good, it's still gotta go your way.
7:29
And so in the case of Osaka, just I'm just trying to point out the thin line between hitting a future or two of these versus not winning at all is she doesn't convert one of the other 12 chances, she loses to Paolini, and then right after that, Coco Gauff gets bounced from her quarter, and we would've had it set up as Osaka as a favorite over Linette in the quarterfinal to try to hit our quarter future.
7:53
So I just wanna point out, once again, this is part of being a, part of being a good bettor long term for the newer bettors is going to be able to process, hey, man, w- it's still a good bet.
8:05
It was still a great handicap. By the way, if I'm, if I'm playing a future on someone not named Iga Swiatek, you know I mean business in a ladies tournament.
8:13
And, uh, it was, you know, that was the quarter to play her in. Again, seven to one, some people got better on her quarter, 66 to one we had her to win it all.
8:21
Um, in what has been a hard court season, let me be the first to say, that has not been the hard court seasons we've been accustomed to around here.
8:30
Uh, sort of the, uh, the wife that is about to get divorced, you know, "I don't have the lifestyle I'm accustomed to." This has not been 2021, '22, or '23 hard courts, or '24 for that matter.
8:39
Um, this has been a hard court season where the upsets that we normally, that I normally hit on aren't manifesting, but the ridiculous upsets of the top players, like the Carlos Alcarazes and the Daniil Medvedevs, and the top players like Coco, the ones that I would not necessarily predict, are actually the ones coming through.
8:59
So that's just been the nature. Nothing is ever static. But I think the, the Osaka thing is a good case study for folks who are like, it's not an excuse. Sometimes you're going to, sometimes you're...
9:09
It's just tennis, right? Sometimes it's not gonna go your way. Yes, can it be frustrating?
9:13
I'll tell you when it got frustrating for me yesterday is when Ar- Arthur Fils, our first play yesterday, then he started out like one of nine on break points, and the two of those combined, I'm like, "Is this a joke?"
9:22
Yeah. Right? But you have to be able to understand, wow, think about the thin line we had from getting bounced completely and perhaps winning, at the very least the quarter, at a seven to one.
9:32
That's, that's betting sometimes. By the way, we do have three tennis plays today, uh, after a one and two yesterday where Fils was the only winner ultimately.
9:40
Um, and one of those was Fonseca, who was up a break in the third, and then he just gassed against De Minaur, who's a, he's an Energizer bunny. Um, and then the third one we were just wrong on.
9:52
But Minette, uh, excuse me, Magda Linette, speaking of Magda Linette, plus 150 versus Paolini is the play, and I believe we're on a, we're on a really good CLV on that.
10:01
Again, this is for, uh, all subscribers, veson.com/picks, every host, every guest, every sport, all their plays for subscribers at veson.com/picks.
10:09
Uh, played, all these were, were, uh, given out last night, and Bill Ade does that, where he puts 'em up for us.
10:15
Linette right now, and I just wanna make sure that it's, that it's in the playable range here on her, 'cause we get plus 150, and right now Linette is at plus 131. Mm, not exactly the same.
10:28
Don't-- I wouldn't play it any lower than plus 135, let's put it that way. Nakashima plus 160 versus Dimitrov is, uh, play number two. I think that's way too, uh, too high on Brandon Nakashima. Plus 144 now.
10:42
Don't let it, don't get below plus 145 on that. And Gael Monfils plus 127 against Sebastian Korda. Monfils is plus 112. That one I would not play at plus 112. So we got, again, great CLV on all of them.
10:56
You know what that means, Kelly. Not a damn thing in the end. Yeah, you can get a nice stuffed panda at the- Yeah... CLV store on the way out. Not a damn thing.
11:01
I, I wanna ask you about these futures, 'cause I was typing this up this morning.
11:05
On the men's side now, I don't remember the last time we've been in a tournament, I, I mean, period, that you and I have talked about that you've been betting and we looked at futures prices, which is, yes, usually the Grand Slams and then some of the other bigger ones.
11:18
But you are talking 10 guys that are 18 to one or shorter over at DraftKings to win the Miami Open now- Yeah... with the field that has remained. That's 'cause Carlitos got bounced. It's wild though. Yeah. Yep.
11:32
I mean, I mean, Djokovic, Zverev, Sebastian Korda down to seven to one. Like, this is, uh, it's just wild. Yeah, it's too short on Korda. It's so weird. We're actually against him today.
11:40
Um, I, I would think everybody else, though, is justified. I don't know why Korda would be in there. But, uh, Djokovic, Zver- Sasha Zverev, De Minaur, Fritz,
11:49
you know, you could even make a case for Dimitrov, even though I'm fading him today as well I, I think that's, that, that's all justified now that Carlitos is out.
11:56
And there's Novak, who you called and didn't bet- Yeah... beforehand. The other sort of case study in, in betting, yesterday, so, uh, Cam Ward finally had his pro day. He did show up.
12:05
He did have one signature pass where he was, uh, fading to the, or sort of flushed out to the left, threw it across his body, and it was beautiful, and everybody's going crazy.
12:14
But the, what we're looking for, for betting purposes, we're looking for a tell on anything. Like, is Tennessee absolutely going to draft Cam Ward number one?
12:23
And Kelly, uh, in addition to them sending their brass, their front office brass- Mm-hmm... which by the way, Cleveland did not. Kevin Stefanski, uh, Andrew Berry, their GM, neither were there for it.
12:35
So Cleveland is like, "We're clearly not drafting this dude. He's going one." Um, Tennessee had their social media folks out there. They had their social media folks out there and a crew, a film crew.
12:48
Isn't that the tell? More than them having their coach and their GM and all that, isn't that part the tell that they are absolutely drafting Cam Ward at this point? Yeah, this is a, a great tweet from Zach Jackson.
12:58
"Titans have their head coach, GM, team president, and more from their football staff here in Miami. In case you wanted more of a tell, Titans also have their in-house TV and website production team here for Cam Ward."
13:10
Now, maybe they're just really good forward-thinking, Gil- Or-... and they don't wanna have to do this again later. Or may- Maybe.
13:16
Or maybe it's a tremendous elaborate scheme to throw people off the scent and say, "Oh, we're drafting him. Make your offers." You could say that. And there is a, there is a draft history, right?
13:25
Like, w- I can remember the morning you woke up and you thought Rocket Ismail was going number one, and then you found out it was Russell Maryland right before the draft. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
13:32
There was the Baker Mayfield. My, my pinned tweet still from 2018 where, you know, I w- again, the Will Hill people were like, "You knew Baker Mayfield was going number one." No, I didn't.
13:42
Nobody knew until the last few hours that Baker Mayfield was going number one. He was supposed to be in the middle of the draft. So there's still a month. We still don't know 100%.
13:49
We'll never know 100% till the, the card is actually up there- Right... and Goodell actually says the name, but it sure looks like it's Cam Ward at one. I mean, are you not...
13:57
I woke up this morning, though, when I checked those odds, I was shocked that they didn't move at all. I mean, at DraftKings, that number did not move at all. And after- It's still at what? S- minus 700.
14:07
At that, after that information, I thought we were gonna be seeing minus 1,200, minus 1,500. Is that because of the draft history? They just don't wanna get caught? I think it's that, Gil. I do.
14:16
Like, I think it's partially that. Or people are just slow to react also. Or that. We're too close to the sun on the draft and no one [laughs] else, no one else is really betting it.
14:25
Uh, coming back, Will Hill, Sweet 16, next on The Numbers Game. [gentle music] Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real, and so is the relief from EVLISS.
14:36
After an initial dosing phase of 16 weeks, about four in 10 people taking EVLISS achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin.
14:43
And most of those people maintained skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.
14:47
EVLISS, lebrikizumab-lbkz, a 250 milligram per two milliliter injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin, or topicals, or who cannot use topical therapies.
15:05
EVLISS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to EVLISS. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur.
15:13
Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with EVLISS. Before starting EVLISS, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.
15:21
Searching for real relief? Ask your doctor about EVLISS and visit evliss.lilly.com or call 1-800-LILY-RX or 1-800-545-5979. [upbeat music] It's Julie Stewart-Binks.
15:31
I'm doing a new podcast from iHeartPodcast and the National Hockey League, and I'm paired up with one of my favorite players, the always quotable Nate Thompson.
15:39
I wore nine NHL sweaters, and I have story after story to share. And believe it or not, I have plenty to say, and not just about hockey. Believe me, he does.
15:48
Energy Line with Nate and JSB is the name of the podcast, and it's gonna be... Well, it's gonna be quite the ride. We're officially line mates, Nate. We're the Energy Line.
15:59
We'll have plenty of folks join us, current players, some of my former teammates, Hall of Famers, and wait till you see some of the connections that Julie has. She has quite the Rolodex. Okay.
16:09
We'll lean into Nate's playing experience and tap into our interests away from hockey and try to do what energy lines are supposed to do: provide an emotional boost. How do you feel about all that, Nate?
16:20
I'm vibing, Julie. I'm ready to roll. Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSB on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. [tense music] On November 5th, 2018, at 6:33 AM,
16:36
a red Volkswagen Golf was found abandoned in a ditch out in Sleep Hole Valley. The driver's seat door was open. No traces of footsteps leaving the vehicle.
16:50
No belongings were found except for a cassette tape lodged in the player. On that tape were 10 vile- No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no. Ahh... grotesque- Oh my God. Oh my
17:08
God... horrific stories that to this day have been kept restricted from the public until now. [crying] Please, someone. You Feeling This Too?, a horror anthology podcast.
17:24
Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. [upbeat music] Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia.
17:33
I'm excited to introduce a brand new season of my podcast, Math and Magic: Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing.
17:39
I'm having conversations with some interesting folks across a wide range of industries to hear how they reached the top of their fields and the lessons they learned along the way that everyone can use.
17:50
I'll be joined by innovative leaders like chairman and CEO of e.l.f. Beauty, Tarang Amin. The way I approach risk is constantly try things and actually make it okay to fail.
18:01
I'm sitting down with legendary singer-songwriter and philanthropist Jewel. I wanted a way to do something that I loved for the rest of my life.
18:09
We're also hearing how leaders brought their businesses out of unprecedented times, like Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna.
18:16
It becomes a human decision to decide to throw by the window your business strategy and to do what you think is the right thing for the world.
18:24
Join me as we uncover innovations in data and analytics, the math, and the ever important creative spark, the magic.
18:31
Listen to Math and Magic: Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. [upbeat music] The numbers tell the story. They always do.
18:47
Just one of those idiots who believe in analytics. This is a Numbers Game with Gil Alexander on VSiN.
18:53
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. It's Gil Alexander. That's Kelly Billin, everybody.
19:05
Uh, still to come this hour, Boxing Hall of Fame announcer Al Bernstein will join us, say a few words about the passing of George Foreman this weekend.
19:13
Um, which, uh, you know, we had, uh, had some, had Ernie Shavers once on a Numbers Game with me in studio at the South Point.
19:21
He's just a great guy, and George Foreman, I mean, you know, he went from a, just a, a guy that everyone feared as a heavyweight boxer, uh, to a cuddly second act- Mm-hmm... as an older guy who got back into the ring.
19:33
And, uh, we'll have Al g- put him into perspective here a little later on in the show. Uh, George Foreman, um, who named all five of his sons George, if I'm not mistaken. Is that true as well?
19:43
I believe that's a little, uh- Really?... note about George as well. Um, and Drew Dinsick will join us momentarily. I just want to say this. Uh, Kelly, I want you to rate what is, what is a more harrowing experience?
19:54
Um, I'll just give you a couple op- a few options. Ready for this? Um, bungee jumping. Okay. Option two, being chased by a bear. Option three, getting a new iPhone and having your data transferred.
20:06
Which, which do you think is the most harrowing experience of those three? The answer is number three. No, it's definitely number one, bungee jumping. You'll never see me bungee jumping.
20:14
Oh, no, 'cause it ends in, like, a few seconds, and then the bear stuff, you just have to run your- The b-... outrun your friend, not the bear. Yeah, but you didn't say I was with anybody. You just said I was by myself.
20:23
Oh, okay. The bear should definitely be number one, actually- I get it... if we're doing this real. I just want to say, I, I got a new iPhone yesterday. I haven't had a new iPhone in...
20:29
Y- you got a new iPhone, too- Yes... the day before. Isn't that adorable? Um- No, not the day before. [laughs] We both did it yesterday. Oh, you did it yesterday, too. I just texted you as soon as I got mine set up. Oh.
20:38
I was like, "Yo, bro, you should totally get this new phone thing." You had a T- a X and X or whatever they call it. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's what I had. Mm-hmm. So I haven't got, I haven't had a new phone in nine years.
20:46
The, first of all, it's a hostage situation. You're there for hours. You were there for only one hour? I was there for hours. I was in and out in an hour. Oh, dude. Dude. Dude. With everything set. Where'd you go?
20:55
I went to the AT&T store instead of the Apple store. Oh, no, I went to the Apple store. Yeah. The, those geniuses haven't figured out how to manage s- 10 billion people in their store.
21:04
That's right, and I'm the guy who they're like, "Who's your carrier? What's your PIN number?" I'm like, "PIN number?" I'm like, "No." Did, did I tell you this story? I don't, I don't have that.
21:12
So I first went to the Apple store two weeks ago. I got far enough along that I was ready to get my new phone. The guy's like, "All right, and what's your PIN number?" And I'm like, "PIN number?
21:20
AT&T's never once asked me for my PIN number." Did you, did you migrate? Did everything migrate over? Yeah. Yeah, it took, took a little while. [laughs] But, you know.
21:27
I still got, like, 1,000 photos I haven't seen and... Just texts and photos that are still downloading. Yeah. Everything else came over pretty quick.
21:34
Anyway, I just, th- for those, for those moments where you don't know if the stuff's gonna get over there, and by the way, I think I'm backed up- Yeah... on the iCloud anyway, but I, I'm just, it, it was...
21:42
It, I was so exhausted afterwards from the- Yes... from the emotional spent... Uh, maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm neurotic. It's like a half a day. I had to reorganize apps and everything. Yeah. Yeah.
21:49
That, uh, like, my buddy Arash was like, "Hey, you want to go to dinner?" I'm like, "No, dude, I'm, I'm, I can't. We gotta get-" He's frazzled. I'm frazzled. "We, let's, let's get something after the sh- tomorrow."
21:56
[laughs] I'm too frazzled. I can't do this. I, I had, I had to skip the gym to set up my phone. Like, that's the way I justified it. I'ma go with the iPhone. Our phones are important, though, in our lives.
22:03
Ladies and gentlemen, uh, Drew Dinsick is important in our lives as well. Mm-hmm.
22:06
He's the host of not one, but two podcasts, the, uh, Deep Dive, which he does with Andy Molitor, and Bet The Edge, uh, with, uh, Jake Croucher, and of course now Dinsick Daily. That's not the, the name of the show?
22:16
[laughs] No, we're not going with that? Drew Dinsick joins us now courtesy of the Progressive guest line. How you doing, Drew? Doing well. Uh- What do, what do we call in your daily thing? That's the Deep Dive Daily.
22:26
The Deep Dive Daily. Yeah. There we go. It's just, I- Of course...
22:28
we, we just, we just dumped it right into the, uh, uh, the podcast feed for the Deep Dive as opposed to trying to create a second one and get people- Ah... to find it some way. It's just- Gotcha...
22:37
that one just gets populated every day now, so. Drew, let me- Um, yeah... let me ask you this. Can we, uh, do you take, are you taking guest-on-guest questions? One of our regular guests has a question for you.
22:48
His name is- Absolutely... his name is Christopher Felica. Are you familiar with his work? Oh, yeah, of course. [laughs] Yes. All right. He says, "Can you kick around with Drew if Risashe can win Rookie of the Year?
22:59
Um, couple i- couple people I know," he goes on to say, " Couple people I know think he should." Um, and Kel- oh, Kelly responded, "Need Castle to miss some time with his injury, in my opinion. Not dead, though."
23:10
Your opinion is what? Um, I, I, I will be completely honest with you.
23:15
The, um, the Rookie of the Year award does feel a little bit, uh, uh, you know, it's how you finish [laughs] and not how you start, uh, over the balance of, you know, the last handful of years, and we have certainly seen people, uh, finish strong and steal.
23:31
Um, what's the most obvious example, of course, and Kelly remembers this well, I'm sure, was the Scottie Barnes year, um- Oh, yeah...
23:38
where, you know, the Raptors just into the close were just en fuego, and, uh, you know, Barnes was the re- you know, the, the beneficiary of that, stealing that award.
23:48
Um- And I, you know, so I guess if, if you're, if you're inclined to take a price, um, I certainly like Risacher 14-1 more than I like Saar 8-1.
23:57
I mean, Saar is just, he's been such a destructive player over the balance of the season to trying to, you know, winning efforts for the Wizards.
24:04
I don't care how well he's playing right now, he is not the second choice in that market. It should be Risacher.
24:09
Um, so yeah, if you can, if you're, if you're looking for long shot prices, that one, uh, that one's reasonable. Um, but Castle to me right now is kind of in the 90, 95% range.
24:19
All right, Castle minus 550, prohibitive favorite, um, sort of commensurate with what Drew was talking about. And then, uh, we, we touched on defensive player of the year a little earlier- Yeah...
24:29
where now Draymond Green is your favorite. Is, does this have any rhyme or reason to it? I think this is over. I think he wins. And why? Because the Mobley case was always a little fragile.
24:47
Agree with that. Mo- Moby- Mobley didn't have the counting stats, he didn't have the advanced stats, and the Cavs don't have this all universe defense to really kind of lean on for as far as like, why Mobley, right?
25:03
Um, so to your question, well, how did Mobley get out to 300, minus 300 if he had such a fragile case, Drew? Well, the answer, Gil, is there was a vacuum. [laughs] Yes.
25:14
When he goes down, everybody's, "Well, w- w- wait, wait, we need a new favorite. Uh, who are two and three? Uh, Mobley and JJJ. Oh, JJJ gets hurt. Oh, it, it's just Mobley then."
25:24
And it's like, okay, well, that, you know, you, you, yeah, you d- as, as someone who had a- We, we kind of, we kind of said that that day. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
25:30
We had a, I had, I had some, I have some big numbers on Mobley because I was kicking, you know, literally just like, man, like Spurs might shut Mobley down. Not because I knew that he had deep vein thrombosis- Wemby...
25:42
but, uh, because just, yeah, Wemby. Excuse me. I was like, uh, they might shut Wemby down because they stink, [laughs] and they might wanna save him for next year.
25:51
They might wanna, you know, just, uh, you know, kinda make sure that he doesn't, uh, you know, something serious doesn't happen.
25:56
Um, and, uh, and sure enough, it was, it was out of the freaking clouds with the, uh, the, um, you know, the blood clots. But, uh, um, so yeah, I'm, I'm holding a bunch of Mobley. I, I think it's, I think it's dead.
26:07
Um, and the, um, Draymond Green case is very straightforward.
26:12
Like, uh, you ask anyone who covers basketball, like perennially, who, who are the best defensive players in the league, and they will tell you it's Wemby, Rudy Gobert, Draymond Green.
26:22
And you look over the balance of, you know, the last 10 years and Green's, you know, kind of his hardware, he has one defensive player of the year, despite being one of the most versatile, important defensive players of this generation.
26:34
And I think people feel like, you know, given a last opportunity to square accounts and get him a second one is going to be very, very, very tempting for the people who, uh, you know, kind of, uh, sit on the voting block for this award.
26:46
And then even more than that, the, um, the fact that the Warriors are tickling a top 5D rating as a team. Like, that matters a ton, right?
26:55
Like every, like when they flip the Cavs as far as having a better over the season, balance of the season defensive rating, like that wa- to me was like, oh, okay, so this is happening.
27:03
Like, this is just gonna be, this is just gonna go one way now. And they are now ac- you know, pretty close to, to ticking into the top five.
27:12
Um, the Warriors, if you were curious, I would rate with high confidence as the fourth best team in the NBA right now. I like it. And, and- Yeah.
27:20
[laughs] And I, and as a Thunder backer, the team that I'm the least interested in seeing them run into- Yep... like not even close. Yep.
27:27
And even though the, even though, even though there are, you know, they, they have some match of advantages, I, I, I still don't wanna see that.
27:33
Um, but whatever the case is, Green's, like the, when you're, when, when they're, when people are coming up with their all defense, when they're coming up with their defensive player of the year ballot, like it's not a ma- a, you know, everybody has been shamed to just looking at rebound steals blocks, right?
27:50
Like it's, it's, it's become more than that.
27:52
And it, and everybody ta- everybody's commentary is like, "Oh yeah, you gotta pick the brains of the skill coaches and the assistant coaches around league, really kind get a feel for who are they going out of their way to prepare for defensively."
28:04
And, and a lot of them are saying Draymond Green is, is really the, the guy, you know? Can I- And what, what the reality is, they're looking at the all-in-one advanced stats.
28:12
They're sorting by defensive efficiency, and Draymond Green is always at the top. All right, so let- And that's all there is to it... let me just make them, before we, before we go to something else- Yeah...
28:19
let me just make the Michael Montesano case. 'Cause I, I'm picturing Montesano listening to this right now ready to burst. [laughs] Ready for his head to explode off his body. Re- real quick la- Yeah...
28:29
uh, since February 21st, Golden State, uh, number one in defense, uh, defensive rating- Really? Okay. Hmm... outside of garbage time. Okay. But for the year it's OKC, correct? Yeah. Oh, OKC by margin. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
28:41
By margin, right? And last year, right?
28:43
We were told that Rudy Gobert has to be the defensive player of the year 'cause he was the best defensive player on an otherwise, they didn't put this part out, on an otherwise stacked defensive team, right?
28:52
There were other great defensive players on there as well. And so this is why betting NBA awards, I believe specifically, if I could just back up Montesano, is a particularly f- it, it can be a fool's errand.
29:04
Because the justification, and I'm not saying anything you're saying is wrong, Drew, and I'm a Warriors guy, so you're right.
29:09
The squaring of the accounts comment I think resonates the most with me about Draymond as a career arc.
29:16
But what we're talking about then is a different reason given every year for why someone should win this award, right?
29:23
Because if we were doing it the Rudy Gobert way, well, one of those Thunder players ought to be the defensive player of the year, and maybe Mr 150 to 1, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander- Yeah...
29:33
actually ought to be that player if we're being consistent. But we're never gonna be consistent with an award like this because we're just making it up as we go along, right?
29:42
I, I, yes, but I also think there is actually like, um, there is a process that the majority goes through, voting block. The m- the voting block will go through this process.
29:53
Basketball reference Summary of the season, advanced ratings, D ratings. Sort by D rating. Okay, who's in the top five? Okay. All right, I see these are the five best defenses. Now let's go to EPM defensive efficiency.
30:09
Who's in the top five? Oh, Warriors and Draymond Green. Bam, that's my pick. I don't, I don't hate it. I'm just making the other case.
30:16
[laughs] I'm just saying, if you're gonna bet, if you're gonna bet awards, which is already a, that dicey thing- Yeah... these might be the diciest of all of them, is all I'm saying. Uh, more with Drew.
30:25
VSiN Tennis, NBA plays tonight. Drew Dinsin right here on a Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network. [upbeat rock music] A Numbers Game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
30:40
Your bracket might be done, but the tournament is not. Neither are your chances to win.
30:44
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31:03
Don't let a busted bracket keep you from winning. Sign up now at vsin.com/subscribe for just 9.99 and let VSiN help you turn the madness into money. That's vsin.com/subscribe. Let's go, Alexander.
31:14
Kelly Bidlin, alongside. We got tweets of beating the book. This is from... [hums] Oh, talking about our thing here. Well, first of all, [laughs] Chris Heath, a lot of subjects we've talked about.
31:25
We'll, we'll try to cover some of them here.
31:26
He says, "Chris Heath: For a few years in a row on sportsbook.ag, I would use the cash out option," our discussion about cash out options earlier, "after betting a World Series future on a team like the A's or the Rays at a big number, and then after a hot start to the season, he presses the button, cash out."
31:41
This was, this was akin to when we were talking about the Carolina Panthers this year. It was so great. [laughs] And they had it, what they were, they were like double digits to win the, the NFC South.
31:51
Like 100 to 1, right? Yeah, or maybe they were 100 to 1. I thought it was 100. They won a game, and then people were like, "Oh, should we cash out?" We were like, "Yes." [laughs] Immediately.
32:01
Great, great bet, but cash out right now. Cash out immediately. BP, futures bet, "Kelly with a bunch of little kids in the Dizzy Bat Contest equals Andy Reid in the punt, pass, and kick contest."
32:10
[laughs] That's a great comp. That's exactly right. Yeah. Yeah. Steve the Proxy talking about, uh, people that you admired who let you down. He says, "I met Mike Tyson in 2014 at the Box- Boxing Expo.
32:21
I walk in a huge fan. I was friendly with the girls working his booth. I get pulled out of line, and Tyson waves me over. He proceeds to threaten me for talking to a girl he has eyes on.
32:31
Loved his crazy till I experienced it myself." Oh, man. Hashtag hypocrite, he says. [laughs] I think, I think that last sentence is, uh, we, we can all relate to. We loved the crazy till we, uh, ran into it.
32:43
Uh, 3Jack, 3H, uh, 3JackH3131, f- uh, "iPhone buying tip 101, just order your phone online, set it up yourself. Also, what type of bear would you be running from in that scenario? A grizzly, a polar, or a felika?"
32:56
[laughs] I love that. Yeah. Running from a felika is not a, not a harrowing experience. [laughs] I think you just make one jab step to the left and then you're gone.
33:03
Uh, MrPostman619, "You're right about George naming all his sons George one through five, I believe. He also named his daughter Georgina." Talking about George Foreman.
33:11
Uh, LosVegas514, "Yo, can you ask the great Al Bernstein if he owned a George Foreman grill? Did you own one as well? Just curious." I did at one point. Yeah, mm-hmm.
33:20
Uh, TouchdownJesus, "Most harrowing experiences, bungee jumping, being chased by a bear, iPhone data transfer, D, betting March Madness or MLB full game unders?"
33:30
[laughs] Matthew Mayberry, "When do they announce the NBA awards? I can't find it stated anywhere. I've been trying to find it all morning." What's the answer to that question, Kelly Bidlin? Oh, man, uh- MrNBA...
33:39
start of the playoffs? We'll have to ask Drew on that one. Playoffs? You have one more awards thing for Drew before we can move on from this? Or should we- Yeah.
33:45
Clu- Clutch Player of the Year, which I have, I never thought I would have- Oh, are we talking about this again?... this much money invested in Clutch Player of the Year. Oh, how much do you have on this?
33:51
I, I don't wanna, I don't wanna bring that up. I don't wanna bring that up. But Trae Young, are, are, has Brunson done enough, Drew? Is this over?
33:57
Like is i- i- are we just assuming it's done, he's done enough, he doesn't, he doesn't need to play here? Did we lose him? There we go. Well, but I think he will. I think he will play. I think he will play.
34:07
Like I, I don't think he's done enough, but I do think he will play. I think he wants to get to the 65 game threshold for his All-NBA, um, you know, qualification.
34:17
Uh, clutch does not require 65 games, but, uh, he's, I mean, he's been the best. His u- like the case for him is pretty straightforward.
34:25
If you, if you're, if S- [laughs] Kelly, if you're gonna start using your social media clout to really campaign for, uh, Brunson Clutch Player of the Year, uh, his clutch usage is ch- like it's truly insane.
34:36
Like I don't recall ever seeing a player getting this much usage in, um, you know, at, at an, an end of game. And, um, and on top of just being the highest usage guy, he's a very efficient guy as well.
34:49
So, uh, his case is strong, but it's not, uh, it's not over yet 'cause right now at least Trae Young has more points scored.
34:56
Uh, the real f- the real fun come from the clouds one, if you guys want something that's just absolutely insane. We like the clouds. Sure. Mm-hmm. Not, not in this market though. Not really. Not in this market.
35:06
[laughs] No, no, I'm with Dr- I mean, I'm with you on Trae Young. Don't you have a bit of Trae Young? I like Brunson. I have Trae Young too. Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, I... Oh, you don't have Brunson? No. Oh, yeah. No.
35:14
I, I, I think Trae Young rate- I think it's 50/50 between those two players. I'm a, I'm a, I'm against Jokic in that market, that's it. 'Cause he was, when Jokic was like minus 120 at one point- Yeah...
35:23
which made zero sense. Um, but, uh, the come from the clouds, uh, awards odds that I think is, you gotta start paying attention to, it's Mark Daigneault for Coach of the Year. Yeah.
35:33
This Thunder team is going to be 10-point favorites for every game remaining on their schedule, except maybe one of the two Lakers games. They are going to win 70.
35:44
They are gonna finish with a net rating that is in or around the ballpark of plus 13. You know the last time that happened, Kelly? When, Drew? That's a trick question. It's never happened. No.
35:54
[laughs] It's never happened.
35:55
In fact, we've never had a plus 12, and these guys are gonna finish with a net rating of plus 13 and win 70 games, and we're really that sure that it's just gonna go to the Cavs who might be eight games behind them?
36:07
This was, what's more impressive, a 62 win Cavs team or a 70 win Oklahoma City team that has the highest net rating ever, ever recorded in basketball? I'll say it again. Like point differential.
36:16
If they, if they win 70, it's the third greatest record in the history of the NBA. Yeah. With the biggest margin of victory. It would, it would be- Yeah. It would, it would be the most impressive team.
36:26
With point differential net rating. Yeah. Too. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. So I, I, I, I do not think Coach of the Year is a wrap.
36:32
Um, and if you've been watching much of the Cavs play lately, like I don't know how many more games they can afford to play that poorly and, uh, still kind of have this much ta- you know, this much support.
36:43
And Bickerstaff being the second choice also is kind of funny to me because, like, the Pistons are very clearly gonna be a six seed. It's very, very tough to...
36:51
Th- the, the, the market is kind of treating this like NFL coach of the year, where the big surprise team gets the, you know, gets the support here. I... It's never been that way.
37:00
It's always been just the, the coach on the elite team gets it when it comes to NBA. Um, JJ Redick, third choice is hilarious. Ima Udoka, fourth choice is hilarious.
37:09
Daigneault at 200 to one can absolutely come from the clouds in this market, uh, particularly if the, if and when the Thunder, you know, set high water marks for the history of basketball. 2016 Warriors, 73 and 9.
37:22
1996 Bulls, 72 and 10. If they get to 70, V's Thunder. This is like Will bringing up Rutgers 200 to 1 to win the Big Ten tournament. You know how many people at, at home just heard, heard- Ah...
37:33
Drew say that and be like- Fuck... 200 to one, no. Two- Of course. That's worth 10 bucks. [laughs] Except this makes sense. [laughs] Right? Rut- Rutgers kinda did, but because they had the two lottery picks.
37:45
That's all I need to hear. Right? I'd be like, you told me they got two lottery picks on their team. Ba- They're 200 to one? I'm in. Bailey and Harper, but like I, I just do feel... I, I, I agree with the sentiment.
37:53
That Kenny Atkinson- Yeah... has been this fait accompli. He's the winner. Let's not ever talk about it again. But then there's this other guy.
38:01
I mean, I feel like for the past few months, w- like a lot of, like people have s- brought that up, Drew. It's, "Hey, if y- if they get to the 70 wins, they get into that range- I keep, I-...
38:09
you gotta think about it," but the odds have just kept getting longer on it. I keep bringing it up because it's this little detail that we just are sort of taking for granted. Yeah. Right?
38:18
It's like, oh, if they win 70, like it's historic. If. Everybody's taking... Y- the, the future's market's taking this for granted. Yeah. Uh- For, for title, title equity.
38:28
Like, you know what ha- you know, and I know that, uh, you know, the 73 win Warriors, [clears throat] they didn't win the title. They, they didn't. Thanks for bringing that up. They didn't. [laughs] No.
38:39
Uh, but, uh- And didn't score the last four minutes and 40 seconds of game seven, but who's counting? Man. You know? Yes. Uh, favorite bet of my life was the live under in that game, going into the fourth quarter. Oh.
38:48
I remember telling my friend, I was sitting next to him, I was like, "The fourth quarter total should be like 39 points," and it was like 48 or something like that.
38:57
And, uh, yeah, they, uh, the s- th- they, they, they turned the tap off. I watched that at- That was unreal... at Jeff Maz's house. It was a morgue. [laughs] We, I couldn't believe what we were watching. Oh, man.
39:07
Like what just happened? Oh, no. Um- Oh, no. But yeah... any NBA plays tonight real quick? Uh, I got, uh, speaking of your Warriors, I fired pretty heavily into them to win the Pacific division yesterday. Um, I quit.
39:20
The Lakers are dead to me. Uh, this Lakers team is an absolute joke.
39:23
Ba- these back-to-back performances they've had since, uh, LeBron came back were, were embarrassing and, uh, you know, the, the defensive, um, you know, kind of expectation that they were going to, uh, fall apart has now manifest.
39:37
Um, I think that, uh, Curry plays tonight. I think the Warriors get a, a win in Miami, and I think they carry on as, yeah, the, the fourth best team in basketball.
39:46
I think they carry on to get a, a home playoff series and win the Pacific. Um, the other two games I played, I took the points, the eight points with, uh, Atlanta- Ugh... at Houston.
39:57
Uh, and I am laying 10 with Oklahoma City at Sacramento. There you go. Um, speaking of Miami, which you brought up earlier, tennis. Any tennis today in Miami? I have a bunch of stuff.
40:10
[laughs] I don't know if we have time to cover it all. I'll just say this, uh, that, uh, t- Miami has been so much more entertaining than I expected.
40:17
The Fa- the Fonseca, uh, demon hour match yesterday was just a chef's kiss, as good as it gets with tennis. The organic support that the Brazilian fans have for Fonseca is, I, I've never seen anything like it.
40:28
It's awesome. It is, it is unbelievable, uh, the atmosphere they created in the, in the, uh, uh, Hard Rock yesterday. Um, as far as tennis goes, I'm against Feath. Uh, I think Zverev comes through two-zero.
40:40
I am on Machac. I think he takes care of his com- countryman, Mensik. Um, that one I think I played money line minus 130. Um, I am on, there's one other du- oh, Musetti. I think, uh, I think Djokovic is in trouble. Ooh.
40:54
His performances have been brutally bad, and Musetti, of course famously took him five sets into, what, 3:00 in the morning, uh, at, uh, Roland Garros last year. He can, he can go toe to toe with the, with the greats.
41:05
Lorenzo Musetti against Novak Djokovic. Um, the crowds in Miami have- Oh... put the crowds at Indian Wells to shame, let's put it that way. Sss. Weather has a factor in that, but still. [laughs] Thank you, Drew.
41:18
Appreciate it. Best of luck, guys. Drew Dinsick, everybody. Always bringing it right here on the Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network. Check him out @whale_capper on Twitter.
41:28
Al Bernstein, the Hall of Famer, next. Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real and so is the relief from EVLISS.
41:38
After an initial dosing phase of 16 weeks, about four in 10 people taking EVLISS achieve itch relief and clear or almost clear skin, and most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.
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EVLISS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to EVLISS. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur.
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42:50
No belongings were found except for a cassette tape lodged in the player. On that tape were 10 vile- No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Ah!... grotesque- Oh my God. Oh my
43:09
God... horrific stories that to this day have been kept restricted from the public until now. [laughs] Stop laughing. You Feeling This Too?, a horror anthology podcast.
43:25
Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. [upbeat music] It's Julie Stewart-Banks.
43:33
I'm doing a new podcast from iHeartPodcast and the National Hockey League, and I'm paired up with one of my favorite players, the always quotable Nate Thompson.
43:41
I wore nine NHL sweaters, and I have story after story to share. And believe it or not, I have plenty to say, and not just about hockey. Believe me, he does.
43:50
Energy Line with Nate and JSB is the name of the podcast, and it's gonna be, well, it's gonna be quite the ride. We're officially line mates, Nate. We're the Energy Line.
44:01
We'll have plenty of folks join us, current players, some of my former teammates, Hall of Famers, and wait till you see some of the connections that Julie has. She has quite the Rolodex. Okay.
44:11
We'll lean into Nate's playing experience and tap into our interests away from hockey, and try to do what energy lines are supposed to do: provide an emotional boost. How do you feel about all that, Nate?
44:22
I'm vibing, Julie. I'm ready to roll. Listen to Energy Line with Nate and JSB on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. [upbeat music] We ready to fight? I'm ready to fight.
44:34
[laughs] You ready to fight? Is, is that what... I thought it wa- oh, this is Fighting Words. Okay. I'll put the hammer back. Hi. I'm George M. Johnson, a best-selling author with the second most banned book in America.
44:48
Now more than ever, we need to use our voices to fight back, and that's what we're doing on Fighting Words. We're not gonna let anyone silence us- That's the reason why they're banning books like yours, George.
45:01
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45:22
Listen to Fighting Words on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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46:04
I just wanna read a couple here, uh, real quick. This is from Forest Leman. "Castle averaging 20 for the month. Rese Che 15. Bear is reaching. Drew grounded." Bear is reaching and Drew grounded.
46:18
Is grounded what he wanted to say? [laughs] I don't know. Anyway. [laughs] I don't know. Anyway, he feels like it, he feels like it's Castle, is what he's saying. Uh, and then C.
46:25
Spackler, "Betting Jokic to win the MVP is the most frightening thing I've done lately." Yeah, I mean, do you think that? What do you think about MVP? Oh, I think it's probably over. In favor of? SGA.
46:36
'Cause there, there felt like there was a little Jokic resurgence here the last couple weeks. Oh, there, there was, rightfully so, and there still should be. Yeah.
46:41
It still should be way closer than it's probably going to end up being, but him missing games here is not helping anything. Um, now for something a little different.
46:49
Um, we are always thrilled to have this gentleman on the show. He is a, uh, Hall of Fame boxing broadcaster, and, uh, over the weekend, George Foreman passed away at the age of 76.
47:01
Um, and I think a lot of us, our reaction was, wow, only 76? Um, but a two-time world heavyweight champion, Olympic gold medalist.
47:09
Of course, the namesake was brought up earlier on the show, the George Foreman Grill, among other things. Uh, Al Bernstein joins us now on the show courtesy of the Progressive Guest Line. How you doing, Al?
47:18
And thanks so much for doing this. I'm good, Gil. Nice to be with you. Um, I, I...
47:22
We started talking about this off-air, but I didn't really finish the thought, which is, uh, I think there's a, there's, uh, me- there's certain, certain of us at a certain age who we were not quite old enough to experience Ali- Mm-hmm...
47:36
Frazier and Foreman in their prime. Mm-hmm. Our, our knowledge of Zaire and the, uh, and the, the Rope A Dope and the Rumble in the Jungle there, it's all, it's all by highlights and footage. We were- Mm-hmm...
47:48
we are old enough to have experienced the entirely different version of George Foreman in his 40s, the cuddly version of George Foreman. [laughs] And so in many ways he's this unique figure. What does he mean to you?
48:00
How would you put him in context?
48:02
Yeah, well, uh, uh, in my situation, e- even though I'm older than you and I was a fan when, uh, when it happened, I was a fan of the Frazier-Ali-Foreman era, but I was not involved in, I...
48:17
Back then I was a newspaper editor and a hard news. I was just a fan. But, uh, I wasn't covering boxing.
48:23
But then the second time around for George Foreman, of course, I was, and I announced, uh, about four or five of those matches when he had come back as he led up to a world championship.
48:34
George Foreman holds a unique place in boxing history, um- Because he was able to have two very distinct acts as a, as a heavyweight, uh, champion, both successful obviously in different ways.
48:51
Um, and the fact that he was able to reinvent himself at such a later age and come back and, and really be a, a almost a different fighter and cer- and, and in theory a different person, though even when he was younger he had that same sense of humor, but he just didn't show it to the public.
49:10
But his place is a unique one, and for me personally, it's m- it's important because I was good friends with George. He wrote the forward to my book, and, uh, we had a, a great relationship over the years.
49:23
Well, is there an equivalent to someone like him in any other sport where they had such a distinctive second act? Um- Oh, that's a good question... I don't, I don't know that there is.
49:32
You know, I, I'm curious if you- No... if you think about this, 'cause I'm a, a, I was a huge fight fan growing up. I was more of a Ray Leonard, a Hearns-Hagler-Leonard- Mm-hmm... thing for me growing up. Sure.
49:40
But you obviously- I'm sure, yeah... you w- you did the great call on the, uh, on the Hearns-Hagler greatest eight minutes of boxing ever fight. But I, I...
49:48
When, when Visine first started, I was mentioning earlier, I had Ernie Shavers on the show with m- he was 73 years old at the time.
49:55
Couldn't have been any nicer, and Ernie Shavers was the only guy that folks thought punched harder than Foreman at that level. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And, and I always thought to myself, I'm like, wow, Ernie Shavers.
50:04
And then I'd walk over to Planet Hollywood after the show and Leon Spinks would be signing autographs when he was still with us. Mm-hmm.
50:10
And I just thi- I just think to myself, are, it was that era, let alone George himself, is it as appreciated today as it should be? Yeah, I think it is, uh, to a great extent.
50:22
You know, I think people understand that that was a... I just appeared on a, a, there's a great documentary about Joe Frazier called I Am Joe Frazier, and I was privileged to be a part of it.
50:32
And, um, it, it was, it, it, it really did a, it, it concentrates on Joe, which was sorely needed because so often he did, lived in Ali's shadow. But, but part of it has to do with that era, and I think that era was...
50:48
And what made that era special is a point you made. Look, Leon Spinks came in right at the end of it, but there was Kenny Norton and Jerry Quarry and, uh, Ernie Shavers and, uh, others. Larone Lyle.
51:01
They had a whole cast of people, each one a, a their own unique personality, each one very special as a fighter, and it was a unique and interesting time.
51:13
Uh, and, and I just wrote an article for, I wrote a column for Ring Magazine, and I talked about this current era of heavyweights, and this current era has created about nine years of excitement and fun for people.
51:26
Not comparing them necessarily, but, uh, and but, but that group was kind of legendary and, and, uh, the three of the, you know, Foreman and Ali and Frazier were kind of the titular heads of all that, but the other people were really important too.
51:41
The, the run-up, I'll leave you with this, the run-up to the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire in 1974 when, uh, Fore- when, when Ali went into the rope-a-dope and then just out of nowhere knocks down George- Mm-hmm...
51:53
Foreman. Um, George Foreman later has sort of a religious experience after losing to Jimmy Young, I guess, and then he, that's what caused him to retire. But b- but heading into that Rumble in the Jungle,
52:02
g- give us a sense of just how... Uh, w- what was the sentiment at the time? That Foreman was just gonna destroy Ali or, or did, or was the- Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I think most everybody thought...
52:13
And then when Ali started the fight and started to do that rope-a-dope, everyone was confident [laughs] he was gonna get beat. Yeah. Um, and, and that, and, and it... Here's the irony.
52:25
If the old George Foreman w- had been presented, the, the older George Foreman, the one that came back, had been presented with that same
52:35
Ali, he would've won the fight because the George Foreman that came b- back later, years later had a phenomenal jab, was much more patient, and he would not have fallen for all that.
52:49
And he was, and, and the older George Foreman ironically was better prepared to go longer in fights. So it was, uh, ironic and, and George Foreman just, you know...
52:59
I mean, he, he had the great- one of the greatest chins in boxing, so the idea that he went down against Ali was purely from exhaustion and mental fatigue. Yeah.
53:07
You know, you make a great point because then when he won the title in his mid-40s over Michael Moorer, Moorer was ahead on all the cards, but Foreman- Yeah... predicted before the fight, he goes, "Don't worry.
53:19
In the 10th round, in the final round, he will give m- he will let me n- he will stand in front of him, he will stand in front of me, and he will let me knock him out." His words.
53:29
[laughs] And that's exactly what happened. It's, it's amazing. I,
53:32
I was with George Foreman I think where we w- I was with ESPN at the time, and we had, I'd done a story on him, and we were having, we were having, uh, dinner.
53:42
And he looked at me, and it wasn't like a, it wasn't even like a, you know, sometimes I didn't, you don't usually get to socialize like that with, and I didn't normally do that, but in this instance I did.
53:55
And he looked at me, and I mean, with a clear... You know, he said something very similar to that, and it wasn't even in a public setting, and the way he said it to me convinced me too, you know? And I said, "Okay."
54:08
[laughs] Mm-hmm. You know? I mean, it, you know, it was like he believed it, and it, and it did happen. Al, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. It's always great to talk boxing with you.
54:18
All right, take care, Bill. Bye-bye. Al Bernstein, a Hall of Fame boxing analyst who, uh, among... And by the way, you can follow him on Twitter @albernstein.
54:24
But among other things, again, did, uh, was on the call for that, uh, Hagler-Hearns epic eight-minute battle in the '80s where, uh, Hagler, let's say, outlasted Hearns in, in the bloodiest of all eight minutes you'll ever see in boxing.
54:37
Uh, the, the thing about Foreman beating Moorer though, and then the reason I wanted to g- have Al on too, and you know, Foreman specifically, the fact that he had those two acts- I don't know what the equivalent is in another sport, and I don't know how to even
54:50
properly convey to younger folks w- how amazing it was that he came back as an old man. Mm-hmm. Let's face it, old man in his 40s, right? In boxing. And just took down these young whippersnappers and won the title.
55:01
And Jim Lampley tells the famous story, again, what I just mentioned, where he's like, "Don't worry, uh, he'll stand in front of me and he'll let me kn- he'll let me knock him out."
55:10
And sure enough, Moorer ahead on all cards. I don't know if he got arrogant, he got cocky.
55:14
Michael Moorer, who was the heavyweight champ, he stood right in front of George in the final round, [laughs] he stood right in front of him, and all of a sword, all of a sudden George caught him.
55:23
And if George catches you, it's over.
55:25
George used to do the thing when he was on the run-up to that heavyweight title, where he was beating an opponent badly, he would look at the ref, and in the middle of the fight, he would say, "Can you stop this?
55:33
This is..." Like, literally in the middle, he was like gentle- That's incredible... gentleman George. Yeah. "Please stop this."
55:37
So with Moorer, he knocks him down and, and it's, I'm getting chills thinking about this if you're into boxing, 'cause Lampley, with the best call of his career, "It happened.
55:46
It happened," because he had told Geo- it, George had told him that exact prediction, and it ex- it came, it came to pass. It was amazing. Amazing. George Foreman, uh, passing away at the age of 76.
56:00
Uh, there is no equivalent. What a, what a, uh, what a gentle giant he became after being a feared younger fighter back in the day. Kelly and I back, um, we'll look more at basketball.
56:11
Kelly may have a bet or two in the NBA. We'll review all the bets everyone made on the show. I have three on tennis and beyond. It's a numbers game at VSiN, the sports betting network.
56:20
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57:33
Have you guys seen this new commercial from Stand Up to All Hate?
57:36
It's basically Snoop Dogg and Tom Brady going back and forth with reasons that they hate each other, but then when you really listen to them, the reasons for the hate, uh, are just so stupid.
57:46
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57:57
Your voice is a powerful tool in this fight. You can learn more by following @whatsupwithhate. What's up, everyone? Julie Swiercinski here, along with former NHL player Nate Thompson. We're doing a new podcast together.
58:08
Here we go. The name? Energy Line with Nate and JSB. Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey, life, all topics are fair game, right? Exactly, and you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
58:22
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58:33
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59:01
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