transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] Hey, it's Tony. On today's show, we will talk with Craig Laughlin about what's going on in the NHL playoffs. We'll also get a preview of the NFL draft from Georgetown's own Dan Graziano. But first, commerce.

Speaker 2:
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Speaker 3:
[00:34] This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

Speaker 4:
[00:55] Previously on The Tony Kornheiser Show.

Speaker 1:
[00:59] Because it not only takes 10 minutes to get to, 10 minutes to get to and then it freezes up.

Speaker 5:
[01:08] No.

Speaker 1:
[01:08] It freezes up for 30 seconds to a minute to a minute and it just freezes up. What are they doing? If Jeff Bezos had this much problem delivering packages, he wouldn't have a business. Am I wrong? It freezes up. Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[01:24] Who's doing it?

Speaker 1:
[01:24] Do they have like mice on a wheel? Is that their power source?

Speaker 4:
[01:30] This is General George Washington and you're listening to The Tony Kornheiser Show.

Speaker 1:
[01:37] First thing we have to do is we have to thank Jolene.

Speaker 6:
[01:40] It's an unboxing.

Speaker 1:
[01:42] Jolene Wojcik. We have to thank her for all the stuff that she gave us. Very thoughtful. Which is master's stuff, including a towel, which I'm going to take and put in my bag, a master's towel.

Speaker 6:
[01:53] Represent.

Speaker 1:
[01:53] Oh, yeah. People say he's pretentious, isn't he? Okay. I grant you that. Ball markers, which are beautiful, napkins.

Speaker 6:
[02:03] Yes. You got to host a party.

Speaker 1:
[02:06] Cups. Did you bring back cups?

Speaker 6:
[02:08] I brought a few cups. Yeah, I got a lemonade cup.

Speaker 1:
[02:10] In case you had forgotten them with the year on them, so you don't need these.

Speaker 6:
[02:15] That's for you.

Speaker 1:
[02:15] Well, I wasn't there this year.

Speaker 6:
[02:17] You can put some snacks in it while you watch the Nats.

Speaker 1:
[02:19] I could do that. We're grateful to Jolene, who is a great fan of the show and a high character human being. Yes. She does this all the time for us and loves to go to the matches.

Speaker 6:
[02:29] Again, we walk around the 18th green and I'm pointing out to Liz, this is where Jolene sits. Right.

Speaker 1:
[02:35] That's just lovely. That's number one. Number two, let me get to the Nats right away. The Nats won last night. The score was 11-4. It was not as easy as 11-4 sounds because the bulk of the runs came in the 7th and 8th. 7th and 8th innings. They had the Braves pitcher on the ropes. They got to the Braves pitcher early. Lopez. They got to him early.

Speaker 6:
[03:01] It felt like a 10-year rewind with Lopez on the mound.

Speaker 1:
[03:04] Because he used to be the Nats.

Speaker 6:
[03:05] Yeah, part of that Joledo trade.

Speaker 1:
[03:06] Oh, that's right. Yeah. He was terrible. They got him out in the second inning. But again, as they did the other night when they lost in extra innings by not being able to bring a run across with bases loaded and no out, they had gotten three runs off Lopez early. Two or three? Three in the first. Yeah. But there were still bases loaded and no out when Lopez struck two guys out and got a ground ball to second base. So, you can look at that. That's not an A. That's a B minus or a C plus. It's not an A. Yeah. And they do that a lot. And they are also, as we know, the worst base running team in the history of baseball.

Speaker 6:
[03:46] And the Braves are just in those middle innings these last two nights just pick up solo home runs.

Speaker 1:
[03:50] And they come back at you.

Speaker 6:
[03:51] So, no lead feels safe. Mine was 4-3.

Speaker 1:
[03:53] The Rookie of the Year from last year got one, the center fielder got one.

Speaker 6:
[03:55] You're listening on radio, I was, because I had basketball practice with the Booster. And I just feel like it's one of those leads that should be a couple more at every step of the way.

Speaker 1:
[04:04] But they scored a lot of runs late. And so, they won that game.

Speaker 7:
[04:07] Double digits again. When the offense clicks, it seems like it's really good.

Speaker 1:
[04:11] Happy about that. My question is always, and I write this on the text chain that I'm on, I write every single time, I write the same thing. Why is Garcia at first and Nunez at second? Garcia is a Major League second baseman. He's not a good first baseman. He doesn't pick up throws that are in the dirt. He doesn't do it. What is the power of Nunez who gets caught off base every single game? Who is in love with him? Put Garcia back at second and get a first baseman. Maybe Mead is your, give him 10 games. Give these people a legitimate tryout to see if he's the guy. I also write that if Jacob Young could hit 250, just 250, he plays every day in center.

Speaker 6:
[04:53] It's amazing how often he comes up in a big moment and it just comes off soft.

Speaker 1:
[04:57] Yeah. But if he could just hit 250, although he drove in runs on the first inning yesterday. If he could just hit 250, then you have Lyle in left and you have Young in center, and you have Wood in right every single day. Wood is an awkward-looking fielder, but gets to the ball because he's 6'6 and he moves, gets to the ball and hit another home run last night. Opposite field again, which is his standard opposite field home runs, and he gets to the point where you have to walk him. Other managers, they just say, no, they don't even pitch to him, and so he adds to people on the basis.

Speaker 6:
[05:33] It feels like every bat, it's like eight, nine pitches.

Speaker 1:
[05:35] It's important who you bat, who Butera bats behind Wood. He's got Wood now leading off, and you can make the case, all right, Shohei Otani leads off for the Dodgers. He's their best hitter, so maybe get more at bats that way.

Speaker 7:
[05:52] Get more at bats.

Speaker 1:
[05:53] More at bats, maybe.

Speaker 7:
[05:54] Put more pressure on the pitcher early.

Speaker 1:
[05:56] Maybe. By the way, there were two people on the team last year for whom there were very high hopes, Dylan Cruz and that kid Hassel. Has anybody heard from them? Is Hassel still in the organization? Is Dylan Cruz doing anything in the minor leagues or is it over? This is the overall number two draft pick a couple of years ago with great fanfare. Is it over? All right, let me get to, if you can look that up, let me get to the playoffs. We will get to the hockey playoffs. Craig Laughlin will be with us today and we will get to the draft with Dan Graziano. We are not going to get to Will Bonds' favorite thing that he loves more than anything, the NBA and the NBA playoffs. But there were three games last night. I am very surprised by one. I am very surprised Philadelphia beat Boston in Boston by 14 points without Joel Embiid. I am very surprised at that. I am sure Mike watched that game. I didn't watch that game.

Speaker 7:
[06:59] The Celtics got up to a good start in the second quarter. The Sixers just took over Edgecombe and Maxey.

Speaker 1:
[07:05] They are fine players, but they are not as good as the Celtics in Boston.

Speaker 7:
[07:08] They had terrific nights in Boston, just never really got it together.

Speaker 1:
[07:12] These are seven game series. I will get to my seven game series rant in a little bit. I don't think that these things are consequential, but I am very surprised by that. I am less surprised that San Antonio lost to Portland because Victor Wembenyama went out with what is being reported on ESPN early in the morning as a concussion. If you have a concussion, you are not playing the next game, are you?

Speaker 7:
[07:35] I would think you would have to set that out, the protocol.

Speaker 1:
[07:39] I don't know if the NBA protocol is the same as the NFL protocol. I don't know. I don't know. You don't associate concussions with basketball in the way that you do with football. But if he can't, he couldn't play last night. Portland won that game. This is the problem, not the problem. This is the worry with Wemba Nyama all the time. Will his body hold up? Now he went crashing to the...

Speaker 6:
[08:01] So with concussion, there's a minimum of 48 hours.

Speaker 1:
[08:04] When is their next game?

Speaker 6:
[08:05] Don't know, probably in three days.

Speaker 1:
[08:07] That would be, well, I don't know. If it's two days, then 48 hours, he's not gonna play. The next game will be in Portland. The next game will be in Portland. Is it definitely diagnosed as a concussion or is that...

Speaker 6:
[08:18] I don't think that's been reported yet.

Speaker 1:
[08:19] Okay, well, I thought it was, that he had an actual concussion, but I'm not certain. That's a big deal. That's a big deal. He's a great player already.

Speaker 6:
[08:28] Oh, he does suffer concussion. Yeah.

Speaker 7:
[08:30] And they catch a break. The next game is not until Friday.

Speaker 1:
[08:33] Okay, and today is Wednesday.

Speaker 7:
[08:34] Today's Wednesday.

Speaker 1:
[08:35] So Wednesday, Thursday is 48 hours. Yeah.

Speaker 6:
[08:38] So this is the question. First 24, it's very light activity. Then you have to be symptom-free at rest. Then there's light biking and all that. So you can definitely work to try and get in there with that timeline.

Speaker 1:
[08:49] If he doesn't play, that's troublesome for San Antonio. The third game is a surprise to me as well, because the Lakers won again. Now, okay, the Lakers won at home, but Kevin Durant played in this game. Kevin Durant had 20 points in the first half in this game. He didn't have any hardly at all in the second half, but Kevin Durant played and the Lakers won, and Luke Kennard scored over 20 again. Again, he had 27 in the first game. What did Kennard have last time? This is what he was when he was at Duke, and then he got to the NBA, and he was considered slow and a liability on defense, and all he could do was shoot. And if he didn't have a good day, after four minutes, you took him out, and he didn't play anymore. Lakers traded for him in the middle of the season. And at the moment, he's their MVP, because they don't have Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves. And I didn't think they could win games even if Durant didn't play. They're now up to nothing. Will they win? I still don't think so. I think Phoenix can win four out of five. I do. But that's not as surprising as Philadelphia beating Boston.

Speaker 7:
[09:58] By 14.

Speaker 1:
[09:59] Not as surprising.

Speaker 7:
[09:59] In Boston, yeah. By the way, I have Dylan Cruz is hitting 271 with two home runs in 9 RBI and 70 at Bats in Rochester. It looks like Robert Hassel.

Speaker 1:
[10:11] Robert Hassel III.

Speaker 7:
[10:12] Robert Hassel III, yes. 243 is all the stats I've got for him.

Speaker 1:
[10:18] Not great.

Speaker 7:
[10:19] No, not particularly great.

Speaker 1:
[10:21] Not great. Let me get into my seven game rant. I don't like the fact that the NBA, all the NBA series are seven. I don't. Are the NHL series all seven as well? I don't like that. I think the finals should be seven. I think the conference finals should be seven. I think the others should be three out of five or two out of three. I like the way baseball does that. You can't do it the way football does. You can't have one game. No. We understand that. You can't have one. The only reason owners do this is for money. They open up their gyms more often and they get an influx of money more often. The networks want this because the networks put games on. Every network in the world has these games now. Some of them don't freeze. Most do. Most freeze. But I don't like all these seven game series. I like the thought that somebody can steal a series. That the deep underdog can steal.

Speaker 6:
[11:18] Oddly enough, with baseball, ever since they added the wild card, that has actually made the division around more acceptable if you have someone coming in and steal a series or if it doesn't go as planned.

Speaker 1:
[11:28] Well, I think for a fan standpoint, it's better.

Speaker 7:
[11:30] Well, just look at the two of the series you talked about with Spurs and the Suns. That's tied 1-1. All of a sudden, the Suns are like, we could take this. Same with Philadelphia.

Speaker 1:
[11:39] Yes. Well, not the Suns. No, the Suns are not tied 1-1. The Suns are losing to the Lakers.

Speaker 6:
[11:44] The Sixers.

Speaker 7:
[11:45] Yes. Who was the middle series you talked about with San Antonio playing?

Speaker 6:
[11:49] Portland.

Speaker 1:
[11:50] Portland could steal one. Then it would be very, very important to the concussion protocol.

Speaker 7:
[11:55] Yes.

Speaker 1:
[11:56] Really, I mean, these are the vagaries of sports that I enjoy. I don't like all four out of seven. I really don't. Anyway, do I have anything else? Do you have something?

Speaker 6:
[12:06] I showed you the ending of the Mets game in field in.

Speaker 1:
[12:08] The Mets lose again.

Speaker 6:
[12:10] A chopper.

Speaker 1:
[12:11] The Mets lose again and they get booed. Of course, they get booed. I don't know how this manager survives honestly, even until tonight. They've got to do something.

Speaker 6:
[12:20] They've got to do some walks at the top of that nine.

Speaker 1:
[12:23] This is what happens with relief pitchers. You watch this with the Nats, they're walking people. Last night, the relievers on the Braves walk people as well. That's the no-no. Better to hit a home run than to give up a walk.

Speaker 6:
[12:36] But everything else is going to script. You have Lindor hits a three home run early in the game. Yeah.

Speaker 7:
[12:41] 12 straight.

Speaker 1:
[12:44] I don't think the GM can survive it long-term, and I don't think the manager can survive it short-term, but we'll see. Gives us something to talk about other than the NBA today. We will come back, Craig Laughlin. We will talk about the NHL playoffs. As you know, I don't know anything. Big hockey guy. I don't know anything, but Craig does. So we await his entry into the show. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

Speaker 3:
[13:07] This is The Tony Kornheiser Show.

Speaker 8:
[13:09] Tony Kornheiser Show.

Speaker 1:
[13:12] Let's be honest. Mother's Day gifts can get a little predictable. Flowers, maybe a card, and they're nice, but they don't exactly last. And the older you get, the more you realize how much moms actually do, the stuff you didn't fully appreciate growing up, and honestly, the advice you probably still call them for now. So it feels like they deserve something a little bit more lasting, and that's where Aura Frames comes in. Instead of something that fades after a few days, it's a gift that keeps evolving. You can keep adding photos and videos over time, so it never feels static. It's also super easy to set up. It comes packaged beautifully. You don't have to overthink the presentation. It's just a more meaningful way to say thank you for everything past and present. Make Mother's Day special with Aura Frames, named number one by Wirecutter. You can save on the gift's mom's love by visiting auraframes.com. For a limited time, listeners can get $25 off their best-selling Carver Mat Frame with the code TONYK, that's A-U-R-A-FRAMESCOM, promo code TONYK. Aura, I've got one. It's wonderful. Love it. Enter the code TONYK at checkout to let them know where you heard about Aura. Terms and conditions apply.

Speaker 2:
[14:16] This is The Tony Kornheiser Show.

Speaker 1:
[14:22] This music is sent to us by Michael Granberry, which means it's great. He writes, on the night of March 14th, my wife and I went to a concert in Denver at a lovely venue called Swallow Hill Music. There were four headliners, John Gorka, Lucy Koplanski, Patty Larkin, and Cliff Eberhardt. I could not help but notice that three of the four have had their music sent to The Tony Kornheiser Show by me. I decided on the spot to make it a sweep. So here are two songs by the brilliant Cliff Eberhardt, who almost from the moment he was born in Pennsylvania, grew up singing, playing, and crafting his own special oeuvre. Quite early on, Cliff learned to savor the best of acoustic music, even becoming good friends and making music with the likes of Richie Havens, who in 1969 was the opening act at Woodstock. But young Cliff also reveled in the brilliance of Cold Porter, The Gershwins, and Rogers, and Heart. This particular song is what? That Kind of Love. That Kind of Love, Cliff Eberhardt. We have two songs by him and he plays in Craig Laughlin in the segment with Craig Laughlin. He's brought to you by FanDuel, Play Your Game. Craig knows better than anybody. I don't know Jack about hockey. I mean, I don't. I tried my best in my life, but I never was able to figure it out. I mean, I lived in Long Beach, which is where the New York Rangers trained for 20 years. The Patrick family always wanted them to train at the city rink in Long Beach, and I would even go and watch it. But I could never tell why somebody was better than the other. So, my questions are simpleton questions. Craig will get them easily. Before we get to the playoffs, you know Alex Ovechkin. Do you think he will retire this year, or do you think he'll be back?

Speaker 9:
[15:58] Well, I go back and forth, but I think by the end of the season, I really think he's going to return. I think he's going to have an answer. I think after anybody plays a season number one, it's a grueling time for him, especially 21 seasons, but he's got to talk to his family, friends, confidants, and make sure that he's ready to train number one, because he's going to have to train as a 41-year-old, and that's a big hurdle to try to do the things to get ready for the season. I think right now, where it sits, I would go 75-25, Tony, that he returns to the Caps next season.

Speaker 1:
[16:33] Do you think the Caps will want him? And if, on the weirdness that they wouldn't want him, that he would want to play for another NHL team, or he would simply go back to Russia and play in their league?

Speaker 9:
[16:47] I think he'd go back to play in their league. I think, you know, he's a big part of Moscow Dynamo. He's one of the... I would call him an assistant GM over there. The KHL would love him. Morozov runs that league, who I... He knows very well, who played in Pittsburgh. And I think that when you look at that family structure that they have, his wife being from there, his family, their whole family living there, I would think that would be an option for him. But I really think he wants to play another year in the NHL. It's the best league in the world. Why not? It's just a matter of him getting ready, Tony, for the grueling season ahead. And I think the Caps would say, and I'm saying this for me, I want him to come back, because we're not at the point here in Washington. We've got a lot of young studs coming up here in our program here for the Caps, but we don't have that so-called superstar that's ready to take the NHL by storm. So you bring Ove back, he's the biggest name in hockey. He would be the biggest name in Russia by the way, it'd be him and Putin, that would be the two biggest names over there. And I think you look at it, I want him to come back for that reason, to allow the young players that we have to develop and be the stars, hopefully they're gonna be down the road.

Speaker 1:
[17:59] He's 40, he'll be 41 during that season. How old were you when you admitted to yourself, if not anybody else, my body is not what it was, this is harder than it used to be?

Speaker 9:
[18:10] Never admitted that Tony. It was a family decision where I was gonna go back to Germany to play as a 32 year old, I was actually playing my best hockey. The International Ice Hockey Federation wouldn't let me come back to play for St. Louis at the end of my season in 1990. So what I did was I said, well, what are the playoffs over here? You see, I didn't know anything about the international hockey situation when I signed in Germany. And then the GM said to me, Max Fiedra, smoking a cigarette in his office said, Craig, we've got 20 more games to play. And I'm like, 20 more games? I thought we'd play one series two out of three and we'd probably be out of it. And I was going to return to the NHL. So what happened was, is we had to play a relegation round, which happens in soccer, which happens in everything. And I was asked to come back and they offered me a big contract to come back because we went 19 and one, because at the time you played division two and division three teams, we were the so-called division one, the Bundesliga, the best league in Germany, which was like the American Liga better that was over here at the time. So I was playing my best hockey, felt the best, but then TV came along, Tony, and they said, look, there's your chance. We want a player to be in the booth. And I replaced Al Koken back in the day. And it was a family decision. Do I take the chance? Do I ever get that chance ever again? And as a family with two young kids, I said, I will never ever get that chance. So I actually had a tough decision because I felt I could still play, but I wanted to have a chance for this career because I felt I'd fit into the TV world. And it's been a great run here in Washington.

Speaker 1:
[19:54] Much longer lasting career, much longer lasting. Let me get to the playoffs. Did you see the Carolina game the other night, the double overtime game?

Speaker 9:
[20:01] Absolutely.

Speaker 1:
[20:02] So, I'm watching that, I'm not watching it live. I was watching it yesterday because I had to get up to speed in it. It took so long, so long for them to get rid of that goal and say there was an offside. What does that do to players? It took literally five to six minutes for that to happen.

Speaker 9:
[20:24] Yeah, I mean, you get a little cold on the bench and you're like, I mean, I think, you know, when Carolina, I thought Ottawa had already left the bench and I thought the game was going to be over. But then you really watch that replay closely. It was a delayed penalty call, so there was going to be a penalty.

Speaker 1:
[20:38] 30 seconds, yeah.

Speaker 9:
[20:39] Yeah, there was going to be a delayed penalty, so they were going to go to the power play. They created that two on one at the blue line. And I thought it was actually the wrong call because I actually thought that stall had possession and possession is a weird thing. It's a gray area in the NHL. Do you have to have your stick really on the puck? Not really, because I've seen it happen before where the caps got burned with a man coming over the blue line like stall was, didn't have his stick on the puck, had his stick in the air, but he still had control of the puck because it was around him within the vicinity, which created that two on one. Created the penalty that led to the penalty shot and then finally the game winner by Martin who could miss that penalty shot. It was just a weird sequence, but I love that series. That series is fantastic, by the way, even though Carolina is up two to nothing.

Speaker 1:
[21:28] That's only the fifth penalty shot in a playoff overtime in the history of the NHL, and all five have failed, Craig. All five have failed. You would never bet on that, right?

Speaker 9:
[21:42] I would never bet on that. I would think it would be one and four. The goalies are so darn good now, Tony, and in the shootout now, they say the only way you can beat a goalie, which is like a penalty shot in overtime, in our shootout, that you have a better opportunity to score. You've got to deke the goalie. You cannot shoot. And that's sort of opposite of what happened in the 80s when the goalies were wearing smaller equipment. Yeah, smaller pants. You'd want to shoot the puck. But now it's deking is important. But no, I was surprised at that. But I would say this, too. I'm very surprised because it was such a short spurt allowing him to have that breakaway so close to the net that I didn't think it was going to be called. Because a lot of times like that, you have breakaways like that, that eight out of ten times are never called for a penalty shot. And in overtime in the Stanley Cup playoffs, I was sort of surprised. I thought they would just go to the power play to be perfectly honest with you.

Speaker 1:
[22:40] I'll tell you what surprises me the most in hockey. And that is that the Detroit Red Wings now have the longest drought of not being in the playoffs. In your lifetime, the Detroit Red Wings are one of the two or three best teams, right?

Speaker 9:
[22:55] Absolutely. And that's the evolution, unfortunately, of the salary cap era of retooling, rebooting your team. You win the Stanley Cup, you lose a lot of players. Now you have to retool. And they were so successful in that run. Those series, I think, will go down as legendary series, especially Detroit and Colorado. And they would, the goalies would fight, everybody would fight. They'd play the game the hard way. And to me, yeah, it's a sign of the times that everybody now, you notice all the series, there's I think been 10 games so far in the Stanley Cup that have all been one goal games. There's a lot of parity because of the salary cap. And I'm excited about this series. I love Carolina, Ottawa. I love Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, the Battle of Pennsylvania.

Speaker 1:
[23:40] Yes, it's good.

Speaker 9:
[23:41] Philadelphia is playing great. They're playing better than anybody ever thought they would.

Speaker 1:
[23:44] And they got some kid, some 19-year-old kid who's lighting it up.

Speaker 9:
[23:49] So, Marton, yeah, he's a big stunt, Tony. He's going to be great.

Speaker 1:
[23:52] All right. So let me ask you this, because you played in the league for a long time. I have a sense when I watch an NBA playoff game, that nothing in the regular season even comes close to this. The real intent to play hard and win in the playoffs and NBA makes the regular season look bad. How different, if different, how different are playoff games in the NHL from regular season games?

Speaker 9:
[24:20] Totally different. And I think the fact is that everything's on the line and these guys are proud athletes. And Tony, you hit harder, you hit more. If you look at the hits that they've come in the first part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, way up over the season average, you look at the type of goaltending they're getting, how tight the games have been, one-goal games everywhere. I think the fact that I think we do it wrong sometimes in the NHL, especially this compressed season that we had because of the Olympics, we're great by the way, but it was compressed. It's hard, Tony, to play three games in four nights, to play as physical and as tough you do in the NHL and the playoffs. The playoffs are spread out every series, game off, day off between games. You have two days off between usually game four and game five before you head to another city. So to me, it's the resting that we don't get the type of play in the regular season. I thought the pleasure in the regular season was at times god awful in the NHL this year, unfortunately, but the fans kept coming because they loved the game. And we had great attendance throughout the league. I think the fact that if we can spread out the schedule and next year is going to be no different.

Speaker 1:
[25:31] There's no Olympics.

Speaker 9:
[25:33] Right, but we got an all-star game. Plus, we have 82 games, Tony, or 84 games.

Speaker 8:
[25:39] We're adding two games to the schedule.

Speaker 9:
[25:41] Yeah, we're adding two more games. So is it going to be as compressed? These athletes need rest and recovery. And I don't think we're doing them right. Playing the type of four games in a week, five games in a week sometimes we have to play, it's just too much on the body, I think, to play the style that you need to and can do if you're well rested.

Speaker 1:
[26:02] Is there, I'll just get you out on this, is there a team that you look at, you say, I think they're going to win? I mean, we're a months away, but do you think who would win this year?

Speaker 9:
[26:12] Well, I'd go to the West. I would go, I mean, Colorado is loaded, Tony. I mean, you have McKinnon and McCarr, the best forward and the best D in the business. To me, that would be an upset. I'm not sure on their goaltending, but that's a series I love, and I think Colorado has a chance. But Dallas and Minnesota, either of those teams could also win. I think it's going to be a Western Conference team. Yeah, the only team I'd pick in the East probably would be Tampa Bay, because they've been there, done that. John Cooper's done a great job. So those would be my teams that I would look out for to win the Cup.

Speaker 1:
[26:44] Very nice to chat with you. Thank you, Craig.

Speaker 9:
[26:46] Great, thank you, Tony.

Speaker 1:
[26:47] Craig Laughlin, boys and girls, the one who accurately identified Michael as a non-hockey player. This segment with Craig Laughlin has been brought to you by Fandl. Play your game, and we will come back with Dan Graziano. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

Speaker 3:
[27:02] This is The Tony Kornheiser Show.

Speaker 1:
[27:05] Once again, this is Cliff Eberhardt, as sent in to us by our friend Michael Granberry, who writes, what do you know, Cliff even has a strong connection to the DMV. In 2011, he got a call from the Folger Theater and Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington. Inspired by his song That Kind of Love, the Folger people hired Cliff to write original songs for the Shakespeare classic, The Taming of the Shrew. Then in 2018, he was hired by Aaron Posner in the Roundhouse Theater in Bethesda to write and perform a modern retelling of a play by Sophocles. I hope he got some bagels as a result. Cliff is a truly great guitar player, terrific songwriter with a lyric baritone that accentuates the sheer beauty of his songs. This song is called The Long Road. Michael, if independent artists want to send us their music to play, how do they do it?

Speaker 6:
[27:53] Send us your music by emailing it to jingles at tonykornheisershow.com.

Speaker 1:
[27:57] It plays in Dan Graziano, Georgetown's own football expert. I love the fact that Georgetown is a D3 football school and Graziano knows more about football than anybody in the world. Imagine if you had gone to a school where they had football. Imagine what your career would be like, right?

Speaker 8:
[28:13] When I went there, they still had respectable basketball, is all I'm saying. I don't know what happened in the meantime, but yeah.

Speaker 1:
[28:20] This is what I hear from Kelleher all the time. Kelleher has season tickets and can't stand how bad Georgetown is.

Speaker 8:
[28:28] It's a shame.

Speaker 1:
[28:28] Can't stand it. Yeah. So maybe there's a story here and maybe there's not. This has intrigued me for the two weeks since I heard about this, that Fernando Mendoza has no intention to go to Pittsburgh for the draft tomorrow where presumably, he would be the number one pick. Do you have an explanation for that and is it possible he won't be the number one pick, that that pick will be traded?

Speaker 8:
[28:57] I don't think it's possible, no. I think the Raiders have been operating for months as if Fernando Mendoza will be their quarterback of the future, that he'll be the number one pick. I've not heard anything else out of the Raiders throughout this process. I think it's a fait accompli. He's not going to the draft because he wants to stay home and celebrate with his family. His mother, if you'll remember from the playoff run, his mother has health issues. She has multiple sclerosis and it's difficult for her to travel and she needs a wheelchair to get around. So, I think the family really decided and felt like the best thing to do was to stay home and celebrate as a family.

Speaker 1:
[29:34] I find him tremendously attractive and I base this on the fact that he graduated from Berkeley. You know, I really do. I mean, I think his personality, the way he talks, all of that is wonderful. But I would ask what is the scouting on him? Is he that good?

Speaker 8:
[29:52] You know, you're probably not getting like a Caleb Williams level athletic prospect, you know, like the magical stuff that some of these guys can do. You know, Jaden Daniels, guys like that. You're probably getting a more traditional kind of, I mean, you hear comparisons to guys like Matt Ryan, right? Which would be funny. You'd take that, right? That'd be a pretty good career. So yeah, you know, toughness, off the charts, intelligence, decision-making, you know, he has the size, he can make the throws. It's a little bit, I know I hesitate to make this comparison because of the way the last year went. But like, remember JJ McCarthy, when he came out and they're like, well, he wasn't asked to do much at Michigan. There were games where, where in terms of like making NFL caliber plays for Nando Mendonca wasn't asked to do much during his run at Indiana. But there were also games where he was able to play the hero to an extent that, that I think goes well beyond a comparison like that, a poor comparison like the one I just, I just halfway made with McCarthy. So I think you're getting a guy that, that has all the traits and the tools you need to be a franchise quarterback long-term. There'll be things he has to work on translating his game from college to the pros, but the Raiders have confidence that he can do it under their new coach Clint Kubiak, and they also have Kurt Cousins in the building who can start if they need more time to get Fernando Mendoza ready.

Speaker 1:
[31:22] They also have Tom Brady.

Speaker 8:
[31:25] I mean, he can't play, though.

Speaker 1:
[31:26] I know, but, you know, to teach, right?

Speaker 8:
[31:29] Yeah. Oh, no, look, the infrastructure should be very good. And Cousins will be, I mean, remember how annoyed Cousins was two years ago at the Michael Penick's pick by Atlanta. He still was, he didn't like stomp around, like he still helped Michael Penick. So, you know, they're, I think they feel like they have the right coaching and, you know, front office infrastructure in place to make him a success. What they're going to do is build him a team. And the Raiders are going to have to get to work starting early in the second round on, you know, receiver, offensive line, all this other stuff.

Speaker 1:
[32:02] I don't want to present myself as something that I'm not. I have no idea other than quarterbacks and running back from Notre Dame, who's in this draft. I mean, it's for somebody other than me. But two years ago, there were like 20 quarterbacks that were drafted in the first five picks or something like that. This year, all you hear is Mendoza and the Alabama kid. And more people seem to doubt the Alabama kid than love the Alabama kid. How does that work?

Speaker 8:
[32:27] I just say every year is different, right? I mean, like you're not like that year you're talking about 2024. I believe it was it was at six in the top 12. Yeah, five. Yeah. So and most of them look pretty good. I mean, Jane Daniels was Rookie of the Year. Caleb Williams. We saw what he did this past year. Bo Nix.

Speaker 9:
[32:43] Yeah.

Speaker 8:
[32:44] You know, et cetera.

Speaker 9:
[32:45] So great.

Speaker 8:
[32:46] Not every draft is the same. I think you have Drake's May in the Super Bowl. So the not every draft is the same. And, you know, year to year, just in terms of overall prospects, not just quarterback, I like to try and go and ask teams, you know, in the weeks before the draft, how many guys do you have first round grades on? Because the answer is never 32. And I find that interesting. Sometimes you'll hear like 19, 20, 21. This year the numbers are pretty low. Like they're in the low teams. And so I think this is generally seen as a draft that is short on star power. And I think the lack of quarterback prospects that really have people fired up is part of that.

Speaker 1:
[33:26] Which leads me to say that if, and it's not going to happen because of cap purposes, but I would think that AJ Brown actually being traded would be a bigger deal than almost anything that happens in the draft day of, right?

Speaker 8:
[33:41] Sure. I mean, yeah, but as you mentioned, the Eagles have to wait till after June 1st or else the cap hit becomes very difficult for them to navigate. So even if that trade were to be agreed to and finalized, it wouldn't be official until June 2nd at the earliest. So yeah, I think, you know, look, it's, the draft is a monster. It'll do a monster TV rating. If people get excited, it represents hope for everybody. You know, everybody wants to feel like they're getting the franchise savior, the guy's going to turn everything around or be the missing piece, you know, to the championship. And so it's a can't miss. But I do think yes, in terms of storylines, in terms of the overall caliber of the guys at the very top and how many of them there are, it does feel like a little bit of a lighter year. People nerd out over this stuff, and the football people will find something every single year to dive into, and you hear it from teams and scouts, and people are excited about this. But yeah, in terms of selling it to the general public, it's tough to top a year where the six quarterbacks go in the top 12 picks. That's pretty rare. The NFL is moving completely unprecedented.

Speaker 1:
[34:53] Yeah, it is. The NFL is moving this around from year to year. They're in Pittsburgh this year. It's impossible to think of Pittsburgh in football right now and not think of Rogers. What is he going to try and hijack the draft? I mean, does anybody have any sense of what this guy is doing and why Pittsburgh with a new coach would want him, though that was his old coach in Green Bay?

Speaker 8:
[35:19] Yeah, there are very, very, very few, if any, people in my business that have a line to what Aaron Rogers is thinking. Let's start there. Like, I don't know. There's not, like, sources close to Aaron Rogers is not something you hear a lot. Because he keeps it very tight. In terms of everything we've heard from the Pittsburgh Steelers and the way they've conducted themselves this offseason, all signs point to a Rogers return to Pittsburgh. The timetable is up to Rogers, as it always is, and as a result, it becomes unpredictable. So, you know, they have Will Howard, who they drafted in the sixth round last year. They have Mason Rudolph, who it seems like has been there forever. And they have 11 or 12 picks in this draft. So I think they'll address quarterback probably in the middle round somewhere. Take another guy, a la Will Howard, who they think might turn into something down the road if he gets the right kind of development, but just sort of another potential option. I do think that ultimately most people believe Rogers will end up back there. When? Who knows? Maybe he'll do some triumphant thing on Thursday night or Friday night at the draft. That theory is out there again.

Speaker 1:
[36:25] Maybe he'll take a helicopter right into the middle of it or dive out of a building. Yeah, I mean.

Speaker 8:
[36:30] Never know. That would be quite dramatic, certainly, but we'll see.

Speaker 1:
[36:35] The running back position, which is not devalued right now, but had been for eight to 10 years, and then this last year running back became pretty important. The kid from Notre Dame, Jeremiah Love. A lot of people say you just can't pick a running back in the top three, five, eight, 12, whatever it is. What is your feeling on where that kid's going to go?

Speaker 8:
[36:56] I think he could go that high, like as high as three or four or five. The reason it's a mistake to take a running back that high is because the way that rookie contracts are slotted, the number three pick in the draft is going to get the exact same contract no matter what position he plays. So if you take a quarterback there, an edge rusher there, a running back there, a punter there, he's going to get a four-year, $52.5 million contract that's fully guaranteed and has a fifth-year option for the year 2030. Now, if you take that four years, $52.5, that averages to a little over $13 million a year, which would make him the seventh-highest paid running back in the NFL before he even takes a snap. So, he now makes more than James Cook of Buffalo, who led the league in rushing last year. It's fine if he plays that way for four years, but your best-case scenario is you have a top running back and you're paying him as a top running back. Whereas, if you use that pick on an edge rusher, he would be about the 34th-highest paid edge rusher in the league at the time he signs, and if he plays great, you have exceeding value at that pick and can go use your cap space elsewhere. So because it's a salary cap league and because the rookie contracts are slotted the way they are, that's why there's no financial value in taking the running back that high, and you got to really hit on some of these middle and late round picks and find your value there at the more premium positions.

Speaker 1:
[38:21] It's fabulous. I never had that explained to me before, and I'm sitting with Will Bond who doesn't know anything, and I don't know anything, and so that's good to know. I'll get you out of here on this. And it is a quarterback question, and it's about Cincinnati. They seem to be doing exactly what Joe Burrow has asked them to do. What do you see when you look at their picks and what they've done in the last month or so?

Speaker 8:
[38:40] Yeah, and training the 10th pick for a veteran player that's not a quarterback, that's very unusual. Dexter Lawrence is exactly what they need on defense. Defense has been abysmal the last couple of years while they've had a playoff caliber, possibly a championship caliber offense when Joe Burrow has been on the field. So they know they have a window here with a special quarterback talent, and they want to maximize it. The offense is great, the defense needs to be better. So they're all in, which is cool. I mean, it's fun when your team goes all in. You look at the Bengals, the Bengals also look around their division. They are the only team in the AFC North that didn't change head coaches this off season. So they look at the Steelers and Ravens and Browns as to at least some extent in transition phases, and they're not. So they see an opportunity, and yes, they know what they have in Joe Burrow, and there's a lot out there about, you know, could Burrow get unhappy and leave and all that stuff. That's speculation, but, you know, people get annoyed when they're playing well, and things aren't working out for them. So the trick now is there is an element of this that's on Joe Burrow. You know, he's got to stay healthy. He hasn't consistently done that throughout his career. And if he can do that, I think the Bengals think they're high level contenders. If not, and the defense flops again, then you could start to talk about how long is this window going to stay open.

Speaker 1:
[39:59] They score 40 points a game. They only have to hold 2 to 39. They're not asking them to be the purple people leaders. You're not.

Speaker 8:
[40:07] There's some stat, and I might be about to get this wrong, but I think the last three years when they score 33 points, they're 6 and 7, which is just like the rest of the league has like a 900 winning percentage when they score 33 points.

Speaker 1:
[40:19] And they're the cheapest team in history. So they're finally spending money.

Speaker 8:
[40:23] There you go. I mean, they're spending it on the receivers. They spent it on the quarterback. Now they're spending it on Dexter Lawrence, we'll see.

Speaker 1:
[40:29] All right. Thank you. It's wonderful to have you on. And I just always assume you're going to be on Get Up and you can't be on the show. So thanks.

Speaker 8:
[40:37] Tomorrow and Friday, I'll be on Get Up.

Speaker 1:
[40:39] Here you go.

Speaker 8:
[40:39] I always appreciate it.

Speaker 1:
[40:40] Thank you, Dan. Dan Graziano, boys and girls, we will take a break. We will come back with email and jingle. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

Speaker 8:
[40:50] You're listening to The Tony Kornheiser Show.

Speaker 1:
[41:39] Love that, Bruce Griffin, love that. Just love it. Wish I could do that. You want to do the Bethesda Bagel ad for us, please?

Speaker 7:
[41:49] Yes. Every time I hear at Great Piano, all I think of is Mitch playing the Elvis of the Mediterranean.

Speaker 1:
[41:54] Yeah.

Speaker 7:
[41:55] So good. Yes, Bethesda Bagels. We got hot bagels today. Always excited about that.

Speaker 1:
[41:59] Hot bagels means they're fresh, means they last an extra day.

Speaker 7:
[42:01] Yes. Go to bethesdabagels.com for the location in the DC area near you. Then pop on in and you'll be thrilled.

Speaker 1:
[42:07] Before we get to the Mailbag, let me just say, look at me. I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree and I feel like clinging to a cloud. I can't understand. I get misty. Just holding your hand. That is Johnny Mathis. In the late 50s and early 60s, Johnny Mathis was known as the Makeout King. Oh, really? Because everybody played his music when they wanted to be together. I believe there is reference to that. I believe there is a scene in the great movie Diner, which talks about Johnny Mathis. I believe. I could be wrong. I could be wrong, but I believe that to be true. Thanks to our guests today, Craig Laughlin and Dan Graziano. Thanks as well to today's sponsors. Remember, you can listen to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Odyssey. If you can't show through Apple, please leave us.

Speaker 6:
[42:52] This is according to AI. Johnny Mathis is prominently featured in a memorable scene where characters debate whether to listen to Frank Sinatra or Mathis while making out. Eddie, played by Steve Goodenburg, grudgingly admits to Modell Paul Reiser that he prefers Mathis, highlighting his romantic appeal.

Speaker 1:
[43:09] Is that Nats and Dino? Yeah. Well done. I had that one. You did? I had that one.

Speaker 6:
[43:13] Thanks, AI.

Speaker 1:
[43:14] From Mike O'Brien in Fletcher, Vermont on Friday's show, there was a lot of talk about what name is the most read or most famous. Meanwhile, you read three letters from listeners named Mike and not one of them mentioned the latest contest. We are above that. By the way, the Frost Heaps are gone.

Speaker 6:
[43:28] That's nice to know. Now, Maryland Mike, I've always been a Michael, elementary school Michael K. Maryland Mike? Once you cross state lines, Mike.

Speaker 1:
[43:36] Is that how it goes?

Speaker 6:
[43:36] Everyone just assumes you're Mike.

Speaker 1:
[43:39] From John, the person formerly known as John in Herndon, in an effort to have more of my emails read on the podcast, I'm officially changing my name to Tim. Elliot Olshansky, in the 10 years that I've been listening to your high quality podcast, plus a few years before that listening on the radio, I don't believe I've ever heard you read an email from another Elliot. It's only fitting, therefore, that I hereby submit my application to be the official Elliot. The Tony Kornheiser Show, if approved, I can even write it in Sharpie on the I am the official blank of the Tony Kornheiser Show t-shirt that the woman to whom I am related by marriage bought me last year for our anniversary. I would also like to tell you that my friend and college fraternity brother, Tim Cahill, yet another Tim to eat it, but since he's actually finished in the top 10 of the bracket contest, I haven't. I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Best regards from Albany County, where the nearest Nike factory store is over an hour away, and I have no idea where I can recycle worn out shoes. From Tony in Portland, I'm hearing all these Tims and Marks bringing the heat, and I'm thinking to myself, let's go. We got Tony Hawk, Tony Montana, and Tony Soprano. We're going to be all right. From John Maslow, where is all the Johns without the H at? So I was always under the impression-

Speaker 6:
[44:50] Jonathan.

Speaker 1:
[44:51] That Jonathan led to J-O-N, if your name was Jonathan.

Speaker 6:
[44:55] Often with an A.

Speaker 1:
[44:56] It was simply John. Yes. It was J-O-H-N. But I don't know if that's true. From Tim Cree in Fort Collins, Colorado, just an update for Colorado Tims, driving south from Fort Collins through Loveland to get to other nearby locations. Construction on the southbound Taft into Loveland is still ongoing. The main problem is there's a Taft in Fort Collins that runs north south and one in Loveland, but the two Tafts are not connected. Whatever brainchild is responsible for that needs a mild beating. From Dan Shuett in Durant, Iowa, my name is Dan. Good. I don't need to be the official anything. The number one Dan in consequence is Dan Byrne anyway. That's a good email. Yes. You don't need to be the official. No. You don't need to be. Doesn't matter. Tony Moyers, Martinsburg, West Virginia. My name is Tony. Can I be the official Tony of the Tony Kornheiser Show? No. No. Mike Roseberry in State College, Pennsylvania. Is this sort of half of it? Who wins a fight between a man named Kristen and a boy named Sue? Yes. These are the questions that trouble me in the middle of the night. I'd ask to be the official name Stanley, but called Mike by everyone, including parents, even though Michael is not my middle name in The Tony Kornheiser Show. But I don't want to sully either of my good names. Wait a second. Your name is Stanley. Yes. And you're called Mike. And Mike is not even in your repertoire of names.

Speaker 7:
[46:18] Yeah, it doesn't make much sense.

Speaker 1:
[46:19] You need to call us. You need to let us know or write us.

Speaker 7:
[46:23] And that's not a cutoff email. It's the way it printed up. So that's the full email there.

Speaker 2:
[46:26] Okay.

Speaker 1:
[46:26] From Mark Lynch in Cambie, Indiana. Um, yeah, both teams played hard.

Speaker 2:
[46:32] My name, that's funny.

Speaker 1:
[46:34] Yeah, both teams played hard.

Speaker 6:
[46:35] My name, both teams played hard. Yeah, it's a tough question. Um, yeah.

Speaker 1:
[46:39] Jeff Holton, Canapolis, North Carolina, in parentheses, home of Dale Earnhardt. Great. So now I have one more thing to worry about with my four teenagers every time I try to get a straight answer and they respond with, oh yeah, um, well, the thing is, I have to wonder if a PR firm got to them. Um, Patrick Vincencio, Laurel, Maryland. Dear Doctor of Humane Letters, um, yeah, that's the email. You need to listen.

Speaker 7:
[47:03] Once you hear it, you can't un-hear it, it's everywhere.

Speaker 1:
[47:06] Justin writes, My name is Justin from Rochester, New York. A few weeks back, you all referenced the Lillehammer jacket and I thought to myself, I've seen that jacket before. Sure enough, I was visiting my grandmother this past weekend and in the closet by the front door, I came across this gem, picture attached. It's blue, mine is green, it's blue. My father, Jay, who worked as a hockey agent for many years, bought the offending jacket from my grandfather, his father-in-law, after attending the Olympics there in 1994. My dad unfortunately passed away last month after a long battle with cancer and he was in the hospital. I remember hearing you discuss the Lily Hammer jacket made me think of him, brought a smile to my face. I'm 31 now, grew up watching PTI after school on weekdays with my dad saying, why are these two idiots always screaming at each other whenever he walked in? Gave me a chuckle to think about as well. Appreciate all the warmth and community around the show. If you ever find yourself in upstate New York, you're always welcome to join for a round of golf as long as we wear our matching purple and teal green Lily Hammer jacket. So that's purple.

Speaker 7:
[48:01] It's a bigger picture in the back. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[48:03] Yes. Okay. That's from Lily Hammer. Mine was bought to take to Lily Hammer. Mine was bought in the United States. That's a different one.

Speaker 6:
[48:12] This changes everything.

Speaker 1:
[48:13] Yeah. That has the official crest on it. Well, I thought you knew that.

Speaker 6:
[48:16] No.

Speaker 7:
[48:16] I thought it was a Lily Hammer purchase.

Speaker 6:
[48:18] It was a game time decision.

Speaker 1:
[48:20] No. I brought this jacket, the heaviest coat I could find to take to Lily Hammer from Grant.

Speaker 6:
[48:27] I don't have to believe anymore.

Speaker 1:
[48:29] EVJE, are you hurt?

Speaker 6:
[48:31] A little bit.

Speaker 1:
[48:31] I don't understand that. What's true? I've never-

Speaker 6:
[48:33] I think the mythical status of this jacket.

Speaker 1:
[48:35] But it would have had a Lily Hammer crest on it if I bought it there. Like the scarves I have have a Lily Hammer crest. Grant Evje, EVJE in West Yellowstone, Montana, absolutely nailed it with a last name pronunciation. Most people botch it, just like Norwegian Soft Kitten. I'm also a Norwegian, not from Norway, though I won't challenge their official title. From Stevie Ray. Hearing the great Augusta story by Taylor brought up my own what could have been golf story. About 30 years ago, I was three weeks into my dream job and I had just finished attending a conference on the Disney property. Having a few hours to kill and being a golf nut, I decided to go to Bay Hill just to see it. My flight to another conference afforded me the time to do so. I walked in the pro shop when I was chatting with the guy behind the counter. He said, I could buy a bucket and hit on the range if I wanted. I absolutely did. Hitting a few, I looked up to see walking towards me the great Arnie himself. I was in shock as he said, we need a fourth. Can you play? Oh, no. Stammering, I said, thank you so much, sir, but I have a flight to catch. He smiled, shook my hand, walked to another guy on the range who absolutely said absolutely. Telling my boss the story, he said, I should fire you now for being so stupid. I said, but boss, I had a job to do. Being the best boss I've ever had, he said, next time call me, we will work it out. Needless to say, Taylor may get the chance to play Augusta. My chance with Arnie will never be. That's a great email. Wow. That's a great email. From Don Hammack in Biloxi, Mississippi. Not only was Stan Musial, Ken Griffey Senior and Ken Griffey Junior all born in Denora, Musial and Griffey Junior share the same birthday, November 21st, information for life. How about that, yeah. Josh Maisel in New Rochelle, New York. An extra week between Triple Crown Races. Sounds suspiciously like load management for horsies. Don't tell Wilbur. From Greg Collins in Iuka, I-U-K-A, Iuka, Illinois. Lack of steadfastness. Jeffrey Chaucer on The Washington Wizards. Lack L-A-K, steadfastness. S-T-E-D-F-A-S-T-N-E-S-S-E. Jeffrey Chaucer on The Washington Wizards. If you're out on your bike tonight, as always, do wear white.

Speaker 10:
[50:45] Look, Mother, I want to go to work in one hour. We are the pros from Dover, and we figured to crack this kid's chest and get out to the golf course before it gets dark.

Speaker 11:
[51:19] No sell both. No big house, no big hill.

Speaker 5:
[53:28] Summer hot, winter chill.

Speaker 11:
[57:49] I gotta find you too.