Dan Hurley, NBA Playoffs With Kirk Goldsberry, The Commanders Have A New Owner And Fyre Fest Of The Week

Hey, Pardon My Take listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime. members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music on today's Pardon My Take. We've got a twofer for the people we have. Dan Hurley, coach of the Uconn Huskies, in studio post-National Championship. He also gives Max the business, basically calls him a loser to his face because he is.

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Boy.

Now in the street, there is violence.

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No place to hang out or wash in, and I can't blame all on the sun. Oh, no.

We're gonna run down to Electric Avenue.

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Welcome to part of my take. Today is Friday, April 14th and PFT. For the I don't know. This is probably like the sixth or seventh time the floor is yours.

Yeah, I mean, we've talked about Dan Snyder a lot on the show and about the sale a lot. I don't know. I actually don't know if I have that much to add besides what I've already said over the course of the last six years.

Well, what happened? what changed? You're selling shirts? Tell the people what happened, You were selling shirts.

I'm wearing a shirt right now that says, Buy Dan, and it's major, it's major Tuddy, throwing Dan Snyder out of a stupid fucking case.

Just because you got excited the other six or seven times, I mean, you can't get more excited this time. Okay, change. So what did change, Hank? Good question.

News came out this morning that, uh, I guess. Sportico reported it, according to a source close to the sale. Josh Harris, the owner of Max's 76ers and the New Jersey Devils, is actually going to purchase the team for $6 billion. Congrats Dan Snyder for making $5.2 billion. Being a shitty ass piece of shit. So say what you want about him. But he made a fuckload of money. I hope he goes off, fucks off to England and dies.

In British prison, where they don't have dentists.

No, absolutely not the worst dentists on earth.

Well, they don't have dentists outside of jail, either, in Britain.

Yeah, that's true. So I hope that he dies with shitty teeth and a gum infection. And I think, uh, I think it's a it's a done deal. From everything that I've heard so far, there's a competing bid, allegedly from Stephen A. the Canadian billionaire, but it's going to be it's Josh Harris.

Yeah, you can't complain about the commanders for at least five years ish. And I, so hank is is nodding along, Um, I feel like you're, you're doing, are we? What happens when it officially becomes official? When does it officially?

Listen, I didn't, I didn't even bring it up, okay?

So you're wearing the shirt, I'm wearing the shirt. I can't believe this is my life tweet.

They're great shirts, by the way.

Go check them out, they are great shirts. I was trying to be respectful, I was doing videos and stuff in the hallway, I was like, it's another big day.

I do. People just came up to me with the camera, so they asked me what I thought I told them. I've already celebrated Dan being gone, he's gone.

What's up, Billy?

Is this a done deal? Have they secured the funding to buy the team?

Yes, Josh Harris's funding was was secured.

It's secured with the if this doesn't go through, I'm going to kill myself, Billy.

Money's expensive right now, Billy.

I'm, yeah, I am buying a house right now, so I'm familiar with how much money is expensive. I'm pretty sure Josh Harris is good for you.

How expensive is money?

Money's like 7 expensive.

Okay.

So if you got to buy a thousand dollars, you'd have to, yeah, you have to pay, you have to pay 1070.

Yeah, 1070..

Okay, yeah, okay.

Yeah, it's, it's a done deal.

It's expensive.

Listen, it's a done deal, we're moving forward. Congrats, I thank you Hank. I'm looking forward to being able to root with, like my entire heart and soul for a team. Because it's been a big stain on, you know, it's been the back of your mind anytime?

Okay, nice.

I'm very excited about it. So I so I'm not as pumped and over the top as I have been in the past. Because, like you said, I have. We have talked about this like five times.

Well, the Snyder has has basically, uh, like, teased it so many times that it's like it kind of robbed you of the. It almost would have been better if he just all of a sudden, overnight, just was selling the team. They'd be like the greatest celebration ever. It's been this long drawn celebration.

Yeah, I mean, when it was first broke at that point, then it was like, Okay, that's the big celebration that I've got. This. I'm a little bit more subdued, but I'm still fucking pumped that this guy's going to remain.

Happy for you. Thank you Hank. I can't say the same.

No, he's not. I've remained happy. All I'm saying is be careful what you wish for NFL because you have awoken a sleeping giant in Washington, D.C.

Yes, the shirts are great, they are great. You're happy for him, yeah.

Uh, not really.

I just, you can only be happy for someone so many times, you know what, you know what. It's not like someone gets pregnant and you're like, congratulations, but then it's not like, Hey, I'm pregnant again three months later, and three months later, if it's like, you get one, congratulations.

You know what, Hank? Because Josh Harris is also the Sixers owner. I have no choice but to root with Max for the Sixers, against the against the Celtics and playoffs.

So I'm going to be the owner by that point. Nope, he's not selling six. Oh, you're of the Yeah, he's not.

I don't care, I'm such a Josh Harris fan right now that he could, he could do anything.

He's owner and waiting.

Yeah, owner and waiting. I like that.

Why don't you check yourself? All right, that's fine.

I'm excited to get a good rivalry going with Hank, it's been a while.

I feel like it's always we're always. No, I'm just I'm just excited at all times.

Yeah.

Um, okay, well, congratulations gang. Go buy a shirt. Uh, what else do we want to talk about? The little play in game?

Yeah, she's great, she's way better than Riley Curry. We're ranking N.B.A. daughters. I got her one A in my daughter draft.

Yes, uh, siakam, which was kind of a bullshit call anyway, but yeah.

Yeah, so Siakam got to the line and then she faked out she didn't scream. Was it the second one that she didn't scream on? And everybody was waiting for her to yell?

It's also like, she's, she's six Man of the Year, she should she, she should, she should be for every single. All I want now, cause I'm very. I'm a realist about the Bulls. They're not very good, uh, they have a couple of good players, but as a collective they're not very good.

That would be her legacy game.

She totally did.

Here's the problem there's going to be some copycats and it's not going to be the same. She has, like, a unique frequency in her voice that makes people freak out.

It's not only that it's such a unique situation because one, she's the daughter of Demar DeRozan, two, she grew up in Toronto, where Demar played the majority of his career. So she knows everyone in that arena.

Yeah, the rest of the fans couldn't go down and say shit to her because she's a little girl, right?

And she obviously knows everyone in Toronto, that was the other part is the whole entire, you know, the building staff, the security, they probably know her personally. So it was the perfect storm for DeMar DeRozan to completely stop the Toronto Raptors.

I would love to see what would happen with this in Philly. Do you think that Philly fans would start to throw hot dogs at her? Somebody go down there and throw up on her, yeah.

A max lookalike would start beating up a little girl.

This is gross, this is disgusting.

Listen, just accept it.

For punching little girls.

You don't think a lot of guys would be like, we won that game.

I would be pissed.

Yeah.

I definitely wouldn't punch her, but I would be mad.

No, you'd be mad. definitely not.

But that's the beauty of it. You can't get mad at a daughter of a player and like, she needs to be, Yeah, fuck school.

Get her to Miami, it's way more important.

Get her to Miami.

She's eight years old. What do you learn in eighth grade anyways?

Do you remember a single thing that's not eighth grade?

Oh, eight years old, yeah, that's third grade, third grade.

She's very precocious.

Probably you're graduating basic addition and subtraction, moving on to, like, basic multiplication, I would guess.

Yeah, you're writing like five letter words, maybe states and capitals. Yeah, it's a war zone.

Oh, uh, mystery powders, you're doing like science for the first time.

What better way to learn states and capitals than go to the capital of Florida, Miami?

Good point, yeah. You could get a better education.

Yeah, it's like, come on, let's go. Education worked for us. Uh, yeah, it was. It was awesome though. The Bulls, I and Pat Bev. Maybe he is, it's it's between him and Trey Young.

Pat Bev always just manages to show up at the end of every play in game and do something fucking crazy. Yeah, just insane. He's so much fun to watch.

And Caruso was awesome, too, and it was nice. It was nice seeing Zach Levine. Like, cause, uh, Hank doesn't really know this, Max, you kind of knew well, you know this cause of Ben Simmons. But like having a player that you pay a lot of money to, that you want to step up in the big moments. When they don't, it gets very frustrating when they do.

Yeah, or maybe at least have the player that you pay a bunch of money to step on the court during the game.

Yeah.

That'd be nice because Zion was in pregame warmups. Zion Williamson, he's out because he's not feeling like Zion yet. He's healthy, but he's not feeling a hundred percent. He was dunking, he was doing like windmill, windmill dunks in pregame.

This would drive me in fucking sane.

Whose idea was it to let Zion participate in the pregame dunk line?

Oh, my God, I like. I would be so furious if I were a Pelican fan watching that and then watching my team lose to. Uh, the young, Do you know the Thunder are the second youngest team in N.B.A. history? Yeah, it's crazy.

Pitt, who made the NCAA tournament, has an average starting lineup age older than the Thunder.

That's wild, that's crazy they are, they are very, very fun and very young. And like, if you like, this is the type like. They shouldn't even be in this spot and they are in there and their lottery pick last year isn't playing.

I think just getting to the playoff, if you play in a playoff series, if you're the Thunder, yeah, that's good experience. I want to see it. So the yeah, they're getting homegrown back and they have probably a high first rounder, right?

They have, like, a million.

I would imagine they're picking like 11 or 12 in the draft and then they have four first rounders in 2024.

It's crazy.

So they, they've got assets.

All right, so the thunder, and I think it goes on for the future, all right. So they have the Clippers pick this year, their own pick this year. Uh, the The Wizard second rounder I won't do.

They did and I. There were some people out there that were saying that our our good friend, Mincy, uh, being stuck up in the nosebleeds section, had been down beneath the basket. Like Dr. Rosen, I think this game goes a whole lot differently.

I'd agree, I'd agree. So it was, um, that was a fun game, that was an exciting game, that was a play.

Okay.

So like on Tuesday night, it was the worst idea that David Adam Silver ever I almost called him David Silver, Adam Silver ever came up with on Wednesday night. It's pure genius. The league is back. Yeah, I mean, the world decides the the the. The future of the play in tournament, according to myself, is all going to come down to Friday night.

It's a big, big night. Let's go wolves.

Yeah, all right under fun.

Rap. She just tweeted about the sale.

Oh, okay.

But they went, they reached the agreement.

Wait, okay, is that different than that was one minute ago?

Yeah, this is, this is me being subdued. Yes, thanks. See see hank.

Wait, what is that? Is that different than what was?

It is not exclusive and not signed.

Okay, all right, so we'll celebrate. Yeah, we'll celebrate.

I'm not celebrating.

Celebrate some more.

I'm acting like I've been there before, cause I have five times.

Yeah, the playing games were fun, they were fun on Wednesday night, we're we're playing game guys now.

So it's really the last game, we'll decide whether or not it was a good play in tournament.

Yeah, and then next year we'll do the same thing again. Because it really, it is so funny that, like it becomes a debate whether the playing game is fun or not, or stupid or not. It's like, but it's just going to happen. They're going to keep doing it because it makes more teams involved and makes more money for owners, so it's not going anywhere.

And don't get me wrong, if they announced that they were going to do this in the NFL and add another playoff team via play in game, I'd be all in on that. Yeah, more football.

Yeah, it's. The only reason that it's even a debate for basketball is because you with football, you can kind of tell yourself, Oh, this, you know? There's been six seeds that have won the Super Bowl. Yeah, there's never been an eight seed.

Yeah, it's just. It's very funny to think that they have a play in tournament when the entire season is a play in tournament for the playoffs.

Well, and we're going to have the mid season play in tournament too, which will be fun as well. All right, so Jake heat verse bowls Friday night, No. Dr. Rosen?

We'll see.

Not going.

Okay, that was, yeah, that was your pregame show.

Jake, How much popcorn?

A kettle corn?

I bought a huge bag.

This is a zero kettle.

Oh, I bought a huge bag of popcorn.

You're not having any kettle corn for this game, though.

I'll shout for the night before I broadcast.

Oh, you can't. Yeah, I'll tweet out my bag of popcorn, it's enormous for Friday night.

Yeah, they might.

Yeah, you're not really into it. What do you? what do you got? what? what do you? what broadcast you got?

Oh, funny, that's the 49th annual UH, FDNY NYPD hockey game at UBS Arena on Long Island. Barstool.TV pregame Big Cat will be on the panel at Four 15. I will.

I think it's harder to get tickets for this event than Taylor Swift tickets.

Yeah.

They don't sell them, you can only get them through. They give the tickets to, like, fire houses and police houses, and that's the only way you can get them.

This is like, this is much washed up.

What are they called stations?

The NYPd.

Why is it how? Why? why did the firemen get stationed? Why the firemen get houses? I think the firemen actually sleep over there, but I'm just asking any other questions.

They have a kitchen. No, I'm glad, I'm glad Hank's asking this, because if you're asking it, then some other person at home.

Some police officers, D.R. DeRozan probably lives in that in eighth grade. yeah, in eighth grade, as an eight-year-old.

Just fdny uh, fdny uh. NYPD events always go hard, like their football game. There was a huge fight.

In the stands.

No, on the field, it was like huge brawl. And, like, their boxing events are insane, too.

But it's all love after.

No, not really.

Oh, okay.

They still hate each other.

Oh nice.

So, Jake, have you worked on your your announcing when it comes to fighting? Because there will.

Yeah, that'll be awesome and I feel like the comp, like BIZ is going to go all in on that too.

It's going to be great.

Can't wait, can't wait.

Yeah, so, uh, other things. The the Tampa Bay Rays are now 13-0..

We didn't jinx them.

Is that a record? Tied, tied?

Two teams.

It reminds me of that that famous clip when someone called into Francesa before opening day and was like, you ever think a team is going to be able to go 162-0? And he, like, debated the guy for real, and I was like, No, it's, it's crazy.

Three games set at Toronto this weekend and then three games at Cincinnati, third.

I know they haven't played a lot of good teams, but still 13-0 is fucking impressive.

It is good. I wonder how that translates, though, to the rest of the season, just in baseball history.

Go ahead, sorry.

The teams that get off to the hottest start, I wonder how frequently they end up in the World Series.

Yeah, probably not often.

Baseball is such a streaky sport that you'd almost rather you'd rather end the season. Well, definitely, you'd rather end the season 13-0 than start at 13-0..

But and there's so many games they're basically, if it was the NFL, No, no, they're 1-0 and up at halftime in the second game. Yeah, yeah.

Also, in 10 of the 13 games, they've given up three runs or less.

That's pretty good. I was walking by the gambling cave today. And it feels like they're just like toying with teams. Because they were, they were playing the Red Sox. They had bases loaded, two outs and a guy bunted a run in.

I love that.

It's insane. Give me small ball all day, that's a fucking crazy move.

And we will be doing the, uh, the fancy baseball draft at some point.

Yes, yes.

We'll have to find one more person.

Yes, that also has to happen. We're going to. There was maybe Tom Fornelli wanted to be in. I want to do the draft at at, uh, All-star break and have all the stats count already. Max had the idea looking past, he was already looking past, uh, the first round.

This is a programming.

And saying, no, that, that that's illegal, that's you can't do that. Uh, God forbid, you try and program the show or do any scheduling, he said. I said that you didn't get full ownership for Brooks choking.

I also think we should have Tom draft the team and then you just manage the team and you act like it was yours from the start.

Yeah, but Tom knows baseball, but I he can. I'll have him manage it, but then I'll just say.

He takes all the credit for Tom.

Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, that would be great.

This is a big future.

That would be awesome. Yeah, because we'll, we'll definitely repick. actually, we should count repicks. if they're honest, repicks pass like the 10th round, like two, two a team can own. Uh, the same guy.

We're going to have to get Stephen Shay involved for, Yeah.

Yeah, to figure this out for us, to coordinate it. Yeah, he can be the commissioner, he already has his skills as being the commissioner of fantasy.

We saved the barn.

Yeah, that was the last game there, wasn't it? No, they played game seven there.

They did have another game. I don't know if it was there at the barn, but we saved the barn.

We did save the barn.

And we'll be at their current home this weekend.

For what?

Nypd FDny game.

Oh, all right, what else? what else? Oh, Billy, let me ask you a question.

Yup.

Are you getting a little nervous about not having a quarterback?

Yup.

It does feel weird.

Every week, it's like it could be my fyre fest.

It's just ongoing, and everything that new comes out feels like they're farther apart.

Is Aaron Rodgers? I think there was a quote that said he was 90, retired, and Woody Johnson wanted a confirmation.

Doesn't feel good.

Doesn't feel good at all.

When was that quote?

It's from somewhere.

Okay.

I think it was said in private, and Woody Johnson, just like, was like, what the fuck like? We want some assurance.

See, the thing is like, Aaron, he's not going to play on the Packers this year, but he might, he might retire.

And the worst, the Packers fans, because they're just gloating about the situation like, you can't have them, we can't have them.

Yeah, welcome to my world.

Yeah.

It's it's not off to a good start, even if he becomes a quarterback of the Jets. And I'm sure you guys will forget about this if he starts winning football games. But it's not a good sign to start the relationship if you ask somebody out on a date and then she ghosts you for the next two months.

We signed Boyle.

Oh, Tim Boyle TB12.

Yes, Tim Boyle is who we think is like his, you know, like, emotional support, backup. Yeah, like, so hopefully that's like a step closer to, like one of his guys to get them there.

I'm enjoying the hell out of it because he's, like, PFT said. He's not playing for the Packers, so I've already, I've already moved on. I don't care where he plays, I don't care if he plays.

You know who's the real winner right now? Who Zach Wilson?

Why?

All right here we go, hold on, hold on everyone. Zach Wilson is sit down, go.

Like, what if Aaron Rodgers doesn't go, then? Who's the guy?

Zach Wilson will suck again.

I know, but like, for him, it's like, Oh, I think you're Zach Wilson.

The best case scenario is that you don't have to play.

Correct, Yeah, more tape is bad tape. Yes. Zach Wilson.

Yeah, this is actually the nightmare scenario for Zach Wilson because he could back up Aaron Rodgers for a year. They win a Super Bowl, hypothetically. And then he's now, like, had a year to study behind Aaron. And people were like, Wow, Zach Wilson might be good. If Aaron Rodgers decides to play football, people are going to be like, Oh yeah, Zach Wilson's not good.

Right, yeah, right, um, it's all bad, all right.

Yeah, this sounds like one person was like, Yeah, we really want them, so we're just going to say he might go undrafted.

The arrest video wasn't that bad, I thought it was a lot worse.

Describe it.

I missed Stetson Bennett video.

Yeah, no, I missed it.

Yeah, so he got basically like, locked out and lost his phone. And then like, once the officers got there, he was like, pretty respectful. And then he just like, started. Because someone called that, he was banging on a door, trying to get in.

It could happen to anyone.

I think the worst arrest video was Baker Mayfield because he got caught from behind.

He got caught by, like, a middle aged dude, yeah.

Nope, not me.

Um, all right. And the last thing I had was, uh, I don't know if you guys saw, but Jim Nance did a podcast and he came out in. Defensive Tony Romo.

Oh, that's good.

So I'm going to read the quote to you and you tell me if you think there was any smoke to the fire that everyone was talking about.

Jim Nance should not be on a podcast. Yeah, frankly, that's beneath Jim Nance it is.

So he said, Tony is the best, he's the absolute best, and he's also one of my best friends. I love the guy. And when somebody starts questioning our chemistry, there's an agenda there.

Yeah, I'm not mad. don't say that I was mad. please don't write in the newspaper that I was mad.

Tony is the best, he's the absolute best, and he's also one of my best friends.

Yeah, Jake describe, describe sitting next to Billy, working with Billy. What would you say about that? Yeah, he's the best.

He's one of my best friends.

Yeah, he is. Yeah, exactly.

There we go.

And we rest our case.

Also, he said, anyone in the business is welcome to observe. I'll do it okay in the fall.

So you'll go observe.

If they come to MetLife or, I guess, Soldier of Freedom.

Yeah, yeah, go observe.

Well, Scott is usually out on Fox.

I'll go anywhere you have permission to go anywhere, to observe them for a game and report back.

Will you call it straight or will you have such reverence for gymnasts? Yeah, I'll live tweet it.

Okay, I'll live, tweet it. There's no way they're going to let you in the booth.

Jake, you would be in the presence of gymnasts and you would just cream yourself.

Yeah, you would, you'd trim your cactus.

I don't think you'd be able to call that straight.

Go back to my Twitter two weeks ago.

What'd you say?

Oh, he saw gymnasts, that's right.

Yeah, no, but I'm saying, if you got to watch them call a game, there's no way you'd be like. The chemistry up here is questionable.

So I'm willing to observe and take notes on that if they allow me.

Perfect, so CBS invite us.

I won't do anything bad.

Definitely not, no.

No, like, actually.

We need to get it so that we're like, we get a big trench coat and we're underneath Jake. Or we just put a stink bomb in his jacket. He doesn't even know. Just detonate it.

What about a real bomb? or just a real bomb? Yeah, a real bomb would be sick. Kill Tony Romo, Yeah.

All right, so invite us CBS to be determined whether Jake will be carrying a real bomb or not.

No, I will.

Jake, Have you ever seen the movie? Valkyrie? No.

With Tom Cruise.

If we put a suicide vest on you, you can't really stop us.

Then I wouldn't go.

No, but you can't.

Oh, yeah, then it's yeah.

Yeah, what would you? Oh, you'd do, like the noble thing and like, jump into the ocean and just blow it up there.

Would you die for gymnasts?

Ooh, good question.

All right, that's not an answer, that's not an answer. Jake That was a regretfully yes.

So you'd be alive, but gymnasts would die, and then ...

No, that's selfish.

So you would die for gymnasts? I guess, Okay, good.

Okay, all right, all right, so yeah. So Jake's the perfect suicide bomber, then.

Yes, perfect suicide bomber Jake. When you get to heaven, there's a thousand gymnasts calling every game.

A little correction Stetson Bennett did make a couple of comments to the cops about how they ruined his reputation.

That's a good, yeah, good correction.

So Billy will be rooting for the FDNY this weekend, it sounds like.

No, no, no NYPD.

Okay.

Okay, good correction. All right. We got two awesome interviews. He's overall pretty respectful, probably.

Yukon did it, we did it. Uh, like, uh, you know, like the blur, really, since, like, I'd say, you know, winning the Arkansas game, man, like that. Getting ready for Gonzaga, knowing you're like a game away from getting to a final four. Blur really, from the from that Gonzaga game through to, you know, sitting here with you guys, man, it's been a blur. And and, uh, so, like, really, just in the car, maybe like, driving home, you think about it, oh shit.

We did it.

Yeah, won a national championship. Yeah, I was coaching high school 12 years ago. Whatever, it's like a amazing. But they will. You know, the job wakes you back up because everything just starts moving.

Right the nil and transfer portal.

And right after the game was over, it's like the media blitz starts, right as soon as that final horn sounds. And one of the first people that got to talk to you after the championship was our darling Jake. Yeah, he was down on the court, he pulled you aside and you said, I can't wait to go back on, uh, the podcast.

Yeah, podcast find it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's right in front of me if I messed that up.

Now, not to be fair, like in the in the heat of the moment. You were probably not thinking about this podcast as soon as you. Maybe you were, I don't know, after you won the national championship.

Not at that moment, shortly, shortly after.

Yeah.

That's true, yes.

I did, I did, uh, actually. uh. Congratulate Andrew your son. And I was like, if he responds tonight, I'm going to try to facetime him through Instagram.

So yeah, yeah, yeah.

Let you guys enjoy that.

I know it's like the media, but then it's like the agents, they're all waiting for you. Yeah, players, agents. It's crazy. You get back to the hotel, you think it's just going to be a celebration, but everyone's.

Got someone?

Yeah, everyone's pitching.

So right after you win, we were lucky enough to interview Coach O at LSU right after they won. Like the morning after. And you could tell he was still kind of in coach mode. He was like, run around, yelling at the players like the bus is leaving 8am sharp, be there, you know, that sort of thing.

Yeah, man. So it's like, uh, you know, I'm like, old school. I coach these guys pretty hard, you know, and you can tell by the way we play that like, you know, like, you know, a whole like organization. It's pretty, uh, you know, it's discipline. So for me, after you win that, it was much more of like celebration with with with the guys you know, like you, you, your relationship is. It's like when you win a championship like that together, like, you know they, they maybe see a different side of you. You're more like, I don't know, more vulnerable, more open, like hug, and it's nothing but love.

But those are the really cool moments in college sports, where I think even your embrace. With Jordan Hawkins knowing that he's going to go pro. And what he was, what he proved this past year to increase his lottery status and all that. You guys accomplish it together. Those are the moments that are like, beautiful, I don't want to sound sappy, but I love those.

All the brutality, you know, all the brutality that we all go through, you know, like, uh, the sacrifice, like the amount of time, uh, you know, the intensity of what we do. To be able to, like, deliver in big moments like that, you know, and then, you know, like, you recruit this kid and his. His family's all in with his career. And a dream is like, go to Uconn and absolutely crush it. You know, when you, when you hit, when it hits like that on both sides, man, it's like it's the best, cause it usually don't go like that.

Right, right, uh, this might be a dumb question, but from our point of view, was it too easy? It felt too easy for you guys.

Yeah, we kept looking at like, Luke, Luke Murray and Kamani and Young and Tom Moore. It felt like in, like, right before these games started. Is this, is this going to be the one? Is this going to be a game where, like, it's going to have to be free throws or a big shot? But just when you really, you know, minus that month of January, man, like, it was like.

You, you were proven.

That's what we did the whole year, minus the month of January.

You were proven so correct when you said, like, once we got on a big East play, cause I think that it ended up. What 17 and oh, against non-conference opponents, all double digit wins in January felt like?

It was forever. Is it's the longest month in terms of days, right?

30 31.

That's as high as you could go, right? It's just felt like such a long month.

Yeah, but it's crazy because it really did feel. I think you guys were trailing like all of like 50 seconds in the second half in the tournament. It just felt. I don't know if there's ever a moment, maybe when San Diego State cut it to five. But even then, you felt like it felt like you guys weren't panicking. And I think you might've called a timeout, but there wasn't a lot of panic.

No, no, we, you know. The only one that panicked was my associate head coach, Kamani Young. Where we're down versus Iona. I felt pretty, I mean, I didn't feel great about it. You're down at halftime and you know what you did the year before. Teddy Allen, New Mexico It was a disaster.

A little bit of both.

Coaches and teams are really good at at finding any perceived slight against them to use that as motivation. I mean, we saw with the Chiefs this year, Travis Kelsey was like, nobody believed in us. It's like, you're the chiefs. I think a lot of people did believe in you.

So he's a Villanova fan die hard.

So every single game he bet against you. If you were looking for the one doubter in the world to use as motivation, that's your guy right there.

Well, we, I mean, I get it, though. Cause we stole all of Max's hope because everyone was talking up Villanova when Justin came back. And we played that final game of the regular.

Villanova was on the bubble.

Who could have said that?

And Max, we ended all that.

Yeah, no, no, it was a rebuilding year, first year head coach.

That's what you're saying all year, right?

Yeah, well, when Moore came back, he was. He was still a little hurt.

So was there, was there any, any of that that you were not for Max, obviously, but did you ever were you able to play the like? Nobody is believing that you can win this game card, no one thinks that you guys can win the championship. Or if, I guess probably not. And if not, what did you use as the motivation?

Like the fact, I mean, we weren't ranked, unlike the Chiefs, I mean, they were like the Super Bowl favorite.

Yeah.

It was different, we were not ranked in anything in the preseason, so I think like in the beginning of the year and it for me. Like, just any time, you know, we're late, a flight is late or we. The hotel, yeah, first hotel in Vegas was just a it was a dump.

Well, if you want Max next year, we we will offer him up to you. Because it is shocking like you guys won every game by double digits, he bet against you every single game.

Oh, brutal, so you couldn't even watch the games with any real drama.

I don't think it was.

I didn't doubt, just completely robbed them of everything.

I didn't doubt UConn. I just hate UConn basketball, so like, I couldn't bring myself to root for to bet on UConn because I truly hate your basketball program a lot. The coaches, the players, the fans, the fans, the fans really, the fans really.

He gets really upset that you said, what was the quote like? Get, uh, something about Madison Square Garden? Is your guys home away from home?

Oh yeah.

I got mad at that.

I mean, like, when we come here, it's like, Well, we play St. John's here, It's like it feels like a home game. I mean, it's not like we dominate here. I mean, we've. We've done bad in here too.

Yeah, no, I. I went pretty hard at. I was pretty excited when you guys lost in the Big East Tournament. To go back to that quote.

I know, and then one of the guys on Marquette did it and it was taken out of context.

But you did have the quote get your wins in now, when you lost in Villanova was a year.

To your two year to Max's crew.

So how does that feel like? That must feel awesome to be like, Look, I said this and I was right, and we were vindicated and we put a championship up, you know, banner up in the in stores.

I mean, I felt like I had to say something. Uh, you know, all those national championships, I mean, like from 19 to 14, four of them, and now you're playing like a mid major like really bad program, you know? Year one, we played Villanova at the garden, they smoked us.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's the basketball capital of the world. I did.

Oh, I like that it is right now.

I like that, are you guys a blue blood? because we had the debate, we gave you guys blue blood status for winning.

I know, I know so this guy. Dan Toscano, one of our board members, and like, Uh, one of our, you know, big donors, uh, his thing is like, No. Forget the the bleed uh blue blood, you know, we're in our we're a program that bleeds blue, you know, Max, the bleed blue. So, like, we're going to create our own because we've got the five national championships and N.BA players for days in the last 20 years. Most of anyone that is, yeah.

It was cool, like it must've been awesome after the game to see all of the legends of, you know, Uconn on the court celebrating with you guys. Like, that is, you know? There's some programs that have that, obviously Kentucky's got a ton, Duke's got a ton. But to have that, and I'm sure that helps in recruiting. Where you're like, look, I'm hanging out with Ray Allen, I'm hanging out with, you know, all these guys right after the game.

Big Star Power Yeah, I like Big Star Power and all those guys, they're in the practice facility. You got the all the banners, you got all the lottery picks, so you know, Ray Allen and RIP, all these guys are looking looking down on us on.

Did you get a chance to catch up with Jim Nance after the final four?

No, I not after just on the podium.

Speaking of your brother, we had him on the day that you won the national title. We interviewed him on that Saturday before you had played in a final four game. He, I want to give him credit. We gave him the question, he said. He's 100 rooting for you.

Yeah, it's like, when you look at your career as a player and a coach, it's not like. I was like, had a bad career. I mean, I was like, a, I ended up being a pretty good player at the end of my playing career, you know, obviously my first attempt in college didn't work out great. I got fired at Rutgers as an assistant.

I'd say, yeah, this is definitely a huge moment for you and we'll do a headline grab here. So I'll just give you the opportunity to say, the Houston Rockets call you tomorrow. We won Dan Hurley as our head coach.

What do you say?

Yeah, no, I'm not. I've still got some, I got some developing to do on the sideline. There's no one coaching like me in the NBA.

They're not ready.

They're not ready, they're not ready, and maybe I'm certainly not ready. I do believe, I mean, that is something I aspire to, you know, down the road. You know, I love college. I hope I could, you know, continue to put UConn in this position.

Yeah, well, so I read an article before the final four that said that you were zen and this team was so good that you didn't get angry. Have you gone soft?

No, no, no.

People are saying he's gone soft.

Not me. You're not seeing the rage as much. Oh no, you know, the rage behind closed doors was all there, the practice intensity.

You're getting a little mad. That big cat called you soft right now. I can see it.

I know.

I'm happy because I'm seeing that it's true that you're not soft, but people have called you soft.

I know.

So, not me.

You said that you didn't drink your own piss, and to me, that made you soft, I know.

After the effing clown thing in the Villanova game, once the effing clown thing went viral, a lot went on after that. And my wife sat me down, my agent and told me I had to just calm it down a little bit, really. Since then, the antics haven't been quite what they used to.

Yeah.

We had a four-minute mixtape that we would show to recruits and the recruits listen, their families love it, the players love the way I coach. I know that a lot of opposing fans don't like it because it's intense, man, it's in your face, that's the way we play.

I don't care, so not soft.

Not soft, just maturing a little bit, picking my spots.

Okay, nice. It's like a focused rage that you can still channel, sometimes. A time and a place for everything, right?

It's like my favorite coach, Fran McCaffrey, right? I just want to channel it like that and have more bigger moments like him.

Did you like his stare down?

That was crazy, that was so awesome. I never saw that, but when I saw it, did he get a technical after that?

I don't think he got a technical after that, but they came back, that was a crazy comeback, where they were down like 12 with like 50 seconds left. And he just stood there, he'd still be standing there if someone didn't grab him.

I got a lot of respect for the official and I had him on a tournament game and I wanted to ask him about it. But that was the best one I've seen, that was just the best one.

Yeah, you can't break a stare down, you have to have your own guy pull you away from it.